A British Royal Air Force (RAF) plane carrying medical equipment from Turkey arrived back at an airbase in the UK in on Wednesday morning. The military craft landed at RAF Brize Norton and cargo was seen being offloaded and transferred into a truck. The plane was dispatched from the Oxfordshire base on Monday evening to colllect the stock of personal protective equipment for UK health workers. Asia Indonesia Bans Traditional Ramadan Exodus to Rein in Coronavirus Indonesians queue for free food and masks amid the COVID-19 outbreak in Jakarta on April 21, 2020. / REUTERS JAKARTAIndonesia will ban its traditional annual exodus by people streaming out of cities at the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, as the Southeast Asian nation looks to curb the spread of coronavirus, President Joko Widodo said on Tuesday. Indonesias tally of 616 virus deaths is the highest in East Asia after China, but Widodo had previously resisted a ban, seeking instead to persuade people to stay put. But health experts had warned that allowing millions in the worlds biggest Muslim-majority country to travel to homes in towns and villages over Ramadan, which starts this week, could accelerate the spread of the disease. I have taken the decision that we will ban mudik, Widodo told a cabinet meeting, using the Indonesian term for the journey. That is why the relevant preparation needs to be done. He cited an online survey by the Transport Ministry that showed 24 percent of respondents were insistent on joining the exodus. Last year, about 19.5 million people in the archipelago of more than 260 million people made the journey, the government says, and Widodo added that 7 percent of Indonesians had already set out this year. The ban takes effect on Friday, with restricted access to Jakarta, the capital, and cities grappling with virus outbreaks, said Luhut Pandjaitan, the coordinating minister of maritime and investment affairs. Better late than never Ganjar Pranowo, the governor of Central Java, welcomed the ban, but added that more than 500,000 people had already arrived in his province. Its better late than never, he said. In a study last week, researchers at the University of Indonesias public health faculty warned that if the exodus home were permitted, it could lead to a million infections by July on the most populous island of Java, home to Jakarta. Without the exodus, that figure could be cut to 750,000 cases, the researchers said. However, the ban was not too late, as the outflow was expected during Ramadan, which starts later this week, said Pandu Riono, one of the researchers. Preventing peoples travel would be tough, given their fatigue from being locked up by the extensive curbs, said Jeje Zaenudin, deputy chairman of the mainstream Islamic Union. The worlds fourth-most-populous country has recorded 7,135 virus infectionsSoutheast Asias second-highest tally after the neighboring city state of Singapore, though some estimates put the figure far higher. You may also like these stories: India Restarts Factories, Farming in Rural Areas Even as Coronavirus Cases Rise China Reports 16 More Coronavirus Cases, More Than Half Imported Taiwan Sees Spike in COVID-19 Cases Due to Navy Outbreak I blame myself. Not for the lapses in sanitizing though these were surely legion. Not for any failure on the handwashing front, either, because by now Ive scrubbed my hands so much that the texture on their backs has changed. Its polished now, like the skin of a very old person, or a river stone. No, I blame myself because when my father-in-law began complaining that the food was too salty, I rolled my eyes and dismissed it. Dad, were just going to have to make do, I said, from atop my high horse. This was around March 29. The grocery shelves no longer looked picked over by zombies, but I was avoiding them, as was most everyone who could afford to. My father-in-law is gentle and kind, funny and fun, but he does have a flaw: Hes a finicky eater. Most of the year he spends in India, and when hes with us, he wants all the food he cant get there. I wouldnt call it American cuisine, exactly. Its more like ersatz Italian, ersatz Mexican and hamburgers. What my dad-in-law feens for, those long months in India, is the taste of premium fast-casual circa 1999. This might be less of a problem if he did the cooking. By the end of March, our little pandemic pod was practically in the clear. It had been almost 14 days since my father-in-law had flown into San Francisco on a direct flight from Delhi. Hed been quarantined as best we could manage, directed to take his supposedly-too-salty meals at the end of the counter, assigned a quarantine corner in the living room. All of this was awkward and not a little painful, especially not hugging him, especially on the day he turned 69. But Dad took the social-distancing graciously: He didnt want to get the virus from us, either. COVID-19 can be brutal for older people. The morning of March 31, Dads quarantine ended. We all traded hugs, at last, and congratulated ourselves on not giving one another the virus. That night the four of us father-in-law, husband, daughter, me clambered onto the couch to watch March of the Penguins, marveling at the literal lengths the birds go to care for their progeny. When the female penguin has laid her egg, she transfers it to her mate and goes off on a long trek to get fish for the family. Its the proud, would-be papa who keeps the egg safe and warm, between his big belly and webby feet, until it hatches, two months later. The movie shows a blistering Antarctic windstorm. The male penguins try to stay very still but inevitably some of them are bereft. Its easy for a penguin egg to slip onto the ice and crack, or freeze instantly, and die. I didnt realize the movie would be so sad, said my father-in-law. The next morning, a Wednesday, my husband and I woke up feeling a little off. A headache for him, a sore throat for me. On Thursday, I was better and my husband was worse achy, tired, a little feverish. You should assume he has COVID, said my sister, a physician in Southern California. You need to watch him carefully. He should be isolated to protect the rest of us, she said, especially my father-in-law. On Friday, my husband looked like death and was running a fever. He couldnt get out of bed. I called six medical supply stores and pharmacies, and the seventh, 20 miles away, had a pulse oximeter, which measures the oxygen level of your blood, in stock. Masked and gloved, I sped to the store and arrived three minutes before it closed, and sped back home, oximeter in hand. What should it be? I asked my sister over the phone, waiting for a reading to pop up. It should be between 95 and 100. If its over 95, youre fine. The oximeter said 93. Then 94. Then 93. Then 94. If he got really sick, he might have to go to the hospital, and then to the ICU, and I might never see him again. The thought was unthinkable. Against doctors orders, we slept in the same bed. The next morning, he felt a little better, but I drove him to the respiratory clinic anyway, in a parking garage. We knew tests were scarce, so we werent surprised when the doctor said that although my husband almost certainly had COVID-19, he might not merit a swab. But when we mentioned that an older person was staying with us, the doctor perked up. Did he have any symptoms? Any cough, fever, lethargy? No, we said, Dad seemed totally fine. Except that he says that everything tastes too salty, I said. It was a casual aside but over her mask the doctors eyes gleamed, intent. Wed heard that one of COVID-19s signature symptoms was anosmia, or loss of taste and smell, but hadnt connected it with Dads complaint. The doctor explained: To some people with anosmia, everything tastes too salty or sweet because salt and sweet are all they can taste. Soon after, the doctor was leaning into the car and sticking the long thin probe up into the far reaches of my husbands right nostril. But how do you think you got it? my friends were asking a week later. By then all three adults in our house had tested positive for COVID-19. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. The question vexes me. How could we not have gotten the virus? After all, the authorities have been telling us for weeks that the virions are everywhere. They might live on doorknobs, food, hair, playground equipment, the milk and the mail. We need to be 6 feet apart, or maybe as many as 28. We have been trained to be scared: to hold our breath in the wake of joggers, to avoid touching anything, to flinch if a neighbor gets too close. No one fixated on the MacGuffin of transmission more than my father-in-law. But there were more cases in Santa Clara County than in India! he would say, half to himself. But I wore a mask on the plane! The idea that he might have given his children the virus was so mortifying to him that he introduced a variety of epidemiologically unlikely counter-theories. For instance, was it possible that we gave the virus to him perhaps because we went to that funeral in Los Angeles in early March? And then we were asymptomatic for a while, and then we passed it to him, and then he passed it back to us? Or was it possible that we got it from our daughter, before schools closed? When my husband began at last to get better, the theories stopped. Now, a week after weve all recovered, what still astonishes me is not that we were infected but that we were able to get a firm diagnosis. (We werent able to get a test for our daughter, who is 8 and gloriously, abundantly, knock-on-wood, healthy.) A couple weeks ago, Palo Alto, where we live, was reporting 61 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Our little family comprised 5 percent of them! Clearly, we have a data problem. As I write, scientists are estimating that the actual number of infections in Santa Clara County, where we live, is 50 to 85 times greater than the official numbers. Tests have been in such short supply that in some areas of the country, you wont get one unless youre already so sick you have to be hospitalized. In the few places where there has been widespread testing, great numbers of those with infections have no symptoms. And yet the diagnosis problem is but the tip of our giant epistemological iceberg. How long are we contagious? When in the course of the disease do we shed the most virus? How do viral loads correspond to the severity of the disease? When do we stop being threats to the vulnerable people and become potential assets, instead people who can venture out into the virus-saturated world and get groceries and staff food banks and so forth? Will we ever be able to help? Even as the good Dr. Fauci talks about immunity certificates, and others caution against immuno-privilege, we dont actually know whether the virus behaves like others, conferring immunity on those whove had it, or not. Were those apparent re-infections in South Korea really just relapses? Can we reinfect one another? (If so, maybe my father-in-law was right about that funeral.) Its true what the doctors say. For now, at least, you dont need a coronavirus test. Just assume that you have it. Because diagnosed or not, sick or not, immune or not, we all have COVID-19. We all will for a very long time. For now, my family, like many families, waits. While we wait, we count our blessings: That our illnesses were mild. That no one needed to go to the hospital. That we have a house to isolate in and food on the table. My superhero sister has sent us some pretty batik masks. My husband and daughter are having handstand competitions. As for my father in law hes finally comfortable enough in our house to do some of the cooking. Pooja Bhatia is a features editor at The Chronicle. Email: pooja.bhatia@sfchronicle.com Twitter: bhatiap By Trend Iran's work in fighting coronavirus should not be considered over, as the work of the healthcare sector in the country has increased, said Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Trend reports via IRNA. "Coronavirus has become a test of proficiency of countries and the global system. Iranian healthcare workers' skill in treatment and controlling the disease is increasing every day," said Rouhani. "The statistics show that the road travels around Iran have dropped by 80 percent, while traveling by train has reduced by 96 percent, and air and sea travels declined by 83 and 98 percent respectively since the start of the Iranian year (started March 20,2020). This indicates the people's cooperation in fighting the disease," he said. "There were concerns over shortage of equipment and masks in hospitals during the early stages of virus spread, but thanks to the public and the private sector,we can domestically supply sanitizers, detergents, masks and ventilator domestically and even have power to export them," he added. "In recent days the coronavirus spread has declined in some provinces, although there are still problems in a few provinces that should be taken care of," he said. The outbreak of the coronavirus began in the Chinese city of Wuhan (an international transport hub), at a fish market in late December 2019. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11. Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as November 2019. Iran is one of the countries affected by the rapidly-spreading coronavirus. The country continues to apply strict measures to contain the further spread. Reportedly, the disease was brought to Iran by a businessman from Iran's Qom city, who went on a business trip to China, despite official warnings. The man died later from the disease. The Islamic Republic only announced its first infections and deaths from the coronavirus on Feb. 19. WUHAN, China - Bathed in golden late-afternoon light, Chen Enting snapped a photo of his ticket to commemorate his first ferry ride across the Yangtze River after a 76-day quarantine ended in the Chinese city where the coronavirus pandemic began. The reopening of ferry services on the Yangtze, the heart of life in Wuhan for two millennia, was an important symbolic step to get business and daily life in this city of 11 million people back to normal. Wearing goggles, gloves, a homemade mask and a black trench coat, Chen was checked by security guards in protective suits and bought a 1.5-yuan (20-cent) ferry ticket. He boarded with a dozen other passengers, some pushing electric scooters, and found a bench at the front beside a red flag with a yellow sickle. He sprayed the seat with disinfectant before sitting. The ferry on the Yangtze River is a symbol of Wuhans people, said Chen, a 34-year-old cost engineer and Chinese Communist Party member. The choppy river symbolizes the force of life, he said, as the sun set behind the Tortoise Mountain TV Tower. Although Wuhan had such an ordeal, it will flow away just like the river and receive exuberant vitality. Wuhan was one of Chinas most important centres under inward-looking dynasties that had little interest in foreign trade and carried out commerce and politics over the countrys vast river networks. The city was eclipsed by the explosive rise of Shanghai, Hong Kong and other coastal cities after the ruling Communist Party set off a trade boom by launching market-style economic reforms in 1979. Today, Wuhan is regaining its status as an economic dynamo as Chinese leaders shift emphasis from exports to developing more sustainable growth based on domestic consumer spending. The city government says more than 300 of the worlds 500 biggest companies, including Microsoft Corp. and Honda Motor Co., have operations in Wuhan to get access to central Chinas populous market. The metropolis was formed from three ancient cities Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang at the meeting of the Yangtze and Han rivers that grew together. If you are in Wuchang, you can go anywhere under heaven, said Ji Li, a University of Hong Kong historian, quoting a traditional saying. The emperor Kublai Khan visited in the 13th century when China was part of his Mongol empire and Shanghai was a fishing village of a few thousand people. In the mid-19th century, Wuhan became, along with Shanghai, Tianjin and Qingdao, one of a series of treaty ports where Chinas Manchu rulers were forced to give Western powers trading privileges and exempt their people from local laws. A rebellion began on Oct. 11, 1911, in Wuhan that spread across the country and led to the breakup of the Manchu empire and the founding of President Sun Yat-sens Republic of China. The Yangtzes water is very sweet, communist leader Mao Zedong said after he swallowed a mouthful while swimming in the 1950s, according to a report from the time by The Associated Press. Meandering 6,300 kilometres (3,900 miles) from Tibets Tanggula Mountains to the East China Sea, the Yangtze is the longest river in Asia and the worlds third-longest. It and the Yellow River in the north are the mother rivers of the nation, much like Americas Missouri and Mississippi or Eastern Europes Danube. It is also the site of the Three Gorges Dam, the worlds biggest hydroelectric project. The Yangtze stars in countless poems, songs and history-making events, including the third century Battle of Red Cliffs, which was fought by one of Chinas wiliest strategists, Zhuge Liang. The story, involving armoured battleships, has been turned into a traditional opera and a 2008 blockbuster movie directed by John Woo. Today, Wuhan produces agricultural chemicals, 6% of Chinas cars, and components for smartphones, industrial machinery and optical devices for markets in Europe and North America. Skyscrapers loom above parks and ancient temples. Ships carry goods 700 kilometres (450 miles) downriver to Shanghai by way of Nanjing, another ancient inland city. Shipping, however, plunged after the coronavirus outbreak started in Wuhan late last year and led to a strict lockdown of the city. Traffic near Wuhan fell by as much as 70%, according to HawkEye 360, a company in Virginia that follows radio communications and ships satellite-linked tracking beacons. Traffic is back to less than half its pre-outbreak level, the company says. Maos face, etched in a giant gold coin, perches atop a stone obelisk in the Bund, the riverfront former centre of Western business activity and now a tourist spot. On it is etched a poem by Mao calling for a bridge to be built across the river. That bridge was finished in 1957, cementing Wuhans renaissance as a transportation hub by connecting rail networks in northern and southern China. That connection is one reason the coronavirus spread so fast. Wuhans Huanan Seafood Market, where scientists suspect the virus might have jumped from a bat to humans, is next door to the Hankou Train Station. Authorities have since decontaminated the station, and on April 11, high-speed trains began leaving Wuhan for Beijing again. The ferry system had opened a few days before. Chen Xianming, a 70-year-old veteran of 26 years in appliance sales, knew that would save him money. Paying for taxis across the bridge had cut into profits. We should be thrifty, Chen said as he secured boxes on a motorized tricycle he uses to make deliveries. Most of Wuhan is thinking the same way and tightening its belt after factories, restaurants, shopping malls, cinemas and almost every other business except supermarkets were shut for 2 1/2 months. Jittery consumers arent spending much. Manufacturing has yet to get back to normal levels. But the public has returned to the banks of the Yangtze, known in Mandarin as Chang Jiang, or Great River. Couples wearing masks walk hand-in-hand. Fishermen flick long rods out across the babbling waters. Joggers run past picnickers. People fly kites shaped like butterflies, birds, lanterns and fighter jets. A ships horn blares. Wuhan reopens, Chen said. This is a day of remembrance. ___ Associated Press video producer Olivia Zhang in Wuhan and archivist Francesca Pitaro in New York contributed to this report. Sorry! This content is not available in your region A single state prison in Arkansas accounts for more than a third of that states total number of coronavirus cases, with at least 681 confirmed cases out of the states approximate total of 2,300, illustrating the danger the pandemic poses in close-quarter correctional facilities across the United States. The Cummins Unit, located roughly 50km (30 miles) from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, had its first confirmed coronavirus case on April 11. With more than half of the jails roughly 1,200 inmates now confirmed positive for the virus, it has one of the highest-known per capita infection rates of any jail or prison in the US. Now, lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund (LDF), the law firm Squire Patton Boggs and a number of other groups have sued Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson and the Arkansas Department of Corrections, asking that high-risk inmates there be released or allowed into home confinement during the pandemic. The lawsuit alleges that keeping the inmates in prison violates the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. The startling viral outbreak in the Arkansas prison system places thousands of incarcerated people at risk of serious illness or death, but this crisis extends far beyond prison walls. It is only a matter of time when the virus will spread from prisons to the surrounding communities, depleting scarce healthcare resources, Jin Hee Lee, senior deputy director of litigation at the NAACP (the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), said in a statement about the complaint. Outsized numbers The number of US coronavirus cases topped 826,000 on April 22, and more than 45,000 people have died since the outbreak began. The coronavirus and the disease it causes, COVID-19, are dangerous to all ages but particularly impact older individuals and those with pre-existing conditions. Studies show the US incarcerated population, which numbers over two million on average, suffers from pre-existing conditions at much higher rates than the general population. Federal and state corrections facilities often face criticisms of unhygienic conditions [Mike Blake/Reuters] Currently, incarcerated people make up at least one in three confirmed COVID-19 infections statewide, attorneys wrote in the complaint, saying even this number was likely an underestimation due to a lack of widespread testing. Lee stressed that the coronavirus disproportionately affects Black Arkansans, who are infected with and die from COVID-19 at double the rate of the rest of the state population. This racial disparity will deepen from viral outbreaks in prisons, which are mostly located in Southeastern Arkansas where there are higher concentrations of Black residents, Lee said. The complaint is filed on behalf of 11 prisoners in several Arkansas jails and prisons, and alleges that conditions behind bars fall short of guidelines for helping stop the spread of the virus issued by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some inmates interact with well over a hundred people each day without personal protective equipment such as masks and gloves, the complaint alleges. Beds are within three feet of one another, far short of the recommended six feet, the complaint says. Alfred Nickson, one of the plaintiffs in the case, is a 61-year-old imprisoned at the Cummins Unit for second-degree murder who suffers from diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, according to the complaint. Another inmate lives in the cell with Nickson, where they share a toilet and sink. They have not been provided personal protective equipment or hand sanitiser, the complaint claims. Nickson has allegedly suffered from several COVID-19 symptoms, including shortness of breath, fatigue and coughing. He has allegedly not been tested for the disease, in spite of his age and symptoms. Prayer for relief The lawsuit seeks to force the state to allow eligible inmates in the high-risk category to be released to home confinement and issue new rules that would allow inmates to keep two metres (six feet) of distance away from one another as well as allowing them to have consistent access to hand sanitiser, clean laundry and sanitary personal hygiene facilities such as showers. Governor Hutchinson said on April 19 that the outbreak at Cummins has caused him to ask for the review of records of about 2,000 inmates for early release, a measure increasingly being taken by jails and prisons across the US to help mitigate the impact of the virus. The number was later revised downward to allow for the release of roughly 1,700 non-violent, non-sex offenders over the next six months. Hutchinsons office did not immediately reply to Al Jazeeras requests for comment, but he said in a press conference on Tuesday that Arkansas is going to extraordinary lengths to make sure inmates are protected. The measures include expanded testing at Cummins and ensuring that inmates are having the proper health protocols in that environment. Advocacy groups want more. The governors statements regarding their efforts are undercut by the states own data, NAACP Senior Counsel Ajmel Quereshi told Al Jazeera. As they have stated, prisons are particularly vulnerable to the virus. Serious action requires not only testing at the Cummins Unit, which should have happened long before things reached this point, but the other requests plaintiffs have made in the case, Quereshi said. Without stronger action by state officials, Arkansass overcrowded prisons are becoming a humanitarian and public health catastrophe, said Holly Dickson, legal director and interim executive director at the ACLU of Arkansas. It is critical that state officials heed the advice of public health experts and immediately reduce the state prison population to a level where social distancing is possible, Dickson concluded. The future of the Eastern Partnership should be ambitious and facilitate Ukraine's integration into the EU's internal market, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said. Kuleba said this at a videoconference in the format of the Group of Ukraine's Friends in the EU with the participation of EU foreign ministers, according to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry. The videoconference took place on the eve of a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council on April 22. Ukrainian issues are to be discussed at the meeting. In the context of preparations for this year's Eastern Partnership Summit, Kuleba stressed that the ambitious and strategic nature of the EU's future policy towards Eastern partners, taking into account their European aspirations, is important to Ukraine. "The future of the Eastern Partnership should be ambitious and facilitate Ukraine's integration into the EU's internal market," Kuleba said. He informed his colleagues about the measures the Ukrainian government is taking to minimize the negative effects of the pandemic on the Ukrainian economy and the state of implementation of internal reforms, particularly in the context of European integration. "Ukraine knows how to continue reforms while waging a war against Russian aggression and against the spread of a pandemic," Kuleba said. EU officials welcomed the progress made by the Ukrainian authorities in reforming and adopting key legislative decisions, particularly on the liberalization of the land market. The importance of resuming cooperation with the IMF was emphasized. In addition, Kuleba informed his colleagues in detail about the situation in Donbas. In particular, he spoke about the shelling of Ukrainian positions from Russian-controlled territories, the Russian side's failure to comply with the provisions of the Minsk agreements and the decisions of the Normandy summit. The sides expressed concern over Russia's blocking the access of the OSCE SMM and international humanitarian organizations to non-government-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. According to the report, against the backdrop of speculative attempts by the Russian Federation to ease the sanction pressure under the cover of the coronavirus pandemic in the EU, it was emphasized that sanctions imposed against Russia will remain in force until the Minsk agreements are fully implemented and the Ukrainian territory is de-occupied. op Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The novel coronavirus could inflict lasting damage on the body's major organs, impairing for years the lung and heart functions of those who become critically ill with the disease. Long-term neurological impairment is also possible in a small number of patients with extremely virulent cases, some experts suggest. Professor Robert Booy. University of Sydney infectious diseases expert Robert Booy said scarring and damage to the heart and lungs may be detected for months in some cases and years in other patients. There is no doubt the virus especially affects the lungs in the immediate days and weeks, Professor Booy said. A 96-year-old war veteran has had his head shaved into a mohawk style in an effort to lift spirits during the coronavirus pandemic. Guy Whidden, of Frederick County, Maryland, was a 20-year-old paratrooper when he first styled his hair into a mohawk as a way of intimidating the Germans before D-Day. Mr Whidden was the only man of the 101st Airborne Division in 1944 to have a mohawk that day and his lieutenant ordered him to shave it off. Decades later he has once again taken up the style in the hope that it will bring some laughter during the Covid-19 outbreak. He told CNN: "I knew it would draw some laughs. And I don't have much to do like most of us penned up in our homes." Mr Whidden achieved the new cut with the help of his granddaughter, Lydia Arshadi, and an electric shaver. In a video of the event, he tells his audience: "I would like to have my hair cut as a mohawk as we did for D-Day in France and also in Holland, as a tribute to the fallen airborne guys up in skies. "I challenge all of you." Guy Whidden laughed when he saw the end result of the haircut / Lydia Arshadi The war veteran laughed when he saw the end result and said, "I feel like a young buck". Posting on Facebook, Ms Arshadi said they had been overwhelmed with videos with "military guys from all around the globe" sending in pictures of their own mohawk haircuts. "It wasn't intentional," said Mr Whidden. "I just thought it would make a happy moment. "If I can get people to laugh, it makes my day for me, especially in this period of time. It's very difficult for people." Delhi police has booked suspended Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Tahir Hussain under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in a case related to communal violence in northeast Delhi over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, a lawyer said on Wednesday. Police has also arrested former Congress councillor Ishrat Jahan and activist Khalid Saifi in the case, said advocate Akram Khan who is representing other accused in the matter. Hussain was arrested earlier in connection with the alleged killing of Intelligence Bureau official Ankit Sharma during the communal violence in northeast Delhi. Police has already booked Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) university students Meeran Haider and Safoora Zargar, arrested for allegedly hatching a conspiracy to incite communal riots in northeast Delhi in February, under the Act. While Zargar is the media coordinator of Jamia Coordination Committee, Haider is a member of the committee. In the FIR, police has claimed that the communal violence was a "premeditated conspiracy" which was allegedly hatched by former JNU student leader Umar Khalid and two others. The students have also been booked for the offences of sedition, murder, attempt to murder, promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion and rioting. Khalid had allegedly given provocative speeches at two different places and appealed to the citizens to come out on streets and block the roads during the visit of US President Donald Trump to spread propaganda at international level about how minorities in India are being persecuted, the FIR alleged. In this conspiracy, firearms, petrol bombs, acid bottles and stones were collected at numerous homes, FIR claimed. Co-accused Danish was allegedly given the responsibility to gather people from two different places to take part in the riots, police alleged. Women and children were made to block the roads under the Jaffrabad metro station on February 23 to create tension amidst the neighbourhood people, FIR said. Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Governments around the world are locked in a struggle to secure enough personal protective equipment (PPE) to keep medical staff safe. Ideally when coming into contact with somebody with COVID-19, medical staff should wear face masks, gowns, gloves and goggles or face visors. The use of PPE like this is not new but the coronavirus pandemic has massively increased the amount that is needed, leading to shortages. In some cases doctors and nurses have complained the lack of PPE has left them with the choice between their patients' safety or their own. The initial PPE shortages were caused because normal supply chains were unable to cope with the sudden increase in demand caused by the pandemic. A new distribution system was therefore introduced by the government, with logistical support from the army. NHS England says PPE supplies are now being housed in centralised warehouses, with daily deliveries taking place to the 217 NHS Trusts in England. The trusts can then distribute the equipment throughout their hospitals as needed - and similar schemes are in place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The government is also making additional supplies available to traditional PPE wholesalers, so that they can continue to supply clients such as GP surgeries, care homes and pharmacies as normal. Local Resilience Forums and the National Supply Distribution Response (NSDR) are receiving additional supplies as well. In theory, any organisation which can't get PPE by the usual supply routes can phone the NSDR to request an urgent delivery. However, the new distribution system relies on the government being able to get enough PPE to meet the growing demand. The UK already had a stockpile of PPE for a potential influenza pandemic, which it has used to supply hospitals which needed equipment. But the stockpile had fewer gowns and face visors - as these items are less useful for an influenza pandemic - and other PPE items will also need to be restocked at some point in the future. Story continues It is hoped UK companies will be able to help bridge the gap between existing suppliers and the current demand, although many of those who have contacted the government say they've been ignored. The British Medical Association say they've spoken to 70 firms who are ready to manufacture PPE but who have "yet to receive a response through official government and NHS routes". Meanwhile, The Telegraph has reported that millions of pieces of PPE are being shipped to EU countries by wholesalers in the UK, because they had received no reply from the UK government. In response, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said thousands of companies have offered to supply equipment and that some delays were unavoidable as checks were carried out. But, he said, 159 potential manufacturers have been identified by the government as potential PPE suppliers. There are some items, however, the government will have to buy internationally. Only one UK company, fabric specialist Don & Low, makes the fluid-resistant material necessary to make medical gowns of the quality needed to protect staff from COVID-19. The UK will therefore have to procure medical gowns from overseas to keep hospitals supplied. International supplies are currently proving difficult to come by however, as demand grows around the world and many countries adopt export bans to keep critical supplies to themselves. On Saturday, the UK government said 84 tonnes of PPE would be delivered from Turkey to the UK the next day. Only part of the order has arrived so far, as Turkish officials say the commercial supplier did not have enough stock to fulfil the order. With the US government exploring the possibility of Covid-19 originating from a state-operated laboratory in China, Republican senator Tom Cotton says that there is enough evidence to back the claim. Chinese scientists reported in the medical journal Lancet, on January 24, that the first known cases had no contact with the market, and Chinese state media, too, has noted the finding, Cotton writes for The Wall Street Journal. Cotton says that there is no proof that the markets allowed the sale of bats or pangolin animals from which the virus is believed to have transmitted to humans. Bat species that carries the novel coronavirus is not found within 100 miles of Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, he adds. Wuhan, Cotton claims, has two labs where bats and humans frequently come in contact. One is the Institute of Virology, eight miles from the wet market; the other is the Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, barely 300 yards from the market, the article says. The two labs procure many wild animals to analyse the viruses. The scientists go to far-flung caves across China to take into captivity bats for the study. Cotton adds that Chinese state media had released a documentary in December which showed CDC researchers in Wuhan collecting viruses from caves where bats are found. In the documentary, the researchers had purportedly expressed concerns about the risk of infection. These risks, he says are not restricted to the field. The article then refers to a Washington Post report that said that in 2018, US diplomats in China had cautioned against a serious shortage of appropriately trained technicians and investigators needed to safely operate at the Institute of Virology. The Wuhan CDC operates at even lower biosafety standards, Cotton claimed. Though the Chinese government has denied the possibility of a lab leak, the actions, Cotton says, conveys a different tale. The Chinese military posted its top epidemiologist to the Institute of Virology in January. In February Chairman Xi Jinping urged swift implementation of new biosafety rules to govern pathogens in laboratory settings, Cotton wrote. In January, enforcers intimidated doctors who cautioned their colleagues about the virus. Out of those, was Li Wenliang, who died of Covid-19 in February, he said. Laboratories who were sequencing the genetic code of the virus were directed to eliminate their samples, he added. The laboratory that first released the viruss genome was closed, Hong Kongs South China Morning Post reported in February. He, however, adds that the evidence of this is circumstantial, but all seem to lead to the Wuhan lab. Thanks to the Chinese coverup, we may never have direct, conclusive evidenceintelligence rarely works that waybut Americans justifiably can use common sense to follow the inherent logic of events to their likely conclusion, Cotton concluded. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. According to Stratistics MRC, the Global Ambient Intelligence Market is growing at a CAGR of 7.6% during the forecast period. Growth of location-based mobile software applications, rising adoption of smart technology and increasing disposable income are some of the major key factors influencing the market growth. However, privacy, security, and identity issues are hampering the market growth. Ambient Intelligence (AMI) can be defined as the electronic and computer systems that can sense and respond to human presence and interaction. The intelligence derived from embedded devices and natural user interfaces (NUI) operating in this environment facilitates the provision of services according to inputs perceived through gesture, voice, and other non-interruptive means. Based on End User, Education segment has growing importance due to the growing interest in improving the teaching-learning process thus, it has led to the educational field the application of a discipline known as Ambient Intelligence (AmI) with the purpose of providing intelligence to the ordinary classroom. By geography, North America is expected to grow at a faster rate due to rapid technological developments and increasing smart buildings in the region. Request for Report sample :https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/12117 Some of the key players in Ambient Intelligence market include Medic4all Group, Honeywell International Inc., Assisted Living Technologies Inc., Vitaphone GmbH, Chubb Community Care, ABB Group, Caretech Ab, Ingersoll-Rand PLC, Siemens AG, Tunstall Healthcare Ltd., Schneider Electric S.E., Getemed Medizin- Und Informationstechnik AG, Koninklijke Philips N.V., Legrand SA and Televic N.V. Components Covered: Software Hardware Services Technologies Covered: Ambient Light Sensor Bluetooth Low Energy Affective Computing Nanotechnology Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) Software Agents Biometrics Other Technologies Application Covered: Education Smart Home Public Transport Other Applications End Users Covered: Retail Industrial Automotive Residential Healthcare Office Building Banking, Finance, and Insurance (BFSI) Corporate Other End Users Request for Report Discount:https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/discount/12117 Regions Covered: North America o US o Canada o Mexico Europe o Germany o UK o Italy o France o Spain o Rest of Europe Asia Pacific o Japan o China o India o Australia o New Zealand o South Korea o Rest of Asia Pacific South America o Argentina o Brazil o Chile o Rest of South America Middle East & Africa o Saudi Arabia o UAE o Qatar o South Africa o Rest of Middle East & Africa Make an Inquiry before Buying@:https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/checkout/12117/Single What our report offers: - Market share assessments for the regional and country level segments - Strategic recommendations for the new entrants - Market forecasts for a minimum of 9 years of all the mentioned segments, sub segments and the regional markets - Market Trends (Drivers, Constraints, Opportunities, Threats, Challenges, Investment Opportunities, and recommendations) - Strategic analysis: Drivers and Constraints, Product/Technology Analysis, Porters five forces analysis, SWOT analysis etc. - Strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations - Competitive landscaping mapping the key common trends - Company profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent developments - Supply chain trends mapping the latest technological advancements Free Customization Offerings: All the customers of this report will be entitled to receive one of the following free customization options: Company Profiling o Comprehensive profiling of additional market players (up to 3) o SWOT Analysis of key players (up to 3) Regional Segmentation o Market estimations, Forecasts and CAGR of any prominent country as per the clients interest (Note: Depends of feasibility check) Competitive Benchmarking o Benchmarking of key players based on product portfolio, geographical presence, and strategic alliances Two U.S. warships are operating in the South China Sea, the Navy said on Tuesday, with three regional security sources saying they were near an area of a standoff between China and Malaysia. The Haiyang Dizhi 8, a Chinese government research ship, was spotted last week conducting a survey close to an exploration vessel operated by Malaysia's state oil company Petronas, months after it undertook a similar patrol off Vietnam. The incident prompted the United States to call on China to stop its 'bullying behavior' in the disputed waters, citing concern over Beijing's provocative actions towards offshore oil and gas developments there. USS America, an amphibious assault ship has been deployed and is operating in the South China Sea An MV-22B Osprey prepares to land on amphibious assault ship USS America pictured earlier this week Haiyang Dizhi 8 has persisted with a number of patrols close to Malaysian oil platforms in the South China Sea this week, namely the West Capella drillship, which sparked territory contentions between China and Malaysia when it began exploration activities in October President Xi Jinping's is desperate to boost his prestige at home as Beijing tackles mounting international criticism over the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, a slowing economy and rising tensions with Washington The U.S. State Department has said China was taking advantage of the region's focus on the coronavirus pandemic to 'coerce its neighbors'. The USS America amphibious assault ship and the USS Bunker Hill, a guided missile cruiser, have been deployed and were operating in the South China Sea, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command spokeswoman Nicole Schwegman said on Tuesday. 'Through our continued operational presence in the South China Sea, we are working ... to promote freedom of navigation and overflight, and the international principles that underpin security and prosperity for the Indo-Pacific,' Schwegman said in an emailed statement to Reuters. 'The U.S. supports the efforts of our allies and partners to determine their own economic interests.' Rear Admiral Fred Kacher, commander of the USS America Expeditionary Strike Group, told Reuters that his forces had interacted with Chinese naval forces in the South China Sea this week. 'All our interactions continue to be safe and professional with them,' Kacher said in a telephone interview from the USS America. Schwegman did not state the exact location of the warships but security sources said they were close to the Haiyang Dizhi 8 and the Petronas-operated West Capella drillship. The sources declined to be identified as they were not authorized to speak to the media. The guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill has also been deployed and is operating in the South China Sea West Capella, which is under contract to Malaysian oil company Petronas, has triggered a flurry of patrols from China Coast Guard and maritime militia ships, Vietnamese maritime militia ships and ships from the Royal Malaysian Navy since its commission six months ago The area is near waters claimed by both Vietnam and Malaysia as well by China, through its sweeping claim to most of the South China Sea within its U-shaped 'nine-dash line' that is not recognized by its neighbors or most of the world. China has denied reports of a stand-off, saying that the Haiyang Dizhi 8 was conducting normal activities. 'The 'confrontation' at sea you mention did not happen,' the foreign ministry said in a faxed response to Reuters' questions on Monday. The Chinese survey vessel's moves this month come as Beijing ramps up coronavirus diplomacy, donating large supplies of medical equipment and aid to Southeast Asian countries. A team of Chinese medical experts arrived this week in Malaysia, which has reported more than 5,400 coronavirus infections. Graphics tracking the Haiyang Dizhi 8 survey ship operating unimpeded in Malaysian waters, show the Chinese ship passed by an oil rig at least four times in 'intimidating' behavior The United States has accused China of taking advantage of the distraction of the pandemic and becoming increasingly assertive in the region as the coronavirus crisis eases on the mainland while raging elsewhere in the world. On Sunday, Vietnam protested after China said it had established two administrative districts on the Paracel and Spratly islands in the disputed waters. The U.S. State Department said China was taking advantage of the region's focus on the pandemic to 'coerce its neighbors' with a crackdown in Hong Kong and saber-rattling around Taiwan and in the South China Sea. In a significant strike against democracy activists in Chinese-ruled Hong Kong, police in the city arrested 15 people on Saturday, just days after a senior Beijing official called for the local government to introduce national security legislation 'as soon as possible.' Hong Kong has reduced growth of confirmed COVID-19 cases to single digits in recent days, but city authorities say they are not taking any risks. Chief executive Carrie Lam said social distancing measures and some business restrictions would continue for another two weeks In a significant strike against democracy activists in Chinese-ruled Hong Kong, police in the city arrested 15 people on Saturday. Pictured, Hong Kong residents pictured on Saturday The arrests drew a strong rebuke from the United States and Britain. China has also been flying regular fighter patrols near Chinese-claimed Taiwan, to the island's anger, and has sent a survey ship flanked by coast guard and other vessels into the South China Sea, prompting the United States to accuse Beijing of 'bullying behavior.' 'Now that the domestic coronavirus outbreak has been stabilized, China wants to send an important signal to the world that its military and foreign affairs, previously put on hold, are back on track,' said Cheng Xiaohe, associate professor of international politics at Beijing's Renmin University. China describes Taiwan, Hong Kong and the South China Sea as its most sensitive territorial issues. The most dramatic actions have been close to Taiwan, the self-ruled island China claims as its own. Beijing has been angered by moves by President Tsai Ing-wen during the outbreak to assert the island's separate identity from China. Liaoning and accompanying warships passed first through the Miyako Strait over the weekend. Pictured here, the Liaoning sailing with a flotilla of Chinese ships in April 2018 Job applicants are seen at a job fair in Wuhan,China. The pandemic's first cases were reported in late December in the city. China has reported almost 83,000 cases and more than 4,600 deaths An on-site job fair was held in Wuhan on Tuesday with strict epidemic prevention measures. Officials insist the situation there is now largely under control In the latest uptick in tensions, China's navy this month sailed a battle group, led by the country's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, around Taiwan's east coast and has mounted regular air force drills near the island. Lo Chih-cheng, a senior legislator with Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party, said China was showing that its military power had not been affected by the virus and that things had returned to normal. 'The other aspect is of course to test whether the combat strength of the U.S. military has been reduced due to the impact of the epidemic,' he said. The pandemic's first cases were reported in late December in China's Wuhan city. China has reported almost 83,000 cases and more than 4,600 deaths, but the situation there is now largely under control. The United States has by far the world's largest number of confirmed coronavirus cases, with more than 780,000 infections and over 42,300 deaths, according to a Reuters tally. The USS Roosevelt (pictured in 2017) and USS Ronald Reagan are the only two US carriers in the Pacific, but both have been forced to dock due to confirmed coronavirus cases onboard, which effectively gives China free range in the region With USS Theodore Roosevelt temporarily sidelined in Guam after suffering a high-profile coronavirus outbreak on board, USS America is currently the most significant operational naval asset the US Navy has in the region U.S. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus has expressed serious concern about recent Chinese moves The United States has berthed one of its carriers in the region, the Theodore Roosevelt, in Guam, with nearly 14% of the crew testing positive for the coronavirus. China's Foreign Ministry said in a short statement: 'No matter when or where, China resolutely safeguards its sovereignty, security and development interests.' China's Defence Ministry did not respond to a request for comment. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus expressed serious concern about recent Chinese moves. 'The United States strongly opposes PRC efforts to take advantage of the region's focus on addressing the COVID pandemic in order to coerce its neighbors in the region. We call for the PRC to live up to its international obligations,' she said, referring to the People's Republic of China. The U.S. military has also carried out its own South China Sea drills, and sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait, most recently this month on the same day that Chinese fighter jets and nuclear-capable bombers drilled in waters close to the island. USS America has steamed to intercept a Chinese government survey ship and several of its China Coast Guard escorts after they ventured into contested waters off the coast of Malaysia, amid an international maritime dispute between the two countries Rear Admiral Fred Kacher, commander of the USS America Expeditionary Strike Group, told Reuters that his forces had interacted with Chinese naval forces in the South China Sea this week. 'All our interactions continue to be safe and professional with them,' Kacher said in a telephone interview from the USS America, an amphibious assault ship. China's navy says the Liaoning was heading for the South China Sea as part of routine exercise plans, and that it would continue with such drills to 'speed up the increase of the combat capability of the carrier group system.' Beijing this month denounced criticism from the United States of its recent South China Sea moves, saying Washington had been using the South China Sea issue to smear China. USS America is bristling with fleet of stealth aircraft, including Marine F-35B Lightning II jets (left), MV-22Bs tiltrotors and CH-53 helicopters (right) onboard Members of the People's Liberation Army navy are seen on board China's aircraft carrier Liaoning as it sails into Hong Kong, China, in July 2017 China claims much of the resource-rich South China Sea, also a major trade route. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei all have competing claims with China. 'China's recent activities in the South China Sea and elsewhere in Asia have shown its intention to further militarize the area,' said Ha Hoang Hop at the Singapore-based ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. Former Philippines foreign minister Albert Del Rosario said on Sunday that China 'has been relentless in exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic as it continues to pursue its illegal and expansive claims in the South China Sea.' A senior Taiwan official told Reuters that its interpretation was that Beijing's aggressiveness was due to President Xi Jinping's need to boost his prestige at home as Beijing tackles mounting international criticism over the handling of the pandemic, a slowing economy and rising tensions with Washington. 'If the Communists need a conflict, Taiwan will be their top choice,' said the official, who declined to be identified given the sensitivity of the matter. 'But it is highly risky for Xi's regime and we do not think they will rush into danger.' Appreciating the role played by sanitation workers in the COVID-19 fight, Telangana Municipal Administration and IT Minister K T Rama Rao on Wednesdy had lunch with them here, officials said. Rao, son of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, also served food to some of the Disaster Response Force (DRF) personnel of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) at the civic body office here. On the occasion, he said the state government was providing incentives, besides full salary to the sanitation, entomology and DRF personnel, he said. "Was a pleasure to have my lunch today along with the GHMC frontline warriors today. Thanked them for their fabulous efforts as #TelanganaFightsCorona", Rama Rao tweeted. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Rajasthan government has decided to purchase wheat at market price and distribute it only among all the poor and needy under the National Food Security Act scheme. Chief minister Ashok Gehlot said that his government has repeatedly requested the Central government to release more wheat so that wheat could be distributed to all beneficiaries. The state government has decided to purchase wheat on market price and distribute it among those who are deprived of wheat under the National Food Security Act. The centre is allotting the wheat on the basis of 2011census but the population has increased and more wheat is needed, he told reporters in a video conference on Wednesday. The chief minister has requested the prime minister to allot additional 30,000 MT wheat per month to the state so that the requirement could be fulfilled. There are 4.46 crore families covered under the NFSA in the state as per the census of 2011 which, according to a press release, should be 5.04 crore now as per the current population. The chief minister also rejected allegations that the government was soft in Ramganj and cases were rising in Muslim dominated area, saying some people were spreading rumours and people should not pay heed. The sole aim of the government is to save lives. We made Bhilwara model which is named as 'ruthless containment'. The government is ruthlessly acting (to contain the spread). So, can the government afford to appease a community on the ground of religion by giving them relaxation? he asked. There are people who are saying that the government has given relaxation to Muslims and they are spreading corona. There cannot be anything more rubbish than this. The police have directions to give similar treatment to all those, irrespective of the religion, who violate curfew norms and break rules, he said. Our aim is to save lives and to restore the normalcy like Wuhan of China, where there was a lockdown for more than two-and-a- half month and normalcy has returned there now, he said Highlighting the measures taken to contain the spread of cornavirus and for effective compliance of lockdown, the chief minister said that a fine of Rs 100 will be charged from the persons found spitting at public places. The state government has already issued order for taking action under section 188 of IPC if anyone is found spitting after chewing tobacco or non-tobacco products on such places. Gehlot said that prime minister will be holding a video conference with chief ministers of states on April 27 and the issues of the migrant labourers will be main agenda of the Rajasthan government. Migrant labourers are stranded in states and they should be allowed to go to their homes. Similarly, migrants of Rajasthan are also stuck in other states and they want to return to the state, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) (Natural News) The biggest problem with showering the country with money under the guise of trying to provide relief for people, whether its the economic crisis of 2009 or the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, is that such helicoptering of money rarely comes off as efficient. Whats more, when there are literally trillions of dollars up for grabs, it only makes sense that a long line will form quickly to get some of it. Only, when that happens, it usually means that the least needy wind up with the most relief. Thats whats happened with money meant for small businesses suffering economically due to mandated closures under coronavirus-related shutdown orders. According to CNBC, hundreds of millions of dollars of Paycheck Protection Program funds have been claimed by large, publicly traded companies, though the idea was to ensure the vast majority of that money went to smaller businesses with dozens, not hundreds or thousands, of employees. Citing research from financial firm Morgan Stanley, the U.S. government has allocated some $243.4 million of the total $349 billion PPP funding to publicly traded companies. Some of them include DMC Global ($6.7 million loan amount); Wave Life Sciences ($7.2 million); MannKind ($4.9 million); and Lindblad Expeditions ($6.6 million). These firms have market values of $405 million, $286 million, $273 million, and $264 million respectively. And they represent just the tip of the fraudulent iceberg, though they are the worst offenders. CNBC notes: The PPP was designed to help the nations smallest, mom-and-pop shops keep employees on payroll and prevent mass layoffs across the country amid the coronavirus pandemic. The business network noted further that at least 75 companies that received the aid are publicly traded; together, they have received $300 million in low-interest, taxpayer-supported loans, a separate report published by The Associated Press found. Its as if no one really cared who got the funds I think youve seen some pretty shameful acts by some large companies to take advantage of the system, said Howard Schultz, the former Starbucks chairman and CEO who flirted with an independent presidential run this year. Rather, the U.S. government should act as a backstop for the banks to give every small business and every independent restaurant a bridge to the vaccine. And that is the money and the resources to make it through, he added. (Related: Will people in the U.S. have to cope with another 18 months of rolling coronavirus shutdowns? This expert thinks they will.) Data from the Small Business Administration, which is administering the PPP loans, shows that 4,400 of the approved loans are in excess of $5 million. A plurality of the money now gone, by the way, with new funding being blocked by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) went to the construction industry (13.12 percent). Professional, scientific and technical services received 12.65%, manufacturing received 11.96%, health care received 11.65% and accommodation and food services received 8.9%, CNBC reported. Congress approved the PPP as part of the CARES Act last month, adding that the plan was to offer a first-come, first-served loan program, which in and of itself is ripe for abuse. Larger companies have staff they can dedicate to researching such programs and filling out the necessary paperwork in a much more timely fashion than a small mom-and-pop shop. But in the race to make funds available as quickly as possible, the objective of ensuring that the most needy got the help was sidelined by political expediency. Its as if no one really cared who got the funds, per se, only that they got distributed fast so political leaders on both sides of the aisle could say, Look what we did?! Now, the fund is depleted, however, and scores of small businesses that could have been saved by loans a fraction of the amounts given to these large corporations is gone. Soon, so, too, will be those small businesses. What a great program, huh? Sources include: CNBC.com NYPost.com NaturalNews.com The Jewish community of Djerba, Tunisia, announced April 21 that the annual pilgrimage to the ancient Ghriba synagogue on this Tunisian island, scheduled to occur May 7-13, has been canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. Organizer of the pilgrimage Perez Trabelsi explained that the synagogue will reopen once the danger of the virus has passed. The decision to cancel the pilgrimage followed a decision by the government in early March to suspend all activities in mosques and other praying spaces across Tunisia. The pilgrimage to the Ghriba synagogue the oldest synagogue in Africa and one of the oldest in the world draws thousands of Jews each year from across the globe, and it is the only occasion during the year when Israeli tourists are allowed into the country. Festivities take place for several days, starting on the 33rd day after the beginning of Passover and celebrating Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. For the 1,500 Jews still living in Tunisia, these festivities constitute a principle element in their tradition. A procession carrying a candelabra crosses the ancient streets of the Jewish neighborhood of Djerba, and pilgrims pose hard-boiled eggs decorated with wishes and prayers inside the old synagogue building. Authorities waited until the very last moment to cancel the festivities. Tunisian Jews those living there and those who have immigrated over the years to Israel, France and the United States are particularly attached to their homeland. They often speak of the warm relations between the local Jewish community especially the Jews living in Djerba and their Muslim neighbors. The 2002 terrorist attack on the Ghriba synagogue shook both Jews and Muslims living on the island. Tunisian authorities placed a distinct emphasis on restoring and reopening the synagogue for visits. In 2018, Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed appointed Rene Trabelsi from Djerba (son of Perez Trabelsi) as the countrys minister of tourism. The appointment which lasted for two years generated demonstrations from Tunisians who considered the move an attempt to normalize relations with Israel. But that did not prevent authorities from organizing grand celebrations in Djerba last year when the Ghriba pilgrimage coincided with Ramadan for the first time since 1987. A communal iftar hosted by Chahed and Trabelsi was organized, and Jews and Muslims sat together outside the synagogue at sunset to break the fast. In Djerba, we are all neighbors Jews and Muslims. We have lived peacefully together for hundreds of years. We, Muslims, are also saddened by the Ghriba synagogue being closed now, but better to be safe than sorry, a local businessman speaking on condition of anonymity told Al-Monitor. He, like his Jewish neighbors, hopes for the synagogue to reopen for festivities of 2021. New Delhi, April 22 : The Congress has launched a portal for MSME sector as party is finalizing draft to submit the government a demand for stimulus package to this sector and sought suggestions and ideas for the same. Rahul Gandhi tweeted: "COVID-19 has devastated our micro, small and medium businesses (MSME). The Congress party needs your help. Send us suggestions and ideas for what an economic stimulus package should cover." The suggestions can be sent on voiceofmsme.in or on social media platforms of the party. The Congress Consultative Group has deliberated on MSME and agriculture sectors under Manmohan Singh. Rahul Gandhi is a member of this committee. The MSME is the biggest generator of employment after agriculture. We will be giving our suggestions in priority, Jairam Ramesh had said after the first meeting on Monday. The Congress had demanded that government should also bear 75 percent salary of those working in MSME sector. Infectious diseases consultant Eoghan De Barra has called on the public to stick with the plan and abide by restrictions to ensure a reduction in transmission of Covid-19. Dr De Barra told Newstalk Breakfast that while the underlying figures are positive, we need to stick with the plan. When things start looking better there can be a rush to get things back to normal, he said. There is light at the end of the tunnel, but it is too soon to be complacent, he warned. Dr De Barra explained that the restrictions have had an impact and that they have saved lives. The high figure of 77 deaths on Monday was for over the previous 10 days, he said. The day by day numbers continue to fall. Dr De Barra said Beaumont hospital where he works experienced the so-called surge over a week ago. Covid-19 patients are still presenting at the hospital, which continues to provide services for non-Covid patients. He urged any patients experiencing normal health conditions to still come to the hospital where there are two distinct pathways for patients Covid and non-Covid. Meanwhile, Simon Harris will meet Nursing Homes Ireland and the health watchdog today about the coronavirus crisis. Almost half of the 687 deaths from Covid-19 in the Republic relate to nursing home residents. Hiqa will today publish new guidelines for the sector ahead of urgent inspections next week. Georgia House District 1 Rep. Colton Moore said he is asking Senator Jeff Mullis to debate him in Dade County. Rep. Moore is not running for his current seat, but is trying to unseat the veteran Mullis. Rep. Moore said in a letter to Senator Mullis: Since 2018, we have both represented over 50,000 constituents in Northwest Georgia however, our leadership styles, ideas and problem solving abilities could not be more different. The time has come to show the people the differences of all candidates in a formal debate, as citizens deserve when voting for their next State Senator on June 9, 2020. "On behalf of Northwest Georgia, your attendance has been requested on April 30, 2020 at the Dade County Library at 6:30 p.m. ET for the KWN News Talk Debate. "Founding Father and third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson said, 'Truth is the proper and sufficient antagonist to error, and has nothing to fear from the conflict, unless, by human interposition, disarmed of her natural weapons, free argument and debate; errors ceasing to be dangerous when it is permitted freely to contradict them.' "I hope we can agree the people of Georgia deserve openness and transparency as they vote for their next State Senator. There is no better method to deliver this than an open debate." Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen is associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. He contributed this article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights . In a time of global crisis, people are keenly aware of how interconnected we all are on planet Earth , even as many of us work in isolation or are disconnected from the way our lives were previously. Our satellites in space gathering data and images of our home planet unite us in ways that are more important now than ever. From space, we see Earth as one comprehensive system with complex interactions among land, ocean, ice and atmosphere. It is a living planet without borders. Even with all the scientific and technological advances we have made in the roughly 60 years after the first Earth-observation satellites were launched, we are only just beginning to understand fully the way our planet works. But we know we depend on its limited resources. Related: Earth Day 2020! Celebrate our planet with these online activities More: How Apollo 8's 'Earthrise' photo helped spark the first Earth Day At NASA, we have 20 Earth-observation missions on orbit, including instruments aboard the International Space Station . NASA's data are made freely available to anyone in the world. Their value grows every year as an environmental baseline that informs us about how our planet is changing and responding to natural and human influence. We can observe short-term changes such as weather, and long-term changes such as sea level rise, and how problems such as the ozone hole have begun to recover. International partnerships are a big part of this work, including our next mission to launch, Sentinel 6 Michael Freilich , a European-led mission with NASA participation that this November will launch to help us learn more about how global sea level is changing. NASA's investment in space both the unique Earth science we conduct from orbit and the technology we've developed by living in space and exploring our solar system and universe is returning benefits every day to Americans and to people around the world. Those whose lives are affected by hurricanes benefit from having accurate global information about air, water and land, for instance. From documenting Earth's changing environment on all timescales to creating green technologies to conserve energy and natural resources, NASA helps us all live more sustainably and adapt to natural and human-caused changes. Using these data, farmers can more efficiently irrigate. First responders can prevent the spread of wildfires. And decisionmakers worldwide have at their fingertips a wealth of data, born of research, engineering and technology that would have been unheard of 50 years ago when we celebrated the first Earth Day . Indeed, one can argue that the knowledge of our Earth generated from satellites represents one of the greatest scientific achievements of our time. Related: Earth quiz: Do you really know our planet? But we need to do more. The knowledge gained from our international fleet of Earth-observing satellites leads to the need for more information. As we watch polar ice sheets shrink or encounter stronger storms, our assets in space, and the data they produce, will become ever more critical to protect lives, property and resources. And that knowledge generates more questions. The international scientific community needs to continue to do this vital work on behalf of every person worldwide. There is, for instance, global consensus about the increase of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, the role humans play in these increases and their broad environmental impacts. Yet only in 2017 could the first global, space-based analysis focused on both natural and human-made sources and sinks of carbon dioxide occur, a result of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 (OCO2) mission we launched in 2014. We are committed to continue studying and gathering data about the Earth's carbon cycle and relating that information to the bigger picture. In fact, we launched OCO-3 to the International Space Station in 2019, and are working on GeoCarb with a launch in 2022, hosted on a commercial spacecraft and mapping these emissions over the Western Hemisphere with better spatial and temporal resolution. Science contributes to the solutions we need to the challenges we all face. It informs our options and provides a foundation for continuing information gathering and dialogue, globally. At NASA and our partners internationally, we have a responsibility to do great things and inspire the next generation. Because this work will not end, and future generations must have a legacy for exploring, understanding and protecting our home planet. An image from space that shows the power of hurricanes, fires, floods and volcanic eruptions, or the absence of light in a populated area during the COVID-19 crisis , truly humbles a person with the power and majesty of our planet. So, yes, we will celebrate Earth Day this year, albeit perhaps differently than in the past, but taking full advantage of the unique perspective that space provides. All of us will continue to share the same air and the same destiny as humans aboard this spaceship we call Earth. And we'll celebrate our curiosity, our connections to each other and our aspirations for a better world. And our perseverance together on our wonderful home planet. Follow all of the Expert Voices issues and debates and become part of the discussion on Facebook and Twitter . The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. Trump will have a serious problem if it transpires that COVID-19's grandma, grandpa and great grandpa are actually domiciled in the US, notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar. IMAGE: People wearing at a shopping area after the lockdown was lifted in Wuhan, April 14, 2020. Photograph: Aly Song/Reuters The search for the genesis of COVID-19 is developing into an epic story. Thanks to the insinuations by US President J Donald Trump -- 'China virus', 'Wuhan virus', etc -- that were explosive in their political and strategic content, Beijing is now more determined than ever to get to the bottom of the story. Which is a good thing, because now that Beijing has been touched to the quick and is turbo-charged this story will appear in the public domain sooner rather than later. In an unusual move last weekend, China's envoy to Moscow Zhang Hanhui highlighted that the whole story about COVID-19 is only unfolding and there are surprises in store for the world community. It is inconceivable that Ambassador Zhang spoke without the knowledge of Beijing. Significantly, the Chinese envoy chose the Russian state news agency Tass (external link) for making some startling disclosures. According to the ambassador, IMAGE: Chinese commuters exit the subway during rush hour in Beijing. Photograph: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images Five top Chinese scientific organisations have collected the data for 93 genome specimens of COVID-19 that have been published in a global database based on inputs from 12 countries on four different continents. The research has shown that COVID-19's earliest 'ancestor' is a virus known as mv1, which subsequently evolved into haplotypes H13 and H38. (A haplotype is a group of genes within an organism that was inherited together from a single parent.) In turn, H13 and H38 evolved into a second-generation haplotype -- H3 -- which subsequently involved into H1 (COVID-19). That is to say, in plain terms, COVID-19's 'father' is H3; its 'grandparents' are H13 and H38; and, its 'great grandfather' is mv1. Now, although the virus that was discovered in the Wuhan seafood market (COVID-19) was of the H1 variety alright, only its 'father' H3 has been spotted in Wuhan -- and that too, NOT in the seafood market. (COVID-19) was of the H1 variety alright, only its 'father' H3 has been spotted in Wuhan -- and that too, NOT in the seafood market. Importantly, the COVID-19's 'grandparents' -- H13 and H38 -- have never been spotted in Wuhan. 'This suggests that the H1 specimen was brought to the seafood market by some infected person, which sparked the epidemic. The gene sequence cannot lie.' (Ambassador Zhang) IMAGE: People at a main shopping area after the lockdown was lifted in Wuhan, April 14, 2020. Photograph: Aly Song/Reuters Suffice to say, the original source of COVID-19's spread is yet to be traced and the trail could lead to any direction. As of now, although COVID-19 was first discovered in Wuhan, its exact origin is yet to be determined. Meanwhile, there are tell-tale signs. Thus, Ambassador Zhang recounted: A married couple from Japan contracted COVID-19 while in Hawaii (where the US Pacific base is located) sometime between January 28 and February 3, although they had not visited China or had come into contact with any Chinese person. Notably, the husband had symptoms by February 3. The media reported that COVID-19 has first appeared in Lombardy in northern Italy as early as January 1. According to the renowned Italian medical specialist Giuseppe Remuzzi, the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy had begun spreading even before it started in China. The well-known American virologist Robert Redfield -- currently director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the leading national public health institute of the US and a federal agency) and the administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (a a federal public health agency based in Atlanta, Georgia) -- has speculated that the large number of flu deaths in the US could have in fact been caused by COVID-19, but the US did not test for it at that time. (An estimated 80,000 Americans died of flu (external link) and its complications last winter.) Shockingly enough, Italy wanted to trace the first infection case of COVID-19 by conducting an exhumation in the US of so-called flu victims, by the US has flatly refused permission. IMAGE: A couple poses while getting their marriage certificate on April 15, 2020 in Wuhan. Photograph: Getty Images < However, contemporary science and technology is well-equipped to trace the trail of COVID-19 and it is absolutely certain that 'sooner or later, the day will come when everything that's been concealed will be revealed.' (Ambassador Zhang) Interestingly, since the appearance of Ambassador Zhang's interview with TASS, President Trump has calibrated his previous allegation of Chinese complicity and mala fide intentions. Whereas Trump had pointedly threatened Beijing with retribution, he has since moderated his stance and said on Saturday at a media briefing at the White House: 'You know, the question was asked, "Would you be angry at China? " Well, the answer might very well be a very resounding "yes," but it depends: Was it a mistake that got out of control or was it done deliberately? Okay? That's a big difference between those two.' 'In either event, they should have let us go in. You know, we asked to go in very early, and they didn't want us in. I think they were embarrassed. I think they knew it was something bad, and I think they were embarrassed.' IMAGE: US President Donald J Trump points to a reporter at the daily coronavirus task force briefing at the White House, April 20, 2020. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters Trump no longer alleges culpability on China's part. It's no longer an open and shut case, either. Presumably, it's now negotiable.Trump spoke only two days after Ambassador Zhang's interview appeared. Clearly, the Chinese diplomat hinted that the trail of COVID-19 can and will be scientifically traced. Trump will have a serious problem if it transpires that COVID-19's grandma, grandpa and great grandpa are actually domiciled in the US. Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar served the Indian Foreign Service for more than 29 years. He has served as India's ambassador to Turkey and Uzbekistan and has been a contributor to Rediff.com for well over a decade. China's ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai. EPA-Yonhap China's ambassador to the United States took a thinly veiled swipe at U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday by criticizing politicians bent on making "groundless accusations" that distract from scientific information on the deadly coronavirus. Speaking at a webcast Bloomberg event, Cui Tiankai also defended the handling of the disease by China, which has drawn fire from Trump and others for allegedly failing to alert the world to risks of the coronavirus in a timely and transparent fashion. "What worries me is indeed lack of transparency, not in terms of science, not in terms of medical treatment, but in terms of some of the political developments, especially here in the United States," Cui said. "So little attention is paid to the views of the scientists as some politicians are so preoccupied in their efforts for stigmatization, for groundless accusations," he added, accusing the media of also spreading speculation and rumor. The White House did not respond to a request for comment and the Chinese Embassy did not reply when asked if Cui was referring to Trump. Tensions are simmering between Washington and Beijing over the virus, which originated in Wuhan, China last year and has infected millions and upended life worldwide. Almost a third of coronavirus cases, more than 2.5 million people globally, have been in the United States. Last month, the U.S. State Department summoned Cui to protest comments by Beijing suggesting the U.S. military might have brought the coronavirus to China, ratcheting up tensions between the global powers. Meanwhile, Trump has said his government is trying to determine whether the coronavirus emanated from a lab in Wuhan, following reports the virus may have been artificially synthesized at a China state-backed laboratory or perhaps escaped from such a facility. The Chinese state-backed Wuhan Institute of Virology dismissed the allegations, even as other U.S. officials have downplayed their likelihood. Most experts believe the virus originated in a market selling wildlife in Wuhan and jumped from animals to people. Trump has also expressed skepticism of China's officially declared death toll from the virus and halted funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) for allegedly promoting China's "disinformation" about the virus, which he blamed for fueling a wider outbreak than otherwise would have occurred. Cui said China had been open, pointing to calls between the Chinese government and both Washington and the WHO in early January, as well as daily briefings on the virus. "We are doing our best to have transparency. We are discovering, we are learning. At the same time, we are sharing," he said. (Reuters) The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 has a 5G model and itll be available outside South Korea. Dutch portal GalaxyClub reports that the company is developing a Tab S7 variant with model number SM-T976B. This is likely the 5G model intended for Europe. A 5G-equipped Galaxy Tab S7 should launch in the US as well. Samsung has a 5G variant of the Galaxy Tab S6 as well. However, that device was never released outside Samsungs home country South Korea. The companys looking to change that with its successor this year. Interestingly, Samsungs upcoming flagship tablet was initially speculated to be called Galaxy Tab S20. After all, this change in naming scheme fits in line with the companys flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S20 earlier this year, and the Galaxy Note 20 later this year. Advertisement However, it appears that the Galaxy Tab S20 name is far from confirmed. In fact, the South Korean giant is internally referring to the device as Galaxy Tab S7. This still doesnt confirm what the new tablet will be called, though. Well likely get a clearer picture over the next few months, as the Galaxy Tab S7 isnt expected to launch before August. Galaxy Tab S7 has a 5G model, supports S Pen We already know from previous reports that Samsung is working on two size variants of the Galaxy Tab S7. Theres the standard Tab S7 featuring an 11-inch display. This tablet has model numbers SM-T870 and SM-T875 for Wi-Fi and LTE variants respectively. Advertisement Theres also a 12.4-inch Tab S7 with model numbers SM-T970 (Wi-Fi) and SM-T975 (LTE). This bigger tablet will be called the Galaxy Tab S7 Plus. The model number SM-T976 also falls in this series, so Samsung is currently developing a 5G variant of the Tab S7 Plus. And thats one long name there Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Plus 5G. Its unclear if the South Korean behemoth has plans to launch a 5G variant of the standard Galaxy Tab S7 as well. Advertisement In addition to confirming the existence of a 5G Galaxy Tab S7, the report also reveals that the upcoming flagship tablet will unsurprisingly ship with an S Pen. Yes, Samsung has been shipping an S Pen with its high-end tablets since Tab S3 days and this year will be no different. The Galaxy Tab S7 (or Tab S20) will likely alongside the Galaxy Note 20 series in August this year. The Galaxy Fold 2 is also expected to arrive at the same time. German Gov't Split Over Move to Replace Tornado Jets With US Nuclear-Capable F-18s Sputnik News Oleg Burunov. Sputnik International 06:45 GMT 21.04.2020 The German Armed Forces have long been searching for a suitable replacement for the aging Tornado jets, which entered service with the country's Air Force back in 1983. The German government has confirmed that the country's aging fleet of Tornado fighter-bombers will be replaced by Eurofighters and F-18 jets from US-based Boeing, in a move that angered the Social Democratic Party (SPD), AFP reports. German Defence Ministry spokesman Arne Collatz-Johannsen told reporters in Berlin on Monday that an official decision will be sent to the Bundestag's defence committee "in the coming days". "We recommend a mixed solution which would keep the European defence industry running at capacity and what's more, concerning less than a third of the total, possibly come from non-European suppliers", he said. According to him, German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told her US counterpart Mark Esper about the plans over the weekend. AFP also cited an unnamed source as confirming previous reports that the government's plans include the purchase of 90 Airbus-made Eurofighters and 45 Boeing F-18 jets; 30 of the F-18s will be equipped to carry US nuclear bombs. Kramp-Karrenbauer's decision has, meanwhile, prompted criticism from SPD members who are the junior coalition partners in Chancellor Angela Merkel's government. The parliament's defence committee chief Wolfgang Hellmich told the newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung that "nothing has been made transparent to us in any way", and that "so far we have received nothing". The statement came as SPD's lawmakers remain opposed to the Defence Ministry's plans to buy US warplanes to carry nuclear weapons. The ministry, in turn, insisted that SPD Finance Minister Olaf Scholz and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas had been informed about the matter. During a visit to Washington in September 2019, Kramp-Karrenbauer reportedly said that the aircraft, which was picked to replace the Tornado, should "seamlessly" resolve the aging planes' dual role. This stipulates a warplane serving as a fighter-bomber in conventional warfare and maintaining the capability to carry the American B61 nuclear gravity bomb. Also last year, Berlin scrapped its plans to buy Lockheed Martin's F-35 stealth combat aircraft, which is capable of performing both ground attacks and air missions, in order to replace the Tornados that have been in service since the early 1980s. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The National Youth Theatre (NYT) has unveiled a brand new project in response to the climate crisis. Launching virtually in May and expected to take place over the next few years, the project, entitled MELT, will culminate in an outdoor promenade piece featuring a cast of over 1000 in 2021/22. The piece will be performed in cities and sites across the English east coast, with dates and locations to be revealed. An initial performance project will take place online on 20 June 2020 the longest day of the year. This streamed event will feature a cast of 200 and is set to explore the impact of flooding on coastal areas in recent years. The NYT will be working in collaboration with leading climate scientists from the University of Hull to present the content for the project. The MELT initiative is led by the company's artistic director Paul Roseby, along with Zoe Lafferty, associate director of The Freedom Theatre, Palestine and Joel Scott, artistic director at Goat and Monkey and associate artist with Punchdrunk. Roseby said: "I hate to be the voice of doom at a time when we're all stuck in the world of Zoom and isolation but we can not let our creative hearts and minds ignore the critical issue that is the Climate Crisis. A year on from Extinction Rebellion and its resulting awareness and division, MELT will seek to galvanize hundreds of Britain's best young creative voices from across the UK to animate a series of stories founded in scientific fact but told in imaginative bold." Only one in four care home workers who fear they have coronavirus have been tested, figures show. Managers say their staff face four-hour round trips to centres which are only accessible by car when many do not drive. Some are stuck self-isolating and unable to return to the front line where they are desperately needed. Only one in four care home workers who fear they have coronavirus have been tested, figures show. Pictured above, an NHS worker goes through the testing procedure at the coronavirus testing centre for NHS staff and registered care workers at the AJ Bell Stadium It comes as the capacity for tens of thousands of tests continues to be wasted each day with just half of the possible 41,398 being used. There are just seven days left before the deadline for Health Secretary Matt Hancock's promise of 100,000 coronavirus tests a day. But only 22,814 were carried out on Tuesday across England, Wales and Scotland. MPs and trade union bosses last night branded the low levels of testing in the care sector 'appalling'. Last week Mr Hancock said everyone working in social care who needed to be checked would be able to do so immediately. But those who are showing symptoms of Covid-19 must be referred by their employer then travel to one of the Government's 27 drive-through centres. Some face round trips of more than 200 miles. They have also been told they are not allowed to take public transport or taxis, leaving those without a car unable to get there. Data collected by the National Care Forum, which represents nonprofit providers, suggests just 25 per cent of care home staff needing tests have had them. The NCF collected data from 21 members which together employ almost 16,000 staff. Four-hour trip to get tested Care home boss Alice Ushamba Care home boss Alice Ushamba had to tell staff they would need to make a four-hour round trip to get tested. Mrs Ushamba, pictured, who runs Hants Healthcare in the New Forest, said her workers were desperate for checks. But when she finally received a letter last week, the nearest test centre was two hours away in Gatwick, West Sussex. Mrs Ushamba, 35, said: 'Most of my staff get around on foot and can't afford a car. It's impractical.' On Tuesday she was told workers could now be tested in Portsmouth but it is still an hour's drive. Advertisement Of the 632 residential care staff needing tests only 164 had them, and just 19 of the 281 home carers. The Care Quality Commission said on Monday it had so far booked 18,473 appointments for the staff just one per cent of the 1.5million people who work in the sector. But it could not clarify how many tests had taken place. Care company Barchester, which runs more than 200 homes, said it had referred 'several hundred' members of staff to centres and was working with the Government and CQC to provide home kits to workers who cannot get to test centres. Liz Kendall, Labour's social care spokesman, last night said: 'We've heard of appalling cases where care workers in Norfolk have been told to go to Sheffield and those in Peterborough to Stansted Airport. 'It's madness the Government doesn't understand how real people's lives work.' Labour MP Peter Kyle added: 'By designing a testing infrastructure that works for Whitehall but isn't local enough so low income workers without access to transport to use it is a barrier not a solution.' Vic Rayner, executive director of the NCF, called for a rapid response to solve the problem. She said: 'Our data has revealed social care staff are travelling on average 62 miles on a round trip to test centres. 'A large proportion of them rely on public transport to get about. More needs to be done and practical arrangements made.' All eyes are on May 9. That is the last day of the extended state of alarm period that the government will officially request today in Spains Congress of Deputies, and it is, according to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, the date from which the current coronavirus confinement measures in Spain can begin to be relaxed. The survey was scheduled to begin last week, but certain adjustments have led to delays A key tool that the Health Ministry had announced for deciding on how these first steps will take shape was a serological survey that would reveal the incidence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in Spain. But the results of that testing will not be ready by that date: the process is due to start on Monday and will last for eight weeks. The survey was scheduled to begin last week, but certain adjustments, according to Fernando Simon, the director of the Health Ministrys Coordination Center for Health Alerts, have led to delays. The Health Ministry shared the plans for this survey with Spains regions on Monday. The objective is to determine the real number of people infected in the country, and potentially, how much of the population is immune to the disease. The document that was sent out, to which EL PAIS has had access, shows that after a training and testing period, the surveys will begin on April 27 at the earliest. The tests will be carried out in primary healthcare centers, unless a home visit is essential. A number of regional governments that were consulted by this newspaper have explained that they are preparing the resources necessary. Antonio Fernandez Pro-Ledesma, the president of the Spanish Society for General and Family Doctors, said that they have no more information than what they are reading in the media. We have the sufficient capacity and versatility, but we cannot carry on doing more with the same resources, he said. We will have to see the methodology and how [the tests] are going to be done. The survey will be carried out on 36,000 households that have been chosen by Spains National Statistics Institute. They are located across Spanish territory and cover all age sectors from the population pyramid in a proportional manner. Around 90,000 people in total will be tested, according to the document. Each person will be subject to two types of tests three times, with a three-week gap between sampling Each person will be subject to two types of tests three times, with a three-week gap between sampling. There will be a rapid inmunocromatographic test, which in 10 minutes detects antibodies after a simple pinprick method. And also, a more complete blood test will be carried out known as Elisa, which offers a full analysis of the quantity of the immune response that has been generated. With these two tests, repeated on three occasions, the aim is to have the most complete view of the immunity that has been generated, as well as how it evolves over time and if there are new infections on the way. If the more optimistic targets are met, in the next two weeks a first round of testing will have been completed, meaning that the initial results will arrive after decisions have been taken about the early deescalation steps. Simon explained on Tuesday that the survey is an important tool, but not the only one. The other factors that will be taken into account are the real transmission rates of the disease, for which, the Health Ministry said, it is already carrying out 100,000 tests a day, and the capacity of the countrys health systems. Faced with the risk of new waves of the epidemic, even if they are potentially minor, we cant allow for the system to be put under the strain it has already suffered, he said. Experts consulted by EL PAIS explain that the survey will provide fundamental information about the coronavirus, including how many asymptomatic infections there have been, where and how it has spread, and whether it is still latent without our knowledge. Regional differences For concrete measures, such as letting out children, perhaps it isnt the most useful thing, but for more general ones, it is, explained a spokesperson from the Spanish Society for Preventive Medicine, Public Health and Hygiene (SEMPSPH). It will also be crucial for new waves, to prepare systems according to the incidence that there has been in one place or another. It will not be the same in a region where there is a large number of people who have had the infection than in another with very few, the spokesperson continued, pointing out that it is still not clear what level of immunization people who have overcome Covid-19 are left with. Jose Martinez Olmos, an expert in public health and the general secretary of Health between 2005 and 2011, believes that the survey is one more tool that can be used to take decisions, but is not essential. Although it will help later on, the important thing is that it be done well. It would be advisable to count on the best information possible about the incidence among the population, but in the meantime what needs to be done is to prepare the system and to have epidemiological monitoring on alert should cases appear, in order to locate them, isolate them, and if necessary, retreat. English version by Simon Hunter. President Trump has announced he wants a temporary ban on all immigration into the United States during the coronavirus pandemic, to protect American jobs. He is planning to sign an executive order but it is likely to face legal challenges. American commanders are trained to make nuanced and careful judgment calls about how to respond to incidents at sea. Rather than immediately resort to the use of deadly force, commanders are expected to act based on the specific circumstances, including the threat to their own crews and adherence to the international laws of warfare. Generally, as in the case of last Wednesdays incident, warships will issue warnings by a variety of means, including via bridge-to-bridge radio, before taking more direct action. The remains of former Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) arrive to lie in state at the Capitol. Getty Images) The former Senate majority leader, remembered by many as a ferocious dealmaker, will be honored in the Capitol by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.). China has dispatched three lakh more Rapid Antibody Test kits being used for quick detection of COVID-19 to India, the Indian envoy said on Saturday. About three lakh Rapid Antibody Test kits were airlifted to Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu from the Chinese city of Guangzhou, Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri said. "Nearly three lakh Rapid Antibody Tests have just been airlifted by Air India from Guangzhou. Supplies are headed to Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu. Great work on ground by our team," Misri said in a tweet. This is in addition to 6.5 lakh Antibody Tests and RNA Extraction Kits sent from here. India is procuring the medical supplies from China in recent weeks to ensure availability of adequate supplies. Queenslanders who want to make a will or update one will no longer need to meet face-to-face with a lawyer, after new laws were passed in Parliament on Wednesday night. MPs met for a massive one-day sitting to debate laws to protect tenants during the COVID-19 crisis, to allow wills to be signed electronically, and to rule that Parliament could sit virtually. A scaled back Question Time at Queensland Parliament on Wednesday. Credit:AAP/Dan Peled Usually, for a will to be valid, a person needs two independent witnesses, who are not beneficiaries, present during the signing process something that might not be possible with the present distancing restrictions. Special Counsel at Barry Nilsson, Joanne Carusi, said inquiries for wills and estate planning had increased during the global pandemic. The Irish consumer is not helping matters by purchasing lower quality food produced abroad in the multiples. Stock photo The proposed land grab to kickstart the building of homes, with the compulsory purchase of land by the new government under the new framework document below its market valuation, is not good! It was the farmers who got the rest of the population back on track after the bust of the noughties. Now, with depressed factory cattle prices, farming in Ireland is at a tipping point, and competition with imported foreign produce is pushing farmers to the limit to cope, along with such extremes as flooding and myriad increased overhead costs. We need confidence in the sector, now as never before, but that is slowly being chiselled away. The Irish consumer is not helping matters by purchasing lower quality food produced abroad in the multiples. Of course the global free market is the bottom line but in the context of pandemics and climate crisis, this has all changed now forever. Globalisation is spinning out of control and, whether its changing our way back to the barter system or more alignment with the Keynesian model of economics and more environmentally sustainable farming, the farmer will be at the centre of it. Ian Hester Baymacurley, Co Roscommon More of the RTE orchestras would be music to my ears I am sitting watching a fantastic concert on RTe, A Womans Heart, but why at midnight? Lets have more of the two now redundant RTE orchestras why not every evening and why not instead of the depressing, boring evening news? The Irish population are so much more sophisticated than the media imagines. Michael Foley Rathmines, Dublin 6 Caseys use of language may mislead people about threat Judging by her use of language, it would seem that Patricia Casey is still wedded to the notion that Ireland is a police state. In her article All quiet on mental health frontline as fears over lockdowns damaging effects fall away, (April 20), she employs the adjective draconian to describe the restrictions currently imposed. She doesnt appear to accept that these measures are for the common good and are a proportionate response to the threat posed by Covid-19. The term draconian would be appropriate when referring to the Nuremberg Laws, which were anti-Semitic and racist, but totally inappropriate to describe measures designed to save lives. Ms Casey persists in using language which doesnt accurately describe the restrictions which are deemed necessary at this time. When someone of her status and standing does this, there is a danger that the public, or at least a portion of the public, may be misled. Jim OConnell Blackhorse Avenue, Dublin 7 Mention of Grays Elegy... evokes sweetest memories Brian Cosgroves letter referring to Grays Elegy... (April 21) brought to mind my long held wonder at the opening lines: The curfew tolls the knell of parting day/The lowing herd wind slowly oer the lea... Ive occasionally played a game with myself, yet not wishing to know for sure the type of curfew it depicts. It could be a military one or indeed a call from a monastery for the monks to come indoors in the same manner as the lumbering cows make their way home. Either or other, it is a most beautiful poem which I got to recite to my Catalan friends years ago when evening fell on their Catalan mountain during my visit to them. I was reminded then by the grumbling cattle trudging their way in that mountain field of an extinct volcano, as a church bell pealed somewhere in the distance. Memories are made of this. Oh, and right now I could crush a grape...as I bask in the approach of old age. Robert Sullivan Bantry, Co Cork Country needs a roadmap to reopen everything ... literally When all this cocooning is (hopefully) over, some of us may need a street map of our neighbourhoods. Tom Gilsenan Beaumont, Dublin 9 We could innovate our way around physical distancing With social distancing likely to be a fact of life for the foreseeable future, surely it is not beyond our innovation capabilities to design a semi-rigid transparent bubble to fit over shoulders and so protect the sensitive mucus membranes? Yes, wed all look like astronauts and maybe itd be a step too far for everyone, but young kids particularly would love it and youd immediately eliminate the problem of them playing and schooling together in close proximity. Brian Cullinan Skerries, Co Dublin 3D printed swabs Source: University of South Florida Each day, New Jersey does between 7,000 and 9,000 Covid-19 tests at the state's testing sites. Gov. Phil Murphy says that number must at least double before the state loosens lockdowns. Some health experts say the U.S. may have to do millions of tests as many as 20 million to 30 million per day. That will take many more nasal swabs a simple, but critical tool that's in short supply. A group of hospitals and companies is turning to 3D printers to ramp up production. Researchers at University of South Florida Health, a Tampa-based medical school, and Northwell Health, New York's largest health-care provider, teamed up to develop a 3D-printed swab that they can make at hospitals. They tested the design and produced the swabs with Formlabs, a 3D printing company that plans to make hundreds of thousands of them. The swabs are used for the most common type of Covid-19 test. The stick, which has a bristled end, goes deep into a person's nasal cavity and collects a sample that's tested for the coronavirus. The thousands of additional swabs could help alleviate some of the supply chain struggles that have slowed efforts for widespread testing. State governors and health experts say increased testing will allow them to better track the coronavirus' spread, so they can decide how and when to safely reopen businesses. On Sunday, President Donald Trump said he would use the Defense Production Act to increase manufacturing of swabs to at least 20 million per month. He made the announcement the same day several governors spoke out about shortages of key supplies, including reagents and swabs. It's such a critical component because there's a lot of pressure for us to start reopening things and for life to get back to normal. The only way we can do that is by figuring out how many people are sick. Summer Decker Director, 3D clinical applications, University of South Florida Health Summer Decker, USF Health's director of 3D clinical applications, said 3D-printed swabs give hospitals another option and helps to empower them. By making swabs on-site, hospitals don't have to worry about when the next shipment will arrive. Instead, the hospital can play a greater role in speeding along the high-volume testing that'd give the public more confidence to go back out into the world. "It's such a critical component because there's a lot of pressure for us to start reopening things and for life to get back to normal," she said. "The only way we can do that is by figuring out how many people are sick." During the pandemic, Northwell Health has gotten about 25% of the swabs that it's ordered for its hospitals in New York City, Long Island and Westchester, said Todd Goldstein, its director of 3D design and innovation. The health-care system has not run out of the swabs, but he said staying stocked has gotten more difficult as demand grows. "You literally have the entire world trying to get these test swabs all at the same time," he said. He said Northwell Health now makes 5,000 swabs per day for its hospitals with 3D printers. It plans to scale up to 7,500 or 8,000 per day. 3D printed swabs Source: University of South Florida From idea to 3D-printed swab At USF Health, some doctors use 3D printers to make models of hearts or organs to prepare for surgery or educate patients, Decker said. In mid-March, the medical school's dean emailed and asked if the 3D printers could help address the nation's swab shortage. Decker and her team got to work in the lab. They enlisted the help of Northwell Health. The researchers zeroed in on printers and materials already cleared by the Food and Drug Administration. They examined a typical swab to figure out how to make a similar one with resins, a liquid plastic that hardens. They asked infectious disease doctors to narrow down about a dozen designs and even tested the swabs on themselves. She said they compared the 3D-printed swab against the ones made in a typical factory: Was it comfortable enough for patients? Could it collect a large enough sample? Could it hold the virus for 24-hours or even days, if there's a back-up of testing at a lab? In the hard-hit New York City area, thousands of patients who came to Northwell Health's hospitals for testing helped accelerate clinical trials. Within two days, Goldstein said it completed testing. It's already submitted its findings to the New England Journal of Medicine, he said. Both hospitals now make thousands of the 3D printed swabs to have additional supply. Decker said USF Health now makes about 10,000 swabs per week for its teaching hospital, Tampa General Hospital, and the hospital's affiliated clinics. Scaling up USF Health and Northwell Health worked with Formlabs, a company that makes its 3D printers and materials, to test the design and ramp up production. The Boston area-based company has 550 employees. Its clients range from Fortune 500 companies and major hospitals to small dentist's offices. "They came to us and said 'Can you help us with this?,'" said Max Lobovsky, the company's CEO and cofounder of Formlabs. "'Can you help us refine the design and get the most out of the printer?'" Formlabs has started making the swabs at its resin plant in Ohio, which is about 25,000 square feet. It has 200 printers stacked floor to ceiling on racks. It has 25 employees, but he said the company plans to hire more. He said it is making "tens of thousands" of swabs, but plans to increase to 100,000 per day. So far, he said it's sold about 50,000 swabs to hospital systems and government agencies. If we wanted to keep the lights on, we needed to find a way to be essential. Jonathan Schwartz Co-founder and chief product officer, Voodoo Manufacturing The past few weeks have been hectic and surreal as the company pivots to a product that's become critical during the pandemic, he said. White House trade adviser, Peter Navarro, called Formlabs to ask about the production of the 3D-printed swabs. In an interview with Fox News, Navarro spoke about Formlabs and said the company is an example of how "the new economy is going to be flexible and innovative." Lobovsky said he hopes the swabs change how people think of 3D printing. He said they illuminate how the technology makes it possible to quickly manufacture on-site and on-demand, rather than needing to manufacture and ship goods thousands of miles away. "It's going to be a seminal moment for 3D printing well into the future," he said Still, Formlabs isn't expecting to make a profit on the swabs, Lobovsky said. It hopes to break even. Right now, it plans to charge $2 for each swab, but would like to get that down to $1 over time, which is closer to the price of typical swabs. 'Adapt or die mode' The UKs minister for women and equalities has downplayed concerns that female NHS staff are being placed at increased risk during the coronavirus crisis because protective gear has been designed for men. Liz Truss insisted health workers required the same protection ... regardless of what gender you are, despite the leading doctors body warning women were being forced to wear ill-fitting and inadequate personal protective equipment (PPE). Her comments to MPs on Wednesday came a day after The Independent reported on the British Medical Associations (BMA) concerns over the shortage of correctly sized PPE such as gloves, visors, aprons, and face masks for women. Giving evidence to the Women and Equalities Committee, Ms Truss was asked by another Conservative MP about what the government was doing to ensure female staff who make up 75 per cent of the workforce were properly protected. Nicola Richards, MP for West Bromwich East, said: Given a large majority of the health and social care workforce are likely to be at much greater risk of exposure to coronavirus, what is your role in understanding the potential differential effects of the virus on women? Are you able to tell me any steps that youve taken directly so far to protect women in particular? Ms Truss, who is also secretary of state for international trade, said: Of course a disproportionate number of those are female, as you rightly point out, but it is the same protection that is required regardless of what gender you are. It is just making sure that everybody has that protective equipment and that is what the Department of Health is making sure is happening every day during this crisis. The government has faced prolonged condemnation over the severe shortage of PPE for health workers, at least 74 of whom have been died after contracting coronavirus. Recommended Government says 84 health workers have died from coronavirus The ministers comments about PPE were quickly criticised on social media. Ruth Frost, a partnership manager the Wise Campaign, which pushes for gender balance in science, technology and engineering, tweeted: Badly fitting PPE is a hazard (do we really need to explain this? Is it not obvious?). If your mask is slipping off your face because its meant for someone not your size it is not an effective barrier. Another Twitter user said that Ms Truss should be only ever allowed to shop in the mens section for her workwear from now on then. Dr Helen Fidler, a spokesperson for the BMA, the professional organisation for doctors, previously told The Independent it was vital that to keep staff in clinical environments safe they have an adequate supply of PPE and that it fits correctly. She added: We are aware that in the current crisis, female doctors and other NHS staff are having issues with filtering face-piece masks and other PPE not being available in smaller sizes as they tend to be designed to the size and shape of male bodies. Dr Fidler, a consultant gastroenterologist at Lewisham and Greenwich Trust, called for smaller sizes to be made available urgently. The nursing sector in particular is predominantly made up of women, with nine out of 10 nurses in the UK being female. Rose Gallagher, professional lead for infection prevention and control at the Royal College of Nursing, said: One-size-fits-all protective equipment has been a problem for frontline healthcare workers who have to wear this specialist life-saving equipment for up to 12 hours at a time. Nurses can find it very difficult to deliver care to patients if this equipment is so uncomfortable it bruises the skin and makes them feel hot and unwell. Nurses wearing PPE need adequate breaks to rest and rehydrate, which requires them to remove and then replace the personal protective equipment. However, many nurses are expected to work without adequate PPE or to use PPE that has not been produced to meet the required safety standards. Nurses are now also being asked to reuse what has up to now been single-use equipment, which is completely unacceptable. Ministers must get a grip on this issue and ensure that no nurse is needlessly put in danger by a lack of masks, eye protection or gowns. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 15:21:23|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close by Xinhua writers Yuan Quan, Yin Pingping BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Few people have the chance to savor the magnificent sight of wildlife on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, but Bao Yongqing, a Tibetan amateur photographer, braves freezing temperatures for days and sometimes weeks to share the experience with the world. His photos have come under the spotlight on Wednesday, the World Earth Day, which is marked annually on April 22 across the globe to promote environmental protection and sustainable development. In 2019, Bao, 52, won the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year, an international honor awarded annually by London's Natural History Museum, for his shot of a Tibetan fox startling a marmot. The picture captures the movement of the fox baring its teeth and the marmot looking panicked. "The expressive intensity of the postures holds you transfixed, and the thread of energy between the raised paws seems to hold the protagonists in perfect balance," said judging panel chair Roz Kidman Cox. Bao named the photo "The Moment," but he had tracked the animals for days across the "roof of the world" and snapped thousands of photos the fox finally gripped the dead marmot by the neck. "What makes me happy about winning the prize?" Bao said. "It was using my cameras to bring the plateau to the world - it's my home and a wildlife paradise." Bao was born at the foot of snow-topped Tianjun Mountain, on the northern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, a five-hour drive from Xining, capital of northwest China's Qinghai Province. He is fluent in Tibetan, his mother's native tongue. Working in a local company selling livestock products, Bao heard from a herdsman in 2015 how a snow leopard had eaten a yak. He had never seen the large cat before, so he determined to go to the mountains to find one. Photographing wild animals is often thought of as a game of luck. Bao was not always lucky and missed capturing his first meeting with snow leopards. The snow leopard is an iconic plateau animal, but it is mostly active after dark, choosing to shelter among rocks or caves during daylight. This behavior has earned it the nickname "mountain hermit" by scientists who study it with the help of sensitive infrared cameras. Bao bought 24 infrared cameras worth about 100,000 yuan (14,101 U.S. dollars) and deployed them in the mountains. After a month, he knew the areas frequented by snow leopards. In September, he chose a cave and camped alone. It was snowing. After waiting four days, he spotted with his binoculars a snow leopard with a cub. He began trembling and could not press the shutter. "I felt my heart beating very fast," he recalled. He switched his camera to video mode and lit a cigarette to calm down. But minutes later, he found he was too thrilled to focus on the animals, and he recorded only blue sky. Bao's photos include snow leopards breastfeeding their cubs, two manuls sticking their tongues out at each other and a weasel walking in snow with a flower in its mouth. The secret is patience and endurance. Bao refuses to lure animals close for a good picture. He once bought a drone to capture birds feeding, but it frightened the birds and he gave up. "All animals have their own way of living. Human interference can have unexpected outcomes." The proud director of the Qinghai Wildlife Protection Association, he stresses that photographing wildlife is more about educating the next generation than winning prizes, as few local children can identify the plants and animals. He plans to produce a book of wildlife images for schoolchildren: "We talk about animal protection, but if we don't even know what the animals look like, how can we protect them?" Since winning the award, he has refused high offers for the copyright of his photos. "I will donate the photos to the association, which can print them as brochures and posters for schools and communities," Bao said. Unlike many international wildlife photographers who travel the world, Bao just wants to focus on the plateau. "I will dedicate my life to the wildlife conservation in my home." Enditem A Virginia teen is having a good laugh after a poor decision during a family game of hide-and-seek required a fire department rescue. Image: Amari Dancy, Woman stuck in washing machine (Courtesy Amari Dancy) We already had hid underneath the bed, in the closet, and we couldn't go down into the basement, Amari Dancy, 18, said. "So, I was like Oh, OK, let's just hide in the washer machine. Dancy was playing with younger relatives Sunday when she got stuck in the appliance. A cousin found her and alerted other adults, who then called for help. The Prince William County Department of Fire and Rescue arrived to Woodbridge, Virginia, home about 11 p.m. April 19. So the fire department came in and introduced themselves and then asked her name and what happened, said Suni Dancy, Amaris aunt who documented the rescue effort on Instagram. She said, Well, I was playing hide-and-seek, and he said, Well, did you win? First responders were able to remove the top of the washing machine and make enough space to pull Amari out without injury, according to her aunt. I was really worried to see if they were going to get me out or not, the teen said. Once they figured out what to do ... I just felt relieved. I just wanted to be out of there. Suni Dancy said her relatives found the situation funny. She doesnt even normally play with the younger kids, Suni Dancy said. Once she made it out of the laundry machine, Amari Dancy was able to see the humor in her predicament as well. I mean its pretty embarrassing, but all I can do is laugh it off, she said. I had a laugh out of it, my family had a laugh out of it, I'm OK. As long as I'm OK, that's all that matters to me. The Press Council of India on Wednesday expressed "grave concern" over the large number of journalists contracting COVID-19 and urged the government and media houses to help such scribes. In a statement, the PCI said it is saddened to know that a large number of journalists while on call of duty have contracted the COVID-19 virus. It appealed to the government and all other authorities to help the those journalists who have contracted the virus while reporting on the pandemic from the containment zone, hotspots and other COVID-19-affected areas by providing medical help and required support to mitigate their hardships. "The media persons who are working on ground zero are advised to take due health related precautions while performing their duties," the PCI said. In view of their vulnerability, the management of media or publication house need to take necessary steps to ensure their care, the statement said. The statement comes a day after the governments of Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Delhi decided to arrange COVID-19 tests for media persons. Some journalists from a Tamil TV channel in Chennai also tested positive for the infection. Also, during a special camp organised at the Azad Maidan in Mumbai on April 16 and 17 for COVID-19 testing of scribes, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) collected swab samples of 171 media persons, including electronic and print media journalists, photographers and cameramen. Out of the 171 mediapersons, 53 have tested positive for coronavirus. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 22) The Chinese Embassy on Wednesday blasted a Filipina senator for demanding that China pay the Philippines' expenses in battling COVID-19 as a reparation for destroying the reefs at West Philippine Sea. Senator Risa Hontiveros said China owes the country some 200 billion for "at least six years'" worth of environmental damages. Hontiveros cited the breakdown of costs reported by the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute, which states that the destruction to the reefs in Scarborough Shoal and Spratly Islands is equivalent to at least 33.1 billion in annual losses. This is reportedly on top of other economic and health costs. The senator added that the compensation should be used to fund efforts against the coronavirus disease and extend aid to affected families. The government should demand what is rightfully ours and use this to help the Filipino people battle COVID-19, she said. The Chinese embassy, in response, reduced the senators call to a selfish political tactic. At this trying time, it is ridiculously absurd and irresponsible to make such remarks for the sole purpose of catching eyeballs and for selfish political gains, it said, adding that the two countries are "friendly neighbors across the sea." The West Philippine Sea is the Philippines' exclusive economic zone in the disputed South China Sea. While an international arbitration has already favored Manila by concluding China has no claims to the bulk of the global waterway, Chinese President Xi Jinping continues to ignore the ruling. RELATED: COVID-19 not stopping 'steady increase of Chinese harassment' in South China Sea Demand unpaid taxes from POGOs Apart from compensation for marine environmental damages, Hontiveros also said the government should demand the 50-billion unpaid taxes from Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO). She also urged the government to reassess its decision to allow POGOs to operate once the lockdown is lifted. The online gambling firms have been involved in multiple allegations of crimes linked to their operation, such as corruption, money laundering, bribery, tax evasion, kidnapping and sex trafficking. Hindi na nga buo ang binabayad nilang tax, may korapsyon at sex trafficking pang pinapalaganap, Hontiveros said. [Translation: On top of failing to pay for their taxes, they are even committing corruption and sex trafficking in the country.] The taxes obtained from POGOs should likewise be used to augment assistance to Filipinos suffering from the impact of the viral disease, she added. For its part, the Chinese embassy maintained that China and the Philippines are working closely to address the threats of the coronavirus disease. It also assured that China will provide assistance to the best of [its] ability in the fight against the pandemic. The Chinese government has earlier sent a team of medical experts to the country to share technical advice on the prevention and control of COVID-19. It has also donated medical supplies including surgical and N95 masks, protective suits, face shields, and non-invasive ventilators. Call for accountability from China Some officials from other parts of the world are also holding China liable for the coronavirus pandemic that has so far infected nearly 2.6 million people worldwide. Obiageli Oby Ezekwesili, former World Bank vice president for Africa and former minister of education for Nigeria, wrote an opinion piece asserting that Africa be accorded compensation from China. Ezekwesili said COVID-19 has aggravated the conditions of Africas poor and vulnerable, further impeding the regions development prospects. Africas economic gains since the last global crisis have been eroded. It is time to make offending rich countries pay the poor ones a global risk burden tax for delaying their rise out of poverty, she wrote. She added that China should demonstrate world leadership by acknowledging its failure to be transparent on Covid-19. In the United States, the State of Missouri is suing the Chinese government, as it accuses the latter of covering up information and doing little to curb the spread of the virus. It also alleges that Chinas actions led to "enormous" economic disruptions across the world. "Before the pandemic, Missouri had one of its lowest unemployment rates of the past decade, but on information and belief, Missouri's unemployment rate is now the highest it has been since the Great Depression," the lawsuit read. "Responding to the pandemic has required shutting down businesses, disrupting ordinary production and trade, and dislocating workers," it added. Meanwhile, German newspaper Bild has sent the Chinese President an invoice of 130-billion reparations for the economic damages brought by the coronavirus disease. "You, your government and your scientists had to know long ago that Corona is highly infectious, but you left the world in the dark about it," Bild said in an open letter addressed to President Xi Jinping. Attorneys Jeff Heller and Kameron Keene Through hard work and perseverance, our team has earned a reputation for taking cases as far as necessary to obtain a just result for our clients. Jeff Heller and Kameron Keene, attorneys at J. M. Heller, Attorney at Law, P.C., were recently honored by two of the states most respected attorney recognition programs. Both lawyers were named to the list of Legal Elite by Georgia Trend Magazine, an honor determined solely by the voting of other attorneys in the state. In addition, Heller was named to the list of Super Lawyers for the second consecutive year. Recognition by Super Lawyers is reserved for 5% of attorneys in Georgia and is based on a patented selection process comprised of attorney voting, independent research conducted by the Thomson Reuters editorial team, and evaluation by a specially selected panel of lawyers. Heller, who started his career over 30 years ago as a Marine Corps trial lawyer, believes the firms willingness to take on challenging cases is an important factor for programs that recognize attorneys. Through hard work and perseverance, our team has earned a reputation for taking cases as far as necessary to obtain a just result for our clients, said Heller. In some instances, that means a jury trial where the ability to effectively present evidence is incredibly important. Keene, a former Assistant Solicitor-General for Cherokee County, agrees that the teams approach to pursuing justice is part of what makes the firm unique. Jeff and I are comfortable negotiating a fair resolution outside of the courtroom or trying cases in front of a judge or jury when necessary, said Keene. Our clients appreciate that, when they hire our law firm, we are going to do everything possible within the law to produce a positive outcome. The attorneys at J.M. Heller, Attorney at Law, P.C. are no strangers to recognition for excellence in the practice of law. Heller holds a rating of 10/10 from AVVO, one of the industrys most respected attorney rating organizations, and the firms clients have written over 100 positive reviews online about their experience with the firm. About J. M. Heller, Attorney at Law, P.C.: J. M. Heller, Attorney at Law, P.C. is the go-to law firm in northwest Georgia for important legal matters. The firm represents individuals and families in criminal defense, bankruptcy, family law, and estate planning matters. The firms slogan Give em Heller has come to represent the communitys ability to hire top-tier, local legal representation for high-stakes cases involving the protection of freedom, property, and important rights. By PTI ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's senior doctors based in the county and abroad have urged the Imran Khan government to review its decision to allow congregational prayers in mosques during the month of Ramzan amid the coronavirus outbreak which has infected more than 10,000 people. The Pakistan government has succumbed to pressure from the hardline clerics and allowed conditional congregational prayers in mosques during Ramzan, endangering the drive to curb the spread of coronavirus that has killed more than 175,000 people worldwide. In a letter to the government as well as religious leader, the doctors asked to limit the prayers to 3-5 persons - a practice already going on to check the coronavirus outbreak. Indus Hospital CEO Dr Abdul Bari Khan confirmed that the letter had been sent to express fears and reservations of the medical community. The doctors wrote that mostly aged people of 50 years and above go to mosques and referred to videos that surfaced in the past 48 hours had shown that more than 80 per cent of the people attending prayers in mosques were mostly in their 60s and 70s, Dawn online reported. READ HERE: Pakistan govt gives in before hardliners, allows conditional congregational Ramazan prayers in mosques "Clearly this has resulted in the violation of the first and foremost principle of preventing the spread of the virus in the most vulnerable group" of elderly people, stated the letter, which has been endorsed by the Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA). "With Ramzan approaching, we would understandably expect higher number of namazis (worshippers) attending the prayers. Moreover, long Taraweeh prayers and waiting times will lead to prolonged gatherings. It is all but certain that this will cause significant mayhem..." it added. Hospitals in Karachi have started experiencing a "significant influx of corona positive patients", the letter said. "We anticipate these numbers and resultant mortality to expand exponentially in the next few days." "This will undeniably result in significant pressure on our already compromised health system." The doctors explained that increased exposure to the virus increases the likelihood of getting infected and, as a consequence, of complications and death. "We fear that allowing congregational prayers in larger number in our mosques may contribute to such fatal outcomes," the letter stated. It expressed the fear that all of the above issues will have the combined effect of jeopardising the "reputation of Islam and that of our ulema" and will lead to "unwanted loss of lives". "In these circumstances, if COVID-19 disease becomes an epidemic in Pakistan and the government loses control of its management in the country, it will not just be a failure of Pakistan as a country but it may have substantial unwanted and unforeseen effects on the whole Muslim ummah," the letter said. ALSO READ: UK announces 2.67 million pounds to help Pakistan's healthcare system in wake of COVID-19 It also cautioned that while doctors are ready to put their lives at risk, if healthcare professionals in Pakistan die as per the trend seen in other countries, "there won't be many resources [left] including manpower to look after our patients". According to officials, so far 140 doctors, nurses and paramedics have been infected across the country mostly in worst-hit Punjab province. The medics also clarified that Pakistanis "are no more immune to this virus than the rest of the world", saying data released by the UK's National Health Service had shown that a vast majority of healthcare staff who died there due to COVID-19 comprised Asians including many Muslims. They observed that the "social fiber" of the Pakistani society is one where "mismanagement, indiscipline and not following or obeying the rules is predominantly common [and] where [even] educated people do not follow the day-to-day traffic rules (for example) and miscommitment in our dealings is a norm". With such habits and behavioural patterns, it is "almost impossible" for ulema, mosque managements and the administration to make people abide by the conditions mentioned in the consensus document of the government and the ulema, especially in densely populated areas of the country "where people are generally not educated and unable to comprehend the consequences of such violations", their letter stated. Noting that the comparison between the opening of mosques with the opening of businesses and shops is "not valid", the doctors requested the government and business community to "practice patience" and continue to keep markets and non-essential shops closed and only allow home deliveries from restaurants. In the same vein, "any other worldly matters leading to public gatherings and interactions should also be curtailed in exactly the same fashion", the letter suggested, reminding that the novel coronavirus does not distinguish between people based on the nature of their activities but the strength, quantity and duration of their gatherings. President Dr Arif Alvi last week said a 20-point plan has been reached with the clerics on the congregational prayers during Ramzan after they agreed to follow the government guidelines on social distancing while praying. Several countries including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Algeria, Tunisia, Jordan, Kuwait, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt have stopped congregational prayers in mosques. In several Arab countries, the 'azaan' (call for prayer) has been amended and now it urges people to pray in their homes. Last week, Saudi Minister of Islamic Affairs Dr Abdul Latif Al Sheikh asked people to perform the special 'taraweeh' prayers at their homes during the month of Ramzan in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. An Earth-sized planet has been discovered by scientists. Dubbed Kepler-1649c, the planet orbits the habitable zone of a red dwarf star. The planet is about 300 lightyears away from Earth. Scientists have discovered an actual Earth-sized exoplanet that is currently in orbit around the habitable zone of a red dwarf star. Dubbed Kepler-1649c, the planet was not discovered until a group of researchers took a deeper look at the data they collected which was originally mislabeled. After careful study, they found that the planet is a little larger than Earth and gets about 75% as much sunlight as Earth does from the Sun. A report from Space Flight Insider says that the planet is about 1.06 times the size of our own planet. Dont get your hopes too high though as Kelper-1649c is about 300 light-years away from our planet and orbits its red dwarf star once every 19.5 Earth days. The associate administrator of NASAs Science Mission Directorate, Thomas Zurbuchen said, This intriguing, distant world gives us even greater hope that a second Earth lies among the stars, waiting to be found. The data gathered by missions like Kepler and our Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will continue to yield amazing discoveries as the science community refines its abilities to look for promising planets year after year. Currently, scientists have no data on the atmosphere on the planet. Even though information about the planet is not readily available because of the difficulty in judging exactly what constitutes its atmosphere, scientists are hopeful that they can find more planets in the habitable zone of different stars. Well, keep your fingers crossed because weve certainly made a mess of our own planet and maybe the only way to ensure the species survival is to take to the stars. Stay-at-home orders during the coronavirus pandemic have moved everything indoors, including pent-up energy. Who best to turn to for advice on keeping kids moving, inside and out, than an educator who is passionate about promoting lifelong fitness? We asked Julia Stevens, president of the Oregon Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE) and a physical education, dance and health teacher at Richmond Elementary in Southeast Portland, for advice. It is so crucial that our students are continuing to be physically active during this time, says Stevens, who posts cool dance moves to songs such as Little Einstein Shuffle and Beep Beep, Im a Sheep on her YouTube page. Here are Julia Stevens suggestions to get kids and parents happily active: Tumblr.comTumblr.com Get outside every day Create a scavenger hunt, set up an outdoor obstacle or ninja warrior course, or use sidewalk chalk to create a life-size board game. Make a jump rope from recycled plastic bags or a paddle from a cereal box and use it to hit a ball. Sign up for a virtual run or walk: Healthy Kids has age-appropriate race distances and youngsters participate at their own pace as parents record the time. Go geocaching: The treasure hunting game is played with a handheld GPS navigator by explorers looking for hidden containers. Cache Me If You Can is a geocaching board game with caches, geocoins, hazards, multi-caches, puzzle caches and muggles. Practice mindfulness while still having fun Cosmic Kids: More than a million kids follow instructions on yoga, mindfulness and relaxation while watching the free Cosmic Kids YouTube Channel. Parents and teachers report significant improvements in self-regulation, focus and empathy, according to the video producers. Calm.com and Calm app for kids: Find the kids category on the Meditate screen to locate meditations for young beginners. The Emotions Series and Winnie the Pooh sessions are popular with teachers and younger audiences. Headspace for Kids: Activities teach themes -- calm, focus, kindness, sleep and wake up -- and help kids practice breathing exercises, visualizations and even try some focus-based meditation customized to age groups: 5 and under, 6-8 and 9-12. Reach out to local educators and organizations for more resources Beaverton School District Brain Boost: There are suggestions for physical activity at home that include fitness dances, quick movement and Minute to Win It challenges. Portland Public Schools: Offer PE and health distance learning tools. Oregon Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE) downloadable Health Move and Mind fitness calendarSHAPE America Oregon Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE): Has downloadable Health Move and Mind fitness calendars with suggestions in English and Spanish. Dont be afraid to get silly or have a dance party GoNoodle: This free, online resource offers ways for kids and families to be active, stay mindful and keep on learning. There are videos and weekly Good Energy emails with more suggestions. Just Dance for Kids: The music and rhythm game on Nintendo Wii shows steps created by choreographers and led by real kids. Broom ball: Sweep the floor and keep the kids busy by marking a square with tape on a hardwood floor and using a broom to push small nylon bean bags into the square. Whats Stevens routine? She says, Although it took me some time to establish, my now normal fitness routine involves these activities: Slow morning walk in the neighborhood with the dog for 40 minutes 30 minutes of high intensity interval training during lunch break 20-30 minutes of dance or fitness activities with students during Google Meets office hours Finish the day with 15-20 minutes of nighttime yoga Julia Stevens, president of Oregon Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE) and a physical educationJulia Stevens This consistent routine has been so helpful in keeping me physically healthy, but more importantly, it has helped me mentally and emotionally, says Stevens. My body and brain just feel so much better with consistent physical activity in my life. --Janet Eastman | 503-294-4072 jeastman@oregonian.com | @janeteastman Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories KAMPALA Uganda continued to record good gains in the fight against the spread of the novel Coronavirus as four more patients were discharged from Entebbe Grade B hospital on Wednesday, April 22 evening. Earlier in the day, the Ministry of Health had reported discharge of three other patients from the national referral hospital at Mulago, as the lockdown measures instituted by the government for the last 13 days begun to bare fruit. The development brings Ugandas total recoveries to 45. Those discharged were handed certificates of recovery by junior Health Minister Robinah Nabbanja at the Mulago Hospital and Entebbe Grade B where they had been admitted. She said they will now undergo psychosocial support before being reintegrated back into the community. All first patients who fully recovered from the coronavirus were treated using the controversial hydroxychloroquine drug that is yet to be approved by the World Health Organisation, according to Dr. Henry Mwebesa, the Director-General Health Services at the Health Ministry. The patients we are discharging were on hydroxychloroquine and erythromycin actually, he tweeted when the country discharged the first three COVID-19 patients on April 11. Uganda is going all out to deploy the treatment regime, President Yoweri Museveni said on Tuesday, despite caution from the WHO, scientists and top epidemiologists that hydroxychloroquine has fatal side effects. Related Continue Reading Details added (first version posted on 19:48) BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 10 Trend: The Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers has appealed to the Azerbaijani citizens who wish to return to the country from Russia, the Operational Headquarters told Trend on April 10. Having closed their borders, a number of countries temporarily restricted entry and exit to their territory as part of the measures which are taken at the international level to prevent the widespread spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). As a result of the suspension of regular flights by most countries since March 2020, an appeal was made for Azerbaijani citizens who are abroad and wishing to return to the country. The Azerbaijani government ensured their return to the country by charter flights from Iran, Turkey, Russia, Italy, Hungary and other countries. The situation in connection with COVID-19 pandemic in Azerbaijan was analyzed at a subsequent stage. The entry and exit from the territory of Azerbaijan by vehicles and planes have been closed since April 5 till April 20, 2020 to curb the wide spread of the virus with the exception of cargo transportation. The domestic flights were also suspended. Despite a warning about the closure of borders was given in advance, Azerbaijani citizens living in Russia and willing to return to the country have some difficulties at the checkpoints. In connection with the current situation, we urge Azerbaijani citizens living in Russia and willing to return to the country, comply with the requirements of the quarantine regime, and pass registration in the Azerbaijani embassy and consulates in Russia until April 20, 2020, the Operational Headquarters said. Due to the special quarantine regime in Azerbaijan, the decision of opening the borders will be made after April 20, 2020, proceeding from the situation in connection with COVID-19. Taking into account the opportunities for receiving citizens at the special quarantine points within the country and the dynamics of spreading coronavirus (COVID-19), the issue of returning the citizens registered at the embassies and consulates to Azerbaijan on a certain schedule will be considered. During the border closure period, as an exception, in case of the death of Azerbaijani citizens in other countries, one relative will be allowed to enter Azerbaijans territory while transporting the body (the accompanying person will be on quarantine after entering Azerbaijan). To protect the health and safety of people during a global pandemic, citizens are required to comply with applicable requirements and rules, not to gather at border checkpoints, thereby violating the quarantine regime of the country of residence. Virus deaths in state reach 652 SEATTLE (AP) The Washington state Department of Heath reports the number of COVID-19 cases has topped 12,000 across the state while the total number of people who have died has reached at 652. The agency on Monday reported nearly 300 newly confirmed cases and 18 additional deaths from the disease. Public Health Seattle & King County on Monday announced 112 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among people living homeless or working in homeless services sites, including two deaths. Additionally, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson is suing a property-management company for allegedly violating the coronavirus-related emergency moratorium on evictions, the Seattle Times reported. It's the first lawsuit filed to enforce the emergency orders issued amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a news release from his office. Since April 1, the Attorney General's Office said it has received over 650 complaints from tenants and the office has been in touch with 284 landlords and 469 tenants about them. Photo: The Canadian Press People conduct business at the Qazvin traditional bazaar in Iran. Irans Revolutionary Guard launched its first satellite into space Wednesday, dramatically revealing what experts described as a secret military space program that could advance its ballistic missile development amid wider tensions between the Islamic Republic and the U.S. Using a mobile launcher at a new launch site, the Guard said it put the Noor," or "Light," satellite into a low orbit circling the Earth. While the U.S., Israel and other countries declined to immediately confirm the satellite reached orbit, their criticism suggested they believed the launch happened. The launch comes as Iran has abandoned all the limitations of its tattered nuclear deal with world powers that President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from in 2018. Trumps decision set off a monthslong series of escalating attacks that culminated in a U.S. drone strike in January that killed a top Iranian general in Iraq, followed by Tehran launching ballistic missiles at American soldiers in Iraq. As the world grapples with the coronavirus pandemic and historically low oil prices, the missile launch may signal a new willingness to take risks by Iran. Trump himself later tweeted he told the U.S. Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea, both raising energy prices and renewing the risk of conflict. Now that you have the maximum pressure campaign, Iran doesnt have that much to lose anymore, said Fabian Hinz, a researcher at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California. The three-stage satellite launch took off from Irans Central Desert, the Guard said, without elaborating. Hinz said based on state media images, the launch appeared to have happened at a previously unacknowledged Guard base near Shahroud, Iran, some 330 kilometres (205 miles) northeast of Tehran. The base is in Semnan province, which hosts the Imam Khomeini Spaceport from which Iran's civilian space program operates. The paramilitary force said it used a "Qased," or Messenger, satellite carrier to put the device into space, a previously unheard-of system. It described the system as using both liquid and solid fuel. Such a system may allow Iran to more quickly fuel a rocket, something crucial in an offensive weapon system, Hinz said, while stressing more information was needed about the launch. Wednesday marked the 41st anniversary of the founding of the Guard by Irans late leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. An image of the rocket that carried the satellite showed it bore a Quranic verse typically recited when going on a journey, as well as a drawing of the Earth with the word Allah in Farsi wrapped around it. It remained unclear what the satellite it carried does. Today, the worlds powerful armies do not have a comprehensive defence plan without being in space, and achieving this superior technology that takes us into space and expands the realm of our abilities is a strategic achievement, said Gen. Hossein Salami, the head of the Guard. The Guard, which operates its own military infrastructure parallel to Irans regular armed forces, is a hard-line force answerable only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. International criticism of the launch came quickly. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Iran needs to be held accountable for what its done. Israel's Foreign Ministry described the launch as a facade for Irans continuous development of advanced missile technology. German Foreign Ministry spokesman Christofer Burger warned that the Iranian rocket program has a destabilizing effect on the region and is also unacceptable in view of our European security interests. U.S. Army Maj. Rob Lodewick, a Pentagon spokesman, told The Associated Press that American officials continue to monitor Irans program. While Tehran does not currently have intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), its desire to have a strategic counter to the United States could drive it to develop an ICBM, Lodewick said. The U.S. alleges such satellite launches defy a U.N. Security Council resolution calling on Iran to undertake no activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. Iran, which long has said it does not seek nuclear weapons, previously maintained its satellite launches and rocket tests do not have a military component. The Guard launching its own satellite now calls that into question. Sensex, Nifty Updates on April 22, 2020: Benchmarks Sensex and Nifty closed on a bullish note on Wednesday, followng positive trend from overseas amid heavy buying in index heavyweights like Reliance Industries, Asian Paints, Nestle and Maruti. BSE Sensex closed 742 points higher 31,379 and NSE Nifty ended 205 points higher at 9,187. In terms of sectors, media stocks were rising the most, with Nifty media climbing 4.55% higher, followed by 2.7% rise in energy and 2% gain in auto scrips. In the meanwhile, PSU Bank and realty sectors declining over 1% each, followed by marginal decline in banking and financial indices. European indices opened higher today, with FTSE and DAX rising over 1% each, and CAC trading 0.50% higher. Asian counterparts were poised to track bullishness from overseas and traded marginally higher. Where SGX Nifty climbed 2% higher, Kospi, Shanghai index were trading nearly 1% higher, followed flat to positive bias trend in Taiwan and Hang Seng. As per market experts markets opened higher today as investors hoped for announcement of another economic relief package today from PM Modi 's cabinet meet, in the wake of novel coronavirus outbreak. Here's a look at the updates of the market action on BSE and NSE today: 3.40 PM: Closing bell Benchmarks Sensex and Nifty closed on a bullish note on Wednesday, followng positive trend from overseas amid heavy buying in index heavyweights like Reliance Industries, Asian Paints, Nestle and Maruti. BSE Sensex closed 742 points higher 31,379 and NSE Nifty ended 205 points higher at 9,187. 3.30 PM: Seshasayee Paper shares rise over 7% Seshasayee Paper share price touched an intraday high of Rs 137, rising 7.7% on BSE after the company annoucned that rating firm CARE re-affirmed credit rating on company's long term bank facilities at A+/Positive. 3.20 PM: Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals gains almost 5% Crompton Greaves share price opened with a gain of 3.32% and later touched an intraday high of Rs 225.2, rising 4.48% on BSE today. The company announced yesterday that it has partially resumed operations at Goa and Vadodara plants in a phased manner. 3.10 PM: Rupee ends stronger at 76.67 per dollar Rupee the local unit, ended stronger at 76.67 per dollar as compared to last closing value of 76.84 against the dollar. 3.00 PM: Market rises further Benchmarks Sensex and Nifty rose higher on Wednesday, followng bullish trend from overseas amid heavy buying in index heavyweights like Reliance Industries, Asian Paints, Nestle and Maruti. BSE Sensex traded 800 points higher 31,415 and NSE Nifty traded 215 points higher at 9,197. 2.40 PM: Gayatri Projects locks 5% upper circuit Gayatri Projects share prcie locked at 5% upper circuit today after the company said that construction activity at company's project sites has resumed operation. 2.30 PM Vodafone share price rises 10% Vodafone stock price rose today after PTI reported that the telecom operator has submitted Rs 1,367 crore to the government towards licence fee and spectrum usage charges payment for March 2020 quarter. Following the news, Vodafone shares gained nearly 10% to the day's high of Rs 4.05 on BSE. 2.20 PM: MCX Gold rises to Rs 46,114 Gold June Futures on MCX were trading 1.70 % or 77o points higher at Rs 46,096 per 10 gm today, after rising to an intraday high of 46,110 today. Gold futures closed at 45,325 per 10 gm yesterdaty and opened at 45,678 today. 2.10 PM: Sectors today In terms of sectors, media stocks were rising the most, with Nifty media climbing 4.55% higher, followed by 2.7% rise in energy and 2% gain in auto scrips. In the meanwhile, PSU Bank and realty sectors declining over 1% each, followed by marginal decline in banking and financial indices. 2.00 PM: Punjab & Sind Bank share price drops 6.5% Punjab & Sind Bank share price dropped 6.5% today to Rs 15.24 on BSE after the company informed the exchanges that rating firm ICRA has downgraded the rating for the bank's Basel III-compliant tier-1 bonds worth Rs 1,000 crore to ICRA A- and maintained negative outlook. 1.50 PM: Shalimar Paints share price gains almost 10% Shalimar Paints' share price opened with a gain of 8.92% and later touched an intraday high of Rs 69.65, rising 9.94% on BSE today. The company announced that Equity Intelligence India and Assured Fin - Cap Pvt have bought 1.28% stake and 1.84% stake in company during March quarter. 1.30 PM: RIL share price locks upper circuit at 10 % climb Reliance Indsutries share price rose 10% to lock at upper circuit temporaray at Rs 1,361 on BSE, after the company said that social media giant Facebook will be invesing Rs 43,574 cr, to pick up a stake in company's telcom subsidiary Reliance Jio. Post the deal, Facebook will become the largest minority shareholder in Jio platforms. 1.20 PM: European markets open in green, Asian indices follow trend European indices opened higher today, with FTSE and DAX rising over 1% each, and CAC trading 0.50% higher. Asian counterparts were poised to track bullishness from overseas and traded marginally higher. Where SGX Nifty climbed 2% higher, Kospi, Shanghai index were trading nearly 1% higher, followed flat to positive bias trend in Taiwan and Hang Seng. 1.10 PM: Sensex, Nifty rise further Benchmarks Sensex and Nifty rose higher on Wednesday, bucking the weak trend from overseas, as investors anticipated another stimulus from PM Modi's cabinet meet scheduled today. As per market experts, domestic indices rose higher on stock specific action in index heavyweights. Reversing trend from losses, BSE Sensex traded 700 points higher 31,315 and NSE Nifty traded 177 points higher at 9,158. 12.50 PM: Why markets rising in bearish trend Bucking the weak trend from overseas, domestic equity as well as currency markets rose higher on Wednesday, as investors anticipated another stimulus from PM Modi's cabinet meet scheduled today. In a positive directional cue for the market, India's cabinet is meeting is scheduled on Wednesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a cabinet meet at his residence on Wednesday to take stock of the ongoing situation in the wake of novel coronavirus outbreak. As per reports, investors are hoping for for another economic stimulus and are anticipating that the government will roll out further measures to help fight the pandemic. 12.40 PM: Oil prices continue in red Oil prices continued to show weakness even though it moved away from the lowest level. Further, the weakness was seen spreading to more futures contracts, suggested experts. Brent Crude was trading 13.76% lower at 16.6 per barrel today. 12.30 PM: Global markets in red Asian markets are trading mostly in red tracking overnight fall in US markets as investor sentiment were already negative due to fall in crude. US markets closed lower near two week lows led by technology stocks after analyst cut price target for Alphabet and Facebook.The collapse in U.oil prices and glum forecasts by companies worsened fears of a deep economic downturn. European indices closed lower as volatility in oil market. Further coronavirus updates also overshadowed the markets. 12.20 PM: NIIT share price climbs 11% NIIT share price gained in the early trade today after the company said its wholly owned subsidiary has signed a Managed Services agreement with a US based EdTech company to provide virtual services to education providers. The term of the agreement is 5 years. NIIT shares, post the announcement opened with a gain of 2.17% today and later touched an intraday high of Rs 89.75, rising 11.21% on BSE. NIIT stock has traded in a wide range of Rs 8.3 today. 12.10 PM: Nifty's technical outlook Expressing views of Market's technical trend today, Sameet Chavan-Chief Analyst-Technical and Derivatives, Angel Broking) said, "We had a muted session on Monday but overnight there was unprecedented fall seen in Crude oil prices which spooked traders' fraternity across the globe. As a result, our markets opened with more than 200 points downside gap and then kept sinking to test the 8900 mark. Due to some mild recovery towards the fag end, the Nifty eventually closed tad below 9000 by shedding three percent as compared to the previous close. If things had not worsened with respect to Crude, 9100 would have acted as a support. But yesterday we opened well below it and then continued the selloff. On next support and resistance levels, he further added,"Going ahead, 8900 - 8820 would be seen as a crucial support zone; whereas on the upside, 9044 followed by 9100 is likely to act as immediate hurdles." 12.00 PM: Expert opinion on RIL-Facebook deal Experssing views on the Facebook-JIO deal, Aamar Deo Singh, Head Advisory, Angel Broking said,"It's a win-win situation for both the partners, as on one hand, it gives Facebook a wider audience with Jio's 388 million client, it helps Reliance pay its debt as well as leverage the reach of Whatsapp, Facebook Chat's service. He added,"With the current global scenario post COVID-19, focus being on digital, it opens up huge business opportunities for both of the giants. It couldn't have come at a more opportune time. And with India slated to have 900 million internet users in a few years, as per a CISCO report, limitless potential opens up." On RIL's share price, he further said,"Reliance is already up almost 7% in today's day of trade, clearly indicating that markets have given a thumbs up to this business decision, as it paves the eventual listing of Jio which is in the process to transform itself into a digital services company. On the other hand, Facebook would also gain as it gives it access to huge digital business opportunities in India." 11: 50 AM: Apollo Tyres share price climbs 3.7% Apollo Tyres share price rose in early trade today after the company said that its operations in plant situated in the state of Kerala (at Perambra) has partially resumed with effect from April 21, 2020. Following the update, shares of Apollo Tyres touched an intraday high of Rs 95.35, rising 3.7% on BSE today. 11.40 AM: Market update Benchmarks Sensex and Nifty rose higher on Wednesday, bucking the weak trend from overseas, as investors anticipated another stimulus from PM Modi's cabinet meet scheduled today. As per market experts, domestic indices rose higher on stock specific action in index heavyweights. Reversing trend from losses, BSE Sensex traded 400 points higher 31,036 and NSE Nifty traded 92 points higher at 9,074. 11.30 AM: TamilNadu Petroproducts share price rises 3% TamilNadu Petroproducts share price climbed 3% intraday to Rs 30.40 on BSE after the company informed the exchanges that the operations of Propylene Oxide Plant has restarted on 20 April 2020. 11.20 AM: ACC share price rises 3.6% post Q4 results ACC share price touched an intraday high of Rs 1178, rising 3.66% on BSE today despite the company posting weak March quarter earnings. Company's net profit fell 6.6% to Rs 323 cr in the quarter ended March 2020 as against Rs 345.99 crore during the previous quarter ended March 2019. Company's sales fell 10.82% to Rs 3433.02 crore in Q4FY20 as against Rs 3849.63 in Q4 FY19. 11.10 AM: Jyothy Labs share price climbs nearly 7% Jyothy Labs share price touched an intraday high of Rs 119.85 on BSE, rising 6.4% apiece, after the company announced the launch of its hand sanitizer under the brand name Margo. 11.05 AM: HDFC share price drops over 2.5% HDFC shares fell 2.59% to the day's low of Rs 162 on BSE today. The company has earlier announced that it has reduced its retail prime lending rate by 15 basis points from April 22, 2020. The change will benefit all existing HDFC retail home loan customers, the filing added. 10.50 AM: Rupee hits all-time low of 76.88 at opening session Indian rupee hit another all-time low of 76.88 against the US dollar on Wednesday for the third consecutive day, amid strengthening of the US dollar overseas. Earlier on April 16, the local unit had hit 76.87 mark per US dollar. Meanwhile, the US dollar index rose by 0.04% to 100.30. Rupee vs Dollar: Rupee hits all-time low of 76.88 amid strengthening of US dollar 10.40 AM: Tata Steel BSL production figures As per company's latest announcement, Q4 crude steel production was up9.4% at 11 lakh tonnes compared to 10.2 lakh tonnes on a yearly basis. Annually, Q4 sales were howver down 13.8% at 9.8 lakh tonnes as against 11.37 lakh tonnes. Shares of Tata Steel BSL were trading 1.79% lower at Rs 16.45 on BSE. 10.30 AM: Market rises further Benchmarks Sensex and Nifty rose higher on Wednesday, bucking the weak trend from overseas, as investors anticipated another stimulus as an outcome of the PM Modi's cabinet meet scheduled today. Earlier at opening session, markets rose higher on stock specific action in index heavyweights. BSE Sensex traded 150 points higher 30,759 and NSE Nifty traded 20 points higher at 9,000. 10.20 AM: Reliance Industries share price gains over 8% Social media giant Facebook announced buying minority stake in the Mukesh Ambani-owned telco Reliance Jio for $5.7 billion (Rs 43,574 crore). The investment makes Facebook the largest minority shareholder in Jio Platforms Limited. Following this, RIL shares opened with a gain of 6.79% today and later touched an intraday high of Rs 1339.2, rising 8.35% on BSE. Facebook buys 10% stake in Reliance Jio 10.10 AM: Brent crude continues fall Brent crude, the international standard, for delivery in June lost 24.4% to $19.33 per barrel. The market's spotlight was again on oil, where prices have plummeted because very few people are flying or driving, and factories have shut amid widespread stay-at-home orders. Global demand is set to drop to levels last seen in the mid 1990s. At the same time, oil producers can't slow their production fast enough, and all the extra crude means storage tanks are quickly running out of room. Oil prices rout continues, global stocks in dismay 9.50 AM Coronavirus toll There 25.57 lakh confirmed cases worldwide and almost 1.77 lakh deaths from the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak. In India the number of active coronavirus cases reported has risen to 20,080 cases including 645 deaths and 3,975 recoveries. As per reports Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a cabinet meet at his residence on Wednesday to take stock of the ongoing situation in the wake of novel coronavirus outbreak. Coronavirus India Lockdown Live Updates 9.40 AM: Top gainers/ losers today RIL, Airtel, Maruti, LT, UltraTech Cement and Sun Pharma were the top gainers in Sensex pack today. On the other hand, ONGC, Bajaj Finance, HDFC, Power Grid and NTPC were among the top losers. 9.30 AM: Global cues Globally, investor sentiments remained fragile with countries closing their borders and urging citizens to stay back home as a part of coronavirus measures. The collapse in global oil prices and weak earnings forecasts by companies also worsened fears of a deep economic downturn among investors. European and US indices closed 3-4% lower yesterday. Asian peers were poised to track the negative trend. On the contrary, only SGX Nifty on Singaporean Exchange was trading flat with positive bias. 9.20 AM: Opening bell Benchmarks Sensex and Nifty opened on a positive note on Wednesday, despite weak global cues. BSE Sensex traded 335 points higher 30,910 and NSE Nifty traded 65 points higher at 9,054. 9.15 AM: RIL: Facebook invests in Reliance Jio Facebook announced a $5.7 billion (Rs 43,574 crore) investment in Reliance Industries Ltd's telecom unit on Wednesday, making it the largest minority shareholder in Jio Platforms Limited. The social media giant said it would focus on collaborating its messaging platform WhatsApp with Reliance's e-commerce venture JioMart to enable people to connect with small businesses. Facebook's investment will translate to a 9.99% equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis, Jio said in a statement. Facebook buys 10% stake in Reliance Jio for Rs 43,574 crore 9.05 AM: Pre-open session Benchmarks Sensex and Nifty pre-opened on a positive note on Wednesday, despite weak global cues. SGX Nifty also turned flat with positive bias today. BSE Sensex traded 335 points higher 30,910 and NSE Nifty traded 65 points higher at 9,054. 8.50 AM: MCX settles April crude oil contract in negative on Tuesday Multi Commodity Exchange Clearing Corporation (MCXCCL), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) of India, settled April expiry at a negative Rs 2,884 per barrel, in an unprecedented move which was never seen in India's commodity derivatives history. The demand for oil has taken a severe hit across the world due to coronavirus-forced lockdowns. WTI crude oil price drop effect 8.40 AM: Stocks to watch today on April 22 HDFC, HDFC AMC, ACC, Tata Motors, Federal Bank among others are the top stocks to watch out for in Wednesday's trading session. Stocks in news: HDFC, HDFC AMC, ACC, Tata Motors, Federal Bank and more 8.30 AM FII/ DII action on Tuesday On a net basis, FIIs sold off Rs 2,095.2 cr and DIIs too offloaded Rs 68.5 cr in equities on Tuesday 8.20 AM: Coronavirus Toll There 25.57 lakh confirmed cases worldwide and almost 1.77 lakh deaths from the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak. The number of active coronavirus cases reported in India rises to 20,080 cases including 645 deaths and 3,975 recoveries. 8.10 AM: Rupee closing yesterday Indian rupee, the local benchmark currency closed at all-time low of 76.83 per dollar on Tuesday 8.00 AM: Tuesday's Closing bell Domestic indices Sensex and Nifty followed bearish trend from overseas markets and closed majorly lower on Tuesday. BSE Sensex closed 1,011 points lower at 30,636 and NSE Nifty ended 280 points lower at 8,981. Sensex slips 1,011 points on US crude oil shock, Nifty ends below 9,000 LA City parks and recreation staff along with volunteers from the Salvation Army set up cots for homeless at Westwood Recreation Center in Westwood. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) It started in late March with a driver at Union Rescue Mission. He complained of flu-like symptoms and was brought to a hospital, where he eventually died of COVID-19, sending one of skid row's largest shelters into high alert. As of Friday, 79 homeless residents and four staff members have tested positive for the coronavirus, said the Rev. Andy Bales, the missions chief executive officer. He has to move people around like puzzle pieces to set up isolation and quarantine rooms inside the massive, five-story building, Bales said. Some are now living in a boardroom and a staff kitchen, while nearly 200 others have been sent to temporary housing elsewhere. The outbreak is what critics of Mayor Eric Garcetti's plan to convert dozens of city recreation centers into homeless shelters have feared and what other cities have already experienced. Across the country, large congregant shelters have struggled to contain spikes in coronavirus cases. In San Francisco, about 100 homeless people and 10 staffers tested positive at that city's largest shelter. In Boston earlier this month, researchers tested 408 people at a shelter and 147 of them tested positive for the virus although the majority were asymptomatic. As a result, there is a growing concern in many cities about the use of congregant shelters during the pandemic. Many shelters across the country also have stopped accepting new homeless clients. Still, officials in Los Angeles remain convinced that homeless people are safer in shelters than on the streets because it's easier for outreach workers and medical professionals to provide care. And so the city is moving forward with plans to open more congregant shelters. So far, 20 are up and running out of the 42 that Mayor Eric Garcetti originally announced. The city is set to open four more in the coming days, he said, bringing the total to about 1,000 beds far less than the initial goal of 6,000 beds. Homeless people from skid row and other areas arrive via bus at the Echo Park Community Center, one of 13 Los Angeles area recreation centers that has become temporary shelters for homeless due to the growing coronavirus pandemic. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times) On Monday, Garcetti said that the shelters, each of which holds far fewer homeless people than Union Rescue Mission, are 97% full. Story continues "It is working exactly how we hoped it would," he said. "And I've always said too that doesn't mean that we will never have cases, but we haven't yet had large-scale outbreaks." The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is in charge of conducting investigations at shelters run by the city and an assortment of nonprofits. It is currently examining eight, though Director Barbara Ferrer did not specify which ones. Neither did she cite the number of coronavirus cases investigators have found at each shelter, Earlier this week, Ferrer characterized it as "a very small number, with the exception of what we've seen at the Union Rescue Mission. And that's really because, at the Union Rescue Mission, we did test everybody who was there. In general, testing on skid row has increased since the opening of a pop-up facility on Monday. The county still lacks the capacity to test everyone in homeless shelters, but Ferrer said that may change soon. "It just makes sense now that we're able to do more testing both of symptomatic people and asymptomatic people who are very high-risk and live in these congregate living situations, she said. Advocates and even some public health experts say large congregant shelters are powder kegs waiting to explode. "I had a vivid nightmare of this happening," said Chris Herring, a sociology doctoral candidate at UC Berkeley who is assisting the San Francisco Coalition on Homelessness. "Now that we're learning more and how it keeps going worse, it just sounds like a nasty experiment that we're doing with a group of people that we wouldn't do ever with another group of people." In doing his research, Herring stayed for weeks in the San Francisco shelter, known as Multi-Service Center or MSC South, where the outbreak occurred. He described how it housed about 350 people per night and that more than 200 would sleep in bunk beds, scarcely two feet apart with no partitions. There was one hall for bathrooms. "It's incredibly difficult to sleep there, because you're hearing all your neighbors sleeping, all piled up on top of you," he said. Dr. Allen Cooper, an emeritus professor in medicine at Stanford University, had been volunteering at MSC South, and said government officials should've known that the place was ripe for disaster. In January, he watched an outbreak of norovirus spread there, leaving dozens thinking they had stomach flu. In one day, he said he saw about 15 people get sick a clear indication of how fast the highly contagious coronavirus could spread. At a time when the world isn't in the midst of a pandemic, Cooper said he recognizes that such shelters are an imperfect but necessary solution to homelessness. But not right now. "This is a cruise ship without walls between the bedrooms. This is an aircraft carrier," he said, referring to locations of coronavirus outbreaks. "In a nursing home, at least people are in their own rooms. Big shelters like this for outbreaks are probably the worst thing." Last week, public officials told the San Francisco Chronicle that none of the people at MSC South showed serious symptoms of COVID-19 when they were tested. The shelter closed weeks ago after the outbreak, but recently reopened to accept people recovering from the disease. John Maceri, executive director of The People Concern, said not all sites are like MSC South or Union Rescue Mission. His organization manages a network of smaller shelters across L.A. County that have drywall separating sleeping spaces into what resemble cubicles. It's not completely enclosed, but it's easier to self-isolate there than in a room with bunk beds, he said. The number of homeless people living in The People Concern's shelters has been reduced in recent weeks, moving the oldest and most medically fragile into hotels and motels. The biggest remaining risk in the shelters, he said, is probably the shared bathrooms. "I think it's highly unlikely that we will get through the current situation without having some of our residents who test positive and who may even get sick," Maceri said. "I am reasonably confident that we are not going to have a massive outbreak." Garcetti on Friday said he has followed Ferrer's guidance in rolling out his plan to use recreation centers to get homeless people off the streets. Even though the shelters have no barriers between cots, he said the spacing of six feet and health screenings have, so far, been effective in the month since the initial eight opened. The coronavirus has been detected at only two of the city's 20 shelters, but there have been no reports of the virus spreading from one resident to another. After a homeless man staying at the Granada Hills Recreation Center tested positive this month, about 14 people who had been near him and those who arrived with him were tested, said Ken Craft, chairman and CEO of Hope of the Valley, a nonprofit that operates four of the city shelters in the West San Fernando Valley. The man, who has not been named, was transported to Holy Cross Hospital, where his condition improved, Craft said. No other cases have been detected. County public health officials are testing anyone with symptoms, Craft said. Staff also are provided masks, gloves and body suits. "We provide masks for all clients to wear at all times," he said. "We only allow two people per six-foot table to maintain social distancing." To make such social distancing possible, the initial plan for 110 beds in the Granada Hills shelter was scaled back to 38 a readjustment that has happened at a similar scale at all city recreation centers, causing Garcetti to revise his initial promise for 6,000 beds. The recreation center shelters are part of a loosely integrated system of homeless housing and services that have been designed to achieve two goals during the pandemic: getting the most vulnerable people off the streets and relieving existing, dormitory-style shelters that cannot meet the spacing requirements to slow the spread of the virus. For example, Craft said Hope of the Valley moved homeless residents into the four recreation centers it operates, reducing its 138-bed shelter in Pacoima to only 52 beds. Los Angeles County and the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority also are working to secure safer lodging in hotels for homeless people who are elderly or have health conditions that put them at higher risk for COVID-19. That effort is progressing slowly, however. At the current pace, the county's goal of securing hotel rooms for 15,000 people will not be reached until summer. For Union Rescue Mission, Bales says changes are coming more immediately. The shelter, which typically has a population of about 1,000, is now down to fewer than 500. It also has stopped taking in new homeless residents for the time being. The second floor, where more than 200 men slept on bunk beds in a single room, will never be the same, he said. "From now on it will be 80 single beds," Bales said. "That's how drastically the COVID-19 has reshaped our world and likely reshaped it permanently." But Bales said he had no regrets about housing so many people. "I think the benefits outweigh the risks, especially if they're able to keep the six-foot distance, if they have more than a couple restrooms, especially if their guests are capable of hearing us cry out and wear their masks and taking precautions," he said. "We just don't believe in leaving people on the streets." Times staff writer Melanie Mason contributed to this report. On Nov. 27, 1996, Philadelphia Police Officer Curtis Ghee had just stepped off the escalator at a North Philadelphia SEPTA subway station when he heard a scream. He turned and saw a distraught woman on the escalator hed just gotten off, holding up a young boy. The childs foot gone. Ghee, 51, was off duty, but he ran to a nearby police wagon and asked for help. He and another man scrambled to a vendors stand, grabbed one of the scarves that were for sale, and tried to fashion it into a makeshift tourniquet on the childs leg as they waited for help to arrive. And then, having done what he could, Ghee walked away. In the years since, he often thought about reaching out to the boy, who was only 4 at the time, and his mother, who had screamed for help that day. He scanned a few of the headlines that for years dominated news about the child, as litigation revealed that SEPTA had been aware that its faulty escalator posed a safety hazard. I just always wondered what happened to the little guy, he said. But life and work took over. And then, this month, he spotted my story about Shareif Reef Hall, the child he had helped. Hall is now 27 about the age Ghee was that fateful day and is an aspiring model and entrepreneur. As the story recounted, its been a long road for Hall, who struggled to come to terms with his injury. But the little boy who spent years trying to hide his leg is now a resourceful young man using his prosthetic as a billboard of sorts to promote products and the message that a disability is a difference to be celebrated. Not long after the story was published, Ghees wife, Falesha, also a Philadelphia police officer, called me. She had been hearing the story of the little boy on the escalator since shed first met her husband. And now, finally, here were some answers. When I got in touch with Curtis Ghee, the veteran officer and father of four said he wasnt looking for any attention. Nothing he did that day was heroic, he insisted. A child was in trouble. Lots of people tried to help. He was happy to know that the boy on the escalator had grown up to have a good life. But, he conceded, what he saw that day has stayed with him. In many ways, it set the course for him to eventually become a peer counselor for the Police Departments Employee Assistance Program. I must have told this story a thousand times, no exaggeration, when talking to recruits about what theyre going to see on the streets, he said. I tell them its all about how they process it. In 1996, when hed been on the job for about four years, he said, there wasnt much talk about the treatment of trauma for officers, the way there is now. Hes fine, he said. Hes seen a lot on the job, though he still ranks the Hall incident as one of the worst. His heart still races any time he sees a young child on an escalator. It just never went away," he said. As he spoke, I thought of Hall and how he wanted more than anything else to use his disability to make an impact on others lives. And here was a man whose life hed impacted all these years ago without even realizing it. Because of the coronavirus, a face-to-face meeting of the men was impossible. So I set up a virtual one, hoping it wouldnt be too awkward. They were strangers. As were learning, even the best technology is a poor replacement for human connection. I had nothing to worry about. Ghees face glowed when Halls image popped up on the call. Its definitely a blessing to be able to see you again, Hall said. Im just so grateful to see that you are doing well, youre OK, Ghee said, smiling. The men talked for more than an hour. Ghee told him about that awful day, of which Hall has little memory. I was shy of four years [on the job] when I remember coming up the escalator, Ghee said. I was the first one out, and I took maybe three steps when I heard a scream from a woman. I turned around and she was holding you up, and your foot." The memory seemed to take his breath away. I just saw what I saw, he said. Hall shared how he struggled with his injury but had come out on the other side, now using his disability to show that what makes you different from others makes you unique. I had to accept something that I cant change, he told him. Im proud of you, Ghee told him. They vowed that this wouldnt be the last time they spoke. Im so looking forward to meeting you in person, Ghee said. And what a gift that reunion will be. Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor 'China has reported almost 83,000 cases and more than 4,600 deaths, but the situation there is now largely under control.' Photo: Mark Schiefelbein/AP China is becoming increasingly assertive in the region as the coronavirus crisis eases on the mainland while raging elsewhere in the world, with a crackdown in Hong Kong and sabre-rattling around Taiwan and in the South China Sea. The US State Department said China was taking advantage of the region's focus on the pandemic to "coerce its neighbours". In a significant strike against democracy activists in Chinese-ruled Hong Kong, police in the city arrested 15 people on Saturday, just days after a senior Beijing official called for the local government to introduce national security legislation "as soon as possible." The arrests drew a strong rebuke from the United States and Britain. China has also been flying regular fighter patrols near Chinese-claimed Taiwan, to the island's anger, and has sent a survey ship flanked by coast guard and other vessels into the South China Sea, prompting the United States to accuse Beijing of "bullying behaviour". "Now that the domestic coronavirus outbreak has been stabilised, China wants to send an important signal to the world that its military and foreign affairs, previously put on hold, are back on track," said Cheng Xiaohe, associate professor of international politics at Beijing's Renmin University. China describes Taiwan, Hong Kong and the South China Sea as its most sensitive territorial issues. The most dramatic actions have been close to Taiwan, the self-ruled island China claims as its own. Beijing has been angered by moves by President Tsai Ing-wen during the outbreak to assert the island's separate identity from China. In the latest uptick in tensions, China's navy this month sailed a battle group, led by the country's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, around Taiwan's east coast and has mounted regular air force drills near the island. Lo Chih-cheng, a senior legislator with Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party, said China was showing that its military power had not been affected by the virus and that things had returned to normal. "The other aspect is of course to test whether the combat strength of the US military has been reduced due to the impact of the epidemic," he said. The pandemic's first cases were reported in late December in China's Wuhan city. China has reported almost 83,000 cases and more than 4,600 deaths, but the situation there is now largely under control. The United States has by far the world's largest number of confirmed coronavirus cases, with more than 780,000 infections and 42,300 deaths. BRUSSELS Authoritarian-minded leaders around the world have used the coronavirus emergency to consolidate power. In Europe, the governments of Poland and Hungary have done that and more. They have managed to turn the crisis into a windfall and punish their political opponents, too. In a hasty effort to show that it was doing something to help during the virus crisis, the European Union repurposed 37 billion euros about $40 billion in structural aid funds, designed to help newer and poorer members, for virus aid. The result: Hungary and Poland each got considerably more money than virus-ravaged Italy or Spain. Rather than punish two governments that have challenged the democratic values at the heart of the European project, the warped allocation of the money, with little oversight or requirement to respect the rule of law, looked more like a reward. It raised fresh questions about the European Unions reluctance to criticize two governments that continue to flout the European standards of democracy and rule of law. In early March, Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde Gebremariam told an aviation conference in Addis Ababa the coronavirus pandemic was "a temporary problem" -- comparable to a natural disaster or a spike in oil prices. Several weeks later Africa's largest carrier is locked in what Tewolde describes as "a struggle that we're performing for survival", ramping up cargo operations while seeking to defer lease payments on aircraft. "To be honest with you, I had never thought that it would reach this stage," Tewolde told AFP in an interview this week. "I had never thought that it would spread like this at this speed, and also in this magnitude. It is just too fast and too expansive and it's beyond imagination." Across Africa, airlines stand to lose $6 billion in passenger revenue in 2020 compared to last year because of the coronavirus, the International Air Transport Association has predicted. Ethiopian Airlines, the state-owned jewel of the national economy and a vital source of foreign currency, says it is facing a revenue loss of $550 million from January to April alone. Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde Gebremariam said it may need to defer lease payments on aircraft. By Michael Tewelde (AFP) "If you put yourself in my shoes, the only way for Ethiopian Airlines is to expand or refocus its resources, energy and time on businesses which are not affected by coronavirus," Tewolde said. Yet even as the airline moves to assume a central role in Africa's pandemic response -- ferrying badly needed medical equipment across the continent -- it may last no more than three months before seeking outside financial help, Tewolde said. "Will we be able to sustain with only 15 percent of our revenue?" he said, referring to the amount typically brought in by cargo. "For a short period of time, yes. But for how long? Very difficult to predict." Cargo boom In the early days of the pandemic, Ethiopian Airlines was criticised domestically for refusing to follow competitors like Kenya Airways by suspending flights to China, where the coronavirus originated late last year. But Tewolde said he would make the same call today, pointing out that Ethiopia's first case of COVID-19 -- the disease caused by the coronavirus -- turned out to be a Japanese man who arrived in the country from Burkina Faso. The airline's China routes now form the backbone of its cargo operations as countries scramble to get their hands on Chinese-produced personal protective equipment and other goods. This task is made more challenging by the fact that passenger flights, which can carry cargo in their underbelly, are down so sharply. Ethiopian Airlines helped move masks, testing kits and protective gear donated to African countries by Chinese billionaire and Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma. By TONY KARUMBA (AFP/File) "Right now, there is a severe short-term shortage of cargo out of China," said Craig Jenks, head of the New York-based Airline/Aircraft Projects Inc. consultancy. Long-haul cargo rates are "at least double normal", Jenks added. At the start of the crisis, Ethiopian Airlines had 12 cargo freighters, and it has since enlisted "10 to 15" passenger jets to build out its fleet, in some cases ripping out seats, Tewolde said. That capacity falls short of competitors like Emirates and Qatar Airways, but Jenks said cargo could still potentially give Ethiopian as much as 40 percent of its normal revenue. Crisis response Ethiopian has simultaneously embraced work unique to the coronavirus era. Top officials from Washington to Tokyo have praised the airline for repatriating their nationals -- including US Peace Corps volunteers based in 12 countries across the continent. As the severity of the crisis became clear, Ethiopian executives "reached out to the diplomatic community to offer further cargo services and highlight their ability to offer chartered/special flights," a State Department official said in a statement to AFP. A staff member of the World Food Programme (WFP) checks boxes of personal protective equipment at Ethiopian Airlines' cargo facility Addis Ababa's international airport earlier this month. By Samuel HABTAB (AFP/File) All told the airline has "supported the transport of over 2,100 US citizens and legal permanent residents" to the tune of around $4.7 million, the official said. Ethiopian has also worked with Carnival Cruise Line, which earlier this month hired four charters to repatriate crew members docked in the US state of Louisiana. The airline expects to be deeply involved in Africa's pandemic response. On Monday it finished distributing the second batch of masks, testing kits, ventilators and other supplies donated to African countries by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma. And last week the United Nations opened an aid transport hub in Addis Ababa that will rely on Ethiopian cargo jets to move supplies and aid workers across the continent. Tewolde said this represented "a continuation of our leadership in Africa" even during periods of conflict or outbreaks of other diseases like Ebola. "All kinds of problems that Africa has suffered, we have always stood with Africa," he said. 'Whatever it takes' With the financial toll of the crisis mounting, Ethiopian is in talks to defer lease payments on aircraft and it may seek deferrals on some payments of $2 billion in debt, Tewolde said. The company is determined not to lay off members of its regular workforce, though it could resort to pay cuts depending on how long the crisis lasts, he said. The current cargo boom could start fading in June, and passenger traffic could stay suppressed well after countries lift travel restrictions, he said. Yet Tewolde said Ethiopian remained committed to long-term growth plans including building a new $5 billion airport outside Addis Ababa. "We will do whatever it takes to make sure that we survive," he said. - The EFF has strongly condemned the appointment of ex-minister Trevor Manuel as part of Ramaphosa's African Union Covid-19 envoy - The envoy has been tasked with obtaining support for Africa during the crisis - However, the Red Berets feel that Manuel will be serving the interests of his 'handlers', not the people PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Briefly.co.za News on your News Feed! The Economic Freedom Fighters are up in arms over the deployment of Trevor Manuel as part of President Cyril Ramaphosa's Special Envoy of the African Union. In a statement on the situation, the political party called on the entire continent to reject Manuel's appointment "The EFF calls on the African continent to reject Ramaphosa's appointment of Trevor Manuel as Special Envoy of the African Union. In this role, Manuel is supposed to mobilise international support for Africa's efforts to address economic challenges faced by the continent during the spread of Covid-19." The Red Berets are adamant that Manuel will fail in the task handed down to him, claiming that he would have sinister intentions "Manuel is a puppet of White Monopoly Capital with no creative or genuine ideas of how to develop the continent. In his entire contribution in post-apartheid South Africa, Manuel has worked to entrench the power of white monopoly capital. The only support he will ever mobilise is that of his handlers, white monopoly power and its racist control of economic resources in the continent." READ ALSO: Coronavirus: Ramaphosa makes a promise to all lockdown criminals In a statement announcing the members of the envoy, Ramaphosa lauded Manuel as the longest-serving Minister of Finance: "Mr Manuel was the longest-serving Minister of Finance in the Republic of South Africa and formerly headed the countrys National Planning Commission. In 2018 he was appointed as an Investment Envoy by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to engage domestic and international investors as part of the countrys national investment drive." Joining Manuel in the effort to limit the spread of the virus will be economist Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Dr Donald Kaberuka and banker Tidjane Thiam. Briefly.co.za gathered that Ramaphosa had acknowledged the support provided thus far as the chair of the AU: The African Union is immensely encouraged by the support that has been extended by the international community thus far. It is an affirmation that as nations of the world, we are all in this together. We must now focus on efforts to marshal every resource at our disposal to ensure that this pandemic is contained, and does not result in the collapse of already ailing economies and financial systems on the continent." Enjoyed reading our story? Download BRIEFLY's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major South African news! Source: Briefly News OTTAWA - As he announced yet another emergency financial aid package Wednesday this one aimed at students Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended his decision not to create a universal benefit that would ensure no Canadians affected by COVID-19 fall through the cracks. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 22/4/2020 (629 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Advertisement Advertise With Us OTTAWA - As he announced yet another emergency financial aid package Wednesday this one aimed at students Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended his decision not to create a universal benefit that would ensure no Canadians affected by COVID-19 fall through the cracks. Trudeau says his government's approach has been to try to target its emergency financial assistance in stages to those who need it most, rather than to everyone at once, including those who don't need it. "There are millions of Canadians who need help. There are others who do not need help," Trudeau told the nation Wednesday. "We feel that targeting the maximum amount of help to the people who needed it quickly was the right way to begin to get through this process." His focus for specific help Wednesday was students, announcing a $9-billion suite of programs for students whose education and job prospects are disrupted by the novel coronavirus. They're aimed at people who are not eligible for the $500-a-week Canada Emergency Response Benefit, or CERB, which is for people who have lost jobs. The new Canada Emergency Student Benefit, which Trudeau conceded will require Parliament's approval, will pay $1,250 monthly to Canadian and permanent resident post-secondary students and graduates to make up for lost work and cut hours. This benefit is to be available from May to August 2020. The amount can increase to $1,750 for students with disabilities or who care for others. Students who volunteer on COVID-19 response efforts will be rewarded through bursaries of up to $5,000 towards their educations in the fall. To help students continue their studies when the pandemic restrictions are lifted, the federal government is doubling the Canada Student Grants for all eligible full-time students to up to $6,000 and up to $3,600 for part-time students in 2020-21. Eligibility for student financial assistance will also be broadened to remove the expected student's and spouse's contributions in 2020-21, in recognition that many students and families will struggle to save for school this year. Existing distinctions-based support for First Nations, Inuit, and Metis Nation students pursuing post-secondary education will be expanded by additional $75.2 million. The federal government will also expand existing skills development programming for youth to create up to 116,000 jobs and placements to help students find employment this summer and over the coming months. "The reality is that it's going to be really hard to find jobs," said Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough. "We're hoping students will find ways to keep themselves occupied to contribute, to upskill and just not stay sitting around for the whole entire summer." Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addresses Canadians on the COVID-19 pandemic from Rideau Cottage in Ottawa on Wednesday, April 22, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick Qualtrough said her department has been working with provinces on creative ways to find student opportunities in areas like agriculture, food services and health and with community-service organizations to help them get work experience, but "tweaked to address the reality that we don't have summer festivals or recreational summer camps for kids." The package is meant to fill a gap left by the Canada Emergency Response Benefit. The CERB, which provides $2,000 a month for up to 16 weeks for those who have made at least $5,000 in the last year and have lost income due to the pandemic, has faced growing criticism over the limits on eligibility. Many simply cannot access it, including those who were unemployed before the pandemic began and many marginalized Canadians. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has been calling for the CERB to be made a universal benefit to allow any Canadian in financial distress due to COVID-19 to qualify for benefits. Sending money to everyone and then clawing back the money from those who don't need it at tax time is the best way to ensure no one is missed, he said. "For weeks, we've been calling on the government to give direct help to everyone," Singh said in a statement Wednesday. "It's easy. The government should make the CERB universal so that students, and anyone else who needs help, can get the help they need right away." A group of 50 senators from different political and partisan backgrounds signed an open letter to Trudeau on Tuesday, also calling for the CERB to be turned into a universal benefit. The senators say they have been hearing from many Canadians who have made it clear additional patches will be needed to the CERB to stop other groups from falling through the cracks. A universal payment would ensure greater social and economic equity as well as greater efficiency, the senators say. "In terms of efficiency, as we are already seeing, it can quickly get support to Canadians who are in dire straits. (The Canada Revenue Agency) can issue these payments by deposit or mail with little more than the push of a button. People in need require support today," part of the letter reads. "In the short-term, our focus must be on ensuring the CERB is available for all who need it." Trudeau acknowledged the government's pandemic assistance programs are not reaching everyone who needs help, including seniors. He promised more announcements for seniors would be coming soon. But he remained firm that his government's approach is superior to a universal benefit. "It's not as easy as saying we're going to send out a cheque to every Canadian regardless of their age or their region, it's more complex than that," Trudeau said in French. "Our measures from the beginning recognized that some people lost their jobs because of COVID-19, not through any fault of their own, but they require revenue to pay for their groceries, their rent. That's why we chose to go ahead in a targeted, rapid fashion to put in place what was necessary to help these people in dire need." This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 22, 2020. Photo Illustration by Lyne Lucien/The Daily Beast/Getty Few elected officials may be doing more to openly play to the right wings antipathy to pandemic public-health restrictions than South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem. Noem has refused to issue a statewide stay-at-home order during the health crisis even after an outbreak at a pork processing plant in her state became a virus flashpoint; embraced the presidents favored coronavirus drug; and raised her profile as a national outlier despite concerns in and outside of her state. Laura Ingraham has spent time championing the Republican leader during an interview on her Fox News show, calling her public enemy No. 1 for the liberal media. Id rather be with you over there in South Dakota. Id rather be in your state, Sean Hannity told Noem during a Monday appearance on his Fox News show. I just believe in our people, the first-term governor said on the show. They know and understand personal responsibility, so I didnt mandate that any businesses closed. Noem, a former member of Congress, is one of only a handful of governors to completely avoid statewide stay-at-home orders and has become the most public face among the nations few Republican holdouts along the way. Resisting statewide public-health measures has become a point of pride for a smattering of Republicans. Small rallies have appeared nationwide to challenge states to reopen during the pandemic, despite the coronavirus still taking a serious toll on the country. Trump has further stoked those sentiments in a call last week to LIBERATE three Democratic-led states with public-health restrictions. But on the ground in South Dakota, Sandi Lundstrom said she wishes there had been a little bit more guidance and leadership, before the pandemic hit this point. It would have been nice to have a little bit more leadership from the governor, the mayor of Canton said in an interview. And Noems name-recognition growing nationally during the pandemic hasnt gone unnoticed by the local leader, whose town is about 20 miles south of the COVID-19 hot spot Sioux Falls. Story continues Shes enjoying the attention, I think, Lundstrom said. Other mayors in the state contacted by The Daily Beast avoided directly answering questions about Noems job performance. Im not going to comment on that, said Tracy West, the mayor of nearby Lennox. Were right in the middle of the process of working with her. We continue to work toward the best that we can for the state. Theres some disagreements, but together we gotta work toward a solution. Thats all Ive got to say. During the pandemic, according to The New York Times, a Smithfield Foods plant in South Dakota became one of the nations major virus flashpoints. The facility has since been closed, according to the company. The states health department reported 1,755 COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday, with an overwhelming majority coming from South Dakotas Minnehaha County. In a Fox News interview last week, Noem defended her stay-at-home resistance when it came to Smithfield, saying it is a critical infrastructure business, so even if there had been a shelter-in-place order, it wouldnt have helped the situation because this plant is a part of our nations food supply. And during her appearance on Ingrahams show, the governor said I believe in our freedoms and liberties. What Ive seen across the country is so many people give up their liberties for just a little bit of security and they dont have to do that, Noem said. If a leader will take too much power in a time of crisis, that is how we lose our country. At this point, both Democratic and Republican governors have largely moved to statewide stay-at-home orders of some sort. And even as some states begin to move toward re-opening, the threat of the virus spreading still looms. Meryl Chertoff, executive director of Georgetown Project on State and Local Government Policy and Law, said Noems response is not a good response given the clusters of cases. This does not appear to be sound policy based on the guidance that has been coming from the CDC and from the president's own coronavirus task force, Chertoff said. Earlier this month, the South Dakota State Medical Association sent Noem a letter trying to persuade her to issue a shelter-in-place order, to no avail. In an interview with The Daily Beast, the organizations president, Robert Summerer, avoided directly criticizing Noem, saying Im not here to make a villain or a hero out of her. But Summerer appeared flummoxed by the amount of media attention directed toward the state with a population of 884,000 during the pandemic that has infected what is approaching a million Americans. It is curious that South Dakota is getting so much attention when were one of a few other states, he said. Somehow South Dakotas become the media darling about that and I cant explain that. Despite some concern back home, the South Dakota Republicans approach is one that overlaps with what President Donald Trump preaches during White House coronavirus task force briefings day after day. Noems office downplayed the idea that the governor is trying to mimic the president on a statewide level. Shes doing whats best for South Dakota, not necessarily focused on emulating the president, Noem spokesman Ian Fury told The Daily Beast. Noem has drawn further plaudits from the right through her resisting a stay-at-home order. Charlie Kirk, the Turning Point USA founder, wrote a glowing Daily Caller column about Noem and promoted her on Twitter as someone who has courageously looked the mob in the eye and said No. In her restraint, South Dakota Gov. @KristiNoem has more guts than all the squishy stay-at-home' GOP governors combined, The Daily Callers Scott Morefield tweeted last week. For his part, Trump has avoided direct rebukes of Republican governors skipping stay-at-home orders, including those in South Dakota, Wyoming, and North Dakota. Instead, Trump has taken to disparaging some Democratic governors during the pandemic who have ordered greater public-health restrictions, and spent Mondays briefing criticizing Marylands Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, who has been one of the more hands-on governors during the crisis. That harshness toward restrictions has seen growth on the right, allowing Noems national notoriety to rise. When Foster Friess, a prominent GOP donor who ran for governor of Wyoming in 2018, was asked recently about his own states lack of restrictions, he used Noem as the standard. Wyoming is much like South Dakota, which under leadership of a true American Patriot, Kristi Noem, was pretty much open from the beginning, Friess said in an email. All of that conservative prominence can help little, however, when it comes to actually leading a state through the pandemic. During a briefing Monday, testing was a clear concern for Noem, who also claimed at the same time the state is doing well, even though she wants to be more aggressive. What my communication has been with the administration is, I can have the machines but I need the supplies to run the machines, Noem said of a phone call with Vice President Mike Pence. One expert noted that South Dakotas approach comes with risks. If a leader chooses to avoid a shelter-in-place order, theres an obligation to do very good contact tracing, said Arnold S. Monto, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan What it means is you have to be sure that you can handle the consequences by having good contact tracing and testing, Monto said. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. RIYADH, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese medical experts on Tuesday shared the prevention and control knowledge on the COVID-19 pandemic with the Chinese community in Saudi Arabia via webinar. The webinar, hosted by the Chinese embassy in Saudi Arabia, was attended by Chinese-funded institutions, overseas Chinese and Chinese students in the kingdom. The Chinese medical experts, who arrived in Riyadh last Wednesday, gave a detailed introduction to the transmission route of the coronavirus and the dos and don'ts for prevention and control, and answered questions raised by the attendees. Chen Weiqing, Chinese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, said that since the outbreak, the embassy and consulate have maintained close contact with relevant Saudi authorities to ensure the safety and health of Chinese citizens in Saudi Arabia. Chen called on Chinese citizens in the kingdom to protect themselves and cooperate with Saudi's prevention and control measures. Ruan Yuesheng, deputy director-general of the Health Commission of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and head of the medical experts team, told Xinhua that in preventing and controlling the epidemic, Saudi Arabia is doing very well regarding its comprehensive working mechanism, prevention and control strategies, technical preparation and treatment capacity. Ruan pointed out that Saudi Arabia recently began to step up the large-scale detection of coronavirus, which is good for controlling the source of infection. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr. 22 Trend: President of the Republic of Albania Ilir Meta made a phone call to President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on April 22, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani press-service. The sides hailed the development of friendly relations between Azerbaijan and Albania in various fields. The presidents pointed out the successful implementation of the Trans Adriatic gas pipeline project, emphasizing that it contributed both to the strengthening of bilateral relations between the two countries and international cooperation. Ilir Meta's visit to Azerbaijan was reminded, and the importance of this visit in terms of the development of bilateral relations was underlined during the conversation. President Aliyev and President Meta also discussed the issues relating to the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. The president of Albania invited the president of Azerbaijan to pay an official visit to his country. The invitation was accepted with gratitude. AS Manitobans, we have been dealing with a distressing wave of COVID-19 and for most of us, the virus has wreaked havoc. This includes tough measures such as physical distancing, self-isolation and coping with layoffs, while balancing work and family responsibilities such as taking on added responsibililties for our childrens education. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 22/4/2020 (630 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion AS Manitobans, we have been dealing with a distressing wave of COVID-19 and for most of us, the virus has wreaked havoc. This includes tough measures such as physical distancing, self-isolation and coping with layoffs, while balancing work and family responsibilities such as taking on added responsibililties for our childrens education. Our local economy has been battered by businesses closures and, sadly, some of them will never re-open. Many industries are doing their best to deliver services virtually or through alternate means. Through these troubled times, Manitobas Prairie resiliency shines through and once again demonstrates our resolve to help each other in this great time of need. Our public institutions, including colleges and universities, are showing their resiliency by adapting to the new reality and looking to the future. Post-secondary education is as busy as it has even been; instructors are still teaching, students are still learning, and essential research, potentially leading to a vaccine, continues. Demand for post-secondary education is increasing, driven by students from Manitoba and those looking to up-skill and retrain so they can re-enter the workforce with new skills and abilities. It is precisely now that we must look to education as a key pillar in Manitobas recovery efforts. Last fall, the Manitoba government unveiled a bold vision for economic growth and job creation. It should maintain that optimism for a bright future. After COVID-19, tens of thousands of jobs will be created as Manitoba recovers; the vast majority of those jobs will require post-secondary education. College and university graduates bring critically important, durable and transferable skills that are in demand in the workforce, including cutting-edge technological skills and the essential skills of problem-solving and teamwork. Our governments are to be applauded for dealing with COVID-19 on multiple fronts. We receive clear information about how we are going to fight this together. The education sector is also making contributions to the effort by emptying its reserves of personal protective equipment to share with hospitals, by researching vaccines and finding new ways to sterilize hospital equipment. The education sector can and will do more. The governments of Manitoba and Canada are responding by deploying resources to fight COVID-19. There is a danger, however, that they will reduce resources that support the development of talent and technology that drives Manitobas economy. Governments must not be tempted to cut the very institutions that train and educate the individuals most in demand in our province, now and in the future. We must avoid losing an entire cohort of students who may never fulfill their potential, especially those who already face barriers to accessing education. Through this crisis, we have learned that a variety of skill sets and roles are essential to upholding essential services. We need more access to technology; we need innovative small- and medium-business owners; we need nurses and doctors, scientists and supply-chain managers. And most parents right now would agree, we need teachers. This variety of talent, skills and knowledge are developed at our colleges and universities. Fresh data from the Conference Board of Canada shows that while Manitobas GDP will shrink by 3.9 per cent in 2020, it will rebound by six per cent in 2021. We will need qualified people to fill jobs created in a post-COVID-19 economy, or our growth will stall. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The education sector is critically important in securing a brighter economic future for all of us. We rely on skilled graduates to enter our economy and propel businesses forward. For example, those who graduated during the 2000-01 and 2008-09 recessions put their education to good use and created the tech boom in Manitoba. The primary role of post-secondary institutions is to grow leaders who become the health-care professionals, entrepreneurs, educators and computer programmers, among many other careers, that Manitobas economy needs to continue thriving. There is a direct link between the education level of a society and its economic, health, and social success. The fact Manitobans are highly educated is one of the reasons why we are so resilient in the face of the COVID-19 crisis. To survive and thrive, we must consider short-, medium- and long-term actions that have real impact. We might not know the full effect of these times, but we do understand education is a critical tool moving forward. Lets fight this threat with the same Prairie vigour that will secure our future by drawing on the collective strengths that make Manitoba great. Barb Gamey and Bob Silver are Manitoba business leaders and champions of education. Senate Committee: 'No Reason To Dispute' 2017 U.S. Intelligence Conclusion On Russian Meddling By RFE/RL April 21, 2020 In a bipartisan report, the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee has reaffirmed its support for the intelligence community's assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election with the goal of helping Donald Trump get elected. Among the key findings of the report released on April 21 is that the intelligence-community assessment, which came out in January 2017, "presents a coherent and well-constructed intelligence basis for the case that Russia engaged in an attempt to interfere" with the U.S. election. It says that the assessment "reflects proper analytic tradecraft" and "represented the kind of unbiased and professional work we expect and require from the Intelligence Community." The intelligence community's 2017 assessment found that Russia's goals were to undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process; denigrate the nominee of the Democratic Party, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; and harm her electability and potential presidency. The Senate Intelligence Committee's chairman, Richard Burr (Republican- North Carolina), said the panel had found no reason to dispute the intelligence community's conclusions and warned that Russia's interference efforts continue. "One of the [intelligence community's] most important conclusions was that Russia's aggressive interference efforts should be considered 'the new normal.' That warning has been borne out by the events of the last three years, as Russia and its imitators increasingly use information warfare to sow societal chaos and discord," Burr said in a press release. "With the 2020 presidential election approaching, it's more important than ever that we remain vigilant against the threat of interference from hostile foreign actors," he added. Senator Mark Warner (Virginia), the top Democrat on the committee, praised the intelligence agencies' "unbiased and professional work," and warned that there was "no reason to doubt that the Russians' success in 2016 is leading them to try again in 2020." The committee said in its report it had found "specific intelligence" to support the conclusion that Russian President Vladimir Putin "approved and directed aspects" of the Kremlin's interference efforts. The report expressed "high confidence" in its judgment that Putin and the Russian government developed a clear preference for Trump. Russia's efforts "reflected years of investment" in Moscow's capabilities "honed in the former Soviet states," it also said. A section titled On Putin's Role in the 158-page report is among dozens of pages blackened out entirely. Burr said the redactions were necessary because the committee sought to protect the methods and means by which the U.S. intelligence community secured its information. The latest report is a bipartisan endorsement of a conclusion that had been called into question by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee. They said in their own 2018 report that the intelligence agencies failed to employ proper "tradecraft" when officials concluded Russia supported Trump's candidacy. The conclusions released on April 21 are the fourth of five reports the Senate Intelligence Committee is releasing on Moscow's interference in the 2016 campaign. The committee previously endorsed the intelligence-community assessment in its earlier reports, which are part of its more-than-three-year investigation into Russian interference. The final report will focus on the counterintelligence aspects of the investigation, including allegations that Trump campaign officials coordinated with Russian operatives. Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller last year cited a lack of evidence of such coordination. With reporting by AP and Politico Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/senate-committee-no- reason-to-dispute-2017-us-intelligence-conclusion -on-russian-meddling/30568753.html Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 20:59:11|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MOSCOW, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said Wednesday it had detained a resident of the Siberian Tyumen region, born in 2001, suspected of plotting an armed attack on an educational institution. During the detention, a smoothbore hunting rifle with ammunition, two hunting knives, ammonium nitrate, communications equipment, and Internet instructions for making improvised explosive devices were seized, it said in a statement. The intent to commit the crime was confirmed by the confession of the detainee and witnesses' testimony, it said. The Tyumen regional division of the Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case against the detainee on the grounds of plotting the murder of two or more persons, the FSB said. Enditem Nokia 2.3 is now receiving the Android 10 update, HMD Global announced on Wednesday. The budget smartphone from the stables of HMD Global was launched in India last year with Android 9 Pie and has now joined the likes of Nokia 7.2, Nokia 2.2, Nokia 3.2, and Nokia 4.2 in getting the update. HMD Global has said a total of 11 Nokia-branded smartphones have been upgraded to feature Android 10 since their launch in India. The Nokia 2.3 comes with a replacement guarantee over and above promised three years of monthly security updates and two years of OS upgrades. The Android 10 update brings a host of new features to the Nokia 2.3, including the dark mode, smart reply, gesture navigation, better privacy controls, a focus mode, and the Family Link tool in the Digital Wellbeing settings. The Focus Mode, especially, will be available in beta to the users who will be able to "block out distracting apps" while concentrating on the apps that need attention. There will also be better security on the Nokia 2.3 as the latest update brings the Android security patch for April to the device. So far, HMD Global has updated its Nokia-branded phones that include Nokia 8 Sirocco, Nokia 8.1, Nokia 7.2, Nokia 7 Plus, Nokia 7.1, Nokia 6.1 Plus, Nokia 6.1, Nokia 4.2, Nokia 3.2, Nokia 2.3 and Nokia 2.2. The Nokia 2.3 is the 12th smartphone to have received the Android 10 update. But the update comes after a slight delay, as announced by HMD Global earlier this year, which was caused due to the covid-19 pandemic. Not only the pandemic left the production high and dry, but other activities were also affected. The Nokia 2.3 was launched in India last year with a promise of replacement guarantee on the device. The smartphone recently received an additional year of replacement guarantee by HMD Global. Any Nokia 2.3 unit purchased on or after April 1, 2020, will be eligible for replacement in cases of hardware or software malfunctions. The replacement guarantee was earlier applicable to Nokia 2.3 units that were bought on or before March 31, 2020. Nokia 2.3 comes with specifications such as Android One-based Android 9 Pie software, a MediaTek Helio A22 processor, and a 6.2-inch HD+ LCD notched display. Its price was also increased after the government introduce GST hikes. The Nokia 2.3 now sells for Rs 7,585 in India. A 33-year-old man in California, who sympathized with incel mass shooter Elliot Rodger, has been arrested on a federal cyberstalking charge that he conducted an 'internet harassment campaign' against two teenage girls who rejected his sexual advances. From at least February 2016 to March 2020, Carl Bennington sent hundreds of messages threatening to commit acts of physical and sexual violence against girls and women if they did not submit to his sexual advances, according to a criminal complaint. But one woman in Texas said in a 33-page criminal complaint that the harassment started when she was 14 and went on for eight years. Bennington who lives in Covina, in the San Gabriel Valley - is said to be an online promoter of the involuntary celibate (incel) subculture and frequently made statements on internet groups that women oppress men and have too much freedom to choose their own sexual partners. Carl Bennington, 33, was taken into custody by FBI special agents as the complaint was unsealed in United States District Court in Los Angeles (pictured) Tuesday The ideology ranges in tone from sad and self-loathing to advocating the 'absolute hatred' of women, according to court documents. Neither victim ever met Bennington in person but when one demanded that Bennington stop harassing her, he replied that he was going to kill her and her family. A Texas victim said she didn't know how to make the cyberstalking stop when she was just a child. 'It's been going on for eight years,' she said. Cyberstalking is a felony offense that carries a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison. Bennington was taken into custody by FBI special agents as the complaint was unsealed in United States District Court in Los Angeles Tuesday. Bennington (not pictured) sympathized with the University of California Santa Barbara mass shooter Elliot Rodger (pictured). In Facebook communications from 2015 to 2019 he described Rodger as a 'victim' Bennington sympathized with the University of California Santa Barbara mass shooter Elliot Rodger. In Facebook communications from 2015 to 2019 he described Rodger as a 'victim', NBC News reports. Rodger who killed six people and injured 14 others in the 2015 shooting also led an incel lifestyle and hated women. He said he was a 22-year-old virgin who had never been kissed as he posted videos promoting the lifestyle. Authorities stated in the documents that last year his family called police after he threatened to injure and kill them. He was placed on 72-hour holds to monitor his mental health after his irrational actions. He will remain in federal custody pending the outcome of a detention hearing scheduled for Thursday and his arraignment is scheduled for May 11. Dozens of government-backed groups are using COVID-19 themes as lures for phishing and malware scams, Googles Threat Analysis Group (TAG) warned today. One campaign sent fake messages from fast food chains to US government employees. That phishing attempt offered free meals and coupons in response to COVID-19 and sent links to bogus online ordering and delivery options in an attempt to get Google account credentials. TAG says its not aware of any accounts being compromised by that campaign. The vast majority of the messages were sent to spam or blocked by domains using Safe Browsing. The fact that government-backed groups are using COVID-19 to spread malware and snag credentials is disturbing, but its not surprising. This morning The New York Times reported that US officials believe China-backed operatives helped spread COVID-19 misinformation in an attempt to sow discord across the country. And weve already seen COVID-19 scams, like the one that may have stolen millions from the German government. Generally, were not seeing an overall rise in phishing attacks by government-backed groups; this is just a change in tactics, Googles TAG team wrote. TAG has also seen an increase in cybercrime attempts on international and national health organizations, like emails that link to a domain spoofing the World Health Organizations login page. In response, TAG is adding a higher threshold for Google Account sign in and recovery to more than 50,000 high-risk accounts. And to support the larger security research community, Google is offering more than $200,000 in grants as part of a new Vulnerability Research Grant for COVID-19 fund. It says it expects to see new lures and schemes and will continue working to fight them. Content creator, food vlogger and business woman Uriel Oputa is dishing healthy bodily tips to help fans take good care of their health and bodies. On social media, Uriel however stated that she started looking younger after implementing meal plans and trying to health conscious. She wrote: I look Ten Years Younger? I look so young its Nuts Respect FOOD it can make or Break YOU I started to look older wrinkles at my age? Eh!!! I would Sleep in make up.. you guys know I love make up still do. Imagine your doctor saying your border line Obese WTH!!! How?? Diabetes runs in my Family, my mum had a Stroke.. Wake up Call Uriel I felt Really unhealthy unhappy I wanted to be Thick Slim It wasnt really my size I felt unhealthy my skin looked dull I stopped wearing makeup ?? You can be Thick and Healthy I wasnt P.s I said I would give away 1 meal plan but I will do 3 tomorrow on my Live!!! Im still Bold and beautiful Tomorrows session is all about Body Image Uriel was a former housemate in the popular Big Bother Naija show which shot her to fame. Update, April 22, 11:30 a.m.: The San Francisco Police Department reports the second adult female involved in the traffic collision at 25th and Dakota streets died at San Francisco General Hospital. The adult male remains hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries. April 21, 10 p.m. A woman and a dog died, and two other people were injured Tuesday night when a vehicle plunged down a hill in San Francisco. San Francisco police responded to the incident at 7:20 p.m., and in a statement said: "A silver Nissan SUV drove through a fence at 25th and Dakota streets, proceeded down a hill and came to rest in a parking lot." The woman and the dog were pronounced dead at the scene. Another adult female with life-threatening injuries and an adult male with less severe injuries were transported to the hospital. Police said that the incident is under investigation, and that "this appears to be a single-vehicle collision with three occupants." Amy Graff is a digital editor with SFGATE. Email her at agraff@sfgate.com. At least 14 residents from Healthcare at Foster Creek have died and 71 residents and employees have tested positive for the coronavirus. The Southeast Portland nursing home, 6003 S.E. 136th Ave., is licensed for about 110 residents and is managed by Benicia Senior Living, based in West Linn. March 24: Healthcare at Foster Creek tells Multnomah County officials that two residents are showing symptoms of the coronavirus. The county assigns a health official to help the nursing home manage the potential outbreak. March 26: A contractor providing mental health services pulls its staff from Foster Creek because of concerns about safety practices at the nursing home. March 27: Foster Creek announces on its website that three residents have tested positive for the coronavirus. March 29-April 3: Five Foster Creek residents die, including Richard Parker. April 3: Multnomah County officials ask the state Department of Human Services and the Oregon Health Authority for help, saying Foster Creek has stopped giving the county regular updates about new cases and deaths and stopped responding to calls and emails. April 4: In response to the county, the Oregon Health Authority visits the nursing home to evaluate its efforts to prevent the further spread of the virus. April 5-April 9: Five more residents with the virus die. April 10: The Oregonian/OregonLive reports the death of 10 residents. April 10: The Department of Human Services launches a three-day inspection of Foster Creek. Among problems inspectors find: staff failing to wash their hands between residents, workers getting one mask per shift, employees working with both sick and non-diagnosed patients. April 10: DHS signs a contract with a major senior care company to turn one of the companys nursing home buildings into an emergency center for people recovering from the coronavirus. The Oregon Health Authority and DHS officially agree to share data to better identify outbreaks in senior care homes across the state. April 11: The state for the first time publishes case counts for senior care homes with coronavirus outbreaks. Only facilities with five or more cases are listed. April 11: American Medical Response, under contract with the Oregon Health Authority, evaluates each Foster Creek resident diagnosed with the virus or showing symptoms. The company evacuates 17 residents to local hospitals. April 12: American Medical Response evaluates the health conditions of the remaining residents at Foster Creek, then re-evaluates some of the ones who were showing symptoms the previous day. The company takes another three residents to local hospitals. April 15: DHS orders Foster Creek to take an array of steps to curb its outbreak, including listening to the advice of a state-appointed consultant, meeting minimum staffing standards and training staff in how to control infections. April 16: At least 14 residents have died, DHS announces. Sources: Interviews with families, Multnomah County health officials, Foster Creek employees and public records. Please email me with any comments, corrections, or tips. -- Fedor Zarkhin fzarkhin@oregonian.com desk: 503-294-7674|cell: 971-373-2905|@fedorzarkhin Stories: cutt.ly/fzarkhin Newspapers in the United States have traveled rough seas to the First Amendment freedoms we enjoy today. From the colonial Stamp Act through wartime censorship to today, when thousands of newspapers were slammed with the public health emergency known as COVID-19, people who work for newspapers have never had completely smooth sailing. Now most of the businesses that advertise with us are shut down. The pipeline to make our payroll shut down with them. People are restlessly waiting in their locked-down homes for us to bring the news nonetheless. Across the country, journalists and the thousands of people it takes to let them do their work from publishers to ad sales people to printers are figuring out ways to keep the news coming. We do our work as bravely as we can, even when we, too, are masked up and dodging possibly lethal infections. A disheartening chord is sounding here and there across Americas mournful song about this tragic era: why should Americans still support newspapers? Some in our business dont like the very notion of media. We newspaper folk argue that media is not us. We are the press, the ones mentioned in the Constitution. Even so, we know some people dont trust even us, though we work and play and worship and vote in our own communities. Distrust and dissension are making this tough era even tougher. Let us speak our piece here. We are not driven by ratings. We cover events and issues and write the news as best we can in the worst of times. We do have to have revenue to pay people, just as the even braver front-line hospitals, ambulance companies and urgent care centers do. We are large and small, owned by local owners or sometimes people from far away. But in most small communities, the newspaper is a hometown thing. Were here to cover the news, love us or hate us. Through our national organizations, were asking Congress to give us a little support. We need those federal advertising messages to go into the local paper, not onto Facebook or Instagram. We need the short-term payroll loans to pay our staff and cover printing costs for a while. If these are bailouts or handouts, they are no more so for us than for the millions of other businesses covered by Congresss $2 trillion stimulus bill. Yes, we are worried about federal debt. But if the economy collapses, the debt will surely spiral out of control. We need to get through this time and tighten our belts, just as we have through two World Wars, terrorist attacks and other epidemics. Are we worth the investment? You tell us. Without journalism, how does this bold 244-year experiment in self-government continue to work? We arent perfect, nor is democracy. But it is the best we have. Matthew Adelman, publisher of the Douglas (Wyoming) Budget, is the president of the National Newspaper Association, which represents community newspapers such as this one across the U.S. While Joseph Maldonado-Passage (aka Joe Exotic) serves a 22-year prison sentence for allegedly hiring a hitman to kill Big Cat Rescue owner, Carole Baskin, his fourth husband, Dillon Passage, is setting the record straight. Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness showed the lives of exotic pet owners and the scandals involved. In the time since, stars of the Netflix docuseries have spoken out regarding any lingering questions about the content. Such is the case with Passage. In a new interview, Passage said those headlines about Maldonado-Passage having a son arent true. Reports previously emerged that Joe Exotic has a son Tiger King | Netflix In recent weeks since Tiger Kings release, Maldonado-Passage has made headlines for various reasons unrelated to the charges that landed him in prison. According to the New York Post, former ExoticTV producer and Inside Edition alum, Rick Kirkham, said Maldonado-Passage fathered a son with a woman named Kim long before the Tiger Kings fame. Maldonado-Passage worked as a small-town police chief in Texas during this time and later had a falling out with Chappell. Kirkham suggested Maldonado-Passage regretted having a child, which could be why the former relationship with Chappells mother is not mentioned int he docuseries. Kirkham confirmed the son, Brandon Chappell, worked alongside his father at The Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma. Hes apparently shown briefly in an episode of Tiger King. However, their relationship was never addressed or discussed until now. Passage said Joe Exotic doesnt have a son Kirkham isnt the only one who mentioned Maldonado-Passages parenting status. In another interview, Maldonado-Passages niece, Chealsi Putman, corroborated the claim. Joe was in and out of Brandons life when he was growing up, at one point just a few years ago Brandon and his then-wife both worked at the zoo with Joe, Putman told DailyMailTV. Joe would go around telling everyone this was his son, he made no secret about it. Brandon was even in a few scenes in the Netflix show. However, Joe Exotics current husband denies those claims. In an interview on Channel Qs The Morning Beat, Passage cleared the air. Joe does not have any kids. I recently heard the same rumor, and I was like, Are you trying to tell me that Im a step-dad to a 38-year-old and I have grandkids? Joe used to be with this girl, her name was Kim. But when him and Kim split up, Joes brother actually got with Kim and they had a son and that is Brandon Chappell, Passage said. Chappell has not commented on any of the claims. Passage stands by his husbands side Son or not, Passage is standing by his man. Still, that doesnt mean all bets are off if another relationship stumbled upon him. I am not on any dating apps and I dont plan to be either, but Joe and I have had the conversation that if I decide to move on and find somebody he is going to be super supportive of that., he said in the same interview. And even if I do decide to find somebody I am still going to talk to Joe as much as I do usually. He added that he wants to be known for more than his and Maldonado-Passages Tiger King status. Dont get me wrong when I say this, I absolutely love Joe, but for the rest of my life, I dont want to be known as Joe Exotics husband. I want to be known as Dillon Passage, I want to make a name for myself, he said. My heart lies with music music festivals and the EDM world are a big part of my life, so if I can do anything with that it would be awesome, but I also love animals just as much. There may be things in the future in the EDM world and the animal world, so stay tuned for that! Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness is available on Netflix now. The state of emergency has been extended in the country until May 22, 2020. The relevant decision was approved by the Georgian parliament with 97 votes (against10). The decree issued by the President, which provides for certain restrictions during the state of emergency, was extended for the same period. The opposition parties did not back the extension of the state of emergency. Members of the United National Movement and European Georgia called on the government to submit an anti-crisis plan and a report on the measures taken. According to them, the government should answer a question of how it intends to assist vulnerable citizens. The state of emergency was declared in the country on March 21, 2020. After weeks of housing advocates and industry groups calling for the government to provide a liquidity backstop to servicers providing COVID-19 relief to borrowers, the Federal Housing Finance Agency has responded. However, the agency is taking a different tack than that recommended by industry groups. Servicers providing federally mandated forbearance to borrowers are still required to advance payments to bond investors. With more than 2.9 million mortgages already in forbearance due to the COVID-19 outbreak a number only expected to grow servicers could face a shortage of liquidity. With that in mind, dozens of industry groups and fair-housing advocates have demanded that the government provide a liquidity facility for servicers. Instead, the FHFA has announced a limit to the number of scheduled payments a servicer is obligated to advance. According to an announcement made Tuesday by the agency, once a servicer has advanced four months of missed principal-and-interest payments on a single-family mortgage loan, that servicer will have no further obligation to advance scheduled payments. The rule applies to all Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans, the FHFA said. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 16:33:35|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MANILA, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines has returned to South Korea around 2,676 metric tons (MT) of waste materials that were stored since 2018 in a government facility in Misamis Oriental province in the southern Philippines, Philippine Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said on Wednesday. Dominguez said in a statement that the 2,676 MT was part of the 5,176.91 MT that the South Korean government officials have committed to help ship back to their country after these were illegally exported to the Philippines in July 2018. The waste materials consist of plastic synthetic flakes that were unlawfully imported by the Verde Soko Philippines Industrial Corp. based in the central Philippine Cebu province. The garbage was shipped back in 151 forty-footer containers. The first batch of 51 containers was re-exported to Korea on Jan. 25, 2019, and was followed by another shipment of 50 containers on Jan. 15 this year. A third batch consisting of 50 containers was shipped to South Korea on March 21. "The re-exportation took some time because the wastes have been exposed to natural elements of heat and rain, which made it difficult to re-bag and stuff inside the containers," Bureau of Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero said in his report to Dominguez. Guerrero said 2,500 MT of wastes still need to be re-bagged and were originally scheduled to be repatriated to South Korea by the end of March, but the imposition of the enhanced community quarantine set back the timetable. The Philippines placed the entire main island of Luzon under quarantine on March 16 to curb the spread of COVID-19. The extended coronavirus lockdown runs until April 30. Manila and Seoul are signatories to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, more popularly referred to as the Basel Convention, aimed at reducing movements of hazardous waste between nations, and specifically to prevent the transfer of toxic waste from developed to less developed countries. Last year, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte ordered a total ban of waste materials from any foreign countries. The order came in the wake of trash row with Canada over 103 shipping containers of garbage that Canada shipped to the Philippines in batches from 2013 to 2014. The waste materials were finally shipped back to Canada in May 2019. Duterte has told developed Western countries to stop dumping garbage to Asian countries in the guise of "recyclable" materials. The Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia are among those Southeast Asian countries that received hazardous garbage shipments from Western countries, he added. Enditem Nguyen Hong Hai and Hoang Le Quan, lawyers at Lexcomm Vietnam LLC On March 30, the government officially introduced Decree 37 to expand the list of business lines eligible for investment incentives under the Law on Investment No.67/2014/QH13 and Decree No.118/2015/ND-CP guiding the implementation of this law. Accordingly, from May 15, several industries and sectors will officially become eligible for investment incentives. These include small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) product distribution chains, business incubators for SMEs, technical support facilities for SMEs, and coworking spaces for startups. Decree 37 will undeniably impose its positive socio-economic impacts by finalising the legal framework on the supportive mechanism for SMEs. This decree arrives right in time, as it does not only focus on furthering the commitment and support from the government toward the rapidly growing of startup economy in Vietnam, but also plays an active role as a vitamin boost to strongly support SMEs and startups business sustaining against negative impacts of the coronavirus outbreak. About 98 per cent of 760,000 enterprises in Vietnam are SMEs, which contributes approximately 45 per cent in GDP, 31 per cent in total state budget, and has created more than five million jobs by the end of 2019. The numbers confirm the huge potential and socio-economic significance of SMEs yet, they are among the most vulnerable subjects during the outbreak. A recent report conducted by the Research Department for Private Economy Development under the Prime Ministers Advisory Council for Administrative Procedure Reform concluded that if the pandemic lasts for six months, 74 per cent of surveyed enterprises may go bankrupt, nearly 30 per cent may reduce their revenues by 20-50 per cent, 60 per cent may reduce more than 50 per cent of their revenues. The main reason is that resources (such as financial, market, and human resources) for SMEs which were already limited are now getting harder to access. Meanwhile, investment incentives offered to them, as introduced under the Law on Support for Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises No.04/2017/QH14 in 2017, still appear to be practically unavailable, due to the lack of systematic and uniform support from the government in the central and local levels. With Decree 37, several industries and sectors will officially become eligible for investment incentives. Photo: Le Toan Fast-track solution The law on SMEs was enacted with an aim to create a special incentive policy to promote their development. However, at present, the law implementing alone has not achieved the expected effects, mainly due to the lack of clear guiding documents, the conflict with other regulations (such as investment, tax, or land regulations), and the vagueness in supportive policies. This leads to the fact that most SMEs in Vietnam are still struggling to access credit, tax, and land support programmes, as well as other preferential policies as introduced by the law on SMEs. One of the most challenging obstacles in practice is the lack of a clear legal basis for granting investment incentives to the supporting businesses to the SMEs. In particular, Article 33.1(a) of the Law on SMEs stipulates four types of businesses eligible for investment incentives (those are now the main subject under Decree 37 the supporting businesses). However, these businesses were not clearly addressed in the list of preferential businesses and investment sectors attached to Decree 118. Meanwhile, the list under Decree 118 still serves as the legal basis for the application of investment incentives, including incentive on non-agricultural land use tax (under the Law on Non-Agricultural Land Use Tax); land use fee and land rental (under the Law on Land); import duty (under the Law on Export and Import Duties); and some other incentives under Decree No.57/2018/ND-CP on supportive mechanisms and policies for enterprises investing in agricultural sectors and rural areas. Pending a clear inclusion of the supporting businesses into the list of preferential businesses and investment sectors, it is rather difficult, if not impossible, for investors to seek to apply for incentives when launching the supporting business. As a matter of fact, lawmakers have been well aware of such a problem, and have addressed this issue in the draft of the new Law on Investment (which is proposed to be submitted to the National Assembly for approval in June). Following the current draft of the new law, once it is passed, the supporting business will then be clearly included in the list of preferential businesses and investments, thus solving this problem. Nevertheless, to wait for the new law is passed, on the assumption that there is no delay in the enactment of this new Law on Investment, the SMEs would still have had to wait until early 2021 at the soonest (when the new law may take effect) to have solid ground to apply for investment incentives. It is a promising timeline, yet there may not be enough time to wait for the economy, and especially SMEs, since the pandemic has put the world and Vietnams economy at impending risk of an economic crisis in the near future. Decree 37, with the effect to immediately amend Decree 118, is a fast-track solution offered by the government to help SMEs during this difficult time. The issuance of Decree 37 in the midst of the serious outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, on the first hand, demonstrates the governments dedication to further promote the SMEs. On the other hand, it helps ease investor worries during this chaotic period. Yet, the implementation of Decree 37 needs to be seen. Startup hub establishment Vietnam has the third-highest rate for startups in Southeast Asia and Vietnams innovation ecosystem provides a wide range of opportunities for Australian investors, said the Australian Trade and Investment Commission under its Vietnams Innovation Ecosystem 2019 Report. Obviously, Vietnam has huge potential to become a new regional hub for both local and foreign startup enterprises. Currently, startup enterprises mostly concentrate in Hanoi, Danang, and Ho Chi Minh City. These three cities have also witnessed the success of numerous coworking spaces such as Toong, Dreamlex, Nest, and Hatch!, as well as the success of startup incubators and accelerators (such as the Vietnam Silicon Valley). Decree 37 will also open a wide door for startups in Vietnam by attracting more investment, including foreign investment, into related sectors. Additionally, by establishing a uniform preferential set of conditions on a nationwide scale, Decree 37 is expected to expand the startup trend and successful models to more cities and provinces, other than the current big three locations. The equivalent allocation of chances and resources will eventually benefit the economy, contributing to the establishment of a startup hub in the Southeast Asian region. One can say that Decree 37 is bringing the spirit of Februarys Directive No.09/CT-TTg on preferential conditions for innovative startups into reality. In the past, due to the gap between the regulatory direction of the central government and the actual implementation of the law on SMEs, local authorities were facing challenges in realising the supportive mechanisms introduced under this law, thus led to the fact that numerous unnecessary business requirements and administrative procedures had been adopted in various localities, hindering the development of SMEs. Thanks to Decree 37, it is now expected that the inconsistency between the governments policy and the localities implementation will be solved consistently throughout the country. With the clear recognition of the supporting businesses in the list of preferential sectors, it should be easier for investors to access the land and credit support programmes from the government. In addition, when Decree 37 becomes effective, with additional supporting mechanism from the government to overcome the severely hit of the pandemic, the new regulation is expected to become a momentum for the economy to rapidly recover after it comes to an end and, in the long run, to help Vietnam come closer to achieving startup nation status. The city police on Wednesday seized over 300 vehicles and booked their users for stepping out without a valid reason or passes. The police have tightened security checks at Mysuru Road, Goragunte Palya, Hosur Road, Ballari Road and other major entry and exit points of the city. The vehicle checks caused traffic jams on Mysuru Road and some other areas. Bellandur police seized 11 two-wheelers and six cars at a checkpoint on Sarjapur Road, Southeast Bengaluru, while Kadugodi police confiscated 14 vehicles at a checkpoint at Channasandra. The violators were booked under IPC Section 188 (disobedience to an order duly promulgated by a public servant). Battling to keep intensive care patients alive at a hospital in one of New York City's worst-affected coronavirus neighborhoods is taking a toll on nurse Debbie Sanchez's mental health. "I have extreme anxiety," said Sanchez, who has been working 12-hour shifts covered head-to-toe in protective clothing since New York became the epicenter of America's COVID-19 outbreak last month. Sanchez, 57, was working in the emergency room at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx when she was moved to help the facility's overwhelmed intensive care unit. She is not a trained ICU nurse and lives in fear she will make a mistake. Sanchez also hasn't seen her granddaughter in over a month for fear of infecting her. "The whole thing of changing your whole life is what's stressful. I have a hard time sleeping," she admitted to AFP. New York state accounts for around a third of America's 42,500 COVID-19 deaths. More than 14,000 people in New York City have died, or are likely to have died, from the virus. As well as the threat of depression and anxiety faced by billions of people under social isolation orders worldwide, health professionals on the front line must deal with death and the high risk of contagion every day. 'TAI CHI' "This is a time that is really testing our resilience," said Jonathan Ripp, an internist at New York's network of eight Mount Sinai hospitals. Ripp, the co-author of a study that seeks to understand anxiety among medical staff during the pandemic and which was published this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), said medical staff concerns are numerous. "Are we going to have enough equipment? How am I going to get to work? Who's going to take care of my kids?" he told AFP, citing some of the worries. "How am I going to be prepared to take care of patients in a setting that I'm not used to... What if I'm dealing with patients who are critically ill, who are dying?" Ripp added. In an attempt to help its staff, Mount Sinai provides answers to questions on a dedicated website, created a 24-hour mental health hotline, runs virtual support groups, and offers meditation, yoga, and tai chi classes. Mental health professionals also contact staff to ask how they are feeling. Heather Isola, a physician assistant who oversees 900 colleagues, said her worst day was when one of them was diagnosed with COVID-19 and was hospitalized in a serious condition. "It was probably the peak of the disease as well and the peak in the hospital so that was the breaking day," recalled the 36-year-old. "The same thing every day... is draining," she added. "What is it going to do to us? The anxieties, the PTSD, the experience of death and dying. Most people haven't seen death and dying like this," she added. 'TRAUMA' At least 26 employees of public hospitals in the city have died, according to government figures, adding to the anxiety of medical staff and meaning many themselves are in mourning. "It's impossible not to relate to that 40-year-old or 30-year-old who might just be the exception who didn't have any problems and now has ended up on a ventilator for reasons that we're still trying to understand," says Ripp. "Seeing that in front of you makes it very real and puts that level of fear and anxiety on a higher stage if you will." Dawn Brown, director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), which runs a helpline for those struggling to deal with the outbreak, says hospital staff find themselves "in a really tragic situation." "We are beginning to see signs of trauma," she told AFP, adding that that "has far-reaching consequences." Sanchez has stopped looking at a WhatsApp chat group with colleagues and tries not to check Facebook because the stories people are sharing are just too stressful. "Sometimes I feel sad and I want to cry," she said. 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Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe Namita Bajpai By Express News Service LUCKNOW: A usual morning turned unusual for 106-year-old Shri Narain alias Bhulai Bhai, a former two-time MLA, who got the surprise of his life when he received a call from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday. Now a resident of Pagar village in Ramkola block of Kushinagar, Shri Narain got a call from an official of the PMO early on Wednesday morning. It was received by his grandson Kanhaiya. The official told Kanhaiya that the PM wanted to talk to Shri Narain. As the PM came on the line, he asked the former MLA about his well being. Is that Shri Narain ji speaking?, asked the PM to which the centenarian responded Yes. Sources said the PM greeted him saying that he had called him up to enquire about his health and also seek his blessings. Shri Narain had represented the Naurangiya assembly segment, now known as Khadda, in Kushinagar twice in the UP Assembly. He was a close aide of the Jan Sangh founder Dr Deen Dayal Upadhyay. He has also worked in close association with Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani. The PM asked the former lawmaker if he had completed a century to which he told Modi that he was 106. The PM expressed his desire to seek his blessings during the present difficult times. To this, the old man said: Aap yashaswi hon aur jab tak swasthya rahen desh ki sewa karte rahen (May your fame spread far and wide and may you keep serving the nation till your health permits). The PM then conveyed his greetings to Shri Narain's entire family which comprises five generations and asked him to take good care of himself. Later, the former MLA said that the PM talked to him for two-and-a-half minutes. I am grateful to the Prime Minister of the country for talking to me and asking about my well being in these tough times, said Shri Narain. Later, talking to the media, he shared his memories of working with PM Modi in Nagpur at the RSS headquarters. I had met him five decades ago in Nagpur as an RSS worker. He was also active in the sangh pariwar then as a swayamsevak, he said, adding that he had also met the PM during the last Lok Sabha elections when he had come to Kushinagar for an event. Soldiers were even deployed in February to chase birds away from their breeding grounds lest avian flu be imported as well. This, it is said, on Mr. Kims direct orders. We outsiders have no real way of gauging whether the Covid-19 epidemic is a threat to the North Korean regimes very survival, but the leadership seems to be reacting as if it thinks so. The ruling partys mouthpiece, Rodong Sinmun, stated in late January that, All party organizations should consider the project to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus infection as an important political issue related to national survival. It has demanded absolute obedience to state directives because any moment of complacency could result in irreversible catastrophic consequences. Pyongyang boasts that not a single case of infection has been reported in North Korea. Gen. Robert Abrams, the commander of the United States Forces in South Korea, said in early April that this was impossible. Were not going to reveal our sources and methods, General Abrams was reported as stating to journalists, but that is untrue. No one needs to have top security clearance to figure that out. The North Korean military seems to have been stricken by some sort of outbreak. Without notice or explanation, festivities were unexpectedly scrapped for Army Day on Feb. 8. The chief of the militarys general staff appears to have been quarantined for 20 days in February. Military exercises and drills came to a halt for a month. Daily NK published an article in early March citing a source in the North Korean military who said that some 180 soldiers stationed along the Chinese border had died of Covid-19-like symptoms in January and February; there were just too many bodies to cremate, the source claimed. Daily NK has also reported that in early April several doctors died after suffering from fevers and respiratory pains at a military hospital in Nampo, a port town near Pyongyang. Another news story suggests that Covid-19 may have spread to detention centers: 11 inmates in the Chongori prison camp, in the northeast, were said last month to have died after respiratory pains. During public lectures in late March, North Korean officials stated that coronavirus cases had been confirmed in Pyongyang and two provinces, according to Radio Free Asia. (The government routinely resorts to such lectures to deliver to the people sensitive information and guidance it wants to keep out of official statements and away from foreign intelligence services.) Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-07 16:26:33|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The world is now in a battle against COVID-19, a disease caused by a previously unknown coronavirus that has spread to over 200 countries and regions. The following are the updates on the contagious disease. - - - - PORT MORESBY -- Papua New Guinea (PNG) registered a second positive case of COVID-19 on Monday, which triggered a lockdown of the entire East New Britain (ENB) province where the patient was registered. The person of interest was a local female resident of Kokopo in ENB, PNG Prime Minister James Marape told reporters from the nation's capital Port Moresby on Monday afternoon. - - - - JERUSALEM -- The number of novel coronavirus cases in Israel has risen to 9,006, the Israeli Ministry of Health said Tuesday. Also on Tuesday, Ichilov and Hasharon hospitals in central Israel announced the death of two coronavirus patients. - - - - JAKARTA -- The Indonesian capital of Jakarta, hit the hardest by COVID-19 in the country, will impose a large-scale social restriction to contain the further spread of the virus. A request of Jakarta's administration to impose the restriction has been approved by the Indonesian Health Ministry, the ministry's Secretary General Oscar Pribadi said. - - - - JAKARTA -- Indonesian Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto has approved the proposal by Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan on large-scale social distancing to prevent further spread of the coronavirus. After that, the Jakarta administration can take any restrictive measures deemed necessary to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, an official said Tuesday. "It was signed by the Health Minister last night (Monday)," the Head of Media and Public Opinion at the Health Ministry, Busroni, was quoted by online media Detik.com as saying. - - - - TRIPOLI -- A United Nations official condemned a recent attack on a hospital in the Libyan capital Tripoli, noting it is "unacceptable" amid the global public health crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "I am appalled to have learned that heavy shelling hit Tripoli's Al Khadra General Hospital today, injuring at least one health worker and damaging the fully-functioning medical facility," Yacoub El Hillo, UN resident coordinator and humanitarian coordinator in Libya, said in a statement. "The repeated calls by the United Nations and the international community for a cessation of hostilities have only been met with complete disregard and intensified fighting. This is unacceptable at a time when healthcare and health workers are vital in our fight against a global pandemic," the statement said. Oil prices sank to fresh 21-year lows before recovering as markets continued to grapple with extreme oversupply caused by the coronavirus crisis. On a day of wild swings on global markets, Brent crude briefly fell below $16 a barrel, the lowest level this century. It later recovered, surging to more than $21 last night, but is still trading far below the $28 of a week ago. Earlier this year it was close to $70 a barrel. On a day of wild swings on global markets, The price of Brent Crude briefly fell below $16 a barrel - the lowest level this century The latest swings will raise more concerns BP and Royal Dutch Shell could cut or axe their dividends. The oil giants are the biggest dividend payers on the FTSE 100, with many savers and pension funds reliant on the income they provide. Their dividends are even more important to savers after big banks and insurers scrapped shareholder payouts. In 2019 the two handed back a combined 18.3billion to their investors, almost 17 per cent of the total 111billion paid in dividends by London-listed companies. But this year they would make up a much higher percentage of the total. The rollercoaster trading yesterday came after US oil prices fell below $0 on Monday. Demand has plunged by around a third as lockdowns across the world have taken cars off the road, grounded aircraft and temporarily closed factories. Analysts believe there could be worse to come. Bjornar Tonhaugen, head of oil markets at Rystad Energy, said: 'Be prepared for more surprises in this broken market.' So far BP and Shell have unveiled plans to cut costs and, in Shell's case, hit the pause button on a share buyback but have not said the dividend will come in the firing line. Both pay dividends every quarter and will confirm whether they are committing to a dividend next week when they report their results for January to March. BP will report on Tuesday and Shell on Thursday. Joshua Mahony, analyst at IG, said it was the second-quarter dividend that might face cuts or be handed out in another form. This is because recent price plunges started around the same time markets went haywire in late February. Mahony said: 'Trimming back expenditures should allow them to continue as is for the time being. But the second quarter could be a different story.' David Moss, at BMO Global Asset Management, said: 'Shell has made it very clear they were going to cut a lot of costs elsewhere before cutting the dividend. 'With Brent around these numbers, it's going to be difficult to maintain.' Shell has paid cash to shareholders since the Second World War, while BP's dividend was last disrupted by the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The Railroad Commission of Texas, the state agency that regulates the oil and gas industry, postponed a vote on a proposal to institute state-mandated oil production cuts until next month. The three-member commission delayed action until its May 5 meeting after debating the issue for 30 minutes during a Tuesday morning hearing. The proposal, pushed by Irving-based oil company Pioneer Natural Resources and Austin oil company Parsley Energy, has been floating around since the end of March. Executives with the companies want the panel to require drillers in the state to cut production in an effort to help boost oil prices, which are in the midst of a historic crash. The Railroad Commission hasn't enforced such a requirement since the early 1970s. Parsley CEO Matt Gallagher said he was disappointed by the inaction but praised the commissioners for scheduling a vote next month. "It is clear we are not in normal market conditions and we need a symphony of solutions to bring stability back to our industry," he said. Politics: Railroad Commission debate creates strange bedfellows The industry is in the midst of a historic crash as demand has disappeared during the coronavirus pandemic. OPEC, its allies and other oil-producing nations have agreed to cut nearly 10 million barrels of oil a day beginning next month, but demand has shrunk by more than double that amount. The growing glut of oil sent the U.S. benchmark price deep into negative territory Monday, but it rebounded Tuesday to $10 per barrel a price that is still too low for U.S. shale producers to break even. Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton, who is finishing out his term on the panel after losing in the GOP primary this year, wants the the commission to order a cut of 1 million barrels, as long as other producers around the world cut another 4 million barrels of oil. Fuel Fix: Get daily energy news headlines in your inbox But Commissioner Christi Craddick opposed taking action Tuesday, fearing potential lawsuits that the cuts could bring. Chairman Wayne Christian suggested that the agency's lawyers and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton review any motions or proposed mechanisms to implement production cuts. The debate over forced production cuts pits those who believe markets should be left alone and those who say that the unusual circumstances of the current oil crash require government action. Today, the Railroad Commission made the right decision," said Todd Staples, president of the Texas Oil & Gas Association, an industry trade association. "(Forced production cuts) would make matters worse, not better. Producers are acting to reduce production, and the state and federal governments are exploring additional options to assist." More: Read the latest oil and gas news from HoustonChronicle.com The Sierra Club and Environment Texas, which both support state-mandated production cuts, decried the commission delaying the vote as well as decision to issue permits that would allow 11 companies to burn excess natural gas despite from 16 oil wells across the state. The Commission has put in place a reckless policy whereby oil and gas companies are allowed to flare -- often taking a worst case scenario so they can pollute as much as possible -- with the right paperwork, instead of what the policy should be: no flaring except where it is necessary for safety or unique circumstances, Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter Interim Director Cyrus Reed said. The Commission must use the waste-not approach, and require companies to either capture well gas or simply stop producing. We attempted to send a notification to your email address but we were unable to verify that you provided a valid email address. Please click here to update your email address if you wish to receive notifications. Otherwise, you may click here to disable notifications and hide this message. The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has placed a curse on any official that diverts palliative materials. The FCT ... The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has placed a curse on any official that diverts palliative materials. The FCT Minister of State, Ramatu Aliyu, spoke during the inspection of palliative items for Kwali Area Council on Wednesday in Abuja. I beg you in the name of God, if you eat this food, you are indirectly inviting Coronavirus to your homes, NAN quoted her as saying. Ramatu explained that the palliative program was community-based. Irrespective of tribe or religion, everyone that is representing his or her own group here must know that you are the eyes of your group. If you compromise, posterity will judge you. You must stand for your people and make sure that they are served. It is not food for campaign and not for you to do charity for your family members. If you want to do charity, go to the market and buy your own materials for charity. These palliatives are from the Federal Capital Territory Administration as directed by President Muhammadu Buhari to be distributed to the poor to cushion the effect of sit-at-home. Receiving the items on behalf of the council, Chairman of Kwali Area Council, Danladi Chiya, thanked the minister for her diligence in the discharge of her duties. A woman in North Carolina was arrested this week in November 2019 after opening fire on workers maintaining a cellular tower near her home, reports WSOC TV in Charlotte. None of the workers were hit. [The woman] was charged with assault with a deadly weapon after court documents show she fired a a 22 revolver pistol. We can hear the 911 call made from the tower this weekend where a crew of three people were doing work south of Taylorsville. The woman has prevously contacted authorities to inform them of "hearing voices from the tower", says local Sheriff Chris Bowman. Her gun is legally owned. CORRECTION: The incident happened months ago, not last week. Every Tom Kundigdesigned project begins with a scribble. Drawings, for me, are working tools, says the architect. Like a writers shorthand, they may not be discernible without explanation from their creator, but they are deeply informed, both by the context and some of the histories that I am bringing to the project. Loosely to scale and driven by the intended program and specific client stipulations, those conceptual sketches have led Kundig through the nearly 45 years of practice celebrated in his new monograph, Working Title, out from Princeton Architectural Press on June 23. From commercial high-rises to wineries, from museums to private homes, the Seattle-based architect has seemingly done it all, translating the organic sensibility of his work for a variety of typologies with his AD100 firm Olson Kundig. The book allows an intimate look at these projects, including seven unpublished works, and his unique process of making architecture. Photo: Courtesy of Olson Kundig In addition to starting his conceptual sketches with developed design details, what sets Kundig apart is his ability to embed humanistic qualities into work of any scale. Years ago, Glenn Murcutt [the Australian Pritzker Prizewinning architect] once said to me that residential architecture is the architecture that the architects have forgotten. In fact, residential architecture is the root and soul of everything we do, he explains. Take, for example, the topography-hugging Martins Lane Winery in Canada, where an industrial interior is hidden by an intimate visitors entrance. Through a picture window in the cantilevered tasting room, guests become surrounded by the vineyards, and the Okanagan landscape beyond. Or see the new home for the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle. Though large and container-like inside, the museums shed roof is a nod to the traditional homes of the Coast Salish peoples, native to the Pacific Northwest. Though neither is a residential project, each incorporates home-like designs. Story continues Photo: Aaron Leitz Photography To Kundig, there is no distinction in the process to create projects of different typologies. When you approach a large project or a small project, you are approaching it from the same basis: You are making a place for human beings to be human, which means that you have the same sort of value system that is working its way through these projects, the architect says. Photo: James O'Mara The idea is guided by his close relationship with nature, one that began in childhood. Born in Northern California and raised in Washington state, he finds himself nature-based in instinct, and is excited by the utilization of natural materials in architecture, embracing the way they age and change over time. Residential projects like the three-story treehouse in Costa Rica, built entirely of local teak and passively operable, or Hale Lane on Hawaiis Big Island, where interior and exterior are nearly indistinguishable, are prime examples. Photo: Nic Lehoux Photo: Nic Lehoux But the architects love for designing with so-called gizmos (the levers, cranks, pivoting walls, wheels, and shades embedded in his work) is also rooted in the natural world. When you move something large or heavy or cumbersome using the ideas of physics, you are embracing the natural world through your body, he explains. And often, the movement of those large, heavy, or cumbersome things reveals a vista. Financier Kipp Nelsons Hollywood aerie (revealed in ADs November 2019 issue and also featured in the new monograph) is a contemporary machine for living, where glass sliders open the living room to the pool, and mechanical shutters keep the evening chill out of a cantilevered master bedroom that seems to float over La La Land. Meanwhile, the previously unpublished Wasatch House in Salt Lake City is completely grounded, a series of three pavilions where landscape weaves in and under its sky bridges, and interior panels can open or close living spaces. Photo: Matthew Millman If you look through all the projects in the book, they are relatively narrow in certain directions to a sort of refuge area and then that refuge area can open to a big prospect view. So youre always aware of the yin and yang of nature, both big views, refuge views; black and white; hard and soft; protected and exposed, he says. The intention is that you have your choice to either embrace, protect, or waive through use of these objects. Photo: Nic Lehoux While each of Kundigs projects has their own contextual quirks, they all feel embedded in nature, whether they are actually urban or rural (the architect is currently completing a multi-family housing complex, 8899 Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles, and several hospitality projects around the world). The thread that connects them all? Humanity, he says: The basis is always what it means to be a human, what it means to be alive, what it means to experience our place and our short period of time on earth. Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest (Bloomberg) -- The federal government has awarded $7.2 billion in contracts to fight the coronavirus pandemic, including one that would pay a little-known Massachusetts biotech firm more than its reported revenue for the last three years combined. The award to Moderna Inc. is just one example of the thousands of federal contracts awarded by the Trump administration to fight the coronavirus, according to a review of federal data compiled by Bloomberg Government. Some companies have secured nine-figure deals to supply thousands of ventilators, face masks, hospital capacity and other critical services needed to manage the outbreak. Amsterdam-based Royal Philips NV has so far been the top corporate recipient with some $661.4 million in agreements. The vast majority of that sum came on April 8 via a $646.7 million contract to procure ventilators from the health technology giants Philips Electronics North America unit. Health and Human Services last week awarded seven contracts worth a combined $1.4 billion to secure thousands of ventilators, which are needed to treat the most severe cases. Among the awards were a $350 million pact with a U.S. affiliate of Asahi Kasei Corp., a $552 million accord with Hamilton Medical Inc. and a $408 million purchase from Vyaire Holding Co. Each of those companies have other, smaller virus-related contracts, lifting the total value of their government work. The search for a vaccine to counter the disease spurred other large awards, in addition to Modernas. In late March, Johnson & Johnson Inc.s Janssen Pharmaceuticals unit signed a $456.2 million deal for Covid-19 vaccine development, plus a $148.4 million award for anti-viral therapies. Shares of the parent company have risen 2.6% this year compared to the broader S&P 500 Indexs 15% decline. 3M Co. and Honeywell International Inc. each won multiple contracts totaling more than $180 million apiece, mostly to replenish scant supplies of N95 respirator masks. Other mask-procurement deals include a $55.5 million award to Panthera Worldwide LLC and contracts totaling nearly $46 million with Draegerwerk AG & Co. for masks and other medical gear. Story continues The Department of Defense on Tuesday detailed contracts totaling $133 million for 39 million N95 masks made by 3M, Honeywell and a unit of Owens & Minor Inc. over the next 90 days. Those contracts are not reflected in the Bloomberg Government contracting data due to reporting delays. Separately, Canadas AirBoss of America Corp. was awarded a contract for more than $96 million to supply the Federal Emergency Management Agency with 100,000 powered air purifying respirator systems. The order is the companys largest ever and exceeds its average quarterly revenue for the last four quarters. Services are another major category of federal coronavirus contracts. RER Financial Group LLC received two contracts totaling $350 million to provide data analysis and loan recommendation services to the U.S. Small Business Administration. FEMA meanwhile awarded more than $100 million each to Aecom and ACS, Actividades de Construccion y Servicios SA, to erect temporary hospital facilities in Long Island, New York. Shares of Moderna rose sharply after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services agreed to pay as more than $400 million for the company to develop and test its Covid-19 vaccine now in an initial clinical trial. Though its market capitalization exceeds $18 billion, the Cambridge-based biotech firms revenue was only $60.2 million last year. Its shares are up 152% this year as of Tuesdays close. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. Humans unique laziness when it comes to interacting on social media could be the key to telling us apart from artificially intelligent 'bots', a new study shows. US researchers have identified behavioural trends of humans on Twitter that are absent in social media bots namely a decrease in tweet length over time. The team studied how the behaviour of humans and bots changed over the course of a session on Twitter relating to political events. While humans get lazier as sessions progress and can't be bothered typing out long tweets, bots maintain consistent levels of engagement over time. Such a behavioural difference could inform new machine learning algorithms for bot detection software. The team report they've already used their findings to create a successful bot-detection system that outperforms a basic bot detection model. As Twitter sessions progress, human users grow tired and are less likely to undertake complex activities, the researcher report We are continuously trying to identify dimensions that are particular to the behaviour of humans on social media that can in turn be used to develop more sophisticated toolkits to detect bots, said co-author Emilio Ferrara, assistant professor of computer science and the University of Southern California Information Sciences Institute. Bots are constantly evolving with fast-paced advancements in AI, its possible to create ever-increasingly realistic bots that can mimic more and more how we talk and interact in online platforms. Bots social media accounts that are controlled by software rather than humans serve a variety of purposes, from news aggregation to automated customer assistance for online retailers. Early social media bots in the 2000s were created to tackle simple tasks, such as automatically retweeting content posted by a set of sources. But boots have since become more sophisticated and are to some extent capable of emulating the short-term behaviour of human users. They have recently been linked to more nefarious forms of online manipulation, such as influencing public opinion during electoral campaigns. One well-publicised example is Russia's use of bots to influence Americans leading up to Donald Trump's election in November 2016. Remarkably, bots continuously improve to mimic more and more of the behaviour humans typically exhibit on social media, said Professor Ferrara. Every time we identify a characteristic we think is prerogative of human behaviour, such as sentiment of topics of interest, we soon discover that newly-developed open-source bots can now capture those aspects. While much research had focused on social bot detection, little attention had been given to measuring the behaviour and activity of bots, as opposed to humans. Social bots are all those social media accounts that are controlled by artificial, as opposed to human, intelligence. Their services include news aggregation to collect and relay pieces of news from different sources To find out more, researchers used a large Twitter dataset, made up of Twitter activity from both bot and human accounts, related to recent political events. The teams dataset, called French Elections (FE), consisted of a collection of more than 16 million tweets posted by more than 2 million different users. The tweets were posted between April 25 and May 7, 2017 the two-week period leading to the second round of the French presidential election. Another dataset was made up of tweets produced by bot accounts active in viral spamming campaigns at different times, plus a group of human tweets. Over the course of a single flurry of Twitter activity, researchers measured the amount of produced content and the propensity to engage in social interactions. They focused on indicators of the quantity and quality of social interactions a user engaged in, including the number of retweets, replies and mentions, as well as the length of tweets. Humans showed a decrease in the amount of content produced, signified by a decreasing trend in average tweet length something that wasnt present in the bot accounts. A computer algorithm powered by artificial intelligence can spot people who will develop diabetes, even if they have not been diagnosed yet, scientists claim As sessions progress, human users grew tired and less likely to engage complex activities, such as composing original content. The users were likely to become more bored by the matter in hand or distracted by something else on the internet, the study suggests. Human accounts were also found to increase their amount of social interaction over the course of a session, illustrated by higher amounts of retweets and replies. Yet again, bots were shown to not be affected by this factor and maintained steady and consistent rates of engagement through the session. 'In general, our experiments reveal the presence of a temporal evolution in the human behavior over the course of a session on an online social network, whereas, confirming our expectations, no evidence is found of a similar evolution for bot accounts,' Professor Ferrara and her co-author write in in Frontiers in Physics. Researchers compared these results between bots and humans and used these to create a bot detection system, which outperformed a basic model that wasnt trained on the new detection methods. User behaviour on social media evolves in a very different manner between bots and humans on an activity session, researchers concluded. Bot accounts and Russian trolls posted messaging in favour of then-presidential hopeful Donald Trump during the election. Our analysis highlights the presence of short-term behavioural trends in humans, which can be associated with a cognitive origin, that are absent in bots, intuitively due to the automated nature of their activity, they said. These differences can be used to successfully implement a machine learning-based bot detection system or help improve existing versions. Machine learning algorithms can learn to improve their ability to perform a certain task without being explicitly programmed to do so. Such systems can find patterns or trends in sets of data to come to conclusions or help humans make better decisions. By Jeff Tittel As we recognize the 50th anniversary of Earth Day this year it is important to look back at what happened back then and what is happening today. Fifty years ago, rivers caught fire. Today the planet is on fire, with rampant wildfires every summer in California, the Amazon, and Australia. Back then, people wore masks because of dirty air. Now, people are wearing masks because of the coronavirus. The First Earth Day heralded a new era of political activism and new environmental leaders. This year being an election year, that is even more important. The coronavirus may be changing our everyday lives, but Earth Day will not be postponed. Every Earth Day is different, but this year is nothing like weve seen before. The coronavirus outbreak is reshaping the way we recognize Earth Day. We wont be cleaning up beaches and streams or holding rallies. Instead, well honor Earth Day through online protests and webinars while building toward a big mobilization movement in the fall. Even in separation, we can be as one. This year, the stakes are even greater than 50 years ago because we are in a climate emergency. For the first Earth Day, I was in junior high and I organized the clean up of Elizabeth River in Hillside. Afterward, we joined tens of thousands of people at a rally in Philadelphia. Students across the globe are still standing up for our environment today. Greta Thunberg is holding political leaders environmentally accountable. Students in the U.S. are getting active and fighting for the environment with the Sunrise Movement and by calling for a Green New Deal. The first Earth Day brought about the National Environmental Policy Act or NEPA and the Environmental Protection Agency. The U.S. went on to pass important legislation like the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, and the Endangered Species Act. It also led to political activism. There were 12 congressmen with terrible environmental records called the Dirty Dozen, and seven of them were defeated. Today, Trump is waging a war on the environment by rolling back 95 rules and regulations, getting rid of EPA enforcement, and opening up our public lands for mining and drilling. Now it is even more important for us to be politically active. This will be the most important Earth Day since the first one in 1970. It is even more important in New Jersey because we are one of the fastest-warming states in the country while also being one of the most vulnerable states to climate change. DEP has projected sea-level rise in New Jersey of up to 8.8 feet by 2100 and we are second in the nation for developing in flood-prone areas. Gov. Phil Murphy must put a moratorium on new fossil fuel projects and move us forward toward 100% renewable and zero-carbon by 2050. We have the tools and technology to get there, now we need the political will. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of New Jerseys DEP. They have worked hard to implement important environmental laws like the Spill Act and many more. However, the DEP budget and staff levels have dropped over 50% each in the last 20 years without any new hiring. The DEP needs more funding so it can update our rules and regulations to deal with climate urgency and to get lead out of our water. Flood Hazard Rules, Waiver Rules, and CAFRA all need to be updated. We also need to start regulating greenhouse gases, make a Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Plan, and create a Coastal Commission to deal with sea-level rise. It is critical that the DEP does their job for the next 50 years, and another 50 after that. We are facing the coronavirus pandemic in part because we are polluting and destroying the Earths natural resources. Fortunately, we have seen a reduction of pollution in NJ and across the globe during the pandemic. It shows that even during a tragedy, we can turn the corner on climate change. We have one environment, we are one people and one planet. It is critical to recognize Earth Day every day and keep fighting to save our planet. Jeff Tittel is the director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. The Star-Ledger/NJ.com encourages submissions of opinion. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. The word extraction sounds awfully clinical, but theres nothing clinical about the movie Extraction. A brutally efficient action flick from first-time feature director Sam Hargrave, the Netflix release drops Chris Hemsworth in a city where pretty much everybody wants him dead, and in return he makes them pay in all sorts of different, painful ways. Hargrave has an extensive resume as an actor specializing in action flicks, a second-unit director in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a stunt double for Chris Evans as Captain America and a stunt coordinator on Avengers: Endgame and Captain America: Civil War, among others. But while Avengers director Joe Russo wrote Extraction and served as one of its producers with his brother Anthony, this is not a Marvel-scale production by any means. Instead, its a tough and dirty drama that puts action first: There may be a few breathers for characters exploration, but for the most part, Hemsworths character spends almost every waking moment shooting and punching and stabbing and running and driving and shooting some more. Also Read: Chris Hemsworth Battles Through a War Zone to Rescue a Drug Kingpin's Child in 'Extraction' Trailer (Video) Extraction is effective and more than a little exhausting, but in a way, the smaller scale helps. In this era where CG lets you put anything you can think of on the screen, the stakes dont always feel high during the epic battles in superhero movies but when its two guys duking it out in an alley, the punches can look as if they hurt more than anything Thanos might throw at Thor. Hemsworth plays Tyler Rake, a mercenary who is hired to retrieve the kidnapped son of a drug lord from India. A rival drug kingpin, Amir Asif (Priyanshu Painyuli) has taken the boy to a hideout in Dhaka, in Bangladesh, where he controls the police and military and is essentially untouchable. But Rake has serious skills and a backstory that pretty much defines the term nothing left to lose, so he doesnt have a problem with suicide missions. Youre hoping that if you spin the chamber enough times, youre going to catch a bullet, says his indispensable aide, Nik (played by the always-terrific Golshifteh Farahani, who doesnt have enough to do). Story continues And since Rake can walk into a room full of a dozen armed men and leave them all dead or maimed in a minute or two, in short order he frees the boy, Ovi (Rudhkraksh Jaiswal). Naturally, thats when his trouble really starts, because Amir immediately sends every cop, soldier and tough dude in Dhaka after Rake. Plus, it turns out that the guy who hired him actually just wanted him to do the dirty work, and has sent his own heavy (Randeep Hooda) to kill Rake and take the kid. Also Read: Celebrities Who Have Died From the Coronavirus (Photos) It kind of throws the notion of good guys and bad guys out the window, because every single person Rake encounters has reason to want him dead, and a lot of them have the means to achieve it. It puts the film squarely in the fighting-your-way-through-enemy-territory genre that has produced notable films from The Warriors to The Raid: Redemption, and fight Rake does. Two hours of this is a lot, even with a few stops for character development. As good as Hargrave is at staging and shooting action, you eventually reach a point of diminishing returns in a film built around fistfights and automatic weaponry. But Hargrave knows what hes doing, particularly in extended sequences meant to appear as hyperkinetic single shots. And Hemsworth makes you feel for the character even as he takes a licking and keeps on ticking long after he should have been one more entry in the films sizeable body count. The film gets more emotional as it goes, so that by the end you may find yourself feeling something other than that youve been pummeled for a couple of hours. And even if you do just feel pummeled well, at least its been a very expert pummeling. Read original story Extraction Film Review: Wanna See Chris Hemsworth Beat the Hell Out of Everybody? At TheWrap Water truck applying Terra Pave Top Seal White Albedo Beckett Solar Energy (http://www.beckettsolar.com) is pleased to present a remarkable new product patented by the University of Texas, Austin, in association with Ecological Estates Inc. Beckett Solar Energy has just signed on to be the official marketer of Terra Pave products in the solar industry. Terra Pave Top-Seal White Albedo (TSW) is an eco-friendly permanent soil binder that transforms the ground into a concrete-like structure and provides a permanent white-as-snow color. A common problem in solar installations is that solar panels become soiled by dust from exposed ground soil surfaces around the installation. Soiled solar panels decrease revenue (5%-50% reduced output of the system) and increase O&M costs. In addition, vegetation such as tall weeds can create shading and reduce system production; they can also cause hot spots that destroy panels. The efficiency of bifacial solar panels is highly dependent on the albedo* or reflective quality of the ground; natural ground has low albedo. Because of that, it is hard for developers to create accurate revenue models. Typically used asphalt roads are not eco-friendly and their construction comes with the generation of toxic fumes and high costs. Terra Pave Top-Seal White Albedo solves these problems by creating a water-impenetrable barrier that holds the soil and dust in place and prevents vegetation from growing through the binder. Terra Pave Top-Seal White Albedo can significantly reduce the costs for existing solar farms in Dust/Vegetation control and reduce O&M costs. Because of its high-albedo properties, Terra Pave TSW Albedo can greatly increase efficiency of bifacial solar farms by creating a surface that is consistently and highly reflective albedo 365 days per year equal to albedo of snow. Environmentally Friendly Unlike asphalt or concrete, Terra Pave products are eco-friendly because - as tested by San Antonio Testing labs - they have no detectable concentrations of volatile, semi-volatile, heavy metals or petroleum hydrocarbons. This is clearly advantageous for human health and the environment. Product testing also indicated that Terra Pave is: Non-Hazardous Non-Petroleum based Non-Toxic Non-Corrosive Waterproof Erosion Resistant Additional benefits: Terra Pave can also shorten the depth of pile-driving for the mounting structure of the solar modules and lessen the use of steel about or around a 20% decrease in mounting structure installation cost. Terra Pave enables easier financial modeling, accurate engineering design and accurate prediction for bifacial panels Terra Pave enables the creation of cost-effective eco-friendly access roads Sharon Bailey Beckett, managing partner of Beckett Solar Energy notes that, I am inspired to be working with visionaries such as David Pham, co-developer of Terra Pave products, and Dr. Yetkin Yildirim, president and CEO of Terra Pave International to promote these sustainable products that have the potential to transform bi-facial solar farm potential and help mitigate the effects of climate change. *Albedo is a measure of the reflectivity of a surface. The albedo effect when applied to the Earth is a measure of how much of the Sun's energy is reflected back into space. Overall, the Earth's albedo has a cooling effect. (The term albedo is derived from the Latin for whiteness.) MEDIA RESOURCES: About Terra Pave Terra Pave Products were invented at the University of Texas, Austin, Texas, USA and are manufactured at the University of Texas Technology Commercialized Company Terra Pave International (TPI) http://terrapaveinternational.com/. Terra Pave is the WINNER of the AMERICAN-MADE SOLAR PRIZE ROUND 2 SEMIFINALIST from NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Department of Energy USA). Terra Pave products got their start when David Pham, developer of net zero homes in Texas desired a ecologically sensitive method of provide driveways and homes for his ecologically-sensitive net-zero homes. He brought the idea to Yetkin Yildirim (President/CTO of Terra Pave International) who said, weve got something like youre describing! The University of Texas in Austin has a track-record of developing new technologiesmost famous to-date as been the Ion battery. Terra Pave International, Inc is committed to providing its customers around the world with cost-effective, eco-friendly materials for improving roadways, parking lots, airfields, and all other traffic-bearing surfaces. Through its superior products, TPI is promoting sustainability and revolutionizing the field of asphalt pavement preservation. David Pham is co-founder of Texas-based Ecological Estates Inc (EEI). Prior to joining EEI as the current President and Chief Technical Officer (CTO), Mr. David Pham was a co-founder of Next Level Group Consulting, worked as the Global Solar Products Applications Specialist for Sun Chemical a division of Di-Nippon Chemical Corporation, Solar Product Director for Surfect Technologies, and has also held senior management roles in the semiconductor sector with Rudolph Technologies, Hitachi Semiconductor, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), and Motorola Semiconductor Product Sector. Ecological Estates http://ecoestates.us/ operates a full service EPC (engineering, procurement, construction) company and a O&M practice (operation and maintenance) in the solar industry as well as a full service design, project management and construction company that creates innovative, net-zero energy eco-friendly homes. Their EPC company is currently leading a 600 MW project in Vietnam. Dr. Yetkin Yildirim https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Yetkin_Yildirim Dr. Yetkin Yildirim is the President and CTO at Terra Pave International. Dr. Yildirim received his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering in 2000 from the University of Texas at Austin and is registered by the State of Texas as a professional engineer. Dr. Yildirims areas of expertise include pavement preservation, pavement maintenance, and pavement materials. He served as the director of the Texas Pavement Preservation Center (TPPC) at the University of Texas at Austin and for ten years and served as a faculty member in the civil engineering department at UT Austin for fifteen years. Dr. Yildirim has also served as the Director of the Engineering Education Research Center (EERC), where he has been conducting research regarding new developments in model-based learning activities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education. Sharon Bailey Beckett is Managing Partner of Beckett Solar Energy, a six-year-old manufacturers representative firm, marketing such brands as Mission Solar, RenewSys India and Terra Pave. Beckett Solar Energy staff are active in Europe, Canada, USA, Mexico, South America and China. She is also a founding partner, and Managing Director of the North American business strategy and market research group known as Beckett Advisors. A member of the Pasadena Angels, one of the most respected angel investment groups in the United States, she has served on its Board of Directors, and has worked as an Advisory Board member for California's largest business incubator-the Los Angeles Business Technology Center in Altadena, California. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 11:21:41|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Nothing in the response to COVID-19 by the World Health Organization (WHO) has been "hidden from the U.S., from day one," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said, rejecting Washington's accusation that the agency had tried to cover up the pandemic. Not only has the WHO published adequate details about the disease since the outbreak in January, but some U.S. health officials working full-time at the agency's headquarters have been transmitting real-time information to the White House -- evidence that Washington has known the truth from the very beginning. Some 15 staffers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have been seconded to the WHO since January, joining two U.S. officials assigned long-term, which is a sign of the agency's transparency, Tedros told a news conference on Monday, adding that "all countries get information immediately." Additionally, senior health officials appointed by U.S. President Donald Trump also consulted regularly with the WHO at the highest levels as COVID-19 erupted, according to a Monday report by The Washington Post. In a memo dated Jan. 29, Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro warned that "the lack of immune protection or an existing cure or vaccine would leave Americans defenseless in the case of a full-blown coronavirus outbreak on U.S. soil." This is the highest-level alert known to have circulated in the West Wing, The New York Times reported earlier this month. The "risk of a worst-case pandemic scenario should not be overlooked" given the information from China, Navarro emphasized in the memo. Meanwhile, the WHO, as a specialized organ for global health, has striven to fulfil its purposes of collecting information on COVID-19 and issue timely warnings. On Jan. 5, the WHO published its first disease outbreak news on the new virus, including a risk assessment, advice, and China's reports on the virus, two days after China informed the organization as well as relevant countries and regions of the outbreak. On Jan. 12, the agency said in a press release that "China shared the genetic sequence of the novel coronavirus, which will be of great importance for other countries to use in developing specific diagnostic kits." Tedros told a press conference on March 11 that "COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic," after he declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) at the end of January, sending the highest level of alarm. The WHO quickly declared a PHEIC and classified COVID-19 a pandemic soon after, tweeted Lawrence Gostin, public health law professor at Georgetown University, adding "US/Europe had time to prepare. They didn't! Easy to blame @WHO, but it's our fault." Enditem Mumbai, April 22 : The Maharashtra government has asked the CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) to take custody of the scam-accused DHFL group's promoters Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawans -- whose institutional quarantine ends on Wednesday, state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said here. "The Wadhawans' quarantine will end at 2 p.m. today. On Tuesday, we wrote to the Central Bureau of Investigation and ED to take them into custody," Deshmukh said. He though aded that until they are handed over to the CBI or ED, they will remain safely in the custody of the state government. "They will be safe and secure in our custody... Nobody will be allowed to flee to London... When the CBI approaches us we shall hand them over for further investigations," Deshmukh said. A massive political row erupted after the Wadhawans and their families were granted permission to travel from Khandala hill station in Pune to Mahabaleshwar hill station in Satara district on April 8 - at the height of the ongoing Covid lockdown. They were taken into custody on April 9 in Mahabaleshwar and shunted to institutional quarantine in a Panchgani facility. Later, the Wadhawans had claimed that they were actually escaping from the Covid-19 spread and decided to shift from a rented accommodation in Khandala to their ancestral home in Mahabaleshwar. Following the controversy in which the CBI and ED also jumped in, the state government ordered a high-level probe into the conduct of an IPS officer who granted the permission to the Wadhawans to hop between hill-stations. The DHFL Group and the Wadhawan brothers are named as accused along with Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor in the scam which erupted early-March. New Delhi, April 22 : The Delhi government on Wednesday said all dues to the MCDs here have been paid and slammed the BJP for "playing dirty politics" even as the country faces the coronavirus crisis. The AAP government made the statement after BJP alleged that it has not released the money to the three MCDs and because of which the local bodies are not able to pay salaries. "These are baseless allegations. All dues have been paid. It is very unfortunate that BJP is playing dirty politics in such difficult times, especially when Delhi's AAP government is fully cooperating and working with the Centre to tackle coronavirus in the best interests of the country and people of Delhi. We appeal to BJP to stop playing dirty politics," the Delhi government said in a statement. 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 Iowa announced a new single-day high 482 in reported positive cases of COVID-19 in the state on Tuesday. The state has at least 3,641 positive cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus. Gov. Kim Reynolds reported the Iowa Department of Public Health numbers during a livestreamed press conference and also announced a plan to exponentially increase testing the state. Of the new cases, Reynolds said 33% are related to surveillance testing at meat processing plants in the state. With the addition of Cherokee and Humbolt Counties, COVID-19 has reached 84 counties in the state. The state reported four additional deaths, each related to long-term care facilities, Reynolds said. There have been 83 deaths connected to the disease in Iowa, 51% of which were long-term care facility residents. There were 1,313 new negative tests, bringing the state total to 23,974, Reynolds said. The state has been notified of 27,615 tests statewide, for a per capita number of 1 out of every 113 Iowans tested. There are 214 Iowans hospitalized with the disease and 1,293 residents have recovered. Locally, on Monday Harrison County Home & Public Health reported two additional cases, including one late in the day, putting the countys total at 15. The two new cases are a man and woman both between the age of 41 and 60. Both are household contacts of the countys 13th case and have been at home in self-isolation since the 13th case was tested. Harrison County Home & Public Health said all contacts deemed at risk in connection to the cases have been notified. We continue to remind residents to take preventive measures to slow the spread of this virus, department Administrator Brake Brake said. Its important for everyone to stay home as much as possible and to practice social distancing. Page County reported its fifth case on Monday, an adult between 61 and 80 who contracted the disease via community spread, according to the countys public health department. The individual is currently hospitalized. Like Brake, Page County Public Health Director Jessica Erdman encouraged residents to take preventative measures and practice social distancing. In Regional Medical Coordination Center region four, which includes Pottawattamie, Mills, Harrison, Cass, Crawford, Shelby, Fremont, Montgomery, Page, Adams, Audubon and Taylor Counties, there is one patient hospitalized with COVID-19, according to the coronavirus.iowa.gov. The region has 242 inpatient beds available, 41 intensive care unit beds available and 67 ventilators available. There are no patients in ICU or on ventilators in the region. Region four remains at a six on the states 12-point COVID-19 severity scale. The site last updated at 10 a.m. on Monday and generally updates with numbers as of 10 a.m. the previous day. Pottawattamie County remains at 18 cases, with 13 recoveries, according to Pottawattamie County Public Health. Four county residents are in self-isolation at home, including two residents recently discharged from the hospital. There has been one death in the county. According to state coronavirus website, 438 people in the county have been tested. The department said Iowa health insurers and healthcare providers may have developed additional telehealth capabilities, enabling their patients to be medically assessed remotely, without overwhelming Iowa healthcare facilities. Iowans can check their health insurance or healthcare providers website or call for guidance on how to access their telehealth systems. Examples of known telehealth options are listed on the Pottawattamie County COVID-19 website at shorturl.at/xyIO9. During her press conference, Reynolds announced the state will expand testing through Test Iowa, which aims to have all of Iowas 3.2 million residents take an assessment to check if they need to be tested. Testing is free, Reynolds said. The state has partnered with Nomi Health and other private companies on Test Iowa, with Iowa purchasing 540,000 tests over the next six months. The state will set up drive-through testing sites, the first of which will be at a long-term care facility in Tama, with the second, in Des Moines, expected to be operational by Saturday. The companies first implemented a similar program in Utah. Reynolds said the state will focus on first responders. We need an all hands on deck approach, Reynolds said of the new testing, which she said will build upon existing testing. This is on top of our other testing capacity, the governor said, noting residents can still contact a physician or local public health department to inquire about being tested. The governor said the program will allow the state to conduct an additional 3,000 tests daily. The state had been testing around 1,000 to 2,000 people daily. Reynolds said the website for the initiative, testiowa.com, includes an assessment that was developed in coordination with the Iowa Department of Public Health. The assessment asks about existing symptoms and occupational considerations, Reynolds office said in a follow-up to the press conference. The assessment will let citizens know whether or not they should get a COVID-19 test and includes instructions on how to get tested. Asked during the press conference about privacy concerns regarding citizens personal and health care data, Reynolds said the data is confidential and will be analyzed by the Iowa Department of Public Health. Both Reynolds and Spencer Steed with Qualtrics, one of the private companies involved in Test Iowa, said the website and data handling will be Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act compliant. The data is owned by the state and we dont have access to it, Steed said via video conferencing at the press conference. Steed and other partners said the data is encrypted from the private companies after its entered on the site. Nebraska will implement a similar plan, Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts said Tuesday. Ricketts urged residents to visit testnebraska.com, a website that will allow them to get a free, voluntary health assessment. People who have symptoms, have been exposed to the coronavirus or have traveled to hot spots will be eligible for free drive-thru tests. The partnership will allow the state to test up 3,000 residents per day in about five weeks, up from its current average of 600 to 800 tests. Ricketts said health care responders will get first priority for testing, followed by people with obvious symptoms, people with a few symptoms and then people with no symptoms who suspect theyre infected and want the test. Every Nebraskan can be part of this fight, Ricketts said at his weekday coronavirus news conference. Ricketts said state and company officials are still working on ways to serve people who dont have internet access. One option is a call center. He said more testing it also key to helping businesses reopen in an orderly manner. Nearly 16,500 people had been tested statewide as of Tuesday morning. Meanwhile, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services said in a news release that three of the deaths reported Monday were in a hard-hit area of south-central Nebraska. News of the new cases came after Gov. Pete Ricketts announced on Monday that he will lift the states ban on elective surgeries for hospitals that have at least 30% of their beds, intensive-care unit space and ventilators available. Hospitals must also have at least two weeks worth of personal protective equipment in stock. The order also applies to veterinary and dental services, Ricketts said. What you need to know regarding COVID-19 Symptoms in people who have been exposed can include fever, cough and shortness of breath, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health. The symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as long as 14 days after exposure. Most people experience mild or moderate symptoms that clear up in two to three weeks. Older adults and people with existing health problems are among those particularly susceptible to more severe illness, including pneumonia. If you are sick, stay home and call the doctor before visiting the office. Public health officials recommend: Stay home unless its absolutely necessary to leave. Self-monitor for symptoms. Call your physician if symptoms appear. Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or your upper arm/elbow. Wash hands frequently with soap and water. Clean and disinfect frequently-touched objects and surfaces. There are a number of resources residents for information on COVID-19. Methodist Health System is offering a community hotline and screening tool at 402-815-SICK (7425). CHI Health has a help line to answer questions and direct patients who may be at high risk of the coronavirus illness. Visit chihealth.com for information. Pottawattamie County Emergency Management Agency has a COVID-19 call center open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday at 712-890-5368 or 712-890-5369. For those struggling with mental health during the pandemic, yourlifeiowa.org has several resources, including a hotline at 855-581-8111 and a text-friendly line at 855-895-8398. Additionally, the Hope 4 Iowa Crisis Hotline connects individuals in crisis to a helping hand with the resources to address and improve mental wellness. The hotline is available 24 hours a day. Call 84-HOPE-4-IOWA (844-673-4469). The University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha has announced a COVID-19 screening app 1-Check COVID, enables users to answer a series of questions and assess their likelihood of having COVID-19. Based on the users input, the screening app will issue a low-risk, urgent risk or emergent risk assessment and guide the individual toward possible next steps. Additionally, go to pcema-ia.org, idph.iowa.gov and/or cdc.gov for more information. The Associated Press and Lee BHM News Service contributed to this report. The Daily Beast Scott Olson/GettyDonald Trump abruptly ended an interview with NPR on Tuesday after he was repeatedly called out on his baseless claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election.A video of the interview, published Wednesday morning, shows Trump becoming increasingly irritated as NPRs Steve Inskeep asks him why hes still pushing debunked conspiracy theories about his 2020 defeat.After Inskeep told the ex-president that his fraud claims have repeatedly been proven false, the reporter a Advertisement An RAF plane carrying a delayed consignment of PPE from Turkey finally landed in the UK this morning - but is only carrying up to half the promised 84 tonnes of life-saving equipment. Flight tracker RadarBox showed the Airbus A400-M registered ZM416 depart Istanbul and land just after 3.30am at RAF Brize Norton. The jet is one of three that have been waiting for days for the go-ahead to pick urgently needed medical clothing and equipment, including 400,000 gowns made by Turkish suppliers. It is not known how much of the consignment has arrived today, but the RAF Atlas is believed to only have capacity for 40 tonnes. After the jet touched down, three pallets were seen being unloaded onto the tarmac. The Government promised that the A400 would arrive back in Britain on Sunday, but it didn't land in Istanbul until Monday, at 9.10pm local time. No clear reason has been given for the delay. Fury over coronavirus PPE shortages is escalating amid claims the government was ignoring offers of help from businesses - and millions of pieces of PPE are still being shipped out of the UK in spite of the lack of equipment for NHS frontline staff. Reports suggested that the Government missed out on 16million facemasks for the NHS after ignoring offers from two major firms And The Times reports how military personnel have slammed the NHS for its 'appalling' handling of distributing the PPE, with senior army sources saying some was being shipped to hospitals with good stocks that didn't need it. The RAF Cargo plane lands at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire this morning at just after 3.30am The Atlas A400 is spotted approaching the runway early this morning. It is only carrying up to half the promised 84 tonnes of life-saving equipment The delay in getting the vital PPE equipment back from Turkey has been blamed on ''challenges at the Turkish end' but Istanbul has retorted that Britain only requested help with the consignment on Sunday. The government insisted they were pursuing 'every possible option' to secure additional kit but said that, with unprecedented worldwide demand, the situation is 'very challenging'. Local Government Minister Simon Clarke could not give a timescale on when the full supplies would arrive earlier this week, saying only that it would be in the 'next few days'. Separately, the Government said that 140,000 gowns had arrived from Burma - but with the NHS using 150,000 a day, the demand on resources remains intense. In another day of chaos in the government's attempt to get hold of vital PPE: Patients are being turned away from the new 4,000-bed NHS Nightingale hospital in London due to a lack of nurses, it has been claimed today The UK has announced another 828 deaths from the coronavirus yesterday taking Britain's total number of victims to 17,337. Although the rise in fatalities is the biggest since Saturday, April 18 (888), and almost double the number that were announced on Monday (449), it does not necessarily mean the outbreak is getting worse because the deaths are backdated; Official figures suggest the true number of coronavirus victims in the UK may be 41 per cent higher than previously announced. Mortality data released by the ONS imply the death toll might be closer to 23,000 up to April 10; Mr Johnson appears to be gearing up to take back the reins of government, speaking to Donald Trump on the phone yesterday, although Downing Street insisted he is not doing any 'official work'; The House of Commons has returned from its Easter recess, but only to approve a 'virtual' Parliament that will kick off later today The Guardian reports that infectious disease specialists Landcent claim they could have delivered six million FFP2 masks for the NHS to use if they had placed an order three weeks ago. Volker Schuster, who owns Merseyside-based chemicals company EcoLogix, also claims he wrote to the Cabinet Office's 'COVID commercial response unit' to offer a shipment of 10milllion FFP2 masks from China. They say they only got a response eight days later, by which time they had been sold to other countries. Schuster's MP, Bill Esterson, Labour MP for Sefton Central, confirmed that he also contacted Matt Hancock, to highlight the offer on 27 March but that he had never received a reply. There are currently around 8,000 different firms offering personal protective equipment (PPE) supplies in the UK. Figures suggest ministers have engaged with around 1,000 of those, but is only working directly with 159 to deliver them to NHS workers. Rachel Reeves, the shadow cabinet office minister, said on Tuesday she had been inundated by manufacturers who had contacted the government offering to make or supply PPE but that she had heard nothing back. The RAF transport plane being loaded with vital PPE equipment in Turkey which is destined for frontline healthcare workers in the UK The Atlas A400 was meant to arrive back in the UK on Sunday, but has now taken off destined for the UK, which is suffering from a shortage of equipment to battle the pandemic Downing Street rejected claims it ignored offers from firms, while local government minister Simon Clarke said there is a 'standing presumption' that the Government will do its utmost to buy PPE 'wherever it can be sourced' and urged manufacturers to 'reach out' to the Cabinet Office to log their ability to make equipment. The Atlas A400 The Atlas A400 entered operational service with the RAF in 2014. It has the capability to carry a 37 tonne payload. It is capable of operating at altitudes up to 40,000ft. It can hold 116 fully-equipped troops, vehicles a Chinook helicopter, nine aircraft pallets and 54 passengers. It is operated by two pilots and a Weapons Systems Operator. Advertisement Senior sources in the army have blasted the health health service for its logisitics in getting PPE out to the right people, alleging that masks, aprons, gloves and other items were being assigned to hospitals that didn't need them, leading to oversupply in some places. A source told The Times: 'We know how knackered their [NHS logistics] systems are, but weve been surprised weve not been called in to help more, and weve been surprised by their failure to ration [kit]. The newspaper reports that it is understood that commanders are frustrated that the Covid Support Force has not been called in to lead on the allocation of PPE. A Ministry of Defence spokesman told The Times: 'The MoD understands just how challenging logistics can be, especially under current pressures. 'Of course there may be frictions at a local level, but those same armed forces are doing everything possible to support their health colleagues. The MoD has full confidence in the NHS.' With fears that staff in hospitals and care homes are risking their lives, the TUC called for an independent inquiry into the Government's handling of the issue to be mounted before the end of the year. Workers pack the RAF transport plane full of PPE equipment destined for frontline workers in the UK The Mirror reports how tens of thousands of visors are sitting waiting to be shipped abroad after the Government failed to agree to buy them. The vital PPE kit has been made by Nottingham firm Printers Prime Group. It transformed its operation and took on 30 extra staff ready to make up to one million visors a month, which is 35,000 a day. But the firm is frustrated that despite contacting officials a month ago, no orders have been placed. It has already delivered 350,000 to frontline NHS and care staff here for free or at cost. Hospitals have sought other ways of obtaining PPE, with the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust buying 6,000 sets of coveralls due to a very low stock of gowns, although it admitted this was 'not ideal'. The plane carrying the vital equipment needed by frontline healthcare workers was pictured making its way to the UK this morning Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, has said trusts are being forced into 'hand-to-mouth' workarounds, including washing single-use gowns and restricting stocks to key areas. Chancellor Rishi Sunak told reporters at the Number 10 press briefing on Monday that work was ongoing to find more PPE. He said: 'We're improving our sourcing internationally and domestically to make sure we can get the PPE we need in what is a very challenging international context. 'But people on the front line can rest assured that we're doing absolutely everything we can and straining everything we can to get the equipment they need.' The Atlas A400, pictured earlier this week remained empty at Istanbul airport. It was meant to arrive back in the UK on Sunday The transport flight has been dogged by delays and confusion. Ministers then claimed it would arrive yesterday The hold-ups come with hospitals warning they are close to running out of some items, and medical bodies saying doctors could need to make 'difficult decisions' between exposing themselves to the virus or 'letting a patient die on their watch'. Trusts have accused ministers of raising the hopes of health staff saying they had 'bitter experience' of promised PPE either failing to arrive, or turning out to be either faulty or the wrong kit. Michelle van Vuuren, who runs a London-based property company, turned her business into a PPE distributor working with Chinese suppliers last month as the virus began to spread around the world. After failed attempts to contact NHS procurement services, Miss van Vuuren contacted Health Secretary Matt Hancock's office on March 20. She was subsequently passed to the Cabinet Office but her inquiries went 'into a vacuum' and were met with only an automated response. The Deputy Chief Medical Officer faced an angry backlash after she claimed that people are not being 'adult' about PPE supplies. Dr Jenny Harries slapped down critics of the government's efforts to make sure frontline workers have access to the gowns, gloves and masks they need to protect against coronavirus. She said there needed to be a 'more adult, and more detailed conversation about PPE supplies' as she insisted the UK was an 'international exemplar in preparedness'. But healthcare chiefssaid they had been 'sounding the alarm' on the apparent lack of PPE available in some settings 'for months'. UK's 'impenetrable wall of bureaucracy' stops firm supplying PPE Amid growing frustration, the Government said it had deployed 'every resource' to get its hands on desperately needed PPE supplies and ventilators in recent months. NHS staff are pictured carrying out coronavirus tests in Lincoln A British supplier of protective health equipment was forced to sell millions of life- saving items overseas after attempts to equip the NHS were met with an 'impenetrable wall of bureaucracy'. The company said UK procurement system was 'unresponsive at best or incompetent at worst' and delays were putting lives at risk. The embarrassing revelations will raise questions about why the Government did not replenish PPE stockpiles and build up more supplies in March as the country entered the crisis. Amid growing frustration, the Government said it had deployed 'every resource' to get its hands on desperately needed PPE supplies and ventilators in recent months. But the supplier trying to sell millions of masks, gowns and aprons yesterday said it had spent 'five weeks hammering at the Government's door' without response. Michelle van Vuuren, who runs a London-based property company, turned her business into a PPE distributor working with Chinese suppliers last month as the virus began to spread around the world. After failed attempts to contact NHS procurement services, Miss van Vuuren contacted Health Secretary Matt Hancock's office on March 20. She was subsequently passed to the Cabinet Office but her inquiries went 'into a vacuum' and were met with only an automated response. Advertisement Civil servant is forced into embarrassing U-turn after claiming ministers made a 'political decision' to DELIBERATELY snub EU schemes to buy PPE and now accepts Downing Street just missed the email A senior civil servant has been forced into an embarrassing U-turn after claiming ministers took a 'political decision' to deliberately snub an EU scheme to buy PPE. Yesterday Sir Simon McDonald told MPs it had been a 'political decision' by the Government not to take part in Brussels-orchestrated efforts to bulk-buy personal protective equipment (PPE) because 'We left the European Union on January 31'. But this evening he wrote to the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee to admit Boris Johnson's ministers were not briefed on the EU scheme because of a 'communication problem'. Mr Johnson's administration had previously claimed this version events - that missed emails had resulted in the UK not taking part. Sir Simon McDonald told MPs it had been a 'political decision' not to take part in Brussels-orchestrated efforts to bulk-buy protective equipment, but had to U-turn this evening And humiliatingly, Health Secretary Matt Hancock confirmed there was 'no political decision not to participate in the scheme' during this evening's Downing Street press conference. In the letter, addressed to chair Tom Tugendhat, Sir Simon admits the 'facts of the situation are as previously set out'. He says: 'Unfortunately due to a misunderstanding, I inadvertently and wrongly told the Committee that Ministers were briefed by UKMIS on the EU's Joint Procurement Agreement scheme and took a political decision not to participate in it. 'This is incorrect. Ministers were not briefed by our mission in Brussels about the scheme and a political decision was not taken on whether or not to participate.' He went on: 'Owing to an initial communication problem, the UK did not receive an invitation in time to join in four joint COVID EU procurement schemes. 'As four initial schemes had already gone out to tender we were unable to take part.' Advertisement The death toll of frontline NHS and care home staff, from heart surgeons and nurses to porters and volunteers, has now reached at least 80. Pictured (left to right): Habib Zaidi, 76, GP from Essex; Adil El Tayar, 63, Hereford doctor; Pooja Sharma, 33, Sussex pharmacist; Amged El-Hawrani ENT expert, Burton Pictured (left to right): Thomas Harvey, 57, London nurse; Alfa Saadu, 68, Essex doctor; Mohamed Shousha 79, London medic; Lynsay Coventry, 54, Essex midwife Pictured (left to right): Aimee O'Rourke, 39, Kent nurse; Liz Glanister, 68, Liverpool nurse; Areema Nasreen, 36, Walsall nurse; Consultant Anton Sebastianpillai Pictured (left to right): John Alagos, 23, Watford nurse; Glen Corbin, 59, from London; Rebecca Mack, 29, nurse, Morpeth; Janice Graham, 58, nurse, Scotland Pictured (left to right): Rahima Sidhanee, 68, London nurse; Josiane Ekoli, 55, Harrogate nurse; Cheryl Williams, ward housekeeper; Ade Raymond, London nurse Pictured (left to right): Maureen Ellington, Bristol nurse; Gladys Nyemba, Nottingham nurse; Andy Treble, 57, Wrexham hospital; Lourdes Campbell, 54, Bolton NHS Pictured (left to right): Amrik Bamotra, 63, Ilford hospital; Brian Darlington, 63, Crewe porter; Julianne Cadby, 49, NHS manager; Linnette Cruz, 51, dental nurse Pictured (left to right): London GP Syed Zishan Haider, 79; Jitendra Rathod, 58, surgeon, Cardiff; Alice Kit Tak Ong, 70, London nurse; Leilani Dayrit, 47, Rugby nurse Pictured (left to right): Barbara Moore, 54, Liverpool; Edmond Adedeji, 62, locum, Wiltshire; Fayez Ayache, 76, GP in Ipswich; Carol Jamabo, 56, carer in Bury Pictured (left to right): Carer Catherine Sweeney, 64; Donald Suelto, London nurse; Urologist Abdul Chowdhury, 53; Julie Omar, 52, nurse in Redditch Pictured (left to right): Elsie Sazuze, 44, carer, Cannock; Gareth Roberts, 63, Cardiff nurse; Sara Trollope, 51, London matron; Amor Gatinao, 50, London nurse Pictured (left to right): Donna Campbell, 54, from Cardiff; Elbert Rico, 52, porter in Oxford; Oscar King Jr, 45, porter in Oxford; Elvira Bucu, 50, care worker Pictured (left to right): Nurse Melujean Ballesteros, 60; Technician Kevin Smith, Doncaster; Leilani Medel, 41, nurse in Cardiff; Amarante Dias, 54, nurse in Somerset Pictured (left to right): Gladys Mujajati, 46, Derby nurse; Care assistant Stephen Agyapong; Patricia Crowhurst, 54, Teesside care; Jane Murphy, 73, Edinburgh A&E Pictured (left to right): Barbara Sage, 68, Bromley, London; Dr Krishan Arora, 57, London; Sonya Kaygan, 26, care worker; Jenelyn Carter, 41, Swansea nurse Pictured (left to right): Michael Allieu, London nurse; Radiographer Simon Guest; Wilma Banaag, 63, Watford hospital; Gilbert Barnedo, 48, London nurse Pictured (left to right): Rajesh Kalraiya, 69, consultant, Romford; Steven Pearson, 51, nurse, Cumbria; Linda Clarke, 66, Wigan midwife; Emily Perugia, 29, carer, London Pictured (left to right): Barry England, 999 paramedic; Gordon Ballard, manager, London; Mandy Siddorn, 61, technician, Chester; Unnamed at family's request The Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles has some the most crowded housing in the country, a Times analysis found. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) Lorenzo Salinas doesn't know how he'll pay next month's rent, much less how he would keep his whole family from getting sick if one of them fell ill with the coronavirus. There's little space to spare in the two-bedroom apartment in South Los Angeles where he lives with his wife and three children, ages 11 to 20. "I think wed have to stay outside," said Salinas, who lost his job at a restaurant over a month ago. "Now we're all shut in. The apartment feels smaller and more uncomfortable than usual." Salinas and his family live in one of the most crowded ZIP Codes in the United States, according to a Times population-adjusted ranking. Nearly 24% of the homes there are considered crowded having more than one person per room, excluding bathrooms, the analysis of Census Bureau data shows. The neighborhood's coronavirus infection rate also ranks it among the top 40 communities out of more than 300 across Los Angeles County, figures from the county health department show. As COVID-19 cases climb across L.A. County, its overcrowded housing could play a role in accelerating the spread of the disease, according to public health officials and researchers. Overall, 3.3% of the nearly 121 million housing units in the U.S. are considered crowded. L.A. County is home to five of the 10 most crowded ZIP Codes including the No. 1 most crowded in the U.S., the analysis shows. Some of the most cramped living conditions in the country are found in lower-income neighborhoods such as Historic South Central, Westlake and Pico-Union. Although there is some correlation between crowded areas and those with higher rates of confirmed cases in the county, no clear trend has emerged. For example, wealthy enclaves such as Bel-Air and Palos Verdes Estates have some of the highest infection rates even though a small fraction of homes there are crowded. In New York City, an analysis by the NYU Furman Center finds the disease is more prevalent in areas where more people reside in crowded units. The ZIP Codes with the most infections per capita also had the highest share of overcrowded renters, researchers found. Story continues In London, a study by the New Policy Institute also found that overcrowded neighborhoods had higher rates of COVID-19 infections than less-crowded areas, with heightened risk in homes that people over 70 share with younger relatives. Researchers said the finding raised "policy questions about the practicability of advice on social distancing for people whose housing conditions make self-isolation impossible." Health officials in L.A. County say they're concerned that people living in overcrowded housing may be at greater risk for contracting the virus. A team at the county Department of Public Health is trying to gather more detailed information about patients who have been hospitalized with COVID-19, using data on housing density where they live to determine whether more crowded neighborhoods are being hit harder, director Barbara Ferrer said last week. "Were as concerned as you are about trying to better understand the conditions that make spread easier," Ferrer said. "Obviously, everything we know about this virus means that the closer you are in contact to other people the easier it is to spread." There has been such limited and uneven access to testing, health experts say, that rates of death and hospitalization are a better indicator of the virus' actual toll. But it remains impossible to determine whether people in overcrowded communities of L.A. are being hospitalized or dying at higher rates because officials have not released numbers breaking those indicators down beyond the county level. Dr. Coco Auerswald, associate professor at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, says she believes that neighborhoods with greater crowding will see higher rates of deaths and hospitalizations from coronavirus infection, "not because I have any kind of inside information, but because its not rocket science from a public health standpoint. Its obvious." Crowded, low-income communities are in a "far more risky situation than those living in a Norman Rockwell one the single-family household with a backyard like I have, where people have the privilege of sheltering in place, she said. These communities have large numbers of people in big family units where lots of people are coming and going, many of them in essential jobs, Auerswald said. "Every person in that household thats going out, thats another vector of possible infection coming into that densely populated space, by virtue of being out there with a highly infectious pathogen, and doing the jobs that are more likely to be exposed." Health officials acknowledge that some of the key measures they are urging to limit the virus' spread among members of the same household are impractical for people living in cramped apartment units. Under county guidelines, people who are confirmed or presumed to be infected with the virus must self-isolate for seven days after their symptoms appear and another 72 hours after they subside. Anyone who has been in close contact with them, and potentially exposed, must self-quarantine for 14 days. That means staying at home at all times, keeping at least six feet away from other people in your home, and using a separate room and bathroom if possible. No preparing food, caring for children or handling pets. Ferrer acknowledges that those steps are "really difficult" to practice when living in close quarters. In homes without spare rooms, Ferrer suggested using "a cloth drape or some other physical barrier to create a space that allows you to be separate from other people in your home," cleaning the bathroom after each use, and disinfecting objects and surfaces you must touch. In Echo Park, Jennifer Lopez and her boyfriend live in a one-bedroom apartment that is so cramped they typically take turns napping and taking care of their three children. More than 15% of homes in their ZIP Code are crowded, ranking it in the top 100 nationwide. The infection rate, however, falls below the county's overall rate. She worries her job at a shelter for homeless youths puts her at a higher risk of coronavirus infection. If she gets sick, she admits there will be almost no way to contain the spread in their household. "If one of us gets it, we are all going to get it," said Lopez, 37. "We just don't have any free space." Larry Gross, executive director of the Coalition for Economic Survival, said overcrowding in L.A. County is the result of a housing crisis fueled by years of rising rents and stagnating wages. Renters are caught in an "economic vice that keeps squeezing them" as they face difficult choices about how to pay for housing, gas, food, medicine and clothes for their children, he said. For many, the only option to ensure that roof over their head is to move in with more people, whether it's family members or friends," Gross said. "Then they're able to share the rent, and thats the only way they can make rent. The affordable-housing shortage is putting people at a greater risk because many of those renters are struggling to practice social distancing in tight living spaces, he said. Once again, we have people with the lowest incomes having to deal with the greatest risk in this pandemic because of their economic situation, Gross said. The Times analysis is based on 2014-2018 estimates of the American Community Survey, which asks respondents to report the number of rooms in their dwellings, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau. That measure includes bedrooms, kitchens and living rooms and excludes bathrooms, hallways, outdoor areas and unfinished spaces. The analysis ranked each ZIP Code tabulation area by statistically weighing its number of households and how much its crowding rate deviated from the national average. Public health experts have long known that overcrowding is bad for the spread of infectious illness. "Crowding just facilitates close contacts of infected people," said Dr. Lee Riley, a professor of epidemiology and infectious diseases at UC Berkeley. It's a consequence of poverty, he said, and "only one of many important factors that drive up respiratory infections like COVID-19," including a lack of health insurance, a high prevalence of underlying medical conditions or working in the informal economy where lockdowns aren't feasible. In cities like Los Angeles, crowding has been fueled by the scarcity of affordable units, which has more families doubled up, sharing homes with relatives and living in multi-generational households. Many low-income people can't afford to rent their own places, so instead they move between different friends' and relatives' homes, creating an intertwined and ever-shifting web of households," said Danya Keene, an assistant professor at the Yale School of Public Health. "This web of households is not conducive to social distancing," Keene said, and that instability "is only likely to increase as COVID-related economic and job losses exacerbate existing barriers to affordable housing." As they pass the time in their South L.A. apartment, Salinas said his family was faring OK, for now. They only leave home to buy groceries, wearing face masks and gloves. But some potential hazards are out of their control, like the people who don't wear masks and ride the same bus to the market. And he worries about how they'll keep germs out of the home once their money runs out and he has to find another job. "Im the only one who works," he said. "So its going to be difficult." Freeport-McMoRan Inc. FCX is set to release first-quarter 2020 results on Apr 24, before the opening bell. The company has a trailing four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 20.6%, on average. The temporary halt of normal operations at the Cerro Verde mine and weak copper prices likely are to have affected the companys first-quarter performance. The stock has lost 45.7% in the past year compared with the industrys 35.3% decline. Lets see how things are shaping up for the upcoming announcement. What to Expect? In March, Freeport issued an operational update and stated that production from the Grasberg Block Cave and Deep MLZ orebodies averaged nearly 35,000 metric tons of ore per day from Jan 1 through Mar 5. However, the company stated last month that it is revising operating plans amid the coronavirus pandemic. This might lead to a temporary reduction in copper and molybdenum production in the Americas, which are witnessing low commodity prices. Moreover, Freeport has 53.56% interest in Cerro Verde, which operates one of the largest concentrating facilities near Arequipa, Peru. Cerro Verde was transitioned provisionally to a care and maintenance status for a 15-day period starting Mar 16. Further, the government of Peru has extended the declaration of National Emergency till Apr 26, 2020. The halt of normal operations at Cerro Verde might have partly impacted the companys production in the first quarter. Other Factors At Play in Q1 Weaker copper prices are likely to have weighed on Freeports first-quarter results. Copper prices tumbled to a three-year low in March thanks to impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the global economy and a sharp decline in crude oil prices. Concerns over a slowdown in demand in China, the worlds biggest metal consumer, also hurt prices. Industrial production in China took a big hit partly due to coronavirus-induced shutdowns and quarantine restrictions. Prices of the red metal were under pressure last month as the pandemic hurt industrial activities. What do the Estimates Indicate? The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Freeports first-quarter consolidated revenues is currently pegged at $2,973 million, which suggests a year-over-year decline of 21.6%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter consolidated net cash costs per pound of copper is currently pegged at $1.99, which suggests a 11.8% rise on a year-over-year basis. The same for average realized price for copper stands at $2.78 per pound, which calls for a 4.1% decline year over year. The consensus mark for consolidated copper sales for the first quarter is pegged at 726 million pounds, which calls for a rise of 17.9% year over year and a sequential fall of 19.9%. Story continues Freeport-McMoRan Inc. Price and EPS Surprise Freeport-McMoRan Inc. Price and EPS Surprise Freeport-McMoRan Inc. price-eps-surprise | Freeport-McMoRan Inc. Quote What Does the Zacks Model Say? Our proven model doesnt predict an earnings beat for Freeport this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat. But thats not the case here. Earnings ESP: Earnings ESP for Freeport is 0.00%. The Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate are both currently pegged at a loss of 23 cents. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before theyre reported with our Earnings ESP Filter. Zacks Rank: Freeport currently carries a Zacks Rank #3. Stocks Likely to Beat Estimates Here are some companies that you may want to consider as our model shows that they have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter: Franco-Nevada Corporation FNV, scheduled to release first-quarter 2020 earnings on May 6, has an Earnings ESP of +0.32% and carries a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Yamana Gold Inc. AUY, slated to release first-quarter 2020 earnings on Apr 30, has an Earnings ESP of +12.50% and carries a Zacks Rank #3. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. WPM, scheduled to release first-quarter 2020 results on May 6, has an Earnings ESP of +4.24% and carries a Zacks Rank #3. 5 Stocks Set to Double Each was hand-picked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2020. Each comes from a different sector and has unique qualities and catalysts that could fuel exceptional growth. Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor. Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX) : Free Stock Analysis Report Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV) : Free Stock Analysis Report Yamana Gold Inc. (AUY) : Free Stock Analysis Report Silver Wheaton Corp (WPM) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research YPSILANTI, MI Eastern Michigan University is finalizing the sale of the Gary Owen Building, 300 W. Michigan Ave., and plans to move the College of Business back to central campus if the board of regents approves the action. In an email, College of Business Dean Kenneth Lord told alumni the university obtained a letter of intent from a private party for the buildings purchase, and the transaction has been in development for many months. We are grateful that the buyer is eager to move forward because this will benefit Eastern students and the community in many ways, Lord wrote in the email. EMU has decided to house the College of Businesss primary operations in Boone Hall, the email said. Boone Hall was chosen because it is a signature facility in a prime front-facing location, the email said. The university will renovate Boone Hall to make it a world-class facility that can support our award-winning college for decades to come," according to the email. A Facebook post citing EMU President James Smith said the renovation plan for the building will be similar to the planning that took place for Sill Hall, Strong Hall, the Mark Jefferson Science Complex and the Pray-Harrold building. While the COVID-19 pandemic might change things, the university is targeting late 2023 as a completion date, Lords email said. The university has discussed for some time its desire to return the COB to central campus because such a move will benefit students, faculty, and staff, and will support all of the institutions strategic plan priorities, Lords email said. Those strategic plan priorities include student success and engagement, high performing academic programs and quality research, and to serve and engage EMU and its regional communities. Adding the Gary Owen Building to Ypsilantis tax rolls and creating new investment will further enhance downtown Ypsilanti, Lords email said. The move will also reduce utility, maintenance and transportation costs that EMU incurs by housing the College of Business away from central campus, Lords email said. The email said staff at the College of Business were scheduled to move to Halle Library at the end of the semester for the summer of 2020. The university hopes the move will continue as planned, but it could be impacted by the pandemic. No information about the buyer or their intended use for the building was available. The board of regents will meet at 1 p.m. Thursday to discuss the sale of the building. More information on the meeting can be found here. PREVENTION TIPS In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus. Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible. Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and when you go into places like stores. READ MORE: Complete coverage at mlive.com/coronavirus Eastern Michigan University expands online summer class grant to include graduate students University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan University making alternate plans to celebrate 2020 graduates Eastern Michigan University instructor tests positive for coronavirus Eastern Michigan University graduate nursing students put in work at coronavirus drive-through test sites Eastern Michigan University closing residence halls, reimbursing students for housing, meals plans Eastern Michigan University postpones commencement, encourages students to go home On Demand We have a new story every day on the front page of thephuketnews.com. Also like us on our Facebook page (facebook.com/thephuketnews) and be the first to watch all the new stories. Finally you can watch any segment, any time by going to thephuketnews.com/tv where all the stories are listed for you to enjoy. All our programs can be enjoyed in High Definition when watching on the internet. In-Room VDO Commercial domestic flights face strict disease-control rules for May 1 relaunch BANGKOK: Commercial airlines have been told to adopt strict anti-disease transmission rules when they resume domestic flights on May 1, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT). transporttourismCOVID-19Coronavirus By Bangkok Post Wednesday 22 April 2020, 09:09AM Aircraft parked at Suvarnabhumi airport due to COVID-19. Photo: Nutthawat Wicheanbut / Bangkok Post While returning to the skies is the airlines right, they must operate flights differently, said CAAT Director-General Chula Sukmanop. The airlines, mostly low-cost carriers, will meet the CAAT tomorrow to discuss guidelines and rules for restarting flights on May 1 following weeks of operational suspension as COVID-19 has caused air travel demand to dry up. He said the rules, which factor in social distancing and disease-transmission prevention, include leaving empty seats in each row in cabins, requiring passengers to wear face masks and not serving food and drinks. The May 1 flight resumption comes as a temporary ban on incoming foreign aircraft issued by the CAAT remains in effect until the end of the month, with exceptions made for some flights, including repatriation flights. Thai-registered airlines which have put the brakes on their flights so far comprise national carrier Thai Airways International, its low-cost subsidiary, THAI Smile, Thai AirAsia, Thai AirAsia X and Nok Air. Meanwhile, international flights operated by Nok Scoot will remain suspended until the end of the month while Bangkok Airways has shelved its international flights indefinitely although its domestic flights have been halted until the end of the month. At least four airlines Thai AirAsia, Thai Lion Air, Nok Air and Bangkok Airways have announced they will restart domestic flights next month. This week, the four airlines, as well as Vietjet Air, Thai AirAsia X and THAI Smile, sought a B16-billion bailout from the Finance Ministry to pay staff while their services are suspended. Tassapon Bijleveld, executive chairman of Asia Aviation, the largest shareholder in Thai AirAsia, said the airlines had jointly decided to seek financial aid. Meanwhile, THAI said on Tuesday it was sending repatriation flights to Sydney, Australia, and to Auckland, New Zealand, to bring Thai citizens home from April 25-27. Read original story here. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 15:26:38|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WASHINGTON, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The United States is continuing the deportation of thousands of migrants, some already sick with the novel coronavirus, to the most vulnerable countries in the Western Hemisphere despite widespread complaints and criticism, national media has reported. The worrisome trend comes as U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the White House would halt the immigration of green card recipients for 60 days. Since the coronavirus hit the United States, immigration authorities have deported dozens of infected migrants, leaving governments across Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean struggling to respond, according to The Washington Post. In an email to the media outlet, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it had deported 2,985 people in the first 11 days of April, without answering questions about continuing deportations during the pandemic. Mexico and Haiti have reported COVID-19 infections among migrants deported recently from the United States, officials said Tuesday, in addition to the dozens of Guatemalans flown home by U.S. customs since late March who tested positive for the coronavirus after returning. In Mexico's Tamaulipas state, across the Rio Grande from the southern tip of Texas, officials say that the state is receiving roughly 100 deportees every day, some of whom are already sick when they arrive, The Washington Post reported. On Monday, Tamaulipas state authorities said at least 15 migrants from a number of countries tested positive for the coronavirus at a shelter in northern Mexico, adding they have been placed in isolation, according to a report from teleSUR, a Latin American multimedia platform. Earlier on Sunday, Guatemala President Alejandro Giammattei said a total of 50 migrants deported by the United States to the Central American country had tested positive for COVID-19, teleSUR reported. The stepped-up border restrictions by the United States have also left many children and teenagers arriving at the border without adult guardians, causing widespread criticism from human rights advocates. In response, the Mexican government on Monday asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to test deportees for the coronavirus, while Guatemala has temporarily suspended return flights from the United States. In a televised speech late Friday, Giammattei said that a suspension of deportation flights that began on Thursday would continue until the United States was able to assure Guatemalan officials that deportees were being returned "free of the coronavirus," according to The New York Times. COLUMBUS, Ohio - Six hundred ten people have died of the coronavirus, according to the Ohio Department of Health on Wednesday, including 26 probable cases. Additionally, on Wednesday, 14,117 Ohioans had been infected, including 508 probable cases. Fifty-four of Ohio counties have had at least one death. Cases are reported in all of Ohios 88 counties but one, Vinton County. As of Tuesday afternoon, 557 Ohioans had died from coronavirus and 13,725 people were infected. Almost 98,000 tests have been performed in Ohio. Gov. Mike DeWine said during his Wednesday briefing that he anticipates making another testing announcement on Thursday. DeWine also said that the prohibition on elective surgeries is going to be lifted. Elective surgeries Elective surgeries were stopped March 17 to preserve personal protective equipment. But on Wednesday, DeWine announced a new order to begin allowing the procedures again. Some of the surgeries we had no intention of stopping had been postponed, and frankly that has concerned me great a deal," DeWine said. DeWine said hes heard of hip surgeries being delayed. If the pain is progressing, it may be time for the surgery to be performed, he said. Its very disturbing to me as a physician, said Dr. Amy Acton, Ohio Department of Health director. Acton said shes heard stories of people who are suffering and being denied care. If someone doesnt have a doctor, that person should go to the emergency room and get it addressed, she said. Acton said shes going to tweak the order banning elective surgeries to allow more procedures to go through. DeWine said people who had a procedure that was scheduled, then canceled due to the ban, should contact their doctor or surgeon to inquire whether it should proceed. DeWine asked doctors and other providers at hospitals and outpatient facilities to reassess surgeries and procedures that were postponed. Patients need to decide whether to get the procedure, and they need realistic information about COVID-19 and having health vulnerabilities. COVID care line The state has established a COVID Care hotline for people struggling with mental health and stress: 1-800-720-9616. Lori Criss, director of the Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services, said it will be staffed seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. If a person calls and the care line is closed, it goes to a national suicide prevention line. Juvenile corrections resident tests positive DeWine announced the first positive case of a youth in a state facility. The youth started showing symptoms on Monday evening, and was immediately isolated," DeWine said. The teen has been in isolation at the Cuyahoga Hills Juvenile Correctional Facility since he began showing symptoms of the COVID-19 virus on Monday evening, officials said. Contact tracing -- identifying everyone the youth came in contact with and asking them to isolate for 14 days -- is underway with the Ohio Department of Health and Cuyahoga County Health Department, he said. Activity and visitors have been limited for some time in juvenile facilities. Both youth and staff are also being provided with face masks and are required to wear them, DeWine said. The economy At the beginning of March, 5.6 million Ohioans were working, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said. Boy how things have changed, Husted said. Now nearly a million people are out of work of Ohios 11.7 million residents. Some experts anticipate unemployment could reach 20%, he said. As unemployment goes up, so do the rates of suicide, drug addition, domestic violence, depression, homelessness, as well as other health consequences like diabetes," he said. It weighs heavily on lower-income Ohioans, Husted said. The state heavily relies on income and sales taxes for revenue. Both streams of revenue are decreasing, he said. State government effects The state has a $2.7 billion rainy day fund. Husted said the state may need twice that amount to keep government operations going. That includes state spending in education, health care and other programs to help Ohioans. The reopening strategy.... is not just about businesses, its about the economic engine that our social safety net depends on, he said. Other coronavirus coverage: Gov. Mike DeWine gives Wednesdays coronavirus update: Watch live Big 6 Ohio business groups press Gov. Mike DeWine on urgent need to re-open economy with May 1 approaching Latest Ohio figures show 557 coronavirus deaths, 13,725 cases: Gov. Mike DeWines Tuesday, April 21, 2020 briefing Here is a closer look at the higher education relief fund and the controversy surrounding it. Why were Harvard and other colleges receiving federal money? The Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund was created as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. Known as the CARES Act, it was passed by Congress in late March to provide economic assistance for workers, families, small businesses, students and schools affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Colleges and universities have been among the institutions facing the biggest losses. Beginning in about mid-March, they ordered most students to evacuate dormitories and campuses. They shut down dining halls, libraries, gyms and science centers, and moved classes online. The cost of these shutdowns was high, and schools are still not sure whether they will be able to open normally in the fall. Senior executives at many universities have taken pay cuts; faculty salaries have been frozen and construction projects suspended. Many schools have returned unused room and board fees and continued to pay contract workers even when they are not needed. The relief package included nearly $14 billion to help higher education, and institutions said much more was needed. About half of the money is designated for emergency grants to students to cover food, housing, course materials, technology, and health care needs associated with the disruption caused by the virus. How was the money awarded? Almost all of the higher education relief money, $12.6 billion, was designated by Congress for about 4,500 colleges and universities that are eligible for federal financial aid, ranging from Ivy League universities to trade schools. The rest was reserved for institutions that primarily serve minority populations, and for grants to institutions that were particularly hard hit by the virus, mainly smaller colleges whose economic survival is threatened. The distribution formula set by Congress is based on the federal financial aid distribution system, weighted toward students who receive federal Pell Grants. The bigger a schools student body, and the more low-income students, the more money a school is entitled to receive. A middle-aged man from Kibwezi in Makueni County,Kenya drowned on Tuesday, April 21, while attempting to evade arrest for not wearing a face mask. The man was being chased by police officers at Kambu Market, when he jumped into a swollen fish pond and drowned, witnesses said. The police officers who were chasing him did not bother to rescue him. When they saw he had jumped into the pond, they walked away, one of the eye witnesses told K24 Digital. The victims body was later removed and taken to a Kibwezi hospital morgue. The incident came hours after Makueni County Commissioner Mohammed Maalim directed all law enforcement agents, including chiefs, their assistants and police, to ensure that anyone walking in public has a face mask on. Mohammed warned that any person who would be found in public without the protective mask, will be arrested and charged. On April 10, the Ministry of Health published a notice in Kenyan newspapers warning that any Kenyan citizen who walks in public without wearing a face mask, will be arrested and, upon conviction, risks parting with a fine of Ksh20, 000 or serving a 6-month jail term, or both. The order was issued to curb the spread of coronavirus in Kenya. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A group of influential Ohio business groups is pushing Gov. Mike DeWine to begin rolling back his coronavirus closures, citing what they call the dire state of Ohios economy and the urgent need to re-open businesses. Meanwhile, DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, while keeping details of their specific plans quiet, have begun privately briefing state leaders about what to expect May 1, when DeWine has said he will begin re-opening the state economy. In a Tuesday letter to DeWine, the business groups urged him to begin re-opening the economy in phases on May 1. Describing an alarming briefing they got this week from JobsOhio, the states private economic development arm, they said they expect state unemployment claims will exceed 1 million by the end of the week. They said small businesses are facing irreversible devastation and bankruptcies under prolonged non-essential stay-at-home scenarios" if stay-at-home orders remain in place. We have no illusion that things will go back to normal,' reads the letter, signed by representatives of the Ohio Business Roundtable, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, The Ohio Manufacturers Association, The Ohio Council of Retail Merchants, the Ohio Farm Bureau and the National Federation of Independent Businesses of Ohio. We believe our state is capable of a deliberate, phased opening in a closely controlled manner with strict protocols that enable a responsible reopening where employee and customer safety is first. DeWine and Husted on Tuesday briefed Republican Ohio House members, describing some of their plans for the week. In a Wednesday Facebook post, State Rep. Laura Lanese said DeWine and Husted said they likely will roll out a plan on Friday laying out which businesses will be able to re-open and when, and what precautions will be necessary to limit the likelihood of a surge of new COVID-19 cases. But she also wrote that the administration is weighing the risks to public safety. Lanese, a suburban Columbus Republican and member of House leadership, said in an interview that DeWine and Husted didnt provide a lot of specifics about the opening at this point. I think theyre trying to keep their options open for the next few days, she said. The lieutenant governor suggested theyre working very hard to get something out by Friday. But its a fluid situation. At his daily coronavirus briefing Wednesday, DeWine said hes asked Ohios hospitals and doctors to review elective surgeries that were postponed due to the coronavirus so they can start resuming those procedures. He said an announcement will be coming shortly with more details for other businesses. The big, big principle will be: protect your customers if youre retail, protect your employees and protect yourself, he said. Well have more details when we do make this announcement... It will be clear, we hope people will understand it and we hope people will do what we ask them to do. An official White House re-opening plan calls for states to begin re-opening if they see 14 consecutive days of flat or decreasing documented COVID-19 cases. But Ohio officials have said they lack adequate testing to get an accurate picture of how widespread the disease actually is. Cases in Ohio spiked this week, although its a result of widespread testing in state prisons, including in Marion County where the majority of 2,500 inmates have tested positive for the coronavirus. Even with the new numbers, Ohio is far below its previous projections. This has fueled skepticism from some Republican lawmakers who have been placing increasing pressure on DeWine to re-open the state. Despite the lack of testing, Republican governors in other states, including Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina, already have announced plans to re-open much of their businesses this Friday. Lanese said she believes all chambers and political parties are getting time with DeWine and Husted. DeWine told lawmakers he wants more people to be able to visit medical providers. At the same time, there is a shortage of personal protective equipment -- especially at nursing homes. We in the House are very worried about medical access, she said. People who arent getting their blood pressure checked, who arent getting the care they need, who arent COVID or emergency room-related (cases) are particularly vulnerable, she said. Many hospitals in rural areas do not have the resources to continue with little revenue coming in, she said. One of the things the lieutenant governor talked about was the problem with the terminology of essential and non-essential, Lanese said. Some companies and workers are not essential, per se, but by the nature of their business, can reopen safely. An example would be a drive-in movie theater. Theyre trying to come up with a better way, use a scalpel approach this time, as opposed to a hammer approach, she said. Lanese said that House Republican colleagues from rural areas do not see the coronavirus as threatening as urban colleagues do. I know some of my colleagues would like to see a more geographic approach toward reopening, she said, and communicated that to DeWine and Husted. Lanese serves on an economic recovery task force assembled by Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder to hear from small business owners. She said that a representative of La-Z-Boy complained that the company cant sell furniture. Yet people can still buy furniture from big box stores. Lanese cautioned that any announcement from the governor is going to leave some people disappointed. No matter what the governor does, people are going be angry and scared and frustrated, she said. Read recent related coverage: Latest Ohio figures show 557 coronavirus deaths, 13,725 cases: Gov. Mike DeWines Tuesday, April 21, 2020 briefing Almost one in four Ohio coronavirus cases now come from the states prisons Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine calls for federal coronavirus testing help in national TV interview 'An existential threat: Ohios restaurant, hotel, and salon industries detail economic devastation from the coronavirus crisis Gov. Mike DeWine facing increasing pressure from state lawmakers to roll back coronavirus closures China on Wednesday dismissed as nothing short of absurdity and violation of sovereignty the lawsuit filed by the US state of Missouri which alleges that Beijing suppressed COVID-19 information, arrested whistle-blowers and denied its contagious nature, leading to the loss of life and causing "irreparable damage" to the world. Filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, the lawsuit was submitted by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt against the Chinese government, the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), and other Chinese officials and institutions. It alleges that during the critical weeks of the initial outbreak, the Chinese authorities deceived the public, suppressed crucial information, arrested whistle-blowers, denied human-to-human transmission in the face of mounting evidence, destroyed critical medical research, permitted millions of people to be exposed to the virus, and even hoarded Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), causing a global pandemic that was unnecessary and preventable. The lawsuit seeks relief on one count of public nuisance, one count of abnormally dangerous activities, and two counts of breach of duty. Remedies could include civil penalties and restitution, abatement of the public nuisance, cessation of abnormally dangerous activities, punitive damages and more, it said. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show Reacting to the lawsuit, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said: this so-called accusation has no factual and legal basis. It is nothing short of absurdity. He reiterated that since the outbreak, the Chinese government has been acting in open, transparent and responsible manner to report the information to the US and other countries and the World Health Organization (WHO) besides issuing general sequence of the virus. Geng said China is in communication with the US on this issue since January 3, ensuring updates. This is part of China's important contribution and recognised by the international community. This so-called litigation is a malicious abuse of litigation. It violates the basic law and principle of equal sovereignty in international law. The Chinese government's response in the pandemic is not under the jurisdiction of US courts, he said. Geng said that such abuse of ligation is not conducive to epidemic response at home in the US and also runs counter to international cooperation. What the US should do is to refute and reject such abuse of litigation, he said. Besides the lawsuit, China faced stringent criticism from US President Donald Trump and its top politicians and officials including allegations of cover-up and underreporting of coronavirus casualties. While China has reported 82,788 novel coronavirus cases, including 4,632 fatalities, the US registered over 824,600 cases and more than 45,290 deaths -- the highest in the world. US President Donald Trump is demanding China to allow US investigators to visit Wuhan to probe the origins of coronavirus as it was reported first from there in December last year as well as the role of the Wuhan Institute of Virology amidst allegations that the virus has escaped from the lab. Observers said that the Missouri lawsuit could pose a problem to China in view of the US courts' claim of universal jurisdiction. (ANSA) - Rome, April 22 - Italy will restart most of its productive activities from May 4, apart from some exceptions that will be allowed to restart earlier, on April 27, it was agreed at the premier's office on Wednesday, sources said. Among the exceptions will be the production of farm and industrial machinery, which may be authorized to resume earlier, sources said. The government will discuss the plan to ease the coronavirus lockdown with employers and unions on Wednesday afternoon. A Co Mayo nursing home has confirmed that seven of its residents have died this month, five of whom tested positive for the Covid-19 virus. A number of the 36 surviving residents of the Ti Aire private nursing home in Belmullet are still being treated for the virus, with one positive case among two residents currently in hospital. Another two residents also died in hospital this month, but their cause of death has not been confirmed. Nursing home manager John Tighe said that all 36 remaining residents had been tested, and staff testing is ongoing with results awaited. Some residents who tested positive for Covid-19 are doing well and we are supporting them through their recovery, he said. Mr Tighe added that extensive contingency planning and additional infection control measures had been put in place in advance of any confirmed cases at the home while extra training and supports had been put in place for staff. All national HSE and HIQA guidelines are being followed and we are liaising and working closely with both organisations on a regular basis. We are also working closely with the Public Health Service, HSE Community Healthcare Organisations and the National Ambulance Service, he said We received additional quantities of PPE equipment from the HSE several weeks ago and we are happy with the quality and quantity of that equipment." As part of our contingency planning we also recruited additional staff to ensure we have sufficient numbers to care for residents through this crisis, he added. Ti Aire in Tallagh, Belmullet, is located in one of the more isolated parts of the north-west coast. It is one of a number of homes run by the Sonas group which has nursing homes in counties Mayo, Sligo, Roscommon, Westmeath, Carlow and Tipperary. Local politicians have expressed alarm about the high rate of Covid-19 infection in the county, compared to neighbouring Galway particularly in the far less populated north of the county. There were 332 cases of the virus in Mayo, compared to 294 in Galway, as of Monday night. Mayo County Council chief executive Peter Hynes expressed concern about new hotspots in the county, when he told councillors earlier this week that numbers continued to escalate. Independent councillor Michael Kilcoyne said he cannot understand why the figures in the county of Mayo are as high as the county next door in Galway which has double the population and which has a city. Cllr Kilcoyne also said he believed some 40 staff in Mayo University Hospital are either out sick with the virus or are isolating as they await tests for Covid-19. This raises serious questions, he said. Sinn Fein TD for Mayo Rose Conway-Walsh also called for more transparency and said the Health Service Executive (HSE) needed to take immediate action in relation to providing personal protection equipment (PPE) for health care staff in hospitals, nursing homes, care settings and in the community. Jammu and Kashmir government on Wednesday granted financial relief of Rs one crore to lawyers whose livelihoods have been severely hit due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown. J-K Lt Governor G C Murmu on Wednesday handed over a cheque of Rs one crore to Registrar General, Jammu and Kashmir High Court, Jawad Ahmad in the presence of High Court Bar Association Jammu president Abhinav Sharma here. A Raj Bhawan spokesperson said J-K Lt Governor G C Murmu handed over a cheque of Rs one crore as relief to financially distressed lawyers whose livelihoods have been severely hit due to the ongoing coronavirus lockdown. He claimed the Jammu and Kashmir government became the first in the country to extend relief to financially distressed young advocates. "This step of the government is in continuation of the relief measures announced for various sections of the society including registered building construction workers, MGNREGA job card holders and beneficiaries of various pensionary schemes," he said. Sharma thanked the LG for the decision. "We met Lieutenant governor and held a meeting with him over the issue. He approved our request", Sharma told reporters at Raj Bhawan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ruby Princess docked at Circular Quay during the disembarkation of passengers in Sydney, Australia, March 19. (Dean Lewins/REUTERS Repatriation Underway for Ruby Princess Crew Members At least 49 crew members from the Ruby Princess cruise ship have disembarked after spending more than two weeks docked at a pier in Port Kembla, New South Wales. Of the 49 crew members, one has tested positive for the CCP virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, and will be quarantined in an NSW Health managed hotel for 14 days. The remaining 48 crew have tested negative, and arrangements are being made for their flights home. Most of the crew have remained in isolation on the ship while 202 crew on board have tested positive for the CCP virus, reported 7 news. NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said the health and safety of crew and the wider community would remain the priority during the repatriation process. The movement of the first crew contingent today is an important milestone, and has us one step closer to the Ruby Princess leaving Australian waters, Fuller said in a statement on Tuesday. Todays operation is the culmination of a significant joint effort by a number of agencies, and that effort will continue until we have ensured the safety and movement of every crew member, in line with their wishes. Fuller is reported to have spent weeks negotiating with foreign consulates to ensure the repatriation of the crew members from Canada, the United States, New Zealand, and Britain, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). More crew members are expected to disembark in the coming days, NSW police said, and around half of the 1000 people who remain on board are expected to stay on the ship until its return to the Philippines. Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys said the ship was on track for a Thursday departure. The Source For One-Third of Australias Cases The Ruby Princess has been linked to at least 21 deaths, and around 900 CCP virus cases across Australia after thousands of passengers were allowed to disembark in Sydney on March 19. An inquiry was launched on April 15 by NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian into why passengers were allowed off the cruise ship without completing health checks. As I have said before, we will leave no stone unturned until we find out exactly what happened, Berejiklian said at a press conference. NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard had accused the Ruby Princesss parent company, Princess Cruises, for not stopping the cruise when the pandemic was announced. Carnival let the cruise continue even after the pandemic declaration for another eight days. That has proved to be a very unfortunate decision, Hazzard told The Australian. Every day that cruise continued around New Zealand and in international waters has obviously had extremely unfortunate opportunities for the virus to spread. Speaking to Nine news on April 21, Jan Swartz, the global head of Princess Cruises said she would cooperate with the NSW Police investigation into the cruise ship and offered support for the families of those who have died. They are all in our hearts and thoughts as this virus has impacted so many of our guests and crews in terrible ways, Swartz said. Swartz added that the company would offer counseling to everyone on board, as well as provide full refunds to any passengers on the affected Ruby Princess voyage. Epoch Times reporter Alex Joseph and The Australian Associated Press contributed to this report. BRISTOL, England, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- 3radical, developer of the Voco audience engagement platform, today announced the appointment of Michael D. Fisher, Ed.D. to its Executive Board of Directors. In addition to these responsibilities, Fisher will be spearheading 3radical's expansion into North America, based on the company's unique ability to help brands collect fully-permissioned 'earned data' from customers. Fisher will once again join forces with 3radical CEO, David Eldridge. The two worked together to bring Alterian's disruptive database marketing technology to the US, where they grew sales from $2m to $30m. 3radical was established in 2012 with a mission to help organizations engage with customers and employees to encourage specific behaviors, including the willing provision of 'earned' data. By using the 3radical Voco platform, brands can attract and retain the attention of their audiences by creating fun, rewarding, interactive digital experiences that go beyond initial engagement to deliver valuable two-way exchanges throughout the relationship 'journey'. The company works with leading organizations around the world, including Dell, DBS Bank, Gamesys and Standard Chartered Bank. "We are delighted to welcome Michael to 3radical's Board," said David Eldridge, CEO at 3radical. "As a pioneer in relationship marketing, Michael's reputation for relentlessly pursuing client satisfaction made him an essential addition to the team as we expand our sales efforts into North America. We feel with the rapidly changing data privacy landscape in the US, brands will be looking for innovative new solutions for engaging with customers, and the early indications are that 3radical's technology will be very well received in this market." "In this time of digital transformation, where the customer is increasingly more aware of the value of their personal data, I am extremely pleased to join 3radical," said Fisher. "3radical is in the perfect position to help organizations focus on being advocates for individuals consumers, customers and employees by earning their trust with the permission-based capture of what we're calling earned data. These transparent value exchanges provide richer and more robust data procurement." Fisher brings over 25 years of experience in organizational transformation through research, education, and revenue growth. He specializes in helping companies build collaborative, connected, cohesive cultures, with a commitment to personal and professional development and success. Disciplines include: progressive leadership and decision making, responsive data and analytics, nimble sales effectiveness, and agile customer data and business intelligence technology assessments. Fisher has held senior leadership roles with Yes Lifecycle Marketing, Alterian, Epsilon, DoubleClick (formerly Protagona Worldwide), and Unisys Corporation. Michael is also part of the doctoral faculty at the University of St. Francis where he focuses on providing direction and guidance for the next generation of leaders, while continuing to develop and publish organizational and marketing research. About 3radical 3radical allows individuals to interact with organizations on their own terms. Voco's real-time decisioning engine is able to combine game science theory, data accumulated from billions of interactions, and real-time self-reported data, resulting in the optimum blend of interactive content, rewards incentives and channel for each engagement. The self-reported data is willingly and transparently provided in return for a value exchange, and can be used to improve the relationship of the individual with the organization across all channels, and by informing product and service development. 3radical sells its solutions globally through offices in the UK, US and Singapore. Media Contact Georgia Deery [email protected] SOURCE 3radical Reaching the age of 94 is a huge milestone, especially if you are the head of the monarchy for more than 67 years. But April 21 is no time to celebrate, as Queen Elizabeth II just had the saddest birthday ever. Aside from ditching major gatherings for her birthday due to the coronavirus pandemic, Queen Elizabeth also released a consoling message for the victims of the tragic shooting in Nova Scotia over the weekend. Through the Royal Family's official social media pages, the Queen posted her and Prince Philip's message of condolences to the Governor-General and Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia in Canada concerning the mass shooting incident that took the lives of 19 innocent people. "Prince Philip and I have been deeply saddened by the appalling events in Nova Scotia, and we send our condolences to the friends, friends, and colleagues of those who have lost their lives," the statement read. The head of the royal family also honored the sacrifice of the officers who immediately responded to the tragic incident. "I also pay tribute to the bravery and sacrifice of the officers from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and other police services who selflessly responded to these devastating attacks, and to the emergency services who are supporting those who have been injured and affected," the message continued. The Queen concluded her message by saying: "My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Nova Scotia and all Canadians at this tragic time." The statement was also released in French, which is the second most common language in the Commonwealth country. It began when authorities chased a 51-year-old gunman identified as Gabriel Wortman in the small town of Portapique. He then went across the province and eventually shot more victims. According to the police, the incident is not a random act of violence to begin with. But the shooting progressed randomly. The mass shooting is now considered one of the deadliest bloodbaths in Canada. How Queen Elizabeth II Celebrated Her Birthday? Because of the increasing cases of COVID-19 patients in the United Kingdom, the Queen had to celebrate her 94th year in private at Windsor Castle, where she is isolating with her 98-year-old husband, the Duke of Edinburgh. But no lockdown or quarantine could prevent the rest of the royal family from sending well wishes for the beloved Queen. According to reports, the royal staffers arranged a virtual gathering for the family using the video calling app Zoom. The family has been using virtual chat to keep in touch with each other since the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.K. They are also using it to connect with charities and key workers. Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth also requested to dismiss the traditional special gun salute to mark her birthday. "Her Majesty was keen that no special measures were put in place to allow gun salutes as she did not feel it appropriate in the current circumstances," a palace spokesperson said. The official birthday celebration of Trooping the Colour in June was also cancelled, and the Queen did not make any further plans to celebrate her 94th year. Bollywood celebrities are looking into every possible need to help frontline workers fighting the Novel Coronavirus. From facilitating rest houses for police personnel to donating personal protection equipment to healthcare workers, celebrities like Rohit Shetty, Hrithik Roshan and others are generously doing all they can. The latest to pitch in to help healthcare workers fight the virus is Priyanka Chopra, by donating 10,000 pairs of footwear to the medical community. Stating that it is imperative for healthcare workers to have easy to clean footwear and apparel, Priyanka made this thoughtful contribution. A press statement released by Priyanka read, "Healthcare professionals across the country are our true superheroes, working everyday to ensure our safety and fighting for us on the frontlines. Their courage, commitment, and sacrifices are saving innumerable lives in this global pandemic." It continued, "While we cannot even imagine what it's like to be in their shoes, we can at least help them be comfortable in them. Because of the nature of their work, it is critical for them to have easy-to-clean shoes and apparel for themselves. We are so glad to be able to offer this support and hope this helps these caregivers in the fight against this virus." Earlier, Priyanka and her husband Nick had announced their contributions to 10 charities. Without disclosing the amount, they had said that they have donated to organizations and relief funds such as Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES), UNICEF, Goonj, No Kid Hungry, Doctors Without Borders, and SAG-AFTRA. ALSO READ: Coronavirus Aid: Priyanka Chopra And Nick Jonas Donate To Multiple Organizations And NGOs ALSO READ: Priyanka Chopra Talks About Starting A Family With Husband Nick Jonas Washington County Public Schools asking public for input on funding Washington County Public Schools is asking the public for input on how they should spend the American Rescue Plan money from the federal government. Cuatro Cienegas Coahuila pools have sedimentary structures of organisms that are most likely similar to what is found in Mars, according to a recently published article. Mexico is known for its historical tourist spots, and most places continue to be the most visited for Americans and other travelers from around the world. Beaches and resorts on the Pacific and Caribbean to exciting activities always put Mexico at the top of any travel list. Mexico has many to offer to its travelers. They will not only be attracted to the beauty of Mexico's tourist spots, but they will also enjoy the story in every structure. Mars-Like Place in Mexico There is an area in Mexico that is almost similar to the red planet or Mars. These are the Cuatro Cienega Coahuila pools that form the so-called stromatolites that are created and developed by the activity of microbial populations. These pools or areas are inferior in nutrients but are very rich in terms of minerals, which is very similar to the red planet. This caught the attention of the ecologist from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Valeria Souza. Investigation of Valeria Souza and Her Team Valeria Souza created a team to investigate the stromatolites in the pools. They carried out studies on the genome of the bacterial communities that can survive even if the pools of Cuatro Cienega lack nutrients. Souza and her team firmly believed that the place could be one of the best terrestrial models in studying the land and other behaviors of the red planet. Not only that, but they also found out almost 300 pools, some lagoons, rivers, and more. It is for this reason that they called the place as a natural laboratory for astrobiology. This means that it is possible to conduct many studies in the area as its primitive environment is similar to what is most likely to be found on Mars. Martian Analog Studies An Earth Science teacher Paola Molina Sevilla said: "Martian analog (is) a site on Earth whose environmental conditions, geological characteristics, biological attributes or a combination of these, approximate in some way to those expected or observed on Mars." This method of study will significantly help those who are studying Mars. These places, called Martian Analogs, can be their simulation for the experiment. This will also serve later to solve the mysteries on the red planet that yet to be known. There have been many studies conducted in the previous decades about Mars. NASA and other scientists are trying to figure out if the red planet is the same as Earth. It is estimated that planet Mars is 225 million kilometers away from Earth and making it hard for NASA to explore the red planet. Moreover, some Mexican Scientists are working with NASA in exploring the red planet through Martian analogs like in Cuatro Cienegas. They are also stressing out that places like these in Mexico should be preserved. Read a related article: April 22, 2020 Content writing has become one of the most demanded professions of this decade. Every business, small or large enterprise, is looking for content writers to help enhance its business. Their need significantly increased when people started using the internet. Internet is a huge market that billions of people visit every day. Businesses started creating their websites and social media pages to sell their product or services, but an empty shop attracts no one. This is where they realized the need for a content writing service that can produce articles and copies that their potential customers would like. However, many people dont quite understand this profession and make the mistake of either writing themselves or hiring the wrong service provider. Its better not to have anyone than to hire a service that doesnt fully understand content writing. Web content is not just some words jumbled together. Every word, phrase, sentence, and paragraph is strategically positioned to make an engaging, convincing, and useful article. It is through these skills and experience that a business gets more sales and achieves its goals faster. Here I have shared some more significant benefits of hiring a content writing service that makes this profession crucial for every business. Bring Traffic to Your Website The first reason people need content is to bring traffic to their website. Digital marketing and SEO help reach your target audience. However, it all goes to vain if you dont know what message to deliver when you reach them. The wrong message will ensure that they never come back to your page. On the other hand, a message written by a professional content expert will not only impress them but ensure that they keep returning. Good content is also easy to rank on search engines. People share your content and give you backlinks, giving free exposure to your brand. Increase Brand Awareness Every new business aims to become a brand. When they successfully become a brand, they dont have to put as much effort into their marketing as before and they get more sales. People like to do business with names they can trust. A brand name is usually built by providing great service, thats why they are more attractive for potential customers. Content is the most important thing after quality service when it comes to increasing brand awareness. You can run paid ad campaigns on search engines and social media sites, but if you dont use the right content strategy, people will keep ignoring them. Attract and Engage Your Prospects Attracting and engaging is easier said than done. Every writer would claim they can do it, but it takes a lot of knowledge and experience of working with professionals to achieve this level of skills. Such skills are only found in a veteran content writing company. It is suggested to acquire the services of a company instead of a freelancer. They will first study your business, market, and audience before getting started with your project. It will take some time to research and properly engage your potential customer even if you hire an experienced writer. So instead of keep changing freelancers, find one reliable service. Get a Better Conversion Rate Your prospect will visit your website and view your product or services. He might become your customer if what you offer is required. However, he will have many other sites opened in other tabs while visiting your website. So, why should he choose when he has many other, possibly better and cheaper, options than you? The answer is content. A content writer will tell you what potential customers want to know and what he should tell them and at what stage. Increase and Retain Social Media Following Social media users are not easy to impress or engage. None of them wants to see ads, and they simply ignore boring things even if they could be useful to them. A professional content writing service will help you not only increase following on social media but also retain it. You have to keep reminding your prospects that you exist and engage them through entertaining and interesting posts. Even paid boosting is not enough if you dont create the right post. NINGBO, China, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Chinese PV leader Risen Energy Co., Ltd. (300118.SZ) disclosed its financial results for 2019 on the evening of April 17, 2020, local time. During the reporting period, the company recorded a total operating revenue of 14.404 billion yuan (approx. US$2.03 billion), an increase of 47.7% from the previous year. Net profit attributable to shareholders reached 974 million yuan (approx. US$137 million), soaring 319.01% when compared to 2018. Basic earnings per share stood at 1.11 yuan (approx. US$0.16). The company plans to pay a dividend of 2 yuan (approx. US$0.28) per 10 shares (tax included). The company attributed positive 2019 results to six core competitive forces: Science-based strategic decision-making and efficient strategy implementation capabilities; Market-oriented approach to R&D, coupled with a comprehensive R&D system; Ongoing innovation in technological processes and in efficiencies related to quality assurance; A global marketing network backed by a comprehensive operational structure; Robust operational efficiency and healthy financial structure; PV industry clusters supported by convenient transportation options. Risen Energy said the company will continue to drive customer-centric innovation, respond to market needs and optimize its product mix with the aim of promoting grid parity, enhancing its already comprehensive strength and expanding capacity. In line with a growth strategy of consolidating its presence in both the new energy and new materials sectors, the company plans to focus on strengthening its core competitiveness in technological R&D, product promotion, process improvement, lean manufacturing and cost control. Risen Energy's next steps include an increased focus on PV manufacturing, power station investment and construction, new materials, energy storage and LED lighting. Chester's Hamburger's, a longtime San Antonio chain, is responding to feelings of 'outrage and disgust' caused by a marquee message at one of the locations. "Don't buy Chinese [...] buy American," read the sign at the 1006 N.E. Loop 410 location. It's unclear if any other Chester's Hamburger's bore the same message. Though the Loop 410 location shares the outdoor sign space with other businesses, owner Dale Mabry confirmed the message came from his business. "Regarding the marquee at Chesters Hambugers, there is no implied meaning other than to buy American products and not products from communist China," Mabry said Wednesday when reached by email. "We have already changed the marquee copy." The Asian American Alliance of San Antonio was one of the first to sound the alarm on the sign via social media. Kin Yan Hui, president of the local chapter of the Asian American organization, says he's satisfied with the removal and considers the matter to be "concluded," but spoke to the anger that was felt throughout the community when it was brought to his attention on Tuesday. "There was outrage and disgust by the Asian American Alliance of San Antonio," he added. Hui said he's aware of xenophobia toward Asian Americans happening elsewhere in response to the coronavirus pandemic, but said the marquee was the first he is aware of where the community was "singled out" in San Antonio. He says racism against the Asian American community usually experiences locally is typically shown in the form of "unwelcoming looks." "While it has happened, it is rare that racism related to violent acts are taken against Asian Americans in San Antonio," Hui said. Though uncommon to Hui, he said the anger "permeated" throughout San Antonio. Chester's Hamburgers has been embroiled in controversy before. In July 2016, the Universal City location was the site of a viral video in which a customer hurled racist comments at a black family. Though staff was not involved, the restaurant was criticized for "lack of response" during the incident, the Current reported. The controversy spilled over online, where some suggested a boycott of the restaurant in response to a Chester's Hamburger employee later fueling the debate with more derogatory comments. Hui says the marquee now advertises the restaurant's phone number for take-out orders. The Asian American Alliance of San Antonio has since deleted a post on their Facebook page showing the sign. Madalyn Mendoza covers news and puro pop culture for MySA.com | mmendoza@mysa.com | @maddyskye A new bill proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives would cancel all rent and mortgage payments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) introduced the Rent and Mortgage Cancellation Act, a bill proposing the institution of a nationwide cancellation of rents and home mortgage payments through the duration of the coronavirus pandemic, on Friday April 17 via press release. We need to take bold action to provide much needed support to renters and landlords. Today, I announced my bill to cancel *ALL* rent and mortgage payments during this crisis. https://t.co/sbtKdG7u7Q Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) April 17, 2020 The bill, according to the press release, would constitute a full payment forgiveness, with no accumulation of debt for renters or homeowners and no negative impact on their credit rating or rental history. The legislation would also set in motion a relief fund for landlords and mortgage holders to cover losses from the canceled payments and create an optional fund to fully finance the purchase of private rental properties by non-profits, public housing authorities, cooperatives, community land trusts, and states or local governments in order to increase the availability of affordable housing during this downturn, the press release said. Congress has a responsibility to step in to stabilize both local communities and the housing market during this time of uncertainty and crisis," said Omar. In 2008, we bailed out Wall Street. This time, its time to bail out the American people who are suffering. According to the press release, the bill is cosponsored by Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Veronica Escobar (D-TX), Jesus Chuy Garcia (D-IL), and Grace Meng (D-NY). Housing is a critical determinant of public health, and that has never been more true than during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Pressley. We must take bold, urgent action that meets the scale and scope of this crisis, and keeps families whole. By canceling rent and mortgage payments for the duration of this public health emergency, the Rent and Mortgage Cancellation Act affirms that housing is a human right and ensures that no person or family is forced to choose between putting food on the table and keeping a roof over their head during this unprecedented crisis. Related Content: Washington President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he has ordered the Navy to shoot down and destroy any Iranian gunboats that harass U.S. ships, a directive that comes a week after the Navy reported a group of Iranian boats made dangerous and harassing approaches to American vessels in the Persian Gulf. Trump did not cite a specific Iranian provocation in his tweet or provide details. Senior Pentagon officials gave no indication that Trump had directed a fundamental change in military policy on Iran. The president issued an important warning to the Iranians, David Norquist, the deputy secretary of defense, said at a Pentagon news conference when asked about the tweet. What he was emphasizing is, all of our ships retain the right of self defense. He called the tweet a very useful thing. Air Force Gen. John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he thinks the Iranians understand what Trump meant. He said the Navy also understands that if an Iranian on a gunboat has a gun and you point it at me, that can be interpreted as an expression of hostile intent that may be answered with U.S. force. In the tweet, Trump said: I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea." Asked whether the tweet means a repeat of last weeks incident in the Gulf would require a lethal U.S. response, Hyten said, I would have to be the captain of the ship in order to make that determination. Hyten said the nature of the response depends on the situation and what the captain sees. Last Wednesday, the U.S. Navy said Revolutionary Guard vessels repeatedly crossed the bows and sterns of several American ships at close range and high speed in the northern Gulf. The American vessels included the USS Paul Hamilton, a Navy destroyer and the USS Lewis B. Puller, a ship that serves as an afloat landing base. The ships were operating with U.S. Army Apache attack helicopters in international waters, the statement said. Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi, a spokesman for Irans armed forces, accused Trump of bullying and said the American president should focus on taking care of U.S service members infected with the coronavirus. The U.S. military had more than 2,600 confirmed cases of coronavirus as of last week, and at least two service members have succumbed to COVID-19, the disease the virus causes. Today, Americans must do their best to save those troops who are infected with coronavirus instead of bullying others, Shekarchi said, according to Irans semi-official news agency ISNA. Shortly before Trumps tweet, Irans Revolutionary Guard said it had put the Islamic Republics first military satellite into orbit, dramatically unveiling what experts described as a secret space program. That launch raised concerns among experts about whether the technology could be used to help Iran develop intercontinental ballistic missiles. Iran currently has short- and intermediate-range missiles. Hyten told reporters the lranian payload went a very long way. He said it was too early to say whether the launch had successfully placed a satellite in orbit. This is just another example of Iranian malign behavior, Hyten said. U.S. Navy ships and Iranian Guard naval vessels occasionally have encounters in the Gulf that the U.S. calls unprofessional, but they rarely escalate or include an exchange of gunfire. Tehran views the heavy presence of American forces there as a security threat. During last Wednesday's incident in the Gulf, the U.S. Navy said the 11 Iranian gunboats' dangerous and provocative actions increased the risk of miscalculation and collision ... and were not in accordance with the obligation under international law to act with due regard for the safety of other vessels in the area." According to the Navy, the Americans issued multiple warnings via bridge-to-bridge radio, fired five short blasts from the ships horns and long-range acoustic noise maker devices, but received no immediate response, the statement said. After about an hour, the Iranian vessels responded to the bridge-to-bridge radio queries, then maneuvered away. Iran claimed the U.S. triggered that episode. American commanders are trained to make nuanced and careful judgment calls about how to respond to incidents at sea. Rather than immediately resort to the use of deadly force, commanders are expected to act based on the specific circumstances, including the threat to their own crews and adherence to the international laws of warfare. Generally, as in the case of last Wednesdays incident, warships will issue warnings by a variety of means, including via bridge-to-bridge radio, before taking more direct action. Tensions between the nations escalated after the Trump administration withdrew from the international nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran. Last May the U.S. sent thousands more troops, including long-range bombers and an aircraft carrier, to the Middle East in response to what it called a growing threat of Iranian attacks on U.S. interests in the region. The tensions spiked when U.S. forces killed Irans most powerful general, Qassem Soleimani, in January. Iran responded with a ballistic missile attack on a base in western Iraq where U.S. troops were present. No Americans were killed but more than 100 suffered mild traumatic brain injuries from the blasts. Also, Iran-backed Shiite militias in Iraq continue to threaten American forces there. 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 Saudi Arabia will arrange flights out of the kingdom for non-national residents who wish to return to their home countries during the coronavirus outbreak, the state news agency SPA said on Wednesday. Those holding valid residency visas should apply online and they will be sent flight details once arranged, SPA reported the interior ministry as saying. Saudi Arabia has suspended international flights and imposed curfews nationwide to limit the spread of the new coronavirus. Flights will leave from airports in the capital Riyadh, Jeddah, Madina and Dammam, SPA said. Search Keywords: Short link: Missouri became the first U.S. state to sue China as it cited a dreadful "campaign of deceit" that's related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. GOP state Attorney General Eric Schmitt, on Tuesday, filed the civil lawsuit in federal court claiming, the Chinese officials are held liable for the enormous suffering, economic losses, and death they inflicted on the entire world, which includes the Missourians. According to Schmitt, the Chinese administration lied to the whole world about the contagious nature, not to mention the danger of COVID-19. More so, he said, China "silenced whistleblower" and did not do much to prevent the disease from spreading. The Attorney General is also seeking damages saying, China must be held liable for its actions. He added that China's Communist Party and laboratories, which were all involved in the concealment, misrepresentations, and retaliation to hide the seriousness and gravity of the infectious disease. Incidentally, as of this writing, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has reached 5,963 and 215 deaths statewide. The Effect of Virus in Missouri Specifically, in this state, the effect of COVID-19 is very real. Here, as earlier mentioned, thousands have been tested positive, and many have also died. Not only that, Schmitt said, but families have also been parted "from their loved ones dying loved ones. Also, because of COVID-19, small businesses are closing their doors, and people who live paycheck to paycheck struggle a lot just to put food on their table. The Lawsuit The lawsuit accuses the Chinese administration of making this pandemic worse because it allegedly hoards the personal protective equipment like the masks, among others. According to Constitutional Law professor Jonathan Turley from George Washington University, such lawsuits are remarkably complicated, especially that "China is protected by sovereign immunity." Specifically, the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 prolongs blanket immunity to nations from most court cases in the U.S. The exceptions are "rather narrow and hardly accepted by the U.S. courts," which read this Act as evidently conveying the intent of discouraging such lawsuits. China Deceived the Public Aside from the damages, Missouri's lawsuit also seeks to hold the government of China accountable for campaigning for deceit, misfeasance, inaction, and concealment by the authorities that unleashed the pandemic. According to the suit, during the crucial weeks of the initial spreading, the Chinese authorities allegedly deceived the public, blocked critical information, denied human-to-human communication in the face of growing evidence, and arrested the whistleblowers. More so, they were also said to have destroyed critical medical studies, allowed exposure of millions of people to the infection, and hoarded PPE that caused the now global pandemic that, according to the suit, "was not necessary and could have been prevented." This motion of Missouri comes following almost two dozen GOP lawmakers asked the U.S. government to move against China on Monday, in the International Court of Justice. The said legislators said China dishonored the 2005 International Health Regulations, again, by suppressing crucial information about the outbreak and COVID-19 itself. Check these out too: MIUI 12 will bring a new version of dark mode to Xiaomi devices, Dark Mode 2.0. Considering that the announcement of MIUI 12 is quite close, the company has decided to share some more information about it. MIUI, as most of you know, is Xiaomis Android skin or OS, whatever you want to call it. Its different than stock Android, and it was a sore point for many people in the past. Thats no longer the case, though. MIUI 10 and 11 are both great implementations of Android, and MIUI 12 is expected to refine things even more. In any case, Xiaomi went to Weibo (Chinese social network), to share some information about Dark Mode 2.0 which will be available in MIUI 12. Advertisement The dark mode was introduced in MIUI back in early 2019. With MIUI 12, it will be present in 42 built-in applications. 20 mainstream applications are deeply customized for MIUIs dark mode. Several third-party applications will support non-linear color invert algorithms that accurately identify interface elements, and dynamically invert colors for each interface object. The Dark Mode 2.0 will bring some useful changes to MIUI 12 Xiaomi says that MIUI 12s invert color algorithm is based on Lab, HSV color space, and that the inverse color adaptation is wider and more natural. Advertisement The Dark Mode 2.0 will automatically adjust the contrast. The company says that in the dark mode, screen brightness is automatically adjusted to follow Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). It has been tweaked that way in order to meet the color, high contrast color selection, and make contents sharper in light environments. Under low light conditions, it will reduce screen brightness intelligently, based on the contrast. Text will be much easier to read in light environments thanks to font weight changes The Dark Mode 2.0 will also be able to adjust font weight dynamically in order to reduce glare and blur. It will restore normal font weight in light mode in order to make reading more comfortable. Advertisement This will also bring smart wallpaper dimming at the pixel level. In other words, it will simulate the change of light and dark in the real world, restoring true colors, and dark colors will look more natural. All of this sounds really nice, especially the part with adjusting font weight. Text can be a pain to read if you have the dark mode enabled in bright environments. MIUI 12 may fix that with this feature. MIUI 12 will become official on April 27. The company will announce it in China, but its global launch will probably follow soon after. Syracuse, N.Y. In a frigid morning wind, six nurses packed their van today with tubs full of gowns, gloves, masks and other protective gear to go virus hunting at an assisted living facility in suburban Lysander. The team from Nascentia Health, a nonprofit home care agency, are the front-line troops in Onondaga Countys aggressive program to search for the novel coronavirus among people who are vulnerable but may have no symptoms. Starting Sunday, Nascentia Health nurses began going into retirement centers, memory care facilities or other senior living centers to swab-test residents who cant travel downtown to the Syracuse Community Health Center or other test sites. They offer the test to everyone, regardless of whether they feel sick. In the first two days, the nurses visited three sites and tested roughly 200 patients, said Andrea Lazarek-LaQuay, Nascentias chief clinical officer, who heads up the operation. Nurses from Nascentia Health who are doing COVID-19 testing in senior living centers load their car with equipment before they leave headquarters. Andrea Lazarek-LaQuay (middle) takes a box out of one car to put in another. In the back are, from left, Gail Carmichel and Jackie Mullen.Dennis Nett Nascentia will continue the work for at least several weeks, under contract with the countys primary testing provider, the nonprofit Syracuse Community Health Center. It marks a new phase of testing, in which county health officials are scouring high-risk locations to find people who may have no symptoms but could spread the virus among vulnerable residents. Were starting to play offense with this virus, County Executive Ryan McMahon said Tuesday. Were hunting this virus now. McMahon said he does not know of any other county that is aggressively testing senior residential centers that way. The Nascentia team started Sunday at Towne Center Retirement Community near Fayetteville, a 128-unit independent living complex where 14 residents and four staff had already tested positive for COVID-19. County officials have directed Nascentia to target facilities with positive cases first, in hopes of preventing a wider spread of infections. The tests are voluntary, both for the facility and for the individuals. A handful of residents have refused tests, but the vast majority want to know their status, Lazarek-LaQuay said. This population, theyre so high risk, she said. Those are the vulnerable populations that you want to take a look at right now. One vulnerable group the Nascentia nurses cannot test is nursing home residents. Nursing homes are regulated by the state, which has authority over the testing of residents, McMahon said. To help screen nursing home workers, the county is working with nursing homes to voluntarily send employees for tests at the Walmart drive-thru site in East Syracuse. In the future, if the testing at senior living centers winds down, McMahon said he would consider sending nurses into other large facilities where the county has seen COVID-19 cases, such as large apartment complexes. Nascentia Health, based at 1050 W. Genesee St. in Syracuse, has about 550 employees and provides certified home health care to patients in five counties of Central New York. That work continues during the coronavirus pandemic. So the team that is doing COVID-19 testing for the county is composed of volunteers from the ranks of supervisors and administrators. Besides Lazarek-LaQuay, the team that pulled out of the parking lot this morning included: Gail Carmichel, vice president of patient services; JoAnn Racino, director of clinical education; Jackie Mullen, director of community outreach; Suezette Van Horn, adult-based nurse supervisor; and Amy Davis, director of elder care social day programs. Nurses from Nascentia Health who are doing COVID-19 testing in senior living centers load their vehicle with equipment before they leave headquarters. From left Suezette Van Horn, Andrea Lazarek-LaQuay, Amy Davis, Gail Carmichel, Jo Ann Racino, Jackie Mullen.Dennis Nett MORE ON CORONAVIRUS Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources As coronavirus spread, a Fayetteville retirement community became a hotbed McMahon: No more shelter-in-place, but urges people to travel even less; hospitals can reopen Syracuse, Onondaga County miss out on $90 million in coronavirus relief bill Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com Australian shoppers have voted for their favourite frozen pizza brands of 2020. Consumer review website Canstar Blue put McCain, Dr. Oetker Ristorante, Papa Giuseppi's, Woolworths and Coles to the test to find the best brand on the market. More than 600 customers were surveyed in the annual frozen pizza reviews where they rated the brands based on taste and quality ingredients, variety, ease of preparing, value for money and overall satisfaction. Dr. Oetker Ristorante impressed consumers for the second year in a row, taking the lead for its Italian-style pizza range after scoring five stars for overall satisfaction. Dr. Oetker Ristorante impressed consumers for the second year in a row, taking the lead for its Italian-style pizza range after scoring five stars for overall satisfaction Dr. Oetker Ristorante (left) impressed shoppers for the second year in a row, taking the lead after scoring five stars for overall satisfaction, followed by Papa Giuseppi's (right) Best frozen pizzas of 2020 1. Dr. Oetker Ristorante - $7.50 2. Dr. Oetker Papa Giuseppi's - $8 3. McCain - $7 4. Woolworths - $3.30 5. Coles - $3.30 Advertisement In third place, one of Australia's all-time favourite brands McCain scored four stars for taste and quality of ingredients The brand earned top marks for its best variety, taste and quality ingredients, ease of preparing and scored four stars on value for money. The company claims its frozen pizza range, which costs $7.50 per box, tastes just as good as the 'real Italian pizzeria'. The next frozen pizza range under the Dr. Oetker brand - Papa Giuseppi's took out the second spot, scoring five stars for taste and quality of ingredients; four stars on variety, ease of preparing and overall satisfaction; and three stars for value for money. The range features a variety of deep pan pizzas, stuffed crust pizzas ($8), pizza pies ($6.50) and paninis ($5). In third place, one of Australia's all-time favourite brands McCain scored four stars for taste and quality of ingredients and ease of preparing. McCain was one of only two brands to achieve top marks for variety - but was given three-star ratings on value for money and overall satisfaction for its pizza range, with prices ranging from $7. Supermarket giant Woolworths was the best-rated frozen pizza when it comes to value for money, while Coles (right) came in at fifth place Supermarket giant Woolworths was the best-rated frozen pizza when it comes to value for money, recieving the only five-star rating for the category. The brand offers a very affordable range of flavours including Hawaiian and BBQ Meat Lovers - and it will only set you back $3.30. The products scored four stars on ease of preparing and taste and quality of ingredients and three stars for variety and overall satisfaction. Rounding out the results, Coles came fifth on the ladder after being rated three stars for ease of preparing, variety, taste and quality of ingredients and overall satisfaction. The brand offers slightly more flavours to choose from, including classics such as Hawaiian, BBQ Meat Lovers, Supreme, Margherita and Pepperoni. Retailed for the same price of $3.30, the chain got four stars for value of money. Tamzin Outhwaite has revealed fears that a number of romantic relationships may not go the distance as couples isolate together amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The 49-year-old actress who went into isolation with her partner Tom Child, 28, on March 16 after the couple displayed symptoms believes the crisis will prove to be a testing time for couples as they potentially spend months locked in together. She told The Mirror: 'You do wonder when people come out of lockdown how many people will go, "Thats not for me." Or if others will propose and think, "If I can do that, I know I can be with you forever."' Fears: Tamzin Outhwaite has revealed fears that a number of romantic relationships may not go the distance as couples isolate together amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Pictured in Jamuary However, when asked by the publication if she believed her own partner of two years had any plans to pop the big question, the former EastEnders star laughed as she responded: 'I am not talking about that.' Elsewhere in the interview, the mother-of-two insisted she's far from bothered by the 21-year age gap between herself and her personal trainer and filmmaker beau, who she she began dating after meeting him in a yoga studio. 'Its not an issue,' she said. 'Once other people get over it, its not an issue for them. Its something if it works, if the energy of it works, your connection works then nothing else really matters.' Testing times: The 49-year-old actress who went into isolation with her partner Tom Child, 28, on March 16 believes the crisis will prove to be a testing time for couples Tamzin expressed the same sentiments in February when, during an appearance on ITV's Lorraine, she admitted she 'doesn't care what others think' about their age gap, and insisted her daughters Florence, 11, and Marnie, seven, 'adore' her beau. The soap who was previously married to actor Tom Ellis, with whom she shares her daughters also touched on turning 50 in November, enthusing she feels 'privileged' about entering a new chapter of her life. Tamzin has been dating Scareycrows actor Tom since April 2018, four years after her divorce from her former co-star and husband of eight years. The star credited her new 'glow' to dating a younger man as she joked to presenter Lorraine Kelly: 'You know it is, Lorraine, you know it is!' No comment: When asked if she believed her own partner of two years had any plans to propse, the former EastEnders star laughed as she responded, 'I am not talking about that' Revealing she had met Tom before, the host gushed, 'Hes rather lovely', to which Tamzin replied, 'He really is. Hes going to be so embarrassed by this!' Shedding light on their blossoming romance, the media personality shared: 'It does work. Its about energy and about connection, I think. 'It doesnt matter how much you fight it theres 20 years between us. He just must never shave the beard off because that would be horrific for me!' The blonde also said her two girls have grown to love her partner, adding: 'I tell you what it is, when you get to this age, you stop caring what people think. Happy family: The soap star insisted her daughters Florence, 11, and Marnie, seven, 'adore' Tom Romance: During an appearance on Lorraine in February, Tamzin admitted she 'doesn't care what others think' about her 21-year age gap with her personal trainer and filmmaker beau 'I think thats a really important place to get to, because now the only opinions that matter are my two girls and if they adore him, which they do thats all I need.' It has been claimed that her ex Tom who has since tied the knot with screenwriter Meaghan Oppenheimer cheated on her with Australian actress, Emilie de Ravin, in 2013 as they filmed for the TV series Once Upon A Time while in America. On entering a new decade later this year, the thespian admitted she hasn't planned a party yet, but is certain the celebrations will 'continue for another 10 years'. The COVID-19 crisis forced the actress to step down from her role in the West End show, Chekhovs The Seagull, alongside Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke, which had been due to run from March 11 until May 30. Over the past month, the growing COVID-19 pandemic has upended countless lives across America and the world. In the face of this crisis, science has spoken clearly on the need for action, and most public officials have responded with speed and ambition. State and local policymakers have taken steps to provide health care workers with the equipment they need, and made funds and other lifeline loans available for small businesses. The federal government is extending unprecedented levels of workforce assistance and putting money into the hands of Americans a down payment on the investment needed to keep the economys heart beating. Globally, scientists are coming to many of the same conclusions for how we can stave off the worst of the climate crisis: Cut off the source of the problem and put in place the solutions we need to safeguard our society and rebuild with a more just and equitable framework. That means aggressively retiring fossil-fuel sources of energy and redirecting those investments toward local, clean and renewable energy through a Green Stimulus. As with COVID-19, we all have a role to play in fighting climate change. Indeed, the actions we take at every level of our society from Congress down to our individual lives are essential to flatten the curve of pollution thats threatening our public health, exacerbating extreme weather thats endangering our communities, and destabilizing our climate that jeopardizes a secure future for us all. There are concrete steps that our public officials can take today to help combat the problem and prepare our homes and communities to mitigate future climate impacts. First, we need to invest in access to battery storage, through tax and cash incentives, for vulnerable populations, including low- and middle-income families, blackout-prone communities, rental homes, multifamily buildings, schools and small businesses. Second, we should update regulations to compensate residential and community battery systems for the capacity and other energy services they supply to the grid. Third, lets require utilities to plan for and procure adequate battery-storage resources to ensure communities have resilience and backup power when the grid goes down. Through clean, renewable energy solutions including solar, wind, and storage we can transition off fossil fuels, cutting off the source of the problem, and create a stronger, more resilient society that works for everyone. Our aging and increasingly unreliable electric grid can be supplemented with community-based clean energy, backup storage resources, and dramatically increased access to electric vehicles. Just as our homes become the front-line personal defense in the fight against COVID-19, households today are investing in their own protection and security by putting solar on their roofs and batteries in their garages. Local home- and community-based solar and battery storage can replace fossil fuels and provide the energy that the grid needs, while also empowering households with a resilient source of electricity. Were already seeing it happen across the country. Here in the Bay Area, rooftop solar and batteries on low-income housing will help replace the retiring, jet-fuel Oakland Power Plant located in Jack London Square. UC Berkeley is also part of a team in Oakland building an EcoBlock where 40 families will be able to harvest stored rooftop solar energy to help power all of their households, provide individual and shared EV charging, and also sell the excess power back to the utility, PG&E, with the revenues shared across all the participating families. This is just the beginning. At todays costs, solar and batteries on homes and businesses in California alone could provide the equivalent capacity of 50 large natural-gas power plants or four times the size of the retiring Diablo Canyon nuclear plant. COVID-19 has forced many particularly tough decisions on us all, yet it also has helped to crystallize the value of community action and togetherness that will help us weather this storm. As we stare down the growing threat of climate change, we should learn the lessons of COVID-19 to help power our future: Take aggressive but reasonable steps today, enlist our homes and businesses to be part of the solution, and prepare society so that we are not forced to sacrifice our way of life when the next storm hits. Were all in this together. Lets double down on community-based clean-energy solutions and flatten the curve on climate. Dan Kammen is professor and chair of the Energy and Resources Group, and professor in the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. He served as science envoy in the State Department under Presidents Obama and Trump. Twitter: @dan_kammen. Alex McDonough is vice president of Public Policy at Sunrun and former senior policy adviser for Senate Leader Harry Reid. Twitter: @alex_t_mcd President Trump said hes OK with the closure of his Trump International Hotel Las Vegas due to Nevadas Gov. Steve Sisolaks executive order despite Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodmans supplications to lift the lockdown. They closed a big hotel down in Nevada that I have in Las Vegas, Trump said at a Sunday morning briefing at The White House. Its a very severe step he took. Im OK with it, but you could call that one either way. When asked with whom he sidedthe governor, who wants to extend the emergency law, or independent Mayor Carolyn Goodman, who wants to reopen the city as soon as possiblethe president remained aloof. Im not involved with that. I could be if I wanted to, he said. I know the mayor is very upset with it. Some (hotel and casino) owners are very upset with it. Some of the developers out there are upset. Others say, Hey, we have to get rid of it. I can see both sides of that. Instead, Trump indicated that lifting the ban was something up to the concerned parties themselves. I dont know that theyre working on that specific problem, but its a problem they should be talking about, he said. Las Vegas independent Mayor Carolyn Goodman previously called the shutdown of the city total insanity, saying it is killing us. This shutdown has become one of total insanity, in my opinion, Goodman said during a City Council meeting on April 15. For there is no backup of data as to why we are shut down from the start, no plan in place how to move through the shutdown or how even to come out of it. Goodman noted that a relatively small number of the citys population has died from the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, a novel coronavirus that emerged from mainland China and causes the disease COVID-19. Goodman added that some 900,000 people had lost their jobs, and 300,000 have filed for unemployment. These are families that no longer have the ability to buy food for their children and other loved ones. Pay their bills. Pay their rent. Pay their mortgage. Pay their car payment. Or enjoy the life that they had prior to this shutdown, she said. It makes no sense. It makes no sense. BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission will next month present a set of rules for the safe reopening of air travel when coronavirus pandemic lockdowns end, including social distancing in airports and planes, the EUs transport chief said on Wednesday. Transport Commissioner Adina Valean said that some social distancing rules in airports and planes will have to be respected to guarantee the safety of passengers, adding that measures under consideration would include the wearing of face masks and disinfection of planes and airports. All this should be part of those guidelines and probably by mid-May we can put forward this strategy we are working on, Valean said on Twitter. Airlines have raised concerns that measures to slow the spread of the pandemic could blight profitability long after travel restrictions end. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has estimated that the crisis could cost airlines a total of $314 billion. Valean said she expects social distancing requirements to remain in place for as long as there is no COVID-19 treatment or vaccine. We expect the crisis to stay with us and the virus to stay with us, she said. Alexandre de Juniac, IATAs director general, told Reuters on April 14 that conditions for a resumption of air travel are likely to include a requirement to leave the middle seat vacant on flights. Such a measure could also help to head off a potential price war as airlines try to recoup market share as they emerge from the crisis. Valean said it was not yet possible to say when the industry could resume operations. I cannot say right now when this is going to start happening because we have to listen to the advice of the health specialists, she said. Two emergency room nurses said "I do" over the weekend with pictures of family and friends due to the coronavirus pandemic. Clare Seghers, 25, and Mel Keefer, 35, met three years ago working in the emergency room ward at Baton Rouge General Medical Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The medical professionals had been planning their nuptials for months and were hoping to spend their big day with loved ones, but the escalating COVID-19 crisis got in the way. "We were just happy to be there and be out of the hospital for a minute," Keefer said. "Delaying the wedding didnt make sense for us so we tried not to worry about things out of our control." PHOTO: Emergency room nurses Clare Seghers and Mel Keefer said 'I do' over the weekend with pictures of family and friends. (Courtesy Mel Keefer) MORE: FedEx driver delivers rings just in time for couple's beach wedding They invited 200 people to the ceremony but had to cut it to just 10 of their closest family members to keep with social distancing guidelines from the Center of Disease Control. But Keefers mom wasnt about to let the couple walk down the aisle without a few familiar faces lining the pews. She got together with a handful of cousins and put up printed headshots of nearly 100 guests who otherwise would have been present. Keefer had no idea until he reached the alter. PHOTO: Emergency room nurses Clare Seghers and Mel Keefer said 'I do' over the weekend with pictures of family and friends. (Courtesy Mel Keefer) "I turned around and couldnt believe it," Keefer said. "It was crazy to see because I know how much time and effort they had to put in to print all those out. It felt really nice." But when Keefer saw his bride, the pictures seemed to melt away. "I saw Clare and thats all I had in my head," Keefer said. "Everything else became a blur just standing there with her during the ceremony." PHOTO: Emergency room nurses Clare Seghers and Mel Keefer said 'I do' over the weekend with pictures of family and friends. (Courtesy Mel Keefer) As the newlyweds made their way out of Mount St. Carmel Church in St. Francisville, Louisiana, family, friends and co-workers secretly waited in cars to send well-wishes from a distance. "They were all honking the horns and cheering, it was a heartwarming surprise," Keefer said. MORE: Brides-to-be surprised with virtual Bachelorette parties amid coronavirus Story continues With the ceremony over, it was back to the front lines for Seghers and Keefer as the battle against COVID-19 continues. Keefer, who now works at West Feliciana Parish Hospital, revealed the wedding came as a short but much-needed breather from the ER room. PHOTO: Emergency room nurses Clare Seghers and Mel Keefer said 'I do' over the weekend with pictures of family and friends. (Courtesy Mel Keefer) "It was a good break for both of us to put a lot of sad and negative things to the side and focus on each other for a day, Keefer said. It felt like a vacation from everything thats going on and I'm thankful for my family and friends that helped us celebrate our marriage." Keefer added the couple intends to have a wedding reception at their Louisiana home in the fall. Plans for a honeymoon are on hold. 2 nurses take breather from ER to get married originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com About a week before New Jersey reported its first case of the coronavirus, Kevin Millers 32-year-old daughter had a seizure and died. Miller, 53, was thankful he was able to see her before her death. He was in jail a year-and-a-half ago and having one of his loved ones die while behind bars was always a concern of his. My job, family, friends has been a big help with everything, Miller said. Its a trying time, but Im happy to have spent the time with her. Hes now taking care of her four children, all the while stepping up to help Newarkers who live in low-income housing and may be struggling emotionally and financially from the coronavirus crisis. Miller has been delivering food to people in Zion Towers across the street from Weequahic Park on a daily basis since the beginning of April. He is one of about 12 others from the Newark Community Street Team, a violence reduction outreach program founded by Mayor Ras Baraka. A lot of us never did this work before, and its eye-opening just to see another person smile, Miller told NJ Advance Media. Kevin Miller, a member of the Newark Community Street Team, delivers food to a resident in Zion Towers.T. Richardson L+M Development Partners purchased Zion Towers around 2018 and its apartment management subsidiary, C+C, has been orchestrating the food donations by working with other city partners. C+C is also channeling donations to the other low-income property owned by L+M, Georgia King Village. We couldnt just let something like this go by and not make sure theyre taken care of, said C+C Vice President of Community Affairs Yasmin Cornelius. She added that any issues with rent are being handled on a case by case basis. L+M is the developer behind other projects in downtown Newark, like the Hahnes building and the former Bell Atlantic tower. The company plans to invest about $18 million into renovating the Zion Towers in the South Ward while keeping units affordable. CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage About 2,000 meals are being distributed a day and around 11,000 have been delivered, Cornelius said. The donations come from Audible, HelloFresh, Community Food Bank of NJ and churches like the Presbyterian Church of Upper Montclair. Audible, which is based in Newark, launched a $1 million food delivery service for city residents by providing 100,000 meals at $10 each from local restaurants. C+C has been working with the Newark Community Street Team since before the coronavirus struck. The group would go to Georgia King Village and Zion Towers to connect people with social services, but its members have begun to survey residents there to see what their needs are during this public health emergency. Newark Community Street Team chief operating officer, Daamin Durden, said alleviating food insecurity goes hand-in-hand with his groups overall mission: violence reduction. Those who are struggling to meet basic needs may revert to other means to get them, he said. Were trying to kind of arrest the mind state of hopelessness, the mind state of Im gonna have to do what I have to do' to survive, Durden said. Only non-perishable foods were being delivered and the start of the delivery program. Now whole meals are being delivered from restaurants, including Halal Guys in Downtown Newark due to the partnership with Audible. Miller, meanwhile, said its a scary time to be going outside. But multiple masks and gloves are provided to him so he can help those in need. My motivation is giving back to the people, he said. I wasnt always fortunate myself and Im still not. And I used to be in trouble, but now Im just happy to give back to society. Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share. 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. Looking back at rare sports moments in the first part of 2021 The EU has decided to allocate EUR 3 billion to neighboring countries to combat the COVID-19 economic consequences, the European Commission said in a statement. The Commission has adopted a proposal for a 3 billion macro-financial assistance (MFA) package to ten enlargement and neighbourhood partners to help them to limit the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. The proposal comes on top of the Team Europe' strategy, the EU's robust and targeted response to support partner countries' efforts in tackling the coronavirus pandemic. It represents an important demonstration of the EU's solidarity with these countries at a time of unprecedented crisis. The proposal, following a preliminary assessment of financing needs, provides for the MFA funds to be distributed as follows: the Republic of Albania (180 million), Bosnia and Herzegovina (250 million), Georgia (150 million), the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (200 million), Kosovo (100 million), the Republic of Moldova (100 million), Montenegro (60 million), the Republic of North Macedonia (160 million), the Republic of Tunisia (600 million) and Ukraine (1.2 billion), the press release said. The MFA funds will be made available for 12 months in the form of loans on highly favourable terms to help these countries cover their immediate, urgent financing needs. Together with the International Monetary Fund's support, the funds can contribute to enhancing macroeconomic stability and creating space to allow resources to be allocated towards protecting citizens and mitigating the coronavirus pandemic's negative socio-economic consequences. This instrument also remains available for other eligible countries experiencing balance-of-payments difficulties, it added. The European Commission called on the Council of the EU and the European Parliament to urgently approve this decision to proceed with the provision of the first tranche of aid. Since the beginning of the pandemic, over 2.5 million people have been infected with the coronavirus in the world, over 175 thousand have died. A British air force plane believed to be carrying medical equipment from Turkey landed at an air force base in the UK in the early hours of Wednesday. The RAF plane touched down at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire just after 0230 GMT. British officials have been scrambling to source much-needed personal protective equipment for medical staff and said a consignment of 84 tons, including 400,000 gowns, would arrive from Turkey. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More The Karnataka government on April 17 said some private diagnostic laboratories in the state have agreed to offer novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, tests at Rs 2,250 for samples sent by the government. That's half the price for the test as capped by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for private laboratories using the RT-PCR method. RT-PCR still remains the gold standard for COVID-19 testing. Private labs were asked by the Supreme Court to offer free COVID-19 testing for those eligible under Ayushman Bharat. The private labs agreement with Karnataka government to offer tests at truncated prices has raised questions over their claims till just a few days ago that anything below Rs 4,500 may not be viable. Moneycontrol learns that this was possible due to easing of supplies and drop in prices of RT-PCR test kits that constitutes about one-third of a COVID-19 test. 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 ICMR also approved test kits of 16 companies -- both domestic and overseas -- for sale in India. This this led to glut of test kits in the market. Track this blog for latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak "Prices of test kits, which start at Rs 1,500 (per test kit), are now selling at Rs 800," GSK Velu, Chairman of Neuberg Diagnostics, said. "At Rs 2,500, a lab will not lose money, in fact they will make a bit of money. At Rs 4,500, this is like any other profitable test," Velu said. Four labs of Neuberg in Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune and Ahmedabad are performing COVID-19 testing. They have the ability conduct up to 2,000 to 2,500 tests per day. Velu said there are two ways to look at testing. "We all have to make profit as our conventional business is down 80 percent. Another way to look at this is we should not look at COVID-19 as a profit making venture. From day one, independent of Supreme Court and our government instructions, we said we will do COVID-19 testing free for below the poverty line people at our Chennai, Bengaluru and Pune laboratories," Velu said. Other diagnostic labs such as Thyrocare Technologies are offering COVID testing at Rs 2,500 for dialysis and cancer patients in a 300 km radius of Mumbai. The healthcare NGOs like All India Drug Action Network (AIDAN) have been advocating for free testing of all citizens and arguing that tests cost a fraction of the price being permitted by ICMR "Karnataka's decision to set a reimbursement rate, at Rs 2,250, for testing of government samples by private labs shows that the ICMR cap is significantly inflated," said AIDAN in a statement. "Reimbursement rates should be based on rational assessment of costs and must take into account commercial test kits entering the market at disruptive prices as low as Rs 500," AIDAN added. But other laboratories have a different view. They say it would be difficult for them to offer tests at the prices agreed by private labs to the Karnataka government. "We are wondering, how they (Karnataka private labs) have offered to do carry out the tests at Rs 2,250," said Arunima Patel, founder and Managing Director, iGenetic Diagnostics. "While the availability of test kits and personal protection equipment has eased, but prices have definitely not come down," she said. Another executive of private lab chain echoed Patel. "There are variations of test kits, which determine prices. There are also factors like volumes. Bigger labs can make money at slightly lower prices due to economies of scale," the executive said. Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak Iran cancels travel ban on common borders CSTO defense ministers council special session to be held Thursday Dollar loses value in Armenia Which NGOs, extra-parliamentary forces to be included in Armenia Constitutional Reform Council? 4,391 foreign nationals visit Artsakh in 2021 China calls on US to immediately close Guantanamo prison State Department says more progress must be made to salvage nuclear deal Measure ensuring implementation of law on addendum to law on Armenia state border is approved Davit Minasyan is sworn in as new mayor of Armenias Parakar enlarged community World Bank: Armenia economic growth expected to be 4.8% in 2022 and 5.4% in 2023 Azerbaijani Defense Minister receives new commander of Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh Biden names Kamala Harris as US president during Atlanta speech Ombudsman: Azerbaijan is launching provocations in Armenia territories where it earlier invaded Russia-NATO Council meeting kicks off in Brussels Serdar Kilic is appointed Turkey special representative for Armenia Armenia ambassador to Georgia informs Switzerland envoy about Azerbaijan's gross ceasefire violation Economy minister: Armenia government was guided by political considerations when lifting sanctions on Turkey goods Turkey defense minister expresses support for Azerbaijan in another military aggression against Armenia Pashinyan, Putin discuss Karabakh, Kazakhstan Toivo Klaar: Deeply worried by reports of renewed incidents and casualties on Armenia-Azerbaijan Germany: A record 80,430 COVID-19 cases detected per day 3 more persons die of coronavirus in Artsakh Criminal case launched into 3 Armenia soldiers killing by Azerbaijan shootings Copper rises in price One of main tasks of Armenia peacekeepers in Kazakhstans Almaty is to prevent water supply system poisoning About 80 Americans cannot fly from Afghanistan Turkey parliament ex-deputy speaker: Armenia must fulfill 4 preconditions Border situation in Armenias Gegharkunik Province was calm at night French FM says talks on Iranian nuclear deal are progressing slowly 289 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Gold slightly rises in price North Korea says it successfully tested another hypersonic missile OSCE calls on Azerbaijan, Armenia to refrain from the use of force Oil is trading without a single dynamic US State Department welcomes announcement on CSTO forces withdrawal from Kazakhstan Newspaper: Ex-ministers are summoned to Hayastan All Armenian Fund parliamentary inquiry committee MOD: Armenia soldiers dead body found at midnight after Azerbaijan provocation Newspaper: Casualties of Armenia PM Pashinyan's 'era of peace' US concerned about EastMed natural gas pipeline project Giant fish sold at auction for over 16 million yen 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 Human Rights Defender: Azerbaijani troops open fire on Armenian sovereign territory 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 Unofficial data: 2 servicemen killed as a result of Azerbaijan provocation CSTO and Kazakh Defense Ministry developing plan 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 Armenian FM has phone call with US Assistant Secretary of State India imposes one-week quarantine even for vaccinated tourists Armenian ex-president expresses condolences on poet Razmik Davoyan's death Traction Programme to showcase 8 startups during the Digital Demo Day Azerbaijan uses artillery and UAVs, 3 Armenian soldiers wounded NEWS.am daily digest: 11.01.22 Austrian Chancellor confirms plan for mandatory COVID-19 vaccination in February Armen Sarkissian and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev discuss situation in Kazakhstan Gulf, Iran and Turkey FMs to visit China 20 pregnant women with COVID-19 die in Azerbaijan in year Armenia hands over wanted US citizen to United States Economy ministry: Organizing of accommodation and public catering increased by 61.1% in Armenia Armenia parliament speaker expresses condolences on European Parliament President death Azerbaijan opens fire toward Armenia village sector, one soldier wounded Shoigu: CSTO peacekeepers deployed in Kazakhstan thanks to Syrian and Karabakh experience Azerbaijan official pledges to remove Armenian toponyms from Google Maps UN offers two plans to help Afghans totaling $ 5 billion in 2022 Armenia attorney general travels to Moscow on working visit Azerbaijan MOD blames Armenian side for soldiers death Dollar drops in Armenia Shirak Province captives families hold protest outside Armenia government building Rolls-Royce sales rise to record high in 2021 Ombudsman: Azerbaijanis directed gun at Armenia residents car in which his wife, 3-year-old child were ANCA urges President Biden and Congress to hold Azerbaijan and Turkey accountable for war crimes Serbia's Orthodox Patriarch tests positive for COVID-19 Brothers, sisters of 2020 Artsakh war military casualties to get compensation in lieu of their deceased parents But is it? I reviewed the fine print in your contract, and sure enough if your tour operator cancels, you get a no-questions-asked refund. I hesitated because travel insurance isnt always refundable. As a lot of travelers have discovered in the past few weeks, some policies can be reused, but you dont always get your money back. Most frustrating, the refund rules seem to be changing by the minute as travel insurance companies adjust to the wave of pandemic-related cancellations. COVID-19. Reuters-Yonhap A new study by one of China's top scientists has found the ability of the new coronavirus to mutate has been vastly underestimated and different strains may account for different impacts of the disease in various parts of the world. Professor Li Lanjuan and her colleagues from Zhejiang University found within a small pool of patients many mutations not previously reported. These mutations included changes so rare that scientists had never considered they might occur. They also confirmed for the first time with laboratory evidence that certain mutations could create strains deadlier than others. "Sars-CoV-2 has acquired mutations capable of substantially changing its pathogenicity," Li and her collaborators wrote in a non-peer reviewed paper released on preprint service medRxiv.org on Sunday. Li's study provided the first hard evidence that mutation could affect how severely the virus caused disease or damage in its host. Li took an unusual approach to investigate the virus mutation. She analysed the viral strains isolated from 11 randomly chosen Covid-19 patients from Hangzhou in the eastern province of Zhejiang, and then tested how efficiently they could infect and kill cells. The deadliest mutations in the Zhejiang patients had also been found in most patients across Europe, while the milder strains were the predominant varieties found in parts of the United States, such as Washington state, according to their paper. A separate study had found that New York strains had been imported from Europe. The death rate in New York was similar to that in many European countries, if not worse. But the weaker mutation did not mean a lower risk for everybody, according to Li's study. In Zhejiang, two patients in their 30s and 50s who contracted the weaker strain became severely ill. Although both survived in the end, the elder patient needed treatment in an intensive care unit. This finding could shed light on differences in regional mortality. The pandemic's infection and death rates vary from one country to another, and many explanations have been proposed. Genetic scientists had noticed that the dominant strains in different geographic regions were inherently different. Some researchers suspected the varying mortality rates could, in part, be caused by mutations but they had no direct proof. The issue was further complicated because survival rates depended on many factors, such as age, underlying health conditions or even blood type. Yonhap Beverly Windhams six-year-old grandson, Dylan, was born prematurely. He lost a lot of oxygen at birth and now has brain damage, Windham told NJ Advance Media. Hes lived at the Voorhees Pediatric Facility since birth. He has leg braces and is on a ventilator, Windham said, who usually visits him every weekend. He does notice when someone is in the room. He knows my voice, she said. Other than that, he cant sit, he cant talk. For medically fragile kids like Dylan, mandated school closures due to the coronavirus pandemic cant mean a transition to remote learning, as it has for about a million other students in New Jersey. The Bancroft School at Voorhees Pediatric Facility closed its classroom instruction program on March 18, in compliance with Gov. Phil Murphys coronavirus shutdown order. But the school is continuing one-to-one bedside instruction for the students who reside there, according to a statement from Dennis Morgan, a Bancroft senior vice president for childrens services. State officials have said that during the coronavirus shutdown, teaching and other services offered to special needs students like speech and physical therapy, can be done virtually. But Morgan said its not possible to do with his schools population. These students have significant medical needs that render them unable to access remote instruction in the way most students can, the statement said. They rely on the support of in-person staff. Failing to provide educational support to these students in this way would deny them access to the same educational opportunities as their peers, as well as the services and accommodations prescribed by their Individualized Education Plans, the statement continued. The school is taking extra precautions. The teachers and paraprofessionals are given personal protective equipment, or PPE, in the form of masks and gloves. And, the school has temporarily suspended all visitations, including parents and families. CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage Voorhees Pediatric Facility, which opened in 1985, is a 56,000-square-foot inpatient special care nursing facility, including 2,800 square feet of classrooms. The Bancroft School started operating a branch within the facility in 1995. It operates three locations in New Jersey, including the Voorhees Township site. There are 109 total residents at the facility, with 80 of those residents enrolled as students at the school, according to Scott Goldberg, the facilitys administrator. On a daily basis, the facility has up to 160 employees in its space. Since visitations have been temporarily suspended, Windham has been unable to see him. One of the recreation employees sent her recent photos they took of Dylan, in lieu of visits. Windham praised the staff, saying theyre very good with the kids at the facility. On March 16, Murphy announced all New Jerseys schoolspublic and private, and collegeswould close their doors two days later, on Wednesday, March 18, for at least two weeks. A week later, Murphy said schools will remain closed through at least April 17. On Thursday, Murphy announced New Jersey schools will be closed through at least May 15. The state is counting home instruction days toward the 180-day school year, which was a break from its protocol for snow days or weather-related closures. Morgan said the schools continuity of education plan was submitted to and approved by the New Jersey Department of Education and Camden County Office of Education. The school is also in regular communication with the state DOE regarding education and infection control plans, he said. In this case, as essential employees, our staff is enabling students who are not able to do so themselves to access education, Morgan said in a second statement. They do so under the guidance of the medical team and administration at VPF, he said in the statement, adhering to their policies and protocols and following guidance provided by the Department of Health and CDC. At least one employee said she is worried about continuing this physical instruction as the coronavirus continues to spread across New Jersey. The employee said she was fearful of passing germs onto the students, since when shes not at the school, she goes grocery shopping and lives with a family member who works outside the home. If it wasnt such a dangerous situation, wed love to be there, she said. As of April 20, Voorhees Pediatric Facility has no confirmed or presumptive cases of COVID-19 among residents or staff, according to Goldberg. Windham said she could understand some of the employees concerns, but is fine with the continued bedside instruction as long as safety procedures are followed, like wearing masks. I dont blame them, she said, but I have no problem with it as long as theyre doing the right thing. If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share. 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. The national COVID 19 Trust Fund has received further boost from Ghanas insurance industry. A total donation of one million one hundred and five thousand Ghana cedis (GHC1,105,000) was donated to the Covid-19 Fund to aid in the fight against the novel coronavirus. Of this amount, the Insurance Brokers Association of Ghana (IBAG) contributed Ghc200,000. The donation is in response to President Akufo-Addos call for public support to aid those who would be affected by the disease. The donors comprising the industrys key stakeholders led by its Regulatory body, the National Insurance Commission (NIC), included the Ghana Insurers Association (GIA), the Insurance Brokers Association of Ghana (IBAG), and the Chartered Insurance Institute of Ghana (CIIG). The rest are the Ghana Insurance College (GIC), the West Africa Insurance Companies Association (WAICA), headquartered in Accra, and the ECOWAS Brown Card Ghana Office. The collective gesture was also triggered by the fact that as the main risk management machinery of the countrys economy, the players deemed it necessary to support in the fight to protect its insureds and prospective ones without whose existence the sector would be significantly affected. The delegation led by the Commissioner of Insurance, Mr. Justice Ofori, also included the President of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Ghana (CIIG), Rev. Asante Marfo-Ahenkora, the President of (Insurance Brokers Association of Ghana (IBAG), Mrs. Lena Adu-Kofi, and Mr. Richard Okyere, the Director of the Ghana Insurance College (GIC). Other members of the delegation were Mr. Michael Kofi Andoh, Deputy Commissioner of Insurance, Mr. Victor Obeng Adiyiah, 2nd Vice-President of the GIA, and Mr. Patrick Agyekum, Chief Executive Officer of the ECOWAS Brown Card Office, Ghana. Receiving the cheques presented variously to the Chairperson of the Fund, Madam Sophia Akuffo, expressed gratitude to the insurance industry for their thoughtfulness and commitment to supporting a worthy cause. US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (local time) wished North Korea leader Kim Jong Un, well amid the reports of his poor health. "These are reports that came out (about his illness). We don't know. We don't know. Though I have had a very good relationship with him. I can only say I wish him well. If he is in the kind of condition that the reports say, then it is a very serious condition," Trump said at a daily briefing on Tuesday. This comes after a US intelligence official had said that North Korea's leader is in grave danger following surgery this month. On April 15, Kim absence at his grandfather's birthday celebration had raised speculation about his well-being. He had been seen four days before that at a government meeting, according to intelligence reports cited by CNN. Meanwhile, South Korea had responded by saying that it has seen no unusual signs suggesting that North Korean leader is ill, government officials said on Tuesday. "There is nothing unusual going on in North Korea. It's not true," a government official was quoted as saying by Yonhap News Agency. Presidential spokesperson Kang Min-Seok also said that nothing unusual has been detected in North Korea. "No unusual signs have been identified inside North Korea. There is nothing we can confirm with regard to Chairman Kim's alleged health problem," Kang was quoted as saying. Kim's absences from official state media often spark speculation and rumours about his health. North Korea has no free press and is often a black hole when it comes to the country's leadership. Analysts are heavily reliant on scanning state media dispatches and watching propaganda videos for any semblance of a clue. Kim last appeared in North Korean state media on April 11. April 15 -- North Korea's most important holiday, is the anniversary of the birth of the country's founding father, Kim Il Sung. (ANI) Also Read: Canada Shooting: Death toll in Nova Scotia rises to 23 With a handful of states reopening parts of their economies, a coronavirus model routinely cited by the White House warns that no state should be opening before May 1. South Carolina and Georgia, which are leading the pack to get their economic engines humming again this week, should not open until June 5 and June 19, respectively, according to the model maintained by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. It was updated Tuesday. Your coronavirus questions answered Montana has the best forecast at May 1, while the only other states that should open by May 10, the model says, are Alaska, Hawaii, North Carolina, Vermont and West Virginia. North Carolina is the only of the six states with more than 1,000 cases, as of Wednesday afternoon. About half the states in the country should remain closed until May 25 or later, with Arizona (June 23), South Dakota (June 25), Iowa (June 26), Nebraska (June 30) and North Dakota (July 12) rounding out the bottom of the list. The reopening dates are based on an assumption that states will have other measures in place -- aggressive testing, contact tracing, isolation, limits on the size of gatherings -- to prevent a resurgence of the virus. The IHME model relies on a conservative threshold of one infection per 1 million people, which is the level of infection each state could conceivably manage using containment strategies, such as widespread testing, contact tracing and isolation of new cases, according to an explanation of the model. While the model has been influential, it is one of many, and the IHME has warned against relying too heavily on its projections. "If I were a governor of a state, I would certainly not make a decision based just on our model," IHME Director Dr. Christopher Murray said in a virtual news briefing last week. Another IHME model offered more grim news, as the projected US death toll by August jumped 10%, to 66,000. The change came as states began updating their death tallies, adding residents of nursing homes whom officials are now counting as presumptive positives, Murray said Tuesday. Experts to states: Slow down As the numbers grow, the timeline for relaxing social distancing measures should be slowed down, Murray said. Murray's team was taken aback when Georgia, which still has a high number of infections, announced it would soon ease restrictions, he said. Gov. Brian Kemp has said his state is prepared to handle an uptick in cases as businesses begin reopening Friday. "If people start to go back to normal social interaction or even progressively go back, the risk of transmission will go up ... and then you go back to the sort of exponential rise that was happening before we put in social distancing," Murray told CNN. "The risk is very great for resurgence from these early openings." That's as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director gave an ominous forecast of a possible second wave of the virus in the winter. "There's a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through," Robert Redfield told The Washington Post. "We're going to have the flu epidemic and the coronavirus epidemic at the same time." The US has recorded more than 839,000 infections and at least 46,000 deaths. News emerged Wednesday that the first death in the nation -- previously believed to the February 29 death of a patient in Kirkland, Washington -- actually came February 6 in Santa Clara County, California. California is first state to recommend testing for asymptomatic people To safely move forward, experts have emphasized the country should be able to track, trace and isolate cases. The spread is something health officials all over California are trying to tackle, now recommending coronavirus testing for asymptomatic people who live or work in high-risk environments such as nursing homes or hospitals. The new guidelines from the state's health department were announced in a Sunday memo. They make California the first state in the nation to broaden its guidelines for testing to include those without symptoms, state health officials told CNN. The CDC previously advised testing high-risk patients and health care workers who have symptoms, a California Department of Public Health spokesperson said. California is averaging 14,500 coronavirus tests a day, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday, calling the number "still inadequate." The state has a long way to go before it can attempt to reopen, he said. The US has so far conducted 4 million tests In two plans for reopening society, economists and public health experts say millions of tests should be conducted each week before restrictions can be lifted. One report estimates at least 3,000,000 and up to 30 million tests should be conducted weekly, while the other says the US should be conducting 20 million tests each day. So far, the country has performed about 4 million tests. While federal officials tout the country's testing capacity, some state leaders -- including Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker -- have reported that while they may have the necessary machines, they lack the materials and staff to run them. A test that was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration may mean Americans can mail in their results. The test would allow patients to collect their samples using an at-home test kit and then mail it into the lab for testing, the FDA said Tuesday. In most states, the test could be available within weeks to patients with a doctor's order, the agency said, and FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn told "CBS This Morning" that may mean the country "could double the number of tests that are done in a very short period of time." States are grappling with how to move forward Despite the questions surrounding tests, many US governors and mayors have turned their attention to reopening their economies. In a startling interview on CNN, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said the city's businesses should reopen, but she refused to provide any social distancing guidelines on how to do so safely. "I am not a private owner. That's the competition in this country. The free enterprise and to be able to make sure that what you offer the public meets the needs of the public," Goodman, an independent, told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Wednesday. "Right now, we're in a crisis health-wise, and so for a restaurant to be open or a small boutique to be open, they better figure it out. That's their job. That's not the mayor's job." Last week, the federal government said in order to launch the first of three phases of reopening, states should wait to see a 14-day decline in cases. South Carolina and Georgia have hit neither milestone but announced they'll be easing restrictions. Atlanta is exploring whether the city has legal grounds for putting different orders in place than what Kemp has announced, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms told CNN on Tuesday "I am at a loss as to what the governor is basing this decision on," she said. In Boston, officials have plenty of work to do to contain the virus, Mayor Marty Walsh told CNN, and it's "pretty scary" to think some states are considering reopening. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced certain stores are allowed to open at 20% capacity, and beaches can reopen, too, but schools will remain closed for the rest of the school year. In Tennessee, Gov. Bill Lee announced most businesses across the state will be able to reopen May 1, once the state's stay-at-home order has expired -- but hinted some may be able to open sooner. California's governor was not optimistic about the timeline for the return to normalcy. "No one wants to share that information more with you than I do," Newsom said at the start of his daily press conference. But he stopped short with the words, "There is no date." The State is to oppose a High Court challenge brought by John Waters and Gemma O'Doherty against laws introduced by the state arising out of the Covid-19 pandemic. They claim that the laws are flawed and unconstitutional and want them struck down. In judicial review proceedings against the State and the Minister for Health they seek to have various pieces or recently enacted legislation declared null and void by a judge of the High Court. The legislation challenged includes the 2020 Health Preservation and Protection and Other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act, the 2020 Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act Covid-19 Act, The 1947 Health Act (Affected Areas) Order. Their proceedings are also aimed at striking down temporary restriction regulations brought due to Covid-19 under the 1947 Health Act. The action against what they claim are laws is against The Minister for Health, Ireland and the Attorney General. Last week the High Court directed that the journalists' application for permission to bring the challenge be heard on notice to the state parties. The matter was listed for mention before Ms Justice Deidre Murphy on Tuesday morning. Gerard Meehan Bl for the State told the court it will oppose the application for leave to bring the challenge. Counsel asked the court to adjourn the case for two weeks to prepare a sworn statement in response to what is a "quite substantial" challenge. In the current climate counsel said while the State has been working on its response things were taking longer to get done, particularly when when trying to work with with persons in the Department of Health. Counsel also told the court given that part of the challenge concerns how the laws in question were enacted the Dail, the Seanad and the Ceann Comhairle would have to be added to the proceedings as notice parties. Counsel said that as well as hearing from the notice parties, legal submissions might also be required as part of the leave application. In light of that counsel asked that the matter be listed for mention in two weeks time. The applicants, while not objecting to the addition of the notice parties, expressed strong concerns about the state's application regarding the adjournment and said the leave application needs to be heard as soon as possible. Mr Waters told the court that the state parties were attempting to "filibuster" "procrastinate" and delay what he said is a very important matter. Outlining the nature of the action Ms O'Doherty said what was happening regarding the lockdown was "outrageous". She said people were being held under mass house arrest, or fear being interrogated by the Gardai if they leave their homes. People she said should be allowed go about their business and normal life must be allowed resume. The vast majority of people are unaffected by covid-19, which she said was "no threat to life", and that the Irish people should be allowed to go outside and "build up a heard immunity." Ms O'Doherty added that expert medical evidence supporting her claims will be presented to the court as part of the case. Ms Justice Murphy told Ms O'Doherty that the court was not considering what were substantial arguments in the action, but was making directions with a view to getting the application heard. The judge said that she accepted that the leave application raised issues that needed to be heard. The judge said that the leave hearing should be heard in two weeks time. The judge also adjourned the matter for a week, when it is to be mentioned before the court to see how the parties are getting on. Earlier in the proceedings both the applicants questioned if the proceedings were being held in public. Up to 100 supporters of the two gathered in the Round Hall of the Four Court's but were not permitted to enter court due to social distancing guidelines introduced by the Chief Justice and the Presidents of the Courts arising out of the Covid-19 pandemic. An application to let, some or all of those persons into the courtroom was dismissed by the Judge. The judge said the case was being heard in public and was being reported on by the media. The judge said that not everyone could fit into a courtroom, and wondered if a larger than capacity group wished to attend a hearing should the court be moved to the "National Convention Centre." The applicants expressed their dissatisfaction over the court's decision. The Judge said that a Digital Audio Recording of Tuesday's proceedings should be made available to the applicants. A ctors Jodie Turner-Smith and Joshua Jackson have become parents to a baby girl, it has been confirmed. Representatives for Turner-Smith, 33, and Jackson, 41, confirmed the happy news to People magazine in a short but sweet statement. Both mother and baby are happy and healthy, they said. Turner-Smith frequently posted about her pregnancy on social media and in early April, she shared a stunning nude picture of herself and called pregnancy a fantastic voyage that begins in wonder and transformation. The actor attended numerous awards season events while heavily-pregnant this year as she promoted Queen & Slim, and her live-tweeting of the Baftas proved decidedly more gripping than the ceremony itself. After kicking off with a few well-timed allusions to the ceremonys lack of diversity, she then kept followers updated on her unborn child doing some serious karate moves in her stomach. When she left the ceremony before it had ended, she told fans: any way, the #BAFTAs are not yet over but this pregnant lady has to leave because if i dont eat every 2.5hrs i turn into florence pugh from the 3rd act of midsommar highly emotional & very likely to let my man get sewn into a bear costume and burnt alive. Chevron Corp. will be forced to effectively wind down its operations in Venezuela, dealing the Maduro regimes crumbling oil industry another blow as U.S. President Donald Trump manoeuvres for regime change in the Latin American nation. The U.S. Treasury Department will no longer allow the company to drill wells, sell and buy crude oil or oil products or transport them, according to the Office of Foreign Assets Control. Chevron is authorized to ensure the integrity of operations and assets in Venezuela through Dec. 1. The decision also affects four U.S. oilfield service providers: Halliburton Co., Schlumberger Ltd., Baker Hughes Co. and Weatherford International Plc. The U.S. Department of Treasury renewed General License 8 and permits the company to undertake limited maintenance of essential operations in the country, the company said in a statement. We will continue to comply with applicable laws and regulations. The Trump administration is ratcheting up pressure on Nicolas Maduros regime as the country reels from the COVID-19 pandemic and the lowest oil prices in a generation. The decision appears to curry favour with anti-Maduro parts of the administration while still maintaining some level of American presence in Venezuelas oil industry in the event of a political transition. The new license essentially freezes U.S. companies activities in the country, Fernando Ferreira, a director of geopolitical risk at Rapidan Energy, said in a report. Ferreira estimates the countrys daily production has dropped to 500,000 barrels since mid-March. While Venezuela accounts for only about one per cent of Chevrons global crude production, it remains strategically important given the nations vast untapped reserves. Proponents of Chevrons position argued that withdrawing would cede market share and influence to Russian and Chinese companies. Production at Chevron and state-owned PDVSAs Petropiar joint venture was down 58 per cent in mid-March to 50,000 barrels a day, from 120,000 in January. Schlumberger, Halliburton and PDVSA didnt immediately return emails seeking comment. Chevron is the last remaining major U.S. explorer in the country. Rivals Exxon Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips exited a decade ago after then-President Hugo Chavez seized control of their assets. Read more about: Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex have officially stepped down as senior members of the royal family. In January, the pair made this announcement and began the process of building a life as private citizens. While this seems to be a decision that they both made for themselves for their family, a friend of Prince Harrys recently said that life has been quite challenging for him. Its easy to see why given how different things are now compared to the life he knew growing up. However, at the end of the day, the positive aspects of this new life actually outweigh the negative ones. Prince Harry moved to North America earlier this year Prince Harry | Joe Giddens WPA Pool/Getty Images When Prince Harry and Meghan revealed that they wanted to take a step back from the royal family, the couple also shared that they would like to spend more time in North America, where Meghan is from. We now plan to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America, continuing to honour our duty to The Queen, the Commonwealth, and our patronages, their statement read. This geographic balance will enable us to raise our son with an appreciation for the royal tradition into which he was born, while also providing our family with the space to focus on the next chapter, including the launch of our new charitable entity. True to their words, the Sussexes quickly began to set up a life in North America. From December to late March, Prince Harry, Meghan, and their young son resided in Canada, going back to the United Kingdom a few times for work and family reasons. Recently, they decided to move to Los Angeles amidst the coronavirus pandemic and are now reportedly living in a secluded house in Hollywood. Jane Goodall says that Prince Harrys life is now challenging Dr Jane Goodall claims Prince Harry first alluded to his royal exit months ago https://t.co/RVfZa4fJy0 HuffPost UK Entertainment (@HuffPostUKEnt) April 14, 2020 Anthropologist Jane Goodall is a friend of Prince Harrys, and she revealed to the Radio Times that things are a bit tough for the Duke of Sussex at the moment. When asked about whether Goodall has been in contact with Prince Harry, she shared: I dont know how his career is going to map out, but yes, Ive been in touch, though I think hes finding life a bit challenging just now. Earlier this month, a source allegedly told Us Weekly that Prince Harry is overwhelmed with feelings with guilt for being far away from Prince Charles and the rest of his family while Prince Charles is dealing with his COVID-19 diagnosis. Additionally, other challenges that Prince Harry could be facing include trying to figure out life in a new country, learning how to be financially independent, and setting up a new career. Why Prince Harrys life is actually not that challenging Adjusting to a new situation can be tough for anybody, though, in the grand scheme of things, a more private life in North America actually will offer him and his family a lot of benefits. For one thing, they are now able to escape the British tabloids that have been making the Sussexs life extremely difficult. Meghan has constantly been attacked by the British press since day one, and the situation got to the point where the Sussexes decided that they needed to sue a few news outlets for publishing false information and invading their privacy. Of course, Prince Harry and Meghan will continue to receive a lot of press coverage even as they live in the United States, but their lack of royal status will allow them to escape the scrutiny that comes with being in the royal family. Being financially independent also has many perks. The Sussexes will be allowed to have careers, compared to other royals who typically just do charity work and represent their country abroad. This means that Prince Harry and Meghan have more freedom to decide what kind of jobs they want to take on. Additionally, with the right business moves, they have the potential to earn a lot more money than they could ever make as royals. In fact, some estimates suggest they duke and duchess can curate an empire worth a billion dollars. [April 22, 2020] KBRA Europe Releases Research - Coronavirus (COVID-19): Salus (ELOC No. 33) Coworking Concentration Kroll Bond Rating Agency Europe Limited (KBRA) releases research regarding Salus (ELOC No. 33), a KBRA-rated single-asset single-borrower (SASB) CMBS transaction with exposure to coworking office tenants. The transaction collateral is secured by CityPoint, a 708,594 square foot office building in London. The UK government recently extended measures through at least early May to reduce the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, including the requirement for people to stay at home, except for very limited purposes. In this context, KBRA reviewed loans with exposure to coworking office tenants that operate shared workspaces. The loan that serves as collateral for the Salus (ELOC No. 33) transaction has a sizable (20.1% of total contracted rent) coworking tenant concentration. In recent dialogue with the transaction servicer, KBRA found that the subject's two coworking tenants had requested a rent holiday. In addition, in our surveillance review in December 2019, KBRA previously noted that the property was operating below market occupancy levels due to the recent departure of three tenants. As a result, KBRA assigns a KBRA Performance Outlook (KPO) of Underperform for the loan that serves as collateral for the Salus (ELOC No. 33) transaction. A KPO is an assessment of Outperform, Perform, or Underperform based on recent and expected collateral performance. As events surrounding the crisis unfold, our thoughts are with the individuals and families who have been affected by the virus. Click here to view the report. Related Publications Coronavirus (COVID-19): Sponsor Support and Structural Features to Insulate UK CMBS from Rent Disruptions Coronavirus (COVID-19): Kanaal CMBS Finance 2019 Retail Exposure Salus (ELOC No. 33) DAC Surveillance Report About KBRA and KBRA Europe KBRA is a full-service credit rating agency registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an NRSRO. In addition, KBRA is designated as a designated rating organization by the Ontario Securities Commission for issuers of asset-backed securities to file a short form prospectus or shelf prospectus. KBRA is also recognized by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners as a Credit Rating Provider and is a certified Credit Rating Agency (CRA) with the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). Kroll Bond Rating Agency Europe Limited is registered with ESMA as a CRA. Kroll Bond Rating Agency Europe Limited is located at 6-8 College Green, Dublin 2, Ireland. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005563/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The trailers have replaced tents that werent standing up well in recent cold and windy weather, said Todd Wuerger, executive director of Sauk Prairie Healthcare Foundation. The clinics will likely keep using the trailers for curbside testing at least until the states Safer at Home order expires and possibly beyond. When I called Peter, he was incredibly gracious and said he absolutely wanted to support this effort, Wuerger said. We cant thank him enough for his very timely generosity. Our tents were failing badly and the weather last week was miserable. Its nice for them to be in a closed setting and continue testing because that is so important right now. Testing is ramping up and the more testing we can do, the more we can detect where the virus is and do our part. Ellen Wermuth, a family physician with Sauk Prairie Healthcares River Valley Clinic in Spring Green, was among those working in tents before the trailer arrived April 14. At the political subgroup, Ukraine's delegation emphasized the need to implement the agreements the Normandy Four leaders had reached at the Paris Summit. Ukraine during another stage of Minsk talks on Donbas settlement once again categorically rejected the possibility of fixing a special status of the occupied areas in eastern Ukraine in the country's Constitution. The regular meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group on Donbas settlement was held via a video link on Wednesday, April 22, reads the report published on the Presidential Office website. "The humanitarian group continued to work on the lists for the next phase of the mutual release of detained persons. The achievements of the Ukrainian party in the humanitarian demining of social objects, including schools, kindergartens, hospitals, cemeteries, etc. were also noted," the report says. Read alsoUkraine never to fix in Constitution "special status" for certain areas of Donbas, Vice PM says "In addition, the Ukrainian party once again categorically denied the possibility of fixing the special status of the ORDLO [occupied areas of Donbas] in the Constitution of Ukraine," At the political subgroup, Ukraine's delegation emphasized the need to implement the agreements the Normandy Four leaders had reached at the Paris Summit for the next meeting to be held in Berlin. The Ukrainian party also supported the initiative of the UN Secretary-General to introduce a sustainable and permanent ceasefire regime at the delimitation line. Mike Laracy, Founder of Rapid Insight Data analytics has never been as important or as relevant as it is during this global health pandemic. Institutions are looking for answers. - Mike Laracy, Founder of Rapid Insight In times of crisis, data can provide guidance and stability. Thats why Rapid Insight Inc., a leading provider of easy-to-use predictive analytics and data blending software for higher education, is partnering with University Business magazine to present a free webinar exploring how data and higher education institutional researchers can lead the way during challenging times, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Taking place on Thursday, April 30 at 2 PM ET (11 AM PT), the webinar will feature three experts in institutional research: Drew Thiemann of Bellarmine University; Laura Miller of Messiah College; and Joseph Harrod of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. The webinar will be moderated by James Cousins, Analyst Manager of Rapid Insight. Topics of discussion will include the types of data required in times of crisis, the importance of IR and data literacy at colleges and universities, the sometimes surprising findings of IR departments during the coronaviruss impact, and the value of data in building a strategy for future preparedness. The webinar will be a roundtable and viewers will be encouraged to submit their own questions for the panel to discuss. "It's been an unqualified pleasure to work alongside all three of our speakers as they push the needle on ways data can help to serve their institution- particularly when paired with the genuine concern and passion they bring to their office's role," says moderator James Cousins. Mike Laracy, the founder of Rapid Insight, added, Data analytics has never been as important or as relevant as it is during this global health pandemic. Institutions are looking for answers. While the way forward is uncharted, we are excited to share the insights of three leading institutional researchers, all of whom are valued clients and users of Rapid Insight software. This webinar focuses on a topic that is timely and urgent. Colleges and universities nationwide are working to create new strategies to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the current and upcoming school years, and data plays a critical role in that process. In the April 30 webinar, the IR experts will emphasize the importance of data in times of rapid change and upheaval. They will also discuss the challenges and successes their institutions have seen in working with IR to take a data-informed approach to the COVID-19 crisis. To learn more about this webinar and to register, click here. About Rapid Insight: Rapid Insight is a leading provider of business intelligence and automated predictive analytics software. With a focus on ease of use and efficiency, Rapid Insight products enable users to turn their raw data into actionable information. The companys analytic software simplifies the extraction and analysis of data, enabling clients ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies to fully utilize their information for data-informed decision making. For more information, visit Rapid Insight. About University Business: University Business is the most widely received, most regularly read publication for higher education leaders at two- and four-year colleges and universities nationwide. University Business provides cutting-edge coverage of education news, technology, academics, facilities management, security, financial services, policy, profiles, opinionand moreto this exclusive audience across print, digital and in-person event platforms. Independent surveys have proven that year after year, no other higher education management publication matches the reach, readership and audience engagement of University Business. For more information, visit University Business. The Pentagon is planning a multicity tour of the U.S. military's top flight demonstration teams to "champion national unity" amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to senior U.S. officials and a memo obtained by The Washington Post. The Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds, the demonstration squadrons for the Navy and Air Force, will fly over some cities together and others separately, according to the memo. The flyovers will take place in the next several weeks "to thank first responders, essential personnel, and military service members as we collectively battle the spread of COVID-19." President Donald Trump announced the mission, named Operation America Strong, after it was reported by The Post on Wednesday afternoon. He said that the mission was "the idea of our great military men and women," and will recognize health-care workers. "This is a tribute to them, to our warriors because they're equal warriors to those incredible pilots and all of the fighters that we have for the more traditional flights that we win," Trump said. The mission was conceived by senior military officers in the Pentagon and is meant to be a nonpartisan show of resolve, said a senior U.S. military official, speaking on Wednesday before the president's announcement. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the plan had not yet been announced. "This is just a sincere thank-you," the senior military official said. "It's one way to acknowledge those who are pitching in." White House officials were briefed on the plan because of sensitivities about people gathering to watch amid the pandemic, the senior official said. While Trump said Wednesday evening that "air shows" will be performed, the senior military official said that there would be no air shows, and that squadrons would perform flyovers. They will avoid flying over areas where people can congregate, the senior official said. The decision comes amid Trump's frequent use of military symbolism to convey American strength, sometimes in controversial ways. On Independence Day, he oversaw a "Salute to America" in Washington that drew some criticism for its use of tanks but that ultimately mostly highlighted American military history. The use of the jets to show resolve could anger those frustrated with the administration's struggles to find enough protective equipment for medical personnel. Flying the squadrons cost at least $60,000 per hour. The senior military official said that the cost of the flights will come from money already in the Pentagon budget. Other planes also could be involved, the official said, suggesting bombers flying over their home states as one possibility. Congressional staffs were briefed about the plan this week, an effort in part to manage any political backlash, another defense official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. Offices of Democratic and Republican senators on the Armed Services Committee had been notified, according to Hill officials. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., whose state is home to the Blue Angels, acknowledged Wednesday that he is aware of the plan. "I'm thrilled to see our military honoring the front-line health-care workers who have been fighting every day against this silent killer," he said. "They are all heroes deserving of our gratitude and honor." The memo said the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds will fly jointly over Washington, Baltimore, New York, Newark, Trenton, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and Austin. It was not clear whether that list could change, but defense officials said it is not comprehensive. The Blue Angels, with headquarters in Pensacola, will fly their blue-and-gold F/A-18 Hornets separately over at least 13 other cities, including Miami, Tampa, Tallahassee and Jacksonville in Florida and Norfolk and Virginia Beach in Virginia. Other Blue Angels destinations include Detroit, Chicago, Indianapolis, Nashville, New Orleans, and Kingsville and Corpus Christi in Texas. The Thunderbirds, meanwhile, plan to fly their red-white-and-blue F-16 Fighting Falcons over San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, the memo said. They have headquarters at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. The Thunderbirds already have carried out at least two flights that would appear to be a part of the plan. On April 11, a formation of jets spent about 25 minutes flying over Las Vegas to thank first responders, the Air Force announced. The squadron followed up a week later by flying over the Air Force Academy commencement ceremony in Colorado and several cities nearby on Saturday. Speculation that the squadrons would fly together soon had grown since Monday, when the Thunderbirds were spotted flying into Pensacola, the home of the Blue Angels. On Tuesday, the two squadrons flew in formation together over Florida, according to the Pensacola News Journal. - - - The Washington Post's Seung Min Kim contributed to this report. Authorities blocked on Wednesday all roads leading to Vartenis, a small town 160 kilometers northeast of Yerevan, after registering 47 cases of coronavirus there in recent days. Acting on a government order, Armenias police and National Security Service (NSS) set up roadblocks early in the morning to prevent people leaving or entering Vartenis. Only vehicles carrying food, fuel and medicine as well as individuals having special permissions issued by the regional administration were allowed to pass through the checkpoints. Gnel Sanosian, the governor of the surrounding Gegharkunik province, told RFE/RLs Armenian service that 21 of the infected people are employees of the local hospital and policlinic. He said one of them, a policlinic doctor, was the primary source of the COVID-19 outbreak recorded late last week. We still cannot establish where the disease entered Vartenis from, said Sanosian. But have we have ascertained the circle of the infected peoples contacts. Sanosian confirmed that some of the other local residents who tested positive for coronavirus are members of a non-traditional religious group. He did not deny rumors that the group, which he refused to name, has held religious services despite a ban on any gatherings imposed by the Armenian government last month. If necessary, relevant bodies will deal with that and we will find out where those people went and in which gatherings they participated, added the governor. Our main task right now is to treat and take care of everyone. As part of the one-week lockdown, the authorities quarantined 150 other Vartenis residents who came into contact with the infected people. They will spend the next two weeks in hotels in other parts of the country. Dozens of other locals were ordered to self-isolate. Another small town, Maralik, was sealed off for on Monday after 18 doctors and other employees of a local hospital were diagnosed with the potentially lethal disease. Three other Maralik residents are among 24 people who have died from the virus in Armenia so far. The Armenian Ministry of Health reported 72 new coronavirus cases across the country in the past day. The total number of such cases thus reached 1,473. According to the ministry, a total of 633 people recovered from COVID-19 to date. To the editor: This letter is to inform our many generous sponsors and patrons that the Jacksonville Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association will be cancelling the Nov. 7 Central Illinois Policemans Ball. This is brought about by the unknown of the COVID-19 pandemic. The members of the CPAA feel that the COVID-19 virus has caused a financial strain on our sponsors and it would be wrong to be asking them for financial support at this time. The Jacksonville Citizens Police Academy Alumni thanks you, the Jacksonville community, from the bottom of our hearts for helping make our Central Illinois Policemans Ball a huge success for the last eight years, for which we are forever grateful. We have a date of Nov. 6, 2021, for our next Policemans Ball. Hopefully next year will be a productive year for all of us. The CPAA will be doing a raffle consisting of a grill and meat bundle. The money from this raffle will be going back to the community. This will be our way of giving a helping hand to our community. During the next coming months, as we all try to get back to our normal lifestyle, it is our hope that you, the Jacksonville community, will be able to overcome any problems that this pandemic has caused. Tom Cisne Jacksonville . Tom Cisne is president of the Jacksonville Citizens Police Academy Alumni. Lucknow, April 22 : Ten districts in Uttar Pradesh have been declared Corona free. Principal Secretary, Health, Amit Mohan Prasad said here on Wednesday that these districts are Pilibhit, Lakhimpur, Hathras, Bareilly, Prayagraj, Maharajganj, Shahjahanpur, Barabanki, Hardoi and Kaushambhi. He said that the coronavirus was presently active in 53 districts and the number of Corona positive cases was 1,412. "The number of patients who have fully recovered from corona is 165 while the death toll is 21," he said. Meanwhile, Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Avanish Awasthi said that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was closely monitoring the Corona situation in the state with the team of officials. He said that Adityanath had reiterated that the lockdown must be strictly enforced across the state and doorstep delivery of essential items must be ensured in the sealed hotspots. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Wed, April 22, 2020 14:42 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd38aa3b 2 SE Asia Malaysia,Rohingya,Rohingya-Muslims,human-trafficking,minority-groups,Myanmar,Bangladesh Free Malaysia has arrested two Rohingya for alleged human-trafficking, authorities said Tuesday, as they ramp up efforts to stop members of the Muslim minority coming to the country amid coronavirus fears. Malaysia is a favored destination for the group from mostly Buddhist Myanmar, who have long complained of persecution, as it is a Muslim-majority country that already has a sizeable Rohingya diaspora. But authorities have strengthened maritime patrols in an effort to stop the illegal arrival of Rohingya due to fears they could be infected with the virus, and a boat was turned away by the navy last week. Another boatload of Rohingya did make it to shore on the island of Langkawi in early April, and officials said the pair detained last week was believed to have been involved in that case. In another incident earlier this month, 60 Rohingya died on a crammed boat stranded in the Bay of Bengal for two months, which survivors said had been turned away from Thailand and Malaysia. The latest arrests were brothers aged 31 and 34, officials said. "Authorities seized a notebook detailing information on the money collected from their human-smuggling business related to the April 5 arrival of 202 Rohingya Muslims in Langkawi," said Zulinda Ramly, deputy director with the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency. Each migrant paid 15,000 ringgit ($3,400) to be brought into Malaysia, she said. The coastguard is hunting other syndicate members, Malaysians and foreigners, accused of helping migrants illegally enter the country. Malaysia's tougher stance in seeking to stop the arrival of boatloads of Rohingya has alarmed rights groups, who fear several other vessels may be at sea between Bangladesh and the Southeast Asian nation. Rohingya often begin their journeys in Bangladesh, where many of the minority live in overcrowded camps after fleeing a military crackdown in their homeland. Decisions that have been made over the past month will have consequences for years to come. The haphazard manner in which these decisions are being made should concern every single citizen of Pennsylvania. The arbitrary nature in which businesses have been prohibited/allowed to operate is an exercise in miscommunication, dysfunction and ambiguity. Since March 17, 2020, businesses such as auto dealerships, real estate agencies and residential construction projects have been stalled. Given just three hours warning before the closure went into place, business owners and employees had the proverbial rug pulled out from beneath them. No consultation, no discussion, no initial waiver process. Self-employed individuals have waited over a month to apply for any benefits, on a website that wasnt ready for rollout, and the back-end wont be ready for another two weeks. Gov. Tom Wolf has retreated to his home, while others dont know how they will pay the bills for their homes, or how they will put food on their tables. Its gotten to the point that on April 20, thousands of people protested for the right to work. As of April 19, there were 1,525,458 unemployment compensation claims since March 15 in Pennsylvania, far ahead of any other state in the Union. For reference, Pennsylvania only had 775,000 claims during 2019. Goldman Sachs analysts have forecasted that the number of unemployed in the United States could reach 37 million by the end of May. The International Monetary Fund has warned of the worst global recession since the Great Depression. With over 1.5 million unemployment compensation claims over the last month, Pennsylvanians are feeling the effects of Governor Wolfs 2016 decision to lay off nearly 500 Labor & Industry employees and close three unemployment compensation call centers. Even the president of SEIU Local 668, Steve Catanese, agrees that the system has never recovered from those cuts in 2016, as reported by SpotlightPA. Additionally, under the guise of public health, Wolf has decided to release up to 1,800 prisoners from state prisons. As I was previously the Lebanon County District Attorney for 14 years, I believe the prisoner release is in poor judgement and short-sighted, as it is an attempt to bypass the Legislature. While the General Assembly has been meeting regularly to address the concerns of the citizens, the leader of the Executive Branch, a co-equal branch of government, is unwilling to discuss these concerns with us, and has unilaterally acted without consultation from the legislative body. So where do we go from here? A starting point wouldve been to sign SB 613 (Sen. Mensch), which would have responsibly reopened the economy in PA. SB 613 wouldve allowed businesses listed as essential by the Department of Homeland Security to reopen if they followed strict Centers for Disease Control and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency health and safety considerations. The health and safety of workers was paramount in this legislation. People need to continue to social distance and take other precautions to ensure we are limiting exposure. That is what SB 613 wouldve done. Too bad Wolf vetoed this legislation. Pennsylvania is now left with one of the strictest shutdown orders in the nation. Maybe thats why were expecting a $4 billion shortfall in revenue according to the states Independent Fiscal Office. Matthew Knittle, the director of the IFO, recently stated these numbers were cautiously optimistic and taxpayers should be prepared for a significant reduction in state resources. UC payments from State Government, according to a recent IFO report, will range from $4.5 to $6 billion, by themselves. Last week Gov. Wolf told the citizens that he had a plan. Well, a plan is a detailed proposal for doing or achieving something, or an intention or decision about what one is going to do. What he laid out were talking points that didnt amount to much, other than, just trust me. Ill tell you my plan when Im ready. Except, in Phase III of his plan, Wolf clearly outlines his desire for a $15 minimum wage. At a time like this, when Wolfs policies are permanently shutting business, he certainly hasnt missed a good opportunity to exploit the emergency declaration. The people are angry. The people are worried. The people want definitive answers for how they are going to feed their children and how they will pay their rent, mortgage and put gas in their vehicles. Theyve wanted a plan for nearly 35 days. Theyve waited and waited, and have been met with eloquent talking points and told to sing Happy Birthday twice when washing hands, as if counting to 20 is too hard. Finally, if this exercise isnt reason for Pennsylvania to remove itself from the wine and spirits business, nothing will ever be done. The people are sick and tired of heavy-handed bureaucrats. They want their freedom back. State Senator Dave J. Arnold Jr. is a Republican who represents Pennsylvanias 48th Senatorial District in parts of Dauphin, Lebanon and York counties. A brave father has saved the lives of his daughter and her friend after the pair were swept out to sea by a deadly rip. Dramatic video showed the girls, aged 11 and 12, being pulled to safety after being washed off the Casuarina Boat Ramp in Bunbury, south of Perth, on Sunday. The heroic father dove into the rough water after hearing the girls cries for help, by which time they had already been swept around 100 metres out to sea. A brave father rescued his daughter and her friend after the girls, aged 11 and 12, were swept 100 metres out to sea by a rip off the Bunbury coast (pictured), south of Perth, on Sunday After seeing the man swimming out to the girls, other surfers and swimmers rushed to help. The father managed to get his daughter and her friend to the safety of nearby rocks, meaning they did not have to swim back against the powerful rip. WA Police called to the scene ran about 500 metres to reach the group, before climbing up the rocks and helping carry the children back. St John Ambulance services also provided first aid to the girls and checked the father. Both children suffered cuts and bruises and were taken to hospital. Bunbury Police Senior Sergeant Andy Carson said the girls were extremely lucky the father was able to reach them in time. 'He did an outstanding job,' Snr Sgt Carson said. 'While both girls were injured, the situation could have ended much worse and I urge anyone who is going swimming or undertaking other marine activities to take extra care.' The aerosol mica box will protect doctors from droplets from patients with acute respiratory failure when inserting an endotracheal tube In particular, standing at VND2.2 million ($95), the 3D6T is the highest price product in Maximus Accessories' arsenal, which is still half the price compared to the products of Paramount Aviation Resources Group and the emergency department of Charlotte Maxeke Academic, South Africa. In addition, Maximus Accessories offers four different versions of mika aerosol box with the lowest price at VND1.6 million ($70) per unit: The Homosapiens: the adult version with two arms, used in ICU; The Mini: the smallest and most compact version with two arms, suitable for delivering; The Baby Shark: the children-only version with four arms; The 3D6T: the adult version with six arms, used in emergency room. Nguyen Trung Nhat, founder and director of Maximus Accessories revealed that the versions of products are designed based on actual demand after nearly a month of observation from Hospital for Tropical Diseases and Children Hospital No.1 in Ho Chi Minh City. Three first aerosol boxes were donated to Hospital for Tropical Diseases on March 30. Until now, there have been six boxes delivered to these hospitals. To help frontline doctors who are trying to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, the company supports the products at a significant discount, making them far cheaper than market alternatives, Trung Nhat added. Prior to these boxes, Maximus Accessories also supplied 5,000 face shields at the price of VND10,000 (43.5 US cents) per unit to hospitals instead of the VND70,000 ($3) market price. Aerosol box is a protective equipment which reduces doctors exposure to patients infected by coronavirus or other diseases while they insert endotracheal tubes into their airways. In the process of intubation and extubation, before and after treatment on a ventilator, doctors can easily come into contact with the saliva of patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome, which increases the risk of infection. Whether or not the doctors are equipped with protective clothing, there is no guarantee that they can avoid these droplets. This transparent mica device can be placed over the head of a patient. It is produced with two holes on both sides of the box through which doctors can reach in to access the patient. The first box was invented by a Taiwanese doctor named Lai Hsien-yung. Due to differences in medical equipment, the original version of the box is not suitable for Vietnamese doctors. Maximus will make the copyright free for non-commercial use, which will help save doctors and expand the use of these boxes. Doctors will be able to head to the nearest manufacturer to make copies of the product. The non-commercial copyright will be available until the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nhat said. Founded in 2012, Maximus Accessories specialises in producing furniture and accessories such as cover for reading machines, tablets, and smartphones. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Sausan Atika (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, April 22, 2020 16:16 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd39298f 1 City COVID-19-Jakarta,#COVID19,COVID-19-in-Indonesia,COVID-19,coronavirus Free Harmony in a number of communities in Indonesia is at risk as perceived COVID-19 carriers are stigmatized, even by their next-door neighbors, despite posing no actual threat. Some residents of Jakarta, the epicenter of COVID-19 outbreak in the country, however, have found a way to allay fears and help their neighbors. In Central Jakarta, residents of community unit (RW) 04 in Gunung Sahari Utara subdistrict have reached out to three siblings in the neighborhood during the absence of their parents amid the COVID-19 outbreak. RW 4 head Kustiadi said the father, initially diagnosed with dengue fever, had been admitted to Husada Hospital in Central Jakarta four weeks ago. A few days later, the man died. It is unclear whether he died of COVID-19, but a relative of the deceased told Kustiadi that the body had been buried according to the pandemic safety protocol. The deceased was alone on his deathbed, as his wife had been admitted to the city's makeshift hospital Wisma Athlete Village in Central Jakarta as a patient under surveillance (PDP) only a few days before his death. Their children, aged 15, 13 and 10 respectively, were left alone for self-quarantine at home. Kustiadi recalls that the neighbors were shocked to see the mother picked up by medical workers wearing head-to-toe protective gear. Many residents seemed to avoid passing the house after that, he told The Jakarta Post on Monday. RW management immediately tried to calm down residents and distributed information about coronavirus in a campaign involving neighborhood unit (RT) heads and the Karang Taruna youth community, the Dasawisma housewives community, jumantik (mosquito larvae controllers) and the health service posts (Posyandu). "We explained to residents that being infected with the coronavirus is not a disgrace but a sheer misfortune. Everyone should provide mental support instead of insulting them, Kustiadi said. Read also: COVID-19: Companies, communities band together to provide food for medical workers The campaign eventually bore fruit. The siblings are under the RW's responsibility to fulfill their needs for food and vitamins. Fortunately, neighbors are now willing to help with their resources, he said. The RW management checks on the children every day via phone call. At night, we would ask what they wanted to eat the next day. Usually, we gave them chicken porridge for breakfast. The neighbors would spare some portions for lunch and dinner, Kustiadi said. When the mother was discharged from the hospital on Saturday after having been declared medically fit, the neighbors accompanied her to her house. Read also: Family moves to forest to avoid stigma after being examined for COVID-19 A video obtained by the Post shows residents standing in front of their houses and applauding the mother as she passed through the neighborhood. A person was heard saying "Applause, please. Come on, let's lift her spirit". A similar campaign to put out stigma over COVID-19 occurred in community unit RW 4 in Bidara Cina subdistrict of Jatinegara, East Jakarta. RW 4 secretary Dwiyanto recalled a recent moment when neighbors finally changed their attitude toward one resident, an office boy working at the Wisma Athletes Village hospital. I initially received a report that the man was sleeping in [an Islamic prayer room] because his neighbors had asked him [to leave his house]. When he bought cigarettes from a kiosk, the seller asked him to drop the money directly into a jar. [Such rejection] lasted about a week, Dwiyanto told the Post. The tension receded when the subdistrict management deployed additional personnel and volunteers, including the Family Welfare Movement (PKK) cadres, to increase awareness on COVID-19 handling in the area. "Little by little we convey the message to them to accept the situation," Dwiyanto said. "The man has now returned home." Read also: Fashion shops, civil groups work hand-in-hand to cope with virus impact in Yogyakarta The Jakarta administration's large-scale social distancing measures have also impacted most people living in Bidara Cina -- a residential area of low-middle income families. This led a local initiative to hold a lumbung pangan (food barn) program for the past month, aimed at distributing staple food weekly for those impacted in Bidara Cina. If residents could no longer afford LPG [liquefied petroleum gas] and cooking oil, we will build an open kitchen, Dwiyanto said, adding that the staple food was donated by well-off families as well as religious communities and political parties in Jakarta. Stigma against COVID-19 patients, health workers and their families has been reported worldwide after the highly infectious disease rapidly spread outside China. World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in early March that stigma was even more dangerous than the virus itself. President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has addressed the issue and praised residents nationwide who have joined hands to assist those struggling with the disease. Gotong royong [mutual cooperation], [public] participation and [everyone] helping each other can be built from the grassroots. I am very pleased to see [] harmony between neighbors. This has to continue [] instead of alienating them, he said last week. Barr: Justice Department May Support Lawsuits Against Governors Orders That Go Too Far Attorney General William Barr said on April 21 that the Justice Department (DOJ) might consider intervening in lawsuits against governors lockdown measures if states continue to extend them as COVID-19 cases subside. Barr made the comments during a radio interview on The Hugh Hewitt show where he said that while it was necessary for states to place measures to control the spread of the CCP virus pandemic, these orders have caused unprecedented burdens on civil liberties. The idea that you have to stay in your house is disturbingly close to house arrest. Im not saying it wasnt justified. Im not saying in some places it might still be justified. But its very onerous, as is shutting down your livelihood, he said. Barr said that the DOJ has been monitoring the types of restrictions governors are imposing on states during the pandemic. If the department believes any restrictions go too far, he said, the department may first attempt to negotiate with the states to roll back or adjust the orders. If the governors dont cooperate and individuals bring lawsuits against them, then the DOJ may file a statement of interest in support of the individuals bringing the cases, he said. The DOJ took this approach recently by filing a statement of claim in support of a Mississippi church that appeared to be singled out by a local mayors order against drive-in services. As lawsuits develop, as specific cases emerge in the states, well take a look at them, Barr said. Attorney General William Barr speaks at a the National Sheriffs Association conference in Washington on Feb. 10, 2020. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times) This comes as protests against lockdown measures erupt across the country. Many protestors are frustrated by restrictions that caused Americans to lose their jobs as well as plunge the states into a deep economic slump. Some restrictions have been quite controversial, such as banning the sale of seeds in some stores. President Donald Trump appeared to support the protests, issuing separate Twitter posts on April 17 calling to LIBERATE MINNESOTA, LIBERATE MICHIGAN and LIBERATE VIRGINIA. Then on April 18, Trump defended the demonstrations, saying, These people love our country. They want to go back to work. Trump and several governors have expressed an eagerness to reopen the economy. The White House has introduced guidelines that would help governors reopen their states in three stages. These guidelines will still contain social distancing restrictions in the first phase, which will be slowly eased in subsequent phases. The president said governors would ultimately have the final say on tailoring an approach to reopening the economy to their state. If they need to remain closed, we will allow them to do that, and if they believe it is time to reopen, we will provide them the freedom and guidance to accomplish that task, and very quickly, depending on what they want to do. We are also encouraging states to work together to harmonize their regional efforts, Trump said on April 16. A person carries a sign at the beach after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis reopened state beaches with some restrictions, in Jacksonville Beach, Fla., on April 17, 2020. (Sam Greenwood/Getty Images) During the interview, Barr indicated that governors lockdown restrictions should only apply for the limited purpose of slowing down the spread of the virus, as they were never meant to be permanent measures. When there is some progress in mitigating the spread, states need to begin developing more targeted approaches, he said. This is a little bit like fighting a cancer, which is, you know, sometimes cancer is spreading, and one of the treatments you can use is chemotherapy to drive it back and localize it and make it more susceptible to surgery or more targeted things like radiation or even immunotherapy, Barr said. But your first thing is to drive it back to a manageable, a more manageable state. And thats what were doing and have done. And the question is, you cant just keep on feeding the patient chemotherapy and say, Well, were killing the cancer, because we were getting to the point where were killing the patient. And now is the time that we have to start looking ahead and adjusting to more targeted therapies. He added that governors would need to adapt their orders based on the situation on the ground, while also maintaining the necessary measures to protect public health. I think we have to make a distinction between orders that tell peopleor principles that say, you know, you have to keep your distance of 6 feet, you should be washing, you should be wearing PPE when youre out and about, Barr said. Those are fine because I think those, you know, arrest the transmission from person to person. But blunter instruments that say everyone has to shelter in place, to stay at home regardless of the situation on the ground, or, you know, you shut down a business regardless of the capacity of the business to operate safely for its customers and its employees, those are very blunt instruments. And I think you know, as I say, I think we have to adapt more to the circumstances. Pastor Chuck Salvo delivers his sermon to the congregation during a drive-in service at On Fire Christian Church in Louisville, Ky., on April 5, 2020. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images) You Cant Single Out Religion for Special Burdens The DOJ recently filed a statement of interest in support of a Mississippi church that sued the city where its located and its mayor for ticketing congregants during a drive-in service. In that case, Mississippis governor had designated churches and other religious entities as an essential business or operation that can operate as long as they abide by the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control guidelines. But the City of Greenville issued an executive order on April 7 barring churches from holding in-person or drive-in services until the governors shelter-in-place order is lifted. While many churches have moved services online or to teleconference calls, Temple Baptist Church doesnt have a website for live streaming, and its congregants dont have social media accounts, the church stated. On April 8, the church broadcasted its service over a low-power FM transmitter to congregants who sat in parked cars outside the church with their windows rolled up. As they listened to the sermon, police officers began issuing $500 tickets to congregants who refused to leave, even though nobody was outside his or her car, the church stated. The church subsequently sued the city on April 10, seeking to block the mayors order. It alleges that the order violates the constitutional right of freedom to exercise religion. The DOJ argued in its statement that although local and state officials need to impose restrictions to enforce social distancing, they arent allowed to single out church and religious entities for distinctive treatment. Any government restriction must be neutral, in that any limit applied to religious activity must be used in the same way as to a nonreligious activity, Barr said in a statement. For example, if a government allows movie theaters, restaurants, concert halls, and other comparable places of assembly to remain open and unrestricted, it may not order houses of worship to close, limit their congregation size, or otherwise impede religious gatherings, he said. Religious institutions must not be singled out for special burdens. The citys mayor eventually dropped the fines. It also allowed drive-in services after receiving further guidance from the states governor. Spain to let children out as lockdown loosens On Tuesday night, the government bowed to public pressure and said children under 14 would be able to take short walks outside under supervision. Spain aims to begin winding down its coronavirus lockdown in the second half of May, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Wednesday, though restrictions could come back if the epidemic worsens again in one of the worst-hit nations. DEATH TOLL REACHED 21,282 With the worlds second most infections, more than 200,000, and Europes second highest death toll, 21,282, Spain has imposed one of the severest lockdowns, including a controversial bar on children leaving homes even for walks. It has taken a few tentative easing steps, including allowing some workers to return from last week and giving permission for children to go outside from next weekend, but most restrictions remain in force. With the epidemic seemingly having passed its peak, measures will be eased slowly and gradually to ensure safety, Sanchez said at a parliamentary session where he will ask lawmakers to extend the state of emergency until May 9. We will be going back-and-forth depending on how the pandemic evolves, he said. Officials at the Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS) say that in the last 24 hours, they have been able to collect only 42 units of blood which is very less to fulfil the needs of thalassaemic, cancer, dialysis, anaemic, tuberculosis patients and pregnant mothers.However, before lockdown, IRCS blood bank used to receive over 100 blood units in a day.Dr Vanshree Singh, Director of ICRS's Blood Bank told ANI that the collection is not at a level which was expected."During the period of lockdown, we are collecting near about 40-50 units of blood on average. We have got only 42 units of blood in the last 24 hours which is very less. We are taking the help of NGOs, religious groups and corporate sector to encourage people for blood donation," Dr Singh said."Prior to lockdown, on an average, I was collecting about 30,000 units in a year, about 2,500-3,000 units in a month and the daily collection was near about 80-100 units," Dr Singh added.Asked whether a COVID-19 negative person can donate blood or not, Dr Singh said: "A COVID-19 negative person can also donate blood, but only after one month of his complete recovery by following government's guidelines under medical supervision."She stated that in the last few days, IRCS has cancelled several blood donations camps as scheduled areas were declared as COVID-19 hotspots."For example, in Delhi we were organising a blood donation camp at Tara Apartment in Kalakaji area, but we had to cancel our plan when it was declared a hotspot area by the government. Getting a voluntary donor is the biggest challenge for us," she said.Nikhil Gambhir, a resident of Karol Bagh came forward to donate blood in the memory of his father in this lockdown situation at IRCS."Situation like lockdown is a small hurdle. Donating blood is giving life to a needy patient. Today (April 21), is my father's death anniversary and every year, I donate blood on this day. It gives me satisfaction that I am able to save someone's life. I feel that people should come forward for such a noble cause," Gambhir told ANI.Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health, has directed all state health departments to ensure adequate availability of blood in blood banks. He has also stated that the online portal 'e-RaktKosh' needs to be used for the real-time status monitoring of the current stock of each blood group.Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs has directed all state government to facilitate the unhindered movement of blood mobile vans, blood transportation vans and movement of voluntary blood donation during the lockdown period.As part of the collaborative approach for COVID-19 management, Indian Red Cross Society has started a 24X7 control room in Delhi for blood services. (ANI) While the world is preoccupied with the coronavirus pandemic, four Yemeni journalists detained by Houthi rebels since June 2015 face execution. On April 11, the Houthi-run Specialized Criminal Court sentenced the four journalists to death on charges of spying for the Saudi-led coalition that backs the internationally recognized government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. The same court convicted on the same charge six other journalists who were released but ordered to remain under police surveillance for three years. The 10 journalists worked for media outlets classified by the Houthis as close to the Reform Party (Al-Islah), the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Yemen. Al-Islah had declared its support for the UN-backed Hadi government and approved the intervention of the Saudi-led Arab coalition in Yemen. In an April 11 statement, the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate condemned the death sentences as unjust and called for their reversal. The same position was expressed by the Federation of Arab Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, and other press unions and journalists at the regional and international levels. They all decried the rulings as arbitrary and squelching freedom of opinion and expression. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) also called for the release of the journalists, denouncing the rulings as breaching international law. It warned of legally prosecuting those responsible for these criminal acts against journalists. The IFJ had joined the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate in writing a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, urging him to support actions to protect journalists' lives and demand the release of all journalists imprisoned in Yemen. In turn, the French Journalists Syndicate, the National Union of French Journalists and the French Democratic Confederation of Labor issued a joint statement April 16 indicating they had contacted Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet and the 27 leaders of the European Union, asking them to intervene on the journalists' behalf. They described the death sentence as shocking, unimaginable and a flagrant violation of human rights. In what appeared to be a response from the Houthis to widespread local and international denunciations, the pro-Houthi Saba news agency published April 15 the alleged confessions of the 10 journalists, revealing their destructive role serving the aggression forces" of the Saudi-led coalition. Many observers say the international community is acting a bit late, but they also believe it can stop the executions if it keeps up its condemnations. For its part, the Ministry of Information of Hadi's government also strongly condemned the Houthi decision, which came despite efforts made by the United Nations team to achieve a prisoner swap deal between the government and the rebels, it said in an April 11 statement. Moreover, the death sentences of the four journalists came as a shock since the ruling preceded the order to release Hamid Haidara, a member of the Baha'i religious minority community. Haidara was sentenced to death in January for allegedly collaborating with Israel. After an appeals court upheld that sentence March 22, Mahdi al-Mashat, president of the Houthi Supreme Political Council, recommended March 25 that Haidara be pardoned and said all other Bahai political prisoners would be released. It was unclear why Haidara was pardoned, though politics, heavy lobbying by Amnesty International and other organizations, and the coronavirus pandemic are thought to have played roles. Defense lawyer Abdul Majeed Sabra identified the four journalists to be executed as Abdel-Khaleq Amran, Akram al-Walidi, Hareth Hamid and Tawfiq al-Mansouri. He said they were kidnapped by Houthis in 2015. This is not the first time Houthi courts have levied the death penalty against journalists. The Specialized Criminal Court in Sanaa issued a death sentence in April 2017 against journalist Yahya Abdel-Raqib al-Jubeihi on charges of collaborating with foreign countries. He was released that September after a wave of local and international condemnation and following the deterioration of his health. Nabil al-Osaidi, head of the Freedom Committee at the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate, told Al-Monitor, The syndicate does not recognize the Specialized Criminal Court or its rulings since it lacks the competence to rule on journalists cases and commits crimes against them. He added, Houthis are detaining 16 journalists, while two journalists are detained in the governorate of Taiz by the [Hadi government's] local authority. Another journalist is detained in the government-controlled province of Marib, and another has been kidnapped by al-Qaeda in the city of Mukalla. Osaidi pointed out that 35 journalists have been killed while covering the Yemen war over the past five years: Seventeen were killed by the Saudi-led coalition's shelling, and 18 by direct sniper fire or mine explosions." Speaking to Al-Monitor, Sabra the defense lawyer for the journalists sentenced this month lashed out at the unfair ruling contrary to the provisions of the Yemeni Constitution and law. He argued that journalists are supposed to be referred to the press and publications prosecutor and court if they are charged and not to the Specialized Criminal Court. Sabra indicated the trial was conducted in only four hearings and did not meet the principles of a fair trial. Most [hearings] were held without the knowledge of the defense attorney team. When the team was present at the second hearing, it was not allowed to plead. The judge even expelled [the attorneys] from the courtroom," he said. Al-Monitor contacted more than one official in the Houthi government, but they refused to comment on this issue. According to the head of the Yemeni Organization for the Defense of Rights and Freedoms, Huda al-Sarari, The courts procedures are contrary to the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure and are marred by many faults." She explained to Al-Monitor that the Yemeni journalists did not get an appropriate legal defense, and the dates of their hearings were not announced. Meanwhile, journalist and human rights activist Hind al-Eryani believes Yemen is an especially dangerous country for journalists. She told Al-Monitor, No opinion is accepted other than that of the ruling authority. But sentencing four journalists to death by the [Specialized] Criminal Court in Sanaa is outrageous. Reporters Without Borders ranked Yemen No. 167 out of 180 countries in its 2020 World Press Freedom Index. On Sunday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the state would begin ramping up COVID-19 antibody testing, beginning with a random sampling of more than 3,000 New Yorkers. Viewed as a necessary step in the states fight against the coronavirus and eventually relaxing social distancing measures, antibody testing will help to fill in missing data about the scope of the viruss spread in the state. But with many unknowns regarding how the virus acts and the accuracy and validity of new antibody tests, information gathered in this early stage will not provide any quick fixes or clear answers. The antibody testing program should provide a rough estimate of how widespread COVID-19 infections are in New York and the severity of the states outbreak. As opposed to diagnostic tests, which tell whether a person currently has the virus, antibody tests can determine whether someone had the coronavirus in the past, regardless of whether they displayed symptoms or received a diagnosis. By using a large group of random people distributed across New York, the state can begin to figure out the true infection rate of COVID-19. Current data is based on diagnostic tests that generally are limited to people already suspected of having the disease. The random survey of antibody testing will provide a more representative pool of New Yorkers who may or may not have been eligible for a diagnostic test so far. Public health experts have long been saying that because the United States has failed to get diagnostic testing up to scale, the number of cases that states report is likely far lower than the reality. A recent study in California found that about 4.1% of the population of Los Angeles County, or 221,000 to 442,000 people, had antibodies to the coronavirus by early April. This is far more than the 8,000 cases the county had reported at the time, and presents a better understanding of the viruss spread and mortality rate, which may be lower than initial data has suggested. New Yorks survey is expected to yield similar results in that it will reveal missing information that has resulted due to a lack of widespread testing. Once analyzed, the results of the 3,000 random tests should give the state a much better idea about where the state stands as initial discussions begin about how and when to begin easing social distancing restrictions and restarting parts of the economy. Cuomo has repeatedly emphasized the need for widespread and comprehensive testing, both diagnostic and antibody, before that happens. However, much is still unknown about the coronavirus and the bodys reaction to it, so if anyone is looking for immediate action as a result of antibody testing data, they ought not to, according to Cara Pager, an expert on viruses at the University at Albany. For example, although Cuomo has said the antibody test will show who has immunity, there is no public health consensus yet about whether someone whos had the virus is now immune to it. Traditionally, a person infected with a virus gains at least short-term immunity through the production of antibodies. Numerous reports have emerged about people who tested positive for COVID-19 for a second time after they were believed to have recovered. Its possible that the virus stayed in their body and never fully cleared, according to Columbia University assistant professor of epidemiology Matthew Lamb, but its still unclear exactly how the coronavirus acts. This would put a damper on trying to make sweeping claims about herd immunity, seen as one potential factor in reopening the economy, even if a large percentage of the population is found to have contracted the virus at some point. Another unanswered question that could impact the idea of herd immunity is how many antibodies result in a sufficient level of immunity. The level of antibodies in the body provides a strong indicator about the level of immunity, as opposed to the knowledge that antibodies are simply present in the body. One test developed by Mount Sinai Laboratory Center for Clinical Laboratories in New York, which was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, would provide such information. Yet another complicating factor is the lack of research that has been performed about those who have recovered from the coronavirus. A limited study out of China found that some recovered COVID-19 patients were found to have surprisingly low levels of antibodies, while others had no detectable antibodies at all. The data is still preliminary with a small sample size, but suggests the possibility that those who have been infected may still be at risk of reinfection. The accuracy and reliability of tests is another potential roadblock to gathering information. Many tests available on the market now in the U.S., especially rapid tests that can be done quickly without much laboratory infrastructure, are flawed, at least in part because of the speed at which they were developed. The vast majority have not been approved by the FDA, but an easing of federal restrictions means they can still be sold and used. Only four antibody tests, including Mount Sinais, have received emergency approval. Jonah Bruno, a spokesman for the state Department of Health, said two antibody tests were developed by the state at the Wadsworth Center public laboratory in Albany with their rigorous standards. He said the tests were approved by the states regulatory review program, which the FDA permitted as an alternate oversight path. Bruno said that one test has also been submitted for further approval by the FDA, with plans to also submit the second test. People produce two different antibodies in response to an infection, but only one is what Pager calls a neutralizing antibody that actively kills a specific virus. Tests available on the market can test for both kinds of antibodies, or one or the other, but only the presence of the neutralizing antibody indicates the potential for long-term immunity. And while antibody tests are not used to determine whether someone is currently sick, its still possible that someone who tests positive for antibodies may still be fighting off the infection rather than having recovered from it. While this question is likely less relevant now, it still represents another complication that the state said it is prepared for. Bruno said that one test developed by the state is for the antibody that indicates potential immunity created as the virus begins to clear the body through a finger prick blood sample. The other uses blood drawn from a vein that detects total antibodies. The expansion of antibody testing is a positive step for the state. The initial survey should provide much-needed information, which the state could use to develop policies. But that information is still preliminary and could be flawed as the world attempts to better understand the ongoing pandemic. Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Armenian tax authorities have brought corruption charges against Mikael Minasian, former President Serzh Sarkisians son-in-law and reputed confidant highly critical of the current government, it emerged on Wednesday. The State Revenue Committee (SRC) gave no details of the accusations of illegal enrichment, false asset disclosure and money laundering which were leveled against him one month ago. Minasians lawyers rejected them as unfounded and politically motivated. Minasian served as Armenias ambassador to the Vatican from 2013 to 2018. He was sacked in November 2018 six months after Sarkisian was toppled in the Velvet Revolution led by Nikol Pashinian, the current prime minister. Minasian, 42, enjoyed considerable political and economic influence in the country throughout Sarkisians decade-long rule. He is also thought to have developed extensive business interests in various sectors of the Armenian economy. One of the defense lawyers, Amram Makinian, said the money laundering charge stems from large sums of cash which Minasian transferred from one of his bank accounts to another in 2017-2018. He declined to specify the total amount of that money. The investigating body has noted that documents at his disposal prove the legal origin of the money and that money resulted from the sale of his stake in a property, Makinian told RFE/RLs Armenian service. The transfer of the proceeds from the totally legal sale of those assets is now deemed money laundering. This is one of the most pathetic accusations I have ever seen. The lawyer also insisted that the other accusations are based on a technical error committed by the employee of a private firm which drew up and filed Minasians income declarations. He said that SRC investigators are refusing to summon that person for questioning. The investigating body and prosecutors realize that the criminal case will collapse if they are interrogated, claimed Makinian. In his first income declaration filed with a state body in 2013, Minasian said that he owns an apartment in Yerevan, four villas and shares in two companies in addition to having more than $2.5 million in cash in his bank accounts. He also declared ownership of an expensive collection of more than 200 artworks. In Makinians words, the investigators have asked a court in Yerevan to allow his clients arrest. Minasian apparently left Armenia shortly after his sacking. Since then he has increasingly attacked Armenias current leadership and Pashinian in particular with articles posted on his Facebook page and disseminated by Armenian media outlets believed to be controlled by him. He has accused the government of incompetence and misrule. For his part, Pashinian has repeatedly accused Minasian of illegally making a huge fortune during Sarkisians rule. Pashinian most probably referred to Sarkisians son-in-law when he pledged, during a November 2019 visit to Italy, to bring to justice Armenias best-known corrupt individuals who he said are hiding in Vatican basements. In a January 11 article, Pashinians Haykakan Zhamanak daily accused Minasian of masterminding a smear campaign against the prime minister family. Minasians father Ara is a renowned doctor who ran a state hospital in Yerevan until the Armenian Health Ministry accused him of embezzlement in July 2018. Ara Minasian strongly denied the allegations. He apparently fled Armenia before being formally charged in November 2018. Sarkisian, who still leads the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia, is also facing embezzlement charges which he rejects as politically motivated. The ex-presidents trial began in late February. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Made Anthony Iswara (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, April 22, 2020 12:59 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd382e97 1 National #wildlife,wildlife,wildlife-trade,animal-conservation,Sumatran-elephant,Sumatran-tiger,endangered-species,#EndangeredSpecies,#SumatranTiger,#Sumatran-elephant,gajah,#gajah,harimau,#harimau,COVID-19,#COVID19 Free Five-year-old Sumatran tiger Corina had one of her legs stuck in a wire trap for at least three days at a forest in Teluk Meranti, Pelalawan, Riau before she was found by a rescue team on March 29. The wires had slit her leg close to the bone, completely tearing her leg muscles. Doctors say animals like her often get their legs amputated because it is extremely difficult to recover from such severe wounds. But she is lucky that her tendons are still in good condition, so there is a chance she will recover, provided the recovery process goes smoothly and there are not any secondary infections, the Environment and Forestry Ministrys biodiversity conservation director Indra Exploitasia said in a recent statement. Corina is among around 600 Sumatran tigers left in the wild, Population Viability Analysis data by the ministry showed. While under intensive care, Corina can now be seen sleeping, eating, licking her wounds and bathing in a small pool at a local rehabilitation center in Dharmasraya, West Sumatra, according to authorities. Corinas story reflects one of many attempts to preserve Indonesias diverse biodiversity despite mobility restrictions implemented as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, with Indonesia having the sixth-highest number of "threatened" species globally with 1,654 species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list. But other Sumatran tigers were not as lucky. A female Sumatran tiger was found dead on February 19 in a wire trap in a forest in Seluma, Bengkulu, in yet another incident that has drawn attention to the already critically endangered species. In Aceh, local authorities are investigating the death of an endangered Sumatran elephant found at an oil palm plantation in Ranto Peureulak on April 15. The elephant was found just one day after a Sumatran elephant was brutally killed in Kelayang in Indragiri Hulu, Riau. The elephants face was severely mutilated, though its tusks were still intact. Environment authorities suspected that the elephant had been considered a pest by locals as it had been separated from its herd, which lives in the Southeast Tesso elephant area of Riau's Tesso Nilo National Park. Read also: Elephant found dead, mutilated in Riau Illegal trade and human-animal conflict have largely caused people to hunt endangered species, raising calls to end wildlife trade and improve investigation into illegal trade. "We need to be more introspective and vigilant in maintaining the balance of the ecosystem during the COVID-19 situation. Wildlife has an important role to play in the environment and therefore we need to preserve nature and its contents, Indra said. Far from the jungle, zookeepers in Bali continue taking care of five Komodo dragons and nearly 1,200 birds in Bali Bird Park despite having no visitors as a result of social distancing efforts and flagging tourism. The zoo has been temporarily closed to the public since March 23 and will remain closed until further announcement, Bali Bird Park general manager Pande Suastika said recently. Pande said the zoo had to put a portion of its expenses on "pending" to sustain the business, maintain its employees and take care of its wildlife. The zoo now employs 10 out of 35 caretakers daily in alternating shifts to take care of and feed the animals. He said the zoo had implemented safety protocols, such as disinfecting the area two to three times a week, since avian influenza first broke out years ago and it will continue to do so during the current COVID-19 outbreak. Because we are a conservation institution, we have to protect the nation's assets because wildlife is the countrys asset, not ours, he said. Meanwhile, in Jakartas Ragunan Zoo, staff are taking care of at least 2,100 animals despite the zoo having been closed to the public since March 14 in light of the pandemic. Ragunan business promotion and development manager Ketut Widarsana said on Thursday that the zoo would remain closed until further notice. Caretakers, who now work in alternating shifts, are also wearing masks while feeding the animals or cleaning zoo cages and surrounding areas with disinfectant and carbolic acid. Zookeepers have also been spraying disinfectant once a week, more often than only once a month under normal conditions, Ketut added. Read also: Covid, Quarantine among names suggested for newborn animals in Colombian zoo Responding to the news on a tiger at New York's Bronx Zoo in the United States that tested positive for COVID-19, Ketut ensured that veterinarians had checked the zoo animals and reported that all of them were in a healthy condition as of Thursday. In a broader context, the pandemic has reignited calls to stop wildlife trade that has been a hotbed for zoonotic disease transmission, including in Indonesia. The Bronx Zoo case has also raised concerns about whether humans can transmit the virus to animals. Various studies showed that human encroachment on natural habitats had allowed infectious zoonotic diseases to transmit between wild animals and humans, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) microbiology researcher Sugiyono Saputra said. Yet at least 60 percent of infectious diseases were derived from animals, and more than two-thirds of them came from wildlife, he said on Tuesday. "What is clear is that, when these [human activities triggering zoonotic diseases] are still very common, the risk of new diseases emerging will still be present," Sugiyono said. In Indonesia, a 1990 law on natural resources conservation stipulates that anyone involved in trading, keeping, distributing or killing protected species is liable to five years imprisonment with a fine of Rp 100 million (US$6,410). But environmentalists have criticized the provision for being too lenient as most offenders received less than a year of prison time. The government and the House of Representatives agreed to revise the 1990 law in 2016 to place heavier sanctions on hunters and traders. But the government later backtracked its effort as it told the House to omit the bill in the priority list of the 2020-2024 National Legislation Program (Prolegnas). A South African minister had to pay an admission of guilt fine of Rand 1,000 (USD 53) after she was suspended and criminally charged for breaching lockdown regulations in place to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic that has infected over 3,000 people in the country. Minister of Communications, Telecommunications and Postal Services Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams was suspended on April 8 for two months, one without pay, after President Cyril Ramaphosa acted swiftly following a public outcry over her violation of the 35-day lockdown. She paid the Rand 1,000 fine on Tuesday. The coronavirus has infected more than 3,000 people and killed over 55 in the country as the lockdown entered its 27th day. The regulations require people to remain in their homes during the lockdown imposed to fight the pandemic, but the minister visited former deputy minister of higher education Mduduzi Manana at his home and had lunch with his family on April 5. The investigations revealed that the visit was not for purposes of rendering essential services or obtaining essential goods, collecting a grant or seeking medical attention as per requirements of the COVID-19 regulations, said Phindi Mjonondwane of the National Prosecuting Authority. Pictures of the lunch posted by Manana on his social media pages triggered a public outcry and he tried to defend Ndabeni-Abrahams by claiming that she had stopped by to collect medical equipment to deliver elsewhere, coincidentally during lunchtime. Even though Ndabeni-Abrahams issued a public apology after her suspension, she was still criminally charged with contravention of regulation 11 B of the Disaster Management Act. She was served with summons to appear in the Pretoria district court next month, but the presiding senior magistrate for the district allowed her to pay an admission of guilt fine to avoid the court appearance which resulted in the minister having a criminal record. However, it will not impact Ndabeni-Abrahams' qualification to continue serving as the Cabinet minister after her suspension, as any citizen in the country is only prohibited from serving as a member of Parliament if sentenced to a jail term of more than 12 months without an option of a fine. The minister has been in the public eye after recent allegations that her husband had accompanied her on an official visit to Switzerland at state expense. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Poland and Denmark are banning companies that are registered in tax havens from accessing financial aid during the coronavirus pandemic. Denmark, which has spent billions on aid for companies experiencing drastic drops in revenues due to a wide-ranging government lockdown, announced an extended aid package worth 100 billion Danish crowns (11 billion) on Saturday. But in an amendment to the aid measures, which now total close to 400 billion crowns, companies registered in tax haven countries will no longer be eligible for aid. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (pictured) has banned companies that are registered in tax havens from accessing financial aid during the coronavirus pandemic The Danish finance ministry said in a translated statement: 'Companies seeking compensation after the extension of the schemes must pay the tax to which they are liable under international agreements and national rules.' 'Companies based on tax havens in accordance with EU guidelines cannot receive compensation, insofar as it is possible to cut them off under EU law and any other international obligations.' Additionally, firms applying for an extension of Danish state aid must now promise not to pay dividends or make share buy-backs in 2020 and 2021, it said. The new restriction applies to firms registered in countries on the European Union's list of 'non-cooperative tax jurisdictions', according to Rune Lund, tax spokesman for the leftist Red-Green Alliance. 'When we spend billions of taxpayers' money on saving companies and jobs, they need to go to that purpose and not get sent to a tax haven on the other side of the world,' Lund told Reuters. The list, which Lund said was not comprehensive enough, currently has 12 countries on it including Panama, the Seychelles and the Cayman Islands. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawieck (pictured during a parliamentary debate on April 16) said that companies must pay domestic business taxes before they can claim any of the country's 5 billion bailout funds The government said companies would be allowed to pay dividends again if they pay back aid. Poland, one of Europe's most vocal opponents of tax havens, was the first to restrict large firms' access to state aid based on whether they pay taxes in Poland on April 8. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawieck said that companies must pay domestic business taxes before they can claim any of the country's 5 billion bailout funds. 'Let's end tax havens, which are the bane of modern economies,' he said. Estimates of tax evasion vary widely, but tax havens collectively could cost governments between $500 and $600 billion a year in lost revenue from corporates, according to some researchers. (Reuters) - Xerox Holdings Corp said on Tuesday it will make hand sanitizer in its factories in the United States and Canada to fight the spread of coronavirus, and start deliveries to healthcare organizations later this month. The U.S. printer maker, which walked away from its $35 billion bid for HP Inc last month, plans http://pdf.reuters.com/htmlnews/htmlnews.asp?i=43059c3bf0e37541&u=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20200421:nBw8HRKBca to produce about 140,000 gallons of hand sanitizer gel by June. Xerox had earlier partnered https://www.news.xerox.com/news/Xerox-and-Vortran-Medical-partnering-to-mass-produce-disposable-ventilators with Vortran Medical Technology to make ventilators with an aim to produce as many as 1 million devices in the coming months. (Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli) Amid opposition charges, the Kerala government has constituted a two-member committee to examine whether the privacy of personal and sensitive data of COVID-19 patients from the state has been protected under an agreement entered by it with a United States-based information technology firm. Photograph: R Senthil Kumar/PTI Photo The panel headed by former Special IT Secretary M Madhavan Nambiar and former health secretary Rajeev Sadanandan, will also ascertain whether adequate procedures were followed while finalising the arrangements with the private company, Sprinklr. The Opposition Congress has been levelling charges that the collection of data by the US firm violated the fundamental rights of the patients. In its order, state government said it had initiated steps to set up a Data Analytics platform to integrate data from various sources available in the government to meet the 'exigency of a massive and unprecedented surge of epidemic'. The committee will also examine whether deviations, if any, are fair, justified and reasonable considering the extraordinary and critical situation faced by the state, it said on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Kerala high court on Tuesday asked the state government to file its reply by April 24 on a plea seeking to quash its contract with the US- based firm. Expressing concern over the confidentiality of the citizen's data processed by a third party, the court sought to know why the sanction of the law department was not taken before finalising the agreement. The court hailed the state government's fight against COVID-19, but said it is concerned about data confidentiality. The government informed the court that the agreement with Sprinklr has safeguards for data protection 'as per standard practices of software as a service model'. The ward-level committees, set up by the government for the anti-coronavirus fight, collect information of those under home isolation, the elderly and those at the risk of the disease, using a questionnaire and later uploads it on the server of the private agency. New people are sleeping rough on the streets of Dublin as the coronavirus lockdown hits, an aid worker has warned. They are sheltering in hedges, shop doorways, between the columns of court buildings and underneath bins, volunteer Padraig Drummond said. The Inner City Helping Homeless organisation is giving out hot drinks, sweets, crisps and toiletries to them, Mr Drummond added. The charity has suggested that a fifth of the people it helps have contracted the virus. The infection has proved challenging for homeless people, with shelters having to manage social distancing. "We reached an average of around 50 people tonight," Mr Drummond said, adding that their only shelters were sleeping bags. "That is regular. It is night on night this is happening, for the duration of the lockdown." The volunteers wear protective equipment in a bid to shield themselves as they hand out hot drinks from a van. Extra personal protective equipment has recently been donated to the organisation, which also helps to clean people's tents. Mr Drummond said volunteers were also giving out sanitation products. "We have from age 18 up to 70 living on the streets at the moment," he said. "There are some long-terms and there are others we came across, a few new people on the streets and I have never seen them before." Lowest Some homeless charities have challenged official figures suggesting the number of rough sleepers in Ireland's capital is down to its lowest level for decades. The Dublin Outreach team is on the streets from 7am to 1am, working in partnership with the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) to find accommodation for people who are rough sleeping during Covid-19, the Dublin Simon Community said. "Face-to-face contact is being prioritised for these people as we work to secure rolling beds in appropriate accommodation where they will be safe and supported throughout this crisis," it said in a statement. "The soup-run service is now being provided each night by the Dublin Outreach team to reduce risk for clients and volunteers." The Dublin Simon Community is working closely with Safetynet, which is leading the Covid-19 testing of individuals across all homeless services. "In the event that a person on the street began to display symptoms, the Dublin Outreach team would contact Safetynet and lead the patient to a self-isolation unit as directed," it added. Medical "The Dublin Simon Community Step-Up Step-Down unit, which we run in conjunction with Safetynet, has increased its bed count during Covid-19 to provide medical support to 20 more homeless patients. "The expansion of the unit will also mean that 36 beds are available in acute hospitals for those in need because of Covid-19. "Our management team are meeting remotely each day and are in regular contact with the HSE, DRHE, Department of Housing, Safetynet and other agencies." The HSE and DRHE have been contacted for comment. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 03:07:01|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Photo taken on April 21, 2020 shows a statue of a child with a mask in Prestatyn in Wales, Britain. Another 823 people who tested positive for COVID-19 have died in hospitals in Britain as of Monday afternoon, bringing the total number of COVID-19-related deaths to 17,337, the Department of Health and Social Care said Tuesday. As of Tuesday morning, 129,044 people have tested positive for COVID-19, marking a daily increase of 4,301, said the department. (Photo by Jon Super/Xinhua) LONDON, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Another 823 people who tested positive for COVID-19 have died in hospitals in Britain as of Monday afternoon, bringing the total number of coronavirus-related deaths to 17,337, the Department of Health and Social Care said Tuesday. As of Tuesday morning, 129,044 people have tested positive for COVID-19, marking a daily increase of 4,301, said the department. At Tuesday's Downing Street coronavirus briefing, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said clinical trials of a coronavirus vaccine, developed by scientists at the University of Oxford, will begin on people from Thursday. He emphasized that finding a valid vaccine for the virus is the top priority to address the ongoing coronavirus crisis. Meanwhile, Hancock said that the government is in direct talks with factories that actually produce the personal protective equipment (PPE) and the fabric that it is made of. "This is proved as one of the most fruitful avenues" to acquire PPE, he noted, adding that his colleagues from the Foreign Office and the Department for International Trade, especially in China, have done an incredible job making these connections with factories, he noted. "We are doing everything we possibly can," he added. Amid growing concern over the PPE shortage for the frontline medical staff, the Chinese community in Britain donated 30,000 protective medical gowns to the National Health Service (NHS) on Monday. According to the British Chinese Community Group, by the last weekend, more than 4 million pieces of PPE have been donated by the Chinese businesses, the Chinese community groups and individuals to the NHS and local care homes in Britain. On April 8, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in the UK donated 1.862 million items of medical supplies including 20 ventilators to the Lord Mayor's Appeal, the official charity of City of London. Earlier in the day, a Downing Street spokesman told reporters that SAGE, the scientific advisory group for emergencies, was meeting Tuesday to discuss its advice on face masks. Hancock said that the SAGE committee had discussed the issue and he looks forward to hearing their recommendations. Also on Tuesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke on the phone with U.S. President Donald Trump, said the Downing Street, adding that Johnson, who is "continuing his recovery", is currently not doing any formal government work. Facebook and Amazon led the Big Tech companies in lobbying spend in the first quarter of 2020, according to documents filed with the federal government this week. Facebook ramped up spending 19% from last quarter to $5.3 million, while Amazon spent 3% more than last quarter at $4.3 million. Meanwhile, Google scaled back its spend 34% compared to last quarter, reporting $1.8 million in lobbying expenses. Google had already begun cutting down its lobbying operation last year and shaking up its global government affairs and policy operations, firing about half a dozen firms representing about half of its lobbying bill last year, according to The Wall Street Journal. Here's the breakdown of Big Tech lobbying spend in the first quarter: Facebook : $5.3 million, up 19% from last quarter $5.3 million, up 19% from last quarter Amazon : $4.3 million, up 3% $4.3 million, up 3% Microsoft: $2.4 million, up 0.2% Apple : $2.2 million, up 18% $2.2 million, up 18% Google: $1.8 million, down 34% The new tally comes as the coronavirus pandemic has rocked businesses in every industry and made many workers more reliant on the internet than ever. In recent weeks, the companies participated in calls with the federal government, and Google and Apple have pitched into efforts to trace the spread of the virus through a new partnership. Tech companies seem to be gaining back some goodwill that had been lost over the past few years due to privacy scandals and complaints from the start-up world about its competitive tactics. Facebook and Google are both subjects of antitrust investigations on the federal and state levels, and Amazon and Apple are both the frequent subjects of scrutiny, including from the Congressional antitrust probe. But the full effects the tech companies' efforts in the coronavirus response on lobbying spend likely won't be reflected until the next quarter's filings. Still, filings for Facebook, Apple and Amazon all mentioned that part of their efforts were related to issues around Covid-19. Amazon lobbied the federal government on issues related to combating price gouging and false claims about the virus as well as issues related to the federal stimulus bill. Facebook and Apple's filings only mention that they lobbied on issues related to the coronavirus response. Microsoft also lobbied on the stimulus bill. Facebook and Apple both kicked up spending most in the quarter, each doling out over 18% more than they did in the previous filing period. Both companies have been engaged in discussions with lawmakers and the Justice Department about encryption, which the companies argue is a key tactic to protect consumer privacy. Several government officials have argued that encryption could shield child predators who use the internet to abuse their victims or spread exploitative material. The Justice Department has argued for the companies to allow for a way for law enforcement to gain access to encrypted devices and services with a court order, which tech companies argue would jeopardize the security of all users. Last month, senators introduced a bipartisan bill tying protections of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to adhering to best practices for detecting and reporting child sexual exploitation materials to law enforcement. Section 230 protects platforms from liability for their users' content. A tech trade group representing the big five tech companies slammed the new legislation as a way to outlaw end-to-end encryption, which the senators have denied. Lobbying filings show the tech companies spending on many of the hot button topics that preceded the current crisis. Facebook lobbied the federal government on topics including encryption, content policy, federal privacy and political advertising legislation, worker visas and Section 230, among other topics. Apple lobbied on issues including patent law reform, counterfeit enforcement, trade agreements, competition and government requests for data. Microsoft, which has received comparatively little scrutiny in recent years, spent $2.5 million on lobbying in the quarter, fairly consistent with previous quarters. Microsoft has been involved in an ongoing legal battle regarding a lucrative government defense contract it was awarded last year over Amazon, which was believed to be the favorite to win the $10 billion deal. Amazon has alleged the the Defense Department was biased in its review and asked for a new evaluation. Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube. WATCH: How US antitrust law works, and what it means for Big Tech The overall number of cases have increased to as many as 20,471 which represents an increase of 360 cases, in comparison to the figure of 20,111 being vouched for as per media reports early on Wednesday. New Delhi: The total number of Coronavirus cases continue to increase in the country at an alarming rate, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. There have been seven deaths during the course of the day bringing the figure to 652, in comparison to the 645 cited during the morning by agencies. This is certainly a shock for a country that is desperate to inch back to normalcy after a turbulent couple of months. A total of 3960 cases have been discharged which is a step in the right direction. 27 people have tested positive on Wednesday in the Kashmir division, which increases the total number of COVID-19 cases in the state of Jammu and Kashmir to 407. The number currently reads 351 in Kashmir, as stated by Rohit Kansal, the government spokesman. The number of cases in the Jammu division stands at 56. There are further 260 cases of COVID-19 in Haryana, out of which 153 people recovered and three succumbed. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has slammed the center for lecturing the state on COVID-19 preparedness, sending teams, but not providing proper testing kits. Globally, more than 25 lakh infections have been reported with over 1.7 lakh people losing their lives to this virus pandemic, as many as 42,000 people dying in the US. China has further dismissed a US lawsuit that alleged it suppressed coronavirus information. We dont know if he meant to do it, but French Montana managed to draw the internets fury after making some claims about his music career. Comparing his catalog to Kendrick Lamars didnt sit well with many, including rapper Young Thug. Not only do music fans have their own opinions about French Montanas comments, but its led to a back-and-forth between him and Young Thug. French Montana | Cassidy Sparrow/Getty Images; Young Thug | Joseph Okpako/WireImage/Getty Images What French Montana said about Kendrick Lamar Whenever a rapper claims to be better than someone else, it leads to a debate. Thats what happened when French said he has more hits than Lamar. During an interview with Complex News Speedy, the rapper/producer stated if he went up against Lamar in a battle, he has what it takes. Speedy referenced Frenchs Instagram Live face-off against Tory Lanez, and asked if there was someone better he would square up against. French first said he could face anyone and talked about being in music for 20 years. But then he compared his body of work to Lamars. Honestly you put someone like Kendrick Lamar next to me on the same stage at a festival. I might outshine him not because Im a better rapper or whatever it is its just I got more hits. Kendrick Lamar got albums; hes got masterpieces. Fans roasted French Montana and challenged him too After catching heat from music fans online, French defended his position on Twitter by saying, It aint my faut I believe in myself. How was I supposed to answer that question? He also showed love to Lamar as an artist. Some fans backed him up by spotlighting his track record with club anthems and acknowledged his confidence. IF WE JUST TALKING ABOUT ANTHEMS, !! ME VS KENDRICK HIT FOR HIT ! I BELIEVE I CAN GO NECK TO NECK !! I BEEN MAKING HITS FOR A LONG TIME ! IT AINT MY FAULT I BELIEVE IN MYSELF. HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION ? HOW MANY TIMES I GOTTA PROVE MYSELF BEFORE I GET MINE French Montana (@FrencHMonTanA) April 22, 2020 But many on Twitter disagree that French has a track list comparable to Lamars. One commenter joked, Might as well go hit for hit with drake since you so damn confident, and another issued a poll that garnered more than 90,000 responses. Others were kinder in their roasts like this one: French, I love your energy brother. U made some fun records for the club. You seem like a really good guy. But you cant rap & your music is mad one dimensional. Kendrick is an ARTIST. But then Young Thug chimed in and things went to another level. Young Thug threw shots at French Montana Now a trending topic on Twitter, a beef between rapper Young Thug and French ensued on social media. Young Thug posted several videos insulting French about his music, and the two traded jabs over money, cars, fashion, and fights. Young Thug claimed hes done more for Frenchs friend Max B and also brought up Meek Mill, saying hed call him to bring out a video of French being knocked out. That prompted French to drag Young Thug for wearing a dress in a joint music video and he posted a clip offering $1 million to Young Thug for the Meek Mill footage. He also pointed out that his words about Lamar had nothing to do with Young Thug. Fans remain divided over Frenchs declaration that he and Lamar can go neck and neck but theyre also taking sides in the dispute between him and Young Thug. Its still playing out on Twitter and Instagram, but since French is on a beef-squashing tour right now, maybe theyll end it. The leaders of the Polisario Front should tighten up their belts and no longer rely on their main fund-provider, Algeria, whose petrodollar reserves are being whittled away by the coronavirus pandemic, while its revenues from hydrocarbons sale continue to dip with the sharp fall of oil prices in the international market. The Algerian regimes coffers will soon be dried up with the continued drop in the price of the Saharan Blend which was trading Tuesday at less than $20 a barrel. The Algerian regime, which is controlled by old army generals, will no longer be able to use the oil-money to buy social peace in the country. The same thing goes for the slush funds that were also used by the Algerian civilian and military leaders to finance their dirty war against their Moroccan neighbor which they have always deemed as their number one enemy in the Maghreb region. These slush funds have been used for more than 40 years to finance the Polisarios hostile activities against Morocco in a bid to achieve their illusive dream dating back to the Cold War era, to impose their leadership over North Africa. Now that Algeria is facing an unprecedented economic and financial crisis, the Polisario risks crumbling down and disappearing at any moment. All it takes is a simple decision by Algerian leaders to shut down funding of the separatist groups operations. Henceforth, the Polisario leaders have no other choice but to accept the large autonomy plan offered to them by Morocco to put an end to the humiliating and endless ordeal suffered by thousands of Sahrawis held against their will in open-air detention centers set up in the desert of Algeria. Otherwise, they risk to be overpowered by a burst of uprising of frustrated populations of the Tindouf camps, whose worsening living conditions will inevitably lead to a humanitarian catastrophe. In north Alabama, business and political leaders on the local Getting Alabama Back 2 Work Task Force are calling on Gov. Kay Ivey to immediately rescind her stay-at-home order and reopen the state economy. In west Alabama, leaders want a measured plan" on opening up business, with the lions share pushing for a May 1 reopening of the economy. In southwest Alabama, where tourism is a main staple of the economy, May 1 is also the preferred date to begin reopening businesses and beaches. Other areas of the state havent given a suggested reopening date, instead making recommendations on what measures and policies need to be in place before Alabamas economy comes back. Those are the results from Alabamas seven congressional districts tasked with submitting recommendations to the governor on how best to get businesses up and running again. The task forces, led by the seven Alabama U.S. House members, had a Wednesday deadline for reporting back to Ivey. U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville, who led the 5th Congressional Districts task force, said the 14-member committee comprised of doctors, business leaders and elected officials voted 10-4 suggesting that Iveys stay-at-home order expire on its last day of April 30 while the committee recommended the order expire immediately by a 10-0 margin. Alabama has two options. We can live under government dictate, where a burgeoning nanny state regulates, for our own good, because we are not smart enough to know better, the minutiae of our lives (even to the point of dictating when we can visit our children, grandchildren, parents and siblings, and how far apart we must be when we do so). Or we can have a government that is a partner and adviser, that gives its best advice but defers to citizens the liberty and freedom of making their own decisions on how to best balance the conflict between COVID-19 safety and the income needed to support family life," Brooks said in a statement Monday night after submitting his committees recommendations. "I am proud that, in the Tennessee Valley, our Advisory Committee members chose to respect liberty, freedom, and the right of individual citizens to do what they believe is best to protect and promote their own lives. In a 13-1 vote, the committee suggested only the provision of the order requiring anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 self-quarantine for 14 days stay in effect. In separate 12-0 votes, the task force recommended the state promote telehealth and telemedicine and put some protections in place for working Alabamians at high risk of acquiring COVID-19, such as encouraging them to work from home, loosening sick pay restrictions and modify their unemployment benefits. U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Hayleyville, who led the 4th Congressional Districts task force, had the 24 chambers of commerce in his district distribute surveys to businesses about the best time and way to reopen the economy, and that 64 percent of the roughly 400 respondents said the state was ready to get back to work by May 1. The lions share -- 35 percent -- of respondents said a May 1 reopening of the economy would be ideal, according to Aderholt. Another 29 percent supported an immediate reopening of the economy while 7 percent suggested June 1 and 20 percent chose other. In conclusion, the overall message we are getting from the people of the Fourth District is that we cannot stay closed indefinitely, but at the same time, we cannot open the economy all at once, Aderholt said in his recommendation to the governor. There needs to be a measured plan to open things up in phases to ensure that businesses are acting responsibly, and their customers are protected as much as possible. My recommendation is to follow the federal guidelines, which calls for a two week decline in new cases; for our hospitals to be able to operate on a non-crisis basis and a robust testing program for at-risk healthcare workers as well as antibody testing. Additionally, I feel that the state, where appropriate, should work on a regional or county basis to modify these criteria to fit the local circumstances. After all, what will work for Tuscaloosa County may not work for DeKalb County. Aderholt appointed 13 people from various industries to be a part of the task force, and he said a number of members were concerned about the lack of antibody testing and that there may not be enough personal protective equipment or hand sanitizer to meet demand. Other concerns included employees reluctance to go back to work either because of worries of contracting COVID-19 or lack of childcare or daycare. A hospital administrator on the committee suggested that elective procedures no longer be banned because the current restrictions have drastically reduced their income" while their hospital is treating "few, if any, COVID-19 patients. The task force also recommended Ivey create a program to help small businesses to transition to e-commerce in case future stay-at-home orders are issued. U.S. Rep. Bradley Bryne, R-Fairhope, who submitted the 1st Congressional Districts recommendations to the governor on Wednesday, suggested that businesses reopen May 1 with safety measures like social distancing and the use of personal protective equipment. In a conference call with reporters, Byrne said its a false choice to consider whether to reopen the economy or protect residents health. Its not either/or, he said. There is a way for us to do this so you can have both. The report from Byrnes task force called for a May 1 reopening of beaches, restaurants, retail and personal services like barbershops and salons. My recommendation is that businesses, restaurants, and our beaches reopen beginning May 1. It is important businesses have time to make the necessary modifications in order to safely reopen under the new public health guidelines. pic.twitter.com/egHrH0MkAo Rep. Bradley Byrne (@RepByrne) April 22, 2020 But the report also said beaches should be limited to no more than groups of 10 separated at least 6-feet apart with law enforcement overseeing that those rules are followed. And the 6-feet rule would also need to be followed in restaurants, who would also have to abide by table maximums. Other districts didnt put a timeline on when Alabamas economy should reopen. Rep. Martha Roby, R-Montgomery, who headed the 2nd Congressional Districts task force, said there needs to be more personal protective equipment and testing capacity before businesses can open their doors. She suggested that reopenings should be done on a county-by-county basis, and that counties with little or no coronavirus cases should open sooner than others. Also, there should be a decrease in cases for 14 days before the reopening of the economy. Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Hoover, who represented the 6th Congressional Districts task force, said businesses in the district are prepared and ready to reopen, with access to the personal protective equipment for their employees, the sanitation supplies needed to keep workspaces clean and with appropriate guidance in a cooperative atmosphere with state and local governments. Among the concerns district businesses have, according to Palmer, were that the $600 extra a week in unemployment benefits provided under the stimulus package is incentivizing employees not to return to work. This has unfortunately become an unemployment bonus that is prompting individuals to leave their jobs even though they have not been furloughed, the congressman said, adding that businesses told him that even employees who have not been laid off have applied and been granted unemployment. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Saks, who headed the 3rd Congressional Districts committee, said that whenever Ivey plans to reopen the economy, the policy must have the confidence of the public. Consumer confidence is paramount for businesses to be successful. Consumers are smart and will determine where they want and feel safe to shop. Business owners are smart and will compete for the consumers trust. The public must have confidence that the policies from the state to reopen the economy are in their best interest, he said. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, who led the 7th Congressional Districts task force, said a reopening cannot take place until cases have declined for 14 consecutive days while also providing adequate personal protective equipment and increased accessed to testing. She noted that a reopening could not happen soon as hospitalizations, cases and deaths are trending upward. I am as eager as anyone to reopen our states economy and get Alabamians back to work, she said. However, we must make sure that we do so safely, responsibly, and strategically. Public health must remain our top priority. W hitehalls mousing cats are no exception to todays WFH and lockdown rules. Two of the only three still in London, Evie and her son Ossie, are based in the Cabinet Office, where a spokesman tells us they are both continuing their important work while sticking to social distancing guidelines. The spokesman added, in addition to their mousing duties theyve been doing a great job keeping our security guards and officials company its also fair to say they are enjoying having slightly more free range of the building. Larry, the Downing Street cat, is carrying on as normal, No 10 told us. The Treasury has no plans to replace Gladstone who, the Londoner understands, remains the departments one and only chief mouser. Gladstone has been working from home in Essex since January for health reasons. Foreign Office cat Palmerston is also away from Whitehall. Sir Simon McDonald, the Foreign Office permanent secretary, recently tweeted: These corona days, hes climbing trees & supervising mice in Hampshire. But the records of some cats were chequered, with staffers claiming mice still went free. As departments cool on replacements, could the age of the Whitehall cats be over? --- A cat with claws: Russell Crowe (Photo: ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images) / AFP via Getty Images Russell Crowe won an Oscar playing sword-wielding Maximus in Gladiator, but he is no stranger to a stiletto. On the film he became friends with Richard Harris, though not the hard-drinking Oliver Reed. I gravitate towards company who enjoy a drink, Crowe tells Empire Magazine, not those who just enjoy getting drunk. Theres quite a distinct difference. --- Revelation: Angela Scanlon (Photo: Jeff Spicer/BFC/Getty Images) / Getty Images Angela Scanlon believes cheese has just really come into its own during this lockdown period, claiming we took it for granted. The TV presenter explains to the Fortunately podcast: You can grate it on top of pasta, then woah, meal in minutes. You can have it straight off the block. You can add a few grapes and have a cheese board. Stop press. SW1A Getty Images MP Michael Fabricant tells us he will comply with the Speaker and wear a jacket and tie online, but as voters expressed their democratic will in a Twitter poll, I might wear pink shorts underneath. The Resistance begins. --- Tory MP Jonathan Gullis sees things differently. This morning Gullis donned the works: a jacket, tie, trousers and shoes and clutched what he tells us is a ceramic mug as hes from Stoke-on-Trent. Always on brand. Klass teaches her kids the rubber duckie song Educator: Myleene Klass (Photo: HGL/GC Images) / GC Images Medics wearing protective suits use a thermal screening device on an employee at a pizza shop during a nationwide lockdown imposed as a preventive measure against the coronavirus pandemic, in Bhopal. PTI photo New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday interacted with a group of doctors and representatives of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and appreciated their good work besides assuring them security, officials said. This comes amid reports of attacks on healthcare workers and assaults on some doctors engaged in COVID-19 duties in different parts of the country. The home minister interacted with the doctors and the IMA through video-conferencing, a home ministry official said. Shah appreciated their good work and assured them full security, he said. The home minister appealed to them to not do even a symbolic protest as the government is with the doctors, the official said. The IMA was planning to stage protests against assaults on some doctors and healthcare workers engaged in COVID-19 duties. There have been reports of doctors being abused, beaten and denied entry into residences. Families of at least two doctors, who succumbed to the novel coronavirus in Shillong and Chennai, had faced opposition while performing their last rites as the locals claimed that burying them in their localities may lead to the spread of the infection. SAN DIEGO Brian Bonar Brownsville, TX www.dalrada.com , April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Dalrada Health Products, the wholly owned subsidiary of Dalrada Financial Corp. (OTC Pink: DFCO) is pleased to announce its official launch of GlanHealth, a comprehensive product line of hand sanitizers and surface disinfectants. The new website, GlanHealth.com, showcases an array of non-alcohol based products ranging from foams, gels, wipes, sprays, and liquids for every-day use that provide effective and long-term protection in continuously reducing micro-organisms. The primary solutions offered include wholesale and distributor programs for large volume customers, spray services for residential and commercial facilities, and direct to consumer channels.The company is going through rapid expansion to meet the demands of large customers with hundreds of facilities and thousands of employees that are preparing to bring their workforce back to work. "There will be long-term behavioral changes that will significantly impact our actions no matter where we are and what we're doing, due to the pandemic. Even the simple things that used to be normal will change, our focus will be about safety first," said, Chief Executive Officer.GlanHealth's products are all laboratory tested in various environmental conditions and against various harmful viruses, bacteria, fungi, and spores. Test results have shown complete reduction including fast-acting mechanisms and long-term protection up to 28 days on certain product types. "All of our ingredients are safe and effective, and can be found on FDA and EPA approved databases. We are planning to conduct additional testing on the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and other harmful microbials that will follow specific testing protocols to provide more data to our customers and partners. "Every business will need to rethink their product or service positioning, unfortunately the customer experience for many brands will now shift to prioritizing safety and well-being. We will do our part in helping our customers get their businesses back up and running," continued Bonar.The company is completing the final steps in procuring a bottling and warehousing facility in, with existing partner facilities already in operation from manufacturing, bottling, to packaging. The company will continue to enhance GlanHealth.com website with additional features and helpful educational information about the new product line and general safety tips.A subsidiary of Dalrada Financial Corp., Dalrada Health is focused on solving health problems around the world. The company develops products and services that address the unmet needs of consumers due to accessibility, affordability, or availability. With operations in the U.S., Malaysia, and India, Dalrada Health can reach underserved markets through strong partnerships and the development of efficient supply chains. Dalrada Health is committed to solving universal health problems through improved methodologies resulting in products and services that benefit the global marketplace. For details, visit https://dalradahealth.com. For details about GlanHealth's hand sanitizers and surface disinfectants, visit https://GlanHealth.com.Dalrada Financial Corp. (OTC Pink: DFCO) solves real-world problems by producing innovation-focused and technologically-centered solutions on a global level. Delivering next-generation manufacturing, engineering, and healthcare products and services designed to propel growth, Dalrada is a team of industry experts and an organization built upon a strong foundation of financial capital. The Company and its subsidiaries are positioned for stable long-term growth through intelligent market research, sound business acumen, and established operational infrastructure. For more information, visitor call 1-858-283-1253.Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding future revenues and sales projections, plans for future financing, the ability to meet operational milestones, marketing arrangements and plans, and shipments to and regulatory approvals in international markets. Such statements reflect management's current views, are based on certain assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results, events, or performance may differ materially from the above forward-looking statements due to a number of important factors, and will be dependent upon a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, our ability to obtain additional financing that will allow us to continue our current and future operations and whether demand for our products and services in domestic and international markets will continue to expand. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date hereof or to reflect any change in the Company's expectations with regard to these forward-looking statements or the occurrence of unanticipated events. Factors that may impact the Company's success are more fully disclosed in the Company's most recent public filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including its annual report on Form 10-K. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dalrada-financial-corporation-launches-sanitization-and-disinfectant-brand-301045058.html SOURCE Dalrada Health Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 22) A $2.5-million laboratory equipment and 45,000 test kits funded by the Asian Development Bank arrived in the country from China on Wednesday. The laboratory equipment and test kits were flown to Clark International Airport and will be used for COVID-19 testing at Jose B. Lingad Memorial General Hospital (JBLMGH) in San Fernando, Pampanga. The said hospital will serve as a pandemic subnational reference laboratory and is currently on the third stage of accreditation, according to the Department of Health. Its personnel, meanwhile, are completing their training from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine. The Clark Development Corporation (CDC) said the $2.5-million equipment, developed by the Beijing Genome Institute, can facilitate 3,000 tests per day. The proficiency testing of the dispatched instruments is expected to be conducted on May 2 to 10, the corporation added. Once the RITM has confirmed the laboratorys accuracy in testing the samples, it will be certified by May 15 and can run tests on samples at full capacity on May 16, the CDC said. Apart from addressing the COVID-19 crisis, the reference laboratory in JBLMGH will also be used for other medical-related research, such as on pathogens, genetic disease, and cancer. Two Bangladesh hospitals dedicated to fighting the coronavirus are refusing to treat patients from one of the countrys worst slums, an activist said Wednesday. Members of the Bihari community -- descendants of refugees who fled to Bangladesh after the partition of India in 1947 -- say the pandemic has highlighted the discrimination they have endured for decades. Some 32,000 Bihari live in Geneva Camp -- one of the most desperate slums in the country -- where rights lawyer Khalid Hussain and police say two residents tested positive for coronavirus. Hussain said a state-run hospital meant specifically for COVID-19 patients had refused to admit the two, declaring their condition not critical. Now Geneva Camp residents were being rejected by another local hospital no matter what their health issue is, Hussain said, as staff fear they may catch the virus. The Biharis have faced discrimination for years, as the community is accused of backing Pakistan during Bangladeshs 1971 war of independence. About 500,000 live in 116 settlements across the country of 168 million. Bihari community leader Sadakat Khan Fakku said a man infected with coronavirus from another camp had also been turned away by a local hospital, and he was now self-quarantined in a one-room home with his family. None of the hospitals approached by AFP would comment on the allegations, but Nasima Sultana, deputy head of Bangladeshs health department, denied discrimination. There are 10 million slum people in Dhaka, she told AFP. We dont have enough beds, she added, saying people with mild symptoms should treat themselves at home. Advocate Hussain said the two infected men from Geneva camp had been isolated with 20 families, but that social distancing was almost impossible in so crowded a place. He said at least six people in the slum have died in recent weeks with coronavirus-type symptoms such as viral fever and respiratory problems. None of them were tested, so we dont know whether they had coronavirus, he said. Bangladesh has officially said 120 people have died and 3,800 others been infected with coronavirus, but experts say more testing would reveal far higher figures. Missouri Republican Attorney General Eric Schmitt sued the Chinese government and the Communist Party of China on Tuesday, becoming the first state to seek damages from the nation over its "appalling campaign of deceit, concealment, misfeasance, and inaction" that he says unleashed the coronavirus pandemic. "The Chinese government lied to the world about the danger and contagious nature of COVID-19, silenced whistleblowers, and did little to stop the spread of the disease," Schmitt said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. "They must be held accountable for their actions." Schmitt told Fox News's Tucker Carlson on Tuesday that he the "responsibility lies directly at their feet" for the 189 deaths and more than 5,900 covid-19 infections as well as the economic suffering so many families in his state are experiencing under the stay-at-home order. Schmitt's lawsuit appears to be part of a growing effort, mostly among GOP lawmakers, to make China quite literally pay for the mounting pain and economic turmoil that covid-19 has caused millions of families in the United States or at least garner some publicity for blaming China, a goal of President Donald Trump. The latter is the most likely outcome since experts in international law say Schmitt's lawsuit likely doesn't stand a chance. Chimene Keitner, an international law professor at the University of California at Hastings College of Law, said she did not"see any portion of this lawsuit succeeding under the law as it currently stands." The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act prohibits lawsuits against foreign states with few narrow exceptions, which Keitner said she doesn't believe apply here despite the Missouri attorney general's efforts to cite them. "They obviously have some talented lawyers in the AG's office, but even a talented lawyer can't rewrite the FSIA," said Keitner, a former State Department lawyer who has been tracking several similar class-action lawsuits recently filed against China by small businesses or health-care workers. Pointing to China's lack of transparency with its own people and the rest of the world during the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak, a number of GOP senators have filed bills that would amend the FSIA so that Americans could sue China for its failures. It's a movement that has drawn increasing support in conservative circles. Former House speaker Newt Gingrich summarized and endorsed the calls for litigation by various lawmakers in a Fox News op-ed Monday, saying, "the United States should pass a law making the Chinese government and its controlling power, the Chinese Communist Party, open to individual or class-action lawsuits on behalf of the families who have lost loved ones to the pandemic." A bill by Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Martha McSally, R-Ariz., would amend FSIA to allow lawsuits against any foreign state that "discharges a biological weapon." Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., have filed similar legislation, creating avenues for Americans to sue China or foreign entities for failures or deceit during public health emergencies. "The CCP unleashed this pandemic," Hawley said in announcing his bill on April 14. "They must be held accountable to their victims." But some critics have charged that the focus on suing China is simply a political strategy to divert attention from the U.S. government's own failures to take more proactive and aggressive action against the virus. "We are seeing a lot of people on the political right focus on the China issue to cover up for the U.S. government's own errors," Tom Ginsburg, a professor of international law at the University of Chicago Law School, told Reuters. In an interview with NPR, Lea Brilmayer, professor of international law at Yale Law School, described Schmitt's lawsuit as "a last-ditch effort to do something to respond to the political situation." Like Keitner, she also did not believe the lawsuit had any shot at success. Keitner said she considered the proposals by lawmakers to do away with China's sovereign immunity to go were a "total nightmare." She said the more appropriate way to hold China accountable and to investigate China's failures, as well as other nations', would be to create an international tribunal - not filing lawsuits that will go nowhere. "Anybody who works in foreign relations recognizes that the minute you start stripping other countries of sovereign immunity, you are opening yourself up to lawsuits in the foreign courts of 190 other countries, potentially, that decide to do the same to you," she said. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang responded to Schmitt's lawsuit during a news briefing on Wednesday, calling it "very absurd," the Associated Press reported. "This so-called lawsuit is very absurd and has no factual and legal basis at all," Geng said at a daily briefing, the AP reported, insisting that China has proceeded in an "open, transparent and responsible manner." No casualties reported amid seven enemy attacks in Donbas in past 24 hours Russia's hybrid military forces mounted seven attacks on Ukrainian positions in Donbas over past 24 hours, opening fire from proscribed 120mm and 82mm mortars, grenade launchers of various types, heavy machine guns, and rifles, the press centre of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) has reported. "There have been no casualties among Ukrainian defenders as a result of the enemy shelling attacks over the past day," the JFO staff said in its update on Facebook on Wednesday morning. Ukrainian positions near the towns of Avdiyivka and Krasnohorivka, and the villages of Starohnativka, Krymske, Novotoshkivske, and Luhanske came under attacks. Bestway Cement donates PM's Corona Fund 22 April 2020 Muhammad Irfan A Sheikh, CFO of Bestway Cement Ltd, met Pakistan's Prime Minister, Imran Khan on 20 April and contributed PKR205m (US$1.28m) in PM's Corona Fund on behalf of the group and his family to support the government in its efforts to fight the current coronavirus-related crisis. On the occasion, PM Imran Khan lauded the spirit shown by the Bestway Group and Irfan Ellahi for the relief fund. Bestway Group valiantly enlists businesses in Pakistan as the largest cement manufacturer (Bestway Cement Ltd), the second largest bank (United Bank Ltd) and one of the biggest rice milling facilities (MAP Rice Mills), in addition to owning several investments in wholesale, pharmacy, real estate, retail outlets and ethnic food and beverage import and distribution operations. Published under Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Yulia Savitri (The Jakarta Post) Palembang Wed, April 22, 2020 20:02 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd3a014a 1 Health scientists,South-Sumatra,COVID-19,coronavirus,virus-korona-indonesia,remedy,obat,virus-corona,sugar Free A group of scientists in South Sumatra claims to have discovered a possible remedy for COVID-19: a glucose-based snack, which is said to have been effective in breaking down several major components of the novel coronavirus that causes the disease and inhibiting its incubation. The product, dubbed SIeNERGI, is among the 130 discoveries recently developed using nano-technology, according to the scientists. This is not a [chemical substance]. Its an edible material that we normally consume every day, said Achmad Faisal Rizal, one of the scientists, during his meeting with South Sumatra Governor Herman Deru on Tuesday. Faisal claimed SIeNERGI had served as a particularly potent antivirus for a number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and suspected patients, as evidenced in a recent trial run. Three patients in Bekasi, West Java, and Jakarta said they had recovered from COVID-19 symptoms three days after they consumed SieNERGI, he said. According to him, the product is able to turn protein a major driver of the coronavirus growth into amino acid, depriving the virus of some of its major replication components. Furthermore, the glucose contained in the product is also found to have broken down carbohydrates a source of energy for the virus into calories within a hosts body, he said. Read also: COVID-19: Antiparasitic drug can kill coronavirus within two days, study finds Weve developed such a technology, which now comes in the package of a glucose-based snack, Faisal said, claiming that the product did not have any side effects. Governor Herman expressed his enthusiasm for SieNERGI and called for further research into the glucose-based antivirus to learn more about the products long-term effects on the body. However, Yuwono of Sriwijaya University Medical School, who also serves as the spokesperson for the provinces COVID-19 rapid response task force, expressed his skepticism about the product. I wonder why [the product] is labeled an antivirus. The product is an herbal or nutritional therapy. It still has a long way to go before it could be used in hospitals or clinics, Yuwono told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. He went on to say that an antivirus is vastly different from a vaccine. An antivirus is a substance that inhibits the growth of a virus, whereas a vaccine is a neutered virus that serves to strengthen an individuals antibodies against similar pathogens. Read also: COVID-19: Jokowi urges G20 countries to develop vaccine, win 'war' against the pandemic SieNERGI is the latest in a growing list of products that have been touted as possible remedies for COVID-19 in recent months. However, the efficacy and safety of these products have yet to be proven. President Joko Jokowi Widodo said last month that the government had been preparing medicines, including 3 million doses of chloroquine, which he described as having been proven to cure COVID-19 in other countries. However, experts warned that self-medication using chloroquine could result in severe side effects, including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, breathing difficulties and mental disorders. A traditional beverage called empon-empon became highly popular last month following a recent study by Chairul Anwar Nidom from Airlangga University in East Java, which claimed that consuming the traditional drink could increase ones immunity to diseases. (rfa) The ordinance, which now awaits the assent of the President, amends the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 to make the offence non-bailable. The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved an ordinance aimed at preventing violence against health workers after several cases of assaults on doctors were reported during the coronavirus outbreak. The ordinance lays down a prison term between six months and seven years for those found guilty of such an assault. The ordinance, which now awaits the assent of the President, amends the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 to make the offence non-bailable. Presently, Section 3 of the Act only states that any person disobeying any order the law will be deemed to have committed an offence under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Section 188 of the IPC, in turn, deals with "disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant," and the offence is bailable and cognisable. Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar made this announcement while addressing a news conference after a Cabinet meeting. Addressing the media, Javadekar said that as per the ordinance, investigation in cases of assaults on health workers will have to be completed within 30 days. "If damage is done to the vehicles or clinics of healthcare workers, then a compensation amounting to twice the market value of the damaged property will be taken from the accused," Javadekar said. Follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak here "Health workers who are trying to save the country from this epidemic are unfortunately facing attacks. No incident of violence or harassment, against them will be tolerated," he further asserted. There have been multiple instances recently of health workers being attacked by families of patients and mobs. On 16 April, four persons were injured in Moradabad as a mob tried to stop a medical team from taking a coronavirus-infected man into isolation and hurled stones at the team's ambulance. On 14 April, a doctor was allegedly assaulted in Hyderabad by the son of a man under quarantine at a hospital here following a quarrel after two others in the ward tested positive for the infection. Earlier in the day, the Indian Medical Association withdrew a protest that it had planned against assaults on some doctors and healthcare workers engaged in COVID-19 duties. This was after home minister Amit Shah interacted with the doctors and the IMA through video-conferencing and assured them full security. Along with the ordinance putting in place stricter punitive measures, the Cabinet has also approved Rs 15,000 crore for ''India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package". The package is to be utilised in three phases. For immediate COVID-19 Emergency Response, an amount of Rs. 7,774 Crore has been provisioned, and the remaining amount is for medium-term support (1-4 years) With inputs from agencies Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 09:26:49|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HARBIN, April 22 (Xinhua) -- China's Heilongjiang Province Tuesday reported seven new locally-transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases and one new imported confirmed case, the provincial health commission said Wednesday. The new imported case was a Chinese national returning from Russia. By Tuesday, the province had reported a total of 384 confirmed imported COVID-19 cases. It had traced 2,093 close contacts, with 207 still under medical observation. On Tuesday, Heilongjiang saw no new imported asymptomatic cases. The province had a total of 29 imported asymptomatic cases by Tuesday. Enditem Annie Lewis stepped away from her regular duties as the Multnomah County Librarys Early Childhood Services Manager in early April to spend a week offering assistance at a temporary homeless shelter at the Oregon Convention Center. She is one of many Multnomah County Library employees who have assisted with the countys response to the COVID-19 crisis since the central library and its 18 neighborhood branches closed March 13. Responding to a pandemic wasnt necessarily something that I thought I would ever be assisting or volunteering with, but Im really happy that we can help, Lewis said. The library staff are accustomed to helping people across the county with varying levels of need and a diversity of experiences. Were accustomed to adapting, were accustomed to responding to the needs of individuals. The Multnomah County Library, Oregons largest public library system, has quickly worked to reallocate resources over the last month, providing staff to assist with the countys COVID-19 response while doubling its spending on digital content and creating additional online programming. Other libraries across the state have taken similar steps to redistribute spending and staff amid the COVID-19 crisis. AIDING THE COVID-19 RESPONSE As of last week, 102 Multnomah County Library staff members had taken on temporary or ongoing assignments with the county related to the COVID-19 response. Those workers are helping to staff emergency shelters and countywide donation centers, using library delivery trucks for emergency operations, creating and translating content for countywide communications, creating face shields, respirator components and face coverings using 3D printers, laser cutters and sewing machines, and reaching out to isolated seniors to check in and offer assistance. The Multnomah County Library, whose 2020 operating budget of $88.1 million was funded almost entirely by a dedicated property tax, employs 579 full-time staff members and 97 part-time workers. Our staff have been able to step into those roles, said Vailey Oehlke, director of libraries for Multnomah County. Were not unique in that. There are libraries all over the country that are refocusing their skills to directly address the crisis. Lisa Tattersall, manager for Washington County Cooperative Library Services, said that staff from the countys 16 public libraries have been offering assistance to county and city emergency operations centers amid the COVID-19 crisis. After the libraries closed to the public last month, Tattersall said the member libraries in Washington County also came up with a plan to purchase new books to distribute to children in need this summer at meal sites serving low-income families. They are also working to distribute books from their warehouses to homeless people who were referred to a respite shelter after testing positive or exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19. It was such a heartbreaking couple of weeks when libraries were making the decision to close, Tattersall said. We care about serving the public and we want to meet their needs. Theres just no question that no matter the circumstances, we are going to try our best to meet the needs of our community. A MOVE TOWARD DIGITAL CONTENT While some library staff members have taken on new roles to help address the COVID-19 crisis, others have focused on providing continued access to books and other library materials. Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties all rolled out online library card applications so community members can easily gain access to digital content while libraries remain closed. The Multnomah County Library suspended purchase of new physical materials and is instead dedicating $460,000 per month to ebooks and downloadable audiobooks, up from the $180,000 per month it had budgeted. The library has added 25,000 items to its digital catalog since the COVID-19 crisis began. Along with ebooks and audiobooks, the library offers music and movies through Kanopy and Hoopla, among other services. Jon Worona, director of content strategy for the Multnomah County Library, said that e-content checkouts are up 43% from this time last year. Interest in e-content geared at children has doubled, to 50,000 checkouts per month. There really is quite a lot of content available, Worona said. One of the areas where weve had challenges in the past is finding ebooks and audiobooks in languages other than English. Weve really focused on that effort at this time when equity is so important in how we respond to this crisis. In Washington County, ebook and audiobook checkouts were up 28% in March, as compared to March 2019, and are expected to rise by another 20% in April, based on data from the first half of the month. Streaming video plays have increased by 210% from this time last year. Libraries in Clackamas County have seen a 31% increase in ebook and audiobook checkouts since libraries closed last month. Librarians have also quickly transitioned to provide additional online content, including academic resources geared at students learning from home and streamable story time for young children. The Molalla Public Library, the oldest library in Clackamas County, has been posting weekly challenges for children on its website. It recently unveiled Willow Reads Storytime, a video series where Willow the Golden Retriever reads childrens books. Every library is doing something a little different, said Diana Hadley, library director at Molalla Public Library. Were happy to still be serving our patrons in the midst of this COVID crisis. The roles of library staff could continue to evolve in the coming weeks. The Multnomah County Library is already exploring other options for virtual programs and services while preparing to send more staff to the county to help with the May election. Our work has already evolved, Oehlke said. It will continue to evolve as we move through this crisis and the needs of the community change. -- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com | @jamiebgoldberg Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. For 32-year-old doctor Shalaka Patil and 36-year-old nurse Ansa Sam John of Bhatia Hospital, the outbreak of Covid-19 has required them to treat not just patients, but also colleagues who contracted the infection while on duty. So far, over 100 members of medical staff from hospitals across the city have contracted Covid-19 after treating patients who were positive for the infection. Since April 9, 35 staff members of the privately-run Bhatia Hospital, in Tardeo, have been diagnosed with Covid-19. Patil and John are among an additional team of 25 that has stepped up to treat the 35 Covid-positive medical staff at the hospital. On Monday, 11 of the 35 were discharged after recovering, but eight of the additional staff, including doctors and nurses, on Wednesday tested positive for Sars-Cov-2, which causes Covid-19. At present, all the Covid-19 patients in Bhatia Hospital are staff members who had been treating patients. All outsider patients have recovered and been discharged. John, who has worked as a nurse at Bhatia Hospital for over 15 years, said, We are taking necessary precautions like wearing personal protection equipment, but there is still a chance that we might get it. All staff members are prepared for this. At Bhatia Hospital, three teams have been formed to treat Covid-positive patients, each one comprising three doctors, four nurses and two housekeeping staff. A total of 27 staff members are on rotational duty. The medical staff do rounds to check on their Covid-positive colleagues twice daily, in the morning and evening, and do follow-ups over video calls. Repeated swabs are taken of all staff and swabs are also collected from patients showing only minor symptoms, said Bhatia Hospital authorities. When we see our colleagues recovering, we get the confidence to keep going, said Patil. A team is on duty for seven days at a stretch, during which time they stay at the hospital. Then they go into a 14-day isolation and are replaced by another team. Patil, who is an intensivist and has been working for six years, said they are all aware that treating their colleagues increases chances of them getting infected despite taking necessary precautions. She also said part of the challenge was to comfort the families of those who have tested positive. We do regular counselling of family members over video calls. We being their colleagues are doing everything possible to handle this situation, she said. It is also necessary for those on duty to reassure their own families. Along with being mentally prepared, my family members are also proud of us, said Patil, who calls home twice a day. We make them [family members] understand that as a healthcare worker, it is our responsibility and it [Covid-19] might come to any one among us, said John. In addition, four priests and deacon from Pochaiv are infected too Open source Metropolitan of Ternopil and Kremenets Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate Sergius fell ill with a coronavirus. Volodymyr Panichev, the deputy head of the regional laboratory center, announced this, as Espreso reports, citing the press service of the Ternopil City Council. "Kyiv colleagues informed us that Metropolitan Sergius was hospitalized. In addition, four priests and a deacon from Pochaiv are diseased. A priest from Pochaiv and his wife are infected too," he said. According to him, Metropolitan Sergius could have had several places of residence. And it is very important to find out to establish all the persons who have been in contact with him recently. The documents of the clergyman indicated the Ternopil address. Such information was transferred to the regional laboratory center. As of April 22, in the Ternopil region, 471 patients with COVID-19 were recorded, 31 of them were children, seven cases were fatal. 132 doctors are among the sick. As we reported before, the clinical trials of the indigenous medicinal preparation for its capacity to reduce mortality from Covid-19 coronavirus have started in Ukraine WA Labor politician Dave Kelly has hit out at the Christian Brothers' handling of child sex allegations against a now-deceased brother who taught at a number of Perth schools, including CBC Fremantle. Mr Kelly, who was a student at the school from the early 1970s, told Gareth Parker on 6PR Radio that the Christian Brothers were still covering up what they knew about Brother Daniel McMahon, who was the subject of child sex abuse allegations in 2013. WA Labor minister Dave Kelly. Credit:David Allan-Petale He said the Catholic Church should close the religious order for failing the victims of sex abuse perpetrated by some of its members. Mr Kelly said the news reports in 2013 that Brother McMahon had abused children caused him to write to CBC Fremantle to ask if the school notify former students and invite them to come forward. Facebook on Wednesday announced an investment of USD 5.7 billion (Rs 43,574 crore) to buy a 9.99 per cent stake in Jio Platforms -- a deal that will help RIL cut debt and use WhatsApp to create an Indian e-commerce giant that could rival Amazon and Walmart. The largest foreign direct investment (FDI) in the technology sector in India will give the US social-networking firm a broader foothold in its biggest global market. "Today we are announcing a USD 5.7 billion, or Rs 43,574 crore, investment in Jio Platforms, part of Reliance Industries Ltd, making Facebook its largest minority shareholder," the company said in a statement. Reliance Industries (RIL) in a separate statement said the investment by Facebook values Jio Platforms at Rs 4.62 lakh crore pre-money enterprise value (USD 65.95 billion). Facebook will be issued fresh equity shares and will get a board position on Jio Platforms. Mukesh Ambani's twin children, Isha and Akash, are also part of the board. Jio Platforms, which was created in October last year to house all-digital initiative of Reliance, will retain Rs 15,000 crore and use the remaining amount to pare some of its about Rs 40,000 crore debt. Transaction advisors to prepare term sheet for the deal were engaged sometime in November last year, implying commercial negotiations between the two groups would have started in July or August. Ambani had in August last year told Reliance Industries shareholders about plans to sell stake in some of the businesses with the goal of making the firm free of net debt by 2021. The deal was originally targeted for March 31, but the outbreak of COVID-19 pushed the negotiations into a virtual zone. The deal will bring together JioMart - the e-commerce venture of Ambani, and Facebook's WhatsApp platform to connect consumers with neighbourhood kirana stores, he said. WhatsApp has over 400 million users in India while Jio has 388-plus phone subscribers. Facebook has about 250 million users in India. This is Facebook's biggest stake buy since its 2014 acquisition of WhatsApp. The US giant has typically been buying into media and online properties till now and investment in Jio Platforms underscores the potential it sees in a country that is rapidly embracing online payment and e-commerce as more people get smartphones. The deal would require the approval of the Competition Commission of India (CCI). "In the very near future, JioMart and WhatsApp will empower nearly 3 crore small Indian Kirana shops to digitally transact with every customer in their neighbourhood," Ambani, 63, said in a video message after the deal announcement. "This means all of you can order and get faster delivery of day-to-day items, from nearby local shops. At the same time, small kiranas can grow their businesses and create new employment opportunities using digital technologies," he said. RIL spent almost USD 50 billion -- mostly borrowed money, on Jio, whose entry in 2016 with free calls and cheap data pushed some rivals to exit or merge. At the end of December quarter, RIL had an outstanding debt of Rs 306,851 crore. It also had cash in hand of Rs 153,719 crore, bringing the net debt position to Rs 153,132 crore. Facebook said the investment "underscores our commitment to India and our excitement for the dramatic transformation that Jio has spurred in the country". Together with WhatsApp and Instagram, Facebook overall is estimated to have more users in India than any other single country, and the numbers are to grow. The number of internet users in India is projected to rise to about 850 million in 2022, according to consultancy PwC, up from 450 million in 2017. RIL has been seeking strategic partnerships across its businesses while targeting to deleverage its balance sheet. It has been talking to Saudi Aramco for sale of a 20 per cent stake in its oil-to-chemical business for an asking of USD 15 billion. RIL has sold a stake in its retail fuel venture to BP Plc for Rs 7,000 crore. Both Facebook and Jio said the deal is non-exclusive, which essentially meant that the US firm was free to partner with other Indian or foreign companies as well. The deal would give Facebook deeper access to India, the second-largest internet market after China. Facebook is looking to launch a payment offering. Having a local partner could help it in navigating various regulatory issues, including those related to privacy and local storage. Also, having a good telecom partner could help Facebook improve its reach to masses. From RIL's perspective, it could leverage on Facebook's technology expertise and talent pool as well as help in its ambitions to make Jio a digital company. RIL said that concurrent with the investment, Jio Platforms, Reliance Retail Ltd and WhatsApp have also entered into a commercial partnership agreement. This is to further accelerate Reliance Retail's new commerce business on the JioMart platform using WhatsApp and to support small businesses on WhatsApp. The transaction, RIL said, is subject to regulatory and other customary approvals. Morgan Stanley as a financial advisor and AZB & Partners and Davis Polk & Wardwell as counsels advised RIL on the transaction. Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas were legal advisors for Facebook. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Babel Cover, a British insurtech start-up, is working with Maltese insurer Atlas and emerging technology firm Piprate to insure bicycles of competitive cyclists, triathletes and commuters of Malta. The intention of the pilot is to perform live and controlled product and technology testing, laying the framework for release of new products and more countries, said Bedford, England-based Babel Cover, in a statement. With our experience both as a leading insurer and protected cell platform in Malta, Atlas is pleased to provide insurtech start-ups with regulatory expertise, infrastructure and economies of scale only usually found in well-developed insurers, said Matthew von Brockdorff, chief executive officer of Atlas Insurance, which is headquartered in Malta. Piloting Babel Cover in Malta is also a natural fit with our pursuit of leading customer experience, where we are making significant investments in new innovative technology, he added. Babel Cover believes buyers of insurance will ultimately benefit by having a fully digital product that offers more transparency, ownership and oversight of the insurances they purchase and the investments underpinning the premiums collected, said Stuart King, founder & CEO of Babel Cover. Insurance provides an essential social and economic role. The current business model underpinning the deployment of insurance capital to risk is not overly efficient and is subject to an overwhelming amount of non-added value cost, added King. Babel Covers proposed risk financing model as supported by modern technologies will ultimately lead to individualized insurance and cost savings. Babel Cover proposes to return savings to customers in the form of rewards to build greater loyalty and trust between buyers and sellers of insurance, he said. This collaboration is an important milestone towards Piprates objective of providing a seamless, privacy-conscious way of exchanging insurance data, said Stan Nazarenko, founder & CEO of Piprate, a blockchain-based data exchange platform for the insurance industry, which is based in Dublin. Piprates data wallets that hold the insureds data, from personal details to policies and claim documentation, are ideally suited for the next generation of insurance products. We are delighted to be a part of Babel Covers vision and the heightened attention on data protection, transparency and operational efficiency, Nazarenko continued. Atlas Insurance, Babel Cover and Piprate share a common desire for insurance to be as sustainable as possible. We are delighted that for every bicycle policy sold, Babel Cover will make a donation to Saggar, a non-profit organization that is focused on planting one million indigenous trees on the Islands of Malta, further supporting Atlas continued commitment as part of its corporate social responsibility strategy, said Claude Ebejer, founder of Saggar. Source: Babel Cover Topics Carriers InsurTech Tech Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media TORRINGTON A former Torrington High School varsity swimmer who excelled in the backstroke died of COVID-19 complications April 13, according to his obituary. Edward J. Ryan Jr., 79, swam from 1955-59 and could trace his family back to Tipperary and Clare in Ireland. On Sunday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressed the country from his home in Ottawa and a part of that presser has since gone viral. Its the moment when some strands of hair fell in front of his eyes and Trudeau did a hair flip. Within a short span, the clip went viral on different social media platforms, but this Facebook post by Jason Hanson is the one that has been shared the most. The clip starts with Trudeau standing in front of a mic and looking at the camera as he flips his hair back with his hand. The video is an edited version which shows his action in slow motion, coupled with a melodious tune in the background. Check out the video: Posted on April 19, the video has been watched over 5 million times and has received tons of comments that prove that netizens are not being able to keep calm after watching the clip. Whoever did this, you are good, writes a Facebook user. Oh wow! Heart skipped a beat there, gushes another. Thats it! Im moving, declares a third. Did anyone hear what he said after this? asks a fourth. Trudeau announced the complete sealing of the USA Canada border during his brief on the current situation of lockdown in the country. Godfather of punk Iggy Pop is the executive producer of this slick four-part series, and hes assembled an impressive, motley crew of the scenes biggest names (those who are still with us). And much more than in many documentaries featuring talking heads, the line-up here musicians, managers, photographers, rock writers and filmmakers impart genuinely meaty insights, anecdotes and archival photos and footage, some never before seen. While the subscription streaming services are getting all the love during lockdown, the free-to-air stations (and their catch-up channels) are still bringing the goods. You can rely on SBS Viceland to deliver anything as edgy as the latest buzzy show from Netflix, and this four-part documentary series, Punk, is a standout. (Intriguingly, Pops co-executive producer is fashion designer John Varvatos who, it could be argued, helped punk's demise in the US when he bought the legendary CBGB Club and replaced it with one of his fashion boutiques). There's also a strong dose of the spirit that embodied punk: fierce passion, and anger. Perhaps none more so than former Sex Pistols singer John Lydon (Johnny Rotten), who remains as combative as ever, well into his 60s. Lydon, who makes his first appearance in the second episode, which focuses on the emergence of punk in Britain, manages to insult the media, former Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McClaren (no surprise there), and several fellow musicians in the space of 15 minutes. Sylvain Sylvain, New York Dolls guitarist, in the documentary series Punk. At an event to launch the series last year in the US, featuring a panel of musicians who appear in Punk (Black Flags Henry Rollins, Donita Sparks from L7 and Guns N Roses bassist Duff McKagan among them), Lydon got into a furious argument with Marky Ramone, (shouting "You're not even a real Ramone!") which quickly devolved into a slanging match such that the two had to be physically separated. Its well worth searching for online as a fitting chaser to the series. Chambers County Judge Jimmy Sylvia has lifted the region's curfew, according to a news release. The curfew was enacted March 23, less than one week after the county issued a disaster declaration in an effort to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus. All other emergency measures, including the state-wide stay-at-home order, are still in effect. As of Tuesday night, Chambers County had 1 new COVID-19 case, bringing the region's total up to 36, according to the Houston Chronicle's data team. MORNING REPORT: Get the top stories on HoustonChronicle.com sent directly to your inbox Rebecca Hennes covers community news. Read her on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | rebecca.hennes@chron.com By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 04/22/2020 ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade. couple Loren Goldstone and Alexei Brovarnik have finally revealed the name of their sweet newborn son.One week after the arrival of their little bundle of joy, Loren and Alexei have shared their baby's name in a Tuesday Instagram post."We are so excited to introduce you to our son... Shai Josef Brovarnik," Loren captioned a photo of the new parents smiling with their first child together."We are so in love (pronounced like 'shy' and Shai means 'gift') #teambrovarnik #babybrov #shaijosef."Alexei shared a nearly-identical caption alongside a different photo of the happy family on his own Instagram account.Shai was born on April 14 at 4:26PM at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, FL, weighing five pounds and 10 ounces. He came a little early considering his due date was in May 2020.After bringing Shai home from the hospital, Loren and Alexei documented their first few days with their son on social media."Just some smiles for your Friday! This is what pure happiness looks like during these crazy days! Love, The Brovarnik's #teambrovarnik #babybrov #partyof3 #realdeal #morespamtocome #sorrynotsorry," Loren captioned a picture of the family last week.And this past weekend, Loren posted a photo of Shai wearing a gray hat and a onesie with a tongue-out mouth on it."This little rockstar is enjoying his first weekend, first feed post and daddy's outfit choice! #teambrovarnik #babybrov #beyondblessed #daddysclone #ladiesman," Loren wrote.Around that same time, Alexei posted a selfie in which Loren was holding their son in the background."Perfect evening right here ... #teambrovarnik #babybrov#happilyeverafter#blessed," Alexei shared in the caption.Loren and Alexei appeared on Season 3 of followed by the first two seasons of : Happily Ever After?.Loren and Alexei met on her birthright trip to Israel. She was the staff leader and Alexei was the medic, and she found him "incredibly handsome."The pair kept in touch once Loren returned to the United States, and then she visited him five times in one year -- which resulted in an engagement.Once Alexei got approved for the K-1 visa and traveled to America, the couple got married during his 90-day visit in September 2015. They also subsequently had a second ceremony in Israel in July 2016 so both of their families could celebrate and witness their union.After having tense conversations about their ideal timeline for having their first baby, the couple ultimately agreed to start trying for a child in Fall 2019.Loren and Alexei apparently got pregnant right away and announced they were expecting Baby No. 1 in late October 2019, just one month after they celebrated four years of marriage."We're so excited to finally say, BabyBrov is on its way! For those of you saying I'm pregnant, well, ding ding ding, we cannot wait to welcome our baby boy or girl this Spring! #teambrovarnik #babybrov #May2020 #nextchapter #happilyeverafter," Loren captioned a series of photos of the couple on Instagram.Along with photos of the couple, Loren had also posted three pairs of Adidas shoes -- Alexei's sneakers, her own, and a tiny pair of kicks for the baby.And Alexei captioned the same photos, "Yes it's tru we are pregnant couldn't be more excited, I AM GOING TO BE A DADDY !!! #teambrovarnik #blessed #BabyBrov#may2020."Two months later, the couple shared Loren was pregnant with a baby boy "We were a smidge surprised needless to say, but we wouldn't have it any other way! And we just can't wait to meet our son this May! #teambrovarnik #babybrov #May2020 #boymom #letthebalaganbegin #blessed," Loren captioned a slideshow of photos from the couple's gender reveal party, which took place in December 2019.Loren and Alexei then had more to celebrate in January 2020 when Alexei officially became an American citizen Loren and Alexei currently appear together on : Pillow Talk, which features former cast members offering commentary on the reality franchise's current episodes.Loren and Alexei's pregnancy journey was featured on the Monday, April 20 episode of : What Now?.The fourth season of : Before the 90 Days currently airs on Sunday nights at 8PM ET/PT on TLC, followed by : Self-Quarantined, which just premiered April 20 , on Monday nights.Want more spoilers or couples updates? Click here to visit our homepage! His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa today (April 22) ratified and issued Law 10/2020 on amending some provisions of Law 27/2014 promulgating the Lease Law, reported BNA. Under the law, a new item was added to Article (4), as follows: The purpose for which the leased property is used must be specified in the contract. Besides this, three items were also added to Article (6), as follows: *It is not permissible to register lease contracts that do not specify the purpose for which the leased property is used. *It is not permissible to register a lease contract of any property that is not located in a residential real estate devoted to family housing, only after the approval of the municipality or the competent entity, and in accordance with the regulations determined by a decision thereof after the approval of the minister in charge of municipal affairs. *Electricity and water services shall be delivered to the real estate tenant only after submitting a registered property contract in accordance with the provisions of this law and the decisions issued in implementation thereof, stated the BNA report. The Prime Ministerand ministers -each in their respective capacity- shall implement this law, which takes effect one day after its publication in the Official Gazette, it added. The consumer watchdog has directed petrol retailers to pass on the full benefit of record low oil prices to motorists, warning them against using coronavirus as an excuse to increase their already-heightened profits. Low demand for fuel due to the coronavirus pandemic has sent global oil markets into turmoil, with a supply glut driving crude oil prices into the negative for the first time, trading as low as negative $US40 ($63). Since the beginning of the year, overall crude oil prices have decreased by $US50 per barrel. This decrease has been reflected in Australian wholesale petrol prices but has not fully flowed through to petrol bowsers, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) warned on Wednesday. While wholesale petrol prices have dropped 50 cents per litre since the start of the year, average petrol prices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth have fallen only 45 cents per litre. The average metropolitan price is at 97.7 per litre, according to RACV. (Bloomberg) -- With a series of high-level summits culminating in a visit to Germany in the fall by President Xi Jinping, this was supposed to be the year of Europe-China diplomacy. Instead, Europeans are warning of a damaging rift. Diplomats talk of mounting anger over Chinas behavior during the coronavirus pandemic including claims of price gouging by Chinese suppliers of medical equipment and a blindness to how its actions are perceived. The upshot is that Beijings handling of the crisis has eroded trust just when it had a chance to demonstrate global leadership. Over these months China has lost Europe, said Reinhard Buetikofer, a German Green party lawmaker who chairs the European Parliaments delegation for relations with China. He cited concerns from Chinas truth management in the early stages of the virus to an extremely aggressive stance by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing and hard line propaganda that champions the superiority of Communist Party rule over democracy. Rather than any single act responsible for the breakdown, he said, its the pervasiveness of an attitude that does not purvey the will to create partnerships, but the will to tell people what to do. While the Trump administration has resumed its swipes at China, European officials are traditionally less willing to be openly critical, in part for fear of retribution. The fact that politicians in Berlin, Paris, London and Brussels are expressing concern over Beijings narrative on Covid-19 hints at a deeper resentment with wide-ranging consequences. Already some European Union members are pursuing policies to reduce their dependence on China and keep potential predatory investments in check, defensive measures that risk hurting China-EU trade worth almost $750 billion last year. Its a turnaround from just a few weeks ago, when China emerged from the worst of its own outbreak to offer web seminars on best practice gained from tackling the virus where it first emerged. It also airlifted medical supplies including protective equipment, testing kits and ventilators to the worst-hit countries in Europe and elsewhere, in a show of aid-giving that contrasted with Americas international absence. Story continues The pandemic offered a chance for mutual solidarity. But it didnt last. Now the atmosphere in Europe is rather toxic when it comes to China, said Joerg Wuttke, president of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China. Belt and Road Concerns were aired during a March 25 call of Group of Seven foreign ministers about how China would proceed during the crisis and once it subsided. Ministers were told that Europe and the G-7 must be on guard as Beijing was likely to move more self confidently, more powerfully and in a way that exploits its leverage when other nations were still in lockdown, according to a European official familiar with the call. In public, Chinese officials have struck a conciliatory tone. When peoples lives are at stake, nothing matters more than saving lives. It is useless to argue over the merits of different social systems or models, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a regular press conference on April 17. China, he said, is ready to work with the international community, including European countries, to jointly safeguard the health and safety of all mankind. Yet Chinas means of going about it has backfired in much of Europe. An anonymously authored text posted on the website of the Chinese embassy in France this month falsely accused French retirement home staff of leaving old people to die. It was an incredible accusation on one of the most sensitive and tragic aspects of the crisis in France, Mathieu Duchatel of the Institut Montaigne wrote on Twitter. The embassy website comments rang alarm bells for the needless offense caused. China underestimated the reaction to its conspiracy theories amplified by propaganda outlets, according to two European officials in Beijing. Whats more, Chinas insistence that aid be accompanied by public thanks and praise has undercut the goodwill it might otherwise have gained, they said. Vulnerable Companies European governments have become more wary of China over the past two years as Xis Belt and Road Initiative on trade and infrastructure expanded across the continent, snapping up strategic assets including ports, power utilities and robotics firms from the Mediterranean to the Baltic Sea. While some nations including Italy and Portugal have been enthusiastic backers of Belt and Road, another program known as Made in China 2025, whereby Beijing seeks to become the world leader in key technologies, is seen in many quarters as a further threat to European industry. With stock prices tumbling on the coronavirus crisis, countries including Germany that have investment screening regulations have tightened them and extended their scope in response to concerns that China, among others, could take controlling stakes in companies suddenly made vulnerable. EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager suggested in a Financial Times interview that governments go further and buy stakes in companies themselves to stave off the threat of Chinese takeovers. More far-reaching still are proposals to curb dependence on China, not just for medical supplies but in areas such as battery technology for electric vehicles. EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan said last week theres a need for a discussion on what it means to be strategically autonomous, including building resilient supply chains, based on diversification, acknowledging the simple fact that we will not be able to manufacture everything locally. Japan already earmarked $2.2 billion from its $1 trillion stimulus package to help its manufacturers shift production away from China. Without mentioning China, EU trade ministers agreed in an April 16 call on the importance of diversifying to reduce the reliance on individual countries of supply. As a first step, Berlin plans state funds and purchase guarantees to start industrial production of millions of surgical and face masks by late summer. China currently exports 25% of the worlds face masks. Wuttke of the EU trade chambers said the discussion on supply chains began when Beijing shut its ports earlier this year, prompting fears that pharmaceutical ingredients produced in China would not reach Europe, and causing policymakers to realize that strategic products had to be secured. According to another European official, even official suppliers were breaking contracts for items such as ventilators and scamming people, burning bridges along the way. People want to have their eggs in more baskets, said Wuttke. Burning bridges Certainly, the tenor of the political debate in Europe has shifted since. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told Bild newspaper that Chinas revising up of the death toll last week was alarming, while French President Emmanuel Macron said in an FT interview there were clearly things that have happened that we dont know about. U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said it cant be business as usual with China once the pandemic is over. Spains Health Ministry has canceled an order of antigen test kits from Chinese company Bioeasy after sending back a previous batch, the countrys El Pais reported. Health authorities found that both sets of kits were faulty, it said. As a result of the Covid-19 crisis, pressure is growing on the U.K. to reverse its decision to allow Huawei Technologies a limited role in its fifth-generation mobile networks, while France may be less inclined to give Huawei a chunk of its 5G contracts after the embassy spat. Germany must make a decision by around midyear on Chinese involvement in its 5G networks. In the battle of narratives, Germany is key, according to Janka Oertel, director of the Asia program at the European Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin. As well as Europes dominant economy, its trade ties to China dwarf those of its neighbors: German exports to China in 2019 were higher than the U.K., France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands combined. It will assume the EUs rotating presidency on July 1, giving it the chance to turn the debate in Europe. China could still win back favor and help secure a greater global role by acceding to demands to open up its markets and introduce a more level playing field for international business, said Oertel. That would be something that the Europeans would very much appreciate, she said. All the same, she added: I dont think its very likely. (Updates with El Pais report in final section.) For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. With two resolutions on the table that criticized Gov. Gretchen Whitmers stay-at-home order amid the coronavirus outbreak, the Jackson County Board of Commissioners opted to pass the weaker one. The stronger resolution Option A could be viewed as giving some Jackson County businesses permission to violate the order and reopen, Jackson County Administrator/Controller Mike Overton said. "We need to be careful in encouraging someone at least in their own mind to violate the governor's order," Overton said during the Tuesday, April 21 virtual board meeting. "Our attorney would rather we not do either one of these." A handful of board members said they preferred the resolution with more teeth in it. The county has no authority to tell businesses they can violate the state order, Overton said, and could get the county mired in lawsuits. So the board passed Option B with a 7-2 vote, with all Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed. The resolution recommends the state allow businesses like landscaping, excavating and boating services to reopen, if they can do so safely. The current stay-at-home order, which expires April 30, doesnt allow for those things. The Option B resolution makes it clear that this "is not meant to be a directive or mandate for the noted businesses or operations to return to work." "We'll follow no matter how reluctant the recommendations that come down," Board Chairman James "Steve" Shotwell Jr. said. "But we do believe there are different jobs that could be working right now." The commissioners were critical of Whitmer and her leadership during the pandemic. "This pandemic hasn't caused anything to shut down. The executive order shut things down. I'm not going to blame the virus, when the governor did it," Commissioner Tony Bair said. "If you lock up the sick, that's quarantine. If you lock up the healthy, that's tyranny." Later in the meeting, the board discussed the budget shortfall caused by the outbreak including likely furloughs of employees. Commissioner Corey Kennedy said he didnt want to cause further budget issues by getting the county into the legal troubles that the resolution against the governors order could bring. "(Whitmer's) already put us in a budget hole from the complete shutdown," Kennedy said. "I surely don't want to put anymore expenses in the courtroom, because we're going to be short of cash as it is, with Gov. Whitmer's wisdom." Shotwell called the order an overreach. Commissioner Phil Duckham called it an arbitrary violation of our civil rights. On the flip side, Democratic Commissioner Daniel Mahoney called the resolutions "irresponsible" and "political grandstanding." While other commissioners argued landscapers don't come into contact with people, Mahoney said they can't work without going out to get gas and other supplies risking further spread of the virus. As other counties have seen a tapering off in new coronavirus cases, Jackson County has seen steady increases, with 280 positive cases and 12 deaths so far. It broke into the top 10 counties in Michigan for most cases last weekend. Jackson County ranks 14th in population. Earlier in the meeting, the board passed an agreement with a Jackson hotel to potentially use the space as a quarantine facility for the health department, if the need arises. PREVENTION TIPS In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus. Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible. Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and when you go into places like stores. Read more Michigan coronavirus coverage here Wednesday, April 22: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan Which surfaces does the coronavirus stay on longest? 18 expert disinfecting tips Designing Michigan coronavirus field hospital was like combat engineering, architect says Whitmer extends order allowing for 2-month pharmacy refills during coronavirus crisis Michigan coronavirus daily death numbers spike to new high, but with a caveat Some former virus hot spots like Italy, Spain, China and New York have seen a reduction in their daily death tolls (Mauro Scrobogna/LaPresse via AP) Small shops reopened on Wednesday in Berlin as a few nations began easing coronavirus restrictions to restart their economies, but trepidation expressed by some workers and customers indicated a return to normality is still a long way off. Restrictions were also being eased in Denmark and Austria. In France, long lines built up outside the few McDonalds drive-throughs that started serving customers again. In the US, some states were relaxing restrictions amid vocal protests by those demanding to return to work. Although some former virus hot spots like Italy, Spain, China and New York have seen a reduction in their daily death tolls and new hospital admissions, other areas are facing a resurgence of the new coronavirus. Singapore, once a model of coronavirus tracking and prevention, saw an explosion of new cases and announced on Wednesday it would extend its lockdown into June. There has been growing impatience over virus-related shutdowns that have seen tens of millions of people lose their jobs. But even in areas where businesses were allowed to open, some were hesitant. Ronique Holloway, who runs a hair salon in Smyrna, Georgia, said she would wait until May 1 to reopen and was still nervous about contracting the virus. Were still in a small, closed place, the 48-year-old said. Youre staring at somebody right in their face when you shampoo it. Heaven forbid if you talk. She was only seeing one client at a time even before she was forced to shut down. The pandemic has infected over 2.5 million people and killed more than 177,000 around the world, according to a tally Johns Hopkins University. Expand Close Smaller shops have been allowed to open in the German capital (Markus Schreiber/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Smaller shops have been allowed to open in the German capital (Markus Schreiber/AP) Health authorities have warned the crisis is far from over and that relaxing stay-at-home orders too quickly could enable the virus to come surging back. Economic damage mounted as oil prices suffered an epic collapse and stocks registered their worst loss in weeks Tuesday on Wall Street. Asia markets continued their slide on Wednesday. In the United States, the Senate approved nearly 500 billion dollars (403bn) in coronavirus aid for businesses, hospitals and testing after a deal was reached between Congress and the White House. President Donald Trump urged House members to quickly pass the measure. Spain, one of the worlds worst-hit countries, was grappling with how to allow children out of their homes for the first time in nearly six weeks. The countrys death toll reached 21,717, behind only the United States and Italy, after 435 more deaths were reported on Wednesday. Spain has over 208,000 confirmed infections. Both numbers reflect the plateauing of the nations outbreak over recent days as a result of Spains strict home confinement rules. I am aware of the tremendous effort that the confinement has demanded of our smallest ones and their families, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said. I insist that this exception, this small relief must not impact the general confinement restrictions that remain in place. Expand Close A man walks along an empty street in Barcelona, Spain (Emilio Morenatti/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A man walks along an empty street in Barcelona, Spain (Emilio Morenatti/AP) In another sign that Spains health crisis is becoming more manageable, a large makeshift morgue in a Madrid ice rink is closing as the daily toll drops under 500 deaths from a high of 950 three weeks ago. Singapore, which has been praised for its swift response and meticulous tracing of contacts in the early stage of the outbreak, was grappling with an explosion of cases in foreign worker dorms that were largely overlooked earlier. The tiny city-states infections surged to 10,141 after it reported 1,016 new cases on Wednesday, maintaining its position as the worst-hit nation in Southeast Asia. In Pakistan, doctors issued a letter calling on the countrys religious clerics and prime minister to reverse a decision to leave mosques open during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, warning it could result in an explosion of Covid-19 cases. Large gatherings will only increase infections and overwhelm the health care system that has less than 3,000 acute care beds for a population of 220 million, said Dr Qaiser Sajjad, chief of the Pakistan Medical Association. Pakistan recorded its largest 24-hour increase of more than 700 new cases on Tuesday and saw another 533 cases on Wednesday, bringing the total to 9,749 infections and 209 deaths. Expand Close An Indian policeman walks past an art work displayed on road urging people to stay home (Mahesh Kumar A/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp An Indian policeman walks past an art work displayed on road urging people to stay home (Mahesh Kumar A/AP) India partially eased one of the worlds strictest lockdowns this week, but public health officials fear a surge in cases. The country is planning to use wristbands fitted with a contact-tracing app, Arogya Setu, to help people identify their risk of infection. The wristband has been envisioned as a way of countering the drain of manpower in trying to track the contacts of corona patients among the countrys 1.3 billion people. Officials said it is likely to be rolled out in May. In the US, some states, including Tennessee, West Virginia and Colorado, announced plans to begin reopening in stages in the coming days. Sunbathers quickly flocked to the sand after some South Carolina beaches reopened with the governors backing. During an online ceremony to donate masks, ventilators and other medical supplies to hard-hit New York, Chinese Consul-General Huang Ping indirectly appealed to Mr Trump to tone down his recent rhetoric against the Asian country where the virus first emerged late last year. This is not the time for finger-pointing, Mr Huang said. This is the time for solidarity, collaboration, cooperation and mutual support. DUBLIN, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Europe Malware Analysis Market to 2027 - Regional Analysis and Forecasts by Component; Organization Size; Deployment; Industry Vertical" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The EU has taken several initiatives including Smart Anything Everywhere (SAE) and ICT Innovations for Manufacturing SMEs (I4MS) for the SMEs in the region to test and implement digital innovations in their business processes. This was introduced in collaboration with the Digital Innovation Hubs, Research & Technology Organizations, and Academic Institutions. Such developments are expected to create demand for malware analysis tools. In March 2019, a new EU Cybersecurity Act was approved by the European Parliament. The new regulation creates an EU cyber security certification framework. This framework is envisioned to escalate the transparency of the cyber security guarantee of ICT products, services as well as processes, and thus enhance trust and assist end-users to make well-informed choices. Such factors are likely to drive the malware analysis market. On the basis of industrial vertical, the BFSI segment led the malware analysis market, by end user in 2018 with a decent market share and is expected to continue its dominance during the forecast period. Banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) industries are more vulnerable to cyber-attacks due to huge financial and personal data of customers on systems. Hence, the BFSI sector is more inclined towards the adoption of efficient security solutions to protect their systems and data from cyber-attacks. Some of the key players present in malware analysis are AT&T Inc, AO Kaspersky Lab, Broadcom, Inc , among others. Key report benefits: Save and reduce time carrying out entry-level research by identifying the growth, size, leading players and segments in the Europe malware analysis market. malware analysis market. Highlights key business priorities in order to assist companies to realign their business strategies The key findings and recommendations highlight crucial progressive industry trends in the Europe malware analysis, thereby allowing players across the value chain to develop effective long-term strategies malware analysis, thereby allowing players across the value chain to develop effective long-term strategies Develop/modify business expansion plans by using substantial growth offering developed and emerging markets Scrutinize in-depth Europe market trends and outlook coupled with the factors driving the market, as well as those hindering it market trends and outlook coupled with the factors driving the market, as well as those hindering it Enhance the decision-making process by understanding the strategies that underpin commercial interest with respect to client products, segmentation, pricing and distribution Companies Mentioned AT&T Inc AO Kaspersky Lab Broadcom, Inc Cisco Systems, Inc CrowdStrike, Inc FireEye, Inc Fortinet, Inc Palo Alto Networks, In Qualys, Inc Trend Micro Incorporated Key Topics Covered: 1. Introduction 1.1 Scope of the Study 1.2 Report Guidance 1.3 Market Segmentation 2. Key Takeaways 3. Research Methodology 4. Market Landscape 4.1 Market Overview 4.2 PEST Analysis 4.3 Ecosystem Analysis 5. Europe Malware Analysis Market - Key Industry Dynamics 5.1 Key Market Drivers 5.1.1 Cyber Attack Enhancing the Malware Analysis Market 5.1.2 Acceptance of IoT Across Vertical 5.1.3 Government Initiatives Driving the Malware Analysis Market 5.2 Key Market Restraints 5.2.1 Demand of Skilled workforce 5.3 Key Market Opportunities 5.3.1 Implementation of Digital Solution 5.3.2 Shift Towards Cloud and BYOD 5.4 Future Trends 5.4.1 Deep Learning and Machine Learning for Malware Classification 5.5 Impact Analysis of Drivers and Restraints 6. Malware analysis Market - Europe Market Analysis 6.1 Europe Malware analysis 6.2 Europe Malware Analysis Market Forecast and Analysis 7. Europe Malware analysis Market Analysis - By Component 7.1 Overview 7.2 Europe Malware Analysis Market Breakdown, By Component, 2018 & 2027 7.3 Solution 7.4 Service 8. Europe Malware Analysis Market Analysis - By Organizational Size 8.1 Overview 8.2 Europe Malware Analysis Market Breakdown, By Organizational size, 2018 & 2027 8.3 SMEs 8.4 Large Enterprises 9. Europe Malware analysis Market Analysis - By Deployment 9.1 Overview 9.2 Europe Malware Analysis Market Breakdown, By Deployment, 2018 & 2027 9.3 Cloud-based 9.4 On-premises 10. Malware analysis Market Analysis - By Industry vertical 10.1 Overview 10.2 Malware Analysis Market Breakdown, By Industry vertical, 2018 & 2027 10.3 BFSI 10.4 Government 10.5 Healthcare 10.6 IT & Telecom 10.7 Manufacturing 11. Europe Malware analysis Market - Country Analysis 11.1 Europe Malware Analysis Market, Revenue and Forecast to 2027 11.1.1 Overview 11.1.2 Europe Malware Analysis Market Breakdown, by Country 12. Industry Landscape 12.1 Overview 12.2 Market Initiative 12.3 Merger and Acquisition 12.4 New Development 13. Company Profiles 14. Appendix For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/7c8f6 About ResearchAndMarkets.com ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that a temporary suspension of immigration into the United States will be in effect for 60 days, after which, the decision regarding any possible extension will be evaluated based on economic conditions of the country. He said that he may sign the executive order to suspend immigration on Wednesday. I will be issuing a temporary suspension of immigration into the United States. This pause will be in effect for 60 days, after which the need for an extension or modification will be evaluated based on economic conditions at the time, Trump said at a daily briefing at the White House. On Monday, Trump had announced that he will sign an executive order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States amid the coronavirus pandemic. Not just this, Trump has also wished North Korea leader Kim Jong Un, well amid the reports of his poor health These are reports that came out (about his illness). We dont know. We dont know. Though I have had a very good relationship with him. I can only say I wish him well. If he is in the kind of condition that the reports say, then it is a very serious condition, Trump said at a daily briefing on Tuesday. This comes after a US intelligence official had said that North Koreas leader is in grave danger following surgery this month. Talking about the immigration, In light of the attack from the invisible enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our great American citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States! Trump said on Twitter.The order would mark an extraordinary use of executive power by Trump, who, just hours earlier, spoke about the ability of certain states to begin reopening their economies despite the threat of the virus, The Hill reported.The suspension of all immigration would serve as an extension on the travel restrictions that the Trump administration has already imposed on most of Europe, China, Canada, Mexico, Iran and South Korea. Also Read: US President to temporarily suspend immigration amid coronavirus pandemic Trump has spent much of his presidency pushing to restrict immigration into the States. Last year, he also pushed for construction of a wall on the US-Mexico border, implemented policies that limited migrants from applying for asylum and overseen the separation of families who cross into the country illegally.Meanwhile, Trump in the daily briefing on Tuesday also said that 20 states are preparing to reopen their economies soon amid the COVID-19 pandemic.Since we announced our guidelines on opening up America. 20 states representing 40 per cent of the US population have announced that they are making plans and preparations to safely restart their economies in the very near future, Trump said on Tuesday. Talking about North Korea leader Kim Jong Un health, On April 15, Kim absence at his grandfathers birthday celebration had raised speculation about his well-being. He had been seen four days before that at a government meeting, according to intelligence reports cited by CNN. Meanwhile, South Korea had responded by saying that it has seen no unusual signs suggesting that North Korean leader is ill, government officials said on Tuesday. There is nothing unusual going on in North Korea. Its not true, a government official was quoted as saying by Yonhap News Agency.Presidential spokesperson Kang Min-seok also said that nothing unusual has been detected in North Korea.No unusual signs have been identified inside North Korea. There is nothing we can confirm with regard to Chairman Kims alleged health problem, Kang was quoted as saying. Kims absences from official state media often spark speculation and rumours about his health. North Korea has no free press and is often a black hole when it comes to the countrys leadership. Analysts are heavily reliant on scanning state media dispatches and watching propaganda videos for any semblance of a clue. Kim last appeared in North Korean state media on April 11. April 15 North Koreas most important holiday, is the anniversary of the birth of the countrys founding father, Kim Il Sung For all the latest World News, download NewsX App President Donald Trump said Tuesday he will be 'looking at' reports of a new study that showed nearly a third of U.S. veterans died when treated with a controversial drug regimen that he has repeatedly touted at the White House. Trump was asked about the the latest results of a study using hydroxychloroquine, and comparing treatment with the malaria drug and the ordinary standard of are without it. The results were not promising, with 28 per cent of the veterans dying of the coronavirus. 'Obviously there have been some very good reports. Perhaps this ones not a good report but well be looking at it,' Trump said at the White House when asked about it. Perhaps this ones not a good report but well be looking at it,' President Donald Trump said of a study of veterans who took hydroxychloroquine and an antibiotic He also responded to a report hours earlier that a panel of National Institutes of Health experts had recommended against doctors using a combination of the drug and the antibiotic Azithromycin. 'Okay, well well take a look at it,' said Trump. 'Im always willing to take a look. The comments appeared to indicate Trump was backing way from explicitly recommending people take hydroxychloroquine after saying at one point that he might take the drug, even though he has not tested positive for the coronavirus. He has repeatedly talked up the drug as providing hope to people infected with the deadly disease even as the administration has scrambled to procure ventilators and hospital gear amid shortages. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has not appeared at a White House briefing since Friday Shortly before Trump took to the podium, a panel at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases recommended against taking the drug. "The combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin was associated with QTc prolongation in patients with COVID-19," according to the panel referencing of death due to cardiac problems. FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn declined to talk up the drug's prospects when asked about the study. 'This study is a small retrospective study at the VA,' Hahn said. 'This is something that a doctor would need to consider as part of a decision in writing a prescription,' Hahn said. What FDA is going to require is data from clinical trials, randomized clinical trials But the prelim data are helpful to providers Trump has repeated hyped the prospects of the drug and hydroxychloroquine combinations with other drugs although he notably toned down his comments boosting the drug in recent days. Trump staged a White House event last week with former patients who recovered from a coronavirus infection, including some who were treated with hydroxychloroquine. 'So you took the hydroxy?' he asked a former patient. 'Why did you take the hydroxy? Why did you do that? You saw it on television?' he wanted to know. Last month, he called it a 'a very strong, powerful medicine. But it doesnt kill people.' In more recent days, he has also plugged remdesivir, which is being developed by the Gilead pharmaceutical company. On March 21, Trump tweeted: 'HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine. The FDA has moved mountains - Thank You! Hopefully they will BOTH (H works better with A, International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents) ...be put in use IMMEDIATELY. PEOPLE ARE DYING, MOVE FAST, and GOD BLESS EVERYONE!' Trump wrote. More U.S. veterans sickened by coronavirus who were treated with the malaria drug Trump touted for treating the disease died than did patients who were given the usual supportive care, a new study reveals. And the results suggested that the drug, hydroxychloroquine, provided no benefit to the patients who received it. The nationwide study was not a rigorous experiment. But with 368 patients, its the largest look so far of hydroxychloroquine with or without the antibiotic azithromycin for COVID-19, which has killed more than 182,000 people as of Tuesday. The study was posted on an online site for researchers and has has not been reviewed by other scientists. Grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the University of Virginia paid for the work. Researchers analyzed medical records of 368 male veterans hospitalized with confirmed coronavirus infection at Veterans Health Administration medical centers who died or were discharged by April 11. About 28 percent who were given hydroxychloroquine plus usual care died, versus 11 percent of those getting routine care alone. About 22 percent of those getting the drug plus azithromycin died too, but the difference between that group and usual care was not considered large enough to rule out other factors that could have affected survival. The malaria drug hydroxychloroquine (pictured) widely touted by President Donald Trump for treating the new coronavirus showed no benefit in an analysis of its use in U.S. veterans hospitals. There were more deaths among those given hydroxychloroquine versus standard care, researchers report (AP Photo/John Locher) Hydroxychloroquine made no difference in the need for a breathing machine, either. Researchers did not track side effects, but noted a hint that hydroxychloroquine might have damaged other organs. The drug has long been known to have potentially serious side effects, including altering the heartbeat in a way that could lead to sudden death. Earlier this month, scientists in Brazil stopped part of a study testing chloroquine, an older drug similar to hydroxychloroquine, after heart rhythm problems developed in one-quarter of people given the higher of two doses being tested. Many doctors have been leery of the drug. At the University of Wisconsin, Madison, 'I think were all rather underwhelmed' at whats been seen among the few patients there who've tried it, said Dr Nasia Safdar, medical director of infection control and prevention. Patients asked about it soon after Trump started promoting its use, 'but now I think that people have realized we don't know if it works or not' and needs more study, said Safdar, who had no role in the VA analysis. The NIH and others have more rigorous tests underway. Doctors and patients alike are eager to identify an effective treatment for coronavirus. As the infection has spread like wildfire to more than 182,000 and killed 44,292, in the US, a few existing drugs have emerged as leading candidates. Of late, hydroxychloroquine and remdesivir, a drug originally developed to treat Ebola, have pulled to the forefront. Remdesivir is thought to help block viruses' ability to make copies of themselves, while hydroxychloroquine is being investigated for its ability to stem life-threatening inflammation from a haywire immune response, known as a 'cytokine storm.' This is an indirect way of targeting the virus that drives the infection, but the cytokine storm is thought to be the culprit of most deaths. President Donald Trump has touted hydroxychloroquine as a 'game-changer' - despite a lack of scientific evidence to back up that claim Hydroxychloroquine is already used widely in the treatment of coronavirus patients in China and South Korea. A recent global survey found that it was the drug most used by doctors around the world to (experimentally) treat their coronavirus patients, and the one they said led to the best results. But those, again are anecdotal reports. The latest study underscores concerns raised by many US doctors, including the American Heart Association (AHA). Of the veterans included in the study, 13.3 percent who were treated with hydroxychloroquine as well as the standard supportive care (primarily, providing oxygen, IV fluids and preventing sepsis) had to be placed on ventilators. That was little different from the 14.4 percent of patients who did not receive hydroxychloroquine, and still needed mechanical ventilation. However, 6.9 percent of patient who got hydroxychloroquine and the antibiotic azithromycin wound up on ventilators. The group that received the experimental drug, supportive care and the antibiotic were also less likely to die of coronavirus and its complications. With nearly twice as many deaths among the group that only received hydroxychloroquine, however, the researchers advised caution and underscored 'the importance of awaiting results' of larger, more thorough studies. President Trump said of coronavirus patients: 'What do you have to lose?' But science suggests they have quite a bit to lose. The drug is known to cause dangerous side effects - most notably, hear arrhythmias. As doctors treat more coronavirus patients, they're seeing several emerging patterns in how the virus attacks parts of the body besides the lungs. Kidneys and the heart are chief among these secondary victims of coronavirus. Dr Paul Saunders, head of cardiothoracic surgery at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, recently told DailyMail.com that doctors are seeing an alarming incidence of heart attacks and other severe cardiovascular complications in COVID-19 patients. In many instances, he said, these heart problems are what ultimately kills these patients. So prescribing a drug known to stress the heart could be a recipe for disaster - but it will take more research to know for certain. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More D-Street has already given a thumbs up to the deal between Jio and Facebook which pushed RIL stock up by about 8 percent in intraday trade on April 22. Most experts feel that it is a win-win situation for both the players to harness synergies at both ends. Reliance Industries, Jio Platforms and Facebook announced the signing of binding agreements for an investment of Rs 43,574 crore by Facebook into Jio Platforms. Reliance Industries (RIL) share price rose 10.30 percent to Rs 1,363.35 on BSE on April 22. Due to today's gains, the market-capitalisation (m-cap) of the stock rose by Rs 80,700 crore to Rs 8,64,267 crore on April 22 against Rs 7,83,568 crore on April 21. We have collated a list of top five takeaways for RIL shareholders from various experts reaction on the deal: A win-win deal: Amid the gloom and doom scenario across the world, a deal of this magnitude send a positive signal to the investment community especially if it is a global deal. Experts feel that it is indeed a win-win situation for both the partners because the scenario across the world is changing fast, and the world we know would be highly dependent on technology post-COVID-19. It is a step in the right direction. Its a win-win situation for both the partners, as on one hand, it gives Facebook a wider audience with Jios 388 million clients, it helps Reliance pay its debt as well as leverage the reach of Whatsapp, Facebook Chats service, Aamar Deo Singh, Head Advisory, Angel Broking Ltd said. And with the current global scenario post-COVID-19, focus being on digital, it opens up huge business opportunities for both of the giants. It couldnt have come at a more opportune time, he said. Jio valuation above analyst estimates: Jio Platforms is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited and is a next-generation technology company building a Digital Society for India by bringing together Jios leading digital apps, digital ecosystems and Indias #1 high-speed connectivity platform under one umbrella. Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, which provides connectivity platform to over 388 million subscribers. The investment by Facebook values Jio Platforms at Rs 4.62 lakh crore pre-money enterprise value ($65.95 billion, assuming a conversion rate of Rs 70 to a US Dollar). Facebooks investment will translate into a 9.99% equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis. Facebook investment of Rs 436bn for 9.9% stake in Jio Platforms Limited (JPL) implies an Equity value of Rs 4.4tn. Enterprise Value stands at Rs 4.62tn pre-money as per company release, Himanshu Shah, VP Analyst (Media & Telecom) Dolat Capital said. Therefore, JPL net debt is ~Rs 220bn pre-transaction; net cash post transaction of ~Rs 216bn. Thus post-transaction Enterprise value of JPL is ~Rs 4.2tn. This is marginally (3%) above our estimate of Jios EV of Rs 4.1tn @ 10x FY22E, he said. Net debt reduction key positive: Jios strong execution and 400mn customer acquisitions in over 3 years has been commendable. However, this also led to investments of over $45bn and a debt of $30bn for Jio (pre InvIT). The investments by Facebook, Brookfield in Tower InvIT (yet to be closed) and potential investments in Fiber InvIT would significantly strengthen the balance sheet of RIL and is a key positive. This will enable Jio to continue to compete aggressively besides investing in futuristic technological advancements, said Shah of Dolat Capital. Invincible technological advancements: Jios vision is to enable a Digital India for 1.3 billion Indians and Indian businesses, especially small merchants, micro-businesses and farmers. Jio has built a world-class digital platform powered by leading technologies such as Broadband connectivity, Smart Devices, Cloud and Edge Computing, Big Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Augmented and Mixed Reality and Blockchain The collaboration with Facebook will give Jio a significant advantage on product and technological front to keep competitors miles away and grab a larger wallet share of consumers across domains viz. telecom, payments, retail etc., said Shah of Dolat Capital. Besides this Jio has made investments in more than 10+ start-ups and also tied-up with Microsoft for Cloud services, he added. Read through for Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea: Premium valuations and massive investments in JPL is sentimentally positive for Bharti and Vodafone Idea for future investments by other players, if any, suggest experts. Financial and technological competitiveness of Jio increases significantly with Facebook investments for peers to catch-up and thus negative from a medium-term perspective. Jio is taking leap whereas others are taking a step, says Shah of Dolat Capital. Note: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd. Catch our entire coverage on the Facebook-Jio Deal here. : The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. A protester holds up a sign that reads "From Nth Room to Prison" at Jongno Police Station in Seoul, March 25, as Cho Ju-bin, the primary suspect in the infamous sexual-abuse case, is taken to a nearby police van. Korea Times photo by Koh Young-kwon By Jung Min-ho Houstons first Climate Action Plan calls on the citys 4,600 energy companies to lead the transition to renewable sources, while residents are asked to swap car rides for mass transit and work to cut down on the estimated seven pounds of waste each person discards every day. The plan also calls for the city to adopt a new building code and develop a long-range plan for its waste collection system as part of a broad-based effort to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. The 97-page plan, in the works for more than a year and published online Wednesday, is a strategy, not an ordinance, so it does not enforce any new rules. Instead, it identifies four areas to target emission reductions: transportation, energy transition, building optimization and materials management. It also identifies goals, strategies and targets for residents, businesses and the city to follow in each of those areas. For example, the section on transportation, which accounts for nearly half of emissions here, includes a goal to shift the regional fleet to electric and low-emission vehicles. It lays out targets to get there, such as converting all non-emergency municipal vehicles by 2030, and increasing incentives and infrastructure for the private sector to do the same. The section on energy transition includes the production of 5 million megawatt hours of solar power by 2050. It calls for the city to power municipal operations entirely with renewable sources by 2025, and it proposes training private businesses and property owners on how to adopt solar power on their rooftops. Nearly all of the 34 million metric tons of carbon that Houston emitted in 2014, the baseline year for such calculations, came from transportation and energy that powers homes, businesses and institutions, the plan says. Those strategies are tailored to Houston, said Lara Cottingham, the citys chief sustainability officer and lead author of the plan. The city, she said, does not have the same tools as the state or federal governments or even other cities, such as San Antonio and Austin, to combat climate change. It has very little authority to regulate the oil and gas industry, and it does not have a city-owned electric utility. That means the plan requires buy-in from businesses and residents to take initiative themselves, Cottingham said. The Climate Action Plan is a good combination of ambitious goals and common-sense solutions, she said. We dont have all the answers, and thats OK. We do know that science is behind us and technology is on our side. What is important is that every single one of us does our part. A wide range of stakeholders, from energy companies like BP and Shell to environmentalists at Air Alliance Houston and the student-led Sunrise Movement, supported the plan, a diversion from other cities where plans often grew contentious amid competing forces. Its a good first step, but its only a first step, said Harrison Humphreys, a policy analyst for Air Alliance who co-led the plans working group on transportation. Now comes the difficult part of implementation. If we hope to even come close to reaching the stated goals we need to be pursuing the initiatives pretty aggressively. Stephanie Thomas, a Houston-based researcher for Public Citizen, echoed that sentiment. She called in a step in the right direction while challenging the city to go further. BP, which recently said it plans to become a net-zero emitter itself, applauded the deal. We stand ready to roll up our sleeves and help Houston move toward a lower-carbon future, chairman and president Susan Dio said in a statement. In ordinary times, the climate plan would have marked a major platform item that generated much attention at City Hall. Cottingham said it is a feat that Houston, the oil and gas capital of the world, has a climate plan to begin with. Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, however, Mayor Sylvester Turner does not even plan to hold a ceremony to announce it. Turner said his office released the plan Wednesday to mark the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. He mulled waiting to unveil the plan, but said the operations of the city must go on. No other city is better suited to tackle climate change than Houston, Turner wrote in the plans introduction. And Houstonians already understand the consequences to our lives and our economy if we do nothing larger, slower hurricanes, stronger rain events, longer, hotter summers and the safety, health and property impacts that come with them. FIRST DRAFT: Read the Chronicle's story on the plan's first draft, released in July The framework goes hand-in-hand with the citys resiliency plan, published in February. That document shows how Houston can prepare for the increasingly harmful effects of climate change, Cottingham said. The Climate Action Plan says what can we do to ensure that our climate conditions dont get worse, she said. The plans do overlap. Both call for the planting of 4.6 million trees, for example, and both include the essentially unattainable goal of reaching zero traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries on Houston streets. The climate plan includes items with immediate impact as well, Cottingham said. As more cars rely on electric power, the plan would see the city install charging stations at public-facing facilities, including libraries and multi-service centers. Such an effort already was in the works before the plan was published Wednesday, Cottingham said. The plan calls for the city to formulate and pass a new solid waste plan by the end of the year, as the three landfills the city uses are expected to reach capacity within 37 years. It also advocates for the adoption of the model building code by 2025, which would ensure buildings in Houston are able to be plugged into renewable sources of energy in the future, Cottingham said. The plan also asks businesses and the city to create incentives for walking or biking to work for employees by providing bike parking and access to showers. Cottingham said the framework was designed to be a living document, meant not just for city officials but everyone in Houston. The Houston Climate Action Plan is not going to solve all of climate change, Cottingham said, adding that will take a global effort. While you work on those things, there are activities that people and businesses can do in the meantime to start reducing emissions. dylan.mcguinness@chron.com DUBAI, U.A.E, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- With staying at home becoming a mandate, practicing beliefs and customs is one among the several challenges faced by people. Akshaya Tritiya, falling on 26 th April is one such long-followed tradition, known to bring prosperity and good luck. In order to serve the growing demands of customers who believe in the auspiciousness of Akshaya Tritiya, Malabar Gold & Diamonds, one among the largest jewellery retailers with 250 stores globally, facilitates online buying for customers, without having to leave the security and comfort of their homes. The launch of special jewellery collections through their online portal www.malabargoldanddiamonds.com/ae is a result of the brand's efforts to help safeguard beliefs and traditions. "Akshaya Tritiya is considered to be an auspicious occasion for Indians across the globe and we did not want the ongoing crisis to deter this popular belief. As a brand that has always believed in the beauty of traditions and culture, we wanted to offer a seamless shopping experience to our customers and cater to their growing requests, which is what led to this facilitation of online shopping," said Mr. Shamlal Ahamed, MD International Operations, Malabar Gold & Diamonds. Exclusive offers await shoppers on jewellery purchases. For every AED 1000 gold jewellery purchase, one 150 mg gold coin and for every AED 1000 diamond jewellery purchase, two 150 mg gold coins each will be dispatched along with the order. The offer is valid until 26th April. All orders will be shipped once lockdown is over and situation becomes under control. About Malabar Gold & Diamonds Malabar Gold & Diamonds is the flagship company of Malabar Group, a leading diversified Indian business conglomerate. Established in 1993 in the Indian state of Kerala, Malabar Gold & Diamonds today has a strong retail network of over 250 outlets spread across 10 countries including India, Middle East, Far East & USA. With 14 cluster manufacturing units in India and GCC the company currently has 12 jewellery brands to cater to the discerning needs of customers. SOURCE Malabar Gold & Diamonds D isruptive social distancing measures are expected to remain in place to combat coronavirus in the UK until a vaccine or effective treatment is available, England's chief medical officer has said. Professor Chris Whitty said it is not likely in the next calendar year that we will see either a drug able to strongly battle Covid-19 or a vaccine widely available. He said although either maybe developed sooner, the process of rolling them out is another matter. In the long run, the exit from this is going to be one of two things, ideally. A vaccine, and there are a variety of ways they can be deployed or, and or, highly effective drugs so that people stop dying of this disease even if they catch it, or which can prevent this disease in vulnerable people," he said at today's Downing Street press conference. Until we have those, and the probability of having those any time in the next calendar year are incredibly small and I think we should be realistic about that. Were going to have to rely on other social measures, which of course are very socially disruptive as everyone is finding at the moment." He said the "best combination" of measures will need to be decided upon. On a vaccine, Prof Whitty added that he was very hopeful that we will have vaccines which have proof of concept much earlier than a year. But there is a long path between having a vaccine thats proof of concept, and until we have either a vaccine or a drug what we will have available to us are social measures," he said. Human trials of a vaccine being worked on in the UK by a team in Oxford are set to begin on Thursday. It comes after the UK's virus death toll in hospitals topped 18,000. Second-grader Paulina De Loza holds her computer issued at Ochoa Learning Center in Cudahy, while her mother, Yadire De Loza, holds another for her two brothers, also in L.A. United schools. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) Tamara Solis faced a choice when it came to her children's education: Pay for rent and food or pay for internet access. Broadband came in second, so she takes her kids to a friend's garage apartment in Watts for internet where they do their schoolwork in close quarters amid the coronavirus pandemic. "Its a small place," said Solis, noting that it was difficult to abide by recommended physical distancing guidelines. "We try to do the best one on the table, one on the sofa, one on the bed ... but its not big enough to keep far away." Her plight is not unique. Despite promises of help, families in the low-income neighborhoods of Watts, Boyle Heights and South Los Angeles have struggled to get online, with at least 16% of students lacking basic internet access, according to a survey of public school families in those communities released Wednesday by the nonprofit Partnership for Los Angeles Schools. Many more students likely lack the high-speed internet connection needed for regular online academic work, according to the organization, which manages 18 L.A. Unified campuses that enroll large numbers of black and Latino students who are members of low-income families. The survey, conducted March 24 through April 4, also recorded other areas of concern: 15% of families reported that students had not yet been in contact with teachers, and 25% said students needed to print out materials at home for their assignments, but they lacked a printer. Partnership staff interviewed the families of more than 1,000 students about their experience with service providers and also initiated requests for service from addresses in Watts, which is served by Partnership schools. Families from among the city's most impoverished neighborhoods report impediments to signing up for free service offered as aid during coronavirus-related school closures. The difficulties included inadequate coverage areas in their communities, long wait times, limited data plans and unexpected fees and documentation requirements, as well as monthly payments that were too costly to sustain after a free period. Story continues Companies represented in the survey AT&T, Charter Spectrum, T-Mobile and Verizon defended their efforts, saying they moved to offer their services during this time of school closures to help the families of low-income students. They explained that coverage limitations are based on geography or other factors, and noted that customers can cancel in order to avoid monthly fees after their free service expires. "We are committed to supporting families who need internet access during this difficult time," said Jim Kimberly, an AT&T spokesman. The free service is typically scheduled to end near the close of the current school year although the internet needs of families are expected to extend well beyond that. The Los Angeles Unified School District is trying to fill the digital gap by providing students with portable internet hot spots and computers. But the district has not not yet been able to reach all who need the devices. Campuses across the state have been closed since mid-March, forcing students to continue academic work through "distance learning." In most cases, that means receiving, completing and submitting assignments online and taking part in online sessions through platforms such as Zoom. Education is a constitutional right in California," said Ryan Smith, chief external officer of the Partnership for L.A. Schools. "However long were doing online learning then internet connection must become a constitutional right, too. Therefore we must monitor the 'free trials' that these internet companies are trying to provide. Smith generally praised L.A. Unified's efforts to fill the digital gap, noting that more families were becoming aware of the district-provided hot spots as the survey proceeded. He said he was less impressed with offers by the technology companies. AT&T Survey findings: Most callers were not told that a free trial is available. The few who were told about the trial had to sign up for a $59.99 per month plan to receive the first 60 days free of charge. Response: The company is committed to providing two months of free service to eligible families and they do not have to sign up for a $59.99 plan. Families eligible for free service include those with children who qualify for the subsidized school lunch program and Head Start preschool. Charter Spectrum Survey findings: No home service was available in most of Watts' 90002 ZIP Code. The free trial required signing up for a $54.99 per month plan after the no-cost 60 days. Response: Spectrum is available in the areas covered by the survey. However, some renters in multiunit buildings may not be able to access services if Spectrum does not "have an agreement with the property owner to wire the building and serve residents." Customers can cancel at any time. T-Mobile Survey findings: No home internet service is provided in the communities that were part of the survey. Existing customers pay an additional $15 a month for a hot spot with 2 gigs of high-speed access, which is not enough for students and families, according to the Partnership. Response: The company has created options for customers to receive extra data at no extra charge but these offers do not include free service. The company also introduced a plan priced at $15 per month. Verizon Survey findings: No home internet service was available in the survey area. Separately, L.A. Unified is paying for hot spots that are free for students. Families who directly contacted Verizon were referred to L.A. Unified. Families unaware of the district arrangement were advised by Verizon representatives to use a public hot spot. Response: Verizon provides home internet service in limited parts of L.A., but not Watts. The arrangement with L.A. Unified is that the district not Verizon distributes the hot spots to families. For Solis, the online odyssey included burning through the 10 gigabytes of hot-spot data she was able to obtain through T-Mobile in about two weeks online schoolwork for her two children can consume a lot of data, she said. She tried unsuccessfully to get free Wi-Fi service from Spectrum and AT&T to her Watts home. Solis is out of work after an injury last year, and her husband is getting only part-time hours now as a maintenance worker. "Money for the internet its not in my plans right now, Solis said. "They said, 'Its going to be free' ... and its not free. So far, she also has not been able to get a hot spot from Florence Griffith Joyner Elementary, a Partnership school in Watts. Portable hot spots recently arrived at the school, and administrators are currently reaching out to families who might need them, said Cathy Kralik, a spokeswoman for the Partnership. A Spectrum spokesman said Solis should qualify for its special offer. The survey represents a snapshot in time and, since then, the situation has improved as L.A. Unified continues to distribute technology and as teachers and students engage more effectively, district officials said Tuesday. L.A. Unified Deputy Supt. Megan Reilly said she appreciated receiving the information about lack of access to printers. "That was not on our radar," she said. She added that the distribution of devices has been slowed by the necessary logistics of installing bar codes, the district's online learning management system and software that keeps students safe online while also allowing for central updates. The district prioritized getting computers to high school students, then turned to middle schools. Elementary students went home with work packets, but the effort is underway to provide them with technology as well. The district's latest data indicate that, overall, 98% of high school students and 97% of middle school students had logged on at least once by April 17, figures that represent substantial progress. However, 7% of high schoolers were not in contact with teachers every week. "There are challenges in the field," said Pedro Salcido, chief of staff to L.A. Unified Supt. Austin Beutner. "We have been pretty aware of them. Even in a non-COVID-19 world this would be a big lift logistically." Solis said she has come to realize the sudden importance of digital access to her children's education. "Everything is by computer everything," she said. "So thats one thing I realize right now: that I have to have internet." FoRx Therapeutics, a Basel, Switzerland-based biotechnology company developing a new generation of cancer drugs focusing on novel DNA Replication Stress (DRS) pathways, closed a EUR 10m seed financing round. The round was led by M Ventures (venture capital arm of Merck), Novartis Venture Fund and Omega Funds. Pfizer Ventures, the venture capital arm of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and LSP (Life Sciences Partners) also joined the seed financing. Therese Maria Liechtenstein from M Ventures, Florian Muellershausen from Novartis Venture Fund, Vincent Ossipow from Omega Funds, Vincent Brichard from LSP, and Denis Patrick from Pfizer Ventures joined the FoRx board along with Professor Halazonetis. Founded in the fall of 2019, FoRx is developing a new generation of drugs against a unique target class for the treatment of cancer. Co-founded in 2019 drawing on discoveries by Thanos Halazonetis and Dr. Sotirios Sotiriou, FoRx Therapeutics is developing a new generation of cancer drugs focusing on novel DNA Replication Stress pathways activated in cancer. The companys scientific foundations are built on the work of Professor Thanos Halazonetis, from the University of Geneva. Professor Halazonetis discovered novel DNA repair pathways, such as Break Induced Replication (BIR) that enable cancer cells to overcome DNA Replication Stress, a prevalent feature in human cancers but absent in normal, healthy cells. These repair pathways constitute a vulnerability that can be exploited for targeted intervention using synthetic lethality. The companys validated BIR targets furthermore appear to have potential for both therapy and maintenance treatment as shown in preclinical knock-out models. The company also announced the appointment of Colin Goddard as Executive Chairman. Dr. Colin Goddard works as an investor and board member in a number of early stage and public biotechnology companies, leveraging over 30 years of experience in the industry. He is Chairman of Mission Therapeutics and BlinkBio. He was previously a non-executive director of Endocyte Inc. which was acquired by Novartis in 2018 for US$ 2.1 billion. From October 1998 until its US$4 billion acquisition by Astellas Pharmaceuticals Inc. in June of 2010, Dr. Goddard was CEO of OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc. Andreas Goutopoulos, current Senior Scientific Director at EMD Serono and Chief Scientific Officer at Metabomed, is supporting FoRx Therapeutics as interim Chief Executive Officer, as part of his role as Entrepreneur-in-Residence at M Ventures. FinSMEs 22/04/2020 Seven years ago, the glamorous facade of the global fashion industry was shattered following the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh. The catastrophe thrust the subject of ethical fashion into the spotlight; making headline news across the world as details of the disaster forced a long overdue reckoning for fast fashion. Rana Plaza sparked an international conversation around the social impact of the fashion industry and the formation of Fashion Revolution a non-profit organisation committed to enacting genuine change. But, what exactly happened on that day in 2013, and how much has actually changed since? Here is everything you need to know. What was Rana Plaza? A portrait of a Rana Plaza victim: Injured Mili Khatun now works at another garment factory at Savar ( Khorshed Alam Rin) Rana Plaza was a building that contained multiple clothing factories, located on the outskirts of Dhaka in Bangladesh. Workers at the garment factory manufactured items for major fashion outlets including Benetton, Bonmarche, The Childrens Place, Joe Fresh, Mango, Matalan and Primark. The lower portions of the building also contained shops, a bank, and some apartments. The factory was reported to have cracks in the walls and there had been multiple warnings that it was unsafe, yet employees were still forced to go to work, regardless. What happened at the factory? Human cost: Dhakas Rana Plaza factory collapse in 2013, killing 1,134 people (Reuters) On 23 April 2013, attention was drawn to cracks in Rana Plaza, causing evacuation, closure and a warning to avoid the building. Sohel Rana, the owner of the building, reportedly later stated that it was safe to return to and threatened to withhold pay from anyone who refused to return to work. The next day, on the morning of 24 April, the building collapsed with more than 3,000 people inside. Local search and rescue teams quickly got to work, recovering workers from the rubble. The collapse killed a total of 1,134 people and injured more than 2,500, most of whom were women and children. Many of the survivors, who had been trapped under tons of rubble and machinery for hours or even days, had to have their limbs amputated. What caused the building to collapse? The collapse of Rana Plaza highlighted the appalling working conditions many clothes are made in (Getty) The collapse of Rana Plaza shone a spotlight on the appalling working conditions so many of our clothes are made in. According to the Bangladesh Fire Service & Civil Defense, the upper floors of the building were built without a permit, and were structurally unsafe. The buildings architect also stated that the building was designed for shops, and could not facilitate the weight and vibrations of factory machinery. Much of the blame was placed on the negligence of Mr Rana, who was accused of placing profits over the value of human safety and life. However, retailers were also held accountable over a lack of diligence to monitor the capacity of their suppliers, safety standards and wages paid. How did people respond to the disaster? Thousands of workers protested for safer working conditions following the disaster (Getty) The incident generated an international outcry about workers safety, workplace conditions and labour rights, resulting in extensive coverage in international media. The public interest and media attention resulted in more political pressure than ever before to change. A case was filed against the building owner and the garment factories, with arrests issued.Eventually, 18 people, including Mr Rana, were charged for violating building codes at Rana Plaza. Approximately 250 companies signed two initiatives, the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, and the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, both of which were designed to improve safety dramatically in 2,300 factories supplying western brands. Relatives of Bangladeshi workers who lost their lives gathered with banners and placards at the site (Getty) Thousands of workers also protested for safer working conditions, while global consumers expressed their anger at the lack of responsibility of retailers. The disaster also mobilised the launch of Fashion Revolution, a non-profit organisation which calls on consumers to demand a fairer and more transparent industry. The campaign began by adopting a simple hashtag #WhoMadeMyClothes? to encourage shoppers to ask more questions and for retailers to do more to seek out sustainable solutions. What more can be done? (Reuters (Reuters) While there have been some successes, and ethical fashion brands are rising in popularity, there is still work to be done. Since Fashion Revolution began, people from all over the world have used their voice and their power to demand change from the fashion industry. And its working. The industry is starting to listen, Fashion Revolutions states on its website. But the story is far from over. We are only just getting started. We cant stop until every worker who makes our clothes is seen, heard and paid properly and the environments they live and work in are safe. Fashion Revolution in pictures Show all 12 1 /12 Fashion Revolution in pictures Fashion Revolution in pictures Fashion Revolution in pictures Fashion Revolution in pictures Fashion Revolution in pictures Fashion Revolution in pictures Fashion Revolution in pictures Fashion Revolution in pictures Fashion Revolution in pictures Fashion Revolution in pictures Fashion Revolution in pictures Fashion Revolution in pictures Fashion Revolution in pictures We cant stop until the culture of consumption is changed and we learn to love and appreciate our clothes and the people that made them. ActionAid an international organisation that works with women and girls living in poverty agrees, adding that despite the international outcry following the building collapse at Rana Plaza, more than half of survivors remain unemployed due to the physical injuries and psychological impact of the disaster. The charity, which provided emergency relief following the tragedy and campaigns on womens rights in the labour market, tracked 1400 Rana Plaza survivors between 2013 and 2019 and found that: 20.5 per cent said that their physical health condition is getting worse 51 per cent remain unemployed due to their physical injuries and poor mental health Of the unemployed survivors: 74 per cent could not get back to work due to physical injuries and 27 per cent due to poor mental health - as a direct result of the incident 10.5 per cent are still suffering from trauma Only 15.5 per cent of the employed survivors have returned to the garment industry. Read more about how you can get involved with Fashion Revolution Week 2020 here. The oil price in London crashed to a 21-year low just hours after US crude tumbled into negative territory for the first time ever. Brent crude, which is extracted from the North Sea and serves as an international benchmark, fell as low as $16 a barrel on Wednesday morning. That was the lowest level since July 1999, and followed an unprecedented slump in the price of the US benchmark hours earlier. The oil price in London crashed to a 21-year low just hours after US crude tumbled into negative territory for the first time ever. So-called West Texas Intermediate (WTI) hit a low of minus-$40.32 a barrel on Monday, having never before fallen below zero. This is because storage facilities in the US are almost full, including at the main hub in Oklahoma, forcing sellers who have nowhere to put the oil to pay buyers to take it off their hands. Earlier this year, Brent and WTI were close to $70 a barrel. The slump sent shares in major oil companies into reverse, with BP down 3 per cent and Royal Dutch Shell off 4.2 per cent on the FTSE 100 index in London. Fears are mounting that the two firms may be forced to cut their dividends to save cash if the oil price rout continues. The BP and Shell payouts are a crucial source of income for many savers, investors and pension funds in the UK. Oil has been hit by a collapse in demand caused by the Covid-19 outbreak at a time of ample supply, leaving the world unable to store it. Lockdowns around the world have closed factories, shops and offices, grounded aircraft, and taken many vehicles off the roads. Barrel price hits the bottom The two major oil price benchmarks are Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI). Brent originates from oilfields in the North Sea while WTI comes from the US. Analysts believe that a lack of storage space for WTI in the US triggered this weeks panic. With fears mounting that there would be nowhere to store the oil, WTI prices fell to such an extent that sellers had to pay buyers to take delivery. Former BP chief executive Lord Browne of Madingley warned demand for oil may have peaked and prices could remain low for years. Demand is down, production is still high and, as a result, the prices will be very low and I think they will remain low and very volatile for some considerable time, he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme. Randeep Somel, equities investment director at M&G, said: Never in the history of the oil market has demand come to a halt as we are seeing. There are only so many storage facilities. As these continue to fill up, the oil must be shipped further afield, and the buyers want compensation for that. The oil production cartel Opec, which includes Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq, has pledged along with Russia to cut production by 10 per cent in a bid to prop up prices. But those cuts have not yet come in, and analysts warn that they will have little impact because demand for oil has dropped by 30 per cent. The recently agreed supply cuts do little to solve the near-term oversupply problem, said analysts at independent research group JBC Energy. In Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that leading oil producers could hold talks again if needed. US President Donald Trump said it would take advantage of the historic drop to replenish the national stockpile, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which can store 727m barrels, if Congress approved. This is intended for use in case of emergencies such as the 1991 Iraq War, or in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina. Chris Beauchamp, analyst at trading firm IG, described the situation as a complete dislocation in the crude oil market. (CNN) -- Anyone unlucky enough to have their birthday fall in the middle of a global pandemic may be planning two big days this year -- one on the actual date, and another when they can finally celebrate with friends. On that front, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II is well ahead of the curve. The monarch has enjoyed two birthdays a year since she ascended the throne, and the tradition actually started a lot further back than that. The Queen's real birthday is April 21, meaning she turns 94 on Tuesday. But she reaches for her party hat again in June. British monarchs have doubled up on the festivities since the 18th century, holding an "official" birthday each year for a public celebration, and tending to celebrate more privately on the real date. Both events are significantly scaled back this year, meaning the Queen's birthdays will look very different. But why does she have two? It's pretty simple -- no-one wants to celebrate their birthday in the rain, and so, ever since the 1740s, monarchs have enjoyed a second birthday, with far more pomp, in the summer. How the British monarch got a second birthday The tradition is believed to have started with the party-loving King George II in 1748. That is the year that Britain's annual Trooping the Colour celebration was first associated with the sovereign's birthday. George's real birthday was in November, when British weather is often far from ideal. Trooping the Colour -- a military parade in London -- previously existed as a standalone event. It was officially and permanently re-purposed as a birthday celebration after George III became King in 1760. Edward VII, who succeeded Queen Victoria and ruled the United Kingdom through the first decade of the 20th century, is believed to have been the first monarch to receive the annual salute in person. What happens on each birthday? While the monarch's actual birthday is a comparatively "no frills" event, this is the royal family we're talking about. So the Queen would usually enjoy a traditional royal gun salute, and government buildings around the UK fly the Union Jack flag on the date. That tradition of flag-flying is extended to a number of royal occasions, including the birthdays of all senior royals -- but it had some pushback earlier this year when several local authorities refused to fly a flag honoring Prince Andrew. On the ceremonial birthday in June, the streets around Buckingham Palace are lined with tourists as 1,400 parading soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians take part in a extravagant ceremony. The Queen is greeted by a royal salute and carries out an inspection of the troops in their famous bearskin hats. A keen rider, she used to attend the event on horseback herself until the 1980s -- but these days, she arrives in a carriage. After performances by a military band and a march by the foot guards, the Queen returns to the palace. There, she is joined by other royals on the balcony to watch a flypast of the Royal Air Force, and soldiers fire a 41-gun salute in nearby Green Park. What about this year? Given the coronavirus pandemic, most of those plans are on hold For the first time in 68 years, Queen Elizabeth II will not be marking her birthday with the traditional royal gun salute. The Queen canceled the celebration because she felt it would be inappropriate during the pandemic, a royal source told CNN on Saturday. Instead, the palace is expected to celebrate the Queen's 94th birthday on social media. All family-related affairs, including phone and video calls with family members will remain private, according to the source. June's Trooping the Colour has also been canceled and there are no alternative plans to mark the Queen's official birthday, the royal source said. Earlier this month, the Queen addressed the nation in a rare televised speech, calling for unity amid the pandemic. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Why does the Queen have two birthdays -- and how is she spending them this year?" The second batch of 225 pilgrims who had returned from Iran reached here on Wednesday in a special Indian Air Force plane after undergoing quarantine in Rajasthan, officials said. The returnees, 208 hailing from Kargil and 17 from Leh, were airlifted from Jodhpur to Leh and were subjected to screening by a medical team on their arrival at Leh airport, the officials said. They were evacuated from coronavirus-hit Iran by a special plane on March 25 and were put under quarantine at various facilities in Rajasthan. This was the second batch of the pilgrims who reached the Union Territory of Ladakh within two days. On Tuesday, the first batch of 57 pilgrims was airlifted from Hindon in Uttar Pradesh to Kargil. However, the returnees would not immediately join their families as the authorities have decided to put them under a 14-day institutional quarantine at Leh and Kargil towns as a precautionary measure. The UT administration has thanked the Centre, the army and the IAF for prompt consideration of the request for evacuation of the pilgrims from Iran and subsequently to Ladakh, the officials said. While nearly 600 pilgrims from Ladakh were evacuated from Iran in March, there are still about 300 more pilgrims who are stranded in the foreign country and 250 of them were reported to have tested positive for coronavirus. Meanwhile, senior BJP leader and MP Ladakh Jamyang Tsering Namgyal welcomed the return of the stranded pilgrims. "It shows the presence of good governance from Kargil to Kanyakumari under the leadership ofPrime Minister Narendra Modi," he said. The MP praised the Modi-led government and Home Minister Amit Shah for their active consideration of the plea made by the stranded pilgrims and their family members through him for their evacuation from Iran to their home country in a very short span of time. Namgyal also extended his gratitude to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar,Minister for Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan, Lt Governor of Union Territory of Ladakh R K Mathur and all the concerned officials as well as the Administration of Ladakh for all possible care and support in the evacuation of the stranded pilgrims. The MP said he was in constant touch with all the concerned officials pursuing the case of evacuation of the remaining pilgrims from Iran to India at the earliest besides the evacuation of others including patients and students from Ladakh who are stuck in different parts of the country. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-23 05:54:06|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Aerial photo taken on April 22, 2020 shows the farming land in south of Warsaw, Poland. The Polish Institute of Meteorology and Water Management (IMGW) has warned on Wednesday that Poland could face a severe drought this season. Lack of rain is already causing rivers to remain well below their water levels since March 12, and the coming drought could be the worst in a century, said the institute. (Photo by Jaap Arriens/Xinhua) WARSAW, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The Polish Institute of Meteorology and Water Management (IMGW) has warned on Wednesday that Poland could face a severe drought this season. Lack of rain is already causing rivers to remain well below their water levels since March 12, and the coming drought could be the worst in a century, said the institute. The current lack of rain and a dry winter are cited as the main reasons for the unfolding water crisis, that is set to negatively affect Poland's agricultural industry. "The current situation leads dry soil, which during the planting period may ultimately affect crop yields," IMGW spokesperson Grzegorz Walijewski told local newspaper Gazeta Wroclawska. While the month of May is projected to bring rain storms, Walijewski warned that these may not fully compensate the unusually dry period preceding that month. Polish President Andrzej Duda has also voiced his concerns on Wednesday after a meeting with ministers to discuss the situation. "If we don't get rain soon, the situation might become dangerous," he said at a press conference, during which he appealed to the government to prepare financial aid to farmers. Agriculture Minister Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski extended the application period for farmers seeking drought compensation. The government earmarked 150 million zloty (35.7 million U.S. dollars) to fight the possible consequences of the drought at the start of the week. Prices for crude have been turned upside down because of how much extra oil is sloshing around following a collapse in demand. US oil jumped 21 per cent after President Donald Trump threatened the destruction of any Iranian gunboats that harass US Navy ships, raising the possibility of a disruption to global oil supplies. US crude and benchmark Brent prices climbed after a collapse in the past two days, sending the S&P 500 energy index up 3.6 per cent. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 5.4 per cent to US20.37 dollars per barrel. Wall Street posted its first gain in what's been a dismal week for markets. Credit:AP 1. Calmer oil market supports sentiment: Sentiment in global markets improved overnight, as the technical mayhem that plagued global oil markets settled down. The May WTI Crude futures contract rolled into expiry, and though the June contract displayed volatile activity, its been largely chalked up to traders de-risking in a bid to avoid a repeat situation next month of whats happened this week. Hence, despite the economic fundamentals changing little last night, oil prices generally recovered, with the US volatility index VIX dropping back to 42 during US trade. 2. A "risk on" day in markets: That supported what might be considered a "risk-on" day in global markets. The relative stability in oil markets, even as Brent crude prices traded at two-decade lows, invited risk-taking amongst market participants. Global equity stock indices rallied right across the globe. The S&P500 jumped by 2.3 per cent, underpinned by a rebound in the tech-mega-caps and the broader IT sector. European trade saw a similarly positive outcome from European equities, with the FTSE100 up by 2.3 per cent, and the DAX up by 1.6 per cent. 3. Plenty of news on the oil front: Oil market volatility persisted amidst a high-level of headline risk. Oil prices were jolted last night after US President Donald Trump announced via Twitter that he has instructed the US Navy "to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea". The Presidents tweet reintroduced a level of geopolitical risk that had been somewhat forgotten from oil markets. Also on the oil news front: US crude inventories data was published, and showed a smaller build in inventories last week of 15 million barrels. 4. Growth and risk assets climb: Confidence in a gradual return to stability in oil markets prompted the market to bid up other risk and growth proxy assets. US corporate credit spreads narrowed, especially in the high-yield space. The Canadian dollar rebounded, while the Australian dollar topped the G10 currency map. Copper prices popped, along with the broader commodity complex. US 10 Year yields edged higher though with less enthusiasm than the bulls might have hoped. And gold prices recoupled with equities, pushing above $US1700 per ounce. Tankers carrying some 20 million barrels of crude oil are idling off the coast of California as onshore storage space runs out and the level of supply remains excessively high. Bloomberg reported that the tankers, which carry enough oil to satisfy a quarter of global oil demand, are scattered along the coast from Long Beach to San Francisco Bay. Analysts are warning that storing oil offshore on tankers as onshore storage facilities fill up could end up engaging a third of the global tanker fleet. This may not be as big pf a problem as it would have been at another time since the slump in demand for oil must have affected demand for tankers equally adversely--meaning there is free tanker capacity to use for storage. Demand for tankers to store oil has intensified significantly, the Wall Street Journal reported this week. Weve reached a point where there must be some kind of halt in production to suck up the glut, the daily quoted a tanker broker as saying. Its the first time ever that we get more calls to book ships to store oil than to move it. According to data reviewed by the WSJ, some 100 of the 815 VLCCs available globally were booked during the 12 days to April 21, with average daily freight rates at $150,000. Thats compared with $10,000 a year earlier, according to shipper Frontline. Meanwhile, storage space in the United States is getting closer to running out. At the current rate of increase, storage in the U.S. would fill in 7 to 8 weeks, a Mizuho analyst warned this week, while another expert warned of bankruptcies. The math is pretty simple. Current oil production is about 90 million barrels per day, but demand is only 75 million barrels per day. Gregory Leo, CIO of IDB Bank, told MarketWatch. While futures contracts expiring later this year are still trading as high as $30, if this supply/demand imbalance is not corrected their fate will be the same. And with the price of oil so goes the fate of some energy companies. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 19:48:37|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Workers assemble cars at a workshop of FAW-Volkswagen Automobile Co., Ltd. in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province, April 14, 2020. (Xinhua/Lin Hong) Businesses and regulators in China have engaged in firming up industrial chains as Chinese firms, especially the micro ones, are facing mounting uncertainties and challenges amid the global spread of COVID-19. BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Work has restarted in most Chinese firms, but more needs to be done to reinforce the country's industrial chain resilience as challenges from demand deficiency and imported cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) remain. To reboot the Chinese economy fast without triggering a second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak, local enterprises and industry regulators have all been fully engaged in a nationwide drive aiming to firm up industrial chains. The early results came out better than expected. About 84 percent of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME), the most sensitive to weaker consumer demand, had restarted work as of April 15, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). Among them, firms in the secondary industries saw the highest work resumption rate, followed by those in the production service sector and then the consumer service sector. The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China's manufacturing sector re-entered the expansion zone in March by firming up to 52 from 35.7 in February, official data showed. Despite the signs of recovery in manufacturing activities, Chinese firms, especially the micro ones, are facing mounting uncertainties and challenges amid the global spread of COVID-19. BACK INTO GEAR How are the breakthroughs made in returning to work when epidemic prevention and control becomes a regular practice? Staff members check the body temperature of a worker at a construction site in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, March 26, 2020. (Xinhua/Cheng Min) The answer is synergy-seeking by encouraging top enterprises to lead SMEs along the industrial chain in work resumption, according to the MIIT, while upstream and downstream firms along the same industrial chain are working in coordination to foster growth momentum, tapping domestic and overseas markets together. Over 400,000 SMEs have resumed production following the reopening of nearly 100 top firms and over 7,600 of their core business partners, MIIT data showed. Key areas including materials for epidemic control, life necessities, spring plowing and products for international supply chains as well as labor-intensive industries were the most targeted during the progress, said the MIIT. Amid efforts to uplift the resilience of industrial chains and further unleash the work resumption potential, Chinese firms are also cranking up critical supplies in response to the global COVID-19 fight and wobbled global supply chain. Since the outbreak, many Chinese manufacturers of apparel, electronics and cars changed their production line for face mask supply in just weeks, which also relied much on stable and flexible supply chain. MOVE TO DIGITAL Due to anemic global demand, more Chinese enterprises have to shift their focus to the domestic market, and nurturing domestic demand thus becomes more essential. An unfolding trend on the business front is accelerating digitalization to boost new types and upgrades of consumption emerging from epidemic control. A tea plantation staff introduces tea products via live stream in Hefeng County, central China's Hubei Province, April 8, 2020. (Photo by Yang Shunpi/Xinhua) For the e-commerce sector, a cloud platform which combined 5G and virtual reality has been built to offer a panoramic virtual shopping experience for consumers staying indoors. It will be applied in nearly 100 commercial enterprises across the country, said the MIIT. Digital measures are also underway to enable the development of SMEs whose demand for work resumption and growth transformation are much greater. The use of information technology can help SMEs better equipped in epidemic control and allow them to get back to operation as soon as possible, said Qin Zhihui, deputy director of the small and medium-sized enterprises bureau of the MIIT. Growth of new modes such as online office and online education have been speeded up, which will help expand the production modes of service-oriented manufacturers, making shared manufacturing and personalized customization more popular. On top of building digital platforms to help SMEs unclog the supply chains and connect financing resources, digital transformation will be promoted among qualified firms to realize lean production and agile manufacturing, Qin said. New Delhi, India The arrest of several Muslim activists behind anti-citizenship law protests in India has caused an outrage, with writers, academics, lawyers and filmmakers calling it unending witch-hunt of protesters. On April 1, police arrested students Meeran Haider and Safoora Zargar from Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) university for their alleged role in organising protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which is considered discriminatory towards Muslims. The passage of the law last December sparked nationwide protests largely led by Muslim women. Protesters and activists say the CAA coupled with a national citizenship register will lead to the disenfranchisement of millions of Muslims. The United Nations special rapporteur on minorities has called the new citizenship law fundamentally discriminatory towards Muslims and other minorities. Haider and Zargar both research scholars at JMI were part of the Jamia Coordination Committee that organised the anti-CAA protests. Stringent anti-terror law Both the Jamia students along with another unidentified person have been charged under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for allegedly hatching a conspiracy to incite communal violence in New Delhi. Another activist, Umar Khalid, has been booked under the same law, but he has not been arrested yet. Police say the anti-CAA protests led to the February religious violence in northeast Delhi that left at least 53 dead, most of them Muslims. Several anti-CAA activists from across the country have been arrested as part of the crackdown on protesters. Members of civil society on Wednesday condemned the Delhi Police, which fall under the jurisdiction of Home Minister Amit Shah, for falsely implicating students activists in Delhi violence cases. This suppression of civil rights and liberties and targeting of our young democratic voices is reprehensible, a 25-member civil society said in a statement. We find it utterly shameful that Delhi police is using the COVID-19 lockdown, and the enormous humanitarian crisis of hunger confronting our country, as an opportunity to trample on the democratic rights of innocents. This is a time to unite as a nation, not to isolate and target students. Earlier, 26 eminent personalities from across the country demanded the release of the activists. We condemn the witch-hunt by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police against activists and students who were at the forefront of the democratic upsurge against CAA/NRC/NPR , Delhi Police is abusing the COVID-19 lockdown to silence and arrest those who oppose government policies A demonstrator carries a sign during a protest against a new citizenship bill in New Delhi [File: Adnan Abidi/Reuters] Dozens arrested amid lockdown According to a report by The Hindu newspaper, more than 800 people have been arrested for their involvement in the February violence, with 25 to 30 arrested since the lockdown was announced in the capital. Imrans* father was one of those arrested during the lockdown. He says his 51-year-old father was picked up by plain-clothes policemen on March 30. The only thing the family is aware of is that Imrans 51-year-old father is currently lodged in a Delhi jail for his alleged role in the citys worst violence since 1984. I think there is an extremely cynical and dangerous use of the lockdown to pursue the governments communal, anti-minority, authoritarian agenda. Harsh Mander, activist When my father asked them for a reason, they said, they will explain it in the police station and that he would be sent home soon. We asked if they had any notice or any document, they didnt show us any, said Imran. When the family visited the police station they were told Imrans father was shifted to a different part of the city for further questioning. The next day, a Crime Branch officer told them that he would be sent to jail. When we asked for a reason, they said, they have identified his father through a photograph from riots. We asked them that thousands had assembled during riots, will they arrest everyone? Since then, we have had no contact with my father. We have not received any formal document about cases on him from the police till now, Imran said. Imran said that because of the coronavirus lockdown they have been unable to go to the police station and do not know who to approach. With no lawyers available and courts not functioning, I dont know how to help my father, Imran told Al Jazeera. February violence The February violence erupted after peaceful anti-CAA sit-ins in northest Delhi were attacked by supporters of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Activists say ruling party leaders who gave hate speeches and threatened anti-CAA protesters to end their peaceful sit-ins seem to have been granted impunity. With no lawyers available and courts not functioning, I don't know how to help my father. Imran, son of a man arrested in connection with violence The police were blamed for not intervening with enough force to stop the carnage and in many cases were seen siding with Hindu mobs attacking Muslims and their properties. Home Minister Shah, however, defended the police, saying they did a good job in controlling the violence. Some lawyers say due to the lockdown, they have been unable to contact those arrested to ensure justice is done. In a regular scenario, lawyers can always verify if the arrests are justified or what was the role of the person who was arrested but during lockdown the legal procedure has become opaque. As soon as the arrest is made, the case enters a black hole and lawyers are struggling to get more information, said Maneka Khanna, a lawyer, who is handling cases for some of those arrested during the lockdown. Khanna is worried there is no legal remedy available during the lockdown. Since the regular courts are shut, these people are being produced in temporary courts inside jail premises which are hard to access by lawyers in lockdown. Delhi Police defends arrests Responding to the criticism, Delhi Police issued a statement on Twitter claiming that it has done its job sincerely and impartially. All the arrests made have been based on analysis of scientific and forensic evidence, including video footages, technical and other footprints. Indian students of the Jamia Millia Islamia University and locals participate in a protest demonstration against a new citizenship law in New Delhi on December 21, 2019 [Altaf Qadri/AP Photo] Delhi Police is committed to upholding the Rule of Law and bringing the conspirators, abettors and culprits of NE riots to books and secure justice to innocent victims. It will not be deterred by false propaganda and rumours floated by some vested elements who try to twist facts to their convenience, read the tweet. But Harsh Mander, an activist, who is also being investigated by the police for inciting violence, said the police force has lost all its credibility. The Delhi Police has lost any pretence of being a professional and impartial force in the way they function in the arm of the ruling party rather than a professional force and this is taking it to yet another cynical low, Mander told Al Jazeera. He accused the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using the lockdown period very cynically to pursue its political agenda on matters related to minorities protests and the communal carnage, especially when resistance and protest have become almost impossible. In the past 24 hours, seven people, including three Kashmiri journalists, have been charged under UAPA, which allows the government to proscribe an individual as a terrorist. Mander said it was deeply troubling that people have been arrested when elsewhere in the world, inmates were being released from jails. I think there is an extremely cynical and dangerous use of the lockdown to pursue the governments communal, anti-minority, authoritarian agenda. Probably, it will reach people like me as well. * name changed Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 15:16:28|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close File photo taken on July 17, 2017 shows that people walk in a resettlement site for relocated residents from poor areas at Huangjiahe Village of Gaoluo Township in Xuan'en County, central China's Hubei Province. (Xinhua/Song Wen) Tasks are daunting as the deadline approaches. But China has enough capabilities, including support policies, funds and task force, to win the battle. BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The COVID-19 epidemic has created a new challenge to China's efforts to eradicate absolute poverty by the end of this year. Still, China has never considered finding any excuse to retreat. Chinese President Xi Jinping, in his inspection trip to northwest China's Shaanxi Province, inspected local poverty alleviation work. The message is clear: China is determined to complete the world's biggest poverty-relief project as scheduled. Tasks are daunting as the deadline approaches. But China has enough capabilities, including support policies, funds and task force, to win the battle. Key measures taken include industrial development, relocation, ecological compensation, education, and providing allowances for people to meet their basic needs. China is also developing a new economy in its efforts. As Xi said during his tour to the village of Jinmi in Zhashui County, e-commerce can promote sales of agricultural products, help rural residents shake off poverty and facilitate rural vitalization. A specialist (2nd R) explains grape-planting techniques to local farmers at an agricultural demonstration zone in Qingshan Township of Yanchi County, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, May 27, 2019. (Xinhua/Wang Peng) China bases poverty elimination on the precise identification of real problems of different localities and individuals. This enables the government to take targeted measures to ensure substantive and sustainable outcomes. By the end of 2019, 5.51 million people were still living in poverty. None of them will be left behind on the nation's way to become a moderately prosperous society in all respects. Among the sites inspected by Xi were a community, a township hospital and a primary school in Pingli County. It demonstrates the leadership's special attention to ensure all the poor residents have adequate food and clothing and have guaranteed access to compulsory education, basic medical services and safe housing -- basic human rights the Chinese government is determined to safeguard. China's efforts significantly contribute to the decline in global poverty. Upon completion of the poverty eradication task this year, China will achieve the goals set in the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years ahead of schedule. The approaches China has adopted might not be simply replicated in other countries due to different systems and conditions, but there is definitely something to learn from the determination, persistence and concerted efforts China has shown to protect every person's rights in pursuit of a happy life. The clearest photographs of a mysterious 'muscular big cat' thought to be a puma lurking in the British countryside were taken this weekend. An unnamed big cat spotter in Cumbria got out of her van and took the pictures when she spotted the feline eating a pigeon. The woman, whose work regularly takes her out to the countryside, took three pictures of the predator after taking a brave step closer before it ran off. Her pictures match regular sightings of large big cats spotted in Bowness-on-Windermere in the south of the Lake District. A woman in Cumbria spotted a large 'muscular' big cat believed to be a young puma in the countryside this weekend The cat was seen eating a pigeon before the woman got out her van and got closer to take three pictures The photos were added to the Big Cats in Cumbria Facebook group last Sunday and shared by Sharon Larkin-Snowden, who runs the page. Members of the page are divided on whether the pictures show an African golden cat, a young puma or a caracal. Sharon posted: 'The witness said it was muscular and the size of a collie. Either a caracal or young puma. 'This has to be some of the best photographic evidence up-to-date. To get a decent photo is difficult. 'The size of the cat caught her attention and she was lucky enough to get these photos before it slinked off. The big cat was spotted in Bowness on Windermere, adding to more than 40 sightings of panthers in Cumbria since 2003 'To get three shots takes some doing. Brave lady!' There have been more than 40 reports of a black panther in the south of the Lake District since 2003 according to Cumbria Police. Two walkers spoke of their fear when they spotted a large black 'panther' in January 2017 and photographed the animal, in a spate of sightings that year. Husband and wife Liz and Stuart Wild were heading towards Little Langdale when they saw the 'jet black' panther stalking a herd of sheep. There was a surge in the number of reported sightings of the big cat in Cumbria in 2017 Mrs Wild, 54, explained: 'There were some sheep in the field and one of my friends said: "Look at that dog". 'But it was very feline and very, very big. You know how a cat stalks? It was like that. It was jet black and walking slowly.' Her husband, from Worcester, added: 'It had a big, black long tail.' 'It looked exactly like the pictures of black panthers I found when I searched online.' A mother and son took this picture of a large black cat in Dalton, Cumbria on April 8 last year Adult pumas, like the one in Southern Patagonia, Chile, pictured above, can grow up to 90cm in height. They have distinctive round eyes, like the cat pictured in Cumbria The couple did not have time to get their binoculars or camera out to get a better look at the creature, which Mrs Wild said was around 75 yards away from them. Mrs Wild said: 'It's the first time anything like that has happened. 'We were all quite surprised to see it. 'We had a big, dry stone wall in front of us, but I would have tried to get a closer look given the chance.' Analysts see buying opportunities in stocks like Johnson & Johnson and Snap as earnings season continues Published Wed, Apr 22 2020 9:56 AM EDT Updated Wed, Apr 22 2020 10:06 AM EDT The district has also ordered another 53,000 devices, including 31,300 Chromebooks, 16,700 iPads and 5,000 Windows laptops. About 43,000 of those have come in, and about 10,000 have already been doled out to schools, according to CPS. In total, the district has said an initial wave of 155 schools will get new devices to supplement those they already had. A 58-year-old man who Portland police say was caught masturbating in front of female passengers on public transportation six times in less than a year was sentenced Tuesday to three years of mental health court supervision. According to the accounts of half a dozen women, Hanford Vernell King sat near them as he fondled himself during encounters in June, November and March on MAX trains, a TriMet bus and the Portland Streetcar. Hanford Vernell King (Multnomah County Sheriff's Office) In one case in November, he also spat on a woman on a bus that she boarded at 8:30 a.m. near Southeast 17th Avenue and Spokane Street to go to work, according to a probable cause affidavit. He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor public indecency for that crime in Multnomah County Circuit Court on March 16 but wasnt held in jail pending sentencing. A week later, another woman reported seeing King masturbating as he smoked methamphetamine on a MAX train headed toward the Rose Quarter Transit Center. King told authorities that he has schizophrenia, is homeless, lives off Social Security disability payments and uses meth daily. After a Portland police officer asked King if hed exposed himself while on public transit, King replied: Yeah, Im gonna do what I wanna do. ... I dont give a (expletive), according to the probable cause affidavit. King was sentenced for two counts of misdemeanor public indecency and one count of felony public indecency. He pleaded guilty to all three charges. As part of his sentence, he must check in regularly with a judge who oversees mental health court. A mental health professional will assess King and he must undergo any recommended treatment. He isnt allowed to travel on TriMet without special permission. King had spent about a month in jail since his last arrest. -- Aimee Green; agreen@oregonian.com; @o_aimee Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. What The Study Did: Recently reported pediatric cases of SARS-CoV-2 from China and Singapore are assessed to evaluate clinical features, diagnostic tests, current therapeutic management and prognosis. Authors: Amelia Licari, M.D., of the University of Pavia in Italy, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2020.1467) Editor's Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflicts of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support. ### Media advisory: The full study and editorial are linked to this news release. Embed this link to provide your readers free access to the full-text article This link will be live at the embargo time https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2020.1467?guestAccessKey=b218c608-7d75-4827-8d42-6bb28769f6a4&utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_content=tfl&utm_term=042220 Taoiseach Leo Varadkar speaks to the media during a visit to the Civil Defence Dublin Branch on Wolfe Tone Quay to receive a briefing on the contribution by Volunteers to the Covid-19 response. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA Wire PARTNERS of healthcare workers who also work in the public sector will be allowed to take paid leave to look after children at home, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has announced. Read More The first measure will allow a partner of a healthcare worker who works elsewhere in the public sector to take paid leave to stay at home and look after their children. That has been approved by NPHET, so we can try and action that now over the next couple of weeks, Mr Varadkar said. Read More However, those who are lone parents or whose partners do not work in the public sector will have to wait longer for childcare solutions, he said, because NPHET had not approved a proposal to allow child minders to go into peoples homes. The difficulty is that it really only works where its a public sector household if you like and isnt an adequate answer for those who either are both healthcare workers or one is in the private sector and one is the public sector, he said But the second piece which NPHET still has reservations about is using child minders to go into peoples homes. But thats now going to be considered as something that perhaps could kick in on May 5th as part of a general easing of restrictions. But theyre not happy for us to do it right now. However, the childcare proposals have been dismissed by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) which said they will do nothing for the vast majority of nurses and midwives. INMO general secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha said: This is a surprisingly old-fashioned concept of family needs. It will not resolve the issues faced by the vast majority of nurses and midwives, offering a limited solution only to those with partners in some public sector work. Around 200 members of the INMO are impacted by the lack of availability of childcare during the pandemic. The INMO has called for direct in-home provision of childcare, reimbursement of childcare costs already incurred by its members during the lockdown and a reimbursement of annual leave taken. Forsa, which represents 30,000 healthcare workers, said the solution fell short and was at best a partial measure to address the childcare needs of frontline healthcare workers. Speaking at a primary care centre in Grangegorman in Dublin, Mr Varadkar also said that mass gatherings where its hard to social distance will be among the last things to return when current restrictions on public movement are lifted. Mr Varadkar said that work on a roadmap for lifting restrictions was ongoing and would be shared with the Irish people before May 5th - the date the current measures are due to expire. I think it would be fair to say that, you know, among the last things that we'll be returning to normal are major gatherings you know where you have a lot of people gathering together in a way that's hard to social distance, in a way that's hard to keep people apart by two metres, he said. So I suppose they're the things that are most likely to come last and that's not particular to alcohol it could be mass gatherings of any particular nature. Mr Varadkar also did not rule out extending the ban on rent increases and evictions beyond the 12-week period they were introduced for at the end of March. He said consideration will be given to extending various emergency measures if the pandemic continues and that a decision would be made in a few weeks time. He said: A lot of things were put in place for, if you like, a 12-week period - welfare measures, employment supports, the rent cap, if you like, and also the ban on evictions and it was done on the anticipation that this pandemic, if you like, would last for less than 12 weeks. But obviously if it goes on for longer we'll have to give consideration to extending a lot of those different temporary actions but that's not a decision we need to make now it's a decision that can be made in a few weeks time. Social-distancing measures to tackle coronavirus are likely to be in place for many more months, one of Britain's top health officials warned on Wednesday, as the world waits for either a vaccine or drugs that can stop people dying. "Until we have those -- and the probability of having those any time in the next calendar year are incredibly small... we are going to have to rely on other, social measures," Chris Whitty, England's chief medical officer, told a media briefing. Pressure is growing on the British government to explain how it might ease a month-long lockdown that has seen people confined to their homes to stem the spread of COVID-19. But deaths continue to rise, reaching 18,100 on Wednesday -- an increase of 759 on the previous day -- making Britain one of the worst-hit countries in the global pandemic. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is standing in for Prime Minister Boris Johnson following his hospitalisation with coronavirus, warned of the threat of a new wave of cases. "The greatest risk for us now, if we eased up on our social distancing rules too soon, is that we would risk a second spike in the virus," he said. Whitty said it was "wholly unrealistic" to expect the lockdown to be suddenly lifted. Experts were looking at the effect of different social distancing measures, he said, but ministers would have decide on the right combination. "We are going to have to do a lot of things, for really quite a long period of time. The question is, what is the best package," Whitty said. - Too slow - Johnson has been out of action for more than two weeks after being hospitalised with coronavirus, spending three nights in intensive care. In his absence, the government is battling growing criticism over its response to the crisis. Labour leader Keir Starmer on Wednesday used his first appearance in parliament since his election at the helm of the main opposition party earlier this month to accuse ministers of being slow to act. "There's a pattern emerging here: we were slow into lockdown, slow on testing, slow on protective equipment," he told MPs, many of whom were attending via videolink -- a first in the parliament's long history. Raab rejected the accusation of being slow and hit back that Starmer was looking at the situation "with the benefit of hindsight". - Brexit row - Britain's death toll only covers those people hospitalised with coronavirus, and Whitty said when all the statistics were collected, he expected to see a "high mortality rate in care homes". The state-run National Health Service (NHS) has radically expanded its critical care capacity in recent weeks but staff continue to complain about a lack of masks and gowns to protect themselves. Ministers insist they are doing everything they can to get personal protective equipment (PPE) from abroad and ramp up production at home. A Royal Air Force plane landed in Britain from Turkey on Wednesday after collecting a shipment of equipment including 400,000 badly needed surgical gowns. But a simmering row has erupted over whether Britain missed a chance to bulk buy equipment through the European Union, which it left on January 31 but to which it retains close ties. The government has blamed "communication problems" but the foreign ministry's top civil servant on Tuesday said it was a "political decision". In an extraordinary U-turn, Simon McDonald then retracted his evidence to the foreign affairs committee, writing to tell them it was "incorrect". Health Secretary Matt Hancock later revealed Britain had agreed to join the EU scheme on an "associate" basis but said it had yet to deliver anything. European Commission spokesman Stefan de Keersmaecker said Britain had "ample opportunity" to participate in joint procurement schemes for coronavirus. "As to why it did not participate, this is obviously something on which we cannot comment," he said. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Glow Wellness | Getty Images Gyms in China's capital city of Beijing were forced to close again over the weekend, adding pressure to an industry that's already seen the collapse of thousands of fitness businesses nationwide. The coronavirus, which emerged late last year in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has swept across the country and only started slowing down in early March. That allowed some fitness centers which have essentially shut down since late January to re-open in the last few weeks. But a new case of Covid-19 in Beijing last week increased concerns about a resurgence of the virus, turning a major business and residential district into the highest-risk region in the country. Already, more than 200 fitness businesses shuttered in Beijing in the first quarter, according to analysis from Qichacha, which runs a Chinese business information database. Nationwide, the data showed China's ballooning fitness industry got hit so hard by the coronavirus that 6,969 businesses in the field dissolved or suspended operations in the first three months of this year far more than the 4,632 in all of 2015. There were 955,000 fitness companies in operation across China as of April 17, according to Qichacha. Exploring options Those still in the industry are trying to negotiate rents with landlords and turn to online classes in an effort to stay afloat. "It's very difficult for us because we are an offline provider," said Ankit Nayal, a director at Beijing-based B Active 24 Hour Fitness and partner at a location in the Sanlitun area of downtown Beijing. "We're still investigating online revenue options." When B Active was allowed to temporarily resume operations earlier this month, it could only open for 12 hours a day, and with 10 people per hour, he said. But that cut revenue to 30% of what it is typically, he noted. The company has about 18,000 members across 8 clubs in China, four of which are in Beijing. "The government has been very helpful in coming up with policies towards the rent," Nayal said Tuesday, noting the company is in talks with landlords about current costs. Rent accounts for the majority of operating costs and can range from about 150,000 yuan ($21,400) to 1 million yuan a month for the industry in Beijing, Nayal said. He said B Active's customers have the option to suspend the roughly 500 yuan-a-month membership if they cannot come to the gym. Worries of resurgence The pandemic temporarily shut down more than half of mainland China as authorities tried to limit the spread of the disease that's now killed more than 4,600 people nationwide and well over 172,000 in the rest of the world, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Even as new cases abate and many businesses resume work, China remains on high alert for new cases coming from travelers, mostly Chinese nationals, returning from overseas. The capital city of Beijing requires those returning from abroad to pay for a 14-quarantine in a designated hotel upon arrival. Last week, municipal authorities disclosed a Chinese man who returned to Beijing from studies in Miami, Florida, tested positive for the virus. He fell sick just two days after completing a 14-day isolation period and had tested negative for the disease three times. Three family members contracted the disease from him, officials said. This past weekend, many gyms that had re-opened in the city announced they were told to close again. In the southern part of the country, the Guangzhou National Fitness Center also announced it would temporarily close again from April 19 until an unspecified date. Growth opportunities online Flash Members of the Chinese anti-pandemic medical expert team that arrived last Thursday in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, held an experience sharing session on Monday with officials and experts of the Africa Center for Disease Prevention and Control (Africa CDC). The continental specialized health agency of the African Union (AU) has commended China for its continued support and cooperation with Africa in combating COVID-19. At the half-day session held on the AU headquarters, both sides have expressed commitment to further strengthening joint efforts and cooperation in the battle against the pandemic. Members of the Chinese medical experts have made presentation on "Challenges and Countermeasures in the Fight against COVID-19 in China," with examples and also responded to various questions from the Africa CDC side. Reiterating commitment to support Africans, Zeng Zhiyong, a member of the Chinese medical experts' team and a chief physician specialized on infection-control department at West China Hospital Sichuan University, underlined the need to strengthen cooperation and exchanges for joint efforts to curb the pandemic. In his opening remarks, John Nkengasong, Africa CDC Director, said the Chinese CDC has been making valuable contribution to his center in dealing with COVID-19. The director has expressed Africa's CDC's keen interest to continue the relationship forged with its Chinese counterpart. As COVID-19 cases continue to surge across Ethiopia and beyond the African continent, the Chinese anti-pandemic medical experts' team was dispatched by the Chinese government upon the request of the Ethiopian government. "This is really a very good experience exchange. They have very, very rich experiences in using telemedicine, triage, dealing with issues of non-COVID-19 cases and patients, and most importantly getting involved the community in the fight against the epidemic in China," said Nkengasong. "And the very, very important thing is that they have the community participating at different layers of the CDC in China; there is a CDC at a central level, the provincial level and the local level," he said. According to Nkengasong, access to diagnostic test and commodities that are accessories and facilities required in the overall battle against COVID-19 are among the big challenges in Africa. Jack Ma, founder of the Chinese e-commerce giant, has already made move to deliver the third batch of medical supplies to Africa to combat coronavirus on the continent. The donation includes half a million test kits and more than four million swabs and masks among others. Stating that the donation would arrive on Saturday, Nkengasong said that the contribution of Jack Ma Foundation has been "extremely timely and impactful" for the fight against COVID-19 on the continent. "We have received two shipments and distributed; and the third one is coming which was coordinated by Africa CDC provided technical input as to on what to receive and I understand it is going to be here on Saturday; and Africa CDC looks forward to distributing to member states," he said. Nkengasong noted that the support from Jack Ma would also contribute significantly to the Africa CDC's initiative dubbed "Partnership to Accelerate COVID-19 Testing". In addition to the deployment of Chinese medical expert at AU Africa CDC, and also the experience sharing with the recently arrived experts, Nkengasong said there is also an online platform whereby China CDC and Africa CDC and other public health institutions on the continent come together regularly to share experiences. "We really want this kind of experience sharing to continue," he said. Australia's latest bush fires released far more carbon dioxide in one season than the country's annual greenhouse gas pollution, according to a government estimate. An estimated 830 million tons of carbon dioxide were released into the atmosphere between September and February due to the devastating fires, according to a preliminary estimate by the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources released this month, Deutsche press agency (DPA) reported. Australia's greenhouse gas emissions are about 540 million tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent per year, according to a policy brief published in October by the Australian National University. But the fire-affected temperate forests are expected to recover over time, generating a significant carbon sink in the coming years, the government department said in the report published this week. "Climate change impacts, including droughts or more frequent and more intense fires, can affect the ability of forests to recover after fire," according to the report. The amount of estimated carbon dioxide released within those six months is more than all countries, except for the top five polluters in the world - China, the United States, India, Russia and Japan. The bush fire season started early last year in Australia, where more than 3,000 homes were destroyed and 12.5 million hectares of land - or an area the size of more than a third of Germany - burned. At least 33 people, including half a dozen firefighters, died during the bush fire season, which Prime Minister Scott Morrison called a "Black Summer." The smoke due to the bush fires caused air quality to plummet in major Australian cities including Sydney and the capital Canberra, where it reached 40 times the hazardous levels. In the worst-hit and most-populated state of New South Wales, volunteer fire crews responded to more than 11,400 blazes. The bush fires resulted in massive habitat loss threatening native species. In the case of 113 animal populations including koalas, at least 30 per cent of their habitat was burnt, according to a preliminary study by an expert panel. The department in its report cited the example of the bush fires that swept through Canberra and neighbouring region in 2003. "In these areas, by 2019, it is estimated that 96 per cent of initial carbon emissions has been balanced out by carbon sequestration from forest recovery," the report said. "The 2019-20 bushfires will have a negligible impact on Australias progress towards its 2020 or 2030 target," the authors added. Under the Paris climate agreement, since pollution from such national disturbances is considered beyond human control, it is counted separately under UN greenhouse accounting rules. "To ensure transparency, all net emissions data both with and without the natural disturbances provision - will be reported in the governments annual submission under the Paris Agreement," the report said. "If the forest does not grow back, then this will be reflected" in the National Greenhouse Accounts, the report said. Australia's conservative government, led by a coal-loving prime minister Scott Morrison, has refused to abandon fossil fuel and insists using carbon credits from earlier cuts achieved under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to meet the Paris climate change deal target. Without the use of that accounting loophole, Australia is not on track to meet its 2030 Paris climate target, a 26 to 28 per cent cut below 2005 levels, according to scientists. As the number of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases continues to rise across many countries, the global war against this pandemic has entered a critical stage. Chinese Internet companies are using their technological advantages to take the initiative in helping foreign countries in the battle against the pandemic. Medical supplies donated by the Jack Ma Foundation are shipped to Africa. (Photo/Qianjiang Evening News) 500 ventilators and other large quantities of medical supplies have recently been transported from Ethiopia to the front line of the battle against the pandemic in more than 50 countries in Africa. This is the second batch of materials donated to Africa by the Jack Ma Foundation and the Alibaba Foundation in China. In addition to ventilators, there are also 1 million sets of virus sampling equipment and extraction reagents, 200,000 sets of protective clothing and face masks, 2,000 forehead thermometers and 500,000 pairs of gloves. Donating medical supplies has been one of the main ways for Chinese Internet companies to support the overseas battle against the pandemic. Earlier, medical supplies donated by Jack Ma, the founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba, to France and Slovenia were warmly received at the airport in Liege, Belgium. According to statistics, to date, the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation have donated pandemic prevention and control materials to more than 100 countries. Furthermore, Tencent, another Chinese Internet enterprise, has spent more than 1 billion yuan setting up a foundation to help fight against the COVID-19 pandemic at home and abroad. Recently, 7.7 million units of medical supplies purchased by Tencent have also been shipped to more than a dozen countries affected by the pandemic, including Italy, Iceland, Portugal, Malaysia and the United States. It is worth noting that Chinese Internet enterprises have used their advanced technology in providing this assistance. Baidu Research, for example, has opened the linear time algorithm LinearFold and the world's fastest RNA (ribonucleic acid) structure prediction website free of charge to pandemic prevention centers and scientific research centers worldwide, in a bid to improve novel coronavirus RNA spatial structure prediction speed and greatly shorten the waiting time for test results. Meanwhile, the United Nations officially announced that Tencent has become its global partner on March 30, providing comprehensive technical solutions for the 75th anniversary of the founding of the UN. The UN will also hold thousands of online meetings through the companys applications such as Tencent Cloud Conference and Enterprise WeChat. A team of researchers from Empa, ETH Zurich and Zurich University Hospital has succeeded in developing a novel sensor for detecting the new coronavirus. In future, it could be used to measure the concentration of the virus in the environment -- for example, in places where there are many people or in hospital ventilation systems. Jing Wang and his team at Empa and ETH Zurich usually work on measuring, analyzing and reducing airborne pollutants such as aerosols and artificially produced nanoparticles. However, the challenge the whole world is currently facing is also changing the goals and strategies in the research laboratories. The new focus: a sensor that can quickly and reliably detect SARS-CoV-2 -- the new coronavirus. But the idea is not quite so far removed from the group's previous research work: even before the COVID-19 began to spread, first in China and then around the world, Wang and his colleagues were researching sensors that could detect bacteria and viruses in the air. As early as January, the idea of using this basis to further develop the sensor in such a way that it could reliably identify a specific virus was born. The sensor will not necessarily replace the established laboratory tests, but could be used as an alternative method for clinical diagnosis, and more prominently to measure the virus concentration in the air in real time: For example, in busy places like train stations or hospitals. Fast and reliable tests for the new coronavirus are urgently needed to bring the pandemic under control as soon as possible. Most laboratories use a molecular method called reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, or RT-PCR for short, to detect viruses in respiratory infections. This is well established and can detect even tiny amount of viruses -- but at the same time it can be time consuming and prone to error. An optical sensor for RNA samples Jing Wang and his team have developed an alternative test method in the form of an optical biosensor. The sensor combines two different effects to detect the virus safely and reliably: an optical and a thermal one. advertisement The sensor is based on tiny structures of gold, so-called gold nanoislands, on a glass substrate. Artificially produced DNA receptors that match specific RNA sequences of the SARS-CoV-2 are grafted onto the nanoislands. The coronavirus is a so-called RNA virus: Its genome does not consist of a DNA double strand as in living organisms, but of a single RNA strand. The receptors on the sensor are therefore the complementary sequences to the virus' unique RNA sequences, which can reliably identify the virus. The technology the researchers use for detection is called LSPR, short for localized surface plasmon resonance. This is an optical phenomenon that occurs in metallic nanostructures: When excited, they modulate the incident light in a specific wavelength range and create a plasmonic near-field around the nanostructure. When molecules bind to the surface, the local refractive index within the excited plasmonic near-field changes. An optical sensor located on the back of the sensor can be used to measure this change and thus determine whether the sample contains the RNA strands in question. Heat increases reliability However, it is important that only those RNA strands that match exactly the DNA receptor on the sensor are captured. This is where a second effect comes into play on the sensor: the plasmonic photothermal (PPT) effect. If the same nanostructure on the sensor is excited with a laser of a certain wavelength, it produces localized heat. And how does that help reliability? As already mentioned, the genome of the virus consists of only a single strand of RNA. If this strand finds its complementary counterpart, the two combine to form a double strand -- a process called hybridization. The counterpart -- when a double strand splits into single strands -- is called melting or denaturation. This happens at a certain temperature, the melting temperature. However, if the ambient temperature is much lower than the melting temperature, strands that are not complementary to each other can also connect. This could lead to false test results. If the ambient temperature is only slightly lower than the melting temperature, only complementary strands can join. And this is exactly the result of the increased ambient temperature, which is caused by the PPT effect. To demonstrate how reliably the new sensor detects the current COVID-19 virus, the researchers tested it with a very closely related virus: SARS-CoV. This is the virus that broke out in 2003 and triggered the SARS pandemic. The two viruses -- SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV2 -- differ only slightly in their RNA. And validation was successful: "Tests showed that the sensor can clearly distinguish between the very similar RNA sequences of the two viruses," explains Jing Wang. And the results are ready in a matter of minutes. At the moment, however, the sensor is not yet ready to measure the corona virus concentration in the air, for example in Zurich's main railway station. A number of developmental steps are still needed to do this -- for example, a system that draws in the air, concentrates the aerosols in it and releases the RNA from the viruses. "This still needs development work," says Wang. But once the sensor is ready, the principle could be applied to other viruses and help to detect and stop epidemics at an early stage. An evil bank worker who raped and tortured a woman daily and set her on fire led police on a dramatic pursuit through the streets of Brisbane, ramming cop cars, stealing two vehicles and breaking into a house before he finally surrendered. Helicopter vision shows the Grand Theft Auto-style police pursuit that Nicholas John Crilley, 34, led investigators on, eight days after leaving a 21-year-old woman for dead at his suburban townhouse in July 2017. The former Commonwealth Bank employee is facing a life sentence behind bars for 23 days of 'sadistic' abuse against the young woman, a court has heard this week. The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was left in such a state paramedics thought she was dead and has been left permanently disfigured by the torture. Chopper vision shows the moment Crilley dragged an elderly woman out of the driver's seat and stole her car during the dramatic escape Sadistic: Nicholas John Crilley, 34, raped, tortured and set the 21-year-old woman on fire at his townhouse in Bulimba, Brisbane over 23 days from June to July 2, 2017 Chopper night vision camera shows Crilley desperately trying to get away with his crimes as police close in on July 10, 2017. He rammed two police cars about 5pm, before running to a passerby's car, forcing an elderly woman out of the driver's seat and speeding off. Crilley - whose defence lawyer said he was in a methylamphetamine-induced delusional spiral during his torture of the woman - managed to drive to a neighbouring suburb. But he was brought to a grinding halt by peak hour traffic. Crilley then stole another car, crashed into a gate and broke into a nearby house. Footage shows him composing himself on a balcony before kneeling on a nearby road and surrendering. His defence lawyer has said he was wounded in the melee with police that followed. Crilley's victim gave a chilling victim impact statement to his sentencing hearing at the Brisbane District Court on Tuesday. She told the court she fears she will never have a friend, a lover or a job again due to her mental and physical scars she suffered. She spoke of the unimaginable horror she endured, and said strangers now look at her like she is a 'monster' due to her disfigurement. The victim, who was 21 at the time, was found barely alive in Nicholas John Crilley's house in Bulimba (pictured) on July 2, 2017. She was so badly injured police who found her thought she had been involved in an explosion The woman was placed in an induced coma and spent eight weeks at Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital recovering. She said it took her seven weeks to work up the courage to look at her face in the mirror, fearing what she would see. 'When I finally did, I was so distraught. I didn't look like myself at all. I was unrecognisable,' she told the court, according to The Courier Mail. She said 'part of my dream as a little girl was finding someone to love and marry,' but Crilley had 'taken away' that dream. Her muscles wasted away so much she had to learn to walk again, and her little finger was amputated. The woman, who is now 24, also went through weeks of agonising treatment for burns on nearly half of her body. 'The injuries I have sustained are horrific, very visible and irreversible and have, and will forever, affect me,' she told the court, Nine News reported. 'My face will never look the same... I will always have a physical reminder every time I look in the mirror. 'It makes me feel numb that no one will ever want to be my friend, lover or employ me again.' The woman's teeth are broken from endless beatings at the hands of Crilley. She now has to wear a wig after losing chunks of her hair due to a badly burned scalp. The bridge of her nose had to be removed because it was shattered into pieces, and her vision has been reduced due to burning liquids being poured in her eyes. Crilley repeatedly called her a 's**t' and forced her to confess to sleeping with other men while he was in jail Surgery may be required to put a metal plate in her head to stop her eyes sinking further back. She has large 'divots' in her skull where skin tissue turned black and died, later becoming infested with maggots. The woman also finds it difficult to exercise and even shower as her body struggles to regulate temperature. But she said the worst wounds are those to her psyche. She described herself as having a 'very smiley and bubbly personality' before the ordeal, but Crilley's abuse has left her weak and vulnerable. Crilley pleaded guilty to 54 offences, including grievous bodily harm, deprivation of liberty and torture. Prosecutor Sandra Cupina reportedly told the court Crilley raped the woman daily, set her on fire and poured burning water on her genitals. He used a cigarette lighter, acetone and boiling water to burn her body. The victim was also forced to eat her own vomit and faeces, and made to sleep on the floor or outside. Crilley also made the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, choose how she wanted to die - being shot or in a car crash. 'I've pummelled her so hard she cant talk anymore,' Crilley bragged to a friend. The 34-year-old then 'hid' her for five days at the nearby Tower Mill Metro Hotel. The beatings became so severe the woman's upper lip detached from her face. 'He increased and escalated the methods he was using to harm her, boiling water then acetone then setting her on fire,' Ms Cupina said. She suffered multiple broken bones, deep lacerations to her face, including the 'degloving of the skin', and burns to 46 per cent of her body. 'The tissue on part of her face was so severely infected it was also infested with maggots,' Ms Cupina said. 'If she had not been treated in hospital she would have died.' Three weeks in to the humiliating torture, Crilley eventually called triple-zero before fleeing the Brisbane home where most of the offending occurred. His victim was found barely alive in his house on July 2, 2017, so badly injured police who found her thought she had been involved in an explosion. Police thought she was dead until she groaned. Nicholas John Crilley forced the woman to eat her own vomit and faeces, and made her sleep on the floor or outside Crilley was taken into custody eight days later following a dramatic police chase involving several stolen cars. Defence lawyer Malcolm Harrison said Crilley was in a methylamphetamine-induced delusional state during the prolonged assault. He said Crilley believed the woman had been part of a drive-by shooting that targeted him, but it was not based on reality. 'This is a dreadful and extremely serious example of violence against a woman,' he said. 'The offences were sadistic in nature.' However, Mr Harrison reminded the court Crilley had called triple-zero. 'That is probably the one factor in his favour,' he said. Crilley will be sentenced on May 1. The Crown has asked that he be jailed for life. Fuel Your Pipeline. Close More Deals. Our full-service marketing programs deliver sales-ready leads. 100% Satisfaction Guarantee! Learn more Merchants will be able to sell products on Google Shopping at no charge, thanks to changes that will take effect soon. Previously, they had to pay per click, but the cost was not fixed. There was no minimum, but they had to set a maximum for ad spend and Google would stop displaying their ads once the maximum was reached. Starting next week, search results on the Google Shopping tab will consist primarily of free product listings, said Bill Ready, Googles president of commerce. Existing Google Merchant Center and Shopping Ads users will be enrolled in the new program automatically; Google will streamline the onboarding process for new Merchant Center users over the next few months. The changes will take effect in the United States before the end of the month. Google plans to expand them globally before the end of the year. Google also is launching a new partnership with PayPal to let merchants link their accounts, in order to speed up onboarding and improve search quality, Ready said. Further, Google is working closely with many existing shopping platform partners, including Shopify, WooCommerce and BigCommerce. Shopify Chief Product Officer posted this enthusiastic tweet: Excited to work with Google to get all Shopify merchants on Google Shopping for FREE. Coming to the US by the end of this month. https://t.co/8D3v7TtRpo Craig Miller (@craigmillr) April 21, 2020 A D V E R T I S E M E N T Google is just another channel for big e-commerce platforms because it integrates with them, notedMark Lewis, CEO of Netalico Commerce. Shot in the Arm for SMBs Now SMBs and smaller retailers can potentially list more products without fear of running up the cost, observed Liz Miller, principal analyst at Constellation Research. Opening up Google Shopping also helps expand the size and scope of Googles marketplace, adding more opportunity for discovery and delight, which is certainly a perk of browsing broad search terms on something like Amazon, Miller told the E-Commerce Times. Who knew you needed a tea strainer that looks like a manatee had you not searched for tea? That will let Google expand the base to upsell into showcase shopping ads or more engagement-based premium ads, she noted. Its also a way to add opportunity in a category where revenue has begun to lag, Miller remarked. As Google was seeing more opportunity in their cost per engagement models across things like Showcase, you had a situation where more house ads were taking up residence in the Listings, she said. Why not open up, increase the perceived size of your virtual mall, and expand the sales opportunity by approaching these new listings in the marketplace with ways to make their placement deliver even better results? Opening up Google Shopping gives SMBs another sales channel for their products, Netalicos Lewis told the E-Commerce Times. Particularly as it becomes harder and harder to rank on Google organically, anything you can do to highlight your products on Google is a good thing. However, removing barriers to entry such as cost is a mixed blessing, because it could increase the competition on Google Shopping and decrease the overall quality of the listings, he cautioned. That said, if Google can maintain the quality of the listings, that will provide a valuable opportunity for Google to act as an e-commerce search engine something which Amazon has been dominating lately, noted Lewis. Fending Off Amazon Opening up Google Shopping is likely a response to losing so much e-commerce market share to Amazon, Lewis suggested. A D V E R T I S E M E N T Almost half of nearly 1,000 Internet users aged 13 and above said they typically would go to Amazon first when shopping for a product, according to a survey conducted last year. For those who normally shopped online, that figure was 58 percent. Amazon is now the go-to e-commerce search engine because it has such a wide selection of products, Lewis remarked. The coronavirus pandemic has boosted business at Amazon, which had to hire 100,000 new workers last month and now plans to add another 75,000. Amazon restricted online shipments of nonessential products to its warehouse for a month beginning in March, in order to make room for products such as toilet paper and hand sanitizer due to skyrocketing demand because of the pandemic. It resumed accepting nonessential product shipments last week. In another move that hurt Google, Amazon sharply cut its purchases of Google Ads. Further, Amazon has been attracting online ads at Googles expense. Fight for the Ad Market Facebook and other players are nipping at Googles heels as well. The online ad market includes players like eBay, who are looking to deliver greater impact, scale, scope and analysis of audience and buying behavior and intention, Miller pointed out. This is where new formats and more content-driven, image-driven and carousel-style formats have come into play. Google has made smart moves in their partnerships, especially in helping big retailers tie in with point-of-sale inventory management solutions, so local feeds become more easy to manage and maintain, she continued. While Amazon is driving advertising to drive e-commerce specific business, Google can go beyond and can also drive local sales, which will certainly become even more important when businesses start to reopen and look for speedy recovery, Miller said. That may be crucial. U.S. spending on search advertising will fall by between 9 percent and 15 percent in H1, 2020, according to eMarketer. Twitter pulled back from its ad sales projections for March, which analysts believe fell by about 20 percent. Facebooks ad sales have weakened in countries aggressively fighting COVID-19, the company acknowledged. Its likely Google ad sales also have been hit. However, online ad sales were falling before the pandemic, Miller said, and the coronavirus just accelerated the fall. By Associated Press COLOMBO: Sri Lanka is sending special flights to bring back hundreds of students stranded in India, Pakistan and Nepal. Sri Lankan Airlines will operate special flights from Amristar and Coimbatore in India, Karachi and Lahore in Pakistan and Kathmandu in Nepal. The flights will bring back 433 students stranded in those cities. The returnees will be sent to the military-run quarantine centers where they'll stay for 14 days. The airline earlier operated similar flights to bring home pilgrims and students stranded in countries such as China and India. SriLankan Airline has suspended passenger flights until April 30 while operating cargo and special flights. Last month, Sri Lanka closed its international airport for inbound international commercial passenger flights. Rob Larew, the president of the National Farmers Union, said even talk of restrictions on immigrant farm workers was disruptive. It just adds to an already stressed food system, he said. If we do not have enough workers at the front end of that, it just adds more challenges to folks that need to get the food, he added. As late as Monday night, after Mr. Trumps tweet, top White House officials said they believed the presidents order would apply to some of the guest worker programs, while exempting others. By Tuesday afternoon amid the business backlash officials acknowledged that devising an order that applied to some guest workers but not others would be overly complicated, and they abandoned it. Mr. Trump said that his pause in immigration will not apply to those entering on a temporary basis, a reference to the worker visas, though he hinted that could change. We want to protect our U.S. workers, he said, and I think as we move forward, we will become more and more protective of them. The decision to maintain most temporary work visas is certain to please business executives, but it will disappoint anti-immigrant groups, which have long called on the president to put an end to the guest worker programs they view as robbing Americans of jobs. And it could undermine Mr. Trumps message to voters, many of whom are angry about competition from the foreign workers brought into the United States through those programs. In recent weeks, the Trump administration has used health concerns to justify aggressively restricting immigration. Even before Tuesdays announcement, the administration had expanded travel restrictions, slowed visa processing and moved to swiftly return to their home countries asylum seekers and undocumented immigrants who cross the border, alarming immigration advocates who have said that Mr. Trump and his advisers are using the pandemic to further hard-line immigration policies. The presidents new executive order, which he could sign as early as Wednesday, will further close off the United States to tens of thousands of people seeking to live and work in the country, a move intended in part to stoke populist anger among his core supporters as he heads toward Election Day in November. Last year, about one million people were granted legal permanent resident status, commonly referred to as a green card. More than 27 million gallons saved LOS ANGELES, April 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Los Angeles-based Bliss Car Wash today announced the results of its fresh-water business and philanthropy programs. The company estimates it has saved 27.5 million gallons of fresh water because of its eco-friendly business practices. The company also has, thus far, donated seven fresh-water wells to needy communities in Africa. Bliss is a southern California chain of eco-friendly car washes sensitive to water usage and environmental factors. The brand is founded by David Delrahim, a California businessman and philanthropist. For Earth Days 50th anniversary, we want to celebrate our progress as we continuously work to respect the critical importance of fresh water on our planet, said David Delrahim. Our eco-friendly car washes reuse and save water right here in California, and our fresh-water well donations help communities in Africa to survive. Delrahim donates one fresh-water well to a needy village in Africa each time the company opens a new car wash. Delrahim and the Bliss team are working with the Wells Bring Hope nonprofit organization because of its mission to provide safe water to rural villages in Niger, West Africa. Each well provides enough water for about one thousand people on which to safely depend. The new Bliss car washes use technology that constantly monitors fresh-water usage, keeping it down to approximately 24 gallons per car wash, and using 70 percent reclaimed water. With seven new car washes operating, the company estimates a savings of 55 gallons of water per car. Based on our estimations, we have saved enough water for one thousand people per year, said Delrahim. Bliss also only uses cleaning products that are biodegradable, and utilizes low-energy consuming machinery. In 2020 there are seven car washes slated to open in the Los Angeles and Orange County. David Delrahims pledge to donate a well each time he opens a new car wash means seven more wells will be donated this year. Delrahim is committed to helping communities in Niger, West Africa gain economic opportunities by connecting them to clean potable water, recognizing water's crucial role in accomplishing the worlds development goals. Africa faces endemic poverty, food insecurity and pervasive underdevelopment, with almost all countries lacking the human, economic and institutional capacities to effectively develop and manage their water resources sustainably. Vahid David Delrahim is a Los Angles based businessman and philanthropist and has nearly three decades of experience in the car wash industry. About Bliss Car Wash Bliss Car Wash offers premium unlimited wash memberships at a great value. We are a refreshing car wash experience because we ensure that your car is cleaned responsibly, using cleaning products that are biodegradable and safe for the environment. We are water warriors, so we fight to protect it at every turn and closely monitor our usage. For more information, visit www.blisscarwash.com . Over 1,000 foreign workers, including Indian nationals, tested positive for coronavirus in Singapore on Wednesday, taking the total number of infections to 10,141, as the city-state battles a second wave of contagion. The "vast majority" of the new cases are work permit holders residing in foreign worker dormitories, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in its preliminary release of figures. More than 1,000 foreign workers, including Indian nationals, are among 1,016 new COVID-19 cases confirmed in Singapore on Wednesday noon, according to official figures. Fifteen coronavirus cases are Singaporeans or permanent residents among the Wednesday confirmed infections. "We are still working through the details of the cases, and further updates will be shared via the MOH press release that will be issued tonight," the ministry added. Foreign workers in Singapore - many of them Indian nationals - have been hit hard by the virus, with several foreign worker dormitories being placed under quarantine. The city-state managed to keep its outbreak in check in the early stages due to widespread testing and contact-tracing, but is facing a fast-moving second wave of infections. Singapore has further closed businesses after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday extended the "circuit breaker" until June 1 to control the spread of the deadly disease. Speaking in Chinese on Tuesday circuit break extension announcement, the prime minister said that only one person from each household should be away from home at any one time. He urged people to stay at home as much as possible. Should they need to go out for the essentials, they should do so alone, he stressed. "Go out alone, get what you need, and return home straightaway," said the prime minister. Do your marketing on weekdays rather than weekends, and don't bring your whole family with you for grocery shopping. Additional measures on food and retail outlets took effect from Wednesday and will continue until at least May 4 which means more workplaces will be closed, reducing the number of workers who keep essential services going. All standalone food and beverage outlets selling mainly drinks and snacks, as well as hairdressing and barber shops, were asked to shut by 11.59 pm on Tuesday night, reported The Straits Times. Entry restrictions have been imposed at popular markets while temperature screening is being done on every visitor at all supermarkets and malls from Wednesday. Visitors to these public places will also have to provide their particulars for contact tracing, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said on Tuesday night. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) London, April 22 : Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp revealed he had to ask for time from owners when he took charge of the English giants in 2015. The German trainer replaced former manager Brendon Rodgers at the Anfield hot seat and has since helped Liverpool reach the glory days of the past. However, according to his own admission, things weren't so good initially and he feared the sack. Klopp revealed he told the owners that success will come at the Merseyside-based club but he will need enough time for the players to buy into his philosophy. "I had to ask for time, that was how it was. I knew before that in my career, I had never got the sack, but I knew, now I was on a different level and if I cannot deliver here, quick enough, I would get the sack," he told Sky Sports. "So that was why I said [at the start] if I sit here in four years, still, then something (good) will have happened. It was not that I asked for four years, it was just a bit of time." Klopp also spoke about the heartbreak of losing his first three finals with Liverpool. The Reds lost to Manchester City in League Cup final, Sevilla in Europa League final and Real Madrid in Champions League final. "We never really thought about losing finals and stuff like that. Like the Manchester City one, Sevilla or Real Madrid," he said. "So pundits say 'if he doesn't win the next one then they need to make a change". Internally, it was something nobody ever thought like this." Liverpool beat Tottenham to win the Champions League last season, their first trophy under the stewardship of Klopp. They were also on the verge of winning their first-ever Premier League title (19th top flight title) before coronavirus pandemic stopped the league last month. WASHINGTON The Education Department will prohibit colleges from granting emergency assistance to undocumented students, even those known as Dreamers who are under federal protection, according to guidance issued to colleges and universities on Tuesday. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos ordered higher education institutions to dole out more than $6 billion in emergency relief only to students who are eligible for federal financial aid, including U.S. citizens or legal residents. The directive effectively excluded tens of thousands of students who are living in the United States under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program, an Obama-era policy that protects hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children. President Trump has moved to end the program, but that effort is awaiting Supreme Court review. The measure will compound the challenges facing undocumented students, whose families have also been excluded from aid like stimulus checks for individuals and unemployment insurance, said Miriam Feldblum, the executive director of the Presidents Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, which advocates on behalf of immigrant students. In a recent report, the organization counted 450,000 undocumented students enrolled in the nations higher education system, with 87 percent of DACA-eligible students in undergraduate programs, and 13 percent in graduate-level programs. San Jose State University Provost Vincent Del Casino articulated what many college students feared was inevitable: a fall semester conducted mostly, if not entirely, online. Del Casino, in a phone interview Wednesday with The Chronicle, disclosed his schools plans for the start of the 2020-21 academic year, scheduled to begin Aug. 17. San Jose State will offer nearly all of its classes online, given the anticipated need to continue social distancing in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Other colleges figure to follow suit, though San Jose State is one of the first to publicly outline its strategy. Were really looking right now to get as much of our catalog as possible in an online format, Del Casino said. Were doing that because its likely well be limiting large gatherings in the fall, to have physical distancing. Our goal is to have as much flexibility as possible for students. Del Casino informed the campus community of these plans in emails Wednesday. San Jose State is one of many schools in the Bay Area, and across the country, contemplating how to handle the fall semester. Students and faculty at UC Berkeley are bracing for online instruction to extend into the new school year; Stanford Provost Persis Drell, in a Faculty Senate meeting last week, acknowledged one option is starting the academic year in winter quarter (skipping fall quarter), according to the Stanford Daily. Del Casino, who spent five years helping the University of Arizona start its online program, said San Jose State hopes to offer select in-person classes in the fall, such as art and dance. School officials are examining their campus facilities to devise ways to spread out students and maintain social distancing. Their plans are not final, with nearly four months before fall semester begins. One option under consideration is using outdoor spaces, in part to reduce ventilation issues. Thats a viable possibility given the Bay Areas temperate climate, as Del Casino pointed out. Another element of San Jose States strategy is summer training in online and hybrid education for about 500 faculty members. Del Casino considers that an important step so they have a lot of tools in their tool kit when they resume teaching in the fall. The big question is whether college students will be willing to pay full tuition for an online experience. Few schools in the U.S. offered tuition reductions for the spring term, despite the move online in mid-March, and that sparked loud complaints and even some lawsuits from students and their parents. San Jose State doesnt plan to reduce tuition for the fall semester, even with nearly all classes staying online. The educational cost of online is not any less expensive than delivering education face-to-face, Del Casino said. The majority of cost is in faculty. If you look at big schools tuition models, theyre not radically different online versus face-to-face. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. In addition, we have some core costs and the support services we provide for students. You have to do more advising when you go fully online. The challenge is how you build in the connection and sense of community. San Jose State, with tuition and fees for 2020-21 at $7,852 according to the school website, is relatively affordable (for California residents) compared with most four-year schools. But it also serves more international students than any of the 22 other Cal State campuses, and those students who pay much higher tuition might be reluctant to embrace online instruction. Thats one of the risks of all this, Del Casino said. No doubt students might take gap years. We believe the Cal State system is such a strong value, we might attract people who decide not to leave the state. San Jose State students can begin signing up for fall-semester classes next week. Ron Kroichick is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rkroichick@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ronkroichick A health worker conducts rapid COVID-19 testing (Photo: VNA) Among the total, 160 or about 60 percent are imported cases while the 108 remainders contracted the coronavirus from other patients in the community. As many as 216 patients, or 81 percent, have fully recovered. Meanwhile, there are 52 cases still under treatment nationwide, including 12 testing negative for the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 once and eight people twice. Six patients are expected to be given the all-clear on April 22. More than 67,000 people are currently in quarantine. Of those, 358 people are at hospitals, 18,263 people are at concentrated quarantine centres and the remaining 48,401 people are self-quarantining at home. Well, this happened. A man was arrested after he led police on a long chase through metropolitan Phoenix in a silver Smart ForTwo, a car with 89 horsepower and a top speed of 96 mph. Worst getaway car ever? The action, if you can call it that, started Wednesday in suburban Gilbert, where police responded to a call about a suspicious man screaming in the parking lot of a Walmart. Fox 10 reports that the man refused to speak with police, got into his pint-size ForTwo and took off. Officers tried to pull him over, but the driver refused and ran several stoplights. From there, he headed west on Interstate 10, where the stations helicopter captured nearly 41 minutes of decidedly unexciting footage in which you can see a police SUV briefly giving chase as the suspect drove west on the lightly trafficked freeway, appearing to drive at highway speeds. UPDATE: DPS pit-maneuvered the Smart car that fled Gilbert PD. 1 male in custody. No injuries. pic.twitter.com/YXBdciJPHP jonathan roy (@JRFox10) April 22, 2020 Police reportedly eventually gave up the chase for unknown reasons. But the suspect was apprehended after police used a pit maneuver to get him to stop. Parent company Daimler discontinued combustion versions of the Smart in 2017 in the U.S. and stopped selling the brand altogether following the 2019 ForTwo Electric Drive. Chinese automaker Geely last year purchased a 50% stake in the automaker. DALLAS Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN) on Tuesday reported first-quarter earnings of $1.17 billion. The Dallas-based company said it had profit of $1.24 per share. The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 11 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.01 per share. The chipmaker posted revenue of $3.33 billion in the period, also surpassing Street forecasts. Nine analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $3.18 billion. For the current quarter ending in July, Texas Instruments expects its per-share earnings to range from 64 cents to $1.04. Analysts surveyed by Zacks had forecast adjusted earnings per share of $1.04. The company said it expects revenue in the range of $2.61 billion to $3.19 billion for the fiscal second quarter. Analysts surveyed by Zacks had expected revenue of $3.2 billion. Texas Instruments shares have dropped 16% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poors 500 index has declined 15%. In the final minutes of trading on Tuesday, shares hit $107.43, a decline of 6.5% in the last 12 months. _____ This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on TXN at https://www.zacks.com/ap/TXN In Mexico, men armed with assault rifles watch as their colleagues distribute groceries to a crowd of women. The men record footage of their relief distribution, claiming the aid packages come from an unnamed crime boss said to "run things" in the city of Apatzingan. Various criminal groups in Mexico take advantage of the pandemic by placing themselves in positions with the most leverage. Two decades of successive Mexican administrations have proven themselves incapable of eradicating illegal armed groups as they continue to expand their territories and control, bringing worsening levels of conflict. Taking Over According to a local research group, there are close to 200 criminal groups in Mexico, most of which are responsible for the surging homicide records in recent years. In 2019, over 34,500 homicides were recorded. It was the bloodiest year since modern record-keeping began in the 1990s. The first half of the previous year saw 95 murders each day. In December 2019, Mexican authorities reported 127 fatalities in a single day. Rival crime factions continued to clash throughout March and April despite lockdown measures. More than 2,585 homicides were recorded in March alone. Experts warn the government that criminal groups will take advantage of the crisis and rise to power. At the same time, authorities concentrate resources on controlling the spread of the pandemic. A criminal group reportedly "instructed" local government officials to set up a food bank where their men can take charge of organizing hand-outs. Entregan despensas con efigie de 'El Chapo' en Guadalajara. pic.twitter.com/ngL9hzcwzo Descartan que los apoyos provinieran del narcotrafico. Alrededor de 350 cajas con productos de la canasta basica fueron entregados a personas de la tercera edad. https://t.co/25rCh2dCl5 La Jornada (@lajornadaonline) April 18, 2020 Alejandrina Guzman, daughter of notorious Sinaloa drug overlord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, posted a video on a social media platform the previous week. The footage featured her and several other women distributing "Chapo packages" of toilet paper and other necessary supplies. Analysts say the criminal groups were using the lockdown policies to build up political capital. Self-styled Public Defenders Mexico's criminal groups and drug cartels are known for persecuting the areas they rule over. They exert heavy tolls of businesses and civilians through illicit acts such as extortion, kidnapping, and violence. However, when the state fails to provide security to the public, the groups act as guardians and protectors. Their self-styled public defender act draws residents into their orbit. This behavior is sometimes used to garner local support---a force that can insulate them against hostile incursions from state officials. Mexican cartels are not the only ones stepping up amid the COVID-19 crisis. Organized criminal groups in other Latin American countries, including Colombia and Brazil, have also displayed their might despite strict quarantine protocols. On April 7, a large funeral procession made its way through a suburb in Medellin. Hundreds joined to commemorate Edgar Perez Hernandez, better known as "El Oso." Hernandez was the head of a powerful criminal gang in Medellin who reportedly died of a heart attack while in jail on April 6. A local newspaper said members of the crowd applauded the criminal leader while others fired shots into the air. Experts say cartels are also affected by the stay-at-home policies. The lockdowns have closed businesses where they rely on for supplies. The border closures also made it harder for the groups to smuggle drugs. Despite being affected by the COVID-19 crisis, the continued violence will likely present a challenge to state authorities who are already stretched thin due to health emergencies across Latin American nations. Check out the latest news from Latin America: By Bill Hughes Apr. 21, 2020 | 11:50 PM | PADUCAH Community Kitchen is very close to a fundraising goal they set two weeks ago, but the need is even greater than before.The local non-profit started a GoFundMe page on April 7 to raise money for their ministry as more and more people began coming to their kitchen each day for lunch. As of Tuesday night the total amount raised was less than $1,000 from their $25,000 goal, but they will probably need more than that to help people through the economic downturn.Prior to the current pandemic and the shutdown of many businesses, volunteers served about one-third as many meals as they are currently expecting each day. Executive Director Sally Michelson says Monday was a new all-time high.Michelson said, "Monday we served right at 980. Last Thursday we served over 900. As the week goes along we get more and more people - not just our normal people who would come, which is around 300-350 - now we're getting those without work."Over the weekend, local restaurant owner Ed White from Big Ed's helped the cause. White learned Sally had 27 turkeys to cook for Monday, and he took over from there."He said, 'let me just fix everything for you,' so he fixed the dressing, the gravy, the green beans, the mashed potatoes," Michelson said. " It was wonderful! He's just a fine gentleman, we were so happy that he wanted to help us."White has been struggling to keep his restaurant going while forced to prepare only take-out meals. He moved his business from Cardinal Point Shopping Center to the former Pork Peddler building on North 8th Street in January, so he was only open a couple of months before the pandemic shut down dine-in service at all restaurants.Michelson said, "When we all help each other, God takes care of all of us, and He will and He does. I have all the faith in our community trying to help Ed stay afloat for these next few weeks."She said as folks come by their kitchen for take-home meals, some are asking for extra meals for neighbors."As our governor says, we should take care of our neighbors, too, and check on them. If they come through and want three extra for a neighbor or an elderly person, we certainly give it to them," Michelson explained.On most days, folks take home a hot meal, and if there are kids in the family they get a little something extra, too.She said, "We make up bags for children. We put cereal in it, we always have milk, maybe gummy bears, little crackers. We always have something extra for them."Some people who regularly help at the kitchen on Martin Luther King, Jr., Drive, have stayed away due to the pandemic, so help is also needed. If anyone over 16 can volunteer, they should call to make arrangements ahead-of-time. Workers show up each day at 8:30 am.The organization will continue to need donations through the pandemic, especially since the need has increased dramatically. Anyone who wants to help can mail a check to P.O. Box 1252, Paducah, KY 42002 or click the link below to visit the GoFundMe page.For more information or to volunteer at Community Kitchen, call 270-575-3400 or 270-519-9233. On the Net: A cancer survivor has recreated famous celebrity photographs to show that living with a stoma bag is nothing to be embarrassed about. Sarah Mills, 36, from Tenterden, Kent was treated for stage 3 colon cancer and had her life saved by NHS medics. Following her recovery, she decided to celebrate, rather than cover up, her ostomy bag, a small pouch that fits over her stoma and collects her urine and faeces, to show others that life goes on. To illustrate this she has recreated a series of well-known pictures featuring Marilyn Monroe, Demi Moore, the Little Mermaid and others - all with stoma bags. Sarah Mills, 36, from Tenterden, Kent was treated for stage 3 colon cancer. Having now recovered, she celebrates her stoma bag by recreating famous celebrity pictures, to show the pouch is nothing to be embarrassed about (pictured as Marilyn Monroe) Sarah Mills, dressed as the Sandro Botticelli painting, The Birth of Venus, embarked on her project to show other cancer suriviors that it's 'going to be alright' The 36-year-old, dressed as the Little Mermaid, said that having a stoma bag changes your body, but it's nothing that you can't overcome TV producer Ms Mills said: 'I want to show other people who might be facing this treatment that it's going to be all right. 'There's nothing to be embarrassed about. Yes, it will change your body but it's not anything that you can't overcome.' The 36-year-old, began posting the photographs, taken by her friend Veronika Marx, on her Instagram account and got an amazing response. She said: 'People have been very entertained by them. But they've also told me that they wouldn't have known this could be one outcome of having cancer. Sarah (pictured) said she shared her pictures, taken by a friend, on her Instagram account in support of Stand Up To Cancer, a joint fundraising campaign from Cancer Research UK and Channel 4. Since posting the images she's had a hugely positive response from followers What is an Ostomy pouch? An Ostomy pouch is fitted as a result of a bowel disease. Bodily waste is rerouted from its usual path because of malfunctioning parts of the urinary or digestive system. It passes to a surgically created stoma on the abdomen into a prosthetic known as a pouch or ostomy bag on the outside of the body. An ostomy can be temporary or permanent. Source: ostomy.org Advertisement 'I'm very happy to talk about bums and poo - it kind of came naturally anyway after all the conversations I've had with doctors, who are very open and upfront about these things.' 'I want people to be diligent and raise awareness that 1S, you're never too young to have bowel cancer, and 2, cancer can have a long shadow. 'Even though I have effectively been cancer-free for two years, I've been having treatment ever since, and my body has completely changed.' Ms Mills has shared the photos in support of Stand Up To Cancer, a joint fundraising campaign from Cancer Research UK and Channel 4. She is also speaking publicly to mark Bowel Cancer Awareness Month. Sarah, pictured as model Christine Keeler, said she's not embarassed to speak about bodily functions during Bowel Cancer Month A Little More Conversation! Dressed as Elvis, Sarah said she wants to raise awareness of the fact people are never too young to get bowel cancer Lynn Daly, spokeswoman for Cancer Research UK in London, said: 'We take our hats off to Sarah for helping Stand Up To Cancer in such a unique, imaginative and powerful way. 'Every week 69 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer in London, so we hope her incredible pictures will provide inspiration to many.' Stand Up To Cancer aims to accelerate the development of new cancer treatments and tests for patients. Since its launch in 2012, the campaign has raised more than 62 million to fund 52 clinical trials and research projects, including research into bowel cancer, the fourth most common cancer in the UK. Pictured wrecking stereotypes as Miley Cyrus in her Wrecking Ball video. Sarah also wanted to show that cancer can 'have a long shadow' and take its toll on your body, long after treatment Pictured as the character Elizabeth Shaw from the film Prometheus. Sarah said that even though she has been cancer free for two years, her body has completely changed since her treatment You can get it, and it sucks, but I listen to the scientists. I listen to what the smart people tell me, and they are saying to stay in and take this thing seriously. Unfortunately over St. Patricks Day I was out, and that was really before I understood the intensity of it, Odenkirk said. Vicinity Centres denied the company was operating against the spirit of the code of conduct. A spokesperson for the Melbourne-based company said the letter, and similar letters sent to tenants, didnt amount to a formal breach notice but was a reminder of lease agreement obligations. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said retailers and landlords need to "share the pain" as the COVID-19 social distancing rules put the brakes on discretionary spending and sap foot traffic from shopping centres. The document, which was finalised last week and is being passed in state parliaments around the country, outlines landlords and retailers obligations as the COVID-19 social distancing rules challenge operating conditions. Other sources in the company said it was unlikely any action would be taken against tenants who kept their doors shut. The company has also committed not to evict retailers experiencing hardship under COVID-19 measures and social distancing restrictions in line with government rules and the code of conduct. "We have said that we understand that some retailers made the decision to close as a result of COVID-19 and, whilst we want them to reopen as soon as it is appropriate to do so, we have committed to not terminating a lease for retailers that may be experiencing hardship during this period," a spokesperson said. It is understood Vicinity management decided to send the letters to tenants after witnessing a number of large and smaller retailers closing their doors voluntarily in March, in a trend which was widespread across the retail sector. Scentre Group, which is one of Vicinitys largest rivals and controls Westfield-branded shopping centres around the country, also witnessed most tenants shutting doors in March. At the groups annual general meeting in early April, chief executive Peter Allen noted that 86 per cent of the tenants in its Westfield mall portfolio were allowed to trade but only 39 per cent were open. But the trend now appears to be easing, a Vicinity spokesperson said. Error. Page cannot be displayed. Please contact your service provider for more details. (26) Iran Boasts of Powerful Naval Strike Missiles Following US Drills in Persian Gulf Sputnik News 19:04 GMT 21.04.2020 With two US aircraft carriers close to its shores and rising tensions at sea, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) decided to remind the world of its potent naval strike capabilities, including the Zolfaghar anti-ship missile, which has a purported 700-kilometer (434-mile) range. 'Spine Cleaver' IRGC Navy commander Rear Adm. Alireza Tangsiri noted earlier this week that the elite paramilitary force has considerably advanced its offensive capabilities in recent years, enabling it to strike targets far from Iranian shores. "Once the farthest range of our naval missiles did not exceed 45 kilometers, and even that was reached with the help of American military advisors," Tangsiri said on Monday, Iran's Fars News Agency reported. "However, we have developed subsurface and surface-to-surface missiles with a range of 700 kilometers, which have been totally made by domestic military experts." Tangsiri almost certainly refers to the Zolfaghar missile, a solid-fueled ballistic missile capable of striking land or sea targets up to 700 kilometers away. The Zolfaghar, which is named after the sword "spine cleaver" that belonged to Shia Islam founder Ali ibn abi-Talib, is based on the Fateh 110 road-mobile ballistic missile. In January, the IRGC prepared a mock-up of a US aircraft carrier to be used for further target practice, Sputnik reported. Weeks of US War Drills The admiral's comments come amid increased tensions in the region, including the arrival of another US aircraft carrier and persistent military drills in the Persian Gulf by the US and its regional Arab allies. Earlier this month, the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan arrived in the Persian Gulf with a Marine expeditionary force. The warship is not only capable of embarking thousands of US Marines for an amphibious landing, but it also functions as an aircraft carrier, launching more than two dozen helicopters and airplanes from its flight deck. The Bataan joined the Nimitz-class supercarrier USS Eisenhower in the region, though the larger Eisenhower has remained in the Arabian Sea. Together, the two warships could launch more than 100 aircraft for strikes against Iran. The US has conducted live-fire drills for more than a month in the Persian Gulf, a waterway along Iran's coast that is about 200 miles across at its widest point. Last month, the US Navy ran drills in which AC-130 gunships practiced attack runs on small naval vessels like those used by the IRGC Navy; the US Army also ran live-fire HIMARS rocket drills with the Emirati armed forces. Tehan Protests 'Unprofessional, Provocative Actions' Tehran has repeatedly voiced its displeasure at the American presence, especially as Washington maintains its policy of "maximum pressure," attempting to force the Iranian people to choose between enduring crippling economic sanctions or overthrowing their anti-American government. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said Monday during a news conference that "we firstly call on the foreign forces, who are present in the region illegitimately, to end their presence here. We want them to leave the region as soon as possible, whatever may be the motive for their presence here." IRGC naval forces have also sailed close to US warships on multiple occasions, prompting US protests. In one incident last week, 11 IRGC vessels circled and weaved between half a dozen US warships, including the colossal expeditionary mobile base vessel USS Lewis B. Puller, which itself functions as a sort of aircraft carrier. The American warships were engaged in combat drills involving US Army AH-64E Apache attack helicopters. The IRGC afterward blasted "the unprofessional and provocative actions of the United States and their indifference to warnings" in a statement published on its news site, Sepah News. In another incident days earlier, IRGC sailors videotaped close-up shots of US warships in the USS Bataan's strike force. Since the election of US President Donald Trump in late 2016, US-Iran relations have steadily worsened, with Trump claiming Tehran had violated the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal. In 2018, punishing US economic sanctions were reinstated against Iran, and in 2019 and 2020, a series of war scares gripped the region as dozens of US warships and thousands of troops poured into the Middle East, leading to a series of tense incidents including the shootdown of a US spy drone. Washington has claimed the IRGC is behind a series of setbacks for US foreign policy spanning the region from Yemen to Syria and Iraq, and in early January, the US assassinated the IRGC's commander, Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, in an airstrike in Baghdad while he was there to push forward deescalation talks with Saudi Arabia. Retaliatory strikes against US forces in Iraq by Iran followed. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address A High Court judge has put a stay, pending appeal, on an award of 302,000 damages to a woman over a road traffic accident on condition, within 28 days, she gets 75,000 of the sum and her solicitors get 30,000 towards legal costs. Mr Justice Anthony Barr said it would be "unduly harsh" to deprive Jo-Ann O'Sullivan of her entire award pending an intended appeal over the damages sum, which, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, was unlikely to be heard until near the end of 2021 or perhaps 2022. On the other hand, it would be unjust to expect the defendant to pay over the entire sum and costs as there would be some risk it might be "difficult or possibly impossible" to recoup some or all of the award if the appeal is partially or wholly successful. He considered it would be fair to both sides to direct payment of 75,000 of the award sum within 28 days to Ms O'Sullivan and payment on account to her solicitors of 30,000. If the legal costs turn out to be less, the defendant would recover the relevant sum, he said. A stay applies on those orders, made against Agnieszka Brozda, Brookville Estate, Glanmire, Co Cork, pending any appeal against their terms. The judge made the orders today following his judgment last March that Ms O'Sullivan was entitled to 302,000 damages arising from the accident. Ms OSullivan (31), Laburnam Grove, Commons Road, Blackpool, Cork, sued over the accident on August 27, 2016 when a car driven by Ms Brozda collided with the rear of a car in which Ms OSullivan was a passenger. Liability was accepted by Ms Brozda and the case was for assessment of damages only. In his March judgment, Mr Justice Barr said Ms OSullivan, who worked in the human resources department of KBC in Dublin at the time, underwent serious surgery on her neck and skull in June 2016 as a result of striking her head against an electricity box in November 2015 while straightening up as she retrieved mail from her post box. She claimed the earlier surgery meant the soft tissue injuries to her neck and shoulders from the road accident were considerably worse than would have been the case, she had suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and was unable to work since 2016. Ms Brozda denied Ms OSullivan was injured to the extent claimed or there was serious exacerbation of her post-operative condition as a result of a "minor" impact. It cost just 249 to repair the car Ms OSullivan was travelling in, the defence said. Mr Justice Barr said the only evidence of the actual impact was from Ms OSullivan who said she felt her head being propelled forward then backward and struck her head against the headrest. The judge did not think she had been deliberately catastrophising her injuries or symptoms and accepted evidence of her GP she was a well-motivated person keen to get back to a normal life and return to work. He found she has suffered constant and at times severe pain to her neck, shoulders and lower back, along with knee pain, as a result of the accident and accepted she has been unfit for work since. He awarded 302,445, including 146,000 general damages to date and into the future and 138,795 for loss of earnings to date and for the next two years. EDWARDSVILLE The Madison County Health Department has introduced a new tool to provide people with more information during the coronavirus pandemic. The COVID-19 dashboard, which is available through the health department website at https://www.co.madison.il.us/departments/health/index.php, offers updated statistics on COVID-19 from local, state and national sources. The dashboard was introduced on April 15, and as of 3:30 p.m. Monday, it already had 25,589 views, including 25,387 that had interacted with the map of COVID-19 cases in the county. To me, those numbers mean that it is filling some part of the communication gap, health department spokesperson Amy Yeager said. We were listening about some of the information that people were asking for through social media and through calls to the health department. Health department people are data people and there is a lot of math in what we do, but we needed to take something that is very complex and translate it into something that is usable and understandable for the everyday person who doesnt work in public health. I wanted to make it a way to expand how we can tell our story and provide an overview of what is going on. The home page of the dashboard provides a list of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Madison County, which is also displayed on a map broken down by zip code. A newly added second tab lists confirmed cases by days. Well continue to add things to the dashboard as we go, Yeager said. Its a rapidly evolving situation and things are changing every day and having a dashboard allows us to display even more information and have a little more fluidity in what we can offer. The third tab lists confirmed cases by age and gender. We feel that because we are here to protect the publics health and were trying to get information out there to save as many lives as possible and keep people as healthy as possible, said Yeager. The COVID-19 status report is the fourth tab on the dashboard. It provides additional information on confirmed cases of coronavirus in Madison County, including race and ethnicity and health insurance. Other statistics include the number of staffed beds (677) licensed beds (953) and intensive care unit beds (62) in the county. The status report also has statistics from the state of Illinois. There have been 148,358 total tests performed, with 31,513 confirmed cases, as of Tuesday. Johns Hopkins University has had a contract with the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) since the beginning of this response and when they collect the data from the states every day, it updates on our dashboard as well, Yeager said. Theyre pulling the data from the Illinois Department of Public Health, but the data on the IDPH website seems to be running one or two days behind ours. Our information (on the dashboard) is the most accurate and its the most current in the system. The IDPH is pulling a whole lot of data into their statewide database, so there is a little bit of lag on their part. The fifth and final tab on the dashboard provides a list of websites for additional information on COVID-19 in Madison County and in Illinois. One of those websites is a coronavirus resource page, https://www.co.madison.il.us/departments/health/corona_virus.php, which offers additional links to dozens of other departments and organizations, as well as hotlines for various services. There is a link to the dashboard and there is information about who people should call about COVID-19, and we have a lot of community resources as well, Yeager said. At the very top of that page, there is a tab you can click on to subscribe for page updates. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Union of Moderate Parties wants to see joint ventures in Fisheries Sector Subscriber content preview By JILL COLVIN Associated Press WASHINGTON Damon West was hoping the government's coronavirus rescue package for small business owners would help replace the income he's lost now that he can't travel the country as a keynote speaker. But then he got a call from his accountant. A question on the application form asked whether, within the last 5 years, he had been convicted of or pleaded guilty or no contest to a felony or been placed on any form of parole or probation. Another asked whether anyone who owns at least 20% of the company was incarcerated, under indictment, on probation or parole. If so, they are ineligible. . . . The No. 3 lane of southbound Interstate Highway 680 is currently blocked due to a tanker truck crash in unincorporated Alameda County early Wednesday morning, according to the California Highway Patrol. The CHP said the crash was reported at 2:49 a.m. at the Koopman Road off-ramp, which is also blocked, just north of the junction with state Highway 84. 1 Tiz the Law Barclay Tagg ConstitutionTizfiz, by Tiznow Just when you thought Tiz the Law was shifting his gears to neutral following the Curlin Florida Derby (G1), breezing an easy :52 4/5 half-mile, he shifts back into drive with a sharp 1:00 3/5 work for five furlongs. That should help set him up for...uh, nothing. With no races on the horizon, it will be interesting to see what Tagg does with him. You don't want to back off too much and let him get stale and you don't want him to get too sharp for no reason. This is what trainers all over the country who are not racing at Gulfstream or Oaklawn are facing. When you give your car a complete tune-up and rev up the engine you dont want to just drive it to the supermarket when it needs to get on the expressway. On the other hand, you dont want to leave your car parked for a month without starting it and then find out the battery is dead. 2 Maxfield Brendan Walsh Street SenseVelvety, by Bernardini Yes, I know hes been up and down like the proverbial yo-yo, but one week I look at his potential and the next week I look at the fact that he hasnt run in 6 1/2 months, has had surgery to remove an ankle chip, and we can only speculate whether he will be the same horse at 3 he was at 2 when he put on a spectacular show at Keeneland that still resonates after all this time. The fact is, as solid and talented a crop as this appears to be, he still has provided the biggest explosion we have seen and his ceiling is limitless. And he has a pedigree that all but assures he will flourish at long distances. So, yes, he was our No. 1-ranked 2-year-old and has been as high as No. 2 on Derby Dozen and also in the No. 5 to 6 range, which when you think of it is not bad for a horse who has been out of sight for so long. He has been given a gift with the postponement of the Derby and now I just want to see this horse run already. Godolphins Jimmy Bell said he is well and happy and his time will come in due course. 3 Authentic Bob Baffert Into MischiefFlawless, by Mr. Greeley He apparently is being put in mothballs until Baffert can find a race for himif he can find a race for him. He hasnt worked since March 29. As a May foal, this will give him more time to grow up and get rid of the little quirks he has displayed on occasion. He is an enigma because of the speed influences in his pedigree that are contrary to the racehorse who runs with gazelle-like strides that look as if they should carry him long distances. If his pedigree is an anomaly and what we see on the racetrack now is what we will see on Sept. 5 then he could turn out to be something special. But first, lets see what he can do rating off the race. 4 Honor A. P. John Shirreffs Honor CodeHollywood Story, by Wild Rush I thought the Arkansas Derby (G1) would be a good spot for him to get in a much-needed race and take another step forward on the Derby trail. But Shirreffs seems to be convinced that racing will resume at Santa Anita sooner than later and that there will be a race for him and he wont have to travel all the way to Oaklawn Park. Shirreffs generally is more of a homebody and is willing to sit and wait and not have to put Honor A.P. on a plane, feeling he still has four and a half months to continue building a foundation in the horse. And when it comes to building a foundation, no one is more adept and more patient than Shirreffs. But he is dealing with a horse who wants action, as indicated by his extreme impatience galloping to the post for his latest work, fighting the restraint of the rider. Once the work started he was a happy camper, moving with great authority. He doesnt have a big reach with his lead leg but has more of a roundhouse action. From the way the rider kept him wide turning for home it was obvious Shirreffs didnt want him going too fast, which didnt, just a nice :50 1/5 maintenance move. 5 Sole Volante Patrick Biancone KarakontieLight Blow, by Kingmambo Can a horse actually be placed this high based on a victory in the Sam F. Davis Stakes (G3)? Yes, when you cant get the visual aspect of that race out of your mind. I feel the Arkansas Derby would have been an important step for him, but Biancone had to bypass the race because of quarantine regulations regarding the people who accompany him. To those who frown over the possibility of Biancone having a serious Derby horse, things are not always what they seem. And whatever happened in the past, this is a second life for him and he is grasping it tightly. This is one of the most astute horsemen in the world who has performed brilliantly at the highest level in classic races both in America and Europe. Think any less of this horse or Ete Indien and it could very well cost you on Sept. 5. And remember, his sires broodmare sire won the Kentucky Derby (G1) and his dams broodmare sire won the English Derby (G1). He also has the Rasmussen Factor being inbred 3x4 to the great filly Miesque, which means he has two crosses of Prove Out, the son of Graustark who upset Secretariat, running the second-fastest mile and a half in the history of Belmont Park. 6 King Guillermo Juan Avila Uncle MoSlow Sand, by Dixieland Band The more I see of this horse the more he convinces me that he is as talented as any of them. Ignoring his 49-1 odds in the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby (G1), he was visually impressive, he dominated one of the best 3-year-olds in the country, showing a high cruising speed, and his speed figures were through the roof, especially his zero on Thoro-Graph, which was a seven-point jump from his two excellent grass races. He is bred and runs like a true distance horse, and even in his most recent work, he looked like something extraordinary, breezing six furlongs in 1:13 3/5 with the riders hands and body motionless. He was always on a loose rein, was striding out smoothly, and galloped out very strongly. If this horse should win the Arkansas Derby impressively he has to be right up there with Tiz the Law. 7 Gouverneur Morris Todd Pletcher ConstitutionAddison Run, by Unbridled's Song I was happy to see him in the Arkansas Derby, mainly because he needs a race to continue the progression hes been on. After running three consecutive 5s on Thoro-Graph to begin his career, he actually broke through with a 2 in the Curlin Florida Derby (G1), despite finishing fourth, in which he gained a great deal of experience, getting caught in heavy traffic the entire length of the backstretch with nowhere to go and losing position. I thought he was striding out well in the stretch and was beaten a neck for third and one length for second. He doesnt need to win at Oaklawn, just show good energy in the stretch and be running strongly at the finish. Ive stuck with him all winter and this will be the test to see where he stands and what kind of progress hes made. 8 Charlatan Bob Baffert SpeightstownAuthenticity , by Quiet American The big question is whether he will get in the Arkansas Derby with so little earnings. He desperately needs to get in the starting gate and obviously has an excellent chance if they split the race, with the list of prospective starters continuing to grow. He worked six furlongs in 1:12 1/5, sitting off the flank of his workmate. He is the stock youre debating whether to buy. The brokers are hot on it and are pushing it, but it is still a new inexperienced company that is just getting off the ground. If this big deal comes through in Arkansas, the stock will skyrocket. Like his stablemate Authentic we just dont know what to make of his pedigree. Judging from his first two races he doesnt expend a lot of unnecessary energy and there is no reason to think he wont rate off the pace. But he has to demonstrate those same qualities when he takes on far better horses than what hes been facing. In his most recent work, he pressed his workmate from the outside but was joined by a third horse on his outside. He was not being asked much getting his seven furlongs in a snappy 1:25 3/5. Too bad the exercise rider on his workmate couldn't claim foul after taking up sharply on the gallop out. 9 Nadal Bob Baffert BlameAscending Angel, by Pulpit It seems obvious what Bafferts strategy is from the way hes been working him several lengths behind a workmate and not going after him until deep stretch. Then he pours it on. You dont want to take a horses natural speed away from him, but this horse needs to harness his speed if he is going to be a Derby horse. Right now, he is going too fast early, and despite winning all his races, too slow late. With a pedigree inundated with stamina all through his first five generations, its kind of baffling why he has so much speed and hasnt shown an inclination to rate. This is the race American Pharoah learned to rate off the pace, and if this colt learns his lessons and reverses the way hes been running then we are dealing with a serious Derby contender, because the mile and a quarter should be a piece of cake. In his last work, he dropped some six lengths behind his workmate and was still a long way off at the three-sixteenths pole, but showed good acceleration, making up a lot of ground quickly, going the six furlongs in 1:11 4/5. Could we see a new look Nadal at Oaklawn? 10 Farmington Road Todd Pletcher Quality RoadSilver La Belle, by Langfuhr I thought he would improve off his 4 Thoro-Graph number in the Oaklawn Stakes, but he paired up the 4, which is still pretty good. However, with him now coming back in three weeks for the Arkansas Derby, that pairing up is the best thing to happen to him because it all but eliminates a bounce, and he now has room to make a significant jump, which he will need to do, as well as get lucky with traffic. If he can break sharply I dont see him as far back as hes been, and one of my favorite handicapping tools is second race blinkers on. His running style has also been puzzling, as his sire was brilliantly fast up to a mile and an eighth, setting three track records, and running on the lead, and his broodmare sire was equally as brilliant from sprints to a mile, with both of them winning the Met Mile. But the sires of Quality Road and Langfuhr both sired classic winners. 11 Mr. Big News Bret Calhoun Giant's CausewayUnappeased, by Galileo If there was one horse last weekend who made a big leap in his Thoro-Graph number it was this colt, who jumped from an 8 3/4 to a 3, which puts him within two to three points of the fastest 3-year-olds. It would have been difficult playing him in the Oaklawn Stakes off that career-high 8 3/4, but he took a gigantic move forward, and now its a question whether he can come back in three weeks and not regress. His connections are watching him closely and have not yet committed to the Arkansas Derby, and in fact, dont seem that anxious to run him back. Well just have to wait and see what they decide. He has a pedigree that shouts a mile and a quarter, especially his female family, and he has some very powerful inbreeding. 12 Attachment Rate Dale Romans Hard SpunAristra, by Afleet Alex The reason he is back in the Top 12 after being ranked No. 11 following the Gotham Stakes (G3) is that it looks as if he will be running in the new Unbridled Stakes at Gulfstream this weekend and I want to focus on horses who are currently seeing action. I am hoping two turns will help him finally change leads. I know the talent is there. If he can accomplish what he's done in his last three starts without changing leads then there definitely is something to work with. He's been stuck on his left lead in his one-turn races, but perhaps the light will go on when he rounds that first turn, and then he'll know what to do when he turns for home. In his most recent work, two other workers charged up behind him at the top of the stretch, literally on his tail. He pulled away from them by five lengths, which I liked to see, but he was still having problems with his lead change. And he did get a little wet, which Im not concerned about. I just feel he has to get his act together in this race if he is going to be a legitimate Derby contender. So he gets one more chance. KNOCKING ON THE DOOR Everyone is knocking on the door these days, and hopefully we will know more after the Unbridled when we likely will see promising colts such as Attachment Rate, MONEY MOVES, and AMERICANUS among others. Money Moves came close to sneaking into the Top 12 because of his participation Saturday, but we went with the more experienced colt who has already been in the Top 12. Of course, the list likely will change dramatically after the Arkansas Derby, which will have an abundance of talented horses, especially if its split. With every other 3-year-old in limbo with no plans, I am giving preference to those who are running now. We will at least be able to get a handle on them. I thought it best this week to feature a couple of horses and to get their back story rather than just throw a bunch of names out there and their works. Next week well focus on the Arkansas Derby. On the fence for the Arkansas Derby is the horse we featured strongly last week, PNEUMATIC, who was our No. 1 ranked newcomer. The Arkansas Derby would be asking a lot of such an inexperienced horse, but as owner Ron Winchell said, We are super excited about him. We always thought he was top class, just not ready for the Derby. Winchell continued, He is from the family that keeps on giving to my family. Winchell explained how Pneumatics fourth dam, Carols Christmas, was claimed by his father, Verne Winchell, for $25,000 sight unseen. But she had a ton of speed and that was all he was looking for in a potential broodmare. When he saw her, however, he had buyers remorse, because she was extremely sway-backed, offset in the knees, and had crooked feet. Basically, she looked like a train wreck, Winchell said. But she had that all-important speed. Despite being the ugliest broodmare on the farm, she produced the most beautiful foals. She became Winchells foundation mare, and from Carols Christmas has come major stakes winners Tapizar, Olympio, Pyro, Cuvee, Paddy OPrado, Call Wonder, and Wild Wonder, and now Pneumatic. Another horse I want to feature this week is the one who I claimed could be the biggest steal in the last Future Wager, and that that would be MODERNIST at 50-1. He is another I would have loved to see in the Arkansas Derby, but it was decided to give him more time, which is understandable. He made a huge jump from a slow maiden victory at 1 1/8 miles at Aqueduct to winning a division of the Risen Star Stakes Presented by Lamarque Ford (G2). Although he finished third in the TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby (G2) going 1 3/16 miles, he was wide the entire trip, raced a bit greenly in the stretch, and his Thoro-Graph number actually leaped from a 7 to a 4. He makes an excellent appearance and has a beautiful way of moving. Assistant trainer Riley Mott called him a very solid horse, physically and talent-wise. He added, Hes not the type thats going to dazzle you in his races, such as an Authentic or a Charlatan. Hes pretty workmanlike at this point; does what he needs to in his training and racing. Hes made like a fullback in that hes very stout and has great bone. Hes built to be tough, not a weak physical that might wilt away from the rigors of a tough 3-year-old campaign. Mott said Modernist (by Uncle Mo, out of a Bernardini mare) arrived at the barn in Saratoga last spring and he never struck them as the type who would be ready early. They sent him to Belmont and he spent most of the summer and fall down there. By September he started impressing everyone in his works. We were asking a lot of him to jump from a maiden win to the Risen Star but the horse was in good health and we needed to find out what kind of path we were going to take with him the rest of the year, Mott said. Hes training every day and were hoping to stay competitive in those types of races going forward, especially in the summer and fall, as we think hes a horse that should progress with age. Hes a fourth generation Wygod homebred and you cant say enough about their breeding program. Modernists second dam, Sweet Life, was broodmare of the year in 2009 and produced two Breeders Cup winners, Distaff (G1) winner Life is Sweet and Juvenile Fillies (G1) winner and champion 2-year-old filly Sweet Catomine, both owned and bred by Mr. and Mrs. Marty Wygod. Modernists only inbreeding is to major stamina influence, the Roberto stallion Kris S. through his son, the major stamina influence Arch, and his daughter, the aforementioned Sweet Life. After these next two stakes are run and we hit the big lull, expect to see Modernist in the Top 12, as he definitely is one to watch later on. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Riska Rahman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, April 22, 2020 15:33 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd3903d0 1 Business Indonesia,2021-state-budget,extra-spending,COVID-19,Askolani,IMF,GDP Free The government will allocate another financial package for the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in the 2021 state budget, which is currently being drafted by the Finance Ministry. Finance Ministry budgeting director general Askolani said on Tuesday that spending on the handling of COVID-19 next year would be the continuation of the governments extra-spending allocated this year. The program to cope with the impact of COVID-19 is not only intended for this year but also for 2021 and 2022. So, more spending for COVID-19 will also be included in the 2021 state budget, he said during a teleconference. President Joko Jokowi Widodo issued a regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) on March 31 that would enable the government to widen the state budget deficit threshold to about 5 percent of the GDP from 3 percent at present. With the higher deficit threshold, the government could increase its expenditure to cope with the impacts of COVID-19. As earlier reported, the government has allocated extra spending of Rp 405.1 trillion (US$24.6 billion) for the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the total funds, about Rp 75 trillion will be spent on the health sector, Rp 110 trillion on social protection, Rp 70 trillion on tax incentives and Rp 150 trillion on the economic recovery program. The impacts of ongoing COVID-19 emergency measures, such as the partial lockdown imposed by the government to halt the diseases spread, has crippled almost all sectors of the economy. In response, the government has cut down its GDP growth estimate to 2.3 percent this year, the lowest in 21 years, from the initial estimate of 5.3 percent. In the worst-case scenario, the countrys GDP growth may decline to 0.4 percent. The government has also estimated that up to 3.78 million Indonesians would fall into poverty and 5.2 million lose their jobs. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected that the countrys unemployment rate will rise to 7.5 percent this year from 5.3 percent in 2019, as the pandemic upends supply chains and forces companies to lay off employees, while also crushing demand for goods as consumers stay at home. Given the situation, senior economist Chatib Basri said the government should design a different kind of social safety net that could protect those who were vulnerable to the impacts, particularly those in the lower to middle class. The government should not only focus on giving a social safety net to those below the poverty line. They should also focus on the people in the lower-middle class who lost their jobs because of the pandemic, he said. The Health Ministry has approved large-scale social restriction (PSBB) policies for at least 16 cities and regencies across Indonesia in order to curb the spread of the pneumonia-like illness. As a result, citizens are forced to stay at home, with some left without pay or even losing their jobs altogether. He suggested that the government utilize its newly launched preemployment card program to determine which of those people needed a social safety net, as well as focus on disbursing cash transfers and other social aid to people in urban areas. Urban areas are feeling the hardest impact of this pandemic and around 55 percent of the population lives there, making food demand higher in those areas, he said. As the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic would be more severe than any other crisis that has hit Indonesia in the past, Chatib warned that the government should be more careful in stimulating the economy. Social media users have joined in the speculation about who will take over broke airline Virgin Australia, with some wondering how air travel might change if hardware giant Bunnings was the successful bidder. One Facebook user even mocked up images of what the planes would look like in Bunnings' green livery, with the logo on the tail. Social media users jokingly suggested that Bunnings Warehouse take over the Virgin Australian brand 'They would beat anyone's price by ten per cent. That's cheap flying,' one social media user said. 'They will check your bags when you get off,' another said,' making reference to security measures in stores. 'If I could take my dog on board I would definitely fly with them,' another said. However many focused on changes to the meals. 'An inflight snag-a-licious is actually a fantastic idea,' one person said. Another joked: 'Since it'll be in air space, onions on top please.' The jokes came after Virgin Australia entered voluntary administration on Tuesday. The company's foreign owners - Singapore Airlines, Etihad Airlines, Richard Branson's Virgin group and two Chinese conglomerates - refused to put any more funding into the Australian carrier. The airline, which was already struggling before coronavirus travel bans decimated revenues, will be managed by Deloitte accountants while it restructures and looks for a buyer. Virgin Australia entered into voluntary administration, putting 15,000 jobs under threat, on Tuesday Administrator Vaughan Strawbridge said there were no plans for redundancies and that workers will still be paid their wages, including those on the government's JobKeeper scheme. Raising hopes that the airline will be bought quickly, he said there were 'in excess of ten companies with a keen interest in being part of the restructuring'. Private equity firm BGH Capital is thought to be among them. But there are fears the restructure will involve scrapping less profitable routes, particularly to regional areas, leaving Qantas as the only provider and able to increase fare prices due to lack of competition. In an emotional press conference at Sydney Airport today, tearful Virgin employees begged for Prime Minister Scott Morrison to save their jobs after the government said it would not buy a stake in the company or give it a $1.4billion loan. CAIRO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd April, 2020) Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) repelled all attacks by Government of National Accord (GNA) units on the town of Tarhunah, LNA spokesman Maj. Gen. Ahmad al-Mismari said on the Sky news Arabia television channel. Earlier, Chairman of Libya's High Council of State in Tripoli, Khalid al-Mishri, told reporters that after the GNA units established control over the coast west of Tripoli, "the Primary military goal was to capture the town of Tarhunah" 50 kilometers southeast of the capital. Fighting for Tarhunah began at the end of last week. "The militants' attacks on Tarhunah failed. The army inflicted serious losses upon them," al-Mismari said. President Trump said last night there is no confirmation that Kim Jong Un is gravely ill, but North Korean media remained silent on the dictator's whereabouts today. Trump played down claims that Kim was in 'grave danger' after heart surgery, telling a White House press briefing that 'we don't know if the reports are true'. 'I just hope he's doing fine. I've had a very good relationship with Kim Jong Un. And I'd like to see him do well. We'll see how he does,' the president said. South Korea and China have also cast doubt on the claims, but official media in the North took no steps to dismiss the speculation today. President Trump said there is no confirmation that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un is ill following a surgery. At the briefing Tuesday he wished Kim well and said 'good luck' On Monday, the news broke that Kim may be in grave danger after cardiovascular surgery, but whether there's truth to the report is still up in the air North Korea's state-run news agency KCNA today reported on sports equipment, mulberry picking and a meeting in Bangladesh, but did not give an update on Kim. The official Rodong Sinmun newspaper carried undated remarks attributed to Kim in articles about the economy, the textile industry, city development, and other topics. As usual Kim's name was plastered all over the newspaper, but there were no reports on his whereabouts. Kim was last seen in public on April 11, and speculation about his well-being was first sparked on April 15 when he mysteriously failed to attend a ceremony to mark the anniversary of his grandfather Kim Il Sung's birth. Thae Yong Ho, a former North Korean deputy ambassador to London who defected to South Korea in 2016, said state media's extended silence is unusual because it had been quick to previously dispel questions about the status of its leadership. 'Every time there is controversy about [Kim], North Korea would take action within days to show he is alive and well,' he said. His absence from the April 15 anniversary worship, in particular, is 'unprecedented,' Thae said. Daily NK, a Seoul-based speciality website, reported late on Monday that Kim, who is believed to be about 36, was recovering after undergoing a cardiovascular procedure on April 12. It cited one unnamed source in North Korea. A CNN report then cited an unnamed U.S. official saying the United States was 'monitoring intelligence' that Kim was in grave danger after surgery. Since then, two South Korean government officials rejected the CNN report. Senior party and government officials celebrate the 108th anniversary of founder Kim Il-Sung's birth in Pyongyang on April 15 - a ceremony which Kim Jong-un inexplicably missed At the White House, Trump threw cold water on it as well - though only because it came from CNN. 'When CNN comes out with a report I don't place too much credence in it,' the president said. Trump added that he 'may' reach out to Kim, who he's met with three times, while also telling the North Korean leader 'good luck.' 'I can only say this, I wish him well,' the president said from the podium. 'Because if he is in the kind of condition that the reports say, that the news is saying, that's a very serious condition as you know.' South Korea's presidential Blue House said there were no unusual signs from North Korea. Robert O'Brien, U.S. President Trump's national security adviser, told Fox News the White House is monitoring the reports 'very closely.' Bloomberg News quoted an unnamed U.S. official as saying the White House was told that Kim had taken a turn for the worse after the surgery. However, authoritative U.S. sources familiar with U.S. intelligence questioned the report that Kim was in grave danger. A Korea specialist working for the U.S. government said, 'Any credible direct reporting having to do with Kim would be highly compartmented intelligence and unlikely to leak to the media.' Kim is a third-generation hereditary leader who rules North Korea with an iron fist, coming to power after his father Kim Jong Il died in 2011 from a heart attack. He is the sole commander of North Korea's nuclear arsenal, which Trump tried unsuccessfully to persuade him to give up in 2018 and 2019 summits. Reporting from inside North Korea is notoriously difficult, especially on matters concerning its leadership, given tight controls on information. There have been past false reports regarding its leaders, but the fact Kim has no clear successor means any instability could present a major international risk. Asked about how any North Korean political succession would work, O'Brien said, 'The basic assumption would be maybe it would be someone in the family. But, again, it's too early to talk about that because we just don't know what condition Chairman Kim is in and we'll have to see how it plays out.' In recent years, Kim has launched a diplomatic offensive to promote himself as a world leader, holding three meetings with Trump, four with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and five with Chinese President Xi Jinping. China is North Korea's only major ally. Donald Trump meets Kim Jong Un in Vietnam in February 2019 - a summit which ended abruptly without any agreement on denuclearisation Losing the dictator could leave the nuclear power in a vulnerable position as it scrambles to replace Kim Jong. Among those who are believed to be successors is his sister, Kim Yo-jong, pictured meeting South Korean officials in the border village of Panmunjom last year Speaking to Reuters, an official at the Chinese Communist Party's International Liaison Department, which deals with North Korea, expressed the belief that Kim was not critically ill. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Beijing was aware of reports about Kim's health, but said it does not know their source, without commenting on whether it has any information about the situation. Daily NK said Kim was hospitalized on April 12, hours before the cardiovascular procedure, as his health had deteriorated since August due to heavy smoking, obesity and overwork. It said he was now receiving treatment at a villa in the Mount Myohyang resort north of the capital Pyongyang. 'My understanding is that he had been struggling (with cardiovascular problems) since last August but it worsened after repeated visits to Mount Paektu,' a source was quoted as saying, referring to the country's sacred mountain. Kim took two well-publicized rides on a stallion on the mountain's snowy slopes in October and December. Speculation about Kim's health first arose due to his absence from the anniversary of the birthday of North Korea's founding father and Kim's grandfather, Kim Il Sung, on April 15. North Korea's official KCNA news agency gave no indication of his whereabouts in routine dispatches on Tuesday, but said he had sent birthday gifts to prominent citizens. Kim has sought to have international sanctions against his country eased, but has refused to give up his nuclear weapons. Trump has described Kim as a friend, but the unprecedented engagement by a U.S. president with a North Korean leader has failed to slow Kim's nuclear weapons and missile programs, which pose a threat to the United States. Joseph Yun, a former U.S. envoy to North Korea under President Barack Obama and Trump, told Reuters he believes 'something really is quite amiss, quite awry right now in North Korea.' 'It's worrisome. If he's seriously ill and he dies, there is no succession plan,' said Yun, who has since worked as a CNN analyst. 'You could see a huge power struggle, people jockeying for position. Their lives would depend on it.' Yun said for all its secrecy, North Korea in recent years had been quick to respond to significant foreign news reports and it is noteworthy that it has stayed silent so far. As for Kim's relationship with Trump and faltering efforts to get North Korea to denuclearize, Yun said, 'That's pretty much put in doubt, not that it's been going anywhere anyway.' With no details known about his young children, analysts said his sister and loyalists could form a regency until a successor is old enough to take over. Kim was the first North Korean leader to cross into South Korea to meet Moon in 2018. Both Koreas are technically still at war. The 1950-1953 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty. As Mexico braces itself for the worst of the COVID-19 crisis in the coming weeks, the Mexico City government has added a section to its app to informs users of hospital locations and real-time conditions, according to a recent article. This initiative is a huge leap for the Mexicans' battle against the deadly disease since not knowing which facilities are full and being passed on from one hospital to another increases the possibility of transmission and fatality rate among COVID-19 patients. Authorities in the capital and Mexico state hope to avoid panic and hospital saturation by keeping its citizens informed of hospital activity. READ: Number of Coronavirus Outbreaks in Mexican Facilities Is Alarming The App CDMX is available for both Apple and Android users. If you have already have downloaded it, you should update the app to make sure that the new hospital feature is working correctly. The app features a 'Hospitals' section, which allows the users to gather information on the nearest hospital via GPS tracking of the app. This section also allows users to see the hospital's occupancy, rating them as either high, medium, or low. Over the weekend, local media has reported that hospitals in Mexico City are already reaching their saturation point. According to an article by Latin Post, Mexico City hospitals are starting to reach a breaking point right after receiving 100 more COVID-19 patients needing intubation in just two days. ALSO READ: As COVID-19 Cases Rise in Mexico, so Does Criminality However, as of Tuesday afternoon, only nine of the 54 facilities in the Mexico City metropolitan area displayed low availability in the app. Mexico's Lack of PPE Leads To Outbreak in Hospitals As of this writing, Mexico has 9,501 cases of COVID-19 infections, with 857 deaths and 2,627 recoveries. The state health department reported that at the end of March, at least 51 workers at the IMSS General Hospital in Monclova in the northern state of Coahuila had been diagnosed with the COVID-19, and two medical doctors and a hospital administrator had died. READ MORE: AMLO Tells Drug Gangs to End Violence Instead of Giving Out Food Packages The outbreak in Monclova, the first hot spot in Mexico for the coronavirus-related disease, was the first in a sequence of hospital infections that sparked backlash regarding the lack of proper equipment to combat the deadly virus. This same issue has also prompted doctors and nurses across the world to staging rallies. Information is the best protection With the ongoing crisis, being well-informed and updated about the coronavirus helps protect yourself from acquiring it. But citizens can still keep in mind that the app isn't the way for them to find hospital information because an interactive map can also be found on the city's website. The city government has also set up a text messaging system to provide support to those who suspect transmission. By texting "covid19" to the toll-free number 51515, you will receive a questionnaire to evaluate your case and see if you need further attention to the disease. You can also download the questionnaire here, which is also available in English or request one via a direct message to Mexico City's Facebook account. A man has appeared before the extradition court in Dublin facing 39 charges of manslaughter and a charge of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration in connection with the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants found in a refrigerated lorry container in Essex. Ronan Hughes, 40, from Silverstream, Tyholland in Co Monaghan, was detained on Monday following the execution of a European arrest warrant in the Irish Republic. Mr Hughes said nothing during the short hearing in Dublin's Central Criminal Court on Tuesday morning apart from 'thank you judge'. Ronan Hughes (pictured), 40, from Silverstream, Tyholland in Co Monaghan, was detained on Monday following the execution of a European arrest warrant in the Irish Republic An Irish prison service van arrives at Dublin's Criminal Courts of Justice carrying Ronan Hughes on Tuesday He will apply for bail next Wednesday and has been remanded in custody until then. The 39 Vietnamese nationals were found in a lorry container parked on an industrial estate in Grays, Essex, on October 23 last year. Ten teenagers, including two 15-year-old boys, were among those found dead. On April 8, Maurice Robinson, 25, (pictured) of Craigavon in Northern Ireland, pleaded guilty to 39 counts of manslaughter at the Old Bailey in London It had arrived in Purfleet in the early hours that morning after travelling 173 miles from Zeebrugge in Belgium. On April 8, Maurice Robinson, 25, of Craigavon in Northern Ireland, pleaded guilty to 39 counts of manslaughter at the Old Bailey in London. He previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and acquiring criminal property at the same court on November 25. He is due to be sentenced at a later date. Promega Corporation announced today it successfully completed its first ever fully remote quality surveillance assessment and is recommended for continued certification to ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 13485:2016. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the British Standards Institution (BSI) completed its six-day review of Promega manufacturing facilities in Madison, Wisconsin using video and voice calls from assessors home locations in Ohio and Georgia. Many on the Promega assessment facilitation team in Madison worked from home as well. Standard assessments usually entail on-site meetings and tours of multiple buildings. Promega manufactures reagents used for COVID-19 testing. The companys components currently support approximately 15 COVID-19 test kits around the world, and Promega provides RNA extraction reagents for more than 500 clinical labs globally. Being so customer focused, we have routinely needed to be nimble in our approaches while maintaining our quality standard, and manufacturing our COVID-19 related products is a real-time example of that. While a virtual assessment is a first for us, the team adjusted quickly because we were able to leverage our flexible quality system processes. This innovative approach enabled us to successfully complete this necessary assessment while also protecting both our business continuity and the health and safety of Promega and BSI staff. Ron Wheeler, Senior director of quality assurance & regulatory affairs, Promega The Promega IT Department enabled the team to house large files for assessors to securely access and view, enabling full control of proprietary information. Discussions were conducted via video and audio conferencing. The team used www.promega.com, including the interactive Madison campus map on the website, to provide information about Promega products, facilities and operations. Assessors concluded with a recommendation of continued ISO certification and stated they were impressed with Promega capabilities, operations and knowledgeable staff. ISO certification assures global customers that Promega is committed to quality and has established reliable and effective processes. Promega first certified to international standards for quality management systems in 1998, and the companys commitment continues with 19 current global ISO certifications. The ISO series of quality management system standards are developed and maintained by the International Organization for Standardization. An organization achieving ISO certification has demonstrated to a third party that the organization meets all requirements of the standard and has implemented a quality system capable of developing, manufacturing, testing and delivering high quality products around the world. Today marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov in the Russian city of Simbirsk on April 22, 1870. Known in history under the name of Lenin, he was the founder of the Bolshevik Party, leader of the 1917 October Revolution and, undoubtedly, a towering figure in the political and intellectual history of the twentieth century. Leon Trotsky once wrote that all of Lenin is summed up in the October Revolution. Trotsky illuminated the meaning of his observation when he wrote, in his history of the events of 1917: Besides the factories, barracks, villages, the front and the soviets, the revolution had another laboratory: the brain of Lenin. This brain had been at work on the problem of revolution for decades. The conquest of power by the Russian working class in October 1917 marked the intersection of two world historical processes: 1) the development of the contradictions of Russian and world capitalism; and 2) Lenins protracted struggle, based on a philosophical materialist, i.e., Marxist, analysis of objective socio-economic conditions, to build the revolutionary socialist party necessary for the working class to establish its independence from all the political agencies of the bourgeoisie. Lenin speaking in 1919 Attempting to assess the genius and unique historical role of Lenin, it can be said that there is not another figure in the history of the socialist movement, apart from Marx and Engels, in whose political work the relationship between the conscious application of philosophical materialismenriched by the latest developments in natural science (especially physics)and the development of political analysis and revolutionary strategy, achieved such explicit, systematic and internally unified expression. The most striking characteristic of Lenins theoretical-political work was its concentrated effort, spanning decades, to raise the class consciousness of the working class and, thereby, enable the alignment of its practice with objective socio-economic necessity. Bourgeois moralists, innumerable academics, and other enemies of Leninism have frequently denounced the great revolutionarys ruthlessness. But they misuse the word. The political essence of Lenins ruthlessness was, to quote Trotsky again, the highest qualitative and quantitative appreciation of reality, from the standpoint of revolutionary action. It is worth noting that one of Lenins earliest works, titled What the Friends of the People Are and How they Fight the Social Democrats (written in 1894 and published in Volume One of his Collected Works), was a passionate defense of philosophical materialism, in which he opposed the subjective sociology of the populist theoretician, Nikolai Mikhailovsky. Lenin wrote that the materialist positionthat the course of ideas depends on the course of thingsis the only one compatible with scientific psychology. Lenin continued: Hitherto, sociologists had found it difficult to distinguish the important and unimportant in the complex network of social phenomena (that is the root of subjectivism in sociology) and had been unable to discover any objective criterion for such a demarcation. Materialism provided an absolutely objective criterion by singling out production relations as the structure of society, and making it possible to apply to these relations that general scientific criterion of recurrence whose applicability to sociology the subjectivists denied. [Collected Works, Vol. 1, p. 140] Underlying Lenins defense of materialism were decisive questions of political perspective and strategy: to what social force should the work of the socialist movement be oriented? To the peasantry or the working class? Lenins insistence on a rigorous analysis of objective socio-economic processes had nothing in common with political passivity, in which the socialist had merely to wait on history to take its course. Lenin contrasted materialism to objectivism: The objectivist speaks of the necessity of a given historical process; the materialist gives an exact picture of the given social-economic formation and of the antagonistic relations to which it gives rise. When demonstrating the necessity for a given series of facts, the objectivist always runs the risk of becoming an apologist for these facts: the materialist discloses the class contradictions and in so doing defines his standpoint. The objectivist speaks of insurmountable historical tendencies; the materialist speaks of the class which directs the given economic system, giving rise to such and such forms of counteraction by other classes. Thus, on the one hand, the materialist is more consistent than the objectivist, and gives profounder and fuller effect to his objectivism. He does not limit himself to speaking of the necessity of a process, but ascertains exactly what social-economic formation gives the process its content, exactly what class determines this necessity [M]aterialism includes partisanship, so to speak, and enjoins the direct and open adoption of the standpoint of a definite social group in any assessment of events. [Collected Works, Vol, 1, pp. 400-01] This passage was written in response to Pyotr Struve, the Legal Marxist and future leader of Russian bourgeois liberals. But it also anticipated Lenins struggle, a decade later, against the Menshevik tendency, which required the acceptance by the working class of the political leadership of the capitalist class in a future bourgeois democratic revolution. Lenin was arrested in 1895 by the Tsarist police, and was to spend the next five years in prison and Siberian exile. These were valuable years of intense theoretical work, which included his study of the Hegelian philosophy and his engagement with and eventual mastery of dialectics. Lenins term of exile ended in 1900 and he soon made his way to Western Europe, where he began, despite a difficult initial encounter, a close collaboration with the Father of Russian Marxism, G. V. Plekhanov. By the turn of the century, the European Social Democratic movement was confronted with a revisionist challenge, led by Eduard Bernstein, to Marxism. Politically, revisionism sought to replace the program of socialist revolution with bourgeois labor reformism. Theoretically, it advanced the idealist philosophy of academic neo-Kantianism in opposition to dialectical materialism. It is especially significant, in the light of the subsequent development of the European social democratic movement between 1898 and the outbreak of World War I in 1914, that the most important contributions to the theoretical and political fight against revisionism were made, not by the German social democrats, but by the Polish Marxist Rosa Luxemburg, and the two major figures in the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP), Plekhanov and Lenin. Luxemburgs Reform or Revolution was a devastating exposure of the political consequences of Bernsteins revisionism. Plekhanovs critique of the neo-Kantian revisionism of Bernstein and his supporters remains, to this day, among the most brilliant expositions of historical development and the theoretical methodology of dialectical materialism. However, it was Lenins contribution to the struggle against revisionism and opportunism, What Is To Be Done?, that proved to be the most theoretically acute and politically far-sighted. With greater depth and consistency than any other Marxist of his time, including Kautsky, Lenin revealed and explained the objective significance and political implications of the belittling of Marxist theory. Moreover, Lenin demonstrated the inextricable connection between the struggle against the influence of opportunism in all its diverse formstheoretical, political and organizationaland the building of the revolutionary party and the establishment of the political independence of the working class. Denouncing as opportunist all tendencies that downplayed the significance of the explicit struggle for the development of socialist consciousness and, instead, glorified the spontaneous development (i.e., without the intervention of Marxists) of the consciousness and practice of the working class, Lenin wrote: Since there can be no talk of an independent ideology formulated by the working masses themselves in the process of their movement, the only choice iseither bourgeois or socialist ideology. There is no middle course (for mankind has not created a third ideology, and, moreover, in a society torn by class antagonisms there can never be a non-class or an above-class ideology). Hence, to belittle the socialist ideology in any way, to turn aside from it in the slightest degree means to strengthen bourgeois ideology. There is much talk about spontaneity. But the spontaneous development of the working-class movement leads to its subordination to bourgeois ideology. [Collected Works, Vol. 5, p. 384] Drawing a sharp contrast between socialist consciousness and trade unionism, which he defined as the bourgeois ideology of the working class, Lenin wrote: Hence, our task, the task of Social-Democracy, is to combat spontaneity, to divert the working-class movement from this spontaneous, trade-unionist striving to come under the wing of the bourgeoisie, and to bring it under the wing of revolutionary Social-Democracy. [Ibid, pp. 384-85] What Is To Be Done? was published in 1902. But it was not until 1903, at the Second Congress of the RSDLP, that the far-sightedness of Lenins analysis of the political implications of the struggle against opportunism was substantiated. The split that occurred at the Second Congressostensibly over a minor difference over the definition of party membership, which gave rise to the Bolshevik and Menshevik factionswas initially seen by many delegates as an unnecessary and even malign disruption of party unity, caused by Lenins excessive factionalism. Lenins answer to this accusation was to undertake a detailed analysis of the proceedings of the Second Congress, which spanned 37 sessions held over a period of three weeks. This analysis, which was published under the title One Step Forward, Two Steps Back, demonstrated that the Menshevik faction was a manifestation, within the Russian socialist movement, of politically opportunist tendenciesinclining toward compromise and conciliation with the liberal and reformist parties of the bourgeoisiethat had developed in Social Democratic parties throughout Europe. Subsequent developments in Russia, particularly during and in the aftermath of the revolution of 1905, substantiated Lenins analysis of the class character and democratic-liberal orientation of the revisionist and opportunist tendencies. To trace, even in outline form, the evolution of the political differentiation of Bolshevik and Menshevik tendencies in the years that followed the Second Congress is necessarily beyond the scope of this commemoration of Lenins life. However, it must be stressed that Lenins understanding of the inner-party struggle against opportunism, in all its diverse forms, was profoundly different from that which generally prevailed throughout the Second International. Lenin analyzed conflicts over matters of tactics, organization and program as manifestations, within parties and factions, of objective divisions within society. Such divisions were not to be seen as distractions from the socialist movements engagement in the class struggle, but as an essential and unavoidable element of that struggle. Striving to uncover the socio-economic processes underlying the development of the struggle between tendencies, Lenin saw opportunism as the manifestation of bourgeois and petty-bourgeois interests and pressure upon the revolutionary vanguard. The appropriate response to such pressure, in whatever form it exerted itself, was not to seek accommodation and compromise. Opportunism was not, in Lenins view, a legitimate part of the workers movement. It was, rather, a debilitating, demoralizing and reactionary force, working to divert the working class away from the program of social revolution and toward capitulation to the bourgeoisie. It was this uncompromisingly hostile attitude toward opportunism that distinguished Bolshevism from all other political parties and tendencies within the Second International prior to the outbreak of World War I. The world historical significance of the struggle that Lenin had waged against opportunism was substantiated in 1914. Almost overnight, the leading parties of the Second International abandoned the pledges they had made to uphold the solidarity of the international working class and capitulated to the ruling classes in their countries. Lenins opposition to the betrayal of the Second International, and call for the building of a Third International, elevated him and the Bolshevik Party to the forefront of the world socialist movement. The outstanding features of Lenins response to the collapse of the Second International were first, that he demonstrated the connection between the betrayal of August 1914 and the antecedent development of revisionism and opportunism in the Social Democratic parties. Second, Lenin proved that the growth of opportunism was not to be explained in terms of personal treachery (though treachery there certainly was), but in powerful socio-economic tendencies arising out of the development of imperialism in the final years of the nineteenth century and the first decade and a half of the twentieth. In a series of brilliant theoretical worksabove all, the monumental Imperialism, the Highest Stage of CapitalismLenin provided a comprehensive analysis of the economic essence of imperialism, its place in the history of capitalism, its role in the growth of opportunism and the general corruption of the labor organizations affiliated with the Second International, and, finally, its relationship to the development of world socialist revolution. In a concise summation of his work on the causes and significance of the war, titled Imperialism and the Split in Socialism, Lenin wrote: Imperialism is a specific historical stage of capitalism. Its specific character is threefold: imperialism is monopoly capitalism; parasitic, or decaying capitalism; moribund capitalism. The supplanting of free competition by monopoly is the fundamental economic feature, the quintessence of imperialism. Monopoly manifests itself in five principal forms: (1) cartels, syndicates and truststhe concentration of production has reached a degree which gives rise to these monopolistic associations of capitalists; (2) the monopolistic position of the big banksthree, four or five giant banks manipulate the whole economic life of America, France, Germany; (3) seizure of the sources of raw material by the trusts and the financial oligarchy (finance capital is monopoly industrial capital merged with bank capital); (4) the (economic) partition of the world by the international cartels has begun. There are already over one hundred such international cartels, which command the entire world market and divide it amicably among themselvesuntil war redivides it. The export of capital, as distinct from the export of commodities under non-monopoly capitalism, is a highly characteristic phenomenon and is closely linked with the economic and territorial-political partition of the world; (5) the territorial partition of the world (colonies) is completed. [Collected Works, Vol. 23, P. 195] Lenin called attention to several critical political characteristics of the imperialist epoch. The difference between the democratic-republican and the reactionary-monarchist imperialist bourgeoisie is obliterated precisely because they are both rotting alive Secondly, the decay of capitalism is manifested in the creation of a huge stratum of rentiers, capitalists who live by clipping coupons. Thirdly, export of capital is parasitism raised to a high pitch. Fourthly, finance capital strives for domination, not freedom. Political reaction all along the line is a characteristic feature of imperialism. Corruption, bribery on a huge scale and all kinds of fraud. Fifthly, the exploitation of oppressed nationswhich is inseparably connected with annexationsand especially the exploitation of colonies by a handful of Great Powers, increasingly transforms the civilised world into a parasite on the body of hundreds of millions in the uncivilised nations. The Roman proletarian lived at the expense of society. Modern society lives at the expense of the modern proletarian. Marx specially stressed this profound observation of Sismondi. Imperialism somewhat changes the situation. A privileged upper stratum of the proletariat in the imperialist countries lives partly at the expense of hundreds of millions in the uncivilised nations. [Ibid, pp. 106-07] For all the developments in the global economy over the past century, Lenins analysis of both the economic and political characteristics of imperialism retains immense contemporary relevance. A passage which resonates with exceptional force in the present period calls upon socialists to go down lower and deeper, to the real masses; this is the whole meaning and the whole purport of the struggle against opportunism. [Ibid, p. 120] Imperialism and the Split in Socialism was written in October 1916. Lenin was living in Zurich, which served as his political headquarters as he provided political leadership for the revolutionary internationalist opposition to the war. In January 1917, Lenin delivered a lecture commemorating the twelfth anniversary of the outbreak of the 1905 Revolution. He said: We must not be deceived by the present grave-like stillness in Europe. Europe is pregnant with revolution. The monstrous horrors of the imperialist war, the suffering caused by the high cost of living everywhere engender a revolutionary mood; and the ruling classes, the bourgeoisie and its servitors, the governments, are more and more moving into a blind alley from which they can never extricate themselves without tremendous upheavals. [Ibid, p. 253] Just six weeks later, the revolution anticipated by Lenin was born in the streets of Petrograd. The Tsarist regime was overthrown by a mass uprising of the working class, bringing to power a bourgeois Provisional Government, supported by the Menshevik and Socialist-Revolutionary parties. With Lenin trapped in Zurich, the leaders of the Bolshevik Party who were already in Petrograd, principally Lev Kamenev and Josef Stalin, offered critical support to the Provisional Government and to the continuation of Russias participation in the World War. Lenin dispatched Letters from Afar to Petrograd, in which he made clear his opposition to the Provisional Government. But it was not until he managed to return to Russia, aboard a sealed train in April, that Lenin was able to initiate the political struggle that brought about a fundamental change in the program and strategic orientation of the Bolshevik Party and set it on the course that led to the conquest of power in October 1917. The struggle initiated by Lenin, immediately upon his return to Russia, represents the most politically consequential of his life. Lenins April Theses repudiated the program of the Democratic Dictatorship of the Proletariat and Peasantry that had directed the political strategy and practice of the Bolshevik Party since the revolution of 1905. This program had defined the struggle for the overthrow of the tsarist regime as a bourgeois democratic revolution. The Bolshevik formula insisted upon the leading role of the working class in the coming revolution, and aspired toward the destruction of all the feudal and anti-democratic remnants of the tsarist regime. But the program of the Bolsheviks did not call for the overthrow of the Russian bourgeoisie and the elimination of capitalist property relations. Moreover, the programmatic formulation of the Bolsheviksdefining the new revolutionary regime as a democratic dictatorship of the proletariat and peasantryimparted a significant degree of ambiguity regarding the precise nature of the state power that was to emerge from the overthrow of the tsarist regime. In the years between 1905 and 1917, the most comprehensive left-wing critique of the Bolshevik program of the democratic dictatorship was that advanced by Leon Trotsky. His theory of permanent revolution envisaged the overthrow of tsarism as leading, more or less rapidly, to the conquest of power by the working class. Notwithstanding the economic backwardness of Russia, the global development of capitalism and imperialist geopolitics foreclosed the possibility of the development of the Russian Revolution along bourgeois democratic and capitalist lines, as had been traditionally anticipated by Marxists. The Russian Revolution would place before the working class the task of overthrowing the bourgeoisie and taking power in its own hands. Viewing the Russian Revolution as the opening of the world socialist revolution, Trotsky insisted that the survival of the proletarian dictatorship in Russia would depend upon the overthrow of capitalism by the working class in the advanced capitalist countries, above all, in Germany. Prior to 1914, Lenin had discounted Trotskys theory of permanent revolution as absurdly left. However, it is undoubtedly the case that the outbreak of the world war led Lenin to reevaluate the old Bolshevik formula and reconsider his attitude toward Trotskys program. This was not a case of political plagiarism. Lenin arrived at conclusions very close to those of Trotsky, if not entirely identical, as a consequence of his own analysis of the global economic and political dynamic of the world war. Immensely principled in his approach to politics, Lenin recognized the need to change the party program. In the course of a political struggle that extended over several weeks, he was able to reorient the Bolshevik Party and set it on a course that led to the conquest of political power in October. There is one further episode in the drama of 1917 that testifies to the extraordinary link between theory and practice in the work of Lenin. In the aftermath of the defeat suffered by the Petrograd working class during the July Days, the eruption of counterrevolution forced Lenin into hiding. Under the most difficult of political conditions, with his life in constant danger, Lenin prepared for the renewal of the struggle for power by writing The State and Revolution. Lenins conception of how the Marxist party prepared itself and the working class for great political tasks finds characteristic expression in his preface to this remarkable work, whose significance has not been diminished even by the passage of a century. The struggle to free the working people from the influence of the bourgeoisie in general, and of the imperialist bourgeoisie in particular, is impossible without a struggle against opportunist prejudices concerning the state. The question of the relation of the socialist proletarian revolution to the state, therefore, is acquiring not only practical political importance, but also the significance of a most urgent problem of the day, the problem of explaining to the masses what they will have to do before long to free themselves from capitalist tyranny. [Collected Works, Vol. 25, p. 388] The seizure of power by the Russian working class, led by the Bolshevik Party, took place on October 2526. In his account of Ten Days that Shook the World, John Reed witnessed Lenins triumphant entry into the Petrograd Soviet, and wrote this evocative description of the great revolutionary leader. Dressed in shabby clothes, his trousers much too long for him. Unimpressive, to be the idol of a mob, loved and revered as perhaps few leaders in history have been. A strange popular leadera leader purely by virtue of intellect; colorless, humorless, uncompromising and detached, without picturesque idiosyncrasiesbut with the power of explaining profound ideas in simple terms, of analyzing a concrete situation. And combined with shrewdness, the greatest intellectual audacity. One can legitimately dispute Reeds description of Lenin as colorless and humorless. There are many accounts of Lenins personality that provide ample evidence of the qualities that Reed did not notice on the day when the Bolshevik Party leader was entirely absorbed with the overthrow of the bourgeois state and the establishment of a revolutionary government. But Reeds characterization of Lenin as a leader purely by virtue of intellect is, apart from a certain one-sidedness, justified. Lenin represented a new type of political leader, who sought to base the program and practice of his party and the working class on a scientific understanding of objective reality. The problem of establishing the proper alignment of theory and practice was a central preoccupation of Lenins entire political life. The highest task of humanity, Lenin wrote in Materialism and Empirio-Criticism, is to comprehend this objective logic of economic evolution (the evolution of social life) in its general and fundamental features, so that it may be possible to adapt to it ones social consciousness and the consciousness of the advanced classes of all capitalist countries in as definite, clear and critical a fashion as possible. [Collected Works, Vol. 14, p. 325] Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Lev Kamenev motivate the troops to fight on the Soviet-Polish war. 1 May 1920 Fifty years ago, in 1970, the centenary of Lenins birth was the occasion for countless meetings, seminars, symposiums, demonstrations and rallies, at which his life was celebrated. But for the most part, these events were devoted to falsifying his political work. The Soviet Union still existed and the ruling bureaucracy dispensed vast resources to promote a version of Lenins life compatible with the needs of the ruling Stalinist bureaucracy. All traces of his close collaboration with Trotsky had to be obliterated. Lenin, who had waged a life-long war against capitalism, had to be transformed into an advocate of the parliamentary road to socialism and peaceful coexistence between classes. Having consigned his mummified body to a mausoleum, the Kremlin imposters attempted to present themselves as the legitimate heirs of the great revolutionary. In fact, the Kremlin officials, who stood atop the mausoleum in Red Square to celebrate the centenary, were the heirs of Stalin, the counterrevolutionary criminal, and the beneficiaries of the betrayal of the principles and program of the October Revolution. Lenin, in the opening chapter of The State and Revolution, had anticipated his own fate. During the lifetime of great revolutionaries, he wrote, the oppressing classes constantly hounded them, received their theories with the most savage malice, the most furious hatred and the most unscrupulous campaigns of lies and slander. After their death, attempts are made to convert them into harmless icons, to canonize them, so to say, and to hallow their names to a certain extent for the consolation of the oppressed classes and with the object of duping the latter, while at the same time robbing the revolutionary theory of its substance, blunting its revolutionary edge and vulgarizing it. [Collected Works, Vol. 25, p. 390] But now, as we mark the 150th anniversary of Lenins birth, history has come full circle. In the midst of unprecedented global crisis, the legacy of the real Leninwhich was defended by the Trotskyist movementwill once again educate and inspire a new generation of revolutionary workers and youth. A family who were stopped by police while driving to Brighton during the coronavirus lockdown told officers they were "bored of staying in and wanted some fresh air". The motorist was driving with two children and a baby in the car, none of whom were wearing seatbelts, police said, and the driver was also on the phone. The vehicle was stopped by police at Clacket Lane Services in Kent. Police found the driver was also uninsured and driving without a licence. Kent's Road Policing Unit posted on Twitter: "Stopped at Clacket Lane Services. No insurance. None licence holder. On phone. 2 under 12's unrestrained. 1 baby unrestrained. "En-route to Brighton for a day out as bored of being in and wanted some fresh air." Last month, police officers were handed powers to make sure people stay at home and avoid non-essential travel to curb the spread of Covid-19. Anyone who ignores the lockdown rules will be breaking the law and could be arrested or fined. It is not the first case of drivers flouting the lockdown rules which require Brits to stay at home and only leave for a handful of essential reasons. A group of parents who were challenged by police over a trip to the beach in Theddlethorpe claimed their children needed a change of air. London during Coronavirus lockdown - In pictures 1 /66 London during Coronavirus lockdown - In pictures A woman jogging near City Hall, London, the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown PA An image of Queen Elizabeth II and quotes from her broadcast on Sunday to the UK and the Commonwealth in relation to the coronavirus epidemic are displayed on lights in London's Piccadilly Circus PA A pedestrian walks past a billboard reading "Please believe these days will pass" on Broadway Market in east London AFP via Getty Images Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge Getty Images Boris Johnson Jeremy Selwyn Sun-seekers cool off in the water and sunbathe on the riverbank at Hackney Marshes in east London AFP via Getty Images Ed Davey is shown on screens as he speaks via videolink during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, London PA A herd of fallow deer graze on the lawns in front of a housing estate in Harold Hill in east London AFP via Getty Images A woman wearing a mask crosses a bridge over Camden Lock, London PA An empty Millenium Bridge PA A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" is seen on an underground station platform Getty Images People push to enter the Niketown shop in Londo AP Jo Proudlove and daughter Eve, 9, follow the daily online "PE with Joe" Joe Wickes' exercise class on "Fancy dress Friday Reuters Police in Westminster Jeremy Selwyn Waterloo station looking empty PA Getty Images A quiet Parliament Square Getty Images PABest A man walks along a passageway at London's Oxford Street Underground station the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown to help curb the spread of the Coronavirus PA Social distancing markers around the camel enclosure at ZSL London Zoo PA A police car patrols Greenwich Park in London PA The Premier League in action in front of empty stands AP Novikov restaurant in London with its shutters pulled down while the restaurant is closed. A deserted Piccadilly Circus PA A general view is seen of a deserted Trafalgar Square AFP via Getty Images Getty Images The iconic Abbey Road crossing is seen after a re-paint by a Highways Maintenance team as they take advantage of the COVID-19 coronavirus lockdown and quiet streets to refresh the markings Getty Images A view of 20 Fenchurch Street (the 'Walkie Talkie' building) in the City of London, the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown to help curb the spread of the coronavirus PA A deserted Chinatown PA A person looks at graffiti on a JD Wetherspoon pub in Crystal Palace, south London. Wetherspoons workers have described founder Tim Martin's lack of support for his chain's 40,000 employees as "absolutely outrageous" PA The London ExCel centre that has been turned into a makeshift NHS Hospital and critical care unit to cope with the Coronavirus pandemic PA The Palace Theatre, which usually shows the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child play, sits in a deserted Shaftesbury Avenue PA The Sondheim Theatre, which usually shows the Les Miserables musical, sits in a deserted Shaftesbury Avenue PA Two members of a British Army mounted regiment exercise their horses in Parliament Square AP Westminster Bridge is deserted PA A quiet Canary Wharf Underground Station PA An empty street and bus stop at St James's Park AFP via Getty Images Whitehall Jeremy Selwyn A quiet Canary Wharf Underground Station PA A single pedestrian walks past The national Gallery AFP via Getty Images London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn Kings Cross and St Pancras Jeremy Selwyn Buckingham Palace looking empty in London, PA London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn Kings Cross and St Pancras Jeremy Selwyn London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn London's Carnaby Street empty as shops closed after a lockdown was announced in the latest bid to stop the spread of coronavirus through the UK AP A quiet Jubilee line westbound train carriage PA A single pedestrian walks past The national Gallery AFP via Getty Images A quiet Canary Wharf Underground Station PA Empty Embankment Jeremy Selwyn The four adults were stopped after travelling more than 70 miles from Nottingham. A Lincolnshire Police spokeswoman said the group were not issued with fixed penalty notices, but were given a warning. Last month, a driver was found with his wife in the boot of his car when he was stopped by police after ignoring the lockdown rules. Scottish Parliament's new COVID-19 committee to question Scottish Government response to pandemic The cabinet secretary for the constitution, Europe and external affairs Michael Russell will appear before the committee via video link The Scottish Parliaments new COVID-19 committee will meet for the first time on Friday to question the Scottish Government on its response to the pandemic. Cabinet secretary for the constitution, Europe and external affairs Michael Russell will appear before the committee via video link. The session will be broadcast on the Scottish Parliament TV website from 10am on Friday 24 April. The committee was formally created after a vote to change the standing orders on Tuesday afternoon that would allow committees to conduct business remotely. Scottish Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser is expected to be elected convener at the first meeting, with Labours Monica Lennon expected to be deputy convener. In total, nine MSPs will sit on the committee, including the SNPs Willie Coffey, Annabelle Ewing, Shona Robison and Stewart Stevenson. Adam Tomkins will join Fraser for the Conservatives, with Ross Greer from the Scottish Greens and Beatrice Wishart from the Liberal Democrats. The committees remit is: To consider and report on the Scottish Governments response to COVID-19 including the operation of powers under the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act, the Coronavirus Act and any other legislation in relation to the response to COVID-19 and any secondary legislation arising from the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act and any other legislation in relation to the response to COVID-19. | Brent Royal-Gordon / WikiMedia Commons An Oxford professor has been arrested on allegations of stealing and selling as many as 120 ancient pieces of papyrus, including a fragment of the Gospel of Mark once believed to be the oldest New Testament text ever discovered. Dirk Obbink, professor of papyrology and Greek literature at Christ Church Oxford, was arrested on March 2. News of the arrest broke last week in the student newspaper TheOxford Blue. Obbink allegedly took the fragments from the Egypt Exploration Societys collection of about 500,000 artifacts discovered in the ancient city of Oxyrynchus. The collection is housed at Oxfords Sackler Library, and Obbink was one of three scholars charged with overseeing it until he was removed under a cloud of suspicion in 2016. Obbink has denied the allegations in an official statement and said the evidence against him was fabricated in a malicious attempt to harm my reputation and career. The evidence is convincing, however, to some whove worked closely with Obbink. Its difficult seeing this ending well for Dirk, said Jerry Pattengale, a professor at Indiana Wesleyan University and one of the founding scholars of the Museum of the Bible. Its sad to think that such a gifted mind might have an abbreviated contribution to the field of Greek papyrology. Obbink, originally from Nebraska, went to Oxford in the late 1990s and became director of a project to digitize ancient papyri. The Oxyrynchus collection is a massive trove of documents, including many biblical passages, uncovered in the ruins of a Greek city in Egypt in the 1880s. Much like the Dead Sea Scrolls, the fragments have given modern scholars a broad window into the ancient world and affirmed the reliability of biblical manuscripts. Obbink became one of the trio of editors responsible with publishing the Oxyrynchus Papyri and overseeing the scholars who were given access to the collection. He was awarded a MacArthur Fellowshipknown as the genius grantin 2001 for his skill in rescuing and interpreting ancient manuscripts. Report of major discovery Obbink attracted the attention of some evangelical scholars in 2011 when he informally shared news about a fragment of Marks Gospel found in the collection. Obbink told Pattengale and Scott Carroll, two scholars who were working with the Museum of the Bible at the time, that the fragment dated to the late first century. The manuscript included a bit of the text of Jesus baptism, where John the Baptist tells the crowd, I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:8). According to Obbink, the words might have been copied down within 30 years of the date of the original biblical manuscript. There are no known biblical manuscripts from earlier than the second century, so this was a major discovery. (The fragment is now believed to date to the second or third century.) Carroll passed the news to Daniel Wallace, executive director of the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts, and Wallace mentioned the purported discovery in a public debate with Bart Ehrmann, a religious studies professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in February 2012. The news created a buzz but wasnt followed by any additional information. There was no academic paper substantiating the claims. A number of scholars who said they had seen the fragment told other scholars at the time that they were not allowed to talk about it because of non-disclosure agreements. Questions about the Gospel discovery went unanswered. Alleged antiquities sales At about the same time, Obbink reportedly took 13 bits of papyrus and sold them to Hobby Lobby. The sale did not include the Mark fragment but did include parts of Genesis, Psalms, and Romans, according to the Egypt Exploration Society (EES). Steve Green, the president of Hobby Lobby, was buying thousands of artifacts for the Museum of the Bible, which he launched in 2017. He ultimately ended up with a collection of about 60,000 objects, including about 17,000 tablets, seals, and fragments that were likely looted from Iraq and Egypt; 16 pieces of the Dead Sea Scrolls that were later discovered to be forgeries; and 13 bits of papyrus that were improperly taken from an Oxford library. (Green has recently apologized, and the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC, is in the process of returning all the stolen artifacts and developing an exhibit on antiquities forgery.) Then in 2013, Obbink allegedly sold Hobby Lobby four more fragments from the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, each from Egypt Circa 0100 AD, according to the purchase agreement that appears to be signed by Obbink. The amount paid for the fragments is unknown, though Pattengale called it a considerable sum. The purchase agreement stipulated that the physical documents wouldnt be transferred to Hobby Lobby for four years but would stay with Obbink for research. During the period, news that the Museum of the Bible owned the exciting new discovery of a possible first-century fragment of the gospel of Mark prompted EES to clarify that the papyrus was not for sale and had never been for sale. Then the Museum of the Bible produced the purchase agreement, and an investigation began. Internal investigation EES launched a systematic check of the collection, to see what else might have been stolen. They found that not only were more than 100 fragments missing, someone had removed the catalogue cards and the photograph recording the items location in the collection. Seven were found in California, in the private collection of Andrew Stimmer, chairman of Hope Partners International, an evangelical ministry serving children in Costa Rica, Kenya, and India. To date, it is not clear how Stimmer got the texts, which included bits of Exodus, Ecclesiastes, and 1 Corinthians. He has agreed to return them to Oxford. Obbink was not reappointed to his editorial position in 2016. In June 2019, EES blocked Obbink from even accessing the collection, and in October, Obbink was suspended from Oxford. The next month, local police received a report that as many as 120 artifacts were stolen from the Oxyrynchus Collection at the Sackler Library. The police investigation is ongoing. It is not known how much the stolen antiquities are worth. Carl Graves, director of EES, said he doesnt think of the objects in those terms. They are testament to Egypts early Christian heritage and are early evidence of biblical Scripture, he told the Guardian. We dont value them monetarily but they are priceless and irreplaceable. Money corrupts According to Pattengale, however, the money the Green family spent acquiring artifacts for the Museum of the Bible caused a number of people to seem to go crazy. We were approached by dealers in the oddest of ways, he wrote in CT. After speaking at Liberty University, I went to shake a fellows hand at the end of the greeting line. Instead, he pulled out a paper tube from beneath his trench coat and tried to show me a Megillah (Esther scroll) he wanted to sell. One fellow kept calling about a buried boxcar of antiquities in Texas, another claiming ownership of something from Jesus birth stable, and yet another with plaster casts of the first-century tomb in Jerusalem. Obbink may have also been motivated by the possibility of the money. But unlike most people, had access to half a million antiquities. Christopher Rollston, professor of Semitic languages and literatures at George Washington University, said money has done a lot of damage to the study of biblical antiquities. The antiquities market is a blight on the field, Rollston said. It is corrosive and destructive, and scholars, museums, and the public must have nothing to do with it. Those who do, do so at their peril, as this tragic story demonstrates in spades. In this picture taken on May 11, 2017, a drone is seen in the showroom of the DJI headquarters in Shenzhen. (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP via Getty Images) Lawmakers Concerned With Chinese Drone Makers Overtures to US Law Enforcement Amid Pandemic Lawmakers and experts are alarmed by the recent loan of Chinese-made drones to police and fire departments across the United States. The devices are already under intense suspicion as a potential national security threat because they can send data to China. The worlds largest consumer drone manufacturer, DJI, sent 100 of its drones to police, fire, and public safety organizations in 22 states, ostensibly to help in the battle against the spread of the CCP virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus. The move may be just one more act of goodwill amid an outpouring of support from the U.S. private sector, but DJI is a Chinese company that has already been flagged for making devices suspected of sending critical infrastructure and law enforcement data to the communist regime. The Army, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Interior have taken all steps to warn against or outright ban the use of DJIs drones. Meanwhile, a recent investigative report claims DJI worked directly with the communist regime on questionable projects. Think about this for a second, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) wrote on Twitter. This virus originated in Communist China and the Chinese Communist Partys lies helped it spread around the world. Now were using drones made by a Chinese company and backed by the CCP to enforce social distancing. This is crazy! The senator was one of several who voiced concerns last year when they learned that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) may have partnered with DJI for a pilot project. The FAA responded to the lawmakers inquiry on April 22, writing in a letter that it acknowledges the gravity of the potential issues raised. The FAA said it partners with state and local governments for the pilot project and not with any individual companies. One of Scotts constituents, Sgt. Tim Ehrenkaufer with the Daytona Beach Police Department in Florida, was identified by DJI as a recipient of a pair of drones. Ehrenkaufer didnt respond to a request for comment. The deputy chief of police in Elizabeth, New Jersey, told The Epoch Times that the department is still using a pair of Mavic 2 drones loaned by DJI. The Police Department is aware of alleged data breaches and appropriate precautions are in place, Giacomo Sacca, the deputy chief, said in a statement to The Epoch Times. The loan of the 100 drones is dwarfed by the number of DJI devices already in use by state and local public safety agencies. As of March this year, nearly 1,100 state and local agencies had at least one DJI drone in their fleets, according to a study by Bard College, accounting for roughly 90 percent of all the drones in use by state and local authorities. Such widespread adoption is alarming, considering that DJIs consumer devices send flight logs, video, and audio to its servers by default. A person using them has to navigate a series of options to turn off the data collection. The U.S. Army appears to have used the devices at least until August 2017, when the drones were banned due to increased awareness of cyber vulnerabilities associated with DJI products, according to a notice obtained by sUAS News. At the time, DJI drones were the most widely used off-the-shelf unmanned aerial device in the Army, the notice stated. The Homeland Security Investigations office in Los Angeles went a step further in an unclassified bulletin issued last year, stating with high confidence that critical infrastructure and law enforcement entities using DJI systems are collecting sensitive intelligence that the Chinese government could use to conduct physical or cyber attacks against the United States and its population. The Department of Homeland Security released a similar notice in May 2019, warning that U.S. officials have strong concerns about any technology product that takes American data into the territory of an authoritarian state that permits its intelligence services to have unfettered access to that data or otherwise abuses that access, Reuters reported. The Department of Interior (DOI) formally grounded its drone fleet early this year except for emergency missions. The departments notice didnt single out Chinese-made drones, although a spokesman told The Wall Street Journal three months earlier that the grounding was in response to national security concerns around Chinese-made drones. Prior to the grounding, the DOI had cleared DJIs government edition drones in 2019 after an extensive study. An official familiar with the grounding of the DOI fleet told The Epoch Times that Interior Secretary David Bernhardt grounded the fleet after receiving classified briefings on security concerns related to our drone fleet. Currently, we are working hand-in-hand with experts in the executive branch to coordinate a thorough assessment of certain DOI drones and scanning for any potential national security threats, the official said. In addition to the concerns voiced by federal agencies, DJIs servers were successfully accessed by cybersecurity bounty hunters in late 2017. One hunter documented accessing DJI data collected from the U.S. military, copies of passports and drivers licenses, and other sensitive information. These and other national security concerns may eventually lead to broader bans on DJI drones. Sen. Scott backs a broad ban on DJI devices across federal and state governments. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) told The Epoch Times that lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee definitely need to determine whether Americans privacy rights are not being compromised by use of Chinese drones. After reportedly starting DJI from his dorm room, the companys founder, Frank Wang, led the firm to global dominance of the consumer drone market. DJI now holds 70 percent of the market, according to a company estimate. Large companies in China cant exist independently of the CCP, which has legal, or virtually unconstrained access, to any company resource. DJIs privacy policy around this point is particularly broad, stating that the company can share user data to comply with applicable laws. In the year 2020, to think anything other than DJI is sharing unfettered, all-spectrum information and data flow worldwide with the MSS [Chinese intelligence agency] is just unwise, John Mills, the former director of cybersecurity policy, strategy, and international integration at the Department of Defense, told The Epoch Times. DJI didnt respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment. The company previously said the claims that it routinely shares data with authorities in China are false. That statement notably avoided addressing whether DJI has shared data with Chinese authorities on a non-routine basis. DJIs capabilities around the detection and tracing of drones are startling. The company currently markets a system called AeroScope, which is able to identify the vast majority of popular drones on the market today by monitoring and analyzing their electronic signals to gain critical information. According to Bloomberg, Wang had created a system similar to AeroScope for the communist regime in China. The system reportedly allows authorities to trace any drone to its owners cellphone. DJI didnt respond to a request for comment on that report. The company also publicly stated in a since-removed press release in 2017 that its cooperating with the public security bureau of Xinjiang, which is known for persecuting Uyghur Muslims and Falun Gong practitioners. But many of the people who cause problems are likely the ones who could benefit from a long-term city partnership with a mental health service provider. White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said Wednesday that he was in favor of shielding companies from coronavirus-related lawsuits as the administration eyes a speedy reopening of the economy. Kudlow, speaking on CNBC's "Squawk Box," said that businesses, and particularly small businesses, should not have to face what he called "trial lawyers putting on false lawsuits." "You've got to give the businesses some confidence here that if something happens, and it may not be their fault the disease is an infectious disease if something happens, you can't take them out of business," Kudlow said. "You can't throw big lawsuits at them. And I think liability reforms and safeguards are going to be a very important part of it." The comments from the director of the National Economic Council come as business groups are lobbying Congress for protection from liability if customers or employees are sickened when business activity resumes. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a lobbying group that advocates for business, called exposure liability "the largest area of concern for the overall business community" in a letter the organization posted online last week. The Chamber proposed a "safe harbor" from negligence lawsuits for companies following the guidance of public health authorities. On Monday, President Donald Trump addressed the topic at a White House press briefing, saying, "We have tried to take liability away from these companies." Trump said a "legal opinion" would be forthcoming. "We just don't want that because we want the companies to open and to open strong," the president said. Kudlow, in his interview, cited a Wall Street Journal opinion article written by Evan Greenberg, CEO of insurance giant Chubb, that was published Tuesday. Greenberg warned in the article of a coming "wave of litigation filed against managers and boards of every kind of organization." "Litigation may help the tort industry but it doesn't serve the national interest. It would add to uncertainty, crippling prospects for an orderly recovery," Greenberg wrote. Kudlow said he was "quite concerned about" the prospect. Asked about how safety standards would be enforced if private legal action was curtailed, Kudlow pointed to the efforts of state and city regulators. "There will be constant monitoring, state by state. I think the states do a good job," Kudlow said. "I have a lot of confidence in the states and the cities for that matter." Some economists have expressed skepticism about reining in corporate liability for coronavirus risks. Justin Wolfers, an economics and public policy professor at the University of Michigan, wrote in a widely circulated post on Twitter last week that such a proposal was "bad economics and bad policy." "The whole point of making employers liable for risking the lives of their staff is to prevent them from exposing their staff to undue risk," Wolfers wrote. "Businesses are asking for the right to expose their workers to fatal risks with no consequences." Wolfers tweet Disclosure: Larry Kudlow is a former CNBC contributor. Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala on Wednesday junked Opposition allegations of mismanagement in the wheat procurement, saying the process was on track and they will procure every single grain of farmers. In an attack on the state government, the Congress had alleged on Tuesday that an atmosphere of mistrust was prevailing between the government and arhtiyas (commission agents) due to which the procurement process has been disrupted. Responding to the allegations, Chautala said a smooth procurement of wheat and mustard had remained a challenge before the government but several decisions taken in the farmers' interest ensured that things were on track. Till Tuesday, nearly 2.84 lakh metric tonne of the wheat and over 1.49 lakh MT of mustard has been procured, said the JJP leader, whose party is the BJP's coalition partner in Haryana. We will procure every single grain of farmers even if the process carries on for a bit longer, he added. Attacking the opposition party, he claimed claiming that while on an average Haryana was procuring 1.5 lakh MT of wheat per day, the Congress-ruled Punjab had procured just 42,200 MT of wheat in first two days. On a strike by arhitiyas, Chautala, who also holds the charge of the Food and Civil Supplies Department, said they had objected to the opening of new bank accounts after which government had allowed them to operate their old ones. He said the government has told them that it will deposit the money into their old accounts after which they must clear the payment to farmers within two days. Chautala said to avoid crowding at grain markets in view of the coronavirus pandemic, the number of procurement centres has been increased to ensure social distancing. Farmers are being sent SMS and called in batches to the grain markets to sell their produce to avoid overcrowding. He said 13 lakh masks have been provided to farmers by self-help groups through the Marketing Board. Chautala, who holds the Industries and Commerce and Excise departments, also said the government has received 4,350 applications seeking permission to run industrial units falling outside containment zones in the past three days. Different committees have been formed to facilitate permissions while ensuring that all guidelines, including social distancing, are followed, he said. He added that all permissions are being given in a phased manner so that the industry is back to life and all measures related to the lockdown are followed. Speaking on incident of bootlegging, the minister said so far the excise and police departments have seized 1.60 lakh liquor bottles in 442 raids. Around 1,200 FIRs have been lodged till now, he said. He ruled out the opening of liquor vends at least till May 3. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Derek Jones, the guitarist and a founding member of the band Falling In Reverse, has died at 35-years-old. The metalcore band's vocalist Ronnie Radke revealed the heartbreaking news in an Instagram tribute, saying his 'heart is broken.' The cause of Jones death is still unknown. RIP: Derek Jones, the guitarist and a founding member of the band Falling In Reverse, has died at 35-years-old. He's seen in 2019 above Radke recalled how Jones was always there for him, writing: 'I'll never forget when you picked me up from jail In Your old tour van to start falling in reverse. 'Your spirit will be interwoven through the music I write forever. Rest In Peace Derek Jones. My heart is broken,' he went on. Another post showed Derek sitting in a wheelchair at Warped Tour 2012, where Ronnie remembered he 'fell off stage broke his ribs, foot and head, but didn't miss a show.' Tragic: The metalcore band's vocalist Ronnie Radke revealed the tragic news in an Instagram tribute, saying his 'heart is broken' Memories: Radke recalled how Jones was always there for him, writing: 'I'll never forget when you picked me up from jail In Your old tour van to start falling in reverse Famous fans like Nikki Bella, Nathaniel Knows, and Spencer Charnas of band Ice Kills Nine paid tribute in the comments section. Jones had endured tragedy during his life. The guitarist was engaged to girlfriend Cristina Cetta in 2015 but they were never married. Tribute: Famous fans like Nikki Bella, Nathaniel Knows, and Spencer Charnas of band Ice Kills Nine paid tribute in the comments section Sad: Jones' girlfriend Cristina Cetta passed away from metastatic cancer last year Cetta was diagnosed with metastatic cancer in early 2019 and passed away in November of the same year. Following her death he shared a post that read: 'I miss you beyond belief you were my best friend and everything more...' Jones was born on June 5, 1984 in Lake Forest, California. He had always been musical, playing violin and saxophone as well as guitar as a child. Remembered: Following her death he shared a post that read: 'I miss you beyond belief you were my best friend and everything more...' 'Music always felt natural,' Jones told Alternative Press back in 2012. 'It made me feel good about myself, and makes me happier than anything else I've tried out there.' In February Falling In Reverse released the song The Drug In Me Is Reimagined, a piano version of The Drug In Me Is You off their 2011 debut. In addition to Falling In Reverse, Jones was a member of the band A Smile From The Trenches until 2010. Almost all U.S. companies are likely to include in their quarterly filings broad statements on risks the ongoing coronavirus pandemic poses to their businesses. Should they be disclosing more? Smithfield Foods Inc., the worlds biggest pork processor, recently announced it was shutting down its Sioux Falls, S.D., plant, which accounts for nearly five per cent of U.S. production, after state officials found more than 200 cases of COVID-19 among its staff. But theres no clear requirement that companies report they have sick workers. And they need to protect those workers privacy too. Do companies need to tell investors about sick workers? The Securities and Exchange Commission requires U.S. public companies to disclose information that is material. Smithfield, a subsidiary of a Chinese company, isnt subject to those requirements, but, if it were, the closing of one of its major plants due to a coronavirus outbreak could qualify as a material event. On the other hand, a few sick employees in a large workforce might not, unless they are likely to cause a major disruption. What if the CEO or other senior executives become infected? Morgan Stanley chief executive officer James Gorman earlier this month revealed that he had contracted the coronavirus a few weeks before but had since fully recovered. An incapacitated CEO or other senior executive who becomes unable to exercise leadership responsibilities could be treated as a material event. Morgan Stanley has said it decided Gormans condition didnt warrant disclosure because his symptoms were mild and he continued to work from home for the duration of his illness. Who decides if companies made the right call? The SEC can bring enforcement actions against companies if it feels they havent disclosed enough information on how the virus is affecting their operations. Richard Walker, a former SEC general counsel now in private practice at King & Spalding, says the agency has signalled it wont second-guess good-faith projections of how businesses are going to be affected by the coronavirus. Shareholders might also sue, claiming companies failed to disclose all they knew about the virus potential impact. What about telling the public? Businesses usually arent required to tell the public about infections in the workplace, but some may want to. In some circumstances, some employers, like certain retailers, may decide for public health or public relations reasons that it is best to disclose a positive COVID-19 diagnosis to the public, said David Lindsay, an employment lawyer with K&L Gates. What about the privacy of sick workers? Companies can warn employees if they may have been exposed to a co-worker with the virus, but should avoid disclosing the persons identity in keeping with U.S. federal laws safeguarding the confidentiality of patient information. If you want to impress your children with your mental prowess, you might want to give escape rooms a miss and pull out the scrabble board instead. Twentysomethings may have the sharpest minds but over-70s have a superior way with words, the Great British Intelligence Test has revealed. The BBC's online test developed in tandem with neuroscientists from Imperial College London has been taken by more than 250,000 people from across the UK. Researchers found that our ability to solve problems appears to peak in our twenties and then declines steadily as we get older. As a result, the experts say that forty-year-old adults have the same problem solving capacities as their twelve-year-old children. However, it's not all bad news for those of us getting on in years. The researchers also found that our vocabularies continue increasing well into our 80s, rather than peaking in our 50s60s as previously thought. Scroll down for video Twentysomethings may have the sharpest minds but over-70s have a superior way with words, the Great British Intelligence Test has revealed BATTLE OF THE BRITISH BRAINS! In an upcoming 'Horizon' special, the BBC will be putting the public's smarts to the test pitting young vs old, men against women and readers vs techies. The test, however, has already revealed some 'winners' and 'losers': The UK's top problem solvers live in Bristol. Meanwhile, Londoners have the greatest emotional intelligence. Midlothian in Scotland harbours those with the best verbal abilities. Cat owners have greater vocabularies than dog owners. People who eat more fruit and veg. have better problem solving abilities and verbal intelligence. Students at the University of Cambridge have better problem-solving skills than their Oxford peers. Advertisement 'Our online IQ test is different from a conventional one,' explains BBC presenter and trained psychiatrist Michael Mosley. 'It measures lots of different aspects of intelligence, from cognitive skills like problem-solving to memory and verbal ability.' But, he added, the test also asks people 'to provide information about things like their age and how much time they spend on social media.' This enabled the researchers to explore how our present use of technology is impacting our intelligence. For example, researchers found that those people who reported showing signs of internet addiction such as getting up to check their smartphones in the middle of the night appear to have a greater likelihood of experiencing anxiety and depression. This association was particularly pronounced in the younger generations, the survey found. 'I think the most shocking finding was the tight link we found between time spent on social media and mental health,' Dr Mosley added. 'Although there has been lots of concern about this, no-one has done a study which is quite as big as this one.' However, modern technology does come with some benefits, the results also suggest with scores on verbal intelligence tests found to increase the more time people spent searching the internet. In addition, more time spent playing video games seems to be associated with a better performance in tests of spatial working memory, attention and verbal reasoning. The BBC's online test developed in tandem with neuroscientists from Imperial College London has been taken by more than 250,000 people from across the UK. Pictured, presenters Hannah Fry (left) and Michael Moseley (right) will present the results of the Great British Intelligence Test in a Horizon special that will air on BBC Two during May 2020 'I think the most shocking finding was the tight link we found between time spent on social media and mental health,' Dr Mosley said. 'Although there has been lots of concern about this, no-one has done a study which is quite as big as this one' Dr Mosley concluded that he hopes the public realises that intelligence is not an inherent trait that one is born with, but something that can be cultivated and preserved as one grows. 'We all have the power to affect our own intelligence,' agreed his co-presenter and mathematician Hannah Fry, of the University College London. 'Exercise, grit, determination and practice can all have an effect on what we're good at,' she added. 'Horizon: The Great British Intelligence Test' will air on BBC Two on May 4, 2020. During the programme, viewers at home will be able to put their own intelligence to the test by visiting the BBC website. Once the provincial government begins reopening parts of society, it should not be a green light for everyone sheltering at home to head back to places of work or education all at once, according to an epidemiologist who researches the spread of pathogens through social networks. "Please don't all go back to work, school, university all at once because we will definitely get another wave," said Dr. Ann Jolly, an associate professor at the University of Ottawa and former Public Health Agency of Canada official. She said New Brunswick could endure a second wave or multiple waves of COVID-19 as the province commences its recovery plan, and experts and government officials warn acting too swiftly risks a resurgence. Public Health announced Tuesday the third consecutive day with no new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, leaving the total number of positive tests in New Brunswick at 118 102 of whom have recovered. The province is considering loosening some emergency restrictions for early May and work is underway in devising the plan. CBC But Jolly said there will be surges as the virus makes its way into new groups of people previously unaffected, consistent with previous pandemics like SARS. She used the example of the Yukon, which has 11 confirmed cases, but that could change once travel restrictions are lifted. Countries that are further ahead of Canada in the pandemic have already seen the next wave, including China and Hong Kong, and federal government officials continue to caution the public. In late March, Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer, was already urging the country to be prepared for another wave, saying "this virus is going to be with us for some time." Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned that easing restrictions too soon could bring about another wave just as damaging as the first. Jolly said there are several factors to consider before relaxing restrictions and ensuring the health-care system does not become overburdened. They include a staggered approach in permitting people to re-enter society. Story continues In her experience, some workplaces have opted for calling in rotating groups of employees, she said, and some governments have staggered the return date for university and public school students. She also said special attention needs to be given to nursing and long-term care homes during that process because those facilities represent places where a surge could occur. Premier Blaine Higgs maintains the province will take a "gradual" and "methodical" approach in reopening the province and workplaces will have to follow Public Health guidelines. Ed Hunter/CBC "We will need to move slowly and we must be careful," Higgs said. "We were fortunate in New Brunswick but we cannot take this for granted." Jolly also cautioned against out-of-province travellers, especially since neighbouring jurisdictions like Nova Scotia, Quebec and Maine are worse off. "As soon as people start travelling through from Quebec and Nova Scotia, it will start to pervade more, it will start to come more into New Brunswick and infect pockets of people that perhaps weren't affected before," Jolly said. The premier has said opening provincial borders won't be happening soon and that would be one of the last measures to be lifted. In case you fell off the earth yesterday afternoon, Virgin Australia has gone into voluntary administration. The collapse leaves, beyond big questions around potential Qantas price hikes (or overseas competitors swooping in), 10 million Velocity points holders wondering if they should cash in their hard-earned points for a toaster. Or is it just better to wait and see? While savvy Velocity members transferred their balance over to Singapore Airlines back in March (before Virgin Australia pre-empted an exodus and removed ones ability to do that), current Velocity points holders are now stuck between a crate of wine (if you can log into the system, which keeps crashing with demand) and an uncertain place (remember Ansett). To gain a crampon of truth as the rumour mill whirrs, DMARGE spoke to Perth-based points hacking expert and owner of Flight Hacks, Immanuel Debeer. Though, like the rest of us, Immanuel has no crystal ball on whether Virgin Australia will sell off assets (like the Velocity program) to individual buyers (it has even been suggested that a company like Coles could buy Velocity) or make itself open to a full-service airline takeover (which could mean the current structure of Virgin Australia and its points program is retained), he is one of the worlds leading points hackers, having spent years teaching his audience how to juice their Velocity points (as well as every other frequent flyer program) for all theyre worth. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Immanuel Debeer (@flighthacks) on Jun 24, 2019 at 8:33pm PDT The situation may become clearer tonight after Virgin Australias board meets again. However, in the meantime, here is what Immanuel thinks will happen to your Velocity points now that Virgin Australia has gone into administration. Plus: what the hell you can do with them before they disappear forever (or become devalued after a new company takes over). Although Virgin Australia and Velocity Frequent Flyer are two separate companies, they are very much tied together, Immanuel told DMARGE early this morning. Virgin Australia owns Velocity and even stumped up a whole lot of change last year buying back the remainder of the program from an investment firm (those guys will be laughing all the way to the bank!). Once the creditors swoop in its very likely that they will try to sell Virgin Australia and Velocity (if they can touch Velocity), Immanuel added. Frequent Flyer points wont just disappear but when all this is over, their value will most likely slump depending on how things play out. Velocity has shut down all options of redeeming points so those who didnt act (I wrote about why people might want to transfer out points back in March) will need to hope that whoever buys out the assets knows how to run a frequent flyer program. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Immanuel Debeer (@flighthacks) on Sep 14, 2019 at 2:17am PDT All that in mind, what are frequent flyers actually going to do? Especially in a context where on-ground redemptions typically provide less value (according to a News.com.au report, you can score anywhere between $20 and $80 in value for every 1,000 Velocity Points when redeeming for flights, while using your points in the Velocity eStore typically offers a value of $5 per 1,000 points at best), its a hard one to call. The same report by News.com.au suggests some Velocity members now rushing out to redeem points in-store (despite the definite drop in value) and others waiting to see what happens (resigning themselves to a likely future drop in value, but one that will hopefully be more useful to them than wine and household appliances). There has also been a rush on redemptions for store gift cards using Velocity Points. These provide a comparatively low value, with gift card deals offering at best around $5.50 in value for every 1,000 Velocity Points spent, News.com.au wrote last night. But enough customers appear to have decided better some value than nothing that Velocity limited those redemptions to 1 per customer per day in early April. To end on a positive note, News.com.au also pointed out that the situation is not as dire as similar ones in the past. For instance, when Ansett Australia went into administration back in 2001, points balances just vanished overnight. Ansetts corporate structure was different and its buyout options were more limited, so we wont necessarily see a repeat of that scenario [with Virgin Australia]. Heres hoping. Read Next Albuquerque police officers stood shoulder to shoulder at the home of David Rogers on April 2. They wanted to give the retired APD lieutenant a heros send-off after he lost his battle with leukemia, and they accomplished that. They, along with Mayor Tim Keller and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, also accomplished sending a strong message theres a double standard when it comes to following social distancing rules in the age of coronavirus rules both have vowed to have law enforcement enforce. Albuquerque Police Chief Michael Geier, who was in attendance, confirmed through a spokesman officers organized the hearse escort from Rogers home to the funeral home but declined to elaborate. A spokesman said Geier reminded officers to practice social distancing. Photos and a video (since removed from YouTube) of the send-off show that few, if any, listened. Officers did not stay in cruisers or on motorcycles to respectfully follow the hearse. During part of the video, some officers appeared to stand apart. But at times many stood shoulder to shoulder outside Rogers home, some even posing for group photos. No masks. No gloves. No other personal protective equipment. Not even by Chief Geier. Neither Lujan Grisham nor Keller, who have ordered citizens to stay home and away from groups, expressed concern about the send-off. A spokesman for the governor said: It would seem in my view that efforts were made to adhere to social distancing as best it could be while still providing Lt. Rogers a respectful escort worthy of his service to the city. Keller did not answer questions, and instead a spokeswoman sent a statement about measures APD has taken to keep officers safe on the job. Shaun Willoughby, president of the Albuquerque Police Officers Association, told the Journal a show of strong leadership and essence of our police family was the bare minimum that could be done to honor Rogers. Really? To preserve social distancing, you cant load your groceries on the conveyer belt at the store until the person in front of you is done. You cant join with family and friends to celebrate an engagement or mourn a loved one or honor a milestone. But if you wear a blue uniform and badge, you can pose side by side for pics with no protective gear whatsoever? Do our elected and law enforcement leaders think COVID-19 differentiates? We understand that honoring our fallen police officers is a long-standing tradition. The desire to show respect for Rogers, 56, a U.S. Navy and law enforcement veteran, is commendable. But the way it was done was wholly inappropriate when state residents are told to stay home and remain 6 feet apart. The gathering at Rogers home came just a week and a half after the state Department of Health banned mass gatherings, defined as more than five. Its a message officials and flashing road signs have been driving home. Its an order police have been enforcing. And then APD blatantly violates it. The failure of the mayor and governor to denounce the send-off is a glaring failure in leadership. By attending the gathering, Geier gave his approval, and rather than speaking out against the gathering, Keller and Lujan Grisham have backed him up. No doubt it would have been awkward for Keller and Lujan Grisham to publicly criticize law enforcement for honoring one of its own. But they ordered the shelter-in-place rules, regardless of the personal pain and sacrifice they are causing hundreds of thousands of New Mexicans. They should have the backbone to support their own policies and then brace for any criticism. This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers. The logo of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) sits outside its headquarters in Vienna ALGIERS (Reuters) - OPEC's powerful Gulf oil producers Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates as well as non-OPEC Russia are not taking part in a conference call held by some OPEC+ members on Tuesday evening, two OPEC sources said. OPEC members Algeria, which is holding the OPEC presidency in 2020, Nigeria, Venezuela, and Iraq along with non-OPEC oil producers Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are part of the conference call held to discuss the latest oil market developments after global oil price crashed, one of the sources said. No decisions are expected from the informal talks, the source said. (Reporting by Reuters OPEC team; editing by David Evans) YEREVAN. I do not imagine that there can be a government in Armenia that can make such concessions which are presented within the framework of the mentioned document. Edmon Marukyan, chairman of the opposition Bright Armenia party and head of the Bright Armenia faction, said this Wednesday at the briefing with the journalists in parliament, referring to Tuesdays statement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. "Before we were getting ready to demand clarifications from our Foreign Ministry, the Foreign Minister held a press conference where he clearly denied the issue of any document on the table, including the document which the Russian Foreign Minister spoke about, as well as matters related to concessions." the opposition MP said. "A question rises here: Which foreign minister to believe in? I believe in Armenias foreign minister. I think the Armenias Foreign Ministry should demand clarification from the Russian Foreign Ministry. Moreover, I also think that [Armenian] Prime Minister [Nikol] Pashinyan should personally address this issue because this is a very speculative issue in the domestic political life of Armenia, and it should be clarified in the clearest way and to some extent refute that information." As states begin to allow nonessential businesses such as gyms and restaurants to open their doors, many Americans will cautiously emerge from their homes after weeks of isolation. Tayjus Surampudi, a Google employee, will not be one of them. Surampudi, 24, works as a strategic program manager for the company's apps business, so it's been easy for him to work remotely these past few months. He expects that he'll continue to do so for the foreseeable future, regardless of any policy changes at Google or in Mountain View, California, where he lives. That's because Surampudi has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic condition that causes progressive muscular degeneration. That makes him one of millions of Americans at high risk for complications if he contracts Covid-19. "I have to be careful and really don't want to put myself in a situation where I could end up in the hospital," he said by phone. "I recognize that it could be a year or longer." Surampadi is just one of about half a dozen people who told CNBC they're preparing to remain at home until there's a vaccine available, which could take 18 months or more, or until they hear from a scientific expert such as Dr. Anthony Fauci that it's safe for them to resume life as normal. Somewhere between a third and half of Americans fall into a high-risk category when it comes to the coronavirus, suggests Dr. Ashish Jha, the director of the Harvard Global Health Institute. They include people over the age of 65, nursing home residents, and people with underlying medical conditions including heart problems, chronic lung disease or a condition that attacks their immune system. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website recommends that this group stay at home as much as possible and avoid close contact with others. But it's unclear exactly how long they should be following these guidelines. So some are proceeding with maximum caution. In January 1972, just a few years after making history as the first black woman elected to Congress, Rep. Shirley Chisholm of New York publicly announced she would be running for president. "I am not the candidate of black America, although I am black and proud; I am not the candidate of the women's movement of this country, although I am a woman, and I am equally proud of that," Chisholm said to a crowd in Brooklyn. "I am the candidate of the people of America. And my presence before you now symbolizes a new era in American political history." That era provides a setting for the FX miniseries "Mrs. America," which explores the women's liberation movement of the 1970s by juxtaposing liberal figures fighting for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment with the opposing efforts of the right-wing activist Phyllis Schlafly (Cate Blanchett). Among the liberals depicted is Chisholm, who series creator Dahvi Waller notes was "such a maverick" and, as a prominent black woman in American politics, exposed a need for intersectional feminism. Chisholm, who spent part of her childhood in Barbados, worked in early-childhood education before she represented a New York congressional district, including her Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, from 1969 to 1983. In 1972, she became the first black candidate from a major party - and the first woman in the Democratic Party - to seek the U.S. presidency. In casting the part, Waller looked for someone who could exude a "larger-than-life charisma" and landed on Uzo Aduba ("Orange Is the New Black"), who understood the responsibilities of playing someone "so iconic." Aduba's only knowledge of Chisholm's legacy came from what her own mother had taught her, but the more the actress dug into her character's backstory, the more she drew parallels between the uphill battles Chisholm faced then and those of our modern political era. Aduba immediately connected Chisholm's inability to clinch the 1972 nomination, as depicted in the third episode, with former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's general election loss in 2016. Waller began writing "Mrs. America" earlier that year, with the expectation that the show would air under the first female presidency and shed a light, per Aduba, on "how far women have come." "It became even more of a dramatic irony, in light of the fact that (Clinton) lost," Aduba continues. "You think back and this woman was running, almost 50 years before. ... If this is what it feels like today, I can't even imagine what the atmosphere was like back then, in a time when a woman still needed a man to co-sign her credit card. It makes you understand the steel that Shirley Chisholm is made of." The series points out how the obstacles Chisholm faces as a liberal black woman differ from those facing the white co-founders of the National Women's Political Caucus, including Bella Abzug (Margo Martindale), Betty Friedan (Tracey Ullman) and Gloria Steinem (Rose Byrne). The third episode takes place during the 1972 Democratic National Convention, when the women disagreed over whether to divide their coalition's support between Chisholm and Sen. George McGovern, D-S.D. One of the most revealing moments occurs when Chisholm learns that some members of the Congressional Black Caucus are wondering whether she is "really the right candidate for blacks, or just for women." She responds, "I don't look black to you?" and, after retrieving a piece of hate mail from her handbag that includes a death threat and a racist slur, asks, "Does this make me black?" The scene points to "the duality of life that exists," Aduba says, of being seen by different groups as "entirely theirs or not enough theirs." That conversation stretches across the series, such as in a scene from the fourth episode, streaming Wednesday. Activist Flo Kennedy (Niecy Nash), who also co-founded the National Women's Political Caucus, finds herself at odds with a house guest over whether including lesbians in their efforts will lose them the support of the Black Power movement. "Lesbians are welcome," Kennedy says. "Horizontal hostility is not." "Mrs. America" sympathizes with the liberal movement but doesn't shy away from exposing its fractures, particularly along lines of race and sexual orientation. Waller says that in pitching the series to FX, she stressed that "although Phyllis was the point of entry, I had no intention of making it a very narrow series only from her perspective. It was going to be a much broader view of that time period." Waller's ultimate goal was to "tell multiple perspectives and not sanitize anyone, but have compassion." The series takes place more than 40 years ago, she says, and "I believe all the feminist leaders were doing the best they could with the tools they had." But when it comes to Chisholm's presidential run, Aduba adds, this also means highlighting the unfortunate reality that some of her own supporters might have contributed to the reasons she wasn't as successful as she could have been. "She realized that some of that responsibility (lay) in the hands of her fellow women," Aduba says. "I think that enlightened all of us to really pay attention to the blind spots that existed in that second-wave movement - and, frankly, the blind spots that, if not paid attention to, could and would exist again." Deaths from coronavirus in adult residential health care facilities, including nursing homes, rose to 464 Wednesday, an increase of 61 deaths from Monday, the last time the state reported on the impact the virus has had on those in such homes. There are now 2,402 confirmed cases in 205 facilities, the state reported Wednesday. But that total comes from an expanded pool of homes, unlike before, when the tally was focused on nursing homes. Now, according to the Louisiana Department of Health update, the totals include nursing homes, assisted living facilities, inpatient psychiatric/behavioral health and drug treatment facilities. Wednesday's numbers, however, highlight the particular vulnerability of people who are housed in close quarters with others and who may already be facing health problems. The 464 deaths in such facilities is nearly one-third of the state's total of 1,473 deaths. State officials have, since April 1, refused to name the individual facilities in which confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, have been found. They note, however, that many residents of these homes already suffer from underlying health conditions that make them more susceptible to the disease, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, or other health problems. Those vulnerabilities have been on graphic display at the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Home in Reserve where, as of Monday, 22 residents had died and 47 others had tested positive for the virus in the worst-documented outbreak in the state. Similarly, at Lambeth House in New Orleans, 18 residents died and dozens more were infected in a similar outbreak. Over the weekend, federal officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said they would require homes to report that data directly to CDC. The Louisiana Health Department will next update its totals for adult residential health care homes on Monday. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that his upcoming executive order suspending new immigration would apply to people seeking green cards while workers entering the United States temporarily wont be affected. The ban on new green card issuances will last for 60 days, he said during a briefing on the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic. His administration is currently working on the details of the executive order, which came about a day after Trump wrote on Twitter Monday that he would temporarily suspend immigration into the United States. After the 60 days is up, he will review the executive order and decide if it should be renewed, Trump said during the briefing. The order will likely be signed on Wednesday, he added. The order would protect American workers, Trump said. I want our American citizens to get jobs. I dont want them to compete right now. In the briefing, Trump suggested there would be certain exemptions on the green card ban but didnt elaborate. It would be wrong and unjust for Americans laid off by the virus to be replaced with new immigrant labor flown in from abroad, he added. Amid the pandemic, much of the U.S. immigration system has already ground to a stop. Most visa processing by the State Department has been suspended for several weeks. Travel into the country has been restricted from much of the world. In a statement, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the order was designed to protect the health and economic well-being of citizens during the CCP virus crisis. The United States, Canada, and Mexico this week also agreed to place another suspension on unnecessary border travel ending in mid-May. Commercial traffic and a wide range of essential workers are still allowed to travel freely. The Department of Homeland Security, in confirming the development, said an additional 30 days would be added to the restrictions, meaning that it will end around May 20. Mexicos foreign relations secretariat confirmed on Twitter the agreement to extend the restrictions, saying it came after reviewing the development of COVID-19 propagation in Mexico and [the United States]. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the United States and Canada agreed to keep the border closed for another month. Still, he stipulated it would be likely much longer before the restriction is lifted. Last month, the administration effectively ended asylum, relying on a rarely used 1944 law aimed at preventing the spread of communicable disease. The Associated Press contributed to this report. From The Epoch Times Recently reports were doing rounds which said that Salim Khan is seen walking on Bandra Bandstand, to which Salim Khan has now admitted, he said that he goes for a walk there but only because of medical reasons. Read the full article to know more. The Novel Coronavirus is claiming lives at a high rate nowadays, many countries have announced lockdown to beat the pandemic and to keep their citizens safe from it. Every country is taking possible measures to keep the virus at a minimum. India is also taking every possible measure and is under its second lockdown, the government is taking all the precautions in spite of that the situation is becoming worst day by day. The government as requested people to stay indoors and do not go out until and unless its absolutely necessary. Currently, there are reports of Salim Khan, father of Salman Khan doing rounds for some while now which says that he is taking walks along the Bandra Bandstand. The actor and writer Salim Khan opened up about it and said that he needs to take a walk despite the lockdown because of some medical reasons. In an interview Salim said, that he ha been advised by the doctor to continue his walk as he is having back issues, he sais, he has been walking for the last 40 years so his doctor told him that if he suddenly stops now he may face major back issues. He said that he also has a pass issued by the government till 30 April, he is also following all the norms possible. He even said that he is a law-abiding citizen, it is just because of the medical reasons that he needs to walk around. Though he is not the only one who is walking around, there are other people as well but people only pick up on people like him as they are celebrities. Many people come there with their pets for a walk but nobody reports about them. He concluded it by saying that he is taking all the precautionary measures which one needs to. For all the latest Entertainment News, download NewsX App Amid the unprecedented outbreak of deadly coronavirus, Irans judiciary has said on April 21 that it has temporarily released over 1,000 prisoners from foreign countries. The move by the Islamic Republic came as criticism by United Nations human rights experts mounted over the high risk of overcrowded jails turning into hotspots for COVID-19 outbreak. According to international reports, judiciary spokesperson Gholamhossein Esmaili lauded the move as significant in a bid to ensure the safety of inmates in the country amid pandemic. According to reports, over 1,00,000 inmates have now been granted temporary release in order to contain the spread of the virus in its correctional facilities. British-Iranian woman, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was also among those who were released earlier and was arrested for sedition in 2016. According to reports, her leave is now extended until May 20. Meanwhile, as of April 21, Iran has confirmed at least 84,802 cases of coronavirus with at least 5,297 casualties. Read - Jr NTR Completes #BeTheRealMan Challenge, Nominates Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna And Others Read - Zaghari-Ratcliffe's Furlough From Iranian Prison Extended UN called out Iran A panel of experts from the United Nations had called on Iran for releasing more inmates temporarily including prisoners of conscience and dual and foreign nationals. Even though Irans judiciary spokesperson hailed the move by his own country, in response to UN criticism, he responded by saying that experts should report what measures the US and UK have taken to ensure the safety of their detainees. Moreover, even the United States had said earlier that it would hold Iran directly responsible for any American deaths in jail and had called for the release of dozens of dual nationals and foreigners held mainly for spying. Earlier this month, UN had urged all governments to not forget those behind bars and protect the staff members working in confined facilities. According to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, the consequences of neglecting the prison and detention centres could be potentially catastrophic. She acknowledged that governments around the world have been making difficult decisions with huge demands of resources during the pandemic. The UN official even laid out the measures the authorities could take in order to reduce risks of COVID-19 in prisons including reduction of the number of people and examination of ways to release particularly vulnerable detainees. Read - Iran Blames US For Tense Persian Gulf Encounter Read - TN Govt Urges MEA To Help Stranded Indian Fishermen In Iran (With agency inputs) MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI An underage drinking prevention program that culminates in a car giveaway and has spread to most Muskegon County high schools has resulted in a statewide award for the police chief who started it all. Norton Shores Police Chief Jon Gale was recognized as a Hometown Health Hero by the Michigan Public Health Week Partnership for the Ride with Pride program that was started at Mona Shores High School and has since been replicated at nine other school districts in Muskegon County. The program began in 2010 after Gale learned of a similar program while attending a conference. The previous year, he helped found the Muskegon Alcohol Liability Initiative (ALI) after four Muskegon County teens died in a drunk driving crash. ALIs mission was to educate young people about the consequences of underage drinking and to decrease the number of alcohol-related crashes in the county. Gale said while he started the Ride with Pride others, including his staff, have kept it going. My staff is really the ones who are doing a lot of the work, he said. I accepted (the award) for my team. The award was given on April 15 during National Public Health Week. The Michigan Public Health Week Partnership is comprised of 10 state universities and health organizations. Statistics have shown success with ALIs mission to reduce underage drinking. In 2018, the number of teens who reported recently drinking alcohol dropped by 37 percent since 2010, according to the Michigan Profile for Healthy Youth online survey. Ride with Pride is credited with more than underage drinking awareness. Other improvements school officials have seen since its implementation are a reduction of bullying, decreased school suspensions for drinking, and improved reading comprehension. To participate in Ride with Pride, students pledge at the start of the school year to practice safe driving, abstain from drugs and alcohol, behave in a positive fashion and maintain good attendance. At the end of the year, those who stuck with the pledge are entered into a random drawing for a car and other prizes. Local car businesses, including Ramos Auto Body & Towing, donate cars for the Ride with Pride programs; NEXES Realty has donated a moped to the Mona Shores program for several years. Mona Shores operated Ride with Pride for five years before it expanded to other districts, which include Orchard View, Fruitport, Western Michigan Christian, Holton, North Muskegon, Oakridge, Montague and Reeths-Puffer. Also now involved are five other police organizations: Fruitport Township, Muskegon Township, North Muskegon and Montague police departments and the Muskegon County Sheriff. Also on MLive: Mona Shores, Muskegon Catholic Central join #BeTheLight movement for 2020 seniors Electric Forest 2020 canceled due to coronavirus pandemic Muskegon schools $105M bond too 'important to remove from May ballot due to coronavirus A 67-year-old man is facing sexual assault charges after he was accused of luring his victim with a fake job advertisement on Craigslist, according to an arrest affidavit. A 31-year-old woman responded to the job ad and scheduled an interview with Kenneth Wayne Cloud, the owner of Cloud Roofing, on Monday. When she arrived, Cloud offered the woman a 20-minute massage, which she agreed to. The man took her to a room on the second floor of the building and asked the woman to strip down to her bra and underwear. During the massage, Cloud removed her underwear and sexually assaulted her, the affidavit said. FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox The woman told police she allowed Cloud to continue because "she was desperate for employment and had recently been terminated from her previous job and was ineligible for unemployment," according to the affidavit. Cloud stopped after another woman arrived for an interview, the affidavit said. Later, several employees told police that there were no job openings at the business. One employee, who does the hiring for Cloud Roofing, told police they were unaware of the Craigslist job posting, according to the affidavit. Investigators said there may be other victims, the affidavit said. The San Antonio Police Department Special Victims Unit is asking anyone who may be a victim to call 210-207-2313. Cloud was arrested Wednesday for a sexual assault charge. His bail was set at $25,000. Congress leaders slammed TV presenter Arnab Goswami for his remarks aimed at party president Sonia Gandhi during a discussion on Palghar lynching incident in which three persons, including two sadhus were killed by a mob Congress leaders slammed TV anchor Arnab Goswami for his remarks aimed at party president Sonia Gandhi during a discussion on the Palghar lynching incident in which three persons, including two sadhus were killed by a mob. While party's chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala alleged that it was "deeply disgraceful that PM and BJP eulogise this brand of TV anchors", former Karnatka chief minister Siddaramaiah tweeted that "#ArnabGoswami & @republic are examples of how NOT to do journalism". Surjewala in his tweet said, "Let PM remember that Sonia Gandhi has spent over 50 years of life in India, serving the country and being a witness to sacrifice of her mother-in-law and husband. But your favourite abusive anchors won't bat an eyelid before hurling filth. Silence is acquiescence, Mr PM!". During a discussion on the Palghar incident, Goswami had remarked on her Italian origin while saying, "I think Sonia is happy in her heart that saints are being attacked in a state where she has formed the government". Meanwhile, cases have also been filed by youth Congress leaders against the TV presenter in several states including in Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand. Slamming Goswami, the editor-in-chief and owner of Republic TV, for his remarks against Gandhi, senior Congress leader and Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh said she has been a highly successful Congress president. "Ridiculous attack by Arnab Goswami on Sonia Gandhi Ji in derogatory language is totally shameful and unacceptable. She was 22-years-old when she came to India and has been living here for 52 years, of which she has dedicated most of her life to the service of the country," Singh tweeted. Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot said that Goswami should be sacked over his comments, saying that the TV presenter has gone "insane and crossed all limits". He tweeted: Attack on mrs Sonia Gandhi by Arnab Goswami is highly condemnable. He has gone insane and crossed all limits, he should be ashamed of himself . I must ask the Editors guild - isnt this all time low for journalism ? Mr Rajeev Chandrasekhar must sack him immediately. Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) April 22, 2020 However BJP IT head Amit Malviya defended Goswami, saying he spoke the truth. "Shame on Congress for attacking Arnab because he spoke the truth. In 2013, Wiki cable said that Sonia Gandhi wanted Bajrang Dal banned in Odisha and Karnataka, but she retracted when MK Narayanan explained that their response was against forced conversions by Pentecostal groups," he tweeted. Malviya also hit back at Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot over the Congress leader's demand to "sack" Goswami. "Abuse Modi, get Padma Shri and go to Rajya Sabha. And if the truth of Sonia Gandhi is shown, then sack him. How will this do? Freedom of speech can't be a one way street!" the BJP's information technology wing head tweeted. Cases filed against Goswami Youth Congress leader and Chhattisgarh Cabinet minster TS Singh Deo tweeted that he has filed a complaint against Goswami in Raipur for "deliberately making inflammatory statements on his channel to invoke hatred among different communities and using derogatory language against Sonia Gandhi". Youth Congress leader Srivatsa YB tweeted that cases have also been filed against Goswami in Maharashtra, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, etc. Cases have been filed by Youth Congress against Arnab Goswami in Maharashtra, Telangana, MP, Jharkhand, J&K, Uttarakhand etc Cases will be filed everywhere to ensure Arnab will spend more time in courts and jails than in a TV Studio spewing hate.#ArrestAntiIndiaArnab pic.twitter.com/cPgggIRr64 Srivatsa (@srivatsayb) April 22, 2020 Right to information activist Saket Gokhale tweeted that he has filed a complaint in the Inofrmation and Broadcasting Ministry against Arnab Goswami for broadcasting content that seeks to promote communal tension. Filed a complaint with the I&B Ministry against Arnab Goswami for broadcasting content that seeks to promote communal tension. Have also sought an action-taken report within 7 days. If Goswami is rabid, we MUST be tenacious in ensuring he's neutered no matter who his master is. pic.twitter.com/QJMGotVo9u Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) April 22, 2020 With inputs from PTI Hats Off Productions JD Majethia recently launched a noble initiative called Fan Ka Fan to support Indias Prime Minister, Narendra Modis fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The benevolent cause received massive patronage from many TV celebrities such as Divyanka Tripathi, Bharti Singh, Gautam Rode, Rashami Desai, Rithvik Dhanjani, Shubhangi Atre, Shailesh Lodha, Rohitash Gaud, Tejasswi Prakash to name a few. Fan Ka Fan was launched as a website and had a special message being delivered to the fan who contributes towards PM Cares Fund by his or her favourite actor. The television industrys efforts were noticed and lauded by the Prime Minister himself. PM Modi shared a video of JD Majethia, thanking a commoner on Fan Ka Fan and wrote, "This is exceptional effort by our TV stars to strengthen India's fight against Covid-19. Thank You all those who came together for this." Check out the post below: This is an exceptional effort by our TV stars to strengthen Indias fight against COVID-19. Thank you to all those who have come together for this. https://t.co/QgiHPETLG8 Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 21, 2020 For the unversed, the official Twitter account created for Fan Ka Fan initiative shares various videos of Divyanka Tripathi, Rashami Desai, Adaa Khan, Shubhangi Atre, and other heavyweights of the industry to promote and raise awareness for the noble cause. ALSO READ: Ramayan Star Arun Govil's Fake Twitter Account Gets Suspended After Being Tagged By PM Modi ALSO READ: Viral Photo! Ramayan's Dipika Chikhlia Shares Major Throwback Picture With Narendra Modi & LK Advani Traders say, the costs of significant Latin American crude grades plunged early this week after the crash in standard crude stocks, vexing a weak market that has already been weak, and has seen a small number of sales in April. Relatively, crude stocks dived at 25 percent on Tuesday, their lowest level in almost 20 years, one day after frightened traders sent the U.S. West Texas Intermediate oil to less $40 a barrel due to an enormous supply surplus, as well as a 30-percent fall in demand because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, as physical crude grades in the U.S. dropped into adverse terrain for the first time in history, Venezuelan, Mexican and Ecuadorean grades indexed to them, which included Mexico's Maya, traded negative too, for the first time. Certain unpredictability has resulted in traders backing away in recent weeks, successfully closing trading in primary regional grades. Also, Latin America is exporting some five million barrels each day, generally for heavy crude, with the biggest consumers in the U.S. Gulf Coast. Mostly, about 50 percent of the sales are through long-term contracts for supply, while the other 50 percent is through "spot trades on the open market." Heavy Grades Suited for Refining into Diesel The substantial grades are appropriate for refining into diesel, and this saw a higher consumption compared to gasoline early in the COVID-19 crisis since trucking deliveries were nonstop even as the buyers or consumers have temporarily stopped driving. Nevertheless, inventories of diesel have been increasing in figures lately in the U.S. as there has been a constant drop in demand. Specifically, the oil export basket of Mexico, including Maya heavy crude, as well as the other grades which are exportable, reportedly "closed at $2.37 a barrel" on Monday. In connection to this, Maya crude sent to the "U.S. Gulf Coast is indexed to WTI, which is delivered to Houston." Also, a lot of crude traders are currently wondering how the payments would be negotiated should a contract ends up with a negative sale amount. This means that the supplier needs to pay the buyer for the oil to be taken. Comparatively, a trader recently said that a lot of sellers had embraced clauses that state the costs paid cannot be below 10 cents a barrel. Venezuela and Ecuador's Flagship Crudes Venezuela's flagship Merey crude's spot sales, which, following reformation is presently indexed to US Mars crude, Middle Eastern and Brent grades, are being sold at only from $1 to $2 following trans-shipping charges off Malaysia, the company's most active spot to do re-selling, according to traders. Meanwhile, the Napo heavy crude of Ecuador for delivery in June was trading at $6 a barrel on Tuesday, below WTI, while the medium crude, Oriente, traded at roughly $4 a barrel below WTI. This means the final spot prices were from $6 to $9 a barrel. Both grades are reportedly indexed to the U.S. West Tax Intermediate stocks. Check these out! Delhi Police have booked former Jawaharlal Nehru University student and activist Umar Khalid and two Jamia Millia Islamia students under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in connection with inciting violence in the national capital's northeast area in February this year, a lawyer said on Tuesday. Widespread violence between people supporting the Citizenship Amendment Act and those opposing it had spiralled out of control in the area in February, leaving 53 people dead and scores injured. Two Jamia students -- Safoora Zargar, who is the media coordinator of the Jamia Coordination Committee, and Meeran Haider, its member -- were arrested by the police earlier this month in connection with the case. Umar Khalid has not yet been arrested. Speaking to IANS, advocate Akram Khan, who is representing Meeran in the case, said, "At least nine people have been named in the FIR in this case, in which Delhi Police's Special Cell, beside levying charges of murder, attempt to murder and sedition, have also added UAPA. Umar Khalid is part of the FIR." He added, "Earlier, the cases was with the Crime Branch, but later it got shifted to the Special Cell." Netanyahu remains Israeli PM in power-sharing deal with rival Gantz Iran Press TV Tuesday, 21 April 2020 9:03 AM Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his election rival, opposition leader Benny Gantz, have agreed on the formation of an "emergency" coalition administration to end months of unprecedented political deadlock. The power-sharing deal between Netanyahu's Likud Party and former military chief Gantz's Blue and White alliance was clinched on Monday, averting what would have been a fourth consecutive election in the occupied territories in just over a year. According to a joint statement, the coalition is to serve as an "emergency government" for an initial six months, during which laws unrelated to a coronavirus outbreak could not be introduced. The three-year deal would allow Netanyahu, Israel's longest serving premier, to remain in office for the duration of his upcoming trial on corruption charges due to begin on May 24. Netanyahu, in power consecutively for the past 11 years, is under criminal indictment in three corruption cases, including bribery, fraud and breach of trust. Under the coalition pact, Netanyahu will be prime minister for 18 months, after which Gantz will replace him. Gantz's party will take control of a number of senior ministries, including foreign and military affairs, but Netanyahu's party will gain influence over judicial appointments a key demand of the incumbent prime minister as he prepares to go on trial. According to the coalition agreement, released to the media, the new unity administration plans to extend Israeli sovereignty to the settlements built in the occupied West Bank in breach of international law. One of the primary challenges facing the new coalition government is the economic hardships that have worsened with the spread of the coronavirus epidemic, resulting in skyrocketing unemployment. On Sunday, thousands of Israelis poured out into the streets to protest against Netanyahu and his multiple corruption indictments, urging Gantz to refrain from forming a coalition with a corrupt prime minister . Palestine slams 'annexation government' Palestinians have denounced the formation of a new Israeli "annexation" administration, saying the agreement would undermine hopes for long-awaited peace in the region. "The formation of an Israeli annexation government means ending the two-state solution and the dismantling of the rights of the people of Palestine," Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh tweeted. Hanan Ashrawi, a senior Palestine Liberation Organization official said that "very serious, challenging days" are expected to come given US President Donald Trump's close relationship with Netanyahu. ""This is extremely dangerous not just for Palestine, for Israel, for the region, but for the world," Ashrawi said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address With schools being shut due to the lockdown imposed to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus, many states have asked private schools to not force parents to pay the fees With schools being shut due to the lockdown imposed to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus, several states have asked private schools to not force parents to pay the fees. States such as Delhi and Assam have also directed private schools not to increase school fees in light of the economic hardships being faced by families. Assam education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday that the state government has directed all educational institutions not to increase fees during the coronavirus pandemic and to waive fifty percent fees for the month of April from pre-primary to Class 12, reported PTI. Education Dept has directed all pvt schools to waive 50% of their one month school fees for April to give relief to parents. It is also directed that during pandemic there will be no increase in fee str and no curtailment of salary of teaching & non teaching staff of pvt schools pic.twitter.com/3AWDgyFyxW Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) April 22, 2020 There shall be also no increase in the school fees without the prior approval of the government during the pandemic, he said, adding that the salaries of teachers and non-teaching staff should also not be curtailed. The educational institutions who have already collected the fees meant for the month of April will adjust the concession in the next month, the minister said at a press conference. "The income of all citizens have been severely affected and this is a step to help people to tide over the crisis," PTI quoted Sarma as saying. In a similar order, the Telangana government on Tuesday ordered private schools to not hike fee for the academic year 2020-21 and warned them of cancellation of their recognition and No Objection Certificate for affiliation, apart from legal action, in case of non-compliance, reported PTI. According to the orders issued by Telangana Special Chief Secretary Chitra Ramachandran, all private unaided recognised schools in the state, which are affiliated to State Board, CBSE, ICSE, and other international boards have been asked to charge only the monthly tuition fees until further orders. Delhi too had previously announced similar measures. Last week, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia , citing orders issued by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, had directed private schools not to increase school fees without approval of the government or demand fees for more than a month at a time. @ArvindKejriwal - - , - , tution . - . Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) April 17, 2020 In case a student fails to pay fees on time, he or she cannot be barred from taking online classes, he had said. The Delhi government also told private schools to pay salaries of teaching, non-teaching, contract and outsourced staff on time. The Punjab government had on 8 April issued show cause notices to 23 schools in the state for demanding fees during the lockdown period. State education minister Vijay Inder Singla urged schools to not send any message to students regarding the deposition of fee during the lockdown. He asked students and their guardians to reach out to him directly on his email to submit complaints against schools which are demanding fees. Follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak According to news agency PTI, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana had also directed schools not to force parents to deposit school fees during the lockdown while the Odisha governemnt asked schools to be sympathetic and consider reducing or deferring the payment of school fees in order to provide some parents whose incomes might have been affected, reported ANI. The Maharashtra government had also directed schools to be lenient with regards to fee collection, said a NDTV report. State education minister Varsha Gaikwad said that the government had issued an order on 30 March that schools and other educational institutions should not demand fees during lockdown. The directive said that they can start fee collection only after the lockdown is lifted. The minister added that in case of any complaints, parents can reach out to their District Education Officer (Primary/Secondary). The nationwide lockdown has been extended till 3 May to combat the spread of COVID-19 which has claimed 652 lives so far and infected over 20,000 in the country. With inputs from agencies ALBANY Cohoes City Court Judge Thomas Marcelle says he might be inclined to suspect that Gov. Andrew Cuomos executive order that allowed preliminary hearings for criminal defendants to be suspended during the coronavirus pandemic to be unconstitutional. In a ruling Monday, Marcelle said defense arguments to compel preliminary hearings for nine incarcerated defendants in Albany County had true force yet he ruled against them. Marcelle wrote that his inclinations and suspicion will not and cannot override a March 22 order from the court systems chief administrative judge, Lawrence Marks, which limited criminal courts to essential functions that did not include preliminary hearings. Courts operate through a system, Marcelle stated in the decision. Judge Marks has been empowered and entrusted to administer the court system and allocate its limited resources. No individual judge may audaciously cloak himself with the power to reorder court resources. As such, Marcelle stated, he must hold that a preliminary hearing is a non-essential judicial activity under Marks order and that no hearing can be held while it is in effect. The cases in question involved nine defendants charged with a variety of crimes. The list included Lee Williams, who was charged last week with second-degree murder in the slaying of 62-year-old Valena Shepherd inside her apartment at 1 Lincoln Square in Albany. Others included Taequan Stanley (first-degree burglary); George Fuller (criminal contempt); Bahkee Green (criminal contempt), Kenneth Foster (criminal possession of stolen property), Ray-Son Butler (criminal mischief and contempt), Zaquan Woody (second-degree weapon possession); Edward Proper (criminal contempt) and Hassan Rashee Guishard (parole hold). In his ruling, Marcelle noted that typically, when a defendant is charged with a felony and remanded, a judge must set a preliminary hearing within 120 hours or 140 hours from the time of arrest so defendants can test the prosecutions evidence. On March 7, the governor issued an executive order in light of the pandemic. The order temporarily suspended a number of statutory norms in the court system. It included any specific time limit for the commencement ... of any legal action, notice, motion, or other process or proceeding as prescribed by the procedural laws of the state, including but not limited to the criminal procedure law." Cuomo Senior Advisor Rich Azzopardi said, the order is wholly consistent with the powers passed by the legislature. We havent seen the judges ruling and from what I was told, his musing was the opposite of his actual ruling and is seemingly irrelevant. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Defendants -- represented by Albany County Assistant Public Defender Beau Melita, Assistant Alternate Public Defender Francisco Calderon and lawyers William Little, Adam Eggleston and Paul Edwards -- among other arguments, claimed the order violated their constitutional right to due process under the 14th Amendment and the states protected liberty interest." Assistant District Attorney Bryanne Perlanski argued for prosecutors. Marcelle stated: While the court might be inclined to suspect that the executive order is unconstitutional as applied to (criminal procedure law) it will not and cannot override the order from Judge Marks. The judge added that one last thing needed to be said. Suspension of civil liberties always seems well advised in a crisis, he stated. People focus on fighting the battle, in this case a virus, and collateral damage on liberty is an afterthought that can be dealt with later and condemned in retrospect by history. So may be the case here. New York is in the midst of a terrible pandemic. Financial, material and intellectual resources are being diverted to protecting the health of our people and rightly so. The governor and the chief administrative Judge are making tough decisions without perfect clarity on how to best combat this disease. Indeed, dealing with COVID-19 is an exercise in adaptation. Still courts need to be mindful that at some point the delay for prisoners becomes intolerable. The court is sure from the defendants' perspective it already has. Two people have been arrested as 205,000 worth of suspected drugs were seized in Limerick. The seizure occurred at around 10pm yesterday. A statement said that gardai from the Divisional Drugs Unit in Limerick were assisting with Covid-19 patrols when they stopped a car in the Kilteely area of Co Limerick. Gardai searched the car and subsequently discovered 70,000 of suspected cocaine. The occupant of the car, a man in his 30s, was arrested at the scene and brought to Henry Street where he is currently detained under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, 1996. A search warrant was later executed at a premises in Knockainey, Co Limerick. Gardai seized a further 100,000 of suspected cannabis herb and 35,000 of suspected cocaine. A woman in her 20s was arrested at that location, gardai said. She was taken to Henry Street Garda Station where she is also detained under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking Act) Act, 1996. Gardai said all of the suspected drugs will now be sent for analysis. Update: In further searches, gardai have seized a further 25,000 of suspected cocaine during the search at the premises in Knockainey, Co. Limerick. "The total suspected drugs seized is now 230,000," a garda spokesperson said. The two people arrested earlier remain in custody. - This story was first published at 9.16am Last month a ceasefire was proposed and had some impact on efforts to avoid the spread of covid19 throughout Libya. Up to that point (March 2020), no one in Libya has been tested and found to have covid19. All Libyans agree that it is important to keep it that way. Currently, there are 59 cases have been identified in Libya and one person has died. There may be others but no one knows. Covid19 is most dangerous in crowded urban areas, like GNA (Government of National Accord) controlled Tripoli and Misrata. In LNA (Libyan National Army) controlled Tobruk and Benghazi there is no quarantine, just a night-time curfew imposed by the eastern HoR (House of Representatives) government the LNA works for. Turkish involvement in the Libyan civil war keeps growing. This conflict has been going on as long as the Syrian war but has been a lot less destructive. Turkey has sent about 5,000 troops to Libya, but 90 percent of them are Syrian Sunni mercenaries which Turkey has long used in Syria. These mercenaries are paid more to serve in Libya, so there is no shortage of volunteers. There have been some problems managing these mercenaries because a number of them went on strike when their pay was reduced. Turkey is having financial problems and the payroll for the Arab mercenaries is about $5 million a month plus the costs of medical care and death benefits. There are about 5,000 of these Arab mercenaries in Libya and at least 1,500 more undergoing training back in Turkey. So far this year about 15 percent of these mercenaries have been killed or wounded. Rumors that the Turks were going to cut the death benefits to families of mercs killed in Libya may have triggered the latest unrest. Money Matters The LNA response to the arrival of Turkish mercenaries in January was to shut down oil shipments. The LNA said it will keep the oil operations shut down until the Turks withdraw. The Turks refuse to go and three months of no oil exports have cost Libya about $4 billion in oil revenue. Production is now about 88,000 BPD (barrels per day), mainly for internal use. Another new development in January was the global spread of covid19 and its impact on the world economy. The price Libya sells its oil for has fallen by half and declined to under $20 a barrel because of a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia. That price war has apparently been resolved but the price of oil will not regain its former ($40-50 dollars a barrel) levels quickly because the covid19 pandemic has created a global recession and sharp decline in oil demand. The LNA believes the GNA was paying for those Turkish mercenaries out of its share of the oil money. This oil revenue is supposed to be spent on taking care of the general population. In Libya, that means a lot of the government officials involved will steal as much of the cash as they can get away with. Libya has long been known as one of the most corrupt nations on Earth and even Libyans recognize that this is an obstacle to making Libya less dangerous and more livable. The UN also complains that the LNA is getting aviation fuel and other military supplies from the UAE, which is a violation of UN sanctions. The LNA believes the UN is biased in favor of the GNA. There is some truth to that as the GNA was a UN idea that never caught on with most Libyans while the LNA and the HoR government did gain popular support. The LNA has been receiving material and diplomatic support from the UAE and Egypt for five years. Now the GNA is trying to gain complete control over the Central Bank of Libya. Because the LNA controls most oil production and exporting facilities, the rival eastern (HoR) Central Bank has become more powerful than the one in Tripoli. One reason for most Libyans supporting the eastern Central Bank was that many of the directors of the Tripoli based Central Bank belonged to Islamic Brotherhood militias and backed the establishment of an Islamic government in Libya. Few Libyans favor this. Before the latest shutdown of oil exports, oil production was 1.25 million BPD. Since 2018 the LNA has controlled most of the oil production and export facilities. The oil income generated goes to the national oil company and the Central Bank, which is allowed by the GNA and HoR to purchase essential imports and handle financial matters associated with the oil industry and distribution of imports. The two rival governments generally honor this agreement because either government could disrupt the system and cause widespread economic hardship throughout the country. But now the HoR believes the GNA, on the advice of Turkey, is violating this arrangement and GNA seems guilty as changed because of the latest moves against the Central Bank. April 21, 2020: The LNA accuses Turkey of bringing in four of their F-16 fighters and basing them in Misrata (the city east of Tripoli. The LNA claim they shot down one of the F-16s. April 20, 2020: In Tarhuna (60 kilometers southeast of the besieged capital Tripoli) LNA forces repulsed a GNA attack organized by the Turks. Tarhuna is astride a key road and contains LNA support facilities. April 17, 2020: The GNA ordered people in Tripoli and Misrata to quarantine themselves to halt the spread of covid19. April 16, 2020: In Tarhuna (60 kilometers southeast of Tripoli) LNA forces shot down another Turkish Bayraktar TB2 UAV. This is the eighth Turkish UAV the LNA shot down this month. So far the LNA has claimed to have taken down 28 Turkish UAVs. Photographic evidence is not available for some of the destroyed UAVs and the LNA admits that some of the Bayraktar TB2s were destroyed over enemy (GNA) controlled areas. The LNA is actively supported by several Arab states, mainly Egypt and the UAE (United Arab Emirates). The UAE has been operating its Chinese armed UAVs in Libya and the LNA has an active air force that can shoot down large UAVs like the Bayraktar TB2. Despite these combat losses, the Turkish UAVs have performed as expected and are considered equal to the Chinese UAVs. All these UAVs are based on the American Predator. April 14, 2020: LNA artillery opened fire on the Mitiga airbase east of Tripoli and other military targets in Tripoli. April 13, 2020: In Sabratha (a coastal city 66 kilometers west of Tripoli) GNA forces pushed the LNA garrison and pro-LNA militias out of the city the LNA had controlled since 2017. GNA forces also took the nearby (ten kilometers away) coastal town of Sorman. Sabratha had long been notorious as the main port from which criminal gangs, under the protection of Tripoli based militias, moved illegal migrants to Europe. Local militias sometimes allowed this as long as they got a slice of that income. The militias protected the gangsters moving the illegal migrants to Europe via Libya. Most of the boats loaded with illegal migrants headed for Europe leave from Sabratha and other coastal towns in the area. It costs these illegals thousands of dollars each for the smugglers to get them to the Libyan coast and then on a boat that will get them to Europe or close enough for the EU naval patrol to rescue them and take them the rest of the way. The smuggling gangs took in over a billion dollars from this in 2015 and that kind of income was too attractive to give up without a fight. But since 2017 the LNA, some Sabratha militias and Italy worked to shut down the smugglers. The LNA and its leader general Hiftar had a plan for shutting down all the smuggling gangs and wanted more support from the EU to do the same with the European gangs which control more of this smuggling that the EU would like to admit. Earlier in 2017, Italy took the lead implementing an EU program to organize (and subsidize) a revived Libyan coast guard and paying southern tribes to go after people smugglers. That was the easy part and it soon greatly reduced the flow of illegals to the EU, most of them coming in via Italy. This latest move by the GNA makes it possible for the larger Tripoli militias to resume their people smuggling. After 2017 many of the gangsters LNA drove out of Sabratha rejoined the Tripoli militias they came from. April 12, 2020: A clan militia some 70 kilometers south of Tripoli seized a water pipeline facility and cut off the water supply for Tripoli. The militia is demanding the GNA free one of their members from jail. March 30, 2020: The EU (European Union) agreed to organize and operate a naval blockade (Operation EU Active Surveillance) a hundred kilometers off the Libyan coast and maintain it for one year. The blockade forces have orders to inspect any ships headed for a Libyan port to check for weapons and other military supplies. Most of the Turkish military supplies going to Libya arrive by ship. Unless the Turks were able to intimidate the EU warships to back off, the blockade would sharply cut Turkish support of the GNA forces. Supplies could still be flown in but that would encourage LNA forces to attack GNA controlled airports even more. Commercial satellite photos show ships leaving Turkish ports carrying armored vehicles, artillery, trucks and other military equipment to an undisclosed destination. These ships turn off the location transponders and are often later seen unloading at Tripoli or Misrata. March 26, 2020: The GNA launched an offensive against LNA forces holding the coastal area between Tripoli and the Tunisian border. The LNA accused Turkey of violating the January 12 truce to bring in more military supplies and Arab mercenaries for this offensive. March 25, 2020: GNA claims their forces captured the Al Watyah airbase, 170 kilometers southwest of Tripoli. Apparently the attack was repulsed because the LNA forces still are there. The GNA said they would keep trying to take Al Watyah because it is a key LNA airbase. Meanwhile, the LNA is building another airbase closer to Tripoli. WASHINGTON State and local governments are warning of a wave of layoffs and pay cuts after getting left out of the federal coronavirus relief package expected to pass Congress this week. In many places, those painful reductions are already taking shape: Los Angeles plans to force city workers to spend 26 days on unpaid leave as revenues are forecast to drop as much as $600 million next fiscal year. Detroit has proposed laying off 200 workers and furloughing thousands more. In Ohio's Hamilton County, Commissioner Denise Driehaus is taking a 10% pay cut alongside county workers. "We are really struggling," Driehaus said. The $2.2 trillion emergency legislation known as the CARES Act, which President Donald Trump signed late last month, included $150 billion in direct help for state and local governments grappling with the impact of the deadly outbreak. Democrats pushed to include another $150 billion in the next tranche of aid, but Republicans sought to keep the bill narrowly focused on support for small business. By Tuesday night, Democrats yielded on their demand. The Senate passed the legislation by unanimous consent without additional help for state and local governments. The House is slated to vote Thursday, and Trump is expected to sign it. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed to revisit the issue in the coming round of negotiations over what could be an even bigger package of relief. "The people who are on the front lines, they should get extra money, and at the top of the list is a robust state and local plan," Schumer said. "We're going to fight for that and many more things" in the next aid bill. It "will soon be upon us because the nation will demand it." But local jurisdictions may not be able to wait that long. They're facing higher expenditures on health care and other services to combat the disease at the same time that revenues are plunging as Americans stay home and businesses remain shuttered. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, states could be $500 billion in the hole over the next two years. "The approaching state budget cuts will cause the U.S. economy to contract further making the economic downturn deeper and more protracted, causing many more people to lose their jobs, and magnifying the serious hardship we already see," said Robert Greenstein, the think tank's president. Roughly 20 million people work in the public sector at the state and local level, which is more than the number employed in the hard-hit retail industry. The last time the public sector faced such steep budget cuts was during the Great Recession a decade ago. State and local governments shed 627,000 jobs in the three years following the downturn, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Experts are worried this time could be even worse, but plugging the hole could require a staggering infusion of cash, which the union representing public sector workers readily acknowledges. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees is pushing for at least $700 billion in the next relief package. Washington, April 22 : US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that he had instructed the Navy to destroy any Iranian gunboats if they harass US ships in the Persian Gulf. "I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea," Trump tweeted in the morning, without providing other details, Xinhua news agency reported. On Sunday, the Revolutionary Guard acknowledged it had a tense encounter last week with US warships in the Persian Gulf, but alleged without offering evidence that American forces sparked the incident. The Guard and the US Navy routinely have tense encounters in the Persian Gulf and its narrow mouth, the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 per cent of all oil passes. Kolkata, April 22 : A doctor of Eastern Railway's B.R. Singh Hospital here has tested positive for the coronavirus infection, triggering panic and prompting the authorities to undertake emergency measures for preventing any spread of the virus. The doctor, attached to the emergency unit, was tested after she felt unwell. The test results received on Tuesday night detected the presence of the virus, an Eastern Railway spokesman told IANS. "Our medical directors and other officials are there assessing the situation. They will do everything as per the relevant guideline," he said. Sources said the apprehensions among the hospital staffers have increased manifold as the doctor had been attending to patients in the emergency unit after putting on Personal Protection Equipment. The doctor was being admitted in a private hospital close to the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass in the city's southern outskirts. The authorities were assessing who all came in contact with the victim when she last attended office. "Arrangements are being made to sanitise the emergency ward. The departmental in-charges are preparing to take all precautionary measures as per guideline," the spokesman said. Asked about complaint that doctors, nurses and other health workers in all wards other than the emergency unit and the ITU were in "absolutely vulnerable condition" in the absence of personal protection equipment, the spokesman said the hospital had sufficient number of protective gear. He also denied that the PPEs were being kept in reserve and not being handed out to frontline medical personnel in most of the departments. "We don't have any such information. Everybody is working with all alertness and precautions," he said. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text A US university has decided to halt the use of tens of thousands of Covid-19 testing kits from China it spent $125,000 to acquire, because some were found to be contaminated. The University of Washington School of Medicine has suspended, at least temporarily, the use of coronavirus testing kits from Lingen Precision Medical Products in Shanghai, after a 'small percentage' indicated bacterial growth. UW Medicine went to great lengths to source the many thousands of additional testing kits in the face of a nationwide shortage, using an importer in Seattle with a China contact. The university also allocated $125,000 for the purchase. However, chair of the University of Washington Department of Laboratory Medicine, Geoff Baird learned of the problem on April 16 when a colleague notified him liquid in some of the vials had changed colour, indicating bacteria. 'I've just recommended everyone who has these things pause and not use them at all,' said Baird, adding: 'I can't say I'm not disappointed.' A masked worker in China busily unloading Covid-19 testing kits from a truck onto a loading dock One of many thousands of boxes containing similar testing kits to the ones UW Medicine purchased In the face of a nationwide shortage of testing kits, compounded by a global demand, the University of Washington School of Medicine arranged for tens of thousands of Covid-19 testing kits to be airlifted from China. Seattle-based businesswoman, Anita Nadelson helped to secure the kits through Chinese business contacts. The sampling swabs and specimen-preserving liquids were flown stateside from the Shanghai factory on an Amazon-chartered plane at great expense. It was later discovered the liquid in a 'small percentage' of them had turned to an orange or yellow color, rather than 'hot pink', and some also appeared cloudy. Baird said he went 'tearing through boxes' when he found out. Lab tests showed a bacteria called Stenotrophomonas maltophilia growing in 'no more than a few per cent' of the specimen-preserving liquid. The National Institutes of Health said the bacteria can become a problem to people who have a weakened immune system, or 'in hospital settings', according to a South China Morning Post report. Baird had given out 20,000 test kits to Public HealthSeattle & King County and a further 15,000 to the state's public health laboratory, according to the report. 'I don't know how many they've distributed yet,' he added. A Chinese worker wearing a mask hefting several heavy boxes bearing the testing kits A factory in China where such testing kits are sorted and distributed The state Department of Health said Sunday it recalled some 12,000 kits sent to 'local health jurisdictions, tribal nations and other partners'. It added it is working quickly to discard and replace them, but said it 'did not have adequate supplies to replace all the swabs'. Another shipment is expected this week. Public HealthSeattle & King County has contacted its partners, urging them to suspend use. Baird claims after further examination he does not think the bacteria will affect specimens already analysed and that no one should need retesting - adding scientists had added samples of coronavirus to the contaminated specimen-preserving liquid and then compared it against an uncontaminated sample. 'There's absolutely no difference,' he claimed. He said the bacteria is a 'ubiquitous', common contaminant, and that because it was found in the specimen-preserving liquid, which has no contact with patients, 'we don't expect there's any real mechanism of harm to patients'. Seattle businesswoman Nadelson said the Chinese supplier will refund the university, adding: 'They're working diligently to identify and cure the issue,' 'This is a bump in the road,' Baird said. 'We're going to get past it. We have no choice.' Tom Woods, a candidate for the Montana Public Service Commission, recently wrote another opinion piece vilifying NorthWestern Energy. His writing is inaccurate when it comes to just about everything NorthWestern has ever done, and his campaign rhetoric is not factual. This time, whether intentionally misleading or a complete lack of understanding, candidate Woods implies the short-term bank loans NorthWestern Energy announced April 6 are handouts. The COVID-19 crisis is a rapidly evolving situation and we are temporarily increasing the companys liquidity from $100 million to $200 million. This precaution ensures that NorthWestern Energy has cash available to draw on with short notice during this extended disruption of our economy. The loans are from banks our company has relationships with built on our solid financial business practices. The interest rate on these bank loans fluctuates monthly, with a current interest rate of 2.52%. NorthWestern Energys increased liquidity is the responsible action to take at this time due to the current uncertainty in the economy. Energy companies across this nation plan for disasters. Our services are critical and we are delivering reliable, safe service during this pandemic. We respectfully ask Woods, again, to check the facts, communicate accurate information and abandon his current practice of using false campaign rhetoric. We invite him to get to know our core company values, best demonstrated by our commitment to our customers. Many Montanans know NorthWestern employees personally because we are your neighbors. We live and work in the communities we serve. We focus on keeping our customer rates as low as possible: our electric rates are currently 16.4% below the national average and our natural gas rates are 28.1% below the national average. We give our personal time and volunteer to strengthen our communities. We contribute to charities and nonprofits. With our investment in Montanas hydro systems, over 61% of the energy we generate in Montana is carbon-free. Weeks ago, we announced that we were not going to disconnect service for non-payment due to COVID-19 and the horrible economic dislocation that was about to take place across the state; we were among the first energy companies in the nation to make this decision. We are providing $300,000 in aid now for small businesses devastated by this crisis and to nonprofits to assist the most vulnerable in our communities being impacted today. More than half of NorthWestern Energys $300,000 provided grants in the form of energy bill credits for small business customers to help free up their resources, since many are severely impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. In Montana, $80,000 was also donated to local COVID-19 relief efforts across our service territory. In the Missoula division, $15,000 was donated to United Way of Missoula County and $4,000 to United Way of Flathead County. In addition, NorthWestern Energy will match donations our employees make to Montana Energy Share. In South Dakota and Nebraska NorthWestern Energy donated $34,000 to local COVID-19 relief efforts and employee donations to the emergency energy assistance program in those states are matched. We are prepared during this pandemic to continue to deliver safe and reliable energy to our customers around the clock, essential to powering our homes and hospitals. We are prepared to continue that service as our communities, our states and our nation work together to restore health to our economy. These are part of NorthWestern Energys core values. We invite Woods to learn the facts about NorthWestern Energy, Montana law governing regulated energy companies in this state, and the responsibility and authority of the office he is running for, the Montana Public Service Commission. This opinion is signed by NorthWestern Energy General Counsel and Vice President of Regulatory and Federal Government Affairs Heather Grahame, of Helena, and NorthWestern Energy Chief Financial Officer Brian Bird, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Dr Anthony Nsiah-Asare, Presidential Advisor on Health has said a model generated for the of coronavirus infections in Ghana projects that 10% of the population is likely to test positive. Making the revelation on Joy News current affairs programme PM Express on Tuesday evening, the former director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) said out of the 10% projected infections, majority of the cases are likely to be asymptomatic. We expect that about 10% of the population may be infected and out of the 10% of the population 80% may not show signs or symptoms at all and 5% of them will be very ill, that is the projection, he said. With these projections, if Ghanas population is estimated at 30 million, it implies some three million Ghanaians may test positive for the Covid-19 when infections peak. Also, 5% of the projected three million infections falling seriously sick suggests that at least 150, 000 of the population will fall within this category. Out the 150,000 people whose infection will be critical, 10% of will be fatal; which means 15,000 deaths would have been recorded before Ghana gets out of the woods. Dr Nsiah-Asare, however, said this modelling may not apply strictly to Ghana because of the observed dynamics of the existing cases across the country. If you look at the cases that we are seeing, the cases that are getting critical are very, very smallit means, we have a situation where this hypothesis may be the case in Ghana, he clarified. The Presidential Adviser on Health, however, could not say when infections will peak in Ghana. Ghanas coronavirus caseload as of Sunday, April 19, 2020, stood at 1,042, a significant increase in previous figures that has compelled many to criticise a decision to lift a lockdown directive. President Nana Akufo-Addo announced the lifting of the three-week lockdown imposed on some four cities. These cities Accra, Tema, Kasoa and Kumasi were placed under lockdown at a time when the country had fewer than 30 cases of infection. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has repeatedly said his governments reaction to the coronavirus situation in the country is backed by science and data. Meanwhile, the current recorded cases in Ghana makes it the sixth country in Africa to record the highest number of coronavirus cases. The others are Cameroon with 1,017 cases, Algeria with 2,629 cases, Morocco with 2,855 cases, Egypt with 3,144 cases and South Africa with 3,158 cases. ---myjoyonline A naval formation consisting of aircraft carrier Liaoning has conducted take-off and landing drills in the South China Sea on Jan. 1, 2017. The formation, which is on a "cross-sea area" training exercise, involved J-15 fighter jets, as well as several ship-borne helicopters. (Photo source: Navy.81.cn) The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy is conducting intensive exercises with its new combat forces including two aircraft carriers and a 10,000 ton-class destroyer, with the Navy preparing to celebrate the 71st anniversary of its founding on Thursday. As the Chinese Navy develops, the world should not forget that it is a force for peace no matter how strong it becomes, experts said on Wednesday. The Liaoning aircraft carrier task group has cross-regionally mobilized in the South China Sea and is holding comprehensive back-to-back attack-defense mock battles. The Type 055 10,000 ton-class destroyer Nanchang is conducting real-combat oriented training including main gun firing in waters outside Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province, and the first domestically built aircraft carrier Shandong is organizing port exercises in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning Province, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Wednesday. These warships are the Navy's new combat forces, and they, among others, are actively training for combat in China's territorial waters as the anniversary approaches, Xinhua said. In recent years, the Chinese Navy has been in a transforming development phase, focusing on building new combat forces, honing skills in fields like high-sea strike, underwater attack and defense, warship-aircraft integration and amphibious combat. The Navy has recently commissioned new weapons like the Type 055, a new strategic nuclear-powered submarine, a domestically built aircraft carrier, comprehensive supplement ships and mass-produced aircraft carrier-based fighter jets, and new anti-submarine patrol aircraft, marking the modernization of the Chinese Navy. With the new combat forces, the Navy's combat capability also saw new breakthroughs. Led by guided missile destroyer Hohhot earlier this year, a high-sea training flotilla under the PLA Southern Theater Command Navy held a 41-day exercise covering more than 14,000 nautical miles, competing more than 30 training courses, the report said, noting that the newly formed Marine Corps not only trained across China, but also followed ships and trained across the world, significantly boosting its combat capabilities. The talent development program by the Chinese Navy has allowed young captains to participate in high sea combat patrols, escort missions or joint exercises, and 90 percent of them on main warships have experienced major missions, Xinhua said. Zhang Junshe, a senior research fellow at the PLA Naval Military Studies Research Institute, told the Global Times on Wednesday that China will always walk the path of peaceful development, and no matter how it develops, it will apply its defensive national defense policy. The development of the Chinese Navy has been providing the international community with more and more public security goods in the past decade, like escort missions in the Gulf of Aden, disaster relief and humanitarian aid missions, Zhang said. The increasing capability of the Chinese Navy is a good thing, not a threat, for the world, Zhang said. (TNS) As the coronavirus began stampeding across Maryland in recent weeks, scientists tucked away in a University of Maryland research lab in Baltimore got an idea about how to put their high-tech robots to use.They could retool the machinery and significantly increase Marylands capacity to test people for COVID-19 testing that will be critical to any plan to eventually reopen the state.The robots can significantly expedite the complex process of analyzing samples taken from Marylanders who get a prescription to be swabbed. The machines can search for the virus genetic material in many samples at once.We knew we could do a lot of tests very quickly, said Jacques Ravel, associate director of the Institute for Genome Sciences at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.The state which is currently testing about 3,000 people a day jumped on the offer. The university lab will begin adding tests in coming weeks that eventually could add roughly 20,000 to the daily total.But for all the scientific fire power, theres a hitch. In Maryland and elsewhere, there arent enough basic cotton swabs to take samples from peoples noses and throats. The lack of these supplies may already be limiting the number of tests performed at other labs in Maryland, including one at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and across the country.There are other problems mucking up the works, including lack of other supplies such as the agents used to transport and process samples. More lab capacity is needed, too, and more money to pay for it all.But the dearth of swabs is causing states to scramble, and last week led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to seek an accord with private firms and foundations to produce a polyester-based Q-tip-type swab in bulk.This week, Gov. Larry Hogan is expected to begin to outline the steps in his plan to eventually end some of the restrictions hes imposed over the past five and a half weeks to limit the spread of the deadly virus. It is sure to involve stepped-up testing.Maryland has tested more than 65,000 people so far, with more than 12,300 confirmed cases and 463 deaths.Compared to other states, its not a bad record. Only about 15 states have done more testing than Maryland, including much larger and harder hit states such as New York, California and Florida.Among states of similar population, Maryland has been outpaced by New Jersey and Massachusetts, both hot spots of the pandemic, and Tennessee, which despite its greater testing has identified fewer cases than Maryland.Still, the bottlenecks in testing are a factor in preventing the nation from reopening, officials say. If testing is widespread and people who test positive are isolated, as well as anyone who has been exposed, then others can leave home and return to school and work.Hogan has said the state needs to test more than 10,000 people a day for the coronavirus before he can consider lifting restrictions of businesses or gatherings.Thats more than three times the current rate.In livestreamed remarks Friday to the pro-business Economic Club of Washington D.C., the Republican governor said testing needs to show two weeks of decline in the number of serious cases before restrictions could begin to be lifted. Cases in Maryland were still increasing last week.We slowed the growth, Hogan said. We blunted the curve but we are unfortunately going up. We believe were getting close to the peak in the next week or so.Hogan said officials would be specifically watching the number of deaths and hospitalizations to know whether the state is getting the virus under control. They want to see 14 days of lower deaths and hospitalizations, not necessarily overall cases, which will rise as testing increases.Once those numbers decrease, lifting of restrictions would need to be done gradually.None of the governors believe you can just flip a switch, Hogan said. I think well gradually start easing things off when we believe its safe to do so.State Sen. James Rosapepe, a Democrat who represents Anne Arundel and Prince Georges counties, said the Hogan administration is right to try to ramp up testing and tracing capabilities quickly.Were likely to have vaccines in 2021, Rosapepe said. Thats a long way away. We dont want to wait. The faster we can scale up testing, tracing and quarantining, the faster we can get Marylanders back to work. What nobody knows is: How fast can we do it?Rosapepe has been researching the cost of such a testing and tracing operation and believes the state can put in place a robust tracing program tracking down the people who have been in contact with an infected person relatively cheaply. He worries, however, whether the costs of widespread testing are affordable without federal funds.Im very confident we can get to the levels of testing we need, Rosapepe said. But we really need a massive federal investment to scale-up testing if were going to get Maryland and the country back to work.To lift restrictions, and keep a handle on new cases after people begin to return to their normal lives, researchers at Johns Hopkins University say there need to be 750,000 tests nationally a day. The nation is now performing about 125,000 to 150,000 a day.That means gathering samples when people seek care in hospitals or even doctors offices, the researchers said in a report released Friday by the Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Testing will also have to expand to people who dont have symptoms.Most testing now is being done only on patients with respiratory symptoms like coughing or trouble breathing and fever, as well as medical staffs and first responders.Hospitals are collecting most samples, and the diagnostic testing in Maryland is being done by the state health lab, private labs including Quest Diagnostic and LabCorp, plus the University of Maryland Medical Center and other hospitals.Hopkins has been a testing leader with 350 to 650 tests a day. Officials say they could test up to 1,000 a day but are not getting that many samples.We are testing what we receive, said Dr. Karen Carroll, director of the division of medical microbiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. We suspect that current volumes will likely increase, especially from our hospitals near the D.C. area.Hopkins is receiving samples from outpatient tents run by hospitals in its system, as well as from other hospitals in the greater Baltimore area. The daily count varies because the tents arent open on weekends.But the lab is also facing shortages in supplies, including testing agents and swabs.Swabs are now an issue nationally, she said. Manufacturers have promised more inventory. The need for high volume testing will continue.At the University of Maryland, robotic equipment and other testing supplies will be coming in for the next four weeks and staff is being added, partially funded with $2.5 million from the state.The lab in February bought the COVID-19 test developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and began the process of seeking federal approval to perform such tests.It began recalibrating equipment, training staff and developing a process to take in and return the results, which still must be ordered by a doctor. Ravel expects that will change as testing becomes more widespread.The lab plans to use more than one kind of test so if there are shortages with one it can substitute another. Its been working with the School of Medicines Department of Pathology and is just beginning to process some samples.These tests will be on top of the samples already processed by the affiliated University of Maryland Medical System and its 13 hospitals.The big shortage is still the sampling device, the swab, Ravel said. There just are not that many on the market. Its limiting testing." Whats so special about a 300,000-year-old stick stuck in the muck? Its a stick, sure, said Jordi Serangeli, an archaeologist from the University of Tubingen in Germany. But to dismiss it as such, he added, would be like calling Neil Armstrongs first step on the moon only dirt with a print. Thats because the short, pointed piece of wood his team found in Schoningen, Germany, in 2016 may be the newest addition to the hunting arsenal used by extinct human ancestors during the Middle Pleistocene. It was probably a throwing stick that was hurled like a non-returning boomerang, spinning through the air before striking birds, rabbits or other prey. Along with thrusting spears and javelins, it is the third class of wooden weapon discovered at the waterlogged site, occupied by either Neanderthals or their, and supposedly our, heavy-browed ancestors, Homo heidelbergensis. When, in 1995, the Schoningen spears were discovered they pierced the debate over whether our early human relatives in Europe were simple scavengers incapable of crafting hunting tools. The throwing stick discovery adds to evidence that early hominins in our lineage were intelligent enough to prepare weapons and communicate together to topple prey. The paper was published Monday in Nature Ecology & Evolution. The Army is setting up two COVID-19 hospitals, one each in Srinagar and Jammu, as it assured full cooperation to the civil administration in combating the pandemic, an official spokesman said. While efforts are on to set up a 250-bed hospital at Rangreth in Srinagar, another 100-bed COVID-19 care centre will come up at the Army Public School Domana within the next two to three days, he said. The spokesman said Financial Commissioner (Health and Medical Education) Atal Dulloo chaired a meeting along with senior officer of northern command Major Gen Hari Mohan Iyer here to review the arrangements for setting up the hospitals. He said Director Health Services, Kashmir was directed to provide every support regarding the men and machinery and other equipment to make the hospital at Rangreth functional in the shortest possible time. The Director Health Services, Jammu and the Army were directed to provide all necessary facilities to make the hospital at Domana functional in a couple of days, the spokesman said. Major Gen Iyer assured the civil authorities of full cooperation in the management of COVID-19 hospitals. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A friend of mine whom Ive kept in contact with over text message (we live in different countries) does not believe the Covid-19 pandemic is real. He is taking precautions and practicing social distancing, but he told me that he believes Covid-19 is a political, worldwide hoax to control people. I was flabbergasted to hear this. I tried to explain to him that the disease is no hoax: I know doctors fighting it, I know people who have contracted the virus and so on. But nothing has persuaded him. Should I cut off my relationship with him or continue to talk to him? It is exhausting to argue with someone who believes in a conspiracy theory. I dont feel I would lose much by cutting off ties with him, but how much of a responsibility do I have to make him understand the truth? It feels bigger than just our relationship. Name Withheld Your friend believes in an astonishingly complex conspiracy. It would involve a secret deal between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping and dozens of other political leaders on every habitable continent people who havent managed to coordinate their plans on lots of other important matters, like climate change. It would involve doctors in Geneva at the World Health Organization, in Atlanta at the C.D.C. and in hospitals all around the world conspiring with data scientists at Johns Hopkins to produce a fantastic flow of fake information. Or, if your friend thinks that everything those politicians and scientists and health workers appear to be saying is itself made up, it would require an even more amazing capacity on someones part to control the media and the internet. And what possible purpose could it serve? You might as well propose that we are all living in the Matrix though if we are, it isnt just the pandemic thats imaginary. Now, I suppose that theres a remote possibility that your friend suffers from clinical paranoia and needs professional help. If thats whats going on, theres little you can do from over here. No harm in keeping in touch, but no point in exploring his delusions, either. Jersey has secured a deal to buy 500,000 coronavirus antibody tests - enough to test its population five times for signs of past infection. Residents of the tiny Channel Island, which has had 255 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 14 deaths, could soon find out if they have already had the virus, and therefore have some form of immunity. The first 10,000 tests arrived on April 13 and are being rigorously analysed by the government to make sure they are reliable enough. Only then will the next 490,000 be flown in from across the world to start an 'Island-wide testing programme' and relieve the lockdown. The test only takes 10 minutes, and is up to 97 per cent accurate, according to the manufacturer Healgen, a company based in China. It is understood that is too low for the UK Government, who have yet to approve an antibody test to roll out nationwide. Nine commercial tests have been analysed so far, costing millions of pounds, but they haven't met the Government's high standards. Antibody testing is considered key for easing economy-crushing lockdowns because it will give an idea of how many people have been infected with the virus. Jersey has secured a deal for 500,000 coronavirus antibody tests - enough to test its population five times for signs of past infection The first 50,000 tests from Healgen - a US branch of Chinese company OrientGene The tests in Jersey were secured by Gary Hopkinson, a former Jersey resident who runs a distributing business in California, and his business partner, Canadian Alex Schnaider. They struck a deal to supply 50,000 Healgen antibody detection kits to the island earlier this month through a company they own jointly. They are now working with the government in Jersey with the view of undertaking a mass screening programme. WHY IS ANTIBODY TESTING IMPORTANT? WHAT IS AN ANTIBODY TEST? Unlike tests to diagnose diseases, antibody tests show who has been infected and recovered. The body makes antibodies in response to many illnesses and infections, including other coronaviruses. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RAPID TESTS AND ASSAYS? Some companies are developing finger-prick tests that get results in minutes. These are called immunoassays and will form the basis of home testing kits. Others are developing far more accurate tests called enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) that require sending blood samples to a lab for analysis. HOW CAN ANTIBODY TESTS HELP END LOCKDOWNS? Antibody tests can help calculate what portion of the population has already been infected, as well as whether infections were mild or severe. Governments and companies could use antibody tests to determine who would most likely be safe to return to work and public interactions, and whether it is safe to lift stay-at-home orders all at once in some regions or in stages based on infection risk. People with negative antibody tests or very low antibody levels would likely have higher risk of infection than people with high antibody levels. DO ANTIBODIES TO THE NEW CORONAVIRUS CONFER IMMUNITY? While antibodies to many infectious diseases typically confer some level of immunity, whether that is the case with this unique coronavirus is not yet known. And how strong immunity might be, or how long it might last in people previously infected, is not clear. Scientists cannot know with certainty that reinfection is not possible until further research. Advertisement Mr Hopkinson said: 'With 50,000 kits and 100,000 population, Jersey will be the most tested nation on earth by a mile.' An extra 150,000 tests from another supplier are due to arrive imminently, meaning there would be two per person. A further 250,000 kits have been 'promised', so the islanders can be tested multiple times. It is unclear who makes these kits or how accurate they are. The more times the population is tested, the more data the government will secure. It will help officials understand how the disease has spread on the island, home to fewer than 100,000 people. But the first set of kits first need to be tested for reliability which will take up to ten days, a statement from the government said. It did not clarify how accurate it would like the test to be. 'Once the kits are confirmed as offering reliable results, they will be used to support an island-wide testing programme and further kits will be ordered as necessary,' it added. The first 50,000 tests from Healgen - a US branch of Chinese company OrientGene - aren't home-testing kits. They would be conducted by a healthcare worker. The tests look for two kinds of antibodies: IgM and IgG. The body quickly produces IgM antibodies for its initial attack against infections, and makes IgG antibodies slower for long-term protection. Healgen says the sensitivity of the IgM test is 87.9 per cent and IgG is 97.2 per cent, compared with the golden standard lab test. That's based on an evaluation of 113 blood samples obtained from patients exhibiting pneumonia or respiratory symptoms. Because it is not 100 per cent accurate, it means some results would be incorrect and could wrongly tell people they have already had the disease, giving them a false sense of security. However, with half a million tests secured for just 100,000 citizens, any findings can be checked twice over, maybe more. Mr Hopkinson said: 'Jersey is actually the perfect place to do an immunology study. So, there is nowhere quite like Jersey that can do this and it can hopefully open up its economy again quickly, based on doing these tests.' Mr Hopkinson has been supplying kits to various countries and made the decision to help his home island after his sister said that Jersey was short of testing equipment. The Healgen test uses a drop of blood to give a result within 10 minutes. It will appear like a pregnancy test Commercial antibody tests give a result on an easy-to-read stick. Pictured, a Boditech Med Inc. test from South Korea Jersey began doing swab tests for citizens with symptoms on 8 April. This type of test, called a PCR test, is used to directly detect the presence of a virus, rather than the presence of the bodys immune response, or antibodies. Antibody tests are designed to detect whether a patient has ever had COVID-19. It may show a positive result even if the individual never had symptoms of the virus. Dr Ivan Muscat, Medical Officer for Health, Government of Jersey, said: 'Antibody testing kits are an important weapon in our fight against COVID-19. 'With such a high global demand for these kits, we are pleased that our first batch has arrived. 'We are living in extraordinary times and there is immense global pressure to get an idea of immunity within populations. 'While we have sourced the test kits through a robust process, which included evidence of validation through an independent review system, we first need to undertake a rapid local assessment of the accuracy of the test. 'Following a satisfactory outcome, we can then use these as part of our plan for an Island-wide testing programme. This will help us determine the pattern of infection across the Island.' Meanwhile, the UK Government is still scrambling to find a commercial antibody test that reaches its standards. Ministers said a home testing kit was in the pipeline, allowing Britons to do a finger-prick type test themselves to see if they have had the virus. GOVERNMENT HAS ONLY TESTED 5,000 BLOOD SAMPLES FOR ANTIBODIES The UK Government has conducted less than 5,000 antibody tests so far, and just 51 yesterday. Health chiefs have plans to conduct the 'biggest surveys in the world' to discover how many of the population have some sort of immunity to the virus. On April 3, the PM's spokesman said 3,500 antibody tests could be carried out per week to get an idea of how the virus was spreading. However, since that day, only 4,943 had been carried out. It's miles off the 5,000 per week target the Department of Health set. The DHSC said it would be expanding 'during April so that we have the potential to test around 5,000 samples per week'. Advertisement But so far, none of the tests have proven to be accurate enough by the Government's standards. Public Health England has refused to reveal what the Government considers an acceptable level of accuracy. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency - which usually authorises diagnostic tests - says no test under 98 per cent accurate is safe for mass-use. Oxford University scientists in charge of analysing the tests found home antibody tests were accurate between 55 to 70 per cent of the time. Antibody tests analysed in a lab, called ELISA tests, were correct 93 to 100 per cent of the time. Professor Sir John Bell, from Oxford University, said the testing kits he has examined so far 'have not performed well' and 'none of them would meet the criteria for a good test'. Dashing hopes of lockdown ending any time soon, Sir John said it would take 'at least a month' before antibody tests would be available for the public. Separately, Public Health England are using antibody testing in a laboratory setting for research to understand how many in the UK have the infection fighting cells. It's so far screened 5,000 blood samples since February - miles off the 5,000 per week target. Department of Health data shows only 51 were carried out at the Porton Down laboratory yesterday. It's barely a scratch on the widespread schemes being run by other countries who are desperate to get out of their lockdowns. Health chiefs in the Netherlands, for example, said they would test 10,000 samples weekly from March 19 using the blood donation service Sanquin. The Italian region of Lombardy began performing 20,000 coronavirus immunity tests per day yesterday, starting with health workers. The governor of Lombardy, Attilio Fontana, said the region had been conducting a 'search for reliable serological tests' and have developed one with a hospital in Milan. It is believed to be from diagnostic firm Diasorin, but this is not confirmed. Andorra has ordered enough antibody tests to screen its whole population of 77,000 nearly twice over, health minister Joan Martinez Benazet said at the beginning of April. The tests are 'absolutely reliable' by the authority's standards, he added, and will arrive from South Korea via Spain in the next two weeks. KAMPALA An Internal Security Organisation (ISO) operative who was assigned to assist the Ministry of Works and Transport in the distribution of Covid-19 motorvehicle stickers has been remanded to Kitalya prison after confessing to issuing them to un authorised persons. 52-year-old Stephen Ariongo Osikol working as an events and promotions operative with ISO was charged with breach of trust by a person employed in public service . Together with his four Pakistan national accomplices to whom he unlawfully issued the stickers marked that they were authorized personnel in the food distribution category who are allowed to drive vehicles in the current nationwide lockdown, they were arraigned before Buganda Road court Grade one magistrate Dorothy Bagyenyi on Tuesda, charged and remanded. However, Ariong has explained to the magistrate that the four Pakistani nationals who run a Restaurant, bar and a car bond presented to him(Ariong) a letter and other identifications showing that they are in food distribution business which was the basis for him to issue the contentious stickers on April 14, 2020. The five pleaded guilty to charges of being in unlawfull possession of government stores and were remanded at Kitalya prison until May 8, 2020 to be handed their respective sentences. Last week on Saturday , police and its sister security agencies carried out an operation in which they arrested several people with illegally acquired Covid-19 stickers . Among them is an Indian national who was arrested along Buganda Road with a sticker indicating that he is in the essential utility provider category allowed to drive. He was also arraigned before Buganda Road court on charges of being in unlawful possession of government stores and was remanded to Kitalya prison after denying the charge. Related California Gov. Gavin Newsom gives an update on the state's response to the CCP virus, at the Governor's Office of Emergency Services in Rancho Cordova, Calif., on March 17, 2020. (Rich Pedroncelli, Pool, AP Photo) California Governor Warns Its Unrealistic for Life to Return to Normal Anytime Soon California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday warned its unrealistic to think his state will go back to normal anytime in the near future, adding that the worst may be yet to come. Newsom told CBS News that his state could see a second wave that makes this pale in comparison if social distancing rules are not adhered to. In the past several weeks, Newsom and other governors have come under pressure to reopen their states following millions of job losses. At the same time, President Donald Trump last week started outlining a plan to open up the United States again while the governors of Tennessee, South Carolina, and Georgia announced plans to reopen businesses in the coming days. Were not seeing yet the significant decline that we need to see ultimately to toggle back, Newsom said, noting that hospital ICU admissions are beginning to flatten in the state. I dont anticipate that normalcy that many of us wish for happening any time soon, he warned. On Tuesday, he suggested that it is too soon to lift the states stay-at-home order, which has been in effect for more than a month. In a briefing, the governor said he and his advisers will have to have talks with county and city leaders on relaxing the restrictions, although some local agencies have asked Newsom to consider loosening restrictions. Tents used to established a site on a road for medical professionals to conduct tests for COVID-19 in Bolinas, where all residents are being tested for the CCP virus and its antibodies, in Bolinas, Calif., on April 20, 2020. (Kate Munsch/Reuters) San Luis Obispo County officials said they have flattened out the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus rate and have started coming up with a phase two to allow some businesses to open again. This is not to be a light switch to reopen, county public health officer Penny Borenstein said in a news conference, adding that it will be a gradual process. Meanwhile, Sutter County in Northern California made a similar request to the governors office. Ventura County, located near Los Angeles, modified a stay-at-home order, allowing some businesses to reopen days ago. The City Council of Placerville, located near Sacramento, voted to send a letter to Newsom asking when the city can reopen. Vehicles circled around the California State Capitol to protest against the statewide lockdown in Sacramento on April 20, 2020. (Laurie Gorham/The Epoch Times) The city needs to advocate [for opening stores sooner] because we have a very low infection rateeven though I got it, Vice Mayor Dennis Thomas told the Mountain Democrat. Thomas has recovered from the CCP virus. But Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said that allowing the restrictions to ease would cause an increase in CCP virus cases. I know many of you are feeling frustrated or wondering when well be able to lift the Safer at Home order. But lifting the restrictions too soon could risk lives. My promise to the people of L.A. is that evidence and medicine will continue to guide us through this crisis, he wrote on Twitter this week. Just when you think it is safe to rummage through the deep freezer with a shaking hand to find your favourite comforting trash pudding hopefully something rich in E numbers, devoid of fresh fruit and pumped full of synthetic cream a food snob comes along to sneer at your appalling taste and your lack of finesse. Last week it was BBC Radio 4 Womans Hour presenter Jane Garvey, when she scandalously claimed that the Arctic Roll was a low-level pudding. Gasp. Low level? Hark at her. Thats a terrible thing to say about an innocent sponge filled with ice cream and raspberry sauce! And the broadcaster soon found herself in a jam when Arctic Roll fans started complaining in their droves about her pudding-based elitism and forced the dessert rat into an apology. Jan Moir reflected on a selection of retro puddings, after Jane Garvey claimed Arctic Roll (pictured) is a 'low-level pudding' I do apologise if youre a big, big fan of Arctic Roll, she sniffed. While she hadnt meant to offend anyone, she added: Ill be honest with you, I dont like Arctic Roll. To be fair, she is not alone. The food writer and author Nigel Slater once likened the 1970s family favourite to a frozen carpet that tasted like cold cardboard just a tube of vanilla ice-cream wrapped by wet sponge and ring of red jam so thin it could have been drawn on with an architects pen. Is it really that bad? Arctic Roll was high on the hit list of factory-made puddings that reached the height of their popularity in the 1970s because well, we just didnt know any better. Today, it is up there on the foodie podium of odium, alongside Angel Delight, Viennetta, Neapolitan Ice Cream Bricks and Heinz Steamed Puddings in tins. They barely had a vitamin or a natural element between them. Back then it wasnt the Ready Brek that made us kiddies glow in the dark, it was what we had for pud. But is Arctic Roll so terrible? Can anything so innocently formed of ice cream, sponge and fruit be so bad? I decided to make one from scratch to get to the jammy heart of the matter and restore some dignity to this most maligned of frozen desserts. I dont have to look far to find a recipe there is one prominently displayed on the BBCs Good Food website. Jane must be furious; are they trolling her? I assemble all the ingredients including my last, precious tattered half-bag of plain flour before realising I am expected to make the ice cream and the jam from scratch. What? Theyve got to be kidding. Begrudgingly, I agree. But I wont be spending 10 on a vanilla pod as instructed a splash of bottled essence will have to do. Food snob Jane wont approve. Jan who made her own Arctic roll, said the 1970s family favourite tastes pretty nice. Pictured: Angel Delight Start by whisking eggs, icing sugar, vanilla and double cream to make the ice cream. Freeze it in a loaf tin for an hour, then mould into a log shape before freezing for another two hours. Oh my goodness. It tastes like the Walls Ice Cream of my childhood retro heaven. I make the jam. The jam boils into an inedible strawberry magma. To my jam shame, I use some from a jar instead. I bake the sponge, roll it up tightly in parchment and wait. To assemble: Unwrap the Swiss roll, spread with jam, slap in the ice cream cylinder, roll it all up and stick it back in the freezer. I want to be honest here. I have hopelessly over jammed and under-creamed my Arctic Roll. It looks like a limb stump from The Red Wedding scene in Game Of Thrones. It looks hideous. I sprinkle some caster sugar on top and hope for the best. How does it taste? Pretty nice, despite the disparagers. And not a whiff of wet cardboard in sight it would be fun to make with children. Arctic Roll may not be the most sophisticated frozen dessert in the world, but at least its not a Viennetta. That is the lowest of the low. Now take a look at my retro pudding trolley Jan said Viennetta (pictured) was considered the height of sophistication in the 1980s Arctic Roll 1.20/260g, Waitrose A cylinder of vanilla ice-cream coated with raspberry sauce not the strawberry specified in the BBC recipe and entombed in a layer of sponge. It was invented in the late 1950s by Dr Ernest Velden, a Czech lawyer who fled to the UK at the start of World War II. He set up an ice cream factory to manufacture his innovative dessert in Eastbourne, Sussex, in 1958. Birds Eye bought Veldens factory a few years later and Arctic Roll reached the peak of its popularity in the 1980s when the firm was making over 25 miles of the stuff each month, using a giant, 100ft-long oven. Angel Delight 60p/59g, Sainsburys Launched by custard powder company Birds in 1967, in a Strawberries and Cream flavour classic Angel Delight has held its place on our supermarket shelves ever since. Made by whisking a sachet of dessert powder into cold milk. Left to set, it transforms into a sweet, sticky mousse. It was hugely popular in the 1970s many have fond memories of the Butterscotch flavour, which is still available along with Banana, Chocolate and Strawberry versions. Viennetta 1.65/650ml from most supermarkets With its sophisticated, continental-sounding name, Viennetta was originally launched by British ice cream company Walls from its Gloucester factory in 1982 as a one-off posh Christmas dessert. The ice cream gateau with its concertina layers of wavy vanilla ice cream interleaved with crisp chocolate proved so popular that it became a year-round product. Considered the height of sophistication in the 1980s, a decade later it was given thicker chocolate layers, and appeared in new flavours, including Mint, Strawberry, Cappuccino and Praline. Jan claims Heinz discontinued their range of steamed sponge puddings (pictured) several years ago Heinz Steamed Sponge Puddings Tinned treacle sponge, Spotted Dick and Jam sponge pudding just the kind of retro comfort food we could all do with. Well, we hate to break this to you but Heinz discontinued their range of tinned sponge puddings several years ago. And no, we had no idea either and now we feel bereft. Neapolitan Ice Cream brick 1/1 litre, Tesco Jan revealed Neapolitan Ice Cream brick (pictured left) is still available in Tesco and Birds Strawberry Trifle Kit (pictured right) is sold in most UK supermarkets Invented in the 19th century, this colourful, striped block of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream is another classic dessert that has stood the test of time. It was originally sold in oblong, cardboard cartons, which unfolded, to allow the ice cream to be sliced and served between two flat wafers. You can still buy the cardboard packages in Tesco, although plastic cartons of the soft scoop version are more widely available. Birds Strawberry Trifle Kit 1.60, most supermarkets Recipes for trifle date back to the 1590s and these days there are all kinds of sophisticated versions of this traditional British dessert to buy and make. But if you want to be taken back to tea at grandmas or the Sunday lunches of your childhood a Birds trifle kit is the only way to go. A box of glorious retro sachets: jelly crystals; custard powder; dream topping (a white, creamy topping), chocolate sprinkles and sponge fingers. Its typical, space-age instant food of the 1960s and 1970s. And you dont have to bother making any stupid jam. Prince Harry may still be adjusting to his post-exit life, but one expert with personal experience on the matter believes that Harry may find living in the United States a refreshing change of pace. Prince Harry left his royal family to live out of the spotlight with Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and their new chapter is finally going to give them relief from the damaging public and media scrutiny. Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex | | Anwar Hussein/WireImage Prince Harry and Meghan surprised the world with their announcement In January, Prince Harry and Meghan stunned everyone when they announced their plan to step back from their roles in order to live a more quiet life away from the medias negativity. The queen gathered Prince Harry, Prince William, and Prince Charles to iron out the details of the Sussexes royal exit and released a statement in support of their plan for a new life. Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved members of my family. I recognise the challenges they have experienced as a result of intense scrutiny over the last two years and support their wish for a more independent life, the queen shared in her statement. Prince Harrys post-exit life may be enlightening Prince Harry and Meghan made their way to Canada before moving to Los Angeles with their son Archie. Its quite a departure from life in the royal family but aristocrat Lady Julie Montagu has some perspective to offer on how the move can be a positive experience for Prince Harry. Illinois native Julie Montagu, who is married to Lord Luke Montagu, the future Earl of Sandwich, can attest to the differences between the U.S. and the UK. In an interview with Town & Country, Montagu shared how the Sussexes move will provide a more relaxed and open environment for Prince Harry. I always say whenever you meet an American, you know their life story within 24 hours, she explained. That openness, she believes, will benefit Prince Harry. Hell be able to talk about his feelings, probably more than he was able to talk about over here, she noted. Montagu also shared how theres a cheery energy among Americans that she believes Harry will take to. That cheery, optimistic outlook on life is everywhere in America and its so contagious, she explained. A friend says Prince Harry is finding life in LA challenging Though Montagu believes that the change of pace will be a positive move for Prince Harry, his friend, primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall recently shared how Harry is finding the transition challenging. I dont know how his career is going to map out, but, yes, Ive been in touch though I think hes finding life a bit challenging right now, Goodall explained in an interview with Radio Times. Royal commentator Angela Mollard discussed her concerns about Prince Harry, given Goodalls comment. I really worry about Harry, Mollard explained during the Royals podcast. He is someone who is very connected to his family its all he has ever known. She continued, sharing how the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is making the transition harder. Of all the times to move apart from the royal family, I can imagine that right now he feels tremendously isolated, Mollard said. Everybody, of course, is isolated but he is not just isolated from his family, he is isolated on the other side of the world. Ameya Dalvi The OnePlus 8 was unveiled globally a week ago, and we now have its official India pricing too. Stocks and delivery will follow soon after the nationwide lockdown ends. While the India price of the OnePlus 8 is certainly better than its US price, it still isnt anything great given the level of competition here. The base version with 6 GB RAM and 128 GB storage is priced at Rs 41,999, while the one with 8 GB RAM and 128 GB storage can be purchased for Rs 44,999; a straight Rs 10,000 jump over the OnePlus 7T (Review) with similar specs. And lastly, the 12 GB RAM variant with 256 GB internal storage will go for a Rupee under 50K. Thanks, but well pass. As I had touched upon in my broad overview of the phone, the companys focus this time seems to be more on making the Pro variant look better and more relevant, and in that endeavour, the standard OnePlus 8 seems to have been sidelined, and allowed only a few upgrades in comparison to its more illustrious sibling. And given its steep pricing, many potential buyers are bound to look for alternatives, and rightly so. If you are one of those thinking of buying the OnePlus 8, there are a handful of phones you should strongly consider before investing your money in the most expensive OnePlus (non-Pro or special edition) phone yet. Lets see what your options are and what they have to offer. OnePlus 8 Alternatives in India OnePlus 7T The OnePlus 8s predecessor is an obvious option and it makes a strong case for itself. There are too many similarities in terms of features and performance, and you can save up to Rs 10,000 if you choose the 7T over the OnePlus 8. Even the top variant of the OnePlus 7T with 8 GB RAM and 256 GB storage sells Rs 7,000 cheaper than the 8 GB RAM / 128 GB storage variant of the OnePlus 8. This phone too has a 6.55-inch Full HD+ Fluid AMOLED display with a 90-Hz refresh rate for a smooth, flicker-free visual experience, and a stylish exterior with a metal frame and a glass body protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5 at the front and back. The Triple camera setup here comprises a 48 MP primary camera with optical image stabilisation (OIS) and pixel binning, along with a 16 MP ultra-wide camera and a 12 MP telephoto shooter that provides 2x optical zoom. The cameras manage to shoot some impressive images in different modes and lighting conditions. In the OnePlus 8, the 12 MP telephoto option is replaced by a 2 MP macro camera, which doesnt seem like a smart call, making the camera department on the 7T look better, at least on paper. The OnePlus 7T is powered by Qualcomms previous flagship Snapdragon 855+ SoC, which is not too inferior in comparison with the Snapdragon 865 on the OnePlus 8. One feature you will miss here is 5G, which is not something I would be overly bothered about right now, and its definitely not something I would pay an extra 10K premium for. OnePlus 7T price in India: Rs 34,999 for 8 GB RAM / 128 GB storage; Rs 37,999 for 8 GB RAM / 256 GB storage Asus ROG Phone II Asus launched the ROG Phone II (Review), its gaming powerhouse, in India soon after the OnePlus 7T. This is a great phone for gamers and power users alike. It competes with the OnePlus 7T on almost every front, given their similarities. For starters, this phone too is powered by a Snapdragon 855+ chip. And if you thought a 90-Hz display on the OnePlus 8 was impressive, the ROG Phone II goes a step further with 120-Hz refresh rate on its 6.59-inch Full HD+ AMOLED screen. It also supports true 10-bit colour gamut; something thats available on the 8 Pro but missing on OnePlus 8. This phone doesnt stop there and provides a mammoth 6,000 mAh battery for long gaming sessions. The phone also has a pair of stereo speakers with dedicated amplifiers along with a second Type-C USB 3.1 port on the side for high-speed connectivity. If you are looking for an out and out gaming phone at the price of a 7T, but with a few OnePlus 8 Pro features thrown it, the Asus ROG Phone II is a great option. The only catch being its availability. If you see one in stock for the below price or better, just go for it. Asus ROG Phone II price in India: Rs 37,999 for 8 GB RAM / 128 GB storage Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite This time OnePlus wont just have competition from budget phone makers, but also from premium heavyweights. Samsung has thrown its hat in the ring in this segment and is looking to compete hard by introducing a new member of their flagship S series in the sub40K budget, the Galaxy S10 Lite (Review). The phone has a 6.7-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED Plus Infinity-O display thats HDR10+ compliant. Samsung has opted for a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chip instead of an Exynos here. It is accompanied by 8 GB RAM and 128 GB internal storage that can be expanded further via microSD. The Camera department is somewhat similar to that of the OnePlus 8 and is made up of a 48 MP primary shooter with OIS, a 12 MP ultra-wide camera, and a 5 MP dedicated macro camera. Theres a 32 MP camera at the front for selfies. Another key aspect of this phone is its 4,500 mAh battery that survives well over a day of moderate usage, and the bundled fast charger does a good job of getting it charged back up post-haste. Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite price in India: Rs 39,999 for 8 GB RAM / 128 GB storage Apple iPhone SE (2020) Not just Samsung, but Apple too wants a piece of this mid-range smartphone pie too. The long-rumoured successor to the iPhone SE has finally seen the light of day, and its called, well, iPhone SE. The new SE borrows its looks, and a lot of its specifications from the iPhone 8, except the processor. The latter is Apples latest A13 Bionic chip, the one thats at the heart of all iPhone 11 series phones. It has a 4.7-inch Retina LCD display with the typical 326 PPI pixel density. You get Apples ever-reliable 12 MP camera at the back with OIS, and a 7 MP selfie camera up front. The phone is IP67 rated for dust and water resistant, and runs iOS 13. You get three storage variants of the new Apple iPhone SE, and two of them are priced quite close to the OnePlus 8. Now with a new iPhone selling in this budget, a lot of potential OnePlus buyers may switch their loyalty, making life even more difficult for the OnePlus 8. Apple iPhone SE (2020) price in India: Rs 42,500 for 64 GB storage; Rs 47,500 for 128 GB storage iQOO 3 If you are looking for a more affordable option based on the Snapdragon 865 chip, you have the iQOO 3 (Review) from the Vivo sub-brand. It flaunts a very impressive spec-sheet, starting with the latest Qualcomm flagship SoC. You get 8 GB RAM with 128 GB or 256 GB internal storage options, making it a good Rs 6,000 to Rs 8,000 cheaper than the OnePlus 8. The iQOO 3 packs a 6.44-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED screen with Corning Gorilla Glass 6 on top and HDR10+ support. It doesnt have a 90-Hz refresh rate, but it does have a 180 Hz touch response rate. Theres a quad-camera setup at the back with a combination of 48 MP primary camera, 13 MP ultra-wide camera, 13 MP telephoto camera for 2X optical zoom, and a 2 MP depth sensor. Its 4,400 mAh battery does a good job of keeping it powered for over a day, and the company also bundles a 55 W fast charger to replenish it at speed. The iQOO 3 specs and features are evenly matched, and impressive enough to give OnePlus 8 a good run for its money. iQOO 3 price in India: Rs 38,990 for 8 GB RAM / 128 GB storage; Rs 41,990 for 8 GB RAM / 256 GB storage Stradbally in Laois has lost one of the longest running festivals in Ireland this year, also due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The National Steam Rally in Stradbally would have held its 56th annual rally this August Bank Holiday weekend. Nigel Glynn Rally Chairman has made an announcement this Wednesday evening April 22 reluctantly cancelling it for this year. "As a nation, we are living through unprecedented times. What we collectively decide to do now will influence the impact of COVID-19 in Ireland, in the weeks and months ahead. "From the perspective of the Irish Steam Preservation Society the best action we can take is to heed the government advice. Our utmost priority is to protect our volunteers, exhibitors, traders and the general public that support us each and every year. "Therefore it is with much regret that we cancel the National Steam Rally, Stradbally, Laois for 2020," they said. "Hopefully and together with the Rally Committee's support, the 2021 National Steam Rally, Stradbally will go full steam ahead," Mr Glynn ended. A public health crisis, an economic crash, nascent protests, and presidential pressure. And a high-stakes election that could turn on their performance. Welcome to the perilous political life of swing state governors. From Florida to Wisconsin, governors in both parties are walking a tightrope with increased deaths on one side and economic devastation on the other all as President Donald Trump shakes the wire with provocative tweets and pronouncements. They are almost in a no-win situation, said Susan MacManus, a political scientist and professor emerita with the University of South Florida. They're facing the most unusual and most intensely pressured events of a lifetime. People take part in a "reopen" Pennsylvania demonstration on April 20, 2020 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Take Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat. Trump has cast her as a poster child for the nanny state, criticizing the coronavirus restrictions she has imposed and encouraging protesters who want her to reopen the state. Michigan has been hard-hit by the pandemic with 2,977 deaths and more than 35,000 cases as of April 23. It's also a pivotal battleground state in the 2020 presidential election and a state Trump narrowly won four years ago. As thousands of demonstrators converged on Michigan's Capitol last week, some showed their allegiance to the president by waving Trump 2020 banners and wearing red Make America Great Again hats. But Whitmer has been unapologetic in pushing back against Trump, defending her strict social distancing orders and calling out protesters for ignoring public health precautions. We have a disproportionate problem in the state of Michigan, Whitmer said on NBCs Meet the Press on Sunday. And thats precisely why we have to take a more aggressive stand. Whitmers outspokenness and her frequent national media appearances have burnished her image among Democrats and fueled speculation that former Vice President Joe Biden may choose her as his running mate. But its also firing up Republicans in Michigan and making her a bigger Trump target, said David Dulio, director of the Center for Civic Engagement at Oakland University. Story continues But Trump also has a tough political calculus to make as he attacks Whitmer and tries to woo Michigan voters, Dulio said. Hes walking a similar tightrope. You can hear it at times when hes giving his briefings. He will sometimes take a shot at the governor and in the next breath say how much he loves Michigan, Dulio said. Its this dance. Its not just Trump and Democratic governors engaged in this political tango. In Florida, GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis is under pressure to deliver his state for Trump in the November election and his handling of the coronavirus outbreak has come under intense scrutiny. DeSantis waited until April 1 to issue a stay-at-home order, after cases of the virus hit nearly 7,000 in the state and 87 Floridians had died. And his order deemed religious services essential, a controversial decision that played to the GOP base in the state. He doesnt want to get crosswise with freedom of religion because that is critical to his reelection and also to the presidents, MacManus said. Now, DeSantis faces pressure from the White House to lift the statewide restrictions, even as Florida remains a disease hot spot. "Trump would like to have some of the larger states, Republican swing states, get up and running within reason," said Ron Pierce, a GOP consultant based in Tampa. Pierce said Florida Republicans are also deeply worried about the economic consequences of the shutdown. About 1.5 million Floridians have filed unemployment claims since the crisis hit, but a poorly designed system has created a bottleneck in processing claims, leaving DeSantis vulnerable to attacks. That problem also could cloud Trump's prospects in Florida. "The success of Florida, with regards to our response and reopening the state, will be directly tied to the president," Pierce said. "They're intertwined." DeSantis may be particularly wary about his next move given Trump's seemingly conflicting messages for another GOP governor, Georgia's Brian Kemp. On Monday, Kemp announced plans to allow gyms, bowling alleys, nail salons, massage parlors and other businesses to reopen their doors as early as Friday if they adhere to social distancing measures and hygiene requirements. On Tuesday, when asked about Kemp's plan, Trump called him "a very capable man" and said he "knows what he's doing." The next day, however, Trump said he "strongly" disagreed with Kemp's reopening schedule. It's "just too soon" for places like "spas and beauty salons and tattoo parlors and barber shops" to open their doors, Trump said during Wednesday's coronavirus task force briefing. Trump's criticism of Kemp a staunch ally in a red state may deepen the political anxiety of other other GOP governors as they weigh the complex question of when and how to ease stay-at-home orders. While other governors have seen their approval ratings skyrocket amid the pandemic, DeSantiss ratings have slipped. His pre-pandemic approval stood at 58%, and it now stands at 51%, according to an analysis by FiveThirtyEight, a website that analyzes polls and other data. In four national polls in April that surveyed Americans views of Trump and their governors handling of the crises, respondents were much more likely to approve of their governors' responses than Trumps. "Theyre much more on the ground, dealing with these problems, day-to-day, said Terry Madonna, director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin and Marshall College in Pennsylvania. It could be that theyre closer to the voters and therefore able to explain better to their constituents what theyre doing and why theyre doing it. A Washington Post-University of Maryland poll published Tuesday found that 54% of Americans disapproved of Trump's handling of the outbreak. But 72% of respondents approved of their governor's response. Whitmer has seen a 24 percentage point boost in her public approval ratings. In Wisconsin, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers approval ratings have climbed from 48% before the pandemic to 72% in the most recent poll. Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette Law School Poll, said its not clear yet how long these boosts will last. Evers latest decision to extend Wisconsins stay-at-home order through May 26 sparked criticism from Republican state legislators and threats to challenge his authority in the courts. It also fueled protests against the restrictions as 1,000 demonstrators rallied against the move. Protesters stand outside the Ohio Statehouse during the State of Ohio's Coronavirus response update on April 13, 2020 in Columbus, Ohio. In a late March poll, 76% of respondents approved of Evers handling of the pandemic including 60% of Republicans. But that was before people missed their end-of-March paychecks and before Evers extended the state shutdown, Franklin noted. The question is whether the second shutdown and some developing opposition among Republican elected officials may start to tip that balance of opinion, he said. What we really don't know is as people are facing a more extended disruption to their lives and their businesses and their jobs, will opinions start to change? That is the trillion-dollar question. Nationwide, he noted that Americans still overwhelmingly support the stay-at-home orders, with only 15% to 20% calling them an overreaction. Thats a small percentage but its certainly enough people to provide the basis for a demonstration, he said. Trumps rhetoric so far has been relatively tempered, he said, with a few tweets encouraging protests against Democratic governors. The open question to me is: How far does Trump go on this? he said. In Pennsylvania, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf has tangled with GOP critics, vowing to veto a bill passed by the GOP Legislature to ease restrictions, for example. But he has maintained his signature mild-mannered style to the challenges of leading a politically divided state in the time of a pandemic. He has created a major contrast with President Trump, said Democratic operative Mike Mikus, who worked on Wolfs campaigns. He argued that Trump's uneven response to the crisis and his circus-like White House briefings will make it hard for the president to repeat his 2016 victory in Pennsylvania. "This could be the defining issue of the election, he said. A woman holds a sign out the sunroof of a car during a demonstration April 20, 2020 in Pittsburgh. Ray Scheppach, former longtime executive director of the National Governors Association, said the decision governors face on when and how to loosen restrictions is a lot tougher than the call they had to make on closing down. There are bigger political risks, said Scheppach, a public policy professor at the University of Virginia. Thats why you see groups of governors getting together. Michigan and Wisconsin, for example, are part of a bipartisan group of Midwestern governors coordinating on reopening the economy. Similarly, Pennsylvania is coordinating with other Northeastern states. Scheppach said the working groups are also a reflection of governors' frustration with Trump and what some say is the federal governments lack of national coordination on supplies and other issues. Underneath it, theres a certain level of resentment, he said. Theyre stronger if they can get together in groupings. The protests are so far not a major problem for governors, he said, because theyre fairly limited in scope. If it gets broader, I think it is a problem, he said. I think they all know that this could get much worse. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus: Governors in key states face Trump pressure amid response Countries have a chance to choose a new path as societies begin to return to normal after lockdowns imposed to prevent the spread of coronavirus, environmental activist Greta Thunberg told an Earth Day event on Wednesday. Thunberg, who shot to fame two years ago as a 15-year-old when she started skipping school on Fridays to protest over carbon emissions outside Swedens parliament building, said the outbreak showed the need for long-term thinking. Whether we like it not, the world has changed: it looks completely different from how it did a few months ago and it will probably not look the same again and we are going to have to choose a new way forward, she said. If one single virus can destroy economies in a matter of weeks, it shows we are not thinking long term and we are not taking these risks into account. She was taking part in a streamed event to mark Earth Day, launched 50 years ago to highlight environmental challenges. Last year was the hottest on record in Europe, according to a study released on Wednesday by the European Unions Copernicus Climate Change Service. Thunbergs school strikes calling for climate action sparked a global movement and transformed the now-17-year-old into the equivalent of an environmental rock star. Drawing on her statement to the World Economic Forum last year, in which she said: I want you to act as if our house is on fire. Because it is, her Fridays for Future movement released a video to mark Earth Day showing a family carrying out their normal routine, despite flames licking around their home. But not everyone agrees with her approach. United States President Donald Trump in December urged her to work on her Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie. And while some still question the role of human activity in the rise in temperatures, opinions are also divided on the best approach to handling coronavirus. Sweden, for example, has opted for a much lighter touch in its social distancing measures than most of Europe, where societies have been in lockdown. Thunberg said, however, the current crisis underlined the importance of science in fighting threats to humanity. In a crisis you put your differences aside, you act, you go out in the unknown and take decisions that may not make much sense at the moment, but in the long run may be necessary for our common wellbeing, she said. Thunberg said in March that she had probably had been infected with the coronavirus after travelling to affected countries, though her symptoms were mild and she had not been tested. Small and medium-sized businesses can now apply to the province for a short-term loan to supplement revenues lost to government restrictions brought on by the novel coronavirus. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 22/4/2020 (629 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Small and medium-sized businesses can now apply to the province for a short-term loan to supplement revenues lost to government restrictions brought on by the novel coronavirus. Up to $120 million in provincial funding has been earmarked for businesses that don't qualify for programs offered by the federal government through the Manitoba Gap Protection Program. Business owners can apply for the "non-interest bearing" loan valued at up to $6,000, which would be forgiven at the end of the year if the business doesn't receive major non-repayable COVID-19 support from the federal government. "Its not enough. I wish we could do more," Premier Brian Pallister said during a media briefing Wednesday morning. "Our priority is to do what we can to help businesses get through this valley, and were doing everything we can to do that." Premier Brian Pallister revealed details of the Manitoba Gap Protection Plan Wednesday morning. (John Woods / Canadian Press files) The program will provide a cash injection for start-up operations that do not demonstrate revenue losses, or companies with payrolls not high enough to meet the requirements of the federal governments wage-subsidy program, he said. Businesses that have accessed funds through the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, the Canada Emergency Business Account, or sector-specific federal grant programs may not be eligible. "The idea here again is not to duplicate, but rather to complement and fill the gaps that are there as a result of the design of the federal program," Pallister said. Manitoba Chambers of Commerce president Chuck Davidson said business owners had been waiting for the provincial government to step up with support, and called the Manitoba Gap Protection Plan a move in the right direction. "What we've really been asking for is for programs that are going to put dollars in the pockets of businesses right now, many of which have been without revenue for up to six weeks, but at the same time do have expenses," Davidson said. "This will help, but it's not going to make them whole by any means," he added. "I think the sooner that we can start talking recovery, the better, but before we can talk recovery we need to stabilize business and this will help to stabilize the business community." The Manitoba Gap Protection Plan is a move in the right direction, says Manitoba Chambers of Commerce President Chuck Davidson. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press) The province anticipates about 20,000 businesses will be eligible for the MGPP loan. If demand for the program exceeds the $120 million set aside, the government will consider offering more, Pallister said. The province said the loan would be added to a business's 2020 tax bills, however, if they accept benefits under a federal COVID-19 support program. Few other details on the terms of the loan or eligibility criteria were made available Wednesday. Jonathan Alward, director for the Prairie region for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said the second-greatest pressure brought on by restrictions related to the novel coronavirus continues to be commercial rent. The national average rent paid by commercial tenants is $10,000 a month, he noted, with some Manitoba operations skewing slightly lower. Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance Program, which would provide loans to commercial property owners who lower or waive rent for small businesses for the months of April, May, and June. The provincial government has committed $16 million to the federal program, which has yet to come online. "How that is ultimately rolled out, who is able to qualify and how much is going to be needed for different kinds of businesses, that for me is a big question mark in terms of what additional measures are going to be needed," Alward said. Jen Zoratti | Next A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Commercial rents remain an issue for businesses, says Jonathan Alward, director for the Prairie region for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. (Phil Hossack / Winnipeg Free Press files) "Theres no shortage of examples where business owners need some extra help, and I think this is a good step to help address some of those gaps," Alward said. "The $6,000 will help but its not going to be a solution." Manitoba NDP Opposition leader Wab Kinew said the loan program fails to address immediate challenges for business owners and raised concerns over the exclusionary criteria. "Every week that goes by that we don't see something really substantive to help the business owners out there, the more job losses we're going to risk, and the more this recession is going to worsen," Kinew said. "I think there's a danger here that there's too many strings attached across the board and the net result would be that the quick and easy assistance never happens." Pallister said he will be releasing details of the provinces plan to get the economy "back on track" which is in the final stages of development next week. with files from Malak Abas danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-07 19:32:32|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close MALE, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Maldives has evacuated 100 citizens stranded in Sri Lanka and plans to repatriate up to 200 more from Malaysia, local media reported here Tuesday. Maldives' national carrier Maldivian conducted it's first repatriation flight from Colombo to Male on Sunday, evacuating 100 nationals who were stranded there amid an island-wide curfew. Following protocols made by the Health Protection Agency (HPA), all returning passengers have been taken to a quarantine facility where they will be tested for COVID-19. Meanwhile, national carrier Maldivian has announced that it will conduct another 200-seat repatriation flight for stranded citizens in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Manager Public Relations and Communications at Maldivian, Moosa Waseem told state-media that the flight is scheduled for Wednesday and will prioritize individuals most in need of returning home. Malaysia is currently under lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19. Mashovets is known to have served on Ukraine peacekeeping missions to Sierra Leone and Iraq. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on April 22 dismissed Anna Kovalenko from the post of deputy head of the President's Office, replacing her with Roman Mashovets. Mashovets is a veteran of the country's military intelligence. He served with the Special Operations Unit of the Military Intelligence Directorate General at the Ministry of Defense. He received special training on many "specific" issues such as performing combat swimmer tasks. The newly-appointed official served on Ukraine's missions to Sierra Leone and Iraq. Head of the President's Office, Andriy Yermak, introduced Roman Mashovets at today's meeting on national security and defense issues. Read alsoStoltenberg comments on Ukraine's accession to NATO's Enhanced Opportunity Partnership "One of the main tasks facing Mashovets is to complete the drafting of the National Security and Defense Strategy and other important documents. The issue is set to be discussed at a meeting chaired by NSDC Secretary Oleksiy Danilov," the statement reads. Mashovets, for his part, stressed the importance of reviewing a number of documents relating to the defense and security sector. It is necessary, he believes, to establish clear coordination and interaction between the legislative and executive branches of power, as well as the President's Office in order to make systemic efforts toward addressing urgent issues of the defense and security sector. (CNN) Coronavirus patients taking hydroxychloroquine, a treatment touted by US President Donald Trump, were no less likely to need mechanical ventilation and had higher deaths rates compared to those who did not take the drug, according to a study of hundreds of patients at US Veterans Health Administration medical centers. The study, which reviewed veterans' medical charts, was posted Tuesday on medrxiv.org, a pre-print server, meaning it was not peer reviewed or published in a medical journal. The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the University of Virginia. In the study of 368 patients, 97 patients who took hydroxychloroquine had a 27.8% death rate. The 158 patients who did not take the drug had an 11.4% death rate. "An association of increased overall mortality was identified in patients treated with hydroxychloroquine alone. These findings highlight the importance of awaiting the results of ongoing prospective, randomized, controlled studies before widespread adoption of these drugs," wrote the authors, who work at the Columbia VA Health Care System in South Carolina, the University of South Carolina and the University of Virginia. Researchers also looked at whether taking hydroxychloroquine or a combination of hydroxychloroquine and the antibiotic azithromycin, had an effect on whether a patient needed to go on a ventilator. "In this study, we found no evidence that use of hydroxychloroquine, either with or without azithromycin, reduced the risk of mechanical ventilation in patients hospitalized with Covid-19," the authors wrote. There are currently no products approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to prevent or treat Covid-19, although research is underway on many drugs. Hydroxychloroquine has been used for decades to treat patients with diseases such as malaria, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. Trump has touted the drug as a "game changer" for Covid-19 and said hydroxychloroquine shows "tremendous promise." Physicians have warned that while Trump is enthusiastic about the drug, it still needs to be studied to see if it works and if it's safe. In another recent study, researchers in France examined medical records for 181 Covid-19 patients who had pneumonia and required supplemental oxygen. About half had taken hydroxychloroquine within 48 hours of being admitted to the hospital, and the other half had not. It found there was no statistically significant difference in the death rates of the two groups, or their chances of being admitted to the intensive care unit. However, it found eight patients who took the drug developed abnormal heart rhythms and had to stop taking it. This research also has not yet been peer-reviewed or published in a medical journal. The entry of COVID-19 in Mexico has revealed a hint of the shortages and needs of the country's healthcare system. Every year, the Mexican government allocates billions of pesos for the healthcare sector of the country. However, it is still not enough. Malpractices on Budgets According to a review conducted by Mexico City's local newspaper, El Universal, there were malpractices on the budget. These include salary payments to non-existing doctors, purchase of over-priced medicines, and the fund allocation for union commissions and Christmas bonuses that were not included in the sector's budget. Reports for the Irregularities These irregularities were found in multiple reports released by the Federal Superior Auditor, also called the ASF, in the past decade from 2009 to 2018. In 10 years, the audit office discovered irregularities amounting to 42 billion pesos. Only six percent of the public resources were taken back. Every year, the audit office discovers these irregularities. However, the punishment for these crimes is minimal. Some of these crimes get lost due to the occurrence of other events, and people never learn to properly resolve such cases. Frequently, these irregularities occur during emergencies. And these irregularities are typically occurring in almost all levels of authority in the country. Check these out: Losing the Opportunity to Launch Projects Mexico's healthcare is provided by public organizations operated by government departments, private medical centers, and private physicians. The Mexican Federal Constitution gives the primary responsibility to the state to support the health of the national population. Due to these acts, Mexico loses the opportunity to launch projects to help the health care system of the country to win over the insufficiencies that the sector had suffered from for years. For many years, the improvement of the Mexican healthcare system has been postponed due to corruption and the incompetency of the country's leaders. The Healthcare Sector in Mexico Amid COVID-19 Currently, the county is battling with an invisible enemy, and it seems that it will not surrender anytime soon. Since the arrival of the deadly COVID-19 in the country, the issues inside the health sector and the security sector of Mexico have become more evident. To add to this, the current government may be correct to say that it is now controlling public resources due to the former irregularities reported in the different states of the country. However, due to this decision, any deviation discovered will be left unpunished. It was also not yet explained how the federal government would be implementing measures to prevent malpractices. The COVID-19 pandemic confirms the extreme importance of the healthcare system in the country. Mexico should then consider that this global COVID-19 health crisis is a good reason to start improving the healthcare system in the country as it will be unjust not to allow the country to get any lessons from this pandemic. Stay-at-home orders and social distancing have significantly flattened the curve - lowering the death rate of COVID- 19 in cities like Houston. Ironically, the success of these tactics means the coronavirus peak is still likely a few weeks away, according to a new study conducted by the University of Texas. Continued vigilance will be necessary long after the peak passes, requiring us to change basic habits to ensure our safety and the safety of others. Pediatric telemedicine is emerging as an alternative way to do something from home were used to doing in person. During a pandemic, your childs ability to get care remains of paramount importance, and thankfully, many of the types of visits and checkups typically done at your pediatricians office can now be done online. Dr. Tamisha Jones, Pediatric Medical Director for Legacy Community Health, is spearheading Legacys pediatric telemedicine program. Dr. Jones sees pediatric telemedicine as more than a temporary fix, rather as a revolutionary change with lasting positive benefits to the way health care is provided. Telemedicine has removed many of the barriers our patients may experience when trying to get care, Dr. Jones observes. Lack of reliable transportation, severe time limitations, these are the types of barriers telemedicine can help remove. Legacy Community Health has been serving the greater Houston area since 2005 under a mandate to provide care for all. Legacy Health has always been open to all patients, regardless of ability to pay, says Dr. Jones. This is especially important now while people are getting laid off or furloughed or may experience a gap in their health insurance coverage. Legacy wants to be there for the community to fill in these gaps. This commitment parallels with Legacys belief that healthcare is a right. Pediatric telemedicine is an extension of our mission to serve everyone, says Dr. Jones. Legacy serves all, kids, adults, pregnant women, seniorswe want to make sure our services are available to anyone who may need them in these changing times. As with any new way of doing things, telemedicine takes a bit of getting used to, but the benefits to our health and safety cannot be overstated. This is especially true for children. While research suggests children are not as likely as adults to experience severe symptoms from COVID-19, they are far likelier to be asymptomatic carriers. Every parent knows its difficult to get your child to bathe once a day, let alone wash their hands for 20 seconds every 15 minutes while not touching their face. Telemedicine solves this conundrum by allowing parents to keep their children in the comfort of their home, while getting the care they need from a health professional. Dr. Jones talked us through what to expect from Legacys pediatric telemedicine program. Heres what we found out. One: Heres What Telemedicine Can Do Legacy Community Health Legacys telemedicine program is ideal for the common ailments children get. Fever, rashes, colds, pink eye, vomiting, diarrhea, allergies; all these can be easily treated via telemedicine. Furthermore, any developmental or behavioral question a parent might have telemedicine makes it quick and easy to answer. For conditions requiring more rapid testing, like Flu or Strep, parents can use telemedicine to arrange for drive-thru testing. Check-ins, prescription refills, and general concerns are all easily serviced through Legacys telemedicine program, currently available at every one of their locations. Legacys OB2Pedi program is a great example of how telemedicine is an asset for patients. According to Dr. Jones, the telemedical component of the OB2Pedi program allows new and expectant mothers increased access to her OBGYN and, later, her childs pediatrician. This access eases the transition from pregnancy to newborn and beyond. While preventative care is still done in-person, Dr. Jones notes new parents can easily get reliable answers for all their questions, both big and small. Plus, the visual aspect of telemedicine allows providers a chance to see inside the home of a new or expectant mother and offer precise recommendations. At Legacy, were able to do most things through telemedicine, stresses Dr. Jones. We encourage our patients to use telemedicine first because the vast majority of conditions can be managed through telemedicine. Were going to do our best to keep everyone safe and healthy. Two: Getting Set Up Legacy Community Health Making a telemedicine appointment is easy, the same as scheduling an in-person appointment. Call (832) 548-5000 or go to legacycommunityhealth.org/peditelemed and sign up for the next available appointment with your provider. Dr. Jones points out that parents using telemedicine will receive care from their childs actual Legacy provider. The same doctor you know and trust will be on the other end of the call, not some contracted doctor in another state. This really preserves the continuity of care we provide, says Dr. Jones. In almost all circumstances theyll see their own care team. This is equally important for us as providers, too. The relationships we establish with our patients makes us want to see your kids grow up, too. As with any new technology, there is a learning curve for telemedicine. Luckily, Legacy is helping their patients flatten this curve, too. Legacys telemedicine outreach team will contact any first-time telemedicine user to help them set up Zoom, the video-chat platform authorized to host telemedicine calls. In as little as 5 to 10 minutes, an outreach team member will walk first-timers through all the steps to get ready for their appointment. Even if the outreach team cannot get ahold of you before your visit, theyll try the day of the appointment to ensure you have the help you need to be ready for your childs appointment. Three: Telemedicine In Action Legacy Community Health A telemedicine appointment operates similarly to an in-person visit. The medical assistant from your care team will start by asking basic questions about your child. If there is a scale or a thermometer in the house, youll be asked to get your childs weight and temp. Once this information is obtained, the provider will come on the call and conduct the visit in the same way they would an in-person visit. Parents can use the Zoom platform on their laptop, tablet or phone to provide your doctor with visuals. The doctor will make a diagnosis, talk it through with the family and prescribe medication or next steps, just like if you were in the office. All pamphlets or further information can be shared through Legacys portal or sent via secure email. Dr. Jones recommends parents set aside a little extra time the day of their first telemedicine visit, just like you would when visiting a clinic for the first time. The overall visit usually lasts around 15 minutes. Parents concerned they wont be able to get the same level of care via telemedicine need look no further to pediatric behavioral health specialists. Legacys behavioral health providers and counselors have been utilizing telemedicine technology for years and have seen consistent quality results. Dr. Jones notes the success of therapy and psychiatry over telemedicine paved the way for telemedicine in other areas like pediatrics. Dr. Jones and all at Legacy Community Health encourage patients new and old to stay safe and experience the benefits of telemedicine. Legacy took the ideas of patient-centered medical care and having a medical home for all services a patient could need under one roof to heart, says Dr. Jones. Our mission is to serve everyone. Telemedicine will help us get there. Visit legacycommunityhealth.org for more information. Gov. Phil Murphys aggressive social distancing plans to slow the spread of the coronavirus in New Jersey has gained the support of most residents, despite protesters and critics calling to reopen state parks, according to a poll. Roughly 64% of state residents say that Murphys unprecedented measures which included shuttering gyms, casinos, movie theaters, salons and state and county parks, delaying the state primary and closing schools through May 15 are up to par, a Monmouth University poll released Tuesday shows. The numbers are just below Murphys approval rating, which has shot up to 71% in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Previously, his highest approval rating was 54% in October 2018 in a Quinnipiac University Poll. Murphy said Tuesday the poll demonstrates that people agree generally with what were doing to save lives. Because that allows us to have the moral suasion that we need to continue, to please God, people stay at home," the governor said at his daily press briefing in Trenton. "That maybe theres enough trust thats been built up and they believe that, and they need to and they should. Despite small protests in numerous states and some state lawmakers asking Murphy to relax his restrictions on parks, the support for strict social distancing is generally broad. The nation has seen sporadic protests against these restrictions, including one in Trenton on Friday," said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. The poll shows, though, that these protestors represent an incredibly small sliver of all state residents. The vast majority are united in their support for social distancing measures to protect the health of their fellow New Jerseyans. CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage About 90% of residents support requirements to maintain social distancing, wear face coverings in public, limit restaurants to takeout and delivery, closing gyms and retail stores and bans on gatherings and parties, the poll indicates. Some restrictions, while still supported by a majority of residents, drew ire from some New Jerseyans, particularly the closure of state and county parks. Murphy has doubled down on keeping them closed during his daily coronavirus press briefings. Shutting down state and county parks has probably sparked the biggest public pushback against the governor," Murray said. The outcry is largely partisan, perhaps because it is the one area where GOP politicians feel they can criticize the governor without looking uncooperative. About 80% of people approve of limiting supermarket hours and stopping non-essential construction projects, and less than 65% approve of publicly naming people violating the governors executive orders. The states coronavirus testing rates also draws negative grades. The poll was released on the one-month anniversary of Murphys orders for New Jersey residents to stay home and nonessential businesses to close until further notice. As of Tuesday, New Jersey has the second-highest number of COVID-19 cases (92,387) and deaths (4,35) among U.S. states, after New York. But its difficult to know exactly how much the virus has spread in the state because of a lack of widespread testing. The poll was conducted via telephone from April 16-19, with 704 New Jersey adults. The margin of error was plus-or-minus 3.7 percentage points. The poll is weighted to reflect the states demographics. NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Sophie Nieto-Munoz may be reached at snietomunoz@njadvancemedia.com. . A dverts promoting IV drips that claimed to boost patients immunity to Covid-19 have been banned by the advertising watchdog. The posts, made online by medical companies, were a straight breach of the rules regarding products sold to treat or prevent the disease, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said. No treatments have yet been approved by the UKs Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), meaning that companies cannot make medical claims on their products relating to coronavirus. The ASA investigations were fast-tracked as part of a focus on prioritising and tackling ads that exploit health-related anxieties during the pandemic. An Instagram post made in March by a Cosmetic Medical Advice employee promoting IV drips that claimed to boost patients' immunity to Covid-19 / PA Two Instagram posts made in March by Cosmetic Medical Advice employees suggested that a super immune system booster IV drip was an effective way to protect against viral infections and that the clinic followed the advice of the World Health Organisation (WHO). A similar page on the REVIV company website, titled Coronavirus & The Real Pandemic also claimed to offer protection against the disease through a Megaboost IV therapy treatment. The post read: As a doctor, I truly believe in the power of prevention and REVIV, one of the largest global preventative healthy movements currently in existence. If we feed our bodies correctly with more of the right nutrients and less of the wrong nutrients, then we can ensure that our immune system is working at a protective and effective level. A page from the REVIV company website promoting IV drips which has been banned by the advertising watchdog. / PA REVIV UK Ltd said that the ad was a blog post which was written in response to customer queries and was intended to be purely educational. The companies were ordered to take the posts down by the ASA, who consulted with the MHRA, and deemed them in breach of guidelines. It comes as the MHRA reports an increasing number of bogus medical products claiming to cure coronavirus that are being sold online. At the start of April the watchdog said it was investigating 14 cases of such unlicensed items being sold through unauthorised websites and had already disabled several domain names and social media accounts. ABC/Image Group LAHere's an unexpected performance for an unexpected time. Post Malone has announced a Nirvana tribute live stream, during which the "Circles" rapper will perform songs by the grunge icons. The charity event will raise money for the The United Nations Foundations COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for The World Health Organization. During the livestream, you'll be able to donate in real time by using the DONATE button on the top right-hand side of the screen. Google.org, Google's charitable arm, will match all donations two to one, up to five million bucks. You can tune in starting this Friday, April 24 at 6 p.m. ET via Post's YouTube channel. Meanwhile, you can also hear Malone sing with Ozzy Osbourne on their collaborative song, "Take What You Want." Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Partners from New Jersey, New York and Connecticut can once again accompany expectant mothers into labor and delivery rooms in the St. Lukes University Health Network. The network confirmed the visitor policy change Wednesday, based on new guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. St. Lukes had been prohibiting visitors from those states under a policy that took effect March 30, as part of efforts to halt the spread of the coronavirus illness. As of Wednesday, the CDC on its travel advisory page no longer singles out states as COVID-19 hotspots. Warren County freeholders opposed the visitation ban on behalf of residents scheduled to deliver babies during the coronavirus pandemic at hospitals across the river in the Lehigh Valley. St. Lukes spokesman Sam Kennedy said the new policy was adopted prior to the freeholders resolution calling for the ban to be overturned. That resolution, championed by Freeholder James Kern III and approved April 8, labeled the ban particularly discriminatory against Warren County couples, as neither hospital in Warren County offers maternity services, leaving expectant parents no choice but to use medical facilities outside of the county. Lehigh Valley Health Network continues to prohibit visitors from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut from visiting its labor and delivery/mother-baby units. We are continuing the visitation restrictions we announced earlier for labor and delivery and mother/baby patients and all of our other visitation restrictions for the safety of our patients, our community and our caregivers, LVHN spokesman Brian Downs said Wednesday. We continue to discuss the topic and will notify the community when the restrictions are lifted. There is no timetable for that at the moment. Warren County as of Wednesday reported 708 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 50 deaths. Between Northampton and Lehigh counties, 126 new coronavirus cases were reported Wednesday, bringing their total to 3,965 confirmed cases with 44 deaths in Northampton County and 49 dead in Lehigh County. Statewide, there were 1,156 new coronavirus cases reported across Pennsylvania on Wednesday, bringing the total number of cases to 35,684 with 58 new deaths pushing the toll to 1,622. The coronavirus death toll in New Jersey increased Wednesday to 5,063 residents, with 95,865 total cases statewide, as officials announced another 314 deaths and 3,551 positive tests. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. 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. For more information on the coronavirus, consult your state health department at health.pa.gov or covid19.nj.gov and the website of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover or a personal story you want to share. LOUISVILLE, Ky. The day after Easter, Meghan Harpole was breathing 52 times a minute. A hot shower hadnt helped the cough that seized her body in such a violent tear that she threw up. Harpole, an assistant nurse manager, had endured the coronavirus for more than two weeks. Surely, the worst was over. Her symptoms started March 26. The next day, she told her boss at an emergency room that her arms were heavy and she felt exhausted. Initially, shed had a fever and not much else. Days three to 11 were a blur of high fevers, vomiting, diarrhea and such savage coughing that she crawled on the floor one night and asked her 13-year-old son, Gentry, to beat on her back. She was choking on her own phlegm. My body hurt so bad, it felt like my bones were breaking, she said. Harpole, 43, was so dehydrated from vomiting that an emergency room nurse a former co-worker came to her home to hook up an IV. She clipped a portable pulse/oxygen monitor to her finger. It dipped to 91 but never below. Meghan Beckley, an assistant nurse manager, tested positive for COVID-19. Harpole sobbed on FaceTime with her brothers wife, Jackie Beckley. The pair had been best friends since Harpole was 16. Beckley thought Harpole seemed lifeless, her skin gray. She had a defeated look in her eyes. Nursing friends checked on Harpole at all hours. They encouraged the power yoga enthusiast to do headstands, so the infection would drain to the top of her lungs and she could cough it out. I thought I was going to die, she said. Gentry showed signs of the virus, too: low-grade fever, sore throat, body aches. She called his pediatrician. It was too risky to bring him in for a test. He might infect other children. He likely had the virus, too, so hed need to quarantine. Gentrys symptoms didnt worsen the way Harpoles had. Her own symptoms seemed to ease. Shed done everything she could to stay out of the hospital. Shes a single mom. No one could take care of Gentry if she lay in a hospital bed. Harpole signed legal papers with the state health department for court-ordered quarantine. Story continues Friends and family added grocery items to their Kroger Click Lists, dropped off meals on the front steps and at the end of the sidewalk. They called every day. Beckley and her daughter wrote uplifting messages in sidewalk chalk outside their front door. Harpole improved so much that she stopped checking her oxygen levels at home. She even did some yoga. But by Easter weekend, the cough returned, mercilessly. Gentry urged her to check her oxygen level. She clipped the pulse/oxygen monitor to her finger. She couldnt believe what she saw. No, she said to herself. 87% is hypoxic. Not enough oxygen in the body. Meghan Harpole and her son, Gentry, 13, battled coronavirus. All of a sudden, I started seeing the patients I take care of and the patients on the news, she said. They go in and get intubated. Oh my God, this is it. I may not make it. I may be on a ventilator. I may not be able to see my son for weeks. She walked into the living room and told Gentry she had to go to the hospital. You know I love you, she told him. Youre the best thing thats ever happened to me. And youre the best part of my story. So I just need you to be real brave right now and know in your heart that everything is going to be OK. He wasnt crying but looked at her with a puzzled, wide-eyed look. Mom, just promise me youre going to be OK, she heard him say. Staying Apart, Together: A newsletter about how to cope with the coronavirus pandemic Sign up here to get Staying Apart, Together twice a week in your inboxes. She promised she would do everything she could. Gentry got tears in his eyes. What he didnt tell her was that he was worried she might die. And that if she was dying, he wasnt sure someone would bring him to see her. He could tell she was scared but didnt let on. They hugged and kissed goodbye, and as soon as Harpole shut the front door, she sobbed. I cant imagine being 13 and thinking my only person may die, she said. I just cant. She called Beckley to let her know. They had a plan if Harpole was put on a ventilator. People would sign up to sit in the driveway so Gentry could see them from the front door every day until she got home. I realized the limitations I had and the support I could actually give, Beckley said. You know, its strange. Normally, you can hold someones hand. You can take them to the hospital, and you could give that support. "But youre on the phone, talking. Or youre looking at each other through FaceTime. And youre just numb. You dont know what to think or do. Youre helpless. Harpole called her boss in the emergency department to let her know she was coming. Nurses inserted an IV, ordered a chest X-ray and a breathing treatment and put her on oxygen. Harpoles levels rose. Gentry called every half hour. The first time, he was elated she could still talk. But he worried what the X-ray might show. We have lived in this city our entire lives, she told him. "We have lots of people that love us. And everything is going to work out. I promise you. Youve got to believe we are loved, that youre going to be taken care of and the people here who love me are going to take care of me. Were going to get through this. The X-ray showed pneumonia in a small part of her lung. When people come in like this, they stay, Harpole heard the doctor say. Things can go bad. If she stayed, no one could take care of her son. He was positive for the virus, too. And he was alone. Harpole stayed in the emergency room for five hours. The doctor agreed to let her go home but warned her she might be back. She went home with oxygen, breathing treatments and antibiotics. Harpole called Gentry from the car to let him know she was on her way home. When she got in the door, he held her tight. Shes very important, Gentry said. Everything. Harpole set an alarm on her phone. For the first 24 hours, she checked her oxygen level every 30 minutes. I was too scared not to, she said. I didnt want to leave my son a motherless child. Harpole has been tested five times for the virus. Four have come back positive. Shes waiting for the results of the fifth. Shes lost 16 pounds and has just started to eat again. Gentrys symptoms have dissipated. As a nurse for 21 years in emergency rooms in nine states, Harpole never once worried about protecting herself until the virus. Im actually scared of the long-term effects, she said. Am I going to have asthma? Am I going to have problems breathing? Am I going to have a low immune system? No one knows enough about the virus to know the long-term effects of what this has done to me. Harpole is eager to get back to nursing. She will when shes well. Shes resting and following her doctors orders. This week, she felt well enough to argue with her teenage son about how many days it had been since he took a shower and how long hed been playing his Xbox. In fact, Harpole feels better than she has in weeks. But shes not taking any chances. Follow Kristina Goetz on Twitter: kgoetz@courierjournal.com This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Coronavirus: Nurse with COVID-19, a single mom, thought she was dying CLEVELAND, Ohio Go to the calculator function on your phone and get ready ... magician Dan White, appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, has a trick in which you can participate from home, and its pretty impressive. In synch A teenager in the United Kingdom has become a hit on TikTok thanks to a short video he posted of himself performing a synchronized dance with his 76-year-old grandmother. Lewis Leigh, 18, tells ABCs Good Morning America" he has been dropping off groceries for his grandmother, who is avoiding going out because of the COVID-19 coronavirus. He managed to teach her a few dance moves from a safe distance, then got their performance on a video that has been viewed more than 4 million times. Everyone just saying its a wholesome video, Lewis tells GMA." Its upsetting because my grandmother lives on her own so the highlight of her week is when my family and I visit. Sweet serenade Sweet moment as utility worker Albert Jones serenades Barbara for her 94th birthday from a safe distance at her retirement community! https://t.co/xMJ9PfJfGN pic.twitter.com/kC6U1GDIyi ABC News (@ABC) April 22, 2020 Albert Jones, a utility worker in Winter Park, Florida, took time to sing Happy Birthday to a 94-year-old woman outside an assisted living facility. Not-so-impressive trick In this TikTok video, a medical worker pulls off an impressive trick ... well, until the end. Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda shows off his songwriting skills by quickly whipping up a tune about Conan OBriens mundane day. When John Hemming first arrived in 1971 in the Amazonian state of Rondonia in Brazil, at the lower end of the Tapajos River, it was just weeks after the local Surui people had initiated their first contact with the outside world. Hemming, the English explorer and co-author of a seminal 1973 account, "The Tribes of the Amazon Basin," says he found communities of hunters living in small clearings amid the rainforest. "They wouldn't let people into their village to see their women," he recalled. But the guardians were unable to prevent the arrival of outside illnesses. "Every single tribe in Brazil, sooner or later, has been hit by a disease they are not able to withstand," says Hemming, whose most recent book, "People of the Rainforest," charts the earlier exploration of the similarly remote Xingu territory by the Villas Boas brothers from Sao Paulo in the 1940s. Full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak Soon after that expedition encountered previously uncontacted peoples, an influenza outbreak wiped out roughly a fifth of the area's 1,500 indigenous people, before measles devastated them two or three years later. Image: John Hemming has been visting the tribes of the Amazon since the 1970's. This image was originally published in his book, Experts and advocates for remote aboriginal communities not just in Brazil, but also elsewhere around the world, say they fear that geographic remoteness, an inability to socially isolate and poor access to health care might mean the COVID-19 pandemic could further imperil the existence of groups that survived earlier outbreaks. Image: Indigenous health workers (Conselho Terena Archives) "The threat of COVID-19 in the Amazon to indigenous peoples and the peoples in isolation is a very real threat of possible ethnocide," says Leila Salazar-Lopez, the executive director of the advocacy group Amazon Watch. "There are no adequate hospitals and resources available to treat the people or even provide emergency canoes or helicopters." She points out that in the past few weeks, the reported infection numbers in Brazil's Amazonian states have grown exponentially, with several deaths recorded inside indigenous settlements, although none yet to her knowledge in the more remote villages. Story continues This latest existential threat has once again prompted communities to barricade the entranceways to their lands an attempt to prevent the spread of this disease. But Salazar-Lopez says there are those who are "taking advantage of the situation" by continuing with activities that the Brazilian government of Jair Bolsonaro has done little to prevent, such as illegal logging and mining. Download the NBC News app for full coverage and alerts about the coronavirus outbreak The number of outsiders entering indigenous territory in Brazil has significantly escalated in the past couple of years, says Dr. Douglas Rodrigues, who heads the Xingu Project at the Federal University of Sao Paulo's Department of Preventive Medicine and has devoted the past 20 years to the medical health of indigenous groups in Brazil. "These illegal invaders are vectors for the introduction of COVID-19," he says. "The history of the colonization of Brazil is full of episodes in which contagious diseases, especially viral diseases, caused great mortality and even the extinction of several indigenous peoples," he adds, saying he anticipates epidemics inside indigenous villages. "Once again, due to their vulnerability, the Indians in Brazil may suffer disproportionately the consequences of the pandemic." But Rodrigues and other medical experts say it is not necessarily a particular immunological vulnerability that increases the risk to such communities, in which members suffer from far higher-than-average rates of tuberculosis, diabetes and arterial hypertension. Instead it comes down to medical comorbidities; close interpersonal interactions corresponding to communal living arrangements; external factors, such as a loss of habitat and resources leading to poor nutrition; and limited access to health care, according to Luis Sigal, an immunobiologist at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. Sigal studies the behavior of viruses, including influenza and Ebola, at a molecular level and says there is not yet enough information about COVID-19 to clearly identify whether the immune systems of particular ethnicities are more susceptible than those of others to this coronavirus variant, nor why they might prove to be. "While some hidden genetic differences could partially explain some of the differences," he says, "this is very difficult to disentangle from environmental factors." The mortality statistics corresponding to earlier outbreaks among the region's native groups are sobering. In the remote forests of Paraguay throughout much of the 1970s, bands of hunter-gatherers known as the Northern Ache made their first contacts with the outside world. Within two years of those contact events, 38 percent of the known population had perished from respiratory diseases contracted from outsiders, says Ana Magdalena Hurtado Arenas, a professor of global health, human origins and evolutionary public health at Arizona State University. Over the past four decades, she has spent long periods of time with indigenous groups in Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela and Panama, examining mortality rates and immune systems. Roughly 10 years after the Aches' first contact, Hurtado recorded that 18 percent of the population contracted tuberculosis from a single "super spreader" from 1987 to 1992. The frightening epidemiological encounter prepared her for a visit later to the hard-to-access Amazon basin region of Peru, and specifically a remote site inhabited by the Machiguenga people. Image: A health worker makes masks in Brazil (Conselho Terena Archives) "When we got there, it was scary, because everybody was sick. All the adults were basically in bed with coughs, fever. It was a very horrific respiratory illness," she remembers. A member of another group, the Yora, had traversed a mountain range and arrived in the area after coming into contact with some oil workers. He had unwittingly carried with him a respiratory pathogen that affected the airways of those it infected. "It was one of the scariest things I've ever experienced, seeing an entire population of adults possibly dying," Hurtado says. She requested an airdrop of injectable penicillin from the Peruvian government agency responsible for indigenous settlements, via a missionary plane, but she says her request was denied. "'Nature will take its course, we shouldn't be interfering,'" she remembers being told. "There's a long history in Latin America, in indigenous groups, of being decimated by respiratory epidemics," Hurtado says. "That's what usually kills them, what usually pushes them to extinction." But the coronavirus menaces similar groups on many other continents, too, according to Fiona Watson, advocacy and research director at Survival International, a nongovernmental organization devoted to the protection of indigenous rights. She cites the example of India, where tribal communities have been "dumped in appalling resettlement camps" following their eviction from ancestral lands that have turned into designated tiger reserves. The poor sanitation and inability to self-isolate at these camps mean the people are "sitting targets for diseases like COVID-19," she says. Galina Angarova, who belongs to the Buryat indigenous people from the Lake Baikal region in Russian Siberia, is the executive director of another long-established advocacy group, Cultural Survival. She says that, beyond the grim potential of large-scale mortality, one of her major fears is that if this virus that seems to afflict the elderly does reach isolated groups, it could have a devastating and lasting impact on the world's cultural heritage, too. "A lot of communities will be simply obliterated," she says tribal leaders around the world have told her, and they have expressed particular concern for older generations, treasured as the repositories of a group's traditional knowledge and information. "They are our walking libraries, our encyclopedia, and if that's lost, we're losing part of our history." Following a meeting yesterday of the national cabinet, Prime Minister Scott Morrison touted a limited easing of restrictions put in place when the coronavirus pandemic hit Australia in February as another step on the road out out of the current crisis. The national cabinet, composed of state and territory leaders and the federal government, has in recent weeks spearheaded a push for an end to lockdown measures, which have been denounced by sections of big business as an impediment to their profit-making activities. After its meeting last Thursday, Morrison declared that all restrictions would be reviewed in four weeks time. Speaking to the media yesterday, Morrison reiterated May 11 as the date for such a review. He did announce, however, that level two and some level three elective surgeries and medical procedures would be resumed beginning next week. This is particularly aimed at ensuring a continued flow of revenue to private hospitals and medical facilities, which account for almost half of health coverage across the country after decades of cuts to the public system. Private hospitals have already been the recipient of an effective government bailout, forecast to cost at least $1.3 billion. Earlier this month the government announced a plan to integrate the private and public systems because of low capacity in public hospitals. The measure provides hundreds of millions of dollars to private facilities, without in any way impinging on their profit imperatives. Despite the relatively modest character of yesterdays announcement, Morrison declared that it was an important decision because it marks another step on the way back. There is a road back. That the national cabinet did not announce a more drastic easing of restrictions may be due to ongoing indications of community transmission of the virus, despite claims that the curve of infections has been flattened. The possibility of rapid COVID-19 outbreaks was underscored by the emergence of a cluster of cases in Tasmania over the past week-and-a-half that resulted in the closure of two hospitals and the quarantining of 1,200 health workers. At least 72 medical staff and 23 patients were infected. Countries previously touted as models to be emulated, such as Singapore, have witnessed a large spike in cases after removing restrictions on the basis that infection rates had declined. State and federal governments are doubtless fearful that an aggressive, enforced return-to-work will produce widespread opposition. Already there is substantial ferment among construction workers and teachers, who have been forced to stay on the job by governments and the trade unions, despite the risks to their health. Polls over the past week have shown that at least half the population thinks it is too soon to relax the lockdown measures. There is also a debate within the ruling elite on how best to advance its interests. This week, more than 250 economists, including former Reserve Bank and Treasury officials, issued an open letter warning that it would be a mistake to expect a premature loosening of restrictions to be beneficial to the economy and jobs, given the rapid rate of contagion. Other sections of the political establishment, however, are pressing for a rapid return to work, whatever the costs to the lives and health of workers. Their views were crudely summed up by University of New South Wales economist Gigi Foster, who declared on the Australian Broadcasting Corporations Q&A program last Monday that it would have been better if no lockdown measures had been imposed, even if this had resulted in a very extreme epidemic. Foster also promoted the discredited herd immunity strategy, under which governments deliberately allow mass coronavirus infections. This program, which is not supported by any scientific or medical evidence, has resulted in mass deaths in Britain. Other financial commentators have published articles proclaiming that the cost to business of the lockdown measures has been too great, even when weighed against the thousands of deaths that otherwise may have occurred. As it is, the push for a return to work appears to be proceeding at this stage primarily through the easing of restrictions at a state level. Yesterday morning, New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced that face-to-face teaching would resume on May 11, with students initially attending school one day a week. Berejiklian invoked the dubious claim that school students are less likely to contract and transmit COVID-19 than others. She declared that the staged character of the reopening would mean that only a quarter of students would be on a school campus at any one time. The premier did not attempt to explain why such limitations would be necessary, if, as she has asserted, the risk of the virus spreading at schools is low. In reality, one of the largest clusters of the virus in New Zealand emerged at a school in Auckland earlier this month. Prior to the conclusion of term one in Australia, a number of schools in NSW and South Australia were forced to close after infections were detected. The reason for the urgency to reopen the schools is that it is viewed as essential to forcing workers back onto the job. The May 11 date for NSW schools reopening is significant, coinciding with the end of Victorias state of emergency, and the national review of lockdown measures. This indicates that behind the scenes, plans for an easing of restrictions are more advanced than has publicly been acknowledged. The content of these discussions was hinted at by Western Australian Labor health minister Roger Cooke. In declaring that his government was preparing to roll back restrictions and that the hospital system was ready for an outbreak, Cooke reiterated that the national strategy was not for the elimination of coronavirus, but its suppression. Attempting to eradicate COVID-19, Cooke said, would set you up for 12 months or 18 months of complete isolation, and I think ultimately we want the Western Australian community and economy to be much more open in relation to that. Instead the virus should be kept at a controllable level, so that measures could be taken to rejuvenate the economy. The primary concern of governments and the corporate elites they represent is now economic growth, by ensuring the profits of big business and the banks. To that end, state and federal governments have rolled out stimulus measures, transferring hundreds of billions to the largest corporations, while doing virtually nothing for the record number of workers who have been left unemployed. The ruling class views the current crisis as an opportunity to impose a further pro-business restructuring of workplaces, centred on the destruction of conditions and surplus positions. To that end, editorials and comments in the financial press, including todays Australian, have urged governments to act on the opportunity presented by the pandemic. The implications were underscored by Virgin Australias announcement yesterday that it had entered into voluntary administration. The move imperils the jobs of over 16,000 workers at the airline, which will be restructured to make it more attractive to private equity firms and potential shareholders. Federal government representatives, who resisted calls for a bailout of Virgin, have declared that the announcement does not mark the end of the airline, but will result in it being more efficient and sustainable, code words for it being transformed into a more profitable enterprise through ruthless cost-cutting. Australia Post yesterday announced a major overhaul of its operations, including the reduction of metropolitan letter delivery services from daily to every second day, an extension of delivery times for intrastate letters and the abolition of the priority mail letter product. The company has not yet announced any sackings, but the statements of its executives, who have described the move as the largest restructuring in its history, signify that retrenchments are on the agenda. IMA to go for strike on Aug 8 to protest against NMC Bill Dignity of doctors non-negotiable, Modi govt is committed to your safety says Shah IMA calls for white-alert, urges doctors to light candles in protest against attacks India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Apr 22: The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has demanded the Centre bring in a law on urgent basis to protect medical professionals from attack on duty, amid rising incidents of violence against healthcare workers on the frontline of the fight against COVID-19. Calling for a nation-wide 'White Alert', the IMA has asked doctors and hospitals across the country to light candles on Wednesday as a protest against such attacks. Delhi: Doctors on COVID-19 duty at 2 city hospitals to be accommodated at Lalit Hotel "Light a candle with white coat. White Alert is only a warning," the IMA said in a letter addressed to its doctors and hospitals. "The Covid-19 has only made us acutely aware of our helplessness against mindless abuse and violence. Stigma and social boycott are everywhere. Harassment by administration is nothing but violence by the state. "Our legitimate needs for safe workplaces have to be met," it said in the letter to all State Presidents and Secretaries, Local branch Presidents and Secretaries and all National office-bearers along with past National Presidents and Past HSGs. The doctors' body also warned that they will observe 'Black Day' if no action is taken by the government and doctors in the country will work with black badges on April 23. Further decisions will be taken if suitable steps are not taken by the government even after Black Day, the IMA said. "The IMA has maintained utmost restraint and patience in spite of extreme provocations. Doctors have been abused, beaten up, denied entry and residence. Obstruction to cremation is the last straw that IMA can bear." "If dignity is denied even in death, our patience and restraint lose their value," it said. "We demand a special central law against violence on doctors, nurses, health care workers and hospitals by an ordinance," the doctors' body said in their letter. Several incidents of violence against medical professionals have been reported from different parts of the country during the coronavirus outbreak. No relaxations, lockdown to continue as it is in Karnataka In a poignant incident in Chennai, an orthopaedic surgeon had to bury his associate, a neurosurgeon who died of COVID-19, in the middle of the night using his bare hands and a shovel at a crematorium with the help of just two hospital wardboys after the undertakers fled when a mob, protesting the internment, attacked them. Their opposition was due to a misconception that the contagion may spread in their neighbourhood if the body is buried there. The windscreens of the ambulance, in which the body of the 55-year-old neurosurgeon was brought to the crematorium on Sunday night, were smashed. PHILADELPHIA, April 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rittenhouse Realty Advisors sold an 8,970 square foot development site located at 701 S. Broad Street in Center City, Philadelphia. The property was approved for 60 apartment units and was eligible for a 10-year tax abatement. The parcel has frontage on three streets: Broad Street, Bainbridge Street, and Kenilworth Street. Ken Wellar, Managing Director at RRA, stated: We were able to close a 60 unit development site during the middle of COVID-19 in the heart of Center City, Philadelphia. We are still seeing a lot of activity from developers looking for prime development opportunities. The site is located on Philadelphias Avenue of the Arts where many cultural institutions including the Kimmel Center and the Academy of Music are located. There is a subway stop for the Broad Street Line just two minutes away. It is also within walking distance to major area employers including Jefferson University Hospital and Pennsylvania Hospital. "This is an great sale for RRA given the current environment we are in. With the excellent location we were able to sell the long-term upside in the project to the buyer," said Corey Lonberger, Managing Partner at RRA. For more information on current rates or to view our available listings visit www.RittenhouseRealty.com. Based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Rittenhouse Realty Advisors is a real estate advisory firm with an extensive focus in the brokerage of multi-family communities throughout the northeast region of the United States. Formed in February 2013 by a group of advisors with more than 30 years of commercial investment sales experience, our focus is on multi-family and mixed-use properties with significant residential components. www.RittenhouseRealty.com Press Contact: Corey Lonberger and Ken Wellar Managing Partners 215-454-2852 A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c76d871c-dca8-4546-ad5b-228b31745dc5 More than a month after the no-sail order from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the cruise industry is continuing slow progress towards a halt in operations in the face of coronavirus. A few cruise ships have guests on board, and others are still hosting crew members, some of whom are facing difficult conditions, including time on board without pay. "All ships within the CLIA fleet have completed their itineraries. A few are still at port awaiting debarkation of passengers," Bari Golin-Blaugrund, senior director of strategic communications for Cruise Lines International Association, told USA TODAY on Wednesday. 34 crew members positive for COVID-19 on docked Costa Atlantica In a statement, Costa Cruises said told USA TODAY that 34 crew members on board the docked ship Costa Atlantica have tested positive for coronavirus. The Italian-flagged Costa Atlantica has been docked in Nagasaki, Japan, for repairs and maintenance by Mitsubishi Heavy Industry since Jan. 29. No passengers have been on board during the repair work. There are 632 people on board of 33 nationalities, according to the cruise line. More than 30 crew members from Italian-flagged Costa Atlantica have tested positive for coronavirus. The ship has been docked in Japan for repairs since the end of January. "We have already upgraded the precautionary and containment measures including, but not limited to, quarantine on board, following the instructions from the Japanese government and the relevant health authorities," Costa Cruises said in the statement. The outbreak surfaced Tuesday when the first crew member, identified only as a foreign national, tested positive for the virus. None of those infected had serious symptoms, and all are isolated in single rooms on the ship, officials said. Mitsubishi officials said no crew members had left the ship since mid-March. Before then, crew members had been allowed to come and go from ship to shore if they passed temperature checks and had not traveled recently to high-risk countries such as China and Italy. "We have been constantly monitoring the health of our colleagues on board during the ships' stay in Japan," the cruise line said. Story continues 'Inherently high-risk setting': Are cruise ships unsafe and will they change? Nagasaki officials are investigating how and where the crew members contracted the virus. The outbreak on the ship adds to concerns about testing and hospital capacity in Nagasaki, where only 102 beds are available. All of Japan is under a coronavirus state of emergency as cases rise. Japan has about 11,500 cases of infection, with 280 deaths. Those numbers are separate from an earlier outbreak on another cruise ship, carrying more than 3,700 passengers and crew, where 712 people were infected. Costa Deliziosa docks in Genoa, lets some passengers off The Costa Deliziosa cruise ship docked in Genoa, Italy, on Wednesday. Another Costa ship docked Wednesday, in Genoa, Italy, after wind conditions prevented a scheduled entrance into port on Tuesday evening, spokesman Roger Frizzell told USA TODAY. It is the final Carnival Corp. ship with guests still on board to return to port. "Following the onboard inspections, carried out by the local health authorities, disembarking operations for the return home of the 1,519 guests on board the ship have begun," Costa Cruises said Wednesday. "Transportation to the various destinations of origin have been organized by the company directly from the Maritime Station in Genoa." Passenger disembarkation will take place over the next several days. Costa Deliziosa departed on a four-month-long "Around the World" cruise on Jan. 5, before the World Health Organization declared coronavirus a global health emergency on Jan. 30 and long before the agency upgraded the virus to a pandemic on March 11. Since then, the ship has only stopped for fuel and supplies. The ship was originally scheduled to disembark on April 26 in Venice, Italy. Three months in: A timeline of how COVID-19 has unfolded in the US As of Wednesday, Costa Cruises maintained there were no cases of COVID-19, Frizzell said. "The health situation on board, where in addition to guests, there are also 898 crew members, does not present any public health concern and no registered cases of COVID-19," the line said in the statement. A 75-year-old Italian passenger died on board because of a heart attack on April 6. "The company while presenting its heartfelt condolences to the guests relatives, is taking steps to provide the necessary assistance to them," Costa said in the statement. "The disembarkation and translation of the body for reunification with his loved ones will take place from Genoa, the final destination of the cruise, following the instructions of the relevant authorities." Remaining Pacific Princess passengers have disembarked in Los Angeles The Pacific Princess docked at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, California, on Monday. On Tuesday, all remaining passengers on Princess Cruises' Pacific Princess disembarked, said Negin Kamali, a spokesperson for Princess Cruises. Pacific Princess returned to Los Angeles on Monday with 119 passengers who remained after most were disembarked in Fremantle, Australia, on March 21. There were no COVID-19 cases on board. "Of the 119 passengers who remained onboard, 109 were deemed, under IATA medical clearance guidelines, to be medically unfit to undertake a long-haul flight back to the United States from Australia," the line said in a statement to USA TODAY. Pacific Princess departed from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Jan. 5 for a 112-day World Cruise. After the cruise line's March 12 announcement that it would cease operations for 60 days, the ship made only two service calls. 'Inherently high-risk setting': Are cruise ships unsafe and will they change? Diamond Princess, Grand Princess: Cruise line had high rates of illness even before coronavirus Contributing: Associated Press This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: COVID-19: 34 Costa Atlantica cruise ship crew members test positive Its going to be a new normal for us, said Michael Schepp, owner of Helix Wine and Bites, a restaurant in Grand Forks, N.D., where public health officials have traced at least 128 positive cases of the virus to a wind power plant. Earlier this week, the plant, called LM Wind Power, which is owned by G.E., closed for what it said would be at least two weeks so it could be disinfected. Along with a university and a hospital system, the plant is one of the biggest employers in Grand Forks. The outbreak was another blow for business owners like Mr. Schepp, who had been scrambling to figure out how the restaurant could reopen its dining room. As a city we were in really good shape leading up to that, but it shows you how quickly this thing can change, he said. Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota, a Republican, has called for a reopening of the economy on May 1. Mr. Schepp hopes that by then he can allow a limited number of patrons in his dining room. But he said he is not sure exactly how that would work. In the meantime, he has been serving wine by the glass and cocktails to-go. Were going to have to reinvent the restaurant industry, he said. In Madison, Neb., residents are bracing for a broader spread of the virus after six cases were reported at a Tyson plant on Sunday. The plant is the biggest workplace around, with Madison residents and commuters among its employees. Some local businesses such as Burrito King, a beloved restaurant, have closed completely. In the community of about 2,400 residents, volunteers have donated floral bouquets and cupcakes to nursing home residents who no longer can receive visitors because of the virus threat, and the fire department has offered to drive by, sirens blaring, the homes of children celebrating birthdays. Reliance Industries, Jio Platforms and Facebook, Inc. (Facebook) yesterday announced the signing of binding agreements for an investment of Rs 43,574 crore by Facebook into Jio Platforms. This investment by Facebook values Jio Platforms at Rs 4.62 lakh crore pre-money enterprise value ($65.95 billion, assuming a conversion rate of 70 to a US Dollar). Facebook's investment will translate into a 9.99% equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 21 April 2020. Shares of RIL fell 0.67% to settle at Rs 1,236.05 yesterday, 21 April 2020. Jio Platforms, a wholly-owned subsidiary of RIL, is a next-generation technology company building a Digital Society for India by bringing together Jio's leading digital apps, digital ecosystems and India's number 1 high speed connectivity platform under one umbrella. Reliance Jio Infocomm, which provides connectivity platform to over 388 million subscribers, will continue to be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jio Platforms. The partnership between Facebook and Jio is unprecedented in many ways. This is the largest investment for a minority stake by a technology company anywhere in the world and the largest FDI in the technology sector in India. Jio's vision is to enable a Digital India for 1.3 billion Indians and Indian businesses, especially small merchants, micro-businesses and farmers. Jio has brought transformational changes in the Indian digital services space and propelled India on the path towards becoming a global technology leader and among the leading digital economies in the world. Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, the synergy between Jio and Facebook will help realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Digital India' Mission with its two ambitious goals - 'Ease of Living' and 'Ease of Doing Business' - for every single category of Indian people without exception. RIL is India's largest private sector company. RIL's activities span hydrocarbon exploration and production, petroleum refining and marketing, petrochemicals, retail and digital services. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Enabling predictable formal verification in the industry through Axiomise training London, UK--(Newsfile Corp. - April 22, 2020) - Axiomise announced that they would be partnering with Mentor, a Siemens business, to help take Axiomise formal verification training to a broader pool of customers in the industry. Axiomise is a formal verification training, consulting & services company based in London, UK. It is enabling design verification engineers and architects in the use of formal verification through a unique combination of training, consulting, services, and specialized solutions such as RISC-V ISA formal proof kit, launched in June 2019. Axiomise's formal verification training has already been deployed in the industry for a few years. Axiomise founder & CEO Dr. Ashish Darbari has trained over 150 engineers across some of the biggest names in the industry. Mentor is one of the best-known names in the EDA industry, with some of the top semiconductor companies using their formal verification tools, including the Questa platform. Mentor's learning services division offers training in a range of disciplines through a combination of in-person, online, and on-demand courses. Although Mentor has previously provided training in formal verification tools, this is the first time it will be offering methodology specific, problem-solving based hands-on training using Axiomise as their training provider. "We are pleased to welcome Axiomise as a partner in the Mentor Learning Services program," said Jim Meikle, director of Global Learning Services - Development & Delivery for Mentor, a Siemens business. "Offered by industry expert Dr. Darbari, Axiomise's formal verification methodology training is a great addition to our rich suite of functional verification course portfolios. This training will help promote the use of formal verification tools by educating users on how to approach challenging verification problems. Theory combined with hands-on projects puts Axiomise's course in an outstanding position to address these problems." "We have been working with Mentor for many years and have deployed our formal verification training to their customers. We are addressing a critical methodology gap in the industry, where smart designers and verification engineers struggle to get the best out of their formal tools because they have not been exposed to the methodology. Providing predictable and scalable FV methodology is our core strength, and we would like to enable a bigger pool of Mentor's customers through this engagement," said Dr. Darbari. To read about our successful customer stories, please check www.axiomise.com/testimonial. About Axiomise Axiomise offers cutting-edge, formal verification training, consulting, and services. Axiomise is dedicated to enabling formal through its unique combination of training, consulting, services, and specialized verification solutions such as RISC-V ISA formal proof kit. Axiomise was founded by Dr. Ashish Darbari, who has been passionately driving the adoption of formal methods in the last two decades. An active user of all formal technologies including theorem proving, model checking, and equivalence checking, Dr. Darbari has 24 U.S., UK and EU patents in the field of formal verification. Axiomise: Predictable Formal Verification. Engage with Axiomise at: Website: www.axiomise.com Email: marketing@axiomise.com Twitter: @axiomise LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/axiomise/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/axiomise Axiomise and the Axiomise logo are trademarks of Axiomise Limited, UK. Formal proof kit is a registered trademark of Axiomise Limited, UK. Note: A list of relevant Siemens trademarks can be found here. Media Contact Information Dr. Ashish Darbari ashish.darbari@axiomise.com Related Images enabling-formal-verification-for.png Enabling Formal Verification for all Design Verification Axiomise Vision To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/54771 A judge Tuesday found sufficient evidence to hold accused serial killer Homer Jackson on charges in two murder cases but found the presumption of guilt wasnt strong tying him to two other murders. Multnomah County Circuit Judge Michael A. Greenlick denied Jacksons release in the deaths of a 14-year-old Angela Anderson and 29-year-old Lawauna Triplet. He set bail for Jackson in the killings of 19-year-old Tonja Harry and 29-year-old Latanga Watts, 29, at a total of $500,000. Jackson, 60, has been in custody since his high-profile arrest in 2015. The judge directed Jacksons lawyers to file a separate petition to pursue their argument that Jackson should be released because hes at high risk of contracting the coronavirus in jail due to his age and frail health. Jackson appeared by video from Multnomah Countys Inverness Jail. The lawyers and judge were in court and wore protective masks for most of the hearing. While prosecutors continued to argue a so-called what are the odds theory that Jacksons DNA was found at the scene of at least three, if not four, of the crime scenes, Greenlick dismissed that as inappropriate. Its highly dangerous to try criminal cases on that sort of theory, the judge said. Greenlick said he considered the evidence from each of the killings on their own because hes already ordered that the state must prosecute Jackson separately for each of the four cases and that evidence from one wont be allowed in the trial of another. Prosecutors are appealing that ruling to the Oregon Supreme Court. The judge found the presumption of guilt against Jackson is strong for the alleged killings of Anderson, found on Sept. 22, 1983, in a vacant house on Northeast Going Street, and Triplet, found on June 15, 1993, near a pedestrian overpass at North Going Street and Concord Avenue. But he said he couldnt come to the same conclusion for the killing of Harry, discovered on July 9, 1983, partially submerged in a slough that borders West Delta Park, or Watts, found on March 18, 1987, in an empty lot near North Concord Avenue and Going Court. All four women are African American and worked as prostitutes in North and Northeast Portland. At least three of the four died of asphyxiation from strangulation; a fourth appeared to have drowned but had a ligature mark on her neck. While Chief Deputy District Attorney Kirsten Snowden argued in court that Jacksons DNA was found on all four victims bodies, Jacksons defense lawyers quickly pointed out that wasnt true. Theyre really stretching, defense lawyer Gregory Scholl argued at closing. Thats not what happened at all. His DNA was found at the scene of three places where homicides occurred, and a sample that couldnt be excluded of his (at a fourth scene). Thats totally different than saying his DNA was found on four victims. In Andersons case, the 14-year-olds body was found face down on the attic floor of a vacant home at 416 N.E. Going St. that was being put up for sale. Two Kool brand cigarettes were found near the stairwell on that floor: DNA on one matched the DNA profile of Jackson; the other of Anderson, according to crime lab reports. Jacksons left thumbprint also was found on a hatch of a closet access door on that floor, not far from where one of Andersons socks lay, which the judge found relevant. Defense lawyers argued that the presence of Jacksons DNA in the home didnt suggest he killed Anderson. They noted there were at least two unidentified male DNA profiles at the crime scene as well: one on a cord found around her neck and used to choke her, and one on the sock she wore. Another mans fingerprint was found on a windowsill on the same floor as well, according to police and crime lab reports. Though the judge found sufficient evidence tying Jackson to the Triplet case, the judge described his decision as a close call. The key evidence tying Jackson to Triplet is a minor DNA male profile of Jacksons found on a swab taken of a bite mark to Triplets right nipple, according to case evidence. Defense lawyers argued that another mans semen was found in Triplets underwear. In Harrys killing, Jacksons partial DNA couldnt be excluded from a section of a broken belt found near her body, but thats not the same as saying there was a DNA match, defense lawyers said. Further, a paper towel found in a field that Harry is presumed to have run through to get away from her attacker contains another mans semen and pubic hair, according to police and case evidence. Prosecutors and Portland cold case Detective James Lawrence argued that the paper towel was found too far from Harrys body. In Watts case, while Jacksons DNA was found in scrapings from the fingernails on her left hand, DNA from many other unidentified people was found underneath the fingernails of her right hand and on her scarf near her body. Defense lawyers identified by name the numerous other suspects considered in each of the womens deaths. Lawrence said several were dismissed as suspects when they passed polygraphs. Defense lawyers responded that none of those polygraphs were reviewed recently, nor was there a review of standards in place for lie detector tests in the 1980s. -- Maxine Bernstein Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212 Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian Subscribe to Facebook page Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Coronavirus in Oregon: Latest news | Live map tracker |Text alerts | Newsletter ALBANY A day after announcing New York would reopen its economy on a regional basis, but without providing a timetable, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Wednesday warned that the shutdown is "not going to be over anytime soon." "This is no time to act stupidly, period," he said during Wednesday's daily briefing on the state's response to the coronavirus crisis. "I get the pressure; I get the politics. We cant make a bad decision and we cant be stupid about it. ... I know people want out. I also know more people will die if we are not smart." As the governor gave his briefing, hundreds of protesters, most in cars, clogged streets around the Capitol demanding he reopen businesses, especially in upstate regions not as hard-hit by the pandemic. "Were not going to have people lose their life because we acted imprudently," Cuomo said. "Im not going to do that and Im not going to allow the state to do that. ... If you look at any of the facts, the 1918 flu, they're talking about it now, there can be waves to this. ... If youre not ready for the second wave, thats the wave thats going to knock you down. Still, Cuomo said he's not ready to order that schools will remain closed through the end of the school year in June. His current statewide shutdown order is scheduled to last through May 15. "To say were not going to open businesses until June Im not there yet," Cuomo said. "Lets get the data and then well make a determination. ... Opening schools is very difficult." Cuomo said it's possible that schools in upstate regions could reopen sooner, but not without protocols to disinfect buildings and equipment, and to ensure that students engage in social distancing on school grounds. The governor said former New York City mayor and presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg, whose companies endured shutting down and reopening in China and Europe, will oversee the coordination of a massive tracing system that will include New York City and its suburbs, as well as New Jersey and Connecticut. Bloomberg will donate $10 million to the effort, which will be done with oversight from Johns Hopkins University, Cuomo said. The tracing plan will include enlisting roughly 35,000 medical students from state universities and the City University of New York to help track individuals who may have had contact with an infected person. As the governor gave his briefing, hundreds of protesters, most in cars, clogged streets around the Capitol demanding he reopen businesses, especially in upstate regions not as hard-hit by the pandemic. "Were not going to have people lose their life because we acted imprudently," Cuomo said. "Im not going to do that and Im not going to allow the state to do that. ... If you look at any of the facts, the 1918 flu, they're talking about it now, there can be waves to this. ... If youre not ready for the second wave, thats the wave thats going to knock you down." The governor, in response to questions about the protesters outside, suggested they could get jobs as essential workers. "We get the economic anxiety and the question is how do you respond to it without causing more people to die," he said. "Go take a job as an essential worker; do it tomorrow. ... There are people hiring. So now you can go to work and be an essential worker and youre not going to kill anyone." Tens of thousands of people have waited weeks for unemployment benefits, many struggling to complete an arduous process that was exacerbated by the state Department of Labor's overwhelmed system. Cuomo on Wednesday brushed those issues aside, and his administration has touted a major overhaul to the online system, call centers and application process that is hastening the distribution of benefits. But when he suggested that waiting period is now a lag of only "a couple of days," state Sen. Michael Gianaris, the chamber's deputy majority leader, tweeted that the wait for many is a "lot longer." Gianaris wrote that Cuomo's remark was "tone deaf." Armenia has to make the right judgments in this situation and not let anyone take advantage of this situation and generate anti-Russian moods. This is what deputy of the Prosperous Armenia Party Arman Abovyan told reporters today, touching upon the statement that Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Sergey Lavrov made yesterday. In response to a journalist who said perhaps its not appropriate for Armenia to make a statement since it says it is making adjustments, Abovyan said the following: Its hard to give an evaluation because our political party isnt part of the negotiations over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, but there is public demand, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that it has nothing to hide and has been open with the public. If it is open with the public, then it has to clearly state that Armenia isnt negotiating over a phased approach to the settlement of the conflict. According to the MP, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs dont have the mandate to compel or oblige, and even if consultations are held, they are held to discuss a certain issue. The Jacksonville District 117 school board is scheduled to meet in regular session at 7 p.m. today via teleconference. To join the meeting online, go to the RingCentral link (ringcentr.al/2XTONGJ) for the meeting and enter password 62650117. To join the meeting by phone, call 1-720-902-7700 and enter password 571626. Dozens of Russian communists defied Moscow's social distancing measures on Wednesday (April 22) by marching across Red Square to lay flowers outside Vladimir Lenin's tomb. The ritual marked 150 years since the birth of the Bolshevik leader... and was led by the head of Russia's Communist Party during Moscow's fourth week of lockdown. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) LEADER OF RUSSIAN COMMUNIST PARTY, GENNADIY ZYUGANOV, SAYING: "Under his (Lenin's) rule the best institutions were founded, now they help us fight all sorts of diseases. The Soviets defeated plague and cholera. When Moscow was hit with black smallpox in 1959, think about it, Moscow overcame it in 21 days, without any lockdowns and panic and vaccinated 6.1 million people in two weeks in Moscow alone. And now they can not even produce enough masks in three months." Some Russian regions have experienced shortages of protective gear for medical workers but the country has still exported equipment to countries including the United States, Italy and Serbia. Muscovites are only allowed outside to buy food or medicine nearby, receive urgent medical treatment, walk the dog or take out the trash. But a policeman guarding Red Square told Reuters the communists had received special permission to stage the event. The Moscow police and the mayor's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. CHICAGO Gov. J.B. Pritzker slyly admitted that his administration had neither the expertise nor the supplies to make good on a promises to quickly increase new coronavirus testing in poor neighborhoods where African Americans are dying at an alarming rate. When asked Monday why daily coronavirus testing decreased in recent days despite his pledge to boost testing, Pritzker explained it was due to gubernatorial optimism. As things turn out, Pritzker told reporters, it takes more than fancy Abbott Lab machines to test people for coronavirus. You need the machine and all the items it takes to get the specimen into the machine and, of course, to take the specimen, he said. My optimism about testing has been that we have been able to obtain quantities I wouldnt call them an abundance but we have been able to obtain more quantities of each of those items. And we have those, and then you have to distribute those to everyone who needs those and make sure theyre running tests. Just when I began to wonder why Pritzkers optimism makes him sound like a guy who had no idea what hes talking about, the governor kept talking and confirmed my fears. So all of that is a process that has really, never before been run by the state of Illinois. Thats usually run by commercial labs or individual hospitals, Pritzker said. But now were having to get them all up and running and reporting and making sure we can collect all the data and make sure we are getting as many tests done as possible. That is my optimism about it. Apparently realizing that he didnt answer the question, Pritzker restated the query and verbally shrugged. When you ask, When will we see substantial changes? My staff knows that Ive been pushing, pushing, pushing that all these sites are doing as much testing as possible and we got those tests run, he said. My hope is I dont want to promise any time frame that we will see thousands more than you are seeing now. Story continues News conferences during a pandemic do not allow loud reporters to shout important follow-up questions such as: What are you talking about, governor? And, Why did a deputy governor put together a testing strategy that relies on a state public health department thats never done this kind of thing before rather than pushing commercial labs, universities and hospitals that know what theyre doing to get the job done? Also, Will you admit that this plan was rolled out to grab optimistic headlines before it was realistic? Chicago Patch offers a different take on the city. Sign up for news alerts and the daily newsletter. Because the testing numbers dont lie. According to the state public health department, Illinois coronavirus-testing system produced 5,040 results Monday. Public health experts will tell you that the bulk of those tests are ordered by doctors and processed by hospitals, universities and commercial labs including Quest and LabCorp, which have increased testing capacity in response to the pandemic. Monday's statewide testing total resulted in 826 fewer tests than the day before and 1,130 fewer people tested than on April 10, when Pritzker promised to test more black people living on Chicagos West and South Sides, according to the COVID Tracking Project. Those numbers, unlike Pritzkers political spin, dont appear very optimistic. When confronted with questions about why that is, Pritzkers go-to response has been to blame the federal government for his states testing struggles. On Monday, after President Donald Trump shot back at Pritzker for not "understanding" the states capacity to conduct COVID-19 testing, the governors press secretary responded with a tweet: We dont watch @realDonaldTrumps press conferences anymore because they are not a source of factual information. For those of you asking... We dont watch @realDonaldTrump'spress conferences anymore because they are not a source of factual information. #twill Jordan Abudayyeh (@JordanAbudayyeh) April 20, 2020 While the Pritzker administration seems to enjoy trading curt quips with Trump, the two are not dissimilar. Both are grandstanding, and the political blame game has become tiresome for Illinoisans who are now realizing that the governors news conferences also have resorted to selling the news media on optimism disguised as facts. The states COVID-19 testing numbers are just one problem with Pritzkers optimism-peddling promise that his administration claims will boost the states ability to track the spread of coronavirus cases. Public health experts say the most important aspect of coronavirus testing is collecting data vital for identifying COVID-19 hot spots, tracking and containing spreading and, eventually, deciding if there are regions where stay-at-home restrictions crippling the economy can be rolled back. Some community health centers Pritzker tapped to boost testing dont have the administrative capacity to efficiently report the results to public health officials every day as required by federal law. Even well-staffed centers with experience testing for infectious diseases and that are participating in Pritzkers testing system Howard Brown Health, for instance report testing results, including the age, race and location of infected patients, manually through a labor-intensive data-entry system. The state is helping us procure testing supplies, but whats involved is greater than testing supplies. Its infrastructure and capacity, and doing the reporting and administrative work. That infrastructure has more cost and complexity than just supplies, Howard Brown CEO David Munar said. Not every [community health care center] will be able to absorb those duties or responsibilities. When I asked state public health director Dr. Ngozi Ezike about that, she said hospitals and commercial labs tasked with conducting the tests will report the results to public health officials. Lab-reported test results, however, are typically limited to whether specimens they process are either positive or negative. Most labs dont report important demographic data that experts need to track the virus spread, and advise elected officials considering lifting social-distancing restrictions, experts say. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the citys public health department is concerned that some new testing sites fail to meet reporting mandates critical to the city's COVID-19 response. We need to have a much deeper testing capacity linked up to the public health system, and I emphasize that, Lightfoot said Monday. Weve seen some of testing go up around the city, and theyre doing these drive-bys. But theyre not keeping great records, and that information is not being fed up into the public system so we know real-time what the impact is. Thats absolutely critical, and were going to put some controls around that. Lightfoot won't come right out and say it, but rest assured those new drive-by locations are part of Pritzker's optimism-based testing plan that was unrealistic from the start. Mark Konkol, recipient of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting and Emmy-nominated producer, was a producer, writer and narrator for the "Chicagoland" docu-series on CNN. He was a consulting producer on the Showtime documentary, "16 Shots." More from Mark Konkol: This article originally appeared on the Chicago Patch On Wednesday morning, for the second straight day the Azadpur wholesale fruit and vegetable market (mandi) saw huge crowds of buyers, sellers and vehicles with zero regards to social distancing norms. The Delhi Government had on Monday decided to allow the largest fruit and vegetable market in Asia to function from 6 am to 10 pm and truck movement will be allowed in and out of the market will be allowed from 10 pm to 6 am. BCCL "We have set a new arrangement for Azadpur Mandi. It will remain open for 24 hours. From 6am to 10pm, vegetables and fruits will be sold like earlier. From 10 pm to 6 am, every four hours, the entry of 1,000 people will be allowed," Delhi Minister Gopal Rai on Monday told ANI. He said the decision has been taken to help farmers sell their products without any hassle and to minimise the prices of vegetables which have witnessed a hike due to lockdown. AFP But there is a growing concern that allowing such huge crowds to gather at one place amid the COVID-19 outbreak could turn out to be a public health crisis. This concern has been aggravated after a vegetable dealer there died of the COVID-19 infection on Tuesday. The 57-year-old dealer who was admitted to a private hospital with a fever on Friday died on Tuesday. He tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday. Following his death, two more COVID-19 cases linked to the Azadpur Mandi have surfaced, creating panic. AFP After the first COVID-19 death was reported from there a section of the traders at Azadpur Mandi have demanded that the government should shut the mandi for at least a week. "If the mandi is not shut down, then situation similar to Italy will be in Azadpur Mandi that there will be no place for people to bury," a vegetable seller told ANI. However, others feel that closing the market for long will have a devastating impact on the farmers across the country who sell their products there. It could also result in a shortage of essential goods in the national capital. BCCL The Delhi Government had allowed the fruit and vegetable market to function despite saying that there won't be any relaxation on the lockdown restrictions as the number of COVID-19 cases in the national capital are on the rise Till Wednesday morning, Delhi has recorded 2,156 COVID-19 positive cases, out of which 1,498 are still active, 611 have recovered and 47 have died. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A Christian organization launched a program Wednesday in West Brighton to bring help to some of Staten Islands underprivileged communities dealing with the coronavirus. World Vision will be providing emergency food kits, and supplies like hand sanitizer to families with school-aged children per day for the next three months, site manager Sandra Aguila-Rosa said. Were just trying to make this happen to make sure we can feed families," she said at the programs launch outside the New Hope Community Church on Alaska Street. About a weeks worth of meals for a family of five are being handed out to each recipient, Aguila-Rosa said. *** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK *** Caretta Webley and Takima Johnson both live in West Brighton with their children, and said the program is helping their families during the pandemic. I think its an amazing thing to do for the community. It helps those who really need it, Webley said. The international organization is partnering with Urban Hope and its president the Rev. David Beidel to reach out to families with children who may be in need. Beidel said the operation will also be providing supplies at the JCC Cornerstone Gerard Carter Center on Broad Street in Stapleton starting next week. World Vision has been a wonderful partner for all New York City churches, Beidel said. Theres a nice coalition of churches that work together with schools on the North Shore, so we have a great relationship with many of the principals and weve reached out to them. Beidels organization has also launched a phone app that provides information about where New Yorkers can turn for help during the pandemic. More information about the app is available here. The Customs administrations of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines joined forces in support of an operation mounted by the World Customs Organization (WCO) and INTERPOL targeting suspected transnational terrorist organizations and organized crime groups operating in the maritime border areas between the four nations. The Operation, code-named MAHARLIKA 3, was executed from 24 February to 20 March 2020. Customs administrations were specifically asked to strengthen enforcement efforts targeting the smuggling of precursor chemicals and components used in the manufacture of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), as well as bulk cash smuggling. The operational results from Operation MAHARLIKA 3 included: The arrest of a wanted person who is a suspected member of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG). The seizure of three firearms of various calibers and illegally assembled dynamite made of ammonium nitrate. The rescue of a total of 82 victims of human trafficking and the arrest of four human traffickers. The arrest of 182 suspects, mostly related to Immigration and Customs offences and the seizure of prohibited goods/substances with an estimated total value of EUR 902,000. Confiscation of almost 22 kg of Methamphetamine estimated to be worth EUR 247,000. Detection of 300,000 Malaysian Ringgit (EUR 62,771)of undeclared cash.. Cooperation at the national and international level between enforcement services is vital to achieving security outcomes. In concrete terms, cooperation means effective information exchange and well-coordinated joint operational activity. I am confident that strong relations between participants have been forged and that we can look forward to the further strengthening of counter-terrorism efforts in the future as a result, declared WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya. Operation MAHARLIKA 3 demonstrates the key role that Customs administrations play in security related matters and, more specifically, in tackling illicit cross-border movements of goods and illicit money that support terrorist organizations. Thai soldiers man a Stryker during a turnover ceremony of several infantry-fighting vehicles at the Thai Army Headquarters in Bangkok, Sept. 12, 2019. Thailand has suspended the purchase of military hardware from three countries to pool government money into battling the coronavirus pandemic, the Thai military said Wednesday. The procurement suspensions include two Chinese-built submarines, two South Korean-made jet trainers and army hardware from China and the United States, officials said. The move accorded with the governments directive for state agencies to save funds for the nations COVID-19 fight, officials said. In a broad view, seven units under the defense ministry slashed 18 billion baht (U.S. $555 million) from the budget, Col. Winthai Suwaree, the army spokesman, said Wednesday. Thats a relatively high slash compared to other ministries. Meanwhile, the Thai Navy said it had also placed on hold its plans to purchase two more S-26T submarines from China. The Thai government had earlier approved the purchase of three Chinese subs worth 36 billion baht (U.S. $1.1 billion). We put the purchase of the second and third submarines on hold, Navy spokesman Rear Adm. Prachachart Sirisawat told BenarNews on Wednesday. We delay it until we have money from fiscal year 2021. Bangkok had allocated 233 billion baht (U.S. $7.2 billion) for its security spending for fiscal year 2020, even though the International Monetary Fund had forecast that the growth rate for Southeast Asias second-biggest economy would slow to 3 percent this year. But the coronavirus pandemic struck, forcing Bangkok to impose a partial national lockdown to rein in potentially deadly infections from the virus. Thailand declared an emergency last month, giving the government enforcement powers not normally available to it, including deployment of military forces for enforcement of curfews and dispersing of gatherings. Governors of several provinces have also imposed controls on peoples movements. Thai health authorities on Wednesday reported 15 new coronavirus infections and one fatality, taking its cumulative cases to 2,826 with a death toll of 49. Stryker deal going ahead Winthai explained that military deals that require one-time payments could be scrapped, while procurements that would be paid over several fiscal years may be postponed in the meantime. He said the Armys planned 26 major projects, including procurement of new tanks, howitzers and radars had been discarded. Winthai said, however, that the purchase of a second lot of 50 units of refurbished Stryker infantry fighting vehicles from the United States would proceed as planned. This is in line with the category of tie-over purchase, he said, adding that the deal was worth 4.5 billion baht (U.S. $139 million), with payments tied over three fiscal years. The deal includes tactical training, spare parts, logistics and foreign education for Thai soldiers, he said. In July last year, the U.S. State Department approved the sale of 60 Strykers to Thailand in a deal worth $175 million, a Pentagon statement said. Shortly after, Thailand ordered 10 more, Thai military officials said. The United States froze $4.7 million of security-related aid and cancelled security agreements with Thailand in 2014, when Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, then the army chief, led a bloodless putsch that deposed Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Washingtons move was a consequence of the U.S. Foreign Assistance Act, a law that bars American security forces from cooperating with nations where an elected government has been toppled through a coup. But military ties improved after civilian rule was officially restored last year through the Thai general election, which critics said was engineered to keep Prayuth in power. Military acquisitions from China Prachachart, the Navy spokesman, said the construction of a submarine pier and its maintenance facilities were also delayed after the navy lost about 4.1 billion baht (U.S. $127 million) in budget cuts. The Thai junta approved the budget for the first submarine from China in January 2017 after putting the purchase on hold the previous year as a result of public criticism. Thailand recently completed a deal it struck with China for about 50 VT-4 main battle tanks, which were aimed at replacing the militarys Vietnam War-era M41 light tanks from the United States. Thailand received 10 VT-4 main battle tanks and 38 VN-1 armored personnel carriers, among other military equipment, from China in December last year. The military hardware arrived at a port in Chonburi province, southeast of Bangkok, officials told BenarNews. The battle tanks from Beijing were among weapons and vehicles ordered in 2016 by the Thai junta from NORINCO, Chinas defense corporation, Army officials said. The deal was worth about 7 billion baht (U.S. $216 million). Thailand took delivery of the defense equipment from Beijing as the United States ratcheted up its focus on incentivizing weapons exports to its allies under a new policy aimed at pulling countries under its sphere of influence through long-term arms deals, according to officials and analysts. As part of its program called Foreign Military Financing, Washington also provides some countries with grants and loans that can be used to purchase defense equipment from U.S. manufacturers. Those grants are separate from arms sales in which the importing country would use its own money to acquire the weapons. Thailand also planned to acquire from the United States eight Boeing AH-6i attack helicopters and related hardware in a deal worth $400 million. The U.S. State Department approved the sale on Sept. 24 last year. Air Chief Marshal Manat Wongwat told reporters on Wednesday that the Air Force also slashed its budget by more than 20 percent by halting the purchase of two T-50 advanced jets from South Korea. That deal was worth more than 2.4 billion baht (U.S. $74 million). Thailands Chamber of Commerce said seven million Thais lost their jobs as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Central bank officials had anticipated a negative growth, a GDP of -5.3 percent this year. Globally, more than 2.6 million infections from the coronavirus have been recorded while the death toll stood at more than 180,700 as of Wednesday, according to data compiled by disease experts at U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University. Even as Manitoba's coronavirus infection rate continues to improve, the province is steadfast in refusing to release its long-term projections of the pandemic's impact. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 21/4/2020 (630 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Even as Manitoba's coronavirus infection rate continues to improve, the province is steadfast in refusing to release its long-term projections of the pandemic's impact. It's a decision reiterated at Tuesday's health briefing that's in stark contrast to Ontario, which shared its latest projections Monday a move of transparency it said was necessary for the public to fully understand the challenges facing the government. "Providing this information is key to ensuring continued transparency with the public about the challenges that Ontario faces in dealing with COVID-19 and where there has been progress in flattening the curve," the COVID-19: Modelling and Potential Scenarios report released Monday said. The 18-page report showed Ontarians that public-health interventions resulted in the virus peaking now rather than in May, and included such information as the total number of cases for the span of the outbreak is now likely to be less than 20,000, compared to the 80,000 projected earlier. In Manitoba, that kind of modelling with potential scenarios has not been made public. For the last two weeks, government officials and chief provincial health officer Dr. Brent Roussin have indicated such projections would be made public in the coming days. Modelling and potential scenarios have been presented to the province but more data is needed before projections will be released to the public, said Roussin. "We want to be able to provide actual modelling numbers with Manitoba data," he said Tuesday when asked why a half-dozen provinces, including Saskatchewan with a similar pandemic experience to Manitoba, have made their projections public while Manitoba has not. The province's top doctor has told reporters more than once that Manitoba is six weeks behind other jurisdictions in the pandemic, and more information is needed to prepare good projections. "Just to do a calculation based on another jurisdiction and divide by our population doesn't really tell you much," Roussin said. "Those types of calculations don't really predict what we're going to see. Models are best made with Manitoba data and they're best made when you have enough data and then they're going to properly inform Manitobans," he said. Roussin reported one new Manitoba case Tuesday, for a total of 255, with 150 recovered. There are seven patients in hospital, including four in ICU. He said mathematical and epidemiological modellers still don't have enough data for good modelling and couldn't say how much would be enough. "I don't have a number that I could quote that would trigger a good model," he said. Premier Brian Pallister dismissed Ontario releasing its models and projections in the name of transparency. He pointed to an early model released by Ontario on April 6 that projected anywhere from 3,000 to 15,000 deaths in that province. "One could argue that's transparency. I would argue that's conjecture," said Pallister. His press conferences and the daily COVID-19 media briefings with Roussin and Shared Health nursing chief Lanette Siragusa are "transparency," the premier said. "Every pertinent question about the facts is being answered by me, by Dr. Roussin, by Ms. Siragusa and others," he said. "The facts are what they are. The projections are a conjectured guess of where we might be in the future," and "they're all over the map, all over the world." The premier said releasing Manitoba's projections is up to Roussin, and he is not involved in what information the doctor shares. "It would be false to state that this somehow was a lack of transparency, rather this is a willingness to be transparent and to be careful about being accurate about the numbers we give you." Canada's former top doctor says each jurisdiction will have its own reasons for sharing information or not, and what is shared. "There can be many reasons," said Dr. David Butler-Jones who led the Public Health Agency of Canada for 10 years from 2004 to 2014 as it dealt with a number of outbreaks. The reliability of the model and assumptions can make it less useful, Butler-Jones said from Ottawa, adding he wasn't aware of Manitoba's position. He said it sounds like the province's modelling efforts weren't as helpful as officials might have hoped. "Other jurisdictions with smaller numbers have had similar challenges," he said. Even with tons of good data, models are not a crystal ball for predicting the future. Stay informed The latest updates on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 delivered to your inbox every weeknight. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. "None of the modelling is predictive, but only lays out theoretical what ifs to help guide planning on different options," he said. "So far, all have pointed to the value of measures taken so far compared to what might have happened if the virus was left unchecked." As it stands, Manitoba has a low number of new cases an average of less than two a day over the last nine days and a low proportion of people testing positive. If the province can remain vigilant and prevent an outbreak from occurring, it's in pretty good shape, Roussin indicated. "We're not seeing the propagation of the virus right now," he said Tuesday. The "R-value" the reproductive rate of the virus has gone from 2.5 or 2.6 to close to one, he said. The R-value is a viruss basic reproductive number an epidemiologic metric used to describe the contagiousness of infectious agents. It's a theoretical number based on the average number of people who would be infected by a single case in a susceptible population. It needs to decrease to below one for social-distancing measures to be lifted, he said. "Ideally, we'd look at one incubation period of 14 days and possibly up to 18 days of these numbers to tell us we're in a stable environment." carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca Some residents of the Kpone Municipality have expressed disappointment in the lifting of the partial lockdown imposed on parts of the country by the President. They said Ghana was at a critical stage in the fight against COVID-19, therefore, the lifting of the restriction on movement could derail the progress made so far. They explained that areas which were locked down could have remained in isolation from the rest of the country to test if the case count had stabilized. In a random survey conducted by the Ghana News Agency, the residents said they did not understand why the government of Ghana would impose restriction of movement in some parts of the country when the number of positive cases were few, and went ahead to lift the restriction when the numbers had upsurged to 1,042 within three weeks. They added that, even when there was a lockdown in Accra, Kasoa and Kumasi and their environs, people were still moving about and people who had the disease were escaping from isolation centres. They said there could be people living with the disease but might be asymptomatic and those persons could end up spreading the virus to other people in buses, markets and other places. They indicated it was difficult to find a. Sale point for nose masks, gloves and other protective equipment were not to protect themselves from the coronavirus in the Municipality. The government should have extended the restriction for two more weeks because there might be people with the virus who would be moving about freely infecting other people with it, Mr Andy Sackitey said. If the government will issue a ban when the cases were few, why will they lift the ban when the cases are on the rise, it is not that one could see the virus on the face of an affected person to stay away from that person and these affected persons would be in the same buses with us and at the markets spreading the disease Mr Reynold Frempong said. However, some residents said, the decision by the President was in the right direction because government had the statistics and would not take a decision that would harm the population. The President is working in the best interest of the citizens as he has put out measures in place to contain the disease, whether the disease would spread high or low depends on the behavior of the citizens, Mr Jonathan Nartey stated. The GNA observed that social distancing were not being practiced as most of the residents were seated in groups chatting without nose masks and other protective gear. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video : She lost her son to the coronavirus but the 85-year-old woman won her own battle against the dreaded virus in Anantapuramu district of Andhra Pradesh. The oldest COVID-19 victim in the state, she was discharged from the district virus hospital here yesterday, Collector Gandham Chandrudu told PTI on Wednesday. It was her son who first contracted the coronavirus from a relative who returned from Mecca. He was the first virus patient to die in Anantapuramu district on April 4. The woman, her grandson (the deceased's son) and their driver tested positive on April 5 and were admitted to the district hospital. She was, however, diagnosed to be "asymptomatic." Two other people from their locality in Hindupur town also tested positive and all five were admitted to the district hospital. "Though she was asymptomatic, she was admitted to the district COVID hospital because of her age and condition. We conducted two consecutive tests in a 24-hour interval and they turned negative and, accordingly, she was discharged on April 21," Chandrudu said, adding, she was "hale and hearty." Her grandson, driver and the two others were also discharged from hospital. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Gov. Andrew Cuomo is undoubtedly having a moment. The governor has quickly become a widely trusted voice of reason amid the COVID-19 outbreak especially compared to President Donald Trump, who continues to disregard the advice of public health experts. Even so, the flood of fawning coverage of Cuomo has become so over the top that we fear the governors head may soon get so swollen it explodes. Here are just a few examples of the governors glorification in the press: Randy Rainbows Andy! music video On April 6, comedian and YouTube performer Randy Rainbows released his new music video about his newfound love for the governor, parodying Greases hit song Sandy. All of that would have been forgivable had Rainbows not introduced the world to the term Cuomosexual. The Spirits 'America's Governor' Steps Up The Spirit, a local New York City newspaper with a focus on Manhattans Upper West Side, called Cuomo Americas Governor in a glowing review of his leadership that was published on March 23. The article commends Cuomos pragmatic leadership and argues that his actions will help improve and even save peoples lives. He has prompted the whole nation especially his New York constituents watching via cable news coverage of his press briefings, to applaud his can-do spirit and resoluteness, the paper declares. New York Posts New York women are coronavirus crushing on Andrew Cuomo: Is he single? The New York Post, aware of Cuomos growing sex appeal, spoke to several New York women about how the governor has captured their attention. Most of the women interviewed said that the governors concerns about his family and his ability to soothe their anxiety are what has attracted them to Cuomo. Plus, he looks good in a suit. Hes decisive, calming, gets things done and hes drop-dead gorgeous, WFAN sportscaster Suzyn Waldman told the Post. Everybody always looks for someone who will say, Its going to be OK. Rolling Stones May cover, Andrew Takes Charge The Q&A between Cuomo and journalist Mark Binelli reveals little about the governor but does reflect what Binelli praises him for most: his ability to communicate and distribute vital data. Binellis questions for the governor were also relatively easy and revolved around the current coronavirus crisis, what he learned from his father, the former governor of New York.The article also mentioned complaints about his gubernatorial record, mainly that hes known to be a bit of a bully and micromanager without acknowledging some of his biggest gaffes as governor. The debasement of standards in the Trump era has made even minimal gestures of statesmanship appear positively Churchillian, of course, and so the mere fact that Cuomo relies on data and scientific opinion and has the ability to display human empathy can feel disproportionately soothing, Binelli writes. Jezebels Help, I Think I'm In Love With Andrew Cuomo??? Rebecca Fishbein wrote a post for the feminist blog Jezebel detailing her newfound pseudo-attraction to the governor the result of watching his daily press briefs and living alone. He loves me. He is the only one who is here for me. He will help me get through this, Fishbein writes. And when I finally do, I will need an endless amount of anti-brainwash therapy so I can rightfully yell at him for using prison labor to make hand sanitizer. While Fishbein stated that she is not actually a fan of Cuomos, its very possible that she may have escalated romantic interest in Cuomo across the country something she has expressed remorse over. In an unusual turn of events, Cuomo, according to another Fishbein blog post, called her up soon after her first piece was published. The conversation between the two was friendly and devoid of flirtation Fishbein says, we cant judge for ourselves because she didnt actually quote much from it. Ben Smiths Andrew Cuomo Is the Control Freak We Need Right Now column in The New York Times. At the beginning of the states COVID-19 outbreak, the piece that arguably started Cuomomania was Times media columnist Ben Smiths glowing review of the governors management skills throughout the crisis thus far. Cuomos micromanaging tendencies and proclivity for bullying have often been criticized, but Smith argued that these are the qualities that have allowed him to be the kind of leader required to navigate this disaster. The governors great strength has always been his capacity to bend the bureaucracy to his will, and he has done that in recent days: pushing to get tests running in state labs, nudging the mayor to shut schools, coordinating a tristate shutdown of most commerce. Smith writes. However, Smith provided some balance when he wrote another story for the Times, questioning why the American public is so trusting of Cuomo and his brother CNN anchor Chris Cuomo. GREENPORT, NY Students brightened the day of hundreds of front line health care workers waging the battle against the new coronavirus. On Friday afternoon, David Gamberg, superintendent of Greenport and Southold Union Free School Districts, delivered several hundred letters to Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital. Each letter was addressed personally to each one member of the hospitals staff, and they were all written by students of Greenport and Southold schools. Gamberg, along with Ryan Case, director of educational technology at the Greenport UFSD, delivered the letters. With schools closed due to coronavirus until at least May 15, the project was part of an initiative implemented by both school districts to encourage students to engage in non-screen time community service activities over spring break, district officials said. Courtesy Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital. During these trying times, it is so touching to receive such powerful words of encouragement from our local youth, Paul J. Connor, chief administrative officer of SBELIH said. Many thanks to Mr. Gamberg for spearheading this heartwarming initiative. For more information about how to help SBELIH and the Eastern Long Island Hospital Foundation in the fight against COVID-19, call (631) 477-5164 or email elih_donations@stonybrookmedicine.edu. Courtesy Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital. This article originally appeared on the North Fork Patch SAN FRANCISCO When the coronavirus crisis hit, the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank supplied 275 food pantries across two counties. A week later, 100 of them had shut their doors. They turned to volunteers to drive food to people sheltering in place, especially seniors. Then the food banks vice president for supply chain, Barbara Abbott, got a call from Amazon. Seema Ramchandani works on the company's disaster relief team and had helped the food bank get overstock food from nearby Amazon warehouses and Whole Foods stores. Tell me what you're doing that's new, and tell me how Amazon may be able to help, Ramchandani told Abbott. Food banks are facing unprecedented need just as shelter in place orders have kept the hungry from coming in to pick up groceries. Since mid-March, Amazon has been quietly working with food banks in seven cities to make use of its formidable logistics network to pick up and deliver boxes and bags of food straight to the doorsteps of people in need. In San Francisco, the pilot program began April 1 when the food bank created an encrypted list of 9,885 seniors who used to pick up their monthly food boxes at various sites but now needed to stay at home. Getting them their food was a job tailor-made for Amazon. "We specialize in ultra-fast delivery, and we're known for being able to scale," Ramchandani said dryly. The project started with a quick test at Seattle's Rainier Valley Food Bank before it was rolled out in San Francisco. San Francisco is now getting 10,000 boxes of shelf-stable food a month out to its seniors, with more to come. "Starting on Thursday we'll also be using them to send out 750 bags of fresh groceries a day. We've got volunteers packing them in a tent in our parking lot and the Amazon Flex drivers will take them to people who would have come to our fresh produce pantries but can't now," Abbott said. An Amazon Flex driver loads boxes of food at the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank. The company has partnered with food banks nationally to provide free delivery of food to people who must shelter in place during the COVID-19 emergency. Amazon Flex is a program the company launched in 2015. On-demand drivers sign up to work two- or four-hour shifts doing same-day package delivery using their own cars. In the cities where the food bank programs are underway, they can now sign up to do food bank runs instead. Story continues In San Francisco, volunteers had stepped up to deliver the bags, but of the 2,000 a day that should have been going out there was still a shortfall of 750 that Amazon filled. It's allowed us to scale right up. We were stuck at 1,200," Abbott said. The drivers come to the food bank, pick up a load of anywhere between five and 15 boxes or bags and drive them straight to the senior's doorstep. The cost is picked up entirely by Amazon. The company has faced criticism for not supporting its warehouse workers and others sufficiently during the COVID-19 crisis, a charge the company has denied. The contents of an emergency food box distributed by the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee in Nashville to people needing to self-quarantine during the COVID-19 emergency. COVID means food insecurity is up In Nashville, Tennessee, the demand at the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee has increased by 50%, said president Nancy Keil. Early on we started getting calls at the front desk from people who needed to self-isolate. We were hand-delivering them food. But it was clear we were going to need more," she said. Last week Amazon started off doing 70 deliveries a day. "This week we're just shy of 200. They tell us they'll be able to do up to 2,000 a week. That's a big number," she said. The boxes include shelf-stable food such as soup, macaroni and cheese, peanut butter, rice, tuna and beans. "When you open the box there's what you need to prepare a meal. So there's spaghetti noddles and spaghetti sauce. There's rice and there's chunk chicken," Keil said. It's meant to supplement a family's food for the month. Amazon expects its Flex drivers to deliver 6 million meals through the end of June. In Washington, D.C., drivers are picking up and delivering an average of 150 bags of groceries a day, a number that's expected to grow, said George Jones, executive director of Bread for the City, a food pantry in Washington. Our typical model was 90% of our people came to our community centers and picked up their groceries. Then the COVID crisis hit, he said. An ad hoc group of volunteers created mutual aid societies that delivered groceries to peoples homes, but the need was more than they could handle. Then I got a call from the folks at Amazon who were trying to figure out how to be a part of the solution, Jones said. Now about half of the pantrys food is delivered by the mutual aid societies and half by Amazon drivers. "The need is so pressing," Jones said. "I had three ladies show up today, one after the other. One was in a wheelchair. One was deaf and we communicated by writing notes." Volunteers at the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank fill bags of fruit and produce for people who are food insecure. The food bank has seen need increase during the COVID-19 emergency. The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank is using Amazon to get a week to a week and a half's worth of food to its senior clients, said president Michael Flood. They started delivering in late March. The 35-pound boxes include fruit, vegetables, dried beans, rice and other foods that are meant to be enough for 30 meals. We try to make it as well-rounded as possible, he said. California Governor Newsom said seniors should self-isolate and not go out, so we needed to figure out how we could get these food packages delivered to their homes, he said. Amazon is now delivering about 3,000 of the boxes a day. These are whats called no-contact deliveries. We dont want any personal interaction to keep everyone safe, he said. Amazon is ready to scale even further, said Bettina Stix, senior manager for Amazon disaster relief. "We can be in 25 cities as soon as they need us," she said. "Right now transportation is the missing link for people sheltering in place. We can do that. An Amazon Flex driver loading a box of food for delivery to a senior who must shelter in place due to COVID-19 in Los Angeles, at the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Amazon doing free deliveries for food banks amid coronavirus pandemic Amnesty International on Wednesday accused Facebook of "caving" to Vietnam's strict censorship regime, after the US tech giant confirmed it was blocking content deemed illegal by the country's communist government. Authorities regularly sentence domestic critics to harsh prison terms but have come under fire recently for targeting dissent on the world's most popular social network. Facebook is a popular platform for activists in Vietnam, where all independent media is banned, but the company confirmed in a statement to AFP that it had been instructed by Hanoi to restrict access to content "deemed to be illegal". "We have taken this action to ensure our services remain available and usable for millions of people in Vietnam, who rely on them every day," a spokesperson said. But Amnesty said the decision was "a devastating turning point for freedom of expression" in the country. "Ruthless suppression of freedom of expression is nothing new, but Facebook's shift in policy makes them complicit," said the rights watchdog's William Nee. More than 53 million people in Vietnam -- over half the population -- use Facebook. The platform is also a crucial marketing tool for local business. Domestic social media networks have so far failed to win a share of that lucrative online market. Since the beginning of the year, authorities have questioned hundreds of Facebook users over posts connected to the coronavirus pandemic and the government's handling of the health crisis. Several were slapped with fines and had their posts removed after admitting they had spread "fake news". The government introduced a new regulation this month that makes it easier for authorities to fine and jail online critics. Around 10 percent of Vietnam's current crop of political prisoners were jailed because of their activity on Facebook, Amnesty says. Gov. Phil Murphy and other top state officials will hold their daily briefing to discuss the coronavirus pandemic at 3 p.m. Wednesday in Trenton. The press conference will be streamed on the governors YouTube Channel. Murphy will be be joined at the Trenton War Memorial by Judith Persichilli, the state health commissioner; Dr. Christina Tan, state epidemiologist Dr. Christina Tan; and State Police Superintendent Colonel Patrick Callahan. The governors schedule includes two morning stops in hard-hit Essex and Bergen counties before arriving in Trenton. At 10:45 a.m. Murphy will tour East Orange General Hospital with other state and federal officials, including Lt. Gen. Todd T. Semonite of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Then at noon the group will be at Bergen New Bridge Medical Center in Paramus for a similar event. At least 4,753 in New Jersey have died of COVID-19 related causes since the states first death was announced March 10. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Kansas City Cleanliness Contd For germaphobes, the pandemic is just another day fighting off germs: "I already do this stuff" Kansas City, MO - Even before we were living in a pandemic, Kylee McAlister took germs seriously. Maybe too seriously, to those who would poke fun and snicker about her need for cleanliness. Now, she doesn't exactly call herself a 'germaphobe' but... her daily routine revolves around keeping germs away. KCI Traffic Trouble Persists KCI adjusts traffic pattern amid terminal construction KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The drive into the terminals at Kansas City International Airport will be changing next week. Beginning Tuesday, April 28, vehicles headed into the two terminals at the airport now travel in the same direction on International Circle into and out of terminals B and C, according to a news release from the Kansas City Aviation Department. Mayor Q Overshare??? KC mayor Quinton Lucas gave the world his cell number, and he only regrets it a little To the fine people of Kansas City: please stop texting the mayor invitations to smoke weed with him. And, yes. This is a thing that happens. Although, to be fair, Quinton Lucas should've known better than to post his personal cell phone number on Twitter, a very public website with more than 145 million daily users and more than 30,000 who follow him. Vegan Hotness Considered Love Island's India Reynolds poses NAKED for PETA She is an avid campaigner for veganism. And Love Island star India Reynolds has taken her work up a notch as she has taken a starring role in PETA's new project to urge people to adopt a vegan lifestyle. Polls Oppose Prez Trump Again Trump, facing sinking polls on pandemic, targets legal immigrants Never let a good crisis go to waste. President Trump is taking that approach, once popularized by Rahm Emanuel, in spades. By moving to freeze legal immigration -- and saying he's doing it to protect American jobs -- Trump is taking another dramatic step toward a base-first strategy to energize his supporters. Infighting Undermines Biden Internal Biden campaign rift opens over how to compete with Trump online Trump's digital presence is significantly larger than Biden's on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, a disadvantage that has made the discussions even more urgent. The Biden digital operation, which includes roughly 25 people, is also less than a quarter the size of the Trump campaign's 100 person-plus team. Food Fight Coming Soon??? Coronavirus pandemic 'will cause famine of biblical proportions' The world is facing widespread famine "of biblical proportions" because of the coronavirus pandemic, the chief of the UN's food relief agency has warned, with a short time to act before hundreds of millions starve. Deadly Mexican Drug Gangs Caught Helping Community Mexican president tells gangs to stop donating food and end crime instead Mexico's president chastised drug gangs on Monday, telling them to end violence instead of distributing food after several reports across the country in recent days showed armed narcos handing out care packages stamped with cartel logos. AOC Smacked Down Over Celebrating Oil Biz Hard Times Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez deletes tweet celebrating crash in oil prices: "You absolutely love to see it" New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez deleted a tweet she posted Monday cheering the unprecedented crash in oil prices resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. Ocasio-Cortez celebrated it as a positive for the environment and used it to promote her Green New Deal - but her critics pointed out that companies and employees are being burned by it. KC BBQ Vending Redux Kansas City Is Now Home to a BBQ Vending Machine Frank Norton stands underneath the white pergola that extends over the front of Jones Bar-B-Q, a black mask covering the lower half of his face. It's a bit before 5 p.m. He's facing a classic dilemma: "What's for dinner?" A few weeks ago, Norton would have been out of luck. Kansas City Frontline Comeback KC-based COVID Care Force team returns from NYC KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The first wave of doctors and nurses from the COVID Care Force has returned to the Kansas City area after spending several days in the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak. "We landed in New York City, not knowing what to expect," Dr. Gary Morsch, founder of Heart to Heart International and Docs Who Care, said. Local Weather Look Now Your Storm Track 5 Daily Forecast Today is a StormTrack5 Weather Alert Day. We are tracking a 60% chance for showers and a few thunderstorms today with a high in the middle 60s. Stay connected with Hottieis a longtime favorite of this blog and right now her newsworthy advocacy inspires a peek at pop culture, community news and info from aross the nationa and around the world . . .And so,is the song of the day and this is thefor right now . . . French fashion company Kering has given a cautious assessment of rebounding luxury sales in China following a "deep impact" for its flagship brand Gucci in the first quarter. Sales in mainland China turned positive in April for Kering, said its chief financial officer Jean-Marc Duplaix. He cited the repatriation of tourist spending as well as pent-up demand following the coronavirus lockdown as factors. The West Bengal government has assured the Centre that it will abide by all its orders related to the ongoing lockdown and assured full cooperation to the two visiting central teams assessing the ground situation in the state. In a letter to Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, West Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha said it was not a fact that the two Inter Ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs) have not been provided with any cooperation by the state government since he had two meetings with one team and also was in touch with the other. "This is to convey my highest assurances for the implementation of the orders of central government issued under the Disaster Management Act as well as the directions of the Honb'le Supreme Court," the state chief secretary told the union home secretary. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) O rder is returning; Order, Order. The House of Commons is meeting today for Prime Ministers Questions, its return an important signal that parliamentary democracy continues even (in fact, especially) in national crisis. For, as the Speaker, Lindsay Hoyle tells the Evening Standard today, there are difficult questions to be asked. The benefit of the doubt given to the Government in the early weeks of the pandemic is giving way to a legitimate probing of the promises made, and the problems in delivering them on PPE, care homes, testing, ventilator manufacture, small business loans, travellers stuck overseas, European co-operation and, indeed, cabinet co-operation. The line from ministers that I was only following scientific orders has been used to explain why Britain took longer than others to enter lockdown, and is now being used to explain why Britain remains in that lockdown; but it is not an excuse for avoiding proper scrutiny of the differing and changing medical opinions, nor of the trade-offs that our Government, like every other, is having to make between controlling the virus and allowing some form of society and economy to operate. The Prime Ministers absence from the helm as he, quite rightly, recuperates, may be an explanation for the drift at the centre of government but that too is not an excuse. The health of 60 million people cannot wait on the return to health of one person. Either Boris Johnson is well enough to lead, which we hope he is; or else the vacuum has to be filled by others. It is against this backdrop that the new Leader of the Opposition, Keir Starmer, takes part in his first PMQs. Much about this debut is unique: the chamber will be four-fifths empty; many of the MPs will be online; and the Prime Minister wont be there, his place filled by an acting prime minister (an important distinction from just a deputy). So Sir Keir will not have the stage to make a dramatic entrance, as David Cameron did when he told a flummoxed Tony Blair that he was the future once. He will instead have to start gingerly, erring on the side of constructive questions about the fight against the virus. House rules However, that does not mean that some long-established rules about Prime Ministers Questions do not apply to the Labour Leader. First, he must remember that these are not real questions and he shouldnt expect real answers. If our former director of public prosecutions thinks hes back in the courtroom, hell soon find that hes the one in the dock. It is instead a theatrical encounter between two people, one who has the top job and one who is auditioning for it. Many an opposition leader has come away from the encounters facing the questions. Second, just because it is theatre does not mean it is all in the performance. Like any actor you need good material. Prime Ministers Questions exposes fundamental weaknesses in a government or an opposition that no amount of fancy rhetoric and good humour can conceal. If Sir Keir doesnt address the stain of anti-Semitism in his own party, as hes made a very welcome commitment to do, then he will forever find himself exposed when he challenges the Prime Minister on how he runs his Government. Finally, Prime Ministers Questions is not a substitute for a general election. Unless Sir Keir take steps to address the shattered economic credibility of the Labour Party, then no amount of penetrating questions about the recession we are entering will hit home. We can anticipate many months, even years, of questions from Sir Keir about unemployment, public-sector pay, food banks and so on. They are all legitimate issues. But no opposition has ever been elected if it is not trusted to look after peoples money. Listen to The Leader: Coronavirus Daily podcast This will contribute to Uzbekistan's investment into its healthcare system, as part of the government's current reforms programme. To prevent the further spread of the virus, two new hospital complexes are being built in the Zangiota district of Tashkent. The facility is designed both to treat virus-infected residents and to house Uzbekistan citizens returning home from abroad who require quarantine. Each complex will be able to accommodate 5,000 patients. Construction is taking place on a campus with a total area of 68 hectares. Each complex consists of five separate buildings, designed for 1,000 people each. More than 4,000 workers and construction specialists and 400 units of various construction equipment and vehicles from the construction divisions of Enter Engineering and Uzbekistan Railways are employed at the two construction sites. Work on the project began in late March. A first unit, intended to house 1,000 people, is scheduled to open in early May, with the remaining elements to be completed a month later. The hospital complex will have separate rooms for medical personnel, intensive care units for patients in serious condition and special quarantine rooms, which will be connected to communication networks and utilities, and with surrounding infrastructure. Unlike facilities in other parts of the world, the Tashkent facility is intended to be a permanent infectious diseases hospital. It is being designed for a service life of at least 25 years. The project is 20 km from Tashkent's city center and can be reached by public transport and minibus. Shokhrukh Sattarov, CEO of Enter Engineering said: "Our long-standing business priority is to safeguard the interests of all our customers, partners, employees, their families, local communities and other stakeholders. We have over 20,000 employees, 80% of which are citizens of Uzbekistan, so we are acutely aware of the challenge that Uzbekistan, like so many other countries, faces in combating the scourge of the coronavirus. "We are very proud to be involved in this initiative to build such an important medical facility alongside Uzbekistan Railways. Our construction teams are working around the clock to deliver them on time and help stop the further spread of the coronavirus." While Enter Engineering has not been authorised to disclose the total cost of the huge project, Mr. Sattarov said Enter Engineering is participating on a "non-commercial, non-profit basis." Notes to editors Enter Engineering is a market leader in industrial construction in Uzbekistan and the Russian Federation with a global headcount of over 20,000 employees; and the with a global headcount of over 20,000 employees; Founded in 2012, Enter Engineering has been in the market of industrial construction for over seven years and implemented significant projects of various complexity in midstream and downstream stages; The Group has performed complex gas field developments, which include also construction of energy, infrastructure and civil facilities; and The majority of EPC Projects, production bases and primary offices of Enter Engineering are in Uzbekistan and Russia . The company also has representative offices in Singapore , the UAE, China , South Korea and the Czech Republic SOURCE Enter Engineering State-run banks have issued notices to mall owners over loan repayments, over fears that the accounts will be classified as non-performing assets (NPAs). Public sector banks (PSBs) have invoked contractual obligations under the lease rental discounting (LRD) facility for loan repayments, says a report by Business Standard. The lenders have asked mall owners to ask their tenants to transfer the rent for April into escrow accounts of the respective banks, the report added. Moneycontrol could not independently verify the story. The Shopping Centers Association of India (SCAI) said the move will force impact half of its members, forcing them to default on the payments. The defaults could result in NPAs worth over Rs 25,000 crore, said the report. The RBI had on March 27 announced a three-month moratorium on term loans whose instalments are due between March 1 and May 31. The move is intended to provide borrowers relief during the COVID-19 outbreak. This moratorium has not been extended to many mall owners, SCAI Chairman Amitabh Taneja said as per the report. "The industry will see huge NPAs if we don't get moratorium on our loans for anything between 9-12 months and loss of jobs in millions," Taneja said. The SCAI said many retailers have sent mall owners "force majeure" notices, declaring that they will be unable to pay rent. Many retailers are finding it difficult to pay their rent since malls and shopping centres have closed during the nationwide lockdown. As per one such letter attributed to in the report, a lender told a shopping centre that lease rentals are pledged to them and the mall tenants have even given consent letters. Banks have an exposure of around Rs 1 lakh crore to shopping centres and malls, the report said. About 75 percent of this amount involves repayments made through LRD or rental income. JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. You should upgrade or use an You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.You should upgrade or use an alternative browser Japanese officials said Wednesday that 33 crew members on a docked cruise ship tested positive for the coronavirus in one day of testing after the first case from the ship was reported. The Italian-operated Costa Atlantica has been docked in Nagasaki since late January for repairs and maintenance by Mitsubishi Heavy Industry. The ship carries 623 crew members, including a Japanese translator, but it was empty of passengers during the work. The outbreak surfaced Tuesday when the first crew member, identified only as a foreign national, tested positive for the virus. None of those infected had serious symptoms and all are isolated in single rooms on the ship, officials said. Mitsubishi officials said no crew members had left the ship since mid-March. Before then, crew members had been allowed to come and go from ship to shore if they passed temperature checks and had not recently traveled to high-risk countries such as China and Italy. Nagasaki officials are investigating how and where the crew members contracted the virus. The outbreak on the ship adds to concerns about testing and hospital capacity in Nagasaki, where only 102 beds are available. All of Japan is under a coronavirus state of emergency as cases rise in the world's oldest population and third-largest economy. Japan has about 11,500 cases of infection, with 280 deaths. Those numbers are separate from an earlier outbreak on another cruise ship carrying more than 3,700 passengers and crew, where 712 of them were infected. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Since the pandemic, it has been very disheartening to see fellow Africans being mistreated in China on the basis of their skin color. We have witnessed a number of them sleeping on the streets or being beaten by Chinese officials on the pretext that they are spreading COVID-19 in China. The irony is that this disease started in Wuhan in Hubei province of China, so its utterly preposterous for the same people to turn around and claim that its Africans who are causing a new wave of infections. READ ALSO: Senator Isaac Mwaura donates foodstuffs, sanitisers to elderly and persons with disabilities in Ruiru Africans evicted from hotels in China over coronavirus fears.Photo: BBC Source: Facebook However, these incidences have exposed the dire situation that our fellow Africans and Kenyans in the diaspora face, and the inherent racism in China itself. The govt response to this crisis has been very wanting with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) alleging that those affected are illegal immigrants. This is totally unacceptable owing to the fact that the abuses have been widespread, affecting people who have already paid their rent and with valid visas. How can one explain for example McDonalds outlets in Guangzhou issuing a directive that black people shouldnt be served, or justify the images of pregnant women sleeping in the streets? In any case how do we treat Chinese who are in Kenya illegally? Havent we witnessed recently some of them caning fellow Kenyans on our own soil? READ ALSO: Uhuru Kenyatta rules out adjusting curfew hours to allow Muslim community observe Ramadan Kenya's ambassador Sarah Serem. The embassy will evacuate coronavirus-free Kenyans stranded in China. Photo: Daily Nation. Source: UGC READ ALSO: Museveni scolds MPs for allocating themselves over KSh 282M in the name of fighting COVID-19 This crisis however brings to the fore the challenges that Kenyans in the diaspora face with MFA estimates that there are about 3 million of them. This is a huge number that illuminates the fact that diaspora remittances are now KSh 300 billion, surpassing both coffee and tea to become the number one foreign exchange earner. This loosely translates to an annual contribution of KSh 100,000 per person. The inadequate measures to cushion them during such crises and the utter disdain that MFA has displayed calls for urgent measures to ensure that their welfare is guaranteed. Discriminated in a foreign land and forsaken at home, diasporians are left to their own devices. Recently, I had deliberations with the officials of the Kenyans in Dubai Welfare Association (KEDWA), whose membership and welfare concerns covers more than 45,000 Kenyans living and working in the UAE. The challenges they face include; lack of an investment framework for their monies, poor pay, challenges of transporting of bodies back home upon death, lack African schools to teach Kenyan values, systems and the loss of the Kenyan heritage. READ ALSO: Coronavirus update: 7 more test positive, country's total count now stands at 303 Foreign Affairs CS Omamo said Kenya was in engagement with China over claims they were being mistreated. Photo: Kenya Defence Forces. Source: Facebook Source: Facebook READ ALSO: 77% of Kenyans prefer mandatory quarantine to paying fines for flouting COVID-19 directives Kenya Airways doesnt even have special rates for them, yet this can be a sure bet for an airline that is struggling to remain in the skies. The Kenyan diaspora has no voting rights and there is no proper regime for prisoner exchange programs. Basic things such as car importation upon return arent properly in place. There are also no proper protocols on how to handle serious crimes. Kenyans are on demand for their talents due to their hard work and dedication, yet they get poor pay, as result of low wages as negotiated by govt officials. There is therefore need for re-negotiation of working terms with various govts i.e in the Middle East, including favorable monthly remittances fees by global money transfer agencies. Financial support to the various associations by the embassies is necessary and should be factored in budget of the MFA. Further, pension schemes need to be put in place, both as investment and retirement facilities, in order to cushion Kenyans after many years of working abroad to retire in dignity. This can also act as a source of govt financing, through the issuance of a diaspora bond/bill. Its also true that we need a robust legislation on the Kenyan diaspora, including serious consideration for them to be represented in the National Assembly by at least 2 members. READ ALSO: President Donald Trump temporarily bans immigration to US amidst coronavirus pandemic Principal Secretary Kamau Macharia said it will be difficult to evacuate Kenyans stuck in foreign countries. Photo: The Standard Source: UGC READ ALSO:Uproar after video of African lady being denied entry into Chinese shop goes viral In conclusion, Africa must learn to fend for itself. The continent has experimented with the west, and what we got is racism and colonialism. Africa has now experimented with China, and what we are getting is racism, neo-colonialism and new odious debt. Yet when we start focusing internally, we discover that we can not only make simple things such as face masks, but also complex ones such as ventilators by our very own students at Kenyatta University, my alma mater. Africa will not be changed by a single election, but by a thousand changes in those small places that look insignificant, and by ordinary people who may never be celebrated. Their only recognition will be the sparkles dotting all over this great continent that will eventually light up in unison, in a moment of ubiquitous transformation. The moment we come to learn that its only us who have our best intentions, is the time Africa shall explore its full potential, to occupy its rightful place in the worlds pecking order. Africa must rise to reclaim its dignity. The writer is Honorable Isaac Mwaura, Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance and Budget. The views expressed in this opinion piece are hers and do not necessarily represent the position of TUKO Media Ltd in any way. We welcome writers, bloggers, photographers and all sorts of noise makers to become a part of our Blog network. Send your opinion, story or both to news@tuko.co.ke. Kenyans in China speak out on the discrimination of Africans by Chinese citizens | Tuko TV Source: TUKO.co.ke 267 Shares Share As most of America approaches the one-month mark since shelter-in-place orders began, there is increasing talk of plateauing and debate of strategies for resuming normal life. Unfortunately, we continue to find ourselves without a clear path out of this unprecedented pandemic. Now more than ever, in the setting of an infectious disease crisis, health care providers must be at the forefront to advocate for those most at risk of a premature/unsafe return to normality and to pursue a safe way back for all of us. A sense of independence and rugged self-determination has always defined the American psyche, and yet, when confronted with this crisis, we complied with these social distancing measures, valuing our neighbors lives over our own freedoms. But this precarious balance may be tipping as the number of unemployed rises, children and young adults unable to socialize with their friends grow more frustrated, and the general stresses of being confined to our homes accumulate. Technology may be one tool to hasten our recovery while still actively monitoring and tracking disease. Smartphones are used by 80 percent of the U.S. population and have built-in GPS and Bluetooth capabilities. Other democracies such as Taiwan and South Korea, have already used smartphone-based tracking capabilities with good success to monitor citizens on home quarantine as well as to identify potential contacts. Google and Apple have recently announced a collaboration to use Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth LE) from our smartphones to enhance contact tracing abilities of public health authorities. The interesting part of this project is that Bluetooth LE could allow our phones to perform digital contact tracing during our everyday activities. Bluetooth LE is a personal area network technology that allows smartphones to communicate with other smart devices in the vicinity, mostly without us even being aware. The Google/Apple project aims to utilize those communication records to identify what other devices (and their attached people) you have come into contact with. Take the example of Doug and Stacy. These two strangers sit down at opposite ends of a park bench to feed the pigeons and have a nice chat. Several days later, Doug begins to cough and is found to have COVID-19. Doug cannot remember the name of the nice lady who he chatted within the park, but the public health authorities use a program to access a list of the devices his smartphone has come into contact with using Bluetooth LE logs and notifies their owners, including Stacy. But of course, these capabilities do not come without potential risks. We see headlines of authoritarian governments using similar tracking technologies like facial recognition to track down dissidents. And we know that invasions of privacy happen in democracies just as well (see Edward Snowden and Cambridge Analytica). However, during this pandemic, we can clearly define beforehand what data will be shared, how it will be shared, and for how long the system will be in place. Physicians already know how to advocate for health interventions that infringe on personal freedom. When hearing about the measles outbreaks last year, what physician argued against mandatory vaccines for school participation? When treating active TB in the hospital, what physician would lightly discharge the patient without notifying the public health department and ensuring a plan for continued monitoring of that patient? Why wouldnt we give up our privacy for a short amount of time in order to save lives? Samuel Yang is a hospitalist. Jennifer Lee is a pediatric gastroenterologist. Juan Chaparro is an infectious disease physician. Image credit: Shutterstock.com A megachurch pastor in Louisiana who has defied stay-at-home orders intended to prevent the spread of the coronavirus by holding large worship services is facing criminal charges for driving a church bus backward toward a protester outside the church, authorities said Monday. Pastor Tony Spell has drawn nationwide attention for continuing to hold services attended by hundreds of people at his Life Tabernacle Church near Baton Rouge, despite facing six misdemeanor charges in March for violating orders from Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, D, that limited mass gatherings. REOPENING TEXAS: Governor Abbott names members of Strike Force to Reopen Texas Central Police Chief Roger Corcoran said police have a warrant for Spell's arrest. He is wanted on a charge of aggravated assault related to the bus incident, which took place Sunday. According to Corcoran, Spell was driving a bus and backed it up on the shoulder of the road, stopping the vehicle within a few feet of a protester. A parishioner is also facing charges for swerving his car toward a protester. No one was hurt in either incident. "He was trying to intimidate the protester," Corcoran said. He said police reviewed video of the incident, which local television outlets aired. Spell wrote in a text message that he would not surrender and that authorities would have to take him out of his church. A bus driver as well as a pastor, Spell said he had just finished dropping off church members before his encounter with the protester. "I approached a man who verbally assaulted my wife and little girls. He's a crotch-grabbing, middle-finger using against my church ladies," Spell wrote in a text message. "What would you do to a man like that?" Spell said that he has reported the protester to the police every day for 36 days but that police have not responded to his complaints. He said he stopped the bus "because it was a waste of time." "This is the proudest day of my life to be persecuted for the faith," he wrote in a text message. When asked whether he considered Sunday's incident to be an act of faith, he suggested he would block a Washington Post reporter on his phone. Corcoran said the lawyer representing Spell has been hospitalized with coronavirus symptoms, and a member of his congregation has died of complications from the virus. Spell's legal team also includes former Alabama chief justice Roy Moore. The vast majority of churches nationwide have stopped holding in-person services since state and federal guidelines have prevented mass gatherings. But some churches have continued to meet, with some gatherings exacerbating outbreaks in states across the country. RAIDING THE STIMULUS: Publicly traded firms get $300 million in small-business loans Spell's Life Tabernacle Church is a Pentecostal church that teaches in signs of the Holy Spirit, such as healing and speaking in tongues. He previously told The Post that his church could not easily transition to online services. "We're a Pentecostal denomination, and when we gather and pray, the Holy Ghost comes in the midst. There are healings, signs, wonders, some things done together in the church that can't be done in a live stream," he said. Spell has also directed his parishioners to donate their stimulus checks through his website to ministers, evangelists and missionaries. Corcoran said the church is the only one in the area that he's aware of that has defied the governor's orders. "He has said that he has healed HIV, he's healed cancer, he's asked people with coronavirus to come to his church where he can heal them," Corcoran said. "He can't do that. It's a huge health risk." Corcoran said that Spell has spoken with Tony Perkins, head of the conservative Christian advocacy group Family Research Council, and agreed to abide by the governor's rules but has not. "He's trying to hide behind the First Amendment," Corcoran said. "No one has asked him not to preach the word or preach a service. We just ask that he adhere to the order that was given by the governor and the president, put it on social media or FaceTime like the other churches, but he's refused to do that." Vice President Pence has explicitly asked Americans to avoid worship services, though measures to limit gatherings have set off legal battles across the country as some churches have sued over the issue. A federal court in Kansas issued a temporary restraining order Saturday against the governor's order capping church gatherings at 10 people. The British government came under sustained criticism Wednesday for being slow in ramping up its testing for coronavirus and for failing to deliver enough personal protective equipment to front-line medical workers in hospitals and nursing homes. The political uproar came as a delayed Royal Air Force plane carrying an uncertain amount of medical protective equipment finally arrived Wednesday at Brize Norton in central England. Britain has seen 18,100 people die in hospitals after contracting the virus, with potentially thousands more virus-related deaths of people at home or in elderly care homes. Keir Starmer, the new leader of the opposition Labour Party, told lawmakers Wednesday that a pattern is emerging in which the Conservative government has been too slow in putting the country into a virus lockdown, in testing people for the virus and in getting critical protective gear for medical workers. He spoke in the first partially-online Prime Minister's Questions ICISMsession in the House of Commons as U.K. lawmakers tried to balance between doing their jobs and still social distancing. Labour lawmaker Barry Sheerman went further, slamming the government's handling of the pandemic as shambolic. The questions are coming as Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the country's most high-profile COVID-19 patient, convalesces at his country retreat following his week-long stay in a hospital. Johnson has been away from the front-line of the crisis for nearly four weeks after he first tested positive. You can't have a void of decision-making," former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair told ITV television. Blair said he completely sympathizes with Johnson's plight but said hugely important decisions have to be taken now,'' including ramping up testing so Britain can safely exit its coronavirus lockdown, which is scheduled to end on May 7. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who has been sitting in for Johnson over the past few weeks, said the government still aims to conduct 100,000 coronavirus tests a day by the end of this month even though it is only handling about 20,000 tests a day now. With a project like this, it does require an exponential increase in the final days and the final week, Raab told a slimmed-down chamber, where only 50 of the House's 650 lawmakers were able to attend and up to 120 could participate via video. The government has faced acute criticism over the lack of protective gear f or front-line workers, a topic highlighted by the confusion surrounding the flight from Istanbul over the past three days. The plane, which landed in the middle of the night Wednesday, had protective gear on board, including surgical gowns - but it's unclear how much. Two other British planes are on stand-by to pick up further medical supplies from Turkey. Raab told lawmakers 69 workers in the National Health Service have died after testing positive for COVID-19. Health Secretary Matt Hancock later said 15 social care workers have also died. Hancock insisted the government has been following the best scientific advice ever since the coronavirus first emerged. He claimed the government was ahead of its testing plan but will widen opportunities for testing over the coming days with drive-through centers and mobile units. This is one area we've had our foot on the gas, Hancock said, adding that the government believes the U.K. epidemic is at its peak. Scientists said Tuesday that Britain experienced its peak of deaths on April 8. The nation hit its highest reported daily virus toll in hospitals two days later, at 980 dead. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) FRANKFURT, April 22 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank relaxed a key lending criterion on Wednesday, opening the way for banks to post collateral that was downgraded to junk during the coronavirus crisis, it said after an unscheduled Governing Council meeting on Wednesday. The ECB said it would apply each asset's credit rating as of April 7, so banks can continue posting them in lending operations as long as the bond's rating remains in the upper tier of non investment grade assets. "This ensures that assets and issuers that were investment grade at the time the Governing Council adopted the package of collateral easing measures remain eligible even if their rating falls two notches below the current minimum credit quality requirement of the Eurosystem," the ECB said. With the euro zone economy reeling amid the coronavirus pandemic, Italy and a whole range of companies face the risk of losing their investment grade credit rating, making it difficult for the ECB to lend to the real economy. "The ECB may decide, if and when necessary, to take additional measures to further mitigate the impact of rating downgrades, particularly with a view to ensuring the smooth transmission of its monetary policy in all jurisdictions of the euro area," the central bank said. Banks who borrow the ECB's ultra cheap funds need to post collateral so the easier rules aim to ensure that banks will have sufficient assets to borrow against and keep credit flowing to firms in dire need of cash. The ECB lends cash to banks at rates as low as minus 0.75%, giving lenders a rebate if they lend on the funds onto companies. (Reporting by Balazs Koranyi Editing by Francesco Canepa) On 20 April, Nandos announced that it was reopening seven sites across the UK to help feed NHS workers. Unfortunately for chicken fanatics, the restaurants will not be operating a delivery or takeaway service for the general public. But there is some good news for PERi-PERi chicken-lovers. From Thursday 23 April, Nandos will be hosting an Instagram Live Cook-along featuring a star-studded line-up. Heres what you need to know. What is Nandos Instagram Live Cook-along? Nandos, along with thousands of other restaurants across the UK, was forced to close its doors due to the ongoing lockdown. Keen not to disappoint its army of loyal fans, Nandos has launched a brand new live cook along hosted by head chef Tim the man behind the magic menu. Tim will be joined by a famous face each week and they will cook a Nandos recipe from their respective kitchens. The series has been pencilled in for three weeks, beginning on 23 April and finishing on 7 May and will start at 7pm each week on Thursday Which celebrities will feature in Nandos Cook-along series? Joining Tim in week one is south London soulstress JGerry. The pair will cook up a Nandos classic, PERi-PERi Chicken Thighs, Spicy Rice and Macho Peas. Week two will see British rapper Aitch step up to the hobs to have a go at cooking PERi-PERi Chicken Wings, PERi-salted chips and garlic bread. Last but not least is Manchester United star Jesse Lingard who will create his very own PERi Chicken Pitta. Lets hope Lindgard has more joy in the kitchen than he does in front of the posts. How do I watch Nandos Instagram Live Cook-along? You can watch Nandos Instragram Live Cooklong simply by tuning into their Instagram Live feed via this link. Full line-up and menus JGrrey: PERi-PERi Chicken Thighs Spicy Rice Macho Peas Nando's launches merchandise capsule collection Show all 13 1 /13 Nando's launches merchandise capsule collection Nando's launches merchandise capsule collection Nando's unveils capsule collection of merchandise (Nando's) Nando's launches merchandise capsule collection The collection is available for a limited time online and at Nando's Yard (Nando's) Nando's launches merchandise capsule collection Merchandise features a minimalistic aesthetic with simple black logos (Nando's) Nando's launches merchandise capsule collection The chicken eatery partnered with London-based artist Reuben Dangoor (Nando's) Nando's launches merchandise capsule collection The merchandise available for purchase includes long-sleeved shirts and T-shirts (Nando's) Nando's launches merchandise capsule collection Fans are also available from the chicken restaurant (Nando's) Nando's launches merchandise capsule collection Nando's-themed bucket hats are for sale 8 for a limited time (Nando's) Nando's launches merchandise capsule collection The popular chain said this is the first time fans can purchase Nando's-inspired apparel (Nando's) Nando's launches merchandise capsule collection Princes range from 8 to 20 (Nando's) Nando's launches merchandise capsule collection The collection is available online starting 15 August (Nando's) Nando's launches merchandise capsule collection Nando's-themed tote bags are also for sale (Nando's) Nando's launches merchandise capsule collection The collection will only be available for a limited time (Nando's) Nando's launches merchandise capsule collection Nando's Yard will be open until 18 August for those who want to purchase merchandise in person (Nando's) Aitch: PERi-PERi Chicken Wings PERi-Salted Chips Garlic Bread Jesse Lingard: PERi-PERi Grilled Chicken Pitta with Avocado & Halloumi Rainbow Slaw When awarding grants, Tomball Education Foundation usually comes bearing balloons, noisemakers and a big check. In light of schools closing due to COVID-19, the foundation was forced to award its 2019-20 grants via virtual presentations. Awardees received a notification via email and the news was posted on all social media platforms. The foundation awarded eight grants totaling more than $19,000 to be used on innovative projects submitted through its ETrain process, the foundation announced April 17. While we were disappointed to switch our grant-giving ETrain to a virtual ETrain, we were thrilled to announce this year's recipients throughout the day on the 17th, Tomball Education Foundation President Susan Cline said. Founded in 2017, the foundation is an independent, non-profit corporation established by parents, local businesses, civic organizations, alumni and community leaders to make a positive impact on public education, according to Tomball ISD. It offers funds for educational projects and activities used to facilitate student accomplishment and skill development, recognize and encourage staff excellence, and increase community involvement. The foundation has awarded over $105,000 in grants to Tomball ISD teachers and staff members across 15 campuses since 2018. It think it brings hope, a little bit of joy in the time that were in right now, Vice President of Marketing and Events Amanda Bass said. Weve been very responsible with the money that we have received so far, and were just going to have to forecast the best we can. Most of the grants are technology-based and with remote learning now in place, Bass thinks other teachers and staff members are getting ideas of grants they can apply for in the future. Were all growing and trying to figure out different technology that we can use to make learning easier for kids remotely, Bass said. Focused and present Cline said it was nice to be able to shed a light on their hard-working teachers and bring a positive message to the community. Shifting to online learning brought some new challenges, so I wouldn't be surprised to see more technology-based grants in our next round of applications, Cline said. The Smile Club grant of $1,104 was awarded to Willow Wood Junior Highs Suzzette Reed, Lisa Stoyak, Susie Plummer and Jenny Fontenot is for the implementation a student-led organization meant to motivate students by offering support for mental health problems. Students will be encouraged to engage in strategies to help cope with anxiety, depression or being overwhelmed. This grant will allow us to build a "grab-and-go" mental health station available to all students at Willow Wood Jr. high, Fontenot said. Fontenot added that the station will encompass activities and strategies to help students overcome various social and emotional challenges they encounter daily. Our students will be more mindful of their emotional wellness because of the implementation of this grant, Fontenot said. In the long run, we are hoping students will be more focused and present in the classroom because they know the support is there for them. The Bonding While Building grant of $3,600 awarded to Ashley Black of Decker Prairie Elementary is for the purchase of a STEM MakerSpace Cart, and the Steam Station grant of $3,507 awarded to Kimberleigh Nagel of Creekview Elementary is for the creation of a MakerSpace. The Flexible Seating grant of $1,500 was awarded to Willow Wood Junior Highs Lisa Stoyak is for the funding of unconventional seating alternatives to advance productivity in the classroom, and the Osmos and Ipads for First Grade grant of $3,416 awarded to Tomball Elementary Schools Meagan Busby, Nathali Welch, Jessica Hess, Cherri Henry, Jill Handal, Kate Peterson and Lindsey Utt is for the purchase of the Osmo System that is compatible with the Ipad. The Restorative Practices grant of $723 awarded to Tomball Connections Academys Jennifer McCready and Bob Thompson is for the instruction and implementation of positive behavioral practices, and the Peardeck for Students 2020 grant of $750 awarded to Willow Wood Junior Highs Brando Batchelor is for the continued implementation of Pear Deck throughout the eighth-grade social studies department. The Virtually Possible grant of $4,525 awarded to Creekview Elementarys Carrie Ray is for the funding of virtual reality technology within class to foster the development of foundational language skills. Whatever they need, the Tomball Education Foundation is here to support them, Cline said. Smooth process The foundation has a grant scoring committee of not just foundation members but also Tomball ISD employees that sit in and are all anonymous. Scoring took place several weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic. We try to pick grants that are going to touch as many students as possible and the innovative learning opportunities that kind of stand out to us, Bass said. Grants cannot be more than $5,000 and the ETrain process welcomes all with innovative learning opportunities to apply. As a foundation, Bass said theyre trying to brainstorm how they can help improve the grant process and bring more technology. Bass has three kids in Tomball ISD ranging from 6th grade to kindergarten and said its been the best of a new process. The district was up and running quickly, with teachers and principals on hand for any questions. Even though theyre not in the classroom, theyre making them feel as best as they can a classroom setting, Bass said. Its been a pretty smooth process. Bass isnt sure how this pandemic will affect them moving forward. For now, to plan for next year the board of directors have been meeting via Zoom, attempting to stay connected and keeping everyone focused on their mission. Since all of our funds go directly to Tomball ISD, we work together to figure out their needs and they can direct us so we can better serve them, Bass said. Were taking ideas from what Tomball ISD is doing and trying to keep things going as best we can remotely. For more information about each grant visit the Tomball ISD website. alvaro.montano@chron.com BEIJING, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday discussed over phone with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu bilateral cooperation on fighting COVID-19. Wang said that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had a phone conversation not long ago, during which the two leaders reached important consensus on strengthening anti-COVID-19 cooperation and promoting bilateral relations. China and Turkey should step up the implementation of the consensus reached by the two heads of state, continuously boost political mutual trust and, in particular, understand and support each other on issues concerning each other's core interests and major concerns, Wang said. Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Turkey, he said, adding that it is hoped that both sides will make joint efforts to take their strategic cooperative relationship featuring mutual trust and support into the next 50 years. Noting the severe challenge Turkey is facing as COVID-19 continues to spread around the world, Wand said that the Chinese side extends heartfelt sympathies to the Turkish people, and expressed the belief that Turkey, under the leadership of President Erdogan, will surely overcome the epidemic. China has always pursued a friendly policy toward Turkey and attached great importance to the friendship between the two peoples, he said. China has provided batches of anti-epidemic supplies to the Turkish side and has given priority to Turkey's urgent procurement needs for medical supplies, he said, adding that China is ready to continue to offer necessary support and assistance to Turkey to fight the outbreak, Wang said. There is great potential for mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Turkey and both sides should strengthen coordination and cooperation to minimize the impact of the outbreak, the Chinese foreign minister said. Wang said that since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, more than 180 countries, including Turkey, have expressed their understanding and support to China, and China has been providing urgently needed medical supplies to more than 100 countries to fight against the epidemic. The most important thing in combating COVID-19 is cooperation and trust instead of blaming and suspicion, Wang said, adding that he believes that China-Turkey friendship will enjoy further development after the test of the global health crisis. For his part, Cavusoglu said that the two heads of state have had fruitful conversations recently and reached broad consensus on anti-epidemic cooperation and deepening bilateral relations. The two sides should earnestly implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, take care of each other's concerns, strengthen practical cooperation in the fields of economy, trade and finance, and make good preparations for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, said Cavusoglu. The Turkish foreign minister said that China has not only overcome the epidemic, but also provided assistance to other countries around the world, including Turkey. China is the country that has provided the largest amount of medical aid to the world, which Turkey highly appreciates, he added. Cavusoglu stressed that at a time when the virus is still spreading in many parts of the world, the international community should strengthen solidarity and cooperation, rather than the other way around. Stephen Hawking was one of the world's most acclaimed cosmologists, a medical miracle, and probably the galaxy's most unlikely superstar celebrity. After being diagnosed with a rare form of motor neurone disease in 1964 at the age of 22, he was given just a few years to live. Yet against all odds Professor Hawking celebrated his 70th birthday nearly half a century later as one of the most brilliant and famous scientists of the modern age. Despite being wheelchair-bound, almost completely paralysed and unable to speak except through his trademark voice synthesiser, he wrote a plethora of scientific papers that earned him comparisons with Albert Einstein and Sir Isaac Newton. At the same time he embraced popular culture with enthusiasm and humour, appearing in TV cartoon The Simpsons, starring in Star Trek and providing the voice-over for a British Telecom commercial that was later sampled on rock band Pink Floyd's The Division Bell album. His rise to fame and relationship with his first wife, Jane, was dramatised in a 2014 film, The Theory Of Everything, in which Eddie Redmayne put in an Oscar-winning performance as the physicist battling with a devastating illness. He was best known for his work on black holes, the mysterious infinitely dense regions of compressed matter where the normal laws of physics break down, which dominated the whole of his academic life. Hawking is pictured with his children Robert, Lucy & Tim and his first wife Jane Prof Hawking's crowning achievement was his prediction in the 1970s that black holes can emit energy, despite the classical view that nothing - not even light - can escape their gravity. Hawking Radiation, based on mathematical concepts arising from quantum mechanics, the branch of science that deals with the weird world of sub-atomic particles, eventually causes black holes to 'evaporate' and vanish, according to the theory. Had the existence of Hawking Radiation been proved by astronomers or physicists, it would almost certainly have earned Prof Hawking a Nobel Prize. As it turned out, the greatest scientific accolade eluded him until the time of this death. Born in Oxford on January 8 1942 - 300 years after the death of astronomer Galileo Galilei - Prof Hawking grew up in St Albans. He had a difficult time at the local public school and was persecuted as a 'swot' who was more interested in jazz, classical music and debating than sport and pop. Although not top of the class, he was good at maths and 'chaotically enthusiastic in chemistry'. As an undergraduate at Oxford, the young Hawking was so good at physics that he got through with little effort. He later calculated that his work there 'amounted to an average of just an hour a day' and commented: 'I'm not proud of this lack of work, I'm just describing my attitude at the time, which I shared with most of my fellow students. 'You were supposed to be brilliant without effort, or to accept your limitations and get a fourth-class degree.' Hawking got a first and went to Cambridge to begin work on his PhD, but already he was beginning to experience early symptoms of his illness. During his last year at Oxford he became clumsy, and twice fell over for no apparent reason. Shortly after his 21st birthday he went for tests, and at 22 he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease. The news came as an enormous shock that for a time plunged the budding academic into deep despair. But he was rescued by an old friend, Jane Wilde, who went on to become his first wife, giving him a family with three children. After a painful period coming to terms with his condition, Prof Hawking threw himself into his work. At one Royal Society meeting, the still-unknown Hawking interrupted a lecture by renowned astrophysicist Sir Fred Hoyle, then at the pinnacle of his career, to inform him that he had made a mistake. An irritated Sir Fred asked how Hawking presumed to know that his calculations were wrong. Hawking replied: 'Because I've worked them out in my head.' Eddie Redmayne won a Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Hawking in 2014 In the 1980s, Prof Hawking and Professor Jim Hartle, from the University of California at Santa Barbara, proposed a model of the universe which had no boundaries in space or time. The concept was described in his best-selling popular science book A Brief History Of Time, published in 1988, which sold 25 million copies worldwide. As well as razor sharp intellect, Prof Hawking also possessed an almost child-like sense of fun, which helped to endear him to members of the public. He booked a seat on Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic sub-orbital space plane and rehearsed for the trip by floating inside a steep-diving Nasa aircraft - dubbed the 'vomit comet' - used to simulate weightlessness. On one wall of his office at Cambridge University was a clock depicting Homer Simpson, whose theory of a 'doughnut-shaped universe' he threatened to steal in an episode of the cartoon show. He is said to have glared at the clock whenever a visitor was late. From 1979 to 2009 he was Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the university - a post once held by Sir Isaac Newton. He went on to become director of research in the university's Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics. Upheaval in his personal life also hit the headlines, and in February 1990 he left Jane, his wife of 25 years, to set up home with one of his nurses, Elaine Mason. The couple married in September 1995 but divorced in 2006. Throughout his career Prof Hawking was showered with honorary degrees, medals, awards and prizes, and in 1982 he was made a CBE. But he also ruffled a few feathers within the scientific establishment with far-fetched statements about the existence of extraterrestrials, time travel, and the creation of humans through genetic engineering. He has also predicted the end of humanity, due to global warming, a new killer virus, or the impact of a large comet. In 2015 he teamed up with billionaire Yuri Milner who has launched a series of projects aimed at finding evidence of alien life. Hawking and his new bride Elaine Mason pose for pictures after the blessing of their wedding at St. Barnabus Church September 16, 1995 The decade-long Breakthrough Listen initiative aims to step up the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (Seti) by listening out for alien signals with more sensitivity than ever before. The even bolder Starshot Initiative, announced in 2016, envisages sending tiny light-propelled robot space craft on a 20-year voyage to the Alpha Centauri star system. Meanwhile Prof Hawking's 'serious' work continued, focusing on the thorny question of what happens to all the information that disappears into a black hole. One of the fundamental tenets of physics is that information data can never be completely erased from the universe. A paper co-authored by Prof Hawking and published online in Physical Review Letters in June 2016 suggests that even after a black hole has evaporated, the information it consumed during its life remains in a fuzzy 'halo' - but not necessarily in the proper order. Prof Hawking outlined his theories about black holes in a series of Reith Lectures broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January and February 2016. Press Association Most of us have strong attachments to local businesses were afraid to lose. Among them for me are the coffee shops that fuel daily commutes, provide sanctuary for meetings and lunches and offer a welcome change of scene for those once thought lucky enough to work from home. There are favored restaurants and bars whose closed doors preserve memories of dates or celebrations and happy hours that ordinarily marked the end of the week. Ordinarily. Not now. Our routines and habits are trapped too, only bubbling to the surface when disturbed. Some establishments hide busy staff turning out online orders; others stay silent, still. The daily commute now is likely from bedroom to kitchen. Making our own coffee, hopefully with beans from our favorite spot. The disruption to our routines goes hand in hand with something termed anticipatory grief. Most small businesses dont have the financial cushion to survive two weeks without income, let alone months. Will they be back? Will the new reality ever go back to normal, feel normal? Will our communities be the same? Like many, I keep supporting restaurants with takeout dinners designed to travel, some working better than others. Most lean heavily on comfort foods pulled pork and mashed potatoes, pasta, bread, fried chicken like the care packages friends leave in times of crisis or sickness, as they did for me after surgery earlier this year. Whose sickness are we nursing now? A collective quarantine sadness, or small restaurants fighting madly for life? My avocado toast is hurried out to the curb by a smiling server who hands over the protective packaging and a steaming Golde-n-Hour latte in a stamped paper cup. The crusty avo toast is both a signature menu item and my regular order at Superior Merchandise, a slim coffee shop on Fourth Street in Troy whose uncrowded shelves typically hold a magpie collection of pretty things: carefully gathered Danish pottery, art journals with thick paper, earrings from France, Yesfolk kombucha made in Troy. I know its all in there, but Im in my car with toast out of place on my passenger seat: A rescue effort. I stabilize the cup, put on my seatbelt and take my cargo somewhere safe. At home, I pop the clamshell box and survey two thick slices of crusty toasted sourdough craggy with smooshed avocado. The briny scent from pink pickled onion prickles my nose, and the seedy everything seasoning now sold online along with the pickled onions, farm greens and toilet paper promises its familiar nutty crunch. Peeling slices from a partition sheet of greaseproof paper, I plop them on a favorite plate banded in sunshine yellow. It matches the turmeric-stained hue of the latte I pour in a yellow bowl and reheat. It's canary yellow and polka-dotted; a handleless, French hot chocolate bowl best cradled in both hands so you can inhale the fragrant steam as you sip. But first I clean up, disposing of packaging and washing my hands with antibacterial soap. This is the new normal, practicing recommended steps to minimize exposure to COVID-19. As viruses go, this ones sticky, living on surfaces for 48 hours. Someone recently commented on an Instagram post, marveling at my dedication to plating takeout. The reasons are twofold: 1) Sanitize or eliminate packaging touched by many hands, 2) Recreate some sort of civilized normalcy. This isnt McDonalds, its ritual. And then I photograph it, either as proof of life or redefined comfort. If avocado toast has become a generalized meme for the millennial aesthetic, the presence of Superior Merch avo toast in my home is the bittersweet, indescribable feeling of saudade perhaps an olfactory sense of longing or loss. But each bite is comforting. Usually I eat this alone with my notebook at a small table inside Superior Merchandise, better yet with company at a sunny picnic table out back. At home it still tastes right: The yeasty sourdough crust holds its crunch, salt and brine brighten thick avocado mash. I squeeze the included wedge of lime on top, scattering every last drop, and taste each peppery microgreen on my tongue. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. I dont live in Troy, so its a decision (and relief) to get in my car. I pass signs on the highway spelling out instructions: Stay Home. Stop the spread. The streets are mostly quiet when I arrive. Moving cars are spaced appropriately far apart, as if following distancing guidelines. People at a bus stop wear face masks and stand irregularly, scattered like spilled beads. Someone sent me a photo of deer walking fearlessly down a deserted Troy street. It takes a quick phone call from the curb to summon my toast and leave. But Ive forgotten milk and double back, walking up and opening the front door. Inside, co-owner Felicity Jones hands me the bag. Are you hanging in there? I ask. Yeah, just doing what we can is the routine reply. Theyre one of the places selling groceries online, incentivizing gift cards, pushing merchandise, adding a virtual gratuity button for staff tips. How long can a small business operate in this alternative business mode? A while, if takeout is sustained. Could I make avocado toast at home? Of course, and many days I do. But I have this intangible fear that small places like Superior Merchandise could permanently close. I dont want to come blinking out of a mandatory hibernation only to find the last options standing are Starbucks and Burger King. If the government efforts are too slow or too ineffectively executed, we need to do more ourselves. I see Instagrammed takeout photos of as a sign of optimistic action: Power to the people, and real world comfort in takeout toast. Susie Davidson Powell is a British freelance food writer in upstate New York. Follow her on Twitter, @SusieDP. North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un delivering a statement in Pyongyang in regard to a speech made by the president of the United States of America at the UN General Assembly on Sept. 21, 2017. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) Kim Jong Un Is Touring Provincial Areas, Not Gravely Ill: South Korea South Korea refuted reports that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un was in grave danger or was near death. Presidential spokesman Kang Min-seok told South Koreas Yonhap News Agency there is nothing unusual going on. No unusual signs have been identified inside North Korea, Kang said. There is nothing we can confirm with regard to Chairman Kims alleged health problem. Other officials were more emphatic about Kims health. We confirm that Chairman Kim Jong Un is currently touring provincial areas with his close aides and we do not detect evidences to support speculation about his ill health, South Koreas presidential office told news outlets on Tuesday. Even North Koreas Workers Party, military or cabinet arent showing any special movements such as emergency decree. We believe that Chairman Kim is active as normal as he has been, the office said. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C), accompanied by wife Ri Sol-Ju on July 6, 2012. (KNS/AFP/GettyImages) On Tuesday, CNN and other news outlets reported that Kim is in grave danger after a surgery. Daily NK, a Seoul-based specialty website, cited unidentified sources inside the isolated state saying Kim is recovering at a villa in the Mount Kumgang resort county of Hyangsan on the east coast after undergoing the cardiovascular procedure at a hospital on April 12. Robert OBrien, President Donald Trumps national security advisor, told Fox News that the United States is monitoring Kims health. Officials for the isolated, communist country have not issued a statement via official, state-run websites in response to the reports. Reuters contributed to this report. Karabakh hero, Lieutenant General Vitaly Balasanyan had an interview with Armenian News - NEWS.am and spoke about the elections held, the post-election situation and the upcoming processes. National elections in Karabakh ended. How do you assess it? There is an opinion that the election of Arayik Harutyunyan as president and the results of the parliamentary elections are illegitimate. While others think that that was a perfect and competitive election and Harutyunyan has high legitimacy and received a higher percentage of trust (88%) than even PM Nikol Pashinyan during the revolutionary euphoria. These are two very different assessments, and I will refrain from them. We do not need any shock or stagnation. As for legitimacy, it is determined not only by the rate declared by the CEC but also by the results of the work. Everything is very conditional. Did your expectations regarding the election come true? Of course not, but we take note of the election results and hope that the election promises will not just be beautiful words mentioned only in booklets or videos. Political games are now secondary, and they do not interest me. There will still be an occasion to discuss the topic of clarifying political relations, percentages, and the many problems recorded during the elections. But that later. Now there are very serious challenges that were ignored before March 31, and by and large, remain without attention now. This is what we need to talk about and think about. What do you mean? As you know, I and the Justice party I lead, were the first to state the danger of the spread of the coronavirus epidemic. We called for an emergency state to be declared in the republic, to consider the possibility of postponing the elections and to tackle the issues of public health security of our people. The authorities, unfortunately, did not heed our calls. Elections took place, in the meantime, numerous events, including elections, were postponed all over the world. In the end, Armenia has also canceled the referendum. Whatever safety measures were applied, the flow of large groups of people to the polling stations should still have caused the spread of infection. And so it happened, the second round of the presidential election coincided with the detection of coronavirus infected. It is no coincidence that voter participation in the second round of the presidential election was incomparably low. Be that as it may, the responsibility for the further development of events lies with the current government and with all those forces that were guided by other calculations. I hope that now they with all their strength will join in the implementation of the necessary work. Health care is now becoming the number one issue. In this regard, I am ready to make every effort to help solve this problem. The party you led was elected to be represented at the parliament. The parliament is represented five forces, and not one of them has a controlling stake for the sole appointment of the government. The party led by President Harutyunyan lacks one mandate to form a government without a coalition. What do you think in the end will happen? Im not going to participate in the auction of posts and I cant say what will be. Immediately after the first round of the presidential election, I said that I would not support any of the candidates who entered the second round. Now the most important thing is to prevent the spread of infection. Competent and equivalent solutions are needed. We, by virtue of the votes we received, will force the authorities to work. And the rest the time will tell. And the most important thing. Russian FM Sergei Lavrov made a sensational statement. He said that with the participation of Armenia and Azerbaijan, a phased solution to the Karabakh conflict is being discussed, according to which the Armenian side should cede territory, waiting in the future for the unlocking of transport routes. What is your point of view in this regard? I have spoken about this many times. I was accused of giving extreme ratings. Well, let official Yerevan and Stepanakert give explanations now. After all, it was said that opinions were the same. The parliamentary factions of Artsakh, all those people who work in a public field should also speak out in this regard. Everyone should speak out, without formalities or ambiguity. One thing is clear to me: in 1997-1998, we abandoned the ill-fated phased version. Since then, nothing has changed up to this day. The formula territories in exchange for peace or open communications is unacceptable. We do not have a security zone or areas around Artsakh. We do not have territories to bargain. The Armenian people drew the borders of Artsakh during the war, and later Armenians of Artsakh constitutionally fixed them. Anyone who agrees with the phased option, which leads to surrender, will repeat the fate of the agitator of this plan in 1998. Victory is not for sale! THE HAGUE (Reuters) - The Netherlands on Tuesday extended by three months a ban on major public events, including professional sports and music festivals, until Sept. 1 to prevent a resurgence of coronavirus infections, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said. At the same time, Rutte said an "encouraging" slowdown in the spread of the virus would enable elementary schools and daycare centres to partly reopen on May 11. Rutte said limitations on the easing of restrictive measures were necessary to prevent a new wave of COVID-19 cases. "It's better to be cautious now than to have regrets later," he told a televised press conference. "I would love to say we could go a lot further. But that is very scary and dangerous. We see a little improvement in the data, but just imagine that we would relax some measures, causing the virus to peak again. That's something we all absolutely don't want." The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Netherlands rose in the past 24 hours by 729 to 34,134, health authorities said on Tuesday, with 165 new deaths from the lung disease. Total deaths stand at 3,916, the Netherlands Institute for Health (RIVM) said in its daily update. Rutte said the government had decided to ease measures very slowly in the face of "one of the largest and most threatening periods any of us will ever go through." Daycare centres and elementary schools will be allowed to reopen gradually at half occupancy and with social distancing measures in place, Rutte said. Restaurants and bars were ordered to remain closed for another three weeks until May 19. Shops have not been closed but must adhere to safety measures which mainly include allowing everybody to keep at least 1.5 meters' distance from each other. Everybody except for workers in vital professions like doctors and nurses and also lorry drivers, supermarket personnel and cleaners are requested to work from home, if possible. Story continues Rutte appealed to the Dutch nation to "keep it up and stay at home as much as possible." Countries around the world are considering or taking steps to ease lockdowns, though the World Health Organization is warning this should be done slowly and only when there is capacity to isolate cases and trace contacts. (Reporting by Anthony Deutsch and Bart Meijer; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Mark Heinrich) Shark Tank star Daymond John has been accused of trying to sell N95 masks to desperate Florida officials at an wildly inflated price. According to a bombshell report in The Miami Herald Wednesday, the wealthy investor - who has a reported net worth of $250 million - inked a deal to help secure the state one million N95 masks at a cost of $7 each. The newspaper claims that the masks sell for less than $2 each, meaning Florida officials would have paid more than triple the price. Despite the blowout cost, the director of the Florida Department of Emergency Management, Josh Moskowitz, reportedly agreed to pay the $7 million sum in order to get the masks to the state's healthcare workers. In a Twitter post shared on Wednesday afternoon, John furiously denied the allegations, stating that he never set a price for the masks and was actually trying to stop the price gouging of medical products. The Miami Herald reports that Shark Tank star Daymond John tried to sell N95 masks to desperate Florida officials at an wildly inflated price. He has blasted back angrily denying the claims The business investor - who has a reported net worth of $250 million - is best known for starring on Shark Tank. He is pictured (front right) with his co-stars The Miami Herald interviewed Moskowitz, who claimed that John said he could use his business credentials to help secure the desperately needed masks. 'This was not somebody off the street, this was Daymond John. He came to me and said, 'I've been in the clothing business. I have connections with factories in China,' Moskowitz recalled. Rather than entering a purchase deal directly with the maker of N95 masks - American company 3M - the Florida officials signed the $7 million deal with the John's 'The Shark Group' on March 25. The Miami Herald claims it is an 'example of how, in the frenzied rush to feed the demand for the supplies the state... officials waived all the contracting rules and opened an unlimited checkbook to line up middlemen and unconventional vendors.' However, the deal fell through before it reached fruition, and 3M is now investigating. '3M is not aware of how the Shark Group would gain access to our respirators as it is not an authorized distributor of 3M products or one of our channel partners,' a spokesperson for the company said Wednesday. N95 masks are desperately needed by healthcare workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis. John allegedly claimed he could secure the coveted masks for $7 each A healthcare worker is seen wearing an N95 mask while working in an intensive care unit to treat coronavirus patients. PPE for doctors and nurses is in short supply in many parts of the country '3M list prices, which are published on our website, are far lower than what appears to have been offered to the State of Florida.' The spokesperson added: '3M is filing lawsuits in cases where third parties use the company's name, brand or trademark to engage in price gouging of N95 respirators and other illegal and unethical behavior'. But on Wednesday afternoon, John blasted back against any allegations of wrongdoing with a lengthy statement of his own. He accused The Miami Herald of a 'gross distortion of the truth in a blind effort create splashy headlines'. He insists that he did not set the $7 per mask price. The businessman added: 'Proper reporting would have shown I did not set any prices and that my team worked with the state of Florida to 1) Save lives, 2) Help vet the overwhelming amount of incoming PPE offerings based on my manufacturing expertise and guide them how best to do this, and 3) Play a pivotal role to stop price gouging, and identify potential fraud and theft of PPE products to protect taxpayer funds'. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 19:49:59|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close by Mahmoud Fouly, Emad al-Azrak CAIRO, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The recent collapse of oil prices is likely to cause further recession to the global economy that is already suffering deterioration over the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, said Egyptian political and economic experts. Affected by the precautionary measures and lockdowns imposed in most countries across the world to face the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, the current oil crisis may lead to dramatic changes in the global economic map, the experts expected. On Monday, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for May delivery plunged below zero for the first time in history, with a continuously shrinking energy market as a result of a double shock of declining demand and supply amid the spread of COVID-19. WTI contract for May delivery fell 55.9 U.S. dollars, or about 306 percent, to settle at -37.63 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a negative finish that means producers would pay buyers to take oil off their storage warehouses. Ahmed Qandil, head of the Energy Studies Program at Cairo-based Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies (ACPSS), attributed the low demand of crude oil to the precautionary measures taken by most states to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. "The decline in oil demand coincided with a pricing war between key oil producers, which all led to a further collapse of oil prices," Qandil told Xinhua. He pointed out that the agreement between Saudi Arabia and Russia to reduce oil production after the intervention of U.S. President Donald Trump earlier in April had a small impact on the situation, describing Trump's move as "too late." Qandil noted that the declining global demand from about 30 to 10 million barrels per day created a large gap between supply and demand. "This oil crisis will have profound effects as it would worsen global economic recession as well as deterioration in the budgets of the oil-exporting countries, especially in the Gulf region," said the ACPSS expert. He added that the oil price collapse greatly harms U.S. energy corporations and would also undermine Trump's chances in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. On Tuesday, the last day for trading in May WTI futures, WTI crude for May delivery traded at -2.58 dollars, which is about 35.05 dollars higher than Monday's closure but is still in minus. As for June delivery, the price of WTI crude dropped by about 50 percent to stand below 10 dollars per barrel because of weak demand, while global benchmark Brent crude for June delivery plunged about 27 percent to about 18.5 dollars per barrel. The low demand for oil and the consequent collapse of its price are logical results of the anti-coronavirus lockdown in most parts of the world, with mostly motionless vehicles, suspended flights and halted industries. According to Egyptian experts, the crisis will not only affect the economies of oil-rich Gulf states, but will also cast its shadow on other countries like Egypt that has millions of expatriates working in the Gulf region and might be laid off and sent back home. Kareem al-Omda, economics professor at the Arab Academy for Science Technology and Maritime Transport, explained that due to the low demand for crude oil, tank farms are full to the brim and oil tankers are stuck at seas with nowhere to offload. "The unprecedented decline of oil prices worldwide would surely worsen the global economy in general and paralyzes the U.S. economy in particular in the coming period," said the Egyptian professor. Omda added that it will have a significant impact on the relative weight of Western states in the global economy, which would open the door for other economies to move forward. "The current situation is expected to lead global economic powers to find a new global economic system that is more efficient and flexible in dealing with the various types of crises like those hitting the world today," the economics professor told Xinhua. Enditem MBABANE The payday hype for some resulted in people flooding Mbabane town yesterday. One would have sworn the partial lockdown had been lifted as many people flocked to the city like it was a normal day to do their shopping. Some people were in queues in the different food retailers while others were walking up and down the streets. Others had their masks on while others didnt. It was gathered that most of the people who were in town were mostly civil servants who had been paid for the month. Also, unlike other partial lockdown days, yesterday, the city had a lot of traffic throughout the day. Public transport, especially those referred to as local had frequent movements in and out of town. A few interviewed people stated that they had gone to town to do shopping as they had recently been paid. One woman, who preferred to be identified as Nosihle, said she recently got paid hence she was in town to buy food for her children. We are still on partial lockdown but I bet people were just waiting to get paid to buy food judging by the huge number of shoppers who decided to come to town today, she said. She was of the view that she picked the wrong day to visit town. While it was risky, a woman took her minor to town and was found queuing at one of the popular restaurants. She claimed to have taken all the necessary precautions to ensure they were safe from the virus. When asked if she knew the importance of staying home, she said she was aware of the precautionary measures while justifying that it was only for yesterday that she decided to step out of the house. Meanwhile, other people were found sitting in groups without observing social distancing. When asked if they understood the importance of social distancing, the public responded to the affirmative. However, they claimed that they could not withstand the sun hence they relaxed behind public transport vehicles. Asked why they were in town, some people failed to give convincing responses. Some claimed that they had been to pharmacies to buy medication and were quick to show their medication. Those boarding transport did not bother observing social distancing. Noted was that they were not sanitised as they boarded the public transport. Ideally, commuters should take it upon themselves to sanitise and keep social distancing when boarding public transport to minimise the spread of the virus. Cameroonian authorities on Tuesday published findings of a report on a massacre in Ngarbuh village, in the country's North West region, admitting that soldiers killed at least three women and 10 children during an operation against Anglophone separatist forces in February. Three soldiers have been arrested for their role in the killings and will face a military tribunal. The government initially described the allegations against Cameroonian security forces as fake, saying that such accusations were outrageous and misleading. However, Tuesday's report by a commission of inquiry describes how security forces killed civilians, tried to conceal their actions by starting fires and then submitted a false report on the incident. Anglophone separatist groups have long called for secession from the government in Yaounde, but fighting has escalated since 2017 and a self-declaration of independence. Three soldiers have been singled out in the Ngarbuh massacre: a sergeant, gendarme and private first class. The report also identifies a local vigilante committee, members of which have not been identified, and a battalion commander who failed to supervise the operation. Ngarbuh village was targeted by security forces since it had become a logistics centre for secessionist terrorists, supplying arms, ammunition and fuel, according to a government statement about the inquiry. "The terrorists were engaged in all sorts of abuses against the local population (cattle rustling, rape, assaults, etc.) which warranted an intervention, the statement added. The government said it will exhume the bodies and give the dead a decent burial as well as establish the necessary evidence to determine the truth, according to a communique signed by Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, a state minister in the presidency. Cameroonian authorities will identify the rightful claimants in order to pay compensation and strengthen security in Ngarbuh village, establishing a military base to ensure better protection of civilians against the abuses of armed groups, the government said. The crisis in Cameroon's North West and South West regions began as protests over perceived marginalisation of Anglophones by the Francophone majority. Then a crackdown on demonstrations and arrests of Anglophone leaders led to declarations of independence and an armed struggle. Vindication The publication of the inquiry's findings can be seen as somewhat of a victory for human rights groups who drew attention to the massacre. We hope that this represents a true change and that the government will continue to take into account and respond to allegations of human rights violations, including those committed in the Anglophone regions, said Ilaria Allegrozzi, a researcher with Human Rights Watch. The US-based rights group described at least 21 civilians being killed during the army's operations in Ngarbuh including 13 children and one pregnant woman. Human Rights Watch said soldiers and armed ethnic Fulani burnt five homes, pillaged scores of others and beat residents. While we may disagree on some key points in terms of the facts around Ngarbuh, the report itself indicates that the government is willing to consider accountability for serious crimes committed by its own troops, said Allegrozzi. In the aftermath of Ngarbuh, Cameroon's government hit out at Human Rights Watch for their investigation into the massacre, with Rene Emmanuel Sadi, the minister of communication, describing them as die-hard detractors, presenting themselves as 'human rights specialists'. The government and military went on the attack - they belittled us and resorted to personal insults, said Lewis Mudge, central Africa director at Human Rights Watch. They [the government] should understand that we will not be intimidated by these tactics and that we seek to work in a collaborative fashion. Lawyer Agbor Nkongho of the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa, a local non-governmental organisation, said they too had concluded that the military was responsible for the massacre. But after issuing a statement outlining allegations against the military, his group were threatened with legal action. We are happy that we have been vindicated, said Nkongho. We must condemn heinous and gross and systematic violations against the population irrespective of the perpetrator. 'Politicised investigation' The Ambazonia Governing Council, an Anglophone separatist group, called the Ngarbuh inquiry a political charade. Accepting culpability in Ngarbuh while presenting false justification of the systematic killing of civilians is a political masquerade, said Ayaba Cho Lucas, who leads the Ambazonia Governing Council, one of the largest secessionist groups who have self-declared independence. Ayaba called for a non-politicised independent fact-finding mission to investigate the various massacres, saying that the Cameroonian government cannot be allowed to investigate itself. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 11:18:07|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WELLINGTON, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Moving Day, which celebrates the first day of the dairy season in New Zealand, will go ahead as planned this year, but with strict controls amid the COVID-19 outbreak, New Zealand Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor said on Wednesday. On June 1 each year, the first day of the dairy season, a large number of dairy farming families, sharemilkers, contract milkers and employees move to new farms to commence new employment and milking contracts. This movement of people, their possessions, livestock and machinery is known as "Moving Day." "This annual movement is a critical part of the dairy industry," O'Connor said, adding that the industry contributes more than 18 billion New Zealand dollars (10.75 billion U.S. dollars) a year in exports to the economy and provides jobs for around 46,000 people in rural communities. "It's also an industry that will play a critical role in New Zealand's economic recovery after COVID-19, so it was vital that Moving Day went ahead," he said. Since the Alert Level 4 lockdown was announced, and dairy farming was deemed an essential service, the government has been committed to finding a way to enable it to proceed, the minister said. Activities need to be restricted to just those that are absolutely necessary and any movement around New Zealand must ensure people's "bubbles" are maintained, he added. DairyNZ said this announcement will be a great relief to farmers. "Moving Day is a key time in the dairy calendar so it's great that a solution has been secured with the government which will provide peace of mind for thousands of farmers. It means we'll move into the next dairy season in a way that keeps them and the public as safe as possible," said DairyNZ chief executive Tim Mackle. O'Connor said New Zealand farmers are no strangers to disease eradication programs with strict movement controls. Enditem BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr. 22 By Ilkin Seyfaddini Trend: Uzbekistan has been strengthening Uzbek-French interaction in trade and economic and investment spheres, Trend reports citing Uzbek media. Prospects for further consolidation of Uzbek-French interaction were discussed during a webinar organized by the Embassy of Uzbekistan in France, the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan and the delegation of French enterprises led by MEDEF International, the message said. The event was attended by about 50 representatives of financial and industrial sectors, consulting services, as well as investment and commercial companies of France, such as Airbus, Adeo, Air Liquide, BPI France, Credit Agricole, Suez, Fives, Idemia, Orano, Rothschild & CIE, Total-Eren and French Development Agency (FAR). The French side was also represented by French Ambassador to Uzbekistan Isabelle Servoz-Gallucci. During the webinar, Christophe Fontaine, chairman of Uzbek-French Business Council at MEDEF International, said that the French partners are willing to continue the mutually beneficial cooperation with Uzbekistan despite the challenges of the current situation. Given that a visit by a delegation of French business circles headed by MEDEF International scheduled to Uzbekistan for April 2020 was canceled, the sides expressed willingness to organize this event by the end of this year. The parties exchanged views and information on the progress in implementing current joint projects during the pandemic, as well as its impact on investment cooperation. The sides also confirmed their readiness to promote promising areas of bilateral cooperation. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @seyfaddini Flash Chinese Ambassador to Belgium Cao Zhongming [Photo provided to China.org.cn] As of today, no confirmed cases have been found among the Chinese students in Belgium, stated Chinese Ambassador to Belgium Cao Zhongming during an exclusive interview with China.org.cn on April 20. A total of 40,956 cases have been reported with 5,998 deaths in Belgium as of Wednesday afternoon, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The Chinese Embassy in Belgium attaches great importance to the health and safety of Chinese nationals in the country. "We set up a 24/7 hotline for consular protection and emergencies," explained Cao, "Safety notices, information and personal protection tips are posted and updated on our website as well as social media accounts such as WeChat. I've also had teleconferences with representatives of overseas Chinese, students, and expatriates at Chinese companies." "Besides remote consultations, we also advocated for the establishment of a medical team comprising of overseas Chinese doctors so that they could provide services to those in need of urgent consultation or medical assistance," Cao said. "We also sourced and sent protective materials and medicine to Chinese students in Belgium to help them through the difficult times and mitigate their anxieties." In the meantime, the embassy is maintaining close communication with the Belgian federal foreign affairs and public health authorities to facilitate information sharing regarding such issues as joint prevention and control, and reducing cross border transmission. The embassy put Belgian medical groups in contact with their Chinese counterparts to exchange experience on treatment and preventive measures. "We support Chinese sub-national governments and Chinese companies in extending a helping hand to Belgium, and the embassy is working to facilitate medical procurement in China," said the ambassador. Recently, some elements in the U.S. have been deliberately blaming the epidemic on China and trying to stigmatize China's efforts in an attempt to shirk responsibility. "Naming new viruses is a professional and scientific matter. The WHO has clear rules for this and one of the principles is avoiding discrimination and stigmatization, whilst avoiding association with a certain place or people," Cao said. The ambassador continued, "Governments have an obligation to use the correct name and communicate it to the public. Erroneously tagging a certain country or region only serves certain political motivations, shifts the blame and deflects attention. It does nothing to help defeat the virus." As for some individual cases of discrimination, the embassy has lodged complaints with the Belgian authorities. The embassy encourages and supports Chinese nationals in Belgium to stand together against such misbehavior while ensuring their own safety. The Belgian government has vocally expressed their opposition to discriminatory practices. "We think that the great majority of local people are rational, friendly and cordial," he underscored, "Discrimination only occurs singularly." "Viruses know no borders and are the common enemy of mankind. No country can fight this virus alone or stay out of it," he said, "Curbing the spread of COVID-19 and winning this battle is the goal shared by all countries." All of us must shoulder the responsibility to protect the safety and health of people across the world, he urged. Cao explained that the battle is not about one city or country. Rather, it is about safeguarding global public health, people's welfare and world prosperity. Coping with the virus effectively is a complicated and daunting task. Only by working together and putting up a joint fight can we succeed. Some say the disease will turn the tide against globalization. "I believe that the very opposite will happen," Cao said, "Reflections upon international response efforts will lead globalization forward in a more sound and orderly manner, bringing benefits to more people." "Globalization is almost an unstoppable force of nature. It could be accelerated or deferred, but never reversed. After the epidemic is over, people will come to a greater recognition that the world is an interconnected whole with a shared future. Only multilateralism and international cooperation will help us deal with mankind's common problems and challenges," the ambassador concluded. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan today had a meeting with the deputies representing the economic bloc of the My Step, Prosperous Armenia and Bright Armenia factions of the National Assembly of Armenia, as reported the news service of the Office of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister touched upon the course of implementation of the governments anti-crisis measures. He also informed the results of the 13 anti-crisis measures devoted to the granting of loans, agriculture, the operation of small and medium-sized enterprises, employees who have lost their jobs and have a child under the age of 14, grants, citizens who have lost their jobs in the period between March 13 and 25, unemployed pregnant women whose husbands are also unemployed, families with unemployed members and children, microbusinesses, the utility bill payment and social support for families receiving benefits. Summing up, the Prime Minister said the following: Currently, 10,531 legal entities and 639,592 families have benefited from the governments anti-crisis measures, and AMD 29,900,000,000 has been distributed. The government is also making certain decisions to combat the crisis and decisions that arent recorded as anti-crisis measures. Today the National Assembly considered the proposal for amendments to the Tax Code. The government holds sessions on a daily basis and, of course, with the help of the representatives of the economic blocs of the parliamentary factions, we will do our best to make sure the social support programs are effective and addressable. Afterwards, Deputy Prime Minister, Commandant for the state of emergency Tigran Avinyan provided information about the coronavirus situation and emphasized that the situation is under control and that 1,000 coronavirus tests are conducted on a daily basis. The Commandant also talked about the possible decisions to expand the scopes of permissible economic activities. During the meeting, the participants exchanged views on the anti-crisis measures and the actions being taken to prevent the spread of the pandemic. The Prime Minister and government officials also answered questions of the deputies concern and gave clarifications. Eun Sook met Gang Hwa outside the temple. Gang Hwa shared his thoughts with Eun Sook as Yu Ri is to disappear again. Eun Sook opened up about her experience at the start when Yu Ri came back to life. She told him she dreamed every night that Yu Ri bids goodbye and leaves them. "In my dream, Yu Ri says goodbye and leaves. When I woke up and saw Yu Ri in my arms, I felt relieved. She didn't go, but strangely enough, I have that dream every day. Then this thought came to my mind. My daughter came back to say goodbye to everyone. Prepares me if that happens through my dreams as she bids farewell. If that's the case, when that time comes, I will say goodbye to my daughter with a smile," Eun Sook warmly told Gang Hwa. Min Jeong asked Gang Hwa to meet them in the hospital as Seo Woo was admitted. Gang Hwa apologized to Min Jeong as they met after what happened for the past days. Min Jeong looked at him and was glad to know that he now expresses his feelings more. Min Jeong walked away with a request, "Yu Ri, give her a good send-off. Put your heart into it and do the best you can. Have no regrets." Eun Sook cooked Yu Ri's favorite seaweed soup. She apologized to Yu Ri for the past five years she never let go of her and cried many times. Yu Ri hugged her mother and thanked her for all her sacrifice. Gang Hwa returned home and whispered to Seo Woo while asleep about her pretty auntie as her real mother. Yu Ri started to list down all her to-do lists. First, to treat her ghosts friends to a sumptuous dinner. They felt so happy and bid farewell with each other. Second, to let JungPil eat the homecooked meal at her parent's house. Yu Ri thanked JungPil's ghost family for protecting Seo Woo from the exorcist. Third, enjoy a day as any normal mother does with their children. Yu Ri bought a sweet, cold snack and shared it with Seo Woo. The fourth one is to spend quality time with her family. Yu Ri spent a whole day with her father, sister, mother, and Seo Woo at the park. Fifth, bid farewell to her closest friends and loved ones. Hyun Jong's family, Gang Hwa, and Seo Woo, took her to camp. They sang their favorite song and prepared their food together. Yu Ri dreamed of bringing Seo Woo to a camping experience before she died. She spent a happy, memorable time with her families. Yu Ri had the chance to talk with Gang Hwa again. She thanked him for taking care of their daughter. She reminded him that every time he thinks of her, he should put a smile on his face instead of tears. Gang Hwa made his last words to Yu Ri, "I will remember you, I will only cherish the happy memories. I will do that always." The next day, Eun Sook saw the beautiful white cherry blossoms blooming in her front yard. She thought of Yu Ri and kept her memories in her heart. Yu Ri bade farewell to Seo Woo and hugged her tight. Seo Woo hugged her back, and, for the first time, told her, "Bye, mama." Yu Ri felt a sense of full joy that Seo Woo called her "mama" before she departed. Dong Daek sent Yu Ri off while the white cherry blossoms were in full bloom. She gave her a mirror and asked her to say goodbye to her earthly body. Yu Ri held the mirror and said goodbye. She slowly walked away with her meandering thoughts: "Gang Hwa and Seo Woo, when you go to Heaven, God will ask you two questions. If you answer both questions with yes, you can be reborn to your next life. One question is, were you happy with your life? The other question is, were other people happy because of you? Let's be reborn again as humans and meet again in the next life." 'Flower petals fall, but the flowers endure." In the latter part of the finale episode, Seo Woo is seen all grown up. She loves reading books. Seated at a park bench, Min Jeong and Gang Hwa picked her up in the same spot where white cherry blossoms bloomed during springtime. The pandemic COVID-19 has affected more than 825,000 people in the US, but the daily number of new cases and deaths is not precise. A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in April 2020 reports that Internet search interest could be used as a means to predict the daily incidence of cases in the US, as was proved in China. Study: Trends and prediction in daily incidence and deaths of COVID-19 in the United States: a search-interest based model. Image Credit: haysekiz / Shutterstock The importance of modeling COVID-19 is advancing steadily across many parts of the world, both developed and developing countries. China has succeeded in modeling the daily incidence of COVID-19. Yet, the epicenter has now shifted to the US, where tens of thousands of new cases are being added to the daily total. Despite this, not much research has been done on the trends of daily incidence and deaths due to COVID-19 in the US. The current study is based on a Chinese model that shows a correlation between Google search-term interest on the Internet and daily incidence of the disease, with a lag time of 9 days on average. This is also the case with trends in Europe, Taiwan, and Iran. Internet search interest has also been used to model and detect epidemics of influenza in the US and Australia. The present study attempts to analyze the association between the daily incidence and mortality due to COVID-19 in the US and the interest shown in Google search terms related to the illness. How was the modeling done? The researchers extracted data on the number of daily new cases and new death from the 1-point-3-acres.com website and the John Hopkins database on April 9, 2020. Google Trends was used to look for the data on the relevant search terms between March 1 and April 10, 2020. They used nine terms in all, such as COVID-19, COVID, coronavirus, pneumonia, high temperatures, cough, Covid heart, Covid pneumonia, and Covid diabetes. The search interest, as represented on Google trends, shows how popular that term is compared to the peak popularity by time and region. It is scored between 0 and 100 inadequate data to assess search interest for the term, and peak popularity, respectively. They then looked at how the search interest for each term correlated with daily incidence and daily deaths, with a lag period of 20 and 23 days, respectively. They used the top 3 terms to build a generalized linear model for each of these outcomes. Finally, these models were used to predict daily incidence and new deaths in the US in the future. The predictions were tested against the actual data as it came in to evaluate the accuracy of prediction. What did the study show? The researchers elected to use data from John Hopkins because of the slightly better consistency of the data. During the study period, there were 555,245 new cases and 22,019 deaths of COVID-19 in the US. The search term interest trends were two days behind the date of search, on Google Trends. The search term with the highest popularity was COVID rather than COVID-19, and the former was used for analysis. The correlation coefficients of each search term depend upon the lag time. The highest correlation was seen for COVID, COVID pneumonia, and Covid heart, with the search interest for these three terms being highly correlated with the daily incidence and new deaths, but with a lag time of 12 and 19 days, respectively. The predictions for daily incidence and new cases show a predicted plateau for about 12 days, which could mean that in the future, these outcomes will show a plateau. When compared with prospective data, there was moderate to good accuracy of prediction for new cases, while new deaths were predicted with poor to good accuracy. What do the results tell us? This is the first study to show the excellent correlation between the search interest and the daily incidence and new deaths. Over the short 4-day follow-up, there was moderate to very good accuracy of prediction. The researchers say more studies must validate their findings. If so, this type of modeling can help predict and prepare for upcoming trends concerning cases and deaths. The earlier study in China reported a lag time of 9 days, whereas the US was found to be 12 days. This difference could be due to several factors such as the lower rate of testing in the US relative to China, leading to underestimation of the real daily incidence; delay in the initiation of testing in the US causing longer lag times; differences in the physical and socioeconomic characteristics of patients in the US and China; and possible differences in the subtypes of the virus circulating in China and the US. The use of Google trends to analyze trends in COVID search terms and correlate them with the number of new deaths and cases in the US provides a better understanding of the pandemic parameters. The number of search terms used here is higher than the two used in earlier models. The interest trends suggest a high prevalence of pneumonia and heart disease in relation to COVID-19-associated daily cases and deaths, perhaps because cardiac damage and pneumonia are so frequent in these patients. The longer lag times perhaps offer a more significant opportunity to intervene. The researchers plan to keep updating the model with the latest data, which will allow a more accurate prediction by reducing selection and recall biases in the future. They report a superior correlation between search term interest and the daily number of new cases and deaths than with the earlier Chinese studies. Overall, this retrospective population-based modeling shows excellent correlation with daily death and incidence of COVID-19 in the US, with moderate to good accuracy of prediction. Important Notice medRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information. Apple's email app for iPhone and iPad may have left hundreds of millions of users data vulnerable to hackers - thanks to an exploit discovered by researchers. Security experts uncovered a vulnerability in the Mail app on iOS13 devices, and say it has been users by hackers to steal data 'in the wild' at least six times. It was spotted by mobile security forensics firm ZecOps, who say it has been used to hack into devices of 'high profile users' and take photos and contact details. The flaw was acknowledged by Apple, who say they had developed a fix which will be rolled out to millions of devices in the next update. According to ZecOps victims are sent an apparently blank email message that forces the device to crash and reset - the crash opens a back door for the hackers. The exploits are a rare lapse in iOS security that researchers say has been used to hack individuals at American companies and a 'German VIP' (stock) According to a report from ZecOps which was first highlighted by Motherboard, there are actually a pair of related flaws - both uncovered in iOS 13. 'We concluded with high confidence that it was exploited in the wild,' Zuk Avraham, the founder of ZecOps, told Motherboard. 'One of [the vulnerabilities] we clearly showed that it can be triggered remotely, the other one requires an additional vulnerability to trigger it remotely.' The remote vulnerability is especially dangerous according to researchers since it doesn't require a victim to 'click' or interact with anything in order to be exploited. While ZecOps didn't elaborate on what, if anything, the hacks stole or who may be using them, the firm did say that they targeted people working for major companies in the US, 'a German VIP', an executive in Japan and a journalist from Europe. Avaraham said that the flaws were exploited by 'someone who wants to get privileged access' to a target's device. ZecOps says the exploit was leveraged Apple's mail app and was likely purchased from a third-party by a nation-state looking to use the flaw for surveillance. As noted by Motherboard, zero-day exploits like the one discovered by ZecOps are flaws that have not been identified by the companies that they affect and are rarely discovered in Apple's iOS. Avraham, a former Israeli Defense Force security researcher, said he believes these are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of Apple exploits - adding that the hacking technique was part of a chain of malicious programs. He said the rest of the exploits were so far undiscovered by security researchers and that they could have given an attacker full remote access. Apple declined to comment on that prospect. Zero-day flaws are also rarely spotted 'in the wild' meaning they haven't been identified by a company or service. This is because they are often used by sophisticated hackers who cover their tracks after leveraging the exploit. Zero-day iOS flaws are rarely discovered but are often exploited by nation-states and other organized cyber espionage groups (stock) Though the exploits aren't likely being used against people en masse, Motherboard says users can safely guard against the flaw by deleting the Mail app from their phones. Two independent security researchers who reviewed ZecOps' discovery found the evidence credible, but said they had not yet fully recreated its findings. Patrick Wardle, an Apple security expert and former researcher for the US National Security Agency, said the discovery formed a 'badly kept secret'. He said that it has long been known 'that well-resourced adversaries can remotely and silently infect fully patched iOS devices.' Because Apple was not aware of the software bug until recently, it could have been very valuable to governments and contractors offering hacking services. Exploit programs that work without warning against an up-to-date phone can be worth more than $1 million. Apple is seen by cybersecurity experts as having a very high standard of digital security but with 900 million active iPhones in use - there is a large incentive for hackers to find a way into the operating system. Bill Marczak, a security researcher with Citizen Lab, a Canada-based academic security research group, called the vulnerability discovery 'scary.' 'A lot of times, you can take comfort from the fact that hacking is preventable,' said Marczak. 'With this bug, it doesn't matter if you've got a PhD in cybersecurity, this will eat your lunch.' If you have an event you'd like to list on the site, submit it now! Submit Hes been a household name for over four decades, but Tom Selleck has never been one to seek fame and celebrity. Im a fairly private person, the actor, 75, who shot to fame with Magnum P.I. in the 1980s, tells PEOPLE in this weeks issue. And Ive always treasured the balance between work and time with my family. Its always about them. Indeed, when Selleck is not shooting Blue Bloods, the police drama now in its tenth season, in New York City, hes at home with Jillie, his wife of 33 years, on their Ventura, California, ranch. My relationships and my ranch keep me sane, says Selleck, who is dad to Hannah, 31, and Kevin, 54, his son with first wife Jacqueline Ray. For more about Tom Selleck, pick up this weeks issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic Tom Selleck with wife Jillie Mack (right) and daughter Hannah Selleck (left) The ranch was a working avocado farm until the plants were decimated by a drought, and is home to over 1,500 native trees. I do grunt work and I make the rounds. I like watching things grow. Its a retreat. A retreat that Selleck has called home since 1988, after the actor quit Magnum P.I. at the height of his fame, in order to lead a quieter life with his family. Fame, he had quickly learned, could be stifling. I knew intellectually what it would mean in terms of being a public person, but until youve lived it, theres no way to understand it, says Selleck. I had a feeling of, I dont think Im cut out for this. RELATED: Tom Selleck on a Magnum, P.I. Movie: I Think Thatd Be Great! Ultimately, I quit Magnum, not because I didnt like it or I was tired of it, he explains. I was tired from it. And I wanted a three-dimensional life because I didnt have one. And so Selleck opted to retreat from Hollywood on a self-imposed hiatus. One year off became several when Selleck found he didnt like what I was being offered. Says the actor: I put up with the articles that said hes disappeared, hes done. And you do get done, Im well aware of that. It was a big lull, but it put a lot of things in perspective. Story continues Selleck began working steadily again in the 90s, with roles on Friends and The Closer, as well as his Jesse Stone TV movies, before landing the role of police commissioner Frank Reagan on Blue Bloods. Heather Wines/CBS Tom Selleck in Blue Bloods RELATED: See Courteney Coxs Sweet Reunion with Her Friends On-Screen Flame Tom Selleck These days, the actor says hes grateful for his career longevity, and equally appreciative of the life hes built away from the cameras. Im proud of my work, I still love what I do, and I have my family, says Selleck. Ive been enormously fortunate. Blue Bloods airs Fridays (10 p.m. ET) on CBS. COVID-19 test kits produced in Vietnam have been approved by the UK and EU. Vietnam's domestically made COVID-19 test kits, jointly developed by Viet A Corporation and the Military Medical University. Phan Quoc Viet, Director-General of Viet A Corporation, made the announcement on Tuesday regarding the joint-effort between the company and the Military Medical University that debuted on March 5. A kit, comprising 50 separate tests that can theoretically be used to for SARS-CoV-2 on 50 people, meets all the criteria on virus sensitivity, specificity and accuracy set by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The full timescale for the RT-PCR test kit to produce a result, either negative or positive for SARS-CoV-2, is a little over two hours. Production costs have been funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology, so the price of each kit remains at an affordable VND400,000-600,000 (US$17.06-25.59) per test. While the UK officially left the EU on January 31 this year, the EUs pharmaceutical legal framework is still applicable in the UK until the end of 2020. Viet said that after the receiving the CE marking from the UKs Department of Health and Social Care in line with Directive 98/79/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 October 1998 on in vitro diagnostic medical devices, the company's UK-based partner Redcliffe Bioscience Holdings Limited was selected as an authorised distributor to sell the products in the UK, India, Mexico, the US and certain European countries. It said one million test kits would be supplied a month for these countries. A single SARS-CoV-2 test in the 50-test kit. VNA/VNS Photos Duong Giang In March, 20 countries began negotiations to buy the test kits from Vietnam. Viet A said had already fulfilled export orders for 4,000 test kits from Iran and 300 from Ukraine. Hanoi City has placed an order of 4,000 test kits from Viet A for its own use and to donate to Italy, one of the countries hit hardest by the novel coronavirus pandemic. Viet A Corp said that it could produce 10,000 test kits a day and ramp up production to three times that amount to meet domestic and export demands. The RT-PCR diagnostic method is the internationally recommended testing method. Quick tests that offer results within 10-15 minutes have been deemed to be less accurate. VNS COVID-19 quick test kits to be manufactured Research on a test kit for early COVID-19 discovery has been successful, the Ministry of Science and Technology said on March 5. Over 10 countries keen on Vietnams coronavirus test kits More than 10 countries have expressed interest in Vietnams test kits for detecting the presence of the novel coronavirus, which causes the flu-like disease Covid-19. The 50th anniversary of Earth Day comes at a strange time: when all the world is on hold, frozen in place by a pandemic. With human economic activity nearly at a standstill, for a brief moment the air and water are cleaner and animals have come out to play on deserted beaches and streets. It's worth asking if we can take this opportunity, this pause, to build something greener. Could a system based on more caring communities emerge? Can human activity be more in balance with the natural world? Do we really need everything we were used to before? On a practical level, here are some design tips for entrepreneurs thinking about the building blocks to a better future. 1. Design with children in mind. This means avoiding anything toxic. Bill McDonough, one of the great figures in sustainable design thinking, said in a recent presentation that toxins are not "bad" things, but rather elements in the wrong place or the wrong quantity. For example, he says, if someone is drowning, the water all around her is toxic. Think of putting things in their right place, he says. A hammer belongs in a construction site, but not in a child's playpen. Carbon belongs in soil, but not in excess emissions released into the atmosphere. As an entrepreneur, you might want to apply your creativity to clean tech solutions. An example that McDonough uses is thinking of plastic bottles as a form of carbon, which can be designed to be biodegradable and to return to the soil. 2. Simplify. A system that is unnecessarily complex can be reduced to what is essential. As an example, CEO of Social Impact Capital Sarah Cone doesn't think today's food supply chain makes any sense. Agricultural products make their way across oceans to be put in warehouses and sold through multiple intermediaries before getting to a family's refrigerator. That is a lot of margin reduction. Cone says her company invests in the essentials of human need, noting that they "look at deals in food, water, affordable housing, education, energy, and particularly drugs. And having these things at lower cost, and better-performing via technology, becomes more important." There's plenty of opportunity in simplifying your systems from a sustainbility standpoint 3. Think locally and build resilience. Michael Shuman, a proponent of local community building, suggests designing businesses for resilient, interconnected local communities. Does your business respond to a local need? Will it help the community thrive? Does it measure performance through tools like the B-Corp assessment (a certification program for societal benefit)? We can't all predict a pandemic the way Bill Gates did, but entrepreneurs can understand risk and weave environmental and social risk management into the way they do business. So ask yourself, how could climate risk affect your business? Shuman says that those who are best able to withstand future crises--be they pandemics, climate disruptions, or financial meltdowns--will be the ones who thrive economically. 4. Be part of the clean tech climate challenge. We've become used to hearing about climate change as a problem too big to solve, a conundrum for policy-makers and not entrepreneurs. But the climate challenge presents immense opportunities for innovation. We should treat this as an engineering challenge, according to Solomon Goldstein-Rose, author of The 100% Solution: A Plan for Solving Climate Change. "We can do that through moonshot-style innovation projects," he wrote in a recent article. The goal is to outcompete fossil fuel infrastructure and technology, building new systems that are affordable enough to spread rapidly. 5. Design for seven generations into the future. This was a concept coined by Native Americans that first appeared in the Great Law of Peace of the Iroquois Confederacy, an oral framework thought to have influenced the U.S. Constitution. Designing products and business models that stand the test of time, a long time, can help entrepreneurs make a positive impact on the environment and society as a whole. Nigerias foremost brewer, Nigerian Breweries Plc has announced a donation of six Hundred Million Naira (N600,000,000.00) to the Federal and some state governments, as part of efforts to support the fight against COVID-19, the Corporate Affairs Director of the company, Sade Morgan, said in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES. According to Ms Morgan, details of the donation are contained in a letter to Boss Mustapha, the secretary to the federal government and chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19. The Companys Managing Director, Jordi Borrut Bel, who signed the letter, confirmed that the N600 million donation comprised of the following: A N250 million cash donation to the Federal Government, through the Coalition Against COVID-19 (CA-COVID), the private sector led special intervention fund managed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); N250 million cash donation to eight State Governments Task Force Against COVID-19. Lagos and Ogun States will receive the sum of One Hundred Million Naira (N100M) and Fifty Million Naira (N50M) respectively being COVID-19 frontline states while five other states of Kaduna, Oyo, Enugu, Abia and Imo will get N20M each. N100 million worth of relief materials comprising: Provision of 5 double-cabin vehicles for use by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in Abuja, Lagos, Ogun and Kaduna States. This is to help meet their critical operational needs, especially contact tracing and movement of materials/personnel to isolation and treatment centres. The cost of fuel, maintenance and drivers salaries will also be covered by Nigerian Breweries. Personal Protective Equipment such as face masks, 500 gowns and 141,000 units of hand sanitizers for nationwide distribution to our key states. Supply of malt, energy and soft drinks to the various Covid-19 NCDC centres nationwide. This will be done over a period to ensure steady support and to meet the nourishment needs of the centres during the crisis. L-R: Brewery Security Manager, Kaduna, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Monday Omokagbo ;, Corporate Affairs Manager, North, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Danjuma John-Ekele and a member of the Kaduna State COVID-19 Medical Team and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Kaduna State, Mahmud Shuaibu at the presentation of drinks to the Kaduna State COVID-19 Taskforce as part of NBs support to the States governments fight against COVID-19. L-R: Brewery Security Manager, Kaduna, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Monday Omokagbo ;, Corporate Affairs Manager, North, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Danjuma John-Ekele and a member of the Kaduna State COVID-19 Medical Team and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Kaduna State, Mahmud Shuaibu at the presentation of drinks to the Kaduna State COVID-19 Taskforce as part of NBs support to the States governments fight against COVID-19. Mr Jordi Bel said the company has taken various steps to ensure that it continues to protect the jobs of its 3000 employees, while supporting its vendors/suppliers during this difficult period. L-R: Chief of Staff to the Enugu State Governor, Dr Festus Uzoh; Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health, Dr Ifeanyi Agujiobi; Peter Ani (Brewery Manager, Ama Brewery); Isaac Nwabuzor (Corporate Affairs Manager, East); Dr Obaro Ovienuno (Ama Brewery Medical Doctor), all from Nigerian Breweries Plc, at the presentation of drinks and sanitizers as part of NBs support to the Enugu state governments fight against COVID-19. L-R: Chief of Staff to the Enugu State Governor, Dr Festus Uzoh; Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health, Dr Ifeanyi Agujiobi; Peter Ani (Brewery Manager, Ama Brewery); Isaac Nwabuzor (Corporate Affairs Manager, East); Dr Obaro Ovienuno (Ama Brewery Medical Doctor), all from Nigerian Breweries Plc, at the presentation of drinks and sanitizers as part of NBs support to the Enugu state governments fight against COVID-19. He added that these contributions are in line with the companys belief that public-private partnership is essential to overcoming the threat of the COVID-19 virus. L-R: Director, Special Duties, DGs Office, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Abuja, Dr Priscilla Ibekwe receiving a donation of malt and soft drinks from the Head of Government Relations, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Vivian Ikem as part of the companys support in the fight against COVID-19. L-R: Director, Special Duties, DGs Office, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Abuja, Dr Priscilla Ibekwe receiving a donation of malt and soft drinks from the Head of Government Relations, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Vivian Ikem as part of the companys support in the fight against COVID-19. According to the official, cheque presentations have already been made to the Ogun and Lagos State governments while other states will receive their donations in the coming days. The parent company of Nigerian Breweries, the HEINEKEN Company, had previously donated 15 Million Euros to the International Red Cross to support the oeganisations relief efforts towards the most vulnerable people and communities affected by COVID-19 especially those in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Nigerian Breweries Plc Nigerian Breweries Plc Additionally, the Heineken Africa Foundation has decided to replace its regular grants and projects this year with a plan to spend up to five million euros in partnership with various NGOs in Africa to significantly upscale and accelerate its WASH programme, which focuses on providing access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). The COVID-19 pandemic could have been a fraught moment for US-Mexico relations two leaders from opposite ends of the political spectrum facing the largest crisis ever confronted by either administration. Instead, presidents Donald Trump and Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador are carrying on like old pals. The men appear so chummy that the Mexican president, who has not traveled outside his country since taking office nearly 18 months ago, is talking about visiting his US counterpart. It's almost enough to forget that less than a year ago Trump threatened to put crippling tariffs on Mexican exports. As a candidate, Trump said Mexicans crossing the border brought drugs, crime and tremendous infectious disease to the US After taking office, he continued to promise to build a border wall and make Mexico pay for it. But this month Trump called Lpez Obrador a very good friend" and praised his tremendous intelligence. His Mexican counterpart described their relationship as a friendship and said Trump had spoken to him with a lot of fondness. The two have consistently denied observers any fireworks, and their common ground in the virus crisis appears to be an eagerness to reactivate their economies, which is sometimes at odds with warnings from health advisers. The warmth between them recently yielded some benefit to Mexico. To complete an agreement among oil-producing nations to reduce production, Trump offered to make a deeper cut to US production, because Lpez Obrador said Mexico could not afford to. Then on Friday, Trump appeared to grant a favor to Lpez Obrador. The Mexican president said Trump called him and said that Mexico would get 1,000 ventilators by the end of the month with the option to buy more. It's a new gesture of solidarity with Mexico, Lpez Obrador wrote on Twitter. I proposed the possibility of meeting in June or July to personally express our appreciation. Earlier that day, Lpez Obrador had said at his daily conference that Trump "has been respectful of the people and government of Mexico. There isn't the belittling of Mexicans like there had been before, there isn't with the same intensity, he added. On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security reached agreement with Mexico and Canada to continue restricting nonessential travel at U.S. borders for another month. Later, in a tweet, Trump said he was temporarily suspending immigration to the U.S. to curb the virus, though with all the other immigration restrictions, it was not immediately clear who would be affected. It's very clear that there's a high degree of affinity, a surprising degree of affinity, between Trump and Lpez Obrador," who is willing "to cater to Trump in order to not only prevent Trump from dumping on Mexico, but also because Lpez Obrador recognizes that he can get help and support where he needs it, said David Shirk, a political science professor at the University of San Diego. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) JONESVILLE, MI Ed Asners one-man show at The Sauk in Jonesville has been rescheduled for August due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. The show, A Man and His Prostate was originally set for early April and will now be at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 24 and Aug. 25, at The Sauk, 240 E. Chicago St. Tickets are $25. The actor is known for his role as Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Lou Grant. He also voiced Carl Fredricksen in Disney Pixars Up. A Man and His Prostate is based on Asners collaborator Ed Weinbergers real experience. The play follows a man vacationing in Italy who wakes up in a hospital with no one who speaks English. Asners daughter and agent Liza Asner reached out to The Sauk about hosting her fathers performance, Sauk Executive Director Trinity Bird said. We are committed to bringing Mr. Asner and his hilarious and touching show to Jonesville, Bird said in a news release. We are extremely excited that we may now also be able to offer a meet and greet event with Ed as well. More information the possible meet and greet will be released later. Tickets are still available for both dates and can be purchased at www.thesauk.org. , We're sorry, this article is not currently available This Kentucky teacher deserves a standing ovation for her rendition of the song, "Part of Your World," from Disney's "The Little Mermaid" that she rewrote to surprise her students. Morgan True, 25, is a third grade teacher at Centerfield Elementary School in Oldham County, Kentucky. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, her school implemented remote learning, according to True. To help keep spirits high, True said she started sending funny videos via Google Classroom to her students and was then inspired to make a magical video of her own "I've been trying to just get on [my student's] level, whatever they're passionate about," said True, noting that "Part of Your World" was in her head before deciding to rewrite it. "I just started singing ['Part of Your World'] around the house and I was like, 'Oh, I think I could maybe redo [the song]. Maybe my students would think that was cool.' So I started rewriting it and I did it all in one night." PHOTO: Morgan True holds up a sign welcoming her third grade students to the first day of school of 2019 at Centerfield Elementary School in Oldham County, Ky. (Courtesy Morgan True) MORE: 3-year-old who was adopted during pandemic gets parade celebration True's version plays off the realities of life in quarantine for teachers and students. She swapped the iconic lyrics for ones that make the day-to-day situation a bit more magical, such as, "What would I pay to spend a day back in our classroom? What would I do just to see you smiling at me?" PHOTO: Morgan True, 25, pictured in a 2019 photo, is a third grade teacher at Centerfield Elementary School in Oldham County, Ky. (Courtesy Morgan True) "Teaching from home can only go so far. Schools are required for huggin', high-fivin'. Playing around on them -- what's that word, again? Playgrounds." "I'll ask some questions and get some answers. Like what's a theme and how do we divide?" On April 6, True shared the "Little Mermaid"-inspired video with her class and then on Facebook. "My [students] are freaking out. They've been watching the views go up they're very excited. It's been such a positive thing during this time," she said. Story continues PHOTO: Morgan True reads to her third grade classroom at Centerfield Elementary School in Oldham County, Ky., in a 2019 handout photo. (Courtesy Morgan True) MORE: One woman's daily porch performance gets giggles from people around the country True said she keeps up with her students every day by video conference, but misses having that in-person connection. "It's been difficult for [students] and teachers everywhere. We just found out yesterday that we won't be going back to school for the rest of the year," said True. "They miss their friends!" Ultimately, True said she is thankful that her school has the resources to use technology for remote learning and is glad she found a way to engage with her students during these unprecedented times. PHOTO: Morgan True, 25, pictured in her classroom in 2019, is a third grade teacher at Centerfield Elementary School in Oldham County, Ky. (Courtesy Morgan True) "It's hard, especially through a screen, to reach out to those little people. ... I've been blessed to be able to reach most of my kids through technology," said True. "I just try to continue to make them feel loved from far away and I think that's every teacher's goal everywhere." True's favorite part of the song was the sentimental end note speaking directly to her students: "Even from here, isn't it clear? You are my world." Disney is the parent company of ABC News and "Good Morning America." Teacher rewrites The Little Mermaid's' 'Part of Your World' for her class originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com BEIJING, April 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A report from International Communication Center for Science and Technology Daily: Epidemic prevention and control require coordinated efforts; so does related scientific research. Around the time of the 2020 Spring Festival, Ma Juncai, a researcher at the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and Wei Qiang from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC), got together to brainstorm ideas about how to develop a support system for COVID-19 related research by leveraging strengths of both sides. The National Microbiology Data Center managed by Ma can serve as an information platform, while the National Pathogen Resource Collection Center led by Wei can provide virus strains. At the beginning of the outbreak, the two researchers started exploring ways to better contribute to the fight against the virus. Shortly after their brainstorming session, on Jan. 24, the Novel Coronavirus National Science and Technology Resource Service System was launched. Apart from publishing information on virus strains and scientific data concerning the outbreak, the system also provides other science and technology information and resources for the prevention and control of the disease, such as methods for virus detection, genomes, and scientific literature. The system is an epitome of coordinated services to advanced scientific research on COVID-19. Such cooperation is not limited to within the scientific community. Relevant institutes, universities, and enterprises have also been working together to develop drugs and vaccines. Li Hangwen, founder and CEO of Stemirna Therapeutics, a biotechnology company, said, "We contacted China CDC on Jan. 16, hoping to cooperate on the development of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. " Li recalled that a few days before the Spring Festival, Tan Wenjie, a researcher at China CDC, sent him the antigens that were expected to be produced. Based on professional analysis of the viral sequences, researchers from China CDC believed that certain sequences may evoke immune responses. Li said that the vaccine development got off to a good start, thanks to China CDC's valuable experiences and cutting-edge analysis techniques. After they received the antigens, R&D personnel at Stemirna Therapeutics began to work around the clock. To address the shortage of raw materials during the Spring Festival holiday, Li mobilized all partners and suppliers of his company. "Learning that their supply would be used for scientific research on COVID-19, they offered to help as much as they could to facilitate our development work," Li said. Other innovative types of vaccines are also under development through collaboration among research institutions, universities, and enterprises. For example, Xiamen University and Changchun Bcht Biotechnology Co. are cooperating on the development of a nasal drop vaccine; the Institute of Microbiology of the CAS and Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products Co. are working together to develop a recombinant protein vaccine; the Academy of Military Medical Sciences is cooperating with CanSinoBIO on the development of an adenovirus vector vaccine. After the virus broke out, China's scientific community has carried out close and fruitful cooperation and shared the latest progress with other countries in a timely manner. China was quick to share the whole genetic sequence of the virus with the world, winning praise from the global scientific community. The country's efforts toward sharing information and progress have never stopped. China's Ministry of Science and Technology, the National Health Commission, and other departments jointly built the COVID-19 Academic Research Communication Platform, which has become an important channel for worldwide scientific personnel to communicate the latest findings. China has shared its guidelines for COVID-19 prevention and control, as well as diagnosis and treatment plans, with 180 countries and over 10 international and regional organizations. Many Chinese enterprises and research institutions are cooperating with their foreign counterparts on the development of COVID-19 vaccines. China has translated all policies, management manuals, and clinical guidelines related to makeshift hospitals into the languages of countries facing rapidly growing COVID-19 outbreaks. As the fight against the virus continues, researchers are working tirelessly at laboratories and wards to pursue scientific breakthroughs, which will undoubtedly play a major role in overcoming the pandemic. SOURCE Science and Technology Daily Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Chris Patten (The Jakarta Post) Project Syndicate/London Wed, April 22, 2020 17:41 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd397cc3 3 Opinion China,COVID-19,pandemic,wuhan Free With the coronavirus continuing its brutal global rampage, it takes a particular sort of malign genius to put the United States in the political dock as the death toll mounts and economic devastation spreads. Yet, that is what President Donald Trump is doing. But first things first. In every country, medical workers and support staff have been on the front line fighting the pandemic on behalf of the rest of us. Beginning with the brave Chinese doctors and nurses who risked their lives and were muzzled by local political bosses when they tried to sound the alarm, we have seen similar examples of professional courage everywhere. And we should also salute those who try to keep normal life going by providing our food, operating our public transport, and cleaning our streets. In the midst of a fire, it makes no sense to point fingers at the principal arsonist. The top priority must be getting the hoses to work and extinguishing the fire. But knowing how the COVID-19 pandemic started is central to learning how to prevent similar disasters in the future. First, the outbreak began (like SARS in 2002) in China, probably in a so-called wet market in Wuhan, although some have pointed to allegedly lax biosecurity at a nearby virology research center. (Although these suspicions have been widely debunked, they have been given greater credibility in some peoples eyes by the systematic destruction of the published outcomes of the research undertaken there and elsewhere in China.) Second, the Communist Party of China (CPC) initially failed to disclose not only the outbreak, but also the ease with which the novel coronavirus could be transmitted between humans. Third, some critics believe that the World Health Organization was hoodwinked about what exactly was going on in China. At the very least, they argue, the WHO was extraordinarily uncritical about the extent to which the CPCs secretiveness appeared to limit Chinas transparency and willingness to fulfill its reporting obligations. Fourth, life in Wuhan appeared to go on as normal in the early stages of the outbreak. And during the Chinese New Year festivities, thousands left Hubei province (where Wuhan is the main city) to visit other parts of China or travel abroad. Soon, some of these issues began to dominate the international agenda, with the CPC facing heavy criticism as a result of the fatal consequences of its secrecy. Chinese officials responded by attacking their critics and blaming the COVID-19 outbreak on the US military and even Italy. All this is bound to affect other countries attitudes toward China or rather, toward Chinese communism and shape the lessons learned for preventing similar global catastrophes. But recent events cannot, and should not, wholly determine the outside worlds stance. That is because China is for the time being the worlds most populous country and a major economic power, regardless of the immoral and dangerous nature of its regime. To recover from these horrors and their aftermath, we must try to persuade China to work with us, and we must strengthen the institutions that are essential for effective international cooperation. Yet, Trump, long incensed by Chinas economic and trade practices, opted for protectionism and China-bashing. At the same time, he has picked fights with most of Americas main trading partners, all of whom have similar criticisms of China. By preferring chest-thumping isolationism to building partnerships, Trump damaged Americas interests and encouraged nationalist prejudice in China. And now he has done the same with COVID-19. To be sure, Western liberal democracies should require honesty and openness from China in dealing with the pandemic and helping to prevent similar episodes. And under no circumstances should open societies surrender their values to try to curry favor with China. Nor should they fall for the self-seeking blandishments of Chinese leaders, whose agenda is hostile to what most of the world stands for. Furthermore, liberal democrats must never fail to call out China when it is wrong as it is, for example, in using the cover of the current health crisis to arrest some of Hong Kongs leading democracy campaigners. And the West should continue to oppose the international isolation of Taiwan, a policy to which the WHO, to its shame, has been a party. But Trumps approach attacking China at every opportunity and now announcing the suspension of US funding for the WHO seems to put America in the wrong in the eyes of many who should be its friends. After all, we need a better and more effective WHO, not a bankrupt and toothless one. For example, the WHOs leadership role will be vital in preventing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) from causing up to ten million deaths annually by 2050, as a UK-government-commissioned review chaired by the distinguished economist Jim ONeill warned in 2016. Moreover, because China is one of the worlds largest producers and heaviest users of antibiotics, addressing the AMR threat also requires us to work with President Xi Jinping as long as he is in power. But cooperating with China does not mean subservience. Rather, it calls for good sense alongside determination. For the time being, Chinese communism is a reality and a challenge, and the regimes construction of a highly effective surveillance state would seem to entrench it further. But, like every other sort of authoritarian ideology in history, it will give way to something better, both for the Chinese people who deserve a political system that embodies the best of Chinas great civilization and the rest of humanity. *** The last British governor of Hong Kong and a former EU commissioner for external affairs, currently Chancellor of the University of Oxford Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 18:44:51|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close XI'AN, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The Xi'an Symphony Orchestra (XSO) will stage an online concert on Saturday evening at the Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum, which is famous for its Terracotta Warriors, in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province. From Jeremiah Clarke's "The Prince of Denmark's March" to the Chinese violin concerto "The Butterfly Lovers," the concert will be a blend of Western and Chinese classical music and will be broadcast live online via platforms including bilibili and Youku at 5:30 p.m., according to the XSO. The concert will be presented before the No. 1 Pit of the mausoleum site, the largest among three pits that surround the tomb of the nation's first emperor Qinshihuang. During the third excavation launched between 2009 and 2019, an area of 400 square meters in the No. 1 Pit was excavated. Archaeologists have estimated that there are more than 6,000 clay figures and horses in the 14,260-square-meter pit. Enditem Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy on Wednesday welcomed the Union Cabinet decision to bring an ordinance making acts of violence and harassment against healthcare personnel deployed in combating COVID-19 a non-bailable offence with maximum punishment of seven years imprisonment. "The union territory administration will implement the legislation in letter and spirit as doctors and medical personnel should be protected against intimidation or attack by members of public," he told reporters here. The government on Wednesday approved the ordinance that also provides for fine of Rs five lakh for those attacking healthcare workers in the wake of spiralling cases of attacks on them across the country. Narayanasamy mourned the death of a senior doctor in Chennai and registered his strong protest against the assault unleashed by local residents when his body was taken to a cemetery for burial. Doctors contracting the infection in the course of treatment of the infected patients and ultimately succumbing to it should be buried with full State honours by the governments, he said. He said people should continue to ensure that the lockdown norms were adhered to strictly to prevent the spread of the virus. There were only three active COVID-19 cases in Puducherry thanks to the dedicated work and cooperation from the public to keep the infection at bay, he added. He said the government was making arrangements to test the mediapersons in the Union Territory for coronavirus. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Oxford team hopes to have vaccine available for use by the autumn. Human trials of a potential coronavirus vaccine developed at the University of Oxford are to begin on Thursday, health secretary Matt Hancock has announced. And one member of the Oxford team said that if trials are successful, millions of doses of vaccine could be available for use by the autumn of this year, in a breakthrough which would potentially signal the start of the world's slow emergence from an outbreak which has already claimed 175,000 lives and caused devastating economic damage, The Independent reported. Read alsoChinese scientists successfully conduct first animal trials of inactivated coronavirus vaccine Speaking at the daily Downing Street press conference, Mr Hancock said the government was "throwing everything" at the search for a vaccine and announced he was providing GBP 20 million to the Oxford team to help fund its clinical trials, with a further GBP 22.5 million going to researchers at Imperial College London. Despite a normal development time of 18 months or more for a vaccine, the Oxford researchers led by Professor Sarah Gilbert believe large-scale production could be under way as early as September about nine months after the novel virus was first spotted in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Mr Hancock said the government will now invest in manufacturing capability so that if either the Oxford or Imperial vaccine works safely, it will be made available to the UK public "as early as humanly possible." POTTSTOWN A woman stabbed and killed her boyfriend inside their North Charlotte Street apartment in what police said is the second domestic violence murder in the borough in as many weeks. Caitlin Mauras, 21, allegedly killed Jaylin Thomas, 24, just before 10 p.m. Thursday after an argument over a TV program and the contents of his phone, according to a release from the Montgomery County District Attorneys Office. Mauras has been charged with first-degree and third-degree murder, as well as possession of a weapon and possession of an instrument of crime as a result of the incident. This is the second tragic domestic violence death in a week in Pottstown, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said in a release from his office. Both murders occurred after arguments by two people who lived together. Steele said earlier in the week that incidents of domestic abuse were on the rise throughout Montgomery County while residents have been ordered to shelter in place. Staying at home together, as we all are now doing, comes with stresses that may trigger domestic violence, he said. The incident occurred the same day as a Boyertown homicide in which a 23-year-old man allegedly stabbed a 24-year-old woman in the neck, killing her. In the Pottstown incident, police were called to 351 N. Charlotte St., Apt. 10, located on the corner with Jefferson Avenue, just before 10 p.m. Thursday. When police arrived, Thomas was found on the floor with an apparent stab wound and was pronounced dead at the scene by personnel from Goodwill Ambulance. Mauras was present inside the apartment when police arrived, according to the release. When Officer John Schmalbach spoke to Mauras, who had blood on her hands and clothing, she told him I thought it was the spatula, according to the criminal complaint. One witness, who called 911 and whose identity was not released, told Pottstown Police Detective Heather Long that Mauras was observed screaming and hysterical and that Mauras said I didnt mean to do it. I was just trying to scare him, according to the complaint. On Friday, Mauras was interviewed by Pottstown Police Detective Brooke Hatfield and told the detective the two had lived together for six months. Thursday evening they had a brief verbal argument regarding the television program Family Guy,' according to the criminal complaint. Later Mauras looked at Thomas phone while he was sleeping and she found he was viewing the Twitter account of his former girlfriend, Hatfield reported. Mauras confronted Thomas and threw his phone against the wall, Hatfield was told. Mauras claimed that Thomas pushed her against the wall, then attempted to grab his cell phone. The pair fell to the floor and then separated, according to the complaint. Mauras went into the kitchen reached into the sink dish rack and grabbed what she believed was the spatula, went back into the living room and took a whack at Thomas to hurt him and scare him,' according to the complaint. Hatfield reported Mauras told her that Thomas held his bleeding neck and was silent before collapsing on the living room floor. Thomas did not threaten Mauras prior to the stabbing and he was unarmed, according to the criminal complaint. Montgomery County detectives found a blood-covered silver knife on the kitchen floor, according to the complaint. The autopsy concluded Thomas died from the neck wound and ruled the cause of death a homicide. Mauras was arraigned by District Judge Scott Palladino. Bail is not available for first-degree murder, and Mauras was remanded to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m., April 27, before Judge Palladino, according to the release from the District Attorneys office. A conviction of first-degree murder, which is an intentional killing, can carry penalties of life imprisonment or a death sentence. A conviction of third-degree murder, which is a killing committed with malice, carries a possible maximum sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison. The homicide is the third to take place in Pottstown in the last two weeks, and the third to have elements of a domestic violence incident. On Friday, April 10, Pottstown Police responding to three 911 calls of a couple at a West King Street home yelling and screaming and trying to fight her husband, were confronted by 31-year-old Jonathan Lee Adams, who began shooting at police. Police eventually returned fire, killing Adams. That shooting remains under investigation and has not been officially declared a domestic violence incident. The same cannot be said of the death of Mary Hatfield, 71, inside her North Hanover Street apartment. According to police, Hatfield was killed by her husband Michael, 69, on Wednesday, April 8 when he strangled her with an electrical extension cord. Police said Michael Hatfield did not call police to report his wifes death until the morning of Friday, April 10 An analysis by the Montgomery County Detective Bureau released Thursday showed that domestic violence is up 8-9 percent in the county since the coronavirus crisis began, according to Steele. People living in these situations, male or female, need to know that there is help available. Call the hotlines. Talk to someone about getting help, Steele advised. Laurel Houses 24/7 domestic violence hotline is 800-642-3150. The Womens Center of Montgomery Countys hotline is 800-773-2424. Both of these helplines are answered by trained volunteers who can listen, offer advice on services available, provide safety planning, and get immediate safe shelter for victims and children, according to the DAs release. More information can be found at laurel-house.org and wcmontco.org. The logos of mobile apps Facebook and Google on a tablet in Lille, France, on Oct. 1, 2019. (Denis Charlet/AFP/Getty Images) Competition Watchdog Tasked to Make Google, Facebook Pay Experts weigh in on what might happen next Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, along with Communications Minister Paul Fletcher, announced in a press release on April 20 that a mandatory code would be created to govern a range of issues on how Google and Facebook work with media companies. This has come about because the government wants to accelerate the original timeframe for the parties to develop voluntary codeswhich was slow to progressgiven the media sector was already under pressure before advertising revenues declined sharply due to the pandemic caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus. They have now tasked the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) with pioneering an agreement between media publishers and the tech giants. The most prominent issue being the payment to media companies for reusing content. Fiona Martin, senior lecturer in Convergence and Online Media at the University of Sydney, told The Epoch Times via email that the Australian governments approach was interesting given the difficulties European nations have had trying to pin down the tech giants. In 2017, the European Union (EU) fined Google 2.4 billion (AU$4.1 billion) for anti-competitive practices by promoting its own shopping service ahead of competitors. In 2018, the EU again fined Google 4.3 billion (AU$7.4 billion), this time for unlawful restrictions around the Android system. In 2019, the French government transposed an article from the EU Copyright Directive allowing media publishers to charge society service providers, namely Google and Facebook, for content. The idea was for the digital platforms to pay media companies when they display excerpts of news content on their feed. Google responded to the move by removing news excerpts altogether in its Google News feed. French users would only be able to see headlines and no description of a news story they were searching for. Following an appeal from local media companies, the French competition regulator last week deemed this practice uncompetitive. It issued an injunction ordering Google to finalise a deal within three months with French media companies for re-using content. Martin said Google was already beginning to pay European news services and has begun negotiating with French publishers. She said the ACCCs code, however, looked far more ambitious than the European regulators because it was asking the tech giants to reveal information on their ranking algorithms and give publishers more access to user data. I cant see media players of this size complying with this regulation, and Australia will probably face a similar outcome to their European counterparts, she said. The most well-known incident was in 2014 when the Spanish government attempted to pass an earlier version of the EU directive. Google responded by closing its news service in the country entirely. Rob Nicholls, associate professor at the University of New South Wales Business School, believes the likelihood of this happening is slim. Instead, he said social media giants would likely come to the table. The referral by the Treasurer does not stop Google and Facebook from proposing prices to the ACCC Indeed, that is precisely what I expect would happen from both the publishers and the platforms, he told The Epoch Times via email. Nicholls suggested this could be the strategy adopted by Google to work on the price in Australia as a benchmark for Europe. This may be a more valuable option than repeating the action taken in Spain, he said. Rod Sims, the chairman of the ACCC addressed these concerns in an interview with the Australian Financial Review on April 20 saying he did not think the social media platforms would be willing to sacrifice valuable news content and would be open for discussion. When you think about search, somewhere between 8 and 14 percent of searches you and I make on Google come up with news stories, he said. Google and Facebooks willingness to negotiate may stem from changing circumstances globally, including the looming, multi-faceted antitrust investigations into Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apply in the United States. Nicholls believes the injunction issued in France stemming from the 2019 EU Copyright Directive was in some ways a watershed moment for tech giants paying publishers to become normal practice. For Martin: The bigger question is whether the gradual, combined impact of national regulatory movesif they continuewill eventually force the platforms to do more revenue sharing. Photo credit: U.S. Navy photo by Lt. Cmdr. Michael Smith/DVIDS From Popular Mechanics Quantum communications would provide secure communications for U.S. missile submarines. Quantum communications is a new, highly secure means of sending and receiving data. The technology uses quantum theory to store data in fragile quantum states that collapses if hackers attempt to gain unauthorized access. The process has been demonstrated in fast-moving water, leading to the possibility it could be used to communicate with nuclear-armed submarines. University researchers have discovered that quantum communications are possible with submerged objects in turbulent water. The revelation means it might someday be possible for the National Command Authority to use quantum communications to securely communicate with underwater submarines, particularly those that make up part of the nuclear triad. Photo credit: (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Ronald Gutridge/DVIDS According to IEEE Spectrum , researchers at the University of Ottawa have demonstrated their ability to transmit information by quantum communications across thirty meters of turbulent water. The researchers were able to send 72 kilobits of data per secondor the equivalent of 4,600 characters per second. Although the method has been used to send and receive data through water in the past, it has been used across calm water and not necessarily water representative of a real-world marine environment. Quantum communications is the practical application of quantum theory to create a super-secure means of communication. With current digital data transmission methods, it is possible for a third party to hack an exchange of data without being detected. The nature of quantum communications makes it possible to know immediately if hackers are trying to compromise a secure data stream. Quantum communications would beat least for nowpretty slow. Although 4,600 characters per second sounds like a lot, sending ordinary words in binary 0s and 1s balloons their size considerably. The word Hello in binary becomes 01001000011001010110110001101100011011110000110100001010 at a total of 56 characters. This article so far amounts to 19,656 characters in binary, or about 5 seconds of quantum communications at the current rate of data transmission. Story continues Photo credit: Sandy Huffaker - Getty Images But one group that could especially use this new quantum communications technology: nuclear submariners. The U.S. Navy operates 14 Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines, with at least five to six at sea at any given time . A typical deterrent patrol lasts an average of 70 days, during which time the submarines do their best to hide in the vastness of the worlds oceans and await orders to fire their missiles. An Ohio-class submarine at sea is Americas ace in the hole, ensuring that hundreds of nuclear warheads can survive a surprise nuclear attack on the U.S. The idea is that this strategy deters an enemy from launching an attack in the first place. All of this makes secure, reliable communications with submarines extremely important. A third party that could read messages between the boomers at sea and the Pentagon could determine their position and sink them. Quantum communications is far from broadband-level bandwidth, but it is enough to send simple, coded messages to submarines at sea. China is also reportedly looking into quantum communications to communicate with its submarines, and other undersea nuclear powers will likely follow suit. You Might Also Like - Queen Pokou was the Queen and founder of the Baoule tribe in West Africa, now Ivory Coast - The young Queen mother led a breakaway group after violent disagreements with the Ashanti confederacy at the time - Queen Pokou sacrificed her son upon the advice of her priest to enable her people to cross over the Komoe River and leave Ashanti territory Our manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in Install our latest app for Android and read the best news about Ghana Princess Ewurabena Pokou, born between 1700 and 1720 in Kumasi, Ghana, was Queen and founder of the Baoule tribe in West Africa, now Ivory Coast. According to ghanaianmuseum.com, Queen Pokou ruled over a branch of the powerful Ashanti Empire as it expanded westward. A subgroup of the Akan people, the Baoule people are today one of the largest ethnic groups in modern Ivory Coast. Her father was a warrior who was not documented because he had no royal lineage. Princess Pokou gained her royalty through the matrilineal culture of the Ashantis. Her mother, Nyakou Kosiamoa was the niece of Osei Kofi Tutu I, co-founder of the Ashanti Empire. Following a series of violent disagreements with the Ashanti confederacy of the time, the young woman led a breakaway group on an arduous journey westward to the Komoe River, where they became stuck with no way to cross. At the rivers edge, she asked her priest for advice on how to cross the river safely and he told her that she would have to sacrifice her son. READ ALSO: Brilliant student who walked for 5 years to library for homework gets accepted to 12 universities Queen Pokou dressed her infant son in regal golden clothing and placed him in the water and called out, Ba ouli, which means the child is dead and the people were able to cross over and left Ashanti territory and Ghana. The people and their princess Pokou journeyed on until they reached fertile land and settled in what is now modern-day Cote dIvoire. They named themselves Baoule, which meant the child is dead to serve as a reminder of the sacrifice of their leader. Her descendants are the Baoule tribe, the largest in todays Cote dIvoire, having assimilated smaller tribes over time. Princess Pokou became Queen and ruled until she died shortly after creating the Baoule kingdom. Her niece, Akwa Boni, succeeded the throne. She pursued wars of conquest to widen the limits of the young kingdom. The Baoule people today inhabit the territory between the Komoe and Bandama Rivers. They make up 15 percent of the countrys population, having assimilated some smaller tribes over the centuries. READ ALSO: Shadrack Frimpong: Genius son of charcoal seller awarded Gates Cambridge Scholarship for PhD Through the loss of language, the name of the Princess which was originally Princess Ewurabena Pokou has been altered into many variations such as Awura Pokou, Aura Pokou and Abla Pokou which is the most popular of the two. The Ivorian animated film Pokou, princesse Ashanti by Nganza Herman and Kan Souffle, which was released in Ivory Coast in 2013, was inspired by the legendary life of Abla Pokou. In a related story, in 1925, Elbert Frank Cox inked his name in the history pages when he joined only 28 doctoral degree holders to become the first African-American to attain that feat. Making history as the first Black man to receive a doctorate in Mathematics and the first African-American to do so was an exceptional achievement especially when at the time, only 28 doctoral degrees had been awarded in Mathematics in the United States. READ ALSO: Shadrack Frimpong: Genius son of charcoal seller awarded Gates Cambridge Scholarship for PhD Low-cost ventilators produced in Ghana by Prof. Fred McBagonluri | #Yencomgh Have national and human interest issues to discuss? Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page. Source: YEN.com.gh Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee interacts with people from a police van during her inspection visit to Kolkata's Raja Bazar during the extended nationwide lockdown imposed to mitigate the spread of coronavirus; on Apr 21, 2020. (P Image Source: IANS News Kolkata, April 22 : Alleging that efforts were on to defame West Bengal, Cchief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday blamed the centre for repeated goof ups with regard to sending Covid 19 test kits that created problems for her state in testing samples. On a day a record number of 855 samples were tested in her state, Banerjee said the Centre sent defective rapid test kits which it has now withdrawn. "It has also withdrawn the Real time Flourecent RTPCR kits, while the antigen kits are not available in Bengal. We have placed orders for it. "All these goof-ups created health hazards. For Covid patients, timely testing of samples is very important, because otherwise, the patient may die," she said. "Bengal is being defamed. They would have been happy had we brought corona from outside and spread," she said sarcastically. Banerjee also attacked the Centre for sending IMCT delegations. "They are coming here and asking questions on sundry issues like whether people are getting their food, or bathing. Then the centre is sending long hard-hitting letters. I can also do the same," she said. Banerjee praised her Health Department for placing orders for kits which has greatly helped the state in conducting tests. Denying that the state was deliberately conducting less number of tests to show less prevalence of the disease, Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha said all the 10,000 rapid kits despatched by Indian Council of Medical Research were defective. "We conducted 220 tests with them. Definitive results were obtained only in a couple of samples. So it was of no use, and a complete waste of time and energy for all our health workers. "We feel ICMR should have tested the recipe of the kits before sending them to us," he said. As for the kits needed for confirmatory tests, he said the Centre was "feeding half-truths". He said the chemical RNA Extractor which was needed for conducting the tests, was also in short supply as ICMR gave only 3,056 RNA extractors. Sinha said the state has now ordered 14,000 RNA extractor kits to continue the tests. "Had we been solely dependent on ICMR, we wouldn't have been able to reach where we have reached now." The top bureaucrat said while two Viral Transpot Media were needed for every test, the Centre supplied only 2,500. "But we have conducted over 7,000 tests. So we would have needed 14,000 VTMs. But we got only 2,500. We bought most of the kits". "We have ordered 45,000. There is a short supply still. But after all this, we are being blamed for some quarters for conducting low number of states. This is not right," he said. HOLLAND, MI Amid concerns over a shortage of facemasks, two employees at a Kraft Heinz factory in Holland have tested positive for COVID-19 and another three people are being treated as presumptive positive cases. Human Resources has done contact tracing and contacted those people who had been in close proximity with these impacted employees, company spokesperson Michael Mullen said in a statement Wednesday, April 22. Out of an abundance of caution, we closed the plant on Sunday to deep clean the facility and reopened it on Monday. All five employees are self-quarantined at home. On Tuesday afternoon, a union representing workers at the factory issued a statement that said the company has not provided employees with protective masks, and that employees who are in quarantine are being forced to use their vacation time. Requiring workers to use their hard earned vacation time is inexcusable, especially when they have been exposed to the virus while at work while performing critically needed essential work during a global pandemic, according to a statement from Local 705 of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. The Kraft Heinz factory, located at 431 W. 16th St., employs 340 people, including temporary workers, Mullen said. The main product created there is vinegar. The union represents 227 full- and part-time workers at the factory. It does not represent temporary workers or management. When asked to respond to the unions concerns, Mullen issued a statement indicating that Kraft Heinz has provided all manufacturing employees with a $100 per week bonus, and that protective masks are expected to arrive in Holland in the next day or two. He also said the company is now not requiring employees to take vacation days if they are in self quarantine or need to stay home for COVID-19 related reasons. We would never encourage employees to come to work if they are not well and from the beginning of this outbreak, we have asked ANY employee who feels unwell to stay home and seek medical assistance, he said. Weve also added social distancing on our production lines and in all other areas of our factories and health questionnaires as part of employee safety routines at our factories. We will also conduct temperature checks beginning this week. Chelsea Connor, a spokesperson for the Local 705 of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, said the union has not been told by the company that employees will no longer be required to take vacation days if they are in self quarantine or need to stay home for COVID-19 related reasons. She said the company for the past month has been saying facemasks will soon arrive. Heres the full list of complaints the union released Tuesday: Immediately repeal any and all essential pay requirements tied to attendance. As Americas leading food processor Kraft Heinz needs to provide workers with critical essential pay that will make a real impact on workers lives and their families. A multi-billion-dollar revenue generating company can and must do better. Provide proper PPE (personal protection equipment) to workers, including masks swiftly. The fact that we are over a month into the COVID-19 pandemic and workers still dont have masks is inexcusable. Pay workers fully for needed quarantine time. Requiring workers to use their hard-earned vacation time is inexcusable, especially when they have been exposed to the virus while at work while performing critically needed essential work during a global pandemic. Read more: Coronavirus antibody tests offer big promise, but can they deliver? Which surfaces does the coronavirus stay on longest? 18 expert disinfecting tips Wednesday, April 22: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan Almost 40% of people with disabilities are at risk of poverty and social exclusion, with a new report showing Ireland among the worst in Europe in this regard. The fourth edition of the European Disability Forums Human Rights Report showed the situation faced by people with disabilities has worsened since 2010 in 11 EU countries - including Ireland. Using previously published data, it showed that 38.1% of people with disabilities in Ireland are at risk of poverty and social exclusion, the fifth-worst among the European countries ranked in the report. Only Bulgaria and the three Baltic states of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia have a worse percentage. When it came to the increase in the risk of poverty and social exclusion in percentage points (pp) for persons with disabilities compared to the general population, Ireland again came fifth-worst, with an increase of 19.1. The report referred to the "significant" extra costs for households with a member who has a disability in Ireland and referred to the impact of the recession on not just job and education prospects but also cuts to services and difficulty in accessing housing. It said: "The economic crisis led to a crisis that has not abated for people with disabilities, who faced spiralling poverty, unemployment and homelessness while essential services were cut. As the economy has recovered, there have been increases in funding for services, employment levels and wages but many people with disabilities are yet to benefit from these improvements and remain in crisis situations. In all EU countries, persons with disabilities are more likely to be poor and unemployed than persons without disabilities. "Not only are persons with disabilities poorer, but they also face extra costs from living in a society that is not adapted to them," it said. ATLANTA, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- With strong winds, rain, hail, and possible tornadoes predicted to impact most of the state Thursday, Georgia Power remains committed to providing its 2.6 million customers safe and reliable service during the COVID-19 pandemic, while offering important safety tips and storm resources. Spring is one of the most active seasons for severe thunderstorms with lightning, hail and tornadoes, though severe weather can happen at any time. Storm Response Pandemic Preparations Georgia Power constantly monitors changing weather conditions and is prepared to respond to service interruptions that might occur because of severe weather while taking proactive actions including special "distancing" and other precautions to help protect customers and employees from the spread of the virus. The company's investments in Smart Grid technology and increased automation in recent years mean an increased ability to more quickly isolate outages to smaller numbers of customers and reroute power remotely for improved reliability. In addition, the company's comprehensive pandemic plans help ensure readiness of the critical personnel and facilities necessary to continue providing the safe and reliable energy customers expect and deserve. In the field, the power restoration process includes these key steps: Assessing Conditions Responding crews or in major storms, damage assessment teams work to identify trouble spots and the resources needed to fix them, which could involve coming onto customers' property. Crews will employ appropriate distancing efforts and customers are asked to keep children and pets indoors and maintain safe distances from crew members as well. Making Repairs Georgia Power crews focus on repairs that return power to the greatest number of customers in the least amount of time. Ways you can help keep workers safe while they work in the field: If you see utility crews, please stay back a minimum of six feet much more if they are working. Please, no cookies or treats for workers during this time. Give a wave or thumbs up to workers you see. They'll understand your gratitude as they work to keep the lights on. Don't touch utility trucks or equipment. Electric providers are operating under modified conditions to keep workers safe, which includes additional cleaning and sanitation of tools and equipment. Post your appreciation for lineworkers on social media using the hashtag #ThankaLineman. April is lineworkers appreciation month. Storm Safety Georgia Power reminds customers to keep safety first during severe weather and offers the following storm tips: Before a Storm: Stay aware and check the weather forecast before heading outdoors. Check your emergency kit, unplug major appliances and charge cell phones in case you lose power. Stay aware and check the weather forecast before heading outdoors. Check your emergency kit, unplug major appliances and charge cell phones in case you lose power. During a Storm: Take safe shelter inside a sturdy building away from windows and doors. Avoid contact with conductors of electricity - appliances, metal objects and water. Watch for rising water levels. Quickly go to high ground if you see or hear rapidly rising water. Take safe shelter inside a sturdy building away from windows and doors. Avoid contact with conductors of electricity - appliances, metal objects and water. Watch for rising water levels. Quickly go to high ground if you see or hear rapidly rising water. After a Storm: Never touch any downed or low-hanging wire, including telephone or TV wires that touch a power line. Never pull tree limbs off power lines or enter areas with debris or downed trees as downed power lines may be buried in wreckage. Additionally, do not walk or drive through standing water as it may conceal live wires brought down by the storm. Remote Customer Resources Customers can subscribe to Georgia Power's YouTube Storm Channel for the latest safety videos and can connect with Georgia Power on Facebook and Twitter for helpful information every day, and restoration updates during severe weather. Georgia Power offers the following videos, tools and tips to help customers prepare for severe weather: Outage Alerts Subscribe to the free Georgia Power Outage Alert service to receive personalized notifications and updates via text message. Outage Maps - Customers can follow progress on outages in their town or across the state on the company's outage map available at www.georgiapower.com/storm online or on the Georgia Power mobile app on your smartphone. Georgia Power Mobile App Download the Georgia Power mobile app for Apple and Android devices to access storm and outage information on the go. About Georgia Power Georgia Power is the largest electric subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), America's premier energy company. Value, Reliability, Customer Service and Stewardship are the cornerstones of the company's promise to 2.6 million customers in all but four of Georgia's 159 counties. Committed to delivering clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy at rates below the national average, Georgia Power maintains a diverse, innovative generation mix that includes nuclear, coal and natural gas, as well as renewables such as solar, hydroelectric and wind. Georgia Power focuses on delivering world-class service to its customers every day and the company is consistently recognized by J.D. Power and Associates as an industry leader in customer satisfaction. For more information, visit www.GeorgiaPower.com and connect with the company on Facebook (Facebook.com/GeorgiaPower), Twitter (Twitter.com/GeorgiaPower) and Instagram (Instagram.com/ga_power). SOURCE Georgia Power Related Links http://www.georgiapower.com Kannalmozhi Kabilan By Express News Service CHENNAI: On April 8, Paris registered the death of an Indian student. Yet, it was not coronavirus that laid claim to his life. Being locked down, we are finding out that some are more affected, more overwhelmed than others. Barely emerging out of this vast and varied group of people in need are Indian students finding themselves in foreign territory during this crisis. A time of distress A Parisian daily reported that the 23-year-old student had killed himself by falling from the balcony of his apartment. The police report claimed that he had been anxious and depressed. Other students report similar conditions. Raghu, who studies at a premier management school in Paris, has been desperately looking to return home. And there are at least 200 students like him, signing up forms for the first flight out of the country. We are panicking, scared and tensed. They have shut down the borders. We are willing to go through quarantine for however long it is required. It would be better to die in India than in France, he declares. Without the part-time job at the burger shop near his house, one that had covered his day-to-day expenses, Raghu has been struggling to pay rent and afford food. He has been surviving on eggs, bread and chicken all through the lockdown; buying any other essentials requires a two-hour journey in public transport in a country where the crisis is worsening. Harkishan* has similar financial woes. Having landed in Paris only in March, he barely had enough time to prepare for life in the big city, let alone the lockdown. Even as he sustains himself on money borrowed from friends, he has the mounting loan payments weighing on his mind. Meanwhile, landlords have been kind, he says. My landlord said that I did not have to pay rent for one month. That period has come and gone. But his family too might need the money, he points out. All for one While time seems to be running out on good gestures and general kindness, Indians In France (IIF) the largest community for Indians in the country has been trying to pitch in and lend a helping hand. For starters, its creator Sourav Choudhury has been working on making two lists one for students who want to get back to India and the other for those in need of monetary assistance. If I can find one flight to take them home, it would be of great help for the students. There is a risk of infection in the process. Yet, with no assurance that the lockdown will end in a month, not all of them can afford to continue living here. These are students who come here on educational loans, said Sourav. Hes been in touch with the Indian embassy in France and members of the External Affairs Ministry here to arrange for an airlift for students trying to return home, and donations from the Prime Ministers fund to aid the ones left behind. They do not have the means to sustain themselves without a job. Most of their jobs are undocumented and underpaid. Hence, they would not be eligible for whatever relief the government might offer. Without the job, there is simply no money for food and rent, he says. While the plans for evacuation and relief still remain in the realm of negotiations and future possibilities, the community has stepped up to do what little they can. We have started collecting funds from the community, which will be used to distribute food to whoever we can reach. Besides this, individuals continue to help the students around them, he explains. For people of the community, coming together is not new. IIFs 32,000 members have used Facebook to rally support for many a cause back home. Even for them, seeking help in the face of this pandemic would fall under the label of unprecedented. In the meantime, these students, like many of our migrant workers here, have to wait for relief and hope. Money matters Germany is celebrated as an affordable place in the arena of education. In the face of a pandemic, however, not much has changed for students with little means, it seems. Ask Sanjay* and he breaks down the economics of living in Dresden, Germany, as a loan-sponsored student. Rent and insurance is a big deal for non-residents. I pay nearly 450 Euros per month while not having a job. If I were to default on the rent payment, Ill get a warning mail; failure to respond to it will automatically result in a legal battle at the cost of money we do not have. So, everyone somehow coughs up the money for rent, he explains, detailing the usual system of rent payment. With the lockdown taking away his part-time job and rent being nonnegotiable, Sanjay is forced to compromise on food. His sustenance has been solely made up of bread, apples and water. Hed have to travel 40 miles to get groceries, spending on the commute and the groceries itself in the meantime. The university has rid itself of any responsibility and asked the students to reach out to the embassy. His part of Germany does not get the same attention as cities like Berlin and Munnich do, he says. What money cant buy Sanjay is worried too but for very different reasons. All friends and family have to offer is money but what can I do with it? Their next best solution is buying me tickets to come home. When all borders have been closed, my wife plans my travel all the way from Dresden to Berlin, then to New Delhi, then to Chennai and all the way home to Coimbatore; that none of this is possible for at least another month does nothing to stop her, he recounts with great distress. The family, perhaps, has been nurturing the hope of bringing him home because he came so close to it just before India went into lockdown mode. On March 18, he and a friend had purchased tickets for the long way home train to Berlin, flight to Netherlands, then to New Delhi, then Chennai. Yet, they were stopped from boarding the plane at the Berlin airport over luggage guideline issues. Not only did he lose the `65,000 he spent on tickets and has had to put up with a disturbing dearth of food and peace, he has had to keep his folks reassured too. All I need now is someone to talk to. Im locked in the house without any resources, I havent had food in two days, theres the army outside to discourage violations; thats a lot to deal with, he narrates. Better to have had a job and lost it While many students abroad have had to lose their jobs since the shutdown, R Achshaya Lakshmi has been extremely worried about the fact that she didnt have enough time to get a job since she got to New Zealand. It had hardly been a month since I got to Auckland University of Technology and the world fell apart. I couldnt dedicate time to finding a job before the quarantine. My two roommates worked for KFC for about four months and so they get paid their weekly wages. I, on the other hand, with no job and no flow of cash have to contribute as much as they do for rent and food. We have a system with my bank that lets it disburse cash as and when necessary. The last transaction was to cover living expenses for three months. As I shifted from one apartment to another, had to pay a deposit at the new place and Im yet to receive the deposit from the old one. I have almost exhausted the entire amount. I might have to reach out to the bank for another disbursement. Even if my bank provides, I still am in a situation where I have spent much more than I anticipated. Now, the very thought that I have to keep spending my loan amount for even basic everyday needs is a nightmare, she narrates. In the grace of good Samaritans Even as world powers are struggling in the face of the crisis, general goodwill has kept students going. For Renuka Venkataramana, it came from the University of Dayton, Ohio, where she pursues her Masters in Computer Science. Her college shut down on March 7, but faculty members continue to be available through e-mails and Zoom meetings. It went beyond ensuring that the students education was covered. Our college created a crisis fund to provide free benefits to students and anyone who is part of the university. Those who have signed up for it get $50 worth grocery card, food once a week (fruits, vegetables, cooked local food, cereal, chips, etc.), she narrates. In Canada, the government has been leading by example, points out Vaishak Pandian. The federal and provincial governments are doing an excellent job. The Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) offers $2,000 a month for four months to anyone who has lost their job due to the coronavirus; does not matter if youre a student or their citizen. The process is also streamlined. You call the response number, you give consent to a few terms and conditions and fill some forms; in a few days, youll have the money in your account. It is as simple as that. It is much easier if youve already paid taxes, he explains. For Vaishak, who had lost his job as a student assistant at his university, this is great news. His landlord too has been very kind, he says. He has gone easy on the rent for this month. Most landlords have offered concessions too, he adds. Down under in Australia, Chandini K says that it was her university University of Sydney that stepped up even when the governments back home stayed mum. Even when the Prime Minister went against helping international students, our university said it will stand by us for financial and emotional support. Theyve also considered partially refunding our fee for the semester, she notes. Not far from there, the University of Queensland, Brisbane, has measures of its own in place, reports Sushma P, an architecture student. Our university has given hardship hampers comprising protein bars, food and toilet paper which helped us for a week. They have programmes to counsel those in need, she says. Despite the timely show of goodness, these students have much to face on the other side of the lockdown. Their financial woes are not going to disappear in a few days, parttime jobs (for those dependent on it) are going to be hard to come by, loan dues are going to continue looming over their heads, and not to mention, all the stress that comes with recovering from the trauma they have had to endure with hunger, hardship and isolation. Yet, many are hopeful of better climes be it reuniting with their families or returning to the old normal. Perhaps thats all we can hope for. An education lost? Amid the many anxieties that students have had to deal with during the lockdown, missing out on quality education that they went to great lengths to sign up is perhaps the biggest of them all. Although online classes keep us busy, my anxiety levels have shot up. Our motive in coming here (Australia) was to gain experience but studying behind shut doors is of no help. Right now, my education is going down the drains because of these mundane online classes; this, despite having invested so much money. Im juggling multiple issues without anybody by my side. As international students, were already battling many problems, this has only added to the misery, explains Chandini K. For R Achshaya Lakshmi, the worst-case scenario would be that she spends half her one-year course taking online lessons. I might as well have stayed in India. I ended up spending lakhs and putting myself through the agony of living away from my husband and family to attend online courses. If the world gets kind enough to provide me with a partial refund and means to go back to India and continue my course, I would so return immediately, she says. Help from back home National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences have announced that they will be happy to help any student reaching out to them from any part of the world, in whatever language they can easily provide. Call: 080 46110007 (With inputs from Vaishali Vijaykumar) *Names changed on request. AMBLER The 50th anniversary of Earth Day brought back fond memories for Ambler residents Rick and Carol Collier. The couple were college freshmen during the inaugural event. He was at Ursinus College in Collegeville and she was at Smith College in Northampton, Mass. I think my first Earth Day was longer than a day, Rick said. I think it extended through the weekend and there were all kinds of activities and it seemed to get bigger as time went on. Rick, 68, recalled participating in several outings including tree planting and organized cleanups that were designed as outreach opportunities for area students. Approximately 265 miles north of the Collegeville school, Carol, 69, said she watched movies about the [1969] Santa Barbara Oil Spill and listened to lectures discussing various ecological topics during the Earth Day programs. I remember going to classes, and I remember doing all these Earth Day activities that were planned, Carol said. It was the thing to do. Twenty million people took part in the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, according to earthday.org. The idea originated from Sen. Gaylord Nelson (D-WI), who saw college students active participation in the anti-war movement, and wanted to generate interest in air and water pollution. In order to draw more participants, the event was scheduled in late April because it fell between spring break and final exams, according to the events website. The idea was first pitched as campus sit-ins, according to the movements website. However, with bipartisan support from co-chair Sen. Pete McCloskey (R-CA), and with help from activist Denis Hayes, they expanded outreach to a myriad of organizations nationwide. Rick Collier also attributed Earth Days popularity to the number of political and environmental causes that college students were already interested in. They included the Kent State shootings, the assassination of then-presidential candidate Robert Kennedy as well as legislation surrounding water and air quality issues. The Vietnam War was a topic for protest to many of their generation. We were all looking for a cause that we could feel good about instead of fighting a war and being worried about the draft, he said. For Rick, he said he believed Earth Day was a cause people could get behind. This was, I think, a positive thing we wanted to jump into and be part of a movement that had just gotten started, he recalled. Earth Days popularity led to policy changes at the federal level, according to the movements website. The United States Environmental Protection Agency was established and several pieces of legislation were passed including the National Environmental Education Act and the Clean Air Act. About one billion in more than 190 countries participate in Earth Day each year, according to the events website. As her freshman year was winding down, Carol said that participating in the first Earth Day affirmed her passion for environmental studies. I have to say it was something that changed my life and my direction, she said. Rick and Carol met while attending graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania. Rick now works in consulting and Carol has held high ranking positions within the Academy of Natural Sciences and Drexel University. Both continue to volunteer with environmental organizations across the Philadelphia area. So getting hooked on ecology and the environment back when we were very formidable as young college students has actually made our careers and our lives, Rick said. As the UK strives to acquire equipment to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, health authorities have received two unique donations: one ventilator from the celebrated physicist Stephen Hawkings family, and two from 330 Chinese alumni of British universities. After recording over 17,000 deaths in hospitals alone many more occurred in homes and care homes the UK is one of the worst affected countries in Europe, with over 1.2 lakh cases, leaving it struggling to put in place the infrastructure and staff needed. Hawkings family donated his ventilator to the Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, which was home to the renowned theoretical physicist who passed away in 2018 after making field defining contributions to his subject. Hawkings daughter Lucy said: Our father received brilliant, dedicated and compassionate medical care from both Royal Papworth and Addenbrookes hospitals in Cambridge. As a ventilated patient, Royal Papworth was incredibly important to my father and helped him through some very difficult times. We realised that it would be at the forefront of the Covid-19 epidemic and got in touch with some of our old friends there to ask if we could help, she added. The 330 Chinese graduates of UK universities made personal donations of 38,000 to buy two ventilators for the National Health Service. The vital equipment was transported on a flight from Shanghai to London. The former students were part of the governments Chevening programme which enables future global leaders to study in the UK. Minister of state for Asia Nigel Adams thanked them for the gesture. In an open letter, the alumni said from China: We wish to show our support and care by standing with British people in fighting with the pandemic. We have good faith and wish a full and swift success in our joint effort. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Amid media reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is unwell and has undergone a surgery, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (April 21) wished him "well but did not make any comment on the health of the reclusive leader. "I can only say this: I wish him well," Trump told reporters at the White House, noting the "good relationship" he shares with the North Korean leader. "I just hope he's doing fine," Trump said, adding he "may" get in touch with Kim to find out about his well-being. "If he is in the kind of condition that the reports say, that the news is saying, it's a very serious condition," said Trump. Trump did not clarify whether he had direct information about Kim's health, and suggested he was taking his information from different news sources. "I don't know that the reports are true," he said. Officials from South Korea's Unification Ministry and National Intelligence Service said they couldn't immediately confirm the CNN report which cited an anonymous US official who said Kim was in grave danger after an unspecified surgery. The report came after the US media reported that Kim has been receiving medical treatment at a villa in the resort county of Hyangsan, outside of Pyongyang, following a cardiovascular procedure. Daily NK, a media outlet run mostly by North Korean defectors, said Kim underwent a cardiovascular procedure few days ago and was currently recuperating at a villa in North Phyongan province. "Excessive smoking, obesity and fatigue were the direct causes of Kim's urgent cardiovascular treatment," Daily NK cited an unidentified source as saying. Speculation has been rife about what happened to Kim since he apparently skipped an annual visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun on the occasion of the 108th birthday of his late grandfather and state founder Kim Il-sung on April 15. ZURICH, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- What does it take to win an election in an environment that is rapidly changing? In a recently released TEDx talk, Dr. Louis Perron, a political scientist and consultant based in Switzerland, argues that it takes the four "M"s to win high-profile election campaigns in these new surroundings: message, media, money and make no mistakes. Message: A good message is more than a slogan, an issue or a play of words! Media: Social media is now part of any campaign, but greatly overestimated. Nobody changes his or her mind on social media. Money: Too much can actually be a disadvantage because it undermines message and decision-making discipline. Make No Mistake: Most common mistakes include starting too late, not getting accurate research or producing campaign materials without content. In addition to presenting a general approach to winning elections, Dr. Perron is also motivating people to get engaged. "If public opinion is getting more and more volatile, this means that it has never been more worthwhile to campaign than now," he said. The talk was given last November at TEDx Zurich in Switzerland and was recently released on YouTube and the TED website. "The coronavirus has fundamentally changed every 2020 election. And even before that, the world was already changing at an increasingly fast pace: there are now multiple media voices (TV channels, social media, etc.). In many countries, new parties appear and disappear. And the electorate is becoming ever more volatile," Perron said. Dr. Louis Perron is an internationally renowned political consultant based in Switzerland. He has won two dozen competitive election and referenda campaigns in various countries. His clients include everything from mayors up to senators, members of cabinet, presidents and a former Miss Universe. He is the author of the book "How to Overcome the Power of Incumbency in Election Campaigns." For information, go to www.campaignanalysis.com Contact: Perron Campaigns Dr. Louis Perron Seefeldstr. 69 8008 Zurich Switzerland Email: [email protected] Phone: +41 43 488 37 20 Twitter: @dr_perron SOURCE Dr. Louis Perron Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 23:56:18|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ZAGREB, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The estimated damage caused by the earthquake that hit Croatian capital Zagreb last month is around 42 billion kuna (6.03 billion U.S. dollars), Minister of Construction and Physical Planning Predrag Stromar said on Wednesday in an interview with the national television HRT. A 5.4-magnitude quake hit Zagreb on the morning of March 22, leaving one dead and around 30 people injured. It was the strongest earthquake in 140 years. The city's historic core also suffered severe material damage. In a few weeks, the minister noted, the parliament should adopt a new law that will enable the reconstruction of the city. Stromar told HRT that the first step is the construction of emergency housing for those who suffered most and lost their homes in the quake. They would use those facilities for living in the next few years, and later the facilities would be turned into a student dorm. He said the most urgent thing is to get rid of damaged chimneys, bring back hot water and heating into apartments and then renew schools, hospitals and other facilities. Croatia would ask for funds from the European Commission and the World Bank, according to Stromar. Enditem The BJP is not against Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's nomination as an MLC, but he should have contested an election earlier to become a member of the Legislative Council, state unit party president Chandrakant Patil said on Wednesday. Patil also said that it did not look good to "pressurise" the state governor amidst such (coronavirus) crisis to appoint Thackeray as an MLC. His comments came against the backdrop of the state cabinet's recommendation to governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to nominate Thackeray, who is not a member of the state legislature, to the Upper House from the Governor's quota. Koshyari has not yet taken a call on the recommendation yet. "We are not against Thackeray getting nominated to the Upper House of the Maharashtra legislature through Governor's quota," Patil said. "In fact, Thackeray has enough time till May 27 when the six-month period (to become a member of the state legislature) ends. He can wait till then," Patil said. In an apparent reference to the state Cabinet's recommendation to the governor earlier this month, the BJP leader said it did not look good to pressurise the governor amidst such (coronavirus) crisis to nominate Thackeray as an MLC. The state BJP chief also wondered why Thackeray did not contest an election in the past to become a member of the Legislative Council. He blamed the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government of the Shiv Sena, the NCP and the Congress for politicising the entire issue. Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut had on Monday sought to know who was stopping Koshyari from approving the state cabinet's recommendation. He had also said that Koshyari's affiliation with the BJP is not a secret, but this is not the time to indulge in Thackeray, who is not a member of either house of Maharashtra legislature, took oath as chief minister on November 28, 2019. Under the Constitution, he has to become member of the legislature by May 28, 2020. However, all elections were postponed due to the coronavirus epidemic, so the state cabinet on April 9 recommended that he be nominated to the Council from the governor's quota. Under Article 171 of the Constitution,the governor can nominate members having special knowledgeor practical experiencein literature, science, art, cooperative movement and social service. There are currently two vacancies among members from governor's quota due to resignations of NCP legislators who joined the BJP before the assembly polls. The Bombay High Court had on Monday refused interim relief on a BJP worker's plea opposing the state cabinet's recommendation that Thackeray be appointed as governor's nominee. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The film follows NHS staff, nursing home workers as well as members of the public to reflect the reality of current lives under the Covid-19 outbreak and to adhere fully to current UK lockdown rules the production made use of LiveUs LU-Smart mobile app.Drawing on its experience in making technically challenging productions such as Celebrity Hunted and The Heist, which also utilised LiveUs technology, Shine TV began to develop a workflow to allow remote filming by members of the public while maintaining editorial quality. Shine TV ensured each person filmed downloaded LiveUs LU-Smart app to their smartphone. That meant no crew members were onsite nor was there physical contact at all with participants. Footage was uploaded to Shine TV servers and edited from home by Shine TVs editors. Using LiveU Central to manage and monitor what was being shot in real-time, additional instruction updates were communicated to participants as and when required.A lot of productions have been put on hold, for obvious reasons. Networks are now faced with finding content to fill their schedules. Production companies are trying their best not to shut up shop, adjusting to new ways of working to make compelling TV in the current climate while adhering to government restrictions, remarked Shine TV executive producer Tom Hutchings.This is what we have done with this documentary, creating TV simply with LiveU technology that provides a real cross section of whats happening. It means we can stay safe and ensure we capture great content. Everything in the film with the exception of general views was shot through the app.Added documentary executive producer Tom Williams: Lockdown is the most extraordinary time in recent British history, and we were desperate to tell ordinary people's stories of hope, fear and resilience in the fight back against the pandemic. But how can you film unfolding dramas without ever actually meeting the people involved? By teaching our contributors remotely to use an app on their smartphones, we cracked it. The absence of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un from media reports on Wednesday has fuelled speculations about his health. Speculations were rife especially as multiple reports in international media had stated that the leader was unwell after a cardiovascular procedure. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper carried several stories on their Wednesday issue, but there were no mentions of his whereabouts. On April 12, a Seoul-based website called Daily NK had reported that Kim was hospitalised hours before his cardiovascular procedure. The report also said that his health has been deteriorating since August owing to smoking, obesity and overwork. The speculations started when Kim missed the birthday celebration of Kim Il Sung, Kim's grandfather and North Korea's founding father, on April 15. US media house CNN on Tuesday said that an unnamed US official has tipped them that the country is closely following up on intelligence on Kim's health. Both China and South Korea have denied this claim. South Korea said that Kim seemed to be in an unspecified location outside North Korea's capital city Pyongyang and is engaged in state affairs as there was no movement by the ruling party, cabinet or the military. US President Donald Trump, who met Kim in 2018 and 2019, also said that the US reports have not been confirmed and he did put much faith in them. "I've had a very good relationship with Kim Jong Un. And I'd like to see him do well. We'll see how he does. We don't know if the reports are true," he said in a White House news conference on Tuesday. Kim's last appearance was on April 11, where he presided over a meeting to discuss preventive measures against coronavirus and elected his sister, Kim Yo Jong as an alternate member to the political bureau of the ruling Workers' Party. This was reported by KCNA, and since the North Korean media is heavily censored by the government, it is difficult to source news about him, unless the state media does so. Back in 2014, he vanished from the public eye for six weeks only to reappear with a cane. South Korean spies reported that he had a cyst removed from his ankle. Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. [April 21, 2020] Pre & Post COVID-19 Market Estimates-IT Market in Germany 2019-2023 | Adoption of IT by German SMEs to Boost Growth | Technavio Technavio has been monitoring the IT market in Germany and it is poised to grow by USD 13.92 billion during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of almost 3% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200421005736/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled IT Market in Germany 2019-2023 (Graphic: Business Wire) Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please Request Latest Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impact The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. Accenture, IBM, Microsoft, SAP SE, and T-Systems (News - Alert) International GmbH are some of the major market participants. The adoption of IT by German SMEs will offer immense growth opportunities. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments. Adoption of IT by German SMEs has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. IT Market 2019-2023 in Germany: Segmentation IT Market in Germany is segmented as below: End-user Manufacturing Government BFSI ICT Business Services Other Sectors To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download latest free sample report of 2020-224: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR31177 IT Marke 2019-2023: Scope Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our IT market in Germany report covers the following areas: IT Market in Germany Size IT Market in Germany Trends IT Market in Germany Industry Analysis This study identifies growing government support for IT solutions such as artificial intelligence (AI) as one of the prime reasons driving the IT market growth in Germany during the next few years. IT Market 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis We provide a detailed analysis of vendors operating in the IT market in Germany, including some of the vendors such as Accenture, IBM (News - Alert), Microsoft, SAP SE, and T-Systems International GmbH. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the IT market in Germany are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform IT Market in Germany 2019-2023: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023 Detailed information on factors that will assist IT market growth in Germany during the next five years Estimation of the IT market size and its contribution to the parent market in Germany Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the IT market in Germany Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of IT market vendors in Germany Table Of Contents: PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT 2.1 Preface 2.2 Preface 2.3 Currency conversion rates for US$ PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE Market ecosystem Market characteristics Market segmentation analysis PART 04: MARKET SIZING Market definition Market sizing 2018 Market size and forecast 2018-2023 PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS Bargaining power of buyers Bargaining power of suppliers Threat of new entrants Threat of substitutes Threat of rivalry Market condition PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY END-USER Market segmentation by end-user Comparison by end-user Manufacturing - Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Government - Market size and forecast 2018-2023 BFSI - Market size and forecast 2018-2023 ICT - Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Business services - Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Other sectors - Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Market opportunity by end-user PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE PART 08: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY CATEGORY Market segmentation by category Comparison by category IT services - Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Software - Market size and forecast 2018-2023 IT hardware - Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Market opportunity by category PART 09: DECISION FRAMEWORK PART 10: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES Market drivers Market challenges PART 11: MARKET TRENDS Increasing adoption of Big Data solutions Government support for AI The Industry 4.0 initiative PART 12: VENDOR LANDSCAPE Overview Landscape disruption PART 13: VENDOR ANALYSIS Vendors covered Vendor classification Market positioning of vendors Accenture IBM Microsoft (News - Alert) SAP SE T-Systems International GmbH PART 14: APPENDIX Research methodology List of abbreviations PART 15: EXPLORE TECHNAVIO About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200421005736/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] It appears that Irans tentacles give up their grip in one place and then get a grip elsewhere, reads the article by Nurit Greenger published on News Blaze. Armenian-Occupied Nagorno-Karabakh is one such area, says the author. Greenger recalled that last week, Iran Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attack boats harassed U.S. Navy, Coast Guard vessels in the Persian Gulf. Gen. Jack Keane comforted the audience on TV with, do not worry, our navy has its rules of engagement all worked out if Iran steps out of line. In one of his Coronavirus daily briefing to the nation that same week President Trump projected his sureness when he stated, when I came into office, Iran was going to take over the entire Middle East, right now they just want to survive, right now they do not want to mess around with us (Trump on Iran starting at 1:18:16-ending- at 1:23:32). I then came across thought-provoking information about IRGC-supported Iranian trucks delivering fuel to the Armenian-occupied Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, she wrote. The author says that the question to be asked is, why would the self-proclaimed guardian of all the worlds Muslims support the ongoing Armenian occupation of land that belongs to its secular northern neighbor, the Republic of Azerbaijan, whose population is primarily Shiite Muslims? Iran shares a 611-kilometre border with the Republic of Azerbaijan; as a result of the Nagorno-Karabakh War of 1988-94, a large part of this border stretch has been removed from Azerbaijans lawful control. Armenia aggressively invaded and occupied approximately 20 percent of Azerbaijans sovereign territory that includes the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The outcome of the war was that over 800,000 Azerbaijani civilians were expelled from these occupied areas. And till today they are still internally displaced, scattered all over Azerbaijan. Following the occupation, Armenia created the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, now called the Republic of Artsakh, in the illegally occupied area of Azerbaijan. It is important to state that the Armenian-occupied region is internationally regarded as part of Azerbaijan while the so-called Republic of Artsakh is not recognized by any country, worldwide, reads the article. She went on to add that and so, the Armenian-controlled Iran-Azerbaijan 132 km long border portion, stretching between the Armenian town of Meghri and the Azerbaijani town of Horadiz, is where Tehrans interfaces with the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Built in the 13th century, the Khodaafarin Bridge, stretching across the Araz River and connecting Iran with the occupied Jabrayil district of Azerbaijan can be seen as an example of Irans cynicism. While Iran claims to be a nation of piety and order, at the same time it is pouring hard drugs, arms and fuel across this illegal border crossing, as well researched and penned by investigative writer Harrold Cane in his article The Islamic Republic.. The Khodaafarin Bridge, the main crossing point between Iran and Nagorno-Karabakh, is considered illegal under international law. Located well beyond the reach of global law and order agencies, therefore useful. For a long time Tehran, under the control of the IRGC, has been using this route for trafficking drugs, originating in Afghanistan, to their final destination, Europe, wrote Greenger. The author noted that the Iranian smugglers, driving trucks with Iranian license plates, openly carry narcotics into the Nagorno-Karabakh region, across the Araz River and into Europes back passage. Iran, a fervent Islamic theocracy, and Armenia, a Christian nation, make strange bedfellows. But, as it seems, money talks According to Araz News an independent news source focusing on ethnic Azerbaijanis, in addition to drug trafficking, the IRGC are also in charge of sending supplies, i.e. fuel, food, construction materials, etc., to the Armenia-occupied Karabakh. Most of the trucks sent to Armenia and the occupied Karabakh territory belong to the Nasr Novin Mishu Company, located in Sufian and Tabriz, Irans northwestern cities. The Nasr Novin Mishu Company is one of the subsidiaries of Nasr Company, a company operating under the auspices of IRGC in the northwestern part of Iran, the author wrote. Greenger noted that according to my sources, Iranian trucks, coming from the north-western part of Iran, enter the Karabakh region using at least two different routes and satellite images show the two crossing points. One widely held route is from Tabriz to Meghri, a southern Armenian border town with Iran-to Nagorno-Karabakhs capital, Stepanakert (Khankendi), via the Goris-Lachin highway. The second route is from Khomarlys north-east, in the Irans Ardabil province, leading to the Jabrayil district of Azerbaijan, which is crossing a portion of the Iran-Azerbaijan border that has been controlled by Armenia since the early 1990s, she added. These crossing points, on the Iranian side, are connected to Irans M12 Highway. The recent footage, which I watched when reading Rufat Ahmedzade article, shows trucks and cars with Iranian license plates transporting fuel and food to the occupied Azerbaijani territories. Baku reacted fiercely to the footage and demanded from Iran an official investigation. Iran has adamantly refuted the claims. The video brings to focus Irans long-ongoing involvement in supplying the Karabakhs illegal Armenian-run regime with vital resources, reads the article. The author notes that sadly, Tehran conducts a two-faced policy towards Baku. For one, it claims to support the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, yet it allows Iranian trucks and cars to enter the region, tacitly supporting the UN-condemned Armenian occupation of Azerbaijans lands. As for the sanctions, Greenger recalled that President Trump pulled the US out of The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran Nuclear Deal and has imposed heavy sanctions on Iran. With mounting pressure, well felt by the Iranian regime, Iranian officials are seeking alternative routes to circumvent the sanctions. The Islamic Republic has long used banks in Armenia and the occupied Karabakh region to avoid US and international sanctions. In August 2019, the US Department of Commerce imposed sanctions on Armenian and Georgian companies linked to and trading with blacklisted Iranian companies. Armenias foreign policy is aligned with Moscow and Tehran. Its dependency on Iran poses a major threat to Wests interests in the South Caucasus and the Caspian region, reads the article. The author believes that in its relations with Azerbaijan and Armenia, Tehrans geopolitics is twofold: the official policy, and the pragmatic one, based on its national interests. With a large Azerbaijani population to its northern border, Tehran fears that a strong Baku may become an active advocate for Iranian-Azerbaijanis rights within Iran. The Islamic Republic knows well that its suppression of ethnic minorities rights has created distrust between its ethnic minorities and Tehran. Iranian-Azerbaijani population some 30 million, residing mainly in Irans northwestern provinces is the largest non-Persian ethnic group in Iran. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the formation of the staunchly secular Republic of Azerbaijan that is bordering northern Iran, it is possible that Iran fears a potential Azerbaijani irredentism inside its territory, says Greenger. The author believes that Armenian control over Azerbaijani lands, bordering Irans north-western region, appears to be beneficial for Tehran. It creates a buffer zone between Azerbaijan and Irans north-western Azerbaijani populated regions. Any Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict resolution, in favour of Azerbaijan, may not be in the interest of Iran either. The present status-quo in the Armenian-occupied Azerbaijan regions bordering Iran solves a national security problem for Tehran. Since its 2nd declaration of independence, in the early 1990s, Azerbaijan has chosen to be strategically aligned with the West, including the US and Israel, which Iran considers to be its archenemies. The fear of Azerbaijani irredentism inside Iran, the secular nature of the government in Baku and its close partnership with the West have facilitated the emergence of a strong alliance between Iran and Armenia. The adage the enemy of my enemy is my friend well characterizes the Iran-Armenia nexus. Iran has even gone as far as supporting radical Shia and separatist groups in Azerbaijan, reads the article. She went on to add that so far Azerbaijan has been somewhat balancing its open strategic partnership with the US and Israel while having normal neighborly relations with Iran to the extent, to date, even not opening a diplomatic envoy in Israel, despite being Israels closest majority-Muslim ally. Considering Irans increased belligerence, I suggest Baku should soon open an embassy in Israel and take further actions to intensify the mutually beneficial Israeli-Azerbaijani military-intelligence partnership and cooperation. Irans current activities remind me of the idiom, when the cats away, the mice will play. The world is busy defending itself from the Coronavirus pandemic, which seems to be an opportunity for bad actors to benefit from. Without supervision, they will do as they please, especially in disregarding or breaking rules. Iran-Armenia nexus is the case in point, concludes the author. TORONTO, April 21, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ninepoint Partners LP (the Manager) today announced a risk rating change for Ninepoint Enhanced U.S. Equity Class (the Fund), effective April 21, 2020. The Manager determines the risk rating for the Fund in accordance with the methodology required by the Canadian securities regulators. As a result of its annual review of the investment risk level of the Fund, the Manager has determined the risk rating change as follows: Fund Current Risk Rating New Risk Rating Ninepoint Enhanced U.S. Equity Class Medium Low to Medium This change will be reflected in the Funds simplified prospectus and fund facts, each of which will be filed with Canadian securities regulators in connection with the Funds 2020 annual renewal. There are no changes to the investment objectives or strategies of the Fund. About Ninepoint Partners Based in Toronto, Ninepoint Partners LP is one of Canadas leading alternative investment management firms overseeing approximately $6 billion in assets under management and institutional contracts. Committed to helping investors explore innovative investment solutions that have the potential to enhance returns and manage portfolio risk, Ninepoint offers a diverse set of alternative strategies including North American Equity, Global Equity, Real Assets & Alternative Income. For more information on Ninepoint Partners LP, please visit www.ninepoint.com or please contact us at (416) 943-6707 or (866) 299-9906 or invest@ninepoint.com. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as plans, expects, is expected, budget, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, intends, anticipates, or believes or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Ninepoint Partners LP to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this press release and Ninepoint Partners LP disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Ninepoint Partners LP undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances, managements estimates or opinions should change, except as required by securities legislation. Accordingly, the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Sales Inquiries: Ninepoint Partners LP Neil Ross 416-945-6227 nross@ninepoint.com Russia-led forces used proscribed 120mm and 82mm mortars, grenade launchers, heavy machine guns, and rifles. Russia's hybrid military forces on April 21 mounted seven attacks on Ukrainian positions in Donbas, eastern Ukraine. "On April 21, armed formations of the Russian Federation violated the ceasefire seven times," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation said in a Facebook update as of 07:00 Kyiv time on April 22, 2020. Read alsoDonbas war update: Number of attacks on Ukrainian positions rises to 13 in past day Russia-led forces opened fire from proscribed 120mm and 82mm mortars, grenade launchers of various types, heavy machine guns, and rifles. Under attack were Ukrainian positions near the towns of Avdiyivka and Krasnohorivka, and the villages of Starohnativka, Krymske, Novotoshkivske, and Luhanske. According to intelligence data, two members of the enemy forces were killed on April 21. "Since Wednesday midnight, Russia-led forces have attacked Ukrainian positions near the village of Bohdanivka in the Skhid (East) sector, using tripod-mounted man-portable antitank guns," the update said. Ukraine's Joint Forces fired back to suppress the enemy's provocation. No Ukrainian army casualties were reported over the period under review. A 30-year-old wife of an Army soldier allegedly faced sexual harassment from a man while alone at home in Luhsana village in Budhana area here, police said. The incident happened on Tuesday and a case was registered against the accused who is absconding, they said. According to the complaint lodged by the victim, it is alleged that the accused entered the house while alone and sexually harassed her. She cried out for help and the accused escaped. The woman's husband is an Army jawan is on duty, police said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Daily Progress will award up to $250,000 in matching advertising grants between now and June as part of a company-wide initiative by parent company Lee Enterprises. The grants, in the form of advertising credits, will be available to local businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a news release. The grants will provide matching marketing credits of between $250 and $15,000 for use in The Daily Progress print and digital products, said Progress Publisher Peter Yates in a letter announcing the program. The awards will be made in April, May and June. Since our inception, The Daily Progress has partnered with local businesses across our region to deliver their message to customers in both times of prosperity and in times of great challenge, Yates wrote. While the COVID-19 virus has created change and difficulties for us all, the ability of our local business community to market to their customers remains essential to their, and all of our, sustainability and recovery. The program will build on other Progress initiatives, such as the Buy Local gift card program, and the Were Open promotional effort to highlight restaurants and other businesses that are still operating. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen record-setting trends in both page views, and users who are accessing our content both in our printed newspaper, and at dailyprogress.com, Yates said. These audiences present a tremendous opportunity for our local business community to get their messaging out to local residents each and every day. The program will be available in each of Lee Enterprises 77 markets, according to a company news release. For 130 years, our company has partnered with local businesses to deliver their message to the people they serve, both in times of great prosperity and in times of great challenge, said Ray Farris, Lee operating vice president and vice president of advertising. While COVID-19 has created obvious difficulties for all of us, the ability of businesses to market to their customers remains essential to their sustainability and recovery. Businesses may apply for a grant at https://www.dailyprogress.com/pages/local-marketing-grant.html. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The EU must consistently follow the course of supporting Ukraine in the face of pressure from Russia, Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz has said. He said this during a video conference in the format of "Group of Friends of Ukraine in the EU" with the participation of EU foreign ministers on April 21, the Polish Foreign Ministry reported. "Russia is still exerting pressure on Kyiv. It is necessary to preserve a consistent EU course in support of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine," Czaputowicz stressed. Pointing to the strategic importance of Ukraine for the EU, the minister noted the need to maintain constant political contacts with Ukraine during the COVID-19 pandemic. Czaputowicz reported on the support provided by Poland to the Ukrainian healthcare system. As noted, the videoconference took place ahead of the meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers, which will be held on April 22. During the meeting, the ministers will assess the EU approach and policies towards the Eastern Neighbourhood in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. They will focus particularly on Ukraine and the Eastern Partnership region. ish These are testing times for 70-year-old Elaine Yates. She suffers from lung disease, asthma and arthritis yet by comparison with her husband, Michael, she might be considered a beacon of health. Until 2004, when Michael fell and incurred brain damage following a stroke, he was a fit former Royal Pioneer Corps soldier. Today, aged 74, he has so many ailments on the coronavirus 'at risk' list dementia, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, prostate cancer, diabetes that he is almost off the scale. The admirable Mrs Yates long ago gave up her job as a shoe factory manager for what she calls the 'honour' of looking after the man she adores. Yet until the pandemic she at least had some assistance. Michael and Elaine Yates, pictured, have dispensed with their kindly, dependable home carer over fears she might unwittingly be carrying the virus, which would have fatal consequences On three days a week, a home carer would spend six or seven hours at the couple's one-bedroomed bungalow in the Northamptonshire village of Irchester, making Mr Yates' meals, helping him move about and engaging him in cheery conversation. For the past month, however, Mrs Yates has carried the burden of tending to his many needs alone. Yesterday her day began at 5am, when she rose to empty Mr Yates' catheter bag and administer the first dose of 40 daily pills that keep him functioning. By midnight, when she fell exhausted into bed, she had helped him to wash and dress, fed him, injected him with insulin, changed his incontinence pads several times and carried out countless other tasks. So why has Mrs Yates dispensed with her kindly, dependable home carer? Because, she says, she was terrified that Elaine Swainson might unwittingly be carrying the virus that would almost surely kill him. 'Through no fault of her own, Elaine was coming here with no personal protective equipment at all no mask, gloves or apron,' Mrs Yates told us. 'She just wore her normal clothes, unlike the NHS nurse who gives Michael his cancer injections: she now comes dressed up like a space-woman. 'Elaine is a sociable person, and I didn't know who she might have mixed with, and I felt it was a big risk to Michael, so I've cancelled her visits. It's not easy to care for him on my own, but if this is what it takes to keep my husband alive, it's a price worth paying.' Mrs Swainson agrees with the decision. 'I wouldn't want to put Michael in a position where I might give him the virus,' she says. 'He wouldn't survive it.' She works for Northamptonshire agency Lavender Support Services, but doesn't blame the agency, saying it is struggling like almost every other provider to buy PPE. 'They now have some basic masks and aprons but they've had no hand sanitiser for six to eight weeks,' she claimed. Lavender did not respond to our request for comment. It is just one couple's story, but as the Daily Mail has discovered, it is being replicated across the country and goes to the heart of yet another potentially catastrophic subplot to this pandemic. Hitherto, the threat that well-meaning but shamefully under-protected home carers might be infecting their clients has gone virtually unreported. The focus has been on the plight of those living and working, often without adequate protection, inside care homes. Understandably so: for as we have revealed, the uncounted Covid-19 death toll in these homes runs into the thousands. However, while 400,000 live in residential care, more than double that number 810,000 rely on home carers while remaining in their own houses. And according to experts, the crisis in this sector is worryingly gathering pace. In England, the virus is already known to have killed at least one home carer, mother-of-two Carol Jamabo, 56, who worked in Bury, Greater Manchester. What has not yet emerged is whether she had been issued with adequate PPE and, crucially, how many people she had visited and may have infected. While 400,000 live in residential care, more than double that number 810,000 rely on home carers while remaining in their own houses Meanwhile, in Dundee, home carer Susan Marnie has told how two of her nine colleagues tested positive and four others were off work with symptoms. Of the 30 people her team visited, one had died from the contagion, five had tested positive and there were four suspected cases. The 13-an-hour carer, who travels to homes by bus and foot, says the team had to buy their own hand-sanitiser gel a claim her employers Dundee Council refute and were offered only 'a bar of soap to carry about'. She says she now 'lies awake at night' fearing she might infect and kill clients she has known for years. Her anxiety is shared by many who work in Britain's vast home care industry, regarded as the Cinderella of our welfare system. Providers employ their workers on zero-hours contracts and the minimum wage of 8.72 an hour. It is impossible to know how many people might have died after being infected by these carers as almost everyone who catches coronavirus at home, and dies, will do so in hospital. They will therefore be counted among the overall statistics. However, a Daily Mail investigation has uncovered the frightening threat posed by under- protected home carers. Since many of those who depend on them require multiple daily visits, the United Kingdom Homecare Association (UKHCA) estimates before the virus struck, they would make about 7,210,000 visits a week in England. Yet a new UKHCA survey indicates that about 1.2 million visits have been cancelled in the last fortnight about 8.5 per cent. In some areas the rate was as high as 12 per cent. In some cases, councils are cancelling home visits so carers can be deployed to help Covid patients who return home after leaving hospital. Sickness and self-isolation among carers is another factor, Then there is the lack of PPE, which has left people such as Mrs Yates with a devil-and-deep-blue-sea choice: either risk admitting sparsely-protected carers into the house, or do their demanding work oneself. Providers we spoke to blamed their inability to source and purchase masks, gloves and aprons on the worldwide shortage, which has left the home-care sector 'at the bottom of the barrel', behind the NHS and residential homes.According to the UKHCA it has also led to ruthless profiteering, with some disgracefully greedy suppliers seeking to charge 8 for a face mask that previously cost just 12p. 'There is a growing sense of desperation among homecare providers about how they can be expected to continue to operate safely in these circumstances,' says the organisation's policy director Colin Angel. 'Eighty per cent (of care providers) reported having only enough supplies to last two to three days.The government's PPE plan is not delivering results on the ground. Wholesalers have very low stock and are rationing what they do have. 'Communication from local councils and local resilience forums (multi-agency partnerships handling distribution) is patchy. Some providers have succeeded in obtaining PPE from their local councils and others have had no response to requests for help.' At the sharp-end of this mess is Jonathan Vellacott, executive chairman of Mi-Homecare which serves 37 local authorities and specialises in people needing complex home care. Having seen all the stock from his usual provider requisitioned by the NHS, he told us, he is now 'scratching around almost every day to try and find basic stuff such as aprons and gloves', and pays up to six times the usual cost. 'A box of gloves would have been 2.11 per 100, now it's 5 or 6', he says. 'But I'd never send a careworker out without the right PPE. I wouldn't put them in harm's way. We are asked to take people out of hospital, usually in London, on a daily basis, but if we don't have the right PPE I would say to that authority, 'No'. Not until we get the proper equipment. But there's huge pressure on social care to take people outside hospital, and maybe less robust organisations (than his own) might not be pushing back hard enough.' Citing the Government's mantra 'save lives, protect the NHS' he added that the home care sector could also save lives and help the health service if only it was given sufficient resources to do so. At his company, 20 per cent of the 3,100 staff are off sick, some suffering from coronavirus, or its possible symptoms, others self-isolating; and in London alone 230 carers are absent. There was a similar story in Birmingham, where the boss of Sutton Coldfield-based Cherish Home Care said some staff walked out over the lack of PPE. Her case has been taken up by Edgbaston MP Preet Kaur Gill. Last night, Dr Jane Townson, chief executive of the UKHCA, told the Mail that the organisation's latest checks showed the number of cancelled home visits changed little last week. It means more than 600,000 care visits have been lost for each of the past two weeks during the pandemic, leaving countless vulnerable, elderly and sick people without the care they badly need. The other major concern is lack of testing among home carers. Though this is now being carried out among front-line hospital staff, very few community carers have been vetted for the virus. Thus far, only ten pilot schemes have been set up to assess the logistics of testing them. Public focus in recent weeks has been on the plight of those living and working, often without adequate protection, inside care homes, pictured According to sources, when one London borough was asked to test hundreds of the carers it hires, just six tests per day were made available at a drive-through facility. 'That's a drop in the ocean,' said the source incredulously. Many home carers are afraid to speak out about the perils they face and present to others. However, they are airing their anger and fear on social media. On Twitter, Lucie Morgan wrote: 'I'm a home carer going in and out of the elderly and vulnerable (sic) and still no ppe or testing!' An alarming picture. Yet the appalling irony that Britain's unsung army of carers are spreading the virus among the very people whose lives they strive to improve is not the only point at issue here. In an industry where the profit margins are already small, the massively increased cost of providing PPE could bankrupt some agencies, leaving a gap in our social care provision for years to come. The Mail has learned of one home care company which requires 50,000 masks a week, and has been quoted 5 a mask. That means an outlay of an extra 1million a month. Meanwhile, for fragile folk compelled to do without their guardian angels because the risks of allowing them into their home are too great, the isolation is so much harder to bear. Sue Learner, editor of website homecare.co.uk, warns we could see an 'epidemic of loneliness', which would be 'hugely damaging to people's health', because for many people home carers are their only contact with the outside world. Caroline Abrahams, charity director of Age UK, agrees. 'If older people have to go without the social care they need, they are more at risk of becoming unwell because emerging health problems may not be spotted until they become much more serious, piling more pressure on the NHS the last thing anyone needs right now,' she says. Indeed not. Yesterday, the stoical Mrs Yates was busy tending to her husband who cut his toe in the bathroom. Because of his conditions there is a risk of infection, so he now requires antibiotics. She nonetheless remained upbeat. She repeated her pledge not to call for the return of her carer until the pandemic is over. However, for tens of thousands of less resourceful people, their home-carer is an indispensable lifeline. Surely the Government must make it an urgent priority to equip these brave, dedicated workers properly, and get them all tested, so they can carry out their vital duties safely? Virus testing for just one in four care staff who fear theyve caught corona Only one in four care home workers who fear they have coronavirus have been tested, figures show. Managers say their staff face four-hour round trips to centres which are only accessible by car when many do not drive. Some are stuck self-isolating and unable to return to the front line where they are desperately needed. There are just seven days left before the deadline set by Health Secretary Matt Hancock, pictured, who promised 100,000 coronavirus tests a day. It comes as the capacity for tens of thousands of tests continues to be wasted each day with just half of the possible 41,398 being used. There are just seven days left before the deadline for Health Secretary Matt Hancocks promise of 100,000 coronavirus tests a day. But only 22,814 were carried out on Tuesday across England, Wales and Scotland. MPs and trade union bosses last night branded the low levels of testing in the care sector appalling. Last week Mr Hancock said everyone working in social care who needed to be checked would be able to do so immediately. But those who are showing symptoms of Covid-19 must be referred by their employer then travel to one of the Governments 27 drive-through centres. Some face round trips of more than 200 miles. They have also been told they are not allowed to take public transport or taxis, leaving those without a car unable to get there. Data collected by the National Care Forum, which represents nonprofit providers, suggests just 25 per cent of care home staff needing tests have had them. The NCF collected data from 21 members which together employ almost 16,000 staff. Of the 632 residential care staff needing tests only 164 had them, and just 19 of the 281 home carers. The Care Quality Commission said on Monday it had so far booked 18,473 appointments for the staff just one per cent of the 1.5million people who work in the sector. But it could not clarify how many tests had taken place. Care company Barchester, which runs more than 200 homes, said it had referred several hundred members of staff to centres and was working with the Government and CQC to provide home kits to workers who cannot get to test centres. Liz Kendall, Labours social care spokesman, last night said: Weve heard of appalling cases where care workers in Norfolk have been told to go to Sheffield and those in Peterborough to Stansted Airport. Its madness the Government doesnt understand how real peoples lives work. Labour MP Peter Kyle added: By designing a testing infrastructure that works for Whitehall but isnt local enough so low income workers without access to transport to use it is a barrier not a solution. Vic Rayner, executive director of the NCF, called for a rapid response to solve the problem. She said: Our data has revealed social care staff are travelling on average 62 miles on a round trip to test centres. A large proportion of them rely on public transport to get about. More needs to be done and practical arrangements made. The airlines have instead suggested compulsory personal protective equipment-like suit, gloves and mask for flyers and crew members. Indian airlines have rejected the proposal to keep middle seats vacant once flights resume. In a meeting held earlier this week with the government to discuss social distancing measures, promoters of airlines called the proposed rules redundant while pointing out that such measures of distancing were unlikely to ensure complete safety for passengers. However, such a step would worsen the economics for airlines hit hard by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, they said. The airlines have instead suggested compulsory personal protective equipment-like suit, gloves and mask for flyers and crew members. Keeping the middle seat vacant will not ensure safety, it will be mere optics. "It is impossible to keep a safe distance between the aisle and the window seat, Ajay Singh, chairman and managing director at low cost airline SpiceJet, said. It will be more effective if face masks and gloves are made mandatory for passengers, he said. Civil aviation regulator DGCA is working on a set of protocols for resumption of service after the ban on air transport is lifted. As part of that, the regulator has suggested that airlines should not allow the middle seats to be booked. Airline executives argue that in a single aisle narrow body aircraft, leaving the middle seat empty will not guarantee the necessary 2 metre (which is roughly 78 inches) distance - which has been suggested by health agencies across the world to prevent catching or spreading of the flu. For instance, a typical IndiGo A320 aircraft has 18-inch seats with a 25-inch aisle. So, if a distance of 2 metre has to be maintained, there can only be two passengers seated on two window sets. In a row of six seats, the remaining four seats have to be left empty, the airlines have argued. It is absolutely impossible to operate with restriction on one-third of the seats unless fares see a threefold increase, said an executive of IndiGo. Passengers would not be ready to pay that much, he added. Photograph: Greg Baker/Reuters Some of the residents in Kpone in Accra said Ghana was at a critical stage in the fight against COVID-19 therefore lifting the restriction on movement could derail the progress made so far. They explained that areas which were locked down could have remained in isolation from the rest of the country to test if the case count had stabilized. In a random survey conducted by the Ghana News Agency, the residents said they did not understand why the government of Ghana would impose restriction of movement in some parts of the country when the number of positive cases were few, and went ahead to lift the restriction when the numbers had upsurged to 1,042 within three weeks. They added that, even when there was a lockdown in Accra, Kasoa and Kumasi and their environs, people were still moving about and people who had the disease were escaping from isolation centres. They said there could be people living with the disease but might be asymptomatic and those persons could end up spreading the virus to other people in buses, markets and other places. They indicated it was difficult to find nose masks, gloves and other protective equipment to protect themselves from the corona virus in the Municipality. The government should have extended the restriction for two more weeks because there might be people with the virus who would be moving about freely infecting other people with it, Mr Andy Sackitey said. If the government will issue a ban when the cases were few, why will they lift the ban when the cases are on the rise, it is not that one could see the virus on the face of an affected person to stay away from that person and these affected persons would be in the same buses with us and at the markets spreading the disease Mr Reynold Frempong said. However some residents said, the decision by the President was in the right direction because government had the statistics and would not take a decision that would harm the population. The President is working in the best interest of the citizens as he has put out measures in place to contain the disease, whether the disease would spread high or low depends on the behavior of the citizens, Mr Jonathan Nartey stated. The GNA observed that social distancing were not being practiced as most of the residents were seated in groups chatting without nose masks and other protective gear. ---GNA Lawyer involved in Roscosmos embezzlement case freed from detention under house arrest RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 15:21 22/04/2020 MOSCOW, April 22 (RAPSI) The Moscow City Court on Wednesday changed a restrictive measure against Chairman of Tretyakov & Partners law firm Igor Tretyakov from detention to house arrest in the 330-million-ruble (about $4.5 million) Roscosmos embezzlement case, his attorney Stanislav Shostak told RAPSI. The lawyer will be held under house arrest until July 26, according to Shostak. The defendant was absent in court because of quarantine in his detention facility. Tretyakov is involved in the case on embezzling 330 million rubles (about $5 million) from Roscosmos. In late December, the case was returned to prosecutors, according to the lawyers attorney Stanislav Shostak. He is in detention now. Two other defendants, ex-CEO of the S.A. Lavochkin Scientific Union Sergey Lemeshevsky and chief of the Unions legal department Yekaterina Averyanova were also detained. Later, Averyanova admitted guilt and signed a deal with investigators in exchange for release from detention under house arrest. According to investigators, the defendants have stolen assets of Roscosmos by signing fraudulent contracts for provision of legal services with the law firm. All the works were allegedly performed by the corporations own specialists. The overall sum of payments to the firm reached 330 million rubles. Tretyakov pleads not guilty. DURANT, Okla., April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Sign Depot - the industry leading and Durant, Oklahoma-based sign company with many years of experience - is incredibly proud to announce that it has shifted its manufacturing focus away from consumer-level products and into the production of intubation boxes for the COVID-19 relief effort. These specially designed boxes are now available to meet hospital needs not just in Oklahoma, but all over the United States. Intubation Box Intubation Box An intubation box is a very precise type of four sided barrier that falls under the category of PPE, or personal protective equipment. It includes holes that allow the medical professional to still perform the procedure unencumbered, but also provides protection to stop the transmission of COVID-19 or any other contaminants. As there is currently a nationwide shortage of these and other PPE items, The Sign Depot is more than happy to help make sure that clinicians and other providers have access to everything they need to continue the important mission they're doing on a daily basis. The types of intubation boxes currently being manufactured by The Sign Depot are literally designed to be assembled and disassembled in under 60 seconds with minimal effort - all in the name of freeing up as much of a healthcare provider's time as possible so that they can focus on those tasks that truly need them. Not only that, but this sophisticated design also allows the intubation boxes to be cleaned easier and shipped at a more affordable rate - all of which are hugely important in terms of getting these assets into the hands of as many people as possible without delay. The Sign Depot has been proud of the reputation it has been able to earn as the Durant, Oklahoma's premiere sign company for over twenty years. In addition to being experts in fleet graphics, the organization is also well-versed in dimensional letters, vehicle wrapping, banners, yard signs and more. Since the company's inception, its leaders have always believed that the foundation of their success rests with their people and their adherence to a core set of values that encompasses literally everything they do. By utilizing their manufacturing prowess to help provide critical assets to those on the front lines of the current COVID-19 pandemic, this is another in a long line of opportunities for them to prove exactly that - this time on a national scale. Those interested in finding out more about the innovative intubation boxes that are now available to order, or those looking for more information about The Sign Depot in general, are encouraged to visit that organization's official website at http://offers.signdepotdurant.com/intubation-boxes. Media contact: Rick Campo [email protected] 580-931-9363 SOURCE The Sign Depot Related Links https://signdepotdurant.com Covid-19 will stalk the planet for a long time to come, the World Health Organization said Wednesday, warning that most countries were still in the early stages of tackling the pandemic. WHO boss Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said some countries that thought they had the new coronavirus under control were witnessing a resurgence in cases, while there were troubling upward trends in Africa and the Americas. He also insisted that the UN health agency had declared a global emergency in good time on January 30 for countries to prepare and plan their response. The body has been heavily criticised by the United States for its handling of the pandemic but Tedros brushed off calls for him to resign. Most of the epidemics in western Europe appear to be stable or declining, Tedros told a virtual press conference in Geneva. Although numbers are low, we see worrying upward trends in Africa, Central and South America, and eastern Europe. Most countries are still in the early stages of their epidemics. And some that were affected early in the pandemic are now starting to see a resurgence in cases. Make no mistake: we have a long way to go. This virus will be with us for a long time. The global death toll has passed 175,000, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP, while more than 2.5 million declared cases have been registered since the epidemic first emerged in China in December. Tedros was pressed on whether the WHO had acted swiftly enough. Looking back, I think we declared the emergency at the right time on January 30, he said, adding that the world had enough time to respond. Medical masks are not generally the first piece of equipment that comes to mind when one thinks of fishing, hunting or other outdoor activities. But even so, the founder of outdoor recreation retailer Bass Pro Shops is looking to supply them to medical professionals. Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris is partnering with faith-based nonprofit and charitable group Convoy of Hope to distribute one million medical procedure face masks to hospitals found near Bass Pro Shops and Cabelas store locations. The donations are being spread among over 200 communities where Bass Pro Shops stores can be found. Two such store locations are in Harrisburg and Hamburg, and thus the Penn State Hershey Medical Center near Harrisburg and the Reading Hospital Tower Health in Hamburg will receive a combined total donation of 16,000 face masks. The masks are ASTM Level 1 Procedure Face Masks, which offer less thorough protection than the highly-sought N-95 surgical masks, but are still generally used in hospital areas ranging from isolation units to emergency rooms and intensive care units. We are extremely grateful to our nations healthcare workers serving on the frontlines of this unprecedented global health crisis, Morris said in a press release. These heroic men and women continue to dedicate their lives to save the loved ones of others, and we are all honored to support them on behalf of everyone at Bass Pro Shops and Cabelas, and the communities we serve. For more information on Convoy of Hope or information on how to support their charitable donations, visit their website to donate to their response. More on the coronavirus: Despite initial success in city-states response to pandemic, rising cases among migrant workers seen as blind spot. Singapore Two weeks into Singapores lockdown, the city-states coronavirus cases continue to rise, prompting the government to extend its order limiting movement among residents until June 1. On Tuesday, just before Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced the extension of the order for people to hunker down at home, Singapore reported 1,111 new cases, most of them among migrants, who work in low-wage jobs and usually live in crowded, airless dormitories on the outskirts of the wealthy Asian city. At least 1,016 more cases were reported on Wednesday, bringing the total to 10,141. The number of deaths, however, have been kept low at 11. For the migrant worker population who has been so invisible for so long, I think that was an obvious blind spot, Chong Ja Ian, an associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore, told Al Jazeera. Chong said since the deadly infection known as COVID-19 first emerged in Singapore, not-for-profit groups, such as TWC2 and HOME, have made noise about the threat of the disease on migrant workers, but their complaints were dismissed. [They] were seen as troublemakers, or raising unnecessary worries, scaring people. If more seriousness were taken to these worries maybe the situation would have been different. I dont know how we will get out of this. The modern skyscrapers and luxurious hotels of Singapore were built by the citys more than one million workers. But while the government won plaudits from the World Health Organization (WHO) for the diligent contact tracing and comprehensive quarantine measures, which kept daily numbers at a minimum early in the outbreak, they have not paid enough attention to the countrys migrant labourers. It is not that there were no warnings, it was more that there was a limit to the cognitive bandwidth of attention, said Jeremy Lim, an adjunct associate professor at the National University of Singapores Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health. Warning against second wave Singapore adopted a calibrated approach in response to the pandemic, imposing new restrictions, from quarantining incoming travellers to requiring social distancing in public places, and banning non-residents from the country. With the help of the police, a team also tracked and traced contacts of people diagnosed with COVID-19. The decision then was probably, lets focus on getting Singaporeans sorted out, lets focus on getting everyone home, settling the hotels [to quarantine incoming Singaporeans], the jobs, and lets settle the others later, and unfortunately later came too early, and now the government has to manage this, Lim said. Singapore migrant workers queue to collect breakfast at a dormitory declared as an isolation area [Edgar Su/Reuters] Imported cases made up a significant percentage of daily case numbers throughout March a time when people in Singapore were still able to dine out and socialise even as many Western countries shut down. Professor Teo Yik Ying, dean of the National University of Singapores Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, believes Singaporeans living abroad who rushed home before the government-mandated quarantine went into effect, likely passed on the virus at home and in the wider community. Clearly the measures that Singapore adopted to contain the first wave needed to be enhanced and supplemented to handle the second wave, he said. Local transmission Asked how the virus might have been transmitted from Singapores travellers and imported cases to the migrant workers, who now make up the vast majority of cases, NUSs Lim noted that in their roles as cleaners and labourers, the workers could have been exposed in the community in the same way as anyone else. Lim said the district of Little India, where many workers like to spend their free time, is also popular with tourists and other Singapore residents, particularly Mustafa Centre, the buzzing 24-hour shopping mall that is renowned for its competitive prices. In a blog post on April 20, TWC2, one of the groups advocating for migrants, said COVID-19 cases were increasing at an average of 23 percent a day in quarantined dorms and 64 percent for non-quarantined dorms, meaning the number of cases is effectively doubled every day and a half. The 2,922 Bangladeshis with the virus in Singapore as of April 21, were roughly the same as the number of infections in all of Bangladesh at 2,948. But the challenge Singapore now faces also reflects residents own decisions as the coronavirus spread throughout the world. Many continued to crowd wet markets, street stalls and public transport. They flocked to beaches, prompting authorities to close them a day later. On the first day of the circuit breaker, Singaporeans flouted safe distancing rules more than 7,000 times, according to government data. It did not help that politicians from the ruling Peoples Action Party (PAP), were seen walking the ground to engage with their constituents even after the lockdown began. Some of the mixed messages that are coming from the political leadership [were] creating some confusion about social distancing as well, Chong said. Its not surprising that people in Singapore who tend to take their cues from authority may read things as they dont need to take social distancing as seriously as they ought to. Fighting the virus on two fronts Experts say Taiwan and Hong Kong have been relatively more successful in containing the virus because citizens themselves put pressure on their governments to act and decided on their own to wear masks, stop going out and keep a distance from others. Just before the circuit-breaker came into force, the Singapore government said it was fighting the virus at home on two separate fronts, one for the general population and one for migrant workers in dormitories who were told they could no longer leave their accommodation once the lockdown started. The coronavirus lockdown in Singapore has been extended until June 1 [Ore Huiying/Getty Images] Minister of State for Manpower Zaqy Mohamad told Parliament on April 7 that conditions at a foreign workers dormitory the place identified as having the most cases in Singapore and then isolated could have been better maintained when it was turned into an isolation area. You cant have everybody 80 percent practising social distancing and 20 percent not practising that, Cyrus Shahpar, a former official of US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and director of Resolve to Save Lives, a nonprofit that combats global pandemics, told Al Jazeera. Theres no national containment strategy because they will continue to grow and affect the population. Chong says the approach of separating community and dormitory cases might have lulled Singaporeans into a false sense of security, thinking they would never come into contact with a migrant worker so could not possibly be at risk. Singaporeans would tend to think, because I am clean and I do things right, this wont happen to me, Chong said. Last week, Singapores Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao published a readers letter claiming foreign workers had poor hygiene habits that they had acquired from backward countries. The men who built modern Singapore work long hours and live in cramped conditions, but the coronavirus is showing they do not live in isolation. We all live together in the same community we are not safe until everybody is safe, Chong said. OTTAWA CN Rail has stopped visually inspecting trains as they leave its Winnipeg yards, letting railcars move across the city before a final check for defects, the Free Press has learned. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 21/4/2020 (630 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA CN Rail has stopped visually inspecting trains as they leave its Winnipeg yards, letting railcars move across the city before a final check for defects, the Free Press has learned. "This operational change will only be implemented for the work centres in the Winnipeg metropolitan area," reads an internal directive CN Rails local superintendent issued April 13, which took effect next day. The company insists it is improving its safety protocols. Last year, CN built what it calls automated inspection portals on its four lines that enter Winnipeg. The portals are metal arches equipped with lasers, lights and cameras, which capture detailed images of an entire train. Staff inspect those images remotely using artificial intelligence, and flag issues for follow-up. These portals are located at four sites: south of the Perimeter Highway west of Highway 75, east of the city at Ste. Anne, at Anola in the Rural Municipality of Springfield, and outside Portage la Prairie at a spot called Nattress. Before that change, CN mechanics in Winnipeg would visually inspect trains leaving yards. The devices around the city took over those duties last week. The only exceptions are for trains carrying shifting loads (such as bundled pipes) or excess amounts of dangerous goods (such as oil). CN workers reached out to the Free Press over concerns trains bound for Emerson and Saskatchewan carrying fertilizer or chlorine are crossing densely populated parts of Winnipeg before they reach the automated inspections. RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS CN staff remotely inspect the images taken by the automated portals using artificial intelligence. In the case of trains headed west from CNs Symington or Transcona yards, they travel 91 kilometres, past Union Station and through Fort Rouge, before entering the inspection portal at Nattress. Symington is known as a "hump yard," as some trains are brought up a slope before being left to roll into place. Its a standard procedure, but employees working at the yard said this increases the risk of train parts shifting, compared with trains braking into place. CN Rail would not provide an interview Tuesday, and instead sent a statement explaining the companys visual inspections were a voluntary measure. "Cars on trains originating in Winnipeg will continue to be inspected by certified car inspectors in accordance with applicable rules, and all required inspections will continue on top of our additional voluntary inspections using (the portals)," wrote spokesman Jonathan Abecassis. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. "Other inspections, including air-brake tests and wayside detection for items such as dragging equipment and hot wheels, will also continue to be used." Transport Canada confirmed the change involved CN Rail's voluntary policy of inspecting trains visually when they depart yards. "The use of the (portals) in Winnipeg does not involve moving away from any Transport Canada regulatory requirement," wrote regulator spokesman Simon Rivet. "Trains must receive a full mechanical inspection and brake test by certified mechanics before they depart the yard." Last summer, CN Rail told investors it expected the new portals would save as much as $400 million over the course of three years, if rolled out across the company network. Each portal costs about $3.5 million to build. dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca Washington, April 22 : Amid a war of words between the US and China over the origin of the coronavirus pandemic, the US Navy said that three of its warships passed through the South China Sea "in support of security and stability", leading to apprehensions of tensions resurfacing in the area. "On watch and ready. The #USNavy's #USSBunkerHill, #USSBarry, and #USSAmerica transit the #SouthChinaSea while operating in @US7thFleet as an Expeditionary Strike Group in support of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. #FreeAndOpenIndoPacific," the US Navy said in a tweet early on Wednesday. The America is an amphibious assault ship, the Bunker Hill, a guided missile cruiser, and the Barry, a guided missile destroyer. Australian warship HMAS Parramatta also conducted exercises with the US Navy in the region, the Australian government said. The Defence Department said "over the past few days", the ANZAC-class frigate exercised with the US ships as they passed through the contested region. "HMAS Parramatta has been undertaking an extended deployment throughout South and South-East Asia for the last two months, to help strengthen the stability and security of the region," a Defence spokesperson said. The "show of strength" came as other nations, including littoral countries, express growing concerns with China's expansion in the region. China, which had over the weekend announced that it had formally established two new districts in the South China Sea, has not expressed any reaction yet. BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 22 By Elnur Baghishov - Trend As many as 1,194 people have been infected with coronavirus (COVID-19) in Iran in the past 24 hours, said Kiyanush Jahanpur, spokesman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Trend reports citing Ministry. According to Jahanpur, 94 people have died from the coronavirus over the past day. Jahanpur added that the condition of 3,311 people is serious and critical. So far, more than 377,000 tests have been conducted in Iran for the diagnosis of coronavirus. Iran is one of the countries heavily affected by the coronavirus. According to recent reports from the Iranian officials, over 85,900 people have been infected, 5,391 people have already died. Meanwhile, over 63,100 have reportedly recovered from the disease. The country continues to apply strict measures to contain the further spread of the infection. Reportedly, the disease was brought to Iran by a businessman from Iran's Qom city, who went on a business trip to China, despite official warnings. The man died later from the disease. The Islamic Republic only announced its first infections and deaths from the coronavirus on Feb. 19. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Singapore Wed, April 22, 2020 09:21 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd3704de 2 Business oil-price,West-Texas-Intermediate,united-states,OPEC,oversupply,Brent Free United States oil prices surged Wednesday after falling below zero for the first time at the start of the week as markets drown in crude due to a virus-triggered collapse in demand. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for June delivery was up almost 10 percent at US$12.68 a barrel, paring gains of around 20 percent at the open in Asia. WTI for May delivery on Monday collapsed to an unprecedented low of minus $40.32 as traders scrambled to sell it before the contract expired Tuesday, but could find few buyers with storage capacity fast filling up. The negative prices meant that traders were forced to pay to have the crude taken off their hands. Read also: A hunt for any storage space turns urgent as oil glut grows European benchmark Brent crude for June delivery bounced more than two percent at the open, but then reversed gains and was trading around three percent lower, with a barrel changing hands for $18.73. It had tumbled to an 18-year low the previous day. Stephen Innes, chief market strategist from AxiCorp, said traders were buying at bargain prices, and markets also received a boost following discussions between top producers. Several member states from exporting group OPEC, as well as some allies in the OPEC+ grouping, held a teleconference Tuesday to discuss the "dramatic" situation on oil markets. But it was unclear whether OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia took part, while Russia's energy minister did not participate. "Profit-taking set in after the OPEC+ alliance reportedly held an unscheduled conference call overnight," Innes said. The market is under heavy pressure due to massive oversupply as lockdowns and travel restrictions introduced worldwide to stem the spread of the virus hammer demand. US crude has been particularly hard-hit due to storage problems, as WTI is delivered at a single, inland point. Read also: Devastating oil glut sends prices into negative, Wall Street down The crisis was worsened by a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia. They drew a line under the dispute earlier this month and, along with other top producers, agreed to slash output by almost 10 million barrels a day to shore up virus-hit markets. But that has had little effect, with prices continuing to plummet, as analysts predict it will not make up for the massive hit to demand. Jingyi Pan, market strategist with IG, predicted prices would stay low for now. "The overtly bearish sentiment may well keep prices suppressed in the near-term until we find the light at the end of the tunnel with progressive resumption of halted economic activities across the globe," she said in a note. As of Tuesday, there were 9,501 registered coronavirus cases and 857 deaths in Mexico. Much of the country's resources were pooled into the health care system to avert any medical crisis. Last March, Mexico declared a state of emergency, and budgets were cut from departments that focused on security operations. As a result, some criminal groups exploited the opportunity to amass a following from various communities while the state was busy handling the pandemic. Last Monday, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told drug cartels to stop handing out aid packages to the poor. Although he did acknowledge, this was expected. Violence Against Health Workers A much less precedented byproduct of the coronavirus pandemic has been the assaults reported by a lot of health workers. Many of the cases involved insults with a string of expletives, while flying objects thrown by patients hit some. Others received threats of having hospitals burned down. According to a study published in the Center for Global Development, Peterson and his fellow researchers documented factors during pandemics that could be attributed to domestic violence. One of those listed in the research was violence against health workers. Medical workers explain that these assaults were often perpetrated by locals who feared to catch the disease from them or by families and friends of their patients. At the Mexican Social Security Institute, head of nursing Fabiana Zepeda shared concern for her colleagues who continued to suffer from abuse and assaults. Most of the time, nurses were instructed to avoid wearing their uniforms in public to prevent aggressors. She said, "These attacks have hit my profession hard. We are giving our lives in hospitals." Mexican authorities recently dispatched 4,700 National Guard troops to safeguard government hospitals. Amid the crisis, much of the attention was diverted away from discretionary procedures like emergency operations. Check these out! Drug Cartels Distributing Food to Vulnerable Citizens Last week, Alejandrina Guzman, the daughter of Sinaloa leader Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, filmed herself distributing food and supplies to vulnerable groups in Guadalajara, Mexico. On Wednesday, Guzman posted another video on Facebook asking the public to aid the elderly. "We want to ask you to please refer us to people who need help, who do not have basic government support," Guzman said. Daily Mail reported that other drug cartels like the Jalisco New Generation and Gulf Cartel posted photos on social media of armed members distributing food to the poor. Most of the packages the groups distributed carry the logos of their drug cartels. Authorities said this was not a new phenomenon. It was common for these drug cartels to gain the trust of vulnerable groups in the population. At the same time, they would also be doing the kidnapping, extortions, and violence. Lopez Obrador said he did not want to hear the drug cartels say they were handing out packages, and much preferred they lay off and think about everybody who was at stake. He said that this included gang members who were becoming self-aware. "I don't think you can spend your life always watching your back," he added. "You could get eliminated, that is no life at all." Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 20:11:55|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TOKYO, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The international community needs to take an objective view on China's fight against COVID-19, a Japanese documentary director has told Xinhua. "I have seen some distorted reports about China, and I hope that the international media and people in other countries can understand China's efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 from an objective perspective," Ryo Takeuchi, who lives in China, said. "This is my biggest wish as a documentary director," he added. Takeuchi has made two documentaries successively over the past few months on the anti-epidemic fight in the Chinese city of Nanjing, with both hitting the headlines on Yahoo Japan, one of the most visited websites in the country. Both documentaries have been shown by well-known Japanese broadcasters, including NHK and TV Asahi Corporation. Having lived in Nanjing for seven years, Takeuchi said the idea of making such documentaries came from his growing awareness of China's quarantine measures. Noting that he did not understand such measures at first when he and his family members were quarantined after returning from Japan in mid-February, Takeuchi said he was later impressed by the meticulous work of the city's community workers and was touched by the changes seen in every aspect of his life. "Nanjing, a city of 8.5 million people, has so far not seen a single death from novel coronavirus infection, and all the some-90 confirmed cases recovered from hospital in March. I am deeply moved by the unprecedented solidarity and dedication of the Chinese people in the face of the epidemic," he said. "As far as I know, many hotels are voluntarily providing isolated accommodation for people with mild symptoms or returning from overseas," he said. "I was anxious to let my friends and the Japanese people see China's specific epidemic prevention measures, to let everyone know how China controlled the epidemic effectively and to provide a reference for Japan," he added. Takeuchi said he believes the simpleness and directness of recording ordinary lives in Nanjing amid the epidemic are the reasons behind the success of his two documentaries, raising the footage of drones broadcasting anti-epidemic guidelines, robots delivering medicine to patients, and his son taking online classes at home as examples. "I filmed my own company, the restaurants near my company, the subway I used, the hotel where my employees were quarantined, the life of my children at home, and the hospital for infectious diseases that everyone cared about most ... there was no background music. I don't want to highlight anything. I hope to use the civilian perspective, the down-to-earth way to record the anti-virus life in Nanjing objectively and truly," he said. Takeuchi said he has also made an English version of his first documentary, titled "Emergent report: A city sees no more new confirmed cases," in which he added such messages as "European friends, don't discriminate against Asian people who wear masks." The director said he hopes that via these messages, "people in other countries can better understand China as well as the Asian people's efforts to fight the epidemic." The English version has also turned out a hit, receiving support from TV stations in countries including South Korea, Russia and Italy, among others. "Next step, I want to go to Wuhan, hoping to use my camera to record Wuhan after experiencing all the hardships and locking down, to present the real Wuhan to the world," he said. Enditem SALT LAKE CITY, UT / ACCESSWIRE / April 22, 2020 / U.S.-based Medsential is now offering COVID-19 IgM/IgG rapid antibody tests beginning in April. These COVID-19 IgM/IgG testing kits will be available to laboratories and health care workers at the point-of-care under the updated guidelines issued by the FDA on March 16, 2020. Medsential is an FDA-registered medical device company and is operating in compliance with the FDA to begin distribution. "In March, Medsential introduced antibody testing to federal and state leaders. We had early access to antibody test samples mid-March," said Chiao-ih Hui, COO of Medsential. "We knew they would be a significant game-changer to coronavirus testing across the nation. Our COVID-19 test provides results within 15 minutes on-the-spot and are easy to use. The test device is low-cost so repeat testing is cost-effective. Our test does not require any other external reading device. It requires only a finger prick." These particular COVID-19 tests are widely used internationally and this test has CE certification in the EU. These tests are undergoing independent validation in the U.S. and Medsential has filed an EUA with the FDA. Medsential has manufacturing and distribution operations in the U.S., China and Japan and will be able to meet high-volume demand for these antibody tests. "Our rapid test kits show three levels of antibody build-up, unlike other antibody tests that show only one," said Hui. "This allows for more accurate identification of community spread and exposure to coronavirus. Health care providers can assess the exposure of their staff and their patients to better protect vulnerable populations, including detecting COVID-19 before symptoms occur. In addition, our test can identify immunity to the virus as our bodies build up antibodies." U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch said, "It's critical that countries work together to solve this pandemic. That's why we've reached out to international leaders to help U.S. manufacturers and researchers in the great work they are doing to bring tests to as many Americans as possible." "Medsential's testing kit will help broaden testing efforts so that we can slow the spread of coronavirus, and get our economy back on track," said U.S. Rep. John Curtis. The updated FDA guidelines specifically contemplate the use of Medsential's type of IgM/IgG testing stating that "[The FDA] does not intend to object if companies start offering "serology' tests, which can infer the presence of the new coronavirus by detecting specific blood cells produced in response to the virus." # # # About Medsential Medsential LLC is a U.S. company that develops, manufactures, and distributes a broad range of medical products to customers. Established in 2005, Medsential is an ISO certified medical device company with the capabilities to develop, manufacture and assemble a broad range of products. Medsential has an extensive distribution channel, sales force, engineering platform, and production team to bring quality products to global markets. We also work with partner companies to provide clinical trial tests, distribution, manufacturing, and assembly. Medsential has manufacturing and distribution operations in the U.S., China and Japan. Learn more: www.medsential.com For photo click here. For b-roll footage (25MB) click here. Contact: Press@Medsential.com SOURCE: Medsential LLC View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/585217/Medsential-Now-Offering-COVID-19-Rapid-Antibody-Test-Kits-Nationwide By Jun Ji-hye Police took a Tunisian national in his 20s into custody, Wednesday, on suspicions that a cigarette butt he had thrown away caused a fire at a logistics terminal in the city of Gunpo, Gyeonggi Province. The fire, which broke out at 10:35 a.m., Tuesday, was extinguished about 26 hours later, after over 400 firefighters worked through the night with about 150 pumps, fire helicopters and other equipment. No one was hurt, but the fire is believed to have caused property damage of at least 22 billion won ($18 million), according to the fire authorities. Gunpo Police Station officials said they believe the fire was started by the cigarette butt that was thrown onto a rubbish heap. The Tunisian could be charged with causing a fire by gross negligence. Police said surveillance camera footage showed the man smoking a cigarette and throwing the butt onto a pile of paper boxes on the rubbish heap. The fire started there about 18 minutes later, with the blaze spreading to a nearby five-story building at the terminal fanned by the strong wind. "We will decided on whether to request a warrant for his formal arrest after carrying out a more thorough investigation," an official said. The Tunisian has been working for one of the companies using the logistics terminal for about two months. About 10 companies used the building to store furniture, clothing and other products. The fire authorities said the damage estimates could rise after they carry out a detailed inspection of the site. Former President of Georgia, former head of Odesa Regional State Administration Mikheil Saakashvili said that he had received an offer to become deputy prime minister for reforms in the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. "It is a great honor for me to receive from President Zelensky an offer to become deputy prime minister of the Ukrainian government for reforms. I also had a very informative and useful conversation with Prime Minister Shmyhal, during which we discussed in detail all the issues related to my possible work in the government," Saakashvili wrote on his Facebook page on Wednesday afternoon. I just sit on my bed and wait, Livia*, a lesbian asylum seeker from Uganda who is living in a 200-person refugee camp in the German state of Bavaria, recently told us during a phone interview. She explained that she barely left the small room she shares with another woman, with whom she cannot communicate because they do not speak a common language, since Bavaria went into complete lockdown to halt the spread of COVID-19 more than a month ago. As a closeted lesbian, Livia has been practising social distancing out of fear of being outed ever since she set foot in a reception centre in Germany in 2018. But before the lockdown, she could at least spend time with her only friend in the camp also a lesbian and attend German classes and social gatherings organised by a local lesbian organisation. Since the beginning of Bavarias lockdown on March 20, however, her already difficult and lonely life came to a complete halt. Today, she has almost no contact with the outside world. I barely leave my room because I have no one to talk to and because I am afraid to catch the virus after someone in our camp was tested positive. We cannot even cook for ourselves anymore, she told us. The Wi-Fi connection in the refugee camp is also very poor, so she cannot stream videos to pass the time or use social media to communicate with her loved ones. Livia is only one of the many LGBTQI asylum seekers in Germany who are experiencing extreme isolation and renewed trauma because of the social distancing measures put in place in response to the coronavirus pandemic. LGBTQI people seeking asylum often experience loneliness and abuse in reception and accommodation camps due to homo/trans-phobia. But the continuing pandemic substantially exacerbated the social isolation they had already been facing and cancelled any progress they had made in building a better life for themselves in Germany. Sam, a 25-year-old gay Algerian refugee living in a camp near Mannheim, for example, told us in a phone interview that the pandemic has thrown him back into isolation and a state of fear just as he thought his life had taken a turn for the better. I am stuck in a vicious circle right now. I had finally found a safe and clean room outside of the local refugee shelter, which is basically a container village. To move to the new place I have to prove that I can pay my own bills. But because of the coronavirus crisis, I lost all of my income. He now fears losing his right to stay in Germany for vocational training purposes. I am very afraid I will lose everything because of the crisis and will be deported. Angel, a 38-year-old lesbian refugee from Jamaica, who had just started regaining control of her life after being granted refugee status a few months back, told us following the lockdown she is also going through a similar experience: I feel like every time I take a step forward, I have to take three steps backwards. It is really depressing. Life is at a standstill, and there is one more road that is blocked. Rami, a 42-year-old Syrian refugee, meanwhile, told us after losing his job because of the pandemic he feels his future is once again blurry. According to the Munich-based lesbian rights organisation LeTRa, all attempts to provide safe housing for LGBTQI people seeking asylum in Bavaria have now been halted due to the coronavirus lockdown. The organisation says it is very concerned that the strictly enforced stay at home policies in asylum camps across Germany are jeopardising the health and safety of LGBTQI asylum claimants. Indeed, being stuck in inadequate living conditions, especially in shared bedrooms, where they cannot even be alone, feel secure, and deal with their trauma, causes many LGBTQI refugees to feel depressed, and even suicidal. Germanys coronavirus lockdown once again revealed the precarity of vulnerable groups such as LGBTQI asylum claimants who do not have a safe space where they can spend time with loved ones and where they can find the support they need to get through this crisis. All asylum claimants are undoubtedly experiencing a certain degree of distress and isolation due to the social distancing measures. LGBTQI people seeking asylum, however, are affected by this crisis more negatively than others as they usually arrive alone in the receiving country and they are no longer in touch with their families in their country of origin. Moreover, they experience homo/transphobia within and outside of refugee camps on top of racism and xenophobia. As it did for Livia, Sam, Angel and Rami the coronavirus pandemic risks bringing the already fragile lives of many LGBTQI refugees to a full crash. The social distancing measures coupled with the stress caused by the spread of the virus itself, revive the trauma and sense of stark isolation many of them felt in their countries of origin and make their struggle for mental health even harder. Rzouga, a gay Tunisian activist and drag performer told us: What we are facing now during this crisis is reminding me of the revolution I witnessed in my country, the state of panic, the constant horrific news and the speed of which new rules and measures are being put in orders is quite triggering and scary. Their experiences of sexual and physical violence and torture also seem to resurface as a result of the crisis. And, as offices that normally tend to refugees needs and listen to their queries are now closed, many LGBTQI people in refugee camps no longer have a venue where they can report abuse or seek additional help. Moreover, the coronavirus crisis also threatens the basic survival of many LGBTQI refugees in Germany. Trudy Ann, a lesbian refugee from Jamaica, for example, told us that since the beginning of the lockdown she went without food on some days because she could not receive the income for her work in the camp after the closure of the camps office. It is thus important that in their response to COVID-19, Germany and other countries recognise the precariousness of the lives of particularly vulnerable groups and put safeguarding mechanisms in place. Not everyone has a safe home where they can cope with this crisis with the help of their loved ones. Authorities need to take urgent action to ensure that LGBTQI refugees have continued access to health services such as hormone treatments and psychological support as well as social and legal counselling in order to minimise their extreme isolation and the risk of retraumatisation. *Names have been changed to protect interviewees identities. Danijel Benjamin Cubelic, who is Head of Anti-discrimination at the Office for Equal Opportunities of the City of Heidelberg, Germany, is a co-author of this article. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. New York City's annual Fourth of July celebration will go on "one way or another," Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday. "There's no day like the 4th of July, it's special. Even if we have to do something different, we have to mark it in a very meaningful way, especially at this moment where everyone's fighting shoulder to shoulder to get through this disease," de Blasio said at a press conference. De Blasio said he spoke to Macy's CEO Jeffrey Gennette this week and agreed to host the celebration, although it may look different than in years past. He said that there will definitely be fireworks, although they city is still deliberating how and where they will be done. https://twitter.com/NYCMayor/status/1252945537701220352 New Yorkers will likely have to adhere to social distancing guidelines "for quite a while," but this is a day that the city can't miss, de Blasio said. He said more details will be released later. "Since 1976, Macy's Fireworks have lit the skies over many of New York City's waterways and neighborhoods. Together with our partners in the City of New York, we are reimagining how to safely share the nation's largest 4th of July fireworks show with America again this year," a Macy's spokesperson said. "This year's show will be a celebration of the strength and resilience of New York City and will honor frontline workers across America," he said. On Monday, de Blasio announced the city is canceling concerts, festivals and parades, including the 2020 Pride march, through June. The city had previously canceled nonessential events through May, saying that public health officials and infectious disease experts are still unsure how the next few months will play out. He said that although the city has seen progress in containing the coronavirus, more progress will need to be made in order to reduce the virus' spread and begin easing restrictions. There's still widespread transmission throughout the city, meaning that health officials aren't able to trace the origin of most Covid-19 cases and residents need to maintain social distancing to contain the outbreak, de Blasio said. CNBC's Lauren Thomas contributed to this report. Six persons who attended a birthday party at First Junction in Teshie during the lockdown period have been sentenced to a total fine of GHC86, 400 after appearing before an Accra Circuit Court. The six persons who were charged with two counts of failing to comply with restrictions order imposed by the President and conspiracy, pleaded guilty. The court after listening to the pleas of the accused and prosecutions prayer to hand down deterrent sentence, convicted them on their own plea. None of the accused persons had legal representation. They were sentenced to a fine of GHC14,400 each, in default they were to serve five years jail term each. The accused were Amadi Mine, a driver, Aboy-Iyen Precious, mechanic, Marshall Oviehare, barber, Godsway Fejiro, student, Elliot Sharker and David Amos both unemployed. The court, however, discharged one John Quayson, a driver who allegedly attempted to transport the convicts from the scene of the infraction at Teshie because the charges preferred against him did not support the facts. It, therefore, directed the prosecution to look for appropriate charges to prefer against Quayson who was absent in court. It, therefore, turned down the plea of the prosecution to issue a bench warrant for Quaysons arrest. Prosecuting, Chief Inspector Gulliver Tenkorang earlier prayed the court to hand sentence which would serve as deterrent to others considering the enormous effort put in place to curb the spread of COVID- 19 pandemic. Chief Inspector Tenkorang said the complainants are Police Officers stationed at Teshie Police Station, whiles all the convicts reside at Nungua in Accra. He said on April 18, this year, at about 1500 hours the Police at Teshie had information to the effect that the accused were having a party at First Junction at Teshie, despite the restriction of movement and public gathering. Prosecution said the Police proceeded to the location and saw the accused among other 50 persons having a birthday party celebration. The prosecution said the guest on seeing the Police took to their heels but they managed to arrest the convicts and Quayson who was trying to transport the accused from the scene of the arrest. Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video No cause for panic, new media rules will benefit all: Javadekar Cabinet approves ordinance to jail those attacking doctors for 7years India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Apr 22: Those found guilty of attacking doctors could face up to 7 years in jail. Announcing this, Union Minister, Prakash Javdekar said that the Cabinet has approved the new ordinance to amend the Epidemic Diseases Act. This would make acts of violence against doctors as cognisable and non-bailable offences. Further, compensation for injury would also be provided for injury to healthcare service personnel or for causing damage or loss to property. The ordinance would help protect the healthcare service personnel. Coronavirus positive cases in India rise to 19,984, death toll at 640 Javdekar said that if damage is done to the vehicles or clinics of healthcare workers, then a compensation amounting to twice the market value of the damaged property will be recovered from the accused. There is also a provision of 6 months to 7 years in jail if anyone is found guilty of attacking a doctor. The Ordinance also proposes completion of the investigation within a month and decision within a year. A fine of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh has also been proposed. The acts of violence are being made both cognisable and non-bailable, Javdekar also said. Fact Check: Were there celebrations in Tamil Nadu, Kerala following death of Bipin Rawat? Arogya Setu wristbands to monitor COVID-19 patients? Govt says its fake India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Apr 22: A prominent newspaper has claimed that the government is procuring wrist bands to monitor the movement of COVID-19 patients. The claim is that the Centre is preparing to procure thousands of wristbands, which will be embedded with the Aarogya Setu app to monitor the movement of COVID-19 patients in hospitals and home quarantine. #PIBFactCheck Claim : Centre is preparing to procure thousands of wristbands which will be embedded with its #ArogyaSetu app to monitor movements of #COVID2019india patients in hospital & home quarantine Fact : there is no such move . Fake and baseless news pic.twitter.com/xyV7pNNCJT PIB India #StayHome #StaySafe (@PIB_India) April 22, 2020 The Press Information Bureau has termed this news as fake. There is no such news and this news is fake and baseless, PIB also said. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, April 22, 2020, 16:49 [IST] European Commission has announced its decision to provide Ukraine with 1 billion 200 million euros in order to support it during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was reported by the press service of the Presidents Office. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky called this assistance unprecedented in its volume. "This is an unprecedented sum of macro-financial assistance. The EU's decision is not only a manifestation of solidarity in difficult times. It is a testimony that Ukraine made no mistake by making the European choice. Hard times will always reveal true friendship," Zelensky said. The European Commissions proposal must be subsequently endorsed by the European Parliament and the Council. In its turn, the European Commission is counting on early approval, given the urgency of the problem. As we reported earlier, the World Bank assigned another 135 million dollars for Ukraine, 35 of which are supposed to be used for deterring the spread of coronavirus disease in this country. According to Ukraine's Healthcare Minister, 20 million of the said sum will be used to purchase the necessary materials and equipment for combating COVID-19. Another 15 million are supposed to cover the financial needs of medical institutions. Wanaka pair Caleb Nicol and Conor Hayes, who made national news when they were left stranded in Peru after the country went into lockdown in mid-March, have made it home after two weeks of quarantine in Auckland. But their story turned bittersweet with the news yesterday that Edward Storey, a 49-year old from Te Awamutu, was tragically not so lucky. After weeks of uncertainty after hostels and hotels started shutting down, Nicol and Hayes (23) managed to board a London-bound flight from Limas military airbase on March 31 before flying to Auckland. They finished their two-week quarantine last Friday and were able to catch a flight to Dunedin that morning. The boys story attracted a huge amount of attention after Nicol voiced their frustrations with the lack of government support for kiwis stranded in Peru online and in the press. A repatriation flight from Lima flew 60 kiwis to Auckland on April 15, by which time a petition for the government to bring nationals home from South America had reached over 6,000 signants. Tragically, this was too late for Edward Storey, who was found dead in a rented apartment in Cusco on April 17. His parents had raised the alarm when he failed to board the repatriation flight, despite registering for it. He was tested for Covid-19 and found to be positive. According to the Herald, Storey last contacted his family on April 7, the day after the New Zealand Government announced it was chartering a flight to bring back stranded Kiwis from Lima, with a domestic connection from Cusco - where he had made his way after the Peruvian lockdown. Nicol said the news was absolutely heartbreaking, and hit a little too close to home. Im so grateful to be here and safe. We didnt just make noise for fun and attention, we needed to be back home, he said. Read edition 971 of the Wanaka Sun here. File image Companies are reportedly considering moving at least part of their supply chains to India in a bid to reduce dependence on China after the coronavirus pandemic. Manufacturersglobal and domesticare in talks with Indian companies to scale up operations for automobile components and electronic products from India, executives told the Livemint. This comes after many corporations suffered widespread disruptions due to the stringent lockdown enforced in Chinas auto sector hub Hubei province, of which Wuhanwhich was the epicentre of the COVID-19 outbreak, is the capital. Follow our LIVE Updates on the coronavirus pandemic here Companies with operations in China want to de-risk their supply chains and have approached Hero Motors, company CMD Pankaj Munjal told the paper. Some of them will migrate to India, Vietnam and others. I believe, that will be a growth opportunity and we will see a migratory growth in the supply chain," Munjal added. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show Indian vehicle makers also reportedly plan to localise the manufacturing of auto parts or source from another foreign partner over the next few months. Japan has earmarked $2.2 billion to enable its companies to shift production from China; while Indiawhich exports $9 billion worth of electronic products and has a domestic market of $120 billionhas announced a Rs 40,000 crore production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for the sector. There is a clear negative sentiment against China, especially in the US, Japan and South Korea. If we play our cards right, we could double our exports (of electronic products) in three years time, Amrit Manwani, president of Electronic Industries Association of India told Mint. Manwani named US-based Johnson & Johnson, Amphenol and Teledyne among those who have expressed interest for medical electronic products and equipment. In Trailblazers: Diaries From The Front Lines Of The 2020 Election, we take an in-depth look at the lives of women working behind the scenes to make our country better every day, whether its on a presidential campaign or political advocacy organization. Name: Sophia Kianni Occupation: Climate activist! National strategist for Fridays for Future USA and international spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion. Age: 18 Gender Identity: Woman Location: McLean, VA Social Media Handles: @SophiaKianni on Instagram Day 1: Monday, April 20, 2020 Please note: Times are Eastern Standard Time unless otherwise noted. 8:30 a.m. I wake up bleary-eyed to my mom shaking me, explaining that Ive overslept my alarm. Except, for once, I havent set an alarm! She thinks Im about to miss my talk show interview, but its actually at 8:30 p.m. I tell her not to worry and roll back over, burrowing beneath the folds of my comforter. I can tell its the start of a long day. 10:30 a.m. I wake up feeling refreshed and recharged. I grab my phone off my nightstand, and the first thing I do is check my email inbox. There is a steady stream of climate-activism-related requests, and I spend 30 minutes replying to emails and flagging important updates. 11 a.m. For breakfast, I mix some granola and honey with cottage cheese. 11:15 a.m. I jump in the shower and blast my old throwback playlist listening to Jason Derulo really gets my creative juices flowing. I throw on a sweatshirt and do my makeup to film a video about my vision for climate action for a compilation the UN75 is putting together for Earth Day. I carefully balance my phone on my bedroom windowsill to take advantage of the good lighting. These days, the only time I ever get ready is to record a Zoom call or give a virtual speech. 1 p.m. I start scheduling interviews and writing questions for a podcast Im hosting with The New Fashion Initiative, a sustainable fashion nonprofit. I go through my list of participants, sending out individualized emails and calendar invites. I accidentally schedule a Zoom call for 1:30 a.m. on Friday instead of 1:30 p.m. and feel mortified when my interviewee jokingly points out my mistake. Ive noticed a large uptick in podcast creation as climate activists have started adapting to life under quarantine. Since we cant hold physical strikes or events, our alternative plans include virtual advocacy and education initiatives. Story continues 2 p.m. I decide to take a break and read through the daily headlines on Google News while munching on frozen grapes. After scrolling for 10 minutes, I realize that my eyes are starting to ache, thanks to the hours of screen time Ive accumulated while glued to my phone. I decide to pick up where I left off in House Of Leaves by Mark Danielewski, a book my friends and I are reading as part of a virtual book club. 3:30 p.m. Before my Zoom call with my Fridays for Future USA team, I grab a quick lunch, reheating last nights vegetarian pizza. 4 p.m. The call begins with planning content for the 24-hour FFF international livestream on April 24. Everyone laments the number of Zoom calls they have scheduled and the general pandemonium that has preceded this atypical Earth Day. We were planning to mobilize millions of people to participate in physical strikes, but having a mass digital mobilization seems like the next best alternative. 6 p.m. My mom makes me dinner while I check the progress of the green onions Ive been growing after being inspired by a TikTok. All of my extra free time has enabled me to learn how to cook (although cook would probably be a generous characterization given that Ive mostly been trying easy online three-ingredient recipes). 7 p.m. Im supposed to have a website-planning call for the nonprofit Im starting, Climate Cardinals (CC), but one of my team members cancels last-minute. We decide to reschedule for tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. The silver lining of this pandemic is that people always have some free time to have a call even on short notice! I spend my extra time checking WhatsApp, Keybase, and Slack for progress on various Earth Day initiatives. 8:15 p.m. I go on Instagram to join the talk show Verifiable Talks Live hosted by Chris Bivins. I talk to him about my work with Extinction Rebellion, Zero Hour, and Fridays for Future. I explain how witnessing Irans polluted sky in middle school inspired me to begin my environmental advocacy. In the comment section, one kind user remarked, Wow. You are so well-spoken for being in high school. Witnessing Irans polluted sky in middle school inspired me to begin my environmental advocacy. 9:30 p.m. I FaceTime my friends from school and spend 30 minutes unwinding and catching up. 10:30 p.m. I check my email inbox and respond to the dozen emails that have trickled in over the past few hours. I also catch up on some schoolwork. 11 p.m. I make a to do list in my Notes app, marking the times for my five calls tomorrow, reminding myself to follow up on old emails and pitches, and writing down the due dates for schoolwork. My virtual classes restart tomorrow morning, and I am not looking forward to another day of Blackboard collaborative sessions. 12 a.m. I read House of Leaves until my eyelids begin to droop. Time to hit the hay! Day 2: Tuesday, April 21, 2020 8:30 a.m. My alarm jolts me awake and I let out an audible groan. I roll over to silence it and check my inbox; to my surprise, I find out that synchronous learning sessions have been canceled due to continuing issues with Blackboard. I decide to go back to bed, pleased that I am once again able to catch up on sleep. 9:30 a.m. I wake up feeling rested and ready to tackle the busy day ahead. 9:45 a.m. I make myself a bowl of greek yogurt with fresh strawberries and frozen blueberries. I scroll through my emails and respond to a few last-minute requests. It feels hard to believe that in just a day, it will be time for Earth Day Live, the culmination of hundreds of hours of planning by climate activists across the globe. 10 a.m. Emails, emails, emails. 11:30 a.m. I finally have my call with my Climate Cardinals team! Without the extra time Ive gotten during quarantine, I wouldnt have been able to make this project a reality. My idea for the nonprofit started after noticing a lack of accessibility in the climate movement to those who didnt speak English. Students will receive volunteer service hours to translate climate change research and information into different languages. We spend half an hour planning the website layout and strategizing new content development. Im most excited about the partnership I have just formed with Radio Javan, a Persian radio station with over 10 million followers on Instagram. 12 p.m. Right after I hop off the CC call, I join a Google Hangouts meeting for my PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs Homegrown Fellowship. We talk about what were going to do with the footage weve shot and edited over the last few months and brainstorm virtual projects we can pursue while quarantined. 1 p.m. I spend over an hour practicing for the lecture Im giving virtually at earthday365, an Earth Day festival. 3 p.m. I take a break and go on Pinterest. After I scroll past a picture of a pink-and-gold cake, I begin saving birthday party ideas. (Not like my birthday is months away on December 13 or anythingbut a girl needs something to look forward to!) 4 p.m. I translate information for a CC graphic Im creating and draft up an email template that students can use to send their friends and family climate content in different languages. 5 p.m. I go on a run with my sister (while socially distancing!) through my local park and return home right in time for my third call of the day. 6 p.m. I attend a messaging workshop on Zoom. I learn about effective climate messaging, taking into consideration how the global perspective has shifted in light of COVID-19. Hopefully it will come in handy tomorrow. 7 p.m. Right after the call finishes, I attend the Extinction Rebellion (XR) DC Zoom divestment training, where I learn about how to move my money from a fossil fuel-investing bank account to an ethical bank account. I mostly attended with the intention of planning ahead for when Im entirely financially independent, although I also plan to use the information to educate my relatives. 8:45 p.m. I have a call with the XR DC media team, and we plan the social media content strategy for Instagram for Earth Day. I look into effective climate hashtags, and we discuss when will be the best time of day to post. (Having social media-savvy friends has paid off!) 9:30 p.m. I check my email for the last time today! 10:30 p.m. I start a new book, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. I read for about 30 minutes to help calm my nerves. In just a few hours, I will be waking up to the 50th anniversary of Earth Day! I set my alarm for 7:30 a.m. 11:15 p.m. I fall asleep excited, anxious, and full of hope. Dont forget to register to vote! VICE and Refinery29 are committed to ongoing coverage of the global climate crisis. Read all of Refinery29s sustainability stories, and check out more Earth Day 2020 content from Vice. Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here? Getting Out The Vote While #StayingHome How Staying Inside Is Impacting Climate Change Politicians Who Are Leading Climate Change In 2020 Srinagar: The J&K Cyber Police have taken cognizance of misuse of social media and filed an FIR after receiving information about author and journalist Gowhar Geelani "indulging in unlawful activities through his posts and writings on social media". The J&K Police said in a statement that the Cyber Police Station of Kashmir Zone has received information through reliable sources that an individual namely Gowher Geelani was indulging in unlawful activities through his posts and writings on social media, which were prejudicial to the integrity, sovereignty and security of India. "The unlawful activities include glorifying terrorism in Kashmir Valley, causing disaffection against the country and causing fear or alarm in the minds of public which may lead to commission of offences against public tranquility and the security of the state," the statement said. The statement added that several complaints have also been received against the said individual for threatening and intimidating the public. "A case under the relevant sections of the law has been registered at the Cyber Police Station and investigation has been initiated," the police statement said. Earlier, J&K Police had booked a Kashmiri photojournalist, Masrat Zehra, under UAPA for posting for "uploading antinational posts with criminal intention." The J&K Police also filed a general FIR in connection with a news item published in a national daily regarding an encounter in Shopian South Kashmir. A doctor who oversaw a federal agency charged with developing a coronavirus vaccine says he was removed from his job for raising concerns about using a popular malaria drug endorsed by Donald Trump to treat Covid-19. "I believe this transfer was in response to my insistence that the government invest the billions of dollars allocated by Congress to address the Covid-19 pandemic into safe and scientifically vetted solutions, and not in drugs, vaccines and other technologies that lack scientific merit," Rick Bright told the New York Times. He has been ousted as the director of the Department of Health and Human Services' Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority and installed in a different position at the National Institutes of Health. During his daily coronavirus briefing, Mr Trump claimed to have never heard Mr Bright's name. But he did not deny he was pushed out of his job, saying, "Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't." Mr Trump for weeks has pushed hydroxychloroquine as a treatment drug for coronavirus, even announcing the federal government had purchased large amounts for distribution to states. The Times reported previously that the Trump family has a financial stake in the drug's parent company; the president has denied making money off the medication. "I am speaking out because to combat this deadly virus, science not politics or cronyism has to lead the way," Mr Bright said in a statement to Times reporter Maggie Haberman. He is asking a government inspector general to investigate the matter. "My professional background has prepared me for a moment like this to confront and defeat a deadly virus that threatens Americans and people around the globe. To this point, I have led the government's efforts to invest in the best science available to combat the Covid-19 pandemic," wrote the career federal official, who was not a political appointee of the Trump administration. "Unfortunately, this resulted in clashes with HHS political leadership, including criticism for my proactive efforts to invest early into vaccines and supplies critical to saving American lives. I also resisted efforts to fund potentially dangerous drugs promoted by those with political connections," he added. The doctor said he warned internally about potential side effects and other risks of using the malaria drug for Covid-19 before it was fully vetted. Attorney General Barr derides media 'jihad' against anti-malaria drug Trump keeps promoting "Specifically, and contrary to misguided directives, I limited the broad use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, promoted by the administration as a panacea, but which clearly lack scientific merit," he told the newspaper. "While I am prepared to look at all options and to think 'outside the box' for effective treatments, I rightly resisted efforts to provide an unproven drug on demand to the American public. Show us the money. Its not just a slight adaptation of a famous line from the 1996 film Jerry Maguire. Its a chant that dozens of participants repeated Tuesday in a virtual rally as they called for action to address fair funding for education in Pennsylvania. Nearly 100 education officials, advocates, parents, and students across the state participated in the... Photo from Xinhua Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. Cui Tiankai says China have shared everything we learned from COVID-19 with the WHO and the medical communities of other countries, including the United States. Speaking at an event hosted by the Bloomberg New Economy Forum on Tuesday, Cui urged the public to pay more attention to the views of scientists on the COVID-19 pandemic instead of groundless accusations made by some politicians. In recent months, Chinese President Xi Jinping has spoken over the phone with U.S. President Donald Trump in part to discuss the virus and other bilateral issues. Cui said, "The conversation is always positive, and it's instructive." President Trump initially praised China's response to COVID-19 in a Tweet on January 24, saying: "China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi." But recently, the U.S. has accused China of being responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic and said Beijing should face consequences. Trump and senior aides have accused China of a lack of transparency in handling the coronavirus outbreak. He also suspended aid to the World Health Organization accusing it of being "China-centric." China is lending its support to many countries in need, including the United States. "So far, China has supplied the United States with more than the 1.4 billion facial masks. And then in addition to that, there is on going communication via video conferences between the two countries including doctors, medical professionals and public health workers. It is all open and transparent," Cui said. He added, "A few months ago, nobody knew much about this virus. Sot here was a process of discovery and learning, and we're still learning. But we're doing our best to have transparency. We are discovering. We are learning and at the same time sharing." "The lack of transparency is not in terms of science or medical treatment, but in terms of some of the political developments, especially in the United States," he said. "The purpose of keeping transparency is to let people know the facts and the truth based on science. But there is so little attention being paid to the views of scientists now." "Some politicians are so preoccupied in stigmatization, making groundless accusations," said Cui. "I think you would have to really make a distinction between some of the people who are politically motivated on the one hand, and the Chinese and American people on the other hand... I think we have had a longstanding friendly relationship between the two peoples... When China first confronted this COVID-19, there was a lot of support and understanding from the American people, American business and American institutions. So I think the two nations are still helping each other. I can see a deep-rooted, friendly sentiment between the two peoples," said Cui, responding to a question about a rumor the U.S. military was responsible for bringing the coronavirus to Wuhan. Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Mikko Huotari, executive director of the Mercator Institute for China Studies and Susan Shirk, chair of the 21st Century China Center School of Global Policy & Strategy also participated in the live event. Rudd believes the best that can be hoped for is a tactical pause in U.S. China hostilities. Shirk suggested U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang should have regular phone calls to kick-start high-level dialogue on more coronavirus cooperation. "We always stand for dialogue... When you have a new administration, you have a new president in the White House, you've got a new secretary of state who would want a new (policy) with their own name on it maybe. Sowe we've been trying to meet that requirement to adjust, but also to a new standard for more dialogue." Cui said. "We need more dialogue in this room and to address the current priority, our joint efforts to confront this (pandemic) now...Business leaders and even governors from the U.S. are trying to facilitate the flow of medical supplies from China to the United States." Cui added. Someone in attendance at the forum asked if there has ever been any fundamental trust between China and the United States since 1970s? "We have to make our best efforts to build that trust, to improve, to have better mutual confidence. But in order to achieve that, I hope our friends in America, perhaps also in Europe, can think hard about some of the basic issues," Cui said. "First, China has a right to develop and modernize. This right is inalienable. Number two, China has to develop and modernize its own path. And this China path is based on China's conditions rooted in Chinese cultures to meet the needs of its people. Number three, China's development is not to challenge or replace the United States in the world. This has never been our intention. And there's still such a gap in terms of economic, military and scientific power between China and United States. We are fully aware of the gap, and China's development has not been as expansive...It's clear both countries benefited from a normalized and developing China U.S. relationship." "So it's clear if our two countries can cooperate with each other, both will benefit. If we have a confrontation, both will lose... It's much more hopeful for us to build up our mutual trust," Cui also said. Whats on TV SHE WALKS WITH APES (2020) 9 p.m. on BBC America. As a kid, I was really desperate to find strong women role models that I could look up to, Iulia Badescu, a Canadian primatologist, says in this documentary. She went through a Joan of Arc phase, and a Queen Elizabeth I phase. And then she found Jane Goodall. The documentary looks at the legacies of Goodall, Dian Fossey and Birute Galdikas, three women who found fame doing groundbreaking primatology work in the 20th century. It explores the influence of their studies on three younger researchers, including Badescu. The documentary is narrated by the actress Sandra Oh. JANE GOODALL: THE HOPE (2020) 9 p.m. on National Geographic. For a deeper dive on Goodall, see this new National Geographic documentary, a follow-up to Jane (2017). Jane focused on Goodalls formative years in the 1960s; The Hope looks at Goodalls activist work from the 1980s onward. SEAT AT THE TABLE WITH ANAND GIRIDHARADAS 10 p.m. on Vice TV. The writer Anand Giridharadas, a former columnist for The New York Times, hosts this new weekly talk show, which covers news and culture. Wednesday nights debut episode is set to include interviews with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Seth MacFarlane, plus a performance by Taylor Mac. Most west-central Illinois counties didnt come out well in a study ranking Illinois counties by their overall health. Brown County had the best ranking in the region, coming in at No. 10 on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundations County Health Ranking and Roadmaps study. Most of the others were in the bottom 50 out of 102 counties. Cass County finished in 63rd place to earn the second-highest ranking in the region. Counties overall health outcome rankings were based on length of life, quality of life, health factors, health behavior, clinical care, social and economic factors, and physical environment. Lori Hartz, director of community relations for Passavant Area Hospital, said the hospital uses the data, along with local data sets, to help develop plans for the community and its programs. This is one of the tools we use to develop our community plans to help improve community health, Hartz said. Its a snapshot of how our health is influenced by where we live, work and play. The study uses data such as smoking rates, immunization records, social and economic backgrounds, and access to care to determine a communitys health. Morgan Countys overall ranking was 79th, though the county was 87th for quality of life, 63rd for length of life, 77th for social and economic factors, 68th for physical environment, 69th for health behaviors and 68th for health factors. The countys best rating was for clinical care, with a rank of 29th out of the 102 counties. This type of study helps us prioritize and dig into the data where we are lagging compared to the state, Hartz said. Brown County ranked 18th for quality of life, 11th for health factors, 42nd for health behaviors, 25th for clinical care, 12th for social and economic factors, and 2nd for physical environment. In Pike County, which received an overall rank of 72nd, this study and others are used to help develop the countys health I Plan, which details areas of improvement, plans to address areas where the county is lacking and potential programs. Sharon Bargmann, director of nursing and public information officer for Pike County Health Department, said the county did drop in the ranking this year. We have a very poor community, Bargmann said. The county received a rank of 73rd for its social and economic factors and 79th for its clinical care. It also ranked 85th for health behaviors. One of the points Bargmann said her department would be looking at is obesity. According to the report, 30% of Pike Countys adult population is obese. Other areas the department will look at include mental health and access to care, specifically dental care, Bargmann said. Molly Peters, public health administrator for Greene County Health Department, said her department also will use the report to help influence programs as it plans for the future. This is a starting point for discussion about the needs in our community and we can focus on those areas, Peters said. This is the first I Plan Peters has worked on with the department and she will be looking at various data sets to determine the countys areas of focus, she said. Greene County ranked 83rd in the state with a ranking of 92nd for length of life, 55th for quality of life, 79th for health factors, 76th for health behaviors, 90th for clinical care, 70th for social and economic factors, and 74th for physical environment. While Hartz said health organizations have the most influence in the clinical care portion of the study that provides access to care, many of those organizations work with community programs to improve other aspects of care, including social programs that help improve jobs and living conditions. All of these other factors play into a persons overall health, Hartz said. If we see improvement in these different areas, we see an improvement in their physical health. Other numbers: Cass County ranked 63rd overall with a rank of 46th for length of life, 78th for quality of life, 76th for health factors, 75th for health behaviors, 96th for clinical care and 71st for social and economic factors and 5th for physical environment. Scott County ranked 75th overall with a ranking of 94th for length of life, 32nd for quality of life, 36th for health factors, 20th for health behaviors, 50th for clinical care, 46th for social and economic factors, and 43rd for physical environment. A full breakdown of the health factors can be found on the County Health Rankings website. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 06:49:36|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A plane flies in the sky with the U.S. national flags in the foreground in Washington D.C., the United States, on April 21, 2020. The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States topped 800,000 on Tuesday with deaths surpassing 43,000, while Americans are increasingly divided over when and how to reopen the economy. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) WASHINGTON, April 21 (Xinhua) -- The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States topped 800,000 on Tuesday with deaths surpassing 43,000, while Americans are increasingly divided over when and how to reopen the economy. The country's confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 804,194 with a death toll of 43,200 by 2:30 p.m. (1830 GMT) on Tuesday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University. New York state remains to be the hardest-hit state with 257,125 cases and 18,821 deaths. New Jersey followed with 88,806 cases and 4,520 deaths. Other states with over 30,000 cases include Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, California, Michigan and Illinois, according to the CSSE. In the wake of the pandemic and its economic fallout, governors of U.S. states, such as Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Illinois, and Louisiana, have recently announced moves intended to restart economy and public life in their states. The decisions came as anti-quarantine protests were popping up nationwide, in which attendees argued that stay-at-home orders aimed at limiting the spread of the virus were unnecessary or have gone on for too long. The ongoing tension in the country was vividly captured by a viral video showing two health care workers dressed in scrubs and protective masks counter-protesting against a rally on Sunday in Denver, Colorado. The scene was "remarkable" and the two health care workers "are standing in the crosswalk during red lights as a 'reminder,' they say, of why shutdown measures are in place," tweeted local reporter Chase Woodruff. According to a report released Monday by Harvard University's Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, the United States will need to administer 20 million tests for the novel coronavirus each day by mid-summer in order to fully re-mobilize the economy in a safe fashion. Some governors complained that the federal government has not followed through on its responsibility to help states get access to supplies. U.S. President Donald Trump, however, said on Monday that states, not the federal government, should be doing the testing. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has been saying for days that New York cannot reopen for business until a testing regime has been established to determine who is safe to go back to work, but without federal aid, the states are not equipped to scale up. New York will reopen at a different rate on a regional basis based on that region's facts and circumstances, Cuomo said Tuesday at his daily news briefing. "Just like some states will reopen before other states because they have a different circumstance when it comes to Covid and their status with Covid, it's also true across the state," Cuomo said. New Hampshire may take a phased approach to the loosening of the state's stay-at-home order at some point, Governor Chris Sununu said Tuesday afternoon. "This is not an open/close situation, it just isn't, nor should it be," he said. "We've always said public health has to be preeminent, has to be one of the key factors that we are looking at when we take any step." Noticing some counties are starting to loosen restrictions, California Governor Gavin Newsom warned them that doing so could lead to a rise in cases. "I caution those elected officials that practicing physical distancing has worked to keep those numbers relatively modest in terms of growth, but if we pull back too quickly, those numbers will go through the roof," Newsom said. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top expert on infectious disease, on Monday urged caution for states to reopen and warned that moving too quickly may backfire. "Unless we get the virus under control, the real recovery economically is not going to happen," Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told ABC's "Good Morning America." UTICA, N.Y. -- Statewide, there are still more than 4,000 who filed an unemployment claim a month ago who have still not received their first check. The Secretary of the Governor says residents should get money this week if they've been waiting and if you haven't started a claim, the process is now more streamlined. Sen. Joe Griffo of Rome has written a letter to Governor Cuomo urging him to put more of his attention on the unemployment issue to get people their money, "Despite the efforts that have been made to adjust, to potentially fix this, it hasn't worked. So we have to go back and make sure that people are getting the money, not a promise that it's coming because some of these people have so many challenges they are facing in their own lives right now but they need to be able to survive." When we asked the Governor's office for comment, Jack Sterne, Spokesperson for the Governor's Office, released the following statement, "Weve distributed billions of dollars to unemployed New Yorkers, compared to mere millions in other major states. We know there is more work to do, we feel the pain of every New Yorker in need, and we are in overdrive to get money into their hands, while working against a volume of claims that is already four times larger than the 2008 crisis. Like every other aspect of this crisis, the need is immense and immediate -- but so are our efforts, and we are throwing everything including the kitchen sink at this to deliver for New Yorkers." 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Targeting Cookies We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated sale of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website. Get ready to see Billie Eilish and Finneas, up-close and personal. On Wednesday, April 22 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, the Grammy-winning siblings will perform a special and intimate concert direct from their home for Pay It Forward Live, Verizons weekly streaming entertainment series in support of small businesses affected by COVID-19. Their performance will be archived and available on demand here for one week. Small businesses are a crucial part of our community, and it is so important that we support them during this crisis, says Eilish. I am honored to be able to call attention to these local businesses, who have made an impact on my life, and are trying to make the world a better place. Verizon will donate $10, up to $2.5 million, to support small businesses for each use of the hashtag #PayItForwardLive during the event. Eilish and Finneas will also be highlighting various small businesses near and dear to them, as well as participating Support + Feed plant-based restaurants in New York City and Los Angeles. Support + Feed was launched by their mother, Maggie Baird, and aims to help support local restaurants, and in turn feed those in need and on the front lines. By encouraging the community to gift meals via participating restaurants, Support + Feed will help facilitate CDC regulated, coordinated food deliveries to vetted organizations, hospitals, first responders, senior centers, homeless shelters and womens centers across Los Angeles and New York City. For more information, go to supportandfeed.com, and also check out Yahoo Entertainments interview with Baird about this initiative. Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell at home. (Photo: Getty Images/Getty Images for Global Citizen ) Sibling superstars Eilish and Finneas are the latest headliners for Pay It Forward Live, Verizons weekly streaming concert series to support small businesses affected by COVID-19. The exclusive shows kicked off last month with Dave Matthews, and have continued in recent weeks with Alicia Keys, OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder and country superstar Luke Bryan. Story continues Over the course of Pay It Forward Live, viewers are encouraged to tag their favorite local businesses and do what they can to support them shop online, make a purchase in advance for when the crisis is over and the businesses reopen, or order a meal. More information can be found at Verizon.com/PayItForwardLive. Verizon is the parent company of Yahoo. For the latest coronavirus news and updates, follow along at https://news.yahoo.com/coronavirus. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please reference the CDC and WHOs resource guides. Armenia will alter commemoration ceremonies to mark the anniversary of the World War I-era massacre of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire due to the coronavirus pandemic. A torch-lit procession traditionally held on April 23 each year in Yerevan has been canceled "in the interests of citizens' safety and health," government spokesman Eduard Agajanian said on April 21. Instead, street lights will be switched off and church bells will peal across the country on April 23, the eve of the date marking the 105th anniversary of the tragedy, Agajanian said. The next day Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and the head of the Armenian Church, Catholicos Garegin II, will lay flowers at a hilltop memorial in Yerevan. The Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex will be closed from April 21 due to organizational and security issues, Agajanian said, according to Armenpress. Last month, Armenia declared a state of emergency and imposed a nationwide lockdown to slow the spread of infections. The government has reported 1,401 coronavirus cases and 24 deaths. Among the Armenian diaspora in the United States, organizers of an annual series of events held in California to mark the anniversary said alternatives, such as speeches and panel discussions, will replace a religious service and other events. The alternatives will be aired on local Armenian television channels, according to Massispost.com. During and immediately after World War I, as many as 1.5 million Armenians were killed or deported from Anatolia. Many historians, Armenia, and more than 30 countries consider the killings genocide. As the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, Turkey objects to the use of the word genocide and describes the killings as "the events of 1915." Ankara recognizes about 500,000 Armenians died as a result of civil strife, disease, and starvation rather than a planned Ottoman government effort to annihilate Armenians. Turkey also points out that hundreds of thousands of Muslims died in Anatolia at the time due to combat, starvation, cold, and disease. With reporting by AFP Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Putty Kartika (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, April 22, 2020 14:44 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd38b7fe 3 Opinion healthcare,technology,medical-device,COVID-19,pandemic,hospital Free As Southeast Asia was one of the first few markets outside China to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, a new normal in daily life has emerged for many in this region. To cope with measures to keep the population safe, technology has been integrated into many aspects of daily life. For example, companies have turned to virtual meetings and schools have turned to e-learning. As more people stay home during the pandemic, online food deliveries and online game purchases are booming. At the center of this pandemic is the healthcare industry. Like many, the healthcare sectors reliance on digital solutions and technology advancement has risen exponentially. However, in a time of high demand and immense uncertainty, technology in healthcare is proving to be the need of the hour. Despite being at different states of adoption and implementation, hospitals in Indonesia have been leveraging technology to deliver healthcare for many years. Some examples include the adoption of technologies that can scan patients in a shorter time, lower their exposure to radiation and even provide a more accurate picture of ones anatomy. Newer technologies include AI-enabled equipment that can automatically position patients for scans allowing the clinician time to carry out more meaningful tasks. As we move into the digital era, technologies today are focused on helping hospitals deliver healthcare outcomes, improve patient and medical staff experiences, and improve the cost of care. For example, digital solutions integrated into the hospitals network can automatically summarize a patients records to reduce time spent on manual documentation and consultation. It can also provide incremental data points for clinicians to make more informed decisions and predictions about specific cases. Based on an external study done by Frost & Sullivan in Indonesia, the benefits of a digital radiology ecosystem include a 31 percent reduction in turnaround time, a 10 percent increase in diagnostic confidence and ultimately, a 31 percent reduction in cost. Technology does not only apply to keeping patients out of the hospital but can be leveraged to provide a better experience for those inside. Hospitals in Indonesia and Southeast Asia have been balancing critical care capacity, staffing and affordability as healthcare demand rises. This has given rise to concepts like Smart ICU (intensive care unit) and Tele-ICU, which aim to drive automation, care prioritization and real-time consultations through the integration of patient data across care areas. We have also seen healthcare providers in Southeast Asia leverage Tele-ICU to overcome the spread of rural and urban population in their countries. Tele-ICU expands the reach of specialists, who are typically based in larger hospitals in the city, to ensure patients in provincial or rural areas have access to specialist healthcare services. As Indonesia fights COVID-19, the above guiding principles for the use healthcare technology is similar but has been urgently compounded by the influx of patients and the need to offer efficient care. For example, hospitals need to carry out scans quickly to isolate patients and to ensure their conditions do not deteriorate. A slow diagnosis could result in a patient requiring more intensive, dedicated care which puts pressure on the hospitals space, clinical staff and equipment capacity. Another driver unique to COVID-19 is the use of technology for social distancing. For example, remote monitoring allows the hospital to drive isolation workflows in the ICU. Suitable patient monitors connected to one remote site will allow a doctor to monitor his patients conditions collectively without having to make multiple trips to see patients. The isolation workflow can also facilitate the virtual sharing of patient data to the allocated intensivists across departments and in some cases, across hospital locations. Minimizing physical interaction reduces contamination risk and reduces redundancy, allowing intensivists to support the most at-risk patients at specific critical moments. It is interesting that technology can also be used to support both frontline medical professionals and the equipment they work with. In an environment where there is high patient inflow, hospitals cannot afford for equipment to be out of order. With hospitals limiting the number of visitors to their premises, a service engineer may not be allowed to perform a job on-site. Technology allows engineers to dispense their expertise digitally through augmented reality applications and fix simpler cases remotely. Data gathered by analytical technology is also a strong ally as it can be used to program scans of equipment usage and its environmental conditions. This provides engineers with a virtual understanding of the equipments conditions, with the hospitals unique environmental factors taken into consideration. Companies use this data to either ensure that they have the parts, resources and tools available at the time of failure or in some instances, ensure replacement parts are proactively procured to ensure the customer does not face any unplanned downtime. Finally, the convergence of technology and education must continue, even during a crisis to ensure knowledge and best practices are shared speedily across borders. Local medical societies, medical device companies, clinicians and other members of the healthcare community need to continue to work together to deliver knowledge in creative ways. There is no way to predict how long this pandemic will last. Companies, regardless of sector, have been forced to adopt new practices as part of regular operations for the foreseeable future. If some of these new normal practices succeed within health care, it could spell improvements to outcomes for patients. COVID-19 has disrupted many businesses and industries but I am optimistic that there will be a silver lining for those who persevere. *** Country director for GE Healthcare Indonesia Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Yunindita Prasidya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, April 22, 2020 09:53 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd372f60 1 Business Indonesia,shopping,consumer-behaviour,survey,COVID-19,Hypermart,Aprindo Free Consumer habits have rapidly changed since emergency measures were launched in mid-March to slow down the spread of COVID-19, prompting retailers to introduce new ways to engage with their customers. Roy Mandey, chairman of the Indonesian Retailers Association (Aprindo), said in Jakarta on April 16 that most of the associations members saw a fourfold increase in transactions using apps or other delivery services as visits to physical outlets dropped. The changing customer behavior is, of course, directly impacting our modern retailers, Roy said, noting that transactions had plunged by 80 to 85 percent at nonfood retailers and by 30 to 40 percent at food retailers since the large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) policy was imposed on April 10. In response to the changing behavior, Roy went on to say, the bigger retailers increased hires or outsourced additional forces to support their in-house delivery services, whereas smaller retailers opted for partnerships with existing online delivery services. Visits to modern retail stores still dominate, but because members of Aprindo now have distribution channels via phone apps, [these] are increasing during this COVID-19 [pandemic], Roy said, emphasizing that, despite the shift to online-based services, the majority of consumers still chose to shop offline, mostly to ensure the quality of fresh produce they bought. Aprindo, which groups about 150 local and national retail companies with a total of around 45,000 outlets across Indonesia, is the largest association of the countrys retailers. A member of Aprindo, retail chain Hypermart, recently launched a novelty called the Park & Pickup feature. It allows customers to order their groceries via WhatsApp or the Hypermart online store and pick up their orders at the parking lot. No need to get out of the car, because our staff will deliver the goods to the car, Danny Kojongian, corporate communication director and corporate secretary of PT Matahari Putra Prima, the parent company of Hypermart, said on April 8, as quoted by kompas.com. Payments can be made using electronic payments to promote contactless shopping, although in-cash payment was still available, he noted. Recent studies have documented similar trends in the shift of consumer behavior, with conclusions suggesting that some consumer preferences formed throughout the pandemic are likely to remain in force even after the health crisis subsides, while other changes are reversible. According to a report published by McKinsey & Company this month titled Reimagining food retail in Asia after COVID-19 around half of the respondents have switched from their regular grocers during the pandemic, but 98 percent of them plan to go back. The top three factors for these consumers switching stores are: the new designation is closer to home (60 percent), the previous store has a lot of out-of-stock items (44 percent) and the consumers preferred brands have sold out (32 percent), according to the study. The study also showed that, aside from store location and availability of products, cleanliness will be among the most important factors for consumers when choosing a grocer in the next four weeks, as the bar chart below indicates. Although in-store visits are declining due to the large-scale social restrictions, the study suggests that grocery stores may benefit in the long run, as more consumers prefer groceries over restaurant dine-ins for their meal options in a trend that could linger, the study says. The same view is presented by a different report published by Mintel, a market intelligence agency. The report, titled How COVID-19 is impacting food and drink markets in Southeast Asia, indicates that even after the current situation calms down, given the scale of the outbreak, and depending on the duration of lockdown measures, the pandemic is likely to leave an indelible mark on consumer lifestyles. This presents huge opportunities for grocery retailers to better engage with consumers through measures that bring added value and convenience in order to encourage more consumers to shop online now and continue the habit once cautionary measures lift, Mintels Asia Pacific food and drink analyst Tan Heng Hong writes in the report. He pointed to behavior such as vigilance around immunity and hygiene, dependence on online grocery shopping and the habit of at-home cooking, as those that will stick around. Tech companies in online delivery services, including for grocery shopping, have seen a spike in demand in recent weeks. We are seeing a corresponding uplift in our deliveries business such as GrabFood, GrabExpress, GrabFresh powered by HappyFresh, GrabMart, etc, a Grab Indonesia spokesperson told the Post via a written statement on Friday, adding that GrabFresh, Grabs grocery delivery service, had seen an increase in transactions, especially after the announcement of the recent social restrictions. Online delivery services, contactless shopping and cashless transactions will be a major theme for the future retail landscape, if it is not one already, with major chain stores already seeing customers opt for those services when made available. Based on data provided by Youtap Indonesia, an e-money service, one of its business partners, McDonald Indonesia, saw an increase in noncash transactions for its drive-thru services since the first week of the pandemic announcement and had now seen a fourfold increase with the average daily transaction value that surged by around 170 percent, according to a press release published on Friday. Washington: US President Donald Trump has announced a 60-day pause on immigrants applying for permanent residency, clarifying a late-night tweet in which he said he would suspend immigration into the United States. The milder-than-expected decision was a relief to American businesses and universities, who feared the executive order would also apply to hundreds of thousands of temporary workers and students already in the US or who plan to enter the country. Donald Trump clarified a late night tweet that said he was suspending immigration to the US during the coronavirus pandemic. Credit:AP "It would be wrong and unjust for Americans laid off by the virus to be replaced with new immigrant labour flown in from abroad," Trump said at a White House briefing on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST). "We must first take care of the American worker. Flash A group of Chinese medical workers arrived at Manas International Airport in Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek on Monday to assist in the fight against COVID-19. The 10-member team from west China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region includes six medical experts specializing in disease prevention and control, traditional Chinese medicine and respiratory medicine, among others. Chinese Ambassador Du Dewen, representatives of Kyrgyz government welcomed the medical team in the airport. Kyrgyz Deputy Health Minister Nurbolot Usenbaev said that Kyrgyzstan has been waiting for them for a long time. "I think you will help us overcome this disease," he said, wishing the Chinese experts a success in the fight against the epidemic. The team will provide assistance and share experiences with Kyrgyz specialists in the fight against coronavirus infection. In addition, they will share best practices and methods in treating patients. The team also brought medical supplies, which will be donated to Kyrygzstan and local Chinese communities. They will also provide health consultancy to the Chinese communities during their stay in the Central Asia's Republic. A Dundalk woman has spoken out about her fears and struggles while caring for an older relative who is battling Covid-19 at their home and also the lack of HSE support she feels she has received so far. Speaking to the Democrat, the local woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, says she and one other family member are caring for their grandmother around the clock at their self-isolated home. Her grandmothers condition, although not serious enough for her to be admitted to hospital at the moment, is troubling her, she says. This morning her temperature is low, I cant seem to get it up. Her breathing is shallow, shes just very stubborn, the 27-year-old explained. Its hard - youre encouraging them to try and eat and get fluids into them; then monitoring breathing and temperature and the dreaded night time when you go in and check are they breathing when they're asleep. When asked about what support she has received, the local woman said they have been on their own in many respects. We haven't received any help from HSE or doctors. Its just our own family support. I know how to take temperatures, I know whats low and whats high. Shes been checked at night time. Were making sure that were trying to get her to eat (too). I told her that if she doesnt eat, were going to phone an ambulance, because that would be the last resort, to send her to hospital. They have been caring for their grandmother, who is in her late 60s, for a number of days now. Early on, they did receive some contact from officials. I know someone from Dublin rang and asked who has been living with her and doing the contact tracing. I live with her, but she hasnt been around anyone, apart from me and another family member. Weve been wearing masks and gloves. Were constantly cleaning. Were doing everything we can. I put together a to-do list. Its put up every day. Weve loads of hand sanitiser. The local woman has taken it upon herself to make sure her grandmother is getting the best care they can provide given the circumstances - but it takes its toll. My job at the moment is to protect her. She is my main priority. As much as I am annoying her with a thermometer and getting her to eat something, I dont care. I feel like her life is in my hands for her not to go to the hospital - thats the last place we want her to go. I just try not to think the worst and take one day at a time and If she overcomes this its all worth it. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr. 22 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: Turkey's export of electrical goods to Kazakhstan increased by 17.8 percent and made up $13.4 million from January through March 2020, Turkeys Trade Ministry told Trend on April 22. In March 2020, the export of electrical goods from Turkey to Kazakhstan grew by 9.1 percent compared to March 2019, making up $3.9 million, the ministry noted. The export of electrical goods from Turkey to world markets from January through March 2020 amounted to $2.5 billion, which is 5.9 percent less compared to the country's total export. Turkey's export of electrical goods amounted to 5.9 percent of the countrys total export in the first quarter of 2020. In March 2020, Turkeys export of electrical goods to world markets reached $832.8 million, which is 16.1 percent less compared to the same month of 2019. The export of electrical goods from Turkey in March 2020 amounted to 6.2 percent of the country's total export. In the last 12 months (from March 2019 through March 2020), Turkeys export of electrical goods amounted to $11 billion. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu (Repeats story that ran late Tuesday with no changes to text) LONDON/MILAN/MADRID, April 21 (Reuters) - Europe's banks are expected to have to set aside billions for potential loan losses as well as take profit hits because of the coronavirus crisis when they start reporting results over the next two weeks. The region's banks were already under pressure before the crisis with high costs, low returns, and demands to fix outdated technology. Mergers, which could potentially relieve those issues, have been difficult to pull off because of national barriers. The largest U.S. banks, which reported earnings last week, set aside $25 billion for credit losses in the first quarter, raising questions about whether European banks would follow suit. Analysts over the past 30 days have revised upward by almost 130% their expectations for loan loss provisions in 2020 by Europe's most important banks, according to a Reuters analysis of data from Refinitiv. At the same time, analysts have cut by more than 40% their full-year profit forecasts for those banks, which include global banks like HSBC, BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank, the data showed. Regulators have said they will be lenient in enforcing accounting rules on expected loan losses, but there is pressure on European banks to be realistic about the looming downturn. Lower profitability than their Wall Street rivals will mean European banks have less room for manoeuvre. "Those U.S. banks make huge amounts of money," said Rob Smith, financial services partner at KPMG. "European banks don't have that luxury of revenue and income to absorb such significant increases" in loan loss provisions, he said. "That in turn that will dictate their approach." Though banks are not legally obliged to come up with the bulk of provisions now, "prudence is a recommendation that should be followed" given the current environment, a person with knowledge of the matter said. The vulnerability of European banks to the outbreak was highlighted this week by the credit rating agency Fitch, which disclosed that it had taken 116 rating actions on Western European banks, mainly revising their outlook to negative. Story continues EARNINGS SEASON The flood of European bank earnings will provide only a partial snapshot of how they are faring so far during the crisis, which began in earnest as the first quarter was well underway. Credit ratings agency S&P said management disclosures and comments would be "more revealing than the results themselves." Italian banks, which have worked hard to tackle the legacy of previous recessions, are expected to start raising provisions against loan losses in the first quarter as the economy heads for a contraction which the International Monetary Fund estimates could reach 9.1% this year, analysts say. Italy's banks have the highest exposure among European lenders to small- and medium-sized businesses, which are likely to suffer the most from a prolonged lockdown as the country battles with one of the worlds deadliest coronavirus outbreaks. Morgan Stanley estimated the crisis risks saddling Italian banks with up to an additional 60 billion to 80 billion euros($86.86 billion) in impaired loans over the next two-to-three years, an up to 45% increase on the current stock. Spain's banks will also report an increase in provisions, said Nuria Alvarez, analyst at Madrid-based brokerage Renta 4. Santander said earlier this month in a U.S. regulatory filing the pandemic may cause "us to experience higher credit losses" there. Analysts said that a near standstill in Spain's economy would first have a direct impact on the banks' mortgage books, which account for around 40% of their credit portfolios, and on their consumer books, which make up for 8% of lending. The Bank of Spain said on Monday that the country's tourism- dependent economy could shrink as much as 12.4% this year if the coronavirus lockdown lasts 12 weeks. At French banks, any higher loan loss provisions are expected to be "manageable", Jon Peace, an analyst at Credit Suisse, said. Deutsche Bank is the only major European lender that analysts forecast to post a loss for the full year of 2020 as it goes through a costly restructuring. The crisis has made it difficult for the bank to predict whether it will meet its financial targets after years of losses. Analysts as of last week had nearly doubled their expectations for Deutsche Bank's first-quarter and full-year provisions for credit losses compared with early March, according to consensus forecasts published on the bank's website. Moody's has highlighted that Deutsche Bank is among the global Europe-based investment banks that is most vulnerable to loan-loss charges. Credit Suisse will kick off the earnings season on Thursday. ($1 = 0.9211 euros) (Reporting by Huw Jones in London, Valentina Za in Milan, Jesus Aguado in Madrid, Maya Nikolaeva in Paris and Tom Sims in Frankfurt; Writing by Tom Sims; Editing by Jane Merriman) In our national war against this virus, public trust is perhaps our greatest weapon. Without it, we cant hope to succeed in the extraordinary common effort required to control the viruss spread, protect our most vulnerable neighbors, and reopen the economy. The media have a critical role to play in fostering this trust, and never have we counted on them more to shoot straight and deliver focused, accurate information from the front lines. Yet in the midst of the greatest test of their mettle in a generation, the New York Times devoted a Sunday front-page article to the absurd claim that criticizing Chinas role in this catastrophe amounts to scapegoating that is motivated by bigoted xenophobia. The piece is an example of the axe-grinding ideology pretending to be news that has become commonplace when our country can least afford it. Its a stone-cold fact that the Chinese government repeatedly misled the world about the origin and nature of the virus. Their deceit is entirely consistent with how the Chinese Communist Party has mangled the truth about public-health calamities in the past, including prior outbreaks, and as far back as the state-induced famines of Chairman Mao, which killed millions of Chinas own citizens. But according to the Times, Americans are being manipulated into considering those realities, all part of a cynical strategy to divert attention from domestic politics. For proof, the Times showed poll results that nearly 80 percent of Americans fault the Chinese government for dishonesty and negligence in handling the crisis. How did people get that idea? From attack ads, the Times says, that rely heavily on images of people of Asian descent. Yet the only such depiction they cite was of the former U.S. ambassador to China, who was shown meeting with their leadership, the same image the Times itself published when it happened. And how should an issue ad address China without using any photos of leaders from China? With mannequins, perhaps? Story continues If the public-opinion numbers about Chinas role in the crisis are right, then by the papers own lights, Americans arent only enthusiastic racists; they are too gullible to think for themselves. Isnt it more likely that ordinary people in a free society have arrived at those conclusions on the merits, and elected officials are properly heeding the public demand that we hold the Chinese government to account? Americans would also be right to wonder why more journalists arent pursuing a story about China that appears to tick every box in an investigative reporters dream assignment. Here we have an ultra-secretive police state that wont even let its own citizens use Facebook. They put ethnic minorities in concentration camps. The first doctors who sounded the alarm about the virus were forced to recant at gunpoint. Gee, do you think maybe all that is worth a closer look? Yet the very day after American news media were kicked out of the country, March 18, the Times published an article based entirely on what Chinese officials told them, with the headline China Hits a Coronavirus Milestone: No New Local Infections. If Times reporters were not skeptical of that howler, readers sure were. Youd need a welding mask to read the comments on social media beneath the article. Plenty of other outlets have followed suit and parroted Chinas bunk. NPR touted Chinas claim that a majority of cases originated abroad. Bloomberg declared that Chinas virus cases reach zero. NBC ran a piece entitled As U.S. struggles, China asserts itself as global leader. Thats what raises the broader problem that makes this more than just a quibble about the posturing of Times journalists. When the public reads news accounts that bestow ridiculous praise on the Chinese government, or that imply readers are dupes for doubting that regimes ham-fisted propaganda, they are highly likely to discount or reject anything else those publications report about the pandemic. They wont believe what those outlets report about the need for masks or ventilators. They may reject whats said about the importance of vaccines or distancing. And when a call to action is given, one that requires us all to work in unison, many will instead recall the divisive insults they read in print that took them for fools. There will be many opportunities and column inches aplenty for the press to air political grievances between now and Election Day and the Times editorial page is welcome to root for whomever it pleases. But on this topic and in this time, the press is squandering the very truth-telling authority it depends on by using its coverage as a way to score cheap shots. America needs the fourth estate at its very best right now. That means unwavering objectivity. It means taking a pause on the usual sniping and sneering. Its time to get our head in the ballgame and start playing like we are all on the same team. More from National Review WAKEFIELD The latest edition of the 96-page Textile Standards & Legislation booklet which details over 72 environmental and social standards related to the textile and apparel industries is now in press. Fully updated and revised since it was last published in 2018, it guides textile industry professionals through the minefield of standards, voluntary labels, regulation and industry tools related to environmental and social compliance. With live updates to all the standards that we cover on our complimentary website at: www.textilestandards.com there have been several major revisions and additions since its last publication in 2018. Updates to the Guide include details on the withdrawal of the Bangladesh Accord, which is now due to be covered by the Bangladesh RMG RSC after May 2020. It also details the introduction of the new voluntary initiative, Nirapon, which includes member brands formerly signed up to the old Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety. Meanwhile, the Guide includes details on the new Responsible Mohair Standard from Textile Exchange launched in April 2020, along with new updates to the Responsible Wool Standard. The Australian National Wool Declaration is documented for the first time, which completes a trio of new efforts on animal welfare and land use in the wool industry. Other additions to the Guide include the details of the new Gruner Knopf sustainability standard for textiles run by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). This label is allowed to be shown on garments at point of sale for textiles that have passed certain social and ecological standards set by the German Ministry. The Guide also gives details on significant criteria updates to the Global Organic Textile standard (GOTS), which was updated to version 6.0 and released in February 2020 along with updates to Oeko-Tex and bluesign standards which also took place recently. You can sign up here to receive a copy of the printed Guide. On chemical management, weve added the Oeko-Tex Detox to Zero standard and looked at how the Roadmap to Zero from the ZDHC Foundation has evolved, including its new plans to tackle air emissions and the man-made cellulosic fibre sector. There is also a progress update on the Higg Index, which now includes a new Brand and Retail module to allows users to measure the impact of individual products they sell in their stores. This year weve once again teamed up with long-time partners on this project Messe Frankfurt, the Sustainable Apparel Coalition and the European Outdoor Group who have supported this unique project. Subscribers can also visit our fully searchable website at: www.textilestandards.com to see further details of all these standards online with links to the relevant in-depth documents. The printed copy is out next week limited copies available. Reserve your copy today. The test kits were developed by the Military Medical University and Viet A Corporation. Although the UK officially left the EU on January 31, 2020, EU pharmaceutical law will remain applicable in the UK until December 31, 2020 to make the necessary changes to ensure that their authorised medicines comply with EU law and can remain on the EU market. The made-in-Vietnam test kits are now legally sold freely without restriction in all member states of the European economic area, including the UK. As of March this year, more than 20 countries have placed orders for the COVID-19 test kits. In the coming time, the product will be exported to Iran, Finland, Malaysia and Ukraine. Hanoi municipal authorities have ordered 200,000 kits for their own use and to present to hospitals in Italy. Vietnam is able to make around 10,000 test kits per day at a cost of about VND400,000-500,000 for a single test. The kit includes 50 tests, with each one being used once for one person, delivering results in two hours with a high accuracy and sensitivity similar to those produced by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organisation. Its pretty easy to trigger Google Assistant by accident either by pressing a button or saying anything that it mistakenly hears as a wake word. The tech giant promised last year to release a feature that would make it harder to wake Assistant up when you dont mean to, and it has now started making it available to the public. Google told The Verge that its gradually rolling out the ability to customize Assistant-powered devices voice detection sensitivity. XDA Developers Editor-in-Chief, Mishaal Rahman, posted screenshots of the sensitivity option thats found under Device Settings. As you can see, youll be able to adjust a slider to make your Assistant device less responsive to Hey Google or more, if it hasnt been as responsive as youd like. Finally, the Google Home app is about to add "Hey Google" sensitivity options for each Google Assistant device.https://t.co/a7R2pxLCLI pic.twitter.com/LJ6GpAj7CY Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) April 21, 2020 Rahman told The Verge that he was able to activate the feature by tinkering with the Google Home apps code. But if its gradually making its way to everyone, then youll have to access to it without having to mess with any code in the near future. Amid the Corona scare, there is an heartening news for tiger conservationists and animal lovers in the country. With birth of three more tiger cubs, Ranchis Bhagwan Birsa Biological Park, also known as Birsa zoo, is now emerging as a tiger breeding centre. The zoos illustrated couple, tiger Mallik and tigress Anushka, has given a major thrust to the Save Tiger campaign by adding three more cubs to the nations existing tiger population, said PK Verma, state chief wildlife warden. A video of the cubs was also shared on Twitter by Indian Forest Service Association. In this #Corona-filled gloomy environment heartening news coming from #BhagwanBirsaZoo,Jharkhand where a Tigress has given birth to three cubs .Congratulations to all the Zoo Officials and staffs of Bhagwan Birsa Zoo,Ranchi. @HemantSorenJMM @Forest_Dept_GOJ pic.twitter.com/TYeg3qFeYv IFS Association (@CentralIfs) April 21, 2020 This was second breeding from the couple in past two year. On April 6, 2018, Anushkha had given birth to three cubs but one of them had died after six months due to multiple organ failure. The cub had been named as Parwat and it was a melanistic tigress, which is also known as black tiger. Mallik and Anushka had been brought from Nehru Zoological Park, Hyderabad in March 2016. Anushka gave birth to three cubs on April 18. The all three cubs are in good health. The tigress is showing normal maternal care patterns and the cubs are in good health, said zoo veterinarian Dr Ajay Kumar. The zoo officials have been asked to avoid unnecessary chaos and provide good ambience to the newly born cubs. With births three new cubs, tiger population at the zoo has gone up to 10. With first successful breeding in 2018, the Birsa zoo authority set up a breeding cell attached with nursery, which was completed in 2019. Kumar said tiger breeding in captivity is critical, as the species do not want any interference in their ambience. The zoo is currently closed for the visitors due to lockdown. Even if zoo is reopened after lockdown, the cubs will not be available for public viewing for at least three months. A video display will be installed at the zoo for the visitors to view the cubs. Birsa zoo witnessed breeding of tigers for third time since its inception in 1994. In 2011, tigress Durga had given birth to three cubs. However, all three died within a week of their births. The zoo authority has taken extra precautionary measures to ensure healthy atmosphere for the cubs. No one is allowed to enter the tigress cage. The cubs were kept in nursery and their health and activities are being monitored through CCTV cameras installed there, Kumar said. Kumar said vaccination to the cubs would be started after three months. The mother tigress is feeding well to all three cubs. Mother and her cubs are healthy, he added. Also Read | Newborn giraffe runs around enclosure, video amuses people SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Sanjoy Dey Sanjoy Dey is principal correspondent in Jharkhand and writes on government, urban development, forest and environment, tourism, rural development and agriculture. He likes to write human interest stories. ...view detail - Congressman Eric Go Yap is proposing to resume POGO operations in the country to reportedly generate funds to fight COVID-19 - Sen. Kiko Pangilinan called out the current administration regarding the proposal of Cong. Yap - Pangilinan stated that Filipinos should come first, as they should be the one who must be able to work again and not the Chinese - PAGCOR Chair also wrote the President to request for POGO operations to resume PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Eric Yap has been lobbying for the resumption of the operations of the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators, more popularly known as POGO. KAMI learned that this was revealed by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez. As per Abante's report, Domiguez stated during a congressional briefing that the question must be addressed to Congressman Yap because he was the one who brought it up. If the congressman brings it up, they have to take it up. Sen. Kiko Pangilinan, in OneNews' report, also reacted to it and stated the following in response to the proposal of Rep. Yap to resume POGO operations, so that it could reportedly generate funds to fight coronavirus. "Masyado naman atang malakas ang kapit nitong mga Chinese na operators ng POGO sa matataas na opisyal ng Gobyernong Duterte. Unahin ninyo na makapagtrabaho ulit ang mga kababayan nating Pilipino at hindi ang mga Chinese. Sino ba amo ng Administrasyon na ito? Mag-ayos kayo!" PAGCOR Chair Andrea Domingo also reportedly wrote the President to recommend the reopening of POGO. PAY ATTENTION: Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news! https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kami.android In a previous report by KAMI, Sen. Hontiveros said that China owes the Philippines billions of pesos as reparations. She also stated that the government should demand unpaid taxes from the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO). The government is currently under an Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) where non-essential establishments are not allowed to operate. This led to a halt in POGO operations. Please like and share our amazing Facebook posts to support the KAMI team! Dont hesitate to comment and share your opinions about our stories either. We love reading about your thoughts and views on different matters! One netizen made a difference by giving food to a Grab driver. Cha Calubaquib posted about how happy the Grab driver was when she gave him chicken for his family. You will find how truly inspiring the story is through the video that we created just for you. Check out all of the exciting videos and celebrity interviews on our KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel! Source: KAMI.com.gh Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Bambang Muryanto (The Jakarta Post) Yogyakarta Wed, April 22, 2020 18:02 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd39a27c 1 National COVID-19,coronavirus,virus-corona,virus-korona-indonesia,Yogyakarta,civil-society-organizations,charity,police,intimidation,monitoring,outbreak Free As citizens help low-income community members weather the COVID-19 outbreak, several civil society groups in Yogyakarta have reported police intimidation and excessive monitoring during their relief efforts. A group called Jogja Food Solidarity (SPJ) said the police had been monitoring their distribution of food, facemasks, health supplements and hand sanitizer to low-income informal workers in Yogyakarta. SPJ has opened 11 public kitchens in the city, including on Jl. Ngadiwinatan near Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat Palace, where volunteers gather to provide free food and other necessities for pedicab drivers, street vendors and sex workers, among others. Ita Fatia Nadia, one of SPJs founders, said two police officers had come to their charity event on Jl. Ngadiwinatan last Thursday. They asked us who initiated the event, who its donors were and where we were distributing the rice boxes. They also took photos of us, she told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. Ita said activists working at the kitchens did not answer the police officers. The officers soon left the location. However, one of the officers, identified as Parto, returned to the charity event two days later and asked the same questions. He took pictures of me without my permission. I replied that it violated my rights, said Ita. She later found out that the officer had not brought a letter of assignment. Ita asserted that no regulation required them to report charity events to the police during the COVID-19 outbreak. Four other police officers came to an SPJ public kitchen in the Ambarketawang Permai housing complex in Gamping, Sleman, on Friday to disperse the volunteers. They initially thought the event would constitute a mass gathering. After we told them about the charity event, they understood, said M. Taufiq Firdaus, a volunteer at the kitchen. SPJ was not the only group in Yogyakarta whose charity events were raided by authorities. On Saturday, the police dispersed a meeting to evaluate a charity program held by activists from the Yogyakarta chapter of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi Yogyakarta) in Kotagede. The police argued that the activists had violated a mayoral decree that restricted residents from partaking in mass gatherings during the COVID-19 outbreak. The activists said the meeting had followed prescribed protocols. After negotiating, the Walhi activists were allowed to continue the meeting until 10 p.m. However, at about 8:55, police officers now accompanied by military personnel and dozens of residents arrived at the Walhi office to disperse the meeting. "Authorities should stop repressive actions against civil society's good intentions in the name of COVID-19 prevention," said Himawan Kurniadi of Walhi Yogyakarta. SPJs Ita said she wrote an open letter to President Joko Jokowi Widodo on Monday, demanding the President stop repressing such acts of solidarity during the COVID-19 outbreak. Ngampilan Police chief Adj. Comr. Hendro Wahyono, whose jurisdiction covers the location of SPJs public kitchens, dismissed the allegations of repression, saying the officers had taken preventive measures to anticipate unwanted occurrences. "In the name of God, we didn't intimidate anyone. They could have actually asked for our help in distributing aid to society, Hendro said. Kotagede Police chief Comr. Dwi Tavianto denied that authorities dismissed the meeting at Walhis Yogyakarta office. Residents reported that there was a social gathering at the location. We came to respond to the report. Yogyakarta has imposed a state of emergency from March 20 to May 29 in an effort to contain the COVID-19 outbreak in the province. As of Wednesday, there were 75 confirmed cases, seven deaths and 75 recoveries in the province. (trn) German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said April 22 he would hold talks next week with his Russian, Ukrainian, and French counterparts to revive efforts to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine. The leaders of the four countries met at a summit in Paris in December 2019 to revive a peace process and for Kyiv and Russia-backed separatists in the east of the country to exchange prisoners. But lingering issues over a timeline for local elections and control over borders in the separatist-controlled regions remain. Maas said he had held talks with his counterparts in recent days. "We have come to the conclusion, and no one has disputed this, that key parts of the agreements from the summit in Paris have not yet been implemented," Maas said. Thats why it is important to give a new impetus to the decisions and the implementation of the decisions, he said. The so-called Normandy format meeting will be held via video link. The Ukrainian government and Russia-backed separatists have conducted two prisoner exchanges since the Paris summit. Last week the two sides exchanged 34 prisoners ahead of Orthodox Easter celebrations on April 19. Separately on April 22, Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke by phone about the conflict in Ukraine and welcomed the latest prisoner exchange, the Kremlin said in a statement. Germany and France have mediated between Ukraine and Russia since a peace agreement was signed in Minsk in 2015, but efforts at implementation have faltered. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was elected last year on promises to end the conflict in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. Ukraine's relationship with Russia has been tense ever since protests in Kyiv led to the overthrow of pro-Russian leader Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014. Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula shortly thereafter and backed separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, sparking a war in the region known as the Donbas that has resulted in some 13,200 deaths. With reporting by AFP, dpa, AP, and TASS For more coverage, visit our complete coronavirus section here. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Trump administrations point man in the fight against COVID-19, has said a safe vaccine for the virus could be ready for use in 12 to 18 months. Thats the same timeline the World Health Organization is working on. History suggests it will take longer. The vaccine that holds the record for fastest approval time, Mumpsvax (mumps virus vaccine live), took four years before it was ready. Scientists have been trying to develop an HIV vaccine for decades without success. On Wednesday, Severin Schwan, the head of the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche, described Faucis 12-18 month estimate as ambitious and said a vaccine most likely wont be ready until the end of 2021 at the earliest. With confirmed global coronavirus cases now topping 2.5 million, the pressure to develop a vaccine is mounting, and dozens of firms and scores of scientists are working toward that goal. Here are some of the contenders: Moderna bankrolled: Last week, Modernas mRNA-1273 vaccine received a $483 million grant from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to ramp up late-stage trials and vaccine production. The company intends to start a phase 3 study in the second quarter and could start phase 3 this fall. The vaccine uses a genetic molecule called mRNA as its base. Scientists generate the mRNA in the lab and, rather than directly injecting SARS-CoV-2 (the novel coronavirus) into patients, instead will introduce this mRNA. The bad news is no vaccine built from a virus genetic material has ever earned approval. Because of mRNAs unproven track record, global analytics firm Clarivate estimated Modernas vaccine has just a 5% chance of success and that approval would take 5.2 years. Successful results in phases 2 and 3 could change those predictions, a Clarivate spokesperson told the drug industry publication Fierce Pharma. Inovio "confident": Clarivate also evaluated biotech company Inovios DNA vaccine INO-4800, which is now in clinical testing. Clarivates algorithm predicted a 15% probability of success for the vaccine and approval timeline of 5.5 years. Inovio told Fierce Pharma it remains "highly confident in the viability and likelihood of success of our vaccine candidate for the novel coronavirus." Janssen's gamble: Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, aims to start human trials for its vaccine by September 2020 at the latest. The company says it plans to be able to manufacture 600 to 900 million coronavirus vaccine doses by the first quarter of 2021, increasing to a billion over the year. "Normally, companies would not invest in their manufacturing scale-up until they were deep into phase 2 and starting phase 3. Theyd have more clarity that a product was going to work," Phyllis Arthur, vice president for infectious diseases and diagnostic policy at Biotechnology Innovation Organization, told Quartz. A British vaccine by autumn? A University of Oxford team will begin human trials of a potential coronavirus vaccine Thursday, according to the Independent. One of the scientists said if the trials are successful, millions of doses of vaccine could be ready by the fall. British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said reaching this stage in normal times would "take years." Hancock announced he was allocating 20 million ($24 million) to the Oxford team and a further 22.5 million to Imperial College, whose scientists are also working on a vaccine. Israeli scientist targets virus weak link: Prof. Jonathan Gershoni from Tel Aviv University's (TAU) School of Molecular Cell Biology and Biotechnology says his laboratory is "two-thirds of the way" toward developing a vaccine for COVID-19. According to the Jerusalem Post, Gershoni is focusing on the virus's Receptor Binding Motif (RBM), part of the virus' "spike" protein, which attaches itself and infects a target human cell. Once the viral membrane fuses with that cell, the genetic blueprint of the virus can enter the cell and begin infection. "The idea is to recreate, to reconstitute, to construct an RBM of COVID-19 virus and use it as the vaccine," he told the Post. "That is to say, you would inject a small 50 amino-acid sequence and it would allow our immune system to focus on it and create antibodies that would directly target the virus at its weak spot." Development of such an RBM-based vaccine should take months, but it then would need to be tested in clinical trials, taking up to a year, Gershoni says. 200,000 doses in Texas: Dr. Peter Hortez, a dean at Baylor College of Medicine and co-director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, told MSNBC his team has already 200,000 doses of a coronavirus vaccine ready for human clinical trials. Even so, he says a 12-18 month timeline for a vaccine would be "unprecedented. One of the biggest obstacles to fast-tracking a vaccine are the time-consuming human trials necessary to ensure its safety while demonstrating its efficacy. But given the magnitude of the pandemic, some members of Congress are suggesting a short cut. Volunteers allowing themselves to be intentionally infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 could accelerate the development of a vaccine, said 35 members of the U.S. House of Representatives in a letter Tuesday to the Food and Drug Administration and its parent agency, the Department of Health and Human Services, the journal Science reported. The controversial strategy is backed by both Democratic and Republican members of the group. The legislators also are pushing the idea of parallel, simultaneous testing of different doses of a vaccine rather than the traditional sequential testing, which starts with participants getting the lowest dose first and gradually building up the dosage as the trial proceeds. The strategy could expedite testing from small groups to larger trials. Scientists are divided on "human challenge" trials, with some arguing the risks are too great. MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE: Sign up for 'The Daily' newsletter for the latest on coronavirus here. Mike Moffitt is an SFGATE Digital Reporter. Email: moffitt@sfgate.com. Twitter: @Mike_at_SFGate DALLAS, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Freeman is uniting with live events leaders from across the United States to announce the formation of Go LIVE Together, a coalition of 80 founding partnersrepresenting over 4,000 companies with U.S. operationswho have joined forces to support legislative actions that will aid our industry's recovery from COVID-19. We are bound together by the belief that nothing in the world will ever replace the power and need for live events. "While our concern is first and foremost supporting the suppression and mitigation efforts around COVID-19, live events will be an integral part of accelerating the U.S. and global economic recovery," says Bob Priest-Heck, CEO of Freeman. "A fundamental aspect of the industry are that trade shows and events enable companies to grow, educate and innovate. Protecting the industry means protecting key economic and social drivers that not only impact jobs today, but also the development of the next generation of businesses. As the largest live events producer, Freeman is proud to unite with other industry leaders to form a coalition to make this possible." Go LIVE Together is focused on preparing for U.S. local, state, and federal recovery legislation, so we are ready to drive recovery once the health crisis is behind us. This group will advocate for funds to offset the added costs of hosting an event post COVID-19, and for funds to incent people to attend live events when it is safe to do so. Events serve as a massive incubator for innovation and economic growth. Advocating for recovery funding will be essential not only to the events industry but to the healing and recovery efforts of the global economy, because: Live events contribute nearly $1 trillion to the U.S. economy annually, with events touching every major sector that makes up the U.S. GDP. to the U.S. economy annually, with events touching every major sector that makes up the U.S. GDP. In 2019, the events industry employed 3 million workers directly, with a total impact of close to 7 million jobs. The live events industry employs millions of union workers, general laborers, strategists, marketers, concession stand workers, entertainers, riggers, project managers, and more. Over 80 percent of the companies that serve the live events industry are small, with many being women and minority-owned businesses. "It's indisputable that live events have significant, quantifiable economic impact," said Priest-Heck. "But they also provide the intangible. These events allow brands to connect directly with their audiences in a meaningful way and the experiences leave a lasting impression that cannot be replicated." Please join our efforts in advocating for what we all already know to be true nothing in the world will ever replace the power and the need for live events. Let's Go LIVE Together! #GoLiveTogether For more information on the founding partners and the coalition visit www.golivetogether.com. About Go LIVE Together Go LIVE Together, in partnership with Freeman, the global live events company, comprises a coalition of 80 founding partners representing over 4,000 companies with operations in the U.S. and 112 other countries. The coalition has assembled to ensure that, when the health crisis is over, the voices and concerns of the live events industry are addressed in local, state, and federal recovery funding related to COVID-19. The live events industry is a diverse, valuable, and vibrant ecosystem that contributes nearly $1 trillion to the U.S. economy and employs millions of workers. Visit golivetogether.com to learn more and support this initiative. Engage with us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn using #GoLiveTogether. About Freeman Freeman is the world's leading live event and brand experience company. We help our clients design and deliver immersive live experiences for their most important audiences. Through comprehensive offerings including strategy, creative, logistics, digital, and event technology, Freeman helps increase audience engagement and drive business results. What makes us different is our collaborative culture, intuitive knowledge, global perspective, and personalized approach, which we've gained from our 90+ years as an industry leader. For more information, please visit Freeman.com. Media Contact: Michelle Jones SVP Global Communications, Freeman [email protected] SOURCE Freeman Related Links https://www.freeman.com/ insights from industry Dr. Kalina Ranguelova EPR Applications Scientist Bruker BioSpin Corporation In October 2019, Bruker announced the acquisition of the Magnettech EPR business from Freiberg Instruments and the establishment of a related, longterm EPR supply partnership with them. As a result, the new benchtop EPR portfolio is now represented by three benchtop EPR systems: microESR, Magnettech ESR5000, and EMXnano. In this interview, Kalina Ranguelova, Senior EPR Application Scientist at Bruker BioSpin, discusses the newest member of the benchtop EPS spectrometers family, the Magnettech ESR5000. What are the key technical specifications of the Magnettech ESR5000? The Magnettech ESR5000 offers applications to both academic and industrial customers, as well as alanine dosimetry. Below are the technical specifications. Operates at X-band frequency The microwave power can be varied from one microwatt to one hundred milliwatts Sensitivity of 5 x 10 10 spins per millitesla or 5 x 10 9 spins per Gauss spins per millitesla or 5 x 10 spins per Gauss Concentration sensitivity of 50 picomolar The field homogeneity is 50 milligauss within the sample region and the field stability is 10 milligauss per hour The maximum sweep resolution is more than 125,000 points and the magnetic field range varied from zero to 6500 Gauss. The modulation frequency between 10 kilohertz and one hundred kilohertz. The instrument has a very compact size, weighing 45 kilos with dimensions of 397x 262x192 millimeters. What types of samples can be used with the platform? The Magnettech ESR5000 works with a wide range of capillaries and sample tubes that enable optimal measurements of a wide class of samples. The instrument comes with a special Teflon sample holder that allows proper alignment of the quartz tubes. There is also a quartz protection tube that prevents contamination of the resonator. The active volume in the vertical direction of Magnettech ESR5000 resonator is 23 millimeters. Over these 23 millimeters, the EPR intensity follows Gaussian distribution. This means the maximum intensity is at the center of the resonator. The signal then drops off and finally disappears as the distance from the center increases. A convenient way to eliminate the dependency on the sample lens and positioning is to prepare samples that are longer than the resonator lens. If this is not possible, the user must make sure that the sample is positioned absolutely at the center of the resonator. Tissue cells are one of the many samples the Magnettech ESR5000 can analyze. Image Credit:Shutterstock/MriMan What other dedicated applications does the Magnettech ESR5000 offer? For sample handling besides capillaries and standard quartz tubes, the Magnettech ESR5000 offers a flat cell, a tissue cell, an automated goniometer, and a rack for horizontal orientation. When it comes to different sample treatments, the instrument comes with a liquid nitrogen finger dewar. For experiments at 77 Kelvin, there is a liquid nitrogen variable temperature unit that works at a temperature range between 93 and 473 Kelvin, a UVV light system, a biotemperature controller and an autosampler. Flat cells Flat cells are used for liquid samples that are in polar solvents, such as water, acids and alcohols. The ideal sample distribution in the resonator leads to a 2 to 2.5-fold higher intensity compared to 50 microliter capillaries. The crucial point when using a flat cell is the orientation of the flat section, the vertical position, and the field volume of the flat cell. Therefore, we recommend using a special holder as a system to achieve consistent sample positioning. The holder also helps to reduce breakage. A study published a couple of years ago looked at ectoine, known to be an effective protectant of biomolecules against heating. In this study, the Magnettech ESR5000 spectrometer was used to demonstrate the capability of ectoine to protect the DNA from UV radiation due to its hydroxyl radical scavenger properties and the spectrum was recorded using a flat cell instrument. Tissue cells Tissue cells can be used to analyze skin sections, organ slices, pastes and emulsions, as well as plant tissues and conducting foils. The setup is the same as for flat cell usage. For example, a flat cell holder is also required. Automatic goniometer The automatic goniometer offers the study of anisotropic samples, such as single crystals. The sample can be rotated between zero and 360 degrees with a precision of 0.1 degrees and the rotation is fully automatic. Each measurement of a new spectrum starts with an automatic joining of the spectrometer with that measurement performance. Horizontal rack For handling viscous media samples and tissues, we offer a rack for horizontal orientation where Magnettech ESR5000 can be rotated by 90 degrees. For similar applications, the temperature needs to be held at a fixed temperature of 77 Kelvin to acquire the EPR spectrum. Such as the detection of reactive oxygen species and nitric oxide, for example. Dewar The finger dewar features a maximum volume of 50 milliliters of liquid nitrogen, compatible with three and four millimeter O.D. EPR tubes, a storage time up to two hours and, due to the ultra-fast and stable automatic frequency control, the spectrum does not have any spikes caused by nitrogen bubbling. In a recent study, a Magnettech ESR5000 spectrometer equipped with a finger dewar was used to detect nitric oxide in endothelial cells. The authors used the protein netrin-1 as a stimulant for nitric oxide production. It is very clear from the quantitative EPR data by measuring peak to peak amplitudes of the complex between spin trap and the nitric oxide molecule that there is a correlation between the NO production and netrin-1 concentration. The experimental design here involved an incubation of cell suspensions with different concentrations of netrin-1 protein and nitric oxide spin trap. After the cells were gently collected, they were snap-frozen and loaded into the finger dewar for EPR analysis. Image Credit:Shutterstock/paulista Updates to EPR Technology with the Magnettech ESR 5000 Watch the Webinar Here How is temperature controlled? For many applications, a wide range of temperature is desired to investigate temperature effects on the reactions or on the species itself. The nitrogen variable temperature unit uses liquid or gaseous nitrogen to cool and heat the sample in the range of 93 to 472 Kelvin. The compact digital temperature control system makes use of nitrogen for safe and stable temperature control. Easy and quick sample exchange at every temperature permits safe operation and a high measurement of output. The variable temperature unit features a table for mounting temperature control by the software, an option for automatic data acquisition for temperature measurement, 25 liter dewar for liquid nitrogen storage, a cavity integrated nitrogen dewar, and an optional nitrogen purge system for the resonator to prevent condensation. How can irradiation studies be conducted with the Magnettech ESR5000? UV light can cause the production of free radicals in many materials. The UV radiation system we offer with the Magnettech ESR5000 provides the ability to study photochemical radical reactions or photophysical production of excited paramagnetic states. It features an integrated light source. For example, irradiation holder for precise positioning, direct orientation to ESR's studio software for fastest response times. It is suitable to trigger kinetic experiments. It comes with a high-power LED and the light intensity is changeable from 100% to 0% as a fixed wavelength of 365 nanometers. An external irradiation unit allows irrigation over a continuous spectrum. It features mercury, Xenon light source for sample irradiation up to 200 watts, and a holder for precise positioning. It operates with ESR studio software and it also has a changeable light intensity from 100% to 0% within the entire UV region from 240 to 400 nanometers. Image Credit:ShutterstockKateryna Kon What automation features does the Magnettech ESR5000 offer? The biotemperature controller can be used for biological samples such as cells and tissues to maintain a physiological temperature of 37 degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature that can be reached with this controller is 60 degrees Celsius, which allows for it to be used with some other applications where elevated temperature and porous oxidation are required. The autosampler allows an automatic sample insertion into the spectrometer and provides better reproducibility and measurement productivity compared to manual inversion. The maximum number of samples that can be loaded is 26. It works with different sizes of sample tubes. There is also a possibility for mixing components within the resonator for following chemical reactions and it could be combined with the automatic goniometer. The software, ESR Studio, is user friendly with a modern workflow-based user interface. It features a selection of protocols based on different applications. ESR Studio can provide remote access to the spectrometer from anywhere in the world via the internet. The standard export format is XML that are structured ASCII files and can be used for the external applications the software allows, as well as data processing. To find out more, please download our webinar. About Kalina Ranguelova, PhD Dr. Kalina Ranguelova is an EPR Applications Scientist in Bruker BioSpin Corporation since 2011. She completed her Ph.D. at The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences where she received a Ph.D. with research focused on inorganic copper complexes structure using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. After two research positions at CUNY and National Institute for Environmental Sciences where she studied free radical biology and EPR spin trapping as methods for measurement of reactive oxygen species (ROS), she joined Bruker and holds a role as Applications Scientist. Her current focus is detection and identification of free radicals in biological systems and pharmaceuticals using spin traps and spin probes. She has publications in journals like Journal of Biological Chemistry, Biochemistry, Free radical Biology and Medicine, etc. She has presented in many international meetings related to free radical research in biology and protein chemistry. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has demanded that the Centre issue guidelines by this month-end on sending the migrant workers to their native places in the wake of the coronavirus-enforced lockdown. Speaking to the central team led by additional secretary Manoj Joshi through video conference on Tuesday evening, Thackeray said his government has opened shelter camps for over six lakh migrant labourers and they are being looked after well. But, these people want to go back to their native places and are also protesting some times, he pointed out. "If the central government feels the coronavirus spread will be more from April 30 till May 15, it should consider if the stranded labourers can be sent back to their homes before that. If it is possible, guidelines in this regard should be issued," Thackeray said. The Centre should consider if the stranded labourers can be monitored "end-to-end" and quarantined after they reach their homes to ensure there is no spread of the coronavirus, Thackeray said, and urged the Union government to take a timely decision. The chief minister said 80 per cent of the coronavirus patients in the state are asymptomatic and wondered what could be the reason for it. He also expressed the need to study what steps are being taken in Dubai to contain the disease. "We all know what is happening in the US, but need to study what steps are being taken in Dubai. The coronavirus entered Maharashtra through these two places," he said. Thackeray also reiterated the demand for more personal protective equipment (PPE), ventilators and other medical equipment from the Centre. He also sought the Centre's guidance for construction of hospitals by the Army on war-footing, if needed. Thackeray also sought relaxation of central government rules to provide food grains to those who don't have a ration cards. INDIA CORONAVIRUS TRACKER: BusinessToday.In brings you a daily tracker as coronavirus cases continue to spread. Here is the state-wise data on total cases, fatalities and recoveries in one comprehensive graphic Also read: Coronavirus India Lockdown Live Updates: 1,383 new cases, 50 deaths in 24 hours; Country's tally nears 20,000 Also read: Coronavirus: Home Minister Amit Shah interacts with doctors, assures security The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has in recent weeks launched investigations into deaths of workers at 34 health care employers across the U.S., federal records show, but former agency officials warn that the agency has already signaled it will only cite and fine the most flagrant violators. The investigations come as health care workers have aired complaints on social media and to lawmakers about a lack of personal protective equipment, pressure to work while sick, and retaliation for voicing safety concerns as they have cared for more than 826,000 patients stricken by the coronavirus. Despite those concerns, the nation's top worker safety agency is not viewed as an advocate likely to rush to workers' aid. President Donald Trump tapped a Labor Department leader who has represented corporations railing against the very agency he leads. "It's a worker safety crisis of monstrous proportions and OSHA is nowhere to be found," said David Michaels, an epidemiologist and George Washington University professor who was assistant secretary of Labor and ran OSHA from 2009 to 2017. Employers are required to report a work-related death to OSHA or face fines for failing to do so. Yet former OSHA leaders say the agency has not openly reminded hospitals and nursing homes to file such reports in recent weeks. Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that more than 9,200 health workers had been infected with the coronavirus, a number the agency concedes is a vast undercount. The estimate was based on a set of lab-generated reports in which only 16% included the patient's profession. The agency said the true number is probably closer to 11% of all known cases. Federal records show the OSHA fatality investigations - searchable here involve hospitals, an emergency medical service agency, a jail health department and nursing homes. Its investigations can be prompted by the complaint of a worker, a former worker or even an OSHA official who sees a news report about a workplace death. They can be conducted by phone and fax or involve an on-site inspection. One fatality investigation launched April 7 focuses on Marion Regional Nursing home in Hamilton, Alabama, where nurse Rose Harrison, 60, worked before she died of COVID-19, her daughter Amanda Williams said. Williams said her mother was not given a mask when caring for a patient on March 25 - 10 days after the county's first coronavirus case who later tested positive for the virus. Williams said her mother felt pressured to keep going to work even as she was coughing, fatigued and running a low-grade fever. "She kept telling me 'Amanda, I have to work, I have to get my house paid off,'" Williams said, noting her mother said she was urged to work unless her temperature reached 100.4. Williams said that she drove her mother to the hospital on April 3 and that Harrison was unhappy she'd spent the week working. Harrison went on a ventilator the following day, fully expecting to recover. She died April 6. "When your mother dies mad, you're pretty much mad," Williams, one of Harrison's three daughters, said. "I think if proper steps were taken from the beginning, this would have been different." North Mississippi Health Services, which owns the nursing home, and the home's administrator did not reply to calls or emails. An April 13 OSHA memo said the agency would prioritize death investigations involving health care workers and first responders. It said "formal complaints alleging unprotected exposures to COVID-19 may warrant an on-site inspection." Michaels, the former Labor Department official, said a subsequent OSHA memo suggested that officials are unlikely to penalize all but the most careless employers. The memo about employers' "good faith" efforts said a citation may be issued "where the employer cannot demonstrate any efforts to comply." Michaels said that "any efforts" to comply with work safety rules could amount to making even one phone call to try to buy masks for workers. Federal OSHA officials did not respond to a request for comment. Democrats criticized Trump last year when he tapped Eugene Scalia, who spent years of his legal career defending major corporations, to head the Labor Department. Scalia fought OSHA on behalf of SeaWorld after it was cited over the death of a woman training killer whales, The New York Times reported. Scalia's team argued the work-safety agency was not meant to regulate the training of killer whales. He also argued that SeaWorld had adequate safety measures in place, but ultimately lost the case. Sen. Bernie Sanders, eluding to Scalia's record of defending firms like Chevron and Goldman Sachs, called the appointment "obscene." Since March 27, the ongoing fatality investigations have been mostly categorized as "partial" investigations, which initially focus on one area of noncompliance. Four are labeled "complete," meaning they cover a wide range of hospital operations. One of the "complete" investigations is listed at Coral Gables Hospital in South Florida, where respiratory therapist Jorge Mateo, 82, worked before he died of coronavirus complications, his daughter said. The hospital reported the death, according to a statement from Shelly Weiss Friedberg of Tenet Healthcare, which owns the hospital. She said Mateo was with the hospital for four decades and "the loss of Jorge Mateo is felt throughout our entire community." A subsequent investigation also labeled as "complete" - was opened April 10 at Palmetto General Hospital, in South Florida. There, 33-year-old Danielle Dicenso worked for a staffing agency as an ICU nurse, treating coronavirus patients. Dicenso died after developing COVID-19 symptoms, including fever and a cough, according to reports in the Miami Herald. The Palm Beach County medical examiner has not yet determined a cause of death, a spokesperson told Kaiser Health News. Her husband, David Dicenso, told local news station WSVN she had not been given a protective mask and was "very scared of going to work." Weiss Friedberg, of Tenet, which also owns Palmetto, said in an email that "nurses are provided appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) in compliance with Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines." The latest guidelines say staff can wear a face mask if no N95 respirator is available when performing routine care with COVID-19 patients. For higher-risk procedures, such as intubation, workers must receive N95 masks. OSHA opened an inspection at St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center, a Long Island hospital, on April 11. Federal officials had learned from a local news story about a patient care assistant dying of COVID-19, hospital leadership confirmed. The hospital has no record of that employee having any interaction with COVID patients, said James O'Connor, its executive vice president. The hospital tests employees for COVID-19 only if they have had confirmed exposure to someone who tested positive and if they develop symptoms. O'Connor said all employees who are in contact with suspected COVID-19 patients get the full suite of PPE; they are told to clean their N95 masks after each shift, he said, and to change masks entirely every three shifts. That can mean workers wear the same equipment for multiple days. Early research suggests that N95s can be sanitized and reused up to three times. But that paper has not yet undergone peer review. In an affidavit the New York State Nurses Association filed regarding another state hospital, the union argued that it has "yet to be adequately proven that disposable respirators can be effectively decontaminated" without putting the wearer at risk. As recently as April 16, the local nurses union told Newsday that St. Catherine workers on Long Island are being told to share PPE. While OSHA does have a "general duty" clause urging employers to keep workers safe and a standard for respiratory protection, it has no written rule on protecting workers from airborne disease, said Debbie Berkowitz, a former OSHA chief of staff and director of the National Employment Law Project's worker safety and health program. As OSHA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention downgrade their requirements week by week, workers are left with the choice in some places to wear a bandana in situations that had called for a properly fitted N95 mask, which can filter out particles as small as 0.1 microns. "OSHA has really completely abandoned their mandate to protect workers," Berkowitz said, "and every worker is on their own." Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin (IFA) is one of the largest tradeshows of the years, and it usually takes place at the beginning of September. IFA 2020 will happen, but not the way you think, and the current outbreak is the reason why. IFA 2020 will happen with an innovative new concept The organizers went to Twitter to let people know whats going on. It was officially confirmed that IFA 2020 will happen, but with an innovative new concept. The organizers are forced to make it happen in a different way due to recent decisions by the Berlin government. Berlin government decided to ban all events with more than 5,000 participants until October 24. That makes it impossible to organize IFA in its regular form, as there are way more participants involved. Advertisement The organizers did anticipate this development, however, and have been discussing a range of alternative concepts. One thing seems to be obvious, we wont be getting a physical event this time around. There is, of course, a chance that the organizers will somehow limit the number of participants by separating the event in different places, but thats highly unlikely. Its more likely well get all the information in written form, or perhaps livestreamed somehow (which sounds impossible to organize). All in all, the written form is the most likely outcome. It remains to be seen how will that affect the presenters, though, and how many companies will end up being involved. Advertisement IFA will hopefully find a better way to organize all this, but were skeptical due to the whole situation. The organizers will hopefully share more information soon. MWC 2020 got cancelled entirely, it was supposed to take place in February As most of you already know, the recent outbreak did affect MWC 2020 as well. MWC 2020 in Barcelona got cancelled, entirely. That created a really big mess back in February, but it was a necessary move. The organizers of IFA are warned upfront, theyre aware of the situation, and what are their options. That gives us hope that theyll find a way to make the tradeshow happen somehow. Advertisement As most of you already know, Google I/O 2020 got cancelled due to the outbreak as well. Well, it at least got cancelled in its usual form. That information was published at the beginning of March. Google I/O will still happen, but not in a physical form. Google will go on stage and talk about everything it wanted to talk about during the show, but without any participants outside of the company. The company will livestream Google I/O 2020, so, for those of you who end up watching from home, your experience will be quite similar as last year. It remains to be seen what will happen with IFA 2020, though, stay tuned. Students from West Virginia University look on as Michelle Uzick of Pandell shows them how their classroom experience translates to the workplace. Pandell is helping us fulfill our land grant mission by preparing these students to work in the community in which they live and in the surrounding areas, said Dr. Kenneth Blemings, Interim Dean of WVU Davis College. Students and faculty in the Energy Land Management Program at West Virginia University Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design utilize the latest software tools for managing land rights courtesy of technology donations and collaboration with energy software innovator Pandell. In a recent visit by several WVU staff and students to Pandells Houston-based office, program members described how the partnership has contributed to preparing the next generation of land professionals to meet new industry challenges: 1) Companies that Manage Land Rights Are Looking for Graduates with Software Experience A legacy of paper documents and courthouse files has followed many companies into the digital age. As their footprint expands, so too does their need to access and analyze data from multiple locations and through large scale reporting. Companies now need land professionals who can leverage software to draw out information about what they own and use it to solve business problems. WVU integrates Pandells LandWorks land management and GIS software systems into its curriculum so that students can practice real-world analysis and scenarios. It gives them one more skillset that will help them be employable, and it definitely is the wave of the future to have this experience, said Dr. Shawn Grushecky, Program Coordinator. I like to say its another arrow in their quiver. Its really beneficial for them. 2) The Future of Land Management Goes Beyond Oil and Gas WVUs program is currently the second largest AAPL-accredited program in the nation, with 120 students annually. Building on a foundation of managing land rights for the petroleum industry, Dr. Grushecky now sees students going on to discover land careers in many other sectors. We have a lot of students now going into solar, as well as telecommunications and small utility infrastructure, said Dr. Grushecky. In addition to the energy sector, national brands that have real estate and are looking to expand their stores are trying to find the best property within a certain distance, that has access availability. Its a land issue, just like siting a well pad. Its amazing the different land positions these students are finding. The ability to manage land rights across a wide variety of industries has made Pandells software a good fit for WVU students, whose career options now span a much larger geographic and sector breakdown than in previous years. 3) Next Generation Land Knowledge Requires Familiarity with Data Analytics and GIS Many land programs have traditionally focused on skills such as contract negotiation, title work, and regulatory knowledge, but companies have an expanding need to be able to draw meaningful conclusions from large quantities of land data. These companies are recognizing the need to strategize both inside the office and in the field, as analytics and GIS can drive better decision-making and resource utilization for land experts. Digital maps and land records can be powerful sources of information for the professional that knows how to use them to answer real-world questions, such as determining the best path for a new pipeline or locating missing ownership information needed to acquire a property asset. By integrating Pandells GIS and land software into the curriculum, WVU students can explore more project-driven scenarios like the ones above. Students like that a lot more, Dr. Grushecky said. They feel like theyre doing something thats real world and not just listening to me speak. 4) Universities Need Active Industry Partnerships to Keep Data and Software Skills Fresh As the field of land management evolves and becomes more technologically dependent, the need to have access to current, real-world data and software becomes paramount to student success. In order to give their students the best employment opportunities, programs like WVUs must lean on corporate partnerships that can provide them with datasets, problems, and software products that are currently in use in the land management and energy industries. As a higher education institution, we look to build partnerships that will give our students a competitive edge, explained Andrew Barnes, Director of Development at WVU Davis College. Having an ongoing partnership with Pandell where theres a reciprocal feedback loop helps us grow and evolve in our understanding of the software and learn throughout the process. Building these relationships in the industry is a huge benefit for us. 5) Pandell Gains Continual Feedback from the Next Generation of Software Users Developing a relationship with WVU has offered Pandell a valuable opportunity to improve how its software serves the land management professional. Its a benefit for Pandell because it helps us gather feedback from university staff and students on how the software is working for them; what features they like and dont like; and then be able to integrate that feedback into our future roadmaps, said Laura Holt, Director of Land Products at Pandell. WVU offers a unique perspective because of the variety of land use cases covered in its land program, as well as the volume of tech-savvy college students interacting with the software every day. Through its ongoing partnership with WVU, Pandell hopes to shape and be shaped by the next generation of land professionals. Pandell is helping us fulfill our land grant mission by preparing these students to work in the community in which they live and in the surrounding areas, said Dr. Kenneth Blemings, Interim Dean of WVU Davis College. Thats why were here. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 13:52:02|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The name and logo of China's first Mars exploration mission will be made public on the Space Day of China, which will fall on April 24, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA). China plans to launch the Mars probe in 2020, aiming to complete orbiting, landing and roving in one mission. Since 2016, China has set April 24 as the country's Space Day to mark the launch of its first satellite "Dongfanghong-1" into space on April 24, 1970. This year will be the 50th anniversary of the start of China's entry into space. The various activities on Space Day have become a window for the Chinese public and the world to get a better understanding of China's aerospace progress. Over the past year, China has made efforts to push forward the development of space science. China's Chang'e-4 probe, which landed on the far side of the moon at the beginning of last year, has survived for more than 16 lunar days on the virgin territory, and Yutu-2 has become the longest-working lunar rover on the moon. The probe is in good condition, and has made a large number of scientific discoveries, said Ge Xiaochun, chief engineer of the CNSA. China promotes aerospace technological innovation, and its largest carrier rocket Long March-5 made a new flight at the end of 2019. China has successfully launched a carrier rocket at sea, and also pushes forward the development of lunar exploration and the construction of a high-resolution Earth-observation system, Ge said. Space technology has benefited China's economic and social development. During the COVID-19 epidemic, China's Gaofen Earth-observation satellites and BeiDou Navigation Satellite System provided services for the construction of makeshift hospitals and fight against the epidemic, Ge said. China is deepening international cooperation and exchanges in aerospace development. China promotes international space cooperation to contribute to achieving the sustainable development goals set by the United Nations, Ge said. China shared the data of its Gaofen Earth-observation satellites with other countries and provided services for countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative. The CNSA invited scientists around the world to participate in the Chang'e-6 lunar exploration mission and asteroid exploration mission. The China-Brazil Earth Resource Satellite-4A was launched at the end of 2019, setting a good example for space cooperation among developing countries. The China-France Oceanography Satellite, sent into space in 2018, has been put into use, Ge said. Although confronted with more risks of space exploration, China will not cease its development and innovation in space science, technology and application, Ge added. Enditem On Tuesday, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. has agreed to pay a fine amounting to $25 million. This is to resolve criminal charges that came as the restaurant was reported to have served contaminated food that caused more than 1,100 people in the U.S. to get sick from 2015 to 2018, which resulted in plunging sales, says an article. The Mexican fast-food company was charged in Los Angeles federal court. The charges include two counts of violations to the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Their negligence had caused four norovirus outbreaks, which caused abdominal cramps, vomiting, and diarrhea. Poor Safety Practices The company confirmed its poor safety practices. They admitted that they are not keeping food at the right temperature to prevent the growth of the pathogen. This negligence had resulted in people from Los Angeles, Simi Valley, Boston, Ohio, Sterling, Powell, and Virginia to get ill from the food served to them. The network of outbreaks started in August 2015 in Simi Valley. It came after two months before the E.coli outbreak in Chipotle had spread to many states, leading to the temporary closure of many restaurants. This had negatively affected sales as other fear of food emerged. The criminal case has no relation to E. coli. Promise to Improve The California-based company agreed to enter into a deferred prosecution contract. In the agreement, the business will not be convicted by continuously improving its program for food safety. Chipotle is also expected to obey other rules and pay a fine for the food safety case. According to Nich Hanna, a U.S. attorney, the Mexican Grill was not able to ensure that all of its employees understood and followed the safety protocols of the company. This negligence had caused hundreds of its customers to fall ill, he added. Check these out: Setting an Example to the Food Industry According to Hanna, the penalty, including the millions of dollars that the business had used up to improve its food safety program since 2015, is expected to provide more protection to the customers of the restaurant. It also served as a reminder to those in the food industry to review and upgrade their health and safety practices. According to the statement of the company, it will continue to upgrade its food safety practices by reducing the number of staff who touches the food, analyzing the quality of ingredients used, and outlining the movement of the company's food supplies to determine the occurrence of a possible problem. According to the company's CEO and chairman Brian Niccol, the settlement shows how serious Chipotle is when it comes to food safety. Also, it reveals the company's dedication to turning the pages on previous unpleasant events. The Norovirus Outbreak The norovirus can be spread by improperly handling food. The multiple outbreaks of norovirus started in Simi Valley when 234 customers and staff of Chipotle got sick. Personnel who vomited was immediately sent home. However, the illness was reported internally. It only took two days after many customers got sick before they had implemented food safety procedures. Representative image Coronavirus cases in India breached the 20,000 mark on April 22, rising up to 20, 471, including 652 deaths and 15,859 active cases. Maharashtra, Gujarat and Delhi reported the highest number of cases. Here are the latest updates: >> The government today said that it would now be conducting its briefings, which have been regular since the COVID-19 outbreak in the country, four times a week Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. >> The J&K Directorate of Information released a press note announcing cancellation of the Amarnath Yatra 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak, but withdrew the note shortly thereafter. 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 Follow our LIVE updates here. >> Cabinet approved an ordinance to make violence against health workers non-bailable offence. Those found guilty of attacking healthcare workers will face imprisonment from 6 months to 7 years (in serious cases) and fine. >> Scientists at the CSIR's Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology come up with a low-cost coronavirus test that will not require any expensive machines for detection of the pathogen. >> World could face multiple famines of biblical proportions due to COVID-19, UN body warns. >> India co-sponsored resolution calling for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. >> US President Donald Trump threatens to terminate the trade deal with China if Beijing did not honour its provisions in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic that originated in the country. Skylar Herbert loved dressing up and performing. She adored going to kindergarten. She started reading at age 4. She liked girly things and bling. She could take over a room, her grandmother Leona Pannell Herbert said. About a month ago, Skylar started to complain of headaches. Within days, she was hospitalised in the Detroit suburbs, where she was diagnosed with Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, and then with a rare form of meningitis. Her brain started swelling, and she was placed on a ventilator. On Sunday, surrounded by doctors and her family, the 5-year-old became the first child in Michigan to die of Covid-19 and one of several paediatric deaths in the United States. Skylars death stands as a heartbreaking exception in a pandemic that has largely spared children even as it ravages older populations and people with underlying medical conditions. She was both young and without known underlying conditions. Her death serves as a reminder that the coronavirus can present peril to people at any age. In Michigan, about 1 per cent of the 32,967 reported Covid-19 cases have been in patients younger than 20, state statistics show. The average age of coronavirus patients who die in Michigan is 74. Her story disproves the myth now that children couldnt get it, said her father, Ebbie Herbert. The family has agreed that the hospital may use Skylars tissue to research Covid-19, her mother said. Boston Childrens Hospital, one of the nations major paediatric medical centres, reported a jump in Covid-19 admissions last week when as many as 13 patients were hospitalised with the disease at one point. Over the course of the pandemic, Boston Childrens has admitted 25 children, said Michael Agus, the hospitals chief of medical critical care. By Monday, the number of patients at Boston Childrens with Covid-19 had fallen to 11, with three in intensive care. Childrens National Hospital in the District reported a steady increase in cases, as did Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia. Doctors at both hospitals say they believe the increase correlates to the surge of cases in the broader populations of those cities, though the number of adults infected still dwarfs the number of children testing positive. When the CDC published its last comprehensive report on the coronavirus and children, 2 per cent of confirmed Covid-19 cases had occurred in people under age 18 (Getty) Julia Sammons, medical director of the Philadelphia hospitals Department of Infection Prevention and Control, said fewer than 10 per cent of the children who test positive at the hospital require inpatient care. Of those patients who are hospitalised, she said, about 5 per cent have experienced severe symptoms. At Seattle Childrens Hospital, which has been tracking the virus since late February, 1 per cent of children who have been tested have the virus. Of those, few experienced severe symptoms, according to infectious-disease specialist Janet Englund. The numbers are low, Englund said. Until its your child. Data from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and empirical evidence from doctors at several of the nations top paediatric hospitals suggest children, by and large, are less severely affected by the virus. As of April 6, when the CDC published its last comprehensive report on the coronavirus and children, 2 per cent of confirmed Covid-19 cases had occurred in people under age 18. That mirrored data from China and Italy, which reported that children accounted for about 2 per cent of infections. The number of infected children is significantly lower than adults but families, like this one in California seen collecting food from a temporary food bank, remain at risk of catching the virus (Getty) Children who test positive appear to experience severe symptoms at a far lower rate than adults. Relatively few children with Covid-19 are hospitalised, and fewer children than adults experience fever, cough, or shortness of breath, the CDC wrote in that 6 April study, which also made clear that severe outcomes have been reported in children. As of Tuesday, the CDCs data included two deaths of children between the ages of 1 and 4, one death of a child between 5 and 14 years old, and 17 deaths of people between 15 and 24. While disease trackers have said they believe more people in the United States are infected with the virus than the data shows, specialists said the figures on paediatric deaths are probably a true reflection of the most severe toll among children. I think we are seeing the children who are becoming ill. I dont think there are many sick kids staying home going unrecognised by the health-care system, Agus said. Are there kids getting over this infection with hardly any symptoms? For sure. That seems very likely to be the case and has been the case in other countries. Paediatrician warns 80 per cent of children in NYC are infected with Covid- 19 Robert Posada, associate professor in the Divisions of Infectious Diseases and Medical Education at Mount Sinai Kravis Childrens Hospital in New York, said the hospital has admitted about 20 children with Covid-19, with no major uptick in recent days. He said most of those children sick enough to require inpatient treatment are dealing with underlying conditions, something echoed by doctors at paediatric wards elsewhere. At Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, Sammons said about 25 per cent of patients who have tested positive for Covid-19 suffer from asthma. At Mount Sinai, the numbers have been similar. I would say that more than half of those patients have had some underlying condition. Some of them are patients with cancer, a couple of patients with diabetes. One patient, at least one or two, that are transplant recipients, Posada said. Yet some children may not be clearly or easily tracked. Michigan had 266 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in children and youths as of Monday. Of those, 147 stayed in their homes, 23 were hospitalised and 96 were of unknown status, said Bob Wheaton, a spokesman for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Protests like this one in Ann Arbor, Michigan, demanding a nationalised healthcare system in America, have become a common occurrence since Covid-19 struck (Getty) While Skylar did not suffer from underlying conditions, she did fall into other categories that meant she was at higher risk of contracting the virus. Skylar was African American, and CDC data shows that black patients account for 33 per cent of reported cases; census data shows that 13.4 per cent of the US population is black. And Skylars parents have jobs that force them to continue working outside the home during the pandemic. Skylar lived with her mother, LaVondria Herbert, a Detroit police officer for 25 years, and father, Ebbie Herbert, a firefighter for 18 years, in a neighbourhood in Detroit with one of the highest rates of the coronavirus. When talking about Skylars story it brings to heart for me, her parents are first responders. And first responders have anxiety about infecting people in their household, said Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, a Democrat who leads a new state task force on racial disparities related to Covid-19. That task force will be dedicated to Skylars memory, he said in a briefing Monday. Theyve been on the front line and theyve served with honour and integrity, said Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat. They did not deserve to lose their child to this virus. Nobody does. Skylars death was mourned in Detroit on Facebook, in homes and in fire stations. Skylar touched our hearts with her cheerful spirit and brightened our Sundays with her smile, the Metropolitan Church of God wrote in a Facebook post that was shared more than 120 times by Monday evening. Recommended Spain to allow children outside after six weeks of confinement My daughter was a giver, sunshine and light. She would give anything she had, a sucker right out of her mouth, said her mother, LaVondria Herbert. Her father, Ebbie Herbert, added: Our daughter would come up out of the blue and say I love you. Her parents spent Tuesday trying to figure out how a funeral for a vibrant girl can take place in Detroit amid a pandemic. They havent come up with an answer. But they want the world to know Skylars life and death serve as a message to take Covid-19 seriously. We just want the world to know that this can happen to anyone, Herbert said. This could have been your kids. The Washington Post Company's cloud-based insider threat solution meets federal security capabilities requirements Code42, the leader in insider threat detection, investigation and response, announced it has achieved the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) Ready designation, which enables Code42 to work with the Joint Authorization Board (JAB) for prioritization toward a Provisional Authority to Operate (P-ATO). In order to achieve the FedRAMP Ready designation, Code42 underwent a capabilities assessment of critical security controls to ensure that federal organizations can use its multi-tenant, cloud-based insider threat solution to detect, investigate and respond to data loss, leak theft and sabotage. Currently, Code42 is working toward two FedRAMP authorizations. In addition to pursuing a P-ATO from the JAB, the company announced, in January 2020, that it achieved an In Process designation in its pursuit of an Agency Authority to Operate (ATO). FedRAMP is a government-wide program that provides a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization and monitoring for cloud services, and is one of the most stringent compliance processes a vendor can undertake. "The FedRAMP designations not only give our customers confidence that Code42 is a trusted cloud service provider committed to the highest standards in data security, but also make it easier for federal government agencies to adopt Code42 solutions," said Joe Payne, Code42's president and CEO. "The way people work is fundamentally changing. While cloud-based, collaborative technologies like Slack, Box and Google Drive are making workers more productive, they are also making it easier for them to exfiltrate data. Our cloud-based product provides a layer of security around these applications without blocking sharing. We are looking forward to extending our solution beyond commercial and educational organizations to federal agencies on a path to digital transformation." Code42's solution surfaces insider threats to trade secrets and other high-value files so security teams can respond when data is exfiltrated. The solution tracks files as they are attached to emails, uploaded to web applications, and moved to cloud accounts, USB sticks and external hard drives. As part of its offering, Code42 also preserves a copy of all versions of all files on a user's computer. This data can be used for forensics or to recover data after theft, ransomware, hardware failure or software failure. As a next step in the FedRAMP authorization process, Code42 will submit documentation required for JAB prioritization and undergo a full authorization assessment conducted by an independent Third-Party Assessment Organization (3PAO). This designation will give all federal agencies the authorization to use Code42 data security solutions. About Code42 Code42 is the leader in insider threat detection, investigation and response. Native to the cloud, Code42 rapidly detects data loss, leak, theft and sabotage as well as speeds incident response all without lengthy deployments, complex policy management or blocking employee productivity. With Code42, security professionals can protect corporate data and reduce insider risk while fostering an open and collaborative culture for employees. Backed by security best practices and control requirements, Code42's insider threat solution can be configured for GDPR, HIPAA, PCI and other regulatory frameworks. More than 50,000 organizations worldwide, including the most recognized brands in business and education, rely on Code42 to safeguard their ideas. Founded in 2001, the company is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and backed by Accel Partners, JMI Equity, NEA and Split Rock Partners. For more information, visit code42.com, read Code42's blog or follow the company on Twitter. 2020 Code42 Software, Inc. All rights reserved. Code42 and the Code42 logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Code42 Software, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All other marks are properties of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005286/en/ Contacts: Gerri Dyrek Vice President Corporate Marketing, Code42 gerri.dyrek@code42.com 844-333-4242 Infosys is "extremely mobilised" on the GST Network enhancement project and work is progressing at "full speed" even as a large segment of its employees are working remotely amid the nationwide lockdown, its CEO Salil Parekh said. Taxpayers were facing issues due to glitches on the GSTN portal. The portal of GST Network (GSTN), which provides the technology backbone for the goods and services tax (GST), is managed by Infosys. "I think we're extremely mobilised, working very closely with the GST Council. In fact, our Chairman Nandan (Nilekani) had met them. There's a detailed plan that is also internally being developed, we are working towards it. There are some constraints obviously on procurement of some hardware and but as we come closer to July, we'll have a sense on that basis in terms of the manpower deployment," Parekh told PTI. He added that work is progressing at full speed, even amid lockdown situation that has forced majority of Infosys staff to work remotely. "It's at full speed, even in this remote working situation. And we're making every attempt to make sure all of those discussions that we were part of, we are executing upon...As of now, we have everything fully mobilised," Parekh said. He added that there will be discussions around July to "make sure all the hardware pieces which need to be procured are fully available, given the supply chain constraints in the hardware". Last month, the finance ministry wrote to Infosys saying some of the problems highlighted as early as 2018 are still unresolved and failures month after month lead to genuine taxpayers "getting frustrated" and asked the Bengaluru-based company to provide a plan for quick resolution of glitches on the GSTN portal. Infosys Chairman Nandan Nilekani had then made a detailed presentation to the GST Council for the transition into a better GST Network system and the requirement of hardware to enhance capacity for addressing the system-related issues that are being faced by taxpayers in the IT system. The Council had agreed to the demand for more skilled manpower and better hardware to enhance capacity and given time till July to improve the GSTN design. Parekh said about 93 per cent of Infosys staff is now working remotely amid the lockdowns on account of the coronavirus pandemic. Talking about getting staff back on premises, Parekh said that as lockdowns start to ease off, the company will have between 5 to 10 per cent of its employees on premises. "...(When) things start to ease off, our first phase will be between 5 and 10 per cent, so it's a very gradual moving back. Even with that, there will be a lot of attention on social distancing, in transport, even in the seating within the campus, some level of partitions between seating, different usage in terms of hygiene and safety within the campus. We putting in temperature checks," he said. He further noted that in some of the centres outside India, the company is undertaking a similar strategy. "It will be in the range of 5-10 per cent in the first phase, and then we'll see how that plays out what the situation with the lockdowns is. And then the next phase will kick in," he said adding that currently many of its locations in India (like Pune and Bengaluru) are in the red zone classification. IT companies like HCL Technologies and Tech Mahindra are continuing to allow staff to work from home (WFH) to ensure safety of employees amid the nationwide lockdown. While home ministry guidelines had allowed IT-ITeS companies to operate with up to 50 per cent strength from April 20, many states including Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh have continued imposition of full lockdown. Industry body Nasscom had also advised members to adopt a staggered approach and start with 15-20 per cent workforce in the first phase, and subsequently scale it up depending on the situation on ground. About 90 per cent of IT employees and 70-80 per cent of BPO and small and medium businesses in the sector are estimated to be working from home to ensure business continuity. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Every year during April and May, honey collectors at Sunderbans risk their lives and enter the mangroves which are home to around 100 tigers. This year, although they are safe from the tigers as they didnt get any permits due to the coronavirus lockdown, these honey gatherers are facing poverty. These collectors here depend on gathering tons of honey and beeswax from the hives of wild honey bees around this time of the year. For the rest of the year, they depend on fishing and catching crabs in the rivers and creeks - an equally risky business. 55-year-old honey collector Gopal Mondol is safe from tigers but is left without his livelihood and is battling poverty and hunger. Mondol is one of the many honey collectors who live on the remote islands of the Sunderbans. It is a risky business. Tigers have killed my father, two brothers and cousins in the past. But we still enter the forest to collect around this time as it is a lucrative business and we depend on it. But this year because of the lockdown the forest department has not issued any permits. There is hardly any money in the house to buy the essentials like spices, oil and other items. We are receiving some help from the government but thats insufficient, said Mondol, a resident of Pakhiralaya village. Sunderban - the worlds largest delta comprises 102 islands in India. While 54 are inhabited by humans, tigers rule the rest. Every year, thousands of people enter the forest to collect honey and catch fish, crabs and prawns - legally and illegally - and get attacked by tigers and crocodiles. Many cases go unreported. Tourism and fishing activities are suspended between April and June every year as it is the spawning and breeding season for fish. Only honey collectors are allowed. But this year because of the lockdown even honey collection has been stopped, said RK Sinha chief wildlife warden of West Bengal. Every year, around 3000 people are allowed to enter the mangroves with valid permits to collect honey. Many more enter illegally. Locals said that on Monday a villager was killed by a tiger in Pirkali-1 range when a team sneaked into the forest illegally to collect honey. The forest department has no information on this, senior officials said. The state forest development corporation buys a portion of the honey while the rest is sold in the markets by the honey collectors. Even though there is no official figure of the total amount of honey collected, it is estimated that the production could go up to more than 2.5 lakh kilograms. We used to call it blood-soaked honey because, among the many people who get killed and attacked by tigers, maximum are honey collectors. It is because unlike fishermen who stay on boats, honey collectors enter the forest and chase the bees to locate the hives, said PK Vyas, former chief wildlife warden of West Bengal. West Bengal accounts for the highest number of tiger attacks with around 30 people being killed between 2017 and 2019. Every year, more than 100 people are mauled to death by tigers. But these are just official figures and the total numbers could be much more. In April, the honey collection reaches its peak. But we are not being allowed to enter the forest because of the lockdown. It would be a huge loss for us. There is hardly any money at home. The local shops have started refusing to give essential items on credit. Whatever rice and dal we are getting from the ration shops is falling short. Hard days lie ahead, said Nitish Mondol, a honey collector from Lahiripur village. Nitish said that for a family of five, he has to depend on 20 kilograms of rice, four kilograms of atta, three kilograms of potato for the entire month. Do you think this is enough to sustain? he said. The forest department is rolling out some plans to help these honey collectors. But that would take time and is still in the proposal stage. A few NGOs are also providing food to the villagers but help is yet to reach all the islands. We are preparing the budget proposal for the next financial year. It will be placed soon. We are trying to create some extra employment opportunities for these people and link them to various government schemes so that they can cope up with the loss, said Sudhir Das, field director of the Sunderban Tiger Reserve. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON bigbasket, Indias largest online supermarket, has initiated a campaign through ImpactGuru.com (bigbasket.impactguru.com) to raise funds for providing nutritious meals to families affected by the COVID-19 lockdown. The funds will be routed to KVN Foundation, a not-for-profit social impact startup, to cover over 30 lakh meals as part of their FeedMyCity initiative. The Foundation aims to provide freshly cooked nutritious meals to needy families in 5 cities namely Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Noida, and Chennai. The extended lockdown has left about 70% of the nations population depending on daily wages with no income. Countless poor families have been affected and are forced to sleep hungry. The fundraiser will help people to contribute towards this cause. Through the campaign, bigbasket is looking at raising an amount of INR 30 lakh to feed the families affected. ImpactGuru has waived off its platform fees for this fundraiser. Speaking about this, Abhinay Choudhari, Co-founder, bigbasket, said, The first batch of groceries and essentials is on its way to FeedMyCity's kitchens. It is heartening to see donations coming in from people and these have helped the KVN Foundation serve meals to the famished. I thank Shadowfax, our delivery partner, for timely supply of groceries to the KVN kitchens. The generous contributions by everyone have made a difference to the lives of many! We encourage people to spread the word among their friends and relatives and show that they care. The KVN Foundation was started by three friends and entrepreneurs from Bengaluru - Juggy Marwaha, Executive MD, JLL India; K Ganesh, Serial entrepreneur and Founder, Growthstory; and Venkat K Narayana, CEO, Prestige Group. The founders conceptualized the solution and mobilized approx. 30 likeminded individuals in 5 cities all through WhatsApp. Adding further, K Ganesh, Serial Entrepreneur and Promoter bigbasket, Portea Medical, HomeLane, Freshmenu, HungerBox, Verloop.io, Bluestone, said, This is a time when all of us need to come together in our individual capacities and join hands to help those who need it the most. This pandemic is a collective crisis, more so for the daily wage workers who have been rendered without work and therefore meals. This is what prompted us to start KVN Foundation and through this fundraiser by bigbasket, we hope to reach out to more daily wage workers and provide them with nutritious meals. At a time like this, each contribution counts. I thank everyone who is doing their bit. Piyush Jain, Co-Founder and CEO, ImpactGuru.com, said, Pleased that our tech-for-good platform can play a role in driving bigbaskets initiatives for the well-being of the community. Such action-oriented collaborations can provide immediate support to the needy. We at ImpactGuru continue to work towards ensuring that lives are not impacted during this lockdown due to lack of funds. The meals are prepared in commercial kitchens, packed, and transported to specific locations where they are distributed while maintaining a safe social distance. The initiative by KVN Foundation has seen a strong response from industry leaders, endorsements from celebrities on social media and support from the municipal authorities of the cities they are serving. In its bid, the NBCC had proposed to complete over 20,000 pending flats in housing projects launched by Jaypee Infratech in Noida and Greater Noida (Uttar Pradesh). New Delhi: The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Wednesday asked state-owned-NBCC to implement its proposal to acquire debt ridden Jaypee Infratech and complete over 20,000 pending flats, but said the direction is subject to its final order. Jaypee Infratech IBC Case | NCLAT refuses to stay execution of NBCC resolution plan. NCLAT directs for implementation of resoln plan, subject to further orders. NCLAT allows Resolution Professional to proceed with constituting Interim Monitoring Committee for execution of plan pic.twitter.com/3aBC7AAr7Q CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) April 22, 2020 The NCLAT's direction came over an urgent petition moved by the NBCC, which won the bid to acquire Jaypee Infratech. The NBCC's resolution plan has already been approved by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), but appeals have been filed by the Jaypee Group as well as the NBCC. The appellate tribunal also directed Jaypee Infratech's Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) Anuj Jain to constitute an interim monitoring committee, comprising representatives of the NBCC and its three main lenders IDBI Bank, IIFCL and LIC. While hearing petition during the extended lockdown period, a two-member bench headed by NCLAT Acting Chairperson Justice BL Bhat said the IRP would be part of the interim monitoring committee and continue to be paid. Meanwhile, till further orders, the approved resolution plan may be implemented subject to outcome of this appeal, said the NCLAT. The IRP may constitute an interim monitoring committee comprising the successful resolution applicant, i.e., the appellant and the three major institutional financial creditors, who were Members of the ''committee of creditors," it said. The appellate tribunal issued notices to ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank and others directing them to file reply in two weeks and listed the matter on 15 May for the next hearing. List the matter for admission after notice on 15 May 2020, said the NCLAT. During the proceedings, counsel representing the IRP said that he also intends to file an appeal in regard to some observations made in paragraph 103 of the impugned order. The NBCC has challenged the modifications made by the NCLT in the original resolution plan submitted by it and as approved by the committee of creditors (CoC) of Jaypee Infratech Ltd (JIL). While approving the resolution plan of NBCC, the principal bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had allowed objections of ICICI Bank and Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority and directed payment to unclaimed Fixed Deposit Holders. According to NBCC, NCLT could not intercede the business decision of the CoC taken by the prescribed voting shares and has exceeded its jurisdiction in making such modifications. On 3 March, NCLT had approved NBCCs bid to acquire JIL through an insolvency process and complete around 20,000 pending flats over the next three and half years. In a surprise move, NCLT had also ordered that the Rs 750 crore deposited by Jaypee Infratech's parent firm Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL) with the registry of the Supreme Court would be part of the resolution plan saying that it will help NBCC in faster completion of stuck projects of Jaypee Group. Jaypee Infratech went into the insolvency process in August 2017 after the NCLT admitted an application by an IDBI Bank-led consortium. In December last year, a committee of creditors (CoC) comprising 13 banks and around 21,000 homebuyers approved the resolution plan of NBCC with 97.36 percent vote in favour. NBCC's proposal was approved by the lenders in the third round of bidding process to find a buyer for Jaypee Infratech. In its bid, the NBCC had proposed to complete over 20,000 pending flats in housing projects launched by Jaypee Infratech in Noida and Greater Noida (Uttar Pradesh). Homebuyers' claim amounting to Rs 13,364 crore and lenders'' claim worth Rs 9,783 crore were admitted. The NBCC offered 1,526 acres of land to lenders under a land-debt swap deal. On Yamuna Expressway, the NBCC proposed to transfer the road asset to lenders but before that it would take a loan of around Rs 2,500 crore against toll revenue to fund construction spend. After the CoC rejected the bids of Suraksha Realty and NBCC in the the second round held in May-June 2019, the matter reached to the NCLAT and then to the apex court. On 6 November 2019, the Supreme Court directed completion of Jaypee Infratech's insolvency process within 90 days and the revised resolution plan to be invited only from the NBCC and Suraksha Realty. On December 7, 2019, the CoC decided to put on vote the bids of both the NBCC and Suraksha Realty to acquire the bankrupt realty firm. The voting process started on December 10 and ended on 16 December. As many as 13 banks and over 21,000 homebuyers had voting rights in the CoC. Buyers had 57.66 percent voting rights, fixed deposit holders 0.13 percent and lenders 42.21 percent. For a bid to be approved, 66 percent votes were required. In the voting result, the NBCC got the entire 57.66 percent vote of homebuyers and 0.13 percent of fixed deposit holders. The public sector firm got 39.57 percent votes of lenders out of the total 42.21 percent votes. Suraksha managed to get only 2.12 percent votes as only fixed deposit holders and two lenders -- Axis Bank and Jammu and Kashmir Bank -- favoured it. A local chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees is alleging that the Veterans Benefits Administration won't share the agency's Continuity of Operation Plan with employees amid the coronavirus pandemic. Jim Rihel, president of AFGE Local 940, which represents 1,100 workers within the Philadelphia VBA office told FCW that 70% to 75% of VBA workers were telework-ready before the pandemic, but that workers have faced issues since the office has pivoted to allowing employees to work from home. "IT infrastructure has been causing problems," he said in an interview. "It's not designed to have as this many people operating at one time on its network. Although our workers are getting their work done, they're doing it under extreme stress. The network is forcing them to reboot several times a day. They're not being compensated for that time, and it's impacting their ability to meet their standards." The response from VBA leadership has been to stonewall the bargaining units, Rihel said, and the agency has refused to share its continuity of operation plan. "They've been instructed not to discuss this or any secondary issues behind it with the [union] locals." In response, Rihel filed an unfair labor practice charge against the VBA on April 21, for failure to provide information with regards to the COOP. "On March 23, 2020, the agency sent an email to employees stating that the directors were jointly activating the Continuity of Operation Plan (COOP) and shutting down the building. That same day the union requested the COOP," Rihel wrote in the complaint. "After two days of back and forth, [management] stated that the COOP was an internal agency document and therefore, would not be provided to the union. This is in direct violation of the [federal labor-relations] statute." Rihel alleges that VBA has refused to honor negotiations with the bargaining units and has only met with them once. A VA spokesperson told FCW that the Philadelphia VBA was following governmentwide guidelines to protect employees and maintain operations. "VBA's National Labor Partners were notified of VBAs national COVID-19 plans on March 24, 2020, and advised impact and implementation bargaining would occur post-implementation," the spokesperson said. "As part of COVID-19 planning and preparation, VA tested its enterprise-wide virtual private networks and gateways from March 11 through March 17, 2020. This testing had minimal impact on VAs claims processors, and employees who were impacted by the testing worked with their supervisor to mitigate any effect to the employees performance standards," the spokesperson said. Rihel said that because workers been forced to reboot their home duty stations so often and vie with large numbers of fellow workers on the same network, many have been trying to get their work done at any possible time. This has forced them to work through breaks, lunch time and even after hours, which can land them in trouble. Logging onto the network outside of their normal time of duty can earn them a reprimand, Rihel said. "The attitude from VBA has been 'deal with it, meet your standard or else,'" Rihel said. "They're having workers do everything they can to reach their standards. Otherwise they can fail their performance evaluations and risk termination." AFGE has clashed with VA management on the national stage since the coronavirus pandemic began. In March, the union filed a lawsuit demanding that the VA, Department of Agriculture, and Bureau of Prisons give its members hazard pay for being exposed to COVID-19 while on the job. AFGE's National VA Council also launched a petition to guarantee medical workers a bill of rights that included access to personal protective equipment and telework status for those who weren't required to report in person to work. Workers across New Mexico are applying for unemployment benefits in record numbers, including in Santa Fe County, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on local economies. From the start of March to April 11, 8,427 residents in Santa Fe County applied with the Department of Workforce Solutions for assistance, either because they were laid off or had their hours reduced. The number of claims increased from 53 in one week to more than 1,800 after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham declared a public health emergency March 11. Overall, Santa Fe Countys unemployment claims make up 9% of the state total. The statistics were presented at Mondays Santa Fe City Council meeting, where City Finance Director Mary McCoy said the large number of unemployed workers has contributed to a projected $46 million revenue shortfall for the city. One of the businesses forced to lay off workers is Saveur Bistro, a restaurant on Montezuma Avenue in Santa Fe. Dee Rusanowski co-owns the business with her husband and said revenues have taken a big hit since they shifted to takeout only. I would probably say 75%. Its gone down quite a bit, Rusanowski said Tuesday. While Saveur is not in danger of closing for good, Rusanowski said some employees have been laid off as their operations scale back. It breaks my heart, but sometimes we have to do it, she said. One of those employees was her sandwich maker, who had worked at her restaurant since it opened 17 years ago. After being laid off, he returned to Mexico to be closer to his family, she said. Food services and other tourism-related industries have been among the hardest hit. Revenue at hotels in Santa Fe in March declined by 45%, while ridership at the Santa Fe Regional Airport declined by more than 40%, McCoy said. Statewide, more than 92,000 people have filed for unemployment since the beginning of March, McCoy said. The highest number of claims in a single week was 27,854. During the Great Recession, the highest weekly total statewide was more than 3,000. SIUE College of Arts and Sciences Dean Kevin Leonard, PhD. I look forward to continuing my career at a doctoral university where I can support an institutional commitment to academic excellence Kevin Leonard, PhD, has been selected as the new dean of the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). Leonard will assume the role effective July 1, 2020 contingent upon SIU Board of Trustees approval. Leonard brings nearly a decades worth of administrative experience in strategic planning, the recruitment, hiring, mentoring and evaluation of faculty, program assessment and budget management. He most recently served as professor and chairperson in the Department of History at Middle Tennessee State University since 2017. Prior to that, he served as chair of the Department of History at Western Washington University from 2011-17. I want to thank the search committee chairs, Drs. Gillian Acheson and Jessica DeSpain, and the members of the committee who worked to build a strong and diverse pool for this important leadership position, said Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Denise Cobb, PhD. I am excited that Dr. Leonard will be joining the SIUE campus community. His commitment to a teacher-scholar model is apparent in his work as a faculty member and his efforts as a chair. I am enthusiastic about the careful and collaborative leadership style that he will bring in service of the College and the University. I look forward to working with Dr. Leonard in supporting the work of students, faculty and staff. The College of Arts and Sciences is critical to SIUE's success not only because of the excellent courses offered to students in all majors as part of a general education, but also because of the outstanding teaching and research occurring in specific CAS disciplines, added Chancellor Randy Pembrook. We enthusiastically welcome Dr. Leonard to SIUE and know he will provide outstanding leadership to our community, building on the record and accomplishments of our retiring CAS Dean Greg Budzban. I look forward to continuing my career at a doctoral university where I can support an institutional commitment to academic excellence, Leonard said. I am particularly impressed by SIUEs outstanding record of community service. Throughout my career, I have been a strong advocate for equity, inclusion and diversity, and I want to continue my work at a university that is committed to affordability and diversity. CAS has the potential to exert significant influence on the region, nation and world as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. Students, alumni, and faculty have the potential to work cooperatively with elected and appointed officials, public health experts, and private employers to shape the economic recovery, to prepare for future crises, and to prevent the spread of contagious disease. For many years, CAS graduates have gone on to change Southern Illinois, the United States and the world. I expect CAS to continue to graduate highly-prepared students whose knowledge, skills and creativity will serve them and their employers well. Leonards scholarly expertise focuses on twentieth-century U.S. history, history of the U.S. West, African American history and LGBTQ history. His current research involves race and the policing of gender identity and expression in the 1940s, and religious freedom in the Pacific Northwest in the 1920s. He authored the book The Battle for Los Angeles: Racial Ideology and World War II, and has an extensive publishing record including peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters and more. Leonards academic journey in higher education began as a lecturer in the California State University Hayward Department of History in 1993, before he served as a visiting assistant professor of history at the University of New Mexico later that year. Before joining the Western Washington faculty in 1997, he was an assistant professor in the Antioch College Department of History from 1994-97. Leonard earned both a masters and doctorate in history from the University of California, Davis. He received a bachelors in history from Pomona College in Claremont, Calif. Leonard succeeds Greg Budzban, PhD, who will step down from the Dean role on June 30. Budzban will remain at SIUE as a professor in the CAS Department of Mathematics and Statistics and will work to support SIUEs contributions in data analytics. Central to SIUEs exceptional and comprehensive education, the College of Arts and Sciences offers degree programs in the natural sciences, humanities, arts, social sciences and communications. The College touches the lives of all SIUE students helping them explore diverse ideas and experiences, while learning to think and live as fulfilled, productive members of the global community. Study abroad, service-learning, internships, and other experiential learning opportunities better prepare SIUE students not only to succeed in our region's workplaces, but also to become valuable leaders who make important contributions to our communities. Photo: SIUE College of Arts and Sciences Dean Kevin Leonard, PhD. Comedian, Francis Agoda aka I Go Dye, has said he will release his mansion, which he completed recently, to the Federal government of Nigeria so it can be used as an Isolation center. He revealed he is making the donation as part of his contribution to help the nation as we continue to battle the Coronavirus pandemic. The comedian says he is worried by the increasing number of COVID19 cases recorded each day and as such, is donating his mansion as his own contribution towards the efforts of the government to control, prevent, isolate and treat those diagnosed or to be treated in future. He also called on the Federal government to implement a two weeks total lockdown so as to curb the spread of the ravaging viral disease. He wrote IM DONATING MY NEW FAPOH ROYAL SEAL MANSION TO FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA TO USE IT AS AN ISOLATION CENTRE. Humanity will overcome all its challengens only if we are willing to let go of the things we are not using for now for the benifit of others. In view of the increasing cases of #coronavirus patients in Nigeria, and the few screening centres available for now, Im deeply worried. We will be making humanitarian sacrifices towards contributing our selfless deeds to control the escalating records of the #coronavirus as predicted by WHO. When I wrote an open letter to Mr President on the 5th of Apri 2020 on how we can control the spread of the convid-19, it was only 210 cases, today it moving towards a thousand. We should be proactive if we hope to win this global war,that has no boundaries,no discrimination and unfortunately indestructible for now. Against this backdrop, and the ongoing lock down, the few services left has been put on hold at the ongoing FAPOH Royal Seal Mansion project site. I feel convinced to donate this my new FAPOH Royal Seal Mansion to the Federal Government to used as an isolation centre, as my personal quest to assist in the control, prevention, isolation and treatment of those diagnosed or to be treated in the course of us finding a lasting solution. This donation will stand as a gift to humanity, till we find a solution which will once again set us free from the shackles of this incurable disease. I am appealing to Nigerians to take this matter seriously because Covid-19 is real as it has claimed over one million lives in all parts of the world. The hardship is really getting harder, it may jeopardize the progress of controlling the spread of the virus. The feldral government must provide adequate palliatives for all Nigerians, till this disease becomes a thing of the past. I also appeal for a two-week total lockdown to enable government treat existing cases and curb further spread by those who may have contracted the Covid-19. This lockdown will control all forms of movement and socialization between individuals or groups. May God see us through this dark moments. Amb Francis Agoda See some photos of the house below; The post Comedian, I Go Dye, donates his mansion to the Federal government to be used as an coronavirus Isolation center (photos) appeared first on . Share this post with your Friends on Impact Harrisburg, in partnership with the city, is going to start taking applications for a new grant program called the "Business Stabilization Program, aimed at financially assisting qualified small businesses within Harrisburg city limits that have been hit hard by the novel coronavirus pandemic. Many businesses have shut down or managed less foot traffic ever since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, as well as from Gov. Tom Wolfs stay-at-home order. The new grant program, which could have up to $1 million to allocate, is specifically for city licensed-neighborhood businesses. Impact Harrisburg and the city of Harrisburg would pitch in $500,000 each. Harrisburg City Council needs to still approve its portion. The point of the program is to financially support businesses that have recently reported under $1 million in annual gross revenue. There is a strong preference to fund minority and women-owned businesses, Impact Harrisburg Executive Director Sheila Dow Ford said during Tuesdays virtual city council work session. "No less than, meaning at least 50 percent of the grant funds, which is $500,000 awarded will be directed to businesses with annual gross revenue of $500,000 or below, she said. "So that means what we are doing is really making a directed outreach to those businesses in the community that are the smallest of the small. The application can be found on Impact Harrisburgs website starting Friday. It will also have a Spanish language application available, too, Dow Ford said. "For the mom and pop stores, if people cant file an online application, we will have a word document that they can fill out online and that they can mail in or they can upload, Dow Ford said. In order to be considered, businesses must have a demonstrated or projected reduction in monthly revenue of more than 25 percent as a result of COVID-19. Business owners also must show how they would use the funds to promote their business, as well as the grant program. "This is intended to provide emergency operating funds for neighborhood businesses that have closed or that have experienced reduced foot traffic, she said. Awarded businesses can use the money to pay for such things as rental or mortgage payments, utilities, payroll, real estate taxes, and outstanding vendor invoices. Recipients of grant funds will be notified on or around May 7. Harrisburg City Council members during a virtual legislative session Tuesday. Grants are good for up to $10,000. Nonprofits are eligible for the program, Dow Ford said. The program will be audited as it moves forward. "We want to see people get back to work at the right time and we want to do our share, she said. Questions asked by Harrisburg leaders centered around fairness, objectivity, and communication. President Wanda Williams wanted to know if a business didnt spend the money the way they said they would spend it, would they have to pay it back? "Yes, we let them know that upfront, Dow Ford said. There are several layers of metrics to ensure that those who receive the funds are the most qualified. Additionally, all written contracts will be binding. The contract will explain how business owners are going to spend the money, she explained. Dow Ford told city council members to talk it up to their constituents. "What the federal government did, it did not reach, theres a lot of chatter about that, it did not reach the businesses were trying to reach essentially, or it might have reached a small segment of the population were trying to reach, she said. "Were trying to reach a different demographic of the business strata and we want to do a good job of it. The citys Director of Economic Development said the intent of the grant program is something the city can get behind. When we support these businesses were also supporting families, were supporting our residents, were supporting our neighborhoods, and were supporting the local economy, Nona Watson said. And, as Sheila has stated, when we come out of this thing, we dont want to just rebound, we want to thrive. We want to make sure our businesses are OK, as well as our residents. Trumps 'suspension of immigration halts green cards, not temporary visas UPMC says feared coronavirus surge simply hasnt happened, will resume elective surgeries WTM Portfolio will launch a new online portal, WTM Global Hub, to connect and support travel industry professionals around the world. The resource hub will go live on April 23, offering the latest guidance and knowledge to help exhibitors, buyers and others in the travel industry face the challenges of the global coronavirus pandemic. WTM Portfolio the parent brand for WTM London, WTM Latin America, Arabian Travel Market, WTM Africa, Travel Forward and other key travel trade events is tapping into its global network of experts to create content for the hub. The platform will be regularly updated to deal with the evolving demands of the pandemic and to share ideas about preparing for recovery. Claude Blanc, WTM Portfolio director, said: We are living in an extraordinary time and the WTM team is committed to support the travel industry as it adapts to the unique challenges of coronavirus and prepares for recovery." Our annual events connect 110,000 industry professionals from 182 countries, offering unrivalled commercial opportunities and business insights. Weve always augmented our face-to-face events with valuable online resources throughout the year, and now were ramping up that support with WTM Global Hub. One of the highlights at the launch will be a webinar from Oxford Economics, which is a leader in global forecasting and quantitative analysis. It has predicted that the pandemic will mean that the global GDP will shrink by about 7 per cent in the first half of 2020 but there will be a rebound in H2. Global GDP looks set to fall by 2.8 per cent overall in 2020, with some permanent loss of output for the worlds economy, it forecasts. During the webinar, Oxford Economics will focus on the effects that Covid-19 is having on the travel and tourism industries around the globe. Attendees will be able to ask questions. A second webinar will feature Simon Calder, the well-known British travel journalist and broadcaster. A regular writer for British newspapers and a commentator about travel on TV, he has also appeared at WTM London to talk about destinations, trends and issues such as Brexit. The third webinar will feature Jeremy Jauncey, who has also presented at WTM London. The founder and chief executive of travel website Beautiful Destinations, Jauncey is an expert on social media and content creation. Content on the hub will also be translated into Spanish and Portuguese, as WTM Latin America will provide materials in those languages. The hub will feature seven sections: Virtual Events interactive webinars offering essential advice to help travel businesses cope with the current crisis and thrive in the future. Podcasts expert-led discussions with insights to guide you through these times. On-Demand a library of videos from industry speakers and professionals, offering information and inspiration. Blogs must-read articles with updates and trends from key industry professionals and experts. Responsible Tourism a core element of traditional WTM events, this section will be updated with reports from the responsible and sustainable travel sector. Travel Technology keep abreast of developments in this rapidly changing arena. Your Travel Community a place to share positive news from travel professionals about how they are supporting the industry and others around the world. Blanc said: Webinars, podcasts, videos, news and blogs from key industry figures will provide travel professionals with a wealth of information, advice and support to cope with the current crisis and plan ahead for a new normal. I am very pleased to announce our first three webinars will feature analysis from Oxford Economics, as well as expert comment from Simon Calder and Jeremy Jauncey, as they will help guide the industry through these tough times and into a post-coronavirus world." We will travel again and we will meet at WTM events in the future. Until that time comes, WTM Global Hub will keep you informed, inspired and connected. WTM Global Hub can be found at http://hub.wtm.com/. - TradeArabia News Service Pennridge to vote on one textbook; further review on other one Agra has once again seen a spurt in number of Covid-19 positive cases. One hundred fifty three cases were found in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday, taking the total number to 1,337 in the state. Sixty five of these were found in Agra. The total number of Covid-19 positive cases has now reached 306 in Agra. The number of positive cases continued to rise in the city despite the lockdown. The number of hotspots too has gone up to 62. More areas were barricaded to prevent movement in Agra. Similarly, the number of Covid-19 cases jumped from two to 35 in Rae Bareli, with several people testing positive after coming in contact with participants at a Tablighi Jamaat event, news agency PTI reported. The district reported 33 fresh cases in the last 24 hours and all the patients were admitted to the Kripalu Institute in Munshiganj, PTI quoted Chief Development Officer Abhishek Goyal as saying. Till Monday, the district had only two coronavirus patients, both of whom had attended the religious congregation in Delhi last month. The area where they lived was declared a containment zone and the people in the neighbourhood were quarantined, the officials said. Earlier, briefing reporters in Lucknow, Principal Secretary (Medical and Health) Amit Mohan Prasad said the containment exercise is going on in the state through surveillance, testing, lockdown, quarantine and treatment. He also said that pool-testing is being done. Pool-testing is also going on. It is usually done where chances of coronavirus cases are low such as areas outside the containment zones, said Prasad. Three Covid-19-related deaths were also reported, taking the toll due to the disease to 21 in the state. Six people have died in Agra, five in Moradabad, three in Meerut and one each in Basti, Varanasi, Firozabad, Bulandshahr, Kanpur, Aligarh and Lucknow. Sonos has been making speakers for years now, but its always been up to their owners to find audio to play on them. That hasnt exactly been a problem -- Sonos supports more than a hundred streaming services right now, and you could always play music from your personal library, as well. But today, the company is making its first foray into content with the launch of Sonos Radio. As the name implies, youll be able to listen to a ton of terrestrial radio stations, but Sonos is also jumping into original content for the first time by curating its own genre-based stations and artist-created channels. The biggest source of content provided by Sonos Radio is 60,000-plus radio stations from around the world. Those stations are powered by a deal with providers TuneIn and IHeartRadio, and Sonos says itll add more stations soon thanks to additional partnerships with Radio.com in the US and UK-based service Global. Sonos has offered TuneIn and IHeartRadio as streaming options for a while now, but it seems like this new service will make that experience more robust by aggregating stations from across the multiple services it has deals with. While a new way to listen to terrestrial radio isnt terribly exciting, Sonos says that radio makes up close to half of all streaming hours it sees across its products. But more interesting to those of us who swore off FM radio years ago will be the original content and curated stations Sonos is putting together. The flagship property is called Sonos Sound System, and it sounds like itll be similar to Apples Beats 1 -- a singular entry point to the experience. Sound System is ad-free, and one thing Sonos is doing to set it apart is guest-hosted radio hours. The first few participants include Angel Olsen, JPEGMAFIA, Phoebe Bridgers, Jeff Parker of Tortoise and Vagabon. Those hour-long programs are released every Wednesday, and the first thing you hear when tuning in to Sound System will be the most recent artist hour. After that, youll catch up to the live, ongoing stream. Story continues Sonos is also partnering with big-name musicians with its ad-free artist stations, the first of which is named In the absence thereof and curated by Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke. He described the station as a rolling set of music that fascinates or moves me, what obsesses me, challenges me, opens new doors, reminds me of what I might have forgotten, is insanely complex or elegantly simple, violent, funny, messy, heavy or light. Whatever has hit me over the head basically. Its not a live station but an ongoing and regularly updated stream that contains hundreds of songs. In addition to Yorkes station, Sonos says itll launch offerings from Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes, David Byrne and Third Man Records over the next few weeks. Sonos Radio The last component of Sonos Radio is pretty standard fare for most streaming services these days: a selection of 30 genre-based stations, with names like Indie Gold, Hip-hop Archive, Kids Rock, Concert Hall and so on. These stations are also ad-supported, and Sonos sees them as a way to get people to broader, perhaps more familiar music quickly. By comparison, it looks at Sound System and artist-curated stations as more of a discovery vehicle. But in all cases, the company stressed that it wants its original content and stations to sound a little different than what you might be expecting. Ryan Taylor, who is the GM for Sonos Radio, told me that the company wants its listeners to come to the service with big ears, looking for something new rather than the traditional. And for people who arent into the big ears mentality, there are plenty of traditional radio stations on the service, too. Whether or not Sonos original content can differentiate itself from the wealth of similar content found across so many other services remains to be seen, but as of today you can give it a shot in the Sonos app. There is one notable catch: Sonos Radio can only be listened to on Sonos hardware, which means there is no way to take the service away from your home, and the company didnt have any plans yet for a way to get it elsewhere. So just know before you get hooked on Thom Yorkes stylings, youll only be able to hear it on your Sonos setup. Students from Madhya Pradesh stuck in Rajasthan's Kota since the imposition of the coronavirus lockdown started leaving for their homes on Wednesday. The Madhya Pradesh government had sent at least 143 buses to bring them back on Tuesday night. Till 4 pm, at least 90 buses had left for Madhya Pradesh, ADM (Admin) Narendra Gupta said, adding that over 4,000 students from the state were stuck in Kota. He said to maintain social distancing norms, less than 30 students were allowed to board a bus. Before the departure, buses were thoroughly sanitised and every student was properly screened, he said. According to officials, nearly 450 students from Gujarat and around 100 from Diu are also scheduled to leave by Wednesday night. The Gujarat government had sent at least 15 buses, which arrived on Tuesday night. Three buses were sent by the Diu administration. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) We must first take care of the American worker, President Trump said, insisting that newly jobless citizens should not have to compete with foreigners when the economy reopens. Rights groups say the immigration process has become increasingly complex and frustrating in recent years, with Mr. Trump fanning the flames of anti-immigrant sentiment by pushing for an extensive wall along the Mexican border and labeling a group of African nations shithole countries. For Indian citizens, building a more permanent base in the country was never easy. Most of the 800,000 immigrants currently waiting for a green card are Indian citizens. Because of quotas that limit the number of workers from each country, Indians can expect to wait up to 50 years for a green card since their representation among immigrants is so high in the United States. Last summer, the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act, which sought to address the backlog by eliminating country quotas, sailed through the House. But it stalled in the Senate, where critics like Senator Dick Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, argued that the bill would not solve the problem because it does not increase the overall number of green cards. Many Indian citizens said the back-and-forth was exhausting. I likely wont receive a green card in this lifetime unless the laws change, said Somak Goswami, an electrical engineer who applied for a green card in 2011. I have colleagues who came to the U.S. in 2017 and have a green card already. My only fault was I was born in India. Analysts said immigration restrictions could strain the delicate but increasingly amicable relationship between India and the United States, the worlds most populous democracies. Fifteen Islamic leaders who contravened the governments lockdown order issued by Governor Abdullahi Ganduje have been arrested by the Kano State police command. It will be recalled the Governor issued the lockdown order in the state as part of efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus infection in the state. However, Naija News gathered the Imams reportedly led Jumaat prayers in violation of the state governments order meant for public safety and were arrested at Kano Municipal, Garko, Gwale, Karaye and Tarauni local government areas of the state. Kano Police Spokesperson, Abdullahi Haruna who confirmed the arrests said the suspects were apprehended by members of Kano State Hisbah Board who transferred the case to the police for thorough investigation and prosecution. He said they have confessed to the crimes and would soon be charged to court. Haruna said; The suspects were arrested for defying the lockdown order by leading Friday congregational prayers in their respective localities. You must note that the decision for the lockdown was reached in consultation with the religious leaders in the state but these people, most of whom are not Imams, out of defiance, went ahead to organise and lead the prayer. Share this post with your Friends on Some of Australias biggest music stars including Delta Goodrem, Jimmy Barnes, Paul Kelly, Missy Higgins and The Wiggles will perform from their own homes in an Australian music special dedicated to the frontline workers against the COVID-19 pandemic. Also appearing are Ben Lee, Birds Of Tokyo with West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Courtney Barnett, G Flip, Ian Moss, Kevin Parker (Tame Impala), The Rubens, Vance Joy and Vika & Linda Bull. More artists as well as hosts for the show will be announced for the special this Saturday on Nine. Set up by Michael Gudinski with some help from Jimmy Barnes, Music From The Home Front is a described as a big thank you to these workers, and is especially poignant on what is a sacred day for Australians. For those who have fought under our flags and those who serve on the frontline in the fight against Covid-19, we salute you on this very different ANZAC Day. The event, which will not contain a fundraising element, will also feature celebrities expressing their gratitude. Adrian Swift, Nines Head of Content Production and Development said: Music From The Home Front is a salute from Australia and New Zealands music communities to everyone serving our nations under lockdown. From the military this ANZAC Day to all those on the frontline fighting COVID-19 and those working to keep food delivered, shelves stacked and streets cleaned. And its an opportunity for everyone watching to say thanks too just by texting us as we go to air this very different ANZAC Day. Michael Gudinski, CEO of Frontier Touring and Chairman of the Mushroom Group said: Throughout history music has helped people through times of hardship. Music From The Home Front is about uniting Australian and New Zealanders through the power of music in a time that we all need a bit of hope and happiness. Saturday, April 25 from 7.30pm on Nine. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam replaced five senior officials, including the minister overseeing ties with Beijing, in the biggest Cabinet reshuffle since hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets demanding her resignation. Lam named Immigration Director Erick Tsang to replace Patrick Nip as Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs and appointed Nip to lead the Civil Service Bureau -- two agencies at the center of Beijing's demands for greater political loyalty from the former British colony. The heads of the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau, the Innovation and Technology Bureau and Home Affairs Bureau were also replaced. Lam told a news conference to discuss the moves Wednesday that she hoped the changes would help lay the ground for the financial center's recovery from a year of protest and pandemic. She left unchanged more high-profile positions such as chief secretary and the finance and justice ministers. "This reshuffle is aimed at taking us forward," Lam said. The appointments were announced earlier by China's official Xinhua News Agency, which said that the State Council had approved the nominations, as required for all top positions in Hong Kong. The move comes as the city tackles a second wave of coronavirus cases while trying to soften the pandemic's blow to the economy. Hong Kong has also been battered into recession by the U.S.-China trade war and months of historically large and often violent protests that erupted in opposition to Lam's effort to allow the transfer of criminal suspects to the mainland. While Lam has said her government deserves the blame for the "entire unrest," Chinese President Xi Jinping has continued to back her and she has refused calls to resign. Lam's approval has risen from historic lows in part due to her early success in managing the coronavirus outbreak, with 18% supporting her in a Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute survey released Tuesday, compared with 9.1% in February. The reshuffle follows Xi's own shakeup of the agencies who oversee Hong Kong, which was guaranteed a "high degree of autonomy" after its return to Chinese rule in 1997. Luo Huining, a cadre known for executing Xi's anti-corruption campaign, was made head of the Liaison Office in Hong Kong, while Xia Baolong, who oversaw a crackdown on Christian churches several years ago in Zhejiang province, was named director of the overarching Hong Kong & Macau Affairs Office. The appointments will likely do little to assuage public opposition. Police over the weekend arrested more than a dozen prominent pro-democracy activists, while Beijing's agencies in Hong Kong are waging a war of words against the city's opposition lawmakers over filibustering in the Legislative Council. Nip, the incoming civil services chief, apologized earlier this week for causing "confusion" and "misunderstanding" with a series of contradictory news releases from the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau attempting to explain a claim by China's Liaison Office that it has the authority to supervise Hong Kong's local affairs. His replacement, Tsang, meanwhile, received fresh scrutiny for giving a recent interview with a portrait of Xi over his shoulder. Under Tsang's watch, the immigration department in 2018 denied a visa renewal for Financial Times journalist Victor Mallet after he hosted an event at the Foreign Correspondents' Club featuring the founder of a banned pro-independence party. More recently, Hong Kong barred entry by Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth weeks after the Chinese Foreign Ministry threatened unspecified sanctions against the group. The Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau is responsible for overseeing a legislative election in September that could give the pro-democracy opposition a stronger platform to block initiatives backed by Beijing. The Communist Party's Central Committee last year also signaled a greater focus on Hong Kong's civil service, urging more measures to teach "patriotism" to public officials. Lam said Wednesday that the reshuffle was "completely and entirely unrelated" to recent events. She deflected a question about the Xi portrait, saying Tsang was chosen because of his capabilities. XI'AN, China, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On April 10, a special video conference took place in the ancient city of Xi'an in northwest China, according to Xi'an Municipal Government. An expert team comprised of professors from the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University shared experiences of COVID-19 prevention and control with medical experts from 13 countries, including Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Pakistan. Prior to this, the team that provided medical assistance to Wuhan had already shared experiences and insights with medical workers in Italy, Australia, the United States and several other countries. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, China has implemented comprehensive and stringent prvention and control measures. During the critical period when China was fighting the epidemic at its peak, more than 60 international sister cities, international organizations and other international collaborators offered whatever support they could to the people of Xi'an and donated epidemic prevention supplies such as medical masks and protective clothing. After so much hard work, China has made phased achievements in containing the outbreak, and the ancient capital of Xi'an is reviving its prosperity. Due to the current rapid spread of COVID-19 across the globe, some countries in Europe and Asia are having a hard time fighting the disease. In a sign of solidarity and in reciprocation of help when needed, the Xi'an Municipal Government immediately coordinated assistance for its international sister cities in a variety of ways. The Municipal authorities provided the first batch of medical and anti-epidemic supplies to seven sister cities in four countries, namely Italy, Iran, South Korea and The Philippines. On March 20, donated supplies including medical masks, protective clothing, medical gloves, and disinfection and sterilization supplies worth more than 3 million RMB were collected from the Xi'an Xianyang International Airport and sent to Pompeii and Veneto in Italy, Isfahan in Iran, Gyeongju and Jinju in South Korea, and Ilijan in The Philippines. After the arrival of the first batch of these supplies, the recipient sister cities expressed their gratitude to the people of Xi'an. So as to maintain effective and ongoing epidemic prevention and the orderly resumption of production, Xi'an went all out to provide a second round of assistance and donated supplies to more than 30 international sister cities. On April 13, a batch of supplies worth about 1.9 million RMB was collected for distribution to more than 10 cities in a number of countries, namely France, Switzerland, Germany, Malaysia, Colombia and Nepal, and these supplies will arrive at the destinations very soon. As a next step, Xi'an will collect and distribute more donated supplies to other cities, and the city authorities also plan to send supplies to its international expert consultants. SOURCE Xi'an Municipal Government Is your debit/credit card expiring during the lockdown? Here are the options India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Apr 22: The extended lockdown owing to the coronavirus pandemic has dented almost every sector in the country. One big challenge for the banks now is to issue credit and debit cards that would expire now. With courier services not functioning due to the lockdown, it would not be possible for banks to send debit and credit cards to its customers. The courier service is not being allowed to function by the local authorities despite the Centre mandating a restart post-April 20. Shops for educational books, electric fans, prepaid mobile phone recharge allowed during lockdown At an average, nearly 50 lakh cards come up for renewal every month. Going by the data of the RBI, the banking industry added 1.7 lakh credit cards and 1.13 crore debit cards in April 2015. There would be 90 lakh cards coming up for renewal this month, even if 80 per cent of them have a 5 year validity period. For the banks, it would be impossible to courier the cards now, given the existing circumstances. The situation in May too would be no different as 60 lakh cards had been added in May 2015. The question now is what will the customer do the card expires. The customer would not get a new card owing to the lockdown. The banks have an option of extending the validity period the cards, but it is a tedious process. Banks would need to do segregation according to the customers. Following this, it would have to be processed both at the bank's end and also get the merchant systems updated. The other option is cashless withdraws and virtual cards. There are very few banks that have a cashless withdrawal facility. The other option, but with constraints is the virtual card. With virtual cards, one can make an e-transaction, but cannot withdraw cash. The only other option for customers now is to go to banks and withdraw cash. (Bloomberg) -- Reports of his imminent demise may prove to be exaggerated, but North Koreas young leader has clearly had a major health scare.Whatever is going on inside the reclusive nation could have massive implications for the region and the U.S. because Kim Jong Un is the dynastic dictator of a very fragile nation that has nuclear arms.No one knows how badly the coronavirus may have ravaged North Koreas already cratered economy. And now U.S. officials say theyve been told that Kim in his mid 30s, a smoker and overweight underwent cardiovascular surgery last week, with one saying he took a turn for the worse afterward. Some reports say hes still critically ill, though South Koreas presidential office said Kim is conducting normal activities in a rural part of the country. Kim has consolidated power since he took over in late 2011 when his father died. Hes shown a merciless streak, having his uncle and senior military officers killed. His half-brother was assassinated in 2017 at an airport in Malaysia with a nerve agent.While he may have taken out potential rivals, if he were to die its hard to know who would replace him. His sister has taken on a more prominent role, though no woman has ever ruled North Korea.Would a new leader keep lines of communication open to ally China, to the U.S.? Would they restart long-range missile tests to stamp their authority? Nuclear tests?Kim is, for better or worse, something of a known quantity. His demise would push the country into unchartered waters. Global Headlines Topsy-turvy | The oil market faced its worst crisis in a generation yesterday, with prices falling below zero and traders willing to pay $40 a barrel to get someone to take it off their hands. As Javier Blas and Will Kennedy explain, the most important global commodity is quickly losing all value as chronic oversupply overwhelms the worlds crude tanks, pipelines and supertankers. The plunge was related to the expiry of a West Texas Intermediate futures contract, with Brent still positive. But it also reflects a crisis in the market despite the OPEC+ deal to cut 10% of global output, and will hit economies already grappling with the coronavirus. Story continues Closing borders | President Donald Trump said hell sign an executive order temporarily suspending immigration into the U.S. to contain the coronavirus. He didnt specify a time frame or who would be affected but tweeted that he made the decision in light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens. Congressional leaders are on the brink of a deal for fresh relief for small businesses. The House will vote this week on letting members cast future votes by proxy for colleagues who dont travel to Washington due to virus-related concerns. Lost love | When Covid-19 struck, Italians expected Europe to come to their aid. Instead, Germany and France hoarded protective gear and Christine Lagarde at the European Central Bank brushed off their financial distress. As a result, John Follain and Alessandra Migliaccio report, senior figures in Rome talk of unprecedented public anger toward the European Union as thousands die each week and the economy implodes. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said Italy will present a plan this week to gradually ease its lockdown from May 4. Ruinous times | Small business owners the world over are being slammed by the maelstrom wrought by the coronavirus, but in Africa theyre particularly vulnerable because the poorest continent is worst equipped to get aid to those who need it most. The fallout could place a third of the 300 million informal jobs in Africa at risk, while between 9 million and 18 million formal jobs could be lost, according to McKinsey & Co. Food fight | The virus has done more than disrupt supply chains, its restarted a discussion about food self-sufficiency tinged with nationalism. Caroline Alexander and Agnieszka de Sousa report that at least 10 countries have introduced curbs on overseas sales of grains or rice since mid-March, and while many of those actions might not stick, that such threats were made at all serves as a wake-up call to governments. What to Watch The U.K. Parliament reopens today with the first order of business a plan for a virtual House of Commons that complies with social distancing rules. Democratic contender Joe Biden raised $46.7 million in March, his best monthly haul of the presidential campaign, even though the pandemic shut down large swathes of the U.S. and prevented in-person fundraising. Not long ago, Singapore was a global standard bearer for taming the virus outbreak now its home to Southeast Asias largest number of infections and is racing to regain control, with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong today extending the partial lockdown until June 1. Tell us how were doing or what were missing at balancepower@bloomberg.net.And finally ... A conservative religious groups gatherings have spawned virus hotspots in Malaysia, India and now Pakistan. The Muslim missionary sect, Tabligh-e-Jamaat, hosted events in Kuala Lumpur, Lahore and New Delhi attended by tens of thousands of followers. Since then, Faseeh Mangi reports, more than 8,500 have tested positive. Theyre not alone. Religious groups have been linked to clusters around the world, from a church in South Korea to ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities in New York and Israel. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. Harvard prof. calls for ban on homeschooling, responses emerge Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A Harvard Law School professor is calling for a presumptive ban on homeschooling, arguing that it poses harmful risks to children. In an article titled "The Risks of Homeschooling" featured in the latest edition of Harvard magazine, Harvard Law School professor Elizabeth Bartholet stressed in an interview that children have a right to a "meaningful education" and that the state is obligated to intervene to protect them from abuse, which is sometimes interwoven within homeschool environments. Bartholet is also the faculty director of the Law Schools Child Advocacy Program. Bartholet cites as an example of this abuse the case of Tara Westover, whose story is captured in a memoir called Educated and recounts how she was raised by survivalists in Idaho and was never sent to a school and received no formal education, despite learning how to read. Westover spent her youth working in her father's scrap business where bodily injuries were common and her older brother abused her. Under the current legal regime in most of the United States, Bartholet says, this is what can happen. She does not believe Westover's case is an outlier. "The issue is, do we think that parents should have 24/7, essentially authoritarian control over their children from ages zero to 18?" the professor inquires. "I think thats dangerous. I think its always dangerous to put powerful people in charge of the powerless, and to give the powerful ones total authority. Requiring children to attend schools outside of the home for several hours each day, she maintains, does not significantly undermine parental influence on a childs views and ideas. The article notes that many Americans possibly as many as 90 percent by some estimates who opt for homeschool are driven by traditional Christian beliefs and a desire to remove their kids from mainstream culture. In an email to The Christian Post Monday, Katy Faust, founder of the children's rights organization Them Before Us, noted that the Bartholet interview poses a question not only about homeschool versus public school, but a much more fundamental question, specifically To whom do children belong? "By arguing parents should have to 'prove their case' if they want to 'opt out of schools,' Bartholets answer to that question is clearly, 'children don't belong to parents, they belong to the State,'" Faust explained. But the reverse is true, she continued, because it supports the child's fundamental right to be known and loved by the two people responsible for their existence. "Its also in a childs best interest to belong to the adults who are the most connected to and protective of them their own parents. In addition, unlike teachers and school administrators, parents are the most permanent adults in a childs life. They dont cease to be connected to children when striking over contracts, transferring districts, when they retire or when a child moves from fourth to fifth grade. The permanent nature of the parent-child relationship means parents are the adults most invested in childrens long-term success. Thats why parents, not the government, are the primary educators of their children," she said. "Thus, its the schools which must 'prove their case' to parents if they want to 'opt in' to educating our children. Children dont belong to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. They belong to us, their parents. "That out of touch elites fail to grasp these simple, self-evident truths should make us even more weary to trust them with control over our childrens education." Bartholet will be speaking at a summit in June featuring a slate of speakers, all of whom are reportedly steadfastly opposed to homeschooling, according to the Home School Legal Defense Association. The image featured alongside the recent article is a house that has prison bars over a window with a young girl trapped inside while other children play outside. The structure of the prison-like homeschool in the image is comprised of books, one of which is the Bible. Bartholet elaborates in the interview that some of these parents are "extreme religious ideologues" who question science and are in favor of white supremacy and female subservience. From the beginning of compulsory education in this country, we have thought of the government as having some right to educate children so that they become active, productive participants in the larger society, Bartholet said. But its also important that children grow up exposed to community values, social values, democratic values, ideas about nondiscrimination and tolerance of other peoples viewpoints. The Harvard magazine article comes amid the worldwide coronavirus pandemic where school systems have closed to prevent further spread of the disease. As a result of the shutdown, kids are being educated at home and some have speculated that homeschooling will increase after the pandemic ends. The article has inspired notable responses criticizing its underlying philosophy on forums like Medium and Facebook from accomplished Harvard graduates, who were themselves homeschooled and defended their upbringings. In a Monday episode of his broadcast called The Briefing, Al Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, commented on the Harvard magazine piece, noting the ideological aims of the Common School Movement in the United States, particularly under the influence of figures such as John Dewey in the early 20th century. That movement came as an effort to at least partly, Dewey argued, remove children from the religious and sectarian prejudices of their parents by putting them in a common school that would develop a common culture, Mohler explained. Dewey was one of the founders of the American Humanist Association. "The schools would become a socializing agent and of course there was an ideological component to this as well," he continued. "[T]hose who have been trying to bring about an absolute revolution in Western societies have found that it is the indomitable strength of the natural family that is the greatest obstacle. And if you're trying to reshape society, you have to aim yourself at the young. You want to gain as much time and influence amongst the young as possible and thus you can see why those who've been trying to push for a more, they would style it, progressivist agenda in the United States have seen the public schools as the great ally and you'll understand why they've been so successful in reshaping the public schools into incubators for this kind of ideological experiment." Mohler believes that the ideological aims of Bartholet and her like-minded compatriots to restrict and undermine homeschooling will eventually be extended to distinctly Christian schools in pursuit of an elite-defined secularist utopian vision. "We need to understand that in this context, the modern American context, it is going to take all of our conviction to keep Christian schools Christian, any of them," he said. Petoskey High School closed for in-person classes until at least Jan. 17 There was no school for high school students on Wednesday, while virtual classes will take place on Thursday, Jan. 13, and Friday, Jan. 14. As the coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc throughout the world, more than 100 NHS and care home workers are confirmed to have died after contracting coronavirus while working on the front lines to treat patients. Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said that 82 health workers and 16 care workers have died from Covid-19. However, this number is expected to be much higher. These are the names and tributes paid to the NHS workers known to have died of coronavirus. Anujkumar Kuttikkottu Pavithran A nurse who had worked with the NHS for nine years, Mr Pavithran died on 27 April. His death was confirmed by the United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust. In a statement, trust chief executive Andrew Morgan said he was deeply saddened to share news of his colleague's death. The statement added: "Anujkumar Kuttikkottu Pavithran, known as Kumar to his colleagues, was a staff nurse at Pilgrim Hospital, Boston. He was a very well-liked, professional, respected member of the team and will be greatly missed. "We are all sending our heartfelt condolences to Kumar's family, friends and colleagues at this incredibly difficult time." Janice Glassey (PA (PA) Ms Glassey, 66, was a "much-loved" healthcare assistant who worked in the out-of-hours district nursing service for Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust in Halton, Cheshire She died on 24 April. Chief executive of the trust Colin Scales said: "I am extremely saddened to confirm that our colleague Janice Glassey tragically passed away on April 24 after testing positive for coronavirus. "Janice was 66 and was a healthcare assistant in our out-of-hours district nursing service, where she had worked for 14 years, providing care and compassion to many Halton patients and families. "She was a much-loved and valued colleague and friend. On behalf of everyone at Bridgewater, I would like to offer our sincere condolences to Janice's family, friends and loved ones at this most difficult time." Fiona Anderson (South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Trust (South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Trust) A "devoted" community nurse who died on Sunday after testing positive for coronavirus, Ms Anderson has been described fondly as "a little bag of crazy" by her sister. Sarah Anderson told ITV News her sister was admitted to hospital on the same day as their father. She said: "Dad improved; Fiona didn't." Ms Anderson, 48, loved her three Chihuahuas, was "scarily intelligent" and a big fan of Brussels sprouts and mushy peas. South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust (STSFT) announced Ms Anderson's death on Tuesday "with immense sadness and a very heavy heart". Andy Costa Mr Costa was one of the longest-serving members of staff at a mental health centre in London. He died on 9 April after contracting coronavirus. He devoted 26 years to the NHS, most recently working as a ward administrator at Highgate Mental Health Centre in north London. A spokeswoman for the trust said: "Andy was a highly respected, conscientious and long-serving colleague who had worked at Highgate Mental Health Centre since it opened 15 years ago." Eileen Landers (PA (PA) Ms Landers was a hospital cleaner with a "heart of gold". She died after contracting Covid-19 on April 26 at Queen's Hospital in Burton-upon-Trent, where she had worked for the past 16 years. Jodon Gait The 46-year-old had symptoms of Covid-19 before dying at home on April 25. He had been working for just over 12 months in the medical short stay unit at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, where he was described as "a dedicated, passionate, caring colleague". "Colleagues who worked most closely with him describe Jodon as a dedicated, passionate, caring colleague; a quirky character who always put patients at the centre of everything he did, delivering fantastic quality of care to his patients and who had a great sense of humour who will be massively missed by all of the team," said Matthew Hopkins, the trust's chief executive. Larni Zuniga (PA (PA) Mr Zuniga received his British citizenship in February after arriving in the UK from the Philippines 12 years ago. He died on 24 April aged 54 at St Thomas' Hospital in central London. He worked in the Surrey Hills care home in Godalming. A fundraising page set up by his close friend Arnold Barrientos said: "Larni had absolutely sacrificed a lot for his family. He worked hard and he battled hard times of not seeing his family just to ensure comfortable life for them. "He influenced a lot of people with his godly counselling and loving, warm personality. He had so many unfulfilled dreams concerning his family due to this early demise but with the little we can give at least would help to alleviate some of their concerns." Dr Vishna Rasiah (PA (PA) A consultant neonatologist who worked as a "clinical lead" at Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust, Dr Rasiah died after contracting coronavirus, the trust announced on 24 April. Dr Rasiah was from Malaysia. His wife Liza said: "Were devastated at losing our beloved Vish. He was such a loving husband and father to our beautiful daughter Katelyn, and much loved son and brother to our family in Malaysia and Trinidad. "His whole family meant the world to him, and he absolutely doted on Katelyn. Vish loved his work; to him it was so much more than a job and his colleagues are part of our family too. He treated every patient and family he cared for as his own; I couldnt have been prouder of him." Sharon Scanlon (PA (PA) A "dedicated, hard-working" care worker, Ms Scanlon was a member of Powys County Council's adult social care team in Mid Wales for four years. She died of suspected Covid-19 on 23 April. The 58-year-old was from Brecon, and had two grown-up children and a granddaughter. Corporate Director for Social Care, Ali Bulman said: "We are devastated to have lost a member of the Powys family. We will always remember Sharon as a dedicated, hard-working member of our team who was proud to support the people she worked with. "First and foremost, we want to extend our deepest condolences to her family and friends." Mahadaye Jagroop Also known as Mary, Ms Jagroop worked as a nurse at Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham, where she died after contracting Covid-19 on 22 April. "Mary was a respected and loved member of our team and touched the lives of many in her distinguished career as a nurse," said Lisa Stalley-Green, chief nurse at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust. Katy and Emma Davis Twin sisters Katy Davis (left) and Emma Davis lived together and had worked as nurses at the same hospital (PA) Katy and Emma were twins who died within days of each other after testing positive for the virus. Katy worked in child health and was described by her colleagues as "a nurse people would aspire to be like". Her death on 21 April was confirmed by The University of Southampton. They died at Southampton General Hospital after testing positive for the virus. Both sisters suffered from underlying health conditions and had been unwell for some time before contracting Covid-19. Melonie Mitchell A 111 worker, Ms Mitchell's death was confirmed by the London Ambulance Service, where she worked. Chief executive Garrett Emmerson said she "will be greatly missed". Medhat Atalla (PA (PA) The "hugely popular and respected" Dr Atalla died following treatment for coronavirus at Doncaster Royal Infirmary (DRI), where he worked as a consultant geriatrician, the hospital said. He moved to Britain from Egypt about 20 years ago and his colleagues said he cared for elderly people on three continents, including across the north of England. On Monday, hospital staff held a clap for Dr Atalla across three hospital sites in tribute. Dr Tim Noble, Medical Director at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals, said: We are all deeply saddened by the loss of Dr Atalla. "He was a great colleague and a special person who cared for patients in our Trust and over three continents in a career which spanned four decades. "As a whole team, we will observe a minutes long round of applause today to show our appreciation for a wonderful colleague who made such a difference to the lives of so many patients," he added. Angie Cunningham Angie Cunningham provided "amazing care" as a nurse for 30 years before she died at Borders General Hospital, where she worked, on April 22. In a joint statement with NHS Borders Trust chief executive Ralph Roberts, Ms Cunningham's family said: "Angie was a much-loved wife, mother, sister, granny and great granny, as well as a friend to many more." "It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our dear family member and colleague Angie Cunningham on Wednesday from Covid-19 in the Intensive Care Unit at the Borders General Hospital," said the trust. Angie was a much-loved wife, mother, sister, granny and great granny, as well as a friend to many more." Ian Reynolds (PA (PA) The 53-year-old had worked as a paramedic for more than 30 years, and for the last eight had been working as a member of the Selhurst Park pitch-side medical team. Crystal Palace Football Club paid tribute to him and said he was a "much-loved colleague" and friend. His colleague Amir Pakravan said: "As a person, he was the best friend you could wish for, always smiling, calm and easy going, and an avid Palace fan. As a colleague, he was extremely professional, reliable, approachable, highly experienced and knowledgeable, and always ready to help. "He was the complete package and an absolute joy to work with." Ann Shepherd (Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust) 80-year-old Ms Shepherd worked at the Moir Medical Centre in Long Eaton, Derbyshire, for 26 years. She died in hospital earlier this week, the Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said. She had underlying health conditions before contracting coronavirus. Ifti Majid, Chief Executive of Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said: Ann was a wonderful colleague, held in very high esteem by all she worked with. She was truly devoted to her work and her patients and was inspirational in her field. She was also a phenomenal character, full of colour and sparkle." Sharon Bamford Described as a "warm" and "caring" healthcare assistant, Ms Bamford worked on the haematology/oncology ward at Singleton Hospital in Swansea. Her death on April 21 follows that of her husband Malcolm, who also died after contracting Covid-19. Their son, Christian, was admitted to hospital with the virus but has since been discharged. Jan Worthing, director of Singleton Hospital, said: Sharon was highly thought of by all the patients who have used the services and loved by her colleagues and friends within the team. Sharons sad death will leave a massive void within the team and within the Singleton family. Our thoughts and condolences are obviously with their sons Craig and Chris at this devastating time, with the loss of both Sharon and Malcolm. We offer our most sincere condolences to Sharons family, friends and colleagues at this extremely sad time. Charlie Goodwin (PA (PA) An ambulance worker for two decades, Mr Goodwin was described as "an enormously respected member" of the first4care ambulance service in Nottinghamshire. He spent 11 days in intensive care with Covid-19 before he died on April 20. His wife Julie told Nottinghamshire Live: "He went in with breathing difficulties, he could not talk or stand up. The next thing I know he is on a ventilator. "We could not go to hospital and I could not go with him to hospital and we cannot even go and see him in the chapel of rest. We can only have 15 people at his funeral. "It has been really hard. It's terrible. But I've got a really good family and good friends. I just want to tell people to stay in and stop being stupid." Dr Yusuf Patel (PA (PA) Dr Patel, 61, founded the Woodgrange Medical Practice in Newham, east London. He worked there as a GP for over two decades before he died with coronavirus symptoms on April 20. His colleagues remember him as a "simple, humble and honest man" who was "the life and soul of any party". The practice said in a notice on its website: "This is a tragic loss to all his family, friends, colleagues and patients. The pain is immeasurable. He has touched and enriched many lives and we miss him dearly." Grant Maganga (PA (PA) A mental health nurse who most recently worked at Hurst Place in Ashton-under-Lyne, Manchester, Mr Maganga died on 20 April at Tameside hospital. He worked for the NHS for 11 years, most recently in a rehabilitation unit for men with severe mental llness and complex needs. "Grant was an exceptional nurse who cared deeply for his patients and lit up the room with his infectious smile and positive personality," said Clare Parker, director of nursing at Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Mr Maganga's unit. The trust held a minute's silence for Mr Maganga on Tuesday and thanked those who joined them on Facebook. Kirsty Jones (PA (PA) Ms Jones was a healthcare support worker and a loving mother-of-two. She died on 27 April after working for 24 years with NHS Lanarkshire, where she was described as a "selfless and bright" employee. Her husband, Nigel, said: "She was a wonderful wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend and nurse... A void has opened in our hearts that will never be filled." Sadeq Elhowsh (PA (PA) A 58-year-old father of four, Mr Elhowsh worked for St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in Merseyside for 17 years. His nephew Raeif, 32, said he was "truly a great friend and "an intelligent, kind-hearted, determined, cheerful and highly accomplished man". Mr Elhowsh's family said in a statement to the trust: "Sadeq was a wonderful husband, as well as a devoted father, and he dearly loved his family. We cannot put into words the depth of our loss. "He loved his work and was dedicated to supporting his patients and his colleagues. As a family we are extremely appreciative for all the kind words and messages we have received. We would like to take this time to grieve in private." Sophie Fagan and Michael Allieu Homerton University Hospital NHS Trust confirmed the deaths of two NHS workers who worked in Homerton Hospital, Hackney, over the weekend 18-19 April. Michael Allieu, 53, had worked in the acute care unit since 2007, and Sophie Fagan, 78, was a support worker who refused to retire. Chief executive Tracey Fletcher said Fagan, who migrated to the UK from India in 1961, was an extraordinary woman who wanted to make a difference. Given her energy, enthusiasm and the face that she was seemingly ever present on the site, it is hard to believe she qualified as an enrolled nurse at the Eastern Hospital, Hackney, in 1966. Michael was described as a vibrant, larger-than-life character. Ms Fletcher added: He will be greatly missed by all his colleagues both in the ACU and the wider Homerton Hospital community. Craig Wakeham Dr Wakeham was a GP. He died after testing positive for Covid-19 and spending several days in Dorset County Hospital. Cerne Abbas Surgery, where he worked for 30 years, said in a message to patients: He was a leading light in both the Clinical Commissioning Group and Local Medical Committee, as well as a devoted husband and father to his two boys. His legacy lives on in our patients who he cared for diligently, and in the good name he built for our surgery. Ate Wilma Banaag Ate Wilma Banaag, a Filipino NHS nurse who died of coronavirus (GoFundMe) A nurse at Watford General Hospital for nearly 20 years, Ate Wilma Banaag arrived in the UK in January 2001 from the Philippines. According to a fundraiser set up in her memory, she was working in a Covid-19 ward when she became infected with the virus. The fundraiser said: She is a much-valued staff nurse of the ward, a very caring, compassionate, soft-spoken and hardworking nurse. She is a devoted mother of three and a loving wife to Kuya Jun. Everything that is raised in this fund will hep with the cost of her cremation service and financial support to her family. Ade Dickson Ade Dickson was a mental health nurse and had been working in the Barnet Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Team at the time of his death. His death was announced by the Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust, which said: Ade was a highly respected colleague who will be deeply missed by his family, friends, Trust staff and patients. Gerallt Davies Gerallt Davies was an emergency consultant from Swansea (Welsh Ambulance Service) Gerallt Davies was an emergency consultant from Swansea and worked for the Welsh Ambulance Service for 26 years. He was the first paramedic in Wales to die of coronavirus. The Welsh Ambulance Service said in a statement after his death on 20 April: Gerallts loss will be sorely felt by everyone here at team WAST, and we extend our heartfelt condolences and deepest sympathies to his family. Manjeet Singh Riyat Manjeet Singh Riyat, who has died after contracting Covid-19 (PA / University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Trust) An emergency consultant at the Royal Derby Hospital, Manjeet Singh Riyat died on 20 April at the hospital he worked at. He was the first Sikh in the UK to become an A&E consultant when he was appointed in 2003. He was described by his department as the father of the current emergency department in Derby and hailed as an inspiration to his colleagues. Joanne Klenczon Northampton General Hospital announced the death of the 34-year-old domestic supervisor on 9 April. Joanne Klenczon had worked at the hospital for 10 years, managing the cleaning teams. Sonia Swart, chief executive of the hospital trust, said: Joanna touched the lives of so many people at NGH and she will be missed by everyone who knew or worked with her. Chrissie Emerson Chrissie Emerson was a healthcare assistant at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kings Lynn in Norfolk. She died on 20 April after testing positive for Covid-19. In a joint statement, chief executive Caroline Shaw and chairman Professor Steve Barnett at the hospital said: The whole family at QEH is deeply saddened at losing Chrissie Emerson, who was such a valued colleague and much-loved wife to Michael and cherished mother and grandmother. Grace Kungwengwe (GoFundMe (GoFundMe) A fundraiser set up to help Grace Kungwengwes family confirmed she died on 19 April of coronavirus at Lewisham hospital, where she worked as front line staff. She leaves behind two sons and grandchildren, it said. She was described as a dedicated NHS worker who worked right up until she tested positive for the virus. She will be sadly missed by many and proudly remembered. Josephine Matseke (Southport and Formby District General Hospital (Southport and Formby District General Hospital) Also known as Manini or Josephine Peter, Josephine Matseke was a nurse. She died on 18 April at Southport and Formby District General Hospital after testing positive for Covid-19. She had been working at Southport since February on an agency contract and had been a nurse for two decades. She was married with two children. Trish Armstrong-Child, chief executive of the trust, said: Josephines husband, Thabo, told me she was passionate, hard-working, always putting others before herself. She was my heroine, he said. Our thoughts are with Josephines family at this difficult time and we offer them our sincere condolences. Rajesh Kalraiya and Mamoona Rana The North East London Foundation Trust (NELFT) confirmed the death of Rajesh Kalraiya and Mamoona Rana. Dr Kalraiya was a community paediatrician and Dr Rana was a trainee registrar in psychiatry. They were both described as highly valued and respected colleagues. Professor Oliver Shanley, chief executive at the trust, said: As well as their families, with whom we are working closely, I would like to offer my deepest condolences to their friends and work colleagues. We are ensuring they are supported through this difficult time and I would like to thank colleagues for the commitment, dedication and compassion they have shown. Margaret Tapley Family handout photo of Margaret Tapley, 84, a healthcare assistant who died at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon in the early hours of Sunday after contracting coronavirus (PA) The 84-year-old auxiliary nurse was determined to carry on working despite the risk posed by coronavirus. She died of the virus 10 days after her last shift on 10 April at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon. Her grandson, Tom Wood, called her an inspiration in his tribute to her, saying she was the reason he became a nurse himself. This phenomenal, committed, kind-hearted fighter was my grandmother and I am so hugely proud of her She took huge pride in her work but was so humble. She embodied the nursing spirit. Patrick McManus Patrick McManus was a nurse in Staffordshire and was described as an exceptional leader and a lovable character. His career spanned over 40 years at Staffordshire Royal Infirmary and the County Hospital in Stafford. Tracy Bullock, UHNM chief executive, said: We are deeply saddened to confirm that a member of staff has passed away due to Covid-19. He was an exceptional leader and too staff and students under his wing. His big Irish personality will be sorely missed by his friends and colleagues at UNHM. Unnamed paramedic for North West Ambulance Service The North West Ambulance Service announced on 18 April a colleague had contracted Covid-19 and died the day before. He was married with children and had worked for the trust for a considerable number of years, said chief executive Daren Mochrie. Jenelyn Carter (Swansea Bay University Health Board (Swansea Bay University Health Board) A healthcare assistant at Morrison Hospital, Jenelyn Carters death was announced by the Swansea Bay University Health Board. The board confirmed she was being treated for coronavirus when she passed. Mark Madams, Morriston Hospitals nurse director, said: Jenelyn would go the extra mile for anyone, and was a lovely caring person inside and out, with a heart of gold. We are devastated by her death and offer our sincere condolences to her family and friends. Khulisani (Khuli) Nkala Forty-six-year-old Khulisani Nkala had been working as a charge nurse in the forensic services at Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation trust. He died on 17 April after testing positive for coronavirus. Dr Sara Munro, chief executive of Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, said: Khuli was someone who took his responsibilities as a trainer and professional mentor very seriously, taking many student nurses under his wing and taking the time to nurture the next generation of talent. He won an award from the University of Leeds for his mentoring work for which he should have been very proud. Vivek Sharma Vivek Sharma was an occupational therapist and had been working for Medway Community Healthcare where he contracted the virus. He died on 17 April. James Devine, chief executive of Medway Foundation Trust, said: Vivek was working at Medway Community Healthcare at the time of his death and I am sure you will join me in sending your condolences to our MCH colleagues who have lost a valued friend. Linda Clarke Linda Clarke was a 66-year-old community midwife at Royal Albert Edward Infirmary. She died on 17 April, reported local news outlet Wigan Today. Silas Nicholls, chief executive at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundatin Trust, said she died on 17 April. She had worked in the maternity service for 30 years, he said. Ruben Munoz (PA (PA) A nursing assistant and father of two, Ruben Munoz has worked at Surrey and Sussex NHS Trust for a decade. He died on 17 April. His family described him as a good son, a beloved husband and an amazing father. His daughter paid tribute to him on Twitter, saying: My father is and ever will be amazing. You are my hero, rest well dad. patrice antonette. (@fattrees) April 19, 2020 Michael Wilson, chief executive of the trust, said: Ruben was a highly respected and talented nurse assistant who showed enormous dedication to caring for his patients every time he walked through our doors. He was also a much-loved friend to so many people across our hospital and our team are incredibly saddened by his passing. Barry England Barry England tested positive for the virus and died on 16 April after spending four days in hospital, said the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust. He was a leading operations manager in Hemel Hempstead and was described as a hugely valued friend and colleague. A statement issued on behalf of Mr Englands family said their hearts are broken at this sudden loss and that Barry was extremely proud to have worked for the ambulance service for over 33 years. Lourdes Campbell In a statement on 16 April, the Bolton NHS Foundation Trust confirmed Lourdes Campbell, a healthcare assistant, died in the critical care unit at Royal Bolton Hospital after contracting the virus. She was remembered as diligent and compassionate by her colleagues. Simon Guest (University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust) Simon Guest, a radiographer at Furness General Hospital, died on 15 April. The University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust confirmed his death and issued a tribute from his wife, Nicky. Nicky said of her husband: We are all overwhelmed with grief at the loss of our beloved Simon to Covid-19. Simon was special, a true gentleman and a great role model to all. He was a gentle soul and so very caring with both his patients and NHS colleagues. Jane Murphy Aged 73, Jane Murphy first began working at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary 30 years ago as a cleaner before she retrained as a clinical support worker. According to The Daily Record, she was known as Ma Murphy by her colleagues. She was described as one of the funniest, straight talking, hardworking support workers who had worked at the NHS Lothian. Dr Krishan Arora (PA (PA) Fifty-seven-year-old Dr Arora had been a GP in Croydon, south London, for 27 years. He died on 15 April after testing positive for the virus, and had been self-isolating at home when he developed symptoms. His death was confirmed by the South West London Clinical Commissioning Group. Colleague Dr Agnelo Fernandes said: We are all greatly saddened by the death of Dr Krishan Arora. Krish was extremely well-liked and worked tirelessly to care for his patients and improve services for everyone in Croydon. Gladys Mujajati (Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust) Also known as Gladys Nyemba, Gladys Mujajati was a mental health nurse. She had an underlying health condition and died in hospital, said the Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. The 46-year-old was described as precious by science minister Amanda Solloway, and much-loved, warm and caring by her colleagues. Amrik Bamotra Known to colleagues as Bob, Amrik Bamotra was a radiology support worker at the King George Hospital in Ilford, east London. He is suspected to have died from coronavirus and his death was announced on 15 April. Local newspaper, the Ilford Recorder, reported that Bamotra is survived by his wife and two children. He was described as friendly, chat and kind-hearted and he treated everyone like his own family. Andy Treble Andy Treble was a theatre assistant at the Wrexham Maelor Hospital in North Wales. The 57-year-old died on 15 April after testing positive for the virus. According to a fundraiser, Treble volunteered to come out of retirement to help the NHS in the coronavirus crisis. He leaves behind a 17-year-old daughter, Emily. Linnette Cruz (PA (PA) Linnette Cruz was a senior head nurse at the Brynteg dental practice in Sketty. According to NHS Wales, she died on 14 April after being admitted to hospital with Covid-19 in March. Brynteg practice owner Nik Patel said: She brought love, light and joy to everyone around her and will be sadly missed by all. Josiane Zauma Ebonja Ekoli An agency nurse who lived in Leeds and worked at Harrogate Hospital, Josiane Zauma Ebonja Ekoli was a mother of five. She died on 13 April. According to Nursing Times, Jill Foster, chief nurse at Harrogate and District, said Ekoli will be sadly missed by all her friends and colleagues. Her daughter Naomie told the PA news agency: It meant everything to be a nurse, shes bee doing it for as long as I remember, more than 30 years. Dr Peter Tun (PA (PA) An associate specialist in neurorehabilitation at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading for over 21 years, Dr Peter Tun died in the intensive care unit at the hospital on 12 April aged 62. His son, Michael Tun, paid tribute to his father on Twitter and said he had died because of the lack of PPE. Michael wrote: Please do everything to protect the doctors and nurses. They go in scared and for their families. They did not get into the profession to die a hero in battle. This is why he was a superhero to us. He was scared and still went in to help strangers completely knowing the risk. Michael Tun (@MichaelTun1) April 16, 2020 Mary Agyeiwaa Agyapong (Facebook) Mary Agyeiwaa Agyapong, a nurse, was pregnant when she died after testing for Covid-19 earlier in the month. Her baby was saved, but her tragic death made headlines as maternity organisations called for more protection for pregnant NHS workers. She died on 12 April. David Carter, chief executive at Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: Mary worked here for five years and was a highly valued and loved member of our team, a fantastic nurse and a great example of what we stand for in this trust. Cheryl Williams North Middlesex University Hospital said Cheryl Williams died on 12 April. She was a ward housekeeper on an elderly patient ward at North Middlesex University Hospital in Edmonton, north London. The trust said in a Facebook post: Cheryl was a lynchpin of the care, comfort and compassion that our patients and local people value so highly, and her personal contribution to patient care is irreplaceable. Her family, friends and colleagues at North Middlesex University Hospital will miss her more than words can describe. Maureen Ellington (North Bristol-NHS Trust (North Bristol-NHS Trust) Maureen Ellington, who was in her early 60s, died on 12 April. She was a healthcare assistant and had worked for the NHS for more than 25 years. She was working at Southmead Hospital in Bristol at the time of her death. The North Bristol NHS Trust announced her death on 14 April. Her family said: We are heartbroken to lose the pillar of our family at this time. She was simply amazing. She loved her husband, five children, six grandchildren, wider family, friends and colleagues. She was kind-hearted, bubbly, caring and always joyous. She would light up any room she entered. She will always be in our hearts. Leilani Medel An agency nurse in South Wales, Leilani Medel was described as a wonderful and caring person. She migrated to the UK from the Philippines and lived and worked in Bridgend. Medels death was reported on 15 April, after she contracted coronavirus. According to the Evening Standard, her husband also tested positive for the virus and is being treated in an intensive care unit. Amarante Dias Amarante Dias, a hospital worker at Weston General Hospital, died of coronavirus. The hospital confirmed his death on 13 April, and said he died after testing positive for Covid-19. Dr William Oldfirled, medical director at the University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Trust, said: We are deeply saddened at losing Amarante DIas who was such a valued and much-loved colleague. According to Somerset Live, Mr Dias funeral is to be streamed live on YouTube on Friday, between 12pm and 4.30pm, to allow people who knew him to view the ceremony online as social distancing measures prevent them from attending in person. Melujean Ballersteros A Filipino nurse who had worked for the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust for 18 years, Melujean Ballersteros was described as full of joy, hardworking and kind-hearted. She died just two days after being admitted to St Marys Hospital in Paddington, London, on 12 April of coronavirus. A fundraiser set up to help her family said: She served the NHS with all dedication and was in the frontline during this global pandemic. She had always looked after her patients with great compassion, kindness and care. Unfortunately, while in the line of duty, the Covid-19 virus has defeated her and we have lost another good soldier. Kevin Smith Doncaster Royal Infirmary confirmed the death of Kevin Smith, a plaster technician, on 12 April. He died following a brief but courageous battle with Covid-19. The trust said he worked at the hospital for more than 35 years and was renowned for his warm personality, diligence and compassion. Oscar King Jr and Elbert Rico Elbert Rico, right, with his family (Carla Rico) Both Oscar King Jr and Elbert Rico were Filipino porters at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. Reports say both were married to members of the nursing team at the hospital. King, 45, died on 11 April. He was believed to have worked at the hospital for a decade and a fundraiser page set up to sponsor his memorial described him as a beloved friend, loving husband and devoted father to his 10-year-old daughter. According to the fundraiser, his wife has been admitted to hospital with coronavirus symptoms. Her condition is not known. Rico had worked for the hospital since arriving in the UK in 2004. He was described as hardworking and he would prioritise others needs first. His daughter, Carla Rico, raised over 22,000 after she started a donation fund to help her family raise money for funeral and further expenses. Gareth Roberts (PA (PA) Gareth Roberts death was confirmed by Cardiff and Vale University Health Board on 11 April. He was an extremely popular nurse who came out of retirement in 2015 having worked since the 1980s. The board said: Staff say he was such a king and helpful person and they learned so much from him. He had a lovely way with relatives and always offered the caring personal side, he was very much an old school nurse. Donna Campbell (Velindre Cancer Centre (Velindre Cancer Centre) The Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff confirmed the death of Donna Campbell, a support worker, after she tested positive for Covid-19. She was without a doubt a treasured member of our work family who could light up a room with her infectious laugh and bubbly personality, but at the same time she had the most wonderful ability to comfort and care for people, said her colleagues. She was often found singing and dancing, entertaining patients and staff, making everyone smile. Donna will always have a special place in our hearts and we will all want to send our heartfelt sympathy and love to her family at this very difficult time. Sara Dee Trollope Sara Dee Trollope was a 51-year-old matron for older adult mental health services in Hillingdon, west London. She died at Watford General Hospital on 10 April after testing positive for coronavirus. Her daughter described her as an example to every one of us. Brian Darlington (PA (PA) A porter with Mid Cheshire Hospitals, Brian Darlington died on 10 April, aged 68. He was popular among his colleagues for handing out sweets. Ava, his wife of 46 years, said: He was dedicated to the trust and as a family, we are grateful for and appreciative of all the kind words and messages we have seen and received. Julie Omar Julie Omar, 52, died at home while self-isolating with coronavirus symptoms on 10 April. She was a trauma and orthopaedics nurse at Redditchs Alexandra Hospital in Worcestershire. Matthew Hopkins, chief executive of the trust, said in a video on Twitter: Julie was a dedicated and highly experienced trauma and orthopaedics nurse and very many of you will know her because she worked in both Redditch and Worcester. Amor Gatinao Amor Gatinaos death was announced on 14 April, after she was diagnosed with Covid-19. She was a healthcare assessor at the North West London Clinical Commissioning Group, which she joined in 2019. Her family said: Our mum was an exceptional nurse, she had such pride in the work she was able to do. We know our mum valued her achievements but this came second to the value she placed on her colleagues and friends. We know the NHS meant more than work for our mum, her person for work was greatly affected by the team that mentored, guided and supported her. Aimee O Rourke The 39-year-old nurse and mother died on 9 April at the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate, Kent, where she worked. Dr Abdul Mabud Chowdhury Consultant Abdul Mabud Chowdhury wrote to Johnson about lack of protection (PA) Dr Abdul Mabud Chowdhury died on 8 April, just five days after he wrote a Facebook post pleading with Prime Minister Boris Johnson to urgently provide every NHS worker with personal protective equipment. He was a consultant urologist at Homerton Hospital in east London. After his death, his son Intisar Chowdhury told BBC Radio 4s Today programme his father is not the first and he is unfortunately not going to be the last NHS frontline worker to die. Dr Edmond Adedeji The 62-year-old worked as a locus registrar in the emergency department of Great Western Hospital in Swindon. He died on 8 April doing a job he loved. Fayez Ayache A GP and grandfather, 76-year-old Fayez Ayache died in Ipswich Hospital on 8 April. He had been diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia and coronavirus. Elsie Sazuze Elsie Sazuza worked for Wolverhampton-based agency, Totallycare. She died on 7 April at Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield. According to the BBC, she fell ill at home in Birmingham before being admitted to hospital. Her husband Ken said he thought she would pull through. A GoFundMe account set up by a close friend of her family raised over 9,000, shooting past its goal of 5,000. Leilani Dayrit (PA (PA) Another Filipino nurse, Leilani Dayrit worked at St Cross Hospital in Rugby. She died on 7 April of suspected Covid-19. According to the Leamington Courier, she had worked for the NHS for 16 years. Donald Suelto Donald Suelto, 51, worked as a nurse at Hammersmith Hospital in west London. He died on 7 April after going into self-isolation with symptoms of the virus. Alice Kit Tak Ong (PA (PA) Originally from Hong Kong, Alice Kit Tak Ong died on 7 April after 44 years of working for the NHS. The 70-year-old nurse was described as generous to everyone else before herself by her daughter, Melissa. She was completely dedicated to her work, thats what she was doing until the moment she was taken ill, Melissa told The Guardian. Janice Graham Janice Graham became the first nurse in Scotland to die as a result of the pandemic on 6 April. She was a healthcare support worker from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and died at Inverclyde Royal Hospital. Her son, Craig, told STV News: My mum was there for me no matter what. I will miss everything about her. I am so proud of her and there will not be a day that goes by that I will not think about her. Syed Haider A family GP that worked in Dagenham, east London, Syed Haider died in hospital on 6 April after he was believed to have developed coronavirus symptoms. Barbara Moore (PA (PA) The 54-year-old patient discharge planner and grandmother died on 6 April. The Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust described Barbara Moore as an unsung hero. Dr Alfa Saadu Dr Alfa Saadu had returned to work from retirement. He died on 6 April at the Whittington Hospital in north London, aged 68. Jitendra Rathod (PA (PA) He was a highly regarded associate specialist in cardiothoracic surgery at the University Hospital of Wales. Jitendra Rathod died on 6 April. Lynsay Coventry The death of 54-year-old Lynsay Coventry marked the first involving a serving NHS midwife. She tested positive for the virus and died on 5 April at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex. Emily Perugia Emily Perugia was only 29 at the time of her death. She was a care coordinator in Hillingdon, northwest London, and her death was confirmed on 5 April. She was described by a colleague as a lovely woman, who never said no to any requests. Perugias mother, sister, brother and fiance all work for the same NHS trust as her. Glen Corbin Glen Corbin, a nurse at the Park Royal Centre for Mental Health in Harlesden, northwest London, died on 4 April. He had worked for the Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust for more than 25 years. Rebecca Mack Rebecca Mack, left, with her friend Sarah Bredin-Kemp (PA) Rebecca Mack was also only 29 years old when she died, after going into self-isolation with symptoms of coronavirus. She was described by her friend, Sarah Bredin-Kemp, as an incredible nurse. Liz Glanister (PA (PA) A staff nurse at Aintree University Hospital, Liz Glanister died on 3 April. Her family described their loss as simply beyond words. Dr Anton Sebastianpillai (PA (PA) The consultant geriatrician died two weeks after completing his last shift at the Kingston Hospital in southwest London. He had been admitted to the intensive care unit but died four days later on 4 April. John Alagos According to a report by the Mail on Sunday, John Alagos was just 27 years old at the time of his death. He treated coronavirus patients at Watford General Hospital. He died after a shift on 3 April. Areema Nasreen Thirty-six-year-old Ms Nasreen died on 2 April in an intensive care unit at Walsall Manor Hospital in the West Midlands, where she worked for 16 years. Professor Mohamed Sami Shousha Professor Mohamed Sami Shousha worked at UK cancer research laboratories at Londons Hammersmith and Charing Cross hospitals since 1978. He died aged 79 on 2 April. Abdelrahman Shousha, his nephew, said his uncle returned to work to help fight on the front lines of the outbreak. He said: My uncle was characterised by his humbleness, virtue and his adamancy to hep and serve, whether it be his family, friends, his colleagues or his students. Thomas Harvey (PA (PA) A healthcare assistant and father of seven, Thomas Harvey worked at Goodmayes Hospital in Ilford, east London. He died at home on 29 March, aged 57. Dr Amged El-Hawrani (El Hawrani Family (El Hawrani Family) Dr Amged El-Hawrani, 55, was an ear, nose and throat consultant with University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust. He died at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester on 28 March, the first front line worker to die in the fight against coronavirus. Dr El-Hawrani was described as an extremely hardworking consultant and was well-liked at the trust. Pooja Sharma (PA (PA) Pooja Sharma died unexpectedly on 26 March following a short illness. She was a pharmacist at Eastbourne District General Hospital. A JustGiving page dedicated to Ms Sharma said: Pooja touched so many of our lives with her bubbly, lively, and friendly nature. Pooja was a caring and compassionate soul who wore her heart on her sleeve and always strived to be the best she could be. Dr Habib Zaidi (PA (PA) The 76-year-old GP in Leigh-on-Sea died in intensive care at Southend Hospital, Essex, on 25 March. Dr Adil El Tayar Dr Adil El Tayar had been working as a locus surgeon. He died aged 63 at West Middlesex University Hospital in Isleworth, west London. Additional reporting by agencies The government on Wednesday issued an advisory for media professionals working in the print and electronic sector of the industry. According to the release by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, media personnel have been advised to take health and related precautions while performing their duties during the coronavirus pandemic. Management of media houses is requested to take necessary care of their field staff as well as their office staff, the advisory read. Media persons are covering incidents relating to COVID19 in the country involving travel to containment zones, hotspots&other affected areas. It's advised that all such media persons may take health&related precautions while performing duties: Ministry of Information&Broadcasting pic.twitter.com/oxWobViY5M ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 The advisory comes after some media personnel in certain parts of the country were reported to have contracted Covid-19. It has come to the notice of the Ministry that a large number of media persons have recently contracted with Covid-19 while covering the happening in certain parts of the country, the statement read. Nearly 50 journalists in Mumbai and not less than 20 journalists in Chennai tested positive for Covid-19 recently. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government on Tuesday announced that the administration will set up a special Covid-19 centre to test media professionals who have been reporting from the field during the coronavirus lockdown. The Karnataka government has also issued a similar order. Print and electronic media are part of essential services and professionals working in the field are exempt from the lockdown. India has reported 50 deaths and 1383 new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours. According to the Ministry of Health, the total number of positive coronavirus cases in the country jumped to 19,984 on Wednesday. The figure includes 3870 patients who have been cured or discharged and 640 deaths. New York, April 22 : US President Donald Trump has discussed regional security with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, the White House said on Wednesday. During their conversation on Wednesday, they also discussed "developments in the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and agreed to continue working together" to defeat the virus and minimise its economic impact, the White House said. Pakistan had 10,776 confirmed cases of COVID-19 infections with 212 deaths as of Wednesday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering tracking of the pandemic. (Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis) Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Wednesday said none of the 101 people arrested in connection with the Palghar lynching case is a Muslim, and accused the opposition of giving a communal colour to the incident. Terming the incident as unfortunate and a blot on humanity, Deshmukh in a Facebook address said this is not the time to play politics, and urged all to engage in collective efforts to defeat the deadly coronavirus. Without naming any leader or party, Deshmukh, who is an Nationalist Congress Party leader, said some people were seeing Mungerilal ke haseen sapne (referring to a fictional character from a TV show who daydreams) of returning to power in the state. He said in the run up to the incident, a rumour did rounds in Palghar that some people were lifting children during night. The entire episode is being investigated by a special inspector general and the probe has been handed over to the Crime Investigation Department (CID), he said. "The police arrested 101 people in connection with the incident within eight hours after it took place. They had run into neighbouring jungles, but were caught by police. There is no Muslim brother among these 101 people," Deshmukh said. The minister said someone was heard as saying oye bas (please stop) in the video clip of the incident, but it was allegedly distorted as Shoaib. An attempt was made to give a political colour to the incident. And this is very unfortunate...communal politics is being played, Deshmukh alleged. He said such politics is being played at a time when the entire state is engaged in a battle against coronavirus. "It is not the time to play politics, but to fight coronavirus collectively. It is unfortunate some people are seeing 'Mungerilal ke haseen sapne' at this juncture," the minister said. The incident took place on the night of April 16 when three men -- two seers and their driver -- were going from Mumbai in a car towards Surat in Gujarat to attend a funeral. Their vehicle was stopped near a village in Palghar district where the three were dragged out of the car and beaten to death with sticks by a mob on suspicion that they were child-lifters. The deceased were identified as Chikne Maharaj Kalpavrukshagiri, 70, Sushilgiri Maharaj, 35, and driver Nilesh Telgade, 30. The Maharashtra government earlier ordered a high-level probe into the incident, and two policemen from Palghar were suspended on Monday for alleged dereliction of duty. Here's the list of all arrested people released by Maharashtra home minister: Nanjing, east Chinas Jiangsu province, sent a batch of medical supplies to Thomas Rabe, a doctor at the Medical School of the University of Heidelberg in Germany, on April 17 as a way to thank his deceased grandfather, who helped Chinese people during the Nanjing Massacre over 80 years ago. Earlier this month, Thomas Rabe contacted the embassy of China in Germany and asked China for help with certain medicines used for combating the epidemic. When they heard about this request, pharmaceutical companies in Nanjing, together with the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, quickly went into action, procuring 620 bottles of the medicine, 200 pieces of protective clothing and 30,000 medical masks in a very short time. The batch of medical supplies will be donated to Thomas Rabe and his family, Heidelbergs City Hall and the Heidelberg University Hospital. John Rabe, grandfather of Thomas Rabe, set up a security zone with a number of other foreigners during the 1937 Nanjing Massacre and saved the lives of 200,000 Chinese people. He also recorded the atrocities committed by the Japanese in his diary, which is considered the best-preserved historical data on the Nanjing Massacre in recent years. Even though coronavirus lockdown has given some wildlife animals an opportunity to roam freely on the deserted streets of towns and cities across the world, the restrictions are putting a financial strain on British reserves dependent on visitor revenues. According to reports, nature reserves in the United Kingdom are facing a financial crisis because of the lockdown that has restricted the free movements of people, who may have otherwise visited these parks, providing them some sort of revenue. Read: Twitter Dismisses Reports Of Bots Being Used By UK DHSC To Manipulate Virus Conversations Sarah Kessell, chief executive of the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales while talking to the press said that the lockdown has suddenly cut off the income generation for parks placing financial strain on them. Sarah, who reportedly manages over 110 reserves in the country, has said that the reserves may struggle to survive without support from the government or other contributions. Read: Italian PM Giuseppe Conte To Unveil Reopening Plan Of Country By End Of This Week The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has urged citizens to report sightings of birds from their windows or balconies to under the #BreakfastBirdwatch hashtag as they are unable to conduct any surveys due to restrictions. Jake Fiennes, head of conservation at the Holkham National Nature Reserve, while talking to the media said that people are spotting more birds and other wildlife than ever before because of fewer people outside. Fiennes said he himself has seen birds such as ringed plovers and oystercatchers, which were earlier hard to spot. Read: COVID-19 Crisis: US Accuses China Of Hoarding PPE Kits And Selling Them At Higher Rates COVID-19 lockdown The coronavirus has forced many countries to go into a complete lockdown, including the United Kingdom, which is one of the worst affected countries in Europe. The lockdown has put restrictions on travel, shut schools and businesses and has banned gatherings. Although countries like Germany, France, Italy, Spain have announced that they will soon ease restrictions and reopen the economy, Britain is yet to reveal any such plan. Read: South Korea: People Return To Work, Public Places As Country Relaxes Lockdown Restrictions (Image Credit: AP) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Marchio Irfan Gorbiano (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, April 22, 2020 17:53 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd399add 1 National governance,rule-of-law,conflict-of-interest,Ombudsman,expert-staff,Presidential-Palace Free Recent controversies surrounding the perceived dual loyalties of certain expert presidential staffers have damaged public trust. Critics and watchdogs are advocating for a better mechanism to prevent future instances of apparent conflicts of interest. Presidential staffer Andi Taufan Garuda Putra drew wide criticism when he asked district heads across Indonesia to support a COVID-19 relief program led by his company, PT Amartha Mikro Fintek, in an official government letter dated April 1. He has since apologized and retracted the letter. Another presidential staffer and the co-founder of education technology startup Ruangguru, Adamas Belva Devara, experienced public backlash after his company was appointed as a partner in the governments recently unveiled pre-employment card program. Belva denied accusations of conflict of interest and said on Twitter that the company had gone through a public selection process and that he was not involved in the decision-making process. He announced his resignation on Tuesday evening. Belva and Andi are not the only presidential staffers to hold dual roles while in public office. Presidential spokesperson Fadjroel Rachman has maintained his previous position as president commissioner of state-owned construction company PT Adhi Karya, and economic advisor Arif Budimanta was recently appointed as a commissioner of state-owned lender Bank Mandiri. Coordinating Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto has also made good use of his Golkar Party platform to promote the contentious omnibus bill on job creation. Airlangga continues to hold the chairmanship of Golkar and is one of many political appointees in government. Bivitri Susanti of the Jentera School of Law in Jakarta said Belva and Andis cases both clearly fell within the scope of conflict of interest as defined by Law No. 30/2014 on government administration. Article 43, paragraph 1 of the law stipulates that conflicts of interest occur when a decision, policy or action is motivated by personal or business interests or when it leverages relationships with family members or friends, among other things. Any decisions made when there is a conflict of interest can be revoked, according to Article 45, paragraph 2 of the law. The universal essence of conflict of interest is that [the official in question] does not have to directly participate in the decision-making process, but his or her position could indirectly influence said decision, the legal expert said. Bivitri said that more thorough background checks and stricter enforcement of the law were necessary in the appointment of public officials. After being placed on the shortlist for public office, candidates should declare potential conflicts of interest, she said. As they enter the establishment, people should declare if they hold a position elsewhere. [But as of now, there is no enforcement of] declarations aside from the KPK, she said, referring to the Corruption Eradication Commission. Zaenur Rohman, a researcher from the Gadjah Mada University Center for Anti-Corruption Studies (Pukat UGM), concurred with Bivitri, saying that declaring potential conflicts of interest should be a main requirement for officials before they assume public office. He said the government should enact stricter regulations to prohibit officials from assuming other roles that would compromise the integrity of the public office, especially as those double roles went against principles of good governance and ethical business. The Indonesian Ombudsman has said the governments inadequate handling of possible conflicts of interest is the reason such mishaps have been emerging recently. The office called for stronger regulations to prevent similar incidents in the future. All this time we have ignored the obscurity in the regulations that allows these kinds of incidents to happen, even though [the government] might not necessarily have bad intentions, Ombudsman member Ahmad Alamsyah Saragih told The Jakarta Post over the phone. Even so, it can lead to high [public] distrust. The ad hoc body has looked into the practice of double roles among public officials with possible commercial interests in an ongoing study that began in 2017, but the study has been suspended as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak in Indonesia. The study explores practices among civil servants and aims to prove whether appointments to commissary roles at state-owned enterprises are political or based on merit, Ahmad said. While there is an acknowledgement of the cross-sectoral nature of public office and the legal mandates that allow a person to hold multiple positions at once as is the case with Bank Indonesia or Finance Ministry officials who can be appointed to the Financial Services Authority (OJK) as per Law No. 21/2011 preliminary findings of the study indicate that there are still regulatory loopholes that allow for the abuse of public office. Ahmad said there were at least three problems that remained unregulated in the appointment of public officials in multiple roles: double income, competency standards and accountability. In the initial study, the Ombudsman recommended that no public official should be allowed to serve multiple positions, in accordance with existing laws, and that the government should ensure that it was not possible for officials to hold dual roles. If a violation occurred, the official in question should be dismissed in accordance with Article 17 of Law No. 25/2009, the study stated. The study also suggested that the President issue a regulation to be used as the legal basis for cross-sectoral appointments to public office and that supervision must be put in place to guarantee a single-salary system. A few weeks back when we chatted with senior Maegan Cedro, the topic for the days interview was ostensibly to profile her as a 2020 UM-Dearborn Difference Maker. But its hard not to also talk about everything else thats going on especially when, as Maegan does, you find yourself living many of the major themes defining the American experience of the pandemic. Pivoting to online classes; working from home, then losing her co-op and struggling to figure out if she can collect unemployment; living with her mom, a nurse, whos working everyday with COVID-19 patients; and facing down a new wave of discrimination and violence against Asian Americans are among the topics Maegan was kind enough to open up about in a follow-up phone call last week. Heres our conversation, which has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity. The Reporter: So I definitely want to hear about whats gone on in the past week, but before we do that, take me back to when you first remember this coronavirus thing starting to affect you and your family. Maegan Cedro: So actually, my first experience with COVID-19 was the beginning of February. We are a family of travelers, and we were in Hawaii at the time, and when we were there, there was one person with a confirmed case who had traveled to Hawaii. It hadnt really hit the U.S. yet, but it was still a little scary because we instantly started thinking about whether we might have been in the airport during the same days and could have gotten sick. Then, a couple weeks later, I went to Chicago for one of our Filipino American student events. We often hang out in Chinatown, and it was eerie because Chinatown was completely deserted. Then, a couple weeks after, like in early March, I went to Toronto for a business competition. And at that point, there were 20 confirmed cases in Toronto, so they wanted all the students to stay in the hotel, just in case. When I came home, a couple friends who went to the conference with me had fevers and ended up quarantining. So right from the start, Im thinking, This is real, I could have easily been exposed. The Reporter: And Im guessing it was right after that that the university announced all classes were going online for the rest of the semester. Hows that been going so far? Maegan: Its definitely been an adjustment. At first, youre thinking, how is this going to work? Ive taken several online classes, but theyve always been gen-ed or electives like anthropology or philosophy. None of the undergraduate engineering classes have ever been available online, so its a really unprecedented situation. To be honest, some classes are going better than others. In two of my classes, the professor is recording the lectures and then answering any questions you have via email, but I just dont think Im retaining the information nearly as well. I dont know if its being able to ask questions in person, or the kinematics of taking notes while the lectures are happening, but Im just not doing as well in those classes compared to before. Two of my other classes, though, the professor is doing the lectures live on Zoom, and I feel like those may be going even better than before. In one of those, the professor will randomly call on you in the middle of the class, so it keeps you on your toes. Honestly, its been really nice because I have this incentive now to actually learn the material and know what Im talking about so I dont look dumb in front of the whole class [laughs]. I didnt know what to expect from online engineering classes, but Id say for this particular class, the quality is the same or even better. Its huge for us, though, that the university is allowing students to take a pass/fail grade for this semesters classes. A lot of my friends were in a big group chat when we got that email, and we were all, like, thank god, we were all so worried. Now we can get our final grades at the end of the semester, and at that point, you can decide if you want to take a pass/fail credit. That way, the classes will still count toward graduation, but it wont affect your GPA. We were all having a lot of anxiety about that. The Reporter: I know youre also doing an engineering co-op right now, and when we talked last week, your employer was letting you work from home. Whats the latest on that? Maegan: Well, actually, right after we got off the phone, I got a call from my boss and I did get laid off. Losing out on that experience is not great, of course, but for a lot of us, we depend on our internships to pay the bills. The other thing, and this has been the case with some of my cousins and other friends who have internships, is we havent been able to qualify for unemployment. Ive never had to file for unemployment before, so Im not an expert, but the email I got said that because I was only working part-time and Im a full-time student, Im not eligible. On top of that, a lot of us still live with our parents so were still considered dependents. So we dont get the $1,200 economic stimulus either. So thinking now about tuition for summer classes and fall, its been really stressful. Im lucky that my parents always made me put away six to eight months of emergency funds, so I should be good for a while. And I just got word that my summer internship in California is still on, but theyre pushing it back to June. Honestly, though, if its 12 weeks instead of 16 weeks at this point, Ill take it. On the whole, though, the financial stress of this situation has been more consuming than the academic stress. The Reporter: I wanted to ask you about your family too. When we talked last time, you mentioned you have a bunch of family who work in healthcare, including our mom, whos a nurse. Hows she and everyone else doing? Maegan: My mom is doing well, surprisingly. Shes really good under pressure, and she has a really great support system at work. Basically, all my family pretty much work at the same hospital, so they have each other to talk to. Its been scary too, though, because a woman who my mom works with, whos one of her best friends, tested positive and is now on a ventilator. Honestly, just listening to her and my aunts, its crazy to me that they can still come home and cook dinner and smile every day. A lot of the cousins, who dont work in the healthcare space, have been group chatting with all the nurses to make sure everyone has supplies and dinner for the day. So its been really good for our family to keep those connections strong. At home, my mom isnt practicing too much social distancing with us. She basically takes a shower when she gets home from work, and then were good about washing our hands and not touching our faces. But because weve all had early exposure to friends whove tested positive, were almost assuming weve all had it at this point. I know some of my aunts, though, are living in their basements and basically not coming into contact with their kids. One of my cousins has really young kids and she doesnt want to have any contact with her kids. Its really hard because they arent old enough to understand yet, and all they want to do is climb all over their mom when she gets home. The Reporter: I know youre really active in your local Filipino American community, and also nationally with a Filipino American student group. The last thing I wanted to ask you about was this wave of discrimination and violence against Asian Americans. How are you doing with that personally, and how is everyone processing that within the communities youre active in? Maegan: This was actually a huge topic in a recent meeting with our national student group. One of the things we talked about was how it doesnt help that Asians are typically looked at as the model minority. Were perceived as quiet and demure and people who dont speak up a lot. And thats made us an easy target in some ways. I mean, last week in Texas a whole family was stabbed, including a 2-year-old. Its absolutely terrifying. Yesterday was the first time I went out to get groceries, and I dont know if it was just because I was anxious to be out in public, but it felt like people were looking at me. Its definitely been one of the reasons I havent been leaving my house. Im honestly scared, and Ive never felt this way before. Growing up in my Filipino community, Ive always felt so safe. I mean, weve discussed historical things, like how Japanese internment camps happened during World World II, but I realize now Ive never experienced outward racism myself. So its been really unsettling, because its 2020, yall. It just shows you how deep this racism goes. And its really hard because the older generation just kind of wants to keep their heads down, ignore it, and go on with their lives. And I cant say thats wrong, because I dont know what theyve gone through. But at the same time, Ive noticed younger Asian Americans are using their voices. Theyre saying, No, you shouldnt be putting up with that. Its a huge generational divide, and we talk about it all the time. You cant be quiet anymore. Theres no reason to be quiet. We have a voice and wed better use it. Were here. Were Americans, and we need to teach these people that were Americans. This is reprinted from the University of Michigan Reporter. Over 2.5 million infections of coronavirus have been recorded globally, leading to the death of 180,000 persons. Experts say the grim milestone vastly understate the true spread and toll of the contagion because of a lack of widespread testing. About 500,O00 new infections and 50,O00 deaths have been added in less than seven days as the tally grows steadily. The actual number of cases is much higher than the official figures with countries varying in how much they are testing people. Nigeria, Africas most populous country with over 200 million populace, has conducted only thousands of tests while having a case count of fewer than 1, 000. There is no vaccine yet for the coronavirus. A recent study found that the deadly disease can spread through the air and remains contagious for hours. Some European countries hoping that the worst is behind them are beginning to take careful steps to lift restrictions imposed to slow the virus but outbreaks in many other parts of the world are still considered far from their peaks. The World Health Organisation (WHO) cautioned patience before lifting social distancing restrictions, noting that the repercussions of any premature end to lockdowns could be deadly. The brunt of the coronavirus has been felt most heavily in U.S, Italy, France, Spain, the United Kingdom and South-east Asia. The disease is gradually starting to wreak havoc in Africa and South America and the WHO is particularly concerned with the ability of the poorest countries in the world to control the disease. Confirmed cases As of the time of reporting, there were 2,605,771 confirmed cases across the globe, data from worldometers.info, an online dashboard that tracks the global number of confirmed coronavirus cases, showed. The number of infected people crossed a million threshold on April 2, doubling 13 days later. The three worst-hit countries: the U.S., Spain, and Italy alone have a combined figure of more than a million infections, about half of the global total. There are 1,711, 971 active cases as of the time of reporting. Of that number, about 1,655,088 are in mild conditions while over 56, 883 cases are in serious or critical conditions. Meanwhile, about 712,324 people have recovered after treatment so far worldwide. Deaths After the death toll in the U.S crossed over 40, 000, the total global death toll surpassed 180,000. As of the time of reporting, about 181,476 people have succumbed to coronavirus, data from worldometers.info showed. Some experts believe the death toll could be higher as many people suspected of the disease die without being tested. Countries have continued to report inadequate testing kits for potential patients of the virus. Europe is the worst-affected region with the combined death toll in Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and the U.K approaching 100, 000, more than half the global total demonstrating the high price nations can pay if the virus outstrips the capacity of a countrys health care system. The United States which already has the highest number of reported infections in the world over 800, 000 is the country with the highest death toll of more than 46, 000. The United States Advertisements With 829, 392 confirmed cases, infections in the U.S. account for more than 25 per cent of the global tally, according to worldometer.info. The virus has infected more than 250, 000 people in New York alone, killing over 18, 000 there, 10 per cent of the official global tally. U.S. officials and some economists have warned against comparing coronavirus case numbers from country to country due to concerns around reporting methodology. Local and state officials in the U.S. have also acknowledged that the true number of COVID-19 cases in the country is likely far higher than those that have been confirmed due to testing shortages and restrictions. Africa There are now more than over 22, 000 confirmed cases of coronavirus across Africa, with a number of African countries imposing a range of prevention and containment measures against the spread of the pandemic. According to the latest data by the Africa Center for Disease Control on COVID-19 in Africa, the breakdown remains fluid as countries confirm cases erratically. The whole of Africa has rising cases with only two countries holding out. Comoros and Lesotho in the Southern African region are yet to confirm cases. The death toll in Africa clocked past a thousand threshold. Among the dead is President Muhammadu Buharis Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, who died on Friday. Other prominent people who have succumbed to the deadly disease in the continent of over a billion people include the former president of the Republic of the Congo, Jacques Joachim Yhombi-Opango and Somalias former prime minister, Nur Hassan Hussein. Dozens of health officials have also died. Though the tally is still relatively low compared to global figures, it has doused the debate on the continent having some kind of immunity against COVID-19 due to its sunny temperature. Governments across Africa are now rushing to reinforce measures to contain the spread of the disease, knowing that their fragile health systems will be swiftly overwhelmed if the disease spreads beyond a small number of cases. Algeria has the highest number of fatalities 402 with about 2,910 infections followed by Egypt with 264 deaths and about 3, 490 cases. About 149 deaths and 3, 377 infections have been recorded in Morocco. South Africa has over 3, 465 cases with 58 deaths. Nigeria has recorded 782 infections and 22 deaths. Asked whether the pair were in a romantic relationship, Inspector Stamper said police were unsure and he would not speculate. Carol Clay, 73, never returned to her Pakenham home. Credit:Victoria Police "We dont know the exact nature of the relationship. Obviously, there was a relationship there," he said. "It was a bit of a surprise to [Mr Hills wife] Robyn that Russell and Carol had been camping together but I dont want to speculate on what that relationship was, whether it was two people who enjoyed each other's company and camping in the Australian wilderness." Police have looked into their financial situations, their lifestyles and recent purchases, but Inspector Stamper said nothing indicated they had disappeared on purpose. "The eloping theory, in my mind, is not credible," he said. Grandfather Russell Hill left his Drouin home on March 19 to go camping in the high country. Credit:Victoria Police Mr Hill's family released a statement saying: "It is devastating for our family that we dont know what has happened to them both." Ms Clay's family said they had been dealing with continual stress and loss during the "absolute mystery". "This is a very difficult time for our family. We are living with uncertainty, loss and the continual stress of not knowing where they are and what has happened." Police have not found either of their mobile phones, and the car keys are also missing. There was no mobile phone coverage in the valley where they were camping. "Its unforgiving terrain," Inspector Stamper said. Mr Hill picked Ms Clay up from her home in Pakenham on March 19. Using data from their phones, police have been able to track the route they took to the Wonnangatta Valley, however, once they reached the campsite the phone reception cut out. Mr Hill, an amateur radio enthusiast who was in nightly contact with a tight group of friends, contacted one of his friends on March 20, telling him he was setting up camp but couldnt talk for long as it was getting dark. Mr Hill promised to call back the next day but never did. He operated an amateur radio on the frequency 3.670 and his call sign was VK3 VZP. Anyone who has heard this signal is being urged to contact police. Inspector Stamper said Mr Hill was "fastidious in his camping habits" but neither he nor Ms Clay were experienced bushwalkers, so, police do not believe they would have moved far from the camp. A photo of a DJI brand and Mavic model drone, similar to the one Russell Hill had recently bought. Credit:Victoria Police Mr Hill was learning to use a drone. Inspector Stamper said it was possible they could have been flying the drone and an accident had happened, but police have no evidence at this stage to rule the theory in or out. The drone has not been found. Officers from the Wellington Crime Investigation Unit, the missing persons squad and local search and rescue teams are involved in the investigation. An extensive search over several weeks has been unable to locate the pair and Senior Sergeant Paul said the COVID-19 crisis had made it difficult to get large groups of volunteers into the area to search. Russell Hill and Carol Clay have been missing for more than a month. Inspector Stamper also asked for friends to come forward with any information that could help the search. "I understand there has probably been a lot of speculation and discussion about their disappearance amongst Russell and Carols circle of friends and community," he told ABC radio. "However, if you do have some information that you might have felt uncomfortable speaking to police about previously, then we really need you to come forward now and help us try and find Russell and Carol as soon as possible." During ValueWalks first annual Contrarian Investor Virtual Conference, Nate Anderson of Hindenburg Research presented his short thesis for New Pacific Metals Corp (OTCMKTS: NUPMF). Red flags for New Pacific He said New Pacific CEO Rui Feng is also Chairman and CEO of Silvercorp. The company is backed by Pan American Silver and Silvercorp. He believes unprecedented central bank moves are buying silver prices as investors hope the company's Bolivian silver projects could be world class assets. The company has only one supposedly active mining claim in Bolivia called Silver Sand. However, it may not even have any control over that claim, and investors seem unaware of this. [caption id="attachment_518133" align="aligncenter" width="400"] adult, black, coal, coalminer, dirt, dirty, discovery, excavated, extracted, fingers, geology, grime, grunge, helmet, holding, industrial, industry, job, laborer, male, man, men, metal, mine, mined, miner, mineral, nugget, occupation, people, person, precious, profession, protection, safety, silver, soot, treasure, underground, valuable, wealth, worker Copyright: joebelanger / 123RF Stock Photo[/caption] Q1 2020 hedge fund letters, conferences and more He explained that New Pacific's stock has been helped along by paid promotions. GoldNewsLetter was paid $200,000 to promote the stock and the company, calling it a "world-class silver project." Proactive Canada was paid $25,000 per year to promote the stock. In a newsletter, Stansberry Research declared the project to be "the biggest silver opportunity in 50 years," containing a "mountain of silver. Anderson noted that New Pacific is 85% fundamentally overvalued compared to its peers. new pacific He also called attention to a number of management red flags. He said they are especially litigious and have used state influence and litigation to pressure critics. A short-seller in British Colombia was jailed for speaking out against New Pacific. He emphasized the relationship between New Pacific and Silvercorp. The two share board members, office space and contacts. According to SEDAR, they even shared a mailing address and contact name. Silvercorp owns about 29% of New Pacific. Further, the supposedly independent geologist who prepared New Pacific's report for its flagship Silver Sand property is a former Silvercorp employee. Story continues New Pacific supposedly acquired concessions to the Silver Sand project in mid-2017. However, it isn't actively exploring or developing any properties other than Silver Sand. The project is estimated to be 10 years away from production, but New Pacific shares are up nearly 400% since the purchase was announced. Strong legal start for New Pacific The company was off to a strong start legally. It acquired Bolivian mining entity Alcira in 2017 for $45 million from its Chinese owners. The deal was focused on a 3.17-kilometer core area now referred to as the Silver Sand project. In January 2019, New Pacific announced it had reached a major deal with state mining company COMIBOL and signed a contract for a much larger area of surrounding land. With that deal, New Pacific became the first foreign company to sign a new contract with COMIBOL since President Evo Morales entered office in 2006. It seemed as if the company was on track to win legislative approval to secure and begin exploiting its new, expanded mining areas. However, the Morales administration New Pacific was working with was ousted in a coup in November 2019. In Potosi where the company's mining operations are based, the electoral court was burned to the ground, illustrating just how violent the coup was. New political risk The new administration accused the Morales administration of acts of corruption in relation to New Pacific's project. After the coup, Morales and his minister of mines, Cesar Navarro, fled to Mexico. Just days before he fled, the new minister of mines accused Navarro of corruption in connection to the Alcira deal. Anderson believes the political risk facing New Pacific remains high. Hindenburg hired local consultants to perform checks with local sources and officials. Based on their findings, Anderson's base case is that New Pacific's deal for the expanded mining area will never be ratified. He also expects the Silver Sand property to be contested. If any deal is ever approved, he expects the economics to be worse than the company has advertised. He also said multiple sources have said that there's a potential for graft in the kind of deal Navarro's ministry was putting together with Alcira. Former COMIBOL chairman Hector Cardova said New Pacific's Silver Sand contract is currently suspended. While it's been signed by COMIBOL and the company, it doesn't have parliamentary approval, so it doesn't go into effect. Without framework regulation, he doesn't believe parliament will approve it. A political advisor to the new Bolivian government said that according to the current mining minister, a government-based group had an economic interest in obtaining money from Alcira. The former mines minister described Navarro as "one of the most corrupt ministers there has been" and "always open for business." New Pacific's mining concession may have violated Bolivian law Anderson also believes New Pacific's purchase of the mining concession may even have violated Bolivian law. The country doesn't permit the sale or purchase of mining areas privately. All transactions must be state-approved. The key legal question relates to the company's $45 million purchase of Alcira, the Bolivian entity that controlled its Silver Sand property. Anderson questioned whether New Pacific paid to be able to acquire its concessions, which would probably be illegal, or whether the price tag was purely to acquire Alcira's assets. He said the answer seems clear because the circular detailing the Alcira acquisition indicated that the entity's total assets were worth only $84,131 before the acquisition. He added that New Pacific paid about 85 times more for Alcira than its previous owners, China-based Ningde Jungie, which paid $530,000. Nate also pointed out that New Pacific's flagship property is in a state of legal limbo. The previous owner of Alcira allegedly bought them in violation of the constitution. Thus, the state stripped the mining areas. Navarro initially supported their revocation but then conveniently moved to reinstate the concessions before the sale to New Pacific. The Mines Ministry ruled in January 2016 to overturn AJAM's appeal ruling about the revocation of the Silver Sand concessions. However, that ruling doesn't appear to have overturned the May 2015 decision to revoke Alcira's 17 concessions. That means that while the appeal upholding the revocation was tossed out, the original revocation of the mining concessions was never actually reversed. New Pacific announced the deal to acquire Alcira on Apr. 10, 2017. They spoke with one Bolivian lawmaker who seemed like he may have been willing to accept a bribe in relation to New Pacific. When Hindenburg asked about the company, he offered what sounded like an unsolicited offer to help pass or block the contract between New Pacific and COMIBOL. When asked if that would come at a price, he said yes. Anderson doesn't believe the new Bolivian administration will sign off on the dealings of the old regime. He offered three possible scenarios. The first is total revocation of contracts and mining areas. The second is a renegotiated deal with COMIBOL and the legislation, which would likely be on far less favorable terms. The third is that the deal somehow passes through Bolivia's congress as it is. Management accused of inflating silver grades He also said New Pacific management has been accused of inflating silver grades. In 2011, fraud researcher Jon Carnes, who has one of the best track records in the industry in identifying irregularities with China-based companies, issued a report on related company Silvercorp. The report alleged that the company's technical reports were based on a two-man team that used resource estimates provided by Silvercorp and hadn't visited the site in years. The report also said the quality and resource estimates of its mines were overstated and that a related third-party transaction enriched a relative of CEO Rui Feng. Valuing New Pacific Anderson added that New Pacific's balance sheet shows 30 cents per share in liquidation value excluding the mining interests. He said the company had about C$43 million in current liquid assets, including C$33.6 million in cash and C$8.7 million in bonds. He said technical analysis indicates that the company's Silver Sand project is only worth about 29 cents per share (Canadian). Nate added that the Potosi region is well-known for its world-class silver deposits, especially the Cerro Rico mine. Over 2 billion ounces of silver have been mined from there since 1545. However, the sheer quantity and grade of the silver there has resulted in decades of exploitation and abuse by the Spanish empire and other foreign entities since the discovery, resulting in the deaths of about 8 million people. Due to the history and social and political backdrop, silver deposits in Potosi need to be "world-class" for it to be worthwhile for mining companies and their investors to try to develop the deposits. Thus, Anderson argues that there was 90% downside to New Pacific shares before today's presentation, resulting in a price target of 37 cents per share (Canadian) for the stock. Hindenburg is short both New Pacific and its related entity Silvercorp. Disclosure: No Positions Related Content Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Michael Mathes (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States Wed, April 22, 2020 09:35 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd37196e 2 Business united-states,senate,relief-aid,Donald-Trump,COVID-19,coronavirus Free The United States Senate approved a bipartisan, nearly half-trillion-dollar coronavirus relief package Tuesday, with funding earmarked for devastated small businesses, overwhelmed hospitals, and a ramp-up of testing nationwide during the pandemic. The essential job-saving measure, which passed by unanimous consent after more than a week of negotiations between Democrats, Republicans and the White House, now heads to the House of Representatives where a vote could occur as early as Thursday. The effort is the government's latest massive cash infusion to prop up a collapsing economy amid struggles to contain a pandemic that has killed 43,000 Americans and left some 22 million people jobless. "This is a significant package," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, one which was cobbled together "on a crash timeline in these most unusual circumstances." Read also: Trump sees crimson as Harvard receives millions in virus aid, wants it back The measure builds on the US$2.2 trillion rescue legislation the largest-ever federal intervention in the US economy signed into law last month. President Donald Trump called on Congress to swiftly send him the bill, which would re-fund a program that has already helped more than 1.6 million businesses, so he can sign it into law. "I urge the House to pass the bill, and they'll be voting on it, I imagine, very soon," he said. Late last month, with many shops and restaurants nationwide forced to shutter due to the pandemic, the government launched the PPP to provide $350 billion in what were essentially grants as long as businesses use the funds to pay their workers. Banks were flooded with requests, and the money quickly ran out. The new tranche would include $320 billion in small business funding, plus $75 billion for hospitals and $25 billion to expand coronavirus testing, McConnell said. Read also: Requests for loan restructuring on the rise as COVID-19 hits P2P borrowers It also provides $60 billion in disaster recovery loans and grants, he added. "We have taken a giant step forward" towards providing more relief for small businesses and for first responders in hospitals, top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said. Schumer claimed Democratic victory for obtaining funding for testing, and he praised Trump, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and chief of staff Mark Meadows for agreeing to include it. "We will not get America moving again until we have a national, well thought out, well executed testing program and this administration doesn't have one," Schumer said. State funding later Republicans wanted to pass a measure to fund just the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses, but ultimately testing and hospital funding was included. Schumer said considerable PPP money will be reserved for minority-run small businesses and those without access to large financial institutions. The deal leaves out a key Democratic demand: extra funding for state and local governments battling the pandemic. Trump said he wants such funding included in the next coronavirus rescue package, and congressional leaders said the forthcoming bill was already in the works. Read also: Will Indonesias telemedicine start-ups be the next unicorns? The next measure will be "bigger, bolder, better" than the interim deal, Schumer said. With the 100-member Senate having postponed its full sessions until May 4 due to coronavirus, Tuesday's vote occurred during a pro forma session, which usually features few lawmakers but can pass legislation if there is unanimous consent. The measure passed, but McConnell made clear any subsequent aid package, including funding for state and local governments, would only be considered "when the Senate is back in session, with full participation" in Washington. A vote in the House, also on recess, this week could be complicated. The House is unlikely to pass the job-saving package by unanimous consent as the Senate did. Number two Democrat Steny Hoyer said it likely will have to convene a House session where more than half the members return to Washington to attend. Carol Peace sat in the drivers seat of her car Wednesday morning. As the dark-colored sedan moved forward around the Harbor Square Mall parking lot, her trunk was popped open, and she was prepared to show her identification card. Peace, a member of the UNITE HERE Local 54 casino union, has not worked for more than five weeks after the casinos were shut down to limit the spread of the coronavirus. She, along with many others from her union, was in line to receive a food donation box from the Community Food Bank of New Jersey. Not working means I have to worry about money a little bit. I wonder if we are going to go back to work at the casinos. It is sad that we need this. These are people with jobs. I hope there is a treatment for this soon. Peace and others were in line to receive 14-day supply boxes of food with fresh produce. The food distribution was specifically for Local 54, the casino hospitality union members, to have 40 meals for themselves and their families. The demand was so large that, at times, a line almost two miles long wrapped around the Egg Harbor Township mall. James and Viviana Gallagher are also casino workers who were in line to pick up food. The two currently are on unemployment but are looking forward to things returning to normal. We have to have faith with this, said James. Hopefully, this will come to an end, and people will protect themselves, and we will pray for the people who have gotten sick and who have died. We will just do our best. That is the best we can do. We are making the best out of this, Viviana added. We are trying to be positive and spend time with the family. Local 54 President Bob McDevitt said the union has been helping the members with the unemployment process. McDevitt hopes the casinos will be able to open by mid-May to alleviate the situation for the union members, some of whom have not received any source of income for a long time. From the top of the state to the bottom of the state, the hospitality industry is huge, and the workers are all being affected by this, McDevitt said. They exhausted their unemployment because they took partial unemployment over the slower wintertime months, and they qualify for nothing. They are not getting the $600 yet because the state is still processing that, so there are many people who have not gotten a paycheck in almost six weeks. Traffic is backed up along East Black Horse Pike near the intersection with Uibel Avenue in Egg Harbor Township for the food giveaway for casino workers Wednesday morning, April 22, 2020. Roads were backed up for miles for the giveaway in response to the coronavirus outbreak. (Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Kimberly Arroyo has worked at the Community Food Bank of New Jersey for eight years. Arroyo said the demand for food in the area has increased drastically. She, along with dozens of Food Bank workers, was helping pass out boxes, unload a couple of tractor-trailers worth of food, and help move the traffic through the mall parking lot with the assistance of the Egg Harbor Township Police Department. Just in our on-site panty location, the demand has tripled, Arroyo said. We service between 700 and 800 families a month. That has tripled since the coronavirus started. Even after people go back to work, people are going to have to catch up on bills, so the food need is still going to be there. Arroyo added the families were appreciative of the distribution, even with the large turnout. The families are very appreciative of what we have been giving. We did not anticipate this many people coming out because we want to help as many people as we can. The casino industry supports many of our South Jersey residents, and they and non-casino residents went dark on the same day. We are going to offer any assistance that we can. Food is loaded into vehicles during a food giveaway for casino workers in Egg Harbor Township, Wednesday, April 22, 2020. Casino employees have been out of work since the casinos were shut down due to the coronavirus outbreak. (Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) In addition to Wednesdays distribution, the Food Bank also has mobile pantries as well as the on-site pantry at 6735 Black Horse Pike in Egg Harbor Township. More information on how to donate to the Food Bank can be found at cfbnj.org. Anyone also needing food is also in need of food can visit cfbnj.org/findfood to locate a FoodBank partner near them. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription. Chris Franklin Here may be reached at cfranklin@njadvancemedia.com. Kano, the state with the third highest number of coronavirus cases in Nigeria, has suspended testing for the disease, an official has said. The testing for the coronavirus was suspended at the Kano test centre following the dearth of materials. A member of Kano COVID-19 taskforce, Sadiq Isah, a professor, told BBC Hausa Service that the testing was suspended in Kano centre because they lack some basic needs in the centre. COVID-19 is a deadly respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus. Mr Isah said henceforth, all suspected cases would be transported to Abuja for testing before announcing the result. The official said they have notified the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) about the development. He said Kano would resume testing for coronavirus as soon as all the needed materials are available in the centre. Mr Isah said suspending the coronavirus test in Kano was a great setback in the fight against the spread of the disease in the state, which accounts for almost 10 per cent of the total 782 coronavirus cases in Nigeria and whose figure has risen daily for the past week. The COVID-19 testing centre, domiciled at Malam Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, hosts many Northern states suspected cases. Experts say testing capacity is a major step in fighting the spread of coronavirus. The challenge faced in Kano, typifies the challenge of testing Nigeria has faced since the first case of the disease was detected in the country in February. Nigeria has tested less than 15,000 people so far, across the country, less than a quarter of the number tested in smaller African countries like Ghana and South Africa. Nigeria, on Tuesday, recorded its highest daily figure since its first COVID-19 case in February as 117 cases were reported by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). With the latest update, the total tally of infected people in the country rose to 782 from 665 reported on Monday evening. The public health agency in a tweet Tuesday night said that new cases were reported in eight states. These are Lagos, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kano, Katsina,Ogun, Rivers, Bauchi and Borno states. All the cases were reported in states with existing cases. A breakdown of the latest update shows that 59 of the new cases were reported in Lagos, 29 in the FCT, 14 in Kano, six in Borno, four in Katsina, three in Ogun, and one each in Rivers and Bauchi. NCDC said as of 11:25 p.m. on April 21, there were 782 confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported in Nigeria. Of these, 197 infected people have recovered and have been discharged while the death toll rose to 25 from 22 reported on Monday . A breakdown of all the cases shows that Lagos State has so far reported 430 cases, followed by FCT 118, Kano 73, Osun and Ogun 20, Oyo and Katsina 16 cases each, Edo 15, while Kwara, Kaduna, Borno and Akwa Ibom have recorded nine cases each. On April 20, 1980, the Castro regime made a surprise announcement that would allow all Cubans who wished to leave the communist country to board boats at the port of Mariel in Havana and flee to the United States. For Sonia Chao, a young Cuban American and University of Miami student, the unprecedented decision was met with mixed emotion. I recalled thinking that my father was crazy for being among the first to leave on a boat headed towards Mariel harbor, in an effort to retrieve my family members who were living on the island. I was extremely anxious, but on the other hand, I was excited to be able to meet family members for the first time, said Chao, who is now a research associate professor and director ofthe School of Architectures Center for Urban & Community Design. The exodus was a result of a decision by Cuban leader Fidel Castro after thousands of asylum seekers took refuge in the Peruvian embassy in Cuba. Within a span of several months, more than 125,000 Cubans packed hundreds of boats and made the journey across the Florida Straits to the U.S., predominantly settling in South Florida. The mass immigration into Miami brought a wide range of responses from those who were already living in the area. We witnessed different reactions. There was initial joy by many Cuban Americans because they were able to reunite with their family members, meanwhile rumors circulated of how some of the jails and insane asylums might have been emptied out by Castro, Chao said. While it was later confirmed that Castro forced private vessels from the U.S. to take released inmates on board, Chao explained that the mass immigration played a pivotal role in shaping Miami into what it is today. From its earliest days, Miami has been defined by altering waves of corruption and of natural disasters. The boatlift happened during a period of Miamis history defined by illegal [drug-related] activities that were already happening before the boatlift. As it turns out, some Cubans arriving by way of the flotillas did end up being involved in illegal activities. On the other hand, the great majority of individuals and families were wonderful human beings whos aim was to be a part of and contribute towards a productive society and they did so despite many hurdles, she said. Chao learned about the stories of these immigrants firsthand when she decided to help process the flow of people into Miami while she was a student in the School of Architecture. A group of us at the then department of Architecture learned the news that the processing centers were looking for individuals who were bilingual and who could help in trying to filling out the initial paperwork with the Cubans who were arriving, so we decided to volunteer and help in any way we could, Chao explained. Her goal while volunteering was to help make the process more comforting to those who were scared. I just thought about my family members arriving in a country where they didnt speak the language and how that must feel disorienting, so I thought why not help make that process less intimidating and less painful, she added. She remembers the different emotions that filled the immigration tents initially located near Krome Avenue in Florida City. Often the fear was palpable and the mental and physical exhaustion apparent. There were families who were happy to be in the United States, but who were also confused and not sure what would happen next. They werent guaranteed they would actually get to stay, so trying to help reduce their anxiety and stress levels, by providing them with information and an awareness of the process was part of the roll I felt I had, she recounts. Lillian Manzor, who is also Cuban American and an associate professor in the College of Arts and Sciences and founding director of the Cuban Theater Digital Archive, explained that the people who immigrated to Miami during the boatlift came from all walks of life. There were people of all ages, from kids to senior citizens to gay and straight, as well as a large percentage of Afro-Cuban descendants and the working class, Manzor noted. The impact of having such a large group of Cubans all of a sudden really shifted the demographics of the city. She believes that in many ways, they had a strong influence in shaping what Miami is today. There were also a large number of artists, writers, painters, directors, filmmakers, and actors who changed the cultural life of Miami for the better, Manzor added. People experienced multiple sides of Miami. Some folks chose to see the negative impact, but the truth is that the majority of changes were positive and contributed to Miamis economic growth and helped Miami transform into an economic and cultural hub, Chao pointed out. Manzor has introduced a new course at the University of Miami that will teach students more about this important time in history, and she will take advantage of year-long programs organized by the Cuban Heritage Collection to supplement her instruction. I am working with Dr. Michael Bustamante, a colleague from FIU, and together we are going to analyze not only the impact of the Mariel Boatlift in the 1980s, but also the antecedents of what was happening in Cuba and Miami before it happened, she said. She hopes to cover a variety of other topics including the complex relationship between Cuba and the U.S. during the midst of the Cold War, along with the changes in immigration policies throughout the years. During the course we want to incorporate and invite faculty members and people of the community who lived in Miami or South Florida during the Mariel era and can speak about their experience to students, she remarked. We also hope to bring in colleagues from the medical school and public health sector who can speak about the AIDs epidemic and migration, she added. Manzor believes courses like this are necessary to keep important pieces of history alive. Historically, the Mariel Boatlift has tended to disappear from many peoples memories, Manzor said. Given that South Florida was the epicenter of this mass migration, I think its important to approach it from an interdisciplinary perspective and bring a more nuanced understanding of what happened at this time in history. Arshad Khan By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, hospitality firm Oyo Rooms has asked all its employees to take 25 per cent pay cuts for four months April to July and is sending a significant chunk of is employees on furlough from May 4 till end of August. The decision to streamline workforce comes weeks after Oyo had stated revenue drop of 50-60 per cent due to the coronavirus outbreak. According to the company, the salary cut will not affect employees earning less than Rs 5 lakh per annum. We had to also take the hard decision of placing some OYOpreneurs on a Leave With Limited Benefits (LwLB) from May 4, 2020, for four months until August 2020...Our company is taking a difficult but necessary step for India, whereby we are asking all OYOprenuers to accept a reduction in their fixed compensation by 25 per cent, effective till July 2020 payroll, Oyo India CEO Rohit Kapoor told employees at a town hall on Wednesday. It may be noted that Oyo calls its employees OYOpreneurs. While those getting furloughed will avail benefits such as the continuation of medical insurance and parental insurance, school fee reimbursement and ex-gratia support, contract will remain unchanged for employees taking a salary cut. A senior employee at Oyo, who has been asked to go on a furlough, expressed his displeasure on the latest development and said that the company should have gone for more aggressive pay cut for employees earning over Rs 10 lakhs per annum. No money for four consecutive months at a time when there are no jobs in the market is a harsh, the employee said, adding that the company had in January let go some 2,000 employees. Shanghai Electric Group Company Limited (HKG:2727) shareholders will have a reason to smile today, with the analysts making substantial upgrades to this year's forecasts. The consensus statutory numbers for both revenue and earnings per share (EPS) increased, with their view clearly much more bullish on the company's business prospects. The market may be pricing in some blue sky too, with the share price gaining 13% to CN2.37 in the last 7 days. We'll be curious to see if these new estimates convince the market to lift the stock price higher still. Following the upgrade, the latest consensus from Shanghai Electric Group's five analysts is for revenues of CN133b in 2020, which would reflect a credible 4.4% improvement in sales compared to the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are forecast to be CN0.23, approximately in line with the last 12 months. Prior to this update, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of CN107b and earnings per share (EPS) of CN0.20 in 2020. There has definitely been an improvement in perception recently, with the analysts substantially increasing both their earnings and revenue estimates. Check out our latest analysis for Shanghai Electric Group SEHK:2727 Past and Future Earnings April 22nd 2020 Although the analysts have upgraded their earnings estimates, there was no change to the consensus price target of CN2.71, suggesting that the forecast performance does not have a long term impact on the company's valuation. There's another way to think about price targets though, and that's to look at the range of price targets put forward by analysts, because a wide range of estimates could suggest a diverse view on possible outcomes for the business. Currently, the most bullish analyst values Shanghai Electric Group at CN3.64 per share, while the most bearish prices it at CN2.07. Analysts definitely have varying views on the business, but the spread of estimates is not wide enough in our view to suggest that extreme outcomes could await Shanghai Electric Group shareholders. Story continues Another way we can view these estimates is in the context of the bigger picture, such as how the forecasts stack up against past performance, and whether forecasts are more or less bullish relative to other companies in the industry. It's pretty clear that there is an expectation that Shanghai Electric Group's revenue growth will slow down substantially, with revenues next year expected to grow 4.4%, compared to a historical growth rate of 7.8% over the past five years. Juxtapose this against the other companies in the industry with analyst coverage, which are forecast to grow their revenues (in aggregate) 1.7% next year. Even after the forecast slowdown in growth, it seems obvious that Shanghai Electric Group is also expected to grow faster than the wider industry. The Bottom Line The biggest takeaway for us from these new estimates is that analysts upgraded their earnings per share estimates, with improved earnings power expected for this year. Fortunately, analysts also upgraded their revenue estimates, and our data indicates sales are expected to perform better than the wider market. The lack of change in the price target is puzzling, but with a serious upgrade to this year's earnings expectations, it might be time to take another look at Shanghai Electric Group. Still, the long-term prospects of the business are much more relevant than next year's earnings. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for Shanghai Electric Group going out to 2022, and you can see them free on our platform here.. Another thing to consider is whether management and directors have been buying or selling stock recently. We provide an overview of all open market stock trades for the last twelve months on our platform, here. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. Any study of the history of plagues and pandemics teaches us one great truth: we are immensely fortunate to live in the time we do. We have an advanced science of epidemiology and a global infrastructure to address the disease. We understand infection and contagion. We know what causes pandemics. We know how a virus works in the human body. We have ways to test people for the virus. We understand the concept of vaccines and we have incredibly sophisticated laboratories that can produce them, and indeed mass produce them. We have efficient global distribution networks. We have the Internet, including social media, to get important information into the hands of most of the people on earth more or less simultaneously. This differentiates us from almost every previous epidemic and gives us an enormous comparative advantage.Much of the terror of previous epidemics was caused by ignorance. Those afflicted with the disease did not know what it was, who or what caused it, where it came from, how to prevent it or how to treat it. It felt (as this coronavirus does for each of us at times, no matter what our rational intelligence tells us) like a visitation from the gods or an angry God. We also have the capacity to get on top of modern pandemics fairly quickly, if not to nip them in the bud, as with the Ebola outbreak of 2014, at least to prevent them from becoming the Influenza Pandemic of 1918 (50-70 million dead) or the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia in 1793 (one in 10 dead). We should all bow down to the Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, and their aftermath. The smallpox epidemic of 1837-38 among the Mandan Indians of what is now North Dakota is a chilling case in point. Prelude The First Catastrophe: 1781-1782 The first great smallpox epidemic on the Great Plains occurred in 1781-82, well before white people arrived among the Mandan and Hidatsa Indians of what is now North Dakota. Think of this. Smallpox brought to the New World by white men got to the Upper Missouri region before the first white explorers and traders arrived! Disease travels fast. Apparently an individual or individuals of a tribe that lived in the vicinity of St. Louis (founded 1764) got the infection and inadvertently took it back to their tribe, from which it moved tribe by tribe up the Missouri River from what may have been incidental contact. It has been estimated that the 1781-82 epidemic killed 13,000 Mandan, Arikara, and Hidatsa, some 68 percent of their whole population. The disease was much more devastating to the Mandan, Arikara, Pawnee, and Hidatsa, who lived in semi-permanent earthlodge villages, than to other tribes that practiced a more nomadic lifestyle. Population density coupled with sedentary lifestyles proved to be a particularly deadly combination.When Lewis and Clark arrived at their first aggregation of earthlodge villages in what is now northern South Dakota in early October 1804, they found evidence of catastrophe. Several of the villages they saw from their boats were abandoned. When the captains visited the mounded semi-subterranean lodges of several of these villages, they found evidence of hasty evacuation: squash still growing in the fields, mats, baskets, and bullboats in and around the lodges. What Lewis and Clark could not know, but sensed, was that the smallpox epidemic of 1781-82 had shattered Arikara life. Historians estimate that as many as 75 percent of the Arikara had perished in the epidemic. From approximately 18,000 in as many as 18 villages stretching over 200 miles of Missouri River frontage, the Arikara had been reduced to perhaps a thousand individuals living in just three villages. The survivors had found each other like refugees in a post-apocalyptic film. Lewis and Clark discovered that some of the people living in the three inhabited villages near the mouth of the Grand River were suffering from post-traumatic social breakdown: the Arikara dialects were sufficiently different to cause linguistic confusion and incomprehension; there were great tensions among the remaining leaders (chiefs), because the people of many previous villages were now jumbled into three, and men formerly held in the highest esteem had to compete for a limited number of leadership positions. As historian James Ronda put it, the waves of disease so shattered the ranks of chiefs, elders, bundle holders, and important women as to make future intervillage leadership highly unlikely. . . intense factionalism flared between dozens of once powerful chiefs and warriors. The Mandan Indians lived in semi-subterranean dwellings called earth lodges. They were semi-sedentary, not nomadic, and therefore more susceptible to epidemics. Lewis and Clark were not quite sure what had happened to decimate the Arikara sevenfold. They hastened on to the Mandan and Hidatsa villages in central North Dakota where things seemed better. After 1782, the Mandan had abandoned a dozen or so villages at the mouth of the Heart River near todays Bismarck, N.D., and relocated themselves in two villages at the mouth of the Knife River, 100 miles north, near their cultural and linguistic cousins the Hidatsa. Round Two: The Shattering of the Mandan Nation In the late spring of 1837, the steamboatwas on its way from St. Louis to Fort Union in what is now northwestern North Dakota, carrying trade goods to distribute among American Fur Company trading forts on that 1,900-mile stretch of the Missouri River. Steamboat traffic on the Missouri River was just five years old in 1837. The AFCs boat visited each upriver village twice each summer: once, filled with trade goods, mail, old newspapers, whiskey and agency personnel in May or June, and a second time as it returned to St. Louis with peltries, artifacts and discharged employees of the company. Thearrived in Fort Leavenworth (todays Kansas) on April 29. A deckhand exhibited signs of smallpox at that time. Although the captain of the boat knew that smallpox was far more devastating to Native Americans than to white people, he neither removed the infected individual nor paused long enough for the contagion to run its course among his crew. Somewhere farther upriver, thetook on board three Arikara women, each of whom had been infected, to return them to their home villages in todays North Dakota. At 3 p.m. on Monday, June 19, thearrived at Fort Clark on the south bank of the Missouri River at the base of the Mandan and Hidatsa villages. Attempts to keep the Native Americans of the area away from the boat failed. It was the annual arrival of industrial trade goods, which were now a vital part of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara economies, and eager individuals flocked to the dockside. As the trade goods were unloaded, there was much Frolicking at Fort Clark that night. It was just then that the second great smallpox epidemic came to the Mandan people. As historian Elizabeth Fenn has written, We may never know the precise moment or mechanism that launched the virus into circulation. But one thing is clear: The stage was set for disaster. The next day, Tuesday, June 20, 1837, thecontinued its journey to Fort Union near todays Williston, N.D. It took a little over two weeks for the epidemic to overcome its incubation period and touch off the death rattle of the Mandan nation. The factor at Fort Clark, American Fur Company employee Francis Chardon, kept a running tally of the dead in his company journal. It is the best account we have of the smallpox epidemic. It is a horrifying document to read. I quote here only a fraction of his journal entries: Friday, July 14, 1837: A young Mandan died to day of the Small Pox several others has caught it. Monday, July 17: An other case of the small pox broke out to day at the Village. Tuesday, July 25: Several Young Men arrived from the dried Meat Camp they say that the small pox has broke out at the Camp. Wednesday, July 26: The 4 Bears (Mandan) has caught the small pox, and got crazy and has disappeared from camp he arrived here in the afternoon. The Indians of the Little Village all arrived in the evening well loaded with dried Meat the small pox has broke out among them, several has died. Thursday, July 27: The small pox is Killing them up at the Village, four died to day. Friday, July 28: This day was very Near being my last a Young Mandan came to the Fort with his gun cocked, and secreted under his robe, with the intention of Killing me, after hunting me in 3 or 4 of the houses he at last found me, the door being shut, he waited some time for me to come out, just as I was in the act of going out, Mitchel caught him, and gave him in the hands of two Indians who conducted him to the Village. The Mandans & Rees gave us two splendid dances, they say they dance, on account of their Not having a long time to live, as they expect to all die of the small pox. Saturday, July 29: Several more Mandans died last night. Two Gros Ventres [Hidatsa] arrived from their dried Meat Camp, it appears that it has no broke out among them as yet. Sunday, July 30: [The Gros Ventres] threaten Death and Distruction to us all at this place, saying that I was the cause of the small pox Making its appearance in this countryOne of our best friends of the Village (The Four Bears) died to day, regretted by all who Knew him. Saturday, August 5: News from the Gros Ventres, they say that they are encamped this side of Turtle Mountain [the Killdeer Mountains], and that a great many of them have died of the small poxseveral chiefs among them. They swear vengeance against all the Whites, as they say the small pox was brought here by the S.B. [steamboat]. Monday, August 7: Six more died to day. Tuesday, August 8: Four More died to daythe two thirds of the Village are sick, to day I gave six pounds of Epsom salts in doses to Men, Women, and children, the small pox has broke out at the Little Mandan Villagethree died yesterday, two chiefs. Thursday, August 10: All the Rees that were encamped in the Mandan lodges, except a few that are sick, Moved down to the Island hopeing to get rid of the small poxthe Mandans talk of Moveing to the other side of the river, 12 or 15 died to day. Friday, August 11: Mandans all crossed to the other side of the river to encampleaveing all that were sick in the Village, I Keep no a/c [account] of the dead, as they die so fast that it is impossible. Sunday, August 13: an Old fellow who has lost the whole of his family to the Number of 14, harrangued to day, that it was time to begin to Kill the Whites, as it was them that brought the small pox in the Country. Monday, August 14: The Rees [Arikara] are Makeing Medicine for their sickness. Some of them have made dreams, that they talked to the Sun, others to the Moon, several articles has been sacrifised to them boththe Principal Cheif of the Mandans died to dayThe Wolf Cheif)An other dog, from the Little Village came to the Fort naked with his gun cocked, to Kill one of us, We stopped him. Wednesday, August 16: Several Men, Women, and Children that has been abandoned in the Village, are laying dead in the lodges, some out side of the Village, others in the little river not entered, which creates a very bad smell all around usA Ree that has lost his wife and child threatened us to dayWe are beset by enemies on all sidesexpecting to be shot every Minute. Thursday, August 17: the Indians dying off every dayW[h]ere the disease to stop, I Know notWe are badly situated, as we are threatened to be Murdered by the Indians every instant, however we are all determined, and Prepared for the worst I have hoisted the Black flag. Friday, August 18: An old Ree started this Morning to pay a visit to the Gros Ventres, the Soldiers would not let him enter the Village, they have made a quarantine and they will permit no one from this place to come near them. . . Nothing but an occasional glass of grog Keeps me alive as I am worried almost to death by the Indians and Whites, the latter (the men) threaten to leave me. Saturday, August 19: a Mandan and his Wife Killed themselves yesterday, to not Out live their relations that are deadI was in hopes that the disease was almost at an end, but they are dying off 8 and 10 every dayand new cases of it dailyW[h]ere it will stop God only Knows. Sunday, August 30: Three more died in the Village last nightThe Wife of a young Mandan that caught the disease was suffering from the pain, her husband looked at her, and held down his head, he jumped up, and said to his wife, when you was young, you were hansome, you are now ugly and going to leave me, but no, I will go with you, he took up his gun and shot her dead, and with his Knife ripped open his own bellyA young Ree that has been sick for some time with the small pox, and being alone in his lodge, thought that it was better to die, than to be in so much pain, he began to rub the scabs until blood was running all over his body, he rolled himself in the ashes, which almost burnt his soul out of his bodytwo days after he was perfectly well, it is a sever operation, but few are disposed to try ithowever it proved beneficial to him. Tuesday, August 22: The disease still Keeps ahead 8 and 10 die off daily, Thirty five Mandans have died, the Women and children I Keep no account ofA Ree that has the small pox, and thinking that he was going to die, approached near his wife, a young woman of 19and struck her in the head with is tomahawk, with the intent to Kill her, that she might go with him in the Outer Worldshe is badly wounded, a few Minutes after he cut his throat, a report is in Circulation, that they intend to fire the FortStationed guards in the Bastion. Friday, August 25: An other Mandan cheif died to day(The long fingers) total Number of Men that has died50. I have turned out to be a first rate doctor St. Grado, An Indian that has been bleeding at the Nose all day, I gave him a decoction of all sorts of ingredients Mixed together, enough to Kill a Buffaloe Bull of the largest size, and stopped the effusion of Blood I done it out of experiment, and am content to say that it proved effectual, the Confidence that an Indian has in the Medicine of the whites, is half the cure. Sunday, August 27: News from the Gros Ventres of the disease breaking out amongst them. Tuesday, August 29: Last Night I was taken very sick with the Fever, there is six of us in the Fort that has the Fever, and one the small poxAn Indian Vaccinated his child, by cutting two small pieces of flesh out of his arms, and two on the bellyand then takeing a Scab from one, that was getting well of the disease, and rubbing it on the wounded part, three days after, it took effect, and the child is perfectly well. Wednesday, August 30: All those that I thought had the small pox turned out to be true, the fever left them yesterday, and the disease showed itself. I am perfectly well, as last night, I took a hot whiskey punch, which made me sweat all last night, this Morning I took my daily Bitters as usual. Thursday, August 31: Month of August, I bid you farewell with all my heart, after running twenty hair breadths escapes, threatened every instant to be all murdered, however it is the wish of humble servant that the Month of September will be more favorable, the Number of Deaths up to the Present is very near five hundredThe Mandans are all cut off, except 23 young and Old Men. Friday, September 1: This Morning two dead bodies, wrapped in a White skin, and laid on a raft passed by the Fort, on their way to the regions below, May success attend them. Monday, September 4: a young Mandan that was given over for dead, and abandoned by his Father, and left alone in the bushes to die, came to life again, and is now doing well, he is hunting his Father, with the intent to Kill him, for leaveing him alone. Thursday, September 7: The disease not yet over, five and six die off daily. Friday, September 15: Two men arrived late last Night in a Canoe from Fort Union. The disease has broke Out at the Assinneboines and Black feet, several had died. Tuesday, September 19: I was visited by a young fellow from the little Village, he assures Me that there is but 14 of them liveing, the Number of deaths Cannot be less than 800What a band of RASCALS has been used up. Friday, September 22: My youngest son died to day. Saturday, September 30: Two More Rees died to day, with the Small Pox, several More are sick at the Village. All the Rees and Mandans, Mens Womens and Children, have had the disease, except a few Old Ones, that had it in Old times, it has distroyed the seven eights of the Mandans and one half of the Rees Nations, the Rees are encamped With the Gros Ventres have just Caught it. No doubt but the one half of them will die alsoas they talk of removeing down to this place. Tuesday, October 17: all the Indians have decamped, except one lodge, that has lately Caught the disease. Sunday, December 31: the rest of the Lodges are scattered, on the Little Missohe has had No News of them, for two Months, in all probability they are all Dead, the last News that he had form them was, that 117 had died, and the disease was still rageing. Saturday, January 27, 1838: The Small Pox still ravageing. In his revisionist history,, Ward Churchill argued that the U.S. Army distributed blankets infected with smallpox to the Mandan to wipe them out. He provided no proof of his assertion, which makes no sense for at least two reasons. First, the Mandan had a longstanding reputation as good Indians in white mans circles. They had befriended Lewis and Clark and provided food, horses, and other supplies to Fort Mandan, which was built just across from the lowest of the Mandan villages, Mituntanka. Thereafter, Mandan had been uniformly hospitable to white traders, trappers, explorers, and army personnel. It would have been perverse to punish Native people who were known as friendlies. Second, the American Fur Company depended on the large concentrations of population at the earthlodge villages to prosper in the fur trade. The AFC would not have wanted one of its prime customer bases to be impaired, nor would the Army have contemplated an attack on the Mandan without consulting with the white individuals and businesses that had a physical presence on the Upper Missouri. Still Even if the smallpox epidemic was not deliberately introduced among the villager Indians as germ warfare, the responsibility lies with the white traders and transport crew, who chose profit over precaution after smallpox was discovered aboard the St. Peters as far down the Missouri River as northern Kansas. Just as we have learned to distinguish open from structural racism, so, too, we can differentiate deliberate genocide from appalling indifference that has genocidal ramifications. If the crew of the St. Peters had waited in Nebraska until all possibility of contagion was over, they might have been unable to ascend the Missouri River after the summer rise was over and thus lost a good deal of money, but they would have saved thousands of lives. The Mandan routinely created these stark monuments to the dead on the margins of their villages. Instead, they reckoned they could deliver the steamboat all the way to Fort Union, and somehow keep native peoples from getting close enough to the vessel to become infected. It was a cynical throw of dice representing life and death for Missouri River Indians, born of a sense of cultural superiority so deeply rooted that the steamboat crew could not see Native Americans as worthy of special precautions. As professor Fenn concludes, it represented willful neglect of staggering proportions. In fact, this catastrophe was preventable in several ways. The previous year a smallpox vaccination crew had been dispatched by the U.S. Army up the Missouri River. It had considerable success in vaccinating Native Americans in the Missouri corridor, but an early winter stopped the teams upriver progress before they reached the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara villages. Over the winter of 1837-38, the U.S. Army decided not to continue the vaccination program, and openly declared that the Mandan and their cousins were no longer central enough to the trade economy to merit vaccination. If the previous winter had come later or if the U.S. Army had continued its vaccination program, thousands of Native Americans, including the overwhelming majority of the Mandan, could have been saved. You cannot read accounts of this plague without becoming sick with grief and shame.The Mandan people were sophisticated. They had no idea of what smallpox was and how the contagion worked, but they knew it came from white men. The best estimates are that the Mandan had a population of around 2,000 at the time of the 1838 epidemic. If so, more than 93 percent of the Mandan died in the epidemic. A leader of Mituntanka known to whites as Four Bears, but whose name was Mato-Tope, fell ill with the disease on July 26. Four days later, horribly disfigured and dying, he delivered his death speech, which was recorded by Francis Chardon in his journal. My Friends one and all, Listen to what I have to sayEver since I can remember, I have loved the Whites, I have lived With them ever since I was a Boy, and to the best of my Knowledge, I have never Wronged a White Man, on the Contrary, I have always Protected them from the insults of Others, Which they cannot deny. The 4 Bears never saw a White Man hungry, but what he gave him to eat, Drink, and a Buffalo skin to sleep on, in time of Need. I was always ready to die for them, Which they cannot deny. I have done every thing that a red Skin could do for them, and how have they repaid it! Wth ingratitude! I have Never Called a White Man a Dog, but to day, I do Pronounce them to be a set of Black harted Dogs, they have deceived Me, them that I always considered as Brothers, has turned Out to be My Worst enemies. I have been in Many Battles, and often Wounded, but the Wounds of My enemies I exhalt in, but to day I am Wounded, and by Whom, by those same White Dogs that I have always Considered, and treated as Brothers. I do not fear Death my friends. You Know it, but to die with my face rotten, that even the Wolves will shrink with horror at seeing Me, and say to themselves, that is the 4 Bears the Friend to the Whites Listen well what I have to say, as it will be the last time you will hear Me. think of your Wives, Children, Brothers, Sisters, Friends, and in fact all that you hold dear, are all Dead, or Dying, with their faces all rotten, caused by those dogs the whites, think of all that[,] My friends, and rise all together and Not leave one of them alive. The 4 Bears will act his Part. Six years later, the ornithologist John Jacob Audubon added haunting details to the story. A great chief who had been a constant friend to the whites, having caught the pest, and being almost at the last extremity, dressed himself in his fineries, mounted his war-steed, and, fevered and in agony, rode among the villages, speaking against the whites, urging the young warriors to charge upon them and destroy them all. Mato-Tope died within hours of delivering his farewell address. Such Mandans as survived did not seek retaliation against the white men who occupied their homeland. The great Mandan leader Mato-Tope (Four Bears) cursed his former white friends as he died of the smallpox. It is true that Mato-Tope had been a steady friend to white trappers, traders, and explorers. He was painted by both Karl Bodmer in 1834 and George Catlin in 1832. He was universally regarded in white circles as an extraordinary man, warrior, and Mandan leader. George Catlin wrote, an extraordinary man, though second in office, [he] is undoubtedly the first and most popular man in the nation. Free, generous, elegant and gentlemanly in his deportment---handsome, brave and valiant; wearing a robe on his back, with the history of his battles emblazoned on it; which would fill a book of themselves, if properly translated . . . I looked out of the door of the wigwam, and saw him approaching with a firm and elastic step, accompanied by a great crowd of women and children, who were gazing on him with admiration, and escorting him to my room. No tragedian ever trod the stage, nor gladiator ever entered the Roman Forum, with more grace and manly dignity than did Mah-to-toh-pa enter the wigwam. Mato-Tope had gone out of his way to offer protection to white visitors even when some members of his tribe were suspicious or threatened violence. He is still regarded by the Mandan people as one of their greatest leaders. A bridge across the Missouri River and a resort and casino complex on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation are named after him. Conclusion In two waves of smallpox on the Upper Missouri, separated by 56 years, the Mandan had been reduced from a proud nation of more than 15,000 individuals to a pathetic remnant of 145. The legendary Mandan were now hovering on the brink of extinction. The Mandan were regarded as Native Americans of a special status, often fair-skinned, culturally sophisticated (with zoning in their earthlodge villages), polite, hospitable, superb traders, and invariably generous to white people in spite of a long series of depredations, exploitations, and provocations. Thomas Jefferson met their leader Sheheke-shote at the White House in the last days of 1806. Jefferson, like some others, wondered if they were descendants of Madoc the Welsh traveler who was said to have come to America long before Columbus. Lewis and Clark regarded them as among the finest Natives they met in their 28 months of transcontinental exploration. By 1838 they were nearly extinct through no fault of their own. They have never fully recovered. Somehow the survivors held on. It is difficult now to provide any accurate population estimates of the Mandan today, because extensive intermarriage with their cousins the Hidatsa and other tribes have clouded their tribal lineage. We do know that the last full-blooded Mandan woman, Mattie Grinnell, died in 1975 at the age of 108. Grinnell was a remarkable woman, a civil rights leader who marched with Martin Luther King Jr. in Washington, D.C. The current population of the Three Affiliated Tribes (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara) is 15,000. Many tribal members live on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in west-central North Dakota, one of the sweet spots of the Bakken shale oil field. Elizabeth Fenn concludes, The epidemic of 1837-38 stands with the epidemic of 1781 as one of the greatest catastrophes ever to strike the peoples of the northern plains. Compared to this, the coronavirus pandemic of 2020, while serious, is comparatively benign thanks to science, global networking, and political vigilance. While some space missions have been delayed due to the coronavirus, spacex CEO Elon Musk is not letting the pandemic hamper his plans of creating an internet broadband constellation in low orbit. The Falcon 9 took off at 3:30pm ET carrying a new batch of 60 Starlink satellites, marking its 84th time flying into orbit more than any other currently operational US rocket. The firm aims to have more than 1,000 satellites in orbit by the end of the year and has also been approved by the FCC to launch over 12,000 in total. Although Musk may believe he is doing the world a service, astronmers have slammed the 'disgusting' project which they claim is 'a crime against humanity'. Scroll down for video The Falcon 9 took off at 3:30pm ET carrying a new batch of 60 Starlink satellites, marking its 84th time flying into orbit more than any other currently operational US rocket The skies were clear and winds were low Wednesday afternoon in Cape Canaveral Florida as SpaceX geared up for the launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Around 14 minutes after the launch, the Starlink satellites began deployment out of the nose cone of the rocket, which has been reused from a previous mission, and into low orbit. Today's flight is the seventh operational Starlink mission, bringing the total number of satellites launched for the nascent broadband network up to 422. Musk has noted in the past that at least 400 satellites are needed for SpaceX to start introducing minimal internet coverage at least 800 are necessary for moderate coverage. The skies were clear and winds were low Wednesday afternoon in Cape Canaveral Florida as SpaceX geared up for the launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center While some space missions have been delayed due to the coronavirus, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is not letting the pandemic hamper his plans of creating an internet broadband constellation in low orbit Although he sees this project as his gift to the world, others believe it is more of a curse. A recent study from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) found that satellite mega-constellations such as Starlink will 'severely' affect between 30 and 50 percent of observations taken by the Rubin Observatory, an astronomical observatory currently under construction in Chile. Today's flight is the seventh operational Starlink mission, bringing the total number of satellites launched for the nascent broadband network up to 422. 'Mitigation techniques that could be applied on ESO telescopes would not work for this observatory although other strategies are being actively explored,' it said. Sky observers and experts have also taken to social media over the past year to voice their concern about the disruption to their work. Responding to the New Zealand video, a professor at UCLA's Institute of the Environment and Sustainability branded Starlink a 'crime against humanity'. Although Musk sees this project as his gift to the world, others believe it is more of a curse. An image of the NGC 5353/4 galaxy group made with a telescope at Lowell Observatory in Arizona, USA in May 2019, showing the Starlink satellites hinder the views of the night sky Experts have also taken to social media over the past year to voice their concern about the disruption to their work. Responding to the New Zealand video, a professor at UCLA's Institute of the Environment and Sustainability branded Starlink a 'crime against humanity' 'Starlink is a crime against humanity; it robs us of the skies of our ancestors to every corner of the earth' wrote Travis Longcore, an associate adjunct professor at the institute. 'Wow!! I am in shock!! The huge amount of Starlink satellites crossed our skies tonight at Cerro Telolo. Our DECam exposure was heavily affected by 19 of them! The train of Starlink satellites lasted for over 5 minutes!! Rather depressing This is not cool!' wrote one astronomer. 'As always, everyone: Do not let billionaires unilaterally make a mess of the sky. And astronomical observations being disrupted is only one of the many problems things like #Starlink and #OneWeb pose,' wrote another. T his emotional footage shows the moment hospital staff lined the streets to pay respects to a "devoted" orthopaedic surgeon who died after testing positive for coronavirus. Sadeq Elhowsh, 58, a father of four who had worked for St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in Merseyside for 17 years, died at Whiston Hospital, a spokesman for the health trust said. A video shared on Twitter shows hundreds of people lining the streets as Mr Elhowsh's hearse arrives at the hospital, before erupting in a huge round of applause. A GoFundMe page, set up by his colleagues at the trust to support his family, has also raised 50,000 in less than 24 hours. "Seems the entire hospital came out to pay respect to colleague Mr Sadeq Elhowsh," the post says. "This is so humbling and beautiful. "Moments like this truly are the best side of humanity." In a statement, his family said Mr Elhowsh was a "wonderful husband, as well as a devoted father, and he dearly loved his family". We cannot put into words the depth of our loss," it said. Hundreds turned out to pay their respects to Sadeq Elhowsh / PA He loved his work and was dedicated to supporting his patients and his colleagues. Colleague Ravi Gudena, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon, said: Nothing was ever too much trouble for Sadeq, he was always there to help anyone and was happy to do whatever was needed to help his colleagues and patients. Hospital chief executive Ann Marr OBE said: Sadeq will be sadly missed by all who knew and worked with him. Sadeq Elhowsh died after contracting coronavirus / PA He was without doubt a much-loved member of the team. All our thoughts are with Sadeqs family and friends at this time and we offer them our sincere condolences. The GoFundMe page for Mr Elhowsh's family has now raised nearly 68,000, from 1,200 donors. Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures 1 /81 Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures A deserted Westminster Bridge PA A man wearing a face mask or covering due to the COVID-19 pandemic, walks past customers sat outside a restaurant AFP via Getty Images Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Runners pass cardboard cutouts of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince William during the London Marathon in London AP An empty escalator at Charing Coss London Underground tube station Jeremy Selwyn Electronic bilboards displays a message warning people to stay home in Sheffield PA A sign is displayed in the window of a student accommodation building following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Mancheste Reuters People take part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions, in Londo AP People sing and dance in Leicester Square on the eve on the 10PM curfew Reuters Hearts painted by a team of artists from Upfest are seen in the grass at Queen Square, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Bristol Reuters Graffiti reads 'good luck and stay safe', as the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases grow around the world, under a bridge in London Reuters A sign is pictured in Soho, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London Reuters Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures, during a coronavirus briefing in Downing Street, London AP A person runs past posters with a message of hope, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Manchester REUTERS Riot police face protesters who took part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions in London AP An image of The Queen eith quotes from her broadcast to the UK and the Commonwealth in relation to the Coronavirus epidemic are displayed on lights in London's Piccadilly Circus PA Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge after members of the 101 Logistic Brigade delivered a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' hospital Getty Images Durdle Door in Dorset Reuters Captain Tom Moore via 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 Coronavirus outbreak PA An NHS worker reacts at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital during the Clap for our Carers campaign in support of the NHS Reuters Goats which have taken over the deserted streets of Llandudno @AndrewStuart via PA Tobias Weller PA Novikov restaurant in London with its shutters pulled down while the restaurant is closed London Landscapes: Hyde Park and the Serpentine, central London. Matt Writtle A newspaper vendor in Manchester city centre giving away free toilet rolls with every paper bought as shops run low on supplies due to fears over the spread of the coronavirus PA Theo Clay looks out of his window next to his hand-drawn picture of a rainbow in Liverpool, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continue Reuters A young man cuts another man's hair on top of a closed hairdresser in Oxford Reuters General view of the new NHS Nightingale Hospital, built to fight against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London via Reuters Jason Baird is seen dressed as Spiderman during his daily exercise to cheer up local children in Stockport, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters A woman wearing a face mask walks past Buckingham Palace Getty Images A man holds mobile phone displaying a text message alert sent by the government warning that new rules are in force across the UK and people must stay at home PA Medical staff on the Covid-19 ward at the Neath Port Talbot Hospital, in Wales, as the health services continue their response to the coronavirus outbreak. PA Prime Minister Boris Johnson taking part in a virtual Cabinet meeting with his top team of ministers PA A shopper walks past empty shelves in a Lidl store on in Wallington. After spates of "panic buying" cleared supermarket shelves of items like toilet paper and cleaning products, stores across the UK have introduced limits on purchases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have also created special time slots for the elderly and other shoppers vulnerable to the new coronavirus. Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour PA Mia, aged 8 and her brother Jack, aged 5 from Essex, continue their school work at home, after being sent home due to the coronavirus PA Children are painting 'Chase the rainbows' artwork and springing up in windows across the country Reuters Social distancing in Primrose Hill Jeremy Selwyn A general view of a locked gate at Anfield, Liverpool as The Premier League has been suspended PA Homeless people in London AFP via Getty Images A piece of art by the artist, known as the Rebel Bear has appeared on a wall on Bank Street in Glasgow. The new addition to Glasgow's street art is capturing the global Coronavirus crisis. The piece features a woman and a man pulling back to give each other a kiss PA The Queen leaves Buckingham Palace, London, for Windsor Castle to socially distance herself amid the coronavirus pandemic PA A general view on Grey street, Newcastle as coronavirus cases grow around the world Reuters 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 Britain's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty (L) and Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance look on as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he speaks during a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) news conference inside 10 Downing Street Reuters The ticket-validation terminals at the tram stop on Edinburgh's Princes Street are cleaned following the coronavirus outbreak. PA Locked school gates at Rockcliffe First School in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear PA A sign at a Sainsbury's supermarket informs customers that limits have been set on a small number of products as the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases grow around the world Reuters Jawad Javed delivers coronavirus protection kits that he and his wife have put together to the vulnerable people of their community of Stenhousemuir, between Glasgow and Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" Getty Images A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A pedestrian walks past graffiti that reads "Diseases are in the City" in Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images Staff from The Lyric Theatre, London inform patrons, as it shuts its doors PA A quiet looking George IV Bridge in Edinburgh PA A quieter than usual British Museum Getty Images A racegoer attends Cheltenham in a fashionable face mask SplashNews.com A commuter wears a face mask at London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn A empty restaurant in the Bull Ring Shopping Centre Getty Images A deserted Trafalgar Square in London PA Passengers determined to avoid the coronavirus before leaving the UK arrive at Gatwick Airport Getty Images A message on the fundraising page said Mr Elhowsh was always there to help and was remembered for the quote dont worry, I will sort it. It added: He was well respected by all the patients, and dearly loved by all the staff, colleagues and juniors. Photograph: Nabil Mounzer/EPA Medics are scrambling to contain a potential outbreak of Covid-19 in a Palestinian camp in Lebanon after a refugee tested positive for the virus, the first known case in one of the regions most vulnerable communities. The patient, a woman in her 40s, is being treated at a state-run hospital in Beirut. A medical team travelled to the al-Jalil camp in Lebanons Bekaa valley on Tuesday to screen the womens relatives and anyone else who had come into contact with her. The UN and authorities in the region had seen such an outcome as almost inevitable. It prompted fresh calls to protect refugees from the pandemic, which could be devastating if it took root among the cramped and often unhygienic confines of refugee camps. We knew it was a matter of time before we had a case confirmed in the Palestine refugee community, and thats what happened, said Tamara al-Rifai, spokesperson for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Our position is that everyone who needs medical treatment for Covid-19 should get it, with no discrimination. UNRWA will cover the cost of the treatment of the confirmed case, and will support her family if they need to isolate themselves. The rampant spread of coronavirus through developed nations, with advanced health systems, has caused deep alarm in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Turkey and Jordan, where more than 12 million refugees, or internally displaced people, have little access to life-saving health care and cannot practise physical distancing. default In a separate development, coronavirus is confirmed to have killed a patient in a hospital in north-eastern Syria two weeks ago, the first of its kind in another regional conflict zone. The NGO Medecins Sans Frontieres said the diagnosis cast a spotlight on the areas capacity to deal with the pandemic. The response in north-east Syria at this time is not nearly enough, Crystal van Leeuwen, MSFs medical emergency manager for Syria, said. A significant increase in assistance from health actors, humanitarian organisations and donors is essential. Story continues As fears grow that refugees will bear the brunt of the next wave of coronavirus, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has increased demands for them to be protected by unholding human rights laws. Related: US to give Palestinians $5m in coronavirus aid 1% of what Trump cut Its head, Filippo Grandi, said: The core principles of refugee protection are being put to test, but people who are forced to flee conflict and persecution should not be denied safety and protection on the pretext, or even as a side-effect, of responding to the virus. Securing public health and protecting refugees are not mutually exclusive. This is not a dilemma. We have to do both. Long-recognised refugee laws can be respected even as governments adopt stringent measures to protect public health, including at borders. Regional states commitment to refugee protection is being increasingly challenged, with many concerned about the strains on their already weakened economies. In Lebanon, Palestinians are routinely denied access to state care. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA), which has struggled since the Trump administration withdrew funding in 2018, has raised $14m (11.3m) for its initial Covid-19 response. With much of that money now spent, and fears of infections being realised, UNRWA leaders are launching a second funding appeal. A total of 9,400 refugees are registered at Lebanons al-Jalil camp but the real population remains unknown, and could be as low as 3,000. Waves of departures to Gulf states, and undocumented arrivals from Syria over the past nine years, have made actual numbers of refugees in Lebanon, and their whereabouts, difficult to discern. Lebanon hosts around 475,000 Palestinian refugees in 12 camps and 26 unofficial sites. They are among the most impoverished people in the country, which is also believed to have up to 1 million Syrian refugees. Many of the Syrians are living in informal settlements, which are even harder for health authorities to regulate. The Coronavirus pandemic has brought all our lives to a standstill. At the same time, it has given mother earth a much needed break from the perils of human activity. Bhumi Pednekar thinks today, April 22, is a great day to celebrate the World Earth Day, but is also worried that humanity will go back to the same habits of destruction when this is over. Talking to Hindustan Times, Bhumi said, "The clear blue sky and rivers, chirping of birds, animals roaming freely outside and dolphins coming back to the beach, it's a sight to behold amid the lockdown." She added that the best thing that has happened is, "The Earth seems to be healing and nature is reclaiming its glory. What better day than World Earth Day to cherish and embrace it?" She continued, "Post lockdown, people are going to go crazy by going back to the same rut to catch up all the lost days, to cover up the production requirements and stabilize the economy. It'll be like taking revenge from the climate, harming the environment at double the speed and pushing our planet to the brink again. I hope this doesn't happen and we all learn a lesson from this and prep for any such pandemics." Bhumi is actively involved with the Climate Warrior initiative meant to raise awareness on the environment and global warming. Talking about how the lockdown's effect on daily wage workers will be tremendous, she said, "We don't know how things are going to be in the future. I know that when the lockdown will be removed, I'm one of those few lucky ones who is going to have the opportunity to still lead a normal life but they wouldn't which is scary." ALSO READ: Bhumi Pednekar Learns Hydroponic Farming From Her Mother Amid Coronavirus Lockdown ALSO READ: Bhumi Pednekar On Losing Her Father To Cancer: It's All Him Because Of Whom Our Lives Changed The Lenovo Legion 7i is the premium 15 gaming laptop that delivers unbridled performance for the most demanding users. Featuring an all-metal exterior and available in a sleek Slate Grey hue and stylish RGB lighting accents along the base and through the cooling vents, this 2.2kg laptop packs serious punch. It is fitted with up to 10th Gen Intel Core i9 H-Series overclocked mobile processors and advanced thermal management. Lenovo Legion Coldfront 2.0 boosts performance of the Lenovo Legion 7i with its integrated Vapor Chamber and thermal sensor array. A dual fan system of 73 liquid-crystal polymer fan blades enhances four dedicated thermal channels to cycle air at top speeds. The 6-point thermal sensor array rapidly predicts incoming thermal requirements to cool key components in advance for quieter and better performing gaming sessions. Dual Burn also pushes the CPU and GPU together for max performance in-game. The Lenovo Legion TrueStrike keyboard has 100 percent anti-ghosting, sub-millisecond response times, and soft-landing switches for hair-trigger accuracy. You also get the feel of superior key travel via its second transition curve design, allowing a more tactile gaming experience. Its keys are each illuminated in over 16 million color combinations with Corsair iCUE system lighting. Keyboards on all Lenovo Legion laptops are coated to resist abrasion and the wear-and-tear from oily fingertips. They also feature full-sized keys and a number pad, plus a larger one-piece trackpad, full-sized arrow keys, and dedicated media keys. The Lenovo Legion 7i is precision-crafted to showcase breathtaking visuals on its VESA DisplayHDR 400 15-inch IPS Full HD (1920 x 1080) display with up to 240Hz refresh rates with under 1ms response time with OverDrive support, 500nits brightness, 100% sRGB color accuracy. It is also available in 144Hz with up to 100% Adobe sRGB color accuracy, 500nits brightness and optional NVIDIA G-SYNC. Get up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GPU with Max-Q Design for ray tracing in-game, engineered to improve lighting and reflection effects for an incredible level of realism. Then dive into the rich contrasting colors from Dolby Vision on an ultra-vivid display while Dolby Atmos Speaker System sound creates an immersive experience. The more powerful 80WHr battery on the Lenovo Legion 7i is enhanced by a battery-sipping energy release feature for a more consistent battery life of up to 8 hours , while a slimmer power adapter keeps things moving and flexible. Power up to 50 percent in just 30 minutes with the Rapid Charge Pro4 capabilities. Multitasking, streaming, and content creation are made easier with ample storage of up to 2TB NVMe PCIe SSD and up to 32GB DDR4 memory. Pricing and Availability The 15-inch Lenovo Legion 7i laptop is priced from Php119,995 and will be available by June 2020. STEM Summer Institute for middle schoolers coming to a device near you Wednesday, April 22, 2020 The Summer Stem Institute will be offered online this year by USD 383 and the Kansas State University College of Education. MANHATTAN Manhattan-Ogden USD 383 and the Kansas State University College of Education will proceed with the 10th Summer STEM Institute as scheduled. Courses will be delivered online. The institute will retain the planned hours and dates of 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Monday through Thursday, June 1-25. Students including those not attending the Manhattan-Ogden district who will be in the sixth through ninth grades in fall 2020 can enroll in the program at usd383.org/community/summer-learning. "This event simply could have been canceled due to the circumstances and no one would have thought twice about it," said Debbie Mercer, dean of the College of Education. "But that's not what happened. Lori Goodson, the faculty coordinator for this event along with her colleagues and teachers and administrators with the district jumped into action and figured out how to offer this complex program online. It is the latest in a long line of examples of how teachers are supporting students and parents through this crisis." The cost is $100 for all four weeks, with a sliding scale for USD 383 students who qualify for free or reduced lunches. The school district will provide iPads and supplies to each student and classes will also make use of common household items as much as possible. Out-of-district students will need to provide their own devices and supplies. A supply list will be posted on the enrollment website. Paula Hough, executive director of teaching and learning with Manhattan-Ogden USD 383, said the institute is one of the most popular programs offered by the district. "Since the day I joined USD 383, I've heard about the Summer STEM Institute because the students and teachers looked forward to it," Hough said. "It was hard to wrap my head around the idea we may not have it this year the 10thanniversary. I am so proud of this team USD 383, the College of Ed and Manhattan Area Technical College and the virtual programming we are able to provide to students this summer." The STEM Institute began in 2011 and has grown to provide 30-plus topics for approximately 325 middle schoolers each summer. This online version means it's more accessible than ever before for students from rural schools and surrounding areas. Information about past years are available on the colleges website at coe.k-state.edu/stem-institute/index.html. While different from previous Summer STEM Institutes, this year's institute will provide hands-on, engaging learning opportunities for the students. Additionally, College of Education pre-service teachers will gain valuable online teaching experience as they assist USD 383 teachers in leading the classes. Todd Goodson, professor and chair of the department of curriculum and instruction, believes an important lesson is embedded into this event. "Moving the institute online was only possible because a group of committed educators refused to let it be sidelined," Goodson said. "This is most likely the most important summer program we've ever offered, and it reinforces what we're modeling: schools especially teachers are the bedrock of their communities." Sinn Fein TD Dessie Ellis has been forced to apologise after incorrectly claiming 17 people died in one nursing home. In a statement issued by Sinn Fein, Mr Ellis claimed the deaths required urgent attention and called for a consultant led team to oversee the nursing homes response to the virus. The Dublin North West TD said the 17 deaths had caused massive shock to the local community and to families in the area. This is a terrible situation and my deepest sympathies are with all those affected, he said. "There also needs to be clinical interventions made, and I am calling for a team - led by a consultant geriatrician - to be appointed, he added. Mr Ellis named the Finglas based nursing home in his statement. However, not along after it was issued Sinn Fein sent out a retraction and an apology to the nursing home. Please disregard the previous statement by Dessie Ellis TD, it said. This statement was made in good faith, but having received clarification, the figure quoted in this statement refers to the cumulative nursing homes in the Finglas area not one, it added. The party apologised to the nursing home and to media outlets which published Mr Elliss comment. A Sinn Fein source said: Dessie just got his facts wrong. It is understood Mr Ellis based his statement on information he had received locally in his constituency. Phoenix, Arizona--(Newsfile Corp. - April 22, 2020) - The Stock Day Podcast welcomed Custom Protection Services Inc. (OTC Pink: CSPS) ("the Company"), a company offering a comprehensive portfolio of security and protection services which can be tailored to meet specific needs and situations. CFO of the Company, John Kuykendall, joined Stock Day host Everett Jolly. Kuykendall began the interview by sharing some background information about the Company and its current projects. "We offer a comprehensive portfolio of security and protection services tailored to your needs," explained Kuykendall. "We have a proven and sustainable business model that is in revenue and growing," he added. Jolly then asked for an in depth description of the Company's services, and inquired about their target market for these products. Kuykendall shared that the Company's services range from personal protection for corporate executives and celebrities to mobile patrol services. "We offer undercover surveillance," he added, noting that this also includes background checks and verifications. "Are all of these services offered only in Texas?" asked Jolly. "We're not outside of Texas at the moment. We've got our hands full with Houston right now, however we are going to be looking into acquisitions," said Kuykendall. "We do have something new, and that is the COVID-19 screening services that we launched in March," shared Kuykendall. "We've designed it in such a fashion to be non-invasive, flexible in implementation, and to allow clients to screen employees and customers as desired or necessary." "Has COVID-19 affected your business in either a negative or positive way?" asked Jolly. Kuykendall shared that the Company is being challenged by the pandemic like many other businesses, however noted that COVID-19 has made security more relevant and necessary. "The screening services will lead to longer-term contracts," said Kuykendal. "What are your growth strategies moving forward?" asked Jolly. "In the short-term, we're trying to develop new business through target advertising and marketing campaigns," explained Kuykendall. "Our long-term growth plan is to grow through acquisition," he continued. The conversation then turned to the Company's goals throughout 2020. "We're going to keep pounding on our marketing plan to grow the revenue," said Kuykendall. "We think we can be fully reporting to the SEC by the end of the summer," he shared, adding that the Company has drafted a Form-10 and is working on a two-year audit. Jolly then asked how the Company manages to stand out compared to its competitors. "We have a sustainable and profitable business model. We don't need any large funding to get into revenue and profitability. The services we offer are becoming more and more relevant in today's world, and with a tight share structure and a low public float that puts us in a great position," said Kuykendall. "We really are poised for significant growth." To hear John Kuykendall's entire interview, follow the link to the podcast here: https://audioboom.com/posts/7563196-custom-protection-services-inc-discusses-its-2020-growth-strategy-with-the-stock-day-podcast Investors Hangout is a proud sponsor of "Stock Day," and Stock Day Media encourages listeners to visit the company's message board at https://investorshangout.com/ About Custom Protection Services Inc. Custom Protection Services Inc. is a Delaware incorporated company with head offices in Conroe, Texas. It offers a comprehensive portfolio of security and protection services which can be tailored to meet specific needs and situations. Services offered include personal protection, risk analysis, crisis response, guidance & strategic planning, maritime protection, travel security, legal investigation and POA security programs. Client contracts range from hourly to yearly depending on the type of service being provided. The Company can fulfill any client contract by utilizing a network of specialized consultants. Management has 100+ combined years of experience conducting security and protection operations. Company Contact Information: Tel: 936-703-5855 Email: info@customprotectionservices.com Website: https://www.customprotectioninvestor.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/customprotectioninvestor Twitter: https://twitter.com/customprotect Forward-Looking Statements Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements and are subject to risks and uncertainties. See Custom Protection Services Inc.'s filings with OTC Markets, which may identify specific factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Safe Harbor Statement This release includes forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and reflects management's current expectations. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations. Some of these factors include: general global economic conditions; general industry and market conditions, sector changes and growth rates; uncertainty as to whether our strategies and business plans will yield the expected benefits; increasing competition; availability and cost of capital; the ability to identify and develop and achieve commercial success; the level of expenditures necessary to maintain and improve the quality of services; changes in the economy; changes in laws and regulations, including codes and standards, intellectual property rights, and tax matters; or other matters not anticipated; our ability to secure and maintain strategic relationships and distribution agreements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. About The "Stock Day" Podcast Founded in 2013, Stock Day is the fastest growing media outlet for Nano-Cap and Micro-Cap companies. It educates investors while simultaneously working with penny stock and OTC companies, providing transparency and clarification of under-valued, under-sold Micro-Cap stocks of the market. Stock Day provides companies with customized solutions to their news distribution in both national and international media outlets. The Stock Day Podcast is the number one radio show of its kind in America. Stock Day recently launched its Video Interview Studio located in Phoenix, Arizona. SOURCE: Stock Day Media 602-441-3474 To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/54744 Microsoft's recent adjustments to Windows 10 will create a pile-up of deadlines later this year when three different editions exhaust their support almost simultaneously. [ Further reading: How to handle Windows 10 updates ] In the last five weeks, Microsoft has extended support for two versions - Windows 10 1709 and Windows 10 1809 - by six months each, part of the company's concessions to the chaos caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. For version 1709, Microsoft added six months to Windows 10 Enterprise' and Windows 10 Education's support, pushing retirement from the 30-month mark at April 14 to the 36-month milestone at Oct. 13. Meanwhile, version 1809 received an extra six months for Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro, moving their end-of-support dates from May 12 to Nov. 10 as the total months of support climbed from the standard 18 for those SKUs (stock-keeping units) to 24. Deadlines for Windows 10 Enterprise and Windows 10 Education, given 30 months for 1809, remained unchanged at May 11, 2021. As Figure 1 shows, the extensions to Windows 10 1709 and 1809 pushed their end-of-support very near the end-of-life for Windows 10 1903, an 18-month upgrade. IDG/Gregg Keizer Windows 10's schedule laid out. The black lines pinpoint the extensions Microsoft gave to versions 1709 and 1809. Red lines illustrate the near-simultaneous retirement deadlines for those upgrades as well as 1903. Three deadlines will occur within a span of 57 days, on three consecutive Patch Tuesdays: Windows 10 1709 Enterprise/Education: Oct. 13 Windows 10 1809 Home/Pro: Nov. 10 Windows 10 1903 Home/Pro: Dec. 8 Why it matters Normally, no more than two Windows 10 retirement deadlines coincide: The end of support for Enterprise and Education running a version yy09 will, schedules being met, dovetail with the end of support for Home and Pro running the yy09 version of the following year. Will adding a third to the usual pair make a difference? Is the confluence of deadlines - portrayed in Figure 1 by the red arrows - a deal breaker? Hardly. Getting Windows 10 upgrades isn't like going to the grocery store, where a flood of customers - say, those over 65 during the increasingly popular "Old People Hours" - overwhelms the limited number of check-out clerks and pushes the lines into the back wall of the store. Microsoft has plenty of capacity, enough to serve everyone who wants an upgrade. But the support extensions do have an impact. What's the impact of the 1709 extension? By adding six months to Windows Enterprise 1709 and Windows Education 1709, Microsoft made it easier for those still on that two-and-a-half-year-old operating system to jump over 1809 and instead upgrade to 1909. Take a look at Figure 1 again. With its original retirement deadline of April 2020, 1709 would have had to be upgraded to 1909 in the latter's first five months. Only the most agile enterprise would have been able to pilot, test and then deploy an upgrade in that short time. But the extension's additional six months bumps up the 1709-1909 overlap to 11 months. (Almost half of that is now in the past.) Customers running 1709 now have until October to upgrade to 1909 without missing a security update beat. A side-effect will be a larger-than-usual number of corporate machines on Windows 10 1909, the latest version that comes with 30 months of support. Not only will business PCs running 1809 migrate to 1909 - even with 30 months of support, the conservative plan is an every-12-month upgrade - but those remaining on 1709 have a shot at 1909 as well. It's unclear whether Microsoft meant to do this, but the extension given to Windows 10 1709 - increasing the lifespan to 36 months - confirmed that a slight increase in support gave enterprises much more flexibility, in that they had a legitimate choice between upgrading annually or refreshing every two years. What's the impact of the 1809 extension? Giving Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro users six more months to run the year-and-a-half-old version 1809 was another tip to the chaos that accompanied COVID-19 stay-at-home, work-at-home directives. Given Microsoft's penchant for prioritizing commercial customers over consumers, it's likely that the extension was prompted by the company's concerns about business PCs running Pro being orphaned from security updates. Still, Microsoft may also have assumed that Windows 10 Home systems had been temporarily pressed into work duties and so needed upgrading later, not sooner. There was a hint in the 1809 announcement that upgrade postponement is at the top of Microsoft's mind. "The rollout process restart for Microsoft-initiated feature updates for devices running on Windows 10, version 1809, will be dramatically slowed and closely monitored in advance of the delayed November 10, 2020 end of service date to provide adequate time for a smooth update process," Microsoft wrote here. That Microsoft bit needs parsing. Although users of Windows 10 Home and those running unmanaged Windows Pro machines now have control over when to upgrade (thanks to the "Download and install now" option introduced last year), a majority were happy to let Microsoft do it for them as their current version neared retirement. That's what Microsoft was referring to. Its "...restart for Microsoft-initiated feature updates for devices running on Windows 10, version 1809..." meant that the Redmond, Wash. firm had or would, now that 1809 is not exiting support until November, stop forcibly upgrading 1809 with 1909 (the key here is "restart," implying a previous halt). Secondly, Microsoft doesn't plan on resuming those forced upgrades until later this year, as the November deadline approaches. Since it has kicked off those upgrades about four months before such deadlines, Home/Pro users can expect Microsoft to resume in July. Of course, there's nothing to stop individuals triggering the "Download and install now" option or IT administrators feeding an upgrade to Windows Pro PCs during the interim. A secondary effect of the 1809 support extension may be an amplification of a preference for spring upgrades on the part of Home and unmanaged Pro PCs. According to analytics vendor AdDuplex, more users now run the yy03 (spring) upgrades than run the yy09 (fall) versions of Windows 10. For example, in March Windows 10 1803 and 1903 accounted for a total of 56% of all Windows 10 versions, almost 17 points higher than the combined shares of Windows 10 1809 and 1909. The tilt toward the spring upgrades was largely due to the debacle of Windows 10 1809 in late 2018 and early 2019. The result of the disaster: Microsoft stopped pushing 1809 to users. Ultimately, far fewer Home/Pro users received that version, which peaked at just 31% of all Windows 10 versions. That, combined with the very-soon-after move by Microsoft to cede control to Home/Pro users of upgrade timing - and most importantly, the company's decision to forcibly upgrade those PCs whose users had declined to do so on their own - meant that Windows 10 1903 was adopted, willingly or not, by a majority of users. Once that pattern was established - spring upgrades dominate - it continued because of the peculiarities of the overlapping 18-month support lifespans and Microsoft's forced upgrades. Yet there remain a large number of Home/Pro PCs now caught in the fall upgrade pattern (again, because of when Microsoft triggers the forced upgrades as versions near retirement). The additional support given to Windows 10 1809 might, depending on Microsoft's choices, shift some of those to spring upgrades. Look at Figure 1 once more. The added support pushed 1809's retirement into November. Assuming Microsoft releases Windows 10 2004 as expected in May, that will be the most recent version when Microsoft resumes forced upgrades this summer. The yellow line in Figure 1 shows the opportunity to upgrade from 1809 to 2004 because of the new commonality. Such a shift wouldn't dramatically change the split between spring and fall upgrades - Windows 10 1809 tracked at only 11% of all versions in March - but it would solidify that framework by moving even more Home/Pro systems to the yy03 pathway. Here are todays top news, analysis and opinion. Know all about the latest news and other news updates from Hindustan Times. Working from home to be the new norm in Covid-19 aftermath: Ravi Shankar Prasad Work-from-home will be the new norm in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, minister of communications, and electronics and information technology Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Tuesday, and asked the departments under his charge to work on putting in place a platform to facilitate the emerging trend. Read More Lockdowns may have only arrested first wave of Covid-19, says WHO The sweeping shutdowns across the world appear to have absorbed what may only be the first wave of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) infections, according to officials from the World Health Organization (WHO) and findings by researchers in France one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic. Read More Trumps immigration suspension to last 60 days, targets those seeking green cards President Donald Trump has said he expects to sign an executive order Wednesday that will suspend immigration mostly impacting Green Cards for the next 60 days to ensure Americans hits by record layoffs caused by the coronavirus outbreak get a first shot at all available jobs. Read More Facebook to buy 9.99% stake in Reliance Jio platforms for $5.7 billion Facebook on Wednesday announced an investment of USD 5.7 billion (Rs 43,574 crore) to buy a 10 per cent stake in the firm that houses billionaire Mukesh Ambanis telecom arm Jio as the social media giant looks to expand presence in its largest market in terms of subscriber base. Read More Instead of squash, thinking of groceries: Saurav Ghosal Saurav Ghosal, the world No. 13 squash player who became the only Indian male to break into the top 10 of the world rankings last year, says he during the lockdown due to Covid-19, instead of analysing my performance in the French league, which would have taken place on the weekend of March 14, playing the Egyptian league and playing in El Gouna by the Red Sea soon after, he is thinking of groceries these days. Read More TV actor Rashmi Desai calls leaked bank statements disturbing Television actor Rashami Desai is disturbed by screenshots of her bank statements posted on social media. She says she had sent those screenshots to her accounting team after returning from Bigg Boss house. Read More Are you violating video-call etiquette? Weve never video-called more than at present. Office meetings, catching up with friends, parties, consulting your doctors or checking in on loved ones. But there is a right way and a wrong way to do this. Read More Covid-19: China vs Germany as Angela Merkel demands transparency War of words have erupted between China and Germany over Covid-19. Beijing hit back after German Chancellor raised questions on virus origin. German Chancellor, Angela Merkel said, I think that the more transparently China makes clear the story of the emergence of this virus, the better that is for us all in the whole world to learn from it. Watch the full video for more. Ghana: 84 fishermen quarantined in C/Region due to COVID-19 by David O. Yarboi-Tetteh A total of 84 fishermen from Ghana, who returned to the Central Region from a fishing expedition in Cote d'Ivoire, have been quarantined for two weeks, over COVID-19 pandemic. They included people quarantined for coming in contact with someone, who had tested positive for COVID-19 or who returned to the country after the closure of Ghana's border. The Central Regional Director of Health, Dr Akosua Owusu-Sarpong, disclosed these at a meeting of metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs), divisional and district commanders of the Ghana Police Service, personnel of Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) and Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA). It sought to deliberate on how stakeholders could collaborate in enforcing directives and measures aimed at preventing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. Dr Owusu-Sarpong said that a total of 150 of specimen sent for testing came out negative and also that the region currently had one confirmed case of COVID-19. She explained that those quarantined did not necessarily have the disease, but the move was a means of taking precautionary measures against the spread of the disease. Dr Owusu-Sarpong said once a quarantined person tested positive for the disease, he or she is moved to a health facility, and appealed to MMDCEs to support COVID-19 pandemic education. The Central Regional Minister, Kwamena Duncan, urged journalists to support the fight against COVID-19, and expressed concern that some people were undermining efforts to contain the disease. He said some people disseminated recorded voices, and made political statements to undermine the fight against COVID-19 in the region. 2020 AllAfrica Theme(s): Others. [April 21, 2020] Data Center Server Market 2019-2023 | Enterprise Server Refresh Cycles to Boost Growth | Technavio Technavio has been monitoring the data center server market and it is poised to grow by USD 56.54 billion during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of over 13% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200421005727/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Data Center Server Market 2019-2023 (Graphic: Business Wire) Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please Request Latest Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impact The market is concentrated, and the degree of concentration will accelerate during the forecast period. Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP, IBM, Inspur, and Lenovo (News - Alert) are some of the major market participants. The enterprise server refresh cycles will offer immense growth opportunities. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments. Enterprise server refresh cycles has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. Data Center Server Market 2019-2023: Segmentation Data center server market is segmented as below: Type Rack Server Blade Server Tower Server Microserver Open Compute Project Server Geographic Landscape APAC Europe MEA North America South America To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download latest free sample report of 2020-2024: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-usreport=IRTNTR31132 Data Center Server Market 2019-2023: Scope Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our data center server market report covers the following areas: Data Center Server Market Size Data Center Server Market Trends Data Center Server Market Industry Analysis This study identifies use of AI for server workload optimization as one of the prime reasons driving the data center server market growth during the next few years. Data Center Server Market 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis We provide a detailed analysis of vendors operating in the data center server market, including some of the vendors such as Dell (News - Alert) Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP, IBM, Inspur, and Lenovo. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the data center server market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Data Center Server Market 2019-2023: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023 Detailed information on factors that will assist data center server market growth during the next five years Estimation of the data center server market size and its contribution to the parent market Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the data center server market Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of data center server market vendors Table Of Contents: PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT 2.1 Preface 2.2 Preface 2.3 Currency conversion rates for US$ PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE Market ecosystem Market characteristics Market segmentation analysis PART 04: MARKET SIZING Market definition Market sizing 2018 Market size and forecast 2018-2023 PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS Bargaining power of buyers Bargaining power of suppliers Threat of new entrants Threat of substitutes Threat of rivalry Market condition PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY TYPE Market segmentation by type Comparison by type Rack server - Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Blade server - Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Tower server - Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Microserver - Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Open compute project (OCP (News - Alert)) server - Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Market opportunity by type PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE Geographic segmentation Geographic comparison North America - Market size and forecast 2018-2023 APAC - Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Europe - Market size and forecast 2018-2023 South America - Market size and forecast 2018-2023 MEA - Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Key leading countries Market opportunity PART 09: DECISION FRAMEWORK PART 10: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES Market drivers Market challenges PART 11: MARKET TRENDS Use of server disaggregation to improve utilization rates Advancements in server technology to support AI, Machine Learning (ML), and Deep Learning (DL) Using AI for server workload optimization PART 12: VENDOR LANDSCAPE Overview Landscape disruption PART 13: VENDOR ANALYSIS Vendors covered Vendor classification Market positioning of vendors Dell Technologies Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP IBM (News - Alert) Inspur Lenovo PART 14: APPENDIX Research methodology List of abbreviations PART 15: EXPLORE TECHNAVIO About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200421005727/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] YEREVAN, APRIL 22, ARMENPRESS. The Defense Ministry of Artsakh has published the photos of the parts of the Azerbaijani UAV downed on April 21 in the southern direction of the contact line. Artsakh's Defense Ministry informed ARMENPRESS on April 21 that the air defense units of the Defense Army of Artsakh located in the southern direction of the contact line detected Azerbaijani ORBITER reconnaissance UAV entering Artsakhs air space on April 21 and down it. Artsakhs Defense Ministry once again called on the Azerbaijani side to refrain from provocative actions and assured that any attempt will be adequately responded. Television actor Shikha Singh and her pilot husband Karan Shah are expecting their first child. He shared the happy news in a funny Instagram post. Sharing two pictures, Karan joked that their dog is not happy about the fact their peace is going to be ruined by the new addition to the family. Us: Yayyy. Goku: Nooooo, peace gonna be ruined mannn! What did u do, his caption read. Congratulatory messages poured in from several television stars, including Shabir Ahluwalia, Sriti Jha and Priyanka Kalantri. Fans also wished the couple. Congratulations. I wish you a safe delivery, one Instagram user wrote. God bless you both abundantly, another commented. In an interview with The Times of India, Shikha said that her baby is due in June. When Karan and I were planning to go the family way, nobody thought that the coronavirus would come upon us. I had informed the production house that I would be taking a break due to my pregnancy around April, and the production house also agreed to it, but now with Covid-19, I have been on a break since March. My husband is a pilot and because of the lockdown, he is at home, otherwise he would have been travelling, she said. Shikha said that her family was supposed to fly down to Mumbai to be with her during the delivery but that is no longer possible, owing to the lockdown. My mother and sister were going to join us from Haryana, but that wont be possible now. We are near to the hospital and doctors clinic and they are giving us online classes on how to take care during pregnancy, she said. Also read: Mithun Chakrabortys father dies in Mumbai, actor stranded in Bengaluru due to lockdown Shikha will continue to take precautions and stay in self-isolation for a few months after the baby is born. After the baby is born, it will be complete isolation for us, so it will be another few months before I can get back to work. With a baby around, I dont think in these times I will be able to go out at all, she said. Shikha, who made her small screen debut with Left Right Left, has acted in shows such as Na Aana Is Des Laado, Sasural Simar Ka and Laal Ishq. She was most recently seen as the main antagonist in Kumkum Bhagya. Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The potential for the United States economy to reopen in a few weeks is now on the table, though it should be taken with a grain of salt, CNBC's Jim Cramer said Tuesday. After consulting with Larry Williams, the "Mad Money" host said the renowned market analyst and trader made one of the "boldest contrarian calls" he had ever witnessed as the coronavirus outbreak takes its toll on society. Williams believes that officials could be free to loosen restrictive measures by May 12, or three weeks from Tuesday. "I'm still very worried about this pandemic ... but the charts, as interpreted by Larry Williams, suggest that the future might be brighter than we expect," Cramer said. "I hope he's right, although to me this prediction seems like a real long shot. Who knows, though? Sometimes long shots pay off." The health crisis took its hold on the U.S. more than a month ago as Covid-19 diagnoses spread quickly throughout the country. Businesses were ordered closed and residents in the majority of states told to shelter in place as a means to contain the virus. Williams based his timeline to begin relaxing shutdown mandates on the trajectory the virus took in countries such as Italy, Germany, South Korea and Iran, Cramer said. The outbreaks in those nations share a similar pattern, and it could be a sign that the U.S. could get the crisis under control within the next month, he said. "Williams is not a wishful-thinking kind of guy. He's a heavy-hitter," Cramer said, "and his forecast [is] worth taking seriously." The trend in the aforementioned countries is that new daily positive Covid-19 diagnoses appear to have peaked, give or take, around the 32-day mark and saw a major decline over the next roughly 32 days, Cramer said. The correlations were found in both South Korea's "top of the class" and Iran's "bottom of the class" coronavirus response actions, he added. After cases in the U.S. spiked on March 11, new daily counts appeared to have peaked on April 10 and gradually declined thereafter, notwithstanding the fact that widespread coronavirus testing is not available, Cramer said. Williams argues the outbreak in the U.S. can be manageable in the coming weeks, which will allow individuals to begin venturing out into public again. "My gut says this forecast is too optimistic, maybe way too optimistic," Cramer said, "but Williams has such a strong track record that I thought it's worth putting this idea out there." How to reopen the economy has been one of the biggest discussions lately as officials at the federal, state and local levels are at odds over approaching a post-pandemic world. States in different regions of the country have committed to working together to safely open businesses while mitigating another spike in disease contractions. Projected reopen dates vary in different parts of the U.S. New York expects to begin opening businesses on May 15 at the earliest and Michigan on May 1. Georgia plans to let some businesses reopen on Friday. Cramer has long warned that the U.S. economy could not restart until coronavirus testing was widely available, along with other safety measures put in place. The investment guru, however, in recent days has warmed up to the idea that getting to the other side could be closer than once thought. "I've said someone needs to go first, although perhaps not as aggressively as the governor of Georgia," the host said. "But while I remain skeptical, there might be some reason to be more optimistic." [April 22, 2020] Calix Addresses the New Normal by Fully Virtualizing Regional Summits Calix, Inc. (NYSE: CALX) today announced its immensely successful Regional Summit series will take place virtually in response to the COVID-19 global health crisis. These new virtual events will feature the same elements that built Calix (News - Alert) Regional Summits into a must-attend series for communications service providers (CSPs) throughout the US and Canada. The series will bring CSPs, industry experts, and thought leaders together to exchange ideas and discuss the topics and trends shaping the industry as it adjusts to the "new normal." This virtual series will begin with four regional summits, followed by smaller, more geographically targeted events. The first two regional events will take place on April 29. Click here for the full schedule. "Calix is again demonstrating its forward thinking as the partner of choice for the most innovative service providers in the industry -this time in response to an unprecedented global situation," said Lonnie Pedersen, chief operating officer for Minnesota-based Hanson Communications. "Broadband connectivity has been a massive part of industry nd regulatory dialog in North America in the last decade, and with people confined to home for the last month, it has become even more important. Service providers each face unique situations based upon our geographies, customer bases, and networks, but we are all facing the same basic challenge of ensuring our customers remain connected. The Calix Regional Summits are extremely valuable, as they bring together numerous viewpoints and generate rich discussions that feature something of value for all attendees." Each regional event will include keynotes and panels from Calix executives and service providers discussing the unique challenges CSPs are facing in their areas. Specific topics will include insights from subscribers, employees, and communities as they navigate through unprecedented times, as well as analyses of the impact COVID-19 will have on funding and performance testing. Each session will conclude with real time Q&A and live polling. "Today's global challenge presents service providers with an immense opportunity to lead their communities and cement relationships with subscribers along the way," said Skip Hirvela, VP of sales for Calix. "We have designed our Regional Summits to generate discussions among peers and encourage the sharing of best practices and lessons learned. Every one of those lessons holds added meaning right now, so it was vital that we continue to hold this forum for regional service providers. We have always prided ourselves on helping CSPs deliver best in class services, which is paramount now in the face of unprecedented subscriber and business challenges." Make plans to join Calix experts, industry thought leaders, and peers at our 2020 virtual Regional Summits. Click here for more information. About Calix Calix, Inc. (NYSE: CALX) - Innovative communications service providers rely on Calix platforms to help them master and monetize the complex infrastructure between their subscribers and the cloud. Calix is the leading global provider of the cloud and software platforms, systems, and services required to deliver the unified access network and smart premises of tomorrow. Our platforms and services help our customers build next generation networks by embracing a DevOps operating model, optimize the subscriber experience by leveraging big data analytics and turn the complexity of the smart, connected home and business into new revenue streams. This press release may contain forward-looking statements that are based upon management's current expectations and are inherently uncertain. Forward-looking statements are based upon information available to us as of the date of this release, and we assume no obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking statement to reflect any event or circumstance after the date of this release, except as required by law. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from current expectations based on risks and uncertainties affecting Calix's business. The reader is cautioned not to rely on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Additional information on potential factors that could affect Calix's results and other risks and uncertainties are detailed in its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC (News - Alert) and available at www.sec.gov. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005217/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A frustrated, defiant and emotional Mobile barbershop owner was forced to close his business Wednesday after a personal intervention from the citys top law enforcement official. The drama unfolded after Joel Edwards, who runs Mikes Barbershop with his dad on Schillinger Road, reopened the shop Tuesday - defying Governor Kay Iveys health orders and attracting the attention of local law enforcement. He was issued a cease and desist order and fined $500. By 9 a.m. the next day, Edwards was outside his barbershop and ready to go again. He was prepared to be arrested, he told AL.com. All three barbers had filled every single appointment through the end of the week, mostly with people who sympathized with their principled stand and difficult financial circumstances. I have worked my entire life to build what I have and Im at risk of losing it, Edwards told AL.com in an interview outside his barbershop. I dont have any money left. I have to come back to work and Im not the only one. Im part of the majority who [are] about to lose their livelihood. Im not the outlaw, he added. Edwards decision to reopen his family barbershop comes as counties, states and even entire continents weigh the consequences of restarting stalled economies with the possibility that doing so could infect and kill more people. As a result of mass business closures, unemployment in the U.S. is at levels not seen since the Great Depression, while attempts at stabilizing small businesses have stuttered through complicated bureaucracy within the nations financial institutions and in Congress. Joel Edwards cutting the hair of a customer. Edwards defied state orders to reopen his business. The decision to reopen resulted in Edwards, his dad and fellow barber Justin Bouchard being threatened on social media. Bouchard said hed canceled his appointments for the day because hed received death threats, while threats to shoot any police officer who walked into the barbershop were made to MPD in his name, he said. Bouchard said he is former military police officer with the U.S. Army. Before Edwards had opened for the day, several people were waiting outside and employees at neighboring businesses were watching on. One man who preferred to remain anonymous handed Edwards the $500 to pay the fine. Inside the barbershop, the chairs were six feet apart, while each person wore a face mask and gloves. Not long after Edwards finished his first appointment of the day, the citys director of public safety and former chief of police arrived alone to speak with the three men. Media were asked to leave. After more than an hour and half of discussion, Director of Public Safety James Barber said that while he desperately wanted to get businesses open again and people back to work, it had to be done in the safest way possible while also respecting existing state orders and laws. The shop has agreed to close down and work with us on making sure we have a good phased approach that everyone can agree on, with pressure from the mayors to get the governor to accept these types of protocols. Again, the idea being is we dont ever want to be put in the situation where were criminalizing normally law-abiding citizens. I have the utmost respect for the guys that are working here and the situation they are in, and they are not unique in that we have a lot of people that are very worried about paying the bills. I think theres a way forward. I think we can get America back to work, but we have to do so deliberately working together and not at odds with each other. Barber said he would be open to taking them to Montgomery to meet with the governor. But I also see Mikes barbershop as the perfect test to where government can work with industries to get them back open. Barber said that in the meantime the men had agreed to take the antibodies test and any subsequent tests to ensure the business opened safely. Edwards wasnt sure when the test could be administered or how long it might take. Later in the day, Edwards took to social media to talk about his meeting with Barber and why he was now prepared to follow orders handed down by the governor. The chief is sympathetic to our cause and understands why I made the moves I did, but I am not someone who deserves special treatment, wrote Edwards on the shops Facebook page Wednesday morning. Had I not complied, it wasnt me who was going to suffer the consequences and pay the price. A padlock was going to be put on the shop door, and for the next two months, my father, my best friend, every barber in the shop would be forced to be closed. Joel Edwards reopened his barbershop in West Mobile. He was fined $500. My father has worked his whole life to be able to live a quiet one. Through my actions today, I risked not just my own life, but that of him and my mother, who if I continued on, would have lost their mortgage, vehicle, and lives as they know it. He added: I am so sorry to everyone who believed in me to be their voice. I am so sorry to have let you down. But I will give it my best effort to put faith and hope into Chief Barber and hopefully the voice of the people through this is enough to get our community back to work. The French-owned overseas territory of New Caledonia begins lifting restrictions Monday, with its population resuming, for the most part, life as usual. New Caledonia comprises four archipelagos, or groups of islands, lying in the Pacific Ocean 1,210 km (750 miles) east of Australia and to the west of Fiji. It is one of the first to ease the lockdown, and the first territory under French control to do so. The island region has had no deaths from the coronavirus and only 18 confirmed cases of infection since starting confinement on March 24. With no new cases over the past 12 days. 3,000 tests have been carried out on a population of 270,000. When President Emmanuel Macron issued a nationwide lockdown in France, on March 17, New Caledonian President Thierry Santa suspended all flights into the territory. All visitors were required to quarantine with fines issued for non-compliance. Testing began immediately with the first two cases found the next day -- an Australian couple on honeymoon, who were put into quarantine. As of March 27, total cases had only risen to 15. As a result of its place in the world, New Caledonia is a major tourist attraction and relies heavily on such for its economic well-being, as well as imports, for many facets of its livelihood. Tourism, however, is not permitted for the time being the only shipments allowed are for emergencies or supplies. Schools, places of work, hotels, restaurants, shops, and even beaches are now allowed back open, but as with its mainland parent France, authorities are asking citizens to respect strict social distancing measures as well as wear masks and maintain a heightened sense of hygiene. Nightclubs, bars, and movie houses -- places where patrons could gather perhaps too closely -- will remain closed in a note of caution for the moment. Image Credit: AA Coronavirus: WHO developing guidance on wet markets by Helen Briggs April 22,2020 | Source: BBC News The World Health Organization (WHO) is calling for stricter safety and hygiene standards when wet markets reopen. And it says governments must rigorously enforce bans on the sale and trade of wildlife for food. The start of the pandemic was linked to a market in Wuhan, where wildlife was on sale. Wet markets are common in Asia, Africa and elsewhere, selling fresh fruit and vegetables, poultry, fresh meat, live animals and sometimes wildlife. The WHO is working with UN bodies to develop guidance on the safe operation of wet markets, which it says are an important source of affordable food and a livelihood for millions of people all over the world. But in many places, they have been poorly regulated and poorly maintained, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the WHO, said in a briefing on Friday. "WHO's position is that when these markets are allowed to reopen it should only be on the condition that they conform to stringent food safety and hygiene standards," he said. "Governments must rigorously enforce bans on the sale and trade of wildlife for food." And he added: "Because an estimated 70% of all new viruses come from animals, we also work together closely [with the World Organization for Animal Health and the Food and Agricultural Organization, FAO, of the United Nations] to understand and prevent pathogens crossing from animals to humans." Public health concerns The pandemic has led to some wildlife conservation organisations calling for blanket bans on the wildlife trade on public health grounds, including bans on the commercial trade in wildlife for human consumption and closing down live wildlife markets. Dr Mark Jones, head of policy at Born Free, urged the WHO to work alongside governments to ban wildlife markets and bring an end to the commercial wildlife trade, including measures to protect wildlife habitats. He said this was necessary "to halt and reverse the devastating declines in the natural world that have brought a million species to the brink of extinction and threaten the future of wildlife and humanity alike". However, other experts have warned against an outright ban on markets and wildlife trade, saying this could prove counterproductive. Writing in The Conversation, Dan Challender and Amy Hinsley from the University of Oxford, said banning all wildlife trade "is a knee-jerk and potentially self-defeating measure". "A more appropriate response would be improving regulation of wildlife markets, especially those involving live animals. This should include full consideration of public health and animal welfare concerns to ensure there is low risk of future animal-to-human disease outbreaks." What are wet markets? Wet markets are a familiar sight in many countries. Selling live fish, chickens and wildlife, as well as fresh fruit and vegetables, they get their name from the melting of ice used to preserve goods, as well as to wash the floors clean of blood from butchered animals. Why are they linked to the spread of disease? Many experts think Covid-19 likely originated in the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, which has been linked to early confirmed cases. While not a wet market in the strictest sense, reports suggest the market was selling wildlife, including snakes, porcupine and deer. After an initial cluster of cases connected to the market, the virus began spreading dramatically inside China, before reaching much of the world. The origins of the novel virus are unknown, but it most likely emerged in a bat, then made the leap to humans via another wild animal host. Wet markets can be "timebombs" for epidemics, says Prof Andrew Cunningham, deputy director of science at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). "This sort of way that we treat... animals as if they're just our commodities for us to plunder - it comes back to bite us and it's no surprise." 2020 BBC Theme(s): Others. North Korea claims no coronavirus cases. However, it has been reported by Radio Free Asia (RFA), that North Korean lecturers have informed people concerning the confirmed COVID-19 cases in several areas. It was reported by two sources that the Government in North Korea held lectures and have taught all communities about the COVID-19 pandemic in order to warn people. During the speech, the instructors openly stated that COVID-19 was spreading in three specific areas. A resident in Ryanggang province, who demanded anonymity for fear of retaliation told RFA, "They held a lecture session for all the residents titled 'Let's all work together on the coronavirus quarantine project to successfully implement the Supreme Leader's policies.'" "The speaker at the lecture publicly stated that there were confirmed coronavirus patients among the people. They said that the Korean Workers Party's quarantine guidelines had not been implemented properly by us, and that this caused serious damage to the people's economy. The speaker appealed to us all to prevent further damage to society so we can together win the war against the coronavirus," the resident added. He continued that people were confused with the announcement since North Korean authorities have been claiming no confirmed COVID-19 cases. "They were wondering how it could be possible when the authorities had been claiming that there were no victims in North Korea thanks to the party's thorough emergency quarantine measures." "The speaker reiterated that North Korea has the most superior socialist healthcare system, making it the country with the fewest confirmed cases in the world," said the resident. The three areas that the speaker mentioned having confirmed cases were Pyongyang, South Hwanghae province, and North Hamgyong province. However, the resident was skeptical about this information. The resident questioned, "North Hamgyong and South Hwanghae are located at the top and bottom of the map of our country, and Pyongyang is in the middle. Can you believe that there are confirmed cases in only these three areas?" "If the virus spread from the northern end of the country near the border with China to the southern end, it means it has to have spread across the entire country." Another person from Pyongyang told RFA anonymously that he had the same lecture, "The lecturer told us we should be proud that we live in the country with the fewest confirmed coronavirus cases because of our socialist medical system and healthcare policies. They even told us that we should pledge our undying loyalty to our leader for providing us with such a great healthcare system." However, the attendees were criticizing authorities for not doing the right thing, "They say that the Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un did nothing for residents who are struggling to make ends meet. They are criticizing the authorities for blaming the people for failing to implement the party's quarantine guidelines instead of themselves." Previously, on April 1, Pyongyang announced to the world that they were 100% successful in constraining the virus, and not a single person was infected. Pak Myong Su, director of the anti-epidemic department of North Korea's Central Emergency Anti-epidemic Headquarters, told the foreign media, "Not one single person has been infected with the novel coronavirus in our country so far." North Korea has quarantine of entire counties near the Chinese border and canceled political events to take preventative action Meanwhile, According to Korean media, DongA, reported that an official who secretly visited a sauna while being quarantined was caught and sentenced to death. Also, many additional rumors suggest that the North Korean government is using forceful action to constrain the virus because they lacked the medical facilities. The World Health Organization (WHO) is known to have doubts about North Korea's claims, considering North Korea's economic situation and poor medical facilities. "We have to remember that many women and children in North Korea are suffering from malnutrition," said Dr. Nagi Shafik, Previous director of the WHO Pyongyang office. Dr Shafik added, "I believe North Korea will report COVID-19 confirmation to the WHO, but there may be insufficient resources to determine whether people are infected." Why it matters: The Covid-19 pandemic is having a crushing effect on many industries and has seen unemployment in the US reach unprecedented levels. But one company where employees can feel secure in their jobs in Nvidia, which is not only keeping all its workers but is also giving them raises. In a letter to employees (via HotHardware), Nvidia boss Jensen Huang addressed Nvidia staffs fears that, like so many firms, the company could be making layoffs. In response to the falling economy, we announced that we are pulling in our annual review process. Immediately I received questions about whether we are also planning a layoff, he wrote. NO precisely the opposite. We are accelerating your raise to put some extra money in your hands. we can put tens of millions more dollars in the hands of our families in the coming months. There is no layoff. The work we do in graphics, science, AI, and robotics is more vital to the future than ever. Huang said that like so many people, Nvidia employees have been affected by the virus. Three workers contracted Covid-19 and recovered, but the mother of one employee passed away after she became infected. Huang added that Nvidias technology and expertise is its most potent weapon against Covid-19. The companys hardware features in many machines used to analyze the virus, and it recently joined the Covid-19 High Performance Computing Consortium, a collective of organizations accelerating methods to detect, contain and treat the latest coronavirus. Additionally, the company has promised to match the donations made by every one of its teams up to $2,500, for a total of $10,000. Nvidia is in a better position than most firms to weather the crisis. Laptops and desktops, many containing its graphics cards, have seen a boost in sales as people work and study from home during the lockdown. Huang said it also has "excellent positions in thriving markets" and "plenty of reserves for a rainy day." One of the many companies thats not in such a good position is Kickstarter. The crowdfunding service has seen its number of new projects fall 35 percent in recent weeks and is planning cost-cutting measures that include layoffs. Indians living under COVID-19 lockdown in Malaysia have formed two WhatsApp groups to create a network of informed kinship; hunger is a rampant issue, and most are struggling to find a way to pay the next months rent "Every day I am getting calls from my children, saying their mom is crying at night. She pretends to be happy in front of me, for my sake. What do I do? says Shaik Chand Basha, a terminated employee now stuck in Malaysia. As part of efforts to flatten the rapidly rising COVID-19 curve, many countries have sealed their borders and ordered lockdowns for a seemingly indefinite period of time. This has left people stranded across the globe with no means to get back home, including scores of Indians. Basha, a resident of Karlol district in Hyderabad, arrived at Kuala Lumpur in November last year to work as a geospatial developer Working on an employment visa valid for two years, he was abruptly terminated within four months of joining in March, on account of the companys financial troubles. With no compensation and job prospects in sight, and all flights to India suspended temporarily, he soon realised that going back home wasnt going to be an option either. According to an advisory posted by the High Commission of India, Kuala Lumpur, the flights to India would continue to remain suspended. The HCI-KL has directed Indians stuck there to abide by the governments Movement Control Order and to register themselves. Some 3,000 people have registered on that website. The helpline number and e-mail ID arent of much use, and we get just generic automated responses, says Basha. Indians form the third-highest ethnic group in Malaysia accounting for up to 6.4 percent its total population, according to the Malay government portal. In 2017, there were as many as 1,14,455 immigrant workers employed across a myriad of fields. Basha is not the only one to have been snubbed by his company in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Several other salaried workers across sectors, from event management to project development have been laid off as corporates scramble to cut costs and avoid losses. Alqama Arif, a sales executive at Management Events (Asia Group), had barely begun his work before the lockdown was initiated. Asked to work from home within days of joining, a termination letter came his way just as suddenly. They gave me two options, one offer letter with half my salary for an indefinite period or accepting the termination. Its not possible to bear this cost of living on half my salary. So, despite a one year contract, I was forced to resign, says Arif of the unexpected situation. Alongside him, several other Indian colleagues were forced to resign from their jobs too. Now they struggle to make ends meet, wondering how long they can manage to do so before help arrives. The experience continues to be far from pleasant for those stranded in Malaysia, with no word from the Indian Embassy or the Government of India on plans to evacuate them. While the Government of India is running Lifeline Udans transporting essentials to different regions, theres no word on bringing back Indians stranded abroad. As of 21 April, the Ministry of Civil Aviation is still "considering the decision to restart flights". Click here for Coronavirus Outbreak LIVE Updates In a series of tweets on 20 April, Union Civil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted that "flight restrictions that are in place... will be lifted once we are confident that spread of the virus has been controlled and it poses no danger to our country and people". "Since some airlines did not heed our advisory and opened bookings and started collecting money from flyers, a directive was issued to them on 19 April restraining them from doing so," he added in another tweet. For those attempting to leave Malaysia, checking flight availabilities has become synonymous with breathing. And for some others, the process has been infuriatingly inefficient, to say the least. I called Malindo Airlines to book a flight to Chennai when I learnt that there were special flights going there. They said I could book the ticket if I paid for it since these werent evacuation flights. However, two days later, Malindo cancelled the ticket, says Mandeep Singh Mokha. Formerly a project manager in Kuala Lumpur before the termination wave hit him, Mokha, a resident of Ghaziabad, had his flight tickets to Delhi rescheduled and cancelled by the airline several times. As for compensation following the cancellation, he is now in an endless toss between the booking agent (GoIbibo) and the airline authorities. With no respite from either governments, Indians in Malaysia have formed two WhatsApp groups to create a network of informed kinship. Hunger is a rampant issue, and most are struggling to find a way to pay the next months rent. People havent had food for almost a week. I just sent four kilos of rice to some people who texted on our group today. If they gave us food on alternate days also we would manage. Theyre asking us to stay safe and take care, but how? asks Basha. Currently living in the Brickfield area of Kuala Lumpur, Basha adds that there are 250 other Indians trapped in the area alone. He is also paying approximately Rs 10,000 as rent for his room, which he wont be able to produce next month. Some NGOs and gurdwaras in the locality are attempting to help without any resources being provided by the authorities. With a 7 pm curfew in place and the possibility of hefty fines, people are hesitant to step out, even if to look for relief. Days continue to pass with an increase in cases and a stoic silence from the Indian authorities while the situation is getting potentially dangerous for Indians who need medical attention. I am on medication, I have BP and diabetes. Who will take care of me if something happens? I dont have medical insurance here, asks Satyadeep Baral, a software engineer. Like others, he had joined his company in December 2019, only to find himself eventually unemployed with barely enough money for food. At present, hes staying with his friend, unwittingly made to feel like an illegal immigrant in the country. The lockdown is set to end in Malaysia in another week. Indians stranded in Malaysia allege that the Indian embassy has shown no empathy towards them except offering lip service. The members of the WhatsApp group dedicatedly continue to tweet to Indian authorities every day. However, they might as well have not bothered. Its not just former employees who are stranded in the country though. For Some like Abhilash Parida, it's wanderlust gone horribly wrong. Visiting the country with his sister and brother-in-law, the group arrived on 12 March for their vacation only to have all flights back home suspended less than a week later. The HCI-K website lists about eight hundred stranded tourists as of writing this article. The only shred of hope comes from a special pass issued to tourists by the Malay government. The pass entails that the tourist visas expired during the lockdown could still be used to leave the country, provided the person has a valid passport. Life still isnt easy for the group, who are currently put up in an Airbnb with dwindling rations. The high cost of living juxtaposed with the sheer difficulty to procure further supplies has led to a seemingly helpless situation. The supermarkets close to us dont have any Indian groceries. There are Bangladeshi and Pakistani markets about three kilometres away, however, you cant have more than one passenger in the cab. We also have to carry our passports every time we step out, just in case the cops catch us, adds Abhilash. For those stranded in Malaysia, its not just the logistics of daily survival that is an issue. Back home in India, elderly parents and family members continue to lie in wait of better news, some of them entirely reliant on these immigrants. My parents are 60+ and alone in Karlol. My wife and kids were supposed to go there, but with only a four hours notice they got stuck in Hyderabad. I dont know who will take care of them if they get sick, laments Basha, a single child. Mandeep Singh, whose wife and child are stuck in Nagpur, calls this situation reminiscent of the demonetisation move. Then too, he was forced to spend long hours at a bank in an attempt to withdraw money for his then-pregnant wifes hospital fees. Now, hes stuck in a foreign country with no way to get back home. My father is over 75 years old and alone in Delhi. If he doesnt answer even one video call, I get scared. The Embassy continues to self-promote its caregiving to immigrants, but a large number of us remain ignored. Id appreciate even if the politicians were reaching out to give us fake sympathy at this point. Why are they ignoring us? asks Singh. The community, however, has not given to despair despite the odds. In fact, most of them have attempted to reach out to the embassy, authorities in both the countries, media houses, and anyone who can offer any aid. Indians stranded in Malaysia maintain that they are willing to pay for tickets if they are allowed back home, and are ready to comply with all safety protocol following their arrival. The desperation is such that it doesnt matter which part of India theyre taken back to as long as they can escape their turmoil. Its not a matter of 15-20 days, its going to take anywhere between six months to a year to curb this. We cant battle this virus from another country, our people need to take us back, insists Baral. The lack of communication on evacuation of Indians stranded in Malaysia by the Government of India has left Indians in a dire conundrum both at home and abroad. Given that most of these 3,000 odd people will be reduced to living on the streets if action isnt taken, there needs to be a quick translation from vague narratives to thorough implementation. Senate approves $500B virus aid deal, sends it to House Most of the funding would go to boost a small-business payroll loan program that ran out of money last week. By LISA MASCARO and ANDREW TAYLOR Associated Press WASHINGTON A $483 billion coronavirus aid package flew through the Senate on Tuesday after Congress and the White House reached a deal to replenish a small-business payroll fund and provided new money for hospitals and testing. Passage was swift and unanimous, despite opposition from conservative Republicans, and President Donald Trump tweeted his support, pledging to sign it into law. The Senate is continuing to stand by the American people, said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. It now goes to the House, where lawmakers have been summoned back to Washington for votes on Thursday. After nearly two weeks of negotiations and deadlock, Congress and the White House reached agreement Tuesday on the nearly $500 billion package the fourth as Washington strains to respond to the health and economic crisis. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the bill was made better and broader after Democrats forced the inclusion of money for hospitals and testing. A copy of the measure was provided to The Associated Press by a GOP aide. Most of the funding, $331 billion, would go to boost a small-business payroll loan program that ran out of money last week. An additional $75 billion would be given to hospitals, and $25 billion would be spent to boost testing for the virus, a key step in building the confidence required to reopen state economies. Missing from the package, however, was extra funding for state and local governments staring down budget holes and desperate to avert furloughs and layoffs of workers needed to keep cities running. Trump said he was open to including in a subsequent virus aid package fiscal relief for state and local government which Democrats wanted for the current bill along with infrastructure projects. Not all Republicans are backing Trump on the deal. Two conservative Republicans, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., voiced opposition during Tuesday's session but did not halt passage. Lee said it was unacceptable that the full Senate was not present and voting in the pro forma session, citing a strict reading of the Constitution. Paul said no amount of federal funding will be able to salvage a shuttered economy. Deaths from infectious disease will continue, but we cannot continue to indefinitely quarantine, said Paul, who tested positive for the virus last month but has since recovered. The House is being called to Washington for a Thursday vote, said Rep. Steny Hoyer, the House majority leader, on a conference call with reporters. Hoyer, D-Md., said the House will also vote on a proposal to allow proxy voting on future business during the pandemic, a first for Congress, which has required in-person business essentially since its founding. The House must show the American people that we continue to work hard on their behalf, Hoyer wrote to colleagues. But the landmark rules change met with objections from conservative Republicans in the House. I don't support it at all, said Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., one of a handful of Republicans who showed up for Tuesday's pro forma session to protest proxy votes. Congress should be in session. Signaling concerns, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., wrote Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., seeking more information on plans to reopen the House. The emerging virus aid package originally designed by Republicans as a $250 billion stopgap to replenish the payroll subsidies for smaller businesses has grown into the second largest of the four coronavirus response bills so far. Democratic demands have caused the measure to balloon, though Republicans support additions for hospitals and testing. The now $310 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program includes $60 billion or so set aside for and divided equally among smaller banks and community lenders that seek to focus on underbanked neighborhoods and rural areas. Democrats have highlighted the number of smaller and minority-owned shops missing out on the aid. Another $60 billion would be available for a small-business loans and grants program delivered through an existing small business disaster aid program, $10 billion of which would come in the form of direct grants. The bill provides $25 billion for increased testing efforts, including at least $11 billion to state and tribal governments to detect and track new infections. The rest will help fund federal research into new coronavirus testing options. Currently, the U.S. has tested roughly 4 million people for the virus, or just over 1% of its population, according to the Covid Tracking Project website. While the White House says the U.S. has enough testing to begin easing social distancing measures, most experts say capacity needs to increase at least threefold, if not more. Despite yet another big package from Congress, all sides say more aid is likely needed in the next bill. There's pressure to help cities with populations of less than 500,000 that were shut out of the massive $2 trillion relief bill that passed last month. Schumer said Monday that he had talked to Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell and that Powell said the Fed is working to open up the Main Street Lending program to nonprofits and municipal governments. The government's Paycheck Protection Program has been swamped by companies applying for loans and reached its appropriations limit last Thursday after approving nearly 1.7 million loans. That left thousands of small businesses in limbo as they sought help. Controversies have enveloped the program, with many businesses complaining that banks have favored customers with whom they already do business. Some businesses that haven't been harmed much by the pandemic have also received loans, along with a number of publicly traded corporations. Chris Hemsworth was left super impressed by a determined Indian fan who chased him down on a motorbike to get his autograph. The actor, who was filming new movie Extraction in India at the time, shared an adorable video of the incident on Instagram. In the clip which Chris posted on Tuesday, the man could be seen riding alongside Chris' SUV waving a photo of the Thor star. "One of the more enthusiastic fans I've ever seen," Chris commented in the clip. "Yes mate, not in the middle of the traffic though," the 36-year-old said as he continued capturing the enthusiastic fan following his car through the traffic-filled streets. Sharing the video of the incident with his fans, Chris wrote, "Persistence pays off - not only did this guy get an autograph, he also does all my motorbike stunts from now on." Take a look: The video has garnered several views and comments, with fans lauding Chris for being a generous star. Meanwhile, Chris recently admitted that the action scenes for his new Netflix movie were the most intense of his career. "I think if I added up every action film that I'd ever done or every piece of action I've ever done in a movie, it wouldn't even come close to what we've done in the last nine weeks on this movie," the actor told The Sunday Telegraph. Chris plays damaged mercenary Tyler Rake who is contracted to rescue the kidnapped son of crime lord from India. Chris' action-packed Extraction arrives on Netflix on April 24. The film also features Rudhraksh Jaiswal, David Harbour, Pankaj Tripathi, Randeep Hooda, Golshifteh Farahani, Marc Donato, Fay Masterson and Derek Luke. [April 22, 2020] CorMedix Completes Sale of $5.5 Million of NOL Tax Benefits through New Jersey Technology Business Tax Certificate Transfer Program BERKELEY HEIGHTS, N.J., April 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CorMedix Inc. (NYSE American: CRMD), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapeutic products for the prevention and treatment of infectious and inflammatory disease, today announced that it has completed the previously announced sale of $5.5 million of the total $6.0 million of its available tax benefits to an unrelated, profitable New Jersey corporation through the New Jersey Economic Development Authoritys New Jersey Technology Business Tax Certificate Transfer program for State Fiscal Year 2019. As a result, the Company has received approximately $5.2 million in cash from the sale of these NOL tax benefits. This transaction closed amid significant market volatility, so the timing could not be better, commented Khoso Baluch, CorMedix CEO. This funding will be helpful as we continue our preparations to commercialize Neutrolin, whether on our own or with a strategic or commercial partner. We have remained on schedule towards an anticipated approval in the second half of 2020, subject of course to possible delays at FDA due to the coronavirus pandemic. The New Jersey Technology Business Tax Certificate Transfer (NOL) program enables qualified, unprofitable NJ-based technology or biotechnology companies with fewer than 225 U.S. employees (including parent company and all subsidiaries) to sell a percentage of net operating losses and research and development (R&D) tax credits to unrelated profitable corporations. NOLs and R&D tax credits may be sold for at least 80 percent of their value, up to a maximum lifetime benefit of $15 million per business. This allows qualifying technology and biotechnology companies with NOLs to turn their tax losses and credits into cash proceeds to fund growth and operations, including research and development or other allowable expenditures. About CorMedix CorMedix Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapeutic proucts for the prevention and treatment of infectious and inflammatory diseases. The Company is focused on developing its lead product Neutrolin, a novel, non-antibiotic antimicrobial solution designed to prevent costly and dangerous bloodstream infections associated with the use of central venous catheters. The Company completed a Phase 3 clinical trial of Neutrolin in patients undergoing chronic hemodialysis, which showed a 71% reduction in catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSIs) relative to the heparin control arm (p=0.0006) with a good safety profile. Such infections cost the U.S. healthcare system approximately $6 billion annually and contribute significantly to increased morbidity and mortality. Neutrolin has FDA Fast Track status and is designated as a Qualified Infectious Disease Product, which provides the potential for priority review of a marketing application by FDA and allows for 5 additional years of QIDP market exclusivity in the event of U.S. approval. FDA has granted rolling submission and review of portions of the new drug application (NDA) and CorMedix has begun submission of the NDA. Neutrolin is already marketed as a CE Marked product in Europe and other territories. In parallel, CorMedix is leveraging its taurolidine technology to develop a pipeline of antimicrobial medical devices, with active programs in surgical sutures and meshes, and topical hydrogels. The company is also working with top-tier researchers to develop taurolidine-based therapies for rare pediatric cancers. For more information, visit: www.cormedix.com . Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, regarding managements expectations, beliefs, goals, plans or CorMedixs prospects, future financial position, financing plans, future revenues and projected costs should be considered forward-looking. Readers are cautioned that actual results may differ materially from projections or estimates due to a variety of important factors, including: the results of our discussions with the FDA regarding the Neutrolin development path, including whether a second Phase 3 clinical trial for Neutrolin will be required; the resources needed to complete the information required to submit a new drug application for Neutrolin to the FDA; the risks and uncertainties associated with CorMedixs ability to manage its limited cash resources and the impact on current, planned or future research, including the continued development of Neutrolin and research for additional uses for taurolidine; obtaining additional financing to support CorMedixs research and development and clinical activities and operations; preclinical results are not indicative of success in clinical trials and might not be replicated in any subsequent studies or trials; and the ability to retain and hire necessary personnel to staff our operations appropriately. At this time, we are unable to assess whether, and to what extent, the uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic may impact our business and operations. These and other risks are described in greater detail in CorMedixs filings with the SEC, copies of which are available free of charge at the SECs website at www.sec.gov or upon request from CorMedix. CorMedix may not actually achieve the goals or plans described in its forward-looking statements, and investors should not place undue reliance on these statements. CorMedix assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Investor Contact: Dan Ferry Managing Director LifeSci Advisors 617-430-7576 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] - An Israeli therapeutic company formulated a placenta-based cell therapy, which they used to cure coronavirus patients - The six patients who were cured of the drug were considered to be critically ill - Doctors defined the cured patients as with "high-risk for mortality," with four of them suffering from cardiovascular and kidney failure - The company is now conducting talks with regulators in the United States and in Europe for a proper definition of the clinical strategy to be utilized against coronavirus PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed An Israeli therapeutic firm is claiming that they have already found the COVID-19 cure. KAMI learned that the said cure was derived from placenta-based cell therapy. This formula was used to treat six critically-ill COVID-19 patients in Israel from three different hospitals. The report was posted on The Jerusalem Post's website, which indicated that the initial data provided to them came from Haifa, the Israel-based Pluristem Therapeutic company. As per the report, the six patients were already considered as "high-risk for mortality" as they were suffering from organ system failures brought about by the deadly disease. Four of the patients were suffering from kidney and cardiovascular failure. Philstar reported that four of the patients improved in their respiratory conditions, three are bound to be weaned off from the ventilator and two who had pre-existing medical conditions are now showing recovery. The president of the company, Yaky Yanay, indicated that they are committed to harnessing the cells to benefit the healthcare system. The company is also currently undertaking talks with US and Europe regulators regarding the clinical strategy they have developed in fighting COVID-19. PAY ATTENTION: Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news! In a previous report by KAMI, doctors have died after being infected with COVID-19. They are among the frontliners who attend to the patients rushing to hospitals amid pandemic. The coronavirus outbreak started out in Wuhan, Hubei Province of China. Scientists believed that the virus came from an animal at one of Wuhan's wet markets. At present, the Philippines is under a state of calamity while the entire Luzon is under an enhanced community quarantine. Please like and share our amazing Facebook posts to support the KAMI team! Dont hesitate to comment and share your opinions about our stories either. We love reading about your thoughts and views on different matters! One netizen made a difference by giving food to a Grab driver. Cha Calubaquib posted about how happy the Grab driver was when she gave him chicken for his family. You will find how truly inspiring the story is through the video that we created just for you. Check out all of the exciting videos and celebrity interviews on our KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel! Source: KAMI.com.gh - The air pollution level in the National Capital Region has reportedly reduced by more than half of its previous level - According to Clean Air Asia, air pollution level in the National Capital Region has gone down by 61% during the enhanced community quarantine - The said organization found that air pollution from particles emitted from different sources like dust, vehicles, construction sites, and power plants in the NCR has dropped - The data are recorded since the pre-lockdown period, February 4 to March 6 this year, to earlier this month, March 30 to April 2 PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed As the world celebrates Earth Day today, April 22, some good news for the Philippines capital region came to light. In the midst of overwhelming news during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), the air pollution level in Manila Metro has reportedly reduced by more than half of its previous level. According to Clean Air Asia, air pollution level in the National Capital Region (NCR) has gone down by 61% during the ECQ. Clean Air Asia is an international non-governmental organization leading a regional mission for better air quality, and healthier, more livable cities throughout Asia. Their data showed that air pollution from particles emitted from different sources like dust, vehicles, construction sites, and power plants in the NCR has dropped. This is since the pre-lockdown period, February 4 to March 6 this year, to earlier this month, March 30 to April 2. During the government-imposed lockdown, the authorities encouraged a strict stay-at-home policy while classes, non-essential businesses and public transportation are suspended. PAY ATTENTION: Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news! In a previous report by KAMI, photo taken from Mariveles, Bataan shows a beautiful clearer Metro Manila skyline. The coronavirus outbreak started out in Wuhan, Hubei Province of China. Scientists believed that the virus came from an animal at one of Wuhan's wet markets. At present, the Philippines is under a state of calamity while the entire Luzon is under an enhanced community quarantine. Please like and share our amazing Facebook posts to support the KAMI team! Dont hesitate to comment and share your opinions about our stories either. We love reading about your thoughts and views on different matters! In this new episode, we give out some essential tips to follow amid the enhanced community quarantine due to COVID-19! Check out all of the exciting videos and celebrity interviews on our KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel! Source: KAMI.com.gh Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-23 00:54:28|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NAIROBI, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Remittance flows in sub-Saharan Africa are expected to drop by 23.1 percent to reach 37 billion U.S. dollars in 2020 due to the economic crisis induced by the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown, the World Bank predicted on Wednesday. The World Bank said while recovery of 4 percent is expected in 2021, the sharp decline is largely due to a fall in the wages and employment of migrant workers, who tend to be more vulnerable to loss of employment and wages during an economic crisis in a host country. "Effective social protection systems are crucial to safeguarding the poor and vulnerable during this crisis in both developing countries as well as advanced countries. In host countries, social protection interventions should also support migrant populations," said Michal Rutkowski, global director for Social Protection and Jobs at the World Bank. The lender said remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa registered a small decline of 0.5 percent to 48 billion dollars in 2019. According to the Bank, the anticipated decline can be attributed to a combination of factors driven by the coronavirus outbreak in key destinations where African migrants reside including in the EU area, the United States, the Middle East, and China. "These large economies host a large share of Sub-Saharan African migrants and combined, are a source of close to a quarter of total remittances sent to the region," said the World Bank. In addition to the pandemic's impact, it said, many countries in the eastern Africa region are experiencing a severe outbreak of desert locusts attacking crops and threatening the food supply for people in the region. According to the lender, sending 200 U.S. dollars remittances to the region cost 8.9 percent on average in the first quarter of 2020, a modest decrease compared with the average cost of 9.25 percent a year before. The most expensive corridors are observed mainly in the Southern African region, with costs as high as 20 percent, it said, adding that the less expensive corridors had average costs of less than 3.6 percent. Dilip Ratha, lead author of the Brief and head of KNOMAD, the Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development, said quick actions that make it easier to send and receive remittances can provide much-needed support to the lives of migrants and their families. "These include treating remittance services as essential and making them more accessible to migrants," said Ratha. Enditem Border Security Force (BSF) chief S S Deswal on Wednesday issued a stern warning to its personnel, saying strict action will be taken if any of them violates the COVID-19 medical protocols. The Director General (DG) issued a circular under his name for troops and officers after it was found that a Deputy Commandant rank officer of the 2-5 lakh-strong border guarding force, posted with its intelligence wing in the border area of Jaisalmer in Rajasthan returned from leave but "refused to undergo quarantine in isolation ward." "It has been brought to my knowledge that officers are not obeying the guidelines and instructions issued from time to time regarding COVID-19 protocol," the BSF Director General (DG) said in the circular accessed by PTI. Refusal by the officer to go into a designated quarantine "is a clear violation of government orders and the force, the DG said. The circular said the officer also called "several unit personnel to his house" despite being in quarantine. Officials said the officer concerned had gone on a day's leave to bring back his child from another location and he was subsequently directed to be in home quarantine by the unit doctor. The circular issued by the DG said "every personnel irrespective of rank, on return from leave or training, should be put in quarantine facility so created, under supervision of doctors." "No home quarantine is permitted," the DG said in his directive. "Strict disciplinary action will be taken against such defaulters as well as the supervisory officers and it is again directed to comply with COVID-19 protocol in letter and spirit," Deswal said. Officials, however, maintained that the instance was a case of "miscommunication" between the field formation and the headquarters of the force in the national capital and the officer had taken all precautions. There has been a positive case of coronavirus infection in the BSF. A second-in-command rank officer (equivalent to a Superintendent of Police) posted at the forces' academy at Tekanpur in Madhya Pradesh contracted the infection last month. The BSF is primarily tasked to guard two important Indian fronts with Pakistan and Bangladesh apart from rendering a variety of duties in the internal security domain of the country. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) It took two years for my husband and me to come to the decision to sell our home in St. Petersburg, FL. We went back and forth on the idea for a few reasons. A big one? One of our sons had a lot of friends in our neighborhood, and we didnt want to uproot him. Even so, the market was hot in our area, and we knew we could make a decent amount of money if we sold our home. In November, we were ready to sell. We wanted to pay off some debt, build up a savings account, and buy a new car. Our real estate agent advised us to list right after the holidays. In the meantime, we made a few cosmetic upgrades, added fresh paint, and installed new fixtures. We listed our home on Jan. 7, and our agent scheduled an open house for the following weekend. During the open housejust five days after listingwe received an offer. We accepted the offer, but it fell through. No time for dismay! We scheduled showings the following week, and our agent scheduled another open house. Then, 11 days after listing our house, we received another offer, which was right at our asking price. Everything looked great on paper, and we eagerly accepted the offer. At first, we were thrilled. Our plan worked! And then we took a look at the timeline for closing and freaked out just a bit. If all went well, we'd hand over the keys to our home in 28 to 30 days. Here's what I learned from selling a home in rapid fashion. We needed a new place to stay For our next move, my husband and I decided we were going to rent a house instead of buying a place right away. There were two main rationales at work. One, we wanted to pay off more debt and raise our credit scores to obtain the best mortgage rate possible. Two, we weren't 100% sure where we wanted to set down roots in St. Petersburg. The city is really spread out, and one of our kids is headed to high school in a year. It made sense for us to wait before we bought again. In hindsight, the wait makes even more sense. That said, the market here was hot earlier this yearfor both home sales and rentals. The majority of the homes in St. Petersburg are older and small, and just about everything is expensive. This meant few options that suited our needs and were within our budget. The market was moving quick in January so our family of four had to act fast when we found a place we liked. __________ Watch: Don't Put These Things on Display When You're Trying to Sell Your Home __________ Inspection and appraisal in a tight timeline During the inspection and appraisal steps of the home-selling process, the buyer has the right to cancel the contract if either report comes back with red flags. Our timeline was tight: The buyers appraisal was due just eight days before closing. We didnt want to sign a lease, move, and then have our buyer back out of the deal. So, to be prudent, we decided to wait until both the inspection and appraisal were done. Paying rent plus a mortgage if the buyer backed out simply wasnt in the cards. However, waiting to sign a lease until just over a week before the closing date was also a risk. The odds of finding a viable rental and moving in that tight time frame didnt seem possiblebut it's the path we chose. I attempted to calm my inner voice, and we plowed forward to find a new place to live. We started looking for a rental well before the appraisal date. Wed listed our house at a reasonable price, so any discrepancies with the appraisal were a long shot. Though our house needed a little work, the inspection wasn't likely to yield anything substantial. All of the pieces came together, but we were prepared to undergo undue levels of stress as we waited for the final steps of the sale process. Especially since we were also planning a move. Packing under pressure is a whole new level of torture We both work full time and have two kidsa 3-year-old and a 13-year-old. My husband and I began to pack the nonessentials once the offer came in. We still needed to purge unnecessary items and pack the rest, which is a trying task when four people have lived in one place for seven years. Its amazing what you can accumulate. We spent every spare minute packing up, tossing out, or giving away things. It was its own nightmare in an already stressful situation. Even though we knew it was a temporary inconvenience, the process was overwhelming. Packing is tough, but when the clock is ticking, it's even tougher. And just like that, it was over The one big positive about a short timeline between offer and close? All of the chaos lasted only a short period of time. Although my husband and I reached peak stress levels, the madness truly lasted for just over a month. By the third week in February, we were settled in our new rental home, and all was said and done with the sale of our first home. Would I do it again? Yes! If the timing and the money were right, I most certainly would. Except for possibly the packing part. The post My House Sold Faster Than ExpectedWas It a Blessing or a Curse? appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) on Tuesday signaled his opposition to passing another coronavirus economic relief bill before Congress returns from recess. Youve seen the talk from both sides about acting, but my goal from the beginning of this, given the extraordinary numbers that were racking up to the national debt, is that we need to be as cautious as we can be, McConnell said in an interview with Politico. We need to see how things are working, see what needs to be corrected, and I do think that the next time we pass a coronavirus rescue bill we need to have everyone here and everyone engaged. McConnells comments came after senators passed by unanimous consent a $484 billion relief package providing additional funds for small business loans, hospitals, and other programs. That bill follows the massive $2.2 trillion relief package passed earlier in April to keep various sectors of the economy afloat. My view is: We just added another $500 billion to the national debt. Lets see how things are working, McConnell continued. We need to weigh our obligations vs. [states and cities], since they have taxing authorities as well, and how to divide up the responsibility. So were not going to move on another bill related to this subject until we all get back here. Additionally, Senators Mike Lee (R., Utah) and Rand Paul (R., Ky.) both made clear their objection to passing further legislation before Congress returns to session. We need to do the job we were elected to do. . . . And yet Congress is in recess, Lee said Tuesday on the Senate floor. This . . . is simply unacceptable. If COVID-19 requires Congress to act then it requires Congress to convene. More from National Review " " 'Intersectionality' is a term that some people affirm and others abhor. Wikimedia Commons Before 2015, relatively few people had ever heard the word "intersectionality," first coined in 1989 as a legal term to describe intersecting areas of discrimination. Fast-forward to today's internet-fueled culture wars, in which "intersectional" has taken on a life of its own. The once-obscure legal term has now become as politically weaponized on Twitter as "social justice warrior," "alt-right," and "identity politics," and demonized by critics as a "neo-Marxist religion" and "the biggest problem in America." But how did this happen? How did intersectionality evolve from a relatively uncontroversial legal distinction to politically polarizing buzzword? Advertisement Shining a Light on Discrimination Let's start at the beginning. The term intersectionality was first coined by Kimberle Crenshaw, a lawyer, law professor and civil rights activist. In 1989, she wrote an influential paper that identified a glaring hole in antidiscrimination law. The law recognized categories such as racial discrimination and gender discrimination, but was blind to situations in which two or more of those categories overlapped. Take the case of DeGraffenreid v. General Motors, which Crenshaw cited in a 2016 TED Talk as an example of where the law fell short of delivering justice. In this case, a black woman named Emma DeGraffenreid was denied a job at a local car manufacturing plant and sued on the basis of discrimination. The judge threw out the case citing that the plant had a record of hiring both black people and women, so she had no grounds to sue. But the judge missed the point, argued Crenshaw. Yes, the plant hired black people, but those were all black men hired for industrial or maintenance work. And yes, the plant hired women, but those were white women who worked as secretaries. But black women didn't fit into either of those narrow hiring categories, so they were effectively barred from employment at the plant. " " Kimberle Crenshaw speaks onstage during the New York Women's Foundation's 2018 "Celebrating Women" breakfast in New York City. Monica Schipper/Getty Images for The New York Women's Foundation Since there wasn't a word yet for this overlapping of identities that combined to form new, hybrid categories of discrimination, Crenshaw invented one. She called it "intersectionality." "Intersectionality was a prism to bring to light dynamics within discrimination law that weren't being appreciated by the courts," Crenshaw said. "In particular, courts seem to think that race discrimination was what happened to all black people across gender and sex discrimination was what happened to all women, and if that is your framework, of course, what happens to black women and other women of color is going to be difficult to see." So, in its original sense, intersectionality was a legal framework for seeing people whose identities and lived experiences are more complex, but who deserve equal treatment under the law. Advertisement Intersectionality Goes Mainstream Starting in the 1990s, academics began incorporating intersectionality theory into the social sciences. Up until that point, there was a tendency to study the experiences of different racial, ethnic or religious groups as homogenous blocks, says Mary Romero, a professor of justice studies and social inquiry at Arizona State University and author of "Introducing Intersectionality." "The essentialist approach said that 'all Latinos are like this' without considering that there are all of these intersections of age, citizenship, sexuality and disability," says Romero, "so there's not a monolithic experience." By examining the specific experiences of LGBTQ Latinos, undocumented Latinos, rich Latinos and poor Latinos, social scientists came up with data that could be used to inform important public policy decisions, like immigration. "If we're going to look at immigration policy and see the ways in which it needs to be changed, we have to take into consideration all the various conditions," says Romero. "The argument would be, if you want to be inclusive and you want to be just, the policy has to exist without privileging one group over another." Advertisement Enter the Activists Kimberle Crenshaw may not have invented the word intersectionality as a call for social justice, but even she came to see it that way. In her TED Talk, Crenshaw spoke about violence perpetrated against black women, and how this violence is often invisible in the national discussion about implicit racial bias and policing. She asked why Michael Brown and Tamir Rice were household names, but not Michelle Cusseaux or Tanisha Anderson, two unarmed black women also killed by police. Again, Crenshaw explained how intersectionality provides a prism or frame in which to see people whose experiences are often overlooked. "Without frames that allow us to see how social problems impact all the members of a targeted group, many will fall through the cracks of our movements, left to suffer in virtual isolation," said Crenshaw. The intersectionality mantra has been taken up by a lot of progressive organizations fighting for social equity and social justice. There is a growing recognition that not all of the members of an activist group fall into the same tidy categories or share the same experiences in the world. At YW Boston, a community organization that grew out of one of the nation's oldest chapters of the YWCA, they say that intersectionality is "crucial" to social equity work. "Without an intersectional lens, events and movements that aim to address injustice towards one group may end up perpetuating systems of inequities towards other groups," says a post on the YW Boston blog As an example, it cited the 2017 Women's March, which caught flack from transgender members of the movement because of its "vagina-centric" messaging (remember the "pussy hats"?). "Assuming that all women have vaginas or are defined by their bodies is an oversimplification that erases the experiences of those who exist beyond the gender binary," writes YW Boston. "By avoiding language that assumes our own experiences are baseline, we can open ourselves up to listening to others' points of view." Advertisement The Backlash Against Intersectionality The embrace of intersectionality by the left has led to a backlash on the right. Critics of intersectionality don't see it as a way of including or "seeing" a broader diversity of experiences, but as a type of political correctness on steroids. The goal of intersectionality, as conservative pundits like Ben Shapiro see it, is to pit people against each other in a kind of "oppression Olympics." "[Intersectionality] is a form of identity politics in which the value of your opinion depends on how many victim groups you belong to," says Shapiro in a video. "At the bottom of the totem pole is the person everybody loves to hate: the straight white male." He goes on to say that a gay black trans woman who is also Muslim would rank above a gay black trans woman who wasn't. "The more memberships you can claim in oppressed groups, the more aggrieved you are and the higher you rank." Conservative writer Andrew Sullivan called intersectionality a new "religion" imposed on liberal college campuses in which anyone not sufficiently "woke" is shunned and their voices silenced. "[Intersectionality's] version of original sin is the power of some identity groups over others," wrote Sullivan. "To overcome this sin, you need first to confess, i.e., 'check your privilege,' and subsequently live your life and order your thoughts in a way that keeps this sin at bay." Advertisement Getting Intersectionality Right Romero at Arizona State says that both campus activists and their critics often miss the point of intersectionality. Romero says that she's definitely had students who misuse intersectionality as a way of separating the oppressed from the oppressors. "I have always corrected them by using myself as an example," says Romero. "There are times when I am disadvantaged and other times when I have advantages over other people. It's very rare to find somebody who has absolutely no advantages in any situation." The target of intersectionality shouldn't be the individual, Romero explains, but the structure in which the individual lives, works or studies. Is the structure designed to privilege only one type of person or does it give everyone equal access? Seen that way, even Shapiro's vilified "straight white male" benefits from some of those "liberal" intersectional policies. "What's the white male's age, their class, their citizenship?" asks Romero, "As we all get older, for example, we have certain structural disadvantages that we share with people who are disabled." In the most just and equitable version of our world, we all hope that there are policies and institutions in place that "see" all of us in the various circumstances of our lives and give us all a fair crack at happiness. Now That's Cool If you want to learn more about how intersectionality can be used for good, check out "Solidarity Politics for Millennials: A Guide to Ending the Oppression Olympics" by Ange-Marie Hancock. Chennai, April 22 : The family of neurosurgeon Simon Hercules who died due to Covid-19 on Wednesday appealed to the government to bury his body at a cemetery in Kilpauk locality. The 55-year old Hercules died here on Sunday at a private hospital and his mortal remains were taken to Kilpauk cemetery but the locals protested against the burial fearing spread of virus. His body was then taken to a different cemetery where a large crowd gathered and attacked the ambulance and its occupants protesting against the burial there. However the body was buried after police intervened. The police have arrested 20 persons in this connection. On Wednesday Chief Minister K.Palaniswami spoke to Hercules' wife Anandhi Simon and consoled her. In a video message she appealed to Palaniswami to shift the casket containing his mortal remains to the Kilpauk cemetery as per his last wish. She said her husband before being put on the ventilator had expressed his wish to be buried as per the family ritual. John W. H. Brooks, farmer section 19, Jerome Township was born Oct. 3, 1811. As he was deprived early of the care of his parents, he was uncertain as to his birthplace, but believed he was born on the sea. His earliest years were spent in the care of a man named John Patterson, near New Castle, Del., but being cruelly treated by him, he ran away intending to make his way to the city of Philadelphia He supplied himself against possible want by lying in a stock of johnnycake and molasses, stopping night in stables. On reaching the city of his destination, he made the acquaintance of some boys whose fathers were machinists and through their instrumentality he obtained employment in a machine shop and learned his trade. He went to school in Plymouth, Montgomery County, PA, taught by Allen Carson. He remained in the Quaker City and in other eastern cities until he was about 25 years old, when he went to sea. The line of navigation with which he connected combined the coasting trade, wrecking, and fishing. When the issues between the United States and Mexico came up for adjustment and war was determined, Brooks enlisted in the regular army, enrolling at Carlisle Barracks, PA, in the Second U.S. Cav., in the company of the (afterward) celebrated Captain May. He was in the famous cavalry charge at Palo Alto and received a severe sabre cut in the left temple. He was a participant in the battle of Monterey and was present at the capitulation of the city of Mexico. In 1849 he went to Japan with the expedition under Commodore Perry to negotiate the terms of the treaty between that country and the United States and was on the "St.Lawrence," which bore the dispatches to the United States squadron. This enterprise terminated in 1852 and Brooks went in 1854 on the Walker expedition, proceeding to the Central America in the famous "Star of the West,"commanded by Admiral Hollingbroke of Graytown. His next engagement was as engineer on the "General Rust," a steamer connected with the mail service at Galveston, Texas. When the Civil War broke out, Brooks responded to the first call for troops and enlisted at Norristown, Montgomery County, PA, in Co. A, Fourth Pa., Vol. Inf.,Col. Hartranft, enlisting for three months under Capt. W. Bolton. He was wounded in the contest with the celebrated Black Horse Cavalry at Fairfax Crossroads, below the right knee by a Minie ball. He came home and spent some time and a considerable sum of money in endeavoring to raise a company for the service, but the enterprise was successful only in the loss of his investments. He returned to Pennsylvania and enlisted in Co. E, 2nd Pa. Vol. Cav., under Col. B.R. Price of Philadelphia, going out as First Sargeant. This regiment was assigned to the command of Col.Buford. At the second battle of Bull Run, Brooks received a wound above the ankle of the left leg and was discharged Oct. 27,1862, at Howard Hospital,Washington. On Sept. 7, 1863, he again enlisted, in Co. H 28th Pa Vol. Inf., better known as "Geary's Old Regiment." He was wounded May 18, 1864 at Buzzard's Roost, a shell, and a wound on the left ankle, which left the left foot completely paralyzed. He was also wounded in the right thigh by a gunshot. He was in the hospital about month after his regiment was discharged and mustered out of the military service of the United stated July 18, 1865. He carried in his body three bullets as credentials of his bravery in action. Brooks made his first acquaintance with the state of Michigan in 1858, and passed two years at Detroit. On his return from the war he went to Pennsylvania,where he remained until 1869,when he went to Saginaw and resided about a year. In 1870, he came to Jerome Township and entered a soldier's homestead claim for 160 acres. Brooks was married Oct. 20,1858, in Wilmington, Del., to Mary McClelland, daughter of Andrew and Margaret (Stewart) McClelland. Following is the record of the children born to Brooks and his wife Mary: Mary Jane, born July 9, 1861, died Dec.12, 1862; Andrew John, born June 8, 1862, died the same day; Willie J. was born Dec, 12, 1863;Margaret A. was born Dec. 12,1866; Alfred Henry was born Oct.9, 1869, and died the same day; Samuel Kosciusko was born March 8, 1870 and was the first child born at the Grand Army Post at Norristown, PA, Brooks was a Republican and served three terms as Justice of the Peace, was school inspector and township clerk three times and was appointed Notary Public. EDITOR'S NOTE The Midland County Historical Society is partnering with the Midland Daily News for "A Window to Midland's Past," which will feature historical pieces in print and online at ourmidland.com. This particular piece was compiled by retired historical society director Gary Skory from the 1884 Biographical Album. It was originally published on May 27, 1993. Italy has seen an estimated 60% decline in crop yields since the disease was discovered in the country in 2013. (Getty) A deadly disease affecting olive trees in Europe could cost economies over 20bn (17bn, $22bn), according to new research. The Xylella fastidiosa pathogen, spread by insects, has destroyed large areas of trees in Italy and could vastly increase the costs of olive oil for consumers. Italy has seen an estimated 60% decline in crop yields since the disease was discovered in the country in 2013. The Xylella bacterium has now been found in Spain, France and Portugal and plantations in Greece also now face a potential threat from the disease. A new study has estimated that the disease could cost the Spanish economy alone 17bn over the next 50 years if the infection expands and the majority of trees are affected and die. READ MORE: UK economy could shrink by quarter if lockdown persists The researchers modelled different scenarios including tree death leading to end of all growing. They compared this worst case with a scenario where replanting with resistant varieties occurred. Projections have been made for Italy, Spain, and Greece, which between them account for 95% of European olive oil production. Italy could lose over 5bn, while Greece could see a decline of just under 2bn. Dr Maria Saponari, from the CNR Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection in Italy said: The damage to the olives also causes a depreciation of the value of the land, and to the touristic attractiveness of this region. It's had a severe impact on the local economy and jobs connected with agriculture. Researchers warned the disease is likely to leave consumers worse off. The expected effect could be that there would be a shortage of supply, lead author Kevin Schneider from Wageningen University in the Netherlands told the BBC. And I would expect that if prices go up, consumers will be worse off. READ MORE: EUs chief scientist quits over European coronavirus response If the infection is slowed down, or resistant varieties are planted instead, costs to consumers and local economies would be significantly less. Story continues The industry is currently fighting the disease by removing infected trees and trying to clamp down on the movement of plant material and the sap-sucking insects, such as spittlebugs, that spread the pathogen. Several scientific initiatives are attempting to tackle the spread of the bacterium by using insect repelling clays, vegetative barriers and genetic analysis to determine why some plants are more susceptible to the infection than others. The researchers believe that the only way to completely wipe out the disease is finding trees that are resistant to the pathogen. While two varieties of olive tree have been found to have some resistance, the researchers are calling for much more research in this area in order to save the European olive oil industry. The number of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) patients jumped to 1383 and fatalities to 50 in the last 24 hours, pushing Indias tally to 19,984, Union health ministry data showed on Wednesday morning. India, which had breached the 10,000-mark on April 14, now has 15,474 active cases and the number of people who have been cured stands at 3869. There have been 640 Covid-19 related fatalities in the country till 8am on Wednesday, according to the health ministrys dashboard. Follow latest updates on coronavirus here Maharashtra reported 6191 cases of the coronavirus disease, including 722 discharges and 251 deaths. Gujarat has now become the second-worst hit state with 2178 active cases and Delhi follows with 2156 infections. Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Tuesday asked states to suspend rapid testing for the disease for the next two days, following complaints from West Bengal and Rajasthan that the exported antibody testing kits were returning erroneous results. ICMRs top scientist Dr Rman Gangakhedkar said eight ICMR institutes will carry out field tests using the rapid testing kits in different states for validation purposes in the next two days and to find out if certain batches of the kits are faulty, following which feedback will be provided to states and the general public. Also read| Covid-19: What you need to know today We received a complaint from one state yesterday that rapid kits were leading to lesser detections, so we took feedback from three states today, said Dr Gangakhedkar during the daily briefing on Tuesday. We are learning that the positive samples of RT-PCR are showing too much variation (when tested by rapid kits) in the range of 6 to 71%, he added, referring to the percentage of successful detection made by the rapid testing kits in positive cases. Also read| Lockdowns may have only arrested first wave West Bengal was among the first state to complain about poor accuracy of the rapid testing kits distributed to states through ICMR network. Rajasthan, too, on Tuesday decided to suspend testing after complaining of a high rate of inaccuracy. The ICMR expert said the rapid test kits were tested in Delhi before they were sent out to states and had shown 71% accuracy. He added that its accuracy percentage was growing with the passage of time as Covid-19 antibodies taken seven days to build. Click here for complete coronavirus coverage According to the Covid-19 dashboard of Johns Hopkins Universitys Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE), the number of confirmed cases stood at 2,564,038 and there were 177,424 fatalities across the world at around 8am India time. Vietnam is forecast to witness a 80-pecent drop in the number of foreign tourists visiting the country in 2020 if the COVID-19 pandemic is not controlled by the end of the year, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT). Foreign visitors in Hanoi The administration said following a 33-percent growth in January, the number of foreign arrivals fell sharply by 22 percent in February and 68 percent in March. The number of international visitors from April to June is unlikely to improve, but it could pick up towards the end of the year, all be it with much lower figures than in 2019. According to Le Tuan Anh, director of VNATs tourism information centre, the Meeting, Incentive, Convention and Exhibition (MICE) tourism is likely to recover first due to the urgent need for commercial transactions and business and production cooperation. Vietnam is predicted to see an earlier recovery of arrivals from Asian markets rather than other continents, he said. If the pandemic is controlled in June, the number of international tourists to Vietnam in 2020 may decrease by nearly 70 percent compared to the previous year to only 5.5 million. But if the pandemic lasts until the end of September or December, the number of foreign arrivals to the country may fall nearly 75 percent and 80 percent to about 4.6 and 3.7 million, respectively, Anh noted./. VNA Safe distance: Gardai speak with a woman out shopping on Henry Street in Dublin as the Covid-19 lockdown measures continue. Photo: Gerry Mooney The summer season of festivals and concerts will be cancelled under new Government restrictions on mass gatherings. The Cabinet agreed to ban the issuing of licences for any event involving more than 5,000 people until the end of August. The move came as a further 44 people infected with Covid-19 passed away, bringing the death toll to 730. However, first figures on the number of people here who have recovered from the coronavirus reveal 9,233 victims have survived the potentially deadly infection. This amounts to almost 60pc of the 15,186 confirmed cases in the study. It comes as Education Minister Joe McHugh has suggested the Leaving Cert will "potentially" start on July 29. He said this will be confirmed "in a couple of days". He also announced 7m will be spent on buying digital devices for disadvantaged Leaving Cert students to help bridge the technology gap in education. Many of those set to benefit will be in schools in the Department of Education's DEIS programme for disadvantaged communities, but others will be in non-DEIS schools. Mr McHugh acknowledged the inequity of many students not having access to devices or broadband connectivity to continue with online teaching and learning while schools remain closed. Meanwhile the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) has finally given the go-ahead to a childcare scheme for healthcare workers. Nursing sources indicated last night in circumstances where one parent is an essential healthcare worker, their partner should be financially supported by their employer to remain at home to care for their children. They also suggested there could be a service whereby registered childcare workers provide support in an essential healthcare worker's own home - but there is a lead in time for this. The banning of mass gatherings came after a memo was brought by the Department of the Taoiseach requesting no new licences for festivals or concerts be issued for the coming months. The measure is aimed at allowing concert promoters time to inform performers events had been cancelled. It does not affect sport directly, but ministers expect a ban on major sporting events will follow in due course. In the Cabinet memo, ministers were told that Nphet will make the ultimate decision on mass gatherings. However, local authorities needed to be told not to issue licences for large-scale events which were due to take place in the coming months. Government sources said they expected Nphet to make a similar decision on mass gatherings, but the group's final recommendation on the issue may not come until the end of the month. Rural Affairs Minister Michael Ring confirmed this year's Tidy Towns competition would not go ahead in the interest of protecting the health and safety of participants. The organisers of the Galway Races also announced that this year's festival, which was due to be held from July 27 to August 2, would not "take place as an event open to the general public". They said it might still be possible to run the event behind closed doors, depending on Government policy. Chief medical officer Tony Holohan said the decision to ban gatherings of more than 5,000 people until September was in keeping with public health advice. Hale, Floyd, Swisher and Bailey Counties were among airports to receive federal grants from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act this week. In a press release from the United States Department of Transportation sent out earlier this week, it was announced that the Federal Aviation Administration will award $811,535,430 in grants to 210 airports across Texas through the CARES Act Airport Grant Program. When reached by The Herald last week, both Hale County and Floyd County airport managers were unaware they were receiving grants. On Friday, Texas U.S. Senator John Cornyn sent out a news release acknowledging Hale Countys funding. Digimarc Corp., one of Oregons largest technology companies, secured a $5 million loan last month from the new federal program designed to help small businesses withstand the coronavirus downturn. Well use (the funds) for the authorized purposes, which is mainly payroll, CEO Bruce Davis said Wednesday. He said Beaverton-based Digimarc was trying to cope with enormous economic uncertainty during the coronavirus outbreak. I hope it starts getting better but we, like other businesses, are concerned about whether we can maintain the expense rate were at or whether we need to let people go, Davis said. Congress billed the $349 billion Paycheck Protection Program as a way to keep small businesses running and their workers employed through the outbreak. The program offers low-interest loans that become outright grants if recipients keep their workers employed. Nearly 19,000 Oregon businesses received loans through the program, worth $3.8 billion altogether. The program was badly oversubscribed, though, and thousands of businesses across the country including many in Oregon were turned down. Many larger companies did win the coveted loans, though, among them the owners of restaurant chains such as Potbelly, Ruth's Chris Steak House and Taco Cabana. That prompted an outcry from members of Congress and small business advocates, who argued that the program wasnt intended for such large businesses. The Associated Press reported this week that 94 publicly traded companies, including Digimarc, received the federal funds. The Senate approved $484 billion in additional funds Tuesday, including more money for small business loans. On Wednesday, Davis noted there is nothing in the federal loan program that excludes publicly traded companies from receiving assistance and said many privately held companies have wealthy owners who received the assistance. The ownership of businesses is not a criterion for granting the loans to anyone, Davis said. We do consume capital. Were not fat and happy with tons of money. Digimarc is Oregons second-largest publicly traded technology company, after Lattice Semiconductor. It reported $23.0 million in sales last year and a loss of $32.8 million. The Beaverton company had 216 employees at the end of December, according to its latest regulatory filing. Founded in 1995, Digimarc designs and licenses a variety of technologies but has focused recently on invisible barcodes that can be embedded on food packaging to speed checkout at grocery lines. The company has pursued relationships with Walmart and other large retailers that have expressed an interest in its technology. Digimarc, which reports quarterly financial results next week, has not updated its financial guidance since the coronavirus outbreak began in the U.S. Federal regulations restrict what companies can say in the days before they announce financial results. Digimarc shares were trading Wednesday at $15.59, down from a 52-week high of $66.50 last May. Shares were trading north of $30 in February but fell sharply as the coronavirus outbreak hit the U.S. Update: On Thursday the U.S. Treasury Department issued updated guidance that indicates large, public companies should not take the loans and should repay them if they received them. But Davis said he doesnt believe the new guidance applies to smaller companies like Digimarc. Im quite confident that we are not only eligible for the loan but we fit the profile for the intent of the law, Davis said. -- Mike Rogoway | mrogoway@oregonian.com | twitter: @rogoway | 503-294-7699 Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. April 22, 2020 -- A new qualitative study by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health found that the majority of women living with HIV would endorse a monthly long acting injectable (LAI) antiretroviral therapy over current daily pills. LAI HIV therapy has completed Phase III trials and is awaiting Food and Drug Administration approval. Study participants were recruited from the Women's Interagency HIV Study - the largest national study of women living with and at risk for HIV infection. Over half of the 59 women interviewed (56 percent) would choose LAI HIV therapy over daily pills for reasons of convenience, privacy, and perceived effectiveness: in contrast, 34 percent would prefer daily oral pills and 10 percent would prefer neither. This study is the first to exclusively explore women's interest in LAI HIV therapy, and one of the first among a non-clinical trial sample, who more accurately represents the population that will be using LAI HIV therapy. The findings are published in JAIDS: Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. "Adherence to antiretroviral therapy is imperative for viral suppression and reducing HIV transmission, but many people living with HIV report difficultly sustaining long-term adherence over the lifespan," said Morgan Philbin, PhD, assistant professor of sociomedical sciences at Columbia Mailman School. We found that long acting injectable antiretroviral therapy was a compelling option among the women we interviewed." The researchers conducted 59 in-depth interviews with women living with HIV in six Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) sites: New York, Chicago, Washington DC, Atlanta, Chapel Hill, and San Francisco from November 2017 - October 2018. The women received care at university settings that will be among the first to administer LAI antiretroviral therapy once it is approved; none of these women were enrolled in clinical trials for LAI HIV therapy. Nearly one-quarter of people living with HIV in the United States are women. Of these, 89 percent know their diagnosis, 65 percent receive care, and 51 percent are virally suppressed. Women living with HIV have historically been underrepresented in HIV treatment research, including trials for LAI HIV therapy. "It is therefore imperative to understand their interest in this new technology, since it has the potential to transform HIV treatment," said Philbin. The mostly male participants in ATLAS and FLAIR LAI ART trials reported a high preference (97 percent in FLAIR, 91 percent in ATLAS) for LAI over daily oral pills and said the side effects -- including fatigue, fever, headache and nausea -- rarely led to trial discontinuation. While the majority of women in the Columbia University-led WIHS study would also prefer LAI HIV therapy over daily pills, they also raised significant challenges. This includes more frequent doctors' visits (every month versus ever 3 or 4 months) and related transportation barriers, a distrust of new and perceived untested technologies and frustration that LAI would relieve some--but not all--of their current pill burden, noted the researchers. "Our study demonstrated that women living with HIV are open to long acting injectable antiretroviral therapy, and many believe it will provide distinct benefits over daily pills," noted Philbin. "However, women also described challenges unique to them as women that would need to be addressed in order to ensure that they fully benefit from these new technologies, including the role of children and childbearing, caregiving responsibilities and long histories of medical mistrust. As a result, we want to highlight the need to incorporate women into the process of LAI ART roll out to ensure their inclusion." ### Co-authors: Carrigan Parish, Elizabeth,Kinnard, Sarah Reed, Lisa Metsch, Columbia Mailman School of Public Health; Deanna Kerrigan, American University; Maria Alcaide, Margaret Fischl, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine; Maridge Cohen, John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, Chicago; Oluwakemi Sosanya, Montefiore Hospital, New York; Anandi Sheth, Emory University School of Medicine; Adaora Adimora, University of North Carolina School of Medicine; Jennifer Cocohoba, University of California at San Francisco School of Pharmacy; Lakshmi Goparaju, Georgetown University Medical Center; and Elizabeth Golub, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health The study was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human, the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the National Institute on Mental Health. Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health Founded in 1922, the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health pursues an agenda of research, education, and service to address the critical and complex public health issues affecting New Yorkers, the nation and the world. The Columbia Mailman School is the seventh largest recipient of NIH grants among schools of public health. Its nearly 300 multi-disciplinary faculty members work in more than 100 countries around the world, addressing such issues as preventing infectious and chronic diseases, environmental health, maternal and child health, health policy, climate change and health, and public health preparedness. It is a leader in public health education with more than 1,300 graduate students from 55 nations pursuing a variety of master's and doctoral degree programs. The Columbia Mailman School is also home to numerous world-renowned research centers, including ICAP and the Center for Infection and Immunity. For more information, please visit http://www.mailman.columbia.edu. Curbside Arrival will be an immensely valuable tool, even after COVID-19 is long gone. I appreciate OP for continuing to innovate and meet the needs of our practices during these difficult times. An innovative provider of pediatric-specific EHR and billing solutions, Office Practicum understands that pediatric patients and their families are anxious about visiting doctors offices for appointments. As the pandemic continues, practices are looking for ways to support social distancing measures, while still providing high-quality, HIPAA-compliant care. To respond to pediatricians operational and financial challenges during this public health crisis, OP has developed and launched several new features and tools. One is Curbside Arrival, which allows patients parents to send a text message announcing their arrival and pay their copay, from their cars. Patients are able to wait in their vehicles until an exam room is available, eliminating having patients in the waiting room. OP released this new functionality within days of learning that pediatricians needed a direct-to-room option. Ron Emerick, D.O., of Little Pine Pediatrics in northwest Florida, expressed his appreciation for Curbside Arrival. I had discussed this with several app companies in the past few years to try and get a solution like this, but having it integrated into OP is beyond perfect, Dr. Emerick said. This will be an immensely valuable tool even after COVID-19 is long gone. I appreciate OP for continuing to innovate and meet the needs of our practices during these difficult times. With stay-at-home orders in effect all over the country, pediatric patient visits have decreased. Some of that is due to fewer injuries and less illness, but another factor is parental fear of attending in-person well visits, out of concern that visiting the doctor with an otherwise well child might lead to illness. Some physicians immediately began offering virtual sick visits, but telehealth well visits were not an option. However, on April 15, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released guidelines for conducting safe and effective virtual well visits. This was a huge game-changer for our practices to refill their schedules, avoid care gaps, and keep enough revenue flowing until daily life starts returning to normal, said Office Practicum CEO Kraig Brown. OP already had a strong partnership with the only pediatric-specific telehealth solution, Anytime Pediatrics, which made onboarding additional clients quick and easy. OPs Medical Director Susan Kressly, MD, FAAP, also created symptom and diagnosis template packages, so physicians had these readily available as they implemented telehealth. Within hours of the AAPs well visit telehealth guidelines, OP was poised to release age-specific well visit templates, and the software team made sure the telehealth features had codes available for billing purposes. We are so incredibly proud of our product and development teams who have worked around the clock to enhance billing and chat features as well as put out templates for telehealth and well visits, said Bethany Williams, Senior Vice President of Product at OP. We know physicians are putting their lives on the line every day to treat millions of pediatric patients across the U.S., and its amazing to see our teams supporting doctors out in the field. In addition, OP has created the following resources and tools in response to COVID-19. Billing relief packages Many pediatric practices have billers who cannot report to the office. Since bills still need to go out, OP is providing short- and long-term solutions. This allows practices to focus all their time on patient care. Complimentary training sessions for clients Designed to help practices navigate their new normal, session topics include the importance of providing telehealth well visits, how best to implement virtual care, and innovative ways to generate revenue and collect outstanding balances. Financial plans and checklists for practices Created by physicians and former practice administrators, these tools include the key items every practice should focus on to help their business financially during the COVID-19 crisis. Even after the pandemic ends, OPs new features will still benefit pediatric practices as they navigate the new normal. Some of the advantages include a reduction in no-shows and cancellations, successful competition with retail clinics, the ability to see more patients, and streamlined operations. Uh-oh! It could be you, or it could be us, but there's no page here. Coptic Solidarity Co-leads Multi-faith Letter to Congress for Imprisoned Coptic Activist, Ramy Kamel NEWS PROVIDED BY Coptic Solidarity April 22, 2020 WASHINGTON, April 22, 2020 /Christian Newswire/ -- Coptic Solidarity and 21Wilberforce co-led in circulating a letter for signatures among members of the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Roundtable urging Congress to take action on behalf of imprisoned Coptic activist, Ramy Kamel. The letter attracted 63 signatures by a diverse group of leading human rights organizations and activists, and was sent to the House Foreign Affairs leadership; Chairman Representative Eliot Engel (D-NY) and Ranking Member Representative Michael McCaul (R-TX), and to the Senate Foreign Relations leadership; Chairman Senator Jim Risch (R-ID) and Ranking Member Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ). Ramy Kamel was arrested on November 23, 2019 under false charges including joining and financing a terrorist group in Case no. 1475. Rights groups almost universally agree that Kamel's arrest is a direct effort by the Egyptian government to punish and silence him for documenting and publicizing human rights abuses against Christians, and to prevent him from participating in a UN forum (November 28 and 29) titled Education, Language, and the Human Rights of Minorities. His arrest took place just prior to his participation in the event. In response, Coptic Solidarity launched an online grassroots campaign urging Kamel's immediate release. Egyptian human rights advocates have also joined forces to demand Kamels protection and release. We call upon members of the US Congress to act regarding Kamel's unjust imprisonment, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly due to reports that Ramy has asthma and is suffering acute respiratory distress. Shortly after his imprisonment, Lord David Alton of Liverpool and Canadian MP Garnett Genuis both sent advocacy letters on behalf of Kamel. The letter proposed for NGO signatures notes: "The United States can and should maintain a strong relationship with Egypt, while simultaneously advocating its values of human dignity and religious freedom. Considering Egypt is the 2nd largest recipient of US foreign aid, Members of Congress should be forcefully advocating for Kamel's immediate release." The Special Rapporteurs and Working Groups, which compose the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council, issued a statement urging Kamel's release and the Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Rupert Colville, issued a statement urging Egypt to follow the lead of other states and release those convicted of non-violent offences and those who are in pre-trial detention, which includes prisoners of conscience such a Kamel. Coptic Solidarity applauds the support of these and other diverse activists in urging the US Congress to: "Please take urgent action by contacting the Egyptian government and ask for immediate protection of Mr. Kamel from mistreatment, the provision of medical attention, and the termination of all charges against him in Case no. 1475 of 2019." Coptic Solidarity is an organization seeking to help minorities, particularly the Copts, of Egypt. We support those in Egypt working for democracy, freedom, and the protection of the fundamental rights of all Egyptian citizens, and advocate in cooperation with the affiliated organizations in Canada and in Europe (Solidarite Copte). For more information, contact Lindsay Griffin at 801-512-1713 or coptadvocacy@copticsolidarity.org. SOURCE Coptic Solidarity CONTACT: Lindsay Griffin, 801-512-1713, coptadvocacy@copticsolidarity.org Related Links https://www.copticsolidarity.org/ Restrictions on dental check-ups, filings and orthodontic treatments will be lifted from Monday. Since late March, dentists have been limited to treating only patients with emergency cases such as severe pain or serious damage due to trauma in a bid to preserve medical supplies and stop the spread of COVID-19. Endodontist Dr Geoffrey Young. Credit:Dean Sewell However, the federal government has now announced the level three restrictions will be eased from April 27 as the national stockpile of personal protective equipment has been boosted and the transmission rate of COVID-19 remains low. President of the Australian Dental Association Dr Carmelo Bonanno said the restrictions had been a sensible move to limit the spread of COVID-19 but welcomed them now being wound back. In what could be a game-changer in the fight against the COVID-19 outbreak, patients who have been given plasma therapy have shown signs of a significant improvement in their condition. Gujarat has become the latest state to start plasma therapy for COVID-19 patients. Two coronavirus patients admitted to the SVP Hospital in Ahmedabad were given plasma therapy and the condition of both are stable, Principal Health Secretary Jayanti Ravi has said. AFP Two doses of 200 ML convalescent plasma each from a recovered COVID-19 patient were administered to them. The first donor was a 24-year-old who was discharged on April 6. The second donor was a 34-year-old woman who was discharged on March 29. Earlier, a 49-year-old Delhi man who was administered plasma therapy in Saket Max Hospital has been taken off the ventilator support after his condition improved. He has now recovered and tested negative for coronavirus twice. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has granted permission to conduct clinical trials on COVID-19 patients across public hospitals to test the safety and efficacy of convalescent plasma therapy. AFP Dr Asha Kishore, Director, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) Thiruvananthapuram said that the ICMR has issued a new call for a multi-centre clinical trial across India and published an ICMR protocol, which is approved by DCGI. "This proposal is for studying the effect of convalescent plasma therapy in moderate cases of COVID- 19. As the state doesn't have severe cases now, this new protocol for moderate cases is more feasible in Kerala, "she told ANI. Asha Kishore said that COVID hospitals with blood banks satisfying the eligibility criteria for the trial can apply to ICMR. REUTERS "If approved, they can register for the clinical trial. The hospitals under state government that treat COVID-19 cases have applied. Once the state government gets the approval, the transfusion medicine department of SCTIMST which had originally submitted its proposal to the state government may be able to collaborate with the state hospitals with the government's approval, " she said. SCTIMST is an institute of national importance under the Department of Science and Technology. It had received the clearances from the ICMR to conduct clinical trials for plasma therapy. The plasma therapy uses antibodies from the blood of a recovered COVID-19 patient to treat another patient. Till now in the country, it has been carried out to treat critically ill patients and now it will also be tested on moderate COVID-19 cases. Kolkata, April 22 : The Indian Medical Association and seven other doctors' bodies have written to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee seeking adequate safety and security of all frontline medical service providers to prevent any collapse of the health services in "the near future". "(There is the) issue of safety and security of all the frontline service providers, ie the healthcare workers, must be adequately taken care of, as, if they get affected not only will they become bigger source of epidemic, many health sectors (sic) might collapse in the near future," the eight doctors' organisations said in an 11-point letter. The doctors also called for opening more Corona testing centres and carrying out of tests as per Indian Council of Medical Research guidelines. "Local administration should also be empowered to order testing as per ICMR standards. There should be sample collection centres at least at every sub-division level," said the missive, that had among its signatories Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member and IMA past president Santanu Sen. The signatories also called for giving death certificates of Covid-19 patients as per the ICMR guidelines. The Banerjee government has formed a number of panels - expert committee, global advisory board and death audit committee, besides three other task forces - to assist the administration in tackling the disease. The death audit committee, tasked with taking the final call on whether a Coronavirus positive person perished because of the deadly virus or due to some other co-morbidity, has led to a controversy. The global advisory board has among its members Nobel laureate economist Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee. The doctors' bodies called for including virologists, epidemiologists, pulmonologists and public health experts in the committees. They also stressed on the need for providing real time, transparent data, of Covid-19 in Bengal, including daily medical bulletins of all healthcare workers under treatment. "Training and regular drill of healthcare workers regarding management of Covid-19 should be ensured. Healthcare workers performing duties in Covid hospitals across the state should be specially taken care of," they said. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text No Time To Die (Credit: MGM) Danny Boyle exited the Bond movie that eventually became No Time To Die back in August of 2018, after running into creative differences with producers over the film's plot. Boyle was replaced with Beasts of No Nation and True Detective director Cary Fukunaga, but by the sounds of it, Fukunaga's original idea was also pretty out there. And it involved the final act of Spectre, the preceding Bond movie, having all taken place inside James Bond's head. Read more: No Time To Die wont be re-edited before release Speaking to Interview, Fukunaga has shared his early concept, which it appears didn't really stick. I swear to god, I had an idea that this movie could all be taking place inside the villain's lair from the last film, the director said. There's this scene where a needle goes into James Bond's head, which is supposed to make him forget everything, and then he miraculously escapes by a watch bomb. Cary Fukunaga, Daniel Craig and Ana de Armas (Credit: AP Photo/Leo Hudson) And then he and Lea blow up the place, and go on to save the day. I was like, 'What if everything up until the end of act two is all inside his head?' The aforementioned villain, Christoph Waltz's Ernst Stavo Blofeld, does indeed appear in No Time To Die, but it would seem that Bond and Lea Seydoux did end up escaping after all, and it wasn't all a figment of Bond's imagination. Read more: Bond star Honor Blackman dies at 94 The movie instead finds Bond out of active service and retired in Jamaica, but hauled back into espionage thanks to Jeffrey Wright's Felix Leiter, who asks him to help find a missing scientist. The 25th movie in the series, it was among the first high profile Hollywood films to postpone its scheduled April release due to the coronavirus pandemic. Starring Seydoux, Waltz and Daniel Craig alongside Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Rory Kinnear, Ralph Fiennes, Lashana Lynch, Ana de Armas and Rami Malek is the villain Safin, it lands on 12 November. AMP Capital total assets under management (AUM) reduced to A$192.4 billion (Q4 19: A$203.1 billion). Average AUM for the Q1 20 period increased from A$202.7 billion to A$203.4 billion. AMP Capital net external cashflows increased to A$1.3 billion from net cash outflows of A$20 million in Q1 19, reflecting strong inflows into fixed income products managed by China Life AMP Asset Management. Australian wealth management AUM as at 31 March 2020 reduced to A$116.3 billion (Q4 19: A$134.5 billion), primarily reflecting COVID-19-related market movements. Average AUM in Q1 20 was A$131.3 billion. Australian wealth management net cash outflows of A$1.9 billion includes outflows of A$430 million from a number of exiting corporate super mandates and A$205 million from the impacts of Protecting Your Super legislation. Excluding these impacts, Australian wealth management net cash outflows are A$1.3 billion. Australian wealth management cash inflows increased A$1.1 billion (24 per cent) largely due to strong inflows into North. AMP Banks total loan book grew by A$162 million to A$20.8 billion and deposits grew by A$773m to A$15.2 billion. AMP Chief Executive Francesco De Ferrari said: During this time of uncertainty, we have focused on supporting our clients whilst working to continue to execute on our strategy. Were responding to a record level of client enquiries for advice and support as people weigh up important financial decisions. Markets in Q1 were extremely volatile particularly in March, with significant falls in equities, fixed income and key commodities impacting our assets under management. We have seen some recovery since the quarter-end, but expect market volatility to continue and the economic impact of the pandemic to emerge over the remainder of the year. In Australian wealth management, our North platform continued its strong growth. North net inflows were higher against Q1 19, and drove a better performance across our retail platforms, with net outflows reducing. The Protecting Your Super legislation and the expected exit of corporate super mandates in the quarter impacted overall net cash outflows for the business. AMP Capital saw strong external cashflows, particularly into fixed income products through our asset management partnership in China. Our infrastructure teams are also seeing opportunities for further investment, particularly in infrastructure debt. AMP Bank increased its mortgage lending and grew deposits while also offering relief measures to clients in hardship. Amid the uncertainty, Im pleased we are showing up strongly for our clients and demonstrating the resilience of our business. Business unit results AMP Australia Australian wealth management Australian wealth management average AUM declined 2 per cent to A$131.3 billion from A$134.0 billion in Q4 19. AUM as at 31 March 2020 declined 13.5 per cent to A$116.3 billion (Q4 19: A$134.5 billion), reflecting weaker investment markets in March 2020. Net cash outflows of A$1.9 billion in Q1 20 include: o Cash inflows of A$5.8 billion, increased from A$4.7 billion in Q1 19, driven by a 41 per cent increase in flows on North platform, including A$400 million from external financial advisers. o Cash outflows of A$7.7 billion included A$563 million in regular pension payments to clients, the expected exit of a number of corporate super mandates representing A$430 million, and A$205 million from the impacts of Protecting Your Super legislation. AMP Bank AMP Banks total loan book grew A$162 million to A$20.8 billion during Q1 20, reflecting continued growth in residential mortgages. Total deposits increased 5.4 per cent to A$15.2 billion, in line with AMP Banks strategy to become more deposit-led funded. To support clients experiencing financial hardship as a result of COVID-19, AMP Bank is offering clients the option to pause home loan repayments for three months, with the option to extend for a further three months. AMP Capital AMP Capital average AUM increased to A$203.4 billion from A$202.7 billion in Q4 19. AUM as at 31 March 2020 declined 5.3 per cent to A$192.4 billion (Q4 19: A$203.1 billion), primarily due to weaker investment markets. A higher portion of external AUM is exposed to foreign currency, which benefited from the depreciation of the Australian dollar. AMP Capital net external cashflows increased to A$1.3 billion (Q4 19: A$20 million net external cash outflows), primarily driven by strong inflows in China Life AMP Asset Management, across money market funds and fixed income products as investors moved to defensive asset classes. During Q1 20, outflows included the return of A$300 million to investors in the AMP Capital Infrastructure Debt Fund II and III, delivering strong performance outcomes for clients. An additional A$8.1 billion in committed capital remains available for real assets investment of which A$1.6 billion is ear-marked for transactions yet to close. Committed capital will be reflected in AUM when transactions close. AMP Capital continues to pursue quality infrastructure investment opportunities in the market. New Zealand wealth management New Zealand wealth management average AUM increased 1.2 per cent to A$12.1 billion in Q1 20. AUM as at 31 March 2020 declined 9.8 per cent to A$11.1 billion (Q4 19: A$12.3 billion) reflecting weaker investment markets. New Zealand wealth management net cash outflows were broadly stable at A$56 million (Q1 19: A$52 million net cash outflows). Cash inflows into KiwiSaver remain strong at A$163 million in Q1 20 (Q1 19: A$162 million). Source: AMP Limited Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. 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Related News: Pictor's completes successful US clinical trials for unique COVID antibody testing 12th January 2022 Morning Report 11th January 2022 Morning Report Greenfern Industries Limited (NZX: GFI) Announces Cannvalate Transaction 10th January 2022 Morning Report 7th January 2022 Morning Report 6th January 2022 Morning Report 5th January 2022 Morning Report Harmoney Corp Limited (NZX: HMY) HMY Signs A$20m Corporate Debt Facility 24th December 2021 Morning Report LANSING The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) has launched a statewide warmline for Michiganders living with persistent mental health conditions. The warmline will connect individuals with certified peer support specialists who have lived experiences of behavioral health issues, trauma or personal crises, and are trained to support and empower the callers. The warmline will operate seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. at 888-PEER-753 (888-733-7753). It is intended to serve individuals living with persistent mental health challenges including anxiety, depression and trauma. Individuals in crisis, including those considering suicide, are urged to contact the Disaster Distress Helpline 24/7 at 800-985-5990 or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 24/7 at 800-273-8255. The warmline will help individuals with long-term mental health challenges find someone to talk to someone who has lived these challenges themselves and do it while staying safe and staying home, said Robert Gordon, MDHHS director. COVID-19 is a grave threat not just to physical health, but also to mental health, and we are doing everything we can to offer supports for everyone. Warmlines are an alternative to traditional psychiatric crisis hotlines and are used to avoid extreme emotional distress that can lead to hospitalization or other severe outcomes that are preventable with early intervention of peer support. Warmlines alleviate the burden on crisis responders by offering a solution for non-crisis callers. The Certified Peer Support Specialist (CPSS) Warmline will offer support for individuals feeling isolated from society, and will provide referrals for outreach and assistance for those seeking critical physical and behavioral health services. The warmline will provide particular support to underserved Medicaid beneficiaries, who often lack social connectedness and may now have increased anxiety and feelings of severe isolation during this critical time. It is available to all Michiganders, regardless of insurance status. MDHHS is collaborating with Justice In Mental Health Organization (JIMHO) Project DOORS, Michigan's first peerrun organization. JIMHO will moderate the warmline and network with CPSS, statewide peer-run organizations, Community Mental Health Association of Michigan and MDHHS peer services unit. JIMHO has provided critical peer-support and community living skills to persons living with mental illness for 39 years and has assisted more than 15,000 residents using experienced peer-support specialists during that time. [April 22, 2020] iQor Selects CrowdStrike to Deliver Global Endpoint Protection, Putting Customers and Employee Safety First iQor (News - Alert), a managed services provider of customer engagement and technology-enabled BPO solutions, announced today its selection of CrowdStrike's cloud-native endpoint solution, CrowdStrike Falcon to provide comprehensive prevention, threat detection and endpoint detection and response (EDR) across its global service locations. CrowdStrike is a global cybersecurity leader who has redefined security for the cloud era with an endpoint protection platform built from the ground up to stop breaches. CrowdStrike's solution is delivered via a single lightweight agent and enables reliable prevention, detection, response and mitigation to all threats, including sophisticated malware-free intrusions. iQor's previous security solution lacked the comprehensive platform approach their busy security team was seeking. They struggled with a shortage of real-time updates and multiple agents, creating time management issues for the security operations center (SOC). iQor ultimately selected CrowdStrike for its single-agent, cloud-native platform. Following the rapid deployment of Falcon, the team has experienced a self-sustaining solution that ensures networks are protected 24/7/365. Falcon provides iQor with EDR and next-generation antivirus (AV) to see and stop cyber threats, and harnesses the power of rich artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms at scale. Falcon enriches this data with threat intelligence, ensuring future attacks are prevented and keeping critical information safe. "CrowdStrike was a clear winner for iQor based on its ability to offer maximum protection for us and our clients, as well as increased efficiency for our security teams," said Chief Financial and Administrative Officer at iQor, David Kaminsky. "The solution is light, it's fast, and is a great addition to our toolset in creating superior protection for our clients around the world." "CrowdStrike offers next-generation technology that helps us fully protect our technology environment on a global scale," said Senior Vice President of IT at iQor, Tarn Shant. "Its cloud-based solution helps us ensure all endpoints are fully secure and protected at all times, and that if there is a threat, we are notified and can respond to it in real time. With CrowdStrike, we have peace of mind that our critical assets are secure." About iQor iQor is a managed services provider of customer engagement and technology-enabled BPO solutions. With 45,000 employees in 9 countries, we partner with many of the world's best-known brands to deliver aftermarket product and customer support solutions that span the consumer value chain, from customer care and receivables management to product diagnostics and repair services. Our award-winning technology, logistics, and analytics platforms enable us to measure, monitor, and analyze brand interactions, improve business processes, and find operational efficiencies that lead to superior outcomes for our partners across the customer and product life cycles. For more information, please visit us at www.iqor.com or follow us at www.twitter.com/iqor. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005697/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] On Tuesday, Faisal Edhi- a prominent social worker who met Pakistan Prime Imran Khan on April 15 tested positive for the novel coronavirus. He had presented a cheque worth 1 crore Pakistani rupees to Khan in Islamabad in his capacity as the head of the Edhi Foundation, which is the country's largest charity foundation. Reportedly, he developed COVID-19 symptoms soon after visiting Islamabad. Though these symptoms subsided after 4 days, he insisted on getting tested as he had been on the ground working with novel coronavirus patients. Currently, he is in isolation at a hospital in Islamabad. It is unclear as to whether the Pakistan PM would undergo self-isolation. Social worker and head of Edhi Foundation, Faisal Edhi has tested positive for #COVID19, currently under isolation at a hospital in Islamabad: Pakistan media ANI (@ANI) April 21, 2020 Read: Pakistan PM Imran Khan Finally Issues Direct Anti-Covid Appeal; Tells People 'stay Inside' Imran Khan faces criticism for not recognising Faisal Edhi The Edhi Foundation is a charity founded by well-known philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi, who has also been nominated by the Nobel Peace Prize. Edhi dedicated his life towards serving the poorest people and his Foundation sponsored the construction of maternity hospitals, morgues, orphanages, shelters, and a nursing home. Furthermore, it runs Pakistan's largest ambulance service. Recently, Imran Khan attracted a considerable amount of criticism when he did not recognise Faisal Edhi when the latter handed over the cheque. Making this revelation in a talk show, Faisal Edhi also mentioned that the Pakistan PM talked to him for barely half a minute. Read: India Officially Slams Pak PM Imran Khan For Bizarre Rant; Shames His 'abysmal Handling COVID-19 crisis in Pakistan Imran Khan has been panned by the opposition for his inconsistent stance on the enforcement of a lockdown. In March, he ruled out the possibility of imposing a lockdown in Pakistan. Acknowledging Pakistans dire economic condition, Khan stated his government did not have the capacity to take care of 25% of the population which is under the poverty line if a lockdown was implemented. However, the Pakistan government later imposed a lockdown and extended it till April 30. Presently, there are 9,505 confirmed novel coronavirus cases in Pakistan out of which 2066 persons have recovered while 197 deaths have been recorded. With 4,195 COVID-19 cases, the Punjab province has recorded the most number of cases in Pakistan. Read: Imran Khan Govt's Big Move: Pakistan Mosques To Remain Open For Ramzan Prayers Amid Covid Read: Imran Khan's Aide Issues Bizarre 'Covid Spreads Neeche Se' Advisory As Pak's Cases Rise Chinese agents spread coronavirus misinformation in the U.S. in mid-March, around the time that various states were implementing business and school closures, the New York Times reported on Wednesday. U.S. officials believe the Chinese operatives spread already-existing misinformation about the coronavirus through fake social media accounts, borrowing tactics from the Kremlins online trolls, but also via text messages, which many Americans then shared with their networks. One fake text message cited the Department of Homeland Security as saying the Trump administration would impose a lockdown as soon as they have troops in place to help prevent looters and rioters. The National Security Council was forced to publicly deny the content of the message after it spread widely. The messages were alarming to U.S. agencies because they had not seen misinformation spread via text on such a large scale. One senior American official said agencies were looking into whether Chinese spies in diplomatic missions in the U.S. were involved in spreading the misinformation. Even prior to the coronavirus pandemic the U.S. had tightened restrictions on Chinese state media organizations and diplomats. The revelations come at a time of heightened tension between China and the U.S. after China failed to contain the original outbreak of coronavirus in the city of Wuhan. The illness has since spread across the globe, infecting over 825,000 patients and killing 45,000 in the U.S. as of Wednesday morning. U.S. lawmakers and officials have charged that China has covered up the spread of coronavirus within its own borders. More from National Review Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Citra Handayani Nasruddin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, April 23 2020 Neighborhood assistance: Representatives of the Social Affairs Ministry distribute aid to residents of Tebet, South Jakarta, on April 8. The government has allocated Rp 110 trillion (US$7.12 billion) for social safety net programs to mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan) President Joko Jokowi Widodos calls for greater transparency in the government response to COVID-19 has offered new hope in the face of national disaster. To improve public access to information, the government should consider harnessing open fiscal data that seamlessly ties the pandemic budget and aid distribution on the official website of COVID-19. Through the system, the government can also promote solidarity and collaboration with citizens in monitoring, executing and evaluating funding and response plans to overcome a humanitarian crisis of this magnitude. Thereby, the government can improve the accountability of the fund disbursement, step up efforts and save more lives. According to Law No. 24/2007 on disaster management, the Presidents recent declaration of the pandemic as a national disaster brings some consequences. Aside from bearing the responsibility for the funding, the government encourages community participation in the provision of funds. Moreover, aid management encompasses planning, use, maintenance, monitoring and evaluation of goods, services and national and international assistance funds. During the emergency, the government must provide and protect the citizens, especially the vulnerable community members. The supply of clean water and sanitation, food, clothing, health care, psychosocial service, accommodation and dwelling space, therefore, must be available for those who need it. In this matter, open fiscal data can support such aid delivery by creating an enabling environment that will boost government performance and promote greater citizen participation. First, a plan for the COVID-19 data integration, following the order of the President, can provide a head start for the government to improve its public services. Further, leveraging the official website of COVID-19 to serve as an integrated open data and budget portal, the government can bring transparency to another level. This initiative will enable the government to disclose its performance to the people by providing real-time progress of the planning, budgeting and spending over COVID-19 responses. Consequently, citizens can monitor the entire effort, holding the government responsible and accountable for the process. Transparency serves to provide accountability and legitimate citizen rights to proper outcomes from the government. While the people will be able to see where the bottlenecks are, public monitoring and pressure can also motivate the government to find the best solution, using a rigorous and data-driven approach in policymaking. The insights generated by this tool will also allow the government to align its spending and outcomes. With systematic analysis and reliable data in hand, it is more compelling for the government to justify and convince people on the solutions chosen and actions taken. As stated by the Overseas Development Institute, circumstances surrounding emergencies pose the risk of corruption. The pressure to disburse aid immediately, large-scale procurement processes and an expanding budget may create power imbalance and information asymmetry and thus presents opportunities for actors involved to corruptly divert the disaster aid. There lies a challenge to translate allocated funding into commensurate benefits on the ground. This open data mechanism, hence, can be a tool to eliminate the information asymmetries, align the interests of all actors and ensure the aid people receive is as what has been promised and initially planned. As a result, the government can work effectively. Moreover, in this extraordinary time, the government can show its best performance by exercising robust policies that can endure great shock and navigate turbulence despite a high degree of unpredictability. Despite all odds, the government needs to ensure that various measures implemented have addressed peoples needs. It must also guarantee that its pledge can be fulfilled, by immediately disbursing Rp 75 trillion (US$4.54 billion) for health care and Rp 110 trillion for social safety net programs, and accelerating other measures that are still in the pipeline to be delivered on time. Thus, the government must regularly assess and evaluate the program efficacy and, ultimately, improve the disaster response based on the evaluation findings. Second, through the open fiscal data, citizens can see how the COVID-19 disaster strategy is linked to funding and execution, and how the policy translates into practice and actions taken by the government. This way, the government can prove that it will take whatever steps needed to protect the people. The citizens can, then, rest assured that the government effectively responds to their concerns, and the substantial efforts to address their needs have been undertaken. Feeling secure and having their basic needs fulfilled, they can be convinced to act responsibly and support government efforts. As a result, they can participate in creating an atmosphere that is conducive to winning this battle together. After all, we can only expect citizens to act responsibly and rationally if they are well-informed, safe and sound. Moreover, the government can promote a feedback loop that empowers citizens to participate by supplying real-time feedback on the benefits delivery. For instance, they can verify once they receive the benefits, or report it if otherwise. They may also be facilitated to voice their concerns and influence the policy, including urging for more budget reallocation if such action is needed to further curb the virus spread. In turn, public participation through this system will grant citizens a strong sense of involvement in policymaking that generates the genuine rule of law and support to the government. Consequently, improved transparency may boost solidarity to the government endeavors in this turbulent time. Conversely, the lack of openness may perpetuate a false sense of security, misinformation and harmful actions. It could also trigger contagious anxiety, leading to the stigmatization of the COVID-19 victims and patients. However, transparency and accountability is only one element in good governance. It must come as a package deal with credible information, especially accurate data on case numbers and fatality rate, as was highlighted by the President in a Cabinet meeting last week. It also has to be a part of a policy mix that addresses every root cause specifically, under effective emergency management that works closely with experts and professionals and collaborates with other countries. Ultimately, establishing transparency requires decisive policymaking to communicate the policy and actions effectively and consistently. ______ to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Doctors have welcomed the governments decision to bring an ordinance to protect the medical fraternity against the violence it has faced since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and to punish wrong-doers. This was the need of the hour as instances of violence against healthcare workers, including doctors, were on the rise. Not everyone was unruly but a section of people was misbehaving and it needed a regulation to rein it in as this section would not have listened to reason, said DS Rana, chairman of the board of governors of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. There was no other way to check their irresponsible behaviour. Healthcare workers are putting their lives at risk in treating patients, and harassment and violence against them is the last thing they want in this crisis situation. Coronavirus outbreak: Full coverage A section of the ordinance states that its promulgation will not only deter criminal elements in society but also give confidence to healthcare workers who were becoming jittery because of attacks. On Sunday, the burial of Samuel Hercules, a doctor in Chennai, was disrupted by violent protesters who damaged the ambulance carrying his body and injured its driver out of fear of the spread of the coronavirus. On April 8, two resident doctors of Delhis Safdarjung Hospital were allegedly assaulted by a neighbour who accused them of spreading the disease. A week before that, two doctors and their team were pelted with stones during a drive to screen and identify possible Covid-19 patients in Madhya Pradeshs Indore. Shankar Narang, chief operating officer of Paras Healthcare, said: Healthcare workers are frontline warriors in this battle, and along with other corona-fighters such as sanitation workers and police officials, they are the backbone of our crisis response in this hour. They are already facing a high risk of infection as they venture into infected areas. It is absolutely essential, therefore, to ensure their safety and security and allow them to do their job with a sense of confidence. Resident doctors who get manhandled in hospital emergencies by attendants of patients across the country have for long been demanding a central law to protect medical staff against violence. Amarinder Singh, former president of the resident doctors association at All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi, said: We have been pressing for a central protection law to be enacted since June last year, when there was violence against doctors in West Bengal. It has been a long-standing demand of doctors, especially resident doctors, who are most vulnerable being the first point of contact. It is a great move but it seems to be a temporary provision till the pandemic situation lasts. What we would like is that the government makes it permanent, to be implemented long after the outbreak subsides. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON TDT | Manama Thirty-eight private schools in Bahrain have slashed tuition fees by five to 23 per cent, according to Education Minister Dr Majid bin Ali Al Nuaimi. Dr Al Nuaimi took part yesterday in the Council of Representatives remote session. He added that the majority of schools also agreed to provide facilities for parents, postponing the payment of instalments to September 2020. Education Ministry Resources and Services undersecretary Dr Mohammed Mubarak Jumaa said that the ministry grants schools in advance to cover their urgent needs He pointed out that the ministry had also stopped giving 19 schools financial grants as they did not use previous ones. Meanwhile, the Education Minister stressed the need for stand-by teachers as there are up to 350 absent employees on average daily, especially at girls schools. Dr Al Nuaimi pointed out that 3,500 employees are exempted, either partially or totally, on health grounds. Aside from Dr Al Nuaimi and Dr Jumaa, University of Bahrain (UoB) president Dr Riyadh Youssef Hamza and other officials also took part in the virtual session. Dr Hamza stressed that the academic standing of the College of Business Management is ranked among the best in the world after obtaining international accreditation. The university also created a business incubator and a centre for digital creativity to enhance the role of the college, he said. He added that the current teacher-student ratio stands at one is to 58, and stressed plans for improvement. Dr Hamza pointed out that the dropout rate from UoB is simple by international academic standards, being in the range of seven per cent. Source: English Edition of Qiushi Journal| 2020-04-22 17:17:54|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close By: Xi Jinping From:English Edition of Qiushi Journal Vol. 12, No. 2, ISSUE No. 43, 2020 President Xi Jinping attended the Extraordinary G20 Virtual Leaders Summit and gave a speech titled Working Together to Defeat the COVID-19 Outbreak. Photo by Xinhua reporter Li Xueren I. Viruses do not respect borders, nor do epidemics discriminate between races. Humanity is a community with a shared future. Only by cooperating and responding together can the international community overcome this pandemic. I have been saying that humanity is a community with a shared future. To overcome an epidemic affecting the safety of people of all countries, unity and cooperation are our most potent weapon. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was quick to join the global response to the COVID-19 outbreak and has played an active role. I support cooperation between the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and relevant Chinese institutions. I also hope the international community can strengthen its cooperative endeavors to safeguard the health and wellbeing of humanity. Letter of reply to Bill Gates, February 20, 2020 Public health security is a common challenge facing humanity, and it calls for a collective response from all countries. As a responsible major country, China will continue to communicate effectively with the WHO, share disease prevention and control experiences with relevant countries, enhance international cooperation on the R&D of antiviral medicines and vaccines, and provide as much assistance as it can to countries and regions where the virus is spreading. Speech at a meeting to coordinate efforts to curb the COVID-19 outbreak and promote economic and social development, February 23, 2020 The COVID-19 pandemic has again shown that humanity is a community with a shared future. In this era of economic globalization, this will not be the last such major emergency, as various traditional and non-traditional security threats pose new tests. The international community must realize that as we are a community with a shared future, we must help one another, join hands to tackle risks and challenges, and build a better global home. Phone call with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, March 12, 2020 Humanity is a community with a shared future, and only unity and cooperation will allow us to respond to global risks and challenges. China, Italy, and the rest of the international community must join forces if we are to overcome current difficulties, achieve victory over the epidemic at an early stage, and protect the people of our two countries and the world. Message of sympathy and support to Italian President Sergio Mattarella regarding the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy, March 2020 Recently, the virus has spread to many countries around the world. Facts once again show that humanity is a community with a shared future. All countries must unite and cooperate to mount a collective response. Based on the vision of a global community with a shared future, China stands ready to work with other countries to strengthen international cooperation on fighting the pandemic, in order to respond collectively to common threats and challenges and safeguard global public health security. Phone call with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, March 23, 2020 President Xi Jinping attended the Extraordinary G20 Virtual Leaders Summit and gave a speech titled Working Together to Defeat the COVID-19 Outbreak. Photo by Xinhua reporter Pang Xinglei Viruses do not respect borders, nor do epidemics discriminate between races. In responding to this global public health crisis, there is all the more urgency and importance to building a global community with a shared future. Only by cooperating and responding together can the international community overcome the pandemic and protect the common home of humankind. China stands ready to work with all the countries of the world, including Kazakhstan, to strengthen the international fight against the pandemic and jointly safeguard global public health security. Phone call with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, March 24, 2020 Viruses respect no borders and pose a common challenge facing all humanity. No country stands apart or is exempt. In the fight against the pandemic, China and Germany, and indeed China and Europe, have demonstrated the strength of unity and cooperation and played a positive role. Phone call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, March 25, 2020 The COVID-19 pandemic once again shows that humanity is a community with a shared future. The international community should help one another and pull together. We are willing to work with the WHO and all countries to contribute to safeguarding global public health security. Letter of reply to Director-General of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, March 26, 2020 Epidemics do not respect borders, nor do they discriminate between races. They are a common enemy of humanity. The international community must respond together if it is to win this battle. Through the common efforts of all parties, we arrived at many points of agreement during the Extraordinary G20 Virtual Leaders Summit on COVID-19 yesterday and achieved positive results. I hope all parties will strengthen coordination and cooperation and put into effect what was achieved at the summit, so as to provide strong momentum for enhancing international cooperation on fighting the pandemic and stabilizing the global economy. Phone call with President of the United States of America Donald Trump, March 27, 2020 This pandemic has again proved the importance and urgency of building a global community with a shared future. The Extraordinary G20 Virtual Leaders Summit on COVID-19 sent out a positive signal of unity in the response to fighting the COVID-19 epidemic and safeguarding the stability of the global economy. China will continue to work with the international community, including Laos, to completely defeat this pandemic as quickly as possible. Phone call with General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party and President Bounnhang Vorachith, April 3, 2020 II. Guided by the vision of a global community with a shared future, the Chinese government has maintained an open, transparent, and responsible attitude and held no reservations about sharing its best practices in prevention, control, and treatment of the virus with the WHO and the international community. It has actively engaged in international cooperation on fighting the pandemic to resolutely protect the lives and health of the Chinese people as well as the lives and health of the people of the world. Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus epidemic, China has adopted strict prevention, control, and treatment measures, released without delay relevant information on epidemic prevention and control, and reported to the WHO and relevant countries and regions on the epidemic in a timely manner. China is willing to work with the international community to implement an effective response to the epidemic and safeguard global health security. Phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, January 22, 2020 The international community is highly concerned about the development of the epidemic situation in China. We should actively respond to international concerns, tell the story of Chinas fight against the disease, and convey to the world our peoples spirit of unity and solidarity. We need to do a good job in all diplomatic work related to epidemic prevention and control, continuing to effectively communicate and coordinate with the WHO and relevant countries and regions, promoting information sharing and coordination on control strategies, and working to gain the international communitys understanding and support. Remarks at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee regarding the response to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus epidemic, February 3, 2020 The Communist Party of China and the Chinese government have adopted the most thorough and stringent virus prevention and control measures in line with their attitude of great responsibility toward the Chinese people and the international community. Our prevention and control effort is achieving encouraging results. The Chinese nation has emerged from great hardships in the past and China is confident and capable of winning this battle against the epidemic. We will continue to strengthen cooperation with all countries, including Cambodia, in an open and transparent manner for a concerted, effective response to the epidemic and to safeguard global and regional public health security. We will look after Cambodian citizens in China, including your students, like they were our own citizens, and protect their lives and health. Remarks during a meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, February 5, 2020 We are guided by the vision of a global community with a shared future to be responsible not only for the health and safety of our own citizens but also for the public health of the whole world. China will continue to maintain an open and transparent attitude and strengthen virus prevention and control cooperation with Indonesia and all other countries, to maintain regional and global public health security. We will also continue to look after Indonesian citizens and other foreign nationals in China like they were our own citizens. Phone call with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, February 11, 2020 China is guided by the vision of a global community with a shared future to be responsible not only for the health and safety of our own citizens but also for the public health of the whole world. We are making a tremendous effort. China will continue to adopt an open and transparent attitude and cooperate with the UK and all other countries. Phone call with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, February 18, 2020 After the epidemic occurred, I proposed the general requirements of steadfast confidence, solidarity, science-based prevention and treatment, and targeted policies. We have mobilized the whole country to carry out virus prevention and control work and adopted unprecedented prevention, control, and treatment measures, which have yielded significant results. We have resolutely safeguarded the health and safety of the Chinese people and people around the world, and we are striving to contribute to global public health security. Letter of reply to Bill Gates, February 20, 2020 During this struggle to control and prevent the epidemic, we have always been guided by the vision of a global community with a shared future. In line with an open, transparent, and responsible attitude, we have shared timely information with the WHO and the international community, responded to the concerns of all parties, strengthened international cooperation, and strived to prevent the epidemic from spreading around the world. We have also adopted strong measures to protect the health and security of foreign nationals in China, including Cuban citizens. Chinas prevention and control efforts have been commended by the WHO and the international community. China hopes to continue engaging in exchanges and cooperation with Cuba in the areas of medicine and epidemic prevention and control. Phone call with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, February 28, 2020 Unity means strength. Under the current circumstances, China firmly supports the efforts of the EU to combat the pandemic and stands ready to assist the EU in achieving a swift victory against the virus. Guided by the vision of a global community with a shared future, China is willing to strengthen bilateral and international coordination and cooperation with the EU in order to collectively safeguard global and regional public health security and protect the health and safety of people in China and Europe and in all countries of the world. Message of sympathy and support sent to President of the European Council Charles Michel and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, March 13, 2020 There are outbreaks of the pandemic around the world. All countries must show solidarity and work together to combat the pandemic. China is guided by the vision of a global community with a shared future, and in line with our open, transparent, and responsible attitude, we have been quick to release information about the virus and to share our experiences of prevention, control, and treatment. China is willing to make a greater contribution to preventing the spread of the virus worldwide. And we will continue to provide support and assistance to Pakistan. Remarks during a talk with Pakistani President Arif Alvi, March 17, 2020 Through the painstaking efforts of the whole country, Chinas prevention and control measures have achieved encouraging results, and the country has moved past the most difficult and arduous stage. The pandemic is now spreading in many countries around the world. We in China stand ready to engage in international cooperation and provide any assistance we can. I hope that the international community will work together to seize opportunities amid the crisis and take open and cooperative practical actions to counter the pandemic and together safeguard international health security. Phone call with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, March 17, 2020 The COVID-19 pandemic has spread with alarming speed, and China has had to face difficulties and has been responding courageously, as its efforts concern not only the lives and health of the Chinese people but also the public health security of people worldwide. Through our painstaking efforts, we have managed to prevent and control the spread of the virus in China, and work and daily life are returning to normal. We have the confidence and ability to achieve ultimate victory in the battle over this virus. Based on the vision of a global community with a shared future, China is ready to work with Russia and all other countries, to strengthen international cooperation on prevention and control of the pandemic, to share our experiences in the areas of prevention, control, and treatment, to promote joint scientific research, and to address common threats and challenges, in the hope of safeguarding global public health security. Phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, March 19, 2020 Public health crises are a common challenge facing humanity, and unity and cooperation are our most potent weapon against them. Guided by the vision of a global community with a shared future, China is willing to continue sharing information and experience with Germany, to strengthen cooperation in the areas of disease prevention, control, and treatment as well as vaccine research and development, so that we can work together to safeguard the health and wellbeing of the people of our two countries and other countries of the world. Message of sympathy and support to German Chancellor Angela Merkel regarding the COVID-19 outbreak in Germany, March 2020 The pandemic has recently spread to many countries at an alarming rate. It is of the utmost importance that all countries strengthen cooperation. Guided by the vision of a global community with a shared future, and in line with our open, transparent, and responsible attitude, China has released information on the virus in a timely manner and not withheld any information from the WHO or international community on its practices of prevention, control, or treatment of the disease, and we are doing our best to provide assistance to all parties. Phone call with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, March 24, 2020 We must uphold the vision of a global community with a shared future, collaborate with relevant countries and international organizations, share our countrys established prevention, control and treatment methods, and take action to safeguard global public health security. We should promote joint scientific research and strive to make breakthroughs in virus source tracing, research on transmission mechanisms, and vaccine and drug development at an early date. Speech at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on further coordinating COVID-19 prevention and control efforts with economic and social development, March 27, 2020 UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres gave a speech in Geneva, Switzerland, the headquarters of the WHO. He described Chinas great sacrifice in strictly containing the spread of COVID-19 at the cost of peoples normal life as a great contribution to all mankind. During his visit to the headquarters, he held a panel discussion with heads of WHO departments. Xinhua Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, in line with an open, transparent, and responsible attitude, we have kept the WHO and relevant countries, including the US, abreast of information regarding the outbreak, from releasing information on the genome sequence of the virus at the first opportunity to unreservedly sharing our experiences of prevention, control, and treatment with all parties. China is also doing all it can to provide support and assistance to countries in need. We will continue to do so and to work with the international community to defeat this pandemic. Phone call with US President Donald Trump, March 27, 2020 Guided by the vision of a global community with a shared future, we must comprehensively strengthen international cooperation. During the Extraordinary G20 Virtual Leaders Summit on COVID-19, I proposed international cooperation initiatives to combat the pandemic and stabilize the global economy. On the basis of consolidating pandemic prevention and control results, China is returning to work and production nationwide, overcoming difficulties to prioritize the restoration of production and expansion of its capacity of medical and preventive supplies. We are also implementing strict quality supervision measures. This way we hope to provide the world with as much supplies and equipment as possible to combat the pandemic. Phone call with King Philippe of Belgium, April 2, 2020 III. In these times of adversity, China appreciates the understanding and support of the international community. The Chinese people shall not forget this, and the Chinese nation is grateful and knows how to reciprocate. China will always provide as much support as possible to the international community in combating the pandemic. The Chinese government and people are currently doing all they can to combat the novel coronavirus epidemic. In times of adversity people discover who their true friends are. During this extraordinary time, the Cambodian people have stood with us. King Norodom Sihamoni and Queen Mother Norodom Monineath Sihanouk have expressed their sympathy and support to us, while you, Mr. Prime Minister, have repeatedly given your support to China. Your special visit to China today demonstrates our spirit of togetherness and the essence of China and Cambodia as a community with a shared future. Remarks during a meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, February 5, 2020 One realizes who ones true friends are in times of adversity. Since the epidemic began, Indonesia and other neighboring countries have given us valuable support, reflecting our neighborly ethos of sharing in joy and hardships, of solidarity, and of mutual assistance. We hope that countries in our region will strive to maintain bilateral exchanges and cooperation while reasonably preventing and controlling the epidemic. This is in the common interests of both parties and all the countries in the region. Phone call with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, February 11, 2020 China appreciates the understanding and support given to us by the international community, especially from Malaysia and other friendly neighboring countries, including governments and people sending timely assistance, just like delivering much needed charcoal in the deadly winter. This is a vivid demonstration of countries in our region helping one another. We will continue to strengthen cooperation on epidemic prevention and control with Malaysia and other ASEAN countries, in an open and transparent manner to safeguard regional public health security together. We will continue to look after Malaysian citizens and other foreign nationals in China like they were our own citizens. Phone call with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad, February 13, 2020 A true friend is known in a time of adversity. China is not only safeguarding the lives and health of the people of China but also feels an acute sense of responsibility toward global public health security. China has mainly relied on the strength of the Chinese people to combat the epidemic, but we are also grateful to the international community for its assistance. China has from day one cooperated with all countries, including France, in an open and transparent manner to respond jointly to the epidemic. China stands ready to strengthen pragmatic cooperation with France in the field of health and to safeguard regional and global public health security together. Phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, February 18, 2020 Since the outbreak of the epidemic, the government and people across the society in the Republic of Korea have come forward to express their sympathy and to assist and support China. We are deeply grateful for this. China will continue to maintain an open and transparent attitude to strengthening communication and cooperation with the Republic of Korea, and all other countries, in order to respond jointly to the epidemic and promote the health and wellbeing of people around the world. Phone call with President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in, February 20, 2020 China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic partners and have a long tradition of helping each other. After the outbreak of COVID-19 epidemic, Pakistan immediately offered support to us, overcame difficulties to provide valuable material donations, and maintained all normal contact between our two countries. A few days ago, the National Assembly and the Senate of your country passed resolutions fully supporting China in its fight against the epidemic. Today Mr. Prime Minister, you have called specially to express sympathy and support. These facts once again prove that China and Pakistan are true friends and brothers through thick and thin. We will look after our Pakistani brothers and sisters in China like they were our own citizens. Phone call with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, February 20, 2020 The Chinese government and people are making every effort to combat the COVID-19 epidemic, and we have received valuable support and assistance from the Mongolian government and people. As the first foreign head of state to visit China after the epidemic, Mr. President, you have come especially to express sympathy and support, which fully reflects the high priority you and Mongolia attach to Sino-Mongolian relations and your deep feelings toward the Chinese people. This vividly demonstrates the mutual assistance and solidarity between our two neighboring countries, and I wish to convey my appreciation for this. Remarks during a talk with Mongolian President Khaltmaagiin Battulga, February 27, 2020 China and the Republic of Korea are friendly neighbors who watch out for each other and pull together in times of difficulties. The government and people across the society in the Republic of Korea have come forward to express their sympathy and assist China in fighting the epidemic. You have specifically emphasized that Chinas difficulties are the difficulties of the Republic of Korea. This epidemic recognizes no borders. The countries of the world are a community with a shared future. The Chinese government and people empathize with the Republic of Korea regarding the epidemic and difficulties you now face. We in China will continue to provide whatever assistance we can to your country to combat the epidemic. And we stand ready to work with you to overcome the virus as quickly as possible to safeguard the lives and health of our two peoples and of people around the world. Message of sympathy and support to ROK President Moon Jae-in regarding the COVID-19 outbreak in the ROK, March 2020 China and Iran are comprehensive strategic partners, and our two peoples enjoy a tradition of friendship. The Iranian government and people have provided sincere and friendly support and assistance to China to combat the epidemic. To help Iran fight the epidemic, we are providing medical materials and sending a team of volunteer health experts. We are ready to strengthen cooperation on combating the epidemic with Iran and to continue to do whatever we can to assist Iran. We believe that the Iranian government and people will unquestionably be victorious in this battle to prevent and control the epidemic. Message of sympathy and support to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani regarding the COVID-19 outbreak in Iran, March 2020 China and Serbia are comprehensive strategic partners, and the ironclad friendship between our two countries and peoples has only become stronger as time has gone on. At a time when the Chinese people are making the utmost efforts to combat the epidemic, the Serbian government and people have provided China with strong support through practical actions. I would like to express my profound gratitude for this. China firmly supports Serbias efforts to combat the epidemic. We will provide Serbia with assistance with regard to protective equipment and medical devices, and assist Serbia in sourcing urgently needed materials from China. We will also send a team of medical experts to your country to help improve the effectiveness of prevention and control efforts and to help safeguard the lives and wellbeing of your people. Message of sympathy and support to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic regarding the outbreak of COVID-19 in Serbia, March 2020 After the outbreak of COVID-19, the Polish government and all sectors of Polish society expressed their sympathy and support for China, and this imprinted itself in the minds of the Chinese people. As the saying goes, true friendship is always found in hard times. China firmly supports the efforts of the Polish government and people to fight the epidemic. Chinese health experts have also held a video conference with their counterparts from 17 Central and Eastern European countries including Poland to share timely information and relevant practices with regard to epidemic prevention and control. Guided by the vision of a global community with a shared future, we in China stand ready to strengthen cooperation on combating the pandemic with Poland and all other countries of the world to jointly safeguard the security of global public health. Phone call with Polish President Andrzej Duda, March 24, 2020 In the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak in China, you expressed your sympathy and support for China, and the German government and German people from all walks of life offered a helping hand. The Chinese people will always remember this. At present, Germany is facing severe challenges in combating the pandemic, and the Chinese people have deep empathy for your situation. We in China firmly support Germany in fighting the epidemic and are willing to continue providing any assistance we can. Experts from the two countries have conducted video exchanges, and German experts have also visited China with the WHO expert team. We are willing to share our experiences of prevention, control, and treatment with you, to strengthen cooperation on vaccine and drug research and development, and to contribute to the health and wellbeing of our two peoples and the security of global public health. Phone call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, March 25, 2020 Under your leadership, the World Health Organization is actively promoting international cooperation on combating the pandemic, which has been widely acknowledged by the international community. China will continue to firmly support you and the World Health Organization in playing an active leadership role in international cooperation on fighting against the pandemic. China has always actively supported the international communitys efforts to combat the pandemic through concrete actions, and has provided assistance to international organizations including the World Health Organization and more than 80 countries. China will continue to provide as much support as possible to the international community in countering the pandemic. Letter of reply to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, March 26, 2020 At the most difficult moment in our fight against the outbreak, many members of the global community have offered sincere assistance and support to China. Such expressions of friendship will always be remembered and cherished by the Chinese people. Speech Working Together to Defeat the COVID-19 Outbreak, at the Extraordinary G20 Virtual Leaders Summit, March 26, 2020 Director-General of the WHO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus held a regular press conference on the COVID-19 on February 17, 2020, at which he said that the newly released epidemiological report by Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention provided assistance for the WHO to give suggestions on epidemic prevention and control to other countries in the world. Photo by Xinhua reporter Chen Junxia Mail-in ballots for the 2016 General Election are shown at the elections ballot center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Read more A major Democratic political group is backing a new lawsuit aiming to make it easier to vote by mail in Pennsylvania because of the coronavirus crisis. The suit was filed Wednesday by the Pennsylvania Alliance for Retired Americans and funded by Priorities USA, the main super PAC supporting likely presidential nominee Joe Biden. The suit cites obstacles created by the pandemic including health risks for voters and poll workers as requiring expanded mail voting. Filed in Commonwealth Court in Harrisburg, it is seeking: To require prepaid postage for all absentee and mail-in ballots. To allow mail-in ballots to be counted if they are postmarked by Election Day and received up to seven days later, rather than received by Election Day, as under existing law. To allow third parties to collect and return absentee or mail-in ballots. A uniform standard for verifying signatures on mail-in ballots, and to allow voters an opportunity to correct signature questions that might lead to their ballots being rejected. The plaintiffs want the changes to start with the June 2 primary. The lawsuit is part of a national fight around voting laws, one that has become increasingly critical as the coronavirus has disrupted elections. Both parties are scrambling to adapt for elections almost certain to rely heavily on mail-in voting. The Pennsylvania suit prominently cites the April 7 primary election fiasco in Wisconsin, where numerous polling places were closed, state officials were overwhelmed by a flood of mail-in ballot requests, and many ballots did not reach voters in time, leading to long lines at polling sites, despite a stay-at-home order. Advance planning and proactive measures to ensure that voters have sufficient access to vote by mail are essential to protect the right to vote and prevent large-scale disenfranchisement," said the lawsuit. It rests on the Pennsylvania Constitutions guarantee of free and fair elections. Pennsylvania counties have received about 600,000 applications for mail-in ballots for this years primary, compared with 84,000 cast in the 2016 primary, the suit says. It argues that barriers to mail-in voting, such as requiring postage and barring friends or family from returning ballots, disproportionately affect poor, minority, and rural communities that have less access to public transportation, less reliable mail service, and less ability to wait in lines to vote. While Pennsylvania has already made notable progress in their effort to protect and expand voting rights protections, this new filing will ensure that we make every effort to protect vulnerable citizens who face unnecessary challenges when voting by mail or absentee ballot, Guy Cecil, chairman of Priorities USA, said. The suit was brought on behalf of four Pennsylvania plaintiffs and the Pennsylvania Alliance for Retired Americans. It was led by Adam Bonin, a prominent Philadelphia election lawyer, and from Washington by Marc Elias, one of the top Democratic election lawyers in the country. READ MORE: Voting by mail is a safe option during coronavirus. Heres what you need to know about absentee ballots in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of State declined to comment. Democrats are pushing for legal changes nationwide, arguing that mail-in voting should be as easy as possible, while Republicans counter that could make states more vulnerable to election fraud. Earlier this month Democrats filed a suit in Arizona, another swing state, asking courts to rule that mail-in ballots should be counted if they are postmarked by Election Day. Most of the country has some form of mail-in voting, but the specific laws in each state determine how hard, or easy, it is. With the presidential election potentially coming down to a sliver of votes in a few swing states, the rules could have a profound effect on the outcome. The regulations sought in the Pennsylvania lawsuit are used in other states that more widely use voting by mail. Election fraud is rare, and most studies show that voting by mail doesnt advantage either party, but President Donald Trump and national Republicans have attacked mail-in voting as dangerous and beneficial to Democrats. ASK US: Do you have a question about the coronavirus and how it affects your health, work and life? Ask our reporters. The Republican National Committee has set aside $10 million to fight voting-law cases in swing states such as Michigan, Florida, Arizona, and Minnesota. Republicans have taken aim at calls to allow friends, family members, or activists to turn in ballots on behalf of other voters which Democrats say is needed for people with poor mail service. Democrats want to legalize ballot harvesting nationwide. Sending activists door-to-door to collect ballots not only jeopardizes peoples health, it threatens the security of their ballot, said RNC spokesperson Michael Joyce. READ MORE: Pennsylvania is getting a different kind of early voting in time for the 2020 election In 2018, around 96% of Pennsylvania ballots were cast in person, according to the federal Election Assistance Commission. But voting by mail is expected to soar this year. Even before the coronavirus struck, the state had moved, for the first time, to allow anyone to vote by mail with no requirement to provide a reason for doing so. Now, the virus has sharply increased demand for mail-in ballots, and the legal wrangling around them. By Trend The Azerbaijani Ministry of Health has called on the population not to try treating coronavirus without a doctors prescription, Trend reports on April 21 referring to the Azerbaijani Ministry of Health. Many websites have been recently advertising the effectiveness of various medicines to treat coronavirus. These websites emphasize a positive effect of these medicines on eliminating the symptoms caused by the virus. However, medication should be taken only under the supervision of a doctor, the message said. The erroneous, irregular consumption of medicines may have a negative effect on medical treatment and may cause more harm than good, said the ministry. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz This GOES-16, GeoColor satellite image taken Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2019, and provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), shows Hurricane Dorian moving off the east coast of Florida in the Atlantic Ocean. (NOAA via AP) The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Monday approved unanimously an application by Ligado Networks to deploy a low-power terrestrial nationwide network that would primarily support 5G and other mobile technologies and services. However, critics within the Weather Enterprise and elsewhere worry the decision and other pending proposals from Ligado could compromise vital satellite weather data transmitted via the radio spectrum. The FCC and the Trump Administration were concerned the US might lose the battle for 5G development if proposals such as Ligado's are not advanced. "Swift FCC action on spectrum is imperative to allow for the deployment of 5G," U.S. Attorney General William Barr said in a statement last week when the proposal received FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's approval. "This is essential if we are to keep our economic and technological leadership and avoid forfeiting it to Communist China." In Pai's draft order last week he said, "We have compiled an extensive record, which confirms that it is in the public interest to grant Ligado's application while imposing stringent conditions to prevent harmful interference." The Weather Enterprise - as well as major airlines, the GPS industry, the Department of Defense, among others - is concerned specifically about that possible interference, which they believe will be caused by newly deployed mobile networks sharing spectrum with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES). The spectrum is used for telecommunication such as mobile networks, radio transmission and satellite data ranging from the weather to GPS. Story continues "The advanced imagery and space-based lightning detection information that GOES provides has improved the quality and specificity of advanced warnings," a group including members of the Weather Enterprise, an informal network of companies, organizations and scientists that monitor weather conditions around the world, wrote in a letter to the FCC last week. CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP "Studies have shown that the use of next-generation GOES satellites have contributed substantially to accurate severe storm forecasting, increasing lead time on average by 10-15 minutes (from approximately 17 minutes to at least 29 minutes)." The Easter weekend tornado outbreak across the South that resulted in 36 deaths and substantial destruction was noted in last week's letter as proof of the importance of severe storm warning information. Ligado Networks President and CEO Doug Smith thanked the FCC in a statement Monday, noting, "We greatly appreciate their unanimous support as well as the expert engineering analysis determining that a terrestrial network can be deployed in the L-band to advance our country's economic and security interests while fully protecting GPS. Our spectrum can be very instrumental in the transition to 5G, and we look forward to utilizing satellite and terrestrial services to deploy customized private networks and deliver innovative, next-generation [Internet of Things] solutions for the industrial sector." The proposal approved this week most closely relates to parts of the spectrum used by GPS. In addition, Ligado has a proposal before the FCC related to the part of the spectrum (1675 - 1680 MHz) used by weather satellites to transmit data to Earth. Opponents expressed similar concern related to this and yet another part of the radio spectrum last summer. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said of the FCC's decision, "Quick action on this order, in conjunction with the allocation of a portion of the C-Band for 5G, is vital to our national security and will help ensure that the United States is the global leader in advanced technologies such as AI, the Internet of Things, edge computing and the next generation of telemedicine. Accelerating the deployment of 5G is essential to our country's growth, and global economic security." Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios. 22.04.2020 LISTEN Some 50 vulnerable women in Salaga in the East Gonja Municipality of the Savannah region have received food items worth Thousands of Ghana Cedis from a UK based Muslim Women Association. This is the second time in a week the Association; Federation of Muslim Women (FOMWA) has donated to vulnerable individuals in the Municipality. The Amira of FOMWA-UK, Sarauniyar Hajia Hajara Shardow in an interview explained, the donation forms part of efforts to reach out to the vulnerable in the wake of the novel Corona Virus. She indicated, the vulnerable are always the worse hit group in times of emergencies and so the need for the association to swiftly come to their aid. "Things are not in their normal form, everyone is affected and the vulnerable suffer it more hence the need to support" She applauded the efforts by various stakeholders in the Municipality to avert any recorded case in the. "Let me say that it is a plus to all stakeholders including individuals in East Gonja municipality for their strict compliance to the protocols laid out for the prevention of Covid-19" she noted. She called on the Muslim community to use the period of Ramadan to pray for Allah's mercies on Ghana and the world in the wake of the pandemic. A beneficiary Yakubu Alimatu expressed gratitude to the UK based group for their support. She admitted things have been difficult since the outbreak of the pandemic. Each beneficiary received a bag of rice, cooking oil, packs of indomie, Sugar and Gari. The items were distributed by Jawula Hardi, the focal person in the municipality. A president has broad powers over immigration under the Constitution and federal laws, but they are not unlimited. At the very least, there must be a reasonable basis for restrictions on immigration. None exists for President Trumps threat to temporarily ban all immigrant visa admissions to the United States. As with earlier, problematic immigration policies like the entry ban aimed at several predominantly Muslim countries, this proposal started out with a remarkably broad promise by the president: a ban on all immigration. That sweeping rhetoric has a cost of its own. Among other things, it may discourage international students from enrolling in American universities this fall, and otherwise signal keep out to visitors who would actually boost the economy. But beyond the rhetorical overkill, there are other problems with this ban. The actual policy proposal is much less than promised by tweet, but even in its whittled down form, it is still unlawful. A ban on the entry of individuals who have been granted immigrant visas would not affect as many people as you might think. Although there are usually more than 180 million entries into the United States every year, most of that traffic is by people holding temporary visas. This policy would affect only those immigrants who have been authorized for permanent residency. That involves less than a million people a number that has declined in recent years because of other entry bans, new requirements on immigrants and slow visa processing. The answer to the crushing domestic unemployment crisis caused by the coronavirus outbreak is clearly not going to be found in a ban on these immigrants. Fifty years after the first Earth Day, the call to arms resonates louder than ever, from wet markets to wild forests. Back home a spring walk in the woods of southern England is all dappled light and serenity, carpets of bluebells emerging as tree buds swell and burst into leaf, nothing more threatening to encounter than the occasional squirrel or two. The bears and wolves that lived here hundreds of years ago are long gone. It is a different ball game in the temperate forests of the Russian Far East. Here the rare Amur tiger roams and there is a primal intensity to walking among trees where 320kg (705lb) of danger stalks. We were filming a tiger census in the ancient forests of Primorsky Kai, about four hours from the port city of Vladivostok. At night we slept in a solitary cabin in the heart of the vast snowbound quiet, with vodka and tales of those who went to the outside toilet at night and never came back, only their boots found the next day and a bloody trail disappearing off into the trees. Such stories add a certain piquancy to going to the bathroom, but it was reaffirming to know that wilderness can still be wild in our modern world. The tiger trade But the pressures on that wilderness and its tigers are intense from the big cat collectors, like those portrayed in Netflixs new docuseries Tiger King, to the breeders who raise tigers to harvest their body parts for medicine. And now criminal wildlife traders are cashing in on the coronavirus crisis, touting products like tiger bone glue to maintain health during the pandemic it is drunk as a tonic, consumed in tea or wine. Remember, it is believed that the source of the virus originated somewhere in the wild animal wet markets of China which have provided cover for the illegal trade in wildlife, including tigers. An investigation by the nonprofit Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) found one Vietnamese trader offering his products via his social media account, complete with harrowing video footage of a tiger being butchered. The EIA said the trader was one of potentially more than 100 tiger keepers who raise cubs for their parts. Meanwhile, another company in China has been promoting products containing derivatives of animals including tiger, elephants, bear and rhino. Debbie Banks is the EIAs tiger and wildlife crime campaign leader, and she said specialists in the spread of zoonotic diseases have been raising the alarm for years. If ever there was a time to rethink our relationship with nature, it is now, in the midst of the biggest ever wake-up call, Banks said. To avoid a future pandemic, we need transformative change, restoring the health of the planet and the ecosystems we rely on. We need to restore habitats, create alternative livelihoods and rethink food production. Earth Day 50 years on Fifty years ago in 1970, Earth Day was launched, giving voice to an emerging public consciousness about the state of our planet. It inspired 20 million Americans to take to the streets, parks and auditoriums to demonstrate against 150 years of industrial impact. Much has changed since then. Our population has more than doubled from 3.7 billion in 1970 to 7.8 billion today. According to the American Museum of Natural History, we have been emitting nearly 2.5 times more CO2, and global temperatures and sea levels have risen just as our ice sheets melt into oceans awash with plastic. A climate crisis is upon us. But the environmental movement has scored some victories, like the banning of the pesticide DDT and ozone-depleting CFCs. The Paris Agreement of 2015 has yet to reap dividends, but it was a moment of global unity to take on the worst effects of climate change, and it can still succeed. Today, energised by US President Donald Trumps environmental policy rollbacks, the call to arms resonates more loudly than ever. And from the serene bluebell woods of England to the wild forests of the Russian Far East where wild tigers still roam, it is a fight we must win. Your environment roundup 1. Chile: The worlds copper mining capital announced earlier this month a goal to reach net zero emissions by 2050, in the midst of a lockdown and social and political crisis. 2. Florida underwater: From rising sea levels to habitat loss, the effects of the climate crisis are on the verge of making south Florida uninhabitable. 3. TFI Friday: On April 24, Fridays For Future and youth climate groups will take part in digital actions around the world, including Twitter storms, live streams, and uploading pictures of themselves striking at home under #ClimateStrikeOnline and #DigitalStrike. There will be a 24-hour livestream starting in Australia and the Pacific Islands, ending West in the Americas. 4. Poland: Polish coal mining trade unions are lobbying to keep using power plants full capacity in spite of the decrease in demand. Nobody has a clue where to store the millions of tonnes of coal they dug up unnecessarily. 5. From the archive: Watch our report on the Amur Tiger from Primorsky province in Russia. The final word Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-23 01:09:29|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close by Peerzada Arshad Hamid NEW DELHI, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed cases of the COVID-19 crossed 20,000 mark in India on Wednesday. With 1,486 positive cases and 49 fatalities due to COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, total tally of the novel coronavirus cases has reached 20,471, while 652 people have lost their lives to the pandemic, India's federal health ministry said. To contain the pandemic, the Indian government has responded by imposing a strict lockdown on March 25. With life having come to a standstill and no economic activity, Wednesday marks the 29th straight day of the lockdown. According to the government, the ongoing lockdown will last until May 3. Initially, the nationwide lockdown announced by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was of three weeks but last week it was extended up to May 3. Renowned virologist Dr T Jacob John told Xinhua that India was moving in the right direction but not at the right speed. According to John, India has already lost enough time since February when the outbreak began and there was a need to rush up to fix things. "In February, we knew things are going to be bad but we were complacent thinking it would disappear at its own," John said. "We knew India has the capacity to make test kits and initiate research for the development of vaccines but we did nothing. Currently, the government is developing projections for the future but that shows we are not sufficiently prepared. We have to hurry up in the fight against coronavirus to contain it." Shops closures and a halt on industrial activity because of COVID-19 lockdown have hugely impacted the country's economy. Millions of people who have migrated to cities for jobs have been rendered jobless. While some have managed to walk back home, others are stuck waiting to return to their villages According to top health research body, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), until Tuesday evening 462,621 samples from 447,812 individuals have been tested. Health experts believe the low levels of testing in India is the reason behind its small number of COVID-19 cases. Despite its enormous population of over 1.3 billion, the number of COVID-19 cases in India is just a minuscule. "So far you are carrying out tests based on the contact and person's travel history. Now since you have announced the lockdown there is a need to throw the net wide enough," John said. "There is a need to test all pneumonia cases in all hospitals across the country. The government has tested a small number that is why results are smaller. " Apart from health hazards, the country is facing economic challenges and how to resume the functioning post lockdown. Although the government announced that after April 20 some economic activities and agricultural work would be allowed in some areas, so far that resumption remains to be seen. The country's growth rate has slowed and unemployment figures have surged to a high. A study carried out by a local television network Times Network in partnership with global consulting firm Protiviti, has predicted the coronavirus epidemic could peak in India by the middle of May and gradually peter out after that. The study "Times Fact India Outbreak Report" looks at three different possibilities and suggests that India could see the number of coronavirus cases crossing 75,000 around May 22. Meanwhile, the government in the southern India state of Telangana has decided to extend the complete lockdown in the state until May 7. Likewise, India's federal aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri Monday said flight restrictions that were in place as a result of the fight against the COVID-19 would be lifted only after the spread of the virus is controlled. Puri's remarks came in response to the opening of ticket bookings by some airlines. The developments indicate the ongoing lockdown could be extended beyond May 3. John cautions with lockdown India was only postponing the speed of spread. "Lockdown is not a solution unless it is kept permanently. By imposing lockdown the grove is freezing the time and human interaction. The moment it is lifted, the spread will begin. There will be more transmission, which means more cases and more deaths." Enditem Massachusetts State Police officials shut down the on-site recruit training academy on Tuesday after two trainees in the 85th class reported they had tested positive for COVID-19. State Police had already accelerated the training academy by several weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic and moved the graduation, originally scheduled for June, to May 6, said David Procopio, state police spokesman. Late last week the department decided that this current week, April 20-24, would be the last week for on-site training at the New Braintree facility and trainees would undergo one additional week of online learning and the graduate on May 6, he said. After one male and one female trainee, who each had close acquaintances who been infected with COVID-19, told educators they too had tested positive, the director dismissed the remaining 239 class members on Tuesday, he said. All class members have been told to quarantine for 14 days as a preventative measure. They will also be tested for COVID-19 during that period, Procopio said. While not all trainees had contact with the two who have tested positive, the decision to dismiss all of them was made out of an abundance of caution, Procopio said. Academy staff members who had potential contact with the two trainees will be required to self-report, self-quarantine and will have the option of being tested at one of the first responder priority testing sites, he said. The recruits will finish the rest of the curriculum online and will still graduate on May 6, five weeks earlier than scheduled. The graduation will be done with no audience and no ceremonial flourishes, he said. The director determined the recruits have received the training they need to join the State Police after graduation, Procopio said. The recruit class began in January and by March instructors had put in place a number of protocols to prevent the coronavirus from spreading including redesigning drills and school work to make social distancing possible, breaking groups into smaller platoons to give them more space, having all recruits evaluated medically when they returned after the weekend or if any of them showed symptoms of being ill and changing food service, he said. Related Content: To combat the Coronavirus pandemic, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday announced an economic and social relief package of 500 billion rands (about USD 26 billion) to support the population. The president further added that 100 billion rands would be allocated to the program for securing jobs during the limiting measures caused by the Coronavirus. READ | Russia: New Moscow hospital opens as coronavirus cases surpass 52,000 Ramaphosa to address the nation on April 23 Ramaphosa said that he would address the nation on Thursday to announce plans for a gradual restart of the economy. South African government started a three-week nationwide quarantine on March 23, which was later extended for another fortnight. According to the recent data, the total number of people infected with Coronavirus in the African country has reached 3,500. The total number of deaths due to virus is recorded to be 58. READ | German firms turn to making masks as demand grows amid coronavirus pandemic PM Modi assures support to South Africa Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, April 17 assured India's support to South Africa in maintaining essential medical supplies to fight the novel Coronavirus pandemic. Taking to Twitter, PM Modi apprised about his discussion with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and South Africa is ably coordinating the African Union effort against the pandemic. PM Modi added that as a long-standing friend of Africa, India stands ready to support this effort in every way. READ | Coronavirus Live Updates: 1336 cases reported in last 24 hours; total cases soar to 18985 READ | Foreigners repatriated from Dhaka amid coronavirus (With inputs from agency) Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell is pushing to cut U.S. intelligence sharing with countries that criminalize homosexuality, the New York Times reports. Why it matters: About 69 countries still criminalize homosexuality including key U.S. intelligence partners like Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Kenya, per the Times. Grenell is the first openly gay Cabinet member and has prioritized anti-discrimination policies. "We cant just simply make the moral argument and expect others to respond in kind because telling others that its the right thing to do doesnt always work. ... [T]o fight for decriminalization is to fight for basic human rights," Grenell told the Times in an interview. The state of play: Grenell told the Times he has "the presidents total support" and that anti-discrimination "is an American value, and this is United States policy." But Grenell has not made clear if the plan is to withhold additional cooperation or instead draw back on current intelligence sharing levels. Grenell has also suggested that foreign aid could be effective leverage to push countries toward decriminalizing homosexuality, according to Hadi Damien, founder of Lebanons Beirut Pride group, who participated in discussions with Grenell when he served as ambassador to Germany. Between the lines: Since he only serves in an acting capacity, Grenell's appointment is set to end in September. But he says he intends to make the most of his time, telling the Times: "The president asked me to do a job and I am going to do the job to the best of my ability." Editor's note: This story has been corrected to attribute Grenell's suggestion about foreign aid to Hadi Damien. Matt Hancock has said the government cannot promise free masks for the public if widespread usage is recommended by experts to combat coronavirus. The health secretary said it would be an extraordinary undertaking to provide face coverings for ordinary people amid immense pressure on supplies of protective equipment for front line healthcare staff. Experts from the governments scientific advisory group met yesterday to discuss whether the public should be advised to wear masks at work and on public transport as part of future efforts to ease the lockdown measures. Ministers are expected to consider their recommendations this week before deciding whether to change the official guidance on face coverings outside of hospitals and healthcare settings. Labours Hilary Benn pressed the health secretary Matt Hancock on whether people would be expected to source their own masks or could expect to receive protective kit from the government, which is already struggling to source PPE for the NHS. Speaking to MPs via videolink, Mr Benn said: It seems increasingly likely that part of what will be required to tackle this virus in future will be the wearing of masks by members of the public in certain situations. If the government comes to the point based on the scientific advice that that is recommended, is the governments policy to provide masks to the public, and if so, what is his plan to source them, given the difficulties we have seen with PPE supply Or will members of the public be expected to source their own? Mr Hancock replied: We will follow the advice, we will listen to what the Sage advisory group says on masks, and then we will implement that. I cant promise that we will give everybody free masks - I mean that would be an extraordinary undertaking - and we do have to make sure that we have supplies available, especially for health and care staff where the scientific advice throughout has been that the wearing of mask is necessary in those circumstances, and weve got to make sure that provision is there for them. NHS leaders have sounded the alarm on recommending widespread mask usage among the British public, which is being recommended in the United States and France. On Tuesday, Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, said: There needs to be clear evidence that wearing masks, along with other measures, will deliver significant enough benefits to take us out of lockdown to potentially jeopardise NHS mask supply. Government experts are understood to be considering the benefits of home-made face coverings, such as bandanas, in preventing the spread of the illness in confined settings, such as shops and on public transport. Cloth coverings will not protect the wearer from picking up Covid-19 but could prevent them from spreading droplets containing the virus to others, particularly if the person is asymptomatic. The World Health Organisation issued guidance earlier this month which warned that widespread use of mask could lead to people ignoring other social distancing measures. The prime ministers official spokesman told a Westminster briefing: Sage are finalising their advice and it will be presented to ministers shortly. Once ministers have looked at it and reached a decision we will announce what it is. Tom Daleys husband goes off the deep end about his knitting! Olympic diver Tom Daleys new knitting hobby, which he has taken up to keep him occupied during self-isolation, is not going down too well with his husband, film producer Dustin Lance Black. Why am I the one who at night is going to bed, looking forward to sleep, and Im sitting next to Tom, whos knitting? he asks. I literally am married to a grandmother. The 45-year-old, who married Tom, 25, three years ago, adds: Relationships are work as it is. Quarantine makes the work harder. Learn how to tune your loved one out. Stop listening. In fact, sometimes get ear plugs and just put them in your ears. Flesh coloured, so they dont know theyre in there, and nod a lot. Olympic diver Tom Daleys (right) new knitting hobby is not going down too well with his husband, film producer Dustin Lance Black (pictured left) Stripe me pink (and orange and blue): Salmas rainbow tribute Hollywood star Salma Hayeks latest role is about raising support for health workers. The 53-year-old painted her face with multicoloured stripes this week after being inspired by support in Britain for the NHS. I painted this rainbow on my face because many people are using rainbows to symbolise unity and hope and to thank the NHS and all the health workers around the world for their courage and endurance, she says. Hollywood star Salma Hayek, 53, painted her face with multicoloured stripes this week after being inspired by support in Britain for the NHS Toff uses her head to raise cash for carers Forced to cancel her hols with pal Stanley Johnson, ebullient Georgia Toffolo is getting adventurous at home instead. The winner of Im A Celebrity, who was set to go to Uganda with the PMs pater, tried her first headstand as part of the upside-down challenge. Its for a really amazing charity called Mask Our Heroes. Its about giving essential workers PPE, she explains, posting a video online in which she topples over before completing the task. She may be disappointed, though, after publicly asking Stanley to record his own attempt. He tells me: Im not up for a headstand though quite happy to be nominated. Georgia Toffolo, 25, tried her first headstand as part of the upside-down challenge after her planned trip to Uganda was cancelled The 25-year-old winner of Im A Celebrity posted a video online in which she topples over before completing the task Lettes literary smash and grab Drama isnt confined to the pages of a novel as writer Kathy Lette discovered when copies of her latest offering were stolen. Id just taken delivery of a box of books of my latest comic novel, she tells me. I was driving around to pop a few through the letterboxes of pals. But first I stopped at Hampstead Heath and while I was taking a jog, robbers smashed my window and stole the box. Kathy adds: Imagine their disappointment when they got home and discovered 20 copies of HRT Husband Replacement Therapy. When they get arrested and sent to prison, at least I can say I have a captive audience. Poppy reveals her red carpet jitters Despite living in the spotlight, model-turned-actress Poppy Delevingne reveals she gets so nervous in public she nearly falls over. If I have to do red carpet or anything like that, my whole body shakes uncontrollably, says the 33-year-old, who is married to businessman James Cook. My husband always says, I literally have to hold Poppy up. My whole body is practically convulsing because Im petrified. I get a lip twitch from total fear. And it doesnt get any better with age, it just gets worse. The star of Sky drama Riviera adds shes learned to control it at work. When Ive got a scene Ive worked really hard on and I know it to death then its just the most exciting feeling in the world. Poppy Delevingne, 33, (pictured) revealed she gets so nervous in public she nearly falls over The stars of Bafta-winning BBC3 comedy This Country, who recently claimed to be broke, paid themselves more than 170,000 last year. Daisy May Cooper and her brother Charlie Cooper said they were absolutely skint. But records for the programmes stars companies show Daisy May paid herself 122,000 last year and Charlie took 51,700. Creative licence? He is worth 5.6 bn, but Giorgio Armani regrets making personal sacrifices for his career. Over the course of my life, I have sacrificed love, private life, and time for me, all on the altar of work, says the 85-year-old. But I have also created an empire. Although, the older I get, the more I feel regret for things I have not done, places I have not seen, loves I have not cherished. Gives fashion victim a whole new twist... 85-year-old Giorgio Armani may be worth 5.6billion but he says he regrets making personal sacrifices for his career There is an upside to the coronavirus crisis, for A-listers at least. Apollo 13 star Kevin Bacon, who is married to actress Kyra Sedgwick, remarks: We were taking a walk the other day, and Kyra says to me, Hey, have you noticed that nobody stops you for selfies any more? and I said, Yeah, thats social distancing. Not that Bacon usually welcomes them anyway: My kids and wife will tell me that I have this kind of built-in social distancing on my face. The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574. Community Perspective Send Community Perspective submissions by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Submissions must be 500 to 750 words. Columns are welcome on a wide range of issues and should be well-written and well-researched with attribution of sources. Include a full name, email address, daytime telephone number and headshot photograph suitable for publication (email jpg or tiff files at 150 dpi.) You may also schedule a photo to be taken at the News-Miner office. The News-Miner reserves the right to edit submissions or to reject those of poor quality or taste without consulting the writer. Letters to the editor Send letters to the editor by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707), by fax (907-452-7917) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Writers are limited to one letter every two weeks (14 days.) All letters must contain no more than 350 words and include a full name (no abbreviation), daytime and evening phone numbers and physical address. (If no phone, then provide a mailing address or email address.) The Daily News-Miner reserves the right to edit or reject letters without consulting the writer. Amazons cloud data centers have arrived in South Africa, helping millions of people, businesses and organizations to benefit from faster connectivity and viable access to next-generation technology. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is located in Cape Town and has three separate Availability Zones, meaning the data centers are situated far enough apart to mitigate the risk of a single event impacting the services overall operations. The launch represents the latest push by Amazon into the continent. It set up a development center in Cape Town back in 2004, and in 2015 opened an AWS office in Johannesburg. In 2017 the Amazon Global Network expanded to Africa through AWS Direct Connect, and in 2018 Amazon established its first infrastructure on the African continent, launching Amazon CloudFront locations in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Africa has been a big source of interest for major tech companies, with a wealth of opportunities to be had from its generally weak server infrastructure. Last year, Microsoft became the first major cloud provider to open a data center in South Africa, while Facebook and Google have been racing to improve connectivity in the region. This activity is good news for businesses and citizens alike, who have until now battled with sub-par connections and itll be particularly welcomed by gamers, who have traditionally had to rely on servers from further afield, facing huge pings and tedious lag spikes when playing online. Just days away from a surge in the number of infections, Mexico reaches its most serious phase of the pandemic. Mexico has entered what it calls Phase 3 the most serious stage of the coronavirus pandemic. For Mexican health officials, this phase refers to the point where the virus will spread the fastest, hitting its peak in the first half of May. The number of reported infections has passed 9,000, with nearly 900 deaths. Meanwhile, the government has passed a law granting amnesty to those who have not committed serious crimes. This aims to keep the prison population down, lowering the risk of an outbreak in the countrys prison system. Al Jazeeras Manuel Rapalo reports from Mexico City. South Africa: Dialogue between fishers and authorities eases lockdown restrictions On 3 April, the South African Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries announced that this sector would be spared from the stringent lockdown restrictions to fight COVID-19 disease. When the lockdown was announced, fishermen from the Western and Northern Cape coastal regions were not allowed to travel outside their community to fish, even with their fishing permits. In the middle of high season for the catching of snoek, a fish that generates large income for local fishing communities and is key for food security in the coastal regions, this was a hard blow for the Cape fishers. After a week of back and forth contacts with the South African Small-scale Fisheries Collective (SASSFC), a civil society movement of fishers in the four coastal provinces, the Department of Fisheries has put in place several measures to ensure that fishermen can go out at sea, such as the issuance of a regulation to allow fishermen to travel and register the accommodation where they can overnight. Fishers also have to respect distancing and strict hygiene provisions, both on board of their vessels, and in their transport vehicles. Furthermore, buyers are also allowed to travel so they can sell fish in their communities and ensure food security of South African. Informal traders can also continue their activities. Until now, small-scale fishermen have been able to sell most of their catches and are keeping informed of the latest updates and measures via WhatsApp groups. Exports markets, however, are closed for now. SASSFC continues its exchanges with the Department of Fisheries because although fishers can go fishing, there are still many people in fishing communities without an income and require assistance with food. So far, there are approximately 2,500 COVID-19 cases in South Africa, and about 35 deaths, but no case among fishermen. Theme(s): Others. Coronavirus combined with flu season later this year will be the 'perfect storm' of infectious diseases, a virus expert has warned. Virologist Dr Joseph Fair's warning came after the director of the CDC said a second wave of COVID-19 cases next winter could be even more difficult than the current pandemic in the US. 'Fall is typically when we have our worst flu season,' Dr Fair told told NBC's Today on Wednesday. 'If you couple that with an ongoing outbreak of COVID-19... it's going make for the perfect storm of infectious disease and overloading of hospital wards. 'The good news is hopefully we'll have enough testing by then. It will give us time to catch up on ventilators and PPE production.' Virologist Dr Joseph Fair's warning came after the director of the CDC said a second wave of COVID-19 cases next winter could be even more difficult than the current pandemic in the US Dr Fair said increased testing, combined with social distancing measures, was how the US would beat the current pandemic. 'Outbreaks really begin and end with diagnostics that's how we're actually going to stop this outbreak, combined with the social distancing measures and ultimately, a vaccine,' he said. Following news that two people died with the coronavirus in California weeks before the first reported death from the disease, Dr Fair said it is likely even earlier dates of community spread will be uncovered. 'That's not uncommon for any outbreak. We'll always look for the index case. We always go back and look for the one that didn't make our radar screen,' he said of the earlier COVID-19 deaths. 'Community spread was ongoing much earlier that we thought. I'm sure we'll find even earlier dates.' Health officials in Santa Clara County said on Tuesday that two people died at home on February 6 and February 17. The first confirmed US death from the virus was reported on February 29 in Kirkland, Washington. The Medical Examiner-Coroner, however, received confirmation on Tuesday that tissue samples sent to the CDC for the prior two deaths had tested positive for the virus. The death toll in the US now stands at more than 45,000 - the highest in the world - with more than 820,000 confirmed infections. The true figures, however, are believed to be much higher, in part, because of limited testing and difficulties in counting the dead. All 50 states in the US have now reported deaths due to coronavirus after Wyoming announced its first fatality earlier this month. Washington was the epicenter of the country's initial outbreak. It had recorded the first known coronavirus case in the US and also the first few deaths of the pandemic before it started spreading rapidly across the country. The state recorded its first known coronavirus case - and the first in the US - on January 21 after a patient returned from Wuhan, China where the global outbreak initially started. The city filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit last year, but it was not granted, and the citys Department of Law has contended that the city would be likely to win the case but said that it would be expensive, the Tennessean reported. By Akbar Mammadov US-based News Blaze website has commented on the recent aid from Iran to Azerbaijans occupied Nagorno Karabakh region in its report published on April 21. Recently, a video circulated in the media about the transportation of fuel, raw materials and food by trucks with Iranian state license plates. Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry has expressed concern over the reported aid to, saying that it "caused serious concern of Azerbaijani government and deep public dissatisfaction. Commenting on the aid, News Blaze questioned: Why would the self-proclaimed guardian of all the worlds Muslims support the ongoing Armenian occupation of land that belongs to its secular northern neighbor, the Republic of Azerbaijan, whose population is primarily Shiite Muslims? Iran shares a 611-kilometre border with the Republic of Azerbaijan; as a result of the Nagorno-Karabakh War of 1988-94, a large part of this border stretch has been removed from Azerbaijans lawful control. Armenia aggressively invaded and occupied approximately 20 percent of Azerbaijans sovereign territory that includes the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The outcome of the war was that over 800,000 Azerbaijani civilians were expelled from these occupied areas. And till today they are still internally displaced, scattered all over Azerbaijan," the report reads. Following the occupation, Armenia created the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, now called the Republic of Artsakh, in the illegally occupied area of Azerbaijan. It is important to state that the Armenian-occupied region is internationally regarded as part of Azerbaijan while the so-called Republic of Artsakh is not recognized by any country, worldwide, reads the article. The author added that the Armenian-controlled Iran-Azerbaijan 132 km long border portion, stretching between the Armenian town of Meghri and the Azerbaijani town of Horadiz, is where Tehrans interfaces with the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh republic. Built in the 13th century, the Khodaafarin Bridge, stretching across the Araz River and connecting Iran with the occupied Jabrayil district of Azerbaijan can be seen as an example of Irans cynicism. While Iran claims to be a nation of piety and order, at the same time it is pouring hard drugs, arms and fuel across this illegal border crossing, as well researched and penned by investigative writer Harrold Cane in his article The Islamic Republic. The Khodaafarin Bridge, the main crossing point between Iran and Nagorno-Karabakh, is considered illegal under international law. Located well beyond the reach of global law and order agencies, therefore useful," the author of the article wrote. The author touched on the fact that for a long time Tehran, under the control of the IRGC, has been using this route for trafficking drugs, originating in Afghanistan, to their final destination, Europe. In addition, she also noted that the Iranian smugglers, driving trucks with Iranian license plates, openly carry narcotics into the Nagorno-Karabakh region, across the Araz River and into Europes back passage. "Iran, a fervent Islamic theocracy, and Armenia, a Christian nation, make strange bedfellows. But, as it seems, money talks," Greenger wrote. "According to Araz News an independent news source focusing on ethnic Azerbaijanis, in addition to drug trafficking, the IRGC are also in charge of sending supplies, i.e. fuel, food, construction materials, etc., to the Armenia-occupied Karabakh. Most of the trucks sent to Armenia and the occupied Karabakh territory belong to the Nasr Novin Mishu Company, located in Sufian and Tabriz, Irans northwestern cities. The Nasr Novin Mishu Company is one of the subsidiaries of Nasr Company, a company operating under the auspices of IRGC in the northwestern part of Iran, the article reads. Greenger noted that Iranian trucks, coming from the north-western part of Iran, enter the Karabakh region using at least two different routes and satellite images show the two crossing points. One widely held route is from Tabriz to Meghri, a southern Armenian border town with Iran-to Nagorno-Karabakhs capital, Stepanakert (Khankendi), via the Goris-Lachin highway. "The second route is from Khomarlys north-east, in the Irans Ardabil province, leading to the Jabrayil district of Azerbaijan, which is crossing a portion of the Iran-Azerbaijan border that has been controlled by Armenia since the early 1990s," she added. The author notes that sadly, Tehran conducts a two-faced policy towards Baku. For one, it claims to support the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, yet it allows Iranian trucks and cars to enter the region, tacitly supporting the UN-condemned Armenian occupation of Azerbaijans lands. According to Greenger, in its relations with Azerbaijan and Armenia, Tehrans geopolitics is twofold: the official policy, and the pragmatic one, based on its national interests. The author believes that Armenian control over Azerbaijani lands, bordering Irans north-western region, appears to be beneficial for Tehran. It creates a buffer zone between Azerbaijan and Irans north-western Azerbaijani populated regions. Any Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict resolution, in favour of Azerbaijan, may not be in the interest of Iran either. The present status-quo in the Armenian-occupied Azerbaijan regions bordering Iran solves a national security problem for Tehran. Since its 2nd declaration of independence, in the early 1990s, Azerbaijan has chosen to be strategically aligned with the West, including the US and Israel, which Iran considers to be its archenemies. The fear of Azerbaijani irredentism inside Iran, the secular nature of the government in Baku and its close partnership with the West have facilitated the emergence of a strong alliance between Iran and Armenia. The adage the enemy of my enemy is my friend well characterizes the Iran-Armenia nexus. Iran has even gone as far as supporting radical Shia and separatist groups in Azerbaijan, she wrote. The author went on to add that so far Azerbaijan has been somewhat balancing its open strategic partnership with the US and Israel while having normal neighborly relations with Iran to the extent, to date, even not opening a diplomatic envoy in Israel, despite being Israels closest majority-Muslim ally. --- Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz With COVID-19 cases multiplying at an alarming rate, Griffyn Robotech, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) innovations company headquartered in Pune, has announced manufacturing and mass supply of ventilators to support the Government of India in the fight against COVID-19 virus. The lethal Coronavirus is known to affect the respiratory system of the patient who is required to be put on a ventilator, a machine that adds pressure to pump oxygen into the bloodstream and take out carbon dioxide from the lungs of the patient. According to estimates by the Government of India, the country needs 50,000 ventilators over the next two months. While the government has fast-tracked imports, the bulk of this shortfall has to be met by domestic manufacturers to fulfil the supply and demand gap. In this hour of crisis, Griffyn Robotech, with its other partners, scheduled for a Webex meeting to discuss the impact of the pandemic and initiatives that can be implemented to help the nation. The company was inspired by MIT ventilator design and created its own design using 3D printing technology to bring to the market 'Shwaas' an Ambu-bag based ventilator in the fight against COVID-19. Speaking about the AI-enabled ventilator, Amit Mahajan, Founder & CEO of Griffyn Robotech Pvt Ltd, said, "Ventilators and other respiratory aids are critical devices in the fight against COVID-19, and to this end, we are working together with our partners to ensure manufacturing and a steady supply of ventilators in India. As a socially responsible and caring brand, we are committed to serving society in every way possible." "Further to this effect, we will be creating an open API and extensible platform that can be leveraged for extended features to be rapidly introduced in the next few weeks. We are also planning to collaborate with other start-ups for creating add-ons to the platform. We are all proud 'Desh Bhakts' and are glad to contribute with our skills so that we all win together with the fight against the pandemic." He further adds, "We will be applying to be one of the many suppliers to the government to manufacture ventilators on a large scale that can save millions of lives across India and globally to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. This will ensure we have enough ventilators and are prepared to tackle the coronavirus outbreak." Due to a shortage of ventilators, caretakers and medical staff use bag valve mask devices to manually ventilate patients for prolonged periods of time leading to mortality and morbidity. To address this, Griffyn Robotech has developed affordable AI specialised ventilation devices to treat patients with respiratory illnesses during emergencies and mass casualties, as an alternative for prolonged manual ventilation. As per recent reports, India which only spends about 1 per cent of its gross domestic product on healthcare, has allocated fewer than 20,000 ventilators for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. The public health research organisation, based in Washington and New Delhi, estimates India will need as many as 1m ventilators to address the peak of coronavirus cases. Griffyn Robotech is an AI innovations company headquartered in Pune with sales offices in USA and UK. There are nearly 40 high-skilled engineers at present and is expected to grow in the coming years. It was started with the vision of building AI-based robotics products to assist in improving the day to day life of its end users. Ukraine's National Bank discloses banking secrecy to law enforcers in 36 cases in Q1 12:46, 22.04.20 2617 The access to banking privacy information was provided to the National Police, the State Fiscal Service, the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine, the SBU Security Service, the Prosecutor General's Office, and the State Bureau of Investigation. A man enters the emergency room at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center last month. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) California's hospital emergency departments are strangely quiet places these days. Before the coronavirus hit, tens of thousands of people across the state sought emergency help each day. But in the weeks since the virus began its spread throughout the U.S., those numbers have plummeted by a third to a half, according to physicians overseeing emergency departments in hospitals across Los Angeles County and elsewhere in California. The steep decline comes amid drastic measures hospitals have put in place to prepare for what health officials fear could be a wave of patients infected by the coronavirus like the ones that have overwhelmed hospitals in New York City and elsewhere. So far, the numbers of people sickened by the virus in California have been manageable. But now doctors and health officials are increasingly worried that steps taken to keep hospitals at the ready, along with a widespread public fear the virus is rife in emergency rooms, have left people who are in immediate need of lifesaving help unwilling to seek treatment. "Where are the strokes and the heart attacks? Where are the diabetics having complications?" said Dr. Larry Stock, an emergency physician at Antelope Valley Hospital. "These cases didn't just vaporize with the virus. I worry people are suffering at home because they're afraid our emergency rooms are radioactive." Physicians and health officials are amending their urgent warnings about the virus to stress that emergency departments are not overrun and can treat people safely. The full effect of what Stock dubbed "corona collateral damage syndrome," and another emergency physician called "a virus of fear," has not yet been tallied as hospitals and state agencies begin to gather comprehensive figures. But from interviews with more than a dozen physicians working in rural and urban hospitals around the state, a portrait emerges of how emergency care in California has been upended by the virus. They worry people are dying at home from conditions that could have been treated and others who survive will now suffer from serious, chronic conditions resulting from their failure to seek help. Story continues Before the coronavirus made inroads in the state, the emergency department at Hoag Hospital in Orange County typically treated about 90 stroke victims each month, said Dr. David Brown, a neurologist who directs the hospital's stroke program. Since state and county officials issued orders last month largely instructing residents to remain at home, the number of stroke cases coming to the hospital has dropped by half, Brown said. Overall, the number of patients coming to Hoag's emergency department has fallen by half as well, hospital figures show. Similarly, Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood, which used to have about 180 stroke patients in its emergency department each month, has seen those cases fall by 50%, the hospital's emergency department director said. And at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, stroke cases also have dropped by half, while people being treated for heart attacks are down 30%, said Dr. Greg Hendey, chair of the emergency department. Stroke patients at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles have declined by 15%, according to the head of the emergency department. The physicians interviewed, who work in Southern California as well as in Visalia, Sacramento and Fresno, said emergency cases at their hospitals were down 30% to 50%. At Kaiser Permanente, which operates a large network of hospitals around the state, emergency department patients have fallen off by more than half, a Kaiser representative said. The number of people being transported by ambulance to hospitals in Los Angeles County is down between 20% and 30%, a county official said. Seeing the brutal toll the coronavirus has taken in New York City and other hot spots, where infected people swamped hospital emergency rooms, California officials have implored the public to take its deadly potential seriously. And they have hammered on the importance of not seeking help at hospitals unless absolutely necessary in order to leave them able to handle a possible surge in cases here. The public push has been effective. And with people staying home, the number of car accidents, shootings and other trauma cases coming into emergency rooms is down, while people with non-urgent ailments have stayed away as well. But lost in that messaging, physicians and health officials now worry, was an important caveat: If you're having a medical emergency, you should still go to the hospital. "It's fear," said Dr. Carrieann Drenten, an emergency physician in Sacramento. "People are afraid to come in because the emergency department is seen as this haven of infection and sickness." Patients who resisted seeking help and then came to the hospital days late underscore the problem, physicians said. Brown, the neurologist at Hoag Hospital, recounted an elderly woman who arrived at the hospital last week. She had remained at home for four days despite having weakness on one side of her body and difficulty speaking both telltale signs of a stroke. Asked why she had waited, the woman told doctors she had been afraid she'd be exposed to the coronavirus at the hospital, Brown said. Had the woman come in right away, Brown said doctors likely would have been able to give her medications that can prevent lasting damage if they are administered soon after a stroke or perform a procedure to remove the blood clot causing the stroke. As it was, there was little to be done for the woman, who suffered permanent brain damage and paralysis, he said. And a 43-year-old man who suffered a heart attack was lucky to be alive, said Dr. Dipti Itchhaporia, a cardiologist and director of disease management at Hoag. Despite several days of chest pain, the man told his wife he would not go to the emergency room because of the virus. As the pain worsened, he dug in his heels, but agreed to see Itchhaporia at her office. Seeing he had a blocked artery doctors commonly refer to as "a widowmaker," Itchhaporia took him to the hospital, where she cleared the artery. The apparent problem is nationwide, according a study of nine major cardiac centers around the country. In March, as the coronavirus spread, the number of patients who underwent critical artery-clearing procedures such as the one Itchhaporia performed dropped 38% compared with an earlier period, the study found. Doctors and health experts also worry about people with injuries or illnesses that would not be critical in the moment but can become major problems if allowed to fester. Physicians interviewed offered gruesome accounts of patients arriving days after suffering lacerations, skin infections and ruptured appendixes. The fear of contracting COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, is largely misplaced, doctors said. If a hospital has implemented widely used safety measures such as screening patients for symptoms of the illness before they enter the emergency department, cleaning thoroughly and isolating anyone who shows signs of the virus, the risk is low, they said. Health officials are now trying to spread that message. Dr. Christina Ghaly, director for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, last week urged people to get help if they are having an emergency, saying they "do not need to be worried" about getting infected. Hospitals and medical associations have put out similar messages. The effect of people forgoing treatment could be deep and long-lasting. Physicians said they believe people are dying in their homes and expect to see a rise in cases of congestive heart failure, major strokes and other chronic problems that are the result of people failing to be treated during the current crisis. "Down the road, we don't want to look back and see high mortality rates in cases we could have helped if people had come in," said Dr. Sam Torbati, co-director of the emergency department at Cedars-Sinai. "We need to bring the pendulum back to a reasonable spot." A day after West Bengal government decided to extend full cooperation to two central teams for on-spot assessment of Covid-19 preparedness, the team leader of one of the Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) Apurva Chandra wrote to the chief secretary of the state seeking a detailed presentation on testing facilities, protocols adopted by the state, arrangements for quarantining people, supply of essential commodities, enforcement of lockdown and condition of relief camps for migrant labourers. The IMCT has also asked the state government to arrange for site visits to some of the hospitals, quarantine facilities, hotspots and market places during opening hours. Chandra has asked that the health department of West Bengal, in its detailed presentation to IMCT, should give emphasis on whether the level of testing in state is adequate, whether available testing facilities are being used in full, protocol adopted for testing, availability of safety equipment to health professionals, availability of oxygen beds, ICU beds, oxygen supplies and ventilators, number of surveillance teams and the number of persons surveyed per day at the hotspots and containment zones, system of Covid care centres, safety measures taken for medical fraternity and system of approval of cause of declaration of death of Covid patients by a committee of doctors at state level. Bengal was one of the first states to have complained of receiving faulty rapid testing kits from ICMR, which led to government announcing a two day suspension of its usage by the state. The state claims to have conducted over 7000 tests so far. For Coronavirus Live Updates The IMCT headed by Chandra is in West Bengal currently to assess situation in Kolkata, Howrah, North 24 Paragnas and Midnapore districts. After a standoff with centre over not informing the state before sending two IMCTs there, Mamata Banrejee had on Tuesday agreed to extend them full cooperation. Chandra has said that IMCT would also like to know from state government difficulties faced by it in implementation of lockdown orders, availability of testing kits and support required from central government. The HT Guide to Coronavirus COVID-19 The state reported 32 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, taking the total number of active cases to 300. An Australian regional council has overturned an 'embarrassing' decision to sever ties with its Chinese sister city amid the coronavirus pandemic. At a council meeting on April 14, Wagga Wagga council resolved to repeal and sever any sister city agreements, friendship arrangements, and memorandums of understanding associated with the People's Republic of China. The council's Chinese sister city is Kunming, the capital of China's Yunnan province, and it has friendly relationships with the city of Tieling and the province of Jiangsu. Wagga Wagga (pictured) has overturned an 'embarrassing' decision to sever ties with its Chinese sister city amid the coronavirus pandemic The motion, moved by councillor Paul Funnell, passed in the absence of three of Wagga's Wagga's nine councillors, including mayor Greg Conkey, who was unable to attend the meeting due to illness, SBS reported at the time. In a report tabled to council, Cr Funnell said the arrangements are with the governing authorities 'we are therefore in relations with the totalitarian communist regime of the People's Republic of China'. 'This is the same Chinese Communist government that delights in lies, subterfuge and cover-ups, for example, by now trying to claim that the US military is responsible for the spread of COVID-19. 'As a result of this regime's actions, and in point, inaction post virus outbreak, this very regime has brought death and destruction across the world with COVID-19, and Wagga Wagga LGA has not been spared.' The original motion was overturned at an extraordinary council meeting on Wednesday night. The council's Chinese sister city is Kunming (pictured in February), the capital of China's Yunnan province, and it has friendly relationships with the city of Tieling and the province of Jiangsu The rescission motion passed almost unanimously, with Cr Funnell the only councillor opposed. Council will also vote on whether to write a letter of apology and recommitment to Kunming. Cr Conkey told the meeting he had been 'shocked and distraught and felt physically ill' when the resolution passed last week. In a report tabled to the meeting, Cr Conkey said he has 'no doubt a large number of our community have grieved with the appreciation of the harm caused' by the original motion. 'I formally acknowledge the overwhelming regret expressed by an outstanding majority of our community at the resolution,' Cr Conkey says in the report. Council will also vote on whether to write a letter of apology and recommitment to Kunming 'It is appropriate that we extend our hand to our friends in China and assure them that it is a hand which will always be extended to them with sincerity, humility and trust.' The original decision was 'embarrassing', Cr Conkey said. The Kunming Municipal Government Information Office released a statement on Tuesday, expressing hope that with the joint efforts of Cr Conkey and Wagga Wagga's citizens, 'the two sides will be able to push the friendly and co-operative relations between the two sides back on the right track at an early date'. Following the original motion's passing, Kunming 'expressed its firm opposition and strong condemnation to a few city councillors of Wagga Wagga who wantonly discredited and slandered the Chinese political system, as well as the epidemic prevention and control work', a statement said. Congratulations, hatekhori.com got a very good Social Media Impact Score! Show it by adding this HTML code on your site: Hatekhori.com scored 70 Social Media Impact. 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The description of the Facebook page describes website and its services to the social media users. Twitter account link TWITTER PAGE LINK NOT FOUND Doctors and nurses in public hospitals, concerned over the rising numbers of health professionals infected with the new coronavirus, continued to protest on Tuesday, demanding protective supplies. Protesters blocked the entrance of the Institute for Social Security and Services for State Workers in Mexico City, holding banners. They chanted "not one more, give us the materials," as some held signs with pictures of doctors who lost their lives after becoming infected. Mexico's undersecretary of health Hugo Lopez-Gatell meanwhile announced the beginning of the third phase of containment of the epidemic clarifying that there will be no additional measures restricting citizens' mobility. Since the start of the pandemic in Mexico, health officials have said the third phase would begin when contagion was counted in the thousands. As of Monday night, there were 8,772 infected and at least 712 dead. For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death. These are extraordinary times and we all are in uncharted territory. There is a lot of fear and negativity in all spheres due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. While the Corona Warriors are doing a tremendous job fighting from the frontlines, we at Adgully are embarking on an endeavour to highlight the positive developments during these challenging times. Adgully is featuring a series of brief interactions with industry leaders in India and find out how they are keeping their spirits up as well as keeping their employees motivated, also how they are joining in the fight against the adverse impact of the global pandemic. Akshay Munjal, President, BML Munjal University, talks about how the educational institute has been fighting the war against COVID-19 by reaching out to the lesser privileged in these times of crisis. What steps are you and your organisation taking to help out the society at large or those engaged in the war against COVID-19? BMU has offered the utilisation of its hostels to the Government to be used as an isolation facility. The faculty and staff of the university have contributed to distribute food to the needy around the university, directly as well as through the district administration. Till date, 4,500+ meals have been distributed. The students and alumni of BMU, in association with Raman Kant Munjal Foundation, have pledged their support to the local/ district authorities of Gurugram to fight against COVID-19, through Careti.org. Careti.org helps in managing the process of food distribution online to ensure mobilisation of food on a large scale to those in need during the time of lockdown. The online initiative was launched on March 27, 2020, and till date, the platform has helped more than 125,000 people in Gurugram and aims to reach out to 1,000,000 people by the end of April 2020. How are you keeping your employees motivated and are encouraging them to give their best, even as they are working from home? We organise regular sessions for the team with the senior management and the faculty on a wide array of topics. We ensure that an all-faculty meeting is organised weekly to keep everyone informed and motivated, while staff meetings are happening every other day. We have ensured that learning is not completely disrupted and have migrated all teaching online. What is most needed in challenging times such as these: (a) From the general public: Given the extension of the lockdown, it is advisable for all citizens to practice social distancing and remain inside their homes to help flatten the curve and assist the Government in getting out of this situation timely. In the end, these steps are for everyones own safety. (b) From the authorities: The authorities have done a brilliant job in managing the spread of the virus till now. However, the battle is not over yet. It is important for the authorities to administer more and more tests, ensure that hotspots remain completely sealed, and that there is a constant supply of food and water for all. (c) From business leaders: Business leaders have historically been at the forefront of crisis, helping curb the general publics emotions. At this point also, it is essential for business leaders to do that, especially for their own employees. Salaries should be credited timely and donations should be made to PM Cares Fund in order to fulfill CSR. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Mardika Parama (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, April 22, 2020 11:13 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd37a5a3 1 Business industry-ministry,agus-gumiwang-kartasasmita,Idul-Fitri-bonuses,THR,ramadan,COVID-19,OJK,Financial-Services-Authority,soft-loans Free The Industry Ministry is discussing the possibility of providing businesses with soft loans to enable them to pay Idul Fitri holiday bonuses (THR) as the economic downturn is forcing companies to withhold or cut the bonus payment. The ministry is in discussion with the central bank and the Financial Services Authority (OJK) over the matter, Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita told journalists during an online press briefing on Tuesday. We are preparing a soft loan scheme for hard-hit industries so they can pay THR to their employees in full, Agus said. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted business activity as consumers stay at home to curb the virus spread, resulting in weakening demand. Companies across the country, mainly those operating in the hospitality sector, have furloughed or laid-off employees. Read also: COVID-19: Govt reminds businesses that Idul Fitri bonuses are mandatory Indonesia usually sees household spending, which accounts for more than half of economic activity, peak during Ramadan and Idul Fitri, as companies and the government pay bonuses to employees and civil servants, respectively. While some companies have struck a deal with their workers or unions to pay their THR in installments, Agus said companies that could not come to an agreement with their workers could apply for the loans. During a dialogue with industrial company associations, the companies said they were willing to pay their workers THR even though they had to take loans out from banks, he said. Previously, Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto reminded businesses that they were obligated pay THR, despite the economic pressures brought about by the pandemic. Read also: Not all companies unable to pay Idul Fitri bonuses, labor union says as businesses ask for leeway President Joko Jokowi Widodo has discussed the business sectors readiness to pay THR and [we remind] the private sector that paying THR is mandatory, Airlangga said during a virtual press briefing on April 2. Meanwhile, the Indonesian Employers Association submitted on April 6 a proposal to the Office of Coordinating Economic Minister and the Workers Social Security Agency, asking to postpone the payment of THR for a year due to the COVID-19 crisis. With the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) suspending rapid tests for two days, a debate has begun over the efficacy of Chinese and South Korean kits. Some states such as Rajasthan and West Bengal got the Chinese rapid testing kits imported by ICMR, while other states such as Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh on their own imported the kits from South Korea. Rajasthan and West Bengal governments have complained about the efficacy of thousands of Chinese rapid testing kits saying they were giving faulty results after which the ICMR suspended the rapid tests across the country. On the other hand, the Andhra Pradesh government, which has placed an order for two lakh kits from the South Korean company but received only one lakh kits in the first consignment, has not had complaints so far. Andhra Pradesh Commissioner of medical and health, Katamneni Bhaskar, said as many as 10,000 samples were tested using the South Korean rapid testing kits on Tuesday and there were no complaints from experts. After testing 10,000 samples on the first day, the state government stopped the tests following ICMRs orders. The tests have been stopped following instructions from the Indian Council of Medical Research. We will resume testing after getting the nod from the ICMR, he said. Bhaskar, however, refused to divulge the details of how many of the 10,000 samples tested on Tuesday were positive and negative. We cannot reveal the details without approval from the ICMR, he said. Another government official, however, said that most of the test results were negative. The health commissioner said the rapid antibody tests cannot be entirely relied upon to test whether the person is positive or negative for Covid-19. It is only a screening test and not the final test to prove whether a person is Covid-19 positive or negative. You cannot take the result of these rapid antibody tests on its face value, he said. Bhaskar said the rapid tests have to be done only on the people who have been suffering from Covid-19 related symptoms for at least 10 days. If we do rapid antibody tests before this 10-day period, there is a possibility that it may give a false negative result. The person might test positive in the RT-PCR (Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) test, which is the authentic test, he said. However, the Rajasthan government, which was the first to say no to rapid tests using Chinese kits, said the Chinese kits procured by ICMR gave just 5.4% correct results as against expected efficiency of 90%. The co- relation between the PCR test and the rapid test should have been 90% but it was only 5.4%, said Rajasthan health minister Raghu Sharma. Dr S Banerjee, head of the medicine department at Jaipurs SMS hospital, and member of the panel to check efficacy of the rapid testing kits, said if the anti-body test is positive then two bands appear on the test card after a drop of blood is put in the well of the test card. If a single line appears on the card, the test is negative. In the tests they conducted, the kit did not show two bands even for (Covid-19) positive patients, he said. On Wednesday, West Bengal chief secretary Rajiv Sinha called it wastage of time in conducting rapid tests with the kits alleging that the ICMR did not check the veracity of the kits before sending them to the state. West Bengal had got 10,000 rapid testing kits of which 220 were used to conduct tests. Bhaskar refused to comment on whether Korean kits were superior to Chinese kits. We have imported Korean kits and not Chinese kits. So, it is not proper to talk about Chinese kits without using them, he said. However, special chief secretary (medical and health) K S Jawahar Reddy said recently that the state had preferred importing rapid antibody testing kits from a South Korean company, as there were doubts over Chinese-made kits. Considering the increase in demand from Indian states, the South Korean company SD Biosensor Healthcare Pvt Limited has set up a kit manufacturing unit in Manesar, Gurugram, having the capacity to churn out five lakh kits, a statement from the Embassy of India in South Koreas capital Seoul said on Tuesday. India is importing five lakh kits from South Korea, which is expected to reach India by April end. Some other state governments such as Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have also placed orders with South Korean firms for rapid testing kits. Rapid testing kits from China have been put on hold for the time-being, said ICMR officials. There is also a considerable price difference between the kits imported from the two countries. A Rajasthan government official said the cost of a Chinese kit was Rs 600 and a Chhattisgarh government official said they had procured the rapid kit from a South Korean firm for Rs 337 per kit. (Joydeep Gupta in Kolkata and Ritesh Mishra in Raipur also contributed to this story). New White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany claims the media took out of context comments CDC Director Robert Redfield gave in an interview to The Washington Post about a second wave of the coronavirus that could be even worse. She said he was advising people to get a flu shot. 'I was on the phone with him just before I walked out here. The main stream media has been taking him out of context as they so often do with Trump administration officials. What he was trying to say was this: Everyone get your flu shot,' she told Fox News Wednesday in an interview conducted from the White House. 'That's what he was saying but leave it to CNN and some of the other networks to really take those comments out of context,' she added. New White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany claims the media took out of context comments CDC Director Robert Redfield about a second coronavirus wave Robert Redfield, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the Washington Post that a second wave of coronavirus - combined with flu season - could overwhelm hospitals Redfield retweeted the Washington Post's tweet about his interview with the paper Redfield told The Washington Post in an interview on Tuesday that a second wave of the coronavirus, combined with the regular flu season, could be devastating for the country. CNN and other news outlets - including DailyMail.com - wrote up his comments given their high news value. The White House, however, has pushed back at what he said. President Donald Trump also claimed Redfield's quote was taken out of context. 'CDC Director was totally misquoted by Fake News @CNN on Covid 19. He will be putting out a statement,' the president tweeted. As of 3 p.m. ET, Redfield had not put out a statement. His warning in the interview with the Post was clear. 'There's a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through,' he said. 'And when I've said this to others, they kind of put their head back, they don't understand what I mean.' 'We're going to have the flu epidemic and the coronavirus epidemic at the same time,' he said. Redfield also retweeted the Washington Post's tweet on his interview, which contained the headline: 'CDC director warns second wave of coronavirus this winter will be worse.' In the interview, he warned the dual trenches of illness could overwhelm the healthcare system. The United States has more than 822,000 cases of the coronavirus and more than 45,000 deaths. And Redfield reiterated 'the enormous impact' social distancing has 'had on this outbreak in our nation'. He said guidance for reopening states 'will be in the public domain shortly.' The CDC is looking to hire more staff, Redfield said, as 'contact tracers'. President Trump also claimed the CDC director's comments were taken out of context and said he would put out a statement They alert people who may have come in contact with someone who tested positive for the virus so they can self-quarantine or be tested themselves. But Redfield also urged Americans to get the flu vaccination which 'may allow there to be a hospital bed available for your mother or grandmother that may get coronavirus.' He said that if flu and corona had peaked at same time 'it could have been really, really, really, really difficult in terms of health capacity.' US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday accused Iran of violating a UN Security Council resolution through a satellite launch and vowed repercussions. "I think Iran needs to be held accountable for what they've done," Pompeo told reporters. Iran announced Wednesday that it had put its first military satellite in orbit after repeated tries and despite intense economic and military pressure from President Donald Trump's administration. The Trump administration has long argued that Iran's satellite activities were a cover for ballistic missile work. "The Iranians have consistently said that these missile programs were disconnected from the military, that these were purely commercial enterprises," Pompeo said. "I think today's launch proves what we've been saying all along here in the United States," he said. "I think every nation has an obligation to go to the United Nations and evaluate whether this missile launch was consistent with that Security Council resolution. I don't think it remotely was." He was referring to Security Council resolution 2231 of 2015 which called on Iran not to pursue any activities to develop ballistic missiles that could carry nuclear warheads. The resolution's primary purpose was to give the international community's blessing to an agreement negotiated by then US president Barack Obama's administration under which Iran drastically scaled back nuclear work. Trump pulled out of the accord and instead imposed sweeping sanctions. In January, Trump ordered a drone strike that killed a top Iranian general and he threatened Thursday to destroy Iranian gunboats if they harass US ships in the Gulf. A new father proudly announced the birth and name of his baby boy through a hospital window while his family cheered outside. Drew Wolfe, 31, and his wife Brittany, 33, from Chicago, Illinois, welcomed their son Asher Wyatt Wolfe at Northwestern Medicine's Prentice Women's Hospital on Friday nearly six weeks early amid the coronavirus pandemic. The first-time dad told NBC 5 that he had always imagined their families sitting in the hospital's waiting room when he announced the birth of their child, 'but coronavirus changed everything.' Surprise! Drew Wolfe, 31, from Chicago, Illinois, announced the birth of his son Asher Wyatt Wolfe to his family through a window at Northwestern Medicine's Prentice Women's Hospital Together apart: Drew called both his and his wife Brittany's family and asked them to drive in from the suburbs, so he could reveal their baby's gender and name With Illinois under a stay-at-home order, he found a creative way to share the joyous news with their loved ones while still practicing social distancing. Drew said that when Brittany went into labor, he asked both of their families to drive in from the suburbs after the delivery. A nurse filmed the heartwarming moment the masked father walked through the waiting room with a notebook and held it up to the window for his family to read as he flipped the pages. 'Coming in at 4 lbs, 13 oz... in honor of.. Grammy and Poppy (Arleen and William)... Please Welcome... BOY... Asher Wyatt Wolfe,' read the signs. Heartwarming: A nurse filmed the moment the masked father held up a notebook to the hospital window so his loved ones could read his signs announcing Asher's birth Added surprise: The couple didn't know the baby's gender until the birth and didn't share their chosen names with their loved ones during Brittany's pregnancy 'So happy!' someone said, blowing a kiss to new dad, who gave them a thumbs up. Drew told NBC 5 that the moment was particularly special because the baby is the first grandchild on either side of their family. There was also an added element of surprise. 'We did not know the gender before birth, and chose not to even share our boy name and girl name with anyone else,' he explained. Asher was named in honor of Drew's late grandmother Arlene and Brittany's late grandfather William. The 'A' in Asher comes from Arlene and the 'W' in Wyatt is from William. All smiles: Brittany also announced their son's birth on Instagram sharing photos of herself posing with Drew and baby Asher Special: Baby Asher is the first grandchild on either side of their family. The baby boy, who was born nearly six weeks early, is doing well and remained in the hospital's ICU in Tuesday After announcing the news, the new dad returned to his wife and baby boy upstairs and FaceTimed their families to continue the celebration. He is hoping to find the nurse who filmed the moment to thank her. The couple told NBC 5 that baby Asher remained in the hospital's intensive care unit on Tuesday but 'is doing great and has passed every test so far.' Brittany also announced their son's birth on Instagram, sharing photos of herself posing with Drew and baby Asher. 'On April 17 at 8:00pm we received the best surprise, our baby BOY couldnt wait any longer to meet us. We love you so much, our little fighter,' she wrote. 'Welcome to the world Asher Wyatt Wolfe!' Experts say preemptive steps and drastic containment measures appear to be paying off in the fight against coronavirus. Jordan has eased tight lockdown restrictions in several southern provinces where no coronavirus cases have been recorded, as the number of new infections across the country appears to ebb. The relaxation of the measures on Wednesday in the provinces of Karak, Maan and Tafilah came three days after the ending of the lockdown in Aqaba, a port city some 340km (211 miles) south of the capital, Amman. While life within the provinces has slowly begun returning to normal, a ban on travel outside their borders has remained in place in order to keep them virus-free. On Wednesday, Jordan said it had registered seven new coronavirus cases, bringing its total to 435. The number of recoveries stood at 315 while the death toll remained at seven. According to the health ministry, Jordan has done some 30,000 tests to date. For many experts, the kingdoms low figures are due to the early adoption of strict measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus steps that were taken much quicker than they were in other countries in the region and elsewhere in the world. Timing was key for us, said Bassam Hijjawi, an epidemiologist and a member of the Epidemics Committee, the body spearheading Jordans fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Dr Bassam Hijjawi, an epidemiologist and member of Jordans Epidemics Committee [Courtesy of Dr Bassam Hijjawi ] Indeed, the government had already mobilised the committee by late January, just as COVID-19, the highly infectious respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus, was taking hold in China. Comprised of healthcare professionals and government officials, the committee on January 26 established several protocols to deal with the arrival of coronavirus, some five weeks before Jordan recorded its first case on March 2. The Ministry of Health body also developed plans to prepare for a possible high rate of infections, established treatment protocols and designated certain hospitals to treat infected people. The king also directed the government to enact the National Defense Law that placed the country under emergency military laws, with the armed forces deployed to enforce a nationwide curfew that also closed shops. By mid-March, the government began rolling out a series of drastic measures, including shuttering schools, universities and government offices, as well as closing its borders and imposing a tight lockdown Meanwhile, thousands of repatriated Jordanians were quarantined for a period of 14 days at hotels near the Dead Sea area and in Amman. While the governments efforts to keep Jordan coronavirus safe appear to be paying off, Hijjawi warned against the blanket relaxation of the preventive measures in order to avoid a resurgence of the disease at a time when much of the region and the world are still in the throes on the pandemic. Hailing the countrys response so far, he noted: As long as Jordan still below an average of 20 cases, it can still manage the situation and move forward. Stringent measures Mutaz Debei is a senior data scientist working to develop different mathematical models to predict the behaviour of the pandemic for the Jordanian government. He said the stringency index a score that measures the severity of a governments response to the crisis reached 80 percent in mid-March before hitting 100 percent a week later. Data scientist Mutaz Debei [Courtesy of Mutaz Debei] Debei noted that the more stringent measures taken by a government, the fewer the infections. The correlations between how high or low the stringency index appears to be working in Jordan, he told Al Jazeera. Also cautioning that Jordan is not out of the woods yet because of the unpredictable nature of the pandemic, Debei said the government is moving ahead with a plan to develop a mobile application that would track individuals who are placed under quarantine and also make them wear an electronic bracelet to follow their movements. With only 113 active coronavirus cases, Jordan so far seems to be successful in its attempt to flatten the curve slowing the spread of the contagion in a bid to prevent the healthcare system from being overrun. With certain industries now gradually reopening, after the strict lockdown measures brought Jordans aid-dependent economy to a standstill, Debei said the government is also significantly expanding its coronavirus testing programme described by the World Health Organization as the best way to slow the advance of the pandemic. Follow Ali Younes on Twitter @ali_reports By mid-May the state will be able to significantly ramp up testing beyond the current 18,000 a week, medical officials and Gov. Ned Lamont announced on Tuesday. We could increase our testing capacity by maybe 10 times over the next month or so, Lamont said. That would dramatically improve and accelerate our ability to get back to work. More testing will give the state a much better idea of who can return to work and help Connecticut recover some of its lost economic activity in the coronavirus shutdown, the governor said during his daily briefing in the State Capitol, where he was joined in a teleconference by officials from Hartford Health Care and Quest diagnostics. But officials are still unsure whether those who recover from bouts with COVID-19 develop the kind of immunity that helps people battle reinfections of other viruses. The state Department of Public Health announced that 92 more people died from COVID-19-related causes between Monday and Tuesday, bringing the statewide total to 1,423. But continuing decrease in hospitalization indicate that the peak is over in Fairfield County and starting to decrease in New Haven County as the pandemic moves more into the Hartford region. Lamont said Quest Diagnostics has agreed to ramp up testing and is fully supplied to increase testing drastically by mid-May, meaning essential workplaces will get a better idea of the health of their work forces, while those whose businesses have been closed in the shutdown will get closer to planning reopening dates. Health officials are concerned about the percentages of state residents who might be infected with COVID-19, but have not shown symptoms, so they can be spreading infections without knowing it. About 40 percent of the people who are infected dont even show symptoms yet, and right now we only are able to test people who are showing symptoms, so were missing a lot of the folks out there, Lamont said. Its important that were able to capture that if were even able to get back to work safely. Mobile testing facilities will journey throughout the state and samples will get analyzed within 24 hours. Jeffrey Flaks, president and CEO of Hartford Health Care, whose facilities include Hartford Hospital and St. Vincents Medical Center in Bridgeport, said the expanded ability of Quest, whose CEO Steve Rusckowski is a Torrington native, will help all its outpatient locations go up drastically from the current 500 tests a day to 2,600 for that system. So far in the state health crisis, 64,192 people have been tested and 20,360 have been found to have COVID-19, according to state health officials. We need that test information, said Rusckowski, who said that about half the tests in the state are currently performed by his company, which employs 850 people statewide. The first information is whether you are infected or not. What we believe will be helpful as we bring Connecticut back to work and bring life back to Connecticut is to be able to test for individuals to see for the broad population if they are expressing some of these anti-bodies. Once someone is infected, anti-bodies start to become measurable after a couple weeks, Rusckowski said. We believe there will be studies that will be done, and theyre highly likely to show that those anti-bodies will provide some immunity for a period of time. Weve seen it in other viruses and were hopeful thatll be the case with coronavirus as well. He said that two tests will be needed, with the second, an eventual blood test, to determine whether someone has developed anti-bodies that can possibly create an immunity. Rusckowski said that in Connecticut, Quest has about 120 patient service centers, with technicians drawing blood all over the state. He stressed that capacity is becoming easier for the company over the last four weeks, including the acquisition of chemical reagents to complete tests. I can tell you we have a number of our hospitals around the state that are already doing anti-body testing right now, maybe focused on first responders, see those folks, see whos been infected, see whos built up the anti-bodies, Lamont said. He hopes for a broader base of people to test. I think well focus a little bit on those critical industries where I said weve got to keep them going in many cases by law, like defense industries, he said. Earlier in the day, private nonprofit social service providers warned that the coronavirus is devastating their budgets and threatening their employees and residents, including halfway houses and other residential facilities. These folks are health care providers on the front lines and they should be treated as such, said Gian-Carl Casa, president and CEO of The Alliance: Voice of CT Nonprofits, during a conference call with reporters on Tuesday. Paul Mounds, Lamonts chief of staff, said that non-profits were given fourth-quarter funding earlier than usual to non-profit providers. The fiscal year ends June 30. We will always continue to have conversations and discussions with them as it deals with the services they provide on behalf of the people of Connecticut through our budgetary structure, Mounds said during the news conference. kdixon@ctpost.com @KenDixonCT The state Medical Examining Board disciplined two physicians with $5,000 fines for failing to adequately inform and monitor patients while prescribing opioids or anti-anxiety medications on Tuesday. Dr. Michael Kelly, of Salisbury, was issued a $5,000 fine and a year of probation Tuesday for failing to consistently adhere to a safe opioid prescribing system that included checking the medical history of patients and documenting justification for chronic opioid treatment, according to a consent order. A state Department of Public Health consultant looking into a referral made by the state Department of Consumer Protection, Drug Control Division, found that Kelly also failed to monitor chronic opioid patients and didnt check the states Prescription Monitoring Program every 90 days for some patients. As a result of the investigation, Kelley, a primary care physician with a private practice in Salisbury, agreed to pay the fine and have 20 percent of his patients records reviewed during a one-year period of probation. Kelly voluntarily surrendered his registration to prescribe controlled substances and would need to be monitored for a year if he sought the registration back, DPH documents said. The board also agreed to issue a $5,000 fine and one-year probation Tuesday to a Hamden psychiatrist who failed to withdraw a patient from the use of Xanax on a safe schedule, according to documents. Dr. Enrique Tello-Silva, of Hamden, discontinued the patients use of Xanax in October 2018, after the patient had been on the drug for about 15 months, an investigation revealed. Tello-Silva failed to provide adequate information to the patient on the use of the drug and failed to check the patients prescription profile in the states prescription monitoring program, documents said. Tello-Silva will also be required to hire another physician to review 20 percent of his patient files and monitoring his practice throughout the one-year probationary period. The psychiatrist will be required to take course work in documentation standards and the proper prescription and discontinuation of benzodiazepines such as Xanax, a consent order said. In March, the board also disciplined three physicians. Dr. Stephen Zebrowski of Plainville was issued a reprimand and an additional four-month probationary period for failing to report to DPH new duties or jobs taken after previously being disciplined by the board for prescribing controlled substances without adequately monitoring a patients history of abuse. Under the terms of his previous discipline, Zebrowski was required to get pre-approval for any new employment or change in employment during a one-year probationary period or if he had obtained a new job or duties after the probation was complete, documents said. Zebrowski failed to report to DPH that he had expanded his duties to include reading bone density scans and acting as an on-call physician for ProHealth physicians until March 2019, according to a consent decree approved by the board in March. In addition to the reprimand, Zebrowski must complete a course in ethics during the four-month probation period. Dr. William Biles, of New Fairfield, was placed on probation for two years and will have to receive permission from DPH if he wants to return to practice, under the terms of a disciplinary consent agreement. His license was also reprimanded by the board. Biles came under investigation in 2018 after Danbury Hospital and the Western Connecticut Health Network sent to DPH a mandatory report concerning his care for several patients, documents said. Biles resigned from his privileges to practice at both entities during the investigation into whether he prescribed excessive amounts of controlled substances and provided inadequate diagnosis and medical care to patients with common conditions, the state said. A Granby dermatologist was issued a $1,000 fine after an investigation revealed that she allowed a staff member to perform laser treatments and injections without checking if the person had a valid license, the DPH said. DPH began investigating Dr. Meagen McCusker in August after receiving an anonymous complaint, documents said. The complainant alerted the state that McCusker was allowing an unlicensed staff member to perform nursing duties. An investigation revealed that McCusker failed to check the licensure status of the person who was performing laser treatments and injections from September 2018 to July 2019. This story was reported under a partnership with the Connecticut Health I-Team ( c-hit.org ), a nonprofit news organization dedicated to health reporting. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, thousands of schools around the world were forced to close down for the sake of the health of the students and the staff. However, such a decision could affect the overall school year and anytime soon, schools will need to resume its operations especially once the curve flattens. There are concerns about the virus as studies show that it lingers in the air for hours, and that could be dangerous especially in hospitals and schools. This is why a scientist at Columbia University in New York suggested that a certain kind of light may be able to kill off the coronavirus. Ultraviolet light to kill off the virus The director of Columbia University's Center of Radiological Research, Dr. David Brenner, has been studying how to use ultraviolet light, also known as the UV light, which helps prevent the spread of diseases for years. Germicidal UV light is used in medical centers and hospitals to clean rooms and equipment, but it is also a health hazard to humans and it can cause skin cancer and eye diseases. However, there is a special type of UV light called far-UVC light that kills microbe but it is not dangerous. Conventional germicidal UV light kills microbes but also penetrates the skin, raising the risk of various forms of skin cancer and cataracts. But far-UVC light is powerful enough to be used as a cleanser but it does not damage the skin cells, so it is perfect for hospitals and schools. Also read: Skin of Two Chinese Doctors Turned Dark After Being Critically Ill With COVID-19 Before the coronavirus pandemic, Brenner was studying whether far-UVC light could kill airborne viruses, as he was preparing for the flu season. A study in 2018 that was published in Scientific Reports, which Brenner co-authored, shows that the light can kill more than 95% of viruses like the coronavirus. According to the study, the virus is covered with a thin membrane and it is easily broken apart by UV rays. Brenner's team has since tested the light against two seasonal coronaviruses, and is now testing the strain responsible for the pandemic, SARS-CoV-2. Brenner told ABC News that they saw they can kill 99% of the virus with a very low dose of far-UVC light. There is no reason to believe that it is going to be different from killing the coronavirus with far-UVC light. Far-UVC dilemma There is one issue with Brenner's suggestion, the far-UVC lamps have not yet been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration or FDA. Brenner stated that if the far-UVC lamps are approved, they could be used in any public places like train stations, bus stations, airports, malls, and other establishments in addition to hospitals and schools. Brenner added that there is no real approach to trying to reduce the number of viruses in a room where people are and somebody sneezes and coughs. If the air can be decontaminated fast, that would be very helpful in stopping the virus from spreading. Once states begin to re-open their economies, disinfection of mass transit systems and surfaces such as door handles and elevators will be a top priority in order to prevent a second wave. In South Korea and China, either installed UV light or attached to robots is being used to clean trains, buses, and more in just five minutes. A lot of health experts say that this method is faster, safer, and cheaper than other disinfecting measures and it could accelerate the reopening of the economy. Related article: Coronavirus Mutation: Studies Show COVID-19 May Be 30 Times More Deadly @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Ebiquity Hires Dentsu Aegis' Nick Waters as Group CEO UK-based media and marketing analytics firm Ebiquity has appointed Nick Waters as Group Chief Executive Officer, following the resignation of Michael Karg last year. Founded in 1997 as Thomson Intermedia, Ebiquity comprises an Analytics division, offering media buying measurement and benchmarking, and performance measurement; and a 'Platform' division which provides media monitoring products. Waters (pictured) joins with more than twenty years' experience in senior roles at media, digital and advertising businesses. For the past decade, he has worked at Dentsu Aegis Network (previously Aegis Group), where he latterly served as Executive Chairman, UK & Ireland, having previously been CEO of Asia Pacific. Earlier he worked for global media agency Mindshare, most recently as CEO EMEA, having begun his career as a Media Planner at Ogilvy. In his new role, Waters replaces Karg, who stepped down at the end of last year - the role has been filled on an interim basis by former YouGov CFO Alan Newman. Rob Woodward, Group Chairman, thanked Newman for his contribution and said of the appointment: 'Nick has an outstanding track record of leading global media and marketing businesses, which will greatly benefit Ebiquity. He is an excellent addition to our executive team and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in the media sector'. During the pandemic, Ebiquity has implemented a remote working policy for all locations globally, although staff in China have now returned to their offices. The senior management team and Board have taken a 20% salary reduction in salary, and there has been a deferral of the annual pay review and temporary freeze on recruitment, while Ebiquity has furloughed staff in the UK and France, and received funds from the US Payroll Protection Program. Web site www.ebiquity.com . A Tesla rival valued at $3billion received a multi-million dollar loan through the Paycheck Protection Program, a fund established by the White House and members of Congress as a lifeline to small businesses struggling through the coronavirus pandemic. Nikola Motor Company, which was founded by billionaire Trevor Milton, received $4.1million through the PPP, despite owner Milton having set a Utah real estate record in 2019 for the purchase of a $32.5million ranch. The federal loans were established for small businesses to pay employees and bills, but it has been revealed that huge multi-million dollar companies were among those that lined up for funds, leaving those it was intended for in the cold. Nikola has argued that there is a 'difference between high valuation and having cash' and that it needed the loan to continue paying its 300 employees. The company makes electric hydrogen-fuel cell vehicles and trucks and acts as a rival to Tesla from its base in Phoenix, Arizona. Scroll down for video Nikola Motor Company was founded by billionaire Trevor Milton, 38, who purchased a $32.5million ranch in Utah last year which broke the state's real estate record Milton having set a Utah real estate record for the purchase of a $32.5million ranch pictured Nikola Motor company makes electric hydrogen-fuel cell vehicles and trucks and acts as a rival to Tesla from its base in Phoenix, Arizona. It was recently valued at $3billion in a merger deal Milton, the company's 38-year-old owner, was established as a billionaire recently as the business he set up in 2014 announced a deal to go public by merging with VectoIQ, a publicly traded shell company. The merger valued Nikola at more than $3billion and placed Milton as a billionaire because of his stake in the company. The deal has not yet closed but the Nikola was set to receive more than $500million in capital infusion from investors such as Fidelity and ValueAct Captial. Milton also released in Match that Nikola had received a $800million truck order from Anheuser-Busch and 'is about to announce orders many times that'. Yet according to CNBC, SEC filings show that the company received $4.1 million in PPP funds from JP Morgan Chase to keep paying its employees. 'There's a difference between a high valuation and having cash,' the company said in a statement. 'Nikola is a pre-revenue company with a lot of expenses and burn rate is high,' the company added. 'Since PPP funds will be used to retain staff, the lifeline follows the spirit of the Act in that we're preserving high paying jobs.' The loan comes despite its owner's new billionaire status and just months after he paid out a massive $32.5million for a 2,600-acre luxury ranch in his native Utah. The sale broke a record in the state as Milton revealed plans to buy even more property. 'I plan on picking up multiple other properties like this one in order to preserve Utah and offer a sanctuary for my family, friends and others to enjoy,' he told the Wall Street Journal. Known as the Riverbed Ranch, Milton's 2,670-acre property includes a 16,800-square-foot mansion along the Weber River. Located about a 25-minute drive from Park City, the Utah has eight bedrooms and 8.5 bathrooms with floor-to-ceiling walnut bookcases. The house even has its own helicopter pad. Milton purchased this sprawling estate in 2019 and said he wished to buy more property Known as the Riverbed Ranch, Milton's 2,670-acre property includes a 16,800-square-foot eight-bed mansion that is built into the contours of the Weber River in Utah The house has eight bedrooms and 8.5 bathrooms, as well as its own helicopter pad The PPP was created by Congress and designed to loan money to small businesses with 500 employees or less to help them survive the economic downturn during the coronavirus crisis, ensuring they can still pay their employees and bills, and avoid mass layoffs. Companies that use the money to avoid layoffs will not have to pay the money back. However, multi-million dollar public companies in the U.S. have been lining up for the federal loans. Research from Morgan Stanley shows that of the fund's $349 billion, $243.4 million of the loans was allocated to at least 90 publicly traded companies, which could have gone to help around 1,100 smaller businesses, causing public outrage. Due to loopholes in the conditions of the program, some large public companies with thousands of employees and easy access to credit were able to claim relief dollars through the scheme, depriving smaller businesses of tax-backed funds that could save them from going under. Many of the public companies claiming loans thought the scheme have a market value of over $100 million, and some have claimed the maximum $10 million allowed through the scheme. Public companies that have received funding from the PPP include metal working giant DMC Global, which has a $405 million market value, biotech company Wave Life Sciences ($286 million), biopharmaceutical company Mannkind ($273 million) and prefab home builder Legacy Housing ($229 million). Table: Some of the public companies, listed in order of their market value, who have recieved loans from the Paycheck Protection Program set up to help small businesses Large restaurant chains were also able to claim benefits as they were exempt from the 500-employee cap if they have less than 500 workers per location. Fiesta Restaurant Group, the parent company of the Pollo Tropical and Taco Cabana brands which employs more than 10,000 workers, claimed the maximum $10 million in loans. Other large restaurants chains like Potbelly and Ruth's Chris Steak House also secured the maximum $10 million. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, 4,400 of the approved loans exceeded $5 million when nationally the typical amount requested from the program was $206,000. What is the small-business relief program? The Paycheck Protection Program exhausted its $350 billion in funding last week and many small businesses were unable to obtain loans they desperately need to stay afloat. Congress and the White House say they're close to an agreement on that would give the program about $300 billion in fresh funds. The government program, which is overseen by the Treasury and administered by the Small Business Administration, limits loan recipients to businesses with fewer than 500 employees and revenue of less than $2.5 billion. But it makes an exception for restaurants and other food service businesses that employ fewer than 500 people per location, meaning that restaurant chains are as eligible for the loans as a neighborhood restaurant or bar. The small business lending program is part of the $2.2 trillion rescue package approved by Congress last month. Advertisement If the $243.4 million claimed by the corporate giants had been split fairly between typical businesses requesting money through the program, over 1,100 more businesses could have received funds. 'The intent of this money was not for big public companies that had access to capital,' Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said when addressing the issue during Tuesday's White House press briefing. The department also highlighted that 74 percent of the loans were for less than $150,000, saying this demonstrated that the loan is accessible 'to even the smallest of small businesses.' Lenders have approved 1.6 million loans from the PPP which depleted last week. One Democratic Senator, Gary Peters of Michigan, has called for an investigation into how funds from the Paycheck Protection Program were distributed. Peters sent a letter on Tuesday to Gene Dodaro, the comptroller general for the Government Accountability Office (GAO), asking for the investigation. In his letter, we wrote that 'a substantial amount of PPP loans have gone to large hotel and restaurant chains, rather than the struggling small and minority-owned businesses who may be forced to permanently close their doors without urgent assistance. 'I am concerned that PPP loans may not have gone to those who need them most,' he added. With the PPP funding now depleted, lawmakers are scrambling to pass new legislation that would see a further $331 billion available to small businesses as part of a wider $483 billion coronavirus relief package. President Donald Trump is urging swift passage this week. The Senate approved the bill on Tuesday and the House planned a vote on Thursday. Mitch McConnell said Tuesday, however, he won't consider another coronavirus stimulus package until the Senate reconvenes May 4, even though Donald Trump is pushing for another major relief bill and urging his party to support it. The bipartisan bill, Washington's fourth in response to the crisis, is not expected to be the last as lawmakers take unprecedented steps to confront the virus and prop up communities nationwide amid the health crisis. Most of the funding, $331 billion, would go to boost the small-business payroll loan program. There would be $100 billion for health care, with $75 billion to hospitals and $25 billion to boost testing for the virus, a key step in building the confidence required to reopen state economies. There is $60 billion for a small-business loans and grants. As part of the new agreement, around $60 billion has been set aside for - and divided equally among - smaller banks and community lenders, a nod to neighborhoods and rural areas under-served by banks. Mahipal Ladher, a pilot working at Pakistan International Airlines, has been flying people stranded due to the lockdown, desperate to head home. Mahipal is the first pilot from Tharparkar, a poverty stricken district of Sindh province with a population of 1.6 millon people. The Tharparkar desert lies along the Pakistan-India border. When Mahipal was a little boy, his town didnt have a single paved road connecting it to any other town. It would take almost 12 hours to reach the nearest town, barely 70 km away. While growing up, Mahipal grazed cattle and at times, walked for a few kilometers to fetch water for his home, like other children of his town. But every time little Mahipal saw an aircraft show up in the sky, his heart would skip a beat. The boy would run after the plane, chasing the contrails, dreaming he would be flying one such aircraft someday. Tharparkar has always been an example of Hindu-Muslims unity where the two communities draw strength from a shared heritage and history, and perhaps thats the reason why Mahipal holds the values of co-existence so dear to his heart. All I truly want and hope is that this sense of belonging stays even when this pandemic is over, says Mahipal Studying initially in a government school and later an army-run school, Mahipal came to Karachi for higher education and training. I have been living in Karachi for the past 17 years and thanks to its diversified culture, the two things I have learned here are invigoration and charity. People here just dont stop living and giving!, he says. With COVID19 pandemic being so dangerously contagious, his country is also locked down like other parts of the world. Like many others, I played my role by raising money for the needy from home. I also had to do my duty. There were people who were stranded and needed to reach home, specifically in the Northern areas of Pakistan where one relies upon the air mode of transport as the roads are covered with snow most of the time. PIA never stopped flying to such areas. I take pride to be a part of the crew that takes such people home and brings a smile on the faces of their loved ones, he says. Talking of family, he says the COVID-19 pandemic has made us realise that the whole world is connected, like a family. Sadly, the only time we start acting like one is when we face such a crisis. Having said that, it is still a positive sign that we are all in this together. We have become the best version of ourselves, trying to help each other in every way possible. All I truly want and hope is that this sense of belonging stays even when this pandemic is over, he says. While there is gloom everywhere and we have lost so many lives to the virus, its certainly not the end of the world, unless we bring it upon ourselves deliberately, says Mahipal. In 1918, when the world wasnt this advanced, people fought the Spanish Flu pandemic simply by following the rules spelt out by experts. We need to do the same and we will get out of it for a fact. We have to rise above and we will, its the aftermath we need to look out for. The recession is going to hit the world pretty bad and we will have to change the way we live. The world needs its rich to help the poor, he says. Mahipal urges everyone to hold on to optimism. Mother Nature works in mysterious ways. Were being pulled back so as to bounce back, finding better versions of ourselves. There may be delay but therell definitely be a better future tomorrow. Among the heartwarming videos and posts showing people helping each other, theres one that Mahipal particularly likes. So theres this poor old woman who was being offered a ration bag and she refused to take it saying that she already has few days ration at home and that there might be many more needy people out there. Such a generous, honest and caring gesture! This is all we need in this difficult time, he says. And its not just about just providing for the needy. Not everyone is blessed enough to donate monetarily. The least we can do is to stay home, not endanger our own lives and others. Like the saying goes in Urdu Miley toh phir shayed zindah nahin reh saken.. zindaa rahey to phir zaroor milengey. V Ravichandran's younger son, Vikram is currently busy working on his highly awaited debut film, Trivikrama. For the unversed, the film team was all set to head to Australia on April 14 for their final shoot schedule. However, due to the COVID-19 outbreak and nationwide lockdown, the shooting of the film has come to a halt. Trivikrama director Sahana Murthy added that the recce in Australia was completed several months ago with shoot permits being acquired whilst having made advance payments to the concerned government authorities. As a result, the film will inevitably face a delay in its release. Prior to the pandemic though, the makers had been briskly shooting at various locations in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Rajasthan, and Dandeli respectively. Trivikrama has Akanksha Sharma and Akshara Gowda as the two female leads opposite Vikram. The romance flick is being produced by Sommanna and Suresh under the Gowri Entertainers banner. The music for the film has rendered by Arjun Janya along with lyricist Nagendra Prasad penning the songs. The cinematography for the family entertainer is being rendered by Santhosh Rai Pathaje. ALSO READ: Ramesh Aravind Believes The Film Industry Will Bounce Back Post COVID-19 Lockdown ALSO READ: R Chandru Is Ready With The Teaser And Trailer Of Upendra Starrer Kabza Amid COVID-19 Lockdown TACOMA, Wash. A Renton man charged with killing a young California woman in the Olympic National Forest in February has made his first appearance in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, authorities said. The woman, Dioneth Lopez, traveled to the Seattle area to visit Alejandro J. Aguilera Rojas, The Seattle Times reported. The two were in a relationship that was hidden from Aguilera Rojas' wife and family, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Brian Moran's office. They went to Sequim Feb. 10. Four days later, authorities found Lopezs body off a logging road in the Olympic National Forest. There were signs she had been beaten and stabbed, and a broken tequila bottle and a knife were among items found nearby, the statement said. The King County Medical Examiner's Office identified Lopez and ruled her manner of death a homicide, while the cause of death was blunt and sharp force injuries. Aguilera Rojas told authorities the two went into the forest where she threatened to kill his wife and child and tried to stab him with a knife, according to an FBI complaint. Aguilera Rojas said he grabbed a tequila bottle and hit her on the head and that when he drove away, he thought Lopez was still breathing, the complaint says. Because the killing occurred on federal land in the Olympic National Forest, the case is being prosecuted in federal court, the statement said. He is in federal custody. The Associated Press The National Chief Imam, Sheikh Dr. Osman Nuhu Sharubutu, has commended the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, for lifting the partial lockdown of Accra, Kumasi, Tema and Kasoa. Speaking on behalf of the Chief Imam, Sheikh Aremeyaw Shuaib, his spokesperson, said that we have also observed how you have been reviewing the various measures in order to contain and also curtail the further spread of the disease, up to the very strict restrictions you have taken, including those you have already mentioned like closing of our borders, restricting meetings of religious gatherings. It was so difficult for you to take but you have done it. According to him, We are happy, even including the final lifting of the lock down in order to allow movement of people across. We are grateful to you. The Chief Imam made known on Wednesday, 22nd April, 2020, when President Akufo-Addo held a meeting with leaders of the Muslim community to brief them on the rationale behind the lifting of the partial lockdown of Accra, Tema, Kumasi and Kasoa, and also to explain further the measures being taken by Government to combat the pandemic. Placing on record their commendation for the able leadership that you have exhibited, obvious for everyone to see, since this very disturbing phenomenon raised its head in our country, Sheikh Aremeyaw Shuaib noted that we have had no alternative but to accept and adhere to the directives you gave us, especially those that have to do with the restrictions on meetings. He noted further that, in complying to the Presidents directives, The Chief Imam organized a press conference, with the support of leaders of the Muslim sects, to inform and further direct what Muslims should also do to effect and adhere to the directives given by the President. As you have already observed yourself, we are happy that Muslims all over the country also adhered to the directions that were given. Apart from the initial difficulties we had with a few of the Imams, who probably did not understand the import of the whole directives and encouragements, we can say with all confidence that all the Imams are adhering to the directives, and no Mosque is administering the Jumah prayer, Sheikh Aremeyaw Shuaib added. With Ramadan approaching, to be followed by Eid, the spokesperson to the Chief Imam noted that our religion is a flexible religion, it is moderate and it contextualizes issues. So, whatever the situation is, with the views that will come up from here, if we have to continue, we will follow you. He continued, We have observed the empathy on your face anytime you come up to speak, I could read from your face the difficulty with which you speak to us and I am sure it is the same case for many of us who are here. We will never leave you. You are assured of our support. On behalf of the Chief Imam, and on behalf of the leaders of the Muslim Groups gathered, a request was made to the President for us to have a live broadcast of our call to prayer during the breaking of the fast, so that they can hear the sound of the call to prayer. It will give them some satisfaction. Additionally, with Muslims missing the teachings of the Quran, he also appealed to the President to inquire into possibility of a nationwide telecast of the Chief Imams daily broadcast from 12pm to 1pm each day of the Ramadan. It will be something of joy for many of the Muslims. It will also make them feel like they are getting what they missed in one way or the other. It is also strategic because it gives us the opportunity to continue the education, on continuous washing of hands, avoiding assemblies that will aid the transmission of the disease, issues of sanitation which we will need to continue with or without COVID-19, he added. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The latest novel coronavirus news from Canada and around the world Wednesday (this file has stopped updating. You can read the latest coverage here). Web links to longer stories if available. 7:55 p.m.: Ontario and Quebec are calling in the army to help confront the COVID-19 hot zones. Quebec Premier Francois Legault and Ontario Premier Doug Ford appealed to Ottawa on Wednesday for teams of military personnel to assist with the outbreak of the virus in long-term care homes, which have emerged as especially deadly sites in this pandemic. Every set of boots on the ground will make a difference in this fight, Ford said as he made a formal request to the federal government for help from the Canadian Armed Forces at five nursing homes hit hard by COVID-19. 7:41 p.m.: WestJet says it will lay off 3,000 people and cancel more than 4,000 domestic flights weekly in May as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to hammer the airline industry. The company said it will remove some 600 daily flights from its schedule between May 5 and June 4 about 18,000 trips in total due to significantly reduced guest demand. 7:40 p.m.: The Progressive Conservative government has fixed a legal problem that made it impossible to fight tickets during the pandemic. Under fire for hastily implemented legislation that made it impossible to contest a provincial offence, Attorney General Doug Downey is suspending any limitation periods in statutes and regulations during the state of emergency. The move, which is retroactive to March 16, came as the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) expressed concern about the government rushing to judgement when scofflaws face pandemic-related fines ranging from $750 to $100,000 plus a year in jail. 5:41 p.m.: Ontarios regional health units are reporting another 61 COVID-19 deaths and the provinces largest single-day jump in new cases, according to the Stars count. However, that record jump in new cases a total of 701 more since 5 p.m. Tuesday appears to have been fuelled in part by a change in reporting in Peel Region. On Wednesday, the health unit began including probable COVID-19 cases in its daily total; it was not immediately clear how many of the 211 new cases in the region would not have been counted the previous day. Probable cases are defined as persons who have symptoms with contacts or travel history that indicate they very likely have COVID-19, but have not yet received a positive lab test. The Stars count, which is based on the public tallies and statements of the provinces regional health units, includes probable cases where that information is available. Regardless, the GTAs five regional health units were responsible for the majority of the provincewide jumps in both new cases and deaths. Among 52 new deaths reported in the GTA since Tuesday evening were another 20 in Toronto, 13 more in Peel Region; eight addition fatal cases in Durham Region; five more in York Region; and another two in Halton Region. Overall, a total of 760 people have now died with COVID-19 in the province. In recent weeks, daily counts of new cases have continued to rise slowly in the GTA while falling slightly in the rest of the province. The provinces slowing overall growth rates suggest the epidemic may be nearing its peak in Ontario although its not yet clear if that has already happened. Ontarios 34 regional health units collect and publish this data often before reporting to the province through its central reporting system. As such, the Stars count is more current than the data the province publishes each morning. Earlier Wednesday, the province reported 878 patients are now hospitalized with COVID-19, including 243 in intensive care, of whom 192 are on a ventilator. The province also says 6,221 people have recovered after testing positive for the virus. The province says its data is accurate to 4 p.m. the previous day. The province also cautions its latest count of deaths 659 may be incomplete or out of date due to delays in the reporting system, saying that in the event of a discrepancy, data reported by (the health units) should be considered the most up to date. 5:40 p.m.: The union representing the bulk of TTC workers announced Wednesday that two more employees at the transit agencys Queensway garage had tested positive for COVID-19. The TTC didnt immediately confirm, but the pair of new cases would bring the total number of workers at the facility who have contracted the disease to five. In a statement Carlos Santos, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113, called on the TTC to close the Queensway garage in order to prevent the potential outbreak from becoming a lethal cluster. As of Wednesday, a total of 26 TTC employees had tested positive for COVID-19. 3:50 p.m.: High Park will be closed entirely during the spring cherry tree bloom, a very difficult decision Mayor John Tory says was necessary to prevent crowd scenes and potential spread of COVID-19. Tory said the photo-friendly pink fluffy blooms are expected to be out between four and 10 days starting in late April or early May, and the city will give residents notice of the closure dates closer to then. Instead of big crowds gathering under the cherry tree grove a gift from Japan many years ago Torontonians will be invited to see the blooms from home via multiple live video streams, Tory said Wednesday. 3:20 p.m.: The Manitoba government says it will release a plan next week to gradually loosen some of the restrictions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. Chief public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin says the plan is to let more businesses open, and to raise the 10-person limit on public gatherings. But he says any large crowds will not be permitted for months and physical distancing to contain the spread of the virus will continue for the foreseeable future. 3:15 p.m.: Nursing home deaths from COVID-19 rise by 48 to 447 in Ontario, says associate medical officer Dr. Barbara Yaffe. This is a Ministry of Long-term Care number as of yesterday at 3:30 p.m. 2:40 p.m.: The Canada-U.S. border has opened slightly to asylum seekers under the new framework unveiled this week extending the historic shutdown. Those who have been crossing irregularly into Canada are still being turned back. But the federal order laying out the terms of the new border arrangements says those who arrive at formal land border offices and meet certain criteria will be allowed in. Canada first struck a deal with the U.S. in March to close the border to all non-essential traffic as part of global efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19. It banned nearly everyone entering from the U.S. from filing a refugee claim in Canada. The arrangement had prompted immediate criticism that Canada was abandoning its international obligations to asylum-seekers and the new approach is being seen by some as more in line with those commitments. 2:20 p.m: Manitoba is reporting two new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total up to 257 (246 confirmed, 11 probable). Health officials say 154 people have recovered so the number of active cases has dropped by two from yesterday to 97. The number of deaths in Manitoba remains unchanged at six. 1:45 p.m.: For the fourth day in a row, New Brunswick is reporting no new cases of COVID-19. The provincial total remains at 118 cases. Chief medical officer of health, Dr. Jennifer Russell says 104 cases are considered recovered. 1:45 p.m.: Premier Doug Ford throws cold water on the idea of the economy opening up by the Victoria Day weekend. He cautions against the idea of things reopening so soon. 1:35 p.m.: Ontario is requesting federal help from the Canadian Armed Forces to help in five nursing homes hit hard by COVID-19, Premier Doug Ford says. The move comes a week after Ford declared the new coronavirus was speeding through long-term care like a wildfire and will see troops help with staffing relief, medical care and daily operations. Ford says they will provide operational and logistical assistance so long-term care staff can focus on the care of residents. Long-Term Care Minister Merrillee Fullerton said the spread of the virus is expected to continue in nursing homes. The province has already arranged for SWAT teams from hospitals to go into a number of nursing homes desperately needing help. Ontario is also planning to test every resident in the provinces 626 nursing homes, along with more staff, as COVID-19 takes an increasing toll in long-term care, according to a new directive from top health officials. 1:30 p.m.: Quebec Premier Francois Legault says he will present a plan next week to slowly reopen the provinces schools. Legault says the return to class will be done gradually and will begin in regions where the COVID-19 situation is most stable. He says attendance wont be mandatory, and parents who dont want to send their children before September wont have to. 1:25 p.m.: Legault is asking the federal government for 1,000 Canadian Armed Forces members to help in the provinces struggling long-term care homes. Despite extensive recruitment efforts, Legault says he was only able to fill half the 2,000 positions needed to overcome a staffing shortfall rendered critical by COVID-19. The Canadian Armed Forces have already committed about 130 medically-trained staff and personnel members to help in care homes, but Legault said the additional people hes requesting wont necessarily have medical qualifications but can help with general tasks. The province reported 93 new deaths and 839 new cases today, for a total of 1,134, and 839 more cases, for a total of 20,965. 1 p.m.: Premier Doug Ford is expected to expand upon the details of Ontarios plans to test all nursing-home residents for COVID-19 at his 1:15 p.m. press briefing. A livestream of his news conference will be available at thestar.com. 12:50 p.m.: Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting no new cases of COVID-19. Dr Janice Fitzgerald, the provinces chief medical officer of health, says the total number of confirmed cases declined by one to 256 after one negative test result was incorrectly reported as positive. Six people are in hospital and two are in intensive care, and 199 people have recovered. Fitzgerald says the province will be able to relax some distancing measures in the near future, but warns that the provinces citizens shouldnt expect a full return to normal any time soon. 12:50 p.m.: The countrys medical officers of health are at work setting criteria that from a health perspective could provide guidance on when physical distancing restrictions can ease up. Several provinces are now considering loosening their lockdowns. Chief Public Health Officer Teresa Tam says criteria that might be included are the rate of hospitalizations, new cases being reported daily and how the virus appears to be reproducing. She says the special advisory committee on COVID-19 is actively at work on the details of that guidance now. 12:50 p.m.: Prince Edward Island is reporting no new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, and the provincial total remains at 26. Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Heather Morrison, says 24 people are considered recovered. The province hopes to begin easing some of the public health restrictions next month, but Morrison says the ease-back plan will have to be done carefully. She says people should only be travelling to Prince Edward Island for essential reasons. 12:45 p.m.: The Manitoba government is offering some financial aid to small and medium-sized businesses hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic. Premier Brian Pallister says interest-free loans of $6,000 will be available to businesses that have had to scale back operations. The loans will be forgiven at the end of the year for businesses that have not qualified for federal programs. Pallister says the money is not enough to make up for all the revenue being lost by businesses, but should help employers make it through the coming months. 12:30 p.m.: Premier Doug Ford is not yet ready to cancel the school year. While Ontario schools have been closed since March 23 due to COVID-19, and will be staying shut well into May, Ford hinted at some hopeful news on Wednesday. A livestream of his daily 1 p.m. briefing to reporters will be available at thestar.com 12:20 p.m.: Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam says over 576,000 people have now been tested for COVID-19 in Canada. She says 6.5 per cent of those tests were positive. Tam says as Canada continues to make progress in slowing the spread, there are bumps in the road that mean the country cant let down its guard. She says a focus must be placed on stopping outbreaks in places like seniors homes and other places where vulnerable populations live together in close quarters. 12:10 p.m.: Ontario is expanding COVID-19 testing to every resident and worker in the provinces long-term care homes, as nearly 450 residents have died amid growing outbreaks in the facilities. Provincial health officials have previously resisted calls for such widespread testing of asymptomatic people. But a new memo from the deputy ministers of health and long-term care, as well as Ontarios chief medical officer of health, tells public health units to immediately develop plans for the broad testing. As of today, there have been at least 448 deaths in long-term care in Ontario, amid outbreaks at 127 facilities. 11:50 a.m.: Trudeau says that over the past month about 20,000 Canadians have returned to the country on repatriation flights. He says he knows there are still Canadians all around the world who still want to come back, and the government continues to work with other countries to make that happen. All returning Canadians are required to quarantine for 14 days. 11:30 a.m.: Nova Scotia is reporting two more deaths related to COVID-19, bringing the provinces total to 12. The deaths occurred at the Northwood long-term care home in Halifax. The province is also reporting 35 new cases of the virus bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 772. It says 10 licensed long-term care homes and unlicensed seniors facilities in Nova Scotia are dealing with cases of COVID-19, involving 148 residents and 65 staff. 11:20 a.m. (updated): Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is unveiling a $9 billion emergency program aimed at students. It includes a Canada Emergency Student Benefit worth at least $1250 a month from May to August. The benefit can be accessed by those in post-secondary school now, headed to post secondary school in September or anyone who graduated after December 2019. The government is also creating 76,000 job placements for young people in sectors currently dealing with labour shortages. The Canada Emergency Student Benefit will give students $1,250 a month from May to August, $1,750 if the student is supporting someone or living with a disability. 11:10 a.m. (updated): Trudeau on Wednesday is expected to announce details of an aid package to students that includes targeted payments as well as a volunteer program for students, grants and funding for post-secondary institutions, according to a source familiar with the announcement. A livestream of his 11:15 a.m. news conference will be available at thestar.com 11:05 a.m. (updated): With 461 new COVID-19 cases since Tuesday morning, Ontarios regional health units are reporting another 24 hours of slowed case growth, according to the Stars count. As of 11 a.m. Wednesday, the Star has counted a total of 13,163 confirmed or probable cases of the disease, including 715 deaths, an increase of 39 fatal cases from the same time Tuesday. For the second day in a row, the daily total of new COVID-19 cases in the province just 3.6 per cent since 11 a.m. Tuesday represents among the slowest 24 hours of growth the Star has counted by percentage increase since the beginning of the pandemic. Even as the raw number of new cases reported each day remains high, the fact this percentage increase has become much slower than the rapid, exponential jumps seen in late March is a sign the epidemics curve is somewhere on the path toward flattening. In the second half of March, the province saw an average daily growth of 20 per cent, a rate that doubled Ontarios case count about every four days. In the first half of April, that rate slowed to an average of 9.5 per cent daily growth, or doubling about every eight days. And the days since have averaged increases of about five per cent daily, or a doubling time of around two weeks. Those slowing growth rates suggest the epidemic may be nearing its peak in Ontario although its not yet clear if that has already happened. Meantime, COVID-19 deaths continue to grow day-by-day. The new fatal cases reported since Monday morning include anther seven in Peel Region, up to a total of 58 fatal cases. The Star publishes two counts a day, at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. They are based on the public tallies and statements of the provinces regional health units, the local bodies that collect and publish this data often before reporting to the province through its central reporting system. As such, the Stars count is more current than the data the province publishes each morning. Earlier Wednesday, the province reported 878 patients are now hospitalized with COVID-19, including 243 in intensive care, of whom 192 are on a ventilator. The province also says 6,221 people have recovered after testing positive for the virus. The province says its data is accurate to 4 p.m. the previous day. The province also cautions its latest count of deaths 659 may be incomplete or out of date due to delays in the reporting system, saying that in the event of a discrepancy, data reported by (the health units) should be considered the most up to date. The Stars count, includes some patients reported as probable COVID-19 cases, meaning they have symptoms and contacts or travel history that indicate they very likely have the disease, but have not yet received a positive lab test. 10:45 a.m.: Our resident foodie Karon Liu asked Star readers what their pantries were looking like during the pandemic. As expected, the answers were just as diverse as the city itself. Click here to read his story. 10:15 a.m.: Getting Ontarians back to some semblance of normal life, even an easing of restrictions, depends on the government getting on top of COVID-19 in long-term-care and other group settings. Click here to read the Stars view. 9:40 a.m.: The coronavirus now ranks as one of the most deadly diseases in Canada, according to statistics analyzed by the Star. On average, 40 people a day have succumbed to the virus since the first death was recorded in British Columbia on March 8. That number puts the virus third after cancer and heart disease in terms of daily deaths. Read the story from the Stars Patty Winsa and Andrew Bailey. 9:25 a.m.: Torontos public health unit will expand its data collecting capabilities so that it can better assess the pandemics impact by race and income. Read the story from the Stars Sara Mojtehedzadeh. 9:10 a.m.: The chief of a First Nation in northeastern Alberta says a local curfew has been imposed between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., affecting all members of the Fort Chipewyan, Allison Bay and Doghead reserves. Chief Archie Waquan of the Mikisew Cree First Nation says he remembers his fathers stories about the influenza pandemic of 1918 and he is not going to let COVID-19 devastate his people in the same way. Waquan says he recognizes there may be opposition to the curfew but he doesnt want a repeat of the Spanish flu outbreak when his father told him the First Nation could not bury its dead fast enough. The First Nation has no cases of COVID-19 but proactively declared a state of local emergency last month and took other steps to ensure members have access to food and cleaning supplies. 9:05 a.m.: Lululemon is apologizing after its art director shared a bat fried rice T-shirt design on social media that has been slammed online as racist and anti-Asian amid the coronavirus pandemic. On Sunday, Trevor Fleming, the senior global art director of Lululemon, shared a link on Instagram to the T-shirt design first shared by California artist Jess Sluder. (Flemings Instagram account has since been deleted.) The design featured a Chinese take-out box decorated with bat wings and the words no thank you on the back. The shirt, titled Bat Fried Rice, was listed for purchase at $60 (U.S.) before it was taken down 9 a.m. (updated): There are over 70 million people worldwide who have been driven from their homes by war and unrest, up to 10 million are packed into refugee camps and informal settlements, and almost none have been tested for the coronavirus. While the relative isolation of many camps may have slowed the virus spread, none is hermetically sealed. Without testing, as the world has seen repeatedly, the virus can spread unchecked until people start showing symptoms. That could have catastrophic results among the worlds refugees: There will be few if any intensive care beds or ventilators for them. There might not even be gloves or masks. Refugees have already tested positive in Italy, Germany, Iran, Australia and Greece, where authorities said Tuesday that 150 people living in a quarantined hotel for asylum-seekers had contracted the coronavirus, and none displayed symptoms of COVID-19. In many camps, cramped conditions and poor infrastructure can make it impossible to practice social distancing and frequent hand-washing. On Wednesday, a Palestinian woman from war-ravaged Syria became the first refugee living in a camp in Lebanon to test positive, sparking a round of testing by health officials to see if any other residents have been infected. 8:32 a.m.: Even with many former virus hotspots seeing a reduction in new deaths and hospitalizations, a flurry of cancellations of major events made it clear Wednesday that efforts to return to normal life could still be a long and dispiriting process. In just the past day, the U.S. scrapped the national spelling bee in June, Spain called off the Running of the Bulls in July, and Germany cancelled Oktoberfest five months away. Singapore, once a model of coronavirus tracking and prevention, saw an explosion of new cases and announced it would extend its lockdown into June. Nevertheless there was growing impatience over virus-related shutdowns that have thrown tens of millions out of work, and more countries and U.S. states began taking steps to get back to business. 8:30 a.m.: The Yonkers hospital in New York, which sits near the Bronx border and serves one of the poorest sections of Westchester Countys largest city, has been besieged by the new coronavirus. Half of the approximately 280 staff members who were tested for the disease were positive with another 25 to 30 still awaiting results, according to Dean Civitello, the vice-president for human resources. The Associated Press was granted access to the facilitys emergency room, which at one point earlier in the pandemic had 28 patients waiting to be treated and ambulances lined up outside with more, said Dr. James Neuendorf, Saint Josephs medical director. 8:15 a.m.: As people across the globe stay home to stop the spread of the new coronavirus, the air has cleaned up, albeit temporarily. Smog stopped choking New Delhi, one of the most polluted cities in the world, and Indias getting views of sights not visible in decades. Nitrogen dioxide pollution in the northeastern United States is down 30 per cent. Rome air pollution levels from mid-March to mid-April were down 49 per cent from a year ago. Stars seem more visible at night. People are also noticing animals in places and at times they dont usually. Coyotes have meandered along downtown Chicagos Michigan Avenue and near San Franciscos Golden Gate Bridge. A puma roamed the streets of Santiago, Chile. Goats took over a town in Wales. In India, already daring wildlife has become bolder with hungry monkeys entering homes and opening refrigerators to look for food. 8 a.m.: Reports to authorities about suspected child abuse or neglect are down as much as 40 per cent in some regions but child advocates say its not because fewer kids are at risk. Sara Austin, the founder and CEO of Children First Canada, said they have seen reports of child abuse to authorities across Canada fall between 30 and 40 per cent since the crisis began in mid-March. She said there was a small spike in reports in the first few days but since then, the numbers have gone down everywhere. Its very worrisome, said Austin. We dont have any reason to believe child abuse is going down. Its that those who are trusted adults in the lives of children no longer see them. 7:37 a.m. Metro Inc. reported its second-quarter profit rose from a year ago and sales climbed as shoppers began stocking up due to the pandemic during the last two weeks of the period. The grocery and drug store company says it earned $176.2 million or 69 cents per diluted share for the 12-week period ended March 14 compared with a profit of $121.5 million or 47 cents per diluted share in the same quarter a year earlier. Sales for the quarter totalled $3.99 billion, up from $3.70 billion a year earlier. Food same-store sales were up 9.7 per cent for the quarter, while pharmacy same-store sales were up 7.9 per cent. 7:32 a.m. India said Wednesday that it plans to manufacture thousands of wristbands that will monitor the locations and temperatures of coronavirus patients and help perform contact tracing. The wristband project aims to track quarantined patients, aid health workers and those delivering essential services as India ramps up surveillance as it begins to ease one of the worlds strictest virus lockdowns. India has 19,984 confirmed cases of coronavirus, including 640 deaths, and experts fear the epidemics peak could still be weeks away. Thousands of wristbands are expected to be deployed, but an exact figure has not been released. The wristbands mirror a similar program in Hong Kong, where authorities used bands to monitor overseas travellers ordered to self-isolate. 6:06 a.m.: As people across the globe stay home to stop the spread of the new coronavirus, the air has cleaned up. In India, on the first day of the lockdown, the average PM 2.5 levels decreased by 22 per cent and nitrogen dioxide which comes from burning fossil fuels dropped by 15 per cent, according to air pollution data analyzed by the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air. Nitrogen dioxide pollution in the northeastern United States is down 30 per cent. And in Rome air pollution levels from mid-March to mid-April were down 49 per cent from a year ago. Compared to the previous five years, March air pollution is down 46 per cent in Paris, 35 per cent in Bengaluru, India, 38 per cent in Sydney, 29 per cent in Los Angeles, 26 per cent in Rio de Janeiro and 9 per cent in Durban, South Africa, NASA measurements show. 4 a.m.: The federal government is expected to announce today more significant financial support for students and other young Canadians struggling to stay afloat and find jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The new measures are intended to target support at young people who have fallen through the cracks of other emergency financial assistance. Some students, for instance, have complained that they dont qualify for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit. It provides $500 a week for up to 16 weeks to Canadians who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic and had an income of at least $5,000 in the previous 12 months criteria that doesnt apply to many students. Wednesdays measures are in addition to some steps the federal government has already taken to specifically help young people weather the health crisis. It has put a six-month, interest-free moratorium on student loan repayments. It has also bolstered the Canada Summer Jobs program in a bid to encourage employers to hire young workers for essential jobs. 4 a.m.: The latest numbers of confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases in Canada as of 4 a.m. ET on April 22, 2020: There are 38,422 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada. Quebec: 20,126 confirmed (including 1,041 deaths, 4,048 resolved) Ontario: 11,735 confirmed (including 622 deaths, 5,806 resolved) Alberta: 3,095 confirmed (including 61 deaths, 1,273 resolved) British Columbia: 1,724 confirmed (including 87 deaths, 1,041 resolved) Nova Scotia: 737 confirmed (including 10 deaths, 286 resolved) Saskatchewan: 320 confirmed (including 4 deaths, 252 resolved) Newfoundland and Labrador: 257 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 194 resolved) Manitoba: 246 confirmed (including 6 deaths, 150 resolved), 9 presumptive New Brunswick: 118 confirmed (including 92 resolved) Prince Edward Island: 26 confirmed (including 23 resolved) Repatriated Canadians: 13 confirmed Yukon: 11 confirmed (including 8 resolved) Northwest Territories: 5 confirmed (including 5 resolved) Nunavut: No confirmed cases 12:46 a.m.: There are clusters of COVID-19 cases among crew on two ships in Taiwan and Japan. Japanese officials said Wednesday that 33 crew members on a docked cruise ship tested positive for the coronavirus in one day of testing after the first case from the ship was reported. The Italian-operated Costa Atlantica has been docked in Nagasaki since late January for repairs and maintenance by Mitsubishi Heavy Industry. The ship carries 623 crew members, but it was empty of passengers during the work. The outbreak surfaced Tuesday when the first crew member tested positive for the virus. None of those infected had serious symptoms and all are isolated in single rooms on the ship, officials said. In Taiwan, there is a virus cluster on a navy ship that has infected 27 people. I want to present my apologies for letting Taiwanese people bear the risk of the epidemic, President Tsai Ing-wen said. Tuesday 10:34 p.m.: China on Wednesday again reported no new deaths from the coronavirus, but registered 30 more cases 23 of them brought from abroad. Of the domestic cases, all seven were reported in Heilongjiang province near the Russian border where a field hospital has been set up to deal with a new flare-up related to people coming home from abroad. Just over 1,000 people are hospitalized for treatment, while about the same number are under isolation and monitoring as either suspected cases or after testing positive but showing no symptoms. The capital of Heilongjiang province is tightening rules on coronavirus prevention and control as cases rise. State media reported residential compounds in Harbin and villages on the outskirts were ordered to restrict access and install monitoring equipment on the doors of people forced to self-quarantine. Heilongjiang province has become a hot spot, mainly due to Chinese citizens flying in from Russia. Tuesday 8:15 p.m.: Two meat-packing plants in southern Alberta have been tied to more cases of COVID-19. Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the provinces chief medical officer, says there are 401 cases at the Cargill plant in High River, up from 360. And there are 77 cases at the JSB plant in Brooks, up from 67. Read more of Tuesdays coverage here. Richard Ost has run Philadelphia Pharmacy in the citys Kensington neighborhood since 1983. Its the one you cant miss for the bright blue mural that washes over the building. In response to the coronavirus pandemic, he made some changes: He engaged more drivers to deliver prescriptions, bought masks for his employees, and hired another person to keep watch over the entryway and provide masks to customers without them. People still need their prescriptions, and Ost is delivering them, for free, at a clip of 150 customers a day, up from 20 to 30 deliveries before. But when he looked at the books last month, amid lower drug reimbursements and fees that kicked in before the crisis, Ost and his wife wondered whether it was time to retire. Then Ost resigned himself to the 2020 reality: His business will lose money this year. Im looking at it like the next six months are a charity operation, Ost said. "Lets give back to the community that has provided to us over the years. Pharmacies are high on the list of essential business that have remained open during the pandemic. But independent pharmacists in the Philadelphia area say that, at a time when they are doing more to meet demand, they are struggling with low reimbursements and professional services fees, particularly from Pennsylvanias Medicaid managed-care program. Most of Osts customers are low-income Medicaid beneficiaries. After new contracts took effect at the start of the year, I was, for lack of better words, beside myself," Ost said. Because I really questioned whether we could stay open with the reimbursements. READ MORE: Reopening businesses during coronavirus is complicated: You dont want people to die The bulk of the state Medicaid program is contracted out to health plans, known as managed care organizations, or MCOs. Four such companies serve Medicaid patients in Southeastern Pennsylvania, and they hire pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, to run their pharmacy networks. PBMs say they help keep health-care costs down by negotiating drug prices with pharmaceutical companies and payments to pharmacies. But their closely guarded business agreements have also raised questions about pricing transparency in some states, including Pennsylvania. And independent pharmacies say they often have no choice but to accept a PBMs terms or risk losing a health plans customers. Our stores are offering curbside pickup, or 10 times the normal deliveries, said Mel Brodsky, the head of a trade group that represents about 200 community pharmacies in Philadelphia. As our expenses have increased because of COVID-19, our reimbursements are decreasing. Brodsky knows of at least a half-dozen independent pharmacies that are "in the process of trying to sell or being sold because they cant support their stores anymore, he said. While CVS is perhaps best known to consumers for its pharmacies, the companys PBM division, Caremark, serves two of the regions Medicaid health plans. CVS is also the corporate parent of Aetna Better Health, one of the managed care organizations that contracts with the state. Brodskys group eyes CVS warily. They want to get rid of the competition, he said. CVS Caremark continues to work to provide drug costs savings to our Managed Medicaid clients and the state of Pennsylvania," CVS said in a statement. Ensuring Pennsylvanians can access their medications has remained a top priority for CVS Caremark throughout the COVID outbreak. READ MORE: 9 Philly-area stories of suddenly losing work in the coronavirus crisis: I feel like Ive been benched Greg Lopes, a spokesperson for the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, a trade group for PBMs, said that PBMs are working with the entire prescription-drug supply chain, including pharmacists, to help patients access needed medications during this public health emergency. That should be the focus of all stakeholders putting patients first, not profit margins. The Medicaid program, Lopes said, "services the commonwealths vulnerable population, and should not be, especially during a pandemic, used by independent pharmacies as a place to increase revenue. Coronavirus struck at a sensitive time for discussions about pharmacy reimbursements in Harrisburg. A suite of measures to clamp down on benefit managers passed unanimously out of the state House last November. The legislation has support from Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale who conducted his own examinations of PBM practices and the bills had moved onto the state Senate for consideration. HELP US REPORT: Are you a health care worker, medical provider, government worker, patient, frontline worker or other expert? We want to hear from you. For now, however, activity on the legislation appears to be paused. "Right now were kind of on hold, with a hope that well be able to see some opening up in May or June, said Patricia Epple, CEO of the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association, which represents independent pharmacies. In the meantime, she said, her members are on the front line and being paid less while some are closing their doors for good. Pharmacists are also frustrated that new requirements in the states contract with the managed care organizations have taken months to iron out. The MCOs are supposed to get state approval of their pharmacy payment policies, to make sure that the payments reflect the cost to acquire a drug, and a pharmacists professional services. On Tuesday, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) said it has approved the pharmacy payment policies for three MCOs so far, all of them serving the Philadelphia region: UnitedHealthcare Community Plan, Aetna, and Keystone First. DHS continues to seek clarification from the other health plans. While there is not a hard deadline, the department expects the review process should be completed in the near term, spokesperson Erin James said. Once payment policies are approved, they will be retroactive to Jan. 1. Keystone First said the company does not comment on its payment policies. We continue to work with DHS and our pharmacy network to help our members access the medications they need during the COVID-19 emergency situation, a Keystone First spokesperson said. A UnitedHealthcare spokesperson confirmed that its pricing methodology was approved by the state. A fourth MCO that serves Medicaid patients in Southeastern Pennsylvania Health Partners Plans did not respond to a request for comment. Human Services has received no complaints" from Medicaid patients about being able to access pharmacy services, James said. But if community pharmacies end up closing because they cant cover their costs, Brodsky said, "sooner or later, access will be hurt. Robert Frankil sold his Sellersville pharmacy in 2018 to buyers who wanted to continue to run it as an independent store, not a chain. Frankil still considers himself a strong advocate for the community pharmacy, but says the business model is tough these days. I saw the writing on the wall that this is not going in the right direction very quickly, Frankil said, adding: PBMs have control over everything: Price, what drug is covered, what pharmacies are in the network." Under a smaller component of state Medicaid the fee-for-service program pharmacists are paid a $10 dispensing fee on prescriptions. That program is run directly by the state, not contracted out to health plans, and serves fewer patients. By comparison, Ost says he receives about 30 cents, on average $1 at most, and often just 10 cents or 15 cents as a dispensing fee to fill a prescription. A pill vial alone costs him about 20 cents. A label costs 4 cents. Transmitting a prescription electronically costs 16 cents. Labor costs to fill one prescription run $4.50. And out of the drug reimbursements and dispensing fees, he also must pay his employees. As Ost put it: The math just doesnt work. Birmingham small businesses and nonprofits that were unable to apply for a Paycheck Protection Program loan because they didnt have a previous relationship with a bank can apply through Hope Credit Union. Birmingham Strong will work with the businesses and nonprofits to submit applications. Small businesses and nonprofits in Birmingham could be eligible for PPP loans administered by HOPE. Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses is acting as this initiatives liquidity sponsor, enabling HOPE to make available over $5 million in loans to local businesses. The U.S. Senate approved a $484 billion bill on April 21, $60 billion of which is reserved to expedite lending by small- and medium-sized banks or community development financial institutions. HOPE and Birmingham Strong will help businesses and nonprofit organizations to complete applications and access the loans before federal funding is depleted. For 25 years, HOPE has targeted its financial services to meet the needs of those who lack full access to a banking relationship said Kendra Key, HOPE senior vice president. We are proud to work with the City of Birmingham, BhamStrong and Goldman Sachs to support local employers and service providers during this critical time. The Paycheck Protection Program ran out of money less than two weeks after it started distributing the money. Last week, the Alabama Bankers Association announced that more than 19,000 small businesses in Alabama have received $3.8 billion in PPP loans, which ranks the state 21st in the number of loans provided, and 22nd in the total value of loans issued. Small businesses across Birmingham work tirelessly to serve their neighborhood and care for their employees, said Margaret Anadu, Goldman Sachs managing director and head of the Urban Investment Group. In this critical time, we are doing as much as we can, as fast as we can, to get urgently needed funds to small businesses, especially minority-owned businesses who often face greater challenges accessing capital. Birmingham Strong will support HOPE by enlisting Birmingham Service Corps members to provide administrative support for the program. The organization has worked to help businesses learn about SBA funding opportunities through the Birmingham Service Corps call center. If you own a small business or operate a nonprofit and are interested in applying for a Paycheck Protection Program loan, go to https://bhamstrong.com/ppp-hope to begin the application process with HOPE. At this very moment, there are countless wrongly convicted people serving time in prisons across the United States, awaiting a chance to prove their innocence. Attorneys Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck, founders of the New York-based Innocence Project, have been fighting to exonerate such people since 1992 and are the inspiration for Netflix's latest true-crime documentary, The Innocence Files (streaming now). The pair recently spoke to EW about the subjects featured in the nine-episode series and why the American legal system needs to do a better job investigating and trying cases to ensure justice is always served. ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Many of the cases featured in The Innocence Files are those of black and Latino people. Is this a coincidence, or is it representative of something bigger? PETER NEUFELD: One of the things that's true about our cases is that a disproportionate number of people exonerated, compared to their presence in criminal justice or their population in the U.S., is that they're heavily disproportionately weighted toward people of color, specifically black and Hispanic people. Too many of the people that we've exonerated are, in particular, young black men wrongly convicted of sexually assaulting white women at a much higher rate than white men are. And those numbers are contrary to rates published by the Department of Justice, specifically that most assaults occur within a race black men assaulting black women or white men assaulting white women. Almost 55 percent of our cases involve black men wrongly convicted of assaulting white women, and you can see the injustices in those cases in how they were initially investigated, how they were held without bail, and in the fact that more cases of wrongful convictions were present in their trials. They get longer sentences and are more difficult to get parole. We even see it in how long it takes us to clear them. On average, it takes us four years longer to clear somebody of color who was actually innocent than it does for us to clear somebody who was white. Story continues The Innocence Files features examples of experts and law enforcement officials who were downright deceitful, like Dr. Michael West. What happens to them when someone is exonerated? NEUFELD: You know, they're not just individuals. What we see when we look at all of the cases and we deconstruct them for patterns, what emerges are patterns that indicate somebody like Michael West is not just an outlier. But there are 50 other forensic odontologists who falsely claim they've found matches when there aren't any, which leads to the conviction of innocent people. So it's not just Michael West, it's the whole field. BARRY SCHECK: West is some extraordinary character. The craziest thing about him, which is covered in the doc, is that he was exposed years ago. Even the bite-mark people took him out of the bite-mark association, which is not even a validated science in our view. NEUFELD: Nothing happens to them as individuals, unfortunately. There's very little accountability. But what we do at the Innocence Project is to try to come up with reforms that will reduce the risk of people like West wrongfully convicting other people, [and] prosecutors who believe in winning at any cost from prosecuting in the future. And we try to improve the way eyewitness identifications are conducted to reduce misidentification. We've had more than 220 statutes passed around the country to bring about and implement some of those reforms. We still have a long way to go, but the hope is the more people who watch the show, they'll want to get involved. Some of the exonerated people in the documentary received cash settlements, but the amount varies. Someone like Levon Brooks didn't even live long enough to enjoy his paltry amount. SCHECK: Levon did not live long enough, but the amount wasn't even that much. How much money would you accept to give up years of your life to live in prison? And the prison where Levon was held used to be a plantation before it was a prison. The people who are doing their time there are doing forced labor like picking cotton as if it were still a plantation. Not only did Levon not live long enough to enjoy the amount he got, but Kennedy Brewer gets out and the only job he can get was working midnight to 8 a.m. cleaning fecal matter on a chicken farm, and later doing the same on a catfish farm. His mother, who was in the documentary, died recently. As he was mourning her death, Kenny had a stroke a week ago and now can't even go back to that horrible job. This man was months away from being executed for something he didn't do! If his story touched viewers, we're crowdsourcing to help him get back on his feet. Any chance you'd highlight more of your cases in a second season? SCHECK: I hope the documentary is well received. The consulting fees that Peter and I get for this go right into the network support unit. We really hope that these stories will have a real impact. The filmmakers were great at doing a deep dive into areas where they can tell great stories but at the same time get to the bottom of complex issues that we need to address in order to reform the criminal justice system. We're told Netflix makes decisions on more seasons fairly early, so we need everyone to watch. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Related content: Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 14:59:40|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KABUL, April 22 (Xinhua) -- At least 23 Afghan security forces and 31 militants were killed and 46 people wounded during separate clashes in three Afghan provinces during Tuesday night, authorities said on Wednesday. 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Beirut, Lebanon Lebanese security forces and soldiers have been searching for the perpetrators of a mass shooting that left nine people, including two children, dead in the mountain town of Baakline. Two children, one woman and six men five of whom were Syrian and four Lebanese were killed in the attack on Tuesday, believed to be the worst non-conflict shootings in at least two decades. The state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported late on Tuesday that two brothers, identified as MH and FH, are suspected of being behind the multiple murders. The NNA said the motive was revenge against a Syrian man, though further details were not provided. The NNA said MH first killed his Lebanese wife before going on to kill four Syrians. The wifes brother then went to calm him down, and MH killed him too. The suspect then headed through an agricultural area with his brother where he encountered two Lebanese men ploughing a field. The NNA reported that both were killed. The two brothers then encountered a Syrian man, and MH shot and killed him too. They then drove their car to near Baaklines secondary school, parked it, and escaped to an unknown area, the NNA said, adding that 20 square kilometres (7.7 square miles) had been searched overnight in an area with rugged terrain. No issues between Lebanese and Syrians The crime occurred in a remote part of the town near a wooded area where Syrian labourers have lived for more than 10 years, according to Baakline Mayor Abdullah al-Ghussaini. He told local media at the crime scene there had been no issues between locals and Syrians, and said the municipality would provide land for them to be buried. Hundreds of thousands of Syrian labourers have long come to Lebanon for seasonal work, with many living in the country since the outbreak of the Syrian war nine years ago. About 900,000 Syrian refugees are registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Lebanon, though officials estimate that closer to 1.5 million actually live in the country. Tensions between some host communities and Syrian refugees have increased over the past year as the economic situation in the country deteriorates, with some parties laying part of the blame for the crisis on the large refugee presence. Tuesdays mass shooting was facilitated by widespread weapon ownership in Lebanon, with many guns left over from the countrys 15-year civil war that ended in 1990. However, non-conflict mass shootings are not common. In March 2019, an off-duty soldier shot four migrant workers in the Bekaa Valley town of Zahle, killing one. In 2017, a 14-year-old boy killed four people with a pump-action shotgun during a rampage in the capital, Beirut. In 2002, an employee at Lebanons education ministry opened fire on his colleagues, killing eight people. AUSTIN, Texas, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Home sales and median home prices across Texas experienced a moderate increase in the first quarter of 2020, according to the 2020-Q1 Texas Quarterly Housing Report released today by Texas Realtors. Although this time period includes the beginning stages of the COVID-19 outbreak, the statistical representation of its impact on the Texas housing market will be made more apparent in the second and third quarters of the year. "The housing statistics for the first three months of the year show the continuation of more than a decade of growth in the Texas housing market," said Cindi Bulla, chairman of Texas Realtors. "However, the rapid growth of the global pandemic we are facing is poised to affect this momentum. Before this unprecedented event and the economic downturn and shelter-in-place orders, our biggest market concern was the lack of affordable housing to meet the tremendous demand." During the first quarter of 2020, 75,052 homes were sold in Texas, jumping 7% compared to the first quarter of 2019. Statewide, the median price increased 5.1% to $241,500. Price class distribution showed that the largest percentage of homes sold across the state (33.8%) were in the $200,000-$299,000 price range. Jim Gaines, Ph.D., chief economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, commented, "Sales activity in the first quarter experienced strong momentum. However, as a result of COVID-19, many sellers have begun pulling their listings to wait out the quarantine. This will only add to our housing shortage and strained inventory availability. Sales are anticipated to drastically drop in Q2, as we'll be comparing our market to the previous record-breaking year. In the long-term, there will be continued demand within the Texas housing market as long as the job market is able to rebound quickly." Active listings dropped 8.9% to 91,363 listings in the first quarter of 2020. Texas homes spent an average of 67 days on the market during the same time frame, one day more than the first quarter of 2019. Housing inventory in Texas decreased 0.5 months from 2019-Q1 to 3.0 months of inventory. Chairman Bulla concluded, "While these statistics will serve as an important historical reference and benchmark for future recovery, they don't represent the full market impact of COVID-19. The data for the second and third quarter of 2020 will be the market story, giving us a better look at the post-crisis implications on the Texas housing market. The good news is we went into the disruption with positive velocity and will be ready to come out the other side with a swift recovery. In the meantime, opportunities are everywhere, and we Texans always outperform expectations." About the Texas Quarterly Housing Report Data for the Texas Quarterly Housing Report is provided by the Data Relevance Project, a partnership among local REALTOR associations and their MLSs, and Texas REALTORS, with analysis by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M. The report provides quarterly real estate sales data for Texas and 25 metropolitan statistical areas in Texas. To view the report in its entirety, visit texasrealestate.com About Texas REALTORS With more than 135,000 members, Texas REALTORS is a professional membership organization that represents all aspects of real estate in Texas. In 2020, Texas REALTORS is celebrating a century of shaping Texas by being the advocate for private property rights, maintaining the highest standards of professionalism, and providing its members with the tools to achieve success. Visit texasrealestate.com to learn more. Contact: Morgan Moritz [email protected] SOURCE Texas REALTORS Related Links https://www.texasrealestate.com Bankers believed that some safety net has to be created for both industry and banks for survival first, sources said, adding, revival would follow. New Delhi: Indian Banks' Association (IBA) has submitted a list of recommendations to both the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to ease the financial burden faced by various sectors due to the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic. Some of the key recommendations included blanket credit guarantee for MSME loans, one-time loan restructuring for sectors hit hard by COVID-19 and raising of moratorium and relief for the NBFC sector, sources said. As per the RBI's norms, restructuring of loans is prohibited and resolution of default cases are dealt as per the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). Based on the representation made by various industry associations, a detailed and comprehensive list of suggestions have been submitted to the government and the RBI for addressing problems faced by various sectors including MSME in general and banking sector in particular, sources said. It is for the regulator and the government to take an informed decision on those suggestions depending on their assessment and keeping in mind prudential norms, sources added. However, the IBA in its meeting last week was of the view that this is an extraordinary situation and response to this should be extraordinary. Bankers believed that some safety net has to be created for both industry and banks for survival first, sources said, adding, revival would follow. Various estimates indicate a drastic reduction in GDP growth forecast for the current fiscal due to the impact of COVID-19 and consequent lockdown. As per the World Bank''s latest assessment, India is expected to grow 1.5 percent to 2.8 percent. Similarly, the IMF projected a GDP growth of 1.9 percent for India in 2020, as the global economy hits the worst recession since the Great Depression in the 1930s. Earlier this month, SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar had said that the IBA will request for raising the loan moratorium period from the existing three months to 5-6 months depending on the evolving situation. Kumar, who is also the chairman of the IBA, had said that there was also demand for government guarantees against loans to certain risk-prone sectors to revive credit flow in the economy post lockdown. Reliance Jio and Facebook will look to use WhatsApp for delivering goods from local neighborhood Kirana stores to consumers before expanding collaboration in education and healthcare sector, billionaire Mukesh Ambani said soon after announcing the mega Rs 43,574 -crore deal New Delhi: Reliance Jio and Facebook will look to use WhatsApp for delivering goods from local neighborhood Kirana stores to consumers before expanding collaboration in education and healthcare sector, billionaire Mukesh Ambani said soon after announcing the mega Rs 43,574 -crore deal. "All of us at Reliance and Jio are delighted to welcome Facebook Inc," he said in a short video message posted on the group's social media handles. Earlier in the day, Facebook announced an investment of $5.7 billion (Rs 43,574 crore) to buy a 9.99 percent stake in the firm that houses Ambani's telecom arm Jio as the social media giant looks to expand presence in its largest market in terms of subscriber base. "The combined power of Jio's world-class digital connectivity platform and Facebook's intimate relationship with the Indian people will offer innovative new solutions to each one of you," Ambani said. Click here to follow LIVE news and updates on stock markets "In the very near future, JioMart -- Jio's digital new commerce platform, and WhatsApp will empower nearly 3 crore small Indian Kirana shops to digitally transact with every customer in their neighbourhood. "This means all of you can order and get faster delivery of day-to-day items, from nearby local shops. At the same time, small kiranas can grow their businesses and create new employment opportunities using digital technologies," Ambani said. While the Facebook deal is part of value unlocking by Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) to cut debt, Facebook will get deeper access to India, the second-largest internet market after China. Facebook already has over 400 million WhatsApp users in India and is looking to launch a payment offering. Having a local partner could help it in navigating various regulatory issues, including those related to privacy and local storage. "And in the days to come, this winning recipe to serve other key stakeholders of Indian society. Our kisans (farmers), our small and medium enterprises, our students and teachers, our healthcare providers and above our women and youth who formed the foundation of a new India," Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of RIL said. He said at the core of the Jio-Facebook partnership is the commitment that Mark Zukerberg, founder of Facebook and he share for the all-round digital transformation of India for serving all Indians. "Together, our two companies will accelerate India's digital economy to empower you, to enable you and to enrich you. Our partnership will be a great catalyst to make India the world's leading digital society," he said. Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram have become household names in India over the last few years. "WhatsApp, in particular, has entered our people's daily vocabulary in all the 23 official languages of India. WhatsApp is not just a digital application. It has become aapka aur hum sabka, pyara dost. A friend who brings together families, friends, businesses, information-seekers and providers," he said. (Disclaimer: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd which publishes Firstpost) The head of the UN food agency has warned that even though world is facing coronavirus pandemic, it is also on the brink of hunger pandemic. The situation could lead to multiple famines of biblical proportions within a few months if no action is taken. Agencies World Food Program Executive Director David Beasley told the United Nations Security Council that even before COVID-19 became a global crisis, he was telling world leaders that 2020 would be facing the worst humanitarian crises since World War II. He pointed out to the wars in Syria, Yemen, and elsewhere, locust swarms of Africa, facing frequent natural disasters and economic crises. Beasley said, today 821 million people go to bed hungry every night over the world, a further 135 million people are facing crisis levels of hunger or worse. Reuters The new World Food Program analysis has revealed that as coronavirus effects countries worldwide, it could additionally push another 135 million people to the brink of starvation by the end of 2020. According to WFP, the 10 countries with the worst food crises in 2019 were Yemen, Congo, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Syria, Sudan, Nigeria and Haiti. Agencies Beasley said in many countries the food crisis is the result of conflict. But he said he raised the prospect of "a hunger pandemic" because "there is also a real danger that more people could potentially die from the economic impact of COVID-19 than from the virus itself." CHICAGO, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- To mark Earth Day (April 22, 2020) JLL is pleased to announce the approval of its science-based target by the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi) as aligned to the 1.5C ambition of the Paris Agreement. The target commits JLL to reduce its scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by 68% by 2034 from a 2018 base year. The target covers emissions from the more than 400 offices in over 40 countries occupied by JLL globally and JLL's facilities management and engineering fleet, including company cars. JLL has also committed to reduce scope 3 emissions from the properties that it manages on behalf of clients by 53% per square foot over the same period. "As the world navigates the coronavirus pandemic, responding to immediate needs and mapping a path to recovery, it is vital we also maintain focus on the long-term global risks posed by climate change. Notwithstanding the current temporary falls in emissions, 2020 remains a critical year for climate action," said Christian Ulbrich, JLL CEO. "JLL is determined to play its full part, working with our clients in shaping the future of real estate for a better world. Our ambitious science-based target will cut carbon emissions from our own operations by almost 70%, and we are investing in scaling our specialist tools, skills and knowledge to help our clients drive down their emissions to deliver on their sustainability goals." The science-based target will be delivered by four main actions across Scope 1 and Scope 2: Taking on highly efficient office space and driving energy efficiency across JLL's existing office portfolio Reducing emissions from vehicle fleets by moving to electric, low emissions and alternative fuel vehicles Using renewable energy in JLL's office portfolio Where renewable energy is unavailable, purchasing renewable energy certificates JLL will deliver the Scope 3 SBT by partnering with its top 50 clients, focusing on energy efficiency and emissions reduction programs. Through Building a Better Tomorrow, JLL's global sustainability program, the company has achieved or is on track to meet all existing sustainability targets across the four pillars of the program: Clients, People, Workplaces and Communities. In 2019, our sustainability professionals worked with over 90% of our 50 largest clients to drive sustainability improvements in their portfolios. Last year, JLL achieved the world's first double platinum building standards for its Shanghai office at HKRI Taikoo Hui. This was followed by JLL's Hong Kong office at One Taikoo Place receiving the highest score for the city in energy and environmental design. JLL continues to provide employees with healthy, sustainable workplaces, and is globally recognized as a top employer for diversity, particularly leadership in female representation and advancement. Through Building a Better Tomorrow, JLL encourages employees to support causes that matter most to them, guided by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. In the UK, JLL has supported 1,200 homeless people into housing. In partnership with Feeding America, JLL is on track to provide one million meals for those in need in the United States. In India, JLL employees are providing skills training for 16 to 21-year-old women and enabling adolescents in rural communities to access vocational skills. By the end of 2020, JLL employees are on track to volunteer 15,000 days, a record contribution. "We've already achieved much to be proud of through our Building a Better Tomorrow program. But to tackle the worst impacts of climate change, we need to be increasingly bold and ambitious," said Richard Batten, JLL Global Chief Sustainability Officer. "With the validation of our science-based target by the SBTi, we are committing to far-reaching climate action. The successful delivery of our sustainability strategy will not only positively impact JLL and our clients, but also will bring significant benefits to all our stakeholders." About JLL JLL (NYSE: JLL) is a leading professional services firm that specializes in real estate and investment management. JLL shapes the future of real estate for a better world by using the most advanced technology to create rewarding opportunities, amazing spaces and sustainable real estate solutions for our clients, our people and our communities. JLL is a Fortune 500 company with annual revenue of $18.0 billion, operations in over 80 countries and a global workforce of more than 93,000 as of December 31, 2019. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. For further information, visit jll.com. About SBTi The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is a collaboration between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World-Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Science-based targets are emissions reduction goals in line with what the latest climate science says is needed to prevent the worst impacts of climate change. The SBTi defines and promotes best practice in science-based target setting and independently assesses companies' targets. Click here for more information. Connect with us https://www.linkedin.com/company/jll https://www.facebook.com/jll https://twitter.com/jll Contact: Gayle Kantro Phone: +312 228 2795 Email: [email protected] SOURCE JLL-IR Kiev, April 23 : Police have stopped people going in and out of the Ukrainian town of Pochayiv after an outbreak at one of the largest Orthodox monasteries in Eastern Europe. Dozens of people including priests have contracted coronavirus and some have died in the town where the 500-year-old Pochayiv Lavra is situated, the BBC reported on Tuesday. It is one of the most popular pilgrimage sites for Orthodox Christians from the whole region. Authorities had already sealed off another ancient Orthodox shrine. Some 150 people contracted the virus at the the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, one of the best-known Orthodox shrines in Ukraine and Russia. Police blocked routes in and out of Pochayiv in western Ukraine on Tuesday and the monastery, which is inside the town but surrounded by an ancient wall, was closed to the public. Pochayiv Lavra (monastery) belongs to the Ukrainian branch of the Russian Orthodox Church. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims visit every year from Poland, Moldova, Russia, Belarus and as far away as Bulgaria. Monastery authorities had denied there had been an outbreak but as long ago as late March the president of Moldova, Igor Dodon, said pilgrims who had visited the shrine had contracted COVID-19. The town of Pochayiv has a population of 8,000 people and it is thought that priests will have had contact with many of the residents. Ukraine's government has not had access to the premises to conduct testing. But, over time, rumours emerged that an increasing number of monks had become infected and died. The monastery denied that was the case. But the situation changed last week when four priests who live in the town tested positive for coronavirus. Before the Orthodox Easter weekend, regional authorities urged Pochayiv Lavra to close its doors to public for the holiday, making clear the monastery had infected people living there. However, hundreds of believers visited in defiance of a police ban. On 20 April, it was reported that 13 new coronavirus patients were diagnosed in the town, including priests who had visited the monastery. A 43-year-old woman has died. "Regional authorities have made the decision to completely block the town from 22 April," Volodymyr Stefanskyi, the head of the council, told BBC News Ukrainian. Lavra leaders denied they had an outbreak but on Tuesday the monastery told worshippers: "Take away the children, you should all leave Lavra. Nobody walks through the territory. If we do not, there will be great trouble." The monastery provides work for many residents in Pochayiv so it is thought authorities have been reluctant to put pressure on its leaders. More than 80 per cent of Ukrainians consider themselves Orthodox. The city was the third most polluted among 10 international cities during the first three weeks of the lockdown imposed owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report published on Wednesday. Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, the report released by Swiss-based air quality research group IQAir collated real-time PM2.5 concentrations from monitoring stations over the three-week lockdown period. While the timeframe for seven of 10 cities was March 23-April 13, the period was different for Rome (March 9-30), and Wuhan and Seoul (February 26 to March 18). Even though Mumbai witnessed a 42% reduction in average PM2.5 levels recorded between March 23 and April 13, compared to average PM2.5 levels (during the same period) over the past four years, and a 34% reduction compared to the same period in 2019, the city ranked third most polluted with PM2.5 concentration at 28.8 micrograms per cubic metre (g/m) during the lockdown period. Wuhan, China was the most polluted at 35.1 g/m followed by Delhi, second most polluted at 32.8 g/m. New York had the lowest PM2.5 levels at 4.4 g/m, which had the cleanest air across 10 cities, followed by Los Angeles USA at 5.5 g/m, and Madrid, Spain at 6.4 g/m. Sao Paulo, Brazil recorded 10.1 g/m, London UK 16.2 g/m, Rome, Italy 16.7 g/m, and Seoul, South Korea 24.1 g/m. Nine of 10 key global cities experienced PM2.5 reductions of 25-60% from the same period in 2019, the study said. PM (particulate matter) is a mix of organic and chemical particles suspended in the air and can aggravate respiratory illnesses. PM2.5 is breathable particulate matter (solid and liquid particles) which is 2.5 microns in size or smaller, which can cause health ailments. The annual mean safe limit for PM2.5 is 10 g/m, according to the World Health Organisation. A recent US-based study suggests that even an increase of just 1 g/m of PM2.5 in breathable air is associated with a 15% increase in the Covid-19 death rate. Although Asian cities had higher average PM levels, we observed that cities with historically higher average PM2.5 levels such as Delhi, Mumbai, Seoul, and Wuhan, experienced more drastic reductions in particulate pollution, said Kelsey Duska, air quality outreach specialist at IQAir through an email response to HT. It is likely that cities in India are still observing higher PM2.5, relative to cities in Europe or the US, because people are still using energy. This energy may be sourced from dirtier sources, such as coal-based power plants. Similarly, biomass burning or fossil fuels used for domestic heating or cooking can further contribute to this effect, said Duska. During March, Mumbai experienced average PM2.5 levels of 34.5 g/m making it the cleanest March on record, despite lockdown measures only being implemented in the later part of the month, the study said, adding, There is high possibility that April too would be the cleanest April on record if measures are to continue throughout the month. Significant reductions in particle pollution were primarily the result of restrictions on movement (greatly reducing traffic congestion) and industry, the study said. Duska pointed out that overall air quality improvement for Mumbai was still unprecedented. The study examined the amount of hours spent in different AQI categories (as classified by the US), from March 23 to April 13. AQI levels are categorised as 0-50 as good, 51-100 as moderate, 101-150 as unhealthy for sensitive groups, 151-200 as unhealthy, 201-300 as very unhealthy, and 301-500 as hazardous. It was observed that Mumbais unhealthy and worse rated air quality hours fell from 22.5% in 2019 to 0.4% during this lockdown period. This means that of all the hours between Mar 23 and April 13 (528 hours), only two were classified with unhealthy air quality, said Duska. As compared, Delhis unhealthy and worse rated hours plummeted from 68% in 2019 to 17% during the lockdown period. The study also presented a chart visualising the distribution of air quality hours during the lockdown period, which were classified into AQI categories. For Mumbais lockdown period, the chart showed that 66.2% of hours were classified as moderate, while 33.4% of hours were unhealthy for sensitive groups and only 0.4% were unhealthy. In 2019, the distribution for moderate, unhealthy for sensitive groups, and unhealthy was 51%, 23.3% and 22.5% - showing significantly more hours in the worse rated AQI levels. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Georgian President prolongs state of emergency until May 22, 2020 - GeorgianJournal At least two people who died in early and mid-February had contracted the novel coronavirus, health officials in California said Tuesday, signaling that the virus may have spread - and claimed lives - in the United States weeks earlier than previously thought. Tissue samples taken during autopsies of two individuals who died at their homes in Santa Clara County, California, tested positive for the virus, local health officials said in a statement. The victims died on Feb. 6 and Feb. 17, respectively. Initially, the nation's earliest coronavirus fatality was believed to have occurred on Feb. 29, in Kirkland, Washington, a suburb of Seattle that rapidly became a hotspot. In March, health officials there linked two Feb. 26 deaths to covid-19, the disease caused by the new virus. The Santa Clara County fatalities push the earliest coronavirus-related fatality back by weeks, with the new findings potentially altering the timeline of the U.S. outbreak. "The fact that there were deaths related to covid back in early February is very significant because it means the virus was around for a lot longer than was initially realized," Jeff Smith, a physician and the county executive in Santa Clara, told The Washington Post. "It's been around for a while and it's probably been spreading in the community for quite some time." It is not yet known exactly how the two people became infected, but Sara Cody, the county's public health officer, told The Post that the cases are believed to be community transmissions. "From what I understand, we don't know of any travel history," said Cody, who is also a doctor. "More investigation will be done to try and confirm that that's the case." The connection between the February deaths and coronavirus did not become apparent until now due to strict limitations on testing at the time, Cody said. Both of the Santa Clara County deaths occurred as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had tightly restricted tests to those who displayed respiratory symptoms and recently traveled to China or had close contact with an infected person. Cody said local officials often had to call the CDC and discuss the specifics of individual cases before the agency would grant permission for testing. "We did have a very uncomfortable feeling that we were missing cases because we didn't have the tests to be able to confirm," Cody said. "This tells us that yes, we were definitely missing cases." Eric Topol, a geneticist and researcher who directs the Scripps Research Translational Institute, told The Post that the early deaths could mean that many covid-19 patients may have been misdiagnosed very early this year. "How many of those were presumed to be flu or pneumonia when they were actually covid-19?" he said. Cody said she credits the discovery of the infections to the county's "thoughtful, astute medical examiner," who sent tissue samples from the two people to the CDC. The positive test results were confirmed Tuesday. These two fatalities, along with a third on March 6, also indicate that the coronavirus was likely spreading earlier and further in the San Francisco Bay area than local officials initially believed. So far, Santa Clara County has tallied 88 coronavirus-related deaths, including five new deaths reported Tuesday. The county now has 1,946 confirmed cases. As Cody explained it, each severe covid-19 case or death "represent tips of icebergs of unknown size." "Every time when I see someone in the ICU or someone who dies, what that says to me is that represents many more infections," she said. Santa Clara County's first locally transmitted case of the virus was reported on Feb. 28, in 68-year old Azar Ahrabi, who later became the region's first known death on March 9. But the three new deaths show that the coronavirus had in fact killed others in the county, which includes the city of San Jose as well as Silicon Valley, days if not weeks before Ahrabi died - a sign that the virus may have been introduced to the region as early as late January, said Jay Bhattacharya, a professor of medicine at Stanford University. Modeling for epidemics rely heavily on the start date of an outbreak, Bhattacharya told The Post. If that date gets pushed back, models must be redone and reviewed, increasing the number of people believed to be infected right now, he said. An outbreak in the Bay Area was first detected at the beginning of March, as reported cases reached the double-digits and the virus believed to be mostly concentrated on the West Coast. On March 16, Santa Clara County became one of the first counties in the country to order residents to stay at home, The Post's Scott Wilson reported, a move that was considered among the strictest steps taken nationally to enforce social distancing and reduce people's exposure to the virus. In light of Tuesday's news, Cody said the county's shelter-in-place directive was "definitely the right call." "It's a very blunt tool, but it's an effective way of slowing the spread and if you already have significant levels of circulation of the virus that's really your best and only tool," she said. Smith, the county executive, echoed Cody's sentiments, stressing that the deaths from February and March should be a clear message that such orders must remain in place. Recently, more governors, largely fueled by encouragement from President Trump, have begun working toward reopening their states, with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) announcing Monday a controversial plan to lift restrictions on a large number of businesses there on Friday. "I hope sincerely and deeply that the message gets across very clearly that we cannot relax shelter-in-place at this point because we don't have enough testing to know with any type of certainty which areas of the community and which people have the virus," Smith said. Elsewhere in the U.S., other signs have surfaced in recent months hinting at the possibility that infections may have been occurring earlier than previously believed. In March, a genetic analysis of virus samples found that the virus may have spread undetected for weeks in Washington state, which reported the country's first two deaths, The Post reported. Similarly, research from the Mount Sinai Health System in New York concluded that the virus was also spreading there for many weeks before the state's shutdown order on March 22. Ethan Weiss, a professor at the University of California at San Francisco, said that he expects to see additional deaths like the ones in February, or even earlier. "It would be shocking, given what I know about travel between Wuhan and the Bay Area, if there weren't cases here in mid-January," Weiss told The Post. On Tuesday, officials in Santa Clara County concurred with Weiss, noting that they also anticipate the number of coronavirus-related fatalities in the area to increase as the medical examiner continues to investigate deaths. "In retrospect, even though we were detecting relatively little, we had quite a bit," Cody said. "This confirms that we had a lot more than we recognized." D onald Trump has instructed the US Navy to shoot down and destroy Iranian gunboats "if they harass our ships at sea". A U.S. Navy video last week showed small Iranian fast boats coming close to American warships as they operated in the northern Persian Gulf near Kuwait, with U.S. Army Apache helicopters. On Sunday, Iran's Revolutionary Guard acknowledged it had a tense encounter with U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf, but alleged without offering evidence that American forces sparked the incident. Writing on Twitter on Wednesday, the US president wrote: "I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea." It comes as Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it put the Islamic Republic's first military satellite into orbit, dramatically unveiling what experts described as a secret space program with a surprise launch on Wednesday. Iran appears to have abandoned the limitations of its nuclear deal with world powers that President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from in 2018. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 21:09:23|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WASHINGTON, April 22 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he had instructed the U.S. Navy to destroy any Iranian gunboats if they harass U.S. ships at sea. "I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea," Trump tweeted in the morning, without providing other details. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) on Sunday called for a full withdrawal of all American forces from the Gulf and West Asia. The U.S. Navy said last week that 11 IRGC Navy vessels "repeatedly conducted dangerous & harassing approaches against U.S. naval ships operating in international waters of the North Arabian Gulf." Enditem Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak expects high volatility on the oil market due to the lack of oil storage space globally to persist until the OPEC+ crude production cut deal starts, TASS reports. "We currently see a lot of speculative moments, particularly on futures contracts. As of today, the market exists in uncertainty, which is mainly connected with the fact that crude storage spaces around the globe are projected to be filled," he said during a video conference with the State Dumas deputies on Wednesday. Meanwhile Novak expects the situation on the market to improve thanks to the start of the agreement between global oil producers. The total crude output reduction may stand at around 15-20 barrels per day in May. "Such volatility will persist for some time until the OPEC+ deal comes into force on May 1, and measures on easing of restrictions are introduced," he explained. Dr. Michaels said in an interview that OSHA might understandably focus inspections on certain high-risk industries during a crisis that is straining its resources. But he said this made it even more important for the agency to tell employers how to keep workers safe and clarify their responsibilities for doing so. Instead, theyre doing the opposite, he said. Its really disheartening. A Labor Department spokeswoman said that notwithstanding the new enforcement approach, if OSHA were to find flagrant violations of the law, the agency would use all enforcement tools available. The spokeswoman said that OSHA had received about 2,400 coronavirus-related complaints by Tuesday and that it had resolved about 1,400. She said that the agency had yet to issue a citation to an employer but that it had six months to complete its investigations. Mr. Ryan, the Target employee in Virginia, has not filed a complaint with OSHA about his concerns. Target cited a policy of limiting the number of shoppers when necessary. It said that it invited workers to raise concerns and had a process in place for addressing them, but that workers had not typically complained about the difficulty of social distancing at that location. Some workplace-safety experts expressed concern that OSHA had largely exempted Covid-19 cases from a general requirement that employers determine whether a worker became seriously ill on the job, and that they report such cases to the agency and keep records of them. In guidance issued on April 10, the agency said it would not enforce the record-keeping requirement for Covid cases until further notice, except when the employer could obtain clear evidence that the infection was work related, a substantially higher bar than before. Only employers in health care, emergency response or prisons must apply the standard record-keeping procedure in Covid cases. The government relies on such reporting in several ways, like deciding which industries and workplaces to inspect in the future. Record-keeping also allows employers to figure out where their problems are and how to address them, making it particularly important when the agency is directing most employers to investigate coronavirus outbreaks on their own, experts said. First and foremost, theyre supposed to record so they themselves have the information necessary to determine where there are problems and when to do something about them, said Jordan Barab, a top OSHA appointee during the Obama administration. Vivek Lall, a prominent Indian-American aerospace and defence expert, who played key roles in some of the major defence deals between India and the US, has resigned from Lockheed Martin "to spend more time with family". Lall, 50, is currently posted as vice president of Aeronautics Strategy and Business Development at Lockheed Martin, an American security and aerospace giant. The company on Tuesday confirmed that Lall is leaving the company. "We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to Dr Vivek Lall for representing Lockheed Martin and strengthening our commitment to international partners," a spokesperson of Lockheed Martin told PTI. "We thank Vivek for his thought leadership and the many contributions he made to our team. We wish Vivek and his family all the best," the spokesperson said. Known as the industry architect of US-India defence relationship because of his involvement in major defence deals between the two countries, Lall expressed his "utmost gratitude" to Lockheed Martin for the unique opportunity to lead their aeronautics strategy and business development activities in international markets, including India. "I thank them for understanding my decision to spend more time with my family," Lall told PTI. "Lockheed Martin is truly shaping the future with world-leading advanced technologies and customer solutions. I firmly believe the F-21 is the best solution for India's national security, Make in India industry partnerships advancing indigenous manufacturing, and India's strategic relationship with the US," he said. Lall, who was born in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, for over a decade has been instrumental in major US-India defence deals worth around USD 18 billion. The latest was the procurement of 24 MH-60R multi-role helicopters from Lockheed Martin for the Indian Navy. The USD 2.6 billion agreement was signed during President Donald Trump's visit to India in February. In 2017, Lall was the Chief Executive of Strategic Development at General Atomics during which he played a key role in the path breaking agreement by the White House to release category-1 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to India, a non-NATO country. The UAVs that can carry missiles fall under the category-1 classification. Lall in his capacity as vice-president and India country head for Boeing Defence Space and Security in late 2000 was also instrumental in several multi-billion bilateral defence deals. Prominent among them were 10 C-17 strategic lift military transport aircraft worth USD 4 billion, P-8I anti-submarine warfare aircraft worth USD 3 billion, 28 apache helicopters and 15 chinooks worth USD 5 billion and 22 harpoon missiles worth USD 200 million. Appointed to the US Federal Aviation Advisory Committee two years ago, Lall has overseen multiple campaigns as well as pan-India strategic industrial tie-ups. Lall had also served as the founding co-chair of the USIndia Aviation Cooperation Programme launched in 2005. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 15:33:46|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KABUL, April 22 (Xinhua) -- At least 23 Afghan security forces and 31 militants were killed and 46 people wounded during separate clashes in three Afghan provinces during Tuesday night, authorities said on Wednesday. In northern Sari Pul province, 11 security force members were killed and 19 others wounded after Taliban militants stormed security checkpoints on outskirts of provincial capital Sari Pul city and neighboring Sozma Qala and Sangcharak districts, provincial government Spokesman Zabiullah Amani told Xinhua. Several Taliban militants also sustained casualties based on the bloodstains on the clash site, Amani said, adding that one soldier was captured by the militants in Sozma Qala following the fighting. In eastern Logar province, eight policemen were killed after militants attacked Aynak copper mine's security checkpoints, local media Tolo News TV reported, quoting an official from the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum. Elsewhere, in southern Kandahar province, four police officers were killed and seven others wounded after security forces repelled Taliban attacks in Zhari, Spin Boldak and Mianshin districts, provincial police spokesman Jamal Barakzai told Xinhua. Spokesman Barakzai also noted that 31 Taliban insurgents were killed and 20 militants wounded during the fighting in Kandahar. Militants in Afghanistan have intensified their activities during the last weeks, even after a peace deal was signed between the United States and the Taliban in Doha and a joint declaration was issued by the U.S. side and the Afghan government in late February. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Afghanistan in mid February, Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani has frequently called on the Taliban to agree on a ceasefire to facilitate peace talks and most importantly the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, but clashes continued in the conflict-ravaged nation. Enditem P ower producer Drax on Wednesday warned of a 60 million hit from Covid-19 as its business customers struggle. The firm, named after the UKs largest power station in Yorkshire, said it has significantly increased its expectation of potential customer failures and higher bad debt. The lockdown has lowered demand for power from companies. Drax added: In the customers business, the consequences of Covid-19 are only now starting to become visible. But the energy company cheered robust trading for the first quarter and said it is on track to meet underlying profit forecasts of 398 million for 2020. It will pay a 2019 final dividend of 9.5p per share. Will Gardiner, chief executive of Drax Group, said: "With our strong balance sheet, robust trading and operational performance, and resilient sustainable biomass supply chain , Drax is in a strong position to support its employees, business customers and communities during the Covid-19 crisis, while continuing to generate returns for shareholders. According to the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center, strong and damaging wind gusts between 40-50 mph may happen around midday and could affect the Northeast states where emergency field hospitals have been set up in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The wind gusts will be felt along the Interstate 95 corridor from Washington, DC, to New York City. More than 70 million are asked to prepare for the severe weather condition. Janice Dean, a meteorologist, stated that power outages in big cities like New York City, Philadelphia, and DC are to be expected. The said power interruption could pose a huge threat to New York where a field hospital that is full of tents has been set up in Central Park for the increasing number of coronavirus patients. Harsh weather amid the pandemic New York City is the epicenter for the virus in America as there are now more than 80,000 coronavirus cases and more than 4,000 deaths. Thousands of utility customers in Pennsylvania were already without power since April 16, a day after severe thunderstorms spawned two small tornadoes. The storms came through on the morning of April 15 and tore the roofs off of a church and a brewery in New Kensington and blew away a hangar at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport. In Vermont and New Hampshire, a late-season storm is bringing the possibility of snow. Also Read: New York Asymptomatic Mother Infects 17 of Her 18 Children with Coronavirus The storm will intensify in the afternoon of April 23 and it will bring rain along the coast and snow in western and northern Main, according to Derek Schroeter from the National Weather Service in Gray. Once the storm begins, travel will be hazardous. Meanwhile, the midcoast and eastern Maine will be lashed by winds gusting to upward of 50mph, Schroeter said. Central Maine Power of CMP is urging its customers to be prepared for power outages. The company has 80 CMP line crews, 85 contract crews, and 100 tree crews ready to respond, according to officials. Schroeter stated that they are also concerned about coastal flooding. The storm should be winding down by mid-morning on April 24. In the south, severe thunderstorms with massive hail and damaging wind gusts are expected from the Hill Country into the south and southeast Texas on April 22. Possible tornadoes Weather forecasters also warned of severe weather outbreak with the possibility of strong tornadoes in Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Severe storms with high winds, hail, and tornadoes caused damage to dozens of businesses and homes in the Midwest, such as in Arkansas and Indiana two weeks ago. In central Indiana, bricks were scattered along the town's main downtown thoroughfare and traffic was blocked by debris, a few injuries were also reported. According to Police Officer Brock A. Chipman, the storm knocked the second story off a two-story vacant building, and one woman was slightly injured after the power lines fell on her car. The stay-at-home order in Indiana will likely keep people out of danger as the storms move through. Division Chief John Robinson of the Mooresville Fire Department stated that they are ready for any possible damages on properties that the storm may cause. Related Article: Air Quality in the United States is Declining Fast, Posing Danger to Millions of People @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Diogo Dalot is fighting for his Manchester United future less than two years after joining, according to reports. The right-back was signed by Jose Mourinho from Porto for a fee of 19million in 2018 but he has fallen down the pecking order at Old Trafford. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer brought in Aaron Wan-Bissaka from Crystal Palace for 50m in the summer and he has cemented his place as first choice. Diogo Dalot is fighting for his Manchester United future less than two years after he signed Aaron Wan-Bissaka was signed for 50million in the summer and has become the first choice And the England international's form means the United boss is willing to listen to significant offers for Dalot, according to The Sun. The Portuguese full-back has spent the majority of his United career on the sidelines through injury. He has made just four Premier League starts this season with 10 appearances in all competitions with his only goal coming in the 6-0 victory over Tranmere in the FA Cup fourth-round. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is planning a squad overhaul in the summer and could listen to offers Wan-Bissaka has played 34 times in his first season at the club and has managed two assists. Solskjaer is planning a huge squad overhaul as he pursues targets including Jadon Sancho, Harry Kane and Saul Niguez. But he will be forced to raise funds to bring players in due to the financial implications of the coronavirus crisis. Dalot and the likes of Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones could potentially be shown the door in the summer. The 21-year-old is valued at around 30m and his former manager Mourinho is still thought to be a big fan, meaning he could be tempted to try and take him to Tottenham. Reverend Benjamin Ofori Twum, second Minister in Charge of the St. Pauls Congregation of the Presbyterian Church, Cape Coast has cautioned that the lifting of the lockdown was not a license for people to roam about aimlessly. He reminded the public that the disease was still around and could escalate if they took things for granted. He has, therefore, urged Ghanaians to stay at home if they had nothing essential doing in town. Rev. Twum gave the advice in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) after his church donated assorted items to three institutions in the Cape Coast Metropolis towards the fight against the novel Coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday. The institutions are the Cape Coast Metropolitan Hospital, the Awim Polyclinic and the Ankaful Maximum Prisons. The items are boxes of carbolic soaps, gallons of liquid soap and hand sanitizers as well as bundles of tissues worth over GHC5,000.00 Rev. Twum said though the lockdown had been lifted, it still called for the general public to be cautious and ensure that the disease did not spread, adding that nothing should be taken for granted. People should not take delight in just roaming about. It would have been best to stay at home until the cases minimize if the country had the resources, but looking at our economic situation, I think the best is what has been done, he added. Rev. Twum advised Ghanaians to adhere to the hygienic protocols including social distancing, handwashing with soap under running water, use hand sanitizers among others to prevent the spread of the disease. He encouraged Ghanaians to continue to pray for Gods intervention for the nation to overcome the challenges in this COVID-19 period. Madam Grace Yeboah, Nurse Manager at the Cape Coast Metropolitan Hospital expressed gratitude to the Presbyterian Church for the gesture. She appealed to other benevolent organisations and individuals to come to their aid. For her part, Madam Evelyn Quansah, Nurse Manager at the Awim Polyclinic, recounted how the lack of understanding about the disease from a section of the public was making work difficult at the facility. She called for intensified education on the disease to get people to understand and comply with the established physical protocols when they visited the hospital. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Its admittedly difficult to have a comparative conversation about the iPhone SE. This device isnt really in the same neighborhood as the iPhone 11, even though its furnished with the same plush carpeting and fluffy armchairs. The iPhone SE is a value offering. Even though I will use comparatives throughout this piece to help put it in the context of Apples lineup, that probably doesnt matter to the vast majority of potential customers for this device. Simply, its a super value for the price, just smashing really. And a damn good phone. Alas, I am too used to no home button for it to be really appealing to me, but this is going to be a great phone for millions of people. And talk about timing on the value side of things $399 for an iPhone with Apples latest power plant on board is huge. The quick response to the iPhone SE was that it was "an iPhone 8 with iPhone 11 internals." Thatswell, thats true. There was some general sentiment of shruggery about Apple producing a phone out of their "spare" parts. But, dear reader, your level of excitement about that is very likely going to be tied closely to how much you can afford to spend on a phone, how much you care about camera quality and how much of a priority the size of your phone is to you. Lets begin at the end. Size and feel Its smaller, but not too small. If youre keening for a 4 phon you wont find the solace you desire here, but its refreshingly thin and light and very easy in the reach department. If those things are vital for you, its the only game in town with fresh internals. I actually bought an old iPhone SE a while back as a pocket device, but I found that I could no longer reliably type on a 4 phone. I bought the older iPhone SE because I wanted a super pocket phone for lightweight carry. But sad to say I have lost the ability to type on that size of screen. And I wonder if I ever really could. Was it a dream. Matthew Panzarino (@panzer) April 15, 2020 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Story continues The new iPhone SE is just fine in that regard, and 4.7 is what I consider to be my lower limit for typing reliably. That, of course, does not apply if your hands are smaller or your fingers are shorter than mine. If thats the case, you may still find the iPhone SE to be too large for your tastes. But alongside current iPhones it is practically petite. Touch ID makes an appearance on the iPhone SE fortuitously as we enter a world where many of us will be mask wearers for some time and Face ID is naturally limited in its effectiveness. Pushing the home button is so awkward. The insane durability and utility of the swipe-able interface presented in the iPhone X jumps out hard here. Those swipe gestures are so natural and organic now that breaking them is no easy feat. If you are coming from a current Touch ID device youll be ok, but it will be a big adjustment from, say, an iPhone X. Theres not much more to say because weve seen this design in the iPhone 8. It still feels good and modern. I didnt have enough time to do a serious battery life test but it seemedfine? Its so hard to tell the first couple of days anyway with indexing and other background stuff happening. Apple also says that the new iPhone SE is IP67 rated for up to 1 meter for 30 minutes so its still dunk proof, one of the biggest reducers of accidental damage to come to iPhone in the years since the first SE. Camera The iPhone SEs camera system is a rare monocular addition to the lineup. Its a single, wide-angle camera with an effective 28mm focal length. This is slightly narrower than were used to seeing in iPhones these days, most of which hit around 26mm. This means a slightly closer crop on photos. There is no telephoto lens, just like the iPhone XR. The iPhone SE gets a boost from the totally new image pipeline of the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro. The ISP and the Neural Engine of the A13 processor give it more help in a variety of ways, especially given that so much of what makes up photography is in now really computer math. Even with the painful lack of a telephoto lens, this is still one of the better smartphone cameras on the market because it has the full imaging pipeline of the iPhone 11 behind it. If it didnt, I think that it would feel much "older" in terms of imaging quality, but it speaks to how much of photography is driven by the CPU or GPU rather than the lens and sensor these days. This proves out, as in my tests, the iPhone SE camera was much improved over the iPhone 8, and offered more portrait modes than the iPhone XR. The additional modes focus on cutting subjects out of the background. Their inclusion is tied directly to the ability of the Neural Engine (a portion of the A13s chip dedicated to high frequency, low-lift machine learning tasks) to execute segmentation masking and semantic rendering. It also records expanded dynamic range 4K 30 fps video and 4K 60 fps video with cinematic stabilization. The biggest practical benefit of the pipeline, though, is the improved Smart HDR feature, which I covered in my iPhone 11 review. This really improves detail across massive tonal ranges from bright highlights to shadow detail. While it does not magically make the iPhone SE the same class of image-making device that the iPhone 11 is, it goes a long way to making your average snapshot look the best it can. It does, and should, blow away the "old" iPhone SE when it comes to sharpness, color rendition and dynamic range. Its clearly better than its predecessor and clearly better than the iPhone 8, which it will most directly replace in Apples lineup. For those considering stepping downward in their choice of device, its worth noting here explicitly that nearly across the board the image quality was just pounded by the iPhone 11 Pro. Which is, on one level, expected. The iPhone 11 Pro is a much more expensive device. The iPhone SE does not have Night Mode. It performs notably worse than the iPhone 11 in dark areas because of this. It does have optical stabilization on the rear camera, which helps, but dont expect the same performance in those tough conditions as the more expensive phones. Given that the camera performs well across most other vectors, this is probably one of the biggest things in this category to recommend the iPhone 11 over the iPhone SE. That is assuming that were even having that conversation. Given that so many people use the iPhone as their primary camera, however, I think its one worth having. If you are pretty comfortable with "whatever" pictures the iPhone takes, the SE is going to deliver with flying colors. You get a bunch of technical improvements and performance leaps behind the scenes and a solid, if not amazing, optical front end. Basically, "It is what it is." Screen I prefer the iPhone SEs color rendition to the iPhone XR. Though, on paper, the Liquid Retina Display and the Retina HD Display should be pretty much the same performance wise, theres always been something a bit off-putting to me about the XRs color tone with True Tone off and at the same brightness, the iPhone SE tends to be more neutral warm with the iPhone XR ending up on the cooler end of the spectrum. These observations are, by definition, anecdotal. And the panels that Apple is using in the iPhone SE are not really anything special they are run of the mill "fantastic," as is usual for the iPhone. The iPhone 11 Pros OLED screen, of course, trumps easily on black levels, color and tone. The main differences between the iPhone XR and the iPhone SE screen come down to the edge-to-edge design of the XRs wraparound display and the SEs more standard rectangle. Well, that and tap-to-wake. The 32% difference in total pixels between the two devices is a complete non-factor in my testing, by the way. Once again, not a huge surprise given the same 326 PPI. As with the gesture situation, I really, really miss tap-to-wake. Not being able to wake your phone to peek at the screen with a touch is a step backward in usability for anyone who has previously owned an iPhone with that feature, and I highly encourage people considering a move down to the SE to factor in losing that utility. If youre coming from another iPhone without it youll be fine, but if you had it, youre gonna miss it. Greasing the chute The iPhone SE adds lubrication to what has historically been the most frictional section of Apples entry chute to its ecosystem. Where Apple previously relied on the churn of used devices being put into the market or handed down to family members as a "spackle" for the low-end on-ramp, it now has a first party offering. One that is actually an amazing value for the price. That lower price point can be looked at through a purely pragmatic prism: its cheaper, and it fills in gaps in Apples device pricing umbrella. The last time people thought Apple was making a play for affordability was back in 2013 during the subsidization era with the iPhone 5C. That didnt actually help with the on-ramp issue because Apple did not commit to a "cheap phone" strategy on any real level. Instead of the low end phone everyone expected, it released a relatively high-end phone as a branching upgrade path for iPhone 5 users. This time around, we get to see exactly how a cheap iPhone will perform. I know Apple executives hate that word, but theres a great UK idiom that Ive always loved: cheap and cheerful. Thats exactly what the iPhone SE is. Attractive, inexpensive and pleasant to use. Not a bad tagline for a device. But what does the company get out of it, really? Is undercutting the price of the iPhone XR or other devices worth it in the long run? To fully understand the iPhone SEs appeal for Apple, heres a few bullet points to consider: People in Apples universe spend money with Apple. Once people enter Apples world, they are often very satisfied and do not leave. People are rewarded for entry with an extremely affordable device that will be supported for 5 years or more an easy industry peak. Revenue generated per U.S. iPhone hit $80 in 2018. Subscription revenue for U.S. mobile apps jumped 21% in 2019. Worldwide app stores saw record consumer spend of $120B in 2019. Back in 2018, analyst Horace Dediu noted that Apple appeared to be emphasizing a "lasts longer" strategy for iPhones. The strategy, he noted, prioritized usage and users over units sold, which became reinforced when Apple stopped reporting unit shipments data and boosted the metrics it doled out about its Services category. Basically, the longer that Apple keeps iPhones in circulation, the less they will sell on an individual basis but the longer they would keep people in the ecosystem. All of this adds up to the fact that Apple stands to gain far more from making the front door wider than it does from making the threshold higher. The iPhone SE opens up new audiences for Apple. Its an ideal phone for first time iPhone users, young buyers getting their first device and people currently on a budget. Besides being the first attempt by Apple at this market in the modern smartphone era, its also the first iPhone since the company pivoted heavily into the services business. Apple saw that every iPhone needed to give the breath of life to more business for its other divisions as the market for devices entered its oxygen-saturation phase. The iPhone SE will bring, or graduate, people into the Apple ecosystem and push money into the services category of its business for years to come. Even if they keep the device for years and never upgrade. In a time of severe market disruption, where big consumer purchases may take a back seat, Apple has timed the iPhone SE perfectly to serve a real need. The barrier to entry is lower and customers know that they will be served by this purchase for 2-5 years with full backing of Apples software support and far better security and privacy track record than the rest of the field. Right now, as were all isolated, these pocket machines make us more connected to one another and provide us a lifeline of information about the best way to stay healthy and safe. As smartphones became ubiquitous and then commonplace, they have taken on the role of pariah and scapegoat for a number of societal ills. The focus on superficiality, obsession with small things or even plain old sloth. Now, all of those equations have been scribbled out. Just as parents have re-thought the idea of screen time while were all locked up and social media has become a vital tool for maintaining our sanity rather than bragging weve also come to realize that maybe the smartphone stands between us and real isolation. The iPhone SE has come along right as Apple has an opportunity to make those benefits available to the widest audience. This iteration of the iPhone is one of those rare moments where the business gets served, the users get served and everyone comes out of it with a good deal. Fifty years ago, millions of people took to the streets to protest the air and water pollution that were making us sick. Today, millions are sheltering inside to try to stem the spread of a very different kind of sickness, Covid-19. Out of that first Earth Day eventually came under a Republican administration the Clean Air Act of 1970 and the Environmental Protection Agency. That agency was given one mission: to protect human health and the environment. From time to time, Republicans and Democrats have worked together to strengthen the authority of the Clean Air Act. Further, the Supreme Court in 2007 affirmed that the E.P.A. has the authority to regulate the emission of greenhouse gases that warm our planet. Over the decades, people began to celebrate Earth Day. It became a feel-good commemoration. We were seeing the heartening results of stronger antipollution regulations. We began to take for granted that we had a right to clean air. That has turned out to be a disastrous mistake under the Trump administration. To run the E.P.A., the president chose a former lobbyist for the coal industry, Andrew Wheeler, who has spent his time there eviscerating the steady progress made to keep Americas air clean. Researchers from Staffordshire University are calling for more government funding to crack down on race-hate in schools and the wider community. 22 April 2020 is National Stephen Lawrence Day which celebrates the life and legacy of the teenager who was killed in a racist attack at just 18 years old. A new report led by Sarah Page, Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Criminology, reveals concerns that racism experiences are still prevalent 27 years on. Data was collected through World Cafe discussion groups with 57 Midlands-based school and college pupils aged 1417 years. Just under half of the participants were black and minority ethnic (BAME) pupils, and the rest were white British. Conversations with counter-extremism leads within the Home Office led us to understand that the extent of race hate and extremism in schools and communities wasnt really known. We have official statistics from crimes that are reported but we didnt know exactly what was going on at grass roots level. Sarah explained. Key findings showed that regardless of ethnicity, young people can be victims, witnesses and also perpetrators of race hate crime. The extent of race hate crime was quite apparent, and the effects of race hate crime was also quite shocking to us. She added: Racism was witnessed and experienced via social media according to the young people who took part in the study. With the current COVID-19 lockdown there is concern about possible increased racial abuse taking place online. A team of undergraduate students supported the data collection process which is a key approach of the Staffordshire University Crime and Society Research Group. Pupils described race-hate victimisation that ranged from verbal abuse to physical assault including reports of weapons being used in some of the attacks. Islamophobic abuse such as headscarves being removed was reported along with race-hate between white and BAME pupils and between BAME pupils of different origins. Inter-school racial conflict was also described. Schools with higher BAME pupil populations were negatively labelled by pupils from white majority schools. Concerningly, teachers were seen to favour white pupils when incidents occurred on school premises, with some teachers described as racist. Young people felt that there needs to be harsher punishments for racist behaviour to reduce harmful behaviour. Sarah said: The research shows that racial tension is pervasive in the lives of these young people and that simultaneous intervention is required in school, in the community, on social media and in news reports in order to address racism. We had young people tell us their hair is falling out because of the stress and the trauma from racist verbal abuse. Another concern was that some pupils described some of their teachers not all as racist. They recognised that when punishments were distributed in schools there was bias towards white students so they had less of a punishment than a BAME equivalent. That kind of prejudiced behaviour also concerned us." It is twenty years since the publication of the MacPherson report which championed changes to all public sector organisations, including education to address racism more effectively following the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence. Sarah believes this new research proves that change is still needed. She is encouraging the government to make concerted efforts to eliminate racism and race-hate related extremism within society and schools. One suggestion is that the government funds training for all school staff on extremism and race issues - something that currently only some staff receive. The extent of race hate is quite clear despite it being twenty years on from the Macpherson report. What we found is that things havent been properly addressed and more work needs to be done in that particular area. Sarah added: Schools are under-resourced and that has implications for how complaints from pupils get addressed and whether or not a school wants to follow through on punishment, for example. As a result we would also advocate that the government makes sure schools get extra funding to address pastoral support and challenging behaviour. Young people also felt that more education for pupils on what constitutes race hate and race hate extremism would be helpful. They suggested a range of ideas for addressing race hate issues in society. Read the full report published in the British Journal of Community Justice - People get killed cause of there [their] skin. It cannot be stopped: A Midlands case study considering racism amongst pupils in UK secondary schools and the community One the five persons who were reported to have tested positive for COVID-19 in Gombe State died on Tuesday night at an isolation center in Maiduguri, Borno State, officials said. Gombe State had on Tuesday rejected one of patients who were found to have tested positive to the disease while on transit from Lagos to Biu, a town in southern Borno. Travellers heading to Biu from any part of Nigeria mostly pass through Gombe to get to their destination. The Nigerian Center for Disease Control (NCDC) had confirmed that the traveller tested positive and that the Gombe government, according to Borno officials, did not register him for isolation in their facility, rather they called on their counterparts in Borno to take him into their facility. While briefing journalists on Tuesday, Borno deputy governor, Umar Kadafur, who chairs the state COVID-19 committee, stated that the patient had been transferred from Biu town to the Maiduguri isolation centre. The citizen has been moved from Biu to an isolation center in Maiduguri and he is being monitored, the deputy governor had said. He added that the patient, at the time of the briefing, was being managed by a response team in Borno. However, he said on Wednesday that he patient had barely arrived at the Maiduguri isolation centre when he died. Confirmation Confirming the death of the patient, during the daily briefing of the media on COVID-19 on Wednesday, the deputy governor said the NCDCs record of his death would not reflect on the Borno database, but in that of Gombe State. On a sad note, an infected citizen has died, he said. The official explained that the citizen who was transferred from Biu to Maiduguri had tested positive in Gombe, after his return from Lagos. Although he died at an isolation center in Maiduguri, the record of his death will remain under Gombe at NCDCs update since he was tested there. PREMIUM TIMES Wednesday reported how the federal government banned interstate transfer or movement of persons who test positive for coronavirus. The ban was announced by the health minister, Osagie Enahire, on Wednesday. Testing The Borno committee said 64 tests have so far been carried out on persons believed to have had contacts with Bornos index case. Of that number, the deputy governor said, 50 persons have tested negative, while nine tested positive. Mr Kadafur added that five results were being awaited from the 64 tests carried out, while 11 additional samples have been collected from Pulka where the index case emanated from. He said the blood samples will be sent for testing. So far, the committee said, 144 persons have been identified and tracked by the surveillance team. Gombe imposes curfew In a related development, the Gombe State Governor, Inuwa Yahaya, has imposed a 13 hours indefinite curfew on the state. The governor, who stated this on Wednesday in a broadcast, said this is part of measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the state. Advertisements The NCDC had on Monday announced the confirmation of five index cases of coronavirus in the state. Mr Yahaya said the decision which takes effect from 6 p.m. on Thursday was taken after due consultation. Despite the proactive measures we took in order to prevent the importation of the virus, we are now confronted with the sad news of its emergence. I hereby issue an executive order imposing the following: that a dusk to dawn curfew across the entire state from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m., with effect from 6 p.m. of Thursday, April 23, be imposed, the governor said. He also announced the suspension of all markets and businesses, congregational activities for social, cultural and religious purposes as well as intra-state transportation from one local government to another. Consequently, all motor parks across the state and Tsangaya (Almajiri) schools across the state are hereby closed, he said. The governor, who said essential services were, however, exempted from the order, added that necessary steps would be taken to ensure the safe return of all almajiris from other states back to their respective states of origin. Mr Yahaya directed security agencies to ensure compliance with the executive order. He said a special compliance taskforce had been constituted to oversee enforcement of these directives with active representation from security agencies, traditional leaders and religious leaders. The governor restated his administrations commitment to safeguarding the lives and livelihoods of the people. We are mindful of the economic consequences that these measures are going to have. On our part, government is putting up palliative measures to cushion the economic effects of COVID-19. In this regard, we shall set up a palliative committee under the chairmanship of His Royal Highness, the Emir of Gombe. The committee, he said, will oversee the distribution of relief materials to the people during the period. Mr Yahaya also said that his government would embark on widespread fumigation of all high-risk public places. In a setback to the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government, the Kerala High Court on Tuesday sought an explanation from it over the data contract deal with the US firm Sprinklr and questioned the foreign jurisdiction norm in the agreement. We are proud that Kerala has done well in controlling Covid-19. But we also have concerns about date confidentiality. Is the government incapable of handling data of 2 lakh people?, a bench comprising Justices Devan Ramachandran and TR Ravi asked while hearing a petition questioning the deal. The court directed the government to file a detailed reply by Wednesday. At the height of the coronavirus pandemic, the state IT department had inked an agreement with the US firm to process a huge volume of data collected by grassroots health workers of the state. Though no money was involved in the contract, the opposition had alleged that it was a breach of privacy and vital data. Later, it was found that the cabinet and law department were not consulted before signing the deal. When the government responded that it had sought the help of the company for data analysing and vetting, the court asked if the government was incapable of handling the data of 2 lakh people. It also asked whether the government had an IT department. We do not want the Covid-19 pandemic to be substituted with data pandemic. Data confidentiality in the present world is most important, the court observed. It also questioned the jurisdiction of the agreement in a court in New York. The Sprinklr controversy came up two weeks back and the opposition, Congress-led United Democratic Front, had announced a series of agitation from next week seeking Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayans resignation alleging it was a sell out and that many state-based IT and data companies were overlooked to gift the contract to the US firm. But CM Vijayan brushed aside all the allegations saying the opposition was jealous of the rising popularity of the government. As the controversy flared up, state IT secretary M Shivasankar, also the CMs private secretary, told the media on Saturday that he took the decision personally as the pandemic situation was getting out of control in the state. Later, he also appeared in a promotional video of the deal which was removed from Sprinklrs website after the controversy cropped up. We direly needed an entry that could vet a considerable amount of health data to identify infection patterns to streamline the containment strategy. Spirnklr agreed to provide the service without charge. The arrangement did not warrant the prior vetting of the finance or legal departments. It was my decision at a desperate time, he said justifying the deal. But the opposition said he owned up the guilt to save the chief minister. We dont believe that without the CMs consent such a deal will take place. Nearly 1.75 lakh people under observation had volunteered their personal information to field workers in good faith. But the government betrayed their faith and handed over valuable information to the US firm. It is strange the IT secretary did not know the value of this data, said opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala who was the first to raise the charge on April 10. More Queensland women have been hit with coronavirus than men, in a reversal of the global trend, data released by the state government shows. The state recorded zero new cases on Wednesday the second time this week there has been no increase after zero cases on Monday with six new cases on Tuesday. A "shocked" Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has ordered aged care homes across Queensland to reopen. Credit:AAP Image/Dan Peled The states cumulative total is 1024, with the number staying put, despite the number of tests around the state topping 90,000. The state government on Wednesday released detailed data of virus cases, including for the first time council-by-council numbers and demographic breakdowns. Delhi begun plasma therapy trials for coronavirus disease (Covid-19) patients on Tuesday, with two persons receiving the treatment that uses antibody-rich plasma (a blood component) taken from those who have recovered from the infection to treat critical patients. One of them was a 60-year-old man admitted in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Lok Nayak Hospital. He was not on ventilator but had low oxygen saturation (85%), a condition that indicates his organs were not receiving adequate amount of oxygen. The normal oxygen saturation is 95% to 100%. The donor plasma has been screened for infections like HIV and Hepatitis B and then injected into the patient. Hopefully, the antibodies from the plasma will help the person (Covid-19 patient) to fight the virus better, said Dr JC Passey, director of the Lok Nayak Hospital. He said the second patient was younger, between 30 to 40 years of age. He had no comorbidities (like diabetes or hypertension), but had a severe infection and had to be put on oxygen support (not ventilator). He was also given plasma therapy along with the other person, Passey said. The trial is being conducted in collaboration with the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, which will be processing the blood to derive plasma and store it. Two more recipients for the treatment were identified on Monday, but they werent given the therapy. One of them had problems in multiple organs and the other person was extremely old and might not have tolerated the treatment, Passey said. The rapid antibody test kits received by Delhi from the Centre were used on Sunday to identify the donors. These tests, however, have been put on hold for two days over huge variations in results. In the absence of antibody tests, those who are below the age of 60 and do not have underlying health conditions such as the diabetes, hypertension, heart disease etc. will be considered potential donors. As per the trial procedures, 10 patients will be randomly administered plasma therapy and an equal number will receive a placebo (a treatment without any therapeutic effect). The trial will find out whether people getting the plasma therapy are doing better. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Anonna Dutt Anonna Dutt is a health reporter at Hindustan Times. She reports on Delhi governments health policies, hospitals in Delhi, and health-related feature stories. ...view detail Dignity of doctors non-negotiable, Modi govt is committed to your safety says Shah India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Apr 22: Union Home Minister Amit Shah has assured doctors of their safety during an interaction today via video-conferencing. Shah along with Health Minister, Dr Harshvardhan interacted with doctors and representatives of the Indian Medical Association through video conferencing. Shah said that the dignity of the doctors at their workplace is non-negotiable. It is our collective responsibility to ensure a conducive atmosphere for them at all times. IMA calls for white-alert, urges doctors to light candles in protest against attacks Shah also assured the doctors that the Modi government is committed to their cause. He also appealed to them to reconsider their proposed protest. The way our doctors are performing their duties in these testing times is exceptional. I urge every Indian to cooperate with doctors in this fight against coronavirus, Shah also said. The Indian Medical Association has demanded the Centre bring in a law on urgent basis to protect medical professionals from attack on duty, amid rising incidents of violence against healthcare workers on the frontline of the fight against Covid-19. Calling for a nation-wide 'White Alert', the IMA has asked doctors and hospitals across the country to light candles on Wednesday as a protest against such attacks. "Light a candle with white coat. White Alert is only a warning," the IMA said in a letter addressed to its doctors and hospitals. "The Covid-19 has only made us acutely aware of our helplessness against mindless abuse and violence. Stigma and social boycott are everywhere. Harassment by administration is nothing but violence by the state. "Our legitimate needs for safe workplaces have to be met," it said in the letter to all State Presidents and Secretaries, Local branch Presidents and Secretaries and all National office-bearers along with past National Presidents and Past HSGs. The doctors' body also warned that they will observe 'Black Day' if no action is taken by the government and doctors in the country will work with black badges on April 23. Further decisions will be taken if suitable steps are not taken by the government even after Black Day, the IMA said. Independent TD for Laois-Offaly Carol Nolan has said that she will be engaging with the Minister of State for Higher Education, Mary Mitchell OConnor, as part of her efforts to secure quicker refund levels for third level students who have paid for on-campus accommodation that they cannot now use. Deputy Nolan was speaking after Minister OConnor stated publicly that the government would wish to see pro-rata refunds issued to students in privately owned accommodation: While the response from the Minister is an acknowledgement of the problems that students are facing, it does not go far enough. "In my view, consideration is going to have to be given to introducing a statutory obligation directed at private or on campus accommodation companies who refuse to engage with students. "Students faced average costs of between 700-790 per month for campus accommodation in Dublin, Cork and Maynooth according to the latest data we have from Daft.ie. "That is an enormous sum of money for students and their families to be down, especially where they have paid in advance. This is in addition to accommodation deposits and the student contribution cost which can rise to 3000. "If this issue is not resolved, then it could seriously impact the capacity of students to return to college whenever the next term begins. This is because they will essentially have been made to pay twice for their accommodation. "At the most recent count, The Higher Education Authority say they were at least 678 full-time graduate students from Offaly in the system, with another 718 from Laois. "We need to take action to ensure that these students and their families are treated fairly, especially in circumstances where they cannot access services or take up residency through no fault of their own, concluded Deputy Nolan. The CDCs Interim for Critical Workers Who May Have Been Exposed to COVID-19 The CDC published an interim guidance for critical workers who may have been exposed to a person with suspected or confirmed COVID-19. While we stay at home, critical workers have to go to work every day. The CDC published an interim guidance for essential workers and what they should do, what they should not do, and how they can continue doing their jobs while remaining healthy and safe. The CDC advises that critical infrastructure workers may be permitted to continue work following potential exposure to COVID-19, provided they remain asymptomatic and additional precautions are implemented to protect them and the community. Essential workers need to be extremely mindful of potential exposure to the virus. A potential exposure means being a household contact or having close contact within six feet of an individual with confirmed or suspected COVID-19. The timeframe for having contact with an individual includes the period of time of 48 hours before the individual became symptomatic. The CDC recommends that critical workers who have had exposure but remain asymptomatic should follow the following guidelines: China has reacted with fury after Germany's most popular newspaper Bild suggested Beijing should pay reparations for the coronavirus pandemic. The German paper calculated an 'invoice' of nearly 150billion (130billion) in economic damage to Germany because of the crisis. The Chinese embassy in Berlin responded with an angry letter which accused the paper of 'stirring up nationalism' and prejudice towards China. But Bild's editor has retorted with his own letter, accusing Beijing of 'endangering the world' by failing to shut down the wild animal markets where the virus is feared to have originated. China's government has entered into a row with German newspaper Bild after it suggested Beijing should pay reparations for the coronavirus pandemic. Bild's editor retorted with a letter to Chinese leader Xi Jinping (pictured) The editor of Bild has responded to criticism from the Chinese embassy with a letter published in German and English (pictured) accusing China of 'endangering the world' The original Bild article was published last Wednesday with the headline: 'What China Already Owes Us'. Presenting what it called the 'corona invoice', Bild said politicians were demanding 'consequences' after the virus spread from China around the world. Bild's calculations included a 24billion bill for lost tourism, 1million per hour for Lufthansa and 50billion for small businesses affected by the standstill. The idea of charging reparations to China is not endorsed by the German government, which has described the concept as 'illusory'. Nonetheless, the Bild article drew a furious response from Chinese diplomats who voiced their anger in a letter on the embassy website. 'Your report is not only missing crucial facts and exact timings but also any modicum of journalistic diligence and fairness,' the letter signed by spokeswoman Tao Lili said. 'Anyone who makes calculations like this is stirring up nationalism and prejudice as well as xenophobia and animosity towards China. 'It does not live up to either the traditional friendship between our people or to a serious understanding of journalism. 'Against this background, I ask myself where in your newsroom this dislike of our people and our country has come from? 'There is no script for a crisis of this magnitude. It's more necessary than ever that we co-operate and learn from this pandemic together. 'In the meantime, renowned international scientists have acknowledged that China's quick and decisive actions made an important contribution to stemming the pandemic and bought the rest of the world at least a month of time. Unfortunately we have not read any of that in your article.' Bild suggested China should pay reparations after the virus first emerged in the city of Wuhan, apparently linked to a wild seafood market in the city. Workers in protective gear are pictured catching a giant salamander which reportedly escaped from the market in January The embassy also denied allegations that China had covered up the disease, insisting it had informed the WHO about the outbreak even when only a few dozen people had the virus. The letter also accused other countries of blaming China to distract from their own failures in managing the epidemic. Bild's editor Julian Reichelt has since responded with his own letter, published in German and English and addressed directly to Chinese leader Xi Jinping. 'You rule by surveillance. You wouldn't be president without surveillance. You monitor everything, every citizen, but you refuse to monitor the diseased wet markets in your country,' Reichelt wrote. 'You shut down every newspaper and website that is critical of your rule, but not the stalls where bat soup is sold. 'You are not only monitoring your people, you are endangering them - and with them, the rest of the world.' The exact source of the virus remains unclear, but many of the early cases were linked to a live animal market in Wuhan. Reichelt also highlighted claims that a Wuhan laboratory had been researching bat viruses without sufficient safety standards, hinting at a possible alternative cause. China rejects this theory, but it has been touted by US President Donald Trump among others. Reichelt continued: 'Your embassy tells me that I am not living up to the traditional friendship of our peoples.' 'I suppose you consider it a great friendship when you now generously send masks around the world. This isn't friendship, I would call it imperialism hidden behind a smile - a Trojan Horse. 'You plan to strengthen China through a plague that you exported. You will not succeed. Corona will be your political end, sooner or later.' Mohammed Adamu, inspector general of police (IGP), has redeployed Okon Ene, commissioner of police in Abia state, after the alleged ex... Mohammed Adamu, inspector general of police (IGP), has redeployed Okon Ene, commissioner of police in Abia state, after the alleged extrajudicial killing of a youth. Frank Mba, police spokesman, who broke the news via a statement on Tuesday, said the IGP has set up a panel to probe the death of the youth identified as Ifeanyi Arunsi. Arunsi was shot dead last week by a policeman during an argument in Ebem Ohafia area of the state. Ene had said in a statement that the constable who shot Arunsi had gone out with colleagues to a joint where they got drunk. While going back home, the driver hit a truck off-loading goods, he had said in a statement. In an ensuing argument between the Policemen and the people off-loading goods, one of the Policemen, a Constable, disappeared from the scene and resurfaced with a Police rifle and started shooting sporadically under the influence of alcohol during which, a bullet hit the victim on the buttocks. Mba said a special investigation panel set up to investigate the incident will be headed by Anthony Ogbizi, deputy inspector-general of police in charge of the force criminal investigation department. He added that Ene, who has been redeployed to the force headquarters, will be replaced by Janet Agbede. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle just decided on a zero engagement policy against four major UK tabloids. According to them, these tabloids have done nothing but spread lies and distorted truths for profits. In a nutshell, the two told the four news outlets off because they have become too influential. However, this is made in bad timing, as usual. In normal circumstances, the letter does make sense. It's not as if this is the first time that those being covered by the media and the paps decided to call out the unfairness of them all. In normal circumstances, artists or personalities will have some support. This time, it looks as if mostly cannot see why they would do that. Because the times are so uncertain given the coronavirus pandemic, their actions appear insensitive instead of being worth their sympathy. This letter was sent in a wrong time, and now commentators believe the two will never be forgiven by the British for this mistake. According to Dan Wootton of The Sun, their true characters are now revealed by the chaos and the crisis. It is now revealed that their character is just based on their desire to live a particular lifestyle first and foremost, no matter if they stepped on their family and country. Wootton claimed that it is particularly "galling" that their various post-Megxit decisions were made as the rest of royals are doing their best to contribute to the coronavirus fight. Prince Harry's own dad, Prince Charles himself, was battling coronavirus and own grandparents - Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were self-isolating and yet still doing their duties to the country. These decisions included moving to LA, announcing a new charity, pursuing a Hollywood career, and then now, proclaiming a boycott against the media as if they are the ones being slighted. Meanwhile, the public can see Prince William and Kate Middleton all the while striving to lift the national spirits of the British, being humble and open in their video chats. All these noble actions by the royals - from the Queen to Middleton were spread by the so-called nosy and lying tabloids that the two are boycotting. The culture secretary Oliver Dowden has even claimed newspapers to be the fourth emergency service. By announcing that they would boycott these four and warning the press about their "influence," he appears to be personally hating the press before anything else. His recent speech about British's volunteering spirit was made sour too when for unknown reasons, he suggested that the media is lying about the extent of the crisis. "I think what has happened, especially in the UK is the very best of the human spirit, and it's proving that things are better than we are led to believe through certain corners of the media," Harry had said. Even medical experts slammed the statement by claiming it was dangerous to have listeners believe that covid-19 pandemic is not that serious. Wootton claimed that the two should stop picking pathetic fights with the British media and stop trying to move on with proving a petty point when the world is in a matter of "life and death" situation. The world has essentially moved on from them because of more pressing matters and yet they keep trying to emerge in the limelight. Even the palace is said to be stunned by their decision. For the record, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's banning of the four newspapers can come off as some form of vendetta - just because they were brave enough to share the fallout between the palace and the two of them, Wootton explained. READ MORE: Royal Revenge: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BANNED From This A cyclist has been hit and killed by a truck in the early hours of Wednesday morning in Melbourne's northern suburbs. Police say the cyclist was struck on Station Street near Newton Crescent in Lalor about 12.35am. The truck driver stopped to help but the cyclist, who is yet to be formally identified, died at the scene. Major Collision Investigation Unit detectives were on site on Wednesday morning, with the exact circumstances of the collision yet to be determined. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The ' Global Hemostasis Analyzer Market Outlook 2019-2024 offers detailed coverage of hemostasis analyzer industry and presents main market trends. The market research gives historical and forecast market size, demand, end-use details, price trends, and company shares of the leading hemostasis analyzer producers to provide exhaustive coverage of the market for hemostasis analyzer. The report segments the market and forecasts its size, by volume and value, on the basis of application, by products, and by geography. The report has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from key industry participants. The global hemostasis analyzer market has been segmented into five major regions, namely, North America (US, Canada, and others), Europe (UK, France, Germany, Russia, and others), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, India, Australia, and others), South America (Brazil, Argentina, and others), and Middle East & Africa (South Africa, Saudi Arabia, and others). Furthermore, the report also includes an in-depth competitive analysis of the key vendors operating in this market. Get Access to sample pages @ https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/3821 Key Regions - North America - Europe - Asia Pacific - Middle East & Africa - South America Key Vendors - Diagnostica Stago SAS - Grifols, SA - Haemonetics Corporation - Nihon Kohden Corporation - Roche Holding AG - Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Inc. - Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. - request free sample to get a complete list of companies Request For Report Discount @ https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/discount/3821 Key Questions Answered in This Report - Analysis of the hemostasis analyzer market including revenues, future growth, market outlook - Historical data and forecast - Regional analysis including growth estimates - Analyzes the end user markets including growth estimates. - Profiles on hemostasis analyzer vendors including products, sales / revenues, SWOT, and market position, recent developments. - Market structure, market drivers and restraints. Make an Inquiry before Buying @ https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/checkout/3821/Single The man stood in line, shaking with fever, one of countless others trying to cross the border and return to Haiti. A doctor screening them for coronavirus infection pulled him aside. Like thousands of Haitians, he had been laid off in the Dominican Republic, which has been hit hard by Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Now he and the other Haitians were returning home, threatening to bring the virus with them. The coronavirus has been slow to come to Haiti, partly because protests and political violence virtually shut down tourism and drove away the foreigners who could have brought the disease to the country. A month after the first case was announced, there have been only 58 confirmed cases and four deaths. Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe last week congratulated the country and announced that factories would reopen at reduced capacity, a rare bit of encouragement for a nation that has been lashed by tragedy with a deadly hurricane, a cholera outbreak and a horrific earthquake in just the past decade. Prince Charles has said the UK owes farmers 'an enormous debt of gratitude' for producing food during the Covid-19 crisis. The Prince of Wales praised farmers, growers and food producers in an interview with Country Life magazine. He talked about a new found appreciation for the British farming industry which is developing because of the coronavirus pandemic. What this national crisis has also brought home, dare I say it, is how much we rely on our agricultural community and all those in the food supply chain, from field to fork," the prince said. "The retailers have been doing an outstanding job responding to the unprecedented pressures, and so has the entire supply chain. "The delivery drivers, shelf-stackers and all the others serving shoppers are providing an immensely important service in this time of great need." He went on to say that, 'of course, it all begins with farmers'. A keen advocate of countryside issues himself, Prince Charles said the Covid-19 crisis had shown how the public should never take food for granted. "When was the last time anyone gave the availability of a bottle of milk, or a loaf of bread, or fresh vegetables a second thought?" he asked. "Suddenly, these things are precious and valued. And this is how it always should be. "Food does not happen by magic. If the past few weeks have proved anything, it is that we cannot take it for granted." Describing religion as probably the most powerful means for mobilising human conscience to serve common good, over 20 spiritual gurus of different faiths on Wednesday jointly urged people to come together as a singular force to overcome COVID-19 pandemic. They also strongly condemned unscientific beliefs and practices being propagated in the name of religion, exposing thousands to the virus and vitiating public discourse with half-truths, falsehoods, conspiracy theories and doomsday narratives. "Today, the spread of coronavirus provides a testament to the oneness and inter-connectedness of the human family where the well-being of one is dependent on the well-being of all. "As the past few weeks have shown, among the biggest obstacles that stand in our way as we strive to find a way out of this crisis, is the tendency to be selfish or self-centred whether as an individual, a community or a nation," the statement said, This tendency has proven to be a dangerous and life-threatening delusion, it added. As many as 22 leaders and representatives of various religious and interfaith organisations in the country issued the joint statement on the constructive role religion should play in uniting people of all faiths in the fight against coronavirus, said the Baha'i office of public affairs, that initiated this initiative. The statement was issued in response to the urgent need for all religions in the country to speak with one voice in emphasising the importance of unity, service to the common good and the need to follow scientific prescriptions at such a difficult time, the Baha'i office of public affairs said. Calling for clarity of thought, the religious leaders emphasised that true religion is in harmony with science and reason and it does not endorse superstitious and fanatical beliefs. Discussing the principle of oneness of religion, they said this principle provides the foundation on which people of all religions can learn to draw upon a common spiritual heritage to fight collective challenges and to reject religious prejudices which, as recent events in the country have shown, can flare up during times of crisis and aggravate social tensions. "To be religious then is to be an active servant of humankind here and now, to use one's talents and capacities to address contemporary challenges and to contribute to the well-being of all without distinction, the religious leaders said. No greater embodiments of this spirit of selfless and sacrificial service can be found than those doctors, health workers, policemen, media persons and government functionaries who, at great risk to their personal lives, are carrying out their duties," they said in a joint statement. "Finally, a word of clarification is in order about the cases of religious fanaticism, superstition and contempt for science that are being expressed in the name of religion in the context of the pandemic," it said. These have done incalculable harm not only by exposing thousands to the virus but also by vitiating public discourse with half-truths, falsehoods, conspiracy theories and doomsday narratives which hang as a thick cloud of gloom over the hearts and minds of people and obscure clarity of thought, the statement said. "Our faith in an all-loving creator and in the nobility of the human race convinces us that humanity will emerge from this ordeal stronger and more united, with a deeper appreciation of its inherent oneness and inter-connectedness," the religious guru said in the statement. The statement has been signed by noted representatives of Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Bah', Jewish, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh communities and interfaith organisations including Swami Chidanand Saraswati of the Parmarth Niketan Ashram; Imam Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, Chief Imam, All India Imam Organisation; Anil Joseph Thomas Couto, Archbishop of Delhi and Rabbi Ezekiel Malekar of the Judah Hayam Synagogue. Swami Shantatmananda, of the Ramakrishna Mission, Goswami Sushil Ji Maharaj of the Bhartiya Sarv Dharm Sansad, Acharya Lokesh Muni of Ahimsa Vishva Bharati, Paramjeet Singh Chandok of the Bangla Sahib Gurudwara, Swami Agnivesh, Geshe Dorji Damdul of Tibet House and the Bah' Office of Public Affairs are also among the signatories. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) IRVINE, Calif., April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hybrid and electric vehicles have come a long way, and if you're considering an alternative fuel model, your options have never been greater. With a wide variety of models available today, Kelley Blue Book's experts helped narrow down shoppers' considerations lists with their top picks for these eco-friendly new and used vehicles at varying price points, including the 10 Best Used Hybrids and Electric Cars Under $20,000 , 10 Best Plug-in Hybrid Cars Under $40,000 and 10 Longest-Range Electric Cars of 2020 . "With each new model year, the number of available hybrid and electric vehicles continues to grow," said Michael Harley, executive editor for Kelley Blue Book. "Regardless of your lifestyle, there are a variety of vehicles to choose from in SUVs, hatchbacks, and sedans, and even at a more budget-conscious price if you're shopping used. One of the most underrated deals is to buy a used hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or all-electric vehicle many of these are sold as 'manufacturer certified' with extended warranties. With a plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV), you can enjoy the best of both worlds. Some of the most recent models deliver enough all-electric range that you can commute every day and never have to fill the gas tank." To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day 2020, Kelley Blue Book and CARS (Charitable Adult Rides & Services) are teaming up again to help nonprofits make a difference in local communities. Now through April 30, 2020, Kelley Blue Book will contribute $25 (up to $10,000) to American Rivers for each vehicle donated at https://www.kbb.com/donate-your-car/. Together, Kelley Blue Book and CARS have raised more than $2 million over the past three years for nonprofits nationwide. 10 Best Used Hybrids and Electric Cars Under $20,000 Rank Vehicle Fuel Economy Total Range 1 2018 Toyota Prius 52 mpg combined (54 city/50 highway) 588 miles 2 2017 Toyota Camry Hybrid 40 mpg combined (42 city/38 highway) 680 miles 3 2018 Hyundai Ioniq Blue 58 mpg combined (57 city/59 highway) 690 miles 4 2017 Honda Accord Hybrid 48 mpg combined (49 city/47 highway) 758 miles 5 2019 Kia Optima Hybrid 41 mpg combined (39 city/45 highway) 652 miles 6 2017 Nissan Leaf 112 MPGe combined (124 city/101 highway) 107 miles 7 2015 Lexus ES 300h 40 mpg combined (39 city/40 highway) 688 miles 8 2016 Toyota Prius V 41 mpg combined (43 city/39 highway) 488 miles 9 2018 Chevrolet Volt First 53 miles: 106 MPGe combined; Next 367 miles: 42 mpg combined 420 miles 10 2017 Kia Niro 50 mpg combined (52 city/49 highway) 595 miles To learn more details about Kelley Blue Book's 2020 10 Best Used Hybrids and Electric Cars Under $20,000, visit https://www.kbb.com/articles/best-cars/top-10-best-used-hybrid-and-electric-cars-under-20000/ . For the top five tips when buying a used electric car, visit https://www.kbb.com/articles/car-news/top-five-tips-when-buying-a-used-electric-car/ . 10 Best Plug-In Hybrid Cars Under $40,000 Rank Vehicle Starting Price Electric Range Hybrid Mode Fuel Economy Approximate Charge Time 1 2020 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid $33,400 48 miles (340 miles total) 42 mpg city/highway combined 2.5 hours (240V), 12 hours (120V) 2 2020 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid $39,995 32 miles (520 miles total) 30 mpg city/highway combined 2 hours (240V), 14 hours (120V) 3 2020 Hyundai Ioniq Plug-in Hybrid $26,500 29 miles (630 miles total) 52 mpg city/highway combined 2.3 hours (240V), 8.5 hours (120V) 4 2020 Kia Plug-in Hybrid $36,090 28 miles (630 miles total) 41 mpg city/highway combined 3 hours (240V), 9 hours (120V) 5 2020 Ford Fusion Energi $35,000 26 miles (610 miles total) 42 mpg city/highway combined 2.5 hours (240V), 7 hours (120V) 6 2020 Kia Niro PHEV $29,490 26 miles (560 miles total) 46 mpg city/highway combined 2.5 hours (240V), 9 hours (120V) 7 2020 Toyota Prius Prime $27,750 25 miles (640 miles total) 54 mpg city/highway combined 2.2 hours (240V), 5.5 hours (120V) 8 2020 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV $36,295 22 miles (310 miles total) 25 mpg city/highway combined 3.5 hours (240V), 8 hours (120V) 9 2020 Mini S E Countryman ALL4 $38,750 18 miles (300 miles total) 29 mpg city/highway combined N/A 10 2020 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid $35,145 17 miles (480 miles total) 35 mpg city/highway combined 2 hours (240V), 5 hours (120V) To learn more details about Kelley Blue Book's 2020 10 Best Plug-In Hybrid Cars Under $40,000, visit https://www.kbb.com/articles/best-cars/top-10-best-plug-in-hybrid-cars-under-40000/ . 10 Longest-Range Electric Cars of 2020 Rank Vehicle Starting Price Range Per Full Charge EPA Fuel Economy Equivalent 1 2020 Tesla Model S Long Range $81,190 373 miles 111 MPGe (city/highway combined) 2 2020 Tesla Model 3 Long Range $50,190 330 miles 130 MPGe (city/highway combined) 3 2020 Tesla Model X Long Range $89,690 328 miles 96 MPGe (city/highway combined) 4 2020 Tesla Model Y $54,190 315 miles 121 MPGe (city/highway combined) 5 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV $37,495 259 miles 118 MPGe (city/highway combined) 6 2020 Hyundai Kona Electric 38,310 258 miles 120 MPGe (city/highway combined) 7 2020 Kia Niro EV $40,210 239 miles 112 MPGe (city/highway combined) 8 2020 Jaguar I-Pace $70,875 234 miles 76 MPGe (city/highway combined) 9 2020 Nissan Leaf Plus $39,125 226 miles 108 MPGe (city/highway combined) 10 2020 Porsche Taycan $152,250 201 miles 69 MPGe (city/highway combined) To learn more details about Kelley Blue Book's 10 Longest Range Electric Cars of 2020, visit https://www.kbb.com/articles/best-cars/top-10-longest-range-electric-cars/ . If you are looking for a vehicle at this time, many dealers can accommodate your buying needsshopping from your couch or talking with an advisor is just a text or phone call away. Check out the latest on how to shop safely and conveniently for your next vehicle online at https://www.kbb.com/articles/car-news/can-i-buy-a-car-online-to-reduce-coronavirus-exposure/ . For more information and news from Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com, visit www.kbb.com/media/ , follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/kelley-blue-book/ , Twitter at www.twitter.com/kelleybluebook (or @kelleybluebook), like our page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/kbb and follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/kbb_com/ (or @kbb_com). About Kelley Blue Book ( www.kbb.com ) Founded in 1926, Kelley Blue Book, The Trusted Resource, is the vehicle valuation and information source trusted and relied upon by both consumers and the automotive industry. Each week the company provides market-reflective values on its top-rated website KBB.com, including its famous Blue Book Trade-In Values and Kelley Blue Book Price Advisor tool, which provides a range for what consumers can reasonably expect to pay for a vehicle in their area. Car owners looking to sell immediately can also get a redeemable, transaction-ready offer with Kelley Blue BookSM Instant Cash Offer. The company also provides vehicle pricing and values through various products and services available to car dealers, auto manufacturers, finance and insurance companies, and governmental agencies. Kelley Blue Book is a Cox Automotive brand. About Cox Automotive Cox Automotive Inc. makes buying, selling, owning and using cars easier for everyone. The global company's 34,000-plus team members and family of brands, including Autotrader, Clutch Technologies, Dealer.com, Dealertrack, Kelley Blue Book, Manheim, NextGear Capital, VinSolutions, vAuto and Xtime, are passionate about helping millions of car shoppers, 40,000 auto dealer clients across five continents and many others throughout the automotive industry thrive for generations to come. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., a privately-owned, Atlanta-based company with revenues of $21 billion. www.coxautoinc.com About CARS CARS, Inc. (Charitable Adult Rides & Services) is an ISO 9001 certified 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to helping nonprofits across North America increase fundraising and acquire new contributors through turn-key vehicle donation programs. Since 2004, we've also reinvested back into our San Diego community by providing transportation solutions to seniors through a program called On the Go. www.careasy.org SOURCE Kelley Blue Book Related Links www.kbb.com Around 25,000 accounts from the National Institute of Health (NIH), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Gates Foundation and other organisations working towards containing the coronavirus pandemic were hacked. The database also seems to carry several IDs from a virology lab in Wuhan, giving rise to fresh speculations and conspiracy theories. Also Read: Coronavirus India Live Updates: President approves ordinance against attacks on health workers; tally-21,393 The Washington Post reported that unknown activists posted 25,000 email addresses and passwords online. This was found out by the SITE Intelligence Group, which looks after online extremism and terrorist organisations. An Australian independent cybersecurity expert Robert Potter said he could verify some of the IDs and passwords from WHO, but added that it could be from an older attack. The WHO list is genuine but it appears to be from an earlier attack. Healthcare agencies in particular are traditionally quite bad at cyber security.https://t.co/KwDIzfTbTj a Robert Potter (@rpotter_9) April 22, 2020 The list initially appeared on the message board website 4chan and then on Pastebin. They were then shared on Telegram groups. According to the SITE report, 9,938 IDs from NIH, 5,120 IDs from World Bank and 2,732 IDs from WHO were leaked. Email IDs from Gates Foundation, which recently donated USD 150 million to Wuhan Institute of Virology, were also leaked. Wuhan was the epicentre of the pandemic. WHO has seen a rise in cybercrime attacks since mid-March, Bloomberg quoted chief information officer, Bernardo Mariano as saying. He added that the organisation hasn't been attacked but employees' passwords were leaked through other websites. The WHO used to have one security alert a month, but thus far in April the organisation has received eight from national cybersecurity authorities notifying "of nation-state actor attacks that we are facing," he said. The targets of these attacks are top WHO officials like Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Israel, European Union, UK, Switzerland, Interpol and even Microsoft had warned WHO of a possible attack, Mariano said. Mark Zuckerberg-led Facebooks multi-billion dollar investment in Reliance Jio has catapulted Indias largest telecom company to the top-five league in market capitalisation. The gargantuan all-cash investment of Rs 43,500 crore is a vindication of Mukesh Ambanis big bet on Jio not as a telecom company but as a tech and platform player. A slew of brokerages gave a thumbs up to the landmark transaction after the official announcement. According to Jefferies, the deal reflects a turnaround of the telecom sector and implies the doubling of Jios earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) from current levels. Credit Suisse said Facebooks investment would accelerate Jios digital monetisation drive. On the other hand, the social networking giant gets access to 400 million Jio customers, a segment which will grow over time. This will enable Facebooks Whatsapp to provide value-added services and new products in the days to come. But for now, the spotlight is back on the firms much-awaited big-bang IPO. With Facebook picking up a minority stake, the Reliance management has fulfilled their own condition of inducting a global investor in Jio. This paves the way for an IPO in the next 12 months, preferably in FY21 with a stake dilution of about 10 percent, says market veteran SP Tulsian. Its like getting a pre-IPO investor and benchmarking the valuation and then targeting an IPO later when the business is on the rise," said a merchant banker. Other capital market advisors are betting on a FY22 listing. The deal may bolster Jios listing plans as the firm now has a credible global tech giant as an investor, says a capital markets lawyer. Reliance will have to wait for one year for Facebook to become eligible for an offer for sale. An IPO in FY 22 looks doable, he added. "During this year, it is expected that the regulator and the courts will be busy, leading to pricing adjustments. Tariff rise by the existing players cannot be ruled out and therefore FY22 is a clearer year for an IPO in the telecom sector, added another merchant banker. An executive familiar with Reliance Jio said the firm is looking at coming out with an initial public offer in the medium term, in the next few years, adding that both Reliance and Facebook share the similar vision of creating a digital ecosystem in India. Catch our entire coverage on the Facebook-Jio Deal here. : Reliance Industries Ltd., which also owns Jio, is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd. Can staying up late make you fat? A growing body of research has suggested that poor sleep quality is linked to an increased risk of obesity by deregulating appetite, which in turn leads to more calorie consumption. But a new study published this week in PLOS Biology found that the direction of this reaction might actually be flipped: It's not the sleep loss that leads to obesity, but rather that excess weight can cause poor sleep, according to researchers from the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine and the University of Nevada, Reno, who discovered their findings in the microscopic worm Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). "We think that sleep is a function of the body trying to conserve energy in a setting where energetic levels are going down. Our findings suggest that if you were to fast for a day, we would predict you might get sleepy because your energetic stores would be depleted," said study co-author David Raizen, MD, PhD, an associate professor of Neurology and member of the Chronobiology and Sleep Institute at Penn. Raizen emphasized that while these findings in worms may not translate directly to humans, C. elegans offer a surprisingly good model for studying mammalian slumber. Like all other animals that have nervous systems, they need sleep. But unlike humans, who have complex neural circuitry and are difficult to study, a C. elegans has only 302 neurons -- one of which scientists know for certain is a sleep regulator. In humans, acute sleep disruption can result in increased appetite and insulin resistance, and people who chronically get fewer than six hours of sleep per night are more likely be obese and diabetic. Moreover, starvation in humans, rats, fruit flies, and worms has been shown to affect sleep, indicating that it is regulated, at least in part, by nutrient availability. However, the ways in which sleeping and eating work in tandem has remained unclear. "We wanted to know, what is sleep actually doing? Short sleep and other chronic conditions, like diabetes, are linked, but it's just an association. It's not clear if short sleep is causing the propensity for obesity, or that the obesity, perhaps, causes the propensity for short sleep," said study co-author Alexander van der Linden, PhD, an associate professor of Biology at the University of Nevada, Reno. advertisement To study the association between metabolism and sleep, the researchers genetically modified C. elegans to "turn off" a neuron that controls sleep. These worms could still eat, breathe, and reproduce, but they lost their ability to sleep. With this neuron turned off, the researchers saw a severe drop in adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels, which is the body's energy currency. "That suggests that sleep is an attempt to conserve energy; it's not actually causing the loss of energy," Raizen explained. In previous research, the van der Linden lab studied a gene in C. elegans called KIN-29. This gene is homologous to the Salt-Inducible Kinase (SIK-3) gene in humans, which was already known to signal sleep pressure. Surprisingly, when the researchers knocked out the KIN-29 gene to create sleepless worms, the mutant C. elegans accumulated excess fat -- resembling the human obesity condition -- even though their ATP levels lowered. The researchers hypothesized that the release of fat stores is a mechanism for which sleep is promoted, and that the reason KIN-29 mutants did not sleep is because they were unable to liberate their fat. To test this hypothesis, the researchers again manipulated the KIN-29 mutant worms, this time expressing an enzyme that "freed" their fat. With that manipulation, the worms were again able to sleep. Raizen said this could explain one reason why people with obesity may experience sleep problems. "There could be a signaling problem between the fat stores and the brain cells that control sleep," he said. While there is still much to unravel about sleep, Raizen said that this paper takes the research community one step closer to understanding one of its core functions -- and how to treat common sleep disorders. "There is a common, over-arching sentiment in the sleep field that sleep is all about the brain, or the nerve cells, and our work suggests that this isn't necessarily true," he said. "There is some complex interaction between the brain and the rest of the body that connects to sleep regulation." Additional authors on this paper include Jeremy Grubbs and Lindsey Lopes, who completed this research while students at the University of Nevada, Reno and the Perelman School of Medicine, respectively. This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health grants R01NS107969 and R01NS088432, COBRE P20GM103650, and the National Science Foundation grant IOS1353014. . , . , , , , , , ... New Delhi: Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday declared that the central government has introduced an ordinance, according to which any one deemed guilty of attacking a healthcare worker can be sentenced to seven years of imprisonment as well as a fine of up to Rs 5 lakh. Health workers who are trying to save the country from this epidemic are unfortunately facing attacks. No incident of violence or harassment against them will be tolerated. An ordinance has been brought in, it will be implemented after the Presidents sanction, he said while addressing the media. This move comes on the back of the Cabinet's approval to promulgate an ordinance to amend the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897. This makes such acts of violence non-bailable as well as cognizable offences, with further compensation in case of an injury to healthcare workers or in case of damage to property. The ordinance proposes that within 30 days the investigation will be over and within one year, the final decision will come. The punishment ranges from three months to five years, and fine from Rs 50,000 to 2 lakh. In terms of severe cases where grievous injuries have taken place, the punishment starts from six months to seven years and the fine starts from Rs 1 lakh to 5 lakh, the union minister explained. Javadekar further stated that the ordinance will help provide protection to the competete health fraternity, with the cabinet's decision announced just hours after Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Health Minister Harsh Vardhan interacted with doctors and senior representatives of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), through a video conference, in New Delhi. Safety and dignity of our doctors at their work place is non-negotiable. It is our collective responsibility to ensure conducive atmosphere for them at all times. I have assured doctors that Modi govt is committed to their cause and appealed to reconsider their proposed protest. pic.twitter.com/AJcxghGRkx Amit Shah (@AmitShah) April 22, 2020 The Home Minister appreciated the role of doctors in general and particularly in the fight against Coronavirus and expressed confidence that doctors would continue to work dedicatedly in this fight, as they have been doing till now. He saluted the sacrifices made by doctors to keep the people safe from deadly diseases like COVID-19. Allaying all concerns of the medical fraternity regarding their security in the fight against Coronavirus, Shah assured them that the Modi government would leave no stone unturned in ensuring their wellbeing and security. He further strongly condemned the recent attacks on health professionals and said that the PM is closely following all issues and concerns of doctors. All necessary arrangements would be put in place to prevent such incidents in future, said Shah. The Home Minister appealed to doctors not to do even a symbolic protest as proposed by them, as it is not in national or global interest. Following the meeting with Shah, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) decided to withdraw their symbolic protest. Jensen launched Argus as a fun and novel diversion after making millions as president of Hub Group, a $4 billion transportation company he helped take public during the 1990s. He had been a home brewer, and the craft beer industry seemed poised to break out. He was right about that: The nation has grown from about 1,600 breweries when Argus opened to more than 8,200 at the end of 2019. Seven new deaths from COVID-19 were reported Tuesday in Nebraska, bringing the statewide total to 40. Douglas County reported four deaths, and Hall County reported three. The four Douglas County deaths were all men in their 60s and 70s with underlying health problems. Douglas County now has seen 14 deaths from the outbreak. In Hall County, where Grand Island is located, a man and woman in their 70s and a man in his 90s have died. The three deaths bring the total in the Grand Island area Hall, Merrick and Hamilton Counties to 14, according to the Central District Health Department. Monday similarly saw a high count for deaths across Nebraska five. Also, Douglas County reported six new coronavirus cases, including two people who were hospitalized. The county has recorded a total of 305 confirmed infections. The cases involve three men and three women who range in age from 38 to 83. Three had contact with a known infected person, two were community-acquired, and one case remains under investigation. Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has beaten the death trap of coronavirus; he confirmed testing negative to COVID-19 on Wednesday afternoon. The Kaduna governor commended the state Ministry of Health and private hospital that handled his case in Kaduna. Governor El-Rufai is back to work now. El-Rufais statement reads: In the evening of Saturday, 28 March 2020, I was notified that I had tested positive for Covid-19. I immediately made a public disclosure of this sad news and proceeded into isolation under the strict supervision of our healthcare professionals. I am delighted to report today, that after nearly four weeks of observing a strict medical regime, I have now received the all-clear after two consecutive negative test results. I thank Almighty Allah for His grace and mercy. I also acknowledge with gratitude the massive outpouring of sympathy, prayers and public support that followed the disclosure of the infection. My family not only went through the trauma of potentially losing a member, but also the risk of being infected as well. The entire family has been supportive as usual, while my many friends and colleagues from all over the world have sent their prayers and best wishes. I wish to thank the diligent medical personnel of our Ministry of Health and the Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital who managed my case for their dedicated and professional care. It was cheering to see the determined efforts of our Covid-19 Task Force chaired by the Deputy Governor, the officials of our Ministry of Health ably led by the Commissioner and our security/enforcement agencies, to manage and contain the spread of Covid-19 in the state. I wish to acknowledge our Deputy Governor, Dr. Hadiza Balarabe, for her reassuring leadership of our team in my absence. In this trying period, our senior officials have demonstrated admirable commitment and the flexibility to provide governance in circumstances that are so different from the old normal. The commitment, competence and capabilities displayed by the Kaduna State Government in my four-week absence is clear evidence that we have a public service we can all be proud of. I am relieved by my recovery. With the privilege of life, sound health, and the support and prayers of our citizens, I will continue to lead the Kaduna State Governments efforts to ensure that as few of our people as possible get infected by Covid-19, and that those who do can receive adequate and timely care and treatment. Our emphasis is rightly on prevention because it is the prudent thing to do to save lives, given the limited capacity of our health system. I am delighted by the recovery of four other Covid-19 cases who were discharged last week which was followed yesterday with the discharge of a fifth patient. On Monday, we received the sad news of three more positive cases in Kaduna State. They will receive the best care that our dedicated health professionals can muster and we wish them speedy recovery from Covid-19. We must all work hard to ensure that we keep Covid-19 out of Kaduna State. We have lower infection rates than expected due to stringent measures we imposed in our state, but we cannot let our guards down. We are in dangerous times. This disease is a threat to our humanity, our lives and livelihoods. As someone that has experienced it, I will not wish it on my worst enemy. We must reiterate that an infected person can show no symptoms as I did, for up to two weeks, while unknowingly infecting others close to him or even through casual contact. That is why mixing with many people is not a good idea. While four of every five infected persons show mild symptoms like headache, fever and cough and recover fully, there is evidence worldwide that older people and those with pre-existing health challenges like hypertension and diabetes are particularly at greater risk of dying if they get the Covid-19 infection. We must therefore do everything to avoid exposure and prevent the spread of this disease in our towns and villages. We must now make the sacrifices of enhanced domestic hygiene, regular hand-washing with soap, staying at home and avoiding crowds to defeat this disease. Let me conclude by informing the citizens of Kaduna State that I have issued another amendment to the Quarantine Regulations requiring everyone in the State to wear a face mask when going out of the home or workplace for any reason. The State Government is going to make these masks available free to the poor and vulnerable groups, and encourage everyone that can afford it to get their neighborhood tailor to sew cloth masks for their use. This will help protect them, their loved ones and everyone else from the spread of this disease. Once again, we appeal to everyone to stay at home, observe social distancing, avoid gatherings of more than 10 people, and wash our hands with soap and water regularly. Stay home, stay safe, save lives! God Bless and Protect Kaduna State. God Bless and Protect the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, OFR Wednesday,22nd April 2020 PV: 0 A central Pennsylvania man convicted of fatally shooting a marijuana dealer over a $10 dispute saw his appeal of his first-degree murder conviction and life prison term go up in smoke Wednesday. Contrary to claims by Vernon Cox Jr., a state Superior Court panel found there was ample evidence to convict Cox for the January 2017 slaying of Ryan Small. The trivial cause of the killing was outlined in an opinion by Judge Deborah Kunselman. She wrote that Cox, 32, had a friend arrange a drug buy with Small. Cox brought $70 to the rendezvous in York. Small said he charged $80. The pair argued, police said, and Cox started shooting. Small drove away, Cox chased the car on foot and kept firing until Small, hit in the torso and groin, crashed. Small died of his wounds. A York County jury convicted Cox of first-, second, and third-degree murder. In dismissing Coxs appeal, Kunselman found the challenge was too vague. Cox did not identify which of his three murder convictions, or any particular elements thereof, the commonwealth allegedly failed to establish, she wrote. Nor did he identify which verdict was against the weight of the evidence, or the specific reasons why any such verdict was against the weight of the evidence. Coxs own lawyer told him his appeal was frivolous, the judge noted. Police found the gun used in the slaying in Coxs house, she added, and Coxs cellmate in the county prison testified that Cox admitted killing Small. Kunselman also rejected Coxs argument that a mistrial should have been declared when a shooting occurred outside the courthouse during his 2018 trial. The victim of that shooting was one of Coxs relatives, and the alleged perpetrator was a member of Smalls family, the judge wrote. Only one juror was aware that shooting had occurred and none of the jurors knew about the Cox-Small connection, Kunselman noted. So, she concluded the jury could not have been improperly swayed by it, she concluded. Philadelphia, PA, April 21, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- VSBLTY Groupe Technologies Corp. (CSE: VSBY) (Frankfurt: 5VS) (OTC:VSBGF) (VSBLTY), a leading retail software technology company, and Photon-X, developers of sensor technologies that enable biometric verification, document security, CGI motion imaging and photo mapping, today jointly announced a collaboration to develop advanced camera applications to help screen for persons who may be infected with COVID-19 as they enter buildings. The two firms are collaborating to develop a multi-sensor camera capability specifically for security and smart buildings applications. Photon-X object recognition and analytics combined with VSBLTY facial recognition will provide an advanced screening tool for facilities to identify and validate that someone with a high temperature is about to enter a building. Fever, cough and difficulty breathing are some of the common symptoms of COVID-19. The announcement was made by VSBLTY Co-founder & CEO Jay Hutton and Blair Barbour, founder and President/CEO of Photon-X, who said they expected to develop a prototype very quickly as it is simply a matter of integrating existing solutions. The new model will have several advanced features to the typical infrared cameras that are currently being used to measure body surface temperature. The VSBLTY-Photon-X cameras will additionally measure heartbeat and oxygen saturation levels with the goal of helping to produce less false positives than the standard infrared cameras now in use Hutton added, As the world slowly goes back to work, we will all want to be assured that we can do so safely. Thermal detection in venues, buildings, restaurants and public spaces will be an easy detection tool that can augment safety and help prevent further contagion. We have already seen efforts by major retailers, manufacturers and large employers to implement wellness detection at building and factory entrances. This is a safety measure that has long-term value and may well be an essential element in the new economy. VSBLTY technology provides enhanced customer engagement and audience measurement using machine learning and computer vision. Its industry-leading VisionCaptor and DataCaptor software combine motion graphics and interactive brand messaging with cutting-edge computer vision measurement and insights. VSBLTYs AI-driven software, Vector, provides advanced facial recognition that is crucial to enhancing todays security requirements when recognizing weapons or suspicious persons in a crowd. Investor Relations MarketSmart Communications Inc., +1-877-261-4466 info@marketsmart.ca CHF Capital Markets Cathy Hume, CEO, +1-416-868-1079, x231 cathy@chfir.com CONTACT: Linda Rosanio, 609-472-0877 lrosanio@vsblty.net About VSBLTY (www.vsblty.net) Headquartered in Philadelphia, VSBLTY (CSE: VSBY) (Frankfurt: 5VS) (OTC: VSBGF) (VSBLTY) is the world leader in Proactive Digital Display, which transforms retail and public spaces as well as place-based media networks with SaaS-based audience measurement and security software that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning. About Photon-X (www.photon-x.com) Established in 1999 and headquartered in Kissimmee, FL, Photon-X, LLC. is a customer driven, technology-based company dedicated to the research, development and manufacturing of advanced photonic devices for optical communications, biomedical sensors, RF/military applications and other emerging commercial markets. The company's products are based on its unique knowledge of nanofabrication technology, optical amplification technology with radiation hardening components for high performance/advanced photonic design and manufacturing. CONTACT: Blair Barbour (321) 300-3501 BlairB@Photon-X.com FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENT This news release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the development of advanced camera applications to help screen for persons who may be infected with COVID-19 as they enter buildings, and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "will", "may", "should", "anticipate", "expects" and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. In particular, there is no assurance that VSBLTY and Photon-X will be successful in developing an advanced screening camera or be able to commercialize such product. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of VSBLTY, and which are described in the VSBLTYs public filings available under its profile at www.sedar.com. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and VSBLTY does not intend to update any of the included forward-looking statements except as required by Canadian securities laws. Ejaz Kaiser By Express News Service RAIPUR: As the schools remained closed during the ongoing lockdown, the UNICEF in Chhattisgarh has embarked upon a unique learning programme Seekh' to facilitate the joyful learning for children at home. The specially designed programme purported as 'delight' for the students, is initially covering three backward districts of Sukma, Raigarh and Jashpur initially. The Unicef expects the state government to come on board to expand the programme to reach the remaining districts. The Seekh programme contains high quality, simple, doable fun learning activities in basic maths, language and science, layered with games, activities and COVID-19 prevention messages. These online lessons are being shared by the schoolteacher in the village twice a week, with the parents through village-based WhatsApp groups created by teachers as the admin, at the school/village level. 'Covid and closure of schools could affect the learning outcome of children and therefore Seekh programme aims to bridge that learning gap. It would promote joyful activities of students at home with the involvement of parents and other family members,' said Job Zachariah, Chief of UNICEF in Chhattisgarh. The online lessons will have videos, audios, text and illustrations. Each lesson is accompanied by an audio message that provides clear instructions to the parents and children about the activities, lessons to be undertaken. Seekh programme equally addresses the drawback usually seen in the online lessons when parents and students find it difficult to access the online materials and even if they are downloaded, there is no assurance on it likely to be used further. "Community-level WhatsApp groups are being formed in the district for the given programme. It's interesting," said Sukma collector Chandan Kumar. Similarly, the Jashpur district hopes to reduce the disparities in access to learning opportunities for families who find little scope in approaching the digital content. "Seekh is a delightful learning experience in which primary school children and parents would be engaged in easy, doable and interesting learning activities. It will ensure children continue to learn at home," opined Nilesh Kumar Kshirsagar, Jashpur collector. Raigarh collector Yashwant Kumar stated that under this programme the teachers will receive messages through the cluster academic coordinators, who in turn will share with parents, school management committee members and community volunteers. Seekh programme draws material from various online and offline sources, for developing the lessons and activities. Gabriel*, 50, considers his work as a vendor selling toilet paper, toothpaste, and food staples at a market near his house in El Salvador as essential to his buyers, his wife and his granddaughter. Thats why he continued to work despite a nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus. But police stopped him earlier this month as he was on his way home with necessary medicine for his wife, who has diabetes and high blood pressure. Now hes in mandatory quarantine. The detention was arbitrary because they didnt tell him on what grounds they were detaining him, said his 29-year-old son. Now my mom feels bad because my dad is not there with her. She calls me every day. Gabriels case and hundreds of others show the difficulties of enacting strict coronavirus prevention measures in Central America, where citizens are often forced to decide between staying home and feeding their families. A policeman asks for documents at a checkpoint during a police and army joint operation in San Salvador, El Salvador [Jose Cabezas/Reuters] Most Central American governments reacted quickly to the pandemic, implementing strict quarantine and lockdown measures. The region of about 47 million inhabitants has about 6,500 confirmed cases of the virus, with the majority in Panama, according to Johns Hopkins University. But high rates of inequality, poverty and an informal workforce have led to civil unrest in countries where more than 30 percent of the population lives on $5.50 a day or less. In some cases, desperate citizens have been met with repression and arbitrary detentions as police and military take the front line in a public health crisis. The only thing we are asking for is food Throughout the region, citizens living in poverty have taken to the streets to protest government measures. Hungry street vendors protested in Guatemala. Panama reported recent arrests for looting. After some days, the need to bring home some food became stronger, said Tiziano Breda, Central America analyst for NGO the International Crisis Group. In Honduras, where mass mobilisations to voice citizen discontent have been common since a 2009 coup, street vendors, laid-off workers and trash collectors have blocked roads in protest of a strict curfew that has worsened conditions for the nearly 50 percent of the population that lives in poverty. Most people in this country live day by day. You sell some socks and you buy some eggs, said Bertha Oliva, coordinator of the Honduran human rights group the Committee of Relatives of the Disappeared in Honduras (or COFADEH, its acronym in Spanish). They are hungry and they have to go out. The only thing we are asking for is food, one protester told Honduran media outlet La Tribuna. We have taken this curfew seriously and we havent left. Police officers control access to a marketplace as part of restrictions aimed at halting the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Tegucigalpa, Honduras [Jorge Cabrera/Reuters] In El Salvador, discontent reached a head in late March when Salvadorans showed up in droves at the government office in charge of administering a $300 government subsidy. [The president] said that he is going to help the informal sector, but he isnt, one woman told Salvadoran media outlet GatoEncerrado. If he doesnt follow through, what we are going to do is go out to sell. Thats what Gabriel, who makes about $200 a month, did. Pressure cooker In light of this reality, governments have reacted with contradicting responses, according to Breda. In Honduras, the situation has created a pressure cooker for people who dont have enough to feed their children, according to Oliva. Its not the same to have everything in your house or to have kids at home dying of hunger, she said. So what does [the government] do? They repress the people who should not be in the street. Protesters asking for food have been met by tear gas, according to a report by COFADEH. In at least one case, protesters have reported that police have threatened to shoot them with live bullets, the report says. This fits in with a pattern of excessive use of force against protesters by Honduran security forces.This country has been inhaling tear gas since 2009, said Oliva. At least 28,000 citizens have been reportedly detained across the region. This is not a game, Guatemalan police spokesman Erwin Monroy told Reuters news agency in early April. In El Salvador, human rights groups have contested some detentions under the principle of habeas corpus, which says a person must be brought before a judge or court to show a valid reason for arrest. The countrys constitutional court has ruled to release some people detained illegally. But President Nayib Bukele has continued to defend the polices authority to detain people and send them to quarantine. The government is insisting on using confinement as a punishment to whoever violates executive orders, which are unsustainable, said Celia Medrano, chief programme officer of San Salvador-based human rights organization Cristosal. They have to consider that there is a situation of informal employment for subsistence for many people who are not in conditions to maintain quarantine in their own home. People protest in front of a policeman for the closure of the offices that distribute a subsidy granted by the state during a 30-day quarantine imposed by the government due to the coronavirus pandemic in San Salvador, El Salvador [Marvin Recinos/AFP] But governments are also enacting humanitarian measures to ease the burden on the most vulnerable families and alleviate tension. In El Salvador, the Bukele government has suspended utilities payments, offered a $300 subsidy to some citizens and received a $389m International Monetary Fund loan for emergency assistance. In Panama, workers who have lost their jobs can receive $40 every 15 days to cover their basic costs. Guatemala has set up an emergency fund to provide struggling families with about $130. The Honduran government promised to distribute food to some families. But recipients of the aid told Honduran media outlet Contra Corriente that the rice, flour and beans in the package is only enough to feed a family for two days. These programmes are only short-term solutions, said Breda of the International Crisis Group, and they risk being manipulated for political purposes. The risk of these packages is that the help is not being equally distributed, he said. Breda warns that repressive measures to arbitrarily detain citizens and control their movements could become normalised in the long term, particularly if these abuses happen without resistance from citizens or civil society, he said. Where theres no check, the government will implement these kinds of initiatives even when the crisis has passed, Breda said. Some measures have been appropriate, said Gabriels son. But what I dont agree with is the violation of human rights. *Name has been changed to protect the individuals identity. A Second World War veteran who received a letter from Boris Johnson when he turned 102 this week is continuing to work as an official aircraft inspector. Ernie Horsfall has signed off thousands of planes, spent more than 3,000 hours - or four months - in the skies, and owned 56 different planes in 58 years. Raised in Bradford, West Yorkshire, as a young man he trained as an engineer and was called up to Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers when the war broke out. Although he cannot get insured to take the controls anymore, eagle-eyed OAP Mr Horsfall still works as an inspector for the Light Aircraft Association. Mr Horsfall, of Preston, offers advice to aviators and acts as the last line of defence before planes are signed off. His paperwork is reviewed by the LAA. The widower, who has no family, added: 'I have worked hard all my life and continue to do so now, I didn't think about stopping for a minute. Ernie Horsfall (pictured, celebrating his 102nd birthday) has signed off thousands of planes, spent more than 3,000 hours in the skies, and owned 56 different planes in 58 years 'I've worked with planes for so many years now that I generally know what I'm looking at. I'm not too bothered about going up in the air anymore, I've done it so many times that it's just like getting in a car is for someone else. 'Nowadays I just inspect the planes, which I like to do. 'It's quite easy work for me really, having worked with planes for so many years. I can usually tell from 20 yards away what I'm going to find. 'I'm more than happy to help people out and give them advice when they need it.' Plans to celebrate his 102nd birthday yesterday went awry because of the lockdown. However, a friend organised for the Prime Minister to write him. As a young man, he trained as an engineer and was called up to Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers when the war broke out (pictured, given a send-off to London, 2019) Mr Johnson, who is recovering from coronavirus, described turning 102 as a 'marvellous occasion', sending Mr Horsfall his 'very best wishes'. The Second World War veteran commented: 'It was a great surprise to receive a letter from the Prime Minister. I think he is a great leader and I wish him all the best'. Mr Horsfall was born on on April 21, 1918 - the same day First World War ace The Red Baron was finally shot down and the year the Royal Air Force was formed. He served as a staff sergeant with the Army for six years and it was during this time, on a trip in an RAF flying boat, he was first inspired to take to the skies. The widower said: 'I have worked hard all my life and continue to do so now, I didn't think about stopping for a minute' (pictured, stepping off a Lancaster Bomber in Nottinghamshire, 1970) However, it wasn't until 20 years later, at the age of 43 while working as an engineer for Vauxhall Motors, that Mr Horsfall took his first flying lesson. In the nearly six decades since, he has owned 56 planes, filled five logbooks, and inspected thousands of aircrafts across the country. Mr Horsfall's birthday celebrations yesterday included a cake from his former employer Vauxhall, a bottle of champagne from P&O to commemorate one of Ernest's wartime 'exploits', and a Spitfire picture from the RAF. He added: 'It was a good day and I'm very grateful.' Identity and access management in 2022 - what will the future look like? As we enter into 2022, there is still a level of uncertainty in place. Its unclear what the future holds, as companies around the world still contend with the COVID-19 pandemic. Remote working has been encouraged by most organisations and the move to a hybrid working system has become business as usual, for the majority of businesses. Some have reduced their office space or done away with their locations altogether. Following best security practices With all this change in place, there are problems to deal with. According to research, 32.7% of IT admins say they are concerned about employees using unsecured networks to carry out that work. Alongside this, 74% of IT admins thought that remote work makes it harder for employees to follow best security practices. This need to manage security around remote work is no longer temporary. Instead, companies have to build permanent strategies around remote work and security. The coming year will also create a different landscape for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs). Here are some key predictions for next year and what to start preparing for in 2022: The reality of SMB spending around security will hit home SMBs had to undertake significant investments to adapt to remote working SMBs had to undertake significant investments to adapt to remote working, especially in comparison to their size. They had to undertake significant digital transformation projects that made it possible to deliver services remotely, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Weve seen a shift in mindset for these companies, which are now more tech-focused in their approach to problem solving. According to our research, 45% of SMBs plan to increase their spending towards IT services in 2022. Around half of all organisations think their IT budgets are adequate for their needs, while 14.5% of those surveyed believe they will need more, to cover all that needs to be done. Identity management spending to support remote work For others, the COVID-19 pandemic led to over-spending, just to get ahead of things and they will spend in 2022, looking at what they should keep and what they can reduce their spending on. Areas like identity management will stay in place, as companies struggle to support remote work and security, without this in place. However, on-premise IT spending will be reduced or cut, as those solutions are not relevant for the new work model. Services that rely on on-premise IT will be cut or replaced. The device will lead the way for security We rely on our phones to work and to communicate. In 2022, they will become central to how we manage access, to all our assets and locations, IT and physical. When employees can use company devices and their own phones for work, security is more difficult. IT teams have to ensure that theyre prepared for this, by making sure that these devices can be trusted. Wide use of digital certificates and strong MFA factors Rather than requiring a separate smart card or fingerprint reader, devices can be used for access using push authentication There are multiple ways that companies can achieve this, for example - By using digital certificates to identify company devices as trusted, an agent, or strong MFA factors, like a FIDO security key or mobile push authentication. Whichever approach you choose, this can prevent unauthorised access to IT assets and applications, and these same devices can be used for authentication into physical locations too. Rather than requiring a separate smart card or fingerprint reader, devices can be used for access using push authentication. Understanding human behaviour Alongside this, it is important to understand human behaviour. Anything that introduces an extra step for authentication can lead to employees taking workarounds. To stop this, it is important to put an employee education process in place, in order to emphasize on the importance of security. The next step is to think about adopting passwordless security, to further reduce friction and increase adoption. Lastly, as devices become the starting point for security and trust, remote device management will be needed too. More companies will need to manage devices remotely, from wiping an asset remotely if it gets lost or stolen, through to de-provisioning users easily and removing their access rights, when they leave the company. Identity will be a layer cake Zero Trust approaches to security Identity management relies on being able to trust that someone is who they say they are. Zero Trust approaches to security can support this effectively, particularly when aligned with least privilege access models. In order to turn theory into practical easy-to-deploy steps, companies need to use contextual access, as part of their identity management strategy. This involves looking at the context that employees will work in and putting together the right management approach for those circumstances. For typical employee behaviour, using two factor authentication might be enough to help them work, without security getting in the way. How enterprises manage, access and store identity data There will also be a shift in how enterprises manage, access, and store that identity data over time For areas where security is more important, additional security policies can be put over the top, to ensure that only the right people have access. A step-up in authentication can be added, based on the sensitivity of resources or risk-based adaptive authentication policies might be needed. There will also be a shift in how enterprises manage, access, and store that identity data over time, so that it aligns more closely with those use cases. Identity management critical to secure assets in 2022 There are bigger conversations taking place around digital identity for citizenship, as more services move online as well. Any moves that take place in this arena will affect how businesses think about their identity management processes too, encouraging them to look at their requirements in more detail. Overall, 2022 will be the year when identity will be critical to how companies keep their assets secure and their employees productive. With employees working remotely and businesses becoming decentralised, identity strategies will have to take the same approach. This will put the emphasis on strong identity management as the starting point for all security planning. A South Korean company has launched the production of Covid-19 rapid antibody testing kits at its subsidiary at Manesar in Haryana, with a capacity of making 500,000 kits per week, to meet the needs of the Indian market. The Chhattisgarh government is set to be one of the first customers for the testing kits made by SD Biosensor Healthcare, the subsidiary of the South Korean firm, with state health minister TS Singh Deo tweeting that authorities plan to procure 75,000 kits at a price of Rs 337 each kit. The move comes against the backdrop of complaints from several state governments about the efficacy of rapid testing kits sourced from China. SD Biosensor rolled out the first batch of test kits at its Manesar facility on April 19, the Indian embassy in Seoul said in a statement. This is an example of the Make In India for World policy as the company plans to ramp up production to meet growing demand in India as well as other part of the world, it said. SD Biosensor was granted a licence by the Indian government to manufacture the rapid test kits in a very short period of time, and this was reflected in the cooperation by the Indian and South Korean governments in the fight against the pandemic, the statement added. The South Korean firm is sourcing materials for making its test kits from India and it capitalises on Indias low cost, high quality resources and skilled and technical workforce. SD Biosensor chairman Cho Young-shik met Indian ambassador Sripriya Ranganathan on Tuesday to discuss the companys plans for countering the Covid-19 pandemic. Ranganathan also visited the firms manufacturing facility in North Chungcheong province. Chhattisgarh health minister Deo said in a string of tweets the state government is procuring 75,000rapid testing kits at a benchmark price of Rs 337 + GST from a South Korean company based in India, which has proven to be the lowest bidder. He added the rate we have been able to close at is the lowest in India and this was due to interactions with South Korean ambassador Shin Bong-kil and Ranganathan. Yoo Chang-ho, the minister counsellor for political affairs at the South Korean embassy, said: South Korea and India are very close partners and we are working closely together to overcome these hard times. This production of kits in India is a good example of how dynamic our partnership really is. We are cooperating to fight these challenges we have in front of us while also taking the opportunity to encourage the Make in India policy. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON >>> Vietnam reports no new COVID-19 cases for fifth consecutive day >>> Vietnam supports Laos in COVID-19 fight >>> Rice ATMs supporting people nationwide during pandemic >>> Japanese ventilators presented to help fight COVID-19 The Sub-Committee for Treatment under the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control announced that the patient a 20-year-old Vietnamese man returning from abroad was released from the Cu Chi Field Hospital in HCM Citys Cu Chi District, following a full recovery. Patient 248 had tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 three times from April 13 to 19 and is now in stable health after two weeks of treatment there. He will be kept under medical monitoring at home for another 14 days. Up until now, 52 out of 54 COVID-19 patients in HCM City have recovered, one among the remaining two is a seriously ill British pilot Patient 91 who has overcome his critical period and is now stabilised with no fever, normal blood pressure and improved lung function after physical therapy. The latest discharge in HCM City helps bring the total recoveries in Vietnam to 216, accounting for 81% of the all confirmed cases so far. Vietnam marked five days in a row without any new infections as no new COVID-19 cases were reported on April 21 morning. * On the same day, Nhan Dan Newspaper Representative Office in HCM City continued its social activities to assist disadvantaged local labourers amid COVID-19. Representatives from Nhan Dan Newspaper Office in Ho Chi Minh City donate rice to a rice ATM in the citys District 6 on April 21, 2020. (Photo: NDO/Minh Anh) Through District 6 Party Committee, the newspaper donated 300 kg of rice to a rice ATM located at the headquarters of the People's Committee of Ward 5 in District 6. The special ATM has been set up to distribute rice for free for those in need amid the complicated development of the epidemic. A day earlier, Nhan Dan Newspaper handed over 1 tonne of rice each to the Fatherland Front Committees of District 5 and District 11, as well as 500 kg of rice to HCM City Oncology Hospital. The rice was donated from the Dai Nam Ong Bien JSC through the newspapers call to support epidemic prevention efforts. * Also on April 21, the Military Region 2 High Command transferred medical supplies and equipment to representatives of northern Lao provinces at Tay Trang International Border Gate in Vietnams Dien Bien Province to support their fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. This included 90,000 antibacterial face masks, 20 infrared thermometers to measure body temperature, and 3,000 disinfection gel tubes. The command also presented a number of COVID-19 prevention and control documents translated into Lao to the localities. The total value of the equipment and support materials is over VND2 billion. The Military Region 2 High Command and Dien Bien Provinces leaders present medical supplies and equipment to representatives of northern Lao provinces on April 21, 2020. (Photo: NDO/Le Lan) * On the same day, the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Committee of Soc Trang Province informed that after one week, its relief fund has mobilised over VND4 billion, 35 tonnes of rice, five water purifiers, 30 water tanks and other necessities to provide to the disadvantaged suffering from the epidemic and the current drought and saltwater intrusion in the locality. * In Kien Giang Province, the local VFF Committee has received donations worth more than VND22 billion from 90 collectives and individuals to support the COVID-19 fight as well as drought and saltwater crisis efforts. From this support, the committee awarded 430 gifts and cash to local border posts, hospitals, orphan villages and nursing homes. * Also on April 21, the Vietnam Red Cross Society announced that this April, the agency has coordinated with Abbott Company to deliver 27,600 bottles of Ensure Gold milk by Abbott to health workers and doctors at 22 frontline hospitals. The VND1.2 billion programme aims to help physicians maintain and protect their health during the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic. Technavio has been monitoring the gas-to-liquid (GTL) market and it is poised to grow by USD 2.44 billion during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of over 4% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200421005720/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Gas-to-liquid (GTL) Market 2019-2023 (Graphic: Business Wire) Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please Request Latest Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impact The market is concentrated, and the degree of concentration will accelerate during the forecast period. Chevron Corporation, KBR Inc, PetroSA, Qatar Petroleum, Royal Dutch Shell plc, and Sasol are some of the major market participants. The demand for clean fuel will offer immense growth opportunities. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments. Demand for clean fuel has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. Gas-to-liquid (GTL) Market 2019-2023: Segmentation Gas-to-liquid (GTL) market is segmented as below: Product GTL Diesel GTL Naphtha Others Geographic Landscape MEA ROW To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download latest free sample report of 2020-2024: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR30998 Gas-to-liquid (GTL) Market 2019-2023: Scope Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our gas-to-liquid (GTL) market report covers the following areas: Gas-to-liquid (GTL) Market Size Gas-to-liquid (GTL) Market Trends Gas-to-liquid (GTL) Market Industry Analysis This study identifies rapid growth of the transportation sector as one of the prime reasons driving the gas-to-liquid (GTL) market growth during the next few years. Gas-to-liquid (GTL) Market 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis We provide a detailed analysis of vendors operating in the gas-to-liquid (GTL) market, including some of the vendors such as Chevron Corporation, KBR Inc, PetroSA, Qatar Petroleum, Royal Dutch Shell plc, and Sasol. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the gas-to-liquid (GTL) market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Gas-to-liquid (GTL) Market 2019-2023: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023 Detailed information on factors that will assist gas-to-liquid (GTL) market growth during the next five years Estimation of the gas-to-liquid (GTL) market size and its contribution to the parent market Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the gas-to-liquid (GTL) market Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of gas-to-liquid (GTL) market vendors Table Of Contents: PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT 2.1 Preface 2.2 Preface 2.3 Currency conversion rates for US$ PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE Market ecosystem Market characteristics Market segmentation analysis PART 04: MARKET SIZING Market definition Market sizing 2018 Market size and forecast 2018-2023 PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS Bargaining power of buyers Bargaining power of suppliers Threat of new entrants Threat of substitutes Threat of rivalry Market condition PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY PRODUCT Market segmentation by product Comparison by product GTL diesel Market size and forecast 2018-2023 GTL naphtha Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Others Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Market opportunity by product PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE Geographic segmentation Geographic comparison MEA Market size and forecast 2018-2023 ROW Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Key leading countries Market opportunity PART 09: DECISION FRAMEWORK PART 10: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES Market drivers Market challenges PART 11: MARKET TRENDS Technological developments Rising demand for petrochemical feedstock Rapid growth of transportation sector PART 12: VENDOR LANDSCAPE Overview Landscape disruption Competitive scenario PART 13: VENDOR ANALYSIS Vendors covered Vendor classification Market positioning of vendors Chevron Corporation KBR Inc PetroSA Qatar Petroleum Royal Dutch Shell plc Sasol PART 14: APPENDIX Research methodology List of abbreviations PART 15: EXPLORE TECHNAVIO About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200421005720/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: media@technavio.com Website: www.technavio.com/ BOSTON, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Aqua Security, the leading platform provider for securing cloud native applications and infrastructure, announced today Aqua Dynamic Threat Analysis (DTA), a new product offering that protects container-based environments against sophisticated malware that can only be detected using dynamic analysis of a running container, and available as an option within Aqua's Cloud Native Security Platform (CSP). The company also announced enhancements to its CSPM SaaS platform (based on its acquisition of CloudSploit in 2019), which now includes Aqua DTA, image vulnerability scanning, and expanded support for cloud environments. Aqua DTA is currently available in preview, with general availability expected later this quarter. The Rising Threat of Image-Based Malware Over the past year, the Aqua Security cyber research team has uncovered increasingly sophisticated attacks on containers that use obfuscation and evasion techniques to avoid detection by static scanners. Such attacks utilize novel, innocuous-looking images to embed their own code, which is often encrypted or deployed as polymorphic malware to avoid detection. The malicious behavior of the image can only be observed when it runs as a container. "We've been seeing organized attacks that aim for cryptocurrency mining, credential theft, data exfiltration, or using containers for DDoS attacks," says Amir Jerbi, CTO and co-founder of Aqua. "To achieve these objectives, the container will exhibit a variety of suspicious behaviors, such as unpacking malicious payloads during runtime, opening reverse shell, executing malware from memory to avoid detection, connecting to known command & control servers, and more. By identifying these behaviors before deploying images, Aqua DTA 'shifts left' what used to be done only as a late response to incidents during runtime," he added. Aqua DTA addresses these risks by automatically running images in a secure sandboxed environment, then analyzing, tracing, and classifying the detected behaviors. The sandbox prevents the malware from doing any harm to other workloads and resources on the host or network. Using Aqua DTA allows security and DevOps teams to improve the security of their software supply chain and reduce risk to runtime environments. Aqua DTA is recommended to address the following needs: Approving public images and their open source packages as part of the security policies of your software development life cycle (SDLC). as part of the security policies of your software development life cycle (SDLC). Approving ISV's third-party Images scanning third-party images from independent software vendors before introducing them into the organization. scanning third-party images from independent software vendors before introducing them into the organization. Pre-production security gate scanning release candidate images before they are promoted to production from CI/CD pipelines or registries, as an added layer of protection. scanning release candidate images before they are promoted to production from CI/CD pipelines or registries, as an added layer of protection. Analysis and forensics quickly analyzing image runtime behavior to understand anomalies or perform forensics after a suspected incident. Within Aqua's Cloud Native Security Platform, DTA can be configured to automatically scan only images within a specific scope, for example according to a label or within a named registry. Combining CSPM and CWPP for Seamless Cloud-Native Security Aqua has also revamped its cloud security posture management (CSPM) solution, following its acquisition of CloudSploit in 2019. The new solution is now called Aqua CSPM, and includes Preview versions of both Aqua DTA, as well as integrated container image vulnerability scanning based on Aqua's Trivy open source scanner. The vulnerability scanner included in the preview currently supports AWS environments, with additional registry support planned throughout the year. Aqua is the first and only solution that extends CSPM into cloud native security with an integrated offering that discovers container image registries, scans images for vulnerabilities, and detect hidden malware threats in a single, seamless workflow. These capabilities go beyond securing the cloud infrastructure to secure the applications running on it, typically the function of Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP). In a recent report*, Gartner recommends that "SRM leaders looking to improve their cloud workload protection should: Consider a comprehensive cloud-native application protection platform that combines the needs mentioned above container scanning, serverless scanning, CWPP and CSPM in a single platform." The report names Aqua Security as one of three example vendors that converge CWPP and CSPM capabilities. Additional recent enhancements to Aqua CSPM include: General Availability of its support for Google Cloud and Oracle Cloud environments Scanning of Terraform templates in addition to the previously available AWS CloudFormation templates, enhancing security control over Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) tooling Automated GDPR compliance reports, facilitating compliance with the European privacy requirements To learn more: - Aqua Blog: Dynamic Threat Analysis for Container Images: Uncovering Hidden Risks - Webinar with Aqua's CTO and co-founder, Amir Jerbi: Dynamic Analysis of Container Images for Detecting Stealthy Malware * Gartner, Top Security and Risk Management Trends, Peter Firstbrook et. al, 27 February 2020 About Aqua Security Aqua Security helps enterprises secure their cloud native, container-based and serverless applications and infrastructure from development to production. Aqua bridges the gap between DevOps and security, promoting business agility and accelerating digital transformation. Aqua's Cloud Native Security Platform provides full visibility and security automation across the entire application lifecycle, using a modern zero-touch approach to detect and prevent threats while simplifying regulatory compliance. Aqua customers include some of the world's largest financial services, software development, internet, media, hospitality and retail companies, with implementations across the globe spanning a broad range of cloud providers and on-premise technologies. For more information, visit www.aquasec.com or follow us on twitter.com/AquaSecTeam SOURCE Aqua Security Related Links http://www.aquasec.com WASHINGTON President Donald Trump said there are plenty of coronavirus tests available, but many governors said they're running short even as states begin to lift their stay-at-home orders. "This is probably the number one problem in America, and has been from the beginning of this crisis, the lack of testing," Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican and the chairman of the National Governors Association, said on CNN Sunday. Trump insisted Monday that there was tremendous capacity for coronavirus testing at U.S. labs. He said governors such as Hogan needed to get a little knowledge about the testing situation. The countrys largest private labs said they have plenty of capacity to test samples sent from medical offices and hospitals, but governors in a wide array of states said health care providers cant conduct the tests because of a lack of supplies such as swabs and a chemical known as a reagent crucial to the process. Public health experts and private and public labs contacted by USA TODAY agreed that a major problem was a shortage of supplies at the testing sites where mucus samples are taken. Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, a Republican, said states compete with each other to get more testing supplies, a process he described as a slog. Concerns over testing escalated as the Trump administration issued guidelines meant to help states ease the temporary social distancing restrictions put in place to slow spread of the coronavirus and reopen their economies. The guidelines call for a three-phase approach: testing, tracing contacts of those infected and, in time, treatment solutions. Its a perilous set of circumstances trying to figure out how to make this work, Gordon said last week, and until weve got the testing up to speed which has got to be part of the federal government stepping in and helping were just not going to be there. Swab shortages At a briefing, Trump discussed the swab issue, holding one up alongside a Q-Tip he pulled from his jacket pocket. Trump said swabs and reagents are so easy to get, arguing it was far harder to ramp up production of ventilators. Story continues In a tacit acknowledgment of the urgency of producing more swabs, he announced that he would activate wartime powers under the Defense Production Act to increase swab production in one U.S. facility by over 20 million additional swabs per month. Like other aspects of testing, the shortages are not consistent across the country. Thomas Denny, chief operating officer of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute and a former consultant to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said his lab has no problems getting the supplies. Ashish Jha, the director of the Harvard Global Health Initiative, blames the federal government for failing to address that unevenness. "Everybody has different sets of problems, and the solution is greater coordination," he said. "So if one state has too many swabs but not enough reagents, and the other state doesn't have enough swabs but plenty of reagents, you can imagine swapping." Instead, Jha said, states got into "bidding wars for materials, like those that erupted around ventilators and protective equipment. "What's happening is some states that are missing swabs, they're trying to call swab manufacturers, he said. And then those manufacturers are getting calls from 20 different states. Hospitals go it alone From the beginning, America's stumbling rollout of testing significantly slowed the nation's response. Flawed tests were shipped in February to state and county public health labs nationwide. The nations vast network of hospital and private commercial labs did not get the Food and Drug Administrations regulatory green light until the end of February. Dr. Dan Hanfling, who advised the Hospital Preparedness Program in the Obama and Trump administrations, noted there were "technical challenges" to developing accurate tests so quickly for a new virus. One challenge, Hanfling said, is that testing was rolled out without an "ironclad guarantee that these tests are reliable" a formula for setting expectations too high. "People expect a certain level of testing, and we're just not technologically there yet," he said. By the end of March into April, testing accelerated. The majority of tests were processed by six large commercial lab companies: ARUP, BioReference Laboratories, LabCorp, the Mayo Clinic, Quest Diagnostics and Sonic Healthcare. Soon, those labs faced growing backlogs. On March 25, Quest Diagnostics had 160,000 test orders waiting to be processed, according to documents obtained by CNN. Wendy Bost, senior director of corporate communication at Quest, acknowledged that initially, the demand outstripped capacity. In frustration, hospitals and state public health labs started going it alone, developing their own tests and processes. Coronavirus tests: Labs test 100,000 people each day for the coronavirus. That's still not enough. Robert Hart, executive vice president and chief medical officer of Ochsner Health in Louisiana, said his state lab was the only place conducting testing, and it got results back within a few days. Then the state was overrun. The next move was to send them to the Mayo Clinic, Hart said. Mayo quickly became overrun. Tests waiting to be completed were shuffled around to the University of Washington, then to Quest, which hit the backlog. We literally were waiting 12, 14, 16 days for test results, Hart said. Hart said Ochsner started doing testing in its own laboratory and has results within a day. The private labs said things have changed. They have room to spare and turn results around quickly. Our current capacity is greater than the volume we are currently receiving, and we have no backlog, said Mike Geller, spokesperson for LabCorp. Based on current testing volumes, we are now able to deliver test results on average between one to two days from the date of specimen pick up. A technician prepares COVID-19 coronavirus patient samples for testing at a laboratory in New York's Long Island. Wide scale testing is a critical part of tracking and containing infectious diseases. But the U.S. effort has been plagued by a series of missteps. Louise Serio, a spokesperson for the American Clinical Laboratory Association, said the groups members, which include Quest and LabCorp, reached out to hospitals and other health care providers to communicate the excess capacity. She said member labs have enough testing supplies to meet demand, but if they are hit with double or triple the demand for testing, that would be an issue for them as well. What were focused on for expanding our capacity, Serio said, is making sure we have all of the supplies necessary and predictable access to those supplies. Shipment from South Korea The dispute between Trump and the states over testing came to a head this week when the president criticized Hogan, the Maryland governor, for announcing that he had secured 500,000 coronavirus tests from South Korea. I dont think he needed to go to South Korea," Trump told reporters at a White House briefing. "I think he needed to get a little knowledge. Would have been helpful. Trump then held up a list of what he said were 5,000 labs nationwide that are prepared to accept coronavirus tests. Hogan tweeted that he was "grateful" to Trump for the list of labs and in a jab at the president added: "Accessing these federal labs will be critical for utilizing the 500,000 tests we have acquired from South Korea." When asked by USA TODAY for a copy of the list of labs Trump had referenced at his briefing, the White House declined to provide it. Fact Check: Coronavirus not man-made or engineered, but its origin remains unclear Both Democratic and Republican governors urged the Trump administration to do more to help increase the availability of testing supplies. We have a worldwide shortage of some of the materials that go into this. We really need help, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, told Meet the Press on Sunday. I could probably double maybe even triple testing in Ohio virtually overnight if the FDA would prioritize companies that are putting a slightly different formula together for the extraction reagent kit. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, said her state could handle two or three times the amount of testing but lacks the swabs and reagents needed to process the tests. We could, if we had all the supplies we needed, do 11,300 tests a day working with our current capacity, she said Monday. The reality is that were about half of that. In a phone call between Vice President Mike Pence and governors Monday, Whitmer said the plea for the federal administration to use the Defense Production Act to compel production of the supplies was loud and clear. We talked quite a bit about the lack of the critical supplies for testing, she said, adding that testing needs to be much broader for states to feel confident in lifting their stay-at-home orders. Were all needing swabs. Were all needing reagents, Whitmer said. Contributing: John Fritze, Kathleen Gray, Todd Spangler, Ken Alltucker, USA TODAY; The Associated Press This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus: Trump claims there are plenty of tests. They're not NEW YORK, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Namely , the leading HR platform for mid-sized companies, today introduced a new service offering, Managed Benefits Pro . Managed Benefits Pro simplifies how mid-sized businesses administer and run their employee benefits programs, saving time and money and reducing billing errors. The new service offering includes a powerful combination of Carrier Invoice Reconciliation Services, ACA Consulting, and a Healthcare Concierge that is powered by TouchCare. Employee benefits are considered essential and can differentiate an organization as an "Employer of Choice." Most companies extending benefits packages to their employees include healthcare, dental, vision and even life insurance. Managing these benefits, especially the complexities of interacting with the network of brokers and carriers behind the scenes, is an overwhelming initiativeespecially for companies with 50 to 500 employees, who might lack the dedicated full-time benefits teams typically found in large enterprises. Benefits challenges faced by mid-size businesses often include costly errors, employee stress and anxiety, and compliance. According to the 2019 Aflac WorkForces Report, responding employees said two of their most stressful activities were submitting a health insurance claim and negotiating medical billing. Further complicating the employee benefits category are seemingly constant legislative changes such as the Affordable Care Act and new rulings designed to address the pandemic crisis. Carrier Invoice Reconciliation Some industry sources cite billing errors in excess of $250,000 a year for a company with 250 employees. With this new offering, Namely Managed Benefits clients will be able to audit their benefits spend, reduce errors, and identify areas in which to save money. Delivered as a quarterly reconciliation of medical, dental and vision benefits carrier invoices, Namely compares the client's benefits costs and activities to the invoices and census data to uncover discrepancies. This quarterly process will take a major burden off the employer and reduce the risk of errors that can lead to budget overruns and excess spending. Personalized Affordable Care Act Consulting ACA Consulting is a specialized offering that goes above and beyond Namely's standard ACA support. It's been launched to provide more personalized, one-on-one consulting and subject matter expertise on ACA, the Namely ACA wizard, and Namely Benefits transactions. Namely's ACA wizard makes the ACA reporting process simple. With this wizard, clients can view previous years' ACA reporting, monitor reporting status, and generate and submit 1094 and 1095 forms. Employees then have the ability to access their 1095-C forms directly from the Namely portal. ACA Consulting also provides consulting and recommendations to clients for how to correct common errors, help ensure reporting compliance, and recommend ongoing management practices. Healthcare Concierge, Powered by TouchCare In its Managed Benefits Pro offering, Namely has partnered with TouchCare, a premier healthcare concierge service. The Namely Healthcare Concierge is an employee benefit that helps employees uncover billing mistakes, find and coordinate providers, select a health insurance plan, and more. "Without support, mid-sized businesses lose time and money dealing with healthcare and benefits errors. Namely is stepping in to help these companies save, especially during a time when they need it most," said Namely CEO Larry Dunivan. To learn more about Namely Managed Benefits and Managed Benefits Pro, please visit: https://hubs.ly/H0pzHf00 About Namely Namely is the #1 HR Software company that empowers mid-sized businesses to build better workplaces. Its cloud-based software brings HCM, benefits, insights, payroll, and time into a single-view platform to help modern HR teams make data-driven decisions about their people and understand what's really going on in their workforce. The Namely ecosystem includes powerful integrations with market-leading applicant tracking, identity management, ERP, compliance, E-Verify solutions, and more. Serving more than 1,400 clients with 230,000 employees globally, the company is backed by leading investors, including Altimeter Capital, GGV Capital, Matrix Partners, Scale Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, Tenaya Capital, and True Ventures. For more information, visit www.Namely.com . SOURCE Namely Related Links www.namely.com The opposition Congress on Wednesday slammed the Haryana government for the tardy procurement of wheat, saying the process has left farmers worried. In a telephonic conversation with Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, urged to conduct the process smoothly in coordination with commission agents (arhtiyas). According to a press statement, Hooda told the CM that the speed at which wheat was being procured, it will take at least three to four months to complete the process. The government had promised to buy every grain from the farmers, but now it is buying the crop grain by grain. A farmer has to visit the mandis repeatedly to sell his crop, Hooda said. Farmers are worried on how will they sow the next crop as this crop has not been sold, he added. Commenting on the issue, Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said arhtiyas have gone on strike due to which the procurement process has taken a hit. There is a complete chaos in the mandis and the state government has failed the farmers of Haryana, Surjewala told reporters in a video conference. The former Haryana minister said he visited 12 'mandis', including those of Kaithal, Kalayat, Uchana and Narwana, and found a complete mismanagement of the procurement process. When pointed out that Haryana's Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala had claimed that so far nearly 3 lakh MT of wheat has been procured as against neighbouring Congress-ruled Punjab's 42,000 MT during the first two days of procurement process , Surjewala said the BJP-JJP combine was looking for excuses. I sincerely wish Dushyant Chautala Ji had adjudged the condition of the Uchana grain market, an assembly constituency he represents, where there is a dharna going on against him, he said. A chief minister and a deputy chief minister, who cannot procure the wheat crop in their own assembly constituencies, can definitely do zero justice to rest of the Haryana.., he added. Surjewala claimed that the government was issuing new directions every other day, which are complicating things. Every other day, they are coming out with a Tughlaqi Firman, changing the modalities and the goalpost, he said. First, the government ordered commission agents to open accounts in seven private banks, then they changed that order, saying they will transfer the money into old accounts, he said. Now, they have changed this third time, saying we do not want to procure through commission agents, instead the panchayats will be the procurement agencies in place of them. They are adamant in breaking the age-old relation which these agents share with farmers as well as farm labourers, said Surjewala. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) (Bloomberg) -- Wirecard AG said an independent audit has uncovered no substantial findings of questionable accounting methods so far, but added it isnt yet ready to reveal the full report. The company said KPMG didnt find anything in all four areas of the audit that would lead to a correction of its financial statements. The firm was looking into Wirecards third-party partner business, merchant cash advance as well as business activities in India and Singapore. KPMG will report on its full findings in a presentation on April 27, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. In the remaining days, data inventories still received are to be processed and taken into account, Wirecard said. The company said last month that the audit had cleared it in three of the four areas. Wirecard has been trying to rebuild its reputation after facing repeated allegations about its accounting methods. Wirecards revenue soared in 2018 after it bought more than 15 companies in a few years. But in a series of articles, the Financial Times reported allegations of accounting fraud at Wirecard in several countries. Wirecard may well rally at the open tomorrow, as it often does on headlines, but this doesnt answer many, many questions and the questions of the scope, other divisions and areas remain, said Neil Campling, an analyst at Mirabaud Securities. Read more: Why Germanys Wirecard Is No Stranger to Controversy: QuickTake The company hired law firm Rajah & Tann to investigate its Singapore subsidiaries. A final report from the firm in March 2019 acknowledged accounting oversights and potential criminal liability among some Singapore staff, but didnt find evidence of any linked to Wirecard headquarters. The Financial Times also reported that substantial sales and profits were processed by Wirecards Dubai-based partner company Al Alam Solutions in the names of several clients that didnt exist or had no record of a relationship with the firm. The company categorically rejects the allegations, calling them nonsense, a spokeswoman said in October. Still, the company hired KPMG to do an independent investigation. Story continues The company said it sees no need to correct financial statements from 2016 to 2018. No evidence was found for the publicly raised allegations of balance sheet manipulation, it said Wednesday. Separately, Wirecard supervisory board member Susana Quintana-Plaza is stepping down from the payment processors oversight committee, according to her LinkedIn profile and people familiar with the matter. The manager is leaving the German firm to re-focus on her role as co-chief operating officer of Portuguese utility Galp Energia Sgps SA, one of the people said, adding the departure is unrelated to the Wirecards pending publication of a special audit report. She didnt immediately respond to a LinkedIn message seeking comment. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. MotorTrend spoke to him recently about his time at Tesla and his current projects, and Rawlinson went on to say that his upcoming sedan, the Lucid Air, is better than the Tesla Model S. Given the mans stellar reputation and the work hes done in the past, will the Air dethrone Tesla and be the new premium electric sedan? Peter Rawlinson has worked for many big automotive companies in his career. He has worked as the Principal Engineer at Jaguar, Chief Engineer of Advanced Engineering at Lotus, and most recently, as the Chief Engineer who made the Tesla Model S what it is today. Presently, hes associated with Lucid where he looks after the same stuff along with looking after the company as the CEO and CTO. How Did Peter Rawlinson Join Tesla? Rawlinson recollects how he got a call from Elon Musk in 2009 when he was looking for a good engineer to spearhead the Model S project. Although uninterested initially, Peter figured out that this could be achievable. With a team of six engineers, they set up an office at Space X. He remembers that back then Tesla was the underdog and people had their money on Fisker. He said, Ten years ago, they were the underdog. The hot money was on Fisker. I was working my guts out on the Model S and slaving away with a very small team of brilliant engineers; I'd persuaded a lot of them to come and join me. While Tesla was the unheard of underdog, we had the real deal in terms of engineering talentthat was the differentiator. Rawlinson further added that post the Model S success, Musk became the face of EVs, and "suddenly everyone was doing an electric car, and they hadnt a clue how to do it." They felt that all they needed was to source the motors, inverter, and battery system, and slap a big screen in the cabin. It really hurt us because we were genuine, with genuine technology., he said. Battery Supply To Formula E Changed The Fortunes Speaking about Lucid, Rawlinson said that the company wasnt successful in getting funds because venture capitalists were putting their money on autonomous technology. To differentiate themselves, Lucid changed its direction and supply batteries to Formula E. He said, My team thought I was nuts because we were running low on money with our backs to the wall developing the Alpha prototypes in 2016. Williams Grand Prix Engineering had been building 28-kWh pack for the first few seasons that could last half a race distance. We tried to sell the FIA in Paris on the idea that we could make a 54-kWh one to last the full race. Even though other companies were ready to offer it for free, he wanted Lucid to be a profitable company. Surprisingly, they won the bid, and to this day, we have a 100 percent reliability record with all 24 cars on the grid using a battery,. This led them to receive a $1 Billion investment from the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. He said that Lucid will put this DNA in the Airs battery pack. What Will The Lucid Air Be Like? Lucid had designed prototypes in 2016, but the Air is completely different today. He wanted the Air to be the best electric car imaginable. Surpass my last one, the Model S. He says the 2016 prototype Alpha fleet ran on induction motors with 400-volt architecture. The Air makes use of permanent magnets rated at over 900 volts. We can use one, two, or three of our motors, so the Air could have 600 hp, 1,200 hp, or 1,800 hp. Currently, we have 1,100 hp at the battery pack, and 1,000 hp from the two motors., he added. Rawlinson also said hes working on the missed opportunities with the Tesla to make the Air a better product. One of them is giving the latter a trunk instead of a hatch. Final Thoughts Rawlinson said that he understands people are skeptical about Lucid because of the less credible EV startups in California. But, Lucid is different, and the fact that its being headed by the person responsible for the Model S and a lot of other brains from that team, it might be the next big thing. What are your thoughts on Lucid and its first product? Share them with us in the comments section below. Source: Motor Trend Redpoint's Solution Can Help Reduce Risk of Coronavirus Spread in Warehouses and Industrial Sites BOSTON, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Redpoint Positioning Corporation announced a new application for their Internet of Moving Things (IoMvT) platform that delivers real-time location tracking. Their cutting-edge technology is already used by leading companies worldwide in third-party logistics, auto manufacturing, mine operations, and other sectors to improve productivity, reduce unnecessary capital spending, and contribute to a safer work environment. Now, the system is being applied in warehouses and other industrial environments for the purposes of enforcing social distance between employees, contact tracing, and enforcing other safety measures being taken to combat the spread of coronavirus. Redpoint's technology uses tags and Ultra-wideband (UWB) signal to track the location of people and equipment with extremely high accuracy, even in complex industrial environments. If social distancing parameters, such as a 1- or 2-meter radius, are violated between workers, the tag alarm will alert them to the hazard. The system is also helping employers define geo-fenced areas in their facilities, allowing them to set occupancy maximums and to monitor areas to avoid crowding. They can also geo-fence cleaning stations and track employees' entry and time spent in these areas to enforce handwashing or equipment cleaning protocols. If an infection does occur, historical data from the system will allow for highly accurate contact tracing, as records can show the individuals who were near the infected party. Redpoint has many clients in China and first became aware of this new use case for their technology in February when the pandemic began affecting those clients' operations. One client, a major mobile data center in China, was able to use Redpoint's IoMvT to enforce new safety measures to reduce the risk to their employees and keep their facility open. While companies everywhere grapple with closures due to coronavirus, the Redpoint team is taking what they learned in China and leading other clients across the globe toward a solution. "We know that employees can't go back to work unless their employers can enforce safety protocols to reduce their risk of contracting or spreading coronavirus. When we saw our solution helping our clients in China, we wanted to make it available to the rest of the world," said Chunjie Duan, CEO and Co-Founder of Redpoint. "We can use our technology to help," he said. About Redpoint Positioning Corporation: Redpoint's technology was built to address limitations of other real-time location systems like ease of installation, scalability, and inter-operability. Their Internet of Moving Things (IoMvT) platform provides unprecedented visibility into how people, equipment, and assets are moving in warehouses and industrial facilities in real-time, empowering managers with actionable data to improve safety, efficiency, and productivity and preparing companies to scale for future growth. Redpoint is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts with offices in Beijing, China and Kharkiv, Ukraine. Visit www.redpointpositioning.com to learn more. Redpoint is a Stanley Black & Decker Ventures portfolio company. Press Contact: Jaclyn Sorci, Redpoint Positioning Corporation +1(630) 640-1112 jsorci@redpointpositioning.com By Kang Seung-woo The military plans to partially lift a travel ban for all service members later this week, the defense ministry said, Wednesday, amid signs of the coronavirus pandemic slowing. The military has banned all enlisted service personnel from leaving their bases and meeting visitors since Feb. 22 after the Navy reported its first COVID-19 infection on Jeju Island, Feb. 20. However, considering the improvement in the nation's coronavirus situation, enlisted service members at designated areas will be allowed to leave their bases starting Friday as long as they follow the government's broader social distancing guidance. "After a prolonged period of intensive restrictions for two months, recruits and junior officers have been complaining of extreme stress, and our assessment is that we have reached a threshold," the ministry said in a statement. The military will allow its personnel to visit areas that have not reported any new infections for a week and review whether to additionally lift a ban on other off-installation activities after monitoring developments. The number of infections in the military has stood at 39 since mid-March and the country has kept the number of new virus cases below 15 for the fourth straight day, detecting 11 new cases on Wednesday. The total number of infections stood at 10,694, including 238 deaths. Two former and two current employees have filed a federal suit alleging pay discrimination on behalf of as many as 250 women hired by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality prior to 2019. The suit filed in U.S. District Court in Richmond on Monday alleges that the DEQ violated the Equal Pay Act of 1963 by paying employees of one sex less than employees of the other sex, and seeks back wages. The plaintiffs are Elizabeth C. Abe of Roanoke, LeAnn K. Moran of Virginia Beach, Elizabeth Polak of Richmond and Sheryl A. Kattan of Virginia Beach. Abe and Kattan still work at the DEQ, while Moran and Polak are former employees. They are seeking a jury trial at which the amount of lost pay would be determined and also ask that the DEQ be barred from future pay discrimination and from retaliating against any plaintiffs. A DEQ spokesperson said Tuesday that the agency is unable to comment on personnel issues and ongoing litigation. By ANI NEW DELHI: Philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership in dealing with COVID-19 pandemic by adopting several measures including lockdown and increasing health expenditure to strengthen the health system response. "We commend your leadership and the proactive measures you and your government have taken to flatten the curve of the COVID-19 infection rate in India, such as adopting a national lockdown, expanding focused testing to identify hot spots for isolation, quarantining, and care, and significantly increasing health expenditures to strengthen the health system response and promote R&D and digital innovation," Gates wrote. He added: "I'm glad your government is fully utilising its exceptional digital capabilities in its COVID-19 response and has launched the Aarogya Setu digital app for coronavirus tracking, contact tracing, and to connect people to health services." FOLLOW COVID-19 LIVE UPDATES HERE Prime Minister Modi had on March 24 announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of COVID-19. The lockdown was later extended to May 3. Gates further stated, "Grateful to see that you are seeking to balance public health imperatives with the need to ensure adequate social protection for all Indians." With 1,486 new cases and 49 deaths in the last 24 hours, India's total number of coronavirus positive cases have risen to 20,471 while the death toll stands at 652, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Wednesday. Out of the total number of cases, 15,859 are active cases, 3,959 cured or discharged or migrated and 652 deaths. Bill Gates met Prime Minister Modi in New Delhi on November 18 last year. During his visit, Gates had addressed a function organised by NITI Aayog for the release of its report on 'Health Systems for a New India: Building Blocks - Potential Pathways to Reforms' wherein he lauded the country for its healthcare system and talked about how digital tools can help improve it further. At that time, the philanthropist had commended the Central government for stepping up and eradicating polio. He initially told police he had gotten in a fight with his brother, then later claimed the cuts on his hands were sustained when his elderly parents attacked him and he had to defend himself, prosecutors said. JONESBORO, Ark.The adult performer known as Mayven Doll will not be going to prison. Several years ago, Mayven Doll and her husband were accused of shooting porn and sexy glamour shots in public all over Craighead County in Arkansas. After an online probe of her work by police, each were charged with an array of criminal counts. Yesterday, she and her husband received 12 months suspended imposition of sentence (SIS) after they each entered guilty pleas to three counts of indecent exposure. (In SIS, the defendant is placed on probation. If the defendant violates probation and faces revocation, the judge may order any sentence within the full range of punishment for the crime convicted.) In addition, Mayven Doll and her husband each were ordered to pay $1,190 in court costs and fees. She and her husband will not have to register as a sex offender in the decision made by Judge Cindy Thyer. Mayven Doll and her husband each faced six additional charges of promoting obscene performance and sale, possession or distribution of obscene film. But those charges were dropped. Mayven Doll was investigated and eventually arrested, along with her husband, after the Jonesboro Police Department was tipped off by a local individual in the summer of 2017. The tipster pointed to content made available online. In videos, Mayven Doll masturbated while seated at a Cheddars restaurant and used a sex toy on her ass at a Home Depot parking lot, according to an affidavit made by an arresting officer. She also shot oral sex scenes on nature trails and at a park, the officer said. The Memphis-born adult star had a Pornhub channel, offered cam fare on Chaturbate and had a clips store at Clips4Sale. At the time of arrest, Mayven Dolls husband said that the content they shot amounted to $1,000 in income each month. WASHINGTON A handful of mostly southern U.S. states will begin loosening economic restrictions this week in the midst of a still virulent pandemic, providing a live-fire test of whether Americas communities can start to reopen without triggering a surge that may force them to close again. The Republican governors of Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Ohio all announced on Monday they would begin peeling back the curbs on commerce and social activity aimed at stopping the coronavirus outbreak over the next two weeks. Colorados Democratic governor said on Tuesday he would open retail stores on May 1. Georgia has been hardest-hit of these states, with 19,000 cases and nearly 800 deaths, including a dense cluster in the states southwest. Amid a national debate over how to fight the virus while mitigating the deep economic toll, these moves are the first to test the borders of resuming normal life. None of the states have met basic White House guidelines unveiled last week of two weeks of declining cases before a state should reopen. Most are weeks away from the timing suggested in modeling by the influential Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), based on the viruss spread and social distancing. With farmers, small business owners, and larger industries teetering on the edge, I see the terrible impact on public health as well as the pocketbook, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said. Stacey Abrams, Kemps Democratic rival in a closely fought gubernatorial race in 2018, warned of the dangers faced by lower-wage workers called back into businesses that may not follow the rules, serving customers who may not abide by them. Around the country, the pandemic has taken a greater toll on poorer Americans and minorities. As of Monday, 412 of Georgias 774 COVID-19 fatalities were black, or more than 53% compared to the 31% black share of the states population. Were not ready to return to normal, Abrams told CBSs This Morning on Tuesday. We have people who are the most vulnerable and the least resilient being put on the front lines, contracting a disease that they cannot get treatment for. Tattoo Parlors And Nail Salons Republican President Donald Trump, who has been eager to end a lockdown that has crushed the U.S. economy in an election year, has called for Democratic governors in big states to liberate their citizens from the stay-at-home orders. In Georgia, where the growth in cases and deaths from the COVID-19 disease caused by the virus has slowed in recent days, Kemp said he would allow a broad swath of businesses from barbershops to tattoo parlors to reopen on Friday under enhanced rules for hygiene, distancing among employees, and use of masks. The industries employ thousands in Georgia, but are not top contributors to the states overall GDP, which is led by finance and insurance, followed by professional and business services. Retail stores and fast food chains are top employers. On Monday, movie theaters, restaurants and private clubs in the state will be allowed to open, with some restrictions. Bars, music clubs and amusement parks will remain closed for now. Some questioned the wisdom of opening up service industries that operated with such high levels of human contact. Gyms, nail salons, bowling alleys, hair salons, tattoo parlors it feels like they collected, you know, a list of the businesses that were most risky and decided to open those first, Scott Gottlieb, former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, told CNBC on Tuesday. Unlike other businesses, these entities have been unable to manage inventory, deal with payroll, and take care of administrative items while we shelter in place, Kemp said on Monday. Georgia was one of the best-prepared U.S. states to weather an economic downturn before the COVID-19 crisis hit, Moodys Analytics noted in an April report, with a rainy day balance of 10.9% of 2019 revenues on hand. Only six other states had more. Next Steps With stepped-up testing and monitoring, we will get Georgians back to work safely, Kemp said. Leaders of the other states offered similar rationales, arguing that caseloads had eased, testing and monitoring had expanded, and hospital capacity was now adequate to take what Kemp called a small step forward in resuming normal life. Some health experts have suggested activity should remain restricted until near universal testing is available. Death rates in Georgia, Colorado and Ohio are close to the national average, but their testing rates are among the lowest in the United States, according to a Reuters analysis. Just 83,000 tests have been conducted so far on Georgias more than 10 million residents. For a graphic showing testing rates, click here. Weve got to get more testing done before we make any public health decisions, said Dr. Boris Lushniak, dean of the University of Maryland School of Public Health. Opening is a gamble in a situation where much is still unknown about the virus presence in people who show no symptoms, incubation periods within the body, and transmissibility, health experts say. Economists and epidemiologists who have studied past pandemics warn that reopening too quickly could both cause unnecessary deaths and cause worse damage to the economy over the long run. Unknown as well is the publics tolerance for potential exposure, critical in determining whether reopening at this point provides true economic relief or simply a pathway for the virus to surge whether confidence, in other words, rises before the infection rate. Guidelines issued by the IHME at the University of Washington as of Monday recommended Georgia keep restrictions in place until June 15, South Carolina until June 1, Tennessee and Colorado until May 25, and Ohio until May 18. ST. PETERSBURG (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd April, 2020) Palestinian Ambassador to France Salman Harfi told Sputnik on Tuesday that US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman lied about Washington providing $5 million to help the Palestinian Authority curb the spread of the coronavirus, saying that Palestinians "did not get a cent" from the pledged funds. On Thursday, Friedman wrote on Twitter that he was pleased that the US was giving $5 million to Palestinian hospitals and households for meeting immediate, life-saving needs in combating COVID-19. "He is lying, we don't know where they are going to spend them but not for the Palestinian health care or Palestinian hospitals. The one who wants to donate can go directly to the representative of the Palestinian people and to say: 'I want to resume my help, I was wrong.' The United States gave nothing to the Palestinian people, we didn't get a cent," Harfi said. The diplomat said that the US gave $3.5 million to NGOs that work with Washington. "[The US] gave 3.5 million for the NGOs which work for the United States. The United States didn't resume its support to the World Health organization as well so they cannot pretend as Mr. Freedman said that they gave something to Palestinians," Harfi pointed out, referring to Trump's decision to cut funding to the World Health Organization amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump, who has been a critic of the World Health Organization's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, announced halting funding for the UN agency earlier in April. Harfi recalled that in 2018, the Trump administration decided to cut more than $200 million in aid to Palestinians. Also, in 2018, it cut financial aid for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). Trump has been criticized for jeopardizing Palestinians' ability to cope with the pandemic and putting the global health response at risk by halting US funding to the UN-led agencies. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- It looks like New York Citys congestion pricing program wont be up and running by the start of the new year after all. On Wednesday, MTA Chairman and CEO Pat Foye told reporters it was unlikely that the nations first congestion pricing scheme would be operational by the long-targeted start date of Jan. 1, 2021. I think that given a combination of the pandemic and the delays in Washington, a January 2021 start is unlikely, Foye said. But we are doing everything we can on our side, on the MTA side, to advance it as much as possible. Wed love if Washington proved us wrong, MTA spokesperson Abbey Collins added. The Central Business District Tolling Program (CBDTP) -- expected to reduce congestion on busy Manhattan streets while generating billions in revenue to dedicate toward mass transit improvements -- requires federal approval due to some roads within the programs limits receiving federal funding or being considered part of the interstate highway system. The main concern lies with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review process, which will require the MTA to complete either an abbreviated environmental assessment (EA) or a larger-scale environmental impact statement (EIS). The problem is, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), a division of the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT), has yet to provide the MTA with guidance as to which review will be necessary, despite over a dozen meetings between the two agencies in recent months, according to the MTA. Despite the fact that we furnished U.S. DOT with the information they required in January of this year, we still do not have a decision on which environmental process they prefer -- a long one or a short one," Foye said. Frankly, were indifferent. We just want to be told. We cant proceed on our own because the longer form environmental impact statement requires ministerial action by the lead agency, in this case U.S. DOT, and we cant take that action ourselves, he added. ABOUT NYC CONGESTION PRICING As part of the $175 billion state budget approved on April 1, 2019, the MTAs Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA) will establish the Central Business District Tolling Program, which will charge travelers a variable fee for driving into Manhattans Central Business District, defined as any area south of 60th Street. Congestion pricing refers to the use of electronic tolling to charge vehicles for entering certain areas during peak commuting hours, ideally resulting in reduced traffic congestion and increased revenue for transit-oriented projects. A six-member Traffic Mobility Review Board will recommend toll pricing to the TBTA, which will ultimately determine the toll prices, which may vary based on a combination of factors and may potentially offer exemptions and credits to certain travelers. Thus far, the review board has yet to be determined, with no meetings yet being scheduled. The toll could potentially vary based on the time of day, the amount of traffic, the total distance traveled within the zone and the time spent driving within the zone. The program is expected to generate $1 billion annually, which can be bonded against for $15 billion, which will be placed in a designated MTA lockbox to fund capital improvements to the ailing mass transit system. Revenue generated from the new internet sales tax and progressive mansion tax will also be included in the lockbox, adding another $10 billion in bonded funds, totaling $25 billion between the three new revenue streams. Last year, a source involved with New York City congestion pricing proposals told the Advance it was fair to say that the panel would start with a baseline of the existing tolls on the Hugh L. Carey and Queens Midtown tunnels, resulting in a two-way fee of $6.12 or one-way fee of $12.24 under the current tolling structure. According to the source, the determining factor in selecting the price will be assuring that the annual generated revenue meets the $1 billion needed to secure the $15 billion in bonds for repairs and improvements to the public transportation system. A policeman takes photograph of women traveling in a mini lorry violating rules during lockdown in Hyderabad. (AP) Hyderabad: Telangana chief secretary Somesh Kumar, DGP M Mahendar Reddy and other senior officials on Wednesday visited Suryapet district to assess the situation following a surge in COVID-19 cases. The officials, who flew to Suryapet, about 135 km from Hyderabad, visited the containment zone at a vegetable market, and later held a meeting with officers of various departments at the district collector's office. Somesh Kumar said they have come to discuss further course of action in the district where 83 cases had been reported. He said the administration has been strengthened in the district with the appointment of an IAS officer as a special officer and an officer from the municipal administration department being deployed to join the containment measures, besides strengthening the health department. He suggested strict implementation of guidelines in 'containment zones' (where positive cases are reported) and tracing the contacts of positive cases to check the spread of the virus. "Because of all these, we are confident that we can control the situation and there will be no further growth (in cases). As things look, there will be stability in a couple of days.There is no need to fear," Kumar said. Most of the people among the 83 cases are asymptomatic, he said. The DGP said all government departments should work as a team to contain the virus in the district. According to official sources, with one person being discharged, the number of active cases in the district stood at 82. The sources said 12 containment zones have been put in place in the region. Suryapet district saw a sudden spike in cases yesterday, with 26 cases being reported. Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday asked the chief secretary, DGP and other senior officials to visit different districts in the state to monitor how the measures initiated to contain the spread of COVID-19 are being implemented. Oyo Hotel and Homes has asked all its employees to take 25 per cent pay cut between April and July. It has also told some staff members to take leave with limited benefits, or go on furlough for a period of four months (between May 4 and end of August). The decision was communicated to employees by Oyo chief executive officer (CEO) for India Rohit Kapoor through an email on Wednesday. Business Standard has seen a copy of the email. According to sources, the number of employees being asked to take this furlough is likely to be over 3,500. A ... Earlier this week, Houston Chronicle reporter Shelby Webb published a story that hits too close to home for us at the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. After speaking to numerous local and state officials, she deduced that school districts across Texas could feel the ill effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on society. Next year, even if the restrictions are lifted, the coronavirus still could spark a budget crisis for traditional and charter school districts across Texas, Webb reported. For the good of our state and our common future, we naturally pray that the other school districts and systems across Texas are spared such trials and hardships; but for our Archdiocese and Catholic Schools Office, we must tell you this pandemic has already had a significant effect on our budgeting and planning processes. With parishioners across the archdiocese being hit with layoffs and uncertainty in their jobs, offertory donations and contributions to parishes and schools have been impacted. Our parishes and chancery offices have been forced to weigh furloughing or letting go loyal, long-serving staff members. The tragic consequences do not end there. Over the years, we have worked hard with many caring groups and generous people to sustain our inner-city schools to help them remain the cornerstone in their communities but changes in neighborhoods and parish demographics, and the growth of charter schools, have affected this work. As a result, enrollment at the hardest hit of our inner-city schools has been below 100 students for multiple years, with their campuses being utilized at less than 40 percent capacity. These schools have also consistently relied on payroll assistance from the archdiocese above and beyond traditional levels and have seen their debt levels increase as a result. Additionally, building conditions have deteriorated and would require substantial capital outlays to provide a proper learning environment for students. We hoped we would have more time to help turn these struggling schools around, but in recent weeks the reality of our budget challenges, drastically and negatively compounded by COVID-19, forced a reassessment of these schools viability and in our view, created a mandate for immediate, urgent action. Though it is deeply disappointing, this week we notified the staff and families at four of our existing 12 inner-city schools that they would close at the end of this school year: Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Queen of Peace and St. Francis of Assisi in Houston; and St. Pius V in Pasadena. Making matters worse, due to the current public health guidelines, we could not deliver this difficult news in person as those parents and teachers would normally have a right to expect. We certainly understand and recognize their disappointment and dismay. Read more about Catholic school closings: Low enrollment, drop in donations prompts closure of four Houston-area Catholic schools During the 1964-65 school year, these four schools had a total enrollment of 2,365 students. Today, these same schools have a total of 257 students between them. While Gods mercy is boundless, our resources sadly are not. Ideally, our job as Catholic educators is to expand our reach, not contract. Whats more, Catholic schools strive to educate the whole person, but the persistently low enrollment in these schools made it more challenging to fulfill our mission. That said, the timing of this announcement was intended to give both families and teachers the maximum amount of time to prepare for the upcoming transition. Our focus now is on providing as much support as we can. The archdiocese is offering each family wishing to have their child attend another Catholic school a credit towards next years tuition. Additionally, the Catholic Schools Office is working to place the affected administrators and teachers in new positions. A new webpage for supporting both groups has been established at choosecatholicschools.org/assistance. This very painful but necessary decision does not mean the archdiocese is backing away from our commitment to inner-city schools far from it. Thanks to the generous members of the Cardinals Circle and other caring groups, we have made amazing strides providing an education to more than 16,000 inner-city students over the last 10 years. Many of these students have graduated high school and college and are making an impact in their communities right now. Truly this is an extraordinarily difficult time, but our commitment to provide a Catholic education to those underserved remains firm and our hope is the schools that remain open will become stronger, increase enrollment and continue to expand their boundaries of learning and new experiences for our students. DiNardo the metropolitan archbishop of Galveston-Houston and Haney is the superintendent of Catholic Schools. Guebert: Keep moving, nothing to see here Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, April 22, 2020 18:47 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd39c329 4 National COVID-19,COVID-19-Jakarta,mudik-ban,mudik,Idul-Fitri,IDI,coronavirus,virus-corona,virus-korona-indonesia,ramadan,ramadhan Free The central governments ban on the Idul Fitri tradition of mudik (exodus) is likely to help break the chain of COVID-19 contagion in the country and may cause the nations outbreak to end in June, according to the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI). IDI deputy chairman Slamet Budiarto said the mudik (exodus) ban, coupled with the extension of large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) currently in place in virus-plagued areas, would help clamp down on COVID-19 transmission. "With the mudik ban and extended PSBB, I predict the [nations outbreak] may end in June," Slamet said as quoted by tempo.co on Tuesday. President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo announced on Tuesday a nationwide ban on this years mudik. Previously, his administration had only advised the public to avoid the tradition this year, stopping short of an outright ban. He announced the ban after reading a Transportation Ministry survey that found that 24 percent of the country's 270 million people still planned to leave for their hometowns and that 7 percent had already left. Read also: MUI: Mudik from virus-affected areas 'haram' About 20 million people from Greater Jakarta return to their hometowns annually to celebrate Idul Fitri in the tradition of mudik. The expected volume of travelers had previously raised concerns of wider contagion. Public health experts said it could cause the coronavirus to spread on a massive scale across Java. Jakarta and its satellite cities are among the hardest-hit areas in Indonesia. The capital itself is the national epicenter of the virus. Without the mudik ban, a number of people would have unknowingly carried the virus to their hometowns, Slamet said, which could have created a second wave of the disease. Jakarta might have eventually flattened the curve, but [if mudik were not banned] the outbreak epicenters would have shifted to villages, he said. As of Wednesday, Indonesia had confirmed 7,418 cases of COVID-19 with 635 deaths. Of those, Jakarta had reported 3,383 cases and 301 deaths, nearly half the countrys cases. Critics, however, have said that Jokowi's mudik ban came too late as thousands of people had been returning to their hometowns since late last month. (aly) HRW condemns brutality during curfew enforcement; police say they have dealt with officers who misbehaved. At least six people have died in Kenya from police violence during the enforcement of a dusk-to-dawn curfew implemented to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). The measure, which came to power on March 27, prohibits people from moving outside between 7pm (16:00 GMT) and 5am (02:00 GMT). The six deaths investigated by HRW happened during its first 10 days, the US-based group said in a statement on Wednesday. It is shocking that people are losing their lives and livelihoods while supposedly being protected from infection, said Otsieno Namwaya, HRWs senior Africa researcher. The victims include a 13-year-old boy shot in the stomach while standing on a balcony, a tomato vendor hit by a tear gas canister thrown to disperse people at an open-air market and an accountant beaten to death in a pub, according to HRW. It said police officers have also extorted money from residents and looted food. The group called on Kenyan authorities to urgently investigate cases of police brutality and hold those responsible to account. Police brutality isnt just unlawful; it is also counterproductive in fighting the spread of the virus, Namwaya said. National Police Service spokesman Charles Owino told dpa news agency that there were a few cases where some few police officers misbehaved, but said these were isolated incidents. Police brutality is not a policy of the Kenyan government, he added. We took action against them some were suspended, some were indicted, some were even taken to court, Owino said. Excessive force Kenyas police force is often accused by rights groups of using excessive force and carrying out unlawful killings, especially in poor neighbourhoods. In January, HRW said at least eight young men had been shot in three low-income neighbourhoods since Christmas, and a 2019 report detailed the killings of 21 young men and boys by police apparently with no justification. Although many killings by the police have been well documented by both state institutions and rights organizations, the security officers have rarely been held to account, including by the police oversight authority, said the HRW statement on Wednesday. On April 1, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta apologised for some excesses by police in the enforcement of the curfew. HRW criticised him for not instructing police to end the abuses. By Wednesday, Kenya had reported 303 cases of the COVID-19 respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus, 74 recoveries and 14 deaths, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. A couple who breached lockdown rules by having a barbecue on Brighton beach have been fined. Community support officers (PCSOs) approached the man and woman on April 4 as they sat beside a lit barbecue. The oblivious pair, who were seen sitting along the coast near Hove Lawns, in Brighton, were urged by police who were compared to 'part-time teachers' to move away from the site amid the government's social distancing measures. Video footage showed a row between them. The pair had been having a barbecue near Hove Lawns, in Brighton, when they were spotted by police officers. They were set to be summonsed to court, but the force has instead issued fixed penalty notices to them to pay a 60 fine During the video, two officers, dressed in high-vis jackets, are seen approaching the pair sat on the beach and asking them to move, telling them: 'You need to take your alcohol or we'll move it swiftly away from you.' The woman is unhappy after one officer suggests he is 'educating' them, saying: 'Hes a teacher, a part-time teacher as well now.' One officer tells the man and woman: 'The sooner you move away from us the better day you'll probably have. Just go and enjoy yourself somewhere else.' The two officers urged the pair to swiftly leave the spot as the pair continued to remain seated Frustrated with the officer's warning, the woman replies: 'You've just ruined our fricking day!' The officers reminds the pair that they have been asking everyone on the beach to vacate the spot and adds: 'We're telling everybody. Look who empty the beach is.' It ended with one of the PCSOs filling his helmet and dousing the flames of the barbecue with sea water after they allegedly refused to leave the area when asked. The officer reminded the man and woman that they have been asking everyone on the beach to leave The new rules were introduced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on March 23, and emergency powers were given to the police to disperse any gatherings of more than two people. Under the Coronavirus Act legislation police have the authority to ask people about their journeys and activities, and to issue fines or make arrests if public health is being put at risk. The powers came into effect on March 26. CONVERSATION BETWEEN POLICE AND THE COVIDIOT COUPLE Police officer I: You need to take your alcohol or we'll move it swiftly away from you. Woman: I didnt know it was Police officer I: Im just educating you Woman: I know, you just told me. Thank you for educating me. Hes a teacher, a part-time teacher as well now. Police officer II: The sooner you move away from us, the better a day youll probably have. Just go and enjoy yourself somewhere else. Woman: Youve just ruined our fricking day. Police officer II: Yes, because were telling everyone. Look how empty the beach is. Advertisement Police said a 31-year-old man and a 48-year-old woman, both from Hove, allegedly refused to leave the beach. They were set to be summonsed to court, but the force has instead issued fixed penalty notices to them to pay a 60 fine. Shortly after the incident, a spokesperson from Sussex police praised the majority of the public for their co-operation. 'While the warm weather encouraged people to get out of their homes, Sussex Police has thanked the majority who have observed the government advice and stayed local while maintaining social distancing and travel guidelines. 'Where it has been necessary for officers to engage with them, they have been very co-operative with their requests to return home after completing their daily exercise.' A Sydney-based photographer has accidentally snapped an X-rated photo of a couple at an eastern suburbs beach. Julie Mandruzzato was walking along the promenade at Tamarama Beach, which is closed as part of coronavirus restrictions, on Monday morning hoping to get some intimate shots of the empty shoreline. But it was birds she was looking for, not passionate couples. 'I didn't realise, I was just taking the photo of the beach,' Ms Mandruzzato told Daily Mail Australia. 'I thought it was just some people down there. I didn't see what they were doing. 'I was trying to take some photographs of the birds. I thought some photos of the seagulls on the empty beach would look really good.' Sydney-based photographer Julie Mandruzzato accidentally snapped the X-rated image on Monday morning at Tamarama Beach in Sydney. All eastern suburbs beaches have been closed since March 22 due to the coronavirus lockdown It wasn't until Ms Mandruzzato examined the photos on her computer that she realised what she had actually captured. 'When I saw it on the computer screen my boyfriend and I just laughed,' she said Although some social media users accused Ms Mandruzzato of photo-shopping the saucy shot, she said the image is genuine and wanted to post it to lighten the mood during the coronavirus lockdown. 'Some people told me to mind my own business but I don't have a problem with the couple, they were in the middle of the beach,' she said. 'I just think it is quite funny and I wish I had as much courage as they do.' Tamarama Beach has been closed due to the coronavirus since March 22, along with a number of other eastern suburbs beaches. It wasn't until Ms Mandruzzato examined the photos on her computer that she realised what she had actually captured Tamarama Beach in Sydney is usually extremely popular with beachgoers but has been empty over the past month due to the strict COVID-19 measures. This Image was taken on December 28, 2018 Australians are only allowed to leave their homes for essential shopping, medical appointments, work or exercise. When Ms Mandruzzato posted the racy photo to social media she wrote: 'While some people are arguing over a poor guy going for a swim, here is just what was happening in Tamarama ... I guess everyone interprets the exercise rule differently.' Ms Mandruzzato was referring to the recent furore over the arrest of well-known Bondi identity Dimitri Moskovich after he allegedly breached COVID-19 restrictions on Sunday. But on April 28 the Waverley Council will begin to ease some restrictions between Monday to Friday to allow beachgoers to exercise and swim at its beaches. It follows the move of Randwick Council to reopen its beaches this week. KUALA LUMPUR, April 22 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures rose on Wednesday after slumping to a near nine-month low in the previous session, as crude oil prices regained some lost ground and rival soyoil firmed. The benchmark palm oil contract for July delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained 29 ringgit, or 1.41%, to 2,092 ringgit ($476.54) per tonne by 0233 GMT. It fell 7.5% on Tuesday following a historic plunge in crude prices, while concerns over higher stocks amid the coronavirus pandemic also dented sentiment. FUNDAMENTALS * U.S. oil futures rose more than 20% and Brent prices steadied after a two-day price plunge into negative territory, as markets struggle with a massive crude glut amid the coronavirus outbreak. * Stronger crude oil futures make palm a more attractive option for biodiesel feedstock. * Top producer Indonesia's palm oil exports in February fell 12% from the year before to 2.54 million tonnes, the Indonesia Palm Oil Association (GAPKI) said on Tuesday. * The palm oil market is set to miss out on a key high-demand period in 2020 as coronavirus-driven lockdowns during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan dent demand in key importing countries such as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. * Dalian's most-active soyoil contract gained 0.49%, while its palm oil contract fell 0.89%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade were up 0.12%. * Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market. * Palm oil may drop more towards 1,916 ringgit per tonne, as it has cleared a support at 2,084 ringgit, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said. MARKET NEWS * Asian share markets slipped to two-week lows as the floor fell out from under crude prices, exposing the deep economic damage wrought by the global coronavirus health crisis. DATA/EVENTS 0530 France Business Climate Mfg April 0715 France Markit Mfg, Comp, Serv Flash PMI April 0730 Germany Markit Mfg, Comp, Serv Flash PMI April Story continues 0800 EU Markit Mfg, Comp, Serv Flash PMI April 0830 UK Flash Mfg, Comp, Serv PMI April 1230 US Initial Jobless Claims weekly 1345 US Markit Mfg, Comp, Serv Flash PMI April 1400 US New Home Sales-Units March 2030 US Federal Reserve issues weekly balance sheet ($1 = 4.3900 ringgit) (Reporting by Mei Mei Chu; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu) Carbon dioxide is the most important greenhouse gas in the atmosphere and its vertical concentration gradient is important for an accurate understanding and interpretation of global warming, the inversion of carbon sources and sinks, the calibration and validation of atmospheric transport models, and remote sensing measurements. Conventional high-precision carbon dioxide measurement instruments, due to the large size, heavy mass of supporting systems and high price, are difficult to apply to vertical observation, so in situ measurement of carbon dioxide vertical profiles within the boundary layer is rare. After years of effort, the Carbon Cycle and Climate Change Group from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Prof. Ning Zeng from the University of Maryland, USA, has successfully developed a low-cost miniaturized carbon dioxide monitoring instrument based on non-dispersive infrared technology. The small size and light weight of the instrument make it easy to be mounted on a sounding device for vertical observation of carbon dioxide concentrations (Figure 1). During 8-14 January 2019, the research team loaded the instrument onto a vertical detection system of the tethered balloon from the Sub-Center of Atmospheric Sciences, Chinese Ecosystem Research Network, IAP and successfully conducted in situ observations of the carbon dioxide vertical distribution in the boundary layer (0-1000 m) in the southwestern part of Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, China. Dr. Yinghong Wang, a researcher from Prof. Yuesi Wang's group, collected gas samples of different heights and measured them precisely with a gas chromatograph in the laboratory. From data analysis, the miniaturized instrument produced very consistent carbon dioxide vertical profile results with those obtained by conventional gas chromatography analyzers. "After one week of continuous observations, we found that the carbon dioxide concentration basically tends to decrease with increasing altitude and that the vertical distribution of carbon dioxide concentration in the boundary layer is mainly influenced by the stability of the boundary layer and emission sources, and these results were further confirmed by atmospheric model simulations", explains the correspongding author, Dr. Pengfei Han, from the IAP. All these results have recently been published in Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Letters. The miniaturized instrument provides a simple and efficient method for vertical carbon dioxide observation, which is promising for applications and has high replication value. "We set up a high-density observation network in the Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei regions by using the advantages of such a low-cost and high-precision instrument, and observed the temporal and spatial characteristics of urban carbon dioxide changes at the kilometer scale, which will provide scientific data for policymaking with respect to carbon emissions reduction and low carbon development in China", concludes Dr. Han. ### QUEENSBURY Tri-County United Way has said it is ready to distribute funds from its COVID-19 Community Response Fund. The money will go to its nonprofit partners and service providers that deal the most with people affected by the ongoing pandemic. According to Kathy Tolstrup, the senior director at Tri-County United Way, a little more than $20,000 has been raised so far. Tolstrup said the agency didnt have a set goal in mind before starting distribution. Its an ongoing situation where were going to continue collecting funds and then distributing them to the organizations who help people most affected by the crisis, Tolstrup said. We felt we had enough, and we only released our application last Thursday and already have received a handful back. Weve set up a review committee that will meet twice a week to determine to whom we release the funds as long as its feasible. Tolstrup said examples of places that have and can apply for the funds are mental health agencies, the Salvation Army and food pantries. Most of the contributions so far have come from individuals. We havent had the benefit of approaching businesses as much yet, Tolstrup said. Were seeing a lot of generous folks stepping up. If we can engage more folks as well as more businesses to contribute, that would be beneficial. Irving Tissues donation of paper products to the response fund was enthusiastically received by more than 30 food pantries in Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties about two weeks ago, Tolstrup said. Pete Klaiber, director of the Hartford Food Pantry, said his pantry couldnt meet all the needs without the Tri-County United Way and others donations. We can supplement (peoples) needs with what we have to offer, allowing them to spend more of their limited resources on food, housing, medicine and utilities, to name a few, Klaiber said. Judge David Krogmann, the president of Tri-County United Ways board, said the agency wants to help its partners emerge from the crisis stronger. But everyone must remember, he cautioned, that its only the beginning, and needs will continue to evolve and grow. Those interested in contributing to the response fund may do so at www.tricountyunitedway.org. Those groups interested in receiving funding may apply online at www.tricountyunitedway.org/covid-19-community-response-fund/. Follow Will Springstead on Twitter @WSpringsteadPSV. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey bucked a trend among governors of Southeastern states Tuesday when she said the state would maintain its stay-at-home order for now to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Alabama was one of the last Southeastern states to enact a stay-at-home order as the virus spread across the country, but now seems willing to stick to it as other states look to ease their restrictions in the face of growing unemployment. Governors and local officials have been weaving a delicate dance with the virus since the Trump Administration said it would allow states to control the timeline for reopening. Reopen too soon and the virus could resurge through the population, leading to more COVID-related deaths and potentially an over-taxed health care system and new shutdowns. But the longer the business closures remain in place, the harder it is for those businesses and their employees to stay afloat. On Tuesday, Ivey pleaded for patience and perseverance. What were doing is working, Ivey said. And I just plead with the people of Alabama, keep doing what youre doing. It was a different tone from three other Southeastern governors who are pushing to allow many businesses to reopen quickly. Ivey and the governors of Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, and South Carolina have collaborated and had discussions about reopening, but Ivey said Tuesday that each state would make its own decisions about when and how to reopen. Some states are opening sooner than others but every governor is responsible for reading the numbers and doing what they think is best for their state, Ivey said. Heres a look at how those states are proceeding. Georgia: Bowling alleys reopen Friday Ivey struck a markedly different tone from Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who on Monday said businesses like gyms, salons, bowling alleys, massage and tattoo parlors could reopen as soon as Friday if they adhere to social distancing guidelines. Kemp, like Ivey, was heavily criticized for being slow to implement a stay-at-home order, then faced increasing pressure to ease off on the restrictions once they were in place. I believe that this measured approach has got us to the time to trust our people to keep going after and beating this virus but doing it in a way that is responsible, Kemp said. Kemp said restaurants could open as early as next week, along with theaters and private social clubs, if they maintained social distancing and sanitation guidelines. Bars and nightclubs would remain closed. Dr. Deborah Birx, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, when asked how hair salons or in Georgia could operate while adhering to strict social distancing guidelines If theres a way that people can social distance and do those things, then they can do those things, Birx said. I dont know how, but people are very creative. Kemp said his order would be in effect statewide, and that no city or county could enact rules that would be more strict than the statewide policy to limit the spread, in whats seen as the countrys most aggressive rollback so far. Public health officials and political rivals argue Kemps moves will result in more cases and more deaths. Jeffrey Koplan, a former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and current vice president of global health at Emory University, said it was too early to assume the worst was over. I think its dangerous, Koplan told The Washington Post. This is no time for this kind of experimentation. This is not good, state Rep. Bee Ngyuen told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. This is going to get more Georgians killed. Georgia has seen 19,881 cases of coronavirus and 798 deaths as of Wednesday morning, but also ranks 42nd in the United States in testing rate, with about 0.8 percent of the population tested so far. Alabamas test rate is slightly higher, with the number of tests run just under 1 percent of its population. Tennessee: Begin easing restrictions next week Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced Monday that he would not renew the states stay-at home order, which expires on April 30. Alabamas also expires then, but Ivey did not say yet whether or not it would be extended. Social distancing must continue, but our economic shutdown cannot, Lee said in Tennessee. Instead, Lee says the state will work with businesses to reopen as early as Monday under certain conditions, though specific plans have not been released. "The most important thing to me is that people can get back to work and businesses can begin to reopen," Lee said. "The economic difficulty thats been created by this, it has been devastating to our state, and the sooner we can begin to change that picture, the better." Lees move was painted as political and short-sighted by state Democrats. Unlike Georgia, Tennessees more densely populated cities could impose stricter regulations than the rest of the state. In Nashville, Knoxville, Memphis and Chattanooga, the county health departments can implement their own plans. Tennessee has seen 7,394 confirmed COVID cases and 157 deaths, as of Wednesday morning. Tennessee has a higher testing rate than Alabama or Georgia, with the number of tests equal to about 1.5 percent of the population. South Carolina: Reopening department stores now South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster on Monday rolled back a stay-at-home order he issued on April 7, paving the way for some businesses to reopen immediately. The new order allowed department stores, as well as retail stores that sell sporting goods, shoes, music, books, jewelry and other businesses to reopen immediately if they follow social distancing guidelines, and allowed local jurisdictions to reopen beaches if they chose to. We believe that we can do this, if compliance remains at the high level that it has been, we can do this without endangering the population, McMaster said. According to The State newspaper, McMaster based his decision on confidence in South Carolinians common sense, rather than any specific data point. South Carolina state epidemiologist Dr. Linda Bell said the risk is still very high. We all obviously want to see an economic recovery, Bell said Monday. But at the same time we have to, along with that, give the message that the risk of exposure remains for everyone. South Carolina was reporting 4,439 cases and 124 deaths. About 0.8 percent of its population has been tested for the virus. Mississippi: not going to be a light switch Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves has not announced a formal plan for reopening, although the state reopened some retail businesses for curbside pick-up or delivery sales on April 20. Reeves said at a press conference Tuesday that he was still evaluating the best way to move forward. This is not going to be a light switch that we can turn on, Reeves said. Reeves stay-at-home order expires April 27. The state has reported 4716 confirmed cases of the virus and 183 deaths. It has tested 52,364 people for the virus, equal to about 1.75 percent of the population. Florida: We have flattened the curve Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared victory over the virus in a Tuesday press conference, saying that Florida was not like New York or Italy and the worst-case scenarios have not materialized. Those predictions have been false," DeSantis said. Our work is succeeding. We have flattened the curve. DeSantis has not released a formal reopening plan yet, but said he expects recommendations from a reopening task force by Friday. DeSantis gave municipalities the green light to reopen beaches on April 17 with some restrictions about congregating in large groups. Some local areas took immediate action, such as Jacksonville where county officials reopened the beaches. Florida has seen 27,869 COVID cases and 867 deaths. It has reported 282,340 tests, roughly 1.2 percent of its population. Alabama: Ivey facing pressure to reopen Since last week, pressure has been building within the state to reopen, from public officials like U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks and Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth, while U.S. Sen. Doug Jones commended Ivey Tuesday for her comments on the crisis. During the press conference Tuesday, Ivey said the medical team led by the Alabama Department of Public Health would determine when it was safe to allow businesses that had been ordered closed to prevent the spread of the virus to reopen. Our first priority is worrying about the health of our people and getting our COVID-19 numbers down so we can go back to work, Ivey said. Ivey said the number of people tested so far in Alabama was less than one percent of the population, and that was one reason for maintaining the current restrictions. Until we get enough testing done we cant fully reopen the economy, Ivey said. Iveys press conference came on the same day CDC Director Robert Redfield warned that a second wave of the virus this winter could be even worse than the first wave, if it coincided with the regular flu season. As of Wednesday morning, 41,758 Americans had died of coronavirus, with 776,093 confirmed cases. Nationwide, the number of new confirmed cases are up and down, with the country seeing between 20,000 and 35,000 new cases each day in April. The rapid increase in new cases has plateaued, but has not declined sharply yet in the United States as it has in other countries. Protests have begun popping up urging states to end or ease restrictions, but at least one poll, a Reuters-Ipsos survey released Tuesday night, showed 72 percent of Americans surveyed supported continued restrictions until the doctors and public health officials say it is safe. World Health Organisation investigators would be given the same powers as weapons inspectors to forcibly enter a country under an Australian government plan to avoid a repeat of the COVID-19 global pandemic. The move to overhaul the world health body comes as Australia will on Thursday call for an international review of wildlife markets, which the government says pose a "big risk" to human health and food production. A wet market in Macau, China. Live animals, including wildlife, are often sold in such markets. Credit:Getty Images The new powers, which Prime Minister Scott Morrison raised with world leaders in recent days, would drastically alter the operation of the WHO by giving it the power to go into a country to investigate a disease outbreak without the express consent of the nation's government. The United Nations body has come under criticism for not alerting the world sooner to the global coronavirus pandemic through most of January, and has faced allegations from senior politicians in Australia and the United States that it was too close to China. Portuguese government on Tuesday announced a set of new measures to mitigate COVID-19's economic impact on "more than 2,500 Portuguese startups", Trend reports ciing Xinhua. "The set of five new measures, with a value of more than 25 million euros, could represent an average of 10,000 euros of potential support for each startup," the Ministry of Economy and Digital Transition said in a statement. It stressed that the measures aim to help startups "to overcome the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and resume normal activity after this exceptional period." Portugal has been under a state of emergency since March 18. As of Tuesday, the country has registered 21,379 COVID-19 cases, with 761 deaths. WASHINGTON Congress is sprinting to approve the next coronavirus aid package, a $483 billion deal backed by the White House to replenish a small-business payroll fund and pump more money into hospitals and testing programs. President Donald Trump is urging swift passage this week. The Senate approved the bill Tuesday and the House planned a vote on Thursday. The bipartisan bill, Washingtons fourth in response to the crisis, is not expected to be the last as lawmakers take unprecedented steps to confront the virus and prop up communities nationwide amid the health crisis. Most of the funding, $331 billion, would go to boost a small-business payroll loan program that ran out of money last week. There would be $100 billion for health care, with $75 billion to hospitals and $25 billion to boost testing for the virus, a key step in building the confidence required to reopen state economies. There is $60 billion for a small-business loans and grants. What started as a Trump administration effort with Republicans to bolster the governments small-business Paycheck Protection Program quickly doubled in size, second only to the nearly $2 trillion coronavirus rescue package that became law last month. As negotiations dragged on, Democratic demands for additional funds for hospitals and virus testing in the states became more pressing, and eventually gained support from Republicans. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the bill was made better and broader by the effort from Democrats. Of the $25 billion for increased testing efforts, at least $11 billion goes to state and tribal governments to detect and track new infections. The rest will help fund federal research into new coronavirus testing options. Currently, the U.S. has tested roughly 4 million people for the virus, or just over 1% of its population, according to the Covid Tracking Project website. While the White House says the U.S. has enough testing to begin easing social distancing measures, most experts say capacity needs to increase at least threefold, if not more. As announced Tuesday, the centerpiece of the deal remains the small-business payroll program. It provides forgivable loans so shops can continue paying workers while businesses remain closed for social distancing and stay-at-home orders. Launched just weeks ago, the paycheck program quickly reached its lending limit after approving nearly 1.7 million loans. That left thousands of small businesses in limbo as they sought help. Controversies dogged its rocky roll-out and Democrats highlighted the number of smaller and minority-owned shops missing out on the aid. A number of publicly traded, big-name corporations also received loans, drawing complaints and Trumps vow that some will be asked to return the money. As part of the new agreement, $60 billion or so has been set aside for and divided equally among smaller banks and community lenders, a nod to neighborhoods and rural areas underserved by banks. This is a significant package, said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., ahead of Tuesdays vote. The Senate swiftly approved it by consent late Tuesday, despite opposition from key conservatives, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah. The House has asked lawmakers, who have been at home with Congress all but shuttered, to return Thursday for a roll-call vote. Missing from the package, however, was extra funding for state and local governments staring down budget holes and desperate to avert furloughs and layoffs of workers needed to keep communities running. Trump said he was open to including in a subsequent virus aid package fiscal relief for state and local government Democrats had wanted such funding for the current bill along with infrastructure projects. At the White House, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin outlined the contours of the next bill, which he said should include the presidents long-promised effort to rebuild roads, bridges and, especially as Americans stay home, broadband. But facing Republican unease over the White Houses deal-making with Democrats, McConnell indicated he is unwilling to engage in another round of negotiations on his own, without calling senators back for a full vote. He welcomed the White House plans to start reopening the economy, and signaled similar for Congress. Unless we get our economy up and running again, theres not any way we can spend enough to continue to prop up the country, McConnell said. The House planned to vote on a proposal to allow proxy voting during the pandemic, a first for Congress, which has required in-person business essentially since its founding. The House must show the American people that we continue to work hard on their behalf, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., wrote to colleagues. Many lawmakers are wary of boarding airplanes to Washington and crowding back into cramped offices and meeting spaces. But the landmark rules change met with objections from conservative Republicans. Congress should be in session, said Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La. Congress is not scheduled to fully resume until May 4, but officials continue to watch virus projections and the District of Columbia remains under stay-at-home rules. ___ Associated Press writers Matthew Perrone, Mary Clare Jalonick and Matthew Daly contributed to this report. Whether one is looking at the exuberantly decorated furniture of the rococo period (early 1700s) or the subdued Gustavian style that followed in the late 1700s, Swedish design continues to resonate today and holds widespread appeal. The Gustavian period, whose legacy still influences contemporary design, was largely due to the influence of Swedens King Gustav III (1746-92), who directed the master craftsmen of the Stockholm Guild to create timeless furniture with simple lines and elegant styling that continues to delight today. Rhonda Eleish and Edie van Breems of Eleish Van Breems Home in Westport are celebrated for creating an inviting aesthetic in their interior design work. While they design everything from traditional to modern spaces, the Swedish look has long been in line with their tastes and offers homeowners ways to create a timeless and classic look from formal and country Swedish antiques to bold textiles and modern accessories. There are many reasons to explain the popularity of Swedish design, not the least of which is its ability to mix with both antiques and modern items as well as marry well with different decor styles. Swedish furnishings and accessories are, for the most part, so beautifully designed that we find they can stand alone almost as sculpture and artwork in any setting. The eclectic layering of pieces from many different periods is how most Swedes live and why their interiors look so elegant and sophisticated is not only this mix but their use of light, symmetry and negative space, says van Breems. A wonderful way to add a Swedish piece into your existing space is to bring it in to add a deliberate contrast, Eleish adds. If you have a sleek and hard-edged modern hallway, for example, a Swedish rococo mirror, given lots of room to be noticed as art, adds interest, light and subtle warmth. It is a clean style that uses natural materials wood, metal, stone, cotton and wool. I think its attractive to people exactly because of its simplicity. Its not overly cluttered, but comfortable, inviting and relaxed, says Marianne Beresford, owner of Scandinavian Butik in Norwalk. The store carries a wide array of home fashion products (visit the shops website for purchasing details), including dishes, glassware, table runners, dish towels, serving trays and bowls, pitchers, coasters, candlesticks, paper napkins, and childrens dishware. Gourmet food, sweets, and chocolate are also available. Swedish style looks deceptively simple but is multilayered and complex, van Breems says. There is a perception that all Swedish interiors are white but the reality is that there are many other colors and types of white in a Swedish interior. It is the layering of all of these colors, ranging from grays to whites (to even black contrasting with whites) that gives the impression of the white Swedish room. It is the sophisticated mixing of patinas and paints that gives the Swedish interiors their special quality. Form meets function perfectly here where the restrained decoration, functionality, and clean lines are at the heart of Swedish design philosophy. Historically, things were designed from the highest available materials to last and living space was at a premium, so items were designed with great thought and care. Furniture often served many multiple uses and this concern with practicality continues into the present day, Eleish says. Paulette Peden, owner of Dawn Hill Antiques in New Preston, explains that the natural environment of Sweden says much about why Swedish furniture favors light hues, especially apropos before homes had electricity and where days are very short in winter. Plain wood floors, instead of heavy carpets, added to the lightness of the rooms, and the Swedes, of course, celebrated the precious months of summer when it stays light well into the night, she says. Swedish design is lighthearted and airy, and this aesthetic is carried through in both the design of the rooms and the furniture, as well. If you want to decorate in this style, you might consider starting with a statement piece, such as a Mora clock with its iconic figure-eight shape. The thing about Swedish pieces, and particularly a clock, is you could put a Swedish clock in almost any room with dark furniture and it would just be a bright beacon of light, Peden says. Swedish Gustavian design has such a universal appeal, which is why one sees it used by so many designers and in so many different styles of homes and spaces, declares Margaret Schwartz, a longtime antiques dealer in New Canaan, who now runs Modern Antiquarian in Ridgefield. The classic Gustavian shapes and colors are almost chameleons in how easily they can be incorporated in traditional and modern settings. Each piece and material complements the others and truly lets the eye travel and take in the room as a whole, she says, adding: Buying Swedish antiques can be expensive, but they are a good investment. They will last a lifetime and often hold value for resale. A tall cupboard, useful for storing dishes or DVDs, as well as a chest of drawers, functional both in the bedroom or in the living room as a sideboard, are other good multifunctional pieces with which to start, Peden says, adding, One of my favorite types of Swedish tables is a slagbord drop-leaf table. It has long leaves that go to the floor and sort of a narrow center, about 12 to 15 inches, so they are very versatile. While Gustavian-style pieces, which are still being made today, have eclipsed the rococo style, Peden declares that Swedish rococo furniture was equally fabulous and came in wonderful colors, from pale blue to green. Another important consideration when buying antique furniture, Peden says, is its patina. What we look for at Dawn Hill are pieces that either have their original first paint or have been what they call dry-scraped down to first layers of paint, she explains. The long heritage of fabulous and fun textile design adds cheer to the Swedish interior, says van Breems: Winters being so long and light being at a premium, decorative textiles added warmth as well as much-needed color to historic interiors. Eleish concludes, Sweden is still known internationally as a leader of innovative and bold textile and rug designs, The Louisiana unemployment agencys online system has been overloaded on Sundays with too many laid-off workers re-certifying that they remain eligible for payments. So the Louisiana Workforce Commission is changing how jobless workers will inform the agency that they remain unemployed amid a coronavirus-ravaged economy. Until now, everyone has been able to re-certify on any day, but most people tried to do so on Sundays. Under the new system, when they can do it will depend on the last digit of their Social Security number. Beginning Sunday, workers whose nine-digit number ends in 0-3 can re-certify on Sundays. Workers whose last digit is 4-6 will be on Monday, 7-9 on Tuesday and everyone from Wednesday thru Saturday, the final day for re-certifying for the week. The change was necessary because "they are jamming up the entire system. This is the way to spread certifications out over three days," said Robert Wooley, the Workforce Commission's director of unemployment insurance. He said Louisiana is following the lead of other states that have moved to a system based on the Social Security numbers. The move will mean some people who had been re-certifying on Sunday will now face a delay of one or two days before they receive their weekly payments. That's because jobless workers are scheduled to be paid one day after they re-certify. So people who re-certify now on Tuesday should see their payment on Wednesday. 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 "It may inconvenience some people, but it will make the system work more smoothly," Wooley said. "When the system is slow, we cant help anyone. Its better for everyone to do it this way." The entire issue is hugely important because people who do not re-certify each week become ineligible and have to re-apply for jobless benefits. Jobless workers are eligible for up to $247 per week in state money and for $600 per week in federal money thru July 31. The workforce commission has been overwhelmed with an unprecedented number of unemployed people filing their initial claims, re-certifying their eligibility each week and trying to find out why they havent been receiving their payments. The commission is scheduled to add to its online capacity this week, for the third time, and has added more people to answer phone calls and resolve eligibility issues. On Wednesday, the commission paid out $25 million, down from $38 million Tuesday and $205 million Monday. The declining amounts reflect that most people re-certified Sunday. Since March 22, the agency has paid out $561 million in state and federal dollars to 302,000 jobless workers, it said in a press release Wednesday. The agency paid out $151 million to 103,000 people for all of 2019 - or less than what the agency paid out on Monday alone. The Lithuanian government has extended the coronavirus-related lockdown until May 11 as the COVID-19 toll in the country has grown to 1,370 VILNIUS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd April, 2020) The Lithuanian government has extended the coronavirus-related lockdown until May 11 as the COVID-19 toll in the country has grown to 1,370. Lithuania initially declared quarantine on March 16 and then extended it until April 27. The Lithuanian government announced another two-week extension earlier in the day at a briefing broadcast on Facebook. With the news of extension came the announcement of certain loosening of control measures people in Lithuania can now go outside, subject to wearing a mask at all times except when eating outdoors. Companies which offer car- and avia- driving training can resume operations. Stores located in molls will also be able to open, but will have to ensure strict supervision over social distancing behaviors. Food services, beauty industry services, nightclubs and other recreational services will have to remain closed, save for hair dressing salons which can ensure a space of at least 10 square meters (108 square feet) per customer. According to the latest situation update from the Lithuanian government's COVID-19 response center, the number of cases in the country has grown to 1,370, including 38 fatalities and 357 recoveries. Lithuania has so far tested 76,793 people for COVID-19, including 6,040 tests conducted over the past day. As more states take action to ensure workers who contract COVID-19 are eligible for workers compensation, employers in Illinois are hoping to block one of the nations most expansive emergency rules. The Illinois Technology & Marketing Association (TMA) said in a statement that it has joined other business groups seeking a temporary restraining order to block an emergency rule adopted by the state Workers Compensation Commission. The commissions decree amends it rules of evidence to create a presumption that COVID-19 is a compensable occupational disease if contracted by any of the front line workers employed by businesses that were allowed to remain open during the pandemic emergency. The rule took effect on April 16. The TMA and other employer groups say the commission has overstepped its authority. The TMA noted that Illinois workers compensation law creates a presumption for some first responders who contract respiratory diseases, but doesnt allow the commission to add to the types of employees who are eligible for that presumption. Whats more, the commissions order threatens to undermine the increased risk doctrine that has long been used in Illinois to determine if an occupational disease is compensable, the TMA said. That doctrine holds that a workers compensation claimant must show that they were at greater risk of injury than the public because of the requirements of their job. The Goldberg Segalla law firm said in a blog post Monday that it is unclear whether the rule requires a positive COVID-19 diagnosis or whether workers who self-isolate because they are afraid of exposure to the virus will qualify. Though it may not have been the commissions intent to cast such a wide net, the language of the final rule invites broad interpretation and illustrates why such hurried rulemaking is generally disfavored, Goldberg Segalla said. Chicago workers compensation attorney Shawn Biery, a partner with the Keefe, Campbell, Biery & Associates law firm, noted in a blog post Tuesday that the commission first passed the emergency order on April 13, and then passed an amended version on Aug. 15. Biery said the commission neglected to include all of the front line workers that were included in Gov. J.B. Pritzkers order that declared a medical emergency in its first order. The commission added those workers to the rule when it met the second time. Biery said the commission clarified at its April 15 hearing that the emergency rule wont be applied retroactively, eliminating some initial confusion about the effective date. It remains to be seen how the IL WC commission will assess COVID-19 exposure claims with dates of exposure alleged before April 16, 2020, he wrote. Those workers are clearly beholden to the traditional preponderance of the evidence standard and not afforded any presumption of work-related exposure. Both Biery and Goldberg Segalla recommended that employers investigate each COVID-19 claim received. Employers should learn when symptoms began, whether anyone at the employees home or work site was also diagnosed with COVID-19 and whether the claimant complied with the states stay-at-home order, Goldberg Segalla said. A spokesman for the Illinois Workers Compensation Commission refused to comment on the issues raised by the employer advocates. Kentucky Gov. Andrew Beshear issued a similar executive order on April 9 that created a COVID-19 presumption for workers in grocery stores, child-care centers, domestic violence shelters and rape crisis centers, in addition to first responders and healthcare workers. The Kentucky Labor Commission later posted a guidance stating that any temporary total disability benefits payable under the executive order will be offset by emergency Family Medical Leave Act benefits passed by Congress in late March that allow up to 16 weeks of paid leave to workers who contract COVID-19. Arkansas, North Dakota and Michigan have also adopted emergency rules to expand eligibility for workers comp benefits to include COVID-19, but not to the extent of Illinois and Kentucky. Rules passed by the Michigan Compensation Disability Compensate Agency, which took effect on March 30, require employers to compensate any first responders or health care workers who contract COVID-19. The rules state that employers that deny such claims can be cited for violate the state workers compensation law. An April 14 order by Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson suspends provisions of state law that normally bar workers compensation benefits for occupational disease to which the general public is exposed. The order states that front-line healthcare workers who test positive for COVID-19 may be eligible for workers compensation if they can demonstrate a causal connection to employment. An April 16 order by North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum extends workers compensation benefits to first responders, healthcare workers and funeral workers. North Dakota operates a monopoly state workers comp system through its Workforce Safety Insurance agency. The Minnesota state legislature was one of the first to act. House File 4537 signed into law on April 7, creates a COVID-19 presumption for first responders; nurse or health care workers, correctional officers, corrections and detention officers, health care workers and assistants in home care, or nursing homes, and workers required to provide child care to first responders and health care workers. State legislatures in Utah, New York, Ohio, Louisiana and California are considering similar legislation. Industry insiders don't expect the latest disruptions to have a drastic impact on meat supply. (Photo by Creative Touch Imaging Ltd./NurPhoto via Getty Images) COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc on Canadian businesses with beef producers being the latest victims of the pandemic, which could be starting to affect meat supply chains. Theyre going to continue to see beef on their shelf, its just going to be a reduction in capacity, said Fawn Jackson, director of government and international relations at the Canadians Cattlemen's Association (CCA). The problem for beef producers originates in High River, Alta., where theres been a reduction of staff at the Cargill processing facility after several dozens of employees at the plant tested positive for COVID-19. The union representing employees who work at the plant had been trying for weeks to get Cargill shut down, but no action was taken at the time. The union said at least 38 workers have tested positive for coronavirus. The Alberta-based facility is responsible for the production of over one-third of all beef in Canada. Similarly, other Canadian and U.S. beef processors have also been forced to reduce their packing capacity by cutting the amount of workers they can have on the floor at any given time. We do see it as a critical situation for our farmers and ranchers, which requires urgent action, but we wont see large interruptions in the immediate future, said Jackson. In late March family-owned Harmony beef plant, just north of Calgary, shuttered their doors after announcing an employee had tested positive. The CCA said all their facilities have adopted better hand-hygiene practices, conducting temperature checks, additional cleaning and disinfection and advising employees to self-monitor their symptoms. They have also submitted recommendations to the federal government, which includes designating the entire food supply chain as critical infrastructure into the national strategy if COVID-19 carries on. We need to work with the government here, we need them to address the recommendations and help the future of cattle production, she said. Story continues Theyre also asking the government to create feedlots for a set-aside program, which would stay in place during the course of the pandemic and provide financial relief for cattle producers and farmers similar to 2004 during the mad cow disease crisis. We learned many lessons during the hard years of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy), and it is time to implement the policies that previously helped us weather the storm, Bob Lowe, president of the CCA, said in a press release. Setting aside cattle would allow ranchers to delay marketing of cattle until processing capacity was increased back to normal levels. Affecting all meat producers Beef processors are not the only ones feeling the pinch, as Olymel, a Quebec based pork processing plant, re-opened on Tuesday after being closed for two-weeks following an outbreak of the virus. The company has reduced the amount of meat processing they will do at one of their plants. Down south a major U.S. pork plant, South Dakotas Smithfield Foods, closed their facility this week after more than 100 employees contracted COVID-19. The company is one of the largest pork suppliers in the world. In Ontario, Maple Leaf closed their Brampton poultry facility after three employees were infected. The company has yet to decide on how they will proceed or re-open. Despite the closures, Jean-Michel Laurin, president and CEO of the Canadian Poultry and Egg Processors Council, said part of the reason for the contractions is that food processing plants are tough places to practice physical distancing. Laurin notes his processing plants have installed plexiglass and employees are being provided personal protective equipment, but the lack of space continues to be a challenge. Some of our processing plants in certain areas, the government has acknowledged that we cant follow the social distancing recommendations, he said. Despite limited space and other meat facilities feeling the effects of COVID-19, the same economic impact has not been felt by poultry farmers and processors who have been largely unscathed. Weve seen the food sector frantically reduce activity, a lot of the products are being redirected directly to the retail sector because thats where people are shopping, he said. Weve been very busy with realigning our industry for the retail market. Meat at retail Everyone has seen the images of Canadians at their local grocery store stocking up on pounds of meat, scared there may not be enough product come the next week. However, after the initial buying frenzy ended, Laurin notes it seems people are changing their behaviour due to the financial situation. Weve seen shifts in consumption, people originally stocking up and buying larger quantities of meat, and while the demand is still strong, its not as strong as before, he said. To continue to make sure theres enough on the table for everyone, the CCA is recommending people only buy as much as they normally would. We encourage consumers to buy what they need, but not more than that during the pandemic, said Jackson. According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agencys website, there are currently no shortages or disruptions to production, importation or export of any meat. GENEVA (Reuters) - The number of people facing acute food insecurity could nearly double this year to 265 million due to the economic fallout of COVID-19, the United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday. The impact of lost tourism revenues, falling remittances and travel and other restrictions linked to the coronavirus pandemic are expected to leave some 130 million people acutely hungry this year, adding to around 135 million already in that category. "COVID-19 is potentially catastrophic for millions who are already hanging by a thread," said Arif Husain, chief economist and director of research, assessment and monitoring at the World Food Programme (WFP). "We all need to come together to deal with this because if we don't the cost will be too high - the global cost will be too high: many lost lives and many, many more lost livelihoods," he told reporters at a virtual briefing in Geneva. Husain said it was critical to act quickly in order to prevent people already living hand-to-mouth, such as food vendors in Kenya, from selling their assets as it could take them years to become self-reliant again. In some cases, such as when farmers sell their ploughs or oxen, it could have knock-on effects for food production for years to come, he added. "These were the people we were concerned about those who were OK before COVID and now they are not," he said, adding he was "really worried" about people living in countries with little or no government safety nets. "Acute food and livelihood crisis" is category three of five U.N. phases meaning a "critical lack of food access and above usual malnutrition". Category 5 means mass starvation. U.N. officials did not give a geographical breakdown of the growing needs, but said that Africa was likely to be hardest hit. WFP expects to need $10-$12 billion to fund its assistance programmes this year compared to a record $8.3 billion raised last year, Husain added. It plans to pre-position food stocks over the coming months in anticipation of growing needs. Story continues Of those already deemed acutely hungry, many are in conflict zones such as Syria or in countries badly hit by the impact of climate change, according to a U.N. report. Even before the coronavirus pandemic, desert locusts in east Africa had destroyed crops and boosted the number of people reliant on food aid. (Reporting by Emma Farge; editing by Stephanie Nebehay and Gareth Jones) Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 16:41:34|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close CHANGSHA, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Central China's Hunan Province has been donating medical supplies including respirators, protective clothing, masks and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), and conducting video meetings with other countries to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 10, a video conference between Chinese and Turkish experts was held. At the meeting, experts from Hunan shared with their foreign peers their experience in COVID-19 diagnosis, treatment and TCM therapy, as well as self-protection techniques for medical staff and isolation measures. Peng Yue, an expert from the Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, had a video interview with a Turkish news channel on March 30, and took questions from Turkish journalists on the treatment, prevention and control of COVID-19. On another occasion, Hunan's Xiangya Hospital of Central South University held a video conference with a hospital in Sierra Leone to train the Chinese medical aid team and medical staffers there. Experts from Hunan's Yiyang City held a video conference with health officials from the Brazilian city of Guarulhos on April 8 to share knowledge on community epidemic prevention. Since the outbreak began, Hunan Province has been donating masks and other epidemic prevention materials to the Republic of Korea, Laos and other countries in batches, and actively participating in the global battle in various ways. Hunan Shengxiang Biology Company successfully developed a novel coronavirus nucleic acid detection kit in 72 hours, which was rapidly approved for listing and distributed across China and the world. On April 2, anti-virus supplies such as ventilators, protective suits, masks and TCM products arrived in the Afghan capital of Kabul. Among the batch of materials were 1,500 boxes of Yinhuang Qingfei capsules produced by Hunan Anbang Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. On the same day, Anbang donated another 600 boxes of the capsules to a temporary hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. The medicine is on the list of recommended TCM in the provincial treatment plan for COVID-19. In 2019, it passed clinical trials in Pakistan and proved effective for Pakistani patients suffering from bronchitis. So far Anbang has donated its TCM capsules to various countries including Iran, the Netherlands, Italy and Serbia. Overseas Chinese chambers of commerce in the United States, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Britain and other countries have reached out to Anbang for the drug. "A major outbreak like COVID-19 is also a test for pharmaceutical companies," said Chen Feibao, chairman of Anbang. "We will shoulder our due social responsibility and do our utmost to fight the invisible enemy with people around the world." The customs of Changsha, the capital of Hunan, said it has strengthened the quality inspection of medical supplies while streamlining customs clearance for quickened deliveries. Statistics from the customs showed that the value of Hunan's exports of medical equipment increased by 42.6 percent to 120 million yuan (16.9 million U.S. dollars) in March. Enditem Mike Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor and billionaire presidential candidate, has announced plans to help fund and launch an "army of tracers" to perform Covid-19 testing throughout New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The tri-state region has found itself in the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic in the US after the country confirmed its first case in late January. Health officials have since called for states and the federal government to significantly ramp up testing and tracing capabilities in order to slow the rate of transmissions and eventually lift lockdown orders across the US. Bloomberg was expected to contribute at least $10m towards the newly-announced testing initiative, following a separate pledge from his philanthropic organisation to fund $40m in the battle against the novel virus in low and middle-income countries. In a statement, the former New York City mayor said: Were all eager to begin loosening restrictions on our daily lives and our economy. But in order to do that as safely as possible, we first have to put in place systems to identify people who may have been exposed to the virus and support them as they isolate. The new programme aims to expand the tri-state areas ability to trace contacts of people who contract Covid-19, so they can in turn receive testing and treatment if necessary. Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) revealed the initiative during his daily press briefing on Wednesday. Michael Bloomberg will design the program, design the training. Hes going to make a financial contribution also and put together an organisation that can help hire the people, he said. You have weeks to have this up and running, (its a) super-ambitious undertaking. And Mayor Bloomberg will help coordinate the entire effort. Mr Cuomo also noted that Bloomberg will work with the state while the governor works with the city and Nassau and Suffolk (counties) and Jersey and Connecticut. The governor also posted a tweet about the programme, writing: I thank [Bloomberg] for taking this on with us it will be expensive, challenging [and] require and army of tracers. He concluded: But it must be done. New York officials have also warned against state businesses reopening due to political pressure, as experts said a second wave could occur if residents resume normal life too quickly and the virus is allowed to spread. We make a bad move, it's going to set us back ... Frankly, this is no time to act stupidly, the governor said on Wednesday. More people will die if we are not smart. The daily death rate and number of hospitalisations in New York has continued to decline in recent days, with 474 deaths reported on Tuesday. The state has altogether reported over 250,000 coronavirus cases, and at least 14,828 deaths due to the novel virus. Pakistan is pushing militants infected with COVID-19 into Kashmir to spread the disease among the people of the valley, Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police Dilbag Singh said on Wednesday. It is a matter of concern that Pakistan is pushing COVID-19 infected militants from across. "Till now, Pakistan had been supporting terrorists and now it is exporting coronavirus patients to infect people of Kashmir. This is something on which there is a need to take precaution," he told reporters in central Kashmir's Ganderbal district after reviewing security and measures taken in view of COVID-19 outbreak. The DGP also attended a meeting chaired by R R Bhatnagar, Advisor to Lt Governor, to review the security and the prevailing ground situation in the valley in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. Referring to the recent terror attacks, Singh said when the entire world was making efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic, Pakistan and its sponsored terrorists were making all out attempts to disrupt the measures being taken to safeguard the lives of the people in J-K. Even during the present health crisis, our forces would continue to consolidate peace while maintaining good security and law and order grids. "Pakistan agencies are engaged in various activities at their launching pads in Pakistan and PoK to push in terrorists this side both from IB and LoC to further its nefarious designs of disturbing peace and normalcy and lives and livelihoods of the people without bothering about its own people who have become coronavirus victims," the DGP said. A recent report suggested that even the terrorists at their training centres and launching pads in Pakistan and PoK are suffering from coronavirus infection, Singh said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) : First, those crippling impacts are already here. Santa Monica will fall $72 million short of our revenue estimates this fiscal year, with no time to make it up. Our Chief Financial Officers best projection was a $154 million shortfall in the new fiscal year starting July 1. Thats a 38 percent hit. No amount of State or Federal aid can solve that gap -- and they have their own problems. While Santa Monicas drop is greater because our sales, business and hotel revenues were stronger than most cities, all cites were already struggling with pension obligations. More than a quarter of LA County cities asked for tax increases in the March election. Many of them fell short. Long Beach won by just 16 votes out of 100,000 cast. This pandemic exponentially compounds the existing crisis in local government finance.Second, this is a time when we actually need an expanded and more dynamic role for local government. For years, weve seen ourselves as the provider of a set of legacy services: police, fire, libraries, parks, land use planning etc. We forgot that all those services were actually invented to respond to the challenge of industrializing America a century ago. We continue to provide them without adequately re-examining their fit for the world we live in today. If we were starting from scratch today, we would design a government that looked more like the I-Phone than the rotary phone. But of course we cant start from scratch we have tens of thousands of dedicated people in public service trying to use rotary phone government to meet 21st Century needs.So, what does that mean for courageous leaders? I think it means doing what courageous leaders did a century ago. In the face of the disorder, disease, illiteracy and land use chaos of Americas cities, the Progressive Era ushered in a period of historic reform, innovation and institutional change. It sure wasnt easy then. It sure wont be easy now. But I cant believe we are any less far-sighted or courageous than the leaders of 100 years ago.First, it is focused not around providing services, but around producing outcomes. Lets take homelessness. The 20th Century response would be to create a Homelessness Department to battle homelessness, just like we created Fire Departments to battle fires. But heres what we learned from history about fires. Its not because firefighters got really good at responding to fires that today we have only a fraction of the fires we did 100 years ago. Its because we got really good at preventing them --with rigorous building codes that require sprinklers and firewalls enforced with annual inspections. It also helps that people no longer smoke in bed. A couple of years ago, we had exactly 47 structure fires in Santa Monica. Thats less than one a week. Thats a spectacular public policy success. But it came from mobilizing intelligent, long-term preventative strategies while continuing to have top-notch response capability for the few fires that still break out. We need to apply that lesson to homelessness and get really smart about preventing it, not only responding to it.Second, we can learn from the private sector without copying the private sector. People who say government can or should be run like a business are delusional. But market competition has produced some valuable lessons from the best companies and those are the ones we should pay attention to. First, the supreme value of talent.Our human resources model in Santa Monica is embedded in a charter adopted in 1947. Back then, the criteria for being a clerk typist was how fast you could type. A 21st Century government focuses more on attracting people with potential, not screening for credentials and develops them to be nimble, creative, independent thinkers to collaborate with the community, non-profits and the private sector to solve problems.We need to be smarter about using data to measure and improve our performance just as businesses use metrics to sharpen their competitive edge. Another best practice is the smart use of technology. Every day in Santa Monica, we encountered homeless people in the course of our duties. At dawn, a public works crew might encounter someone sleeping in the park. Later, a fire engine or police car might be summoned because that person is now sleeping on a sidewalk. Meanwhile, our homeless outreach team might make contact. Later, they might be sleeping in our library, which is against the rules. But none of those contacts was known or shared across our departments.We partnered with a start-up out of the Digital Health Lab at USC to develop a phone app that could securely record those encounters with appropriate privacy constraints. It also links our data with the system social service agencies use to share information on their clients. So a police officer could text a social worker about a client that missed their last appointment. Thats what I mean by the comparison to the I-Phone.Well, thats in our hands. As Cassius told Brutus in another memorable crisis, if we dont act, the fault is not in our stars, but in ourselves. As Rahm Emmanuel famously said, never let a good crisis go to waste. That is not an invitation to opportunism, that is a call to be equal to the challenge. We are hunkered down in our homes now. But when we emerge from them, we cant hunker down in obsolete formulas of outmoded government bureaucracy. No one knows when or how this will end, but it will end. Our job in the public sector is to lay the foundation for a more equitable, more sustainable and more resilient life in the cities of the future. For the last five thousand years, despite periodic plagues and pestilences, cities have been the source of our civilization and extraordinary economic progress. I heard recently that it took 400 years for the population of Europe to recover from the Black Plague. Yet because of that catastrophic disruption of feudal stagnation, the plague opened the path to the Renaissance. Im not saying the plague created the Renaissance, Im saying visionaries seized the opportunity for change. They created vibrant new ways of living as the old ways were dying.In just eight years, Los Angeles will welcome the world with the Olympics. We wont be able to hide our problems away for two weeks. We will have to use this time to solve them. Lets remember and act on the words of Lincoln: The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, we must think and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves and then we shall save our country. - Ugandan parliament passed over KSh 8.5 billion supplementary budget to help in fight against COVID-19 - Out of the KSh 8.5 billion, over 282 million is for MPs to help them in fight against coronavirus - However, President Yoweri Museveni opposed the move accusing legislators of misusing public resources President Yoweri Museveni has strongly castigated lawmaker's move to allocate themselves over KSh 282 million in the name of fighting the dreaded coronavirus. The head of state expressed disappointment with the MPs who included the money in the recently passed KSh 8.5 billion supplementary budget to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. READ ALSO: Ken Walibora alitofautiana vikali na mchapishaji wake kabla ya kifo chake, DCI yafichua President Yoweri Museveni expressed disappointment with the MPs saying the money had not been discussed by the Cabinet. Photo: Yoweri Museveni Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Detectives say Ken Walibora was in dispute with book publisher before his death According to the Daily Monitor, Museveni charged at his Finance Minister Matia Kasaija asking him to explain how the money was included in the budget despite the fact that they had not discussed it in Cabinet. "Who included those things in the supplementary [budget]? I told you those things of always allocating yourselves public resources without the interest of the public, is very wrong, Museveni lamented. Kasajja who is also an MP for Buyanja county and was expected to benefit from the budget is reported to have remained silent. Ugandan MPs in parliament during a past debate. Photo: Daily Monitor Source: UGC READ ALSO: COVID-19: Sonko's newly launched sanitisation booths vandalized in Kibera The money did not pass through Cabinet. How did it go there (to Parliament)? This is illegal (because) you are not supposed to allocate yourselves resources without going through the right procedures, the president reportedly charged. The matter is said to have sparked a heated argument in the Cabinet before Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa proposed to have the money transferred to the Health Ministry to help in the COVID-19 fight. However, the proposal too was met with opposition from the other ministers who opined that the Health Ministry had been allocated a lot of money in addition to donations. The matter was left unresolved without any definite decision taken by Cabinet. Majority of the Ugandan ministers are MPs. Currently, Uganda which is on lockdown has 61 cases of COVID-19 with zero deaths and 41 recoveries. Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly. Source: TUKO.co.ke (Natural News) In this study, Iranian researchers examined the impact of self-administered acupressure on sleep quality and fatigue among patients with migraine. Their results were published in the journal Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice. Poor sleep quality and fatigue are two of the most common complaints associated with migraine. These problems contribute to the development of severe headaches. This double-blind, randomized controlled trial involved 76 patients from the neurology clinic of Valiasr (PBUH) teaching hospital, all of whom suffered from migraine without aura. The researchers randomly assigned these patients to either an acupressure group or a sham acupressure group. They used a demographic questionnaire, the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index and the Fatigue Severity Scale to collect data from the patients. Both groups were trained for four consecutive weeks to apply acupressure on acupoints and sham points, respectively, three times weekly at bedtime. The researchers analyzed the data using Chi-square, independent-sample t, paired-sample t and ANCOVA tests at the significance level of less than 0.05. After controlling sleep quality mean scores at baseline, the researchers found no significant difference between the sleep quality of the two groups after intervention. On the other hand, the mean scores for fatigue significantly decreased in both the acupressure and sham acupressure groups. The decrease in the acupressure group was significantly greater than the decrease in the sham acupressure group. Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that acupressure is a non-invasive and non-pharmacological therapy that can significantly reduce fatigue in patients with migraine. Journal Reference: Vagharseyyedin SA, Salmabadi M, Bahramitaghanaki H, Riyasi H. THE IMPACT OF SELF-ADMINISTERED ACUPRESSURE ON SLEEP QUALITY AND FATIGUE AMONG PATIENTS WITH MIGRAINE: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice. May 2019;35:374380. DOI: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2018.10.011 Graduation times two thats what seniors in Alvin Independent School District can look forward to following the districts announcement it will host a virtual ceremony in May and another, this time in person, for each of its four high schools. The decision was made in light of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The virtual event is set for an as yet-to-be-determined time on May 24, with the ceremonies being pushed out via Facebook and YouTube. ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Coronavirus live updates: Freestanding ERs to get Medicare, Medicaid funding Elements will include pre-recorded valedictorian and salutatorian speeches and messages from principals and the superintendent conferring the diplomas. Each of the districts approximately 1,800 graduating seniors names will be called as their senior picture is displayed. We are really committed to making it have as many of the traditional graduation elements as possible so our seniors can still feel like this is a big deal, because it is, Valdez said. Once the ceremonies are broadcast, students and their parents will be able to access them as video keepsakes. The traditional graduation events are planned for July 16, 17 and 18. ALVIN ISD: Despite pandemic, school construction projects on track for now More Information ALVIN ISD graduations Virtual ceremony May 24 via Facebook and YouTube. Time to be determined. In-person ceremonies Shadow Creek High School: 7:30 p.m. July 16 at at Alvin ISD's Freedom Field in Iowa Colony. RISE Academy: 2 p.m. July 17 at Marguerite Edwards Performing Arts Center at Alvin High School. Manvel High School: 7:30 p.m. July 17 at Freedom Field Alvin High School: 7:30 p.m. July 17 at Freedom Field For more information:www.alvinisd.net/ See More Collapse Shadow Creek High Schools graduating seniors are set to attend a ceremony at 7:30 p.m. July 16 at at Alvin ISDs Freedom Field in Iowa Colony. RISE Academys graduation ceremonies will be at 2 p.m. July 17 at Marguerite Edwards Performing Arts Center at Alvin High School. Manvel Highs ceremony will be at 7:30 p.m. July 17 at Freedom Field, and Alvin Highs will be at the same time July 18 at the field. Parents desire heeded The move to host the Freedom Field event was made after more than 2,000 parents responded to a survey about whether they wanted a traditional ceremony. What we heard from our families is that they want that in-person graduation experience, even if that was later this year; so we are going to do our best to make that happen, said Superintendent Carol Nelson. By creating a virtual graduation as well, we will be able to celebrate these remarkable students on their actual graduation day so they can still have as close to the graduation experience as possible during these unprecedented times. Jennifer Valdez, the districts deputy superintendent of academics, said plans for the virtual graduation have been in the works for some time. Our parents were nervous we wouldnt be able to do anything for graduation; so we said we dont care how much we have to brainstorm, were going to figure something out, she said. ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Now more than ever, Houstons digital divide puts childrens education in peril As for the planned summer ceremonies, Valdez said the district will work to ensure any social distancing rules in effect will be followed to keep people as safe as possible. Also, as of now, graduates are limited to four guests each. Spreading the crowds for social distancing Our (Freedom Field) holds 10,000 people; so that will allow us to spread families apart and our graduates will be sitting apart, she said. People will have to cooperate. Thats going to be a huge piece of making this happen. Nelson acknowledged the situation is not ideal. We know this has been a difficult end to the school year for our seniors. Hopefully, by providing both a virtual and in-person graduation, this will give our seniors a sense of closure with high school and allow them to look ahead to their future endeavors with hope and positivity, she said. By James Pearson and Phuong Nguyen HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam, which has reported under 300 cases of coronavirus and no deaths since the first infections were detected in January, said on Wednesday it would start lifting tough movement restrictions as most of Southeast Asia remained in lockdown. No provinces in Vietnam were now seen as "highly prone" to the pandemic, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said in a statement, although some non-essential businesses will remain closed. Vietnam has won plaudits for appearing to contain the virus despite being less wealthy than other places seen as relatively successful such as South Korea and Taiwan. It has reported no new infections for nearly a week. It has used a combination of the mass quarantine of tens of thousands, contact-tracing and testing to successfully contain relatively small clusters of COVID-19 outbreaks. Hanoi may have also gleaned crucial early information from China. On Wednesday, U.S. cybersecurity firm FireEye said Vietnamese state-backed hackers had attempted to break into organisations at the centre of Beijing's efforts to contain the outbreak, days before the first international COVID-19 cases were reported. It also took other early measures. One day after the first two cases were detected in Vietnam, Hanoi suspended flights to China's Wuhan, where the outbreak started. Days later, Vietnam closed its porous 1,400-km (870-mile) border with China to all but essential trade and travel and, by March, made the wearing of masks in public places mandatory nationwide. Vietnam, which in 2003 became the first country outside China to be infected by the SARS epidemic, also has by far the largest ratio of testing to confirmed COVID-19 cases in the world. According to data published by Vietnam's health ministry on Wednesday, Vietnam has carried out 180,067 tests and detected just 268 cases, 83% of whom it says have recovered. There have been no reported deaths. Story continues The figures are equivalent to nearly 672 tests for every one detected case, according to the Our World in Data website. The next highest, Taiwan, has conducted 132.1 tests for every case, the data showed. Communist-ruled and traditionally secretive Vietnam has made much of its data public. REGIONAL MEASURES Movement restrictions remain across most of Southeast Asia, where the virus has killed more than 1,200 people and infected more than 33,000. Singapore, which initially managed to contain the outbreak but has been hit by a swell in cases in migrant worker dormitories, has extended a partial lockdown by four weeks until June 1. In Thailand, where a state of emergency is due to expire at the end of April, the health ministry has proposed that lockdown measures be lifted in provinces where no coronavirus cases have been reported for two weeks. Malaysia has not yet decided whether to extend or lift social distancing measures, but a senior minister said on Wednesday that the government would explore the idea of allowing people who had left urban areas to return. In Indonesia, which with 653 deaths has reported the highest number in the region, the capital Jakarta said it would extend social distancing measures to May 22. Not all of Vietnam will have social distancing measures lifted, state media said. A town of 7,600 people in the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang was locked down near the border with China after one case was detected there this month. Two rural villages with a combined population of 12,000 people on the outskirts of the capital, Hanoi, will remain on lockdown, state media said. (Reporting by James Pearson and Phuong Nguyen; Additonal reporting by Khanh Vu in Hanoi, Rozanna Latiff in Kuala Lumpur, Martin Petty in Manila, Ed Davies in Jakarta, Aradhana Aravindan in Singapore, and Panu Wongcha-um in Bangkok ; Editing by Matthew Tostevin and Nick Macfie) PR-Inside.com: 2020-04-22 02:06:42 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 696 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 HOUSTON, TX / ACCESSWIRE / April 21, 2020 / Cub Energy Inc. ("Cub" or the "Company") (TSXV:KUB), a Ukraine-focused energy company, announces the appointment of Patrick McGrath to the Board effective immediately. Dr. Timothy Marchant has resigned from the Board and the Company wishes to thank Dr. Marchant for his significant contributions over the past seven years.Mr. McGrath is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CGA) and has been the Chief Financial Officer of the Company since 2013. Mr. McGrath has over twenty years' experience in finance and management, particularly in international oil and gas and mineral exploration companies.About Cub Energy Inc.Cub Energy Inc. (TSX-V: KUB) is an upstream oil and gas and power generation company, with a proven track record of exploration and production cost efficiency in Ukraine. The Company's strategy is to implement western technology and capital, combined with local expertise and ownership, to increase value in its undeveloped land base, creating and further building a portfolio of energy assets.For further information please contact us or visit our website: www.cubenergyinc.com Mikhail AfendikovChairman and Chief Executive Officer(713) 677-0439Patrick McGrathChief Financial Officer(713) 577-1948Reader AdvisoryExcept for statements of historical fact, this news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Cub believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable; however there can be no assurance those expectations will prove to be correct. We cannot guarantee future results, performance or achievements. Consequently, there is no representation that the actual results achieved will be the same, in whole or in part, as those set out in the forward-looking information.Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking information. Some of the risks and other factors that could cause the results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information include, but are not limited to: general economic conditions in Ukraine and globally; political unrest and security concerns in Ukraine; industry conditions, including fluctuations in the prices of natural gas and foreign currency; governmental regulation of the power and natural gas industries, including environmental regulation; unanticipated operating events or performance which can reduce production or cause production to be shut in or delayed; failure to obtain industry partner and other fourth party consents and approvals, if and when required; successful installation of the Jenbacher units, competition for and/or inability to retain services; the availability of capital on acceptable terms; the need to obtain required approvals from regulatory authorities; stock market volatility; volatility in market prices for natural gas and power; liabilities inherent in natural gas and power operations; competition for, among other things, capital, acquisitions of reserves, undeveloped lands, skilled personnel and supplies; incorrect assessments of the value of acquisitions; geological, technical, drilling, processing and transportation problems; changes in tax laws and incentive programs relating to the natural gas and power industries; failure to realize the anticipated benefits of acquisitions and dispositions; and the other factors. Readers are cautioned that this list of risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive.This cautionary statement expressly qualifies the forward-looking information contained in this news release. We undertake no duty to update any of the forward-looking information to conform such information to actual results or to changes in our expectations except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information.Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.SOURCE: Cub Energy Inc. The NFU has urged the government to delay BPS payment reductions until December 2022 due to the impact of the coronavirus. The union's vice president Tom Bradshaw has written to farming minister Victoria Prentis asking government to delay the post-Brexit agricultural transition period. Currently, BPS payments are to be reduced in a 'progressive way' from 2021, Defra Secretary George Eustice told delegates at the NFU Conference in February. There will be a transition period in England between 2021 and 2027 as the EU payments are gradually phased out. It will start with a reduction of 5%, with the largest landowners taking the biggest hit initially, Mr Eustice explained. But with disrupted supply chains caused by Covid-19 having an impact on farmers ability to manage cashflow, Mr Bradshaw has called for a delay. BPS reductions scheduled for December 2021 should be postponed until December 2022 in order to give farmers more time to prepare for the schemes phase out, he said. The NFU also makes the case for the full payment of outstanding 2019 Countryside Stewardship and Environmental Stewardship agreements to be released by the end of April with Treasury funding - if ordinary processing will not allow payments to be issued. It goes further in asking the Rural Payment Agency (RPA) to give a BPS 2020 payment guarantee so that all claimants receive either their full payment or a bridging loan to a value of 90% of the claim by early December 2020. Mr Bradshaw's letter also addresses difficulties farmers have had accessing guidance for an accurate BPS application due to social distancing restrictions. The NFU has requested confirmation that the RPA will provide a penalty-free BPS amendment period to 15 June for those that have not been able to complete their applications by that time, while retaining the 15 May deadline. Mr Bradshaw said: The government has taken unprecedented action to protect businesses from financial trauma, but for many farmers these measures either increase the level of debt or are targeted to enterprises they do not have on farm. "For thousands of farmers there is an immediate step that Defra could take to assist with cashflow releasing outstanding 2019 agri-environment and BPS payments and committing to paying future payments promptly." He added: Coupled with the immediate disruptive impact of Covd-19 on farmers capability to prepare for change, we believe that Defra should delay the agricultural transition period to December 2022 at the earliest. We do not want to see a repeat of previous failings when it comes to introducing new support schemes at this time because a desire to stick to what we see is an increasingly unrealistic original timeline, he said. FORT WORTH, Texas, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As one of the nation's leading railroad design, construction and maintenance companies in the United States, American Track is proud to announce the purchase of the "Track Inspection, Maintenance and Repair" group from Savage Transportation Management in Salt Lake City, UT. With this acquisition, American Track will acquire Savage's assets and the team associated with railroad track inspection, maintenance, repair and construction services throughout the U.S., including operations in Louisiana, Utah, Wyoming and Colorado. American Track was formed by Hilltop Private Capital in 2016 to create a national provider of safe, high-quality track maintenance and construction services. With over 45 years of heritage, the combined Company now operates in 10 locations across the U.S. under the name American Track Services to provide rail support services to essential mines, ports, refineries, manufacturing facilities, warehouses, trans-load facilities, rail-car maintenance, short line and mainline railroads across the U.S. More information about locations and services can be found on the company's website at www.AmericanTrack.com. Thomas Lucario, President and CEO of American Track commented: "The Savage Track Inspection, Maintenance and Repair team has a strong reputation of quality service working for some premier customers in the U.S. transportation, refining and manufacturing sectors. We are proud to add this group to our team at American Track and look forward to carrying on and expanding that legacy within our organization." "Hilltop is excited to help American Track in their efforts to expand their service capabilities and reach," said Drew Shea, Managing partner of Hilltop Private Capital. "We strive to partner with and assist our companies in finding growth opportunities, organically and through acquisitions. American Track will continue to look for similar opportunities throughout 2020." More information can be found about Hilltop Private Capital and how they support companies like American Track at hilltopprivatecapital.com. About American Track American Track is a Fort Worth, TX-based company that specializes in the inspection, repair, maintenance, design and construction of railroad track, predominantly for private industrial users. For more information, visit www.americantrack.com. Media Contact: Thomas Lucario, [email protected], (817) 439-5693 Related Images american-track.png American Track SOURCE American Track Related Links https://americantrack.com Despite difficulties brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, an opportunity is emerging for Vietnam to build the foundations of a more inclusive growth path, which leaves no one behind once recovery begins, according to the ILO in Vietnam. Workers of a garment firm in An Giang province wait in line while keeping two metres apart to enter the factory The International Labour Organisation (ILO) made the statement in its April 21 briefing note on impact of COVID-19 on economic activity and employment in Vietnams labour market. As the COVID-19 situation developed, the Vietnamese Government implemented increasingly stringent measures that have proven effective in containing the health crisis. The countrys economic performance, however, is affected by measures adopted to confront the pandemic in Vietnam and across the world, as similar measures taken by other countries across the world have large-scale, indirect effects on Vietnams economy, said the ILO. The organisation added that the reduction in economic output expected per sector over the first two quarters of 2020 is influenced by the vulnerability of each sector to the direct effects of COVID-19 containment, or indirect ones, or both. By the end of the second quarter, the crisis can affect the livelihood of 4.6 to 10.3 million workers, whether through a decline in working hours, in wages or, ultimately, job loss, the ILO forecast. It also envisaged two scenarios: one lower-impact scenario in which containment measures are eased during the second quarter, and one higher-impact scenario where the measures remain largely in place. Workers in the informal economy will be severely affected due to their lack of state-funded social safety nets. Vulnerable workers are especially exposed to economic risk, since most of them work informally in low-paid occupations, and are unlikely to be able to count on savings. Female workers are over-represented in most sectors experiencing widespread reduction in economic activity. The actual extent of livelihood loss will depend on the evolution of the pandemic and the measures taken by the Vietnamese Government and other countries. The unprecedented nature of the shock created by the COVID-19 pandemic makes it difficult to predict its developments by means of comparison with any past crises. Countries are finding themselves in uncharted territory, taking a variety of approaches to the containment, and adjusting them based on their own experience and that of others. Vietnam has been working to ease restrictions in some parts of the country for one week. The measure excludes several provinces and the countrys main economic centres of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. And where it applies, it does not remove social distancing rules altogether. Still, this measure will bring some relief to the direct channels of economic shock. The IMF expects negative economic growth for 2020 in over 170 countries, with a partial recovery in 2021. However, countries across the world are taking bold actions to support their respective economies. In Vietnam, the Government is unveiling a range of monetary and fiscal measures to keep enterprises afloat and safeguard incomes in the short term. Plans to push economic recovery in the medium and long term are taking shape. In the meantime, however, Vietnams trade partners are in the midst of the COVID-19 fight. In the medium term, even if Vietnam should choose to lift social distancing measures in the whole country, the crisis (whether directly or indirectly brought to the countrys economy) may affect overall consumption by eroding the financial means of individuals, and therefore the ability of domestic demand to sustain the economy. Vietnam has addressed the COVID-19 health crisis with resolve and strength, and most importantly, with an aim of protecting all women and men and leaving no one behind. The same approach needs to be directed at economic, social and labour market challenges. This is a critical time to ensure that socio-economic policy response is designed to be inclusive, is based on tripartite consultations, and reaches the most vulnerable on the labour market, the ILO noted./. VNA ILO Vietnam willing to help Vietnamese govt, employers, workers Country Director of the ILO Vietnam Chang-Hee Lee has said that ILO Vietnam was ready to help the Vietnamese Government, employers and employees to find suitable jobs as the coronavirus takes its toll on the health and labour markets and the economy. LATEST, April 22, 8:23 p.m. California had its deadliest day yet, as 118 people died from the coronavirus as of 7:45 p.m. Wednesday, according to data collected by The Chronicle. It's the first day that the state's COVID-19 death toll surpassed 100, according to The Chronicle. April 22, 3:50 p.m. BART has received $251.6 million in federal emergency CARES Act FTA funding, the agency confirmed Wednesday afternoon. BART is currently only servicing 6% of its typical ridership. The funds will go towards labor and employee safety, and towards keeping agency workers employed. These emergency lifeline funds will be used to stabilize our budget and to continue to provide BART service running for essential workers, said BART General Manager Bob Powers. "This money, coupled with cost cutting measures we immediately took, will help bridge our multi-million funding gap that was brought on in a matter of weeks by the pandemic. ... There is much work left to be done and future installments of the CARES Act will be needed in the short term to address the new reality of low ridership and the costs associated with responding to the pandemic. April 22, 3:40 p.m. Stanford University, which recently received $7 million in COVID-19 aid funding, will not be accepting the money, said President Trump in a Wednesday press conference. Stanford University has the fourth-largest endowment in the nation, with $27.7 billion, per Stanford's website. April 22, 3:30 p.m. President Donald Trump said in a White House press conference Wednesday that he spoke with California Governor Gavin Newsom about testing efforts in the state earlier that day, saying Newsom has been "scaling up really well," but that he needs some supplies to meet demand. "Ive been helping him get the critical supplies that California needs to make use of the tremendous capacity they found," Trump continued. "I'm going to do it very quickly. Could he get it himself? Yes, but I can get it faster, and hes done a great job. Were going to have a lot of it to him in the next [few] days." On Tuesday, Newsom said the state was in particular need of swabs and transport media. He noted he was in talks with the Trump administration for the supplies, but said "We're not just going to sit on our hands, we're not going to complain or point fingers." April 22, 3:20 p.m. Santa Clara County announced 16 new cases of the coronavirus Wednesday, bringing the total in the county to 1,962. The county also announced six new deaths, for a death toll of 94. April 22, 2:50 p.m. The Bay Bridge has suspended congestion pricing amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Tolls for two-axle vehicles will be $6 in all instances. April 22, 2:15 p.m. Mayor London Breed says the city has been working on a strategy for November's election should the shelter-in-place remain in effect "for over a month." Breed said the city is planning more outreach and more mailers to "make sure that this in no way impedes anyone's ability to vote." April 22, 2 p.m. SFPD Chief Bill Scott reported Wednesday that San Francisco police officers have issued 16 citations seven to businesses and nine to individuals for not complying with shelter-in-place mandates in the city. He added officers have also formally admonished 71 people (48 businesses and 23 individuals) and informally warned "hundreds" more. The SFPD will continue to only issue citations when warnings do not suffice, saying, Weve been largely successful using this model. Scott also noted the SFPD is working with the district attorney's office on some charges, including 22 looting cases. April 22, 1:50 p.m. On Wednesday, Mayor Breed announced the modification of parameters around who can be tested at the CityTestSF at Piers 30-32 in SoMa. The test center will now be open to all private sector and non-profit essential employees in San Francisco, and any San Francisco resident who is experiencing symptoms and cannot otherwise access testing. Symptoms are defined by the city as including "fever, and unexplained cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, chills, headache, body aches, fatigue, diarrhea, runny nose, congestion and loss of the sense of smell or taste." Such essential workers include grocery store workers, in-home service providers, janitors and other people we need to continue to work as we support the city, Breed said. She added that workers are encouraged to return for repeat testing if they experience symptoms later. The goal, Breed said, is to eventually open up universal access to testing for all San Franciscans. To date, Department of Public Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax said 12,054 tests have been conducted, with approximately 12 percent testing positive. April 22, 1:30 p.m. London Breed announced in a press conference Wednesday that Give2SF, a fundraising effort organized by the city, raised $10.5 million for food and housing security and for small business support. She added that $5.35 million has already been allocated to non-profits that have distributed the money to people that need it the most. We knew a few things were going to happen as a result of this pandemic, Breed said. There were going to be people who lost their job but also didnt qualify for unemployment or had no access to resources whatsoever. We knew food would be a challenge. Although weve been able to invest in programs . people were still going to need resources to ensure they had food on their table. Breed also called out particular types of businesses nail and hair salons, barbers and spas that are still going to have some real challenges meeting the need of their back rent and other challenges. We want to make sure that those businesses that may not qualify for other resources through the state, that we can provide them with some relief through the city [fund]. Breed reported that 60,000 San Franciscans have filed for unemployment, adding the city anticipates another 40,000 will file in the next few weeks. Breed also thanked Give2SFs large donors, including Salesforce, the Gettys, the Hellman Foundation, Google and others. April 22, 12:45 p.m. During a Wednesday press conference, California Governor Gavin Newsom stated there is still no timeline for when the state's shelter in place order will be lifted, but did modify the order to allow essential surgeries across the state's hospitals to resume. The governor also briefly discussed a large-scale antibody tests conducted in Santa Clara and Los Angeles counties that indicate the virus is much more widespread than thought, but also less deadly than previously thought. The state's two-hardest hit counties estimate an antibody prevalence around two to five percent, which indicates the state is far away from the 50-60 percent exposure needed for herd immunity. "There's still some open-ended questions," Newsom said about the results of the large-scale studies. "I want to caution people, I share their energy, that while this can be extraordinarily helpful, it is not a panacea yet." Newsom also announced that the state has secured 1.5 million antibody tests from Abbott for further use. Read more updates from Newsom's press conference. April 22, 10:40 a.m. The Bay Area has seen a slight uptick in the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations over the last two days. Here are the previous seven days' worth of data reflecting the total number of confirmed and suspected COVID-19 patients hospitalized across the nine counties that comprise the San Francisco Bay Area: - Wednesday, April 15: 740 (2.3 percent decrease from previous day) - Thursday, April 16: 673 (9.1 percent decrease from previous day) - Friday, April 17: 674 (0.1 percent increase from previous day) - Saturday, April 18: 617 (8.5 percent decrease from previous day) - Sunday, April 19: 606 (1.8 percent decrease from previous day) - Monday, April 20: 619 (2.1 percent increase from previous day) - Tuesday, April 21: 640 (3.4 percent increase from previous day) The 9.1 percent decrease from April 15 to April 16 was the largest single-day decrease the region has seen since county-by-county hospitalization data has been available, ahe drop from April 17 to April 18 was the second-largest single day decrease. For reference, April 7 marked the day of the most reported hospitalizations with 831. Here are the previous seven days' worth of data reflecting the total number of confirmed and suspecting COVID-19 patients in intensive care units across the nine Bay Area counties: - Wednesday, April 15: 214 (4.9 percent decrease from previous day) - Thursday, April 16: 217 (1.4 percent increase from previous day) - Friday, April 17: 224 (3.2 percent increase from previous day) - Saturday, April 18: 213 (4.9 percent decrease from previous day) - Sunday, April 19: 205 (3.8 percent decrease from previous day) - Monday, April 20: 214 (4.4 increase from previous day) - Tuesday, April 21: 227 (6.1 increase from previous day) April 22, 9:55 a.m. San Mateo County reported 11 new deaths from the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, bringing the county's death toll up to 39. Over the past three weeks, the county has reported all of the week's deaths on just one weekday, and Wednesday's total was the highest since county officials began this new system of reporting. Seven deaths were reported last Wednesday, and eight deaths were reported last Tuesday. An additional death was also reported in San Francisco County Wednesday morning, bringing the death toll to 21. April 22, 8:10 a.m. BART is now requiring passengers to wear face coverings on trains and will refuse service if one isn't worn. BART spokesperson Alicia Trost told KTVU Wednesday morning that the transit system has ordered 30,000 masks to pass out to passengers who don't have them, but they haven't arrived yet. April 22, 7 a.m. Five Bay Area counties will begin enforcing face coverings in essential businesses and on public transit Wednesday to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. In the following counties, you could be hit with a citation and/or a fine if you're not following the order asking people to cover their noses and mouths with cloth. Alameda Contra Costa Marin San Francisco San Mateo Sonoma began enforcing its order last Friday. The cities of Berkeley and Fremont issued their own mandates. Santa Clara County is "strongly urging all individuals" to wear face coverings when out of their homes to perform essential activities, but has yet to issue an official requirement that's enforceable by law. In a statement, the county noted "enforcement resources across the county are limited" and the public has generally followed past guidance without enforcement. The orders in all jurisdictions are generally the same, requiring people to wear coverings in public places, especially indoor spaces, where they're unable to physically distance. The reason for the new rules is that research shows a cloth covering the nose and mouth can help prevent the spread of respiratory droplets that are the main way the coronavirus is transmitted between people. In all jurisdictions, the coverings can be manufactured or handmade or simply any type of cloth fabric or soft material such as a bandana, scarf or neck gaiter. Medical masks aren't necessary and should be prioritized for health care workers. Here's a quick overview of the orders in each jurisdiction. Alameda: The county is requiring members of the public and workers to wear face coverings while inside of or waiting in line to enter essential businesses, when seeking health care, and when waiting for or riding on public transportation. Read the full order. Berkeley: Anyone out in public visiting essential businesses, seeking health care or using public transportation is required to use a face covering. Workers at essential businesses are also required to cover their face. Read the full order. Contra Costa: Anyone working at or visiting an essential business, such as a grocery store or gas station, is required to wear face coverings. The order does not require children 12 and younger to wear masks. Read the full order. Fremont: The East Bay city of Fremont is requiring workers and customers at essential businesses to wear face coverings amid the COVID-19 emergency. An employee can deny service to an individual who is not wearing a face covering. Read the full order. Marin: Residents are being asked to wear a face covering when they are interacting with others who are not members of their household in public and private spaces. Children aged 12 years old or younger are not required to wear a face covering. Read the full order. San Francisco: Residents and workers in SF will be required to wear face coverings at essential businesses, in public facilities and on transit. Read the full order. San Mateo: The order mandates members of the public and workers at essential businesses to wear face coverings outside the home for certain activities and in places of business. The order took effect Friday night but will not be enforced until 8 a.m. on April 22. Read the full order. Sonoma: All people must wear facial coverings before they enter any indoor facility besides their residence, any enclosed open space, or while outdoors when the person is unable to maintain a six-foot distance from another person at all times. Children over the age of 2 are being asked to wear face coverings. The requirement went into effect Friday. Read the full order. Cumulative cases in the greater Bay Area (due to limited testing these numbers reflect only a small portion of likely cases): ALAMEDA COUNTY: 1,239 confirmed cases, 43 deaths For more information on Alameda County cases, visit the public health department website. CONTRA COSTA COUNTY: 763 confirmed cases, 22 deaths For more information on Contra Costa County cases, visit the public health department website. LAKE COUNTY: 6 confirmed cases For information on Lake County and coronavirus, visit the public health department website. MARIN COUNTY: 203 confirmed cases, 11 deaths Fore more information on Marin County cases, visit the public health department website. MONTEREY COUNTY: 150 confirmed cases, 4 deaths For more information on Monterey County cases, visit the public health department website. NAPA COUNTY: 54 cases, 2 deaths For more information on Napa County cases, visit the public health department website. SAN BENITO COUNTY: 46 confirmed cases, 2 deaths For more information on San Benito County cases, visit the public health department website. SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY: 1,233 confirmed cases, 21 deaths For more information on San Francisco County cases, visit the public health department website. SAN MATEO COUNTY: 958 confirmed cases, 39 deaths For more information on San Mateo County cases, visit the public health department website. SANTA CLARA COUNTY: 1,962 confirmed cases, 94 deaths Fore more information on Santa Clara County cases, visit the public health department website. SANTA CRUZ COUNTY: 111 confirmed cases, 2 deaths For more information on Santa Cruz County cases, visit the public health department website. SOLANO COUNTY: 186 confirmed cases, 3 deaths For more information on Solano County cases, visit the public health department website. SONOMA COUNTY: 192 confirmed cases, 2 deaths For more information on Sonoma County cases, visit the public health department website. In California, 1,229 coronavirus-related deaths have been reported, according to Johns Hopkins University. For comparison, New York has 18,653, New Jersey 4,520 and Illinois 1,349. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE: Sign up for 'The Daily' newsletter for the latest on coronavirus here. Amy Graff is a digital editor with SFGATE. Email her: agraff@sfgate.com. Hosted by Aisha Mohamed, a PR and Communications Officer at CS Global Partners, the first episode is an introductory explanation to what CBI is. Beatrice Gatti, the Head of Government Advisory Practice at CS Global Partners' London headquarters, makes an appearance as a special guest. "Citizenship by Investment is a legal process whereby a foreign investor is given the opportunity to become a citizen of a country in return for a significant investment in that country," Mrs Gatti explains. "It comes in various shapes and forms, although the most common ones are either via a contribution to a government fund or via the purchase of real estate," she adds. "This is the format we see most commonly in the Caribbean, for example in St Kitts and Nevis and Dominica." CBI is native to the Caribbean, where the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis established the first ever Programme in 1984. Later in 1993, the Commonwealth of Dominica passed legislation to enable Citizenship by Investment. However, CBI started playing a much more important role to these nations' economies after 2005. That is when St Kitts and Nevis saw its sugar industry collapse and Dominica its banana industry, due to external shocks after the European Union terminated its preferential export agreement with African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. Commenting on what Mr Les Khan, the CEO of St Kitts and Nevis' Citizenship by Investment Unit, said earlier this month during a CS Global Partners webinar, Mrs Gatti agrees that some may indeed consider second citizenship a Plan B. "Citizenship by Investment is seen by some as an insurance against the risks associated with their citizenship of origin," Mrs Gatti explains. Such risks may include social turmoil and political instability, lack of certain freedoms, economic uncertainty and stagnation, unstable currencies or weak rule of law. Conversely, many families opt for citizenship by investment because they seek good quality of life, with better education and healthcare access. Business-inclined applicants, once successful, can also enjoy new investment opportunities in lucrative markets. Gaining greater global mobility is another good reason to obtain citizenship by investment, whether for business, leisure or, for parents to be able to visit their child studying abroad. The "Plan B" podcast is available for free on iTunes, Spotify and the Resources section of the CS Global Partners website. Click here to listen to the first episode "What is CBI?" now. Contact: [email protected] www.csglobalpartners.com SOURCE CS Global Partners Related Links https://csglobalpartners.com The government has offered to retest NHS staff for coronavirus after revealing early testing was flawed and may have returned inaccurate results, potentially endangering both their lives and those they will have come into contact with in hospitals and care homes. Care minister Helen Whately made the admission on Wednesday morning, adding that these health workers have been informed of the defective testing. My understanding from some of the clinical advisors is that some of the early tests were evaluated and the evaluation was that they werent effective enough, she told Sky News. This is a normal process when you are using a test for an illness. As we know this is a new illness and were learning all the time. Those who were tested with the test that we think is not up to scratch have been written to, to let them know and they will be offered another test. The Daily Telegraph reported on Tuesday that Public Health England (PHE) had earlier this month questioned the reliability of the tests in a private memo, warning of discordant results and degraded performance. It also said PHE testing centres have now been told to stop using existing tests by Thursday and to instead use tests supplied by commercial firms. To date, almost 100,000 health workers have been tested for coronavirus, raising the prospect that some of these individuals may have been allowed to return to hospitals and care homes while carrying the disease. Ms Whately said the government has to make sure we look at the reliability of tests. And this has been, also, the whole debate around the testing of people who dont have symptoms, for instance, she added. One reason why the testing is focused on people who do have symptoms is because we know the testing is most accurate when you have symptoms. This is really, really important not just to test but to make sure we are testing people effectively. You need to make sure that its giving you an accurate result on which decisions can then be made. On the issue of the UK's limited testing capacity, the care minister admitted it was really troubling and hinted at mistakes in the nationwide strategy. After weeks of the government defending its record despite fewer than 20,000 daily tests, way short of the pledge of 100,000 next week Ms Whately acknowledged it had failed to deliver as hoped. She said that care workers were unable to reach the drive-through centres set up, which meant mobile tests were now being offered, with some home testing available soon. It clearly is really troubling where our strategy is to increase capacity and get as much testing happening as possible, Ms Whately said. She also dismissed reports that the government chose not to join a European Union scheme focused on the acquirement of coronavirus-related medical equipment. Sir Simon McDonald, a senior civil servant at the Foreign Office, told a Commons committee on Tuesday that ministers had taken a political decision not to join a programme to procure ventilators, only to later issue a retraction. Ms Whately said the UK had since joined other EU procurement programmes. There do seem some misunderstandings about the EU scheme. I am assured there was no political decision about the involvement in it, she said. The reason we werent involved in the initial scheme was to do with a communications error. We are now participating in one EU scheme and ready to participate in future schemes. The important thing is making sure that we are getting the PPE that we need. Three New York men are suing the World Health Organization for 'incalculable' damages over its response to the coronavirus pandemic. In a proposed class action, the residents of Westchester County accuse the WHO of a cover up with China and failing to quickly declare a pandemic. The lawsuit by Richard Kling and Steve Rotker, both of New Rochelle, and Gennaro Purchia, of Scarsdale, was filed in the federal court in White Plains, New York. It seeks unspecified damages for what they called WHO's 'incalculable' harm to the roughly 756,000 adult residents in Westchester County who would make up the class. Westchester county was one of the earliest U.S. hot spots for the coronavirus and the men have accused the health body of gross negligence in covering up and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The three men also accuse the WHO of failing monitor China's response to the original outbreak, provide treatment guidelines, advise members on how to respond including through travel restrictions, and coordinate a global response. WHO director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has defended the agency's handling of the pandemic, saying the WHO had kept the world informed about the coronavirus Chinese President Xi Jinping is pictured. The three men accuse the WHO of conspiring with China's government, which was not named as a defendant, to cover up COVID-19's severity They also accused the WHO of conspiring with China's government, which was not named as a defendant, to cover up COVID-19's severity. 'The Chinese government and the WHO intentionally misled the international community, including the named Plaintiffs, about the coronavirus and its devastating medical and economic effects', according to the lawsuit. The WHO did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Its director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has defended the agency's handling of the pandemic, saying the WHO had kept the world informed about the coronavirus. He has also called for global unity to fight the pandemic. President Donald Trump has repeatedly complained about its alleged mismanagement, cover-up and missteps. He announced a decision to halt funding for the U.N. agency earlier this month; congress controls the funds. U.S. Army Spc. Reagan Long from the New York Army National Guard alongside Pfc. Naomi Velez from the 42nd Infantry Division, register people at a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Mobile Testing Center in Glenn Island Park, New Rochelle, March 14 New Rochelle became a coronavirus hot spot after a lawyer who attended the Young Israel of New Rochelle synagogue was diagnosed with COVID-19 on March 2, the first person in the community to test positive Chimene Keitner, an international law professor at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, said the lawsuit will likely be dismissed because U.S. law affords the WHO 'functional immunity' from such cases. She also said the complaint did not detail the alleged harm suffered by the individual plaintiffs, or show what legal duty the WHO owed to them. Lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to requests for comment. China itself also faces multiple private lawsuits in the United States seeking damages related to the pandemic. The state of Missouri filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Chinese government over the coronavirus, alleging that nation's officials are to blame for the global pandemic. The lawsuit, filed in federal court by the state's top lawyer, alleges Chinese officials are 'responsible for the enormous death, suffering, and economic losses they inflicted on the world, including Missourians.' 'The Chinese government lied to the world about the danger and contagious nature of COVID-19, silenced whistleblowers, and did little to stop the spread of the disease,' Republican Attorney General Eric Schmitt said in a written statement. 'They must be held accountable for their actions.' New Rochelle became a coronavirus hot spot after a lawyer who attended the Young Israel of New Rochelle synagogue was diagnosed with COVID-19 on March 2, the first person in the community to test positive. As of Tuesday there were more than 24,000 confirmed cases of the virus in Westchester county; 809 people had died. The number of total hospitalizations for COVID-19 and the daily death toll have fallen in recent days, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Monday. The case is Kling et al v World Health Organization, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 20-03124. Due to plummeting fuel demand and overflowing storage capacity, at least three oil refiners in India have asked for lower crude oil imports for May from the Middle East, including from the worlds top exporter Saudi Arabia, officials at the refiners told Reuters on Wednesday. Two oil refiners will be cutting their crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia by between 66 percent and 80 percent for May, as India population 1.3 billion people went into a nationwide lockdown at the end of March. The lockdown has since been extended to May 3. Due to the lockdown and to Indias struggles to contain the spread of the coronavirus, fuel demand in the worlds third-largest oil importer is plummeting, so refineries are cutting run rates and struggling to store crude and refined products in dwindling available storage capacity. Some Indian refiners have cancelled their shipments for April and May, a source with a Mideast oil producer told Reuters, confirming the crash in Indias oil demand. They will take these cargoes in the later part of the year to meet their annual commitment, the source told Reuters. Earlier this month, Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the countrys biggest refiner and fuel retailer, was said to have declared a force majeure on oil imports from some of its top oil suppliers, including Saudi Arabia. With demand collapsing, Indias oil refiners have already filled 95 percent of their combined storage capacity for fuel of 85 million barrels, officials at three state oil refiners told Bloomberg on Wednesday. Even the tanks at the 66,000 fuel stations in India are full, as more than a billion people are under lockdown and not driving. In the first two weeks of April, Indias consumption of gasoline and dieselmore than half of the countrys oil demandcrashed by over 60 percent, according to Bloomberg estimates. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Virgin Australia has told staff its subsidiary Tigerair will remain an essential part of its low-fares offering after the troubled company emerges from voluntary administration. Staff dialling into a briefing on Tuesday have also been told Virgin's administrators are "not contemplating redundancies at this point", The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald have confirmed. Tigerair: prepare for not taking off. Credit:James Morgan Tigerair staff had been facing a nervous wait for news after Virgin Australia called in administrators on Monday night. In March, Virgin Australia announced it would make all pilots at its budget wing redundant after flights were grounded by the coronavirus pandemic. Since then, there have been questions about the future of Tigerair. Hyderabad, April 22 : Telangana's Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development, K.T. Rama Rao on Wednesday had lunch with workers of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) who are frontline warriors in the fight against coronavirus. The minister also shared his meals with workers of Disaster Response Force (DRF) and entomology wing. Rama Rao appreciated their efforts and stated that they are working on par with the doctors and police officers in combating coronavirus in the state. He interacted with every worker and enquired about their health. He asked the workers to be safe and ensure all precautions are taken while discharging their duties. KTR, as the minister is popularly known, stated that the government recognizes their efforts during this crisis and mentioned that Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao passed orders to pay complete salaries to the employees of GHMC, DRF, and entomology wings along with special incentives . He instructed the entomology wing to ensure spraying is done properly to reduce mosquito menace in the forthcoming rainy season. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's son Prince Louis has been photographed to mark his second birthday - making a rainbow tribute poster. Children across the UK have been creating rainbow pictures as a symbol of hope during the coronavirus lockdown to put in their windows. Now Louis has joined the popular trend and was photographed by proud mother Kate at their Norfolk home earlier this month - with his rainbow-coloured hands on show. Recommended Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to support mental health of key workers The young prince will celebrate his second birthday on Thursday, and the fruits of his labour - a rainbow handprint picture - is one of five photographs released to mark the milestone. Louis looks like he is growing up fast in the pictures, with his hair neatly cut and combed and wearing a smart blue gingham-style shirt. In a series of images, Kate has captured her son as he grins at the camera while holding up his painted palms and fingers, in another his coloured digits are raised to his cheeks, and in the fourth photograph his face is almost hidden behind his outstretched hands. The final image is a portrait of the young prince as he looks past his mother at something just behind her. The duke and duchess also shared an informal photo that didn't make it into the official release on their Kensington Royal Twitter account. Louis was photographed by his mother, Kate, while painting a rainbow tribute poster (AP) The post featured a side-by-side comparison of one of the official photos of Prince Louis holding up his hands covered in rainbow paint with another of him spreading the colours onto his face. "Instagram Vs Reality," the caption read. "Thank you for your lovely messages on Prince Louiss second birthday." Kate is a keen amateur photographer and patron of the Royal Photographic Society who has regularly released pictures she has taken of her other children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, to mark their birthdays. Louis' artwork is likely to be part of William and Kate's home-schooling lessons, with the duchess guiltily admitting she kept the make-shift classroom up and running during the Easter holidays. In a recent interview, she said she found teaching her children at home "challenging", and added with a laugh "don't tell the children we've actually kept it going through the holidays I feel very mean". Kate captured her son as he grins at the camera while holding up his painted palms and fingers (AP) "It's just having that bit of structure, actually. It's great, there are so many great tips online and fun activities that you can do with the children so it hasn't been all hardcore," she added. Kate also revealed her surprise at her children's awareness about the coronavirus outbreak, and she has tackled the subject with them in "age appropriate" ways. The final image is a portrait of the young prince as he looks past his mother at something just behind her (AP) Prince Louis Arthur Charles of Cambridge, fifth in line to the throne, was born on St George's Day, April 23, 2018, at the private Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, London, weighing 8lb 7oz. He was christened at 11 weeks old, by Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, at the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace in front of friends and family. Louis' artwork is likely to be part of William and Kate's home-schooling lessons (AP) Louis has rarely been seen in public - his most prominent outing was his first appearance on Buckingham Palace's balcony, following the Trooping the Colour ceremony last summer, with his parents, siblings and other members of the royal family. But he has featured in a number of images released by William and Kate and was even in a video with his older brother and sister applauding the nation's health workers and carers. Press Association. We currently have two families total of 3 children in the program, Lee said. The important thing for Edward employees to know is that this is an option for them. Even if we have one child/family signed up, we will still offer the program. The Y is here for families. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 18:10:43|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Researchers have found that more novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients with diarrhea showed severe symptoms of pneumonia than those without diarrhea, according to a recently published research article in the journal Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology. The researchers from the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University and its Research Institute of Gastroenterology examined the intestinal symptoms of patients with COVID-19 from multiple medical centers in China. They collected and analyzed data from 232 patients who were tested positive for COVID-19 and admitted to 14 hospitals in provinces of Guangdong, Hubei and Jiangxi from Jan. 19 to March 6. Two patients with pre-existing digestive diseases were excluded from the analysis. The patients' most common symptoms at the onset of illness were fever, cough and sputum production. Diarrhea was observed in 49 patients, or 21 percent, according to the research article which said that the patients with diarrhea were older and more likely to have comorbidities than those without diarrhea. The researchers also discovered that more patients with diarrhea showed severe symptoms of pneumonia than those without. Although there was no correlation between diarrhea and oxygen supplementation, a greater proportion of patients with diarrhea required ventilator support and admission to intensive care, said the article. They did not observe a correlation between diarrhea and the use of antiviral medicine or antibiotics. The analysis did not cover the data on the prevalence of asymptomatic COVID-19. The researchers also pointed out that the medicines like antivirals, lopinavir and ritonavir are known to cause diarrhoea. Enditem While they are few in number, those whove decided its their duty as Americans to protest coronavirus lockdowns are putting their self-interest over the health of others. Period. You can disagree with me and call me a liberal schmuck and stand by President Donald Trump and the protesters hes egging on all you want, but that wont change the fundamental facts of the coronavirus, how it spreads and where our country stands in dealing with the pandemic. In fact, by violating social distancing rules, not wearing masks and encouraging like-minded folks to follow their lead, anti-coronavirus protesters are likely delaying the very thing they claim to desire: a reopening of America. Here are some facts the virus doesnt care whether or not you believe. Until theres widespread testing and contact tracing (tracking down and isolating everyone an infected person has come in contact with), it will be hard to prevent additional outbreaks or measure how many Americans have been infected. One of the most nettlesome problems with this virus is it can be spread by people who arent showing symptoms. A new study of a town in Italy found 43.2% of people diagnosed with the virus were asymptomatic. According to an NPR report earlier this month, a third of the 82 people who tested positive for the coronavirus at a Washington state nursing home were free of fever, malaise and coughing when they were swabbed for the virus, though most went on to develop symptoms. There are people in parts of the country saying Well, no one around here has it. Thats a statement based on zero factual evidence. People crowding around state capitol buildings calling for lockdowns to be lifted have no clue whether theyre standing next to fellow protesters carrying the virus. As a country, we dont have the data to say any place is virus-free. Say you live in a small town in downstate Illinois. Nobody you know has gotten sick. Thats certainly a positive sign. But do you have gas stations and restaurants in your town? Are you near an interstate that carries people from areas that have higher infection rates? Suppose someone from St. Louis is infected but not showing any symptoms, and that person decides to drive to Chicago and, on the way, pulls into at a truck stop just outside your town. Say two of your friends are there and they get exposed to that infected person in the truck stop diner. Thats the first problem an asymptomatic person spreading the virus. The next problem is that coronavirus is highly contagious. Too many have equated the virus with the flu, thanks in part to Trump and other Republican lawmakers and conservative pundits making such comparisons. Hugh Montgomery, director of the Institute for Human Health and Performance at University College London, told a British television network the virus that causes COVID-19 is three times as infectious as the flu. That doesnt sound that bad, until you crunch the numbers. On average, a person with the flu will infect 1.3 people. So if you take that through 10 transmissions, one person will have infected about 14 people. This coronavirus is very, very infectious, so every person passes to it three, Montgomery said. Now that doesnt sound like much of a difference, but if each of those three pass it to three and that happens in 10 layers, I have been responsible for infecting 59,000 people. The one passing it to three is considered a high estimate. So say a person with coronavirus, on average, infects two people, a figure lower than epidemiological estimates. In 10 transmissions, one person would still be responsible for 1,024 other people getting the virus. If you are irresponsible enough to think that you dont mind if you get the flu, Montgomery said, remember its not about you its about everybody else. In February, a 61-year-old woman in South Korea tested positive for the coronavirus, at a time when the country had only 30 other cases. Hundreds from the womans church wound up testing positive for COVID-19 and that one patient led to a massive outbreak. Just recently there have been coronavirus outbreaks at three Iowa food processing plants, a pork factory in South Dakota, a meat packing plant in Colorado and a wind power plant in North Dakota. What happens when theres an outbreak at a plant? It gets shut down. If one asymptomatic person at one protest has the coronavirus and spreads it to two more, then those two return to their hometowns and each spreads it to two more, you have the potential for another outbreak. And how will any state respond to a surge of new infections? By shutting down. I understand the worries protesters and many others are facing. My industry is being walloped by the coronavirus shutdown. Pay cuts, furloughs and layoffs are either happening or being weighed at news organizations across the country. Id give anything for a swift return to normalcy. But until theres enough testing nationwide to allow public health officials to smartly and confidently start slowly easing restrictions, a rushed great reopening will almost certainly be followed by a less great reclosing. If you want to protest something, protest the lack of adequate testing. Listen to governors, Democratic and Republican, saying its the key to the realm. Help them push the federal government to recognize the urgency. But protest via phone calls and emails. Dont go out in large groups and think your chants will repel a virus. You put yourself at risk. You put others possibly hundreds of others at risk. And the end result may well be a longer lockdown time for everyone. Rex Huppke is a Chicago Tribune columnist. Send him email at rhuppke@chicagotribune.com. Photograph: Paul Howard/Rex/Shutterstock Britain agreed to let Anne Sacoolas, the driver charged with killing 19-year-old motorcyclist Harry Dunn, return to the US on the basis of an apparently illogical interpretation of the law on diplomatic immunity, according to the most senior civil servant at the Foreign Office. The description of this interpretation given to the foreign affairs select committee by Sir Simon McDonald, the permanent under-secretary and head of the diplomatic service, will add fuel to the efforts of the Dunn family to mount a judicial review of the Foreign Offices decision-making in the case. Related: Harry Dunn family criticise Raab after Sacoolas CIA revelation The Foreign Office accepted a US government claim that as the wife of a CIA agent working at the US intelligence base RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire, Sacoolas had diplomatic immunity. She was allowed to return to the US with her family, days after driving her car on the wrong side of the road on 27 August and crashing into Dunn on his motorcycle. The Crown Prosecution Service has subsequently charged her with death by reckless driving, but the US government has rejected the British extradition request. It has now emerged that the UK Foreign Office lawyers discussed her diplomatic status with their US state department counterparts in the immediate aftermath of Dunns death and initially advised British ministers on 30 August that there was legal ambiguity about her standing. Related: Harry Dunn lawyers call for High Court to publish US secret immunity papers But then, according to a report in the Mail on Sunday, the Foreign Office told the Northamptonshire police on 2 September that Sacoolas had full immunity and no prosecution was possible. So within three full working days of the crash, the Foreign Office had sided with a US interpretation of what McDonald described to the committee as a recondite bit of law. Sacoolas left the UK on 16 September. Harry Dunn, 19, who was killed when his motorcycle was hit by the car driven by Anne Sacoolas. Photograph: PA In the fullest high-level explanation of the events subsequent to Dunns death, McDonald told the select committee on Tuesday: In the case of Harry Dunn, the controversy was over an agreement made at the end of the last century over continuing immunities for US diplomats posted at the Croughton annex. Story continues In that agreement the American authorities gave a pre-waiver for accredited diplomats so that was the formal position, but that agreement was silent on the rights of their dependents, and that has been the origin of a lot of the dispute. But our legal advice is that when an agreement is silent on something, then what pertained before still applies i.e. immunity. Related: Harry Dunn's family seek answers over reports Anne Sacoolas was CIA officer McDonald told committee members this was a recondite bit of law, and the interpretation of the law was a bit illogical. The illogicality arose since the US and UK lawyers had mutually decided that, even though the immunity of the diplomat working at the base had clearly been waived by the US in the agreement, that of the dependent had not. Chris Bryant, a Labour member of the foreign affairs select committee, said: It seems surprising the Foreign Office would accept an anomaly such as a dependent of a diplomat enjoying greater immunity than the diplomat himself. You would have expected at the very least that the Foreign Office would not side with this dubious American interpretation of the law, but instead leap to the defence of a British citizen. A subsequent internal Foreign Office review has concluded the legal status of dependents at the Croughton base was anomalous, and the UK is now seeking to renegotiate the agreement. McDonald was clear that the only the Foreign Office, and not the police, can determine the issue of someones diplomatic immunity: The police force does not determine immunity. The police ask the Foreign Office about immunity matters. Here's the list of newly appointed ministers in Madhya Pradesh's Shivraj Singh Chouhan cabinet and what profiles they have been assigned. Today Madhya Pradesh BJP government appointed 5 ministers as their cabinet ministers and were assigned charges on the basis of districts. This cabinet formation was done with the view to emphasize more on various districts of Madhya Pradesh and fight covid-19 there. The list of ministers who has been assigned to work as Cabinet Ministers and the divisions assigned to them are 1-Dr Narottam Mishra Bhopal and Ujjain 2-Tulsi Silvata Indore and Sagar 3-Kamal Patel Jabalpur and Narmada Puram 4 Govind Singh Rajput Jabalpur and Gwalior 5 Meena Singh Rewa and Shahdol At present the main focus of these Ministers will be:- 1. Coordination at local level with Divisional Commissioner, IG, SP and Collector Health Department. 2. Communicate with local public representatives at block level 3. Taking feedback from the commoners. 4. Directing officers from time to time 5. To start delayed projects in various districts and especially focus on agricultural demands For all the latest National News, download NewsX App Senegalese fisheries stakeholders protest against its government intention to issue 54 fishing licenses to Chinese and Turkish vessels by Joelle Philippe Several Senegalese fisheries stakeholders, including artisanal fishermen, industrial shipowners and civil society organisations have protested against the intention of their government to issue 52 fishing licenses to vessels of Chinese origin and 2 to Turkish seiners. While the country is facing Covid-19 epidemic restrictions, the ministry consulted the Senegalese consultative committee for the attribution of fishing licences (CCAL), a body with key fisheries stakeholders representation, via an e-mail. This is the biggest list of vessels ever to ask for licenses in a single shot. APRAPAM, a Senegalese civil society organisation, published a statement underscoring that if these licences are granted, it would increase the fishing pressure, threaten sustainability and the livelihoods of artisanal fishing communities who are already suffering from the restrictions in place to fight the Coronavirus epidemic. In parallel, artisanal fisheries sent a letter to the fisheries minister demanding the postponing of the examination of the licences by underlining several concerns regarding the procedure but also on the licence demands. Senegalese shipowners also sent an open letter to the minister, highlighting similar concerns. Indeed, 15 Chinese-origin vessels and 2 Turkish seiners have requested a licence to fish small pelagic, an already over-exploited resource, especially sardinella, which is a key resource for artisanal fisheries and a staple food in the whole of West Africa. There are also 36 licence requests for hake, an over-exploited resource that is besides shared with other countries in the region. For these vessels, obtaining a license is a condition sine qua non to become senegalised (reflagged in Senegal) under a joint venture. APRAPAM notes it means that 51% of the capital has to be held up by a Senegalese national. CONIPAS, however, questions this: how can a company with a share capital of 100,000 francs [approx. 150] own a boat costing up to 1 billion francs? APRAPAM states that they have no doubt about the true nationality of these boats, which we consider to be foreign boats, and highlights that these vessels are new to Senegals waters and that some of them have a history of non-compliance. Theme(s): Fishing Craft, Gear and Fishing Methods. Prince Charles has called for global solutions to climate change, as he launches a campaign to encourage others to share their vision for a sustainable future. Charles, 71, asked people to share their ideas for social, economic and environmental sustainability on the #ReimagineReset hashtag as he noted the ability of the Earth to repair itself while people stay at home to prevent the spread of coronavirus. He marked the 50th Earth Day with a passionate plea for more to be done to tackle the continuing climate problems. Remarking on changes seen with people spending more time indoors and only making essential trips, the heir to the throne said: Equally, the slowdown of human and industrial activity has shown just how quickly the Earth can heal itself when we let it. We need only look to the improved air quality in some of the worlds major cities and the return of wildlife to our communities and waterways. Air, water, soil and landscapes are vital to human health and well-being. Biodiversity, the incredible interconnectedness of plant, animal and insect life, which we are rapidly destroying, holds insights and solutions that we have yet to discover; its protection and genuinely sustainable management is vital to our survival as a human species. It is, therefore, increasingly clear that when we care for our planet we fundamentally care for ourselves. Read more: Coronavirus: Prince Charles praises farmers, driver and shelf-stackers keeping food on the table To reflect and inspire the world to action, while aiming for a green recovery, I would ask you to join me by sharing your vision for a more sustainable future. The Prince now encourages you to share your sustainability ideas for the next fifty years using #ReimagineReset. pic.twitter.com/2X05CAFz9X Clarence House (@ClarenceHouse) April 22, 2020 Charles also likened the Earth to a patient, saying that human action had weakened her immune system, and damaged her vital organs. Story continues He added: Rarely do we have the opportunity to pause, reflect and reset our trajectory. I would encourage us all to reimagine the world we want and use all the levers we have at our disposal, knowing that each and everyone one of us has a vital role to play. His message on Earth Day came soon after he wrote in Country Life magazine, to celebrate farmers working throughout the crisis, and saying food does not happen by magic. If the past few weeks have proved anything, it is that we cannot take it for granted. Prince Charles delivers a speech on Forests as part of the United Nations conference on climate change in Paris. (Getty Images) Charles has previously pointed out the link between the response to coronavirus and that to the global emergency, saying in March that the world should react to both with the same urgency. Just a few days before he ended up contracting COVID-19, he said: The current battle against the coronavirus at least demonstrates, if nothing else, how quickly the world can mobilise when we identify a common threat. Prince Charles and Camilla visit the Eden Project in 2011. (Getty Images) Read more: Jellyfish filmed swimming through Venice's now-crystal clear waterways Earth Day also comes as it was confirmed 2019 was the hottest year on record for Europe. Concern for the environment is no new thing for the Royal Family. Charles, 71, has been campaigning on environmental issues for more than five decades and he has passed on his passion to his sons. Charles recalled his first speech on the problem with plastic waste earlier this year, remarking on being considered rather dotty at the time. He was also one of the early adopters of organic farming, which he continues to use at his Home Farm in Highgrove. Prince Harry has founded Travalyst, a sustainable travel project which looks to offset carbon and support communities which suffer damage from tourism. Meghan paid a secret visit to feminist climate change group in Vancouver shortly after she and Harry announced they wanted to end royal duties. Read more: An Unintended Consequence of COVID-19 Shutdowns? Blue Skies and Cleaner Air Read more: Prince Charles: I was considered 'rather dotty' for worrying about plastic 50 years ago He and Meghan have faced criticism for their use of private jets, most recently when they moved to California from Canada, before the border between the US and Canada closed. Harry, 35, said he has done it to protect his family. William and Kate launched the Earthshot prize at the beginning of 2020, after consulting with naturalist David Attenborough, to try to repair the damage done to the planet. Prince William, 37, talked to his family before launching the prize, and he is hopeful that many of them will get involved with it, representing a shared concern for climate change. Prince William, and Kate visit the Chiatibo glacier in the Hindu Kush mountain range in Pakistan. (Getty Images) Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex at the Queen's Young Leaders Awards Ceremony celebrating response to issues including climate change. (Getty Images) He worked on it for more than a year before its launch, and has said he hopes it will focus attention on finding answers to big questions, like climate change, the oceans, and air pollution. The Cambridges also frequently put climate change on the agenda on their tours. In Pakistan, they visited a melting glacier, and spoke to an expert. They travelled to community-led projects where people are coping with the changes to their environment. Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media A retired family physician from Manchester who also served for two years as a doctor in the Navy died with COVID-19 on April 16, according to his obituary. Per his obituary, Alan F. Krupp, who served in the Navy in the 1960s, later was the head of the medical staff at Manchester Memorial Hospital. He spent his time there improving the quality of care for patients. Help India! By Abid Hussain, TwoCircles.net Irfan Ali, a research scholar studying at JNU, left his home in central Kashmirs Budgam district to self-report at the local health facility. Having a travel history of visiting New Delhi in the last week of March, Ali had received a phone call the previous day asking him to meet Chief Medical Officer in his office. This was almost a week after he had arrived home amid the coronavirus pandemic that has killed around 171,242 people and affected over 2.3 million globally as of April 21. Support TwoCircles To his astonishment, the 26-year-old was beaten up by Jammu and Kashmir police personnel who were enforcing a lockdown ordered by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The incident was recorded just outside the health office where he was supposed to report. Without even listening to me even for a second, the policeman started thrashing me, recalled Ali. He narrated that the policeman first questioned him of not wearing a mask and then a group of cops started beating him with a stick. His neighbor who was accompanying him, meters away from the scene to maintain social distancing, fled the queue after watching the incident. Both Ali and his neighbor had come from New Delhi and had stepped out to mark our attendance at the health office as communicated by the officials. They were outside the health centre when police stopped them. Sadly, they are adopting the militaristic approach even during the coronavirus lockdown in Kashmir, said a dejected Ali. He asserted that the police and paramilitary personnel should know the difference between lockdown and curfew but that was not the case. He said that they were not even allowed to enter the health office. Several other residents present at the scene or with similar experiences alleged that police has resorted to beating even during the COVID19 lockdown in Budgam. However, Nagpure Amod Ashok, the areas Superintendent of Police, refuted these allegations. The allegations are not verified. Police officials on [the] ground are doing duty in difficult times, he said. He has voiced an appeal to citizens to stay indoors and stop venturing out on roads, stating that violation of lockdown is an offence and legal action will be taken against those violators. Earlier, after several positive viral infection cases were reported from Kashmir, health authorities had asked all the people who had entered the region having a travel history of mainland India and abroad, to visit the nearest health centres. Following this, many incidents of thrashing by police came to the light over the past few weeks, inviting massive criticism from Kashmiris. After March 22, the day when 1.3 billion people observed the one-day Janata curfew (civil curfew) on the orders of the prime minister, several young Kashmiris were roughed up by security forces across the valley, the videos of these incidents viral on social networking sites. Ill-equipped healthcare sector At a time when more than two million people across the world have tested positive for COVID19, hospitals in Kashmir are ill-equipped to deal with the pandemic. Jammu and Kashmir, which was split into two federally administered Union Territories Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh last year in August has witnessed five coronavirus deaths and 350 positive cases till April 19. The Kashmir valley, which has a population of over 6.5 million, has less than 100 ventilators, according to local reports. Doctors fear, in case of an emergency, there would be a steep crisis. Speaking to TwoCircles.net, a senior doctor associated with the Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) came down heavily on the government, saying they have never given priority to the ailing health infrastructure in the erstwhile state. He spoke to the reporter on the condition of anonymity given that the authorities had warned the doctors and paramedics to stop criticizing the government. On April 1, the Directorate of Health Services, Kashmir, came up with a circular threatening medics with stern action under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code if they disobey any regulation or order made under the Epidemic Diseases, Act, 1897. The warning, which the DAK termed as choking order, was issued a day after doctors and health workers protested against a lack of facilities at SKIMS Medical College and Hospital in Srinagar, currently designated as a COVID19 facility. Kashmir hospitals lack sufficient oxygen plants, ventilators beds and trained ICU care specialists, informed the doctor. He fears the pandemic is going to crumble the entire structure. He claimed that the valley hospitals cannot manage more than 150 coronavirus patients as health workers are not provided with even proper protective gear to deal with the infected patients. About the World Health Organizations call for aggressive actions to contain the contagion, the senior doctor insisted that it is the right time to expand testing to community pockets having symptoms consistent with COVID19 but no travel history so that actual disease burden can be ascertained. Leave aside food, no doctor visited us for a check-up, students in quarantine centres complained. The situation of quarantine centers in the valley is no different from hospitals. It could be gauged from the fact that students who have been placed under quarantine after coming from abroad, have complained about a lack of facilities at quarantine centres. At one such facility in Budgam, several foreign returnees were kept for over one week without even basic facilities. These students decried that no food or even drinking water was provided to them. Some even mocked the authorities saying that they could have brought heating blowers from their own houses as they dont have any heating arrangements available. However, the government has said that they are upgrading health facilities in the Union Territory to deal with the pandemic. It (government) has set up 11 exclusive COVID-19 hospitals, an administrative quarantine facility of over 35000 beds and 2400 treatment beds. Masks and ventilators are being procured, the UTs Department of Information and Public Relations said in a tweet on April 1. Students worst-hit In a situation like the present one, the students, who in February attended classes after more than six months, are the worst-hit. They had been idle at home since last August, when Indias Hindu nationalist government stripped Kashmir of its autonomous status, imposed siege and rendered the whole region incommunicado. Though the communication services were restored, high-speed data services continue to be suspended. During the current lockdown, students in other parts of the world have taken to the online mode of taking classes which, however, is nearly impossible in the valley, owing to its low-speed 2G internet. Mohsin Ali, a student told TwoCircles.net that they have been denied the right to use high-speed data even when their world counterparts are using the facility to stay in touch with studies and keep themselves aware and informed about the deadly COVID19. Kashmir academicians also assert that the lack of high-speed internet has severely affected0 students. Although, nothing can replace face to face teaching-learning, but internet assisted andragogy can compensate for it to a great extent, said Wahid Waheed Dar, an assistant professor in Anthropology. Almost all pro-India political parties in the Union Territory, even Modis BJP in the valley, have urged the Centre to restore high-speed internet. Despite appeals from all quarters including Amnesty International, Centre has ordered to continue with 2G services till April 27. LONDONThe British government says 759 more people with the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus, have died in U.K. hospitals, taking the total to 18,100. The daily increase was lower than the 823 reported in the previous 24-hour period. The U.K.s death toll is the fourth-highest in Europe, behind Italy, Spain, and France, all of whom have reported more than 20,000 deaths. However, there has been increasing scrutiny of the U.K. figures in recent days for understating the actual number of people having died of COVID-19. The numbers dont include those who have died in care homes or elsewhere in the community. Earlier, British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the country was at the peak but that it was too early to start considering a relaxation of the lockdown measures that have been in place since March 23. Exponential Increase in Tests Needed Acting British Prime Minister Dominic Raab says the government is still targeting 100,000 tests a day for the CCP virus by the end of Aprileven though they are currently running more than 80,000 short with just eight days to go. In the prime ministers questions in the House of Commonswhich allowed a maximum of 50 lawmakers in the legislatureRaab conceded the need to exponentially increase tests in the coming days. The most recent daily figures show that only 18,206 tests were conducted, even though the government has ramped up capacity to a potential 40,000. Raab is filling in for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson while he recovers from COVID-19. Keir Starmer, the new leader of Britains main opposition Labor Party, criticized the government for being slow in putting Britain into lockdown and getting the necessary personal protective equipment for front-line staff. Epoch Times staff contributed to this report. A Perth woman convicted of being an accessory to the murder of her mother whose death became known as the 'body-in-the-suitcase mystery' has walked free from prison after serving three years. Tiffany Wan, 29, was sentenced to four years and 10 months jail in 2018 for helping her father, Ah Ping Ban, dispose of his ex-wife Annabelle Chens body in the Swan River in 2016. Tiffany Wan, left, with her father Ah Ping Ban, who was found guilty of Annabelle Chen's murder. The body of the 58-year-old was discovered inside a suitcase filled with tiles days later by fishermen. Despite public appeals for assistance, it took police weeks to identify Ms Chen. UPDATE: Founders Brewing wants furloughed workers back once coronavirus crisis eases GRAND RAPIDS, MI Founders Brewing Company announced plans for mass layoffs in response to business shutdowns caused by coronavirus COVID-19. Founders expects to furlough 163 workers in Grand Rapids and Detroit and bring them back when the crises eases up, the company said. While Founders intends that this layoff to be temporary and less than six months in length, Founders cannot predict the duration of this layoff because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Audrey Strieter, human-resources director, wrote in a letter to the state Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. The letter, also sent to Grand Rapids Mayor Rosalynn Bliss and Detroit Mayor Michael Duggan, provided notice of the pending layoffs to comply with the Worker Adjustment and Notice Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act). The sites for the layoffs are its retail operations: the Grand Rapids Taproom and Company Store and the Detroit Taproom. The layoffs are planned for May 3. Founders said that it had tried to avoid layoffs. It is unable to provide 60 days notice of a mass layoff as required under the WARN Act. The company could not provide earlier notice because the scope of the COVID-19 pandemic in Michigan, the continuing restrictions on bar, restaurant, and other retail operations to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the continuing restrictions on Founders retail business was not reasonably foreseeable at the time notice was required under the WARN Act, Strieter wrote. Indeed, Founders hoped to avoid laying off employees at all and continued to provide full pay and benefits to all affected employees from the date it closed its Grand Rapids and Detroit retail operations through the date of the mass layoff. Gov. Gretchen Whitmers executive order banned dine-in service at restaurants and bars and activity at other non-essential businesses through April 30. Also on MLive: Coronavirus antibody tests offer big promise, but can they deliver? Farm owner devastated by restaurant closures calls on community to come together after crisis ends Whitmer extends order allowing for 2-month pharmacy refills during coronavirus crisis Looking to bounce back from a spate of recent security missteps, video conferencing platform Zoom today announced a variety of new privacy and security capabilities in Zoom 5.0, a key milestone in the companys recently launched 90-day security plan. The primary difference between the current version of Zoom software and Zoom 5.0 is the addition of support for AES 256-bit GCM encryption; its designed to provide increased protection for meeting data and resistance to tampering. The new level of encryption will be available across Zoom Meeting, Zoom Video Webinar, and Zoom Phone. The company pointed users to a download page for the updated software. In a statement, the company said the system-wide account enablement will be in place within the next two months, once all accounts are enabled with GCM. Zoom 5.0 will also allow account administrators to decide which data center regions their account-hosted meetings and webinars use. We take a holistic view of our users privacy and our platforms security, Zoom Chief Product Officer Oded Gal said in a post to the companys blog. From our network to our feature set to our user experience, everything is being put through rigorous scrutiny. He argued that AES 256-bit GCM encryption would better secure user data in transit and talked up Zooms security features. With millions of new users, this will make sure they have instant access to important security controls in their meetings, Gal said. Zoom becomes both reactive and proactive Zoom has faced numerous criticisms during the past month, ranging from accusations of Zoom-bombing to a bug that enabled hackers to steal Windows passwords to a Californian lawsuit in which the company was accused of sharing data with Facebook a claim Zoom denies. The firm has moved quickly to show it is taking the concerns seriously. CEO Eric Yaun said April 3 that the company would halt development of new features to concentrate on its security efforts. In a blog post last week, Zoom laid out the changes it had made since April 8, including stronger password complexity requirements, removing the Meeting ID from the title bar and bolstered security for file sharing. Todays move involves a new wave of changes to user experience and controls. These include: the waiting room is now turned on by default, meeting hosts can now report a user, and ID and Invite options have been revamped to make it harder for a user to accidentally share a meeting ID. Zoom might not be out of the woods yet, but IDC analyst Wayne Kurtzman praised the changes in the Zoom statement. "When faced with questions over security and privacy, Zoom reacted quickly and very publicly to the challenges, including their CEO holding weekly public security briefings," said Kurtzman, IDCs research director for social, communities, and collaboration. "Zoom was also quick to take actions on changing the defaults that helped address meeting privacy concerns, as well as setting a 90-day plan for deeper actions and communicating it publicly." But for now, Lebanese have been pleasantly surprised by how the coronavirus has played out, Kanj said. Not much else is going right for the country, but on the coronavirus front, she said, something seems to be working well. Ten staffers of a private hospital in southeast Delhi's Okhla, who had come in contact with a coronavirus patient, have tested negative for the virus, a senior doctor at the hospital said. A patient was admitted to Alshifa Hospital on April 13 with anal abscess and was operated upon. He later complained of having chest pain and was asked to get tested for coronavirus at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. The report confirmed that he was infected with novel coronavirus and was referred to another hospital, the doctor said. The staff members, including the doctor who operated upon the patient, got themselves tested for the virus. The staffers had been under quarantine at the hospital. Their reports came negative on Tuesday, the doctor said. However, as a precautionary measure, the staffers will complete 14 days of quarantine at the hospital, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 22) The COVID-19 lockdown in Metro Manila the region hardest-hit by the infectious disease in the country should be extended for two weeks to pave the way for mass testing, a special adviser to the national task force said Wednesday. Health reform advocate Dr. Tony Leachon suggested that the community quarantine imposed in the capital region, initially set to end on April 30, should remain in place until May 15 so officials can further elevate healthcare capacity. "I would recommend extension in Metro Manila, National Capital Region from May 1 to 15, basically to increase the healthcare capacity the testing centers, procure more test kits, improve the hospital facilities, and see the figures go down," Leachon told CNN Philippines' The Source. He added the extension will be a huge help for the government's target to reach a daily testing capacity of 20,000. "I think it's doable but we need 'yung allowance ng May 1 to 15 in order to achieve this particular goal," the COVID-19 task force adviser said. "Mass testing, eto ang gamechanger natin (this is our gamechanger) based on several reference models like South Korea, Vietnam, and New Zealand." Leachon added other parts of Luzon can opt for a modified quarantine, particularly for provinces considered as COVID-19 hotspots outside the metro. "Hindi naman the entire Luzon ang may problem, there are certain areas na tatawagin nating hotspots (like) Calabarzon and Central Luzon. Perhaps dito lalabas 'yung tinatawag nating modified quarantine," he added. [Translation: Not all parts of Luzon have this problem. There are certain areas that we will call hotspots like Calabrzon and Central Luzon. Perhaps, this is where we'll see the modified quarantine.] Quarantine measures in Luzon and other regions which restrict movement of people except for essential workers as well as stopped public transport operation were first put in place mid-March in efforts to curb the spread of the viral disease. Lawmakers, government officials, and business groups have floated several ideas for the country's post-April 30 strategy, with some pushing for a "gradual lifting" of the lockdown. Leachon, however, warned that a sudden relaxation of quarantine measures "before a strong system is in place" may cause a "resurgence" or second wave of COVID-19 infections. RELATED: Expert cautions about possible second wave of COVID-19 infections with quarantine lifting The fate of the quarantine, however, lies in the hands of President Rodrigo Duterte. The chief executive is expected to make the decision on Thursday. To date, the country has recorded 6,599 cases of COVID-19, including 654 recoveries and 437 fatalities. The COVID-19 pandemic will delay recreational boating on the New York State Canal System this season for an undetermined time leaving many worried about negative economic impacts on communities and businesses along the system. Opening day for the canal system, which stretches from Buffalo to Albany, was supposed to be May 15. However, following Gov. Andrew Cuomos economic pause order all off-season maintenance and repair work on eight different locks in the system was halted. Most state Canal Corporation workers were sent home March 17 as nonessential personnel, said Shane Mahar, a spokesman for the state Canal Corporation., reported the Buffalo News. Due to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, the Canal Corporation has suspended all non-essential construction and maintenance activities along the Canal system, Mahar said in a written statement to NYup.com. To support the Canals continued use as a prime recreational waterway, we are currently evaluating operational options to ensure New Yorkers will have access to the Canal system this season. Pre-season maintenance pump-outsat eight different locks along the system have been suspended until further notice. A winter maintenance pump is an operation during which Canal Corporation crews do on the working parts of the lock, i.e. valves, gates, electrical components and concrete. The time it takes to finish the work varies by lock. Those locks affected from east to west on the system include: Lock C-12 (Whitehall in Washington County) Lock E-7 (Niskayuna in Schenectady County) Lock E-13 (Yosts in Montgomery County) Lock E-19 (Frankfort in Herkimer County) Lock E-23 (Brewerton in Onondaga County) Lock E-26 (Clyde in Wayne County) Lock E-33 (Rochester in Monroe County) Locks E-34/35 (Lockport in Niagara County) At this point, though, boat launches along the canal system are open where water levels are sufficient for recreational access, according to a written statement from the Canal Corporation. Jean Mackay, director communications and outreach for the Erie Canalway Heritage Corridor, said that statement about boat launches is a little misleading, noting that the water levels in most sections of the canal system right now are at a low, winter level.The federal agency promotes tourism and businesses along the 524-mile canal system, and sponsors statewide and community-based canal-related events each year. Reduced water levels reduce access to the water, she said. Some boat launches are high and dry right now." Business along the canal corridor each year generates $307.7 million in economic activity and supports 3,240 jobs while generating $34.9 million in tax revenue, according to the Heritage Corridors website. The Canal Corp. is overseen by the New York Power Authority. Both are not providing any specific information about when construction and maintenance will resume and when the canal system will open, said MacKay and others. The corridor around the canal generates $307.7 million in economic activity and supports 3,240 jobs while generating $34.9 million in tax revenue, according to the Heritage Corridors website. Mackay said the busiest locks in the system are those at Lockport, Rochester, Brewerton (Thats the busiest one in the system, she said.) and at Whitehall, which connects with Lake Champlain. Mike Murphy, owner of Lockport Locks and Erie Canal Cruises, whose three tour boats served 45,000 passengers last year, said he said he has had groups cancel advance bookings on his companys rides into August. He said his business does boat rides, weddings all sorts of events on the canal. People want to see the Erie Canal and go through the locks. Thats the exciting part for many, he said. He said hes not anticipating a May 15 opening day of the canal system. He said hes hearing all sorts of conflicting reports from business owners and others, with some saying at best only parts of the system will be open for the early season. Nothing is coming out of them (the state) that helps you make a decision, that helps you with what to tell customers., he said. Im not going to lie to them. Its frustrating. Mackay said right now she understands that New York State is doing all it can to control the spread of the virus. But at some point, she said, we have to hit the switch and worry about the economic recovery of New York. And thats where opening up the canal system becomes a critical issue. We dont want to see Upstate New York left behind, she said. Businesses along the canal have a short season and the longer the uncertainty continues, that will have an impact on them. MORE ON CORONAVIRUS Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources Reopening NYS schools this academic year will be very difficult due to coronavirus, Cuomo says As coronavirus spread, a Fayetteville retirement community became a hotbed McMahon: No more shelter-in-place, but urges people to travel even less; hospitals can reopen Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com Have a question or suggested story concerning the Upstate NY outdoors scene? Outdoors writer David Figura can be reached by email at dfigura@NYup.com, on Facebook or by calling 315-470-6066. On Monday, after weeks of stalled talks, Bennie Gantz, leader of the opposition Blue and White bloc, signed up to a national emergency government headed by indicted criminal Benjamin Netanyahu. The decision of the former Israel Defence Forces (IDF) chief of staff to join the xenophobic, ultra-nationalistic and expansionist government Netanyahu has dominated for the last 11 years, signifies that the dictatorial regime imposed for decades on the Palestinian working class will now be extended to the Israeli working class. Far from protecting the population from the devastating health and economic effects of the deadly coronavirus that has caused a catastrophic collapse of Israels economythe new governments ostensible briefits real purpose is to protect the wealth of Israels corporate and financial elite, suppress social unrest in Israel and Palestine and drive down wages and living conditions in an untrammelled pursuit of profit. Gantz was upfront about the undemocratic nature of the deal, saying, We have prevented a fourth election. Despite campaigning in three inconclusive general elections in less than a year, vowing never to serve under him and pledging to preserve the rule of law, Gantzs unity deal keeps Netanyahu in power and shields him from justice, while busting up his own coalition bloc. The new unity government is set to last three years, with Netanyahu serving as premier and Gantz as defence minister and deputy prime minister for 18 months, at which point Gantz will become prime minister and Netanyahu his deputy. The coalition will introduce a law enabling Netanyahu to serve as deputy prime minister despite being charged, which means that Netanyahu, who is due to stand trial on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust next month, will continue to occupy leading positions and an official residence even as he conducts his legal defence. He will be able to veto any senior judicial nominationincluding attorney-generalwhich gives him the power to control the judiciary. Gantz has also agreed that if the Supreme Court disqualifies Netanyahu from serving as prime minister or as deputy prime minister because of the charges against him, new elections will be held, under conditions where his own bloc has split. Netanyahu has bought the support of his coalition partners by enlarging the cabinet to 36, giving equal seats to his own Likud-aligned bloc and what remains of Gantzs Blue and White bloc, now dubbed the White bloc. Netanyahu has agreed to give the justice portfolio to Avi Nissenkorn from Gantzs party. Gabi Ashkenazi, another former IDF chief of staff, will become foreign minister. This means that the two external posts, foreign and defence affairs, go to military men, who are deemed more politically acceptable to Israels backers in the US and European capitals. Such is the right-wing nature of Gantzs bloc that Orli Levy-Abekasis, who ran on a joint ticket with the so-called left parties Meretz and Labour, will serve as a Likud minister, while Labour Party leader Amir Peretz will become the Economy Minister and Itzik Shmuli, one of the leaders of the 2011 anti-government protests, taking over the welfare portfolio. Netanyahu and Gantz will jointly head a special coronavirus-emergency forum. One of Gantzs 18 cabinet seats will go to an Arab minister (not party member). In an important concession to Netanyahus fascistic partners, Gantz has agreed to legislation to be introduced by July authorizing Israelis sovereignty and annexation of Palestinian land it has illegally occupied since the 1967 war, following US President Donald Trumps deal of the century. Gantzs capitulation to Netanyahu followed his inability to form a government under his own leadership without the support of the third largest party, the Arab Joint List, an anathema to Israels political establishment and his potential allies, who whipped up a ferocious media campaign, branding the Arab legislators as terrorists in suits. New to politics and differing little politically from Netanyahu, his shift was always in the cards. His move, signaled a month ago, split the Blue and White bloc, with Yair Lapid of the Yesh Atid faction and Moshe Yaalon of the Telem faction, both of whom have served in Netanyahus governments, refusing to join a national emergency government. This political chicanery takes place amidst the most severe economic crisis Israel has ever faced. With a healthcare system ravaged by decades of privatization and cuts and in no position to cope with the pandemic, Netanyahu moved early to impose stay at home orders, shutter schools, universities and non-essential business and close its borders. He offered loans and grants to businesses. As of April 21, there are nearly 14,000 confirmed cases and 181 deaths, although these are unlikely to be the full toll. As cases mounted among the ultra-orthodox, whose leaders refused to adhere to the social distancing restrictions, on April 2, the government declared Bnei Brak and several ultra-orthodox neighbourhoods in Jerusalem restricted zones. In anticipation of social unrest, Netanyahu has authorised widespread surveillance powersroutinely used against the Palestinians in the occupied territoriesto trace via their cell phones Israeli citizens, who have been in contact with coronavirus patients. Such powers for Shin Bet, Israels domestic spy agency, have now become part and parcel of the states surveillance apparatus. The closures have taken a devastating toll on social and economic life, all but killing Israels vital tourism and hospitality sector and leading El Al Airlines to seek government aid. Some 26 percent of workers are now jobless, up from 3.6 percent in February. Nearly 40 percent of Tel Avivs tenants (46 percent of all the citys residents rent their home) are unable to pay next months rent, with another 30 percent saying that within a few months they too will not be able to pay. On Sunday, in the latest of several similar protests, hundreds of self-employed workers demonstrated outside the Knesset and in several locations throughout the country, protesting the lack of social assistance from the government. One furious protestor told Channel 12 news: We voted for you. You were chosen as one who knows how to manage wars. In the coronavirus war you have failed! You need to get up and get out! On the same day in Tel Aviv, several thousand people wearing face masks and waving black flags rallied in Tel Aviv under the banner of Save the Democracy, calling on Blue and White not to join Netanyahus coalition government. One placard read, Let democracy win. Some had written Minister of Crime on their masks, in reference to Netanyahus trial for corruption. The situation is even more devastating in the occupied Palestinian territories, where, as of Monday, there were 449 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and three deaths. The Palestinian Authority, which runs parts of the West Bank with around 200 intensive care beds with ventilators, has estimated it needs $120 million in aid to cope with the coronavirus. Gaza, whose resources have been decimated by Israels 13-year-long siege, has only 87 adult intensive care beds with ventilators for its 2 million people. Official unemployment is at least 17 percent in the West Bank and 47 percent in Gaza, where three quarters of the population are already dependent upon humanitarian aid. Even if the closures contain the spread of the pandemic, the economic impact is set to cause mass starvation. The World Health Organization has become a tool of the "Chinese propaganda", the Trump administration has alleged, asserting that the global health agency has lost all its credibility during the ongoing coronavirus crisis. US President Donald Trump recently announced he would put a hold on America's funding to the World Health Organization (WHO), accusing the UN health body of becoming "China-centric" during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The United States is the largest contributor to the Geneva-headquartered world body. "The problem with the WHO is that they've lost all credibility during this crisis," US National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien said on Tuesday. "It's not like the WHO has been a highly-credible organization for many years. The United States spends over half a billion dollars on the WHO. China spends about USD 40 million dollars on the WHO, about one-tenth of what the US spends, and yet the WHO has become a tool of Chinese propaganda," he alleged. O'Brien said that on January 14, the WHO assured the US that there was no human to human transmission of the COVID-19, that well into the public health crisis in China, that turned out to be utterly false. In February, the WHO criticized travel restrictions that were being placed on travel from China and other hotspots, not just by the US, but by other countries, he said. "That turned out to be totally improper advice, and has been rejected by the public health professionals," he noted. On March 11, the WHO came out with non-medical advice and said that the Communist Party of China's reaction to the virus has been an "amazing achievement" in containing it. And of now, the virus is in at least 184 countries, he said. "So if that's an amazing achievement, I don't know what is. So we've got a real credibility problem with the WHO," he said. The United States is working with friends and allies to see if it can be reformed, he said. "But one thing we will do, even though we've suspended funding, we're going to make sure that the taxpayer dollars of hard-working Americans that they want to see help our friends and partners and folks around the world who need it, we're going to make sure those dollars get delivered directly to countries, directly to the non-governmental organizations, the Red Cross, places that are fighting this disease on the front line," O'Brien said. "Unfortunately, the WHO has just lost credibility at this point, and you know, instead of stopping, when you hit rock bottom, you stop digging. But the WHO today, apparently, is going to keep digging," he said. The COVID-19 has claimed more than 45,000 lives and infected over 824,000 people in the US. Globally, the virus has killed 177,445 people and infected over 2.5 million, according to Johns Hopkins University data. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 22 Trend: Turkmenistan has announced the countrys foreign policy achievements for the first quarter of the year in its Foreign Policy and Diplomacy newspaper, Trend reports with reference to Turkmenistan State News Agency. The relationship between Turkmenistan and the UN was noted among the major successes. The basic principles of the country's neutrality correspond to those established by the UN to create peace and stability in the country. According to President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, the UN can always count on Turkmenistans support, which assumes all necessary measures to create an atmosphere of mutual understanding and trust. Special attention was paid to strengthening friendly relations with neighboring states. This is evidenced by the bilateral talks held by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov with President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev during the visit of the president of Turkmenistan to Baku. At their meeting, positions on topical issues of world politics were discussed. Relations between Turkmenistan and Afghanistan were also highlighted. Ambassador of Afghanistan to Turkmenistan Najibullah Alikhil expressed gratitude to the president of Turkmenistan for his assistance in establishing peace and stability in the country and contributing to economic development, the article said. Turkmenistan pays great attention to the implementation of major infrastructure projects of Afghanistan in such areas as energy, transport and communications, and supports the construction of medical and educational institutions. It also provides preferential electricity supplies, training of Afghan students in Turkmenistan's educational institutions, regular delivery of humanitarian supplies, and other types of assistance. 22.04.2020 LISTEN A total of 810 people were arrested by the Ghana Police Service during the partial lockdown. These suspects were picked up across the country for violating the restrictions on movement. The Director of Police Public Affairs, Superintendent Sheila Kesse Abayie-Buckman disclosed that 127 cases in relation to the violation of lockdown restrictions were currently at the court. She said 458 out of 810 were granted bail by the various courts. The number of cases in the court stood at 127 and the number of persons involved in these cases was 810 so out of these, 458 were granted bail by the various courts and the people who were convicted stood at 54. I am sure you heard about the conviction of people who were throwing a party yesterday. So these are part of those arrested, she added. 8,000 frontline police officers ordered to self-quarantine Meanwhile, about 8,000 frontline police officers in the fight against COVID-19 have been directed to self-quarantine. According to the Police Service, samples of these officers have been taken for testing. They have been encouraged to self-quarantine and not mingle with people. For Accra, Tema, Kumasi we are looking at not less than 8,000. The Police Hospital takes these samples, said Superintendent Sheilla Kesse Abayie. Ghana's Coronavirus case count currently stands at 1,154. Though the President lifted the partial lockdown on Accra, Kasoa, Kumasi and Tema, the new public gathering advisories, which included a ban on gatherings remains in place. ---citinewsroom Over 1,000 Chinese college students have taken part in a public welfare project designed to offer free online tutoring, psychosocial support and other services for families affected by the COVID-19 epidemic. A poster for the project (Photo/Hunan University) More than 1,000 college student volunteers from over 260 Chinese colleges and universities, such as Tsinghua University and Peking University, have taken part in the public welfare project, named "Desk for Us, initially organized by only eight students. The project aims to create a one-to-one online tutoring platform for primary and secondary school students in Hubei province, the former epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, focusing on the families most affected by the epidemic, and providing three hours of free one-to-one tutoring every week. "The epidemic has left thousands of students trapped at home, and learning seems to have become a 'free' thing, but is this the kind of learning that they want?" said Liu Yihan, a junior at Hunan University in central China and project co-founder in charge of human resources management. Liu added that through a survey targeting 65 parents of primary and secondary schools in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, they learned that there are various factors that impact the effectiveness of online course teaching. "We set up this online desk to help children who are not used to online classes and who are not accompanied by their parents, so as to ease their academic stress." During the preparation stage, Liu Yihan organized the screening of resumes and interviews in order to build a highly qualified "teacher" team as soon as possible. At the same time, he widely distributed the "enrolment information" so that students in most urgent need and most affected by the epidemic could be provided assistance. Cao Zhuoran, a sophomore at Tsinghua University, is the head of the technology demand department of the public welfare project. As I work behind the scenes, I have no direct contact with volunteers and students, but the work that my team members and I do is still important. It is the hub that maintains the normal operations of the project. We have been working to optimize the team structure and improve the project process, so that every project participant can benefit from it as much as possible, Cao said. "For me, my little dream of being a hero has finally come true, as I can make my own contributions during this special period," revealed Niu Shuyi, a senior majoring in mathematics at Hunan University. She is currently an online tutoring volunteer for the project. The first student that Niu Shuyi offered tutoring services to was a girl in the first year of junior high school. At first, Niu Shuyi was worried that she might not be familiar enough with the knowledge points of junior high school, so she specially reviewed the lessons through online classes and carefully compiled her teaching notes. During the process of online teaching, Niu would patiently asked the student if she understood the lesson. "The little girl was very good and willing to communicate, and we finished the first class without any problem." Niu Shuyi is about to meet her second student, an eleventh grader who requires tutoring in math. Niu is fully confident she can meet the challenge, and is ready to continue reviewing her academic knowledge and giving her academic assistance. "This kind of one-to-one communication is very effective. The teacher is very approachable and can communicate from the child's point of view," commented one of the parents, noting that college student volunteers can incentivize students and really bring progress in their studies during this special period. Zeng Yujun contributed to this article Welcome to the News Release Wire Selection Control Panel. Instant News Wire Trump flunks testing I have not been able to figure out why President Donald Trump hasnt jumped in to tackle testing shortages and, now, the need for even more testing and contact tracing. He sees himself as a great negotiator, and these efforts could reduce the spread of COVID-19 and lower the death rate. It might even boost the economy, with thousands hired to be trained in contact tracing. These efforts could also open the economy faster and more safely. But, instead, he remains passive and insists the governors are in charge. Could it be that his administration has reached the level of incompetence that cant be hidden behind bluster and blame? Sadly, it seems to be so. Barbara Moschner, San Antonio Nursing home focus The most vulnerable of our citizens are those living in nursing facilities, and thats where we are witnessing considerable spikes in COVID-19 deaths across the U.S. in large part because those facilities are the least equipped to combat it. An obvious, focused response seems to be invisible to people who should be charging to the rescue. What we get are the usual somber tones as the number of deaths spirals. One would think the response of our wise state leaders would be more than repeating the standard: Dont congregate, and wear a mask. Thats good advice, but nursing facilities got left out of the equation because those residents are totally dependent on other people watching out for them. Our nursing facilities are woefully understaffed medically, and many are simply overwhelmed by the enormous number of infected patients. What about beefing up staffing by cooperating with the military for doctors, nurses and helpers? Instead, many of our leaders seem to be wandering around without focus, hoping the virus will just go away. If ever there was a place for state/federal focus, nursing homes are the bullseye. And if ever there was a reason for a federal government, this is it. Hugh Barr On ExpressNews.com: Plan to isolate nursing home residents with COVID-19 unravels The figures are in - coronavirus panic buying of toilet paper and essential food items sparked a record surge in Australian retail sales. The prospect of home isolation prompted huge sales of toilet roll, pasta, rice and long-life items, stripping supermarket shelves bare and sparking fights in the aisles. Preliminary data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed national retail turnover surged by a record 8.2 per cent in March. Scroll down for video Coronavirus panic buying of toilet paper has sparked a record surge in Australian retail sales. Pictured is a queue from March for the elusive item at the Epping Coles supermarket in Sydney's north That represented the biggest spending spike dating back to the start of figures in 1982. It was bigger than the 8.1 per cent increase that occurred in June 2000, the month before the Goods and Services Tax came into effect and just before the Sydney Olympics. By comparison, retail sales rose by just 0.5 per cent in February when COVID-19 was yet to register as a local threat. CommSec chief economist Craig James said the stockpiling of groceries as coronavirus restrictions were introduced drove the surge in March retail sales. 'Been stocking up on toilet paper? You clearly weren't alone,' he said. 'Consumers stockpiled food and supermarket groceries in March as they prepared to hunker down in their homes.' A breakdown of the official data showed food industry spending in March surged by 23.5 per cent as spending at supermarkets and grocery stores soared by 22.4 per cent to $2.2billion. 'The rise in seasonally adjusted terms in March 2020 was driven by the food retailing industry - supermarkets and grocery stores, liquor retailing, and other specialised food retailing all recording increases in demand,' the ABS said. Last month, Coles and Woolworths introduced one-packet restrictions on sales of toilet paper and paper towels to prevent hoarding and provide access to all. In March, national retail turnover surged by a record 8.2 per cent, preliminary Australian Bureau of Statistics data released on Wednesday showed. This marked a significant change from February's 0.5 per cent increase and was even more dramatic than the buying frenzy before the GST was introduced two decades ago One-packet limits were also applied to bulk rice purchases, as customers also raided shelves for pasta and hand sanitiser. The supermarket giants had noted their sales during March were similar to the buying frenzy in the lead-up to Christmas. CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement Mr James said the surge in grocery spending offset declines in spending at cafes and restaurants, which were closed for in-house dining on March 24 and restricted to takeaway food and deliveries. He expected retail sales activity to return to more 'normal' levels in April, as unemployment increased dramatically. 'Looking ahead, fewer people working means more restrained spending,' Mr James said. 'So it's possible that we transition from record sales to a record decline in spending.' In July 2000, when the GST debuted, retail sales plunged by a record 10.6 per cent, following a then record increase the month before. Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe is expecting Australia's unemployment rate to surge from 5.2 per cent in March to 10 per cent by June, a level unseen since early 1994. The March 23 shutdown of non-essential businesses like pubs, clubs, cinemas and gyms sparked long queues outside Centrelink in scenes reminiscent of the 1930s Great Depression. With Australians forced to stay home - except for shopping, essential work or exercise - Mr James expected alcohol sales to stay strong. 'Comfort spending and alcohol consumption will continue to support broader retail trade,' he said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin John Miller (Reuters) Zurich, Switzerland Wed, April 22, 2020 17:46 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd398bfe 2 World Roche,antibody,antibody-test,coronavirus,COVID-19,COVID-19-drugs,infection,pandemic Free Some blood tests being marketed to tell people if they have had the new coronavirus are a "disaster", Roche Chief Executive Severin Schwan said on Wednesday as he prepares to launch the drugmaker's own antibody test next month. Roche's diagnostics business has moved out of the shadow of its main medicines unit during the pandemic, as the Swiss pharma giant confirmed its 2020 sales and profit outlook amid rising demand for COVID-19 testing. Countries around the world hope such blood tests - meant to show whether people exposed to the disease have developed antibodies thought to offer some immunity - will guide efforts to restart their economies and keep healthcare workers safe. An erroneous false-positive result could lead to the mistaken conclusion that someone has immunity. In developing its test, Schwan said, Roche scrutinized some existing products for reliability before rejecting them. "It's a disaster. These tests are not worth anything, or have very little use," Schwan told reporters on a conference call. "Some of these companies, I tell you, this is ethically very questionable to get out with this stuff." Schwan said there were about 100 such tests on offer, including finger-prick assays that offer a quick result. The Basel-based company declined to specify which rival tests it had studied, but said it was not referring to tests from established testing companies. Roche also makes separate tests to determine if a person has an active coronavirus infection, with a sample taken via a swab from nasal passages. Sales of those tests helped push first-quarter sales in its Molecular Diagnostics business up 29% in the first three months of the year, it said. Amateurs in garages By contrast, Roche's planned antibody test relies on intravenous blood draws taken by a nurse or a doctor. Schwan did not release figures for its test's "specificity", or how many false-positives can be expected, but promised it would be reliable because Roche had successfully found the antibody produced by the body after exposure to the novel virus. "This is really what matters," he said. "Every kind of amateur could produce an antibody test. The two of us could do it overnight in the garage. That's not the problem." "The question is, does it really work? And for that, you have to do testing and validation," he added. Abbott Laboratories also said last week it would begin shipping a new coronavirus blood test similar to Roche's by June. Like Roche's test, Abbott's assay would be launched under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's recently relaxed rules for coronavirus tests. Roche confirmed its existing 2020 forecast for sales to grow in the low-to-mid single-digit percentage range, with core earnings growth per share matching that, after first-quarter sales rose 7% to 15.1 billion Swiss francs ($15.57 billion). While most of Roche's coronavirus activity has been focused on testing, it is also studying if its older arthritis drug Actemra will help critically ill patients hit by severe immune system reactions, also called cytokine storms. The medicine has already been deployed for such cases on a limited basis, including in China. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ghina Ghaliya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, April 22, 2020 08:34 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd36df33 1 National bill-deliberation,May-Day,omnibus-bill-on-job-creation,labor-union,workers,COVID-19,coronavirus,PSBB,street-protest,rally,house-of-representatives Free Labor unions will march on with their plans to hold mass protests against the omnibus bill on job creation, as many workplaces are still requiring non-essential employees to work as usual despite the large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) implemented by several regional administrations. The Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (KSPI), one of Indonesias largest labor groups, said it would not cancel plans to hold rallies in front of the House of Representatives or the Coordinating Economic Ministers office in Jakarta on April 30 one day prior to May Day. "Weve notified the police. According to regulations, rallygoers only need to submit a notification letter to the police rather than securing a permit, KSPI spokesperson Kahar S. Cahyono said on Tuesday. The Jakarta Police previously said they would stop all May Day rallies, saying such gatherings would violate PSBB regulations meant to curb the spread of COVID-19. Kahar argued that many companies and factories were continuing to operate, forcing their employees to work during the outbreak in violation of the policy. If the police will arrest us for holding a rally, they should also arrest the employers who are forcing us to work and not complying with the PSBB policy, he said. Read also: Omnibus bill on job creation: Labor articles to be discussed last amid public protests PSBB regulations require all workplaces to stop operating and have employees work from home. The policy, however, does not apply to workplaces belonging to what have been deemed essential sectors: finance, fuel, food, medicine, retail, water, communications and logistics. According to the KSPI, dozens of companies outside of the aforementioned sectors are still operating. COVID-19 task force chief Doni Monardo has urged all stakeholders, especially business owners, to comply with the regulations and follow the work-from-home policy to make PSBB effective. Authorities believe office and factory activity would lead to packed public transportation and would undermine PSBB. The National Welfare Movement (Gekanas), another labor group, has affirmed its plan to join the KSPI rally on April 30. Its leader Indra Munaswar said about 35,000 workers from industrial areas around Jakarta were expected to participate. However, some labor groups, such as the Inter-Factory Laborers Federation (FBLP) and the All-Indonesia United Workers Confederation (KPBI), have canceled their plans to take to the streets despite the anger. Instead of joining street rallies, the two groups have prepared alternatives that include both virtual campaigns and crowdfunding activities to help those vulnerable to the disease and its economic fallout. "We've increasingly felt ignored by authorities because the House and the government have agreed to deliberate the disputed bill. There is also no strict policy towards employers who are still forcing us to work as usual without proper protective equipment," said FBLP chairwoman Jumisih. CLEVELAND, Ohio Police accused a Cleveland man of violating Ohio Gov. Mike DeWines stay-at-home by throwing a house party at an Airbnb rental that drew about 100 partygoers. The man, who turned 20 the day of the party, faces the second-degree misdemeanor charge for violating DeWines March 22 order that limited gatherings to 10 or less people to help stem the spread of the coronavirus. Cleveland police filed the charge on Saturday. Attempts to reach the man were not successful. He threw the party on April 4 at the Airbnb rental on West 33rd Place between Whitman and Bridge avenues, police reports say. Cleveland police arrived at the home about 1 a.m. after someone complained about the large gathering. Officers noted that a woman ran inside the house, and officers could hear people inside saying: Shut up, the police are here. The officer started writing a ticket for a car parked on the sidewalk when people streamed out of the front and back doors of the home, according to police reports. The officer estimated at least 100 people left the home, all peacefully. Officers talked to the party host, who said he rented the house on Airbnb, but only 10 or so people were inside. Airbnb said in a statement that they banned all parties in Ohio at their rentals during the pandemic and will aggressively enforce those policies with hosts and guests, including suspending their ability to list houses for rent. An AirBnb spokesman said the man was banned from using AirBnb. Read more from cleveland.com: Cleveland police issue first citation for violation of Ohios stay-at-home order to beauty supply store Cleveland Heights man cited twice in three days for violating Ohio Gov. Mike DeWines stay-at home-order after two large house parties Elyria man lied about positive coronavirus test in attempt to avoid jail, police say 10 arrested, gunshots fired at large party at AirBnb rental in Willoughby Hills, police say By Zhong Sheng Some American politicians just played their same old trick again, making irresponsible remarks on multiple occasions that the novel coronavirus originated from China's Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). They declared, in a high-sounding manner, to make an investigation, and such ridiculous remarks were even hyped by Fox News. Anyone with conscience can see through the groundless and vicious accusation that totally goes against science. However, politicizing science issues, disseminating conspiracies and stigmatization are in essence attempts to impede the global solidarity and cooperation, which will cause huge damages especially when the world is currently facing extremely urgent challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Seeking the origin of the virus is a serious and rational issue that calls for science-based and professional approaches. The so-called assumption that the virus came from a lab had long been dispelled by global scientists. Chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) reiterated that theres been no evidence showing the virus was produced in labs or for the purpose of making bioweapons. On Feb. 19, 27 medical experts from 8 countries issued a joint statement on The Lancet, making strong condemnation on conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin. The statement said that Scientists from multiple countries have published and analysed genomes of the causative agent, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), 1 and they overwhelmingly conclude that this coronavirus originated in wildlife as have so many other emerging pathogens. This is further supported by a letter from the presidents of the US National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine13 and by the scientific communities they represent. Such opinion was later expressed again by a research team consisting of scholars from the U.S. Scripps Research Institute, Columbia University, Tulane University, the University of Edinburgh and the University of Sydney. The research team stressed in an article they published on journal Nature Medicine that the novel coronavirus originated from natural evolutionary process, and is not a laboratory construct. The U.S. politicians cooking up anti-science stories have their secret political goals. They just cant wait to stir up troubles, divert attention and shift responsibilities, from accusing Beijing for not informing Washington about the epidemic in a timely manner, to stigmatizing China by associating the virus with the country, and to hyping the relations between the virus and the WIV. However, anyone that is rational and respects science would scoff at such farce staged by these American politicians. Scientific and professional issues need to be addressed with science-based and professional approaches. We have no argument to claim that this virus would have escaped or been manufactured in a laboratory, said Belgiums spokesperson for COVIN-19-related issues and virologist Emmanuel Andre, adding that the genetic structure of this virus is natural. The hypothesis that a virus was created in a lab in Wuhan sounded "a conspiracy vision that does not relate to the real science," said Jean-Francois Delfraissy, an immunologist and head of the scientific council that advises the French government on the COVID-19 pandemic. Well-known academic journal Nature from the UK pointed out that Continuing to associate a virus and the disease it causes with a specific place is irresponsible and needs to stop. Lies can never outrun justice. The repeated politicizing of the pandemic by American politicians, which impedes the international cooperation on COVID-19 containment, has aroused huge indignation from the international society. On April 2, the Communist Party of China issued a joint open letter with 230 political parties from over 100 countries, saying We call for science-based professional discussions on issues like prevention measures and the origin of the virus. We strongly oppose the politicization of public health issues and the stigmatization of other countries under the excuse of COVID-19. We stand firmly against all discriminatory comments and practices against any country, region or ethnic group. Global challenge calls for global cooperation. Initial results of a UN initiative to help decide the future direction of the Organization have revealed overwhelming support for international cooperation, which has grown significantly since COVID-19 began spreading around the world. The results indicate that cooperation and solidarity remain a mainstream voice when the world is threatened by major public health crisis and infectious disease. The pandemic once again proved the importance and urgency of building a community with a shared future for mankind. The presumption of guilt that runs afoul of science will never be admitted by genuine scientific and professional spirit. Anyone that challenges science will not end up well. The American politicians had better stop playing the ridiculous political games that run counter against science, stop politicizing the pandemic, and join international cooperation to fight the disease with concrete actions so as to dispel the dark clouds of the pandemic with the light of cooperation. This is for the lives and health of Americans, as well as the public health security of the world. All human beings dwell in the same community with a shared future, so its better to do more to secure the homeland. (Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People's Daily to express its views on foreign policy.) Gunmen have killed an assistant commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) in Benue State. This was disclosed by the security agency in a Wednesday statement by Ekunola Gbenga, the Media Assistant to the Commandant General of the NSCDC. The unidentified gunmen were said to have killed the officer identified as Abeeka Abeeka at about 4 a.m. Monday in Akile village, Tyo Mu, along Makurdi-Gboko road, outside the officers house. This killing came two weeks after another officer, Joseph Ochogwu, was killed by suspected gun-wielding herdsmen in the state. According to the statement issued by Mr Gbenga, the slain Mr Abeeka was woken up following an alarm raised by neighbours that some people were coming to attack the village. It was gathered that as soon as Abeeka stepped out of his house, one of the gunmen opened fire and killed him, Mr Gbenga wrote in the statement. Tyo Mu community, he noted, had experienced a series of clashes in recent times between the indigenes and settlers over land dispute. It could be recalled that for some time now, villagers in the area have been engaged in rivalry over land matters as well as contention over rights over economic sites in the area. We have commenced a full scale investigation into the matter to ascertain those behind the dastardly act, while the manhunt of the fleeing bandits was ongoing with a view to bringing the perpetrators to justice, he noted. Washington American intelligence officials' determination that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election to assist Donald Trump's candidacy was fundamentally sound and untainted by politics, according to a key Republican-led Senate review released Tuesday. The findings undercut long-standing allegations by Trump and his allies that the officials were biased against him. The Senate Intelligence Committee, which conducted the three-year study, had already given the work of the CIA and the FBI an interim stamp of approval, but the 158-page report Tuesday presented new detail about the government's attempts in 2016 and 2017 to make sense of Russia's attacks. Much of the report's contents about the Intelligence Community Assessment were considered highly sensitive and blacked out by the Trump administration. "The ICA reflects strong tradecraft, sound analytical reasoning and proper justification of disagreement in the one analytical line where it occurred," said Sen. Richard M. Burr, R-N.C., the panel's chairman. "The committee found no reason to dispute the intelligence community's conclusions." The endorsement by Burr's committee comes at a key moment for the intelligence agencies. The Trump administration has stepped up its scrutiny of both the agencies' examination of Russian interference in 2016 and the origins of the FBI's Russia investigation around the same time. Trump's conservative allies have long painted the bureau's inquiry as hopelessly tainted by politics even as independent reviews debunked the notion of an anti-Trump plot. Still, the reception for the findings was muted. With the investigation into the same topic by the special counsel, Robert Mueller, long since put to rest; an impeachment fight over a largely unrelated matter behind the country; and a pandemic currently reshaping every aspect of life, the Russia inquiry has now largely become an afterthought for most Americans. The Justice Department is examining whether the CIA or other intelligence agencies overstated President Vladimir Putin's support of the Trump campaign, as part of an inquiry being led by John H. Durham, a federal prosecutor. Many Republicans believe that the intelligence agencies overstated Russia's support for Trump and argue that Moscow was trying to sow chaos in the United States, not support any one candidate. Durham has been interviewing intelligence analysts about the central conclusion of that 2017 report, examining whether Obama-era intelligence officials hid evidence or manipulated analysis about Moscow's covert operation. Critics of the assessment have focused on the fact that the National Security Agency had a lower level of confidence than the CIA and the FBI on the conclusion that Putin supported Trump's election. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. But the Senate report, from a committee led by Republicans, could shore up the intelligence agencies' conclusions. "In all the interviews of those who drafted and prepared the ICA, the committee heard consistently that analysts were under no politically motivated pressure to reach specific conclusions," the report said. "All analysts expressed that they were free to debate, object to content and assess confidence levels, as is normal and proper for the analytic process." The committee found that the differing confidence levels among the intelligence agencies were "justified and properly represented." The report said that both John O. Brennan, then the director of the CIA, and Adm. Michael S. Rogers, then the director of the National Security Agency, both "independently expressed to the committee that they reached the final wording openly and with sufficient exchanges of views." The Senate report also examined the inclusion of material from a dossier showing purported ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. Though elements of the dossier were included in an annex to the intelligence assessment, it "was not used in the body of the ICA or to support any of its analytic judgments," the senators found. The dossier was compiled by Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer, according to the report. The Steele document included unverified and salacious accusations about Trump and has become a focus of Trump's allies. The Senate report also stood in contrast to the conclusions in 2018 of the House Intelligence Committee, then under Republican control, which took issue in its own report on Russian election interference with intelligence officials' conclusion that Putin tried to harm Hillary Clinton and help Trump. The House committee cited breakdowns in "proper analytic tradecraft," but many House Republicans who were involved later disavowed that conclusion. New Delhi, April 22 : Hospitality major OYO has announced a reduction in salary of 25 per cent for all its employees in India for April-July 2020 and has also sent some employees on a leave starting May 4, whereby they would get limited benefits. In a mail written to the employees on Wednesday, Rohit Kapoor, CEO for India and South Asia, OYO, noted the tough times the hospitality sector and the company is going through, and said that although there will be reduction in the fixed compensation, all other benefits will be provided. "Today, our company is taking a difficult but necessary step for India, whereby we are asking all OYOprenuers to accept a reduction in their fixed compensation by 25 per cent. This will be effective for April-July 2020 payroll. All other benefits and terms of your contract will remain unchanged," said the email viewed by IANS. He further said that post the pay cut, the fixed compensation for any employee would not be less than Rs 5 lakhs per annum. "This ensures a large percentage of our colleagues at lower pay scales see no impact," Kapoor wrote. Further, the company has also decided to send some of its employees in India on leave, but with limited benefits starting May 4. "We had to also take the hard decision of placing some OYOpreneurs on Leave With Limited Benefits (LwLB) from May 4, 2020 for four months until August 2020. Those going on this leave will avail benefits such as continuation of medical insurance and parental insurance, school fee reimbursement and ex-gratia support. In addition, to our colleagues on LwLB, in case there is an unforeseen medical emergency, we will support beyond the insured amounts, if the need so arises," the CEO for India and South Asia operations said in his communication to the OYO employees. "All these colleagues remain integral to the OYO family and we hope we will be in a position to welcome them back into full-time roles sooner rather than later," he said. The decision comes a fortnight after OYO Founder and Group CEO Ritesh Agarwal announced furloughs or temporary leaves of 60-90 days for its employees in the US and select other international markets. The 'Global 2-Pyrrolidone (DCHA, CAS 616-45-5) Market Outlook 2019-2024' offers detailed coverage of 2-pyrrolidone industry and presents main market trends. The market research gives historical and forecast market size, demand, end-use details, price trends, and company shares of the leading 2-pyrrolidone producers to provide exhaustive coverage of the market for 2-pyrrolidone. The report segments the market and forecasts its size, by volume and value, on the basis of application, by products, and by geography. Request For Report Sample: https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/3819 The report has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from key industry participants. 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Make an Inquiry before Buying: https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/checkout/3819/Single Pirates have attacked a Portuguese-flagged vessel off the coast of Benin and kidnapped a Ukrainian citizen, a crew member of the ship, Director of the Consular Service Department of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Serhii Pohoreltsev has told Ukrinform. The diplomat said that Ukraine's Embassy in Germany received a report on April 20 that the pirated attacked the Tommi Ritscher (IMO 9656137), a Portuguese-flagged vessel operated by Transeste Schiffahrt Gmbh (Germany), off the coast of Benin. "According to tentative reports, as a result of the attack, one citizen of Ukraine, a crew member of the ship, was captured and taken away in an unknown direction," Pohoreltsev said. He added that Ukraine's Consulate General in Hamburg had contacted the vessel's operator to clarify the circumstances of the case. In addition, Ukraine's Embassy in Nigeria, which is responsible for Benin, appealed to Benin's competent authorities to confirm the abduction of the Ukrainian citizen. "The case is under the control of the concerned foreign diplomatic institutions of Ukraine and the Consular Service Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," Pohoreltsev said. Earlier, Russian media reported the capture of three Russian sailors from the ship by pirates. Benin is a state in West Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, Togo, and the Gulf of Guinea. op by Richard Mallory Allnutt Few could dispute the Hawker Siddeley Harriers place as one of the most iconic military jets of all time. In terms of fixed-wing attack aircraft, this diminutive jump-jet was unique in the western world, until the advent of the Lockheed F-35B, for its ability to take off and land vertically and transition from a hover to conventional flight. Harriers have served with distinction in various air arms across the world since the late 1960s. They earned their spurs in combat during the Falklands War of 1982, and are still in action on the front lines today. The type has been popular on the air show circuit as well, earning awe from onlookers wherever she appears. Who could forget the types signature air show maneuver; the Harrier taking off vertically hovering and then raising her nose gracefully upwards until pointing straight up for an ascent into the heavens? And for her finale following a vigorous beat up of the field, the Harrier would return to hover in front of show-center, dipping her nose in a last bow to the crowd, before settling to earth once more. Despite the Harriers success, both commercially and in combat, the entire design almost failed to reach maturity. Indeed, if it hadnt been for the cooperation between the UK, USA and West Germany during the early 1960s in developing the aircrafts forebear, the Hawker-Siddeley Kestrel, it is doubtful the type would have made it past the prototype stage. Britain was in desperate financial straits following WWII and lacked the political fortitude to press ahead alone with many promising projects, cancelling a number of high profile domestic ventures such as the BAC TSR2. The Kestrel itself was a development of the Hawker P.1127 concept aircraft, which married the pioneering Bristol Pegasus, vectored-thrust jet engine with a brand new airframe designed around it. Just six P.1127s and nine Kestrels rolled off the production line at Hawkers development site in Kingston-upon-Thames. The test flights took place at Dunsfold Aerodrome, with the first being a tethered hover of P.1127 XP831 on November 19th, 1960. Such was the radical nature of these aircraft that a number were involved in accidents during testing. Even so, about half of the fifteen prototypes/development aircraft survive in one form or another. And we are happy to see that one of these historic airframes, following decades of abuse and neglect, has finally found a new home where she has begun to receive the love and care she so deserves. This example is Hawker Siddeley Kestrel FGA.1 XS694. The Wings Museum, near Balcombe in West Sussex, England, acquired her from a private collector in the USA. The forlorn jump-jet had seen use as an attraction/obstacle in a paintball park, and was in a desperate state. While the purchase took place back in July, 2018, this wasnt open knowledge. The museum kept this development quiet until fairly recently, because of concerns relating to a proposal for construction of a new museum building at the former Dunsfold Aerodrome, site of the Kestrels first flight. After a protracted period of tense negotiations with the local council, the Wings Museum finally received permission for the new building, and now feels free to announce the acquisition of XS694 and her eventual return to Dunsfold! XS694 first flew from Dunsfold on December 10th, 1964. A little over a month later, on February 8th, 1965, she became the first Kestrel to join the Tripartite Evaluation Squadron (TES) at RAF West Raynham in Norfolk. Three countries, the USA, UK and West Germany, were involved in testing the Kestrels suitability to fulfill a proposed NATO requirement for a VSTOL (Vertical Short Take Off and Landing) combat aircraft. Each nation received three Kestrels apiece, although following the satisfactory completion of TES testing in November, 1965, West Germany opted out of the program (however, they did develop prototypes in parallel for a VTOL transport , the Dornier Do 31, which used a pair of Bristol Pegasus engines). The three West German Kestrels reverted to US ownership, and joined the three original American examples in the USA for further testing. XS694 arrived at Eglin AFB in Florida, USA during January, 1966, where she became XV-6A 64-18268 with the U.S. Air Force. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had been instrumental in assisting P.1127 and Kestrel development, performing wind tunnel tests, and other duties, since the early days of the program. They requested a pair of Kestrels for testing themselves, with XS694 being one of them. She moved up the U.S. east coast in July, 1966 to join NASAs fleet at Langley Field in Norfolk, Virginia. Here she became ship 520 in NASA livery. Unfortunately, XS694 suffered an accident a year later on August 27th, 1967. According to Lee H. Person Jr.s incident report, the legendary NASA test pilot was ferrying the Kestrel out to NASAs test facility on Wallops Island to evaluate the GSN-5 approach radar on that fateful day. During the landing roll-out, the aircraft developed a severe list to the right while also yawing sharply left. A photographer, filming the landing for NASA, was in the Kestrels likely path as it headed off the runway and appeared momentarily unaware of his predicament. This distracted the pilot briefly, who applied further undercarriage steering input (the two main gear could be swiveled) in an attempt to avoid him. The photographer ran for his life, as the Kestrel swerved off the runway, effectively in a ground loop. The starboard wing outrigger ripped away from the airframe as it slid sideways through the grass. As XS694 lurched to a halt, the right forward fuselage struck the earth and partially crumpled the nose, but thankfully the aircraft came to rest upright without rolling over. However, upon pulling his canopy release, the cable failed, and Lee Person could only get free of the airframe after the fire-rescue team smashed the canopy, allowing him to crawl out. While the Kestrel was largely intact, the damage was such that NASA deemed her beyond economic repair, relegating XS694 to become a parts source for the other Kestrel then in its fleet: NASA 521 XS689/64-18263. NASA received XS692/64-18266 as a replacement for XS694; the airframe gained the latters 520 tail code in the process. Interestingly, there is clear evidence that XS694 swapped wings with XS689 at some point, although there is no published data which identifies exactly when this happened. Logic suggests that it occurred before XS694 had her accident though perhaps during reassembly when the aircraft first arrived for testing from the UK. Happily, all three of the ex-NASA Kestrels survive today: XS692 is on display at Air Power Park, in Hampton, Virginia, and XS689, while belonging to the Smithsonians National Air & Space Museum, is hanging from inside the in Chantilly, Virginia). Somehow, XS694 survived over the years, suffering damage to her airframe and her dignity at almost every step. But finally she is now home in the UK with a much brighter future at the Wings Museum. Almost as soon as the aircraft was uncrated at the Wings Museum, a restoration team got to work on the airframe, assessing what was needed to make her whole again. The museum acquired an early variant of the Pegasus engine in a trade with the Gatwick Aviation Museum, a cockpit canopy from the Boscombe Down Aviation Collection and even some original Kestrel drop tanks from the Brooklands Aviation Museum. Aaron Simmons, the projects leader recently stated, I am very excited to finally be making a positive start on this unique and rare airframe; knowing it will eventually be on display at Dunsfold makes the project all the more satisfying. We have made some great leaps forward with the project using the latest CAD drawings packages to have the front cockpit bulkhead frame laser cut to replace the damaged one. We have also had a set of pilots instrument panels produced and are making some great progress on collecting the instruments needed to populate the panels but there are still many items needed. There are still many missing parts, including the undercarriage, which they would like to obtain. In addition, the wing was sawn in half at some point relatively recently and will obviously need significant repairs. Thankfully, an engineer who worked on the Harrier program is lending assistance in this area. Currently, work on the project has slowed somewhat, hampered by the restrictions necessitated with the Coronavirus pandemic. However, Aaron Simmons has the cockpit section at his premises and is working hard to restore a lot of its components. We will be reporting further on his work in the coming weeks. In the interim, the museum would like to hear from anyone who may be able to help with the project in any way. The team would also like to make contact with anyone who knows more about the aircrafts history, or who worked on 694, whether in the UK or USA. They are obviously also keen to hear from anyone who might be willing to sponsor the project, or provide donations to help fund the restoration. It will be marvelous to see her finally back in one piece again, displayed proudly at her first home in Dunsfold. The Wings Museum should be congratulated for their efforts thus far heres to a much brighter future for this important aircraft! You can follow the restoration on facebook HERE. P olice have been left "flabbergasted" after a man who coughed in an officer's face claiming to have Covid-19 was spared jail. . Trevor Dangerfield, 39, was confronted by police on Carmel Heights in St Leonards, East Sussex, on Friday after a disturbance at a property. He was arrested on suspicion of breaching the peace after becoming aggressive towards officers, Sussex Police said. Dangerfield then coughed in the face of a policeman, saying he had coronavirus and "wanted to infect the officer and his family", the force added. It comes as police forces around the country continue to face assaults as they work to enforce the nationwide lockdown rules. Dangerfield pleaded guilty to assaulting an emergency worker at Brighton Magistrates' Court on Saturday. He was sentenced to 18 weeks' imprisonment suspended for a year. He was also ordered to pay 100 compensation and a victim surcharge of 156. Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures 1 /81 Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures A deserted Westminster Bridge PA A man wearing a face mask or covering due to the COVID-19 pandemic, walks past customers sat outside a restaurant AFP via Getty Images Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Runners pass cardboard cutouts of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince William during the London Marathon in London AP An empty escalator at Charing Coss London Underground tube station Jeremy Selwyn Electronic bilboards displays a message warning people to stay home in Sheffield PA A sign is displayed in the window of a student accommodation building following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Mancheste Reuters People take part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions, in Londo AP People sing and dance in Leicester Square on the eve on the 10PM curfew Reuters Hearts painted by a team of artists from Upfest are seen in the grass at Queen Square, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Bristol Reuters Graffiti reads 'good luck and stay safe', as the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases grow around the world, under a bridge in London Reuters A sign is pictured in Soho, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London Reuters Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures, during a coronavirus briefing in Downing Street, London AP A person runs past posters with a message of hope, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Manchester REUTERS Riot police face protesters who took part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions in London AP An image of The Queen eith quotes from her broadcast to the UK and the Commonwealth in relation to the Coronavirus epidemic are displayed on lights in London's Piccadilly Circus PA Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge after members of the 101 Logistic Brigade delivered a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' hospital Getty Images Durdle Door in Dorset Reuters Captain Tom Moore via 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 Coronavirus outbreak PA An NHS worker reacts at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital during the Clap for our Carers campaign in support of the NHS Reuters Goats which have taken over the deserted streets of Llandudno @AndrewStuart via PA Tobias Weller PA Novikov restaurant in London with its shutters pulled down while the restaurant is closed London Landscapes: Hyde Park and the Serpentine, central London. Matt Writtle A newspaper vendor in Manchester city centre giving away free toilet rolls with every paper bought as shops run low on supplies due to fears over the spread of the coronavirus PA Theo Clay looks out of his window next to his hand-drawn picture of a rainbow in Liverpool, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continue Reuters A young man cuts another man's hair on top of a closed hairdresser in Oxford Reuters General view of the new NHS Nightingale Hospital, built to fight against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London via Reuters Jason Baird is seen dressed as Spiderman during his daily exercise to cheer up local children in Stockport, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters A woman wearing a face mask walks past Buckingham Palace Getty Images A man holds mobile phone displaying a text message alert sent by the government warning that new rules are in force across the UK and people must stay at home PA Medical staff on the Covid-19 ward at the Neath Port Talbot Hospital, in Wales, as the health services continue their response to the coronavirus outbreak. PA Prime Minister Boris Johnson taking part in a virtual Cabinet meeting with his top team of ministers PA A shopper walks past empty shelves in a Lidl store on in Wallington. After spates of "panic buying" cleared supermarket shelves of items like toilet paper and cleaning products, stores across the UK have introduced limits on purchases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have also created special time slots for the elderly and other shoppers vulnerable to the new coronavirus. Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour PA Mia, aged 8 and her brother Jack, aged 5 from Essex, continue their school work at home, after being sent home due to the coronavirus PA Children are painting 'Chase the rainbows' artwork and springing up in windows across the country Reuters Social distancing in Primrose Hill Jeremy Selwyn A general view of a locked gate at Anfield, Liverpool as The Premier League has been suspended PA Homeless people in London AFP via Getty Images A piece of art by the artist, known as the Rebel Bear has appeared on a wall on Bank Street in Glasgow. The new addition to Glasgow's street art is capturing the global Coronavirus crisis. The piece features a woman and a man pulling back to give each other a kiss PA The Queen leaves Buckingham Palace, London, for Windsor Castle to socially distance herself amid the coronavirus pandemic PA A general view on Grey street, Newcastle as coronavirus cases grow around the world Reuters 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 Britain's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty (L) and Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance look on as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he speaks during a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) news conference inside 10 Downing Street Reuters The ticket-validation terminals at the tram stop on Edinburgh's Princes Street are cleaned following the coronavirus outbreak. PA Locked school gates at Rockcliffe First School in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear PA A sign at a Sainsbury's supermarket informs customers that limits have been set on a small number of products as the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases grow around the world Reuters Jawad Javed delivers coronavirus protection kits that he and his wife have put together to the vulnerable people of their community of Stenhousemuir, between Glasgow and Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" Getty Images A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A pedestrian walks past graffiti that reads "Diseases are in the City" in Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images Staff from The Lyric Theatre, London inform patrons, as it shuts its doors PA A quiet looking George IV Bridge in Edinburgh PA A quieter than usual British Museum Getty Images A racegoer attends Cheltenham in a fashionable face mask SplashNews.com A commuter wears a face mask at London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn A empty restaurant in the Bull Ring Shopping Centre Getty Images A deserted Trafalgar Square in London PA Passengers determined to avoid the coronavirus before leaving the UK arrive at Gatwick Airport Getty Images But Matt Webb, Sussex Police Federation chairman, said the court had failed to recognise the seriousness of the incident, calling the decision not to jail Dangerfield a "disgrace" and "flabbergasting". He said: "The failure of the courts to recognise the seriousness of this incident and pass an appropriate sentence is staggering. "Officers have been placed in an impossible position of trying to uphold hastily drawn-up legislation designed to protect the public and the NHS, in addition to their day-to-day business. "When they are attacked in this way for simply doing their job, and are not supported by the judicial system, it is a disgrace. "Any assault on an emergency service worker should attract a custodial sentence and in the current climate especially to not do so is flabbergasting." Detective Inspector Steven Shimmons added: Our officers should not have to deal with being assaulted while carrying out their duties to protect the public. The fact he coughed in an officers face and said he has Covid-19 is awful, but to then make direct reference to infecting the officers family is despicable and obviously distressing. Sudhir Suryavanshi By Express News Service MUMBAI: After the central government team paid a visit to Pune in the wake of growing coronavirus cases and death in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray took action and cancelled the relaxation given earlier from April 20. He has asked local authorities, particularly in Mumbai metropolitan region and Pune to take stringent measures to contain the spread of coronavirus. The state of Maharashtra so far has recorded 5218 COVId-19 positive cases and 251 deaths. Out of it, the Mumbai metropolitan region that includes Thane, Navi Mumbai, Vasai Virar, Panvel, Kalyan, Dombivli etc has been worst affected with 4077 cases and 169 deaths. On Tuesday, Mumbai city alone recorded the highest 351 positive cases and 12 deaths. FOLLOW COVID-19 LIVE UPDATES HERE "It has been noticed that people are not strictly following lockdown and social distancing norms. The violation can cause a rise in coronavirus patients therefore for the safety of the people the government has decided to cancel the permission of e-commerce companies selling electric and electronic goods. Only essential food and pharma will be allowed while no sweets or other snacks will be allowed to be sold in Pune and Mumbai metropolitan region particularly," the chief minister said. The Union Home Ministery had expressed their displeasure to Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal over their preparedness and violation of lockdown. The central government had sent expert teams to these respective state to take the stock of ground reality. One such team visited Pune on Monday and likely to visit Mumbai and other parts of the city. Udhav Thackeray said that construction activities will be allowed while the IT companies should continue to ask its employees to work from home. He has also asked the local administration to tighten the situation so that spreading of coronavirus can be contained at the source level. Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said that as a sigh of relief, the coronavirus patients doubling rate has been slowing down. "Earlier in the next two days, the coronavirus patients numbers were doubled but it has been taking seven to eight days to double. We want to bring down from seven to eight days to 25 to 28 days," said Tope. Tope had also hinted to restart the wine shops by following certain social distancing guideline but excise department turned down this idea of starting liquor shop during the lockdown. Director General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye has disclosed that contact tracing of persons infected with the Coronavirus will not cease despite the lifting of restrictions on movement in the country. With 1042 people contracting the virus and over 60000 testing negative, President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in consultation with stakeholders in the health sector and other sectors of the economy lifted restrictions on movement in the country. The President noted that the decision to cancel the partial lockdown was informed by adequate data and knowledge on the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Dr. Kuma-Aboagye, so long as the citizenry can carry on their daily activities, the work of health Professionals at the forefront of fighting the pandemic is not over. He stated this activity of tracking people who come into physical contact with the viral transmissions will be ongoing, adding that the Health Service has adopted a modernized mechanism of using navigational system involving satellites and computers (GPS), and ICT enhanced methods to engage in the contact tracing. Speaking in an interview with host Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'', he said ''we will not stop the contact tracing. We will continue. Anytime we will record a positive case, we will do contact tracing. As at the day it (lockdown) was lifted, we engaged in contact tracing the following day. The 200 cases that added up on the last day, of course through the cumulative tests we did; we will be doing contact tracing of all the people''. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Opinion Article 22 April 2020 Duty of Care, which for hotels is the legal obligation to ensure the safety or well-being of its guests, has always been an important aspect for hotel operations. Though many hotels are currently closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, many hoteliers are already concerned with how they will need to exercise Duty of Care once they reopen. Not only will government standards resulting from the pandemic dictate new requirements from businesses, but the public's expectations for health and safety will also be markedly different than before. To ensure a smoother reopening for your hotel, we've compiled some of the most important considerations when reshaping your Duty of Care policies to meet new public health guidelines. Standards of cleanliness Skift recently reported that cleanliness will overtake "location, location, location" when it comes to creating a competitive edge for hotels. In fact, Singapore, one of the leading countries in containing the pandemic, has issued a new certification program called SG Clean, which audits hotels and other tourism establishments on seven key criteria. An "SG Clean" stamp placed prominently at an establishment is intended to give locals and visitors "peace of mind." Whether other countries will follow suit remains to be seen, but hotels should audit their cleaning processes to better align them with international standards, such as those provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the World Health Organization. Some recommendations include: Cleaning all hard surfaces (e.g. floors, desks, countertops, tables) with a standard disinfectant, bleach solution, or mixture containing at least 70% alcohol. Cleaning all soft or porous surfaces (e.g. carpets, rugs, drapes) with appropriate cleaning products. Regularly wipe and disinfect high-touch areas such as door handles, light switches, in-room tablets, safes, coffee machines, minibar refrigerators, and TV remotes. Protect printed menus and hotel information guides with plastic covers that can be wiped and disinfected, or consider switching to an in-room tablet, which is easier to clean. Wash all bed linens and towels with a disinfecting laundry detergent, and don't forget to frequently wash bed scarfs, bedspreads, and decorative pillows that may not be changed out after every guest. Keep in mind that viruses can live for as long as nine days on metal, glass, and plastic surfaces unless they are cleaned, so be sure to increase the frequency of cleaning for all common areas (including lobby, dining areas, and meeting rooms) and public touchpoints, such as elevator buttons, handrails, and key cards. Viruses can also survive in droplets for several hours in the air, so ensure that all housekeeping staff clean rooms with appropriate protective gear, including gloves and face masks. Do not allow new guests to occupy the room for several hours after the previous guest has checked out. In addition to providing staff with protective gear, be sure to train employees on how to properly put on and take off masks and gloves as to not accidentally contaminate themselves. Rethinking room amenities Consider reconfiguring your room amenities to be more "low-touch" rather than "high-touch," especially if they are difficult to clean or replace after every guest. For example, items like pens, notepads, and magazines are often used and left behind by the guest, but not necessarily replaced by the housekeeping staff. Items like robes and slippers that appear unused should also still be replaced. To make processes easier for housekeeping, you could consider providing amenities on demand to guests, or having guests select the amenities they want prior to check in, so that they can be delivered to the room fresh and sanitized. Also consider adding amenities such as hand sanitizer and face masks as part of your offerings. Social distancing and personal hygiene Until a vaccine for this strain of coronavirus is made readily available, public health measures such as social distancing will likely be the norm around the world. Depending on the country and local government, hotels may need to follow specific regulations for public health. Consider the following measures as part of your plan: Provide hand sanitizer dispensers throughout the hotel, particularly in high-traffic areas such as a restaurant or meeting rooms. Create social distance markers in your public areas to control check-in lines and general crowding. Reconfigure your restaurant, lobby, and lounge seating to maintain appropriate spacing between seated guests. Reduce face-to-face interaction between staff and guests wherever possible. Promote contactless and keyless check-in via the use of mobile apps. Allow guests to opt out of everyday housekeeping if they do not want staff coming into their room every day. For room service requests, give guests the option to have contactless delivery, where items are left outside the door. Require that staff wear face masks, or install protective shields (sneeze guards) between areas of guest-staff interaction, such as the front desk, concierge, and valet stands. If guests are also required by local regulations to wear face masks in public areas, be sure to communicate that clearly before and during their stay. Post signage for both guests with recommended public health guidelines, including social distancing, hand washing, coughing and sneezing into a tissue or into your arm, and avoiding handshakes. Because social distancing is counterintuitive to the typical high-touch hospitality that hotels and guests are accustomed to, you may want to come up with creative ways to make your service more personable. This could include posting pictures of your staff (mask-free, of course) throughout the hotel, sending personalized digital messages before or during check-in, or sharing the profiles of employees on your website. Reiterate to your guests that you are there for them with the same high-level of service while ensuring the safety of everyone in the hotel. Food & beverage Although there is no evidence that food or food packaging is a source for getting COVID-19, hotels with food and beverage programs will still need to take extra precautions with their dining service to minimize risk to guests. Some considerations include: Rethink all buffet-style service where guests are allowed to serve themselves. This includes breakfast as well as any complimentary happy hours or lounge/club access with open snacks. For breakfast, consider serving packaged "grab-and-go" meals, or ask the guest to order it the night before to have it delivered hot to the room. For self-serve snacks, offer them individually wrapped, or ask guests to use disposable gloves when serving themselves. Increase your in-room dining options, as guests may want to avoid visiting public restaurants. If you do not offer room service (or even if you do), consider expanding your service by partnering with local restaurants or a delivery service like Uber Eats to open up a variety of options to your guests. Consider offering mini-bar items and complimentary treats (e.g. fruit, snacks) on demand instead of providing it in room. Housekeeping may forget to wipe down that unopened bottle of wine, and unopened snacks may still have contaminants on the packaging even if the food itself is safe. Pools, spas, and fitness areas Pools, spas, and fitness areas can still be safe to use, so long as hotels take extra care to maintain social distancing and extremely diligent hygiene standards across all areas. Some considerations include: Regularly test the water in your pool or hot tub to ensure that they meet the safety standards and acceptable chlorine levels. Appropriately treated water should provide adequate disinfection to neutralize the virus. In fitness rooms, frequently clean all equipment with a disinfecting solution containing at least 70% alcohol. Pay extra attention to high-touch areas, such as weight equipment, treadmill interfaces and handrails, and yoga mats and exercise balls. Frequently clean the areas around the pool and fitness areas, such as the changing rooms, showers, and toilets. These are the areas most likely to spread transmission. Be strict in enforcing guest hygiene practices, such as requiring a shower with soap and water before entering the pool/spa facilities, washing hands or using hand sanitizer before using equipment, and coughing or sneezing into a tissue. Forbid anyone who is sick from using these facilities. Temperature checks In certain countries, temperature checks have become the new normal in areas like airports, offices and stores. Some health officials argue that it can help the fight against the outbreak, while others have noted that the process can be ineffective for a number of reasons. First, many cases of COVID-19 are asymptomatic, meaning that guests could have the virus but not have a fever. Secondly, the thermometer may show false positives, as people who may have recently exercised or stood under the sun will show a reading higher than normal. If you are considering implementing temperature checks at your hotel, please be sure to follow all local regulations and guidelines. Some countries like Singapore recommend temperature checks for all employees, so that unwell employees can be sent home. If you choose to check your guests' temperatures, be sure to have clear documented procedures if someone is found to have a high temperature, such as requiring an additional screening or a consultation with a doctor. These procedures should be clearly communicated to the guest prior to their arrival, especially for international guests that may not be used to public temperature checks. Mandated quarantine Even as countries begin to relax their travel restrictions, they may still decide to impose entry requirements for all inbound travelers, such as mandated quarantine or self-isolation. Follow your country's entry restrictions closely, so that you can inform potential guests prior to their arrival. Things can change quickly, so ensure there is a clear plan for communication to all booked guests. This can include updating your website, sending out email communications, and informing your distribution partners. Procedures for managing suspect COVID-19 cases As part of SG Clean's certification, hotels are required to have documented procedures for managing suspect cases of COVID-19. This includes processes that identify and manage sick personnel, tenants, contractors, suppliers, and hotel guests, including: Arrangement of quarantine areas for unwell or suspected cases; Designation of an isolation route to quarantine areas and transport pickup area; Arrangement of transport to designated healthcare facilities or hospitals; An evacuation plan of the remaining individuals within the property. Additionally, hotels are required to document procedures for assisting with contact tracing, as well as procedures for cleaning and disinfecting the premises exposed to suspected cases. Cross-functional planning and communication is crucial Many hotels are likely running on reduced staff at the moment, and many colleagues may be on furlough and unavailable to work. That's why cross-functional planning and communication of your new Duty of Care policies is absolutely crucial. If possible, appoint a designated manager who will oversee the implementation of new measures and ensure compliance. Even if your hotel is currently closed, develop standard operating procedures now and create a training plan for all teams so that you can easily bring your staff back up to speed when the hotel reopens. Revenue, sales, and marketing teams can currently be working on developing Duty of Care messaging to communicate to the public. Develop a checklist of key channels where you will need to distribute the new messaging. This includes but is not limited to your website (we recommend building a designated COVID-19 landing page), social media channels, GDS channel, and your OTA partner listings. Work with your local tourism board to develop destination standards Like Singapore's SG Clean program, it may be helpful to work with your tourism board or CVB to develop cleanliness standards and certification processes. Not only does this help hotels to more easily develop standard operating procedures within their own properties, it can be a good PR initiative for the destination itself, helping to reassure tourists that it is safe to visit. Children's ombudsman suggests that Ukrainian orphans' rights were violated. Ukraine's National Police are putting together an investigation into the use of infants from Ukrainian orphanages on the set of "DAU. Degeneration" movie, shot by Russian film director Ilya Khrzhanovsky, in scenes involving abuse and violence. That's according to LB.ua's sources in the National Police. Earlier, Ukrainian Children's Ombudsman Mykola Kuleba appealed to the police to launch such probe Ivan Kozlenko, Director General of the Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Cinema Fund DAU had been approved by the State Film Agency and UAH 5 million of budget money was used in its making. Read alsoLaw on database of child molesters comes into forces in Ukraine on Jan 16 The movie project had been approved by the State Film Agency in April 2018. In 2019, it non-officially premiered in Paris. However, at that time, the report by Strana says, it was a biopic with no scenes of child abuse. The project sparked controversy over unsimulated sex and abuse scenes and inhumane treatment of those involved in the filming process. According to law enforcement authorities, children, allegedly brought in for shooting from an orphanage, could be subjected to physical pain or moral suffering through violence. Krystyna Voloshyna, head of the company which set up the shooting routine in Ukraine, appealed to Mr Kuleba, refuting allegations and stating that all children on the set were brought in and accompanied by official guardians who had no objections to the filming process. No harm was made to the children on the set, Ms Voloshyna stresses. The Indego bike docking station in Point Breeze. (Photo by Lora Reehling for the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia) Read more On April 10, a video posted on Twitter by the Philly Transit Riders Unions account showed a black man being dragged off a SEPTA bus by several police officers because he was not wearing a face mask as required by SEPTAs then-policy. Since then, the transit authority said that it will no longer enforce its policy requiring riders to wear facial covering. Still, this story highlighted the risks public transit passengers and drivers are facing during our citys social distancing efforts, aimed at softening the blow of the COVID-19 pandemic. While commercial businesses are operating in survival mode and most people are expected to telework, essential employees must still go to work. For those who depend on public transportation, how feasible is it really, to remain six feet away from the next passenger? Can this distance be enforced while people need to get to work, and on time, while SEPTA has slashed schedules? There is an opportunity to reduce dependency on public transit at this moment, and decrease the risk of exposure and transmission of COVID-19 among passengers and transit employees alike, through the citys bike-share program. ASK US: Do you have a question about the coronavirus and how it affects your health, work and life? Ask our reporters. Providing free bike-share memberships to people who rely on public transportation and are not able to telework would not only reduce the ridership volume and thus congestion of SEPTA trains and buses. It would also serve as a tool to address racial inequities in COVID-19 exposure and mortality. Consider these statistics: This idea is not unprecedented. It was implemented in New York City, where all health-care and public safety workers received a one-month membership to Citi bike. It was also done in Bogota, Colombia, with the intent of reducing bus ridership and crowding. The citys Indego bike share has a fleet of more than 1,000 bikes, and though they might not all suffice for every essential worker, they can serve as a tangible contribution to our citys social distancing efforts. While our hospitals employees and emergency responders work tirelessly to heal those afflicted by COVID-19, it is crucial that leaders use every tool possible to make social distancing more possible and less of a luxury in order to keep as many Philadelphians as possible safe and healthy. Max Jordan Nguemeni Tiako is a fourth-year medical student at the Yale School of Medicine, and a research fellow at the Perelman School of Medicine at UPenns Center for Emergency Care and Policy Research. Follow him on Twitter at @MaxJordan_N Cabinet may open parks, trade facilities of non-food goods, parts of consumer services from May 11 Shmyhal The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine may mitigate a number of restrictive measures since May 11, said Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal. "If the situation helps, then on May 11 we will be able to talk about the opening of parks and squares, institutions for the sale of non-food goods, parts of consumer services and possibly other mitigation measures," Shmyhal said at a government meeting on Wednesday. Massachusetts is consistently ranked among the top states for good education but what are considered the best public schools in the state? U.S. News and World Report released its 2020 list of best high schools in the nation. U.S. News reviewed more than 24,000 public high schools, weighing six indicators of school quality for the 2016-2017 school year. Those factors include college readiness, math and reading proficiency, graduation rates and performance of underserved students based on how black, Hispanic and low-income students performed on state assessments compared with those who are not underserved in the state. Massachusetts isnt home to the top school - that honor went to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia - but commonwealth schools did well overall. Half of Massachusetts high schools are in the top quarter of the national rankings the highest proportion of any state. See the U.S. News picks for top schools in Massachusetts below. 50. Holliston High School Holliston is ranked 1,206th nationally. Location: Holliston Graduation rate: 97 percent College readiness rating: 54.7 / 100 Enrollment: 794 students 49. Masconomet Regional High School Masconomet Regional is ranked 1,185th nationally. Location: Boxford Graduation rate: 99 percent College readiness rating: 43.8 / 100 Enrollment: 1,143 students 48. Tantasqua Regional High School Tantasqua Regional is ranked 1,181st nationally. Location: Fiskdale Graduation rate: 100 percent College readiness rating: 51.8 / 100 Enrollment: 720 students 47. Longmeadow High School Longmeadow is ranked 1,149th nationally. Location: Longmeadow Graduation rate: 98 percent College readiness rating: 56 / 100 Enrollment: 957 students 46. Newburyport High School Newburyport High is ranked 1,143rd nationally. Location: Newburyport Graduation rate: 97 percent College readiness rating: 58.2 / 100 Enrollment: 766 students 45. KIPP Academy Lynn Charter School KIPP Academy is ranked 1,142nd nationally. Location: Lynn Graduation rate: 91 percent College readiness rating: 55.1 / 100 Enrollment: 483 students 44. Newton North High School Newton North High is ranked 1,135th nationally. Location: Newtonville Graduation rate: 98 percent College readiness rating: 56.7 / 100 Enrollment: 2,121 students 43. Abby Kelley Foster Charter Abby Kelley is ranked 1,085th nationally. Location: Worcester Graduation rate: 99 percent College readiness rating: 56.9 / 100 Enrollment: 364 students 42. Scituate High School Scituate High is ranked 1,083 nationally. Location: Scituate Graduation rate: 94 percent College readiness rating: 53.5 / 100 Enrollment: 921 students 41. Concord-Carlisle Regional High School Concord-Carlisle Regional is ranked 1,069 nationally. Location: Concord Graduation rate: 99 percent College readiness rating: 54.1 / 100 Enrollment: 1,273 students 40. Pioneer Charter School of Science Pioneer Charter School of Science is ranked 1,060 nationally. Location: Everett Graduation rate: 94 percent College readiness rating: 39.4 / 100 Enrollment: 198 students 39. Foxborough Regional Charter Foxborough High is ranked 1,053rd nationally. Location: Foxborough Graduation rate: 95 percent College readiness rating: 67.1 / 100 Enrollment: 280 students 38. Pioneer Charter School of Science 2 Pioneer Charter School of Science is ranked 1,018th nationally. Location: Saugus College readiness rating: 47.5 / 100 Enrollment: 203 students 37. Cohasset Middle/High School Cohasset is ranked 1,014th nationally. Location: Cohasset Graduation rate: 99 percent College readiness rating: 62 / 100 Enrollment: 469 students 36. Nashoba Regional High School Nashoba Regional is ranked 970th nationally. Location: Bolton Graduation rate: 98 percent College readiness rating: 63.2 / 100 Enrollment: 976 students 35. Ashland High School Ashland is ranked 962nd nationally. Location: Ashland Graduation rate: 98 percent College readiness rating: 48.2 / 100 Enrollment: 769 students 34. Needham High School Needham High is ranked 924th nationally. Location: Needham Graduation rate: 98 percent College readiness rating: 57.8 / 100 Enrollment: 1,686 students 33. Westborough High School Westborough High is ranked 922 nationally. Location: Westborough Graduation rate: 98 percent College readiness rating: 56.3 / 100 Enrollment: 1,131 students 32. Lenox Memorial High School Lenox Memorial High is ranked 906th nationally. Location: Lenox Graduation rate: 98 percent College readiness rating: 58.3 / 100 Enrollment: 245 students 31. Duxbury High School Duxbury High is ranked 904th nationally. Location: Duxbury Graduation rate: 98 percent College readiness rating: 59.7 / 100 Enrollment: 1,053 students 30. Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School Hamilton-Wenham is ranked 887th nationally. Location: South Hamilton Graduation rate: 96 percent College readiness rating: 57.9 / 100 Enrollment: 560 students 29. Boston Collegiate Charter School Boston Collegiate Charter is ranked 856th nationally. Location: Dorchester Graduation rate: 97 percent College readiness rating: 59.2 / 100 Enrollment: 313 students 28. Wellesley High School Wellesley High is ranked 825th nationally. Location: Wellesley Graduation rate: 100 percent College readiness rating: 55.3 / 100 Enrollment: 1,569 students 27. Groton-Dunstable Regional High School Groton-Dunstable is ranked 821st nationally. Location: Groton Graduation rate: 99 percent College readiness rating: 54.5 / 100 Enrollment: 785 students 26. Wayland High School Wayland High is ranked 777th nationally. Location: Wayland Graduation rate: 99 percent College readiness rating: 64.1 / 100 Enrollment: 856 students 25. Brookline High School Brookline High is ranked 700th nationally. Location: Brookline Graduation rate: 96 percent College readiness rating: 64 / 100 Enrollment: 2,044 students 24. Nauset Regional High School Nauset Regional High is ranked 692nd nationally. Location: North Eastham Graduation rate: 93 percent College readiness rating: 58.1 / 100 Enrollment: 907 students 23. Arlington High School Arlington High is ranked 678th nationally. Location: Arlington Graduation rate: 98 percent College readiness rating: 65.1 / 100 Enrollment: 1m325 students 22. Westwood High School Westwood High is ranked 668th nationally. Location: Westwood Graduation rate: 98 percent College readiness rating: 59.3 / 100 Enrollment: 999 students 21. Winchester High School Winchester High is ranked 665th nationally. Location: Winchester Graduation rate: 96 percent College readiness rating: 56.7 / 100 Enrollment: 1,351 students 20. Newton South High School Newton South High is ranked 664th nationally. Location: Newton Centre Graduation rate: 97 percent College readiness rating: 61.3 / 100 Enrollment: 1,892 students 19. Sharon High School Sharon High is ranked 648th nationally. Location: Sharon Graduation rate: 98 percent College readiness rating: 63.5 / 100 Enrollment: 1,079 students 18. Acton-Boxborough Regional High School Acton-Boxborough is ranked 593rd nationally. Location: Acton Graduation rate: 99 percent College readiness rating: 55.9 / 100 Enrollment: 1,827 students 17. The Bromfield School The Bromfield School is ranked 568th nationally. Location: Harvard Graduation rate: 100 percent College readiness rating: 63.9 / 100 Enrollment: 402 students 16. Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter Public School The charter is ranked 562nd nationally. Location: Adams Graduation rate: 97 percent College readiness rating: 61.3 / 100 Enrollment: 151 students 15. Westford Academy Westford Academy is ranked 507th nationally. Location: Westford Graduation rate: 99 percent College readiness rating: 61 / 100 Enrollment: 1,711 students 14. Medfield High School Medfield High is ranked 490th nationally. Location: Medfield Graduation rate: 99 percent College readiness rating: 70.1 / 100 Enrollment: 828 students 13. Manchester Essex Regional High School Manchester Essex is ranked 469th nationally. Location: Manchester Graduation rate: 98 percent College readiness rating: 70.4 / 100 Enrollment: 443 students 12. Boston Latin Academy Boston Latin Academy is ranked 467th nationally. Location: Dorchester Graduation rate: 97 percent College readiness rating: 62.4 / 100 Enrollment: 1,224 students 11. Lynnfield High School Lynnfield High is ranked 464th nationally. Location: Lynnfield Graduation rate: 98 percent College readiness rating: 60.8 / 100 Enrollment: 648 students 10. John D. OBryant School of Mathematics and Science The school is ranked 421st nationally. Location: Roxbury Graduation rate: 98 percent College readiness rating: 53.9 / 100 Enrollment: 1,223 students 9. Belmont High School Belmont is ranked 375th nationally. Location: Belmont Graduation rate: 99 percent College readiness rating: 70.8 / 100 Enrollment: 1,294 students 8. Weston High School Weston High is ranked 343rd nationally. Location: Weston Graduation rate: 100 percent College readiness rating: 68.8 / 100 Enrollment: 1,294 students 7. Lexington High School Lexington High is ranked 285th nationally. Location: Lexington Graduation rate: 98 percent College readiness rating: 67.2 / 100 Enrollment: 2,212 students 6. Mystic Valley Regional Charter School Mystic Valley is ranked 231st nationally. Location: Malden Graduation rate: 99 percent College readiness rating: 77 / 100 Enrollment: 365 students 5. Dover-Sherborn Regional High School Dover-Sherborn is ranked 197th nationally. Location: Dover Graduation rate: 99 percent College readiness rating: 75 / 100 Enrollment: 665 students 4. Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School The charter was ranked 196th nationally. Location: Marlborough Graduation rate: 99 percent College readiness rating: 72.6 / 100 Enrollment: 532 students 3. Hopkinton High School Hopkinton is ranked 190th nationally. Location: Hopkinton Graduation rate: 98 percent College readiness rating: 83.5 / 100 Enrollment: 1,153 students 2. Sturgis Charter Public School Sturgis Charter ranked 110th nationally. Location: Hyannis Graduation rate: 99 percent College readiness rating: 93.9 / 100 Enrollment: 816 students 1. Boston Latin School Established in 1635, Boston Latin School is the first public school in the United States. Numerous prominent Americans were educated at the school, including five signers of the Declaration of Independence and eight Massachusetts governors. The school ranked 37th nationally with an overall score of 99.81/100. About 99 percent of students took at least one Advance Placement course and 94 percent passed at least one AP exam. Location: Boston Graduation rate: 98 percent College readiness rating: 97.1 / 100 Enrollment: 1,656 students Trump has used the pandemic to further seal off the nation, though his order is far more focused on economics than health. The United States already leads the world, by far, in confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths: The more than 830,000 cases in the United States is about four times the next country Spain has 208,000 cases and the U.S. death toll of more than 47,000 is more than twice Spains and is continuing to grow by thousands a day. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has volunteered to develop a contact tracing program to help the tri-state area, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a press briefing on Wednesday. Why it matters: Cuomo has previously said contact tracing tracking down people who have interacted with coronavirus patients is a key component to the "phased reopening of the economy" when the outbreak is under control in New York. But Cuomo also conceded that the state is far from where it needs to be in terms of its capacity to conduct contact tracing. The big picture: The shortfall in contact tracing is nationwide, writes Axios' Caitlin Owens, and neither the federal government nor most state and local governments have concrete plans to drastically increase contact tracing. A Johns Hopkins report estimates the U.S. would need to add about 100,000 new health care workers to get it up to speed. What he's saying: Cuomo said he's spoken to the governors of Connecticut and New Jersey about plans to develop and train a "tracing army." "Mayor Michael Bloomberg has volunteered to help us develop and implement the tracing program. ... As governor, I worked with Mayor Bloomberg. He has then developed an organization, he works with mayors all across the world, literally, in providing them guidance. "He has tremendous insight, both governmentally and from a private-sector business perspective in this. Remember, his company, Bloomberg, they went through the China closedown, open up. They went through the European closedown, open up. ... it is going to require a lot of attention, a lot of insight, a lot of experience and a lot of resources. "We're also going to be partnering with Johns Hopkins and vital strategies in putting together that tracing operation." Gov. Cuomo at a press briefing Wednesday WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Chipotle Mexican Grill has agreed with the U.S. Department of Justice to pay $25 million fine to resolve criminal charges related to foodborne illness outbreaks beginning in 2015 that sickened more than 1,100 people. According to the DoJ, the California-based fast food restaurant chain will pay the largest-ever fine in a food-safety case. The fine consists of a $10 million payment by June 1, 2020, followed by three separate payments of $5 million each. Between 2015 and 2018, there were at least five food-safety incidents at Chipotle's restaurants in the Los Angeles area, Boston, Virginia, and Ohio. Consumers were impacted mainly by outbreaks of norovirus, a highly infective pathogen that easily can be transmitted by food workers handling ready-to-eat foods and their ingredients. The DoJ noted that Chipotle failed to ensure that its employees understood and complied with its food safety protocols, leading to hundreds of customers getting sick. In a statement, U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna for the Central District of California said, 'Today's steep penalty, coupled with the tens of millions of dollars Chipotle already has spent to upgrade its food safety program since 2015, should result in greater protections for Chipotle customers and remind others in the industry to review and improve their own health and safety practices.' Chipotle now has signed a three-year deferred prosecution agreement or DPA with the DoJ, under which the government has agreed to take no other action relating to these past incidents for three years, if the company complies with its deal obligations. Under the DPA, the company would enhance and maintain its existing comprehensive food safety compliance program. Chipotle would also work with its independent Food Safety Advisory Council, which was formed following the 2015 outbreaks, to evaluate its food safety audits, restaurant staffing, and employee training. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Viral photo said to be of the kids killed in Ngarbuh Facebook Cameroons Head of State, President Paul Biya has ordered that severe sanction be meted out on soldiers and members of the vigilante group that carried out the February 14, 2020 killings in Ngarbuh, a locality in the countrys North West region. According to the report of the commission of inquiry set up by President Biya to dig into the incident which saw the death of many persons including children and a pregnant woman, top military officials have questions to answer before the competent judicial organs in a bid to shed light on their role in the killings. Making public the report of the inquiry in a communique Tuesday, April 21, 2020, the Minister of State, Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh said the President of the Republic has ordered the institution of disciplinary proceedings against Major Nyiangono Ze Charles Eric, Commander of the 52nd Motorised Infantry Battalion (BIM) in Nkambe and all the servicemen who took part in the Ngarbuh operation. The commission of inquiry, composed of Army and Gendarmerie Officers, placed under the authority of the Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence in charge of the National Gendarmerie and chaired by a military judicial and legal officer, conducted field visits to Bamenda, Kumbo, Nkambe, Ntumbaw and Ngarbuh, where it recorded various findings, collected and analyzed clues and gathered evidence which enabled it to reconstruct the scene of these tragic events. The commission reports that Ngarbuh had become a centre where secessionist terrorists regrouped and a logistics pole for the supply of arms, ammunition and fuel for secessionist groups located in Bui and part of Ngoketunjia. To this end, a reconnaissance mission was authorized on February 12, 2020 by Major Nyiangono Ze Charles Eric, Commander of the 52nd Motorized Infantry Battalion (BIM) in Nkambe. It was led by Sergeant Baba Guida commander of the Ntumbaw joint regiment. The detachment left the Ntumbaw base on February 13 at 10 p.m. with three servicemen and two gendarmes. As they advanced, the detachment Commander, the report said, decided to enlist seventeen members of a local vigilante committee. At the entrance of the village of Ngarbuh, the group split into two teams to comb Ngarbuh 2 and Ngarbuh 3 neighborhoods. The Commission of Inquiry found that: Upon entering the Ngarbuh 3 neighbourhood, the place of the tragedy, the team led by Sergeant Baba Guida, comprising Gendarme Sanding Sanding Cyrille, Private 1st Class Haranga and the 10 members of the vigilante committee, launched an attack based on information provided by a repented terrorist and a farmer from the area. Following an exchange of gunfire, during whihc five terririts were killed, and many weapons seized, the detachment discovered that three women and ten children had died because of its action. Panic-striken, the three servicemen with the help of some members of the vigilante committee, tried to conceal the facts by causing fires. On his return to Ntumbaw, Sergeant Baba Guida who led the operation, submitted a deliberately biased report to his superiors, a report on which the Government initially based its statement. Sergeant Baba Guida, Commander of the Ntumbaw Joint Regiment as well as Gendarme Sanding Sanding Cyrille and private first class Haranga Gilbert are already at the disposal of officials at the Yaounde military tribunal. Some ten members of the vigilante committee who assisted the servicemen to launch the attack on Ngarbuh 3 are actively being tracked down. Major Nyiangono Ze Charles Eric, Commander of the 52nd Motorised Infantry Battalion (BIM) is faulted for knowing how sensitive the Ngarbuh area was, due to prevailing high intercommunity tensions, but fialed to personally supervise the operation carried out by his troops. On his part, Sergeant Baba Guida, Commander of the Ntumbaw Joint Regiment is said to have involved armed civilians in a military operation, failed to control his troops during the operation, ordered the burning down of houses and deliberately produced a flase report on the operation and its toll. Gendarme Sanding Sanding Cyrille and Private 1st Class Haranga Gilbert, the inquiry reveals, took part in an operation that caused the death of several persons and the burning of houses. As part of appeasement measures, President Biya has ordered the exhumation of the corpses of the victims in order to give them a decent burial at the cost of the State and to establish the necessary evidence to bring out the truth. The rightful claimants of the of the victims of the Valentines Day Masacre are being identified by the administration based on presidential instructions in view to enable the State to pay appropriate compensation and indemnities. In a bid to strengthen security in Ngarbuh, the Head of State ordered the creation of a military base and the setting up of other public services which should help to ensure better protection of civilians against the abuses of armed groups, the return of displaced persons and the easing of intercommunity tensions. Israel's latest drone attack on a Hezbollah vehicle on the Syrian border with Lebanon April 15 is a reminder that Israel continues to pursue a low-scale deterrent strategy against the militant group, with an eye toward its permanent strategic goals in Lebanon. A civilian vehicle belonging to Hezbollah fighters was destroyed last Wednesday on the Syrian side of the Jdeidet Yabrous border post, on the border with Lebanon. Israel did not immediately comment, which is typical, since it rarely confirms individual attacks on Iranian interests in Syria or Lebanon. The attack was caught on video and clearly shows the militants exiting a Jeep Cherokee after an apparent missed first strike. The fighters had enough time to go back to the vehicle and pick up their luggage before the second strike blew up the jeep. The official Syrian news agency Sana reported that a "civilian car" had been targeted, causing only material damage. A source close to Hezbollah told Al-Monitor that the group has limited its transfer of fighters to Syria because of the coronavirus pandemic. This would mean that the militants targeted were higher ranking and perhaps tasked with a specific military mission. Lebanon closed its borders with Syria in March over coronavirus concerns, but diplomats and military personnel can still pass. The attack is part of Israel's larger yet limited low-scale strategy in Lebanon using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The bombing falls within Israeli strategy in Lebanon focusing on reconnaissance work [in preparation for a possible next war]. It is as well a show of deterrence for Israel, one that is matched by Hezbollah, Hezbollah expert Brahim Beyram said. Israel's reconnaissance in Lebanon allows it to identify operatives and resources that can later be targeted in Syria, where rules of engagement set by Russia limit the ability of Hezbollah and its Iranian sponsor to respond. Avi Melamed, a Middle East strategic intelligence analyst, told Al-Monitor, It is yet another Israeli message that aims to reiterate two major Israeli red lines: Israel will not enable Iran to establish military capacities and infrastructure in Syria that present a serious threat to Israel. Israel will not enable Iran to provide Hezbollah with high-precision missile capacities. Drones have increasingly played an essential part in the Israeli war on Hezbollah in Lebanon. On April 12, the Israeli army fired eight flare bombs over al-Shahal area, near the town of Shebaa. The attack coincided with continuous UAV activity over Beirut and its southern suburbs in recent weeks, as noticed by this reporter. On Oct. 31, Hezbollah fired an anti-aircraft missile at an Israeli drone over southern Lebanon, a Hezbollah bastion. Hezbollah said it shot down the aircraft over the town of Nabatieh, which the Israeli army denied. A week earlier, a small Israeli army drone crashed in southern Lebanon, apparently after a civilian shot it down with a hunting rifle. The Israeli army said its drone was conducting routine operations to secure the border before it fell in Lebanese territory. The most serious drone attack took place in August, when an Israeli UAV fell in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahieh, a Hezbollah stronghold. A second drone exploded at the same time, causing damage to a Hezbollah media center. The London Times reported that the two drones were targeting "crates believed to contain machinery to mix high-grade propellant for precision missiles." I think drones present Hezbollah with significant challenges, Melamed said. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is exploring new combat approaches to improve Hezbollah's ability to confront UAV threats, Melamed said. The Jerusalem Post reported that Tehran's new drone could upgrade the capabilities of Iranian proxies, including Hezbollah. The latest drone attack does not appear to be linked to the assassination of Hezbollah commander Ali Mohammed Younes in southern Lebanon April 3. According to a source close to Hezbollah, Younes was involved in counterintelligence operations in southern Lebanon and was assassinated in an area entirely under Hezbollahs control. Hezbollah blamed Israeli intelligence for the assassination and mourned Younes as a martyr, suggesting that his killing was tied to his work. However, Beyram questioned whether Israel assassinated Younes. A source close to Hezbollah said, Younes assassination is the result of an internal struggle within Hezbollah. Younes was both shot and stabbed, making the attack appear more personal. Younes assassination followed the killing of Anton Hayek in southern Lebanon March 22. Hayek was a close aide of Amer Fakhoury, a Lebanese American who participated in the torture of Lebanese prisoners on behalf of Israel, which occupied southern Lebanon until 2000. US forces extracted Fakhoury from Lebanon after a Lebanese military court stopped prosecuting him on charges of treason. While the mysterious killing of a Hezbollah operative does not appear to be Israeli psychological warfare, it does put Hezbollah on edge. As pressure mounts, Hezbollah will likely rely on similar deterrence efforts and psychological warfare, Beyram predicted. Hezbollah will remain on the defensive, and the tit-for-tat conflict will continue, as both Hezbollah and Israel see UAVs as an efficient and cheap option to wage indirect war. remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. A busy day on the flight deck of the USS Theodore Roosevelt while transiting the South China Sea, April 10, 2018. The Philippines filed two diplomatic protests against Beijing on Wednesday, saying it violated international law through recent actions in the South China Sea, including by declaring parts of the disputed waters as Chinese districts, according to Manilas top envoy. The protests were delivered to the Chinese Embassy in Manila after office hours, Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said. They were for the pointing of a radar gun at a Philippine Navy ship in PH waters and for declaring parts of the Philippine territory as part of Hainan province, Locsin posted on Twitter. He said both actions constituted violations of international law and Philippine sovereignty. China created Nansha district under the jurisdiction of Sansha city, akin to something we already protested in 2012, the foreign secretary added. Old hat but bears repeating in the protest. Locsin did not elaborate on the alleged radar-gun incident. Late Wednesday, officials from the Philippine Navy and the armed forces declined to comment. Chinas embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to phone calls from BenarNews. Manila made the accusations against Beijing as the U.S. Pacific Fleet announced that an Australian frigate, the HMAS Parramatta, joined three U.S. Navy ships during exercises in the South China Sea on April 18. It is great to be operating with the Australians again, the Pacific Fleet quoted Capt. Kurt Sellerberg, commanding officer of the USS Bunker Hill, as saying in a statement. The guided missile-cruiser was with an amphibious U.S. assault ship and another warship, USS America, during the maneuvering exercise with the Australians, which was observed or participated in by over 3,000 sailors, it said. This comes after the USS America and Bunker Hill sailed near the Chinese survey ship Hai Yang Di Zhi 8, which is operating at the site of recent oil exploration inside Malaysian waters. On Tuesday, the USS America was within 60 nautical miles of the West Capella, the Malaysian-contracted drillship being shadowed by Chinas survey vessel and coastguard, according to vessel-tracking software. According to Patrick Buchan, a former Australian government official and the director of the U.S. Alliances Project at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, this latest joint effort by their navies demonstrates the closeness of the alliance between the United States and Australia. This is yet another example of Australia increasing its interoperability with the U.S. Navy on the high seas, but its particularly gratifying to see Australia operating with U.S. vessels at this time in the South China Sea, he said. Australia has participated in freedom of navigation and freedom of flight exercises in the South China Sea, but has a neutral stance on the various claims made by states in the area. Nonetheless, Buchan emphasized that Australia has a stake in the stability and openness of the region. Australias top trading partners are all in Northeast Asia, he pointed out. Its critical for its trade links that no single country dominates the South China Sea, he said. Manila, Hanoi, US criticize China The Philippines lodged the new diplomatic protests barely two weeks after Manila joined Hanoi and the United States in criticizing China over the alleged sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat by a Chinese coast guard ship near the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. The statement of solidarity from Manila rebuked Beijing for the incident, and said it was an act of needless provocation at a time when countries in the region were busy trying to contain a pneumonia-like virus, which has killed thousands and left millions sick around the world. In the wake of the April 2 sinking, China claimed that the Vietnamese boat sank itself by ramming into its coast guard ship. Locsin issued his statement about the diplomatic protests three days after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte had a one-on-one call with U.S. President Donald Trump, during which the two discussed bolstering bilateral ties as their countries continued to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. Both leaders agreed to continue working together as long-time allies to defeat the pandemic, save lives and restore global economic strength, the U.S. Embassy in Manila said on Monday. The two leaders also discussed how the United States and the Philippines can continue building upon the strong and enduring economic, cultural and security ties binding the two nations, it said. On Tuesday, the U.S. military said it had sent an amphibious assault ship and a guided missile cruiser to the site of an ongoing survey by a Chinese vessel in Malaysian waters in the South China Sea, signaling Washingtons support for other countries in the region as Beijing pressed its advantage in the middle of the coronavirus outbreak. Lt. Cmdr. Nicole Schwegman, spokeswoman for the Hawaii-based U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, confirmed that the USS America and USS Bunker Hill had been deployed to the South China Sea. Through our continued operational presence in the South China Sea, we are working with our allies and partners to promote freedom of navigation and overflight, and the international principles that underpin security and prosperity for the Indo-Pacific, she wrote in an email. The U.S. supports the efforts of our allies and partners to determine their own economic interests. Satellite imagery from Tuesday provided by the European Union through the EO Browser service confirmed that the USS America was then less than 60 nautical miles from the West Capella, a Malaysian-contracted oil exploration vessel. In close proximity, there were a combination of Chinese survey vessels, coast guard and maritime militia ships, according to vessel tracking software. The Chinese survey vessel, named the Hai Yang Di Zhi 8, arrived in Malaysian waters on April 16 and was last tracked surveying an area within Malaysias exclusive economic zone, between the West Capella and Malaysias coast. As of Tuesday morning (local time), the Hai Yang Di Zhi 8 was around 180 nautical miles from the Malaysian coast but only 100 nautical miles from the Luconia Shoals, which are claimed by both China and Malaysia. On April 17, the Hai Yang Di Zhi 8 was also within 200 nautical miles of Indonesias Natuna Islands. China has said that the Hai Yang Di Zhi 8 was conducting normal activities. At the weekend, announced two new administrative districts for South China Sea and released a new map naming all the islands and reefs it claims in the contested region. The United States, for its part, in recent week had withdrawn key military assets from the Western Pacific region. The aircraft carrier the USS Theodore Roosevelt had to be pulled out of active deployment on March 26 due to dangerous rates of coronavirus infections among its crew. On April 17, the U.S. Air Force announced that it would stop deploying strategic bombers to its base on the Pacific island of Guam. China claims most of the South China Sea on historical grounds, including areas that reach the shores of its smaller neighbors. Apart from the three countries, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have overlapping claims over the region. Notwithstanding the government go-ahead, some industry associations in Punjab on Wednesday said they would prefer not to open their factories on health concerns of their employees and asked the government to provide loans and cash credit limits to industries during this time of crisis. Punjab Beopar Mandal general secretary Sunil Mehra said that state government had announced that the industries could restart from April 20 onwards. But, conditions for the same are very strict, he said. Industries can take responsibilities like paying salaries, arranging transportation for labour, but how can employers take responsibility of health of workers? The government itself should take responsibility of the health of the industrial workers, he said. D S Chawla, President, United Cycle and Parts Manufacturers Associationsaid the time is not right toopen factories as there is a great risk of people getting infected with COVID-19. Chawla said a meeting of Ludhiana industrialists was held here on Monday to discuss this issue. There was no enthusiasm amongst them to open their industrial units. We have not much raw material and transport is also not functional. Industry is facing acute financial crunch. Thus, how industry can run," he asked. Punjab Beopar Mandal's Mehra further said that government must extend full support to trade and industry, if it really wants to extend any support otherwise the industrialists would find it better to stay at home instead of getting their units functional during the lockdown period. Mehra said the efforts made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh have yielded results in checking the spread of coronavirus in the state. But regretted that the state power utility was issuing electricity bills during the lockdown period. Rather, the government should provide loans and cash credit limits to industry and trade during this time of crisis, he said. The Punjab government on Monday had said that the industrial activity can function in non-containment zone area in line with the guidelines of the ministry of Home Affairs. Eleven different categories of industrial establishments have been allowed to operate with the condition thatin case the industrial establishment employs 10 or more persons, it shall make arrangements for stay of workers within its premises as far as possible and/or adjacent buildings. The transportation of workers to work place shall be arranged by the employers in dedicated transport by ensuring social distancing. Meanwhile, the Punjab Industries minister Sunder Sham Arora said the industrial units which want to start operations subject to compliance oftheguidelines issued bythe department of Home affairsandJustice, Punjabcan apply online on Industries and Commerce Department's site and start operations. A dedicated web linkhas been created to facilitate the operationalization during curfew period, said Arora adding the concerned general managers of District Industries Centres have been authorized by respective Deputy Commissioners to issue the permissions. The provision of permission for construction activities to be granted by the District Industries Centre, wherever authorized by Deputy Commissioners is also available through this portal. The provision of SMS alert to investor at the time of submission and approval of application has also been made in the above portal, he said in an official release here. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) LEBANON McKendree University has named two Godfrey residents as members of the Chi Mu chapter of Kappa Delta Pi international honor society in education. Kiara Chapman is a senior pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Education in Special/Elementary Education degree. Penny Estes is a post masters degree student pursuing a Master of Arts in Teaching in Middle School Education degree. US President Donald Trump has tweeted that he will be signing a law banning immigrants into the country, today. The president made this known via his Twitter handle as a means of curbing the COVID 19 pandemic ravaging the world. Read Also: Coronavirus treatement: US Food and Drug Administration joinbodi neva approve Chloroquine wey Trump say fit treat Covid-19 He tweeted; I will be signing my Executive Order prohibiting immigration into our Country today. In the meantime, even without this order, our Southern Border, aided substantially by the 170 miles of new Border Wall & 27,000 Mexican soldiers, is very tight including for human trafficking! This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic. Read about others here. Carole L. Brookins, one of the few women working in finance in the 1970s, was also a lover of history and was particularly fascinated by World War II. For her 70th birthday in 2013, she invited nearly 40 friends from around the world to join her for a two-day exploration of the beaches of Normandy, where they delved into the history of D-Day. She hired nothing but the best guides and feted us all, said Gary Blumenthal, who succeeded her as president of World Perspectives, a firm based in Arlington, Va., that analyzes agricultural markets. Ms. Brookins died on March 23 at a hospital in Palm Beach, Fla. She was 76. She was known for her expertise on the global political economy and its effect on agricultural and food markets, and she served as executive director of the World Bank from 2001 to 2005. India, much like the rest of the world, has seen an outpouring of charity and the spirit of volunteerism in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. And the YMCAs have been among the organisations to come forward with help for those in need The National Council of Young Mens Christian Associations (YMCAs) of India on Wednesday announced that its volunteers have distributed over a lakh food parcels to those in need over the past month. India, much like the rest of the world, has seen an outpouring of charity and the spirit of volunteerism in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. And the YMCAs have been among the organisations to come forward with help for those in need. The following is the text of the press release issued by the National Council of YMCAs in India: Various YMCAs spread across India have distributed a lakh of food packets to those in need during the COVID-19 lockdown over the past month. On Wednesday morning, the number of packets crossed the six-figure mark. Members, staff and volunteers of YMCAs across the country have been providing food, household provisions, safety kits, and other help to compatriots in need during this past month in collaboration with district and local officials in their respective areas. The efforts of staff and volunteers who have cooked, packed and distributed food from several YMCAs have been funded by the National Council of YMCAs of India under the leadership of the national resident, Justice JB Koshy, as well as locally by members of the different YMCAs. Each YMCA is a voluntary association of Christians, with associates from different religions. 'Our YMCAs work closely with the local community in their normal work on vocational education, sports, and cultural activities. So it is only natural that, in such a time of national crisis, we should lend a hand to the less privileged members of our communities,' said Bertram Devadas, the national general secretary of the YMCAs in India. The work has indeed covered large parts of the country. The National YMCA Projects distributed provision kits, the Kurnool YMCA distributed food packets daily at a shelter for migrant labour, daily wage workers and pavement-dwellers, while in Uttarakhand, the Bhimtal YMCA Youth Centre distributed provisions to 50 families. The YMCA Marthandam Project distributed COVID-19 safety kits to 500 poor and needy families across Kanyakumari district. The YMCA Health and Healthy Living Centre Project at Vellore distributed food to migrant workers and to poor patients at the Christian Medical College Vellore, working through the Vellore Corporation, and the YMCA Alwaye Camp Centre Project has distributed 150 food packets every day, working in tandem with the local police. Relief was provided to poor tribal people near the National YMCA Project, Vythiri. The YMCA Boys Division, Tirupattur Project, distributed packages of rice, daal, cooking oil, and other provisions to house maids, single parents, older persons living alone, street vendors, physically challenged persons, and people living in huts on the outskirts of Tirupattur. The YMCA multi-sports complex Project at Faridabad, distributed food packets through the duty officer designated by the District Collector and directly to a shelter home. The staff and volunteers also directly reached out to the homeless. Packages containing five kg wheat flour, two kg rice, one litre oil, pulses, sugar, salt, and biscuits were distributed to families that used to be employed as wage labour, rickshaw-pullers, and domestic workers. Joint efforts of mankind are needed to cope with the novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) pandemic. Lu Ming, a doctor assigned to assist Wuhan, reunites with her daughter, April 10, 2020. Lu is among the second batch of 20 medical workers dispatched by Huainan, east Chinas Anhui Province, to Wuhan. Chen Bin/Peoples Daily Online Chinas practice has shown the world that the 1.4 billion Chinese people have stayed united as one and supported each other to get through the crisis. They have built a powerful defense line with society-wide efforts for joint epidemic prevention and control, and manifested the nations strong capability to fight and win the battle against the epidemic by mobilizing all resources and blocking the spread of the virus. Behind the indomitable will and power is the fact that the Chinese people cherish and protect lives, which is a manifestation of the beauty of human nature. In the epidemic, China has played a warm and touching melody by putting peoples lives in the first place. China has admitted all suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients to the hospital and treated and offered testing to them. Upholding the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, China cherishes the life of everyone, and does its best to leave no one behind in COVID-19 response. Customs staff check anti-pandemic materials donated by northeast Chinas Heilongjiang Province to Russia in Heihe, Heilongjiang Province, April 2, 2020. Qiu Qilong/Peoples Daily Online Putting peoples lives and health in the first place is a common belief that supports all Chinese people to work together and fight tenaciously. It also inspires all Chinese medical personnel to fight side by side against the virus and death for favorable progress. In Hubei, the number of severely and critically ill COVID-19 patients has dropped from more than 10,000 at the peak to less than 100, and more than 3,600 patients aged above 80 years old have been cured. In the provinces capital Wuhan, seven centenarians have been cured, with the oldest one aged at 108, and nearly 70 percent of the patients aged above 80 in the city have been cured. This is a miracle created by medical personnel striving to save lives with maximum efforts. In this peoples war against the epidemic, the selfless dedication and courageous contribution of the Chinese people can be seen everywhere. The Chinese medical workers have raced against time and relayed to save lives. They showed great care and concerns for the patients, and carried on traditional Chinese virtues with love for everyone. Statistics indicate that about 3.61 million Chinese have volunteered about 116 million hours of their time to fight against the epidemic since Jan. 20. Olivier Adam, executive coordinator of United Nations Volunteers (UNV), issued a public statement in honor of Chinese volunteers, addressing nearly 500,000 young volunteers and volunteer organizations who have devoted themselves to the fight against COVID-19. Volunteers buy living materials for residents under home quarantine in Yubei District, southwest Chinas Chongqing Municipality, March 18, 2020. Wan Nan/Peoples Daily Online Adam said that the tireless action of the volunteer organizations and volunteers is an outstanding demonstration of Chinese volunteers sense of dedication, ownership, and responsibility in the spirit of volunteerism. To win the global battle against the pandemic, the international society needs to focus on the bigger picture by realizing that the COVID-19 pandemic is a common challenge of mankind and a global health crisis. To cope with it, countries must uphold the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, be responsible for peoples lives and health, and take effective and concrete actions to cope with the situation to the best of their ability. China and the world are closely connected as they share the common value of cherishing life. So far, China has sent nearly 200 medical experts to 17 countries in Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America, and has shared experience in epidemic prevention and control with most countries in the world. In Iraq, the Chinese medical experts said that no matter where we go, someone will ask to take a photo with us, and we can feel the most sincere welcome to us from the smiles on their faces; in Serbia, the Chinese experts have left their footprints in almost all the areas where the epidemic occurred, and extended the aid plan at the request of the Serbian side; in Laos, Chinese experts visited the patients before returning home, and the patients all gave thumbs up to them. The concrete actions of China have interpreted the power of truth, goodness and beauty, and showcased the empathy and love shared by people of all countries based on the recognition of a community with a shared future for mankind. The COVID-19 pandemic is still spreading rapidly around the world, which requires members of the international community to cherish life, unite and cooperate, and help each other. At this critical moment for the global war against the pandemic, we should illuminate the road ahead with humanity, build a stronger power to jointly protect lives, and embrace the hope of a final victory. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 06:46:33|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BRUSSELS/GENEVA, April 21 (Xinhua) -- More European nations have decided to tentatively relax restrictions with various requirements being introduced to the public. According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Europe has registered 1,073,947 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 103,989 deaths as of 10:00 a.m. CET (0800 GMT) on April 21. RELAXING LOCKDOWN Despite the figures, more European countries have started or blueprinted their way back to normal life with cautious easing of some restrictions put into place to stem the spread of the coronavirus. Cyprus took its first steps on Tuesday to gradually relax coronavirus restrictions and restart the economy, with the government saying that it expects an economic recession. President Nicos Anastasiades presided over meetings of trade unions, employers' associations, hoteliers, contractors and big land developers to hear their views before announcing plans for the gradual relaxation of restrictions. Strict restrictions, including an unprecedented peace-time curfew, are in force until April 30. Also on Tuesday, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced that the government has relaxed measures against the coronavirus spread by partly reopening primary schools as of May 11. Meanwhile, Austria, one of the first European countries loosening lockdown, took further steps. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced that the exit restrictions imposed by his government will be relaxed and all shops may reopen from May 1. School operations will also gradually resume from May 4, while restaurants, coffee houses and worship services are due to reopen from May 15, said Kurz. In Italy, one of the hardest-hit countries in the continent, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said that his country might gradually reopen its economy from the strict terms of its six-week-long national coronavirus lockdown starting from May 4. Conte said the specific rules to be in place after May 4 would be announced later this week. "We must act on the basis of a national plan, which will take into account the specifics of our territory," Conte said via social media. The prime minister allowed a handful of business sectors to reopen, including stores selling products for babies, bookstores, and dry cleaners, a week ago. Italy saw fewer ICU and hospitalized patients as COVID-19 death toll has climbed to 24,648 as of Tuesday. In Spain, the other European country hit hard by the coronavirus which has registered 21,282 deaths as of Tuesday, the cabinet had approved Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's request to extend the current "state of alarm" for a further 15 days, up to May 9, according to the government spokesperson Maria Jesus Montero. The proposal will be debated in Parliament on Wednesday and one of the new conditions of the extended "state of alarm" will allow children under age 14 to go outside for short periods of time after April 27. REQUIREMENTS However, the governments have made various requirements in the process of the easing with an aim to prevent a possible rebound of infections. For instance, the "relief" for children in Spain will be strictly limited. The government spokesperson Montero elaborated that the children will only be able to leave their residency accompanied by an adult for purposes already permitted by the "state of alarm," such as "going to the supermarket, pharmacy or a financial institution." In Germany, the federal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Berlin, Hesse, Baden-Wuerttemberg and Saxony-Anhalt on Tuesday announced some form of obligation to wear a protective face mask in certain public areas. The decision came after Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a "gradual" and "cautious" exit strategy from COVID-19 measure. Thuringia, Bavaria and Mecklenburg Western Pomerania had already announced the obligation to wear a face mask earlier. Saxony, where the face mask regulation has been in effect since Monday, was the first German state to make mask-wearing compulsory. Bavaria's Minister President Markus Soeder stressed on Monday that mouth and nose protection would play a "very central role" in containing a further spread of the coronavirus. In most German states, the obligation to wear a face mask or other protective cover will start during the course of next week. In Austria, Chancellor Kurz also emphasized that services will be allowed to open with requirements that include wearing masks, keeping social distance and a restriction on the number of guests. Enditem A Gladwin woman who allegedly crashed her vehicle into another womans car, trying to knife that woman and then fleeing from the scene faces criminal charges stemming from the incident. Deputies from the Clare County Sheriffs Office arrested Alyson Jacques, 25, after the woman she is accused of trying to stab called the police following the incident, which took place shortly before 5 p.m. Sunday. The woman Jacques is accused of trying to stab had her 1-year-old daughter in the car. Jacques left the scene of the accident and was arrested a short time later by deputies and take to the Clare County Jail. She was charged Tuesday in 80th District Court with assault with a deadly weapon, fleeing a police officer for the fourth time and 4th degree child abuse. The magistrate set her bond at $50,000 with 10 percent surety. READ MORE: APRIL 22, 2020 With the goal to begin critical conversation on San Antonios recovery from the impact of COVID-19, UTSA will host a virtual interactive community conversation with leading faculty experts. The live broadcast will stream today from noon to 1 p.m. The event, titled The Pandemics Economic Impact on San Antonio, is free and open to the public and will provide attendees with an opportunity to have a dialogue with panelists through chat. UTSA researchers with diverse areas of expertise will discuss how the pandemic may affect San Antonio in the short and long-term and what the implications reveal for the citys economic future in a postpandemic world. Panelists are Tom Tunstall, senior director of research for the Institute for Economic Development; Richard Sifuentes, director of the Small Business Development Center; Pamela Smith, associate dean of administration and faculty and a professor of accounting; and Mike Villarreal, director of the Urban Education Institute. Topics slated for discussion during the hour: Short and long-term effects on Texas revenue sources, Implications and challenges for small business owners, Building San Antonios workforce for a new era, Intersections of economic and public policy concerns, and Potential impact on health care, tax policies and education. Watch the livestreamed broadcast or learn more about the event. As an urban serving institution, UTSA desires to share our faculty expertise and research with the community in a format where the audience can participate and interact with these renowned experts, said Mary Larson Diaz, vice president for university relations. We have some of UTSAs brightest minds tackling this crisis to help our city, state and nation find solutions and accelerate recovery. The event is the first of several expert-led community conversations planned by the university on topics related to the pandemic. Washington, April 22 : US President Donald Trump has directed his administration to work on a plan to get funding to the oil and gas industries as a steep sell-off in oil futures continued. "We will never let the great US Oil & Gas Industry down," Trump tweeted on Tuesday morning, Xinhua reported. "I have instructed the Secretary of Energy and Secretary of the Treasury to formulate a plan which will make funds available so that these very important companies and jobs will be secured long into the future!" Trump said. At a White House press briefing on Monday, Trump said that the US was "looking to" add as much as 75 million barrels of oil to its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) "based on the record low price of oil". US Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette told Bloomberg on Tuesday that the US government is taking "aggressive and appropriate steps" to help the oil industry during the pandemic, and he is eyeing the Federal Reserve's Main Street lending program to help oil companies. Fuelled by pandemic-related demand shock and oversupply fears, the soon-to-expire May contract for US oil futures prices crashed to the negative territory for the first time in history on Monday. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for May delivery shed $55.9, or over 305 per cent, to settle at -37.63 USD a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, implying that producers would pay buyers to take oil off their hands. The May contract managed to turn positive as of midday Tuesday. However, the most-active June contract for the US benchmark plunged more than 30 per cent to settle around $11.57 dollars a barrel. The oil and gas industries have seen a historic sell-off amid the coronavirus pandemic. Almost 40 per cent of US oil and natural gas producers face insolvency within the year if crude prices remain near $30 a barrel, according to a recent survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. "Expectations for future activity also fell to their lowest level since late 2014, as most firms do not expect energy prices to return to profitable levels this year," said Chad Wilkerson, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text By PTI SINGAPORE: Over 1,000 foreign workers, including Indian nationals, tested positive for coronavirus in Singapore on Wednesday, taking the total number of infections to 10,141, as the city-state battles a second wave of contagion. The "vast majority" of the new cases are work permit holders residing in foreign worker dormitories, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in its preliminary release of figures. More than 1,000 foreign workers, including Indian nationals, are among 1,016 new COVID-19 cases confirmed in Singapore on Wednesday noon, according to official figures. Fifteen coronavirus cases are Singaporeans or permanent residents among the Wednesday confirmed infections. "We are still working through the details of the cases, and further updates will be shared via the MOH press release that will be issued tonight," the ministry added. Foreign workers in Singapore - many of them Indian nationals - have been hit hard by the virus, with several foreign worker dormitories being placed under quarantine. The city-state managed to keep its outbreak in check in the early stages due to widespread testing and contact-tracing, but is facing a fast-moving second wave of infections. Singapore has further closed businesses after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday extended the "circuit breaker" until June 1 to control the spread of the deadly disease. Speaking in Chinese on Tuesday circuit break extension announcement, the prime minister said that only one person from each household should be away from home at any one time. He urged people to stay at home as much as possible. Should they need to go out for the essentials, they should do so alone, he stressed. "Go out alone, get what you need, and return home straightaway," said the prime minister. Additional measures on food and retail outlets took effect from Wednesday and will continue until at least May 4 which means more workplaces will be closed, reducing the number of workers who keep essential services going. All standalone food and beverage outlets selling mainly drinks and snacks, as well as hairdressing and barber shops, were asked to shut by 11.59 pm on Tuesday night, reported The Straits Times. Entry restrictions have been imposed at popular markets while temperature screening is being done on every visitor at all supermarkets and malls from Wednesday. Visitors to these public places will also have to provide their particulars for contact tracing, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said on Tuesday night. As many as 17 people tested positive for COVID-19 in Bihar on Wednesday, taking the total number of cases in the state to 143, a top official said here. The state has seen a steady rise in the number of coronavirus cases since Monday, with 47 people testing positive for the infection in three days. While 17 fresh coronavirus cases were reported on Monday, 13 people had tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday. Principal Secretary, Health, Sanjay Kumar said among the 17 fresh cases reported on Wednesday, eight are from Patna, four from Bhagalpur, three from Bihar Sharif (Nalanda district) and one each from East Champaran and Banka -- the first in the two districts. Bhagalpur COVID-19 Nodal Officer Hemshakar Sharma said the patients include a doctor from Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital (JNMCH). Though he was not deputed in the hospital's coronavirus ward, it is suspected that he caught the infection in the emergency ward. Another patient from the district is a migrant worker in his early 30s, who had returned from Mumbai. He began his journey on April 18, reached Bhagalpur two days later and was kept at the isolation ward in JNMCH. A 40-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman are also among those who tested positive in Bhagalpur. Their travel history is not known and they were tested after they showed symptoms of coronavirus. In Patna, the Khajpura locality has emerged as a veritable hotspot with six more residents, four men and two women, testing positive for COVID-19. A 31-year-old man had tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday and a 32-year-old woman, admitted to AIIMS, Patna for breathing trouble, had tested positive on Saturday last. Patna District Magistrate Kumar Ravi said all residents of Khajpura have been asked not to venture out of their houses. They will, however, be given a two-hour relaxation daily between 9 am and 11 am to purchase essential items from shops identified with the help of the ward councilor. No resident will, however, be allowed to step outside the locality nor those from elsewhere will be allowed entry in Khajpura, he added. A 42-year-old resident of Jagdeopath, which is adjacent to Khajpura, has also tested positive. Besides, a 35-year-old resident of Bakhtiyarpur block in rural Patna has tested positive. The principal secretary clarified that the patient hailed from Salimpur village falling under the block and not a locality by the same name in the city. In Bihar Sharif, the headquarters of Nalanda district, two women aged 26 and 70, and a 24-year-old man have tested positive for coronavirus, principal secretary Kumar said. The patient from East Champaran district is a 25-year-old man from Phenhara block. However, Additional District Magistrate (Disaster Management) Anil Kumar said there was no cause for alarm since the man has not been to his village in a long time. He said the man worked in Mumbai and he tested positive at his in-laws' place in the adjoining Sheohar district. In Banka, a 45-year-old resident of Amarpur police station area tested positive. However, District Magistrate Suharsh Bhagat clarified that the COVID-19 patient, who belongs to Kosalpur village, could not enter the district upon his return to Bihar from Maharashtra last week. He said the villager, who was accompanied by two others, was quarantined at Bhagalpur where he reached on April 18 on his way home. Reports of the remaining two have been negative so far. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said in a statement, "There has been a perceptible rise in coronavirus cases. But there is no need to worry... I would appeal to the people to follow the lockdown in earnest. This would help us in breaking the chain." With 31 cases, Nalanda is the worst affected district in Bihar, surpassing Siwan which has reported 29 cases. The COVID-19 outbreak has affected 17 of the state's 38 districts. Two people, one each from Munger and Vaishali districts, have died due to the coronavirus. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The ' Global 4-Chloronitrobenzene (1-Chloro-4-nitrobenzene, PNCB, CAS 100-00-5) Market Outlook 2019-2024 offers detailed coverage of 4-chloronitrobenzene industry and presents main market trends. The market research gives historical and forecast market size, demand, end-use details, price trends, and company shares of the leading 4-chloronitrobenzene producers to provide exhaustive coverage of the market for 4-chloronitrobenzene. 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Ltd. - Seya Industries Ltd. - request free sample to get a complete list of companies Key Questions Answered in This Report - Analysis of the 4-chloronitrobenzene market including revenues, future growth, market outlook - Historical data and forecast - Regional analysis including growth estimates - Analyzes the end user markets including growth estimates. - Profiles on 4-chloronitrobenzene vendors including products, sales / revenues, SWOT, and market position, recent developments. - Market structure, market drivers and restraints. Authorities did not provide any other details of the crash, such as which direction Cuthbertson had been driving. Police said they have not yet determined a cause for the crash. President Hassan Rouhani in a phone call with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan late on Wednesday stressed the need for strengthening mutual, regional and international cooperation, saying that efforts should be made to ensure that trade between the two countries continues in full compliance with health protocols, Trend reports citing IRNA. Congratulating arrival of the holy month of Ramadhan to the Turkish Muslim people and government, Rouhani said that Ramadhan is the month of blessing, mercy and forgiveness, hoping that the month would be a source of blessing for the two Muslim nations of Iran and Turkey as well as other Muslims around the world. Coronavirus outbreak has created numerous difficulties for the governments and nations around the world, he said, noting that Iran and Turkey have proved that they have been alongside each other in hard times. Rouhani also hailed Iran's valuable successes in the field of fighting coronavirus, stressing the need for interaction among the officials and exchange of experiences between the two countries. Referring to US cruel sanctions and severe pressures on Iran and creating obstacle in the way of IMF loan payment to the country under the difficult situation, he called on all the countries to adopt a clear and decisive stance against the US anti-human pressures. Rouhani also described Iran-Turkey-Russia talks to implement agreements within the framework of Astana Process, saying that all should try to restore stability to Syria and regional nations. President Erdogan, for his part, congratulated the Iranian people and government on the arrival of holy month of Ramadhan, hoping that God would make Ramadhan a means of health and happiness, peace and tranquility among nations. Describing Iranian government and nation's fight against coronavirus outbreak despite all problems as very valuable, he said, "We must work to ensure that trade between the two countries continues in accordance with the principles of health, and officials in both countries must work together in this respect." Erdoghan further noted that his country has always opposed to US cruel sanctions against Iran, adding that Iran and Turkey as the two friendly and brotherly countries will put behind these hard times as well. He also called for efforts in line with establishing sustainable peace and stability in the region. Nine people, including a four-month-old infant, tested positive for coronavirus, taking the number of infections to 427 in Karnataka, even as the state government on Wednesday announced partial relaxation of COVID-19 lockdown norms from April 23. A state health department bulletin said as of 5:00 PM on April 22, cumulatively 427 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state. The figure includes 17 deaths and 131 patients discharged. It said out of 279 active cases, 274 patients including a pregnant woman are in isolation at designated hospitals and their condition is stable. Five patients are in the intensive care unit. The new cases confirmed include a four-month-old infant from Kalaburagi. The fresh cases include five from Kalaburagi and two each from Bengaluru urban and Nanjanagudu in Mysuru. Seven are contacts of COVID-19 positive patients, while the other two are having a history of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI). Nine out of 427 cases detected and confirmed in Karnataka are transit passengers of Kerala, it said. From across the state most number of infections have been reported in Bengaluru urban with 91 cases, followed by Mysuru 88 and Belagavi 43. Out of total 129 patients discharged so far, maximum 48 are from Bengaluru, 33 from Mysuru and 11 from Dakshina Kannada. Among the dead four each are from Bengaluru urban and Kalaburagi, two each from Chikkaballapura and Vijayapura, and one each from Belagavi, Bagalkote, Gadag, Dakshina Kannada and Tumakuru. A total of 29,512 samples have been tested, of which 3,279 were tested on Wednesday alone. So far 25,424 samples have reported negative, 3,202 alone on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Karnataka government has announced partial relaxation of COVID-19 lockdown norms in the state allowing IT and IT enabled services to operate with essential minimum staff and also certain construction activities, manufacturing of packaging materials, courier services, among others, from April 23. "IT and IT enabled Services will be allowed to operate with essential minimum staff only. Rest to work from home," the government said. The activities will be permitted only outside the COVID-19 containment zones identified by the government. Service provided by self-employed people like electrician, IT repair, plumbers, motor mechanics, and carpenters in local areas have also been given exemption. To mitigate hardship to the public, select additional activities have been allowed which will come into effect from 00.00 hours of April 23, Chief Secretary TM Vijay Bhaskar said in an order. However, these additional activities will be operationalised by District Administrations and BBMP (in the case of Bengaluru city) based on strict compliance to the guidelines on lockdown measures, it said. Confronted by financial problems, the state government has been eager to kickstart economic activities in the state that had come to halt due to COVID-19 lockdown. While hospitality services, bars, malls, theatres, shopping complexes, religious and places of worship among others will continue to remain shut, relaxation has been for activities that are linked to essential services such as health, infrastructure and agriculture. The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has requested that the state surveillance officers formulate data privacy norms. Personally identifiable data may be shared with discretion and strict privacy should be ensured. The state health and family welfare director has issued circular to districts to give relaxation on COVID-19 duty for pregnant women and those mothers having children less than one year old and they may be assigned for other office duties. The director has also issued another notification stating that Influenza Like Illness (ILI) and Severely Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) cases,which have got similar symptoms of COVID-19, should be screened at the initial stages so that morbidity and mortality due to the virus can be arrested in the community. The director issued circulars to all districts to provide treatment to non-coronavirus patients at hospitals empanelled under Arogya Karnataka Aysushman Bharat scheme, as most district hospitals have been recognised as COVID-19 hospitals. Minister Suresh Kumar, the spokesperson for COVID-19 in the state, said in response to a question that number of containment zones in the state as notified by Deputy Commissioners including BBMP was 337. "In addition today 22 more containment zones is being notified, taking the total to 359 in Karnataka," he added. The health department has issued a circular to conduct COVID-19 test for journalists, the minister said. Kumar said, "1000 journalists in Bengaluru will be tested, 200 per day at C V Raman Hospital in the city. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) FILE PHOTO: Saudi Aramco logo is pictured at the oil facility in Abqaiq By Davide Barbuscia and Clara Denina DUBAI/LONDON (Reuters) - Saudi Aramco has chosen HSBC and Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) <8316.T> to coordinate talks with other banks for a loan of about $10 billion the oil giant plans to seek, two sources close to the matter said. The financing would help the company to back its acquisition of a 70% stake in Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, a deal worth almost $70 billion, sources told Reuters last week. The two banks "are coordinating the loan by putting down large amounts," said one of the sources, who spoke anonymously as the discussions are private. Aramco did not comment on the choice of banks, but said it continued to review its financial options "as part of its normal course of business, while prudently preserving its pristine balance sheet and its resilience". HSBC declined to comment and SMBC could not be immediately reached for comment. Aramco is the world's largest oil producer and its most profitable, but the fundraising plans coincide with historic turmoil in the global oil market. As oil prices fell again on Wednesday, Brent crude hit its lowest since 1999 in response to a crude glut caused by the new coronavirus outbreak, which has destroyed demand for fuel. While the planned loan would most likely back the SABIC acquisition, one of the sources said Aramco needed cash for other purposes, including dividend payments. Aramco, which is more than 98% owned by Saudi Arabia, last month said it planned to cut capital spending because of the coronavirus outbreak after it posted a 21% decline in net profit for last year. Despite the drop in income, Aramco paid a dividend of $73.2 billion in 2019 and plans to declare a cash dividend of $75 billion in 2020. Aramco's shares were trading at 29.4 riyals on Wednesday, well below the 32 riyals price of its initial public offering (IPO) late last year that initially raised $25.6 billion and became the world's largest. Story continues Aramco's shares have declined by 2.7% since Monday, when U.S. crude oil futures (WTI) fell below $0 for the first time ever. Aramco sold a large part of its shares to Saudi retail investors, with Saudi banks facilitating loans to back their purchases. Many global investors avoided the sale because of concerns ranging from governance to the environment. HSBC was a top advisor for Aramco's IPO, while SMBC Nikko Securities, the brokerage unit of the Japanese lender, was hired as a joint bookrunner. (Additional reporting by Takashi Umekawa in Tokyo; editing by Louise Heavens and Barbara Lewis) Netflix Inc on Tuesday reported a surge in new sign-ups as audiences stayed in their homes to help fight the novel coronavirus and binged on series such as "Tiger King," but the company predicted a weaker second half of the year if quarantine orders are lifted. The world's largest streaming service gained 15.8 million paying customers in the first three months of the year, bringing its global total to 182.9 million at the end of March. That nearly doubled the average Wall Street expectation of nearly 8 million, according to FactSet. The company warned, however, that ... PR-Inside.com: 2020-04-21 23:56:44 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 960 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 21, 2020 / Zincore Metals Inc. (NEX: ZNC.H) ("Zincore" or the "Company") reports that it has amended its business combination agreement with Mines & Metals Trading (Peru) PLC ("MMTP") to extend the deadline for completion of the reverse takeover of Zincore by MMTP (the "Transaction") to June 1, 2020.Upon completion of the Transaction, it is anticipated that the Company (the "Resulting Issuer") will be listed as a Tier 2 issuer on the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSX-V") and will continue the exploration and development of MMTP's Recuperada zinc-lead-silver project in Huancavelica, Peru, and the reactivation of Zincore's Accha Zinc Oxide District ("AZOD") Project.Zincore intends for trading in the Company's shares to remain halted until completion of the Transaction. Further details of the Transaction and any related aspects will be made available in subsequent press releases and in the disclosure documents (which will include business and financial information in respect of MMTP) to be filed by Zincore in connection with the Transaction. For further details on the Transaction, please see the Company's news releases dated January 21st, August 14th and December 24th of 2019 and March 12th, 2020.About MMTPMMTP, a company incorporated under the Companies Act (2006) (Isle of Man), is a young and dynamic mining company with a vision to extract full value from undervalued projects across Latin America. MMTP's primary asset is the Recuperada silver-lead-zinc property, located in Huancavelica, Peru, which consists of 178 concessions covering a total of 11,261.32 hectares hosting a network of mineral-bearing veins, advanced infrastructure from historical underground mining operations, and an ore processing plant with processing capacity of 600 tonnes of ore per day and 210,000 tonnes of ore per year. For more information on MMTP, please visit http://latitudebasemetals.com/ About ZincoreZincore is a Vancouver-based mineral exploration company focused on zinc and related base metal opportunities in Peru. The Company's common shares trade on the NEX Board of the TSX-V under the symbol ZNC.H.For more information please contact:Zincore Metals Inc.Adam Ho, CFO, Director(604) 669-6611aho@ zincoremetals.com Cautionary NotesCompletion of the Transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to, TSX-V acceptance and if applicable, disinterested shareholder approval. Where applicable, the Transaction cannot close until the required shareholder approval is obtained. There can be no assurance that the Transaction will be completed as proposed or at all.Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the management information circular or filing statement to be prepared in connection with the Transaction, any information released or received with respect to the Transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of Zincore should be considered highly speculative.The TSX-V has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed Transaction and neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.Neither the TSX-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX-V) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking InformationThis news release contains certain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects" or does not expect", "is expected", anticipates" or "does not anticipate" "plans", "estimates" or "intends" or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking information". This forward-looking information contained in this news release includes, without limitation, information concerning the Transaction, the Financing, the Debt Settlement, expectations regarding whether the Transaction will be consummated, including whether conditions to the consummation of the Transaction will be satisfied, the timing for completing the Transaction, expectations for the effects of the Transaction or the ability of the Resulting Issuer to successfully achieve business objectives, expectations regarding whether the Financing will be consummated, and expectations for other economic, business, and/or competitive factors.Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Zincore to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such information and statements. In addition, in connection with the forward-looking information contained in this press release, Zincore has made certain assumptions. Among the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information are the following: the ability to consummate the Transaction and the Financing; the ability to obtain requisite regulatory and securityholder approvals and the satisfaction of other conditions to the consummation of the Transaction on the proposed terms and schedule; the ability to satisfy the conditions to the consummation of the Financing; changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial and commodities markets; changes in applicable laws; compliance with government regulation; and the diversion of management time on the Transaction and the Financing. Should one or more of these risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected.Although Zincore believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in the forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, and no assurance or guarantee c According to government sources, antecedents of several Chinese companies that figure in the CDSCO-approved list will be verified after state governments flagged faulty test kits and quality control issues to ICMR Editor's Note: This article was originally published on 22 April, 2020. It is being replugged in the view of the central government cancelling orders of several testing kits procured from Chinese companies like, Guangzhou Wondfo Biotech Co Limited and Zhuhai Livzon Diagnostic Inc, among others. *** New Delhi: The government is likely to put on hold several procurement orders of COVID-19 test kits from China that has been approved by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO). According to top sources in the government, antecedents of several Chinese companies that figure in the approval list will be verified after state governments flagged faulty kits and quality control issues to Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Most of these kits were procured from China, and in many cases, were procured directly by the states. On 20 April, the CDSCO cleared the future procurement of test kits from several Chinese companies, including Ghangzhou Wandfo Biotech Co Limited, Hangzhou Clongene Biotech Co Limited and Hangzhou All Test Biotech Co Limited. Except for Ghangzhou Wandfo, none of the other two companies have been authorised by Chinese regulator National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) to manufacture coronavirus detection products. There's another list of Chinese companies which were approved for procurement of test kits for COVID-19 on 21 April by CDSCO. Among them Ghangzhou Wandfo Biotech, Shanghai Fosum Co Limited, Zhuhai Livzon Reagent Co Ltd, Shanghai Zhijiang Biotechnology Co Ltd and Hangzhon Biotech Limited are approved by Chinese regulator NMPA. However, several other firms like Getein biotech Inc, Shangdong biotechnology, Zybo Inc, and Coyote biosciences doesnt figure in the official NMPA list of approved manufacturers of CVID-19 test kits. As a regulator, CDSCO is responsible to ensure safety, efficacy and quality of the medical products manufactured, imported and distributed in the country. These kits are supposed to be procured through private Indian firms. Since these procurements will be made by Indian suppliers, a re-verification process will be initiated before the final approval, government sources said. Dr Rajni Kant Srivastava, head of research management of ICMR told Firstpost that a thorough investigation will be conducted in the next two-three days and if the kits sent to the states are faulty, all future procurement from the related companies, including from China will be cancelled. We cannot afford to have faulty test kits in the time of crisis. The credential of all these Chinese companies will be re-verified. ICMR had recently rejected procurement from some Chinese companies due to lack of documentation. The field experts will verify the source of those kits as well and an elaborate advisory will also be issued after the probe, Dr Srivastava said. Top sources in the government said that following the first report of faulty kits in Spain sometime in March, it was decided at the highest level that extreme precautions should be taken in case of Chinese test kits and their credentials must be verified with the Indian suppliers. Spanish authorities had said that accurate detection rate of Chinese test kit was just 30 percent. The State of Rajasthan has said that rapid test kits for Coronavirus gave only 5.4 percent accurate results, much lower than the result in Spain. Goldsite Diagnostics Inc of China is another Chinese company, which was approved by the CDSCO but doesnt figure in NMPA's list of authorised test kits manufacturers. The big questions is: why and how did the CDSCO give approval and what kind of documents and certificates were submitted by the Indian suppliers? Despite repeated attempts, Dr VG Somani, Drugs Controller General of India and head of CDSCO did not respond to calls. A text message sent to Dr Somani remained unanswered till the time of filing this story. Despite repeated attempts, Public Relation Officer of CDSCO, Sunil Kulshreshtha was also not available for comments while numerous calls to CDSCO Public Relation Helpline went unanswered. CDSCO has also approved Autobio Diag Co Ltd, China for the procurement of antibody test kits. This company too doesnt figure in the NMPA list of authorised manufacturers. Dr T Jacob John, the former head of the ICMR for Advanced Research in Virology said that the whole thing smells a rat. Dr John, who is closely working with the Kerala government in the fight against COVID-19 said a thorough investigation is required to ascertain whether proper documents of these companies were submitted and if or not their antecedents were verified. It is important to find out the process of approval to the un-approved Chinese companies and if they are operating on the basis of forged certificates, the government must withdraw the procurement orders. Since these manufacturers are not even recognised in China, why should India procure from such companies? Also, there was enough time to rope in Indian manufacturers because our record in pharma-technology is one of the best in the world. Even now, we should encourage the Indian consortium of firms and make the test kits in India as fast as we can, Dr John added. Zybo Inc China, which has been approved to procure antibody test kits as well, too doesn't figure in the list of approved entity by the Chinese regulator. Similarly, Changsha Sinocare and WuhanUNScience approved for antibody test kits doesnt figure in Chinese approval list. Three other Chinese companies all set to supply antibody test kits to India NewScen Coast, Celtex Biotech and Cellex Inc are not approved manufacturers of such kits in China. One of the reason for lapses could be the modified rules by the CDSCO. The organisation had eased the rule for import by allowing self-attested documents to be submitted for import registration citing difficulties in submission of notary, apostilled and embassy attestation of regulatory documents such as power of attorney, manufacturing license with legal signatures, etc. The CDSCO said the applicants may submit required documents with legal signature after normalisation of the situation in the light of COVID-19 outbreak. ICMR rejects but CDSCO includes unapproved Chinese companies Interestingly, certain Chinese companies given the go ahead by the CDSCO were rejected by the ICMR. The ICMR had invited Expression of Interest (EOI) for Rapid test Kits on 11 April, however, a majority of manufacturers from China were rejected. The CDSCO, however, approved and included some of the companies such as Hangzhou All Test Co Ltd, Getein Biotech Ltd and Cellex Inc, which were rejected by the ICMR into the procurement list. The ICMR had cited at least six reasons, including discrepancy in product catalogue, authorisation from manufacturers, etc, for the rejection. Many of the Chinese companies rejected by the ICMR doesnt figure in the official list of Chinas regulator NMPA. Some of these unapproved Chinese companies rejected by the ICMR are Szy Bio, Wuhan Life Origin Biotech, Shanghai Outdo Biotech, Shenzhen Watmind Medical Co Ltd, Hangzhou Realy Tech Co Ltd and Guangzhou Darui biotech. Some stocks are best avoided. We really hate to see fellow investors lose their hard-earned money. For example, we sympathize with anyone who was caught holding Shandong Molong Petroleum Machinery Company Limited (HKG:568) during the five years that saw its share price drop a whopping 89%. And some of the more recent buyers are probably worried, too, with the stock falling 62% in the last year. Shareholders have had an even rougher run lately, with the share price down 39% in the last 90 days. This could be related to the recent financial results - you can catch up on the most recent data by reading our company report. We really hope anyone holding through that price crash has a diversified portfolio. Even when you lose money, you don't have to lose the lesson. Check out our latest analysis for Shandong Molong Petroleum Machinery Given that Shandong Molong Petroleum Machinery didn't make a profit in the last twelve months, we'll focus on revenue growth to form a quick view of its business development. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually expect strong revenue growth. As you can imagine, fast revenue growth, when maintained, often leads to fast profit growth. In the last half decade, Shandong Molong Petroleum Machinery saw its revenue increase by 24% per year. That's better than most loss-making companies. So it's not at all clear to us why the share price sunk 36% throughout that time. You'd have to assume the market is worried that profits won't come soon enough. We'd recommend carefully checking for indications of future growth - and balance sheet threats - before considering a purchase. You can see below how earnings and revenue have changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image). SEHK:568 Income Statement April 22nd 2020 Take a more thorough look at Shandong Molong Petroleum Machinery's financial health with this free report on its balance sheet. A Different Perspective While the broader market lost about 17% in the twelve months, Shandong Molong Petroleum Machinery shareholders did even worse, losing 62%. Having said that, it's inevitable that some stocks will be oversold in a falling market. The key is to keep your eyes on the fundamental developments. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 36% per year over five years. Generally speaking long term share price weakness can be a bad sign, though contrarian investors might want to research the stock in hope of a turnaround. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Shandong Molong Petroleum Machinery you should know about. Story continues But note: Shandong Molong Petroleum Machinery 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. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. A man's life was saved by his best friend who spotted he had coronavirus by the 'look of death' on his face during a FaceTime call. Derek Campbell left the Royal Liverpool Hospital yesterday after almost three weeks battling to survive, five of those days in an induced coma. Covid-19 hit the very healthy 57-year-old so hard that he was diagnosed with acute pneumonia, his lung having taken a severe beating. Derek Campbell spent three weeks in Royal Liverpool Hospital battling deadly coronavirus An ear infection caused sepsis and travelled to his kidney, and as his blood pressure dropped and with no response to antibiotics over a 48 period, his family feared the worst. But today, the dad-of-two is at home with his partner, being nursed back to full health, after beating the disease, which his loved ones, at one dark point, didn't think was possible. His daughter, Samantha, desperately watching and telephoning from 8,600 miles away in Darwin, Australia, has revealed how Derek's best friend - Terry Johnson - stepped in to save his pal's life. Campbell (right) had 'the look of death' when he appeared on a FaceTime call with a friend During a worrying FaceTime call, Terry 'could see the look of death' on Derek's face, decided enough was enough, and telephoned for an ambulance. It effectively kept his friend alive. Derek's family described how, slowly but surely, the drain clearance manager's health gradually got better, as he started squeezing medics hands to show he could respond to pain. Now, he is 'in love with being alive', tearful relatives said, and his 87-year-old dad, Edward, himself self-isolating, is 'the happiest man alive.' Daughter Samantha, who works Down Under for Qantas airlines, explained how her dad grew gradually more sick alone in his apartment in Mann Island, Liverpool city centre, while she listened during constant phone calls as his condition worsened. Derek had self-isolated when he experienced symptoms including a bad cough and flu-like ailments, staying indoors for 14 days. But despite dismissing Samantha's concerns, over a period of days, his health appeared to plummet, with his temperature rising, his taste and smell disappearing, and with hallucinations of 'men running around' his city centre home. Samantha, 32, was shocked when her dad explained he hadn't eaten for days and his apartment had 'turned into a horror movie.' The 57-year-old is said to have fallen back in love with 'life' after a harrowing last few weeks Mr Campbell, whose girlfriend lives in Manchester, telephoned 111 for medical advice, but was told to stay at home unless he was struggling to breathe. Taking up the story, Samantha said: 'He was very convincing, he told me his temperature had dropped and he was feeling much better and not to worry, whilst we were on the phone his partner arrived to drop a food parcel at the door, so we ended the conversation. 'I called him again the next morning, he seemed calm and again told me not to worry he was doing ok, he told me he had ate a sandwich. 'He wasn't making much sense he kept confusing his words, it wasn't like dad at all. 'He told me it was the devil, he just felt weak. 'He complained about his ear and said water was pouring from it on to his pillow. 'I advised dad to get antibiotics sent to the house, I believe he was sent ear drops from a friend. 'I was extremely worried, as was his partner, but thankfully, my dad's best friend Terry Johnson was too, the guy who saved my dad's life. 'He had been in contact with my dad too had helped him with prescriptions and had watch him decline from afar. 'He decided after speaking to my dad over FaceTime enough was enough and called an ambulance as he said he could see the look of death take over his face. 'Dad remembers the ambulance turn up he said they where in full PPE - it was something he will never forget. 'He felt like he was in a zombie movie. 'He was taken to the Royal Hospital and was taken for scans. 'Soon after the doctor told my dad he was very sick and that he had to place him in to an induced coma he quickly asked to speak to my dad's next of kin. '...I sent a message to my dad telling him how proud I was and I loved him, he read that message as it was a Facebook message and then was placed in to a coma. 'It gave me some peace, but watching the hours turn in to days on his activity was painful. 'From then on, we were told he was in a pretty bad way. '...we where absolutely heartbroken, the first 48 hours where the worst. 'You can't visit, calling is permitted to one person only, you just have to wait.' After days of showing no improvement, Derek slowly started to respond. Samantha said: 'The feeling was euphoric, we had cried so much over the days. 'It was a pain I can't explain. 'This was so different than anything, as you can't do anything. 'Just before this had happened I got all my dad's friends and family to write positive things on his Facebook wall so he could wake up and read it. 'They told him he needed to wake up as Liverpool still hadn't finished winning the league. 'As soon as we had his wall posted with love, he started to respond. 'It was like a miracle. 'We never thought a negative thought again. 'Two days after, they decided he was doing that well they wanted to take him out of the coma, 'It took him a few days to respond, each day was something different, first he was squeezing the nurses hands, next day he was nodding his head to respond to pain. 'In this time they told us he wouldn't need dialysis for his kidney. 'That was another win. 'The days went on, his eyes were open and they began to search for his phone, he was then taken out of intensive care. 'He couldn't use his fingers for days, he was still on oxygen due to one of his lungs being badly affected still. 'He can't walk, and is still to this day being helped by a physio. 'The first phone calls with dad were very emotional, and for him too, all he kept saying was how fantastic the doctors and nurses had been. 'We only managed to get one name, it was Sister Katie who was in care of my dad when he was in a coma in ICU. 'I'll never get to see her to thank her, and the doctors too, I can't imagine what they are going through. 'It's heartbreaking, they performed nothing short of a miracle and I can't thank them enough. 'As with Covid-19 cases, you can only have the next of kin to contact the hospital so I never got to even speak to her ever. 'Even just to say thank you.' Derek is now taking his first steps with a physio, is slowly learning to use his fingers, and described his first chance to use the bathroom alone and take a shower as 'paradise.' Samantha said: 'He got his sense of humour back and his sarcasm. He now has a new perspective on life and is in love with being alive. 'We want to raise awareness that not everyone, who is placed in to a coma due to Covid-19, dies. 'My heart goes out to all the families who are going through this right now, but please keep my dad in mind. 'There are success stories and my dad is one of them. 'But rest assure the NHS are doing everything in their power, my dad can't be more thankful for what they have done. 'It's made his 87-year old father, Edward, who has been self isolating for weeks, the happiest man alive.' The military has blasted the NHS for the 'appalling' handling of distributing PPE. The armed forces are currently helping get vital equipment to frontline staff. It came as ministers were accused of ignoring offers of equipment and letting hundreds of thousands of items go abroad despite the urgent need for PPE in the UK. The government is facing an onslaught of questions over the shortage of the vital equipment desperately needed by frontline healthcare workers. Last night a senior army source told The Times that vital items of PPE equipment were being assigned to hospitals without recognition of differing levels of need. They said: 'We know how knackered their [NHS Logistics] are but we've been surprised we've not been called in to help more, and we've been surprised by their failure to ration [kit].' It also emerged a number of businesses have come forward to say they want to help provide PPE to fight the pandemic, but say they have been ignored, burdened by red tape, and that equipment is now being sent abroad. Last night it was claimed the procurement process has been so ponderous the government missed opportunities to get at least 16million face masks in the past four weeks, as reported by The Guardian. 8,000 companies so far have offered PPE in the UK, but the government has only engaged with around 1,000 firms - while an RAF plane took off last night after being dealyed in Turkey waiting to pick up key supplies. The Birmingham-based firm has PPE stock in its warehouses from China, but just last week it was shipped abroad to EU countries An RAF transport plane flying in desperately needed PPE has finally left Turkey after it was previously meant to arrive on Sunday. Pictured on the tarmac at Istanbul airport early this morning, the RAF transport plane is being loaded up with vital equipment desperately needed by frontline healthcare workers in the UK. Medical staff put on their personal protective equipment (PPE) at an MOT testing centre in Belfast, Northern Ireland, which is being used as a drive through testing location for Covid-19 A defence logistics boss, who does not want to be named, said he offered the government offered tens of millions of vital pieces of PPE equipment, such as gowns as gloves, over a month ago. But since then the offer has been stuck in red-tape, so suppliers in Turkey have asked him for help in fulfilling their orders, as reported by The Sun. He told the newspaper: 'It's absolutely staggering. 'We've got contacts all over the world and we've spent more than four weeks trying to offer tens of millions of items of PPE to the Government. 'Then, over the weekend, we get a call from Turkey saying they're desperate, they need the kit. 'When I heard the Turks were on the phone while our RAF plane was sitting on the runway, I nearly fell off my chair.' It comes after another day of chaos in the government's supply of PPE to frontline workers. An RAF plane collecting the vital equipment is still grounded in Turkey today with ministers admitting the desperately-needed supplies might not be in the UK for days. The government originally declared that the 84 tonnes of life-saving equipment would arrive on Sunday, but it failed to turn up. They then claimed it would arrive yesterday, but the first military flight sent to pick it up has yet to start the journey back. Another British firm, Printers Prime Group, of Nottingham, may be forced to sell 500,000 visors abroad because the government has not ordered any, as reported by The Mirror. Instead the firm - who have taken on extra staff to make more visors - have been dealing with individual NHS Trusts. The company contacted officials more than a month ago but have still not received an order, despite involving 250,000 in materials. Owner Jon Tolley told the newspaper: 'I have the material to make another 500,000. I have to decide whether to sell that material to Europe as there is demand. They are already making our designs.' The 47-year-old started making the visors in the first place because he wife, an intensive care nurse, told him of the shortages. He added: 'My wife had a shift in March and told me they were running desperately low on PPE' 'We have had nurses contacting us in tears saying 'please help, we are desperate'. And Volker Schuster, the owner of the Merseyside-based chemicals firm EcoLogix, told The Guardian he wrote to the government about supplying 10m FFP2 masks that were ready to ship within a week. Military blast NHS for 'appalling' handling of PPE distribution The military has blasted the NHS for the 'appalling' handling of distributing PPE. The armed forces are currently helping get vital equipment to frontline staff. A senior army source told The Times that vital items of PPE equipment were being assigned to hospitals without recognition of differing levels of need. They said: 'We know how knackered their [NHS Logistics} are but we've been surprised we've not been called in to help more, and we've been surprised by their failure to ration [kit}.' Advertisement They came back to him eight days later, but which time the masks had already been sold elsewhere. It came on the same day a senior civil servant has been forced into an embarrassing U-turn after claiming ministers took a 'political decision' to deliberately snub an EU scheme to buy PPE. This afternoon Sir Simon McDonald told MPs it had been a 'political decision' by the Government not to take part in Brussels-orchestrated efforts to bulk-buy personal protective equipment (PPE) because 'We left the European Union on January 31'. But this evening he wrote to the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee to admit Boris Johnson's ministers were not briefed on the EU scheme because of a 'communication problem'. Veenak International Ltd, distributes pharmaceutical products across the UK and Europe, also claims they have been ignored by the government. A message from China on the PPE that has landed in the UK and is then being shipped back out again to other countries The Birmingham-based firm has PPE stock in its warehouses from China, but just last week it was shipped abroad to EU countries. The owners told the Daily Telegraph they had 'no choice' to sell the equipment after not hearing anything from the government. Shan Hassam, chief executive of Veenak International, said: 'We stand ready to prioritise our British customers if given the opportunity to do so.' Health Secretary Matt Hancock in the daily press conference said there is a 'global shortage' and it is a 'fast moving market' He said: 'We're always trying to improve the processes that we have in place to make purchases. We want to engage with all those companies who can help us in this national effort and we are accelerating the progress of getting back to all those companies with a substantive response. 'This is a fast-moving market. There is a global shortage and that means we need to be as nimble as we possibly can.' With fears that staff in hospitals and care homes are risking their lives, the TUC called for an independent inquiry into the Government's handling of the issue to be mounted before the end of the year. TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: 'Every day frontline workers are being forced to risk their lives because they don't have the proper protective equipment. 'This is a grotesque failure of planning and preparedness. It must never be allowed to happen again. Our NHS, social care and key workers deserve better.' Children line up to get food in Harare, Zimbabwe. (Photo: AFP/VNA) Quy made the appeal at the UNSCs online meeting regarding the protection of civilians from conflict-induced hunger. Apart from maintaining commitments to humanitarian aid, the UN and international community need to cooperate and support countries in post-conflict restoration, improving peoples livelihoods and maintaining food supplies, while taking comprehensive measures to build peace and ensure food security, he said. Quy also proposed promoting womens full participation in building peace and ensuring food security. In his remarks, FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu cited the Global Report on Food Crises in 2020 as saying that 135 million people in 55 countries were trapped in a food crisis in 2019. This is the highest number in the last four years. Almost 60 percent of all those people came from countries with conflict or instability, especially South Sudan, Yemen and Sahel. Executive Director of the World Food Programme David Beasley pointed to a grim picture of 135 million people facing crisis levels of hunger or worse, coupled with an additional 130 million on the edge of starvation prompted by the coronavirus. Miguel Vargas Maldonado, Foreign Minister of the Dominican Republic that holds the UNSC Presidency in April, suggested coordinating the UNs pillars of peace, security, development, environment and humanitarian aid. Other delegates shared the view that armed conflicts have resulted in stagnant food production, destroyed infrastructure, and caused homelessness, humanitarian consequences and severe starvation. They called on all sides to observe international humanitarian law and relevant resolutions of the UNSC, and proposed the council step up efforts to prevent and address conflicts and build peace sustainably. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 21:03:47|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A staff member of the customs marks on the nucleic acid test kit of newly arrived inbound passengers in Chongqing, southwest China, March 29, 2020. (Xinhua/Huang Wei) More support should be in place for border cities in terms of the personnel, facility and goods for epidemic control, and convenience in customs should be provided for epidemic control goods bound for foreign aid or export, according to the leading group of China's COVID-19 epidemic response. BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities on Wednesday called for efforts to enhance the capability and widen the range of COVID-19 infection testing. Measures should also be taken to further resume the economic and social order under the conditions of normalized epidemic prevention and control, they said. The instructions were given at a meeting of the leading group of China's COVID-19 epidemic response, which was chaired by Premier Li Keqiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee. As infections caused by gatherings and cross infections reoccurred lately in some places, it must be ensured that all confirmed and suspected cases, asymptomatic cases and close contacts are traced, to block the channels of the spread of the virus and fill the loopholes in COVID-19 prevention and control, according to the meeting. The group called for large-scale nucleic acid and antibody tests, which should cover key groups and units and venues where people gather amid work and production resumption. Such large-scale testing helps with targeted prevention and control, the reasonable mobility of the population and comprehensive work and production resumption, they said. More support should be in place for border cities in terms of the personnel, facility and goods for epidemic control, and convenience in customs should be provided for epidemic control goods bound for foreign aid or export, according to the leading group. Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and deputy head of the leading group, attended the meeting. With the Democratic primary settled, the Rev. Al Sharpton says he now includes a political consideration in his daily prayers: God, please let Michelle Obama be Joe Bidens running mate. Sharptons decision to implore a higher power is perhaps unique among Democrats, but the strong sentiment is commonplace among party leaders, operatives, rank-and-file voters and its led many to hold out hope shell be Bidens vice presidential pick. When former Vice President Biden said he would choose a woman, shes considered by most Americans of all races and all economic backgrounds to be the ultimate woman, Sharpton told POLITICO. Look at her book sales. Its the first time Ive seen someone write a book that can fill arenas. She has packed more arenas than Donald Trump. Of the roughly dozen or so names Biden is seriously considering, Obama isnt one of them. She has made clear that she would rather focus on her work to register and turn out voters through her new organization When We All Vote. Ill say it here directly: I have no intention of running for office, ever, she wrote in her best-selling memoir, "Becoming," released in 2018. Her refusals havent stopped Democrats from asking her to reconsider. I asked her when I last saw her and she seemed emphatic that she was not going to do it. I doubt if she does it, Sharpton said, adding that he began praying she would change her mind after the recent encounter. Still, none of that hasnt gotten in the way of Democrats dreaming of a restoration of sorts. While discussing Bidens potential veep picks, Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes recently told a reporter she didnt want to name a preference. But when asked about Michelle Obama, she stopped for a beat. Oh my God, she said, almost gasping. That would be amazing. The idea of a Biden-Obama ticket is as much rooted in warm fuzzy nostalgia for the last Democratic administration as it is a product of the cold, hard data of polling. Story continues In terms of popularity, no one else in the party is in the league of Michelle Obama, who last year overtook actress and philanthropist Angelina Jolie for the mantle of most admired woman in a global survey conducted by YouGov . Barack Obama was the worlds second-most admired man behind Bill Gates. With so much star power and party goodwill behind the Obama brand, its little wonder theres so much longing for the return of an Obama in a Democratic Party still reeling from Donald Trumps 2016 victory and searching for the perfect candidate. Valerie Jarrett, a friend and adviser to both Obamas, acknowledged the buzz around the former first lady but said running for and holding political office whether its for vice president of president isnt her style. She really kind of transcends politics, Jarrett said. Obviously, she supports Vice President Biden but doesnt see herself as a political figure. Her aversion to politicking and office-seeking is so strong, Jarrett said, that she hasnt ever done formal endorsements, though she will support Biden. The Biden campaign, she said, has not even asked Michelle Obama to make a formal endorsement. Its about more than winning the election. You have to govern. And if your heart isnt in what it takes to do the work of being the vice president, then you shouldnt do it. You shouldnt do it just to win, Jarrett said. She could potentially help a lot more people using her current platform rather than joining a political office. Jarrett, who has privately let the Biden campaign know whom she favors to be his running mate, said Biden has an embarrassment of riches from which to choose. Many of the dozen or so people hes considering, she said, have their own star power for his ticket. Biden made clear his high regard for Michelle Obama on Feb. 27 during a rally in Conway, S.C., where a voter asked him whether he would consider her for a running mate. Before Biden could answer, actress Vivica Fox, who was onstage with Biden, quickly chimed in. Im here for that! Fox said. Id do that in a heartbeat if I thought there was any chance, Biden said. Biden used similar language Monday in an interview with KDKA, a Pittsburgh television station. Id take her in a heartbeat, Biden said. Shes brilliant. She knows the way around. She is a really fine woman. The Obamas are great friends. In this March 12, 2020, file photo Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks about the coronavirus in Wilmington, Del. With the launch of his live-streamed web videos, weekly podcast and a new email newsletter, Joe Biden is building an online media presence since the coronavirus outbreak essentially froze traditional campaigning. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File) Former Barack Obama adviser Jim Messina said he knows Michelle Obama wont take the job, but hes publicly musing about it anyway. Remember, shes the one whos popular with swing women, Messina told POLITICO earlier this month. If I was [Biden], Id offer her the VP. Another former Obama adviser, David Axelrod, said he would be beyond shocked if Michelle Obama decided to run, saying she was a conscript to politics and while she appreciated the chance to do things of value and importance to people, she has no patience for the artifice, nastiness and lust for power that too often consumes the players and the process. In her memoir Becoming, she talks about the dreadfulness of politics in recalling the painful challenges of getting tagged with the toxic political stereotype of being called an angry black woman. She got the last laugh, however, because her book is one of the best-selling memoirs ever. And her book events werent a signing in a packed local Barnes and Noble, she filled stadiums and arenas, said Robert Gibbs, a former White House press secretary and Obama adviser. The Obamas occupy the most admired woman and the second-most admired man in the world. It speaks to not just what they accomplished in the White House years but also to who they are as people and how they did it, Gibbs said. Former Virginia Gov. and Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe said he witnessed firsthand how popular Michelle Obama is. When I ran for governor in 2013, I had everyone helping me, but I put a picture of myself and Michelle Obama in every one of my general election flyers. And I didnt just use it in African American communities. I used it in every part of the state because shes so popular, he said, specifying that rural white women as well as black women in cities alike adore the former first lady. Biden campaign advisers, basking in President Obamas endorsement of Biden last week, are making sure to give the former first lady space to decide how involved shell be with the campaign. We know what pretty much everyone else in America does, which is that Michelle Obama is probably the most beloved member of the Democratic Party and her support is a big deal, said an adviser who wanted to remain anonymous. Any future announcement would reflect the incredible impact that her voice has. She has a voice that can cross the aisle in a way that very few people can. But until then, the Biden campaign is left in the same position as Sharpton, who said he first prays for his family, then the health of aging Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and then Michelle Obama. God, if you could change her mind, it would help us a lot, Sharpton says in his prayers. A politician has accused media workers who shared a story on the alleged misappropriation of Covid-19 relief rice in Bangladesh of breaching the Digital Security Act. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) expresses grave concern over the misuse of the Digital Security Act and urge authorities to review their decision. Seized sacks of rice in Raninagar, an Upazila of Naogaon District in the Division of Rajshahi, Bangladesh. Credit: Dhaka Tribune Mominul Islam Bhashani, president of Baliadangi upazila Swechchhasebak League, an associate body of the ruling Awami League, filed the case against Toufique Imrose Khalidi, editor in chief of bdnews24.com, Mohiuddin Sarker, Jagonews24.com acting editor for publishing allegedly unfounded news defaming him and his political party, the Awami League. Two local correspondents, Shawon Amin and Rahim Shuvo were also sued by Mominul on April 18, after sharing the story on Mominuls rice theft on Facebook. The Bangladesh government scheme selling relief-rice at Tk 10 (USD 0.12) per kilogram to five million poor households across the country has been reportedly tainted by irregularities, embezzlement and arrests. The media workers face up to 14 years of imprisonment for expressing views on a digital platform that authorities may deem defamatory or subversive under the Digital Security Act. Bangladesh Manobadhikar Sangbadik Forum said: We are concerned about the case filed against editors under Digital Security Act. We protest the legal action and demand an immediate withdrawal of the false case. IFJ said: The case against the four media workers under the Digital Security Act is a blatant attempt to censor the media from reporting on issues that are of public interest during this health crisis. The IFJ calls on authorities to refrain from charging the media workers. IRVINE, Calif., April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida Career College, a subsidiary of International Education Corporation, is proud to announce that it will use the CARES ACT to support its students by providing grants to help cover student living expenses. Florida Career College International Education Corporation On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) was signed into law. One of the many important provisions of the bi-partisan legislation allows the Department of Education to direct funding to organizations like the Florida Career Colleges, which then provide students direct financial assistance through emergency financial grants. "These funds allow us to support our students at a time of national crisis," says International Education Corporation President & CEO Fardad Fateri. "We are proud that the U.S. Department of Education has entrusted us to distribute these emergency funds to our students." Dr. Fateri asserts, "One hundred percent of the Emergency Stabilization Grants designated for students will go to the students." He added, "all administrative expenses associated with issuing and disseminating checks to our students will be funded by us and not our students." Florida Career College expects to provide emergency grants as soon as the funds are made available by the U.S. Department of Education. "We stand ready to deliver these funds. It is important we get these grants into the hands of our students right away, so they can better deal with this crisis," Dr. Fateri said. The health of Florida Career College students is the organization's top priority during this national emergency. A premier provider of postsecondary career education, Florida Career Colleges' classroom content is currently delivered via a distance learning platform so Florida Career College students remain supported and can continue their respective programs of study even during the global pandemic. About International Education Corporation: Headquartered in Irvine, California, International Education Corporation and its subsidiary organizations are premier national providers of postsecondary career education offering quality programs in high-demand marketplace verticals such as healthcare, skilled trades, business, technology, and criminal justice. IEC's subsidiaries provide career training at their UEI College, United Education Institute, Florida Career College and U.S. Colleges campuses located across the United States. You can learn more about the program and all other career-training programs offered at floridacareercollege.edu. CONTACT: Cori Blas International Education Corporation 949-812-7710 [email protected] SOURCE Florida Career College The cover for issue 16 of Oncotarget features Figure 6, "Radiation-induced DNA damage measured by -H2AX foci formation at a specified time point after 10 Gy irradiation," by Zhang, et al. HPV-negative UM-SCC4 with and without transfection of HPV E6 oncoprotein, HPV-negative UPCI-SCC-089, and HPV-positive UPCI-SCC-099 cell lines were used in this study. The survival fraction after 10 Gy was significantly lower for the HPV-positive SCC-099 cells than for the HPV-negative cells. In contrast, the HPV-positive UPCI-SCC-099 cells displayed persistent -H2AX activity; the expression of -H2AX remained high at 48 hours post-radiation. HPV-positive SCC-099 cells were more likely to show the classical apoptotic changes of increased cell thickness and increased motility after radiation. Dr. Angela Hong from The Faculty of Medicine and Health, Central Clinical School at The University of Sydney as well as The Department of Radiation Oncology, Chris O'Brien Lifehouse said: Human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) is clinically and biologically distinct from smoking-related (HPV-negative) OPSCC." The overall better prognosis seen in HPV-positive OPSCC may be related to the disease's response to radiation therapy. Radiation therapy plays an important role in the management of OPSCC, either as definitive therapy or as adjuvant therapy after surgery. Cellular response to radiation treatment can be observed with a label-free dynamic Holo Monitor, which allows non-invasive visualization and live-cell analysis of radiation responses and the migration potential of cancer cells. The Hong Research Team concluded in their Oncotarget Research Paper that the enhanced cell motility is due to disruption of the actin-membrane interactions by radiation, initiating the membrane blubbing and generating force to enhance cell motility. In contrast, the HPV-negative UPCI-SCC-089 cells exhibited cell flattening and enlargement, which are the common cytological features of cell cycle blockage. The White House on Tuesday blocked tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants and DACA recipients from getting billions of dollars in aid earmarked for college students affected by COVID-19. It's difficult to know how many people are affected by the Trump administration's decision since exact figures are not kept on undocumented immigrants attending U.S. colleges. There are nearly 700,000 recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, making it likely that scores of students in the DACA ranks will be affected. Officials are excluding a group of students who already face a steeper challenge in attending and finishing college and whose legal status is in jeopardy pending a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The students are barred from receiving the aid because it is intended for U.S. citizens, according to the Education Department. Undocumented immigrants and DACA recipients arent allowed to access federal financial aid and often must rely on personal finances or private donor money to cover their education. Students at Boston College and universities across the country were sent home to finish the semester online because of the risk of coronavirus. Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker put the state under a stay-at-home order in an attempt to contain the virus. Denis Alvarez, a DACA receipt and student at Arizona State University, said that money would have helped her and those in her group, the Undocumented Students for Education Equity, who struggle to balance classes while dealing with the economic fallout of the coronavirus. Still, being excluded from the federal governments help is expected. I am not surprised to have been left out of this because we have been left out of so many things already, she said. Colleges have had to pivot to online instruction and face financial turmoil as theyre forced to refund housing costs. Students are struggling to adjust to the new online learning model while dealing with economic uncertainty. A portion of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act was meant to address both of these concerns. Universities would get billions of dollars in aid, half of which they're required to give to students economically affected by the coronavirus. The other half could be used to offset the institutions costs related to pivoting to online learning. Story continues When Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced the release of $6.3 billion earmarked as emergency aid for students, she said colleges would have the discretion to distribute the money. That rollout hasn't been smooth, and most students haven't seen that aid. Many universities told USA TODAY Network reporters this month they needed additional guidance from the Education Department before they started giving out that money. Some colleges hoped they might be able to direct some of that money toward needy students who wouldnt normally qualify for federal funding, said Ben Miller, vice president for post-secondary education at the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank. The law distributing the relief funds, he said, hadnt defined which students were eligible. An Education Department spokeswoman, Angela Morabito, said the act is clear that this taxpayer-funded relief fund should be targeted to U.S. citizens, which is consistently echoed throughout the law. Miller said needy students count toward a universitys total enrollment, a figure used to generate how much a college would be eligible to receive. Undocumented students and DACA recipients may have driven up an institutions share of federal aid money, but theyre cut off from it. Miller said he feared the additional regulations would result in universities creating more complicated application processes to ensure they comply with the rules. That could prolong the process of distributing the money. Advocates said undocumented students and DACA recipients face many of the same financial strains as low-income students who are eligible for financial aid. They should have been eligible to receive these funds despite immigration status, said Miriam Feldblum, executive director of the Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education, an advocacy group of higher education leaders focused on immigration policy. These students may have lost their jobs or need to take care of family members, she said. They may have trouble finding the right technology to access their online courses. The Education Department, she said, had an opportunity to ease some of these struggles, but it chose not to. A familiar feeling for students This year, the Supreme Court is likely to issue a decision on the future of the DACA policy and the nearly 700,000 who rely on it to avoid temporary deportation and to work in the country. The Trump administration said it is in the countrys best interest to end the program. Federal courts in California and Texas challenged the decision, driving it to the Supreme Court. Many of the people in DACA, no longer very young, are far from angels. Some are very tough, hardened criminals. President Obama said he had no legal right to sign order, but would anyway. If Supreme Court remedies with overturn, a deal will be made with Dems for them to stay! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2019 That looming decision is one of many things on Pedro Garcias mind. The 21-year-old is a student at North Park University in Chicago and a DACA recipient. Like many students, he has seen his life upended by the coronavirus. He had been living in the dorms, working as a resident adviser. These days, he lives at home with his family. Six of them share three rooms, so it can be hard to find a quiet moment to complete his coursework. His family home didnt have internet access, which he had to help set up. He, like other DACA recipients, had to rely on family resources and private scholarships to pay for college. He said he is lucky to have a job as a campus security dispatcher and writing adviser. Even so, the relief money would have helped. Being ineligible for it evoked a familiar theme. It never felt that this administration was on our side, he said. Alvarez, the ASU student, said online classes have been a struggle, but she is grateful she has a private space to study, a job to pay the bills and a computer to take her classes. Not all of her peers, she said, are so lucky. They were already paying out-of-state tuition, and many of them are out of jobs. Those that do have work risk catching the disease. She, like Garcia, worries about the Supreme Court decision. Their parents didnt receive the coronavirus relief checks that many American families have. The emergency federal aid, she said, would have helped students whose laptop chargers wont work or those who cant afford food, among other concerns. The coronavirus feels like another barrier to their education. This is already a community that doesnt have a lot of funds to go to school in the first place, she said. Its a feeling we have been having for a very long time. Education coverage at USA TODAY is made possible in part by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Gates Foundation does not provide editorial input. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: DACA, undocumented college students barred from emergency federal money Dr Mohamed Allam, deputy head of El-Negelah quarantine hospital in Egypt, said on his Facebook account on Wednesday that he had tested positive for coronavirus on 6 April, in response to criticism that he was on spending "too much time" online sharing posts to spread awareness about the virus. "Unfortunately, this is a topic I had not intended on speak about at this time in order not to spread panic and anxiety among the people I constantly reassure. But given that there are people who have wronged me, my clarification became a must," wrote the 31-year-old married doctor. "Many people have been criticising me lately for spending a lot of time on [social media] asking 'what about your work?' and 'why do you waste your time?'," Allam said. "That is because I was diagnosed positive for coronavirus on 6 April." This is the truth that I had hidden by my own choice, and I did this to spare my family from worrying about me, Allam said. "My condition has improved a lot, and, God willing, I will test negative soon." El-Negelah quarantine hospital, located in Marsa Matrouh governorate, was the first hospital to be designated by the government as a coronavirus treatment facility in early February. Health Minister Hala Zayed said in a TV statement that Marsa Matrouh was chosen because it is one the less polluted governorates in the country, which is important because the coronavirus is more active in polluted areas." There are now 30 quarantine hospitals that have been prepared nationwide to treat the virus, according to the health ministry. On Wednesday, the health ministry said that the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Egypt has reached 3,659 infections and the number of deaths has become 276. Search Keywords: Short link: In Mexico City alone, there were 2,591 confirmed cases of coronavirus patients, roughly a third of the cases in the entire country. Along with this report on Sunday, the city also had the highest fatality rate, 183, which summed up to 27 percent of Mexico's coronavirus-related deaths. Earlier this week, reports of hospitals overflowing with patients and inadequate equipment were dismissed by President Lopez Obrador. In an epidemiological study done by the health ministry, for each positive COVID-19 cases, there is likely that there are eight individuals who would have gone undetected because of the undetectable symptoms, which meant that over 20,000 people might be asymptomatic carriers. Hospitals at maximum capacity Lopez Obrador said that analysts believed the third phase of the pandemic was imminent. According to a report by Reforma, before Lopez Obrador's announcement, most of the health facilities in the capital have already reached maximum capacity. In a survey conducted by Statistica last March, 30 percent of the participants believed that the number of medical workers in Mexico was more than sufficient to handle the coronavirus pandemic. In the same vein, 20 percent of these participants felt there was enough medication to go around for everyone. Mexico City authorities said that hospitals and health centers like the National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition were 80% full of patients. "On the 16th, I said that that there were 356 intubated patients," Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum announced in a press conference last Saturday. "Today, there are 468 in different hospitals in the city." Sheinbaum also confirmed that 468 patients required respiratory assistance in hospitals, an increase of over a hundred in comparison to Thursday. Facilities run by public security hospitals, private hospitals, the Mexican Social Security Institute and the State Workers Social Security Institute, and the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases. The latter institute admitted to the mayor that this pandemic marked their first time handling so many intubated people at once. Over 70 patients needed ventilators in the hospital. Check these out! For good measure Because the coronavirus cases are not showing any signs of slowing down, which is contrary to Lopez Obrador's prediction in the preceding weeks, Mexico is extending quarantine measures and banning travel for another month, especially in the U.S. border, in attempts to flatten the curve. Mexican authorities explained that the decision was made due to the development of the COVID-19 propagation in both nations. Initially, the cross-travel ban and border control between the two countries was initiated on March 21. According to NPR, employees, those with temporary work visas and those who work on emergency and business operations, and students were initially still allowed to enter and exit at the border. This decision proved significant more than ever since the U.S. now has the highest number of positive cases of COVID-19 in the world, with over 792,958 overall cases and topping 42,531 deaths as of Tuesday. In conclusion to the press briefing last Saturday, Sheinbaum emphasized that Mexico was coming into a "delicate phase" of the pandemic, adding that "That's why we're still reminding you that we have to stay at home." The state's 2200 public schools will have access to enough soap and hand sanitiser to last 12 months when they start returning to classrooms next month. Premier Gladys Berejiklian's push to have all students back at school full-time by term three includes a significant roll-out of key products to ensure schools can meet strict health requirements. Private school expects 900 students on Tuesday after parents rejected remote learning. Credit:Michele Mossop Ten thousand forehead thermometers will be handed out to schools as part of the staggered return to classrooms, according to a source familiar with the plan, as NSW continues to deal with the COVID-19 crisis and teachers will have priority for testing. As public schools begin to gradually re-open, with pupils to attend one day a week from May 11, many private schools are still deciding their strategy. Iran Says 1,000 Foreign Prisoners Released Temporarily Due To Virus Outbreak 03/29/20 Source: RFE/RL Iran says it has released temporarily more than 1,000 foreign prisoners due to the coronavirus outbreak, following criticism by UN human rights experts. "What Iran has done in guaranteeing prisoners' health and granting furlough to them is a significant move" compared with what other countries have done, said Gholamhossein Esmaili, a spokesman for the country's judiciary. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe on furlough at her parents' home in Iran on March 17 British-Iranian woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was among 100,000 prisoners temporarily released last month, had her leave extended until May 20, her lawyer, Tulip Siddiq, said on April 21. Zaghari-Ratcliffe was serving a five-year jail term for sedition after being arrested in 2016 during a holiday on the accusation that she was plotting to overthrow the government. Her family says she was in Iran to visit relatives and denied that she was plotting against Iran. Zaghari-Ratcliffe worked for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of the news agency. Tehran's announcement on April 21 came after a panel of UN human rights experts last week urged the expansion of the list of prisoners temporarily released over the COVID-19 outbreak to include "prisoners of conscience and dual and foreign nationals." The 100,000 -- mainly Iranian -- prisoners released temporarily last month were freed initially until April 19. Authorities then extended their furlough until May 20. Foreign prisoners including French-Iranian Fariba Adelkhah and Iranian-American businessman Siamak Namazi and his father, Mohammad Bagher Namazi, are believed to still be in detention. Iran has been struggling to contain one of the world's worst outbreaks of the coronavirus since reporting its first cases on February 19. On April 21, Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur announced 88 more deaths over the past 24 hours, bringing the total to almost 5,300 out of a total of more than 83,500 people confirmed as infected. Many analysts, however, say the true number may be higher due to poor reporting methods, the government's lack of transparency, and a lack of testing. With reporting by AFP and Reuters The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) has proposed that the Ministry of Transport allow the increase of daily flight frequency between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and reopen other domestic flight routes after the end of the current social distancing period. CAAV said the proposal was made based on its assessment of peoples travel needs, as well as Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phucs conclusions drawn from a government meeting on novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) prevention and control. The administration suggested increasing the flight frequency between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City from six to 20 flights per day. On this route, national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines and low-cost airline Vietjet will each operate six flight a day, while budget carrier Jetstar Pacific and newcomer Bamboo Airways will each fly four trips a day. On flight routes from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang and vice versa, Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet will each carry out three flights a day, while Jetstar and Bamboo Airways will each operate two trips on a daily basis. On flight routes connecting Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City with other localities, each of the four carriers will operate one flight daily. The same flight frequency is proposed for journeys between localities other than Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. For the Ho Chi Minh City-Con Dao route, there will be four flights a day. VASCO, a subsidiary of Vietnam Airlines, is currently the only carrier flying on this route between the southern metropolis and the islands off the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau. The plan is intended to be implemented from Thursday, April 23, until the end of April 30. The CAAV requests all units in the aviation industry to continue implementing preventive measures, including arranging passengers on the same row on at least one seat away from one another on the Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City route. Passengers have to maintain a minimum distance of two meters from one another when queuing up for procedures at airports terminals. All crew members and passengers must have their body temperature checked before each flight. All passengers must wear a face mask during flights. According to the CAAV, 34,427 passengers traveled by plane between Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang the only domestic routes allowed to remain in operation since April from April 1 to 20. Vietnam went into 15 days of nationwide social distancing from April 1 to 15 in a bid to stem the spread of COVID-19. After this period, 28 provinces and cities in the country have continued upholding social distancing measures until at least the end of April 22. Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang are among these 28 localities. During the enhanced social distancing period, only a handful of flights and trains remain in operation between key destinations, including the three cities. Vietnam has confirmed 268 COVID-19 cases in total, with 222 having recovered, accounting for nearly 83 percent of the tally. Six patients were discharged from the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi on Wednesday afternoon, with 14 more expected to be released later the same day. The country has yet to record a death from the disease. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! 100 Years Ago 1920: With Sergeant Stevenson Post taking final action tonight at the Alpha Boat Club, Chesters American Day celebration on May 1 gives promises of being the most spectacular demonstration of patriotic loyalty ever attempted in this city. An example of the enthusiasm was displayed in a letter of acceptance yesterday from Wilde Post, Grand Army of the Republic. Although fast dwindling in membership, this organization will be conspicuously in evidence with their few remaining occupying a position of honor in the parade. 75 Years Ago 1945: Contracts for 13 Sun Ship tankers T-2 type tankers at $3 million apiece have been canceled by the U.S. Maritime Commission. The cut-back leaves the yard with 37 Maritime vessels still to complete, plus 10 large ships for the Netherlands government, it was reported this morning by John G. Pew, Jr., company vice-president. No immediate layoffs are expected as a result of the contact cancellation. 50 Years Ago 1970: Earth Day dawned cool, clear and relatively smog-free today, as if to remind the nation of the natural pleasures it is destroying. College teach-ins, antipollution marches, school assemblies, litter pickups and car burials were planned in Delaware County to dramatize the deterioration of the environment. About 500 girls at Notre Dame High School in Upper Providence, marked today by coming to school on foot, on skates and on bicycles thus avoiding use of cars and buses. 25 Years Ago 1995: Colwyn residents voiced concerns at Monday nights borough council meeting about increasing juvenile vandalism, police protection, all-terrain vehicles and a community pavilion. Andrea Vorndran said her 5-year-old was hit in the back of the head by kids throwing rocks a week and a half ago. Other residents talked of vandalism on school property and gangs of kids hanging out on the streets. Calling 911 to report even the smallest of incidents, McGonigle said, will show police that people are concerned about what is going on in their neighborhoods. 10 Years Ago 2010: It was the lull before the storm Wednesday morning and early afternoon at area service stations and beer distributors selling Powerball tickets as people beat the crowds expected later on with hopes of winning the $252 million jackpot Wednesday night. At the Exxon service station at Five Points in Aston, manager Dao Allassane said he bought $10 worth of tickets. If I win, at least (will) put some money for people with disabilities, he said. I want to do something for those people and the drug addicts, try to cure them, he said. COLIN AINSWORTH Overtaking China and Iran in terms of the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, at 90,000, Turkey has emerged as the country in Asia with the most cases. Workers are the hardest hit layer in society, as the governments priority, from the beginning, has been to keep workers in non-essential industries at work to keep production, exports and profits high. The government is thrusting aside repeated warnings from the Turkish Medical Association (TTB), which has demanded once again a stop to all production in uncritical sectors with full payment to contain infections across the country. It is siding entirely with the banks profit interests even as COVID-19 cases surge in the workplaces. While President Recep Tayyip Erdogans government has begun only weekend curfews in the 30 largest cities and Zonguldak since April 11, also calling a four-day lockdown from April 23 to 26, these measures remain ineffective. Medical specialists have warned that limited lockdowns lead populations to go out more intensely immediately afterwards. Many factories and workplaces in uncritical sectorsmetal, construction, shipyard and textileremain open thanks to special dispensations. On NTV, Erdogans spokesperson, Ibrahim Kaln, explained the governments refusal of a longer lockdown: Its cost to the economy would be much heavier. That is, countless thousands of lives of workers can be sacrificed to protect the interests of the capitalist ruling class amid an unprecedented pandemic crisis. The Health and Safety Labour Watch (ISIG) published a report last Friday on COVID-19 infections in workplaces in Turkey from March 11 to April 10. It examined 855 COVID-19 positive cases in at least 159 different workplaces; of these, at least 52 have died. The report also stated that workers in at least 30 different workplaces across the country went on wildcat strikes during this period due to positive cases and lack of necessary safety measures in the workplacesas is the case all over the world. According to another report by the Istanbul Workers Trade Unions Platform, as of April 17 there are over 2,200 positive cases among workers in Istanbul; at least 28 have died of COVID-19. The Confederation of Revolutionary Trade Unions (DISK) also published a report on the outbreak among its members. It found that by April 17, 2.8 per thousand DISK members had fallen ill, compared to 0.9 per thousand in the Turkish population overall. At least 378 DISK members are positive; four have died. Hasan Oguz (33), a construction worker and workplace representative at Galataport site in Istanbul, was one of them. Though it has approximately 135,000 members, DISK has admitted that it stopped production in only 11 workplaces with over 1,200 workers across Turkeythough it declared on March 30 that in 48 hours it might invoke the constitutional right to not work in unsafe conditions, if the government acts to ensure safe conditions. Whatever their posturing, DISK and other union confederations are deeply implicated in the collaboration between the government, big business and trade unions. This is a trap for the working class. The critical question for workers in factories, workplaces and neighbourhoods is building independent rank-and-file committees to protect themselves and oppose not only the pandemic, but the government as well. While the Turkish Health Ministry reported a first case on March 11, the total number of cases has surpassed 90,000 as of April 20, with more than 2,000 in the official death toll. Ten days before, as of April 10, the total number of cases was 45,000 with about 1,000 deaths. Although state officials continue to boast of Turkeys relatively low COVID-19 death rate, it is widely believed that it is a serious underestimation. The TTB accused the Health Ministry of not using COVID-19 codes proposed by the World Health Organization to calculate the death toll. The World Socialist Web Site had previously cited demographic research, showing that there are about 1,500 excess deaths for Istanbul between March 11 and April 7 compared with the same period in previous years. The New York Times has also reported that the true death toll may be much higher in Turkey, as Istanbul alone recorded about 2,100 more deaths than expected from March 9 to April 12, based on weekly averages from the last two years. Moreover, the situation among health care workers is getting worse. The Istanbul Medical Chamber (ITO) said on Monday, the number of health care workers infected has approached 2,000, adding that nine had died in Istanbul. It criticized the lack of face masks. Many people and health care workers still are unable to obtain masks. The Trade Union of Public Employees in Health and Social Services (SES) said on Tuesday, We estimate that there are more than 8,000 positive-diagnosed health workers across the country. Dr. Mustafa Tamur, an official from The Family Physicians Association in Istanbul, said on Sunday: To date, no single item or protective clothing or pair of glasses have been provided to any family physician in Istanbul, adding that there are about 200 COVID-19 cases among family physicians in the city. Though there are officially more than 4,000 new cases and at least 120 new deaths every day in Turkey, the government and media are trying to put a brave face on things, amid an escalating back-to-work campaign by governments internationally. After Health Minister Fahrettin Koca claimed last Tuesday that they had brought the pandemics spread across Turkey under control, on Monday Erdogan said he expects a return to normal at the end of May: Our goal is to most meticulously implement measures and reduce the pandemic procession to levels that would allow for the normalisation of our country after the Ramadan holidays. Workers are the worst affected section of the population, not only in terms of infections and deaths but also due to immediate implications of the pandemic. In Al-Monitor on April 9, economist Mustafa Sonmez calculated the number of unemployed workers in Turkey has risen to 7.5 million, with a nearly 3 million surge in this period. He predicted it could reach 10 million. About 270,000 mostly small companies employing more than 3 million workers have applied for unemployment benefits. Moreover, a new law allows employers to put workers on unpaid leave for up to six months on just 39 lira ($6) daily. While class divisions are increasingly being exposed and anger among workers to the government response is mounting, Erdogans main priority is to contain not COVID-19, but the threat from below. Erdogan listed public order as one of his governments key priorities during the pandemic. In fact, the pandemic has clearly shown that a revolutionary struggle by the working class to replace the existing order with socialism is the only way to protect millions and provide the most essential needs for all. China slams Vietnam over South China Sea claims, defends sovereignty Iran Press TV Tuesday, 21 April 2020 6:21 PM China has lashed out at Vietnam for what it described as illegal claims in the South China Sea, warning that any attempt at rejecting Beijing's sovereignty in the disputed waters would be "doomed to fail." Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang made the comments at a daily press briefing in the capital, Beijing, on Tuesday, after Vietnam filed a complaint with the United Nations (UN) and protested China's alleged efforts to boost its presence in the disputed area. Geng said China firmly opposed the complaint by Vietnam and had filed "solemn representations" of its own with Vietnamese officials. "Any country that attempts to deny China's sovereignty, rights, and interests in the South China Sea in any form and to reinforce their illegal claims is doomed to fail," the Chinese official said. "China will take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard its sovereignty, rights, and interests in the South China Sea." Accusing China of infringing its "sovereignty and jurisdiction rights" over parts of the South China Sea, Vietnam has on several occasions sent multiple diplomatic notes to the UN, and has over the past days protested China's establishment of two districts in Sansha City, in southernmost China's Hainan Province. Stressing that the districts are located in Chinese territory, Geng said Beijing had sovereignty and jurisdiction over the South China Sea in accordance with international laws, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The South China Sea serves as a gateway to global sea routes, through which about 3.4 trillion dollars of trade passes each year. Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei have overlapping claims with China to parts of the sea. The United States, which sides with Beijing's rivals in the maritime dispute, routinely sends warships and warplanes to the South China Sea to assert what it calls its right to freedom of navigation, ratcheting up tensions among the regional countries. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 03:55:47|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MUSCAT, April 21 ( Xinhua) -- The Omani Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday 98 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 1,508. According to a statement issued by the ministry, the new cases, including 39 Omanis, are all community contacts. The statement said that one death was recorded on Tuesday, bringing the death toll to eight. The total number of the recovered cases is 238. The ministry called on everyone to observe the procedures for quarantine, not to go to public places or places of worship, and to ensure public hygiene. Enditem The man who cut a trail of mayhem and death across northern Nova Scotia while driving a look-alike RCMP vehicle had openly boasted about his replica cruiser. Donald Walkers family hired Gabriel Wortman in the 90s to work in their funeral home business before he switched careers to become a denturist. Walker, a former alderman in Dartmouth, N.S., told the Star on Wednesday that Wortman had proudly shown him pictures of the vehicle. He didnt hide this vehicle. This car was not like in a garage where he was secretly making it, Walker said. I was well-aware of the police vehicle. He was very proud of that vehicle. He told me he wanted to go to car shows, take it there, show off. My fun time is sailing boats. This was his fun thing. How he came to acquire the vehicle and parts, as well as an authentic RCMP uniform which police have said he was wearing as he went on a weekend shooting rampage that left 22 people dead are among the growing list of questions that investigators have not answered. At a news conference Wednesday, as the RCMP declared that the killer had acted alone during the course of the crimes, they faced more intense questions about police decisions made over the weekend. Among the top questions were when and how they chose to alert the public about the fleeing gunman who left behind a path of destruction at 16 crime scenes. Chief Supt. Chris Leather said Wednesday police found out about the replica vehicle, as well as the uniform the suspect was wearing, from a key witness early Sunday morning between 7 and 8 a.m. A series of tweets were sent out just after 10 a.m. informing the public of an active shooter who might be driving what appeared to be an RCMP vehicle and wearing an RCMP uniform. Leather also disclosed Wednesday that the RCMP, which had only been using Twitter to provide updates to the public during the manhunt, were in the process of preparing an emergency alert that would typically appear on smartphones and televisions later Sunday morning, when the suspect was shot and killed by officers at a gas station in Enfield. Leather attributed the delay to officials needing to locate the officers in charge in order to decide what the contents of the message would be. He said police were also still investigating whether the shooter may have used his disguise to pull over drivers and execute them. Police also now say the killer acted alone, but they are looking into whether others may have assisted him before the shootings began. Police say he was likely using unlicensed firearms, and investigators are trying find out how he obtained illegal weapons. An expert in police-community relations in the United States said police are likely playing it close to the vest because they arent sure where the investigation will lead. Lorenzo Boyd, assistant provost and director of the University of New Havens Center for Advanced Policing in Connecticut, said police need to release as much information as possible, but added some information could be withheld if officers think it could lead to a break in the case. But, the main objective of the police should be to reassure the public, he said. Even with the perpetrator dead, police may be trying to find out how he acquired the weapon used in the crime, which could involve another person, Boyd said. In such a situation, he said police would be careful not to tip someone off and would withhold information about the weapon. Police may also be reluctant to divulge information at the scene because it could become gospel and harder to set the record straight later. At the scene, you dont know what you dont know, Boyd said. So, you dont want to give any information thats misleading or may tip off anyone that youre looking for. Amid the scrutiny of authorities Wednesday, the identities of two more victims emerged. Multiple social media accounts from relatives and a New Brunswick church shared their sadness at the news that Peter and Joy Bond, a couple who were loved by their family, friends and community, are among the dead. The couple lived in Portapique, N.S., and had two sons, according to a fundraising page set up for their family. Bradley Monks wrote on April 20 that he had received word that the attacks were on his sisters street, and the couple had not been heard from. God please let them be OK, Monks wrote. Later in the week, he shared photos in their memory. On April 20, granddaughter Tiffany wrote, No words can describe how I feel at the moment, and shared a photo of Joy and Peter. I have lots of memories to hold onto. I know you both will be looking over us and your family. Meanwhile, Walker, Wortmans former employer, echoed what many who knew the shooter have said in recent days. None of us saw the signs, Walker said Wednesday, adding acquiring decommissioned police cars is not out of the ordinary. I would suggest to you there are a number of people that have bought these police cars maybe not done as much as hes done, but fixed them up to look more like the police car than they already did look. Walker said Wortman acquired many items from a local auction house that sells Crown assets and used a local detail shop to apply the graphics and decals. He said Wortman told him last year that RCMP were aware of his replica vehicle and had advised him that if he planned to take it onto the highway he would need to transport it on a trailer. The RCMP did not respond to a comment about whether they were aware of Wortmans vehicle prior to this weekends rampage. But in an email, they said RCMP policy on disposal of uniforms and equipment requires that uniform clothing items that are no longer serviceable or required by a member be condemned, destroyed or altered so that they cannot be identified or re-worn as an article of the RCMP uniform. The policy also requires members to return kit and clothing items on charge/loan to them when they are released from special duty or assignment or terminating employment. Walker said he first got to know Wortman in the 90s when he was hired to work at the family funeral home business, then known as J. Albert Walker Funeral Homes. Walker said Wortman spent no more than a couple years with the business. His duties included meeting with families and assisting them with funeral arrangements, setting up graves, as well as picking up bodies from the hospital or homes. After working in the funeral business, Wortman went on to get his credentials to become a denturist. Adam Tipert, chairman of the Nova Scotia Board of Registration of Embalmers and Funeral Directors, said that Wortman had completed a program at a local community college in 1995, and apprenticed, but never actually received his funeral director licence in the province. Wortman had left Nova Scotia for New Brunswick and his file got transferred, said Tipert. He said that the records have been expunged in Nova Scotia since its been so many years. A man who lived near Wortmans denturist clinic and residence in Dartmouth told the Star Wednesday he and his family had known Wortman and his longtime girlfriend for many years. He said they were struggling to square the person they knew with the monster in the headlines. Wortman performed carpentry work like a master, said the neighbour, who declined to be identified given the notoriety of the crime. He said Wortman would invite him over to see his latest stone work, concrete work or carpentry work. One time, it was to show off a dazzling kitchen transformation that the neighbour said looked like it was out of a magazine. It was clear he was a perfectionist. He had a garage with every conceivable tool. I was always so impressed by it. I never met a guy who could do so many things, said the neighbour. Many years ago, when there was a structure fire next door, the neighbour said Wortman acquired the property and turned it into a parking lot. Wortman was also meticulous about the upkeep of the property. Theres a bus stop outside the clinic and the neighbour said he could always be seen picking up trash on the sidewalk. The neighbour said he never saw the RCMP replica vehicle Wortman drove this weekend (Walker said it was stored at Wortmans property in Portapique), but confirmed that Wortman kept a couple of stripped down Ford police vehicles in his driveway. Media took pictures of one of the vehicles in the driveway Monday. By Tuesday, authorities had removed it. When the neighbour asked Wortman why he liked that type of vehicle, Wortman replied it was for the power. Wortman was the type of neighbour who went out of his way to honk his horn to wave at you if you hadnt seen him in a couple months. If I look over there, I can still see him waving at me, the neighbour said. With files from Steve McKinley, Alex McKeen, Ted Fraser, Jeremy Nuttall and The Canadian Press UPDATE April 23, 2020 This story has been updated to state that the Nova Scotia Board of Registration of Embalmers and Funeral Directors says Gabriel Wortman had completed a community college program and apprenticed, but never actually received his funeral director licence in the province. Read more about: Whether OPEC+ formally agrees, deeper oil cuts now look inevitable Oil tanker is seen at sunset anchored off the Fos-Lavera oil hub near Marseille By Alex Lawler and Ahmad Ghaddar LONDON (Reuters) - Whether or not OPEC+ oil producers formally agree to extra oil output curbs, rapidly filling storage capacity and plummeting demand due to the coronavirus crisis may force them to cut more. With crude consumption collapsing, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other producers, a group known as OPEC+, is due to implement a deal to cut supply by a record 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) from May 1. But that unprecedented deal to withdraw about 10% of global supply already looks inadequate when demand has plunged by as much as 30% and the world is possibly just weeks away from running out of storage space for the surplus. Vopak, the world's biggest independent storage company, said on Tuesday its tanks were almost full. Tanks at Cushing, the delivery point for the U.S. crude futures contract, might not yet be full but any available space was already booked, analysts and traders said. "We have to cut down, ... with or without OPEC output cut deal," Mele Kyari, the head of Nigeria's state-owned oil firm NNPC Group, told the African nation's Premium Times newspaper. He said Nigeria would have to cut production because it was hard to find anywhere to put the oil. An OPEC source told Reuters it was "logical" to expect the market to force more cuts on OPEC+ producers. As much as 17 million bpd of supply could be taken out of the market this spring, estimated Jim Burkhard at IHS Markit, a research firm, due to production cuts and other shutdowns. However, Woodmac expects supplies to drop more slowly, saying compliance with the OPEC+ cuts would not be immediate. The consultancy forecast oil output in May and June would decline by 6.71 million bpd, of which 4.5 million bpd would come from OPEC+. Energy Aspects expects imminent shut-ins in the United States to amount to at least 1.3 million bpd, in addition to cutbacks already announced by the United States this month when OPEC+ was working on its deal. Story continues 'UNCHARTED TERRITORY' "The deep contango will now compel oil producers to reduce output immediately, financially and logistically," Energy Aspects wrote, referring to a market structure where spot prices are lower than prices for oil delivered at a later date - which usually encourages storage unless there is no space left. The consultancy forecast U.S. production would decline by 710,000 bpd year on year in 2020. "We are in uncharted territory. Everything is possible, including the unbelievable," an OPEC+ source said on whether members of the group could be forced to make even deeper cuts. Rystad Energy's analyst Christopher Page estimated about 400 million barrels of crude storage capacity remained available, much of it in the United States, while stocks were building at a rate of 26.5 million bpd in April. If that rate holds, it could exhaust global storage capacity in a little more than two weeks. "While the OPEC cuts will help, they are limited, and the global storage availability picture now looks grim for June," Page said. Meanwhile, OPEC is already looking at further steps, less than two weeks since forging its last deal. Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday it was ready to take extra measures along with OPEC+ allies and other oil producers, and Iraq echoed that position, although Russia was more cautious. But there are already signs of producers around the world being forced to take action for economic reasons. EnQuest last month became the first British producer to shut North Sea fields in the wake of the price slump. "Once all available storage capacity is utilised physical shut-ins will be required to balance the market," said Redburn Energy in a report. "This may have to happen rapidly." (Additional reporting by Libby George and Dmitri Zhdannikov; Editing by Edmund Blair) Mike Bloomberg, a billionaire philanthropist and former mayor of New York City, will help the state develop and implement an aggressive program to test for Covid-19 and trace people who have had contact with infected individuals, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday. Health officials have said that radically increasing the current level of testing, along with tracing and isolating contacts of infected people, is necessary to prevent a resurgence of infection as states reopen businesses and social settings. "Michael Bloomberg will design the program, design the training, he's going to make a financial contribution," Cuomo said at a news conference in Albany. "He has tremendous insight both governmentally and from a private sector business perspective in this." Cuomo said the state continues to ramp up its capacity to test for Covid-19, adding that tracing and isolating people who have come into contact with those who test positive will be key to containing the outbreak. He also said the state is taking "random surveys" of people at "grocery stores, street corners" to recruit people to volunteer for an antibody test, which can detect whether someone has been previously infected with Covid-19. He said this data-driven approach will help the state determine when it can reopen the economy. Cuomo added that Johns Hopkins University and public health nonprofit Vital Strategies will also be partnering with New York to trace and isolate the virus. "This is a monumental undertaking. We're all going to do it," Cuomo said. "You don't have months to do this, you have weeks to do this super-ambitious undertaking." West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday continued her tour of the metropolis, visiting a number of places for the second consecutive day and urging people to adhere to lockdown norms, even if that meant facing certain difficulties. Banerjee went to Khidderpore, Park Circus and Ballygunje areas in the city, addressing residents on a loudhailer. "Please follow the lockdown norms and strictly practise social distancing... even if you face certain difficulties. Don't hide conditions like fever or symptoms of common cold," she said from inside her car. She asked people to take the help of police if they have to visit the hospital for any ailment. "If you are infected with coronavirus, don't be scared. It is curable," the chief minister said. Banerjee had undertaken a similar COVID-19 awareness campaign on Tuesday in Topsia, Rajabazar and Park Circus localities. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Four media persons working for vernacular channels have been quarantined here after it was learnt that they had lunch at the residence of an MLA, who is under home quarantine in neighbouring Gadwal town recently, a senior government official said on Wednesday. Gadwal town headquarters of Jogulamba-Gadwal district was declared as Red Zone by the Centre due to considerable number of COVID-19 cases. Sources close to the development said another five who also had lunch with the MLAwill also be quarantined. The official said the legislator was already in self-home quarantine since April 10 after he came to know that two persons who attended a funeral where he was also present, tested COVID-19 positive. However the MLA tested negative of the virus. "As a precautionary measure, the four media persons were kept in quarantine. They do not have any symptoms of COVID-19. They are all doing fine. They are asymptomatic," the official told PTI. Another five journalists who were also present at the luncheon meeting with the legislator are also on their way to the quarantine centre, sources said adding the officials are on alert as one of the stringers of a TV channel in Gadwal tested positive. Currently the journo is undergoing treatment. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Andra Pradesh has announced that it will be providing one-time financial aid of Rs 2,000 each to over 6,000 fishermen from the state stuck in Gujarat since the lockdown was initiated. On Monday, Andra Pradesh CM Jaganmohan Reddy had called Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani to discuss the situation. Reddy asked his counterpart from Gujarat to ensure that all necessary measures are taken at the earliest for the safety of the fishermen. To help the stranded fishermen, Reddy announced that one-time financial assistance of Rs 2,000 each would be given. Reddy said the Andhra Pradesh government would support the Gujarat administration in every way possible to improve facilities being provided to the fishermen. CM Reddy also held a high-level review meeting on Monday with top government officials to take stock of the current coronavirus situation in the state. The CM assessed the preparedness of the state at large and planned to initiate improvisational measures as and when the situation demanded. Andra Pradesh conducted 5,757 coronavirus tests on Monday. Its rate of testing is the highest amongst all the states in terms of tests conducted per million population. Andra Pradesh has reported 757 active cases of coronavirus (as of 8 am, April 22), according to the Health Ministry. Total deaths stood at 22. As many as 96 patients have been cured or discharged. Also Read: Coronavirus India Lockdown Live Updates: Maharashtra reports 552 new cases, UP-153; Country's tally at 19,984 Also Read: Coronavirus impact: Swiggy to lay off 1,000 employees as demand slumps 60% A sign of Heineken beer outside a bar in Amsterdam, Netherlands. (Yuriko Nakao/Getty Images) Beer sales crashed at brewing giant Heineken (HEIA.AS) last month, as the shutdown of bars and restaurants around the world hit the drinks industry. Heineken said on Wednesday 22 April that its volume of beer sold fell by 2.1% in the first quarter of 2020. The slump worsened throughout the period, with volumes in March down 14%. As well as its name sake beer, Heineken makes beers like Amstel, Sol, Lagunitas, and Birra Moretti, as well as ciders including Strongbow, Old Mount, and Bulmers. First quarter profits fell 68% to 94m (83m) as a result of the sliding sales. Chief executive and chairman Jean-Francois van Boxmeer blamed the global COVID-19 pandemic. By now, most countries where we operate have reacted by taking far-reaching containment measures such as restrictions of movement for populations and outlet closures, sometimes combined with the mandatory lockdown of production facilities, he said in a statement. Our performance for the first quarter reflects the initial impact of those measures, and volumes in March were obviously heavily affected. Heineken said falling sales were expected to continue and in fact worsen in the second quarter of the year. Read more: Brent crude hits 1999 lows as oil prices continue to fall The company pulled its financial guidance for the year, warning it couldnt accurately predict how it would perform given the coronavirus pandemic. Heineken said it was suspending all discretionary spending and capital expenditure. Bonuses for managers and the board have also been suspended and Heineken said it would not pay an interim dividend in August. Top management are also taking a 20% pay cut. In the past few weeks we have taken necessary measures to reduce our costs, secure additional financing and adapt to the fast changes we see in our markets, van Boxmeer said. He said Heineken had strong brands and a strong balance sheet to weather the crisis. Separately on Wednesday, upmarket mixer brand Fevertree (FEVR.L) said it would likely take a hit from the pandemic lockdown. Fevertree, which makes tonic water and other mixers for alcoholic drinks, said 45% of its sales come from bars and restaurants. Clearly the scale and impact of COVID-19 has posed some significant challenges across our regions, Fevertree cofounder and chief executive Tim Warrillow said in a statement. Warrillow said it was too early to quantify COVID-19s full impact but said Fevertree was well positioned to manage our way through this situation. An Indian-origin doctor has called on Boris Johnson to ensure the state-funded National Health Service is kept well-resourced even beyond crisis times as he issued a sharply-worded open letter addressed to the British Prime Minister in relation to the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic. Professor Minesh Khashu, a neonatal consultant from Dorset in south-west England, stressed that medical workers being hero worshipped during the crisis need basic amenities more than all the praise, as he goes on to highlight some missed opportunities in the handling of the crisis and questions why countries like Germany were able to get a grip on testing for the deadly virus while the UK lags far behind. The best way to repay us is through a well-funded and sustainable health and social care system. While the COVID-19 crisis has suddenly woken everyone up to realise that we need admiration and hero worship, what we really need is a well-funded system and basic amenities to look after ourselves at work, writes Khashu. In reference to the initial handling to the COVID-19 outbreak in the UK, he notes: Strategically it would have made more sense to utilise initially the armed forces and reserves, rather than the acute hospitals and the already stretched ambulance sector, to look after COVID cases in specific military health institutions. This was an ideal opportunity to use the armed forces personnel and hospitals to segregate COVID cases from general public and would have worked much better. We need to ask ourselves why this wasn't done. The doctor on the frontline of the coronavirus fightback stressed that the open letter, published in The Daily Mirror on Wednesday, has been issued at a personal rather than professional level as he goes on to challenge the damaging equation of the pandemic with war analogies and rhetoric. He writes: It has given the system powers to command and control without any transparency and discussion regarding decision making. It is this war analogy that has led to people dying in hospital without any near or dear ones by their side. This is perhaps the most devastating and cruel effect of our war rhetoric. There is no reason why one should not have been allowed to visit a dying partner or parent with full PPE (personal protective equipment) protection, if one wished to do so. On the subject of PPE, an issue that has dominated UK headlines in recent days due to a critical shortage of supplies of items such as surgical gowns, the NHS doctor calls for a genuine apology from the UK Cabinet over the way in which the matter has been handled. It would be useful to scrutinise what preparation was done between late December and March and why we have failed on so many levels. Moreover, the lack of a genuine apology from your Cabinet colleagues for the shambolic way in which PPE has been managed and care homes have been turned into slaughter houses, begs for some soul searching and brings into disrepute the culture within government, he said. British doctors and health workers have continuously raised the alarm about a lack of sufficient protective kit to treat potential coronavirus patients, potentially exposing themselves and putting vulnerable patients at risk. The total number of confirmed cases in the UK have reached 1,29,044 and 17,337 people have died. Globally, more than 170,000 people have died and over 2.5 million people have been infected by the coronavirus, according to data maintained by Johns Hopkins University. On a personal note, Khashu is complimentary about Johnson's message to the NHS after being discharged following his COVID-19 hospitalisation and also wished his partner, Carrie Symonds, a safe pregnancy. He said: While I have always admired your intelligence, your single mindedness, decisiveness and power of persuasion, your post hospital discharge video message brought forth two further attributes which many of us had not witnessed earlier: a degree of vulnerability and simple, genuine and sincere words. These are quite endearing in a leader and hope they serve you well in the coming years. I wish you a speedy recovery. I wish you and Carrie all the best for the rest of the pregnancy and best wishes for the new arrival. If the critical illness hasn't transformed you enough, I am sure fatherhood will. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Joe Jonas and wife Sophie Turner donned stylish black masks Tuesday as they stepped out to walk their dogs in Los Angeles amid the coronavirus pandemic. The 30-year-old musician and 24-year-old actress kept it casual for their outing. Joe wore a blue T-shirt under a black jacket along with blue jeans and black trainers. Masks on: Joe Jonas and wife Sophie Turner donned black masks Tuesday as they stepped out to walk their dogs in Los Angeles amid the coronavirus pandemic Sophie meanwhile wore a blue jacket along with grey leggings, white socks and black sandals. The couple recently helped hospital employees by donating 100 meals to East LA Doctors Hospital. Sophie and Joe made their donation through the Fueling The Fearless organization, which posted about their generosity to Instagram on Sunday. The meals went directly to doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals who don't always have time to make their own meals as they care for those stricken with COVID-19. Casual chic: The 30-year-old musician and 24-year-old actress kept it casual for their outing as he wore jeans and she donned leggings Fueling the Fearless acknowledged the donation on its Instagram page while thanking the celebrity couple, along with Phil McIntyre, Joe's manager, and his wife Shonda McIntyre. 'A BIG THANK YOU to @joejonas @sophiet @philymack @shondamcintyre for donating 100 meals to East LA Doctors Hospital,' the post read. 'This hospital is in the heart of downtown LA and serves a vastly underprivileged community with limited resources and support. The staff work tirelessly to care for the community and those often forgotten... One hot meal lets them know we are all in this together.' Cute couple: Joe and Sophie shown in January in Los Angeles, got married in May 2019 Joe also has been doing his part to lift people's spirits online, like when he joined the rest of the Jonas Brothers for Jon Krasinski's virtual prom for graduating seniors whose real-life celebrations were canceled do to the coronavirus pandemic. The group performed on the Quiet Place star's YouTube series Some Good News on Friday, along with special guest Billie Eilish. 'Welcome to prom, class of 2020,' John, 40, said, while introducing a teenage fan who was missing her prom due to the school closures. Joe and Sophie have been married since May 2019. Prom edition: Joe joined the rest of the Jonas Brothers on Friday for Jon Krasinski's virtual prom for graduating seniors on his YouTube series Some Good News, along with special guest Billie Eilish KALAMAZOO, MI High school employees wearing face masks and face shields handed out Chromebook computers for Kalamazoo Public Schools high school students at Loy Norrix and Kalamazoo Central High Schools on Wednesday, April 22. The laptops are necessary to help students connect with their teachers virtually and complete their online coursework through remote learning. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer closed all K-12 schools across the state of Michigan for the remainder of the academic year to help stop the spread of coronavirus on Thursday. April 2. The district previously distributed laptops to high school seniors and juniors after a local business donated Chromebooks. Kalamazoo Public Schools, like other districts across Michigan, is charged with creating a learning plan to help students continue their education from home. The districts Continuity of Learning Plan outlines the steps school officials will take to reach students, using a variety of tools. It directs teachers to reach out to their students using a variety of remote measures like email, video calls or text messages. During the week of April 27, teachers are expected to fully implement remote learning with students, the district said. Concerns of equitable access to resources like internet is one challenge district administrators face in creating the remote learning plan. KPS is surveying students and families currently to find out how many students have internet access and an appropriate device and which students will need paper copies of learning materials. Students completing work remotely will receive feedback, but will not be graded. Students will end classes in June with credit/no credit completion criteria at the secondary level and pass/incomplete criteria at the elementary level, the district said. For high school seniors, the district is planning to make adjustments to graduation requirements to help students finish school despite the closure. The governors order says students on track to graduate will do so and those missing credits must be given an opportunity to make up those classes. For students who do not have access to the internet, learning packets will continue to be produced and distributed at KPS food distribution sites, set up to hand out free meals to families whose students would normally have received meals in the schools. Staff will also seek alternate ways to reach students, including emails, text messages and phone calls. The schedule for todays distributions at each school is as follows: Kalamazoo Central High School: auditorium, student entrance and gymnasium Last name A-J: 9-11 a.m. Last name K-R: 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. Last name S-Z: 1-3 p.m. Open pickup 3-4 p.m. Loy Norrix High School: tower, back parking lot (C-Wing) and auditorium Last name A-E: 9-10 a.m. Last name F-K: 10-11 a.m. Last name L-R: 1-2 p.m. Last name S-Z: 2-3 p.m. Open pickup: 3-4 p.m. Phoenix High School: Open pickup: 1-4 p.m. Kalamazoo Innovative Learning Program: Open pickup: 3-5 p.m. To pick up the Chromebooks, students or their parents must bring the students ID and an ink pen to sign the waiver. Copies of the waiver are also available on the districts website in English, Spanish, Arabic and French. Also on MLive: Kalamazoo Public Schools outlines plan for remote learning during closure Kalamazoo teachers adapt to new normal during coronavirus pandemic Airlines and travel operators are flouting the law by delaying refunds for cancelled holidays, an investigation has found. Customers with package holidays are legally entitled to their money back within 14 days of cancellation, while airlines should refund passengers within seven days. However, a major survey of the UK's 20 biggest travel firms by consumer champions Which? found that none are refunding customers within these time frames. Airlines and travel operators are flouting the law by delaying refunds for cancelled holidays, a Which? investigation has found Millions of people have had their holidays cancelled after the Government advised against all global travel. The unprecedented situation is thought to have left airlines and package holidays providers with a 7billion bill for refunds to British customers. Desperate travellers are angry that their refunds are being withheld, with some left thousands of pounds out of pocket. Many are being forced to accept vouchers or credit notes for future travel instead of their money back, but these could prove worthless if the firm collapses. Ryanair customers who don't want to accept a voucher are even being told to join a 'refund queue' and wait for their money back until the coronavirus outbreak has passed. Which? said its advisors have received thousands of complaints from holidaymakers who say airlines are making it 'near-impossible' to contact them about refunds. British Airways passengers have been unable to complete a refund form online, and are instead being told to call a customer service line. However, this line is often blocked because of the sheer number of calls. Richard Lartey, 27, from London, who was due to fly with BA to visit his pregnant partner in Austria, said: 'The only option for a cash refund is to call up. Instead of holding customers in a queue the telephone system would simply hang up after playing a short message.' Travel firms are pleading with ministers to relax time limits on refund payments to prevent 'catastrophic damage' to their industry, which is also facing huge costs from the effort to repatriate Britons stranded abroad. The Association of British Travel Agents has urged the Government to change the law on refunds to prevent firms going under. Which? said its advisors have received thousands of complaints from holidaymakers who say airlines are making it 'near-impossible' to contact them about refunds Chief executive Mark Tanzer said: 'The global pandemic has put enormous financial strain on tour operators and travel agents, with businesses seeing a collapse in sales while facing immediate repatriation costs and refund demands for cancelled holidays on a scale that is unmanageable in the short term. 'These businesses are themselves waiting for refunds from hotels and airlines and without this money, they simply do not have the cash to provide refunds to customers within 14 days.' As part of its research, Which? contacted 10 of the UK's biggest holiday companies, including Tui and Jet2, and 10 of the UK's biggest airlines, including British Airways and easyJet, to ask about their refund policies. None were found to be processing refunds within the legal time frame. The organisation wants the Government to 'provide clarity about how customer money will be protected in these circumstances,' and is also urging ministers to extend the global travel ban to a definitive date. Currently, the restriction on all but essential global travel is indefinite - causing confusion for anyone with holidays booked in the coming months. Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, said: 'We have been inundated with messages from desperate travellers, some who are thousands of pounds out of pocket as a result of cancellations and have no idea if or when they'll see their money again. Currently, the restriction on all but essential global travel is indefinite - causing confusion for anyone with holidays booked in the coming months 'We do not want to see the industry suffer further as a result of this outbreak, but it cannot be on consumers to prop up airlines and travel firms, especially when so many will be in difficult financial situations of their own. 'The government must urgently set out how it will support travel firms and airlines to ensure they can meet their legal obligations to refund customers for cancelled travel plans - and avoid permanent damage to trust and confidence in the travel industry.' A BA spokesman said: 'If a customer's flight has been cancelled, they should call us to discuss their options. They can rebook, refund or choose to take a voucher to fly at a later date. Refunds can be requested at any point up to 12 months after the start date of the journey.' Tui said it was 'contacting all affected customers as fast as we can' but admitted there was a 'delay in this process due to the large volumes of customers impacted'. Jet2 said staff were working 'tirelessly to proactively contact customers' adding the number of calls it was receiving is 'unprecedented' and asked customers to wait to be contacted. Easyjet said it aimed to process claims in 28 days but warned it could take longer due to an increased volume of calls. A Ryanair spokesman said: 'For any cancelled flight, Ryanair is giving customers all of the options set out under EU regulations, including refunds.' CAIRO (Reuters) - Last April, medical student Mohamed Amashah stood on Cairo's Tahrir Square and held up a sign saying "Freedom for prisoners". He was detained. Now awaiting trial for more than a year on charges of misusing social media and helping a terrorist group, the Egyptian-American fears the spread of the coronavirus in Egypt's crowded jails. Last month Amashah, who suffers from an autoimmune disease and asthma, started a hunger strike to draw attention to his plight, his parents said. He is one of 114,000 prisoners in Egypt, according to a recent U.N. estimate. Egypt, which has a population of 100 million, has reported 3,490 cases of the new coronavirus, including 264 deaths. Top officials have expressed confidence they can contain the outbreak through measures including quarantine, a night curfew in place since March 25, and public information campaigns. But since the country's first case on Feb. 14, relatives and rights groups have called for the release of detainees, including political prisoners swept up in a crackdown on dissent under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Some rights groups, lawyers, and current and former prisoners say inmates are often kept in cramped, dirty cells and lack running water, adequate ventilation and healthcare: conditions ripe for the rapid transmission of disease. While countries including Iran, Germany and Canada have freed prisoners in an effort to contain the coronavirus epidemic, Egypt has given no public sign it will do so. The government press centre forwarded to Reuters an Interior Ministry statement on Thursday saying that it was taking all necessary preventative and protective measures for prison staff, ensuring cleaning, healthcare and testing inside places of detention. The government also suspended family visits to prisons on March 10 to limit risk of infection, though some families say the measure makes it harder for them to deliver supplies including soap and medicine. Story continues The interior ministry said it allowed for prisoners' belongings to be brought in, and the exchange of messages. In November, authorities organised tightly supervised tours of Cairo's sprawling Tora prison complex, where former President Mohamed Mursi collapsed and died in a prison courtroom last year, and where Amashah is held. The tours followed a report by U.N. experts that said that poor prison conditions may have led directly to Mursi's death and was putting thousands more at severe risk. PRISON PROTEST A hunger strike started on several wards at Tora in late February in protest at poor conditions, a lack of information about the new coronavirus and a failure to disinfect cells, said a human rights lawyer in contact with inmates. The lawyer added that the hunger strike had ended after about a week when prison officials began letting in more medicine, clothes and letters. An Interior Ministry spokesman did not respond to phone calls or Whatsapp messages asking for comment on the lawyer's account. Amashah continued his protest and was moved to the prison hospital, his father Abdel-Megeed told Reuters, saying he feared his son could suffer the same fate as Moustafa Kassem, an Egyptian-American who died in prison in Egypt in January after staging a liquid-only hunger strike. "Will they leave him until he dies? I know nothing about him, I am unable to even talk to him to tell him to stop," said Amashah's mother, Naglaa Abdel Fattah. The Interior Ministry spokesman could not be reached for comment on Amashah's case. The U.S. embassy in Cairo declined to comment directly on Amashah, but said it had requested permission to speak with an unspecified number of incarcerated American citizens by phone until visits resumed. On April 10, a group of bipartisan U.S. senators sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asking him to call for the release of U.S. prisoners, citing the risk from the new coronavirus. The letter mentioned Amashah and 14 other prisoners including two more in Egypt and others in countries including Saudi Arabia, Iran and Syria. The U.S. State Department declined to comment on the letter specifically. David Schenker, Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, said in February that detained Americans came up "with some frequency" in dialogue with Egypt. 'STATE OF PANIC' Alaa Abdel Fattah, a leading activist in Egypt's 2011 uprising held in remand detention at Tora on charges including spreading false news, belonging to a terrorist organisation and misusing social media, also started a hunger strike on April 13, his relatives said. "While Egypt enters its third week of curfew, family members on both sides of the prison walls are being kept in a state of panic," they said in a statement. The Interior Ministry did not respond to a request for comment on Abdel Fattah's situation. Abdel Fattah's mother, sister and aunt were briefly detained last month after staging a rare public protest to highlight the risk of the coronavirus in prisons. Rights researchers fear guards could bring the virus to prisons and said there had been several suspected cases in Tora and at Wadi al-Natroun prison, northwest of Cairo. Reuters was unable to confirm independently whether any prisoners had tested positive. Two prison sector sources said 14 suspected cases in three prisons had all tested negative. Conditions at prisons vary. One detainee contacted by Reuters said he feared the spread of the virus because physical distancing was impossible at his Cairo prison, where the 15 inmates in his cell each had about 0.5 square metres (5.3 square feet) - not an unusual level of overcrowding, according to researchers. The International Committee of the Red Cross recommends minimum accommodation space globally of 3.4 metres squared (36.6 square feet) for each detainee. In March, as Egypt began to see its first clusters of cases, information about the illness inside prisons was restricted, the detainee and a recently released detainee said. At police stations, where men rounded up for breaching the night curfew or the closure of mosques have been held overnight before being fined and released, overcrowding can be worse than in prison, said the former detainee, who was required to report to a Cairo police station once a week. (Reporting by Cairo bureau; Additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk in Washington; Editing by Mike Collett-White) Newly published findings about the phylogenetics and systematics of some previously known, but also other yet to be identified species of Old World Leaf-nosed bats, provide the first contribution to a recently launched collection of research articles, whose task is to help scientists from across disciplines to better understand potential hosts and vectors of zoonotic diseases, such as the Coronavirus. Bats and pangolins are among the animals already identified to be particularly potent vehicles of life-threatening viruses, including the infamous SARS-CoV-2. The article, publicly available in the peer-reviewed scholarly journal ZooKeys, also pilots a new generation of Linked Open Data (LOD) publishing practices, invented and implemented to facilitate ongoing scientific collaborations in times of urgency like those we experience today with the COVID-19 pandemic currently ravaging across over 230 countries around the globe. In their study, an international team of scientists, led by Dr Bruce Patterson, Field Museum's MacArthur curator of mammals, point to the existence of numerous, yet to be described species of leaf-nosed bats inhabiting the biodiversity hotspots of East Africa and Southeast Asia. In order to expedite future discoveries about the identity, biology and ecology of those bats, they provide key insights into the genetics and relations within their higher groupings, as well as further information about their geographic distribution. "Leaf-nosed bats carry coronaviruses--not the strain that's affecting humans right now, but this is certainly not the last time a virus will be transmitted from a wild mammal to humans," says Dr Terrence Demos, a post-doctoral researcher in Patterson's lab and a principal author of the paper. "If we have better knowledge of what these bats are, we'll be better prepared if that happens," he adds. "With COVID-19, we have a virus that's running amok in the human population. It originated in a horseshoe bat in China. There are 25 or 30 species of horseshoe bats in China, and no one can determine which one was involved. We owe it to ourselves to learn more about them and their relatives," comments Patterson. In order to ensure that scientists from across disciplines, including biologists, but also virologists and epidemiologists, in addition to health and policy officials and decision-makers have the scientific data and evidence at hand, Patterson and his team supplemented their research publication with a particularly valuable appendix table. There, in a conveniently organized table format, everyone can access fundamental raw genetic data about each studied specimen, as well as its precise identification, origin and the natural history collection it is preserved. However, what makes those data particularly useful for researchers looking to make ground-breaking and potentially life-saving discoveries is that all that information is linked to other types of data stored at various databases and repositories contributed by scientists from anywhere in the world. Furthermore, in this case, those linked and publicly available data or Linked Open Data (LOD) are published in specific code languages, so that they are "understandable" for computers. Thus, when a researcher seeks to access data associated with a particular specimen he/she finds in the table, he/she can immediately access additional data stored at external data repositories by means of a single algorithm. Alternatively, another researcher might want to retrieve all pathogens extracted from tissues from specimens of a specific animal species or from particular populations inhabiting a certain geographical range and so on. ### The data publication and dissemination approach piloted in this new study was elaborated by the science publisher and technology provider Pensoft and the digitisation company Plazi for the purposes of a special collection of research papers reporting on novel findings concerning the biology of bats and pangolins in the scholarly journal ZooKeys. By targeting the two most likely 'culprits' at the roots of the Coronavirus outbreak in 2020: bats and pangolins, the article collection aligns with the agenda of the COVID-19 Joint Task Force, a recent call for contributions made by the Consortium of European Taxonomic Facilities (CETAF), the Distributed System for Scientific Collections (DiSSCo) and the Integrated Digitized Biocollections (iDigBio). Original source: Patterson BD, Webala PW, Lavery TH, Agwanda BR, Goodman SM, Kerbis Peterhans JC, Demos TC (2020) Evolutionary relationships and population genetics of the Afrotropical leaf-nosed bats (Chiroptera, Hipposideridae). ZooKeys 929: 117-161. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.929.50240 Contacts: Dr Bruce D. Patterson, Field Museum Email: bpatterson@fieldmuseum.org Prof Lyubomir Penev, founder of ZooKeys and founder and CEO at Pensoft Email: penev@pensoft.net President Donald Trump on Wednesday raged about the coverage of CDC Director Robert Redfield's interview with The Washington Post, where the medical expert warned about the dangers of a second wave of the coronavirus. Trump brought Redfield to the White House podium to repudiate the interview only for the CDC director to confirm the newspaper correctly quoted his warning. The farce took place at the daily White House press briefing on the coronavirus and was sparked by Redfield telling The Washington Post that a second wave of the coronavirus this winter, combined with flu season, 'will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through.' The newspaper ran the interview under the headline: 'CDC director warns second wave of coronavirus is likely to be even more devastating.' Trump was furious at the coverage of Redfield's comments - several news outlets, including DailyMail.com, wrote stories on the CDC director's warning - calling the articles 'inaccurate.' He snapped at reporters who asked about the warning and whether Redfield was accurately quoted. President Donald Trump brought CDC Director Robert Redfield to the White House podium to repudiate an interview he gave to The Washington Post Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the Washington Post accurately quoted him in their interview but said the headline on the story was 'inappropriate' President Donald Trump was visibly angry at the media coverage of Redfield's remarks The president brought Redfield before the White House press corp to explain what he said in the interview, only for the CDC director to confirm he was accurately quoted. Redfield did say the headline on the Post's story was 'inappropriate.' 'I think it's really important to emphasize what I didn't say,' Redfield said. 'I didn't say this was going to be worse, I said it was going to be more difficult and potentially complicated because we'll have flu and coronavirus circulating at the same time.' Trump then jumped in to complain his CDC director was misquoted. 'He was totally misquoted. He said they could come together, they didn't talk about that and his whole purpose in making the statement was to get a flu shot so that next fall, we don't have such a big season of flu and we possibly won't,' the president said. Redfield went on to clarify what he said in his interview with The Post, which was also essentially what he told the newspaper. 'Next fall and winter, we are going to have two viruses circulating and we are going to have to distinguish between which is flu and which is coronavirus - the spirit of the comment that I made is more difficult. It doesn't mean it's impossible, it doesn't mean it's going to be worse, it's just going to be more difficult because we have to distinguish between the two,' he said. Redfield's warning in the interview with The Post was clear and essentially what he said in the briefing. 'There's a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through,' he told the newspaper. 'And when I've said this to others, they kind of put their head back, they don't understand what I mean.' 'We're going to have the flu epidemic and the coronavirus epidemic at the same time,' is what he told The Post. CDC director Robert Redfield said he was warning the winter could be difficult if a second wave of coronavirus and the flu season hit at the same time President Donald Trump said the coronavirus may not come back at all But Dr. Anthony Fauci repudiated what President Trump said, saying he was 'convinced' the coronavirus would come back this fall ABC's Jonathan Karl asked Redfield at the White House briefing if he was accurately quoted. 'I'm accurately quoted in The Washington Post as difficult, but the headline was inappropriate,' Redfield said. Karl read the headline: 'The headline says CDC director warned second wave of coronavirus is likely to be even more devastating.' President Trump stepped to say: 'That's not what he said.' Another reporter asked Redfield why he retweeted The Washington Post article. 'You weren't called on,' Trump told the reporter. The president then took the podium back to declare the coronavirus may not come back this winter. 'It might not come back at all. He's talking about a worst-case scenario where you have a big flu and you have some Corona,' Trump said. He added if it did return 'it's not going to be like it was. We have much better containment now, before nobody knew about it. Now if we have a little pocket here, we're going to have it put out, we're going to put it out fast. It's also possible it doesn't come back at all.' But Dr. Anthony Fauci repudiated what Trump said, saying he was 'convinced' the coronavirus would come back this fall. 'What Dr. Redfield was saying, first of all, is that we will have coronavirus in the fall. I am convinced of that,' he said during his turn at the podium. 'What happens with that will depend on how we are able to contain it when it occurs. What we are saying is that in the fall, we will be much, much better prepared to do the kind of containment compared to what happened to us this winter,' he noted. He added that 'it's going to get complicated by the influenza season. I believe that's what Dr. Redfield was saying. It's going to be complicated. So whether or not it's going to be big or small is going to depend on our response. And that's what I think people sometimes have misunderstanding. Nobody can predict what is going to happen within outbreak, but you can predict how you're going to respond to it.' The White House was quick to react after The Post published its interview with Redfield, complaining his quotes were misinterpreted. New White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said he was advising people to get a flu shot. 'I was on the phone with him just before I walked out here. The main stream media has been taking him out of context as they so often do with Trump administration officials. What he was trying to say was this: Everyone get your flu shot,' she told Fox News Wednesday in an interview conducted from the White House. 'That's what he was saying but leave it to CNN and some of the other networks to really take those comments out of context,' she added. New White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany claims the media took out of context comments CDC Director Robert Redfield about a second coronavirus wave Robert Redfield, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the Washington Post that a second wave of coronavirus - combined with flu season - could overwhelm hospitals Redfield retweeted the Washington Post's tweet about his interview with the paper Redfield told The Washington Post in an interview on Tuesday that a second wave of the coronavirus, combined with the regular flu season, could be devastating for the country. CNN and other news outlets wrote up his comments given their high news value and interest to the public. The White House, however, has pushed back at what he said. President Donald Trump also claimed Redfield's quote was taken out of context. 'CDC Director was totally misquoted by Fake News @CNN on Covid 19. He will be putting out a statement,' the president tweeted. Redfield ended up coming to the daily press briefing at the White House instead of putting out a statement. His warning in the interview with the Post was clear. 'There's a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through,' he said. 'And when I've said this to others, they kind of put their head back, they don't understand what I mean.' 'We're going to have the flu epidemic and the coronavirus epidemic at the same time,' he said. Redfield also retweeted the Washington Post's tweet on his interview, which contained the headline: 'CDC director warns second wave of coronavirus this winter will be worse.' In the interview, he warned the dual trenches of illness could overwhelm the healthcare system. The United States has more than 850,000 cases of the coronavirus and more than 48,000 deaths. And Redfield reiterated 'the enormous impact' social distancing has 'had on this outbreak in our nation'. He said guidance for reopening states 'will be in the public domain shortly.' The CDC is looking to hire more staff, Redfield said, as 'contact tracers'. President Trump also claimed the CDC director's comments were taken out of context and said he would put out a statement They alert people who may have come in contact with someone who tested positive for the virus so they can self-quarantine or be tested themselves. But Redfield also urged Americans to get the flu vaccination which 'may allow there to be a hospital bed available for your mother or grandmother that may get coronavirus.' He said that if flu and corona had peaked at same time 'it could have been really, really, really, really difficult in terms of health capacity.' By Express News Service BHOPAL: An on-duty doctor came under attack in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday, the day when PM Narendra Modi issued an ordinance making acts of violence and harassment against healthcare personnel deployed in combating COVID-19 a non-bailable offence with a maximum punishment of seven years imprisonment and Rs 5 lakh fine, The incident took place at Gaswani village in Sheopur district (370 km from Bhopal) when the doctor along with a police ASI were attacked with stones by a man and his two sons. District SP Sampat Upadhyaya said, An on-duty doctor went to Gaswani village after being informed that one Gopal, son of a farmer named Gangaram, had returned to his native village from Guna district. Since he came from another district, the doctor Pawan Upadhyaya, posted at Vijaypur government hospital, went to the village to get Gopal screened. The farmers family didnt permit the doctor to screen Gopal or any other family member and instead drove the doctor away. Later, the doctor went to the village accompanied by ASI Sriram Awasthi. But instead of cooperating with the doctor and the cop, Gangaram and his sons pelted stones on them. While, the doctor escaped unhurt, the ASI Sriram Awasthi sustained head injury. Subsequently, while Gangaram and his second son Ashish were arrested, Gopal managed to escape. A case has been registered u/s 353, 188, 269 and 270 of IPC against Gangaram and his two sons. The National Security Act (NSA) will also be invoked against the three accused, the SP said. Six months after the largest social unrest in 30 years broke out, the streets of Chile are calm once again as the coronavirus pandemic forces the country into lockdown. But experts say the underlying frustration and social inequality that sparked the mass demonstrations have not disappeared and are merely simmering under the surface, potentially ready to explode again once virus measures are lifted. A mass movement against President Sebastian Pinera and his government erupted on October 18, initially triggered by a modest rise in metro fares in Santiago before mushrooming into general dissatisfaction with the cost of living and a system that seems to benefit the rich at the expense of all others. For the last month, though, the epicenter of the protests in Santiago's Plaza Italia, as well as other hotspot cities such as Valparaiso and Concepcion, have gone cool with the population barred from heading outside to prevent the spread of the deadly COVID-19 disease. "The problems, whose public expression is currently suspended, are still there," Patricio Zapata, a constitutional lawyer and member of the opposition Christian Democratic Party, told AFP. Faced with a health crisis that has left more than 110 dead and over 9,200 infected, Pinera actually has the wind in his sails. His approval rating plunged to less than eight percent in January -- with weekly protests raging but has climbed again to almost 20 percent. The good news may not last, though. "We're in something like a parenthesis, and there's the chance that after the parenthesis, things will return to a similar situation" that existed before the unrest erupted, said Juan Pablo Luna, a professor in the political science institute at the Catholic University of Chile. But "that will only happen if the consequences of the crisis are such that the people prefer to postpone their demands in order to satisfy basic needs in economic terms," said Luna. The inescapable economic downturn that the pandemic will wreak led the International Monetary Fund to warn that countries such as Chile, Ecuador or France "remain vulnerable to new protests, particularly if policy actions to mitigate the COVID-19 crisis are perceived as insufficient or as unfairly favoring large corporates rather than people." - Shaky political future - Despite Pinera's upturn in popularity, the virus pandemic will likely highlight the very inequality that fueled protests in a country whose health, education and pension sectors have been largely privatized since the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship from 1973-1990. Protesters smashed up metro stations and bus shelters, and torched supermarkets during the early days of October's unrest / AFP "It seems to me that the crisis management will probably unveil new structural problems, like inequality, and in that case it seems obvious that the coronavirus will end up... hurting the government and provoking a new round of unrest," said Luna. For Zapata, Pinera's political future looks shaky: "I can't see how he can regain the majority's trust," he said. Many accuse millionaire 70-year-old businessman Pinera of being out of touch with the poor and middle classes in a country that posts impressive macroeconomic figures that mask a low average wage, high costs of basic services and the privatization of a huge part of its health and care sectors. Pinera has been widely criticized not just for those imbalances but also his management of the unrest, while the security services were accused of abuses by human rights groups. He then scored another own goal when, during the mandatory quarantine, he stopped a convoy of official vehicles on Plaza Italia to take a picture in the now deserted protest epicenter. "He's always committing unforced errors... and it will take a lot for the people to regain trust in the government," said Luna. - Uncertain future - Pinera's popularity had been starting to recover in part due to a decision to hold a referendum on changing the dictatorship-era constitution, which had to be postponed from April 26 to October 25 due to the virus. But he remains in the eye of a temporarily paused storm. "I want this chapter to end so we can return to uniting for change politically, of the constitution, (with) everyone healthy for October," said Maria Jose Gutierrez, a 30-year-old activist and supporter of constitutional change. Zapata is unsure which way the crisis will affect the people. It might "galvanize the forces of dialogue and cooperation, enabling great agreements," said Zapata. Or the subsequent economic downturn, "added to the discovery that the health crisis hit the poor and excluded sectors much harder, will generate a stronger, including more violent, return to social protests." Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki, center, Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Eun Sung-soo, right, and Employment Minister Lee Jae-kap give a joint briefing at the Seoul Government Complex, Wednesday. Yonhap Support measures to create jobs, help SMEs and airline biz By Lee Kyung-min The government said Wednesday that it will draft an 89.4 trillion won ($72.5 billion)economic relief package to help those hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, in its latest measure to keep the faltering economy from crashing further. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki, Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Eun Sung-soo and Employment Minister Lee Jae-kap held a joint briefing at the Seoul Government Complex to discuss the measure. A fund of 40 trillion won will be set up to help with liquidity shortages experienced by small firms as well as key industries underpinning the economy, notably the airline, equipment, energy, shipbuilding and marine, car manufacturing telecommunications and semiconductor businesses. Thirty-five trillion won will be used to help small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and buy corporate bonds; while 10.1 trillion won will be spent to help businesses not lay off workers and to give financial assistance to those who have already lost their jobs. Around 550,000 jobs will be created in the public sector. According to the finance ministry, of the 10.1 trillion won, 800 billion won will be immediately pulled from government-managed funds and reserves, as spending it does not need National Assembly approval. The remaining 9.4 trillion program will be included in a bill to be submitted to the National Assembly for approval. "The job-related package accounts for 40 percent of 2020 budget set aside for job creation initiatives. The plan will support 2.86 million people, nearly 2.5 times the number of those who lost jobs in 2019," Hong said in a briefing. Of the total, 3.6 trillion won will be spent to pay young people and low-income earners who hold jobs created by the government. Some 3.7 trillion won will be used to pay jobless claim benefits and job training undertaken by those recently laid off. About 1.9 trillion won will be earmarked to give financial assistance to low-income earners who are not subscribers to the state-run unemployment insurance. Rules will be eased to increase government subsidies offered to employers who pay workers on leave. The FSC said the scope and the extent of the financial assistance will be extended to small firms experiencing temporary liquidity shocks. As for the seven key industries, the degree of support will be conditioned on each firm's efforts to improve workers' job security and profit sharing following corporate profit recovery. The support will be given to firms that have exhausted all other options before seeking government help. The fund will be used to increase corporate capital and facilitate liquidity flow. "Firms that had experienced considerable deterioration long before the virus pandemic will undergo restructuring programs as scheduled. We will induce normalization of corporate management based on responsible and painstaking efforts exhibited by the firms and their major shareholders," Eun said. Under the plan, which requires Assembly approval, firms will be able to take out loans with government backing. A joint investment project with the private sector will be allowed using special purpose vehicles (SPV) to set up funds. Corporate autonomy will be guaranteed as long as both the management and unions reach a compromise to limit layoffs. But the government will prohibit hefty payouts of CEOs' salaries, dividends and share buybacks, a crucial step to prevent moral hazards by firms bailed out with taxpayers' money. The plan also includes ways to return to the public corporate profit generated after the virus-triggered shock ends. The FSC plans to expand its primary collateralized bond obligations program by 5 trillion won. The government-run SPVs will buy commercial papers, corporate bonds and short-term debentures issued by low-credit rated firms. Some 280 aged and less-privileged persons and head porters (locally known as AGBATETSORLAO) in the Ketu South constituency have received food items from Hon Abla Dzifa Gomashie as her support to them during the Corona Virus scare. The Parliamentary Candidate for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) made the presentations during visits to some communities in the constituency. In the company of some constituency executives, she assured the beneficiaries that she understood the difficulties they currently face especially due to the closure of the Ghana-Togo Border. She also explained that she had made it a personal decision to support them and to encourage them while they stay safe at home. "Even though Ketu South is not under lockdown, the closure of the border is preventing you from going about your daily work, to feed your families, and we can all help you in our little ways," she said. Hon Dzifa Gomashie then used the opportunity to educate them on how to safeguard themselves against the COVID-19 disease. Mr. Ferguson Ahorlu, Organizer, and Dora Mikado, the Deputy Treasurer for the Party, who were part of the entourage, expressed their solidarity to the people too for coming out to meet the Parliamentary Candidate. By Francis Vorsah After winning their battle against COVID-19, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have donated their antibodies in hopes of creating a coronavirus "Hank-ccine." The two-time Oscar winner and his wife were the first Hollywood celebrities to test positive from the dreaded virus. Tom Hanks Donated Blood For "Hank-ccine" During his interview with NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, Hanks revealed that they have contributed their blood as part of a research study to design a vaccine that will cure COVID-19. "We have not only been approached; we have said, do you want our blood? Can we give plasma? And, in fact, we will be giving it now to the places that hope to work on what I would like to call the Hank-ccine," Tom shared. Moreover, the multi-talented actor mentioned that his wife experienced much worse symptoms than him. "We had all of the flu-like symptoms. My wife, Rita, was a little worse off than me. She had a very high temperature. And we were isolated so that we would not give it to anyone else," he revealed. Apart from the couple, Good Morning America anchor George Stephanopoulos -- who is also a COVID-19 survivor -- has "signed up for a clinical trial" to donate his blood plasma as part of the medical research. Rita Wilson Details "Extreme" Side Effects Of Controversial COVID-19 Drug It was previously reported that Wilson suffered from "extreme" side effects after they were given chloroquine as a treatment. In her post-coronavirus interview with Gayle King on CBS This Morning, the actress and producer mentioned about her "uncomfortable" experience after taking the controversial drug. "I was very tired. I felt extremely achy," Rita recalled. "Uncomfortable, didn't want to be touched and then the fever started. Chills like I've never had before. Looking back, I realize I was also losing my sense of taste and smell which I didn't realize at the time." Aside from this, the 63-year-old "The Story of Us" actress revealed that she went "completely nauseous" and experienced vertigo and weakened muscles during her chloroquine medication. Furthermore, she also urged the public to be "very considerate about this drug" as there are no claims that this will work. Last March 11, the couple took to Instagram to confirm that they have been diagnosed with the dreaded virus while in Australia for a production shoot of an Elvis Presley biopic. Both Hanks and Wilson underwent isolation and were briefly hospitalized before being released to continue their self-quarantine in an Australian residence. After more than two weeks, the pair announced that they have recovered from coronavirus and were back in their Los Angeles home -- but still observing home quarantine and social distancing. The Life-Changing Miracle Drug Currently, the anti-malaria drug is being utilized as COVID-19 treatment, but infectious disease experts and scientists around the world expressed concerns regarding the efficacy and safety of it. The controversial drug became popular after U.S President Donald Trump called this as a "game-changer" in the fight against the dreaded virus. The Bosch logo at the company's headquarters in Gerlingen near Stuttgart, Germany, on April 18, 2013. (Thomas Kienzle/AFP via Getty Images) Bosch Australia Granted $1 Million for Ventilator Testing Production of Australian-made medical equipment was given another boost April 21, when manufacturer Robert Bosch was awarded an AU$1 million ($632,000) contract to build testing equipment for 4,000 ventilators. Bosch Australia Manufacturing Solutions (BAMS) was granted $1 million from a consortium led by technology commercialization company Grey Innovation. BAMS, a German company with headquarters in Clayton, Victoria, has agreed to produce testing equipment needed for invasive ventilators. This consortium shows the strength and skill of the Australian manufacturing sector to be versatile and to work together. We are proud to contribute to the highly advanced manufacturing capability in Victoria, and particularly with this project, to help in the fight against COVID-19, said Bosch Australia president Gavin Smith in a statement. The notus Emergency Invasive Ventilator Program is a $31.3 million initiative speared by Grey Innovation supported by the Victorian Government and Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC). The order of 2,000 ventilators was made before Easter by Minister for Industry, Science, and Technology Karen Andrews to ensure Australia does not have a shortfall of life-saving equipment amid the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus spread. The program will see 2,000 ventilators go the federal stockpile, while the other 2,000 are earmarked for Victorian government purchase. It follows ResMeds delivery of over 3,000 ventilators on April 20. BAMS has been given a tight schedule to deliver the ventilator testing equipment, with the first units expected to dispatch in the first week of May. Of the 1,300 associates that work for Bosch Australia, a number of them have stepped forward to work on the project, promising to work extra shifts and weekends to make the deadlines, according to the statement. Victoria has the highest concentration of leading engineering and manufacturing companies in Australia, and as such, we are well placed to work together to build the notus emergency invasive ventilators as quickly as possible, Grey Innovation Executive Chair Jefferson Harcourt said. [April 22, 2020] DEADLINE ALERT: Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. Reminds Investors That a Class Action Lawsuit Has Been Filed Against Tupperware Brands Corporation and Encourages Investors to Contact the Firm Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C., a nationally recognized shareholder rights law firm, reminds investors that a class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on behalf of investors that purchased Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE: TUP) securities between January 30, 2019 and February 24, 2020 (the "Class Period"). Investors have until April 27, 2020 to apply to the Court to be appointed as lead plaintiff in the lawsuit. Click here to participate in the action. On February 24, 2020, Tupperware issued a press release reporting preliminary fiscal 2019 financial and operational results. Therein, the Company disclosed, among other things, that it was "conducting an investigation primarily into the accounting for accounts payable and accrued liabilities at its Fuller Mexico beauty business to determine the extent to which these matters may further impact results and to assess and enhance the effectiveness of internal controls at this business." The Company further disclosed that "total impairments for Fuller Mexico are expected to be approximately $31 million. The total pre-tax impact for 2019 is approximately $50-52 million." On this new, Tupperware's share price declined $2.61 per share, or over 46%, to close at $3.11 per share on February 25, 2020. The complaint, filed on February 25, 2020, alleges that throughout the Class Period defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Tupperware lacked effective internal controls; (2) as a result, Tupperware would need to investigate Fuller Mexico's accounting and liabilities; (3) consequently, Tupperware would be unable to timely file its annual report on Form 10-K for its fiscal year 2019; (4) Tupperware did not properly account for its accounts payable and accrued liabilities at Fuller Mexico; (5) Tupperware provided overvalued earnings per share guidance; (6) Tupperware would need relief from its $650 million Credit Agreement; and (7) as a result, defendants' statements about its business, operations, and prospects, were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times. If you purchased Tupperware securities during the Class Period, are a long-term stockholder, have information, would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Melissa Fortunato or Marion Passmore by email at [email protected], telephone at (212) 355-4648, or by filling out this contact form. There is no cost or obligation to you. About Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.: Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. is a nationally recognized law firm with offices in New York and California. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in commercial, securities, derivative, and other complex litigation in state and federal courts across the country. For more information about the firm, please visit www.bespc.com. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005748/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A plastic bag on the ground in Center City. Read more Philadelphias ban on single-use plastic bags will be delayed until January due to the coronavirus pandemic, Mayor Jim Kenney announced Wednesday. The ban, which Kenney signed into law in December and had been scheduled to take effect July 2, "is no longer realistic, he said at a news conference. The announcement came as welcome news to retailers but was met with confusion and disappointment from environmental groups and Councilmember Mark Squilla, who sponsored the legislation. Squilla questioned whether the administration had the power to change when the law, as passed by City Council, takes effect. But Kelly Cofrancisco, a Kenney administration spokesperson, said that the citys law department determined that implementation of bills can be delayed without additional legislative action. READ MORE: Philly Mayor Jim Kenney warns coronavirus could mean painful cuts to city budget and services Squilla said he understood if the administration could not focus on enforcing the ban during the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting budget crisis, but hoped customers would still try to remember to bring their own bags. The main goal is for folks to use the reusable bags, he said. The legislation will now go into effect Jan. 1, Kenney said. By February, all businesses must post signage informing customers about the ban. And enforcement will begin in April 2021. Jeff Brown, who owns six ShopRite and Fresh Grocer stores in Philadelphia and has publicly clashed with Kenney over the citys tax on soda and sweetened beverages, said the mayor was smart to delay the laws effective date. Im for making moves to improve litter in Philadelphia, said Brown, who did not oppose the legislation as it moved through City Council last year. Its just not feasible right now." In addition to other supply chain issues facing grocery stores during the coronavirus pandemic, Brown said that it is difficult for stores to obtain paper bags because so many cities and states have passed regulations on plastic. READ MORE: Philly City Council reaches compromise on plastic bag ban and regulations on bed bugs infestations Environmental groups, meanwhile, expressed disappointment over the delay. David Masur, executive director of Penn Environment, said he was caught off guard when he heard about it Wednesday morning. He said he expressed to the administration it was tone deaf to make such an announcement on Earth Day. After years of working with Squilla and other officials, environmental advocates, and business owners to regulate single-use plastic bags in the city, Masur said, he was disappointed to see the administration make a unilateral decision. FAQ: Your coronavirus questions, answered "I think this came up with very little input, Masur said, adding that it seemed excessive to delay the ban until January rather than simply reevaluate after a shorter time. READ MORE: Philadelphia is eyeing a ban on plastic bags. Heres how thats worked in other cities. The legislation passed in December will ban single-use plastic bags at retail establishments in the city. Retailers can still provide paper or other reusable bags to customers, but advocates and business owners have warned that it could cause increased prices in stores because paper bags are more expensive than plastic. Kenney, for his part, noted that this is not an announcement we want to make during Earth Week," and thanked both businesses and environmental advocates for cooperating with the change. We know the climate crisis and plastic pollution remain very serious threats to our planet and society, even during a global pandemic," Kenney said. Patricia Altschul from Southern Charm recently tweeted that she doesnt think opening her home state of South Carolina early is a great idea. Altschul has been sharing local newspaper stories about how Gov. Henry McMaster plans to reopen businesses in the state ahead of the April 30 shutdown order. She recently tweeted a story and captioned with, We are at the height of the curve, I believe its too soon. Certainly to bet on common sense to govern behavior. Patricia Altschul, Cameran Eubanks |Ralph Bavaro/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images South Carolina was late to asking residents to stay home. Cameran Eubanks sounded the alarm in early April. She was extremely frustrated McMaster didnt order residents to stay at home and took to Instagram to voice her concerns. McMaster finally asked residents to remain home, but now appears to be ready to reopen the state. Altschuls son Whitney Sudler-Smith knew the pandemic was going to be bad In March, Altschuls son Whitney Sudler-Smith was already expressing concern about the pandemic. He shared a video on Instagram where he is joking about his petri dish friends Austen Kroll and Craig Conover. But the video had some undertones of seriousness too. The video, shot five weeks ago was captioned, Practicing Social Distancing with @krollthewarriorking and @caconover If you have to see someone like I have, stay at worst 30 feet away. #staysafe. Kroll and Conover were seen only days earlier at a restaurant with Kathryn Dennis and Madison LeCroy. Kroll later shared that he was not only slammed for going out, but he also received death threats. Austen if he goes to the fish market in Wuhan, the bats will flee and panic. Hes a walking petri dish. Its true, Im not lying, Sudler-Smith said in his video. But added, They are keeping me company thankfully. Eubanks is also taking the pandemic extremely seriously Eubanks not only sounded the alarm about the lack of leadership in her state, but her pleas were also extremely impassioned. While Im on here let me say it again, let me scream it from the effing rooftops, she said in an early April Instagram story. Governor Henry McMaster, whats going on? What are we waiting for? We are one of I think seven states now left in the United States of America that have not issued a mandatory stay at home order, she added. Honestly, I get speechless when I think about it because its like all the common sense has just been thrown out the window. And for those that want to compare this to the flu, the CDC estimated that in 2018 2019 the flu killed approximately 34,200 Americans. The epidemiologist and scientists are predicting that the coronavirus is on track to kill 200,000 and they are saying that is an optimistic estimate, she continued. Some models show it in the millions. So for those people wanting to go to Lowes to get flowers to plant in their yard. Or youre bored at home and you wanna get out of the house and wanna go to Target or Walmart. You are literally helping kill other human beings. And does that sound extreme? Yes, it does. And I want it to sound extreme because its the mother-effing truth. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 12:14:13|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ABUJA, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria confirmed Tuesday night 117 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, the biggest single-day increase since the most populous African country reported the first case on Feb. 27. As of 11:25 p.m. Tuesday local time (2225 GMT), Nigeria has reported a total of 782 cases, the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) said, adding that it has seen 197 cases discharged from hospitals and 25 deaths across the country. So far the pandemic has spread to the capital city of Abuja and 24 states. Lagos, the country's economic hub, also the worst-hit state by COVID-19, recorded 59 news cases on Tuesday, bringing its total to 430. The Federal Capital Territory, where the capital Abuja is located, came second with 29 new cases on Tuesday and a total number of 118 cases. The disease could make its way to every state in Nigeria, NCDC Director-General Chikwe Ihekweazu has warned in a programme on local broadcast Channels TV. Since the outbreak in Nigeria, the government has stopped international and domestic passenger flights, closed all educational institutions and introduced a lockdown in Abuja, Lagos and Ogun states, among other measures, to curb the virus's spread. On April 13, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari announce the decision to extend the lockdown in the three states for two weeks, when several other states also adopted lockdown measures on their own. All airports will remain closed for two more weeks from Thursday as a result of the extension on lockdown, Nigerian Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika said Monday. Health authorities in Lagos have deployed sampling units for COVID-19 across the local government areas, where samples would be collected from civilians who meet the designated testing criteria. The strategy aims to expand COVID-19 testing at the community level, said Lagos State Commissioner for Health Akin Abayomi in a statement on Monday. Enditem Geri Costello certainly hopes it doesn't happen, but she has to be prepared if it does. Costello, a licensed embalmer with the West Prince Funeral Home in Palmer Road, said she's concerned about being on the front line of COVID-19. "I'm sure I can speak for anybody that is working as an essential worker right now, I'm concerned. There is always that potential of becoming infected and the risk of bringing that home to your family and loved ones," said Costello, who has been working with funeral homes for nearly 20 years. "But I'm confident in the measures that we have in place. I'm confident in the extra precautions we're taking at work to protect ourselves and I'm confident in how I'm preparing myself to leave work and go home. I feel that we're safe." 'You are helping a family's loved one' The province released projections last week that showed even with strict control measures now in place, P.E.I. could see 120 hospitalizations and nine deaths by June 1 as a result of COVID-19. Kzenon/Shutterstock With less strict control measures, those numbers jump to 14,000 hospitalizations and 900 deaths by June 1. David Ferguson, president of the P.E.I. Funeral Directors and Embalmers Association, said funeral homes are prepared and trained to deal with COVID-19 deaths should they happen on the Island. "If you have the proper guidelines and the proper training, you can use best practices and you can deal with it because you are helping a family's loved one," said Ferguson. "We'd be naive to think that a person wouldn't be a little concerned dealing with the virus." Last week, the Chief Public Health Office issued a statement to funeral homes urging them to take universal precautions when dealing with deceased, even if the person is not known to have COVID-19. Funeral home staff normally wear business attire when picking up a body. But all that has changed. By taking universal precautions, funeral home staff now have to wear protective gear, including gloves and masks, when picking up a body. Story continues 'Not touching the body' Funeral homes have also incorporated the question "Is this death related to COVID-19?" into their first conversation with the institution where the individual died. If the answer is yes, funeral home staff will wear full personal-protective equipment when picking up a body. David Ferguson During the embalming process, funeral homes are taking even greater measures if the person had COVID-19. Costello said typically, standard embalming procedures call for regular protective equipment such as masks, disposable aprons, and gloves. If the person died of COVID-19, they would also wear impermeable gowns, boot covers, N-95 respirator masks, double gloves, hair nets and face shields on top of standard personal-protective equipment, she said. According to the province, funeral homes already have specific procedures and policies in place for working with people who have died of communicable diseases, which will be followed in the event of a death related to COVID-19. Ferguson said each funeral home has a limited amount of personal-protective equipment and can borrow from other funeral homes, if necessary. The province said if additional equipment is needed it can also supply funeral homes through the Island's central distribution and allocation centre. The Chief Public Health Office said, "guidance suggests not touching the body of the deceased," who died of COVID-19 to ensure the virus is not transferred to the loved one. This applies both at the time of death as well as the wake or funeral. The province does say embalming or cremation is still possible if somebody dies of COVID-19. 'Things are going to have to change' Zain Esseghaier, a spokesperson for the Muslim Society of Prince Edward Island, said COVID-19 will dramatically change the rituals should somebody die of the coronavirus from his community. Zoom "Normally, in the Islamic tradition when somebody passes away we have to wash the body and shroud the body and then perform funeral prayer where people stand shoulder-to-shoulder," he said. "With COVID-19, all those standard things are going to have to change." Esseghaier said the guidance from religious leaders in other jurisdictions is that the body will no longer be washed and prayers will now be said from home to maintain physical distancing. In addition to practising physical distancing and increased handwashing and sanitizing, a public health order issued on March 31 restricts all funerals and wakes, no matter what religious denomination, to no more than five people. Costello said they are doing everything they can to support grieving families with the restrictions that have been put in place. "It's compounding grief for the families," said Costello. "They're unable to have that physical support and comfort that they often receive from their friends, family and community. That helps them in the grieving process." COVID-19: What you need to know What are the symptoms of COVID-19? Common symptoms include: Fever. Cough. Tiredness. But more serious symptoms can develop, including difficulty breathing and pneumonia, which can lead to death. Health Canada has built a self-assessment tool. What should I do if I feel sick? Isolate yourself and call 811. Do not visit an emergency room or urgent care centre to get tested. A health professional at 811 will give you advice and instructions. How can I protect myself? Wash your hands frequently and thoroughly. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. Clean regularly touched surfaces regularly. More detailed information on the outbreak is available on the federal government's website. More COVID-19 stories from CBC P.E.I. The announcement by credit rating agencies Standard & Poors (S&P) and Moodys of maintaining Egypts outlook at stable, keeping their ratings unchanged, could not have come at a more opportune time. As Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait said earlier this week, the credit rating reflects the confidence of international institutions and credit rating firms in Egypts ability to deal adequately with the Covid-19 crisis. It goes to show, like the minister said, that the economic, monetary and fiscal reforms adopted since November 2016 helped strengthen the economy to cope with internal and external shocks. Economists agree: if it had not been for the role of reforms in stabilising the economy, things could have been much worse. All indices are looking good. Unemployment fell to 7.5 per cent, its lowest level in 30 years, in the second quarter of 2019 compared with 13 per cent six years ago. Foreign reserves recorded more than $45 billion compared to $17 billion three years ago. The countrys budget deficit came in at 8.2 per cent of GDP for fiscal year 2018-19, compared to 10.9 per cent in 2016-17 and 12.5 per cent the previous year. Egypt welcomed 13.1 million tourist arrivals in 2019, and revenues from the sector grew to $13.3 billion, compared to $11.6 billion in 2018. According to the minister of tourism and antiquities, the number of tourists who visited Egypt in January and February this year was the highest in the history of tourism in Egypt. This indicated that 2020 would have been very promising for the countrys tourism industry. The devastating effect of the global lockdown and social distancing measures could have far reaching repercussions on the economy. Remittances, which represent 10 per cent of GDP, are expected to be affected by the drop in oil prices and employee dismissals. Tourism, which makes up five per cent of GDP, has ground to a halt. And the slowdown in global trade will reflect on Suez Canal revenues. But although the government is aware that the virus is a threat to gains made throughout the past three years, it is not dwelling and is acting proactively to contain its effects. The rolling out of measures to help those most affected and easing the burden on industries are part of a comprehensive stimulus package to boost the economy in times of crisis. S&P, which has affirmed its B/B long- and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings for Egypt, said the stable outlook reflects its expectation that the fall in Egypts GDP growth will be temporary, and the rise in external and fiscal imbalances will remain contained. It also said it expected external and government debt metrics to gradually decline from 2022. Moodys has kept Egypts credit rating at B2 with a stable outlook. It said that ongoing fiscal and economic reforms will support gradual but steady improvement in Egypts fiscal metrics and raise real GDP growth. The ratings are reassuring to investors, especially at a time when growth forecasts are being slashed. The International Monetary Fund has calculated a two per cent GDP growth in fiscal year 2020 and only a slightly higher 2.8 per cent for the following year. And despite these forecasts being a far cry from the 5.6 per cent expected in the current fiscal year, Egypt remains much better off than the negative forecasts for most of the Middle East and North Africa oil importers, as per IMF figures. While the exact impact will depend on the duration of the crisis and when the virus can be contained, the government is doing the right thing in prioritising human life, regardless of the cost. As the IMF said in its April 2020 Regional Economic Outlook report, In the current circumstances, the immediate priority should indeed be to save lives, protect the most vulnerable and safeguard critical economic sectors, including through outright support to the financial sector, as needed. Fiscal policy should accommodate urgent spending needs, particularly to support emergency services and enhance healthcare infrastructures. *A version of this article appears in print in the 23 April, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: New Delhi: In an attempt to continue its anti-India propaganda on social media platforms, a Pakistani Twitter account changed its handle name to pose as Omani princess and tweeted anti-India material. Interestingly, several old tweets have been dug out from the same account, which has been deleted now, and it clearly shows Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) is behind the account. An increase in a number of Pakistani accounts changing the name to Arabic names or after names of Arabic royalty has been seen. But this Pakistani handle, @pak_fauj, changed its name to Omani Royalty Mona bint Fahd al Said, @SayyidaMona. Reacting to this, the Omani Princess issued a statement saying, "Friends, First of all, I thank you for your concern to verify the offensive post published through an account impersonating me, which you are sure that I have no connection with it. With full trust in all of you in strengthening awareness among all regarding such activities, which are not acceptable to the Omani society, I confirm again that my presence in social media is restricted on the following accounts: @hhmonaalsaid and @MonaFahad 13." Indian envoy to Oman, Munu Mahawar, thanked the Omani princes for clarification. In a tweet he said, "I thank HH @MonaFahad13 for clarification on fake social media posts attributed to her" and India values its "friendly relations with Oman and will continue working closely with the Government and people of Oman to further strengthen our special relationship." Twitter gives the option of changing one's Twitter name, username and description but its history is not managed publicly. The handle of the Pakistani Army took full advantage of its changed profile identity to show it as the profile of Omani Princess. This was followed by an anti-India tweet on ties between India and the Gulf which was retweeted by many including Pakistani media persons. To save itself from being reported and get blocked by Twitter, the account had 'parody' mentioned in its bio, something not noticed by many. Incidentally, Twitter doesn't block parody accounts. The name of the account was changed recently so this username is present in the Twitter cache. A since a simple search of @pak_fauj will lead to u the parody account @SayyidaMona. Also, many old tweets by the account were not deleted, perhaps to show it is an old account. The unique Twitter ID of @SayyidaMona is 2870592601 which cannot be modified or transferred. The links from a deleted tweet in Google searches shows a number of Pakistan Army links. PAKISTANI FOREIGN MINISTER QUOTES NON-EXISTENT OMAN STATEMENT This case of Pakistani accounts changing the name has not been the only case. A number of Pakistani accounts have been seen trying to change names into Arabic sounding names and tweet anti-India material. While this is happening, Pakistani Foreign Minister SM Qureshi was seen fishing in troubled waters. Highlighting the huge Indian diaspora in Gulf, he said, "Gulf..for example, Oman has said Indians working in the country should leave". No such thing has been said by the Oman govt and it seems he was referring to a fake tweet which was attributed to Omani princess. He also said, he will write to Gulf foreign ministers and ask them to reset ties with India over the situation of Muslims in the country, something that will not find many takers in the region. A multi-millionaire fashion mogul acquaintance of Prince Andrew has been accused by more women of sexual assault, including one who claims she was just 14. Peter Nygard is facing allegations from 46 alleged victims that he abused them at alcohol and drug-fuelled 'pamper parties'. The original lawsuit of 10 accusers was filed against the 78-year-old Canadian in February, when FBI raided his Manhattan office. But the number of women has now swelled to 46, according to New York court papers which names his sprawling Bahamas mansion as the scene of many suspected sex attacks. Prince Andrew, his then wife Sarah Ferguson and their two children Eugenie and Beatrice visited Nygard's exclusive Caribbean bolthole around 20 years ago. It is claimed the Duke of York, who was holidaying at a separate house, spent less than two hours at the property after being invited by Nygard to tour the grounds. The embattled Duke quit royal duties last year following a car-crash television interview about his dead paedophile financier friend, Jeffrey Epstein. Peter Nygard is facing allegations from 46 alleged victims that he abused them at alcohol and drug-fuelled 'pamper parties' Nygard with Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice and Prince Andrew's ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson The embattled Duke of York (pictured in January) quit royal duties last year following a car-crash television interview about his dead paedophile financier friend, Jeffrey Epstein Like Epstein, Nygard is accused of preying on 'young, impressionable, and often impoverished children and women', which he lured to his luxury properties on the promise of kick-starting their modeling careers. One of the 46 women, an employee of the clothing tycoon from 2014, claimed 'he repeatedly raped her and forced her to defecate on him,' according to the lawsuit. Another, Mary Jean Sassoon, who has waived her anonymity in an interview with the Miami Herald, recalled her terrifying encounter with Nygard. The 67-year-old claimed that, after their children became firm friends in 1997, the fashion mogul invited her family to his compound on Lyford Cay, Bahamas, for New Year's Eve. The mother, who was then in her 40s, said one night Nygard suddenly brought her to her knees and pushed her head down, ordering her to give him oral sex. Sassoon told the newspaper she screamed and fled, but never told the authorities until recently upon seeing a news story about the original suit from the 10 women. Prince Andrew with Peter Nygard on Nygard's Caribbean island around 20 years ago. It is maintained the Duke, who was staying in a separate house, spent less than two hours at the property after being invited by Nygard to tour the grounds One of the new women is British and claims she was drugged at the tycoon's California home. It also includes 17 Canadian women, three who claim to have been under 16, including one who said she was 14. The lawsuit portrays Nygard as a predator who would entertain girls at so-called 'pamper parties' where he would have bartenders spike their drinks with the date-rape drug Rohypnol. Nygard allegedly kept a database with details about each guest, which he would consult before picking a 'victim' to target at the weekly parties. Nygard's empire is built on sportswear. His leggings are sold in stores that bear his name and also in Dillard's. He is worth an estimated $750million. Nygard's spokesman, Ken Frydman, said in a statement his client 'vehemently denies these baseless allegations and looks forward to clearing his name and the names of others who have been so recklessly and falsely accused'. Buckingham Palace did not wish to comment. Subscriber content preview IDAHO FALLS, Idaho Fluor Marine Propulsion awarded a $245 million subcontract to Granite Construction for concrete placement at the $1.65 billion Naval Spent Fuel Handling Facility project near Idaho Falls, Idaho. Granite's job will include backfilling the excavation site from bedrock up to the elevation that will support superstructure foundations. Backfill will include about 10 million pounds of rebar and 300,000 cubic yards of concrete. . . . Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday said that Union home minister Amit Shah had acceded to their request for evacuation of Sikh pilgrims stranded at the Gurdwara Hazur Sahib in Nanded. Referring to his conversation with Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, Amarinder said he had directed the states chief secretary to tie up the logistics for their evacuation. Just received a call from MH CM @officeofUT who confirmed that HM @AmitShah has conceded to our request for travel of our pilgrims stuck in Hazur Sahib, Nanded to Punjab. Have asked Chief Secretary to tie up logistics & we will bear the cost of transportation (sic), he tweeted. Over 2,000 pilgrims from Punjab had reportedly gone to pay obeisance at Gurdwara Hazur Sahib before the Covid-19 national lockdown was announced on March 24. On Tuesday, Amarinder had urged the Union home minister to allow the stranded pilgrims to return home by bus. Harsimrat thanks Shah Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Wednesday thanked home minister Amit Shah for speaking to Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray for the evacuation of the Sikh devotees stranded in Nanded. The Bathinda MP also asked the Punjab government to give permission to buses in which devotees were being brought to the state from Maharashtra. Came to Delhi to meet HM @AmitShah ji & thank him for speaking to Maharashtra CM today to fast track repatriation of Sikh devotees stranded at Hazur Sahib. Now request Pb govt to give permission to buses arranged by SAD since 3 days to bring them back home at earliest (sic), tweeted Harsimrat. The Wine Society launches "World's first Austrian En Primeur offer" The Wine Society is launching the worlds first Austrian en primeur offer with two white wines from the historic Schloss Gobelsburg. The online retailer said it has worked with the estate for years and it has now been given exclusive access to select these wines: a gruner veltliner and a riesling from two prime sites in Austria. It is now able to offer them to its members to reserve before they go on to the market. The Societys buyer for Austria, Freddy Bulmer, said: 2019 was arguably the best Austrian vintage for a decade, so it is a pleasure to be able to give members access to these wines before anyone else. The grapes were treated to perfect ripening conditions, and the wines have wonderful concentration, freshness and structure. Both of these wines will be perfect for drinking in the first couple of years from release, or for leaving and enjoying after seven or eight years. They will start off as focused, taut, high-wire wines, then developing a little puppy fat and cocooning before eventually opening up into delicate yet powerful butterflies which will be around for the long term. Schloss Gobelsberg is in the Kamptal region and it has a history dating back to 1740. The Schloss Gobelsberg Riesling, Ried Helligenstein 1OTW 2019 is described as a very special riesling. The company said: This is a superb example of what this grape variety can achieve in the Austrian climate, with a wondrous savoury, pepper-and-spice nose, backed up by hints of lemon and peach. The bone-dry palate shows impressive structure and focus. This will age beautifully. It suggests drinking the wine from late 2020 to 2031, and it is priced 110 IBD per six bottle case. Schloss Gobelsburg Gruner Veltliner, Ried Lamm 1OTW 2019, comes from the Lamm single vineyard. The Wine Society said Lamm produces full, generous and ethereal wines which are regularly considered to be the best of the best. It is described as balancing racy acidity, citrus fruit, notes of quince and a uniquely savoury flint and biscuit character. This is a complex wine which best drunk either in its first few years or after ten. A truly archetypal gruner which boasts complexity, longevity and depth. Drink from 2021 to 2034. The wine is priced at 120 IBD per 6 bottle case This offer closes on May 12, with delivery of the wines in Autumn 2020. The Wine Society said it will be revealing more unique en primeur offerings over the coming weeks. Related articles: As we face the new reality of closed businesses, work and school from home, and social distancing, a slogan of togetherness is the new cry in Alabama. But are we truly all together or are we living in two completely different worlds within this state? If youre unsure of the answer to this question, come with me on a quick trip through the Black Belt of Alabama. Alabamas Black Belt, originally named such for its rich, dark topsoil, is also aptly named for its predominant African-American population. The nations Black Belt, spanning from Texas to Virginia, traditionally is home to the richest soil and the poorest people in the United States. This is certainly true of the counties comprising Alabamas Black Belt, as they are among the poorest areas in the nation. Moreover, these majority African-American counties have the highest incidences of poverty, worst education rankings, fewest medical providers and poorest health outcomes in the state. If you were to have a medical emergency, is there a hospital in your Alabama community? In Pickens County, the answer to this question is now a solemn no. Until March of this year, the 20,000 plus residents of Pickens County experienced a conveniently-located 56-bed hospital with Emergency Department, telemedicine services, imaging, and the capability to transfer high acuity patients quickly to larger receiving hospitals. Now, Pickens joins Lowndes, Macon, and Perry Counties as Black Belt Counties with no hospitals. If you or your neighbor were pregnant and happened to go into unplanned labor, would you be able to get to a hospital with an obstetrical unit in a reasonable amount of time? Aside from Montgomery, traditionally a Black Belt County, only Dallas County in the Black Belt provides labor and delivery services. The number of hospitals in the Black Belt providing obstetrical care has drastically decreased in the last 40 years, forcing expectant, and sometimes laboring, women to travel up to 80 miles to get to the closest hospital to deliver. This lack of access is certainly a contributing factor to the increased rates of infant and maternal mortality seen in Black Belt Alabama, compared to other parts of the state. The shortages of hospitals, physicians and clinics in the Black Belt leaves this area with rates of obesity, diabetes, and hypertension that are unmatched within the state and the country. In Wilcox County, for example, the life expectancy is 9 years lower than that for the nation. As an Alabamian, do you enjoy the convenience of grocery stores just a short walk or car-ride from your home? Travel with me to the Black Belts Perry County. This county has a 69.5 percent Black population with a median household income of just over $23,000. Uniontown, in Perry County, has a population of 2,260 people. For these residents, there is no grocery store in their town. In 2018, Piggly Wiggly, which had provided fresh meat, produce, and packaged foods in the town for decades, closed its doors permanently, leaving citizens of Uniontown to travel to neighboring towns and counties for groceries and necessary items. During this time of working and learning from home, do you take a second thought to having the technology capacity to achieve your tasks? In Black Belt Greene County, only 55 percent of households reported having a computer in the household and only 46 percent reported having a broadband Internet subscription. Now, more than ever, we realize the need for technology capabilities in homes and recognize the importance of parents being able to teach their children from home. In Greene County, 75% of persons age 25 and older reported having a high school education and only 10% of citizens reported having a Bachelors degree or higher. Access to, and improvement of, education must be a priority in the Black Belt in order to make long-term changes. Currently, there is a task force convened with the goal to reopen Alabama. I present the Black Belt, which has been closed for business for decades. Not only are there few employment opportunities in these counties but lack of personal and public transportation also makes it difficult for some residents to travel outside of these counties for work. Business and corporations arent attracted to communities with poor access to healthcare, fresh foods, and technology. And where there are no businesses and corporations, there are no jobs. So, we find places like Bullock County, also in the Black Belt, were 42.5% of citizens live at or below the poverty level. Before we can truly be all together, we must have meaningful and effective changes in the Black Belt. The current COVID-19 pandemic has brought national attention to the healthcare disparities faced by African-Americans in this country, making them more likely to succumb to this disease. But these healthcare, economic and technological inequalities are not new to the Black Belt. We must advocate for the adjustments needed to reduce these inequalities and for policies that positively impact the social determinants of health in these communities. So that we can one day say, truthfully, that we are ALtogether Alabama. Brittney Anderson, MD Family Medicine Physician in Marengo County, Alabama. OTTAWA (dpa-AFX) - Sportswear company Lululemon apologized after an employee promoted a T-shirt design that created an outrage in China for its reference to the origin of coronavirus, multiple reports said. The design, which showed a Chinese takeaway box of 'bat fried rice' with images of chopsticks and bat wings, was created by California-based artist Jess Sluder, while Lululemon's art director Trevor Fleming posted a picture of the design on Instagram. Even though Instagram is not available in China, the image reached the Chinese social media platform Weibo, reaching millions there with the hashtag 'Lululemon insults China.' Many of them demanded a boycott of the brand. The design was seen with a racist reference to coronavirus, which was first identified in the Chinese city of Wuhan last year, and thought to have originated in bats. Following the incident, Lululemon said the design was 'inappropriate and inexcusable,' and that it has dismissed the employee. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. By Kim Ae-ran I remember a smiling Sr. Helena who liked to share chocolate whenever there were some occasions to meet together in Rome. She looked most fragile but still participated in singing together with the community. Sr. Helena Sun-ki Park who was born in 1951 in Busan and lived the missionary life in Italy for 40 years passed away on a beautiful spring day on April 6, 2020, at the age of 70 in the midst of widespread pandemic in the world. According to her novitiate colleague, she was a bit shy but she liked to make others happy with warm-hearted love, wit, and playful words. Her cheerful expressions, pleasant attitudes, and good mentality made others feel comfortable. She used to collect and save various things to share with others as a gift when the feast day of sisters approached. Above all, she prayed hard and practiced her devotion well. She was willing to decorate the hallway or bulletin board. When she practiced dancing to celebrate various events like the first profession or the perpetual profession, she joined actively and guided her companions to do hand gestures flexibly. She didn't learn music professionally but she could memorize a melody quickly and sang along beautifully. She was very considerate of those who were sick and ran to the nurse to take medicine and care for them. She always stayed until the end to cover her shoulder with a blanket to protect others from the cold weather when they went to bed on a cold winter night. In this way, she practiced sincere warm-heartedness in taking care of others. In fact, she wasn't healthy at all and she was very particular with some food like rabbit meat. Nevertheless, she made efforts to be patient and adjust herself to the rules of being grateful and taking all the food that the convent gave. She entered the Congregation in 1974 and made her first profession on Jan. 25, 1979. In 1981, still as a junior, she accepted the invitation to serve in the Queen of Apostles Hospital run by the Daughters of St. Paul in Albano. Together with another Korean sister, she finished her nursing studies in Rome and served in the hospital. Whenever she came to Korea on her vacation, she never lost her kind and attentive heart, bringing even the smallest gifts like a rosary, small holy articles, the cross, the holy image, chocolate, etc. for the community. She loved the Queen of Apostles hospital so much that she didn't come to Korea often. Her mindset also began to resemble that of an Italian. Unhappily, an abnormality began to occur in her body. Due to poor circulation, her hands became cold like ice, and the color of her fingertips changed. Even though her body became weaker and weaker, she never resigned from serving as a nurse. Also as a community choir leader, she didn't lose the joy of teaching the hymns and serving for the liturgy. As a music teacher who played the organ enthusiastically and taught the hymns for the many elder sisters of the Albano community, she gave her whole being up to her last strength. She had such an indomitable inner power. May eternal peace rest upon her! The author is a member of the Daughters of St. Paul (Figlie di San Paolo) living and giving the Good News to the world by means of social communication. Learn more about the congregation at fsp.pauline.or.kr. These are very exciting times for me. It is not every day that weas basic scientistsget to transform our discoveries in into actual applications that can directly help people. Partnering with VIC for this venture seemed like a very natural fit. - Professor Ulli Bayer, CSO, Neurexis VIC Technology Venture Development, LLC (VIC) announced today the formation of Neurexis Therapeutics, Inc. to develop a new medication for the prevention of brain damage following ischemic events such as stroke. Licensed from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, this drug has the potential to significantly improve clinical outcomes for stroke patients and reduce total healthcare costs. Cerebral ischemia is the loss of blood flow to the brain and can be caused by stroke, cardiac arrest, sickle cell anemia, congenital heart defects, high-risk vascular surgery, coronary disease, and other issues. While restoring blood flow to the brain is imperative, the re-establishment of blood flow triggers a cascade of inflammatory events. This results in extensive nerve cell death and significant cognitive and functional impairment. Strokes cost the United States an estimated $34B each year and greatly reduce the quality of life for many patients. Professor Ulli Bayer at the University of Colorado has spent the last decade searching for a solution to this critical healthcare problem. As a result of these efforts, he and his team have developed an optimized drug called tatCN19o, which dramatically reduces both the cognitive and behavioral problems that result from loss of blood flow to the brain. During our assessment of the tatCN19o technology, we were impressed by the significant amount of proof-of-concept data already in place, as well as the substantial unmet medical need for a potent neuroprotective option across multiple large disease areas, stated Dr. Michael Artinger, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of VIC, who will serve as the interim CEO of Neurexis Therapeutics. We are delighted to be able to provide the formational funding for Neurexis to accelerate the clinical development of this promising therapeutic candidate. According to Professor Ulli Bayer, who will serve as the Chief Scientific Officer for Neurexis, These are very exciting times for me. It is not every day that weas basic scientistsget to transform our discoveries in into actual applications that can directly help people. Partnering with VIC for this venture seemed like a very natural fit. We are excited to work with VIC to advance Dr. Bayers research, said Kimberly Muller, Managing Director of CU Innovations. VIC provides early-stage, life science-focused capital and operational expertise, and is an essential partner for moving university research towards product opportunity. About Neurexis Therapeutics, Inc. Stroke and cardiac arrest affect millions of patients each year. Re-establishment of blood flow to the brainalthough life-savingdoes not address the substantial impact on quality of life and healthcare costs associated with the resulting neuronal death and cognitive impairment. There are no FDA-approved drugs for this indication, resulting in a tremendous unmet medical need for a product such as tatCN19o that significantly reduces brain damage from stroke. To learn more, visit http://www.neurexistherapeutics.com. About VIC Technology Venture Development, LLC VIC Technology Venture Development, LLC is a technology venture development firm that creates innovative new companies with world-changing science- and engineering-based technologies. VIC carefully selects and licenses technologies from universities and research institutions around the world, then partners technology entrepreneurs with VICs team of business and technology experts and allocates seed capital through the national VIC Investor Network. VIC provides its portfolio companies with senior management expertise, extensive knowledge of technology startups, and proven processes to execute business strategies, including legal, financial, operations, marketing, capital acquisition, and technology management. For more information, please visit http://www.victech.com. About the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus is a world-class medical destination at the forefront of transformative science, medicine, education, and patient care. The campus encompasses the University of Colorado health professional schools, more than 60 centers and institutes, and two nationally ranked hospitals that treat more than 2 million adult and pediatric patients each year. Innovative, interconnected and highly collaborative, the campus delivers life-changing treatments, patient care, professional training, and conduct world-renowned research powered by more than $550 million in research awards. For more information, visit http://www.cuanschutz.edu. About CU Innovations CU Innovations is a leading biomedical hub for industry partners, entrepreneurs, and investors to partner with CU Researchers creating breakthrough technologies. With expertise in patents, copyrights, and licensing, CU Innovations translates scientific discovery into life-changing technology through world-class intellectual property management services. To accelerate the pace of commercialization, CU Innovations provides access to funding programs, business mentorship, and industry expertise for researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. For more information, visit http://www.cuanschutz.edu/cu-innovations. Open source The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) exposed the head of the budget committee of one of the village councils of the Dnipropetrovsk region, involved in the dissemination of separatist materials via the Internet. The SBU press service reports. According to the SBU, the lawmaker of the village council, who is also the head of the local public formation, popularized on its pages in social networks, including those banned in our country, the separatist organizations Luhansk People Republic and the Donetsk People Republic. He also disseminated false information that discredits Ukrainian military units and law enforcement agencies, in particular, participants in the operation of the Joint Forces. "For conducting illegal activities, the agitator used materials from propaganda sites of Russia and illegal armed groups," the SBU said in a statement. Security service operatives found that his circle of "friends" from the Internet environment included users who were related to the Russian special services and militant groups. In turn, law enforcement authorities conducted searches at the place of residence of the defendant, where they found computer equipment with information confirming the illegal activity. The seized materials and equipment were sent for examination. As we reported before, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) liquidated laboratories for the production of psychotropic substances in the Kyiv region, organized by a professor of chemistry. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (NYSE:FCAU) said on Tuesday that it has borrowed 6.25 billion euros ($6.8 billion) from a revolving line of credit in an effort to buffer its cash reserves while many of its factories remain closed amid the coronavirus pandemic. The funds borrowed from the revolving credit facility are in addition to the 1.5 billion euros that FCA began drawing from other credit lines in March. The outbreak of COVID-19 has clobbered auto sales and auto manufacturing around the world. Most of the world's auto factories have been forced to idle for weeks in response to social-distancing measures imposed to try to slow the spread of the virus. While some factories in China have managed to reopen, most others remain closed -- with uncertain timelines for restarting production. That uncertainty has led other automakers, including both of FCA's traditional Detroit-area rivals, to draw down pre-existing lines of credit -- and in some cases, to seek additional funding -- to ensure that they have sufficient cash to weather the costly shutdown period. Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) drew down $15.4 billion from its lines of credit in March, and last week issued new bonds to raise an additional $8 billion. General Motors (NYSE:GM) also drew down its credit lines last month, adding about $16 billion to its cash hoard, and set up a new $2 billion revolving-credit line for its financial-services subsidiary. It's not clear how much cash FCA has on hand as of right now. As of the end of 2019, FCA had 15.5 billion euros in cash, and an additional 7.6 billion euros in undrawn lines of credit. It has since drawn down all of those credit lines. FCA said in early April that it had finalized an agreement with two banks to establish a new 3.5-billion-euro revolving-credit facility; that line remains undrawn. The charges membership in a terrorist group were unfounded, her daughter said, and appeared based on the testimony of witnesses whose identities have not been revealed by prosecutors. The courts also seemed to indicate that Altan and her confederates were not much of a threat: Other members of her organization who were arrested at the same time have since been released from custody as their trials continue. Amiya Meethal By Express News Service KOZHIKODE: Dhouha Hafsi, a 34-year-old Tunisian national, had been feeling quite desperate after the nationwide Covid lockdown kicked in on March 24. The reason: Her visa was scheduled to expire on April 5. A rattled Hafsi, here on a three-month visit to practise yoga and do a course in Ayurveda, got in touch with the Tunisian mission in New Delhi. Around the same time, fellow Tunisian Hassine, factory manager of Tunisia-based Al Badr Seafoods, had been stuck in Kochi since all the flights were grounded. Along with his Tunisian colleagues Nader Bel Hadj and Farid Laroussi, he frantically called up the Tunisian embassy in New Delhi. It was then that Tunisias envoy to India Nejmeddine Lakhal decided to form a WhatsApp group of Tunisian nationals trapped in the country. The formation of the group in late March proved to be a major relief to 35 Tunisians, including the four in Kerala, trapped in India. I contacted the ambassador personally to know the procedure for visa extension. I was confused at the turn of events. But the ambassador managed to dispel all doubts and provided help. My visa got extended, said Hafsi, a translator and neurolinguistic programming trainer. WhatsApp group Soon, the group became a merry confluence of Tunisians in the country, with members posting photos/videos of Tunisian food they cook, share jokes as well as news of relatives and family members back home. The members include a pilot, students and those attending training courses and internships, people who came on a tourist visa and persons enrolled for ayurveda courses. A camaraderie soon developed which is of crucial importance during a lockdown. The embassy was extremely supportive and helped lift our spirits. Continuous lockdown meant mental fatigue as well. There is much concern over flying back to Tunisia. But the embassy rose to the occasion and made us feel at home. I got introduced to many Tunisians through the group, said Hassine, 52, who came to Kochi six years ago. Nader, 30, is the assistant production manager of the company and Farid, 62, is the production manager. Keeping spirits high Nejmeddine Lakhal, Tunisias envoy to India, told TNIE that he took the initiative to form the WhatsApp group to stay in touch with Tunisian citizens on a daily basis. We respond to their grievances and enquiries, update them on measures taken by Indian authorities and on any travel plans to Tunisia. The ultimate aim is to keep their spirits high in these testing times, Lakhal said. The ambassador profusely thanked Indian authorities for facilitating the extension of visa of stranded Tunisian nationals. Now, all of them are keeping their fingers crossed on flying back home. From Mecca and Jerusalem to London and New York, Muslim scholars across the world have called on people to stay home and stay safe this Ramadan, keeping mosques closed and congregational prayers on hold to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Muslims observe Ramadan by fasting during daylight hours, but also essential to this holy month are gatherings to share meals and take part in communal prayers, known as tarawih, or night prayers. Congregational prayers are a big part of the lives of many Muslims generally, but even more so during Ramadan with tarawih prayers held daily at many mosques across the country, said Harun Khan, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB). But because of the pandemic, mosques worldwide have for weeks taken a series of measures to curb its spread by closing their doors and banning congregations for Friday sermons and the five daily prayers. As the global death toll from COVID-19 exceeded 170,000 and infections reached 2.5 million cases just days before the start of the holy month, Muslim scholars have reiterated the need to prioritise safety and protection over the need for spiritual and community connection, by avoiding public congregational prayers during Ramadan this year. Tarawih from home Saud Arabia announced last week the two holy mosques in Mecca and Medina would remain closed throughout Ramadan, saying tarawih prayers would be held without public attendance. Similarly, Jerusalems Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, Islams third holiest site, announced its doors would remain shut to worshippers throughout the fasting month. The decision was in line with legal fatwas [Islamic rulings] and medical advice, Jerusalems Islamic Waqf, the Jordan-appointed council that oversees the site, said in a statement. 200406112601868 The announcements reflected the general consensus among Muslim scholars and authorities across the world on guidelines they agreed to follow, according to Amanullah De Sondy, a senior lecturer in contemporary Islam at University College of Cork. The general consensus [among Muslim authorities] is that prayer should be done at home, De Sondy told Al Jazeera, adding such a decision was evident from when Friday prayers were stopped weeks ago. Explaining that the Islamic tradition has always put the sacredness of life ahead of other considerations, maintaining peoples safety amid the coronavirus pandemic has been used as the key argument in taking this decision, said De Sondy. Most mosques whether in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Europe or the Americas have banned congregations on Friday and for the five daily prayers for weeks, using their speakers and the call to prayer to tell people to pray at home instead. Summing it up, Andrew Booso, an advisory board member at the UK-based Salam Institute, said scholarly authorities seem to have unanimously concurred on the continuing practice of tarawih prayers, albeit as a private practice at home, and not in mosques. Before the start of the holy month, Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made the same call in a televised speech: In the absence of public gatherings during Ramadan, such as prayers we should not neglect worship. We need to create humility and supplication in our families and in our rooms. Since praying tarawih at home might be a new experience for many Muslims, several scholars have issued guides on how to carry out the night ritual. Others, including Akram Nadawi, an internationally renowned Muslim scholar and dean of Cambridge Islamic College (CIC), issued a statement to reassure people who might be worried that praying tarawih from home would not be the same. A congregational prayer is valid if there are two or more doing the prayer in the same space, he wrote in a post on his Facebook page. Your praying at home is always valid and doing so is acceptable when compelling circumstances make attendance at a place of congregation impractical or [as in this time of pandemic] harmful to yourself or others. Despite this, there are exceptions to the rule, notably among Pakistani religious scholars who agreed with President Ariful Rahman Alvi on a 20-point action plan including no carpets, handshakes and a limited number of worshippers to allow for congregational prayers at mosques while adhering to certain requirements. Speaking at a news conference in Islamabad, Alvi said government and ulema, or scholarly, recommendations were collected before taking the decision. Virtual prayers? For several weeks since the start of the pandemic, many mosques have kept their communities engaged despite closing their doors through the use of livestreams to broadcast Friday sermons and weekly lectures and classes. While many mosques will continue to do so during Ramadan, most agreed that virtual tarawih prayers would not be held. This year, with mosques and Islamic centres remaining closed and social distancing measures in place, Ramadan will be observed online socially and spiritually, with virtual iftars, live-streamed lectures and Quran recitations, said MCBs Khan. However, given that almost all scholars agree congregational prayers cannot be held via the internet, Muslims who wish to pray in congregation, will be doing so in their own homes with those they live with, being led by one of the family members, he added. 200420074054279 According to Mansour Ali, a lecturer in Islamic studies at the University of Cardiff, while holding tarawih prayers online can allow people to feel part of a spiritual community during Ramadan, the majority of scholars deny the validity of any form of virtual congregational prayers, he told Al Jazeera. Referring to a list of reasons behind the opinion, Ali, who published a paper on the issue, said congregational prayers need to be held in the same physical space as the imam, or prayer leader. Nadawi agreed, adding worshippers should be able to see and hear the imam and follow his movements from within the same space. Still, a few mosques including the ones in the US, Ireland and South Africa, announced that tarawih prayers will be livestreamed online for members of their communities to follow. Stating that the permissibility of the matter involved a difference of opinion, the Islamic Centre of Ireland (ICI) issued a fatwa (legal ruling) in favour of holding online congregational tarawih and Friday prayers as long as the current situation remained in place. It [the fatwa] is only valid during the current pandemic in which mosques are closed and shall be immediately invalid once the mosques are open, the ICC said on its website. While reflecting a minority opinion, the fatwa reflects the centrality of communal prayers for Muslims, especially during the holy month. The debate on whether Friday prayers can be called juma prayers or not to online tarawih are fascinating, said De Sondy. They show that Muslims are finding ways to live out faith in any situation, he told Al Jazeera. These are unprecedented times. Letter to Italian ambassador, 'put pressure to free Zaky' Appeal by Amnesty International, university and city of Bologna (ANSAmed) - BOLOGNA, APRIL 22 - Amnesty International, the University of Bologna, and the City of Bologna wrote a letter to the Italian ambassador in Cairo, Giampaolo Cantini, calling on him to put pressure on the Egyptian government so that "Patrick Zaky is released for health reasons", ANSA has learned. Zaky is an Egyptian student at the University of Bologna and was arrested on February 7 in Egypt. In the letter, the organisations ask the ambassador to put pressure on the Egyptian government so that Zaky "is released as soon as possible or given at least the possibility to complete his pre-trial custody at home". The organisations said they were pushed to write the letter asking the ambassador to intervene "on the one hand by the trickle of convened and postponed hearings in the past five weeks, in a country where, among other things, judicial activity is more or less stopped due to the coronavirus pandemic" and "above all by the circumstance that Patrick Zaky is asthmatic, therefore at risk of infection more than others, and finds himself in an environment - an Egyptian prison - where the virus can spread more than in other places". In the letter to Ambassador Catini, the organisations highlighted how other countries in northern Africa have taken initiatives to relieve crowding in detention centres, and that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called on the Egyptian government at the start of April to implement a measure of this type.(ANSAmed). By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 21, 2020 | 06:34 PM | PADUCAH In a Tuesday Facebook post, Baptist Health announced their celebration of Mildred Emerson, a local woman who has recovered after being hospitalized for seventeen days due to COVID-19 related complications. Emerson is now celebrating at home with her family. Officials with Baptist Health shared their appreciation for the healthcare heroes that took care of Emerson, and all of their patients during the pandemic. You can see a video of the celebration below. A local woman is celebrating after returning home from 17 days of treatment for COVID-19. Prasanta Mazumdar By Express News Service GUWAHATI: A process is underway in Assam to release declared foreigners from the detention centres in deference to a recent order of the Supreme Court that was followed up by the Gauhati High Court. In a bid to decongest the detention centres over COVID-19 pandemic, the SC had on April 13 directed the release of declared foreigners who have been in detention for two years or more. Two days later, the Gauhati HC issued an order directing the border branch of Assam Police to ensure the conditional release of such declared foreigners within the next seven days. We shall be submitting the information to Honble Gauhati High Court as per their direction, Special Director General of Police (Border) Mukesh Aggarwal told this newspaper. Officials refused to share the details on the number of people released so far. However, according to a source 83 people had been released. Till yesterday, 83 people were released from the six detention centres. The process will continue. The people, who have been released, fulfilled all conditions, the source said, adding There are some detainees who havent been able to arrange sureties. The various Foreigners Tribunal (FT) deal with the cases of doubtful citizens. When the Border Police suspect an individuals nationality, it brings the matter to the notice of the Foreigners Tribunal. One of the most prolific and iconic writers in the English language and also the worlds greatest dramatist, William Shakespeare was born this day in 1564. He is popularly called the Bard of Avon since he was born and raised in Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire. Shakespeares birth date, however, is highly debatable as he is said to have been baptised on April 26, 1564, and born on April 23, which also coincides with his death date (as per the Julian calendar). Fans and book lovers worldwide celebrate Shakespeare Day on April 23 every year to honour the literary genius, William Shakespeare. UNESCO also marked this day as World Book and Copyright Day back in 1995 and celebrates each year with a new theme in a newly chosen World Book Capital every year. Lesser-known facts about the Bard of Avon * Shakespeare introduced approximately 2000 words to the English language (estimations are anywhere close to 1700 and above). The Oxford dictionary credits him with having introduced 3000 words to the English language including Addiction, Belongings, Swagger, Uncomfortable, Dishearten, Bedazzled and more. * April 23 is also known as National Talk Like Shakespeare Day and was started by the Chicago Shakespeare Theater in 2009. Spend this day substituting you and they with thou, thee and ye; end your verbs with eth (like bringeth, runneth, sayeth) and start your sentences with methinks, wherefore when conversing with someone on Talk Like Shakespeare Day. Its also a brush-up of your ol English skills. * Shakespeares epitaph reads a curse, daring anyone to move his body. It reads: Good friend for Jesus sake forbear, To dig the dust enclosed here: Blest be the man that spares these stones, And curst be he that moves my bones. * The word suicide appears 13 times in Shakespeares plays out of approximately 39 plays written by Shakespeare: 13, considered an unlucky number, is the number of characters who died by committing suicide in Shakespeares plays, most famous ones being the star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet. * Shakespeares shortest play is The Comedy of Errors at 1787 lines and 14,369 words; the longest is Hamlet at 4,042 lines and 29,551 words. * Nobody has an account of Shakespeares life between the years 1585 and 1592. Some assume he worked as a school teacher while others believe he studied law, travelled across the globe or joined an acting troupe. * An independent bookstore by the name of Shakespeare & Co. has been running in Paris since 1919, that makes it a century-old. * Shakespeares Birthplace is a restored 16th-century half-timbered house situated in Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, where William Shakespeare is believed to have been born and raised. It is now a small museum open to the public and a popular visitor attraction, owned and managed by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Read on for 15 famous quotes by Shakespeare, spoken by the characters he drew: * There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. Hamlet in Hamlet * From womens eyes this doctrine I derive: They sparkle still the right Promethean fire; They are the books, the arts, the academes, That show, contain, and nourish all the world. Berowne in Loves Labors Lost * All the worlds a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts. Jaques in As You Like It * This above all: to thine ownself be true. And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man. Polonius in Hamlet * For your brother and my sister no sooner met, but they looked; no sooner looked, but they loved; no sooner loved, but they sighed; no sooner sighed, but they asked one another the reason; no sooner knew the reason but they sought the remedy. Rosalind in As You Like It * Lord, what fools these mortals be! Puck in A Midsummer Nights Dream * Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more, Men were deceivers ever; One foot in sea, and one on shore, To one thing constant never. Balthazar in Much Ado About Nothing * I do love nothing in the world so well as you: is not that strange? Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing * Men at some time are masters of their fates: The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings. Cassius in Julius Caesar * Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. Malvolio in Twelfth Night * Come what come may, time and the hour runs through the roughest day. Macbeth in Macbeth * Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin, as self-neglecting. Dauphin in Henry V * Our doubts are traitors, And make us lose the good we oft might win, By fearing to attempt. Lucio in Measure for Measure * The miserable have no other medicine, but only hope. Claudio in Measure for Measure * Time shall unfold what plighted cunning hides: Who cover faults, at last shame them derides. Cordelia in King Lear Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The state Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a womans claim that Pennsylvania prosecutors illegally used a recording made by police in California to convict her of a gruesome 2002 murder. Stacy Britton, 51, is serving a life prison sentence for that Monroe County killing, which went unsolved for more than a decade. The victim, Robert Roudebush, was slain by Britton and her husband James during an argument over drugs, then dismembered and burned in two 55-gallon barrels, police said. Roudebushs only remains were some charred bones. Britton was living in California when she was charged with the homicide 13 years later. Her arrest came after she called state police in Pennsylvania to say she had information on Roudebushs slaying. As Justice Max Baer noted in the Supreme Courts opinion, state police reacted to Brittons call by asking officers from the sheriffs department in San Bernardino, Calif., to interview her. Sheriffs detectives interviewed Britton at their station and at her home. Without seeking her consent in advance, they made audio and video recordings of her statements, which police said strongly implicated her in the murder. A sign at the sheriffs office warned visitors they were being recorded, Baer noted. While Pennsylvanias Wiretap Law requires mutual consent for the recording audio of conversations without prior court approval, that is not the case in California, the justice wrote. In that state, police routinely record audio interviews during investigations, Baer noted, adding that Britton already was a long-time California resident when she was interviewed by the sheriffs detectives. Brittons argument on appeal was that prosecutors shouldnt have been allowed to use the California recordings against her in the murder case because they were secured by means not allowed by Pennsylvania law. She claimed Pennsylvania law governed the means of recording because the sheriffs detectives were operating under the direction of Pennsylvania state troopers. No, they werent, Baer concluded. He cited testimony by Pennsylvania investigators that they did not instruct the California deputies on how to conduct their interviews with Britton. Nothing in the record suggests that the Pennsylvania State Police requested that the California detectives question (Britton) in a particular place, at particular time, or in a particular manner, let alone record the interviews, Baer wrote. Therefore, Baer found, the recordings were legally secured and admissible during the trial that resulted in Brittons conviction for first-degree murder. James Britton pleaded guilty to third-degree murder for Roudebushs slaying. He was sentenced to 15 to 30 years behind bars. A day after 53 journalists in Mumbai were found to be Covid-19 positive in a health camp conducted by the citys municipal body, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Tuesday that the Delhi government will conduct free tests for journalists in the Capital city starting Wednesday. There are reports coming from different states about journalists being infected by the virus To ensure media persons in Delhi are safe, we are starting free testing for them from tomorrow, Kejriwal said during a digital media address. The location for the tests was not announced. Reporters are frontline workers in the battle against Covid-19. I salute the work being done by all journalists. Their work is very important for dissemination of authentic information, the Delhi CM added. A senior official in the chief ministers office said that any media person, including photojournalists working in the Capital with a valid media identification card would be accepted for the tests. Officials have begun to seek lists of eligible reporters and photojournalists from media houses to draw up batches to undergo testing. Television and print reporters, camera persons, photographers whose job entails visiting hospitals and other high density areas are at high risk of contracting Sars-Cov-2. Several cities, including Chennai, Jalandhar, and Dharamshala have reported at least 39 cases of positive Covid-19 cases among the fraternity, prompting some states like Karnataka and cities like Gurugram to set up testing facilities specifically for journalists. At least 27 media persons working with a television news channel in Chennai tested positive for Sars-Cov-2 after 92 employees working for the Tamil channel underwent the tests when a colleague on Sunday was found to be positive for Covid-19. Chennai, which has emerged as one of the hotspots in Tamil Nadu, has 358 cases of infections. Issac Livingstone, managing director of Sathiyam channel announced that the channel would stop live telecasts. Since reporters go across the state to report news, the current situation was unfortunate, but was also unavoidable, he said. In Punjabs Jalandhar district, nine journalists of a leading vernacular media group, which publishes Hindi and Punjabi newspapers, have tested positive in the past week. Most of the journalists, including one designer, are part of the news desk and are between 27 and 42 years old. At least four family members of one of these journalists have also tested positive, while 100 people linked to the media group have been quarantined at home, the health department said. All journalists have been kept in isolation at the Civil Hospital. The site of the media organisation has been sealed off, deputy commissioner Varinder Sharma told Hindustan Times. Another employee of the same news organisation has been found to be positive in Dharamshala, Kangra district, Himachal Pradesh. The Gurugram health department on Monday began testing journalists in the city. The first batch of 30 samples were tested using Rapid Testing Kits (RTKs), none of which showed the presence of antibodies, indicating that the journalists were Covid-19 negative. However, as per the union ministrys guidelines, RTKs are only surveillance tests, which need to be borne out by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests. We took 30 samples and all of them were negative. On Monday night, the district administration finalized to test journalists after the reports of Mumbai journalists contracting the SARS-CoV-2 virus started coming in. A lot of journalists in the city are visiting hospitals, slums and meeting multiple people. Therefore, it became important to test them, Dr Jaswant Singh Punia, Gurugrams chief medical officer said. Testing, conducted at the old Civil Hospital, Jharsa Road, will take place on Wednesday too. Karnataka education minister S Suresh Kumar announced that the state government will also hold tests for media personnel. On Monday, 53 journalists tested positive for Covid-19 in Mumbai, after Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation-run health camp took the nasal and throat swabs of 171 journalists. All 53 were asymptomatic, and have been moved to a Covid Care Centre in the suburbs. The family members of all these journalists will be tested towards the end of this week, officials said. Information and Broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday tweeted, It is shocking that more than 50 journalists of electronic media, particularly Camera persons, have been found #Corona positive in Mumbai. Every journalist should take proper care. The same day, three Chennai journalists tested positive for Covid-19, prompting many to visit government hospitals to undergo tests. Journalists associations have requested the Centre to extend insurance to journalists covering the Covid-19 pandemic. Some states, like West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, have also announced insurance cover for accredited journalists in the states. Indeed, the issue of the safety of frontline journalists has been an issue of global concern. The Global Investigative Journalists Network will conduct a webinar on Thursday on the matter, where Richard Dawood, who heads London Fleet Street clinic will offer tips to journalists on how to stay safe. Last month, the National Geographic Society launched an emergency fund for journalists all over the world who wish to cover COVID-19 within their own communities. ... Dear Editor: Fair-minded people of both political parties acknowledge that as COVID-19 bears down on us, we must plan alternatives to in-person voting in Novembers elections. A repeat of Wisconsins debacle, with dedicated, masked citizens risking their health to exercise their most fundamental right, has been likened to the courage of Americans who risked personal safety to protest racial discrimination in the 1960s. Many will be willing to take that kind of risk in November, but we can do more and better, at least in New York. Sen. Jen Metzger, D-Rosendale, has submitted a bill (S8120) that calls for immediate planning to provide voting by mail (VBM) to New Yorkers in November. (Its too late to implement for June 23 primaries.) VBM eliminates the cumbersome process tied to absentee ballots: First, one must request an absentee ballot application, which is returned by the Board of Elections; the completed application then must be returned to the board; the board then sends the absentee ballot; once voters receive it, they complete it and return it to the board. With VBM, the Board of Elections sends ballots to all registered voters, who fill them out and return them for counting. Done. And voting at polling sites will still be an option. Yes, there are challenges. Security measures must be in place. Funding must be available to pay for new workers and post office charges. States that have implemented VBM have offered careful advice about how to proceed. Perhaps above all, a massive public education effort is needed, starting now. Whether VBM or temporary illness absentee voting is ultimately implemented, voters need to know what to expect long in advance of November. That effort will require money, staffing and the use of all available tools for outreach. We shouldnt have to be heroes to vote. Heroism will come from institutional support for our democratic system. Tom Denton Highland, N.Y. Beaumont Mayor Becky Ames left Tuesdays City Council meeting to find her phone flooded with text messages and angry social media criticism after a picture surfaced of her getting service at a local nail salon. A cropped version of the photo first appeared on a local blog, saying Ames went to have her nails done on Monday. TEXAS-MADE: Where to buy face masks made in the Lone Star state Nail and hair salons are among the businesses ordered to close across Beaumont during the coronavirus pandemic. Ames, who signed the stay-at-home orders on March 27, acknowledged that the photo could make people think she was getting a manicure. Noting that there is no nail technician in the photograph, however, the mayor insisted that she did not violate any of the stay-at-home orders. Violating the restriction is punishable by a fine of up to $2,000. I did not do anything wrong, she told The Enterprise. I would not be upset with anyone who I found out did this. Ames said shed stopped in to pick up acetone to soak off artificial dip nails after theyd grown out and become painful. She said she felt she could not take them off herself. Six weeks ago or more, I went to get a manicure and ended up getting the powder nails for the first time. I loved it and it looked great, but as they grew out I started looking like a witch, she said. I tried to talk them off and texted the lady that did them, who is the owner of the salon, to ask what to do. Ames said the salon owner told her the shop wasnt open, but that she would mix up some solution for pickup. The photograph was taken, she said, while Ames was soaking her nails to learn how to take them off. VIRUS CZARS: Get to know Houston's coronavirus recovery czars The photo shows Ames, wearing a face mask, with her fingertips in a bowl. The mayor said she stopped by the salon Tuesday, not Monday, and was there for about 10 minutes being going straight to the Beaumont City Council meeting. She said she was able to remove half of the dip nails during that time. She provided contact information for the salon owner, who backed up the mayors story. The council meeting took place over Zoom, and the recording shows Ames wearing the same outfit as in the photo taken at the salon. Ames said she didnt know who took the photo or realize that a third person was there. The salon owner said it was an employee who had stopped by to pick up nail polish to use at home. She said the worker has been informed she cannot return to the shop. Ames said she thinks the owner is making reasonable accommodations for customers. LEGENDARY SPOT CLOSES: Texas venue that launched Janis Joplin's career set to close The owner said she has a lot of ladies that need to get their nails off, so shes set this out for them, Ames said. A lot of hairdressers have left color out for someone to come pick up. Theres nothing wrong with that as long as youre social distancing. Both Ames and the store owner said she did not pay for the solution to remove the nails. After talking with The Enterprise, Ames sent photographs of her nails unpainted and peeling. kaitlin.bain@beaumontenterprise.com twitter.com/KaitlinBain Florent DechardIt appears every major festival around the world has been canceled, but you can still enjoy some incredible live performances from the comfort of self-isolation. PlayOnFest is a three-day event that starts Friday at noon ET and runs for 72 hours straight on Songkick's YouTube channel. It features some great live archival performances from artists on the Warner Music Group family of labels, including Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran, Charlie Puth, Bebe Rexha, Coldplay and dozens more. Among the performances you'll see: Bruno Mars' 2017 TV special 24K Magic Live at the Apollo, Ed Sheeran's 2017 Austin City Limits performance, and Coldplay's 2017 show in Sao Paulo, Brazil on their A Head Full of Dreams tour. You can find full details, including who's playing on what day and at what time, at PlayOnFest.com. The event is also doubling as a fundraiser for the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for the World Heath Organization. There's exclusive merch on sale at the website, proceeds from the sale of which will go to the fund, while during the livestream, fans will be encouraged to donate. Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. OSLO, Norway, & HELSINKI, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Targovax ASA (OSE: TRVX), a clinical stage immuno-oncology company developing oncolytic viruses and cancer vaccines to target hard-to-treat solid tumors, and Valo Therapeutics (Valo Tx) today announce that they have entered into a collaboration agreement to evaluate PeptiCRAd technology as a tool to coat ONCOS oncolytic adenoviruses with Targovax's TG mutant RAS peptides. Valo Tx's PeptiCRAd technology has been developed to coat oncolytic viruses with tumor antigen peptides for enhanced immune activation and local delivery of antigens directly into the tumor site. With this collaboration, Targovax and Valo Tx will test whether PeptiCRAd coating of ONCOS-102 adenovirus with TG mutant RAS peptides can generate enhanced systemic CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses against mutant RAS, and specifically direct these T-cells to the tumor site. The technical feasibility, in vitro activity and in vivo immune activation potential of the concept will be evaluated in the first phase of the collaboration. If successful, the parties will jointly determine how to further expand and develop the collaboration to establish a first-in-class oncolytic virus engineered to induce mutant RAS immune responses. Dr. Anne-Sophie Mller, Head of Clinical Science of Targovax, said: "We are excited to initiate this collaboration with Valo Therapeutics. We continue to view mutant RAS as a very compelling immunotherapeutic target. The innovative PeptiCRAd technology enables us to merge our peptide vaccine and oncolytic virus platforms to generate a truly novel RAS-targeting ONCOS vaccine. The combination of these promising technologies could become a new platform supporting our aspiration to develop novel therapies for hard-to-treat solid tumors." Dr. Sari Pesonen, Head of R&D at Valo Tx, commented, "We are delighted that Targovax has chosen to partner with us in the solid tumor space, providing further endorsement of our PeptiCRAd technology. By enabling the coating of ONCOS-102 adenovirus with TG mutant RAS peptides, we have a unique opportunity to take full advantage of the clinically proven immune activation potency of ONCOS-102 by directing the immune responses towards mutant RAS neoantigens, driving enhanced tumor-specific T-cell responses in cancer patients." About Targovax Targovax (OSE:TRVX) is a clinical stage immuno-oncology company developing oncolytic viruses to target hard-to-treat solid tumors. Targovax's lead product candidate, ONCOS-102, is a genetically modified oncolytic adenovirus, which has been engineered to selectively infect cancer cells and activate the immune system to fight the cancer. ONCOS-102 is currently being tested in mesothelioma, melanoma and peritoneal malignancies and has already shown promising clinical results both as monotherapy and in combination with chemotherapy, and a checkpoint inhibitor. About Valo Tx Valo Therapeutics (Helsinki and Oxford) is an immunotherapy company that is developing antigen-coated oncolytic viruses as anti-cancer therapeutic vaccines. The Valo Tx platform, PeptiCRAd (Peptide-coated Conditionally Replicating Adenovirus), was developed out of the laboratory of Professor Vincenzo Cerullo at the University of Helsinki. It turns oncolytic adenoviruses into targeted tissue specific cancer vaccines without the need to generate and manufacture multiple genetically modified viruses. The company is also developing PeptiENV, among other neoantigen strategies, in collaboration with Professor Cerullo. PeptiENV is expected to improve the therapeutic response to enveloped oncolytic viruses in the treatment of multiple forms of cancer. A film explaining the PeptiCRAd technology can be found here. Contacts Valo Therapeutics Matthew Vaughan Email: [email protected] Scius Communications Katja Stout Email: [email protected] Renate Birkeli, Investor Relations Email: [email protected] Media and IR enquiries: Andreas Tinglum - Corporate Communications (Norway) Email: [email protected] SOURCE Valo Therapeutics and Targovax For the first time since World War-II, the prestigious spelling bee tournament, which has been dominated by Indian-Americans over the years, has been cancelled for 2020 in view of the coronavirus pandemic. The competition, which is only open to students in elementary and middle school, will return on June 1, 2021. However, the eighth graders who qualified this year for their last try at the national title won't be able to participate next year, spelling bee officials said in a statement on Tuesday. "Our hearts go out to the spellers who won't get their final shot at winning because of the pandemic and the difficult decisions it is prompting us to make. They are now part of a widely expanding group of children and adults who are missing out on opportunities due to the coronavirus," said Paige Kimble, executive director of the Bee. Organisers of the Scripps National Spelling Bee cancelled the event citing "no clear path to safely set a new date in 2020". The action is due to the ongoing concerns about the spread of the novel coronavirus and uncertainty around when public gatherings will be possible or advisable, they said in a statement. The decision follows the Bee's announcement on March 20 that it was suspending the national finals with hopes to reschedule. The only other time the spelling bee, an annual event since 1925, was cancelled was from 1943 to 1945 because of World War II. "Our thoughts immediately go to our spellers and their families. The students have dedicated time and effort to their passion for learning. They should be proud of all they have accomplished by winning spelling bees at the classroom, school and regional level," Kimble said. Nevertheless, our first priority has to be to the health and well-being of our spellers and their families and the hundreds of staff and spectators that come together for Bee Week," she said. Last year, after running out of words that were challenging enough for the contestants, the Spelling Bee ended in a eight-way tie resulting in an unprecedented octo-champs. Six of the champions were Indian-Americans Rishik Gandhasri, Saketh Sundar, Shruthika Padhy, Sohum Sukhatankar, Abhijay Kodal and Rohan Raja. The two others were Erin Howard and Christopher Serrao. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) On 22 April 2020 at 3:00 pm CET an ordinary general meeting was held in Oncology Venture A/S at Pharmakon Konferencecenter, Milnersvej 42, 3400 Hillerd, Denmark. The agenda for the annual general meeting was as follows: 1. Election of Chairman of the Meeting 2. Report on the Companys Activities during the Past Year 3. Submission of the Annual Report with Auditors Report for Approval and Discharge of the Board of Directors and Management 4. Resolution on Application of Profits or Covering of Losses as per the Adopted Annual Report 5. Election of Board Members 6. Election of Auditor 7. Any proposals from the Board of Directors and/or Shareholders Resume and complete resolutions Re 1 Attorney-at-law Lars Luthjohan Jensen was elected as chairman of the general meeting. Re 2 Chief Financial Officer, Henrik Moltke reported on the Companys activities for the year ended December 31, 2019. Chief Financial Officer, Henrik Moltke also reported on the Companys financial position as the Company had lost more than half its equity, cf. Danish Companies Act section 119. Re 3 The Annual Report was adopted and a resolution was passed to discharge the Board of Directors and Management from liability. Re 4 It was resolved that the consolidated loss for the year of EUR 138,132,000 be carried forward to next year. Re 5 The following persons were re-elected for a term expiring at the annual general meeting to be held in 2021: Duncan Moore Frank Knudsen Steve Carchedi Steen Knudsen Gunnar Magnus Persson Carani Sanjeevi so that the composition of the Board of Directors remained unchanged. Information about the current board members was made available on the Companys website www.oncologyventure.com . Re 6 PricewaterhouseCoopers Statsautoriseret Revisionspartnerselskab was re-appointed as the Companys auditor. Re 7 The Board of Directors had proposed 2 amendments to the Articles of Association, which were all adopted on the general meeting with the required majority. Each of the resolutions is described below in A and B. Story continues Resolution A: It was resolved to amend the Articles of Association by inserting a new authorization in Article 6.10 which authorizes the Board of Directors to issue convertible loan notes which give the right to subscribe for shares in the Company. It was specifically resolved that a new Article 6.10 is inserted in the Articles of Association with the following wording: The board of directors is authorized until the period ending 1 April 2025 at one or more times by resolution of the board of directors to obtain loans of up to SEK 100,000,000 against issuance of convertible loan notes which give the right to subscribe for shares in the company as well as carry out the appurtenant capital increases without pre-emption rights for the existing shareholders. The loans shall be paid in cash. The terms of the convertible loan notes issued under this authorization shall be determined by the board of directors. The convertible loan notes shall be offered at a conversion price no lower than the market price of the companys shares. As a consequence of this authorization the board of directors is also authorized until the period ending 1 April 2025 to increase the share capital of the company without pre-emption rights for the existing shareholders by up to a nominal value of DKK 5,000,000 by conversion of the convertible loan notes issued under the authorization set out in this section 6.10. The new shares issued based on this authorization shall be negotiable instruments issued in the name of the holder and registered in the name of the holder in the companys register of shareholders. The new shares shall not have any restrictions as to their transferability and no shareholder shall be obliged to have the shares redeemed fully or partly. The shares will have the same rights as the existing shares. All other terms are set by the board of directors. The resolution was adopted at the general meeting with the required majority of at least two thirds of both the votes cast and of the voting share capital represented at the general meeting. Resolution B: It was resolved to amend the Articles of Association by renewing the existing authorization in Article 7.2 that authorizes the Board of Directors to increase the Companys share capital at one or more times without pre-emption rights for the existing shareholders. It was specifically resolved that the existing wording in Article 7.2 of the Articles of Association is replaced in its entirety with the following wording: The board of directors is authorised until the period ending 1 April 2025 at one or more times to increase the companys share capital by up to nominal DKK 8,000,000. The capital increase shall be carried out without pre-emption rights for the companys existing shareholders. The new shares may be issued at market price or at a discount price as decided by the board of directors. The board of directors decides that the capital increase is carried out by way of cash contributions, contributions in kind and/or conversion of debt. Sections 7.3 and 7.4 shall apply to the new shares. All other terms are set by the board of directors. The resolution was adopted at the general meeting with the required majority of at least nine tenths of both the votes cast and of the voting share capital represented at the general meeting. ---oo0oo--- Pharmakon Konferencecenter, Milnersvej 42, 3400 Hillerd, Denmark Lars Luthjohan Jensen Chairman of the meeting. Attachment Mark Smith, pictured leaving Manchester Magistrates Court, was described by his defence team as a 'Jekyll and Hyde character' A 'disgusting' drunk who urinated on a war memorial in Manchester was branded a 'social menace' as he was jailed for two and a half years. Mark Smith, 58, was spotted on CCTV by council staff urinating on the cenotaph in St Peter's Square, Manchester, on January 16 last year. Members of the public went over to challenge him, but he was aggressive towards them. He was also abusive to police who attended the scene, calling them 'fat pigs'. The next morning, after spending the night in the cells, Smith spat on a female detention officer. Smith told her: 'See, I told you I'd get you, you f****** wh***'. Now Smith, formerly of Rochdale, has been jailed for two-and-a-half years for a drink and drug fuelled crime spree. Judge John Potter told Smith: 'This was disgusting and deeply disrespectful behaviour likely to cause offence to the public, not just because your genitals were exposed with a view to urinating, but that you decided to do this on a monument which commemorates the tragedy of loss of life in warfare.' Minshull Street Crown Court heard that the incident at the cenotaph occurred at about 10.45pm, on Wednesday, January 16 last year. On September 27 last year, workers had attended his flat to conduct repair work to a leak in Smith's flat in Rochdale, which was affecting flats below. He refused to let them in at around 6.30pm, and threw missiles from his 15th floor flat. Police were engaged in a standoff with Smith for hours, and had to call the force's tactical aid unit for assistance. Smith, 58, has been described as a 'social menace' as he was given a two-and-a-half year jail sentence having been seen on CCTV urinating on the cenotaph memorial in Manchester At about 11pm, they forced his door open. Smith had barricaded himself behind a sofa, and was throwing furniture at the officers. One officer said Smith had spat at them four times. He was removed from the flat, and was racially abusive to another officer after being taken to Bury police station, calling him a 'Pa** ba*****' and an 'Asian toe rag'. Smith appeared before Minshull Street Crown Court previously in July last year for other offences. He received an 18-month community order and an alcohol treatment program. They included assaulting a nightclub doorman, being abusive to police officers, spitting in the face of a police officer and being in possession of a knife and an axe. Judge Potter described Smith as 'nothing more than a social menace'. The judge described Smith as a 'disgusting social menace' as he was sentenced to more than two years in prison Defending, Michael Goldwater said that Smith had stayed out of trouble between 2001 and 2018 and had 'lived peacefully'. He had a drink problem earlier in his life, but was told that cannabis would help in treating symptoms of epilepsy which he encountered. But Mr Goldwater said the use of cannabis then turned him back to drink. He said Smith's crime spree in 2018 and 2019 represented a 'catastrophic failure' on the defendant's part to manage his drink and drug problem. Mr Goldwater described Smith as a 'Jekyll and Hyde character'. He said when drinking Smith is 'ungovernable', but when he is sober he is 'polite, intelligent, charming and amusing'. Smith is now 'determined not to relapse' in future, Mr Goldwater said. Judge Potter told Smith: 'Your difficulties will not be ended unless and until you decide to take personal responsibility for them.' Smith pleaded guilty to outraging public decency, two counts of assaulting an emergency worker and a racially aggravated public order offence. Punjab-based combine harvester makers are staring at losses as they are unable to complete orders received from parts of the country due of the coronavirus lockdown. Their hopes were dashed by the labour shortage due to which they could not run their manufacturing units to their full capacity in the peak season of March and April. According to the manufacturers, they were expecting to sell about 4,000 of these machines in several parts of the country such as Haryana, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. But a shortage of labour force adversely impacted their manufacturing operations. Migrants from Bihar and UP, who form a sizable chunk of the workforce, have not returned yet, said Amar Singh, general secretary of the All-India Combine Manufacturers' Association. He added that they are left with just 1/10th of the workforce. It was a peak time for us. But all expectations have been dashed, said Amar Singh. Nobody knows how long this lockdown will last, said another combine harvester maker, Sukhwinder Singh. They are worried about the completion of their orders for which they have already received some payment in advance. Farmers who placed orders with us are now demanding their money back with interest and some are even demanding double the amount, said Sukhwinder Singh, who was aiming to sell 250-300 machines. They appealed to the Centre to waive bank interest on loans for six months, at least. They also wanted that their electricity bills be waived for six months. The manufacturers said they did not have enough financial resources to make payment pay to their workers. "The government should bear the burden of wages. We are not in a position to pay wages. The government can pay them from provident fund or ESI fund, they said. There are nearly 100 farm equipment makerslarge, medium and small-- who make combine harvesters in Punjab. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) T he US state of Missouri is suing the Chinese government over its handling of the coronavirus as Beijing calls for solidarity and less "finger pointing" during the pandemic. Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt claims China did little to stop the spread of Covid-19 in the lawsuit, which was filed on Tuesday. He also alleges Missouri residents have suffered potentially tens of billions of dollars in economic damages as a result of the outbreak. The civil lawsuit is against the Chinese Government, Chinese Communist Party and other Chinese officials and institutions. It also accuses China of of accelerating the affects of the pandemic by "hoarding" personal protective equipment (PPE). Mr Schmitt said in a statement: "In Missouri, the impact of the virus is very real - thousands have been infected and many have died, families have been separated from dying loved ones, small businesses are shuttering their doors, and those living paycheck to paycheck are struggling to put food on their table." He added: "The Chinese Government lied to the world about the danger and contagious nature of Covid-19, silenced whistleblowers and did little to stop the spread of the disease. "They must be held accountable for their actions." Chinese President Xi Jinping talks by video with patients and medical workers at the Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan / AP China has strongly denied mishandling the crisis and some legal experts have questioned whether the lawsuit will succeed. The legal doctrine of sovereign immunity offers foreign Governments broad protection from being sued in US courts. The news comes as Consul-General Huang Ping called for solidarity over the coronavirus crisis as Beijing's diplomats handed over a donation of medical supplies to New York. Mr Huang said in an online ceremony, that his President Xi Jinping and US counterpart Donald Trump called for anti-epidemic cooperation between our two nations and the world in their last phone call on March 17. Loading.... He added: As the two biggest economies in the world, China and the United States need to lead the effort to fighting the coronavirus. This is not the time for finger-pointing. This is the time for solidarity, collaboration, cooperation and mutual support. But after weeks of elaborate praise of Mr Xis performance in the pandemic, Mr Trump has turned to blaming China and halting US contributions to the World Health Organisation, accusing it of parroting misinformation from Beijing. Chinas UN Ambassador Zhang Jun stressed the importance of multilateralism, saying we live in one world and Covid-19 knows no borders. Wuhan lifts Coronavirus lockdown - In pictures 1 /20 Wuhan lifts Coronavirus lockdown - In pictures A medical worker from China's Jilin Province, in red, embraces a colleague from Wuhan as she prepares to return home at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport AP A pilot leans out of the cockpit window to wave goodbye before the China Eastern airlines flight, the first domestic flight from Wuhan that resumed service after travel restrictions to leave the capital of Hubei province and China's epicentre of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak were lifted, takes off from Wuhan Tianhe International Airport to Sanya Reuters A medical staff member from Jilin Province tears up during a ceremony before leaving as Tianhe Airport is reopened in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images Passengers wearing face masks and suits to protect against the spread of new coronavirus walk past a display screen at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport i AP A passenger wearing a face mask is seen in the counter at the Tianhe Airport after it was reopened today AFP via Getty Images People wearing protective clothing and masks arrive at Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images Travellers wearing protective gear ride an escalator at Wuchang Railway Station before travel restrictions to leave Wuhan Reuters Medical staff from Jilin Province (in red) hug nurses from Wuhan after working together during the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak during a ceremony before leaving as Tianhe Airport is reopened in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images Medical workers from China's Jilin Province react as they prepare to return home at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport AP A man wearing protective gear gets through security check at Wuchang Railway Station before travel restrictions to leave Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province and China's epicentre of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak are lifted Reuters A woman wearing a face mask to protect against the spread of coronavirus puts a poncho on a child at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan AP Bullet trains at a station in preparation for resuming operations after authorities lifted a more than two-month ban on outbound travel, in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images People wait for the train at the Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan as travel restrictions for leaving the city, the epicentre of a global coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, are lifted and people will be allowed to leave the city via road, rail and air Reuters A train staff member stands on a high-speed train at Wuhan's Hankou Railway Station Reuters People wait for the train at the Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan as travel restrictions for leaving the city, the epicentre of a global coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, are lifted and people will be allowed to leave the city via road, rail and air Reuters He said: We need to support the United Nations and the WHO in playing a leading and coordinating role in defeating Covid-19, the common enemy of all mankind. We should stand firm against the politicisation of the pandemic and remove all obstacles which hinder our cooperation. Mr Huang said the American people helped China without hesitation when it was in great difficulty, and its consulate and UN mission have donated 25,000 N95 masks, 2,000 protective suits, and 75,000 pairs of medical gloves, which reached New York last weekend. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is recommending that healthcare providers across the state partner with NxGen MDx in order to maximize the availability of COVID-19 testing. With the ability to test for 7000 samples per week, NxGen MDx is also able to provide specimen collection materials, shipping from the collection site to their laboratory, and 48-hour turnaround on results. NxGen has validated their testing using an endocervical swab rather than a nasopharyngeal swab; while the swabs have very similar shapes and clinical uses, endocervical swabs have a large and steady supply chain, while access to nasopharyngeal swabs is unfortunately very constrained. According to MDHHS, capacity for COVID-19 testing will need to triple or quadruple in Michigan in order to protect public health. Especially with the recent expansion in test priority criteria, maximizing the use of all available testing capacity is crucial. MDHHS strongly encourages health care providers interested in COVID-19 testing to reach out to NxGen Laboratories as a potential partner. About NxGen MDx NxGen MDx LLC is a leading women's health company delivering highly accurate and precise genetic testing. NxGen MDx's history of whole-gene sequencing combined with advanced technology allows us to provide accessible, high-quality testing options to families as they plan for the future. NxGen MDx employs state-of-the-art technology, including rapid molecular diagnostics for infectious disease and genetic screening technology that examines the entire gene rather than parts of the gene, giving women and families a comprehensive assessment of their health. NxGen MDx is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. To learn more, visit the company's website at www.nxgenmdx.com. Connect with us on: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/nxgenmdx/ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/3832246 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/nxgenmdxlab/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/nxgenmdx SOURCE NxGen MDx Related Links http://www.nxgenmdx.com By Ofeliya Afandiyeva President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree reprimanding the head of the Ismayilli District Executive Power, the presidential website reported on April 21. The head of the Ismayilli District Executive Power Nahid Bagirov was reprimanded for violating the rules of the special quarantine regime applied to prevent the spread of coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in Azerbaijan. Bagirov Nahid Rza oglu was appointed the head of Ismayilli district Executive Power on March 5. It should be noted that the Operational Headquarters of the Cabinet of Ministers declared a special quarantine regime in the country on March 23. On April 18, Azerbaijan applied restrictions on citizens movement, effective from April 5 to April 20, as part of the quarantine regime to curb the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) infection. Thus, as of April 5, citizens are allowed to leave their place of residence only after obtaining permission. In order to obtain permission, citizens must send a free SMS to number 8103. The restriction was was furhter extended from April 20 to May 4. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz An Bord Pleanala has refused planning permission for 452 'build-to-rent' apartments in eight apartment blocks at Cornelscourt village in south Dublin. They refused planning permission to Cornel Living Ltd for the eight apartment blocks including one reaching 12 storeys in height at Cornelscourt Village, Old Bray Rd, Dublin 18 after Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council and locals opposed the plan. The proposed development - which lies adjacent to the N11 - also included 10 semi-detached homes and six bungalows along with a cafe/restaurant. In total over 80 objections were lodged against the proposal including ones lodged from the Foxrock South Residents Association and the Grange Castle and Foxrock Wood Residents Association. Former Fine Gael TD, Mary Mitchell OConnor added her voice behind the bid to stop the development from proceeding. Now, the appeals board has refused planning after concluding that the proposal fails to provide an adequate level of residential amenity for future occupants of the scheme. The appeals made that finding after stating that the level of communal open space is below the minimum standard set out in Ministerial guidelines and that the proportion of single aspect apartments - apartments with windows on one wall only - contravenes Ministerial guidelines. The appeals board also refused planning permission as the proposed development would be premature regarding existing deficiencies in the wastewater sewerage network. The appeals boards grounds for refusal echo the some of the reasons put forward by the County Council as to why permission should be refused. The council told the appeals board that planning should be refused due to the deficient quality and quantity of public/communal space as it would result in an unacceptable standard of amenity for the future occupants of the apartments. The council also stated that the plan should be refused due to an inadequate amount of dual aspect apartments in the scheme. A TD when lodging her submission, Ms Mitchell O'Connor told An Bord Pleanala that "the vast majority of the units will be accommodated in eight massive apartment blocks, the height and scale bear no relationship to the adjacent homes. She further contended that the entire development being built for rental is a matter of some concern. Rentals on this scale attract transient populations and add nothing to the local community. Ms Mitchell OConnor stated that she fully supported appropriate development but agrees with the residents that the development proposed in this application has too many flaws to be appropriate for the area. According to the latest estimates, 20,471 people have tested COVID-19 positive in India so far. Of these, 15,859 are active cases and 652 people have died. According to the latest estimates, 20,471 people have tested COVID-19 positive in India so far. Of these, 15,859 are active cases, 652 people have died and remaining have recovered. Tuesday saw the greatest single-day death toll with 50 fatalities. Maharashtra remains the worst-affected state with over 5,200 cases, followed by Gujarat and Delhi. The centre passed an ordinance this afternoon to protect healthcare workers after reports from across the country have shown attacks on the health force. Attacks on health professionals will attract a fine between Rs 50,000 to 5 lakhs, along with a jail term of a minimum of 6 months and up to 7 years for serious offences. Centre-state relations simmer down after initial disagreements Kerala had relaxed curbs in orange (where there are no or fewer new cases) and green zones (where there are no active cases) after the 20th of April. Dine-in restaurants, barbershops, intra-state public transport, certain industries within municipalities were allowed to open under certain conditions. The Centre argued that states dont have the discretion to dilute orders issued by them. Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said that the moves by the Kerala government violated the Disaster Management Act, 2005. Following this, the CM Mr Vijayan rolled back these orders and said that the state would not be in variance with the demands of the Centre. While the state has been lauded for its methodical approach to the pandemic, 19 new cases were reported on Tuesday, sparking concerns of another bout of infections. The central government had sent a team to West Bengal to assess the situation on the ground. Bengal responded angrily saying that no advance warning was given for the investigation and alleged that it had been singled out for political reasons. However, the state has now dialled down its response and shared that it will fully cooperate with the central government in tackling the pandemic. Scientists at native CSIR develop low-cost COVID-19 test Scientists at the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB) have developed a new COVID-19 test. Those involved with the project have said that unlike the current RT-PCR test, their approach will make the use of CRISPR technology which will make testing faster (results will take around an hour) and cheaper. The team has been working on the technology for two years. It has broad applications and can be used for detecting other diseases as well. Further, since the test is visual, the scientists said that it will be easier to use and wont require too much technical training to administer. CSIR is currently waiting for clearance from ICMR and hopes to step up manufacturing after that. India to now procure rapid test kits from South Korea The ICMR told states yesterday to hold off on using the rapid antibody kits that arrived last week. Some states reported that they had an accuracy rate of just 5%. Following these events, ICMR has approached a South Korean firm, SD Biosensor, for 5 lakh rapid test kits. According to sources, the firm will provide the test kits in a week. Another South Korean company will provide a further 5 lakh test kits in the coming weeks as testing requirements rise in the country. For more information, read our article on COVID Timeline. Health articles in Firstpost are written by myUpchar.com, Indias first and biggest resource for verified medical information. At myUpchar, researchers and journalists work with doctors to bring you information on all things health. People are most interested in learning how to bake banana bread and roll pizza dough from scratch in isolation, new data from search giant Google reveals. Banana bread and homemade pizza were the recipes most searched for over the past 30 days, according to a Google Trends report which shows people have been looking up more recipes since the coronavirus crisis began than at any other time in history. Comfort food is the remedy for uncertainty, with recipes for French toast, chocolate and carrot cakes and Dalgona coffee - an indulgent South Korean drink made from coffee, milk and two enormous tablespoons of sugar - falling well inside the top 10. Simple, cheap and calorific dishes are de rigueur for life in quarantine, with fried rice and spaghetti bolognese laced with minced beef among the most searched for dinner recipes. Scroll down for video Comfort food is the remedy for uncertainty, with recipes for French toast and chocolate cakes falling well inside the top 10 most Googled recipes during coronavirus 1. BANANA BREAD Banana bread has been a much-loved treat in Australian households for decades, but the pandemic has catapulted this simple staple into kitchens worldwide as the internet's most-searched for recipe. Cheap, fast and easy to make, Facebook groups are filling up with photos of homemade loaves and tricks for making them with a handful of pantry ingredients for anyone still deprived of essentials in the aftermath of rampant panic buying. One woman shared her method for making the bread in a slow cooker with just three ingredients - five bananas, two and a half cups of self-raising flour and a tin of condensed milk. She mashed the ingredients together, poured the mixture into a loaf tin and left it to bake in a slow cooker for two hours with a tea towel under the lid to catch condensation. A much-loved treat in Australian households for decades, banana bread is officially the world's most-searched for recipe How to make banana cake in a slow cooker with three ingredients 1. BANANA BREAD Banana cake has become the world's most popular homemade desserts since lockdown began Ingredients * 250g self-raising flour * One can of condensed milk * Three very ripe, large bananas Method Step one: Sieve flour into a mixing bowl. Step two: Mash the bananas until smooth and mix in to the flour along with the condense milk. Step three: Place the mixture into a slow cooker on a high heat and leave for two hours with a tea towel under the lid. Advertisement 2. PIZZA DOUGH The top 10 most Googled recipes 1. Banana bread 2. Pizza dough 3. Hand sanitiser 4. French toast 5. Chocolate cake 6. Dalgona coffee 7. Chicken breasts 8. Carrot cake 9. Minced beef 10. Fried rice Source: Google Trends Advertisement Frozen pizzas are still readily available in supermarkets around the world, but millions are choosing to make their own instead. British restaurant giant Pizza Express revealed its in-house recipe for pizza dough on Monday, showing lovers of Italian cuisine how to make their own using flour, sugar, yeast and water. The sugar and yeast should be sifted into a bowl of warm water and left to stand for 15 minutes in a warm place, until a layer of froth develops on the surface. Flour should be added to a separate bowl. Once the froth has formed on the yeast and sugar mixture, it should be poured into the flour the flour along with a dash of olive oil. The mixture should be cupped together using lightly floured hands until firmly bound, then rolled and kneaded for 10 minutes until soft, smooth and ready to carry whatever toppings you choose. Frozen pizzas are still readily available in supermarkets around the world, but millions are choosing to make their own instead 3. HAND SANITISER Google's algorithm includes searches for DIY hand sanitiser on the recipe list, where it falls at number three. Now symbolic of the pandemic, hand sanitiser skyrocketed in scarcity after coronavirus reached Australian shores on January 25. Shortages persist, leading many to resort to making DIY solutions with aloe vera, a rubbing agent with alcohol content of more than 60 percent and essential oils to mask the harsh, acetone smell of the gel. Homemade hand sanitiser recipe Place 2/3 cup of rubbing alcohol (Isopropyl alcohol) in a bowl Add 1/3 cup of aloe vera gel and mix well Add 5-10 drops of essential oil and mix again Ensure alcohol equals to 60% of mixture Use a funnel to transfer to a liquid soap container Ensure container is tightly sealed Ethanol can be used instead of rubbing alcohol Alternative non-alcohol methods swap one tablespoon of witch hazel and half a teaspoon of tea tree oil for the rubbing alcohol Advertisement 4. FRENCH TOAST Rich, sweet and divinely indulgent, French toast is the ultimate comfort food being chosen by millions to soothe coronavirus stresses in these extraordinary times. An Instagram search of the hashtag 'French toast' conjures a veritable smorgasbord of culinary delight, with 2,273,703 photos of egg soaked bread laden with maple syrup, Nutella, strawberries, bananas and crispy bacon. Celebrity chef Curtis Stone revealed the secret to perfect French toast on his YouTube channel in September 2018. The Australian cook said sweet brioche bread covered with milk, plenty of egg and full cream butter achieves the best results. Rich, sweet and divinely indulgent, French toast is the ultimate comfort food being chosen by millions to soothe coronavirus stresses in these extraordinary times 5. CHOCOLATE CAKES Usually reserved for children's birthday parties, chocolate cakes are enjoying a moment in the sun as housebound bakers search for creative recipes in droves during lockdown. Facebook groups and Instagram feeds are littered with chocolate souffles, mousses, tray bakes, tarts and sponge cakes, the latter which Melbourne WAG Bec Judd tried her hand last Tuesday. Bec shared a video of herself baking a 'child-friendly' flourless chocolate cake with Cadbury drinking chocolate, almond meal and five eggs. Even royalty are gorging on chocolate desserts these days. Britain's Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her 94th birthday on Monday with a tray of luscious chocolate cupcakes covered in a mixture of buttercream and royal icing, with the initials E.R. - Elizabeth Regina, which means Queen Elizabeth, iced on top. Usually reserved for children's birthday parties, chocolate cakes are enjoying a moment in the sun as housebound bakers search for creative recipes during lockdown. One Irish baker made this drool-inducing chocolate cookie cake from leftover Easter eggs. 'It's literally the easiest cake in the world to make': On Tuesday, WAG Rebecca Judd baked a flourless chocolate cake with her children What is Dalgona coffee? Dalgona coffee is made by whipping equal proportions of instant coffee powder, sugar, and hot water until it becomes creamy and then adding it to cold or hot milk. It's sometimes topped with cocoa, crumbled biscuits, or honey. The indulgent drink originated in South Korea in the 1970s and was revived in January 2020 by Korean actor Jung Il-woo. Advertisement 6. DALGONA COFFEE Dubbed 'the internet's new favourite drink' by BBC Food, Dalgona coffee hit the mainstream after Korean actor Jung Il-woo shared his attempt at making the drink on TikTok in January. Laden with full cream milk, coffee and an eye-watering two tablespoons of white sugar, the indulgent beverage contains 36 grams of sugar, 40 grams of carbohydrates and a whopping 252 calories per serve, according to Good Food Australia. That's more than a Snickers bar, Mars bar or a Krispy Kreme glazed doughnut. Laden with full cream milk, coffee and an eye-watering two tablespoons of white sugar, South Korean Dalgona coffee contains 36 grams of sugar, 40 grams of carbohydrates and a whopping 252 calories per serve - more than a Krispy Kreme glazed doughnut 7. CHICKEN BREASTS Creative ways to cook chicken breasts has been the world's seventh most searched recipe since countries shuttered borders and businesses in mid March. Cheap and accessible in almost every country, chicken has become the centrepiece of pastas, stir fries and curries in households worldwide. Australians keen to get their fast food fix in lockdown have been experimenting with recipes for DIY KFC chicken dishes and sharing their creations online. One woman said her KFC-inspired chicken wraps turned out better than the original, after she recreated the popular snack with eggs, milk, chicken broth, garlic powder, salt, pepper, flour, paprika, lemon juice and mayonnaise. The home recipe even won over her fussy four-year-old before it was shared on the Mum's Who Cook & Bake Facebook page. Others made KFC style chicken wings with salt, black peppercorns, dried onion rings, garlic granules, rosemary, basil, paprika, oregano, yellow mustard seeds, thyme, tarragon and plain flour before cooking them until crispy in an air fryer. Australians keen to get their fast food fix in lockdown have been experimenting with recipes for DIY KFC chicken dishes and sharing creations like this online One woman said her KFC-inspired chicken wraps (right) turned out better than the original, after she recreated the popular snack with eggs, milk, chicken broth, garlic powder, salt, pepper, flour, paprika, lemon juice and mayonnaise 8. CARROT CAKE Carrot cake has somewhat surprisingly become one of the most searched for desserts in isolation. Time consuming and rather complex in terms of assembly and ingredients, amateur bakers blessed with more time at home than ever before are trying their hands at the recipe which creates a rich, decadent flavour if it's followed correctly. A large cake can be made with 250 grams of self-raising flour, two teaspoons of baking soda,200 grams of white sugar, 200 grams of brown sugar, four eggs, six carrots and dashes of salt, cinnamon and vanilla extract. Its best topped with a creamy frosting, which can be made from 225 grams of cream cheese, 140 grams of icing sugar, a dash of heavy whipping cream and a handful of chopped pecans for decoration. Time consuming and rather complex in terms of assembly and ingredients, amateur bakers blessed with more time at home than ever before are now trying their hands at carrot cake Make your own carrot cake For the sponge 1. Heat the oven to 180C and grease two 9-inch round cake pans, lining the bottom with parchment paper. 2. Whisk flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon until well blended in a medium sized bowl. 2. In a separate bowl, whisk the oil, sugars and vanilla. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, until combined. 3. Switch to a large rubber spatula and scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, then add the dry ingredients in three parts, gently stirring until they disappear and the batter is smooth. Stir in the carrots, nuts, and raisins. 4. Divide the batter between the prepared cake pans. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until the tops of the cakes are springy to touch or when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. 5. Cool cakes in pans for 15 minutes then turn out onto cooling racks, peel off parchment paper and cool completely. For the icing 1. Beat cream cheese with a handheld mixer on medium speed until creamy for about one minute in a large bowl. 2. Beat in the powdered sugar, a 1/4 cup at a time until fluffy. Pour in cream and beat on medium speed for one minute. Chill covered until ready to frost cake. 3. When the cake layers are completely cool, frost the top of one cake layer, place the other cake layer on top. Decoratively swirl the top of the cake with remaining frosting, leaving the sides unfrosted. Scatter nuts on top. Source: Inspired Taste Advertisement 9. MINCED BEEF With a kilo of grass-fed meat costing less than $10 in most supermarkets, it's little wonder recipes involving ground or minced beef were the ninth most popular search as the threat of recession looms large the world over. The versatile and inexpensive cut works well in pastas, pies, tacos and burgers, making it a fail safe inclusion on any quarantine menu. Photos of spaghetti bolognese and Mexican chilli loaded with minced beef have been appearing in Australian Facebook cookery groups with increasing frequency over the past month. Photos of spaghetti bolognese loaded with minced beef have been appearing in Australian Facebook cookery groups with increasing frequency over the past month 10. FRIED RICE Rounding out the top 10, searches for fried rice have soared since coronavirus was declared a pandemic on March 11. The simple dish can be made with almost any meat or vegetables, and is a great way of using up leftovers from the fridge or pantry which would only spoil otherwise. One Australian woman experimenting in the kitchen whipped up a batch of fried rice in a slow cooker from white rice, chicken stock, peanut oil, brown onion bacon and egg. Her recipe was praised by thousands after she posted it in a Facebook group, with many calling it 'genius' and 'better than any takeaway'. An Australian woman experimenting in the kitchen during isolation whipped up this tasty batch of fried rice in a slow cooker, from white rice, chicken stock, peanut oil, brown onion bacon and egg KENT COUNTY, MI It hasnt yet been possible to see how many people are infected with the coronavirus in the city of Grand Rapids, or in outlying towns like Sparta or Lowell. Thats about to change. Kent County officials plan to join a growing number of Michigan counties disclosing COVID-19 cases and deaths at the zip-code or municipality level. Were going to be presenting more granular data at that government unit level, said Adam London, Kent County health officer. I think we have a large enough number of positive COVID-19 cases now. As the climbing count of Michiganders stricken with the deadly COVID-19 disease continues to taper, data on where those people are located is getting better. In southeast Michigan, where most of the states people and cases are located, Wayne, Macomb, Oakland, St. Clair and Livingston counties, as well as the city of Detroit, are reporting cases and/or deaths at either the municipality or zip code level. Nearby Washtenaw, Genesee and Monroe counties are now also reporting zip code totals. But the transparency is not uniform. Location data becomes inconsistent outside of metro Detroit. Many counties still only report the number of infections or deaths within county borders. That also holds true for Michigan state government, which thus far only separates out the city of Detroit when reporting cumulative totals. Saginaw County is reporting case count ranges by municipality. But the Central Michigan District Health Department, which covers Osceola, Isabella, Clare, Roscommon, Arenac and Gladwin counties, is publishing only a basic case and death count. Officials there say, among other concerns, they lack the resources to offer more details. They are not alone. We do not have a staff epidemiologist to pull this data together, said Rashmi Travis, health officer for Jackson County, which only releases data at the county level. Public health and legal experts, and some officials, say the piecemeal approach reflects both a lack of resources at public health agencies and worries they might run afoul of personal privacy protection laws by disclosing information that could somehow be traced back to a particular patient. Michigan isnt the only state juggling the issue. On April 1, South Carolinas Republican governor ordered (by tweet) the states health department to begin disclosing cases by zip code. Oklahoma began disclosing cases by city this week. Nevada began reporting cases by zip code last week. Illinois is now disclosing statewide cases by zip code, but only for those with five or more cases. Municipal leaders in Kalamazoo want zip code data. City commissioner Erin Knott said she and county board chair Julie Rogers have asked the health department for better COVID-19 hotspot mapping to no avail. Both of us are stumped as to why this wouldnt be a tool to help protect our first responders and also help with resource allocation, Knott said during the April 21 county commission meeting. Most importantly, weve all heard dozens and dozens of times that we dont have enough testing so this would give us an inclination of where there is community spread. Officials in Michigan say theyve been fielding regular calls for more detailed data on where the coronavirus has been found and whom the disease is affecting. More demographic data has generally been disclosed as a result, as well as some numbers on recovered patients. In some counties, previously reluctant officials are now disclosing more location data. But others question the utility of releasing sub-county level data amid the ongoing crisis. They argue the information could have negative consequences and may undermine Gov. Gretchen Whitmers stay-home order by giving people in areas with a low number of confirmed cases a false sense of security when, in fact, the danger has not passed. One of the largest concerns about data release in Michigan has been focused on the overall dearth of testing, which likely means cases are undercounted in most areas. National evidence has also been mounting about stealth cases of infected people who show no symptoms. Related: Michigans death count isnt accurate. Is it too low, or too high? Lynn Sutfin, spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, said the state is not reporting zip-code or municipal level data because it does not provide any additional actionable information for residents. Just because someone lives in one area doesnt mean they didnt get infected or spread the virus in another jurisdiction, Sutfin said. At this time, Michiganders should assume COVID-19 is in their community and take the appropriate precautions. Kalamazoo health officials are following the states lead. This virus knows no boundaries. It does not adhere to zip code borders, said Lyndi Warner, spokesperson for the Kalamazoo County Health Department, which recorded 201 cases and 10 deaths as of April 21. The best practice for the public is to follow the governors orders, maintain six feet from others and wear a cloth face covering when in public, wash your hands, and disinfect surface areas regularly. Kalamazoo Countys case count is roughly comparable to Ottawa County in basic totals. The two counties have released identically worded public statements at different points to justify their decision to withhold zip code level data. But Ottawa officials began reporting a list of cases by zip codes on March 27 and began mapping that information on April 10. Why? Our case count has increased, said Kristina Wieghmink, spokesperson for the Ottawa County Department of Public Health. Like many Michigan counties, Ottawa has large rural areas with lower population density. Wieghmink said there was concern that demographic data such as age, race and gender could provide enough information for someone to make an educated guess about a COVID-19 patients identity in a lower population zip code. This concern was magnified by peoples usage of social media. Today, in zip codes with fewer than ten confirmed cases, Ottawas map simply indicates less than 10. Denise Bryan, health officer at District Health Department No. 2, has a similar population-based privacy concerns in her jurisdiction, which covers Iosco, Alcona, Ogemaw and Oscoda counties in northeast Michigan. The case counts up north are lower the highest in her jurisdiction is 15 cases and two deaths so far in Iosco but she worries about community spread that hasnt been detected due to a lack of testing. Related: Michigan is ramping up coronavirus testing. Thats easier said than done Despite privacy concerns, Bryan said shes working with an epidemiologist on a case heatmap of some sort although, frankly, shed prefer the state do it for centralized consistency. However, the state has similar privacy concerns. When you have a limited geography, any identifiers can lead to identification of an individual, Sutfin said. Thats why we report out on cases only as counts down to the county level. Greg Gulick, a Michigan State University professor who specializes in regulatory compliance with health care laws, thinks some of the privacy concerns may be overblown. National laws like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which restrict the release of health information that can be tied to a specific person, nonetheless allow public health agencies to exercise some discretion, he said. One of the purposes of state and local health departments is to educate the public during an emergency. A lot of times HIPAA is used as a default position, Gulick said. If they dont want to share information; dont want to make it public, they fall back on that. While some populations and case counts could be small enough to pose a legitimate privacy concern, Gulick thinks those situations are in the minority. Im failing to see how disclosing one case in a zip code of 3,000 people is going to be able to be tied back to a specific person. Oakland County was among the first in Michigan to disclose zip code level data. Bill Mullan, spokesperson for the county executive, said Oakland is trying to deliver the same public health messaging around social distancing and staying home, but with more transparency. The more information you can give your residents about how the disease is progressing in the community, the more likely they are to take and follow proper measures, Mullan said. By being transparent, its the facts backing up what youre asking the public to do. Kayte Spector-Bagdady, a lawyer and bioethics researcher at the University of Michigan, quibbled with that, suggesting empirical study is needed to determine whether providing more detailed location data actually affects behavior. Spector-Bagdady said that, until theres a vaccine developed, releasing case data by zip code could open the door to employer discrimination against people who come from zip codes with high case and death rates once restrictions on business and travel lift. Brian J. Zikmund-Fisher, a decision scientist and risk communication professor at the University of Michigan, said tracking cases by zip code would help researchers correlate the coronavirus outbreak impacts with environmental factors like air pollution, which new research indicates is likely to increase the risk of someone dying from or having severe COVID-19 symptoms. Zikmund-Fisher said there are legitimate concerns about people drawing the wrong conclusion from zip code data that might indicate a low number of cases in their area, but there are also legitimate benefits to consider, such as bolstering trust in public institutions by releasing case incidence data in an effort to fortify the argument for staying home. Providing that kind of data both increases transparency and confidence in the public health or government agencies releasing it, Zikmund-Fisher said. That confidence and trust is essential at a moment like this, when were having the government very explicitly issue orders about what is safe or not safe to so. Its also true that some of the ways in which people interpret it will be accurate and helpful, and some of the ways, absent help, may be problematic, he said. The heart of the problem is not that one side is right, and one side is wrong. They are both right. Related stories: Detroit to expand testing to any resident or essential worker with symptoms COVID-19 cases slow in Washtenaw County, but data is incomplete Fauci: If states reopen too fast, its going to backfire What happened Shares of retail holding company L Brands (NYSE:BBWI) were falling sharply on Wednesday, down 22.4% as of 1:30 p.m. EDT, after a private-equity firm that had agreed to buy the company's troubled Victoria's Secret chain filed suit to try to back out of the deal. So what In February, private-equity firm Sycamore Partners agreed to purchase a controlling stake (55%) in lingerie retailer Victoria's Secret from L Brands, in a deal that valued the chain at $1.1 billion. At the time, that was seen as something of a bargain-bin price, suggesting that L Brands really wanted to be done with the chain -- but that was before the coronavirus pandemic forced brick-and-mortar retailers to close their stores, pushing some big-name chains to the brink of bankruptcy. Now, Sycamore is having second thoughts: It filed a lawsuit in a Delaware court on Wednesday in which it asked a judge to terminate the deal. That would not be good news for L Brands, and it's why L Brands' shares are taking a big hit today. Now what Retail investors who have followed the company won't be surprised to hear that L Brands plans to fight. It said in a statement that it will "vigorously defend the lawsuit and pursue all legal remedies to enforce its contractual rights," while continuing to work toward closing the deal as previously agreed. Where does this leave investors? Watching and waiting. Stay tuned. The Ford government is appealing Februarys landmark Ontario Human Rights Tribunal pay equity decision that ordered the province to boost midwives wages by 20 per cent retroactive to 2011. If upheld by Ontario Divisional Court, the decision could mean a payout of as much as $186,000 for a midwife with 10 years of experience and cost the province as much as $135 million, according to government estimates. During a three-day hearing before the court this week, which is being held virtually due to the COVID-19 crisis, government lawyers argued the tribunal heard no evidence that sex is a factor in midwives pay. The tribunal ignored evidence that most physicians in community health centres the job midwives say is their closest pay equity wage comparator are women, they said. And the tribunal failed to consider evidence concerning the differences in training, responsibilities, patient populations and scope of work between physicians and midwives, the government argued. No matter what the court decides, the government says it cant implement the tribunals orders due to the global pandemic, the lawyers added in a separate motion to put the orders on hold. The tribunals decision, which flows from a 2018 interim finding of gender discrimination covering the provinces 963 registered midwives, means salaries could jump to as much as $130,000 from about $107,000 today, according to the Association of Ontario Midwives, which launched the pay equity case in 2013. That interim finding concluded that the midwifery profession has been chronically undervalued because it is primarily staffed by women, is concerned with providing care to women, and deals with a health-care issue associated with women. Midwives, who must complete a four-year bachelor of health sciences degree and are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, currently earn between $82,000 and $107,000 a year. Annual salaries for family physicians working in community health clinics a historic wage comparator for Ontario midwives run between $190,000 and $220,000. Last year, midwives supported 25,283 Ontario births, or about 18 per cent of all births in the province. Midwives acknowledge the predominance of female physicians in community health centres, but note that the tribunal accepted midwives view that power and decision-making within medical institutions is still dominated by men. The government is taking a very narrow and technical approach to the issue of equity and human rights (in its appeal) that really misses the spirit of human rights law, said association spokesperson Juana Berinstein. Instead of seeing the forest, they are just focusing on the trees. Since this is the first time the tribunal has heard a case of systemic and historic gender discrimination, adjudicator Leslie Reaumes ruling was most concerned about the impact of ministry funding, Berinstein added. In response to the governments motion to delay implementing the tribunals orders, midwife Elizabeth Brandeis, president of the Association of Ontario Midwives, said midwives are tired of waiting for their human rights to be recognized. The affront to our dignity, and economic and material well-being is made worse by the fact that we are being asked to do our part in the health crisis without appropriate PPE (personal protective equipment), she said. However, given the circumstances, Brandeis said midwives are prepared to delay the tribunals May 19 deadline to begin compensation to Sept. 1. The hearing concludes Thursday. WASHINGTON, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai on Tuesday cautioned against politicising the COVID-19 outbreak and the "anything-but-China" mindset. "I would call it the ABC mindset, anything but China. I'm really worried about that," Cui said during a conversation hosted by the Bloomberg New Economy Forum. As COVID-19 began to emerge outside China, including European countries, China extended a helping hand, but the country's kindness was described as geopolitically-motivated, Cui said. When China adopted new measures for quality control to make sure donated equipment met international standards, some again accused China of blocking exports of medical supplies, Cui continued, adding that behind the narrative trap is what he calls the ABC mindset. Now is the time to save lives amid the global spread of COVID-19; however, "some politicians are so preoccupied in their efforts for stigmatisation, for groundless accusations," Cui said, observing that "so little attention is paid to the views of the scientists." Noting that the virus has had such a big impact on China, the United States and the rest of the world, Cui said the two countries should think really hard about the real threats to the global community, as well as their true common interests. "So hopefully this pandemic will really teach all of us a good lesson," said the ambassador. "And China-U.S. relations could be based on a more realistic, forward-looking foundation." In response to a question on the political bickering between Washington and Beijing amid the COVID-19 spread, Cui said there should be a distinction those who are "narrowly politically motivated," and the general public in China and the United States. "I think all this stigmatization and blame games are played out by the small number of such politicians," Cui said. "But if we look at the relations between the two peoples, I think that we have had a longstanding friendly relationship." When China confronted the outbreak, "we got a lot of support and understanding from American people, American businesses, American institutions, or even individuals ... We appreciate this very much," Cui said. "And now, the United States is confronting this outbreak. There's some outpouring of donations, supplies from Chinese provinces, cities, or businesses," he said. "So I think the two peoples are still helping each other." Rapper M.I.A. has revealed that an offer for her to appear in the August issue of British Vogue has been withdrawn, following controversial tweets she made saying she would choose death over the vaccine or the chip - specifically referencing a potential coronavirus vaccine in later tweets. In her tweets, she also appeared to push a conspiracy theory that corona is in bed with science, adding that science is in bed with business. The musician shared screenshots of a message which relayed a message from the publication, which read it just wouldnt be right for her to be included in the magazine and that they need to be respectful of NHS workers on the frontline of the pandemic. Getty Images M.I.A., whose full name is Mathangi Arulpragasam, shared a message from an unknown individual, which read, Hey maya - sadly Edward/vogue has decided to withdraw the offer for vogue spread in August due to vaccination comments. From the editor: considering our August is an issue where were chronicling the struggles of the NHS to cope while a vaccine is tried to be made we dont feel we can have her involved." The statement continued, It just wouldnt be right. All of our issues July-September will be supporting the frontline health care workers and we need to be respectful of them and all they are doing until a vaccine exists British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful / Getty Images In a statement to the Evening Standard, a British Vogue spokeswoman said, "British Vogue supports the NHS and everyone on the frontline who are protecting people from the virus and saving lives everyday." She responded with a long comment saying Vogue was really being understanding and not forgetting her political activism, claiming that many peoples lives have been affected by enforced vaccines. Although M.I.A claimed she was "not against vaccines", she said she was "against companies who care more for profit then [sic] humans" and said she wanted "a choice". The musician has also commented on conspiracy theories falsely connecting 5G and coronavirus - claiming that while she didn't believe it caused coronavirus, she did believe 5G "can confuse or slow the body down in healing process [sic] as body is learning to cope...@ same time as Cov." Professor Stephen Powis, the national medical director for the NHS, has publicly branded theories connecting 5G to coronavirus "outrageous" and the "worst kind of fake news." Last month, M.I.A. posted her controversial views to Twitter which began with the tweet, If I have to choose the vaccine or chip I'm gonna choose death - YALA. YALA is a reference to her song 'You Always Live Again'. The comments prompted a strong backlash online. Medical professionals around the world are working to develop a vaccine for coronavirus, which has killed 178,096 people worldwide. There are currently 2,578,930 confirmed cases globally, with countries including the US, Italy, Spain, France and the UK hit especially hard. Another of her tweets read, You can make it without stressing the medical systems. Just breathe. You are going to be ok. You can make it through without jumping in the frying pan. You are fine. All the vaccines youve already had is enough to see you through." A few weeks after her initial tweets, she added, "I'm not against vaccines. I'm against companies who care more for profit then humans. I care for [a] better track record that proves this. I care that African countries are not always the testing ground. I don't want it coming from banks / tech /hedge fund sector and I want a choice." She also claimed that while she didn't believe coronavirus and 5G are related (a debunked conspiracy theory), she said, "I don't think it's related except for timing. The timing is orchestrated by them. Not Us. I don't think 5G gives you COVID19. I think it can confuse or slow the body down in healing process as body is learning to cope with new signals wavelength s frequency etc @ same time as Cov." In response to Vogues cancellation of her spread, she wrote, Dear vogue Thank you for really being understanding. Thank you for not forgetting that I was helping Jeremy Corbyn fight for the NHS, when everyone voted Boris. Thank you for not forgetting that I stood with Tamils when the Sri lankan government was bombing UN civilian hospitals , taking financial /career hit which ment [sic] I couldn't buy nice dresses for a long time, she continued. Thank you for not forgetting that I live to speak for immigrants who hold up the healthcare systems of the west. She continued that choice is a liberty I choose to exercise and fight for, adding that she had done research into enforced vaccines. She has previously talked about how her sons school made me vaccinate my child before the school admission, which she said was the hardest thing as she did not have choice over this as a mother. As for medical staff they have been overworked / underpaid in a system that upheld overpaid bankers and celebrities for years. Yes health deserves better breaks. They need help with child care / rent / better hours and protection and acknowledgment, and I'm very happy that this is finally happening, she said. In America they need free health care! Health care isn't and shouldn't be treated like a business. With the 4trillion bailout, they could have achieved printing out whatever they need to give people better healthcare which even Cuba has achieved even with decades of sanctions. A Marine Corps crew was, for the first time, behind an MQ-9 Reaper drone flight in the Middle East as they supported personnel on the ground from another continent. Members of Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 1 carried out a Reaper flight in an undisclosed location late last month, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., which owns the aircraft, announced last week. The Marine pilots and sensor operators from the unmanned squadron operated the aircraft from Yuma, Arizona, said Maj. Joe Reney, a spokesman for Marine Corps Forces Central Command. A contractor team in the U.S. Central Command area of operations does the launch and recovery and maintenance support on the Reaper, he added. The Marine Corps leases the MQ-9 from General Atomics to fly intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions in Afghanistan. Related: Marine Corps Wants Reaper Drone to Provide Overwatch for Helmand Until now, the company had been operating the Reaper for the Marine Corps. The aircraft have flown more than 7,000 hours for the service since September 2018, according to General Atomics. During that time, Reney said, the Marine Corps has been learning the technical, tactical and operational support procedures needed to operate the Reaper. Aside from collecting intelligence, the drone can conduct close-air support and precision strikes, do combat search and rescue flights, and provide overwatch for convoys or raids. "The MQ-9 is a very reliable and versatile platform that can be launched and recovered anywhere we have a runway and a small launch and recovery element," Reney said. Citing operational security concerns, 1st Lt. Fredrick Walker, a spokesman for 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing -- the unmanned squadron's parent command -- declined to say how many Marines are qualified to fly the Reaper. The Marine Corps has two military occupational specialties designated to operate the MQ-9, Walker said: the enlisted unmanned aircraft system operator and the UAS Marine Corps air-ground task force electronic warfare officer. The service wanted to lease Reapers to assist leathernecks advising Afghan forces in Helmand province, a hot spot for Taliban fighters. The drones, leaders told Military.com at the time, could help spot and eliminate insurgents. Operating the aircraft alongside contractors has also given Marines experience in flying a big drone as the service continues its plans for a major unmanned aircraft that can operate at 30,000 feet and conduct surveillance at sea. The Marine Corps' Reaper flight led from Yuma represents "a unique milestone" in the service's legacy of innovation, David Alexander, president of General Atomics, said in a statement. The company wants to expand medium-altitude, long-endurance flights to support future unmanned missions in maritime littoral settings, he added. -- Hope Hodge Seck contributed to this report. -- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins. Read more: President Trump Orders Navy to 'Destroy' Iranian Boats that Harass US Vessels The mans fever was spiking, reaching life-threatening temperatures. The thermometer read a dangerous 106 just before he passed out inside The Harbor, a halfway house in Newark where he currently resides. The man wasnt whisked to a hospital. EMS wasnt called. Instead, he was put back in his room, according to a fellow resident, who requested anonymity for fear of retribution. A mother whose son is also staying at Harbor house, as its commonly referred, has heard similar reports of residents with alarmingly high fevers not being treated. If someone does get a fever or faints, no one really knows what to do, the resident said, adding that there isnt a registered nurse on site. "Its just crazy. As widespread precautions are being taken to curb the spread of the coronavirus, residents at halfway houses in New Jersey facilities where prisoners nearing the end of their sentences stay to re-assimilate into society say they are a forgotten population, left with scant resources to protect themselves from the potentially fatal virus. In interviews with NJ Advance Media, six residents at four different facilities said no one is being tested on-site, even after displaying symptoms of COVID-19. They say personal protection equipment is not widely available for residents and enforcement of social distancing measures is lax. Some symptomatic residents are scared to speak up for fear they will go back to prison, the residents say. The result: We sit in the building waiting to get sick," said one resident, who resides at Kintock house in Newark. The concerns expressed by the halfway house occupants are similar to those expressed in jails and prison facilities around the state, where implementing social distancing ranges from challenging to nearly impossible. To slow the spread of the coronavirus in county jails, the state released nearly 1,000 inmates serving sentences for municipal offenses and other low-level crimes. On April 10, Gov. Phil Murphy signed an executive order to release more inmates, specifically those who are older than 60 or those with underlying medical conditions. The order includes residents at halfway houses, a DOC spokesman said. As of Monday, nine of the thousands of residents in the 14 New Jersey halfway houses contracted with the DOC have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the state Department of Corrections website. Three of those positive cases came from Harbor house residents, which is operated by The Geo Group. But those numbers dont tell the full picture. Elias Chalet, a former Bloomfield councilman who pleaded guilty to bribery in 2017, was finishing his sentence at the James A. Hemm halfway house in Newark, said his attorney, Peter Till. Chalet became sick at the halfway house on April 5 and was transported to Northern State Prison, Till said. The following day, he was taken to St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton, which is a DOC hospital, the attorney said, where he died less than two weeks later. His family believes he died of complications related to COVID-19, but they are awaiting medical confirmation. A DOC spokesperson said when a person is reassigned to a different facility by the time of death, it gets attributed to that facility. In any case, the numbers are completely accurate, the spokesperson, Matthew Schuman, said in an email. In New Jersey, its normal procedure for the DOC to release some prisoners early and turn them over to one of 14 privately run halfway houses, nearly half of which are located in Newark. These residents are still under custody but are given more freedom, such as the ability to leave the house for work. The layout at Kintocks Newark facility has 15 residential rooms that are approximately 12 feet by 35 feet and house multiple residents, a cafeteria, a common room and a gated outdoor area. There are also offices for the staff. The men and women who reside there are almost free. But new, contradictory rules to battle the coronavirus are rescinding previous privileges. Thomas Gall Jr., a 27-year-old Bound Brook native, was released April 14 from Kintock, which is run by The Kintock Group, after completing a four-year prison term for burglary. Right before he left, he said, the staff began to implement measures that included putting blue tape down on the floor, forcing residents to stand six feet apart and allowing only 10 people outside at a time. Yet dormitory rooms are crammed with 22 people and beds sit only about 4 feet from each other, Gall said. Staff members take temperatures with a broken thermometer, he said, and some people with fevers are not quarantined. They still had [them] in our rooms sleeping next to us for three days before moving them or getting them out of the facility, Gall said. Other residents at Kintock wrote letters for Gall to share with the media upon his release, expressing concern for their safety. I fear for my health, one resident wrote. I fear for my life. I fear I will never see my family again and its because of Kintock (Newark) and the NJDOC not taking proper steps to contain this virus. Kintock residents are no longer permitted to leave for work, except for some who are employed at the Wakefern food distribution center in Newark, Gall said. Some of those employees are coming back to the house with temperatures, according to Gall. Wakefern did not immediately return a request for comment. The halfway house employees are wearing personal protective gear, Gall said. But residents dont have masks and gloves, and theres only one bottle of hand sanitizer for the approximately 300 residents at the house, he said. According to the DOC website, only one resident at Kintocks Newark facility has tested positive for COVID-19. Though it is impossible to know the full scope of illness at any halfway house when New Jersey has failed to significantly increase its daily testing, according to an analysis of data by NJ Advance Media. Testing hasnt been any better at the states prisons New Jersey residents are being tested about three times the rate prisoners are. The states corrections system oversees about 18,000 inmates, but it had only tested 95 of them by Friday. The overwhelming majority came back positive, according to the departments public statistics. At halfway houses, the DOC said it has taken 12 steps to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, including enhanced sanitization and health screenings for those entering the house, it said in a statement on its website. The DOC is also suspending visitations, all inmate transfers and medically quarantining sick residents for 14 days at an unspecified regional facility. At the Harbor house, theres no testing being done at the facility but temperatures are taken twice a day, a resident said. He said staff is not sharing information with residents, and the only residents wearing masks and gloves are those lucky enough to be sent the items from family members. Barbara E. Carters son is also at Harbor house. In December, he will complete a five-year sentence for a gun charge. Carter, a Newark resident, said she has pleaded with local and state officials to send her son home. Im really, really afraid, she said in a phone interview on Sunday. My son, because its a halfway house, hes really almost home. If they would consider (releasing) all inmates that have one year or less (it would) give them at least the possibility of surviving because theyre almost home." Her son told her there are other residents with high fevers who are not being taken out of the facility. Residents at Tully House in Newark echoed similar concerns in phone interviews with NJTV News. Unfortunately, there is either a fear of being sent back to prison if you do report the symptoms, said one resident whose identity was not given. Or if you do report the symptoms, theyre not taking them very seriously. Residents reported theyre not being told if anyone has tested positive for the virus, but that they have seen some residents being quarantined at the house. The DOC website says no Tully House residents have tested positive, but it doesnt state how many of those residents have been tested. The Harbor and Tully House are both run by The Geo Group, which did not return a request for comment. Kintock residents also expressed concerns that staff isnt taking the virus seriously, even after people speak up about symptoms, like not being able to taste or smell. There is no safety concern for the residents, one resident wrote in a letter given to NJ Advance Media. To them, we are just numbers. If we get sick, oh well. NJ Advance Media reporters Blake Nelson and Joe Atmonavage contributed to this report. Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. 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. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo on Wednesday ordered residents to cover their faces in public starting next week, the latest effort by local governments to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. The new rules, which require residents 10 and older to cover their nose and mouth when outside the home, take effect Monday and last 30 days. Acceptable garments include a homemade mask, scarf, bandana or handkerchief. Medical masks or N-95 respirators are not recommended as they are most needed by first responders and health workers. Under the order, the countys 4.7 million residents must cover their faces at all times except when exercising, eating or drinking; the exemptions also include when individuals are alone in a separate single space, at home with roommates or family, or when wearing a mask poses a greater risk to security, mental or physical health. Violating the mask rules is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, though Hidalgo urged police to use discretion. Unlike previous measures announced by the city and county executives, Hidalgos mask order drew fierce, partisan rebuke, highlighting what has become a national political divide over coronavirus restrictions. Republican Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick accused Hidalgo of abusing her authority and said residents would be justified to react with anger. U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw said mask guidelines made sense, but punishments would lead us to government tyranny. Harris County Republican Party Chairman Paul Simpson blasted the rules as an unenforceable power grab. Harris County law enforcement officers, including the fire marshal and constables, will be responsible for ensuring residents and businesses comply. The unions representing officers from the Houston Police Department and Harris County deputies, however, said their members are disinclined to do so. The citizens of Harris County are working hard together through this pandemic and do not need the added stress and fear of being fined or arrested for failing to wear a mask/face covering they may not have, Harris County Deputies Organization President David Cuevas said in a statement. Houston Police Officers Union President Joe Gamaldi, a frequent critic of Hidalgos approach to criminal justice, called the order idiotic and said the draconian measure would erode bonds between officers and the community. In a statement, Gamaldi said the union had reached out to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxtons office seeking an opinion on the legality of imposing a criminal penalty or fine on someone for not wearing a face mask. The attorney general said Wednesday afternoon that police should use their discretion on duty and focus on dangerous criminals but did not limit Hidalgos authority. Employers at businesses deemed essential under Harris Countys stay-at-home order must provide face coverings and training to workers whose jobs require them to come into contact with colleagues or the public. Hidalgo has yet to determine whether to extend the stay-at-home rules, which expire April 30. Hospitalization data suggests the curve of new cases is flattening here, Hidalgo said at a news conference Wednesday. The region still is susceptible to another wave of infections, she warned. If we get cocky, we get sloppy, we get right back to where we started, and all of the sacrifices people have been making have been in vain, Hidalgo said while wearing a homemade mask. Lets not get complacent. Lets remember that we still have work to do. Hidalgo said the mask rules were spurred by her teams realization the outbreak would require a long-term health response that extends beyond the end of stay-home rules. Now Playing: 'COVID-19 in 60': Houston coronavirus news in a minute Video: Houston Chronicle Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner endorsed Hidalgos plan. He thanked residents for their sacrifices to date and said he would announce a plan Thursday to distribute 70,000 masks to vulnerable residents. Masks are a crucial tool to prevent a surge in cases as businesses and public spaces reopen, said Firas Zabaneh, an infectious disease expert at Houston Methodist. He said they also serve as a visual reminder to maintain social distancing. The public will be safer with masks on, Zabaneh said. As we ease the restrictions, more and more people are going to be interacting with each other. The Centers for Disease Control recommends wearing masks when social distancing is not possible, such as at a grocery store. Many people who have coronavirus do not show symptoms, and the disease can be spread through speaking, coughing or sneezing. Laredo on April 2 was the first Texas city to require residents to wear face coverings. Officials in Dallas, San Antonio and Austin made them mandatory last week. None of Harris Countys seven contiguous counties have enacted similar rules. The Republican leaders of Montgomery and Galveston counties said Wednesday they would not do so, though both said they supported residents who choose to wear masks. America was built upon the fabric of individual liberty and freedom, Galveston County Judge Mark Henry wrote in a statement. Its important now more than ever that we stress personal responsibility. Hidalgo responded to the criticisms by arguing most residents have supported the series of measures enacted by Houston and Harris County the past seven weeks to stifle the outbreak. First was the closure of the Houston Rodeo March 11, followed by restaurant and bar restrictions March 17 and the stay-at-home order March 24. Similar to those orders, Hidalgo said the mask rule is based on the recommendations of doctors. This is a step people understand we need to take, Hidalgo said. It follows CDC guidelines. It is responsible. It is right. Hidalgo repeatedly has noted that Houston has suffered a far milder coronavirus outbreak than other major cities, including New York, San Francisco and Seattle. Though Harris County has recorded 79 deaths, its hospitals never have exceeded their intensive care and ventilator capacities since the virus was detected here in March, and a field hospital county officials ordered built may never need to be used. Hidalgo has implored residents to heed the countys restrictions on movement and commerce, however, warning cases could spike if residents drop their guards. The county judge said rolling back restrictions would be premature before widespread testing becomes available and the virus has reached its peak here, which health experts predict will be at the end of April. Hidalgo may be unable to slowly ease restrictions in Harris County as she sees fit, however. Gov. Greg Abbott said Monday he would issue a new executive order Monday as part of his plan to reopen the Texas economy. It would override any local coronavirus measures regarding businesses reopening. The county judge struck a conciliatory tone Tuesday when asked about Abbotts potential curtailing of local rules. Hidalgo, a Democrat, so far has avoided clashing with the Republican governor. I work very closely with Gov. Abbott, Hidalgo said, noting the state had helped set up a partnership with Walgreens for testing. I think, in many ways, we are at a great place in terms of bipartisanship, particularly given the vitriol that was going on just before this crisis. I dont think this is a time to stir things up. Local leaders also face pressure to allow a return to normal life. A coalition of 350 businesses last week called on Hidalgo to ease restrictions beginning May 1, warning that many firms cannot survive additional weeks of forced closures. zach.despart@chron.com [April 22, 2020] IDC Publishes Future of Customers and Consumers Framework to Guide Enterprises Toward EmpathyAtScale In today's technology-driven world, customers and consumers have made the experience they receive from a brand a crucial aspect of any engagement or customer journey. Brands will be competing for customers and loyalty based increasingly upon the experience the customer receives, not just the product they buy. To guide organizations through this transition, International Data Corporation (IDC) has published the Future of Customers and Consumers (FOCC) framework. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005674/en/ IDC (News - Alert) Future of Customers and Consumers Framework (Graphic: Business Wire) Technology is playing a key role in the customer experience and the digital transformation of that experience. Customers are more technologically connected than ever before and now have amazing technology in their hands, on their laps, and on their desktops from phones to tablets to smart home systems, smart speakers, and wearables. And how customers are using technology is changing, which results in brands having to play the catch-up game. "In 2020 IDC expects companies to spend over $553 billion on customer experience technologies and services. The actual impact on the customer experience in a dynamic market and the resulting impact on the bottom-line revenue for a brand remains a question for many executives," said Alan Webber, rogram vice president and the global lead for IDC's Future of the Customer and Consumer research. "The customer is the most important part of any business." The Future of Customers and Consumers is characterized by the changing and shifting nature of the relationship between customers and brands through a lens or prism of technology. IDC has defined the FoCC as: An empathetic relationship between customers and brands built on what the customer wants and how they want to be treated through the technology lens of awareness, engaging, learning, and, measuring. Customers and brands both want to be understood throughout the buying/selling journey. It is that understanding that makes us human; that makes our interactions human. The future for successful brands is going to be all about employing awareness, engagement, learning, and measurement to provide what customers desire - a more human experience in a world eclipsed by technology. That is EmpathyAtScale. To learn more about IDC's Future of Customers and Consumers framework, please read Alan Webber's new blog post at https://bit.ly/2XVnhZK. The IDC report, The Future of Customers and Consumers: Defined (IDC #US46159920), introduces the future of customers and consumers and EmpathyAtScale. The report investigates IDC's concept of the future of customer and consumer next-generation customer experience, which is using technology to move beyond personalization to being able to provide empathy at scale. About IDC International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. With more than 1,100 analysts worldwide, IDC offers global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. IDC's analysis and insight helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based technology decisions and to achieve their key business objectives. Founded in 1964, IDC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of International Data Group (IDG), the world's leading tech media, data and marketing services company. To learn more about IDC, please visit www.idc.com. Follow IDC on Twitter (News - Alert) at @IDC and LinkedIn. Subscribe to the IDC Blog for industry news and insights: http://bit.ly/IDCBlog_Subscribe. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005674/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Charles Udoh, Commissioner for Information, Akwa Ibom State, in this interview with PREMIUM TIMES, speaks on a recent press statement by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Akwa Ibom State Council, which seemed like an indictment on him and the Akwa Ibom government. PT: You have seen the press statement by the NUJ, Akwa Ibom State? UDOH: I have seen it, its just unfortunate. The last time we had a press conference (to update the people on COVID-19), we carried them along. The reason why we didnt do this one (invite the NUJ leadership and several other journalists) is that the issue of social distancing was flagged by the healthcare professionals, so they advised that we minimise the number. Given, I should have explained this to Amos Etuk (the NUJ chairman), but I was caught up in the frenzy of things. PT: Why not have the briefing in a large place that can accommodate many journalists? UDOH: Large place? Like where? PT: A place that can accommodate at least up to 20 journalists, while you can still adhere to social distancing? UDOH: Nobody was prepared for this scenario, we are making plans to forestall this misunderstanding, going forward. It is a one-off (thing) and, of course, we have learned from that experience. We are going to try other options. PT: Why dont you have an email listing so that even those who dont attend press briefings could be sent? UDOH: (Cuts in) You know, what we do is that the Correspondents Chapel, for instance, has a WhatsApp group, so we go to the WhatsApp group. Having an email listing would be duplicating. Everyone (journalist) belongs to one WhatsApp group or the other. PT: We learnt there is a conflict between your office and that of the chief press secretary to the Governor, regarding who manages information about this (coronavirus)? UDOH: There is no conflict. The office of the chief press secretary is responsible for anything that has to do with the governor of the state, the office of the honourable commissioner has to do with the state, inclusive of what happens around the governor. That is why the office of the commissioner also has an oversight function. For instance, in the (Government House) press corps, every press person is a staff of the ministry of information, the chief information officer (in the Government House press corps) is a staff of the ministry of information. The truth is that because of the nature of the work, there must always be an overlap. PT: There was this press release you issued that the state government is going to take aggressive approach towards (COVID-19) testing and then later in the day what we learnt is that the SSG said something different. UDOH: (Cuts in) There is nothing different, look at the two press statements. PT: What the SSG meant is that people can call in and say they want to be tested for.. UDOH: What did I say in the press statement? PT: Yours, we learnt, gave the impression that government may likely go from house to house to run the test. UDOH: Please, read the two press statements. PT: There are lots of things written about you on Facebook, there seems to be loss of confidence between you and journalists? UDOH: Well, I am not aware of that. PT: There is a guy on Facebook. UDOH: You know a lot of people say all kinds of things and some of them are sponsored. Right now, I have a guy behind bars who slandered me. PT: Some guy wrote this on Facebook, Charles Udoh would hardly address people in two sentences without bragging.. UDOH: (Cuts in) . If somebody sits down in a beer palour and write something, I am not going to be reacting to those. If it is in a major medium then I can react. That means I would be throwing stones on every dog that barks at me.. By virtue of the fact I am a public officer it is expected that people will say those things about you. If anybody slanders me, of course, the law will take its course. Advertisements PT: We have seen a lot of people asking Governor Udom Emmanuel to come out and lead (in the fight against COVID-19), that the people have not been seeing more of him? UDOH: If it is in a credible medium, I will answer. But if it is on Facebook. See, if you have never managed a kiosk, you cannot manage a supermarket. Some guys who have not been able to manage themselves coming to advise the governor! PT: But Facebook gives people a platform to express their feelings? UDOH: Sorry, ask me something that are from credible sources. PT: Is the governor leading the fight (against COVID-19)? UDOH: This government has always said that we dont play to the gallery, the Secretary to the State Government is the chairman of the COVID-19 (Response) Team in Akwa Ibom. President Buhari is not out there in the front leading, (but) he is the president of Nigeria. How come President Buhari is not coming out too? The Secretary to the State Government is senior enough to lead the committee just like (what is happening) in the federal structure. I dont see what is wrong with that. The committee briefs the governor at every instance, the governor is up to speed with what is happening. The governor does not need to be physically there, going to sit at the border, wearing a (face) mask. PT: But his people would like to see him, there is some kind of reassurance the people have when they get to see more of their governor. UDOH: The governor has spoken with the people I think twice or so. What else would the governor do that he hasnt done? PT: And you think that is enough? UDOH: What would you rather have him do? .There is something call delegation. Leaders delegate. The chief of army staff is not in Sambisa (forest) attacking Boko Haram, he has commanders. As a leader, you dont bury your head in the trenches, once you get into the trenches youll lose the strategic focus. As a leader, you sit down and develop a strategy and use your team to implement the strategy. People have different leadership style. Who is the chairman of COVID-19 in Nigeria? Boss Mustapha (the Secretary to the Government of the Federation). Who is the chairman of COVID-19 in Akwa Ibom state? The Secretary to the State Government. PT: People expect that the private hospital in which a doctor died recently on suspicion of COVID-19 should have been shut down by now? UDOH: Have you been to the hospital today? Weve done what we need to do. READ ALSO: Now, no one was prepared for this situation. From China, to Europe, and to the United States, what everyone is doing is that you learn as situation evolves, you adjust as situation evolves. Nobody would have thought that we would need a 300-bed isolation centre, but circumstances have forced us to build it, that is what we just went to inspect today. That is why, for instance, the Akwa Ibom state government sat down and said what do we do, our children are going to sit for NECO and WAEC exams? If we allow them to stay at home for too long they would become rusty. And so we initiated the school on radio programme. We are going to start it this week. It is going to be on AKBC-Radio. PT: How about thousands of people in rural areas who dont have radio? UDOH: So, what do we do? Should we use town criers? What could we have done? If you say we should do it online, how many guys in Eastern Obolo are online? If you say we should use TV, how many people have TV set? But radio, even if you dont have it, many people can cluster around one to listen to it. PT: How about the challenge of electric power supply? UDOH: They will use battery. There are transistor radio that use battery. If one person can afford it (radio set) they can all cluster. Is it not better than doing nothing? PT: Are you satisfied with the way journalists are reporting COVID-19 in Akwa Ibom state? UDOH: I wouldnt want to judge our colleagues. One thing I would want to continuously say is that we need to look at this thing beyond individuals, beyond political lines, beyond religious lines. We need to look at this thing as something that concerns every one of us; it could be anyone the next minute. No one has complete knowledge of this thing, nobody was prepared for this. That is why I am on the street, from morning till night I am on the street because we have a responsibility. Along the line we will make mistakes. Along the line, we will take decisions that people dont quite understand. What we expect is that when people look at all that (we have done), they should say look, this decision, these guys took it in good faith. If you dont understand, ask questions, ask for clarification so that together we can win this fight. Whether I am the commissioner for information today or tomorrow, it doesnt change the fact that there is COVID-19. When we finish the (COVID-19) fight you can call for the commissioner of information to go. PT: People feel the (Akwa Ibom) government has not been sincere with their information dissemination (on COVID-19). UDOH: Can you give me specific examples? .You see, that is a fallacy of hasty generalisation. PT: How many persons have been tested (for COVID-19) so far in Akwa Ibom? UDOH: The NCDC publishes the record, we dont control that process. The tests are not conducted in Akwa Ibom state. .. I cant give you that update now because that happens on a regular basis, unless I check with the situation room. PT: The last time you had information on it, it was like how many? UDOH: Hold on. For instance, the first batch that had five cases, we sent 17 samples and then, of course, five of them came back positive. This last batch that we just did, we sent 16 samples, three of them came back positive. The NCDC supplies us test kits, we dont have the test kits. We are looking to buy but we cant find it. PT: I mean the number of. UDOH: (Cuts in) . Hold on. Hold on. I have just given you some statistics. It is what they (NCDC) give us that we use. PT: What you are saying is that the number of tests you conduct depends on the number of testing equipment they send to you? UDOH: Not really. There are a few factors that determine how people are tested. One, the number of test kits that we have. Two, when people call in the situation room, there are people, professors headed by Professor Etette who look at and profile the patients to see whether they are qualified to be tested or not. Not everyone who complains of headache, catarrh, and cough that must be tested. We dont even have the number of test kits to test everybody. And no one person can decide who gets tested, it is the committee that decides. But one of the challenges we are having is that people would call in and start playing games. For instance, somebody called in and said we should come to Eket. We sent an ambulance from Uyo to Eket, when we got to Eket, to the address the man gave, he gave us another address a different one, and after a while he laughed and cut off the call. Some call (the COVID-19 response line) to beg for money. Its a serious thing. PT: Whats the level of assistance the state government is getting from private sector in the state? UDOH: Well, we still want more. A few of them has. I dont have the details here because we keep updating them. Zenith bank has come, UBA has come, Sterling Oil has given us an ambulance and some PPE. PT: Some people believe that because we are not having many (indigenous) companies come out to support the government at this critical point is an indictment that the private sector does not really exist in Akwa Ibom? UDOH: You know, one of the things we have been saying from day one since we came here is trying to move the economy of Akwa Ibom state from being a public sector-oriented to a private sector-driven economy. Look at Lagos state, for instance. The isolation centre that they have was built for them by a bank. Yes, of course, we have private sector, we are trying to change that orientation gradually. Some of them have supported us, some of those construction companies have given as much as N10 million each. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 20:14:08|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LUSAKA, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Zambia risks losing about 400 million U.S. dollars in the tourism sector due to COVID-19, a government official said on Wednesday. Minister of Tourism and Arts Ronald Chitotela said an assessment of the impact of COVID-19 has been conducted which has revealed that about 400 million U.S. dollars may be lost in both service and non-service sub-sectors in the sector. He said the loss was due to cancellation of travels as well as the closure of hotels. "Experts have done a projection and jobs are being threatened in the tourism sector," he said during a live radio program on Hot FM. The government, he said, has not sit idle but was putting in measures to curtail the loss in the sector. According to him, President Edgar Lungu has constituted a committee to look at the challenges in the tourism sector, and the government was considering providing incentives for the sector. Enditem Doc Antle claims that he has been sleeping with an AK-47 after receiving up to 50 death threats a day since appearing on Tiger King. Antle, who owns a wildlife park in South Carolina, featured in the Netflix documentary series as a contemporary of Joe Exotic, the titular Tiger King who was jailed for 22 years for conspiring to kill opponent Carole Baskin. Speaking to the Mirror, Antle who is also known as Bhagavan said that he believes animal rights activists are behind the alleged threats. My life is threatened every day, one to 50 times, he said. People say they want to kill me, they are going to kill me, theyre going to get me. I dont know where the next crazy person is going to go. On his decision to sleep next to an assault rifle, Antle said: Im a professional cowboy. I grew up with a six-gun on my hip when I was ten years old. Thats the Wild West I grew up in so Ive always had some automatic weapons and a variety of another 50 guns in my life. I have a pistol in my pocket, another in my glove box. I travel like that all the time. Meanwhile, animal rights activist Baskin has also claimed to have been on the receiving end of death threats after appearing on Tiger King. Fox News Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume chose an unexpected tack to back up his accusations that presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is senile on Tuesday nighthe pointed to his own age and memory issues. Appearing on Fox News Tucker Carlson Tonight, Hume was asked to weigh in on host Tucker Carlsons theory that Democratic Party leaders will look to replace Biden as the partys nominee with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo over fears about the former vice presidents mental acuity. (Carlson has been pushing this prediction for weeks now.) Hume, who has repeatedly claimed that Biden is suffering from cognitive mental decline, said he thinks Democrats have to be worried about Biden. Pointing to recent gaffes in TV interviews, Hume asserted that the 77-year-old ex-veep is having a hard time keeping his thoughts together and being able to say what he needs to say. The 76-year-old longtime Fox personality then decided to use himself as an example to make the case that Biden had lost his mental faculties. I have no doubt about what the problem is, Hume continued. Im about the same age as he is and I experience the same kind of memory problems he does. I think hes senile and I dont think there can be much doubt about it. The Fox News analyst said its not necessarily crippling but it doesnt help, insisting that Biden is President Donald Trumps best hope of getting re-elected due to concerns over Bidens mental fitness. I think Donald Trump will have an uphill struggle, he added. Biden might save him by being Biden. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. (Newser) Lululemon has fired its senior global art director after he shared a coronavirus-themed shirt design widely panned as racist. The $60 shirt titled "Bat Fried Rice" from California artist Jess Sluder featured chopsticks and a Chinese takeout box marked with bat wings and the words "no thank you" in wonton font. Trevor Fleming linked to the design on his since-deleted Instagram account, where it was spotted by Kevin Huang, executive director of the nonprofit Hua Foundation. "More #COVID19 racism by linking bats (incorrect virus source; it's undetermined) with the iconic Chinese American takeout container & fried rice," Huang tweeted Sunday. He shared a screenshot of the link on Fleming's profile and tagged Lululemon for good measure. story continues below Stressing the "offensive" shirt was not its own design, the Canadian athlesiure brand soon apologized. "The image and the post were inappropriate and inexcusable and we do not tolerate this behavior," a company rep says, per USA Today. "We acted immediately, and the person involved is no longer an employee of lululemon." Citing reports of attacks against Asian Americans amid the coronavirus pandemic, social media users had threatened to boycott the brand if it didn't take swift action. Fleming has since apologized to anyone he hurt. "It is something I deeply regret" and "I commit to standing up against racist or discriminatory behavior," he tells NBC News. Sluder didn't respond to a request for comment after promoting the shirt with the hashtag #humornothate. (Read more Lululemon stories.) Union Ministry of Home Affairs issues orders to extend lockdown beyond May 4, by two weeks in order to contain the coronavirus spread mainly in the red zones of the districts. As India remains in lockdown for over a month, the total number of cases reported in the country crosses 36,000 and death toll exceeds 1,200 according to DH's tally. Meanwhile, the government has announced that there will be considerable lockdown relaxation in many districts in the country from May 4. Just a matter of weeks ago, a trip to your local supermarket or a stroll around your neighbourhood were just a few of the many activities that filled our time. Daily outings which were once part of the fabric of our everyday lives have become trips fuelled by trepidation as life has slowly started to resemble a dystopian parallel universe. While weve got Covid-19 to thank for that, an item that might make your daily outing a touch more bearable is a face mask. Unlike Los Angeles - which has implemented a compulsory mask-wearing policy for anybody who leaves their homes - Britain isn't under instruction to wear masks, although scientists have urged the public to wear homemade masks when they leave their homes in order to halt the spread of coronavirus. The method below is the brainchild of Lydia Higginson, who recruited a group of London seamstresses over Easter bank holiday to make face masks for Single Homeless Project, a charity working to prevent homelessness in the capital and to help vulnerable and socially excluded people to transform their lives. The team of women ended up making 500 masks. One such woman who joined Higginson in her efforts was Susanna Wen, co-founder of sustainable fashion brand Birdsong, who has since made masks for her family in Ipswich, her neighbours and their children. "I'm really glad to have been able to do my bit while I've been feeling pretty useless," Wen states. "It does take some time to make them, but I've been enjoying it." And luckily for you while there might well be a worldwide shortage of surgical masks making your own DIY masks for personal use couldnt be easier. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to whip one up using what you already have at home. What material should you use for a DIY face mask? Researchers at Cambridge University found that cotton T-shirts and cotton pillowcases are the best at-home materials for making DIY face masks, due to their ability to capture small particles yet remain breathable. Before choosing precisely which cotton item to use to construct your mask, consider the recent study which found that most effective masks were constructed of two layers of heavyweight quilters cotton with a thread count of at least 180. Consider old high-quality pillowcases, heavy cotton t-shirts, or a thick cotton bandana, all of which will work perfectly. What do you need to make it? Cotton material of your choice: bandana, handkerchief, or tightly woven cotton fabric about 18"-20" square. Two hair ties, rubber bands, or strips of cotton fabric Tools Scissors Optional: fabric glue To make the mask Lay the or piece of fabric flat. Fold the top and bottom inward to meet in the middle. Then, fold the bandana in half again. There will be four layers of fabric. Use two hair ties to create ear loops. Slip one hair tie over each of the ends. Slide the hair ties a few inches toward the middle of the folded bandana. Fold the ends of the bandana in to meet in the middle. You want the ends to overlap slightly, so you can tuck one end into the other. This will help keep the ends secure. Wear the mask with the smooth side out and the ends against your face. When do you need to wear a mask? Farewell fish: The struggle of coastal communities in Costa Rica to catch the fish that got away by Cesar Arroyo April 22,2020 | Source: Voice of Guanacaste Yesterday we went fishing cabrilla and we took out of the water fourteen. At the end I sold eight, I went to Samara to sell the rest and nothing. We earn about eight thousand colones each and with this situation, without money, there are no markets, all the restaurants are closed: this is not good at all. When Sergio Jiron told me that a few days ago in a WhatsApp audio, the pandemic caused by the Covid-19 was already beginning to close down and close everything in the way: beaches, borders and restaurants. Sergio, or Chejo as everybody knows him on Samara beach, is 65 years old and earns a living by fishing with his lungs. Just three weeks ago I was with him on a day of fishing so he can tell me about the consequences of climate change in his daily work.None of us who set sail that Friday in late February knew what was coming. A coronavirus spreads around the world at high speed to further complicate the picture for Chejo and his peers in Costa Rica. For years, Chejo and his crew face increasingly warmer and fishless waters. In coastal communities like this one, the fishing trade is combined with agriculture, livestock and more and more with tourism, but they continue to depend largely on what the sea provides. So far, many discussions about fishing in the country focus on approving trawling or not and granting new permits for fishermen. While that happens, the ocean water warms up. Within 30 years, studies say, it will offer less than half the resources to this group of four men who drag their fishing gear. Look how awful this season has been for us, from last year to now, Chejo was saying a little bit ago. Chejo believes that the warming of the waters causes the fish to move to colder areas, so they have to dive much deeper to find them. Dive, yes, because they fish with spearguns. Imagine that we have been diving to 22 meters (72 feet) deep to see what we find. Before, there was fish at eight or 10 meters (25 to 30 feet), here along the shore, everywhere. Now there is nothing, he laments. Marviva Foundation biologist Gustavo Arias agrees with Chejo. Although there are no national studies on the impact of climate change on fish migration, there are projections worldwide and some data for the Eastern Tropical Pacific, the area that extends from California to Ecuador and includes Costa Rica. What the model that [the researchers] used predicted is that within a few years, 2050, something like that, the catches of some species of commercial interest (such as tuna) will decrease by up to 60% in the tropical areas and will increase from 35% to 40% towards the more temperate zones, emphasizes Gustavo. Gustavo concludes that facing this panorama of large fish migrations, local communities in coastal areas should take advantage of the tourism, biological and ecological value they have. In the context we are in, responsible tourism is one of the alternatives that needs a greater injection from the state, mainly support for how to carry out these activities, the biologist adds. 2018 Voz de Guanacaste Theme(s): Fisheries Resources. Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador prefers that the country's cartels do their part in bringing an end to the ongoing drug violence instead of helping out the poor who have been impacted by the coronavirus crisis. The leftist president blasted the violent criminal organizations' popular practice of barnstorming across underdeveloped neighborhoods and providing basic foods and sanitary supplies to its residents. 'It is something that happens, it cannot be avoided,' Lopez Obrador said Monday during his daily press briefing. 'I don't want to hear them saying, ''we are handing out aid packages,'' he added. 'No, better that they lay off, and think of their families, and themselves, those that are involved in these activities and who are listening to me now or watching me.' Purported Gulf Cartel members pose with residents from Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, where they delivered aid to the country's poor Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he hopes the country's deadly cartels will put more effort into stopping violence instead of assisting the poor population by donating food and sanitary supplies It is common to see masked cartel members showing up unannounced in heavily armed pickup trucks and SUVs and handing out bags and boxes to the underprivileged, especially during Christmas. The same criminal syndicates, who have played a role in a war that has left more than 250,000 people dead since the government decided to confront them with the military 13 years ago, make it their responsibility to take on food drives when the poor are impacted by natural disasters. As the Mexican government puts preventive measures in place to combat the spread of the ravaging coronavirus pandemic, leaders of some notorious cartels have decided to look after the poor population, who have been directly affected by the economic crisis brought forward by the coronavirus. As of Wednesday, the government's health ministry reported 857 deaths and 9,501 confirmed coronavirus cases. During the last two weeks, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and its rival Gulf Cartel delivered boxes and bag filled with rice, beans, cooking oil, non-perishable foods in cans and rolls of toilet paper and other wellness products. The charitable contributions were documented on video and quickly shared across social media before eventually piquing Lopez Obrador's attention. A man delivers aid provided by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel to the poor residents of a town in the central Mexican state of San Luis Potosi. Some criminal organizations have distributed food and supplies, such as sanitizers and toilet paper, to low income dwellers impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak that has affected Mexico's economy A San Luis Potosi resident shows off the bag of supplies she received from alleged members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel Since entering office in December 2018, Lopez Obrador has critiqued his predecessors for the way they tackled the country's criminal syndicates. The president has called for investing more in social programs that can lead to job creation, scholarships and job training to curtail the amount of recruits available to the cartels. He even declined United States President Donald Trump's offer to use military force in capturing the cartel members who allegedly massacred nine Mexico-United States dual citizens who lived in am isolated Mormon community in northern Mexico. 'I don't rule out that there are people in the gangs who are becoming conscious, because I don't think you can spend your life always watching your back, worrying about another gang, going from one place to another, because you could get eliminated, that is no life at all,' Lopez Obrador said. YEREVAN, APRIL 22, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Finance informs that a total of 1 billion and 32 million drams has been donated to the Armenian government for its anti-coronavirus efforts, ARMENPRESS reports the government said. The treasury account (900005001947) was opened on March 17th for citizens and organizations willing to make donations. The government said a total of 3871 payments were made since. Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan This article is part of the Free Speech Project , a collaboration between Future Tense and the Tech, Law, & Security Program at American University Washington College of Law that examines the ways technology is influencing how we think about speech. This week, Facebook found itself at the heart of another debate over free speech when it decided to clamp down on the anti-lockdown rallies brewing on its platform. Protesters across the country have used Facebook to organize groups such as Michiganders Against Excessive Quarantine and End the Lockdown PA, first to vent, then to coordinate in-person gatherings against the coronavirus shutdown orders that have shuttered most businesses in the U.S. The protesters view the lockdowns and Facebooks latest move as infringing on their civil liberties. Advertisement Facebook said that it plans to take down certain posts on anti-lockdown protests created with the Events feature, and on Monday, it removed posts in California, Nebraska, and New Jersey. (Posts on its News Feed or group pages may not be removed, the company told CNN.) We remove the posts when gatherings do not follow the health parameters established by the government and are therefore unlawful, a Facebook spokesperson told Politico. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Facebook determined which posts to remove by consulting with individual states and their social distancing policies. (The states did not ask Facebook to take down the content, Politico reported.) Facebook told CNN that it is working to discern whether anti-lockdown protests are prohibited in New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, all of which are currently being targeted for protests by a trio of far-right, pro-gun activists. Advertisement Advertisement The decision aligns with Facebooks newly aggressive approach to misinformation amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has included growing its fact-checking program, removing content that spreads dangerous information about the pandemic, and notifying users if they have interacted with harmful misinformation. While other social media companies, such as Twitter and WhatsApp, have also expanded their misinformation policies to combat the current infodemic, Facebook appears to be the first to remove content that promotes in-person organizing. But this move has proved far more contentious than nixing hoaxes. Its sparked a dispute over whether its acceptable for a private company to have control over a digital public square and prompted criticism from some civil liberties organizations and conservative figures, including Donald Trump Jr., who called the move chilling and disturbing. Sen. Josh Hawley equated it to free speech now being illegal, and Dan K. Eberhart, a conservative businessman and commentator, argued on Twitter that it violated Americans constitutional right to assembly. Vera Eidelman, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Unions speech, privacy, and technology project, said that Facebook shouldnt be censoring political speech online. Advertisement Why is @Facebook colluding with state governments to quash peoples free speech? Regardless of what you think about the lockdowns or the protests against them, this is a chilling & disturbing government directed shutdown of peoples 1st Amendment rights. Very dangerous! https://t.co/rnG09TSVhI Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) April 20, 2020 Advertisement Advertisement For many on the right, this has only become further evidence of anti-conservative bias in the tech industry. Given Big Techs history of bias and censorship, Im deeply concerned that they and government officials are partnering not to protect public health, but to shut down views with which they disagree, Sen. Ted Cruz said in a statement. Now, more than ever, companies like Facebook should focus on connecting people, not shutting down communities because they hold different views. Alex Marlow, the editor of Breitbart News, summed up the sentiment at its most extreme when he called Facebooks actions truly Orwellian. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Yet, despite the pushback, Facebooks decision appears so far to be one of the companys more straightforward approaches to removing content. Rather than deciphering factual accuracy or what constitutes potential for imminent physical harm, Facebook is drawing the line on freedom of expression in a clear-cut way: Its using state executive orders. (In Nebraskas case, that order was issued by a Republican governor.) While the question of reopening the country has increasingly become a partisan issue, with Trump advocating to LIBERATE states, states with both Democratic and Republican governors remain under strict lockdown. And if anti-lockdown protests are prohibited under their rules, Facebook has shown a new willingness to act. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. CLEVELAND, Ohio - When Laurie Torres talks about her workers, she never uses the word 'employees'. It's always 'family.' So making sure her restaurant - Mallorca in downtown Cleveland - comes back stronger than ever remains a serious priority. It comes from a fighting spirit in her that never wanes. Torres, a lawyer, bought the restaurant in 1997, set up her then husband to operate the business, and helped Mallorca get up and running. She put the beginning bricks in place: Legal work, human-relations, staffing. Then, a few years ago, her husband left her. Suddenly, Torres was left facing a pile of debt, an eviction notice and a decision: Do I keep the restaurant going? "It was a big choice for me, to say whether I wanted to do it or not," she said. "What made me want to do it was feeding the staff." Torres tackles debt the way a seafood lover would ravenously devour a plate of camarones in her Spanish- and Portuguese-themed restaurant. She used personal money to pay her 15 employees, something she says if she has to, she'll do again. That persistent spirit continues to drive her. "These people have put their heart and soul into this restaurant. This restaurant is their house, this is their home. How do you say no to that? You can't." And she's not saying no now. She likens the workers to "captains of a ship with no captain. It was hard. It's been a really tough three years recreating this business that is a wonderful restaurant. But I always say it's harder to rebuild a business than it is to build a business because youre starting from negative when you're rebuilding." Mallorca, she said, has a soul "made up of all the joy that people have celebrated there for 24 years. The soul is made up of people who work there. When people ask me 'Will Mallorca survive?' I always say Mallorca will survive. We won't survive because of loans from the government or deep pockets because mine are pretty much empty at this point. We'll survive because of the people who work there who love the house, we'll survive because of our love for the city." Those survival instincts kicked in not long after the governor issued the restaurant-shutdown order March 15. Her first reaction was feeling melancholy. She tried takeout briefly, then closed the restaurant. "First of all, I understood it. My father always taught me when I was growing up, the most important aspect we have is empathy because we are here to love each other and lift each other up," Torres said. "If it was necessary for us to take care of each other, I understood it, but at the same time I remember the day after going down and cleaning the refrigerator, preparing the restaurant to be closed. I walked out that day and sat in the car and started sobbing." Mallorca has never closed for more than one day - Christmas. So it's understandable when she says "It was a lot like walking away from your child and going 'I'll be back when I can.' It was difficult." What is clear to Torres is the future. As many people in the industry have said, landscape will be drastically different because of a combination of factors, she said. Thin profit margins that restaurants hang on to are not conducive to paying back small-business loans in two years. Then there are the financial dynamics of the business. "The economy is going to change; the prices will have to come down," she said. "I have already made adjustments on my menu. People will not want to pay outlandish fees. They'll still want to go out and they'll still want to celebrate, but they'll be conscientious of money. They will realize how volatile and how delicate your financial situation is." Add to that a saturation of eateries in Cleveland, and it's a recipe that will be tough to digest. "Our country is based on the small business. Thats what the dream is, the little guy going 'Hey, I have this talent, and I'm going to go out and use it.' That's what our country is built on. It's a shame because it's is going to tear away at that. And the restaurant business is going to be affected a lot." With other service-based businesses like legal work, she said, you can go without business and then catch up. But if a restaurant has been shut down you're in a hole, and climbing out means forking over a lot of money for startup costs. "All of a sudden we haven't been open, I have to go out and buy thousands of dollars of food. Thats expensive." She says estimates of closures being in the 25 to 30 percent range are probable. But she reserves her optimism for places like Blue Point Grille or Johnny's and her own - places people know. Newer restaurants without the reputation will have a tougher time, she said. Through it all she isn't losing sight of the road ahead. On the positive side, her recently married daughter and son-in-law are living with her during the crisis. But she will not stop thinking of Mallorca's soul - its workers. "That's my family, those people are my family, I want them to be OK," she said. "It's going to be hard. We're all going to need to be there for each other." RELATED COVERAGE: Service industry in crisis Laid-off workers share job loss experiences Workers maintain positive outlook despite job losses, challenges Laid-off workers rely on each other for support, inspiration Parking valet Richard Rivera finds positive ways to deal with coronavirus stress [April 22, 2020] Bright Horizons EdAssist Solutions Launches Low-Cost Education for Employers to Offer Workers Furloughed as a Result of the COVID-19 Pandemic Bright Horizons (NYSE: BFAM) EdAssist Solutions today announced a new educational benefit program that enables employers who have had to furlough workers due to the coronavirus pandemic to offer affordable education opportunities so employees can continue to enhance their career skills while on furlough. Free for employees, this employer-sponsored program provides self-paced, online courses in partnership with StraighterLine and with assistance from McGraw-Hill Education. It builds on Bright Horizons EdAssist Solutions' outskilling services that support career transitions including how to manage your money, education, and career through times of uncertainty. "The economic fallout from the pandemic has resulted in the displacement of millions of workers. But it also presents an opportunity to re-invest in those who have been furloughed, to ensure that they are equipped for higher wage roles - and career advancement - when the economy recovers," said Patrick Donovan, SVP of Bright Horizons EdAssist Solutions. "Increasing access to affordable education is a great way for businesses to support and stay connected with furloughed workers, while ensuring the business is well-positioned to tackle critical skills gaps in the future." Research from the Bright Horizons 2019 Working Learner Index shows that employers who deploy education benefits are more likely to retain engaged and loyal workers. This expands to the unexpected furloughed population, where employers are looking to stay engaged, maximize return-to-work rates and add valuable skills for furloughed employees during this downtime. Donovan adds, "Another option for employers to support their current and furloughed employees during this time is to contribute on a pre-tax basis to their employees' outstanding student loan debt. This new pre-tax treatment of student loans was added to the existing pre-tax treatment of tuition payments through the CARES Act. We are uniquely positioned to help employers since Bright Horizons EdAssist Solutions has been supporting both student loan and tuition programs in this way." Bright Horizons provides workplace employee services to more than 1,100 employers across the world, including education benefits like education assistance program development and management, education advising, and student loan repayment programs available to over 7 million client employees. For more information please visit https://www.brighthorizons.com/edassist-solutions. About Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. Bright Horizons is a leading global provider of high-quality child care and early education, back-up care, and workplace employee services. For over 30 years, Bright Horizons has been a champion for working families, designing and providing innovative solutions to help families, employers, and their employees better address the challenges of balancing work and family life. Operating approximately 1,100 child care centers in the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Canada and India, and serving more than 1,150 of the world's leading organizations, Bright Horizons' child care centers, back-up child and elder care, tuition program management, education advising, and student loan repayment programs help employees succeed at every life and career stage, both at work and at home. For more information, go to www.brighthorizons.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005207/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] China is profiting from the coronavirus outbreak after creating the bug in a lab, says White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy director Peter Navarro. Branding the outbreak the 'Wuhan virus', Navarro appeared on the Hannity show on Fox News Tuesday evening, blaming the Chinese for the creation on the novel coronavirus and accusing them of hiding the outbreak from the rest of the world, furthering its spread. He called the process 'the four kills' and said China is now looking to make a profit from the outbreak by price gouging on drastically-needed medical supplies. Navarro's comments support a conspiracy theory that coronavirus did not first transmit from animals to humans in a wet market in Wuhan the world's first outbreak hotspot but was man-made in a Wuhan laboratory. American intelligence services have reportedly launched a full-scale investigation into the lab. Scroll down for video White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy director Peter Navarro told Fox News Tuesday that he believed the novel coronavirus was created in a lab in Wuhan, China Researchers work in a lab of Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in Wuhan. The lab has been at the center of a conspiracy that say the coronavirus outbreak originated here and not in a wet animal market as first claimed. The Chinese have denied all claims it was created at the lab 'The Chinese might call it the four kills,' Navarro said as host Sean Hannity asked about the Wuhan lockdown. 'They spawned the virus, probably in that ... lab right there in China and then they hid it behind the shield of the World Health Organization. 'What that did over a six-week period is allow hundreds of thousands of Wuhanians basically to get on aircraft and seed the world,' Navarro continued. 'While they were doing that, and this is just disgusting -- what they did was they vacuumed up all of the world's masks, gloves, goggles, personal protective equipment, two billion masks. 'That's why in Milan, New York and other places, our people didn't have them. And now, Sean, you know what they're doing?' he asked. 'What they're doing is profiteering from this crisis, charging ... for a 50-cent mask, $3, $4, $5 and more and sending us counterfeit tests.' Navarro is the policy coordinator for the Defense Production Act, a Korean War-era law invoked by the president and giving the power to order up products, block exports and claim goods made overseas by subsidiaries of American companies It left Navarro tasked with marshaling American industry to procure face masks, ventilators and other products hospitals need in their fight against the coronavirus. 'I'm working on the supply chain to make sure Americans on the front lines have the PPE and medicines they need and we're going to have to bring those supply chains home right back to America,' said of his role but warned that 'China must be held accountable' when the pandemic is over. He also criticized the 'fake news media and national Democrats' who he says are looking to blame only President Trump for the outbreak. Trump advisor Peter Navarro told Fox News Tuesday China must be held accountable for hiding the outbreak and for pushing up prices on supplies when the pandemic is over Navarro pushed a conspiracy theory that the novel coronavirus was created in a Chinese lab and not transmitted to humans from animals in an interview with Sean Hannity on Tuesday 'That's the four kills, the killing of Americans and people internationally. What is puzzling to me is why the mainstream media and the national Democrats don't get that,' he said. Navarro then mentioned a recent Pew research poll that showed that two-thirds of Americans say they have an unfavorable view of China. 'The Pew poll that came out today was the most stunning affirmation of President Trump's leadership,' Navarro said. 'Over 90 percent of Americans see China as a major threat, over 70 percent have an unfavorable view of China. 'It's across party lines and I can't help but think of the 9 percent that don't see China as a threat, they are the commentariat over at the fake news media and national Democrats like Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden who basically don't want to blame anybody [but] Donald Trump for this Wuhan virus. 'We're going to have hold China accountable when this is all over.' Since an outbreak of the novel coronavirus emerged in the city in December, the Wuhan Institute of Virology has been at the center of conspiracy theories which suggest that the bug originated there. The P4 laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China, which is at the center of coronavirus conspiracy theories which suggest that the bug originated there Researchers work in a lab of Wuhan Institute of Virology. China has denied speculation that the pathogen originated inside the lab but US government agencies are said to be investigating While scientists believe that the virus jumped to humans from wild animals sold as food in a market in Wuhan, conspiracy theorists promote different assumptions. Some of them claim that the virus, formally known as SARS-CoV-2, could be a biological warfare weapon engineered there. Others suspect that it escaped from the lab. American intelligence services have reportedly launched a full-scale investigation into the lab over claims that scientists there allowed the novel coronavirus to escape as part of a botched experiment, leading to a global pandemic. China has denied speculation that the pathogen originated inside the Wuhan Institute of Virology lab, though US government agencies are now said to be piecing together a timeline of what authorities in Beijing knew so as to 'create an accurate picture of what happened'. Sources told Fox News on Friday that American analysts will present their findings 'in the near term' to President Trump, who will then huddle with aides in order to determine how to hold China accountable for the pandemic. The American intelligence sources told Fox News that analysts in Washington have ruled out the theory that the coronavirus was engineered by Chinese scientists as a bioweapon. Experts note that the genome mapping of the virus indicates that there were no genetic alterations made to it. US sources told Fox News they believe that 'patient zero' became infected with coronavirus as it was being studied inside the lab. The infected person then is believed to have spread the virus throughout the city and onwards. The broad scientific consensus holds that SARS-CoV-2, the official name of the coronavirus, originated in bats. The Wuhan lab is China's only bio-safety level four (BSL-4) facility, and has long been eyed with suspicion as scientists try to determine how the deadly virus crossed over into humans. However, suspicion of the lab was quickly dismissed as a 'conspiracy theory' by some who insisted, like the Chinese leadership, that a wild animal market must have been the source. Although the earliest confirmed case in Wuhan was a person who had no connection to the Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market, Chinese officials quickly pinned the blame on the market, a talking point that was eagerly repeated by the World Health Organization. Germany gave the green light for human trials of potential coronavirus vaccines developed by German biotech company BioNTech, which is racing teams in Germany, the U.S. and China to develop an agent that will stop the pandemic. The trial, only the fourth worldwide of a vaccine targeting the virus, will be initially conducted on 200 healthy people, with more subjects, including some at higher risk from the disease, to be included in a second stage, German vaccines regulator the Paul Ehrlich Institut said on Wednesday. BioNTech said it was developing four vaccine candidates under a programme named BNT162 with its partner, pharma giant Pfizer. Tests of the vaccine were also planned in the United States, once regulatory approval for testing on humans had been secured there. BioNTech, which awarded the rights in China to BNT162 to Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical under a March collaboration deal, is competing with Germany's CureVac and U.S. biotech firm Moderna in the race to develop messenger-RNA vaccines. These molecules act as recipes that instruct human cells to produce antigen proteins, which allow the immune system to develop an arsenal against future coronavirus infections. Moderna started testing its experimental vaccine on humans in March. Two different experimental coronavirus vaccines were approved for human tests by China last week. A unit of Sinovac Biotech and the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products are developing these compounds. In March, China gave the green-light for another clinical trial for a vaccine candidate developed by the Academy of Military Medical Sciences and biotech firm CanSino Bio . Search Keywords: Short link: One striking feature of the Covid-19 pandemic is how old-fashioned the measures for containing the spread of the virus are. As throughout history people are kept apart from one another, many being confined to their home. Even when these restrictions are lifted, the freedom to travel as before could be curtailed for some time to come. Hong Kong has escaped the worst of the virus, and, while there is no ban on foreign travel, public health officials have, as far back as early February, been asking people to avoid travelling for the rest of the year. Many are now resigned to not leaving the city again in 2020. After at least one month of lockdown in many countries, populations and governments alike are hoping to ease restrictions soon. Whether countries are fully prepared to allow people to mingle again is another matter. While lockdowns work to slow the spread of the virus, they appear to be less effective at eradicating it. The virus spreads within locked-down households and there may be a hidden deluge of cases lurking behind closed doors. Wuhan changed tack early in its lockdown to centrally quarantine infected citizens, with eventual success. By contrast, Italy, after more than six weeks of lockdown, is still recording 2,000-3,000 cases per day, which is a fertile base for a massive second wave. Western governments understand the importance of testing, even while they are hampered by the availability of tests and by lab capacity. Few though appear willing to talk about quarantine, which, as Asian countries have shown, is an effective means of ridding ones territory of the virus. Exceptions to the rule Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo is a rare exception in the West, last weekend outlining the citys plan for the next stage, including 14-day quarantine in hotels for mild Covid-19 cases. There are few others prepared to mention it though, possibly because they expect their populations to bridle at the prospect, likening it to a spell in prison. Story continues One of the reasons holidays are off the table for people in Hong Kong is not because they are illegal but because, even if they were to visit a relatively unaffected place like Taiwan, they would face 14 days of quarantine on either end. Restrictions on cross-border travel, long gone from many parts of Europe, have reappeared during the pandemic and they are likely to endure, not least because countries are at different stages of their containment and some may well be less successful than others in the long run. Whatever the desire of people to see the world again after months of confinement, in the absence of a vaccine, national governments may not want to jeopardise their own containment efforts by admitting visitors from countries judged to be at risk. At the more optimistic end of things, domestic tourism might be possible by the end of the summer, to pick up some of the slack for a heavily disrupted industry. But that too may depend on the publics willingness to venture out. Azerbaijan's Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov has attended the informal video conference with the participation of several OPEC+ countries, the ministry told local media. According to the ministry, the current state of the world oil market and the implementation of commitments since May have been discussed at the conference. During the discussions, Shahbazov called on other oil producers outside the OPEC+ format to make commitments. OPEC+ is fulfilling a historic mission and has made relevant commitments. Now oil producers outside the OPEC+ should actively join the process and take their commitments, the minister said. his time quotas on the limitation of oil production by OPEC and non-OPEC countries concern only the production volume of crude oil, the volumes of condensate are not taken into account in these obligations. The daily production of crude oil in Azerbaijan amounted to 718,000 barrels in October 2018. Azerbaijans obligations envisage the reduction of daily crude oil production in May-June by 23 percent 164,000 barrels, in July-December - by 18 percent 131,000 barrels, from January 2021 through April 2022 by 14 percent 98,000 barrels. In accordance with its obligations, Azerbaijan must maintain daily crude oil production in May-June 2020 at the level of 554,000 barrels, in July-December 587,000 barrels, from January 2021 through April 2022 620,000 barrels. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Denmark will not allow public gatherings to exceed 500 persons until at least Sept. 1, the Danish health ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. The statement contradicted earlier media reports, which said the government would allow larger public gatherings from May 10. A current upper limit on public gatherings of 10 people is in effect until May 10. (Reporting by Nikolaj Skydsgaard; Editing by Alex Richardson) In a deeply fractured opinion, the Supreme Court held on Monday that states must rely on unanimous juries to obtain criminal convictions. (Oregon and Louisiana had previously allowed nonunanimous juries to convict individuals.) The opinion reveals different divisions among the justices, including about when to adhere to the courts prior opinions. But perhaps the most revealing division was about how and when to talk about racial bias in law. The nonunanimous jury rule at the core of Ramos v. Louisiana has transparently racist origins, which Justice Neil Gorsuch detailed in the majority opinion, joined in most respects by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Brett Kavanaugh. Louisianas rule was adopted at an 1898 constitutional convention together with a package of other reforms with the shared purpose of excluding black Americans from the United States political system: a poll tax, a literacy and property ownership test for voting, and a grandfather clause that exempted many white residents from the requirements. One committee chairman explained that the purpose of the convention was to establish the supremacy of the white race. As Sotomayor wrote separately to underscore, the nonunanimous jury rules have a sordid history: the legacy of racism that generated Louisianas and Oregons laws. Kavanaugh echoed this claim in his own separate writing: The convention approved non-unanimous juries as one pillar of a comprehensive and brutal program of racist Jim Crow measures against African-Americans. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This language acknowledging this history outraged the dissentersJustice Samuel Alito, Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justice Elena Kagan. Alitos dissent claimed that the talk of racism was getting in the way of pure legal reasoning. Too much public discourse today is sullied by ad hominem rhetoric, that is, attempts to discredit an argument not by proving that it is unsound but by attacking the character or motives of the arguments proponents. The majority regrettably succumbs to this trend. The dissent maintained that all the talk about the Klan, etc., is entirely out of place and failed to set an example of rational and civil discourse instead of contributing to the worst current trends. For the dissenters, the act of pointing out the rules unmistakable racist originsof accusing the state of being racistwas worse than the sordid, racist history itself. Advertisement Advertisement This is not the first appearance of this division between justices who are willing to grapple with race and racist history and those who are not. The justices have been divided on this issue in important voting rights cases as well as in criminal procedure. Take, for example, Shelby County v. Holder, where a conservative majority of the court invalidated a provision of the Voting Rights Act that required certain states (mostly in the South) with particularly grotesque histories of racial discrimination to pre-clear changes to their voting laws with the federal government. With no discussion of the violent and extraordinary measures that states deployed to prevent black Americans from voting, the conservative majority referred to that past with this sanitized language: The conditions that originally justified these measures no longer characterize voting in the covered jurisdictions today. Nearly 50 years later, things have changed dramatically, Roberts wrote. The dissent, by contrast, engaged with the racist history, and acknowledged it as racist history, to explain why the act should be kept intact. The blight of racial discrimination in voting, Ginsburgs dissent argued, proved hard to stamp out: Early attempts to cope with this vile infection resembled battling the Hydra. Whenever one form of voting discrimination was identified and prohibited, others sprang up in its place. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Acknowledging racism and racist history is not just symbolically important. The history is, after all, a part of our past; failing to grapple with it omits important context to legal disputes. Oftentimes, the history will be legally significant: Under modern constitutional doctrine, a statute with a racially discriminatory purpose will violate the equal protection clause even though the same statute, if enacted for a nondiscriminatory purpose, would be perfectly constitutional. So excavating the history and purpose behind a state law is part of constitutional analysis. Context and history can also shed light on current disputes: In Shelby County, the history of violent and extensive disenfranchisement of racial minorities helped to explain the significance of modern laws that disproportionately burden racial minorities. It was why, Ginsburg memorably explained, invalidating the pre-clearance regime was like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet. Advertisement Advertisement In Ramos, the historical origins of the nonunanimous jury provided important context to the operation of the rule today. For a variety of reasons, juries tend to underrepresent racial minorities. The nonunanimous jury rule effectively deprives minority jury members of a say in the verdict in criminal cases when the criminal justice system produces grave racial disparities. Advertisement Advertisement Often, the division over race falls along ideological lines: The more liberal justices have tended to be more comfortable with acknowledging the reality of racism, while the conservative justices would prefer to abstract a case away from the facts. But the division in Ramos did not pan out this way: The two newest conservative justices, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, each wrote opinions explicitly calling the origins of the nonunanimous jury rule racist. And the two conservative justices appointed by the last Republican president wrote or joined an opinion expressing discomfort with their new colleagues tone and language. (They were even joined by one of their progressive colleagues, Kagan.) There is no easy way to confront race and racism in the law. But that cannot mean the solution is to avoid talking about race at all. Perhaps Ramos signals that a new majority of the court is occasionally willing to acknowledge portions of Americas racist history. Perhaps someday a majority of the court will be willing to do so in voting rights cases and across the board. Now he comes on board at McLarens, which has made a host of top appointments in recent months including the arrivals of Mark Simmonds, as head of construction and engineering, and Kim Alcock, in the role of head of UK casualty and third party administration operations. McLarens is well renowned as a specialist provider of expert, technical loss adjusting and its a proposition that clearly resonates with the market, he said. This is exactly the type of work that Ive specialised in over the course of my career. Robust account management and first-class service delivery are what Im passionate about and its clear that both of these are integral to the McLarens approach. He is set to work now with Mike Rosthorn, Darren Anderton and William Wilson as heads of McLarens major loss practice for the South, North and Ireland areas respectively. We have seen considerable growth over the past year, and weve made numerous senior hires to support and build off the momentum and further extend our service offering, added UK & Ireland managing director Steven Wallace. It is hugely positive to have someone of Neils calibre on board; hes well known in the marketplace and brings a unique perspective that will be invaluable in supporting the continued expansion of our business. His values and passion for service focussed, technical loss adjusting aligns precisely to the McLarens ethos. The fact of the matter is, we dont know, he told co-host Brian Kilmeade, adding, Theres a lot of variables. Brian, I gotta say at this point there is so much data coming from so many places, we are better off waiting for the randomized trials Dr. Fauci has been asking for. Otherwise, we keep reacting back and forth to studies that show opposite results, and a lot of it might have to do with when you get the medication. Agreement allows On Fire Christian Church to hold drive-in church services; church attacked by vandals over weekend LOUISVILLE, Ky., April 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, First Liberty Institute, WilmerHale, and Swansburg & Smith, PLLC, on behalf of their client On Fire Christian Church, and Louisville, Kentucky Mayor Greg Fischer reached an agreement that will allow the church to hold drive-in services consistent with CDC guidelines. We are grateful to Mayor Fischer and Louisville city officials who worked with us to ensure their policies are both consistent with the Constitution and the CDCs guidelines, said Roger Byron, Senior Counsel for First Liberty Institute. During this challenging time, we need to see more of this kind of cooperation between government officials and the religious community. We are pleased that the mayor was willing to work together with our client to find a solution that protects religious liberty exercised in a responsible manner, said Matthew Martens, partner at WilmerHale. Like everyone, On Fire Christian Church looks forward to the day when they can meet together in-person again without being restricted to their cars. On Fire Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky has been hosting drive-in church services in its parking lot for several weeks consistent with the CDCs guidelines. In addition to cars being parked six feet apart, all congregants remain in their cars with windows no more than half open for the entirety of the service. On the Saturday prior to Easter, U.S. District Court Judge Justin Walker granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) that prevented enforcement of an order blocking On Fires plans for a drive-in service, saying it violated the Free Exercise clause beyond all question. This past weekend, vandals attacked the church, leaving nails at the entrance/exit area of the church property while the Sunday drive-in worship service was underway. Byron added, The members of On Fire Christian Church are saddened by this crime. We hope todays agreement will end the violence against the church. About First Liberty Institute First Liberty Institute is a non-profit public interest law firm and the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious freedom for all Americans. To arrange an interview, contact Lacey McNiel at media@firstliberty.org or by calling 972-941-4453. 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. Toronto: As Canadian police continue to hunt for a motive for the country's worst mass shooting, it is also having to justify why it used Twitter instead of a formal emergency alert system to tell people their lives were in danger. Royal Canadian Mounted Police have been criticised for not alerting the public to the presence of an active shooter via the province's system and instead relying on its social media account, which had just under 91,000 followers at the time. A memorial pays tribute to Royal Canadian Mounted Police Constable Heidi Stevenson killed in Sunday's mass shooting in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia. Credit:The Canadian Press/AP Nova Scotia RCMP Chief Superintendent Chris Leather told reporters the force felt Twitter was a "superior way to communicate" the threat in the community, but said [the force] would look into the matter. Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil said the province had not received a request from police for an emergency alert to be sent out. McNeil said the military was assisting in the RCMP's investigation. By April 21, 2020, Victoria Manor, a nursing home in Cape May, N.J., had at least 52 COVID-19 cases and nine deaths due to the virus. Read more The Center for Public Integrity is a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C. Over a month ago, employees of a North Cape May nursing home say they noticed frail residents coughing and, one after another, growing weaker with fevers. This one got it. Then that one got it, said a worker at the 120-bed Victoria Manor facility. The worker suspected that residents were coming down with COVID-19 rather than the flu, for which they were being tested. At the time, New Jersey was quickly discovering coronavirus cases, and by March 12 had started shutting down schools and public gatherings. But this Victoria Manor worker and a second one, both of whom requested anonymity out of fear of reprisal, told the Center for Public Integrity the facility seemed to downplay the threat of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. They complained that all employees in patient care areas, including janitors and food service staff, werent required to wear protective masks and gowns until March 26. When entering rooms of residents who appeared very ill, the second worker said, employees felt like lambs led to slaughter. As of Monday, Victoria Manor had 52 coronavirus cases and nine deaths among its employees and residents. The Victoria Manor experience illustrates how senior care facilities followed federal coronavirus advisories differently, and could have contributed to the spread of COVID-19 through Americas nursing homes, where at least 7,000 have died from the virus. And it shows how employees at these facilities often poorly paid, female, and people of color have largely felt powerless as the pandemic has exploded. Pennsylvania-based Genesis HealthCare operates Victoria Manor and 386 other care centers across 26 states. It would not respond to written questions about the workers allegations that symptomatic residents were overlooked. The company said on its website it has followed recommended protocols and guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), often getting out in front of them. As Victoria Manor residents were allegedly coming down with fevers, the companys chief medical officer, Richard Feifer, told investors during a March 17 call: At this time, we have a single confirmed case of COVID-19 in one of our 387 centers. Rest assured, we are working diligently to minimize any potential spread, but we are also preparing [in case] any more of our facilities experience the coronavirus. By this week, Genesis HealthCare had at least 263 positive coronavirus cases and 46 deaths in its six New Jersey facilities, which include Victoria Manor. HELP US REPORT: Are you a health care worker, medical provider, government worker, patient, frontline worker or other expert? We want to hear from you. Public-health experts believe delays in manufacturing personal protective equipment and in producing and distributing tests share responsibility for the spread of COVID-19. Further, asymptomatic employees can carry the virus unknowingly into facilities. We need to test everybody who works in a nursing home within the next week, Andy Slavitt, an acting CMS administrator during the Obama administration, said April 13 on MSNBC. Slavitt said testing all nursing-home workers would save lives. But so far, its been left to states to test workers caring for the nations 1.5 million residents in nursing homes. West Virginia, for example, has ordered testing of all nursing-home residents and employees, but Pennsylvania and New Jersey have not. Powerless, as deaths rise It wasnt until March 31, Genesis HealthCare says, that Victoria Manor officials learned a resident had tested positive and reported it immediately to county and state health officials. That same day, a Victoria Manor employee contacted Public Integrity with concerns. I don't know what to do or where to turn. I dont doubt I have seen many residents and employees with symptoms, said the employee, who hadnt been at work for several days. At that point, the worker wasnt aware a Victoria Manor resident had tested positive. (As of mid-April, this worker still hadnt been tested for COVID-19.) On the night of April 6, George Lees, 86, became the first known Victoria Manor resident to die from COVID-19. In the weeks before he died, one of the workers who spoke with Public Integrity described a conversation with Lees. The worker, who cried during the interview, recalled Lees remarking that it seemed bad out there because of the virus. The worker tried to reassure him, saying, If anything, you are in a safe place. The day after Lees died, Cape May County announced on its website that 15 Victoria Manor residents and 11 employees had tested positive. Within one week, the county disclosed it had positive test results for 24 staffers tested as well as 26 residents eight of whom died. Meanwhile, some of Victoria Manors sister facilities in Pennsylvania and elsewhere were experiencing outbreaks, according to news reports, including 49 residents and staff in its Lehigh Center facility in Macungie, Lehigh County. Two residents had died. Back in Cape May County, Peggy Kelly, director of field services for United Food and Cannery Workers Local 152, a union representing many Victoria Manor workers, says the company told the union on March 31 that a Victoria Manor resident had tested positive. Kelly said she learned of subsequent positive tests among residents and employees not from Genesis Healthcare but from news reports. I shouldnt have to turn on the news to find this out. The employees have a right to know about positives, Kelly said. In a statement, Genesis HealthCare said the union and the company agreed "to have approximately one call per week [on COVID-19 developments], and those communications have occurred as planned." The two Victoria Manor workers told Public Integrity they were concerned that fellow employees were still working while showing cold-like symptoms in early March. They say they discussed, with coworkers, the possibility that residents were ill with the virus. One worker contacted the union in early March with concerns, the worker says, that COVID-19 could be in the building. Kelly told Public Integrity she had heard such concerns from workers well before the company disclosed the March 31 positive test. That same day, Kelly said, the company also told her without explanation that it had replaced Victoria Manors top administrator. The company declined to discuss the matter with Public Integrity. Dire warnings to nursing homes In mid-March, the CDC issued a stark warning for nursing homes to be proactive in response to COVID-19 because asymptomatic workers and visitors could spread coronavirus to other area nursing homes where they worked. Long-term care facilities should take proactive steps to protect the health of residents and preserve the health care workforce by identifying and excluding potentially infected staff members and visitors, ensuring early recognition of potentially infected patients, and implementing appropriate infection control measures, the CDC report warned. Genesis HealthCare says it began alerting its facilities in January that it was preparing for a potential coronavirus attack. When we first recognized symptoms at Victoria Manor, we requested testing kits from our laboratory partner, spokesperson Lori Mayer said in a statement. It took many days to get access to those kits. At this time, patient and resident testing has improved as we have been able to partner with a new lab to provide a 24-hour response time. New Jersey law, according to the state Department of Health, mandates that long-term care and other institutional facilities immediately report any known or suspect communicable disease outbreak, by phone to the local health department (LHD) with jurisdiction over the facility. Public Integrity asked Genesis HealthCare if it told county health officials that staff had observed respiratory problems among residents before March 31, when the company confirmed its first positive test. It didnt answer the question, offering instead in a statement by Mayer that we are required to report confirmed cases to the Department of Health. County officials did not respond to inquiries about the precise date the county learned of illnesses at the care home. Company steps Genesis HealthCare did point to numerous steps it said it took to thwart the virus. The company says that by early February, it began increasing its supply of protective equipment. By March 10, it says, anyone entering its 387 facilities was required to have temperatures taken and it imposed a no visitation policy in facilities in regions with community spread and began restricting communal activities. Then, on March 23, it ordered universal mandatory use of face masks and eye protection in outbreak hot spots. But Cape May, at the southern tip of New Jersey, was not considered a hot spot at that time, according to Mayer. Asked to explain how the company reached this decision, Mayer said by email that the decision was based on the [New Jersey] department of health but did not respond to requests to elaborate. In the weeks before the company mandated masks and gowns for all staff, workers had to ask for gowns, Kelly said. The two workers also said not all staff used masks, either. We werent protected when they [the residents] were getting fevers and pneumonia, and we were going into their rooms, one said. Whatever they had out, thats what you wore. There are now signs on rooms at Victoria Manor with known coronavirus-positive residents inside, and staff wear N95 masks and gowns, a worker said. Testing, testing, testing In line with national practices, Victoria Manor isnt required to test its own employees for coronavirus. Like other nursing-home workers across the country, Victoria Manor employees must seek tests with private providers or at county testing sites, with costs covered by their health insurance. Genesis HealthCare said Victoria Manor has provided workers notes to give to their personal physicians explaining that they are a health-care professional and could have been exposed to COVID-19. But the companys statement says: Many community physicians will not test despite the note. The New Jersey Department of Health is not testing employees at this time. The two Victoria Manor workers said they wish testing had been more widely available and come sooner. We should have been testing, testing, testing, one said. Click here for a longer version of this story. The official number of deaths in Britain due to COVID-19 is heading towards 20,000. A further 873 fatalities were announced yesterday, taking the official total to 17,337. This is just those who have died in hospital and does not include those who have died in residential care homes or at home. Due to the delay in recording and registering deaths of mainly elderly people, the latest figures relating to deaths outside hospital only go to April 10. In England and Wales, the number of COVID-19 fatalities in care homes more than quadrupled in a week, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS). Deaths rose to 1,043up from 217 the previous week. These are significant underestimations, with various care organisations already reporting up to 7,500 COVID-19 related deaths in care homes. On Wednesday, the Financial Times published its own analysis of the ONS data and based on extrapolations concluded that a conservative estimate of UK excess deaths by April 21 was 41,102. It added, "The estimate is more than double the official figure of 17,337 released by ministers on Tuesday, which is updated daily and only counts those who have died in hospitals after testing positive for the virus." The coronavirus pandemic has already caused as many as 41,000 deaths in the UK (graphic credit: Financial Times) The FT noted, "The ONS data also showed that deaths at home and in care homes had also jumped sharply during the pandemic. In the week ending April 10, deaths in care homes reached 4,927, almost double the figure of 2,471 a month earlier." The newspaper concluded, "As 24 per cent of deaths normally occur in care homes in the UK, the analysis suggests that just under 11,000 more people than normal have died in residential care since the start of the outbreak." Many coronavirus linked-deaths have occurred outside hospitals (graphic credit: Financial Times) The ONS figures showed that 18,516 total deaths were registered just in the week to April 10. The impact of the pandemic can be seen as these fatalities were 75 percent above normal for England and Wales and the highest level for more than 20 years. During the same week, the average number of deaths over the last five years was 10,520. The unprecedented spike in weekly death registrations (graphic credit: Financial Times) Despite the widely cited claim from one Oxford University scientist that the coronavirus peaked on April 8, hundreds continue to die every day. On just two days in the last week did coronavirus deaths in the UK not top 800. The social crisis triggered by the coronavirus crisis is worsening daily. On Tuesday, it was reported that the number of people applying for the punitive Universal Credit benefit had shot up by 1.8 million in just the six weeks to April 12. According to a poll by the Citizens Advice charity, a fifth of people in Britain had already applied for welfare benefits or were expected to do so as a result of the virus. Millions are out of a job as companies laid them off temporarily or permanently as the lockdown began on March 23. The Financial Times reported that the Department for Work and Pensions was forced to make 513,000 advance payments to those in urgent need of money in the four-week period to April 12. Unemployment is expected to surge further with the FT noting KPMG chief economist Yael Selfin stating that as more than a third of all UK jobs were in sectors highly affected by the lockdown, unemployment could rise close to 9 percent. The Resolution Foundation said that a six-month lockdown could see unemployment top 5 million in 2021 as the government phases out the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). CJRS was announced nearly a month ago by Tory Chancellor Rishi Sunak and represents a staggering bailout for the corporations worth hundreds of billions. It allows firms to furlough employees with the government paying cash grants of 80 percent of their wages up to a maximum of 2,500, initially for three months. Last Friday, as the government announced that the lockdown would last at least another three weeks, Sunak announced that the CJRS would be extended until June. On Monday, the scheme officially opened for companies to make claims. On the first day more than 140,000 firms applied, 67,000 claims within half an hour of it going live. It is estimated that the number of workers employed by companies who have applied so far is more than 1 million. More companies than the government forecast have already applied for a bailout. According to the Resolution Foundation, up to 8 million workers could be furloughed over the coming weeks. Other estimates are that 11 million workers (a third of the entire workforce) will eventually be moved into the schemewith big businesses shovelled up to 60 billion in the process. With millions of workers laid off and their immediate future insecure, many will be forced into permanent unemployment. Guardian economics editor Larry Elliott pointed to an analysis to be published this week by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research. They estimate that the US unemployment rate will have risen almost five-fold in April to 20 percent ... On the assumption that furloughed workers are in reality unemployed, Blanchflower and Bell predict unemployment in the UK will rise by 5 million to more than 6 million by the end of May. If they are right, this would give the UK a jobless rate similar to that of the USabout 20 percent. Blanchflower and Bell are correct in their assessment, says Elliot, that furloughed workers are really an army of the hidden unemployed, and they will become a lot more visible if during the second half of this year, the government ends the wage subsidies but the economy does not snap back as quickly as ministers hope. Wages of workers on the scheme are set to be continually slashed. The Sunday Telegraph offered a glimpse of the discussions taking place in ruling circles to pile the debt burden on the working class, editorialising, One suggestion is to extend the furlough into the autumn but cover only 50 percent of salaries to limit costs. Further social opposition could be sparked, noted the newspaper with Ben Broadbent, the Bank of Englands deputy governor warning that even when the lockdown is eased there will be substantial popular resistance to returning to normal activity. Everything is being done to satisfy the profit lust of the corporations. John Lewis furloughed its entire 14,000 department store staff under the governments scheme, and will also profit to the tune of 135 million this year due to the business rates holidaypart of an additional 22 billion coronavirus boost for the corporations. Virgin Airlines multi-billionaire tax exile Richard Branson previously called for UK aviation companies to receive a 7.5 billion bailout from the state. He is now preparing the final touches for Virgins raid on the public purse of around 500 million. Last month, Branson lost no time in instructing Virgin Airlines staff to take eight weeks of unpaid leave. Branson claimed this week that his airline faced collapse: The reality of this unprecedented crisis is that many airlines around the world need government support and many have already received it. Branson, with a personal fortune of over 4 billion, owns a 51 percent stake in Virgin Airlines. His state bailout extortion has elicited anger from Virgin workers and among the working class in general. Over 95 percent of people replied No to a Twitter poll asking, Should the UK government give him [Branson] the 500 million bailout he wants? One of the many Twitter users denouncing Branson commented, Im stunned by the brass neck of this man. I suppose you dont make it to 4.7 billion personal wealth without being a sociopath. I dont know if he is, but to have the cheek to ask for 500 million in public funds when youve avoided tax for 14 years... Another said, Nurses are starting shifts and they are down to their last set of PPE [personal protective equipment]. Richard Branson is down to his last private Caribbean island. Difficult to know where to spend that 500 million isnt it [?] [April 21, 2020] SAS and IIASA call for crowd-driven artificial intelligence to help track deforestation SINGAPORE, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SAS is committed to building a global community of innovators that use technology to ignite positive change for people and the planet. This Earth Day, SAS and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) are implementing the next generation of crowd-driven artificial intelligence (AI) to help power AI algorithms designed to help us better understand our planet. IIASA is an independent, international research institute that is known for its expertise in systems analysis and providing policy solutions and baseline information on pressing concerns for humanity. IIASA is placing a spotlight on the issue of deforestation to learn about the application of AI to elucidate the interconnectivity of Earth's ecosystems. Today, our systems are changing rapidly, approaching levels that exceed existing human experiences, scientific understanding and traditional modeling capabilities, making it increasingly difficult for humans to intervene efficiently, effectively and timeously. "The urgency required to address these transformations requires the application of best of breed technology solutions. That's why we turned to SAS," said Albert van Jaarsveld, CEO at IIASA. "By combining the power of our environmental science research platforms, SAS' AI and computer vision technologies, and the sheer intellectual power of concerned citizens, we will develop AI models that will exponentially increase the value of human insights and strive to deliver near real-time assessment of global environmental change." Powerful, accurate, useful AI models do not happen by magic. The development of an AI model starts with human intelligence. For this project, SAS and IIASA are jointly launching an online crowdsource-driven app to gather the collective intelligence of the crowd. They are asking volunteers -- an army of citizen scientists rom middle school students in today's virtual classrooms to artists, engineers and professional data scientists -- to kick-start this effort by reviewing and judging images of the rainforest. These images show land untouched and land that may have been affected by human development. "Since image analysis is an important first step for the accurate assessment and projection of deforestation, we are asking people to see what technology can't see, by examining and reporting on images of smaller incremental forestry incursions worldwide," said van Jaarsveld. "Crowdsourcing helps improve the AI algorithms, expediting what used to take years to analyze, thus helping to drive vital policy responses to protect our forests more quickly." When people flag regions that have seen signs of human impact, they help make AI models become smarter. For example, it is easy for a human to distinguish between a road (which signals human impact) and a river (which does not), but an AI model will not know the difference until it obtains sufficient training through learning from human observations. Additionally, results from the model ensure that the crowdsourcing app focuses the attention of human judges where their expertise is most needed. The model will allow for increased efficiency of a volunteer human force that best makes use of their attention and insights for a broad array of projects aimed at monitoring and measuring important global change matters. With the power of the crowd and the computer combined, SAS and IIASA will have a robust, extensive platform for empowering citizen scientists to assist in cutting-edge research that helps us all better understand, predict and thrive in the world we share. While the first phase of this partnership focuses on deforestation, there are plans to extend this platform to other environmental concerns where crowdsourcing can help serve the greater good. As a start, everyone can play a role in making AI smarter and improve its ability to help protect our forests. From students who are currently out of the classroom to AI professionals and everyone in between, this activity allows each of us to make a difference just by looking at a few images. Head to sas.com/rainforest to categorize images that show signs of deforestation and help models learn and improve at each iteration. This crowdsourcing partnership with IIASA is fueled by SAS' commitment to both data literacy and the Data for Good movement, which encourages using data in meaningful ways to drive positive global change. About IIASA The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) is an international scientific institute that conducts research into the critical issues of global environmental, economic, technological, and social change that we face in the twenty-first century. Our findings provide valuable options to policymakers to shape the future of our changing world. IIASA is independent and funded by prestigious research funding agencies in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. www.iiasa.ac.at About SAS SAS is the leader in analytics. Through innovative software and services, SAS empowers and inspires customers around the world to transform data into intelligence. SAS gives you THE POWER TO KNOW. SAS and all other SAS Institute Inc. product or service names are registered trademarks or trademarks of SAS Institute Inc. in the USA and other countries. indicates USA registration. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies. Copyright 2019 SAS Institute Inc. All rights reserved. Editorial Contact: Cherie Ho [email protected] +65-6398-3385 (office) +65-9479-9424 (hp) www.sas.com/news Logo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200420/2780910-1logo SOURCE SAS [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] YEREVAN, APRIL 22, ARMENPRESS. President of the National Assembly of Artsakh Ashot Ghoulyan sent a letter to President of OSCE Parliamentary Assembly George Tsereteli and the Bureau Members, responding to the call for global ceasefire and the announcements over the national elections in Artsakh. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of Artsakhs parliament, the letter runs as follows, Your Excellency, Dear Colleagues, On behalf of the National Assembly (Parliament) of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh Republic), I would like to welcome the recent endorsement by the leadership of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly of the UN Secretary Generals appeal for a global cease-fire. The OSCE PA Presidents appeal to all parties to heed the UN call for a cease-fire is also commendable. This has been an important, necessary and timely initiative and its implementation, in good faith, would be an important contribution to the collective efforts of the international community in overcoming this global challenge that threatens all of humankind. We believe that in this critical period of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, it is necessary to get rid of old stereotypes and dividing lines, which are a legacy of the past. Only through joint efforts and based on the principle of inclusivity, without any distinction, can we withstand this global challenge caused by the pandemic. The Republic of Artsakh has promptly reacted to the UN Secretary Generals call and on 24 March reaffirmed its obligation to rigorously comply with the cease-fire regime in the zone of the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict. We are convinced that at these crucial times, any move in pursuit of exploiting the situation caused by the pandemic to serve ones own political agenda, is fraught with ramifications extremely dangerous for the entire international community and demands strongest condemnation. We share the view that the COVID-19 crisis should not be exploited to curtail human rights, including the right to vote and to form government through democratic elections. In this context, remarks of the OSCE PA Bureau members on the recent elections in Artsakh are deeply disappointing. Moreover, these remarks differ fundamentally from the position and assessment of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, who in their Press Statement of 31 March 2020 recognized the role of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh in deciding their future. Such remarks also contradict the numerous statements of the leadership of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly on their full support for the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to find a peaceful solution to the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict. All Members of Bureau of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Elections are not something new in Artsakh and have been an inseparable part of the political life of the republic since independence in 1991. Even, the 1992 Helsinki decision of the first Additional Meeting of the CSCE/OSCE Council makes clear references to the elected representatives of Nagorno Karabakh as a party to negotiations. International mediators as well as Baku maintained direct contacts with the authorities of Artsakh formed through elections. It should be recalled that the Bishkek Protocol that paved the way to the establishment of the cease-fire in May 1994 was signed by the elected representatives of all three parties, heads of parliaments of Artsakh, Armenia and Azerbaijan. I would like to take this opportunity to inform you that the national elections in the Republic of Artsakh were held in a competitive and free environment, in line with international standards. All necessary precautions had been taken to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus during the elections. As a result, the elections proceeded in a competitive and free atmosphere, with the active participation of voters. According to the Central Electoral Commission, five political parties were elected to the National Assembly. Since none of the presidential candidates received the required number of votes, a second round of presidential elections has been scheduled, which is taking place today, 14 April. It should also be noted that since independence in 1991, a number of elections and referenda were held in Artsakh in extremely difficult conditions, including under shelling and bombing by the Azerbaijani side. In closing, let me assure you that as in those days, today, the people and authorities of Artsakh remain faithful to the chosen path of building a free, independent and democratic state and are ready to overcome any obstacles and challenges along this path''. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 15:49:44|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WASHINGTON, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai on Tuesday cautioned against politicising the COVID-19 outbreak and the "anything-but-China" mindset. "I would call it the ABC mindset, anything but China. I'm really worried about that," Cui said during a conversation hosted by the Bloomberg New Economy Forum. As COVID-19 began to emerge outside China, including European countries, China extended a helping hand, but the country's kindness was described as geopolitically-motivated, Cui said. When China adopted new measures for quality control to make sure donated equipment met international standards, some again accused China of blocking exports of medical supplies, Cui continued, adding that behind the narrative trap is what he calls the ABC mindset. Now is the time to save lives amid the global spread of COVID-19; however, "some politicians are so preoccupied in their efforts for stigmatisation, for groundless accusations," Cui said, observing that "so little attention is paid to the views of the scientists." Noting that the virus has had such a big impact on China, the United States and the rest of the world, Cui said the two countries should think really hard about the real threats to the global community, as well as their true common interests. "So hopefully this pandemic will really teach all of us a good lesson," said the ambassador. "And China-U.S. relations could be based on a more realistic, forward-looking foundation." In response to a question on the political bickering between Washington and Beijing amid the COVID-19 spread, Cui said there should be a distinction those who are "narrowly politically motivated," and the general public in China and the United States. "I think all this stigmatization and blame games are played out by the small number of such politicians," Cui said. "But if we look at the relations between the two peoples, I think that we have had a longstanding friendly relationship." When China confronted the outbreak, "we got a lot of support and understanding from American people, American businesses, American institutions, or even individuals ... We appreciate this very much," Cui said. "And now, the United States is confronting this outbreak. There's some outpouring of donations, supplies from Chinese provinces, cities, or businesses," he said. "So I think the two peoples are still helping each other." Enditem [April 22, 2020] Winners of 2019 FICO Decisions Awards Announced! Companies Celebrated For Analytic Excellence SAN JOSE, Calif., April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Highlights: FICO announces the 2019 winners of the FICO Decisions Awards. These awards established eight years ago recognize organizations achieving remarkable success using FICO solutions Decisions Awards. These awards established eight years ago recognize organizations achieving remarkable success using FICO solutions Winners in eight categories come from seven countries and span financial services, telecoms, transportation, pharmaceuticals and more Entries for 2020 FICO Decisions Awards to open in August Today FICO is celebrating the achievements of its customers and their achievements with AI, machine learning and decision management. The winners of the 2019 FICO Decisions Awards can now be formally announced. More information: https://www.fico.com/en/fico-decisions-awards-2019 "The 2019 FICO Decisions Award winners have demonstrated what is possible with a clear business objective, innovative use of technology and a great partnership," said Nikhil Behl, FICO's chief marketing officer. "Our winners have innovated in lending, supply chain optimization, customer management, debt collection, fraud and financial inclusion. They come from all corners of the globe and many varied sectors of the economy. I congratulate them on their achievements and winning their categories in what was a very competitive line-up." AI, Machine Learning and Optimization: Bank of America and Grupo Fleury and Cloud Deployment: ACT and Vodafone and SA Taxi and and Customer Onboarding & Management: Banreservas Debt Management: Swisscard AECS GmbH Decision Management Innovation: Procter & Gamble Financial Inclusion: Home Credit China Fraud & Security: PULSE, A Discover Company Regulatory Compliance: BNSF The FICO Decisions Awards recognize organizations that are achieving remarkable success using FICO solutions. AI, Machine Learning and Optimization Grupo Fleury, one of Brazil's largest diagnostic medical companies, has further refined its demand planning management tool to optimize its operations and reduce the time taken to create sales forecasts from one month to half an hour, driving relevant opportunities to create value. Cloud Deployment ACT, best known for its flagship college entrance exam, has optimized its test assembly process in the cloud, reducing the time required to assemble tests from 2-4 weeks to 2 days. This allows ACT to serve over 40,000 concurrent examinees with latency below half a second per test item. Vodafone UK, has transformed its customer onboarding experience using decision management technology in the cloud, enabling it to offer 24x7 support for all its channels. Deploying credit strategies has been reduced by up to six weeks enabling itto implement changes in real time. SA Taxi, a financier of over 10 percent of South Africa's minibus taxi fleet the nation's most affordable public transport has introduced FICO's cloud-based decision management solution to drive lending growth of 25 percent. Customer Onboarding & Management Banreservas, the largest bank in the Dominican Republic, has centralized and automated its credit origination processes, enabling it to assess 80 percent of its loans automatically, increase loans processed by 30 percent and offer up-sells to 47 percent of approved applicants. Debt Management Swisscard AECS GmbH, a leading credit card company in Switzerland, has optimized its early collections, leading to a 50 percent increase in revenue from billable collection expenses, a 40 percent reduction in net credit losses and a 30 percent reduction in account terminations. Decision Management Innovation Procter & Gamble (P&G), has optimized its consumer product transitions, saving it millions of dollars and allowing it to reduce time spent on initiative planning. The supply chain innovation has boosted analytic efficiency 90 percent, reducing the weekly analysis time to less than five minutes. Financial Inclusion Home Credit, a global non-bank consumer lender, has reduced its credit risk on point-of-sale loans by 25 percent and online loans by 15 percent while maintaining loan volumes and keeping approval rates steady by incorporating the FICO Score X Data to optimize its loan process in China. Fraud & Security Discover's PULSE Network, one's of the USA's leading debit/ATM networks, has dramatically improved its fraud detection, blocking 30 percent more fraud, increasing the value-detection rate 40 percent and improving the false positive ratio by 25 percent. Regulatory Compliance BNSF Railway, one of the largest freight railroads in North America, has optimized its management of assigned train crews, allowing it to significantly reduce operational costs while complying to all union, industry and company regulations. These results were identified as best-in-class by a panel of independent judges with deep industry expertise. We thank the 2019 judges for their help in identifying the best nominations. Sharon Kimathi , editor at FinTech Futures editor at Leslie Parrish , analyst retail banking at Aite analyst retail banking at Denise Sleem , functional specialist at Medscheme , 2018 winner functional specialist at Alex Woodie , managing editor at Datanami managing editor at Les Yeamans , founder at RT Insights The winners of the FICO Decisions Awards will be spotlighted at various FICO events in 2020 and win tickets to FICO World 2021, the Decisions Conference, April 2021 in Orlando, Florida. Entries for the 2020 Awards will open in August this year. About FICO FICO (NYSE: FICO) powers decisions that help people and businesses around the world prosper. Founded in 1956 and based in Silicon Valley, the company is a pioneer in the use of predictive analytics and data science to improve operational decisions. FICO holds more than 195 US and foreign patents on technologies that increase profitability, customer satisfaction and growth for businesses in financial services, manufacturing, telecommunications, health care, retail and many other industries. Using FICO solutions, businesses in more than 100 countries do everything from protecting 2.6 billion payment cards from fraud, to helping people get credit, to ensuring that millions of airplanes and rental cars are in the right place at the right time. Learn more at www.fico.com. Join the conversation on Twitter @FICO FICO is a registered trademark of Fair Isaac Corporation in the US and other countries. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/winners-of-2019-fico-decisions-awards-announced-companies-celebrated-for-analytic-excellence-301045321.html SOURCE FICO [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Popular social media commentator, Reno Omokri says if Kaduna state governor, Mallam Nasir El-rufai ever becomes Nigerias president, the Igbos would suffer a great deal compared to what they are currently experiencing under the current administration. Read Also: Allow Kyari Rest In Peace, Omokri Tells Nigerians Speaking via a series of tweets on his official Twitter handle, he said this is so because the governors hatred for the Igbos knows no bound. He said: Hatred for Igbos runs deep in the @Elrufai family. if Nasir El-Rufai ever becomes President, what the Igbo are suffering under General @MBuhari will be childs play. Under Buhari, at least it is 97% versus 5%. Under an El-Rufai, it will be 100% versus 0%! * A father who insulted Christ our Lord and Saviour on January 28, 2013 * A son who threatened to gang rape someones mother on April 12, 2020 * A mother who justified his behaviour as fair on the same day! What a family! God forbid them in 2023! #BuhariTormentor #RenosDarts Hatred for Igbos runs deep in the @Elrufai family. if Nasir El-Rufai ever becomes President, what the Igbo are suffering under General @MBuhari will be childs play. Under Buhari, at least it is 97% versus 5%. Under an El-Rufai, it will be 100% versus 0%! #BuhariTormentor pic.twitter.com/6PKxsbDezu Reno Omokri (@renoomokri) April 22, 2020 Shekaiba Bennett has been appointed as the first woman to New Canaans three person Police Commission, after Sperry DeCew recently stepped down. I am very happy to nominate the first female member of the New Canaan Police Commission, First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said at the Board of Selectmen meeting Tuesday, April 21. Selectmen voted unanimously for Bennett, who is a 15-year resident of New Canaan, an art teacher in Greenwich and an active volunteer with local organizations. I think she will make a wonderful addition to the commission, Selectman Kit Devereaux said. She is a balanced, fair thinker. She has a lot of community knowledge. I applaud this appointment. Moynihan reminded those viewing the virtual meeting, that he had also put forward to the board the first female to the Fire Commission with Beth Jones, who was appointed in November 2019. It is about time to have broader representation on these boards and commissions, so I move the appointment, he said. I think it is about time, Selectman Nick Williams agreed. Bennett has undertaken local leadership roles such as chairman of the New Canaan International Ladies Group for five years; co-chairman of the UN (United Nations) Committee of New Canaan for six years; and the chairman of the Waveny Gators swim team for two years. The spouse of New Canaan native Derek Bennett has served on the New Canaan Library Board of Trustees for six years, the New Canaan Democratic Town Committee for 10 years and the Historic District of New Canaan Commission for one year. Bennett has taken special training for State of Connecticut programs, such as for the Department of Children and Families as a mandated reporter; Individualized Education Program (IEP) and Planning and Placement Team (PPT). The mother of two has volunteered at the schools, including South School as a class mom and classroom volunteer. Contributing her artistic abilities, she has worked with the Carriage Barn Arts Center, Art in the Windows and on the Art Committee of the New Canaan Library. Mid Ulster District Council has called on central government to provide a bespoke intervention package for the regions economy. The call comes after the districts Gross Value Added (GVA) was predicted to drop by 45% as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. GVA measures the value of goods and services produced in an area, industry or economy and, according to a recent Centre for Progressive Policy report, Mid Ulster will suffer the highest rate of decline in Northern Ireland. The report, which presents the likely economic contraction as a result of Covid-19, ranks the council area as having the 7th highest rate of GVA decline of the UKs 383 council areas. Council chairperson Martin Kearney described the reports findings as stark. The significance of regional variations across the UK cannot be ignored, he said. This report underlines the very real need for a bespoke intervention by the Department for the Economy and Invest NI, to bring a package of immediate, substantial and sustained support for Mid Ulster if our economy is not to be shredded by the impact of the pandemic. We are already engaging with businesses across Mid Ulster, from manufacturing to retail, to ensure there is a very clear understanding of what the impact is, which will allow us to demonstrate what support is needed and where it should be targeted. Mid Ulsters position as the centre of manufacturing and engineering is thought to be behind the extent of the predicted decline. The sector accounts for 21% of the local economy, compared with an average of 9% for the rest of Northern Ireland. Jamal Uddins coronavirus story began like many others: His health deteriorated, he was hospitalized, he tested positive for COVID-19, and he was treated. Then his health began improving. He was going to be taken off the ventilator -- until his potassium levels spiked. A sudden increase in potassium levels, a result of kidney damage, can be treated with a dialysis machine. But at the hospital in hard-hit New York City where Uddin was being treated, his family says every dialysis machine was already in use a sign, experts say, of the growing connection between COVID-19 and kidney problems. Doctors attempted creative workarounds to treat Uddin including peritoneal dialysis, which removes fluid through a tube coming from the abdomen but to no avail. He died within days. PHOTO: Jamal Uddin, 68, passed away last week in a New York City hospital after testing positive for COVID-19, according to his wife, Jesmin. (Courtesy Shehran Uddin) They said that other patients are doing a lot worse than him, said Uddins wife, Jesmin, who recounted his story to ABC News. Everyone is advertising there are not enough ventilators, that's what I was afraid of -- whether he was going to have a ventilator or not. People are getting better from the ventilator. The lung is getting clearer, but they're not getting dialysis. And that's why people are dying." Tune into ABC at 1 p.m. ET and ABC News Live at 4 p.m. ET every weekday for special coverage of the novel coronavirus with the full ABC News team, including the latest news, context and analysis. The hospital was not able to return ABC News' request for comment because of patient privacy rules, and the Uddin family did not authorize the hospital to speak about his ordeal. MORE: More than 300 US hospitals warn of supply shortages in coronavirus fight, watchdog says A possible dearth of various life-saving equipment has for weeks nipped at the heels of the novel coronavirus spread. But as the disease has begun to appear linked to kidney issues, a new round of ethical questions are being raised about who gets treatment and who doesnt and Uddins case illustrates fears that otherwise potentially preventable deaths might occur as a result of dialysis equipment shortages. Story continues There's also the question of how to balance the use of dialysis machines for coronavirus patients with the needs of the more than 500,000 Americans with pre-existing kidney disease who already rely on them. Guidelines developed at the state level are meant to provide a framework for healthcare providers to prioritize care for certain patients in the event of a crisis that could lead to a scarcity of resources. Critics say some states use broad rules and algorithms -- rather than the on-the-ground opinion of doctors -- that could put patients with chronic kidney disease at risk of not getting the care they need. PHOTO: A doctor operates a dialysis machine in an intensive care unit. (Picture Alliance/dpa/picture alliance via Getty I) Concern among experts is so grave that two leading advocacy organizations for kidney illness penned a letter in recent days to state leaders calling on a shift in policy. A one-size-fits-all category that denies care to all patients with kidney failure is short-sighted, arbitrary, unethical, and discriminatory, the presidents of the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) and the National Kidney Foundation in a letter to the National Governors Association and the National Conference of State Legislatures wrote last week. Nephrology refers to medical specialization in kidneys. Blanket policies that categorically restrict the access of kidney patients, and other vulnerable populations, to critical care are scientifically unfounded and inappropriately interfere with the trusted patient-physician relationship as well as disregard basic principles of medical ethics, the groups added. Unilateral guidance should never outweigh sound, individualized medical judgment. MORE: Doctors fear shortage of drug critical to ventilator treatment for coronavirus An estimated 40 million adults in the U.S. have chronic kidney disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Experts anticipate even more Americans will develop kidney ailments as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, but the extent of the kidney damage in confirmed coronavirus patients remains unclear. The ASN and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are working to get better numbers harder numbers than the impressions of nephrologists, according to Dr. Alan Kliger, a Yale nephrologist and co-chairman of the ASN coronavirus task force. PHOTO: Medics and hospital workers prepare to lift a COVID-19 patient onto a hospital stretcher outside the Montefiore Medical Center Moses Campus on April 07, 2020, in the Bronx borough of New York. (John Moore/Getty Images) What is clear, experts say, is that a substantial proportion of critically ill coronavirus patients those on ventilators in the intensive care unit require dialysis machines. The number of those needing dialysis range from 20-40% of that severely ill subgroup of positive cases, according to Kliger. Studies and clinical anecdotes indicate that the coronavirus can attack the kidneys, leading to kidney failure or, in patients with existing kidney disease, exacerbate matters. Compounding the issue is that kidney disease is made worse in patients who require mechanical ventilation, like many patients with severe cases of the coronavirus. Without dialysis, fluid can accumulate in the lung when the kidneys can't remove enough fluid and toxins from the body. MORE: Lawsuit filed against WHO over its handling of coronavirus outbreak These patients generate the toxins that are removed by dialysis at a phenomenal rate a rate that will make your eyes pop out, said Dr. Joel Topf, the medical director of St. Clair Nephrology Research in Detroit, Michigan. We are finding we need to dialyze these patients every day using high doses of the dialysis to clear off these toxins and that really adds to the stress on resources. Experts cited a growing need for both dialysis machines and the fluid required to dialyze patients. Because manufacturing new machines can be an arduous process, Dr. Sunny Jha, a USC anesthesiologist, suggested states with fewer cases donate machines to the hot spots not unlike the reallocation of ventilators in recent weeks. We have had trouble getting the fluids needed for dialysis. Machines are needed as well but getting them can be complicated, said Dr. Jha. One way that we can address this is by asking those not seeing as much kidney disease and coronavirus to reallocate their supplies to the hot spots. PHOTO: Hemodialysis machines with tubing and installations. (STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images) The creative spirit hospitals are exercising to preserve resources extends beyond supplies, experts suggest. Staffing shortages nurses and dialysis machine technicians are also being stretched thin. Physicians are having to be creative in these circumstances and other types of dialysis machines require specifically trained dialysis nurses which are hard to find, said Dr. Nwamaka Eneanya, Nephrologist and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. MORE: The coronavirus dilemma: Are we using ventilators too much? Topf echoed that sentiment, noting that the coronavirus is just wearing down the nurses, and we are really asking a lot of them. What to know about coronavirus: How it started and how to protect yourself: Coronavirus explained What to do if you have symptoms: Coronavirus symptoms Tracking the spread in the U.S. and worldwide: Coronavirus map If you focus on machines and fluids and filters, youre not talking about the real story, Topf added. The real story is people. Taken together, the strain on resources both human and logistical remains a threat to those at risk of contracting kidney ailments. And with guidelines in place in some states that might push those resources out of reach of those on dialysis, nephrologists and medical experts hope to spread awareness of the risks. Given the discussions we have been having about using ventilators and crisis standards of care, as well as scare resource allocation, it might be time to start tracking the use of dialysis treatment in critical care and if we have the skilled nurses we need to deliver care to patients with kidney failure, said Dr. Kelly Michelson, director of the Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities at Northwestern University. This can help us get in front of the issue and provide insight to help inform ethics conversations. Jay Bhatt, a practicing internist and Aspen Health Innovators Fellow, is an ABC News contributor. As doctors see coronavirus-kidney link, worry grows over dialysis machines originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Gujarat reported 94 new cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, taking the state tally of Covid-19 disease to 2,272 , a health department official said. Of the new cases, the maximum patients - 61 - were from Ahmedabad , principal secretary, health, Jayanti Ravi was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. Surat reported 17 cases, Vadodara- eight, Aravalli-five, Botad- two and Rajkot- one, Ravi added. Gujarat, which is the second worst-hit state in the country, breached the 2,000-mark on Tuesday. With five more deaths from Covid-19 reported on Wednesday, the states death toll rose to 95. According to Ravi, there are total 2,033 active cases. Of these, 13 patients are on ventilator support, while the condition of 2,020 is stable, the official said. One hundred and forty four patients have been discharged after being cured of the disease. The state government has so far tested 37,059 samples, including 2,516 in the last 24 hours, she said. The number of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) patients jumped to 1383 and fatalities to 50 in the last 24 hours, pushing Indias tally to 19,984, Union health ministry data showed on Wednesday morning. (With inputs from PTI) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON 22.04.2020 LISTEN The coronavirus pandemic has offered Ghanaians firsthand experience with macroeconomics theories, and reasons behind the governments decisions. The Expansionary Fiscal Policy describes a situation where the government spends more, cutoff, or reduce taxes, regardless of its budgetary surplus or deficit. Thus, the government's interventions, distribution of food items to the vulnerable, full absorption of electricity bills, payment of water and sanitation bills for 3 months, tax waiver, transportation, allowance; for health professionals, soft loans to small-medium enterprises, to mention few, can be classified under this policy. A government, pursue an expansionary fiscal policy, as a tool to stoke an economy into growth and to create jobs. An expansionary fiscal policy is a powerful tool, it works short-term a country can't maintain it for long. Eventually, its budget deficit will become too large, driving up its debt to an unsustainable level therefore, this policy is viewed as a short-term tool, not as a constant. That's why governments implement expansionary policy during recessions and economic slowdowns rather than during times the economy is booming. On the 9th of April, 2020, Ghanas Parliament approved a Ghc 1.2 billion for the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme. Below, are the breakdown: Ghc 280 million allocated for food packages and hot meals Ghc 40 million to the National Buffer Stock Company Ghc 200 million will be used to pay for water bills and sanitation Ghc 241 million will cover tax waiver for health personnel Ghc 80 million as allowance for frontline health staff Ghc 2 million for health workers transportation Ghc 600 million disbursed as soft loans to businesses In his famous words, the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo Addo, We know what to do to bring our economy back to life. What we do not know how to do is to bring people back to life". The government is doing all it can in combating the pandemic as well as maintaining the economy rather than killing it. Macroeconomics is very complex. The expansionary policy will increase outputs in the economy because of an increase in aggregate demand. If the government reduces taxes, the theory assumes, individuals and businesses will use their tax savings to buy more goods and services, hence, more output and productivity. As producers increase their productions and expand their operations, to meet the new demand, they will also hire new workers to support their growth thereby creating job opportunities. Lifting the partial lockdown in Kumasi, Accra; Tema is a step in the right direction. I urge Ghanaians to expedite the government's efforts against the pandemic. #SpreadCalmNotFear #ThisTooShallPass The writer, Adu Richard, is a level 400 BSc. Agriculture student, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi. Forensic, the crime thriller had hit the theaters in February 2020, as Tovino Thomas's first release for the year. The movie, which is directed by newcomer duo Akhil Paul and Anas Khan, had equally impressed the audiences and critics and emerged as a success. Reportedly, Forensic is now all set to have its digital premiere soon. As per the latest reports, the popular OTT platform Amazon Prime has bagged the online streaming rights of the Tovino Thomas starrer recently. If things fall in place, Forensic might have its digital premiere very soon. The sources suggest that the Amazon Prime team has finalised May 1, 2020, the International Labourers Day as the digital release date for Forensic. According to the latest reports, the Tovino Thomas starrer will also all set to have its television premiere very soon. As per the reports, popular Malayalam channel Asianet has bagged the satellite rights of the crime thriller. Forensic is expected to premiere in the channel somewhere in May 2020. Recently, it was reported that Forensic might get a sequel very soon. In a recent interview, Akhil Paul, one of the directors of the project had hinted that the team is now considering the possibilities for a sequel. Tovino Thomas, on the other hand, stated that he would love to play Dr. Samuel John Kattookkaran once again if the script comes out well. Forensic revolves around the central character Dr. Samuel John Kattookkaran, a medico-legal adviser who serves in the forensic department of Kerala Government and a murder investigated by him. Mamta Mohandas has played the female lead in the crime thriller. Forensic featured an extensive star cast including Reba Monica John, Renji Panicker, Saiju Kurup, Prathap Pothen, Anil Murali, Giju John, Dhanesh Anand, Anwar Shereef, and so on in the supporting roles. Prince William and Kate Middleton have been taking video calls instead of face-to-face meetings as a precaution against the coronavirus. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have completed several video meetings from the comfort of their country estate, Anmer Hall, where they are staying with their three children. Although royal watchers have missed seeing the couple in action, one royal expert believes the Cambridges actually prefer these conferences over meeting in person. Kate Middleton and Prince William | Charles McQuillan/Getty Images Prince William and Kate Middleton start video conferences Shortly before the coronavirus lockdown went into effect, William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, left Kensington Palace to isolate themselves at Anmer Hall with their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. The couple canceled their in-person meetings due to the pandemic and have been participating in video calls with several charities and patronages instead. Other members of the royal family have done this as well in a bid to prevent the spread of the virus. Prince William and Kate have chatted via video with schoolchildren, teachers, and health care providers. They have also participated in other events, such as the opening of emergency hospitals in the United Kingdom all without having to leave their home. Although the two are not able to meet as many people as they do in a traditional engagement, royal expert Tina Daheley believes the Cambridges prefer video calls over face-to-face meetings. Why the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge prefer video calls According to Daily Mail, Daheley revealed that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge love fulfilling royal engagements via video conference because it is more convenient and they do not have to deal with all the small details of organizing a big event. You dont have to faff about with all the other stuff and only having a set amount of time and having to go somewhere and meet loads of people.They like that you can have an in-depth one-on-one conversation with people, Daheley explained. Daheley noted that Prince William and Kate Middleton enjoy meeting people in person, but they are really loving talking to people on video. This method of communicating also allows them to talk with people on a more individual level. The royal expert recently talked with the couple via video call and remarked at how she is always surprised by how normal William and Kate seem. Although they are members of the royal family, Daheley says talking to them is like having a chat with people. We do not know how long William and Kate will stay at Anmer Hall, but video conferences could become a part of their schedule moving forward. Prince William and Kate Middleton open up about homeschooling In one of their more recent video calls, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge talked about the struggles they have faced homeschooling their children during the crisis. According to Hello Magazine, Kate admitted that it was challenging discussing the pandemic with her children. While it would be easy to avoid talking about the virus, Kate felt like it is important to tell them about whats going on without making it too overwhelming. George is much older than Louis is, but they are aware, Im always surprised, Kate shared. And although you dont want to scare them and make it too overwhelming, I think it is appropriate to acknowledge it in the simple ways and age-appropriate ways. When it comes to homeschooling, Prince William and Kate revealed that the experience has been fun, though they also confessed that they are not sure where their kids get all of their energy. Schools throughout the UK are currently closed due to the pandemic but are offering online learning to help parents with lesson planning. The Cambridges open up about Prince Charles battle with coronavirus Apart from homeschooling, William and Kate also opened up about Prince Charles battle with the coronavirus. Last month, Charles tested positive for COVID-19 and given his age, William admitted that he was quite concerned for his father at first. He fits the profile of someone at the age hes at, which is fairly risky, Prince William explained. So I was a little bit worried, but my father has had many chest infections, colds, things like that over the years. So I thought to myself, if anybody is going to beat this, its going to be him. Luckily, Charles only suffered from mild symptoms related to the virus. A few weeks ago he was released from self-isolation, though he is still living at his Scottish estate with Camilla Parker Bowles. Prince William went on to say that one thing Charles misses during the lockdown is going for long walks. William described the Prince of Wales as being a mad walker and revealed that not getting fresh air was quite difficult on his mental health. The Kenya Covid-19 Emergency Response Fund has raised Ksh. 1.2 billion towards containing the spread, effects and impact of coronavirus in the country. The Funds chairperson Jane Karuku on Tuesday expressed gratitude to corporates, foundations, religious institutions and individuals saying they have enthusiastically stepped forward to donate to the fund. The Board embarked on its mandate and I am happy to report that the support and goodwill towards this initiative has been very encouraging, she said. The board would like to express its deepest gratitude for the support and goodwill that the fund continues to receive from Kenyans from all walks of life. We would like to encourage more Kenyans to donate to the fund as we all work together to overcome this challenge, she added. Of the total Ksh1,288,068,950 donated to the Fund, Ksh 917,768,950 was in cash donations while the remaining Ksh 370,300,000 was in material resources (food and non-food items). Giant telco, Safaricom tops the list of donors with the biggest contributions having donated Sh200 million. Safaricom is also set to roll out free internet bundles and airtime package for health workers. KCB and The National Treasury contributed Ksh 150 million each, followed by NCBA and Cooperative Bank with Sh100 million each. The list also includes Absa bank (Sh50 million), First Chartered Securities (Sh25 million), Citi Bank Kenya (Sh21.3 million), Devki Group (Sh20 million), UBA Bank (Sh15 million), Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (Sh15 million), BAT Kenya PLC (Sh10.6 million), Chandaria Foundation (Sh10 million), Eco Bank (Sh10 million), Sanlam Investments East Africa Ltd (Sh8 million) and WPP Scangroup Limited (Sh5 million). Media Owners Association contributed Sh150 million worth of airtime, Hindu Council gave food supplies worth Sh100 million, Devki Group donated oxygen supply worth Sh100 million, Capwel and Naivas gave food supply worth Sh20 million each. The Board affirmed that the donations will be used to back the governments efforts in the supply of medical facilities and equipment and support for vulnerable communities. Coronavirus Outbreak LIVE Updates: In Delhi, 128 new cases have been reported, taking the total to 2,376. Two people have died to the coronavirus in the past day. Auto refresh feeds The woman, a resident of Howrah city, gave birth to the baby boy around 8 pm on Monday, he said. The pregnant woman was admitted to the Sanjiban Hospital in the Fuleswar area on 13 April and she later tested positive for the infectious disease, said its Director Subhasis Mitra. A COVID-19 patient in West Bengal's Howrah district gave birth to a baby and the health condition of both of them is stable, hospital authorities said on Wednesday. The pandemic has sparked not only a health emergency, but a global economic rout, with businesses struggling to survive, millions left jobless, and millions more facing starvation. The World Health Organization on Wednesday warned that the coronavirus crisis would not end any time soon, with many countries only in the early stages of the fight, as the global death count surpassed 180,000. "We knew we would see changes in atmospheric composition in many places during the lockdown," said Pawan Gupta, a Universities Space Research Association (USRA) scientist at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. "But I have never seen aerosol values so low in the Indo-Gangetic Plain at this time of year." Every year, aerosols from anthropogenic (human-made) sources contribute to unhealthy levels of air pollution in many cities. Aerosols are tiny solid and liquid particles suspended in the air that reduce visibility and can damage the human lungs and heart. The nationwide lockdown imposed in India in view of the coronavirus outbreak has decreased activity at factories and severely reduced car, bus, truck, and airplane traffic. After just a week of reduced human activities, NASA satellite sensors observed aerosol levels at a 20-year low for this time of year in the northern parts of the country. So far, India has 15,589 active cases. There are also 77 foreign nationals who are affected by the virus, the ministry said. With 49 deaths recorded since Tuesday, the toll now stands at 652, it said. The total number of novel coronavirus cases in India surged past 20,000 on Wednesday. At least 1,486 fresh cases emerged in the last 24 hours, taking the COVID-19 count in the country to 20,471, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Family Welfare data. Medical staff risk their lives and expose themselves to the dangers of the COVID-19. Though hailed publicly for their service, they are socially unwelcome once they step out of the hospital premises. The threats posed by coronavirus creates fear and panic and the until-then warm neighbourhood treats medical and other hospital staff as pariahs. After reaching Palakkad, Chandran was stopped at the gates of the house by neighbours. A few people gathered and asked me to leave. They argued that since I work in a hospital, I was in danger of carrying the virus. I tried to explain, but could not reason with the crowd that was gradually increasing. I finally decided to leave, Chandran said. His regret is that he could not hug his children or talk to his wife. After working for over a month with spells in quarantine at the Kalamassery Medical College Hospital, Ernakulam which has been turned into a COVID-19 speciality hospital, 32-year-old Ravi Chandran undertook a three hour journey home Palghat district. He was looking forward to seeing his wife and children who had moved to his in-laws home before the Janata Curfew was announced in March 2020. Chandran works in the administration department of the hospital. Sharing details regarding FIR registered for spreading fake news on social media/rumour related to COVID-19, he said, "Of 85 cases that were registered, 46 people were arrested, of which 12 people were later released on bail." He further tweeted that a total of Rs 1,02,41,400 fine was realised during the lockdown. Assam Director General of Police GP Singh on Wednesday said that a total number of 2,326 people were arrested and 17,872 vehicles were detained for violating lockdown rules. "The state government will conduct free Covid-19 tests for the mediapersons on April 25 at the Guwahati Medical College and Hospital. Those journalists who want to get themselves tested can avail the facility," Himanta Biswa Sarma said. Taking note of nearly 50 journalists testing positive for the novel coronavirus in Mumbai, the Assam government on Wednesday announced that it will be conducting COVID-19 tests of media persons in the state. There are also 77 foreign nationals who are affected by the virus, the ministry said. So far, India has 16,454 active cases. While, the recovery rate of COVID-19 patients is at 19.8 percent. The total number of novel coronavirus cases in India climbed to 21,393 on Thursday, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Family Welfare data. The toll stood at 682, it said. The state has recorded 27 deaths so far, while the recovery rate was at 17.8 percent with 344 COVID-19 patients being cured. Of the new cases, 20 were reported in Jodhpur, 12 in Jaipur, 10 in Nagaur, two each in Hanumangarh and Kota and one in Ajmer. With 47 individuals testing positive for the novel coronavirus on Thursday, Rajasthan reported a total of 1,935 positive COVID-19 cases, said the state health department. "Houses in Dharavi are very small and 10-12 people live in a house. Even if we advise home quarantine, the shortage of space defeats the purpose," he said. The densely populated Dharavi slum area has reported close to 190 cases of coronavirus infection so far. The Maharashtra government has decided to aggressively evacuate suspected coronavirus patients from Dharavi and other hotspots and put them in institutional quarantine, Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Wednesday. A 31-year-old man in the Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh who had tested positive for the infectious disease after attending the Islamic congregation in Delhi's Nizamuddin Markaz was discharged on 17 April and the infection appears not to have spread any further. After the state's only coronavirus patient was released from hospital last week and no new cases reported since, Arunachal Pradesh has become the only other state besides Goa and Manipur in India to successfully curb the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly 3,000 local train services operate on the route daily and over 80 lakh commuters use it everyday, making it the lifeline of the country's financial capital. It has been a month since trains stopped plying on the Mumbai suburban rail network, which is one of the busiest and congested in the world. Converting the unprecedented lockdown into an opportunity, Mumbai divisions of the Central Railway and Western Railway are extensively carrying out safety and maintenance works on the suburban network, which was not possible during the normal busy train schedules. "Some irresponsible reporting on different media platforms by informed individuals is apparently leading to notion that some trains may start soon. This is totally wrong and needs to e nipped in the bud before it misguides more," said the Centrail Railway. Mumbai divisions of the Central Railway and Western Railway on Thursday reiterated that all passenger train services will continue to remain suspended till 3 May, the last day of nationwide lockdown imposed in view of coronavirus outbreak. With 229 fresh cases recorded in the last 24 hours, Gujarat on Wednesday emerged as the second worst affected state after Maharashtra, which reported 431 new cases. Just five days ago, Gujarat was at number six, with Delhi, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh apart from Maharashtra having more confirmed cases. As the nation continued to reel under the novel coronovirus outbreak, Maharashtra and Gujarat faced the brunt of the crisis the maximum. The two western states accounted for 37 percent of the total 8,059 confirmed cases recorded in both so far. The council has so far released a list of 87 private laboratories to conduct COVID-19 tests. Among the 87 labs, which are set up in 15 states, Maharashtra has the highest number of COVID-19 testing labs at 20. Of the 4,85,172 individuals, 21,797 samples have been confirmed positive, said ICMR. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of 5,00,542 samples from 4,85,172 individuals have been tested for the novel coronavirus as of Thursday (23 April) at 9 am. So far, the state has recorded 49 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, while three patients have succumbed to the infectious disease. Four more COVID-19 patients in Jharkhand have recovered on Thursday, taking the recovery rate in the state to 16.32 percent with eight individuals being cured in total. Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi at CWC meeting on Thursday said, Since our meeting three weeks ago, the pandemic has increased disturbingly both in spread and speed. Sections of our society face acute hardship particularly our kisans-khet mazdoors, migrant labourers, construction workers and in the unorganized sector. Trade, commerce and industry have come to a virtual halt and crores of livelihoods have been destroyed. The other nurse, Pinky Gupta, had a heart ailment and was ailing for a long time. She was admitted here in an ICU. "Her samples for COVID-19 testing were not collected since she showed no symptoms for it," Thakur said. "The reports of one of the nurses, who died during treatment, is yet to come in. Shamim Sheikh (55) was admitted to the chest ward of MY Hospital after she developed symptoms. She was on leave from 1 April to 14 April," said superintendent Dr PS Thakur. Two nurses, including one suspected to have contracted COVID-19, working at Indore's MGM Medical College, have died. The deaths took place on Tuesday night. I offered our constructive cooperation and suggestions. Unfortunately, they have been acted upon only partially and in a miserly way. The compassion, large-heartedness and alacrity from the Centre is conspicuous by its absence, Gandhi noted. Congress Interim President Sonia Gandhi addressed the CWC meet on Thursday, saying 12 crore jobs have been lost in the first phase of the lockdown. "Unemployment is likely to increase further as economic activity remains at a standstill. It is imperative to provide at least Rs 7,500 to each family to tide over this crisis," she added. She also lauded frontline workers, saying, The doctors, nurses, paramedics, health workers, sanitation workers and essential service providers, NGO and the lakhs of citizens providing relief to the most needy all over India. Their dedication and determination truly inspire us all. While addressing the Congress on Thursday, Sonia Gandhi told the CWC meet, We have repeatedly urged the prime minister that there is no alternative to testing, trace, and quarantine. Unfortunately, testing still remains low and testing kits are still in short supply and of poor quality. PPE kits number and quality are poor. If we follow govt instructions, we'll be able to eradicate COVID-19 soon. The holy month of Ramzan is about to begin. Prayers have to be offered at home itself and social distancing has to be maintained. By following it, we'll be able to protect everyone, he said. Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid on Thursday appealed to Muslims to follow the governments orders in the month of Ramzan to eradicate COVID-19. Initially, the home quarantine was only for a period of 14 days, but on Wednesday the Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar issued orders extending the home quarantine period to 28 days and that the asymptomatic secondary contacts shall not be tested. Telangana government has advised its officials to only send the primary contacts of COVID-19 positive cases to government identified quarantine centers, while the asymptomatic secondary contacts will be ordered to undergo home quarantine for 28 days instead of 14 days, reports Telangana Today. "UP government should immediately declare a relief package for the chikan industry and all other such small and medium industries and announce help to the labour working in them," she said in a tweet in Hindi. "Lucknow's chikan industry has brought laurels to UP in India and abroad. This industry which is already reeling due to demonetisation and GST has suffered badly due to the lockdown. Congress general secretary for Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday urged the Uttar Pradesh government to announce a relief package for Lucknow's 'chikankari' industry, saying it has been badly hit by the lockdown. Success of lockdown is to be judged finally on our ability to tackle COVID-19. Cooperation between the Centre and states is key to the success of our fight against COVID, he said. Former Prime Minsiter Manmohan Singh at the CEC meet on Thursday said that the success of the lockdown will be judged on the ability to tackle COVID-19 Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had slammed the Centre for sending teams to look into West Bengal's preparedness for tackling the COVID-19 outbreak and alleged that faulty testing kits were dispatched to the state. The second central team in North Bengal, however, is yet to begin field visits, the official said. The central team in the state capital, led by Apurba Chandra, a senior bureaucrat in the Ministry of Defence, visited the quarantine centre in Rajarhat area in North 24 Parganas district, the official said. The inter-ministerial central team, which is in Kolkata, on Wednesday sought a detailed presentation from the West Bengal government on whether the level of testing in the state is adequate and enough oxygen and ICU beds and ventilators are available. A central team on Thursday visited a quarantine centre in Rajarhat area near here to take stock of the COVID-19 situation, an official said. Two central teams are in West Bengal to look into the state's preparedness for tackling the COVID-19 outbreak. The administration has said the essential services including healthcare personnel have been exempted from the restrictions and only persons with valid movement passes are allowed passage. They said the security forces have sealed off main roads in most places in the Valley and erected barriers at several other places to check the unwanted movement of the people and to enforce the lockdown. Restrictions to contain the spread of coronavirus continued in Kashmir for the 36th consecutive day on Thursday, even as authorities are contemplating to take critical decisions to strengthen the lockdown in the wake of violations at some places, officials said. Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took to Twitter to report that the state has a new COVID-19 case. The person has a history of being in touch with another patient, who was part of Athgaon Majid congregation in Guwahati. Four new coronavirus cases were reported on Thursday in Bihar, reported ANI. This brings the total confirmed cases of the infectious disease in the state to 147. Among the total people infected as on date, 46 have recovered while two lives have been claimed by the virus. According to official figures, the district has so far reported 134 coronavirus cases and four deaths. The containment zones fall under the Vasai-Virar municipal limits, and Dahanu and Palghar talukas, district Collector Kailas Shinde said in an order on Wednesday evening. Only essential services will be operational in the containment zones, he said. As many as 70 areas in Palghar district of Maharashtra have been notified as containment zones after several COVID-19 positive cases were detected. Among the total people infected as on date, 789 have recovered and 269 have died. Mumbai has the highest number of COVID-19 cases at 3096, followed by Pune (660), Thane (465), Nashik (96) and Nagpur (76). With 431 more people testing positive for the novel coronavirus in Maharashtra, the total number of confirmed cases in the state increased to 5,652 on Thursday, according to the bulletin released by Union Health Ministry. In an open letter on Wednesday, the medical professionals said that while they have concerns about inadequate testing across India, they find the situation in West Bengal particularly grave. A group of non-resident physicians, health scientists, and healthcare providers have written to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee raising concerns over the "gross under-testing" and "misreporting of data" on the cause of death of COVID-19 patients. "Unless there is a big financial package for states, how will normalcy return to the states post the lockdown," Gehlot said at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting through video conferencing. Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot said unless the central government comes forward to financially help states, "fight against COVID-19 will get weakened". The chief ministers of Punjab, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Puducherry, demanded a financial package for the states to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. The chief ministers of the Congress-ruled states on Thursday hit out at the Centre for not providing enough financial assistance to the states to strengthen its battle against the COVID-19 pandemic Disinfectants were sprayed outside MR Bangur Super Speciality Hospital in Kolkata on Thursday. An inter ministerial central team inspected the hospital where COVID-19 patients were being treated. The Delhi government has ordered for strict compliance of its earlier order for landlords to not demand rent from labourers and students for one month. "District Magistrates shall undertake awareness campaign on the issues in areas having high density of labourers/students," ANI reported. However, Executive Committee members and Senior Vice Presidents have volunteered to take cuts in their April salaries. IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta on Thursday rolled back the pay cuts that were earlier announced by the budget airline. "In deference to our Government's wishes of not reducing pay during the lockdown, we have decided not to implement the previously announced pay cuts during the month of April," CEO Ronojoy Dutta told employees in an email on 23 April. The Rajasthan Health Department said that 134 patients have since been discharged. The state has recorded 27 deaths so far, while the recovery rate was at 21 percent with 407 COVID-19 patients being cured. With 49 individuals testing positive for the novel coronavirus on Thursday, Rajasthan reported a total of 1,937 positive COVID-19 cases, said the state health department. Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday announced that the state government would provide an insurance of Rs 10 lakh each to all journalists who are reporting during the coronavirus pandemic. In an interview to PTI, Naqvi also expressed confidence that Muslims will abide by lockdown guidelines during the holy month of Ramzan. The entire Muslim community cannot be held responsible for one groups "crime", Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Thursday while reacting to instances of Muslims being blamed for the spurt in COVID-19 cases after Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi's Nizamuddin Markaz, and asserted that most of the minority community members have condemned the groups action. Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal on Thursday directed authorities to create a dedicated COVID-19 facility for Delhi Police personnel. Baijal also directed setting up an exclusive testing center for Delhi Police personnel on duty amid the coronavirus pandemic. SpiceJet on Thursday on said, "(Our) air ambulance will fly Asian Games Boxing Gold Medallist Dingko Singh from Imphal to Delhi to help him resume his treatment for liver cancer. The air ambulance service will be provided free of charge to the Padma awardee." Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that the state government has decided to provide insurance of Rs 10 lakh each to all journalists who are reporting during coronavirus pandemic. "As on today, we have 12 districts that did not have a fresh case in the last 28 days or more. There are now 78 districts (23 states/UTs) that has not reported any fresh cases during the last 14 Days," said Health ministry joint secretary Lav Aggarwal. The Union health ministry on Thursday said that in last 24 hours 1,409 positive cases have been reported, which takes the total confirmed cases to 21,393. "We have been able to cut transmission, minimise spread and increase doubling rate. We have utilized this time to prepare ourselves for future. Growth has been more or less linear, not exponential," said CK Mishra, Environment secretary and Chairman of the Empowered Group 2. The 'empowered groups' are described by CNBC-TV18 as, "The groups of officers have been empowered to identify problems, and provide solutions for time bound implementation, delineate policy, formulate plans as well as strategies operations." CK Mishra, Environment Secretary and chairman of the Empowered Group 2, on Thursday said, "On 23 March we had done 14,915 tests across the country and on 22 April, we have done more than 5 lakh tests. If a rough calculation is done it is about 33 times in 30 days. This is not enough and we need to ramp testing in this country." Punya Salila Srivastava, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs on Thursday said that the ministry has clarified to state governments that in-house care-givers of senior citizens, prepaid mobile recharge utilities and food processing units in urban areas are exempted from lockdown restrictions. "This graph clearly tells us where we stand. This is the current story and based on this current story and future projection we need to evolve a strategy in this country." CK Mishra, Environment secretary and Chairman of Empowered Group 2 on Thursday said, "Right at the bottom, the yellow line is India's story. We have deliberately taken 400th case on 23 March (as the benchmark). It shows what was the position, when each of these countries had 400th case and how they have moved beyond. West Bengal 58 government on Thursday said that 58 new COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in last 24 hours. There are 334 active cases in the state now. ICMR's Balram Bhargava on Thursday said that "it is very difficult" to predict that when the peak of COVID-19 pandemic will arrive in India. AIIMS director Randeep Guleria on Thursday said that it was "important to reach out to patients who are missing out of treatment because of the stigma and panic", adding adding, "It is important to encourage more and more people to get tested, get treated." Delhi AIIMS director Randeep Guleria on Thursday said that at various centres, "we've started using convalescent plasma that is the blood of COVID-19 patients who have recovered. A large number of patients who have become alright have come forward and volunteered to donate their blood." The total cases stand at 427, including 57 in Jammu and 370 in Kashmir. The Jammu and Kashmir government on Thursday said that 20 new cases were reported in the union territory, one from Jammu Division and 19 from Kashmir. The 5 pm update was quoted by ANI as saying, "1,229 new COVID-19 cases and 34 deaths reported in the last 24 hours. Total number of cases rises to 21,700, including 16,689 active cases, 4,325 cured and 686 deaths." The Union health ministry's daily 5 pm update on number of coronavirus cases on Thursday said that 1,229 new cases had been reported in 24 hours, taking the total to 21,700. However, in the ministry's press briefing at 4 pm, health ministry joint secretary Lav Aggarwal said that 1,409 cases had been reported in 24 hours. West Bengal chief secretary Rajiva Sinha on Thursday said, "In India, close to 70 percent cases are asymptomatic and doctors are also worried as to how to identify them. If lockdown opens on 4 May then this will be a big challenge." Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said that 10 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in the state. The total number of cases in the state stands at 447, of which 129 are active cases. In Gujarat's Vadodara, 45 people who had tested positive for COVID-19, were discharged on Thursday from the Ebrahim Bawany Industrial Training Institute quarantine centre, after recovering. A doctor of the institute was quoted by ANI as saying, "All of them have agreed to donate blood plasma, as they have developed antibodies." The Karnataka government said that 18 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in the state in the last 24 hours. The total number of cases in the state stands at 445, which includes 17 deaths and 145 discharges. Four more people tested positive for COVID-19 in Ranchi on Thursday, the state health secretary said. The total number of positive cases in the state rose to 53. Fifty-four more COVID-19 cases reported in Tamil Nadu on Thursday. Total number of cases in the state is at 1,683, including 908 active cases and 20 deaths. An artist modified an autorickshaw on the theme of coronavirus to spread awareness about the disease in Chennai. The Punjab health department said that 26 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the state on Thursday. The total number of cases in the state stand at 283. The BMC on Thursday said that 25 new coronavirus cases and one casualty were reported in Mumbai's Dharavi. The total number of cases in the area rose to 214, toll 13. 46 new COVID-19 positive cases were reported from three lanes in the H Block of Delhi's Jahangirpuri, the district Magistrate (North), said. One person tested positive for COVID-19 in Uttarakhand on Thursday, taking the total cases in the state to 47, the state control room said. The Odisha government has announced a 60-hour complete shut down in Balasore, Bhadrak and Jajpur districts from 10 pm on Thursday till 26 April, in view of rise in COVID-19 cases, said Asit Tripathy, Chief Secretary, Odisha. "We are strictly implementing the wearing of face masks by people at public places," he added. Guwahati Police Commissioner MP Gupta on Thursday said that 137 people were arrested for not wearing face masks in public in Guwahati on Wednesday. Three new containment zones in Delhi were on Thursday added to the list, taking the total to 92. The three new hotspots identified are Lake View Apartment in Mehrauli, Raj Nagar in Dwarka and Dayanand Vihar. Tripura chief minister Biplab Deb said that the the second coronavirus patient in the state has been found negative after consecutive tests. Six new COVID-19 cases were reported in Haryana on Thursday. The number of COVID-19 cases stands at 270, including 24 linked to foreign nationals. 170 patients have been cured, 97 are undergoing treatment whereas three people have lost their lives due to the infection. In Mumbai, one of the worst-hit cities in the country, 4,205 cases have been reported, along with 167 deaths. Reports said that 778 new coronavirus cases were reported in Maharashtra on Thursday in addition to 14 new deaths. This takes the total number of cases in the state to 6,427 and the toll to 283. In Delhi, 128 new cases have been reported, taking the total to 2,376. Two people have died to the coronavirus in the past day. Rajasthan has reported 76 new coronavirus cases in the past day, out of which 15 are from Jaipur. The total number of COVID-19 cases in the state has risen to 1,964. In total, 57 cases have been reported from the Jammu division, and 377 from the Kashmir division. The total number of cases in Jammu and Kashmir has risen to 434 after seven more cases were reported in Kashmir. Telangana has reported 27 new cases and one death in the past day. Also, 58 people have been discharged in the past 24 hours. ANI quoted the health department of Bihar as saying that nine more coronavirus positive cases have been reported in Bihar in the past day; taking the total number of positive cases to 162. A 75-year-old woman from Bantwal, who had tested positive for Covid-19, passed away at Wenlok District Hospital in Dakshina Kannada, News18 quoted the health department of Karnataka as saying. The woman had a history of hypertension, stroke and pneumonia. AFP has quoted an official as saying that France's coronavirus toll has hit 21,896, with 516 fatalities in the past 24 hours. Uttar Pradesh has reported 61 more coronavirus cases on Thursday. The total cases in the state are now 1,510, including 1,280 active cases. The Delhi Police constitutes six committees to assess and bring improvements in the preventive measures against COVID-19 for the protection of police personnel. "We are screening all vendors but vigil by everyone will deter someone who is sick and still running such shop or 'thela'. Kindly in this process do not abuse or misbehave with vendors." South Delhi district magistrate on Thursday said, "A vegetable hawker in Ward-3, Mehrauli found to be COVID-19 positive. From the investigation, it seems he had stopped setting up his cart after he developed symptoms. He was not a part of the shifted mandi that has been set up at DTC Terminal. This pandemic has shone a spotlight on the overlooked and undervalued corners of our society. Across the European Region, long-term care has often been notoriously neglected. But it should not be this way, said Kluge, calling the workers employed in these facilities as the unsung heroes of this pandemic. This is an unimaginable human tragedy, CNN quoted WHO's Europe Director Hans Kluge as saying during a press conference Thursday. The WHO on Thursday estimated that half of the people who succumbed to COVID-19 in Europe were residents of long-term care facilities. ANI has quoted Indian Army sources as saying that three army personnel tested positive for coronavirus in Vadodara,Gujarat. As per initial findings, an ATM booth seems to be the common source as they all had withdrawn money from it on same day. Their 28 close contacts have been quarantined, the agency reported. Telangana has reported 27 new cases and one death in the past day. Also, 58 people have been discharged in the past 24 hours. ANI quoted the health department of Bihar as saying that nine more coronavirus positive cases have been reported in Bihar in the past day; taking the total number of positive cases to 162. A 75-year-old woman from Bantwal, who had tested positive for Covid-19, passed away at Wenlok District Hospital in Dakshina Kannada, News18 quoted the health department of Karnataka as saying. The woman had a history of hypertension, stroke and pneumonia. At least 56 people have been sent to quarantine in Delhi after a dietician associated with Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital mess tested positive for coronavirus, ANI quoted the hospital's medical superintendent as saying. AFP has quoted an official as saying that France's coronavirus toll has hit 21,896, with 516 fatalities in the past 24 hours. Uttar Pradesh has reported 61 more coronavirus cases on Thursday. The total cases in the state are now 1,510, including 1,280 active cases. Delhi Police constitutes 6 committees to assess and bring improvements in the preventive measures against #COVID19 for the protection of police personnel. pic.twitter.com/ne0RkCJjB7 The Delhi Police constitutes six committees to assess and bring improvements in the preventive measures against COVID-19 for the protection of police personnel. "We are screening all vendors but vigil by everyone will deter someone who is sick and still running such shop or 'thela'. Kindly in this process do not abuse or misbehave with vendors." South Delhi district magistrate on Thursday said, "A vegetable hawker in Ward-3, Mehrauli found to be COVID-19 positive. From the investigation, it seems he had stopped setting up his cart after he developed symptoms. He was not a part of the shifted mandi that has been set up at DTC Terminal. This pandemic has shone a spotlight on the overlooked and undervalued corners of our society. Across the European Region, long-term care has often been notoriously neglected. But it should not be this way, said Kluge, calling the workers employed in these facilities as the unsung heroes of this pandemic. This is an unimaginable human tragedy, CNN quoted WHO's Europe Director Hans Kluge as saying during a press conference Thursday. The WHO on Thursday estimated that half of the people who succumbed to COVID-19 in Europe were residents of long-term care facilities. Coronavirus Outbreak LATEST Updates: In Delhi, 128 new cases have been reported, taking the total to 2,376. Two people have died to the coronavirus in the past day. However, 84 people have recovered from COVID-19 till now. Reports said that 778 new coronavirus cases were reported in Maharashtra on Thursday in addition to 14 new deaths. This takes the total number of cases in the state to 6,427 and the toll to 283. In Mumbai, one of the worst-hit cities in the country, 4,205 cases have been reported, along with 167 deaths. The Odisha government has announced a 60-hour complete shut down in Balasore, Bhadrak and Jajpur districts from 10 pm on Thursday till 26 April, in view of rise in COVID-19 cases, said Asit Tripathy, Chief Secretary, Odisha. West Bengal chief secretary Rajiva Sinha on Thursday said, "In India, close to 70 percent cases are asymptomatic and doctors are also worried as to how to identify them. If lockdown opens on 4 May then this will be a big challenge." CK Mishra, Environment Secretary and chairman of the Empowered Group 2, on Thursday said, 'On 23 March we had done 14,915 tests across the country and on 22 April, we have done more than 5 lakh tests. If a rough calculation is done it is about 33 times in 30 days. This is not enough and we need to ramp testing in this country." The 'empowered groups' are described by CNBC-TV18 as, "The groups of officers have been empowered to identify problems, and provide solutions for time bound implementation, delineate policy, formulate plans as well as strategies operations." AIIMS director Randeep Guleria on Thursday said that it was "important to reach out to patients who are missing out of treatment because of the stigma and panic", adding adding, "It is important to encourage more and more people to get tested, get treated." 'As on today, we have 12 districts that did not have a fresh case in the last 28 days or more. There are now 78 districts (23 states/UTs) that has not reported any fresh cases during the last 14 Days," said Health ministry joint secretary Lav Aggarwal. The Union health ministry on Thursday said that in last 24 hours 1,409 positive cases have been reported, which takes the total confirmed cases to 21,393. "As on today, we have 12 districts that did not have a fresh case in the last 28 days or more. There are now 78 districts (23 states/UTs) that has not reported any fresh cases during the last 14 Days," said Health ministry joint secretary Lav Aggarwal. The entire Muslim community cannot be held responsible for one groups "crime", Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Thursday while reacting to instances of Muslims being blamed for the spurt in COVID-19 cases after Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi's Nizamuddin Markaz, and asserted that most of the minority community members have condemned the groups action. With 49 individuals testing positive for the novel coronavirus on Thursday, Rajasthan reported a total of 1,937 positive COVID-19 cases, said the state health department. The state has recorded 27 deaths so far, while the recovery rate was at 21 percent with 407 COVID-19 patients being cured. The Rajasthan Health Department said that 134 patients have since been discharged. IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta on Thursday rolled back the pay cuts that were earlier announced by the budget airline. "In deference to our Government's wishes of not reducing pay during the lockdown, we have decided not to implement the previously announced pay cuts during the month of April," CEO Ronojoy Dutta told employees in an email on 23 April. The chief ministers of the Congress-ruled states on Thursday hit out at the Centre for not providing enough financial assistance to the states to strengthen its battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. The chief ministers of Punjab, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Puducherry, demanded a financial package for the states to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. A group of non-resident physicians, health scientists, and healthcare providers have written to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee raising concerns over the "gross under-testing" and "misreporting of data" on the cause of death of COVID-19 patients. In an open letter on Wednesday, the medical professionals said that while they have concerns about inadequate testing across India, they find the situation in West Bengal particularly grave. As many as 70 areas in Palghar district of Maharashtra have been notified as containment zones after several COVID-19 positive cases were detected. The containment zones fall under the Vasai-Virar municipal limits, and Dahanu and Palghar talukas, district Collector Kailas Shinde said in an order on Wednesday evening. Only essential services will be operational in the containment zones, he said. Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid on Thursday appealed to all Muslims to follow the government's orders during lockdown imposed in view of the novel coronavirus. He further urged them to offer prayers at home during the month of Ramzan. If we follow govt instructions, we'll be able to eradicate COVID-19 soon. The holy month of Ramzan is about to begin. Prayers have to be offered at home itself and social distancing has to be maintained. By following it, we'll be able to protect everyone, he said. Telangana government has advised its officials to only send the primary contacts of COVID-19 positive cases to government identified quarantine centers, while the asymptomatic secondary contacts will be ordered to undergo home quarantine for 28 days instead of 14 days. Congress Interim President Sonia Gandhi addressed the CWC meet on Thursday saying, 'I offered our constructive cooperation and suggestions. Unfortunately, they have been acted upon only partially and in a miserly way. The compassion, large-heartedness and alacrity from the Centre is conspicuous by its absence.' Four more COVID-19 patients in Jharkhand have recovered on Thursday, taking the recovery rate in the state to 16.32 percent with eight individuals being cured in total. So far, the state has recorded 49 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, while three patients have succumbed to the infectious disease. As the nation continued to reel under the novel coronovirus outbreak, Maharashtra and Gujarat faced the brunt of the crisis the maximum. The two western states accounted for 37 percent of the total 8,059 confirmed cases recorded in both so far. With 229 fresh cases recorded in the last 24 hours, Gujarat on Wednesday emerged as the second worst affected state after Maharashtra, which reported 431 new cases. The Maharashtra government has decided to aggressively evacuate suspected coronavirus patients from Dharavi and other hotspots and put them in institutional quarantine, Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Wednesday. The densely populated Dharavi slum area has reported close to 190 cases of coronavirus infection so far. "Houses in Dharavi are very small and 10-12 people live in a house. Even if we advise home quarantine, the shortage of space defeats the purpose," he said. The total number of novel coronavirus cases in India climbed to 21,393 on Thursday, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Family Welfare data. The toll stood at 682, it said. So far, India has 16,454 active cases. While, the recovery rate of COVID-19 patients is at 19.8 percent. Assam Director General of Police GP Singh on Wednesday said that a total number of 2,326 people were arrested and 17,872 vehicles were detained for violating lockdown rules. He further tweeted that a total of Rs 1,02,41,400 fine was realised during the lockdown. Sharing details regarding FIR registered for spreading fake news on social media/rumour related to COVID-19, he said, "Of 85 cases that were registered, 46 people were arrested, of which 12 people were later released on bail." The total number of novel coronavirus cases in India surged past 20,000 on Wednesday. At least 1,486 fresh cases emerged in the last 24 hours, taking the COVID-19 count in the country to 20,471, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Family Welfare data. With 49 deaths recorded since Tuesday, the toll now stands at 652, it said. The countrywide COVID-19 toll rose to 652 while the number of cases jumped to 20,471 on Wednesday, an increase of 49 fatalities and 1,486 cases since Tuesday evening, according to the Union Health Ministry. The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 15,859, while 3,959 people have been cured and discharged, the ministry said, adding that one patient has migrated. Meanwhile, the Union Cabinet approved Rs 15,000 crore for "India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package" for setting up dedicated treatment facilities and laboratories as part of an urgent response to contain the pandemic. The Cabinet also approved an ordinance aimed at preventing violence against health workers after several cases of assaults on doctors were reported during the coronavirus outbreak. Maharashtra, Gujarat report most deaths Of the 49 deaths reported since Tuesday evening, 19 were from Maharashtra, 18 from Gujarat, four from Madhya Pradesh, three from West Bengal, two from Andhra Pradesh and one each from Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, the ministry said. Of the total 652 deaths, Maharashtra tops the tally with 251, followed by Gujarat at 95, Madhya Pradesh at 80, Delhi at 47, Rajasthan at 25, Andhra Pradesh at 24 and Telangana at 23, according to the ministry. The death toll reached 21 in Uttar Pradesh, 18 in Tamil Nadu while Karantaka has reported 17 cases. Punjab has registered 16 deaths, while West Bengal has reported 15 fatalities due to coronavirus infection so far. The disease has claimed five lives in Jammu and Kashmir, while Kerala, Jharkhand and Haryana have recorded three COVID-19 deaths each. Bihar has reported two deaths, while Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Assam have reported one fatality each, according to the ministry data. According to the health ministry''s data updated in the evening, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra at 5,221, followed by Gujarat at 2,272, Delhi at 2,156, Rajasthan at 1,801, Tamil Nadu at 1,596 and Madhya Pradesh at 1,592. The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 1,412 in Uttar Pradesh, 945 in Telangana and 813 in Andhra Pradesh. The number of cases has risen to 427 in Kerala, 425 in Karnataka, 423 in West Bengal, 380 in Jammu and Kashmir, 254 in Haryana and 251 in Punjab. Bihar has reported 126 coronavirus cases, while Odisha has 82. Forty-six people have been infected with the virus in Uttarakhand while Jharkhand has 45 cases. Himachal Pradesh has 39 cases, Chhattisgarh has 36, while Assam has registered 35 infections so far. Chandigarh has 27 COVID-19 cases, Ladakh 18, while 17 cases have been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Meghalaya has reported 12 cases, while Goa and Puducherry have seven COVID-19 patients each. Manipur and Tripura have two cases each, while Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh have reported a case each. "Our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR," the ministry said on its website. It further said that one case of Jharkhand has been reassigned to Bihar after reconciliation. Cabinet approves ordinance making attacks on doctors non-bailable offence The Union government proposed making attacks on health workers non-bailable with maximum punishment of seven years in jail and Rs 5 lakh fine. Javadekar said a person can be sentenced to anywhere between three months and five years in jail, besides a fine between Rs 50,000 and Rs 2 lakh, for crimes against healthcare workers under the new provision. In cases where injuries are serious, the punishment will range from six months to seven years, and carry fine between Rs 1-5 lakhs, the minister told reporters. "Our government has zero tolerance against violence and harassment targeting doctors, nurses, paramedics and ASHA workers when they are doing their best to fight the pandemic," Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said after a Union cabinet meeting. It was not clear whether these provisions would continue even after the COVID-19 crisis. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) called off its proposed ''white alert'' and ''black day'' protests scheduled for 22 and 23 April following a meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah through video conference on Wednesday. The doctors' body has been demanding that the Centre bring a law to protect healthcare workers from rising attacks at a time when they are battling COVID-19. The Union Health Ministry also advised chief secretaries of all states and Union Territories to adopt adequate measures in ensuring the safety of health workers involved in COVID-19 services. In a letter, Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan said amongst all professionals, the skills and services of these health workers place them in a unique position of saving lives. Meanwhile, official sources told PTI that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with chief ministers via video conferencing on 27 April morning on the way ahead in the fight against coronavirus. This will be the third such video conference. In the last interaction on 11 April, several chief ministers had recommended extension of the 21-day lockdown by two weeks, which was slated to end on 14 April earlier. Modi then extended it to 3 May. Centre, West Bengal govt continue to be at loggerheads A political stand-off continued between the BJP-headed Central Government and the Trinamool Congress-led government in West Bengal, with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleging that the Centre had dispatched faulty testing kits to her state. "Canards are being spread every day that only a few are getting tested in Bengal for COVID-19. This is absolutely false. Faulty kits were sent to Bengal which have now been withdrawn. We didn't even get adequate testing kits," she told a press conference. The state government, however, assured it will abide by all the Central Government orders on the nationwide lockdown and said "it is not a fact" that it was not cooperating with the central team deputed to assess the COVID-19 situation in the West Bengal. The assurance followed the Centre's allegation that the West Bengal government was obstructing the central team's work. West Bengal has so far reported 15 deaths and 385 confirmed cases, though at least 79 people have been cured of COVID-19 in the state. Rahul Gandhi seeks suggestions for MSME stimulus package The Congress party on Wednesday has sought suggestions from the public on what a MSME economic stimulus package should cover. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweets, "COVID-19 has devastated our micro, small and medium businesses." #COVID19 has devastated our micro, small & medium businesses (MSME). The Congress party needs your help. Send us suggestions & ideas for what a MSME economic stimulus package should cover on: https://t.co/kP2NZ6TNUK or our social media platforms. #HelpSaveSmallBusinesses pic.twitter.com/UwLEPrnWdB Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) April 22, 2020 With inputs from agencies After decades of decline, Buffalo touts a 'Refugee Renaissance.' Can it last? Fears that cash-rich corporate raiders could use the coronavirus crisis to swoop on weakened European firms were perhaps best exemplified by Donald Trump's alleged bid for a German biotech firm working on a vaccine. The outrage that followed has spurred fresh action by European Union nations to bolster their defences against hostile takeovers that could see key technologies and know-how being lost to countries like China and the United States. Although Germany's CureVac company denied last month's reports that Trump had offered a billion dollars for exclusive rights to any coronavirus vaccine, the furore nevertheless prompted Economy Minister Peter Altmaier to declare that "Germany is not for sale". Days later, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen urged the bloc's 27 members to "use all options to protect critical European companies" from unwanted foreign takeovers at a time when many firms are hit hard by the pandemic-induced downturn. Some listed companies have seen their share price plummet as they grapple with the economic fallout, making them prime targets for bargain hunters, while previously-niche firms in health technology or medical research are catching investors' eyes. The EU last year agreed regulations for screening foreign investments and although member states have until the autumn of 2020 to adjust their national laws, the coronavirus has given the matter fresh urgency. "Europe doesn't want to see takeovers of strategically important firms with key technologies or whose valuations are very low at the moment," said Ulrich Wolff, a partner at Linklaters in Frankfurt. - Berlin leads the charge - Germany has been among the first to act, with ministers approving a draft law this month that makes it easier than before for Berlin to block a non-EU takeover of companies deemed strategically important. The government will also be able to put takeovers on ice while it assesses their impact, preventing the potential new owners from laying their hands on the target firm's intellectual property. "This will definitely make certain acquisitions longer and more difficult," Wolff said. Neighbouring France has taken similar steps, with authorities now examining bids involving stakes from non-EU investors starting at 25 percent, down from a 33-percent threshold previously. The French government also expanded the sectors that qualify for scrutiny to include food safety and the press. In a sign that the measures could be starting to bite, the American group Teledyne recently said it had received a "negative opinion" from French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on its desired purchase of French firm Photonis, which makes night vision technology. Spain and Italy have also announced steps to look more closely at deals involving foreign investors. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said earlier this month that the government had widened its powers to halt hostile takeovers in key sectors, from within and outside the EU. The government is now able to veto not just deals involving critical infrastructure or defence, but also those affecting the health and food industries, the insurance sector and artificial intelligence. - 'Big sell-out' - The EU is especially wary of "countries, like China, which operate differently economically and are not security partners", said Mikko Huotari, director of the Mercator Institute for Chinese Studies. Although Chinese investments in the EU have diminished over the past three years following a years-long buying spree, "the interest in accessing strategic technology remains", he added. Chinese conglomerate CITIC raised eyebrows last week after increasing its stake in Medea, one of the largest Czech media companies, from 30 to 57 percent. Expressing concern, MEP and former Belgian premier Guy Verhofstadt tweeted: "We have to be careful that this crisis will not lead to a big sell-out of our companies to the Chinese." But China is far from alone in eyeing up a European company going cheap. According to the Financial Times, Gulf sovereign wealth funds like Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund are looking to snap up EU companies that are hurting now but expected to bounce back after the crisis, particularly in the areas of healthcare, technology and logistics. Health tech firms could be especially juicy takeover targets Amid an increase in the number of attacks on doctors and other medical workers who are the frontline workers during the COVID-19 outbreak, the government has amended the Epidemic Act to provide security for them. BCCL Union minister Prakash Javadekar said that the government has brought an ordinance to deal with incidents of assault on doctors and medical staff. Read more 4 Terrorists Killed In Shopian; 2nd Encounter This Month In J&K In a major counter-terrorism operation, the Indian security forces have killed four terrorists in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district on Wednesday. AP/ FILE IMAGE The Cordon And Search Operation (CASO) was launched by the police and the Army in Shopian on Tuesday night based on specific input about the presence of terrorists in the area. Read more India Supports Call For The World To Have Equal Access To COVID-19 Vaccines There is a resolution in the UN General Assembly resolution that called for fair, transparent and equitable access to essential medical supplies and any future vaccines developed to fight COVID-19. AFP The Mexico-drafted resolution 'International cooperation to ensure global access to medicines, vaccines and medical equipment to face COVID-19' which was co-sponsored by countries including India was adopted by the General Assembly by consensus on Monday. Read more Trader Dies Due To Covid-19 But Crowd Swells In Azadpur Mandi, Asia's Biggest Wholesale Market On Wednesday morning, for the second straight day the Azadpur wholesale fruit and vegetable market (mandi) saw huge crowds of buyers, sellers and vehicles with zero regards to social distancing norms. AFP The Delhi Government had on Monday decided to allow the largest fruit and vegetable market in Asia to function from 6 am to 10 pm and truck movement will be allowed in and out of the market will be allowed from 10 pm to 6 am. Read more Locals Attack Cops In UP, Pelt Stones On Being Asked To Close Shops Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh witnessed some unruly scenes on Wednesday after people clashed with police who were trying to shut down a market after the 10am deadline during lockdown. BCCL A policeman was injured when vegetable vendors allegedly pelted stones at the police personnel in the old city area. Read more Murder Accused Gets Bail, Argues About Parking Of A Bike And Stabs 2 People To Death In what is just shocking, a man accused of murder out on bail killed two brothers by stabbing them after an argument over parking a bike in Sewree, Mumbai. . One person is also injured. The deceased are 21-year-old Shahid Patel, 19-year-old Sahil and 16-year-old Adnan. Shahid died instantly, Sahil passed away at the KEM Hospital and Adnan is in the ICU. Read more SAUSALITO, Calif., April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- 12/12 Ventures , a leading cannabis venture capital firm, announced today that it has recently made investments in three of the fastest-growing companies in the cannabis vertical. Terms were not disclosed. The three separate investments, detailed below, reflect 12/12's recent momentum in raising a fund, as well as the fund managers' belief that despite current disruptions in both the economy and society, it is an excellent moment to invest in cannabis companies. "Warren Buffett famously said 'Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.' We believe the current environment will bring forth dramatic shifts in the cannabis industry, and by 2022 a handful of industry leaders will have broken away from the pack. We intend to invest in those leaders," commented Charles Finnie, Co-Managing Partner of 12/12. Matthew Barron, Co-Managing Partner, added, "We are hyper-focused on globally scalable cannabis brands, businesses, and technologies. These first three investments for 12/12 represent three of the strongest management teams in the cannabis industry and all three have impressive track records going back many years; more importantly, their businesses are currently powering through the COVID-19 headwinds with remarkable momentum." While economic uncertainty lies ahead for the cannabis industry, these investments help ensure continued job growth for those potentially affected by COVID-19. The three companies mentioned above are likely to generate and sustain over 300 jobs in 2020 and beyond. These include employees of the entire Cookies supply chain, including the Emerald Triangle, the diverse legacy brands within the Cookies Inc portfolio, social equity applicants and others impacted by COVID-19. Details below regarding the three companies that received capital from 12/12 Ventures. Cookies Inc. Many observers believe Cookies has established itself as the leading brand in cannabis. The company, led by Berner (co-founder) and Parker Berling (President), currently has 7 dispensaries in California (up from 2 just six months ago), an 8th in Detroit (on 8 Mile), and expects 30+ by the end of this year. The company achieved record revenues in the first quarter of 2020 and remains on track to quadruple its system-wide revenues in 2020. Cookies strains are legendary in the industry and command premium prices wherever they are sold. Cookies Retail Enterprises (CRE) Cookies Retail (CRE), a separate company from Cookies, is a retail development company (think REIT) that is purpose-built to rapidly identify and secure premium retail locations for Cookies stores, in both the U.S. and internationally. CRE is led by a team of world-class developers (including a founding member of the Apple Retail division). In addition to accelerating Cookies' growth into a truly national company offering a market-leading retail experience, we believe CRE will build extraordinary cash flows and shareholder value. Backbone Software Backbone Software is rapidly emerging as the leading supply chain solution provider in the cannabis industry. Led by CEO/founder Rajesh Chandran (who sold his prior two companies to Oracle and Microsoft), Backbone enables cannabis companies to intelligently manage all aspects of supply -- including cultivation, manufacturing, inventory, packaging, shipping, pricing, billing, purchasing, and logistics on an intuitive, easy to use platform. Chandran and his team are particularly skilled at real-time data analytics that enable companies to vastly improve productivity and efficiency. We believe the company's offerings already exceed the performance of well-known supply chain solutions in non-cannabis industries. About 12/12 Ventures 12/12 Ventures is a cannabis-focused venture capital firm based in Sausalito CA. Its strategic partner, Cookies Inc., is a global cannabis leader. After a strong start in the first quarter of 2020, 12/12 Ventures continues to raise its fund, whose target is $100 million. www.1212.vc SOURCE Cookies; 12/12 Ventures Related Links https://cookiescalifornia.com 24,500 hear Billy Graham A crowd of 24,500 people heard Dr Billy Graham preach at the Showground. Dr Graham's address lacked some of its usual vigour. But 1990 people came forward afterwards to make decisions for Christ. A pall of dust hung over the ground after they had walked to Dr Graham's dais. Sand spread on the arena after last week's heavy rain had become dusty in many places. The total of Sydney decisions is now 22,024. Last night's crowd lifted the Crusade aggregate to 315,000. Bid to ban Saturday shopping The secretary of the Shop Assistants' Union, Mr O'Dea, said he would again ask the government to abolish Saturday morning shopping. He said shop assistants would be prepared to work on Friday nights but they would insist on tea money and overtime. The secretary of the Retail Traders' Association, Mr Griffin, said the proposal showed complete disregard for the public. The fact that Saturday morning is a busier shopping period than any other time clearly demonstrates its need. Police rough-handle Castro Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Adrian Wail Akhlas (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, April 22, 2020 09:03 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd36f432 1 Business palm-oil,exports,CPO,Gapki,Trade,China,India,Africa,coronavirus,COVID-19 Free Indonesias palm oil exports, including oleochemicals and palm oil kernel, dropped nearly 19 percent in the January to February period driven by lower exports to China as the coronavirus pandemic took a toll on the countrys top export commodity. The Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association (Gapki) said palm oil exports in the first two months of this year were at 4.93 million tons, a 1.2 million ton decrease from 6.13 million tons shipped in the same period last year. Palm oil exports to major market China nosedived by 500,000 tons compared to the same period last year, while exports to India fell by 188,000 tons and exports to Africa were down by 250,000 tons. Lower exports to China was likely a result of the COVID-19 outbreak while lower exports to Africa was likely caused by high prices, the association said in a statement issued on Tuesday. Read also: In Papua, forests offer more economic benefits than oil palm plantations, research finds Meanwhile, [we] projected lower exports to India occurred as importers were hesitant to make buying contracts following the plan to limit palm oil imports by Indias government. Gapki data show the palm oil stockpile stood at 4.08 million tons by the end of February, down from 4.54 million tons at the end of January. The palm oil industry is one of Indonesias major foreign exchange earners, contributing US$3.5 billion until February to non-oil and gas exports. Editor's note: The article has been revised to include the correct figures for palm oil exports in January-February 2019 and in consequence, the percentage decline in exports. To reach me for collaborations, sponsorships, and event invitations, I am contactable at the-ice-angel@hotmail.com Multi-year contract leveraging Eutelsat's dynamic 7 East neighbourhood Regulatory News: Eutelsat Communications (Paris:ETL) (NYSE Euronext Paris: ETL) has secured a multi-year contract with RCS Ghana to provide capacity for the broadcast of its DTH bouquet bringing content to viewers in Ghana and beyond. RCS will use Ku-Band band capacity on EUTELSAT 7B to broadcast its fast growing free-to-air DTH bouquet comprising SD and HD channels to the Ghanaian market and over 40 other countries in Africa. The 7 East neighbourhood is a key orbital position for regional TV channels. Over 500 TV channels already broadcast from 7 East which has become a new DTH hotspot for Sub-Saharan Africa with some of the fastest growth rates in the region. Mr Hamza Tanko, Chairman and CEO of RCS Ghana: "We are delighted to partner with Eutelsat for the broadcast of the RCS DTH bouquet, delivering exceptional content to viewers in Ghana and beyond, and enabling the broadcast of any channel in Ghana in high quality and at compelling rates. The 7 East position is ideal to serve the Ghanaian market and EUTELSAT 7B offers consistent coverage and signal power all over Ghana as well as complete Sub-Saharan coverage of over 40 African countries." Nicolas Baravalle, Regional Vice President, Sub Saharan Africa of Eutelsat said: "We are proud to support RCS Ghana in rolling out this high quality content offering. This contract reflects the buoyancy of the Ghanaian broadcast market, the attraction of the unparalleled coverage of our 7 East neighbourhood and Eutelsat's expertise in the African market. We look forward to a long and fruitful collaboration" About Eutelsat Communications Founded in 1977, Eutelsat Communications is one of the world's leading satellite operators. With a global fleet of satellites and associated ground infrastructure, Eutelsat enables clients across Video, Data, Government, Fixed and Mobile Broadband markets to communicate effectively to their customers, irrespective of their location. Over 7,000 television channels operated by leading media groups are broadcast by Eutelsat to one billion viewers equipped for DTH reception or connected to terrestrial networks. Headquartered in Paris, with offices and teleports around the globe, Eutelsat assembles 1,000 men and women from 46 countries who are dedicated to delivering the highest quality of service. For more about Eutelsat go to www.eutelsat.com www.eutelsat.com Follow us on Twitter @Eutelsat_SA View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005611/en/ Contacts: Media Joanna Darlington Tel.: +33 1 53 98 35 30 jdarlington@eutelsat.com Investors Joanna Darlington Tel.: +33 1 53 98 35 30 jdarlington@eutelsat.com Cedric Pugni Tel.: +33 1 53 98 35 30 cpugni@eutelsat.com Alexandre Enjalbert Tel.: +33 1 53 98 35 30 aenjalbert@eutelsat.com Some American politicians just played their same old trick again, making irresponsible remarks on multiple occasions that the novel coronavirus originated from China's Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). They declared, in a high-sounding manner, to make an investigation, and such ridiculous remarks were even hyped by Fox News. Anyone with conscience can see through the groundless and vicious accusation that totally goes against science. However, politicizing science issues, disseminating conspiracies and stigmatization are in essence attempts to impede the global solidarity and cooperation, which will cause huge damages especially when the world is currently facing extremely urgent challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Seeking the origin of the virus is a serious and rational issue that calls for science-based and professional approaches. The so-called assumption that the virus came from a lab had long been dispelled by global scientists. Chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) reiterated that theres been no evidence showing the virus was produced in labs or for the purpose of making bioweapons. On Feb. 19, 27 medical experts from 8 countries issued a joint statement on The Lancet, making strong condemnation on conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin. The statement said that Scientists from multiple countries have published and analysed genomes of the causative agent, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), 1 and they overwhelmingly conclude that this coronavirus originated in wildlife as have so many other emerging pathogens. This is further supported by a letter from the presidents of the US National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine13 and by the scientific communities they represent. Such opinion was later expressed again by a research team consisting of scholars from the U.S. Scripps Research Institute, Columbia University, Tulane University, the University of Edinburgh and the University of Sydney. The research team stressed in an article they published on journal Nature Medicine that the novel coronavirus originated from natural evolutionary process, and is not a laboratory construct. The U.S. politicians cooking up anti-science stories have their secret political goals. They just cant wait to stir up troubles, divert attention and shift responsibilities, from accusing Beijing for not informing Washington about the epidemic in a timely manner, to stigmatizing China by associating the virus with the country, and to hyping the relations between the virus and the WIV. However, anyone that is rational and respects science would scoff at such farce staged by these American politicians. Scientific and professional issues need to be addressed with science-based and professional approaches. We have no argument to claim that this virus would have escaped or been manufactured in a laboratory, said Belgiums spokesperson for COVIN-19-related issues and virologist Emmanuel Andre, adding that the genetic structure of this virus is natural. The hypothesis that a virus was created in a lab in Wuhan sounded "a conspiracy vision that does not relate to the real science," said Jean-Francois Delfraissy, an immunologist and head of the scientific council that advises the French government on the COVID-19 pandemic. Well-known academic journal Nature from the UK pointed out that Continuing to associate a virus and the disease it causes with a specific place is irresponsible and needs to stop. Lies can never outrun justice. The repeated politicizing of the pandemic by American politicians, which impedes the international cooperation on COVID-19 containment, has aroused huge indignation from the international society. On April 2, the Communist Party of China issued a joint open letter with 230 political parties from over 100 countries, saying We call for science-based professional discussions on issues like prevention measures and the origin of the virus. We strongly oppose the politicization of public health issues and the stigmatization of other countries under the excuse of COVID-19. We stand firmly against all discriminatory comments and practices against any country, region or ethnic group. Global challenge calls for global cooperation. Initial results of a UN initiative to help decide the future direction of the Organization have revealed overwhelming support for international cooperation, which has grown significantly since COVID-19 began spreading around the world. The results indicate that cooperation and solidarity remain a mainstream voice when the world is threatened by major public health crisis and infectious disease. The pandemic once again proved the importance and urgency of building a community with a shared future for mankind. The presumption of guilt that runs afoul of science will never be admitted by genuine scientific and professional spirit. Anyone that challenges science will not end up well. The American politicians had better stop playing the ridiculous political games that run counter against science, stop politicizing the pandemic, and join international cooperation to fight the disease with concrete actions so as to dispel the dark clouds of the pandemic with the light of cooperation. This is for the lives and health of Americans, as well as the public health security of the world. All human beings dwell in the same community with a shared future, so its better to do more to secure the homeland. (Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People's Daily to express its views on foreign policy.) I f youve wondered who is on the smattering of planes still flying over London, the answer is simple apart from the flight crew, probably no one. Heathrow bosses today told the Evening Standard that it has moved to become a largely freight-only operation, helping the national cause to bring in emergency equipment and medicines for the NHS to fight coronavirus. The airport increased its freight-only flights six-fold since the pandemic hit the UK, with 360 last week alone. Yesterday it flew 70 freight-only flights. Cargoes have mostly included PPE and ventilators from Shanghai, Turkey, Hong Kong and beyond, flown in by largely UK airlines. They do not include the delayed Turkish shipment featured in recent headlines. That was flown in by an RAF carrier to Brize Norton. Heathrow chief operations officer Emma Gilthorpe said the figures proved the airport was right to shun calls to close in order to halt the spread of the disease from overseas visitors. Heathrow is only using one runway and two terminals and has slashed pay. Getting home Brits stranded abroad was another key reason to keep the airport open, Gilthorpe said. Last week saw 50 repatriation flights. Responding to criticisms Heathrow had not been giving incoming passengers temperature checks for the virus. Gilthorpe said: We comply with Government policy and the Government follows a scientific and evidence-based approach to the measures it adopts. The closure of borders and temperature checks at airports are not deemed to be effective measures. UK advice differs from many overseas airports, particularly in Asian countries more used to dealing with pandemics. White nationalist Austin Gillespie who changed his name to Augustus Sol Invictus was arrested over the weekend for allegedly stalking his wife. Invictus was jailed on Tuesday in Orange County. The Orlando Sentinel reported that the 36-year-old white nationalist was recently released from a South Carolina jail where he had been held on domestic violence charges. In late March, Invictus was granted bond after he requested he be released over concerns he'd be infected with the coronavirus. Invictus was arrested after his wife called the Orange County Sheriff's Office to report that he'd violated the terms of his bond and a restraining order she had against him when he made contact with her. She told the deputies that every day since his release he had utilised a go-between to demand that she let him see their children. In addition to the go-between, he was also using alternate phone numbers including those of his children from a past relationship to call and harass her. Things escalated on Monday when Invictus reportedly texted his daughter that his wife had to bring them to Dickson Azalea Park, "or else." The park was a site Invictus had previously used as a venue for conflicts with his wife. In his messages, he was adamant that she meet him there and bring the children with her. "I'm going to plan to see you at 4, if she doesn't bring you to the park I assume she wants to fight," Invictus is said to have texted, according to an affidavit by Deputy Nicholas Wacker. His wife told authorities that she had once brought the children to the park and allowed them to spend an hour with Invictus. While at the park she said she had a discussion with a man, and Invictus allegedly directed his daughter to photograph the wife and the man having a conversation. Mr Wacker's affidavit said that "Augustus then told their daughter 'your mother is a whore.'" Deputies who recovered and searched Invictus' cell phone found evidence that he'd attempted to use other people to find his wife, sending them photos of her vehicle and her licence plate, and that GPS tracking software on his vehicle showed he'd drive in circles around the area of Orlando where she lived. His wife claimed Invictus attempt to contact her more than 20 times since he was released from jail last month. In a statement she read to a court in February, Invictus "has abused me more times than I can count." In the incident that landed Invictus in prison the first time, he choked his wife, held a gun to her head and forced her to drive from South Carolina to Florida. She explained how Invictus would force her to hide the evidence of her abuse. "To conceal the bruises from the public, he regularly punched me in my stomach and in my head so it hard it caused me to see flashes of light," she said. "He locked me in a bedroom and wouldn't let me out for days. He nearly fractured my wrist ... He threw me on the floor, stepped on me, and screamed vile insults I will never forget." Invictus unsuccessfully ran as a Libertarian for the US Senate in 2016 and is a prominent member of the white nationalist 'alt-right.' He was a featured member of the United the Right rally in Charlottesville, where Nazi sympathisers and white nationalists gathered to shout white supremacist slogans and where counter-protester Heather Heyer was killed when a member of the alt-right drove his car through a group of people. Harvard University has announced it will now not accept $8.6m in relief from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (Cares) Act after Donald Trump lambasted the institution for taking the funds despite its endowment. The university said in a statement that it would face significant financial challenges because of the coronavirus pandemic along with other institutions, but was concerned about the intense focus by politicians and others on Harvard in connection to the relief program. Although Harvard said it initially accepted the funding for the purpose of helping students and institutions whose financial challenges in the coming months may be most severe, the university said on Wednesday it would forgo the federal stimulus payment. As a result of this, and the evolving guidance being issued around use of the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, Harvard has decided not to seek or accept the funds allocated to it by statute, the statement read. The universitys relief funding stirred controversy after the president attacked Harvard during a White House press briefing earlier in the week, suggesting it had taken money from funds meant for American workers. The school had actually been allocated money through the Cares Act Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund. They have to pay it back, I dont like it, Mr Trump said. This is meant for workers this isnt meant for one of the richest institutions. The university clarified on Twitter that it had not taken money from the US Small Business Administrations Paycheck Protection Programme as the president had suggested, writing: President Trump is right that it would not have been appropriate for our institution to receive funds that were designated for struggling small businesses. Harvard also said earlier in the day that it had committed 100 per cent of these emergency higher education funds to provide direct assistance to students facing urgent financial needs due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Harvard should give back the money now, the president wrote in a tweet on Tuesday night. Their whole endowment system should be looked at! Other members of Mr Trumps administration added to the backlash against Harvard, including education secretary Betsy DeVos, who wrote on Twitter: As Ive said since day 1, wealthy institutions like @Harvard dont need this money. Flash Members of the Group of 20 (G20) should work together to keep the international supply chain of agricultural products stable and ensure food security amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Han Changfu said Tuesday. "Agriculture is the ballast of economic and social stability that requires special attention in the face of risks," Han said during an extraordinary virtual meeting of the G20 Agriculture Ministers. Han called for joint efforts of the G20 members to address the common crises posed by the pandemic, stressing the need to restore agricultural production and guarantee the timely planting of crops in the Northern Hemisphere. Agricultural trade should also be ensured by reducing trade barriers and keeping global logistics smooth, and multilateral cooperation should be enhanced with support to international institutions including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the International Fund for Agricultural Development to play their part, the minister said. China's agricultural sector has withstood the test of the COVID-19 outbreak, Han said, citing stable supply and prices of daily necessities including rice, meat, vegetables and fruits in major cities and the normal spring agricultural production. Han said the country will continue to coordinate anti-virus efforts and agricultural production and go all-out to secure a bumper harvest for this year. SriLankan Airlines will operate three rescue flights from India to fly back its stranded students in the country. These special flights are being operated as part of the Sri Lanka government's programme to bring back its students stranded in foreign countries and being carried out in partnership with the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a release said on Wednesday. On Thursday, the airlines will operate a special flight from Amritsar to Colombo and on Friday it will also operate two more services from Coimbatore to transport students who are held up there due to the ongoing lockdown, the airline said. SriLankan Airlines said it has earlier also several flown such air services to bring home pilgrims and students stranded in several countries, including a group of students who were trapped in Wuhan during the early days of the pandemic. Besides special flights from India, SriLankan Airlines has also performed such flights to Karachi, Lahore and Kathmandu to fly back the native students from these places, the airline said. Sri Lanka's High Commission, Deputy High Commission, Embassy's at these places have obtained permission from the respective civil aviation authorities to operate these special flights, it said adding the returnees will be handed over on arrival in Sri Lanka to the care of the country's health authorities, armed forces and other relevant institutions, for necessary procedures. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Doctors, nurses and hospitals have experienced a greater increase in consumer trust and confidence than any other industry during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new Axios/Harris poll. A first military satellite named Noor is launched into orbit by Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps, in Semnan, Iran April 22, 2020. WANA | Sepah News via Reuters WASHINGTON Iran said Wednesday that it successfully launched the nation's first military satellite, another move in the heightened tit-for-tat fight between Washington and Tehran over the regime's missile programs. The satellite, dubbed Noor, was sent into orbit using a long-range rocket, according to a statement by Iran's Revolutionary Guard. U.S. officials have long feared that Iran's pursuit of developing satellite technology is a cover for ballistic missile activity. Tehran, meanwhile, has denied those assertions and has said that Iran is not working toward a nuclear weapons program. "We want to make sure that they can never threaten the United States," U.S. Air Force Gen. John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters Wednesday at the Pentagon when asked about the satellite launch. Hyten, who previously oversaw the nation's nuclear weapons portfolio as commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, said he could not confirm if the Iranian satellite was successfully launched into orbit, noting that it takes time and tracking to determine the outcome. He added that the launch was another example of Iran's malign behavior and comes a week after Iranian fast boats harassed U.S. Navy ships in the Persian Gulf. "We're trying to create a safe environment for maritime transit in that part of the world. That's what the force over there is to do, and the malign behavior of Iran that questions that causes significant risks to the safety and security of that region of the world and therefore the world as a whole," Hyten said of the incident. President Donald Trump warned on Wednesday that the United States would destroy Iranian gunboats that harass American ships at sea. Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy vessels conducted unsafe and unprofessional actions against U.S. Military ships by crossing the ships' bows and sterns at close range while operating in international waters of the North Arabian Gulf. US Navy photo Iranian mourners gather during the final stage of funeral processions for slain top general Qasem Soleimani, in his hometown Kerman on January 7, 2020. Atta Kenare | AFP | Getty Images A day later from the White House, Trump said that Iran appeared "to be standing down" and warned Tehran to abandon its nuclear ambitions. "As long as I am president of the United States, Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon," Trump said speaking from the grand foyer of the White House. But he suggested that the U.S. is open to negotiations with Tehran. "We must all work together toward making a deal with Iran that makes the world a safer and more peaceful place," he said on Jan. 8. He then urged other world powers to break away from the Obama-era nuclear agreement with Iran and work out a new deal. Read more: Iran's foreign minister blames Trump's advisors for 'very dangerous moment' in relations with the US The tit-for-tat strikes follow what the U.S. called an Iranian attack on the world's largest crude-processing plant and oil field. Last summer, the U.S. blamed Iran for the predawn strikes in Saudi Arabia that forced the kingdom to shut down half its production operations. The event triggered the largest spike in crude prices in decades and renewed concerns of a budding conflict in the Middle East. Iran maintains that it was not behind the attacks. Employees work at the damaged site of Saudi Aramco oil facility in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia October 12, 2019. Maxim Shemetov | Reuters A health worker from an aid organization walks wearing a hazmat suit at the Kutupalong Rohingya refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. There's been little if any coronavirus testing in Cox's Bazar, where more than a million members of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslim minority are packed into the world's largest refugee camp. (AP Photo) Bangladesh: There are over 70 million people worldwide who have been driven from their homes by war and unrest, up to 10 million are packed into refugee camps and informal settlements, and almost none have been tested for the coronavirus. While the relative isolation of many camps may have slowed the virus spread, none is hermetically sealed. Without testing, as the world has seen repeatedly, the virus can spread unchecked until people start showing symptoms. That could have catastrophic results among the worlds refugees: There will be few if any intensive care beds or ventilators for them. There might not even be gloves or masks. Testing is in short supply even in New York and Norway, but it is nonexistent in most of the countries in the (global) south for the people we try to help, Jan Egeland, the head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said. His group recently conducted a review of all 30 countries where it operates and found virtually no testing before people became sick. In Syrias war-ravaged Idlib province, only one small health facility is equipped to receive suspected coronavirus cases. In the worlds largest refugee camp, in Bangladesh, aid workers are racing to build isolation facilities. In two sprawling camps in Kenya, Somalis who survived decades of famine and war fear the worst is yet to come. Some refugee camps have been around so long they have apartment blocks and paved roads. Others are little more than clusters of tents or abandoned buildings. In many, cramped conditions and poor infrastructure can make it impossible to practice social distancing and frequent hand-washing. There are no official figures for the number of refugees who live in camps, but Egeland estimates they make up 10% to 15% of all refugees and displaced people, a population the U.N. estimates at over 70 million. Refugees have already tested positive in Italy, Germany, Iran, Australia and Greece, where authorities said Tuesday that 150 people living in a quarantined hotel for asylum-seekers had contracted the coronavirus, and none displayed symptoms of COVID-19. Germany has now given a green signal to clinical trials of a COVID-19 vaccine on human volunteers, the regulatory body said on April 22. Amid the unprecedented outbreak of deadly coronavirus after German ministers claimed to have contained the first wave of COVID-19 infections, an RNA vaccine developed by German firm BioNtech and American giant Pfizer will be subjected to "first-in-human trial". Till now, the pandemic has claimed over 178,600 lives and infected 2.5 million people around the world but no definite cure has been derived. However, the German regulatory body has reportedly said that the approval of trying coronavirus vaccines was the outcome of a careful assessment of the potential risk/benefit profile of the candidate for the vaccine. According to international media reports, the vaccine trials will witness at least 200 healthy volunteers aged between 18 and 55 years who will be injected with variants of the RNA vaccine. BioNtech reportedly said that the second phase of the clinical tests would involve human volunteers who belonged to more vulnerable groups. Read - German Firms Turn To Making Masks As Demand Grows Amid Coronavirus Pandemic However, it still remains unspecified when the trials would begin but the German regulatory body has reportedly hailed the move as an important milestone' in the direction towards finding a reliable cure to the highly contagious disease. According to the Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies, since the outbreak originated in China in late December 2019, at least 80 vaccine projects have taken place to combat the COVID-19 outbreak. The German clinical trials would be, reportedly only the fourth one to have been authorised globally. Read - 'Germany Plans To Buy 93 Eurofighters, 45 F-18s': Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer Today, the German regulatory authority, the @PEI_Germany, approved the Phase 1/2 clinical trial for our #vaccine program to prevent #COVID19 infection. More about the milestone in our global development program in collaboration with @pfizer & Fosun Pharma: https://t.co/nXZe90dbNe pic.twitter.com/TibuNp5yJv BioNTech SE (@BioNTech_Group) April 22, 2020 Read - Germany's Volkswagen Prepares For Reopening COVID-19 outbreak under control in Germany While most part of the world is currently combatting the deadly coronavirus outbreak, German Health Minister Jens Spahn said on April 17 that the country is again under control from the pandemic. Crediting the positive change in Germany to early lockdown, Spahn said that the government would make ten million masks every week starting from August. German Health Minister said that since April 12, there are more recovered people every day than new infections. Spahn also called it an important and encouraging development. Spahn showcased optimism and noted that Germany has a good chance of battling the COVID-19 pandemic and lauded the citizens and its healthcare system. Read - Fact Check: Did Germany Send 130 Bn Bill To China For 'coronavirus Damages'? Read - Merkel Issues Stark Warning As Germany Begins Opening Up (With agency inputs) Villagers fetch gunny bags containing food rations in Ayod county, South Sudan, where World Food Programme carried out a food drop of grain and supplementary aid on February 6, 2020. Tony Karumba | AFP | Getty Images Famines of "biblical proportions" are becoming a serious risk as the coronavirus crisis threatens to double the number of people nearing starvation, a U.N. body has warned. In projections released Tuesday, the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) predicted that the number of people facing "acute food insecurity" stood to rise to 265 million by the end of this year, up from 135 million in 2019. That would mean an additional 130 million people were "living on the edge of starvation," largely due to the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis, with wages, supply chains and humanitarian aid under pressure as a result of the outbreak. The International Monetary Fund warned last week that the global economy was likely to experience the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, predicting global growth would contract by 3% this year because of the virus. 'A hunger pandemic' Addressing the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday, WFP Executive Director David Beasley said the world was facing "the worst humanitarian crisis since World War Two." "At the same time as dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, we are on the brink of a hunger pandemic," he said. Beasley noted that the WFP currently offers food assistance to almost 100 million people, but warned that the coronavirus could make it difficult for them to be reached and urged the U.N. to provide more assistance. Bob Odenkirk has details his sons two-week battle with coronavirus, saying his throat hurt like it had cancer. The Better Call Saul actor said his 21-year-old son Nate, who is asthmatic, became unwell while at DePaul University in Chicago. His roommate was sick. Really, really sick, Odenkirk told CBS presenter Conan OBrien. My son had asthma for many years. Very bad. A lot of times that goes away around 18 or so, but even at 20 I think he still uses his inhaler sometimes. I met him at the airport, and I gave him a mask and he washed his hands with antibacterial soap and all that stuff. He woke up the next morning with a fever, and he said his throat hurt like it had cancer. He said it really hurt. Odenkirk confessed he didnt fully understand the severity of his sons symptoms at first. Were just so used to the flu, he said, and our brains just naturally go, Ive been through it. I get it. Three days. Two, three days that are hard, and then you get better. Its not that. Its much worse. Two weeks in, Im looking at him, Im going, Youre good now, right? And hes like, No, no. Im not good. Odenkirk also told James Cordens The Late Late Show that his sons illness got scarier the longer it went, and the further we got from it, I became aware that we got very lucky. Better Call Sauls fifth season has just drawn to a close. Odenkirk can next be seen in the action thriller Nobody, alongside Christopher Lloyd and Connie Nielsen. The Latin American subsidiary of Canopy Growth (NASDAQ:CGC) has signed a new medical marijuana supply deal in the region with multinational cannabis company Clever Leaves, the companies announced in a joint press release Tuesday. Under the contract, which will run for one year with an option to extend it for another two, Clever Leaves will supply Canopy LATAM with extracted goods produced in Colombia. And Clever Leaves has already made its first delivery to Canopy LATAM. The companies did not reveal the financial terms of the arrangement. In the press release, Canopy Growth touted the advantages of working with a third-party grower and processor, saying that the new partnership "is furthering the implementation of Canopy LATAM's asset-light model and accelerating time to market with regionally produced GMP-certified medical cannabis products." "GMP" stands for good manufacturing practices, a global quality standards certification. Several Latin American countries have legalized medical marijuana to some extent, notably Colombia, Mexico, and Uruguay, with the latter also permitting its sale and use for recreational purposes. The regional market is still somewhat limited, but there is room for a cannabis company with international ambitions to become a major presence there. The news comes less than a week after Canopy Growth announced that it was reining in its global operations. Among other things, that strategic shift included the decision to shutter its cannabis growth facility in Colombia -- hence its need for a third-party provider there. Canopy Growth stock was trading essentially flat at midday Wednesday, lagging behind the wider equities market, which was up by around 2%. Meanwhile, the EU remains divided and deadlocked in sharing the migrant burden between member states. Over the weekend, four EU countries, namely France, Germany, Italy and Spain, launched a joint initiative to remove deadlock and disagreements among member countries, and reform the blocs migration policies. Accordingly, a proposal was sent to the two EU commissioners in charge of reform asking for the distribution of migrants currently seeking to cross borders into Greece, Italy and Spain, to all the 27 member states of the European common roof. Notably, in his letter sent to the EU commissioners in charge of reform, the Interior Ministers of the four aforementioned countries affirmed that if accepted by the member countries, this mechanism would be binding. The proposals were made in the context of the influx of migrants into Europe remaining serious as well as ongoing shipwrecks in the Mediterranean. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that after Ankara decided to open the border, about 150,000 migrants found their way to Greece. It is worth mentioning that these migrants did not intend to stay in Greece, but would continue to migrate to seek for life-changing opportunities in other EU nations. The continuous influx of migrants into the old continent has triggered many major issues both socio-economic and security-related. Currently, in addition to disagreements on sharing the quotas of immigrants, the risk of disease outbreaks in refugee camps for migrants is posing a big problem. In Greece, a major gateway for the acceptance of migrants, experts have warned of the risk of COVID-19 infection in refugee camps across the country due to overload and poor sanitary conditions. So far, the Greek government has imposed restrictions on travel at camps. To prevent the outbreak of the disease, the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs asked Greece to move migrants at risk of COVID-19 infection from overcrowded camps on the Mediterranean islands to the mainland. Greek Minister of Migration and Asylum Notis Mitarachi said that unaccompanied migrant children would be taken to other EU countries. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas confirmed that in the coming weeks, Germany will receive about 500 unaccompanied juveniles from refugee camps in Greece. He voiced his hopes that other EU member states would follow Germany and accept more adolescent refugees. To force EU members to share the fire with frontline countries and accept illegal migrants further into Europe, European authorities recently applied tougher measures against countries that countered the order on the allocation of immigration quotas. Accordingly, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic were ruled to have breached their obligations under EU law by refusing to take in refugees. The aforementioned situation shows that, although the immigration crisis has eased in Europe, it still causes serious problems for the EU, from intra-regional solidarity to other social and security risks. In that context, analysts emphasise the importance of the allocation of migrant quotas recently proposed by the four major EU countries, which, they said, shows that the key EU countries have reached a common view on solving the issue of migrants. This is also a signal of the possibility that the EU will be able to introduce an agreement in the near future which is binding but still accepted by all 27 member states. It seems that only when that happens, can a solution to the problem of migrants be worked out. I f you love culture and always carry a spare jumper in you bag, were sure that Shakespeares Globe has a meaningful place in your heart. As the days get warmer, now would be about the time audiences would be flocking to the outdoor playhouse for an encounter with the Bard (and probably some bird noises in the background). However, the lockdown has left us confined to our homes and washing our hands more often than Lady Macbeth. This week would have seen the opening of Ola Inces production of Romeo and Juliet, starring Alfred Enoch and Rebekah Murrell - instead were watching our neighbours perform it out of their windows . If youre pining for the groundling days but instead just feel like youve been grounded, weve got a few cultural recommendations to keep the Shakespeare spirit alive. Watching Although we wont be able to see the Globes latest production of Romeo & Juliet, the theatre have made its 2009 production available to watch for free online. Directed by Dominic Dromgoole, it features Ellie Kendrick and Adetomiwa Edun as the star-crossed lovers. Of course, you could just go old school and dust off your VHS tape of the 1996 Baz Luhrmann film version, starring Leonardo di Caprio and Claire Danes. For other Shakespearean delights, put May 1 in your diary: thats when the Royal Opera House will broadcast Christopher Wheeldons production of The Winters Tale, performed by the Royal Ballet. The Donmars award-winning Shakespeare trilogy, directed by Phyllida Lloyd, is available to watch on Marquee TV. For a bit of daily delight, Sir Patrick Stewart is reading a sonnet a day on Twitter. London's West End Theatres go dark during coronavirus - In pictures 1 /25 London's West End Theatres go dark during coronavirus - In pictures A woman wearing a face mask waits for an evening show of "Les Miserables" at Queen's Theatre AFP via Getty Images Staff from The Prince of Wales Theatre, London, inform patrons, as it shuts its doors, following a statement from Pime Minister Boris Johnson PA A notice outside The Apollo Theatre, London, informing patrons, that it has shut its doors, following a statement from Pime Minister Boris Johnson PA Staff from The Sondheim Theatre, London, inform patrons, as it shuts its doors, following a statement from Pime Minister Boris Johnson today PA Staff from The Lyric Theatre, London, inform patrons, as it shuts its doors, following a statement from Pime Minister Boris Johnson today PA Staff from The Lyric Theatre, London, inform patrons, as it shuts its doors, following a statement from Pime Minister Boris Johnson PA A notice outside The Prince Edward Theatre, London, informing patrons, that it has shut its doors, following a statement from Pime Minister Boris Johnson PA Staff from The Prince Edward Theatre, London, inform patrons, as it shuts its doors, following a statement from Pime Minister Boris Johnson PA A notice outside The Apollo Theatre, London, informing patrons, that it has shut its doors, following a statement from Pime Minister Boris Johnso PA Pretty Woman at Piccadilly Theatre SplashNews.com Jamie at The Apollo SplashNews.com The Seagull at The Playhouse Theatre SplashNews.com Thriller at The Lyric SplashNews.com Thriller at The Lyric SplashNews.com Thriller at The Lyric SplashNews.com Thriller at The Lyric SplashNews.com SplashNews.com The Seagull at The Playhouse Theatre SplashNews.com Pretty Woman at Piccadilly Theatre SplashNews.com Listening Listen to The Shakespeare Sessions podcast, Radio Threes archive of recorded performances of the Bards plays. Theres also a number of Shakespeare-themed lectures available to listen to for free from the University of Oxford - just search for Approaching Shakespeare. They are delivered by Professor Emma Smith, a celebrated scholar of the Bard. Shakespeares Globe has its own podcast - Such Stuff - with a recent episode focusing on one of the very best film adaptations: 10 Things I Hate About You. If that all feels a bit serious, why not stick on the original cast recording for & Juliet, the delightfully silly West End musical asking what would have happened if Juliet hadnt killed herself through the songs of Britney and the Backstreet Boys. Reading The number of daily coronavirus deaths registered in Spain was 435 on Wednesday, according to the latest figures supplied by the Health Ministry. This is a slight rise from yesterdays figure of 430. There has also been a slight rise in the number of new cases. In the past 24 hours, there were 4,211 registered infections, compared to 3,968 on Tuesday. This is a rise of 2% of the total, which is in keeping with the trend over the past five days. Since the beginning of the crisis, 41.2% of confirmed coronavirus patients have recovered from the disease, a figure that has been steadily rising There have been a total of 21,717 official Covid-19-related fatalities since the pandemic hit Spain, with confirmed infections now reaching 208,389. Some 85,915 patients have recovered from the illness and have been discharged from hospital. There was a significant increase in the number of patients discharged from hospital, with 4.1% of the total recovering, compared to 2.4% on Tuesday. Since the beginning of the crisis, 41.2% of confirmed coronavirus cases have recovered from the disease, a figure that has been steadily rising. It should be noted that there are variations in the official statistics this week given that the Health Ministry is updating the historical series, after the government issued an order to the 17 regions in a bid to homogenize the different reporting of the data. Speaking at the governments daily press conference, Fernando Simon, the director of the Health Ministrys Coordination Center for Health Alerts, said the figures showed very favorable progress [of the outbreak] with respect to last week. We have maintained [daily fatalities] in the range of 400 cases, he explained. Simon attributed the rise in cases to increased testing, adding: We all knowci that there has been an important drop in transmission. We have to guarantee it and verify it. In the meantime, we have to maintain control over situations of risk. After reaching a peak of 950 fatalities on April 2, the number of daily coronavirus-related deaths began a slow descent. The figures last week, however, plateaued, with 410 on Sunday, 565 on Saturday, 585 on Friday, 551 on Thursday and 523 on Wednesday. Spanish PM calls on Congress to extend state of alarm Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez appeared in Spains lower house of parliament, the Congress of Deputies, on Wednesday to seek approval to extend the current state of alarm until May 9. Sanchez leads a minority coalition government between the Socialist Party (PSOE) and junior partner Unidas Podemos. Given the lack of a working majority, the prime minister needs the support of other groups in order to pass legislation. Primer Minister Pedro Sanchez addresses Congress on Wednesday. Pool Efe (GTRES) We are living in a time of extraordinary sacrifices, Sanchez told Congress during the start of the debate on Wednesday morning. We cannot let our guard down. The prime minister added that the relaxation of the confinement measures after May 9 will be slow and gradual. Pablo Casado, the leader of the Popular Party (PP), indicated in Congress that his party would support the extension, but accused the government of incompetence and improvisation in its handling of the crisis. Ciudadanos (Citizens) is also likely to support the measure, while the Catalan pro-independence party Junts per Catalunya and far-right Vox, which is the third-largest party in Congress, have said they will vote against it. The state of alarm was approved by the Spanish Cabinet on March 14 and came into effect the following day. It was set to last until March 29 but has already been extended twice by Congress until April 26. Government spending on medical supplies The Spanish government has spent at least 350.3 million on medical supplies, according to documents released by the Cabinet on Tuesday. This marked the first time the Health Ministry had publicly reported how much it has spent on these products. The information covers seven agreements for the purchase of different kinds of face masks, gloves, protective glasses, as well as diagnostic tests. Antigen test from the Chinese company Bioeasy. One of the agreements is for the 640,000 antigen tests that were found to be defective and were sent back by the Health Ministry. According to the information supplied on Tuesday, the government spent 17 million on 659,000 diagnostic tests from the Chinese company Shenzen Bioeasy Biotechnology, or the equivalent of 26 per test. As EL PAIS revealed on Tuesday, the government is seeking a refund for the faulty products, for which it made a 6 million advance payment. The distributor of the tests, Interpharma, issued a press release on Tuesday stating that the 6 million had been paid back. The Spanish government also spent 38.7 million on more than five million diagnostic tests, the equivalent of 7.70 per test. Given the size of the shipment, it is likely that they are the five million serological and antibody tests that most regions are using in conjunction with PCR tests, which are the most reliable. According to the information, the Health Ministry paid nearly 251 million on 488 million face masks, or 0.51 per unit. Mayor breaks confinement measures The mayor of Badalona, Alex Pastor, in a file photo. JUAN BARBOSA The mayor of the Catalan city of Badalona, Alex Pastor has resigned from his position after being arrested on Tuesday night for breaking the lockdown rules. According to police sources, the Socialist politician was driving in his car and showed evident signs of inebriation, but refused to take a breath test. He was very upset, yelling and hitting things, they said. He could not stop repeating: Im the mayor of Badalona. According to these sources, Pastor even bit one of the Catalan regional police officers at the scene. The Catalan branch of the Socialist Party (PSC) immediately demanded his resignation and suspension from the party. Emergency morgue in ice rink closes The emergency morgue in Madrids Palacio de Hielo ice rink will close on Wednesday due to the fall in coronavirus deaths. The ice rink, which is located inside a shopping mall in the north of the city, was the first facility to be turned into a temporary morgue in a bid to ease the situation in the regions hospitals and funeral services. Another ice rink in the western municipality of Majadahonda and a facility inside a failed development project called the City of Justice were also turned into makeshift morgues. Since becoming operational, the Palacio de Hielo ice rink has housed 1,146 victims. Government sets face mask price The government has set the maximum price of a surgical face mask at 0.96, according to Health Minister Salvador Illa. At a press conference on Tuesday, following the weekly Cabinet meeting, Illa explained that the price had been reached after consulting with the Interministerial Commission on Medicine Prices and will come into effect on Sunday once the decree is finalized. The measure seeks to end price gouging of face masks, which have seen a dramatic rise in cost due to the coronavirus crisis. The government, however has not set any price on other medical supplies such as hand sanitizer and gloves. English version by Melissa Kitson. Workers for Source Power Services, contracted by Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), repair a power transformer in Healdsburg, California, on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2019. A California regulator has asked PG&E for governance and oversight changes in its reorganization plan, while also proposing penalties of about $2 billion on the San-Francisco based utility for its role in causing the devastating 2017 and 2018 wildfires in California. The proposal from the regulator "will require PG&E to modify its governance structure, submit to an enhanced oversight and enforcement process if it fails to improve safety, and create local operating regions", the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) said late on Monday. Separately, CPUC Commissioner Clifford Rechtschaffen proposed imposing $1.94 billion in penalties on PG&E for the utility's role in the 2017 and 2018 wildfires. In the proposal, an earlier imposed $200 million fine on PG&E was "permanently suspended" to ensure that the fine's payment did not reduce the funds to meet the claims of wildfire victims. Both the proposals will be put to vote next month, CPUC said. PG&E did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. A U.S. bankruptcy judge in December approved PG&E's $13.5 billion settlement with victims of the deadly California wildfires. Last month, the company had announced some new commitments in its reorganization plan to emerge from bankruptcy to meet concerns raised earlier by California Governor Gavin Newsom. PG&E filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January last year, citing potential liabilities in excess of $30 billion from major wildfires sparked by its equipment in 2017 and 2018. The company needs to exit bankruptcy by June 30 to participate in a state-backed wildfire fund that would help reduce the threat to utilities from wildfires. Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL) promoters Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan will be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) \for investigations into the case of alleged fraud at Yes Bank Limited, .Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh said on Wednesday. The brothers, meanwhile, obtained interim protection from arrest until May 5 from a special CBI court. The court has granted them the protection on grounds that their arrest is not possible during the Covid-19 lockdown. The central agencies have sought custody of the Wadhawans after they were detained by Satara police for violating lockdown restrictions two weeks ago. DHFL has borrowed about Rs 3,700 crore from Yes Bank that is under stress. They are probing an alleged quid pro quo between DHFL and Yes Bank and their promoters. In a Facebook live address on Wednesday morning, Deshmukh said the 14-day quarantine of the businessmen brothers would end on Wednesday, April 22, after which the agencies can seek the custody of the brothers. We have written to both the central agencies that they can take custody on Wednesday afternoon. They [Wadhawans] are at a school in Panchgani [in Satara district] completing their mandatory quarantine, he said. The Wadhawan brothers and 21 other family members were detained by Satara police on March 7 after they illegally travelled to Mahabaleshwar from Khandala during the lockdown for the coronavirus disease pandemic . To cross the district borders, they provided a letter written by Amitabh Gupta, principal secretary (special) in the home department, who is now facing an inquiry. We have written to the central agencies to take over custody anytime from now. It is up to them to decide when to act on our request, a home department official said on condition of anonymity. The Wadhawans and family members have been booked under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Disaster Management Act 2005. The CBI had obtained non-bailable warrants against the two on March 17. In a letter, dated April 17, the deputy inspector general of CBI and the assistant director of ED were requested by the Satara superitendent of police Tejaswi Satpute to take follow-up action by April 22. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Surendra P Gangan Surendra P Gangan is Senior Assistant Editor with political bureau of Hindustan Times Mumbai Edition. He covers state politics and Maharashtra governments administrative stories. Reports on the developments in finances, agriculture, social sectors among others. ...view detail UTICA, N.Y. --- Governor Cuomo in his press conference on Monday stated that schools will not reopen. But that wasn't an official decision from the state. Now districts across our area are in limbo about the remainder of the school year. NEWSChannel 2 spoke to superintendents in both Utica and Rome about how they're planning for whatever the state decides. "Relative to what the Governor is saying it's hard to say what's going to happen. One day he's saying we're going to open in May the next he's saying there's no plan to the end of the year. So we keep on moving forward every day as if we are going to have a plan to reopen in late May. But it would be nice for someone to make a decision so we can move on with planning," said Rome Superintendent Peter Blake. Utica City Schools Superintendent Bruce Karam said the district will be ready for whatever and whenever the state makes an official decision. "When that time comes, the Utica City School District will be ready. We have been planning, and proactive on this. We started planning for this back in February. We have to wait and see what the medical data is showing and I'm sure he (The Governor) will make a good decision based on that data," said Karam. If the state does make a decision to reopen, Peter Blake said it would be a logistical challenge. "But logistically it would be a challenge. Making sure we can maintain cleanliness, setting that up would be an issue. But respectively the big hurdle would be that there are probably some parents that wouldn't want their children back in school. So you're going to have to deal with those barriers as well," said Blake. But ultimately both districts said they're at the mercy of the Governor. In terms of online learning, both Utica and Rome are reporting positive results. Teachers are working with students on giving them the necessary skills required for next year. "We have been getting feedback from our building principals, It's going very well. Our teachers are keeping up with their students. There's a lot of feedback going back and forth," said Bruce Karam. Superintendent Peter Blake said that between 70 and 80 percent of students are expected to pass this year with online learning. Blake said the state has altered the graduation requirement which allows the students to graduate. In terms of graduation, both districts face a challenge with planning. Under the current COVID-19 restrictions, mass gatherings are banned preventing graduation ceremonies from taking place. Utica Superintendent Bruce Karam tells NEWSChannel 2 that they're discussing their options and waiting for guidance from the state. Rome Superintendent Peter Blake said the district received a letter from the senior class outlining their desires and has different plans in place. "We probably have plans A, B, C, and D right now and I think that is true for most districts. We're are looking at many options. Our senior class wrote a great letter to myself and the board of education outlining their desires in terms of what their preferences are. We're hoping to do a normally scheduled in-person graduation, whether that would be in July or August," said Blake. Blake said other possibilities include virtual graduation or in-person graduation live-streamed with no audience if the state allows it. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Avis Budget Group, Inc. (CAR) Wednesday said it expects first-quarter revenues of $1.7 to $1.8 billion, which is a 9% decrease at the midpoint. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters currently estimate revenues of $1.76 billion. The company said January and February started out exceptionally strong with revenues up 9%, continuing the momentum from the end of 2019, and suggesting that 2020 was shaping up to potentially be a record year. March results were significantly impacted as shelter in place orders effectively eliminated travel activity globally. The company expects net loss of between $155 and $165 for the first quarter. Rental days were in a range of 34.4 to 34.6 million, Revenue per Day was in a range of $50 to $51, and Per-Unit Fleet Costs were in a range of $250 to $255. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - PG&E Corp. (PCG) said Wednesday that its chief executive officer and president, William Johnson, will retire from the company, effective on June 30, 2020, which is expected to be after the company's Plan of reorganization is confirmed by the Bankruptcy Court. Johnson will remain on the board until June 30. 'I joined PG&E to help get the company out of bankruptcy and stabilize operations. By the end of June, I expect that both of these goals will have been met,' said Johnson. The company has appointed William Smith as interim chief executive officer. Smith, who joined the PG&E Board of Directors in 2019, will serve in this role from the time of Johnson's departure through the appointment of a new chief executive officer. Smith is the retired President of AT&T Technology Operations at AT&T Services, Inc., where he spent 37 years with the telecommunications service provider and its predecessor companies. PG&E also said that Andrew Vesey, current CEO and President of Pacific Gas and Electric Company, the utility subsidiary, will continue in his role overseeing the company's electric, gas, generation and customer operations. Recently, PG&E received approval and support from the Governor's Office for the company's Plan of Reorganization. It reached $25.5 billion in wildfire settlements with victims; It also reached a plea agreement with the Butte County District Attorney on charges related to the 2018 Camp Fire. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de New Delhi, April 22 (IANS) Automobile manufacturer MG Motor India on Wednesday said that it will provide 100 MG Hector SUVs to doctors, medical staff, police and local government officials for community service across the country, till the end of May Image Source: PK New Delhi, April 22 : Automobile manufacturer MG Motor India on Wednesday said that it will provide 100 MG Hector SUVs to doctors, medical staff, police and local government officials for community service across the country, till the end of May 2020. Accordingly, the carmaker will provide 100 Hector SUVs free-of-cost to support the national effort to overcome COVID-19. "All the cars would be provided along with fuel and drivers and will be used to ensure that the key stakeholders in this crisis, such as doctors, medical staff, police and local government authorities can travel safely as the Indian government intensifies its battle against COVID-19," the company said in a statement. "The cars will be supplied via MG's nationwide network of dealers during the lockdown as per state government rules." As per the statement, the carmaker will follow the recently introduced 'MG Disinfect and Deliver' process to deploy these 100 Hector SUVs. "MG Motor has been offering support to communities during the current pandemic situation," the statement said. "The carmaker has donated ventilators and distributed Health and Hygiene Kits, PPE kits, Surgical Masks, Gloves, Sanitizers, Sanitizer Sprayers, Food and Ration Kits to combat the coronavirus threat." Islams two holiest mosques can hold evening prayers without public attendance during Ramadan, Saudi Arabias King Salman said Wednesday. Shortened tarawih prayers performed by the staff will be allowed at the Grand Mosque in Mecca and the Prophets Mosque in Medina, the Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques' Affairs said in a statement. However, itikaf the practice of praying and meditating in isolation during the last 10 days of Ramadan is banned at both mosques. The highest religious authority in Saudi Arabia, Grand Mufti Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, has previously said the evening tarawih and Eid al-Fitr prayers should not be held in mosques or large groups this year. The Saudi government has also suspended the year-round pilgrimage known as umrah, and authorities are currently advising Muslims to delay making travel plans for the hajj this July and August. Saudi Arabia has recorded 11,631 coronavirus cases and 109 deaths, the health minister said Tuesday. To give Muslims time to shop ahead of Ramadan, which begins later this week, the kingdom will ease curfew hours, the state news agency SPA reported. Earlier this month, Saudi authorities placed the capital Riyadh and other major cities under a 24-hour curfew. Across the region, Muslim governments have rolled out new measures, including the cancellation of iftar meals and congregational prayers, to keep the coronavirus in check during the fasting month of Ramadan. Religious authorities in some countries have asked worshippers to avoid gathering publicly for the first sighting of the crescent moon this week, which is used to mark the start of the holy month. The Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalems Old City, Islam's third holiest site where the Prophet Muhammad is believed to have ascended to heaven, will remain closed. The happy birthdays' and congratulations' ring loud and clear, glasses clink to say cheers and the home-baked cake is often yum too. It's a party alright but a distinctly surreal one with family and friends reduced to little squares on screens, cheering the online celebrations along. So there's no one to smear cake on the birthday girl's face and promises instead of gifts as every guest -- not half as many as most party hoppers would like -- is kept at a you-can-see-but-can't-touch' distance, the party itself taking on a futuristic, other worldly quality to remember in a post coronavirus tomorrow. In middle and upper class homes, birthdays, anniversaries, festivals and even pre-wedding celebrations have gone virtual after March 25, when the pan India lockdown came into force. Reducing distances but also enhancing them, the shared parties are dependent, of course, on the partygoer's broadband connection or mobile data package. Mohammad Omar, a Masters student at London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), who returned to India in March, had a 22nd birthday he will always remember. He said he was feeling really low on his birthday on April 3, but a video conference cheered him up. "All my cousins and friends arranged a video conference which I was unaware of. My cousin who lives next door called me over and I was stunned to see my friends and cousins waiting at a video conference on her laptop," the 22-year-old from Ghaziabad said. "They sang for me, we even danced on a few songs and I cut the cake baked by my mother, but missed being smeared with icing by my friends and cousins," he told PTI. Children are also trying to wrap their heads around the strange birthday celebrations. Parents are struggling to explain to their children why a mega bash is not possible this year. Shahana Datta, who turned eight on April 7, missed her friends and cousins who would come to her Noida home every birthday, but could not make it this time. "I felt very sad that I could not meet my friends and cousins on my birthday. But my mother made a cake for me and when I was cutting it, my cousins and friends joined in on a video call to sing for me," she told PTI. Shahana said her mother has promised her many gifts once coronavirus dies and the lockdown is over. The young ones just can't figure out what the big deal about COVID-19 is. Neetu Thakur said her son Vedant was extremely upset on his seventh birthday on April 15 as he could not understand why his party couldn't happen in a mall or a banquet hall like every other year. "To cheer him up, I decorated the entire house with whatever material at hand, baked a cake for him and made him connect with his cousins and grandparents on video call," said Thakur, a resident of Srinivaspuri in Delhi. "I bought two-three small gifts from nearby shops and promised my son that when the lockdown opens, I will buy his favourite toys and lots of other gifts," she told PTI. The blues have hit other celebrations too. I H Rehman, an environment expert who lives in Ghaziabad, said his 24th marriage anniversary on April 15 was a sombre affair with a quiet dinner and a home-baked cake. The 53-year-old said he has promised to buy his wife a "big gift" once the lockdown is lifted. In a non-coronavirus year, Anindya Basu and his family would have rung in the Bengali New Year by going out for a series of feasts with friends and relatives in town. But the plans had to be tweaked this year. This year, we spent a formidable amount of time calling up all the relatives and wishing them. The kids dressed up in new clothes, and were made to sit down for a detailed lesson on the significance of the day in our culture, after which we treated ourselves to a homemade gala lunch, the Kolkata-based Basu said. Basu and his wife Madhushree, both foodies, whipped up an exquisite menu comprising quintessential Bengali delicacies like ghee bhaat' (rice served with clarified butter) and katla maccher kalia' (Catla fish curry). Many others also took to Twitter to share how they are celebrating various special occasions. Prometheus School in Noida hosted a special morning assembly to celebrate Baisakhi, the harvest festival. In an online video chat, students and teachers dressed up in traditional attire and shook a leg to some Punjabi music tracks. A couple had to postpone their wedding due to the lockdown. However, they shared a post on how their friends threw them a virtual sangeet party to make the day memorable. Theatre actor Dipali Bhasin's family chalked out an extensive itinerary for her quarantine birthday, a picture of which she shared on Twitter. It started with breakfast in bed, and had activities like movie viewing, free/nap time, cocktail hour, dinner and a surprise at 6, she said. Extraordinary times sometimes call for extraordinary gestures. Like this one from police in Punjab's Mansa district which delivered a cake at the doorstep of a one-year-old. The warm gesture of the police personnel won many hearts and left the parents of the girl elated. There are also some who just can't stick to online. A man in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur district demonstrated birthday over enthusiasm when he defied the lockdown with a big party on his 10-year-olld son's birthday. Till such time when the shadow of the pandemic vanishes, "Happy birthday to you" on video may just become the new normal - for connected India. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment I know a bit about the quarantined life. As a teen, I spent one month in my room. Likewise, throughout history people have been quarantined, from the Middle Ages (plague) to the yellow-fever outbreaks of the 1870s to the typhus outbreak in New York in 1892. The most recent one, the Spanish Flu of 1918, killed roughly 50 million people in the U.S. and Europe. During one cholera outbreak in Europe, Mark Twain had to quarantine himself aboard a boat for two weeks. My point? Self-isolation and quarantine are nothing new. Even the Jewish nation has a long history of self-isolation, beginning in Exodus. Moses, in a sense, became the first public health official, instructing the people in Gods protocols for the health of the community. Through it all we must remember that Gods people are to be a community. We are one anothers. The phrase one another appears 60-plus times in the epistles. That tells us that, as Christians, we are in this together. To help give you perspective on a quarantined life, well look at three overarching facts. Quarantine is biblical Think of these biblical examples of self-isolation: Passover, medical reasons (leprosy and skin-related contagion, see Leviticus 13), and separation from the ways of the world, of those things found unclean (see Leviticus 13:1-6). In ancient Israel, think of the priests as custodians of public health, assessing the various kinds of ailments, including two forms of leprosy (see 2 Chronicles 26:21). Even in the New Testament, lepers practiced social distancing (see Luke 17:12) Why do we quarantine? The simple answer is that it fulfills our love for our neighbor (see 1 Corinthians 13:4-7). Moreover, Paul in Romans 13 states that the governing authorizes were appointed by God. One of the main roles of the government is protection of its people. With the coronavirus, we live by a simple equation: The flatter the rate of viral infection, the smaller the number of people who will die. So, our quarantine is an act of love. Isnt So Much About Revelation 13 Think of it this way: The coronavirus isnt so much about Revelation 13 (the end of days) as it is Leviticus 13 (healthy community practice). Therefore, lets act according to 1 Corinthians 13 until Romans 13 runs its course! The more time we have on our hands, the more we can bless others. Think of it this way: Solitude is considered one of the traditional spiritual disciplines. There are two overarching forms of discipline: engagement (worship and service) and abstinence (fasting and charity). Dallas Willard put it this way, Of all the disciplines of abstinence, solitude is generally the most fundamental in the beginning of the spiritual life, and it must be returned to again and again as that life develops.[1] Solitude is the foundation of our quiet times. Besides the medical reasons, here are four other benefits of being quarantined: Physical restoration : When we are shut down, we are renewed (see Mark 6). God sometimes makes us lie down (see Psalm 23:2). : When we are shut down, we are renewed (see Mark 6). God sometimes makes us lie down (see Psalm 23:2). Spiritual edification : When we in solitude, we can enjoy the presence of God more, getting into His word (see Psalm 46:10, Mark 1:35, and Lamentations 3:25). : When we in solitude, we can enjoy the presence of God more, getting into His word (see Psalm 46:10, Mark 1:35, and Lamentations 3:25). Self-evaluation : When we are quiet before the Lord, we allow God to examine us without distractions or the competition of others (see Hebrews 4:13; Psalm 139:1-3, 23-24; and Luke 6:12-13). : When we are quiet before the Lord, we allow God to examine us without distractions or the competition of others (see Hebrews 4:13; Psalm 139:1-3, 23-24; and Luke 6:12-13). Inner Consolation: When you are alone, you can deal with grief at the deepest level (see Matthew 14:13 and Luke 22:39-43). In the end, there are both medical benefits and spiritual benefits to a quarantine. We need to set aside any dependence we have on busyness, constant noise, and the security of this world, and trust in God. Quarantine is practical When the plague hit England in 1606, William Shakespeare used his time in isolation productively, writing several of his most famous plays, including Macbeth, King Lear, and Antony and Cleopatra. Similarly, we can turn our isolation into a productive time for the church. We get more family time; we get to know the members of our personal and spiritual family better. With this in mind, here are some practical things to do with your family: Puzzles and games Projects: clean the house or garage Journal the experience for the historical record Teach your kids a new skill Look at photos and share memories Write cards or emails to loved ones Have a picnic outside (away from crowds, of course) The downtime allows you to have more ministry opportunity. You are able to minister in new ways. Make yourself available to God and see what He does in these strange but opportunity-filled times. [1] Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines (New York: HarperOne, 1999), 161 Migrants workers living at a government school at Palsana village in Rajasthan are painting the building to express their gratitude to local residents who caring for them during the nationwide Covid-19 lockdown. Six workers began painting the building on April 19, and have completed the verandahs so far. On Wednesday, they began painting the classrooms. We are labourers. We will become sick if we continue to sit idle, said Shankar Singh Chauhan, 58, from Haryana. Gaonwalo ne hamari itni achchi vyavastha kar rakhi hai. Badle me hum bhi gaon ke liye kuch karna chahte hain (The villagers made very good arrangements for us. We wanted to do something for them in return), he added. The district administration brought 54 workers from Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to the government senior secondary school at Palsana in Sikar district, 90 km from Jaipur, on March 31 when they were found moving around during the nationwide lockdown. The workers were restless they had been without work for 15 days. They started cleaning the school campus from April 15, and on April 18, they came to us to ask for work that would be remembered long after they are gone, said the schools principal, Rajendra Kumar Meena. He said the school hadnt been painted for 10 years. I discussed with sarpanch Roop Singh Shekhawat if we could arrange for paint. He agreed. My colleagues agreed to fund one 20-litre can of paint each, he said. We brought paint and other materials for them and they began painting the verandahs the next day. Shekhawat said some of the workers had done this sort of work earlier, and the others were helping by scrubbing off the old paint and cleaning the building. Around six people are painting the school, Shekhawat said, adding the workers are given three meals and fruits in the evening. They were happy with our facilities and so they are doing this in gratitude, he added. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Potent Compound Safety Certification administered by SafeBridge Consultants certifies that AMRI meets the standards to be an Industry Leader for the safe handling of potent active pharmaceutical ingredients. SafeBridge Consultants, Inc. (SafeBridge), headquartered in Mountain View, CA, announces today that the Albany Molecular Research, Inc. (AMRI) manufacturing facility in Rensselaer, NY, has been re-certified under SafeBridges Potent Compound Safety Certification program. The facility not only meets the criteria established for competency and proficiency in the safe handling of highly potent active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) but is the first company to achieve Industry Leader status, which represents AMRI as the first in its industry category to achieve certification. The SafeBridge Potent Compound Safety Certification of AMRI applies only to specific laboratory and manufacturing areas involved in the manufacture of APIs and synthetic intermediates. The Rensselaer facility, part of AMRIs network of high potency Centers of Excellence, supports scale-up from development stage to large-scale commercial manufacturing of highly potent compounds. SafeBridge conducted a 60-element review of health and safety programs, procedures, exposure controls, and process containment of synthetic chemistry operations with occupationally potent APIs at the company's site. Based on the quantitative results of the Potent Compound Safety Certification program, SafeBridge certifies that AMRI meets the standards identified to be an Industry Leader for the safe handling of potent APIs in the identified areas. I am so proud of our team at Rensselaer for being the first in the industry to earn leader status from SafeBridge for our high potency capabilities, said John Ratliff, CEO of AMRI. This accomplishment underscores AMRIs commitment to excellence and advancing the benchmark for potent compound manufacturing across our industry. The SafeBridge Potent Compound Safety Certification program evaluates performance with established criteria in management, compound evaluation, exposure control, and communication elements of potent pharmaceutical compound production operations. Elements of the program include on-site assessment of the potent compound manufacturing and laboratory areas and equipment, training, toxicology, and industrial hygiene. AMRI, a contract research development and manufacturing organization, partners with the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries to improve patient outcomes and quality of life. AMRIs team combines scientific expertise and market-leading technology to provide a complete suite of solutions in discovery, development, analytical services, and API and drug product manufacturing. SAFEBRIDGE CONSULTANTS, INC., a subsidiary of Trinity Consultants, Inc. is the premier occupational health and safety consulting firm to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and fine chemical industries with offices in Mountain View, CA, New York, NY and Liverpool, UK. SafeBridge has provided the Potent Compound Safety Triangle of services in industrial hygiene, occupational toxicology, and industrial hygiene analytical chemistry to over 1,000 business units worldwide and is a leader in recognizing, evaluating, and controlling exposures to potent APIs and products. Slovakia on Wednesday started easing some restrictions imposed during the outbreak of the new coronavirus, and allowed for the reopening of retail businesses. The relaxing of the measures, which were put in place to help stop the spread of the virus, meant that stores with a surface of up to 300 Sq. metres (3,230 Sq. feet), car dealerships and outdoor markets could return to business. Footage from Bratislava showed a variety of retailers preparing to open up on Wednesday, including food stalls, a bakery, flower shop and book shop. The government is planning to further lift restrictions, however, the relaxation of such measures will take place in two-week intervals and could change depending on the development of the outbreak. Rules on social distancing, including a government order for people to wear protective face masks when out in the public, will remain in place. Slovakia has reported 1,244 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by coronavirus, and 14 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. The staggering loss of life and treasure from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has thrown our daily lives into chaos. When the time comes that it is deemed safe to leave the protective bubble of our homes, the world will be a markedly different place. To reduce the chances of the next pandemic and other natural disasters, we need to address human, animal and planetary health together, because an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure in solving co-linked crises. An emerging hypothesis on how COVID-19 originally infected people in China is that the virus spilled over from infected bats and possibly other wild animals forced into close proximity with people. But dont just blame the bats or the Chinese. The issue is much larger: Humans their increasing numbers and snowballing consumption are changing the planet in fundamental ways that threaten our overall health and well-being, especially that of future generations. Phenomenal economic growth has consumed massive amounts of biological capital, only to deposit much of it to landfills, with unprecedented global warming emissions as a byproduct. Explosive world population growth (3 billion people in 1960, nearing 8 billion now) crammed people into cities, destroyed wildlife habitats and forced wild animals to adapt or perish. Some 1 million species of plants and animals now face extinction worldwide. In North America alone, 3 billion birds have vanished in recent decades. Our global footprint has depleted 60% of the ecosystem benefits provided to us free of charge by nature. These benefits are best maintained by the wild things that purify drinking water, cleanse the air, pollinate crops, regulate the climate, provide new medicines and otherwise enrich our lives. Unfortunately, at the rate we are going, these losses will only accumulate as we force more animals out of natural habitats, alter migrations and melt the permafrost that may be harboring novel infectious organisms. Our insatiable meat consumption is upping the ante on pathogen spillover. Large populations of poultry and livestock can facilitate the rapid spread of pathogenic agents to humans, and crowded farm animal feeding operations can be a factor in emerging infectious diseases. The H5N1 bird flu, which spilled from chickens to people in 1997, ravaged chickens in apocalyptic numbers and killed approximately 60% of the humans known to have contracted it. Luckily, this outbreak subsided before many more people died. The H1N1 swine flu was a massive pandemic, jumping from pigs to people in 2009. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that from 2009 through 2018, the H1N1 swine flu caused at least 100.5 million illnesses, 936,000 hospitalizations and 75,000 deaths in the United States. Globally, an estimated 151,700 to 575,400 people died from H1N1 swine flu in just the first year of the pandemic. The loss of predators that keep host animals, like mice and especially deer, in check is connected to the spread of Lyme disease in North America. Poaching, overhunting and the global trade in wild animals contribute to disease spread. Zoonotic diseases that were likely caused by wild meat hunting and butchering include Ebola and HIV-1 and -2, among others. The source of the deadly Ebola outbreak has been linked to both deforestation and to virus spillover from the hunting and consumption of primates or bats in Africa. The HIV epidemic was likely the result of African primates being killed, processed and eaten by hunters. More than 30 million humans have died from HIV since the beginning of this epidemic. So what can be done to change direction and reduce human suffering? Immediately, we must speed development of new medicines and vaccines while caring for the most vulnerable. On a longer time scale, veterinarians working with ecologists and medical doctors need rapid response capabilities to locate and quickly contain emerging infectious disease hot spots. An encouraging program is One Health at the CDC. This multidisciplinary approach to zoonotic disease prevention links human and ecosystem health. Wet markets, where wild animals are highly concentrated, must be closed, and the trade of wild species that have elevated risks of zoonotic disease transmission strictly curbed, especially in the U.S., which imports 20% of the global wild species trade. As consumers, we have choices; eating lower on the food chain is one of them. Besides typically being a healthy choice, significantly reducing meat consumption for many of us would help slow the rate of deforestation, biodiversity loss and climate change while potentially reducing risks of diseases being transferred from animals to humans. No longer are plant-based protein products just for vegetarians, as now some of the biggest meat producers in the world, such as Tyson, Smithfield and Perdue Farms, have launched plant-based meat analogs (substitutes) for the mass market. Plant-based dairy and egg analogs are also becoming widely available. Research on laboratory or cultured meat (growing meat from muscle cells in the lab) also shows promise as being environmentally friendly. We desperately need international sustainability efforts to reduce the pressures on the planets life-giving ecosystems by at least bending the human population growth curve downward. There are policies that can lower fertility rates while strengthening human rights: achieving full gender equity and making secondary education a global norm for girls and young women. In collaboration with indigenous peoples and local communities, governments need to protect at least 30% of Earths terrestrial and marine habitats in the coming decades. Along with other climate-conscious efforts such as getting off fossil fuels, this protection would help keep atmospheric carbon safely stored in forests instead of emitting most of it to the atmosphere when forests are cut down. When we recover from this pandemic, it would be foolhardy to go back to business as usual and lose sight of the climate and biodiversity crises that world scientists and religious leaders like Pope Francis and the Dalai Lama are warning us about. If we ignore their calls, we will pave the way for new pandemics and other threats, such as the potential catastrophic effects from global heating. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that, if absolutely needed, we can make life-saving behavioral changes. It has taught us how to lower our consumption habits and our carbon footprint. For example, we now know how to meet with people virtually via teleconferencing rather than burning fossil fuels to travel to such meetings. Rather than piecemeal solutions to the climate crisis, biodiversity loss and pandemics, we need transformative change in the way society functions and interacts with nature. We must create a new carbon-free economy operating within the limits of the biosphere. We must restore and preserve ecosystems, which are the natural heritage of humanity and the planets lifeline. We can change the way we interact with animals. We can reduce fertility rates through voluntary family planning, while eating mostly plant-based foods. We can remodel our economy to account for the actual impacts of development and resource extraction on the well-being of humans and the preservation of the environment. And we can do all of this while addressing social justice issues and honoring the diversity of people around the world. In recognition of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, and for the benefit of the next generation, we must and can take this opportunity to change our relationship to nature and how we operate on planet Earth. William J. Ripple, Ph.D., distinguished professor of ecology at Oregon State University, was the lead author of the 2019 World Scientists Warning of a Climate Emergency and is the director of the Alliance of World Scientists. Dominick A. DellaSala, Ph.D., chief scientist at the Geos Institute, is an award-winning scientist with over 200 publications and books on nature, human health and climate change. Franz Baumann, Ph.D., former United Nations assistant secretary-general, is a visiting research professor at New York University. Jack Thorne has condemned the way people use the term underlying health condition when talking about coronavirus. Since the emergence of Covid-19, people with chronic or long-term illnesses that weaken the immune system, and who are especially at risk, have been advised to be particularly stringent in following social distancing measures. Last week, figures from the Office for National Statistics were widely reported, showing that more than nine in 10 people dying with coronavirus have an underlying health condition. Bafta-winner Thorne, whose writing credits include the TV adaptation of His Dark Materials and the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, tweeted: If I hear underlying health condition one more time... it is a division that is utterly barbaric. Hear it on the news, from friends & from my family. It is not an appropriate unit of measure. If you are less scared because this is mostly killing disabled people then shame on you. Later in the thread, he clarified: "Im not saying there should be a news black out on those being affected. Of course you should know your chances are good and you can be useful. Im saying publishing mortality figures in two columns encourages two column thinking in regard to the importance of life." In the comments below his post, Silent Witness star Liz Carr, who is one of the most high-profile disabled actors in Britain, joked: On Facebook a couple of weeks back, I suggested changing my name by deed poll to 'Underlying Health Condition' just to cut out the middle man. Thorne replied: F*** that middle man, youre a genius. Hope youre good Liz. Carr has arthrogryposis multiplex congenital, a rare genetic condition, and has been in a wheelchair since she was seven years old. After quitting Silent Witness earlier this year, she revealed she had refused to say certain lines that she thought were problematic relating to disability during her eight years on the show. April 22 was a special day for Pune doctors treating Covid-19 patients. The city, which is one of the designated red zones in Maharashtra, with at least 753 cases saw the recovery of a pair of related patients: a three-year-old toddler and her 92-year-old great grandmother. Muralidhar Mohol, the mayor of Pune tweeted in Marathi about them on Monday, We thank hospital authorities for their efforts. Both the patients have recovered and gone back home safely. Maisarah Shaikh (3) and her 92-year-old wheelchair-bound great grandmother, Fatima Shaikh, were discharged from Symbiosis Hospital and Research Centre after their second Covid-19 test came negative. Both have completed the mandatory 14-day quarantine period. The nonagenarian, who had suffered a stroke seven months ago, is paralysed and unable to recognise many of her family members. According to doctors at Symbiosis hospital, the recovery of a 92-year-old indicated that even senior citizens with pre-existing ailments the population most at risk of dying due to Sars-Cov-2 could recover from the Covid-19 threat. The old woman did not have any symptoms although she recently had a stroke and her body was paralysed. However, during her stay at hospital, all her health parameters were all right which actually helped our staff to treat her, said chief executive officer of Symbiosis Hospital Dr Vijay Natarajan. The two residents of Kondhwa were among 15 people, including six from the same family who had tested positive for the coronavirus earlier this month. Their swabs were taken after one of their relatives died at Sassoon General Hospital on April 8. The other nine were indirectly related to the family: acquaintances whom the members had come into contact with prior to the lockdown. It was a twin tragedy. There was death among the family because of the viral infection, and six of us also tested Covid-19 positive. However, the hospital authorities took good care of us, said 55-year-old Aslam Shaikh, grandfather to Maisarah, and owner of a tailoring shop in Kondhwa. There are eight members in Shaikhs family; six tested positive for Covid-19, including the toddler, her father (Shaikhs son), Shaikhs mother and Shaikh himself. However, none but the last, exhibited any symptoms. All of us including my old mother were all fine, only my son had a mild cough. Since my mother is paralytic, we were more worried about her. However, the doctors gave her extra attention and she recovered, said Shaikh, who was discharged from quarantine on Monday. Also admitted with the toddler and the nonagenarian was Maisarahs 66-year-old aunt, who is affected with polio. Maisarahs mother, Noorjaha, despite being tested negative, was allowed to stay at hospital to take care of her daughter and mother-in-law. Now back, all members of the family are attempting to keep social distance from each other and their neighbours in their six-room home. Though business is down, Shaikh said that he is happy: his family is safe and together again. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Eva Longoria shared an honest moment with fans on Tuesday, when she unveiled her grey hair in a video posted on her Instagram account. The 45-year-old actress candidly displayed the lighter tufts of hair to her almost 8million followers, before using a spray to cover them up. Speaking from her home, where she's been in quarantine with her family amid the COVID-19 lockdown, she said: 'Hi guys! Look at all this grey. This is crazy!' Scroll down for video Hair me out: Eva Longoria shared an honest moment with fans on Tuesday, when she unveiled her grey hair in a video posted on her Instagram account The former Desperate Housewives star continued: 'If you've been following me, you know that I've been going grey.' She then whipped out a root spray by L'Oreal Paris, for whom she serves as an ambassador, which she used to blend her locks back to their raven hue in seconds. Eva has been keeping herself busy amid the coronavirus pandemic, sharing footage of herself working out, and also appearing in a Desperate Housewives reunion. Tresses: The 45-year-actress displayed the lighter tufts of hair to her almost 8million followers Spray: She then whipped out a root spray by L'Oreal Paris, for whom she is as an ambassador Last month, as a toilet paper shortage dripped many parts of the world amid panic buying, the star revealed she used very little of the bathroom staple as she has a fancy washer-dryer loo. The actress took part in an Instagram live chat with her publicist and actor friend Jaime Camil on Thursday, as they both self-isolated at home. And while Eva joked that she didn't mind quarantining because she 'doesn't like people', Jaime admitted that the toilet paper shortage perplexed him. 'I know!' Eva replied, as more than 3,000 fans tuned in to watch, 'But I have one of those fancy toilets so I actually don't even use that much toilet paper.' Transform: She used the spray to blend her locks back to their raven hue in a matter of seconds Method: The mother-of-one was far from shy about displaying how she dealt with her greys Elaborating on her state-of-the-art bathroom appliance, she added: 'It washes. It dries. It swirls. It has an oscillator thingy... so I'm good!' Jane The Virgin star Jaime informed Eva - who was broadcasting from her kitchen - that his assistant is FedEx-ing him toilet roll from Mexico. While Eva went on to insist that panic buying amid the global crisis is not the answer. 'You don't need 75 rolls of toilet paper! You don't need 75 portions of chicken! If you buy all the hand sanitiser, there won't be any more for anyone else. And that's how the virus spreads!' Blending in: At the end of the video, the actress showed how her hair had been blended back She added: 'Now is a time to stay home. But also to be kind to others. Check on your elderly neighbour to see if they have food. Cook them something and take it round. Just wear gloves!' The star has been quarantining at home with her husband Jose Baston and their 22-month-old son Santiago. Texas native Eva returned home several weeks ago, after recently travelling to Italy, the centre of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. 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. Home and safe: Texas native Eva returned home several weeks ago, after recently travelling to Italy, the centre of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe She was staying in Castel Gandolfo, a medieval town 25 kilometres away from the capital, and was pictured running through the woods while shooting a scene. 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.' Family time: The star has been quarantining at home with her husband Jose Baston and their 22-month-old son Santiago. Pictured with her husband in May 2019 3 1 of 3 Southbury Police Department Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Southbury Police Department Show More Show Less 3 of 3 SOUTHBURY Police are trying to identify an individual caught on camera stealing a vehicle at the Shell gas station on Main Street North early Tuesday morning. Surveillance footage showed the male suspect entering a gray 2016 Ford Explorer while the driver of the Ford was inside the gas station and driving away around 5:40 a.m. A clinical trial has begun on a third potential coronavirus vaccine in China, where the first cases of the deadly virus strain were detected late last year. According to researchers involved in the latest trial, "tens of volunteers" in Xuzhou, Jiangsu province were given the vaccine candidate on Thursday and it had already shown "positive results". Developed by a team led by Qin Chuan at the National Institutes for Food and Drug Control in Beijing, it targets the initial strain of the virus and other mutations that have emerged as it has spread around the world. Preclinical tests on non-human primates found that the potential vaccine, when given at a sufficient dose, could provide "complete protection against Sars-CoV-2" strains in different countries with minimal side-effects, Qin and his team wrote in a non-peer reviewed paper released on preprint service medRxiv.org on Sunday. Sars-CoV-2 refers to the virus that causes Covid-19. Mutation is a big concern for doctors and scientists racing to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus. Those being developed target specific genes in the virus, but as the pandemic has swept the globe, it has mutated into different strains. So far, more than 4,300 mutations of the new coronavirus have been detected worldwide by Chinese scientists, and some have warned that its ability to mutate has been vastly underestimated. As new strains emerge, it also adds to the challenge for scientists developing vaccines. Qin's team based their potential vaccine on a strain isolated from a patient in Zhejiang. The province in eastern China has not been badly hit by the virus compared to other places " it has a population of nearly 60 million, but has reported about 1,200 cases and one death. They then sought to test whether a vaccine based on this strain would work on others. According to their paper, the team analysed the whole genome sequence of the coronavirus in a global database, identifying major clusters of mutated strains across the world. They then isolated the strains that had the most typical mutations, based on 10 recently infected patients from China, Italy, Britain, Switzerland and Spain. Story continues Tests on macaques had encouraging results " they developed antibodies to a level equivalent to those infected by the virus, the researchers said. The vaccinated macaques were then given "strains circulating worldwide" but the pathogens did not affect them, according to the paper. The vaccine candidate's safety and effectiveness is now being put to the test in human trials, but there is also the question of whether it can provide immunity for multiple strains. The team did not have a strain from a patient in the United States, for instance, so instead used one from a Chinese patient that had a mutation similar to those prevalent in North America. The researchers also noted that they had not included new mutations from less reported areas including Latin America, the Middle East and India. Qin did not immediately respond to a request for comment. One of the study authors, Gong Xuejie from Sinovac Biotech, a Beijing-based company involved in the project, said the first volunteers in the trial were all healthy adults aged between 18 and 59. "Safety checks on the first day after the vaccinations have been completed and preliminary results show the vaccine [candidate] is safe," Gong told Shanghai news website Thepaper.cn on Friday. She said two more clinical trials would follow and they would be larger scale and include children and elderly people but there was "no definite schedule". A volunteer receives a shot as part of another clinical trial in Wuhan last week. Photo: DPA alt=A volunteer receives a shot as part of another clinical trial in Wuhan last week. Photo: DPA The potential vaccine is one of at least five being developed in China, and it is estimated that more than 70 are being developed around the world. Two other vaccine candidates are being tested on humans in China, and at least two more are undergoing clinical trials in the United States. Experts say a vaccine could still be more than a year away, but a Chinese health official on Monday said the government may consider approving one earlier for emergency use. Gao Fu, director of the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, told official newspaper Beijing Daily that if the pandemic worsened, a vaccine candidate "may be given to some people at the end of the year, such as medical personnel". "This must be for use in an emergency situation, not for ordinary healthy people," Gao said. Sign up now and get a 10% discount (original price US$400) off the China AI Report 2020 by SCMP Research. Learn about the AI ambitions of Alibaba, Baidu & JD.com through our in-depth case studies, and explore new applications of AI across industries. The report also includes exclusive access to webinars to interact with C-level executives from leading China AI companies (via live Q&A sessions). Offer valid until 31 May 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. BEIRUT - The Lebanese parliament approved for the first time in its history the legalisation of cannabis for therapeutic use, said Lebanese media, citing the results of a parliamentary session that took place in recent hours in Beirut in a temporary location due to measures for Covid-19. Lebanon is the world's third-largest producer of drugs, following Afghanistan and Morocco. The bill was presented by House Speaker Nabih Berri, leader of the Shiite party Amal, allied with pro-Iranian Hezbollah. But Hezbollah, which de facto controls broad areas of the Bekaa Valley - a place notorious for illegal cultivation of cannabis - opposed the bill's approval. It said legalisation "isn't feasible from an economic standpoint". The law, approved Tuesday, maintains the crime of sale and consumption of cannabis, but allows it to be administered in a medical setting. Despite the fact that in Lebanon it is illegal to cultivate and sell cannabis, Lebanese and foreign observers said these activities have been widespread for decades in the northeastern part of the Lebanese Bekaa, near the border with Syria, managed by influential local clans, armed and protected also by Lebanese politicians. While Mark Cuban understands that small and midsize business owners are facing uncertainty and hardship in light of the coronavirus pandemic, he believes agile founders will weather this particular storm and come out even stronger than before. "We will get to the other side of this, but it won't be business as usual," Cuban said during a wide-ranging "Ask Me Anything" discussion on April 22 with Inc. editor-at-large Tom Foster. "There will be an America 2.0, and that's the greatest opportunity ever for entrepreneurs." Cuban, who is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks and an investor on ABC's Shark Tank, has been spending a lot of time lately thinking about just what that will look like. In mid-April, he was tapped to serve on President Donald Trump's economic revival task force, a panel of 50 advisers from many sectors of business who will help shape plans to reopen the economy. While he believes the economy won't rebound this year, he says entrepreneurs can better position themselves if they're honest about the struggles ahead and communicate with their customers, employees, and stakeholders. "It's OK to say you're afraid and that there's uncertainty," Cuban says. "Then you've already developed an honest relationship with your customers and they will respect you." But whatever you do, do something, he says. Now's the time for action. Here are his top tips for how to not just survive this unrivaled time of uncertainty but thrive because of it. 1. Be transparent with the people who know your company best. Particularly for founders on the verge of closing, Cuban encourages them to reach out to employees. "Your employees, in particular, know your business," he says, adding: They're the experts in your business. If there's an idea for how to pivot or restructure the company, it'll come from them. 2. Be open to major change. You may find that your company's best chance at survival comes from an entirely different business model or product line. You have to be willing to accept change and be open to a new direction. "All it takes is one good idea," Cuban says. "I'm a big believer that when we come out of this, there are going to be small companies that blossomed because they had a different vision." 3. Go left when everyone is going right. Cuban described the many daily emails he gets about companies creating face masks or testing products. "If everybody is doing the same thing, go where they ain't," he says. "Come up with things people aren't doing yet." 4. Invest in a downturn. Nurses display support for the National Nurses United and California Nurses Association's demand for personal protective equipment for healthcare workers across the state at UCLA Medical Center Santa Monicon April 13, 2020 in California. ( VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images The New York State Nurses Association filed a lawsuit against the New York State Department of Health over its coronavirus health policies and its failure to protect nurses. An NYSDH protocol allows healthcare providers to require workers with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 to return to work only seven days after experiencing symptoms. The medical worker can be forced to go back to treating patients so long as the employee has not had a fever for at least 72 hours and the employee's other symptoms are improving. NYSNA claimed that the protocol goes against broad scientific evidence that the incubation period for the virus can be up to 14 days, meaning that sick nurses forced to work could be infecting their patients and coworkers. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Video: How Anthony Fauci became the nation's top disease expert While nurse practitioner Pamela Brown-Richardson was treating patients with COVID-19 symptoms, she said her hospital refused to give her personal protective equipment, even as N95 respirator masks sat locked in a closet at the clinic. Despite testing positive for COVID-19, Richardson said Montefiore Medical Center informed her that she would be required to work just seven days after her illness as long as she was not "feverish." Richardson initially refused to work, fearing that she would be putting her coworkers and patients at risk until she was forced to return to Montefiore Medical on April 2 still feeling ill. That same day, she was sent to the emergency room due to complications with COVID-19. "I believe that I contracted COVID-19 due to my exposure at work and the lack of PPE," Richardson wrote in an affidavit. Richardson is hardly alone as medical workers at the epicenter of the US outbreak continue to battle COVID-19, many have claimed that the New York State Department of Health (NYSDH) has failed to adequately protect its frontline medical workers by failing to provide PPE and give them adequate time to recover after contracting the virus. Story continues For this reason, Richardson and other nurses have joined a lawsuit filed by the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) against the NYSDH over its coronavirus health policies and failing to provide PPE, allowing "hospitals to become Petri dishes where the virus can fester and then spread to other health care workers, the patients, and the general population." "[NYSDH's] neglect of its statutory duties and disregard for the laws of this state have exacerbated rather than mitigated the ongoing crisis," the lawsuit read. NYSNA also added that requiring health care workers to come back to work before they are fully recovered "dangerously heightens the risk of exposure" to their co-workers, patients, and their larger community. All across the nation, medical workers have made clamorous calls for more PPE the only protection they have against the highly contagious virus while treating patients with COVID-19. Although Cuomo recently stated in a March 28 news briefing that New York City officials informed him that they had finally received adequate PPE, nurses on the frontlines of the battle against the virus say otherwise. In a survey of nurses who are members of NYSNA, 72% reported they had been exposed to COVID-19 at work, and 11%, or 9,514 NYSNA registered nurses, have tested positive for the virus. At least 84 have been hospitalized and eight members died after contracting COVID-19 however, these numbers only include nurses who are members of the union, meaning that many more likely remain unaccounted for. NYSDH would not comment on the specific claims made by NYSNA nurses due to "pending litigation." However, Jonah Bruno, NYSDH's director of communications said the state "continues to take every step necessary to ensure that health care workers, particularly those who are sampling and providing direct care, have the support and supplies needed to address this unprecedented public health emergency." Several NYSNA nurses reported that their hospitals directed nurses with COVID-19 to return to work before they had recovered Richardson began treating patients with COVID-19 symptoms on March 8 but due to shortages of PPE, her hospital refused to give her any PPE besides surgical masks if a patient was coughing, according to the lawsuit. Despite her repeated requests, she said, the director of their clinic refused to give her and another nurse practitioner personal protective equipment (PPE), claiming that N95 face masks were reserved for those treating patients "suspected" or known to be positive for COVID-19. Doctors, nurses, and public health workers protest over a lack of PPE and sick pay in the Bronx, New York, on April 17, 2020. Giles Clarke/Getty images "Despite daily requests for PPE, I was not provided with any. We were instructed that we could only wear a surgical mask, which is not adequate protection against COVID-19, if the patient presented with a cough," Richardson wrote in a complaint. "Otherwise we were prohibited from wearing surgical masks because management believed that doing so could alarm patients. By March 16, Richardson began coughing and running a fever. She was forced to get find a COVID-19 test on her own because her hospital claimed her exposure was not "significant," her affidavit said. Several days later tests confirmed she had contracted the virus and on March 21 she began staying home to recover. According to Richardson, Montefiore Medical Center insisted that she had to return to work if she was not feverish on March 28 just seven days after she went home with a cough, a fever, and shortness of breath. In her affidavit, Richardson noted she was at a higher risk of complications with COVID-19 due to her asthma. Still, she returned to work on April 2 only to land in the emergency room at her local hospital when her conditioned worsened. After a CT scan, Richardson was diagnosed with double-lobe pneumonia caused by COVID-19. That test offered proof of her illness and gave Richardson the ability to insist that she could not work until she recovered. However, she claimed that Montefiore Medical only give her three COVID-19 sick days. Richardson had to use her own bank of sick days for the time she has taken to recover from COVID-19. NYSDH protocol allows healthcare providers to require sick medical workers to come back to work seven days after the onset of experiencing symptoms The NYSDH provided guidance to healthcare providers on protocols for medical personnel who have been exposed or infected by the virus. If a medical worker is confirmed or suspected of COVID-19, the NYSDH protocol states that personnel can be asked to come back to work if they have isolated for seven days after their symptoms first appeared. A hospital can ask an employee to go back to treating patients so long as the employee has not had a fever for at least 72 hours without fever-reducing medication and the employee's other symptoms are improving, according to the most recent guidance from NYSDH document on the protocol. While the time period reflects CDC guidelines for people with COVID-19 ending home isolation more broadly, healthcare workers are directly treating populations at risk of falling seriously ill from the disease. The NYSNA also noted that the policy requiring medical workers to return to treating patients reflects an "apparent disregard for the possibility of asymptomatic transmission." "While members of the general public are directed to self-quarantine for fourteen days...following the DOH's directive, [healthcare providers] are requiring health care workers to return to work after seven days, even when they are still symptomatic," NYSNA claimed in the lawsuit. "This inevitably has serious health and safety consequences for the sick RNs, their patients, and their coworkers who could be exposed," the NYSNA added. Health care workers drive by to express their support and nurses protesting the lack of N95 respirators and other Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) while guarding social distancing guidelines outside the UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica amid the coronavirus pandemic in California on April 13 2020. AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes The NYSDH requires sick nurses returning to work after having been confirmed or suspected of contracting the virus to wear a face mask for 14 days following the onset of their symptoms. But the protocol does not specify what kind of face masks sick medical workers should wear or include any other requirements for PPE to use while continuing to treat patients. The nurses' union also alleged in the lawsuit that the NYSDH acknowledges that employees may still be infectious. One NYSNA nurse claimed that she was asked to work while running a fever topping 103 degrees. The NYSDH protocol also required that medical personnel confirmed or suspected of having the virus to "quarantine themselves when not at work." The NYSNA demanded this directive be rescinded immediately, claiming that the protocol not only contributed to the spread of COVID-19, but that it violates New York's coronavirus paid sick leave law which requires at least 14 days of paid sick leave for public employees. "[NYSDH's] determination and protocols providing that nurses and other healthcare professionals are fit for duty after just 7 days of recovery, despite scientific evidence and explicit state law to the contrary, is arbitrary and capricious and affected by an error of law," the lawsuit read. It continued: "This has caused serious illness and death for nurses and other frontline health care workers and created a state-wide public nuisance contributing to, rather than combatting, the spread of COVID-19 throughout New York State and beyond." Business Insider Pakistans removal of some 3,800 names from its Proscribed Persons List over the past 18 months, 1,800 of which were removed just since March, is reason for serious concern not just for India but for the world. It does seem that Pakistan government is persisting with its long-standing policy of avoiding action against terrorists. Pakistans terrorist watchlist, which had the names of 7,600 terrorists in October 2018, has been whittled down to half that number in 18 months. Removal of names from watchlists is not objectionable per se. There may be a number of legitimate reasons for doing so some who figure on it may have given up terrorist activities; some names may have been mentioned multiple times; some may be cases of misidentification. Thus, if the reduction of names in the Proscribed Persons List was simply a matter of cleaning up the list of inaccuracies or updating it, it would be fine. However, this does not seem to be the case with regard to Pakistans watchlist. Pakistan went about removing names rather surreptitiously. Besides, it did not provide any explanations for the move nor did it communicate its action to the international bodies concerned. The opacity surrounding the whittling down of the list raises questions over Pakistans intentions. The country has a long history of supporting terrorist groups and using them to further its foreign policy objectives. Despite pressure from several governments and global organisations, Islamabad has rarely acted against terrorists. Its removal of thousands of names from its watchlist fits in with its record of acting to get terrorists off the hook. Pakistans action is of particular concern to India. According to terrorist watchlist compliance watchdog, Castellum.AI, the name of Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, one of the masterminds of the 2008 attacks in Mumbai, has been removed from the list. India has been pressing Pakistan to bring him and others involved in the terror attack to justice, a request that the latter has refused to heed. By removing his name from the watchlist, Pakistan has reaffirmed yet again its support to anti-India terrorism. Pakistan is on the Financial Action Task Forces grey list. In February, the global anti-money laundering watchdog observed that Pakistan had addressed only 14 of 27 action items, with varying levels of progress made on the other items. Its performance will come under review again in a few months. FATF members must look into Pakistans fudging of action taken on its terrorists. Simply removing them from a watchlist does not eliminate the threat that these terrorists pose to the world. Police in Srinagar filed separate First Information Reports (FIR) against Kashmiri photojournalist Masrat Zahra and journalist Gowhar Geelani and questioned special correspondent Peerzada Ashiq. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate Indian Journalists Union (IJU) urge the authorities to stop intimidating journalists and drop all charges Masrat Zahra, a freelance photojournalist working with a number of different news outlets including Al Jazeera, The Washington Post and The Caravan was summoned by Jammu and Kashmir Cyber Police in Srinagar on April 18. The FIR states Zahra was charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) after authorities received information that her social media posts were deemed to provoke the public to disturb the law and order and to glorify the anti-national activities. The police did not cite any specific social media posts in their statement. Masrat is a highly regarded photojournalist who covers women and children in conflict. If found guilty, Zahra could face a fine or a jail sentence of up to seven years. Cyber Police in Srinagar questioned Peerzada Ashiq on April 19 in relation to an FIR registered the day before concerning his article headlined Kin allowed to exhume bodies of militants in Barmulla. The statement from Jammu and Kashmir police on April 18 said, The details quoted in the news item were factually incorrect and could cause fear or alarm in the minds of the public. Gowhar Geelani, a journalist for BBC, DailyO and Scroll.in had an FIR filed against him by Cyber Police in Srinagar on April 21. While the police statement did not specify what law Geelani allegedly contravened, the police statement said Geelani is accused of alleged unlawful activities including glorifying terrorism in the Kashmir Valley. IJU said: Such action of police against journalists is nothing but a gag on press freedom and the right to freedom of speech and expression. IFJ said: The use of stringent acts like the UAPA to criminalise social media and the press is undeniably an attempt to silence journalists.The IFJ condemns the treatment of Masrat Zahra, Peerzada Ashiq and Gowhar Geelani and urges the investigation, on spurious charges, be withdrawn. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram Philippine journalist Frenchiemae Cumpio has been held in detention since February 7, 2020, on illegal firearms possession charges, according to news reports and a statement by the National Union of the Journalists of the Philippines, a local press freedom group. Police arrested Cumpio, executive director of the Eastern Vista news website and a radio news anchor at Aksyon Radyo-Tacloban DYVL 819, where she frequently covered alleged police and military abuses, in the early morning of February 7 along with four human rights activists in a series of police raids in Tacloban City, Leyte province, according to those news reports. Cumpio is being detained at the Tacloban City jail, according to Rhea Padilla, national coordinator of the AlterMidya network of independent media groups, which includes Eastern Vista, who communicated with CPJ via email. On March 9, Cumpios lawyer requested a Tacloban City court drop the charges against her, but the request was denied, according to Nonoy Espina, chairperson of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, who communicated with CPJ via email. A second court date was scheduled for March 24 but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. Cumpio has denied the charges, according to Padilla, who is in communication with Cumpios lawyers. [Her] lawyers believe that the arrest order suited a premeditated planting of firearms and explosives, she told CPJ. It is a false accusation meant to justify her illegal arrest. If convicted of illegally possessing firearms, she could face 6 to 12 years in prison, according to the Philippine law governing firearms and ammunition. Authorities have accused Eastern Vista reporters of being associated with the Communist Party of the Philippines and its New Peoples Army wing, politicized accusations often leveled at journalists known as red-tagging, according to those news reports. Cumpio recently faced harassment and intimidation from people she believed to be security agents, according to the national union statement. The International Association of Women in Radio & Television and the Coalition for Women in Journalism condemned Cumpios detention in statements calling for her release. CPJs emailed Eastern Vista and Aksyon Radyo-Tacloban DYVL for comment, but did not immediately receive any responses. Joel Egco, head of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security, a state body tasked with monitoring and remedying abuses of the media, did not immediately reply to CPJs emailed request for comment. [Editors Note: This article has been updated in its third, fourth, and fifth paragraphs to include more up-to-date information on Cumpios case.] (CNN Philippines, April 22) A village in Bacoor, Cavite will be placed under total lockdown for a week to prevent new cases of coronavirus disease, according to an executive order signed by Mayor Lani Mercado-Revilla on Wednesday. All but those going out to buy medicine and food as well as rendering vital services from Barangay Molino III are ordered to stay at home from 12 a.m. of April 24 to 11:59 p.m. of April 30 unless further extended by the Bacoor COVID-19 Task Force and the city mayor, a copy of the order stated. Use of public transportation vehicles will also be disallowed. The local government warned that those who will disobey this rule will be apprehended and issued notice of violation ticket. Exempted are those who need to be brought to health facilities for treatment or medical observation. The local government said it will also issue new quarantine passes for all heads of households, which could only be used to go to stores or the market within the village. Senior citizens, persons with disability and lactating mothers are not eligible to get special permits for essential movement. Liquor ban is imposed while gambling and other illegal activities are also prohibited. Authorities said non-essential travel to and from the affected village is not allowed. To date, there are 63 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Bacoor. Barangay Molino III has 12 cases, the highest number among city's villages. The head of the Army has hit back at criticism of the handling of the NHS PPE crisis by describing it as the 'greatest logistical challenge' in his 40 years of service. Sir Nick Carter told tonight's Downing Street press conference that in just 25 days of working with the NHS on delivering personal protective equipment (PPE), the number of customers it normally delivers to has shot up from 240 to 50,000. He said the Army has stepped in to cover 38 new delivery routes for supplies, which are the equivalent distance of driving three times around the world. The 3,000 personnel currently working to fight coronavirus have had to create 260,000 sq ft of distribution warehousing, he added. He also revealed one Major has been drafted in from his day job at Google to design a bulk-buying system so different parts of the NHS can get their PPE more efficiently. It comes after senior Army sources slammed the NHS's logistical services as 'knackered' and demanded to be put in charge of PPE supplies. Sir Nick Carter (pictured) told tonight's Downing Street press conference that in just 25 days of working with the NHS on PPE, the number of customers it normally delivers to has shot up from 240 to 50,000 A member of the 4 Regiment Royal Logistics Corps is pictured checking a PPE delivery in Oxfordshire today But Sir Nick said of the major: 'He has really stepped up to the plate - his daytime job is as a logistics expert who runs Google's transport network across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. 'He has been part of the supply team that has been working on how we distribute PPE. 'He has designed an e-portal in partnership with eBay which will in due course manage individual customers and he designed a bulk supply chain for the distribution of PPE to all of the NHS regions and trusts.' EBay claims it built the e-portal 'within days' of being enlisted to support the NHS and that the pilot was in the final stage of testing. It uses the online marketplace's technology to help primary and social care providers order the PPE they need and will be offered on a pro bono basis. The portal can only be accessed by people on an NHS database of healthcare workers who can log in and shop at no cost for a limited range of non-acute PPE via the NHS Catalogue, they added. The PPE is being supplied by NHS Supply Chain via the Clipper Group and dispatched by Royal Mail, with more than 42,000 pieces being delivered in the pilot phase, the firm added. EBay's UK vice president Rob Hattrell said: 'We were asked by the NHS and other partners to deliver technical expertise and resources to address the pressing issue of PPE supply. 'EBay software engineers from around the world, including at our sites in Portland in the US, Berlin in Germany and here in the UK, have been working round the clock to get this live and I'm delighted that we are now up and running with the pilot. 'It's important that we all do what we can to help the NHS at this critical time, we are excited to be a part of this.' Responding to PPE criticisms, Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty (pictured) said supplies of different items have been 'very close to the line' at various points Responding to PPE criticisms, Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty said supplies of different items have been 'very close to the line' at various points. He said: 'It is very clear that at the moment we are tight at different times for different items of PPE. It's not everything at all times. 'When you're close to the line, inefficiencies in any part of the system tend to lead to local stockouts. 'A this point in time, we are still close to the line. At a national level we are not underwater.' But he acknowledged there 'may be local issues' and said promising the PPE crisis would be over in a few days would be a 'mistake'. Military personnel have accused the NHS of an 'appalling' handling of the issue with the Army pushing to be given a more prominent role in making sure the kit gets to where it needs to go. They questioned why certain key items were not being rationed after an RAF plane carrying a PPE shipment from Turkey finally arrived back in the UK today after major delays. Flight tracker RadarBox showed the Airbus A400-M registered ZM416 depart Istanbul and land just after 3.30am at RAF Brize Norton. The plane had been dispatched from the Oxfordshire base, where two other planes are on stand-by to pick up further kit from Turkey, late on Monday. It is not yet known if the consignment, which was ordered last Thursday and originally due to arrive on Sunday, includes 400,000 badly-needed surgical gowns. There is growing fury over PPE shortages amid claims the government has been slow on taking up offers of help from British businesses as millions of items continue to be shipped out of the UK despite domestic need. Labour today claimed it had been told by dozens of UK companies that offers of help on PPE had been ignored by ministers. An RAF cargo plane arrived back from Turkey at RAF Brize Norton this morning with a cargo of PPE equipment The supply of gowns has emerged as one of the key issues of the current crisis with the government scrambling to source as many as possible from all over the world. But today ministers faced claims that they have been slow to talk to domestic manufacturers who have offered to supply items or to convert their production lines to make the equipment. Military planners who are experts in logistics were sent out to different parts of the country by the Ministry of Defence in the early stages of the outbreak to help ensure vital supplies were appropriately and swiftly allocated. But military sources have suggested that the NHS distribution network has seen PPE being sent to hospitals without fully taking into account need. That has meant some hospitals have ended up with more than they need while others have been left with a shortage. A senior army source told The Times: 'We know how knackered their [NHS logistics] systems are, but we've been surprised we've not been called in to help more, and we've been surprised by their failure to ration [kit].' Military commanders are thought to be frustrated that the so-called Covid Support Force which can call on 10,000 personnel and has disaster response planning expertise has not been put in charge of PPE distribution. A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: 'The MoD understands just how challenging logistics can be, especially under current pressures. 'Of course there may be frictions at a local level, but those same armed forces are doing everything possible to support their health colleagues. The MoD has full confidence in the NHS.' Delayed RAF plane finally lands with PPE cargo from Turkey An RAF plane carrying a delayed consignment of PPE from Turkey finally landed in the UK this morning - but is only carrying up to half the promised 84 tonnes of life-saving equipment. Flight tracker RadarBox showed the Airbus A400-M registered ZM416 depart Istanbul and land just after 3.30am at RAF Brize Norton. The jet is one of three that have been waiting for days for the go-ahead to pick urgently needed medical clothing and equipment, including 400,000 gowns made by Turkish suppliers. It is not known how much of the consignment has arrived today, but the RAF Atlas is believed to only have capacity for 40 tonnes. After the jet touched down, three pallets were seen being unloaded onto the tarmac. The government promised that the cargo would arrive in Britain on Sunday and it when it didn't the RAF plane was sent to pick it up. It didn't land in Istanbul until Monday, at 9.10pm local time. Fury over coronavirus PPE shortages is escalating amid claims the government was ignoring offers of help from businesses - and millions of pieces of PPE are still being shipped out of the UK in spite of the lack of equipment for NHS frontline staff. Reports suggested that the government missed out on 16million facemasks for the NHS after ignoring offers from two major firms. Advertisement Reports overnight suggested the government missed out on 16 million face masks for the NHS after offers from two major firms were ignored. The Guardian reported that infectious disease specialists Landcent said they could have delivered six million FFP2 masks for the NHS to use if the government had placed an order three weeks ago. Volker Schuster, who owns Merseyside-based chemicals company EcoLogix, also claims he wrote to the Cabinet Office's 'COVID commercial response unit' to offer a shipment of 10 milllion FFP2 masks from China. The firm said it only got a response eight days later - by which time the items had been sold to other countries. Mr Schuster's local MP, Labour's Bill Esterson, confirmed he had contacted Health Secretary Matt Hancock to highlight the offer on March 27 but that he had never received a reply. Labour today said it had been contacted by 36 British companies which had 'not received a reply' from the government after submitting offers to supply things like face guards, aprons and gowns. Shadow Cabinet Office minister Rachel Reeves said in a letter to her counterpart in government Michael Gove: 'You and your officials and those at the Department for Health and Social Care will be best placed to validate what capability and capacity these firms have, but as they have not received a reply after contacting the government, I wanted to ensure that the Cabinet Office was aware of them. 'Of these firms, if just one, five or 10 were able to contribute to the national effort of ensuring that our NHS and care workers and indeed anybody who needs to use some form of Personal Protective Equipment and clothing could be better protected, or just one hospital or care home were able to access adequate supplies of the PPE they need, I know you will agree that that would go a long way and make a big difference.' Mr Hancock announced yesterday at the daily Downing Street press conference that 8,331 companies had come forward with offers of PPE - some of which had led to 'very large-scale' purchases. 'I am very grateful to all of those who have come forward and we are now actively engaged with hundreds of these companies,' he said. 'I can announce that we are working with 159 potential UK manufacturers which are starting to come on stream.' Mr Hancock said the government needed to carefully consider all of the offers made to make sure firms can actually deliver on what they have promised. The Atlas A400 is spotted approaching the runway early this morning. It is only carrying up to half the promised 84 tonnes of life-saving equipment The RAF transport plane being loaded with vital PPE equipment in Turkey which is destined for frontline healthcare workers in the UK 'We have had some offers, for instance, that have come from companies where, upon investigation, the company has only just been formed in the previous day or two before coming and asking for a cash deal with the government,' he said. The RAF plane carrying supplies from Turkey is believed to only have been stocked with up to half of the promised 84 tonnes of life-saving equipment ordered from Istanbul. The delay in the arrival of the cargo had been blamed by the UK government on problems in Turkey. But Turkish officials hit back and said there had been no hold up on their end, claiming ministers had only requested help with the shipment on Sunday. The government is insistent that it is pursuing 'every possible option' to secure additional kit but unprecedented worldwide demand means the situation is 'very challenging'. By The Numbers Vancouver is projecting a general fund drop of at least $30 million and up to $60 million. A $60 million drop would amount to approximately 40 percent of the citys general fund. Vancouver has a $13.4 million emergency reserve fund and a $4.5 million revenue stabilization reserve. $17 million through a temporary suspension of transfers to fund the Vancouvers internal services like facilities, technology and vehicle replacement. $13 million through suspension of discretionary spending, including travel, supplies, professional services and a hiring freeze. Pumping The Brakes (TNS) The city of Vancouver, Wash., is expecting to lose out on at least $30 million and as much as $60 million as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, mostly in lost sales-tax revenue.The range is broad because nobody really knows how long the current economic shutdown is going to last, said Natasha Ramras, the citys chief financial officer. But it will leave a deep crater in the citys coffers $60 million would amount to about 40 percent of Vancouvers annual general fund, which at this point is being regarded as the worst-case scenario.Until we have a little more information, we dont yet know what, truly, the final impact will be, Ramras said. In this environment, its hard to be precise because the data simply is not there yet.Vancouver City Manager Eric Holmes sent out an email to staffers Friday detailing how the city plans to balance its budget in the meantime. The plan includes $30 million worth of belt-tightening measures at City Hall, including a halt on fund transfers and discretionary spending, a freeze on new hires and potential staff layoffs.Holmes also said the city plans to draw down $15 million from its emergency reserve fund, built up after the Great Recession in 2008.The city has a plan in place to save $30 million:The plan also includes a projected $15 million drawdown of its aforementioned cash reserves.The fiscal implications of the pandemic on the city cannot be overstated; every part of the organization will be impacted, Holmes wrote.Vancouvers general fund comes from three sources: sales taxes, property taxes and utility taxes.The citys monthly sales-tax receipts havent been calculated since the coronavirus hit in earnest theyre recorded two months in arrears, Ramras explained, so the most recent data available is from February. But since the governors stay-at-home order shuttered businesses across the city, Vancouver is anticipating a massive drop-off in sales-tax receipts.Ramras added that a temporary waiver on state sales-tax collections means that the city might not see its March receipts until August, keeping the scope of the deficit from being fully understood until then.Utility and property taxes have been less impacted than sales taxes in the short term, Ramras said. But depending on how long the economic downturn lasts, that could change.If the unemployment runs high, and people run through their savings, at some point they cant afford to pay mortgages. Were not seeing anything yet, but if the recession continues until the rest of 2020 which its highly likely to at this point then we might see negative impacts, Ramras said.The general fund pays for most major services provided by the city, save for water and sewage operations. It covers police, fire and parks, among other departments.Most transportation functions had previously been funded through a separate streets fund, but last years passage of state Initiative 976 effectively eliminated Vancouvers Transportation Benefit District. The issue was still up in the air when the virus hit.Vancouvers economy, which until the COVID-19 outbreak had been humming along, could see further damage as a result of the long-term development projects derailed by the virus.Chad Eiken, the citys economic and community development director, said that some strategic projects have remained on track, but his staff is remaining in rapid-fire response mode.At the management level, were all just trying to get our arms around, What does this mean? Eiken said. Things are evolving so fast, it feels like almost every day theres some new piece of information or something we have to adjust to.Multifamily housing projects, like the construction site at Block 10, the fourth Vancouvercenter tower and the development of the historic Providence Academy site, are exempt from the statewide economic shutdown.Those have been allowed to keep going, Eiken said.But other projects, including large-scale strategic developments, might see more serious impacts.For example: Section 30, the east Vancouver site once home to the English Pit mine thats been ripe for redevelopment for over a decade. Last year, printer and PC company HP was the first business to announce a forthcoming move to a new campus on the site.The city is aiming to develop Section 30 into a hub for light-industrial and office buildings, similar to the nearby Columbia Tech Center, which is now the single largest taxpayer within Vancouver.But any move to Section 30 would depend on a major infrastructure overhaul. HP had planned to start grading work on the land later this year, Eiken said.I dont know for sure if that aspect is on track, Eiken added. I know they do plan to come in fairly soon with a proposed master plan.HPs move is also contingent on the citys plan to build out Southeast First Street, currently a rural two-lane road that will eventually need to support the traffic of a major arterial once the Section 30 campus is up and running.Work on Southeast First Street had been scheduled to start this summer. Now, thats a question mark.We are anticipating reductions in revenue that would be coming into the general streets and fire fund, and that puts further challenges on Southeast First Street. We do think its very well positioned for stimulus funding, Eiken said.This would be probably our top priority. If we can secure some of this stimulus funding for that project, its going to help us come out of this at the other end. This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (yellow)also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells (blue/pink) cultured in the lab. Amid global pandemic, Brazils federal government and the states have reportedly resumed the clash, this time over the procurement of the crucial medical supplies to treat the COVID-19 patients. The local hospitals across states have launched an attack on the Bolsonaros federal government, a scenario like the US, for confiscating the protective equipment and the ventilators. While states have been vying with the far-right government for equipment, President Jair Bolsonaro is sharply at odds with the governors about the containment measures of the coronavirus, as per the reports. Dr. Riane Azevedo at the Instituto Jose Frota hospital told the press conference that the health ministry at the center seized the ventilators for her hospital even before they could arrive. She added saying that the Brazilian state of Ceara was in urgent need of at least 40 ICU beds in the month of May for which there was equipment shortage. She had managed to procure a highly sought-after cache of ventilators for the overwhelmed hospital when the local supplier said that he could no longer honour the agreement, and instead, the equipment was diverted to Brazils federal government, confirmed media reports. Dr. Azevedo told the local media broadcasters that the federal government made her feel like working against the countrys own system and it made no sense. Read: German Firms Turn To Making Masks As Demand Grows Amid Coronavirus Pandemic Read: UK To Begin Human Trials Of Coronavirus Vaccine From April 23 Emergency equipment ordered thrice According to reports, several medical equipment supply shipments were also seized in the state of Maranhao that has led to political rivalries between the governor and the Bolsonaros government amid the coronavirus pandemic situation. A northeastern state, next to Ceara, Maranhao faced a setback in response to the COVID-19 treatment at its hospitals after the equipment it procured never reached the state. Maranhaos Secretary of Industry, Commerce and Energy, Simplicio Araujo, told the press conference that the state had a pending delivery of emergency 150 ventilators from a Brazilian provider that was confiscated by the federal health ministry. The state had to order a second shipment from China, that got stuck in Germany, while the third shipment that Maranhao urgently required, was never dispatched by the US, local media reported. Read: Belgian Biotech Company To Produce Coronavirus Antibody Tests Read: Russia: New Moscow Hospital Opens As Coronavirus Cases Surpass 52,000 The West Bengal health department has prohibited mobile phones in Covid-19 wards in all hospitals, saying that phone surfaces are also potential carriers of novel coronavirus. The ban has triggered allegations that the move was actually aimed at blocking flow of information from Covid-19 wards about likely mismanagement. While a section of doctors said that a mobile phone could, indeed, carry the virus if not properly disinfected, another section of doctors said that the ban could adversely affect the Covid-19 patients who are kept in isolation and use the mobile phone a lot to stay occupied. The instruction was given on Tuesday night by an additional secretary of the health and family welfare department of the state government in a WhatsApp message sent to the district magistrates, chief medical officer of health and superintendents of all Covid-19 hospitals. On Wednesday, a top official of the states health administration confirmed that mobile phones were indeed being prohibited. Since mobile phones can be a potential source of spreading Covid-19 infection, no one will be allowed to carry, possess or use mobile phones inside the Covid hospitals in the State. This applies to all persons inside the hospital, whether patients or staff on duty. The deposit of patients mobile phones may be taken and a receipt may be given to them, reads the internal message. To ensure they have a communication channel to the hospital administration, intercom facility may be provided in the wards. The contact number of the control room or the hospital superintendent/manager should be publicised prominently among the patients. Also, land line arrangements with STD calling be kept ready in case the patient needs to make a call or receive a call from outside, the message said. The instructions added that the hospital staff on duty should be informed of the restrictions on the use and carrying of mobile phones inside the wards and treatment areas. While implementing this, take all measures for especially ensuring that the patients need for communication with hospital authorities is attended to with due priority, the instruction said. Several Covid-19 patients who have recovered said that they had spent their time in isolation watching movies and listening to music on YouTube. It is because we listened to Buddhist hymns on YouTube and received positive messages from friends and relatives on WhatsApp that my wife and I were able to deal with the unprecedented situation of contracting this disease, especially at a time when we lost one of our relatives to the disease, said Dharamnath Singh, 59, a resident of Kalimpong in north Bengal. Another patient who is at present admitted at the infectious diseases hospital in Kolkata said that making and receiving calls from friends and relatives relieved him of the stress of living in complete isolation in the hospital. Senior doctor Punyabrata Goon said he suspected the governments move is aimed at blocking the flow of information from Covid-19 wards. Anything, from the mobile phone to watches and purses could be a carrier of the virus. But specifically prohibiting only mobile phones seems to be aimed at blocking flow of information from Covid-19 wards, as in the recent times some video clips emerged from a few Covid wards of hospitals that reflected mismanagement of the authorities, Goon said. Incidentally, Central minister Babul Supriyo had shared a video from his Twitter account that allegedly revealed mismanagement at M R Bangur hospital, a Covid-19 hospital in Kolkata. On Wednesday, Supriyo wrote on Twitter, Honble @MamataOfficial banning mobiles in hospitals Kind of proves that the Bangur Hospital video was not fake -Thank you. Indian Medical Association (IMA) secretary, Dr Ravi Malik told media that planned protest against attacks on doctors, medical staff has been canceled as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and Home Minister Amit Shah have assured IMA that special security arrangements will be done. After Union Home Minister Amit Shahs assurance to the doctors that their security will be taken care of, several doctors have lauded the efforts by the Central Government. The recent attacks on medical practitioners is shameful, however, something good has come out of it. Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and Home Minister Amit Shah have assured us that special security arrangements will be done for the doctors, Dr Ravi Malik, former Secretary of Indian Medical Association (IMA), told ANI. I want to tell the government that we, doctors, are not scared of such attacks and we will continue our work amid this crisis, he said. Echoing similar sentiments, Dr BB Wadhwa, Delhi Medical Association (DMA) president, said, Though we feel disturbed due to the attacks, the doctors have not backed out from their duty. We want some laws which will put a stop on such attacks on doctors as we can not work if we are always scared. He further said, I appreciate Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for arresting 17 miscreants under the National Security Act. We want other states to do the same to prevent attacks like in Moradabad, Delhi and Indore. While lauding PM Modis acknowledgement of work being done by medical staff amid the coronavirus outbreak, Dr Harish Gupta, Delhi Medical Council member and former president of DMA, said, Though the frequent attacks on doctors have a very demoralising effect on the medical fraternity, we have continued our work without taking a day off since the coronavirus outbreak. And we will continue to do so because we have always said Jeet jayenge hum agar pura desh sangh hai (We will win if the country is with us). However, we do demand legal impunity for our safety, he added. Earlier today, Amit Shah, in an interaction with the IMA doctors through video conferencing, appreciated their good work and assured them security and appealed to them not to hold a symbolic protest on April 23 as proposed by them. The IMA had earlier announced that it will observe April 23 as Black Day if the government fails to enact Central Law on violence against doctors and hospitals. Union Minister Prakash Javadekar today announced an ordinance to end violence against health workers, which carries jail term ranging from six months to 7 years as punishment for those found guilty. He further said that an amendment will be made to Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 and Ordinance will be implemented. Such crime will now be cognizable and non-bailable. The investigation will be done within 30 days. Accused can be sentenced from 3 months-5 years and penalised from Rs 50,000 upto Rs 2 Lakh, he added. This comes after several incidents of attacks and stigmatisation of medical staff and doctors being reported from across the country following the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis. For all the latest National News, download NewsX App On the background of the recent sensational statement by Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov on the phased option for settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the heated discussions on the statement, the administrators of the Facebook page of second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan have posted a video of the response that Robert Kocharyan gave to a member of the Azerbaijani delegation during the session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on June 21, 2004. The video is entitled The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic has never been a part of independent Azerbaijan. Robert Kocharyan had said the following: As far as your comment on territorial integrity is concerned, yes, the world recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, we also recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, but I repeat the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic has nothing to do with the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan because it has never been a part of independent Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijan received independence along with the people of Karabakh. Yes, I take pride in the fact that I participated in the military operations, and I take pride in the result that we have today. By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala government has decided to deduct one month salary of the government employees in five monthly instalments to fight against the COVID. The deducted one-month salary would be reimbursed to them after a specific period. The finance department has submitted a proposal of deducting a six-day salary of all categories of government employees in a month and the deduction would be continued for five months. After this, the deducted one-month salary would be given back to the employees in a phased manner. FOLLOW CORONAVIRUS LIVE UPDATES HERE The proposal was accepted by the state cabinet meeting held on Wednesday and it is expected to be announced by Chief Minister. Earlier, the salary challenge announced by the state government during the time of flood to meet the flood crisis was challenged in the high court by the employees associations. Taking account of the resistance from a section of employees, the government has adopted a system of deducting one-month salary in five monthly instalments and repaying after a certain period especially after the financial situation of the state is improved. Pensioners would be excluded from the list, while it is not known if the health workers would be left out from the list. As expected, the pro-Left service organisations welcomed the state government decision while the Opposition service organisations opposed the government move. A considerable number of Luxembourgish residents appear to have spent the past weeks abroad. According to the managing office of the health department, a high number of trips to and from Portugal had been undertaken in recent weeks. Although these should not drastically affect the national fight against the spread of the virus, the government appeals to the public not to leave the country. The trips had been a suspicion vividly discussed on social media, and health officials confirmed: "We have been informed about a number of trips to and from Portugal, especially since the reopening of construction sites had been announced." Neither health officials nor the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were able to account for all movements. Travelling remains a difficult undertaking at the moment, as there are no passenger planes leaving Findel airport. The borders between France, Spain, and Portugal are closed for most parts. Already in March Luxembourgish authorities said all travel should be suspended until further notice. Portuguese PM Antonio Costa made an appeal to all emigrants to not return to Portugal over the holidays. Nonetheless, health officials do not see an exceptional threat in the migratory movements, as the virus is already active across Europe, affecting both Luxembourg and Portugal. An eye will be kept on the construction sector and testing there will be continued. Time for reform has run out for Algeria with the plunge in oil prices further worsening combustible factors of financial hardships, corrupt leadership and social dissent. Myopic to the demands of the Algerian people for reforms and better living conditions, the same old ruling military elite renewed itself with a civilian facade amid pro-democracy protests. The advent of the coronavirus, where Algeria has the highest death rate in the MENA region, was used to crush any form of protest with the regime silencing critical media and putting critical politicians in jail such as the case with Karim Tabou. As it heads straight to insolvency, the new plunge of barrel price to negative territory has sent shockwaves in a regime that has for long depended on oil money to buy social peace and silence dissent. Algerias Saharan blend is now trading at less than $20 a barrel, while this years austerity budget was based on a price of $50 a barrel. Benchmark international crudes are trading at their lowest in about two decades. Algeria would need at least a barrel price of 150 dollars to balance a budget burdened by subsidies. For a population that has been used for decades of state largess with a very weak private sector and low diversification, any austerity measure could be faced with fierce street opposition. Even without the coronavirus crisis and low global demand, Algerias oil and gas exporting capacity was dwindling as domestic consumption rises. The country, which has resorted to money printing by the past sending its currency to devaluation, has refused international loans while its foreign exchange reserves are expected to hit a new low of 36 billion dollars in 2020 and 12 billion dollars in 2021 in the best case scenario from 107 billion in 2016. The IMF expects the Algerian economy to contract by 5.2%, which risks aggravating unemployment rate even further. The economic woes converge with the coronavirus crisis at a time when dissent at the current leadership is still rife threatening Algerias fragile social peace. The patronage system that buys support has never been this weak, Riccardo Fabiani, North Africa Project Director told Bloomberg. NATO's tasks during the coronavirus epidemic were the subject of a Wednesday videoconference between Polish President Andrzej Duda and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, head of the President's Office Krzysztof Szczerski has told PAP. Duda and Stoltenberg agreed that the epidemic has not impaired the Alliance's deterrence and defence capacities, and stated that Poland, as well as other NATO members, could feel fully secure, Szczerski said. "The pandemic has not influenced NATO's defence abilities. The Alliance's defence potential stands in full readiness, Poland and the remaining NATO members can feel fully secure under the allied system. The pandemic has no effect on our ability to deter and to defend the entire territory of the Alliance," Szczerski told PAP. Szczerski said that Duda and Stoltenberg also discussed the forms of mutual aid forwarded by the NATO members to one another, and their needs in connection with the epidemic. He added that such aid projects were coordinated by the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC). Describing the aid in more detail, Szczerski said it mainly involved logistics, the transportation of necessary equipment and protective materials, and medical help. In this context, he mentioned Polish medical missions in in Italy, Slovenia and the US. Szczerski said that Duda and Stoltenberg also discussed the employment of the Polish-commanded Multinational Chemical, Biological Radiological and Nuclear Defence Battalion (MN CBRN BN) for anti-epidemic operations in NATO countries. Szczerski reported that the talks also focused on attempts to undermine NATO's unity and efficiency by means of disinformation, and stated that both Duda and Stoltenberg considered measures against disinformation an important task for the Alliance. (PAP) mb/ jch/ This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic. Read about others here. Joseph Feingold, a Holocaust survivor who found unexpected fame late in life as the co-star of Joes Violin, an Oscar-nominated short documentary, died on April 15 at Mt. Sinai West Hospital in Manhattan. He was 97. His stepdaughter Ame Gilbert said the cause was complications of Covid-19. In 2014, Mr. Feingold was listening to his favorite classical music station, WQXR, when he heard about a program that gives used instruments to New York City schoolchildren. He took the bus from his home on Manhattans Upper West Side to Lincoln Center, and donated a cherished violin he no longer played because his fingers had grown stiff. Mention of his donation was made over the radio. The violin and Mr. Feingold had quite a story, as Kahane Cooperman, a filmmaker who was listening, soon discovered. LITTLE ROCK, Ark., April 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, people across Arkansas are facing challenges that extend beyond medical care and include basic daily needs such as food, internet connectivity, and essential supplies. Arkansas Health & Wellness and Arkansas Total Care, in partnership with Centene, a leading multi-national healthcare company, will be deploying these programs throughout Arkansas. Social determinants of health are non-medical barriers to achieving quality health outcomes. They include socioeconomic and environment factors such as food accessibility, employment, education, and more. Research shows that medical care accounts for approximately 10 to 20 percent of health outcomes, while the other 80 to 90 percent is affected by the social determinants of health. "The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are far-reaching and have extended beyond medical care to affect people's access to food, employment, connectivity, and more," said John Ryan, CEO of Arkansas Health & Wellness and Arkansas Total Care. "These social determinants of health have a significant impact on people's overall wellbeing, especially among vulnerable populations. Arkansas Health & Wellness and Arkansas Total Care wants to help ensure we're supporting the additional needs of communities during this challenging time." Hunger and Food Security The demand on food banks has significantly increased during this pandemic. Arkansas Health & Wellness and Arkansas Total Care will donate $100,000 to help feed those who are food insecure in Arkansas. In partnership with the Arkansas Food Bank, Arkansas Health & Wellness and Arkansas Total Care will provide funding to ensure critical resources are distributed to all six food banks and their associated food pantries throughout the state. "Arkansas Health & Wellness has been a wonderful partner with the Arkansas Foodbank. We are very pleased to have them serve the entire state through our food banks. Arkansas is facing a huge crisis and partners like Arkansas Health & Wellness and Arkansas Total Care will make the difference for all Arkansans," said Rhonda Sanders, CEO of Arkansas Foodbank. Connectivity During this time of social distancing, telehealth and other virtual communications tools have become invaluable for providing access to care. In collaboration with FirstNet, built with AT&T the only nationwide, high-speed broadband communications platform dedicated to and purpose-built for America's first responders and the extended public safety community Arkansas Health & Wellness and Arkansas Total Care are helping make FirstNet more accessible to healthcare providers. Arkansas Health & Wellness and Arkansas Total Care will be extending grants to assist providers with the upfront investment costs of new devices and equipment. This will streamline access to affordable, high-speed wireless broadband services for primary care providers in rural and underserved communities. Arkansas is one of the pilot states leading this collaboration which intends to support Federally Qualified Healthcare Centers and independent practices. The program will expand into additional states over the next few months. As an independent primary care physician in an underserved rural area, Dr. Jason Lofton of DeQueen, AR has a lot of recent experience with accessing support funds for primary care practices on the frontline. "If the local economies in small towns like mine are going to survive this challenging time, it is critically important to provide support for busy physicians to navigate all these new programs," said Dr Lofton. "I am pleased to see Arkansas Health & Wellness and Arkansas Total Care making this resource available." Arkansas Health & Wellness and Arkansas Total Care are also working to improve internet access for Arkansas residents by purchasing tablets for thousands of community members who lack internet access during the COVID-19 pandemic. Arkansas Health & Wellness and Arkansas Total Care will announce specific details of this initiative as they become available. FirstNet and the FirstNet logo are registered trademarks of the First Responder Network Authority. All other marks are the property of their respective owners. About Arkansas Health & Wellness and Arkansas Total Care Founded in 2014, Arkansas Health & Wellness and Arkansas Total Care are managed care companies that deliver quality health care throughout Arkansas. Committed Helping Arkansas Live Better, Arkansas Health & Wellness and Arkansas Total Care support active local community involvement in all 75 Arkansas counties, with more than 600 employees statewide. Arkansas Health & Wellness and Arkansas Total Care are wholly and partially owned subsidiaries (respectively) of Centene Corporation, a leading multi-national healthcare enterprise offering both core Medicaid, Medicare and specialty services. More information on Arkansas Health & Wellness and Arkansas Total Care can be found at https://www.arhealthwellness.com/ and https://www.arkansastotalcare.com/ About Centene Corporation Centene Corporation, a Fortune 100 company, is a leading multi-national healthcare enterprise that is committed to helping people live healthier lives. The Company takes a local approach with local brands and local teams - to provide fully integrated, high-quality, and cost-effective services to government-sponsored and commercial healthcare programs, focusing on under-insured and uninsured individuals. Centene offers affordable and high-quality products to nearly 1 in 15 individuals across the nation, including Medicaid and Medicare members (including Medicare Prescription Drug Plans) as well as individuals and families served by the Health Insurance Marketplace, the TRICARE program, and individuals in correctional facilities. The Company also serves several international markets, and contracts with other healthcare and commercial organizations to provide a variety of specialty services focused on treating the whole person. Centene focuses on long-term growth and the development of its people, systems and capabilities so that it can better serve its members, providers, local communities, and government partners. Centene uses its investor relations website to publish important information about the company, including information that may be deemed material to investors. Financial and other information about Centene is routinely posted and is accessible on Centene's investor relations website, http://www.centene.com/investors. SOURCE Arkansas Health & Wellness; Arkansas Total Care Related Links http://www.arhealthwellness.com Bumblebees in the pollinator gardens in Wilcox Park in Westerly on Aug. 22, 2019. Monarchs and other butterflies were also tending to the late summer blossoms. Harold Hanka, The Westerly Sun Updated on April 22 at 7:15 p.m. ET: The three young children have been safely located, according to the Roanoke County Police Department. Both suspects John Varion Allison and his wife Ruby Marie Allison have been taken into custody and face abduction charges and refusing to serve a court-ordered child removal. Previously: Authorities in Virginia said they are searching for three missing children who may have been abducted around 3:30 p.m. on April 21. Virginia State Police have issued an Amber Alert on behalf of the Roanoke County Police Department and said the three missing children are believed to be in extreme danger. The children were last seen in Roanoke County in Virginia and believed to have been abducted by John Varion Allison, police said. Allison is described as a white male with blond hair and brown eyes. He is 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 185 pounds. His wife, identified as Ruby Marie Allison, might also be involved in the abduction and traveling together with him, according to authorities. Police described Ruby as a white female with brown hair and brown eyes. She is 5 foot 3 inches tall and weighing 160 pounds. Allison might be operating a maroon 1999 Chevrolet Suburban SUV with Virginia plate numbered VVU-3796 or a maroon 2006 Cadillac with plate number VMV-8238, police said. The three missing children are identified as two 6-year-olds, Cameron and Emma Allison, and 21-month-old Colin Allison. Cameron is described as a white male with brown hair and brown eyes and Emma is a white female with brown hair and brown eyes. Colin is a white male with blonde hair and brown eyes. Parental Kidnapping According to the Polly Klaas Foundation, approximately 200,000 children are kidnapped each year by a family member. Child custody experts say that people kidnap their own children to force a reconciliation or continued interaction with the other parent, to spite or punish the other parent, or from fear of losing custody or visitation rights. Common warning signs include the other parent threatening abduction, suspected abuse, or paranoid delusion. With mosques closed, no iftar' gatherings and no getting together with friends and extended family for that pre-dawn sehri' meal either, Muslims are set to observe a Ramzan different from anything they've seen before. The holiest month in Islam, when devout Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset, will tentatively begin on April 24 in India, depending on the sighting of the moon. The first day of Ramzan will dawn under the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic. With the lockdown in place till at least May 3, this will be a Ramzan without the usual gatherings at prayer time and during meals -- quiet days of spending time with immediate family, solitude and some introspection perhaps. Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has directed more than 30 state waqf boards to ensure strict implementation of the lockdown and social distancing norms during the month. "Even our ancestors have not seen such a Ramzaan in their lifetime. This will certainly be the first of its kind," said Mohammad Nawed, who owns an eatery close to the Jama Masjid in Delhi's walled city. It will be a sombre time with everything restricted strictly within the confines of people's homes, he said. "We would ideally exchange food and gifts, and the rich and poor would break their fasts and eat together. None of that will happen this year," Nawed told PTI as silence settled over the usually bustling streets of Old Delhi. In normal times, the streets outside Jama Masjid would be lit, the smells of haleem, biryani and kebabs wafting through the air and thousands of people thronging the area to shop, eat or simply watch the crowds go by. But this year is different. "Our shop has been closed since March 22. During Ramzan, the roads would be full of people, locals as well as foreigners. Besides our usual menu that is available round the year, we would serve pakodas' and our special 'keeme ke goli' every day for 'iftar' during the entire month, Nawed said. Mohammed Akram, who works at the Changezi Chicken restaurant in Churiwalan in Old Delhi, said the area is crowded throughout the year but the numbers swell during Ramzan. The shops are open through the night, right till dawn, when people would gather for the sehri' meal. "I have never seen such a quiet Ramzan," he said. The imam' has announced that no one should go to the mosque and we will be no less blessed if we offer namaz' at our homes, Akram told PTI. Several people have already planned out their month, how to do something different in keeping with the extraordinary times and help the poor affected by the pandemic. Zahra Begum, who would generally feed the poor outside the Jama Masjid, has sent dry rations to NGOs to be distributed. "The pandemic made me realise about the uncertainty that surrounds our lives, she said. Samina Alam in Aligarh said this is her first Ramzan after marriage and it would normally have been a grand affair. "I have decided to donate the money I would have spent on clothes and festivities, I have kept that money aside and will donate to stranded migrant workers," Alam said. Irtiza Quraishi, founder of Delhi-based NGO Marham, has called for volunteers to help 20 needy families. "We are looking for volunteers who are willing to work for the first 20 days of Ramzan from 8 pm to 11pm, have a car, live in an area of Delhi which not under red zone and ready to drive every evening within Delhi in a team of two and deliver 10-20 kits at different locations," he said. Writer and critic Rakshanda Jalil appealed to all Muslims to use the special month to reflect, count their blessings, shore up their inner reserves of strength and to give as much as possible both money and materials to the needy. "In my family, Ramzan has always been a time for introspection. We will fast, pray, read from the Quran and count our blessings. We normally don't go out for Tarawi (special night prayers) so for us as a family there will be no major difference this year," she toldPTI. "But yes this will be the first time the 'iftari' that would normally be cooked at my mothers home and sent to the neighbourhood mosque won't be sent this year. Nor will friends drop in for 'iftar' at our home. That will be a major departure from tradition," she added. Tahir Mahmood, scholar and former chairperson of the National Minorities Commission, advised other Muslims to supply food to the poor in neighbourhood by suitable means without risking infection. "As this year it falls under the shadow of corona pandemic, Muslims must remember that the only thing 'farz' (obligatory) under religion is fasting which needs no stepping out of homes. Saying daily prayers in mosques and Tarawi are only recommended, not mandatory," he said. "Muslims must remain content this year with fasting and 'iftar' inside their homes and avoid all outdoor activities. Collective 'iftars' are just a tradition which may this year be substituted with supplying food to the poor in neighbourhood by suitable means without risking infection. All this is necessary for people to keep themselves healthy enough to celebrate Eid a month later, he added. Qari Niyaz Ahmed Qadri, a cleric from the Darul Uloom Hanfia in Colaba in Mumbai, said never in his life has he witnessed something like this. "I was talking to my elders who are in their 60s and 70s asking them how different this Ramzan will be for them ... and they said they have never seen a Ramzan when mosques are closed and people are told to pray from home, " he said. Abdul Majid, a reputed neurosurgeon in Aurangabad, said Muslims should use the opportunity offered by the lockdown to observe a "model Ramzan" based on the true principles of austerity and piety. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source! WASHINGTON, April 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A group of US mattress manufacturers, including Brooklyn Bedding, Corsicana Mattress Company, Elite Comfort Solutions, FXI, Inc., Kolcraft Enterprises Inc., and Leggett & Platt, Incorporated, as well as the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, AFL-CIO ("USW") (collectively, the "Mattress Petitioners"), applaud the Commerce Department's decision to initiate eight investigations into unfairly traded mattresses. Today's decision formally commences antidumping investigations on unfairly traded imports of mattresses from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Serbia, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam, and a countervailing duty (subsidy) investigation on subsidized mattresses from China. "Today's initiation decision by the Commerce Department is a critical step that allows both Commerce and the US International Trade Commission to fully investigate the imports from these eight countries and their impact of the US mattress industry," says Yohai Baisburd, counsel to the Mattress Petitioners. "Commerce reviewed the over 3,000 page petition, gathered additional information, and confirmed our calculations of estimated dumping margins ranging from 42.92% to 989.90%," continued Baisburd. Commerce also initiated a subsidy investigation on Chinese government programs. The country-by-country estimated margins are provided below. Country Estimated Dumping Margins Cambodia 326.49% to 675.83% Indonesia 213.44% to 429.74% Malaysia 42.92% Serbia 57.37% to 183.16% Thailand 414.77% to 763.28% Turkey 267.55% to 609.51% Vietnam 481.72% to 989.90% The investigations now continue with the injury phase at the International Trade Commission, which is expected to vote by May 15, 2020. The Department of Commerce initiation fact sheet is available at https://enforcement.trade.gov/download/factsheets/factsheet-multiple-mattresses-ad-cvd-initiation-042120.pdf. The Mattress Petitioners are represented by Cassidy Levy Kent (USA) LLP. SOURCE The Mattress Petitioners Quantzig, global data analytics and advisory firm, that delivers actionable analytics solutions to resolve complex business problems has been actively analyzing the logistics landscape and the impact of the ongoing crisis on the business operations of 3PL service providers. Based on its analysis, Quantzig suggests that to navigate the crisis and emerge successfully, 3PL companies must adopt a holistic approach to inventory management. One that focuses on optimizing inventory while improving service levels at no additional costs. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005488/en/ Request a FREE proposal to discover how we help 3PL logistics companies to strike the perfect balance of lowering inventory investments while enhancing service levels. How Quantzig's inventory optimization solutions can help you? Deploy real-time data visualization dashboards to make appropriate decisions and gain better control over the inventory system Leverage the power of connected, intelligent, and scalable analytics solutions that not just help you monitor the physical flow but also the information, workforce, and financial aspect of things Our system dynamics-based inventory optimization solutions empower businesses to gain better inventory control to prevent stock-outs We have a proven track record of helping 3PL logistics companies to tackle supply chain complexities. Talk to our analytics experts to get started. 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From regional warehouse optimization to international transportation and logistics planning, Quantzig's inventory optimization solutions help drive supply chain resilience, demand forecasting accuracy, and reduce costs aligned with meeting the dynamic market demands. Our advanced analytics platforms also ensure complete visibility into inventory operations, empowering logistics companies to enhance efficiency. By adopting our solutions organizations can realize the benefits of lower operating costs obtained by optimizing fulfillment, customer experience, and improvements in overall supply chain performance. What sets us apart amid the competition is that our proprietary algorithms and inventory management platforms are designed to support the unique needs of our clients from different industries, thereby ensuring we deliver maximum value and returns to our clients. We now offer a comprehensive COVID-19 business support package to help ensure business continuity amid the crisis. Learn more. Quantzig's inventory optimization capabilities include: 1: CPM-based inventory risk in logistics 2: Demand variance-based inventory risk analysis 3: Dynamic order staggering and backorder analysis 4: System dynamics-based optimal inventory management About Quantzig Quantzig is a global analytics and advisory firm with offices in the US, UK, Canada, China, and India. For more than 15 years, we have assisted our clients across the globe with end-to-end data modeling capabilities to leverage analytics for prudent decision making. Today, our firm consists of 120+ clients, including 45 Fortune 500 companies. For more information on our engagement policies and pricing plans, visit: https://www.quantzig.com/request-for-proposal View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005488/en/ Contacts: Quantzig Anirban Choudhury Marketing Manager US: +1 630 538 7144 UK: +44 208 629 1455 https://www.quantzig.com/contact-us New Delhi, April 22 (IANS) To check growing attack on doctors and other health workers, Chhattisgarh Health Minister T.S. Singh Deo on Wednesday demanded a law to protect doctors. Image Source: IANS New Delhi, April 22 : To check growing attack on doctors and other health workers, Chhattisgarh Health Minister T.S. Singh Deo on Wednesday demanded a law to protect doctors. "Apart from the Indian penal code, doctors should be protected by a law. A doctor protection law with stringent punishment should be formulated. The responsibility of doctors should also be fixed," he said. It was unfortunate that doctors and other health workers, fighting the coronavirus pandemic, were being attacked, he said. Earlier during the day, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had a video interaction with doctors and the Indian Medical Association (IMA) office-bearers, leading the IMA to "withdraw" it's proposed protests on April 22 and 23. Lauding their work, the Home Minister assured them of their security. He appealed doctors against even a symbolic protest as was proposed. Sending across a strong message, Shah said safety and dignity of doctors at their work place was "non-negotiable". "It's our collective responsibility to ensure conducive atmosphere for them at all times. I have assured doctors that the Narendra Modi government is committed to their cause," the Home Minister appealed them to reconsider their proposed protest. Expressing satisfaction at the interaction, the IMA said they were convinced with the assurances. Gov Ned Lamont said Wednesday that he is disturbed by a continued three-figure daily death toll in the coronavirus pandemic. The latest statistics from the Department of Public Health show an additional 121 people who have died with COVID-19 since Tuesdays announcement, bringing the total to 1,544 deaths in Connecticut. Deaths are still disturbingly high, Lamont said during an hourly briefing in the State Capitol. That reflects what happened three or four weeks ago when patients were infected. Were most of the way through April, he said. We knew April was going to be the toughest month in terms of the surge and the peak and what we have had to do to manage our way through this pandemic. I think the states doing pretty well. I think the hospital system held up. The net number of additional patients in hospitals remains between 1,900 and 2,000, as it has for a full week with a net increase of 23 on Wednesday, to 1,972. Hospitalizations are up more sharply in recent days in Hartford County than New Haven or Fairfield counties. The indicators are trending in the right direction but we are in no way out of the woods in this, the governor said. Deaths are also up more sharply in Hartford County. Since Friday, Hartford County has recorded 176 additional deaths, a 66 percent increase to 442. Fairfield County has seen 159 additioonal deaths, an increase of 37 percent to 584. And New Haven Countys fatalities total has grown by 116, or 51 percent, to 345. Hartford continues to ramp up, Lamont said. Lamont credited U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal with pushing for the nearly $500-billion supplement disaster relief in Washington. But as for additional aid to states, The prospects of getting more from the feds is cloudy at best, Lamont said. He noted that U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell opposes aid to states and indicated Wednesday that states should be allowed to file for bankruptcy. Marie Antoinette said Let them eat cake and Mitch McConnell said Let them file for bankruptcy, Lamont said. Lamont said he believes the state will be in good shape in the current fiscal year despuite deep hits to both the state income tax and sales taxes, because of the states robust $2.5 billion in reserves. BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 22 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: Export of wood and furniture from Turkey to Turkmenistan increased by 33 percent from January 2020 through March 2020 and exceeded $10.5 million, Trend reports citing the Turkish Trade Ministry. In March 2020, Turkeys export of wood and furniture to Turkmenistan increased by 52.8 percent compared to March 2019, exceeding $5 million. In 1Q2020, export of wood and furniture from Turkey to world markets increased by 3.9 percent compared to the same period of 2019, and amounted to $1.3 billion. Meanwhile, Turkeys wood and furniture export amounted to 3.1 percent of the country's total export. In March 2020, Turkey exported wood and furniture worth $427.8 million to world markets, which is 9.3 percent less compared to the same month of 2019. Turkeys export of wood and furniture amounted to 3.2 percent of the country's total export. From March 2019 through March 2020, Turkey exported wood and furniture in the amount of $5.5 billion. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Sebi will look into issues being faced by corporates due to COVID-19 and consider more steps to help them tide over the challenges as part of its continuing efforts to make it easier to do business even in such difficult times, the regulatory body's chairman Ajay Tyagi told representatives of India Inc on Wednesday. In a conference call with the apex industry body CII (Confederation of Indian Industry), Tyagi apprised the industry leaders of various steps already taken by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and promised to look into various issues raised by them. Sources said CII appreciated a number of proactive efforts being taken by Sebi, which in turn promised to consider more steps to help the industry tide over the challenges posed by COVID-19 and the nationwide lockdown. CII's President Vikram Kirloskar, President-Designate Uday Kotak and Director General Chandrajit Banerjee were among the industrialists who attended the conference call, while Tyagi was also joined by other senior officials from Sebi. Several issues concerning the industry in light of the lockdown due to COVID-19 were discussed in the meeting. 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 Raising of capital by corporates, holding annual general meetings, disclosure requirements, buybacks of securities, matters concerning mutual funds were some of the major issues discussed in the meeting, according to an official privy to the development. The conference call helped both Sebi and CII understand the concerns, the official said. Sebi has taken several proactive measures in easing the burden of corporates in regulatory compliance by introducing relaxations like extension of date for filings to be made to stock exchanges like quarterly and annual financial results, corporate governance report, shareholding pattern, etc, for listed entities. The regulator has also granted a one-time relaxation in its primary market fund-raising norms to make it easier for companies to raise capital amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Rights issues are now considered successful if the minimum subscription received is 75 per cent, as opposed to 90 per cent earlier. Further, in case of fast track issues, the eligibility criteria of average market capitalisation of public shareholding of the issuer has been relaxed to Rs 100 crore from the earlier Rs 250 crore. Sebi has also extended the validity of observation letters issued by it for initial public offerings (IPOs) and rights issues as well as new fund offer (NFO) documents for mutual funds by six months. "These measures are aimed at improving access to funding to corporates through capital markets," the official said. Sebi has also given relaxations for market intermediaries such as stock brokers, depository participants and share transfer agents (RTAs). Deadlines for implementation of stewardship code for mutual funds, overhaul of regulations governing portfolio management services (PMS), mutual funds and alternative investment fund have been extended too. To ensure orderly functioning of the market, Sebi has put in adequate risk management measures in place. New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian has urged Muslims to observe social distancing rules during Ramadan which starts today. During the holy month, Muslims gather together to pray, reflect and eat after dark. At the end of the 30 days, Muslims celebrate Eid with a huge gathering for prayers at Sydney's Lakemba mosque and other mosques around the country. Muslims gather outside the Lakemba Mosque for morning prayers to mark the end of Ramadan During the holy month, Muslims gather together to pray, eat and reflect. Pictured: Lakemba mosque last year There are also markets to celebrate breaking fast, including a night market in Lakemba which attracts thousands of people. This year, those events will look very different. Ms Berejiklian said: 'Just as Easter was a very difficult time for many families across the State, including my own, where everybody abandoned what they normally do, I say to our friends in the Muslim community: please, please respect the restrictions during this time.' There were only five new cases of coronavirus recorded in New South Wales on Wednesday. People attend a street fair at night for Ifrar, or breaking the day's fast, during Ramadan in the suburb of Lakemba on June 1, 2019 Members of the muslim community celebrate Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of the month-long fast of Ramadan with prayer at Lakemba Mosque in Sydney, Wednesday, June 5, 2019 Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti tells worshippers to stay home for Ramadan prayers Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh, the highest religious authority in the country, said that Muslim prayers during Ramadan and for the subsequent Eid al-Fitr feast should be performed at home if the coronavirus outbreak continues, Saudi's Okaz newspaper reported on Friday. 'Ramadan's Taraweeh (evening) prayer can be performed at home if it cannot be performed at mosques due to the preventive measures taken to fight the spread of coronavirus,' he said in response to a question, adding that the same applies for Eid prayers. Saudi Arabia in mid-March stopped people performing their five daily prayers and the weekly Friday prayer inside mosques as part of efforts to limit the spread of the coronavirus. On Thursday, the Prophet's Mosque in the holy city of Medina said it was banning events which dispense evening meals in the mosque to those in need during Ramadan to break their daily fast. The kingdom has reported 6,380 cases of COVID-19, the highly contagious respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus, and 83 deaths so far. Advertisement Last night Prime Minister Scott Morrison choked back tears in a frank interview about how the coronavirus restrictions are impacting Australians' everyday lives. He looked visibly upset as he discussed the toll the strict lockdowns were taking on families. At one point, he struggled to speak - instead telling Sky News' Paul Murray: 'Let's look forward to the good days, mate.' Under the tough restrictions aimed at stopping the spread of COVID-19, which has been a success in Australia, only 10 people are allowed at funerals. 'There have been so many hard things,' Mr Morrison said when asked about the restrictions. 'Young kids who can't see their grandparents and vice-versa. Churches have been empty during the pandemic (pictured, Mary Immaculate Church in Sydney on Good Friday) with only 10 people allowed at funerals Mr Morrison was noticeably upset during the interview on Wednesday (pictured) as he discussed the coronavirus restrictions affecting funerals 'That one that really tears me up though is how many people have had to deal with loved ones who've passed away and to go through funerals with so few people.' Looking visibly emotional, Mr Morrison then paused, struggling to get his words out, before continuing. 'That is just... it's just horrible,' he said. 'And so we need... let's look forward to the good days, ey mate. They're going to come. They're going to come.' The most recent season of The Bachelor might be over, but the drama is not. On April 21, Madison Prewett appeared on Kaitlyn Bristowes Off the Vine podcast and claimed that Peter Weber told her that he wanted to be with her just days before he was seen in Chicago with Kelley Flanagan. When Weber called out Prewett on Instagram, blogger Reality Steve commented on the drama. Madison Prewett and Peter Weber | John Fleenor via Getty Images What Madison Prewett said about Kelley Flanagan On Bristowes podcast, Prewett discussed her friendship with Flanagan while on The Bachelor and how she feels about Flanagan and Weber spending time together in Chicago. This is when it gets a little interesting. We were best friends, actually. We were inseparable throughout the entire process, she said. I was definitely hurt and thrown off by that whole situation. I want the best for the both of them, but I definitely was thrown off. In a recent TikTok video, several contestants from Webers season of The Bachelor appeared together. One fan commented and asked where is Kelley. Prewett then replied, With our ex lol. Madison Prewett claimed Peter Weber wanted to get back together While on Off the Vine, Prewett revealed she was confused by Weber being in Chicago with Flanagan. The reason? Weber allegedly reached out to Prewett just two days before he was seen with Flanagan in Chicago. He was, like, calling me and texting me being like, I miss you, lets get back together,' said Prewett. I mean, I think that to me was a little confusing, but I think, like, when you breakup and youre going through a heartbreak and you just came off a show that was emotionally, physically and very which way exhausting, everybody handles that differently. Everybody leans on different things. Prewett then said that Weber reached out to her again after photos appeared online of him with Flanagan. He had texted me two days before. And he texted me after it had been out for a couple days. He sent me this long, long text, kind of explaining himself, but not really. Just kind of sharing the current situation or whatever, Prewett told Bristowe. I was very kind back, I was just like, Look, this doesnt affect anything for me, like, we went our separate ways, its not like I lost something here. I guess, but I told him kind of what Im saying. What Im confused about Peter is two days ago you were telling me how much you loved me and wanted to get back together and now youre with the one person that was my best friend. It just feels a little hurtful. Peter Weber and Reality Steve reacted After Prewett alleged that Weber wanted to get back together with her, Weber clapped back on Instagram. A Bachelor Nation fan page on Instagram posted about Prewetts claims, and Weber publicly commented and tagged Prewetts account. Oh boy. Guess this back and forth isnt gonna end anytime soon pic.twitter.com/qubxvUcOL1 RealitySteve (@RealitySteve) April 22, 2020 @madiprew youd think youd have a little more respect for this situation given we both know theres more to the story, he commented. After this, Reality Steve posted a screenshot of Webers comment. Oh boy. Guess this back and forth isnt gonna end anytime soon, the blogger tweeted. Here are todays top news, analysis and opinion. Know all about the latest news and other news updates from Hindustan Times. AgustaWestland scam accused cites Covid-19 risk in bail plea, SC declines The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to grant bail to AgustaWestland scam accused Christian Michel, who had sought release from Tihar jail citing health risk posed due to Covid-19 pandemic. Read more. ISKP commander who was its bridge with Paks ISI, Lashkar arrested A top commander of the so-called Khorasan wing of the Islamic State in Afghanistan who acted as the ISKPs bridge with Pakistani intelligence agency and terror groups such as the Lashkar-e-Tayyiba has been arrested, Afghanistans National Directorate of Security said on Wednesday. Read more. Rs 2 lakh fine, up to 7 years jail for attack on health workers, says govt The Centre has issued an ordinance for protection of doctors under which cases of assault on medics will be non bailable, Information and Broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar said Wednesday. Read more. What a high pressure match: Sachin Tendulkar recalls sensational last over against South Africa in 1993 thriller Speaking about his bowling efforts, Tendulkars memorable final over in the 1993 Hero Cup semifinal clash against South Africa is still deemed as one of his finest bowling efforts. Read more. Vicky Kaushal, Kashmera Shahs apartment complex in lockdown after Covid-19 positive case detected: Mood is very tense Bollywood actors Vicky Kaushal and 16 other celebrities building in Mumbai is now under partial lockdown after a resident was found Covid-19 positive. Read more. IIT Roorkee develops COVID-19 screening booth to collect samples Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee has developed a COVID-19 screening booth to collect samples of the suspects with the help of Roorkee Municipal Corporation (RMC), said officials of one of the countrys premier engineering institutes on Wednesday. Read more. Doctor treating COVID-19 patients gets unique thanks from people, video will leave you misty-eyed In this war against coronavirus, the actual superheroes of the society are the healthcare workers working relentlessly. Pledging their services as well as lives for the sake of humanity, they are appealing everyone to stay at home and help flatten the curve. Read more. Maruti may not open Manesar plant yet despite getting permission. Heres why The Gurugram district administration allowed the auto major to run the facility on a single shift basis, while fixing the total number of employees at plant at 4,696. Read more. Stones pelted at cops trying to enforce lockdown in Aligarh One policeman was injured when people pelted stones at a police team in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. The incident happened when the police team was trying to enforce lockdown in the area. A police officer said that some vegetable vendors were quarrelling among themselves & when the police team intervened, they pelted stones. Watch here. Life in the times of lockdown: Returning to the art of writing letters In a lockdown that has forced most of us to simplify and slow down, some people are revisiting communication by keepsake. Letters are more meaningful, they say, precisely because you take your time, you know this is something that will last. Read more. Zomato mandates all delivery partners to use Aarogya Setu Zomato has made it mandatory for all its delivery partners to download and use Aarogya Setu. The food-delivery company is currently catering to food as well as grocery deliveries across cities to help people cope with the current Covid-19 lockdown. Read more. After the success of the 130th Anniversary series in 18K gold presented at Baselworld 2019 and limited to only 13 pieces, Doxa launches the SUB 200 T.GRAPH in steel in a limited edition of 300 pieces. This limited edition is powered by historical movements: original VALJOUX 7734 calibers which had been conserved in pristine condition for over 30 years at Doxa. SUB 200 T.GRAPH Steel Doxa It was at Baselworld 1967 that Doxa launched the revolutionary SUB concept, considered to be the first purpose-designed diver's watch intended for the general public. The radical innovations it presented quickly made it a reference for professionals as well. Water-resistant to a depth of 300 meters, it was the first to feature a patented rotating bezel with the official no-decompression dive table. This watch would also become an easily recognizable legend due to its orange dial a first for a diving watch, and a brash contrast with the traditional black or white background. In 1969, the SUB concept is further refined in the form of the Doxa SUB 200 T.GRAPH, which even today still counts as a reference in the field of the most emblematic diving watches in watchmaking history. And the legend continues. 50 years later, Doxa presents a reinterpretation of its iconic model. Following a first limited edition in 18K gold, Doxa unveils the SUB 200 T.GRAPH in a new stainless steel limited series. SUB 200 T.GRAPH Steel Doxa With a diameter of 43 mm, the SUB 200 T.GRAPH is topped by a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective coating. In addition to being water-resistant to 20 ATM, equivalent to a depth of about 200 meters, the watch also features the famous patented unidirectional rotating bezel with the dual indication of dive time in minutes and depth in meters to calculate the dive time without decompression stops. The finishing touch: a SuperLuminova pearl at 12 o'clock. Just like the original model, the legendary face finished in semi-matte orange features two counters, one at 9 o'clock indicating the seconds, and the other at 3 o'clock indicating the chronograph's 30 minutes. The baton-type hands and the insert on the chronographs seconds hand are all filled with SuperLuminova beige Light Old Radium. The SUB 200 T.GRAPH's characteristic indices, painted in black, are filled with SuperLuminova beige Light Old Radium as well. SUB 200 T.GRAPH Steel Doxa This limited steel edition, as was the case with the 18K gold version, is also equipped with historical 7734 VALJOUX movements. These original calibers, dating back 30 years, have been carefully preserved by the Swiss family Jenny, who took over ownership of the Doxa brand two decades ago. Each movement has of course been completely revised and made absolutely reliable prior to fitting. The famous Doxa grains of rice bracelet, also crafted from 316L steel and featuring a folding clasp with diving extension and the Doxa fish symbol, rounds off this purpose-designed classic. Professor Wendy Burn said thousands of UK psychiatrists and frontline staff are still treating people with mental illness face-to-face, either in the community or in inpatient settings, and are at increased risk of contracting or passing on the virus (stock picture) More than a quarter of psychiatrists in Northern Ireland do not have access to the correct personal protection equipment (PPE), it has been warned. It has led to concerns the crisis sweeping care homes could be replicated in mental health care unless access to testing kits and PPE dramatically improves. The president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists said she is deeply worried by the situation. Professor Wendy Burn said thousands of UK psychiatrists and frontline staff are still treating people with mental illness face-to-face, either in the community or in inpatient settings, and are at increased risk of contracting or passing on the virus. The college's warning comes as their national survey found only half of psychiatrists confirm they can access testing kits for themselves (51%) or their patients (54%). Less than one in three (30%) confirmed they can obtain tests for family members. Professor Burn said: "The findings of our survey are deeply worrying, with many psychiatrists unable to test their patients or themselves in line with official advice. "Without access to testing kits and the right protective equipment I fear we could see a care home-style crisis sweeping through mental health units, with many patients and staff contracting the virus." Despite official guidance that they should have access to protective equipment, the survey also shows nearly one in four (23%) of psychiatrists in the UK do not have access to correct PPE. In Northern Ireland the figure is 26%. Dr Adrian James, registrar of the College, added: "A patient with, or at risk of, contracting Covid-19 is the same in all healthcare settings and they should be treated the same. "Not all our buildings are set up to withstand infection control and we're hearing some real fears from our frontline psychiatrists who are putting themselves and their families in danger every time they go to work. "Government must urgently address the need in mental health services to ensure staff and patients have the protection they need from the virus." Some 1,685 members responded to the survey, which ran from April 15 to 17. Questions included access to PPE, testing kits and duties undertaken at work. Health workers visiting some coronavirus containment zones in Maharashtra's Nagpur have complained that they were spat upon by some people, pelted with stones and abused at times while conducting surveys. However, despite such experiences, the Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers are carrying out their work "as service towards the nation and the society". Apart from spreading awareness about the coronavirus infection, ASHA workers are supposed to conduct house-to-house visits to look for cases of TB, cancer etc. Asha worker Usha Thakur told PTI on Wednesday that at least 21 teams are currently doing field work in two coronavirus containment zones--Satranjipura ans Shanti Nagar-- in the city. When asked about the challenges faced by them, she said, "In some areas, people do not give us proper information. They also avoid sharing their contact numbers fearing that they might be detained by authorities," she said. Recalling another incident, Thakur said a woman had once abused a team of ASHA workers in a foul language. "On one occasion, some local residents had tried to snatch our mobile phones. Many a times stones were hurled at us. We were spat upon at times," said Thakur. When asked whether such experiences do not deter us, Thakur said, "We are doing this as the service towards the nation and the society". "We have the emergency contact numbers of police and we know that help is just a call away," she said. Another ASHA worker said she had also faced resistance while doing work. However, it is not that all people behave in a similar hostile manner, she said, adding that many people had cooperated with them. Most of these ASHA workers are attached to the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC). When contacted, Municipal Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe admitted that civic employees had endured such hostile experiences. He warned of a strict action under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against anyone not cooperating. Nagpur had reported 90 COVID-19 cases till April 21 night. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) OYO on Wednesday asked some of its staff in India to go on leave with limited benefits from 4 May for four months, and also asked all employees in the country to accept a cut in their fixed salaries by 25 percent due to the impact of the COVID-19 on the hospitality industry New Delhi: OYO on Wednesday asked some of its staff in India to go on leave with limited benefits from 4 May for four months, and also asked all employees in the country to accept a cut in their fixed salaries by 25 percent due to the impact of the COVID-19 on the hospitality industry. The company currently has around 10,000 employees in the country. Oyo announces furloughs (temporary leave of absence without pay) & pay cuts to combat cost pressure; asks some employees in India to go on furlough from May 4 till August. Oyo also asks all employees that earn above Rs 5 lakh/pa to take 25% salary cuts from April till July pic.twitter.com/4UHKX4gTO5 CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) April 22, 2020 "We had to take the hard decision of placing some OYOpreneurs on a leave with limited benefits (LwLB) from 4 May, 2020, for four months until August 2020," OYO India and South Asia CEO Rohit Kapoor said in an email sent to the employees which have been accessed by PTI. Those going on this leave will avail benefits such as the continuation of medical insurance and parental insurance, school fee reimbursement and ex-gratia support, he added. Click here to follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak "In addition, to our colleagues on LwLB, in case there is an unforeseen medical emergency, we will support beyond the insured amounts, if the need so arises," Kapoor said. All these colleagues remain integral to the OYO family and "we hope we will be in a position to welcome them back into full-time roles sooner rather than later," he added. Click here to follow LIVE news and updates on stock markets OYO is taking all necessary actions to mitigate COVID-19's impact and ensure long-term success and sustenance of the business while ensuring there are no job cuts despite the economic pressures, Kapoor said. When asked about the number of employees it is placing on leave, the company refused to share any numbers. The company, however, confirmed that the employees will receive an ex-gratia amount equal to a total of 60 percent of the monthly fixed salary, paid in two equal instalments across May and June. OYO is also taking a difficult but necessary step for India, whereby the company is asking all employees to accept a reduction in their fixed compensation by 25 percent. This will be effective for April-July 2020 payroll, Kapoor said. "All other benefits and terms of your contract will remain unchanged. Also, note that this action will be planned in such a way that post the proposed pay cut, the fixed compensation for any employee is not less than Rs 5 lakh per annum. This ensures a large percentage of our colleagues at lower pay scales see no impact," he added. Earlier this month, OYO had started placing some of its employees on furloughs or temporary leaves in the US and other select markets on account of the slump in the hospitality industry due to COVID-19 pandemic. "OYO has been a leading brand in the hospitality industry, hence the revenue impact of the crisis is significant - about 50-60 percent revenue drop now... For our peer hotel chains in the industry, the revenue drop impact is as high as upwards of 75 percent," OYO Founder and Group CEO Ritesh Agarwal had said at that time. Switch the Market flag Open the menu and switch the Market flag for targeted data from your country of choice. for targeted data from your country of choice. Associated Press Medicare said Tuesday it will limit coverage of a $28,000-a-year Alzheimers drug whose benefits have been widely questioned, a major development in the nations tug-of-war over the fair value of new medicines that offer tantalizing possibilities but come with prohibitive prices. The initial determination from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services means that for Medicare to pay, patients taking Biogens Aduhelm medication will have to be part of clinical trials to assess the drugs effectiveness in slowing the progression of early-stage dementia as well as its safety. Medicares national coverage determination would become final by April 11, following a public comment period and further evaluation by the agency. Climate: North Pole without ice in summer before 2050 Study on 40 climate models, Italians also on team (ANSAmed) - ROME, APRIL 22 - The Arctic Ocean could find itself ice-free in the summer even before 2050, according to a new study directed by Dirk Notz of the University of Hamburg. The study is the result of collaboration by an international team of researchers from 21 institutions, including the Italian Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Climate Change (CMCC) Foundation. The study analysed the results of 40 different climate models. "The majority foresee that the Arctic will find itself ice-free in September prior to 2050, in all of the scenarios taken into consideration," said Italian researcher Dorotea Iovino. In particular, using these models, researchers considered the future evolution of the Arctic sea ice cover for a scenario with elevated future CO2 emissions, and scant climate protection measures. As predicted, with these simulations the sea ice in the Arctic disappeared rather quickly in the summer. In any case, the new study reveals how Arctic sea ice in the summer disappears occasionally even if CO2 emissions are rapidly reduced. "Even reducing global emissions rapidly and in a substantial way, and thus managing to stay below two degrees of global warming compared to pre-industrial levels, sea ice in the Arctic could occasionally disappear in the summer before 2050. And this is something that really surprised us," said Notz. Currently ice drifting in the Arctic Ocean around the North Pole is present year-round. Every summer, the researchers said, the extension of sea ice is reduced, and increases again in the winter. In response to current global warming, the overall area of the Arctic Ocean covered by sea ice has been rapidly reduced in recent decades, with serious consequences for the arctic ecosystem and the climate. The sea ice cover is a hunting ground and habitat for seals and polar bears, and it keeps the arctic region cooler by reflecting sunlight. The study said that frequency of the Arctic losing its sea ice cover in the future depends on future levels of CO2 emissions. If the emissions are reduced in a short period of time, ice-free years will happen only occasionally. But with elevated levels of emissions, the Arctic Ocean will find itself ice-free most years.(ANSAmed). HMD Global, the caretaker of Nokia's phone business, has announced that the warranties on the smartphones have been extended by 60 days. The move comes in the wake of the covid-19 lockdown that has caused disruptions in availing mobile phone related services from brand outlets in the country. The extension period is being offered on the Nokia phones whose warranty has either already expired or will expire between March 15 and May 15. HMD Global is covering both Nokia-branded feature phones and smartphones under the warranty extension. "To ensure we can still deliver on our promise, we are extending the warranty on your Nokia phone by 60 days. This is applicable to all warranties on both feature phones and smartphones that were due to expire between 15.03.2020 and 15.05.2020," said HMD Global in a post. The warranties have been extended for the customers in all the serviceable regions. However, the customers in the US and Europe can get their phone servicing done online via nokia.ebuilder.com. HMD Global explains the Nokia phone will be collected from their doorstep in the online servicing cases, and the company will "repair and return it within the timeframe outlined." The HMD Global portfolio comprises smartphones such as the recently-launched Nokia 8.3, Nokia 5.3, Nokia 1.3, Nokia 5310, and several other smartphones and feature phones that are available for sale and have their warranties valid. Some of the smartphones, such as the Nokia 2.3, come with a replacement guarantee period of 2 years, which should come as a respite to the customers. In case you are not sure about the warranty on your Nokia phone, you can head to Nokia's IMEI checker that also tells the warranty of the phone. To know the IMEI, you need to open the dialler and enter *#06# on your Nokia phone. In India, HMD Global recently announced that the warranty period of the Nokia 2.3 has been extended. The smartphone has received an additional year of replacement over and above two years already available. The replacement guarantee was earlier applicable to Nokia 2.3 units that were bought on or before March 31, 2020. The Nokia 2.3 was launched in India last year for a price of Rs 8,199 but had seen a price cut earlier this year. Since the GST was hiked from 12 per cent to 18 per cent recently, the company increased the price of the smartphone to Rs 7,585. The new pricing is with respect to the price after the cut earlier this year.ALSO Yasmin Pena had artistic talents in abundance: She danced, she drew, she sang, she sculpted. But the bubbly high school students heart was in fashion design, which she wanted to pursue professionally. A senior at Waterbury Arts Magnet School in Waterbury, Conn. she had even designed her own prom dress: a high hem in the front, low in the back, and purple, her favorite color. Yasmin, 18, died from COVID-19 on April 12, a rare young victim of the novel coronavirus. As of April 20, only two deaths have been recorded among children and youth ages 10 to 19 in Connecticut since the pandemic reached the United States. But Yasmin had a vulnerability to the coronavirus she didnt know about: Only when she was in the hospital, after weeks of illness, did her family learn she had lupus, a disease caused by an overactive immune system. People with autoimmune disorders are at higher risk of severe complications from the coronavirus. Eczemalinked in many cases to an overactive immune systemruns in the family, and Yasmin had it as well, said her older sister, Madeline Pena. But otherwise, Yasmin was the youngest, healthiest, most outgoing of all of us, she said. In addition to Madeline, Yasmin had another sister and two brothers. I know a lot of kids around her age or maybe younger are not concerned when it comes to the virus, said Madeline Pena, 21, who is a student at Naugatuck Valley Community College. Yasmin planned to follow her sister there, and then continue to a four-year university. But you have to be concerned. Its a virus that doesnt ask what age you areit infects you no matter what you are, Pena said. Missing Out on That Hug Yasmins death is a sorrowful addition to an already disrupted school year for students at her school, which has been closed to in-person classes since mid-March. After learning the news, the school system started reaching out to faculty and students on Monday. Counselors have also followed up with additional phone calls to students, said Nicholas Albini, the principal of Waterbury Arts Magnet. Unfortunately, everything becomes a little bit more impersonalized than it was when we were in direct contact, Albini said. Everybodys alone. Thats just an unfortunate product of this disease. Were missing out on that hug wed like to give, but this is what we have. Edwin Cortes, a high school senior at the magnet school who called Yasmin his sister, said that he learned of her death from a school psychologist. Yasmin had a care for people like no other, she always had a smile like no other, Cortes said. She would give me a smile every day. Yasmin wasnt someone who deserved to go out the way she did, Cortes said. I think there was a fate better for her. This was not her fate. Yasmin first started experiencing chest pains in late January, her sister said, but after a checkup, she was told it was linked to anxiety. She still wanted to go to school. She didnt want to drop everything just because of some chest pains, Pena said. And she also wanted to push through and participate in the senior theatrical showcase in late February, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), where she was an ensemble member. Marianna Vagnini Dadamo, a teacher who had taught Yasmin in chamber choir during her freshman and sophomore years, marveled at how the shy student had blossomed over the years. She was the quietest, mousiest, barely could open her mouth [student], Vagnini Dadamo said, but so sensitive to what we were after and what we were trying to achieve as a choir. And truly kind, Vagnini Dadamo said: She would ask me how I was. And thats not an unusual question, but its an unusual question when a student asks a teacher, and you really get a sense that they really want to know. She had that kind of kindness. Vagnini Dadamo said that Yasmin is not the first student she has lost. Because of that, she said, she always tries to leave students with a positive message, which is what she did with Yasmin. I told her how fantastic she was, how funny she was in the show. And Im grateful that was my last interaction with her, she said. Rollercoaster Illness After the show, Yasmin grew more ill, with a cough and fever. Her family decided she should stay at home to recuperate. In mid-March, however, her mother saw her sitting at the kitchen table, holding her head in her hands. Yasmin told her mother she couldnt breathe, her sister said. They took her to the hospital and she was admitted that day. Around the same time, Connecticut schools were shutting down school buildings. Yasmins time in the hospital was a rollercoaster, Pena said. At times, she said, her younger sister was responsive to her family during video chats. At other times, her blood pressure dipped and doctors explained that her condition was grave. On April 12Easter SundayPena said the family was told Yasmin was off the ventilator. We were so happy, on Easter, the day of Jesus resurrection. It was like a sign from God, she said. But a few hours later, during dialysis, Yasmin died. If theres one thing I would want everyone who reads this to know, it would be dont leave anything for tomorrow, you know? This is a virus that is trying to separate everyone. This is a virus that is trying to destroy families, Pena said. The district is hoping to remember Yasmin at what would have been her high school graduation, though it has still not decided how it will hold the ceremony. Schools are currently closed until May 20th. In a normal year, graduation would be in June. Waterbury Arts Magnet has 110 seniors expected to graduate this year. We have our sights on recognizing Yasmin at graduation, Albini said. We just dont know the venue yet, whether it will be totally digital or totally remote, but certainly she will be remembered. "It is not beauty that endears, it's love that makes us see beauty." --- Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace Throughout the entire coronavirus outbreak period, and even before it, there has always been one unsung group of workers who have silently safeguarded the city of Wuhan through their daily efforts. Before the outbreak, they cleaned the citys streets. During the outbreak, they disinfected wards and disposed of medical waste in hospital isolation wards, making their contribution to the battle against the coronavirus that engulfed China. Man Caimei, a sanitary workerin Wuhan, works at Wuhan Red Cross Hospital. (Photo/cjn.cn) 35-year-old Man Caimei is one such ordinary sanitary worker in Wuhan. On Jan 25, the first day of the Chinese New Year, Man learned that designated hospitals treating COVID-19 patients were in need of more sanitary workers, as there had been a huge increase in the amount of medical waste generated after the epidemic broke out. She immediately signed up for the mission, despite concerns from her family. People from all over the country are risking their lives to help Wuhan. As a Wuhan local, I had to do something, Man said. Man was among the first batch of cleaners to enter the isolation wards at Wuhan Red Cross Hospital. She was put in charge of disinfecting and cleaning the ICU hot zones on the 6th floor. Man Caimei works at Wuhan Red Cross Hospital. (Photo/cjn.cn) Before Man and her colleagues started working, the hospital trained them how to properly put on protective gear and disinfect themselves. As non-health care workers, they were not allowed to talk to or contact patients, in order to reduce the risk of infection. We had to wear three layers of gloves. Non-medical waste went into black garbage bags, while medical waste went into yellow garbage bags, which you couldnt touch, Man said. "Cleaning the hospital is much harder than cleaning the streets, because the protective suits, gloves, masks and other protective gear really hindered my movements, Man said. During an eight-hour shift, Man had to clean and disinfect isolation wards as well as process medical waste materials every day. As some patients were difficult to move, she also helped dispose of garbage from bedside tables or emptied chamber pots for patients. Man was not afraid of working in hot zones, despite being so close to the virus. Im fully equipped with protective gear, so Im not frightened. Man Caimei (L) works at Jianghan makeshift hospital. (Screenshot of CCTV News) After completing her mission at the Red Cross Hospital, Man was supposed to go back home and be replaced by her colleague, but she decided to stay and continue her volunteer work. This time, she went to Jianghan makeshift hospital. Unlike the hot zones in designated hospitals, makeshift hospitals mainly treated patients with mild symptoms. However, that didnt make Mans work any easier, as there were many more patients in makeshift hospitals than in designated hospitals, and the density of patients was also greater. The first time I entered the makeshift hospital, I was a little scared to see the thousands of hospital beds, she said. Man Caimei cleans wards at Jianghan makeshift hospital. (Screenshot of CCTV News) Man, together with more than 160 cleaners, was mainly responsible for cleaning wards and public toilets as well as transferring garbage. At the peak of the outbreak, the hospital produced six tons of garbage per day, along with more than 3,000 lunch boxes. One empty trash bin could be piled up with two meters of garbage in just one hour. In order to save time and protective suits, Man had to work continuously for at least 6 hours, just like the medical staff, with no drink or bathroom breaks. The mask often stuck to my face with sweat, which made it hard for me to breathe, she said, recalling how deep marks were often left on her face from the constant mask use. A sanitary worker at a makeshif hospital in Wuhan cleans wards after the hospital closes on March 8. (Photo/hubeidaily.net) After the outbreak of COVID-19 started, 36,000 sanitary workers in Wuhan devoted themselves to working on the frontline of environmental health protection. Among this number, more than 2,400 cleaners went to designated hospitals, over 30 makeshift hospitals and more than 400 quarantine sites to carry out cleaning work and dispose of medical refuse. Man and her colleagues tireless efforts and bravery have impressed countless Chinese people, including frontline medical workers. These cleaners are ordinary but extraordinary. They gave us a sense of security, so that we could work safely in the hospital, said a nurse named Yang Yang. Man Caimei resumes her usual work on the streets in April. (Screenshot of CCTV News) On March 9, Jianghan makeshift hospital finally closed after treating 1,848 novel coronavirus-infected patients. After spending weeks in quarantine, Man returned home and resumed her usual work on the streets. After she came back, she was able to eat hot-dry noodles again, a dish she had missed tasting for nearly two months. She was also delighted to see that Wuhan was finally recovering from its 76-day lockdown. The leaves were still falling when I left, and now the trees are all green again. Our life is gradually returning to normal. It feels good, she said. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday held an interaction with doctors and particularly with the Indian Medical Association (IMA) through video conferencing on Wednesday, leading the IMA to "withdraw" it's proposed protests scheduled on April 22 and 23. While the Home Minister lauded their work, he also assured them of their security. During the meeting, he appealed to them not to do even a symbolic protest as earlier proposed, adding that the government is with the doctors. This comes in the wake of a few incidents where doctors and medical staff were attacked, in different parts of India. The IMA in a statement expressed satisfaction stating they are convinced with the assurances. "It is expressed that in this period of global crisis...such protest will send a bad signal of the unity of our country...,"said the IMA. It added that it has decided to withdraw the proposed White alert protest on 22nd and Black Day on 23rd to "maintain unity and integrity of our country". Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan was also present in the video conferencing with doctors. Later Shah tweeted: "The way our doctors are performing their duties in these testing times is exceptional. I urge every Indian to cooperate with doctors in this fight against COVID-19." Sending a strong message against the attackers, Shah added that safety and dignity of doctors at their work place is "non-negotiable". "It is our collective responsibility to ensure conducive atmosphere for them at all times. I have assured doctors that Modi government is committed to their cause and appealed to reconsider their proposed protest," the Home Minister added. (CNN) The US is monitoring intelligence that suggests North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, is in grave danger after undergoing a previous surgery, according to a US official with direct knowledge. A second source familiar with the intelligence told CNN that the US has been closely monitoring reports on Kim's health. Kim recently missed the celebration of his grandfather's birthday on April 15, which raised speculation about his well-being. He had been seen four days before that at a government meeting. Another US official told CNN Monday that the concerns about Kim's health are credible but the severity is hard to assess. Daily NK, an online newspaper based in South Korea that focuses on North Korea, reports that Kim reportedly received a cardiovascular system procedure on April 12. Kim received the cardiovascular system procedure because of "excessive smoking, obesity, and overwork," according to the news site, and is now receiving treatment in a villa in Hyangsan County following his procedure. After assessing that Kim's condition had improved, most of the medical team treating him returned to Pyongyang on April 19 and only part of them remained to oversee his recovery situation, according to the news site. CNN is unable to independently confirm the report. A South Korean source told CNN Monday that the country's top leaders are very much aware of reports about Kim's health status but cannot independently verify details published by Daily NK. The source acknowledged that Kim's issues related to weight and smoking are well known but made clear they are waiting for more information. South Korea's Presidential Blue House said in a statement provided to reporters that they have nothing to confirm on reports about Kim's health and that "no unusual signs" have been detected inside North Korea. South Korea's Unification Ministry and Defense Ministry have given a "no comment." The National Security Council and Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment when reached by CNN on Monday. CNN has also reached out to the CIA and the State Department for comment. In the meantime, US officials have been reaching out to North Korean experts -- particularly those who have studied the Kim regime -- to talk about contingency planning, a third source familiar with the communications told CNN. Still, the situation remains murky as gathering intelligence out of North Korea is notoriously difficult -- one of the most challenging targets for US intelligence. North Korea tightly controls any information surrounding its leader, who is treated almost like a deity within the country. His absences from official state media often spark speculation and rumors about his health. North Korea has no free press and is often a black hole when it comes to the country's leadership. Analysts are heavily reliant on scanning state media dispatches and watching propaganda videos for any semblance of a clue. Kim last appeared in North Korean state media on April 11. April 15 -- North Korea's most important holiday, the anniversary of the birth of the country's founding father, Kim Il Sung -- came and went without any official mention of Kim Jong Un's movements. Experts are unsure of what to make of Kim's absence from any festivities celebrating his grandfather. When North Korean leaders have not shown up to these important celebrations in the past, it has portended major developments. But it has also turned out to be nothing. "There have been a number of recent rumors about Kim's health (smoking, heart, and brain). If Kim is hospitalized, it would explain why he wasn't present on the important April 15th celebrations," said Bruce Klingner, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation and former CIA deputy division chief for North Korea. "But, over the years, there have been a number of false health rumors about Kim Jong-un or his father. We'll have to wait and see." Kim Jong Il's absence from a parade celebrating North Korea's 60th anniversary in 2008 was followed by rumblings that he was in poor health. It was later revealed he had a stroke, after which his health continued to decline until his death in 2011. Kim Jong Un disappeared from the public eye for more than a month in 2014, which also prompted speculation about his health. He returned sporting a cane, and days later South Korean intelligence said that he had a cyst removed from his ankle. "It's easy to be wrong on this one," said John Delury, a professor of international relations at Yonsei University in Seoul. Still, with concerns about Kim's health mounting, the state of US-South Korean relations has US officials worried, sources tell CNN. On Monday, President Donald Trump said the two countries have a "great relationship," but added he wants them to pay more for the US presence in the country. The two countries have missed multiple deadlines for those negotiations. And now in-person negotiations are hindered because of the coronavirus pandemic. This story was first published on CNN.com, "US source: North Korean leader in grave danger after surgery" Has the collapse of oil prices shattered the great complacency that enveloped sharemarkets over the past month? On Monday Wall Street fell sharply, with the S&P 500 down more than 3 per cent, ending the month-long rally that had seen the market rise more than 28 per cent off its March lows and technically end the bear market that began in mid-February. At its nadir, the market had slumped 34 per cent. By the end of last week it was only 15 per cent off the record levels it reached in mid-February before the abrupt awakening to the severity of the coronavirus sent it into freefall. Even now, after Mondays trading, its "only" 19 per cent off that peak. Theres an apparent disconnect between the markets relatively sanguine response to the spread of the coronavirus and the still-mounting infection rate and death toll in the US; the economic implications of the shutting down of much of the US economy and the 22 million people that have been added to its unemployment numbers in the past month. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said today that they had launched the country's first military satellite, which the US regards as a cover for missile development. 'The first satellite of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been successfully launched into orbit by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,' said the Guards' Sepahnews website. It said the satellite - dubbed the Nour - had been launched from the Qassed two-stage launcher from the Markazi desert, a vast expanse in Iran's central plateau. The satellite 'orbited the earth at 264 miles', said the website. Iran's Revolutionary Guards say they have launched the country's first military satellite. This picture shows the failed launch of the Zafar satellite on February 9 'This action will be a great success and a new development in the field of space for Islamic Iran,' the statement added. The surprise operation comes more than two months after Iran launched but failed to put into orbit another satellite that it said had no military dimensions. The attempted launch on February 9 of the Zafar - 'Victory' in Persian - came days before the 41st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. That failure came after two failed launches of the Payam and Doosti satellites last year, as well as a launchpad rocket explosion in August. Washington says that these satellite launches defy a UN Security Council resolution on ballistic missiles. US officials fear that the launches could help Iran develop intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons. Iran maintains it has no intention of acquiring nuclear weapons, claiming its aerospace activities are peaceful and comply with the UN's orders. It is not believed that Iran has the technology to miniaturise a nuclear weapon on a ballistic missile. Long-standing acrimony between Tehran and Washington has been mounting further since Trump withdrew from the West's nuclear deal with Iran in 2018. Trump re-imposed sanctions which have badly damaged the Iranian economy, also hindering its response to coronavirus. Tensions reached an alarming peak earlier this year after Donald Trump ordered a drone strike which killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. Iran retaliated with missile strikes on US bases in Iraq, but faced anger from its own population after accidentally shooting down a passenger jet with many Iranians on board. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Wednesday withdrew their protest after a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan. The doctors' body expressed satisfaction with the assurances and said a protest would send a bad signal for country's unity. "It is expressed that in this period of global crisis...such protest will send a bad signal of the unity of our country, " IMA also said in the statement. The proposed 'White alert' protest on April 22 and 'Black Day' on April 23 have now been withdrawn to maintain unity and integrity of our country, it said. Union Home Minister Amit Shah earlier on Wednesday urged doctors to end the symbolic protest and assured they would be provided adequate security. Amit Shah told the doctors that the government is with them. Amit Shah and Harsh Vardhan interacted with the IMA doctors through video conferencing and appealed to them to not to do even symbolic protest as proposed by them. The IMA had earlier warned the government of ptotest amid rising numbers of attacks on doctors fighting against coronavirus pandemic. IMA had asked the doctors to light candles as a symbolic protest against the incidents of violence. "Our legitimate needs for safe workplaces have to be met. Abuse and violence should stop immediately. White Alert to the nation - All doctors and hospitals to light a candle at 9pm on 22 April, as protest and vigil," IMA had said in a statement. Doctors have reportedly been attacked in various parts of the country including Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu over the lockdown period. Meanwhile, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases on Wednesday stands at 19,984, according to the ministry. These include, 15,474 active cases, 3,869 cured or discharged, 1 migrated and 640 deaths. Maharashtra recorded 552 fresh cases and 19 deaths on Tuesday out of which 419 were from Mumbai. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a cabinet meeting at his residence on Wednesday to take stock of the ongoing situation in the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak. LONDON - The British government came under sustained criticism Wednesday for responding slowly to the coronavirus pandemic as its chief medical adviser warned that social distancing measures may have to stay in place for the rest of this year and beyond. The government reported that 759 more hospital patients with the virus had died since the last update a day earlier, taking the countrys total to 18,100. In Europe, the U.K. is behind only Italy, Spain and France in virus-related deaths. The actual death toll is potentially thousands more since the British government does not include in its daily updates the people who died in care homes or other settings outside hospitals. Daily figures for reported deaths suggest the U.K. is going through the peak of its virus outbreak, a view that Health Secretary Matt Hancock supported. The nation hit its highest reported daily death toll in hospitals of 980 on April 10. Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical adviser, said the experience of countries where infections surged earlier suggests there will not be a sudden fall in the number of daily deaths. Whitty also warned that social distancing measures may have to stay in place for at least the rest of 2020 as its unlikely a vaccine or anti-viral drug treatment for the new virus will be discovered any time soon. He said the probability of either being available in the next calendar year is incredibly small. It will be up to ministers, he said, to decide upon the mix of measures when the lockdown restrictions are eased. I think we should be realistic about that, he said. Were going to have to rely on other social measures, which, of course, are very socially disruptive as everyone is finding at the moment. Earlier, Keir Starmer, the new leader of the main opposition Labour Party, told lawmakers that a pattern is emerging in which the Conservative government has been too slow in putting the country into a virus lockdown, in testing people for the virus and in getting critical protective gear for medical workers. He spoke in the first partially-online Prime Ministers Questions session in the House of Commons as lawmakers sought to strike a balance between scrutinizing the government and abiding by social distancing guidelines. Labour lawmaker Barry Sheerman went further, slamming the governments handling of the pandemic as shambolic a sign that the multi-party political consensus that formed over the pandemic is fraying. The questions are coming as Prime Minister Boris Johnson convalesces at his country retreat following his week-long stay in a hospital receiving treatment for COVID-19. Johnson, who has been away from the front line of the crisis for nearly four weeks after he first tested positive for the virus, is due to hold an audience with Queen Elizabeth II by phone later Wednesday. You cant have a void of decision-making, former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair told ITV television. While sympathizing with Johnsons plight, Blair said hugely important decisions have to be taken now, including ramping up testing so Britain can safely exit its coronavirus lockdown, which is scheduled to run until May 7 at least. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who has been sitting in for Johnson, said the government still aims to conduct 100,000 coronavirus tests a day by the end of this month even though it is only delivering around 20,000 tests now. With a project like this, it does require an exponential increase in the final days and the final week, Raab told the slimmed-down chamber, where only 50 of the Houses 650 lawmakers were able to attend and up to 120 could participate via video. The government has also faced acute criticism over the lack of protective gear f or front-line workers, a topic highlighted by the days-long confusion surrounding a Royal Air Force flight picking up protective gear from Istanbul, Turkey. Though it finally arrived in the early hours of Wednesday at Brize Norton, central England, it remains unclear how much protective gear was on the plane. Raab told lawmakers that 69 workers in the National Health Service have died after testing positive for the virus. Health Secretary Hancock later said 15 social care workers have also died. Hancock said testing will be broadened over the coming days with drive-thru and new mobile units. This is one area weve had our foot on the gas, Hancock said. ___ Danica Kirka and Jill Lawless in London contributed to this story. ___ Follow AP coverage of the pandemic at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak A Raleigh police captain speaks with ReopenNC protesters in Raleigh, April 14. | Photo: Rick Henderson/Carolina Journal The grassroots group ReopenNC has asked Gov. Roy Cooper and the chairman of the Wake County Board of Commissioners to clarify COVID-19-related emergency orders, claiming they violate constitutional rights of free assembly and free exercise of religion.ReopenNC, which started as a Facebook group in early April, has more than 55,000 members. The group hired lawyer Anthony Biller of the Raleigh firm Michael Best to contact Cooper, N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein, and Wake County Commission Chairman Greg Ford. A letter from Biller requests relief from the orders. It also seeks assurances that participants in a planned April 21 protest outside the Executive Mansion can demonstrate peacefully without the threat of arrest, so long as participants practice social distancing. The group wants a response by 2 p.m. Monday, April 20. (Disclosure: The John Locke Foundation, publisher of Carolina Journal, has contracted with Biller for intellectual-property services for more than a decade.)Cooper imposed a statewide COVID-19 executive order banning sit-down service at restaurants and private clubs March 17. He extended the order March 27, closing all "non-essential" businesses, ordering residents to stay at home except for "essential" purposes outlined in the order, and barring "mass gatherings" of 10 or more people. Cooper's order expires April 29. The governor hasn't said if or when he would modify the order.Meantime, Wake County officials issued emergency orders stricter than the governor's March 26 and April 15. The March 26 order initially defined gun stores as "non-essential" businesses, but under pressure the county backed down. It did, however, outlaw indoor religious services even if parishioners practiced social distancing and banned at least one drive-by Easter service.The April 15 order also said drive-through religious services couldn't provide literature or communion materials, or accept hand-delivered donations.Cooper's orders gave local governments the ability to enact stricter limits than his statewide decrees.The moves were made to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus. There's no proven treatment or cure for the virus other than isolation and medical aid to reduce the severity of its effects.Biller's letter for ReopenNC cites a series of state and federal court decisions upholding the rights of peaceful assembly in the face of government orders blocking them. The decisions invoked protests at abortion clinics and marches during the civil-rights era. The letter also notes that while the goal of the ordersAt the April 14 ReopenNC protest, more than 100 people sat in parked cars or stood near the corner of Wilmington and Jones streets, holding signs and blowing their horns. Capitol police broke up the protest about 90 minutes after it began. One of the protesters, Monica Ussery, was charged with violating an executive order, a Class 2 misdemeanor.Both Raleigh officials and Cooper defended the arrest while claiming the orders didn't infringe on individual rights protected by the federal and state constitutions.Jeanette Doran, CEO and general counsel at the N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law, disagrees.she told CJ last week. Doran has offered to help the Cooper administration and local governments revise or rescind their restrictions toReopenNC organizers said they plan protests in Raleigh each Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. until the orders are lifted. Organizers have asked those attending the March 21 protest to practice social distancing (unless people live in the same household) and demonstrate peacefully.As this story went to press, neither Cooper's office, Stein's office, nor Wake County officials had responded to the letter, Biller told CJ.If the government agencies fail toBiller said, Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment If youre someone who thinks Christians arent persecuted much in todays world, I have a challenge for you. Subscribe to Voice of the Martyrs magazine, read three issues, and then let me know if youve changed your opinion. The current VOM magazine (March 2020) provides an excellent reality check for those who believe Communism is on the way out and gives a drill down into recent activities in Communist China. After the cultural revolution (1966-76) that resulted in China being placed firmly in the hands of Communist control, the campaign to stomp out Christianity has now risen to a point where churches are routinely bulldozed, Christians are consistently harassed, interrogated, and imprisoned, and pastors get disappeared. Why is it that Communist and Leftist governments persecute and hate Christianity so much? To answer that question, we need to peel back the theological, philosophical, and historical covers to get a better understanding of what motivates these anti-God worldviews, where their humanistic pursuits take them, and their tragic end results. The theological foundation Jesus provides a succinct explanation for why these worldviews and forms of governments hate Christianity when He says, The world hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil (John 7:7). He speaks to the same thing earlier in the book of John: This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God (John 3:19-21). When you tell an adherent of one of these belief systems and their oppressive government that their actions or ideas are wrong, it produces an egocentric rage that quickly manifests in authoritarian actions that first move to silence such hate speech and then go further to squash the persons themselves. The Bible says we shouldnt be surprised at this kind of aggression because the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to Gods law; indeed, it cannot (Rom. 8:7). The natural outworking of this, from a governance standpoint, is the rejection and outlawing of liberties and freedoms (especially religious) of the general public. In rejecting God, tyrannical governments and their underlying worldviews suppress the fact that God is a free being, and since we are made in His likeness, we are also free beings who have innate freedoms that naturally flow to us from our Creator. And for authoritarian governments, that just cant be allowed. The philosophical permission slips Churchill once said that, the empires of the future will be empires of the mind.[1] By this he meant worldviews, ideologies, and belief systems power human actions and have consequences. Humanity always looks to some foundation of knowledge or learning to justify what it does, and when we look at the philosophies behind both Communism and Leftism, we find teachings that do everything in their power to reject Christian thinking. As most know, the philosophy of Karl Marx gave birth to and supports the Communist philosophy. Marx thought religion was a mechanism of control used by societys elite to manipulate the masses. But he went further to say, Religion is the self-consciousness and the self-feeling of the man who has either not yet found himself, or else (having found himself) has lost himself once more. This state, this society, produce religion, a perverted world consciousness, because they are a perverted world. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people (Marxs original emphasis).[2] While most understand Marxism, whats not so well known is the philosophy of Leftist thinking. It was given birth to in 18th century France, with the origination of its mindset being cloaked beneath the cover of the Enlightenment and sheltered under seemingly reputable names like Rene Descartes, Sir Issac Newton, Sir Francis Bacon, and John Locke. Much like Marxism and Communism, it purported to use its philosophy to combat poverty and unfairness. In truth, the actual set of principles powering Leftist thinking came from Voltaire, a French writer, historian, and philosopher who introduced the common argument against religion of reason over superstition. He and his lover (Emilie du Chatelet) concluded their formal examination of the Bible by saying it was nonsense. Voltaire and Emilie called Jesus Sermon on the Mount trite, ridiculous, absurd and His resurrection comedy. Voltaires snide and caustic attitude are captured by British historian Thomas Babington Macaulay whose words not only portray the man but also define what is representative of the entire Leftist movement: He could not build he could only pull down; he was the very Vitruvius of ruin.[3] Other philosophers that aided Voltaire included Denis Diderot who provided a sneak peek into the Lefts use of violence with a quote that is commonly attributed to him: Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.[4] Beyond hostility, another attribute characterizing the origins of the Left was muddled thinking, which is represented well by Jean Jacques Rousseau who complained that peoples woes are the result of society, evidently overlooking the fact that societies are comprised of people. The gods, priests, and prophets of Communism and the Left Its a historically verifiable fact that when you hold Gods funeral, someone will take His place. And that replacement is always one of us. The deification of man that you see today in Communist governments like China and North Korea are nothing new. Look back to ancient Egypt, and you will find the pharaoh being thought divine and elevated above his subjects, who were expected to deliver nothing short of absolute obedience. Then came other in-place-of-God rulers such as Alexander the Great, Antiochus IV Epiphanes (who assumed the name Theos Epiphanes or God Manifest) and various Roman Caesars like Domitian who demanded to be addressed as Dominus et Deus (Lord and God). The interesting thing about emperor worship is noted by historian William Barclay who observed, The extraordinary fact is that emperor worship was not imposed on the Roman Empire from above; it grew from below. Romans populations, pleased with their fragile peace and economy, took things too far in the worship of their emperors not realizing the monster they were creating. The exact same thing happened in Nazi Germany. As the gods of the ancient world had their own priests and prophets, the same is true today. Deified political despots have their enabling politburo members, senators, etc., that the people look to in hope that interventions will be made on their behalf to the current ruler. And the propaganda machines and mouthpieces of the media take the place of prophets with their aim being to serve and glorify their chosen monarch, bury any negative impressions, and proclaim new revelations and insight from on high.[5] How does it start? The inauguration of the Communist and Leftist gods, priests and prophets that make up oppressive governments is usually done in a manner that resembles the events that took place during the French revolution of 1789. The American Revolution of 1776, we should remember, was motivated by a faith-based view of humanity and desired freedom from governmental oppression. Its aim was to recognize freedom based on innate human worth, absolute truth, and a morality underpinned by Judeo-Christian values that contained checks and balances to prevent any abuse of power. By contrast, the French Revolution of 1789 chased a different type of freedom one that was characterized by the pursuit of absolute power and secularism that included a mob-driven and forceful de-Christianization campaign. Discarding God, it was typified by an untrustworthy moral fluidity that expunged the idea of religious moral boundaries and grounded its ethics in pragmatism and ever-changing right and wrong. The horrifying end results The outworking of the French Revolution (and others like them) reflect the worst of modern-day slasher films and bear witness to an important truth for those who participate in them: Communist and Leftist movements are cannibalistic in nature; i.e. they eat their own. Their actions personify what novelist Walter Jon Williams once said: Im not afraid of werewolves or vampires or haunted hotels. Im afraid of what real human beings do to other real human beings.[6] The two primary weapons employed by these movements are the lie and violence. History has shown that the tongue of Communist and Leftist governments, and their enablers, is forked and patterned after their spiritual father: Whenever he [the devil] speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44). Witness the current COVID-19 lies and coverup from Communist China as just one of countless examples. In addition to falsehood, violence is another hallmark of Communism and the Left. Again, they mirror their spiritual father who is a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44). While these oppressive worldviews have criminal records that wrap around the earth hundreds of times, a tired tactic they employ to take the spotlight off their bloody past is to accuse religion as being the real culprit behind the moral brutality thats occurred down through history. The only problem with that claim is that it is 100% false. Its true that atrocities have been committed in the name of religion (e.g. ISIS, the Crusades, the Thirty Years War, etc.), but they barely register on historys violence Geiger counter compared to the carnage and body count produced by secular governments. Historians Philip and Axelrods three-volume Encyclopedia of Wars shows that, of the 1,763 wars waged over the course of human history, only 123 of them have been religious in nature. [7] That amounts to an amazingly low 6.98% of all wars being the result of religion. Further, when wars carried out in the name of Islam are subtracted, the percentage falls to 3.23%, meaning that all religions combined minus Islam have been responsible for less than 4% of all humanitys wars and violent conflicts.[8] The sobering fact that secular despotic governments account for over 93% of all violence and war in human history is summed up by political science professor R. J. Rummel this way in his book, Death by Government: Almost 170 million men, women and children have been shot, beaten, tortured, knifed, burned, starved, frozen, crushed or worked to death; buried alive, drowned, hung, bombed or killed in any other of a myriad of ways governments have inflicted death on unarmed, helpless citizens and foreigners. The dead could conceivably be nearly 360 million people. It is though our species has been devastated by a modern Black Plague. And indeed it has, but a plague of Power, not germs.[9] Afraid but not afraid So why do Communist and Leftist governments and their adherents hate Christianity? The world . . . hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil (John 7:7). If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, A slave is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you (John 15:18-20). Ironically, though, for all its hatred of Christian teaching, Marxist and Leftist philosophy end up abducting Gods first commandment of You shall have no other gods before Me (Ex. 20:3) and modifying it to be, You shall not have God before me. This anti-God mandate along with todays prevailing post-truth and anti-Christian thinking of Marxists and Leftists is something that has proven itself to be deadly. Their human condition is summarized well by political researchers Mark L Melcher and Stephen Soukup who speak to the birth of the Left in France: Their atheism has left them with stunted moral values. Their utopianism has rendered them incapable of assessing the secondary and tertiary consequences of their actions. Their lifestyles provide us with the first glimpse into the sickness inherent in the nihilism that would come to be the progeny of their efforts. Finally, the petulance and outsized egos presage the terrible violence that awaits France.[10] However, even in the face of such promised violence and persecution, Christians such as those in Chinas Early Rain Covenant Church continue their faithfulness to Jesus. They are afraid but yet not afraid, knowing that God remains sovereign over everything. Theirs is a realism that acknowledges the spiritual evil behind their Communist governments actions but yet looks upward to pursue a purpose spoken to by their pastor, Wang Yi, before he was arrested: The goal of disobedience is not to change the world, but to testify of another world.[11] [1] https://www.quora.com/Winston-Churchill-once-said-that-the-empires-of-the-future-will-be-empires-of-the-mind-What-does-this-mean [2] Contribution to the Critique of Hegels Philosophy of Right, Introduction, in On Religion, by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, tr. Reinhold Niebuhr (Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1964), pp. 41-2. [3] Thomas Babington Macaulay, Life of Frederick the Great (American Book Exchange, 1879), 143-4. Vitruvius was a Roman author, architect, civil engineer, and military engineer during the 1st century BC. [4] https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/53247-men-will-never-be-free-until-the-last-king-is [5] One thing different in the current American media is the shift from news reporting to full biased, opinion-driven communication where, in a very real way, the media are actually trying to govern through their bullying tactics. [6] https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/walter_jon_williams_250112 [7] http://goo.gl/i84f0 [8] For a PowerPoint presentation on this material, see: http://www.slideshare.net/schumacr/does-religion-cause-war. [9] http://goo.gl/pDbMU [10] Mark L Melcher and Stephen Soukup, Know Thine Enemy (Murrells Inlet, SC: 2018), Kindle Edition. [11] Voice of the Martyrs magazine, March 2020, 7. With so many of us stuck at home, its no surprise that streaming numbers spiked. On Tuesday afternoon, Netflix gave a peek at just how much, with quarterly earnings numbers revealing it added nearly 16 million customers worldwide. Going by its new standards and projections, Netflix reported some 64 million people watched the Tiger King documentary in its first month of streaming, 65 million saw Money Heist and 85 million watched at least part of Mark Wahlbergs Spenser Confidential. Are yall really that bored? -- Richard 'No Filter' review: How Mark Zuckerbergs jealousy shaped Instagram And the meaning of #Binghazi. Simon & Schuster Wonder what happened after Facebook bought Instagram? Karissa Bell has the review of Bloomberg reporter Sarah Friers No Filter, a book that expertly chronicles the rise of Instagram, from its early days as a fledgling Foursquare-like check-in app to the Facebook-owned behemoth that currently accounts for more than a quarter of the companys $70 billion revenue. And it tells how Mark Zuckerberg -- who didnt grant an extensive interview -- apparently got a bit worried that its growth was coming at the expense of Facebook. Continue reading. Intel's NUC 9 Extreme is the new king of tiny gaming PCs The Core i9 kit we reviewed starts at $1,639 -- without GPU, RAM, storage or an OS. Engadget If youd like to set up a new gaming PC but only have teeny-tiny living space, then Devindra Hardawar can explain why the NUC 9 Extreme is made for you. The only problem? That price. Continue reading. Motorola's Edge+ launch was spoiled a day early Take a sneak peek. Motorola Later today, Motorola will officially unveil its new flagship smartphone, but Droid-Life uncovered a blog post by Verizon (the owner of Engadgets parent company) detailing specs and apparent exclusivity of the high-end Edge+ model. The Edge+ will have a 6.7-inch 1080p OLED screen whose curved edges explain its name, a 90Hz refresh rate, a Snapdragon 865 processor, 12GB of RAM and 256GB of built-in storage. Theres also 5G, a 5,000mAh battery, 6K video recording and a 108MP camera, but a reported $1,000 price tag may make its specs look ordinary next to the likes of the OnePlus 8 or Galaxy S20. Well find out more in just a few hours. Continue reading. 'Fortnite' is finally available through the Google Play Store On iOS theres no other option. According to Epic, Google has allegedly relied on scary, repetitive security pop-ups, Google Play Protect and hostile characterizations (such as treating third-party app sources as malware havens) to put non-Play Store titles at a disadvantage. After distributing Fortnite directly for 18 months, the publisher has found no suitable option other than to let Google take its cut to more easily reach Android users. If youve been waiting for an easier install process, then you can grab the shooter right here. Continue reading. A truly powerful ultrabook. Razer For 2020, Razers 3.1-pound Blade Stealth gaming laptop packs a 120Hz display for smoother gaming and comes with NVIDIAs GeForce GTX 1650 Ti GPU, which should boost speeds, too. It also offers Intels latest Core i7-1065G7 quad-core processor with faster clock speeds of up to 3.9GHz. As before, you can pair the $1,800 device with a Razer Core X eGPU equipped with any graphics card for greater gaming speeds. Continue reading. But wait, theres more... Sonos Radio is the company's first foray into original content HBO Max arrives on May 27th Canons 8K-capable EOS R5 will also shoot 4K video at 120 fps VanMoof's S3 and X3 e-bikes are cheaper and packed with refinements The rebranded Microsoft 365 is now available worldwide How to grow a quarantine garden when youre tight on space Warner Bros.' 'Scoob!' is the next big movie going straight to video on-demand 'Hey Google' sensitivity option for Assistant devices starts rolling out 'Super Mario Maker 2' update lets you create overworld maps Following Chinas announcement of establishing the so-called Xisha district (Vietnams Hoang Sa archipelago) and Nansha district (Vietnams Truong Sa archipelago), international experts have condemned the move, saying it breaks international law. Expert Grigory Loksin The Economic Times of India said on April 21 that Chinas actions ignore claims by other concerned parties in the region and are a violation of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as well as international standards and law. The article stressed that every country must respect international law and maritime and aviation freedom in the East Sea. On the same day, Channel News Asia quoted expert Bill Hayton from the British think-tank Chatham House as saying that China has ratified the 1982 UNCLOS, which is quite clear on what States can and cannot claim as territory. Yet China seems to be going against UNCLOS by asserting sovereignty in far-away places. Meanwhile, Asia Times said Beijing has gone too far. Grigory Loksin from the Centre for Vietnam and ASEAN Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Far Eastern Studies said that Chinas actions violate the UN Charter and UNCLOS, leading to a more complex and tense situation regionally. Vietnamese leaders, he went on, have carried out a responsible and reasonable policy amid the current situation. The country is doing everything it can to protect its sovereignty and legal interests in the East Sea, while simultaneously making every effort to maintain peace and stability throughout the region. In his opinion, as ASEAN Chair in 2020, Vietnam is taking measures to unite the ASEAN Community and offer common views to stand against Chinas violation of international law. Vietnam, in its role as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, is doing everything possible to clarify its position and win the support of the international community, he said. The country is keen to pursue an open and multilateral policy, which has contributed to raising Vietnams reputation in the international arena. On April 19, the spokesperson of the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry Le Thi Thu Hang said Vietnam has affirmed many times that it has sufficient historical evidence and legal foundation to assert its sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos. She reiterated Vietnams strong opposition to the establishment of the so-called Sansha city and related acts, as they seriously violate Vietnams sovereignty, are invalid, are unrecognized, are not favourable for friendship among nations, and further complicate the situation in the East Sea, the region, and the world. Vietnam demands that China respect its sovereignty, reverse its wrongful decisions, and not commit similar acts in the future, she said./.VNA Da Nang condemns Chinas establishment on Paracel and Spratly archipelagos The peoples committee of the Hoang Sa (Paracel) Islands district in Danang strongly protested Chinas decision to establish the so-called Xisha and Nansha districts to govern over Vietnams Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) islands. Hundreds of Amazon workers called in sick at more than 50 warehouses across the US on Tuesday, in the latest job action by Amazon workers demanding protection from the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. Over recent weeks, Amazon workers have carried out strikes and walkouts in New York City, Detroit, Chicago and other cities as the contagion spread throughout 130 warehouses, infecting more than 75 workers and killing at least one worker in Hawthorne, California. This is part of an international movement by Amazon workers, which has included strikes in Italy, Spain and France. The issues facing Amazon workers are common to all workers. Since the beginning of March, there have been over 100 wildcat strikes and other job actions by workers in the US, including health care, public transit and sanitation, auto industry, meatpacking, supermarket and food delivery workers. Breana Avelar, a processing assistant, holds a sign outside the Amazon DTW1 fulfillment center in Romulus, Michigan, April 1, 2020 [Credit: AP Photo/Paul Sancya] These workers, like Amazon workers, are demanding the shutdown of nonessential industries and services and the payment of lost income to affected workers, along with the testing, protective equipment and sanitary measures needed to guarantee a safe working environment for those workers deemed essential. The universal demand everywhere is that workers lives must not be sacrificed for corporate profit. Amazon is controlled by the worlds richest man, Jeff Bezos. While the company has seen a huge increase in businessleading to another $24 billion being added to Bezos private fortuneit has done nothing to protect the lives of Amazon workers. From the beginning of the pandemic, it was clear that management expected its 750,000 workers to remain at their stations and work until they got sick, after which they would simply be replaced. Only after Amazon workers began taking matters in their own hands, did the company announce that it would implement new safety measures. But these are wholly inadequate and largely for public relations purposes. Amazon workers continue to report a lack of masks and other protective gear (PPE), inadequate sanitary supplies, and inconsistent and ineffective social distancing measures. Despite being promised two weeks paid leave if they got sick, many quarantined workers report that they still have not been paid. Workers who fall ill also report delays and obstacles in obtaining tests. Management systematically refuses to provide information to workers as to the number of cases in their respective warehouses, and the discovery by workers of a confirmed case has frequently triggered walkouts and demonstrations. Now Amazon has unveiled a plan to install thermal cameras in the warehouses, ostensibly to detect workers with fevers. Since people who are infected but asymptomatic play a significant role in spreading the virus, this cannot be regarded as an effective countermeasure. Once a workers fever is detected on a thermal camera, it is already too late for that worker and for the hundreds of workers who were in contact with that person over the preceding days and weeks. Now workers report that the social distancing rules in the warehouses are being used to bully and harass workers who speak out. The companys real attitude is summed up by its decision to fire several prominent employees who had spoken out against the corporations practices, organized strikes and circulated online petitions demanding safe conditions. What must be done The International Amazon Workers Voice (IAWV) , produced by the World Socialist Web Site, urges Amazon workers to immediately form rank-and-file committees in every fulfillment center and office, to take forward the fight for safe working conditions and living wages. Workers should hold online meetings to establish these committees, discuss and formulate their demands and elect the most trusted and militant workers as their leaders to fight for these demands. These committees must be democratically controlled by the ranks and all leaders subject to immediate recall. Rank-and-file committees must demand the immediate closure of all facilities with workers who develop symptoms or test positive, a halt to nonessential distribution, free and systematic testing for all, and no work without adequate PPE and sanitation supplies. All workers affected by shutdowns or illnesses must receive full pay and fully covered medical care. Workers committees can develop further appropriate health and safety protocols in collaboration with medical professionals. Workers committees can exert control over the conditions of work, abolishing the hated quota and rate system, and demand the reinstatement of workers who have been unfairly terminated. These committees in each Amazon facility must establish lines of communication with workers in other facilities, and reach out to workers throughout the logistics industry, including workers at UPS, FedEx and the US Postal Service, all of whom are facing unsafe conditions and a relentless attack on their jobs and living standards. The role of the unions In response to the rebellions by workers at the Amazon warehouses, a whole number of unions and Democratic Party politicians have claimed they support Amazon workers. On April 1, leaders of several major unions published an open letter to CEO Jeff Bezos encouraging the billionaire to make changes to the companys COVID-19 policies and practices, implement some minor adjustments to benefits, and reinstate the fired Amazon worker Christian Smalls. Workers need organization to fight a giant and politically connected corporation like Amazon. But the unions long ago abandoned any of the most basic functions with which they were once associated: uniting workers, improving wages and working conditions, addressing workers grievances, opposing layoffs, and defending workers against victimization. If the Teamsters, the UFCW or any other unions organize Amazon, it will not be to fight the giant corporation but to smother the opposition of workers and establish a business relationship with Amazon, which will allow the unions to collect millions of dollars in union dues from workers paychecks, while doing the bidding of the corporation. Nothing has shown the real character of the unions more than their response to the pandemic. The Teamsters union has kept UPS workers on the job despite coworkers falling ill and dying. President Trump has picked Teamsters President James P. Hoffa to sit on a government board with Bezos and hundreds of other corporate executives, aimed at reopening the economy and forcing workers back to work even though this threatens to produce a second wave of the pandemic and tens of thousands of more deaths. Where corporations were forced to close unsafe facilities, it was entirely due to the actions of rank-and-file workers in opposition to the unions. This includes autoworkers in Michigan and Ohio who revolted against the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, whose top officials have been indicted for taking bribes from the corporations. Up until then the UAW refused to close the plants, leading to the deaths of 23 Ford and Fiat Chrysler workers. Meatpacking workers have also rebelled against the UFCW, which has kept meatpacking and grocery workers on the job despite thousands of infections and the deaths of at least 50 workers. This is part of an international process. Last week, hundreds of Mexican workers in the border towns of Ciudad Juarez, Matamoros, Tijuana, Mexicali and Reynosa walked out in defiance of the unions after several workers died of COVID-19. What the unions are doing now is only an extension of what they have been doing for the last four decades. Amazon workers are being told that their brothers and sisters at UPS are better off because they have a union. But in 2018, the Teamsters imposed a sell-out five-year contract on more than 250,000 UPS workers, even after a majority of workers voted to reject the contract. The agreement maintains poverty wages for thousands of part-time workers, and workers especially hated the creation of a hybrid second-tier category of drivers who are paid less. The betrayal by the unions is not simply due to the corruption and cowardice of their high-paid leaders like Hoffa, who made $409,000 last year. It flows from the unions defense of the capitalist system and virulent opposition to any action by the working class that challenges the control of the giant industries and societys wealth by a handful of billionaires. In addition, the unions are nationally based and hostile to any struggle to unite Amazon and other workers across national borders. Rank-and-file committees and the fight for socialism Amazon workers need real organizations of struggle: rank-and-file workplace committees to fight for their basic rights to health, safety, and life in the midst of the pandemic. The more workers assert their own social rights, the more they will come into a direct conflict with the capitalist oligarchs like Bezos and other wealthy shareholders who will insist that they have exclusive right to dispense with their factories and warehouses as they see fit and to control the billions in profits produced by the working class. That is why the struggle of Amazon workers and all workers is above all a political struggle over what class rules society and how the wealth is distributed. That is why the building of workplace committees must be part of the struggle to build a mass political movement of the working class for socialism. This means rejecting the phony socialism of Bernie Sanders and similar figures who claim that the Democratic Partya party of big business and warcan be turned into a party for working people. After attracting workers and youth with his talk of political revolution against the billionaire class, Sanders is now demanding they support Joseph Biden, a long-time stooge for big business. Amazon and all the logistics companies must be transformed into public utilities, collectively owned and democratically controlled by the workers themselves. The whole logistics chain must be used for the benefit of society, opening the way for the free distribution of tests, protective gear, medicines, and food to the population. The private fortunes of Bezos and the other billionaires must be confiscated and used to save lives and guarantee a good standard of living to all those being hit by the pandemic. The IAWV, together with the World Socialist Web Site, urges Amazon workers to take up the fight to build independent rank-and-file committees and advance socialist policies in their warehouses around the globe. The fight of the working class to make its own voice heard is increasingly a matter of life or death for humanity. Amazon workers will play an essential role in that fight. An Uber driver has delivering nearly 2,000 meals to one Memphis-area hospital after she drove a nurse home at the end of her shift and learned that the healthcare workers barely have time to eat during the pandemic. Last month, Tammy Rivera, 57, picked a nurse up from Methodist Le Bonheur Germantown Hospital in Germantown, Tennessee, at the end of her shift, and was struck when the nurse confessed she was 'starving,' since there was no time for dinner during her 12 to 14-hour work days. After she dropped the nurse off, Tammy decided she wanted to help and began raising money so she could deliver meals to the frontline workers fighting coronavirus every night. Good deeds: Tammy Rivera, 57, has been delivering dinner to a Tennessee hospital every night for over a month Helping out: Last month, she drove a nurse home after a shift and was struck when the nurse admitted she was 'starving' and had no time to eat Tammy, who has been a full-time Uber driver of more than two years, told DailyMail.com about that fateful ride. 'I picked her up at the hospital after her shift, and when she got in the car she said she was starving,' she said. 'She asked if we could stop at McDonalds, or somewhere else nearby so she could pick up food. 'We talked for a while and I learned about her circumstances and how hard she was working at the hospital. She was working 12 to 14-hour night shifts. And she let me know the cafeteria isn't open 24 hours a day, it closes around 7 p.m.' After she dropped the woman off, she said, 'her story just really stuck with me.' 'I just kept thinking, "What can I do to fix this?" for about two hours,' Tammy recalled. 'I always say that I'm southern, so feeding people is my love language. It's who I am and what I do. So I wanted to find a way to feed the folks in the ER and in the COVID unit at the hospital. Hungry: The nurse (not pictured) explained that they worked 12 to 14 hour shifts, but the cafeteria closes at 7 p.m. and many don't get to eat Pitching in: She started raising money on Facebook and now picks up food from local restaurants every night and brings it to the hospital 'It didnt take me too long. When I got home, I put my Venmo information up on the Germantown community Facebook page, and told people I wanted to raise money to bring dinner to the hospital that night. 'It only took me two hours to raise enough money for the first night's meal,' she said. She has continued to raise funds on Facebook, so far amassing more than $18,000 from the community, mostly in small donations of about $10 each. 'It shows how many people in the community want to help, and are giving what they can,' she said. Now, every night for 32 days so far, she and her two sons Fuller, 20, and Barrett, 19 pick up food and bring it to the hospital. They've delivered about 1,900 meals and counting. Staying busy: She has raised $18,000 and delivered about 1,900 meals over 32 nights Emotional: She admitted she leaves in tears every night, and the healthcare workers are 'so thankful' 'The restaurants are helping too,' she said. 'Im working with local restaurants and local food trucks to help drive business for them as well. 'We have restaurants calling asking to help out, and women from town baking big batches of cookies Im talking 15 lbs. of cookies,' she said. Tammy admitted that it's an emotional activity for everyone involved. 'I leave in tears,' she said. 'Its just an overwhelming feeling to be able to help so many people single every night, my heart is just so full. I cant hardly hold it all.' The healthcare workers are also 'so thankful.' 'The night before last, one of the personnel came out and said, "We just cant even explain to you how youve connected us to our community. Weve felt so much love," said Tammy. 'Theyre so thankful to live in such a caring and kind community, and so am I.' WASHINGTON President Donald Trump announced what he described as a temporary suspension of immigration into the United States on Tuesday. But he said the executive order he plans to sign as soon as Wednesday would apply only to those seeking permanent residency and not temporary workers. Trump said he would be placing a 60-day pause on the issuance of green cards in an effort to limit competition for jobs in a U.S. economy wrecked by the coronavirus. But he said there would be "certain exemptions" included in the order, which staff were still crafting Tuesday. An administration official familiar with the plans had said earlier the order would be focused on preventing people from winning permission to live and work in the U.S. That would include those seeking employment-based green cards and relatives of green card holders who are not citizens. Americans who wish to bring immediate family to the country would still be able to do so, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity before the plan was announced. About one million people were granted green cards last year. While a hard stop on immigration would normally affect millions of people, much of the immigration system has already ground to a halt because of the pandemic. Almost all visa processing by the State Department has been suspended for weeks. Travel to the U.S. has been restricted from much of the globe. And Trump has used the virus to effectively end asylum at U.S. borders, including turning away children who arrive by themselves and putting a hold on refugee resettlement something Congress, the courts and international law hadn't previously allowed. Criticism of Trump's new announcement was swift, especially his timing during the pandemic. Ali Noorani, president of the National Immigration Forum, noted that thousands of foreign-born health care workers are currently treating people with COVID-19 and working in critical sectors of the economy. Andrea Flores of the American Civil Liberties Union said Trump seemed more interested in fanning anti-immigrant flames than in saving lives. But Jessica Vaughn, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors lower rates of immigration, said that eliminating millions of work permits and visas would "instantaneously create" new jobs for Americans and other legal workers even though most businesses are shuttered because of social distancing dictates and stay-at-home orders. Trump has often pivoted to his signature issue of immigration when he's under criticism. It's one he believes helped him win the 2016 election and one that continues to animate his loyal base of supporters heading into what is expected to be a brutal reelection fight. It has also served as a useful tool for distracting from news he'd prefer removed from the headlines. As is often the case, Trump's late-night tweet caught many across the administration off-guard. Though ideas had been discussed at the State and Homeland Security departments, officials said they had received no heads-up that action was coming. In a statement, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany described the order as aimed at protecting both the "health and economic well-being of American citizens as we face unprecedented times." She said, "At a time when Americans are looking to get back to work, action is necessary." Though travel restrictions around the globe have dramatically reduced immigration, Trump could have used his executive authority to restrict it further, including slashing the number of foreign workers allowed to take seasonal jobs in the U.S. Before the outbreak, the administration had planned to increase the number of H-2B visas, but the Department of Homeland Security put that old in early April. Sarah Pierce, a policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, said Trump could end the processing of immigrant and non-immigrant visa applications under the same legal authority he used to impose the travel ban that was upheld by the Supreme Court. But she said the State Department has largely stopped processing visas anyway. Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, who met with Trump at the White House Tuesday, said the president was looking at various carve-outs for people like agricultural workers, medical professionals and people with family in the United States.pose," he said. Across the country, those who could be impacted waited in suspense. Chicago immigration attorney Fiona McEntee said she has been inundated with calls, emails and social media messages since Trump's tweet, including from company executives hoping to expand their business in the U.S., a person applying for a fiance visa and wondering about their wedding plans, artists seeking "extraordinary ability" visas and foreign students. "It has created absolute panic," said McEntee. "These are people's lives. ... It is irresponsible and cruel to put out something like that without any consideration." The U.S. is now reporting more COVID-19 cases than any other country in the world, with almost 800,000 Americans infected, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University. More than 42,000 have died. Given the steps Trump has already taken, Mexico Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said it was unclear what more he could do. Last month, the administration effectively ended asylum, relying on a rarely used 1944 law aimed at preventing the spread of communicable disease. U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada have also been closed to tourism and recreational travel. Commercial traffic and a wide range of "essential" workers are still allowed to travel freely. The H-2B visa program is used by U.S. companies to fill tens of thousands of seasonal jobs in areas like landscaping, seafood processing and in service jobs at hotels and theme parks. In March, amid pressure by Congress and a tight job market, the administration raised the annual quota to its highest level under Trump. That move angered people who favor more restrictive immigration policies, including some supporters of the president who view foreign workers willing to accept lower wages as unfair competition to American labor. ___ Jill Colvin and Box Fox of The Associated Press wrote this story. AP writers Colleen Long, Zeke Miller and Darlene Superville in Washington, Carlos Rodriguez in Mexico City and Sophia Tareen in Chicago contributed to this report. No arrests have been reported in connection with the death of the captain of a container ship while it was in port in Colombia. Rumors have swirled since Capt. Myo Tun Zaw was found dead on the deck of the Spirit of Hamburg on Thursday. Some reports say members of his own crew murdered him. Others say he was killed by an intruder on board the vessel while it was berthed at the Port of Cartagena. The Spirit of Hamburg is managed by Zeaborn Ship Management, and the company's CEO, COO and CFO posted a statement Monday in which they said the captain's "officers and crew on board and all of us on shore share [his family's] grief and are asking ourselves what happened and why." The statement from Zeaborn Chief Executive Officer Rob Grool, Chief Operating Officer Michael Brandhoff and Chief Financial Officer Erik Kruse said, "There has been a lot of speculation on social media and in the regular press on what exactly happened, but as long as the authorities have not finished their investigation and announced official results, we believe it is inappropriate to draw any conclusions or to make any statements on their findings. "What we want to confirm is that the ship is registered in the Isle of Man Register and dismiss reports of German flag and jurisdiction," the statement said. "The crew of our vessel originate from Myanmar, Ethiopia and Russia and, contrary to some media reports, not from the Philippines. They are all professional seafarers whom we are supporting to the best of our ability and who have been offered psychological help." An earlier statement released by Zeaborn over the weekend said the captain, who was from the Southeast Asian nation of Myanmar, "suffered fatal injuries following what is believed to be a violent incident with an intruder." One media report said the captain was killed in a fight with his crew and that the Spirit of Hamburg was a German-flagged ship. A Colombian radio station said there was a conflict with 12 Filipino crew members and the "51-year-old Burmese captain." Story continues Zeaborn, a third-party ship manager based in Hamburg, Germany, and Singapore, said it was cooperating with Colombian authorities, who have allowed the vessel to move from berth to inner anchorage during their investigation. In a press release Monday, the General Directorate of Maritime Colombia only said there were 21 crew members on board the Spirit of Hamburg and that the captain was found dead on the main deck at about 5 p.m. Thursday. The Spirit of Hamburg has a capacity of 3,630 twenty-foot equivalent units and is part of the Hamburg Sud network. The vessel reportedly had departed the Port of Charleston in South Carolina on April 10. Image: Shutterstock See more from Benzinga 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. 22 Apr Hong Kong actress Eva Lai recently revealed that she is preparing for her son's return from the United Kingdom. As reported on Mingpao, the actress whose son is currently in his last year of university, shared that he would be coming home in May for the summer vacation, which is why the family is now ready for self-quarantine. "I will ask my colleagues to share with me quarantine hotels that are nice and well-equipped. As soon as he arrived in Hong Kong, he will go straight into quarantine," she said. Eva said that they originally planned to go to the UK to attend his graduation ceremony, but that it has been postponed because of the pandemic. "We're not sure how long will they be delaying the ceremony," she said, adding that her son will then find work in Hong Kong instead of staying in the said country. (Photo Source: Orgs.one) A batch of 225 Indians evacuated from coronavirus-hit Iran and quarantined at an Army's wellness centre in Rajasthan's Jodhpur was airlifted to the Leh air base on Wednesday. They were airlifted from the Jodhpur Air Force station. They all belonged to the Kargil and Ladakh regions and had demanded to go back home for the month of Ramzan, starting next week. On Tuesday too, a batch of 180 people was airlifted from Jaisalmer to Jammu and Kashmir after they completed their quarantine period. According to Army sources, they are being sent home in the wake of the holy month of Ramzan. The decision has been taken after they spent a significant period in quarantine at the Army's wellness centres in Jodhpur and Jaisalmer, said the sources. A total of 405 evacuees have been airlifted to their homes in the past two days and more will be airlifted in the next a few days," they said. The Indian authorities had evacuated 1,036 people from Iran in five phases from March 15 to 29. While 484 of them were kept in Jaisalmer, 552 were accommodated in Jodhpur. Sixty-one of them had tested positive for coronavirus and admitted to AIIMS, Jodhpur. Of these, 32 have fully recovered, ADM Mahipal Bhardwaj said. A few days ago, some of the evacuees had reportedly held a hunger strike in Jaisalmer, demanding that they be sent back home. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) EDWARDS, Colo. A customer at a Colorado grocery store was cited on suspicion of intentionally coughing on another shoppers items after refusing to comply with social distancing rules, authorities said. Nathan Herries, 51, of Vail refused to follow a request by an employee at the Village Market in Edwards to stay 6 feet (2 meters) away from customers and employees as required by the store and a county health order, the Eagle County Sheriffs Office said Monday. He ranted that the worker was falling for media hype about the coronavirus before getting between a customer and an employee and coughing on the products the other customer was buying, the office said. Herries was later identified by an anonymous tipster after the sheriffs office shared surveillance images on social media, the office said. He was issued a summons for violating a public health order, disorderly conduct and tampering. He was not arrested. Herries on Tuesday denied coughing at the store, although he said he may have breathed hard once as a joke like a teenager might do after he refused a cashiers request to step back. Herries believes the virus is similar to the common cold and is part of a plandemic by global central bankers to collapse the United States currency and bring about a one world government. He said he thought the one-way aisles in the store and the plastic barriers protecting cashiers were unnecessary overreactions. I feel like I am living in the world of absurdity, Herries said. For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe life-threatening illness, including pneumonia, and death. Looking for Something? The page you are looking for cannot be found or is no longer available. Try searching our site for what you are looking for. Search Powered by GoodGopher.com Here are some other areas you may be interested in: Former Hong Kong Causeway Bay Books manager Lam Wing-kei, after he was splashed with red paint at a coffee shop close to the crowd-funded bookstore he plans to open this week in Taipei, Taiwan, April 21, 2020. A former manager of a shuttered Hong Kong book store who was detained in mainland China for selling banned political books was attacked with red paint in Taipei on Tuesday, four days before he is slated to open a branch of the shop in Taiwan. Former Causeway Bay Books manager Lam Wing-kei, one of five Hong Kong booksellers detained in 2015 by the Chinese authorities, was splashed with red paint in a coffee shop close to the crowd-funded bookstore he plans to open April 25, he said. While drinking coffee, Lam saw two suspicious-looking men in the alley across the street and they rushed up to him and sprayed red paint all over his head and torso, he said. This is what the Chinese Communist Party has done in Taiwan, and I strongly believe this is done by the CCP, he said, voicing suspicion that the attack was the work of pro-Beijing thugs, who are widely known to do the partys bidding in Hong Kong and in Taiwan. Taiwan media said that CCTV footage reviewed by police suggested the main assailant is a man aged around 30. Lam, an outspoken critic of China and the Beijing-controlled Hong Kong government who moved to Taipei in 2019, called the attack a threat, warning me not to open my bookstore. But he told reporters that he is not worried about himself, but is concerned about threats to those who have helped him to reopen the book store. Scene where bookseller Lam Wing-kei was splashed with red paint at a coffee shop close to the crowd-funded bookstore he plans to open in Taipei this week, April 21, 2020. RFA Lam was among five booksellers detained by Chinese police for selling banned political books to customers across the internal border in mainland China. The detentions were widely criticized by overseas governments, as none of the booksellers had broken any laws in Hong Kong, where they lived and worked, and at least two of them were taken back to China in dubious circumstances. Lam, who has been the most outspoken of the detainees, speaking out in defiance of gag orders imposed by Chinese police, fled to Taiwan after giving a large number of media interviews, amid concerns that he may be detained again or kidnapped while in Hong Kong. Reported by RFA's Mandarin Service. Written by Paul Eckert. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 17:47:57|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HANOI, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam has placed a town in the northern province of Ha Giang under quarantine after the province reported a COVID-19 infection earlier, Vietnam News Agency reported on Wednesday. Dong Van town, covering about 27,500 hectares and home to 1,629 households with over 7,600 people, has been quarantined from Wednesday morning until further notice, the news agency quoted an official of Dong Van district, where the town is located, as saying. Earlier on April 16, a girl in Dong Van district was confirmed to have contracted the virus with infection source unidentified, the news agency reported. Following the report of the case, Ha Giang province placed the village where she lives and two hospitals that she had been to under quarantine. Vietnam has recorded no new COVID-19 cases in the past five days after confirming the latest case on Thursday, with its total confirmed cases remaining at 268, among which 222 have recovered as of Wednesday afternoon, according to the health ministry. Enditem President Donald Trump's sudden announcement that he would bar most immigrants from entering the country could present a challenging proposition for probable Democratic nominee Joe Biden, potentially thrusting him back into a tug of war between a Democratic base firmly opposed to stricter border policies and more-moderate voters willing to consider them, particularly during an economic calamity. Trump's Monday night announcement injected new uncertainty into a contest already roiled by the public health crisis. Immigration has long been one of the most polarizing issues in politics, and a renewed national debate on the subject threatens to enhance partisan divisions less than seven months before the election. Trump offered more details Tuesday, saying he would halt immigration to the United States for 60 days, a freeze that will prevent green card recipients from moving to the country but will continue to allow temporary workers on non-immigrant visas to enter. Some Democrats expressed confidence that Trump's move would be seen by voters as a diversion from more-pressing concerns. "We always knew that Trump was going to focus on immigration and that was a battle that we were going to have to engage in," said Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Texas, an early supporter of Biden's campaign. "But I think the public fears coronavirus a whole lot more than they do immigrants. So, I don't think it's anywhere near the winner politically that Trump and his surrogates think it is." But neither Biden nor his campaign commented on the immigration ban throughout the day Tuesday, a delay that suggested internal sensitivity about how to approach the matter. "Rather than execute a swift and aggressive effort to ramp up testing, Donald Trump is tweeting incendiary rhetoric about immigrants in the hopes that he can distract everyone from the core truth: he's moved too slowly to contain this virus, and we are all paying the price for it," Biden said in a statement sent by his campaign nearly 21 hours after Trump announced his plan. The statement said that sending "inflammatory tweets" to hide Trump's "glaring failures . . . helps no one." Over the past year, the former vice president has battled criticism from Latino activists and leaders who have complained about a lack of outreach from him amid their concerns about what they feel was an overly harsh deportation policy during President Barack Obama's administration. Their alarms have created pressure for him to embrace more-liberal border policies. At the same time, Biden is presenting himself as a moderate candidate who can win over swing voters in the more conservative suburbs and exurbs frustrated with Trump but not inclined to embrace ideas championed by some on the left, such as abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Trump ran on a tough immigration policy in 2016, when he castigated Mexicans and Muslims, favoring a wall to keep out the former and a travel ban to keep out the latter. The same arguments fell flat in the 2018 midterm elections, when Democrats won back control of the House by focusing on health care and the economy; voters turned aside efforts to scare them with portrayals of Latinos as violent gang members and of caravans approaching the southern border from Latin America. Trump's Monday night tweet caught many by surprise. "In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!" he wrote. Attorneys and senior Trump administration officials met Tuesday to work out the logistics and legal implications of the president's order, according to senior officials involved with the plans. "I will be issuing a temporary suspension of immigration into the United States," Trump said during a White House briefing Tuesday. The Trump campaign said the move was one designed to protect Americans. "President Trump's immigration policy just makes sense as the United States fights the war against the coronavirus. He has two main goals: to protect the health and safety of Americans and to safeguard the economy," Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said in a statement. "At a time when our economy has been artificially interrupted by the virus, introducing more competition for jobs would worsen unemployment and depress wages." Some Republican strategists believe politically charged topics such as immigration that remind voters of their partisan affiliations accrue to the GOP's benefit, particularly in conservative areas. Biden has argued that he would be able to pull some of those voters into his camp. In 2018, Democrat Heidi Heitkamp lost her Senate seat in heavily Republican North Dakota in the face of GOP attacks that, among other things, sought to portray her as an extremist on immigration and border security. In an interview Tuesday, Heitkamp said she felt Trump was again trying to cement support from his base. As for how the public would react, she said that remained unknown. "Talk to me in September because whatever is happening in September is what is going to drive the dialogue," said Heitkamp, who supports Biden. One Democratic member of Congress, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to be candid, said Trump's strategy could pose a challenge for Biden because of the president's ability to distort facts, Biden's struggles staying on message and the difficulty Biden could face balancing the demands of his party's liberals and moderates. Many Democrats have been hoping to use this fall the moderate strategy that won them the House. Party leaders see Biden, who has charted a moderate course in recent years, as an effective leader in that fight. Some had cringed last year as candidates whom Biden ultimately defeated competed to propose more and more liberal border policies. But Biden has faced recent questions from activists and lawmakers about the Obama administration's deportations. During a recent interview with Politico's Playbook, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., a rising star on the left, said she wanted to see Biden "clarify and deepen" his stances on some issues. She mentioned immigration as an area where the party should find "a plan to improve." Biden's campaign recognized similar demands when it released an immigration policy blueprint late last year saying the former vice president "understands the pain felt by every family across the U.S. that has had a loved one removed from the country, including under the Obama-Biden Administration, and he believes we must do better to uphold our laws humanely and preserve the dignity of immigrant families, refugees, and asylum seekers." Vela, the Texas congressman, defended Biden, saying that "to the extent that there were people in the Democratic Party that were concerned about Joe Biden's immigration stance, I think he's done a lot over the course of the last four months to talk to those folks and remind them that he's really on their side." Trump's decisions could also reverberate down the ballot, where a fierce battle for control of the Senate is underway. Democrats are defending 12 seats, most in safely blue states, whereas Republicans have 23 on the ballot. Democrats have fielded competitive campaigns in swing states such as Arizona, Colorado, Maine and North Carolina, putting them within striking distance of netting the three seats they need to clinch control if Biden wins. "I think it's another diversion. The agencies don't even know what it is. No one knows what it is," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in an interview on CNN. He said the president should focus his energy on other elements of the pandemic. "What we really need is a focus on testing, a focus on contact tracing, so that we can open up again." Other Democrats seconded his view. "It's an effort to appeal to xenophobic parts of his base and will understandably seem to many Americans as using a public health crisis to revive his long-standing political effort," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. Former Democratic congressman Beto O'Rourke of Texas, a Biden supporter, took to Twitter to call it "an attempt to distract us from his total mismanagement" of the pandemic, but one that "will still have terrible consequences for America." He warned, "We should take it seriously." WASHINGTON -- We Americans have always fancied ourselves practical, can-do people who put old feuds aside when faced with a big collective problem. There's an element of myth in this, since political and personal interests never go into complete hibernation. But it's no accident that one of the United States' great contributions to philosophy is William James' theory of pragmatism. Our bias is toward ideas that work and innovation by way of trial and error. This tradition acknowledges that we often have multiple goals. In the coronavirus crisis, this means beating the pandemic and getting the economy humming again. President Trump is failing because he has abandoned our commitments to favoring problem-solving over ideological posturing and to acting nationally in the face of looming catastrophe. His own words last week underscored both deficiencies. Instead of rallying the resources required for a nationally organized testing program, Trump told the nation's governors that the federal government will "be standing alongside of you." The relevant word here was "standing," an admission of passivity. And the man who is not doing his own job had the nerve to tweet on Friday: "The States have to step up their TESTING!" Having thrown the burden of resolving the crisis on those governors, Trump might at least have encouraged his own supporters to back off their reflexive opposition to a gradual and considered approach to economic recovery -- precisely the path his own national guidelines, inadequate though they are, envisions. Instead, Trump championed the extremists who are marching on state capitals demanding an abrupt and reckless end to the temporary shutdowns that have slowed the virus's spread. Why? "They seem to be protesters that like me," he said gleefully. He continued to egg on partisanship and cultural warfare Friday with his "LIBERATE MICHIGAN!" "LIBERATE MINNESOTA!" tweets. Rep. David Price, D-N.C., noted that the current distribution of COVID-19 spread happens to overlap roughly with red-blue divisions, so there's little hope that Trump will relent. Considering this lack of leadership, what would a William James pragmatist do? Virtually everyone except for Trump and his apologists understands the obvious: Reopening the economy requires, first, a national commitment to a robust testing program fully backed by the federal government. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has proposed $30 billion in new emergency funding for a national testing strategy and he called on Trump to use the Defense Production Act if that's what's needed to mobilize the private sector to produce the required tests. Massachusetts's Republican Gov. Charlie Baker has created an expansive contact tracing program to track the virus's spread. It could become a national model. In the Journal of the American Medical Association, Drs. Howard Bauchner and Joshua Sharfstein suggested giving the nation's 20,000 incoming medical students a year off, with pay and health benefits, to contribute both to care and testing efforts. The Americorps program could also be mobilized for this labor-intensive work. What pragmatists know is that railing against formal distancing rules does nothing to solve the underlying problem. As several economist colleagues I contacted noted, the economy will not fully revive until Americans are given good reason to put aside their fears of infection. Yelling at governors won't get us there. "Even if the government-imposed social distancing rules are relaxed to encourage economic activity, risk-averse Americans will persist in social distancing, and that behavior, too, will restrain the hoped-for economic rebound," Gary Burtless, a Brookings Institution economist, wrote me. "Will customers return in-person to the retail or leisure/hospitality businesses anytime soon?" asked Harry Holzer, an economist at Georgetown's McCourt School of Public Policy. "Not if they feel unsafe, and not if their personal finances have been constricted by the downturn." Those who shout for opening the economy in the name of freedom don't think much about the freedom of workers to protect themselves from a potentially deadly disease. And employers do not want to find themselves facing legal liabilities for infected employees. If the economy is substantially reopened without adequate testing, said Thea Lee, president of the Economic Policy Institute, the most vulnerable would include "low-wage workers, women, people of color, immigrants, and the elderly." They are "concentrated in the riskiest jobs, with the least financial cushion, and the least likely to have employer-provided benefits or protections," she said. "Give me liberty or give me death" is a fine rallying cry in a war against freedom's enemies. It's is a perilous guide to policy during a pandemic. Pragmatists may be short on stirring slogans. But when the choices are hard and the problems are daunting, they're the ones we should want in charge. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 21:04:48|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TEHRAN, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) on Wednesday "successfully" launched the country's first military satellite into space, official IRNA news agency reported. "The satellite Noor 1 (Light 1) was launched by the satellite carrier Qased (Messenger) from the central desert region of the country by the IRGC and was successfully reached the 425 km orbit" above the Earth, said IRNA. Iran's state TV released a footage showing that the satellite carrier is launched from a launch base in the desert landscape. According to Tasnim news agency, the launched operation was carried out by the IRGC's Aerospace Division from a launch station situated in Shahroud desert region. Tasnim specified Qased as the country's first three-stage satellite launcher to successfully pass all its tests. The country's aerospace program was expected to gather pace following the launch by deploying its military space activities towards taking care of its relevant telecommunication purposes, including promotion of reconnaissance and safe communication capabilities, Tasnim said. According to a statement by the IRGC website, the launch of the country's first military satellite "would be a great achievement and would open new era for Iran's space sector." "Today, we can observe the world from space," IRGC Chief Commander Hossein Salami was quoted as saying by Press TV. The launch of the satellite showed that Iran is capable of attaining "remarkable achievements that have brought international acclaim," Salami was quoted as saying. "The satellite's successful launch added new dimensions to Iran's defensive might," he said. Salami noted that all the components of both the satellite and the carrier have been produced indigenously despite the U.S. sanctions. Iran's first home-built satellite Omid was launched in 2009. The country sent its first bio-capsule containing living creatures into space in February 2010, using a Kavoshgar-3 carrier. The United States has criticized Iran's space ambitions, claiming that it helps Tehran advance its ballistic missile program. Tehran, however, has denied the allegations, saying that its space program aims at civilian and peaceful ends. Enditem Burma COVID-19 Swabs to be Flown from Myanmars Rakhine After Fatal Shooting The National Health Laboratory conducts COVID-19 tests. / NHL / Facebook YANGON Myanmars health ministry said swab samples for COVID-19 tests from Rakhine State will now be flown after the fatal shooting of a World Health Organization (WHO) driver on Tuesday while transporting samples to Yangon. The WHO driver, U Pyae Sone Win Maung, died in hospital after his vehicle came under attack in Rakhine State, where government troops and the Arakan Army are in conflict. Health care worker U Aung Myo Oo was taken to hospital with a wounded hand. The men were transporting swabs from 20 suspected COVID-19 patients from northern Rakhine State to Yangon for testing. Previously, Rakhine samples were flown to Yangons National Health Laboratory with 37 people testing negative for coronavirus by last week, according to Rakhine States Public Health Department. But after all flights were suspended to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the WHO attempted to transport the samples by road. MNA [Myanmar National Airlines] and Air KBZ will soon resume flights from Sittwe to Yangon so we will transport the swab samples by these flights, said Dr. Tha Tun Kyaw, director-general of the health ministry. Air KBZ said it would introduce limited domestic flights until April 30 for those needing to travel for unavoidable reasons and Sittwe flights will operate on April 23 and April 29. MNA said its services would not resume before May 1. The swabs being transported on Tuesday could no longer be tested because they needed to be assessed within 48 hours, he added. Rakhine State has four suspected COVID-19 patients in isolation in Sittwe hospital and 800 others under quarantine. As of Wednesday, Myanmar has reported 121 cases, with five deaths and nine recoveries. The Yangon laboratory is the only testing site in the country but the government is preparing another lab in Mandalay and one more in Yangon with the necessary biosafety standards to conduct testing. A Swiss-made COVID-19 test machine donated by Myanmars largest pharmaceutical distributor, AA Medical Products, arrived on Tuesday afternoon. The new machine can run more than 1,400 tests per day, compared to the current daily capacity of around 300 tests. You may also like these stories: Myanmar Military Warns KIA: Drive Out AA or Face Attack Myanmar Military Doctors to Staff New Makeshift COVID-19 Hospital in Yangon Rather Than Lockdown, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Says Some Communities in Myanmar May Face Quarantine From President Donald Trump to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, hopes are high that coronavirus COVID-19 antibody tests can provide a path out of the pandemic. Such tests would identify those who developed antibodies to coronavirus, and could yield two critical datasets: The scale of exposure within different communities, as well as the identity of individuals who potentially have some degree of immunity to the virus. And the numbers with antibodies could be significant. Testing has been so limited that some experts estimate Michigan could have 10 cases of coronavirus for every one that is diagnosed. Antibody test data could be vital information in reopening the economy, experts say. The community-level data may show a surprising level of immunity within the population, making it safer to reopen at a faster pace. And the individual-level results could provide peace of mind for those shown to have some immunity to coronavirus, perhaps helping determine who could go back to work. For us to really get to the next level, were going to have to have massive testing with antibody tests that can be done and done fairly quickly, U.S. Sen. Gary Peters said. But as the first antibody tests reach the market, there are also considerable concerns about the quality of some of the tests and what the test results are actually indicating. Under the emergency authorization being offered by the federal Food and Drug Administration, companies can sell antibody tests without submitting the normal validation data that shows they actually work. Thats resulted in crappy tests flooding the market, many of them produced in China, said Scott Becker, CEO of the Association of Public Health Laboratories, told CNN. The CNN report said some of the tests are confusing COVID-19 with a coronavirus that causes the common cold, providing a false-positive results. Companies will tell you its ready," but the antibody tests are very much a work in progress, said Emily Martin, a University of Michigan epidemiologist. Antibody testing is in its infancy and its potentially dangerous" if the tests are inaccurate or the results misinterpreted, she said. What could happen is if people are getting false positives, we would say, Oh you have antibodies, you must be protected,' and theyre not actually protected, Martin said. The other thing is, we havent had this virus long enough to know what protection looks like," she said. "If you get a positive on an antibody test, does that mean that youre going to be protected? If so, for how long? We dont know yet. Beaumont study Dr. William Sims, an infectious disease specialist for Beaumont Health in metro Detroit, is heading the nations biggest study on COVID-19 antibody tests. Like many, hes excited about the data the tests could yield. It has absolutely incredible potential, Sims said. But he also acknowledges the concerns. Some of the tests are high-quality, but some are not -- and particularly problematic are stick tests that use a drop of blood vs. a blood draw requiring a syringe, Sims said. He added that Beaumont is confident of the accuracy of the antibody tests theyre using, which are manufactured by EUROIMMUN, a respected German company. Moreover, Beaumont performed its own validation of the EUROIMMUN test kits, he said. But while Beaumont researchers are confident the EUROIMMUN tests can accurately detect COVID-19 antibodies, Sims said, what we dont know is what the results of that test really mean. All the test tells you is that you have likely been infected by coronavirus COVID-19 at some point, and have mounted an immune response to it, Sims said. It doesnt say you have immunity. It just says youve mounted an immune response. We dont know if that immune response is protective yet. For most viruses, it is -- but not for all, he said. And even if the antibodies do provide immunity, theres also the question of how long that immunity lasts. Sims said leaders could rely on the antibody tests to reopen parts of the economy, and then six months later, the antibodies fade and people are again susceptible to COVID-19. Were hoping thats not the case. We have some reason to think that thats not the case, he said. But until we do the study, we dont know. The study involves the 40,000-some employees of Beaumont Health, all of whom are invited to take an antibody test now and agree to regular blood samples during the course of the study. Among the questions that Sims and his research team are trying to answer: What percentage of Beaumont employees have antibodies compared to those actually diagnosed with COVID-19? Will any of those with antibodies become sick with COVID-19 in the upcoming weeks or months? How long will antibodies be detectable in peoples blood samples? This is designed to use good scientific principles to give us information -- not a guess, but an actual answer about whether COVID-19 antibodies results in immunity and for how long, Sims said. This study will help us decide whether the enormous potential (of antibody tests) is a reality. Sims said that he pulled the study together quickly, with the full support of Beaumont administration and funders, and has gotten strong response from employees eager to participate. Hes anticipating the study will have as many as 40,000 participants, and the initial round of blood draws began last week. He said its hard to say when initial study results will be released. But well all be looking at the data every week to see if it looks like people have immunity," he said. At some point, the biostatisticians will tell us that the data is of sufficient level that we can tell with 95% certainty whether the antibodies are protective. As soon we have enough data to say, yes, it looks like its protective, were going to get that out there for everybody to know, Sims said. Hopeful and cautious Lots of people are pinning their hopes on the antibody tests. We want to know who possibly has antibodies, who can be safely out in the public or back to work, Whitmer said in her April 6 briefing. I think its also going to be important that we continue to develop an antibody test that is available in a robust way. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is actively working on planning and executing a study for our state that will allow us to understand the long-term impacts of these antibodies," spokeswoman Lynne Sutfin said April 21. Ruthanne Sudderth, spokeswoman for the Michigan Health and Hospital Association, said her organization believes antibody testing will help show the extent of COVID-19 exposure throughout the state. Knowing who has been exposed and may have immunity will help with a variety of challenges, including bringing people back to work and school, and importantly, getting back to providing more healthcare for people who have had their services delayed or cancelled due to the pandemic, she said in an email to MLive. The MHA is aware of concerns about the accuracy of some of these tests," she said, adding Michigan residents should be cautious" about antibody tests not coming from a trusted and licensed medical provider or public health official. As these antibody tests are studied and approved by regulatory agencies and come online, we will work closely with state and federal officials to communicate to those we serve about how to pursue a test from a trusted source, she added. For Michigan residents seeking antibody tests, theres very little risk in being tested. The risk is in interpreting the results, said Dr. Matt Longjohn, a public-health consultant in Kalamazoo who has a medical degree and a masters in public health. If were sending people back into the workplace with a false positive result, were putting them as individuals back at risk of catching the virus for the first time, he said. Theres also the open question of whether antibodies actually confer immunity. Thats what we need people to be honest about, he said. But, Longjohn said, "We cant wait for the best possible data. I encourage people to lean in and generate data wherever you can. Its better than no data, even if the data comes with a 5%, or 10%, even 30% risk of the data not being accurate. Participating in tests that havent been validated will help us understand how they can improve, he added. Its kind of a vital part of this process that were all going through together. PREVENTION TIPS In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus. Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible. Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and when you go into places like stores. Read more Michigan coronavirus coverage here Tuesday, April 21: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan How to treat COVID-19? Michigan doctors say protocols change day by day, week by week Partisan politics infect Michigan coronavirus response Which surfaces does the coronavirus stay on longest? 18 expert disinfecting tips Michigan healthcare system lays off 2,475 due to dire financial effects of coronavirus s. ONEONTA, Ala., April 07, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Otelco Inc. (OTEL), a wireline telecommunication services provider in Alabama, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, Vermont and West Virginia, announced today that it will release its first quarter 2020 financial and operational results after the close of trading on Monday, May 4, 2020. The Company will hold a conference call to discuss these results on Tuesday, May 5, 2020, at 11:30 a.m. (Eastern Time). To listen to the call, participants should dial (856) 344-9299 approximately 10 minutes prior to the start of the call. A telephonic replay will be available from 2:30 p.m. (Eastern Time) on May 5, 2020, through May 14, 2020, by dialing (719) 457-0820 and entering Confirmation Code 7244549. The live broadcast of Otelcos quarterly conference call will be available online at www.Otelco.com on May 5, 2020, beginning at 11:30 a.m. (Eastern Time). The online replay will be available at approximately 2:30 p.m. (Eastern Time) on May 5, 2020, and will continue to be available for 30 days. COVID19 UPDATE Otelco provides essential voice and data services to our customers. To continue to provide these services and, at the same time, protect our employees, the Company has positioned virtually all of its office-based employees to be able to perform their jobs while working remotely. Access to our offices, as well as business and personal travel, has been restricted to limit the risk of coming in contact with the virus. Our outside plant technicians are able to install and repair some services without entering the customers premises. Self-service instructions are being provided to the customer to avoid indoor work when possible. Installation of upgraded FTTP service and internet speed upgrades are being scheduled after telephone screening to ensure that no one in the home has symptoms of the virus or is under quarantine due to the virus We are continuing these installations because we know that customer requirements for higher bandwidth have increased with the shelter-in-place restrictions. Story continues While our local offices that take payments are closed, the Company provides several bill payment options which do not require an in-person visit. In line with our industrys response to the FCC and state public utility commission guidance, the Company is prepared to work with customers who have been affected by the coronavirus on payment strategies that avoid discontinuance of voice and data services during this challenging period. Otelco is also offering new data service within the territories we serve at no cost for the first two months of service to students from low income families that qualify for free lunch or Lifeline. Commenting on these operational changes at Otelco, Richard Clark, President and Chief Executive Officer, pointed out that the Company understands the challenges facing our customers as our employee body is facing many of the same obstacles to daily life as they live in the same communities we serve. Clark said, Our employees are juggling their work responsibilities, kids, first responder family members, aging relatives, and the daily stress of ensuring access to food and other essentials. We expect to continue being part of the solution while we protect and minimize employee risk of contracting the virus. The Company expects to take advantage of new federal and state legislation that provides benefits to affected employees and businesses. ABOUT OTELCO Otelco Inc. provides wireline telecommunications services in Alabama, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, Vermont and West Virginia. The Companys services include local and long distance telephone, digital high-speed data lines, transport services, network access, cable television and other related services. Otelco provides over 67,000 services to more than 32,000 customers, with approximately 10% of those customers served over its Lightwave product. Otelco operates eleven incumbent telephone companies serving rural markets, or rural local exchange carriers. It also provides competitive retail and wholesale communications services and technology consulting, managed services and private/hybrid cloud hosting services through several subsidiaries. For more information, visit the Companys website at www.Otelco.com . FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS Statements in this press release that are not statements of historical or current fact constitute forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other unknown factors that could cause the actual results of the Company to be materially different from the historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In addition to statements which explicitly describe such risks and uncertainties, readers are urged to consider statements labeled with the terms believes, belief, expects, intends, anticipates, plans, or similar terms to be uncertain and forward-looking. The forward-looking statements contained herein are also subject generally to other risks and uncertainties that are described from time to time in the Companys filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Social transformation is slow. It can take decades to change hearts and minds. But that is time we no longer have. We are living in an age of climate crisis, with its resulting fires, floods, warming oceans, ecological breakdown, mass extinctions, epidemics, and political and social unrest, which must make us ask: Are we the first generation to witness the beginning of the end? In Australia, despite devastating bushfires and species loss, Prime Minister Scott Morrison blithely disregards renewable energy as an option and laughs openly at carbon emissions targets. So is it time to do more than simply march in the streets with placards and sign petitions? Recent research by Erica Chenoweth, a political scientist at Harvard, confirms that peaceful civil disobedience can not only be a moral choice but an effective one. She studied hundreds of grassroots resistance groups and concluded that non-violent campaigns were twice as likely to succeed as violent protests: 53 percent compared to 26 percent. The number 3.5 percent has also been bandied about since Chenoweths findings. The formation of Extinction Rebellion (XR) was inspired by this statistic, advocating that if 3.5 percent of a given population actively participate in civil disobedience, then they may succeed in mobilising political change. It can be argued that XRs tactic of mass arrest is more effective than their other, less radical methods. XR co-founder Roger Hallam claims that letters, emailing, marches, dont work. You need about 400 people to go to prison. About 2,000 to 3,000 people to be arrested. As Chenoweth admits, the success of non-violent resistance is partly due to strength in numbers. These campaigns are more likely to be successful because they can involve people from a wider base, from all walks of life, who are not seriously risking their livelihoods or indeed their lives to participate. They can be old, young, middle and working class. They can be fence sitters. If they are young, they can be lukewarm in their political convictions and go along because their friends are. Yet, for civil disobedience to work effectively, it must be able to disrupt the normal functioning of cities and infrastructure, over and over again, for long periods. For this, we need hundreds of thousands to participate in concert, not merely the hardy few, who are then lambasted by the mainstream media and the majority for creating traffic jams at peak times. The other downside to this form of civil disobedience is the tendency of governments to increase anti-protest legislation in response. One of the flaws in Chenoweths study, as far as I understand it, is that it does not take into consideration the concepts of above ground and underground resistance. A successful campaign of above ground resistance may also contain a committed group of activists who, by their very nature, are not overt. Their modus operandi is to stay out of the limelight and bring down structures by stealth. This is not an either/or situation. Both modes of resistance aid each other in their common goals. In fact, the extremism and radicalism of underground acts of resistance can also soften the public and policymakers towards those with demands seen as more reasonable. Chenoweths findings end on a gloomy note, however. Despite being twice as successful as violent resistance, peaceful protest still failed 47 percent of the time. Still, as Christopher Finlay from Birmingham University cautions: For current protest leaders to encourage violence would be both morally unjustified and a serious tactical mistake. The outcome of any struggle between them and the government will be decided in large part by public opinion: if protesters can be blamed for starting violence, that will elevate the administration and its supporters. And worse yet, it might also help legitimise harsher methods by the security forces in response. But its also a mistake to overstate the case against violence. Social transformation is slow. It takes decades to change hearts and minds. It will take even longer to implement an alternative, post-carbon society which intrinsically wants less, consumes less and is based locally rather than globally. This is a complex, ambitious, multigenerational goal. A radical revolution, on the other hand, while initially polarising, can move fast and eventually gain widespread support. The risk we face right now is that more global citizens may reach a point where old moral imperatives no longer hold water. As our situation becomes more dire, it may be a case of whatever gets the job done. Defence of Earth and self-defence are two concepts which cannot possibly be seen as controversial by even the most peace-loving and law-abiding among us. If we need both modes of resistance to succeed in our goals of saving ourselves and the planet, perhaps we are being naive if we summarily dismiss the reality that certain forms of violent revolution may arise. Instead, it may be time to acknowledge that the corporatocracy, corrupt politicians, oppressors, exploiters and all supporters of environmental genocide, are the common enemies who stand in our way. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. After being contracted with the deadly COVID-19 and being quarantined, the beloved couple Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson recovered but are still trying to do their best for the good of the many. The two have decided to donate their blood in support of medical research in the development of a coronavirus vaccine. The actor even joked about the issue by stating on NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! that the research was for the creation of a 'Hank-ccine' notably made from his name being used as the vaccine's nickname. One of the firsts The couple was among the first of several celebrities to be infected with the disease while they were in Australia during one of Tom's shoots for the Elvis Presley biopic by Baz Luhrmann. After their initial statement sharing their experience with the deadly virus, the two actors kept fans updated with their condition regularly in their isolation Down Under. They eventually made a full recovery and made their back home to Los Angeles. The first thing the couple did after getting back into US soil wasn't relaxing in their homes, but rather, going into a medical study to help look for antibodies that are capable of fighting off the coronavirus in the creation of a vaccine. The star of Saving Private Ryan has recently shared their approval of donating blood due to their antibodies being a possible weapon against the illness. Read Also: NASA Program To Utilize $7M In Funding Research, From Stronger Spacecraft To Landing Humans On Mars - What They Have Planned Will Blow You Away Tom is hopeful about the results of their tests, and if so, he jokingly stated to take responsibility and name it 'Hank-ccine.' On a public show, Hanks said, 'We just found out that we do carry the antibodies.' and that they have been more than willing to give samples of their blood in aiding the research. They are now actively sharing their blood to other institutes that are also trying to research the virus and how better to fight it. Severe case The actor also revealed his wife, Rita Wilson, was suffering worse symptoms during their infection. He was more concerned for her than was with himself due to the severity of Rita's symptoms. 'She lost her sense of taste and smell. She got absolutely no joy from food for a better part of three weeks. She was so nauseous; she had to crawl on the floor from the bed to the facilities. It lasted a while', he said. Now that the two are in a much better state of health, they are advocating for mail-in voting. The couple believes that Americans should be free to request for services that will benefit them, much more now amid the pandemic. Hanks shared his advice regarding the ongoing quarantine and urged the public to wash their hands and maintain social distancing consistently. The actor said we all have something we can do to assist in this trying time, and that is to ensure that we are healthy and protect those that are close to us. Read Also: NASA Shows 'Pillars Of Creation' Being Devoured By Stars In This Stunning New Infrared Photograph Prime Minister Scott Morrison has spoken to President Donald Trump about how the World Health Organisation can 'improve' after both leaders criticised how it dealt the coronavirus pandemic. Mr Morrison called Mr Trump at around midday on Wednesday (AEST) and later tweeted about the conversation. He said they discussed strategies to relax coronavirus restrictions and also the WHO's response to the deadly virus which has infected 2.5million people globally. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has spoken to President Donald Trump (pictured together in September) on the phone about how the World Health Organisation can 'improve' Mr Morrison called Mr Trump at around midday on Wednesday (AEST) and later tweeted about the conversation The WHO has come under fire for being slow to declare a pandemic, telling nations not to shut their borders and praising China's response despite the country's attempt to cover-up the spread of the disease by silencing whistleblowers. President Trump accused the organisation of being 'China-centric' and vowed to cut funding. Mr Morrison has also criticised the WHO - particularly over its refusal to ban wet markets - but has said Australia will not walk away from funding the organisation. In his tweets after the call, Mr Morrison wrote: 'We had a very constructive discussion on our health responses to #COVID19 and the need to get our market-led and business-centred economies up and running again. 'We also talked about the WHO and working together to improve the transparency and effectiveness of international responses to pandemics. Mr Morrison signed off by praising Australia's relationship with the United States. 'Australia and the US are the best of mates and we'll continue to align our efforts as we work towards the recovery on the other side of this virus,' he wrote. It comes after the Chinese Embassy in Canberra accused Australian politicians of sucking up the the US. A spokesman accused Home Affairs Minster Peter Dutton of blindly following US orders to join a 'propaganda war' against China after he said the country should be 'transparent' about the origins of the virus. Last week US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo demanded China 'come clean' after unsubstantiated reports that coronavirus may have originated in a lab in Wuhan. Mr Dutton on Friday said China should 'answer those questions' before foreign affairs minister Marise Payne called for an inquiry. A Chinese Embassy spokesman said Australian politicians were 'pitiful' and lacked independence. US President Donald Trump speaks as Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison laugh during a meeting in the Oval Office in September President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump pose for a photo with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his wife Jenny in September in the White House The leaders (pictured in September) discussed strategies to relax coronavirus restrictions and also the WHO's response to the deadly virus which has infected 2.5million people globally In dealing with the coronavirus, the Australian government has been one step ahead of the WHO since even before it reached Australian shores on 25 January. That week, while the WHO director-general was busy saying China should be 'congratulated' for protecting 'the people of the world', the Australian government was hatching a national plan to stop the virus. On February 1, when there were 14,000 recorded cases in the world, Australia banned flights from China. Two days later, on February 3, the WHO was still telling countries not to initiate travel bans. Director-General Tedros Adhanom stood up in front of the world's media and said there was no need for measures that 'unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade'. In the same press conference he called the spread of the virus 'minimal and slow' and heaped praise on China for locking down Wuhan. 'If it weren't for China, the number of cases outside China would have been very much higher,' he said. Scott Morrison criticises the WHO - but says he will not walk away At the end of his press conference on 16 April, Scott Morrison said the World Health Organisation has had 'few poor outings lately' - but defended the good work it does in the Pacific Region. The WHO has come under fire from several member states, most notably US President Donald Trump, for being slow to call coronavirus a pandemic and advising against border shut downs. Mr Morrison has also criticised the WHO for not banning wet markets in China. He said: 'I know they have had their criticism and it has been quite deserved and we have been frustrated.' But Mr Morrison said he would not walk away from funding the WHO - after President Trump said he was halting payments to the organisation. 'They do important work here in the Pacific and we will keep working with them,' the Prime Minister said. He said the WHO had helped with PNG's polio outbreak in 2018, Fiji's measles outbreak in 2019 and had been working in Western Pacific on eliminating measles tetanus. Mr Morrison said funding Australia's gives to international organisations is always being considered. Advertisement People wearing protective clothing and masks arrive at Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan, to board one of the first trains leaving the city in China's central Hubei province early on April 8 A tweet from the WHO on 24 January which shows it repeating Chinese insistence that the virus did not spread between humans Chinese President Xi Jinping wears a mask in Shangluo City, northwest China's Shannxi Province, on April 20 During a WHO meeting that day, China's delegate Li Song said banning Chinese people from travelling was 'seriously against recommendation by the WHO.' But Scott Morrison took no notice and extended the ban before also blocking flights from Iran, South Korea and Italy, which also suffered outbreaks in February. In radio interview with Alan Jones on 2GB on February 6, Mr Morrison backed his decision to ignore the WHO. 'We've noted all the things the WHO and others said. But frankly, we're making the calls based on what we think is best for Australia,' he said. Then, on February 27, Australia became one of the first countries in the world to publicly declare the crisis had 'pandemic potential'. Why is the WHO director-general 'sympathetic' to China? At the end of Janaury, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom enjoyed a trip to China to rub shoulders with President Xi Jinping. When he returned, he hailed China for 'transparency' - even though it had covered up the extent of the outbreak by detaining doctors who sought to alert citizens. Australian professor John Mackenzie, a member of the World Health Organization's emergency committee, called China 'reprehensible' - but Dr Adhanom said China should be 'congratulated' for protecting 'the people of the world'. He then fawned over the communist leader, telling aides he was 'very impressed and encouraged by the president's detailed knowledge of the outbreak.' Since then, Tedros Adhanom has been called a 'China apologist' by various commentators. Kristine Lee, China analyst at an influential US think-tank said: 'There is a clear narrative coming out of the WHO that panders to Xi Jinping's view about his country's handling of coronavirus.' But why? Perhaps it goes back to his time as a top Ethiopian politician, wrote journalist Ian Birrell. He served in senior roles under Meles Zenawi, who ran a brutal dictatorship with close ties to Beijing, which admired the regime's authoritarian model of development. Intriguingly, Tedros was accused of covering up three outbreaks of cholera during his seven years as health minister, although the claims were dismissed as dirty tactics to try to derail his bid to become the WHO boss. Shortly after starting his new job with the WHO in 2017, he appointed Robert Mugabe as a 'goodwill ambassador', only to back down after furious protests from human rights groups pointing out the despot had devastated Zimbabwe's health service while wrecking his nation. Mugabe, as head of the African Union and a close ally of China, had helped him win the WHO post. Beijing also used its financial muscle to build support among developing nations, with Xi said to see the achievement as a sign of China's growing strength. Advertisement Mr Morrison told news reporters that afternoon: 'Based on the expert medical advice we have received, there is every indication that the world will soon enter a pandemic phase of the coronavirus.' Meanwhile, the WHO was still refusing to use the word even as cases around the globe soared to 83,000. 'If misused, [the word] can cause unreasonable fear, or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over,' director-general Adhanom said. This is something the World Health Organisation should do something about Scott Morrison on wet markets Finally, after huge international pressure, the WHO declared a pandemic on 11 March, two weeks after Mr Morrison used the word. In a press conference on April 2, the Australian Prime Minister emphasised how slow the WHO had been. 'Ten weeks ago, ahead of the rest of the world, Australia listed the coronavirus as a disease with pandemic potential under our Biosecurity Act,' he said. 'Five weeks ago, a fortnight before the World Health Organisation, we called out the coronavirus as a pandemic.' 'We activated the emergency response plan on that basis. Further border closures and measures were announced and implemented,' he said. The Australian government has also been among the first to criticise China's wet markets where the virus jumped from animals to humans in November. People crowd to buy meat and fish at Khlong Toei wet market in Thailand. The virus is thought to have begun in Wuhan's wet market and there are calls for wet markets to be banned A person wearing a face mask as a preventive measure against the spread of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus carries groceries in Wuhan on April 20 In another interview on 2GB in early April, Mr Morrison called the markets a 'real problem' and slammed the WHO for inaction. 'This is something the World Health Organisation should do something about. I mean, all this money that comes out of the UN and the World Health organisation.' Mr Morrison said the WHO should be held to account for the way it uses Australian tax dollars. 'You know, this is why we've got to be quite strident on these things in these forums and make sure that they're dealing with what are quite serious world health risks,' he said. DAKOTA CITY -- A Sioux City woman whose common-law husband died of COVID-19 after working at Tyson Fresh Meats Dakota City plant says she believes the company didn't react quickly enough to an outbreak of the novel coronavirus. Raymundo Corral, 64, a front line worker at the beef plant, died Saturday afternoon at his Sioux City home, his wife, Anna Bell, told the Journal Tuesday. Bell said a medical examiner told her Tuesday that Corral had tested positive for COVID-19. "Were deeply saddened by the loss of a team member from our Dakota City plant, and are keeping the family in our thoughts and prayers," Tyson said in a statement Tuesday night. Local health officials on Tuesday announced Woodbury County's first death from the virus, but did not identify the individual, other than to say it was a male between ages 61 and 80. Bell said her husband started feeling ill about two weeks ago, but he continued to report to duty at the sprawling plant, which employs about 4,300. Despite reporting symptoms of the virus, he was never tested before he died, she said. In late February or early March, Tyson gave employees a letter to show to law enforcement if they were stopped on their way to or from work to prove they were classified as essential employees, she said. Although workers at the plant eventually received daily wellness checks, including daily temperature screenings and masks and other protective equipment, Bell believes the company should have made workplace modifications sooner. The temperature checks started in late March or early April, she said. "I would say (to Tyson officials) it would have been great if you would have treated your employees like human beings instead of just expendable assets," Bell said. Bell, 57, also contracted the virus and was hospitalized Saturday at MercyOne Siouxland Medical Center, shortly after her husband was pronounced dead. She was released from the Sioux City hospital on Tuesday afternoon. Their daughter, Sarah Corral, 20, also of Sioux City, remains hospitalized at UnityPoint Health -- St. Luke's in Sioux City. Sarah Corral had been placed on a ventilator, but is now breathing on her own. She also tested positive for COVID-19. Each member of the family had underlying medical conditions, which health experts say increases the risk of contracting COVID-19. Ray Corral had high blood pressure and was diabetic. Bell is a cancer survivor who also suffers from an irregular heartbeat and high blood pressure. Their daughter has diabetes. We both had underlying conditions, We were both older. I knew that we were sitting ducks, she said. Spike in cases The first COVID-19-related death in metro Sioux City comes amid a major surge in positive cases. In Dakota County, home to the Tyson plant, health officials authorities reported 27 new cases Tuesday, raising the total to 96. Ten days ago, the Northeast Nebraska county of about 20,000 people had zero confirmed cases. Across the Missouri River, Woodbury County reported 18 and 34 new positive tests the last two days, respectively, raising its total to 93. Local health officials in both counties have repeatedly refused to say whether the recent escalation is linked in any way to the Tyson plant, which is easily the metro's largest employer. Across the tri-state region, several meat plants have emerged as hot spots for the virus. As of Friday, 23 workers at the Dakota City plant had tested positive for COVID-19, according to an official familiar with the situation who spoke to the Journal on the condition of anonymity. Tyson has acknowledged that some workers have tested positive, but has repeatedly refused to disclose a number. In an interview with the Journal Monday, Tyson Fresh Meats group president Steve Stouffer denied the flagship beef plant was a main source of exposure. "People are led to believe our plant is a vector of community spread, but that is not the case," Stouffer said in the interview. "There is no way of knowing where our community members are getting this." Bell said the only place her family could have been exposed to the virus was through her husbands workplace. I am not buying the company line that they werent a hot spot," Bell said. "They were offering a bonus of $500 if you didnt miss a shift. People wanted that $500. "And considering the majority of the workers there are immigrants, who may not understand English as well as they could, my husband had me to tell him what to do. He knew that I was looking out for him, Bell continued. In late March, Tyson announced about $60 million in bonuses to 116,000 front line workers and truckers as a "thank you" for their efforts during the pandemic. Eligible workers will receive a $500 bonus, payable during the first week of July. Bell said her husband hadn't missed a day of work until early last week. He did take this last Monday (April 13) off because he hadnt been feeling well since that Sunday. He was kind of on the perky side. I wouldnt have thought it was COVID-19. We went and paid a few bills and then he went to work Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. He came home Friday about 10:30 a.m. He usually doesnt get home until around 3:30 or 4 p.m. I heard him come in and I knew something was wrong, Bell said. Corral was required to see a nurse at the plant before leaving Friday, Bell said. He had a temperature but it was within the acceptable range for him to be at work, she said. When he got home he was shaking, coughing a lot. His hands were shaking a lot when he tried to eat something, she said. He went back to sleep. She called a COVID-19 hotline, where she was advised to call a doctor. But she decided to wait. I didnt realize he was that bad, she said. He slept most of the day Friday in between doses of Tylenol. Corral woke up Saturday morning seeming to be OK. He was hungry and I made him some food. He snores so it was hard to tell if he was having trouble breathing or just snoring. It was a little after 2 p.m. and it was time for me to give him his acetaminophen. Corral begged off, saying he would take it later. Bell went into the other room and laid down for a nap. About 6:30 p.m. she woke up and went to check on Corral. He was on his back and there was foam on his lips, she said. I went over and he was cold and he was unresponsive. I called 911. The EMTs arrived a short time later. There was nothing they could do, Bell said. I started to go into shock and they took me into the ER and I was tested and I got the (COVID-19) results that same night. Bell said one of Corral's co-workers called him on Friday after he went home sick reporting that 25 Tyson plant employees had left their shift early that day. She has spoken with officials at the Dakota City plant since Rays death. The family was referred to the company chaplain and was told to let officials know if they could help in any way. Preventive measures In early April, Tyson announced it had started taking temperatures of workers at all locations before they enter company facilities. At some locations, including Dakota City, infrared temperature scanners were deployed. Tyson said it also had stepped up deep cleaning and sanitizing of the facilities, especially in employee break rooms, locker rooms and other areas, to protect workers. Following federal and state guidelines, Tyson also said it was implementing additional ways to promote more social distancing at the plants. The strategies include erecting dividers between work stations and increasing the space between workers on the production floor. Tyson also called on federal officials to deliver more personal protective equipment for its workers. Bell said her husband dismissed her warnings about the need for social distancing at work, saying it was nearly impossible to practice in a crowded locker room when one shift was ending their day and another was coming on line. "I am never going to find as wonderful a man as my husband was,'' Bell said. "He was a wonderful father." A specimen is turned in at the mobile testing site at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in South Los Angeles. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times) California public health officials have partially lifted restrictions on who should receive tests for the coronavirus, recommending for the first time that asymptomatic people living or working in high-risk settings such as nursing homes, prisons and even some households should now be considered a priority. The move makes California the first state to broaden restrictive federal guidelines and reflects increasing availability of testing, as major labs report sufficient supplies and excess capacity to run more procedures, according to the public health department. The developments are viewed by some experts as a significant step toward establishing widespread testing in California to identify and isolate every coronavirus case. California is leading the way, said Brandon Brown, an epidemiologist at UC Riverside. We will be able to test more individuals, identify more people currently with COVID-19, isolate them, and thereby both flatten the curve and prevent the future spread of infection. But others say it's too early to tell if sufficient progress is being made to enhance a testing process that has been botched from the start by delays and bungling. Just last week, state officials said swab and reagent supply chains remained inadequate across the state. Like other states, California had previously adhered to narrow testing recommendations put forth by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which identify hospitalized patients and symptomatic healthcare workers as the primary subjects for testing. A second-priority tier includes symptomatic people who are either elderly or have underlying conditions. People who do not show symptoms are labeled NON-PRIORITY, under federal guidelines. Under Californias new guidelines, asymptomatic people who work or live in high-risk settings, as identified by public health officials, are "Priority 1." While doctors have long been given autonomy to decide which patients should be offered tests, they faced pressure from hospital administrators who cited CDC guidelines to save testing tools for the sickest. The tests also rarely reached mild or asymptomatic people who did not have reason to seek medical attention, but could be spreading the virus. Story continues Most of the people who wanted to get tested didn't meet the criteria for who was allowed to get tested under the previous guidelines, said Bob Kocher, an adjunct professor at Stanford University School of Medicine who serves on Gov. Gavin Newsom's task force on testing. The new recommendations will grant health workers the liberty to use testing resources in any "congregate living situation" where the virus could spread quickly. That means nursing homes, prisons, and even certain households where they believe residents are at risk. The public health department also added a fourth-priority tier to its recommendations, explicitly noting that local officials may test all low-risk symptomatic persons and even conduct surveillance testing of asymptomatic persons when possible. Our job is to make sure that all Californians can get a test done, and that it's convenient, and accurate and that our state leads the country in the amount of testing done, Kocher said. I think well achieve that goal. Outside experts say the changes signal an overall shift in response strategy, tracking and testing each confirmed case's close contacts in order to halt transmission. Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Assn., called it wonderful news, saying the broader criteria would allow experts to trace contacts more extensively. Enhanced tracking will result in much better disease containment. According to the departments memo to healthcare workers, one major reason for the changes is increased access to supplies. Testing is becoming more readily available at hospital, academic, commercial, and public health laboratories across California, it said. High-volume labs across California have the collective capacity to run more than 80,000 tests per day, Kocher said. Technicians at Kaiser, Sutter Health, Quest, LabCorp, and the University of California have ample supplies and would be happy to have more samples, Kocher said. They could run a lot more tests a day, but they don't have that many samples. That comes as a surprise to some, given ongoing difficulties in global supply chains. Los Angeles County on Monday reported the results of an enormous testing backlog; earlier this month, California's testing lagged behind most other states due in part to supply issues. People continue to talk about testing, testing, testing. I think people don't understand that theres some real fallacies to that, said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, who said officials across the country appear to be out-of-touch with the reality of supply shortages. This is not about money. It's about physics. Its just, you can't make up this kind of capacity overnight, he added. For people who think they're going to base an amazing program on this this is just naive. As recently as last Wednesday, Newsom pointed to ongoing product shortages that have hampered Californias testing efforts. "We need more swabs. We've been very directed and pointed in terms of working with our partners at FEMA, to try to procure those swabs, he said. The task force also acknowledged the procurement issues. There are definitely some small hospital labs you can find that will say, Im out of stuff, and I cant get it, and theyre dealing with the shortage in the extraction chemicals, said Kocher. But we've come up with good plans to resolve bottlenecks. We have a nice supply, he added. The state hopes to be running 25,000 tests per day by the end of April, Kocher said, and will continue to increase capacity over the summer. If it turns out that we need a lot more testing, then well work to get even more, Kocher said. Times staff writer John Myers contributed to this report. The Supreme Court on Wednesday quashed the January 2000 order of the erstwhile state of Andhra Pradesh which provided 100 per cent reservation to the Scheduled Tribe candidates for the post of teachers in schools in the scheduled areas, saying it was "arbitrary" and "not permissible" under the Constitution. A five-judge Constitution bench, headed by Justice Arun Mishra noted that providing 100 per cent reservation would be "unfair" and "unreasonable" and no law mandates that only tribal teachers can teach in the scheduled areas. Referring to the 1992 Indra Sawhney judgement, popularly called the Mandal Commission verdict, the apex court said it was emphasised that the founding fathers never envisaged reservation of all seats and 50 per cent quota shall be the rule. It noted that as per the 1992 verdict, extreme caution has to be exercised and special case has to be made out for exceeding 50 per cent reservation limit. "There were no such extraordinary circumstances to provide a 100 per cent reservation in scheduled areas. It is an obnoxious idea that tribals only should teach the tribals. When there are other local residents, why they cannot teach is not understandable," said the bench, also comprising Justices Indira Banerjee, Vineet Saran, M R Shah and Aniruddha Bose. "The action defies logic and is arbitrary. Merit cannot be denied in toto by providing reservations," the bench said, adding that the order providing 100 per cent reservation is "arbitrary, illegal, impermissible, and unconstitutional". In its 152-page verdict, the top court said it is apparent that despite more than 72 years of attaining independence, "we are not able to provide benefits to the bottom line, i.e., downtrodden and oppressed classes. Benefits meant to such classes are not reaching them". It said that those belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were making a struggle for freedom, various rights in the country and they have also suffered discrimination and remained an "unequal and vulnerable section of the society". It said the basis for providing them reservation was to provide them upliftment and to eradicate their sufferings. "We have not been able to eradicate untouchability in the real sense so far and to provide safety and security to downtrodden class and to ensure that their rights are preserved and protected, and they equally enjoy frugal comforts of life," it said. The bench, while emphasising on the need to improve the system and ensure implementation of beneficial measures, observed that the right to information system has to be strengthened at the village level and people must know how money meant for development has been utilised. "Transparency of administration is vital for the removal of corruption," the bench said. Dealing with the issue of quota, the top court said that rights of tribals, who are not residents of scheduled areas, shall be adversely affected if 100 per cent reservation is provided in such areas. It also dealt with the issue related to validity of action of the Governor in issuing the notification providing 100 per cent reservation and said that, "Every action of the legislature, whether it is Parliament or State, has to conform with the rights guaranteed in Part III of Constitution". "There is no power to the legislature or to the Governor to act contrary to the constitutional provisions, and they cannot enact a law in derogation to the provision contained in Part III of the Constitution," it said. Referring to the Presidential Order issued under Article 371-D of the Constitution, which deals with special provisions with respect to the states of Andhra Pradesh or Telangana, the bench said it intends that the candidates have to apply within the district. "The candidates of local areas or other candidates except for Scheduled Tribes have been deprived of the opportunity of seeking public employment because of the order issued by the Governor, and they cannot apply outside the local area in view of the Presidential notification," it said, adding, "The Governor could not have issued the order in derogation to the Presidential Order." The bench also noted in its verdict that a similar order was issued by the erstwhile state of Andhra Pradesh in 1986 and the same was quashed by the state administrative tribunal. It said that against the quashing of order, an appeal was preferred in the apex court but it was dismissed as withdrawn in the year 1998. "After withdrawal of the appeal from this Court, it was expected of the erstwhile State of Andhra Pradesh not to resort to such illegality of providing 100 per cent reservation once again," the bench said. "In the peculiar circumstance, we save the appointments conditionally that the reorganised states i.e. the States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana not to attempt a similar exercise in the future. If they do soand exceed the limit of reservation, there shall not be any saving of the appointments made, w.e.f. 1986 till date," it said, adding, "The cost of appeal is quantified at Rupees Five Lakhs and to be shared equally by the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Mumbai, April 22 : Amitabh Bachchan's Marathi film "AB Aani CD" released at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic was beginning to impact India, due to which theatres had to be shut down. Now, the film is all set for a digital premiere on May 1. Produced by Akshay Bardapurkar, the dramedy is directed by Milind Lele and also features Vikram Gokhale. The film was one of the first few theatrical releases to impacted by the nation-wide lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak in India. The film will be released on Amazon Prime Video on Maharashtra Day. Talking about its digital premiere, Bardapurkar said: "In the current circumstances, public safety and health is of paramount importance. It therefore made absolute sense to digitally debut this beautiful movie with our streaming partner Amazon Prime Video. In association with Prime Video, we are thrilled to release the film to mark Maharashtra Day and Labor Day as an ode to our all frontline heroes in the battle against COVID. It is our humble tribute to an enormous effort which will be remembered for a long time." "AB Aani CD" is a coming-of-age film that follows two playschool friends Amitabh and Vikram who meet almost after 70 years at a birthday party. "After facing a great amount of revenue loss, this time around the makers would not like to take any chances and they are in talks with a few insurance companies to understand that if all types of calamities/ pandemics are covered in it along with almost all unforeseen circumstances. Once we have clarity, the idea is to secure the film right from the inception, it's high time we give importance to such important things and not to leave everything to destiny, as producers lives on the fact that the film will get its full release everywhere be it theatres or any other platforms," said Bardapurkar while talking about losses incurred due to the removal of the film, and post COVID-19 era. -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed By AFP MISSOURI: The US state of Missouri on Tuesday sued China's leadership over the COVID-19 coronavirus, seeking damages over what it described as deliberate deception and insufficient action to stop the pandemic. The first-of-a-kind state lawsuit comes amid calls in Congress to punish China and a campaign by President Donald Trump to focus on Beijing's role, amid criticism of his own handling of the crisis. Missouri, led by Trump's Republican Party, filed a lawsuit in a federal court seeking an unspecified amount in damages and an injunction on continuing actions by China that are alleged to include hoarding of protective equipment. "The Chinese government lied to the world about the danger and contagious nature of COVID-19, silenced whistleblowers and did little to stop the spread of the disease. They must be held accountable for their actions,," Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said. The lawsuit's chances of success are far from certain as US law, under the principle of sovereign immunity, generally forbids court action against foreign governments. Missouri addressed the issue by suing the ruling Communist Party, arguing that it is not formally an organ of the Chinese state. ALSO READ| Officials link seven US COVID-19 cases to in-person voting on April 7 in Wisconsin Citing an estimate that Missouri may lose tens of billions of dollars due to the virus and action to prevent it, the lawsuit accused the Chinese Communist Party of being in "knowing, willful and in reckless disregard of the rights of the state and its residents." The lawsuit pointed to Chinese authorities' early suppression of news of the virus when it broke out in Wuhan, including detentions of whistleblowers. It also noted that China initially said there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission. Despite Trump's heavy criticism of China, his administration has been lukewarm about efforts to take action against Beijing, mindful that the Asian power is a major source of masks and other medical supplies desperately needed by the United States. Under its conservative leadership, Missouri has imposed fewer COVID-19 restrictions than most US states, including allowing businesses to remain open as long as they limit the number of people present and ensure space between them. Missouri as of Tuesday had reported 189 COVID-19 deaths, half of them in St. Louis. A lucky safari park visitor caught a rare glimpse at a patient mother leopard relocating her small baby cubs and helping them cross the road. Thinus Delport, 64, told his daughters to start singing to entice the animals out while visiting the Kruger National Park in South Africa and to their surprise it worked. The leopard mother is first spotted with her cubs in the bushes to the side of the road, much to the excitement of visitors who can be heard cooing at the adorable youngsters in the background of the clip. Thinus Delport, 64, captured the rare moment a mother leopard relocated her two cubs at the Kruger National Park in South Africa She creeps from the overgrowth first, appearing to be scoping out the area for potential dangers and her two tiny babies follow after her but turn back around to safety. The spotted animal soon realises they didn't come with her and stands in the middle of the road patiently waiting for them before going back and sitting in front of the bushes where they are hidden. She fetches them again for attempt number two and the sweet cubs sheepishly walk across the road where several cars have stopped to watch and let them pass safely. The mother appears first and patiently waits for her cubs to follow her across the road but has to turn around as they run back into the bushes to safety Traffic stops to watch the incredible sight as the mother and her cubs slowly make their way across the road to the bushes the other side One of them falls behind and decides to have a rest in the middle of the road and can be heard screeching for its mother. It tries to turn back round but the mother swiftly grabs hold of its neck and sets it on the right path before disappearing again into the bushes. Kruger National Park gives visitors the opportunity to see big cats in the wild but it is rare to see a leopard relocating her cubs at such a young age. Mr Delport saw the animals cross a road 6km from Lower Sabie towards Crocodile Bridge. Mr Delport said he jokingly asked his daughters to sing to encourage the animals out of the bushes where they were hiding and to his amazement it worked Despite a few setbacks, and one of her cubs deciding to have a rest in the middle of the road, the three leopards all make it across safely and disappear again He told Latest Sightings.com: 'Early morning, my daughters and I left the camp looking for leopards. They were convinced that there are no leopards in the Kruger, as neither of them had ever seen one. As we drove, I jokingly convinced them to start singing in the car, to draw the leopards out, and so they did and to my surprise it actually worked. 'It was my daughters first visit to the Kruger and she was the first to whip out her video camera. Im glad she did because I would have been shaking so much from excitement, that the footage might have just been ruined. 'Weve been visiting the Kruger for over 50 years, and not once have we seen something like this. This just came to show that patience really does pay off.' Warning: This story describes graphic violence. The Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta has published two new videos corroborating the brutal torture and murder of a deserter in Syria. It was mercenaries that are part of Russia's "Wagner" private military company who are alleged to have carried out the killing in June 2017, Meduza reports. The videos show the man being burned in the groin with a fuse from a hand grenade, shot at with machine guns, and beaten with a sledgehammer. Novaya Gazeta also published photos showing the mans severed head hanging from a fence. Furthermore, the newspaper's journalists have revealed the full name of one of the alleged executioners: Stanislav Dychko (previously identified as "Stanislav D"). According to Novaya Gazeta, he was born in 1990 and served in the Stavropol police before joining the Wagner group in 2016. Read alsoRussian propaganda targets CNN reporter following exclusive reporting on country's secret army in Africa media "If the footage we published before did not make an impression on the employees of the Russian Investigative Committee [] and the investigators did not see any evidence of a crime, then we suggest they look again," the Novaya Gazeta report reads. This gruesome murder allegedly took place at the Shaer gas field in Syria in June 2017. The victim has been identified as Mohammed Taha Ismail Al-Abdullah, a Syrian man who deserted from the Assad regime's army. In November 2019, the Novaya Gazeta posted a video, in which two people are seen torturing the Syrian man, while speaking Russian. At this point, the publication identified one of the executioners as "Stanislav D" and appealed to the Russian Investigative Committee to launch an official investigation into the incident. Previously, the St. Petersburg news outlet Fontanka published the names of four more mercenaries from the Wagner group who allegedly took part in torturing and killing the Syrian man. According to the Novaya Gazeta, between five and seven people were involved in the murder. Student John Steinharter works at Dana Farber conducting cancer research. ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., April 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- US Federal Contractor Registration (USFCR) awards the Eric Knellinger Presidential Scholarship to student John Jack Steinharte. Steinharte is a medical student conducting research in the field of genitourinary oncology. This includes kidney cancer among other similar afflictions. Steinharter intends to attend medical school at the University of Vermont in the beginning of summer 2020. His ultimate goal is to combine compassion with the best care possible along with moving the field forward through research. More information on this story can be found on the US Federal Contractor Registration (USFCR) blog. The Eric Knellinger Presidential Scholarship is awarded every year to one or more high school seniors or current college students. The scholarship, which is set to a minimum of $1,000, can be used to cover any cost related to education. In order to apply for this scholarship, students must submit a video or written essay explaining the benefits of government contracting for businesses. Video essay submissions for the Eric Knellinger Presidential Scholarship are required to be between two to five minutes long. A minimum of 500 words is required if the student opts for the written essay. The Eric Knellinger Presidential scholarship is accepting new applications. USFCR reserves the right to award more scholarships if they believe more entries than the submission limit are deserving of the scholarship. They also reserve the right to publish the winning entry on the company blog and otherwise promote it. USFCR is the largest and most trusted third-party government registration firm. Since 2010, the company has helped businesses, nonprofits, and government entities get in compliance for federal grants or contracts. This is done by getting them registered in the System for Award Management (SAM). USFCR also provides processing services for small business set-asides. These include veteran-owned, women owned, 8(a) program, and HUBZone. For more information about US Federal Contractor Registration, reach us at (877)-252-2700 or by email at info@usfcr.com On April 15, the nursing home called my daughter, notifying her that Christine was positive. She asked them to test me too. I got a swab, and then they officially put us in isolation together. Meanwhile, it seemed like no one had told Christine anything about her results. Everyone around us the staff, Christines relatives kept talking sideways around her illness, acting as if nothing unusual was happening. I just about threw a fit it wasnt right for them to keep it from her, but I didnt think she should have to hear it from me. I encouraged her to keep pressing the staff about her results. Meanwhile, she was getting worse and worse (she felt hot, sick to her stomach, too weak to get to the bathroom on her own), and I could only watch, helpless, from a few feet away. I could tell that Christine was getting really scared. At night, she had bad dreams and begged for someone to come and sit with her. The Paycheck Protection Program, part of the CARES Act passed by the U.S. Congress in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent economic recession, is ostensibly meant for smaller mom-and-pop businesses, the kind whose entire staff is often living paycheck to paycheck. According to the terms of the program, a business needs to have less than 500 employees in order to apply. However, there are a couple of exceptions to this. If a business with more than 500 employees meets the Small Business Administration (SBA) industry size standard (meaning it operates in a big enough industry to be small in comparison), it can apply for the loan. Additionally, businesses that operate in accommodations and food services and have multiple locations with less than 500 employees each can qualify. In other words, certain publicly traded companies can, and have, applied for and received some of the largest PPP loans. Additionally, since these bigger business typically have more employees and liquidity already on hand, they are almost certain to meet the requirements needed for their loans to be forgiven. "SBA will forgive loans if all employees are kept on the payroll for eight weeks and the money is used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest, or utilities," reads the SBA information page for the PPP. Due to the high demand for loans, another stipulation was added: 75% of the loan must go towards payroll. Data compiled by Morgan Stanley (MS) shows that the biggest publicly traded companies receiving the largest PPP loans are DMC Global Inc. (NASDAQ:BOOM), WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) and Fiesta Restaurant Group Inc. (NASDAQ:FRGI). Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE:SHAK) also received a PPP loan, but the company returned it after public outcry that it was taking money meant for smaller businesses. Story continues Why would a big company take out a PPP loan? Considering that the program is meant for small businesses, why would a publicly traded corporation feel the need to utilize it? For one, accommodations and food services businesses are being hit hard by lockdowns, as hotels and such are non-essential and food suppliers often face greater exposure to the virus. Additionally, many of them are more likely than small businesses to meet the forgiveness requirement of 75% of the loan going towards payroll. That means 25% of the loan is basically free money. For companies in dire financial straits, this could be necessary to their survival. It could also help with employee retention. With the $600 per week additional unemployment bonus that was also part of the CARES Act, employees making less than approximately $20 per hour (the exact amount depends on the state), so unemployment will now pay more than their original paycheck. This means that keeping these low-income employees on the payroll is less beneficial for the employees, but more beneficial for the company, as it would have to do less re-hiring after business picked back up. However, this all boils down to either financial weakness or taking advantage of the system. While many of their peers are tapping low-interest credit facilities and utilizing cash on hand, these businesses are rushing to receive free money from the government, indicating that investors may want to be wary of potential weakness. While some of these businesses might be good investments, others may not be. DMC Global DMC Global, or Dynamic Materials Corporation, is an explosive metalworking and perforation company based in Boulder, Colorado. The perforation business is focused on the oil and gas industry, while the explosive metalworking business is a world leader in explosion welding and advanced clad materials. On April 22, DMC Global had a market cap of $367.76 million. It was the largest publicly traded company (by market cap) to receive a PPP loan, taking out $6.7 million. With approximately 428 employees, it meets the "under 500 employees" requirement. GuruFocus gives the company a financial strength rating of 8 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 1.43 indicates a strong cash position, even though it is slightly below what the company normally had on hand in recent years. 5d172c1c068f72ace17d76c9afd6d543.png The Altman Z-Score is 5.18, meaning that the company is extremely unlikely to go bankrupt in the next two years. With interest coverage of 50.15 times and a current ratio of 2.02, DMC global has an overall strong financial position. However, the Beneish M-Score is -2.26, meaning that the company is an accounting manipulator, so investors may not be able to completely trust the numbers. With a price-earnings ratio of 11 and an operating margin of 19.6%, if DMC Global is able to eventually resume the same level of activity as in 2019, it could be a profitable investment. The Peter Lynch chart below illustrates this. bc54de43b7c45aa2d5af5370a408eaad.png The collapse in oil prices has served as a huge blow to the oil sector, meaning that DMC Global's sales to this sector are likely to remain depressed, at least in the short term. However, its position as an industry leader in clad materials gives it a profitable niche. WAVE Life Sciences Singapore-based WAVE Life Sciences is biotechnology company with research focused on serious genetic diseases. It seeks to utilize the potential of nucleic acid therapeutics to create transformational therapies for genetic diseases, with a focus on Huntington's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia. On April 22, WAVE Life Sciences had a market cap of $272.52 million. The company received a PPP loan worth $7.2 million. With approximately 235 employees, the company meets the "under 500 employees" requirement. GuruFocus gives the company a financial strength rating of 2 out of 10. As a development-stage biotech, it is still at the point where it far from becoming profitable, making any present investment in the stock a prediction that the company will be able to produce high-earning products in the future. 6bb623886ff95018c613bbcc6c236c42.png The share price has traded near all-time lows since the beginning of 2020. However, this stock would still represent an unfavorable risk-reward ratio for investors, even for a biotech company. cf63eb8f22f8b38de29978e149ff634d.png Fiesta Restaurant Group Fiesta Restaurant Group owns, operates and franchises restaurants under the Taco Cabana and Pollo Tropical brand names. On April 22, Fiesta Restaurant Group had a market cap of $172.44 million. The company received a PPP loan worth $10 million. With over 10,000 employees, the company does not fit the bill for "under 500 employees," but it does operate in food services. GuruFocus gives the company a financial strength rating of 3 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 0.04 is lower than 86% of competitors, and the Altman Z-Score of 0.95 suggests that the company could potentially go bankrupt within the next couple of years. daae16bc0158c9a96cb5932ff969e504.png In addition to low financial strength, Fiesta Restaurant Group has an operating margin of 1.49% and earned a net loss in two of the past four years. f69322787f36ef635463608b53d8607f.png Shake Shack Shake Shack is a New York-based restaurant chain that serves "roadside burger stand" style burgers and shakes. With a market cap of $1.88 billion as of April 22, Shake Shack is the biggest company on this list, and also the only one that gave back its $10 million PPP loan after deciding that it just wasn't worth it. As billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban pointed out, "You're going to kill your brand" by taking the money. According to Cuban, publicly traded companies are damaging their reputations by taking PPP loans, a theory that is supported by waves of social media criticism. Shake Shack cited employee retention as its initial reason for taking out the loan originally. However, as noted above, many low-wage employees could be better off getting unemployment checks, and Shake Shack really is in a better financial position than many of its peers. GuruFocus gives the company a financial strength rating of 5 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 0.22 is average for the industry, while the Altman Z-Score of 2.42 indicates that the company is likely safe from bankruptcy. Despite recent market declines, during which Shake Shack's shares lost approximately 16% year to date, the company still trades at a price-earnings ratio of 79.91. According to the Peter Lynch chart, this puts the stock in the overvalued range, though it is trading lower than its median historical valuation. 60ae111b493140546ea6772312c9b126.png Additionally, after returning the PPP loan, Shake Shack announced that it would sell 3.4 million additional shares of its Class A common stock, raising approximately $136 million. The dilution of existing shares will likely more than neutralize any potential reputation boosts from returning the PPP loan, though the company could potentially repurchase some of these shares at a lower valuation if the price continues to fall. Conclusion The example of Shake Shack brings to light a problem with brand-based companies taking advantage of PPP loans and similar initiatives: the potential to suffer damage to their reputation. Companies like DMC Global and WAVE Life Sciences, which are mostly out of the public eye, have less cause for such worries. For these kinds of businesses, the PPP loan money will only be an asset, not a drawback. However, Shake Shack, Fiesta and other restaurants, which are dependent on their brand names, reputations and customer loyalty, may find that it is better to pursue alternative avenues to raise cash. For those that are not on the edge of financial collapse, there are plenty of other options. Disclosure: Author owns no shares in any of the stocks mentioned. The mention of stocks in this article does not at any point constitute an investment recommendation. Investors should always conduct their own careful research or consult registered investment advisors before taking action in the stock market. Read more here: Not a Premium Member of GuruFocus? Sign up for a free 7-day trial here. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. The platform is incredibly flexible and easy to personalize based on what our students need to learn in order to finish their coursework. Rouxbe, the worlds leading online culinary school, announced today they have partnered with hundreds of high schools, community colleges, universities, and culinary schools to provide online learning tools for students currently enrolled in culinary studies in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. As students are no longer able to learn within a traditional classroom environment, Rouxbe is offering the same level of education remotely through these partnerships. Students using the Rouxbe program have full access to: Culinary Foundations Levels 1 and 2, as well as their Advanced Courses on Plant-Based Foundations, Seafood Sustainability, and the James Beard Food Waste program, Waste Not! The cost for these programs are less than 10% of the charges normally assessed if one signed up individually, providing financial relief as well. Rouxbe has provided culinary education online for over 11 years, training those who move on to become professional chefs, caterers, restaurant owners as well as highly skilled home cooks, said Ken Rubin, Chief Culinary Officer at Rouxbe. Our ability to step in and help students continue their education is an honor, as we know how difficult it can be to put lives on hold. With the ability to access Rouxbe any time, from any device, students are able to work around their kids homeschool projects, taking care of loved ones or other jobs they may have. The program is designed to be flexible depending on the needs of each institution, and the exact particulars will vary depending on what works best for teachers and students. Instructors can pick and choose units to assign based on their current curriculum and what may have been covered in previous lessons. Grading can be done using Rouxbes auto graded quizzes, or though live grading - either by teachers within each individual school or by Rouxbe instructors. Rouxbe has helped make it possible for our students to bridge the gap between our traditional face to face education and our new remote learning environment; now our students can still reach their goals, said Chef Jack Kane, Program Chair of The Miami Culinary Institute at Miami Dade College. The platform is incredibly flexible and easy to personalize based on what our students need to learn in order to finish their coursework. Some of the organizations using Rouxbe for online learning include Big Sky Culinary (University of Montana), Ivy Tech, Monroe Community College, South Seattle Community College, and Scottsdale Community College. For more information, please visit: rouxbe.com/schools Rouxbe, the world's leading online culinary school, was founded in 2005 to train people of all abilities to become better, more confident even healthier cooks in kitchens around the world. With high definition videos, world-class instructors, peer support and interactive assignments, Rouxbe has set the bar as the new standard in culinary education, providing certificate-level instruction not only to quality restaurants and hospitality organizations but also to home cooks and career changers. Rouxbes revolutionary online platform delivers cutting edge e-learning solutions that drive and measure learning outcomes and engagement while providing effective, lower-cost alternatives for training professional cooks. Rouxbe programs are also recognized by both the American Culinary Federation Education Foundation and by WorldChefs as approved training programs. For more information and latest news about Rouxbe, please visit http://www.rouxbe.com. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr. 22 Trend: Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops 24 times, Trend reports referring to Azerbaijani Defense Ministry on April 22. The Armenian armed forces were using large-caliber machine guns and sniper rifles. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, April 22, 2020 20:17 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd3a2080 1 Environment COP26,COVID-19,United-Kingdom,climate-change,climate-change-Indonesia,climate-crisis,British-ambassador,Owen-Jenkins,Earth-Day,coronavirus Free While Indonesia and the rest of the world are focused on tackling the global COVID-19 crisis, British Ambassador to Indonesia Owen Jenkins has urged them not to lose sight of the challenge of climate change, as well as the urgent need for international action against the environmental crisis. The ambassador conveyed the message in a video uploaded to the British Embassy in Jakartas official Instagram account @ukinindonesia for this years anniversary of Earth Day, which falls on Wednesday. He acknowledged efforts made by Indonesia to protect the country against the impacts of climate change, such as reducing deforestation, eliminating plastic waste and protecting oceans. But like every other country in the world, Indonesia remains vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, Jenkins said in the video. Indonesia is vulnerable to the rising of sea levels as well as to other environmental threats such as the dying of coral reefs. The ambassador called on the country to protect the environment while also developing its economy. All of the evidence shows us that we can both grow our economy and protect our environment at the same time and indeed, it's often faster and cheaper to do it that way. He added that delaying action on tackling climate change might cause every stakeholder to bear higher costs in the future. Read also: Earth Day 2020: Climate crisis, carbon market and land conflict The United Kingdom government has been cooperating with Indonesia in several sectors of the environment, such as sustainable timber and palm oil and renewable energy programs, as well as a green sustainable financial system. Climate change has become the talk of the town in the UK recently, as the country has been selected to host this years United Nations climate summit, known as COP26, along with Italy as co-hosts. However, the conference has been postponed to 2021 due to the global coronavirus outbreak. I am particularly looking forward to being able to return to a partnership with our Indonesian colleagues to tackle climate change, said Jenkins at the end of the video. (kuk) Facebook confirmed it had reluctantly complied with governments request to restrict access to illegal content. Facebook has agreed to significantly increase the censorship of anti-state posts for local users in Vietnam after its local servers were taken offline earlier this year, slowing local traffic to a crawl, two sources at the company told Reuters News Agency on Tuesday. The restrictions, which the sources said were carried out by state-owned telecommunications companies, knocked the servers offline for about seven weeks, meaning the website became unusable at times. We believe the action was taken to place significant pressure on us to increase our compliance with legal takedown orders when it comes to content that our users in Vietnam see, the first of the two Facebook sources told Reuters. In an emailed statement, Facebook confirmed it had reluctantly complied with the governments request to restrict access to content which it has deemed to be illegal. Vietnams foreign ministry, which handles requests from foreign journalists for comment from the government, did not respond to a Reuters request. State telecommunications firms Viettel, Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) also did not respond to requests for comment. Commenting on the Reuters report, human rights group Amnesty International called on Facebook to immediately reverse its decision. Facebooks compliance with these demands sets a dangerous precedent. Governments around the world will see this as an open invitation to enlist Facebook in the service of state censorship, the group said in a statement on Wednesday. Facebook has faced pressure to take down anti-government content in many countries over the years. In Vietnam, despite sweeping economic reform and increasing openness to social change, the governing Communist Party retains tight control of media and tolerates little dissent, ranking 175th of 180 countries on Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index. To that end, it keeps a close watch on Facebook, which serves more than 65 million users as the main platform for both e-commerce and expressions of political dissent. Activist jailed Early last year, Vietnam accused Facebook of violating a new cybersecurity law by allowing users to post anti-government comments on the platform. In the months that followed, Amnesty International said at least 16 people were arrested, detained or convicted for such posts. In November, state media reported that five more had been jailed. The cybersecurity law requires foreign companies such as Facebook to set up local offices and store data in Vietnam although Facebook says it does not store user data in the country. The Facebook sources said the company typically resists requests to block access to user posts in a specific country, but the pressure of having its local servers impeded had forced it to comply. To be clear, that does not mean we will be complying with every request that the government sends us. But we did commit to restricting significantly more content, one source said. Facebooks statement said: We believe freedom of expression is a fundamental human right, and work hard to protect and defend this important civil liberty around the world However, we have taken this action to ensure our services remain available and usable for millions of people in Vietnam, who rely on them every day. Big market Since 2016, Vietnam has become of one of Facebooks biggest markets in Asia. According to Ants, a Vietnam-based market researcher, digital advertising revenue in Vietnam amounted to around $550m in 2018, 70 percent of which went to United States social media giants Facebook and Google. The server shutdown began in mid-February and persisted until early April, the sources said, at the same time as concerns about the spread of the novel coronavirus were intensifying. With Facebook usage so widespread in Vietnam, users began to notice that access was slow to Facebook as well as its Messenger chatting app and its picture-blogging site, Instagram. State media at the time blamed the slowdown on maintenance to undersea cables, and state telecommunications firms apologised for unstable access to Facebook. VNPT and partners are actively working to check and rectify the problem, VNPT said in a statement at the time. But behind the scenes, as Facebook struggled to maintain its services, it was talking to the government, the sources said. Once we committed to restricting more content, then after that, the servers were turned back online by the telecommunications operators, one source said. The second source contrasted the drop in traffic in Vietnam with a surge elsewhere as dozens of countries put in place restrictions on movement that encouraged separated friends and families to turn to Facebook. Vietnamese telcos were unique in restricting access at a time when people need services like Facebook. It was a sharp contrast with other places in the world, they said. Thankfully, thats now resolved. Using advanced technology that allows them to rapidly identify the tiny mutations that the virus makes in its virulent path through human hosts, the scientists working in Washington and several other states made two disconcerting discoveries. The first was that the virus brought in by the man from Wuhan or perhaps, as new data has suggested, by someone else who arrived carrying a nearly identical strain had managed to settle into the population undetected. Then they began to realize how far it had spread. A small outbreak that had established itself somewhere north of Seattle, they realized as they added new cases to their database, was now responsible for all known cases of community transmission they examined in Washington State in the month of February. And it had jumped. A genetically similar version of the virus directly linked to that first case in Washington was identified across 14 other states, as far away as Connecticut and Maryland. It settled in other parts of the world, in Australia, Mexico, Iceland, Canada, the United Kingdom and Uruguay. It landed in the Pacific, on the Grand Princess cruise ship. The unique signature of the virus that reached Americas shores in Seattle now accounts for a quarter of all U.S. cases made public by genomic sequencers in the United States. With no widespread testing available, the high-tech detective work of the researchers in Seattle and their partners elsewhere would open the first clear window into how and where the virus was spreading and how difficult it would be to contain. Even as the path of the Washington State version of the virus was coursing eastward, new sparks from other strains were landing in New York, in the Midwest and in the South. And then they all began to intermingle. Mumbai: Maharashtra Minister Anil Deshmukh on Wednesday said none of the 101 people arrested in connection with the Palghar lynching case is a Muslim, and accused the opposition of giving a communal colour over the incident. "None of the accused arrested in connection with the incident is a Muslim. It is unfortunate that communal politics is being played following the incident, Deshmukh said in his address via Facebook. Without naming anyone, he said, "Some people are seeing 'Mungerilal ke haseen sapne' (pipedream)...it is not the time to play politics, but fight coronavirus collectively." The incident took place on the night of April 16 when three men two seers and their driver were going from Mumbai in a car towards Surat in Gujarat to attend a funeral. Their vehicle was stopped near a village in Palghar district where the three were dragged out of the car and beaten to death with sticks by a mob on suspicion that they were child-lifters. The deceased were identified as Chikne Maharaj Kalpavrukshagiri (70), Sushilgiri Maharaj (35), and driver Nilesh Telgade (30). The Maharashtra government earlier ordered a high- level probe into the incident, and two policemen from Palghar were suspended on Monday for alleged dereliction of duty. COVID-19 makes life harder for hundreds of thousands of Africas persecuted Christians Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment As the COVID-19 outbreak begins in sub-Saharan Africa, hundreds of thousands of Christian believers, who are already persecuted for their faith, are now also bearing the brunt of the restrictions being imposed in the region to fight the pandemic, according to Open Doors USA. Persecuted for their decision to follow Jesus, believers in four of the five most virus-vulnerable countries in the region are now doubly vulnerable to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, says Open Doors in a report. The Christian ministrys World Watch Research data indicates a direct correlation between the countries in sub-Saharan Africa that are most vulnerable to the virus and the countries where Christians face the most pressure for following Jesus, referring to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Sudan and Cameroon. The pandemic gives way to even more ways believers can be discriminated against, exploited and attacked for their faith, it explains. Citing one example, the report says that after a 22-year-old believer, Yohannes (not his real name) from Ethiopias Tigray region put his faith in Christ, he was abandoned by his Muslim family, as they saw his decision as a betrayal to their family and tribe, as well as by the community. Yohannes found refuge with other believers. Now under government-imposed coronavirus restrictions, life has changed once again for Yohannes. His struggle to live has become that much more difficult. Because his own family has turned their backs on him and the Christians he knows are now living hand-to-mouth due to not being able to work, Yohannes is struggling to find enough food to eat, the ministry shares. The situation is similar in northern Nigeria. We are facing persecution because of our faith and we are also facing a global pandemic, a local Christian minister, the Rev. John Joseph Hayab, is quoted as saying. We run away from our persecution or we run away from the global sickness that we are facing. We have a double problem. Open Doors director for West Africa, identified only as Suleiman, said hes receiving constant requests for food and other vital support from overcrowded camps for internally displaced persons those displaced by attacks from Islamic radical groups like Boko Haram, ISIS, Fulani militants and the Allied Democratic Forces across the region. In some Shariah-governed areas, the government is discriminating against Christians, the report reveals. Believers from towns in northern Nigerias Kaduna State, including Ungwan Boro, Sabon Tasha, Barnawa and Naraye, report they get six times smaller rations from the state than Muslim families, Open Doors notes. In the midst of this coronavirus challenges and situation, the attacks on Christians have not stopped, Suleiman said. In Somalia, Uganda and Niger, extremists are exploiting the opportunity to blame Christians for causing the pandemic, according to the report. However, persecuted and vulnerable believers continue to hold on to their faith. As Rev. Hayab said, But in all this, we still come back to remember the Word of Jesus: Be ye of good cheers, for I have overcome the world. But He didnt start with that; He says: In this world, you will have many troubles. This is another additional trouble we are facing. The Indian Women's Press Corps on Wednesday expressed shock over three journalists being booked by law enforcement authorities in Jammu and Kashmir and alleged that the action was aimed at "striking fear in the hearts of journalists". The Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) has been used against freelance photographer Masarat Zahra, a fellow woman journalist. The act was meant to deal with hardened terrorists, the IWPC said in a statement. It also noted that FIRs have been lodged against Peerzada Ashiq, a reporter with The Hindu newspaper based in Srinagar, and Gowhar Geelani, a freelance journalist. The IWPC said it is shocked at the manner in which law enforcement authorities in Jammu and Kashmir, over the last few days, have invoked laws to clamp down on freedom of speech and expression that violate fundamental rights laid down in the Constitution. "The intentions of the authorities in Jammu and Kashmir is to strike fear in the hearts of journalists who are simply doing their job. This is a clear message that the Union Territory will not tolerate dissent," the IWPC said. "Masarat Zahra had only posted some pictures on social media. Peerzada Ashiq had just filed a report, while Gowhar Geelani's commentary attracted the displeasure of the government," it said. The IWPC said it hopes that these strictures are withdrawn at the earliest. The Editors Guild of India on Tuesday had also expressed concern over the "high-handed manner" in which the law enforcement agencies in Jammu and Kashmir used prevailing laws to deal with Zahra and Ashiq. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Email To : Multiple e-mail addresses must be separated with a comma character(maximum 200 characters) Email To is required. Your Full Name: (optional) Your Email Address: Your Email Address is required. Even as branch locations close and all but a few credit union employees migrate to a home office or other remote workplace, the industry continues to help people through one of the most chaotic times in recent history. Thanks to high-speed internet, virtual private networks, remote desktop platforms, video conferencing and a plethora of connected systems, the movement remains open for business. But, for every bright spot technology offers, theres an equal number of potential pitfalls, specifically when it comes to data security and privacy. Credit unions are responsible for personally identifiable information, and cybercriminals use increasingly innovative and sophisticated ways to gain access to that data. I am sure your credit unions IT and cybersecurity teams have protected your systems and provided regular training for all employees. However, these teams have limited reach when it comes to your personal space. I have worked a few days at home each week over the last 10 years (vs. commuting into our New York City office) and will be completing my masters degree in cybersecurity shortly. So, I have a few thoughts on protecting sensitive data and maintaining privacy. Article Image: Cyndi Monaghan / Getty My Dear Shepherds, When newly redeemed Israel entered the wilderness, God sent them first to Mt. Sinai where they would learn what it meant to be Gods holy nation. Now our people find themselves in a kind of wilderness, a good time again to remember that we are Gods holy nation and royal priesthood. But today good shepherds orient them again and again to our better mountain home, described in Hebrews 12:22-24. You have come to Mt. Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. Lead your brothers and sisters to this homeland they have never seen. When they feel like they live in dangerous dark alleys, we take them again to Mt. Stronghold, to the heavenly Jerusalemtheir foundation of peace. And when they feel as though they live and work in a barren and howling wasteland, a land of the doomed and dead, we take them again to the city of the living God where light is like oxygen and life grows on trees. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly. It is hard sometimes to sing the songs of Zion in isolation but remind Gods people of the unseen company of the shining ones all around them, angels who never tire of heavens festival, who sang for joy when we were first found and who will help us sing now and forever. Teach them the angelic repertoire: Holy, Holy, Holy, Worthy is the Lamb, and the hallelujahs of heaven. To the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. It is hard for people fretting over our shuddering economy to remember how rich they are. Tell them again that they are as rich as Gods own firstborn Son, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. Tell them that, though they are often only a number here, in heaven their names are recorded in the Book of Life. You have come to God, the Judge of all. Take them to stand quietly in the courtroom of the Holy One. Tell them of the drama theretheir relentless and eloquent Accuser and of his air-tight case against them. Tell them of the Judges unbending justice and of sins certain death sentence. Then tell them of the substitutionary atonement and justification. Tell them of the Judges genius in satisfying his own nearly impossible demands by doing the unimaginable rendering sinners righteous without violating justice. And tell them that now they need not tremble before this Judge nor cower before this bar, but they are to come boldly to his throne where they will receive mercy and find grace to help them in time of need. You have come to the spirits of righteous ones made perfect. Introduce them to that great cloud of now-completed B.C. saints, each one urging us, fix your eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. To Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. Abels blood cried out for Gods justice but Jesus blood preaches mercy. When your dear people are muddied with guilt and failure or when they think that God has slammed the door on them take them again to Jesus our Mediator, the Guarantor of Gods love and his never-failing presence. Tell them the life-sustaining promise that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Preach, as Gods Wordworkers have always preached, God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his bloodto be received by faith (Rom.3:25). So, dear pastors, as you go about your work constantly orient Gods beloved people to that great mountain message, to our glorious gospel stronghold. Be ye glad! Lee Eclov recently retired after 40 years of local pastoral ministry and now focuses on ministry among pastors. He writes a weekly devotional for preachers on Preaching Today. YEA! Consumer Sentiment on Future Mobility Technologies Declines Even Before the New Normal Hits, J.D. Power and SurveyMonkey Find First Snide's Remarks: The consumer attitudes reflected in this survey may be the only positive to come out of our current China caused plague. Consumers are pretty smart, they understand that there is nothing wrong with, and most things right about the Internal Combustion Engine. Its only problem is the fuel it ubiquitously burns...change the fuel to clean, green, renewable and CHEAP Ethanol to eliminate harmful greenhouse emissions and the tsunami to replace ICE powered vehicles is as dead as a dead EV battery. Maybe this survey below reveals a consumer awakening that will be powerful enough to help stop the EV madness...illuminate the fact that there is no EV advantage for American drivers...stop the EV pushers, the lemming like car executives, silicon valley traitors and oh yeah the China auto industry.. Stop the disruptive/destructive effort to replace the 300 million perfectly fine paid for ICE powered vehicles on our roads. Oh yeah virtually every car owner in the U.S will be able to continue to LOVE their vehicle and stop worrying about how to afford another car, while saving lots of money on each fill-up...happy motoring America. Consumer Sentiment on Future Mobility Technologies Fatally Declines Consumer confidence in future mobility technologies lags far behind automakers plans to bring self-driving and battery-electric vehicles to the marketplace, according to the J.D. Power 2020 Q1 Mobility Confidence Index Study fueled by SurveyMonkey Audience,SM released today. The Mobility Confidence Index for self-driving vehicles decreases for the first timeto 35 from 36 on a 100-point scalefor American consumers and to 36 from 39 for Canadian consumers. For battery-electric vehicles, the index remains at 55 in the U.S. for the fourth consecutive quarter, while decreasing to 57 from 59 in Canada. Frankly, were concerned for automakers, said Kristin Kolodge, executive director of driver interaction & human machine interface research at J.D. Power. Theyre pushing forward with technology that consumers seem to have little interest in. Nor are they making the strides needed to change peoples minds. Especially now, automakers need to reevaluate where theyre spending money. They are investing billions in these technologies but they need to also invest in educating consumers. Lack of knowledge is a huge roadblock for future adoption. The quarterly study is the pulse of market readiness and acceptance for self-driving and battery-electric vehicles, as seen through the eyes of consumers and industry experts. The 2020 Q1 study includes insights from the United States and Canada. J.D. Power is joined by global survey software company SurveyMonkey to conduct the study in which more than 8,500 consumers and industry experts gave their opinions about self-driving vehicles and more than 8,000 about battery-electric vehicles. The survey was fielded in March 2020 before most stay-at-home orders went into effect. Following are key findings about self-driving vehicles: Consumers dont believe the technology is readyor that society is ready: Technology failure or error remains the top concern about self-driving technology in both countries, with Canadians being even more worried about it (75% compared with 67% in the U.S.). Canadas climate and mountainous terrain present a significant challenge as one consumer said of self-driving technology: Not practical in Canada where there is snow and messy roads. The cameras required cannot see clearly at all times as would be necessary for them to work properly and safely in this climate. Im basing my statements on the automation in our own car that only works occasionally when the roads are dirty due to camera filth. American and Canadian consumers also are worried about the law of unintended consequences that will come about as a result of self-driving vehicles. Concerns about creating a lazy society dependent on technology and with diminished driving skills is a heightened concern. Technology failure or error remains the top concern about self-driving technology in both countries, with Canadians being even more worried about it (75% compared with 67% in the U.S.). Canadas climate and mountainous terrain present a significant challenge as one consumer said of self-driving technology: Not practical in Canada where there is snow and messy roads. The cameras required cannot see clearly at all times as would be necessary for them to work properly and safely in this climate. Im basing my statements on the automation in our own car that only works occasionally when the roads are dirty due to camera filth. American and Canadian consumers also are worried about the law of unintended consequences that will come about as a result of self-driving vehicles. Concerns about creating a lazy society dependent on technology and with diminished driving skills is a heightened concern. Uncertainty about timeframe for public availability: Experts anticipate self-driving delivery services will be available in the next four years. However, their predictions for self-driving vehicles available for consumer purchase has jumped out to 18 years; five years later than predicted in the 2019 Q4 study. Experts anticipate self-driving delivery services will be available in the next four years. However, their predictions for self-driving vehicles available for consumer purchase has jumped out to 18 years; five years later than predicted in the 2019 Q4 study. Changing needs post COVID-19: Experts anticipate that consumer needs for mobility may shift even after life returns closer to normal. Said one, Coronavirus outbreak may steer some people away from shared transportation toward more private vehicle ownership, and some of these private vehicles may evolve from sophisticated ADAS to higher levels of automation. Also, self-driving delivery services may arrive at an optimal time when consumers are looking to minimize social contact. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration recently approved Nuro to test its driverless delivery vehicles on public roads in California, which accelerates the feasibility of self-driving delivery coming to market, Kolodge said. However, automakers continue to encounter technical hurdles in their quest to achieve reliable self-driving personal vehicles. Coupled with consumer sentiment about the technology, theres still a very long road ahead. Following are key findings about battery-electric vehicles: Few consumers have any experience with battery-electric vehicles: The majority (70%) of American respondents have never been in a battery-electric vehicle, and 30% say they know nothing about them. Canadians are only slightly more experienced with battery-electric vehicles (67% have never been in one) but are more knowledgeable, with 19% saying they know nothing about them. One consumer said, I like the idea of an electric powered vehicle, but at what cost? Once the batteries need replacement, how expensive are they? How do old electric car batteries affect the environment? Are they able to be recycled, or will they make the landfills even more toxic? Would I get an electric solar powered car? Yes. But wouldn't they also need batteries and then be in the same situation? The majority (70%) of American respondents have never been in a battery-electric vehicle, and 30% say they know nothing about them. Canadians are only slightly more experienced with battery-electric vehicles (67% have never been in one) but are more knowledgeable, with 19% saying they know nothing about them. One consumer said, I like the idea of an electric powered vehicle, but at what cost? Once the batteries need replacement, how expensive are they? How do old electric car batteries affect the environment? Are they able to be recycled, or will they make the landfills even more toxic? Would I get an electric solar powered car? Yes. But wouldn't they also need batteries and then be in the same situation? Previous ownership doesnt guarantee future purchases: While 29% of American consumers and 31% of Canadian consumers express some likelihood to purchase an EV in the next four years, almost the same amount have no intention to purchase one. Some who have previously owned a battery-electric vehicle wont buy again due to high maintenance costs, purchase price, limited range and performance in extreme weather. One consumer noted, Absolute hoax, does not provide enough heat to clear windows in cold weather. Car is cold to ride in in the winter. While 29% of American consumers and 31% of Canadian consumers express some likelihood to purchase an EV in the next four years, almost the same amount have no intention to purchase one. Some who have previously owned a battery-electric vehicle wont buy again due to high maintenance costs, purchase price, limited range and performance in extreme weather. One consumer noted, Absolute hoax, does not provide enough heat to clear windows in cold weather. Car is cold to ride in in the winter. Perpetual barriers remain: Charging station availability, driving range and purchase price are the top 3 barriers to battery-electric vehicles as perceived by American and Canadian consumers today. These were also the top 3 barriers in 1997 when J.D. Power studied consumer interest in electric vehicles when the GM EV1 was launching. Vehicle technology and infrastructure availability have progressed dramatically in 23 years, but consumers have not budged in their perception. Even those who have owned a battery-electric vehicle previously have these items as their top 3 barriers. The marginal short-term shifts in consumer sentiment toward self-driving vehicles only show were yet to see the lasting implications of the current crisis on consumer preferences, said Jon Cohen, chief research officer at SurveyMonkey. But we know big changes are ahead, as physical distancing will shake virtually every major industry, including automotive and how we get around. These surveys will give us a glimpse of that future as new consumer preferences form and stick. J.D. Power is a global leader in consumer insights, advisory services and data and analytics. These capabilities enable J.D. Power to help its clients drive customer satisfaction, growth and profitability. Established in 1968, J.D. Power has offices serving North America, Asia Pacific and Europe. SurveyMonkey is a leading global survey software company on a mission to power the curious. The companys People Powered Data platform empowers over 17 million active users to measure and understand feedback from employees, customers, website and app users, and the market. SurveyMonkeys products, enterprise solutions and integrations enable more than 335,000 organizations to solve daily challenges, from delivering better customer experiences to increasing employee retention. With SurveyMonkey, organizations around the world can transform feedback into business intelligence that drives growth and innovation. Last week Apple unveiled the iPhone SE (2020), an iPhone that starts at $399/479 and that was so hotly-anticipated, the rumors for it began years ago. It's a phone some cannot take seriously, while others can't wait to get their hands on. It's polarizing, it evokes discussion and even argument, and we have some thoughts on it. Here are some takeaways about the iPhone SE (2020). Unbelievable deal This is the most obvious thing about the iPhone SE (2020) - it's dirt cheap, as far as iPhones go. Most people that own an iPhone look only to Apple when it's time to replace it and they now have a new cheapest option with the iPhone SE (2020). By some margin too - the iPhone XR is a distant second at $599/699. Then there are people using phones with another OS (most likely Android) that are looking to get into Apple's ecosystem - you can't do it cheaper than with the iPhone SE (2020). Until a week ago the cheapest entry into Apple's ecosystem was a $499 iPhone 8, which is both inferior and more expensive than the iPhone SE (2020) is now. But not everywhere Apple makes it really easy to just order an iPhone SE (2020) from them and stop worrying about an affordable good phone. But there are smarter choices to consider, particularly if you aren't based in the US. Take the Samsung Galaxy S10e for example - thanks to Apple's aggressive pricing in the US the iPhone SE (2020) is a better proposition, but in Europe, for a few Euro above the 480 asking price you could nab a 128GB Galaxy S10e, which is nearly as tiny as the iPhone but has a much bigger (and much better) 5.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED and an ultrawide camera,among other things. Shopping refurbished or second hand could also reveal a few good iPhone deals (we found a few refurbished iPhone XR for 480). Small phone, huge chipset One of the biggest selling points of the iPhone SE (2020) is the A13 Bionic chipset. Sure even two and a half year old iPhone X's aren't slow, but having the latest Apple chipset ensures the iPhone SE (2020) will get software support well beyond the three years Google guarantees Pixel devices. That's a huge buying consideration for many people. It's also going to give a lot of people the bragging right that their $399 phone can outperform your $1000 Android at Geekbench or some other benchmark. Small display, big bezels We realize some people are intentionally looking for a phone with as small a display as the iPhone SE (2020), but nobody should have bezels as thick as those in 2020. Android manufacturers moved away from the conventional combination of a 16:9 display and physical buttons on the front years ago and they did it to stretch the screen as far into the body as possible. The iPhone SE (2020) inherits a design and way of thinking straight from 2014, when the iPhone 6 introduced this design language. On the plus side there are those iPhone owners that straight up refuse to leave the Touch ID home button in the past - they'll upgrade to the iPhone SE (2020) no questions asked. It's not as small as it's name might suggest The iPhone SE (2020) might be named after the iPhone SE of 2016, but it's the spiritual successor to the 4.7" iPhone 8 rather than the 4" iPhone SE. If you were hoping for a truly tiny phone with current specs, this isn't it. There are good reasons why phones this tiny are no longer made, but that is beyond the point of the current article. The colors could be better The iPhone SE (2020) comes in plain Black, White or Red. Apple could've brought the iPhone XR or iPhone 11 colors to the SE (2020), it would've made for a much more appealing phone. Heck at least bring back the Rose Gold of the original iPhone SE. The iPhone XR's camera Apple made a big deal of the iPhone SE (2020)'s Smart HDR, single-lens Portrait Mode and 4K video capture, but side-stepped the fact that it lacks Night Mode. It's 2020 and every phone has some sort of night mode in its camera. A $399 Pixel 3a has an outstanding Night Mode and that's a big selling point the iPhone SE (2020) can't answer to. Ultimately Apple will sell a ton of iPhone SE (2020)'s purely because many people buy iPhones and this is the cheapest one. People also love nostalgia and the small phone with big bezels and a physical home button has a lot of that going for it. But the iPhone SE (2020) is also undoubtedly a great phone and we can't wait to get it at the office for review. Restaurant and bar owners are scrambling to come up with a plan to open again under strict guidelines, given the ongoing pandemic. The restaurant industry was offered a bit of hope on Monday when provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry asked the industry to come up with innovative ideas to partially reopen in coming weeks, with physical distancing and no more than 50 patrons at a time. This is part of a planned phased reanimation of the provincial economy, which the restaurant sector contributes $15 billion to each year. Before the closure, many bars, clubs and dining rooms were open with reduced seating, spaced tables and limited menus. Now as the weather warms, there will be a focus on seating customers on patios or outdoors. "I think there are lots of innovative ways that we can have in-restaurant dining that protects both the staff and people coming in," provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Monday. Best news in a long time Food industry leaders are meeting over the next few days to concoct a plan to present to Henry within a week. Many in the 190,000-employee restaurant sector see this as a great opportunity. "It's hope. It's real hope. Psychologically, the fact that we are even able to talk about opening right now is very positive. Now, there is some clear indication that there's hope and that's probably the best news we've had in a long time," said Ian Tostenson, president of the B.C. Restaurant and Food Services Association. Ben Nelms/CBC Most restaurant workers were left unemployed in March after health officials ordered dining floors closed, allowing only takeout and delivery services. But before that hope can become reality, the province's health officer must approve. On Monday, she said "limited" openings are possible, and challenged the industry to find ways to make it work. "It's not going to be easy and it's not ideal either," said Tostenson. Story continues He acknowledged that rebuilding consumer confidence will also be a challenge, and he expects there will have to be visible cleaning going on, with spray bottles and strict distancing, to show consumers it's safe to eat out again. Emad Yacoub, the CEO of Glowbal Restaurant Group, which owns 10 restaurants in the Metro Vancouver area, said he's looking at all sorts of strategies employed in other cities, particularly Taipei, Taiwan, where restaurants have stayed open during the pandemic. Though the levels of hospitality and human contact will not be the same for some time, he's eager to get back to work. "At least give us a chance to survive," Yacoub said. Some fear the cost of reopening, if it's just going to end in closure again, will bankrupt them. If COVID-19 starts spreading more fiercely again as restrictions lift, a second closure is possible. "Of course we want to reopen but not to close again. We got whispers that they want to do a "soft" open and then do another "hard" close. You might as well put a stake in our industry," said Karri Schuermans, part-owner of Chambar Restaurant in Vancouver. It's a fear shared by Mark Brand, the owner and operator of Save-on Meats, as well as the Diamond in Gastown. "We would not re-open until we could fully re-open." For restaurants to mobilize to reopen is expensive, so their fear is another outbreak or closure would spell the end for many businesses. It would cost Schuermans $140,000 to start up again and rehire staff to partially reopen. "Imagine, if they close down again, then that money was essentially wasted, and we've dug a big debt hole," she said. Schuermans said restaurants are hitting the point where they can't take on any more debt. If they start up, rent will be due. She said that any further debt will decimate the industry, and what's really needed is rent abatement. "Restaurants are already trying to make the decision of whether we close our doors for good or try and bridge this," said Schuermans. Brand says the consequences for the city could be dire in the face of a crumbling restaurant industry. "We don't have a lot of rainy day plans in our industry," he said. "We're a community. We're very good friends. People don't enter this industry to [make money] they're in it for the passion." The number of coronavirus cases rose to 264 in Haryana on Wednesday with nine more people testing positive for the infection, a government bulletin said. The state also revised its death tally to three with Health Minister Anil Vij saying that the third death was confirmed in a test report which had arrived after the patient's death. Among the fresh cases, four each were reported from Gurgaon and Sonipat while one was from Ambala, the bulletin said. The state count includes 24 foreigners, of which 14 were the Italian tourists. Thirteen of them were discharged while one elderly woman in the group had passed away recently even though she had recovered from the infection. The other 10 are from countries like Sri Lanka, Nepal, Thailand, South Africa and Indonesia. As per the health department's bulletin, the worst-hit districts of the state are Nuh (57), Faridabad (43), Gurgaon (41) and Palwal (34). As many as 15,561 samples have been tested so far, of which 13,397 have tested negative for the infection. The report of 1,914 samples is awaited. According to the bulletin, the total active cases in the state were 103 while 158 people have been discharged after treatment. Health Minister Anil Vij asserted that the situation was under control and state was doing better on many parameters, including the recovery rate. He said as of Wednesday, the state has a recovery rate of 59.84 per cent while the fatality rate was 1.13 per cent. He said 614 tests were conducted by the authorities per 10 lakh people. He said three of the 22 districts have not reported any case so far. The health minister also said the government had cancelled its order of one lakh rapid test kits from a Chinese company and was now procuring these from South Korean firm, which has its presence in Manesar of Gurgaon district. The Haryana government had on Monday said they received its first lot of 25,000 rapid test kits from SD Biosensor, a South Korean bio-diagnostic company. Vij said the rapid test kits will be first used to conduct tests on health and sanitation workers who are at the frontline of the coronavirus battle. Besides, rapid tests will be conducted on those who show symptoms of the disease during the ongoing door-to-door screening, he said. More widely known as Ranger Stacey on the popular childrens television series Totally Wild, Stacey Thomson has befriended animals of all sizes and temperaments some more claw-bearing than others. But the property market has its own capacity to wreak havoc, and Stacey and her TV operations supervisor husband, Rob McCall, have also embraced property investing as the key to attaining what every person dreams of a debt-free lifestyle. I think thats something we have learned: to be committed and to know that you are in there for the long term, and you know there will be benefits in the end. I dont think you can really go wrong with a long-term approach to investing, Stacey says. Shes certainly been playing the long game, as Stacey made her first property purchase about 25 years ago in balmy Queensland for under $100,000. While it wasnt a place shed planned to live in forever, she describes her first home as an old Queenslander with a wrap-around veranda that was an ideal starting point. It was a cheaper area to live in, and that was a good way for me to get my foot in the door, because the houses were a lot more affordable back then, Stacey says. She sold the house a few years on for a substantial enough profit to comfortably purchase her next home to live in. However, once Stacey and Rob met, they joined forces and began planning an investment strategy. AT A GLANCE Years investing as a couple: 13 Number of property investments: 4 Gross profit to date: $325,000 A shift in perspective Based in Brisbane, the couple recognised that they needed a little guidance if they wanted to get serious about investing, so they turned to advisors in 2007 for a helping hand. Getting good financial advice from a professional who can crunch the numbers for you provides a level of reassurance, Stacey says. Weve formed a strong bond with James from Patrick Leo and we can always trust that the advice we receive is unbiased and reliable. James has helped secure a strong financial future for our family through sound property advice, something we couldnt have achieved on our own, she says. One of their first forays into investing was a one-bedroom unit purchased in St Kilda, Melbourne, which experienced consistent capital growth over the five years the couple held it. When they realised it had grown in value by six figures, they made the decision to sell. We made quite a good profit for that property, so that was a bit of a milestone, Stacey says. In fact, the profits from the sale were nearly enough to completely wipe out the mortgage on their family home. When youre looking ahead 10 years, youre thinking, Thats so far away; its never going to come. But as we realise now, all of a sudden we are nearly mortgage free 10 years down the track, Rob says.We love it when a plan comes together, Stacey adds. Stacey and Rob have used their six-figure equity gains to invest in further properties, the latest being a four bedroom house and land package in Flagstone, Queensland Raising value through developing Pleased with the results of their first investment, the couple decided to step things up a notch with a development deal. They built a three-bedroom, one-bathroom house in Tarneit, Melbourne, a suburb that was poised for growth driven by the establishment of a new railway line. They also bought another investment closer to home, picking up a three-bedroom property in Pimpama on the Gold Coast for $320,000. Their Victorian property went on to perform well, and when it reached the magic six-figure profit mark, Stacey and Rob again made the decision to sell so they could reinvest closer to home. They then went on to secure a four-bedroom, two-bathroom house and land package in Flagstone, Queensland. With the developments foundations about to be laid, the couple plan to keep the house as a rental thats targeted at families. The development is on the outskirts of Brisbane. I suppose there are lots of big cities where there are these new developments popping up, where there is going to be a lot of infrastructure, which is still in the very early stages, but we are getting in at a time when its all about to happen, Stacey says. I think research is really important. Doing your homework is the key to making a good investment, and once again, knowing that its not going to be an overnight success and thats its going to be long-term. Listening to tenants and understanding what will make them most comfortable in a rental is front of mind for the couple. Its a strategy that has paid off, as it has allowed them to retain tenants for longer and avoid most of the common setbacks of being a landlord, such as vacancies and property damage. For instance, if a tenant puts in a request for an appliance, such as an air-conditioning unit, or they point out something that requires maintenance, Stacey says they will work to meet those needs as quickly as possible. Weve had good tenants, which has been great, but I do think its respect that goes both ways. We look after our tenants and then they are more likely to stay and look after the place, she says. PORTFOLIO TIMELINE 1995 - Stacey purchases her first PPOR, an old Queenslander, in the Sunshine State for less than $100,000. She sells the property a few years later, and the equity helps support the purchase of her subsequent home. 2007 - Over the following decade, Stacey focuses on her career as Ranger Stacey in Totally Wild. She also meets her now-husband Rob, and they team up to develop an investment strategy with some professional advice. The couple make their fi rst investment together in a unit in St Kilda, Melbourne. 2010 - Buoyed by the success of their St Kilda investment, Stacey and Rob up the ante by taking on their first development, constructing a three-bedroom house in the suburb of Tarneit, Victoria. 2014 - The couple return to Queensland for their third buy, a three-bedroom terraced house in the Gold Coast suburb of Pimpama. The property generates an excellent yield and grows in value over the following years. 2015 - Stacey and Rob say goodbye to their St Kilda property for $450,000 over $100,000 more than the original purchase price in order to focus on investing more in Queensland. 2019 - After their Tarneit development is snapped up for another six-figure profit, the couple buy a house and land package in Flagstone, on the outskirts of Brisbane. They plan to keep it as a rental property to make the most of anticipated tenant demand in this area. What the future holds Although Stacey and Rob havent taken an aggressive approach in their property investing journey, they have employed sound strategies to drive strong profi ts in the medium term. Our overall strategy is to be comfortable. We are not getting any younger; we are looking for a comfortable retirement so that we can enjoy all of the things we have been working for ... so maybe its at the back of our minds that it might be nice to have an investment property that we can actually end up living in, with walks on the beach in the mornings and a beautiful lifestyle, Stacey says. Its respect that goes both ways. We look after our tenants and then they are more likely to stay and look after the place With each successful investing endeavour comes the opportunity to dive into another. But while Stacey and Rob, who both lead busy professional lives in television, believe that having a larger investment portfolio would be great, they are pleased with where their low-key investing strategy has taken them. We are happy with how we are at the moment. Its very exciting with the new development at Flagstone, so we are looking forward to seeing how that progresses, Stacey says. The Queensland government has a plan for a proposed passenger rail link between Salisbury and Beaudesert, and with Flagstone included in this railway line, Stacey says population growth and increased housing and rental demand is expected due to more accessible public transport. We lead very busy lifestyles, so its a relief knowing that our investments are in good hands, and we can relax knowing that weve made the right decision in securing our familys fi nancial future as we edge closer to our dream of debt-free living. United Nations rights experts say they are shocked Iran has executed another juvenile offender in violation of international law. Shayan Saeedpour, who was 17 years old at the time of his conviction for a fatal knife stabbing, was hanged on April 21, United Nations special rapporteurs Javaid Rehman and Agnes Callamard said in a statement. They expressed concern that Iran may soon carry out more executions, including of another juvenile offender, in response to recent prison riots. "We have repeatedly reminded the Iranian government and judiciary that international human rights law is clear: the application of the death penalty to child offenders is strictly prohibited and its practice is an egregious violation of the right to life, the UN experts said. Saeedpour was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in October 2018. Irans Supreme Court upheld the death sentence in 2019. The experts said they were concerned about reports prosecutors encouraged the family of the victim to request the death penalty. Under Iranian law, a victims family can request blood money and pardon an offender. Iran is one of the countries worst hit by the coronavirus, with nearly 5,300 deaths. In response to the pandemic, around 100,000 prisoners were temporarily released in March. Saeedpour was one of dozens of prisoners who escaped from a prison in Saqez in late March during riots over the spread of the coronavirus. He was rearrested around April 3. The UN experts said Iranian authorities may be expediting executions of death row inmates, torturing prisoners, and carrying out extrajudicial killings against those involved in the riots. "We are highly disturbed that the Iranian authorities are reacting to protests in prisons over COVID-19 by using torture and ill-treatment that results in extra-judicial killings, or through executions," the UN experts said. Amnesty International said Iranian authorities appear to be retaliating to deter other prisoners from attempting similar escape plans. According to the London-based rights watchdog,, Iran executed at least four juvenile offenders in 2019. There are believed to be at least 90 juvenile offenders on death row in Iran. Rehman is the special rapporteur on human rights in Iran. Callamard is the special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions. The pair do not speak for the United Nations but report their findings to the world body. Eun Sub drives his car to pick up Hae Won at the bus terminal. She took the bus as it traveled around the village to ease her pain. Hae Won found out for the past ten years that her Auntie hides the truth that she's responsible for her father's death. Eun Sub hugs her as she cries once again. Hae Won prefers not to go home, Eun Sub drives towards the city. Back in Hae Won's house, Myung Joo arrived after she looked around for Hae Won. Myung Yeo told her not to worry as Eun Sub is taking care of Hae Won. Myung Yeo insisted that she submit herself to the police for the crime she committed. Myung Joo told her to keep it to herself and live a normal life. Myung Joo spent seven years in prison as the court finds her guilty for killing her husband. If not because of her abusive husband and letting her see how he beats her, Myung Yeo wouldn't get mad at Jo Hoong. But Myung Yeo insisted on keeping her mind at peace. The next day, Myung Joo agreed to what Myung Yeo decided to take her destiny in prison. Myung Joo thought that as her letters said they are fine, her sister settled well in life with her daughter. Myung Yeo admitted that she felt miserable for the past seven years of what happened. Hae Won visits her old house at Paju with Eun Sub, who helped her drive this far. She checks and finds the keys still in its secret place. As they checked the house, traces show that her mother, Myung Joo, stayed in their place after she was released in prison. Hae Won confused about why her mother chose to live alone. Eun Sub shared that her mother chose not to involve Hae Won with her problems to spare her from sufferings. Hearing Eun Sub's encouraging words, soften her heart. She returns to their house and meets her Auntie. She asked if they could talk. Myung Yeo told her that whatever is written in her novel is the truth behind his father's death. She shared that she plans to report to the police and take full responsibility for the crime. Hae Won asked her not to go to the police and live the usual life she does. If she goes to prison, Hae Won feels that her life would end as well. Hae Won went out of the house and chose to drink soju alone in the restaurant. The next morning she woke up in a nice neat room. Bo Yeong opens the door and greets her. She narrated that Hae Won passed out in the restaurant with too much alcohol. Bo Yeong got worried and took Hae Won to her house. Bo Yeong prepared a hot soup for her stomach. While eating, Hae Won shared that she liked her a lot though it hurts her much to know Bo Yeong betrayed her. Hae Won continues that they can never have the same friendship as before. Bo Yeong responded that life is not perfect. It's natural for life to feel pain, but they need to endure and keep going. Hae Won returns home, meets her Auntie and tells her that she will leave to make her forget. She will pack her things and go back to Seoul. Hae Won visits the bookstore and talks with Eun Sub. She advised him that she will leave the place to forget what her family did to her. Winter is over and as she promised before, she will be going back to Seoul for spring. Eun Sub accepted her decision though his eyes looked down in sadness. That night, Hae Won remembered memories they have together. Eun Sub always supported her and she felt pain in her heart. Hae Won ran to the bookstore and found that it was closed. She went straight to the forest, ran under the dark sky, trying to reach the cabin. Eun Sub prepares the firewood to heat the place. As he turned around, he saw Hae Won run and embrace him tightly. Eun Sub covers Hae Won's body with his warm arms. Hae Won, in a soft voice, says, "I'm sorry, Eun Sub." The Third Dynasty Step Pyramid complex of King Djoser (c 26672648 BC) is Egypts oldest pyramid Egypt's tourism and antiquities ministry is launching on Wednesday night a new virtual tour of the Step Pyramid Complex of Djoser. The tour is part of an initiative by the ministry to enable people worldwide to enjoy the ancient Egyptian civilisation while staying at home under the precautionary measures adopted by the government to fight the coronavirus pandemic. The tour, set to begin at 8pm, will be posted on the ministrys official website and social media platforms. The Third Dynasty Step Pyramid complex of King Djoser (c 26672648 BC), is Egypts oldest pyramid. It is also the first largescale stone construction in history and is considered an important phase in the evolution of royal tombs into their pyramid shape. The complex is surrounded by a 1,645-metre long external stone wall that is 10 metres high. It includes 10 architectural elements: the entry courtyard, the entrance colonnade comprising 40 columns in two rows, the South Court, the 60-metre high Step Pyramid, the South Tomb, the Sed Festival court and its chapels, the Pavilion of the South and the Pavilion of the North, and the Northern Temple. The South Court and the Sed Festival court, with its chapels, acted as the setting in which the king could celebrate the important royal ceremony that aimed at rejuvenating the king and regenerating his power. The Step Pyramid was built in stages. A square mastaba around 8.5 metres in height was first built and was later widened. Nine metres were added on the east side to link the building to 11 shafts belonging to Djosers family. Four mastabas on top of one another were built on the expanded mastaba, giving the structure its height of 60 metres and its pyramidal form. The base of the pyramid is around 121x109 metres. The burial chamber lies at the bottom of a shaft in the centre of the pyramid at a depth of 28 metres. Construction of the pyramid was overseen by the brilliant architect Imhotep, who held titles such as the advisor to the King of Lower Egypt," the first after the King of Upper Egypt," the "administrator of the Great Palace, and the greatest of seers of Heliopolis (the title held by the highpriest of the sun god Ra). Imhotep was deified in ancient Egypt, and was a patron of scribes. The Greeks identified him with Asclepius, the god of medicine. The complex was initially excavated from 1924 to 1935. The French architect JeanPhilippe Lauer working for Egyptian authorities dedicated most of his life to the systematic protection and conservation of the Step Pyramid complex for around 70 years starting 1926. Search Keywords: Short link: It is every husbands priority to make their wives as happy as possible, and Prince Harry is no exception. It was evident from the beginning that when he met his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, she was the apple of his eye. There was just about nothing that Prince Harry wouldnt do for Meghan, and fans could see by looking at photographs of the two of them how much the prince really adored her. Over the last few years, we all know that Meghan and Prince Harry have gone through many ups and downs. In the beginning stages of their relationship, they faced the difficulty of media scrutiny, and when they got married, they had to deal with the Markle family drama. Things havent really calmed down for the duke and duchess, and through it all, Prince Harry has stuck by Meghan without question. Their relationship is as solid as can be, and even with all the turbulence, it is safe to assume that Meghan and Prince Harrys love still runs deep. Now, not surprisingly, a royal source says that Prince Harrys goal is to make Meghan feel happy, safe, and comfortable. In love from the very beginning Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex | Steve Parsons WPA Pool/Getty Images By the time that fans learned that Meghan and Prince Harry were dating, they were already pretty serious about each other. We all know the story of how they were introduced on a blind date, and as we know, meeting someone in that type of situation can be stressful, to say the least! However, as Prince Harry said in the couples engagement interview, he was pleasantly surprised when he saw Meghan for the first time, and obviously, she was pretty smitten as well. According to Town & Country, it wasnt long before Meghan met the rest of the royal family, and she and Prince Harry knew that they were in love. As the world watched and waited on the edge of their seats, Prince Harry and Meghan finally announced their engagement in November 2017, and they married a few months later. It was just about a year later that the couple welcomed their first son, Archie Harrison, and to this day, their relationship is going strong. Prince Harry defended Meghan on more than one occasion Back when Meghan and Prince Harry were still dating, the media was already pretty harsh regarding their relationship. According to Time, it was in November 2016 that Prince Harry decided that he had enough and released a statement in Meghans defense. Although she was famous in her own right long before ever meeting her now-husband, the massive attention that Meghan was receiving as Prince Harrys girlfriend was unimaginable. Unfortunately, the negative comments and harassment didnt stop, and even after they were married, Prince Harry continued to defend his wife. Things got so intense, in fact, that Meghan and Harry made the shocking decision to split from the royal family, and they announced their departure early in 2020. Prince Harrys goal is to make Meghan feel happy, safe, and comfortable Now that Megxit is official, Prince Harry and Meghan have escaped the glaring spotlight of the royal family, and it seems that they couldnt be more delighted. Now, a royal source is saying that it has actually always been Prince Harrys goal to make Meghan feel as happy, safe, and comfortable as he could. US Weekly reports that Prince Harrys actions definitely back up what is being said since he is always willing to do whatever is in his wifes best interest. He was her biggest fan as they embarked on the newest chapter of their lives, even advocating for her Disney voiceover work. Kristen Beaton (pictured), a nurse who was employed by Victorian Order of Nurses (VON), was one of 23 victims gunned down by Gabriel Wortman during his 12-hour killing and arson spree across Nova Scotia A grieving husband has revealed that his wife, who was killed in Canada's deadliest mass shooting over the weekend, was pregnant with their second child. Kristen Beaton was a nurse who worked for Victorian Order of Nurses (VON). She was one of 23 victims gunned down by Gabriel Wortman during his 12-hour killing and arson spree across Nova Scotia that began on Saturday and ended on Sunday. Her husband, Nick, revealed in a heartbreaking Facebook post that his wife was on the front lines helping coronavirus patients before she was killed. 'She cried everyday before and everyday after work scared to bring this covid home to her son she loved more than I could even imagine anyone could love one person,' Nick wrote. Not only was she helping others, but she was carrying their unborn child. Nick told CTV News that they had planned to announce the news of her pregnancy to their family members and friends this week when Kristen was supposed to be on vacation. 'Our son Daxton was going to wear a shirt and let everybody know,' Nick said through tears. Nick said that he spoke to Kristen on the phone just minutes before she was killed. Scroll down for video Her husband, Nick, revealed in a heartbreaking Facebook post that his wife was on the front lines helping coronavirus patients before she was killed Kristen was also the mother of Daxton Beaton, who is just three years old. Daxton is pictured with his mother and father, Nick Nick also said that he was forced to tell Daxton (pictured with his parents) that his mother was 'in heaven' Nick explained to CTV that he told his wife the gunman was at their friend's home. 'I didn't find out until an hour later that he had an RCMP cruiser and that's what he was driving and dressed as an officer when he cowardly, extremely cowardly took my wife's life and our unborn baby.' Nick also said that he was forced to tell their son, Daxton, his mother was 'in heaven'. A GoFundMe page set up for the Beaton family has raised more than $67,000 as of Wednesday afternoon. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said Wortman's victims were scattered across the eastern province. While a motive has yet to be determined, authorities believe the shooting spree could've started as a domestic violence situation. Authorities said Wortman targeted his ex-wife and her new boyfriend first. It's unclear if they were killed on Saturday night or Sunday morning. The death toll from the shooting rose to 23 on Tuesday after police discovered four more victims. Authorities said Wortman (pictured) targeted his ex-wife and her new boyfriend first, prompting police to believe the shooting started as a domestic violence dispute Police also responded to multiple fires, including one in Wentworth where volunteer firefighters were seen dousing hotspots near destroyed vehicles linked to the shooting Wentworth volunteer firefighters douse hotspots as an excavator digs through the rubble of destroyed home linked to Sunday's deadly shooting rampage Cops initially discovered 19 victims, but officers recovered another four bodies from some of the five properties Wortman 'burned to the ground'. Earlier this week, it was revealed that the gunman had an obsession with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, known as 'mounties'. This infatuation, which his school yearbook showed spawned from an early age, reportedly saw him collect a haul of mountie gear including decommissioned cop cars he snapped up at an auction. Earlier this week, it was revealed that Wortman (pictured) had an obsession with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Wortman delved into this trove of memorabilia to disguise himself as an officer, pulling victims over in his fake police vehicle before executing them point blank. Police sources told Canadian media that the first two victims were Wortman's ex-wife and her boyfriend, but he then easily slaughtered at random by pretending to be a police officer. RCMP chief superintendent Chris Leather said: 'His ability to move around the province undetected was surely greatly benefited by the fact that he had a vehicle that looked identical in every way to a marked police car.' Wortman is understood to have abandoned his fake cop car after he crashed it and resorted to stealing a vehicle from another motorist, sources told CNN. The shooter's obsession with the mounties was underscored by the 'shrine' he had erected at his home in Portapique, an acquaintance said. Nathan Staples, who lives in nearby Great Village and was approached by Wortman a few months ago asking if he would sell his own decommissioned cop car, told the Globe and Mail: 'He was one of those freaky guys, he was really into police memorabilia.' Wortman's 1986 Riverview High School yearbook said he would likely one day become a mountie and old friends have expressed shock as they remembered a 'great friend and amazing person in High School,' according to the Chronicle Herald. But neighbors have painted a different picture of the killer, revealing he suffered an alcohol problem and his denture clinic, the Atlantic Denture Clinic in Dartmouth which they say made him a millionaire, was forced to mothball during the coronavirus lockdown. Husband and wife Greg and Jamie Blair were killed in the gun rampage and tragically leave behind four children. The couple are believed to have two sons together, while Jamie has two other boys Family of three Jolene Oliver, Aaron 'Friar' Tuck, and their 17-year-old daughter Emily were killed in the shooting A woman comforts her daughter after they placed flowers at a makeshift memorial in front of the RCMP detachment on Monday A memorial pays tribute to Heather O'Brien, a victim of this past weekend shootings along the highway in Debert, Nova Scotia, on Tuesday Canadian authorities are still piecing together the moments leading up to the most deadly shooting in the country's history and have revealed a timeline of the gunman's movements. The RCMP said they are investigating 16 separate crime scenes in connection to the mass shooting, which coincided with the anniversaries of the 1995 Oklahoma bombing and the 1993 Waco Siege in Texas. 'We're relatively confident we've identified all the crime scenes,' Leather said but said that fires set at some of those sites, mostly residences, made the search for other victims difficult. 'We believe there may be victims still within the remains of those homes which burnt to the ground,' Leather said. Heartbreaking stories of other victims have also started to emerge, including a family of three from Portapique who were completely wiped out by Wortman. Jolene Oliver, Aaron 'Friar' Tuck and their 17-year-old daughter Emily were all killed, according to a friend posting on a GoFundMe page. The Atlantic Denture Clinic, owned by Wortman, was guarded by police in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, on Monday. The clinic was forced to shutter because of coronavirus Police sources told Canadian media that the first two victims were Wortman's ex-wife and her boyfriend, but he then easily slaughtered at random by pretending to be a police officer in a decommissioned RCMP vehicle (pictured) Queen mourns Canada's mass shooting The Queen has sent a message of condolence to the people of Nova Scotia following the deadliest mass shooting in Canada's history. The Queen said: 'Prince Philip and I have been deeply saddened by the appalling events in Nova Scotia and we send our condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of those who have lost their lives. 'I also pay tribute to the bravery and sacrifice of the officers from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and other police services who selflessly responded to these devastating attacks, and to the emergency services who are supporting those who have been injured and affected. 'My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Nova Scotia and all Canadians at this tragic time. Elizabeth R.' Advertisement Husband and wife Greg and Jamie Blair were also gunned down. The couple are believed to have two children together, and Jamie leaves behind four boys in total. Authorities said the violence began on Saturday night in Portapique, where officers were alerted to shots fired around 11.32pm. Wortman managed to evade police throughout the night and into Sunday morning. Police first revealed that they had an 'active shooter' situation around 8am Sunday morning in Portapique. While authorities still have not pinned down a motive for the shooting spree, police sources told the Toronto Sun: 'He's been planning this for a while. He had the uniform and two decommissioned police cars.' By 8.54am, police shared with the public that there were 'multiple victims'. Just after 10am, police warned residents to avoid Highway 4 near Hidden Hilltop Campground in Glenholme, which is about 11 miles from Portapique, because Wortman had been spotted in there area. Police had also revealed that Wortman had disguised himself as a police officer and was driving around in a fake cop car. Authorities said the violence began on Saturday night in Portapique, where officers were alerted to shots fired around 11.32pm. Wortman managed to evade police throughout the night and into Sunday morning Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers speak with a man, as two RCMP vehicles travel on Portapique Beach Road, after the police finished their search for Wortman Between 10.20am and 11.24am, Wortman had been spotted in the areas of Debert and Central Onslow, near Brookfield and Milford. Authorities said at some point, Wortman was forced to abandon his car and then carjacked other vehicles to continue to 'circulate around the province steps ahead of our investigators'. At 11.40am, authorities shared that they had arrived to the Irving Big Stop in Enfield, nearly 60 miles from Portapique. Police initially said Wortman had been arrested, but later said he had died. It was not clear how, and they did not provide further details, although one police official said that there was an exchange of gunfire between the suspect and police at one point. Timeline: Gabriel Wortman kills at least 23 people in 12 hours over a 55-mile stretch of Nova Scotia, Canada Authorities said Wortman began his reign of violence on Saturday night when police responded to a firearms complaint in Portapique. His rampage last for at least 12 hours until he was apprehended by officers just before noon on Sunday. While police are still piecing together the details, a timeline reveals some of Wortman's movements: Saturday, April 18, 2020: 11.32pm: Portapique Officers shard on Twitter that they were responding to an incident near Portapique Beach Road, Bay Shore Road and Five Houses Road . People were told to avoid the area and stay in their homes with the doors locked. That night, three house fires were also reported. Sunday, April 19, 2020 8am: Portapique Police reveal on Twitter that the scene has become an 'active shooter situation' and warn residents to stay inside. 8.54am: Portapique Authorities identify the gunman as Gabriel Wortman and say there are 'multiple victims' in the area. 10.04am: Glenholme Police warn residents to avoid Highway 4 near Hidden Hilltop Campground in Glenholme, which is about 11 miles from Portapique, because Wortman had been spotted in there area. Authorities also warned that Wortman is disguised as an RCMP officer and driving a fake cop car. 10.21am: Central Onslow and Debert Police share on Twitter that Wortman has been spotted in the Central Onslow and Debert area. They warn locals to stay inside and avoid the area. 11am: Brookfield Authorities said Wortman was seen traveling near the Brookfield area. 11.24am Milford By this time, Wortman changed cars and was spotted in a Chevy Tracker in Milford. 11.40am: Enfield Officers tweet that Wortman is in custody. A short time later, it was revealed that Wortman had died. Police did not confirm how he died Advertisement An independent agency, the Serious Incident Response Team (SiRT), which probes certain incidents involving the province's police, said in a statement that a confrontation had occurred in Enfield, which is near the Halifax airport, 'resulting in officers discharging their firearms'. 'The suspect was found to be deceased at the scene,' the statement read. Police confirmed the death of constable Heidi Stevenson who was 'executed point blank' when she rammed his vehicle in an attempt to apprehend him. Stevenson, a mother-of-two, was shot dead after Wortman dragged her out of her patrol car. At a press conference on Sunday, RCMP Assistant Commissioner Lee Bergerman confirmed Stevenson's death, saying: 'Heidi answered the call of duty and lost her life while protecting those she served. Earlier this afternoon I met with Heidi's family and there are no words to describe their pain. 'Two children have lost their mother. And a husband has lost his wife. Parents have lost their daughter and countless others lost an incredible friend and colleague.' Lisa McCully was informally identified by her sister in a heartbreaking Facebook post Sunday night. Jenny Kierstead wrote: 'This is so hard to write but many of you will want to know. 'Our hearts are broken today as we attempt to accept the loss of my sister, Lisa McCully, who was one of the victims of the mass shooting in Portapique last night. 'Our condolences go out to the other family members who are affected by this tragedy. Thank you for your support, it's a hard day.' McCully taught at Debert Elementary where she was a 'passionate teacher' and a 'shining love' in the lives of her family and friends, the teachers union said in a tribute. Nurse Heather O'Brien was also identified by her daughter in a Facebook post shared Sunday that read: 'A monster murdered my mother today.' O'Brien and Kristen Beaton worked together for Von Canada, the long term health care company confirmed. Family members also paid tribute to Corrie Ellison on Sunday afternoon, with his cousin Juliene Henderson writing: 'Tragic and surreal..RIP to my cousin Corrie and to the several others killed. 'Just texted him this AM to see if his Dad was ok (his Dad lived in portique) ..not knowing he was out there and already killed.' Another victim, Gina Goulet, was identified by her daughter, Amelia Butler, who said her mother was a denturist and a cancer survivor. Butler said Goulet, who loved fishing, was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2016, and then again late last year. 'She fought so hard for her life,' Butler told the Toronto Star, adding that her mother was almost fully recovered when she was killed. Married couple Frank Gulenchyn and Dawn Madsen, were also gunned down during the shooting. Madsen, who was the mother of two sons, retired from her work at Oshawa's Hillsdale Terraces long-term-care home just last year. She and her husband were longtime residents of Oshawa, Ontario, before moving to Nova Scotia. Couple Alanna Jenkins and Sean McLeod lost their lives during Wortman's rampage over the weekend Tom Bagley (left) and Lillian Hyslop (right) were also killed, in the worst mass murder in Canadian history Victims Corrie Ellison (left), Gina Goulet (center), and Heather O'Brien (right) were identified by friends and family members as victims of the shooting Married couple Frank Gulenchyn and Dawn Madsen (pictured), were also gunned down during the shooting. Madsen, who was the mother of two sons, retired from her work at Oshawa's Hillsdale Terraces long-term-care home just last year Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers at a gas station in Enfield, Nova Scotia, on Sunday. Police first announced that they had arrested Wortman at the gas station but later said he had died Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during a press conference on Monday: 'The vast majority of Nova Scotians will have a direct link with one or more of the victims. The entire province and country is grieving right now as we come to grips with something that is unimaginable.' 'The pandemic will prevent us from mourning together in person, but a vigil will be held virtually to celebrate the lives of the victims,' Trudeau added, saying it would take place Friday night through a Facebook group. Trudeau asked the media to avoid mentioning the name of the assailant or showing his picture. 'Do not give this person the gift of infamy,' he said. 'As a country, in moments like these, we come together to support one another. Together we will mourn with the families of the victims, and help them get through this difficult time,' Trudeau said. Trudeau said his government would introduce further gun control legislation prohibiting military-style assault weapons, a measure that had already been planned before the coronavirus pandemic interrupted the current parliamentary session. 'I can say that we were on the verge of introducing legislation to ban assault-style weapons across this country,' Trudeau said, according to The Washington Post. 'It was interrupted when the pandemic caused Parliament to be suspended, but we have every intention of moving forward on that measure, and potentially other measures, when Parliament returns.' Trudeau pledged to ban all military-style assault rifles during his reelection campaign last year. He won in October but Canada's parliament has been suspended since March due to the coronavirus. Canada's Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said Monday that they were planning to introduce stronger gun control as soon as possible, but they had been delayed by the pandemic. 'There have been far too many incidents of gun violence in our country and we are working hard to make sure that we put the measures in place that significantly reduce those incidents and keep people safe,' Blair told CTV News reported. 'The actual schedule for bringing forward that legislation, that is still to be determined simply because we are in uncertain times in Parliament. But it doesn't in any way imply that we are any less committed to taking the steps that are necessary to keep Canadians safe.' Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer Heidi Stevenson, a 23-year member of the force and a mother-of-two, was shot dead Stevenson (left) was killed by Wortman while trying to apprehend him. Lisa McCully (right), a mother-of-two, was informally identified as a victim of the shooting spree Mourners look at a makeshift memorial for Stevenson, who was shot dead during Sunday's killing spree Krista Hughes adjusts flowers that had blown away from a makeshift memorial for Stevenson Wortman, who owned a denture practice in in the city of Dartmouth, near Halifax, lived part time in Portapique, according to residents. He is listed as a denturist - a person who makes dentures - in the city of Dartmouth, near Halifax, according to the Denturist Society of Nova Scotia website. Atlantic Denture Clinic, the practice Wortman owned, had been closed for the past month because of the coronavirus pandemic. Mass shootings are relatively rare in Canada. The country overhauled its gun-control laws after gunman Marc Lepine killed 14 women and himself at Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique college in 1989. Before this weekend's rampage, that had been the country's worst. It is illegal to possess an unregistered handgun or any kind of rapid-fire weapon in Canada. The country also requires training, a personal risk assessment, two references, spousal notification and criminal record checks to purchase a weapon. Scott Perry Local News Editor Deputy night editor for Lee Enterprises Central Illinois. Follow Scott Perry Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today DECATUR The fear of the unknown is weighing heavily on local small businesses. And there are a lot of unknowns at this time, said Mirinda Rothrock, president of the Decatur Regional Chamber of Commerce, as the coronavirus continues to wreak havoc on all aspects of the economy. One of the leading challenges stems from the state-mandated stay-at-home order issued by Gov. J.B. Pritzker that required all non-essential businesses in the state to temporarily close. This order came on the heels of another that closed all bars and limited restaurants to curbside or delivery service. Not knowing if they will be able to open after the stay-at-home order ends on April 30, is a major concern Rothrock said. If and when the stay-at-home order does lift, will their business be allowed to operate, will there be a gradual opening of certain business sectors, will there be a limitation of number of employees, number of customers, limited hours? Also at play is the availability of outside funds to help offset declining revenues. The U.S. House is expected to approve $483 billion coronavirus aid package on Thursday. Included in the bill, which has already passed the Senate, is $331 billion to boost a small-business payroll loan program that ran out of money last week. There also is $60 billion for a small-business loans and grants. President Donald Trump has said he would sign it into law. Business owners need grants to operate, Rothrock said. They still have to pay for inventory, mortgage or rent, power, insurance. Without cash flow, they are like every household trying to prioritize and pay what they can. For more information about available programs and how to apply for them, the Chamber has created a resource guide at decaturchamber.com. Decatur Deputy City Manager Jon Kindseth in a video update about COVID-19 posted Wednesday urged local businesses to get ready. "For all the small businesses that need the resources, now is the now the time to prepare your application," he said. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce applauded the anticipated federal action. Every hour of every day, small businesses across the country are being forced to make difficult decisions due to the significant revenue disruptions caused by the coronavirus. These additional funds could make the difference between keeping a business up and running over the coming weeks or being forced to reduce salaries, lay off employees, or shutter businesses entirely, said Neil Bradley, the groups executive vice president and chief policy officer, U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Back in Illinois, Chambers across the state are banding together to promote additional actions by the Pritzker administration to assist business. In a letter detailing the proposal, Rothrock said, As consumers are told to socially distance and settle indoors, the business community is taking a devastating hit. Consumer spending makes up nearly 70% of the United States economy, and it has come to a screeching halt. Among the proposed changes is delaying until Jan. 1 the next round of the minimum wage increase currently set to take place on July 1; exempting the unemployment insurance claims from affecting a business contribution rate; deferring sales tax payments for all small businesses; and to use cannabis sales tax revenue to create a statewide micro loan program for small businesses. Rothrock said there are preliminary discussions about a local funding program, but nothing formal at this time. When asked for a bit of advice Rothrock had for small businesses during this troubling time, she responded: Never give up. Take it one day at a time. You are not alone. We will get through this together. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The business news you need Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Hyderabad, April 22 : A team of top officials of Telangana government on Wednesday visited Suryapet district to assess the situation in the wake of a sudden spurt of Covid-19 cases and take steps to prevent the spread. On the direction of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, Director General of Police Mahender Reddy and Medical and Health principal secretary Shanti Kumari rushed to Suryapet to personally monitor the situation. The officials, who reached the town in a helicopter from Hyderabad, visited the vegetable market, from where most of the cases were reported. The top officials held a review meeting with district collector Vinay Krishna Reddy, Superintendent of Police Bhaskaran and other officials to review the situation. Somesh Kumar later told reporters that they were visiting Suryapet to get a first-hand account of the situation in the district, which has so far registered 83 Covid-19 positive cases. They asked the local officials to strictly implement lockdown norms and ensure zero movement of people in containment zones. He said all the contacts of the affected people were traced and quarantined. Suryapet, one of the eight hotspot districts in the state, had reported 26 positive cases on Tuesday. Those tested positive include six children with one-and-half-year old being the youngest. According to officials, 57 positive cases were reported in the district during the last six days. A total of 210 people are under quarantine at government-run centres while 4,346 are home quarantined. Officials said 13 out of 26 tested positive on Tuesday belong to three families of a village. The virus is suspected to have spread from one person to three families. He had come to the vegetable market in Suryapet for a transaction and came into contact with an affected person. The government has appointed IAS officer Sarfraz Ahmed as the special officer for Suryapet to take all necessary steps to check the spread of coronavirus. After visiting Suryapet, the team of officials left for a visit to Jogulamba Gadwal and Vikarabad districts. The chief secretary has also appointed special officers for the two districts. Thiruvananthapuram, April 22 : Kerala which leads the country with a giant share of 89 per cent of the total production of cardamom, is finding its growers in a difficult situation. The cardamom growers are reeling as COVID-19 has hit them very hard. The growers sell their produce by participating in the auction, held at Bodinayakkanur in the Theni district of Tamil Nadu, which lies close to the Thekkady tourist location in the Idukki district in Kerala. In Kerala, Idukki is the home of cardamom growers who own large and small holdings and the total area under cardamom cultivation is around 38,000 hectares. Though there is an auction centre at Vandanmeddu in Idukki district, the auction centre in Bodinayakkanur is the single most popular centre, as far as the cardamom auction is concerned. Speaking to IANS, Sunny Mathew, executive member of the Cardamom Growers Association said things are bleak and getting bad. "Ours is a product which fetches the highest price when the colour of the cardamom is best and fresh. Any delay in getting the product out of our farms spells danger. Sadly it's been a month now as the premier auction centre is closed. We have never ever had such a long delay and it comes at a time when the prices were looking bright," said Mathew, a grower and also an exporter. Cardamom from Kerala farms is auctioned and it goes to north India and for exports. The peak market for this high quality and popular spice, used for baking and cooking purpose across the globe, begins when the yield is taken from September and tapers in January. "This time the production has come down from 28,000 tones, last year to around 18,000 tones. When production comes down, the price rises and in January this year a kilogram of cardamom touched Rs 3,000 and when the lockdown began it was around Rs 2,300," said Mathew. With Bodinayakkanur now declared as a hotspot for Covid-19, things are going to be bad and it would prevent auctioneers and their agents to arrive there. "We want the government to come to our support. The Spices Board should take our products and based on our cost of production, they should lift our stock. If it does not happen, then the production would be seriously affected this year, as we do not have funds to invest. Also liberal moratoriums with regards to interest waiver and repayment also should be there," said Mathew. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Top investors are calling on Royal Mail to slash fat cat pay after it axed the dividend. The former state monopoly decided to cancel its final payout to investors last month, to help bolster its balance sheet against the coronavirus outbreak. Its move also hit postal workers, who were given shares in Royal Mail when it was floated on the stock market seven years ago. Royal Mail cancelled its final payout to investors last month. The move also hit postal workers, who were given shares in Royal Mail when it was floated on the stock market seven years ago But it now faces pressure from shareholders to introduce similar belt-tightening measures for executives, and has said so far only that its pay committee will consider the matter 'in the normal way'. Schroders, Royal Mail's biggest shareholder with 15.3 per cent, has warned companies that it expects dividends to be cut and for the 'pain to be shared by management'. It is understood that the UK's biggest asset manager intends to raise the issue with all the companies it is invested in. Schroders boss Peter Harrison has agreed to donate a chunk of his own pay to charities fighting the pandemic. Another top ten shareholder said the firm's decision in March to cancel the dividend would inevitably prompt questions about executive pay, adding: 'Royal Mail needs to explain how its executive pay arrangements will reflect this change as well as any significant changes made to the pay of its wider workforce.' The moves pile yet more pressure on Royal Mail to cut fat cat pay. Rico Back, the chief executive, can earn up to 2.7million a year. He was recently criticised after this newspaper revealed he is running the company from his penthouse in Switzerland while the UK lockdown continues. The issue of pay has been repeatedly highlighted by the Mail's Time to End Fat Cat Pay campaign, with companies such as BT, Rolls-Royce, ITV, British Gas owner Centrica and British Airways owner IAG reducing bosses' pay. Sir Vince Cable, the business secretary who oversaw the firm's privatisation in 2013, has backed calls for pay cuts as well. The controversy at Royal Mail comes after the company faced a shareholder revolt over the package given to Back, 66, in 2018, when he was handed 6million for changes made to his contract. Keith Williams, the former boss of British Airways, is Royal Mail's current chairman and Lynne Peacock, former boss of Woolwich building society, chairs the pay committee. Royal Mail said yesterday: 'Executive remuneration matters will be considered by the remuneration committee in the normal way as part of our year-end process. We are aware of the position adopted by various shareholder representation groups.' MADISON, Wis.Health officials in Wisconsin said they had identified at least seven people who appear to have contracted the CCP virus from participating in the April 7 election. Its the first such cases following in-person voting held despite the widespread concern over the public health risks. The cases involve six voters and one poll worker in Milwaukee, where difficulty finding poll workers forced the city to pare nearly 200 voting locations back to just five, and where voterssome in masks, some with no protectionwere forced to wait in long lines for hours. The condition of the seven wasnt immediately available. City health commissioner Jeanette Kowalik told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that she hopes to have more information later in the week. Kowaliks office didnt immediately respond to a question from The Associated Press asking how city health officials were able to trace the infections to the election. The April 7 election, which included a presidential primary as well as a state Supreme Court race and local offices, took place after a legal struggle between Democrats and Republicans. A day before the election, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers ordered that it be delayed and shifted to all-mail voting. His order was overturned when Republican legislative leaders won an appeal in the states conservative-controlled Supreme Court. Thousands of Wisconsin voters stayed home, unwilling to risk their health, and unable to be counted because requested absentee ballots never arrived. State health officials had warned of an expected increase in infections from the election. State health secretary Andrea Palm said Monday that they had not shown up, but noted that symptoms may not have surfaced yet. Health officials say symptoms of COVID-19 typically appear within two weeks of exposure to the virus, and Tuesday is the 14th day since the election. That means more voters and poll workers could come forward with infections in the coming days. Representatives for Evers and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgeraldboth Republicanshavent responded to emails seeking comment. The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. To date, 230 people have died in Wisconsin, and nearly 4,500 have tested positive. Wisconsins election has been a flashpoint of contention as Democrats and Republicans grapple with how to conduct elections in the CCP virus era as the November presidential polling day approaches. Democrats and voting rights groups have filed lawsuits to expand mail and absentee voting options and pushed for an extra $2 billion to help states adjust their election systems. By Todd Richmond Epoch Times staff contributed to this report The Gamasutra Job Board is the most diverse, active and established board of its kind for the video game industry! Here is just one of the many, many positions being advertised right now. Location: Agoura Hills, California Who We Are: At Visual Concepts, we believe great games are made by diverse and empowered teams with a shared passion for play. As one of the worlds top game development studios, we have shipped over 100 mullti-sku titles to critical acclaim and commercial success. Our teams are independent and entrepreneurial. Our studios in Agoura Hills, Novato, Orange County, Budapest, Shanghai, and Seoul are committed to artistry and technical innovation, offering top candidates the opportunity to learn and grow with some of the smartest and most creative minds in the industry. What We Need: Do you live and breathe combat design? Do you decode games into strikes, blocks, reversals, range, damage and combos the moment you pick up the controller? Do you love designing archetypes, inventing amazing signature moves and infusing combat with personality and spectacle? If so, wed love to have you join us to help deliver amazing experiences for our players. Our Agoura Hills studio is looking for a Senior Combat Designer for the next iteration of the WWE 2K franchise. In this role, youll help define core combat philosophy as we translate the amazing spectacle of the WWE into the arsenal of moves our players will take into the ring. Youll script movement trees, architecting advantage and vulnerability into range, combinations, setups, baits and throws. Youll dream up signatures and spectacular finishers, differentiate archetypes, and balance a massive roster of Superstars to help deliver accessible, deep, spectacular combat. Youll work in a creative environment with a diverse team of designers, artists and engineers, touching everything from combat to camera to the emotion and spectacle of one of the greatest shows on Earth. What You Will Do: Develop a combat vision integrating intuitive control, kinetic move sets, meaningful differentiation and strategic depth Work with design, animation and engineering teams to conceive, implement and polish character vs. character combat Play and reference both classics and contemporaries to build on what works while driving new innovations in combat design Design and implement systems for combat depth, strategy and spectacle Identify and document tools and systems that make creating character vs. character combat more efficient Who We Think Will Be A Great Fit: 4 or more years of game design experience, 2 or more in a combat designer role Experience implementing and tuning animation and timing windows for attacks, blocks, branching actions, hit reactions and other related combat actions Experience scripting combat in LUA or similar framework Experience conceiving and differentiating characters, developing signature moves, and balancing asymmetrical fighter types Experience working across disciplines, including animation, art, VFX, audio and engineering to produce a great result Outstanding written and verbal communication and collaboration skills Advanced Qualifications: Experience and love of combat driven by character stats and role-playing elements Experience designing and improving gameplay editing tools Direct experience and understanding of key distinctions of wrestling games Programming/technical experience Interested? Apply now. About the Gamasutra Job Board Whether you're just starting out, looking for something new, or just seeing what's out there, the Gamasutra Job Board is the place where game developers move ahead in their careers. Gamasutra's Job Board is the most diverse, most active, and most established board of its kind in the video game industry, serving companies of all sizes, from indie to triple-A. Looking for a new job? Get started here. Are you a recruiter looking for talent? Post jobs here. WASHINGTON, April 22 (Reuters) - The U.S. International Trade Commission said on Wednesday it had made a preliminary determination that U.S. producers are harmed by imports of common alloy aluminum sheet from 18 countries, keeping an antidumping and countervailing duty trade probe alive. Last month, the U.S. Commerce Department launched an investigation into whether the 18 countries, which include Germany, Oman and Bahrain, were dumping aluminum sheet in the U.S. market, and whether four of them were unfairly subsidizing their exports. If the department finds aluminum sheet imports from any of the countries are unfairly dumped or subsidized, and the ITC makes a final finding that domestic producers are being injured, the United States would place tariffs on those products. (Reporting by Tim Ahmann) TDT | Manama Bahrain will host an international coronavirus (COVID-19) webinar on Saturday between 3 pm and 5 pm Bahrain time. The webinar is being held under the patronage of Supreme Council of Health president and National Taskforce for Combatting COVID-19 head Lt. General Dr Shaikh Mohamed bin Abdulla Al Khalifa. It will welcome leading, global experts and consultants in the health field, and will focus on exchanging successful protocols and strategies being used in battling the spread of COVID-19 across the globe. The webinar will also provide a platform to discuss various challenges faced by health professionals, laboratory investigative techniques, effective treatment and management options, as well as Intensive Care Unit intervention. Webinar speakers include Lt. Col. Professor Manaf Al Qahtani from Bahrain as well as regional and international speakers from Kuwait and the UK. Registration for the webinar will be through the Supreme Councils website sch.org.bh, starting yesterday until Friday DELPHI, Ind. (WLFI) Several nurses have said wearing masks all day is causing rashes, pain and even deep tissue injuries. A family business has responded to this and is making hooks to alleviate any pain. It attaches to the elastic causing it to stay off the ears and allows a tighter fit. The owner of Hometown Shirt and Graphix in Delphi said it has taken off, but her business can't afford to keep giving them away for free. Hometown Shirts and Graphix in Delphi has two employees, Trish Mendel and her husband. "This is one way we can help," said Mendel. The idea is to help front line workers, those fighting COVID-19 and those wearing masks. "We are closed," said Mendel. "We cannot do anything else." That anything transformed into a solid solution and it helps rid of any ear pain from masks. "They hurt your ears," said IU Health Arnett Nurse Amanda Casselberry. "Yeah, they are really sore." The company is alleviating sore ears with a hook. There are two designs; an S-curve and one for ponytails. "Just taking the pulling off our ears helps a ton," said Casselberry. "It also helps pull your mask back nice and tight." Casselberry said it's ideas like Mendel's that she is thankful for. "When we have to wear these, we appreciate anything," said Casselberry. "Everyone likes something different because everyone's head is a different size." Mendel has donated more than 20,000 of the hooks for free to 36 states. All of these went to businesses, hospitals and people's front doors. "We are asking for donations because that is what is going to keep us going," said Mendel. To donate to Hometown Shirts and Graphix click here. Mendel said she would love to be able to give away the hooks for as long as possible. "They absolutely love them," said Mendel. To get the hooks for free click here. If you want to call Hometown Shirts and Graphix there phone number is 765-564-3066. CHICO, Calif. An Oroville man was arrested after Chico Police said he was caught by residents breaking into a community mailbox Tuesday evening. Chico police said they received reports of a man stealing mail from the community mailbox at 1450 Springfield Drive. A citizen told officers she witnessed the theft and reported the suspects left in a black sedan. Suspects were located by police in an adjacent neighborhood with the help of residents. 26-year-old Sean Smiley, of Oroville, was identified to be the suspect, he was found to be in possession of stolen mail, burglary tools, illegal drugs, and drug paraphernalia, according to Chico police. Smiley was arrested and booked into the Butte County Jail, another suspect was identified and released at the scene. After a slump in business from brick and mortar stores during the Covid-19 induced lockdown, an organization of traditional small traders on Wednesday claimed that it would launch an e-commerce portal for essentials "in a day or two" in association with its partners. An official of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) that represents seven crore traders and 40,000 trade associations said the project aims at delivering essential items to the doorstep of a customer by a neighbourhood store. "A pilot has been going on in six cities of Allahabad, Delhi, Jhasi, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Lucknow for the past seven days involving around 800 local traders. We are planning a pan-India launch with a target of involving one lakh traders and stores in a day or two," CAIT West Bengal general secretary Rabi Shankar Roy told PTI. Only essential items would be delivered through the E-Lala portal during the lockdown and after it is lifted, the e-commerce site will also deal with non-essentials, he said. Bengal based traders body, Confederation of West Bengal Trade Association, said they are taking steps to empower consumers with details of local stores in their website and proposed to join the e-commerce bandwagon at a later stage, its president Sushil Poddar said. Connecting consumers with neighbourhood stores will help maintain social distancing without any travel hurdles, he said. Roy said Global Linkers is the technology partner of E-Lala while Consumer Products Distributors Federation and All India Transporters Welfare Association are part of the ecosystem. He said it is free for traders to be on board while consumers will have to pay a small delivery charge for home delivery by the local store. Roy said CAIT has launched a nationwide campaign for collecting data of seven crore traders and their employees. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 22) The United States has approved an additional 269 million (or $5.3 million) in health and humanitarian assistance for the Philippines' fight against COVID-19, after the chief executives of both countries engaged in a phone meeting to discuss coronavirus response. The American Embassy in Manila announced Wednesday that the U.S. government has increased its donations to the country to provide for laboratory and specimen-transport systems, and to help health professionals enhance case-finding and disease surveillance. The funding will also aid Filipino and international technical experts in risk communication, infection prevention and control efforts, hand washing and hygiene promotion, and community-level preparedness response, it added. U.S. President Donald Trump and President Rodrigo Duterte spoke over the phone on April 19 to discuss bilateral cooperation on COVID-19 response. During their phone conversation, Trump expressed solidarity and offered additional assistance, as the Philippines continues to address the health and economic damages brought by the deadly virus. He also shared his condolences over the death of 11 Filipino soldiers recently killed in a clash with the Abu Sayyaf Group. Trump and Duterte also talked about how they can strengthen their countries' economic, cultural, and security ties. The two leaders agreed to continue working together as long-time allies to "defeat the [coronavirus] pandemic, save lives, and restore global economic strength." The U.S. previously donated 203 million (or $4 million) and 1,300 cots for the country's medical frontliners and COVID-19 patients. Over the past 20 years, it has already invested more than $4.5 billion to the Philippines, including $582 million for the local public health system. Flash Namibian social commentators have lauded China's continued support to Namibia in the midst of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic which has affected the southern African country as well as the world at large. Senior academic in the Faculty of Human Sciences at the Namibian University of Science and Technology Admire Mare said Namibia has benefited immensely from the assistance rendered by China on humanitarian grounds. "The assistance coming from China to Namibia and many African countries currently need to be commended as it also comes without conditions. China is doing a great deal on humanitarian grounds to assist Namibia in combating the virus. This is the time that all countries are grappling with the virus so any form of support that the Chinese are rendering will go a long way in saving lives," he said. University of Namibia analyst Hoze Riruako also added that Namibia and China have very cordial relations hence the continued support. "For the first time we are seeing the fruits of strong political relations coming to the rescue on a humanitarian aspect. The COVID-19 pandemic obviously needs a coordinated approach so the contribution from China is commendable," he said. The Prominent Civil Rights Advocacy group-: HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has carpeted the Lagos State Government for the arraignment of the General Overseer of Resurrection Praise Ministries for Africa alias Jehovah Sharp Sharp, Archbishop Samson Benjamin for reportedly violating its lockdown order only because he led protesters to the Chinese Embassy in Lagos to demonstrate the maltreatment of Africans in China. HURIWA in a statement by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director Miss Zainab Yusuf said the arraignment of the Nigerian protesters for standing up to reject the dehumanization of their fellow Africans by the government and the people of China shows that the Nigerian Police Force has become subservient to foreign interests as against aligning to protect the fundamental human rights of Nigerians everywhere in the World. "HURIWA expected that the Nigerian Police rather than arrest the patriotic Nigerians should have ensured that the demonstrators respected social distancing rules even as they agitate for the redress of the gross violations of the human rights of Nigerians in China. The impression created by the Lagos police command in arresting and prosecuting the leader of the protesting Nigerians is that the policing institution is now the lapdog of foreign powers like China only because CHINA seems to have financially enticed African leaders with dubious loans that has made them to become stooges of the Chinese government." "We call on the Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice and the governor Babajide SanwaOlu to withdraw all the charges against the protesters and to end this state sponsored suppression of the human rights provisions. The Social distancing Rules must not be used as a subterfuge to advance the neocolonialism of the Chinese government in Nigeria", HURIWA stressed. "HURIWA is incredibly shocked to read that the Lagos state Police spokesman Mr Bala Elkana, a Deputy Superintendent (DSP), was happily confirming the information that the Church leader is being prosecuted only because he mobilized Nigerians to show our collective outrage at the outrageous treatment of our fellow citizens in China. "These fellow Africans and Nigerians were chased out of their houses in the middle of the nights and made homeless only because of their nationality and the Lagos state Police command is supporting this Xenophobic violence against Africans in China by Chinese by rounding up peaceful protesters who matched to the Chinese Embassy in Lagos to demonstrate the maltreatment of Africans in China by Chinese government. The Police Commissioner in Lagos state and the Nigerian Police Force and the Lagos state government represented by the state governor Babajide SanwaOlu SHOULD be ashamed of themselves for making themselves AVAILABLE to the CHINESE Imperialists represented by their embassy officials in Nigeria." HURIWA recalled that the cleric was arrested by the police on Tuesday and detained at the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Yaba just as the Cleric Benjamin, was alleged to have led about 100 persons to the Chinese Embassy in Victoria Island to protest the mistreatment of Nigerians in China. HURIWA learnt that the cleric, affirmed that the Chinese were operating freely in Nigeria even though COVID-19 started in their country but have chosen to mistreat Nigerians and other blacks even as It was gathered that officials of the Embassy sent a video clip of the alleged 'invasion' which was a simple peaceful demonstration to the police, which prompted operatives from Victoria Island Division to move to the scene to effect arrest. HURIWA has relatedly wondered that amidst the ongoing lock-down, Lagos State Governmemt reportedly commenced the demolition of houses thus sending poor residents into the streets, rendering them homeless even when it is clear that this is the era of #COVID19 lockdown worldwide. And residents are meant to stay indoors. HURIWA accused the Lagos state governor of plotting to facilitate the spread of the CORONAVIRUS DISEASE IN NIGERIA because the irrational decision at this time to chase out residents and demolished by force can only be done by a government that is irresponsible and insensitive. HURIWA stated thus: " We have been alerted that the demolition squads made up of armed security forces have ejected forcefully, the entire residents of Ifelodun Street, Oke-Ira, Ogba (behind Yaya Abatan, Ogba) and these sets of Nigerian citizebs include men, women, children including new-born babies who reportedly are being thrown into the streets, their houses being brought down by bulldozers heavily guarded by armed men including mobile police and men of the Civil Defence Corps. And this is after a 48-hour notice, according to a displaced resident, mr. Sunday Unah. This is wicked, mean hearted, inhuman and dehumanizing and is an attempt to kill these poor Nigerians by pushing them to then get infected by Covid-19. What crime have they committed for being poor and for staying in poor neighbourhood? Is the state government not obliged to provide affordable housing assets for her people thst are disadvantaged?" "HURIWA has an information from a highly credible source quoting a woman in her sixties, Regina James, as saying that she was in her house and on a drip due to ill-health when the demolition squad appeared. She had to be taken outside with the drip still attached. Also, the few houses standing either have their foundations so badly dug into they may cave in any moment from now, or have heaps of excavated toxic wastes dumped in front of them such that they can't move in or out of their houses. And that is in addition to inhaling the toxic wastes. Who indeed wants to terminate the precious lives of these poor Nigerians?" HURIWA has therefore called on the United Nations; the World Health organisation and the international community to call on the Nigerian government and the Lagos state governor Mr. Babajide SanwaOlu to withdraw all the security forces currently demolishing these poor people's houses and to provide alternative HOUSING to those already displaced to stave off the IMMINENT IMPLOSION OF COVID-19 which may occur as a result of the forceful ejection onto the streets of Lagos of hundreds of poor people by the Babajide SanwaOlu led Lagos state administration. Tributes have been paid to Jim Donaldson, the father of DUP MP Sir Jeffrey, following his death. DUP leader Arlene Foster described him as a "big character" in the Kingdom of Mourne. The DUP Dromore District branch made the announcement in a Facebook post on Wednesday morning. "On behalf of the branch we pass on our condolences to the Donaldson family at this sad and difficult time. May they all know Gods strength and comfort in the days and weeks ahead," a statement from the branch chairman and members said. At the age of 60 Mr Donaldson entered the political fray, following in his son's footsteps. He stood for election for the UUP in 2003 for the Assembly elections. Sir Jeffrey severed his ties with the party to join the DUP later that year in dispute over support of the Good Friday Agreement. His father also quit the party after four decades of membership. Jim Donaldson, a father-of- eight, had served in the UDR for 26 years and was a member of the Royal Irish Regiment. He would have been aged in his late 70s. DUP leader Arlene Foster offered her sympathies to the Donaldson family. "He was a big character in the kingdom of Mourne and someone who served his country with distinction," she said. "I know he was incredibly proud of his family and they were so important to him. "Ordinarily we would all want to pay our respects to Jims family, especially his wife Annie and his children, but because of the COVID-19 outbreak we are unable to come together to offer our support and sympathy. "I send my heartfelt sympathy and love to the whole family at this saddest of times. They will know that they are in the prayers of many across Jims beloved Northern Ireland and much further afield at this time. DUP Newry and Mourne councillor Glyn Hanna and South Down DUP chairman described him as an inspiration saying he would be missed. "Jim inspired many with his words of encouragement and positivity. He is now safe in the arms of Jesus. The Donaldson family are in our thoughts and prayers," he added. Expand Close James ( JIm ) Donaldson. pictured in 2002. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp James ( JIm ) Donaldson. pictured in 2002. The Ulster Unionist Party also expressed its sincere condolences to Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP and his family. Party chairman Danny Kennedy said: On behalf of the Ulster Unionist Party I would like to extend sincere sympathies to Sir Jeffrey and the entire Donaldson family circle on the death of a much loved husband, father and grandfather. Our thoughts and prayers are with them all at this sad and difficult time. Lagan Valley MLA and UUP Assembly chief whip Robbie Butler added: I would like to send my condolences to Sir Jeffrey and his family. I know that the whole of Lagan Valley is thinking of them and hope that this will be of some comfort and strength both now and in the days ahead. On Tuesday Lagan Valley MP Sir Jeffrey spoke of his heartache of being unable to visit his elderly father Jim as he "fights his final battle". He said the family had only been able to communicate with him through a window. "It's not an easy time," he told the BBC Stephen Nolan Show on Radio Ulster. "We're a big family, we're a close family and it's tough at the moment. There are many families in Northern Ireland going through this. "There isn't going to be a church service so it's a very different scenario. "It's not just our family, it's the wider local community that are impacted. I just ask that people think about the families that have lost loved ones in recent weeks... who probably feel isolated right now." SINGAPORE All foreign worker dormitories will soon be "effectively" on lockdown. These include 43 purpose-built and close to 1,200 factory-converted dorms, which in total, house some 300,000 workers. During a virtual press conference led by the COVID-19 multi-ministry taskforce on Tuesday (14 April), Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said that the authorities aim to apply the same safe distancing measures implemented in isolation areas to the remaining dorms. As of Monday, eight dorms - all of which are clusters - have been gazetted as isolation areas, with the latest being Cochrane Lodge II. These and other dorms that have also been identified as clusters have been locked down. Workers in these dorms are quarantined and cannot leave their rooms for 14 days. While these (other) dorms are not presented as isolation areas, we aim to apply the same safe distancing measures so that they are effectively also on lockdown, said Teo. Likewise, workers have to stay in the dormitories. Within the dormitories, we enforce strict safe distancing measures, which means no more cooking and freely mixing with friends from other housing units. Noting that not all the dormitories have clusters, Teo said, 29 of the 43 purpose-built dormitories, and almost all the factory-converted dormitories are like that. Here, we aim to prevent clusters from forming. All those tested positive and their close contacts would already have been isolated separately. Some 7,000 healthy workers who are providing essential services have already been moved out of the dormitories. They have been, or will be, placed at various activated sites such as SAF military camps, the Changi Exhibition Centre, floating hotels, or floatels, that are typically used for offshore accommodation, as well as vacant Housing Board blocks in Tanjong Pagar and Jurong. About 1,300 healthy workers will be progressively relocated in batches to three floating hotels berthed at Tanjong Pagar Terminal over the next few weeks. The first batch of 31 healthy workers have been moved to a floatel. Story continues At least 19 clusters linked to foreign worker dormitories have been identified as of Monday night, including the largest cluster of 586 cases linked to S11 Dormitory@Punggol. Those linked to S11 account for nearly half of the total 1,193 cases linked to clusters at foreign worker dorms and construction sites. Separately, the Ministry of Healths director of medical services Kenneth Mak said on Tuesday that there were another 334 new cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore, taking the total to 3,252. Dormitory facts and figures The 43 purpose-built dormitories in Singapore house about 200,000 workers in total. Most facilities are able to house about 3,000 to 25,000 workers each. There was a very specific reason we built these dormitories. They were designed for communal living, where the workers could live together, socialise with their friends, prepare meals they liked, practice their religious beliefs... Its a supportive environment for the workers, said Teo. In terms of living conditions, she described workers shared rooms as being about the size of half a badminton court accommodating five bunk beds, with another 20 per cent for circulation space. Such dormitories are also managed by professional operators, which are regulated. Among other things, they have the responsibility to ensure modern sanitation and no over-crowding, said Teo. Around 1,200 factory-converted dormitories across the island house about 95,000 workers. These facilities tend to be smaller and house about 50 to 100 workers each, although some can take in around 500. These dormitories may be operated by the employers themselves or by professional firms, and are also regulated to ensure they meet standards for space, hygiene, and fire safety among others. Lastly, there are also temporary quarters that generally do not house more than 40 workers each, said Teo, who added that these facilities are regularly inspected. Why the spread? In its initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) first progressively limited the inflow of workers to minimise the risk of imported cases. We reached out to dormitory operators to be more vigilant. Materials were produced in the workers native languages to encourage them to also take steps to protect themselves, said Teo. She added that non-essential facilities like gyms and TV rooms were then closed; mealtimes and recreational hours staggered; and intermixing between dormitory blocks was also stopped. Why then has there been such a spread among workers in dormitories? she asked. Teo said that epidemiological findings showed that infected dormitory residents are linked through common work sites and through socialising on rest days. The workers are also likely to have mingled with one another within the dormitories as well. Despite the safe distancing measures in place then, the virus spread in the dormitories through these socialising activities, much like how it would spread among housemates, friends and the community, said Teo. This may explain why up to mid-March, the cases of dorm workers testing positive were few and far between. Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore Related stories: COVID-19: It's now mandatory to wear a face mask while outdoors Lawrence Wong COVID-19: 334 new cases in Singapore, 189 linked to clusters; total 3,252 United States of America Ambassador to India, Ken Juster thanked the Indian government for facilitating the repatriation of thousands of American citizens in multiple international flights. READ: 'Open Flight Bookings Only When Decision To Resume Ops Has Been Taken': Aviation Minister 'Shining example of our strong strategic friendship' Tremendous thanks to the Govt of India and the many State Govts for facilitating the repatriation to date of almost 4,000 American citizens on 17 international flights. This is another shining example of our strong & durable strategic partnership. #USIndia pic.twitter.com/iZLYo7fGxM Ken Juster (@USAmbIndia) April 21, 2020 In a tweet on Tuesday evening, Ambassador Juster thanked the Indian government for helping 4,000 American citizens return to their home country on 17 international flights. He added that the partnership was an example of our 'strong and durable partnership.' READ: DGCA Extends Domestic & Foreign Passenger Flight Suspension Till May 3 Amid Covid Lockdown In March, the Central government announced that no international commercial passenger aircraft shall be allowed to land in India in order to contain the spread of the virus. On April 14, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) announced the extension of the suspension of passenger operations until May 3. The Central government has been facilitating flights to bring back citizens to India from various countries and simultaneously has been engaging with other countries to help return to their home countries. Last week, the British government announced an additional 17 charter flights next week, with a total capacity of around 4,000 passengers, to bring home British nationals stranded in India since last month amidst the international travel lockdown over the coronavirus pandemic. READ: DGCA Permits Passenger Category Aircraft To Be Used For Cargo Operations; Lists Conditions Nationwide lockdown PM Modi has extended the lockdown till May 3, with a relaxation possibility in non-COVID hotspots after April 20. The country is currently in the second phase of the nationwide lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 14 and will continue till May 3. All transport services have been stopped, including Indian railways' passenger services. Goods trains are operational to ensure a steady supply of goods and services across the country. READ: Lockdown Relaxation: MHA Allows shops Selling Academic Books & Agri-goods To Operate (Picture credits: twitter.com/USAmbIndia) Anubhav Sahu & Neha Dave Highlights: - RIL targets to be zero-debt company by March 2021- Adjusted net debt can shrink by 50 percent after recent transactions- Moderating capex needs add to prospects for free cash flow soon - Future monetization of lucrative retail business and further value unlocking in digital possible -------------------------------------------------The Facebook-Reliance Jio deal announced on April 22 reaffirms the RIL managements commitment to deleverage its balance sheet and energize the businesses of the future. Remember, RIL targets to become a zero-debt company by March 2021 and the Facebook deal helps to accelerate this process. The deal includes Facebook buying a minority stake (9.9 percent) in the digital business segment (Jio Platforms), for Rs 43,574 crore. Also Read: Facebook deal to accelerate Jio's listing push On asset monetization spree The Facebook deal is one of the many asset monetisation steps company has taken over in the last one year to deleverage the balance sheet. Last year, the company announced the divestment of 20 percent stake in its oils-to-chemicals business to Saudi Arabian oil company, Saudi Aramco. This is expected to fetch about $15 billion. Additionally, RIL has signed a joint-venture in the petroleum retailing business with BP, where BP will acquire a 49 percent in the petro-retail business for Rs 7,000 crore (USD 1 billion). Further, it is attempting deleveraging telecom businesses through the creation of the investment trusts (InvITs) for its telecom infrastructure (fibre and tower assets), which will reduce the consolidated debt by Rs 1.17 lakh crore. Note that RIL has invested over Rs 350,000 crore towards creating a state-of-the-art digital infrastructure across India, with the largest optical fibre footprint. Divesting these assets into separate infrastructure investment trusts or InvITs is the way to monetise the investment. For the tower assets, Brookfield would invest $3.7 billion in the Tower infrastructure trust valued at $8 billion. The deal has received CCI approval and now awaits the nod from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). Impact of the deal on the companys balance sheet Our back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that net debt can decrease by 80 percent if the inflows from the deals with Facebook, Aramco and BP are used to deleverage. In result, net debt to equity ratio can reduce from around 0.8x to 0.14x in the best-case scenario. However, given the recent turmoil in the crude oil market and COVID-19 crisis, we have looked at different scenarios for the timeline of asset monetisation. Table: Deleverage Scenario Source: Moneycontrol Research Even if we dont include the Aramco deal in the deleveraging calculation, net debt could potentially reduce by 50 percent and gearing ratio can settle to about 0.4x due to recent asset monetisation announcements. Capex down cycle Additional comfort from the balance sheet point is that requirement for the capex is decreasing. Which means need to raise further debt in the near future is limited. RILs capex run rate is expected to decline in the old economy (Oil/Chemicals) business with the commissioning of the majority of projects in downstream petrochemicals. RILs management has already declared that the capex cycle for telecom is over and any major capex requirement would expectedly be restricted to new business related to retail and connectivity. Capex down cycle Source: RIL, Moneycontrol Research The upshot is that with the increasing profitability of the digital and retail businesses, prospects for free cash flow have increased. This would further help to reduce the remaining debt in the books. Overall, the deleveraging cycle for RIL appears to be a well-calibrated move. In our view, the staggered asset monetisation steps are also helping in fetching better valuations. In a medium run, this should also aid in attracting better value for the future asset sale or listing/spin-off of businesses such as retail and digital. In the meantime, inducting a leading global company in its digital business is a welcome move and should be viewed positively by the shareholders. Follow @nehadave01 Follow @anubhavsays For more research articles, visit our Moneycontrol Research page Catch our entire coverage on the Facebook-Jio Deal here. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Carla Bianpoen (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, April 22, 2020 11:22 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd37b498 1 Art & Culture #art,#culture,#Bandung,#exhibition,#artists,#ArtSocietes,#HeriDono,#MellaJaarsma,#TisnaSanjaya,#Indonesia Free Lawangwangi, which literally means alluring gate, had its 10th anniversary in late March. The creative space, set up by mathematician Andonowati, rose from the initial Art and Science Estate, combining a gallery and a science lab, to a splendid entity called Lawangwangi which supports and promotes Indonesian artists to an elevated level. Standing out in its endeavor in the past decade is, among others, the Bandung Contemporary Art Awards (BaCAA), which has gained a reputation of being unique and inspiring with its bold and daring initiatives and decisions. Andonowati, the driving force behind Lawangwangi, has also been hailed as knowing the balance between ideological and commodification of art. The latest exhibition of the works by 10 selected artists was to be held at the gallery to mark Lawangwangis 10th anniversary, but due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the works are being shown online or by appointment only. The 10 artists veteran and new generation artists show how conceptual thought by veteran artists like Tisna Sanjaja, Heri Dono and Mella Jaarsma are being drawn to social situations of the present; while the younger generation excels in experimental innovations combined with scientific and technological execution. Cultural issue: Through her installation, 'Blinkers', artist Mella Jaarsma points at an opposite one-sidedness in the cultural tradition. (Courtesy of ArtSociates Indonesia/-) Tisna and Mella, for instance, tackle socio-cultural issues. At the exhibition, Tisna showcases videos that represent his social and environmental projects in Cigondewa, where he believes art can be an agent of change in socio-political and environmental stalemates. Mella, with her installations of Blinkers, points at an opposite one-sidedness in the cultural tradition of clothing, such as in Indonesias westernmost province, Banda Aceh, where bodies must be almost totally covered according to sharia; and people in the countrys easternmost province, Papua, who are still using little coverings as many tribal people are wearing penis sheaths or grass skirts. Both Tisna and Mella are interested in the politics of culture. Avatars: Veteran artist Heri Dono uses genetic manipulation with mechanical devices to represent his concern on science and technology that might one day hybridize the human body into new creatures as living avatars. (Courtesy of ArtSociates Indonesia/-) Meanwhile, Heri Dono known for his fondness of simple technology presents work from 2018 using genetic manipulation with mechanical devices. He is concerned about the impact of advanced science and technology on the human body that together with other elements of the universe, may one day be hybridized into new creatures as living Avatars. In the meantime, the younger generation has immersed themselves in exploring the workings of scientific and new technological advancements to discover other ways of doing in contemporary art. Experimentation: Artist Arin Dwihartantos work, titled 'Phreatic', is the result of his explorations with pigments. (Courtesy of ArtSociates Indonesia/-) Arin Dwihartanto, for instance, widely explored pigments, ultimately creating his own powder pigments through alternative methodologies, utilizing, among others, volcanic ash derived from volcanic eruptions, various metals and minerals from the earth, as well as, most recently, perishable food ingredients and spices and treated these materials as a deep source of pigment exploration. The title of his work Phreaatic refers to his process with volcanic ash. Bandu Darmawan in Gelombang Terakhir (Last wave) simulates, manipulating phenomenon and recording culture-also pictorial one into a compact AR installation formed in analog Hi8 video camera (as a representation to the last analog video which mass-produced) into an artwork. Eddy Susantos innovation using Javanese script in relation to Renaissance works, has been an important phenomenon in the past decade. In his current work The Decalogue, the artist honors Lawangwangis anniversary by appropriating the works respectively Moses and the copper snake by Renaissance painters Egbert van Panderen after Pieter de Jode, and Mozes by Cornelis Galle after Jan van der Staet, to emulate The Ten Commandments written in Javanese script shaping the images in these works. Etza Meisyara has emerged as an innovative multimedia artist whose works have included sound, etching and other media. With Garam di Laut, Asam di Gunung, Bertemu dalam Belanga (Salt in the Sea, Acid on the Mountain meets in one cauldron), a photo etching, she uses brass and sulfur from the mountain as her main material, letting the color emerge as a result of the burning process. Jim Allen Abel an artist known for his photography and installation works in Speculative Realism also comments on the changes over time. I noticed how human gestures evolved along with history, and how some of these dominant gestures nowadays did not even exist in the previous eras. And effects of the internet on human lives and their way of life, he says. Delicate: In his paper handcut work, titled 'Invisible Monster', artist Mujahidin Nurrahman points to the chaotic mess of current situations. (Courtesy of ArtSociates Indonesia/-) Mujahidin Nurrahmans paper cuts are at once beautiful, delicate, revealing and foreboding. In a continuation of his paper cuts in the arabesque style layering of AK47 weaponry, that deceivingly appear as ornamental decorations, the artist with his work Invisible Monster in fact wants to point to the chaotic mess of current situations where violence results from the power clash and religious motivations. However, the symbolism of the symmetrical form likened to Arabesque (geometrical) design that create visual balance presents a platform or means toward an "ideal" greater picture. Tromarama, the Indonesian first video group to enter the contemporary scene, in their work Marvin, reconsider the relation between species and nature as the habitat of all things living. They also consider how nowadays simulation of the various space for humans and other living things are catered through technological devices. Attempting to break down the role of contemporary technology in creating new associations between man, animal and nature, they have used computer engineering to have a penguin as the narrator in Marvins work, highlighting an animals perspective instead of personal narratives by zoo veterinarians and academics of animal behavior and communication mediators between species. Perhaps the works of these artists selected and curated by Asmudjo J.Irianto and Gumilar Ganjar as representing the development of Indonesian art in the past decade may inspire to imagine the next decade after the COVID-19 rage is over. (ste) -- "Trajectory: A decade of Lawangwangi" exhibition; Online viewing April 24 to May 24 at artsociates.com; by appointment to Yori +62 87823416728; or email for further details to info@artsociates.com Could Credit Suisse Group AG (VTX:CSGN) be an attractive dividend share to own for the long haul? Investors are often drawn to strong companies with the idea of reinvesting the dividends. If you are hoping to live on the income from dividends, it's important to be a lot more stringent with your investments than the average punter. A slim 1.8% yield is hard to get excited about, but the long payment history is respectable. At the right price, or with strong growth opportunities, Credit Suisse Group could have potential. The company also bought back stock during the year, equivalent to approximately 10% of the company's market capitalisation at the time. Remember though, given the recent drop in its share price, Credit Suisse Group's yield will look higher, even though the market may now be expecting a decline in its long-term prospects. Some simple research can reduce the risk of buying Credit Suisse Group for its dividend - read on to learn more. Explore this interactive chart for our latest analysis on Credit Suisse Group! SWX:CSGN Historical Dividend Yield April 22nd 2020 Payout ratios Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. As a result, we should always investigate whether a company can afford its dividend, measured as a percentage of a company's net income after tax. Credit Suisse Group paid out 10% of its profit as dividends, over the trailing twelve month period. Given the low payout ratio, it is hard to envision the dividend coming under threat, barring a catastrophe. Remember, you can always get a snapshot of Credit Suisse Group's latest financial position, by checking our visualisation of its financial health. Dividend Volatility From the perspective of an income investor who wants to earn dividends for many years, there is not much point buying a stock if its dividend is regularly cut or is not reliable. Credit Suisse Group has been paying dividends for a long time, but for the purpose of this analysis, we only examine the past 10 years of payments. The dividend has been cut on at least one occasion historically. During the past ten-year period, the first annual payment was CHF0.10 in 2010, compared to CHF0.14 last year. Dividends per share have grown at approximately 3.3% per year over this time. The dividends haven't grown at precisely 3.3% every year, but this is a useful way to average out the historical rate of growth. Story continues We're glad to see the dividend has risen, but with a limited rate of growth and fluctuations in the payments, we don't think this is an attractive combination. Dividend Growth Potential Given that the dividend has been cut in the past, we need to check if earnings are growing and if that might lead to stronger dividends in the future. Credit Suisse Group has grown its earnings per share at 6.6% per annum over the past five years. A low payout ratio and strong historical earnings growth suggests Credit Suisse Group has been effectively reinvesting in its business. We think this generally bodes well for its dividend prospects. Conclusion When we look at a dividend stock, we need to form a judgement on whether the dividend will grow, if the company is able to maintain it in a wide range of economic circumstances, and if the dividend payout is sustainable. Firstly, we like that Credit Suisse Group has a low and conservative payout ratio. Unfortunately, earnings growth has also been mediocre, and the company has cut its dividend at least once in the past. In summary, we're unenthused by Credit Suisse Group as a dividend stock. It's not that we think it is a bad company; it simply falls short of our criteria in some key areas. Market movements attest to how highly valued a consistent dividend policy is compared to one which is more unpredictable. Still, investors need to consider a host of other factors, apart from dividend payments, when analysing a company. Taking the debate a bit further, we've identified 1 warning sign for Credit Suisse Group that investors need to be conscious of moving forward. We have also put together a list of global stocks with a market capitalisation above $1bn and yielding more 3%. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. Samsung Electronics announced today that its blood pressure monitoring app for Galaxy Watches has been approved by South Korean regulators. Called the Samsung Health Monitor, the app will be available for the Galaxy Watch Active2 during the third quarter, at least in South Korea, and added to upcoming Galaxy Watch devices. TechCrunch has contacted Samsung for more information on when the app, which uses the Galaxy Watch Active2s advanced sensor technology, will be available in other markets. It was cleared by South Koreas Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for use as an over-the-counter, cuff-less blood pressure monitoring app. The app first has to be calibrated with a traditional blood pressure cuff, then it monitors blood pressure through pulse wave analysis. Users need to recalibrate the app at least once every four weeks. According to a recent report by IDC, in the last quarter of 2019, Samsung wearables ranked third in terms of shipments, behind Apple and Xiaomi, with volume driven by its Galaxy Active watches. Samsung has sought to differentiate its smartwatches with a focus on health and fitness monitoring, including sleep trackers. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close A dozen Iranian speed boats brazenly swarm U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf. A Russian fighter jet buzzes a U.S. Navy surveillance plane flying over the Mediterranean Sea. North Korea fires a barrage of missiles launched from the air and ground. All the incidents took place in mid-April. All were mounted by some of America's top adversaries. As coronavirus stalks the globe, sapping attention, budgets and government personnel at home and abroad, U.S. adversaries from Moscow to Pyongyang are flexing their muscles and testing U.S. resolve. U.S. defense and national security officials said that although America remains on guard for potential threats as it works to overcome the coronavirus in a world of unpredictability, they have not detected extraordinary reasons to sound the alarm. Stay healthy: Top priority for nuclear forces amid coronavirus pandemic President Donald Trump sent out a warning Wednesday on Twitter: "I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea." He offered no additional context. Defense Secretary Mark Esper told NBC's "Today" last week that "it's hard to say" whether the Iranian and Russian episodes reflected efforts to probe for U.S. vulnerability amid the COVID-19 pandemic that has sickened more than 826,000 Americans. The Defense Department, he said, considered "this a normal week." No Americans were killed or injured as a result of the Iranian, Russian and North Korean actions. National security analysts said that the timing of these incidents may not be coincidental but that there is little evidence that America's global opponents are capitalizing on conditions created by the pandemic. America's enemies "aren't necessarily doing anything different or unusual because of coronavirus," said Joseph Cirincione, president of Ploughshares Fund, a Washington-based global security foundation. "And this thing cuts both ways: All militaries are concerned about others' perception of them during a time of crisis. Story continues "Is the timing suspicious? Maybe. Internal dynamics can also explain these incidents." To be sure, provocations from U.S. foes and rivals are not new. On April 15, when Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy boats darted past U.S. warships conducting exercises in international waters in the northern Persian Gulf it was the latest example of routine Iranian harassment toward U.S. vessels that has intensified since the Trump administration exited a nuclear deal with Tehran. Iran claims revenge for Qasem Soleimani. The US Navy is still a target That same day, a Russian SU-35 fighter jet came within 25 feet of a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon surveillance plane flying in international airspace, putting the pilots and crew at risk, according to the U.S. Navy. Air Force Gen. Tod Wolters, NATOs supreme allied commander in Europe, characterized the Russian pilots maneuver, including a pass in which he flew upside down, as unprofessional as opposed to incitement. That, too, was just the most recent incident in a string of encounters between Russian and U.S. jets that raised concerns over the risk of midair collisions over European airspace. A report in 2014 from the European Leadership Network, a London-based think tank, found at least 40 examples that year of dangerous incidents involving Russian and Western militaries in "violations of national airspace, emergency scrambles, narrowly avoided mid-air collisions and close encounters at sea." North Korea's salvo of suspected cruise missiles toward waters off Japan on April 14 was among the most high-profile missile tests Pyongyang has conducted since nuclear negotiations with the Trump administration stalled. The tests came on the eve of a North Korean state anniversary and parliamentary elections in neighboring South Korea. Shea Cotton, a nuclear security expert at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, warned a week earlier in a column for Defense News that North Korea is "signaling this will be its busiest year of missile testing yet." Cotton noted that Kim Jong Un's regime conducted nine missile tests in March, the most in a single month recorded in his research institute's database. Cirincione said he did not think the U.S. military was more at risk as the Pentagon responds domestically and overseas to the COVID-19 health crisis despite the idling of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier docked in Guam, that has been sidelined because hundreds of its sailors tested positive for the disease. "We have such an overcapacity of military," he said. "Bases all over the world and an alliance system like no other. Is anybody pressing us at the minute? China or the Russians or even the Islamic State terror group? I just don't see it." About 3,500 active-duty U.S. military personnel, out of approximately 1.3 million, have tested positive for coronavirus, according to the Defense Department. A rocket launches at an undisclosed location in North Korea on March 21, 2020. A U.S. State Department report published this month said China might be secretly pushing ahead with low-level underground nuclear tests despite its claims that it strictly adheres to an international moratorium on all nuclear tests. Although Cirincione said unproven allegations that Beijing carries out low-intensity nuclear tests have been "percolating" for many years and nothing indicates China is exploiting a period of U.S. weakness. China, after all, is still grappling with COVID-19 albeit at a later stage. Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, a think tank in Washington, said that before coronavirus fully took hold in the USA, the Trump administration, not Iran, appeared to view the outbreak as an opportunity to gain advantage by "amplifying" its maximum pressure strategy the view that crippling sanctions would force Tehran to choose between its own economic viability and its destabilizing activities around the region. "Iran has all of these sanctions on it, and on top of it, you have an epidemic that makes it more likely Iran's regime will collapse. As a result, any sanctions relief would be counterproductive," Parsi said, summarizing how he said U.S. officials such as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo approached the Iran issue when Tehran was seeing hundreds of COVID-19 deaths a day and the USA had relatively few. He said both sides viewed the outbreak as a potential battleground. Parsi said the global spread of the virus could provide "an excuse and an opportunity for the Iranians to do something really drastic that may have less of a downside I'm not saying there aren't risks than under normal circumstances." One example: In mid-March, the Pentagon launched airstrikes targeting an Iranian-backed Shiite militia group in Iraq suspected in a rocket attack that killed and wounded American and British troops stationed at a base north of Baghdad. At the time, the severity of the coronavirus outbreak was beginning to become clear to the Trump administration. It did not take the strike any further. "The politics of the outbreak are churning against the backdrop of wider U.S.-Iran animosity that has grown steadily since Tehran decided in May 2019 to counter U.S. 'maximum pressure' with 'maximum resistance,' " the International Crisis Group, a Washington-based think tank, wrote in a research paper in early April. Official:Pentagon launches airstrikes targeting Iran-backed militia A Defense official characterized the Iranian and Russian incidents as "weird," noting that the Russians haven't made such a hazardous maneuver in some time and the exercises in the Persian Gulf had been underway for a week before the Iranians responded. Time will tell if the incidents are isolated or part of a pattern, said the defense official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about them. Adding to the impression the U.S. is being challenged in some way amid the pandemic: On the same day that Moscow's fighter jet buzzed a U.S. Navy surveillance plane in the Mediterranean Sea, Russia's military tested a series of missiles that U.S. Space Command Gen. Jay Raymond said were capable of "destroying" U.S. satellites in low orbit. On April 22, Iran launched what it described as its first military satellite into orbit, a move that could support its long-range ballistic missile program. Tehran's missiles underpin part of the Trump administration's tensions with Iran because Washington is concerned they could carry nuclear weapons. Gen. Hossein Salami, the head of Irans Revolutionary Guard, said its space program reflected Iran's membership of the "world's most powerful armies." Analysis: Trump halts funding to WHO. Experts say we need it more than ever The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the Pentagon to shift its footing to remain ready to fight, and troop rotations and some routine logistical operations have been paused. On April 14, Army Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said sailors aboard the USS Harry Truman saw their deployment extended to account for the USS Theodore Roosevelt's unscheduled sick time in Guam. The U.S. Air Force flexed its muscles with an "Elephant Walk" in which B-52 bombers and other jets taxied on the runway at Guam's Andersen Air Force base. The Elephant Walk" on April 13 was conducted with joint assets across Guam to showcase U.S. military readiness and "the ability to generate combat airpower at a moment's notice to ensure regional stability throughout the Indo-Pacific," Air Force Lt. Col. Megan Schafer, a spokeswoman for Pacific Air Forces, said in an email. For various reasons, America's adversaries are also more potentially imperiled. In North Korea, there are unconfirmed reports Kim Jong Un may be gravely ill after heart surgery. The North Korean leader's health has long been a focus of speculation. He's a heavy smoker and suffers from obesity. South Korea's government downplayed the reports. If Kim did die, it could put the nuclear-armed and isolated country in a fraught security posture with the United States as it dealt with a succession battle and perhaps COVID-19. North Korea has denied any infections. More than 10% of Iran's lawmakers have fallen ill with coronavirus, far more than anywhere else. The disease has not spared top officials, including its senior vice president, Cabinet ministers, Revolutionary Guard members and Health Ministry officials. Several Iran lawmakers died from COVID-19. Public health 'superstar' or pro-China propagandist? WHO chief lands in crosshairs One area where the COVID-19 field may be more level is terrorism, according to Colin Clarke, a security expert at the Soufan Center, a New York-based think tank. Clarke said coronavirus led the United States, France and other countries to withdraw elite forces, mainly trainers, helping combat militant groups around the world, especially in West Africa. But "the militants themselves are also vulnerable. It's not like they can just continue life as usual while the security forces are hampered," he said. "They may use this period to be more reckless, but they are also going to get sick." Clarke said the coronavirus outbreak highlighted that perhaps too much of America's military and security preoccupations have revolved around terrorism and more conventional military threats from well-known enemies. "I teach a class where I ask my students to rank the five greatest threats to global security. Global pandemics is one of them. Every year it comes in at No. 5," he said. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus: US adversaries Iran, North Korea, Russia flex muscles Northern Irelands health minister has revealed a sudden steep increase in the coronavirus death toll came after he instructed his officials to look into the figure. The Department of Health on Wednesday announced that the number of Covid-19-related deaths had increased by 34 to 250. This included eight deaths which occurred on Tuesday, while the remainder involved fatalities in previous days that have been added to the official record. DAILY UPDATE The number of Covid-19 related deaths recorded by HSC Trusts in NI has sadly risen to 250.https://t.co/YRDhgGbdMO pic.twitter.com/yh4Vm9hduq Department of Health (@healthdpt) April 22, 2020 As well as the daily total from the Department of Health, a weekly bulletin is drawn up separately by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra) using death certificates in which Covid-19 is mentioned as a factor. Robin Swann described the latest figure as a significant increase, adding that he appreciates it will cause some alarm. He explained that he had asked officials to investigate following a very low number of deaths announced on Sunday. I became concerned about a low report that we had on Sunday where we only actually recorded one death and I asked for a thorough piece of work to be done, he said. It's not that these deaths were never going to be reported, it's more in the timeline of the report Robin Swann That piece of work has indicated a number of deaths due to Covid-19 but also with Covid-19 and I asked for that figure to be brought forward today. When the Northern Ireland Statistical and Research Agency figures do present for the period of time for the next week to two weeks, it will capture a number of those deaths that were recording today rather than seeing a significant increase in the differential between what were reporting and what Nisra is reporting. Its not that these deaths were never going to be reported, its more in the timeline of the report. Expand Close Chief medical officer Dr Michael McBride during the daily media broadcast in the Long Gallery at Parliament Buildings, Stormont, Belfast (Kelvin Boyes/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Chief medical officer Dr Michael McBride during the daily media broadcast in the Long Gallery at Parliament Buildings, Stormont, Belfast (Kelvin Boyes/PA) Also appearing at the daily executive update, chief medical officer Dr Michael McBride said there is always a built-in delay in the process of the recording of deaths. It will be when we have the data in the fullness of time from Nisra which will look at all cause mortality and excess deaths in this period of time as compared with previous years that we will have a true reflection of the true impact of Covid-19, he added. Sinn Fein MLA Colm Gildernew, who chairs the Stormont Health Committee, expressed concern. The health minister and department need to take steps to ensure an error like this never happens again Colm Gildernew, Sinn Fein It is deeply worrying that weeks into this crisis that such an error can be made in terms of reporting the number of deaths, he said. These are people with families who have been plunged into grief by their loss, not mere statistics. I will be raising this issue directly with the health minister at the Assembly health committee meeting tomorrow. The health minister and department need to take steps to ensure an error like this never happens again. On Wednesday, Mr Swann also announced an expansion of coronavirus testing to include an additional range of frontline workers and symptomatic members of their households. Categories now eligible include private sector workers involved in delivering medicine and those working in energy, utilities, transport and food supply sectors. The minister also recently extended testing to include all symptomatic residents in care homes and any patients being discharged from hospital to a home setting. Chechen Governor Ramzan Kadyrov has threatened Russian journalist Elena Milashina for reporting about a shortage of protective equipment amongst doctors and the mass arrests of people violating government rules on self-isolation. The International and the European Federation of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) join their affiliate the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ) in expressing solidarity with Elena Milashina and calling on the Chechen leader to let journalists report freely during the COVID19 pandemic. On 12 April, Elena Milashina, an award- winning -investigative journalist for Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, published an article describing how the Chechen Governor had responded to the pandemic. The following day Governor Kadyrov is alleged to have threatened the journalist in a Telegram and Instagram live stream, claiming: If you want us to commit a crime and become criminals, just say so! One (of us) will take on this responsibility and serve his time, as required by law. Hell do his time and then hell be released. On 15 April the Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Communications (Roskomnadzor) forced Novaya Gazeta to retract Elena Milashinas reports following accusations of inaccurate information and for causing a threat to public safety. The Chief Editor of Novaya Gazeta, Dmitry Muratov, expressed his concerns about this decision and a wave of attacks and threats against Elena Milashina in a conversation published by Meduza news, a Latvian online publication. Elena Milashina has been reporting on Chechnya's breach of human rights for several years. In an interview with the IFJ in May 2019, she said: I write mostly on human rights-related topics in Chechnya: illegal detention, torture, killings Chechens are Russian citizens and formally they all have rights guaranteed by the Constitution. But everyone who lives in Chechnya can be kidnapped or killed with impunity. In May 2019 she received the honoris causa doctor title awarded by Brussels University to mark World Press Freedom Day. In October 2009, she was awarded Human Rights Watch's Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism and in line with her investigative work, she was the first journalist to shed light on anti-gay purges in Chechnya in April 2017. RUJ President, Vladimir Soloviev, with the support of Human Rights Council, journalists and activists sent a request on 17 April to the Russian Prosecutor Generals Office asking for the reason and the basis for removing the journalists story from the newspaper's website to ascertain if the constitutional rights of journalists and the media have been violated. Censorship is prohibited by the Russian Constitution. The RUJ said: "We took emergency control and are monitoring the actions of all parties involved with one aim : stop any attempts to censor and violate of freedom of speech." The IFJ and EFJ urge Roskomnadzor to review its decision and demand President Ramzan Kadyrov stop harassing the press and spreading hatred against media professionals and provide Elena Milashina with the protection she needs to enable her to do her job. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are still in the midst of discussing the details of their divorce. However, while while Brad seems to have moved on from the separation, Angie is still struggling to recover. Luckily, she got one reliable man in her life. Getting Over A Heartbreak The "Tomb Raider" actress is still reeling from her separation from Pitt. According to reports, Jolie is still recovering from what can be considered immense personal trauma. Luckily, Jolie found comfort in these stressful times though her son Maddox. "Maddox is the one person in the world Angie listens to so if anyone can lift her spirits, it's him," a source told OK! Magazine. The source added how grateful Angelina feels that her eldest son Maddox is on her side. "Angie is so grateful to have him around again. Everyone's noticed a change in her manner. She hasn't smiled this much in months!" The 44-year old actress currently has the custody of all her kids with her ex-husband. Pax, 16, Zahara, 15, Shiloh, 13, and twins Vivienne and Knox, 11 are all in quarantine with Jolie during the coronavirus lockdown. Angelina has been trying very hard to take care of her children while mending her broken heart. She has opted to raise them in a structured routine from "waking up early in the morning" to "setting up educational tasks for each one to keep them all busy with their studies even while on lockdown. The insider added that Maddox has been lending a helping hand to his mother in taking care of his younger siblings. He is doing this while keeping up with the demands of his online classes. At the moment, Maddox is with his mother and siblings due to the coronavirus. However, he opted to continue taking lessons through an online platform. However, once everything settles down, Maddox still plans to go back to school in South Korea. The End Of An Era Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were considered the golden couple of Hollywood. They've been living the dream until they decided to go their separate ways in 2016. Their relationship -- at first -- was the happily-ever-after story that everyone was hoping for. So when they made the shocking announcement of their split, it broke everyone's heart. It was in September 2016 when the couple decided to file for divorce, following the rumored clash between Brad and their eldest son Maddox. After that, the couple released a joint statement that they have opted to settle their divorce in private. Yet, four years since their announcement, the couple has yet to finalize their complicated divorce. Their messy breakup became even more complex because of their custody battle and various court orders. It was reported that Brad was not providing enough support for their children. However, both Angelina and Brad have yet to give a comment on the issue. Brad and Angelina are still trying to meet halfway. However, recent reports revealed that the couple has at least agreed to one thing for their children: both Jolie and Pitt want their kids to get a traditional education. For now, this decision they made for their kids will have to do. In time, their fans hope the two would be able to find peace and make amends. Shops selling educational books and electric fans, services of bedside attendants of senior citizens and public utilities, including recharge facilities for prepaid mobile phones have been allowed during the lockdown period. The orders were issued by the Home Ministry on Tuesday night after receiving some queries with regard to exemptions of specific services and activities allowed through the guidelines issued so far. The home ministry also said bread factories and flour mills located in urban areas can restart operations during the ongoing lockdown to combat the novel coronavirus outbreak. Shops selling educational books for students and electric fans will be allowed to open during the lockdown, which is scheduled to end on May 3. Bedside attendants and care givers of senior citizens residing in their homes and public utilities, including recharge facilities for prepaid mobile connection will be allowed to offer services, the ministry said in its order. Food processing units such as bread factories, milk processing plants, flour mills, dal mills etc., located in urban areas will be allowed to function during the lockdown. Facilities for export or import such as pack houses, inspection and treatment facilities for seeds and horticulture produce, research establishments dealing with the agriculture and horticulture activities have been exempted from the purview of the lockdown. Inter and intra-state movement of planting materials and honey bee colonies, honey and other beehive products will also be allowed to function, the order said. Forest offices, forestry plantation and related activities, including silviculture operations, are allowed during the lockdown. However, the ministry made it clear that social distancing for offices, workshops, factories and establishments must be ensured. The home ministry also allowed sign-on and sign-off of Indian seafarers at Indian ports and their movement for the aforesaid purpose as per a standard operating protocol (SOP). It said that change of crew of a ship (seafarers) is an important measure for operation of merchant ships. The SOP has been formulated to streamline the sign-on and sign-off of Indian seafarers at Indian ports for merchant shipping vessels, the ministry added. For sign-on, the ship owner or recruitment and placement service (RPS) agency will identify the Indian seafarers for joining a vessel. The seafarers will intimate their travel and contact history for the last 28 days to the ship owner or RPS agency by email, as per procedure laid down by Director General of Shipping (DGS). The seafarer would be examined by a DGS-approved medical examiner, as per the guidelines prescribed for this purpose. At the same time, the seafarer shall also be screened, and his travel and contact history examined for the last 28 days; seafarers found to be asymptomatic for COVID-19 and otherwise suitable may be processed for sign-on. The local authority in the area where the seafarer resides will be intimated about his clearance for sign-on and for issue of a transit pass from the place of residence to the place of embarkation on the shipping vessel. The transit pass for such movement by road, for the seafarer and one driver, may be issued by the government of the State or Union Territory where the seafarer resides. For sign-off, the master of a vessel, coming from any foreign port, or a coastal vessel from any Indian port, while arriving at its port of call in India, shall ascertain the state of health of each person on board the vessel and submit a Maritime Declaration of Health to the health authorities of the port and to the port authorities. In addition, the information required by the local health authorities of the port, like temperature chart, individual health declaration, etc. shall also be provided by the master as per the directives of the health authorities of the port. Port health authorities shall grant pratique to the vessel prior to berthing as per necessary health protocols. The Indian seafarer arriving on the vessel would undergo the COVID-19 test for confirmation that he or she is negative for the infection. After disembarking and till the time the seafarer reaches the testing facility within the port premises, it will be ensured by the ship owner that all safety precautions as per standard health protocol are observed. Till the time test reports of the seafarer are received, they shall be kept in the quarantine facility by the port or the state health authorities. If the seafarer is tested as positive for COVID-19, he or she will be dealt with as per the procedures laid down by Health Ministry. For the seafarer tested negative and signed off, the local authority in the area where the seafarer disembarks will be intimated about his or her clearance for sign-off, and for issue of a transit pass from the place of disembarkation to the place of his or her residence. The social distancing and other hygiene norms, as per standard health protocol, would be followed by the vehicle transporting the seafarer to his destination. The lockdown was first announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24 in a bid to combat the coronavirus pandemic. It was later extended till May 3. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Core Molding Technologies, Inc. (NYSE American: CMT) (the "Company"), today announced that its Board of Directors (the "Board") has adopted a limited duration stockholder rights plan. The plan, which has a term of 364 days, is designed to protect against any potential future use of coercive or abusive takeover techniques and to help ensure that the Company's stockholders are not deprived of the opportunity to realize the full and fair value of their investment. In adopting the plan, the Board has taken note of the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company, including in the Company's stock price, the substantial increase in trading volume and market volatility, and the significant impact the pandemic has had across the manufacturing industry. The plan, which was adopted following evaluation and consultation with the Company's outside legal advisors, is similar to plans adopted by numerous publicly traded companies. The plan will expire on April 20, 2021, unless the rights are redeemed or exchanged for shares of common stock by the Company on an earlier date. The Board has resolved that the expiration date of the plan may not be extended without stockholder approval. In connection with the adoption of the stockholder rights plan, the Board declared a dividend of one right for each share of the Company's common stock held by stockholders of record as of the close of business on April 23, 2020. Initially, these rights will not be exercisable and will trade with the shares of the Company's common stock. Under the plan, these rights generally will be exercisable only if a person or group (i) becomes an "acquiring person" by acquiring beneficial ownership of 15% or more of the Company's common stock (subject to certain exceptions), or (ii) commences a tender offer or exchange offer which, if consummated, could result in a person owning 15% or more of the Company's common stock. Persons who currently beneficially own, together with their affiliates and associates and anyone with whom they are acting in concert, 15% or more of the Company's outstanding common stock will not be considered "acquiring persons" under the plan, unless they acquire an additional 0.5% of the outstanding shares of the Company's common stock or reduce their ownership below and then later exceed the 15% threshold. If a person or group becomes an acquiring person, each right generally will entitle the holder, other than the acquiring person, to acquire, for the exercise price of $15.00 dollars per right, shares of common stock (or, in certain circumstances, other consideration) at a 50% discount or the Company may exchange each right held by such holders for one share of common stock. In addition, if the Company is involved in a merger or other business combination transaction with another person after which its common stock does not remain outstanding, each right will entitle its holder to purchase, at the then-current exercise price of the right, shares of common stock of the ultimate parent of such other person having a market value of twice the exercise price of the right. The Board may redeem the rights at a price of $0.001 per right at any time up to ten days after a person becomes an acquiring person and may exchange the rights in certain circumstances under the plan. Stockholders are not required to take any action to receive the rights distribution. Until the rights become exercisable, outstanding stock certificates (or, in the case of shares reflected on the direct registration system, by the notations in the book-entry account system of the transfer agent for the shares) will represent both shares of the Company's common stock and the rights. The issuance of the rights will have no dilutive effect and will not impact reported earnings per share for the Company. The full text of the rights plan will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. About Core Molding Technologies, Inc. Core Molding Technologies is a manufacturer of sheet molding compound ("SMC") and molder of thermoset and thermoplastic products. The Company operates in one operating segment as a molder of thermoplastic and thermoset (plastic) structural products. The Company's operating segment consists of two component reporting units, Core Traditional and Horizon Plastics. The Company produces and sells molded products for varied markets, including medium and heavy-duty trucks, automobiles, marine, construction and other commercial markets. The Company offers customers a wide range of manufacturing processes to fit various program volume and investment requirements. These processes include compression molding of SMC, bulk molding compounds ("BMC"), resin transfer molding ("RTM"), liquid molding of dicyclopentadiene ("DCPD"), spray-up and hand-lay-up, glass mat thermoplastics ("GMT"), direct long-fiber thermoplastics ("D-LFT") and structural foam and structural web injection molding ("SIM"). Core Molding Technologies has its headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, and operates production facilities in Columbus and Batavia, Ohio; Gaffney, South Carolina; Winona, Minnesota; Matamoros and Escobedo, Mexico; and Cobourg, Ontario, Canada. For further information, visit the company's website at www.coremt.com. Contact John Zimmer Vice President & Chief Financial Officer 614-870-5604 [email protected] SOURCE Core Molding Technologies, Inc. Related Links http://www.coremt.com Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-23 02:23:45|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close GENEVA, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) had declared COVID-19 a global emergency, the highest level of alert, at the right time, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said here on Wednesday. "Looking back, I think we declared an emergency, at the right time... when the rest of the world had enough time to respond," Tedros told a virtual press briefing. On Jan. 30, the WHO chief declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), sending the highest level of alarm to the world. "This is more than two months and 21 days ago, close to three months from now," when "there were only 82 cases and no death" outside China, he recalled. At that time, what was reported from Europe is ten cases -- five from France, one from Finland, and four from Germany, while no case had been reported yet in Africa, he added, suggesting it was possible to cut transmission chains. Enditem Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. According to Stratistics MRC, the Global Volute Pumps Market is growing at a CAGR of 7.6% from 2017 to 2026. Some of the key factors influencing the market growth are rising spending on infrastructure programs, increasing demand for the rainwater harvesting systems and growing production of oil and gas. However, Increasing raw material prices may hampering the market growth. Volute pumps are the type of centrifugal pumps that are in curved shaped. Volutes are basically designed to capture the velocity of liquid as it enters the outermost diameter of an impeller and converts the velocity of the liquid into pressure. On the basis of Product, Metallic Pumps is going to have a lucrative growth during the forecast period owing to its large-capacity water-handling applications. By geography, North America is likely to have a huge demand due to the rising adoption of volute pumps in this region. Request for Report sample :https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/12120 Some of the key players in Volute Pumps Market include Shanghai Kai Quan Pump (Group) Co. Ltd, Sulzer Ltd, Kubota Pump, Watson-Marlow Inc., Kaiquan Group, GRUNDFOS Holding A/S, Flowserve Corporation, Watson-Marlow Inc., Kirloskar Brothers Limited, Gardner Denver, Inc., Honda Kiko Co Ltd, WPIL Limited, Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Group, Sulzer Ltd and Andritz A G. Products Covered: Concrete Pumps Metallic Pumps Applications Covered: Drainage & Flood Control Seawater Intake Flood Control Irrigation Schemes Cooling Water Other Applications End Users Covered: Agriculture & Lift Irrigation Water & Waste Water Oil & Gas Building Services Power Chemicals Other End Users Request for Report Discount:https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/discount/12120 Regions Covered: North America o US o Canada o Mexico Europe o Germany o UK o Italy o France o Spain o Rest of Europe Asia Pacific o Japan o China o India o Australia o New Zealand o South Korea o Rest of Asia Pacific South America o Argentina o Brazil o Chile o Rest of South America Middle East & Africa o Saudi Arabia o UAE o Qatar o South Africa o Rest of Middle East & Africa Make an Inquiry before Buying@:https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/checkout/12120/Single What our report offers: - Market share assessments for the regional and country level segments - Strategic recommendations for the new entrants - Market forecasts for a minimum of 9 years of all the mentioned segments, sub segments and the regional markets - Market Trends (Drivers, Constraints, Opportunities, Threats, Challenges, Investment Opportunities, and recommendations) - Strategic analysis: Drivers and Constraints, Product/Technology Analysis, Porters five forces analysis, SWOT analysis etc. - Strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations - Competitive landscaping mapping the key common trends - Company profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent developments - Supply chain trends mapping the latest technological advancements Free Customization Offerings: All the customers of this report will be entitled to receive one of the following free customization options: Company Profiling o Comprehensive profiling of additional market players (up to 3) o SWOT Analysis of key players (up to 3) Regional Segmentation o Market estimations, Forecasts and CAGR of any prominent country as per the clients interest (Note: Depends of feasibility check) Competitive Benchmarking o Benchmarking of key players based on product portfolio, geographical presence, and strategic alliances New Delhi, April 22 : Delhi University's probable plans to conduct online examinations for 6th semester have started to face friction even before it could take steps. A group of professors along with various students have started to raise concerns with the probable plan. The teachers cited a letter by the Dean of Faculty of Technology in Delhi University to the Vice Chancellor that suggested the DU administration give up plans for online examinations. The teachers argue that instead of focusing on online examinations, the varsity administration must focus on extending the academic calendar and taking sit-in examinations. The group of teachers called Academics for Action and Development (AAD) shared the concern raised by the Dean, Faculty of Technology, University of Delhi, Sachin Maheshwari who in a letter to Vice Chancellor of DU spoke about the conduct of online examinations by the university without taking into consideration the concerns of the stakeholders, that is the students and teachers, and without consulting the statutory bodies, the Executive Council and the Academic Council. In the letter Maheshwari states, "Apart from genuinely feeling for the academic loss of students, other nefarious reasons involving financial, political interests etc can't be ruled out. In the wake of the present situation some of the software companies are out there in luring academic leaders to procure extensive software citing some untested functionalities." The letter also cites Double Bench Judgment of the Supreme Court in 2017, which can raise legal questions regarding credit earning through distance mode. AAD though targeted the recent crash of DU server on the very first day that it called for filling up the online exam form portal. "The insensitivity shown by the administration towards students stuck in remote areas with poor connectivity issue is condemnable. The university should wait for students to come back to Delhi after the lockdown has lifted, give few days of actual teaching before commencing the examination process," AAD said. Thirdly, with several instances of online security being compromised while using apps such as Zoom also raises serious concerns about hacking and inappropriate behaviour. Addressing the media through video conferencing, Rajesh Jha who is also a member of executive council said, "Why do you want to focus on online exams, you do not have proper infrastructure plus the government is yet to decide on extending the academic calendar. I think its an attempt to set a precedent which other central universities will follow, keeping aside welfare of students." He claimed that in a meeting called at south campus to discuss the prospectus of online examinations, 17 Deans of different faculties of the Delhi University unanimously voted out the option and voiced for sit-in exams after the lockdown is over. Delhi University however maintained that "for now online examinations were the only option left". It though claimed that the final decision will be taken only after the committees formed by the UGC and MHRD submit their reports on the ways out for the education system. 1. When it comes to providing state-funded financial aid for college students, Montana ranks 49th in the nation. Do you think the state should contribute more toward higher education funding or should it be the responsibility of the student to fund their own college education? It would be unconstitutional to award, grant, offer, or in any other means deliver or promise to deliver state tax revenue to any specific student or group of students. Individual funding methods are in place through scholarships, work study programs, federal grants, military scholarships, private philanthropic resources and corporate scholarships. Therefore, one could be led to understand that it would be a character-building asset for the students to pay their own way in life, perchance that it had not been included in the education that was provided by their parents. 2. Do you think the state of Montana should increase state funding for affordable housing? Why or why not? By exclusion and non-enumeration within the Constitutions of both federal and state Constitutions, "housing" is not a part of either entitys realm of responsibilities. There is a myriad of other duly identified priorities within our Constitutions that supersede this issue. It was written in this manner to leave housing up to the individual and customary commercial enterprises. 3. What, in your view, is the largest issue with management of Montanas public lands? What should be done about it? Frivolous litigations brought by external entities cloaked under the guise of environmentalists have stifled to responsible agencies and bureaus from fulfilling their enabling act mandates of forest and rangeland management. The Legislature should pass a bill that would require that anyone or entity that files an injunction or stop order of any such nature that impedes the completion of any duly administered timber sale or mining permit to post a certified cash bond equal to the amount of the sale price of the timber sale or mining permit. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 1 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 5 Some Toronto-area assessment centres are reporting an increase in the number of health-care workers from long-term-care facilities asking to be tested for COVID-19. Its yet another sign the virus continues to surge in long-term-care homes, retirement homes and other congregate living facilities, even as health officials say the first wave of the outbreak has peaked in the wider community. In the past week we are seeing more hot spot workers, people who work in retirement facilities or long-term-care facilities, said Daria Gefrerer, a nurse practitioner who helps oversee the COVID-19 assessment centre at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. They know they maybe took care of a (COVID-19) positive patient with maybe not wearing as much Personal Protective Equipment (as they require) and they themselves are now worried they are positive. They are a big proportion of the people we are seeing. Many are symptomatic; they do have symptoms (of COVID-19). Staff at Womens College Hospitals COVID-19 assessment centre have seen an uptick in the number of long-term-care workers wanting to be tested for the virus, said Darryl Yates, the hospitals vice-president of Patient Care & Ambulatory Innovation. Between April 6 and April 19, the hospitals assessment centre saw an eight per cent increase in the number of people coming to the centre who work in long-term-care, when compared to the previous two weeks, Yates said. A similar trend has also been observed over the last several weeks at Michael Garron Hospital, where staff have seen an increase in the number of cases of COVID-19 diagnosed in health care workers from long-term-care and assisted-living homes, said Dr. Janine McCready, an infectious disease physician at the hospital. This served as part of the catalyst for the work we have been doing to pre-emptively engage and work with long-term-care in our community, she said in an email to the Star. As of Tuesday, 128 of the provinces 626 long-term-care facilities had recorded a COVID-19 outbreak. The Ministry of long-term-care on Tuesday reported at least 399 Ontario nursing home residents have died of COVID-19. John Hirdes, a professor in the University of Waterloos School of Public Health and Health Systems, said its difficult to slow the spread of COVID-19 once it breaches the doors of a long-term-care home or assisted living facility and moves among vulnerable residents. I dont expect that we are going to see these (case) curves go down quickly, he said. On Monday, Ontario health officials released data showing how much COVID-19 case numbers have increased in long-term-care homes. On April 12, for example, about 600 long-term-care residents had a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis. Less than a week later, on April 18, there were 1,533 cases among long-term-care residents. David Fisman, an epidemiologist with the University of Torontos Dalla Lana School of Public Health, said the sharp rise in cases is likely driven by more active testing and case-finding in long-term homes, which he said is exactly the right thing to do. Fisman is among a group of Ontario infectious disease and medical experts who recently released new and as-yet unpublished research showing the rapid rise in deaths of seniors in Ontarios long-term-care homes can be linked, in part, to staff infected with COVID-19 inadvertently spreading the deadly virus to residents. The study, which sought to better understand how COVID-19 has had such a fatal impact in the provinces long-term-care homes, underscores the urgent importance of measures to curb the spread among vulnerable elderly populations including masks being worn by employees, broader testing within facilities, and limits on staff working in multiple homes. The study is a preprint and has not been published in a peer-reviewed journal. The province has acknowledged that some outbreaks in long-term-care facilities may have been caused by staff who work in two or three homes bringing in the virus. On April 15, Ontario issued an emergency order preventing long-term-care staff from working in more than one home, although the move has been criticized for only coming into effect for a short time starting April 22. The research drew on data over a 10-day period between March 29 and April 7 from 627 Ontario long-term-care facilities. Of those, 272 or 43 per cent were identified as having either confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infection in residents or staff, according to the study. Researchers linked infection of COVID-19 in staff with deaths by examining Ontario Ministry of Health data then analyzing infections and deaths by date and long term care facility. What emerged, said Fisman, was that it was the staff infections that would, days later, predict deaths in residents. Which is just a line of evidence supporting what we might have supposed anyway, which is, given the nature of these facilities, given how immobile residents are, it makes sense to regard the staff basically as vectors, said Fisman. Whereas residents arent really creating risks for other residents. Many long-term-care homes are staffed primarily by personal support workers who often work long hours for poor pay, while also needing to work multiple jobs at different residences. While there has long been calls to offer more protections to personal support workers, who often work with few job and safety protections, experts say even more needs to be done to help these vulnerable workers during the pandemic. Fisman said the new research also highlights that COVID-19 does not discriminate: the coronavirus has hit all types of long-term-care facilities in the province, regardless of whether it was privately or municipally run, big or small. Long term care in Ontario has a problem, and it cuts across sectors, and it cuts across the province, he said. Dr. Nathan Stall, a physician who specializes in internal medicine and geriatrics at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Toronto, said the link between infection in staff and deaths was a big takeaway especially because, during the time period the data reflects, universal masking policies were not widespread across the province. I suspect that a lot of asymptomatic transmission happened between staff who are working there, said Stall. Dr. Samir Sinha, director of geriatrics at Sinai Health System and the University Health Network, said the research highlights the importance of measures such as the recent ban on working in multiple homes. He noted similar steps need be taken to reduce the spread of the virus in Ontarios retirement homes, where the impact of COVID-19 has not yet been effectively measured. This is what we need to be doing because these homes are so vulnerable, and theyre like tinder boxes, Sinha said. If were not doing all the things we need to do to try and prevent and manage COVID-19 well, you can imagine that this can spread like wildfire. Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease faculty member at U of T and one of the studys co-authors, said a central aim of the work was to put some numbers behind some of the trends that were seeing in long-term-care facilities. The multi-prong approach of increased testing and limits on staff working in multiple facilities will likely produce positive results, though he notes theres no silver bullet. We now have policies in Ontario, that will hopefully limit the devastation that COVID-19 can have in long-term-care facilities, he said. With files from Rob Ferguson Tamil actor Vijay has announced that he will donating Rs 1.30 crore towards coronavirus relief efforts. With his monetary contribution in the battle against coronavirus, Vijay has joined the long list of South Indian celebrities like Rajinikanth, Ajith Kumar, Kamal Haasan, Karthi, Suriya and many others who have stepped up in this time of need. Read: Vijay Donates Rs 1.30 Crore Towards Coronavirus Relief Efforts, Here are the Details Shibani Dandekar posted a video of cooking pasta under the supervision of her house help Sunita. She asked Sunita if she had boiled the pasta with some salt in it, and the help said no. Shibani made her disappointment clear in the video, and has been receiving flak for it. Read: 'Please Show Some Respect to Your Maid': Shibani Dandekar's Pasta Making Video Gets Bad Reviews Actor Dulquer Salmaan landed in trouble recently when a woman journalist accused him of using her images in his movie without informing her. According to the woman, her images were used in the movie Varane Avashyamund without prior consent or approval. The movie has used a poster for a weight loss clinic, which shows the womans picture in the background. Read: Dulquer Salmaan Issues Apology After Woman Accuses Him of Using Her Pictures Without Consent Popular daily soap Beyhadh 2, along with Patiala Babes and Isharon Isharon Mein, has been terminated in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Sony channel announced on Tuesday. However, fans of Beyhadh 2 were not happy with the announcement as they trended #DontAxeBeyhadh2 on social media on Tuesday, seemingly asking the channel to reconsider its decision. Read: #DontAxeBeyhadh2 Trends on Social Media After Jennifer Winget's Show Gets Terminated Arbaaz Khan is self-quarantining with his girlfriend Giorgia Andriani at his home. On Tuesday, Giorgia shared a hilarious video from their quarantine life. In the video, she can be seen shaving Arbaaz's stubble. Read: Arbaaz Khan's Girlfriend Giorgia Andriani Shaves His Stubble in Lockdown; Watch Video Follow @News18Movies for more The Center for Disease Control and Prevention's former director has said social distancing is 'the strongest weapon we have against coronavirus,' and has warned the rush to re-open the U.S. is 'a very dangerous experiment', unless six key conditions can be met. Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com Dr. Thomas R. Frieden said: 'We are all impatient to get back out again, but I really can't emphasize enough that we are learning every day. We still don't know whether the virus is mutating in a way that may make it more or less severe. 'The strongest weapon we have is social distancing.' Frieden's warning comes as his successor at the CDC, Director Dr. Robert Redfield, warned of a second, potentially more difficult, wave of coronavirus next winter and branded anti-shutdown protests 'unhelpful'. Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the former director of the CDC, said social distancing is the strongest weapon we have against coronavirus. Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com Dr. Thomas R. Frieden said: 'We are all impatient to get back out again, but I really can't emphasize enough that we are learning every day. We still don't know whether the virus is mutating in a way that may make it more or less severe.' Pictured: Frieden (left) with Dr. Anthony Fauci Without adequate testing - and Frieden makes clear that there are not enough tests - it is hard to see how six key conditions can be met to safely reopen the U.S. Frieden said exclusively to DailyMail.com: 'Just reopening and hoping it doesn't come back is a very risky experiment' Dr. Thomas R. Frieden's six conditions that must be met for states to open safely 1. Confirmation the virus has been decreasing steadily for 10-14 days 2. Ensure healthcare system is ready in case there is a resurgence 3. Implement a 'Box It In' strategy through testing, isolating, tracing and quarantining to keep virus in a box 4. Protect those must vulnerable to the virus 5. Have as much safety measures in place as possible 6. Be able to track virus as closely as possible in order to implement physical distancing if it comes close to re-surging Advertisement Crowds of protesters have taken to the streets in Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, Maryland and Texas in recent days calling for an end to the lockdowns. Many were spurred on by tweets from President Trump calling to 'LIBERATE!' Minnesota, Virginia and Michigan last Friday, just hours after he had laid out a more measured road map for the nation's re-opening. Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina have already signaled the start of their own loosened restrictions starting as early as this week. Redfield plans to issue his guidance for re-opening shortly. But today Frieden, now President and CEO of global health initiative Resolve to Save Lives, has set down his own road-map, identifying the six conditions he said must be met for states to open safely. He said: 'First, you want to know that the virus has been decreasing steadily for 10 to 14 days. 'Second, you'd need to know your healthcare system is shored up so that if there's a resurgence, patients and healthcare workers don't get infected and you don't have deaths that are preventable. 'Third, you have to be ready to implement a, ''Box It In'' strategy: testing, isolating, tracing and quarantining to keep the virus in a box so we can have more space for humans.' 'Fourth, you want to make sure you're protecting the most vulnerable in society who're going to have to shelter in place for longer. The University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation has released a new map projection that reveals when each US state could potentially start relaxing measures Frieden continued: 'Fifth, you're going to want to make sure you have as much safety as possible, for example having measures that require hand sanitizing as you enter buildings, increasing physical distance in things that we do re-open. 'Sixth, you want to know that you're able to track the virus closely enough so that if it comes close to exploding again you can slam on the brakes to implement physical distancing.' Without adequate testing - and Frieden makes clear that there are not enough tests - it is hard to see how these conditions can be satisfied. According to Frieden, there have been missed opportunities to strengthen the health system, ramp up testing, prepare the public and protect care workers in the months since COVID-19 was first known of. He is on record as stating that had social distancing been implemented just one week earlier, estimated death tolls might have dropped 50 to 80 percent. These failing were, in part, the legacy of defunding programs established in the wake of the Ebola epidemic over which Frieden presided as head of the CDC. Back then Congress allocated a $1 billion pot of funding divided between the CDC and USAID in the aftermath of the crisis. The money was used to train epidemiologists or Disease Detectives as Frieden called them buy equipment, upgrade labs, stockpile drugs and have CDC officials working in 35 countries around the world. But the money has long since dried up and CDC staff were pulled out of countries with which they had established partnerships. One of those countries was China. Frieden's warning comes as his successor at the CDC, Director Dr. Robert Redfield (pictured), warned of a second, potentially more difficult, wave of coronavirus next winter and branded anti-shutdown protests 'unhelpful' The anti-lockdown protests started in Michigan and similar protests have now sprung up in Wisconsin, Colorado, Maryland, Virginia, California, Florida and beyond, spurred on by Tweets from Donald Trump Speaking on the subject in 2018, Frieden warned that the changes would make the world more vulnerable to a pandemic. He said, 'We'll leave the field open to microbes. The surveillance systems will die, so we won't know if something happens. The lab networks won't be built, so if something happens, we won't know what it is. We can't be safe if the world isn't safe. You can't pull up the drawbridge and expect viruses not to travel.' Focusing on re-opening and issuing arbitrary target dates is, according to Frieden, to risk doubling down on mistakes already made. He said: 'I think the virus is going to set the terms here.' Frieden said he had enormous respect for Dr Anthony Fauci, Head of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, but pointed to the fact that the presidential advisor is a research scientist by profession. He said: 'I think we need to be listening to the country's top experts in respiratory viruses and disease control and those people are at the CDC.' CDC Director Redfield has been largely absent from the White House briefings but broke his silence in an interview with the Washington Post on Tuesday. In it he expressed frustration at others' inability to understand the importance of social distancing. Frieden added his own caution to Redfield's and said: 'Just reopening and hoping it doesn't come back is a very risky experiment. Sheltering in place just buys time and what it buys time for doing is building a box, making society safer and getting ready for a new normal.' That 'new normal' one of no handshaking, more tele-working and regular quarantine and travel bans - is predicated on the public accepting an unpalatable truth; that this is a virus that cannot be stopped and cannot be eliminated. Frieden added his own caution to Redfield's and said: 'Just reopening and hoping it doesn't come back is a very risky experiment. Sheltering in place just buys time and what it buys time for doing is building a box, making society safer and getting ready for a new normal.' That 'new normal' one of no handshaking, more tele-working and regular quarantine and travel bans - is predicated on the public accepting an unpalatable truth; that this is a virus that cannot be stopped and cannot be eliminated He explained: 'Initially when it first came out we were hopeful that maybe it could be stopped as we stopped outbreaks of Ebola, as SARS was stopped, as MERs was generally stopped though it continues to flare up in low levels in some places in the world. 'But that's just not possible with coronavirus with our current technological tools and without a vaccine or treatment.' Until either of those are available, and in the absence of anything like sufficient testing, Frieden said: 'We're going to have to figure out how to live with it while minimizing the health harm and economic and social harms which working towards a vaccine and a treatment that could turn the scales in our favor.' For his part Frieden is optimistic that lessons will be learned this time around and that even after a vaccine and treatment has been found we will have more respect for our 'microbial enemies.' He said: 'I saw a magazine headline, ''Panic, Neglect, Repeat.'' Unfortunately, that does seem to happen over and over, but I think this time will be different. 'I'm optimistic that it's now sufficiently clear to people all over the world that leaving our defenses down is neither responsible nor safe and that investing in public health systems in the US and globally is a best-buy.' The cost to the country in the current pandemic runs, he said, to the trillions of dollars. Yet the cost to prevent another one from happening is 'a tiny fraction of that.' He said: 'I think it's possible to dramatically reduce the risk of future pandemics and the cost is less than $2 a day per person in a sustained investment of ten years. It's going to cost between $50 and $100 billion, plus focused technical support and a real sense of global accountability but it can be done.' He said: 'It is inevitable that we will have future health threats. What is not inevitable is that we will continue to be so woefully under-prepared.' And if we don't learn the lessons and rush to re-open in the face of such risk? Then, Frieden said: 'Shame on us.' The Trump administration on Tuesday barred college students who are residing in the country illegally from accessing billions of dollars in emergency federal aid related to the coronavirus pandemic. Tens of thousands of colleges students without legal residency status will not be permitted to receive any of the $6 billion allocated for colleges to distribute as part of the economic stimulus package Congress passed last month. The funds are intended to help students cover the costs of expenses like food, childcare, and housing as they weather the pandemic. The prohibition applies to participants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects nearly 700,000 young people who were brought to the U.S. as minors from deportation and grants them work permits. The Supreme Court is expected to decide in June whether to extend the program. The Education Department stated in new guidelines that the federal cash assistance is earmarked for students who are also eligible to file a Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which includes only U.S. citizens and some students with legal permanent residency. The stimulus package does not specifically mention whether students without legal status can access the cash assistance. International students will also not qualify to receive the emergency aid. The CARES Act makes clear that this taxpayer funded relief fund should be targeted to U.S. citizens, which is consistently echoed throughout the law, read a statement from the Education Department. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said earlier this month that the federal emergency aid will be immediately distributed, but so far only $6 million has reportedly been handed out. More from National Review On the day the Florida Legislature voted on the budget, Florida had 390 positive cases of COVID-19 and eight deaths statewide. Rep. Dianne Hart, D-Tampa, a leader on prison issues, made a point before the vote to ask what was being done to address a potential outbreak of the virus in the state prison system. Inmates cant even have hand sanitizer, she said, and lawmakers can no longer visit to keep tabs on what is happening inside. We know that one outbreak in our prison system is going to devastate the inmates we have, she said. We have thousands of people over 60 housed in our facilities. She was ignored. One month later, Floridas aging prison population, like the state as a whole, is being stalked by a deadly virus. Its going to cost money to care for those who require hospitalization. As of Wednesday, 136 inmates and 102 staff members had tested positive for the coronavirus. The actual numbers could be far higher, but testing of inmates has been limited. Among inmates, the rate of positive tests is extraordinarily high 43 percent suggesting just how tall the bar is for getting tested. Raul Santiago Four inmates, all over 60, have died from COVID-19 and nearly 4,200 inmates are in medical quarantine because theyve been exposed to the virus. During the 2020 legislative session, lawmakers proposed bills to help streamline the process of releasing sick or elderly inmates populations most at risk of dying from the disease. Both bills went nowhere. Legislators like Hart wonder what could have been. There are currently about 23,000 Florida inmates over 50, a population that has increased by 12.5% over the past five years as the overall prison population has shrunk. They are an expensive group to maintain, even when there isnt a pandemic afoot. Because many abused drugs before prison, they tend to be in poor health to begin with. Prison healthcare, not known for its excellence, often makes matters worse. In 2018, elderly inmates those 50 and over accounted for half of all hospital admissions, despite making up just 24.2% of the population. Story continues St. Petersburg Republican Sen. Jeff Brandes proposed a slate of criminal justice reform bills this past session, two of which would have addressed the sick and elderly. One bill would have created a streamlined process for the release of inmates with terminal or debilitating illnesses. The other would have established a conditional release program for inmates over 65 who had served at least 85% of their sentence. Both bills died in their last committee stops. There are just so many paths we could have taken to reduce our prisoner population, Hart said Tuesday night. In some states, frail or older inmates are being released as a solution to curbing the spread among the most susceptible population. The larger issue is whether punishment becomes pointless at some juncture. Many inmates have committed violent, deadly acts and the families of their victims could well be strongly opposed to letting them out ever. But in other cases, aging inmates have lived self-destructive lives of drug abuse and petty, repetitive criminal activity, and the question is whether it is counterproductive to hold them if they are seen as no longer a threat, except to themselves. Especially during the spread of a deadly virus. Currently, some inmates deemed terminally ill or permanently incapacitated and not a danger to themselves or others can be referred by the Department of Corrections to have their cases heard by the three-person Florida Commission on Offender Review. However, the Department of Corrections can only refer the decision is made by others. FDC Secretary Mark Inch said in a statement Wednesday night that releasing an inmate is a complex process that involves a proper post-release plan for medical services and housing options that can take months of planning ahead of release. For these reasons, I believe accelerated early release creates significant risk, he wrote. As Secretary, I promise to remain diligent and focused on doing all I can to protect those who work and are housed in our correctional institutions. Ernest Dials The commission grants early release in about half of such cases, but the numbers are exceedingly small. In 2016-17, the most recent data available, 34 inmates were recommended by the department for conditional medical release. Sixteen got it. Last Wednesday, the commission granted two longtime prison inmates, 70-year-old Edward Jones and 48-year-old Raul Santiago, medical release, although the exact nature of their health woes is not public. A third inmate, 68-year-old Ernest Dials, was denied release. Hes serving time on a murder charge. Brandes said his bill on conditional medical release would have hastened the process, giving more authority and oversight to the Department of Corrections, making Floridas system similar to the federal Bureau of Prisons, which Inch used to run. He said he was inspired to file the bill after he visited Lake Correctional Institution in Central Florida last summer and met an inmate with cancer who had been bedridden for years. The warden said he had tried to refer him to the commission, but was told the man had no chance of getting release since he had committed assaults in the past. The [FDC] knows the inmates that are likely to have problems, Brandes said, The simple truth is that if someone is facing Stage 4 cancer, they are not looking to go out and rob banks. Not everyone agrees that getting old and feeble should pave the way to early release from prison. Rep. Jamie Grant, a Tampa Bay Republican like Brandes, chairs the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee, which would have heard the companion bills to Brandes Senate measures had they been permitted to move through the process. Edward Jones People in prison in their 70s didnt get there in their 70s, Grant said. If people entrusted with maintaining public safety are letting people out of prison I certainly am going to have some questions. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, head of the Florida Sheriffs Association, is likewise skeptical, even though he worked with local officials to release hundreds of pretrial detainees in the Pinellas jail, which he runs, as a way to help foster social distancing behind bars. He said advocates are using coronavirus as a vehicle to promote what they usually promote. Its the same mantra, said Gualtieri. They shouldnt use a tragedy like this as an impetus for promoting a political agenda when theres nothing to back it up. Criminal menopause Meanwhile, families, advocates and inmates are worried that those in leadership are missing the point. We are not talking about releasing a 35-year-old person. Were talking about someone past their prime, said Denise Rock, of the advocacy group Florida Cares. Studies show that people who have aged have reached criminal menopause and are not going to be committing crimes. And they are ill. Rock noted that 65-year-old Jeffrey Sand, the first inmate to die of COVID-19, was charged with aggravated assault after unsuccessfully breaking into a home in St. Augustine and threatening the homeowner with nunchucks in 2018. He was on probation at the time for threatening a judge over email, according to the arrest report. Rock said the incident happened shortly after Sands wife committed suicide, and that he was abusing drugs and alcohol at the time. Sand died April 9. He shouldnt have been in there in the first place, Rock said. I dont think his life should have ended like that. Doreen Weisz, whose 67-year-old husband Bruce Weisz has been incarcerated since 1988, said she wishes he could come home where he could be monitored and taken care of. He is serving a life sentence for the murder of a jeweler. Weisz has thyroid issues, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and has had cancer twice. Bruce Weisz His wife said she is afraid he is not getting the attention he needs at Martin Correctional, where one inmate has tested positive of the nine inmates tested in total. There are no staff members at Martin who have tested positive. I havent seen him in six weeks and it could be that youll never see that loved one again. Its not a pretty death. Its a very hard death, she said. Its very scary. They die alone. Robert Bittle, a 53-year-old inmate at South Florida Reception Center, a prison a medical facility near Miami, said he hopes the state considers more medical and elderly release cases so that more people survive the outbreaks. Five staff members at the facility have tested positive. No inmates have tested positive, but only 14 were tested. Once it gets in here, its going to be like a brush fire, said Bittle, serving time for a series of robberies. His wife, Roxanne Bittle, has written letters to the state begging for conditional medical release. Please help prevent a disastrous outcome for Robert, she wrote. He is very susceptible to contracting the ongoing coronavirus. This would mean inevitable death for him. Bittle has a brain disorder that requires a shunt to regulate the flow of cerebrospinal fluid to his brain. Without enough fluid to the brain, he experiences serious neurological problems. He also has early stage dementia, has lost most of his vision, and until recently had been staying in the palliative care unit. He depends on a wheelchair despite being able to walk. The facility ran out of walkers for inmates to use, his wife said. Theyre killing us, he said in a phone interview. I know were prisoners and I know people dont give two s---- about us but its not going to be good. Miami Herald staff writer David Ovalle contributed to this report. Published on 2020/04/21 | Source Playing double roles is trending in drama. Advertisement There is something in common among the newly introduced dramas recently. It is the fact that one actor plays two roles in SBS' "The King: Eternal Monarch" and KBS2's "Born Again". In the past, there were also many dramas featuring 1-role 2-characters, but it is refreshing that the numbers of 1-role 2-characters have increased and they play important roles in the narrative of the dramas. SBS drama "The King: Eternal Monarch", which first aired on the 17th, tells the story of the parallel world between the Korean Empire and the Republic of Korea. The romance between Lee Gon (Lee Min-ho), the emperor of the Korean Empire, and Jeong Tae-eul (Kim Go-eun), the Korean police, is expected to unfold. Because it is a parallel world, characters coexist in both worlds. Kim Go-eun will play both Jeong Tae-eul, a violent crimes detective, and Luna, a wanted suspect. Until the second episode, only Jeong Tae-eul appeared and Luna only showed her back, further raising expectations for Kim Go-eun's acting transformation. Woo Do-hwan, who plays the role of Jo Yeong, the commander of the Korean Imperial Guard, plays the role of Jo Eun-seol, a social service worker in South Korea. He is a 180-degree different person, from visual to styling to speech and personality. Earlier, Woo Do-hwan said in a production presentation that he was 'burdened to play a double role", but he is receiving favorable reviews for successfully portraying two completely different characters in one drama. In addition, Kim Yong-ji challenged the two-player role as Myeong Na-ri, the owner of a building, and Myeong Seung-ah, an employee of the imperial press office. "The King: Eternal Monarch" is using the concept of a parallel world, which can be somewhat obscure and difficult, as a device to help portray and heighten the mystery of the connection between the two worlds. Subsequently, "Born Again", which was first aired on the 20th, is also a drama starring two roles per person. This is because the three main characters, Jang Ki-yong, Jin Se-yeon and Lee Soo-hyuk, all play two roles each. "Born Again" is a reincarnation mystery melodrama depicting the fate and resurrection of three men and women involved in two lives, making 1-role 2-characters essential. Jang Ki-yong plays the lonely wolf Gong Ji-cheol, who refuses to be conrolled by destiny, and elite medical student Cheon Jong-beom. Jin Se-yeon plays Jeong Ha-eun, who suffers from a heart disease, and a bone archaeologist named Jeong Sa-bin. Finally, Lee Soo-hyuk is a pure-hearted detective named Cha Hyeong-bin and the cold-blooded prosecutor Kim Soo-hyeok. If "The King: Eternal Monarch" is in the same time in the parallel world, "Born Again" will visit the small screen with different details, even though it resembles the same background of the times. Actors are also eager to succeed in transforming their acting as well as their hairstyles, costumes, expressions and speech. In response, a drama official said, "Playing two roles is an area that actors want to challenge. There is a lot of pressure to go through, but the synergy when you do well is enormous", he said. "Recently, the drama production environment has improved and conditions have been set for actors to be able to play two roles at once. Nevertheless, if the two roles are played well they will benefit, but if they play poorly, they will need to make a careful choice". Sixgill's distinct CTI solution uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to continuously generate intelligence from deep and dark web sources. The automated platform delivers exclusive visibility into the threat environment, and generates actionable insights to help companies identify, track, and neutralize threat actors targeting their critical assets. 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Contacts: Harley Gadomski Frost & Sullivan P: 12104778469 E: [email protected] About Sixgill Sixgill Inc. is a market leader in deep and dark web cyber threat intelligence. Sixgill helps Fortune 500 companies, financial institutions, governments, and law enforcement agencies protect their finances, networks and reputations from cyberthreats that lurk in the deep, dark and surface webs. The advanced cyber threat intelligence platform automates all phases of the intelligence cycle collection, analysis and dissemination of data providing organizations with unparalleled information and actionable insights to protect their various assets in the ever evolving cyber threatscape. To learn more, visit www.cybersixgill.com and follow us on Twitter: @cybersixgill and LinkedIn . Contact: Matt McLoughlin Gregory FCA for Sixgill 609-385-2058 [email protected] SOURCE Frost & Sullivan Related Links www.frost.com BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr. 22 Trend: Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan talks about the problems with security and free will in a peremptory manner, Trend reports referring to Spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Leyla Abdullayeva. Abdullayeva was answering journalists' questions. Commenting on Mnatsakanyans remarks regarding the statement made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during the video conference on April 21, 2020, Abdullayeva stressed that the foundations of the new world order were laid after the World War II and were enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations of 1945, the Helsinki Final Act of 1975 and the Paris Charter of 1990. The norms and principles of international law, including the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and self-determination of peoples, have been described in all of these fundamental documents, the spokesperson said. "Both Azerbaijan and Armenia are full-fledged participants in these documents, who have committed themselves to impeccably comply with their conditions, Abdullayeva said. We remind that participating states must refrain from using force that threatens the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. We also emphasize once again that with regard to the principle of self-determination, participating states must act in accordance with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and relevant international law, including those related to the territorial integrity of states, as it has been stipulated in the Helsinki Final Act and then confirmed by the Paris Charter," Abdullayeva added. As for the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, while ignoring its aforementioned obligations, using military aggression against neighboring Azerbaijan, the Republic of Armenia occupied one fifth of the internationally recognized territories of Azerbaijan, having subjected more than a million of Azerbaijanis to the ethnic cleansing, the spokesperson said. Under these conditions, the foreign minister of the aggressor country, that is, Armenia, peremptorily states about the problems with security and free will, the spokesperson said. What kind of security and will Armenian foreign minister talks about under the conditions of military occupation?! The fact of the occupation of the territory of one state by another is permanent source of threat to the security. It is impossible to talk about the security and free will of the Karabakh people when one third of them have been forcibly expelled from their places of permanent residence and they have been deprived of the opportunity to return to their houses and express free will in relation to the future of their region for about 30 years, Abdullayeva added. Regarding the statement made by Sergei Lavrov on April 21 on a phased settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Abdullayeva stressed that this position is confirmed by all OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, which was repeatedly and consistently voiced by them at all levels and stages of the conflict settlement process. It is necessary to remember that the occupation is temporary, the spokesperson said. The sooner Armenia realizes this and ceases self-deception, deceiving its own population and trying to mislead the world community, the more chances there are to avoid further bloodshed and aggravation of the already deplorable situation in the country. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. LONDON - Britain's extraordinary first "Parliament via Zoom" proceeded Wednesday in rather ordinary fashion, with the usual barbed questions and artful evasion by politicians, plus the addition of awkward views of oversize chins and bookshelves staged as backdrops. Everything was the same, and everything was a little odd. Breaking 700 years of tradition, the British Parliament has agreed to serve as a cradle of virtual democracy - to allow members to continue to debate, vote and legislate, but via videoconferencing app, from the safety of their own homes, for the duration of Britain's coronavirus lockdown. On Wednesday, there were a few minor technical hiccups. Some lawmakers' heads were cropped at the eyebrows by the bad framing. Their mics were sometimes too close or too far away, or the Internet connection bad, and so voices sounded tinny or muffled or like Darth Vader. But all in all, for no rehearsals? Not a bad opening matinee. For centuries, it has been essential for members of Parliament to be present in the Houses of Commons or Lords to vote. That's why special "division bells" ring out in Westminster's offices and committee rooms - and many bars - alerting lawmakers they have eight minutes to enter their lobbies, before doors are bolted shut. Now, instead, they will get a ping on their mobile phones. Britain is trying out "hybrid proceedings," where up to 50 lawmakers can be in the House of Commons - spaced six-feet apart on the green leather benches - while another 150 of the 650 members can join by Zoom. Wednesday's premier featured the weekly thrust-and-parry session known as "Prime Minister's Questions," or PMQs. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab stood at the despatch box in place of Boris Johnson, who is recovering from the bout of covid-19 that put him in the hospital for a week. In the sparsely populated House of Commons, Raab was quizzed by the new leader of the opposition Labour Party, Keir Starmer, who was prosecutorial in his questioning, insisting the government was slow to order a lockdown, slow to do widespread testing for the virus, and slow to get vital protective gowns, masks and visors into the hands of front line medical workers. Speaker Lindsay Hoyle called on lawmakers by swiveling his head toward what appeared to be TV monitor and shouting a version of: "We are now going over to Stephen Kinnock. STEPHEN KINNOCK!" Shouting at a television being a time-honored tradition everywhere. And then Kinnock, a Labour lawmaker from Wales, popped on the screen for those watching on Parliament TV - including Washington Post reporters - from their homes. At one point, Hoyle shouted for David Mundell, a Scottish Conservative, who didn't answer. "Unable to connect," the speaker said, perhaps creating a new meme, like the famous "orrrrrder, orrrrder!" from past days. So they moved on. In another exchange, Peter Bone, a Conservative from Wellingborough, was complaining about his constituents having to live off their overdraft accounts. "What on earth is going on?" Bone demanded. "When are the banks going to work in the nation interest and . . .." Then his Zoom link went dead. Raab said, "I got the gist," and answered anyway. Legislatures around the world are sorting out how to proceed during the pandemic. Some - such as the German Bundestag and Irish Dail - are continuing to meet in person but with social distancing measures. Canada's parliament is trying mix of in-person and virtual, while the U.S. House of Representatives is fighting over a proxy voting proposal. The Brits showed that it was possible to carry on. The Guardian newspaper's Andrew Sparrow observed, "PMQs without 400-odd MPs in the chamber makes everything quieter, calmer, more intelligible and more grown-up. . . Without the jeering and the aggro, it lacked gladiatorial edge, and frankly it was probably a bit more boring than the old PMQs. But boring is a much underrated virtue in governance." Raab was questioned pointedly about the government's performance during the outbreak. Labour lawmaker Barry Gardiner stated that the government's scientific advisory group on emergencies recommended a lockdown at the end of February. "The government claims it has followed scientific advice," he said. "But it hasn't, has it?" Starmer asked Raab how it will be possible to go from the current 18,000 coronavirus tests a day to the 100,000 promised by government by the end of the month. Raab sought to correct Starmer, pointing out that the "capacity" stands at 40,000. Starmer wasn't having it. "I didn't need correcting, because I gave the figure for actual tests being carried out, which is 18,000," he said. At the end of the session, Raab was asked by a Labour lawmaker if Britain would be "drawn into the U.S. president's disgraceful vendetta against the World Health Organization." President Donald Trump has cut off funding to the WHO, because he says the international body sides too closely with China, where the virus first exploded onto the scene. Raab said Britain supported international efforts, and was a "leading player, whether it's on vaccines or supporting vulnerable countries - in helping to get through what is a global crisis." He said the WHO has "has a role to play, it's not perfect, no international institution is, we do need to work to reform it. But we made clear we consider it an important part of the international response." - - - The Washington Post's Karla Adam contributed to this report. BUFFALO, N.Y. Scientists have created a new database to help track the impacts of climate change on fish living in rivers, lakes and other inland waters throughout the world. The Fish and Climate Change Database or FiCli (pronounced fick-lee) is a searchable directory of peer-reviewed journal publications that describe projected or documented effects of climate change on inland fishes. These wild animals are a vital source of food and income for many people, and an indicator of the health of global aquatic ecosystems. A better understanding of how climate change is affecting these fishes could aid in their future survival, informing conservation efforts. The FiCli team published a detailed description of the database on April 21 in Scientific Data, an open-access journal. The project was led by Trevor Krabbenhoft, a fish biologist at the University at Buffalo, and Bonnie Myers, a fish biologist at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and PhD candidate at North Carolina State University. The Fish and Climate Change Database pulls information together in a way that people can meaningfully use it, says Krabbenhoft, PhD, assistant professor of biological sciences in the UB College of Arts and Sciences and the RENEW (Research and Education in Energy, Environment and Water) Institute. The idea is not just to document how fish have been affected by climate change, but to also provide information on management options that can help mitigate some of those effects. Researchers, fisheries managers, conservationists, journalists and others can use FiCli to find scientific articles based on factors such as fish species, habitat type, location and type of climate change impact (such as a change in temperature or precipitation). FiCli search results include journal article titles, instructions for accessing publications, and brief summaries of information such as how fish populations have responded to climate change and what management actions are recommended. According to the paper in Scientific Data, FiCli currently includes information for 53 freshwater fish families, 232 studies from over 47 countries, and 851 projected and 377 documented responses of individual species or assemblages to climate change. Curators including Krabbenhoft, Myers and Abigail Lynch, PhD, a research fish biologist at the USGS National Climate Adaptation Science Center, will update the database as new studies are published. Users can also contact the team about peer-reviewed papers that are missing from the database and may be a good fit. The FiCli project grew, in a way, out of our need for a database as scientists, Krabbenhoft says. We were trying to understand how climate affects fish, and we had a really hard time identifying the right papers. By synthesizing the available information on how climate change has already affected fish populations, it helps us refine our predictions for how fish are likely to be affected in the future. Hopefully weve created something that will be meaningful for other fishery biologists. As researchers, we often try to avoid reinventing the wheel to save valuable time and resources. Compiling and synthesizing published scientific results is an important step in any research project. We hope FiCli serves as a time-saving, informative database that helps advance scientific understanding and management of the impacts of climate change on important aquatic resources and guides future climate adaptation efforts," says Myers, a research fish biologist at the USGS National Climate Adaptation Science Center and PhD candidate in the North Carolina State University Department of Applied Ecology and the North Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, which is housed at the university. In addition to Krabbenhoft, Myers and Lynch, co-authors of the Scientific Data paper included: Jesse P. Wong at George Mason University; at George Mason University; Cindy Chu , PhD, at the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry; , PhD, at the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry; Ralph W. Tingley III , PhD, at the Missouri Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit housed at the University of Missouri; , PhD, at the Missouri Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit housed at the University of Missouri; Jeffrey A. Falke , PhD, at the Alaska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit housed at the University of Alaska Fairbanks; , PhD, at the Alaska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit housed at the University of Alaska Fairbanks; Thomas J. Kwak , PhD, at the North Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit housed at North Carolina State University; , PhD, at the North Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit housed at North Carolina State University; and Craig P. Paukert, PhD, at the Missouri Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. The American Fisheries Society funded workshops that led to the FiCli database, with in-kind support from the USGS National Climate Adaptation Science Center and the Missouri Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. Statistics show that Vietnam imports about 4 million tonnes of fertiliser worth about US$1.33 billion from 48 countries and territories each year, with 0.22 million tonnes coming from 17 EU countries. The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), once effective, will lead to reductions in fertiliser export and import duties. However, to optimise the deal, experts suggest the industry make greater efforts to improve product quality in accordance with EU standards. According to Pham Minh Lan, head of the Fertiliser Management Bureau under the Plant Protection Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, fertilisers from the EU make up 5.5% of Vietnams total fertiliser import volume and value, or 0.22 million tonnes and US$73 million. Meanwhile, Vietnam ships around 0.75 million tonnes of fertilizer valued at US$240 million to 47 countries and territories annually, including five EU nations Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Slovenia and Portugal. Some Vietnamese organic and inorganic fertiliser products have already met the standards set by this very selective market. Currently, Vietnam imports about 0.25 million tonnes of organic fertilisers worth US$45 million from 33 countries and territories, with 42% from nine EU countries, mostly the Netherlands and Belgium. The EUs preference for organic fertiliser over recent years as part of its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect the environment will help to spur Vietnams organic fertiliser development. Vice President of the Vietnam Fertiliser Association Phung Ha said FTAs, including the EVFTA, will benefit the domestic fertiliser sector, helping it diversify import and export markets. Thanks to the benefits of FTAs, Vietnam expects to welcome more investment and domestic firms will have more opportunities to access scientific and technological advances from developed countries. The official suggested agencies map out plans to put an end to the use of chemicals in agriculture in order to help businesses utilise the advantages of FTAs. Lan also proposed intensified communication activities to help enterprises understand more about the EVFTA, thus charting their own business strategies for both the short and long term towards sustainable development. TDT | Manama The Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa Academy for Diplomatic Studies hosted a video conference yesterday with the Ambassador of Bahrain to the UK Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohamed Al Khalifa. The session, entitled Dialogue with Ambassador, was part of the Junior Diplomat Programme (JDP) in its third edition. It was also attended by the academys executive director Dr Shaikha Muneera bint Khalifa Al Khalifa and JDP participants. Dr Shaikha Muneera welcomed Ambassador Shaikh Fawaz and expressed her appreciation for offering his knowledge and experience in the diplomatic field to JDP participants. The Ambassador said he was delighted to meet JDP participants, noting the importance of such programmes organised by the academy in training nationals capable of excelling in the diplomatic field, in order to represent the Kingdom well in various regional and international forums. He lauded the efforts exerted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its Diplomatic and Consular Missions, stressing the great attention paid by Foreign Minister Dr Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani to serving the country and its people, especially in light of this international crisis relating to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Ambassador Shaikh Fawaz highlighted his experience in the government and how transferring from one field to another has enriched his knowledge and career. He answered questions that were asked by the participants about the roles of the Kingdoms Embassy in London, how it deals with various British parliamentary and political parties, the role of diplomatic missions in managing crises and the diplomatic efforts in areas of economy and digital diplomacy It was when the government changed its guidance last week to say medical workers treating coronavirus patients could use plastic aprons instead of protective gowns that British doctor Asif Munaf concluded he was not going to get the protection he needs. "Aprons are not water repellent, and these aprons show a huge part of the chest," Munaf, a registrar central England, told Reuters, comparing them to frocks worn by servers in school cafeterias. "You can't be protected by an apron. A plastic apron doesn't do anything. So when that was mentioned on Friday, I was very disheartened really, and I knew supplies weren't going to come over the weekend," he said. "They are not sufficient for doctors or nurses on the frontline." A shortage of personal protective equipment, or PPE, has become a political issue in Britain, with the government forced to defend its guidelines, which doctors say no longer comply with international recommendations to keep them safe. Munaf says that he has worn full protective gear once in three weeks while working shifts at the COVID-19 wards. Gear was more readily available in emergency wards and Intensive Treatment Units (ITU), but supplies were dwindling, he said. A British Medical Association (BMA) survey released on Saturday found that around 80% of doctors said they do not feel fully protected at work. "As the weeks have progressed, the reality on the ground has been one of shortages, non-availabity at times, and therefore a lot of worry and concern amongst the profession," Chaand Nagpaul, Chair of the Council of the BMA, told Reuters. GOWNS While those doing the riskiest procedures feel adequately supplied with the right masks and gloves, gowns are the problem: more said there were shortages or no supply of long-sleeved disposable gowns than said they had adequate equipment. Public Health England, which issued the guidelines for National Health Service doctors, says it adheres to World Health Organization advice. The WHO says that while aprons are an alternative to gowns, they "should be avoided when performing aerosol-generating procedures", referring to the riskiest work frontline doctors do. But the new PHE guidance from Friday specifically says aprons can be used even for high-risk AGPs. Nagpaul said that the shortage of full-sleeve gowns was a key concern and that, while guidance for doctors in general met standards outlined by the WHO, gowns were the exception. He said that the BMA had not been given any notice of last Friday's guidance change, and it had been very concerning. "Remember, prior to this, the government had been repeatedly announcing that the issues were not one of not having the supplies, but there were problems with, operationally, delivery of large stocks that were centrally kept," he said. "It's been the gowns that has been the issue in recent days. So when on Friday we learnt that this new guidance had been issued, it took us by surprise and worried us immensely because we had banked on getting those supplies." On Friday, health minister Matt Hancock said that Britain was "tight on gowns" but would aim for the delivery of gowns to the right places over the weekend. He did not refer to the change in policy, which followed later that day without a public announcement. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is deputising for Prime Minister Boris Johnson while he continues to recover from COVID-19, on Wednesday defended the government's record on procuring and distributing PPE. "We've delivered 1 billion items of personal protective equipment and 10s of millions have been distributed via the devolved administrations," he told parliament, saying 69 health workers had died from COVID-19. "We recognise though that we have got to strive even harder in this incredibly difficult and competitive international environment to source the equipment." But Rinesh Parmar, an intensive care doctor based in the West Midlands and chair of the Doctors' Association, a campaign group, said it was clear Britain had not learnt lessons about how to protect medical staff treating COVID patients from hard hit countries such as Italy and Spain. "If we had, we would have stronger, more robust guidance that would fall in line with the World Health Organization recommendations." Vietnam is closely monitoring the situation following complex developments in sea areas of several ASEAN countries, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said Tuesday. "Vietnam sincerely wishes for countries' legitimate, justifiable rights and interests in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to be respected," the ministrys spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said in a statement. She was commenting on reports that Chinese survey ship Haiyang Dizhi 8 was spotted inside sea areas about 352 km away from Bruneian and Malaysian coasts by ship tracking website Marine Traffic on April 16. The Haiyang Dizhi 8 was tagging Malaysian exploration vessel West Capella, belonging to state oil company Petronas, in the East Sea, known internationally as the South China Sea, on April 17, Reuters reported. The Haiyang Dizhi 8 was flanked at one point by more than 10 Chinese vessels, it said. Vietnam, as a country in the East Sea and an ASEAN member, is closely monitoring the situation, Hang said. She said relevant parties have the responsibility to abide by international law and UNCLOS and show their commitment to developing friendly relationships between countries, as well as maintaining peace, stability and cooperation in the East Sea, the region and the world. Earlier, on April 14, citing data from Marine Traffic, Reuters had reported that the Chinese survey vessel had appeared at 158 km (98 miles) off Vietnams coast, within Vietnams Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). It was accompanied by at least one Chinese coast guard vessel, the report said. The Haiyang Dizhi 8 and its Chinese escort vessels had previously violated Vietnam's EEZ and continental shelf in the southern parts of East Sea last July. It left the area last October. Vietnam has consistently opposed the actions of the Chinese vessels. Around 100 people gathered in close proximity in the Round Hall of Dublin's Four Courts while an adjournment hearing over Covid-19 laws was taking place yesterday. They were there supporting a case by journalists John Waters and Gemma O'Doherty against laws tackling the pandemic, which they say are flawed and unconstitutional. Ms Justice Deirdre Murphy refused an application to let some or all of the people gathered in the Round Hall into the courtroom as the case was being heard in public and was being reported by the media. The judge said that not everyone could fit into the courtroom. Most of the crowd remained in the Round Hall where capacity has been severely reduced because of restoration works. In their proceedings against the State, the journalists seek to have various pieces of recently enacted legislation declared null and void by the High Court. Gerard Meehan Bl, for the State, asked for a two-week adjournment to prepare a response to a "substantial" challenge, which the judge granted. Outrageous Ms O'Doherty said the lockdown was "outrageous", that people were being held under mass house "arrest" and should be allowed to go about their business and normal life must resume. The vast majority of people are unaffected by Covid-19 and the Irish people should be allowed to go outside and "build up a herd immunity", she said. The judge told her that the court was not considering the arguments, but making directions to getting the application heard. After the case, large numbers gathered in a close group outside the building and were addressed by the journalists. United Nations rights experts accused Iran of violating international law on Tuesday for executing a prisoner who was just 17-year-old when he committed a crime. Shayan Saeedpour, alleged to have committed murder in August 2015, was hanged on Tuesday, United Nations special rapporteurs Javaid Rehman and Agnes Callamard in a statement. He was convicted and sentenced to death in October 2018, the Supreme Court confirming the sentence in February 2019. "We are shocked that the Iranian authorities have once again defied their international obligations by executing a child offender," the UN experts said. "We have repeatedly reminded the Iranian government and judiciary that international human rights law is clear: the application of the death penalty to child offenders is strictly prohibited and its practice is an egregious violation of the right to life." Rehman is the special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, while Callamard is the special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. The independent experts do not speak for the UN but report their findings to the world body. They said the state prosecutor reportedly pressured the family of the murder victim to request the application of the death penalty. Under Iranian law, they can either choose capital punishment or accept blood money and pardon the offender, the experts said. "We are appalled that in this case Iranian officials allegedly promoted the application of the death penalty to a child offender," they said. The pair said the move may have been prompted by Saeedpour escaping from prison during protests on March 27 concerning the new coronavirus pandemic. Iran is among the world's hardest-hit countries in the Covid-19 pandemic, reporting 5,297 deaths. It has temporarily released some 100,000 prisoners, or around 40 percent of its entire prison population, in several stages since March to reduce crowding. Human rights group Amnesty International said Saeedpour was convicted in connection with the fatal stabbing of a man during a fight. His execution was "vengeful and cruel", said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty's deputy regional director for the Middle East. "The use of the death penalty against Shayan -- a child with a long history of mental illness -- was strictly prohibited. "This is abhorrent and must stop." Amnesty claimed there were at least 90 juvenile offenders on death row in Iran. KULOB, Tajikistan -- Vali Karimov, a taxi driver from the southern Tajik district of Muminobod, thought his son was living a respectable life in Germany with a wife he met there and the two children they've had together. That all changed on April 16 when Tajik investigators knocked on their door to ask about his 24-year-old son, Sunatulloh Karimov. That's when the family learned that Sunatulloh was one of five Tajiks arrested in Germany for allegedly plotting Islamic State (IS) terrorist attacks. In fact, the news of their arrests -- announced by German prosecutors on April 15 -- also came as a surprise to the authorities in Tajikistan. That's because the suspects had never been listed by the domestic security services as potential terrorists, sources say. Vali Karimov tells RFE/RL that his son moved to Germany in 2016 and married a "German" woman there. The third of Vali Karimovs four children, Sunatuloh was born and raised in the remote rural district of Muminobod near the border with Afghanistan. His father says Sunatulloh left their village for Tajikistan's capital, Dushanbe, in search of work in 2012 because the family didn't have enough money for him to continue his studies. Still a teenager, Sunatulloh found a job at a private shop selling automobile parts in Dushanbe. According to his father, Sunatulloh also became interested in learning languages and became "quite fluent in English and Russian." Sunatulloh traveled to Germany four times along with his Dushanbe-based business partner between 2012 and 2016 to restock the shop, his father recalls. 'We Call Her Aisha' Sunatulloh's last business trip to Germany was in 2016. But he didn't return home. Instead, Sunatulloh told his parents that he'd decided to stay in Germany permanently. Back in Tajikistan, Sunatulloh's family knew little about his new life in Germany, other than a few scarce details he shared during telephone conversations. Sunatulloh told his parents that he met his future wife -- an intern at a dental clinic -- when he sought treatment for a toothache. He told them the woman converted to Islam and changed her name to Aisha. "We call her Aisha. We don't know what her original name was," Vali Karimov says about the daughter-in-law he has never met. Shocked by the news of Sunatulloh's arrest, his father says the family contacted Aisha for an explanation about what had happened. He says Aisha told them the arrest was a "mix-up" and that "he will be freed" soon. She also told the family not to worry. He says Aisha told them the couple had been due to move into an apartment under a German social-housing project following the birth of their second child. Until his arrest, Sunatulloh was believed to be still actively involved in his old business in Dushanbe, sending spare parts from Germany. RFE/RL obtained contact details for Sunatulloh's business associate, identified by sources as Nurmuhammad M. But he did not respond to phone calls and has not been present at his workplace for several days. Alleged Leader Of IS Cell The government in Dushanbe hasn't publicly commented on the arrests. Tajik officials and diplomats say they have yet to receive official notification from Germany about the case. But Tajik sources told RFE/RL that law enforcement agencies in the Central Asian country began their own investigation after international media reported about the arrests. Those sources said there were still many things that domestic intelligence services do not know about the five suspects arrested in Germany. German prosecutors have released only the first names and last initials of the suspects -- identifying them as Azizjon B., Farhodshoh K., Muhammadali G., Sunatulloh K, and Ravshan B. and that they ranged in age from 24 to 32. German authorities also said Ravshan B. was thought to be the ringleader of an IS cell in Germany. Four of the suspects were arrested at different locations in the western German state of North Rhine Westphalia during police raids that involved some 350 officers early on April 15. German police said Ravshan B. has been in custody since March 15, 2019. Sources in Tajikistan told RFE/RL that the alleged ringleader's full name was Ravshan Boqiev. They said he had lived in Dushanbe prior to leaving for Russia several years ago. According to the German authorities, all of the suspects arrived in Germany as asylum seekers. North Rhine Westphalia Interior Minister Herbet Reul said German police "have had the suspects in [their] sights for a long time." German officials allege that the five men pledged allegiance to IS in January 2019 and had been getting instructions from two high-ranking IS figures in Syria and Afghanistan. The 30-year-old Boqiev is alleged to have been a contact person between a Germany-based cell and IS. He also allegedly distributed instructions to the others on how to make explosive devices. German news weekly Der Spiegel has reported that Boqiev came to the attention of the German intelligence services in December 2018. German officials say the group's initial plan was to return to Tajikistan to stage terrorist attacks there. But authorities charge that the suspects subsequently decided to plot attacks in Germany on U.S. military facilities and on an unnamed individual that the group deemed as being critical of Islam. The German officials say the suspects had already started collecting firearms, ammunition, and bomb-making materials. They say they also began surveillance of their potential targets. Authorities said the men collected money in Germany to finance their terrorist plans and to send to IS extremists fighting in Syria. Boqiev also accepted $40,000 to carry out an assassination in Albania, according to German media reports. Those reports say Boqiev and an accomplice traveled to Albania to carry out the contract killing, but returned to Germany after their plan failed. Many Unknowns Back in southern Tajikistan, Vali Karimov says he doesn't know anything about Boqiev or the other alleged associates of his son in Germany. RFE/RL has established that a third suspect is Muhammadali Ghulomov from the Rudaki district, about 17 kilometers south of Dushanbe. RFE/RL correspondents have yet to obtain further information about Ghulomov and his life in Tajikistan. Nothing is yet known about the other two suspects, identified as Azizjon B. and Farhodshoh K. Germany's Federal Public Prosecutor says the suspects are currently in pretrial detention and that each is being represented by defense lawyers. Tajikistan's IS Connections The government in Dushanbe says about 2,000 Tajik nationals have traveled to Syria and Iraq in recent years to join IS militants. Some of them have returned to Tajikistan, taking advantage of an amnesty offered by the government. Dozens of IS extremists were captured by Iraqi, Syrian, Kurdish, and Turkish forces after the fall of the militant group in Syria and Iraq. The exact number of Tajiks killed in fighting and air strikes is not known. Some Tajik nationals are thought to have joined an IS affiliate in neighboring Afghanistan, while the IS group has claimed responsibility for the killing of four Western cyclists in Tajikistan in July 2018. Deadly riots at Tajik prisons in November 2018 and May 2019 have also been claimed by the IS group. The Congress and the BJP on Wednesday sparred over senior journalist Arnab Goswami's remarks aimed at Sonia Gandhi during a discussion on Palghar incident in which three persons, including two sadhus, were lynched. Senior Congress leaders, including chief ministers, slammed Goswami, the editor-in-chief and owner of Republic TV, with the party's chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala alleging that it was "deeply disgraceful that PM & BJP eulogize this brand of TV anchors". BJP's Amit Malviya criticised the Congress for its leaders' attack on the journalist. Slamming Goswami's remarks against Sonia Gandhi, senior Congress leader and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said she has been a highly successful Congress president. "Ridiculous attack by Arnab Goswami on Sonia Gandhi Ji in derogatory language is totally shameful & unacceptable. She was 22yrs old when she came to India & has been living here for 52 years of which she has dedicated most of her life to the service of the country," Singh tweeted. Malviya defended Goswami, saying he spoke the truth. "Shame on Congress for attacking Arnab because he spoke the truth. In 2013, Wiki cable said that Sonia Gandhi wanted Bajrang Dal banned in Odisha and Karnataka, but she retracted when MK Narayanan explained that their response was against forced conversions by Pentecostal groups," he tweeted. He also hit back at Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot over the Congress leader's demand to "sack" Goswami. "Abuse Modi, get Padma Shri and go to Rajya Sabha. And if the truth of Sonia Gandhi is shown, then sack him. How will this do? Freedom of speech can't be a one way street!" the BJP's information technology wing head tweeted. Surjewala in his tweet said, "Let PM remember that Sonia Gandhi has spent over 50 years of life in India, serving the country & being a witness to sacrifice of her mother in law & husband. But your favourite abusive anchors won't bat an eyelid before hurling filth. Silence is acquiescence, Mr. PM!". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Forbes Agency Council We are honored to welcome Lion Shirdan into the community said Scott Gerber, founder of Forbes Councils, the collective that includes Forbes Agency Council Lion Shirdan, Marketing Advisor, Creative Director and Consultant for key mainstream brands and founder of UPRISE Management, a 360 full service marketing, branding and creative agency for mainstream, premium, luxury, and digital brands as well as for leading e-commerce giants, with a focus on celebrity talent activations, has been accepted into Forbes Agency Council, an invitation-only community for owners of and executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative, and advertising agencies. Lion Shirdan was vetted and selected by a review committee based on the depth and diversity of his experience. Criteria for acceptance include a track record of successfully impacting business growth metrics, as well as personal and professional achievements and honors. We are honored to welcome Lion Shirdan into the community, said Scott Gerber, founder of Forbes Councils, the collective that includes Forbes Agency Council. Our mission with Forbes Councils is to bring together proven leaders from every industry, creating a curated, social capital-driven network that helps every member grow professionally and make an even greater impact on the business world. As an accepted member of the Council, Lion has access to a variety of exclusive opportunities designed to help him reach peak professional influence. He will connect and collaborate with other respected local leaders in a private forum. Lion will also be invited to work with a professional editorial team to share his expert insights in original business articles on Forbes.com, and to contribute to published Q&A panels alongside other experts. Finally, Lion Shirdan will benefit from exclusive access to vetted business service partners, membership-branded marketing collateral, and the high-touch support of the Forbes Councils member concierge team. I am honored to be recognized as part of the Forbes Agency Council and excited to further enhance my professional capabilities while learning and collaborating with other business leaders in this vibrant community said Lion. I've been successful in driving results for my business and my clients and I look forward to sharing my experiences, and further growing my position in the industry ABOUT FORBES COUNCILS Forbes Councils is a collective of invitation-only communities created in partnership with Forbes and the expert community builders who founded Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC). In Forbes Councils, exceptional business owners and leaders come together with the people and resources that can help them thrive. For more information about Forbes Agency Council, visit forbesagencycouncil.com. To learn more about Forbes Councils, visit forbescouncils.com. ABOUT UPRISE MANAGEMENT UPRISE Management is a 360 full-service marketing, branding and creative agency for luxury, premium and digital brands as well as for leading e-commerce giants. UPRISEs experience is broad; specializing in beauty, tech and lifestyle. In this digital era, we deliver strategy-driven branding, high profile celebrity sourcing, forward-thinking creative marketing and crisis management solutions. PHILADELPHIA, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, the Philadelphia Energy Authority (PEA) reopened Solarize Philly, a program to help all Philadelphians go solar. homeowners and businesses can sign up for a free solar assessment of their property at solarizephilly.org. "Now more than ever it's clear that our health is impacted by our behavior and our environment," Mayor Jim Kenney said. "Going solar is one way that you can take action to support the health of the Philadelphia community for the long run." "Job creation is going to be key to the recovery of our economy," said City Council President Darrell Clarke (5th District). "Of all energy projects, rooftop solar creates the most jobs per dollar invested, and PEA is training young Philadelphians to fill those positions. Solarize Philly participants are helping put people to work who need it the most." Solarize Philly is the nation's largest program of its kind, with 654 homeowners participating since 2017. Participants benefit from group-buying discounts and consumer protections. Installers are kicking off the phase by providing free remote solar assessments. On-site visits and installations will resume in line with state guidance on construction. "We've reopened Solarize Philly on Earth Day as planned, since solar provides savings, increases resilience, and drives economic development," said PEA's Executive Director Emily Schapira. "Solarize Philly helps fund our Solar Savings Grant Program, supporting the City's most vulnerable residents to reap the benefits solar provides." PEA's Solar Savings Grant Program provides grants plus financing to low- and moderate-income households to go solar at no upfront cost, with utility bill savings from Year 1. Grants cover up to half the cost of the project. Philly's solar market is buoyed by measures adopted by City Council in 2019, including the new Philadelphia Solar Rebate. Solar projects in Philadelphia are eligible for a one-time incentive, with the average homeowner receiving ~$1000. The rebate provides 10 cents/watt to commercial and 20 cents/watt to residential projects. Projects installed after July 1, 2019 may apply. PEA administers the Rebate on behalf of the City's Office of Sustainability. About Philadelphia Energy Authority The Philadelphia Energy Authority (PEA) is a municipal government entity supporting the City on energy affordability and sustainability. PEA develops and facilitates long-term energy projects and policies, and supports a robust clean energy economy in Philadelphia. More information: www.philaenergy.org. Contact: Emily Schapira, 215-203-2906, [email protected] SOURCE Philadelphia Energy Authority Related Links https://philaenergy.org/ Whatever local sort of relief they might be able to provide, they simply cant do it because of the preemption, said state Rep. Will Guzzardi, a Chicago Democrat who has pushed for years to lift the ban. So we feel very strongly that the preemption should be lifted at this moment in order to provide cities the ability to protect their renters during this crisis. Bud and Amanda Allen, owners of the Budrix motorcycle repair shop near Austin, count themselves lucky. Their business is considered essential, so theyve been able stay open even as orders meant to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus shut the doors of mom-and-pop shops across the nation. But customers have been few and far between, so few that the couple werent able to pay in full when April 1 rolled around. With the pandemic keeping motorcyclists at home even during prime spring weather the Allens and Budrix are facing the prospect of eviction when they cant pay all their rent on May 1. Its been a rough go, said Bud Allen. As if business owners such as the Allens didnt have enough to worry about with work and customers drying up, many are facing evictions as the coronavirus brings the economy to a standstill. While the $2 trillion coronavirus relief act provided a 120-day moratorium on evictions from homes with federally backed mortgages and the Texas Supreme Court suspended the processing of residential evictions until April 30, businesses have yet to be extended the same broad protections. Excluding grocery stores, retailers in strip malls have been able to pay only an average of 20 to 40 percent of Aprils rents, according to preliminary data from the commercial real estate firm CBRE. Retailers of every size are in existential danger, Matthew Shay, president of the National Retail Federation, said in a letter to the National Governors Association and U.S. Conference of Mayors. We believe an emergency forbearance and rent abatement program is necessary to preserve retailers ability to recover from the widespread store closures that have been mandated by state and local governments. In Texas, no such protections have been put in place statewide. Eviction relief for commercial tenants varies county by county. Harris and Travis counties have suspended all eviction proceedings, including commercial, until April 30. SOME WIN: But lawyers say the suspension is far from a lasting solution. They expect a backlog of evictions once courts reopen. The eviction proceeding putting that on hold is a Band-Aid, said Laura Hannusch, a real estate partner in the Houston office of the law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. Its not going to make the problem go away. Ripple effect The problem extends beyond commercial tenants. If they cannot pay rent in full, landlords with large loans may have to ask for relief from their lenders; some may eventually default. That in turn could put lenders and investors who buy debt in the form of mortgage-backed securities in jeopardy. The credit rating agency Fitch Ratings expects defaults on commercial mortgage-backed securities to spike in 2020 as a result of the pandemic. (Fitch is owned by the Hearst Corp., the parent company of the Houston Chronicle.) Without ensuring the stability of our tenant base, the repayment of up to $1 trillion of secured and unsecured debt underlying the shopping center industry will be at risk, said the International Council of Shopping Centers, a trade group, in a statement . The group called on Gov. Greg Abbott to order regulated banks to offer forbearance on commercial loan obligations as a way to relieve landlords. Its both a huge issue short run and long run for the entire commercial real estate industry ecosystem, said Jeff Davis, managing director of the financial advisory firm Mercer Capital. At the end of March, as Aprils rent due date loomed and it became clear many businesses would not be able to pay, a group of economists at the University of Chicago began thinking about how to make it easier to renegotiate leases. Millions of people trying to renegotiate with their landlords at the same time seemed like an unprecedented act, said Jeff Severts, the executive director for the University of Chicagos Center for Radical Innovation for Social Change. The whole idea that everyone would have to renegotiate their lease at the same time seemed like it could overwhelm the legal system. OFFICE: Severts worked with Nobel Prize-winning economist Richard Thaler and Freakonomics co-author Steven Levitt, among others, to create a free one-page, lease addendum to allow landlords and tenants to agree on how much to reduce rent by for three months, what fraction of that reduction will be deferred until later in the lease and what fraction would be forgiven. The form, posted on the Center for RISCs website, attracted thousands of views within days proof, Severts said, of how widespread the issue is. Coming to terms Each negotiation is different because businesses have been affected to varying degrees and landlords have varying obligations to their own lenders. Real estate professionals recommend commercial tenants start conversations with their landlords early to negotiate new lease terms. David Littwitz, a commercial real estate broker whose company, Littwitz Investments, specializes in restaurants, said tenants should reach out to landlords and provide detailed information on the steps they are taking to adapt to changing markets, survive the pandemic and ultimately return to profitability. The plan, Littwitz said, should include sales figures and specific actions, such as rolling out curbside pickup or applying for the Paycheck Protection Program, part of the $2.2 trillion stimulus package meant to help businesses cover payroll and rent. The program quickly ran out of funds, but completing an application could better position small businesses to receive loans when more funds are released, according to the bank BBVA. Congress last week approved another $320 billion for the program. Show them that youre doing everything to save yourself and that youre worthy to having a landlord work with you, he said. What I tell my clients right now is, Its a two-way street. They need you as badly as you need them. But not all tenants and landlords will be able to reach an agreement, acknowledged Adam J. Weaver, a senior associate at the law firm Pillsbury Winthrop. I think the amount of eviction proceedings could be high, he said. Sometimes a landlords finances do not allow such flexibility. Thats what the Allens married military veterans who met volunteering after Hurricane Irma say theyve encountered as they try to keep their motorcycle repair business afloat. Staying positive Bud Allen said the business from which he is subletting shop space fell behind on its own rent, complicating his situation. Three days after reaching a verbal agreement to pay partial rent, he received an ultimatum: Pay in full or be evicted. Hes hoping he can stay long enough to obtain a Veterans Affairs loan, which does not require a down payment, to buy a building where they can live over the shop as a way to lower their living and business costs. He's found a building and a lender but had to push back the closing date to scrape together money to cover closing costs. I think all the timings going to work out, he said. I think it will. Were remaining positive. rebecca.schuetz@chron.com; twitter.com/raschuetz Iran has apparently lofted its first military satellite into orbit, ending a series of setbacks for the nation's space program. A two-stage Qassed rocket lifted off from the Markazi Desert in central Iran on Wednesday (April 22) and successfully delivered a military reconnaissance satellite called Nour to orbit, Al-Jazeera reported . The rocket could be seen successfully launching into soace in this video from Iran's Tasnim News Agency and PressTV. The outlet cited an announcement on the official website of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an elite military outfit distinct from the nation's regular armed forces. The IRGC announcement also stated that Nour is currently circling Earth at an altitude of 264 miles (425 kilometers). Related: Iran in space: Rockets, satellites & monkeys (photos) Images posted by Iranian state media suggest that the launch originated from an IRGC base near Shahroud, about 205 miles (330 km) northeast of the Iranian capital of Tehran, researcher Fabian Hinz of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California told Al-Jazeera. You can't take announcements from autocratic regimes at face value, of course. But this information appears to check out, according to Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who keeps close tabs on the many spacecraft whizzing around our planet. "US has issued a TLE for a new launch 2020-024A, object 45529 in a 426 x 444 km x 59.8 deg orbit. Ground track is consistent with a launch from Shahroud at 0400 UTC plus or minus 2 minutes," McDowell said via Twitter on Wednesday. (TLEs, short for "two-line element" sets, encode information about satellites' orbits.) "I consider that this confirms that the Iranian satellite successfully reached orbit," McDowell added in another tweet. I consider that this confirms that the Iranian satellite successfully reached orbit.April 22, 2020 See more Such successes have been hard to come by for the Iranian space program lately. In February, for example, a Simorgh rocket failed to carry a communications satellite to orbit. A Simorgh launch also failed in January 2019, as did a liftoff involving another rocket, called the Safir, a month later. And in August 2019, a rocket apparently exploded on the launch pad at Imam Khomeini Space Center, wreaking ruin that was spotted from space . (Iran hadn't been shut out prior to today, however; its civilian space program has several short-lived satellite missions under its belt and also apparently launched monkeys to suborbital space on two occasions.) Officials of the United States and its allies tend to view Iran's space program with suspicion, stressing that rocket tech and military-missile tech are basically one and the same. So, Wednesday's overtly military launch is likely to raise tensions between the U.S. and Iran, which were already ratcheted up a notch earlier this year. In January, a U.S. drone strike killed top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. Iran retaliated a few days later with missile strikes on multiple sites in Iraq that housed American troops. Mike Wall is the author of " Out There " (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate ), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall . Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook . Graffiti Writers, Street Artists and Muralists from Every Continent; Check it out Here Beginning on April 22 9am NZST/April 21 5pm ET/April 21 2pm PT the Full List of Names will be Revealed on Earthday.org WASHINGTON, April 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Earth Day Network and more than 500 street artists planned and executed a worldwide protest - #EarthDay2020Halt. Beginning on Earth Day (April 22 at) in New Zealand at 9am NZT until 11:59pm ET, breakout artists from every continent, will showcase their projects, created in secret over the last sixth months in honor of Earth Day. These urban artists range from established to emerging -- graffiti writers, street artists, and muralist of all generations who will come together around climate change, the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, and other environmental issues. The art and location of each piece can be seen in an interactive map on https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-stealth-street-art/. The project was led and curated by LA-based street artist Meg Zany. WHAT: 50th anniversary of Earth Day Earth Day Network -- the largest stealth global art activation in the world, with more than 500 artists in 100 countries revealing their art on earthday.org. WHO: More than 500 graffiti writers, street artists and muralists from 100 countries, from every continent. A selection of artists and their works of art include: WRDSMTH (U.S.) Yulier( Cuba ) ) Shamisa Hassani (Afganistan) Tag us- #Earthday2020Halt @earthdaynetwork CONTACT: Liz Stein, +1.240.461.3053 [email protected] Denice Zeck [email protected] +1-202-355-8875 SOURCE Earth Day Network Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has eased some restrictions designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus, but said Tuesday that it's not yet time to fully reopen the state's economy. Starting this week, hospitals can resume elective surgeries and nonessential retailers can reopen, with restrictions. State parks will also be open to visitors. READ MORE: The latest news and features about coronavirus in San Antonio Abbott noted the number of Texans testing positive for the virus is "leveling off." On April 9, the state had more than 1,000 people test positive, but hasn't hit that number in 12 straight days. On ExpressNews.com: Gov. Greg Abbott says hes ready to reopen massive amounts of businesses "Its not because COVID-19 is suddenly dispersed from the geography of the state of Texas," Abbott said. "The reason why it is leveling off is because our fellow Texans have done such a great job of reducing their interactions with others." The governor has assembled a panel of business executives and lobbyists charged with charting a course to reopen the state's economy. He plans to issue another executive order Monday outlining the next steps in the plan. On Wednesday, Abbott told a radio program that the order will reopen "massive amounts of businesses" including movie theaters, hair salons, and dine-in restaurants. When he makes the announcement, Abbott said he will give businesses a week to do what they need to get ready to reopen. Here's what you need to know about Abbott's plan to reopen the economy: - Retailers can reopen on Friday, but customers cannot enter the premises. The Department of State Health Services said all employees must be trained on disinfection and hygiene, then screened for symptoms shortness of breath, sore throat, loss of taste or smell, fever, close contact with person confirmed to have COVID-19 before entering the business. Customers can purchase items for pickup, delivery by mail, or delivery to the customer's doorstep. Payments should be done over the phone or online if possible. Contact should be minimized if remote payment is not available. Employees should put purchases in the trunks of customer vehicles when possible. Workers must wear face coverings and maintain at least 6 feet of separation from one another. - Non-emergency medical procedures can resume as long as those surgeries don't deplete medical resources. The restrictions on elective surgeries were intended to conserve supplies and free up bed space. To resume surgeries, hospitals need to submit a letter to the states Health and Human Services Commission promising to reserve at least 25 percent of its capacity for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. Also, facilities that resume elective surgeries cant request personal protective equipment, such as masks, from local, state or national stockpiles for the duration of the outbreak. - State parks re-opened Monday, two weeks after Abbott ordered them closed in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Some parks, including Mustang Island State Park near Corpus Christi, remained closed. Park visitors are required to purchase permits and reservations online before travelling to a park. At the park, they must follow social-distancing rules of 6 feet or more and wear masks over their faces. - Texas schools are closed through the end of the 2019-20 school year. Teachers are encouraged to work remotely if possible, but may return to schools to conduct video instructions or carry out administrative tasks. - Abbott named a panel of business executives and lobbyists to advise him on restarting the economy. San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff put together their own team to make recommendations for getting the local economy back up to speed. Mark Dunphy is a breaking news and general assignment reporter for MySA.com | mark.dunphy@express-news.net | @m_b_dunphy MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE: The nation has pulled together to face the myriad challenges posed by coronavirus, which is why it was so important this week for Prime Minister Scott Morrison to call out those targeting Chinese Australians. The 1.2 million-strong community has been the target of slurs, vandalism and even physical attacks. COVID-19 China Die was spray painted on the house of a Chinese family in the Melbourne suburb of Knoxville on Monday; a Chinese Australian councillor in the South Australian city of Salisbury was spat at by a passer-by who blamed her for the pandemic; and the Australian Human Rights Commission has reported that about a quarter of the complaints it received in February and March were from Asians with similar stories. Scott Morrison said Chinese Australians were one of the greatest defences we had in those early weeks''. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen A group of 16 Chinese Australians, including Age contributors Benjamin Law and Adam Liaw, penned an open letter this month warning this racial vilification posed a threat to national unity. The letter has received bipartisan support from ALP senator Penny Wong and Liberal senator Andrew Bragg. Another 30,000 have signed the petition. It should go without saying that Chinese Australians are not to blame for the pandemic or for the mistakes the Chinese Communist Party undoubtedly made in January when it failed to control the spread of the virus. Yet a number of other unfortunate claims are sometimes made that should be challenged. Some mistakenly blame Chinese people returning from visits home for spreading the virus here. T he boss of Swiss drugmaker Roche today warned that some blood tests being marketed to tell people if they have ever had the new coronavirus are a "disaster", Severin Schwan sounded the warning after Roche studied the market to prepare to launch the companys own antibody test in May. Schwan said, Roche scrutinised some existing products now on offer but rejected them as unreliable in determining if somebody has actually ever had the disease. "It's a disaster. These tests are not worth anything, or have very little use," Schwan told reporters on a conference call on the Basel-based company's first-quarter results. "Some of these companies, I tell you, this is ethically very questionable to get out with this stuff." Roche said last week it hopes to launch its Elecsys serology antibody test by early May. It will be available in countries which accept the CE mark, which is the global standard. Part of the difference is compositional: Baby boomers now make up nearly 60 percent of registered voters over 65, up from 40 percent in 2016. As a result, Mrs. Clinton was probably fairly competitive among the group of voters who are 65 and over today, even though four years ago she lost those who were 65 and over. Compositional shifts might explain even more than this, if it turns out that the greater mortality rate of older men compared with women means that Mr. Trumps older supporters have departed the electorate at a higher rate. But it seems unlikely that compositional change explains it all. Another factor is a growing bias in polling: Young women respond at a low rate to telephone surveys on cellphones. Pollsters typically adjust their samples to ensure a representative number of women or younger voters over all, but only a few do so in a way that ensures they have the right number of younger or older women. As a result, most pollsters give more weight to women over all, yielding a sample with the right number of women in total but still too few younger ones and, as a consequence, too many older women. Without any special adjustment, women might represent 60 percent or more of voters over age 65 in a typical high-quality national poll, compared with about 55 percent in reality. This probably expands Mr. Bidens lead among seniors by about two percentage points not enough to explain the whole shift but a component. Together, the polling and compositional explanations might cover nearly half of the shift toward Mr. Biden. What explains the rest? One possible explanation is Mr. Biden himself. Older voters appear to have a favorable view of him, and its not hard to imagine why they might see him in a more favorable light than Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton or even John Kerry. He is the first white male Democratic nominee since 2004, and he is probably the first one since 2000 or perhaps earlier who wont easily be dismissed as a liberal. He is not campaigning on the kind of culture war issues, like immigration, racial justice or gay marriage, that have tended to work to conservatives advantage with this group for decades. In other words, older voters may like him for many of the same reasons he disappoints young progressives. Another possible explanation is Mr. Trump and perhaps especially his coronavirus response. Older people are relatively vulnerable to the coronavirus and relatively insulated from the effects of an economic shutdown. The presidents drive to reopen the economy, and questions about his slow response, may resonate very differently for a retiree who backed Mr. Trump than for a young parent struggling to support children. A recent Morning Consult poll found that Mr. Trumps approval rating on the coronavirus response was lower among seniors than among any other group. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 22) The World Health Organization sounded the alarm on the high number of healthcare workers in the Philippines who have been infected with COVID-19, underscoring the importance of proper protective gear for frontliners. WHO-Western Pacific Region COVID-19 Incident manager Dr. Abdi Mahamud said the number of medical workers infected with the viral disease is higher than the average in the region, which has 37 member states and areas including China the epicenter of the coronavirus disease. The worrisome trend we are seeing in the Philippines where the percentage of about 13 percent is worrisome. In our region it is around 2-3 percent The Philippines is a bit of an outlier, he said in a virtual press briefing on Tuesday. The Department of Health said on April 17 that 766 doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers in the country have contracted the coronavirus disease. On Tuesday, it was reported that 62 employees of the National Center for Mental Health tested positive for COVID-19. To date, the country has recorded 6,599 cases of COVID-19. Mahamud said the WHO is working with the Philippines Department of Health to find out why many healthcare workers are gravely exposed to the coronavirus disease. He added the WHO is looking at the possibilities that the high infection rate among healthcare workers in the Philippines is either due to the shortage of personal protective gear, its improper use, or if its due to the number of cases overwhelming the healthcare system. We are working very closely with the Minister of Health to determine the reasons why the Philippines has a high percentage of around 13% infection among healthcare workers. WHO has been working very closely with member states in providing the maximum protective measures. Also training them so we protect this crucial, important workforce, he said. The Philippine Medical Association earlier said fewer health personnel would have died from COVID-19 had there been more personal protective equipment available to them. The government has since ordered one million sets of PPE which have been arriving in batches over the past two weeks. LYSTRUP, Denmark, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A paradigm shift in wireless connectivity is in the making: On Thursday April 23 the FCC will meet to sign into law new regulation for the US releasing 1.2 GHz of new spectrum to Wi-Fi and other unlicensed uses. The new spectrum allocation is the largest for Wi-Fi in twenty years will arguably impact the world of wireless connectivity for a generation or more. To begin to understand how the Wi-Fi industry, consumers, and business all over the US can benefit from this very large new allocation of Wi-Fi frequencies, Wi-Fi NOW the world's premier media and advisory organisation dedicated to the Wi-Fi industry will conduct a Special Event (webinar) on April 24 at 1 pm EDT. The event will feature remarks and Q&A on the 6 GHz decision with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. The event will also cover the following topics: How 6 GHz will boost Wi-Fi performance with much higher speeds, capacities, lower latency, and vastly improved quality, a detailed presentation of the new 6 GHz rules adopted by the FCC, discussion and vision on how 6 GHz Wi-Fi will revolutionize connectivity in the home and enterprise, how indoor 6 GHz Wi-Fi will impact and support 5G services, understanding outdoor use cases for 6 GHz unlicensed (with AFC), details on 6 GHz Wi-Fi chipset solutions, the role of 6 GHz Wi-Fi for cablecos, and much more. "In bringing 6 GHz Wi-Fi to the world the FCC has shown remarkable courage and has reinforced its global leadership. Wi-Fi in the 6 GHz band will create a huge surge in innovation in wireless and tech in general. We're extremely excited to be hosting this event on 6 GHz and we hope our bringing together of the world's 6 GHz leaders will help accelerate this great new opportunity," says CEO of Wi-Fi NOW and host of the event, Claus Hetting. Speakers include executives and subject matter experts from the FCC, the Wi-Fi Alliance, Charter Communications, Broadcom, Intel, Qualcomm, HPE/Aruba, CommScope, Cisco, ON Semiconductor, LitePoint, and Federated Wireless. Anyone is welcome to view the live stream of the Wi-Fi NOW Special Event. To view the live stream, go to this link on Friday April 24 at 1 pm EDT: https://wifinowglobal.com/webinar/wi-fi-now-special-event-on-6-ghz-wi-fi-wi-fi-6e/ To access the live stream, simply enter your personal details. The event will be recorded and made available for later viewing on the Wi-Fi NOW website. About Wi-Fi NOW: Wi-Fi NOW is the world's premier media and advisory organisation dedicated to promoting the Wi-Fi industry. For more about Wi-Fi NOW, go to www.wifinowglobal.com SOURCE Wi-Fi NOW Related Links http://www.wifinowglobal.com Spain unveiled on Tuesday a series of measures aimed at helping prostitutes and victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation survive the countrys coronavirus lockdown. Under the new measures, victims will be able to access improved support services, emergency accommodation and claim a new social benefit for those at risk of extreme poverty, the Ministry of Equality said. Today we have extended our measures protecting gender violence victims to women victims of trafficking, sexual exploitation and prostitutes. You are not alone, Irene Montero, Spains Minister of Equality wrote on Twitter. The health crisis must not leave any woman unprotected, added Noelia Vera, Spains Secretary of State for Equality and Gender Violence. Spain has had one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks, with more than 204,000 infections and over 21,200 deaths. Sex workers across the globe have been left destitute by the closure of brothels due to the coronavirus, but only a handful of countries - including Bangladesh - have pledged support. Victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation and prostitutes have not had their rights protected since March 12, with normal support services halted because of restrictions on movement, the ministry said in a statement. During inspections and closures of hostels, hotels and clubs, the army and police will better coordinate with organizations that provide assistance and protection, to detect and identify victims more effectively, the government said. The government also said it would try to raise awareness of existing 24-hour telephone and online support services for victims, including the polices dedicated trafficking hotline. Virginia Gil, director of non-profit Aspacia Foundation, which fights violence against women, said the measures were to be welcomed as there was little state support for female trafficking victims but implementation would be complicated. Its positive that theyre taking these victims into account because theyre in an extremely vulnerable situation ... but often they dont even know where these women are or how to detect them, she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Victims also often do not want to be found because they are worried about their illegal status, she added. Spain is due to formally announce the benefit, known as the Minimum Vital Income, in coming days, aiming to give financial support to about 1 million Spanish families at risk of extreme poverty from the start of May. Women who are living in Spain illegally will be able to access the financial aid, the ministry said, without giving any specific details on how much they will receive. Spains Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez warned on Saturday that the countrys lockdown would be extended until at least May 9. The government has already introduced emergency measures for other vulnerable groups expected to be disproportionately hit by the lockdown, including domestic workers and jobless illegal immigrants. Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter Fears are increasing the American food supply chain could be disrupted as further coronavirus outbreaks are confirmed in food processing plants and more closures are announced. Processing plants in 10 states have now reported outbreaks as Tyson Food Inc. suspended operations Wednesday at an Iowa plant that is critical to the nation's pork supply. More than 180 infections have been linked to the plant and officials expect that number to dramatically rise. It is at least the ninth major plant across the US forced to reduce operations or close altogether due to outbreaks among their employees. It comes as shocking details emerge about the lack of protective equipment provided to plant workers around the country. At Smithfield's Sioux Falls plant, the location of one of the country's worst coronavirus clusters with more than 760 employees infected, staff claim they were given hairnets instead of masks to cover their faces. Workers at the Kraft Heinz food plant in Holland, Michigan, also claim that the company has been slow in providing personnel protective equipment as two workers there test positive. Workers at Smithfield's pork processing plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, claim they were provided with these hair nets instead of proper face masks. The factory, which is now closed, has one of the largest cluster outbreaks in the country infecting more than 760 workers As Tyson becomes the third large pork processing plant to close following a coronavirus outbreak, there are fears about a break in the food supply and a shortage of fresh meat. Pictured is an empty chicken and poultry food case in New Jersey on March 13 Tyson will close its pork processing facility in Waterloo, Iowa, as the meat processing industry takes another hit amid the coronavirus pandemic. The company will continue to pay workers Tyson became the third major U.S. pork processing plant to shut down Wednesday as it was forced to close their Waterloo facility in Iowa, adding to concerns about the country's meat supply. The Iowa plant is critical to the nation's pork supply but had been blamed for fueling a massive coronavirus outbreak in the community. Tyson had kept the facility, its largest pork plant, open in recent days over the objections of local officials. The plant can process 19,500 hogs per day, accounting for nearly 4 percent of U.S. pork processing capacity, according to the National Pork Board. More than 180 infections have been linked to the plant and officials expect that number to dramatically rise. A 65-year-old employee in the plant's laundry department died Sunday after contracting the virus, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier newspaper reported. The plant was already running at reduced levels due to worker absenteeism but will now close until further notice, according to a statement released Wednesday. Workers will continue to be paid while the factory is closed and there will be coronavirus testing held there for all 2,800 employees this week. The company said its other meat and poultry plants are continuing to operate although some at a reduced level. The closure of the Waterloo facility comes as the meatpacking industry, in particular, struggles to prevent the spread of coronavirus among its workers. Closures are having a cascading effect on the supply chain as farmers, truckers, distributors and supermarkets are all affected. 'It means the loss of a vital market outlet for farmers and further contributes to the disruption of the nation's pork supply,' Steve Stouffer, group president of Tyson Fresh Meats, said in the statement. Employers have struggled to contain the virus in meatpacking plants, where workers toil side by side on production lines and often share crowded locker rooms, cafeterias and rides to work. While plants have added safety measures, public health experts say social distancing is virtually impossible in them. Tyson's Waterloo closure was the third major pork shutdown after JBS SA shuttered its pork-processing facility in Minnesota and Smithfield Foods Inc. closed its slaughter plant in South Dakota. The closed Smithfield plant is one of the nation's largest pork processing facilities, representing 4 percent to 5 percent of U.S. pork production, according to the company. It has also become the location of one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the country, as staff express fears they have not been provided with adequate protective equipment. More than 760 workers were infected as of Wednesday. Speaking to Good Morning America, forklift operator Michael Bul Gayo Gatluak said that they were provided with a hair or beard net to cover their mouth and nose instead of a mask. According to the Argus Leader, before the plant's closure, many workers were bringing in their own homemade masks because they were unhappy with the ones provided, which were not made with CDC-recommended face mask material. Workers were also reportedly offered a $500 'responsibility bonus' if they didn't miss work in April. Smithfield forklift operator Michael Bul Gayo Gatluak told Good Morning America that the employees at the coronavirus hotspot were given hairnets instead of facemasks at the plant Employees at Smithfield's Sioux Falls plant posted pictures of their mask to Facebook 'Because management drug its feet and didn't act quickly, that's why it's a hot spot,' said Kooper Caraway, president of the Sioux Falls AFL-CIO, a labor federation that represents local unions, including the Smithfield United Food and Workers Union. 'And we're seeing the cases go up every day. No matter what the latest numbers are, I promise you there's more than that.' Chinese-owned Smithfield has said it is doing it can to protect its staff. 'We are doing everything in our power to protect our team members from Covid-19 in the workplace, implementing 17 measures including boosting protective equipment like masks,' it said in a statement. Workers at the Kraft Heinz food production plant in Holland Michigan also voiced concern about the protective equipment supplied after two workers tested positive Tuesday. Three more are presumed to have the virus and others are in self-quarantine. Kraft Heinz Company's Holland plant remains open despite two employees testing positive for coronavirus with three more thought infected. The plant closed Sunday for cleaning The plant remains open but was closed Sunday for extensive cleaning, Kraft Heinz Corporate Affairs Senior Vice President Michael Mullen said in a statement. A union representing the plant's 227 employees, however, has said that there have been no 'real negotiations around essential pay and quarantine procedures', according to the Detroit Free Press. 'Weeks ago, workers were promised masks, and they're still yet to arrive, despite promises from management day after day that they would,' the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union Local 705 said. The union also criticized the company for supplying a $100 bonus only to workers who were not absent, meaning those who are out sick or in quarantine do not qualify. Mullens argued that the masks should arrive at the plant this week and that employees are no longer being asked to take vacation days if they need to quarantine. He added that social distancing procedures have been added to production lines and temperature checks will begin next week. Other food production plant owners are warning that implementing social distancing guidelines in the work space is not easy, however, as companies struggle to rearrange the line production to keep their workers safe. 'We've been able to implement some social distancing measures in the plant but it's not possible to completely change the way the manufacturing process is configured and still operate and still meet this high level of demand,' Patrick Criteser, President and CEO of Tillamook County Creamery Association, told Good Morning America. 'Some of the jobs, they are literally elbow to elbow. Some ways they stand a little bit apart but most of the ways they're side by side right, the way down the line,' one meatpacking inspector warned. So far meat processing plants have been hit the hardest with ten states reporting an outbreak among employees. Reduced meat output from the shutdowns threatens to tighten supplies of certain products at a time when demand is rising at grocery stores as the United States battles COVID-19. Food producers say that there should be no long-term food shortages but there may be spot shortages in items such as fresh meat. Patrick Criteser, President and CEO of Tillamook County Creamery Association, told Good Morning America that it is not possible to implement all social distancing guidelines in the food processing plant line and still keep operating and meeting demand from stores This meatpacking inspector identified only as Kevin said that some parts of the food processing line require people to be side by side making social distancing impossible Lockdowns that aim to stop the spread of the coronavirus have also prevented farmers across the globe from delivering food products to consumers. Millions of laborers also cannot get to the fields for harvesting and planting, and there are too few truckers to keep goods moving. Grocery store workers are also showing massive numbers of infection as they continue to work through the crowds of shoppers. There are at least 3,000 grocery store workers showing symptoms and more than two dozen have died from the virus. 'The 95 percent of them, and higher, believe they are going to catch the virus because of what is happening in those stores because people aren't doing social distancing,' warned Marc Perone, International President of the United Food Commercial Workers International Union. According to the Food and Drug Administration, there is no evidence of food or food packaging being associated with the transmission of coronavirus. Scientists also say that temperatures above 135 Fahrenheit quickly kill coronavirus, meaning any meat cooked according to instructions should be free of the pathogen. The case is being investigated by the Crime Branch of Delhi police. The role of the massive congregation at the Markaz in spreading the deadly coronavirus is now under the scanner. Tablighi Jamaat, which started in 1926-27, has never interacted with the media and this is arguably the first ever interview of a TJ Chief to any media house in 92 years of its work as a religious movement which is spread over 150 countries. The interview has been done with Maulana Saad Kandhalvi through his lawyer Fuzail Ahmed Ayyubi, Advocate on Record, Supreme Court. Excerpts from an IANS Global Exclusive: Q. Since news of the Markaz issue came into public domain, it is being alleged that you have hidden yourself from the law enforcement agencies and have been avoiding them from March 28 and that is why the crime branch has added a new section 304 to the charges against you. A: It is wrong to say that I am hiding from anyone. As per advice of my doctors, I was in quarantine, here in Delhi. Law enforcement agencies are fully aware of this. That's why even during this period two notices from IO were served, and they have been responded to already. IO also asked me to get tested for Covid- 19, which is in process and the results will be available soon. Finally, my house was also searched in the presence of my son who was not in quarantine. How would this have happened if I was in hiding? Q: Is this correct that Markaz has told the local Police Stations and the SDM concerned that since March 23, people were stuck in the compound due to Janata Curfew and then the lockdown? A: Yes, on March 24, a team of six people from the Markaz went to see the SHO, Hazrat Nizamuddin Police Station, to brief him about the situation at Markaz and to seek further guidance on how the remaining participants stranded at Markaz who were from outside Delhi could be moved back to their native states. Later, a letter giving details of the situation was submitted to the authorities with acknowledgement. As a practice, local authorities are kept informed of the programs that take place in Markaz. Everything in Markaz is open and accessible, for anyone to come and see. People are welcome to visit and participate in our discourses. Q: Is this a laxity from the administration that they did not evacuate the Markaz people and then the blame is put on the Markaz? A: We don't want to blame anyone, since it's an unprecedented situation, neither us nor the authorities had complete knowledge regarding the steps to be taken in a situation like this. Of course, we made repeated requests to the administration for permission to ferry the participants back home or to other locations so that Markaz could be vacated, but didn't receive their consent, this is on record. We even arranged our own transport and shared the details with SDM but the permission was not granted. Health officials visited the Markaz only on March 25 to ascertain the situation and then came on a daily basis. If this step was taken earlier, the situation could have been handled much better. Q: There have been doubts on the activities and exact role of the Markaz in public. Could you explain the work activities of the organization? A: Markaz is the world headquarters of Tabligh, which is a purely socio-religious movement. We are not aligned with any political group across the world and also do not associate with any government or private enterprise. This work has been going on since 1926 and is focused entirely on the Muslim community. It started as a response to the moral degeneration of Muslims and seeks spiritual learning and reforms so that Muslims can live a life of honesty and high moral character. Participants from across the world visit Markaz to learn about the basics of religion and bring them into practice. They learn to do prayers regularly, seek knowledge, and bring honesty and truthfulness in their affairs. Tabligh has innumerable followers and this is perhaps the largest social reform movement in the world. Markaz does not seek any publicity or recognition, our work is dedicated to purifying human soul and we seek our reward from Allah alone. Q: An audio is doing the rounds where you allegedly say that if you have to die then the best place is a mosque. Due to this many Tablighis hid in mosques... A: Yes, that audio clip has been extracted from a longer bayan (sermon) that I delivered a few weeks ago. As any religious leader, it is my duty to educate our masses in the light of religious text. Now when the pandemic and its devastating impact is visible on mankind, Islam provides for safeguard and measures to deal with the same. Assuming if I were to die, I would choose a mosque, the house of Almighty as the place of my last breath, but that does not mean that I am inviting people to congregate and die in Masjid. Presence of merely 3-4 people is good enough for a Masjid without any congregation. This was said not as a rule, but to avoid panic and instill confidence during these hard times. People who attended this congregation know this very well. While at the same time I have also said in my messages that we should follow the advice from healthcare workers and governments who are working hard to eliminate the pandemic. I have heard that media outlets have ignored the context and derived their own meaning from it. Q: Despite a virtual declaration of a health emergency and prohibitory orders, why did the Markaz controversially choose to hold the congregation from March 13 to 15? A: On any given day, you can have more than 2,000 people in Markaz who come from far-off places in India and abroad. They come with their pre-determined travel plans and tickets. If we had received any orders from the authorities to evacuate the Markaz or to culminate the programme, we would have done so immediately. We discontinued all proceedings of Markaz on March 23, a day before the nationwide lockdown was announced. Q: There are papers in public domain implicating TJ in terror activities globally. What do you have to you say on this? A: Firstly, this question is misplaced, and second you are doubting the capability of our security agencies. We have a history of around hundred years behind us and agencies across the world know the work we are doing. A movement that has millions of followers cannot organize itself without scrutiny from agencies, if we had anything to do with terrorism, authorities would have acted swiftly and ensured timely investigation. Tabligh and violence are antitheses to each other. Our volunteers don't even participate in any political or civil movement. We strive to follow the example of Prophets and our message is of compassion for all humanity. Security agencies are fully aware of this reality and respect the Markaz for its untainted reputation. Papers and media can report whatever they want. Q: Why did the Jamaat not contradict these papers and articles which knowingly or unknowingly targeted the Jamaat? A: Throughout our history, we have never engaged with the media, and we do not seek any publicity, that's why most people outside the Muslim community are not familiar with our work. We do not endorse what gets published or communicated, and neither have we ever responded to criticism. We have always cooperated with agencies whenever they have asked for any assistance, that's been our approach to dealing with issues. Writers and commentators are free to hold their views, but I believe history will generously acknowledge our contribution to the moral upliftment of the society. Q: When will you present yourself to the police for investigations? A: I have already sent a letter to the Crime Branch reiterating my full assistance and cooperation to them as they investigate the matter. We will proceed as we hear from them. Q: Do you think media hasn't reported all the facts properly or has been biased against the Markaz? A: As already mentioned, Markaz doesn't engage with the media and we don't even have any social media presence. Though I have heard that a lot of fake and unverified reports have been published lately. We aren't perturbed by what is published. If some sections of the media misinform, it will hurt their own credibility. It is the responsibility of state administrators to ensure media reports fairly and in the light of facts. Tabligh lays a strong emphasis on abiding by the law and authorities are aware of this reality. The accusations that have been leveled by the media, be it on social media platforms, or through newsrooms, do not have any authority of law and they may pass judgments, in their own courtrooms. This is not in our control, neither am I affected by it, for we abide by the law of the land. Q: Your people are saying that the Markaz believes in a free and fierce media, did TJ authorise Prime Law agency Bengaluru, and a person called Mubin Farooqui in Malerkotla, Sangrur, to sue media houses for writing stories on based on facts? A: No, we have nominated only a team of four lawyers who will represent our case. Q: Do you believe there is some conspiracy against TJ or you? A: I am not sure whether this can be called a conspiracy. There has been more than one instance in the past where a person has been put to trial and proclaimed guilty by the media only later to be exonerated by the courts after appreciating the correct and relevant facts. Q: Do you have any message for your followers? A: We believe in the judicial system of our country and I am sure truth shall prevail. The only message which is ever propounded by Markaz Nizamuddin is of love, peace and brotherhood. Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to convey to the masses (although health experts would be best suited to assess the viability of this) that I am informed that in some cases, where patients who had tested positive for COVID-19, and have recovered, if they donate their plasma for treatment to other patients the same shall be very helpful in early recovery of such patients. Therefore, I urge my friends from TJ who have been successfully treated by doctors and have now tested negative to come-forward and donate their plasma so that other patients, of any caste or religion, who are still fighting this disease may benefit from us. We are all the children of Adam. On the guns during the battle of Atlantic He bought his first harmonica in 1934. And now inspirational 99-year-old veteran Alexander Johnston is using his talents to help raise money for the NHS during the coronavirus pandemic. Father-of-four Alexander from Belfast has had an incredible life, serving in the Royal Navy during the Second World War which saw him cross the globe on North Atlantic convoys, the Mediterranean and in North and South America. His experiences remain vivid to this day - including being a gunner during the Battle of the Atlantic and working on troop ships including the Princess Kathleen. And in 1995 he carried the Royal Navy standard in front of the Queen for VJ Day at Buckingham Palace. But his greatest memory when he looks back over his life was meeting his late wife Jeanie, who passed away in 1999. He is a grandfather of six, a great-grandfather of nine and also has a great-great grandson. Such is his volume of experiences and memories that his son encouraged him to write a book so they would have a record of everything. And now, remarkably, he has decided to give back to those who are fighting on the frontline against what has been termed the invisible war - Covid-19. Alexander said: "When I saw veteran Tom Moore walking up and down his pathway, I said I would love to be able to do something like that for the health service in Northern Ireland. And that's what put it into mind for me to do it. "The health service have been so good to me over the years, especially Musgrave Park, and I said I should do something for them now." He bought his first harmonica in an old shop at the bottom of the Shankill Road when he was a young teenager but lost it when he was in the Navy. At Christmas, his son bought him a new one and reignited his love all over again. He added: "I love playing the mouth organ. I'd sit here and play it myself. "And when everyone started to go out to clap on a Thursday for the NHS, I would go to my hall and play a couple of tunes for anyone to hear." Now he is recording videos and is taking requests to try and raise more money. Alexander said he has had a "great life" and has an "amazing family" which is why he was keen to document his experiences for them "so they can see what I did through my life, and through the war and my experiences". He added: "I think about them all the time, they never leave, they are very vivid experiences and they keep very vivid in my mind." And the first that comes to mind is when he met his wife. "My best memories in life were when I met my wife. "I met her way back about 1937-38, just before the war started. "I met her in the Jennymount Mill, Belfast. She came up with a message up to my boss and was standing talking and I walked down the room and I started chatting to them. "When I went away she said to a girl, 'He thinks he's great running about in his white coat.' That's the first impression she got of me," he laughed. But that impression didn't last long and they started their relationship after the war. They got married in 1947 and would go ballroom dancing together weekly. Of course, his memories of the war remain with him. His ships would land troops around Greece, Italy and surrounding islands. He recalled a traumatic experience when one of their convoys to Malta was bombed, adding: "We got hit in the middle of the night and that was scary, that was 1942. "They had to get the Army engineers to the ship. "It was about three days and the whole time we never got leaving our gun position. The food was brought up to us, because you were subject to air attacks." He continued: "Another ship was coming in when she started getting bombed by German aircraft and watching that was tragic. "They were bringing in the survivors of it. They came into the harbour and we all cheered them, it was sad to see it. "But that's war - things like that stick in your mind." His last ship was HMS Caroline after he requested a transfer to Belfast. "I was the quartermaster. That was in 1946 and I was able to go out during the day and re-board the ship during the evening." This meant he was able to see Jeanie and return in the evening for the night watch. "I went out with her to a dance or the pictures," he said. "She lived on the Shore Road, and I left her about 20 minutes to 12 and I had to run across what we called then the iron bridge to where the Caroline was anchored - I had to run the whole way." He had many other jobs in his life working as supervisor and manager in many fields and has been on trips around the world with his family - including going on safari when he was 84. Reflecting on his life, he said: "I'm proud and I'm sure my family are proud of me anyway. There are ups and downs and scary moments and happy times and everything else. "I'm still holding on and waiting on my telegram coming along when I'm 100 in February." For now, he is delighted at the response he has received for his videos. "Now we're just trying to raise as much money as we can." To donate, visit www.gofundme.com/f/playing-my-harmonica-to-support-the-nhs Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Anto Antony, Kurt Wagner and Manuel Baigorri (Bloomberg) Bangalore, India Wed, April 22, 2020 17:45 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd3985aa 2 World Facebook,Mark-Zuckerberg,India,WhatsApp,e-commerce Free Facebook will invest $5.7 billion in the digital assets controlled by Indias richest man, the US social-networking giants biggest deal since the 2014 purchase of WhatsApp as it seeks a broader foothold in its biggest global market. The US company will buy about 10 percent of Jio Platforms, becoming the largest minority shareholder, Reliance Industries said in a statement Wednesday. Separately, Facebook said the deal would bring together JioMart, an ecommerce venture of Mukesh Ambani and its WhatsApp platform to enable people to connect with businesses. Shares of Reliance Industries jumped as much as 12 percent on Wednesday in Mumbai, compared with the 2.3 percent gain for the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex index. Jio Platforms, a wholly owned unit of Reliance Industries, brings together Jios digital apps, ecosystems and the wireless platform offered by telecommunications carrier, Reliance Jio Infocomm, under one umbrella, according to the Mumbai-based company. The deal values Jio Platforms at a pre-money enterprise value of about $66 billion, the Indian company said. The partnership with Jio would allow Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg to step up his expansion in a country that is rapidly embracing online payment and e-commerce as more people get smartphones. Jio Infocomm burst onto the Indian wireless market about four years ago, quickly moving into a position of dominance by offering free plans and undercutting rivals. Working with Facebook would be a boost to the ambitions of Ambani, until recently the richest man in Asia, who has been remaking his energy conglomerate as Indias first titan of e-commerce. Unusual Bet It is an unusual bet for Facebook, which typically buys into media and online properties. It underscores the potential it sees in India, which unlike China is an open market with an exploding smartphone population. Facebook may benefit from a well-connected ally in the country, where its Whatsapp is trying to launch a payments service but has run afoul of regulators over fake news and privacy concerns. India is a special place for us, Zuckerberg said in a video posted on Facebook. Were also committing to work together on some critical projects that we think are going to open up a lot of opportunities for commerce in India. Zuckerberg has long aimed to roll out a digital currency as well as tools that let users make payments and buy and sell products over the social networks messaging services in India. Alluring Market With its half-billion internet users, the South Asian country is an alluring market for the worlds largest technology companies, including Amazon.com, Apple, Microsoft and Alphabets Google. In India, Facebook has about 250 million users, while WhatsApp has over 400 million. While India will be a testing ground for WhatsApp payment services -- currently in pilot -- Zuckerberg is also separately looking at the market for his crypto-currency project called Libra. Zuckerberg has said that payments and commerce are a priority, representing a major business opportunity for the company moving forward. For Ambani, 63, the deal with the technology giant comes as a boost at a time when his group is battling the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and a slump in demand for crude oil. He has also been seeking to reassure investors that he will honor a pledge to reduce the groups net debt to zero. Wallet Share The collaboration with Facebook will give Jio a significant advantage on product and technological fronts to keep competitiors miles away and grab a larger wallet share of consumers across domains -- telecom, payments, retail, Himanshu Shah, an analyst at Dolat Capital Market wrote in a research note. The Indian company spent almost $50 billion -- mostly borrowings -- to build Jio Infocomm, the mobile carrier, leading to a net debt of more than $20 billion as of March 2019. In August, he told shareholders that he planned to sell a stake in Reliance Industries oil-and-chemicals division to Saudi Arabian Oil as part of a road map to cut net debt to zero by March 2021. With the Aramco negotiations dragging on for months, the global health crisis and the crash in oil prices have also raised doubts if that deal will be signed. As a result, shares of the Mumbai-based conglomerate plunged as much as 45 percent from their Dec. 19 record, before rebounding from their March 23 low. After building a wireless carrier and a retail business, Ambani has said he plans to rope in leading global partners before initial public offerings as he readies an e-commerce business, called JioMart, which would rival Amazon and Walmart in the South Asian country. In a statement delivered by video, Ambani said the tie-up with WhatsApp will help almost 30 million Indian mom-and-pop store owners to take digital payments from customers in their neighborhoods. This means all of you can order and get faster delivery of day-to-day items from nearby local shops, he said. Simultaneously, Jio Platforms, Reliance Retail Ltd. and WhatsApp have also tied up to help accelerate the retail units e-commerce push on the JioMart platform, Reliance Industries said in the statement. The new businesses are likely to account for 50 percent of Reliance Industriess earnings in a few years, versus a little more than 32% now, Ambani told shareholders in August. No Super App Reliance Industries and Facebook denied an Indian media report last week that they are considering creating an app similar to WeChat, the Chinese mobile messaging and payment service run by Tencent Holdings. The intent is not to build another app, the intent is really for the two companies to collaborate, said Ajit Mohan, vice president and managing director for India at Facebook. Now that the deal has been formally announced, the companies will start working with Indian regulators to seek approval, said Anshuman Thakur, Jios head of strategy. Facebook has not been consistently welcomed by Indian regulators in the past. It ran into opposition while trying to launch a payments feature inside WhatsApp in 2019, and has also faced pushback around content regulation on the app, which is encrypted. Facebook tried -- and failed -- to bring a service to India in 2015 called Free Basics, which would have made some internet services, including the social network, free to use on mobile devices. Critics said the app violated the concept of net neutrality by prioritizing some services over others. Given the intent of this collaboration and the nature of this partnership, we expect people to be welcoming, Thakur said. Iran's dazzling power in region outcome of IRGC devotion IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, April 21, IRNA -- General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces said in a statement on Monday that today's dazzling power of Iran and the Islamic Revolution in the region is owing to devotion of the armed forces, especially the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps. The statement issued on the occasion of founding anniversary of the IRGC, April 21, highlighted vital role and great mission of the revolutionary institute in stabilizing, maintaining and developing Islamic Revolution. IRGC's progressive and faithful epics during its lifespan of 41 years have guaranteed the preservation, continuation and conveyance of the message and thought of Great Prophet Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him) and the Islamic Revolution to all parts of the world as well as defeat of arrogant powers' plots against Iran in various fields, it said. The statement praised the IRGC for devising intelligent strategies and initiatives in military, defense, cultural and social fields from the first beginning days up to eight year Sacred Defense and after that its effective presence in the field of construction and aiding Islamic resistance movement across the world and thwarting the traitor terrorist acts have mainly contributed to the Iranian nation leave behind the difficult periods. Referring to the main strategy of solidarity among armed forces and coordination, interaction and synergy especially between the Army and IRGC, the statement said that they constitute a front-line of defense power, progress and deterrence. 8072**1416 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Archaeology: on YouTube ancient Sybaris reveals its secrets On MIBACT channel, #laculturanonsiferma continues (ANSAmed) - ROME, APRIL 22 - A video on the Italian Culture Ministry's (MiBACT) YouTube channel from the Sybaris Archaeological Park shows research, study, excavation and the decline of the great ancient city. Since the start of the coronavirus emergency, museums, archeological parks, and autonomous state institutes have been providing MiBACT with all types of audiovisual content for its channel, to allow people to continue to enjoy Italy's national cultural heritage from home. The Sybaris Archaeological Park, which became an autonomous institute in December, preserves the remains of one of the richest and most important cities of Magna Graecia. The video shows research from the excavation of the "Casa Bianca" (White House) area, which began at the start of the 1960s thanks to a collaboration between the University of Pennsylvania and the Lerici Foundation, aimed at identifying the extent of the ancient city of Sybaris. The results were brought together in a book titled "The Search for Sybaris". The video explains that in the 1970s, the dig brought to light the north-south plateia, the small temple, the sanctuary of Isis, and Porta Marina. The images show the archaeological site plans of Sybaris, and the extent of the cities contained within: Sybaris, Thurii, and Copia. Important artifacts were discovered across the entire area, including an antefix, the "Toro Cozzante" bull, a bronze table with an inscription, and some statues, all of which are currently housed and visible at the Sybaris archaeological museum.(ANSAmed). A woman comforts her daughter after they placed flowers at an impromptu memorial in front of the RCMP detachment in Enfield, Nova Scotia, Canada, on April 20, 2020. (Tim Krochak/Getty Images) Candles Light up Across the Country for Nova Scotians On April 20, United Church of Canada ministers across the country received a call to fill the countrys dark night with light. The call came from Rev. Penny Noble in the Tatamagouche Pastoral Charge, in Nova Scotias Colchester County, the site of the largest mass shooting in the countrys history. Ministers were encouraged to light candles from 8 to 9 p.m. on Monday, put their candles in their windows, and ask their congregations to do the same and share photos of the act. For many, the call was simple but profound. The response from across the country was enormous and #Light4NovaScotia was soon trending across Canada with some participants connected to the United Church and many others deriving their own meaning from the gesture. The Atlantic Denture Clinic is guarded by police in Dartmouth, N.S., on April 20, 2020. (Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press) Rev. Lloyd Bruce, in Sackville, was one of many who answered the call. Rather than curse the darkness, we light a candle and remind ourselves of the light we carry, each and every one of us, said Bruce, who told the Times & Transcript he knew two of the victims. And collectively, when we bring our light together we cast a glow that the darkness just cant put out, no matter how dark it may be. Anne Pirie in Sackville also participated in the gesture and said, It touches our lives in profound and unspoken ways. There are candles in windows along with blue ribbons and Nova Scotia tartan being displayed in homes near her, she said, adding, Many of us know people who are grieving, as one of the victims, Lisa McCully, was a graduate of Mount Allison University. Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) members pack up after the search for Gabriel Wortman in Great Village, Nova Scotia, on April 19, 2020. (John Morris/Reuters) Pirie and her neighbours also sang This Little Light of Mine from their front porches yesterday, she said. Janet Hammock in Sackville said she lit three candles, one especially for one of her neighbours who lost a family member to the tragedy. They sat in the gradually diminishing light as we went from daylight to twilight to darkness. It was a very emotional time, said Hammock. The gesture stretched across the country. Charles Wilson from Northern Ontario placed a church candle in his window and has kept it lit as a vigil into Tuesday. To me, candles are a way to remind us that even in the darkest times, there is light, Wilson told the Times & Transcript. We are going through a dark time as a nation, a people and a world right now. I believe with my whole heart, there is a bond that connects us all and gives us light. Lighting a candle is a way to remind us of that. Teresa Shultz now lives in Moncton but is originally from Nova Scotia. She said she was not online when the candles in windows movement was shared, but she has tied Nova Scotia tartan to her porch and many in her neighbourhood have done the same. And Sidd Tikoo joined in the #Light4NovaScotia gesture from Toronto, offering the gesture, For the community we call family and home. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrives at a news conference to comment on the shooting in Nova Scotia, in Ottawa, on April 20, 2020. (Dave Chan/AFP via Getty Images) Susie Henderson and Jennifer Henry in Toronto lit a candle when they first heard the news and put it on their table as a way to to lift up what was on our hearts, said Henderson. When the call came out to light a candle and set it out in the window, it felt exactly like what we wanted to do, Henderson said. Once we had posted our picture we stayed around to watch the other lights turn on, first in the east and then across the country. It really felt like igniting little connections. Henderson added that it was meaningful that the call emerged from the Maritimes itself and to her it felt like a bit of an Is anybody out there? Henderson said she hopes those closest to the tragedy were able to see that others were out there for them, both by the real lights they could see and the virtual ones. While some have grown cynical about thoughts and prayers in response to tragedies like these, others are seeing thoughts and prayers and gestures like this one as a potentially much more active and even an exercise that challenges us. Lighting a candle is a commitment to ask the difficult questions of the situation, Bruce said. A commitment to love our neighbours and love ourselves in the midst of this tragedy. By Clara Pasieka Togbe Afede XIV, the President of the National House of Chiefs, has donated a cash amount of GHC 50,000 to the Upper West Regional Hospital to support the fight against Cerebro Spinal Meningitis (CSM). The donation is to serve as seed money for the establishment of a fund to support local research towards the development of a vaccine for the treatment of CMS and the procurement of emergency medical supplies to support the delivery of quality and timely services to patients receiving treatment for suspected CSM-related cases. "GHC 30,000 serves as seed money to establish a fund to support local research towards the development of a vaccine for the treatment of CMS, while, GHC 20,000 goes into the procurement of emergency medical supplies to support the treatment for suspected CSM-related cases". In a speech read on his behalf by Kuoro Richard Babini Kanton IV, President of the Upper West Regional House of Chiefs, who presented the cheque from Togbe Afede, said recent television footages and news coverage of the lethal effects of CSM, which has been wreaking havoc on our Upper West Region compatriots, have sent shivers down my spine and that the donation was his widow's mite to support their bid to mitigate the effects of the CSM menace. He said it has been reported that, as of April 15, 2020, a total of 409 cases CSM has been recorded from the 5 northern regions, with Upper West alone accounting for 258, adding that, "so far, CSM, which has a high fatality rate, has claimed 40 lives, this is truly devastating." Togbe Afede, who is also the Agbogbomefia of the Asogli State said: "While we, as a nation, are busily battling COVID-19 pandemic which has taken 9 lives so far, with all the energy and resources we can muster, the CSM epidemic should also be given the needed urgent attention, and treated with all the seriousness it deserves." He implored the Ghana Health Service to, as soon as possible, declare the outbreak of CSM a national health emergency, adding that, there should be a concerted national action plan to support the people of the northern regions to bringing this deadly disease under control. "We must mobilize national support against CSM now. Government and our development partners, as well as the corporate community should support research towards the development of a vaccine for the treatment of CMS." The NHC President urged victims and people with suspected cases of CMS to report early at the hospital for timely treatment. He prayed that more help arrives sooner than later to support the hospital in these difficult times. Dr Afreh Osei Kuffuor, the Regional Director of Health Services, who received the cash donation on behalf of the Regional Minister, thanked the NHC President for his support in the fight against CSM. He said several calls have been sent out for benefactors and philanthropists to come to the aid of the region to combat the challenge, "I am happy Togbe Afede has come to the rescue of the Regional Hospital and I am assuring him that the money would be used for its intended purpose." Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video By Akbar Mammadov Armenia disrupts the negotiation process around the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, presidential aide, head of the Presidential Administrations foreign policy department Hikmet Hajiyev, told Azertag on April 22. Hajiyev made the remarks while commenting on Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyans statement during the video conference with Elmar Mamamdyarov on April 21 that Yerevan will not withdraw troops from Azerbaijans occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh as part of the phased resolution of the conflict. The Armenian Foreign Ministers statement nullifies the negotiation process to resolve the conflict under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group. Such destructive statements from Yerevan inflict a serious blow on the negotiation process and violate the negotiations. This is also a manifestation of disrespect for the co-chairs, Hajiyev said. Hajiyev stressed the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be resolved in stages on the basis of the Helsinki Final Act and resolutions of the UN Security Council. As part of the phased process, at the first stage, Armenian troops must be withdrawn from the occupied regions of Azerbaijan around Nagorno-Karabakh. Hajiyev noted that on the eve of the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also spoke about a phased settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. If Armenia wants to get out of the negotiation process with such statements, then it must openly recognize its position. Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, in turn, must respond to Armenias statement, he emphasized. Hajiyev added that Bakus position on resolving the conflict does not change. The President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly stated this. The conflict must be resolved within the framework of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and on the basis of international law," he stressed. --- Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Despite multiple attacks and abusive behaviour, frontline workers such as doctors, nursing staff and police personnel are putting their lives at risk and providing services to Covid-19 patients in several places in Rajasthan. So far, over 90 frontline workers in the state have been infected with the virus. Among those infected are doctors, nurses, ANMs, police personnel, home guards, and ambulance drivers. Earlier this month, the state government announced financial assistance of Rs 50 lakh for the family of any government employee in case of their death. The assistance covers employees such as patwaris, gram sevaks, constables, contract employees like health workers, sanitation workers, home guards, Asha and Anganvadi workers and civil defence staff. Jaipur which has become a Covid-19 hotspot with 723 positive cases, has some 23 doctors, surgeons, police personnel who have tested coronavirus positive. Four surgeons from SMS hospital, four anaesthetists, five nurses and ANM, two ward boys, one trolley man, one Asha worker, one ambulance driver and five police personnel have so far been infected. The health department has put their contacts too in quarantine. In Jodhpur, another hotspot with 279 reported cases, 11 frontline health workers have been infected. Among them are three doctors, two nursing staff, one police constable, one ANM, two home guards, a plumber from AIIMS Jodhpur and a sweeper. Over 100 contacts of the infected people have been placed in home quarantine. Nagaur, with 75 positive cases, has seen several police personnel contracting the Sars-Cov 2 virus. Personnel in three police stations are believed to have been infected and testing is underway. Three women police constables were found positive on Tuesday, one from Parbatsar police station, one from police lines and one from Kuchaman City. Now all police personnel in these police stations will be tested for Covid-19. In Kota too, more than 40 police personnel, home guards are believed to be infected. One head constable and one home guard tested positive on Tuesday. The head constable is posted in the Makbara area which is a coronavirus hotspot. The home guard was posted in Mokapada area, another hotspot, His wife had tested positive on Monday. All 40 Makbara police station personnel have been quarantined. Apart from them, two health workers, one Asha worker, one Anganvadi worker and an ambulance driver have tested positive in Kota, which has reported 114 positive cases. In Bhilwara, with 33 positive cases, a doctor from the Bangar hospital infected scores of others. Ten staff from the hospital, including six doctors and nursing staff, ward boys and an office worker have tested positive. In Udaipur, one nurse and a woman doctor have been infected with the virus but have since recovered. Udaipur has reported only four positive cases till date. NEW YORK, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Itaconic Acid (IA) market worldwide is projected to grow by US$35 Million, driven by a compounded growth of 4.3%. Itaconic Acid (IA), one of the segments analyzed and sized in this study, displays the potential to grow at over 4.3%. The shifting dynamics supporting this growth makes it critical for businesses in this space to keep abreast of the changing pulse of the market. Poised to reach over US$136.2 Million by the year 2025, Itaconic Acid (IA) will bring in healthy gains adding significant momentum to global growth. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p03646033/?utm_source=PRN - Representing the developed world, the United States will maintain a 3.4% growth momentum. Within Europe, which continues to remain an important element in the world economy, Germany will add over US$1.2 Million to the region's size and clout in the next 5 to 6 years. Over US$1 Million worth of projected demand in the region will come from Rest of Europe markets. In Japan, Itaconic Acid (IA) will reach a market size of US$8.2 Million by the close of the analysis period. As the world's second largest economy and the new game changer in global markets, China exhibits the potential to grow at 6.8% over the next couple of years and add approximately US$10 Million in terms of addressable opportunity for the picking by aspiring businesses and their astute leaders. Presented in visually rich graphics are these and many more need-to-know quantitative data important in ensuring quality of strategy decisions, be it entry into new markets or allocation of resources within a portfolio. Several macroeconomic factors and internal market forces will shape growth and development of demand patterns in emerging countries in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East. All research viewpoints presented are based on validated engagements from influencers in the market, whose opinions supersede all other research methodologies. - Competitors identified in this market include, among others, Alpha Chemika Chengdu Jinkai Biology Engineering Co. Ltd. Itaconix Plc Qingdao Langyatai Group Co. Ltd. Qingdao Kehai Biochemistry Co. Ltd. Ronas Chemicals Ind. Co. Ltd. Shandong Kaison Biochemical Co. Ltd. Shandong Zhongshun Science & Technology Development Co. Ltd. Spectrum Chemical Mfg. Corp. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p03646033/?utm_source=PRN I. INTRODUCTION, METHODOLOGY & REPORT SCOPE II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. MARKET OVERVIEW Itaconic Acid: Most Promising Organic & Biodegradable Monomer with Unique Chemical Properties Industry Snapshots Recent Market Activity Healthy Growth Projected over the Next Few Years for IA Market Developing Regions Accelerate Market Growth Asia-Pacific Evolves as Core Regional Market Developed Regions Continue to Extend Opportunities Favorable Macro Factors Lend Traction to IA Demand Global Competitor Market Shares Itaconic Acid (IA) Competitor Market Share Scenario Worldwide (in %): 2020 & 2029 2. FOCUS ON SELECT PLAYERS Alpha Chemika (India) Chengdu Jinkai Biology Engineering Co., Ltd. (China) Itaconix Plc (UK) Qingdao Langyatai Group Co., Ltd. (China) Qingdao Kehai Biochemistry Co., Ltd. (China) Ronas Chemicals Ind. Co., Ltd. (China) Shandong Kaison Biochemical Co., Ltd. (China) Shandong Zhongshun Science & Technology Development Co., Ltd. (China) Spectrum Chemical Mfg. Corp. (USA) 3. MARKET TRENDS & DRIVERS Growing Image as a Potential Renewable Chemical Underpins Itaconic Acid Sales Itaconic Acid Production from Bio-based Feedstock - A Major Breakthrough Evolving Role as a Platform Chemical Augurs Well Itaconic Acid Market Driven by Expanding End-Use Applications Methyl Methacrylate (MMA): A Growing Market for IA Increasing Demand for SAP to Provide Significant Growth Potential Increasing Demand for Synthetic Rubber in Auto Industry Drives Demand Itaconic Acid to Widen Share in Automotive Plastics Production Bio-Based Thermoplastics - A Highly Potential End-Use Vertical Surfactants Use Poly-IA as a Substitute for STPP to Minimize Toxic Levels Rising Demand for Adhesives made with Eco-Friendly Materials Offers Opportunities IA Seeks to Leverage Paints & Coatings Industry?s Thrust towards Renewable Alternatives Growing Environmental Concerns with Petrol-Derived Chemicals Rev Up Demand Stringent Guidelines Focused on Sustainable Environment Favor Market Prospects Focus on Development of Advanced Production Technologies Favors Future Growth Select R&D Announcements Made in the Recent Past High Cost: A Major Impediment 4. GLOBAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE Table 1: Itaconic Acid (IA) Global Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025 Table 2: Itaconic Acid (IA) Global Retrospective Market Scenario in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2009-2017 Table 3: Itaconic Acid (IA) Market Share Shift across Key Geographies Worldwide: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 III. MARKET ANALYSIS GEOGRAPHIC MARKET ANALYSIS UNITED STATES Market Facts & Figures Market Analytics Table 4: United States Itaconic Acid (IA) Market Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand: 2018 to 2025 Table 5: Itaconic Acid (IA) Market in the United States: A Historic Review in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017 CANADA Table 6: Canadian Itaconic Acid (IA) Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand: 2018 to 2025 Table 7: Canadian Itaconic Acid (IA) Historic Market Review in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 JAPAN Table 8: Japanese Market for Itaconic Acid (IA): Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand for the Period 2018-2025 Table 9: Itaconic Acid (IA) Market in Japan: Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Thousand for the Period 2009-2017 CHINA Table 10: Chinese Itaconic Acid (IA) Market Growth Prospects in US$ Thousand for the Period 2018-2025 Table 11: Itaconic Acid (IA) Historic Market Analysis in China in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 EUROPE Market Facts & Figures Market Analytics Table 12: European Itaconic Acid (IA) Market Demand Scenario in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025 Table 13: Itaconic Acid (IA) Market in Europe: A Historic Market Perspective in US$ Thousand by Region/Country for the Period 2009-2017 Table 14: European Itaconic Acid (IA) Market Share Shift by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 FRANCE Table 15: Itaconic Acid (IA) Market in France: Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand for the Period 2018-2025 Table 16: French Itaconic Acid (IA) Historic Market Scenario in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 GERMANY Table 17: Itaconic Acid (IA) Market in Germany: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand for the Period 2018-2025 Table 18: German Itaconic Acid (IA) Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 ITALY Table 19: Italian Itaconic Acid (IA) Market Growth Prospects in US$ Thousand for the Period 2018-2025 Table 20: Itaconic Acid (IA) Historic Market Analysis in Italy in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 UNITED KINGDOM Table 21: United Kingdom Market for Itaconic Acid (IA): Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand for the Period 2018-2025 Table 22: Itaconic Acid (IA) Market in the United Kingdom: Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Thousand for the Period 2009-2017 SPAIN Table 23: Spanish Itaconic Acid (IA) Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand: 2018 to 2025 Table 24: Spanish Itaconic Acid (IA) Historic Market Review in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 RUSSIA Table 25: Russian Itaconic Acid (IA) Market Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand: 2018 to 2025 Table 26: Itaconic Acid (IA) Market in Russia: A Historic Review in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017 REST OF EUROPE Table 27: Rest of Europe Itaconic Acid (IA) Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand: 2018-2025 Table 28: Itaconic Acid (IA) Market in Rest of Europe in US$ Thousand: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017 ASIA-PACIFIC Table 29: Asia-Pacific Itaconic Acid (IA) Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025 Table 30: Itaconic Acid (IA) Market in Asia-Pacific: Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Region/Country for the Period 2009-2017 Table 31: Asia-Pacific Itaconic Acid (IA) Market Share Analysis by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 AUSTRALIA Table 32: Itaconic Acid (IA) Market in Australia: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand for the Period 2018-2025 Table 33: Australian Itaconic Acid (IA) Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 INDIA Table 34: Indian Itaconic Acid (IA) Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand: 2018 to 2025 Table 35: Indian Itaconic Acid (IA) Historic Market Review in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 SOUTH KOREA Table 36: Itaconic Acid (IA) Market in South Korea: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand for the Period 2018-2025 Table 37: South Korean Itaconic Acid (IA) Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 REST OF ASIA-PACIFIC Table 38: Rest of Asia-Pacific Market for Itaconic Acid (IA): Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand for the Period 2018-2025 Table 39: Itaconic Acid (IA) Market in Rest of Asia-Pacific: Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Thousand for the Period 2009-2017 LATIN AMERICA Table 40: Latin American Itaconic Acid (IA) Market Trends by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2018-2025 Table 41: Itaconic Acid (IA) Market in Latin America in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: A Historic Perspective for the Period 2009-2017 Table 42: Latin American Itaconic Acid (IA) Market Percentage Breakdown of Sales by Region/Country: 2009, 2019, and 2025 ARGENTINA Table 43: Argentinean Itaconic Acid (IA) Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand: 2018-2025 Table 44: Itaconic Acid (IA) Market in Argentina in US$ Thousand: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017 BRAZIL Table 45: Itaconic Acid (IA) Market in Brazil: Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand for the Period 2018-2025 Table 46: Brazilian Itaconic Acid (IA) Historic Market Scenario in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 MEXICO Table 47: Itaconic Acid (IA) Market in Mexico: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand for the Period 2018-2025 Table 48: Mexican Itaconic Acid (IA) Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 REST OF LATIN AMERICA Table 49: Rest of Latin America Itaconic Acid (IA) Market Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand: 2018 to 2025 Table 50: Itaconic Acid (IA) Market in Rest of Latin America: A Historic Review in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017 MIDDLE EAST Table 51: The Middle East Itaconic Acid (IA) Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025 Table 52: Itaconic Acid (IA) Market in the Middle East by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 Table 53: The Middle East Itaconic Acid (IA) Market Share Breakdown by Region/Country: 2009, 2019, and 2025 IRAN Table 54: Iranian Market for Itaconic Acid (IA): Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand for the Period 2018-2025 Table 55: Itaconic Acid (IA) Market in Iran: Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Thousand for the Period 2009-2017 ISRAEL Table 56: Israeli Itaconic Acid (IA) Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand: 2018-2025 Table 57: Itaconic Acid (IA) Market in Israel in US$ Thousand: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017 SAUDI ARABIA Table 58: Saudi Arabian Itaconic Acid (IA) Market Growth Prospects in US$ Thousand for the Period 2018-2025 Table 59: Itaconic Acid (IA) Historic Market Analysis in Saudi Arabia in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Table 60: Itaconic Acid (IA) Market in the United Arab Emirates: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand for the Period 2018-2025 Table 61: United Arab Emirates Itaconic Acid (IA) Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 REST OF MIDDLE EAST Table 62: Itaconic Acid (IA) Market in Rest of Middle East: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand for the Period 2018-2025 Table 63: Rest of Middle East Itaconic Acid (IA) Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 AFRICA Table 64: African Itaconic Acid (IA) Market Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand: 2018 to 2025 Table 65: Itaconic Acid (IA) Market in Africa: A Historic Review in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017 IV. COMPETITION Total Companies Profiled: 30 Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p03646033/?utm_source=PRN About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. __________________________ Contact Clare: [email protected] US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 SOURCE Reportlinker Related Links www.reportlinker.com Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 22) Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Chua on Wednesday said he wants to revisit the country's tax system to help ease the burden of millions of Filipinos severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. "Ang tax system natin kailangan talagang baguhin kasi maraming problema, kumplikado, hindi patas, at inefficient," he said during the Laging Handa virtual press briefing aired on state-run PTV. [Translation: Our tax system really needs to be changed because there are so many problems about it, it's complicated, unfair, and inefficient.] Chua said the Department of Finance and the National Economic Development Authority will review economic policies and look into proposals to defer the passage of new tax bills in consideration of the impacts of the virus outbreak. He said, however, that the comprehensive tax reform program should still push through. "Ako ay naniniwala na ituloy dapat yung comprehensive tax reform," Chua said. "Pero siguro dapat may kaunting dagdag or pagbabago para matulungan yung mga naapektuhan ng COVID." [Translation: I believe that we should continue the tax reform program. But perhaps there should be additions or modifications to benefit those who were affected by the COVID-19 crisis.] "Kung hindi po tayo magpapasa ng tax reform, ang ibig sabihin niyan ay sa dami ng dapat tulungan, sa dami ng kailangang serbisyong ibigay, uutang po tayo," he also said. "Pero hindi po natin mababayaran ngayon sa pamamagitan ng buwis. Iyong mga anak at apo natin yung pagbabayarin natin ng inutang natin, kaya yung desisyon natin whether to borrow money or raise taxes, kailangang pag-aralan kung ano ang balanse." [Translation: If we don't pass tax reform, with so many people in need of assistance and with so many services we need to provide, we'll have to borrow money. But we cannot pay off our debts with our tax collection. It's our children and grandchildren who will pay so we need to set a balanced decision on whether to borrow money or raise taxes.] The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry previously recommended to defer the passage of tax reform measures after the pandemic in order to attract more foreign investments to the country. President Rodrigo Duterte has certified as urgent the second package of the governments tax reform--the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Reform Act. The measure seeks to gradually cut the 30% corporate income tax rate which is considered the highest in Asia to 20% by 2029. The bill is still pending in Congress. Business groups previously urged the Senate to pass the CITIRA bill to attract investments as global trade is affected by the coronavirus outbreak. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Doina Chiacu and Steve Holland (Reuters) Washington, United States Wed, April 22, 2020 11:28 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd37c3d8 2 World New-York-City,Andrew-Cuomo,Donald-Trump,coronavirus,coronavirus-testing,COVID-19,COVID-19-death-toll,COVID-19-rapid-test Free President Donald Trump and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, two prominent figures in the US coronavirus crisis who are often at odds, emerged from a White House meeting on Tuesday with mostly positive things to say and an apparent deal on testing. Cuomo, a Democrat whose state is the epicenter of the US coronavirus epidemic with nearly 20,000 deaths, said the Republican president agreed on a plan for doubling New York's coronavirus screening capacity to 40,000 tests per day. Under that plan, Cuomo said, the federal government will procure and furnish the test kits and related materials, including the chemical reagents that have sometimes been in short supply. The state will be responsible for expanding the capacity of some 300 laboratories conducting the tests and hiring the necessary staff. "That is an intelligent division of labor - let each layer of government do what it does best," Cuomo told a news briefing after his rare face-to-face encounter with Trump, a man with whom the governor has had a testy relationship at best in the media. He said the testing would mix diagnostic screenings used to determine if someone is carrying the virus, and serology tests in which blood samples are analyzed for the presence of antibodies, an indication of exposure even after an individual is no longer infected. Cuomo said it will "take several weeks at best" to implement the plan. "It's in some ways an outrageous goal, but this is New York, and we're used to outrageous," he said, adding that the state's current level of 20,000 tests a day marked the highest per-capita rate for diagnostic coronavirus screening in the world. As of Tuesday, New York state had tallied more than 257,000 cases of COVID-19, the highly contagious respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus. That accounts for more than a quarter of the 809,000-plus known infections nationwide. Budget shortfall Health experts say a massive expansion in both kinds of tests is essential before stay-at-home orders and mandatory business shutdowns, which were ordered to slow the spread of the virus, can be safely lifted. Cuomo, who said he also stressed the severity of the state's budget problems brought on by the pandemic, described his conversation with Trump as "honest and open." At a separate White House briefing, Trump called his meeting with Cuomo productive and said he was proud of the relationship his administration has forged with New York. With social distancing and lockdowns showing results, Cuomo has said he could begin to consider how to reopen a state that ranges from New York City, with more than 8 million people, to farm country and sparsely populated towns. Trump said the federal government will work with New York to help secure additional capacity for testing, the importance of which the president has at times minimized. Cuomo also told Trump New York City no longer needed the US Naval Ship Comfort hospital ship to help with overflow patients. Along with other governors, Cuomo has called on the federal government to provide direct cash assistance to the states, a request that has gone unanswered in the stimulus packages passed by Congress. New York, facing a $10 billion to $15 billion budget shortfall, needs a cash infusion to pay teachers, police officers, healthcare workers, Cuomo said. The governor said Trump indicated he understood and promised to "work hard" to obtain funding for states in the next round of legislation. A 5-year-old Detroit girl who complained to her parents about a bad headache and was then admitted to the hospital died less than a month later from coronavirus complications. Skylar Herbert had big dreams of becoming a pediatric dentist one day, and she loved stuffed animals and playing dress-up in her princess dresses. She was the daughter of two veteran first responders: her mom LaVondria, who has been a police officer for 25 years, and her dad Ebbie, who has been a firefighter for 18. Skylar died Sunday at Beaumont Hospital, in the company of her family and the team of doctors who had been treating her. She is Michigan's youngest victim to succumb to the coronavirus, according to the state's Department of Health and Human Services. PHOTO: 5-year-old Skylar Herbert of Detroit, has died after coronavirus complications on Sunday, April 19, 2020. (Courtesy The Herbert family) While medical professionals first believed her symptoms indicated strep throat, she later developed a rare form of meningitis and brain swelling. Her death came less than two weeks after doctors put her on a ventilator as a precaution. Now, her mother is speaking out against those not taking the COVID-19 guidelines seriously. MORE: Coronavirus updates: Trump to temporarily suspend U.S. immigration "Practice the social distancing, wear the masks, keep washing your hands," LaVondria Herbert told ABC News. "I dont understand how people dont know how to sit down and relax ... this is affecting everybody around the country." While its still unclear how Skylar contracted the coronavirus, both of her parents have experienced virus symptoms, with her father recently overcoming a fever and pneumonia. Her mother says that she recently lost her sense of taste and smell around March 20, which data suggests is a symptom of the virus. PHOTO: 5-year-old Skylar Herbert, who has died after coronavirus complications, alongside her father Ebbie Herbert, who serves as a Detroit firefighter. (Courtesy The Herbert family) While Skylar's mother has been unable to get tested, her father said he was tested around March 25 and the results came back inconclusive. Her parents have also said that Skylar had no underlying health conditions before contracting the virus, and that her death debunks the theory that children arent being impacted. Story continues MORE: COVID-19 symptoms may include altered senses of smell, taste Michigan has more than 31,000 COVID-19 cases and least 2,391 deaths, according the Detroit News, and the Herberts live in one of the state's hardest-hit communities. Additionally, African-Americans account for more than 40% of COVID-19 cases in Michigan and 76% of the coronavirus deaths in Detroit. Skylar's grandmother, Leona Pannell-Herbert, said that Skylar was an energetic and joyful kindergartener. PHOTO: 5-year-old Skylar Herbert, who has died after coronavirus complications, alongside her parents Ebbie and LaVondria Herbert. (Courtesy The Herbert family) She said Skyler was very bright and called her a smart little cookie. She also said she nicknamed her granddaughter her little diva for her sassy personality, and that Skylar loved taking her dog out of the cage to play when she came over to visit. Thousands across social media have paid tribute to Skylar, including California Sen. Kamala Harris, Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib and actress Mia Farrow. She was also remembered by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who paid tribute to the young girl at the start of her daily COVID-19 briefing. They've been on the front line, and they've served with honor and integrity, Whitmer said of Skylar's parents. They did not deserve to lose their child to this virus. Nobody does. What to know about the coronavirus: How it started and how to protect yourself: Coronavirus explained What to do if you have symptoms: Coronavirus symptoms Tracking the spread in the U.S. and worldwide: Coronavirus map Tune into ABC at 1 p.m. ET and ABC News Live at 4 p.m. ET every weekday for special coverage of the novel coronavirus with the full ABC News team, including the latest news, context and analysis. 5-year-old daughter of Detroit first responders dies from coronavirus complications originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Illustration: Liu Rui/GT Over the last two weeks, the US government has repeatedly interfered in regional affairs in the South China Sea, disturbing the situation that is stabilizing. Two US warships - an amphibious assault ship and a guided missile cruiser - are operating in the South China Sea, the US Navy said on Tuesday after the US State Department on Saturday called on China to "refrain from engaging in proactive and destabilizing activity" in the region. This is an extension of the tough stance the US is taking against China and a trick that always played by Washington to seek any advantage. All the regional countries should be vigilant toward US' ploys. Washington's policy toward China is crystal-clear. It is playing tough with China and raising the stakes of its strategic competition strategy. This has even become a rare bipartisan issue among US political elites and media outlets, who have fanned the flames of hostility against China, taking advantage of the outbreak of deadly COVID-19 that has yet to peak in the world's most powerful country. The entire US society is being incited as its leaders continue to find fault with China in every sphere possible. The South China Sea issue is a key to the US strategy. Interfering in regional affairs is an important part of US attempts to contain and neutralize China. Even as Americans continue to suffer from their government's inability to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the Trump administration still insists on meddling in the South China Sea and smearing China. This has become the most effective method of deflecting pressure on the administration in the face of the coronavirus outbreak. Being tough on China helps win points, which is exactly what the Republicans need during the presidential election campaign. The so-called freedom of navigation operation carried out by US Navy is actually a violation of the principle of respecting sovereignty, which is the cornerstone of International Law. It's being US' long-term strategy to sow discord and escalate regional tension in order to fish profit, which increases uncertainties in the region. The US believes that expanding the number of disputes in the waters, will spur regional countries to rely on the US even more, and thus it looks for excuses to justify its sovereignty-infringing moves in the South China Sea. Long-standing, harmonious coexistence and stability in the region is not what the US wants. By claiming the right to so-called freedom of navigation, the US gets to show off its military strength in the South China Sea, even as its sailors are being endangered by COVID-19. More than 160 countries have joined the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), but US has not even though it demands other countries to conform to UNCLOS directives. This surely reflects US' hypocrisy and two-faced character. Currently, the most urgent and obvious challenge facing the US is the COVID-19 pandemic. It should be working jointly with other countries on this worldwide crisis rather than making new troubles in the South China Sea or anywhere else. Although the countries of the South China Sea have disputes over relevant regional issues, they aim to settle the disputes through peaceful consultations. The US maneuvers are contrary to the expectations of these countries to resolve disputes in a constructive way. US interferences in the affair of other countries and regions have a common theme - it messes up a place and then pulls out unscathed. Think of the Middle East, Afghanistan, Libya, and Ukraine. Settling regional disputes through peaceful negotiations is not US' cup of tea. All countries around the South China Sea need to maintain a sober mind to this reality. The article was compiled by Global Times reporter Xu Hailin based on an interview with Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of China Foreign Affairs University. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The global market for geopolymers is expected to grow from $2.8 billion in 2017 to $12.8 billion by 2022, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 35.4% for the period of 2017-2022. Report Scope: This report has been prepared in a simple format that can be easily understood by its tables and figures. Its scope includes a detailed study of global and regional markets for various products using geopolymers, with the reasons given for variations in the growth of the industry in specific regions. Our research also examines the applications using geopolymer products and their global and regional markets. Request for Report Sample: https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/12218 Report Includes: - 31 data tables and 8 additional tables - An overview of the global markets for geopolymers, focusing on technologies and applications - Analyses of global market trends, with data from 2016, estimates for 2017, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2022 - A look at technology involved in the manufacture of various types of geopolymers, as well the types of applications - Breakdowns of the markets by category, application, technology, and region - An overview of the industry structure, specifically trends in prices and factors influencing demand - A relevant patent analysis - Profiles of major players in the industry including Accumetric LLC, Advanced Technical Resources Industries PTY Ltd., Banah UK Ltd., Calera Corp., Ceratech Inc., Emplicure AB, Metna Co. and Powerpile Summary The new family of synthetic alumino-silicate materials, geopolymers, are formed by alkali activation of alumino-silicate raw materials. The reaction, called geopolymerization, is exothermic and takes place under atmospheric pressure and at temperatures below 100C; this reaction results in the formation of compact and durable semi-crystalline solid materials which have a three-dimensional polymeric structure. These geopolymers, thus formed, exhibit very good thermal, mechanical and physiochemical properties which include micro- or nano-porosity, good surface hardness, thermal stability, high mechanical strength, fire and chemical resistance. These properties make geopolymers excellent alternatives for construction materials. A geopolymer is a chemical compound, or a mixture of compounds, consisting of silico-aluminate, silicon dioxide (SiO2), aluminum phosphate or ferro-silico-aluminate are formed at room temperatures by using industrial waste through a process called geopolymerization. These materials are environmentally friendly and are increasingly being used for industrial and construction applications by institutions seeking to reduce their carbon footprint without any compromise on performance. This report includes a detailed analysis of the global geopolymer market, presents insights into the key growth prospects and opportunities. In addition, a study was conducted on the primary drivers, restraints, latest trends, and the challenges in the global geopolymer market. The key segmentation of the global geopolymer market has been provided, along with a detailed overview of the market share and expected growth rate of each leading segment. In addition, a thorough overview of the competitive landscape of the global geopolymer market has been highlighted, with profiles of the leading players operating in it. Request for Report Discount: https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/discount/12218 From the various tables and figures presented in the report, it can be seen that the Asia-Pacific region has been leading the market for various applications of geopolymer products. This is mainly due to the fact that Australia and New Zealand are included in Asia-Pacific region, and that Australia has been the leading nation in the development of geopolymer products and their applications. The following summary table and figure illustrate the market for various geopolymer products and their applications for the year 2016, and the expected market for the years 2017 and 2022, along with the expected CAGRs for these products for the five-year period, from 2017 to 2022. Full View of Report Description: https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/analysis/BCC/geopolymers-market WEYMOUTH, MA A thin, clear sheet of plastic, a strip of foam padding, a piece of two-sided tape and a slice of Velcro could be a life-saver in the emergency room during the new coronavirus pandemic. Three Massachusetts engineers are looking for ways to make 10,000 life-savers for front-line hospital workers in the state as part of "The Shield Team." That's what Jeffrey Diep, David Kindler and Ngoc Tran are calling their efforts to make protective face shields to be distributed through South Shore Hospital. Diep, a mechanical engineer from Quincy, said the trio dropped off the first 600 shields to the Weymouth hospital on Monday with the hope to have 500 more done by the end of the week. The goal is then to secure funding and manufacturing support for up to 10 times that amount of masks that will help protect doctors and nurses from contagious COVID-19 droplets. "I heard a report on the radio that there was a (personal protection equipment) shortage and people we scrambling," Diep said. "I thought to myself that I grew up with this material. I can help. I can design these things." Diep said the emphasis was turning them around quickly to get them to the front-line medical workers while the pandemic is at its peak in the state. "When I approached one place about making them they said they would take about three weeks," Diep said. "Three weeks? They don't have three weeks. We had to come up with something now." Diep shared his thoughts with Kindler, a mechanical engineer from Concord, and Tran, a process engineer from Worcester, and together they came up with four relative simple, low-cost models that Diep said he brought to South Shore Hospital for inspection. "They asked a lot of questions and passed them around to the staff," Diep said. "One of the things they said was they needed the foam, so we added the foam. Then they tried it out and they loved it." Story continues Diep said he then asked how many of the masks were wanted. "She said they have to aim high," he recalled. "She told me 10,000." That sent Diep's head spinning. "I didn't expect that type of a number," he said. "I told them that I don't know if we had the resources. We were thinking more like 1,000. How can we get there?" The engineers began a GoFundMe page with a goal of $1,100 on April 13 that was exceeded within days with the help of some support from a news segment on CBS Boston that aired over the weekend. "Everything took off from there," Diep said. "It's been unbelievable. I was getting so many messages that at one point I couldn't keep up with them anymore. I was getting more emails than I could reply to." Diep said they are now exploring options that will allow them to ramp up production beyond what they can do in their houses. He said he is looking to find a way to get the materials in bulk supply after initially going from Lowe's to Lowe's in Eastern Mass. He said that bought piecemeal the raw materials add up to about $1 per mask. Diep added that, despite the mask's simplicity, it will last "a few weeks" and can be washed and sanitized. It is also easy to get one and off with limited adjustments. "We do understand this is a very challenging time for all of us but if we are united we will pull through and win this war," The Shield Team posted as their objective on their GoFundMe page. "For those of us still can, please support us so we can provide the tool to those at the front line, who are sacrificing, defending, protecting us from COVID-19." (If you have a story of a local business or organization that is looking to lend a hand to those in need during the new coronavirus pandemic,or lift spirits amid social distancing and isolation, Patch wants to let people in your community know about it. Contact Scott Souza at Scott.Souza@patch.com to help us spread the positives during this uncertain time.) Don't miss updates about coronavirus precautions in your area as they are announced. Sign up for Patch news alerts and newsletters. Latest Massachusetts coronavirus updates GoFundMe is a Patch partner. This article originally appeared on the Weymouth Patch Oliver M. Boling first went into respiratory failure on April 5 before succumbing to the disease caused by the novel coronavirus on April 18. His death marked the fourth from COVID-19 in Santa Barbara County, according to county health officials. (Newser) President Trump offered more details Tuesday on his decision to suspend immigration "in light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy." During his daily coronavirus briefing, the president said green card recipients would be blocked from moving to the US for 60 days, the Washington Post reports. He argued that the move would protect American jobs, saying: "It would be wrong and unjust for Americans laid off by the virus to be replaced with new immigrants labor flown in from abroad. We must first take care of the American worker." Trump said the measure, which he first announced in a tweet Monday night, is still being written but he will probably sign it Wednesday. story continues below Trump told reporters that the move will be reassessed based on "economic conditions" in 60 days. Insiders tell Politico that there will be major exceptions to the "pause" on immigration, including essential workers like nurses. Trump told reporters that seasonal farm workers would be unaffected. Analysts including Harvard Business School professor William Kerr warn that keeping out high-skilled immigrants will hinder, not help the economy's recovery from the pandemic. "To think that shutting down all immigration into the country is the right strategy is quite foolish," Kerr tells the Post. "It is not one that is economically sound and certainly is not motivated by containing the crisis itself. It's more of an effort to cast suspicion and blame toward immigrant groups." (Read more immigration stories.) Each year, Electro Static Technology recognizes its top distributors. This is the eleventh consecutive year the company has honored distributors for their excellence in sales and customer service. The 2019 USA Distributor of the Year Award goes to Bartlett Bearing Company for its outstanding AEGIS sales campaign to the motor repair market and its unwavering commitment to world-class customer service. Family-owned, Bartlett Bearing is an independent national distributor of bearings and electromechanical parts. Through its "Full Circle Solution" Program and its locations in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Kentucky, Alabama, Florida, and most recently Missouri, Bartlett provides customers with superior products such as AEGIS Shaft Grounding Rings, expert advice, and exceptional customer training and service. For more information about Bartlett Bearing Company, visit http://www.bartlettbearing.com, call 800-523-3382, or e-mail sales@bartlettbearing.com. In Europe, HSA Schumacher Antriebstechnik e. K. of Germany is recognized for their outstanding AEGIS sales campaign and exceptional customer service. As part of the AEGIS Trained Installer Program and a full-service distributor, HSA is committed to serving their customers with expert knowledge and installation of AEGIS Rings. Some of their customers include breweries and beverage manufacturers, food, automotive, stone, chemical industries, public institutions and many more across Europe. For more information, visit http://www.hsa.de or contact Inh. Ralf Schumacher at info@hsa.de or call +49 2683 9460-0. In Asia, the Electrical Materials Division of Morgan Advanced Materials, located in Korea, was awarded the AEGIS Asia-Pacific Distributor of the Year Award. Morgan Koreas success reflects their commitment to exceptional sales and customer service. They focus on OEM and aftermarket solutions in applications such as marine, rail, wind turbines, specialty machinery, and HVAC/R. For more information on Morgan Advanced Materials Korea, contact D W Lee (dw.lee@morganplc.com), call +82 31 7308 360, or visit http://www.morganelectricalmaterials.com. Please join us in congratulating these top AEGIS distributors on their exceptional efforts and performance! AEGIS technology is designed for use when variable frequency drives (VFDs) are used to control electric motors. The VFD induces destructive voltages on the motor shaft which discharge through the motor bearings or bearings in attached equipment. These discharges cause fusion craters on the bearing race walls. Over time, this can lead to noise, vibration, bearing failure, and catastrophic motor failure. The AEGIS Shaft Grounding Ring channels these harmful VFD-induced shaft currents safely to ground. Unlike conventional grounding brushes, the Shaft Grounding Ring is maintenance-free and works with virtually no friction or wear for the service life of the motor. Electro Static Technology is the global leader in the elimination and/or mitigation of induced electrical charges on rotating and moving surfaces. Electro Static Technology manufactures the patented technology AEGIS Shaft Grounding Ring for electric motors and generators and is a division of Illinois Tool Works (ITW), a $14 billion Global Fortune 200 diversified manufacturing company with operations in 53 countries. NEW YORK, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Stone Harbor Emerging Markets Income Fund ("the Fund"), which is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "EDF", announced the declaration of monthly distributions of $0.08 per common share, payable on the dates noted below. Based on the Fund's current share price of $7.02 and net asset value per share of $5.18 (as of close on April 21, 2020), the distributions represent an annualized distribution rate of 13.68% and 18.53%, respectively. The following dates apply to the distributions declared: Ex-Distribution Date Record Date Payable Date May 14, 2020 May 15, 2020 May 28, 2020 June 12, 2020 June 15, 2020 June 25, 2020 July 17, 2020 July 20, 2020 July 30, 2020 For the months listed above, the Fund's monthly distribution was reduced from the previously monthly distribution by $0.09 per share. The change in the Fund's distribution takes into account many factors, including but not limited to, the Fund's current and expected earnings, the Fund's net asset value, the overall market environment, changes in foreign exchange rates, and Stone Harbor's current economic and market outlook. Shareholders should note that to the extent the Fund's aggregate net investment income and net realized capital gains are less than the amount of the distribution, the difference will be distributed from the Fund's assets and will constitute a return of the shareholder's capital. The Fund's distribution rate is subject to change. As of the date of this release, the Fund's shares are trading at a premium to net asset value. When the Fund is trading at a premium, shareholders that participate in the Fund's Dividend Reinvestment Plan (the "Plan") will generally have their distributions invested in newly issued common shares at a discount to the Fund's market price on the payment date, as set forth in more detail in the Plan. Additional information about the Plan is included in the Fund's annual and semi-annual reports to shareholders. Shareholders who hold their shares through brokers or other financial intermediaries should discuss with their financial intermediaries whether it would be beneficial to participate in the Fund's Plan. This press release is not for tax reporting purposes but is being provided to announce the amount of the Fund's distributions that have been declared by the Board of Directors. In early 2021, after definitive information is available, the Fund will send shareholders a Form 1099-DIV, if applicable, specifying how the distributions paid by the Fund during the prior calendar year should be characterized for purposes of reporting the distributions on a shareholder's tax return (e.g., ordinary income, capital gain or return of capital). The Fund is a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company that is managed by Stone Harbor Investment Partners LP ("Stone Harbor"). The Fund's primary investment objective is to maximize total return, which consists of income and capital appreciation on its investments in emerging markets securities. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing at least 80% of its net assets (plus borrowings for investment purposes) in emerging markets securities ("the 80% policy"), which include fixed income securities and other instruments, including derivatives, that are economically tied to emerging market countries, that are denominated in the predominant currency of the local market of an emerging market country or whose performance is linked to those countries' markets, currencies, economies or ability to repay loans. A security or instrument is economically tied to an emerging market country if it is principally traded on the country's securities markets or if the issuer is organized or principally operates in the country, derives a majority of its income from its operations within the country or has a majority of its assets within the country. Stone Harbor Investment Partners LP is a global institutional fixed income investment manager, specializing in credit and asset allocation strategies. The firm's investment strategies are based on fundamental insights, derived from a combination of proprietary research and the in-depth knowledge and specialized experience of the firm's team. Based in New York, Stone Harbor employs approximately 114 people across its headquarters and offices in Chicago, London, Melbourne and Singapore. Founded in 2006, Stone Harbor is an employee-owned partnership with approximately $16.1 billion of assets under management as of March 31, 2020. For more information, please visit Stone Harbor's website at www.shiplp.com. For more complete information, please call 877.206.0791 (toll-free) or visit the Fund's website - www.shiplpcef.com. The Stone Harbor Emerging Markets Income Fund is a closed-end fund and closed-end funds do not continuously issue shares for sale as open-end mutual funds do. Since its initial public offering, the Fund has traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol EDF. Investors wishing to buy or sell shares need to place orders through an intermediary or broker. SOURCE Stone Harbor Emerging Markets Income Fund Related Links http://www.shiplpcef.com As small groups organize protests against social distancing measures implemented to slow the spread of COVID-19, health care workers have responded with protests of their own against the right-wing demonstrations and the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) in hospitals. On April 19, hundreds of protesters assembled in front of Colorados state capitol calling for the state and country to lift stay-at-home orders. Nurses in the area staged a counter-protest and demanded the demonstrators go home. Images of Colorado health care workers defiantly standing in the street to block protesters cars have gone viral and garnered the support of people across the country, who are sympathetic to and admire the selflessness and sacrifice of health care workers. Colorado-based photographer Alyson McClaran, who captured the moments, described the scene as being pregnant with anger as protesters yelled at the nurses. One protester with a sign that read Land of the Free told one of the nurses to go back to China. Nurses protest outside of Providence Saint John's Health Center Tuesday in Santa Monica, California where ten of their coworkers were suspended for refusing to treat COVID-19 patients without protective N-95 masks (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) McClaran told Time magazine, [m]y gut was telling me this is history, and I wanted to document what is happening in my city right now and show what was going on. I had tears in my eyes half the day because I was in shock at how many people were out, and how much anger there was, so I had to protect myself by leaving. I didnt feel safe health-wise, and thats when I stumbled upon the nurses. I understand people are stressed, she said, and they want to get back to work, but it just showed how much anger there was. Unlike other protests Id covered, like gun violence, Black Lives Matter, this is a global issue. Everywhere is experiencing this right now at the same time, thats why it felt different. Health care workers in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania also opposed a demonstration organized on April 20 after the governor extended the states shelter in place order until May 8. A group of nurses stood about a block away from the main protest, holding signs telling those who opposed the stay-at-home to return home. A nurse who was among the counter protesters, held a sign that read: I Don't Want You in My ICU ... Stay Home!" We dont think we have enough equipment in all the hospitals in Pennsylvania to take care of all the patients that are going to be coming in based on us getting a surge," Katrina Rectenwald, a nurse at the protest, told CNN. The opposition to social distancing measures has been organized and facilitated by ultra-right reactionary forces. Many protesting across the country wore pro-Trump garments and, in some cases, carried assault rifles and displayed Confederate flags or Nazi insignia. The largest of these protests, organized in Lansing, Michigan, was sponsored by the Michigan Conservative Coalition, an ultra-right group of Trump loyalists. In addition, fascistic organizations such as the Michigan Proud Boys, the Michigan Liberty Militia, and other far-right forces were involved. Donald Trump defended anti-quarantine protesters as great people. These people love our country, they want to get back to work," the president said in a tweet. The protests coincide with the drive to reopen the country, heavily promoted by both major parties and the media. States including Texas, Florida, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Georgia have utilized the protests to either open sections of their economies or announce frameworks for reopening. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has gotten backlash for his decision to allow businesses such as gyms, bowling alleys, hair and nail salons and massage therapists to open as early as Friday. The state has not even met the inefficient and fraudulent guidelines put in place by the Trump administration, placing countless lives in danger. The National Nurses United (NNU) organized a protest outside the White House on Tuesday demanding the Trump administration take action to protect health care workers. The nurses read aloud the names of 50 nurses who have died while battling the coronavirus. The NNU demanded the administration utilize the Defense Production Act (DPA) to order the mass production of PPE, ventilators and coronavirus test kits. NNU is calling on Congress to mandate the DPAs use to produce the equipment and supplies health care workers need to care for COVID-19 patients as well as to conduct mass testing that is required to control the spread of the virus, the union said in a statement Tuesday. One nurse told NBC News, We are here because our colleagues are dying. I think that right now people think of us as heroes, but were feeling like martyrs. Last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported that at least 9,200 health care workers were infected with the coronavirus but admitted there was no comprehensive way to tally those who lost their lives trying to save others. The organization stressed that the count was drawn from just 16 percent of the nations COVID-19 cases, meaning the real number of health care workers infected is significantly higher. Using data from states, the CDC estimated that health care workers account for approximately 11 percent of all infections. Some states, including Ohio, have reported rates of health care worker infections as high as 20 percent but have not revealed data for individual counties, cities or hospitals. The Henry Ford health center in Detroit reported that more than 700 employees tested positive for COVID-19 but declined to state the number of deaths. Nurses countrywide are insisting they be provided with proper protective gear. Demonstrations have taken place in Michigan, Washington D.C, New York, Arizona, Los Angeles, Kentucky, New Jersey, and elsewhere. Nurses in Phoenix counter-protested a Patriots rally on Monday. Other nurses across the country reported being reprimanded for speaking out against the lack of proper protective gear. Many have said they feel persecuted for simply trying to protect themselves and others. Unions have organized a number of the protests and have tried to channel the anger felt into the Democratic Party or slogans such as PPEs over profits. The unions, in typical fashion, have not challenged the capitalist profit system but merely offer health care workers an avenue to blow off steam. The lack of PPE and the destructive campaign to prematurely reopen the economy stem directly from the prerogatives of the capitalist system. Health care workers are placing their lives and those of their families in danger to save others under extremely difficult conditions. A huge mental and physical toll is placed on them. However, capitalism demands their well-being be subordinated to the extraction of profit from the working population. People across the US have expressed deep sympathy and admiration for those on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic. However, with each passing day the conflict between the interests of a tiny parasitic layer and most of the worlds population becomes clearer. A global fight for socialism is necessary to ensure the safety of health care workers and the population. In a bid to overcome Coronavirus pandemic, Ireland on April 21 reportedly banned all large-scale public events until the end of August. The Irish government in a reported statement said that the local authorities have been advised that event promoters should be informed that events requiring in excess of 5,000 will not be considered till the end of August. Furthermore, the government is yet to decide about smaller gathering closer to May 5 when the restrictions are due to expire. Currently, Ireland has more than 16,000 confirmed Coronavirus cases and the deadly virus has claimed nearly 730 lives in the country. Meanwhile, Irish Health Minister Simon Harris also said that it is highly unlikely for the governments to allow large gathering in 2020 and the cocooning of the elderly people. He made it clear that gathering, where it is not possible to maintain safe social distancing including pubs, would not be allowed in the country. READ: World On Brink Of 'a Hunger Pandemic', Says UN Food Agency Chief As long as the Coronavirus is still with us or in the absence of vaccine of the disease, Harris cannot envision packed pubs. Along with disclosing the future plans regarding the lockdown, Irelands chief medical officer had also declared earlier this week that the first wave of Coronavirus infections in the country has been contained. It had further raised the hopes of citizens that restrictions might be eased from May 5. But Harris has cautioned that most severe rules of lockdown will only be lifted in a slow and phased basis. The Irish Health Minister said wouldthat he would like to ease the restrictions by allowing citizens to venture outdoors. However, older people, who are more vulnerable to the disease would still be recommended to remain in their houses. READ: More Deaths, No Benefit From Malaria Drug In VA Virus Study Ireland quadruples its contributions to WHO Meanwhile, days after US President Donald Trump said he would halt US' contribution to the World Health Organisation (WHO) accusing the global health agency of siding with China, Ireland announced that it would quadruple its funding to the UN body. According to reports, Irish Deputy Prime Minister Simon Coveney on April 16 said that his country would donate 9.5m (8.3m) to WHO this year to help its Coronavirus response. Commenting on the importance of WHO, Simon Coveney said that there are so many countries that rely on UN expertise and its capacity for saving lives. Coveney also called Trump's decision of halting the UN funding 'indefensible' in the midst of a pandemic. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus thanked Simon Coveney and the people of Ireland for the donation and continued support. Tedros took to his official Twitter handle to appreciate Ireland's gesture at the time of a global health crisis. (Image source: AP) READ: Sri Lanka Remembers Easter Bomb Victims Amid Virus READ: Top Fijian Official Leaves World Rugby Role Amid Allegations Why Are Millennials More Pro-Life Than Their Parents' Generation? Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Millennials are increasingly more pro-life and supportive of restrictions on abortion than their parents' generation, according to polling data taken over the last decade, and pro-life leaders credit medical technology for this growing trend. Lila Rose, president of the pro-life group Live Action, told The Christian Post in a recent interview that advances in ultrasound technology is just one of the many reasons why teenagers and people in their 20s are joining the movement. "There's a window into the womb with ultrasound. Just having the look into the womb you can see, even in the first trimester, the early development of the child you can see the humanity of the child," Rose said. "Now that we have that imagery and it's more prevalent, people are having that personal encounter with the child, so it's easier to recognize their human rights." She continued: "And there are stories that have emerged about how abortion doesn't help women, but it actually hurts them. This has been shared in the testimonies of women who've spoken out against it afterwards. And there's the emergence of evidence about the abuses and the illegal practices at Planned Parenthood that are coming more to light. "All of these factors are inspiring to younger people who see it as a human rights abuse and an attack against women and children, and they want to join the movement," Rose added. Kathryn Brown, a Benedictine College student who was among 400 of her classmates who traveled from Kansas to Washington in January to lead the 41st annual March for Life demonstration, told CP that her generation is more pro-life than past generations because they've been greatly impacted by abortion. "I think one big reason is because our generation is the one that's missing so many people because of abortion," Brown commented. "There are many people, college aged, who have siblings who were aborted. There are people missing in our lives because they were never given the chance to live siblings, friends, maybe even people we would have married. We mourn them and we resolve to stand up for their God-given right to life so that others will not share that same fate." Jeanne Monahan, president of March for Life, shared Rose's observation when she told CP earlier this year that among the reasons why people, especially those in millennial generation, are witnessing a cultural shift toward supporting the pro-life movement opposed to advocating for abortion, are the advances in technology and the human aspect the personal stories of men and women who've been harmed by the aftermath of abortion. "Years ago, it was the case that advocates for abortion would talk about the 'thing' growing in a woman's womb as a lifeless blob of tissue," Monahan explained. "And I think our advances in sonography and ultrasounds, and even our understanding of fetal development has dispelled those myths." She continued: "We know that, from the moment of conception, a baby has all of its DNA that it needs for the rest of its life. It has everything inherent that it will need for later on. Really, the only difference [between the preborn and adults] is in size and development." Next year's March for Life will focus on preserving the lives of babies who receive a poor prenatal prognosis under the theme of "every child is a gift." "We're focusing on a group of children who are much more likely to be killed in the womb than healthy children," Rose said in a statement shared with CP. Now through Dec. 24 Rose's organization, Live Action, is offering a giveaway trip for two supporters who want to attend the 42nd annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. Winners of the "Take Flight for Life" giveaway at LiveAction.org will receive free airfare and hotel accomodations and will get to walk with Live Action president Lila Rose in the March for Life, the largest pro-life event in the world, which has been held every year since 1973 on the anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade decision. TUSCOLA COUNTY With COVID-19 affecting mostly senior citizens in Michigan, the people who care for them might be nervous, but are resilient in making their lives better for a while. Tierney Rose, one such individual, works as a certified nursing assistant for the Tuscola County Medical Care Community, the nursing and rehabilitation center in Caro where multiple COVID-19 deaths have occurred. Rose wanted to be a CNA because she always liked helping people, even babysitting all the time when she was younger. The medical field is always growing, so theres always a need for more help, Rose said. Not even a hysterectomy could keep Rose out of the fight to help her residents deal with the coronavirus. She had the surgery in late February, which normally takes six to eight weeks to fully recover from. The onset of the coronavirus brought her back to her job after only five weeks. Working during this pandemic resulted in a great number of changes to the Tuscola County Medical Care Community, such as isolating residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 on a separate floor, not allowing any visitors, testing the staff for fevers before they start their shifts, having the staff wear masks all days, and the housekeeping staff is working extra shifts to make sure the building is clean. It was a kind of chaos at first, Rose said. People were afraid to come to work. The residents were missing their favorite nurses. People are having roommates who didnt have one before. Theyre confused and dont know what to do. Rose herself has been in contact with three people who have tested positive for COVID-19, and she has not shown any symptoms over the past two weeks. But she still does not take any chances in possibly spreading the disease. Her precautions include not inviting anyone over to her house, not going out anywhere, and when she gets home from work, she takes a shower, changes into a new set of clothes, and does laundry. If I get it, I know I can fight it off, but I didnt want to spread it, Rose said. The aspect of the pandemic that makes Rose nervous is the number of people who are not taking it seriously. A lot of the residents she oversees have compromised immune systems and respiratory issues, which make them particularly vulnerable. She said it also bothers her that people are still throwing parties and going out. Seeing someone you know pass away from it changes how you view it, Rose said. You take it more seriously. To many of these residents, their nursing staff is the only family they can see during this time, as their immediate families are not allowed to see them Even as the staff has been taking every precaution possible, for Rose, it feels they are fighting a losing battle, as the number of reported COVID-19 cases in the Thumb is still going up. What keeps her and the rest of the medical care community staff going is the need to care for these residents. They need to see us, Rose said. We become their families, and they become our family. We want to make sure theyre okay. Seeing their nurses gives the residents some idea of a routine is calming for them. There are also those little quirks in that routine, and the conversations between the residents and nurses, that they look forward to, Rose said. If for two minutes I could make someone smile, it was a fun day for me, Rose said. Editors note: an error in the headline was corrected after publication The damage seen across a large swath of the state from Tuesdays severe thunderstorms was caused by straight-line winds, the National Weather Service announced Wednesday. The downed trees, snapped poles, and 24-foot trailer that went airborne and landed on its side in Toms River were initially blamed on a possible tornado by local officials on Tuesday, but that turned out to not be the case. Powerful thunderstorms produced 60- to 80-mph wind gusts as a strong cold front moved rapidly across the New Jersey coast and damaged not only Toms River, but also areas of Haddon Heights and Lawrenceville, the National Weather Service said in a statement. However, damage seen in the Normandy Beach section of Toms River, where waterspouts were viewed by several residents, was still under investigation by the service. New Jersey typically gets about two tornadoes each year, but had nine confirmed in 2019. Most of those occurred during a stormy weather pattern that gripped the region during the late spring and summer months. But one occurred on Halloween night in Morris County. New Jerseys record is 17 tornadoes in a single year 1989. The state had nine confirmed tornadoes in 2019 and 1987, and eight twisters in 1990 and 1973, according to the National Weather Services storm events database. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. NJ Advance Media staff writer Len Melisurgo contributed to this report. Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-23 06:19:14|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WASHINGTON, April 22 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he had instructed the U.S. Navy to destroy any Iranian gunboats if they harass U.S. ships at sea. "I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea," Trump tweeted in the morning, without providing other details. Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist said later at a Pentagon briefing that "all of our ships retain the right of self-defense and people needed to be very careful in their interactions to understand the inherent right of self-defense." John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, added at the same briefing that the U.S. forces will respond with overwhelming lethal force to defend themselves if necessary. "So if you cross that line, we know what that line is and we will respond. We don't need any more direction in order to do that. I think the president's message was crystal clear and we don't need any more actions," he said. The U.S. Navy said last week that 11 Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy vessels "repeatedly conducted dangerous & harassing approaches against U.S. naval ships operating in international waters of the North Arabian Gulf." The IRGC Navy, however, accused the U.S. naval forces of repeatedly "unprofessional" manner in the Gulf during recent weeks, threatening regional peace and given rise to new risks. In a statement carried by Press TV on Sunday, the IRGC Navy said that the "illegal" presence of U.S. forces in the region is the source of insecurity in West Asia. "The only way to establish sustainable security in this region is the complete withdrawal of Americans from West Asia," said the statement. Enditem China has reported 30 new COVID-19 cases, a majority of them are the Chinese returning from abroad, taking the number of imported infections in the country to 1,610, the health officials said on Wednesday, as the authorities stepped-up the testing and treatment facilities in all border regions. The death toll due to the novel coronavirus remains 4,632 with no new fatalities were reported on Tuesday, while the overall confirmed cases climbed to 82,788, of which 1,005 patients are still being treated and 77,151 have been discharged, China's National Health Commission (NHC) said. China's imported cases have risen to 1,610 with 30 new cases, including 23 imported infections. Of the total imported cases, 811 people are being treated with 41 in severe conditions, it said. A total of 42 new asymptomatic cases, including seven from abroad, were reported on Tuesday, taking the total to 991 asymptomatic cases. All of them were under medical observation, the NHC said in a report. Asymptomatic cases refer to people who are tested positive for the coronavirus but develop no symptoms such as fever, cough or sore throat. They are infectious and pose a risk of spreading to others. By Tuesday, 1,029 confirmed cases including four deaths had been reported in the Hong Kong, 45 confirmed cases in Macao SAR and 425 in Taiwan including six deaths, state-run Xinhua agency reported. China has scaled-up testing and treatment for COVID-19 infections in border areas as the country faces a rising risk of imported cases. With an over 22,000-km land border dotted with 91 land ports, along with a large number of shortcuts and side routes, China faces a high risk of coronavirus importation via its land border, Xinhua report said. However, the medical service capacity in some border regions is relatively insufficient for the epidemic response, Guo Yanhong, an official with the NHC told media on Tuesday. The NHC has instructed the country's nine provincial-level regions with land ports to make targeted response plans in a bid to intensify containment efforts and get prepared for imported cases, Guo noted. Describing the epidemic control in border areas as a priority in the current stage, Guo said that the commission had conducted a thorough assessment of the capacity for laboratory testing and medical treatment in border cities. Groups of medical professionals and epidemic containment experts have been dispatched to some border areas facing a mounting challenge of imported cases, such as Suifenhe, a border city in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. Meanwhile, the essential medical equipment, including mobile P3 laboratories, computerized tomography (CT) scan machines, have also been sent there to improve the local ability to detect and cure COVID-19 infections, Guo said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By Chris Prentice WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The founder of Continental Resources Inc , an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, is pressing the U.S. commodity markets regulator and the exchange to probe whether market manipulation or system failure was behind this week's unprecedented plunge in U.S. crude futures. Continental's executive chairman Harold Hamm sent a letter dated Tuesday, April 21, to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission asking the regulator to probe whether "potential market manipulation, failed systems or computer programming failures" was behind Monday's price crash, which took U.S. oil futures into negative territory for the first time. U.S. crude futures for May delivery plunged below zero on Monday, with desperate traders at one point paying customers some $40 a barrel to take oil so they would not have to accept delivery on an expiring futures contract. The coronavirus pandemic has slashed fuel demand worldwide, and storage space for the unused oil is rapidly filling, especially in the United States. The unprecedented activity stunned global energy traders and prompted calls from some for further government support of the beleaguered U.S. industry. "The sanctity and trust in the oil and all commodity futures markets are at issue as the system failed miserably and an immediate investigation is requested and, we submit, is required," Hamm said in the letter in which he detailed the unusual activity. Continental has also filed a complaint with CME, Hamm said in the letter. CME, which operates the U.S. crude oil futures benchmark, called Hamm's allegations "factually inaccurate" and said "prices reflect fundamentals in the physical crude oil market driven by the unprecedented global impacts of the coronavirus, including decreased demand for crude, global oversupply, and high levels of U.S. storage utilization." A CFTC spokesman declined to comment on any investigation, but told Reuters: "We continue to look at these developments closely." Story continues The agency's chairman Heath Tarbert on Tuesday said the volatility in oil prices is due to fundamental supply and demand issues, not a financial markets issue. Continental Resources, which Hamm founded in 1967, is highly exposed to the oil market rout because the North Dakota shale producer had not hedged its production heading into this year's historic rout, Reuters reported last month. Prior to Monday's unprecedented trading, crude oil prices had already plunged more than 70% this year, hit by a surprise price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia as well as the slowdown in demand due to the coronavirus outbreak. The letter, which was first reported by The Oklahoman, is believed to be the first request to the CFTC to probe Monday's trade. Hamm, who last year stepped down as Continental's Chief Executive, was an informal campaign advisor to Trump in 2016 and was once considered by Trump as a candidate for U.S. Energy Secretary. (Reporting by Chris Prentice in Washington; Additional reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver and Jennifer Hiller in Houston; Editing by David Gregorio) A new ranking released from the U.S. News and World Report has revealedthe best high schools in Laredo and Texas for 2020, with one Laredo school making the top 10 throughout the entire state. The report ranks more than 17,000 public high schools across the nation and are based on how high schools are serving their students, despite economic and ethnic background, according to a news release. The Best High Schools rankings provide the most comprehensive, data-based information on nearly every public high school in the country, Anita Narayan, managing editor of Education at U.S. News, said in the release. Laredo ISD's Hector J Garcia Early College High School was the top ranking Laredo high school, rated as the No. 7 high school in the state. The ranking is an improvement on 2019's mark, where the school was rated as the eighth best high school in Texas. Families can use this information to see how their local schools compare on graduation rates and state assessments, as well as academic performance by students who are traditionally underserved those who are black, Hispanic or from low-income households. The rankings were based on a multitude of factors, including college readiness, graduation rates, reading and math proficiency and performance, underserved student performance and college readiness. According to the report, 7.1% of the 1,485 of Texas schools that were evaluated ranked in the top 5% nationally; while 11.7% ranked in the top 10%; and 24.9% ranked in the top 25%. The report also found that Massachusetts schools were the top performers in the U.S., with 49.6% of that states' eligible high schools ranked in the top 25% of the rankings. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia was ranked the overall No. 1 high school in the U.S. For more information on the top high schools for 2020, visit U.S. News and World Report's website. Deficits, it seems, start mattering only when it comes time to help hungry people, or renters pressed to the wall, or those who have lost their health insurance. Do Trump and McConnell really want to say that governors should take responsibility for dealing with the coronavirus crisis, but sorry, the federal government wont be there to help their states out of the mess this is creating? Thats where McConnell seemed to be headed in his interview with Hewitt when he suggested state and local governments might be able to use the bankruptcy route. Luxury Promise, a London, UK-based marketplace for the resale of luxury handbags and accessories, raised $3.75m in Series A funding. The round was led by Beringea with participation from existing investor Lloyd Amsdon, co-founder of Watchfinder, the platform for pre-owned premium watches acquired by Richemont in 2018. The company intends to use the funds to broaden the offering available on the marketplace, expand the repairs and workshop expertise, and open a storefront location. Founded in 2017 by Sabrina Sadiq, an experienced authenticator, Luxury Promise enables consumers to shop for pre-owned luxury goods, with a focus on handbags. In addition to paying sellers cash up front for their items, the marketplace goes through a quality and authentication process, providing in-house expert repairs and finishing to pre-owned goods where needed. The business has operations in London and Dubai, and a selection of luxury brands including Hermes, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Van Cleef. FinSMEs 22/04/2020 If you are an Ebonyi man or live in Ebonyi and you dont feel our pains, it is a shame on you. Maybe, the press people claim they are untouchable. I have reported to the National President of NUJ, I have reported to the State leadership of NUJ and I have reported to the public. Now, the die is cast. May God save us, at this time. Offer Ramzan prayers from homes, not from mosques: Maharashtra Dy CM Nations ease some virus restrictions yet public still wary 27 new cases in Jammu and Kashmir, totoal count over 400 Bill Gates writes to PM Modi, commends his leadership in dealing with Covid-19 Naveen Patnaik administered oath to Sarpanchs of the state through video conferencing to fight against Covid-19 No logistic support forthcoming till now: Central team writes to WB govt ICMR issues protocol for using rapid antibody tests for Covid-19 Decision on organizing Amarnath Yatra 2020 to be taken on reviewing the Covid-19 situation in coming future: Raj Bhawan PRO, J-K Total number of coronavirus cases in Delhi stands at 2248, death toll 48 Total number of coronavirus cases in Chhattisgarh is 36 The global tally of people infected by Covid-19 has crossed 2.5 million. As restrictions are being eased, major economies are finding it hard to mitigate the losses caused by the pandemic. US has suspended immigration for 2 months to save jobs as US' economy was badly hit due to coronavirus. In India, 20,471 people have been infected, with 640 people dead. More than 1,353 cases have been registered over the last 24 hours along with 50 deaths. Energy markets went up initially due to surge in Asian markets, but prices dropped by 12%. Click here for the complete coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic Follow updates on how Covid-19 is affecting lives across the globe here: Let's face it: Unless youre a veteran climber, know your way around the gear, and have secured the right permits, most of us probably wont ever climb the death-defying El Capitan in Yosemite Valley. Reaching the summit of El Cap, 3,000 feet above the valley, involves a monstrous effort, rendering Google Earths Street View tool the most realistic way that most adventurers will ever experience the trek. While a majority of us are cooped up indoors for the foreseeable future, getting lost in some of North Americas most beautiful national parks is a great way to experience a bit of armchair travel without leaving the house. The enchanting trek and climb through Californias Yosemite Valley is just one of the many digital adventures waiting to be had, as Google Earths National Parks project takes viewers deep into canyons and onto mountaintops. Most tours allow for digital trekkers to explore trails using Street View, while others transport armchair travelers using 360-degree views captured from the parks highlights. For a sedentary experience, the hikes are remarkable in depth and educational: Many of the auxiliary treasures that make the parks worth visiting, such as a memorable gift shop, the Ansel Adams gallery in Yosemite, and historic structures in the parks, have also been digitally memorialized, yielding adventures as rich as they can be via a screen. Of course, its not the same as lacing up the hiking boots, but it will do. Yosemite's Half Dome - Sunset from Glacier Point Photo by Brandon Nimon. Image courtesy of Getty Images. Known around the world for its towering granite cliffs, serene mountainside waterfalls, giant sequoia groves, sprawling meadows, and biological diversity, Yosemite in Californias Sierra Nevada mountains is one of the most internationally recognized parks. Start your tour in the Yosemite visitors center before virtually visiting Glacier Point to take in views of the famous Half Dome, then take a hike through Tuolumne Grove, where hikers and digital travelers alike can pass through cutouts in the bases of giant sequoia trees. Story continues Sunset at Desert View Point Photo by Dean Fikar. Image courtesy of Getty Images. One of the best known national parks around the world, the Grand Canyon is considered to be one the finest examples of the beauty that comes from arid-land erosion in the world. The parks virtual experience is exceptionally thorough whether you choose to hike the 7.9 mile Bright Angel Trail; get close to the edge of the Abyss, a panoramic view with a stomach-churning vertical drop to the bottom of the canyon; or stop at Hermits Rest, a well-known stop for visitors designed by architect Mary Colter in the National Park rustic style in 1914. Angels Landing, Zion National Park, Utah Image courtesy of Getty Images. Located in southwest Utah, Zion National Park is known for its bounty of red rocks, towering cliff walls, and terrain ranging from desert to high-altitude lush forest. Be sure to explore the appropriately named Narrows, a scenic path that leads to the Temple of Sinawava, a tall sandstone amphitheater that marks the unofficial beginning of the canyon. Yellowstone Falls: River, Grand Canyon, National Park, Montana MT Image courtesy of Getty Images. Set atop a volcanic hot spring in Wyoming (though the park also spreads into Idaho and Montana too), Yellowstone is home to hundreds of species including bison, bears, wolves, antelope, and elk. While there are scenic hikes and panoramic river basins visitors can drive through to get up close to the bison, the real attraction are the parks numerous geysers and waterfalls, in particular the famous Old Faithful, which erupts on a consistent basis. Also of note on the digital tour is the Roosevelt Arch, a commemorative stone arch built in 1903 that marks the northern entrance to the park. Scenic View Of Bay Against Sky Photo by Steven Heap. Image courtesy of Getty Images. Taking up a majority of St. John island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, this national park is spread across the forest and beaches surrounded by corral reefs. Virtually drive through the Cinnamon Bay Plantation Ruins, limestone remains of a Danish sugar plantation dating back to the 1700s, and discover the factory and manor. Digital visitors can also get up close to the Reef Bay Trail petroglyphs, ancient carvings made by the Taino Indians that were found at a site near the trail. trekking Navajo loop trail Bryce Canyon National Park at sunrise with fog. Utah. USA Photo by Eloi Omella. Image courtesy of Getty Images. Bryce Canyon in southern Utah is best known for its incredible survey of eye-catching geology. Over time, the colorful limestone rock of the Claron Formation eroded from rainwater to create bizarrely shaped formations from the pink-colored cliffs. Most popular are the hoodoos, tall and skinny rock formations that rise from the ground, and can be seen from the view at Agua Canyon. Also of note on the digital tour is Inspiration Point, a vista atop the steep cliffs that provides an unobstructed view of Bryces main amphitheater. Zabriskie Point at sunset, Death Valley Photo by Carlos Fernandez. Image courtesy of Getty Images. An expanse of beautiful desert thats filled with extreme temperatures, terrifyingly steep mountain peaks, and unpredictable weather events, Death Valley in Nevada and California has rightly earned its name. Its home to more historic and architectural wonders than most national parks, including the ruins of a 1905 gold mining town named Rhyolite (now a popular Hollywood movie set), remnants of an 1884 borax plant in Furnace Creek, and a quaint Old Westthemed hotel. Also of note: the Mosaic Canyon Trail that snakes through a narrow canyon of polish rock and marble walls, and the Artists Palette series of hills tinged with pastel hues that have been colored by oxidation and weathering. Byers Lake Alaska Fall with Mount McKinley, Denali, background Photo by M Barrett. Image courtesy of Getty Images. As the highest peak in North America and third-highest in the world, Denali National Park in Alaska is larger than the state of New Jersey and has hardly been touched by the human hand. A few different vantage points offer stunning views of the snowcapped mountains, and the visitor centers offer exhibits, ranger programming, and more. Sagebrush in Bloom at the Chisos Photo by James Pharaon. Image courtesy of Getty Images. Big Bend in Texas has the largest protected area of Chihuahuan desert topography in the United States, and protects hundreds of bird, reptile, and mammal species, as well as over 1,200 types of plants. Highlights include a 4.8 mile digital hike through the Lost Mine Trail through the Chisos mountain range, filled with views of the canyons and forests, as well as Emory Peak, the tallest summit in the park. Bass Harbor Lighthouse at dusk Image courtesy of Getty Images. Located on Maines Mount Desert Island, Acadia protects the wild beauty of the tallest rocky headlands along the Atlantic. With its seaside pink-granite cliffs, ponds formed from runoff glacier water, and tall mountain peaks, Acadia captures the beauty of the Northeast. Check out wild roses growing aside the boulders on the Ocean Path Trailhead, and take a virtual stroll along the small sandy beach thats strewn with shells. Sunrise Landscape Great Smoky Mountains National Park Gatlinburg TN Image courtesy of Getty Images. The Great Smoky Mountains are a range running along the Tennessee and North Carolina border, named for the blue mist that rises above the peaks. Take in the spectacular views atop the appropriately named Chimney Tops, which reach an elevation of 1,400 feet, and visit Mingus Mill from 1886 with its still-functioning turbine and other machinery. Rear View Of Man Walking At Forest in Redwoods National Park, USA. Photo by Carmen Martinez Torron. Image courtesy of Getty Images. Redwoods have existed along the coast of northern California for over 20 million years, and are the tallest living things on earth. Digital visitors can take a 1.4 mile hike through the Lady Bird Johnson Grove, named for the environmentalist former First Lady, and visit the Big Tree Wayside, a gigantic 1,500-year-old tree that's 68 feet wide and 300 feet tall. Scenic view of Glacier National Park. Photo by Jordan Siemens. Image courtesy of Getty Images. With its glacier-carved peaks that run along the Rocky Mountains from Montana up to the Canadian border, Glacier National Park preserves over a million acres of forests, lakes, mountain peaks, alpines meadows, and valleys. Explore the Weeping Wall, a road running along a cliff with sweeping views of the mountains and spring water running through it, and enjoy the rare view of Bird Woman Falls, a waterfall in a glacier valley thats difficult to access. Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest On March 24, campus-based research operations were suspended, leaving grad student researchers to work with their supervisors to find new ways to pursue their studies. Theyre pushing forward, reordering the sequence of their research, diving into writing and leveraging the wide range of online resources the library offers. We spoke to four PhD students to find out how theyre meeting the challenge and managing to find happiness in their new normal. Tiffany Gordon is a Philosophy student whose fields of research include social and political philosophy and philosophy of race. Shannon Hall is a Medical Neuroscience student studying how sleep loss affects the brain. Stefan Heinze-Milne is a Pharmacology student whose research seeks to help us live longer, healthier lives. Alyne Teixeira is a Biomedical Engineering student from Brazil studying how to prevent and treat diseases of the immune system. Visit the Faculty of Graduate Studies dedicated FAQ page for information on admissions, research, PhD theses defences, scholarships and more during the COVID-19 pandemic. How have you found the shift to working from home? Tiffany Gordon (pictured): I'm at home, but nothing has changed that much. The workload has increased (in the sense that some of my research projects have picked up) and I am doing a lot more conference calls and Zoom/Team meetings. I am more productive because I'm not travelling to school every day. And generally, Im in good spirits about the state of my program, as my PhD research is not dependent on the school being open. I just need to have a space to read and write (which I do). Shannon Hall: Im fortunate to be in the final stages of my PhD studies where I am finishing data analysis and working on thesis writing, so Ive been able to continue this during the transition to working from home. The first thing I did was to organize my home workspace to be as comfortable as possible. Making to-do lists and taking frequent small breaks has been very useful for helping to stay focused, motivated, and as productive as possible during these uncertain times. Taking it one day at a time! Stefan Heinze-Milne: To continue with research during these times, we must be innovative. The building I work in has been closed and since then I have been working from home, like so many others. I shifted my focus away from experiments and toward writing. I am lucky, because I have data to write about. I am sorry for those students that do not have data to work with. Nonetheless, now is a great time to read and write. Alyne Teixeira (pictured): This is a stress-inducing situation for all of us, but I recently read an article where the authors suggest seeing, owning, and using stress in your favor. This means that we should acknowledge the stress we are facing, for example, "I am stressed about not staying productive and not finishing my PhD soon." Once you acknowledge your stress, try to change your mindset to a "stress is enhancing" mentality, such as, "I am stressed, but I will come up with a plan to make this downtime more productive." I decided to take free courses online and start writing my thesis, which is something I would not have had time to do during my day-to-day work in my lab. I prefer to believe that social distancing can be an opportunity for personal growth instead of a waste of time. We can still be productive, but in a different way. We can develop other skills that will eventually come in handy when we compete for a job. So, use your time wisely and be kind to yourself. How have you been staying in touch with your supervisor and fellow researchers? Tiffany: I have been staying in touch with my supervisor and fellow grad students by email, Facebook and Zoom. Shannon (pictured): My supervisor hosts a weekly lab chat on Zoom so all of our lab members can say hello and keep each other updated on what we are working on. I am also trying to stay active on social media during this time! Its comforting to engage with other researchers on #AcademicTwitter where they are sharing their own experiences and how theyre adapting to the changes it can be a great source of advice, support, and encouragement. Stefan: My lab has been meeting virtually via Microsoft Teams twice per week. This has been successful in keeping us in touch - it is so nice to see everyone's faces. Alyne: We used to have weekly meetings in the lab, but now we have virtual meetings via Skype. This is a good way to keep in touch with my supervisor and colleagues, and an opportunity to virtually socialize. Protesters rally outside of the Juanita Kidd Stout Center for Criminal Justice in Philadelphia on April 15, 2020. The protesters were there to demand the release of more inmates in city jails due to coronavirus fears. Unions representing workers at the city jails have also joined the campaign to reduce the jail population. Read more Three unions that represent thousands of workers at Philadelphia jails have taken the unusual step of calling for judges to reduce the jail population during the coronavirus pandemic. The unions which in total represent about 2,500 corrections officers, subcontracted health-care workers, and social workers say that releasing incarcerated people from jail is a common sense measure to help protect workers and the broader community from the coronavirus. They join a chorus of voices, including criminal-justice reform and public-health advocates, as well as District Attorney Larry Krasner and Chief Defender Keir Bradford-Grey, in making the same plea. Around the country, unions in Chicago and California have also advocated for reducing jail populations. National Nurses United and SEIU Local 73, which represent 600 workers in the Cook County jail, called for officials to drastically reduce the jail population. The Cook County jail has become one of the countrys hot spots for virus transmission, the New York Times reported earlier this month. In Philadelphia, judges have lowered the jail population by 17% this month, releasing certain nonviolent detainees and those being held on low-level charges or cash bail. But advocates say these efforts dont go far enough. The citys typical jail population is 4,600 across four facilities. As of Monday, 126 inmates had tested positive for the virus, the city said, and 56 were ill and remained incarcerated. A 48-year-old woman who died last week was the Philadelphia jails first coronavirus death. As of last Thursday, 60 corrections officers had tested positive, according to Eric Hill, an official with District Council 33 Local 159, which represents 1,900 officers. READ MORE: Philly jails still arent doing enough to stop coronavirus spread, ACLU says in new suit The unions calls for reducing the jail population is surprising because unions traditionally want to increase the amount of work in their sectors, said Rebecca Givan, a labor studies professor at Rutgers University. Building trades unions, for example, lobby for legislation that will send more work to their members. And police unions are typically not joining the fight for criminal justice reform. To take a moral position that doesnt increase the demand for your members work is actually quite significant, she said. HELP US REPORT: Are you a health care worker, medical provider, government worker, patient, front-line worker or other expert? We want to hear from you. Its happening now, she said, because workers inside prisons and incarcerated people have a common interest avoiding the spread of coronavirus which isnt often the case. Hill, whose members have said the city isnt doing enough to protect them on the job, said it was up to the courts to decide whom to release, but that his union supported anything that would help reduce the infection rate. Were in a pandemic situation, he said. Its a life-or-death situation. ... It only makes sense that in a place where people are packed together, we try to reduce that." READ MORE: A Philly judge has denied every inmates bid to get out of jail amid the coronavirus. Defense lawyers are trying to cut her out of the process. Chris Woods, president of District 1199C, the union that represents health-care workers at Philadelphia jails, was more emphatic. In a letter to three top Philadelphia judges sent April 9, Woods said he supported the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania in calling for the release of incarcerated people over 60, all pregnant women, and those who have a serious medical condition and are at a higher risk for complications from the virus. These common-sense measures would permit people accused of crimes, sentenced to short sentences, and held on violations of probation and parole to not be exposed to a potential death sentence for their wrongdoing, while protecting the community, and our members," he wrote. Woods is not a stranger to the criminal justice reform movement: His union endorsed Krasner for District Attorney, and Woods was on Krasners transition team in 2017. In an interview Tuesday, Woods said there were positive cases among his members at city jails, but he wasnt sure how many. His union represents 500 subcontracted nurses, physician assistants, and other health-care workers at the jails. READ MORE: What its like to be locked in prison during the coronavirus pandemic Cathy Scott, president of District Council 47, also said her union supported reducing the jail population and has long done so. DC47 represents about 100 workers at the jails, mostly social workers. We have for a long time believed that too many people are in jail because theyre poor and they cant afford the minimal cash bail, said Scott, a former prison social worker. SEIU Local 668, which represents workers at state prisons, declined to comment. (TNS) The House continued to grapple Tuesday with how to conduct urgent legislative business amid the coronavirus pandemic, moving ahead with a Democratic effort to change the rules to allow remote proxy voting, despite no lack of concern among members.The House Rules Committee convened on Wednesday to consider a resolution to temporarily allow an absent lawmaker to designate a colleague to vote on floor matters on his or her behalf.The chamber is expected to consider a $483.4 billion coronavirus relief package Thursday, and Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer announced that a proxy-voting resolution may be brought for a vote during the session.Speaker Nancy Pelosi told the PBS NewsHour that while the House may vote on both the same day, proxy voting will not be used during the vote on the aid package.Hoyer said Tuesday that proxy voting is only an initial step toward remote operations for the House. In a letter, the Maryland Democrat urged the chambers Rules and Administration committees to explore the use of videoconferencing during emergencies to allow remote voting and remote committee action. He also asked that they focus on how Congress can conduct business in Washington in compliance with social distancing guidelines.We ought to use this time as an opportunity to prepare for Congress to be able to work according to its full capabilities even with social and physical distancing guidelines in place, Hoyer wrote.House Democrats are not unified over the role technology should play in congressional operations during the pandemic. Many lawmakers think technology could be the solution to allow remote voting. But concerns about cybersecurity, testing and the constitutionality led Rules Chairman Jim McGovern to move forward with a low-tech proxy solution.While any distance-voting is less optimal than in-person voting or debating in committee or on the floor of the House, the sound and image of the member doing so virtually is far superior to the utilization of proxies, Hoyer wrote.North Carolina Democrat G.K. Butterfield was at the Capitol on Tuesday for a House pro forma session and said the Democratic Caucus isnt in favor of allowing members to directly vote from home.Weve talked about it, and there are many, many challenges pertaining to voting from home, and were not there yet, Butterfield said.Hoyer has been more of an advocate for remove voting than Pelosi. She has cited security and constitutional concerns; Hoyer has argued that videoconferencing makes it possible to see and hear votes being cast and that could counterbalance vulnerabilities to manipulation.There are various views, Hoyer said when asked if he and Pelosi disagreed on remote voting.Under McGoverns proposal, members would be able to submit their proxy vote directions electronically, which could be subject to the same kind of security concerns, Hoyer said, as videoconferencing services such as FaceTime, Zoom or Microsoft Teams.Throughout Tuesday, key party leaders on both sides of the aisle said they hadnt seen text of any proposal; Hoyer told reporters on a conference call the substance was still being worked out and could change before hitting the floor.He said any initiation of proxy voting would be done at the very least with consultation with the minority leadership.We dont want that to be perceived as a partisan trying to get some partisan gain by providing for that alternative, Hoyer said.But House Republicans say theyve been shut out of the process.House Administration ranking member Rodney Davis toldhes had no success at having conversations across the aisle about emergency voting measures, both on the staff level and member level.I was certainly looking forward to having a debate on what a long-term remote voting system could look like for the House, the Illinois lawmaker said in an interview Tuesday.In addition to being the top Republican on House Administration, Davis also serves on the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. He said the panels, both known for bipartisan action, havent gotten together for meaningful deliberation of proxy voting, saying that Democratic leaders had no intention of being bipartisan.As part of their pushback, Republicans warned of corrupt implementation and erosion of the representative process.What are the details of this proposal, how will it avoid potential abuses of power, and when do you expect this proposal to be made public for the necessary scrutiny and member input that changing 200 years of House precedent would merit? House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy wrote in a letter to Pelosi on Tuesday.Those were among the more diplomatic comments.Its a terrible idea, Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan said Tuesday of proxy voting. You meet in person, you debate and you vote in person.Louisiana Rep. Clay Higgins argued that proxy voting is completely outside of what the founders intended.When significant measures are considered that impact the entire country, I believe that Congress should be in session, and we should be held accountable, he said.While Democratic leaders say they want bipartisan backing, they could pass it without Republicans.The Democrats got the majority. If they want to do it, they can do it, Jordan said. Weve just got to make the argument, do the best we can, but if theyre determined to do it, and they have the votes, obviously they can, they can get it done.Members will make their own decision about whether to return to Washington to vote Thursday.Hoyer told reporters that congressional leaders are asking every member to return who can return, and we hope that that is a large number.He acknowledged that some members who are caring for family members or are themselves highly vulnerable to COVID-19 may be unable to travel to Washington.Were not ordering members to come back, but we do expect sufficient members to come back so we can have a quorum, Hoyer said.Hoyer said he would talk to McCarthy and added that committee heads were talking to ranking members about options for operating remotely.I believe we need to put procedures in place to allow remote voting and and I emphasize remote committee work, Hoyer said.Davis expressed doubt about the implementation of a digital committee process that lacks input from Republicans as well as the offices on Capitol Hill that will be tasked with making it work.How are you going to create a digital process that works with existing House infrastructure? he said.In his letter to Pelosi, McCarthy expressed frustration at the lack of a plan on overall operations during the crisis, in particular marking up legislation such as the fiscal 2021 spending bills and the National Defense Authorization Act.McCarthy had suggestions for how to resume committee activity while still practicing social distancing and other public health recommendations. Those included staggering committee meeting days, and not using some of the more cramped committee spaces but instead rotating the use of larger hearing rooms.It is imperative we outline a pathway forward that ensures transparency and regular order for all members not centralized decision-making by a select group of leadership and staff that reduces the role of representative to merely voting yea or nay on pre-drafted proposals, McCarthy wrote. As the world grapples with the coronavirus pandemic and historically low oil prices, the missile launch may signal a new willingness to take risks by Iran. Trump himself later tweeted he told the U.S. Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea, both raising energy prices and renewing the risk of conflict. The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Wednesday allowed its schools and special centres to conduct examinations via their preferred modeonline, offline or a combination of bothgiven the ongoing lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The winter semester was suspended midway in the University when the lockdown was announced on March 22. Ever since, there has been confusion over the completion of the semester and the mode of conducting examinations. JNU registrar Pramod Kumar on Wednesday said that the deans of all the 13 schools and chairpersons of the five special centres were asked to send their recommendations on how to complete the academic year and conduct exams. Each school and centre have given their own recommendation based on the needs of their students. The University has got these recommendations approved from its Academic Council (AC) online. Its been decided to allow the schools and special centres to hold semester examinations via their preferred mode keeping in mind the difficulties following the normal academic calendar and the mode of conducting exams amid the lockdown, he said. The schools and centres can consult their students and conduct online exams during the lockdown as well. Offline exams can only be held post lockdown, he added. As per the submitted recommendations, only five of 13 schools and one of the five special centres have decided to conduct examinations online. Among the schools that approved the online mode of examinations are School of Environmental Sciences, School of Computational and Integrative Sciences, School of Physical Sciences, School of Engineering and School of Management and Entrepreneurship. Besides, the Special Center for the Study of North-East India has also decided to hold online exams. Meanwhile, the largest schools in the University, including the School of Social Sciences, School of International Studies, School of Language Literature and Cultural Studies and School of Arts and Aesthetics, have recommended the extension of the semester and holding classes after the lockdown is lifted. Four to six weeks of teaching and personal engagement is essential to conclude the semester, whenever the lockdown ends. Examinations will be held at the end of that period, School of Arts and Aesthetics said in its recommendations. The School of International Studies said that it would decide the mode only after May. This matter may be deferred until May and depending on the situation, the school may either opt for the regular mode of examinations or online examinations. In the case of online examinations, course teachers may opt for open-book examinations or additional home assignments or provide a set of questions with the choice of attempting two or three. And in case of the regular mode of examinations, the evaluation process may be completed by the first week of August, it said in the submitted recommendations. The JNU Teachers Association (JNUTA), meanwhile, rejected the move, saying that the administration had not followed the due process to get it approved from the Academic Council. Not all members of the AC received this mail and neither did the JNUTA President or Secretary (it may be recalled that the University had not invited the JNUTA even for the previous meeting of the AC held on 6 February 2020). Further, instead of any opportunity for deliberation, AC members were only given the option of approving the agenda and that too in just a day, the teachers body said. JNU Students Union (JNUSU) vice president Saket Moon said that they reject the decision and said that the union members had not been asked for approval either. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Just days after hundreds of protesters converged on the state Capitol to oppose Gov. Gavin Newsoms stay-home order, the California Highway Patrol said it wont issue permits for further demonstrations on state property anywhere in California. The ban on large public events will remain in place until health officials decide its safe for people to gather in large groups given measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus, CHP officials said. In the interest of public safety and the health of all Californians during the COVID-19 pandemic, effective immediately the California Highway Patrol will deny any permit requests for events or activities at all state facilities, to include the state Capitol, until public health officials have determined it is safe to gather again, CHP Officer John Ortega told The Chronicle. On Monday, protesters with American flags and Make America Great Again hats crowded outside the Capitol in Sacramento to demand an end to the shelter-in-place order. A convoy of cars drove around the complex for hours as others cheered from the Capitol grounds. The protesters argued strict public-health orders which medical experts credit with slowing the spread of the coronavirus have unnecessarily forced people out of work and upended normal life. Stefanie Duncan Fetzer, an Orange County activist who helped plan the rally, said protesters are considering whether to file a lawsuit against the state, arguing the policy violates their right to freedom of speech. Its unfortunate that the CHP has opted to violate their oath of office by violating the Constitution, she said. Duncan Fetzer said the group has an application pending for a May 1 protest at the Capitol. She added, Were not going to change our plans. The CHP issued a permit for Mondays protest and troopers did not prevent attendees from gathering on the Capitol steps and lawn. Organizers placed a lectern, portable toilet and handwashing stations on the grounds for their event. On Wednesday, the CHP said the permit for Mondays protest was granted with an understanding that the event would respect public-health guidance. That is not what occurred (on Monday), and the CHP has taken that experience into account, Ortega said. He said the agency had denied a permit request for another protest that would have occurred Wednesday. If protesters gather on Capitol grounds without a permit, the CHP is prepared to issue citations and make arrests, Ortega said. Protesters are still allowed to be in their cars or gather on city sidewalks. Kevin Baker, director of legislative affairs for the American Civil Liberties Union of California, said while the organization staunchly defends free speech, its clear from a long body of case law that government may impose reasonable restrictions on the time, place and manner of speech. The question is whats reasonable under these conditions, he said. Baker said it appears the CHPs policy during the pandemic is content neutral and motivated by public-health concerns, but he questioned whether an indefinite ban on protests on all state property might go further than what is really needed. One group sponsoring Mondays rally, Operation Gridlock California, gave attendees conflicting instructions about social distancing on Facebook. On its event invitation, the group told protesters to STAY in your VEHICLES! Then, in an event flyer posted on Facebook, the group told protesters to park and join us on the west steps of the Capitol to demand that we reopen California. The demonstrations come as President Trump tweeted that people should liberate their states from stay-home orders. He has pushed to reopen the economy more quickly, and has clashed with governors. Dustin Gardiner is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dustin.gardiner@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dustingardiner Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Recently, State Grid Corporation of China released the construction plan of charging piles under the "New Infrastructure" projects. 2.7 billion yuan will be invested to build 78,000 new charging piles, including 53,000 for residential areas, 18,000 for public use and 7,000 for special use. In this context, Shanghai starts constructing the second phase of charging station project of Caolu bus parking lot. According to the plan, 162 charging terminals will be added to the project, which can serve 162 electric buses at the same time. Considering the 204 parking spaces in the first phase of the charging station, the parking lot can serve 366 electric buses at the same time, totally meeting the use requirements of green buses in Caolu parking lot. At present, the parking lot charges up 28,200 KWH per day and more than 10 million KWH throughout the year. According to State Grid Shanghai Municipal Electric Power Company, this year, Shanghai plans to add more than 3,000 new charging facilities, to build 2-kilometer quick charging circles in major urban areas, and realize the full coverage of charging stations in expressway service areas. The data shows that Shanghai has one charging pile for every 1.07 vehicles in terms of vehicle- pile ratio, which is higher than the national average of 3.29. By the end of 2019, China was in possession of about 1.22 million charging piles, including 520,000 for public use and 700,000 for private use, covering 404 cities across the country, and making it the largest network of charging facilities in the world. According to data released by the NDRC, the investment scale in charging pile construction is expected to reach RMB 10 billion in 2020. Besides, the number of charging piles will increase 50% by 600,000, of which about 200,000 for public use and 400,000 for private use. In addition to the State Grid, many enterprises, such as TELD, Star Charge and so on, are gradually increasing investment in charging pile infrastructure. If all the investment projects can be implemented smoothly, about 1.8 million charging piles will be built across the country by the end of 2020. [April 22, 2020] Esri User Conference 2020 to be a Virtual Event Today Esri, the world's largest mapping and GIS organization, announced that its Annual User Conference, normally held in San Diego, California, will move to a completely virtual format. This event will take place July 13-15, 2020. The Esri User Conference (Esri UC) began forty years ago at the organization's Redlands campus with only a handful of participants. This gathering is now the largest of its kind, bringing together technology innovators, executives, educators, scientists and many thousands of users seeking to solve challenges in their own organizations using Esri's advanced technology. "While not being together with our users and partners is a great disappointment to me personally, we are working hard to create an amazing event that will continue to move our community forward," said Jack Dangermond, Esri president. "I have watched the Esri UC grow, evolve and improve, and I know this year will be no exception. My sense is that this experience will help us all learn even more about what makes our community so special." Registration for the virtual Esri UC is complimentary for all Esri users. The virtual format will enable these users to allow an unlimited number of attendees from across their organizations to participate. Esri will ofer live components during the Plenary Session, Esri technical sessions, and the Esri Showcase, including opportunities for networking, collaboration, and real-time interaction with Esri experts. User presentations and perennial favorite, the Map Gallery, will be featured digitally. A library of recorded sessions and demos will be available as an ongoing resource. "I am inspired by the amazing work our users are doing in responding to COVID-19," continued Dangermond. "They are helping save lives and change the course of this pandemic. I appreciate their understanding and patience as we navigate this challenging moment, and I look forward to being with our user community in July." Learn more about the Virtual UC here. About Esri Esri, the global market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software, location intelligence, and mapping, offers the most powerful geospatial cloud available, to help customers unlock the full potential of data to improve operational and business results. Founded in 1969, Esri software is deployed in more than 350,000 organizations including 90 of the Fortune 100 companies, all 50 state governments, more than half of all counties (large and small), and 87 of the Forbes Top 100 Colleges in the US, as well as all 15 Executive Departments of the US Government and dozens of independent agencies. With its pioneering commitment to geospatial information technology, Esri engineers the most advanced solutions for digital transformation, the Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics. Visit us at esri.com. Copyright 2020 Esri. All rights reserved. Esri, the Esri globe logo, The Science of Where, esri.com, and @esri.com are trademarks, service marks, or registered marks of Esri in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products or services mentioned herein may be trademarks, service marks, or registered marks of their respective mark owners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005630/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Prince Harry has moved to Los Angeles to pursue a new life with wife Meghan Markle. However, his royal biographer said that the prince will not be very happy with that decision. A Hollywood Celebrity Biographer Angela Levin made the comment after Prince Harry was spotted out and about in Los Angeles for the first time since their move. "They've swapped royalty for celebrity," Levin said, referring to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's resignation as senior royals to live a more peaceful life. Levin spoke with Prince Harry in 2017 for Newsweek and soon after, she wrote "Harry: Conversations With The Prince". During their interview, Levin revealed that Harry told him one of the things he feared most of his public life. "Harry said one of the things he absolutely didn't want to do was be thought of like a celebrity," Levin shared. This was the time he was rumored to be dating Meghan Markle. Further on, Harry emphasized the difference between being a royal and being a celebrity. "He explained the difference, that celebrities can pick and choose when they want the press to be there but if you're a royal you're on duty 24/7," Levin revealed. At that time, Harry felt the enormous strength to remain dutiful to help the Queen and his father, Prince Charles. "Sadly, he is now doing what he most did not want to do," Levin added. Levin furthered that Harry will not be happy while living a celebrity life in Los Angeles, but he will see himself through it for his wife. He will do everything for Meghan as he felt guilty that he was not able to do enough for his mother, Princess Diana. He was only 12 when his mom died. "It stayed with him, so he's determined to make Meghan happy. I think he adores Meghan, he thinks she's absolutely wonderful," levin explained. However, Levin pointed out that Prince Harry might find himself struggling with mental health again if this continues. "But what's in it for him there? He's a marvelous people person and was marvelous in the military," Levin said. Prince Harry is away from his family living in a different country. He lost his military connections. What's next for him then? The Wild Chase The paparazzi were able to take photos of Harry and Meghan while they were hiking in California near their new home. It was their first public encounter since they decided to move to the U.S. from Canada. The images of the couple wearing their face masks while walking their dogs were also published by the British media. Mark Karloff, the man behind "Paparazzi Podcast," told Newsweek that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex could be wildly chased by the paparazzi. He also claimed that such chase could last for weeks, even though citings of the couple in Los Angeles are still rare. "When the heat is on they could get chased," Karloff said. He added that the interest would probably die down in the coming months unless Harry and Meghan do something really interesting. "They want to be in this limelight. There's a certain responsibility in terms of knowing what you're in for," Karloff added. Karloff also suggested that the couple take on their security seriously. however, he advised them to still be open to photographers taking their photos. "A good security adviser will say 'let them go about their business, they'll give you pictures here, they'll give you pictures there and that's it," Karloff explained. Karloff believes that the press is something that the royal couple could easily control if they wanted to. Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media A retired nurse who worked 20 years for a family medical practice in Manchester died with COVID-19 on April 15, her obituary said. Mary Eastwood graduated from Manchester High School and then attended Middlesex School of Nursing, according to her obituary. Paid leave will be provided for the partners of healthcare workers to assist with childcare issues in the home, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has confirmed. Mr Varadkar, speaking in Dublin on Wednesday, said that a proposal was considered yesterday by the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) on childcare for frontline workers which has two aspects. The first is to provide paid leave to the partners of healthcare workers. This would apply where the partner currently works in the public sector and would allow them to stay at home and provide childcare. That has been approved by NPHET so we can try and action that now over the next couple of weeks, Mr Varadkar said. However, those who are lone parents or whose partners do not work in public sector may have to wait until May 5 for support. It isnt an adequate answer for those who either are both healthcare workers or one is in the private sector and one is the public sector. The second piece which NPHET still has reservations about is using child minders to go into peoples homes. But thats now going to be considered as something that perhaps could kick in on May 5th as part of a general easing of restrictions. But theyre not happy for us to do it right now. Mr Varadkar also suggested that the last thing to be eased in terms of restrictions will be large gatherings. Reacting to the decision, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) said the new childcare plans for frontline health workers will do nothing for the vast majority of nurses and midwives. In a press statement, INMO general secretary, Phil Ni Sheaghdha, said the plans "will not resolve the issues faced by the vast majority of nurses and midwives," and that they offer "a limited solution only to those with partners in some public sector work." She said: For most of our members with childcare needs, this is worse than irrelevant. It actively discriminates against single parents and many modern families, who will still have the same problems in relation to childcare provision. "It cannot be ignored that over 90% of our members are women." Mr Varadkar also called on the European Union to do much more in helping individual countries deal with the fallout of the Covid-19 crisis. He was speaking ahead of a conference call of EU leaders tomorrow where a key decision on a response to the crisis is eagerly awaited but severe divisions among leaders remain. He said: I'd be strongly the view that Europe needs a much stronger economic response that we've had from the European Union to date. And that involves money. "And that's what we're going to have to talk about tomorrow how we can use the European Union's financial firepower to assist countries in real trouble, particularly Mediterranean, but also every country in European Union is going to need help to get their economies back on track. Mr Varadkar said there's a lot of proposals being made. Some people have put forward a proposal of using our existing European funding mechanisms, as opposed to being considered now that would allow the European Commission to borrow on behalf of the European Union as a whole if you like, that would free up money that could be used to stimulate economies and then be paid back at a European level, he said. But in an inherant criticism of Germany and Holland which have blocked proposals to help other countries, the Taoiseach said now is the time for Europe to stand together. But we are of course running into those same difficulties. But we always have when it comes to these questions, some countries not wanting to share a debt, some countries not wanting to pool our borrowing capacity, and Ireland is very much among those countries that believe that if there's ever a time for the European Union to stand together, ever time for us to assemble our firepower and to mutilise some debt, even if it's only for the purposes of the pandemic and healthcare, now is the time, he added. Additional reporting Ciaran Sunderland As Lebanons economy struggles amid coronavirus fallout, the parliament on Tuesday passed legislation to legalize cannabis cultivation for medical and industrial purposes, a move that is expected to generate revenue for the country. Lawmakers approved the bill during a parliament session held in a conference hall. The approval received the backing Hezbollahs allies including representatives of President Michel Aoun and parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri. The Shia movement opposed the proposal. With the vote, Lebanon becomes the first country in the Middle East to greenlight the cultivation of the herb that has been illegally cultivated in the eastern province of Bekaa, a Hezbollah stronghold. US Newsweek magazine quoted Hilal Khashan, a professor of political studies and public administration at the American University of Beirut, as saying that legalizing cannabis would not be nearly enough to address Lebanons economic concerns. He also voiced skepticism that the government would be able to successfully implement the law, given Hezbollahs opposition, said Newsweek. Hezbollah is a primary beneficiary of cannabis trafficking, Khashan told the US magazine. The only way for Hezbollah to accept the ratification of the law is to be directly involved in its implementationi.e., get its share from it, Hilal Khashan said. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime ranked Lebanon in 2018 among the worlds top five producers of cannabis. The move according to Bloomberg could generate as much as $1 billion in revenue a year. Former caretaker minister for economy and trade in July 2018 told the US-based media that the Lebanese marijuana is one of the best in the world. Mahmoud cleans a small mosque in Nasr City, east of Cairo. For 20 years he has spent his weekends doing so: the job supplements the income he earns during the week from his job as cleaning a government school in the same neighbourhood. As Ramadan draws near, Mahmoud would normally be working three rather than two days, doing what he calls the big annual clean-up to prepare the house of God for worshippers who turn out in larger numbers during Ramadan than the rest of the year. This year, though, he is doing only a quick clean-up. The government has already ordered places of worship to close to halt the spread of COVID-19 and in an official statement this week, the Ministry of Religious Endowments said no date had been set for the re-opening of mosques. A source at the Ministry of Endowments told Al-Ahram Weekly that the authorities are aware the continued closure of mosques will disappoint many Muslims for whom taraweeh, the Ramadan night prayers, are an essential part of the holy month, but opening mosques was out of the question given the circumstances. It is not the only disappointment coronavirus has brought. The popular umra (minor pilgrimage) has also been suspended this year as the authorities in Saudi Arabia seek to close the holy sites of Mecca and Medina to combat the spread of the virus. On 25 February Mohamed Sweifi, owner and manager of a company that runs umra and hajj tours, had to spend 24 hours managing the fallout from the sudden cancelation as several groups of his clients were preparing to embark on the umra. At the time, Sweifi thought it would take a couple of weeks for things to be back to normal. Many pilgrims who thought that they would be able to complete their pilgrimage in Ramadan are now reclaiming their deposits, resigned to the fact there is no telling when they will be able to undertake their trips. Its a difficult time. We have to refund travellers but we are also having problems collecting the money we deposited to book planes, hotels, buses and so on, Sweifi said. It is a problem the 1,700 travel companies that manage umra and hajj trips a multi-million pound business all face. We also need to plan for the future. We have no idea yet whether hajj trips will be going ahead, said Sweifi. While there has been no official decision from the Saudi authorities on the matter, the advice tourist companies in Egypt have received is to put all hajj plans on hold. Sweifi is realistic. He does not expect the 65,000 Egyptians who travel to Mecca and Medina each year for the hajj will all be going this year. If the Saudi authorities do permit the pilgrimage to go ahead, the numbers allowed to visit the holy sites will be reduced, most probably by two thirds at best, from the usual three million. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic goes way beyond the suspension of taraweeh and umra. Many informal workers have found themselves without work as the economy slows down. Laila, a housewife in her early 30s, would usually be gathering money from family and friends to provide hot meals, on every day of the holy month, to distribute to the homeless and others who have nowhere to go for Iftar. This year, Laila says she will not be able to distribute the meals given the risk of infection. It is really heartbreaking, she laments, to stop a tradition she has kept for 10 years. Laila has decided to contribute the money she has gathered to provide dry food rations to workers at cafes in her neighbourhood whose income has collapsed as a result of cafes closing. Not that it is as large a sum as usual. Laila says some of her friends have had to cut their contributions as the economic situation cuts into their own incomes. Meanwhile, the government has announced measures to lessen the impact of the economic downturn and help businesses to keep on paying their employees. The Ministry of Finance has announced a set of measures to mitigate the impact on exposed sectors, while the Ministry of Social Solidarity, in cooperation with leading charities, is working on a plan to offer support to informal workers. The Ministry of Supply is providing basic food items at its outlets at a 20 to 30 per cent discount. There are attempts by both the government and civil society to ease the pressure people will face in a month that is supposed to be marked by festivities but obviously this will not cover everyone, says Laila. Its going to be a very subdued Ramadan this year. At the Ministry of Health the fear is that observation of social distancing will relax during the month of Ramadan, leading to higher rates of COVID-19 infection. Decision-makers are aware that it will be harder for people to observe the full gamut of precautionary measures for a month than it was during the long Easter weekend. In a Safe Ramadan Practices advisory issued late last week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said cancelling social and religious gatherings should be seriously considered. The WHO advisory note added: A strong communication strategy is essential to explain to the population the reasons for decisions taken. Clear instructions should be given and the importance of following national policies reinforced. The communication strategy should also include proactive messaging on healthy behaviours during the pandemic and use different media platforms. Medical sources say that the current daily rate of fewer than 200 new positive cases and around 15 deaths could easily jump if people fall into traditional Ramadan socialising mode. The same sources expect Egypt hit the peak infection rate in mid to late May, ie towards the end of Ramadan and during the Eid holiday. They say the target is to secure a peak of 250 to 300 positive cases daily, and keep mortality at 15 deaths a day, for two weeks. If the figures are significantly higher than this, then the Ministry of Health will have no option but to ask the government to impose stricter measures. The beginning of the curfew is currently set at 8pm, about 90 minutes after the start of Iftar. This week the National Centre for Social and Criminological Studies (NCSC) issued the results of an opinion poll gauging the publics assessment of the governments handling of the crisis. Of the sample group of 140 people two thirds were content with the governments performance. The same proportion said they would support a total lockdown of 10 to 14 days to help reduce the infection rate. So far the government has not opted for a lockdown in the hope that guidelines on social distancing and other safety measures will be sufficient to keep the infection rate under control. However, Minister of State for Information Osama Heikal has warned on several occasions that if the public fails to observe the guidelines the authorities will have to impose stricter measures. *A version of this article appears in print in the 23 April, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: Welcome Guest! You Are Here: A man has been seriously injured following what gardai believe was a hit and run in Co Wexford. Gardai said that at around 8pm last night, they received reports of an altercation between a large group of males in progress at Fr. Murphy Park. Gardai discovered a man in his 40s lying on the ground outside Saint Senan's Primary School upon arrival. He was taken to Wexford General Hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries. Gardai said that following inquiries, it was reported that a silver Opel Meriva collided with the man at this location and then left the scene. Gardai said they are currently investigating the potential link between a burnt-out car on the South Slob in Wexford and the incidents at Fr Murphy Park and Saint Senan's Primary School. A man in his early 20s has been arrested in connection with this incident and is currently being detained at Wexford Garda Station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984. Gardai said a full investigation is currently underway at Enniscorthy Garda Station. Gardai at Enniscorthy are appealing for anyone with information in relation to these incidents to come forward. They are also appealing for any road users who may have camera footage (including dash-cam and footage from pedestrians) who were travelling in the area at the time to make this footage available to Gardai. Gardai are also appealing for any information regarding the movements of the Silver Opel Meriva which left the scene. Anyone with information is asked to contact Enniscorthy Garda Station on 053 9233534, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda Station. The medical equipment maker that President Donald Trump said he would order to ramp up coronavirus testing swab production is characterizing that relationship as a "partnership." Puritan Medical Products, a privately held manufacturer based in Maine, is taking steps to make tens of millions of the specialized cotton nasal swabs needed to expand testing capacities around the country. "It is a partnership between Puritan and the government," Timothy Templet, the company's executive vice president of global sales, told CNBC's Jim Cramer in a "Mad Money" interview Tuesday. "It will allow us to build a great amount of capacity within, hopefully, five to six weeks to supply a minimum of 20 million swabs per month and up to almost 50 million swabs per month." Trump announced Sunday that he planned to use the Defense Production Act to step up testing swab production to address shortages nationwide, though he did not name the entity. White House trade advisor Peter Navarro on Monday described the order as a means to provide federal funding for the project. Templet said in the interview that the company has hired nearly 50 people in the past three weeks to staff a new production facility. The plant can staff up to 130 workers and once the facility is fully operating, the family-owned business plans to implement an "automation scheme" to increase efficiency, he said. "I believe that what's happening is that the government is assuring that there's enough capacity of swabs to be shipped around the United States, but also support some of the other companies that use swabs in their point of care diagnostic test kits today, as well as independent laboratories," he said. This isn't the first time the Trump has used the Defense Production Act to compel companies to fulfill demands for much-needed medical supplies, such as ventilators. General Motors and General Electric are two companies that were a target of the DPA to manufacture supplies, though the industrial giants had previously announced plans to build equipment. Governors across the country and from both sides of the political aisle have said more testing capabilities were needed in order to satisfy efforts to reopen businesses. Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who leads one of the states hardest hit by Covid-19, in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" called on the White House to use the Defense Production Act for swab and reagent production purposes, saying daily testing could triple in the state if more supplies were available. Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, in an appearance on CNN's "State of the Union," said governors in each state have been "pushing and fighting and clawing" to expand testing capabilities. Puritan Medical expects to make a difference in the fight against coronavirus, Templet said. This effort "will put many millions of swabs in the market place over the next few months and we're not going to stop," he said. "We have the wherewithal to make many, many hundreds of millions of swabs and we're going to make it happen for the United States." Disclosure: Cramer's charitable trust owns shares of General Electric. Ruling Confirms the Belgian Court is to Finally Rule on the Matter NEW YORK, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On April 22, 2020, the High Court of Justice of London handed down its judgment in the matter of National Bank of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Kazakhstan v The Bank of New York Mellon, Anatolie Stati and Ors, arising out of an attachment obtained by the Stati parties in Belgium against assets of Kazakhstan's National Fund held under the custody of BNY Mellon (BNYM) in October 2017. The Stati parties secured this attachment in aid of their efforts to enforce a US$542 million arbitral award in various jurisdictions as a result of Kazakhstan's continued refusal to honor its payment obligations under the award. BNYM initially froze cash and securities worth US$22.6 billion comprising the entirety of National Fund assets held in its custody, which amount was subsequently reduced to US$530 million in May 2018 with the Stati parties' consent and in line with the then outstanding amount under the award. The assets in question were held by BNYM under a global custody agreement (the GCA) with the National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) governed by English law. Following a ruling from the Brussels Court of First Instance in May 2018 upholding the original Belgian attachment, questions relating to the GCA were referred by the Belgian court to the English courts, which in turn led to two-year-long proceedings culminating in today's ruling. Kazakhstan and NBK sought broad ranging declarations relating to the GCA, the relationship between Kazakhstan and NBK, the reasonableness of BNYM's position, the ultimate ownership of the assets held under the GCA, and whether the Stati parties had any claims under any system of law with respect to the frozen assets. In its judgment, the English court refused to grant the broad relief sought by Kazakhstan and NBK, instead granting narrow declarations concerning the GCA, in particular to the effect that, as a matter of English law, a debt under the GCA is payable to NBK. However, the court also found that "the Republic [of Kazakhstan] is ultimately beneficially entitled to the proceeds of the debt and has the right to require the NBK to make payments from the National Fund to enable demands on the Republic's budget to be met, which could of course include payment of the award in favour of the Stati Parties if the Republic so wished." This is consistent with the Stati parties' position that Kazakhstan could and should have paid the award. As part of its analysis, the court further noted that Kazakhstan's own expert on Kazakh law did not dispute the "autocratic" nature of the political regime in Kazakhstan allowing the President and Government of Kazakhstan to exert influence over the NBK. Paying due deference to the principle of comity, the English court agreed with the Stati parties' position that it cannot "purport to determine the outcome of the attachment or garnishment proceedings in Belgium," and will not therefore "prejudge the decision of the Belgian Court," by dismissing NBK's separate debt claim against BNYM for the entire value of the attachment (US$530 million plus interest). Anatolie Stati, CEO and sole shareholder of Ascom Group S.A., one of the award creditors, said: "This ruling confirms our long-held position that only courts in Belgium where a final hearing is scheduled for December 2020 should be the ultimate arbiter of the parties' dispute with respect to this particular attachment. This decision leaves the Belgian court to decide whether Kazakhstan's fully established ownership of National Fund assets and its beneficial entitlement to the proceeds of this particular attachment means that the Belgian attachment has a subject matter and whether the frozen assets in the hands of BNYM should therefore be available for handover to the award creditors in Belgium." In addition to the Belgian attachment, the Stati parties have successfully secured and maintain the benefit of various other attachments of Kazakh state property in the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Sweden, with the combined total value of all attachments worldwide exceeding US$6.25 billion. The English court's ruling is the latest development in the Stati parties' long-running battle to enforce the award for Kazakhstan's violations of the investor protection provisions of the Energy Charter Treaty. In December 2013, a Sweden based arbitration tribunal found that Kazakhstan had violated international law by failing to treat the Stati parties' investments in Kazakhstan fairly and equitably, and awarded the Stati parties more than US$500 million in damages, legal costs, and interest. The award has since been fully upheld by two tiers of the Swedish judiciary, including the Swedish Supreme Court. The claims originally arose out of Kazakhstan's seizure of the Stati parties' petroleum operations in 2010. The Stati parties acquired two companies in 1999 that held idle licenses in the Borankol and Tolkyn fields in Kazakhstan. They invested more than US$1 billion over the ensuing decade to turn the companies into successful exploration and production businesses. By late 2008, the businesses had become profitable and had yielded considerable revenues for the Kazakh state. Just as the Stati parties expected to start receiving dividends, more than half a dozen government agencies carried out multiple burdensome inspections and audits of the companies' businesses that resulted in false accusations of illegal conduct directed at the Stati parties and their Kazakh companies, including criminal prosecutions of their general managers on false pretenses. Kazakhstan's actions challenged the Stati parties' title to their investments, subjected them to hundreds of millions of dollars in unwarranted tax assessments and criminal penalties, and ultimately led to the seizure and nationalization of their investments by Kazakh authorities in July 2010. MEDIA CONTACTS Kimberly Macleod (917) 587-0069 [email protected] Chris Winans (908) 309-3959 [email protected] SOURCE Ascom Group S.A. Television actor Rashami Desai is disturbed by screenshots of her bank statements posted on social media. She says she had sent those screenshots to her accounting team after returning from Bigg Boss house. Earlier this week, a fan account of Rashamis had shared the screenshots on social media. The pictures shows how lakhs were transferred to the account of her former boyfriend and Bigg Boss co-contestant, Arhaan Khan, while she was on the show. In an interview to The Times of India, Rashami says Arhaan now owes her more then Rs 15 lakh. Why did Arhaan transfer my money into his account? Also, I dont know the people he has further transferred those funds to. Apart from the Rs 15 lakh that Arhaan has to pay me, as can be seen in the screenshots, he owes me more money, which he is refusing to return, she told the daily. Rashami added that she isnt the one to leak the statements online as if she had wanted to do so, she wouldnt have waited for so long. On the other hand, Arhaan accused Rashami of leaking the statements herself and added that money transferred in his name was legitimately owed to him. Rashami had set up a production house, which I had joined as a partner. I have invested equally, both financially and emotionally. Any transfer of funds is either my rightful profit or return of debt. Also, before making such allegations, it is to be noted that transfer of funds wouldnt have been possible had Rashami not given me signed cheques, he said. Arhaan said Rashami is doing it all to malign him. Its unfortunate that our relationship has reached a point of no return, he said. Also read: Extraction interview: Chris Hemsworth, director Sam Hargrave rave about genuinely great person Randeep Hooda Rashami and Arhaan were rumoured to be dating since before they joined Bigg Boss. They came closer of the show in the initial days, until host Salman Khan revealed to Rashami that Arhaan was not only divorced but also has a son. Rashami was shocked on hearing this and has maintained her distance since. I didnt expect him to hide such a big aspect of his life from me. It came as a shock; at one point, I contemplated leaving the show, as I wasnt able to handle it, she had said in an earlier interview. I believe that he used me emotionally, she added. Follow @htshowbiz for more (TNS) "Zoombombers invaded Mondays Legislative Council meeting, forcing the body to cancel it.As council members were logging into the meeting, troubleshooting technical difficulties, anonymous users began flooding the chat with racist, misogynistic, homophobic and anti-Semitic comments.Zoombombing refers to someone disrupting a meeting or online class using the Zoom webinar platform and sharing lanuage or images that are vulgar, violent, pornographic, racist or otherwise offensive.Some of the comments were generally racist and homophobic, but some of the comments were pointed at council members.Council President Michael McGarry canceled the meeting before it officially convened.Council members Brad Macdowall, D-At Large, and Justin Farmer, D-5, posted a joint statement on their Facebook pages after the meeting, addressing the Zoombombing.In addition to denouncing such hateful rhetoric, the Council must take responsibility and be more prepared, they said. This was avoidable, as the vulnerability was caused by a last-minute change to the meeting. After the attacks on Hamdens IT systems over the last year and a half and suffering the consequences of being unprepared, we ought to do better.The Town Hall was hit by a malware attack in October , making the computer system inaccessible for at least a week. A cyberattack then hit Hamden Public Schools , forcing the district to cut off email and Internet access for weeks.We have urged leadership to consult IT professionals including our internal IT Department and our Technology Commission on these matters in the future, Macdowall and Farmer said in their statement. It is imperative that we are protecting our infrastructure from these kinds of malicious attacks.We have to realize thes are unprecendented tiems and were dealing with things we havent before, McGarry said. Were dealing with things as they come the best we can.The council business that was on the agenda Monday was going to be taken up during the first public hearing on the mayors proposed budget initially set for Tuesday evening. Late Tuesday evening both meetings were rescheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m.Public input on the budget will be taken by email only sent to lcpublicinput@hamden.com. Residents must submit comments via email a half hour prior to the meeting and read into the record, according to an announcement Tuesday.All public comments will be posted on the town website.According to our IT department, who consulted Zoom, this is the best option to avoid the sort of abhorrent hate speech we were subjected to last night, McGarry said in an email to the Legislative Council and towns legal counsel Tuesday shortly after 6 p.m. I am truly sorry that this occurred, and am saddened that, with all the challenges we are faced with at this time, some people sought to use our meeting as a platform for obscene and hateful speech.Wednesdays public hearing on the Board of Education budget is scheduled to go forward, with public comment admissible only through the special email, the announcement said.This is far from a perfect solution, but seems to be the best way to still get public input, without subjecting the meeting to hate speech, McGarry said in the email.McGarry said they dont know whether the commenters were bots or live users.In planning for the meeting, which was set up as a webinar to give more control to the meeting host, McGarry said they thought that format would give them enough control to keep such attacks from happening, but it didnt so now theyre only accepting comments through email.That was the only way to be certain, he said.Also Monday, a planned public information caucus before the New Haven Board of Alders was hit when a person on the virtual meeting played material depicting child sexual abuse for several seconds before being removed.Earlier this month, a Madison juvenile was arrested and charged with creating a disruption during a New York virtual classroom with obscene gestures and language.In early April, the Cromwell Board of Finances budget public hearing/workshop was derailed when a user on the Zoom meeting drowned-out the board members by shouting an obscenity, and the Middletown Board of Education meeting was similarly hacked the day prior. The coronavirus facility at the Liacouras Center earlier this month. MaryAnn Tierney, chief of FEMA's Philadelphia-based district, says Philadelphia did a good job setting up the back-up center in case a flood of patients overwhelms local hospitals. Read more What is FEMA? The Federal Emergency Management Agency, best known for taking trailers and rations to Mississippi River floods, Texas tornadoes, and Atlantic hurricanes, is coordinating federal aid to states and cities during the mass closures of the coronavirus pandemic. Never before has every state been under a major disaster declaration, says MaryAnn Tierney, Philadelphia-based boss of the FEMA region that covers Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia, plus D.C. We have just over 3,000 people deployed to support COVID efforts nationally. How is FEMA doing? I have been personally frustrated at the [administrations] lack of clear coordination with our states around the deployment of our national stockpile of personal protective equipment and medical equipment, says U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware. He said his state, one of the smallest, had to scramble to arrange more supplies for hospitals and nursing homes as virus cases spread. I hear that from other senators and governors, added the senator. This may well exceed FEMAs scale. They are charged with responding to multiple regional disasters, but not a national disaster. At the end of February, two weeks before President Donald Trump declared a national emergency, state officials from across Tierneys district started asking about coronavirus preparations at a routine meeting in Washington. Everyone could see something significant was happening, Tierney said. She said state health and emergency officials brought coronavirus concerns to her staff outside the prepared agenda at that routine regional meeting. Tierney said states in this area have enough ventilators -- Pennsylvania hospitals had 3,637 available for use, more than twice as many as were in use, and Delaware has 543 available, as of April 13 -- but still lack some of the personal protective equipment health-care providers say they need. She laid out whats been done, and whats ahead. There are currently more than 5,100 ventilators in the system, and less than 1,500 are in use, confirmed Nate Wardle, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Still, the departments hospital needs list notes institutions expect to need an additional 1,000 ventilators, which have not yet been located. FEMA also takes credit for having secured a Battelle Decontamination System in Glen Mills to centralize cleaning of personal protective equipment from 29 large hospitals in the region. That system was just put on a truck and is heading to Glen Mills, confirmed Batelle spokeswoman Katy Delaney. in Columbus, Ohio. What are your priorities? The first one is supporting expansion of medical care capacity by helping hospitals add intensive-care unit sites, like the one built at Temples Liacouras Center without needing the Army Corps of Engineers design support that FEMA offered, Tierney said. Second, prioritizing and distributing personal protection equipment, and things like ventilators. FEMA is also supposed to check on the most vulnerable communities. Almost half the deaths in Pennsylvania have been in nursing homes, long-term care facilities, [and other] institutional settings wherever you have a group environment and the potential for the virus to spread quickly, Tierney said. Thats why schools were closed and some prisoners released. Why are there fewer cases, per population, in your five-state Philadelphia region than in New York, New Jersey, or Southern New England? Population density is a big factor in transmission. The virus spreads easily. New Jersey and New York City are extremely dense, Tierney said. In this region, people are staying home. They are helping stop the spread. We have data to support that. Her office cited data from a New York firm, Cuebiq.com HELP US REPORT: Are you a health-care worker, medical provider, government worker, patient, frontline worker, or other expert? We want to hear from you. What is FEMAs role in finding equipment the U.S. doesnt store or make? Through Project Airbridge, FEMA is covering the cost to fly distributors critical medical supplies into the U.S. from overseas factories, cutting shipment times from weeks to days, Tierney said. These are not manufactured in the United States. Of gloves, there is almost zero manufacturing in the United States. Being so reliant on foreign sources for personal protective equipment creates a challenge for us. So Project Airbridge is bringing things to the U.S. faster, and that costs more. So far, there have been 65 flights. FEMA sas it has collected more than 760,000 N95 respirators, 2.1 million thermometers, and other scarce foreign gear this way. How does FEMA decide who gets the equipment? Half go to FEMA [priority] areas, designated by case counts. The other 50% has to be fed into the supply chain for the manufacturers current customers. Is FEMA ready to recommend bigger U.S. stockpiles or incentives for domestic manufacturing so this doesnt happen again? Part of being good in emergency management is being good at continuous improvement. We take time to learn, for next time. But she deferred on policy recommendations. This is so unprecedented. The supply chain will require analysis. And the demand is so large. Everyone wants the same five to 10 things at a time. Havent we learned anything you can share? A month in, the requests have gotten more refined and more driven by data. All FEMA regions have asked states to identify their critical needs and to support that. Weve worked with all states in Region 3 to see how much they have on hand, how much they are using, and their 10- to 14-day requirements. Do they need additional support? Can the federal government support them, yes or no? If we cant support their request, they need to find an alternative. Are there enough ventilators for patients who cant breathe on their own? I get a report every day [on ventilator use and expected needs]. Now that Ive seen that for two or three weeks, you can see if something pops out as abnormal. Right now there isnt a state in Region 3 that has a critical ventilator need. Is that true for personal protective equipment, as well? PPE is scarce. Everybody needs it. In particular, surgical gowns. Pennsylvania has asked for gowns. With N95 masks, I feel we have leveled off. Surgical masks are more in the supply chain the last couple of weeks. I wont tell you we are fine you can find people that are not fine. There are shortages. Nonprofit food suppliers and food prep agencies say they are busier than ever. Food is a huge issue, as part of coronavirus. Pennsylvania has experienced that. (As of April 20, FEMA had delivered 900,000 ready-to-eat or stable-shelf-like meals to Pennsylvania food banks and providers, enough to feed 15,000 people twice a day for a month, and is reimbursing some other food costs.) If new cases are slowing, what are FEMAs next priorities? Economic recovery and mental health. And we have to be ready for hurricane season, which is less than 45 days away. [April 22, 2020] Remotely Operated Vehicles Market Size, Share, Analysis, Growth, Trend, Forecast 2023 Overview: Remotely Operated Vehicles Market is expected to spring by 10.51% CAGR during the forecast period (2018-2023) and scale to a worth of USD 3,127.7 million by 2023. Reports published by Market Research Future (MRFR) has a detailed analysis of segments and factors that can influence the market growth in the foreseeable future. The remotely operated vehicles work with an operator panel that holds cables. These cables transmit signals and enable the vehicle to perform under the guidance of a controller sitting far away. Among the factors that can significantly impact the remotely operated vehicles market growth, military & defense, along with oil & gas exploration score high. Many scientific types of research to understand environmental changes are also promoting the remotely operated vehicles market considerably. The naval sector also uses technology to maintain ships and monitor any unwanted prying. With growing sea border dispute, the remotely operated vehicles (ROV) market is going to enjoy sufficient tailwinds. Despite such benefits, the remotely operated vehicles market can get plateaued by the high prices associated with it and shortage in expert operators. But the future holds prospect for the remotely operated vehicles market. The advent of 3D printing technology can curb the production cost and simplify the remotely operated vehicles market proliferation. Segmentation: The global remotely operated vehicles (ROV) market can be segmented by industry, system component, and vehicle type. Industry-wise, the remotely operated vehicles market includes oil & gas application, military & defense, scientific research, others. Oil & gas segment can be segmented into drilling support, construction support, inspection, repair, and maintenance, and others. The segment had the maximum market share and was valued at USD 837 million which can go up to USD 1,477.3 million by 2023. Military & defense can be segmented into explosive ordnance disposal, hull inspections, ballast tank inspections, and search & rescue operations. The segment can record the fasts CAGR of 11.57% during the forecast period. Based on system component, the remotely operated vehicles (ROV) market can be segmented into electronics & control systems, frame & propulsion, camera & lighting systems, and others. Electronics & control systems can climb up to USD 1,237.2 million by 2023 while maintaining the highest CAGR of 11.02% over the review period. Bon the basis of vehicle type, the remotely operated vehicles market comprises observation vehicle, work class vehicle, and towed & bottom-crawling vehicle. Work class vehicle includes light work-class, medium work-class, and heavy work-class. Observation vehicle segment has the maximum market value and can scale USD 1,415.6 million valuation during the assessment period. Key Competitors: Prominent players included in the report of the remotely operated vehicles market are DeepOcean Group, Inc. (the Netherlands), Teledyne Technologies Incorporation (the U.S.), TechnipFMC PLC (the U.K.), Subsea 7 (the U.K.), Oceaneering International Inc. (the U.S.), Fugro (the Netherlands), Saab AB (Sweden), DOF ASA (Norway), Sapura Energy Berhad (Malaysia), and Helix ESG (the U.S.). The remotely operated vehicles market is benefitting much from the strategies implemented by the market titans. These strategies include mergers, acquisitions, collaborations, product launches, and others. In August 2018, Fugro introduced a new bathymetric LiDAR system known as RAMMS that has superior mapping technology. In January 2018, Saab AB inked a deal with Sabertooth, where they have promised to deliver autonomously operated vehicles that would be essential for survey and intervention work. Browse Full Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/remotely-operated-vehicle-market-7023 As a community-building service, TMCnet allows user submitted content which is not always proofed by TMCnet editors. If you feel this entry is of inferior quality or wish to report it for some reason, please forward the URL to "webedit [AT] tmcnet [DOT] com" with your comments. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Stephen Hawkings family have donated his ventilator to a hospital to help cope with the influx of coronavirus patients, Cambridgeshire Live reports. The family of the late University of Cambridge theoretical physicist have donated their fathers ventilator to Royal Papworth Hospital as it cares for increasing numbers of patients with Covid-19. With increasing numbers of patients being hospitalised with the virus, which can cause severe respiratory problems, the hospital has expanded its critical care department to more than double its usual size. Mr Hawkings daughter Lucy said: Our father received brilliant, dedicated and compassionate medical care from both Royal Papworth and Addenbrookes hospitals in Cambridge. As a ventilated patient, Royal Papworth was incredibly important to my father and helped him through some very difficult times. We realised that it would be at the forefront of the Covid-19 epidemic and got in touch with some of our old friends there to ask if we could help. The hospital has received additional supplies of ventilators from the NHS but has added the ventilator donated by the Hawking family to its fleet, after an inspection by the hospitals clinical engineering team. Ms Hawking added: After our father passed away, we returned all the medical equipment he used that belonged to the NHS but there were some items which he bought for himself. (Newser) The US Military Academy at West Point has confirmed that this year's graduation will go ahead, with graduates present and President Trump as the commencement speakerbut it's not sure how big the ceremony will be. The academy in New York state said the event, which has been moved from May 23 to June 13, will "look different from recent graduation ceremonies due to current force health protection requirements," Lohud reports. Vice President Mike Pence, who was last year's West Point graduation speaker, addressed graduates of the Air Force Academy in Colorado on Saturday, but no spectators, including family members, were allowed, reports the Hill. Graduates sat 8 feet apart. story continues below "They'll have some big distance, so it'll look very different than it ever looked," Trump said during a White House press briefing Friday, per CNN. He said that while he doesn't like the way a socially distanced crowd looks, "eventually, next year, they'll have a commencement like it's been ... nice and tight." He added: "I dont want people to think that it's going to be like this forever. But, for a period of time, we're going to have to keep it that way." This will be Trump's first speech at the institution. (Barack Obama delivered the graduation speech in 2014.) Gunman kills 9 in Lebanese village: A gunman fatally shot nine people, including five Syrians, and left their bodies in several locations in a mountain village southeast of Lebanon's capital, Beirut, the prime minister and state news and said. A motive for the killings was not known, said the state-run National News Agency. It said the shooter fled to nearby fields and was being chased by security forces. Such shootings in Lebanon, where many people keep rifles or pistols in their homes, are rare. Lebanon is home to more than a million Syrian refugees and other Syrians who are residents. The shooting comes as Lebanon experiences its worst economic and financial crisis in decades. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 20:03:36|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MADRID, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Three members of the Islamic State (IS), including one described as "one of the most wanted foreign fighters", have been arrested in the city of Almeria in southern Spain, Spain's Interior Ministry confirmed. The ministry said on Tuesday evening that the fighter had been in the "Syria-Iraq conflict zone for several years and had very peculiar personality traits, such as an extremely violent criminal profile." It added that "part of his trajectory in DAESH (its Arabic-language acronym) has been shown in diverse audio-visual media and written press... showing images, some of extreme violence, of his crimes in the conflict zone." Although the ministry has not given any further details about the fighter except for that he is "Egyptian", British media reports said the man is Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, a rapper from London. The Spanish National Police said they are still working to identify the other two detainees and to try and discover if "they too are terrorists returned from Syria," or if they were providing him with "logistical support." Police explained they received information that Abdel Bary had entered Spain illegally from North Africa and that while he and his companions were living in Almeria, they had "adapted their behavior to the circumstances of the 'State of Alarm' as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, making few exits, separately, and always with masks to avoid being detected." Enditem While filming for his new movie Extraction in India before the coronavirus pandemic, Hemsworth captured an enthusiastic fan following his car through traffic-filled streets on a motorbike. Hemsworth took to Instagram on Tuesday and shared a video with the caption, Persistence pays off - not only did this guy get an autograph, but he also does all my motorbike stunts from now on. Instagram/ChrisHemsworth In the video, Hemsworth can be seen riding in the back of his car, while a man on a motorcycle chases the actors vehicle. The man keeps holding up a printed picture of the actor requesting him to autograph it. 'Yes mate, not in the middle of the traffic though,' the 36-year-old said as he watched the man keep up with his vehicle despite various obstacles in his path. Chris was then surprised to see the fan return with friends. 'Please, you're gonna crash!' he pleaded. Once the actors car stopped, he made it a point to autograph the fans picture, and pose for photos. Scenes for the actor's upcoming movie Extraction were shot in Ahmedabad and Mumbai in India and Dhaka. His Avengers: Endgame co-director Joe Russo said India is a beautiful country but its locales have rarely been tapped in modern international action films. "India is a beautiful country. It is also rarely seen in a modern international action film. Some beautiful cultural aspects of the story would be enriched by setting in India and it does really pay off beautifully in the film," Joe said in a video released by Netflix ahead of the film's release. Originally titled Dhaka, the film revolves around Tyler Rake (played by Chris 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. It has been shot extensively in India, along with other places around the world. It is directed by Sam Hargrave. China and the United States need a serious rethinking of their relationship as the Covid-19 pandemic shakes up global politics and ties between the worlds two biggest economies, the Chinese ambassador to the U.S. said. In the face of shared vulnerability amid the outbreak, China and the U.S. should think hard about where our true common interests lie and how should we define a relationship, Ambassador Cui Tiankai said Tuesday during a Bloomberg New Economy webcast. Hopefully this pandemic will teach all of us a good lesson, he said. The relationship should be based on a more realistic, forward-looking foundation, the ambassador said. Cui, 67, has been Chinas ambassador to the U.S. since 2013. Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump pledged unity and cooperation in the fight against the epidemic March 27 in their most recent phone conversation. However, tensions between the countries continued mounting as American leaders accused China of covering up the outbreak. China denied the allegations and said it shared information about the virus in a transparent and timely manner. At the same event, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the U.S.-China relationship is now in fundamental disrepair as the machinery that previously existed through the strategic and economic dialogue has virtually been rendered redundant. The best we can hope for is a tactical pause in the hostilities while the strategic dimensions of the relationship continue to unravel, Rudd said. Cui disagreed. I should be hoping for more than just a pause in tensions, but really a serious rethinking of the very foundations of this important relationship, he said. The Chinese ambassador recently raised his voice cautioning about the bilateral relationship. In an opinion piece published earlier this month in The New York Times, Cui called on the two countries to avoid blaming each other in the novel coronavirus outbreak and instead to lead international efforts fighting the pandemic. Cui, a career diplomat with a law degree, did a year of post-graduate study at Johns Hopkins University in 1986-1987, according to his embassy profile. China always stands for dialogue and is supportive and open to all kinds of mechanisms for bilateral cooperation, Cui said Tuesday. Fortunately at the top level, there has been a good working relationship between the two presidents, Cui said. But of course we have to do more at lower levels. Chinese and American officials have worked closely over the past couple of years to resolve trade disputes and set up the phase one trade agreement. But there is still a need for more political dialogue and other cooperation, Cui said. The ambassador defended China over transparency claims in the outbreak. The country informed the World Health Organization of the unknown virus Jan. 3 and communicated with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention the next day, he said. We have shared everything we learned with the WHO and with the medical communities of other countries, including the U.S., Cui said. I think we are doing our best to have transparency. People have to see the fact that this is a new virus we are still learning, said Cui. We are discovering, we're learning and at the same time we're sharing. Government officials, business leaders and medical professionals from the two countries have maintained close communications amid the outbreak, he said. As the epicenter shifts to the U.S., the Chinese embassy has been in almost daily contact with the U.S. trying to facilitate the flow of medical supplies from China to the U.S. China has so far supplied the United States with more than 1.4 billion facial masks, Cui said. Cui said he is more worried that some U.S. politicians are not paying enough attention to views from scientists but are preoccupied in their efforts for stigmatization and groundless accusation. He said hes concerned with the anything-but-China mindset. I think we have to really make a distinction between some of the people who are narrowly politically motivated on the one hand, and the Chinese and American people on the other hand, Cui said in response to questions about rising online rhetoric between the two countries demonizing each other. I can see deep-rooted friendly sentiments between the two peoples, Cui said. I still trust this. And hopefully the wish of the people would eventually prevail. Its a myth that China has taken advantage of the U.S. and that its development has been at the expense of the U.S., Cui said. If you look at the history of the past four decades or so, it's clear both countries benefited from a normalized and developing China-U.S. relationship, the ambassador said. If our two countries can cooperate with each other, both will benefit. If we have confrontation, both would lose. Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bobsimison@caixin.com) Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 15:26:28|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TASHKENT, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Uzbekistan's foreign trade turnover in the first quarter of 2020 amounted to 8.1 billion U.S. dollars, decreasing by 924 million dollars compared to the same period of 2019, the State Statistics Committee said Wednesday. For the same period, foreign trade deficit decreased to $1.39 billion from $1.49 billion in 2019, it said. Uzbekistan's exports fell 10.9 percent to 3.37 billion dollars, while imports dropped 9.7 percent to 4.76 billion dollars, the committee said. Enditem Aadhithya MS By Express News Service TIRUCHY: For senior citizens like V Pakkiyam (69) of Aumaravayalur and Suppan (85) of Palayam who hold single-member ration cards, the lockdown is more challenging than it is for others. They have to cope without the monthly provision of 4 kg rice to which they are entitled. Considering they are not eligible to receive lockdown aid and other groceries provided to family ration cardholders, they said this is now a cause for worry. As many as 500 elderly persons in Tiruchy are reportedly not receiving the rice, allegedly due a procedural issue with the online database. They said with prices of groceries going up during the lockdown, they are finding it hard to manage their needs without the rice supply. They also appealed for other groceries to be made available to them during the lockdown. Senior citizens with the cards were being given Rs 1,000 in financial aid and 4 kg rice a month to meet their daily needs through the Civil Supplies department. But many in Tiruchy complained they have not been receiving rice for the past three years. When they made enquiries with ration shops, they were told their names have not been inputted into their online database. Pakkiyam said, The Rs 1,000 is not enough to meet even medicine needs. Most elderly persons have other health complications, requiring different medicines. Not getting the rice we are supposed to has also greatly affected us. Aiylai Sivasuriyan of Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam said, They have no support and are greatly dependent on the rice. When even this is denied, expecting them to cope, particularly during this lockdown, is a tall order. There should be a permanent solution". The senior citizens have also appealed to consider increasing the rice provided to 10 kg, as they use up at least 300 gm a day to cook. They also asked for them to be included in welfare schemes announced during the lockdown like provision of groceries from ration cards. A Civil Supplies department official told The New Indian Express, We have taken efforts to ensure all beneficiaries receive the rice. Of nearly one lakh beneficiaries, the 500 have been identified. This issue has been forwarded to Chennai and would soon be resolved. (Newser) Walt Disney heir Abigail Disney isn't one known for holding her tongue. But that's exactly what she says she's been doinguntil Tuesday. The granddaughter of the company's co-founder Roy Disney took to Twitter to explain she had been staying quiet "on the theory that a pandemic is no time to be calling people out on anything other than failing us in a public health sense. ... But I feel a thread coming on...." Her words appeared above a retweet of a Sunday tweet from Lisa Abramowicz pointing out that Disney is furloughing more than 100,000 employees"even as it protects executive bonus schemes and a $1.5 billion dividend payment due in July." Disney's second tweet begins: "WHAT THE ACTUAL F***?????" The Guardian reports she observes that the dividend payout would cover 3 months of salary for the company's frontline workers. story continues below But over the course of 25 tweets, she goes hardest on the topic of bonuses, writing "This is why I was quiet in March when executives at the company made a big pr push to call attention to the fact that they were giving up a portion of their salaries for the year. I told people to wait until we heard about the rest of the compensation package, since salary is a drop in the bucket to these guys. The real payday is in the rest of the package." More: She later writes, "THIS COMPANY MUST DO BETTER. Disney faces a rough couple of years, to be sure. The challenges are existential, even. But that does not constitute permission to continue pillaging and rampaging by management. In fact, if a bonus reflects performance, we might want to claw back some of those millions given how they've managed cash." Disney's recommendation: "Just give up SOME of your already ample compensation, especially this year. Give up, god forbid two or three basis points on the annual return. Analysts will shout and scream and have little temper tantrums. Who cares. You are bigger than they are. And as the biggest, most exceptional, most iconic guy in town, you could CHOOSE TO LEAD. If you do, who knows who would follow you." Her final words: "BE DECENT." (Read more Abigail Disney stories.) Dublin, April 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Taiwan Telecoms Report - 2020-2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Globally, the telecommunications sector is proving to be a core and essential infrastructure service to national economies, with data infrastructure becoming critical in a connected world and will likely increasingly attract a new class of investors such as large infrastructure funds. The publisher expects the Taiwanese telecommunications industry to remain steady thanks to the defensiveness nature of the industry, amid the political uncertainties and an uncertain economic outlook due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This report provides analyses of revenue and market forecasts as well as statistics of the Taiwan telecoms industry including market sizing, 5-year forecasts, market insights, key telecom trends, 5G and also features the following: Overall Telecommunications Market by Major Operators Telco Operators Profile, Revenue and EBITDA Mix Mobile Subscribers & Revenue Market Overview and Forecasts Spectrum Holdings IoT Market Overview Broadband Subscribers & Revenue Market Overview and Forecasts National Broadband Network Detailed Market Overview and Forecasts Thematics / Opportunities relating to 5G, M&A and e-Commerce Telecoms Infrastructure Review Telco M&A Transaction Database Why you should buy Benefit from the latest market opportunities Understand the threats to your operations and investments and protect your company against future risks Gain insights on emerging trends supporting, enhancing or disrupting your activities in the market Get a full view of the competitive landscape to assess your market position. Forecasts as a key input for successful budgeting and strategic business planning in the telecoms market Target business opportunities and risks in the telecoms sector through our reviews of latest industry trends, regulatory changes and major deals, projects and investments Assess the activities, strategy and market position of your competitors, partners and clients via our Operators Profiles Story continues With already a saturated mobile phone penetration and fixed broadband take-up among households, future growth is likely to remain subdued with a declining working population and an aging population over the long term. The publisher forecasts that mobile subscriptions will continue to grow in the 2019-25 period and fixed broadband subscribers will also continue to grow but lower its household penetration over the same period due to fixed-wireless substitution. The ratio of the telecommunications sector revenue to GDP is declining from a peak in 2015, sliding down every year since then. Following the market contraction over the last 5 years, the publisher forecasts flat revenue growth to 2025, as long as data pricing stays rational amid the diminishing impact of declining legacy voice and SMS revenue. Mobile subscriptions ares growing faster than mobile service revenue leading to ARPU decline after 3 years of intense competition with the market transitioned completely transitioned to 4G after shutting down 2G and 3G networks in 2017 and 2019 respectively. The publisher expects the overall telecoms market to remain flat through to 2025 after a marked decline from 2016 due to mobile service revenue pressure partially offset by fixed broadband and enterprise data growth. Capex Investments The Capex to GDP ratio peaked in 2014 and has been sliding since, to its lowest in 2019. Capex investments will increase again from 2020 through to 2025, as mobile operators invest in 5G, bolster their 4G coverage and increase capacity to fulfil strong data demand, increasing again Capex to Sales Ratio. Operator Profiles Most operators maintained EBITDA margins at the expense of revenue growth with Chunghwa losing the most share while Far EasTone and Taiwan Mobile also losing mobile service revenue share in the 2014-2019 period at the expense of Asia Pacific Telecom and Taiwan Star. Mobile Subscribers and Revenue As the rate of growth of net additions in mobile subscriptions slows, telecommunications providers are channelling their efforts into reducing their cost base and stabilising ARPU through new value-added services using mobile data and bundling fixed and mobile services. The proportion of postpaid subscriptions remained stable at about 80% between 2014 and 2019 while the postpaid segment is growing in popularity with SIM-only offerings and reducing the number of people holding multiples SIMs. According to our benchmark study of mobile data pricing, India has the lowest rate per GB at just a few cents per GB, while Australia and China had the biggest cost reduction per GB mostly due to increased data allowance in plans while Singapore remains expensive. Taiwan mobile users pay for competitively priced data as mobile users recorded the largest monthly download in the Asia Pacific region. Broadband Subscribers - FTTH Push and Fixed Wireless The fixed broadband market is experiencing a subdued growth with Chunghwa Telecom losing share to HFC cable operators such as KBro, Taiwan Mobile, TBC and CNS. Chunghwa Telecom invested early in the 2010s in FTTx technologies while migrating its DSL subscribers to its HiNet network. Competing cable operators also invested in upgrading their cable networks bundling mobile, IPTV and e-Commerce services but falling short of upgrading to full-fibre networks limiting opportunities for gigabit speeds. Fixed broadband penetration is forecasted to decline as fixed-wireless substitution is increasing supporting a rising number of lone-occupancy households. Thematics - Telecoms Infrastructure / 5G / M&A / Infrastructure Infrastructure funds, pension funds and government funds are assigning high valuation multiples to telecommunications infrastructure assets such as mobile towers, data centres, submarine cable and fibre infrastructure. Investment funds are assigning high valuation multiples to telecommunications infrastructure assets such as mobile towers, data centres, submarine cable and fibre infrastructure. This report outlines some real market examples of how investors view and value these investments with real industry examples and EV/EBITDA comparatives and benchmarks. However, in the medium term, the telco sector is likely to experience some corporate activity. Subdued growth due to ARPU pressure compounded by low population growth is pushing telcos to look for outside opportunities to increase scale. The publisher expects a wave of consolidation in Taiwan in both the mobile and fixed broadband market, after some failed merger of cable operators. The arrival of 4G moved the Internet off our desktops into our palms and pockets, 5G could transform the network from something we carry around to something taking us around either virtually (augmented reality or virtual reality) or in reality (autonomous vehicles), the 5G outcome and benefits beyond fast connectivity remain largely unknown in terms of business models, investments required and timeline. Key Topics Covered: 1 Key Statistics 1.1 Taiwan Population 1.2 Taiwan Households 1.3 Taiwan's GDP 2 Overall Telecommunications Market, 2014-2025 2.1 Market Overview 2.2 Historical Telecommunications Market Revenue, 2014-2019 2.3 Overall Telecommunications Market Forecast, 2018-2025 2.4 Telecommunications Market Capital Expenditure, 2014-2025 2.4.1 Historical Telecommunications Capex Spend, 2014-2019 2.4.2 Capex to Revenue Country Benchmark 2.4.3 Capex to GDP Benchmark 2.4.4 Telecommunications Capex Spend Forecast, 2018-2025 3 Telecommunications Operators Profile 3.1 Chunghwa Telecom Profile 3.1.1 Chunghwa Telecom Revenue and EBITDA Mix 3.2 Far EasTone Profile 3.2.1 Far EasTone Revenue and EBITDA Mix 3.1 Taiwan Mobile Profile 3.1.1 Taiwan Mobile Revenue and EBITDA Mix 3.2 Asia Pacific Telecom Profile 3.2.1 Asia Pacific Telecom Revenue and EBITDA Mix 3.3 OTher Operators Profile 3.3.1 Taiwan Star 3.3.2 KBro 3.3.3 China Network Systems (CNS) 3.3.4 Taiwan Broadband Communications (TBC) 4 Mobile Market 4.1 Mobile Subscribers Historical and Forecast, 2014-2025 4.1.1 Mobile Subscribers Historical, 2014-2019 4.1.2 Mobile Subscribers Market Share, 2014-2019 4.1.3 Taiwan Smartphone Share, 2019 4.1.4 Taiwan Mobile Subscribers Forecast, 2019-2025 4.2 Mobile Revenue Historical and Forecast, 2014-2025 4.2.1 Historical Taiwan Mobile Service Revenue, 2014-2019 4.2.2 Mobile Service Revenue Forecast, 2018-2025 4.2.3 Mobile Subscribers ARPU, 2014-2019 4.3 Spectrum Holdings 4.3.1 Existing Spectrum Holdings 4.3.2 5G Trials and 5G Auctions Results 4.3.3 Mobile Frequencies Portfolios Analysis 4.3.1 Spectrum Depth Benchmark by Country 4.4 Mobile Download Data and Pricing Trends 4.5 Mobile Speed Tests 4.5.1 Ookla Mobile Speed Tests 4.6 Internet of Things (IoT) 5 Broadband Market 5.1 Fixed Broadband Subscribers Historical, 2014-2019 5.2 Fixed Broadband Subscribers Forecast, 2018-2025 6 Telecommunications Infrastructure Investments 6.1 Fixed Infrastructure 6.1.1 Government Plans and Policies 6.1.2 Submarine Cables 6.2 Mobile Tower Infrastructure Landscape 6.2.1 Getting Ready for 5G 6.3 Telco Infrastructure Comparative 7 Thematics / Opportunities 7.1 Going for Scale 7.2 Going for Scope 7.2.1 e-Commerce 7.2.2 Digital Payments 7.3 New Telecoms Operating Model 7.3.1 The Attraction of Infrastructure Multiples 7.4 5G versus Fixed 7.4.1 5G Overview 7.4.2 5G: Relative Capex Investments and Frequency Range 7.4.3 Fixed Broadband Networks Doing the Heavy Lifting Long Term 8 Telco M&A Transaction Database 9 Methodology 10 Copyright Notice Companies Mentioned Asia Pacific Telecom (APT) China Network Systems (CNS) Chunghwa Telecom Far EasTone Kbro National Communications Commission (NCC) Taiwan Mobile Taiwan Broadband Communications (TBC) Taiwan Star (T Star) For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/p2i6vq Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 Washington, April 22 : Missouri became the first US state to sue the Chinese government over the novel coronavirus outbreak, citing it as "an appalling campaign of deceit". The civil lawsuit was filed on Tuesday in a federal court by GOP state Attorney General Eric Schmitt, claiming Chinese officials are "responsible for the enormous death, suffering, and economic losses they inflicted on the world, including Missourians", reported usatoday.com "The Chinese government lied to the world about the danger and contagious nature of COVID-19, silenced whistleblowers, and did little to stop the spread of the disease," said Schmitt who is seeking damages. "They must be held accountable for their actions." Schmitt said Chinese officials and others, including laboratories and China's Communist Party, were all "engaged in misrepresentations, concealment, and retaliation to conceal the gravity and seriousness of the COVID-19 outbreak from the rest of the world." The number of Missouri deaths statewide rose to 215 on Tuesday, according to Johns Hopkins University. The total number of cases rose to 5,963. "In Missouri, the impact of the virus is very real - thousands have been infected and many have died, families have been separated from dying loved ones, small businesses are shuttering their doors, and those living paycheck to paycheck are struggling to put food on their table," Schmitt said. The lawsuit additionally accuses the Chinese government of making the COVID-19 pandemic worse by "hoarding" personal protective equipment, like masks. Jonathan Turley, a constitutional law professor at George Washington University who was the sole witness called by Republicans before the Judiciary Committee in the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, explained that "Such lawsuits are exceptionally difficult," as China is protected by sovereign immunity. Indian refiners have started exporting commodities like diesel, a large share of which is going to China, where economy is on a recovery path. This comes as fuel sales have dropped by more than half and product storage facilities are getting exhausted. According to reports, the demand for diesel for the first half of April dropped 61 per cent compared to the same time last year in India. On the other hand, China is seeing a demand recovery in infrastructure and manufacturing sectors. Apart from China, countries, like South Korea and Japan, have also placed quotes for importing ... Den Networks hit an upper-circuit of 5% at Rs 41 on BSE after consolidated net profit rose 8.06% to Rs 24.66 crore on a 20.02% jump in net sales to Rs 327.80 crore in Q4 March 2020 over Q4 March 2019. On a consolidated basis, revenue from cable network distribution business grew 21.58% to Rs 310.18 crore in Q4 March 2020 compared with Rs 255.11 crore in Q4 March 2019. Revenue from broadband business declined 2.11% to Rs 17.61 crore in Q4 March 2020 as against Rs 17.99 crore in Q4 March 2019. The result was declared after trading hours yesterday, 21 April 2020. Consolidated net profit stood at Rs 69.96 crore for the year ended on 31 March 2020 (FY20) compared with net loss of Rs 277.48 crore in the year ended as on 31 March 2019 (FY19). Net sales rose 7.08% to Rs 1,291.45 crore in FY20 over FY19. Den Networks is a cable TV distribution company incorporated in 2007 and headquartered in New Delhi. It provides a wide gamut of services including Cable TV and Broadband. DEN's Cable & Broadband operations cover over 500 cities and towns across 13 key states, i.e. Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Kerala, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Its a question that many have wondered, but few have asked aloud: can farting spread the coronavirus? According to a report in the New York Post, several doctors have tried to tackle that question both on social media and in a podcast, discussing whether or not flatulence has the possibility of spreading COVID-19. On Twitter, Andy Tagg, an emergency physician at Western Health in California, posted a thread diving into whether farts can carry the virus, and found that while there wasnt much research on the subject, the only study found that farting without pants on could potentially be risky. Is farting an aerosol-generating procedure? A tweetorial pic.twitter.com/XOuMzNXSQp Andy Tagg (@andrewjtagg) April 6, 2020 The New York Post reported that on a podcast between two doctors, one of them, Dr. Norman Swan, suggested that farting without pants would not be advised and that it would be safer if people dont fart close to other people." Dr. Aaron E. Glatt, an epidemiologist at Mount Sinai South Nassau, told the New York Post in an email that there have been studies to suggest that a high number of coronavirus patients show gastrointestinal symptoms while infected. Glatt told the New York Post that there are no published data on whether flatulence alone presents any risk of transmission, although in a closed person, it would be unlikely to be a significant route of transmission. The University of Bristol is today joining forces with the Met Office, together with UCL, to expand and transform an alliance which will strengthen the UK as a world leader in predicting climate hazards and tackling their far-reaching impact. Coinciding with Earth Day, a celebration of support for environmental protection, both universities are now officially part of the Met Office Academic Partnership (MOAP), which brings together some of the worlds best researchers to forecast extreme weather and its societal implications as well as develop innovative, evidence-based solutions. The University of Bristol is globally renowned for its understanding of hazardous events, including severe flooding, storm surges, and heatwaves, as well as geophysical occurrences, such as volcanoes and earthquakes. Its comprehensive grasp of the risks and ramifications they pose, coupled with a strong legacy of collaborative working, will bolster the partnership in addressing these global challenges. Dr Dann Mitchell, Associate Professor in Atmospheric Science at the School of Geographical Sciences and Co-Lead of the Cabot Institute for the Environments Natural Hazards and Disaster Risk theme, said: This marks the culmination of a long-held ambition so Im delighted to be joining this prestigious partnership, which presents an exciting opportunity to further build on our important and successful work with the Met Office. "Weather-related hazards are commonplace on an island like the UK, so enhancing prediction and decision making ahead of time will help mitigate against extremely impactful events, for example the flooding of settlements in Yorkshire last winter. Dr Mitchell, who has been appointed as the university's joint chair of the partnership, specialises in climate dynamics and impacts, especially in relation to extreme climate, notably heat hazards and the effects on human health, which will form part of the partnerships renewed focus. Through the University of Bristols interdisciplinary approach, academics take a holistic view, examining hazards in the context of geography, infrastructure, politics, and socio-economic pressures. This research is facilitated through its research institutes, in particular the Cabot Institute for the Environment, a community of hundreds of researchers united by a common cause protecting the environment and living better in a changing planet. Professor Dani Schmidt, Faculty of Science Research Director and member of the MOAP Research Advisory Panel, said: Climate change is happening. Now we need to go from describing impacts to developing solutions with stakeholders in the communities, cities and private sector. The joint expertise at the University of Bristol and the Met office offers exciting opportunities to support decision making on key risks such as heat and drought impacts. The University of Bristol and UCL join the Universities of Exeter, Leeds, Oxford, and Reading, as MOAP partners. The partnership aims to make the outputs of weather and climate models more meaningful by using novel approaches, including machine learning, to accelerate and enhance fully realistic atmospheric models at a reduced cost. Professors Tim Peters and Paddy Ireland, Interim Pro Vice-Chancellors for Research and Enterprise at the University of Bristol, said: We are very excited by the University of Bristol's new partnership with the Met Office, which we believe will enrich research at both institutions. We are particularly excited to share our world-leading climate hazard expertise, while at the same time learning from the Met Offices exceptional forecasting ability. "We are sure this partnership will be truly innovative, leading to major scientific advances, bringing beneficial impacts for the climate, for society and for individual citizens. In addition to working with leading academics, the MOAP also supports early career scientists, working with PhD students and academic fellows to make joint appointments and develop future talent. Professor Stephen Belcher, Met Office Chief Scientist, said: I am delighted that UCL and University of Bristol are to join the Met Office Academic Partnership. They bring a wealth of talent and expertise to this thriving partnership that will ensure the Met Office delivers its research and innovation strategy, and improves weather and climate science and services. Reopening Yellowstone National Park is going to be a lot more difficult than it was to shut it down a month ago as the coronavirus pandemic spread. Were figuring out the best way to shape a clear path forward in a very unclear situation, Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly said in a Tuesday conference call. For example, although no date for reopening the park has been set, the parks seasonal staff has already been cut in half in order to provide separate quarters for each employee. Another 200 to 300 park seasonals that are usually hired are being kept in a holding pattern, Sholly said, and may not ever be brought in depending on how the summer goes. Total park seasonal employment, which includes concessionaires like Xanterra Travel Collection and Delaware North, which operate many of the larger hotels, stores and restaurants, runs to about 3,500 to 4,500 employees from around the nation and world. Decisions The parks decision to provide separate housing for its seasonal workers is one of many moves that park managers have been discussing while trying to figure out what reopening the park might look like. This year, to mark the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, we wont gather to clean up beaches or plant trees as a community, and we wont release trout into rivers and streams with area school children. But while this pandemic has changed the face of our celebrations and forced many of us to work from home, it has also made our fundamental connection to nature and the need to protect this planet -- our home -- more apparent, and increasingly urgent. During these difficult times many of us have taken respite in the natural world. Weve laced up our shoes, grabbed a face covering, and headed out for daily hikes at nearby parks. Appreciation for the outdoors is matched by enthusiasm for local food and farms. Many newcomers are joining Community Supported Agriculture shares and farms and nurseries are increasing access to fresh, healthy, local food. Weve also become stewards of our own land, turning over soil, planting seeds, and putting our faith in the future harvest. Our parks and natural lands, and our diverse network of family farms -- essential services during COVID-19 -- are here because of the vision and the work of many environmental stewards, government leaders, and residents of the Commonwealth. Today, clean air and water, abundant food, biological diversity, and natural ecosystems that sequester carbon and buffer us from storms underpin the fabric of resilient communities across Massachusetts. We have a long road ahead to fight this pandemic and to restart the economy, and the health and safety of the public is the Baker-Polito Administrations top priority. At the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, our current focus is on ensuring safe access to essential resources like state parks, clean air and water, power, and local food. But during these challenging times we also have our eyes set firmly on the future. COVID-19 has threatened our health and way of life, but climate change presents a still greater long-term threat, and one for which there will be no vaccine. This decade holds the greatest possibility to flatten our climate curve and reduce impacts to human life and health. In both challenges the role of state leadership is critical, but individuals choices and a willingness to all row in the same direction matters too. Earlier this year, Governor Baker made a bold commitment, consistent with the latest science, to reduce the Commonwealths greenhouse gas emissions to Net Zero by 2050. As he noted, this wont be easy, but we have a responsibility and an opportunity to build a new clean energy economy. Guided by experts and stakeholders, the state is outlining a 30-year roadmap to cut emissions across every sector while protecting our farms and forests, our air and water, our economy, and our health. While we plan, were working today to deploy clean energy solutions and build resiliency to the impacts of climate change. We know that our best work is done through partnership. Together with 11 states and the District of Columbia through the Transportation and Climate Initiative we are designing a program to invest in better, cleaner, more equitable transportation solutions to reduce harmful air pollution and fight climate change. Weve also partnered with our communities, non-profits, and businesses, including many here in the Pioneer Valley, through our Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness program to prepare for the ongoing impacts of climate change. Now, more than 80 percent of the state is enrolled in this program which deploys local leadership and science to drive investments in community resiliency. The next 50 years will require deep change and out-of-the-box thinking to protect our environment and tackle climate change. But, as Governor Baker has often said throughout the COVID-19 crisis we are all in this together. This public health emergency has shown, once again, how the people of Massachusetts are resilient, brave and committed to the common good. I believe in our ability to get through this pandemic, and together, to rebuild a better, greener and more resilient Commonwealth. Kathleen A. Theoharides is Massachusetts Secretary, Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. The Government has launched a series of bizarre coronavirus adverts in a bid to get them shared online. The adverts, which include deliberate errors, are designed to be mocked online so that people share them and spread the 'stay at home' message. It is a repeat of the Tory party's general election strategy in which social media content deliberately crafted to look simplistic and basic was used to great success. Several posts shared by the party during the campaign - including Boris Johnson's Love Actually election video and memes using a comic book font - ended up going viral due to their intentionally clunky execution. The government's latest social media strategy is no different, with a number of adverts created by No 10 digital guru Ben Guerin attracting derision on social media. One of the adverts shows two women sitting on a sofa holding a bowl but a third woman's hand appears to be visible in the shot. Despite being lambasted online, it has remained on the 10 Downing Street Twitter account. One of the adverts shows two women sitting on a sofa holding a bowl but a third woman's hand appears to be visible in the shot The post has sparked a fierce debate on Twitter among users shocked by the mysterious arm Others adverts include a pie with the words 'stay home' baked into its crust, a doormat with 'not welcome' written on it and - in reference to Lord Kitchener's famous WWI poster - a finger pointing at the reader alongside the words 'Our NHS needs YOU to stay at home'. Mr Guerin, who runs a New Zealand-based advertising agency, has been hired to work in Downing Street for the duration of the coronavirus crisis. A No 10 insider told the i: 'One of the key aims is to get it shared and talked about as much as possible. The engagement is good even if it's over something like the hand being in a weird position.' Giles Kenningham, a former adviser to No10, added: 'There is such a wall of noise and mountain of information and fake news coming at people the ability to be heard or read is getting harder and harder. Therefore this tactic of uglifying social media content in an effort to boost its virality is a savvy move.' Mr Guerin was hired after a successful general election campaign for the Conservatives. He worked alongside Kiwis Topham, 28, to drive the Tories' online election campaign amid fears that dire winter weather could scupper traditional methods of targeting voters. The pair were brought in by director of politics and campaigning Isaac Levido to toughen up the Conservatives' social media efforts after a dire performance in 2017. Others adverts include a pie with the words 'stay home' baked into its crust (pictured), a doormat with 'not welcome' written on it One deliberately corny advert features the message 'it's called a living room for a reason' alongside the government coronavirus slogan: 'Stay home, protect the NHS, save lives' The twenty-something pair formerly worked for the Tories' Australian counterpart the Liberal Party, whose leader Scott Morrison surprisingly won an election earlier this year. While there they were known for making 'boomer memes' - content deliberately crafted to look simplistic and basic. They targeted groups like older people online. They also used content from popular television programmes like Game of Thrones to grab attention. The intentionally clunky design of the memes meant they were shared widely on Facebook, which because of the way the platform works helped their harder political messages reach bigger audiences. Their Love Actually video had initially been scrapped after being scuppered by a Labour candidate. Guerin, 24, had scripted the scene and was prepared to start filming when would-be Tooting MP Rosena Allin-Khan released her own version of the 2003 Christmas classic, ruining his best laid plans. Another advert - in reference to Lord Kitchener's famous WWI poster - a finger pointing at the reader alongside the words 'Our NHS needs YOU to stay at home' Isaac Levido (left) has been brought into Downing Street alongside Ben Guerin (right), a social media expert from New Zealand who masterminded the Tories' general election social media strategy, in order to push the Government's NHS message during the lockdown But in a last-gasp election push, they got the green light in the closing stages of the campaign and were given less than 24 hours to shoot, produce and edit the video in time for the final broadcast slot. The video did receive a backlash, not least from Ms Allin-Khan who accused the PM of ripping off her idea. Love Actually star Hugh Grant, who had been campaigning against the Conservatives in the election, grudgingly conceded it was a good video but proved the party had a lot of cash to spare. The deliberate error has certainly got people talking online (above and below) A number of the coronavirus adverts have been issued on the 10 Downing Street Twitter account Yet Mr Guerin shrugged off the criticism and said: 'What we did with Love Actually shows that the most compelling content is creative, if you get the idea right you don't need data, you don't need targeting. A good idea will sell itself.' The pair - dubbed by the PM as the 'digi Kiwis' -were hired by Mr Levido after running the digital operation for Australian Scott Morrison's successful prime ministerial run earlier in the year. Producing viral content - even if it was ridiculed - was the key to pulling in views and was replicated in this UK election. From writing campaign slogans in the quirky Comic Sans font to switching the party's Twitter handle to Fact Check UK during the TV debates, Mr Guerin and Mr Topham set out to make their mark online. Boris Johnson recreating the memorable scene from Love Actually to hammer his Brexit message in the final stages of the campaign The Conservatives have made their online campaigns far more overt and energetic in recent weeks since Boris Johnson and his new social media team took over Elsewhere working to push the Government's coronavirus message, Australian Isaac Levido has been central to the government's communications strategy and its central slogan: Stay at Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives. The political aides who were credited with helping the Conservative Party secure such a large majority in December, has been subcontracted by the civil service to 'build a wall of noise' around the central message of staying home. Softly spoken and sporting a black beard, Mr Levido was director of politics and campaigning in Conservative Campaign Headquarters and the undisputed chief of the Tory campaign. After the results of the exit poll were revealed, staff at the party's Westminster HQ chanted 'Oh, Isaac Levido' mocking the tribute to Jeremy Corbyn which used to be sung by Labour supporters. He is a former deputy to controversial Australian election guru Lynton Crosby, who masterminded David Cameron's coalition-busting win four years ago. But he also went on to work on Zac Goldsmith's failed London mayoral campaign in 2016 and Theresa May's disastrous general election campaign the following year. More recently Mr Levido worked for Australia's Liberal Party which surprisingly won an election earlier this year. MADISON, N.H., April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In every community across America, lack of access to computers is a critical problem nested within the COVID-19 crisis. National Cristina Foundation (NCF) is working to solve that urgent issue with a nationwide call to action for surplus computers. The Foundation is seeking large-scale corporate donations of new or decommissioned computers at www.DonateTechnology.org. With communities working to combat the COVID-19 crisis, public access to computers has been virtually eliminated. Schools, libraries, community centers, and businesses are closed from coast-to-coast, and Americans have been forced to shelter at home. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, a full fifth of American households do not possess an internet-connected computer; children are effectively cut off from school, older adults are cut off from banking and telehealth, and unemployed workers are cut off from work opportunities and access to unemployment benefits. National Cristina Foundation is challenging companies and government agencies to rise to meet this critical need. "The immense supply of decommissioned equipment sitting in warehouses and IT closets could be a powerful answer to this crisis," says Executive Director Scot Henley. "There is an acute need for donated computers nationwide which will allow vulnerable populations to participate in school, work, healthcare, and community." National Cristina Foundation is joined by the National Digital Inclusion Alliance and the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City on this campaign. "Every day, good used laptops end up in a landfill or languish in warehouses as businesses and governments make upgrades," says Jeremy Hegle, Senior Community Development Advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. "There are many big, vexing, complicated issues related to COVID-19. This is not one of them. This, we can fix." Interested donors can start the process at www.DonateTechnology.org. Donors will be matched to non-profit members of NCF's Alliance for Technology Refurbishing & Reuse. These non-profit refurbishers coordinate with donors on logistics arrangements, evaluate and refurbish the donated computers, convert non-working units into parts, and recycle the rest. These refurbished computers will be made available at no cost or low-cost to individuals, schools, and front-line organizations nationwide. National Cristina Foundation is a nonprofit private operating foundation with a mission to close the digital divide so that people in need can participate fully in a digitally connected world. Learn more at www.cristina.org . Contact: Scot Henley, Executive Director National Cristina Foundation [email protected] | O: 203-863-9100, ext. 370 | C: 603-475-4232 SOURCE National Cristina Foundation Related Links https://www.cristina.org Back in 2019, certain astronomers were able to make a rather incredible discovery: a comet that was from a different star system as it was making a close approach to the Sun itself at a very unusual trajectory. This specific comet was then named "21/Borisov" later on after the amateur astronomer who was able to discover it. The observations have suggested that its home star system could actually resemble that of our own. NASA scientists have already suggested that the certain object may even hold water. Now, a more recent study has been made by an international team of researchers that were led by NASA and they have revealed that there was something highly unusual. The team was able to find gas that was emanating from the comet itself and was containing unusually high amounts of carbon monoxide. It was estimated that the carbon monoxide found was about 26 times higher compared to your usual comet. The findings of this specific interstellar comet According to an astrochemist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and also the lead author of the study that was published in the journal Nature Astronomy, Martin Cordiner, it was the very first time that they were able to look inside a certain comet that was from outside of our solar system and the findings were dramatically different from most known comets. The fact that the team was able to find carbon monoxide was not the unusual part. The unusual part was that the carbon monoxide found was at extremely high concentration levels! The planetary scientist of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and also the co-author of the study, Stefanie Milam, said that the comet must have actually formed from material that was very rich in CO ice, which is interestingly only present at the lowest temperatures that are found in space. These temperatures are about -420 degrees Fahrenheit (-250 degrees Celsius)." Read Also: [NASA Reports] Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars to Reach Near Alignment with Lyrid Meteor Shower on The Way: Here's How to Catch it The findings pertaining the gas The team believes that the presence of abundant gas could actually tell more about the comet's home. Cordiner even said that if these gases were properly observed and found to reflect the composition of 21/Borisov's own birthplace, then it could possibly show that it may have in fact formed in a different way compared to our solar system comets, in possibly an extremely cold, outer region of a far planetary system. Scientists have also suggested that the 21/Borisov could have even spent maybe billions of years traveling through different extremely cold interstellar space right after being yeeted out of its own host system as it came quite close to a passing star. Read Also: [VIDEO] Kthulu? No, Siphonophores! 150ft Tentacled Creature Emerges from Deep Sea Although this information is exciting, scientists are still unable to pinpoint what its home system looks like. Milam said that the 21/Borisov actually gave us the very first glimpse into a particular chemistry that shaped a whole other planetary system. The scientists have also stated that the discovery is quite significant as it has pointed out that 21/Borisov actually has unusually high levels of CO. Shana Zhao, left, photographs her sister, Vivi Zhao, among blooming California poppies in a field in Lancaster. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) The coronavirus pandemic hasn't thwarted Mother Nature's springtime show in the Antelope Valley, where rolling hillsides are blanketed in a fiery orange hue from a recent poppy bloom. But like everything else deemed nonessential during the pandemic, the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve near Lancaster where crowds have flocked in years past to witness the breathtaking bloom is closed to visitors. The California Department of Parks and Recreation has set up a live cam of the bloom in the hopes that people will enjoy the spectacular sight from home. State parks officials have also set up roadblocks to allow only local traffic into the area and to reduce fence-jumping from those hoping to snap a photo among the flowers. But even that hasn't kept everyone away, officials say. Isabella Cardenas, 7, runs through blooming California poppies in a field in Lancaster. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) On Tuesday, a handful of people were spotted dancing, running and posing for photos among a sea of flowers. "There are a lot of people not obeying the stay-at-home order, but visitation to the valley is only a fraction of what it would normally be at this time," California State Parks Interpreter Jean Rhyne told SFGate. Gov. Gavin Newsom's stay-at-home order, which has been in effect for more than a month, requires Californians to not leave their residences except for essential errands such as grocery shopping and doctor visits. Outdoor exercise is permitted, but state officials have asked people to walk, run and hike in their own neighborhoods rather than visiting destination parks that have the potential to draw crowds. The nature reserve, which frequently draws swarms of people from across California, landed on the state's list of closures amid the pandemic over fears that people would be unable to social distance on the tight trails. A couple take a selfie among blooming California poppies in Lancaster outside of the perimeter of the California Poppy State Natural Reserve. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) Officials in Riverside County have voiced similar concerns, especially in the wake of last year's massive crowds. A wet winter in 2019 resulted in an epic super-bloom that attracted thousands to Lake Elsinore's hillsides of golden poppies. The interest was so significant that Lake Elsinore temporary closed access to the popular poppy fields in Walker Canyon after flower fanatics invaded the region, causing gridlock and traffic jams that overwhelmed the city. Story continues After months of no rain this winter, it didn't appear the poppies would bloom at all in 2020. However, significant rain that fell across Southern California last month, which pulled the region out of drought conditions, also yielded a mini-bloom. "I'm not sure anyone would call it a superbloom," said Betsy Dionne, ecological resource specialist for the Western Riverside County Regional Conservation Authority. "It's definitely not as showy this year because we got the rain so late." Vehicles crowd Lancaster Boulevard where scores of people were enjoying the blooming poppies in Lancaster. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) Jonathan Reinig, natural resource manager for Riverside County parks, said despite the lackluster bloom, officials were seeing 20 to 50 people each day in Walker Canyon, even after the stay-at-home order was put in place last month. When Lake Elsinore blocked access to Walker Canyon Road and began threatening to hand out parking tickets, that number dropped significantly, he said. While Riverside County this week reopened parks and trails with certain social distancing measures, Lake Elsinore intends to continue blocking access to Walker Canyon. "We don't feel we have the resources during this COVID-19 pandemic to be able to manage an influx of visitors," said Nicole Dailey, assistant to the city manager in Lake Elsinore. "Last year was beautiful and the display of flowers was amazing, but the crowds were far beyond what we have the resources to handle." The city is working to place a camera in the fields where flowers are blooming to give enthusiasts a chance to check them out from home. She also warned the display isn't nearly as impressive as it was last year. "There isn't really anything to see," she said. "I think if people come out, they'll be disappointed." It's a classic Washington whodunit. No one wants to take the blame for the loophole that allowed name-brand restaurant chains like Shake Shack to get huge sums of pandemic-relief money meant for small businesses. Lobbyists, lawmakers and agency officials deny responsibility. Yet fingers are pointing over how big national chains including Potbelly Corp. and Ruth's Chris Steak House landed $10 million or more apiece in loans while millions of mom-and-pop firms were left stranded when the program ran out of money. Many lawmakers now want the loophole closed with Congress poised to approve $320 billion of new funds this week, though a draft of the new legislation obtained by Bloomberg doesn't fix it. The Senate passed the measure Tuesday and the House could vote Thursday. Still, some companies and Washington policymakers are rushing to recover in the face of bad press over the earlier round of small-business relief, with Shake Shack pledging to return its $10 million. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he'd work to make sure big companies don't get money in the new bill. He said the Treasury Department would issue guidance to clarify the certification process and requirements for companies seeking small business loans under the new round of funding. The culprit in the earlier bill was three words that made all the difference: "per physical location." "During the covered period, any business concern that employs not more than 500 employees per physical location" in the hospitality sector should be eligible to get a loan. The language didn't clarify whether individual locations must apply for the aid or whether corporate headquarters could start vacuuming up millions in relief funds, nor did it necessarily apply solely to franchisees. "We have over a million companies that have received this with less than 10 workers," Mnuchin said Tuesday at a White House briefing. He added, however, that "there have been some big business that have taken these loans." He said the Treasury will issue guidance to clarify the certification process and requirements for companies seeking loans destined for small businesses. President Donald Trump said at the briefing that he would ask larger companies to return money that was intended to help small businesses. "They shouldn't have taken it," Trump said. "And they're going to pay back that money." Mnuchin tweeted Monday and repeated earlier Tuesday that he was glad Shake Shack said it's returning the funds it received. Restaurant and hotel lobbyists concede they pushed for their industries to get special treatment, but denied they were behind the language that opened the door to large firms. A key House Democrat blames Republicans, one of whom pins fault on the Treasury. Others say the measure was sought and approved by lawmakers from both parties to keep unemployment from swelling. There was bipartisan support for including operators of multiple franchises who, though they fly the flag of a corporate brand -- Marriott, for example -- and get marketing support, are essentially independent small businesses. "The idea when this was passed, was to bring as many small businesses as possible into this to help their employees," Rep. Steve Chabot of Ohio, the top Republican on the House Small Business Committee, said in an interview. "They are hurting just like everybody else is." The measure was "designed to put a floor under the restaurant and travel and hotel industries that are genuinely struggling, and the small businesses that so many of us are familiar with," Democratic Senator Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware said in a March Bloomberg Television interview. The now infamous loophole is nestled in the Paycheck Protection Program, overseen by the Small Business Administration. The initiative was designed to throw a financial lifeline to businesses with fewer than 500 employees to help them keep workers on the payroll. Shake Shack said Monday it is giving the money back and raising salaries for employees, while the operator of Ruth's Chris Steak House said it is keeping the funds and will follow the guidelines to maintain staff and paychecks. A spokesman for Potbelly said Congress allowed funding for restaurants because their workers are "vital to our economy." Fiesta Restaurant Group, which said last week its Texas Taco Cabana subsidiary received $10 million under the program, declined to comment beyond an earlier filing. Initial proposals from the Treasury and Senate Republicans in March disappointed lobbying groups for the hotel and restaurant industries, as well as franchises, where big brands and chains are common. They argued that many independent franchises are de facto small businesses that were suffering as shutdowns spread across the country. The trade groups urged lawmakers crafting the provisions, particularly Republican Senators Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Susan Collins of Maine, to make sure franchises and other hospitality businesses with multiple locations could access the funds. "For that laid-off server or line cook they don't care what logo is on their uniform," said Sean Kennedy, executive vice president for public affairs for the National Restaurant Association, which was one of the groups that lobbied for special attention. "They are praying that their boss has applied for this so they can stay on payroll." The group, which represents thousands of restaurant owners and chains including McDonald's and Chipotle Mexican Grill, was "pushing this message with anyone who would listen" in the Treasury Department, at the White House and in Congress, Kennedy said. They first made the case for restaurant-specific aid in a March 18 letter, but Kennedy said they didn't come up with the legislative language around locations. Kennedy noted that despite the outcry over Shake Shack, food service and hotels together have represented less than 10% of the loans, according to the SBA's numbers. As the backlash heated up, House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said Tuesday on Fox News that he had spoken to Mnuchin and Trump about going "after those big companies that cheat the system." Rubio, who chairs the Senate Small Business Committee, tweeted Monday that he was trying to get at "independently owned franchises" rather than "multiple subsidiaries of a national brand" and blamed the Treasury for issuing a rule for implementing the law that doesn't "reflect legislative intent & should be corrected." A Treasury spokesman didn't comment on Rubio's contention that it was regulatory guidance that allowed the big chains to get the small business loans, but said the department was looking at how to make the program better at reaching its intended recipients. Guidance from Treasury may be the only way to change the program in the near term. Although Congress is close to voting to replenish the program's funds, with most members sheltering in place, lawmakers will need to take up the narrowest bill possible in a "pro forma session" to win approval by unanimous consent. Rubio said Monday that his committee would conduct "aggressive oversight" of PPP this fall, including using subpoena power to determine whether companies made false certifications to obtain loans. Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., blamed "big banks" for allowing bigger companies in on a program despite their advantages over small firms in accessing capital in a tweet Tuesday and urged "better oversight and transparency." Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., who chairs the House Small Business Committee, faulted Republicans for the loophole. "I can promise you that was not the language," Democrats proposed, she said in an interview. She said she opposes major chains' use of the PPP because the program wasn't intended to be a "bailout to the wealthy and well-connected." The money "has to go to the small businesses, main street businesses, businesses in under-served communities, women owned-businesses," minority owned-businesses and those in "rural America," she said. The American Hotel & Lodging Association pointed out that funds are also going to industries that have suffered fewer consequences from the pandemic, such as the construction sector, said Brian Crawford, the group's executive vice president of government affairs. The International Franchise Association said that group's goal was to make sure "that independent franchise owners should be treated the same as every other business owner," according to Matt Haller, the group's senior vice president for government relations. "What was unexpected is that so many businesses of all sizes would be stuck on the outside looking in," Haller said. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) Some people argue that our mobile phones have become an extension of ourselves. We bring these devices with us everywhere and reach for them almost as a reflex. But as we come in contact with our gadgets numerous times in a day, these can also be readily contaminated and become potential sources of infection such as COVID-19. We need to look at which things we carry around with us every day and which have huge population growth of bacteria and viruses, said Kris Helgesen in an interview on CNN Philippines. Helgesen is the President and Chairman of Nanofixit Ventures, a company providing surface protection based on nanotechnology. Helgesen cited research that found that our phones typically carry around 25,000 units of bacteria per square inch. According to another study, they are even dirtier than a regular toilet seat. Helgesen said their company has developed products initially meant to protect gadget surfaces from scratch and breakage. However, they have also branched into alternative technologies to address sanitation issues, and have since produced disinfecting products not only for gadgets, but also for other items. These come in the form of surface protectors and wipes. The company uses silver and titanium dioxide which are known to have antiviral and antibacterial properties, Helgesen said. When we break them down into nanoparticles, they become active and they start bonding with various kinds of surfaces, he explained, referring to their surface protectors which he said "kills viruses that come in touch with it as long as the coat sticks. Helgesen said the disinfecting effect of their protectors can last from three to 30 days, depending on the kind of surface it bonds with or used on. The bonding effect is very different [depending] on the surface and the material it is being applied to. So when we say 30 days, we are referring to hard metal, stainless steel or glass surfaces," he said. Responding to the health crisis According to Helgesen, the company started to take more time into research and development after the COVID-19 news broke out. Now, the company is currently developing face masks and hand sanitizers infused with "materials with high antibacterial and antiviral properties. Helgesen said their hand sanitizers are currently undergoing international testing and are expected to be ready for distribution next month. The president said their companys goal is to help people move towards a healthier and more sanitation-conscious lifestyle, in order to curb the spread of COVID-19 and other pathogens. This needs to be addressed. We need to take individual responsibility. This is how we can go back to our normal lives eventually, he said. Your tax-deductible gift today powers our reporters and keeps us independent. We rely on you, our reader, not paywalls to stay funded because we believe important news and information should be freely accessible to all. Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe Our news is free on LAist. To make sure you get our coverage: Sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter. To support our non-profit public service journalism: Donate Now. President Donald Trump is expected to issue an executive order further halting immigration, citing a need to protect the jobs of American citizens. But local immigrant advocates said they believe the administration is using the COVID-19 crisis as an excuse to further tighten already strict immigration rules. Trump said during a White House coronavirus task force briefing Tuesday afternoon that the forthcoming order would temporarily affect people who are seeking legal residency, including employment-based green cards. Los Angeles immigration attorney Alma Rosa Nieto said employers in L.A. are worried that the restrictions could prevent some of their workers from staying permanently in the United States. "Employees that are maybe trying to get a green card, I think their hopes and dreams have been demolished," said Nieto, a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Trump said Tuesday that the forthcoming order would be in effect for 60 days but could be extended and that "any extension or modification will be evaluated by economic conditions at the time." He also said the order would not affect those entering on a temporary basis. icon DON'T MISS ANY L.A. CORONAVIRUS NEWS Get our daily newsletters for the latest on COVID-19 and other top local headlines. Terms of Use and Privacy Policy The New York Times reported that the administration does not plan to block guest workers, such as temporary farm and tech industry workers, as a concession to business groups that were upset after Trump tweeted late Monday that he would "temporarily suspend immigration." U.S. citizens would still be allowed to sponsor their spouses and children, the Times reported, but other green card seekers would be blocked. The Trump administration has long sought to curtail family-sponsored migration. A 2017 Trump-backed bill known as the RAISE Act sought to eliminate most categories of family-sponsored immigrant visas, with the exception of spouses and minor children. It's unclear if U.S. citizens will be able to sponsor their adult children once an order is signed and takes effect, and this has naturalized citizens like 78-year-old Jose Amaya worried. In December, Amaya filed a petition for his eldest son, 58, to come to the United States from Mexico. Amaya, who became a U.S. citizen last year, said he suffers from diabetes, needs eye surgery, and would like for his eldest son to be his caretaker. "My fear is that really, I need the support of my son very much," Amaya said in Spanish. "Because I am getting older, I am a senior citizen, and my son is the one who can help me. This is my fear, that now we won't be able to do anything." Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the Trump administration has put in place numerous immigration restrictions, such as pausing refugee admissions, freezing some visa services and limiting travel across the U.S.-Mexico border. "It's definitely become more difficult for individuals to unify with family members," said Farida Chehata, managing attorney for immigrant rights with the Orange County office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "We've been seeing policies that are very problematic for a while now, but what's happening with this pandemic is that this administration has been able to exploit this public health crisis to be able to really curtail the rights of immigrants." GREENSBORO, N.C., April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc. (NYSE: SKT) today announced that its Annual Meeting of Shareholders (the "Annual Meeting") on May 15, 2020, will be held virtually to protect the health and well-being of attendees, and accommodate travel and stay-at-home restrictions in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As previously announced, the meeting will commence at 10:00 a.m. (EDT) on May 15, and online access information is detailed below. There will no longer be any in-person participation at the Annual Meeting. Shareholders will be able to vote their shares electronically and submit questions during the meeting through the virtual meeting's chat function. Tanger encourages shareholders to submit their proxies in advance of the Annual Meeting using one of the available methods described in the proxy materials. Shareholders can access the meeting online at the following link: www.meetingcenter.io/287143514 . Only authenticated shareholders as of the record date of March 18, 2020 will be allowed to participate. To login to the meeting, shareholders will be required to have a control number and password. The password for the meeting is SKT2020. For shareholders of record, the control number can be found on the proxy card or notice of the availability of proxy materials, or email providing notice of the meeting that the shareholder previously received from the Company's transfer agent, Computershare. Beneficial owners holding shares in "street name" through an intermediary, such as a bank or broker, must register in advance to attend the Annual Meeting online. To register, beneficial owners must request a legal proxy with respect to their Tanger common shares from their bank, broker or other nominee. Beneficial holders must then forward the email from their bank or broker containing their legal proxy, or otherwise attach an image of their legal proxy, to [email protected], along with their name and email address. Requests for registration should be labeled as "Legal Proxy" and be received no later than 5:00 p.m. (EDT) on May 8, 2020. Beneficial owners will receive a confirmation email from Computershare of their registration. The Company currently intends to return to an in-person shareholder meeting format in the future. The proxy card included with the proxy materials previously distributed will not be updated to reflect the change to a virtual-only meeting and may continue to be used to vote shares in connection with the Annual Meeting. About Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc. Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc. (NYSE: SKT), is a publicly-traded REIT headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina that presently operates and owns, or has an ownership interest in, a portfolio of 39 upscale outlet shopping centers. Tanger's operating properties are located in 20 states and in Canada, totaling approximately 14.3 million square feet, leased to over 2,800 stores which are operated by more than 510 different brand name companies. The Company has more than 39 years of experience in the outlet industry. Tanger Outlet Centers continue to attract more than 181 million visitors annually. For more information on Tanger Outlet Centers, call 1-800-4TANGER or visit the Company's website at www.tangeroutlets.com . Investor Contact Information Cyndi Holt Jim Williams VP, Investor Relations EVP & CFO 336-834-6892 336-834-6800 [email protected] [email protected] SOURCE Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc. Related Links https://www.tangeroutlet.com Remittances will fall by 20% from $554 billion in 2019 to an expected $445 billion this year, the World Bank warned. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) In a second-story storefront in an Artesia shopping mall, Andrea Luchavez slid $500 in cash beneath a cashiers window to a teller who would wire the funds to her children and mother in the Philippines. It was $300 less than what Luchavez sent every month, before the coronavirus paralyzed Southern California and the world, putting millions out of work, including her husband, and paring back the hours of those who, like her, managed to keep their jobs. Each year, immigrants such as Luchavez collectively send hundreds of billions of dollars from the countries where they work to those they call home. These remittances are a lifeline for individual families and some national economies, accounting for a fifth of El Salvador's and Honduras gross domestic product, and more than a third of Haitis. But the COVID-19 pandemic, which has wiped out service industry and construction jobs commonly held by immigrants, will sharply curtail their ability to remit money, according to a report published Wednesday by the World Bank. Remittances will fall by 20%, from $554 billion in 2019 to an expected $445 billion this year, the report said. Writ large, World Bank economists and other experts say, such an unprecedented decrease in remittances will deal a gut punch to developing countries GDPs and strain their social safety nets. For individual families, it could be catastrophic. Luchavez, who works as a caregiver, said her hours have been cut from 40 to about 24 a week. Her husband lost his job. She went to a food bank in Cerritos last week, a first in her 15 years in the United States. She is sending less money to her family, who live in Santa Rosa, a city of about 350,000 south of Manila, precisely when they need it most, she said. Because the city is locked down, its residents under curfew, Luchavezs college-aged children cannot work and have no source of income but the money she sends them, she said. Historically, remittances have helped developing countries weather shocks, such as natural disasters or civil unrest, said Dean Yang, an economics professor at the University of Michigan who has studied the flow of remittances to the Philippines. When a prolonged drought gutted the Philippines agricultural sector in the 1990s, Yang said, families with relatives working abroad were able to replace about 60% of income lost to the crisis through remittances. Story continues But this is an unusual crisis, he said, in that the whole world is suffering. Since the World Bank began tracking remittances in 1980, the only crisis comparable to this one is the 2008-2009 financial crisis, said Dilip Ratha, an economist for the bank and one of the authors of its report. At that time, Ratha told reporters on a conference call Tuesday, remittances decreased by just 5%. Even as they plummet, remittances will become more important than ever to low- and middle-income countries, Ratha said. Foreign direct investment to those countries will decrease this year an estimated 37%, outstripping the expected decline in remittances, the World Bank predicts. Last year, more money flowed to low- and middle-income countries in remittances than foreign direct investment. With the pandemic, the gap will become even wider, Ratha said. While the virus has disrupted daily life unlike anything in recent history, Hugues Efole, who leads business development for the Americas for MoneyGram, one of the worlds largest money transfer companies, said he believes the flow of remittances will stabilize. Efole, who left the Democratic Republic of the Congo three decades ago and has sent money to family there ever since, said remittances are among the last things immigrants write out of their budgets in a crisis. Theyre not something you pay for fun. Its a necessity," he said. "Its Im in the United States because my family sacrificed for me and no matter what happens, Im going to send that money home. Its a cultural obligation. Plummeting remittances will deal a particularly sharp blow to Latin America, said Manuel Orozco, director of the Migration, Remittances and Development Program at the Inter-American Dialogue, a think tank in Washington, D.C. About 28 million migrants work overseas and remit money to the region, he said, and in Latin American families with a relative working overseas, remittances typically account for half their income. In the last two weeks, Orozco said, the region has seen a huge decline in remittances from the United States in a reflection of the shock of immediate job loss. Many migrants in the United States work in the service industry and construction. More so than white-collar jobs, many of which can be performed from home, these sectors were devastated by stay-at-home orders intended to slow the spread of the virus. While his typical workweek is now four days instead of five, Carlos Paz Cortez still has a job packing deliveries for a grocery and restaurant supplier in El Monte. After work on a recent afternoon, he walked to the city's Valley Mall, dead quiet and shuttered but for two storefronts advertising money transfers. Paz Cortez wired $300 to his son, wife and sisters in Sonsonate, a city of about 70,000 in western El Salvador. Paz Cortez sends that much every month, some months a bit more, others a bit less. For generations, a member of his family has lived in California and sent dollars home. His grandmother came first and sent money to his mother; his mother came when he turned 18 and sent money to him; Paz Cortez came in 2005 and has sent money to his wife and son ever since. It is 100% important, he said. Because of El Salvadors strict curfews, his relatives cannot work, he said. Theyve closed the economy, closed the country. No one is working right now. He is thankful he has a job, although he knows how quickly things can change. We never know about tomorrow, he said. I just think about today. A Clovis, New Mexico resident was arrested on Saturday for calling in a bomb threat to Covenant Hospital Plainview. Joseph Saiz, 54, initially called Covenant and threatened to harm hospital staff, according to reports from the Plainview Police Department. Officers were called to the scene and Saiz continued to make threatening calls. [April 22, 2020] British Vlogger Stuart Releases Viral Video of Sinopec Yanshan Factory that Draws Million Views in Hours BEIJING, April 22, 2020 /CNW/ -- A close-up video of production lines in Sinopec ("Sinopec", HKG: 0386) Yanshan Factory was recorded and released on the social account of Stuart, a British vlogger who lived in China, to showcase how disposable facial masks and KN95 masks are made from polypropylene grain into masks with vacuum-sealed packages. The video went viral with 1.5 million views in hours. To watch the video of how a mask being made, please visit https://youtu.be/OioiItQq0Kk. "A production line built in 12 days and it's turning out this much produce. Amazing," Stuart commented. In the video, Stuart started his one-day tour from fabric manufacturing - adding the polypropylene grain to the machine to be melted and extruded into a meltblown non-woven fabric sheet. Automatic production line makes the manual work easy in high yield rati. Stuart followed the instructions of Xingqi Wang, the Manufacturing Director of Plasthetics in Sinopec Yanshan Factory, to help rolling the fabric to a cardboard and pack into mask-made preparation set. To date, four meltblown non-woven fabric production lines of Sinopec Yanshan Factory have achieved mass production. With a daily production capacity of 12 tons, Sinopec Yanshan Factory can provide key raw materials for 12 million medical masks on a daily basis. 245.39 tons of meltblown non-woven fabrics have been produced. 17.97 tons are special meltblown non-woven fabrics for KN95 masks, which further eases the market demand for medical masks' raw materials, and provides strong support for fighting the COVID-19 epidemic. About Sinopec Corp. Sinopec Corp. is one of the largest integrated energy and chemical companies in China. Its principal operations include the exploration, production, transportation and sale of petroleum and natural gas, petrochemical and coal chemical products, synthetic fiber, fertilizer and other chemical products, as well as other commodities and technologies. In addition, Sinopec is engaged in the research, development and application of energy technologies. With a corporate mission of "Fueling Beautiful Life," Sinopec pursues strategies of value-orientation, innovation-driven development, integrated resource allocation, open cooperation, and green & low-carbon growth to build a world-leading energy and chemical company. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/british-vlogger-stuart-releases-viral-video-of-sinopec-yanshan-factory-that-draws-million-views-in-hours-301045123.html SOURCE Sinopec [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] By Associated Press CANBERRA (Australia): Virgin Australia, the country's second-largest airline, announced Tuesday it had entered voluntary administration, seeking bankruptcy protection after a debt crisis worsened by the coronavirus shutdown pushed it into insolvency. Virgin said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange that it had appointed a team of Deloitte administrators to recapitalize the business and help ensure it emerges in a stronger financial position on the other side of the COVID-19 crisis. Virgin is one of the first major airlines to seek bankruptcy protection in response to the pandemic. Virgin's administrators have taken control of the company and will try to work out a way to save either the company or its business. The move came after the Australian government refused Virgins request for a 1.4 billion Australian dollar ($888 million) loan. Rival Qantas Airways argued that it had three times more revenue than Virgin and was therefore entitled to a AU$4.2 billion ($2.7 billion) loan if the smaller airline was not to gain an unfair advantage. Administrator Vaughan Strawbridge said in the statement: Our intention is to undertake a process to restructure and refinance the business and bring it out of administration as soon as possible. Virgin will continue to operate its scheduled international and domestic flights, most of which have been canceled due to the pandemic. Virgin is struggling to repay AU$5 billion in debt after several loss-making years. Some analysts predict that if the airline survives, it will drop international services and focus on the Australian domestic market. Virgin Australias major shareholders are Singapore Airlines and Etihad Airways as well as Chinese investment conglomerates Nanshan Group and HNA Group. British billionaire founder Richard Branson holds a 10% stake. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told reporters his government was not going to bail out five large foreign shareholders with deep pockets who together own 90% of this airline. Branson told Virgin Australia's staff that the appointment of administrators was devastating. In most countries federal governments have stepped in, in this unprecedented crisis for aviation, to help their airlines, Branson posted online. "Sadly, that has not happened in Australia." He said Virgin would work with administrators, investors and the government to get the airline back up and running soon." Branson has asked the British government for a loan to prop up Virgin Atlantic, which his Virgin Group owns jointly with U.S. carrier Delta Air Lines. He is reportedly asking for 500 million pounds ($3.2 billion). He has said he was willing to put up the private island where he lives in the British Virgin Islands as collateral for the loan The Australian government and businesses fear that a collapse of Virgin would leave Qantas with a virtual monopoly in Australias domestic aviation market. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he was encouraged that 10 parties have shown interest" in Virgin's future and have approached administrators to discuss financial deals. If we'd not taken the actions that we have and not demonstrated the patience that we have, then all we may have ended up doing is sending $1 billion to foreign shareholders and that was never part of my plan, Morrison told reporters. Our plan was always about seeing two viable airlines on the other side, he added. Virgin filled a gap left when Qantas' former main domestic rival, Air New Zealand-owned Ansett Australia, collapsed in 2001. Brisbane-based Virgin has 130 aircraft and employs 10,000 staff. Opposition lawmakers and union leaders urged the government to bail out Virgin to save jobs and low-price domestic airfares. This crisis isnt a result of market failure, its a result of a government decision to shut the market, opposition leader Anthony Albanese said. Thats why talk of market-based solutions at the moment is a triumph of ideology over common sense. The pandemic is a catastrophe for airlines around the world. In the U.S., major airlines are getting $25 billion in government aid to pay workers and avoid massive layoffs. The assistance includes a mix of cash and loans, with the government getting warrants that can be converted into small ownership stakes in the leading airlines. The Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor on March 18, 2020. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images) China Could Gain the Most If US Ended Jones Act Commentary China could gain the most if the United States were to end its 100-year-old Jones Act. China aims to aggressively control world trade by dominating how goods are shipped around the globe, as well as by making other countries dependent on its goods. Because 90 percent of world trade goes by ship, it seeks to command maritime trade by building the most ships, carrying the most cargo, and operating the most important ports. That intersects with the three fleets that are vital to America: Our military Navy; the international merchant fleet; and our domestic (Jones Act) ships. While China is consolidating power in the first two areas, its blocked in the third by the Jones Act, which requires that domestic shipping within the United States must be conducted by ships that are built, owned, and crewed by Americans. Chinas global shipping dominance stems from its massive system of government subsidies and state-owned enterprises, mingled with the military and combined with cheap and even slave labor. Its not free enterprise, and opposing it isnt anti-free market. Chinas commercial shipbuilding mirrors the rapid military expansion and modernization of its navy. On March 18, the Congressional Research Service officially warned Congress that Chinas battle force outnumbers ours by 360 ships to 297, and it stated: Chinas navy is viewed as posing a major challenge to the U.S. Navys ability to achieve and maintain wartime control of blue-water ocean areas in the Western Pacificthe first such challenge the U.S. Navy has faced since the end of the Cold War. Among ocean-going commercial ships, 2,995 are under construction worldwide. China is building 1,291 of them while the United States is building only eight. The other leaders are Japan with 697 and South Korea with 475, both also heavily-subsidized, although less than Chinas mega-billions. Other nations also subsidize the building of commercial ships, including India and France. The United States discontinued its shipbuilding subsidies decades ago. Thats why the existing international merchant fleet, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, has a mere 182 American vessels out of more than 41,000 ocean-going cargo ships (0.4 percent). But what foreign interests cant do is engage in internal shipping that moves within or between U.S. ports, nor along intracoastal waterways, the Mississippi and other rivers, nor the Great Lakes. These involve 40,000 domestic U.S. vessels, which are covered by the Jones Act. If allowed, China and other countries could take over the construction and operation of this internal fleet, using their vast subsidies. In essence, they would be buying power over our economy. Control of shipping is part of what China calls its Belt and Road Initiative, now investing in infrastructure in 138 countries. This includes owning or controlling ports at strategic locations worldwide, buying them in what Forbes calls a Chinese shopping spree. Chinas holdings extend beyond its adjacent waters of the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean to include ports on both ends of the Panama Canal, near the Suez Canal, elsewhere in Europe, South America, Africa, and the Middle East. This included a $1.8 billion foothold in the United States until the Trump administration forced China to divest its interest in the major shipping terminal at the Port of Long Beach, California. Chinas most-recent port acquisitions have military potential as well as trade use. A partial list: China loaned billions to Sri Lanka to build a new Indian Ocean portthen repossessed it when Sri Lanka defaulted The loan-then-repo strategy was repeated with Pakistan, where $10 billion bought control of Gwadars port astride Arabian Sea oil routes For half a billion dollars, China leased the port in Darwin, Australia, for 99 years China bought into the largest port in AfricaDjibouti, on the African Horn at the Red Sea entrance to the Suez Canal For $920 million, China took over the second-largest container port in Brazil By controlling ports, controlling shipbuilding, and investing in ship operations, China seeks to secure a chokehold over the 90 percent of world trade that goes by ship. Repeal of the Jones Act would allow another foreign takeover of a vital sector of Americas economy. That would reward the anti-free enterprise maritime subsidies and would erode Americas economic power while growing our dependency on foreign interests. The argument for repeal is that we could save a few bucks because China and others would offer lower shipping rates, for now at least. Weve heard that argument before and seen it hollow out our economy. It also weakened Americas strength in championing freedom and human rights, which China will not do. The Jones Act is about much more than money. Ernest Istook, a former U.S. congressman, is a distinguished fellow at Frontiers of Freedom. This article is largely based on his recent white paper available here. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor Khan recently logged into her Instagram account to enter a scintillating image of herself. In the upload, Bebo throws a poker expression that screams of attitude and is bound to make you feel intimidated. The Heroine actor is seen wearing a sleeveless black outfit that flaunts a cowl neck with digital print around. She opted for a stylish black belt with exaggerated rings that perfectly hugs her waistline. As Kareenas tresses carelessly blow over her face, we see for her make-up she has done her eyes bold and kept the lips nude. To complement the sexy throwback and depict her current mood, Kareena wrote, Wednesday... whatever! #Guts in her caption. Those who are close friends and ardent fans of Bebo know that she loves using the term guts every now and then. Check the pic here: Designer Manish Malhotra commented, (heart emojis)Any and everyday you look gorgeous(sic.) The still is from the sets of the film, Angrezi Medium, released on March 13 this year. Kareena played the role of a cop in the Homi Adajanias directorial. Other important characters were played by Irrfan, Deepak Dobriyal, Radhika Madan and Dimple Kapadia. Kareena, who has been enjoying her new obsession with social media since her debut on Instagram, has kept fans engaged with adorable glimpses of her actor husband Saif Ali Khan and son Taimur, amid quarantine. Earlier this month, Saif spoke at length with Mumbai Mirror about his quarantine and family. He said, "I wake up early and get some exercise in. Fortunately, we have a treadmill at home and Im coaxing Kareena to give me some yoga lessons. Chasing my kid (Taimur) around the house is also a good workout(sic.)" Follow @News18Movies for more A civil liberties group has called for more transparency from the HSE around its development of a Covid-19 contact tracing app. The HSE announced in March it would launch the app for voluntary download in April, but it has faced delays. The app would let users know if they have come into contact with someone with the coronavirus. Last Friday, HSE head of communications Paul OConnor said the contact tracing app is still being tested and could become available next month. When asked if the app will become available when the restrictions are due to be lifted on May 5, he said: Thats the principal focus of it so not in this situation so it is pretty much when restrictions ease and people move around a bit more. It is still being tested and we are working through some of the privacy and data issues. Elizabeth Farries, technology and human rights expert at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL), told the PA news agency contact tracing apps can come with various problems. Contact tracing apps have been used in countries such as Singapore and South Korea, which have been among the most successful countries at tracking and containing the spread of the virus. She said: We need to work together to flatten the curve, and technology can help with this to a limited extent. However, reporting apps tend to be high risk exercises burdened with various problems. These include false positive and negative results and also inaccurate symptom reporting. Ms Farries called on the HSE to release its data protection assessment of the app. She added: It is also difficult for ICCL to comment on what is happening with the HSE app specifically because we havent seen very many details about it. A strong transparency approach is essential here: Why not release the apps code, the data protection assessment, and legal advice received about data protection concerns? Why not release that now before the app is deployed? This way there can be an element of public consultation and we can work together to ensure the HSE app complies with with all laws and human rights norms. Coronavirus has claimed yet another victim from the aviation industry. Air Mauritius, the flag carrier of Mauritius, has been put under voluntary administration by its board amid the economic fallout of the pandemic. This is another airline to file for bankruptcy after Virgin Australia, which also appointed administrator to find an investor amid coronavirus crisis on April 21. After its meeting on April 22, Air Mauritius' board stated that the company will not be able to meet its financial obligations in the foreseeable future. "The Board, therefore, took the decision to place the Company under voluntary administration in order to safeguard the interest of the Company and that of all its stakeholders," Air Mauritius said in a statement. A Sattar Hajee Abdoula and Arvindsingh K Gokhool of Grant Thornton have been appointed as the administrators of Air Mauritius, with effect from April 22, 2020. ALSO READ: China's daily air passenger traffic rises 7.9% in April, says aviation regulator The 52-year old airline, with flight operations to 22 countries in four continents and an annual passenger count of 1.7 million passengers, said the pandemic had struck just as the company was seeking to change its business model to address existing financial problems. Other airlines have suffered misfortunes as coronavirus-forced lockdowns keep airline fleets grounded. A day before, Virgin Australia, the second biggest airline of the country, appointed an administrator to find an investor amid rising financial implications of coronavirus. The carrier has appointed Vaughan Strawbridge of Deloitte as voluntary administrator to lead a sales process after the government rejected its plea for an A$1.4 billion loan. ALSO READ: Coronavirus effect: Air passenger traffic likely to log 30% negative growth in FY21, says CARE Ratings More than 10 parties have already expressed interest in recapitalising Virgin, which is continuing to fly a skeleton schedule under its current management team, Reuters quoted Strawbridge as saying. Virgin employs 10,000 people directly and 6,000 people indirectly. It competes with larger rival Qantas Airways Ltd, which would have a virtual monopoly in Australia if Virgin stopped flying. South Africa Airways had entered a form of bankruptcy protection in December, since then it has had to suspend all commercial passenger flights due to the global coronavirus pandemic. The South African government told the airline's administrators on Tuesday that it would not provide more funds, lending guarantees or allow foreign financing of a business rescue plan, but will work with unions to work out a new financially viable and competitive airline. ALSO READ: Coronavirus: Virgin Australia enters voluntary administration amid debt crisis (With Reuters' inputs) Tesco Bengaluru, the global services arm for Tesco PLC, is supporting its colleagues and customers through the COVID-19 outbreak and has announced the acceleration of its Technology hiring plans. Tesco Bengaluru also announced that annual appraisals and performance reviews including hikes and promotions will be held as scheduled. In addition, Tesco Bengaluru has also introduced enhanced medical insurance coverage for every colleague and their families; additional payments towards home utilities and internet charges; waiver of colleague contributions to additional facilities (whilst honouring all financial commitments to suppliers) and a wonderful integrated wellness campaign to support mental and physical wellbeing while working from home. With the outbreak of COVID-19, the Indian economy is going through a significant shift, and this has affected the overall recruitment process across industries. As per a recent industry report by the technology consulting firm Zinnov, 45% of the aggregated GICs in India have stalled all further recruitments for the foreseeable future. However, Tesco Bengaluru is well set up to continue the recruitment process and even pace up hiring of potential Technology colleagues as per regular on-boarding timelines. Adhering to the Government directives of current lockdown and avoiding face to face interactions, Tesco Bengaluru has taken considerable steps to ensure this timely recruitment is safe and seamless, using its virtual solutions for interviews, induction, on-boarding and colleague engagement. As a result, new joiners are being officially hired without any further postponement. Dr Sumit Mitra, CEO, Tesco Business Services & Tesco Bengaluru, said, At Tesco, during these unprecedented times, we are ensuring seamless colleague operations and hiring processes for driving operational excellence for our markets . We believe that our success is through our colleagues and therefore creating the right support structure is essential. We ensure that all hiring offers are honoured with no changes to salary packages or joining dates. This is one of our humble efforts to rise to the needs in the current situation. We are and will continue to focus our efforts to help colleagues pass through the challenging times and deliver on our responsibility to feed customers across all the countries that we serve. Our colleagues here in Bengaluru play a huge part in this. Ms Vidya Laxman, Director, Tesco Technology, said, At a time like this, corporates must stay strong and support the talent pool in various ways possible. At Tesco Bengaluru, including Tesco technology, we are committed to driving business steadiness by successfully maintaining an agile, modern and cautious approach to recruitment. Our promise to honour offers to all the technologists remains firm, and we will continue to hire for available positions. We feel that policies like this are critical during such unprecedented times, and we hope the situation recovers soon. On the eve of Ramadan, 1.8 billion Muslims around the world are preparing for the month-long spiritual contemplation unlike ever before. Coronavirus has forced the hands of governments, with traditions that have stood for centuries unable to be observed due to lockdown measures aimed at containing the spread of the pathogen. Emphasising devotion while fasting and developing an affinity with fellow Muslims, this time would usually see gatherings at mosques, homes and out on the streets. But widespread restrictions have been implemented around the world, including a ban in Turkey on tents designed to offer free fast-breaking iftar dinners and pre-dawn suhoor meals. Citizens there are also forbidden from tipping drummers walking through the streets to wake people for their last meal before dawn, with the country responding after nearly 100,000 cases and 2,259 fatalities as of Wednesday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University. Charity tables have also been barred in Egypt, though there have been just 3,490 cases with the death total currently at 264. Saudi Arabia has suspended visas for Muslims seeking to take pilgrimages to Mecca and Medina, while Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was apologetic after announcing a ban on the countrys usual ceremonies and forbidding the public from attending holy shrines and mosques for two more weeks at least. Pakistan has walked back restrictions on groups of five or less able to attend prayers at mosques though after clashes between worshipers and police. A sombre mood is likely to overshadow much of the month, though the nature of Islam could help Muslims cope better in these testing circumstances. People outside the Badshahi mosque in Lahore (AFP) Its going to be different and difficult in certain circumstances, but Islam is a very flexible religion, it covers for all circumstances, so the usual worship we would do in mosques, we can do them at home, theres no harm in that given the situation, Farhad Ahmad, an Imam at Fazl Mosque in London, tells The Independent. During Ramadan we increase our worship, doing more goodness towards others, paying more to charity. So in a way, given everybody is now at home already, youre self-isolating or in quarantine, that is sort of a natural phenomena that usually happens in Ramadan anyway, as people become more devout and less social anyway. Its a bit different to what some people think about Ramadan. Being forced into it is not the ideal situation, Ramadan doesnt say dont go to work or see your friends, but at the same time, theres an emphasis to reflect on life, spend more time worshipping God, so this opportunity has made us more aware that we can do this more comfortably. Indeed the practice of itikaf solitary confinement during the final days of Ramadan in a mosque means that many Muslims may be accustomed to their current circumstances, even if they are now at home rather than a place of worships. While many mosques are now putting on online exercise classes and lectures to the burden on people during this time. Some people are going through a difficult time with anxiety, depression or mental health issues, Mr Ahmad adds. But if youre unwell or ill, Islam says youre not supposed to fast. There are a lot of challenges, but because Islam is flexible, it allows you to manage in any circumstance. Worshippers at the Baitul Futuh Mosque in London at the end of March (Getty) Mr Ahmad does concede there is concern about Eid-al-Fitr, the festival to mark the end of fasting, which will now be a completely different experience given many will be deprived globally from travelling to be with their families. Indonesian President Joko Widodo has already banned the mudik, the term used for the annual exodus from towns and cities at Eid, claiming the relevant preparation needs to be done in the worlds biggest Muslim-majority country, which has 7,418 cases and 635 fatalities to date. It is a similar experience back in the UK after the Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board confirmed Islamic buildings will continue to remain closed throughout the entirety of Ramadan, claiming mass gatherings for night prayers would be extremely irresponsible. It would be deemed extremely irresponsible to congregate for night prayers or hold religious gatherings during this Ramadan in any mosque or houses with people who are not members of the immediate household, said Qari Asim, a Leeds imam and chair of the board. During the epidemic, the desire to perform prayers with a congregation in a mosque comes second to saving lives. New York state has revoked a new do-not-resuscitate guideline for cardiac patients during the coronavirus pandemic. The New York Post reported Tuesday that a NYS Health Department memo issued last week told paramedics not to try and revive anyone without a pulse, despite previously being told to spend up to 20 minutes trying to save people found in cardiac arrest. The memo said the change was necessary during the COVID-19 response to protect the health and safety of EMS providers by limiting their exposure, conserve resources, and ensure optimal use of equipment to save the greatest number of lives." In a statement sent to syracuse.com | The Post-Standard on Wednesday, the New York State Health Department said it has since rescinded the order because it doesnt reflect state standards. This guidance, proposed by physician leaders of the EMS Regional Medical Control Systems and the State Advisory Council in accordance with American Heart Association guidance and based on standards recommended by the American College of Emergency Physicians and adopted in multiple other states was issued April 17, 2020 at the recommendation of the Bureau of Emergency Medical Services, and reflected nationally recognized minimum standards. However, they dont reflect New Yorks standards and for that reason DOH commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker has ordered them to be rescinded," the statement said. First responders objected to the do-not-resuscitate guideline, according to the Post. An unnamed FDNY EMS worker told the newspaper that only about three or four out of every 100 patients with no pulse are able to be brought back to life through drugs and hospitalization, but for those three or four people, its a big deal." ABC reported earlier this month that the Regional Emergency Services Council of New York was told not to transport anyone to NYC hospitals if they cannot be saved in the field, due to an overwhelming number of coronavirus patients with ambulance crews and emergency rooms struggling to keep up. It almost seems like its never stopping, people keep coming and coming and coming and theres just no space to put them, ER Dr. Darien Sutton told ABC. New York state has confirmed more than 251,000 cases of coronavirus and over 15,000 deaths, though hospitalizations and intubations have trended downward over the past few weeks. New deaths Tuesday were below 500 for the third day in a row, the lowest since April 1. MORE ON CORONAVIRUS Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources New York to double coronavirus testing after Trump, Cuomo meet Virus hunters go into Onondaga County senior living centers looking for COVID-19 McMahon: No more shelter-in-place, but urges people to travel even less; hospitals can reopen Coronavirus study: More deaths, no benefit from malaria drug touted by Trump An attorney for more than 20 of Jeffrey Epstein's victims claims that the late pedophile threatened him and his family by touting his 'friends in high places' and warning: 'Somebody's going to get hurt.' Bradley Edwards spent over a decade fighting to bring Epstein to justice, beginning back in the mid-2000s when he represented victims in the first sex abuse case against the financier in Florida. The attorney, whose book Relentless Pursuit: My Fight for the Victims of Jeffrey Epstein came out last month, appeared on a livestream for the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NYSPCC) on Tuesday and revealed that at one point Epstein hired people to surveil his wife and sons. Bradley Edwards (left), an attorney for more than 20 of Jeffrey Epstein's victims, claims that the late pedophile (right) threatened him and his family by touting his 'friends in high places' and warning: 'Somebody's going to get hurt' Edwards also described a threatening call he received from Epstein after the pedophile filed a civil racketeering lawsuit against him in 2009. In that suit, Epstein charged that Edwards had lied about the sex abuse described in the initial case because he wanted to bring more money into his law firm. 'He called me to tell me: "Look, I don't like the way you're prosecuting me and I don't like the way you're trying to undo my immunity deal,"' Edwards said on the livestream. '"You have to understand that I have friends in high places. I will drop my lawsuit against you if you will drop everything that you're doing against me."' The attorney said he met with Epstein several times at a Starbucks in Boca Raton, Florida, where the financier told him: 'Brad, if you keep prosecuting me in this way, somebody's going to get hurt.' Edwards spent over a decade fighting to bring Epstein to justice, beginning back in the mid-2000s when he represented victims in the first sex abuse case against the financier in Florida Epstein eventually dropped the lawsuit before Edwards counter-sued for malicious prosecution, claiming that the case was meant to intimidate him and his clients. For the next nine years Edwards used the counter suit to gather information on Epstein. The case was set to go to trial in 2018, offering Epstein's accusers a chance to testify against him, which had been taken away from them years earlier due to the plea deal he was given by then-US attorney Alexander Acosta. But right before the trial began, Epstein and Edwards settled the case for an undisclosed amount. Edwards at the time said that he settled because he wanted the victims to be able to share their stories in federal court. Epstein issued an apology through his lawyer, which read in part: 'The lawsuit I filed was my unreasonable attempt to damage his business reputation and stop Mr. Edwards from pursuing cases against me. It did not work.' In July 2019, Epstein was hit with a slew of new sex trafficking and abuse charges involving dozens of underage girls. He pleaded not guilty and was found dead of an apparent suicide in his Manhattan prison cell in August. Edwards listens to a public apology from Epstein, being read by Epstein's attorney Scott Link, in a Palm Beach County, Florida, Court after a civil settlement was reached where Epstein admitted that the charges he leveled against Edwards were completely false The Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, Barau Jibrin, has urged the Federal Government to assist Kano State financially, to enable it to control the rising spread of COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja, Mr Jibrin (Kano North, APC), stressed the need for the federal government to assist Kano state government with funds, equipment and additional testing facilities. The lawmaker said the assistance would enable the most populous state in the country to meet the challenges posed by the spread of the virus. He noted that the financial assistance would help Kano state, other states in Northern Nigeria and the country in general, because of the strategic role the state played in the life of the nation. He noted that the federal government assisted Lagos State, throwing its weight and resources behind it, due to its strategic location to the country. As of April 22, Kano State has recorded 73 cases of coronavirus. Mr Jibrin said that with the alarming rate of the spread of COVID-19, it became imperative for President Buhari to help Kano state overcome the threat of the pandemic. He pleaded that the federal government should not wait until the virus spread beyond the capability of the state before intervening. The lawmaker commended Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano for his administrations proactive steps to combat the pandemic. He recalled that the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Chikwe Ihekweazu had also commended the governor for the efforts. The COVID-19 pandemic is such that no state government can effectively deal with it alone without the assistance of federal government. President Muhammadu Buhari should please urgently assist Kano state at this point in time, he said. He noted that statistics available revealed that Kano was currently the state with third highest COVID-19 cases in the country after Lagos and Abuja. (NAN) Xtalks Life Science Webinars The speakers will also summarize several case studies where pharmaceutical/biotech CMC teams worked with outsourcing partners to design and execute strategies, enabling successful risk mitigation on RSM push backs for global filing. Join Valdas Jurkauskas, PhD, VP of CMC, Akebia Therapeutics and Ke Chen, PhD, VP, Process Research & Development, WuXi STA, a WuXi AppTec Company, in a live webinar on Thursday, May 7, 2020 at 11am EDT (4pm BST/UK). The selection of drug substance regulatory starting materials (RSMs) and justification of their designation in the pharmaceutical supply chain has become an industry-wide focus as a measure of mitigating regulatory risks, as well as preventing unexpected rises in cost when transitioning from clinical to commercial supply chains. In this webinar, the speakers will discuss expectations of regulators on the selection of RSM and the justification of their designation in the pharmaceutical supply chain. In addition, the scope of presentation of RSMs required in regulatory filings and how to prepare for push backs in the event of a major objection to the sponsors RSM designation will be examined. The speakers will also summarize several case studies where pharmaceutical/biotech CMC teams worked with outsourcing partners to design and execute strategies, enabling successful risk mitigation on RSM push backs for global filing. For more information or to register for this event, visit Strategies for Regulatory Starting Materials Designation in Drug Development and Manufacturing. ABOUT XTALKS Xtalks, powered by Honeycomb Worldwide Inc., is a leading provider of educational webinars to the global life science, food and medical device community. Every year thousands of industry practitioners (from life science, food and medical device companies, private & academic research institutions, healthcare centers, etc.) turn to Xtalks for access to quality content. Xtalks helps Life Science professionals stay current with industry developments, trends and regulations. Xtalks webinars also provide perspectives on key issues from top industry thought leaders and service providers. To learn more about Xtalks visit http://xtalks.com. For information about hosting a webinar visit http://xtalks.com/why-host-a-webinar/. The mollusc Leptogyra bujnitzkii appeared in a biological collection in Russia thanks to the legendary Arctic drift that began on 23 October 1937. Three icebreaking steamers - Georgiy Sedov, Malygin and Sadko - were beset and drifting in the ice following the sea current in the area of the New Siberian Islands. The same current transports drift-wood from the Siberian rivers towards Greenland. In August 1938, the veteran icebreaker Yermak freed the Sadko and Malygin. However, the Sedov, whose rudder was badly damaged, had to be left in the ice 'as a drifting high-latitude station'. This enforced wintering in the Arctic resulted in many scientific discoveries, included the debunking of the myth about the Sannikov Land. The discoveries, however, continue to be made today. The last among them has been the discovery of sea snails from the subclass Neomphaliones among the exhibits in the collection compiled by the research expedition of the Sadko. The species description was based on only two specimens raised from a depth of about 3800 metres north of the Laptev Sea. Initially, in 1946, the Russian hydrobiologist Grigory Gorbunov assigned it to the genus Ganesa. Then, in 2003, the mollusc was assigned to the genus Skenea. However, in 2020, the experts' opinion about the rare sea snail unexpectedly changed. 'Last autumn, I wrote a conference paper on small molluscs from the genus Skenea,' recalls Ekaterina Krol. ''Our' mollusc was reiterated as a representative of this genus as well, which appeared questionable to me from the very beginning. The day before my presentation at the conference, when I was finishing the paper, it became clear to me that the shell sculpture does not belong to the genus Ganesa. I started searching for more information about similar molluscs and came across representatives of the Leptogyra genus. Our specimens looked very similar. Then we had to prove their kinship.' Both syntypes at the disposal of Ekaterina Krol were initially studied with a stereo microscope. After that, one of specimens was coated with silver and studied using a scanning electronic microscope at the Interdisciplinary Resource Centre for Nanotechnology at the St Petersburg University Research Park. The research findings confirmed the hypothesis that the mollusc belongs to the genus Leptogyra. 'Unfortunately, knowledge gaps are a common problem in biology,' notes Ekaterina Krol. 'Besides, we are dealing with extremely small snails - representatives of micromolluscs. Their shells are only about 5 to 6 mm in adult size. Previously, such snails were often mistaken for larval shells. Another reason why the error had occurred is insufficient knowledge of the subclass Neomphaliones at the time of its initial description.' Interestingly, representatives of the genus Leptogyra inhabit extremely unusual environments. For instance, they live in a type of hydrothermal vents, often referred to as 'black smokers', which are found along the mid-ocean ridges. Another habitat of such molluscs is sunken wood. It must have been there that our two specimens were discovered during the expedition. 'The Leptogyra molluscs use decomposing wood as an energy source. Notably, the decaying wood habitat is a very aggressive environment. It is unsafe for living organisms that are not adapted to it. It would be interesting to find out how closely the organisms living on sunken wood are related to species associated with 'black smokers', because these habitats are very different. Getting the specimens from such depths is a challenge, indeed. Hence, there are very few of them at the researchers' disposal,' explains Ekaterina Krol. According to the researcher, the study findings can indicate the presence of sunken wood biocenoses in the Arctic Ocean. In other words, there may exist a previously unknown type of marine communities using decaying wood as the main source of energy. The closest communities of this type were previously reported in the northern Atlantic Ocean in the Iceland region. ### Arjun Rampal urged his followers to contribute towards helping the health workers fighting coronavirus by donating one uniform each New Delhi: Actor Arjun Rampal along with his family have extended a helping hand in providing PPE kits to the hospitals, doctors and nurses to help them in the fight against coronavirus. (Click here to follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak) He also urged people to donate 1 uniform for these corona warriors to keep them safe and healthy. The 47-year-old actor took to Instagram and shared a post in which he announced that the Rampal family has extended their support to MEDIQ LIFESCIENCES for providing PPE kits (made in India) in collaboration with Dr Oarsman Doshi to the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) hospital doctors and nurses. The Aankhein actor also urged others to contribute towards helping the frontline warriors. Check out the post here India's count of positive coronavirus cases reached 18,985 after 1,329 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Tuesday. Out of the total cases, 15,122 are active cases, 3,259 have been cured and discharged and one has migrated. With 44 new deaths reported in the last 24 hours, the toll stands at 603. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. \According to Stratistics MRC, the Global Aviation Cyber Security Market is accounted for$2,794.63 million in 2017 and is expected to reach $6,482.54 million by 2026 growing at a CAGR of 9.8% during the forecast period. Growing cyber-attacks, rising number of air passengers and increasing number of DDoS attacks are the major factors influence market growth. However, Lack of efficient security solutions may hinder the growth of the market. The aviation industry relies heavily on IT infrastructure for its ground and flight operations. Aviation cybersecurity solutions are software suites designed to defend aviation networks, computers, and databases from cyber-attacks and unauthorized access. The security of these airline systems directly impacts the operational safety and efficiency of the industry and indirectly impacts the service, reputation and financial health. By Application, Airline management segment is likely to have a huge demand due to its better financial results, improve customer service, and enhance operational efficiency. By geography, Asia Pacific is estimated to have a lucrative growth due to the thriving aviation industry. Request for Report sample :https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/12118 Some of the key players in Aviation Cyber Security Market include Rockwell Collins, Inc., Palo Alto Networks, Inc., Unisys Corporation, Harris Corporation, Airbus Defence and Space SA, BAE Systems, Inc., General Electric Company, Computer Science Corp, General Dynamics Corp, BluVector, Inc., root9B Holdings, Inc., Raytheon Company, Thales S.A., Cisco Systems, Inc. and Collins Aerospace. Deployments Covered: Hosted On-Premise Products Covered: Counter Cyber Threats Aviation Sector Monitor Aviation Sector Detect Types Covered: Wireless Security Cloud Security Network Security Content Security Application Security Endpoint Security Components Covered: Services Solutions Applications Covered: Air Cargo Management AirTraffic Control Management Airline Management Airport Management End Users Covered: Commercial Military Request for Report Discount:https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/discount/12118 Regions Covered: North America o US o Canada o Mexico Europe o Germany o France o Italy o UK o Spain o Rest of Europe Asia Pacific o Japan o China o India o Australia o New Zealand o Rest of Asia Pacific South America o Argentina o Brazil o Chile o Rest of South America Middle East & Africa o Saudi Arabia o UAE o Qatar o South Africa o Rest of Middle East & Africa What our report offers: - Market share assessments for the regional and country level segments - Strategic recommendations for the new entrants - Market forecasts for a minimum of 9 years of all the mentioned segments, sub segments and the regional markets - Market Trends (Drivers, Constraints, Opportunities, Threats, Challenges, Investment Opportunities, and recommendations) - Strategic analysis: Drivers and Constraints, Product/Technology Analysis, Porters five forces analysis, SWOT analysis etc. - Strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations - Competitive landscaping mapping the key common trends - Company profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent developments - Supply chain trends mapping the latest technological advancements Make an Inquiry before Buying@:https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/checkout/12118/Single Free Customization Offerings: All the customers of this report will be entitled to receive one of the following free customization options: Company Profiling o Comprehensive profiling of additional market players (up to 3) o SWOT Analysis of key players (up to 3) Regional Segmentation o Market estimations, Forecasts and CAGR of any prominent country as per the clients interest (Note: Depends of feasibility check) Competitive Benchmarking o Benchmarking of key players based on product portfolio, geographical presence, and strategic alliances For those expecting a federal stimulus check through the mail instead of direct deposit and seeking a place to cash it, there are limits on how much check-cashing businesses can charge you. Allentown spokesman Mike Moore is urging city residents to be leery of potential scams and places that could potentially hike the fees. Economic impact payments are specifically defined as a government check in the law that regulates check cashers in Pennsylvania. The fee for cashing a government check in the state cant exceed 1.5% of the value of the check. On a $1,200 individual stimulus check, for example, the maximum fee is $18. A consumer would then receive cash in the amount of $1,182 for the $1,200 check. It is important consumers understand check-cashing fees so they keep as much of their money as possible, said Richard Vague, acting secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities, in a statement. "We will be ensuring that check casher licensees are complying with statutory provisions related to fees on government checks during ongoing examinations. The department is urging people to only use check cashing services that are properly licensed or registered by the state. Consumers can check the status of a check-cashing establishment here or by calling the banking department at 1-800-PA-BANKS. Those charged more than the legal limit are being asked to retain records, including a receipt, and report the incident by calling the banking department or visiting the Department of Banking and Securities website. Consumers need to remain vigilant about possible coronavirus scams, Vague said. He noted no government official will call to confirm bank account information or social security information. Never give out personal information if you did not initiate the phone call, Vague said. The IRS already has begun mailing the first batch of paper stimulus checks, but expects it will take at least through the beginning of September to get them all out. Millions who have filed a tax return in 2019 or 2018 and for whom the IRS already has their direct deposit information already have received checks via direct deposit. Taxpayers who want to check the status on their stimulus checks or those wanting to enter direct deposit information to gain the funds faster can log onto the IRS online portal. Those without bank accounts also can use the portal to make sure their mailing address is correct. Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Professor Samuel Ato Duncan, CEO of COA FS Herbal Centre is sensing a grand scheme to bring down his brand. The FDA, over the weekend, asked Ghanaians to return all purchased COA FS products to the manufacturer because on random COA FS product picked from the manufacturing company and the market, indicated that it was not safe for consumption. A press statement signed by FDA boss, Mrs Delese A. A. Darko, further stated that checks revealed that the food supplement contains Escherichia coli, a type of bacteria that normally lives in the intestines. Prof Duncan speaking in an interview on Peace FM's morning show 'Kokrokoo' rejected the claims pointing out that the product has been subjected to annual review and certification by the FDA under prescribed regulatory standards, the last approval having been given by the FDA to cover the year 2020. According to him, everything was going on smoothly as far as COA FS is concerned until the claim that it helps fight COVID-19 by boosting the immune system. "I believe it was a scheme to bring the COA brand down" he alleged. Meanwhile, the Herbal Center in a press statement released on Tuesday (April 21,2020) said "we are proud to say COA FS, since its inception by the FDA in 2016 has passed all microbial tests. The anti-microbial activity has been experimental confirmed.We write in relation to the Press Statement issued by the Food and Drug Authority FDA, Ghana dated on the 18th April 2020, which is circulating in the media under the above subject.We wish to state that COA FS is produced by a unique biotransformation and extraction technique at high temperature and pressure for which reason the product is as clear as water but highly aromatic.The active ingredients in COA FS as revealed by independent scientific investigations using GCMS and LCMS conducted in Kwazulu Natal University of South Africa, and recently by the Ghana Standards Authority indicates a wide range of bioactive compounds ranging from anti-cancer, anti-bacterial, anti -fungal and anti-viral properties.Other compounds with immune stimulating activities have been found in COA FS. These compounds are mainly triterpenes and other essential oils. It is for this reason that in the manufacture of COA FS, preservatives are not added. COA FS does not contain any artificial preservatives due to the broad range of anti-microbial activities mentioned above.Further, it has been subjected to annual review and certification by the FDA under prescribed regulatory standards, the last approval having been given by the FDA to cover the year 2020. We are proud to say that COA FS, since its registration by the FDA in 2016 has passed all microbial tests. This anti-microbial activity has been experimentally confirmed.We therefore find the Press Statement from the FDA that they detected a microbial contamination in COA FS as a surprise. The self-preserving nature of COA FS is the reason why we have never received any of the adverse drug reactions enumerated in the FDA Statement over the period. Contrary to the claims in the Press Statement, the evidence rather indicates that people with weakened immune systems and or kidney malfunctions, rather got better after taking COA FS. We find it unfortunate that the FDA seeks to associate the alleged contamination in COA FS to kidney failure. A thorough search through scientific literature shows that it is a particular strain of E. Coli that causes kidney problem, but the FDA has not provided any data to prove that this particular strain has been found in COA FS.We wish to inform the public that the FDA on the 9th of April 2020 drew our attention to the supposed contamination and directed us to issue a withdrawal notice, which we did as law abiding citizens, in spite of our doubts of the claim Subsequently, we ran a microbial test for the identified samples with batch numbers CFS00003 and CFS00004 on our reference samples from the microbiology laboratory of the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital. The result of the microbial test does not disclose contamination by Yeast, Mould and E-Coli as indicated in the FDA press statement.We are currently conducting similar tests on the above batches in other independent laboratories. We expect the results soon. The outcome will also be communicated to the general public. It therefore cannot be the case that COA FS produced by the COA Herbal Center are contaminated.We therefore wish to assure our Distributors, Agents, Clients and the general public that we will not rest on our oars until all due processes are exhausted.We therefore assure the general public that in as much as we disagree with the FDA, we are committed to working with them as the regulator to address any concerns they may have.It is in the spirit of growing together in a turbulent industry as ours, that we will urge all our media partners not to hesitate in asking much needed questions to freely educate all and sundry to clear all doubts in the minds of right-thinking people. Our doors shall remain open to see all test results and relevant correspondence to ensure transparency and investor confidence.ISSUED BY THE CENTER OF AWARENESS (COA) HERBAL CENTER, WUSORKROM, CAPE COAST Source: Rebecca Addo Tetteh/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected] Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video IMA to go for strike on Aug 8 to protest against NMC Bill Dignity of doctors non-negotiable, Modi govt is committed to your safety says Shah IMA calls off White Alert protest: Calls Shahs assurance solid India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Apr 22: The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has withdrawn the White Alert protest following assurances given by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the safety of doctors. Following a meeting with Shah and Health Minister, Dr Harsh Vardhan, the IMA said that it was calling off the protests. Considering the immediate high-level response of the government and solid assurance given by the Home Minister himself, it is decided that the White Alert protest of 22 and Black Day of 23 stands withdrawn, the IMA said. Dignity of doctors non-negotiable, Modi govt is committed to your safety says Shah It is also expressed that in this period of global crisis, where each one of us is fighting on the frontline for the very existence of the human race, such protests will send out a bad signal of the unity of the country and will damage its image internationally, the IMA also said. Shah along with Health Minister, Dr Harshvardhan interacted with doctors and representatives of the Indian Medical Association through video conferencing. Shah said that the dignity of the doctors at their workplace is non-negotiable. It is our collective responsibility to ensure a conducive atmosphere for them at all times. Shah also assured the doctors that the Modi government is committed to their cause. He also appealed to them to reconsider their proposed protest. The way our doctors are performing their duties in these testing times is exceptional. I urge every Indian to cooperate with doctors in this fight against coronavirus, Shah also said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Rozanna Latiff (Reuters) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Wed, April 22, 2020 12:45 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd3825d7 2 World Australia,US,South-China-Sea,tension,China,Vietnam,Malaysia Free An Australian frigate has joined three US warships in the South China Sea near an area where a Chinese vessel is suspected to be exploring for oil, near waters also claimed by Vietnam and Malaysia, officials said on Wednesday. The warships arrived this week close to where the Chinese government survey ship Haiyang Dizhi 8 has been operating, which is in turn near where a vessel operated by Malaysias Petronas state oil company is conducting exploratory drilling, regional security sources have said. The US navy said on Tuesday the USS America amphibious assault ship and the USS Bunker Hill, a guided missile cruiser, were operating in the South China Sea. They were joined by Australia's frigate HMAS Parramatta and a third US vessel, the destroyer USS Barry, as part of a joint exercise, the Australian defense department said. "During the passage exercises, the ships honed interoperability between Australian and US navies, including replenishment-at-sea, aviation operations, maritime maneuvers and communications drills," it said in a statement to Reuters. The Haiyang Dizhi 8 was 325 km (202 miles) off the Malaysian coast, within its exclusive economic zone, data from ship-tracking website Marine Traffic showed on Wednesday. The ship, accompanied by a Chinese coastguard vessel, has been moving in a hash-shaped pattern consistent with a seismic survey for nearly a week, the data showed. The area is near waters claimed by both Vietnam and Malaysia as well as China. China claims most of the energy-rich South China Sea, within a U-shaped "nine-dash line" on its maps, which is not recognized by its neighbors. Petronas and Malaysia's foreign ministry have not commented on the situation but the United States has called on China to stop its "bullying behavior" in the South China Sea. China, however, has denied reports of a standoff, saying the Haiyang Dizhi 8 was conducting normal activities. Last year, Vietnamese vessels spent months shadowing the Haiyang Dizhi 8. It appeared off Vietnam again last week, within Vietnam's exclusive economic zone. Vietnam said it was closely monitoring the situation. The United States has accused China of pushing its presence in the South China Sea while other claimants are pre-occupied with the coronavirus. At the same time, China has been donating medical aid to Southeast Asian countries to help them tackle the virus, which emerged in central China late last year. A team of Chinese medical experts arrived this week in Malaysia, which has reported more than 5,400 coronavirus infections. On Sunday, Vietnam protested after China said it had established two administrative districts on the Paracel and Spratly islands in the disputed waters. China has called Vietnam's claims illegal. by Sumon Corraya Bangladesh fears that, with its 165 million inhabitants and a density of 1,265 people per sq. km, the outbreak could spread further. The most serious problems are the lack of protective gear for doctors, or its low quality, as well as too many people staying in close proximity, and sick people hiding their symptoms. In Rajshahi the diocese is helping poor and unemployed tribal people. Dhaka (AsiaNews) The COVID-19 is spreading more and more in the country. Yesterday 492 new cases were reported, the highest number in a single day, whilst the death toll reached 101. Bangladesh has been battling the coronavirus since 8 March, when three people tested positive. Overall, 2,948 people have been infected with 85 currently under treatment in a special hospital. The most worrying fact is that at least 179 doctors are among the infected. What is more, Health Ministry data indicate that only six healthcare workers (doctors, nurses, midwives) are available per 10,000 people; this in a country with a huge population (165 million) and high density (1,265 people per sq. km). The Health Ministry has also reported that at least 130 nurses and service staff have tested positive for the virus, whilst 400 doctors are under observation and quarantined at home. For experts, the main reason for the high rate of infection among the medical staff is the "low quality" of the protective gear given to them, plus people staying in close proximity with each other, and patients hiding COVID-19 symptoms. Many people remain unaware of the danger whilst others hide the disease and are not quarantined. Many people go shopping and come into contact with others, or attend crowded funerals. Two days ago, despite the full lockdown, at least 100,000 people attended the funeral of Zubair Ahmed Ansari, an Islamist preacher in a village in Brahmanbaria district, about 100 km from the capital. The police try to control the crowd to little avail. At the same time, those who fight coronavirus doctors, nurses, volunteers are being socially excluded, driven from the flats or rooms they rent. Yesterday, in Kushtia, a landlord banned a nurse from his building. The lockdown of economic activities has pushed up unemployment and poverty. The government is providing aid but many local officials have been using it for their own benefit. At least 14 corrupt officials have been fired in connection with aid distribution. Fear of contagion has led many private hospitals, diagnostic centres, and dispensaries to shut down. This has deprived many non-COVID-19 patients of needed treatment. As a result, in the past 24 hours, some 200 people have died from cough, fever, breathing difficulties and diarrhoea. For Dr Mustak Hossain, an adviser to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), "the death rate in Bangladesh is very high compared to other countries infected with the coronavirus. All this is very worrying. Many members of Bangladeshs Catholic community are tribal, who are marginalised because of their faith and ethnicity and are now unemployed. We are raising money from wealthy Catholics and cooperative credit organisations to help the neediest tribal Catholics, said Bishop Gervas Rozario of Rajshahi. The prelate explained that those in need are receiving money to buy food, since members of tribal groups cannot go out to find day work. So far, we raised 550,000 takas (about US$ 6,500), he noted. Many other dioceses in Bangladesh are doing the same. Shares is the leading weekly publication for retail investors. It is packed with investment ideas, news and educational material to help build and run portfolios and get more from your money. Shares puts on free Investor Events throughout the year across the country. They provide an opportunity for investors to learn more about companies on the stock market and hear from a range of investment experts including fund managers and Shares journalists. Jose R. Ralat's new book "American Tacos" goes deep on north-of-the border taco culture. (Robert Strickland / utpressbox) Jose R. Ralat made headlines last fall when Texas Monthly, the national magazine of Texas, appointed him the publications first-ever taco editor. The role requires him to travel the state for about two weeks every month to report on the states expansive taco scene. It wasnt an easy job to get; Ralat pitched the idea to the magazine nearly four years ago. Before that, he wrote about tacos for more than a decade, most notably in his long-running blog Taco Trail, which started as a weekly column in the Dallas Observer in 2010. I spoke to Ralat recently from his home in Dallas, where he is temporarily grounded but busy promoting his new book, American Tacos. Its a deeply researched guide to north-of-the-border taco culture and history. We talked at length about the diversity of regional American taco styles, the rise of Sur-Mex tacos, and why he says Mexican food always wins. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity. "American Tacos" is now available in bookstores. What is your working definition of an American taco? Not much different from my definition of a taco. Tacos developed at about the same time on both sides of the river before there was a border. Each country had its own taco traditions from nearly the beginning. Mexicans have folded things in tortillas for thousands of years but they werent always called tacos and we can debate that forever but I think a taco is a representation and reflection of its time and place. Its regional. And that regionality includes this country, Mexicos sister country. Regionality means that what goes into the tortilla depends on populations, what's available and what people want to eat. After the war of 1848 and the border demarcation that cleaved markets, ingredient availability changed north of the border. Taco development in this country took off in different directions. Those directions are American tacos. The American taco, as I note, comes to prominence at the end of the 19th century but really doesn't take hold until technology like refrigeration becomes widely available. That's when you get Tex-Mex, that's when you get fried tacos. Story continues You note that fried crispy tacos have a long history in this country, but I still run into people who tell me that theyre somehow not authentic. The crispy taco is a glorious thing. Some of our earliest recipes called for frying the tortilla not to the extent that we do it now, of course. But the crispy taco is part of this countrys food traditions and it should be respected as such. Unfortunately, mass production things like boxed taco kits at some point those became inevitable. But theres nothing finer than a freshly fried crispy taco. In Texas, theyre actually becoming more common now with increased Mexican immigration. The Midwest is where you can find freshly fried crispy tacos of many different regionalities. In Chicago I found one built with picadillo filled, deep-fried and served with a Kraft single slice of cheese, at an Irish pub. Its that integrated into the culture. Then you get the Kansas City taco, which is a product of Mexican and Italian laborers living side by side, trading ingredients. Its relatively new, which surprises me, because Kansas City, Mo., has always had Mexicans. They drove cattle all that way from Mexico. It wasnt until another population came to work at the meat-packing plants that these tacos really developed. Jose R. Ralat's "American Tacos" was published by University of Texas Press on April 15. (utpress) You coin a phenomenon that you name the Abuelita Principle. Can you describe what you mean? So much of the conversation about Mexican food is driven by personal experience that says more about the person arguing than the subject. I think we forget that Mexico and Mexican food is so much bigger than we can ever imagine. Because the culture and the food is so centered on the family, we gravitate toward the matriarch who was always responsible for the food. The argument is ultimately: Thats not Mexican food. My grandmother made real Mexican food. OK, well, what if your grandmother was a terrible cook? Your grandmothers recipe wasnt the only recipe. How I like to frame it to Anglos is using cookies as an example: Your grandmothers chocolate chip cookie recipe was different than your neighbors chocolate chip cookie recipe. That doesnt make either illegitimate. The point is that we need to understand that just because something exists outside of our realm of experience does not negate it. At best, its misguided. At worst, its racist. I get this argument more from Anglos than I do other people. [Tacos] ultimately belong to Mexico. They get the final word. Those of us who live in the borderlands are just lucky enough to live in a part of the world that was once Mexico. The line at Kogi Korean BBQ during the truck's early heyday. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) You have a chapter called K-Mex. Why do you think Korean tacos evolved as quickly as they did? They have been around ever since a large wave of Korean immigrants to Southern California meant Koreans and Mexicans and Mexican Americans were working and living side by side in the 80s and 90s. Roy Choi deserves a lot of accolades and respect for leveraging something that might have otherwise remained just a regional thing, like the San Antonio puffy taco. He was incredibly smart to use social media in order to advertise it while Twitter was becoming a thing. It allowed for his food to get on the radar across the country. The [Kogi] profile was public. Anyone on Twitter could follow it. If you followed it, you saw how successful it became and how quickly it became successful. So other Korean Americans saw the opportunity and took that opportunity to capitalize on it. That happened in like two years. It became an American taco and part of the taco canon. K-Mex is critical to the story of the regional American taco because of its quick success. In the chapter on Sur-Mex, or Southern-style tacos, you call El Mero in Memphis, Tenn. (from chefs Clarissa and Jacob Dries) one of the best taco operations in the country. What made it so memorable? It wasnt trying to be something its not. Its of its place and time. A married couple a native Memphisian and a Mexican immigrant from Oaxaca who met in Austin, Texas moved to Memphis because food trucks were legalized and they saw an opportunity to integrate elements of their upbringings. The Southern culinary tradition and the Mexican culinary tradition are both rooted in corn. They called me last week and said, Were just trying to cook us. Were trying to be us. I think thats what tacos should be. So they have a fried chicken taco, which has become very Southern. Whats more Sur-Mex is the albondigas with collard greens taco. I think its a natural pairing that expresses the beautiful integration of the two traditions to create a third that is valid, delicious and worthy of respect. Did you coin the term Sur-Mex? Its the best term I could come up with that acknowledges both traditions being synthesized in a respectful manner. Sur-Mex should have developed a lot sooner and it should have been codified, but its not. You have Mexican American chefs like Oscar Diaz [of the Cortez in Raleigh, N.C.] using locally sourced ingredients in Mexican ways, which is part of the same category. So its a larger category thats still trying to fit into its clothes. Why do you think Sur-Mex is not better known? The easiest answer I can think of is racism. There have been Mexicans in the South for hundreds of years, but it took a huge population shift for it to really grab hold. And it took people with vision, like Mike Klank and Eddie Hernandez from [Atlantas] Taqueria del Sol, to plant the seed. And that was only in the 1990s. Sur-Mex should be a prominent American style. We should all know about it. Do you think it's because Southern food in general is resistant to change? You know whats not resistant to change? Mexican food. It embraces it. Mexican food always wins. Europeans tried to convince themselves and indigenous tribes that corn was the food of poverty and barbarism, and flour was civilized because its what the communion wafer was made from. Flour did not displace corn. Flour became part of the tradition. Mexican food has always fought and always won. In the chapter called Alta California Tacos, you profile several Southern California chefs, including Wes Avila (Guerrilla Tacos), Ray Garcia (B.S. Taqueria, Broken Spanish) and Carlos Salgado (Taco Maria). You make the case that what sets these chefs apart is a strong sense of individuality and place. Can you explain that? Alta California, I think, is the only style of taco that cannot be removed from its geography. It ceases to exist out of its place because its tied directly to the ingredients grown and fished in that part of the world. The name of the area was previously Alta California and people in Baja California talk about it as Alta California to this day. In terms of individuality, chefs like Wes Avila and Ray Garcia find inspiration in the flavors of their childhood. The same thing with Christine Rivera [of Galaxy Taco]. For Carlos [Salgado], its more about the history and flavor profiles. Its a more intellectual taco experience. And I appreciate that. In the book I mention that I cried when I had his food. Because he gets it. He made me get it. Being a taco editor sounds like a dream job. Is it everything its cracked up to be? My job is to tell the story of other people and the food that they make. Hopefully I can honor them and humanize them and help other people understand that they shouldnt be scapegoated. While Im not Mexican, my son is, and I dont want him to suffer the kind of racism I did just for being brown-skinned. I want everyone to be treated with respect just because they exist. Mexican cooks and Latinos are among the hardest-working and most welcoming people. We deserve that acknowledgment. Kalaburagi: An 80-year-old person who was suffering from Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) since April 19 and was under treatment at a hospital in Kalaburagi, died on Tuesday. Of the four deaths reported from the district, three had occurred in April. The latest victim is a resident of Kalaburagi and was also suffering from Parkinsons disease for four years and was bed-ridden for the last three years. Earlier, on March 10, a 76-year-old person Mohammad Hussain Siddiqui, a resident of Kalaburagi died while returning back from Hyderabad to Kalaburagi and his family members had ferried Siddiqui to a hospital in Hyderabad for complaints of viral pneumonia. This was the first death related to coronavirus in Kalaburagi, as well as in the whole country. Siddiqui had returned from Saudi Arabia on February 9 after a month-long tour and on his arrival, showed signs of COVID-19 but was discharged from hospital against medical advice. In the second week of April, a 65-year-old person and a resident of Kalaburagi died at ESIC Hospital. He was a fruit and vegetable vendor and had no travel history. As many as 27 positive cases have been reported in Kalaburagi and 21 of them are active cases, it is said in a media bulletin released by Kalaburagi District Administration. Five persons, all residents of Kalaburagi, were tested Corona positive on Monday. Meanwhile, number of containment zones created by District Administration to contain the spread of Corona has gone to 14 from two containment zones a month back. Among the latest steps initiated to contain Corona spread, deputy commissioner B Sharath has formed various committees such as ambulance and transport management, fever clinic management, contingency action plan and management, lab committee, contact tracing committee, containment committee, biomedical waste including dead body management among others. Vicky Kaushal took to social media in the early hours of Tuesday morning to mourn the demise of Deitch. Sharing an illustration of Gene with Tom and Jerry by his side, Vicky wrote a heartfelt note that read, Thank you for making our childhood so amazing! The American Oscar-winning illustrator, animator, film director and producer passed away at 95. Petr Himmel, the publisher told the press that Deitch died unexpectedly during the night from Thursday to Friday in his apartment in Pragues Little Quarter neighbourhood. No further details were given. Apart from creating Tom and Jerry, he also worked on some episodes of the Popeye the Sailor man, another popular cartoon series. Deitch is survived by his wife and by three sons from his first marriage, all of whom are cartoonists and illustrators. Vicky Kaushal took to social media in the early hours of Tuesday morning to mourn the demise of Deitch. Sharing an illustration of Gene with Tom and Jerry by his side, Vicky wrote a heartfelt note that read, Thank you for making our childhood so amazing!The American Oscar-winning illustrator, animator, film director and producer passed away at 95. Petr Himmel, the publisher told the press that Deitch died unexpectedly during the night from Thursday to Friday in his apartment in Pragues Little Quarter neighbourhood. No further details were given.Apart from creating Tom and Jerry, he also worked on some episodes of the Popeye the Sailor man, another popular cartoon series. Deitch is survived by his wife and by three sons from his first marriage, all of whom are cartoonists and illustrators. om and Jerry is a show that has a special place in the hearts of people. No matter how old or young you might be, were sure that Tom and Jerry definitely is up there among your favourites. Yesterday, all fans of the show were left in state of shock when they learnt the news of Gene Deitch's demise, the man behind the legendary animated series. Another such fan that expressed his sorrow was Vicky Kaushal. The West Bengal government has allowed only five jute mills to resume operations, as part of the relaxation during Covid-19 lockdown. Most of these mills are located in the containment zone and need special permission from the government to resume operations. The state government is yet to decide on the permission sought by the 45 other mills. West Bengal, the jute hub of India, has most of its mills located along two banks of river Hooghly in the districts of North 24-Parganas, Hooghly, Howrah and South 24-Parganas. Of them, North 24-Parganas and Howrah are Covid-19 hotspots falling in the red zone. Hooghly, though in the orange zone, has declared most of its municipal areas along the river Hooghly as containment zone. The five mills which have received permission for opening are in South 24-Parganas district. There are around 60-odd jute mills in the state out of which around 50 have applied to resume work. Till April 20, only five have received the permission. We are yet to receive any information about the other mills, said Raghavendra Gupta, chairman of Indian Jute Mills Association. The five jute mills have been allowed to resume work with 50 workers each. This is not practical. We can at the most carry out the finishing touches required for already manufactured products and dispatch them, said Gupta. The Bengal government had on April 15 decided to allow the jute industry to operate with 15 per cent of its regular workforce from April 20 after multiple requests from the Centre. Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani had called up Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee requesting her to allow these mills to resume work. Banerjee had also received calls from chief ministers of Maharashtra and Telangana with requests to allow jute mills to resume work. With the harvest season nearing, the states as well as the Food Corporation of India are now looking up to Bengal for jute sacks. Requesting anonymity, a jute mill owner said, The industry, for remaining closed during this time, may have to pay a larger cost in the future as the Centre would allow the use of plastic in large scale due to unavailability of jute sacks. Once plastic enters the sector, jute may not recover its place. The jute mills employ about two lakh people and each mill on an average employ around 3,000 people. Hastings Jute Mill in Hooghly district, for example, has 4,338 workers on its roll. But as large areas in the districts of as North 24-Parganas and Howrah have been declared as red zones where lockdown needs to be strictly implemented it is still not certain what will happen to these mills, said a senior official of the state government. A mysterious hacker has reportedly returned 20million worth of stolen funds to a Chinese crypto-currency exchange platform dForce after keeping them for two days. A sum of $25million (20million) funds in a variety of crypto-currencies was illegally drained from the trading site on Sunday, according to the founder of dForce. But in a baffling plot twist, the web attacker has returned all the stolen crypto money today, according to various media reports. A mysterious hacker has reportedly returned 20million worth of stolen funds to a Chinese crypto-currency exchange platform dForce after two days. FILE PHOTO: Representations of virtual currency Bitcoin and U.S. dollar banknotes The Chinese network dForce is an online service that allows users to make crypto-currency transactions with one another. The platform founder Mindao Yang wrote a blog post shortly after the attack took place on April 19. He explained that the attacker was able to withdraw funds by manipulating the system to falsely increase the amount of crypto-currencies in their account and draining it all before the balance is updated, according to an analysis from PeckShield. 'The hacker(s) have attempted to contact us and we intend to enter into discussions with them,' Yang stated. 'We are doing everything in our power to contain the situation,' He continued. 'This attack not only harmed our users, our partners, and my co-founders, but also me personally. My assets were stolen in this attack, too.' In a new plot twist, the web attacker perplexingly has returned all the stolen crypto money today, according to various media reports. The file photo shows a hacker stealing information In a separate post yesterday, Yao declared that 'nearly all of the stolen funds have been recaptured'. 'It's with great relief that I report that nearly all of the stolen funds have been recaptured through the efforts collaboratively made by our partners, law enforcement, investors, the community, and our team members,' Yang wrote. The Chinese founder also promised to give out more details about the attack in a future post. It is believed that the mysterious exploiter surprisingly returned $2.79million (2.79million) worth of assets to dForce on Monday and handed back the rest of the funds today in a different mix of crypto-currencies, according to data analysed by The Block Research. The hacker returned all the funds because their IP address was shared with Singapore police, Sergej Kunz, CEO of crypto network 1inch.exchange, told The Block today. 'We got a request from Singapore police and we were helping dForce. Based on the request, we delivered to the police the IP addresses and sensitive meta information, which the hacker speeded by using our CDN,' said Kunz. SEOULThe Winter Olympics of 2018 were Kim Yo Jong's international coming out party. The worlds press gushed about the younger sister of North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un. The debutanteslender, smiling, graciousseemed to be so very different from her porcine brother. But now that his health is in question, and amid conflicting reports that he could be at deaths door, his little sister may well be first in line to carry on the family dynasty. Sister and brother have been close for years. She has advised on key events in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, encouraging construction of modern apartments, ski slopes, even an amusement park, but it was during those Olympics that she shone as a major figure before the world. It was then, at a luncheon meeting in the Blue House, the center of power in South Korea, that she gracefully handed the Souths President Moon Jae-in a handwritten note from her brother suggesting they get together for a summit. As a Blue House spokesman described the encounter, Kim Yo Jong embellished the written verbiage with polite words of her own. Big brother hoped they could get together sooner rather than later, at the earliest convenience, she said. Moon, who had been looking for reconciliation with the North, was thrilled. Lets create the environment for that to happen, was his all-too-eager response. Kim Jong Uns Little Sister Steals Pences Thunder and Trumps Trump, at Least in Seoul Ah, those were the days. Now, after all those summits between Moon and Kimand between U.S. President Donald Trump and Kimthe atmosphere has cooled again while both Koreas struggle through the coronavirus pandemic that may also have caught Kim in its feverish grip. More than ever, Yo Jong is looking like Jong Uns most obvious heir apparent, and while she may not be overly qualified to rule, she has this: she survived her brothers bloody family purges. Story continues Kim Yo Jong is youngshes 31 but shes older than her brother was when he inherited absolute power from their father in December 2011, just shy of his 28th birthday. And Yo Jong is a familiar face to North Koreans. Big brother has been promoting her as a visible number two for years now. If Jong Un succumbs to the kind of cardiovascular issues that are inevitable for one whos 57, tips the scales at 300 pounds according to South Korean intelligence, is a chain smoker, drinks heavily, and works hard, few other contenders have his little sisters high profile. Previous contenders for the throne, or would-be powers behind it, have not fared well. Jang Song Thaek, his fathers sisters husband, had an inside track on power during the later days of Kim Jong Ils rule. After Jong Il died, Jang was fully expected to advise young Jong Un on the ways and wiles of governance. But less than two years after Kim Jong Un took power, he had Uncle Jang charged with corruption and power-grabbing, beaten, dragged before a judge, and executed. Kim also had his older half brother, whod been living a playboyish life in Macao, snuffed with VX nerve agent in 2017. Bruce Bennett, who follows Korea for the Rand Corporation, believes Kim may want his sister to keep the seat of power warm for when his son is ready to take charge. But the boy was born in 2010, date uncertain, so Kim Yo Jongs regency would be pretty long. Kim may believe his sister is a safer bet as successor-in-waiting because in his view she would not be able to take over the government herself, says Bennett, unlike the highly qualified, deceased, Jang Song Thaek. Kim Yo Jong was named an alternate member of the politburo at her brothers last publicized appearance on April 12. She rose to that position after having been authorized to make public statements in her own name criticizing South Korea for bowing to Washingtons wishes about demands for an end to the Norths nuclear and missile program. As quoted in the North Korean state media, this lissome young woman could be a tough cookienot exactly the charmer she had appeared when she and Moon met during the Olympics. When South Korea leveled official criticism at the Norths recent missile tests, Yo Jong fired back, "The South side is fond of joint military exercises and it is preoccupied with all the disgusting acts like purchasing ultra-modern military hardware. She did not mention South Koreas President Moon Jae-in by name but called the Blue House, the center of presidential power, a mere childlike a child dreading fire whose behavior was so perfectly foolish. "They meant they need to get militarily prepared but we should be discouraged from military exercises, she declared in a flight of verbiage worthy of the Norths best rhetoricians. Such a gangster-like assertion can never be expected from those with normal way of thinking." It would have been impossible for Kim Yo Jong to utter such caustic words had Kim not wanted to push her into the spotlight and move her up the hierarchy. Among her official positions Kim Yo Jong has served as vice director of the propaganda and agitation department of the Workers Party and was elected last year to the Supreme Peoples Assembly, the Norths rubber stamp parliament. All that background may not qualify her in a male-dominated society, but she does carry on the sacrosanct Paektu line. Thats the blood relationship to her grandfather, Kim Il Sung, who was installed by the Soviet Union as North Koreas first leader after World War II and ruled for nearly 50 years, and to her father, Kim Jong Il, mythologized by North Korea as born in a cabin on sacred Mount Paektu, the Korean peninsulas highest peak and a former hideout for guerrillas battling Japanese colonial rule. The logical successor will be Kim Yo Jong, says Evans Revere, a long-time diplomat dealing with North Korea at the U.S. embassy in Seoul and the State Department. She is a member of the Kim family. Clearly, she is being groomed for greater responsibilities, as evidenced by her recent promotions, her elevated public profile, and her self-confident, almost cocky, comments. Bruce Klingner, northeast Asia expert at the Heritage Foundation, observes the usual assessment would be that a Confucian Korean culture would never choose a woman but Kim Yo Jong has gained prominence. Kim Jong Un may have designated her since she is likely the only person he trusts. If she were chosen, the regime would emphasize the continuity of the Paektu bloodline. Others, however, doubt the elite surrounding Kim would be in a mood to accept her except, perhaps, as a figurehead. I doubt she could consolidate power like her brother and father did, says Dan Pinkston, long-time North Korea analyst, now a professor at Troy University here. Maybe she could be part of collective leadership, but I don't think it would be sustainable. If Kim is seriously sick or dies tomorrow, says Choi Jin-wook, a North Korea expert and former director at the Korea Institute of National Unification, leadership would go almost automatically to Choi Young Hae, deputy chairman of the state council. Kim Yo Jong may be a legitimate successor and Kim Il Sungs granddaughter, but she is not quite ready for the supreme power. More likely, Choi predicts, there will be a power vacuum and some instability. Its exactly that possibility, however, that suggests that Kim Yo Jong may be the one to rise above quarreling factions in the armed forces and the party. Bruce Bechtol, author of numerous books and papers on North Koreas leadership, puts it this way: Her power base will be even weaker than KJU when he first started. Plus, there has been no preparation for this move. That said, if he dies, there may be no other alternative. Yes, Kim has an older brother, Kim Jong Chul, 38, born to the same mother, but hes known to be gay and has no support in the party or the army. Then too, says Bruce Bennett, I have also heard that the senior North Korean elites are done with the Kim family. Disillusioned by Kim Jong Uns failure to accomplish many things he has attempted, like sanctions relief, says Bennett, they may be happy to let the remaining Kims die of COVID-19 as the cover story to allow someone else to take leadership in North Korea. Whatever happens, theres no doubt that Kim Jong Uns lifestyle is catching up with him. If hes not in grave danger, as one report put it, he may still be seriously ill. At 36, Kim is grossly overweight and likely suffers from a number of serious chronic health issues, including cardiovascular problems, says retired U.S. diplomat David Straub. These problems are exacerbated by the enormous stress he is constantly under as the leader of a rogue state and under constant threat from within his own state as well. All of which means that little sister, her big brothers understudy, may be rehearsing for center stage. It's hard to imagine a woman being the real leader of a regime as macho as North Korea's, says Straub, but it's conceivable that top male power players there might, in a pinch, agree on installing her as the symbolic leader." If some of her public remarks are any clue, however, she may reject the symbolism and prove to be every bit as ruthless as her megalomaniacal brother. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Before it was an international event, Earth Day was dreamt up as a teach-in across Americas high schools and universities. The Bay Area took to the idea quickly. A look in The Chronicles digital archive turned up the first news stories about the annual tradition as well as photos from Bay Area events as Earth Day grew in popularity over the next decades. The Earth has its day, read The Chronicle headline about the first Earth Day 50 years ago The first Earth Day event was billed as an environmental teach-in, launched in part by Congressman Pete McCloskey, who represented the Bay Area, and Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin to bring attention to environmental issues. They recruited Denis Hayes, a young activist, to organize and promote events and speakers across the country, especially on college campuses. Organizers saw it as the beginning of an era of ecological politics, reporter Dale Champion wrote. In fact, many major environmental bills would be passed in the years following the first Earth Day celebrations. Bay Area high school and elementary school students took part by cleaning beaches and planting trees. Students in Marin demonstrated their concern for the smog-producing characteristics of cars and buses by coming to school on horseback, on bikes or on foot, The Chronicle reported. One Drake student even rode on a donkey. Speakers at local colleges included Nelson and McCloskey, as well as Stephanie Mills of Earth Times and TV personality-turned-environmentalist Eddie Albert. There was a very San Francisco protest: At the peak of the evening rush hour, about 25 sign carriers marched out onto the Golden Gate Bridge walkway to warn Marin-bound motorists of the effects of their auto exhausts, The Chronicle reported. They were stopped halfway across by police because they had created a traffic jam back to Lombard Street. The Chronicles coverage of Earth Day also featured a striking image on the front page: photos of New Yorks Fifth Avenue clogged with cars in the morning and then, at noon, filled with hundreds of thousands of people taking part in Earth Days first major march. More from Chronicle Vault More from the Archive The Vault Home of the San Francisco Chronicle's archive and more than 150 years of journalism covering the Bay Area and beyond. Earth Day amid coronavirus crisis: How you can celebrate Earth Day online. More from the archive: Decades of signaling spring in Japantown. Joe Montanas draft anniversary: Chronicle archive photos from the early days of Joe Cool. Lyle Tuttle: Archive photos of S.F. tattoo legend from decades past. From the Archive is a weekly column by Bill Van Niekerken, the library director of The Chronicle, exploring the depths of the newspapers archive. Its part of Chronicle Vault, a twice-weekly newsletter highlighting more than 150 years of San Francisco stories. It is edited by Taylor Kate Brown, The Chronicles newsletter editor. Sign up for the newsletter here and follow Chronicle Vault on Instagram. Contact Bill at bvanniekerken@sfchronicle.com and Taylor at taylor.brown@sfchronicle.com. Those holding the May contracts on Tuesday, amid evaporated demand, would need to arrange for delivery of their barrels of oil. "It's going to be picking up, and the energy business is going to be strong," predicted Trump, noting that other types of crude oil are still trading above $25 per barrel. The president termed it "largely a financial squeeze," when asked about the May futures contract for West Texas Intermediate crude oil trading closing for the day at minus $37.63 per barrel, the first time ever a price for the commodity transitioned into negative numbers. The president, looking to add as much as 75 million barrels of oil to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, said "if we can buy it for nothing, we will take everything we can get." Trump also said he is looking at stopping incoming Saudi shipments of oil. After oil prices crashed to historic lows Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump declared "this is a great time to buy oil." The president largely brushed off the ramifications to domestic energy jobs and the geo-political consequences of the oil price plunge amid the coronavirus pandemic, telling reporters that the "problem is nobody's driving a car anywhere in the world, essentially." COVID-19 Testing Trump and members of the White House coronavirus task force Monday defended the administration's gradual ramping up of coronavirus testing. They explained there are ample testing supplies available for all states to proceed to the first stage of reopening their economies that were shut down to prevent the spread of the highly infectious virus. "We're going maximum, we're going to the outer limits," said Trump of plans to test millions more Americans. About 4 million people in the country have been tested so far, about 1 percent of the U.S. population. Some governors are not convinced of the current domestic capabilities for testing. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, a Republican, said his state has acquired 500,000 testing kits from South Korea. "He didn't need to go to South Korea. He needed to get a little knowledge," said Trump, saying the governor was not adequately informed of what is available in the country. "I'm not sure what the president is referring to. I have a pretty good understanding of what's going on," Hogan, head of the National Governors' Association, told CNN following the president's remarks. Trump is also rebuffing concern that he was not taking the virus as seriously as he should have as late as last month, when he held a political rally. Trump pointed to restricting travelers in early February from China, where COVID-19 emerged, although since that action tens of thousands of Americans and other authorized travelers entered the United States from Chinese airports. "We would have lost millions of people" if he had not taken that action, Trump asserted. "It would have been an atrocity. We've done the right thing." U.S. Has Highest Death Toll More than 41,000 people in the United States have died of the coronavirus, the most reported by any country. About 170,000 people globally are confirmed to have died of COVID-19. The head of the World Health Organization, which avoids politics, issued one of his most direct criticisms yet of the lack of global solidarity since the outbreak of the disease. "The cracks between people and the cracks between parties is fueling it," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. "Don't use this virus as an opportunity to fight against each other or score political points. It's dangerous. It's like playing with fire." The comment came less than a week after Trump, who has called Tedros' leadership "China-centric," announced that the United States will suspend funding to WHO while it reviews the agency's response to the pandemic. - Vhong Navarro is one of the most accomplished showbiz personalities in the Philippines - The Kapamilya star has decided to share his blessings to others amid the COVID-19 crisis in the country - He and his wife Tanya Bautista have been busy donating food and goods to the frontliners in their community - Tanya even personally cooked and prepared the delicious meals for the brave heroes PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed Vhong Navarro is one of the most accomplished showbiz personalities in the Philippines, garnering success as a movie actor, music artist, dancer, and host. KAMI learned that Vhong has decided to share his blessings to others amid the COVID-19 crisis in the country. The Kapamilya star and his wife Tanya Bautista have been busy donating food and goods to the frontliners in their community. Tanya even personally cooked and prepared the delicious meals for the brave heroes. Para sa ating mga frontliners mula po sa @iamhope_org. Cooked with love by @t.winona Thank you Mahal, Vhong wrote on Instagram. PAY ATTENTION: Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news! KAMI previously reported that Vhong got ecstatic after learning that his friend Anne Curtis finally gave birth to her first child. Vhong Navarro is a Filipino actor, host and endorser. He is currently one of the hosts of It's Showtime and a cast member of Home Sweetie Home. The star has a wife named Tanya Bautista and two sons Isaiah and Frederick. Please like and share our amazing Facebook posts to support the KAMI team! Dont hesitate to comment and share your opinions about our stories either. We love reading about your thoughts and views on different matters! In our new episode, we show you all of the essential rules to follow amid the COVID-19 crisis in our country! Check out all of the exciting videos and celebrity interviews on our KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel! Source: KAMI.com.gh YAOUNDE, Cameroon - Cameroons President Paul Biya has acknowledged that the military massacred innocent people, including women and children, in a northwestern village in February after the government first denied it. The corpses of the three women and 10 children, whom the military killed and tried to cover up their actions by also torching several houses and blaming separatist fighters, will be exhumed for the state to conduct decent burials, a statement from Biyas office said. The president has asked for legal action, it said. Three soldiers have already been arrested. Innocent Laban, a spokesman for the people of the English-speaking northwestern village of Ngarr-buh who escaped fighting between armed separatists and the military, said he was pleased that Biya was for once acknowledging that troops have committed atrocities. Laban called on Biya to apologize to the rights groups he accused of fabricating the massacre to tarnish the militarys image. This declaration comes to confirm the fact that the Cameroonian military is so unprofessional. A military that is killing the people rather than protecting them, he said. This comes to show us that human rights activists are doing a good job. On the night of Feb. 14, residents said, soldiers raided their village and killed dozens of people. An international outcry by civil society organizations and rights groups followed, but the government said the military was professional and did not commit atrocities. Biya later ordered independent investigations, and rights groups said he was bowing to international pressure. Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior researcher for central Africa at Human Rights Watch, said Biyas decision to punish the military members involved marks a step in the right direction, although the group disagrees on the number of people killed. The United Nations has said 22 people were killed in Ngarr-buh, 14 of them children, and at least 600 people fled. Human Rights Watch said the death toll was 21. Allegrozzi said investigations should also be opened into other alleged crimes committed by the military while fighting Boko Haram extremists as well as separatists who seek a state for English-speakers in the majority French-speaking nation. It is a very good first step because there are other abuses and crimes that have been committed in the Anglophone regions and beyond by both the security forces and armed groups, and these crimes deserve the same level of attention, Allegrozzi said. We also welcome president Biyas call for increased collaboration with human rights groups, and we wish that this represents a change in the way government views human rights organizations. This is not the first time that Cameroon, after international pressure, acknowledged its soldiers committed atrocities. Soldiers were arrested in 2018 after a video circulated on social media showing two women, one with an infant, killed by soldiers deployed to the northern border with Nigeria to fight Boko Haram. First Horizon Bank announced Wednesday it will donate $25,000 towards the American Red Cross of Southeast Tennessees tornado relief efforts. The Bank will also begin accepting monetary donations to benefit the Red Cross at financial centers that have drive-thru customer service options. Chattanooga Market President Jay Dale said, In these unprecedented times, it is important that we do all we can to take care of each other. We want to do everything we can to ensure that our community, and especially those affected by the Easter weekend tornadoes, have every opportunity to get back on their feet. Due to the coronavirus crisis and social distancing guidelines, the Red Cross has new measures in place to help people in need. Instead of opening shelters, they have prioritized placing individuals in hotel rooms or dormitory style rooms to ensure they have a safe place to stay if they arent able to return home after the disaster. Executive Director of American Red Cross of Southeast Tennessee Julia Wright says monetary donations to the tornado relief effort are the biggest help since they are currently working with 150 families. In the aftermath of last weekends storms, the Red Cross provided hotel rooms for approximately 1,150 people across multiple states. Donations received at the Banks financial centers will continue to provide funds for these efforts. Because the Banks financial center lobbies are currently closed to the public, donations in the form of cash can be dropped off at any First Horizon Bank financial center with a drive-thru option. UNICEF on Wednesday released a new cartoon animation addressing climate change, coinciding with the very special celebration of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. The cartoons title is Hai Moc Nhi named after the hero, an amazing girl with an incredible superpower that allows her to awaken and unite people to fight against climate change to save the earth, the UN body said in a press release the same day. The animation is based on the original story and drawings of 12-year-old Nguyen Ngoc Gia Han from Vietnam. Through the story, I would like to tell everyone that climate change is threatening our lives and we can only protect ourselves by joining hands with each other, Han said. Hai Moc Nhis superpower our superpower is the power of the Dragon Father and Fairy Mother, and the superpower of the ocean and forest, which is already inside all Vietnamese people. Global evidence confirms that children are most vulnerable to and most concerned about climate change and environmental degradation. Vietnam is among the top countries affected by climate change, which has the potential to undermine many of the gains we have made in child survival and development and poses even greater risks ahead. On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, the unfolding COVID-19 crisis has taught us some valuable lessons on how we honour and protect the only earth we have, said Rana Flowers, UNICEF representative in Vietnam. It has reminded us of how precious life is, how important clean air is to our lungs, how vital access to clean, running water is to our health, to protecting us from disease the world can come together to solve big problems, but we need to act today to ensure the future of our children. Han won the third prize of the Superhero Comic Contest, jointly organized in 2019 by UNICEF, the Vietnam Disaster Management Authority under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the Young Pioneer Council with support from Vietnamese artist Le Cat Trong Ly. The contest called on children across Vietnam to create a superhero that could save the earth and fight against natural disasters and climate change. Hai Moc Nhi was selected by DeeDee Animation Studio, a well-known company based in Vietnam, to transform the story into an animation video as part of their support for UNICEF. Childrens imagination is without any limit, said Dang Hai Quang, founder and executive director of DeeDee Animation Studio. Turning their ideas into visual images is both exciting and challenging. With this animation, we hope to contribute to raising awareness of the public about climate change as well as encouraging children to be creative to express themselves. The first winning artwork of the Superhero Comic Contest will also be transformed into an animation film to be revealed later this year. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Dakota Home Care, Mandan, is a North Dakota State licensed home health agency and we welcome this opportunity to reassure our community as well as share our responsibility and commitment to our clients, families and caregivers during this uncertain time. We understand that during this time, family interaction and communication is limited. We take our jobs of being eyes and ears for our clients very seriously, especially in this time of separation. We are privileged to be there for those when no one else may have the opportunity to visit or check in. To stay connected, over the past several weeks we have had countless conversations with caregivers, families and leaders in our medical community -- both locally and nationally. We are so appreciative of the dedication and the diligence of the healthcare providers in our community and we are happy to partner with you! We are proud to be part of a medical community that is committed to excellent care and goes the extra mile to provide it. Our agency has implemented a full range of COVID-19 policies and procedures which have been guided by recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control, the World Health Organization, and the North Dakota Department of Health. We are continually updating these policies and procedures to follow current recommendations and communicating them to clients, families and caregivers on a regular basis. Many of our clients are especially at risk, given they are older adults or have underlying health issues. We are vigilant about our need to help protect these individuals from illness be it the flu, COVID-19 or any other communicable disease. These measures are not new to us as we seek to minimize risk regularly for our clients, regardless of an outbreak such as this new coronavirus. Providing safety and education as well as continued expert care are of utmost importance to us, our clients and their families. Be assured that we are taking every precaution to provide those to our clients as well as safety, education, support and reassurance to our valued caregivers. Lastly, we are privileged and proud to serve our community with integrity, excellence and commitment to purpose and we will continue to do so no matter the circumstances. We stand with the rest of North Dakota to remain North Dakota Proud." Thank you for the honor to serve. Beverly Unrath is CEO of Dakota Home Care in Mandan. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 With the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases among journalists, Union Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, on Wednesday, has issued an advisory asking media persons to take necessary precautions while reporting from containment zones, hotspots and COVID affected areas. Moreover, the Centre asked media management to take care of field staff and office staff too. India's current Coronavirus case tally stands at 19984 with 640 deaths till date. Centre advises journalists on COVID-19 precautions Coronavirus Live Updates: Centre to pass ordinance to protect COVID warriors; cases- 19984 Assam & Rajasthan to test reporters After journalists in Delhi and Mumbai tested positive for Coronavirus (COVID-19), both Rajasthan and Assam on Wednesday, have announced that they will test news reporters for the infection. Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that free COVID-19 testing will be done for reporters at Guwahati Medical College on April 25. Similarly, Rajasthan State Health Minister Raghu Sharma stated that the Gehlot government too will test reporters. Rajasthan, Assam to test journalists for COVID-19 after 53 Mumbai journalists test +ve 53 journalists test positive Sources state that 53 journalists - including videographers, reporters, photojournalists and cameramen of a TV news channel have tested positive for Coronavirus in Mumbai. BMC has tested 167 journalists, of which 53 have tested positive. After exposure to some of these COVID-19 positive journalists, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar, on Monday home quarantined herself and is currently overseeing her duties from her home and is most likely to get tested this week. Centre brings ordinance to end violence against health workers, details jail terms Coronavirus in India As of date, 15474 active cases have been reported of the pandemic Coronavirus (COVID-19) - 3869 have been discharged and Maharashtra reported the highest at 5218. 640 deaths have been reported till date. India has suspended all visas and barred travel from Afghanistan, Philippines, EU, UK, China, Malaysia and mandatory 14-day quarantine from several other countries. PM Modi has extended the lockdown till May 3, with a relaxation possibility in non-COVID hotspots after April 20. Karnataka to allow select activities in non-containment zones from April 23; details here On April 22, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Arkansas-based medical services businessman Joe Samuel Bailey, his companies Renew Spinal Care, Inc. and Laserscopic Medical Clinic, LLC, and telemarketers Barry Edward Mitchell, Laurence Grossnickle, and Charles Clement Goubert, Jr. with fraud in connection with unregistered offerings that bilked hundreds of investors out of nearly $15 million dollars. Bailey started Renew at a single location in Florida to provide minimally invasive spinal surgery. According to the SEC's complaint, Bailey sought to expand Renew's business by raising money from investors in a series of offerings to establish Renew-branded clinics throughout the country. Mitchell, Grossnickle, and Goubert, directly and through a commissioned sales staff, offered and sold the securities to investors using information obtained from Bailey through intermediaries. The offering documents represented to investors that their funds would be used to establish and market one or more designated Renew clinics, and provided the right to receive "success marketing fees" for each procedure performed at those clinics. The offerings raised approximately $15 million for 29 clinics. Although the offering documents stated that no sales commissions would be paid, Mitchell, Grossnickle, and Goubert allegedly misused approximately $7.6 million of the investor funds to take cash distributions, pay proscribed sales commissions, and for other unauthorized purposes. The complaint further alleges that Bailey, through Renew and a second company he controlled, Laserscopic, allegedly misused nearly $5 million of investor funds for expenses unrelated to the offerings. Bailey also used some investors' funds to pay "success fees" to other investors, despite the fact that Renew never established a single investor-funded, Renew-branded clinic. Without admitting or denying the allegations in the complaint, all defendants have consented to be permanently enjoined from violating the antifraud provisions of Sections 17(a)(1) and 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 and Rules 10b-5(a) and 10b-5(c) thereunder, and to pay civil penalties in the amount of $189,427 each. Mitchell, Grossnickle, and Goubert have also consented to be permanently enjoined from violating the registration provisions of Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act and the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a)(2) of the Securities Act; to be enjoined from participating in the issuance, purchase, offer, or sale of any security, with exceptions for their personal accounts; and to pay disgorgement and prejudgment interest as follows: Mitchell ($634,123 in disgorgement plus prejudgment interest of $61,231); Grossnickle ($210,031 in disgorgement plus prejudgment interest of $20,281); and Goubert ($69,089 in disgorgement plus prejudgment interest of $6,671). Bailey, Renew, and Laserscopic have also consented to pay, on a joint and several basis with each other, disgorgement in the amount of $4,950,000 plus prejudgment interest of $410,476. The SEC's investigation was conducted by Jeffrey Cohen and Melvin Warren, with litigation assistance from Keefe Bernstein, and supervised by Scott F. Mascianica and Eric Werner of the SEC's Fort Worth Regional Office. WASHINGTON, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Press Club has developed a new program to help restaurants participating in the upcoming Night Out For Austin Tice, which was recently rescheduled for July 14 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The new program "Night IN For Austin Tice" - will encourage members of the press freedom community to order take-out from participating restaurants on April 29 (Night Out's original date). "We asked our restaurant partners to step up and help us with a program to raise awareness about the case of Austin Tice, the award-winning journalist being detained in Syria. They were there for us last year and will be again later this year. But now restaurants are in trouble so we want to help them," said Bill McCarren, Executive Director of the National Press Club. "We are asking everybody -- but especially our 3,100 members -- to order take-out from these restaurants on the evening of Wednesday, April 29 and bring it home for a "Night In For Austin Tice." "Digital photos and short videos will be a big part of the success of Night In For Austin Tice. We want everybody to see the wonderful food and to plan to actually visit these restaurants and be together with people in July," said Austin's sister Naomi Tice, co-chair of Night Out For Austin. "With any luck our brother will be home by July 14 and can join some of us at these wonderful places." Below is a list of restaurants participating in Night In For Austin Tice by location. Please check their website to make sure they are still doing take-out on April 29. And check nightoutforaustin.com as we are continuing to add restaurants in these locations. Washington, D.C. Columbia Room Houston, TX Jason's Deli Underbelly Hospitality McClean, VA Amoo's Restaurant Tacoma, WA Doyle's Public House The following restaurants are participating in Night Out for Austin Tice on July 14, but are currently unable to provide take-out services. D.M.V. Jamie Leeds Restaurant Group Donate to their employee relief fund here: https://jlrestaurants.com/ Lancaster, PA Annie Bailey's Irish Public House Conway Social Club Lititz, PA Per Diem Seattle, WA Streamline Tavern If you own a restaurant and would like to learn more about participating in Night Out For Austin Tice on July 14, please contact [email protected]. On March 17 the National Press Club temporarily suspended in-person services due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Club continues to offer programing on its website at www.press.org and remains dedicated to press freedom issues including our ongoing efforts to #FreeAustinTice. PRESS CONTACT: Lindsay Underwood for The National Press Club; [email protected], (202) 662-7561 SOURCE National Press Club Related Links http://press.org - Angelika dela Cruz posted a question on social media about peoples opinion on martial law amid COVID-18 crisis - A netizen then said that she is in favor of it and she also claimed that the actress is against it - The celebrity/politician responded to her follower by saying that she is in favor of martial law amid this pandemic - She also cited that she is afraid that the curve will not be flattened because of some hardheaded Filipinos PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed Angelika dela Cruz revealed on social media that she is in favor of the imposition of martial law in the Philippines amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. KAMI learned that the said confession was made a few days after President Rodrigo Duterte announced that a martial law-type of community quarantine will be imposed if people continue to violate important protocols. It can be remembered that the actress-turned-politician chided at some hardheaded Filipinos who cannot follow simple instructions for their safety. "Makulit pala ang Pinoy. Matitigas talaga ang ulo. Minsan, gusto mong maiyak sa galit. Kasi pag sinita mo, sila pa ang galit, she said through an interview with DZRH. PAY ATTENTION: Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news! After she aired such statement, she posted another message on social media asking people if they are in favor of having martial law in times of crisis. A netizen commented that the celebrity does not want martial law to be imposed in the Philippines. However, Angelika bravely rebutted that claim. Of course, pabor and I am sure you are not. Wag mo dagdagan ang nega if thats what you mean sa post or tanong mo, the social media user wrote. How are you sure?!! Do you know me personally? Close tayo? Frontliner ako and in favor ako sa martial law. Kaya ako nagtatanong dahil gusto ko malaman ang opinion ng ibang tao the actress responded. In a previous article by , Angelika got called walang kwentang kapitan by a brave netizen. Angelika dela Cruz is a veteran Filipina actress who has also entered the world of politics. She is now serving as the captain of a barangay in Malabon City. Please like and share our Facebook posts to support KAMI team! Dont hesitate to comment and share your opinion about our stories either. We love reading about your thoughts! A Filipino found his own way to help frontliners amid pandemic. They had to walk an hour, an hour and a half to get to work. I mean, coming from an 8-hour shift sa hospital, tapos palalakarin mo pa yung nurse o kahit security guard. Parang hindi makatarungan, diba? on HumanMeter! Source: KAMI.com.gh A couple who quit their jobs in 2017 and bought a boat to sail around the world were completely unaware of the Covid-19 pandemic - until they tried to dock in the Caribbean. Elena Manighetti from Lombardy, Italy and Ryan Osborne from Manchester left the Canary Islands in late February to plan to travel to St Vincent - a distance of 3,000 miles. The couple had told their families that while on their journey they did not wish to receive any bad news. Ryan Osborne, right, and Elena Manighetti, left, were completely unaware of the Covid-19 pandemic as they had been sailing across the Atlantic ocean without access to the internet during most of March The couple, who live in Manchester, quit their jobs and bought a boat to sail around the world The couple hope to be able to continue their journey once the lockdown restrictions are eased However, when approaching the Caribbean, they were told that many of the islands had closed their borders to protect their populations from the Covid-19 virus. The couple said when they left the Canary Islands they had been aware of a virus in China but did not think it could possibly affect their journey on the other side of the world. After 25 days at sea - without access to news from the outside world as they had no mobile phone signal - they were told they were unable to dock at several ports because of the new lockdown restrictions. The first they knew of Covid-19 was when a friend, who had sailed ahead of them, told them about the lockdown. Ms Manighetti told the BBC: 'In February we'd heard there was a virus in China, but with the limited information we had we figured by the time we got to the Caribbean in 25 days it would all be over. 'We told our shore contacts we didn't want to hear any bad news, which was a difficult job as it was pretty bad news.' Mr Osborne said: 'We first attempted to land in one of the French territories in the Caribbean but when we arrived we found all the borders were closed and the islands were closing down. Even at that point we assumed it was a preventative measure due to the high season. We thought the islands didn't want to run the risk of a few tourists infecting the locals.' The couple were out of mobile phone contact for much of their journey across the Atlantic Ms Manighetti said that because she is an Italian citizen, authorities did not want to allow her to land because of the impact of Covid-19 on her native Lombardy. However, because the couple had been tracking their journey on GPS they were able to prove they had been at sea for 25 days and had inadvertently been in quarantine. When they finally made contact with the outside world, Ms Manighetti discovered the impact Covid-19 was having on her home town. She said her family is safe, having spent six weeks in lockdown, though people she has known for years fell victim to the virus. The couple, who are currently in Bequia, Saint Vincent, are unable to continue their journey at the moment because nowhere is open. They said they wanted to continue exploring the Caribbean before June and the start of the hurricane season. She added: 'We're sandwiched between the hurricane season and the virus.' Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram Nairobi, April 22, 2020 Ugandan authorities must investigate security forces recent attacks against journalists and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Since March 19, security forces have harassed or assaulted at least six journalists in the country while enforcing restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19, according to the journalists, who spoke to CPJ, and a statement by the Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda, a local press rights group. Ugandas COVID-19 response measures have included a curfew and restrictions on public gatherings and transportation, according to news reports. President Yoweri Museveni classified the media as essential workers, not subject to those restrictions, according to declarations from the president and a report by the Daily Monitor. Journalists are essential workers and perform a vital public service in keeping Ugandans informed amid the COVID-19 pandemic, said CPJ sub-Saharan Africa Representative Muthoki Mumo. We call on the government to urgently investigate and hold accountable security personnel who have attacked journalists, and to ensure that media can report on COVID-19 without interference. On March 19 in the northern district of Kitgum, police officers slapped, punched, and kicked Julius Ocungi, a bureau chief of the Uganda Radio Network news agency, while he was taking pictures of security personnel closing down a local bar pursuant to the COVID-19 lockdown, he told CPJ via messaging app. Three police officers attacked him and tried to drag him to a waiting vehicle, but he resisted, he said. Ocungi told CPJ he was able to leave the scene, but that the officers confiscated his camera. When he picked up his camera from the local police station later that evening, the officers demanded he delete his photos, but he refused, Ocungi said. I asked them to give me a good reason to delete the photos. Did they do something nasty that they did not want to appear in the press? They are police officers, public officers. What are they trying to hide? he said. He told CPJ that he suffered swelling on his right leg and one of his eyes after the attack. On March 20, when Ocungi tried to file a formal report with the local police, he said officers refused to record the incident and referred him to the office of the Professional Standard Unit, a police oversight body, in Gulu, a town about two hours away from Kitgum. In Gulu, he said officers there also refused to take his statement. Ezekiel Emitu, the police commander in the region, told CPJ in a phone call today that he refused to comment on Ocungis case but would follow up if the reports were brought to him in person. Ocungi told CPJ had had previously approached Emitu about his case. On March 30, military officers in plainclothes who were enforcing a curfew assaulted Denis Okello, a production manager with local broadcaster Radio Apac in northern Uganda, he told CPJ. Three men confronted Okello while he was standing at the veranda of his radio stations office and started beating him with sticks and kicking and punching him, according to Okello and his manager, Kenneth Ongom, both of whom spoke to CPJ via messaging app. The men tried to order Okello to walk to a nearby police station, but he refused, he said. The men, whom Ongom recognized as military officers, only stopped beating the journalist after the Resident District Commissioner, a local official, intervened and ordered that the journalist be taken to hospital in a government car. Okello told CPJ he was hospitalized until April 1, after suffering cuts to his arms, hands, and back. CPJ reviewed pictures in which the journalist was bleeding from his head. Okello also said that the men kicked him in his chest, and that he was now having trouble sleeping due to pain. He said he gave a statement to the police about the attack on April 8. On March 31, in the central Mukono district, a police officer beat Daniel Mwesigwa, a reporter for the privately owned NTV Uganda broadcaster, with a stick at office of the Resident District Commissioner, where he had gone to seek clarification on media accreditation to cover COVID-19 and credentials to drive his car while reporting during the lockdown, he told CPJ via messaging app. He said that he also planned to file a report on a local COVID-19 task force meeting that was taking place at the commissioners office. He said that the beating only got worse when the officer learned that Mwesigwa was a journalist. He only wanted to beat me more. He told me: we are tired of you, Mwesigwa said. He suffered bruises and shoulder pain from the attack, he said. On April 1, police and military officers beat Perezi Rumanzi, a reporter with the privately-owned Daily Monitor newspaper in the western district of Ntungamo, while he was photographing security personnel enforcing a curfew, Rumanzi told CPJ via messaging app. Rumanzi said that the six officers beat him with a rubber-insulated electric wire, and that he suffered bruises and swelling to his arms, legs, and chest. They also confiscated his camera, he said. Rumanzi told CPJ that he did not go to hospital immediately, as he was afraid of breaking the curfew. He retrieved his camera from the local police station the following day but told CPJ that police officers at the local Ntungamo Central Police station refused to accept reports on any cases of assault during curfew enforcement. On April 1, Henry Nsubuga, a reporter with the New Vision newspaper in Mukono, was at the same Resident District Commissioners office where Mwesigwa was assaulted the previous day to report on the regions response to COVID-19 and to collect credentials allowing him to move around freely during the lockdown, when a police officer ordered him to stop filming and to delete his footage, which he did out of fear of retaliation, he told CPJ via messaging app. The next day, a police officer beat David Musisi Kalyankolo, a reporter with the Luganda language Bukedde TV, the sister broadcaster of New Vision, with a baton until he was unconscious, Kalyankolo told CPJ in a phone interview. Kalyankolo was on the veranda of his home shortly after arriving from work, when the officer attacked him, leaving him with injuries that included a deep, bleeding wound on his head, according to the journalist and medical documents seen by CPJ. He was hospitalized twice over two weeks in connection to his injuries, according to his wife, Hadija Namutebi, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview. The police officer who allegedly assaulted him, later identified as Noah Mukoshi, was arrested on charges of assault, according to media reports. Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Patrick Onyango today told CPJ that investigations in the case are ongoing but claimed that Kalyankolo had been at a trading center at the time of the alleged assault. In a WhatsApp message, military spokesperson Richard Karemire told CPJ that the army would treat all complaints reported to them with the seriousness they may deserve but did not comment on the specific cases of Rumanzi or Okello. Uganda police spokesperson Fred Enanga and Kampala Metropolitan police commander Moses Kafeero did not respond to CPJs calls or text messages. The monarchy already has one major reason why they should make Prince Charles the king already. There have been reports about Queen Elizabeth II not planning to abdicate or step down as the reigning monarch any time soon. This will surely add more years to Prince Charles "waiting time," even though he seems to have already waited long enough to the point that he is now considered as the longest-serving heir apparent in British history. However, this set-up should not last for a longer period. after all, there is one issue the monarchy has been dealing with that only Prince Charles can easily resolve once he becomes king. What's The Issue Here? The expenses of the royal family have been the major problem of the monarchy for years now, and the Prince of Wales' plan -- though Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip do not approve of it -- is the only way to keep the Britons on their side. Last year, the Buckingham Palace's documents revealed that the Royal Household accepted 19.6 million more of taxpayers' money compared to the amount that they used to receive in the past few years. This cost is predicted to only go up, according to the latest figures from Statista. If that is the case, then the monarchy could turn into a burden, and the people surely would not like it. The royal palace could settle this and continue reigning the monarchy if they would push Prince Charles to the throne already, as his plan on slimming down the monarchy would greatly reduce their everyday expenditures. Lessening the members of the royal family means lesser outlays, and that is what everyone wants the most, especially when the country is facing a crisis right now due to the coronavirus pandemic. The heir to the throne's plan to slash the number of members is the only option left, and Prince Charles has been waiting for eight years now (ever since he divulged the plan in 2012) to apply his "future vision" in re-establishing the monarchy. Once Prince Charles becomes king, he also wants to highlight only the works by those closer to the throne -- which include the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duchess of Cornwall. In addition, the Prince of Wales alone has the ability to support the whole monarchy since, in his 71 years of existence, he has been the patron of over 400 charities. There are also 18 out of 19 organizations under "The Prince's Charities" which were personally founded by His Royal Highness. Ranging from funnel donations to preserving historical buildings, Prince Charles' "The Prince's Charities" has become the largest and most-successful charitable initiative in the United Kingdom with over 100 million income annually. Aside from these financial issues, the Prince of Wales' plan would also lessen the drama and rumors that started to surround the royal family since ousting Prince Andrew and the departure of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle from The Firm. With all these negative things related to the royals, it is time for Queen Elizabeth II to make way and give Prince Charles his chance. PHOENIX, AZ / ACCESSWIRE / April 22, 2020 / The Stock Day Podcast welcomed Custom Protection Services Inc. (OTC PINK:CSPS) ("the Company"), a company offering a comprehensive portfolio of security and protection services which can be tailored to meet specific needs and situations. CFO of the Company, John Kuykendall, joined Stock Day host Everett Jolly. Kuykendall began the interview by sharing some background information about the Company and its current projects. "We offer a comprehensive portfolio of security and protection services tailored to your needs," explained Kuykendall. "We have a proven and sustainable business model that is in revenue and growing," he added. Jolly then asked for an in depth description of the Company's services, and inquired about their target market for these products. Kuykendall shared that the Company's services range from personal protection for corporate executives and celebrities to mobile patrol services. "We offer undercover surveillance," he added, noting that this also includes background checks and verifications. "Are all of these services offered only in Texas?" asked Jolly. "We're not outside of Texas at the moment. We've got our hands full with Houston right now, however we are going to be looking into acquisitions," said Kuykendall. "We do have something new, and that is the COVID-19 screening services that we launched in March," shared Kuykendall. "We've designed it in such a fashion to be non-invasive, flexible in implementation, and to allow clients to screen employees and customers as desired or necessary." "Has COVID-19 affected your business in either a negative or positive way?" asked Jolly. Kuykendall shared that the Company is being challenged by the pandemic like many other businesses, however noted that COVID-19 has made security more relevant and necessary. "The screening services will lead to longer-term contracts," said Kuykendall. "What are your growth strategies moving forward?" asked Jolly. "In the short-term, we're trying to develop new business through target advertising and marketing campaigns," explained Kuykendall. "Our long-term growth plan is to grow through acquisition," he continued. The conversation then turned to the Company's goals throughout 2020. "We're going to keep pounding on our marketing plan to grow the revenue," said Kuykendall. "We think we can be fully reporting to the SEC by the end of the summer," he shared, adding that the Company has drafted a Form-10 and is working on a two-year audit. Jolly then asked how the Company manages to stand out compared to its competitors. "We have a sustainable and profitable business model. We don't need any large funding to get into revenue and profitability. The services we offer are becoming more and more relevant in today's world, and with a tight share structure and a low public float that puts us in a great position," said Kuykendall. "We really are poised for significant growth." To hear John Kuykendall's entire interview, follow the link to the podcast here: https://audioboom.com/posts/7563196-custom-protection-services-inc-discusses-its-2020-growth-strategy-with-the-stock-day-podcast Investors Hangout is a proud sponsor of "Stock Day," and Stock Day Media encourages listeners to visit the company's message board at https://investorshangout.com/ About Custom Protection Services Inc. Custom Protection Services Inc. is a Delaware incorporated company with head offices in Conroe, Texas. It offers a comprehensive portfolio of security and protection services which can be tailored to meet specific needs and situations. Services offered include personal protection, risk analysis, crisis response, guidance & strategic planning, maritime protection, travel security, legal investigation and POA security programs. Client contracts range from hourly to yearly depending on the type of service being provided. The Company can fulfill any client contract by utilizing a network of specialized consultants. Management has 100+ combined years of experience conducting security and protection operations. Company Contact Information: Tel: 936-703-5855 Email: info@customprotectionservices.com Website: https://www.customprotectioninvestor.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/customprotectioninvestor Twitter: https://twitter.com/customprotect Forward-Looking Statements Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements and are subject to risks and uncertainties. See Custom Protection Services Inc.'s filings with OTC Markets, which may identify specific factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Safe Harbor Statement This release includes forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and reflects management's current expectations. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations. Some of these factors include: general global economic conditions; general industry and market conditions, sector changes and growth rates; uncertainty as to whether our strategies and business plans will yield the expected benefits; increasing competition; availability and cost of capital; the ability to identify and develop and achieve commercial success; the level of expenditures necessary to maintain and improve the quality of services; changes in the economy; changes in laws and regulations, including codes and standards, intellectual property rights, and tax matters; or other matters not anticipated; our ability to secure and maintain strategic relationships and distribution agreements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. About The "Stock Day" Podcast Founded in 2013, Stock Day is the fastest growing media outlet for Nano-Cap and Micro-Cap companies. It educates investors while simultaneously working with penny stock and OTC companies, providing transparency and clarification of under-valued, under-sold Micro-Cap stocks of the market. Stock Day provides companies with customized solutions to their news distribution in both national and international media outlets. The Stock Day Podcast is the number one radio show of its kind in America. Stock Day recently launched its Video Interview Studio located in Phoenix, Arizona. Stock Day Media 602-441-3474 SOURCE: Custom Protection Services Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/586382/Custom-Protection-Services-Inc-Discusses-Its-2020-Growth-Strategy-with-The-Stock-Day-Podcast Primary school students wearing face masks to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) touch a globe with their eyes covered during a class for the upcoming Earth Day, in Donghai county of Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China. Photo: REUTERS The 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day takes place today at a time when oil is of so little value it can't be given away, when streets are free of cars and congestion, and the air is cleaner than it has been for decades. And yet the Earth has never been more imperilled. The immediate impacts of Covid-19 offer a tantalising view of how the world would be now if everything learned since 1970 had been put into practice, and how it could be if we now act fast and unitedly. Environmental groups are mostly taking the forward-looking view. 'There isn't time to lose mulling over time lost' is the prevailing attitude. There are countless events taking place, showcasing projects, explaining ideas and encouraging engagement in the effort needed to stall climate change, preserve nature and ultimately save ourselves. They are largely, unavoidably, online but no less ambitious for that. Some of them are twee: see #hugatreenotme. They are fun: have a go at #ArtForEarth. They are erudite: tune in to Future Earth Ireland's series of discussions. They are political: follow the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition's work or join Friends of the Earth Ireland's mass 'Call a TD' event later today. They are powerful: listen to Jane Goodall's 'don't give up' message. Most importantly, the Earth Day organisers stress, they are not just for today. "Earth day is every day and everywhere" is their motto. And that includes in the midst of a pandemic. Climate and environment ministers from 17 EU member states, including Ireland, have now signed a letter demanding a green recovery in the rebuilding phase post-pandemic. They want to ensure that climate action is central to the investment plans and aid packages to be drawn up in the weeks and months ahead. The glass-half-full interpretation says it is great to see such focus. The glass-half-empty version says it is worrying they felt that big industry and competing priorities might sway the European Commission to push elements of the much-trumpeted European Green Deal aside. The European Environmental Bureau has also released satellite imagery showing air pollution creeping back into post-lockdown China. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump tweeted: "We will never let the great US Oil & Gas Industry down" as he pledged to secure companies and jobs "long into the future". Earth Day has never been so relevant. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi attended on Wednesday the conclusion of drilling at the Suez Canals Ahmed Hamdy Tunnel 2. The tunnel, now the fifth new tunnel passing under the Suez Canal, will be opened on June 2021. El-Sisi is also attending the inauguration of a number of national projects east of the Suez Canal in celebration of Sinai Liberation Day. In 2019, the president inaugurated four new tunnels passing under the Suez Canal. He inaugurated in Port Said the two 3rd of July tunnels in November, each for one direction of traffic, linking Port Said with Sinai. The inauguration of the 3rd July tunnels came seven months after the opening of Ismailia's two tunnels passing under the Suez Canal. According to Arab Contractors Company, one of the 3rd July tunnels' construction companies, the tunnels facilitate the movement of individuals and goods to and from Sinai, and aims to create the desired development for that region in parallel with the development currently taking place in Sinai and the canal area. Search Keywords: Short link: Twelve community health centers will receive COVID-19 test kits from the state to expand testing in historically underserved communities in Eastern and Central Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker said on Wednesday. Baker announced the launch of an initiative with the Mass League of Community Health Centers and Quest Diagnostics to offer testing to members of the public who are sick or have been exposed to someone infected with the coronavirus. Quest plans to ship 2,200 tests per day to community health centers in Quincy, Brockton, Lowell, Fall River, New Bedford, Worcester, Provincetown and Boston, Baker said. As everybody knows, community health centers provide comprehensive health services for people across the commonwealth. These facilities are also deeply rooted in the fabric of their beloved communities," the Republican governor said on Wednesday during a news conference. Theyre trusted partners to addressing the broad health needs of underserved populations. Three sites in Boston will receive COVID-19 test kits: The East Boston Neighborhood Health Center, the Whittier Street Health Center in Roxbury and Codman Square Community Health Center in Dorchester. Similar to other areas of the country, were seeing clear health disparities between different races and ethnicities, said Manny Lopes, president and CEO of the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center, which serves 90,000 residents a year. Many of our patients are the essential workers. They work in supermarkets, restaurants and health care facilities. Manny Lopes, president and CEO of the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center, delivers remarks with Gov. Charlie Baker at the Massachusetts State House.Sam Doran/State House News Service The health center serves more than 40% of Chelsea residents and 65% of East Boston residents, as well as patients from Winthrop, Everett and Revere, Lopes said. Chelsea, a predominantly working-class Latino city, had 977 COVID-19 cases as of Monday morning, city officials wrote on Facebook. Of those patients, 242 people have recovered and 83 have died. The East Boston health center has a drive-thru testing site at Suffolk Downs and a walk-through testing site. Lopes said the health center also plans to launch a mobile testing van with Cataldo Ambulance. Residents who show symptoms or who came into contact with coronavirus patients can call one of those local community health centers for a testing appointment, Lopes and Baker said. According to the governors office, Quest has sent 2,255 COVID-19 tests kits to community health centers in Boston and Brockton. By Friday, the company plans to ship another 5,000 kits to the 12 community health centers. The Whittier Street Health Center and East Boston Neighborhood Center started offering rapid testing to residents last week, scheduling appointments by phone. All three of the Boston community health centers that are receiving test kits got an infusion of funding from the Boston Resiliency Fund to continue testing. The state sent test kits to nursing homes and other facilities across the state so clinical staff could test their own residents as part of the mobile testing initiative. The test kit deliveries were meant to offer an alternative to sending the National Guard to the facility to conduct on-site testing. The state paused the test kit part of the program after under one-third of the test kits sent to nursing homes were returned to the state for testing. Many of those that were returned were leaking or otherwise poorly returned, state officials said. When asked what it would take to resume the program, Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders said testing involves more than just swabbing. I dont want to be particularly graphic on TV, but its more than just doing a quick Qtip swab. It actually does require some level of skill, she said. We have quality control over the National Guard. When you send it to X number of hundreds of nursing homes, we didnt have the same level of quality control." Sudders said she hopes to rekindle the program, but she did not respond to follow-up questions about what specific best practices could be implemented as officials went on to answer questions about plasma therapy, a push for a soft reopening for hair salons and whether July Fourth celebrations would go on as scheduled. Related Content: Japan's Prime Minister Abe Shinzo is seeking more cooperation from the public to avoid close contact with others to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. Abe spoke to reporters on Tuesday, two weeks after he declared a state of emergency in Tokyo and six prefectures. The state of emergency was later expanded to cover the entire nation. Abe said he is grateful to those who have been cooperating and staying at home. But he said a fairly large number of people left Tokyo over the weekend for rural destinations. He said the string of holidays from the end of April to early May is approaching, and that poses a risk of the further spread of the virus. He asked people to refrain from taking trips or going afar. Abe said the nation's healthcare system is very strained, and in order to ease the burden and protect peoples' lives, he would like more cooperation to achieve the goal of reducing contact between people by 80 percent. Economic Revitalization Minister Nishimura Yasutoshi said he is considering taking tougher measures against businesses that defy the government's request to stay closed. Nishimura told reporters that unfortunately, some pachinko parlors are not following the request, and some people are crossing prefectural borders for outings. He said experts are harboring a strong sense of crisis and prefectural governors have been consulting him, so he may disclose the names of businesses that are defiant. Total Revenues +66% Income +38% Regulatory News: THERACLION (ISIN: FR0010120402; Mnemo: ALTHE, eligible PEA-SME), an innovative company specializing in the development of medical equipment for treatment by echotherapy including varicose veins,announces today its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2019. David Caumartin, Managing Director of Theraclion, declares: "After obtaining in early 2019 the financing needed to support our strategy focused on the treatment of varicose veins, we have taken several essential steps during the year. Thanks to obtaining the CE mark for our SONOVEIN treatment solution, we were able to launch our collaboration with Key Opinion Leaders (KOL), which is the cornerstone of our SONOVEIN development strategy to convince the rest of the market that our treatment solution is the expected answer to a strong unmet medical need. In 2020, we intend to focus our efforts on getting new KOLs on board. Today, we cannot comment on the impact of Covid-19 on our activity and our development plan, but we remain strongly invested to achieve our ambitions, while protecting our employees from health risks. 2019 HIGHLIGHTS In early 2019, Theraclion arranged up to 11.8 million in new equity and convertible financing to support the further development of SONOVEIN for a non-invasive treatment of varicose veins. SONOVEIN obtained European approval as CE marking in April 2019 allowing Theraclion to sell its equipment in the EU as well in non-European countries that recognize the CE marking. In 2019, four renowned and influential centers in the world have begun using SONOVEIN, Theraclion's non-invasive vein treatment solution. This deployment of SONOVEIN for treatment by Key Opinion Leaders in venous surgery and with a pay-per-use model is a key element of Theraclion's development strategy to demonstrate the efficacy of SONOVEIN and its benefits for patients and physicians alike and shift business model to more recurrent revenue. In 2020, Theraclion intends to expand its network of KOLs. In 2019, Theraclion also sold Echopulse systems, a solution for the treatment of thyroid nodules and breast fibroadenomas. Theraclion benefited in particular from the extension of reimbursement for echotherapy in Germany. RESULTS AT DECEMBER 31, 2019: STRONG IMPROVEMENTS In K 2019/12/31 2018/12/31 Var. % Sales 2 784 1 928 44% Subsidies 347 11 n.a. Other revenues 86 1 n.a. Total revenues 3 217 1 940 + 66% Costs of goods sold 1 612 -1 080 49% Purchases -2 353 -3 386 31% Employees compensation -3 368 -3 766 11% Other operating costs -590 -685 14% Total operating costs - 7 925 - 8 918 - 11% Operating profit - 4 708 - 6 977 + 33% Financial profit 221 274 19% Non Current results 132 72 83% Research tax credit 1 269 1 179 8% Net Results - 3 792 - 6 144 + 38% Average headcount (FTE) 25 29 - 14% Accounts approved by the Board of Directors on 21 April 2020. The audit procedures for the financial statements for fiscal year 2019 have been carried out. The certification report will be issued after verification of the management report. Total Revenues up 66% Theraclion's total revenues amounted to 3,217K at the end of 2019, up 66% compared to December 31, 2018; 2/3 of which came from an increase in sale of new systems. In 2019, Theraclion sold 11 Echopulse and SONOVEIN systems, compared with 7 in 2018. The above-mentioned extension of echotherapy reimbursement in Germany helped push system sales. Additionally, 2019 was the first year with sales of SONOVEIN. Recurring sales of consumables and services sales increased by 41% in 2019, from 306K to 433K, reflecting the pay-per-use revenue model. The opening of new sites should contribute to an increase in recurring revenues. Operating costs under control In 2019, operating expenses decreased by 1.0 million, down 11% compared to December 31, 2018, illustrating the continuation of the cost-cutting actions. The decrease in operating expenses came despite the increase in merchandise purchases (+49%) driven by increased sales. Personnel expenses also decreased (-11%). The research tax credit amounted to 1,269K at the end of December 2019. It includes a tax credit of 302K relating to a claim concerning previous financial years, paid in the first half of 2019 and research tax credit for the first half of 2019 of 967K. Net result improved by 38% Taking into account the increase in revenues and the control of expenses, the net loss at 31 December 2019 was -3,792 K, a significant reduction compared to 31 December 2018 (-6,144 K). Changes in cash and cash equivalents and going concern Theraclion's available cash was 1.4M at December 31, 2019. Faced with the impact of Covid-19, the company has taken a number of measures to reduce expenses, postpone payment deadlines and accelerate cash collection. Taking into account this reduction of expenses, a conservative estimation of sales of systems in 2020 and additional financing from subsidies and financing arrangements, Theraclion estimates that it will be able to cover its cash requirements over the 12 coming months. As for the financing arrangements, along with the issue of all or part of Tranche 2 under its 2019 financing arrangement or other funding from his current shareholders, Theraclion is discussing with banks and Bpi in the context of governement financing support measures. In complement, Theraclion has received a term sheet for a 3.6 million financing1 credit line, that could be issued/activated by Theraclion if necessary. COVID-19 INFORMATION AND OUTLOOK In the context of the Covid-19 outbreak, Theraclion deployed measures to ensure the safety of its employees and limit the impact of the epidemic on its business. Teleworking has been implemented for most employees. For others, Theraclion has opted for short-time working and will rely on the government measures announced. To date, it is not possible to measure the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic on Theraclion's business. However, the suspension of certain activities and travel will have an impact on business objectives. Before the Covid-19 crisis, Theraclion expected to achieve sales growth of 30% to 50% in 2020. At the present time, it is premature to communicate a new sales guidance. As mentioned above, Theraclion has taken some measures to reduce expenses, in line with the costs cutting undertaken since 2018. As soon as restrictions are removed, Theraclion will pursue its previously announced ambitions for the development of SONOVEIN: Deployment of systems in Europe and Asia Development in trials in the US to progress towards FDA approval for SONOVEIN Further technical development of SONOVEIN technology. Sales of Echopulse for the non-invasive treatment of thyroid nodules and breast fibroadenomas will be expanded based in its existing commercial base. About Theraclion Theraclion develops an innovative, high-technology echotherapy solution using therapeutic ultrasound to treat varicose veins non-invasively with its SONOVEIN product. SONOVEIN received the CE mark in April 2019 and uses no catheter, no injection of chemicals and no incisions. No operating rooms are required. It's based on the company's previous experience with its Echopulse solution. Echopulse allows a non-invasive tumor ablation through ultrasound-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) of thyroid nodules and breast fibroadenomas. Varicose veins are a common pathology and generated 5 million interventions annually, according to the Millennium research Varicose Vein Device Market Study 2015. Theraclion's solutions are based on a combination of ultrasound imaging and therapeutic ultrasound, providing accuracy and ease of use to practitioners. Based in Malakoff, near Paris, France Theraclion brings together a world class team, 50% of whom are dedicated to Reasrch and Development For more information, please visit Theraclion's website: www.theraclion.com Theraclion is listed on Euronext Growth Paris Mnemonique: ALTHE Code ISIN: FR0010120402 LEI: 9695007X7HA7A1GCYD29 ______________________________ 1 Theraclion has an agreement with an investment company for up to 12 tranches of 300K, whereupon Theralcion, in its discretion, may request funding via convertible bonds. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005903/en/ Contacts: David Auregan CFO phone: 33 (0)1 55 48 93 17 david.auregan@theraclion.com Few activities are seen around HCMC's backpacker street Bui Vien, April 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran. HCMC authorities plan to allow businesses and schools to restart in May with six stringent disease control measures in place. City Party chief Nguyen Thien Nhan spelled out the six mandatory measures. The first was wearing of masks in public places like schools, markets and public transport vehicles, for three to six months, a year or even longer. People coming from pandemic-hit countries must be tested as soon as they arrive in Vietnam by air, rail or road and isolated for 14 days if they show symptoms. When someone is diagnosed with coronavirus infection, those who came into contact with them (F1) and also those who interacted with F1 must be isolated for at least 14 days. The minimum distance between people in public and workplaces and the scale of public events must be regulated. People must wash their hands regularly and disinfect their personal vehicles periodically. The city must set up a city-level rapid response team, a team in each of the 24 districts and 322 others at lower levels to monitor public compliance with disease prevention measures. Compliance will be checked at traditional and wholesale markets, and those not wearing masks will be fined and kept out. The city authorities are required to detect new cases as soon as possible, especially cases that do not display epidemiological factors, and implement measures to control the epidemic to prevent community transmissions. The city must also quarantine and treat infected people in a timely manner, try and limit the number of deaths and continue with large-scale quarantining when needed, Nhan added. City Chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong said the city has kept the epidemic under control and proposed to the government it should end the social distancing campaign on April 23. For 19 straight days the city has not diagnosed anyone with Covid-19. Only two people are under treatment now while 46 are being monitored at isolation facilities and 190 others at home. Nhan said the city needs to have a suitable roadmap and loosen restrictions on travel and peoples contact with others and reopen schools. "Without a vaccine, the infection cannot be eradicated, but Covid-19 can be controlled like we do other infectious diseases." Companies and businesses must set codes of conduct and operation regulations to prevent the spread of infection, he said. "Each person, office and business must accept that a number of policies will be different from before. The city needs to complete setting up these new policies in April so that they can be deployed in May." Phong said the city would gradually resume some essential activities that are less risky. Small businesses would be allowed to reopen first on a trial basis and then larger ones, and a decision would be made based on the trajectory of the disease, he said. The city is creating a set of safety guidelines for schools, he said. "This also involves the responsibility of parents, schools and students as well as local authorities." The city will also deploy public security forces in 24 districts to ensure that people practice social distancing until the government declares the end of the epidemic and that criminal activities are kept in check. Surveillance cameras and hotlines will be used to spot and fine people not wearing a mask. After the social distancing campaign is lifted and travel and trade activities resume, the city will enter the third stage of the epidemic, which is going to be more challenging than the previous ones, according to the HCMC Center for Disease Control. In this stage, new cases could occur any time and sometimes the source and epidemiological factors will not be known. Anyone entering the country could bring the infection considering the virus has spread globally. Last Wednesday the PM extended the social distancing campaign for a week until April 22 in Hanoi, HCMC and 10 other localities deemed to be at "high risk" of Covid-19 spread. The 10 other localities are Lao Cai, Quang Ninh, Bac Ninh, and Ninh Binh provinces in the north; Da Nang City and Quang Nam, Binh Thuan, Khanh Hoa, and Ha Tinh provinces in the central region and Tay Ninh Province in the south. Vietnam has gone for six days now without a new infection. Of its total of 268 cases so far, 52 are active while all the remaining patients have been discharged from hospitals. Coronavirus may kill 70 times fewer patients than official UK death figures suggest, studies have shown. Britain has one of the worst COVID-19 testing records, meaning a frightening 13 per cent of diagnosed patients in the UK die from the disease. But this is considerably higher than the real death rate because it does not take into account the thousands of infected people who had mild symptoms. Scientists say the only way to work out the actual rate is to test blood samples of the population for antibodies, which the immune system makes once infected. While the accuracy of these tests is up for debate, experts agree they give a much clearer indication of who has previously been infected - and are considered key to easing the draconian lockdowns imposed across the world. Results of one antibody survey in Los Angeles suggested the illness may only kill around 0.18 per cent of coronavirus patients. It was based on the assumption that the true number of infections in LA was 330,000, far higher than the 7,994 that official figures showed when the study was published on April 20. This is because tens of thousands of people develop such mild symptoms that they are never tested for the illness. Applying the same death rate to Britain's coronavirus crisis would suggest that the number of Brits who had caught the virus is in the region of 9.5million - or 14 per cent. But Government advisers say the true number is likely to be a third of that, and some studies from France suggest it will only get up to 6 per cent in a matter of weeks. Scientists say the only way to work out true coronavirus death rates is to test blood samples of the population for antibodies. Such studies have been carried out in the US, Germany, Holland and Finland (shown) Official death rate are skewed by a lack of testing - the UK, for example, only checks people who are severely ill and some healthcare workers A similar fatality rate (0.19 per cent) was found in a study of residents in Helsinki, Finland. The samples were all taken from the region of Uusima, which is home to approximately 1.7million people - most of whom live in the capital of Helsinki. It found that 3.4 per cent of the population had antibodies. At the time, only 2,000 cases had been confirmed by laboratory tests. But 3.4 per of the region's population would equate to around 57,800. WHAT DO THE ANTIBODY TESTS SHOW? LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA Blood samples in Los Angeles suggest the coronavirus death rate could be around 0.18 per cent. A study of 846 people found roughly 4.1 per cent of the countys 3.9million population has antibodies to the virus. It means that roughly 330,000 people have already caught the illness and built up some immunity to it. There were officially 600 COVID-19 deaths when the research was conducted on April 20. This suggests that around 0.18 per cent of patients fall victim to the disease. CHELSEA, BOSTON US researchers in Boston found almost a third (31.5 per cent) of residents in the suburb of Chelsea had antibodies for the virus. They collected blood samples from 200 random volunteers and said roughly 63 people had probably caught the illness. The city of Chelsea is home to around 40,160 people. If the results were to be extrapolated to the whole city, it suggests 12,650 may have actually been infected. When the study was published on April 17, Chelsea had suffered 39 deaths to coronavirus. The finding suggests the true death rate it around 0.31 per cent. GANGELT, GERMANY Scientists studying Gangelt, dubbed the 'German Wuhan', found as many as 15 per cent of people may have already been infected with the virus. Data shows around 12,500 people live in the municipality, which sits in the North-Western state of North Rhine-Westphalia. If the results were to be extrapolated to the whole of Gangelt, it would mean that around 1,900 people have already caught the deadly virus. It is not clear exactly how many people had died in Gangelt by the time that the University of Bonn study of 1,000 people was published. But the team - whose work was not scrutinised and published in a journal - estimated the true death rate was in the region of 0.37 per cent. THE NETHERLANDS An antibody surveillance scheme in the Netherlands suggested the death rate for COVID-19 could actually be in the region of 0.63 per cent. Dutch researchers found antibodies in three per cent of blood donors, after analysing samples from around 7,000 people aged between 18 and 69. The head of the Netherlands' National Institute for Health told MPs it meant that 'several hundred thousand people' may have already been infected. Around 17.28million people live in the Netherlands. Three per cent of the country's population would equate to approximately 518,400. When results were published on April 16, official figures showed that 3,315 people had died after testing positive for COVID-19 in the Netherlands. HELSINKI, FINLAND Finnish researchers analysed around 150 blood samples by mid-April and found 3.4 per cent had antibodies for the coronavirus. The samples were all taken from the region of Uusima, which is home to approximately 1.7million people - most of whom live in the capital of Helsinki. At the time, only 2,000 cases had been confirmed by laboratory tests. But 3.4 per of the region's population would equate to around 57,800. Only 110 deaths have been registered in Uusima to-date - suggesting that the true fatality rate is closer to the 0.19 per cent mark. The study was released on April 15 - but the region's death toll has barely changed in the past week. It was not published in a journal. SANTA CLARA A study of people in the Californian county of Santa Clara suggested 0.12 per cent of people who catch coronavirus die. Lead authors Jay Bhattacharya and Eran Bendavid, who study health policy at Stanford University, said around 3 per cent of people had antibodies. Santa Clara County, in northern California, is home to 1.9million people. If the 3 per cent was applied to the whole county it would mean 57,000 people have been infected. The region had suffered 70 deaths at the time of the research on April 18, suggesting the true death rate is 0.12 per cent. Advertisement Only 110 deaths have been registered in Uusima to-date - suggesting that the true fatality rate is closer to the 0.19 per cent mark. By comparison, the flu kills roughly 0.1 per cent of the people it infects. In other antibody surveillance studies, the death rate was revealed to be higher but still considerably less than the UK's tally. Samples in Gangelt, dubbed the 'German Wuhan', estimated the true death rate was in the region of 0.37 per cent. An antibody surveillance scheme in the US city of Chelsea, in Massachusetts, predicted the city has a death rate of 0.31 per cent. And a sample in the Netherlands suggested the death rate for COVID-19 could actually be in the region of 0.63 per cent. The varying death rates prove the true lethality of the disease is still unknown, but the antibody studies are starting to paint a clearer picture. Dr Joe Grove, a virologist at University College London, told MailOnline: 'Antibody testing is important because the better we understand the virus, the better we can respond to it. 'The true death rate allows public health experts and epidemiologist to asses what the effects of another epidemic would be. 'A lot of our current policy has been determined by the predictions of computer simulations. But those models are only as good as the data you put into them. 'So there wouldve been estimates of death rates and infections, but as we get firmer numbers we can run more accurate simulations and predict with more confidence what might happen in future. 'This is critical for working out if given epidemic will overwhelm the healthcare system again.' Another scientist - Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz, an epidemiologist from Sydney, Australia - said he was 'confused' at experts arguing COVID-19 had a death rate similar to the flu. He tweeted: 'Currently, 14,800 people in New York have died. That's 0.18 per cent OF THE ENTIRE CITY. Unless 100 per cent are infected, it's not as low as 0.1-0.2 per cent.' The new antibody studies are giving researchers a clearer idea of the actual number of infections in the population. Even in the worst-hit regions, fewer than 10 per cent of the population have been infected. This signals that countries should not pin their hopes on 'herd immunity' preventing a second wave of COVID-19, scientists say. When enough of a population, roughly 60 to 70 per cent, build up antibodies against an infection, it stunts the virus' ability to spread. Herd immunity was controversially touted as a way out of the crisis by the UK's scientific advisers at the beginning of the outbreak. Officials proposed letting the majority of the population catch and beat the disease because the virus' symptoms in most people is mild. The government based its planning on the assumption that if the virus was allowed to spread unchecked it would eventually infect 80 per cent of the population. That figure appears to have been borrowed from planning for flu pandemics. But research is beginning to show that nowhere near enough people will catch the virus in the first wave to create the indirect community protection. Research at the Zhongnan Hospital in Wuhan, the epicentre of the pandemic, found that about 2.4 per cent of its employees and patients had developed antibodies against COVID-19. In France, the Pasteur Institute estimates that less than 6 per cent will have been caught it by May 11, when the country's lockdown is due to end. That makes a resurgence of the virus highly likely if restrictions were lifted without a vaccine, experts said. Simon Cauchemez, lead author of the institute's study, said: 'For collective immunity to be effective in avoiding a second wave, we would have to have immunisation for 70 per cent of the population. 'We are well below this. If we want to avoid a major second wave, some measures will have to be maintained.' Countries are moving towards antibody sampling to get a clearer idea of how the infection has spread and how many people may be immune to the disease. They are considered the key to letting countries out of lockdown safely without a second wave of cases. But British health chiefs have still only carried out fewer than 5,000 antibody tests - despite mass schemes being carried out across the globe. Italy has begun screening the blood of 20,000 people a day, while one programme in the US will involve 40,000 healthcare workers. Germany plans to test 15,000 people and apply the findings to its whole population, and even Andorra has ordered 150,000 kits - enough to give its entire population two each. Antibodies are proteins in the blood which reveal if someone has already fought off an infection, including the deadly coronavirus. Health chiefs have plans to conduct the 'biggest surveys in the world' to discover how many of the population have some sort of immunity to the virus. But they are miles off the 5,000 per week target - Department of Health data shows only 600 were carried out at the Porton Down laboratory yesterday. Officials promised Britons would be able to do antibody tests in the comfort of their own home in the near future, buying them from Amazon or Boots. But officials claim the tests they have looked at are not accurate enough to be used, saying they range from between 50 and 70 per cent. Experts stress the more people screened, the clearer the picture on the true size of the UK's crisis, which began spreading on British soil in February. Malaysian researchers have identified the two species of the Leptospira genus of bacteria responsible for most cases of leptospirosis in the country and discovered a new strain capable of infecting humans. Humans, infected with leptospirosis by wild or domestic animals including rats, racoons, pigs, cats and dogs can be asymptomatic or experience fevers, meningitis, multiorgan failure and death. The zoonotic disease (pathogens that normally infect animals but can be transmitted to humans) is most common in tropical and subtropical regions with more than a million cases of leptospirosis annually, of which 60,000 turn fatal. The genus Leptosspira contains 64 species isolated from humans, animals and environments and the study identified L. interrogans, L. kirschneri, and L. wolffii as the main human-infecting species in Malaysia. Of these, the first two were found responsible for most cases leptospirosis in central Malaysia. The study also identifies novel, clinically important L.interrogans strains, underscoring the importance of characterizing more human-infecting strains and searching for the potential animal reservoirs, says Vasantha Kumari Neela, a professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, who led the research team. Initially, the researchers attempted to determine why only certain patients develop serious illness, identify biomarkers to predict cases that may lead to severe illness and understand the molecular epidemiology of circulating strains from animal, human and environmental sources. They also attempted to evaluate existing diagnostic tests and develop new tests. Presently, the disease is difficult to clinically diagnose due to overlapping signs and symptoms with other diseases such as dengue and typhus, leading to delays in appropriate treatment. The researchers confined their study, published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, to rodents and small mammals. According to Neela, cases of leptospirosis in humans often are associated with activity in recreational forests, during floods, and exposure to rodent urine. We don't provide leptospirosis vaccination in Malaysia, but prophylaxis is given to high-risk groups, like those going for military training." Vasantha Kumari Neela, Professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia The work identifies potential sources of infecting strains, risk factors for leptospirosis in Malaysia, clinical symptoms and identification of new sequence types that is different from animals. "This research also raises the question that rodents may not be the main source of transmission," she says. Kamruddin Ahmed, a professor in the Department of Pathobiology and Medical Diagnostics and director of the Borneo Medical and Health Research Centre, emphasises that leptospirosis is a challenge not only for Malaysia but also for other parts of the world where the burden of this disease is high. "There is no user-friendly, reliable, and economic diagnostics for the disease. Furthermore, clinical diagnosis is disappointing as the signs and symptoms of leptospirosis vary considerably with the result that many cases go unnoticed and mortality becomes high," says Ahmed, adding that there is a need to better understand the microorganism. The new study is important because it determines that while L. interrogans and L. kirschneri are the predominant species causing human leptospirosis in Central Malaysia, it also shows regional differences regarding the distribution of these two species, Ahmed tells SciDev.Net. "Similar research in other areas should be performed to reveal the exact epidemiology of Leptospira. This will certainly lead to better diagnosis, vaccine development, and formulation of informed policy to prevent leptospirosis." Thong Kwai Lin, professor at the Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Malaya, Malaysia, stresses that there is need for a "robust surveillance system to monitor temporal and spatial changes in incidence and prevalence in order to identify risk areas and risk behaviour and, in turn, design adequate control and prevention measures". Lin emphasizes that leptospirosis is an endemic disease in Malaysia with a dramatic increase in reported cases over the last decade. She says this study shows that "there is a need of collaborative efforts among medical, academic, and governmental institutions for the construction of a comprehensive database that is essential to understand the disease trends in Malaysia and add insights into the prevention and control of this disease". Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 20:00:42|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LUSAKA, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese contractor, the China Jiangxi International Economic and Technical Cooperation Co. Ltd. Zambia has provided the southern African country with personal medical protective equipment aimed at helping the country contain COVID-19. Among the materials include 50,000 pieces of surgical masks, 1,000 sets of medical protective suits and 50 pieces of infrared thermometers. Long Anliang, the company's managing director in Zambia hoped that the donated items will make a difference in combating the pandemic. The company, he said, was deeply concerned about the plight of Zambia in the wake of the COVID-19 but expressed optimism that the southern African nation will be able to bring it under control. Olipa Phiri, Minister in the Office of the Vice-President said the government was grateful with the Chinese firm's donation as well as donations from other partners. Zambia, she said, will forever remain grateful for the good gesture. "We need to work together to defeat the pandemic and this is the support we very much need to combat and stop the spread of the virus," she said. Enditem BEIJING (AP) Global stock markets were mixed today as oil prices edged lower amid anxiety about the coronavirus pandemic's mounting economic damage. London and Frankfurt opened higher. Shanghai gained and Tokyo retreated after Wall Street suffered its biggest decline in weeks. Oil prices slipped further. But Wall Street is expected to open higher this morning, with Dow and S&P futures both up 1%. WASHINGTON (AP) Congress is sprinting to approve a $483 billion coronavirus aid package. The deal backed by the White House would replenish a small-business payroll fund and pump more money into hospitals and testing programs. President Donald Trump is urging swift passage this week. The Senate approved the package Tuesday. The House is asking lawmakers to return for a Thursday vote. BERLIN (AP) Small shops have reopened in Berlin as a few nations are easing coronavirus restrictions to restart their economies. Restrictions are also being eased in Denmark and Austria. In France, long lines are building up outside the few McDonald's drive-thrus that have reopened. In the U.S., some states are relaxing restrictions after vocal protests by those demanding to return to work. But health officials across the world are warning against lockdown measures being lifted too quickly. CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) The Trump administration has ordered Chevron Corp. to wind down operations in Venezuela by Dec. 1. The order bars the California-based oil giant with a century-long run in the South American nation from drilling or exporting. The move is another step to increase pressure on President Nicolas Maduro to give up power. Chevron is the last major U.S. oil company to do business in Venezuela. NEW YORK (AP) Thousands of small business owners already hammered by the aggressive measures taken to halt the spread of the coronavirus may have had their personal information exposed last month on a government website that handles disaster loan applications. The Small Business Administration says that the personal information of more than 7,000 business owners applying for economic injury disaster loans was potentially seen by other applicants on the SBA website on March 25. New Delhi, April 22 : The All India Government Nurses federation (AIGNF), on Wednesday, wrote a letter to Home Minister Amit Shah that nurses and other healthcare professionals are facing huge problems in crossing Delhi-UP-Haryana borders while going for emergency and other Health services. The letter said health workers employed in both Central and Delhi governments as well as in private sectors, who live in Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad, are facing problems in crossing borders. Speaking to IANS, the Secretary General of the AIGNF said that, "it is a big problem that nurses and other health workers are stopped at the border. The police personnel on duty are not considering the I-cards issued by the hospitals or by even the government. For making passes from District Magistrate Uttar Pradesh, the internet site is showing error after filling data. In fact in the category for which passes to be issued, nurses are not included as they were allowed by showing their I-card till date." She further added, "If the nurses are not allowed to cross the border then how will the hospitals and other COVID health facilities function because a large number of nurses reside in Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gurugram, Palwal and Sonipat, etc." "Yesterday (Tuesday) UP Police stopped all the cars whether they are driven by nurses themselves or by their family members, who come to drop or pick up for duty. The same behaviour is shown to doctors and other health personnel. Nurses are standing on the border and not allowed to cross even after showing their own I-cards along with COVID duty pass." The letter said, "This is a very urgent situation and needs your special attention to address this issue in no time." The federation has demanded from Shah to intervene in the matter and said that proper policy should be laid down in such a manner that nurses and their family members (Who come to pick and drop) are allowed to cross the border. The copy of the letter has also been sent to Union and Delhi Health Ministry officials and Director General of DGHS. Kim Kardashian criticized authorities in Ohio Tuesday claiming they need to correct their mistake after she says they imprisoned an innocent man named Kevin Keith in a 1994 killing. 'The police rushed to judgment when they arrested Kevin,' the reality TV star, 39, said in a tweet. 'This innocent man went from living freely to having his world upended by a murder trial to death row in under 4 months. That's more than enough injustice for one person. OH needs to correct its mistake before it's too late.' In Keith's case, he was convicted in connection with a triple murder in a trial subsequently marred with procedural issues to the point that in 2010, less than two weeks before the day he was sentenced to die, then-Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland commuted Keith's sentence to life imprisonment, Cleveland.com reported. Speaking her mind: Kim Kardashian criticized authorities in Ohio Tuesday claiming they need to correct their mistake after she says they imprisoned an innocent man named Kevin Keith in a 1994 killing The Keeping up with the Kardashians, 39, star earlier this month took to Twitter to stress that time was of the essence in springing Keith in his conviction, as the coronavirus continues to rampage its way through the prison system nationwide. She shared an article about a person in the system testing positive for coronavirus in supporting her argument. 'Kevin Keith has made such a strong case of innocence that the courts agreed to re-open his case,' said Kim, who's the mother of four kids: girls North, six, and Chicago, two, and sons Saint, four, and Psalm, 10 months, with husband Kanye West, 42, She continued: 'Now while he waits for a final ruling, he's trapped inside a prison where at least one officer has COVID-19. Please don't delay justice any longer.' Beaming: The star, while in lockdown, continues her efforts in the name of criminal justice reform Critical: The Keeping up with the Kardashians, 39, star earlier this month took to Twitter to stress that time was of the essence in springing Keith in his conviction Kardashian, who's been a criminal reform activist in recent years, initially crossed paths with Keith last July amid much attention in his case. 'I had the pleasure of meeting Kevin Keith through a video visit & was so impressed w/ the amazing programs he created in prison to help others inside better themselves!' she wrote. 'So much evidence has been uncovered proving Kevins innocence. I hope justice is served soon & he is released.' Kim previously worked with federal authorities on the release of Alice Marie Johnson, who was pardoned from a life sentence in 2018 stemming from a 1996 conviction on nonviolent drug charges. Johnson's pardon came after Kim made her case to President Donald Trump and his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday said the United States strongly believes that China's ruling communist party failed to report the outbreak of the new coronavirus in a timely manner to the World Health Organization. Speaking at a State Department news conference, Pompeo also accused Beijing of failing to report human-to-human transmission of the virus "for a month until it was in every province inside of China." The Trump administration has criticized China's handling of the coronavirus outbreak, which began late last year in the city of Wuhan and has grown into a global pandemic that has killed nearly 180,000 people, including more than 45,000 in the United States, according to a Reuters tally. Citing WHO rules implemented in 2007, Pompeo said, "We strongly believe that the Chinese Community Party did not report the outbreak of the new coronavirus in a timely fashion to the World Health Organization." He said that even after Beijing notified the WHO of the outbreak "it did not share all of the information it had. Instead it covered up how dangerous the disease is." China has rejected charges that it mishandled the outbreak, saying it has been transparent and open about the spread of the virus. In fresh criticism of the WHO, Pompeo said the organization's director general, Tedros Adhanom, had failed to use his ability "to go public" when a member state failed to follow the new rules. U.S. President Donald Trump last week suspended U.S. funding for the WHO, charging that the organization promoted China's "disinformation" about the outbreak of the virus. WHO officials have denied that the body was China-centric and said now was not the time to cut funding. Daily briefings by public health officials on the coronavirus pandemic have become must-see events for Canadians. Almost every hour of every day we are bombarded with critical information about COVID-19: how many new cases, how many hospitalized, how many tested, how many recovered and, sadly, how many deaths. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 22/4/2020 (630 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion Daily briefings by public health officials on the coronavirus pandemic have become must-see events for Canadians. Almost every hour of every day we are bombarded with critical information about COVID-19: how many new cases, how many hospitalized, how many tested, how many recovered and, sadly, how many deaths. There is no question that Canadians owe a huge debt of gratitude to the front-line workers who treat the sick, keep us secure and maintain the supply chains that feed our families. It is also certain that, as of yet, we have no treatment or vaccine available to effectively stop the spread of the contagion or reduce its effects. In this context as any public health physician would tell you data is our most valuable ally. Monitoring rates of infection and taking measures to reduce exposure are essential to reducing the numbers of infected over longer periods of time, often referred to as "flattening the curve." Data on the availability of intensive care beds, respirators and protective equipment for doctors and nurses help us to plan effectively for surges in hospitalization. Data on the location of outbreaks help to protect vulnerable populations or to contain the spread of infection across regions. Data feeds models Such data feed the models that public-health officials rely on to determine who will be subject to self-isolation and, for millions of Canadians, when and how they will be able to return to their normal lives. The promise of accurate, informative and shared data is boundless. The reality of the global data we have, however, is that it is inaccurate, incomplete, withheld and sometimes even corrupt. We are facing this generational challenge precisely at the time when we have the ability to gather, share and analyze data on a scale that was unimaginable even two decades ago. To minimize suffering and the loss of human life, we must commit to the transparent and open sharing of data. Our models whether they comprise a simple regression analysis or the most complex of neural networks depend completely on the quality and quantity of the data used to build them. Data does not analyze itself. There is an equally important role for professionals such as data scientists and domain experts who can speak the language of data science across the disciplinary spectrum. Modelling will help economists Moving beyond the crisis, we will rely heavily on modelling exercises undertaken by our economists, business analysts and other social scientists who can point the way back to a healthy, tolerant and prosperous society. Stay informed The latest updates on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 delivered to your inbox every weeknight. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. This is under way. York University disaster management professor Eric Kennedy, for example, is tracking how Canadians understand and perceive the outbreak, whom they trust for information, and how they are adapting their behaviours. These essential insights will point to more effective strategies for information-sharing that can minimize the impacts of similar diseases. At the University of Calgary, another team of researchers, led by sociologist Myles Leslie, is assessing how COVID-19 preparedness and response policies are being transmitted to, and implemented in, hospital and family health centres, from isolation protocols to patient triage. This work will help identify opportunities for improving ongoing and future public-health emergencies. At McGill University, medical informatics expert David Buckeridge and his team are combining natural language processing technology with machine learning tools, such as neural networks, to analyze more than two million conventional media and social media reports about the spread of the coronavirus from all over the world. The information will be combined with other data, such as COVID-19 case reports, to give policymakers and health authorities a much more complete picture of how and why the virus is spreading differently in different countries. We all anticipate the day when effective treatments and vaccines are readily available to address the global COVID-19 threat. Until that time and very likely in the future data and data science will remain on the front lines of managing disease threats. Mark Daley is a special advisor to the president (data strategy) and Ted Hewitt is president of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and former vice-president (eesearch and international relations) at Western University. This article was first published at The Conversation Canada: theconversation.com/ca. Its a metaphor for Manhattan, a synonym for Mad Men, the apex of midcentury modernist New York. It supplanted some of the citys stateliest mansions with corporate palaces in blue glass and bronze. The Park Avenue School of Architecture is the term the critic Ada Louise Huxtable employed to define the sleek and shiny postwar skyline, which moved the concept of elegance, as she put it, from domestic to professional life, from the apartment house to the office building. During coronavirus, New York endures and awaits. This latest entry in a series of (condensed and edited) walks around town with architects and others is the first of two exploring, Rashomon-like, some of the citys most famous midtown skyscrapers and commercial landmarks. As with paintings or people, theres no one correct way to look at buildings or the city. The two walks take different perspectives, an architects then an engineers. Annabelle Selldorf moved to New York from Germany after falling in love with the towers of Park Avenue as a teenager. She founded Selldorf Architects in 1988. The firm has transformed the historical Miller House on Fifth Avenue into the Neue Galerie, designed the Sunset Park Material Recovery Facility in Brooklyn and is currently expanding the Frick Collection. The epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in America is now allowing couples to say "I do" via video chat. Thousands of couples have been forced to postpone, cancel, or adjust their wedding plans during the lockdown due to the novel coronavirus. Also, most local bureaus are closed which prevents engaged couples from procuring marriage licenses. Other couples have adjusted to CDC policies and had socially distanced weddings, with officiants marrying them from a distance. Therefore, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has made it possible for nuptials to tie the knot. On Saturday, Cuomo issued an executive order permitting New Yorkers to acquire a marriage license remotely and authorizing clerks to carry out ceremonies through video conference. This practice was previously banned under existing laws. The Centers for Disease and Control Prevention (CDC) and health officials have alerted against mass gatherings in places including churches, restaurants, and event spaces which have temporarily closed their doors to follow social distancing rules. "Video marriage ceremonies," said Cuomo. "There's now no excuse when the question comes up for marriage. No excuse. You can do it by Zoom." Another state has also established new measures for partners hoping to get married. Colorado has also authorized marriage licenses to be acquired online. Melissa DeRosa, secretary to the governor, declared the executive order permitting couples to marry "utilizing audio-video technology" at a conference. Zoom is the famous video-conferencing technology that has acquired a huge boost nowadays with many workers now utilizing it to hold meetings remotely. "The Executive Order will temporarily suspend a provision of law that requires in-person visits," according to a press release from the governor's office. Also read: Small Town Near Canada is America's Safest Place from Coronavirus New York has implemented quarantine measures to be extended until at least May 15 and it could be several months before social distancing measures are lifted to legalize mass gatherings again for events such as weddings. Lena Turkheimer, a medical student, is one bride who initially rescheduled her ceremony until 2021, but instead chose to have a wedding via Zoom on her original date. She and Mark Owen's virtual ceremony took place in the backyard of Turkheimer's parents' home in Charlottesville, Virginia. According to Cuomo, it is not much, but at least it is something pleasant to partake in during the lockdown caused by the coronavirus crisis. More than 13,000 people have contracted the coronavirus in merely New York. The ruling garnered mixed reactions from social media. Some users questioned why couples would choose to celebrate weddings without the presence of families and friends or found fault with the governor for not prioritizing more important decisions. Although the arrangement might not be favorable for every jilted couple, the #ZoomWedding has become increasingly famous since the start of the outbreak and many brides and grooms seem to think that the online ceremony was a good trade-off for the real thing. Twenty-six-year-old Sophie Austin swooned about her recent Zoom wedding. "It was amazing. It was absolutely amazing. I think it really drew back the sparkliness and extra stuff of a wedding and made it really obvious what was important: the two of us saying the vows to each other. Related article: COVID-19 Patients Recover Quickly After Getting Remdesivir @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A committee of the Oregon Legislature will hold a virtual meeting Thursday to vote on more than $30 million in spending on the states coronavirus response. Its the second virus-focused meeting of the Legislative Emergency Board, which in March signed off on $5 million for the state to address the virus. At the time, officials said Oregons public health program only needed that small sum and had plenty of money for the immediate future. Oregons current two-year general fund and lottery budget is approximately $24 billion. Officials expect the states revenue estimates to fall by a couple billion dollars, as will revealed in greater detail at the May 20 revenue forecast, so Gov. Kate Brown opted to delay a special session on any larger spending plan until after that. Spending on the agenda for the boards 10 a.m. Thursday meeting includes: $12 million for rental assistance to people who lost income due to Oregons response to COVID-19 and shelter resources such as hotel vouchers for vulnerable people $10 million in assistance to small businesses with no more than 25 employees that cant receive federal assistance $2 million to cover shelter for victims of domestic violence $3.4 million to pay COVID-19 testing costs not covered by insurance for long-term care providers and workers plus training for union-represented certified nursing assistants who make up roughly half that workforce. Lawmakers will also decide on $10 million in proposed aid for people not legally authorized to work in the U.S., or otherwise not covered by temporary wage replacement programs such as federal unemployment insurance. The plan calls for payments of up to $590 a week. The state would hand the money over to the Oregon Community Foundation, which in turn would distribute the money through other community organizations. Other items lawmakers will consider for approval include authorizing $50 million in federal loans to small and rural hospitals that have lost revenue because they had to cancel non-emergency procedures, approximately $6 million in state wildfire fighting money and $20 million in state funding to help cover pay increases to unionized non-state workers caring for elderly and intellectually and developmentally disabled clients. Hillary Borrud | hborrud@oregonian.com | @hborrud Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said his government is keen on providing all safety procedures at all work sites nationwide amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has taken a heavy toll on the countrys day-to-day business and life. El-Sisi said in a speech during the inauguration of a number of national projects east of the Suez Canal that the country was keen on providing necessary protection for labour. I deliver this message to our labour We will protect [our labour force] more with coordination with the health ministry, companies and the defence ministry, so we can complete the work, he said. El-Sisi urged citizens seeking work to head to the New Administrative Capital, Rashid, New Mansoura and New Alamein, citing job opportunities in the new cities. He also highlighted the development of Egypts road network, which includes 40 new highways, estimating the cost at around EGP 12 billion to EGP 16 billion. The government is working day and night to accomplish aspired growth rates, which were deeply affected due to the current circumstances, he said, stressing that his government is determined to continue work at the same rates or even more. Wednesdays event saw the inauguration of the last phase of drilling at the Suez Canals strategic Ahmed Hamdy Tunnel 2. The tunnel will be opened on June 2021. Meanwhile, Major General Ihab Mohamed Al-Far of the Armed Forces Engineering Authority, said the tunnel saw unprecedented rates of construction. He said the new tunnel would contribute to boosting trade movement to South Sinai. In 2019, the president inaugurated four new tunnels passing under the Suez Canal. He inaugurated in Port Said the two 3rd of July tunnels in November, each for one direction of traffic, linking Port Said with Sinai. The inauguration of the 3rd July tunnels came seven months after the opening of Ismailia's two tunnels passing under the Suez Canal. According to Arab Contractors Company, one of the 3rd July tunnels' construction companies, the tunnels facilitate the movement of individuals and goods to and from Sinai, and aims to create the desired development for that region in parallel with the development currently taking place in Sinai and the canal area. Search Keywords: Short link: Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram New York, April 22, 2020 Algerian authorities must immediately unblock the news websites Interlignes, Maghreb Emergent, and Radiom, and ensure that all media outlets can publish online freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On April 9, Algerian authorities blocked the privately owned news website Maghreb Emergent and its partner radio website Radiom, according to a statement by the websites and news reports. On April 19, authorities blocked the local news website Interlignes, according to a report by the website and its founder, journalist and press freedom advocate Bouzid Ichalalene, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app. On the same day, the Council of Ministers, headed by newly elected President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, approved a bill amending Algerias penal code to criminalize breaking the government imposed COVID-19 lockdown rules and spreading false news that harms national unity, according to state-owned news agency APS and Interlignes. Penalties for convictions under the bill, which does not distinguish between news reports, social media, or other media, entail prison terms of two to five years and fines of 100,000 to 500,000 Algerian dinars ($778 to $3,891) for those convicted, according to news reports. When Algerian authorities arbitrarily censor news media just because they dont like to be scrutinized, they show exactly why laws that equate reporting with a criminal act are more than likely to be abused and pose a grave threat to press freedom, said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Sherif Mansour. We call on the administration of Abdelmadjid Tebboune to immediately unblock the news websites The Interlignes, Maghreb Emergent, and Radiom and set into motion legal reform so journalists cannot face criminal penalties for their work. All three websites have recently covered the COVID-19 pandemic in Algeria, and also covered the anti-government protests that have been taking place in the country since February 2019, according to CPJs review of their reporting. Radiom hosts several live web radio shows including a political commentary show hosted by Khaled Drareni, who has been imprisoned since March 27, as CPJ documented at the time of his arrest. CPJ was able to access Interlignes, Maghreb Emergent, and Radiom from the United States. Ichalalene confirmed that all three websites are not accessible in Algeria without using virtual private network (VPN) software. Maghreb Emergent and Radiom were blocked four days after Ihsane el-Kadi, the editor-in-chief of both websites, published an op-ed criticizing Tebbounes first 100 days in office. Algerian Minister of Communications Ammar Belhimer criticized that op-ed in an interview on April 15 and called it defamatory, and said that the block of the two websites served as a warning until judicial procedures against the outlets could be completed, according to news reports. Authorities did not disclose any reason for blocking Interlignes, according to the websites report, which said that the outlet did not know which government body ordered the censorship, or how long it might last. Authorities previously blocked Interlignes for four months in 2019, also without disclosing any reason for the block, as CPJ documented at the time. CPJ emailed the Algerian Ministry of Communications for comment, but did not receive any response. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Midland Memorial Hospitals 68-NURSE has been part of the community for almost 14 years. The call center has become an important resource for many in the community searching for answers to their questions regarding the coronavirus pandemic. The call center continues to meet the needs of the community by working 24/7 to address questions and concerns in addition to scheduling patients for COVID-19 testing. The nurses want the community to know the service is available 24/7. If you are unsure if you need treatment or emergency services, please call 68-NURSE. Our emergency room is still open for any emergent symptoms you may have that need immediate medical care. Dont delay if you feel concerned about any of your symptoms. The nurses are available to assist you in determining your best course of treatment. Please call anytime, night or day. Trump Says US Suspending Immigration Due to Coronavirus By Chris Hannas April 21, 2020 U.S. President Donald Trump says he will suspend immigration to the United States due to the coronavirus outbreak. In a tweet late Monday, Trump called the outbreak "the attack from the Invisible Enemy," and he cited a "need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens." He offered few details, saying only the move would come by way of executive order. Halting immigration to the U.S. could affect hundreds of thousands of visa holders and people hoping to apply for permanent resident 'green cards.' The U.S. has by far the most confirmed COVID-19 cases in the world, with nearly 789,000 instances and 42,458 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking cases. The U.S. has nearly one-third of all reported cases. In March, the Trump administration closed the Mexican and Canadian borders to non-essential travel, and it also barred entry to any foreign nationals who in the past 14 days had been in China, Iran or the countries that make up Europe's Schengen area. Restricting immigration has been a top priority for Trump, who has been roundly criticized for initially downplaying the coronavirus. Two researchers with the Cato Institute, a Washington-based libertarian research group, said in a blog post that Trump has the authority to restrict immigration to protect public health. "However, blanket bans like those imposed by the administration in recent months and those coming on April 21 are akin to closing the bar door after the horse has escaped," wrote researchers Andrew Forrester and Alex Nowrasteh. "Most research on travel bans in response to pandemics finds that they don't limit the spread of the disease, in part because they are always imposed after the disease has spread," Forrester and Nowrasteh added. The American Civil Liberties Union's Andrea Flores said spread of the virus can be curbed by "ensuring equal access to testing and treatment," releasing people who have been detained by U.S. immigration and border protection authorities, and suspending enforcement of immigration policies. "Unfortunately, President Trump seems more interested in fanning anti-immigrant flames than in saving lives," Flores said. "We cannot allow President Trump to exploit this pandemic to advance his racism and xenophobia." But Trump's national security adviser, Robert O'Brien said the suspension is aimed at protecting the health of the American people and would not be "dissimilar" to the January travel restrictions Trump placed on people traveling to the U.S. from China. "We're trying to do everything, the president's trying to do everything he can to put the health of the American people first during this crisis," O'Brien said during a Fox News Channel interview. O'Brien said the travel restrictions to the U.S. from China and hard-hit European countries have saved "tens of thousands of American lives" by slowing the spread of the virus in the U.S. But Trump has not imposed similar travel restrictions to other countries that are currently experiencing outbreaks. With more than 789,000 confirmed cases in the U.S., critics questioned the effectiveness of the suspension and suggested the move is an attempt by Trump to portray immigrants as the cause of the crisis. "Trump is trying to distract and deflect from his failure to address the ongoing pandemic," tweeted Democratic Senator Kamala Harris. "To our immigrant community: know that we see you and we won't stop fighting against Trump's anti-immigrant agenda." "President Trump's tweet is an outrageous attempt to divide us and distract us from his abject failures in dealing with the current pandemic," said Democratic Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, chairwoman of the Judiciary Committee's Immigration and Citizenship Subcommittee. Republican Senator Ted Cruz said, however, that Trump's suspension is a sensible short-term decision that Democrats are, nevertheless, opposing. "It's the same opposition they had when the president on January 31st halted flights in and out of China. That decision saved lives in America," Cruz said in an interview on Fox & Friends. The U.S. State Department issued an estimated 462,000 immigrant visas during the 2019 fiscal year and U.S. Citizens and Immigration Services approved permanent residence status to almost 577,000 people. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Restrictions that prohibit international students from working more than 20 hours a week during school are being lifted by the federal government if the students jobs are deemed an essential service. Its a bid to help the students but also to supplement the workforce in key areas, officials said Wednesday. The immediate change was announced just as Migrant Students United, a national advocacy group for international students, called on the federal government to expand the Canada Emergency Student Benefit and Canada Emergency Response Benefit to help migrant students in financial distress. The government said the new work-hour exemption applies to international students who work in health care, critical infrastructure or the supply of food, and other areas critical to help battle the COVID-19 outbreak. The measure is in place until Aug. 31. According to Statistics Canada, more than 11,000 international students were enrolled in health-care programs at Canadas universities and colleges, representing about four per cent of health-care students in 2018, said immigration officials. This temporary rule change provides health-care facilities with access to additional well-trained workers at a time when they are badly needed, the immigration department said in a news release. Immigrants, temporary foreign workers and international students are making important contributions as front-line workers in health care and other essential service sectors, Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino said in a statement on Wednesday. We know and value their efforts and sacrifices to keep Canadians healthy, and ensure the delivery of critical goods and services. Mendicino said workers in certain roles and industries have been under considerable pressure during the pandemic and the government recognizes that international students already in Canada can help meet the challenges. Excluding them from emergency income supports is unfair, said Sarom Rho, Migrant Students Uniteds organizer. If migrant students are left out, they are forced to work or face hunger and homelessness. They pay incredibly high tuition fees and are in the country without their families. They need more support, not less. Recent coronavirus outbreaks at nursing homes across the country and at two meat processing plants in Alberta Cargill and JBS have prompted concerns over shortages of essential labour, and Canadas meat production and supply. Rho said many international students work in construction, cleaning, grocery stores, restaurants, warehouses, domestic work, and as truck drivers and delivery workers. However, she said many are excluded from Canadas emergency government supports due to their status. International students and employers are asked to consult Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canadas Guidance on Essential Services and Functions in Canada During the COVID-19 Outbreak to determine if the work the student is doing would qualify them for the work-hour exemption during the academic session. After a flurry of unauthorized logins affecting Nintendo Online accounts, the gaming giant is urging users to take extra security measures. According to a report from VGC, Nintendo is investigating reports from users who say their accounts have been accessed by an unauthorized third party, some of whom say purchases of up to $100 using the cards linked to their accounts. 'We are aware of reports of unauthorized access to some Nintendo Accounts and we are investigating the situation. In the meantime, we recommend that users enable two-step verification for their Nintendo Account...' the company told VGC in a statement. You can help secure your Nintendo Account by enabling 2-Step Verification. For more details, visit: https://t.co/kqxbp8TobD pic.twitter.com/hZ1PnFWZQw Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) April 9, 2020 As a result of the logins, Nintendo took to social media to encourage users enable two-factor authentication. Reports of accounts being compromised comes just days after Nintendo issued a warning to Nintendo customers in Japan, noting that the number of user inquiries relating to credit card fraud had been increasing according to Nintendo Life. Nintendo has yet to issue a similar warning to players in Europe and the US and it's currently unclear if users worldwide Nintendo of breaches worldwide. The increase in reports of unauthorized access of accounts coincides with an uptick in the number of people using Nintendo's online service and games in general as people are forced to stay indoors to coronavirus lockdown. An influx of gamers has created problems in recent months, including with Nintendos eShop which went down to increased usage last month. In an official statement last month the company acknowledged that many of its systems were temporarily down, including its eShop where customers can buy games and other downloadable content. Nintendo Online is one of several outages across the world as more people work from home due to an ongoing coronavirus panademic 'Unfortunately, we're having some issues with our network services. We're looking to rectify the situation as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience,' the company wrote in a tweet. The prevented users from signing in, making it impossible to use most of Nintendo's services. Similar outages have also affected the platforms of major gaming companies like Xbox which went down last month. B y Emma Gilthorpe, Heathrow chief operations officer One month ago, our daily existence was totally different to how we are living today. The COVID-19 outbreak has resulted in the tragic loss of many lives. It has also left an indelible mark on the way we all conduct our personal and professional lives. Needless to say, life at Heathrow has changed immeasurably too. In January we were reporting another record traffic month with over 6 million passengers and a bright demand forecast for 2020. We were focusing on our plans to further the decarbonisation of aviation, through a blueprint that we still hope will pave the way for the sector. In stark contrast, last Monday, we announced our March passenger numbers and they had halved as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Passenger numbers are expected to drop even further this month to a mere 10% of normal April passenger volumes. This situation has led us to take the significant step of consolidating our operations into Terminals 2 and 5. Weve had to take difficult decisions, along with many other businesses, to implement pay reductions across the company. We have also moved to single runway operation for the first time in our history and we are reviewing all capital investment. Our goal - to protect as many jobs as possible whilst remaining safe and open for the UK. Many people are, however, questioning the need for the airport to operate at all during this most challenging time. The fact is, keeping Heathrow open now, is more important than ever. Before becoming a civilian airport in 1946, Heathrow was one of the countrys military airfields, helping to transport troops and supplies to far flung places. Through this pandemic, we are returning to our roots as our runways have once again been enlisted to enable airlines to bring essential supplies to help fight this very different battle: testing kits, protective equipment and crucial machinery such as respirators. Medical experts, critical to the UKs response to this outbreak, are also entering the country via Heathrow. During regular operations, Heathrow handles 41% of the UKs pharmaceuticals by value - a vital international supply line for these crucial products. Now, our airlines are ramping up their cargo capacity through the operation of new, dedicated cargo-only flights to further serve the countrys needs. Over the past week, weve seen hundreds of thousands of items of much-needed PPE and ventilators from Shanghai, Turkey, Hong Kong and beyond, flown in by our airlines, to equip our NHS heroes. Over the last week we have also welcomed over 50 repatriation flights, with the capacity to carry up to 14,000 passengers. Repatriation flights are indispensable to Britons stranded abroad, who want to get back to their family and friends and the security of their own home. Some regular commercial flights are still operating at Heathrow and the Government is encouraging Britons abroad to use these to get home as specially chartered repatriation flights are not always possible. Understandably, our passengers have been questioning whether the procedures carried out by Public Health England at Heathrow are stringent enough. There have been queries on why temperature checks, in particular, are not being implemented at UK airports. The answer here is clear. We comply with Government policy and Government follows a scientific and evidence based approach to the measures it adopts. The closure of borders and temperature checks at airports are not deemed to be effective measures. At Heathrow, we have to trust the advice from the medical experts. We have followed their guidance right from the start of this crisis to ensure we have the right measures in place to protect our colleagues and passengers. In our terminals youll see social distancing advice everywhere and visual prompts both on the floor and on digital screens. Youll see over 600 hand sanitiser dispensers and reminders to wash your hands as soon as you arrive at Heathrow. And youll see hygiene screens retrofitted at key passenger interaction points across the campus and some of our colleagues wearing masks, provided by us. It is hard to say when we will see demand return or when some sort of new normality will resume in our lives. But what is clear is that global connectivity will be at the heart of our countrys economic recovery. UK businesses getting back on their feet will need the vital airbridges Heathrow provides to global locations, if they are to win back international business. The UK will always be an outward looking trading nation and this crisis will not change that. As the countrys biggest front door, Heathrow will continue to play its part in keeping our people and our economy connected, now and in the future. Sources close to Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani's Office in Iran say the Iraqi-Iranian Shiite religious leader has donated at least $1.5 million for the treatment of COVID-19 patients in Iran, particularly in Qom. According to the government news agency IRNA, the Office of Grand Ayatollah Sistani in Qom said the money has been used to procure medical equipment required for the treatment of corornavirus patients. The equipment was delivered to the Iranian Health Ministry and coronavirus patients, the report said without further details but added that more aid is to be provided soon to Iranians to battle COVID-19. Grand Ayatollah Sistani's office in Qom is responsible for receiving the religious duties or religious taxes -- paid by his Iranian followers. The monies paid by the devout are used for running charities, building hospitals and mosques, giving financial support to families in need as well as funding seminaries and seminary students' education. The Office of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani is currently building a hospital in Qom which will be the city's biggest and best-equipped when completed. The first phase of the hospital is scheduled to be completed in 18 months. The hospital called Noor (Light) Hospital will have 350 beds with an ultra-specialized cancer center benefiting from nuclear medicine technology, the IRNA report said. The 90-year-old Sistani (Al-Sistani in Arabic) who is one of the highest religious authorities in the Shiite world was born in Mashhad in northwest Iran and studied in Qom. In 1952 he traveled to Iraq to study in Najaf at the age of thirty-one where he has remained to this day. In March 2019 Sistani granted a rare audience to the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. He had refused to meet with Rouhani's predecessor, hard-line Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, during his 2008 visit to Iraq. Grand Ayatollah Sistani is also known to have refused to receive an envoy of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In unusually frank comments on April 21, Afghanistan's new prison chief Ahmad Rashid Totakhail complained to journalists about widespread abuses in the country's prison system. Totakhail described problems ranging from the lack of a comprehensive database on the length of detainees' sentences to sexual abuse of underage prisoners and a general lack of access to medical care. Female prison employees also regularly complained of sexual harassment at the hands of their colleagues, he added. Corruption was also rife in the system, he said, a weakness that prisoners were exploiting to get their hands on drugs or smartphones. Authorities had initially believed visitors were bringing drugs into prisons, Totakhail said. Only a coronavirus-related ban on visitors had revealed the truth that prison staff were behind the smuggling. A number of detainees at Pul-e-Charkhi prison, the countrys largest detention facility, had been on hunger strike in recent days in what has been described as a protest against poor hygiene and scarce provisions. A spokesman for the prison said the inmates had been demanding "amnesty" in light of the pandemic, but had since ended the strike. Afghanistan has so far released more than 5,000 detainees, mostly women, juveniles, and sick people, to reduce the risk of coronavirus spreading in prisons. According to government sources, approximately 43,000 people are in detention in Afghanistan. Human rights organizations have long complained of poor conditions in Afghanistan's prisons, with accusations ranging from poor prison infrastructure to torture. The fast-spreading novel coronavirus has triggered an unprecedented sell-off in equities and bonds. Stocks are being clobbered, major indices are crashing regularly, while in a bizarre turn of events U.S. oil futures recently hit negative territory. Global efforts to combat the pandemic and policy initiatives to rev up economic activity have only had limited impact so far. Amid all the coronavirus-induced lockdown, panic and isolation, there are still certain stocks built to survive the crisis. One of the ways such potential plays could be identified is to look for signs of relative price strength. The Relative Price Strength Strategy Earnings growth and valuation multiples are indeed important for investors to determine a stock's ability to offer considerable returns. But these are also essential in determining whether a stocks price performance is better than its peers or the industry average. If a stocks performance is lacking that of the broader groups despite impressive earnings growth or valuation multiples, then something must be wrong. Its always advisable to stay away from these stocks and bet on those that are outperforming their respective industries or benchmarks. This is because betting on a winner always proves to be lucrative. Then again, it is imperative that you determine whether or not an investment has relevant upside potential when considering stocks with significant relative price strength. Stocks delivering better than the S&P 500 over a period of 1 to 3 months at the least and having solid fundamentals indicate room for growth and are the best ways to go about this strategy. Finally, it is important to find out whether analysts are optimistic about the upcoming earnings results of these companies. In order to do this, we have added positive estimate revisions for the current quarters (Q1) earnings to our screen. When a stock undergoes an upward revision, it leads to additional price gains. Screening Parameters Relative % Price change 12 weeks greater than 0 Relative % Price change 4 weeks greater than 0 Relative % Price change 1 week greater than 0 (We have considered those stocks that have been outperforming the S&P 500 over the last 12 weeks, four weeks and one week.) % Change (Q1) Est. over 4 Weeks greater than 0: Positive current quarter estimate revisions over the last four weeks. Zacks Rank equal to 1: Only Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks that have returned more than 26% annually over the last 26 years and surpassed the S&P 500 in 23 of the last 26 years can get through. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Current Price greater than or equal to $5 and Average 20-day Volume greater than or equal to 50,000: A minimum price of $5 is a good standard to screen low-priced stocks, while a high trading volume would imply adequate liquidity. VGM Score less than or equal to B: Our research shows that stocks with a VGM Score of A or B when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 or #2 (Buy) offer the best upside potential. Here are the six stocks that made it through the screen: Nautilus, Inc. NLS: Nautilus is a technology-driven fitness solutions provider. The 2020 Zacks Consensus Estimate for this Vancouver, WA-headquartered company represents 72.1% earnings per share growth over 2019. Nautilus has a VGM Score of A. SpartanNash Company SPTN: A food retailer and distributor to independent grocery stores and military commissaries, SpartenNash Company has a VGM Score of A. Over 30 days, the Grand Rapids, MI-based firm has seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2020 increase 13% to $1.39 per share. The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. HAIN: The Hain Celestial Group, headquartered in Lake Success, NY, produces, distributes, markets, and sells various natural and organic foods as well as personal care products with operations in North America and Europe. The firm has a VGM Score of B and a solid earnings surprise history having surpassed estimates in three of the last four quarters, the average being 7%. DHT Holdings, Inc. DHT: DHT Holdings is a provider of crude oil tankers. The 2020 Zacks Consensus Estimate for this Hamilton, Bermuda-headquartered company represents 270.2% earnings per share growth over 2019. DHT Holdings has a VGM Score of B. Sportsman's Warehouse Holdings, Inc. SPWH: A specialty retailer of hunting, fishing, camping, and other outdoor merchandise, Sportsman's Warehouse Holdings has a VGM Score of B. Over 30 days, the Midvale, UT-based firm has seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for FY 2021 increase 14.3% to 64 cents per share. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. SFM: Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Phoenix, AZ, Sprouts Farmers Market has a unique model that features fresh produce at the center of the store, an expansive bulk foods section, and a vitamin department focused on overall wellness. The company has a VGM Score of B and a good earnings surprise history having surpassed estimates thrice in the last four quarters. Earnings surprise was 28.7%, on average. Sign up now for your 2-week free trial to the Research Wizard and start using this screen in your own trading. Further, you can also create your own strategies and test them first before taking the investment plunge. Story continues The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out. Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (HAIN) : Free Stock Analysis Report DHT Holdings, Inc. (DHT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Nautilus Group, Inc. (The) (NLS) : Free Stock Analysis Report Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (SFM) : Free Stock Analysis Report SpartanNash Company (SPTN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Sportsman's Warehouse Holdings, Inc. (SPWH) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Some 2 million face masks donated by Taiwan arrived in Japan on Tuesday for delivery to public hospitals and special schools across the country in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic. The move came after the Taiwanese government responded to a request from a cross-party group of lawmakers aimed at fostering friendly relations between Japan and Taiwan. "We'd like to again express our sincere gratitude to the warm cheers and support from Taiwan," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference. "We will continue boosting our cooperation with related countries and regions against the new coronavirus, which is a threat to all humankind," the top government spokesman said. Representatives from both Japan and Taiwan were present on the tarmac at Narita airport as they watched the masks being carried out of an aircraft. Taiwan at one point lacked masks but has since achieved a daily production of 15 million masks and succeeded in meeting domestic demand after its government asked the private sector to increase mask production. [April 21, 2020] The Synergy of KoinWorks & Prudential Indonesia to Realize Action and Protection Amid COVID-19 Pandemic JAKARTA, Indonesia, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The number of Indonesians infected by COVID-19 continues to rise, which also happened because of the rapid test result conducted aggressively by the Indonesian Government for the last couple of weeks. In order to support the availability of the massive rapid test kit and vaccine against COVID-19 virus, KoinWorks takes part in action along with Indonesia Pasti Bisa initiated by East Ventures through KoinDonasi. This action engaged all Indonesians to fight against COVID-19 outbreak after previously initiating #SocialDistancingMovement by utilizing mass advertisement space in Jakarta. In line with the action, KoinWorks collaborated with the leading Indonesian life insurance, PT Prudential Life Assurance (Prudential Indonesia), to provide Accident & COVID-19 Life Protection as a commitment from both parties in fighting COVID-19 in Indonesia. Willy Arifin, Executive Chairman & Co-Founder KoinWorks said, "Numbers of Indonesians who tested positive were recorded 5,516 with its fatality rate of 8.5% as per mid-April has made us, the industry players, to actively engage Indonesians to fight against COVID-19 together. We and some other players involved in Indonesia Pasti Bisa collaborated with Prudential Indonesia to engage Indonesians involve in fundraising through KoinDonasi to develop and produce 100,000 COVID-19 test kit and genetic research of COVID-19 vaccine." Along with Prudential Indonesia, every donor contributed at least Rp100,000 in KoinDonasi will get a chance to receive protection from COVID-19 with additional cash compensation worth Rp1 million/day throughout maximum 30 days if the insured is tested positive COVID-19 during initiative period up to April 30, 2020 and needs to be hospitalized. Other than that, for the insurance period of 6 months, Prudential Indonesia will also compensate Rp10,000,000 if the insured dies in accident. Premraj Thuraisingam, Chief Transformation Officer Prudential Indonesia, stated, "For the time being, COVID-19 outbreak has affected all aspects in society. During this hard time, collaboration from all people is the key to get through this crisis together. As the company who focuses to provide health and life insurance, Prudential Indonesia welcomes this collaboration with KoinWorks as the effort to protect as many of Indonesians as we can." Premraj added, "Aside from partnership with KoinWorks, we also have partnered with Indonesian Health Ministry to provide protection in the form of life insurance for over 500 volunteers and medical workers who are currently fighting in COVID-19 Emergency Hospital, Kemayoran Athletes Village. We are optimistic that Indonesia could able to get through this pandemic and return as a stronger nation." The fundraising process will apply the responsibility, accountability, and transparency principal so every donor could able to monitor every process and result within the project, including the reliability and the uses of distributed test kit. Aside from cash, people can also donate kits or experts by clicking indonesiapastibisa.com. "The fundraising period through KoinDonasi will continue to run until we've reached Rp10 billion and we are optimists, by uniting through this movement, we could contribute to awaken Indonesia from this infectious pandemic," closed Willy. About KoinWorks KoinWorks is a one-stop financial solution platform licensed and supervised by OJK presenting multiple financial needs. KoinWorks unites lenders and borrowers within one digital platform and has been trusted by over 370.000 users. KoinWorks provides 4 (four) financial services, KoinP2P, KoinRobo, KoinBisnis, KoinPintar and will continue to presenting more products with advanced technology. KoinWorks awarded as The Most Innovative Fintech of the Year 2017 by Bisnis Indonesia and Innovative Company in Providing Online Funding with Machine Learning, Category: Financial Technology in 2018 and 2019 from Warta Ekonomi, committed to be able to provide the best service for all levels of Indonesian society to create financial inclusion in Indonesia. In 2019, KoinWorks won The Asian Banker Financial Innovation Showcase and Competition Indonesia 2019 in lending category and was chosen as the Top 6 finalist in the Visa Everywhere Initiative. More information: www.koinworks.com About Prudential Indonesi a PT Prudential Life Assurance (Prudential Indonesia) established in 1995 and is part of Prudential plc, London England. In Asia, Prudential Indonesia have its main office in regional office of Prudential Corporation Asia (PCA), located in Hong Kong. By combining international experiences of Prudential in life insurance with local business procedures knowledge, Prudential Indonesia commits to develop its business in Indonesia. Since launching its first unit link in 1999, Prudential Indonesia has been the Indonesian market leader for the product. Prudential Indonesia established Unit Usaha Syariah since 2007 and is trusted to become sharia life insurance leader in Indonesia since its first establishment. Until December 31, 2019, Prudential Indonesia owns head office located in Jakarta and its sales office in Medan, Surabaya, Bandung, Denpasar, Batam, and Semarang. Around 2 million customers served by over 260,000 licensed sales representatives in 383 People Empowerment Office (KPM) across nations including Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Batam, and Bali. Prudential Indonesia is registered and supervised by the Financial Services Authority (OJK). Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200421/2782135-1 SOURCE KoinWorks [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Wyandotte County has been the hardest hit metro county during the coronavirus pandemic, with more cases as a percentage of the population than any other community. Now, Wyandotte County's Unified Government is looking at a $15 million to $20 million revenue shortfall in the current budget year. Samsung Galaxy S10 is perhaps one of the most beautiful and exciting phones you will ever come across. The phones polished top and back grants it the aesthetics it deserves. If you are looking for a classy and eye-catching device, look no more. Image: instagram.com, @samsungkenya Source: UGC The phone comes with a RAM of 8GB and a widescreen. You will undoubtedly enjoy playing games and watching videos on this gadget. It is readily available in the market, and the price of Samsung Galaxy S10 in the Philippines ranges between P6000 to P42000. Samsung Galaxy S10 overview Historically, Samsung is known for its quantity and quality in the android world. It has excellent software, clear cameras, and attractive hardware. Whereas these are some of the classy features you might expect in Samsung Galaxy S10, there are highs and lows too worth your attention on this particular gadget. The goods The phone has the following advantages. It has spectacular Infinity-O display. It has an outstanding thin and light glass design. It has a wireless power share capable of charging other Samsung devices. It has a fingerprint sensor located in-screen. It possesses unique multi-colors. The bad It has the following disadvantages. Its battery life is low and only limited to an average performance. Its fingerprint reader position and experience may be dissatisfying to some users. Its selfie camera is unsatisfactory compared to that of Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus. It is expensive. Samsung Galaxy S10 specs Here are some of the Samsung Galaxy S10 details worth your attention. Release date : March 8th, 2019 : March 8th, 2019 Screen size : 6.1 inches : 6.1 inches Screen display : Super Dynamic AMOLED : Super Dynamic AMOLED Screen resolution : 1440 x 3040 pixels (550 PPI) : 1440 x 3040 pixels (550 PPI) Body material : Glass front, glass back, and ceramic frame : Glass front, glass back, and ceramic frame Operating system : Android 9.0 (pie) : Android 9.0 (pie) Memory : 8 GB RAM and 128 GB ROM : 8 GB RAM and 128 GB ROM Expandable memory : MicroSD of up to 512 GB : MicroSD of up to 512 GB Rear camera : 12 megapixels + 12 megapixels + 16 megapixels : 12 megapixels + 12 megapixels + 16 megapixels Front camera : 10 megapixels : 10 megapixels Battery: Non-removable 3,400 mAh Li-ion battery Non-removable 3,400 mAh Li-ion battery Processor : Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 or Exynos 9820 : Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 or Exynos 9820 Dimension : 149.9 mm x 70.4 mm x 7.8 mm : 149.9 mm x 70.4 mm x 7.8 mm Weight : 157 grams : 157 grams Connectivity : Wi-Fi 6, USB C, Bluetooth 5.0, and A - GPS : Wi-Fi 6, USB C, Bluetooth 5.0, and A - GPS Network : 2G + 3G + 4G : 2G + 3G + 4G Sensor : Heart rate, fingerprint, proximity, accelerometer, compass, gyroscope, SpO2, and barometer : Heart rate, fingerprint, proximity, accelerometer, compass, gyroscope, SpO2, and barometer Color varieties: Prism black, canary yellow, prism white, prism blue, flaming pink, prism green Hardware Samsung has always focused greatly on the aesthetic value of its gadgets. Its colorful display and brilliant design are some of the luring features which can not escape the eye. READ ALSO: Google suspends Huawei from using Android and other Google apps after Trumps blacklist Design As a leading manufacturer of smartphones, Samsung designs are some of the best in the industry. Samsung Galaxy S10 has a SIM slot positioned adjacent to the microSD card. The earphone jack is located at the bottom of the phone next to the USB port. The gadget has an Infinity-O display screen with a front and back made of glass. It also has a thin ceramic frame that separates the front from the back. The cameras are located on the edges to improve the photo qualities through laser cutting technology. Its dimensions of 149.9 mm x 70.4 mm x 7.8 mm and weight of 157 grams are sufficient for holding and carrying around. The Super Dynamic AMOLED screen provides enough color contrast during the night as well as in the day. It comes in a range of colors. They include prism black, canary yellow, prism white, prism blue, flamingo pink, and prism green. Image: instagram.com, @samsung_galaxy.s10 Source: UGC Display It has a 6.1 inch Super Dynamic AMOLED screen display. The screen has a resolution 1440 x 3040 pixels and a spectacular Infinity-O display which grants the users impressive viewing experience. It is bright with the light sensor to control the brightness depending on the light in the ambient. With this screen, the device is excellent for watching videos and playing games on. A Corning Gorilla Glass v6 protects it. This protection ensures that the phone survives breakages whenever is falls. Processor, storage, and performance Samsung Galaxy S10 is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 in the United States and Exynos 9820 in Europe. All the versions have a RAM of 8GB, which is enough to run large apps. Numerous apps can run in this memory without the phone lagging. The gaming experience on this phone is also otherworldly. The internal storage capacity is 128GB, which can be expanded to 512GB with a MicroSD card. It gives users enough space to store documents, photos, movies and music. Samsung Galaxy S10 battery The Galaxy S10 has a 3400 mAh battery. This capacity is slightly below that of Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus, which is 4000 mAh. The battery is good for average users. However, if you are one of those who loves to play music, watch videos, and play games, this particular phone may be a letdown. It will revert to battery saving mode on heavy usage. Nonetheless, it can withstand a day-long usage when fully charged. The phone supports the Wireless Power Share that charges faster compared to the ordinary versions. This technology enables it to charge other Samsung wearable gadgets without requiring a cable. READ ALSO: Converge Internet review, plans, contact, how to apply Speaker and call quality The 3D Dolby Atoms enhanced stereo speakers treats the users to quality sound for audio and calls. They can comfortably listen to audio files as well as have a clear conversation during calls. Software Samsung Galaxy S10 has luring software features. The cameras, operating system, and network connectivity are the envy of many phone manufacturing companies. Here are the software features you can expect to find in this particular gadget. Operating system and features Galaxy S10 runs on Android 9.0 (pie), and the android software is revamped under a new label tagged One UI. It sensibly shifts all the interactive elements of the user interface into the lower-third of the screen where they are within easy reach. The operating system can be upgraded to Android 10.0. For security, it has a biometric sensor located the edge-to-edge screen on the front of the handset. This sensor is more reliable compared to that of its competitors since it records every single ridge in your fingerprint. Samsung Galaxy S10 camera, video, and image quality Samsung has been known worldwide for a strong reputation in the camera section. For the past few years, its innovations and image quality have been improving significantly. At the back of the phone, it has a triple-lens system which comprises of a 12-megapixel camera with OIS - Optical Image Stabilization. This camera has a variable aperture which can switch from f/1.5 and f/2.4. It also has a 16-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide sensor and a 12-megapixel telephoto lens with f/2.4. Additionally, it has a good selfie camera of 10 megapixels. Whether you are using the front or rare camera, the focus is achieved in a snap and photos taken in an instant. Samsung Galaxy S10 review Since making its way into the market on March 8th, 2019, the gadget has been used by several people. Some of them have pointed out the good and bad of the phone. Check out below some of the reviews. Maggi: Good to hear. S10, s10 us and s10 e got the update. Yes the features in camera are great. Also the keyboard features gallery etc. Power button at top of quick panel is handy instead of holding power button on side to turn off phone which is go... PSC19: Yes even I got it. It has now support for 1080 (60fps),4k(60fps) on the front camera and has slight improvement in the camera interface. What is Samsung Galaxy S10 price in the Philippines? The phone is sold at an amount ranging from P6,000 to P42,000. The lowest price of this particular gadget can be found at Lazada. However, you can choose between Samsung Galaxy S10 with 128GB Prism White starting from P 42,000.00 and 128GB Prism Black at P 20,328.82. Samsung Galaxy S10 accessories To unlock the full potential of Samsung Galaxy S10, you will need to have the right accessories. They include the following. Image: instagram.com, @2ech2day Source: UGC Anker fast wireless charger Whitestone Galaxy S10 screen protector for an ultrasonic fingerprint reader Libratone Q adapt in-ear noise-canceling headphones Energizer ultimate 1000 Series 10W wireless charging power bank Samsung EVO 512GB microSD card iOttie smartphone car mount iRag CRS1 quick charge car charger PopSocket phone grip Totallee Thin case Samsung Galaxy Buds Verdict Samsung Galaxy S10 is yet another excellent gadget by Samsung. The phone's high RAM and internal storage capacity have taken the smartphone competition to a whole new level. The aesthetic appeal and battery are a considerable improvement compared to the last version. As much as it is expensive, this is undoubtedly the one you should go for. It has a clear call conversation as well as audio, and it also provides an excellent platform for one to enjoy playing games on the phone. In modern times, phone manufacturing companies are doing all they can to ensure that they remain top in as far as development and innovation are concerned. The new Samsung Galaxy S10 typifies the extent to which this competition has reached. The phone's hardware and software features are luring. It is indeed the kind of smartphone that gives you the value of your money. READ ALSO: Top 9 cheapest alternatives for AirPods Pro Source: KAMI.com.gh A former British rapper, on the run after fighting for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group (ISIL, also known as ISIS) in Iraq and Syria, has been captured by Spanish police, officials and media said on Wednesday. Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary was caught in the southern town of Almeria, where he had been leaving an apartment sporadically with a face mask during the coronavirus lockdown, according to Spains interior ministry and a European security source. British media said Bary used to have joint British-Egyptian nationality, but was stripped of UK citizenship after joining ISIL. He had been named by The Sunday Times as one of four ISIL members dubbed The Beatles due to their British accents in lurid propaganda videos. Two other suspects were arrested with him on Tuesday, Spains interior ministry said in a statement. This is a significant arrest, the security source told Reuters. He has previously been identified as the son of Adel Abdel Bari, who is serving a 25-year sentence in a US prison over the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people. As a rapper, he was known as Lyricist Jinn, and lived with his mother in Maida Vale, west London. Bary has appeared in gory images of ISIL crimes, the Spanish ministry statement said. In 2014, he posted a picture of himself online holding a severed head, captioned chillin with my homie or whats left of him. The detained man spent several years in the Syria-Iraq area and presents peculiar personality features such as an extremely violent criminal profile which caught the attention of police and intelligence services in Europe, it added. Following Barys wide-ranging use of social media during his days in Syria, Spanish police posted footage of his arrest on Twitter. Asi detuvimos en #Almeria a uno de los Foreign Terrorist Fighters de DAESH mas buscados de #Europa. De nacionalidad egipcia, habria entrado ilegalmente en Espana y se ocultaba en un piso de alquiler. Tambien se arresto a otras dos personas que lo acompanaban pic.twitter.com/14f2v2brEg Policia Nacional (@policia) April 21, 2020 The three suspects had come into Spain via North Africa. Spanish police were trying to determine if the other two were also ISIL members. They are eager to intercept many of the dozens of Spanish Muslims who left for Syria and Iraq to fight alongside ISIL and may now want to perpetrate attacks on home soil, such as the killing of 16 people in Barcelona in 2017. The UKs Home Office its interior ministry had no comment, referring queries to Spanish police. South Korea gives Ukraine US$700,000 for fight against coronavirus 12:19, 22.04.20 757 The move was preceded by talks between Ukrainian and South Korean top officials. As Israel commemorated Holocaust Memorial Day on Tuesday (April 21) many of its survivors had to mark it separated from families and alone in isolation. Elias Feinzilberg, a 102-year-old Holocaust survivor, blew kisses to his daughter, grandchildren and great-grandchildren from his third-floor Jerusalem home, as a siren sounded across Israel to honour those who perished. (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) ELIAS FEINZILBERG, A 102-YEAR-OLD HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR, SAYING: "It hurts that I cannot see them. And also the family, it is about time that people who have fathers and mothers, who have a big family, will be able to go see them. It is very painful." Five of his 19 great-grandchildren held up signs, part of a nationwide campaign to show solidarity with Israel's roughly 190,000 Holocaust survivors at this time of lockdown. Born in Poland in 1917, his immediate family were murdered by the Nazis and Elias was sent to the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, where more than a million Jews were murdered. He survived and moved with his wife to Israel in 1969 to open a shoe store. As the siren sounded, his family bowed their heads and then waved to Feinzilberg. Jenny Brodsky, Feinzilberg's daughter, said her father was dealing with isolation relatively well, adding that this is nothing compared with what he's been through and that he remains an inspiration to them all. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases across Arizona is 5,459, state health officials said Wednesday. The number is up 208 from Tuesday's count of 5,251. Across Pima County, 973 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed, up from 963 on Tuesday. There have been 68 known coronavirus deaths in the county, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. Statewide, there have been 229 known deaths, which include 168 people ages 65 and older, 36 people between the ages of 55 and 64 years old, 18 people between the ages of 45 and 54 years old, and seven people between the ages of 20 and 44 years old. The 973 confirmed cases in Pima County include 17 people under the age of 20 years old, 339 people between the ages of 20 and 44 years old, 190 people between the ages of 45 and 54 years old, 137 people between the ages of 55 and 64 years old, and 285 people ages 65 years old and above. The ages of five people are unknown. There have been 56,601 coronavirus tests across the state, with 6,983 tests in Pima County. About 9 percent of the tests statewide are showing positive for COVID-19, the state says. Contact reporter Gloria Knott at gknott@tucson.com or 573-4235. On Twitter: @gloriaeknott 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. Mumbai, April 22 : Spelling glad tidings for thousands of Indian crewmen of cruise ships and other sailors stranded on different vessels, the Centre has given the green signal permitting them to land at the Mumbai port, an official said here on Wednesday. Following the intervention by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who spoke with the Union Minister of State for Shipping Mansukh Mandaviya, and the way is now paved for an estimated 40,000 sailors stuck on different ships to return to the land. Starting Thursday, 146 sailors stuck on a huge cruise ship 'Marella Discovery' are expected to touch land, followed by others, said an official spokesperson. "They will undergo a full medical checkup and be quarantined at a building made available to them for isolation, besides following all other protocols of the Covid-19 pandemic," said the official. The 'Marella Discovery' cruise ship was scheduled to sail to Kochi, New Mangalore, Goa and then Mumbai from April 2-6. However, after the Covid-19 outbreak globally, all the passengers on the cruise ship disembarked at Laem Chabang, Thailand, on March 7. After it arrived in Kochi on April 12, the crew was denied permission to disembark and they continued sailing to reach Mumbai on April 14. Since then, the crew awaited the permission to disembark though none on board has been infected. After Thackeray was apprised of their plight, a team of top officials, including Principal Secretary in Chief Ministers Office (CMO) Vikas Kharge, Additional Chief Secretary to CMO Ashish Kumar Singh and Mumbai Port Trust Chairman Sanjay Bhatia followed up the issue with the Centre. Late on Sunday, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued orders on the SOPs for sign-on and sign-off for the Indian seafarers at the Indian Ports. After dropping the Indian crewmen on board at Mumbai, the 'Marella Discovery' will sail to Norway. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-23 02:24:15|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HONG KONG, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Two men had been charged with murder in the death of a 70-year-old cleaner during the months-long social unrest last year, Hong Kong police said at a press conference on Wednesday. Senior Superintendent Chan Tin-chu of the New Territories North Regional Crime Headquarters said at the press conference that on Nov 13, 2019, cleaner Luo Changqing was attacked and hit in the head by hard objects outside the North District Town Hall in Sheung Shui. Luo died the following day of the serious wounds. The police so far have arrested three males and three females aged between 15 and 18. Two of the three males are aged 16 and 17 respectively. They were charged Wednesday with murder, wounding with intent and riots and taken to a court in Tuen Mun for trial. Chan Tin-Chu did not rule out more arrests in the case, saying anyone who violates the law would be brought to justice. Enditem The Lagos State Government will today arraign the General Overseer of Resurrection Praise Ministries for Africa alias Jehovah Sharp Sharp, Archbishop Samson Benjamin for violating its lockdown order. Police spokesman Mr Bala Elkana, a Deputy Superintendent (DSP), confirmed the information. They are on their way to court now, Elkana said. The cleric was arrested by the police on Tuesday and detained at the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Yaba. Benjamin, the police alleged, led about 100 persons to the Chinese Embassy in Victoria Island to protest the mistreatment of Nigerians in China. According to the cleric, the Chinese were operating freely in Nigeria even though COVID-19 started in their country but have chosen to mistreat Nigerians and other blacks. It was gathered that officials of the Embassy sent a video clip of the alleged invasion to the police, which prompted operatives from Victoria Island Division to move to the scene to effect arrest. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates In the week since California temporarily eliminated bail for misdemeanors and lower-level felonies, several law enforcement officials across the Bay Area have criticized the decision, saying it presents a public health risk on multiple fronts. The states judicial leaders approved the temporary emergency measure in an effort to reduce inmate populations amid the coronavirus pandemic, while also allowing pretrial proceedings to be conducted remotely. The rule, which took effect April 13, carries some exceptions that dont qualify for zero cash bail, including domestic violence charges and certain violent felonies. The measures are expected to remain in effect until 90 days after the end of the state of emergency declared by Gov. Gavin Newsom. That window of time, however, could allow those accused of crimes to not only commit new crimes, but also potentially spread the virus if they dont adhere to the regions shelter-in-place orders, according to several Bay Area sheriffs offices. Our office opposes the zero bail, and these massive releases of criminals throughout the state will have repercussions for our communities yet to be realized, said Sgt. Ray Kelly, of the Alameda County Sheriffs Office. We cant forget that behind each case is a crime victim. Among the 27 inmates who have already been rearrested in Alameda County is Rocky Music, who is accused of carjacking a person during his walk Sunday from the Santa Rita Jail to the Dublin BART Station. Oakland police had arrested him about 12 hours earlier in a stolen car. Prosecutors filed charges Wednesday against Music, including carjacking. Sonoma County sheriffs deputies arrested 26-year-old Daniel Avati-Lemos early Monday on suspicion of drug possession. Deputies arrested him again a little more than 24 hours later on suspicion of vehicle tampering, resisting arrest and a county parole hold. In Contra Costa County, a man who led San Ramon police on a car chase was detained but not booked. Brentwood police arrested a man carrying a machete, booked him into county jail and released him under the new order, said Jimmy Lee, a spokesman for the county Sheriffs Office. The emergency measure to suspend cash bail comes on the heels of several Bay Area county jails taking proactive steps to reduce their inmate populations. Santa Rita Jail in Dublin saw its inmate population drop from 2,597 on March 1 to 1,773 on Tuesday, while Sonoma County Jail had 605 inmates as of this week down from a daily average of 1,100. In San Francisco, officials pared the jail population from a daily average of 1,187 individuals in January to 737 as of Tuesday. The Sheriffs Department, which oversees the jails, said the inmate counts represent a historic low. Sheriff Paul M. Miyamoto told The Chronicle that the elimination of bail raises concerns and presents challenges, but officials are trying to balance public health and public safety concerns. We have to make sure we maintain that balance, he said. We are in it for the long haul. Another issue has been finding housing for soon-to-be released inmates. We dont want to release someone who is going to become unsheltered and become part of the problems we face outside, Miyamoto said, adding that the new order accelerated the process. It takes away one of the tools that we have, which is time. 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. Inmates also might not know if theyve tested positive for the coronavirus after being released, Miyamoto said. Test results can take a day or two. Contra Costa County Sheriff David Livingston, who serves as president of the California State Sheriffs Association, said numerous sheriffs across the state are concerned about the blanket release of inmates. Not only does it jeopardize public health, he said, but it also risks the lives of inmates who are mentally ill or at risk of becoming homeless. The Judicial Council of California said in a statement that the emergency order does not establish a blanket release, as judges still have discretion to deny or raise bail if they deem a person presents a public safety risk. The temporary rule was put in place as a way to balance public safety with public health, as jails are reporting COVID infections by jail staff and inmates, officials said. In many counties around the state, the courts, district attorneys, defense attorneys and law enforcement are coming together to lead during this unprecedented time and are able to effectively balance public health and public safety. Sgt. Juan Valencia, of the Sonoma County Sheriffs Office, said it is too soon to assess the impact of the new order, but he pointed to the man his office arrested just a day after his release. I think its too early to see the challenges, but this person went back out there and committed a crime within a 24-hour window now exposing us, Valencia said. We dont know who theyve been in contact with. Alejandro Serrano is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: alejandro.serrano@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @serrano_alej Matt Green, mining/crushing supervisor at MP Materials, displays crushed ore before it is sent to the mill at the MP Materials rare earth mine in Mountain Pass, Calif., on Jan. 30, 2020. (Steve Marcus/Reuters) American Quandary: How to Secure Weapons-Grade Minerals Without China The United States wants to curb its reliance on China for specialized minerals used to make weapons and high-tech equipment, but it faces a Catch-22. It only has one rare earths mineand government scientists have been told not to work with it because of its Chinese ties. The mine is southern Californias Mountain Pass, home to the worlds eighth-largest reserves of the rare earths used in missiles, fighter jets, night-vision goggles, and other devices. But the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has told government scientists not to collaborate with the mines owner, MP Materials, the DOEs Critical Materials Institute told Reuters. This is because MP Materials is almost a tenth-owned by a Chinese investor and relies heavily on Chinese sales and technical know-how, according to the company. Wheel loaders fill trucks with ore at the MP Materials rare earth mine in Mountain Pass, Calif., on Jan. 30, 2020. (Steve Marcus/Reuters) Clearly, the MP Materials ownership structure is an issue, said Tom Lograsso, interim director of the institute, the focal point of the U.S. governments rare earths research and a facility that typically works closely with private industry. Were going to allow the people in Washington to figure this out. The DOE instruction, which has not been previously reported, illustrates the competing pressures facing officials looking to resurrect the U.S. commercial rare earths industry, which has all but disappeared since its genesis in World War Twos Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb. Lograsso did not say how the guidance was delivered to the institute. Reviving domestic rare earths production has become a priority in Washington as relations with China, which dominates global supplies, have become increasingly frayed and U.S. lawmakers warn of the dangers of relying on a competitor for critical defense components. Even as the DOE has blacklisted MP Materials, the company is a candidate to receive up to $40 million in funding from the Pentagon, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The Pentagon has yet to announce its decision on funding, which could go to more than one project, after delaying the decision from March due to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus crisis. MP Materials is by far the most advanced player in the U.S. rare earths industry, given no rival project has even broken ground. As such, Mountain Pass is widely seen by industry analysts as the front-runner for Pentagon funding. A view of mining facilities at the MP Materials rare earth mine in Mountain Pass, Calif., on Jan. 30, 2020. (Steve Marcus/Reuters) The DOE did not respond to requests for comment on the instruction to scientists or any potential conflict with Pentagon policy. The Pentagon is working closely with the president, Congress, allies, partners, and the industrial base to mitigate U.S. reliance on China for rare earth minerals, said spokesman Lt. Col. Mike Andrews. The department did not respond to requests for comment on whether it might fund Mountain Pass or potential conflicts with DOE policy. Apple to Lockheed MP Materials, which bought the mine in 2017, describes itself as an American-controlled company with a predominantly U.S. workforce. The privately held firm is 9.9 percent-owned by Chinas Shenghe Resources Holding Co., though, and Chinese customers account for all its annual revenue of about $100 million. Had we not had a Chinese technical partner helping us do this relaunch, theres no way this could have been done, said James Litinsky, chief executive of JHL Capital Group LLC, a Chicago-based hedge fund and MP Materials majority owner. Litinsky declined to comment on the Pentagon funding. Matt Green, mining/crushing supervisor at MP Materials, displays crushed ore before it is sent to the mill at the MP Materials rare earth mine in Mountain Pass, Calif., on Jan. 30, 2020. (Steve Marcus/Reuters) Asked for comment on the DOE instruction to scientists, Litinsky said: MP is on a mission to restore the full rare earth supply chain to the United States of America, whether the government helps us or not. Shenghe did not respond to requests for comment. MP Materials is among a slew of U.S. companies dependent on Chinas rare earths industry. Apple Inc. uses Chinese rare earths in its iPhones taptic engine, which makes the phone vibrate. Lockheed Martin Corp. uses them to make the F-35 Lightning fighter jet. General Dynamics Corp. uses them to build the Virginia-class submarine. The COVID-19 pandemic has further driven home the global nature of supply chains and how heavily Western countries rely on manufacturing powerhouse China for a host of key products, including drug ingredients. Manhattan Project Mountain Pass first opened in the late 1940s to extract europium, a rare earth used to produce the color red in televisions. It drew heavily on technology developed by Manhattan Project government scientists to separate the 17 rare earths, a complex and expensive process. By the early 1980s, the mine was a top global rare earths producer. Its minerals were in much of the equipment that U.S. soldiers used during the first Gulf War in 1990. However China ramped up development of a massive rare earths refining network and began boosting exports, undercutting other producers. The Middle East has oil. China has rare earths, then-Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping said in 1992. In 2010, China halted supplies to Japan during a diplomatic dispute, unnerving U.S. military officials who wondered if China could one day do the same to the United States. That refocused Washingtons attention on the mine and its then-owner Molycorp, which launched a $400 million initial public offering the same year. Jim Litinsky, co-chairman and controlling shareholder of MP Materials, is shown during a tour of the MP Materials rare earth mine in Mountain Pass, Calif., on Jan. 30, 2020. (Steve Marcus/Reuters) However, even as U.S. government scientists had begun research projects with Molycorp, the company went bankrupt in 2015 under the weight of its debtpartly built up to comply with tightened environmental regulations from the Obama administrationand cheaper Chinese competition. Two years later, Litinskys group and Shenghe bought Mountain Pass out of bankruptcy. The processing equipment installed by Molycorp, however, remains unused because of poor design, Litinsky said. For now, MP Materials ships more than 50,000 tons of concentrated rare earths per year to China for processing, the Achilles heel of the U.S. industry. The company aims to restart its own processing by the end of 2020, Litinsky said. The goal is to produce about 5,000 tons per year of the two most common rare earth metals, more than enough for U.S. military needs. Some rare earths analysts and academics have doubted whether Mountain Pass can resume processing so soon, citing concerns about its plans for waste disposal and water filtration. National Security Malpractice Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) told Reuters that the United States reliance on China for defense components could pose a strategic military threat. It would be national security malpractice not to address this, said Rubio, who sits on the Senates Intelligence and Foreign Relations committees. This was echoed by Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Penn.) who said the issue of creating a viable domestic industry had been ignored for too many years. This isnt an issue we can just kick down the road, said Houlahan, who sits on the House Armed Services Committee. A shipping area is filled with 1,500-kilogram bags of bastnasite concentrate at the MP Materials rare earth mine in Mountain Pass, Calif., on Jan. 30, 2020. (Steve Marcus/Reuters) The Pentagon asked miners in early 2019 to outline plans to develop rare earths projects and processing facilities, according to documents seen by Reuters. President Donald Trump sharpened the directive last July, telling the Pentagon to fund U.S. rare earths projects and find better ways to procure military-grade magnets made from rare earths. On Wednesday, Australia-based Lynas Corp. and privately held Blue Line Corp. said they were chosen by the Pentagon to process in Texas so-called heavy rare earths, a less-common type of the specialized minerals, imported from Australia. The deadline for that project was in December. MP Materials is said to have applied for the light rare earths funding, the deadline for which was March 2. No decision has been announced. Light rare earths are the most-commonly used of the specialized materials. Other applicants for the Pentagon funding programs included Texas Mineral Resources Corp; a joint venture between Alaskas UCore Rare Metals and Materion Corp.; Medallion Resources Ltd and Search Minerals Inc., both of Canada; and Nebraskas NioCorp Developments Ltd. Meanwhile, U.S. government scientists at the DOE institute are studying ways to recycle rare earth magnets, to find substitutes and to locate new sources of the strategic minerals. None of that research is shared with MP Materials. MP Materials recognizes they have become the elephant in the room that the U.S. government doesnt want to acknowledge, given their relationship with Shenghe, said Ryan Castilloux, a rare earths industry consultant at Adamas Intelligence. By Ernest Scheyder Epoch Times staff contributed to this report. PLEASANT PRAIRIE The cause of fatal fire in the Timber Ridge Manufactured Home Community remains under investigation, but officials do not believe it was suspicious. One person died in the mobile home fire reported at 11:02 p.m Tuesday in the 1800 block of 104th Street. According to a statement from Pleasant Prairie Police, the first units to arrive found heavy fire at the rear of the home on the southeast side of the mobile home park. Witnesses said a resident was possibly still inside. While firefighters put out the flames, a search of the mobile home revealed the body of the victim, whose identity was not immediately released pending official identification by the Kenosha County Medical Examiner. Fire Chief Craig Roepke said one person lived alone in the home. Village police and fire departments are conducting an investigation with assistance from members of the Kenosha County Fire Investigation Task Force. Roepke said Wednesday that the task forces investigation is not complete. I would say the fire is not suspicious in origin, but we are going through the normal procedure (in investigating) a fire fatality, he said. Local firefighters received the assistance of the Somers Fire Department, as well as nearby northern Illinois fire departments from Winthrop Harbor, Zion, Newport and Beach Park. The Racine Fire Bells also responded to provide emergency service support. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The Charger Blog One of the world's most well-known poets, Nikki Giovanni visited campus in early March as part of the Universitys Centennial celebration. She told a capacity crowd to be brave, share their voices, find what they believe in, and fight for it. By Jackie Hennessey, contributing writer Nikki Giovanni. (Photo: Giovanni Roper 19) It was about 40 minutes before Nikki Giovanni, the celebrated African American poet and activist, would start a campus address, and Jahniya Morris 21, president of the Universitys Black Student Union, already had her front row seat. Im a fan of her, everything about her, Morris said. Black girl magic, the power a black woman has, she embodies all of that. Giovanni Roper 19. Jordan Harris 21, president of the Universitys student chapter of the NAACP, said the group was thrilled to bring Giovanni to campus as a kick-off to Womens History Month and as part of the Universitys Centennial Speakers Series. Shes the perfect speaker as Black History Month ends and Womens History Month begins, Harris said. Shes from the Black Arts Movement, and her poetry is her activism. Giovanni, a distinguished professor at Virginia Tech, is the author of more than 20 books, and she is a recipient of multiple NAACP Image Awards, more than 20 honorary doctorates, the Rosa L. Parks Women of Courage Award, and the Langston Hughes Award for Distinguished Contributions to Arts and Letters. T.J. Furman 20 and Nikki Giovanni. During her evening at the University, she received two standing ovations from the capacity crowd as she shared a selection of her poems and talked in an expansive question-and-answer session hosted by Kaela Bazemore 21, the Universitys NAACP chapter treasurer. Bazemore asked Giovanni how she would define a black woman. A black woman is the most incredible person on earth, Giovanni said. She pointed to a poem she read, "Stardate Number 18628.190, which Giovanni wrote in 1995 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Essence magazine. The lines read, in part, This is the Black womanin all our trouble and gloryin all our past history and future forbearancein all that ever made love a possibility. You all have to decide what you want to fight for Speaking on Super Tuesday as voters around the country went to the polls, Giovanni read 2020, a poem about the importance of voting. After, she shared a story about Fannie Lou Hamer, one of the most powerful voices of the civil and voting rights movements, who co-founded the Mississippi Democratic Freedom Party and withstood beatings after trying to get that party recognized and seated at the Democratic National Convention. Kaela Bazemore 21 hosted the question-and-answer session with Nikki Giovanni. I said to myself if I didnt ever do anything else as long as there was breath in me, for Fannie Lou Hamer, I would vote, Giovanni said. I told you that story because I want you to know the price she paid for you to be able to go to the polls. It doesnt matter who you write in, you have to go. Its very important that you not be silenced. During audience questions, Giovanni was asked how she summoned up her courage across a lifetime of civil rights activism. She always, she told the crowd, turns to words. All I have are words, she said. Its not for me to decide what makes you brave, she said. You all have to decide who you are, what you want, and what you want to fight for. Im honored to be named for such a powerful woman Nicholas Zachman 21, a member of March for Our Lives Connecticut, a non-partisan group working to end gun violence, said it was the way Giovanni galvanized the Virginia Tech community, reading her poem, We Are Virginia Tech, at a memorial service the day after a mass shooting there, that drew him to the event. She stands up for what she believes in, and she believes in unity, he said. At the end of the event, long lines of students gathered to take photos and talk with her. Kristen Marcus 21 had tears in her eyes, and said she was moved by Giovannis words. I think the most important thing she said was that our degree wasnt for us, the ones receiving it, but for the people behind us, our parents and our grandparents, she said. T.J. Furman 20 told Giovanni that she made him think about his grandmother, his mother, and aunts, all the strong women in his family. She has the essence of where I came from, he said. I just got a vibe that made me feel at home. The Universitys NAACP chapters executive board with Nikki Giovanni. Giovanni Roper 19 returned to campus for a special reason. My mom was a huge fan of Nikki Giovannis in college. She loved her work and everything she stood for, both my parents did, so they named me for her, Roper said. Her family later met Giovanni at an event, told her about the inspiration for Ropers name, and they became friends. Im honored to be named for such a powerful woman, said Roper, a program fellow for Y2Y, a nonprofit working to end homelessness. I liked how she kept saying, all I have are words, Roper continued. She uses them very well. I think it speaks to knowing what talents you have and using them. She inspires me to use the gifts that I have. The Sanjeevini Self-Help groups in Karnataka have supplied 13 lakh masks after its shortage was felt due the outbreak of COVID-19 and such groups have been provided Rs 174.97 crore as capital fund, Deputy Chief Minister C N Ashwath Narayan said on Wednesday. The deputy chief minister, who holds the portfolio of skill development and entrepreneurship, conducted a video conference with the members of self-help groups and chief executive officers of panchayats of many districts. Later speaking to reporters, Narayan said there are about 1,147 self-help groups where 3,168 women worked for 25 days to supply 13 lakh masks at a very cheap price ranging between Rs 10 and Rs 22. The self-help groups in Udupi and Tumakuru have been preparing the personal protective equipment. In Udupi, 82 women in 38 self-help groups are toiling day and night to prepare the PPEs, Narayan told reporters. "The excellent network of Sanjeevini self-help groups has given strength to the state in its fight against COVID-19," the deputy chief minister said. Narayan said the Centre has asked the Bharat Electronics Limited to manufacture 30,000 ventilators. "To prepare the ventilators at least 200 spare parts are required and airflow regulator is an important component, which is imported from Germany. Each of such component would cost Rs 20,000. Now, the same will be produced by the Government Tool Room and Training Centre, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Small business credit of Rs 2.32 lakh crore is at the highest risk of default, and micro enterprises having loan outstanding of less than Rs 10 lakh are the most vulnerable because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a credit information company said on Wednesday. It can be noted that ever since the outbreak of the virus infections and the subsequent lockdown that is scheduled to last at least 40 days, concerns are being raised about the financial health of small businesses. In its study, TransUnion Cibil said, at present, the total outstanding amount of all financiers to small businesses having a credit outstanding of less than Rs 50 crore is Rs 17.94 lakh crore, representing 28 per cent of the total outstanding credit. The bureau has launched an enhanced methodology to include enterprises having less than Rs 10 lakh outstanding as well to assess their health. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic poses new challenges to businesses, especially for micro enterprises, who are often more vulnerable to sudden changes in the economic environment, its managing director and chief executive Rajesh Kumar said. The agency said the number of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) falling in the highest risk bracket of CMR-7 to CMR-10 have outstanding credit balances of Rs 2.32 lakh crore, which is at a higher risk of slipping into becoming a non-performing asset (NPA). Out of this, the credit to enterprises with less than Rs 10 lakh outstanding alone totals up to Rs 13,600 crore in the overall credit bracketed as the most risky, it said, adding that their overall loan balance is Rs 93,000 crore. The overall NPA ratio for small business has been growing over the past few years and stood at 12.6 per cent as at December 2019, the bureau said, adding the CMR is a credit risk rank that predicts the probability of a small business loan turning bad in 12 months. It can be noted that the Reserve Bank has permitted a three-month moratorium on all term loan repayments between March-May. The bureau said with the enhanced offering, its coverage of companies having less than Rs 50 crore in borrowings can go up to 90 lakh entities including the 55 lakh ones of under Rs 10 lakh borrowings. State-run Small Industries Development Bank of India's chairman and managing director Mohammad Mustafa said the enhanced offering comes at a very crucial time and hoped for it to help fuel the economy by providing smaller businesses access to credit. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 22 Trend: Planne immunization continues in Turkmenistan, Trend reports with reference to Turkmenportal Informational Portal. The immunization is being carried out at the states expense. Obligatory vaccinations in the country are carried out to prevent spread of 14 various diseases. The vaccines were purchased through UNICEF and were pre-qualified by World Health Organization (WHO). According to the national immunization schedule, all children are vaccinated free of charge. The country has achieved total vaccination of the population thanks to the efforts of the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of Turkmenistan. Individual people traveling to other countries are also being vaccinated. According to regional Director of the UNICEF office for Europe and Central Asia (ECA) Afshan Khan, it is very important to carry out routine immunization, as well as to ensure proper protection for both health workers and those who are being vaccinated. "Priority should be given to vaccinate the most vulnerable children who missed planned immunizations in the past," Afshan Khan said. European immunization week is held under the auspices of the World Health Organization from April 20 through April 26. The purpose of this event is to demonstrate the importance of vaccination for many aspects of human health and well-being throughout life. New Delhi/Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan may go into self-quarantine after it emerged that he came in contact with an individual who tested positive for the novel coronavirus last week. Sources said that Khan met Faisal Edhi, the chairman of Edhi Foundation, the world's largest volunteer ambulance network, on April 15. After meeting the Prime Minister, Faisal developed flu like symptoms and tested positive for the virus the following day, sources said. Faisal is the son of Abdul Sattar Edhi, the noted Pakistani philanthropist. Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported on Tuesday quoting Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital CEO Faisal Sultan, who is also Khan's personal physician, as saying that that the premier was "currently occupied with a cabinet meeting" but "as soon as he is finished", he will recommend that he "gets tested and follow all the protocols in place". Faisal however, according to his son who spoke to the Dawn newspaper, is in self-isolation and his health remains fine. He has donated Rs 1 crore to the Prime Minister Imran Khan fund for Pakistan's fight against the pandemic. The Edhi foundation is also helping the coronavirus victims in their burial services. So far 197 people have died and over 9,500 tested positive for the disease in Pakistan. Thirteen new cases of Covid-19 were reported from Thane on Wednesday. Thane Municipal Corporation said they have also recorded three deaths of people suspected to be Covid positive. Three patients admitted to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa with symptoms of coronavirus died on Wednesday. Their swab test reports are still awaited. Their funeral will be carried out as per the norms laid down for Covid patients. An official from Kalwa hospital said, A 69-year-old man from Kharegaon was bought to the hospital on Tuesday in an unconscious state. He had high blood pressure, sugar and suffered a paralytic stroke. He died on Wednesday morning. A 74-year-old man from Shahad, who had breathing problems and pneumonia, died at 10.30am. The third patient is a 63-year-old man from Diva, who was brought to the hospital unconscious. He too died on Wednesday. The three patients will be treated as suspected coronavirus deaths. The city has six coronavirus deaths. Sandeep Malvi, deputy municipal commissioner, said, On Wednesday, 13 new cases were recorded, taking the total positive cases in the city to 168. Two-year-old girl, sister of the five-month-old boy who has tested positive, too is infected with the virus. Two more policemen from Mumbra have been tested positive. Twenty seven patients have been discharged so far. Twelve new cases of Covid-19 were reported from Kalyan and Dombivli on Wednesday, taking the total count to 97. Those infected include a man from Kalyan police department and a 57-year-old nurse. After learning about the crowd of people at the newly set-up onion-potato market near Durgadi Chowk in Kalyan (West), KDMC commissioner Vijay Suryavanshi said market would shift back to APMC market. The market will be open from 7am to 5pm. The civic body found that several trucks, which claimed to be travelling to Vashi APMC market, halted at Kalyan market at Phadke ground and other places in the city instead of going to Vashi. This too is leading to crowding at the ground and other places in Kalyan. To ensure the trucks dont halt at Kalyan, we will only allow in only those trucks which has taken permission to pass through Kalyan while going to Vashi APMC market. Those without permission will not be allowed and face legal action, said Suryavanshi. It is rare to hear governors praise governments in states where parties with other ideological persuasions are in power. But, faced with the Covid-19 pandemic, Kerala governor Arif Mohammad Khan has banded together with chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. In an interview to Vinod Sharma, Khan praises the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government for controlling the disease, and talks about the roles governors can play in such a situation. Edited excerpts: Youve had differences with the chief minister, especially his stand against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act? Are you on the same page on Covid-19 crisis? We need not read too much in those differences. My duty was to uphold the Constitution, and to let them know that the subject of citizenship comes exclusively under the jurisdiction of the central government. As individual or even as a party they have every right to criticise CAA, but the state government and legislature are under a constitutional obligation to abide by the law passed by Parliament. Dont forget that despite my clear understanding that CAA was beyond the state governments purview, I agreed to read the paragraph critical of CAA in my address to the assembly. What made me concede was the letter of the chief minister in which he did not question the issue of jurisdiction or opposed CAA on any principle, but asserted that it involves the question of law-and-order in the state. It was the same argument that was made during the Shah Bano episode when minister after minister defended the move to reverse the judgment of Supreme Court in Parliament - not on the grounds of principle but that large scale demonstrations are happening and if judgment is not reversed then peace may be endangered. Other than CAA, we are on the same page -- not only in the fight against coronavirus but on almost all issues. Kerala is a progressive state; the government is doing excellent work, and I am keen to see they take their good work to more heights. The first Covid-19 case in India was detected in Kerala in January. It subsequently became the countrys first hot spot, but has since flattened the curve. What has made its public health model click? The hot spots were confined to two districts. It is important to keep in mind that almost 80% of the cases were those who came from foreign countries, or foreigners. This means that contact infection was only 20%. This is irrefutable evidence of the proactive and vigilant role played by the state government. The CM and the health minister were on their toes, and were helped by their colleagues who were put in charge of different districts. Kerala society has a strong sense of empathy and voluntarism. For instance, Kudumbshree, an NGO with 43 lakh women as members, was able to start 483 community kitchens within 24 hours of the lockdown, and by the next day, they were operating about 1,500 community kitchens. A few days later, they started Janakeya Food outlets and provided parcel service for all those who found it difficult to operate their home kitchens. Additionally, more than 50,000 people registered as volunteers on different websites of the state government. In 2018, Kerala faced the Nipah virus, and in 2019, the floods. Did past experience help in containing the spread? Sure, the past experience was very helpful What lessons can populous states with lower literacy, bigger geographical expanse, and larger concentration of population learn from Kerala? One lesson is to promote women NGOs. Kudumbshree is a brilliant example of a game-changer. They are engaged basically in setting up self-help groups of women and provide them micro-financing but in emergencies like floods during last two years or the Covid-19, they provided relief quickly and effectively. How do you view the governors role in the crises? Can Raj Bhawans help the Union government reach informed decisions about requirements of individual states without prejudice? The governor has duty not only to counsel and advise, but also to encourage the state government where they are implementing programs of development and welfare. I consider it a part of my duty that I should highlight the achievements of the state, and try to help them secure more finances for their progressive schemes and I assure you that I spare no opportunity to do so. In Kerala, I am representative of the Hon. President of India, but outside Kerala I behave more like a representative of Kerala. I feel pleasure in highlighting the achievements of the state and very positive features of the Kerala society. Let me also say that Malayalis are sturdy patriots and very proud Indians. Credit card loans in South Korea surged nearly 26 percent on-year in March as cash-strapped people rushed to borrow from card firms amid a prolonged coronavirus outbreak, industry data showed Wednesday. New loans extended by seven credit card firms Shinhan, KB Kookmin, Woori, Hana, Samsung, Hyundai and Lotte came to 4.3 trillion won (US$3.5 billion) last month, up 25.6 percent from a year earlier. The figure compares with annualized increases of 1.6 percent in January and 16.6 percent in February. Analysts said the surge came as a business slump stemming from the longstanding outbreak of COVID-19 forced self-employed or low-credit people to resort to card loans. South Korea has been gripped by the coronavirus outbreak since the country reported its first confirmed case on Jan. 20. Asia's fourth-largest economy has been implementing strict social distancing measures to stem the spread of the potentially deadly disease, which has made a big dent in the country's economic activity. Financial hardships also prompted people to resort to commercial banks for signature loans. Combined unsecured loans extended by KB Kookmin and four other major banks rose by nearly 2.2 trillion won in March from a month earlier, the biggest monthly gain since January 2016. Kakao Bank, one of the country's two internet-only banks, also posted a surge in unsecured loans. The online lender's outstanding unsecured loans came to 13.9 trillion won in March, up about 945 billion won from the prior month. (Yonhap) New Delhi, April 22 : This World Labour Day, Penguin will release 'Reviving Jobs: An Agenda for Growth, edited by Santosh Mehrotra. The third volume of the ambitious 14-volume project brings together India's foremost intellectuals, activists and policymakers such as Saarthi Acharya, Vijay Mahajan and Madan Pataki to examine the different aspects of the unemployment epidemic. Each author focuses on what to do, and not just analyse the problem. Mehrotra spells out the components of a manufacturing strategy to create jobs; in other words, an employment policy that builds manufacturing capacity. Jeemol Unni writes about why women are falling out of the labour force at an increasing pace, just when young women are getting better educated while Arunabha Ghosh quantifies how renewable energy can generate jobs. Talking about the book, Santosh Mehrotra said, "Over the course of the year it took to produce the book, the jobs situation kept worsening, as the economy slowed and unemployment rose from 8 per cent in 2018 to 23.4 per cent by March 2020, as the effects of Covid-19 began to show. The recession, which is already upon us, means that the number of unemployed has already increased from around 30 million in 2018 to about 90 million or more, with worse to come." The Nigerian government has reiterated the indefinite postponement of this years West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO) due to the COVID-19 outbreak in the country. Both examination bodies had earlier announced the postponement of their exams. The Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, made the stance of the government known at the daily Presidential Task Force briefing on COVID-19 in Abuja on Tuesday. We have announced that WAEC and NECO for the year have been postponed. This postponement is indefinite at the moment, he said. Both examinations were slated for May and June 2020. The government had on March 19 ordered the immediate closure of all tertiary, secondary and primary schools as part of measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 virus. As of Wednesday morning, Nigeria has recorded 782 cases of the disease, of which 197 have been treated and discharged and 25 deaths recorded. Schools reopening Nwajiuba said the federal government is working on options for schools to reopen. He noted that nobody can reopen schools until all efforts have been coordinated by the government. We will also be looking at what we will do for schools to reopen. As you recall, we asked that schools be vacated in the last part of March 2020 as soon as this pandemic broke out. The lockdown in various parts of the country will definitely affect whether students and teachers come to school or not. So nobody can reopen schools until we have coordinated all efforts, he said. He further explained that some provisions have been made for students to learn online. We have made provisions available online. The Directorate of Information and Communication Technology has opened a portal. In conjunction with the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), the coordinating agency will anchor an alliance with State Universal Basic Education Boards in all the states so that they can key into our design, he said. Electronic learning Mr Nwajiuba said 15 states had already commenced electronic learning for pupils on their local television and radio channels following the stay-at-home orders of the federal and some state governments. He appealed to parents to cooperate with the government to ensure that their children were made available to learn at the designated hours and channels. About 15 states have already commenced learning via different channels that are available in their states, mostly local TV and radio. All the programmes they are running are approved by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Commission. Some of those states are Anambra, Lagos, Kaduna, Ondo, Edo, and Ogun. There are different education programmes for different times, he said. Challenges The minister said the biggest challenge of the government is how to reach pupils who are living in rural communities without devices to learn. Our biggest challenge is how to reach children who do not have devices. Because they do not have that is why we are pressing with the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria and NTA as the last end to dial. We already have programmes running along those lines with adult education, we just want to instil some of that and make it available for primary and secondary school students, he said. American & Canadian fans will get the chance to meet the cast of Friends for their upcoming Reunion, as part of a US fundraiser. Were inviting you and five of YOUR friends to join the six of us on Stage 24. Be our personal guests in the audience for the taping of our @HBOMAX reunion, as we reminisce about the show and celebrate all the fun we had ? and get the whole Friends VIP experience on the Warner Bros. Studio Tour. All donations between $10 $100 will carry multiple entries for 6 people to win a domestic trip to Los Angeles. Monies will go to Feeding America, Meals On Wheels, World Central Kitchen and No Kid Hungry. Date and time of filming is to be determined and will be communicated with the winner when available. Should the taping no longer include a live studio audience due to CDC limitations, an alternative plan will be made with the cast to provide a different in-person experience. Prize delivery time will be mutually agreed upon and determined at a later date when it is safe to do so, the rules advise. The Friends reunion was due to help launch HBO Max in the US but will now screen at a date to be determined. The six stars will receive at least US$2.5 million each for participating in the special. Virtual interactive tours are all the rage as a result of the global travel lockdown. And the Faroe Islands has jumped on the bandwagon. But it's offering a twist - web users can control a real-life tour guide to trek around the remote archipelago's quaint towns and volcanic islands. The Faroe Islands is offering remote tourism, where web users can direct a real-life tour guide around the remote archipelago The minute-long slots for controlling the guide are available on a first-come, first-served basis Web users around the world can tell the tour guides where to go - and even to jump and run The tourist uses a virtual joypad on a smartphone, tablet or PC to direct the local - and there is a jump button, too. The innovation is meant to sustain global interest in the North Atlantic islands, which have recently come to rely more on revenue from tourism. And it might help locked-down people around the world broaden their horizons beyond the four walls of their homes. Tourist board spokesman Levi Hanssen said: 'If you ask them to go left, they go left. 'If you ask them to jump, they jump. If you ask them to run, they run. 'You're sort of steering this person and deciding what you want to see and where you want this person to go.' Wearing helmet cameras, local guides provide commentary to web audiences remotely, guiding them across the Danish semi-autonomous territory, which has had less than 200 confirmed coronavirus cases and no deaths. Nearly 50,000 people joined the first four-hour-long tours, which are offered for free, said Hanssen. The Faroe Islands is a rocky 18-island volcanic archipelago that's home to 50,000 people Kristina Sandberg Joensen, a tour guide for Visit Faroe Islands, wears a helmet fitted with a live-streaming camera as part of the tourist board's Remote Tourism online experience HOW DOES THE REMOTE TOUR WORK? The tourist uses a virtual joypad on a smartphone, tablet or PC to direct the local - and there is a jump button, too. The local is equipped with a live video camera, allowing the user to see views from an on-the-spot perspective. Advertisement The minute-long slots for controlling the guide are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Tours started last Wednesday and will run until at least April 25. They are webcast on the tourist board website and on its Facebook and Instagram accounts. Online tours come with new risks, Hanssen says. On one trip, a web user tried to make the guide jump into the ocean, but he stopped in time. He added: 'It's very surreal to know that you're walking around here in the Faroe Islands being controlled by someone on their sofa or even on the toilet. 'Who knows where they are?' Previous tours have visited the territory's second-largest city, Klaksvik, and other picturesque locations. There are plans for a kayak tour, a horse ride and more. Tourism has been growing in the Faroe Islands in the past five years, with around 120,000 people visiting in 2019 Hanssen explained: We're going to try and see if we can get on a helicopter and see if we can get people to steer a pilot.' The Faroe Islands is a rocky 18-island volcanic archipelago that's home to 50,000 people, most of whom live in Torshavn, the capital. Fishing and aquaculture are the traditional industries, but tourism has been growing in the past five years, with around 120,000 people visiting in 2019. The tourism industry ground to a halt after authorities urged travellers not to come until at least May 1. The project is a way to help the industry rebound once the pandemic ends. 'The idea is to whet people's appetite and get them to want to come and experience this in real life,' Hanssen said. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- As the coronavirus (COVID-19) rages on, Lyft is stepping up its efforts to ensure safe working conditions for its employees. With guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) encouraging all members of the public to cover their face, the e-hail company is providing hundreds of thousands of cloth face coverings for its drivers. Face coverings have also been ordered for the employees who handle the companys fleet of bikes and scooters. Additionally, the company is providing hundreds of thousands of bottles of hand sanitizer and other cleaning products, with over 35,000 sanitizing products handed out so far. Weve already begun distributing these to drivers, prioritizing regions where additional guidance about face coverings has been given. Well continue to alert drivers when these supplies are available in their city, according to Lyft. *** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK *** New York is among the regions with additional guidance regarding face coverings, with Gov. Andrew Cuomo mandating that all New Yorkers wear face coverings in public spaces where social distancing is not possible. The governors executive order requires all residents to wear a mask when riding either public or private transit systems, including for-hire vehicles, with the people operating those systems also required to wear a mask at all times. Earlier this month, e-hail competitor Uber announced that it is in the process of delivering tens of millions of masks to drivers across the globe. Lyft has also expanded the conditions under which drivers can receive funds from the company if they are unable to work. Since March, the company has offered funds to drivers who have tested positive for COVID-19 or were put under individual quarantine by a public health agency. Now, drivers who are diagnosed as being immuno-compromised and are directed to self-isolate by a doctor also qualify for funds through the company. Drivers can find additional information by visiting the companys driver resource page. FREE RIDES, DELIVERIES IN NYC In recent weeks, Lyft has announced partnerships with various New York-based nonprofit organizations to offer free rides and deliveries to essential workers, seniors, patients with medical appointments and others in need. As part of the companys LyftUp initiative -- a comprehensive effort to provide free rides to support job access, grocery access, voting access, bike share access and disaster response -- free ride/delivery codes are given to the companys non-profit partners, who distribute them directly to communities in need. Lyft has partnered with the following New York-based nonprofit organizations: Good+Foundation, to ensure the delivery of essential items like diapers, wipes, thermometers and cleaning supplies to families in need Island Harvest NY, to provide rides to Long Islanders to access feeding programs in Nassau and Suffolk counties NY Cares, to provide rides to volunteers delivering food to seniors and food-insecure New Yorkers NY Common Pantry, to provide rides to employees traveling from their homes to safely deliver food to vulnerable New York City residents Brooklyn Laboratory Charter Schools (LAB), to ensure the delivery of essential school supplies and technology resources to students Asian American Federation, to provide access to and reliable rides to Asian American seniors, essential workers and vulnerable community members Invisible Hands, to provide rides for volunteers delivering food to seniors National Supermarket Association (NSA) and Older Adults Technology Services (OATS), to provide rides for seniors to get groceries during designated senior/elderly hours" Queens Community House (QCH), to provide rides for employees working in its senior center and food pantry Ronald McDonald House New York, to provide rides to patients to get to necessary medical appointments Women in Need (WIN), to provide rides for women in shelters to grocery stores and their places of employment World Central Kitchen (WCK), to provide rides for staff and volunteers who run satellite food distribution points around the city Were grateful to all those who drive with Lyft for helping provide rides for those in need,'' said Jen Hensley, Lyfts senior director of public policy, New York. Lyft is committed to supporting drivers by creating new opportunities to help them earn additional income through the Lyft app, while continuously working to protect driver safety. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 17:45:55|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The United States has recently attempted to block a UN resolution on equal access to COVID-19 supplies only to find that the document was already adopted under a temperary procedure, media reports said Tuesday. The resolution was adopted by consensus on Monday by the 193-member United Nations (UN) General Assembly. Its adoption was made known on Tuesday. According to the Agence France-Presse (AFP), the United States failed to block the resolution as its objection came late after a so-called "period of silence" expired on Monday. Under normal circumstances, the UN General Assembly adopts resolutions by consensus or majority votes through physical meetings. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it has set up a temporary decision-making procedure, which allows its member states to veto any text of a proposed resolution during the "period of silence." In its report, the AFP quoted diplomats as saying that the United States did not voice objections before Monday's deadline, but did so just afterward. The adopted resolution requests the UN secretary-general to help promote and ensure access to and distribution of preventive tools, laboratory testing, reagents and supporting materials, essential medical supplies, new diagnostics, drugs, and future COVID-19 vaccines, with a view to making them available to all those in need, particularly in developing countries. It calls on member states and other relevant stakeholders to immediately take steps to prevent speculation on and undue stockpiling of essential medicines, vaccines, personal protective equipment and medical equipment that is required to effectively address COVID-19. During a virtual news briefing on Monday, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said the secretary-general wants a vaccine for COVID-19 to be available to all people around the world. "We want to make sure that the vaccine does not exacerbate the issues of inequality when it actually arrives and that it is shared for the benefit of all," Dujarric said. Enditem YEREVAN. On the initiative of the Armenian side, Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan had a telephone conversation Tuesday with Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. They touched upon the challenges caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus, and the steps being taken at the national level to address socioeconomic issues as a result of CVID-19, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia informed Armenian News-NEWS.am. FM Mnatsakanyan expressed his support to the friendly people of India in rapidly overcoming this pandemic and its consequences. Both sides stressed the importance of international cooperation in the fight against the pandemic. On behalf of the Armenian government, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan thanked the Indian authorities for their assistance in health care and some other spheres. During the telephone conversation, the two FMs also touched upon a wide range of issues on the bilateral agenda, reaffirming the bilateral readiness to continue effective cooperation in the target domains of mutual interest and to take practical steps for the further intensification of Armenian-Indian relations. The Foreign Ministers of Armenia and India also exchanged views on urgent regional and international issues. WASHINGTON Democratic leaders backed away on Wednesday from a plan to change the rules of the House to allow lawmakers to cast votes remotely for the first time in history, after Republicans who are clamoring to reopen Congress registered their sharp opposition. Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Democrats on a conference call that the House would no longer vote on Thursday as planned on a proposal to allow members to designate another lawmaker to cast votes for them by proxy, according to two officials familiar with the announcement. Instead, she said she and Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the Republican leader, would have a bipartisan group of lawmakers consider remote voting proposals and plans to reopen the House. The turnabout on Wednesday, a day after the vote was announced, underscores how bitterly partisan the debate over remote voting has become as Republican lawmakers increasingly push to have Congress return to its usual routine in Washington. The fight mirrors those raging across the nation as governors struggle to balance the economic pain and disruption of shuttering their states with public health guidelines to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, and as small but angry protests reflect a fierce strain of conservative disaffection with the restrictions. President Trump has stoked that anger, tweeting his support for protests of state-issued stay-at-home orders. French Nobel prize winning scientist Luc Montagnier has sparked a fresh controversy by claiming that the SARS-CoV-2 virus came from a lab, and is the result of an attempt to manufacture a vaccine against the AIDS virus. In an interview given to French CNews channel and during a podcast by Pourquoi Docteur, professor Montagnier who co-discovered HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) claimed the presence of elements of HIV in the genome of the coronavirus and even elements of the "germ of malaria" are highly suspect, according to a report in Asia Times. "The Wuhan city laboratory has specialized in these coronaviruses since the early 2000s. They have expertise in this area," he was quoted as saying. The theory that Covid-19 virus originated in the lab is making rounds for quite some time. US President Donald Trump last week acknowledged Fox News report that the novel coronavirus may have been accidentally leaked by an intern working at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. The Fox News, in an exclusive report, based on unnamed sources has claimed that though the virus is a naturally occurring strain among bats and not a bioweapon, but it was being studied in Wuhan laboratory. The initial transmission of the virus was bat-to-human, the news channel said, adding that the "patient zero" worked at the laboratory. The lab employee was accidentally infected before spreading the disease among the common people outside the lab in Wuhan city. Professor Montagnier was awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine for the identification of AIDS virus, with his colleague professor Franeoise Barre-Sinoussi. His fresh claim on coronavirus, however, received criticism from scientists, including his colleagues. "Just in case you don't know. Dr Montagnier has been rolling downhill incredibly fast in the last few years. From baselessly defending homeopathy to becoming an antivaxxer. Whatever he says, just don't believe him," tweeted Juan Carlos Gabaldon. As per a recent Washington Post, two years ago, the US embassy officials in China raised concerns about the insufficient biosafety at the Chinese government's Wuhan Institute of Virology where deadly viruses and infectious diseases are studied. Though the institute, located quite close to the Wuhan wet market, is China's first biosafety level IV lab, the US state department had warned in 2018 about "serious shortage of appropriately trained technicians and investigators needed to safely operate this high-containment laboratory". TANZANIA, Tanzania - U.N. officials said the General Assembly rejected two resolutions on the coronavirus pandemic Wednesday, one from Russia and one from Saudi Arabia. It was the second defeat for a Russian resolution on COVID-19 by the 193-member world body. Under voting rules instituted because the assembly isnt holding meetings during the pandemic, a draft resolution is circulated to member nations. If a single country objects before the deadline in this case noon EDT Wednesday the resolution is defeated. Normally, assembly resolutions are adopted by majority votes or by consensus. The original Russian resolution, which failed April 2, called for abandoning trade wars and protectionist measures and said no unilateral sanctions should be applied without approval from the U.N. Security Council. Diplomats said the European Union, United Kingdom, United States and Ukraine objected to it. The revised resolution defeated Wednesday kept the reference to ending protectionist practices and dropped the reference to unilateral sanctions. But it welcomed an April 3 statement on COVID-19 by the Group of 77 and China the main group of developing countries at the United Nations that now has 134 member states. The G77 statement included a call for the international community to adopt measures to eliminate the use of unilateral coercive economic measures against developing countries. Diplomats said the European Union, United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Japan and South Korean objected to the new text. Saudi Arabia, the current chair of the Group of 20 major global economies, proposed a resolution welcoming the March 26 G-20 summit statement on injecting $5 trillion into the global economy to counteract the social, economic and financial impacts of the pandemic. The Saudi draft also stressed the necessity of urgent short-term actions to expand manufacturing capacity and swiftly deliver medical supplies and increase funding for research and development of vaccines and medicines. Syria and Iran objected to the Saudi draft, said diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the voting process was closed. The General Assembly previously approved two resolutions on COVID-19. A resolution adopted April 2 recognizes the unprecedented effects of the pandemic and calls for intensified international co-operation to contain, mitigate and defeat the new coronavirus. A Mexico-sponsored resolution approved Monday night urges global action to rapidly scale up development, manufacturing and access to medicine, vaccines and medical equipment to confront the pandemic. The latter resolution also reaffirms the U.N. role in co-ordinating the global response to control and contain the spread of COVID-19 and acknowledges the crucial leading role played by the World Health Organization. U.S. President Donald Trump suspended funding to the WHO earlier this month, accusing the U.N. agency of failing to stop the virus from spreading when it first surfaced in China. The United States did not block adoption of the resolution. General Assembly resolutions reflect the opinion of governments around the world but are not legally binding. Security Council resolutions are legally binding but the 15-member body has not adopted a resolution since the pandemic, though it is now considering one. The draft resolution demands an immediate cease-fire in major conflicts from Syria and Yemen to Libya, South Sudan and Congo that are on the Security Council agenda and calls for all parties to armed conflicts to engage immpediatelu in a durable humanitarian pause for at least 30 consecutive days to deliver aid. The draft, obtained by The Associated Press, states that these measures to not apply to military operations against the Islamic State and al-Qaida extremist groups and their affiliates. The draft resolutions leaves unresolved the difficult issue of how to refer to the World Health Organization, saying compromise related to the language on WHO to be decided at the end of the negotiation. U.S. President Donald Trump suspended funding to the World Health Organization earlier this month, accusing the U.N. agency of failing to stop the virus from spreading when it first surfaced in China, saying it must be held accountable. U.S. President Donald Trump suspended funding to the WHO earlier this month, accusing the U.N. agency of failing to stop the virus from spreading when it first surfaced in China. The United States did not block adoption of the resolution. General Assembly resolutions reflect the opinion of governments around the world but are not legally binding. Security Council resolutions are legally binding but the 15-member body has not adopted a resolution since the pandemic, though it is now considering one, melded from drafts by Tunisia and France. The draft resolution demands an immediate cease-fire in major conflicts from Syria and Yemen to Libya, South Sudan and Congo that are on the Security Council agenda and calls for all parties to armed conflicts to engage immediately in a durable humanitarian pause for at least 30 consecutive days to deliver aid. The draft, obtained by The Associated Press, states that these measures to not apply to military operations against the Islamic State and al-Qaida extremist groups and their affiliates. It leaves unresolved the difficult issue of how to refer to the World Health Organization in light of U.S. opposition, saying compromise language will be decided at the end of the negotiation. By PTI WASHINGTON: Vivek Lall, a prominent Indian-American aerospace and defence expert, who played key roles in some of the major defence deals between India and the US, has resigned from Lockheed Martin "to spend more time with family". 50-year-old Lall is currently posted as vice president of Aeronautics Strategy and Business Development at Lockheed Martin, an American security and aerospace giant. The company on Tuesday confirmed that Lall is leaving the company. "We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to Dr Vivek Lall for representing Lockheed Martin and strengthening our commitment to international partners. We thank Vivek for his thought leadership and the many contributions he made to our team. We wish Vivek and his family all the best," a spokesperson of Lockheed Martin told PTI. Known as the industry architect of US-India defence relationship because of his involvement in major defence deals between the two countries, Lall expressed his "utmost gratitude" to Lockheed Martin for the unique opportunity to lead their aeronautics strategy and business development activities in international markets, including India. "I thank them for understanding my decision to spend more time with my family," Lall told PTI. "Lockheed Martin is truly shaping the future with world-leading advanced technologies and customer solutions. I firmly believe the F-21 is the best solution for India's national security, Make in India industry partnerships advancing indigenous manufacturing, and India's strategic relationship with the US," he said. Lall, who was born in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, for over a decade has been instrumental in major US-India defence deals worth around USD 18 billion. The latest was the procurement of 24 MH-60R multi-role helicopters from Lockheed Martin for the Indian Navy. The USD 2.6 billion agreement was signed during President Donald Trump's visit to India in February. In 2017, Lall was the Chief Executive of Strategic Development at General Atomics during which he played a key role in the path breaking agreement by the White House to release category-1 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to India, a non-NATO country. The UAVs that can carry missiles fall under the category-1 classification. Lall in his capacity as vice-president and India country head for Boeing Defence Space and Security in late 2000 was also instrumental in several multi-billion bilateral defence deals. Prominent among them were 10 C-17 strategic lift military transport aircraft worth USD 4 billion, P-8I anti-submarine warfare aircraft worth USD 3 billion, 28 apache helicopters and 15 chinooks worth USD 5 billion and 22 harpoon missiles worth USD 200 million. Appointed to the US Federal Aviation Advisory Committee two years ago, Lall has overseen multiple campaigns as well as pan-India strategic industrial tie-ups. Lall had also served as the founding co-chair of the US-India Aviation Cooperation Programme launched in 2005. LANSING, MI -- Liquor distribution in Michigan will continue to be handled by in-state wholesale companies following an appeals court ruling Tuesday. A panel of three federal appeals judges sided with the state Tuesday, ruling that out-of-state businesses selling in Michigan would hurt local distributors who wouldnt be able to compete while operating under state regulations. The lawsuit revolved around an Indiana-based retailer who won a ruling from a lower court that would have allowed the company to distribute alcohol in Michigan. The wine seller argued that Michigan could not allow its licensed retailers to deliver alcohol to Michigan consumers without also allowing out-of-state retailers to ship directly to Michigan consumers. The state countered by arguing that allowing out-of-state retailers to sell in Michigan would damage Michigan businesses that have to follow state laws and the states three-tier distribution system. That system regulates the availability of alcohol and prevents excessively low prices that could overstimulate consumption, the state argued. Granting out-of-state distribution would allow companies to undercut Michigan wholesalers and leave them unable to compete with prices. The panel agreed with the states argument and unanimously ruled in its favor, saying the plaintiff failed to refute evidence presented by the state. In its decision, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals found the current tier system serves the public health and is fair to the businesses in Michigan who operate under it. The panel wrote that in-state retailers: all live with the bitter and sweet of Michigans three-tier systemthe bitter of being able to buy only from Michigan wholesalers . . . and the sweet of being subject only to intrastate competition. By avoiding purchasing alcohol from Michigan wholesalers, the plaintiff seizes the sweet and wants to take a pass on the bitter, the panel found. This decisive ruling is a significant victory for Michigan retailers, our business community and consumers, said Michigan Liquor Control Commission Chair Pat Gagliardi. We are very pleased with this unanimous decision that continues to ban out-of-state retailers who want to bypass our three-tier distribution system to poach business from Michigan retailers. The ruling comes at a time when the state is offering a liquor buyback program to bars, restaurants and other liquor licensees that purchased alcohol prior to March 16. The program allows the business to sell unused liquor to the state at cost. After Michigans state-of-emergency is lifted the business will have 90 days to buy the liquor back from the state at the same cost. The program is designed to give the businesses some financial flexibility while alcohol sales continue to slide at bars and restaurants during the COVID-19 pandemic. The state reported buying back more than $836K in liquor thus far. PREVENTION TIPS In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus. Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible. Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and when you go into places like stores. READ MORE Complete coverage at mlive.com/coronavirus Wednesday, April 22: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan Which surfaces does the coronavirus stay on longest? 18 expert disinfecting tips Designing Michigan coronavirus field hospital was like combat engineering, architect says Whitmer extends order allowing for 2-month pharmacy refills during coronavirus crisis Michigan coronavirus daily death numbers spike to new high, but with a caveat STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. It was almost too perfect. Fliers appeared around Tottenville over the weekend, advertising for a supposed End the Lockdown Rally to be held at Conference House Park. Weve seen these rallies elsewhere in the country, some of which look like they could double as campaign rallies for President Donald Trump and pro-Second Amendment events. And if you were to have an end the lockdown rally on Trump-supporting Staten Island, where else would you hold it but in the deep-red South Shore? Thing is, nobody actually showed up for the alleged protest. Not one person. So, was this actually a legitimate effort by those on the right to battle back against coronavirus restrictions on free assembly? Or was it shenanigans by folks on the left looking to mock those who want to re-open the country? The flier certainly hit some sweet spots, including its screaming headlines of Liberate Staten Island! and Set Us Free! and My constitutional rights are ESSENTIAL! The flier also included Trumpian Keep America Great! and #MAGA language as well. Its exactly the kind of sloganeering youd expect from people planning an anti-lockdown rally. And dont forget the date that the rally was supposed to be held: April 19. Its a loaded date on the calendar. Its when the Branch Davidian siege in Waco, Texas, was ended by the feds in deadly fashion in 1993. And, most notoriously, it was the date of the murderous bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City twenty-five years ago, a domestic terrorist attack inspired by events in Waco. And April 19, 1775 was when the Battles of Lexington and Concord were fought, the first military clashes of the American Revolution. So the leaflet sure was fraught. If it was indeed a fake, it was a good one. The fliers also said: "No mask needed. Bring your children. Non-essential workers. If youre sick still come, its your right! A bit over the top to suggest that sick people come out and put themselves at greater risk and potentially infect others. And not language that youd expect from folks who think the whole pandemic in itself is a hoax. The NYPD certainly took the possibility of a rally seriously. Officers were seen in Conference House Park around the time the protest was supposed to begin. But there was nobody to police. Maybe the NYPD scared the protestors away? I doubt it. Anyone who would plan an anti-lockdown rally is looking for confrontation. Theyd love to see the NYPD try to break things up. Heck, theyd like to see the National Guard and the State Police roll in. All the more to highlight their belief that Big Government is out to silence their dissent and stifle their rights to free speech and free assembly. Talk about a recruiting tool. Who can say for sure? But you have to at least pay tribute to the possibility that somebody was playing games here. And if they were, its almost comforting. It shows that theyre unconcerned enough about COVID-19 to be out there making mischief. Or maybe the flier was legit and something just went off the rails with the planned protest. Or maybe it was folks on the right trying to make it look like people on the left were trying to make them look bad. Theres any number of rabbit holes to jump down here. In any event, it might not be long until we have an actual anti-lockdown rally here. Some people are growing fed up with the quarantine. Theyre feeling the economic hit. They see other states beginning to open up. They dont trust Gov. Andrew Cuomo or Mayor Bill de Blasio in the first place. Me? I just want to get past the virus and resume my normal life. Uttar Pradesh reported 75 fresh COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, taking the total number of coronavirus cases in the state to 1,412, officials said. Till now, 21 persons have died due to the virus in the state. "So far, 1,412 COVID-19 cases have been reported from 53 districts of the state. So far, 165 patients have fully recovered and have been discharged," Principal Secretary, Medical and Health, Amit Mohan Prasad told reporters. He said "As many as 10 districts in UP are now coronavirus free." These districts are Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Khiri, Hathras, Bareilly, Prayagraj, Maharajganj, Shahjahanpur, Barabanki, Hardoi and Kaushambi. "These districts have been told to exercise extreme caution, and continue with sampling," he said He also informed that there are 1,226 active cases in the state. Pool testing is going on in Lucknow, Meerut and Etawah and soon it will be started in Jhansi and Prayagraj. Pooling of samples involves testing them in batches and when pooled sample tests positive, then individual samples are assessed. Pool testing reduces the number of test kits used, therefore, increases testing capacity. Prasad said, "No vaccine or medicine has been developed till now to cure this disease. Hence prevention is the only solution. "A person must cover face, as it will help control the further spread of the disease from an infected person. Apart from this, social distancing and 20-seconds handwash should also be done, apart from boosting ones immunity." He said elderly persons especially people with medical conditions or co-morbidities like hypertension, diabetes and heart disease should be looked after. Giving the age-wise break of the COVID-19 patients in the state, he said 78.80 per cent of the patients are males while 21.20 per cent are females. The percentage of patients in the age group of above 60 years is 8.3 per cent, while those in the age-group of 0-20 years make up for 19.51 per cent. There are 47.49 per cent COVID-19 patients in the age group of 21-40 years while there are 24.66 per cent patients in the 41-60 years age group category. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The man police say shot and killed Raven Tre-Von Edelen was formally charged Wednesday, two days after being arrested. Miykael Norfleat, 20, of Chicago, was charged with open murder, first degree home invasion, possession of a firearm and carrying a concealed weapon on Wednesday afternoon. He has been in the Isabella County Jail since he was arrested sometime between the shooting and Tuesday morning. During the investigation, police arrested a second person, Justin Collins, 22, of Mt. Pleasant. He was charged Wednesday with open murder, first degree home invasion and felony firearm. Norfleat is accused of shooting Edelen Monday night in a Campus Habitat apartment in the 700 block of Edgewood Drive off of Broomfield between Crawford Road and West Campus Drive. The case remains under investigation. Both men remain lodged in the jail on a $1 million bond. The Mt. Pleasant Police Department received the call just before 6 p.m. and Central Michigan University sent out a text message alert to its entire community shortly thereafter while Norfleat was at large. When officers arrived, they found Edelen, who was dead. The Mt. Pleasant Police Department were assisted on the scene by the Isabella County Sheriffs Office, the Michigan State Police, Central Michigan University Police Department, Mid-Michigan Narcotics Investigative team and Mobile Medical Response. It is the citys first homicide in 2020. READ MORE: Despite the drop in oil revenues amid the ravaging impact of the dreaded coronavirus pandemic, the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) on Wednesday shared about N780.9 billion to the three tiers of government for March 2020. This was confirmed in a statement from the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation at the end of the virtual FAAC meeting of the representatives of the federal, states and local governments, along with Federal Capital Territory counterparts. Others who participated in the online meeting included representatives of all the revenue-generating agencies, namely the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Details Details of the revenue distribution were contained in a Statement of Accounts by the FAAC in Abuja. A total of N780.926 billion shared during the meeting consisted statutory revenue, Value Added Tax (VAT), and foreign exchange gain, with the balance of the Excess Crude Revenue Account (ECA) currently at about $72.2 million. The gross statutory revenue for the month of March 2020, the Committee said, was N597.7 billion, which is higher than the N466.1 billion received in February by N131.6 billion. The gross revenue realised from the Value Added Tax (VAT) was about N120.3 billion against N99.6 billion in February 2020, an increase of about N20.7 billion. A total of N62.9 billion was realized from Exchange Gain for the month. A breakdown of the allocations showed that the federal government received the largest share of about N264.3 billion, the state governments N181.5 billion, and the local government councils N135.9 billion. The oil-producing states were given N38.8 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue for the month, while the cost of revenue collection by revenue agencies and allocation to NEDC was N160.4 billion. In addition, the federal government received N217.8 billion out of the gross statutory revenue of N597.7 billion against about N110.5 billion received by the state governments and N85.2 billion by the local government councils. About N32.3 billion was given to the relevant states as 13 per cent derivation revenue and N152 billion as cost of revenue collection by revenue agencies and allocation to NEDC. The federal government got N16.7 billion from the Value Added Tax (VAT), with the state governments receiving N55.9 billion, the local councils N39.1 billion, while the cost of collection by revenue agencies and allocation to NEDC was N8.4 billion. A further share of about N29.8 billion was paid to the federal government, the state governments N15.1 billion, the councils N11.6 billion and the oil-producing states N6.4 billion from the N63 billion available from Exchange Gain. For the month, the Committee said the Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), Companies Income Tax(CIT), Import and Excise Duties, Oil and Gas Royalties and Value Added Tax (VAT) all recorded substantial increases. Impact of coronavirus Following the breakout of the coronavirus pandemic, crude oil exports, which has been the major source of financing for the FAAC has dwindled, amid declining oil prices at the international oil market. The meeting of the committee for February ended in a stalemate following the rejection of the revenue presented by the revenue agencies for sharing. The FAAC members considered the revenue presented for that month as grossly below the threshold for the revenue agreed by members in December 2018. To salvage the situation, the National Economic Council approved that the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) should make available about $150 million from the Stabilisation Fund to support FAAC to meet its obligations from June this year. With the balance in the excess crude oil revenue account dropping to $72.2 million, the future looks challenging for the government as the pandemic bites harder on the world economy. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 09:53:34|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close CAPE TOWN, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Funerals have been found to pose the biggest risk for the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said Tuesday. "We have observed a rapid rise in the number of confirmed cases (from funerals) and this raised a concern," Mkhize said. The minister made the remarks after visiting the Eastern Cape province, where a large number of confirmed cases involved people who had attended funerals shortly before they tested for the new coronavirus.. "The biggest risk of spread that has been identified is the cultural practices occurring at funerals," Mkhize said. South Africa has been under lockdown since March 27. The lockdown regulations ban public gatherings except for funerals with less than 100 participants. As of Tuesday, Eastern Cape reported 345 confirmed cases, up by 35 from Monday, Mkhize said, without giving a specific number of infections as a result of attending funerals. "We immediately took a decision to urgently deploy more medical experts including senior epidemiologists, analysts and field consultants to reinforce the provincial team," Mkhize said. He said the World Health Organization (WHO) has also assisted the province by deploying more clinicians and experts. "We have also deployed senior officials from the National Department of Health to do a proper audit of the available personal protective equipment and other requirements," the minister said. This is to ensure the safety and adequate protection of the health workers who are at the forefront, Mkhize said. He reiterated that no health worker should be exposed to the risk of infection. They must all be adequately trained on the infection prevention and control and be protected at all times, Mkhize said. He said the total number of cases in South Africa stood at 3,465 as of Tuesday, an increase of 165 from Monday's figure, while the death toll remained at 58. The total number of tests conducted to date is 126,937, of which 5,427 were done in the last 24 hours, he said. Enditem NEW YORK, NY, April 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- iQSTEL Inc. (IQST) is pleased to announce the next phase in the Mobile Number Portability App (MNPA) development is underway. itsBchain has completed the installation of the MNPA software on 5 blockchain nodes. An Artificial Intelligence (AI) system, developed by itsBchain, is currently running human behavior simulations 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, ahead of the Beta release to various Tier-1 (Vodafone, Telefonica, Millicom, etc) and other telco clients. As noted previously, changing carriers and maintaining the same number is still processed via an archaic days to weeks 2-party verification system. itsBchains MNPA system will allow for near instant number portability by the client, no longer requiring the telcos to initiate the transfer. According to Statista, the global smartphone user base surpassed the 3 billion mark in Feb of this year with over 500 mobile network operators according to Telecoms Networks. itsBchain programmers have seen fantastic results from the ongoing testing feedback. This is a full on stress test of the complete system using internally developed AI human behavior code, commented Mr. Iglesias, iQSTELs CEO. Due to Latin Americas accelerated mobile market growth rate, itsBchain is using the Colombian Mobile Telecommunications market as the initial AI systems market simulation. About iQSTEL Inc.: iQSTEL Inc. (IQST) www.iQSTEL.com is a Publicly Listed Company in US. iQSTEL is a leading-edge 21st Century Enhanced Telecommunications Service Provider offering a wide range of cloud-based enhanced services to the Tier-1 and Tier-2 carriers, enterprise market, as well as the retail market. iQSTEL through its subsidiaries (www.etelix.com ; www.SwissLink-Carrier.com ; www.QglobalSMS.com ; www.itsBchain.com) offers a one-stop-shop for international and domestic VoIP services, SMS exchange for A2P and P2P, Internet of Things (IoT) applications, 4G & 5G international infrastructure connectivity, as well as blockchain-based payment and phone number mobility platforms to international and domestic Tier-1 carrier for VoIP, SMS, and Data. Story continues About Etelix.com USA, LLC: Etelix.com USA LLC www.etelix.com is wholly owned subsidiary of iQSTEL Inc. Etelix.com USA, LLC is a Miami, Florida-based international telecom carrier founded in 2008 that provides telecom and technology solutions worldwide, with commercial presence in North America, Latin America, and Europe. Enabled by its 214-license granted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Etelix provides International Long-Distance voice services for Telecommunications Operators (ILD Wholesale), and Submarine Fiber Optic Network capacity for internet (4G and 5G). Etelix was founded in 2008 and has been profitable since inception. About SwissLink Carrier AG: SwissLink Carrier AG www.swisslink-carrier.com is a 51% owned subsidiary of iQSTEL Inc. SwissLink Carrier AG is a Switzerland based international Telecommunications Carrier founded in 2015 providing international VoIP connectivity worldwide, with commercial presence in Europe, CIS and Latin America. SwissLink Carrier AG is a Swiss licensed Operator, having a domestic Interconnect with Swisscom, allowing their international Carrier Customers direct terminations via SwissLink into all Switzerland Fix & Mobile Networks. Since the takeover from Swissphone in November 2018 and the rename into SwissLink, they operate on a profitable level. About QGlobal SMS LLC.: QGlobal SMS LLC www.qglobalsms.com is a 51% owned subsidiary of iQSTEL Inc. QGlobal SMS is a USA based company founded in 2020 specialized in international and domestic SMS termination, with emphasis on the Applications to Person (A2P) and Person to Person (P2P) for Wholesale Carrier Market and Corporate Market in US. QGlobal SMS has commercial presence in Europe, USA and Latin America. QGlobal SMS has robust international interconnection with Tier1 SMS Aggregators, guarantying its customers high quality and low termination rates, over more than 100 countries worldwide. About itsBchain LLC.: itsBchain LLC www.itsBchain.com is a 75% owned subsidiary of iQSTEL Inc. itsBchain is a blockchain technology developer and solution provider, with a strong focus on the telecom sector. The company is the final stage of development of a series of blockchain solutions aimed at using the blockchain ledger and smart contract solutions to enable more efficiency, quickness in execution and fraud-prevention in the telco industry. Specifically, the company is developing a solution that will enable users and carriers to transfer mobile phone numbers with just a few clicks, allowing users and carriers the ability to transfer retail users from one mobile carrier to another instantly. Additionally, the company is finalizing a carrier-grade marketplace solution to procure payments between carriers for cross-traffic of VoIP, SMS and data realtime as traffic is crossed between carriers. This marketplace will allow for instant payment settlement as well as the prevention of fraud between carriers. Safe Harbor Statement: Statements in this news release may be "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements that express our intentions, beliefs, expectations, strategies, predictions or any other statements relating to our future activities or other future events or conditions. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about our business based, in part, on assumptions made by management. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may, and are likely to, differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this news release and iQSTEL Inc. undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news release. iQSTEL Inc. IR US Phone: 646-740-0907, IR Email: investors@iqstel.com Source: iQSTEL Inc. www.iqstel.com ; www.swisslink-carrier.com ; www.etelix.com ; www.qglobalsms.com ; www.itsBchain.com The Michigan Attorney Generals office is temporarily laying off more than 100 people - about 25 percent of the departments staff - due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Department spokesperson Kelly Rossman-McKinney said temporary layoff notices were issued to affected employees Tuesday and reflect the difficult reality that we all face. While certain areas of the Departments legal work have dramatically increased as a result of this emergency, other areas have slowed, she said. The staff at this department do amazing work on behalf of the people of this state every single day. We will continue to do that, regardless of the challenges that arise in the future. Rossman-McKinney did not specify which areas of the department were impacted by the layoffs. The news comes shortly after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced shed be foregoing 10 percent of her pay and asked senior staff to take a 5 percent pay cut during the COVID-19 pandemic. The disease and measures taken to curb its spread have resulted in economic slowdown across the world, and many businesses in various sectors have temporarily laid off employees during the pandemic. Michigans budget isnt immune to the strain. The latest estimates from the Michigan Department of Treasury show the state stands to lose between $1 and $3 billion in revenue in the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, and between $1 and $4 billion in fiscal year 2021. With most of the state subject to a stay-at-home order, people are spending less money, and sales tax revenue is way down. And with more than a quarter of the states workforce filing for unemployment, income tax revenue is tanking, too. In March, the Senate Fiscal Agency also noted declines in state revenue from gas tax (down 22.6% from March 2019), diesel tax (down 21.6%) and casino revenue (down 59%). Related: Michigan set to lose billions in tax revenue as coronavirus hits state budgets nationwide Lawmakers and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer have a few months left to figure out how to make up the difference. Although the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1, Whitmer and the Republican-led legislature agreed last year to a law requiring lawmakers to get a budget to her desk by July 1 after a tumultuous budget process. Legislators tasked with overseeing the appropriations process are already looking at ways to address the shortfall. Senate Appropriations Chair Jim Stamas, R-Midland, recently suggested laying off non-essential state employees in the administration and legislature and shifting some to becoming call takers for unemployment claims instead of hiring on new ones. CORONAVIRUS PREVENTION TIPS In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus. Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible. Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and when you go into places like stores. Read more Michigan coronavirus coverage: Yes, Michigan is in a recession, and a quick recovery is unlikely Republicans, Democrats at odds about who should return to work and when When and how will it end? Considering the end-game for Michigans coronavirus crisis All but one county in Michigans Lower Peninsula have a reported coronavirus case; 153 more deaths 6 reasons Michigan has four times more coronavirus cases than Ohio Michigans deadliest year: Look back at 1918 flu pandemic Peek Through Time: Flu epidemic of 1918-19 ravaged Jackson, Michigan and world World Book Day, celebrated by UNESCO and other related organisations, is the global celebration of books and reading material observed in more than 100 countries. Also known as World Book and Copyright Day, it is an occasion to promote the joy of books and the art of reading. April 23 was selected by UNESCO to pay homage to renowned literary figures including William Shakespeare, Miguel Cervantes and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega. During the UNESCO General Conference, Paris in 1995, this date was finalised to honour authors and books worldwide. World Book Day 2020 Theme Audrey Azoulay, Director General of UNESCO sums up the theme of 2020 through these words; Books have the unique ability both to entertain and to teach. They are at once a means of exploring realms beyond our personal experience through exposure to different authors, universes and cultures, and a means of accessing the deepest recesses of our inner selves. History The idea to observe World Book Day was first conceived by Valencian writer Vicente Clavel Andres as a means to honour the renowned author, Miguel de Cervantes (best-known for Don Quixote), first on his birth anniversary, October 7, followed by his death anniversary, April 23. UNESCO then decided that World Book and Copyright Day would be celebrated on April 23 annually, since this date is also the death anniversary of prominent authors such as William Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega. However, there is a plot twist in this historical fact. As per historical coincidence, both Shakespeare and Cervantes died on the same date April 23, 1616, but not on the same day. Back then, Spain followed the Gregorian calendar, while England followed the Julian calendar. As per the Gregorian calendar, Shakespeare died ten days later after Cervantes did, i.e. on May 3. Significance World Book and Copyright Day is celebrated worldwide to recognise the scope of books as a link between the past and the future, along with being a cultural and generational bridge. UNESCO and organisations representing publishers, booksellers and libraries select the World Book Capital for a year to maintain the celebrations of books and reading. For the year 2019, Sharjah, UAE had been declared as the World Book Capital. Kuala Lumpur has been officially recognised as this years UNESCOs World Book Capital (KLWBC 2020), with an online launch celebration on April 23. The day has become a platform for people across the globe, especially the stakeholders of the literary world including authors, publishers, teachers, librarians, public and private institutions, humanitarian NGOs and the mass media to come together to promote literacy and help everyone get access to educational resources. Here are some quotes on books by famous authors throughout history which all book-lovers in the present day can enjoy and share with their friends and social media communities: I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library. Jane Austen in Pride and Prejudice The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame. Oscar Wilde in The Picture of Dorian Gray Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten. Neil Gaiman in Coraline Thats the thing about books. They let you travel without moving your feet. Jhumpa Lahiri in The Namesake If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking. Haruki Murakami in Norwegian Wood Books are a uniquely portable magic. Stephen King in On Writing A book is a version of the world. If you do not like it, ignore it; or offer your own version in return. Salman Rushdie I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a book. J.K. Rowling Children know perfectly well that unicorns arent real, but they also know that books about unicorns, if they are good books, are true books. Ursula K. Le Guin I love books. I adore everything about them. I love the feel of the pages on my fingertips. They are light enough to carry, yet so heavy with worlds and ideas. I love the sound of the pages flicking against my fingers. Print against fingerprints. Books make people quiet, yet they are so loud. Nnedi Okorafor in The Book of Phoenix You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me. C.S. Lewis Words were different when they lived inside of you. Benjamin Alire Saenz in Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe Books are everywhere; and always the same sense of adventure fills us. Second-hand books are wild books, homeless books; they have come together in vast flocks of variegated feather, and have a charm which the domesticated volumes of the library lack Virginia Woolf in Street Haunting If there is a book that you want to read, but it hasnt been written yet, you must be the one to write it. Toni Morrison Happiness. Thats what books smells like. Happiness. Thats why I always wanted to have a book shop. What better life than to trade in happiness? Sarah MacLean in The Rogue Not Taken the secret of the Great Stories is that they have no secrets. The Great Stories are the ones you have heard and want to hear again. The ones you can enter anywhere and inhabit comfortably. They dont deceive you with thrills and trick endings. They dont surprise you with the unforeseen. They are as familiar as the house you live in. Or the smell of your lovers skin. You know how they end, yet you listen as though you dont. In the way that although you know that one day you will die, you live as though you wont. In the Great Stories you know who lives, who dies, who finds love, who doesnt. And yet you want to know again. That is their mystery and their magic. Arundhati Roy in The God of Small Things The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid. Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all. Oscar Wilde There is no friend as loyal as a book. Ernest Hemingway A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading. William Styron So please, oh please, we beg, we pray, Go throw your TV set away, And in its place you can install A lovely bookshelf on the wall. Then fill the shelves with lots of books. Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON WA Premier Mark McGowan has supported the prospect of WA being an AFL hub for teams when the season resumes. His comments contrast his views on Easter Sunday, when he pledged to try keep WA a fortress from other states in the fight to contain COVID-19 cases across the state. Premier Mark McGowan would like WA to become an AFL hub. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The AFL is working on multiple fronts before it announces the location of quarantine hubs, with all states and territories considered as possible options while the league liaises with them and chief medical authorities. McGowan said a WA hub would be a morale booster for the state and a wonderful idea as long as they comply with the rules. When you come to Western Australia from the east so if a bunch of teams came here, theyve got to self-isolate for 14 days to make sure they dont have the illness, before such time as they could engage in the footy, he told Mix 94 on Wednesday. If a bunch of teams based here over a long period of time played the game, and did the right thing by self-isolating, well I think that could be quite a good morale booster. Western Australia and Australia have been doing the best of anywhere in the world. We want to keep that up, but do things that allow for a little bit of normality, but at low risk." AFL sources said the league was being directed by federal authorities as to what was possible, with protocols continually updated as the environment was changing quickly and the situation expected to be different if AFL fixtures kicked off in late June or early July. There is confidence the leagues reduced 17-game season would be completed well before Christmas after a Grand Final on New Years Eve was mooted earlier this week but hosed down by league chief Gil McLachlan because it would impede preparations for the 2021 season. Fremantle and West Coast were among clubs the AFL spoke to on Tuesday about testing protocols that could subject to government approval be in place once the season resumed. All 18 clubs were told players and officials would be tested before going into quarantine hubs and then again twice a week and on match days. They would also be subject to daily medical screening and temperature tests to pick up any early symptoms if they arise. If one player or official tested positive to COVID-19, the team subject to other participants being cleared of the virus would be able to continue playing in the competition. The MCG was also now being considered as a hub for Victorias 10 AFL teams. Read more about the AFL's plans to resume the 2020 season here. Health Minister Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng ( PHOTO/File) KAMPALA Ministry of Health has confirmed one new coronavirus positive case from 651 samples tested from truck drivers at border points of entry on Tuesday. The new confirmed case makes it a total of four Kenyan nationals who have tested positive for the Coronavirus pushing Ugandas tally to 61 after World Health Organization (WHO)s International Health Regulations (IHR) directed that every case that is confirmed for Covid-19 should be registered and treated at the host country. Against this background, Uganda requires to add five positive foreign truck drivers to our statics, Dr. Henry Mwebesa, the Director General Services at the Ministry of Health wrote. Uganda will capture all COVID-19 foreigners including truck drivers as her confirmed cases. To date, six truck drivers (one Ugandan, one Tanzanian and four Kenyans have tested positive for CIVID-19 in Uganda. Out of these, 2 truck drivers (one Tanzanian and one Kenyan) had already been repatriated for their respective countries for treatment, the Ministry said. All these have been added to Ugandas tally according to new amended statistics. All the 368 samples taken from community and quarantine centres tested negative for CIVID-19, Dr Mwebesa wrote, adding that a total of 1,019 samples were tested at Uganda Virus Research Institute and only one returned positive. He said the case is 32 year old Kenyan truck driver who arrived at Malaba border post from Kenya. He didnt have signs and symptoms consistent with CIVID-19, Dr Mwebesa noted, and arrangements to evacuate him to Entebbe Grade B are underway. Related San Antonio officials are looking to expand the number of local COVID-19 testing sites as health officials confront a potentially grim new reality: the virus is here to stay. We will always have COVID-19, Metro Health Director Dawn Emerick told City Council members Tuesday. We will always have to manage it, just like we manage all of our infectious diseases. This is not going away. Metro Health officials are in talks with Texas MedClinic to expand drive-thru testing being conducted at Freeman Coliseum to a second location on the citys South Side. About 400 tests a day are done at Freeman. The city is also in discussions with the Texas Military Department on opening up to three drive-thru testing sites. Those sites will be able to conduct about 200 tests a day, Emerick said. Just with those three big drive-thru sites, thats a big boost for our community, Emerick said. And on Saturday, Walmart will open a drive-thru testing site at its store at 8923 W. Military Drive on the citys West Side to test those showing COVID-19 symptoms, the company said. Without widespread testing, its been tough for health officials to get a true picture of how the virus is taking shape in San Antonio. We want you to get tested, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said during the daily joint city-county briefing. Not getting tested makes it harder for us to assess where the infection is in our community. Between public and private medical providers, the city is getting about 1,250 tests a day, Emerick said. So far, more than 14,000 residents have been tested for COVID-19, data released Tuesday shows. Thats not a complete picture of how many people here have been tested because Metro Health is still trying to obtain testing data from many private providers, Emerick said. Metro Health officials havent settled on a target of how many tests needed to be conducted daily in order to get a true grasp of the diseases proliferation here. Emerick noted that Texas officials have said they want to see 30,000 tests done a day. She said Metro Health is trying to determine how many tests need to be done daily in Bexar County to get a better grasp on the scope of the disease. Projections show the city could see the number of cases peak in mid-May, though Emerick said Metro Health has seen at least one model that shows cases peak in June. Emerick noted that Google data tracking peoples movements show that Bexar County residents have been moving around more in recent days. Whether residents continue to stay at home will also help determine when the virus peaks, she said. Joshua Fechter is a staff writer covering San Antonio government and politics. To read more from Joshua, become a subscriber. jfechter@express-news.net | Twitter: @JFReports FXs new miniseries Mrs. America consists of nine episodes that each foreground a specific character. Last week, we broke down whats real and whats invented in the first three installments, which centered on Phyllis Schlafly (Cate Blanchett), Gloria Steinem (Rose Byrne), and Shirley Chisholm (Uzo Aduba). In the fourth episode, Betty, the series paints a portrait of Betty Friedan, the author of the landmark feminist text The Feminine Mystique and the woman often called the mother of the womens liberation movement, who is now being upstaged by the younger, hipper, and more conventionally attractive Steinem. In this episode, as Phyllis Schlafly and her organization, Stop ERA, gain momentum, the women on either side of the movement step up to battle on the public stage. The Schlafly vs. Friedan Debate In Episode 4, we see Schlafly go head-to-head on a debate stage with Friedan, resulting in both women making heated attacks. The two women publicly debated the ERA several times throughout their careers, including in a televised conversation on Good Morning America in 1976. That particular debate happens to be online, courtesy of the Phyllis Schlafly Eagles YouTube channel: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The debate depicted in the show, however, is the one that really did take place in 1973 at Illinois State University in Bloomington. In the show, things begin on an unfriendly note and only devolve further from there. Schlaflys opening statement, Id like to thank my husband, Fred, for letting me be here today, is both cringeworthy and characteristic. Just as the miniseries will go on to depict, the line became a signature of Schlaflys public appearances, and the cunning Schlafly admitted, I like to say that because I know it irritates womens libbers more than anything else. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the show, the women then begin leveling thinly veiled personal attacks at each other, just as happened in the real-life debate. While there is no easy-to-read full transcript of the debate available to read online, it seems from the snippets that are available that the show stuck very closely to the facts. Brutal lines delivered by Schlafly in the show regarding the personal problems (i.e., divorce and unhappiness) of feminists track with things the real Schlafly said throughout her career. For instance, in the early 1970s, Ms. magazine itself reported that she once described feminists as a bunch of bitter women seeking a constitutional cure for their personal problems. Friedan similarly made ad hominem arguments, some of which are repeated verbatim on the show: She called out Schlafly for hypocrisy and really did tell her Id like to burn you at the stake and I consider you a traitor to your sex. I consider you an Aunt Tom. Screw Magazines Harassment Campaign Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Early in Episode 4, the phones at the offices of Ms. Magazine begin ringing off their hooks. Gloria Steinem answers, and a man on the other line asks if she will lick his balls. When Gloria asks the caller where he got their phone number, he answers: Screw magazine. This reflects the very real harassment that the editors of Ms. magazine endured in the 1970s. In 1973, Al Goldstein, the notorious pornographer and publisher of the tabloid Screw, launched a campaign of attacks against Ms. that included publishing fake advertisements for oral sex alongside the Ms. phone number. This culminated in the publication of a crude and mocking centerfold image intended to look like Gloria Steinem. In a book-length oral history of Bella Abzug published in 2008, Steinem reflects on the incident, and its just as the show depicts: Advertisement Advertisement On the newsstand outside our building was a display of Screw hung open to show its centerfold, a graphic nude drawing of a woman with my face, sunglasses, and long hair. Down the side of the page were drawings of diverse penises and testicles, and at the top was the headline Pin the Cock on The Feminist. The fallout, similarly, matches Steinems recollections to the letter. In the same book, Steinem says she and her lawyer sent Goldstein a letter and that his response was simply a box of chocolates with a note that said, Eat it. Florynce Flo Kennedy (Niecy Nash) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This episode also offers a closer look at Flo Kennedy, the lawyer and civil rights activist who helped to found the National Black Feminist Organization. As depicted in the show, Kennedy was an influential voice in helping to bridge the divide between the black and white feminist movements and frequently advocated for collaboration between Black Power groups and the womens liberation movement. She was also a quick-witted advocate for gay rights. In a party scene in this episode, she is seen scolding women for suggesting that homosexuals be excluded from the National Black Feminist Organizations agenda, saying, Lesbians are welcome, horizontal hostility is not. While that precise quote seems to be an invention, it reflects both Kennedys beliefs and her way with words. In a 1973 article in Ms., Steinem wrote, I have found thatlike so many othersI cant talk for more than an hour or so without quoting the infinitely quotable Flo. More recently, Steinem credited Kennedy with many of her generations slogans and delivered an anecdote that illustrated Kennedys wit: [O]ccasionally a guy would come and sit at the back of one of our talks, and would say something like Are you lesbians? and Kennedy would say, Are you my alternative? Margaret Sloan-Hunter (Bria Henderson) and Diversity at Ms. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Among the earliest editors of Ms. magazine was Margaret Sloan-Hunter, a civil rights activist and the first chairwoman of the National Black Feminist Organization. An early advocate for intersectional feminism, Sloan-Hunter appears in this episode pitching a story about tokenism in the workplace. In response, her Ms. colleaguesall of whom are whitefurrow their brows and ask her whether she feels like a token. (She denies it, unconvincincly.) While its difficult to confirm whether the particulars of this moment are historically accurate (Sloan-Hunter died in 2004), the scene fits with what we know about the culture at Ms. at the time. Namely, that it had a majority white staff and that many women of color felt that they werent fully included in the magazines pages. A photograph of the Ms. office from this era, published to accompany an oral history of Ms. in New York magazine, depicts a scene almost identical to the one seen in the show, complete with Steinem seated on the floor and Sloan-Hunter appearing to be the only black woman in the meeting. Advertisement Indeed, the scene might be based on the experiences of Alice Walker at Ms. In the same New York magazine article, former Ms. editor Ruth Sullivan says, I think Alice felt the burden of being, as she described it, the token black woman at Ms. Sullivan denies that Walker was a token but admits that when Walker worked in the office, it fell on her to generate the articles dealing with women of color. In 1986, after contributing to Ms. for more than a decade, Walker resigned from the magazine, saying, a people of color cover once or twice a year is not enough. This complaint, and the opposing belief that (as one contributor put it) putting black people on the cover would depress newsstand sales, may have been the inspiration for another scene in an earlier episode, in which Ms. editors debate putting Shirley Chisholm on the cover before Steinem, concerned about sales, settles on Wonder Woman instead. John Schlaflys Sexuality Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Up to this point, hints about John Schlaflys homosexuality have been a persistent subtext in Mrs. America, and in Episode 4, the hints grow less subtle. At the end of the episode, during the wedding scene, Phyllis watches John stare amorously at the groom in his military uniform, and the camera cuts back and forth between Phyllis pained face and Johns lustful one, making clear that she suspects what has really been going on. Its true that John Schlafly identifies as gay, but since he didnt publicly come out until 1992nearly two decades after the time period of this episodeits unclear whether Phyllis was aware of his sexuality at the time. That said, if she suspected her son was gay, Phyllis surely would have been distraught by the idea. Devoutly religious and socially conservative, Schlafly regularly employed homophobic rhetoric in her campaigns against the ERA. Advertisement Even after John came out, Schlafly maintained her political opposition to gay marriage, claiming it stood at odds with traditional American values. While Schlafly did not denounce her son, neither did she embrace him for who he was. There is no way to control your adult children, she said in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 1992, in a story reacting to her son coming out. They have their own lives to live. I still love them. What am I supposed to do? I cant control what he says or his behavior. Read more: Whats Fact and Whats Fiction in Mrs. Americas First Three Episodes Whats Fact and Whats Fiction in Mrs. America Episode 5 Whats Fact and Whats Fiction in Mrs. America Episode 6 Whats Fact and Whats Fiction in Mrs. America Episode 7 For four months in 2018, Danielle Edwards drove past the brownstone on the corner of 6th Avenue and St. Marks in Brooklyn. There was a For Rent sign in the window of the second-floor storefront, which caught her eye because the whole facade is enclosed by vintage curved glass. I call it the fishbowl, she says. I fell in love with it when I first saw it. But I thought, Im not going to be able to afford that. Edwards was looking for a new location for her boutique gym, The New Body Project, which claims the distinction of being the only all-womens boot camp in Brooklyn. Edwards, 35, started The New Body Project in 2017, after the local womens gym she worked for shuttered suddenly. For the members many of them women of color the gym had been a kind of neighborhood home, and its closure was devastating. Literally, a lot of the women had breakdowns, Edwards recalls. I just felt like a ton of bricks was falling on me, so I said, I've gotta do something. She decided to start her own gym and went to a number of banks to try to get a loan. It did not go well. Even though my credit is good, she says, if you havent been open for a year, no one wants to look at you let alone looking at you [if] you're black and a woman. So she launched a Kickstarter campaign, and her community rallied to raise $3,000. Still, the location they landed in wasnt ideal. (We were doing burpees and there was mold dripping from the ceiling.) So one day after driving past the fishbowl, she finally called. Just to see. His original asking price was astronomical, but my community came together, she says. We wrote a letter to the landlord and expressed to him how we're going to build this community, and he dropped the price significantly. Even so, it was a stretch. To lock down the space, Edwards had to sell her house that shed bought in her 20s, when she worked at a bank on Wall Street before getting laid off in the market crash. I went to the SBA. I was denied. I went to TD bank. I was denied. I went to Capital One. I was denied, she says. So I was like, you know what? I have this place in Jersey. I hardly ever go back. Ill sell that and use the money to secure a new location. She did, and for a year, it was wonderful. The New Body Project grew from 12 to 62 dedicated members, and Edwards hired four trainers. Her clients were not the Lululemon-y ladies at boutique studios up the block. They were all shapes and shades, from all different backgrounds, at all different stages in their fitness journeys. From early morning to evening, they could be found barefoot on the big squishy mat in the sunny fishbowl, swinging kettlebells and doing tire squats. Then COVID-19 hit New York City. Monday, we were open and doing business as usual, Tuesday I was closing my doors, and Wednesday I was remote teaching a third grader and a sixth grader, Edwards says. I was like, wait, what just happened? For nearly a week and a half I just went into the bathroom and cried. I couldnt process that everything I sacrificed, everything I worked so hard for, could be gone. Danielle Edwards instructing at The New Body Project. Image Credit: Sideline.com A legacy of prejudice, compounded Minority-owned small businesses stand to be hit the hardest by the pandemics economic fallout. Early reports suggest that upwards of 90 percent of minority and women-owned businesses are not getting the relief loans promised from the government. In the best of times, entrepreneurs of color face a multitude of unique obstacles, many of which are embodied in Edwards experience. Taking straightforward racism out of the equation of which there is plenty its always difficult to get a loan without already having significant capital behind you. The facts are that the average white family in America has 10 times the wealth of the average black family, and eight times that of the average Hispanic family. In 2019 the SBA found that 49 percent of loans from banks go to white-owned businesses, 23 percent go to Asian-owned businesses, 17 percent undetermined, 7 percent to Hispanic-owned business, 3 percent to black-owned businesses and 1 percent to American Indian-owned businesses. Because its hard to get loans much less attention and strategic advice from banks and investors, many minority owners also have more difficulty growing their businesses. In New York City, the viruss long-standing epicenter, only 2 percent of all small businesses are black-owned, and only 3 percent have employees (compared to 7 percent of businesses that are Hispanic-owned, 21 percent that are Asian-owned, and 22 percent of white-owned businesses). Many businesses started by entrepreneurs of color also operate in lower income areas, and on narrower margins. In immigrant communities, there are language impediments. Now those obstacles are compounding at an alarming rate. In the chaotic scramble to disperse the first $350 billion of relief loans from the Small Business Administration (SBA), banks prioritized clients who already have loans with them, as well as small businesses that are, in reality, anything but. (See this weeks Shake Shack fiasco.) The SBA had been essentially offering two types of loans: Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL), of up to $2 million (with advances of up to $10,000, dispersed to businesses within three days of applying, but those advances have yet to materialize) and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which offers small businesses loans of up to $10 million to help businesses cover their payroll. Initial PPP funds ran out on April 17, and on the night of April 21 the Senate passed a new stimulus package that replenished the PPP with another $320 billion including $60 billion for community banks, credit unions and even smaller lenders like Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). This last specification is absolutely key in the effort to reach minority small businesses, the vast majority of which have been left out in the cold so far. CDFIs are some of the only lenders firmly rooted in communities of color, and their inclusion in the PPP is something that Gregg Bishop, New York Citys Commissioner of Small Business Services, has been pushing for. The overwhelming needs of New York City's small business community can only be met by the resources of the federal government, he says. We fought for more support in the next stimulus and won an additional $60 billion for our CDFIs and local banks. Our smallest businesses who rely on their community partners for support and service now have a greater chance at accessing the capital they need to remain open. Hopefully, that money will make it to those who need it most, fast. But in the past three weeks as banks overlooked small businesses with no safety net many minority small businesses have already plummeted too far into the red to make it out. Related: 3 Ways to Support Minority-Owned Businesses The less youre asking for, the less likely you are to get it Back when the first round of SBA stimulus loans were announced in early April, many entrepreneurs were optimistic. James Heyward, a CPA in Durham, North Carolina, certainly was. Heyward is a black business owner, and the majority of his accounting firms clients are minority business owners. He spent two days studying the bill and applied for PPP through his bank, Wells Fargo. He didnt need much to cover his payroll; he was only asking for $5,000. But as the days passed, he just received more emails from Wells Fargo telling him that, in his words, I was still in the queue, but because of their lending cap, I might need to go apply somewhere else. For many entrepreneurs of color, their first obstacle in accessing stimulus funds is that they dont have loans or a line of credit with a bank. But Heyward is an exception to that rule. He actually has a fairly extensive relationship with Wells Fargo. He has two business accounts, a line of credit, a business credit card, his personal account, his mortgage and a certificate of deposit. So when he wasnt getting that little check for $5,000, he started thinking something was off. Banks are for-profit businesses, right? Heyward says. Theyre only making 1 percent interest on these loans. They dont have the infrastructure for small loans, so their underwriting process for my $5,000 is the same for somebody requesting $500,000. So which one do you think theyll spend the manpower on? If I was a bank, I would say yeah, okay, I could just give you this money. But it's better for us to give larger amounts to sure bets than smaller amounts to a whole bunch of risky borrowers. Especially if your business isn't really open right now. Not to be doom and gloom, but this may cripple you forever, and the bank will be left holding the bag. Because I don't get the sense that they necessarily believe that the government will get the SBA money to them in a timely fashion. Heyward isnt alone in this conclusion. Benjamin Burke is a senior tax consultant at Snappy Tax, in Ocala, Florida. In an email he said, I have been told off the record that banks are prioritizing the [PPP] loans first for people that have pre-existing loans with them. Then the bigger clients. Then everyone else. Additionally, some banks will not even touch PPP loans under $30,000. If a business owner did not have reserves, it wont be long before they have to close for good. We are already seeing clients in this position. One of Burkes clients is Brooke McGee, a Latina business owner based in Ocala. A 33-year-old single mom with six kids one of whom is disabled and severely immunocompromised McGee worked for a trucking company for 13 years until she got laid off in 2019. So last October she founded her own company, First Watch Dispatch, a carrier, shipping and dispatch service. She started out running the business from home, but that quickly proved impractical since, as she puts it, I don't have a big house in a nice neighborhood, and having 20 semi trucks pull up to my driveway was not conducive. She tried to secure a loan for an office space but couldnt. So in January," she says, "I took my life savings and leased a building. This February, after maxing out her credit card and having the lights turned off in her home, McGee was finally able to pay herself for the first time. Then, the pandemic started to spread, and McGee had no choice but to shut down. Even though her company plays an important role in the supply chain, a big part of McGee's job is handling truckers paperwork, which has been through literally thousands of hands, at stops from New York all the way to Florida. The risk to her daughters life is simply too great. Im trying to work from home, she says, but I cant have the truckers come to my house. Plus I have six kids in six different grades and only two computers. As of our conversation, McGee had tried for weeks to get through on the government site to file for unemployment. Burke, her tax consultant, has helped her apply for the EIDL and PPP loans through her bank, the Florida Credit Union, but she hasnt heard back about either. Because McGees truckers are all private contractors, her PPP request covers only her salary, and Burke worries the request wont be worth her banks time. My fear is that these smaller sized loans are being overlooked, he says plainly. Now, McGees landlord is threatening to evict her. Brooke McGee and her six children. Image Credit: Brooke McGee Beware predatory practices amidst of information chaos While reporting this story, I talked to many minority small-business owners who assumed that theyd have an easier time getting approved because the amount they were asking for was so negligible. But as time went on and stimulus funds dwindled, some owners inevitably turned to outside parties for help, leaving them exposed to an entirely different threat. The New Body Project has five employees including Edwards, and she requested $12,500 to cover payroll. As soon as the SBA loans were announced, she called TD bank, where she had her business checking and savings accounts, to ask about next steps. She waited on hold for over an hour to be told that they don't know because they have not been guided by the government yet. As she waited for help from TD Bank, and panic-researched online, Edwards got an email from Groupon saying that she could apply for the PPP through their partnership with Fundera. Fundera is an online loan broker, similar to Kabbage or Lendio, which connects businesses to lenders for a finders fee from the bank. Edwards was dubious, but figured it was worth a shot and applied, and got a response that shed made it to the next step with one of Funderas lending partners, Cross River Bank. Edwards had never heard of Cross River Bank, so she was hesitant. But she decided to move forward with the application because she still hadnt heard anything from TD Bank, and knew the loans were first-come, first-serve. Then the PPP money ran out. While its not always a bad idea for business owners of color who are being underserved by their banks to look for funding through legitimate brokers like Fundera, attorney, stimulus analyst and Entrepreneur contributor Mat Sorensen points out that borrowers should be aware that the SBA-approved lenders these brokers will connect you with are still likely to put their established clients first. Of greater concern is the lack of information and reliable advice available to desperate business owners, particularly immigrant entrepreneurs for whom English is their second language. The Renaissance Economic Development Corporation is a CDFI, and affiliate of Asian Americans for Equality. Theyve been lending to minority business owners in New York City since 1997, and their managing director, Jessie Lee, says shes seen a surge in predatory practices. A lot of our borrowers are getting secondary information from their ethnic media, she says. Its so confusing that a lot of them have turned to brokers and accountants for guidance, and some of these brokers are predatory. I just found out that one of our clients went to a loan broker who said that they do the PPP program, when they don't, and then took $2,000 from my business owner. Her advice for dealing with third parties? Always verify are you an agent of an SBA lender? Do you have an SBA lenders agreement? Related: These City Programs Are Giving Minority- and Women-Owned ... The case for giving CDFIs capital Renaissance is one of roughly 2,500 nonprofit Treasury-certified CDFIs across the country. CDFIs have long played a critical role in dispatching federal and state funds to the businesses in underserved communities that need them most. And in past crises like 9/11 and Hurricane Sandy, CDFIs dispersed substantial public relief funds (they gave out $12 million in emergency funds after 9/11, and $6 million after Sandy). But as the COVID-19 crisis has played out, Lee says that Renaissance has had to rely on private funds, like part of a recent $1 million commitment from Chase to minority-owned NYC businesses. It hasnt been nearly enough. When we spoke a week ago, Lee told me that, Over a thousand businesses have submitted interest forms, and were only going to be able to help maybe 200 of them. Bishop, the Commissioner of NYCs Small Business Services, says giving CDFIs nationwide the capital they need to lend in their communities would be a game-changer for minority-owned small businesses. CDFIs and small community banks are really the only lenders operating in communities of color, he says, They look beyond the credit score. They're very flexible." Until this point, however, most CDFIs haven't been able to offer PPP loans. "Weve been advocating for them to be allowed to participate, but its really about liquidity, Bishop explains. Its a catch-22: Because CDFI borrowers are often small businesses in communities of color, many operate with very narrow margins and are now struggling to pay their rent, much less their business loans. Consequently the CDFIs are too low on cash to offer PPP. Now, thankfully, the Senates latest stimulus bill which should move through the House quickly has allocated $30 billion of the new $320 billion PPP funds specifically to community banks and credit unions, and another $30 billion to even smaller lenders like CDFIs (a total of $60 billion intended to reach minority and women-owned businesses). Lee is cautiously optimistic. We believe this legislation is a step in the right direction because it gives smaller businesses a fighting chance at securing funding and enables CDFIs to help minority-owned business owners in our communities, she says. That being said, $30 billion will go quickly and will not come close to meeting the needs of millions of distressed businesses. In the weeks ahead, we will need more financial resources to stabilize our neighborhood mom-and-pop businesses. One thing Lee is sure of is that, The eight week time period for PPP is unrealistic in New York. We believe businesses will need more funding over a longer period of time, given the city and state timelines for reopening the economy. And payroll assistance helps but businesses still must figure out how to pay their rent. This is a big issue theyre having to confront even after securing a PPP loan. Businesses need flexible capital to address their unique needs. Still, while the money is there, any minority small business that hasnt yet submitted an SBA application with another lender should reach out to a community bank, or find a CDFI near them (you shouldnt apply for the SBA loans with more than one lender). Heyward, the Durham-based CPA, thinks that moving forward, CDFIs and community banks should play a bigger role. But he also thinks this should happen in tandem with the SBA creating more permanent classifications of small businesses, so that truly small businesses with no capital arent competing for loans with companies 20 times their size. You can call them microbusinesses, or main street businesses, but people with gross revenues under 2 million or something like that, he says. Because when anyone in Washington gets on TV and says, Were doing something for the small businesses, Im looking at the qualifications for a small business and thinking, So what am I, a blip? And maybe that could be the domain of the community banks and CDFIs, because the commercial banks could care less about those loans anyway. The systemic prejudice in this situation, in the beginning it's not racial, Heyward continues. But we all know it's not right. I don't have to go beat the drum on that." To the bigger banks, his message is, "I'm just saying that you have to be honest. You have a lot of business owners who are truly expecting to get this money. Their margins were so small to begin with. For minority-owned businesses, this is crushing. Edwards is still waiting to see if her PPP application gets approved at Cross River Bank. But in the meantime, after working through the initial shock, she's been characteristically resilient. In a matter of days, she designed an entire online fitness program for The New Body Project, complete with a weekly family karaoke session. I wont throw in the towel, she says. I believe this will make us better when we come out of it. Its never easy to get help when you need it, so Im blessed my business is something that can be continued online. Its actually given me the opportunity to tweak my business model. Im really proud of what I created. Related: How to Submit Your SBA PPP Loan Application and Calculate the ... Related: "I'm Having a Hard Time, But Others Have It Worse. Can I Complain?" Amazon Loses Appeal to Deliver Non-Essential Items in France During Pandemic Decentralization Can Be Your Friend Copyright 2020 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved The Gombe State Governor, Inuwa Yahaya, has said his government has no option than to enforce stringent measures to tackle COVID-19 in the state. This was contained in a statement by his spokesperson, Ismaila Misilli, on Tuesday. The NCDC had on Monday announced the confirmation of five index cases of coronavirus in the state. The governor, who further gave the confirmation while addressing journalists shortly before a meeting with the state traditional council, regretted the reported cases. He, however, called for calm saying his government will spare no resources and efforts to ensure the safety of the people of the state. He said three of the coronavirus patients have already been taken to the Federal Teaching Hospital Gombe while the fourth is currently being traced in Arawa quarters, a suburban area of Gombe metropolis. He said the fifth, an indigene of Biu Local Government Area has since been handed over to officials of the Borno State Ministry of Health. Gombe State Governor in a meeting with the state traditional council The governor stated that despite efforts by his administration to curtail the possible spread of the coronavirus into the state, it is disheartening to see the state record five index cases of the virus in the state. He said contacts of the index cases will be traced, isolated and tested. He appealed to traditional and religious leaders in the state to be more decisive in enlightening their subjects on the dangers of flouting the border closure directive and other preventive measures reeled out by the authorities. Gombe State Governor in a meeting with the state traditional council The spread of the COVID-19 among the populace can only be tackled if people strictly comply with preventive measures outlined by the government and health experts, he said. The governor urged media organisations in the state to desist from promoting activities that could attract mass gatherings of people, saying any abuse of ethical standard of journalism on COVID-19 will be reported to National Broadcasting Commission, (NBC) for necessary sanctions. He lamented that the compromising of the border closure by some security operatives and community members was responsible for the index cases recorded in Gombe. Gombe State Governor in a meeting with the state traditional council We plan to engage indigenous hunters, vigilante, as well as aid groups of religious organisations under close supervision of the traditional rulers whom we believe are familiar with all the terrains of their respective communities to ensure our borders are protected, he added. Gombe State Governor in a meeting with the state traditional council He said borders with other states will remain closed, while punitive measures will be taken against any large crowd found in the state. This article, America is running out of frozen pizza. Here's where you can order some, originally appeared on CNET.com. Although most reported shortages of supplies during the coronavirus pandemic have pointed to empty shelves formerly filled with toilet paper and a lack of hand sanitizer, there's one coveted essential item that's also been flying out of stores at an unprecedented rate: frozen pizza. Panicked shoppers have not only been stocking up on canned tuna, they've also been tossing large piles of boxed pizza into their freezers, operating under the assumption that frozen pizza can hardly go bad. Plus, pizza is undeniably peak comfort food, so while it should come as no surprise that you can still find fresh produce in the grocery store, frozen pizza is a much rarer find. Many frozen pizza factories are trying to keep up with high demand, often equating it to Super Bowl Sunday. According to Ad Week, Newman's Own COO Dave Best reported that his frozen pizza sales are up by 190% since the pandemic began, and many frozen pizza companies are reporting similar numbers. The data analytics firm IRI has determined that from March to April, Americans bought some $275 million worth of frozen pizza, a 92% increase compared to the same time last year. So, what to do if your grocery store is indefinitely out of frozen pizza? You could always make your own pizza, which we promise isn't as hard as it sounds, or you could simply place an order for a few boxes to be shipped from these storied establishments. Read more: The best frozen pizza you can order online Prince Street Pizza spicy spring pie: 2 for $125 Goldbelly Lines spill out of the tiny storefront on Prince Street in downtown New York, peppered with pizza fanatics looking to get their hands on a behemoth of a square slice, crowned with pepperoni cups pooling with oil, spicy tomato sauce and plenty of cheese. Skip the line by ordering two pizzas, each clocking in at 17 by 12 inches, that are guaranteed to feed 16 people. $125.00 AT GOLDBELLY Di Fara Pizza classic Neapolitan pizza: 2 for $89 Goldbelly Dom DeMarco opened Di Fara pizza in Midwood, Brooklyn, in 1965, and the octogenarian is still making the beloved pizza (with help from family members), slipping divine pies into the oven and snipping fresh basil, right in front of you. While a trip to Avenue J isn't recommended right now, you can get two pies delivered to you, frozen, primed to be heated up in the oven. While Dom can't shave fresh parmesan on top in person, you'll have to merely do it in his honor. $89.00 AT GOLDBELLY Lou Malnati's deep dish pizza: $67 Goldbelly Dive into Chicago's best with Lou Malnati's deep dish pizzas, stuffed with the likes of cheese, sausage, pepperoni or spinach. These massive 9-inch pies are equipped to feed two to four people, and can simply be tossed into the oven to be reheated. $67.00 AT GOLDBELLY Imo's Pizza 4-pack: $71 Goldbelly Imo's Pizza has long been the star of St. Louis-style pizzas, a family pizzeria that opened in St. Louis over 50 years ago. The thin, circle pies are chopped into bite-sized squares -- its trademark look -- and always topped with Provel cheese, a mixture of Swiss, provolone and cheddar cheeses. $71.00 AT GOLDBELLY Emmy Squared Detroit-Style Pizza: $89 Goldbelly A Brooklyn favorite, Emmy Squared hawks Detroit-style pizza, that thick dough baked in a pan with cheesy edges, and showered with fun and cheeky toppings, like banana peppers, gooey burrata cheese and vodka sauce. This package comes with the choice of seven pizza flavors. $89.00 AT GOLDBELLY Today, U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-12th District) celebrated the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day and recommitted her efforts to address climate change, protect clean air and clean water, and conserve the planet for future generations. On Earth Day, I think about kids and future we are leaving the next generation. This years no different than others. Even with the world on pause, climate change has continued to have lasting impacts. Severe flooding, devastating tornadoes, scorching wildfires, and other extreme weather events continue. We are preparing for a record-setting hurricane season in the Atlantic, said Dingell. Fifty years ago, people stepped out into the spring sunshine to celebrate the home we all share and raise awareness for protecting the earth through environmental reform. Today, its the largest secular holiday in the world and unites our globe in calling for cooperativeness and unity to create action. Earth Day is a reminder that we are borrowing the land we live on and we all have responsibility to take care of it. Countries from every corner of the globe are experiencing the harsh realities of climate change. It is of upmost urgency that we all must come to the table and work together to address the crisis of our lifetimes. We must stay in the Paris Climate Agreement and commit on a global level to address climate change. We need bold efforts and we need everyone to do their part. Americans need to be front and center in these efforts. American ingenuity and strength can and will lead the technological and societal changes needed to become a carbon neutral society and transition to renewable energy sources. Dingell is a leader in Congress on climate change and environmental conservation. As a member of the Energy and Commerce Committees Environment & Climate Change Subcommittee as well as a member of the House Natural Resources Committee, Dingell leads efforts to protect clean water, clean air, and many conservation programs. Dingells work includes: Co-leading the bipartisan Recovery Americas Wildlife Act to promote and enhance our nations conservations efforts including the most significant investment in wildlife and habitat conservation in a generation. Co-leading the 100% Clean Economy Act to set a nationwide goal of achieving a 100 percent clean energy economy by 2050, defined as net-zero climate pollution across all sectors of the United States economy. Leading legislation to establish a National Climate Bank to publicly finance and stimulate private investment in clean, renewable energy and emission reduction projects. Representing with US Congressional Delegation at the 2019 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Madrid, Spain. Leading efforts to oppose rollbacks to the National Environmental Policy Act, bedrock conservation law that preserves the environment, human health, and the peoples voice in policy decisions. Leading comprehensive legislation to support and advance the development, production, and distribution of electric vehicles and electric infrastructure across the United States. Leading more than 75 house members in calling for maintaining and strengthening Clean Water Act protections from the Trump Administrations relentless attacks on the landmark law. Leading bipartisan legislation to comprehensively address PFAS contamination including PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances under the Superfund program to direct federal resources to clean up contaminated sites, set a national maximum contaminant level (MCL) so there is one national standard for all water systems, and many other bills included in her package. Leading the Climate Change Education Act to promote education programs focused on climate to improve the publics understanding of changes. And much more. Source: Debbie Dingell Oil recovered from a 21-year low, bucking two days of frenzied selling. Brent futures for June delivery rose 6% after slumping as much as 17%. West Texas Intermediate crude also gained in New York, closing 19% higher, after an unprecedented plunge into negative territory earlier in the week. The market, already inundated with bearish signals, shrugged off a U.S. government report showing that the four-week average for American petroleum demand was at a record low last week while crude stockpiles were at a three-year high. News that U.S. President Donald Trump authorized the Navy to shoot down Iranian gunboats may have buoyed prices, but crude is not out of the woods yet, according to Robert Yawger, director of the futures division at Mizuho Securities USA. It could potentially get worse because of the fact that storage is not all that far away from being full, he said. Prices near or below zero are expected to persist until producers begin shutting in production at a level that will offset the unprecedented demand collapse caused by the coronavirus pandemic. ICE Futures Europe Ltd. confirmed on Tuesday night that its taken steps to prepare for negative Brent pricing. Meanwhile oil traders are rewriting their risk models to accommodate potentially limitless declines. The only way youre going to balance this market is for prices to go to levels to get supplies to shut, Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at consultant Energy Aspects Ltd., said in an interview on Bloomberg radio. Weve been calling for $10 Brent for a while, and weve absolutely looked at single digit prices. PREVIOUSLY: Oil meltdown spreads into the future with June below $12 Even OPEC+s historic deal to slash production by 10 million barrels a day in May wont be enough to offset the demand destruction from the virus in the short-term, which could be as high as 30 million barrels a day. In the U.S., the worlds biggest oil producer, operators have started shutting wells and halting drilling -- steps that could cut output by 20% and leave thousands of workers unemployed. Some 1.75 million barrels a day is at immediate risk of shutting down while the number of new wells being brought online is forecast to plunge almost 90% by the end of the year, according to IHS Markit Ltd. Markets are also having to grapple with a wave of volatility spurred by exchange-traded funds. Two such funds sold about 20% of the June WTI open interest on Tuesday, according to Bloomberg calculations. The United States Oil Fund said Wednesday it may roll more of its WTI contracts forward due to extraordinary market conditions. There are signs that the stunningly low prices are here to stay as supply dwarfs consumption. Royal Vopak NV, the worlds biggest independent storage company, said almost all of its space is sold, while Clarksons Platou said floating storage is filling at an unprecedented pace. Traditional oil bull Pierre Andurand warned crude could tumble below zero again and described the market as dangerous to trade in. FUEL FIX: Stay on top of energy news with our daily newsletter The Dated Brent benchmark, a global reference for almost two-thirds of the worlds physical flows, plunged to $13.24 a barrel on Tuesday, the lowest since 1999, according to price reporting service S&P Global Platts. On Wednesday it was assessed at $14.21 a barrel, Platts said. With the price so low, key European and African crude streams including Urals and Bonny Light will now sell under $10, as they trade at a discount to the marker. The dive below zero was more than just a technical quirk and could repeat itself if storage constraints intensify, said Stephen Brennock, an analyst at broker PVM Oil Associates in London. Organic growth of +4% for the VISIATIV PLATFORM division An increase of +20% in international sales (+11% in organic growth) Recurrent revenues rose to 66% of total revenues Lyon, 22 April 2020 - 6 p.m. Visiativ, a creator of digital platforms to accelerate corporate transformation, is listed on Euronext Growth in Paris (FR0004029478, ALVIV). In Q1 2020, Visiativ recorded consolidated revenues of 42.3 million, reflecting an increase of +2%. At constant consolidation scope and exchange rates, change stood at -1%. Consolidated quarterly revenues - Unaudited figures In M - Figures at 31/03 Q1 2019 (3 months) Q1 2020 (3 months) Change Organic growth1 3DEXPERIENCE (Dassault Systemes) 24.8 24.2 -2% -5% VISIATIV PLATFORM 16.6 18.1 +9% +4% of which Software (Moovapps) 7.0 7.0 0% -7% of which Consulting 6.9 8.4 +21% +16% of which Business Development 2.7 2.7 -1% 0% Total revenues 41.4 42.3 +2% -1% of which recurrent revenues 25.2 27.9 +11% +8% % recurrent 61% 66% +5 pts Performance by division The 3DEXPERIENCE VAR (Value-added reseller) division, covering activities relating to the integration of Dassault Systemes solutions, recorded quarterly revenues of 24.2 million, reflecting a slight decrease of -2% (-5% restated for the impact of exchange rates and the consolidation of CCSL). To meet the challenges of the health crisis and the lockdown measures in place in many countries since mid-March, the Visiativ teams have worked particularly hard to help customers operate Dassault Systemes solutions remotely in order to facilitate remote working. The revenues of the VISIATIV PLATFORM division, covering activities using Visiativ's proprietary technology, stood at 18.1 million, up +9% (+4% in organic growth). Software activities (Moovapps) remained stable over the period. Driven by the sharp growth of "Tax Credit Management" activities, Consulting (innovation, operational excellence and transformation) grew +21%, including +16% in organic growth. Business Development activities (cloud, managed services, rapid manufacturing) remained stable over the quarter. Overall, the share of recurrent revenues continued to grow (+11%), representing 66% of quarterly activity compared with 61% for the same period last year (63% over full-year 2019). International revenues saw growth of +20% (+11% in organic growth), representing 25% of quarterly revenues, compared with 23% in Q1 2019 (24% over full-year 2019). Update on the situation amid the Covid-19 pandemic To meet the challenges of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, preventive actions and measures have been taken to reduce the risks of contamination among teams, in France and abroad, while guaranteeing maximum continuity of services for our customers. The implementation of Visiativ's business continuity plan went smoothly and the Group is deploying all its resources to help customers manage this uniquely challenging situation. Since Monday 16 March 2020, nearly all of the Group's employees have been working remotely. The decision has been made to delay new hiring, except for the cloud and managed services activities which have seen robust growth over the past several weeks as customers adapt to new methods of work organisation. It should be noted that all teams dedicated to R&D are continuing their activity to the fullest extent. Visiativ plans to continue, and perhaps even to accelerate, the development of solutions that will serve as indispensable assets post-crisis. The lockdown measures in place in the majority of countries where the Group operates are starting to have an impact on activity, particularly in France, with customers delaying investment decisions and the suspended deployment of a few on-site projects. Consequently, Visiativ is implementing - notably in France, and with the agreement of trade unions and employers' organisations - short-time working measures for its employees according to the expected decline in activity. At this stage, it is too early to communicate the real impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Group's activity. Visiativ remains extremely attentive to the development of the situation and the consequences for its activity. In the face of this unprecedented crisis, the Group can draw on its many strengths and the resilience of its business model: the recurrent nature of its activity, with recurrent revenues now representing 2/3 of sales; activities in line with companies' needs in the current context (digitalisation, innovation consultancy, cloud infrastructures, etc.); freedom from dependency on particular clients or sectors, thanks to the diversity of its client portfolio. A robust financial position at 31 March 2020 At end March 2020, cash and cash equivalents amounted to 29.6 million. Moreover, Visiativ and its banking partners are studying the possibility of implementing a State-Guaranteed Loan offered in the context of the crisis. Acquisition of 21% of Visiativ Conseil's share capital Visiatiav has signed an agreement to acquire 21% of the share capital of Visiativ Conseil (holding company of the Consultancy activity), with non-operational minority shareholders, which will take effect over the course of 2020 with disbursements for the 2020 and 2021 financial years. Following this transaction, Visiativ will directly hold 77.6% of Visiativ Conseil's share capital. Financial agenda Annual General Meeting: Thursday 28 May 2020 H1 2020 revenues: Wednesday 29 July 2020 H1 2020 results: Wednesday 23 September 2020 Q3 2020 revenues: Wednesday 21 October 2020 FY 2020 revenues: Wednesday 27 January 2021 FY 2020 results: Wednesday 24 March 2021 These dates have yet to be confirmed and may be subject to change if necessary. All publications will be issued after close of trading on Euronext Paris. About Visiativ A true platform of human and digital experiences, Visiativ is a global player with multiple areas of expertise (consulting, software editing and integration, platform creation, IT outsourcing). Through its unique value proposition, it helps accelerate companies' innovation and transformation. Working with mid-caps since its foundation in 1987, the Visiativ Group posted 2019 revenues of 203 million and boasts a diverse portfolio of over 18,000 customers. Covering all of France's business hubs and with operations worldwide (Belgium, Brazil, Canada, USA, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Morocco, UK and Switzerland), Visiativ has over 1,000 employees. The Visiativ share (ISIN code FR0004029478, ALVIV) is listed on Euronext Growth Paris. The share is eligible for the PEA and PEA-PME personal equity plans and FCPI/FIP investment funds, thanks to its status as an "innovative business" recognised by Bpifrance. For further information, visit www.visiativ.com VISIATIV CONTACT Lydia JOUVAL External communication Tel.: +33 (0)4 78 87 29 29 lydia.jouval@visiativ.com INVESTOR CONTACT ACTUS Mathieu OMNES Tel.: +33 (0)1 53 67 36 92 momnes@actus.fr PRESS CONTACT ACTUS Serena BONI Tel.: +33 (0)4 72 18 04 92 sboni@actus.fr 1 Like-for-like growth restated for the impact of the consolidation of CCSL (01/07/2019) and Living Actor (01/12/2019) at constant exchange rates. ------------------------ This publication embed "Actusnews SECURITY MASTER ". - SECURITY MASTER Key: mGmbk52bZW+byJ5uksuYmmWVbZiTl5aYmWibmZWel8qVmXCTnZiWaZaZZm9klW1n - Check this key: https://www.security-master-key.com. ------------------------ Copyright Actusnews Wire Receive by email the next press releases of the company by registering on www.actusnews.com, it's free Full and original release in PDF format:https://www.actusnews.com/documents_communiques/ACTUS-0-63081-visiativ-pr-q1-2020-20200422-en.pdf Imagine a pristine T&T where there are no more homeless people or animals. One where hunger has been eliminated as the relic of a bygone era. A world where pipe-borne water is delivered to every home every day, not wasted in an archaic system where significant leaks are either ignored or washed out to sea. CABI has led a team of scientists on new research which reveals that a humble bug can help relieve more than 2 million sufferers of allergies in Europe while also saving more than Euro 1 billion in health costs. Dr Urs Schaffner, lead author of the study published in Nature Communications, says the leaf beetle Ophraella communa can significantly reduce pollen which causes a range of symptoms from sneezing to itchy eyes and aggravates conditions such as asthma and eczema from common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia). The interdisciplinary study the first to quantify the economic benefits of biological control in Europe also argues that the costs inflicted by invasive species in Europe are most probably seriously underestimated. The team of scientists from institutions including the University of Fribourg and ETH Zurich, Switzerland, the University of Worcester, UK, and Leiden University, NL, , suggest countries in the Balkan Peninsula such as Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia will benefit most from the leaf beetle as a biological control. Prior to the accidental arrival of the leaf beetle in 2013, some 13.5 million people suffered from ragweed-induced allergies in Europe, causing economic costs of approximately Euro 7.4 billion annually. In Europe, common ragweed is considered invasive in more than 30 countries and its spread and impact, the scientists say, is likely to increase with rising temperatures caused by climate change. Field studies in Italy have proved that the leaf beetle can reduce ragweed pollen by 82 percent. In the Milan area, where the beetle was first detected, up to 100 percent of ragweed plants were attacked and the damage caused was enough to prevent flowering that causes pollen to be released. Dr Schaffner said, Our study provides evidence that the impacts of common ragweed on human health and the economy are so far highly underestimated, but that biological control by Ophraella communa might mitigate these impacts in parts of Europe. We propose that future assessments of the economic impacts of Invasive Alien Species (IAS) should more thoroughly consider costs related to human health. The scientists drew upon information from the European Pollen Monitoring Programme before mapping seasonal total ragweed pollen integrals in Europe during 2004 and 2012 prior to the introduction of the leaf beetle. They then interpolated data from 296 pollen monitoring sites across Europe. To validate the estimated number of patients suffering from ragweed pollen allergy, the researchers compared their European-wide assessment with detailed healthcare data from the Rhone-Alpes region in southeastern France. They then weighted the treatment and lost work time cost at the country level using purchasing power parity adjusted health expenditures per capita for 2015 to determine the overall economic costs of healthcare to treat the symptoms and other effects of ragweed pollen. Professor Heinz Muller-Scharer, of the University of Fribourg, said, We were not sure as first whether the leaf beetle was useful or harmful. Laboratory tests had shown that it was possible that it was harmful to sunflowers. However, field tests in China and Europe could not confirm this finding. Dr Schaffner, Professor Muller-Scharer and the other authors conclude that accurate information of policy and management about the impact of IAS on human health and the potential savings due to the implementation of mitigation measures is essential to ensure that reasonable resources are invested and actions coordinated in IAS management. ### Notes to editors Full paper reference Schaffner, U., Steinbach, S., Sun, Y., Skjth, C., de Weger, L.A., Lommen, S.T., Augustinus, B.A., Bonini, M., Karrer, G., Sikoparija, B., Thibaudon, M and Muller-Scharer, H., Biological weed control to relieve millions of allergy sufferers in Europe Nature Communications, 2020, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-15586-1 The paper is available here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-15586-1 Photos of common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia), the leaf beetle Ophraella communa, Dr Urs Schaffner and Professor Heinz Muller-Scharer are available to download on Dropbox . https://www.dropbox.com/sh/pjeamr6mbstlrxf/AACF6_-LNjZFiNvOTT01o068a?dl=0 See also video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/4RBUi8f-8w4 Media enquiries Wayne Coles, Communications Manager, CABI, email: w.coles@cabi.org Tel: +44 (0)1491 829395 Dr Urs Schaffner, Head of Ecosystems Management, CABI, email: u.schaffner@cabi.org Tel: +41 (0)79286 4537 Professor Heinz Muller-Scharer, University of Fribourg, email: heinz.mueller@unifr.ch Tel: +41 (0)79 7873571 About CABI CABI is an international not-for-profit organization that improves peoples lives by providing information and applying scientific expertise to solve problems in agriculture and the environment. Through knowledge sharing and science, CABI helps address issues of global concern such as improving global food security and safeguarding the environment. We do this by helping farmers grow more and lose less of what they produce, combating threats to agriculture and the environment from pests and diseases, protecting biodiversity from invasive species, and improving access to agricultural and environmental scientific knowledge. Our 49 member countries guide and influence our core areas of work, which include development and research projects, scientific publishing and microbial services. About University of Fribourg The University of Fribourg encompasses five faculties where people study, teach and research. These are Arts and Humanities, Science and Medicine, Management, Economics and Social Sciences, Law and Theology. The approximately 10,000 students in the Bachelor, Masters and PhD programs receive first-class personal support from over 800 professors, lecturers and research assistants. As the only bilingual university in Switzerland, the University of Fribourg offers a wide range of courses of study in French, German or both. The members of the University community come from 110 countries and make Fribourg with its 40,000 inhabitants a university town par excellence. https://www3.unifr.ch/home/en/ My Grandad Austin Reilly passed away peacefully on Tuesday evening, March 31. He celebrated his 94th birthday on St Patricks Day where he stood at the front door and we sang Happy Birthday through an open car door window. He was a remarkably fit and healthy man, who right up to his final day continued to carry out the same daily rhythm on the farm that I remember as a small child over 20 years ago. He loved horses, was always calm and steady and you would never leave without a good one liner of advice from him. Grannys kitchen has always been the heart of family life at home. After university whether I was living abroad or elsewhere in Ireland, there was a comfort in returning home where I knew the rhythm of the day was always the same. The cows were milked first thing in the morning, breakfast was at 9.30am, brown bread was baked, dinner was eaten in the middle of the day at 1.10pm and the radio was always on, tuned to Shannonside FM where local news and country music sound tracked the everyday. An unmistakable slow string melody a tune which I still to this day know off by heart, would signal the death notices, which were played multiple times a day. Chattering grandchildren would be shushed and my grandparents listened quietly to the funeral arrangements of people who had died across the midlands and north west. Thats a funeral for you, Granny might say and Grandad would nod. The following evening he would drive to Aughnacliffe on the Longford/Cavan border or south towards Athlone on the banks of the Shannon and attend the removal of a person he might have bought horses from, a cousin, an old friend or a parishioner. Due to Covid-19 regulations wakes, removals and funerals are temporarily no longer a part of everyday life in Ireland. Grief and death has had to adapt to this new way of being. As a family we were together on Zoom where Granny led the rosary and Fr Joe said mass. Instead of a wake Granny receives phone calls from neighbours and friends. We scroll through the online book of condolences for Grandad on RIP.ie where people express their sympathy. On Friday, April 3, his remains were brought directly from the mortuary to the grave where only his children will attend, standing a safe distance apart from one another. One of the most fantastic things about Ireland is our sense of community. So many organisations whether they are social, sporting or charitable are built on a strong community spirit. And in grief, there is no greater display of community from the reflective yellow vests of local farmers directing traffic into their fields, to the countless trays of sandwiches made by neighbours to feed the hordes of visitors at a wake, to the queues of people waiting in line to pay their respects. You dont realise how much of a soothing balm and support the ritual of funeral is until its no longer there. The N4, normally a busy road between Dublin and Sligo, was quiet on the day of Grandads funeral except for lorries carrying freight, local tractors and a handful of cars. After midday as the hearse made its way past Lough Owel on the outskirts of Mullingar and drove the 20km towards the graveyard in Edgeworthstown, the road was lined with neighbours and friends standing outside their houses and their parked cars at the top of side roads as the hearse drove by. This showing of community is something which has given Granny immense comfort since the burial. A fortnight ago, Grandads obituary was broadcast on Shannonside FM alongside the other people who have passed away and Im glad that one of those rhythms of my Grandparents daily life can remain in these strange times. * Austin Reilly, Kilsallagh, Edgeworthstown, Longford, died peacefully, in his 95th year, on Tuesday, March 31, 2020. Deeply regretted by his beloved wife Mae, daughter Mary Frances (Galway), sons Michael (Aughnacliffe), John (Ennis), Martin (Edgeworthstown), Peter (Claregalway), Kevin (Galway)and his daughters-in-law Pauline, Geraldine, Maureen, Elaine and Patricia, his grandchildren, nieces, nephews, Cousin, neighbours and a large circle of friends. A Memorial Mass for Austin will be held at a later date. Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg is urging world leaders to act together to cope with crises and to listen to science experts. The 17-year-old Swede says the climate crisis may not be as immediate as the corona crisis but we need to tackle this now otherwise it will be irreversible. She calls the virus outbreak a tragedy. She says world leaders must put differences aside and make decisions that in the long run may be necessary. She spoke during a conversation with Johan Rockstrom, co-director of Germany's Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, in a live online event to mark the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Many large cities are smog-free after shutdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Major cities have seen reductions of deadly particulate matter from the previous year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 30 year-old Colombian national stuck in Mumbai due to the coronavirus-enforced lockdown has alleged that a junior police officer had made sexual advances on her at a hotel, according to her complaint. The woman said that she had filed a complaint with the Mumbai Police via an e-mail, which is confirmed by a senior police officer on Wednesday. "I came to Mumbai on February 22 on a tourist visa and was staying in a Bandra hotel till March 31," the woman stated. The woman stated that she had approached the Colombian embassy in Delhi after she exhausted her money. "Accordingly, an officer of Mumbai Police helped me check in a lodge in Marol in Andheri on April 1," she said in the complaint. She alleged that the concerned officer first asked her for a drink, which she refused. However, he kept sending me "flirtatious" messages on my phone, she alleged. "A couple of times times he tried to force himself on me, but I screamed and pushed him out of the room. The officer told me that he was entitled to have physical relations with me since he is paying the rent for my accommodation and other expenses," she stated. The complainant further said that the officer forced the hotel staff to stop providing her food and other articles of daily use. "I cried a lot and sent a video of mine to my country which went viral and then some Mumbai municipal corporation officers along with a doctor came to me on April 18 and gave me some food. They also enquired about my health (sic)," she stated. I understand that the Mumbai Police is very good and helpful and doing a lot in this crisis, but I thought I need to bring to your notice the behaviour of such black sheep, she said. The woman stated that she was helped by an NGO to shift to a hotel, also in Andheri. President of the NGO said, "We received her video which was in Spanish language, after which we got it translated into English. We were shocked whatever she revealed in the video about the officer and we have offered her a safe shelter until the lockdown ends". When contacted, a senior police officer confirmed receipt of the complaint from the woman. "We are conducting an inquiry into her allegations. If the officer concerned is found guilty, we will take action as per legal provisions against him," he said. The junior officer against whom the allegations were raised is attached to Sahar police station. When contacted for reaction, he denied the charges. "The woman has always complained that she was being given Indian food. Why didn't she complain against me during April 1 and 19 when she was staying in the hotel? "I was in touch with her Embassy and updating my seniors daily," he told PTI. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) 'Pharma Bro' Martin Shkreli is engaged, according to a Wednesday letter his lawyers wrote in a bid to get him released from a minimum-security prison in Pennsylvania. The 37-year-old is requesting to spend the remainder of his sentence with his new fiancee in her Manhattan apartment, where he would then work on a cure for the coronavirus. Shkreli's lawyer claim that he has been conducting 'significant research' into developing molecules that inhibit a coronavirus protein, the New York Post reports. They claim that the 'Pharma Bro' should be released from FCI Allenwood so that he can work on treatment and so that he can avoid infection. The 37-year-old is requesting to spend the remainder of his sentence with his new fiancee in her Manhattan apartment 'Mr. Shkreli has spent countless hours while incarcerated researching disease treatments and possible cures for COVID-19,' lawyer state in the letter to Brooklyn federal Judge Kiyo Matsumoto. 'His current project has been well received.' 'One company is prepared to begin working on clinical trials of Mr. Shkreli's work within weeks.' Earlier this month, Shkreli asked for a three-month furlough from his seven-year prison sentence, so he could help the pharmaceuticals industry in the fight against the novel coronavirus. His lawyers claim that the 'Pharma Bro' should be released from FCI Allenwood so that he can work on treatment and so that he can avoid infection The warden at the facility denied that request. Shkreli was jailed in 2018 for looting $11million of stock from his own firm to pay investors in two failed hedge funds he ran. His scheduled release date from a low-security federal prison in Allenwood, Pennsylvania is September 2023. He explained in an 11-page paper published by biotech company Prospero Pharma, that his bid for release has nothing to do with earning money and boasts of being a 'successful two-time biopharma entrepreneur' with unique experience to contribute in the field. 'I am asking for a brief furlough (3 months) to assist in research work on COVID-19,' Shkreli writes in his author statement. 'Being released to the post-COVID world is no solace to even the incarcerated. 'As a successful two-time biopharma entrepreneur, having purchased multiple companies, invented multiple new drug candidates, filed numerous INDs and clinical trial applications, I am one of the few executives experienced in ALL aspects of drug development from molecule creation and hypothesis generation, to preclinical assessments and clinical trial design/target engagement demonstration, and manufacturing/synthesis and global logistics and deployment of medicines.' Martin Shkreli, 37, wrote in a manuscript published by biotech company Prospero Pharma: 'I am asking for a brief furlough (3 months) to assist in research work on COVID-19' In the new manuscript Shkreli boasted he is a 'successful two-time biopharma entrepreneur', having purchased multiple companies and 'filed numerous INDs' Shkreli was sued by federal and state authorities in February for using unscrupulous tactics to stop competitors making versions of Daraprim and raising the cost from $13.50 a pill to $750 (5,000 per cent). The drug is used to treat toxoplasmosis, a parasitic infection that can be deadly for people with HIV or other immune-system problems, and can cause serious problems for children born to women infected while pregnant. 'For the avoidance of doubt, I have not been paid for any work on this matter or any other matter while incarcerated,' Shkreli continues. 'I do not expect to profit in any way, shape or form from coronavirus-related treatments. 'I believe any company developing a coronavirus drug should seek to recoup its cost at most and be willing to perform the work as a civil service at the least.' Shkreli called the current response to the pandemic 'inadequate' and wrote that there's a 'large braintrust of talent' not working on the project He adds: 'If the government is willing to reward industry for their work on this catastrophic situation, it will be at each company's discretion to accept, negotiate or deny such funding, including bulk purchases, cost reimbursement, tax credits and other benefits.' The manuscript is co-authored by Kevin Mulleady an unindicted co-conspirator in his convicted case, as well as Maureen Lohry, and Jason Sommer. Shkreli and Mulleady are named as having designed and managed the project. Alongside Sommer, Shkreli engineered the in silico workflow and performed the screening, while James Rondina provided high-performance computing assistance and research. The manuscript is co-authored by Kevin Mulleady (pictured) an unindicted co-conspirator in his convicted case In the new paper, Shkreli blasts the current handling of the pandemic. 'The industry response to COVID-19 is inadequate. All biopharmaceutical companies should be responding with all resources to combat this health emergency. Donations from these very valuable companies do not go far enough,' he writes in his author statement. 'The biopharmaceutical industry has a large braintrust of talent that is not working on this problem as companies have deprioritized or even abandoned infectious disease research. Medicinal chemists, structural biologists, enzymologists and assay development and research biology departments at EVERY pharmaceutical company should be put to work until COVID-19 is no more.' The manuscript notes that 'because of temporary communication restrictions aimed at curtailing the spread of COVID-19' Shkreli, was unable to have final review over the paper, titled 'In silico screening for potential COVID-19 beta-coronavirus non-nucleoside RdRp inhibitors'. Shkreli's lawyer said he would be filing the furlough request 'shortly' to the Bureau of Prisons and Brooklyn federal Judge Kiyo Matsumot, who over saw his case. 'I have often said that left to his own devices, I believe Martin could cure cancer,' Benjamin Brafman told The New York Post. 'Feel the same about coronavirus. Warehousing this genius instead of letting him help with the research, makes no sense whatsoever.' The manuscript author statement claims Shkreli is not in it for the money but reimbursements should be made at individual discretion Above shows the number of coronavirus cases and death in the US as of Wednesday, as well as the country's hotspots The Delhi government has constituted a three-member committee to audit on a daily basis the deaths caused by novel coronavirus in the national capital. According to an order issued by the health department, the committee headed by former director general of health services Dr Ashok Kumar will audit each and every death reported in both government and private hospitals in the city. "All government and private hospitals are directed to report all such deaths to the committee along with the copy of case sheet for death audit," the order stated. On Tuesday, Delhi reported 47 fatalities due to coronavirus. The total number of coronavirus cases in Delhi rose to 2,156 on Tuesday, with 75 new cases being reported. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) She said: I wasnt able to speak to or see Phil after he was taken by paramedics. Thats the worst thing. Normally if a loved one is ill you can be with them, hold their hand and comfort them but coronavirus deprives you of that. Thats the hardest thing for family and friends of people suffering this dreadful virus, you cant be there for them and you have no choice but to put all your faith in the NHS staff and pray. Thats what we did. It was hard to sleep at night and the days drag on so long. There is nothing to occupy your mind, no friends to speak to face-to-face or hug. #WATCH | Incredibly moving scene as @PhilDolbyWMP leaves hospital to return to his family after battling #coronavirus, and says: "You've not just cared for me... you've saved my life." We're not crying, you're crying. Get the full story https://t.co/Q0fsIbnuPE pic.twitter.com/iQTKZsstbR West Midlands Police - #StayHomeSaveLives (@WMPolice) April 22, 2020 The hospital staff are so busy they cant give regular updates on patients conditions all their attention, rightly so, is going into treating people and trying to help them recover. When we did speak to staff they were always very calm, kind, compassionate and a reassuring voice. They did manage to set up a camera when he was in ICU so we could see Phil and his surroundings. It helped being able to visualise where he was. It was a video chat facility but it was a one-way conversation as by that stage he was sedated. But it helped just being able to speak to him and see him; it gave us some peace of mind. On April 8, the day before Marys birthday, Ch Supt Dolby came off a ventilator but still needed additional oxygen supplies to support his breathing. Ms Dolby said: He missed my birthday in intensive care but gave me the best present I could have wished for when he started breathing for himself. Its amazing hes back home with us but he still has a long road to recovery. He just needs to rest and build up is strength which was drained from weeks in bed. My job will be to make sure he doesnt try to get ahead of himself and do things too quickly. And that might mean confiscating his phone so hes not spending too much time on Twitter! Physicians say coronavirus patients are suffering from life-threatening oxygen drops while in the emergency room that can lead to their death. Dr Richard Levitan, is an emergency medicine practitioner at Bellevue Hospital in New York City, and has been teaching other medical professionals how to intubate and use ventilators for at least two decades. But, in an op-ed for The New York Times, he wrote that he saw an interesting phenomenon in COVID-19 patients with pneumonia. He was seeing patients that had lungs filled with fluid or pus, but they weren't struggling to breathe until the day they arrived at the hospital. In fact, they had no idea they had the infection until they were in the emergency room and, by then, 'they were often already in critical condition.' That's because many were suffering from hypoxia, can lead to low oxygen levels in the tissues, resulting in organ damage and - in some cases - death. Dr Richard Levitan, an emergency medicine practitioner, said he saw COVID-19 patients with pneumonia come into the hospital with low oxygen levels. Pictured: A coronavirus patients on a ventilator in the emergency room at St Joseph's Hospital in Yonkers, New York, April 20 Levitan recommends patients be monitored with a simple device called a pulse oximeter (pictured) that measures oxygen levels before the dip too low Hypoxia is a form of oxygen deprivation caused by hypoxemia, which occurs when there are low oxygen levels in the blood. In the case of hypoxia, body tissues beginning run low on oxygen, which can result in infections and tissue damage. A 2011 study from Massachusetts General Hospital found that approximately seven percent of patient experience a 'hypoxemic event' and 3.5 percent had a 'severely hypoxemic event' lasting two minutes or longer. Hypoxia can occur without much warning and, without oxygen, your heart, liver, brain and other organs can be damaged within minutes. 'And here is what really surprised us: These patients did not report any sensation of breathing problems, even though their chest X-rays showed diffuse pneumonia and their oxygen was below normal. How could this be?' Levitan wrote in The Times. He explained that the patients with COVID pneumonia causes call 'silent hypoxia' - silent because it's not often detected until an advanced stage. Pneumonia is a lung infection that occurs when the air sacs are filled with pus or fluid, and patients with it have pain and discomfort. But coronavirus patients with pneumonia don't feel the same shortness of breath despite their oxygen levels plummeting. 'And by the time they do, they have alarmingly low oxygen levels and moderate-to-severe pneumonia (as seen on chest X-rays),' Levitan wrote. What are pulse oximeters? A pulse oximeter is a small clip device that can be attached to a part of the body, such as a finger or earlobe, to measure oxygen levels in the blood The device can be used to measure blood oxygen levels among those who have conditions such as asthma, congenital heart defects and pneumonia During a reading, beams of light pass through the blood in order to measure the changes of light absorption in oxygenated or deoxygenated blood The tests can be carried out in both inpatient and outpatient settings The devices cost upwards of 30/$30 and are available at pharmacies and online from sellers on Amazon and eBay. Advertisement 'Normal oxygen saturation for most persons at sea level is 94 percent to 100 percent; COVID pneumonia patients I saw had oxygen saturations as low as 50 percent.' In fact, many were sick for at least a week with a fever, cough and lethargy before coming into the hospital. So why is this occurring? Levitan writes that COVID pneumonia causes the air sacs in the lungs to collapse, which makes oxygen levels fall. However, patients can still exhale carbon dioxide and, because it doesn't build-up like with normal pneumonia, patients don't experiences difficulty breathing. Patients breathe deeper and faster due to their low oxygen levels, but they don't even realize it. And these changed breaths damage the lungs even more. Due to the shortage of ventilators, and the likelihood of not coming off one once you're on, Levitan recommends that patients be monitored with a simple device called a pulse oximeter. These are small devices that can be purchased at any pharmacy. They clip onto a finger to measure oxygen levels in the blood. Levitan says this monitoring at home could alert patients for a need for treatment before their oxygen levels dip too dangerously low. 'Widespread pulse oximetry screening for Covid pneumonia - whether people check themselves on home devices or go to clinics or doctors offices - could provide an early warning system for the kinds of breathing problems associated with Covid pneumonia,' he wrote in The Times. [April 22, 2020] Fresh Del Monte Produce Celebrates Earth Day by Commemorating Long History of Conservation Efforts Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. is drawing inspiration from its own long history of conservation efforts, highlighting significant wins in reforestation and the protection of wildlife. Currently, Fresh Del Monte Produce manages over 10,000 hectares of protected forests and has donated over 700,000 trees to the regions where it operates, including Costa Rica, Guatemala, Kenya and the Philippines. Through these programs, the company has also been able to increase the protection of wildlife, preservation of watersheds and sequestration of greenhouse gases. In Costa Rica alone, Fresh Del Monte Produce owns and conserves 9,400 hectares of forest, of which 3,000 hectares have been formally designated to protect wildlife and are home to a rich and diverse set of plants and animals, including vulnerable and endangered species. Species inventories carried out by the company in its wildlife reserves in Costa Rica - known as La Danta, El Tigre and El General - have identified over 22 species of mammals, 99 reptile types, 417 bird species, 48 different amphibians and over 42 unique types of fish. "Now more than ever, we need to understand the responsibility we have as corporate citizens," said Hans Sauter, Chief Sustainability Officer for Fresh Del Mnte Produce. "The work we employ around our conservation efforts is not one that we take lightly. If we want to Build A Better World Tomorrow, we must continuously improve upon our sustainability initiatives and commit to protecting our planet." To address the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals around climate action, Fresh Del Monte Produce began documenting greenhouse gas emissions nearly a decade ago. The company's two largest banana and pineapple operations are now certified Carbon Neutral by SCS (News - Alert) Global Services. These operations contribute zero net gain of greenhouse gases into Earth's atmosphere. Today, 74% of all pineapples grown by the company and sold in North American and Europe are from their Carbon Neutral farms. Fresh Del Monte Produce celebrates Earth Day by renewing its passionate commitment to its sustainability efforts on a global scale. For more information on Fresh Del Monte Produce and its sustainability efforts, please visit: http://www.freshdelmonte.com/Sustainability. About Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. Fresh Del Monte is one of the world's leading vertically integrated producers, marketers and distributors of high-quality fresh and fresh-cut fruit and vegetables, as well as a leading producer and distributor of prepared food in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Fresh Del Monte markets its products worldwide under the DEL MONTE brand (under license from Del Monte Foods, Inc.), a symbol of product innovation, quality, freshness and reliability for over 125 years. The Company also markets its products under the MANN brand and other related trademarks. Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. is not affiliated with certain other Del Monte companies around the world, including Del Monte Foods, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Del Monte Pacific Limited, Del Monte Canada, or Del Monte Asia Pte. Ltd View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005558/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] By Ofeliya Afandiyeva Azerbaijan will return its citizens from abroad, including 550 from Russia, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, presidential aide, Head of Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmet Hajiyev has said. The citizens who want to return have registered at the "Ev gedirm" ("I am going to home") portal set up in Azerbaijan April 17 to facilitate the citizens return home. Azerbaijan will continue to bring its citizens from other countries. This process will be carried out in stages, in batches of 200-400 people. From Russia alone, 550 citizens want to return. They will the first to be returned to Azerbaijan with special charters, Hajiyev stated. The process will be carried out through a special portal. We will return our citizens from the Russian Federation not only by charters, but also across the land border. Their return will be carried out based on schedule. Upon return, they will be quarantined, he said. Hajiyev reminded that 20 percent of all coronavirus patients in Azerbaijan are those who have returned from Russia. Hajiyev added that Azerbaijan does not plan to resume international passenger transportation from other countries, excluding only charter flights in May. Recently Azerbaijan airlifted 15,000 citizens from coronavirus-hit countries via special charter flights so far. It should be noted that earlier, Azerbaijani Ambassador to Russia Polad Bulbuloglu urged citizens left in Russia against crossing the border and gathering at the Rusian-Azerbaijani border until the quarantine regime was lifted in the country. Writing about what's going on around him has always been Roger Amarus passion. Even after he was forced to flee the brutal conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congos Kasai region, his love for storytelling never died. As the world grapples with the COVID-19 threat, Roger has become a busy man. Together with a team of 10 refugees, Roger, 43, has started a blog called Histoires de Lovua French for Stories from Lovua to share vital information about how to stay safe in the pandemic with fellow refugees in the Lovua settlement. We started this blog because we wanted the world to know about our daily lives as refugees in Angola, he explains. But we have a bigger responsibility now and that is to share very important information on the coronavirus. Roger is aware that without access to credible information in a timely and structured manner, panic and fear can ensue. He and his friends are determined to do their part in creating awareness in this community where some 6,000 refugees from the DRC live. We have a duty to educate and inform, and this is something I take very seriously, adds Roger who was a journalist in the DRC. We have a duty to educate and inform, and this is something I take very seriously. So far, Angola has recorded 24 coronavirus cases, the first two reported in March. My biggest fear is that people would panic. I still worry what will happen to us refugees, who are very vulnerable in such situations, he explains. But he has decided to put his concerns aside and instead, focus on research and attending the information sessions organized by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and other agencies in the settlement. UNHCR, together with the provincial government and partners, is working on a joint contingency plan for COVID-19 in Lunda Norte province, where Lovua settlement is located, as part of the wider national response plan. Through its health partner, Medicos del Mundo, UNHCR has trained community workers and carried out awareness sessions with refugees and local communities around the settlement. In addition, informational materials on how to safeguard oneself from the virus have been distributed around the settlement. Rogers team has been posting information on the blog, as shared by UNHCR and partners. They also highlight key guidelines and preventive measures such as social distancing, hand washing with soap and how to identify symptoms. More people are reading our blog because we are highlighting the measures in place to keep people safe, explains Roger. With over 80 per cent of the worlds refugee population living in low to middle income countries, UNHCR is prioritizing measures to prevent potential outbreaks that would put extraordinary strain on already fragile local health services. In the settlement, new water points and handwashing stations have been installed in key areas to allow refugees better access to water. The health clinic in the settlement has been expanded to include a separate screening process for severe respiratory cases. Any isolated cases can then be referred to hospitals in Dundo, the provincial capital. The bloggers have limited resources and struggle to get reliable internet access to post their stories. They use Rogers smartphone the only one in the group to take photos and to record interviews. We share one laptop with others. It is not the ideal way to work but its better than nothing, he says, adding that they operate from a community centre in the settlement and when its not available, they work from his house. Life here can be tough, but we choose to focus on the positive things. Omotola Akindipe, a UNHCR reporting officer based in Dundo, says the agency plans to provide the group with better quality smartphones to enhance their work and also improve communication between them and our protection colleagues. Roger believes that the support will go a long way, even as they hope to procure more equipment like laptops and a camera in the future. For now, he is glad to have the opportunity to create awareness. Life here can be tough, but we choose to focus on the positive things like the skills, talent and resilience of refugees, he says. When he is not working on the blog, he spends time at home with his wife and four children. He has trained his family on how to wash their hands with soap and to respect the social distancing guidelines. We frequently wash our hands and we know that by taking care of ourselves, we are taking care of others, he adds. Nora Hawari, foreground, her brother Kareem and their mother, Nesrine Omari, work in the kitchen behind a recently installed plastic shield, at Kareem's Restaurant in Anaheim's Little Arabia. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times) The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing shutdown have left many restaurants uncertain about their future. As smaller, less-heralded restaurants across the city grapple with new realities, we asked them to share their stories. The stacked metal tables and chairs outside Kareems in Anaheim speaks to the Middle Eastern restaurants particular predicament during this pandemic. In the pre-coronavirus days, families and friends packed tables and freely reached over one another to nosh off platters packed with emerald-green falafels, crunchy fattoush, smooth labneh and other Palestinian standards. Our cuisine is all about communion, and thats now all gone, said Kareem Hawari, 23, who runs the restaurant alongside his older sister, Nora. The whole culture starts with the pita in the hand, and we cant do that right now or for a while. Our regulars told us at the beginning of coronavirus, Please let us sit and eat! No one has to know! Kareem continued. But we had to tell them they couldnt. If we dont lead by example, its not a good look. This is our parents legacy. Brenna Baker waits for her order at Kareem's Restaurant. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times) Kareem and Nora take their heritage seriously. Their parents, Palestinian immigrants Mike Hawari and Nesrine Omari, opened Kareems in 1996, the first Middle Eastern restaurant in a neighborhood that was mostly bikini bars and run-down strip malls. Today, the area is known as Little Arabia and houses one of the largest concentrations of Middle Eastern businesses in the country outside of Detroit. Nesrine is Little Arabias unofficial auntie, a ball of strong hugs and handshakes forged by decades of patting out falafels at Kareems for diners from the neighborhood as well as politicians including California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and famous musicians (Los Lobos guitarist Louie Perez, a vegetarian, says the falafels here are the best in the country). But for the moment, she sticks to the kitchen. Were trying to keep my mom away from the front, said Nora, 25. The health of their mom is important; the familys patriarch passed away from lung cancer in 2012. Story continues The plant-based "Fat Kid" platter at Kareem's Restaurant includes its popular falafel, hummus baba ganoush, stuffed grape leaves, tabouli, pickles and chipotle tahini. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times) The lack of a dine-in crowd has gutted Kareems business; the effective shutdown of restaurants nationwide cut Kareems wholesale falafel sales to other eateries by 50%. Frozen falafel packages, available at Kareems and at markets across Orange County, are moving faster than ever as more people choose to cook at home, but that just covers our expenses, Kareem said. But the regulars are slowly coming back: They dont even have to order; we know what they want, Nora said. Kareems has introduced a family meal 10 pieces of chicken or falafel, along with fattoush, hummus, babaganoush, fries and basmati rice for $35 that Kareem said customers will eat in the parking lot like a tailgate. Siblings Nora and Kareem Hawari with their falafel packages outside their family's restaurant, Kareem's Restaurant in Anaheim's Little Arabia. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times) Kareem has worked full-time at the restaurant since graduating from high school; Nora used to come in only on weekends. Shes a filmmaker, but with nearly all her projects on hold shes now the cashier while Kareem makes deliveries and Nesrine works the back. I grew up here, and its in my blood, Nora said. What better way to be artistic for now than at a restaurant? Kareem and Nora hadnt worked so closely in years, so the two bicker like brothers and sisters do, she said. But we have the laughs and love too. Kareem pointed to a closet. We used to have a GameCube there and play while our dad and mom would do all the work. Now its our turn. There is no question that the pandemic is proving particularly devastating for immigrants right now. My colleague Michael Miller recently wrote about families who live in Langley Park, a Maryland community where 70 percent of adults are not U.S. citizens. The article provides an intimate look at how out-of-work cooks, construction workers and cleaners are now struggling to keep their families healthy and housed. Regulatory News: The Combined General Meeting of Veolia Environnement shareholders, held today at the Company's administrative headquarters, under the chairmanship of its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Antoine Frerot, approved all of the resolutions submitted to it with a quorum 65.18%. Due to the Covid-19 epidemic and health measures decided by the French government, this meeting was held without the physical presence of the shareholders. Its broadcast is accessible on the Company's website. This meeting notably: approved the parent company financial statements and group consolidated financial statements for fiscal year 2019 set the dividend in cash for the fiscal year ended on December 31, 2019 at 0.50 per share . The shares will be traded ex-dividend as of May 12, 2020 and payable from May 14, 2020 for the fiscal year ended on December 31, 2019 at . The shares will be traded ex-dividend as of May 12, 2020 and payable renewed the terms of office as directors of Mr. Jacques Aschenbroich, Mrs. Isabelle Courville, Mrs. Nathalie Rachou and Mr. Guillaume Texier for a four-year period which will expire at the end of the General Shareholders' Meeting that will be called to approve the financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023; for a four-year period which will expire at the end of the General Shareholders' Meeting that will be called to approve the financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023; approved the compensation paid during fiscal year 2019 or awarded in respect of the same fiscal year to Mr. Antoine Frerot as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; to Mr. Antoine Frerot as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; approved the information relating to the 2019 directors' fees (excluding the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer); (excluding the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer); approved the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer's compensation policy in respect of fiscal year 2020 approved the directors' fees policy in respect of fiscal year 2020 (excluding the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer); (excluding the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer); renewed all financial authorizations granted to the Board of Directors; granted to the Board of Directors; authorized the Board of Directors to grant performance shares to corporate officers and employees of the Group and the Company; the Board of Directors approved the harmonization of the Articles of Association of the Company with new legal and regulatory provisions in force. After this combined general meeting, the composition of the board of directors of Veolia Environnement remains unchanged and is made up of thirteen directors, including two directors representing employees and five women (45,45%)1 Mr. Antoine Frerot, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mr. Louis Schweitzer, Vice-Chairman Mrs. Maryse Aulagnon, Senior Independent Director Mr. Jacques Aschenbroich; Caisse des Depots et Consignations, represented by Mr. Olivier Mareuse; Mrs. Isabelle Courville; Mrs. Clara Gaymard; Mrs. Marion Guillou; Mrs. Nathalie Rachou; Mr. Paolo Scaroni; Mr. Guillaume Texier; Mr. Franck Le Roux, Director representing employees Mr. Pavel Pasa, Director representing employees The four committees of the board of directors also remain unchanged and are composed as follows: Accounts and Audit Committee : Mrs. Nathalie Rachou (Chairman), Mr. Jacques Aschenbroich, Mrs. Isabelle Courville, Mr. Franck Le Roux (Director representing employees) and Mr. Guillaume Texier. : Mrs. Nathalie Rachou (Chairman), Mr. Jacques Aschenbroich, Mrs. Isabelle Courville, Mr. Franck Le Roux (Director representing employees) and Mr. Guillaume Texier. Nominations Committee : Mr. Louis Schweitzer (Chairman), Mrs. Maryse Aulagnon and Mrs. Isabelle Courville. : Mr. Louis Schweitzer (Chairman), Mrs. Maryse Aulagnon and Mrs. Isabelle Courville. Compensation Committee : Mrs. Maryse Aulagnon (Chairman), Mrs. Marion Guillou, Mr. Franck Le Roux (Director representing employees) and Mr. Louis Schweitzer. : Mrs. Maryse Aulagnon (Chairman), Mrs. Marion Guillou, Mr. Franck Le Roux (Director representing employees) and Mr. Louis Schweitzer. Research, Innovation and Sustainable Development Committee: Mr. Jacques Aschenbroich (Chairman), Mrs. Isabelle Courville, Mrs. Clara Gaymard, Mrs. Marion Guillou, Mr. Pavel Pasa (Director representing employees) and Mr. Guillaume Texier. See https://www.veolia.com/en/veolia-group/finance/shareholders for the results of voting on the resolutions and a full webcast of the Combined Shareholders' General Meeting. Veolia group is the global leader in optimized resource management. With nearly 179,000 employees worldwide, the Group designs and provides water, waste and energy management solutions which contribute to the sustainable development of communities and industries. Through its three complementary business activities, Veolia helps to develop access to resources, preserve available resources, and to replenish them. In 2019, the Veolia group supplied 98 million people with drinking water and 67 million people with wastewater service, produced nearly 45 million megawatt hours of energy and treated 50 million metric tons of waste. Veolia Environnement (listed on Paris Euronext: VIE) recorded consolidated revenue of 27.189 billion in 2019 (USD 29.9 billion). www.veolia.com 1 Excluding Directors representing employees in accordance with Article L. 225-27-1 of the French Commercial Code. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005841/en/ Contacts: Veolia Group Media Relations Laurent Obadia Sandrine Guendoul Tel.+ 33 1 85 57 42 16 sandrine.guendoul@veolia.com Analysts Investors Ronald Wasylec Ariane de Lamaze Tel. 33 1 85 57 84 76 84 80 investor-relations@veolia.com Sino-Ocean Group Holding Limited (HKG:3377), which is in the real estate business, and is based in China, received a lot of attention from a substantial price movement on the SEHK over the last few months, increasing to HK$3.25 at one point, and dropping to the lows of HK$1.95. 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 Sino-Ocean Group Holding's current trading price of HK$1.96 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 Sino-Ocean Group Holdings outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if there are any catalysts for a price change. View our latest analysis for Sino-Ocean Group Holding What is Sino-Ocean Group Holding worth? According to my price multiple model, which makes a comparison between the company's price-to-earnings ratio and the industry average, the stock price seems to be justfied. In this instance, Ive used the price-to-earnings (PE) ratio given that there is not enough information to reliably forecast the stocks cash flows. I find that Sino-Ocean Group Holdings ratio of 5.13x is trading slightly below its industry peers ratio of 6.25x, which means if you buy Sino-Ocean Group Holding today, youd be paying a reasonable price for it. And if you believe that Sino-Ocean Group Holding should be trading at this level in the long run, then theres not much of an upside to gain over and above other industry peers. So, is there another chance to buy low in the future? Given that Sino-Ocean Group Holdings share is fairly volatile (i.e. its price movements are magnified relative to the rest of the market) this could mean the price can sink lower, giving us an opportunity to buy later on. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for share price volatility. Story continues What kind of growth will Sino-Ocean Group Holding generate? SEHK:3377 Past and Future Earnings April 22nd 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. Sino-Ocean Group Holdings earnings over the next few years are expected to increase by 52%, indicating a highly optimistic future ahead. This should lead to more robust cash flows, feeding into a higher share value. What this means for you: Are you a shareholder? It seems like the market has already priced in 3377s positive outlook, with shares trading around industry price multiples. However, there are also other important factors which we havent considered today, such as the financial strength of the company. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at 3377? Will you have enough confidence to invest in the company should the price drop below the industry PE ratio? Are you a potential investor? If youve been keeping an eye on 3377, now may not be the most optimal time to buy, given it is trading around industry price multiples. However, the positive outlook is encouraging for 3377, which means its worth further examining other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to take advantage of the next price drop. Price is just the tip of the iceberg. Dig deeper into what truly matters the fundamentals before you make a decision on Sino-Ocean Group Holding. You can find everything you need to know about Sino-Ocean Group Holding in the latest infographic research report. If you are no longer interested in Sino-Ocean Group Holding, you can use our free platform to see my list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. New Delhi: The Union Health Ministry has sought a ban on the export of anti-tuberculosis drugs over concerns that the lockdown due to COVID-19 has affected the production of such medicines. Delay in production and receipt of supply may cause acute shortage of these drugs, Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan said as she requested an empowered group of government officials to direct the department of pharmaceuticals under the ministry of chemicals and fertilizers and commerce ministry for issuing necessary directions for prohibiting export of anti-TB medicines. In a letter to Drinking Water and Sanitation Secretary Parameswaran Iyer, who is also the chairman of the empowered group for facilitating supply chain and logistics management, she said, "In view of the emergency measures undertaken, the availability of limited number of manpower and material to the pharmaceutical industry, the production capacity of the leading anti-TB drug manufacturers of India has been affected." Such a situation will worsen the treatment of TB patients within the country, she added.Sudan said suppliers have communicated that anti-TB drug supplies will be delayed because "force majeure" due to COVID-19 response activities, limited material (API), for production, limited manpower (because of restrictions) and limited transportation facilities. The leading anti-TB drugs manufacturers at present having contract agreement with National Tuberculosis Elimination Program (NTEP) are Macleods and Lupin. Major factories for these drugs are in Bharuch and Ankleshwar in Gujarat, Baddi in Himachal Pradesh and Daman and Diu. Under these circumstances, needless to emphasise that the situation calls for extraordinary measures to ensure that TB patients of the country simultaneously don't face any challenges in accessing either diagnosis or the treatment of the tuberculosis across the country under the NTEP, Sudan said. "Therefore it is requested the Empowered Group may issue directions to Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers and Department of Commerce for their intervention in this regard and also issue direction for prohibiting export of anti-TB medicines while considering mandatorily the need of the country as overriding priority to ensure smooth supply of these drugs," she said in the letter. New York, April 22 : US Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC) Chairman Jay Clayton on Wednesday warned investors in the US over investing in emerging market companies, especially China, as they may be riskier than they appear. The statement comes as both large and small investors adjust portfolios to minimise costs from the Covid-19 pandemic. In an interview to Fox Business, Clayton said: "Investors have long wanted access to emerging markets, and we don't want to deny them that access, but the risks are different." He added that there are a number of risks in emerging markets that do not exist in US markets, including the investors' ability to have recourse. "The risks are different and hard to discern," he said. Clayton added that the SEC has been locked in a decade-long struggle with the Chinese government to inspect audits of US-listed Chinese companies. The regulator's accounting oversight arm, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, is still unable to access those critical records, he noted. The statement comes a day after he said that companies that have operations in emerging markets, and investors in those companies, often face greater risks and uncertainties than in more established markets. "Issuers reporting with the SEC should clearly disclose these matters to investors. Similarly, funds investing in emerging markets should ensure that their material risk disclosures are adequate and in compliance with federal securities laws," he had said on Tuesday. He noted that investors and financial professionals should carefully consider the nature and quality of financial information, including financial reporting and audit requirements, when making or recommending investments. Issuers should ensure that relevant financial reporting matters are discussed with their independent auditors and, where applicable, audit committees, he added in his Tuesday statement. Tesco has said its shop workers will start receiving coronavirus tests this week as the Government ramps up its testing efforts. In a letter to customers, chief executive Dave Lewis said Tesco will begin to trial testing for its workers in one region of the UK. It is understood the voluntary testing will be available for around 200 staff and comes after talks between supermarket bosses and the Government. The supermarket added that the testing will only be 'for critical workers currently experiencing symptoms or for those with symptoms who are living with critical workers'. Tesco said that around 41,000 of its staff are absent each day, with the figure steadily falling. The voluntary testing for Tesco employees will be available for around 200 staff and comes after talks between supermarket bosses and the Government Tesco said that around 41,000 of its staff are absent each day, with the figure steadily falling (pictured, a shopper wears protection while at a Tesco supermarket) It said it has recruited 50,000 temporary workers to plug the gap and keep operations running in recent weeks. The supermarket has seen sales jump as shoppers have stocked up on essential items in the face of the virus, with demand for home deliveries surging. Mr Lewis told customers that Tesco is offering almost one million delivery slots this week, following an increase of 400,000 slots in the past six weeks. 'We'll increase this to 1.2 million deliveries per week in the next few weeks,' he added. The supermarket also said it will donate 15m of food to community groups and food banks over the next 12 weeks, on top of its ongoing monthly donation of meals worth 3m. Mr Lewis said: 'None of what we're doing would be possible without the support of our colleagues, or the patience and understanding of our customers. 'There has been a huge amount of change in a very short time, and a lot for you and our colleagues to adjust to. Thank you once again for your support.' The death toll from coronavirus in the UK hit 18,094 today. More than 120,000 have also been infected with the virus There were huge queues at Tesco supermarket at the start of the coronavirus lockdown (pictured, a store in Osterley, London last month) The news comes amid concerns about the safety of shopkeepers and supermarket staff during the coronavirus pandemic after a spate of deaths among workers. The latest saw a member of staff at FreshGo in Gipsy Hill, south London, die following a spell in hospital. The staff member, known only as Kumar, is believed to have worked alongside others at the convenience store, which is still open. It is understood another staff member from the same store is also fighting the virus in a London hospital. Concerned locals said the store - which is tiny and has narrow aisles - had failed to observe a 'one in, one out' policy and staff were given little protection. A member of staff, known only as Kumar (above), who worked at FreshGo in Gipsy Hill, south London, has died from coronavirus. There are growing concerns about the safety of shop workers during the pandemic after a spate of deaths among those working in retail Kumar died following a spell in hospital. He is understood to have worked alongside others at the convenience store (above), which is still open. Concerned locals said the store, which is tiny and has narrow aisles, failed to observe a 'one in, one out' policy and staff were given little protection Above, a sign outside the FreshGo shop in Gipsy Hill offering support during coronavirus. It is understood another staff member from the same store is also fighting the virus in a London hospital A JustGiving site has already raised almost 2,000 for the man's family, with organiser Siobhann Carolan saying: 'Kumar worked tirelessly for years at FreshGo and was liked by all the customers. 'He was always helpful, cheerful and considerate at any time of the day or night. The funds raised will go directly to his family to help them through this truly difficult time.' But other store users said they were upset more had not been done to limit the spread of the virus in the shop. Jade Kyle said: 'That is so sad. They're all such good guys. I did wonder why they suddenly implemented social distancing in the shop only yesterday.' Georgia Mancio said: 'With this extra pressure on the smaller shops, I think they should all only allow one person in at a time.' Sandra Schmidt added: 'This is terrible. I'm actually in tears. My partner went in there four weeks ago and no one was wearing masks or gloves. There has been a glut of coronavirus deaths among shopkeepers and their staff. They include 51-year-old Raj Aggarwal - whose last Facebook post (above) showed him dropping off a carload of tea, coffee and biscuits to NHS workers at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester 'My partner was the only one in there with mask and gloves and they all looked at him like he was deranged. Someone asked the man if they were intending to stay open and he said "We will always be open!". We laughed at it then. That was the last time any of us went there.' Kayleigh Louise Barnes replied: 'To be fair all the men that work there have been in contact with him so they should be isolating but they're still open which is a bit selfish considering they are serving the public.' Jen Batchelor added: 'They need to completely deep clean the shop and products and the other staff members should be self isolating.' It comes after a glut of other deaths among shopkeepers and their staff. They include Raj Aggarwal - whose last Facebook post showed him dropping off a carload of tea, coffee and biscuits to NHS workers at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester. But just 13 days later, the father-of-two, 51, who ran two Spar shops and a coffee outlet with his brother Sanjiv, 50, lost his life. Just 13 days after his Facebook post, Mr Aggarwal (above, with his wife, Sunita), a father-of-two who ran two Spar shops and a coffee outlet with his brother Sanjiv, 50, lost his life On March 27 he posted on Facebook: 'Next stop Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, dropping off Tea, Coffee and Biscuits for our frontline NHS staff who are doing an amazing job #strongertogether.' Stuart Reddish, national president of the Federation of Independent Retailers (NFRN), told MailOnline today: 'We are deeply saddened to have lost four of our members from coronavirus and the Federation is doing everything it can to support their families at this time. 'Independent stores are at the heart of their communities and NFRN members, their family members and their staff are going above and beyond to provide their customers with the essentials that they need, whether this is from their shops or by offering delivery services to the elderly, vulnerable and housebound. 'In these most challenging of times, they are risking their own health and safety to provide communities and customers with a vital lifeline and I am tremendously proud of them.' The NFRN has also launched a fund to help shopkeepers suffering hardship if they feel they cannot stay open. The NFRN Covid-19 Hardship Fund has been created to alleviate some of the financial pressures that independent retailers may be facing. Verizon VZ is one of hundreds of companies that is set to report its first quarter fiscal 2020 financial result this week amid the ongoing economic uncertainty and turmoil brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. So lets dive into whats going with the wireless giant to help investors see if they should consider buying VZ with its Q1 earnings due out Friday morning. The Quick VZ Pitch All three major U.S. indexes fell on Tuesday as oil industry turmoil grows. At the same time, governments have started to consider the best ways to begin to reopen parts of their economies, while still combating the coronavirus. Amid all of the economic chaos, which includes over 20 million people in the U.S. filing for unemployment in the last month, Verizon stock has outperformed the market. The company is the largest U.S. wireless carrier by subscribers. This makes it a somewhat recession-resilient because people are likely to look to cut back on spending elsewhere before they drop or reduce their wireless and broadband services during economic downturns, especially when they are stuck inside. On top of that, Verizon hasnt taken on a ton of debt to fuel expansion like rival AT&T T. And even before the coronavirus outbreak, VZ was focusing on cost-cutting measures as it ramps up its 5G push that requires a large amount of capital spending. Plus, Verizon ended fiscal 2019 on a high note after it recorded its most Q4 wireless adds in six years. Q1 Outlook & Beyond Moving on, our current Zacks consensus estimates call for Verizons first quarter revenue to pop 0.90% to reach $32.41 billion. This would fall short of Q4s sales growth but match the third periods revenue expansion. Meanwhile, its adjusted quarterly earnings are projected to climb 1.7% from the year-ago period to hit $1.22 a share, which would top last quarters bottom-line expansion. Peeking further ahead, which is harder these days given the unprecedented halt to large swaths of the economy, Verizons full-year fiscal 2020 sales are expected to climb 0.20%. VZs adjusted EPS figure is projected to climb roughly 1% to come in at $4.86 a share. Story continues Bottom Line The nearby graphic helps investors see that Verizons earnings revision picture has turned negative recently, along with countless other corporate giants. VZ is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) that does boast B grades for Value, Growth, and Momentum in our Style Scores system. Verizon is also part of any industry that rests in the top 15% of our more than 250 Zacks industries at the moment. Better still, VZs dividend yield sits at a strong 4.33% to easily top the S&P 500s 2.12% average and its payout ratio is a sustainable 51%. VZ stock closed regular trading Tuesday roughly 8% below its 52-week highs at $56.82 a share. This could give Verizon shares room to climb if the firm is able to impress Wall Street. That said, buying stocks around earnings seems risky at a time of such unknown, and more companies are likely to pull their full-year guidance like IBM IBM did on Monday. Some investors might want to think about buying VZ as a longer-term play. Plus, it is worth noting that Verizon last week announced that it is set to buy video conferencing company Blue Jeans Network, as industry rival Zoom Video ZM stock soars. Today's Best Stocks from Zacks Would you like to see the updated picks from our best market-beating strategies? From 2017 through 2019, while the S&P 500 gained and impressive +53.6%, five of our strategies returned +65.8%, +97.1%, +118.0%, +175.7% and even +186.7%. This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. From 2000 2019, while the S&P averaged +6.0% per year, our top strategies averaged up to +54.7% per year. See their latest picks free >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report AT&T Inc. (T) : Free Stock Analysis Report International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) : Free Stock Analysis Report Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) : Free Stock Analysis Report Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (ZM) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research This innovative system is designed to strike an optimal balance between reduced energy consumption and fuel emissions by adding hydrogen to the engine airflow. Hydrogen gas improves combustion by acting as a catalyst to speed up reaction time, meaning the engine should require less energy for combustion and less fuel. Results will be measured against the baseline data of each truck, as well as two sister units that run the same routes. "As a transportation company, Day & Ross relies on traditional combustible fuels and is striving to find new and cleaner alternatives," said Bill Doherty, CEO. "We are encouraged by the potential of this new technology to help us minimize our impact on the environment." This is just one of the environmental initiatives underway at Day & Ross, which has been a SmartWay transport partner since 2009. The company is also investing in new terminals with many of the latest environmental upgrades: solar panels; advanced heating and cooling; pre-cast wall panels; LED lighting; electric forklifts and charging stations for employee vehicles and yard trucks. About Day & Ross With over 8,000 employees, drivers, and owner operators in Canada and the US, Day & Ross offers a diversified portfolio of freight and delivery solutions to top brands across North America. The company got its start by hauling potatoes out of New Brunswick in 1950, and became a wholly-owned subsidiary of McCain Foods in 1966. Today, their key services include LTL/TL and cross-border transportation, logistics, dedicated fleets, and residential delivery. For over a decade, Day & Ross has been recognized consistently as one of Canada's Best Managed Companies, and was named a Top Company for Women to Work for in Transportation in 2018 and 2019. Their commitment to safety and sustainability is rooted in their family values and their care for their employees and the communities where they work and live. dayross.com About KarbonKleen Inc KarbonKleen Inc. delivers data driven technology solutions to the logistics industry. We enable our clients to achieve their goals around improved efficiency in operations as well as increased environmental awareness through the successful adoption of both developed technology and partnered solutions. We are driven through innovation in FreightTech by helping clients implement best in class solutions to achieve their most business critical goals. About dynaCERT dynaCERT Inc. manufactures and distributes Carbon Emission Reduction Technology for use with internal combustion engines. As part of the growing global hydrogen economy, our patented technology creates hydrogen and oxygen on-demand through a unique electrolysis system and supplies these gases through the air intake to enhance combustion, resulting in lower carbon emissions and greater fuel efficiency. Our technology is designed for use with many types and sizes of diesel engines used in on-road vehicles, reefer trailers, off-road construction, power generation, mining and forestry equipment, marine vessels and railroad locomotives. Website: www.dynaCERT.com SOURCE Day & Ross Inc. Related Links https://dayross.com/ Truck Driver Jailed in Vietnam For Bombing Tied to 'Terrorist' Exile Group 2020-04-21 -- A court in Vietnam's Binh Duong province sentenced a man to more than a decade in prison Tuesday for committing an act of terror after he set off a bomb at the provincial tax office last year, according to state media. The Binh Duong Provincial Court found Truong Duong, a 40-year-old truck driver from Binh Duong's Di An city, guilty of engaging in "terrorist activities against the People's Government" under Article 113 of Vietnam's Penal Code, the official VN Express reported, citing a statement from the Ministry of Public Security. Duong was handed an 11-year jail term and ordered to pay more than 800 million dong (U.S. $35,000) in compensation for destroying state assets, it said. According to the Ministry of Public Security, Duong had received payment from the U.S.-based Provisional Government of Vietnam exile group under the leadership of Dao Minh Quan, which Vietnam declared a terrorist organization in 2018. It said a woman connected to the exile group named Pham Anh Dao, also known as Lisa Pham, had instructed Duong to go to a convenience store in Binh Duong's Thu Dau Mot township on Sept. 29 to accept a package containing the explosives from a man named Ha Xuan Nghiem. On the morning of Sept. 30, Duong planted explosives in the first-floor men's room of the Binh Duong Tax Department and detonated them according to Dao's instructions, the ministry said, destroying equipment and knocking down the building's walls. No one was injured or killed in the bombing. According to the ministry, Duong was arrested four days later and confessed to his crimes, seeking leniency. Dao and Nghiem remain on the run from authorities. Exile group In recent years, authorities have targeted several cases related to the Provisional Government of Vietnam and imposed harsh sentences on those found to have ties to the group. On April 8, police in Dong Nai province arrested 52-year-old Luong Thi Thu Hien for allegedly contacting the group via Facebook in early 2018 and receiving money to promote Quan's planned return to Vietnam to overthrow the country's one-party Communist leadership. Her case is under investigation. The Provisional Government of Vietnam is also accused of masterminding a petrol bomb attack that destroyed hundreds of motorbikes at a police warehouse in Dong Nai in April 2017 and an attempted attack on Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City later that same month. Vietnam has issued international arrest warrants for Quan and six other members of the organization, all of whom are living either in the U.S. or Canada. Repeated attempts by RFA's Vietnamese Service to contact representatives of the Provisional Government of Vietnam for a response to Hanoi's claims have gone unanswered, but Pham Anh Dao recently dismissed accusations that she had directed anyone inside Vietnam to bomb the Binh Duong Tax Department. Reported by RFA's Vietnamese Service. Translated by Huy Le. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. Copyright 1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content April not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Former lawmaker and pro-democracy activist Martin Lee (C) talks to members of the media as he leaves the Central District police station in Hong Kong on April 18, 2020, after being arrested and accused of organizing and taking part in an unlawful assembly in August last year. (Isaac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images) Ottawa Urged to Take Stronger Stance on Hong Kong Arrests Canada should take a stronger stance on the mass arrest of pro-democracy activists by Hong Kongs Beijing-backed government, says the head of a Canadian Hong Kong support group. Instead of condemning the wrongdoing of the Hong Kong government for arbitrarily arresting the pro-democracy figures and asking that the Hong Kong government respect freedom of assembly and expression, our foreign affairs minister has called on parties to show restraint, Gloria Fung, president of Canada-Hong Kong link, said in an interview. Hong Kong police arrested 15 high-profile pro-democracy activists on April 18 on charges of illegal assembly during the 2019 protests in Hong Kong. Waves of Hong Kong residents took to the streets last year, protesting Beijings encroaching control over the citys affairs. The protests, which at times drew crowds in the millions, were initially triggered by a now-abandoned extradition bill that would allow the transfer to China of people wanted by Beijing. The demands of the protesters later evolved to a call for more democracy and for the authorities to account for their violence against the demonstrators. Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois-Philippe Champagne said in a statement on April 19 that Canada is concerned by the arrests of political figures, and that there is a need for close scrutiny on these extraordinary measures. We urge all sides involved in the crisis to exercise restraint, to refrain from violence, and to engage in peaceful and inclusive dialogue to address the legitimate concerns expressed during the 2019 protests, the statement reads. Protesters attend a rally to call for democratic reforms in Hong Kong on Jan. 19, 2020. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters) Fungs organization is among 40 Hong Kong support groups worldwide who have issued a joint statement asking the international community to condemn the arrests. The joint statement asks countries around the world to call for the charges against the activists to be dropped, and to use Magnitsky laws to sanction Chinese and Hong Kong officials responsible for violating human rights. Canada passed its own version of the law in 2018. Under the legislation, foreign individuals responsible for gross human rights violations can be sanctioned in Canada. Among the activists arrested are the founder of Hong Kongs Democratic Party Martin Lee and lawmaker Leung Yiu-chung. Eight former lawmakers were arrested as well. The United States issued a statement on the day of the arrests condemning the Hong Kong authorities move. Beijing and its representatives in Hong Kong continue to take actions inconsistent with commitments made under the Sino-British Joint Declaration that include transparency, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement. The declaration set the terms for the transfer of Hong Kong from British rule to Chinese rule, requiring that Hong Kong maintain a high degree of autonomy. Australias Foreign affairs Minister Marise Payne said in a statement that Hong Kong law allows freedom of speech and assembly, saying the issue is especially concerning as the arrests happened during the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.K.s foreign affairs ministry also said in its statement that the right to peaceful protest is fundamental to Hong Kongs way of life. Conservative MP and shadow minister for Canada-China relations Garnett Genuis said in a Facebook post that the Chinese regime is using the pandemic as a cover for abuses in Hong Kong. He added that the federal governments response to the arrests is weak. Instead of condemning the arrests, it calls for close scrutiny and restraint on all sides. Canada should take a strong stand for democracy and against injustice, he said. A spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada declined to provide further comment beyond the ministers statement on the issue. Fung says its important for Canada to support the Hong Kong people because the autonomous region is ground zero for repression from Chinas communist regime. Whatever you want to learn about Chinas sharp power and infiltration and manipulation, we can learn from the experience of Hong Kong. Therefore, it is of strategic importance that we render our support to the people of Hong Kong, she says. She adds that the Chinese communist regimes behaviour in the face of the pandemic has shown the world the true nature of the regime. They hid the facts and truth from their own people about the outbreak and subsequently caused a pandemic around the world, killing so many lives. The actions of the authorities at this stage are particularly important, she says, as Hong Kong is heading into an election for its legislative assembly in September. She says the pro-democracy camp is expected to win large numbers of seatsas was the case during local elections last year where the camp won by a landslidebut notes that there are concerns the government could use all kinds of excuses to disqualify elected members or take other measures to undermine the democratic process. PLA Navy soldiers work on Zhongjian Island of Xisha Islands in South China Sea, Hainan Province. Over dozens of years, soldiers have transformed the barren site into a lush area despite the harsh environment of high temperatures, high humidity, high salt and lack of fresh water. (Photo:China News Service) Xisha Island and Nansha Island are parts of China, and any attempts to deny China's sovereignty and rights in the South China Sea are invalid and doomed to fail, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday. Since March, the Permanent Mission of Vietnam to the UN has submitted notes reiterating its sovereignty over the Xisha and Nansha Islands and denying China's sovereignty and rights in the South China Sea. China firmly opposes this and has made solemn representations to Vietnam, Geng Shuang, spokesperson for the ministry, told a regular press conference. The response was made after Vietnam made "illegal claims" to the UN, accusing China of infringing on its "sovereignty and jurisdiction rights" over the South China Sea. The Southeast Asian country also protested against China's establishment of two districts, Xisha District and Nansha District, in Sansha City, South China's Hainan Province, in the name of the sovereignty concerns, on Sunday. China claims sovereignty and jurisdiction rights in relevant parts of the South China Sea in accordance with international laws that include the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea, and the Xisha and Nansha islands are inherent parts of China, Geng said. "China will take any necessary measures to defend its sovereignty, rights and interests in the South China Sea," he said. Ukraine's government has offered former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili the post of deputy prime minister to supervise reforms. Saakashvili, an ex-governor of Ukraine's Odesa region, wrote on Facebook on April 22 that he plans to submit to the Ukrainian parliament his proposals "for the urgent changes" needed in "this very difficult period" faced by Ukraine. It is a great honor for me to receive a proposal from President [Volodymyr] Zelenskiy to become a deputy prime minister.... I also had a very meaningful and useful conversation with Prime Minister [Denys] Shmyhal, during which we discussed in detail all the issues related to my possible work in the government, Saakashvili wrote. Zelenskiy's office confirmed the meeting in a statement, saying the two politicians discussed the country's development and how to assist it. "Mikheil Saakashvili is well-known in the international arena and has already demonstrated the experience of successful implementation of reforms. President Zelenskiy believes that Mr. Saakashvili has the potential to support the Government of Ukraine and invited him to share his views and developments with the Government and Parliament of Ukraine, the statement said. Media reports quoted lawmakers earlier in the day as saying that Saakashvili will attend parliament's session on April 24. Saakashvili, who was Georgian president between 2004-2013, was granted Ukrainian citizenship and appointed to the Odesa governor's post by Zelenskiys predecessor, Petro Poroshenko, in 2015. Authorities in Tbilisi stripped Saakashvili of his Georgian passport on the grounds that Georgia does not allow dual citizenship. When relations between Poroshenko and Saakashvili soured over reform efforts and the fight against corruption, the Ukrainian president in November 2016 sacked Saakashvili from the governor's post. In July 2017, after Saakashvili created the Movement of New Forces opposition party, Poroshenko issued a decree that stripped Saakashvili of his Ukrainian citizenship. In February 2018, Saakashvili was detained in Kyiv, taken to the airport, and flown to Poland. Days later, Ukraine's border service banned Saakashvili from entering the country until February 13, 2021. In May 2019, just days after his inauguration, Zelenskiy reinstated Saakashvilis Ukrainian citizenship and, in October, prosecutors opened a criminal probe into Saakashvilis 2018 deportation from Ukraine. The Chief Military Prosecutors Office said then that the investigation was launched after Saakashvili filed a complaint over the abduction and violent actions against him and his illegal deportation to Poland. HOLYOKE The City Council granted unanimous approval Tuesday to send a statement of interest to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) for a proposed new middle school. The city must submit the letter by May 6. Mayor Alex B. Morse and school Receiver Stephen Zrike support the proposal for one middle school. A previous proposal for two new middle schools was defeated by voters in November. On Tuesday, the council recessed briefly to allow the Finance Committee to discuss the statement of interest and vote it out of committee. The meetings were conducted by videoconference. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, Councilor Joseph McGiverin said the School Building Authority would not budge on the May 6 deadline. The letter merely informs the authority of Holyokes wish to pursue a new school. The authority approves all public school building and renovation projects in the state. It reimburses municipalities up to 80% of construction costs. Before the November vote, the authority set aside about $73 million for the Holyoke school projects, below 60% of the estimated total cost of $132 million. The new proposal calls for razing the William Peck School on Northampton Street, which dates to the 1970s, and constructing a new school. Whitney Anderson, the School Departments facilities director, said a lengthy application accompanies the letter of interest. He said the School Building Authority insisted on Holyoke naming a location, but the letter includes a disclaimer that the site could change. Anderson said the School Building Authority must invite Holyoke into the project pipeline, which is not guaranteed. Such projects take several years to come to fruition. Zrike said the mayor could appoint a School Building Committee in the meantime. Councilor Peter Tallman called for a diverse committee that includes parents, teachers and community stakeholders. Ward 3 Councilor David Bartley questioned if the city could afford to build a new school. He said a statement of interest should only be filed if a city or town is able to fund such a project. Mike Bloomberg, the mayors chief of staff, said he could not project budgets three years out. He added that the letter is simply a procedural move and does not commit the city to a building project. With current economic conditions and expected declines in revenues, no municipality can accurately forecast, Bloomberg said. The Holyoke Public Schools has pledged $500,000 annually to fund the construction bond. Bartley described the letter of intent as hypocritical and an insult to voters. He demanded the School Department identify the $500,000 annual contribution. He proposed tabling the motion until May 5 but ultimately voted for it. Morse said not submitting the letter would be a disservice to residents. Councilor Mike Sullivan said the city risked future funding by not sending the letter. Councilor James Leahy said the citys children deserve a new facility, but the School Building Authority must grant an 80% reimbursement rate. Ward 2 Terrance Murphy favored building a new middle school on a lot bordering Chestnut and Cabot streets. In other matters, City Council President Todd McGee said the council would set up an email account for public comment during the pandemic. He talked about tough times ahead and Gov. Charlie Bakers order that shutters schools for the remainder of the academic year. Story Highlights Data show healthcare workers need more support from leadership Focus on transparent communication, innovation and wellbeing Leaders can facilitate their employees' success Healthcare professionals are exhausted and under-resourced -- and they're putting their lives on the line like never before. They are struggling to handle intensifying patient loads and death rates. COVID-19 is a long, uphill battle with an end that's barely visible on the horizon. An online, probability-based Gallup Panel survey conducted March 13-April 14, 2020, revealed troubling data: Just 47% of healthcare workers strongly agree that their employer has communicated a clear plan of action for COVID-19. Only 36% of healthcare workers strongly agree they are confident they will be safe if they follow their organization's health policies. 78% of healthcare workers feel that COVID-19 will have a somewhat negative or very negative effect on their workplace. As leaders do everything in their power to beat COVID-19 and ensure their hospitals survive the crisis, they must urgently safeguard employees' needs. Leaders must facilitate healthcare workers' success. That is, this crisis calls for world-class people leadership. Healthcare workers need to know their leaders have their back. To care for caregivers, leaders should take the following steps in the next 30 days. 1. Communicate more. Nearly one in five healthcare professionals (19%) feel their employer has communicated too little about COVID-19. Appropriately, healthcare leaders are focused on immediate threats. They're communicating in regular briefings and huddles. But Gallup's data suggest that employees need more. As leaders navigate the pandemic, they must ensure employees know exactly what to expect. Without these expectations, employees' growing uncertainty can hinder their workplace engagement -- creating performance losses that undercut even flawless surge plans. Healthcare workers need to know their leaders have their back. Leaders also need to be transparent. For example, employees know that critical resources such as PPE and medical equipment are in short supply, and they need a realistic picture of what's coming. Honest leaders can promote an employee's sense of security and stability, helping them stay motivated and engaged in their work. Every day, leaders should ask themselves whether they've delivered meaningful, transparent messages. While they can't answer every question or predict the future, leaders can build invaluable trust by sharing what they know. 2. Innovate to better support employees. Only 54% of healthcare employees feel well prepared to do their job -- even fewer (37%) feel very confident they'll be able to successfully do their job if the outbreak continues. As COVID-19 challenges workplaces in unprecedented ways, leaders must employ new strategies and partnerships to equip employees with the resources they need. A Formula One team, for instance, partnered with engineers and healthcare experts to quickly develop a CPAP machine, a breathing aid used to treat COVID-19 patients. And researchers at the University of California San Francisco are using smartwatch technology to devise an early detection system for COVID-19. Innovations like these require an extremely agile approach, which can be challenging to employ under normal circumstances. But leaders who intensely accelerate innovation can do far more than provide equipment -- they can demonstrate their dedication to alleviating the pandemic's emotional toll on caregivers. 3. Support employee wellbeing holistically. Caregivers' physical wellness is a priority for leaders. But leaders who address all five elements of employee wellbeing -- career, social, financial, community and physical -- can optimize healthcare workers' resilience during COVID-19. In fact, Gallup has found that leaders who cultivate holistic employee wellbeing can shield workers from burnout and promote exceptional performance. Unfortunately, only 44% of healthcare workers strongly agree their organization cares about their overall wellbeing, according to Gallup's Panel data. Employees' wellbeing affects their performance and engagement. For instance, if caregivers strongly agree their employer cares about their overall wellbeing, they are more than twice as likely as those who do not strongly agree to report that they feel well prepared to do their job (72% vs. 30%). Leaders who cultivate holistic employee wellbeing can shield workers from burnout and promote exceptional performance. Leaders should immediately implement practical strategies for cultivating employee wellbeing, such as confidential counseling services and enhanced internal recognition that creates an atmosphere of community and positivity. Since managers play a pivotal role in employee wellbeing, leaders must hold them accountable for supporting employees through COVID-19. Further, leaders must identify and remove barriers to wellbeing. By maintaining ongoing dialogue, they can reaffirm their commitment to their employees. COVID-19 may give healthcare leaders a deeper appreciation for the importance of an engaged, supported workforce. This pandemic has made healthcare workers' critical role -- and their heroism -- clear. When they struggle, everyone struggles. Right now, healthcare leaders have an opportunity to fully support their most valuable asset. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday said that an assistance of Rs 1,000 will be provided to all families that do not have ration cards but were identified by self-help groups of Jeevika in the state. The state government has earlier decided to provide Rs 1,000 to each ration card-holding family in the state following the enforcement of lockdown. Follow latest updates on coronavirus here Kumar directed Chief Secretary Deepak Kumar to inform all the district magistrates and sub-divisional magistrates to provide the assistance of Rs 1,000 to each of the family which does not have ration card but has been identified by the Jeevika groups, according to an official release. There should be no confusion about it. After providing Rs 1,000 to these families, ration cards should be issued to them (families identified by Jeevika) after completing verification of documents, Kumar said in a meeting here. Kumar also made it clear that assistance of Rs 1000 will be provided to families in urban areas after identifying them through a survey. He asked the officials to complete the survey work at the earliest under the Urban Development and Housing Departments National Urban Livelihood Mission. While reviewing the agriculture input subsidy being given to the farmers whose crop was damaged due to untimely rains and thunderstorm in February and March, Kumar directed the officials to extend the time-limit at least by a week so that farmers can apply for claiming crop damage. Click here for complete coronavirus coverage Stating that some of the districts have received rains/thunderstorm in the past 3-4 days that has damaged crops, the CM asked the officials to carry out a survey at the earliest to determine the extent of the damage. Friday Night Movie Club Spend an evening with Vulture, every Friday at 7 p.m. ET on Twitter. Patrick Bateman told us in the starkest terms that we were living in a world of murderous greed and indifference. Photo: Lions Gate Films Every week for the foreseeable future, Vulture will be selecting one film to watch as part of our new Friday Night Movie Club. This weeks selection comes from our staff writer Lila Shapiro, who will begin her screening of Mary Harrons American Psycho on April 24 at 7 p.m. ET. Head to Vultures Twitter to catch her live commentary, and look ahead at next weeks movie here. Patrick Bateman, the status-obsessed Wall Street investment banker who moonlights as a serial killer in American Psycho, has three heroes: fellow mass murderers Ed Gein and Ted Bundy, and Donald Trump. In Bret Easton Elliss 1991 novel, Bateman keeps a copy of The Art of the Deal on his desk and gazes longingly at Trump Tower tall, proudly gleaming. Then he shifts his gaze to the black teenagers standing in front of it and contemplates murdering them. In Mary Harrons cruel and glittering adaptation, which came out 20 years ago this month, Trump is referenced only sparingly, but his shadow lies over every scene. When Bateman admires his biceps in the mirror while having sex, when he silently rages with envy over the sight of a colleagues new business card, when he tells a date that she will be ordering the peanut-butter soup with smoked duck (before quickly adding that New York Matinee called it a playful but mysterious little dish), he is conjuring a certain type of man vain, jealous, absurdly petty, materially wealthy but culturally bankrupt, and above all else, obsessed with what other people think. In the New York of the 1980s, that personality reached its apotheosis in the form of the young, glamorous Donald Trump. Yes, glamorous. Before he was an overripe orange spewing conspiracy theories, he was tall, lean and blond, with dazzling white teeth, a playboy who belonged to the most elegant clubs, as the New York Times gushed in 1976. American Psychos relationship to Trump doesnt end with Batemans emulation of the man. Over the years, as Trumps stature has risen to previously unimaginable heights, so has the films. At the time of its release, it polarized critics, earning a few positive reviews but also wide condemnation. Even people who liked it wouldnt have considered it an important film, Harron told me in a recent interview. Now it regularly appears on lists of the greatest horror films of the 21st century. Looking back, it can be seen as an eerily prescient skewering of the social conditions that allowed Trump to get to where he is now. Throughout the movie, Bateman is desperate to confess his crimes, but no one will listen. When he tells a model at a nightclub that he works in murders and executions, she tells him, eyes glazed over with boredom, that the guys she knows who work in mergers and acquisitions really dont like it. When he tells his lawyer that hes killed 20 or maybe 40 people, the guy thinks its a joke. (The real punch line is that Batemans lawyer doesnt recognize him, confusing him for one of his look-alike colleagues a pervasive face-blindness that seems to afflict most of the characters in the story.) In the end, even the detective investigating one of the murders, played with brilliant ambiguity by Willem Dafoe, is cheerfully determined not to finger Bateman as the suspect. Bateman is psychotic, but so is the culture that surrounds him. Every person he encounters is so insanely self-absorbed, so consumed by their own quests for status and wealth, that they arent just indifferent to his murderous rampage; they refuse to acknowledge it. Rewatching the film, you may find yourself thinking of a claim Trump made while he was running for president: I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and wouldnt lose any voters, okay? (Trump was making a point about loyalty, which is where the similarities between Trump and Bateman end. No one pretends to be loyal to Bateman; most people cant remember his name.) But the fanatical self-absorption that Trump represented in the 80s has only strengthened its grip on American life since then, a fact thats never been clearer than in recent weeks, as Trump and his friends, many of them products of the very institutions that gave rise to Wall Streets culture of unfettered greed in the 1980s, have used the greatest crisis of our time to funnel staggering sums of money into the coffers of the worlds wealthiest companies. Meanwhile, the body count is rising. But you cant say that we werent warned. Bateman told us in the starkest terms that we were living in a world of murderous greed and indifference. Of course we were incapable of hearing it. That was Harrons whole point. This confession, as Bateman concluded at the end of the film, has meant nothing. This Friday, beginning at 7 p.m. ET, lets all revisit Harrons film for Vultures latest Friday Night Movie club. Ill be livetweeting, but first, Ive got to return some videotapes. American Psycho is available to rent on Amazon Prime, iTunes, Google Play, YouTube, and Vudu, and is available to stream with a subscription to Cinemax. WASHINGTON - For weeks, the Trump administration played up the dangers of the coronavirus as it sought to convince Americans to disrupt their lives and stay home. Now, as President Donald Trump aims for a swift nationwide reopening, he faces a new challenge: convincing people it's safe to come out and resume their normal lives. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 22/4/2020 (630 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. FILE - In this April 14, 2020, file photo, California Gov. Gavin Newsom gestures during a news conference at the Governor's Office of Emergency Services in Rancho Cordova, Calif. On Wednesday, April 22, Gov. Newsom is scheduled to give an update on the six indicators state officials are watching to determine when they might loosen the state's stay-at-home order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, Pool, File) WASHINGTON - For weeks, the Trump administration played up the dangers of the coronavirus as it sought to convince Americans to disrupt their lives and stay home. Now, as President Donald Trump aims for a swift nationwide reopening, he faces a new challenge: convincing people it's safe to come out and resume their normal lives. Its a defining question for a cloistered nation and a political imperative for Trump, whose reelection likely rides on the pace of an economic rebound. Can the country move beyond a crippling fear of the virus and return to some modified version of its old routines, doing what's possible to mitigate the risk of COVID-19, but acknowledging it may be a fact of life for years to come? Residents practice social distancing as they queue for donated food during the coronavirus pandemic in a slum area in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, April 22, 2020. Indonesian President Joko Widodo has banned people from returning to their hometowns to celebrate the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday amid warnings from health experts that the country could face an explosion of coronavirus cases unless the government takes stricter measures. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara) We need to create the kind of confidence in America that makes it so that everybody goes back to work, said Kevin Hassett, a White House adviser and former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers. And that confidence is going to require testing and confidence that your workplace is a healthy place, but also confidence in the economy. At the White House, officials believe theyve entered a new chapter of the pandemic response, moving from crisis mode to sustained mitigation and management. It began last Thursday with the release of guidelines to governors for how to safely reopen their states. Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence celebrated Americans for successfully flattening the curve of the epidemic. A day later, a phalanx of the administrations top medical officials sought to reassure the nation that there were plenty of tests available to safely begin easing restrictions. A woman wearing a handmade protective screen looks at a shop in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, April 22, 2020, as the lockdown to combat the spread of coronavirus continues. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) Governors have been lifting restrictions each day since then, including aggressive moves announced Wednesday in Montana and Oklahoma. The Montana governor gave schools the green light to open their doors in early May, and Oklahoma will allow salons, barbershops, spas and pet groomers to reopen Friday. Trump, in his evening press conference, did take issue with Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemps bold reopening plans. I disagree strongly, he said. I think its too soon. The governors' moves coincided with lingering bleak news around the country. The death toll in Massachusetts eclipsed 2,000 on Wednesday, doubling from just a week earlier. About 16,000 people remained hospitalized across New York. A meat plant in Iowa that is vital to the nations pork supply is the latest slaughterhouse to shut down because of outbreak. With the economy in for a long, brutal slump, Congress was on the verge of passing an almost $500 billion relief bill to bolster small businesses. Trump flatly promised Americans that there will no repeat of the national lockdown. We will not go through what we went through for the last two months, he said. Youngsters play in the sand Tuesday, April 21, 2020, in Huntington Beach, Calif. Warm temperatures are predicted for Southern California by the end of the week. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson) Its a sharp shift in rhetoric after Trump and allies stressed the threat of an invisible enemy to persuade people to abide by social distancing recommendations. The American people have also been scarred by the daunting death toll and images of body bags piled up in refrigerated trailers. Moving from fear to acceptance will take confidence in government, medical professionals and businesses at a time when faith in those institutions is low. White House aides say restoring confidence will require the same whole-of-America approach that slowed the virus spread. Its one thing for government to say, OK, its safe to go out,' New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, said Tuesday. If people dont believe its safe, theyre not going to go. While there have been isolated protests in states aimed at lifting aggressive stay-at-home measures, most Americans dont believe it will be safe to ease the restrictions anytime soon, according to a new survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Galina Hooge owner of a small stationery and toy store poses for a photo behind plexiglass, to protect against the coronavirus, in her shop in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, April 22, 2020. Galina Hooge opened her store for the first time in over a month, welcomed the loosening of restrictions, but remained wary. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber) Trump predicted earlier this month that the economy would take off like a rocket ship once we get back to business. But experts say the recovery will be far slower. Itll be a very gradual process regardless of what a governor says or the president says, said Dr. Robert Blendon, a Harvard professor of health policy and political analysis. He said the history of lockdowns, particularly the quarantine of more than 25,000 people around Toronto in 2003 to slow the spread of SARS, shows that it will take weeks, even months, for people to develop the confidence to resume normal activity. Blendon also warned that a predicted second wave of COVID-19 could reverse any gains made in the interim. Its not just government, but individual businesses that will need to convince employees and consumers that its safe to return, once they decide to reopen. Protesters drive by in a convertible car during a rally calling for an end to California Gov. Gavin Newsom's stay-at-home orders amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Wednesday, April 22, 2020, outside of City Hall in downtown Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian on Wednesday warned his employees to be prepared for a choppy, sluggish recovery even after the virus is contained. The White House expects businesses will advertise to the public about the safety measures they are putting in place when they reopen, said Larry Kudlow, the director of the National Economic Council. He said the White House is also considering asking Congress to provide liability protection for employers in case their workers or customers fall sick. We want small businesses to have some confidence that if they do reopen, theyll stay open, Kudlow said. The outbreak has infected over 2.5 million people and killed about 180,000 around the world, including more than 45,000 in the U.S., according to a tally compiled by Johns Hopkins University from official government figures, though the true numbers are believed to be far higher. Mark Schlesinger, a Yale professor of health policy, said its going to take time for people to re-equilibrate emotionally, and its very hard to predict how long. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump participate in a tree planting ceremony to celebrate Earth Day, on the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, April 22, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) For lots of reasons we put people on a state of heightened anxiety," he said. So even if people who are worried about their economic situation want to get back to work, its less clear whether consumers who would go to a restaurant or a store or the doctors office will change their behaviour, he said. There may be permanent behavioural changes in how people do business and interact as a society. Trump hosted Cuomo in the Oval Office on Tuesday, viewing it as opportunity to win over one of the most trusted voices on the virus response about the nations ability to conduct enough tests to ensure it has a handle on the matter. Trump agreed to work with Cuomo to double his states testing capacity, believing that if the administration can earns the buy-in of Cuomo, other governors across the state will follow. President Donald Trump speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, Wednesday, April 22, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Cuomo announced Wednesday that he is is enlisting former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg to help create a massive tracing army that will find infected people and get them into isolation, a move toward building confidence among leery Americans. At the White House, the administration is adjusting its posture away from drastic containment measures to managing virus flareups and bottlenecks in testing or supplies. And officials hope to use the daily White House briefings to inundate Americans with facts and figures on testing and therapeutics, blanketing television with graphics of flattening and declining curves and statistics on the number of testing kits available. White House officials also are planning to step up travel in coming weeks as a visual representation of reopening. Pence has travelled to Colorado and Wisconsin in recent days, and Trump is pushing aides to get him back on the road. There are still plenty of caution flags. Stay informed The latest updates on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 delivered to your inbox every weeknight. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Theres a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield told The Washington Post in an interview Tuesday. Were going to have the flu epidemic and the coronavirus epidemic at the same time. Weve got to be very careful, Trump said Tuesday of a potential second wave, which in some predictions could hit just weeks before the November elections. We dont want that to happen; it could happen. I think we stamp it out if it does happen. Instead, White House aides hope that people accept a new normal that envisions short-term disruptions when there are COVID-19 cases, causing routine week-long school or office closures but not panic. But Blendon said, "People will watch the cases and listen to the major public health leaders, and if theres a conflict, that will slow things even greater. ___ Follow AP coverage of the pandemic at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak Indian pharmaceutical companies, the well-known for producing affordable low-cost medicines, will play an important role in the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic that has affected over 2.5 million people across the world, India's top diplomat here has said. India's Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu also underlined that as global strategic partners, India and the US are prepared to face this public health crisis together. India, one of the largest producers of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, has seen a spurt in demand in recent weeks. India has sent the drug to over 50 countries over the last few days, including the United States, he said on Tuesday. Hydroxychloroquine has been identified by the US Food and Drug Administration as a possible treatment for the COVID-19 and it is being tested on more than 1,500 coronavirus patients in New York. "Indian pharmaceutical companies are global leaders in producing affordable low-cost medicines and will play an important role in the fight against this pandemic, Sandhu said in his virtual conversation with Asia Society Policy Institute Senior Fellow Puneet Talwar. In fact, India and the US have robust partnership in the area of health and scientific research, which will be critical in the fight against this disease that has killed over 171,000 people and affected over 2.5 million globally. "Perhaps the most successful tangible example of our successful bilateral cooperation in recent years was the development of the rotavirus vaccine, which saves thousands of lives every year, he said. Rotavirus vaccine is a vaccine used to protect against rotavirus infections, which are the leading cause of severe diarrhea among young children. "Our network of scientific institutions, including the Indian Council of Medical Research and NIH (National Institute of Health) and the CDC (Center for Disease Control) in the US are in touch with each other. This is part of our longstanding cooperation, which has been energised in the context of this pandemic, Sandhu said. Indian and the US companies are also collaborating in the co-development of a vaccine. The US India Science and Technology Endowment Fund has called for proposals that would enable scientists to collaborate, to carry out joint research and to also work towards the development of new technologies, to fight COVID-19. Observing that the shape of the world that will emerge from the pandemic may be unfamiliar, he said we need to navigate through this crisis through a coordinated response and individual countries need to rely on their strengths. As global strategic partners India and the US are prepared to face this together. We are ready to deploy a full sprint of our partnership to fight this pandemic as Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) has said, Sandhu added. The outbreak of coronavirus is an unprecedented challenge in an increasingly interconnected world. The US has been badly affected by the deadly coronavirus as it has claimed 45,000 lives and infected over 824,000 people in the country. The rapid spread of virus across the globe in a relatively short period of time showed that the virus was ahead of us, he said, noting that governments across the world are making efforts to slow the spread and flatten the curve so that the medical infrastructure is not overburdened. Responding to a question, Sandhu said that given the transnational nature of this pandemic and India's responsibility as a first responder in the region, which it has always done in the time of crisis, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the initiative to invite the other seven South Asian country leaders for a video conference on March 15. The prime minister took the initiative to establish a SAARC emergency response fund with an initial contribution of USD 10 million from India. This has since become operational, he said, adding that all the other countries have also contributed subsequently. Nepal and Afghanistan pledged USD 1 million each, Maldives committed USD 200,000, Bhutan USD 100,000, Bangladesh USD 1.5 million, Sri Lanka USD 5 million and Pakistan pledged USD 3 million to the fund. Founded in 1985, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation and geopolitical union of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. We are working to create a SAARC platform and we are regularly sharing ideas and proposals for diagnostics and medical interventions with other countries, he said. In the extraordinary virtual G-20 summit, Prime Minister Modi had taken the initiative and has also underlined the responsibility of the G-20 countries in combating this disease, he said. Canadian-American actor, Joshua Jackson and his wife, model, and actress Jodie Turner-Smith have welcomed their first child together. The couples baby arrived on 21 April 2020, after Queen & Slim star Jodie revealed they were expecting a daughter. Joshuas spokesperson confirmed the happy news to Metro UK, adding: Both mother and baby are happy and healthy. Jodie, 33, and Joshua, 41, were reported to have tied the knot in a secret ceremony in 2019. Neither of the actors has confirmed or denied their secret wedding, but the actress said in an interview: People are assuming whatever they want, but when people tell me Congratulations, I say Thank you. Lt. Col. Staci Coleman remembers the impact of the first missiles hitting Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, in the dark evening hours of Jan. 7. "The blast waves could be felt throughout the entire body," she said. Like others hunkered down at the base, Coleman remembers thinking about her family, contacting them just to say, "I love you," after being warned of the incoming attack. Dozens of ballistic missiles would later rain down on the base, where U.S. and Iraqi troops trained together. Coleman, commander of the 443rd Air Expeditionary Squadron, is one of 24 U.S. airmen whose eyewitness accounts of the attacks were published this week by U.S. Air Forces Command. The accounts include those who were stationed at Erbil Air Base, Camp Taji and Camp Manion -- all of which were impacted by the blasts. The attacks were in retaliation for a Jan. 3 U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian Quds Force commander Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani. Related: Number of Troops Diagnosed with TBI After Iran Missile Attack Rises to 109 Early reports suggested no Americans were harmed in the strikes; however, the Pentagon repeatedly amended its statement regarding injuries, later confirming that dozens of troops experienced concussion-like symptoms. In total, 110 troops suffered mild traumatic brain injuries, the Pentagon said in February. Last week, Defense Department spokesman Lt. Col. Thomas Campbell told Military.com that number has not increased. A majority of the afflicted troops -- roughly 70% -- had returned to duty in Iraq as of Feb. 21, he said, including some who were transported to Germany for evaluation and treatment. Additional data was not provided. 'A Whole Lot of Gut' Earlier that night, Coleman had to decide which members of her team needed to stay behind, despite not knowing what the incoming attack would bring. "I was deciding who would live and who would die. I didn't believe anyone would survive a ballistic missile attack, and it made me feel sick and helpless," she said. A handful of airmen profiled in the feature recalled being briefed at 8 p.m. local time for possible "threats of chemical, biological or ballistic missiles" that allegedly would hit the base between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. But no one was completely sure what was coming. Capt. Adella Ramos, 443rd AES airfield operations flight commander, said the "life or death decisions" team leaders like Coleman were making were "based on little information, and a whole lot of gut." "No one quite understood the magnitude of what we might be facing," she said. "We trusted our flight commanders, and they trusted us," added Maj. Johnathan Jordan, director of operations for the 443rd. Jordan, who worked directly with Coleman, took 80 troops to safety while 80 remained behind. He attempted to ease the tension with lighthearted jokes on board the C-130 Hercules transport en route to the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing headquarters in the region. But in the back of his mind, he said he was thinking about "the fact we might have to identify bodies and lay our friends to rest" when they got back after it was over. Powerful Explosions One airman, who remained anonymous, said nothing could prepare him for incursion -- not the ringing in his ears, nor the "blurred mix of emotions and chaos." "Bomb after bomb shook us for what felt like all night," the airman said. Gunshots rang out at one point, causing the airman to think the group was under attack from enemy forces infiltrating the base. Instead, a missile blast had sparked an ammunition storage fire, "causing the rounds to cook off," he said. Meanwhile, security forces airmen from the 443rd AES were making welfare checks on personnel, the aircraft flight line and base shelters before and after the missiles hit. One struck just 100 meters from their position as they sat in a military all-terrain vehicle (MATV), the group said in their combined account. Even with incoming missiles, the security forces had to act: They had seen Army personnel scrambling to get out of a perimeter guard tower after it caught fire from one of the strikes. The airmen used the MATV to ram into nearby HESCO defensive barriers, knocking debris over to create a bridge over concertina wire and allow the troops to escape the tower. "A few of us held the defensive position to maintain perimeter security, while the rest of us quickly checked over the soldiers for any serious injuries," the airmen said. Before the last eight missiles hit, the anonymous airman said he was thinking about his daughters and began quietly singing, "You are my sunshine," just like they often ask him to do when he is home. "I had fully accepted that I would die in that shelter with my team," the airman said. "I have never been so happy to see the sunrise." Read more from the troops' firsthand accounts on the Iranian missile attack here. -- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214. Read more: President Trump Orders Navy to 'Destroy' Iranian Boats that Harass US Vessels Blue whales swim to the surface to feed on krill as it helps them to conserve energy, according to a new study that involved amazing drone footage of the mammals. Experts from Oregon State University found that feeding on the ocean's surface plays an important role in the hunt for food among New Zealand blue whales. Blue whales are the largest mammals on Earth and have to carefully balance the cost of energy they get from food with the cost of energy used in getting the food. Researchers say the marine mammals forage for krill in areas where they are densely packed and found near the surface of the water to cut their dive time. The Oregon team found that the blue whales do this to conserve on the energetic costs of feeding such as diving, holding their breath or opening their mouths. Adding to the challenge, their prey are tiny and so they must find and eat large volumes of the small crustaceans to make any energetic headway. Study author Dr Leigh Torres, an assistant professor at Oregon State University, said: 'People think about whales having to dive deep to get to the densest prey patches. 'But if they can find their prey in shallow waters, it's actually more energetically profitable to feed near the surface,' Torres said. Blue whales swim to the surface to feed on krill as it helps them to conserve energy, according to a new study that involved amazing drone footage of the mammals 'In this population of whales in New Zealand, they foraged more in areas where their prey was dense and shallow. 'Their dives were relatively short, and they were feeding more at the surface, which requires less energy.' Tags placed on blue whales record where they travel and their diving patterns - providing researchers with the bulk of their knowledge on the marine creatures. Until now, surface feeding was not as well understand - partly because it is harder to analyse tag data and quantify the size of prey patches at the water's surface. During a field research trip to study blue whales off the coast of New Zealand, Dr Torres and her team observed surface feeding from their boat. They were also able to capture drone footage of the feeding used in the study. Blue whales are the largest mammals on Earth and grow to a maximum of 98 feet Blue whales grow to a staggering 98 feet and weigh up to 190 tons. Not only are they the largest mammals on Earth but are the second largest animal known to have ever existed. The marine mammal has a long and slender body and is a part of the baleen whale order. Blue whales are listed as endangered in terms of conservation status due to hunting from whaling. They are found in the eastern north Pacific, central north Pacific, north Atlantic and Antarctic oceans as well as near New Zealand, the northern Indian Ocean and Chile. They can swim at about 4.6 miles per hour but average about 1.68 miles per hour but when chased can reach up to 30 miles per hour. Advertisement The researchers noted that the density of krill patches was greater closer to the water's surface and the likely reason the whales picked those areas to feed. Findings revealed New Zealand blue whales had relatively short dive times overall of around 2.5 minutes- compared to other blue whale populations which can see dive times of more than 10 minutes. The dive time of New Zealand blue whales dropped even more - to less than two minutes - when surface foraging was observed by drone footage. The video shows the mammal's feeding process including decision-making about whether or not to eat patches of krill near the ocean's surface. It also gave researchers another source of data to describe surface feeding behaviour in marine mammals. Co-author Dawn Barlow, a doctoral student in Dr Torres' lab, said the footage fills a gap in scientists understanding of surface feeding. Through the footage, researchers were able to see how the whale used its right eye to target the prey before going in for the kill. They were also able to quantify the distance from the whale to the prey and measure how widely the whale opened its mouth to feed. Blue whales are the largest mammals on Earth and have to carefully balance the cost of energy they get from food with the cost of energy used in getting the food The video also showed the whale's decision to rotate from one side to the other to better capture the krill. 'The video allows us to describe a lot of really cool kinematics and body movement coordination by the whale that we haven't been able to see before,' said Torres. 'The footage also allowed us to see the prey response in new way. We can see when the krill begin to flee as the whale approaches, which is really amazing. 'At the whale's fastest speed and acceleration, the krill begin to jump away just eight tenths of a second before the whale strikes at the krill patch.' Though the researchers had surface feeding footage from just one whale, the footage included four encounters between that whale and surface prey patches. It provides insight into decision-making processes by the whale in response to the size and orientation of the prey patches. 'This footage highlights the value of using drones for study and observation of whales,' said Torres. 'Drone footage could be a good complement to data collected from tags for studying surface behaviours of whales.' Findings were published in the journal Peer. On May 1, when Ohio begins to reopen for business, the cautious, limited details provided so far by Gov. Mike DeWine suggest itll be more like a slow slog toward normalcy instead of a sprint. One reason: the risk of a spike in coronavirus cases by a too-enthusiastic, too-fast reopening of the economy. Yet there appears to be a critical blind spot. DeWine confirmed Monday that Ohio schools will remain closed this spring -- but that we are not ready yet to open up any day care facilities. Without a child care solution, efforts to get Ohioans back to work will be significantly hobbled. The challenge is compounded by the possibility that many, if not most, summer day camps wont be operating, either. What is a parent to do? DeWine wasnt able to offer any answers to that question when pressed by reporters Monday. The governor just said, We have not reached that yet," presumably meaning that the planning for day care for parents and guardians whose employers expect them to show up for work hasnt been done. It better be. Asked if the state was expecting nonworking relatives or grandparents to be the substitute caregivers, DeWine instead cautioned against using older folks to child-sit given their heightened risk of COVID-19 complications. So what is the solution? DeWine acknowledged that Ohio did come up with a day care plan for front-line health care workers -- a plan that included rigorous requirements for special day cares the state has allowed to operate to care for those workers children during the coronavirus crisis -- but he also suggested the restrictions were sufficiently stringent and difficult to meet as to not provide a universal solution. But a solution is needed -- for equity reasons, to protect workers jobs and to ensure the fastest economic emergence from this coronavirus downtown. In Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, those schools that were slowest to reopen tended to be in neighborhoods where recovery also was slowest. Thats not proof that a solution for kids equates to a solution for recovery, but its suggestive that this is a jobs issue, not just a child-care issue. A solution, of course, must also involve local political, business and community leaders working together to come up with imaginative but safe solutions for our children. Its also a challenge for lawmakers designing recovery funding strategies, as well. Child care is the most obvious but not the only outstanding question about what Ohios post-May 1 reopening plans actually entail. Given the level of anxiety in some quarters, especially among those most susceptible to serious COVID-19 complications, and the chomping at the bit to get going in others, DeWine needs to fill in the gaps soon. Community buy-in to the states strategy is going to be critical to keep the reopening process from becoming a runaway train. State Health Director Dr. Amy Acton on Monday used a graphic from the 1918 flu pandemic in St. Louis -- a city widely lauded for its 1918 pandemic response -- to show how, after flattening the curve and then relaxing restrictions, St. Louis saw a mini-spike before it got things back under control. A similar uncontrolled rush to reopen in Ohio would risk not just unnecessary deaths but also a drop in public confidence, which itself could retard recovery. DeWine and Acton said Tuesday that the how-to of reopening businesses that rely on up-close-and-personal, like beauty salons, is front and center in their current deliberations. The goal is to open the state slowly but get as many people back to work with the least health damage," DeWine added. So this is a balance, this is a high-wire act, this is not easy. And thats why were trying to do it very carefully. May 1 will not be back to normal, DeWine said, "unless we want to just throw caution to the wind and proceed carelessly, recklessly. No one wants reckless. But Ohioans want details. And working moms and dads absolutely will need child care; thats more critical than haircuts, and must be a sine qua non of any recovery plans. About our editorials: Editorials express the view of the editorial board of cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer -- the senior leadership and editorial-writing staff. As is traditional, editorials are unsigned and intended to be seen as the voice of the news organization. Have something to say about this topic? * Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication. * Email general questions about our editorial board or comments or corrections on this editorial to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com. President Donald Trump has ordered Chevron to start "winding down" its oil production in Venezuela in the latest increase in pressure against the Maduro government in Caracas. The AP reports that Chevron has invested some $2.6 billion in field development and equipment in Venezuela over the last hundred years and is to date the only U.S. oil company that Washington has allowed to continue operating in the country. Yet this may soon end, as Trump seeks to tighten the noose around the Maduro government's neck further. The United States government has granted Chevron a series of exemptions from sanctions against Venezuela. With the current state of the oil industry, however, along with the push for maximum pressure on Caracas, these may end soon. If that happens, the company would be obliged to write down its investments in Venezuela. Chevron's last extension for its Venezuela operations expires today. Chevron operates a joint venture with Venezuela's PDVSA in the country that is home to the world's most abundant oil resources. Petroboscan, the joint venture, produced around 200,000 bpd as of October, with Chevron's share of this at 34,000 bpd. The U.S. supermajor holds a 30-percent stake in the venture. In March, the output of Petroboscan fell by more than 50 percent to 50,000 bpd from as much as 120,000 bpd just three months later. Until recently, Chevron was not so willing to take that asset writeoff on its Venezuelan operations. The company argued that if it leaves the country, it will create a void that will be filled by Russian and Chinese companies, which would, Chevron said, harm U.S. geopolitical interests in Venezuela. Now, the supermajor may be more willing to stop pumping oil in the South American country with oil prices off a cliff and little hope for a quick recovery. Meanwhile, reports have emerged that the Maduro government is negotiating with the opposition; although details are not available, the fact of the talks suggests that both sides are worried about their survival amid the coronavirus outbreak, which has exacerbated an already dramatic economic and political situation. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: My toddler face-planted on the asphalt in front of our house, and my sobs over the tumble lasted longer than his. My husband blamed the fall on the new shoes Id shoved onto Leos little feet, a pair of oversize neon monstrosities that Id found online. More mom tears. Later as Leo slept, we nervously watched him and his forehead bruise on the baby monitor. Oh boy, here it comes again. Waterworks. Is anyone else a mess? Because Im a mess. The knot that always lives in my stomach, the one I treat with all sorts of therapy, my 12-step community and medication, has been growing. Its pushing on my heart, my lungs, down on my insides like I ate too much anxiety. This pandemic is taking its toll on my mental health. And Im not alone. My social media feeds are peppered with true confessions of fellow sufferers. A famous author whom I admire posted a photo of her hands, cracked and bloodied from excessive, terrified scrubbing. Her obsessive-compulsive disorder, usually kept at bay with cognitive behavior therapy, is emerging with fervor. Another friend, a social butterfly who is unpartnered and without children, now struggles with loneliness. A recent message from her read simply, I cried a lot today. On a good day, when the planet isnt under house arrest, my insides are a scramble of fear, anxiety and stress while my busy, happy life circles around me like a wind tunnel full of dollar bills I just cant catch. I manage, and often thrive, with a collection of hard-learned tools acquired over decades of self-work. None of those tools come with in case of global pandemic instructions. One day at a time is tough when there is no end in sight. Today, and yesterday and the days before that, stress starts the moment I open my eyes. Oh God, another day. Another dozen hours of dropping balls while I work from home and Leo, my innocent, curly-haired cherub, languishes in front of a televised collection of Australians who call themselves the Wiggles. The times I devote to Leo our permitted walks, our stories and the used train set my husband found on eBay never feel like enough. It breaks my heart to say this, but I count the hours until its time for his dinner, then his bath, and then bed. Our hikes, once the highlight of Leos and my afternoon, now serve as another time killer. I dont sing to him as much as I used to. I dread the sound of Leo waking up from his nap. I feel like Im failing him. Sleep offers little reprieve. Ive been having the weirdest, teeth-grinding dreams, and none of them fun. In a recent nightmare, noted actor Vince Vaughn lectured me on being a less-than-ideal participant in our apparent polyamorous relationship. (I now hate Vince Vaughn.) Other nights, I dreamed that people I love are sick. I dreamed that I got in an awful fight with my husband. I dreamed that Leo was lost. Then theres the guilt. Weve got it good right now, with jobs and health for the time being. I have no concrete excuse for the knot in my stomach or the tears in my eyes. Why am I, safe and sound with my son, so sad? 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. I have no wisdom around this, no comfort to offer anyone else other than to say that if you too are struggling, we are not alone. Not really, not in the grand scheme of things. A quick Google search confirms that wow, lots of us are enduring a very tough time. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, there is a global dip in emotional well-being. The Centers for Disease Control even has a section devoted to Mental Health and Coping with COVID-19. There are pockets of joy, for sure, and I try to hang on to them tightly. Yesterday my husband installed a bidet toilet seat. He described his inaugural use of it as exhilarating. Its the hardest Ive laughed in weeks. And last week my son, a mostly happy trouper as we shelter in place, indicated he wanted to be picked up. He wrapped his chubby little arms around my neck, squished his ruby lips together and kissed me on purpose. In that moment, I was Snow White awakened by a tiny prince. Remember this, I told myself. Remember this tomorrow when we wake up and do another day. Beth Spotswoods column appears Thursdays in Datebook. Email: datebook@sfchronicle.com Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 11:40:30|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close GUANGZHOU, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Multinational oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil Wednesday broke ground on its solely-funded chemical complex in Huizhou, southern China's Guangdong Province. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a special "cloud ceremony" was held online with video connections linking the Huizhou Dayawan Petrochemical Industrial Park, and places in Beijing and Dallas. The complex, with a total investment of about 10 billion U.S. dollars, will be built in two phases. The first phase with a 1.6 million tonne-per-year ethylene cracker and down-stream production equipment is scheduled to be completed by 2023 when construction on the second phase will begin. An annual operating income of 39 billion yuan (5.5 billion U.S. dollars) is expected when the first phase reaches designed capacity. Enditem President Donald Trump vowed to sign Wednesday an order partially blocking immigration to the United States, as health experts warned a second US coronavirus wave could be even more destructive. Trump said his action was being taken "to protect American workers" after 22 million people lost their jobs in the United States alone in the devastating economic backlash sparked by unprecedented measures taken to halt the spread of the virus. And the United Nations warned that the world is facing a "a humanitarian catastrophe" with millions on the brink of starvation. Nations around the world have been scrambling to fight the pandemic -- which has killed almost 178,000 people and infected more than 2.5 million worldwide -- while desperately seeking ways to limit the colossal damage inflicted on the global economy. US President Donald Trump says he wants 'to protect American workers'. By MANDEL NGAN (AFP) Worst-hit region Europe saw its death toll climb to another grim milestone of 110,000, with Spain reporting a slight increase for a second day running in the number of people who succumbed to the disease. But Germany, which this week cautiously began allowing shops to reopen, offered another glimpse of hope when it approved the launch of trials on human volunteers for a vaccine. The trial, which was only the fourth to have been authorised worldwide, was a "significant step" in making a vaccine "available as soon as possible", regulator the Paul Ehrlich Institut said. 'Brink of starvation' But with months to go before a viable vaccine can be rolled out, more than half of humanity remains under some form of lockdown. The 3 Ts of COVID-19: testing, tracking, tracing. By Gal ROMA (AFP) Singapore extended its confinement for a month to June 1, as the Asian city-state which managed to keep its outbreak in check early on is hit by the onslaught of second wave of infections. The director of the US Centers for Disease Control also warned Americans to prepare for a more ferocious second wave. "There's a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through," Robert Redfield told the Washington Post. People line up in the Indian city of Hyderabad to receive free food distributed by a Hindu group during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown. By NOAH SEELAM (AFP) With businesses shuttered and millions of jobs lost, the world is facing its worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, and the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) said it would hit the least privileged the hardest. "I want to stress that we are not only facing a global health pandemic, but also a global humanitarian catastrophe," WFP executive director David Beasley told the UN Security Council Tuesday. "Millions of civilians living in conflict-scarred nations... face being pushed to the brink of starvation." The WFP warned that the number of people suffering from acute hunger was projected to nearly double to 265 million this year. 'Nobody says goodbye' Standing in line in Bangkok's historic quarter for food donations of rice, noodles, milk and curry packets, Chare Kunwong, a 46-year-old masseur said: "If I wait for the government's aid then I'll be dead first." Workers wearing protective gear bury an unclaimed COVID-19 victim, at a municipal cemetery in Tijuana, Mexico. By Guillermo Arias (AFP) Among the hardest hit economically were also millions of migrant workers from South Asia and elsewhere who toil in the Middle East to send money back home to their families. The pandemic shutdowns mean even their bodies cannot be sent home, and are instead being buried or cremated in the country where they die -- often without any loved ones present. "Nobody comes anymore, nobody touches, nobody says goodbye," said Ishwar Kumar, manager of a Hindu cremation ground in Dubai. Before the pandemic, people would come "to grieve and bring flowers. Now they die alone". 'Wrong and unjust' In the United States, Trump said he would stop the issuing of green cards for 60 days, but exempt temporary workers such as seasonal farm laborers. A man stands at the entrance to his shop in downtown Yangon, Myanmar. By Sai Aung Main (AFP) "It will help put unemployed Americans first in line for jobs as America reopens," he said. "It would be wrong and unjust for Americans to be replaced with immigrant labor flown in from abroad." The US -- with nearly 45,000 deaths and more than 800,000 coronavirus infections -- is the hardest-hit country, and healthcare infrastructure in major hotspots such as New York City has struggled to cope. Furious over the devastating epidemic, the US state of Missouri sued China's leadership, seeking damages over what it described as deliberate deception and insufficient action to stop the pandemic. Passengers wear facemasks against the spread of coronavirus on the Panama City metro. By Luis ACOSTA (AFP) The first-of-its-kind state lawsuit comes amid calls in Congress to punish China and a campaign by Trump to focus on Beijing's role as he faces criticism over his own handling of the crisis. It also sparked an angry rebuke from Beijing over what it described as an "absurd" claim. Away from the diplomatic barbs, doctors and nurses at the frontlines of the war against the pandemic voiced desperation at the endless fight. "The same thing every day... is draining," said Heather Isola, a physician assistant in New York. "What is it going to do to us? The anxieties, the PTSD, the experience of death and dying. Most people haven't seen death and dying like this." burs-hmn/tgb/txw A Limerick City school has told its students they will not be expected to sit the Junior Cert assessments in September. This is to ease the pressure on them. Laurel Hill Colaiste is one of a number of schools to tell students in recent days that they will not be expected to wait for the school-based assessments, due to take place early in the next school year. Instead, the school will continue with its own assessments over the coming weeks. The all-girls, non-fee-paying gaelcholaiste has topped the Sunday Times annual school league table for the last six years. We would be recognised as a high-achieving school, but the wellbeing of our students would be the most important thing, said Marinella Raftery, the schools vice-principal. The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. Students and parents have been very grateful for the clarity, said Ms Raftery. It was a decision taken in the interest, overall, of the students wellbeing. It would be very unfair to expect them to spend the entire summer, until next September, preparing for exams or assessments, when they have already spent three years doing so. It would be too much to expect. We are still continuing with the teaching and learning. That is still going on. They will be prepared, said Ms Raftery. Students have been asked to take on three assignments in each subject, which they have until the end of term to do. The school will also take into consideration the classroom-based assessments each pupil completed during the year. We have received extremely positive responses from parents and from our students. There is just a huge sense of relief. Parents have thanked us for taking the pressure off the kids. I think it was just the uncertainty of it, said Ms Raftery. Because of the Covid-19 crisis, the written exams due to have taken place in June have been cancelled. The decision to replace them with classroom-based assessments come September was met with dismay by many students. Earlier in the week, Colaiste Bhaile Chlair, in Claregalway, became the first school to tell its pupils they would not have to wait to sit the assessments in September. Presentation Secondary School in Kilkenny has also told students that they will not be expected to take the state exams in September. We, as of now, do not know when we will be able to return and what format that school will take, said school principal Shane Halahan. Starting the new school year with exams for students will not serve any value to our school community. We do not wish to see students, over the summer months, caught up inside preparing for exams, worrying about when they might go ahead, if they go ahead. There is already huge stress in households and we wish to try and alleviate this in some way, said Mr Halahan. Students at Presentation Secondary School will sit an online exam that will account for 30% of their final grade. A further 40% of their grade will be an average of their performance in exams and project work to date. A further 20% of their grade will be based on their engagement with their teachers on Google Classroom, and a further 10% is still being established, but it may be more reflective, said Mr Halahan. The Irish Examiner understands that a number of other secondary schools plan on making similar announcements in the coming days. The Department of Education did not respond to a request for comment. Meanwhile, a 10m fund to help schools buy IT equipment so that children can learn at home during the Covid-19 pandemic has been launched by the Department of Education. Of this, 7m will be provided to secondary schools, while 3m will be allocated to the primary sector. [snippet1]987600[/snippet1] Thanks to translators, we, the foreign audience, get to understand our favorite Korean dramas and movies. And if you don't know how to write and speak Korean and have seen "Parasite," here is the person behind the subtitles of the critically-acclaimed movie. Darcy Paquet, the subtitle translator of the Oscar-winning film "Parasite," becomes Busan's honorary citizen for his substantial participation in the city's film education. Paquet, 48, met his wife Yeon Hyeon-sook and got married in 2001 and they have two sons. He is a native of Massachusetts and majored in Russian language at Carleton College, Minnesota. He then proceeded with his Master's Degree in Applied Linguistics at Indiana University. Paquet first came to Seoul in 1997 to teach the English language at Korea University. He needed a way to learn the language and culture, so watching movies became his hobby. He launched the film review site Koreanfilm.org in 1999 since nothing came up online when he was searching for information about Korean Films in English. Unexpectedly, his website became popular and started to get jobs in film magazine companies. His fascination with Korean films led him to meet the famous Bong Joon-ho when his friend turned down a job as a part-time copy editor at the Korean Film Council (KOFIC). Since then, he worked the translations with his wife or with friends until such time he worked independently. As an adjunct professor since 2017, he has delivered educational lectures at the International Film Business Academy of the Busan Asian Film School. Asian Film Industry and Cinema Genres are the courses he teaches. He has been guiding the films of students by discovering and educating promising students about films in Asia. According to the local government of Busan, the students of Paquet have been invited to the Cannes Film Festival, the Berlinale, and Venice Film Festival, and even won awards, thus, promoting the school, Busan Asian Film School, as well as the city in becoming Asia's film education hub. "Barking Dogs Never Bite" was Bong Joon-ho's first feature, where he asked Paquet to revise the English subtitle. From then on, Paquet mostly translates Bong Joon-ho's movies into English. Paquet has been quoted as one of the hidden heroes for deftly bridging the gap because of translating Korean dialogue for the English-speaking viewers. "Ram-don," Paquet's translation to "jjapaguri," was one of his best coinages, and even became an iconic dish of the movie. Mixing Chapaghetti, a popular ramyeon brand, and Neoguri, an udon noodle dish served in a spicy soup, is called "jjapaguri." Since "ramyeon" and "udon" are widely known, he came up with "ram-don." Paquet is also the author of "New Korean Cinema: Breaking the Waves" (2010). Through his efforts of introducing Korean Films, Paquet was awarded by the Korea Film Reporters Association Award at the 15th Busan International Film Festival in 2011. In 2014, Wildflower Film Awards Korea, an awards ceremony acknowledging the achievements of low-budget and independent films, was co-launched by Paquet. "The Handmaiden," "The Day After," and "The Age of Shadows" are among the movies that Pacquet translated English subtitles. Going back to "Parasite" subtitles, although the film has black humor, foreign viewers seem to laugh at all the right moment. After receiving the honorary citizen certificate, he quoted: "I am honored to be appointed as an honorary citizen of Busan. Busan is a great city to work in films. We will see Busan more often in international films when our students, who are the future of their country's movie industry, return to the city as producers." Founder of Nikola, Trevor Milton speaks during presentation of its new full-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell battery trucks in partnership with CNH Industrial, at an event in Turin, Italy December 2, 2019. Nikola, founded by Milton in 2014, makes electric hydrogen-fuel cell vehicles and trucks and is based in Phoenix, Arizona. The company recently announced a deal to go public by merging with VectoIQ, a publicly traded shell company founded by former GM Vice Chairman Steve Girsky. SEC filings show that Nikola Motor Company, founded and run by billionaire Trevor Milton, received $4.1 million in PPP funds from JP Morgan Chase. While the program was touted by the White House and members of Congress as a lifeline to small businesses and struggling employees, dozens of larger multi-billion-dollar companies received PPP funding. A 38-year-old billionaire who recently bought a $32 million ranch received funding for his truck company under the government's Paycheck Protection Program, according to filings. The deal valued Nikola at more than $3 billion and made Milton a billionaire based on his ownership stake. As part of the merger, the company will receive a capital infusion of more than $500 million from investors including Fidelity and ValueAct Capital. The deal has yet to close. In an interview on CNBC last month, ValueAct's Jeffrey Ubben said Nikola would eventually be a "$100 billion company" given its technology and potential. In the interview, Milton said the company had also just received an $800 million truck order from Anheuser-Busch and "is about to announce orders many times that." Nikola Motor, in a statement to CNBC, said the PPP funds act as a cash bridge to retain its 300 employees while the VectoIQ merger closes: "There's a difference between a high valuation and having cash," the company said. "Nikola is a pre-revenue company with a lot of expenses and burn rate is high," the company added. "Since PPP funds will be used to retain staff, the lifeline follows the spirit of the Act in that we're preserving high paying jobs." Last year, Milton shelled out $32.5 million for a 2,600-acre luxury ranch in Utah, where he grew up. The property has a 16,800 square-foot river-front mansion with eight bedrooms, 8.5 baths, a lofted billiards room, movie theater, wine cellar and gym. Milton has said his property-buying is only beginning. The company said he splits his time between Phoenix and Utah. "I plan on picking up multiple other properties like this one in order to preserve Utah and offer a sanctuary for my family, friends and others to enjoy," he wrote in an email to the website Mansion Global. "I feel like my generation is asset light, wants smaller everything and is moving to cities, which is the opposite of what I wanted in life." [April 21, 2020] Icon Group Committed to Uninterrupted Cancer Care in ASEAN SINGAPORE, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Patients in Singapore and the ASEAN region can now receive care as close to home as possible through Icon Cancer Centres' remote support services which include telemedicine and home delivery for medication. This service ensures minimal disruption to the care of cancer patients as the region battles COVID-19, alleviating immediate health concerns amidst travel restrictions for those whose cancer treatment has been affected. An award-winning oncology-focused healthcare group, Icon Cancer Centre in Singapore has extended its remote support services since 7th April 2020 to enable patients access to specialists and medication locally or overseas. Aside from remote support services out of Singapore, Icon has also extended care for cancer patients through its shared care network, enabling patients to be cared for in partner facilities across ASEAN. Icon's shared care network has been established over the years with partner clinicians and hospital facilities for patients who require urgent medical attention when they are at hme. This network offers peace of mind to patients and their family members during the challenges of COVID-19. Ms Serena Wee, CEO of Icon Cancer Centre, said that half the group's patients are from the region. "The travel restrictions have a big impact on their treatment. Hence, the urgency to offer alternative options of on-going care for our patients so that their care will be minimally interrupted." "Icon believes in collaborating with partners for our patients' best outcomes. We're always reaching out to partners to fulfil Icon's mission of providing access to the best care possible to as many people as possible, as close to home as possible. It is especially important during this pandemic." HOW IT WORKS: Telemedicine available with Icon doctors Home delivery of medication by prescription only Shared care network with Icon's overseas partners Application for medical waiver to travel to Singapore (subject to MOH Singapore's approval). (subject to MOH Singapore's approval). In-house translators in Mandarin, Bahasa and Vietnamese BENEFITS: Enable patients who are unable to travel access to Icon's Specialists and medication from Singapore . . Secure critical care for those who cannot postpone treatment, especially whilst in their home countries ABOUT US Icon Cancer Centre Singapore delivers comprehensive cancer care to patients via its centres in Singapore, Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong. Please visit www.iconcancercentre.sg MEDIA CONTACT: Joyce Tan Icon Cancer Centre - Singapore HP: +65 96417737 / [email protected] SOURCE Icon Cancer Centre [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Retired GPs who have volunteered to return to the NHS and fight the coronavirus pandemic say they haven't heard anything since applying last month. One frustrated former doctor said there had been a 'deafening silence' since they signed up, while another feels 'useless and unwanted'. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said almost 12,000 retired NHS staff are returning to the health service after the Government's plea for help. But it's not clear how many have actually reached the frontline since that figure was revealed on March 24. A former GP accused Mr Hancock of spinning 'a complete farce' and 'boasting' about the numbers of retired medics returning. NHS England apologised to retired GPs and suggested it was struggling to cope with paperwork for thousands of people. Retired GPs who have volunteered to return to the NHS and fight the coronavirus pandemic say they haven't heard anything since applying last month. Health Secretary Matt Hancock (pictured, April 21) said almost 12,000 retired NHS staff are returning to the health service Dr Jules Foster, a 59-year-old GP who has been retired for 18 months, said she had been waiting for four weeks to hear back and felt 'useless and unwanted' The Government formally launched the 'NHS needs you' campaign on 20 March, urging more than 65,000 former NHS workers to return. At the time there were around 3,300 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 144 people had died. Now, there are more than 130,000 cases and 18,000 deaths. The desperate call to the 'NHS army' was open to all clinical staff who had left the profession during the past three years. The General Medical Council (GMC) widened the search by extending its register, so that those who left the service between four and six years ago could return. It wrote to 15,500 doctors who have left the register since 2017, while the Nursing and Midwifery Council wrote to more than 50,000 nurses. Volunteers have to fill in forms so that they will can be appropriately posted to roles according to their career and skills. NHS England said on 12 April that almost 5,000 former staff, including doctors, nurses and midwives, have rejoined the NHS. A further 10,000 have 'completed checks'. But GPs have told Pulse Magazine they are still waiting to hear back about joining the coronavirus battle. Dr Foster slammed Mr Hancock for boasting about how many retired NHS workers were returning, calling it a 'complete farce' The desperate call to retired staff was to help current NHS workers dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. Pictured, an NHS worker wearing a protective mask outside Watford Hospital NHS WORKERS 'GIVEN FAULTY CORONAVIRUS TESTS' Thousands of NHS doctors and nurses may have been given inaccurate coronavirus tests, it has emerged. A leaked Public Health England document revealed testing centres had been told to stop using the kits because of 'quality assurance difficulties'. The memo warned the results were less reliable than initially thought - sparking fears for the near-100,000 NHS and social care workers who have been tested. It means thousands of them could have returned to work with vulnerable patients while still contagious. The document from April 11, seen by The Daily Telegraph, said the tests run by PHE and NHS laboratories had produced a few 'discordant results'. Scientists have been told to stop using them by tomorrow and switch to commercial kits. They must double-check all ambiguous results. Health officials at PHE insist the tests were not faulty and say the problem was that there were 'quality assurance difficulties' caused by shortages of swabs and transport. Experts said that PHE's approach - outsourcing all the different pieces of kit - leaves margin for error in the results, whereas tests used by commercial firms are more ready-made. PHE had previously boasted that it was one of the first in the world to produce a sensitive test and roll it out nationwide. Health officials said it found the test produced different results to alternative commercial tests in only 2 per cent of samples from one of the labs. Professor Sharon Peacock, of PHE's national infection service, said: 'No diagnostic test is 100 per cent sensitive. It is standard practice to move to commercial test kits once available.' A senior Whitehall official told The Telegraph that PHE 'want to be in control of everything'. They added: 'That's a problem. They've taken too long to involve the academic and private sector, and so we've relied on the home brew test for too long... they waited for too long to open their arms to universities and private companies, and now we're scrambling to catch up.' Advertisement Dr Dominique Thompson, a Bristol-based GP who retired in 2017, said: 'It's a deafening silence, which is so frustrating. I just had an email from a "no reply" address more than three weeks ago, saying I would hear in three days.' 'I don't understand why they haven't at least sent us all some online training to do, while they do our DBS checks.' Dr Thompson, who brought her wedding forward to focus on the pandemic, last heard from NHS England on March 30. The automated message said: 'Some of you may have already been contacted by our Regional Bring Back Staff hub, but just in case you haven't heard from us, we are sorry about this and we are writing to reassure you that a member of one of our regional teams will be in touch with you within the next three days.' Dr Una Coales, who retired from clinical practise in 2015, re-registered with the GMC and was told she was back on a month ago. She completed a linked survey on March 27 and is still waiting to be given the next steps. 'All I know is I'm to expect to be contacted according to the GMC email dated 27 March,' she said. 'But I have not received anything from NHS England as of today (20 April).' Meanwhile, Dr Jules Foster, who retired as a GP only 18 months ago, said she had been waiting for four weeks to hear back. She wrote on Twitter: 'I had an email saying they would call me within 2-3 days. Feeling useless and unwanted!' She also slammed Mr Hancock for boasting about how many retired NHS workers were returning, calling it a 'complete farce'. An NHS England spokesperson said 'thousands of applications' were being processed as rapidly as possible. Capita has been in charge the return to work scheme. The company claimed they had 'mobilised resources very quickly'. An NHS England statement on April 16 claimed 1,000 medics in the Midlands were 'back on the frontline to tackle the outbreak'. But it goes on to say they 'have been given access to full induction and training material to help them hit the ground running'. Many former NHS workers rejected the offer to return to work this March due to concerns about protection from the virus. Due to being over the age of 60, they are considered vulnerable to COVID-19, especially if they have an underlying health condition. The full NHS England statement said: 'The NHS is now processing these thousands of applications as quickly as possible, making sure returners are matched to where their skills are most needed, so returning staff can get back on the front line and start doing what they do best.' A Capita spokesperson said: 'We can confirm that we are supporting the NHS to help vet and onboard thousands of returning nurses and doctors as a result of the Covid-19 crisis. 'At Capita, we've been responding to a number of requests from the Government to assist in the fightback against the coronavirus. 'In this instance, we mobilised resources very quickly to respond to a critical NHS need; and have already enabled hundreds of returning clinicians to be deployed on the frontline.' Upper Nazareth Township police are looking for a used cooking oil thief, according to a Facebook post. At 12:22 a.m. Tuesday an officer on patrol in the township interrupted a man trying to pump the recyclable product from a vat behind at Sicilys restaurant at 18 East Lawn Road (Route 191), police said. The man, wearing blue jeans, a black jacket and a white or gray hoodie, ran off, police said. He left behind a white 2001 GMC Savanna van with a Pennsylvania license plate, police said. Inside there were two large plastic tanks and a gas-powered pump with a green hose attached, police said. The lock had been cut on the vat and used cooking oil was being pumped from it into the tanks, police said. It is believed that this individual has been involved in similar activity in the area, police said. The registered owner of the van told an officer that he had sold it, police said. If you have any information on this case, you are asked to call police at 610-759-7448. But the question remains, why would someone want to steal this waste product? A CBS News report from 2019 indicates such thefts are a $75 million a year business, according to a 2017 figure. A law that was expanded in 2007 requires renewable sources be added to an an ever-increasing amount of fuel for transportation in order to cut gases that cause global warming, the report said. While the additive is often ethanol, used cooking oil can be converted into biodiesel, the report said. Such reuse of cooking oil jumped 13% in 2018 to 1.67 billion pounds, the report said. Cooking oil is used in about 12% of the biodiesel thats created, the report said. A Virginia man told authorities he was getting 25 cents per gallon for stolen cooking oil and often made $300 to $400 per trip, according to a Washington Post report cited by CBS News. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting lehighvalleylive.com with a voluntary subscription. Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 09:03:19|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspects the local poverty alleviation work in Jinping Community of Laoxian Township, Pingli County of the city of Ankang, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 21, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan) XI'AN, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, on Tuesday stressed the importance of employment in followup measures to help people shake off poverty during an inspection tour in northwest China's Shaanxi Province. Xi made the remarks while visiting a community in Laoxian Township, Pingli County of the city of Ankang. Enditem In 1977, Steve "Woz" Wozniak used a neat hack to bring color to the Apple II computer. According to IEEE Spectrum, the obscure trick, called NTSC artifact color, "allows digital systems without specialized graphics hardware to produce color images by exploiting quirks in how TVs decode analog video signals." That hack later was employed by the IBM PC, Radio Shack TRS-80, and other early home computers. But how did Woz learn about it? Turns out, videogame legend Al Alcorn, inventor of Pong, turned Woz onto the hack. From IEEE Spectrum: Stephen Cass: Analog NTSC televisions generate color by looking at the phase of a signal relative to a reference frequency. So how did you come across this color test tool, and how did it work? Al Alcorn: When I was 13, 14, my neighbor across the street had a television repair shop. I would go down there and at the same time, I had my father sign me up for an RCA correspondence course on radio and television repair. So, by the time I got to Berkeley, I was a journeyman TV repairman and actually paid my way through college through television. In one repair shop, there was a real cheap, sleazy color bar generator [for testing televisions]. And instead of doing color properly by synthesizing the phases and stuff like that, it simply used a crystal that was 3.58 megahertz [the carrier frequency for the color signal] minus 15.750 kilohertz, which was the horizontal scan frequency. So it slipped one phase, 360 degrees, every scan line. You put that signal on the screen and you've got a color bar from left to right. It really was really the cheapest, sleaziest way of doing it! [] SC: So, in the home version of Pong, the graphics would simply change color from one side of the screen to the other? AA: Right, the whole goal for doing this was just to put on the box: "Color!" [] SC: How does Wozniak get wind of this? AA: In those days, in Silicon Valley, we didn't keep secrets. In a significant judgement passed on Wednesday, the Allahabad High Court ruled that a competent authority has the power to pass an order of compulsory retirement of an employee after recording satisfactory reason in the public interest. A two-judge bench comprising Justice Biswanath Somadder and Justice Dr. Y K Srivastava allowed the special appeal filed by U P State Electricity Board (UPSEB), challenging the single judge order dated April 17, 2019 whereby compulsory retirement order dated December 23, 1994 passed against the petitioner Raghuraj Singh was quashed and the writ petition was allowed. "The aggrieved employee cannot challenge the order of his compulsory retirement on the ground that he was not heard before passing of the order of compulsory retirement," the court said in Wednesday's order. A single judge bench of the court had allowed the writ petition on the ground that there was no material on record which could support the opinion that continuance in service of the petitioner was not in public interest. It was pleaded by the UPSEB before the division bench that order of compulsory retirement dated December 23, 1994 was passed on the recommendation of the screening committee and the order of the UPSEB dated February 22, 1991. In the petition a counter affidavit was filed and a stand was taken therein by the Board that impugned compulsory retirement order was passed on the basis of adverse reports, gross negligence in performance of the duties and indiscipline by the petitioner. It was said that the single judge did not consider the stand of the Board and allowed the writ petition, quashing the compulsory retirement order. The division bench set aside the single judge order and dismissed the writ petition on Wednesday. The bench said that concerned authority after recording satisfaction in the order had formed opinion that continuance in the service of the petitioner was not in public interest and therefore had passed an order of compulsory retirement. The bench said that under the Regulation 2 (b) of U P State Electricity Board (Employees Retirement) Regulation, 1975 the authority has the power to pass the order of compulsory retirement. The single judge had failed to consider the stand taken by the Board, the division bench added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A mystery involving a family heirloom sold 40 years ago has been solved, thanks to chance and 48 strings. A harp originally belonging to Queensland Symphony Orchestra principal harpist Jill Atkinson's great-aunt Anne was sold 40 years ago to an unknown buyer. But recently Ms Atkinson, who never thought she would see it again, unwittingly discovered where the family heirloom ended up. Queensland Symphony Orchestra principal harpist Jill Atkinson comes from a long line of musical talents. "I was chatting with a harpist friend from Melbourne who was selling some of her harps, and of the ones she had, she mentioned a harp with 48 strings [compared to the usual 47 strings]," she said. "That is very unusual, but it sounded like Anne's harp, and I found out that her parents bought it from my family!" >>> Vietnam supports Laos in COVID-19 fight Minister of Information and Communications and Vice President of the Vietnam-Laos Friendship Association Nguyen Manh Hung handed over the gifts to the Laos-Vietnam Friendship Association through the Lao Embassy in Hanoi. The medical supplies include 500 protective suits and 18,500 face masks, including 17,500 medical masks and 1,000 antibacterial cloth masks. Speaking at the handover ceremony, Minister Hung said that the gifts, despite being small, deeply reflected the sentiments of the Vietnam-Laos Friendship Association members toward the Lao people, contributing to promoting the special solidarity between the two nations and affirming their commitment to holding hands to overcome difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. He showed his belief that despite those difficulties, the two countries will actively promote the cause of national development, construction and defence to reap bigger achievements for the happiness and prosperity of their people. For his part, Laos Ambassador to Vietnam Sengphet Houngboungnuang expressed his sincere thanks to the Vietnamese people and the Vietnam-Laos Friendship Association for their valuable affections given to the Lao people. 100,000 face masks presented to Indian people On the same day, Minister Nguyen Manh Hung, who also chairs the Vietnam-India Friendship Association, presented 100,000 antibacterial cloth masks to Indian Ambassador Pranay Verma to assist the South Asian nation in the fight against COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the biggest challenges the humankind has faced over the last 100 years, he said, noting that Vietnam and India can share many practical experiences and valuable lessons to jointly defeat this outbreak. Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung (fourth from right), who also chairs the Vietnam-India Friendship Association, presents 100,000 antibacterial cloth masks to Indian Ambassador Pranay Verma on April 21, 2020. (Photo: NDO/Lam Thao) The official added with the wish to help India prevent the disease, the Vietnam-India Friendship Association has called on businesses in the information and communications sector to donate 100,000 antibacterial cloth masks to the Indian people. The small gifts demonstrate the Vietnamese peoples solidarity and friendship with their Indian peers, he noted. Offering thanks to the Vietnam-India Friendship Association, Ambassador Verma said the face masks will be distributed widely to the Indian people. He also said the Vietnamese and Indian Prime Ministers held phone talks on April 13 during which they agreed that their agencies would keep in touch in the time ahead to coordinate the countries response measures against the pandemic and boost cooperation in other spheres of bilateral ties. In an earlier meeting with Ambassador Verma, Minister Hung touched upon the big changes in social activities amid the COVID-19 outbreak such as working from home, online learning, e-payment, and online health checkup. Vietnam plans to put the 5G network and devices into operation this October. Meanwhile, India is known as a software workshop of the world. Therefore, he said he hopes IT businesses of the two countries will enhance collaboration in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and dealing with global issues like cyber security. Verma also shared his views on current technological issues like 5G technology, e-Government building and IT manpower training which, he believes, Vietnam and India have their own advantages in, and can work together for common development. Vietnam offers medical supplies to foreign armies The Ministry of Defence and its units have offered medical supplies to the armies of China, Laos, Cuba, Germany, Hungary, and Cambodia in support of their fight against COVID-19. Worth nearly VND19 billion (US$826,000), the supplies include gloves, face masks, protective suits, thermometers, and hand sanitiser, among others. The offer is part of the Vietnamese armys efforts to join hands with its foreign counterparts to drive back COVID-19, protecting peoples health and ensuring socio-economic development. To the Editor: Re Death Toll Spikes at Nursing Homes as Defenses Crack (front page, April 18): I am a medical director of two nursing homes in New York City. Thanks for your article showing the world the effect of Covid-19 on the nursing home population. However, lets not forget the impact on the families of the loved ones lost and the impact on the staff. Employees who get the virus and die. Employees who get the virus and transmit to family members. The overall morale of the staff the deep-seated pain of seeing so many elderly die, people with whom you have created lasting bonds. I love being a geriatrician; it is my calling. I love seeing the smile on my patients faces. I love providing compassionate end-of-life care when necessary. However, Covid-19 has nearly killed my spirit. As I enter the building, I put on a suit of armor to battle the invisible Covid-19. I cant recognize the staff we are all masked and suited up. We see residents with fevers, some with cough. We try and try, yet people die. I just cant take it. My heart bleeds. Why did the government not come and assess the needs of nursing homes from the onset? Nursing homes have so few resources. We are warriors going to battle without all the necessary equipment. The government failed us. Most important, it failed the elderly. Delhi to ease restrictions, if Covid cases come down in next 2-3 days: Health Minister Lata Mangeshkar health update: Doctor says,'She in ICU with Covid-19 and pneumonia, will be under observation' Coronavirus positive cases in India rise to 19,984, death toll at 640 India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Apr 22: India's total number of coronavirus positive cases rose to 19,984 on Wednesday including 15,474 active cases, 3,870 cured/discharged/migrated and 640 deaths, according to the figures released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The United States has recorded more than 8,00,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 44,845 deaths so far, AFP reported quoting Johns Hopkins University on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Delhi-Gautam Buddh Nagar/Noida border will be closed completely as a preventive measure to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, the district magistrate of the Uttar Pradesh district tweeted on Tuesday. However, some exceptions have been specified. The dreaded novel coronavirus has claimed many people from all walks of life, both young and old, including that of Nigerias President Muhammadu Buharis Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari and his Guinean counterpart, Sekou Kourouma. News Direct takes a look at some of the notable ones below: Sekou Kourouma (Guinea) Guineas Secretary General of Government and a close friend of President Alpha Conde died from the coronavirus in Conakry on Saturday, April 18, the government said in a statement on Sunday. Kourouma was until his death the secretary general of the government and a former minister. This is coming less than 24-hours after the death of the head of Guineas electoral body, Amadou Salif Kebe, was announced on Friday, April 17. He also died of the virus. Jacques Joaquim Yhombi-Opango (Congo) A former president of the Republic of Congo, Jacques Joaquim Yhombi-Opango, who was ill before contracting the coronavirus, died in a Paris hospital, his family revealed. He was president of Congo-Brazzaville from April 1977 until he was toppled in February 1979 by the current president, Denis Sassou Nguesso. He had also served as Prime Minister between 1992 and 1997 under the government of Pascal Lissouba, until a civil war broke out that year. He lived in exile in France until his death, though he was allowed to return to his country home around 2007. Yhombi-Opango died on March 30, aged 81. Ms Rose Marie Campoare (Burkina Faso) Ms. Compaore, a leading lawmaker and the first Vice President of the parliament in Burkina Faso, became the first recorded coronavirus death in West Africa on March 17, the countrys main opposition party, the Union for Progress and Change (UPC) said in a statement. The authorities said she was a diabetic woman, aged 62 years. This tragic event calls us all to recognise the scale and seriousness of the problem which confronts us all. This is a very contagious illness that is potentially fatal and that for now has no treatment aside from prevention, said Martial Ouedraogo, the Burkina Fasos COVID-19 response coordinator. Major Generals Shafie Abdel Halim Dawoud and Khaled Shaltout (Egypt) Two senior Egyptian military officials died in less than 24-hours apart from the coronavirus infection, State newspaper Al-Ahram said. The State television said that Major General Shafie Abdel Halim Dawoud died while fighting the coronavirus, on March 23, without giving any detail. Also, State media had announced on Sunday, March 22 that Major General Khaled Shaltout had died for the same reason. Mahmoud Jibril (Libya) Mahmoud Jibril, a former Prime Minister and the interim leader of Egypt until the country held its first free elections in 2012 following the removal of Muammar Gaddafi, died of the coronavirus in an Egyptian hospital, his party confirmed on April 5. The 68-year-old Jibril was in Cairo where he had been hospitalised for two weeks, said Khaled al-Mrimi, secretary of the Alliance of National Forces party founded by Jibril in 2012. Media reports said he was admitted to the hospital on March 21 after suffering a heart attack, before testing positive for the new coronavirus. He died from complications arising from his health condition, which was aggravated by the COVID-19. Kahlif Mumin (Somalia) Khalif Mumin, a top official of the Hirshabelle region of Somalia and Minister of State for Justice, was the second COVID-19 related death recorded in the Horn of Africa nation, following that of Nur Adde. He died on Sunday, April 12, at Maritini Hospital in the capital Mogadishu Somalias only coronavirus treatment centre, after contracting the virus two days earlier. Media reports said the country only recently achieved testing capacity as samples were usually sent to Nairobi, Kenya for confirmation before now. Abba Kyari (Nigeria) Mallam Abba Kyari, the Chief of Staff to Nigerias President Muhammadu Buhari, died on Friday, weeks after testing positive to the deadly coronavirus, the Presidency announced on Friday. Kyari became the first senior public official in Nigeria to die after battling with the coronavirus. He was buried on Saturday, according to Islamic rites, at Gudu Cemetery in Abuja, the nations capital. He had tested positive to COVID-19 after returning from an official visit to Germany. Post Views: 24 Instead of helping out Prince Harry, Meghan Markle ultimately failed to bring the best out of him and only caused "disastrous" effects on the royal prince. After Prince Harry and Meghan officially left their senior royal positions, the couple can no longer get the same approval and support that they used to have. However, experts believe that the Duke of Sussex has been the one most affected by the move, most especially since he seems to be a different person now in everyone's eyes. In a news clip released by Sky News Australia, Outsider host Rowan Dean shared how Prince Harry looked like he completely lost his head "to this particular Sheila." He mentioned how the Duke chose to give up his royal privileges in exchange for the "disastrous" life that Meghan gave him in the U.S.A. Dean's statement came after Harry and Meghan reportedly banned four U.K-based tabloids, writing them letters to tell that they will never give them interviews. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex pledged that they will no longer engage themselves with the British tabloid medi, specifically The Sun, Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, and Daily Express. "It is gravely concerning that an influential slice of the media, over many years, has sought to insulate themselves from taking accountability for what they say or print - even when they know it to be distorted, false, or invasive beyond reason," the royal couple said in their statement. Because of this, the television presenter wasn't able to hold back and lambasted Meghan for what she has done to the previously dutiful Prince Harry. "These two are just a shambles," Dean exclaimed. "Clearly, Meghan has had just a disastrous effect on Harry -- who was go back six or seven years ago -- was terrific". He added that Meghan, who is famous for her former role in "Suits," always craves publicity and it is impossible that she does not want any attention from the press. However, with the Sussexes' move, they are risking going against the whole media industry. "My prediction remains, in five years' time you won't even remember who they are," the broadcaster went on. For instance, Valentine Low, the Times of London's royal correspondent, also uttered the same statement. He previously compared Harry and Meghan with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, who eventually became unimportant people after the Duke renounced the throne. Meanwhile, Dean's fellow panelist and The West Australian's host Jenna Clarke told Sky News reporter Paul Murray that the royal couple is disgusting. She also said that she feels ashamed to know that Harry and Meghan were once part of the great commonwealth. Viewers Reacted! In 24 hours, the news clip reached over 270,000 viewers, and most of them let out their opinions about the newest issue. One viewer said, ""Easy fix, stop talking about them stop writing about them, then see how they react to that." "Without the media, they don't exist," another one wrote. Pearland ISDs graduation ceremonies for Pearland, Dawson and Turner high schools have tentatively been set for July 24 at NRG Stadium. But in the ever-changing world of the novel coronavirus pandemic, those details have anything but a firm foundation, according to Kim Hocott, the districts executive director. Yesterday, our high school principals announced that we have NRG reserved for July 24 as a possible graduation date, but that is contingent upon where COVID-19 stands, Hocott said on Wednesday. Thats where we are. We want to do what we can to honor our seniors and recognize them for their hard work. ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Coronavirus live updates: Hidalgo sued by GOP activist over mask order, 280K+ file for unemployment Reserving NRG Stadium, however, is just an initial step in the graduation ceremony process. Whether such gatherings will be permitted at NRG in July is an open question. The Rig (the districts stadium) is not an option because The Rig is under construction, Hocott said. That stadium, which is beside Pearland High School, is seeing upgrades funded by a district bond project that will include a new press box. MORE FROM TED DUNNAM: Pearland interactive dashboard offers info on citys COVID-19 cases We are looking at contingencies in case the NRG facility is not available on July 24. A possible virtual option is being explored, but that isnt decided yet, Hocott said. We are also looking at other plans of what else we can do. The tentative times for graduation would be Pearland High School at 10 a.m., Dawson High School at 1 p.m., and Turner High School at 3 p.m. Response to the tentative plans were met with mostly cheers from parents on the districts Facebook page. We want this so much!!! posted Nancy Grunwald Potter. However, in the current environment, the best-laid plans are often altered at the drop of a hat. The district is waiting on guidance or directives from Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath regarding graduation ceremonies. Were waiting on his directive because that information will be critical before we truly finalize the best plan for our kids, Hocott said. PHOTOS: High seniors try to stay positive after COVID-19 robs them of end-of-year traditions For those unable to attend graduation ceremonies, Hocott was unsure if live streaming of the event could be available at NRG. That I dont know, she said. Im sure there are options to do that, but that is a conversation Im not involved in. Adding to the complexity of the graduation issue is the fact that Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo on Wednesday ordered all Harris County residents to wear masks for 30 days beginning next Monday. The order requires all residents age 10 and older to wear the masks when outside the home. I dont know how long that will last, Hocott said. Were just going to take guidance from our health officials and local authorities, and well abide by that as a (school) district. Hocott said the three schools have a total of about 1,700 graduating seniors. Updated information on graduation and other district-related events will be posted on the Pearland ISD Facebook page. tdunnam@hcnonline.com WASHINGTON - The Trump administration is poised to announce an expanded diplomatic presence in Greenland and a new assistance package for the vast island aimed at thwarting growing Chinese and Russian influence in the Arctic. The announcement, expected Thursday, will come less than a year after President Donald Trump drew derision for expressing an interest in buying Greenland. Already, suggestions of a greater U.S. presence in Greenland have been met with criticism in Denmark, of which the island is part. U.S. and European officials say the administration, along with Greenlands government, will announce the opening of a U.S. Agency for International Development office at the new American consulate in the capital, Nuuk, and at least $12 million in new aid projects. The American ambassador to Denmark, Carla Sands, previewed the announcement when she wrote in an online publication this week that the United States could offer a substantial package of economic aid to Greenland and would be the preferred partner in the Arctic. In the news outlet Altinget, Sands accused Russia of aggressive behaviour and increased militarization in the Arctic and China of pursuing predatory economic interests in Greenland. That sparked harsh reactions in Denmark. They have clearly crossed the line, said Carsten Hoenge, an outspoken member of the left-leaning Socialist Peoples Party that supports the Social Democratic minority government. He said Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen must take action to clarify relations with United States. We must draw a line in the ice cap, Hoenge told Altinget on Wednesday. The U.S. Agency for International Development office in Nuuk will initially oversee the handling of at least $12.1 million in new U.S. assistance for Greenland that is intended mainly to boost the energy and tourism sectors and blunt Chinese and Russian influence, the officials said. They were not authorized to speak to the matter publicly before the formal announcement and spoke on condition of anonymity. When the State Department notified Congress in January that it intended to move ahead with both steps, the department said that Washington considers Greenland to be strategically important, particularly as China and Russia become more engaged in the region. The department told lawmakers at the time that they would help counter malign Chinese and Kremlin influence by supporting Greenlanders to build their capacity, resilience and self-reliance. Last August, Trumps desire to buy Greenland, a semi-autonomous part of the Denmark, emerged in press reports in Washington. Greenland Premier Kim Kielsen said then that the island was not for sale, adding: Greenland is not Danish. Greenland is Greenlandic. I persistently hope that this is not something that is seriously meant. Retreating ice could uncover potential oil and mineral resources in Greenland which, if successfully tapped, could dramatically change the islands fortunes. But no oil has yet been found in Greenlandic waters and 80% of the island is covered by an ice sheet that is up to 3 kilometres (2 miles) thick, which means exploration is only possible in coastal regions. Even there, conditions are far from ideal, due to the long winter with frozen ports, 24-hour darkness and temperatures regularly dropping below minus 20 Fahrenheit (minus 30 Celsius) in the northern parts. ___ Olsen reported from Copenhagen. By now weve probably all heard about the father arrested for playing catch with his daughter in a park. Regardless of whether you think the lockdown should continue, be lifted, or if youre undecided on the issue, most people would agree that this incident was a bit heavy-handed. After all, one of the good things about this coronavirus is that families are spending more quality time together. Quality family time is something long touted by physician Leonard Sax. Before this coronavirus, Sax made a name for himself by encouraging common-sense parenting. Putting away screens, making time for family dinners, and minimizing extracurricular activities were some of his suggestions for ensuring families and children thrived. Sax isnt changing his tune now that this coronavirus has given families abundant time together. He recently encouraged parents not to give into the siren call of screens, instead encouraging them to try a list of activities The Wall Street Journal recently put together. A favorite at his house was creating a radio program with free BBC sound effects (bbcsfx.acropolis.org.uk/). Sax wrote: You may answer that creating a radio program with my daughter will very likely involve looking at a screen, unless we choose to use an old-fashioned microphone and recorder. This objection raises an important point. When my daughter and I are using a computer to create a radio program, we are creating content. When a parent and child are looking at cute videos on YouTube, they are consuming content. We have good evidence that when a parent and child create content together, they are building a bond, and thats great. But when a parent and child are consuming content, the benefits are reduced. And when a child is watching a screen alone, while parents engage in their own screen then thats not good. Sax makes a great point. In times like these, its easy to spend time together, but it is how we spend it that makes the difference in our childrens lives. Actively creating takes more effort than consuming, but the return on investment is much more powerful when we do the former. Whittaker Chambers recognized this as well. A former communist spy turned Time magazine editor, Chambers wanted to escape the detrimental mindset of communism and give his children something better. As a result, he and his wife bought a farm and went to work tilling the land and raising animals alongside their two children. The task wasnt easy by any means. As Chambers explained, they exchanged comfort and consumption for a life of toil and hard work. But in leaving comfort and working alongside their children, they discovered great freedom, satisfaction, and familial closeness: In that sense, the farm is our witness. It is a witness against the world. By deliberately choosing this life of hardship and immense satisfaction, we say in effect: The modern world has nothing better than this to give us. Its vision of comfort without effort, pleasure without the pain of creation, life sterilized against even the thought of death, rationalized so that every intrusion of mystery is felt as a betrayal of the mind, life mechanized and standardizedthat is not for us. We fear it if only because standardization leads to regimentation, and because the regimentation that men distrust in their politics is a reflection of the regimentation that they welcome unwittingly in their daily living. The coronavirus has changed the lives of every American family. In all likelihood, weve left comfort and consumption behind for a while. Unlike Chambers, we didnt choose such a situation but might we find benefits along the way? Will creating and toiling alongside our children make family bonds that will far outweigh the comforts we knew in our lives before coronavirus? Annie Holmquist is the editor of Intellectual Takeout, an online magazine and sister publication of Chronicles magazine. This article was originally published on Intellectual Takeout. (Bloomberg) -- Facebook Inc. will invest $5.7 billion in the digital assets controlled by Asias richest man, the U.S. social-networking giants biggest deal since the 2014 purchase of WhatsApp as it seeks a broader foothold in its biggest global market. The U.S. company will buy about 10% of Jio Platforms, becoming the largest minority shareholder, Reliance Industries Ltd. said in a statement Wednesday. Separately, Facebook said the deal would bring together JioMart, an e-commerce venture of Mukesh Ambani and its WhatsApp platform to enable people to connect with businesses. Shares of Reliance Industries jumped 10% on Wednesday in Mumbai, helping the Indian tycoon reclaim the title of Asias wealthiest person from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. founder Jack Ma. The rally compares with the 2.4% gain in Indias benchmark S&P BSE Sensex index. Jio Platforms, a wholly owned unit of Reliance Industries, brings together Jios digital apps, ecosystems and the wireless platform offered by telecommunications carrier, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd., under one umbrella, according to the Mumbai-based company. The deal values Jio Platforms at a pre-money enterprise value of about $66 billion, the Indian company said. The partnership with Jio would allow Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg to step up his expansion in a country that is rapidly embracing online payment and e-commerce as more people get smartphones. Jio Infocomm burst onto the Indian wireless market about four years ago, quickly moving into a position of dominance by offering free plans and undercutting rivals. Working with Facebook would be a boost to the ambitions of Ambani, until recently the richest man in Asia, who has been remaking his energy conglomerate as Indias first titan of e-commerce. Unusual Bet It is an unusual bet for Facebook, which typically buys into media and online properties. It underscores the potential it sees in India, which unlike China is an open market with an exploding smartphone population. Facebook may benefit from a well-connected ally in the country, where its Whatsapp is trying to launch a payments service but has run afoul of regulators over fake news and privacy concerns. Story continues India is a special place for us, Zuckerberg said in a video posted on Facebook. Were also committing to work together on some critical projects that we think are going to open up a lot of opportunities for commerce in India. Zuckerberg has long aimed to roll out a digital currency as well as tools that let users make payments and buy and sell products over the social networks messaging services in India. Alluring Market With its half-billion internet users, the South Asian country is an alluring market for the worlds largest technology companies, including Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc.s Google. In India, Facebook has about 250 million users, while WhatsApp has over 400 million. While India will be a testing ground for WhatsApp payment services -- currently in pilot -- Zuckerberg is also separately looking at the market for his crypto-currency project called Libra. Zuckerberg has said that payments and commerce are a priority, representing a major business opportunity for the company moving forward. For Ambani, 63, the deal with the technology giant comes as a boost at a time when his group is battling the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and a slump in demand for crude oil. He has also been seeking to reassure investors that he will honor a pledge to reduce the groups net debt to zero. Wallet Share The collaboration with Facebook will give Jio a significant advantage on product and technological fronts to keep competitiors miles away and grab a larger wallet share of consumers across domains -- telecom, payments, retail, Himanshu Shah, an analyst at Dolat Capital Market Pvt. wrote in a research note. The Indian company spent almost $50 billion -- mostly borrowings -- to build Jio Infocomm, the mobile carrier, leading to a net debt of more than $20 billion as of March 2019. In August, he told shareholders that he planned to sell a stake in Reliance Industries oil-and-chemicals division to Saudi Arabian Oil Co. as part of a road map to cut net debt to zero by March 2021. With the Aramco negotiations dragging on for months, the global health crisis and the crash in oil prices have also raised doubts if that deal will be signed. As a result, shares of the Mumbai-based conglomerate plunged as much as 45% from their Dec. 19 record, before rebounding from their March 23 low. After building a wireless carrier and a retail business, Ambani has said he plans to rope in leading global partners before initial public offerings as he readies an e-commerce business, called JioMart, which would rival Amazon and Walmart Inc. in the South Asian country. In a statement delivered by video, Ambani said the tie-up with WhatsApp will help almost 30 million Indian mom-and-pop store owners to take digital payments from customers in their neighborhoods. This means all of you can order and get faster delivery of day-to-day items from nearby local shops, he said. Simultaneously, Jio Platforms, Reliance Retail Ltd. and WhatsApp have also tied up to help accelerate the retail units e-commerce push on the JioMart platform, Reliance Industries said in the statement. The new businesses are likely to account for 50% of Reliance Industries Ltd.s earnings in a few years, versus a little more than 32% now, Ambani told shareholders in August. No Super App Reliance Industries and Facebook denied an Indian media report last week that they are considering creating an app similar to WeChat, the Chinese mobile messaging and payment service run by Tencent Holdings Ltd. The intent is not to build another app, the intent is really for the two companies to collaborate, said Ajit Mohan, vice president and managing director for India at Facebook. Now that the deal has been formally announced, the companies will start working with Indian regulators to seek approval, said Anshuman Thakur, Jios head of strategy. Facebook has not been consistently welcomed by Indian regulators in the past. It ran into opposition while trying to launch a payments feature inside WhatsApp in 2019, and has also faced pushback around content regulation on the app, which is encrypted. Facebook tried -- and failed -- to bring a service to India in 2015 called Free Basics, which would have made some internet services, including the social network, free to use on mobile devices. Critics said the app violated the concept of net neutrality by prioritizing some services over others. Given the intent of this collaboration and the nature of this partnership, we expect people to be welcoming, Thakur said. (Updates with Ambanis wealth ranking in first and third paragraphs) For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. The first coronavirus death in the US happened several weeks earlier than initial reports believed, according to autopsies performed in California, underlining how far behind the country was in stopping the spread. A man in Santa Clara County died with Covid-19 on 6 February, three weeks before the first recorded deaths from the virus in the US were reported on 29 February, after two people died at a hospital in Washington state. Officials later discovered that two others in the state had died with the disease caused by the virus on 26 February. The California discovery also means the first initially reported coronavirus death in Santa Clara, on 9 March, was actually a month after the first death in the area. Santa Clara Countys medical examiner identified two people whose deaths were linked to coronavirus on 6 February and 17 February, weeks before the first Washington state death was reported as the first coronavirus death in the US. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the results of lab tests. Dr Sara Cody, the countys chief medical examiner, said that the significant findings represent the tip of an iceberg of unknown size as similar findings from previously recorded deaths could show the depth and spread of the virus than what was previously believed. Delayed positive Covid-19 results from earlier deaths could also radically alter the nations death toll, which has reached more than 45,000. The medical examiner also confirmed another person in the county who died from Covid-19 on 6 March. In a statement, the office said that the three patients died at home during a time when very limited testing was available only through the CDC and underlined the strict testing criteria from the federal health agency at the onset of the outbreak. The medical examiner said the office will anticipate additional deaths from the disease that were previously not identified. Santa Clara Countys Dr Jeffrey V Smith said the deaths reveal that the virus was around for a long time before reports previously had suggested. It was probably around unrecognised for quite some time. Washington was the initial epicentre of the US outbreak, with the first reported case of the virus on 21 January in a patient who had recently travelled to Wuhan, China. The state implemented stringent quarantine efforts and physical distancing measures beginning in February. But the delayed federal response to the crisis, which initially focussed on preventing travel from China, likely allowed community spread for more than two months before the White House issued its guidelines to prevent the spread of the outbreak. The 47 county governments in Kenya face a moment of reckoning as the coronavirus pandemic menacingly prepares to test the quality of their investment in the crucial health sector since 2013. Health was made a devolved function 10 years ago as a way to bring services closer to the people and governors have since been in charge of basically all matters touching on health in their respective units. Billions of shillings have been pumped into devolved healthcare, a situation that has accorded small counties such as Lamu the privilege of allocating over a billion shillings to the sector in a just one year. READ ALSO: COVID-19: China angrily reacts after German paper prepared a KSh 13 trillion bill for damages Health facilities across the counties have also been upgraded and equipped with modern medical equipment courtesy of the Managed Equipment Services (MES) programme that started in 2015. But while most Governors have been accused of playing politics with the health and lives of Kenyans, the facilities have not been tested to the levels that the coronavirus pandemic threatens to. The early phases of the COVID-19 response has seen most counties spared the burden as the cases have been mainly recorded in Nairobi and Mombasa where the national government has spearheaded containment efforts. But the virus has now spread to counties such as Mandera, Homa Bay, Kiambu, Kajiado, Muranga, Kitui, Nakuru and Siaya. This has tossed the respective county bosses to the deep end. They face an acid test in showing their preparedness to combat the highly-contagious disease and save the mainly elderly and poor population from its devastation. The governors will have to be thoroughly prepared for this pandemic. They need to imagine the worst-case scenario and ensure they are ready for it. It should not be lost on them that the lives of millions of people in their counties depend on the actions they take. COVID-19 is a disease that must be taken seriously. READ ALSO: Ken Walibora: Tears flow freely as 40 mourners attend Swahili author's funeral READ ALSO: Opinion: Kudos to our selfless healthcare workers, you are our war heroes Globally, it has so far sickened over 2.5 million people and caused the deaths of more than 180,000 others. But the good news is that individuals in excess of 680,000 have fully recovered. If the governors rise to the occasion and tackle the disease head-on, Kenya has a unique opportunity to flatten the curve and avoid the health care disasters witnessed in the worst-hit countries, such as Italy, Spain, and the US. So far, a few governors are making impressive preparations for the pandemic. Alfred Mutua of Machakos has, for example, converted a stadium into a makeshift hospital, with a bed capacity of 200. The idea was heavily borrowed from countries that have successfully contained the virus, among them China where the coronavirus originated. China managed to build a 1,000-bed hospital with 30 intensive care wards in about a week. Brazil has converted an Olympic Games stadium to a healthcare facility for COVID-19 patients. The innovative facility in Machakos is expected to help limit interactions between COVID-19 patients and those suffering from other diseases at the countys referral hospital, thereby reducing chances of the disease spreading and easing the burden on the latter. Mutua plans to launch a similar facility at Mavoko sub-county. In Mombasa, Hassan Joho has been forced to hurriedly launch a 150-bed capacity hospital at the Technical University of Mombasa since the Coast General Referral Hospital, which has less than 20 ICU beds, is already overwhelmed. The Muranga county government has moved to hurriedly put up a 35-bed ICU at the Muranga Level 5 Hospital; the only ICU unit in the county so far is found at Kiria-ini mission hospital. Other governors are worse off and appear lost and without a clue whatsoever on where to start in this war. READ ALSO: Tanzania's COVID-19 cases shoot to 284 after confirming 30 new infections There have been reports of some of them staying in their Nairobi homes at a critical time they are supposed to be coordinating relief efforts and the work of health care and social workers, the frontline soldiers. This is unacceptable. All the 47 Governors have no option but to pull up their socks and live up to the expectations of Kenyans. At a time when the maximum input of every medic is needed, this is not a time for medical professionals to grumble about delayed salaries or the lack of personal protective equipment. There is no margin for error. The governors face baptism by fire as they have a one-off chance to prove their mettle in leadership during an extraordinarily difficult period. This time round, they have no room for failure if they are to drown growing calls to take the health function back to the national government. The writer is Tom Juma, a regular commentator on social, economic and political affairs. The views expressed here are his and do not in any way represent the position of TUKO.co.ke Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly. Kenya hits 300 mark for positive Covid-19 cases | Tuko TV Source: TUKO.co.ke As part of its Sustainable Impact Strategy, Canada Goose outlines key commitments: Carbon Neutrality: Net zero direct and indirect (Scope 1 and 2) greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, through aggressive and tangible action plans which aim to reduce emissions by more than 80 per cent from current levels. Net zero direct and indirect (Scope 1 and 2) greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, through aggressive and tangible action plans which aim to reduce emissions by more than 80 per cent from current levels. Reclaimed Fur: In 2022, Canada Goose plans to introduce reclaimed fur into its supply chain, which includes beginning to manufacture parkas using reclaimed fur and ending the purchasing of new fur. The company also plans to launch a consumer buy-back program for fur in the months ahead. In 2022, Canada Goose plans to introduce reclaimed fur into its supply chain, which includes beginning to manufacture parkas using reclaimed fur and ending the purchasing of new fur. The company also plans to launch a consumer buy-back program for fur in the months ahead. Responsible Down Standard (RDS) : In 2019, in partnership with Textile Exchange, the company completed third-party compliance audits at 100 per cent of its manufacturing facilities and commits to being 100 per cent RDS-certified by 2021. : In 2019, in partnership with Textile Exchange, the company completed third-party compliance audits at 100 per cent of its manufacturing facilities and commits to being 100 per cent RDS-certified by 2021. bluesign : Commit to reach 90 per cent of Canada Goose fabrics as bluesign approved for responsible and sustainable practices by 2025, increasing from 32 per cent in 2019. Commit to reach 90 per cent of Canada Goose fabrics as bluesign approved for responsible and sustainable practices by 2025, increasing from 32 per cent in 2019. Plastic-Free: Eliminating single-use plastics in all Canada Goose owned or controlled facilities. Sustainability has been a foundational part of the Canada Goose business model for more than 60 years, starting with its unwavering commitment to making best-in-class products using highest quality materials and craftsmanship. The company's 2019 Sustainability Report marks its first step in measuring and publishing its global environmental and social impact, and new and ongoing commitments in support of four key UN SDGs. The inaugural report also highlights the company's long-standing global citizenship initiatives including its Polar Bears International (PBI) collection, the Canada Goose Resource Centres Program and Project Atigi, all aimed at supporting Canada's Northern communities. As well, the report details innovative employee-driven sustainability initiatives, giving programs, and impactful commitments to reduce its environmental footprint and transform operations. "We have always believed in building a business that is good for our team, for the communities we're a part of and for the planet, for generations to come," said Dani Reiss, President & CEO, Canada Goose. "No matter how much we've done over the last 60 years, we need to do more the world can't wait. Our aggressive commitments outlined in our first Sustainability Report are the steps we're taking to transform the way we do business and ensure we are doing everything we can to create the future we want to see." As part of its accelerated Sustainable Impact Strategy, Canada Goose also announced it achieved carbon neutrality as of March 2020 through investments in strategic offsetting projects, equivalent to 200% of its annual greenhouse gas emissions. The company will continue to offset at this level as it continues to transform business operations to achieve its 80 per cent emissions reduction targets by 2025. To read the full report, visit: canadagoose.com/sustainability/ About Canada Goose Founded in a small warehouse in Toronto, Canada in 1957, Canada Goose has grown into one of the world's leading makers of performance luxury apparel. Every collection is informed by the rugged demands of the Arctic and inspired by relentless innovation and uncompromised craftsmanship. From the coldest places on Earth to global fashion capitals, people are proud to wear Canada Goose products. Canada Goose is a recognized leader for its Made in Canada commitment, and is a long-time partner of Polar Bears International. Visit canadagoose.com for more information. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release includes forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "expect," "plan," "could," "may," "will," "believe," "estimate," "forecast," "goal," "project," and other words of similar meaning. These forward-looking statements address various matters and are necessarily based on a number of opinions, estimates and assumptions that we considered appropriate and reasonable as of the date of this press release. In particular, this press release contains forward-looking statements including, without limitation, with respect to (i) our sustainable impact strategy and vision; (ii) the goals underlying our strategy and our plans to advance such goals; (iii) our plans to manage our environmental impact, including our greenhouse gas emission target, our pledge to reduce waste and plastic use, our plans to use reclaimed fur and cease purchases of new fur, and our commitment to reducing carbon emissions; and (v) the estimated timing to achieve environmental, energy and waste reduction targets. Each forward-looking statement contained in this press release is subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statement. Applicable risks and uncertainties include, among others, our expectations regarding industry and seasonal trends, our business plan and growth strategies, including our ability to successfully expand our product lines and expand internationally, global geopolitical events and other disruptions, our ability to forecast inventory requirements, particularly as our direct-to-consumer channel expands, our ability to implement our growth strategies, our ability to keep pace with changing consumer preferences, our ability to maintain the strength of our brand and protect our intellectual property, our ability to accurately forecast our results, risks associated with the impact of pandemics, such as the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak, as well as the risks identified under the heading "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2019, and filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), and the securities commissions or similar securities regulatory authorities in each of the provinces and territories of Canada ("Canadian securities regulatory authorities"), as well as the other information we file with the SEC and Canadian securities regulatory authorities. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. In light of these risks, results could differ materially from those stated, implied or inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. The forward-looking statements in this press release speak only as of the date of this release, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any of these statements. SOURCE Canada Goose Tamil actor Vijay has announced that he will donating Rs 1.30 crore towards coronavirus relief efforts. With his monetary contribution in the battle against coronavirus, Vijay has joined the long list of South Indian celebrities like Rajinikanth, Ajith Kumar, Kamal Haasan, Karthi, Suriya and many others who have stepped up in this time of need. Vijay's contribution will be distributed among the PM CARES fund and Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Pondicherry and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's relief funds. A portion of the donated money will also go to Film Employees Federation of South India (FEFSI) and a certain additional amount has also been kept for Vijay's fan clubs. Check out the details of Vijay's contribution in coronavirus relief efforts below: On the movies front, Vijay's Master, which features him alongside Vijay Sethupathi and Malvika Mohanan, has pushed its release date due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now, a new release date will be announced by the makers once normalcy is restored. Although not much is known about Master story line, it is believed that Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi will be pitted against each other in a friends-turned-foe plot. Check out Master posters below: Follow @News18Movies for more Rainn Wilson is connecting with friends both old and new during the coronavirus pandemic. The actor recently launched a daily Instagram Live series, Hey There, Human, in which he has conversations with celebrities and viewers that aim to be both uplifting and entertaining. The series, which streams weekdays at 3 p.m. ET on the SoulPancake Instagram channel, has featured Wilsons former Office co-stars Jenna Fischer, Angela Kinsey, Oscar Nunez and Ed Helms, plus Allison Janney, Justin Baldoni, Penn Badgley and more. Wilson, a Bahai, has also been connecting with his faith community more than ever while quarantined in the greater Los Angeles area with his wife, Holiday Reinhorn, and his teenage son, Walter. He opened up to TODAY in an email interview about the role his faith has played in his life during the pandemic. How faith has helped him face the challenges of the pandemic: The founder of the Bahai Faith, Bahaullah, says that tests are sent by God as a healing medicine. So this gives me comfort. Part of life is suffering and much of life is about how we transform that suffering into wisdom. Prayer, meditation and gratitude are powerful, vital tools that spirituality has to offer to one dealing with the sometimes daunting issues of this crisis. How he stays connected with his faith: Ive been connecting with my faith community more than ever! My little Bahai community in Agoura Hills, California, meets online. Ive done a number of virtual devotional gatherings and Ive done introductory talks on the Bahai Faith for the Wilmette Institute and Bahai.Chat. Rainn Wilson and Holiday Reinhorn at 2019 Toronto International Film Festival (Phillip Faraone / Getty Images) How hes currently observing Ridvan, which he describes as the most holy of all Bahai holidays: Its 12 days long and there are a number of online celebrations featuring talks and prayers and music and art performances. Los Angeles is hosting a big one! Bahais and people of all different faith traditions are finding fun, unique ways to gather and worship virtually. Story continues How faith has guided his interactions with his family during the pandemic: Besides the obvious, spending more time together, eating together and dog walking together, we have also been able to pray and meditate together. Weve also been able to read aloud from this gigantic book of early Bahai history called The Dawn-Breakers, which has been a fun way to spend time away from all the screens that take over our lives. Related: The "Jane the Virgin" star says the pandemic has "opened up a whole lot of new conversations" in his family. A quote that provides him with comfort and hope: Calamity is My providence, outwardly it is fire and vengeance, but inwardly it is light and mercy. Hasten thereunto that thou mayest become an eternal light and an immortal spirit. (Bahaullah) What he would say to those who might be struggling to find hope at this time: There are a number of positives during this incredibly difficult time. People are reaching out and connecting more than ever. And, like climate change, were seeing the tragedy of this pandemic as a global problem. This is uniting humanity in many ways during this chaos. Bahais are all about creating love and unity and underneath this tragedy is the silver lining that we are all in this together, us humans, sharing our beautiful planet and we need to reach out and help and serve each other more than ever. CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cleveland businessman and longtime restaurateur Tony George delivered an impassioned plea to the Ohio House 2020 economic-recovery task force: Allow businesses to reopen. "The job creators of Ohio, not the government, will be the individuals who open the Ohio economy," said George, whose founded the Harry Buffalo restaurant chain. George, Tuesday's first speaker, said delays in reopening businesses would have both short-term and long-term ramifications. Further delays would jeopardize businesses now with ripple effects on the economy later. He stressed any economic salve must be applied wholeheartedly, that partial openings will be ineffective and potentially disastrous. "If the economy is brought back gradually, recovery will not be vibrant and prosperous, an economy we desire. Just looking at the restaurant industry, anything less than a full-fledged re-engaged industry will keep Ohioans on unemployment benefits," he said. "A partial opening of the economy means partial wages. Enticing workers back to work to make a fraction of their wages simply will not work." George issued a dire forecast in his plea: "This is going to destroy our economy where we'll never get back on our feet and we're going to put our grandchildren into so much debt theyll never get out of it." George, who is a former owner of Crop Bistro in Clevelands Ohio City neighborhood, praised Ohio Gov. Mike DeWines initial reactions to stem the spread of coronavirus, with shelter-in-place and restaurant-shutdown orders enacted last month. But his frustration boiled over as he pleaded with task-force members. "We did our job as citizens," he said. "Now it's time to trust the business owners and citizens to get back to normal. Also, it is not government's place to pick winners and losers. Who are you kidding? You only shut down some industries, but others can stay open 100 percent? Who are you kidding? The rest of us are shut down, we have rights." George, who said he has used the hiatus to ensure his restaurants are sanitized and disinfected, offered what he sees as safeguards that could be put in place when the public returns to restaurants and bars: Subject employees and patrons to temperature checks, with 100 degrees being a barometer to send them away. Employees should change out aprons and protective apparel more often. Restrooms should be cleaned more often. Patrons should wait six paces in line when waiting to be served. The state should declare a sales-tax holiday for masks and other similar equipment purchases. "For those who buy it, there should be 100 percent tax credit," he said. "These are common-sense approaches that allow Ohio to begin its economic recovery and allow for maximum public health. I repeat, a phased-in economic approach will not work; you're kidding yourselves. Every day after May 1, 2 to 5 percent of our businesses will never re-open." DeWine's shelter-in-place order ends Friday, May 1. "We need," George said, "to reopen Ohio." I cover food, beer, wine and sports-related topics. If you want to see my stories, heres a directory on cleveland.com. Inspecting the newly built epidemic hospital in Kiskunhalas, in southern Hungary, Zoltan Kovacs, the state secretary for international communication and relations, hailed the buildings swift completion as a feat of engineering. The temporary hospital capable of housing 150 patients is a testament to the skills Hungarians possess when it comes to building and equipping hospitals, Kovacs said. He said the government had acted in a timely manner to implement the necessary preventative measures and restrictions with a view to slowing down the spread of the virus. He added that it was exactly thanks to these timely measures that Hungary is holding its own in an international comparison in terms of its coronavirus infection curve, the number of confirmed cases, patients and deaths. At the same time, he warned that though the governments response to the epidemic has been successful in ensuring that the virus in Hungary was spreading slower than elsewhere, there were no guarantees against a sudden explosion of cases that would require the availability of tens of thousands of hospital beds. Kovacs noted that the construction of the container hospital had been part of a response to a sudden rise in coronavirus cases. Built on the premises of the Kiskunhalas prison, it will serve as a prison hospital after the epidemic subsides, he said. MTI Photo: Csaba Bus DENVER A United Airlines pilot whose charge of indecent exposure was dismissed sued the Denver airport hotel where his arrest occurred. An attorney for Andrew Collins filed the lawsuit against The Westin Denver International Airport in U.S. District Court Monday, KMGH-TV reported. Collins was arrested in September 2018 after being accused of standing naked in front of his 10th-floor hotel window overlooking the Denver International Airport terminal. The Leesburg, Virginia, resident said he did not know he was visible to anyone in the main terminal. A judge dismissed criminal charges against Collins in March 2019, but by that time the wrongful arrest had caused a six-month work suspension. Collins settled a lawsuit against the city of Denver for $300,000. His attorney, Craig Silverman, said in a statement they are hopeful the hotel will acknowledge and remedy the fact this violation occurred with the unfortunate participation and permission of DIA Westin staff. The Westin Denver International Airport did not immediately respond to a request for comment. YEREVAN, APRIL 22, ARMENPRESS. President of the National Assembly of Artsakh Ashot Ghoulyan has commented on the announcments of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, noting that irrespective of the content of the proposals developed by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs and irrespective of their names, be it Lisbon, Key West, Madrid, Kazan or something else, they will be inadmissible for Artsakh if they are to be developed and discussed without the participation of the direct side of the conflict, the Republic of Artsakh, ARMENPRESS reports Ghoulyan wrote on his Facebook page. Judging from the answers of the Russian FM Sergey Lavrov, one can assume that stubborn efforts are being made for restoing the deadlock option of Artsakh-Azerbaijan conflict settlement, which is the step-by-step option. The Foreign Minister of an OSCE Minsk Group Co-chair country, who has deep information on the conflict, could have given more complete comments on the developments. Indeed, all the 4 resolutions of the UNSC were adopted in 1993, during the war. The priority and key demand of those resolutions was the total suspension of military actions, unblocking of communication means and start of negotiations. Did the other side of the conflict, Baku, really implement the main demand of the resolutions? If it had implemented, the war would not have lasted until May, 1994, when the Azerbaijani side was forced to sign Yerevan-Baku-Stepanakert trilateral agreement on ceasefire and the agreement on reinforcing the ceasefire regime signed in February, 1995. It should be emphasized that the mentioned two agreements are the exclusive agreements signed during the entire process of Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict settlement, which were achieved by trilateral format. Afterwards, numerous settlement options have been discussed, which have been denied either by Baku or by Stepanakert and remained on paper. I want to draw special attention on the fact that the settlement option denied by Stepanakert (October, 1997) was later named Step-by-step option. Even if we try to understand the Co-chairs consistent efforts to find new ways for settlement, one can merely feel sorry for the fact that those quests took them back to the concept denied 23 years ago. Irrespective of the content of the proposals developed by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs and irrespective of their names, be it Lisbon, Key West, Madrid, Kazan or something else, they will be inadmissible for Artsakh if they are to be developed and discussed without the participation of the direct side of the conflict, the Republic of Artsakh. And this last announcement that the step-by-step option is on the negotiation table once again makes us confident that Artsakhs participation is mandatory, moreover, its mandatory in all stages of the negotiations, President of the National Assembly of Artsakh Ashot Ghoulyan wrote. Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan WA has a new set of residential and commercial tenancy laws in a government attempt to arrest the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. For renters, landlords and tenants, this means there is a ban on evictions for six months under both residential and commercial tenancy agreements. New laws mean a moratorium on residential and commercial evictions in WA. Credit:Paul Harris But there are some exceptions, according to the state government. This is to preserve some protections for landlords against tenants who aren't suffering hardships attempting to take advantage of crisis by avoiding their agreement obligations. Scottish tailor Thomas Rae snips a strip of cloth from what will soon be clothing worn by a nurse, carefully placing the material under a sewing machine for stitching. Rae, 56, owns a string of tailoring stores across Scotlands industrial capital Glasgow and until six weeks ago his work mainly involved mending trousers, jackets and dresses. But these days he spends his time working with a small army of volunteers to create the hygienic clothing, known as scrubs, worn by the nurses and doctors on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic. The lockdown had been announced and so I sat in the house and I thought what could I do to help these nurses out or the NHS, the frontline workers, he said, referring to Britains state-run National Health Service (NHS). I started making masks and then I started getting emails and messages from nurses that work on the front line asking me would I be interested in making scrubs. Rae posted an appeal on social media for machinists, cutters and people with extra sewing machines to see if he could set up a small factory to make scrubs to NHS standards. His call was answered with a level of enthusiasm he had never encountered before. - Like a family - Glasgows local authority was among the first to respond, giving Rae an empty shop to use opposite his dry cleaning and alterations store in a shopping centre in the Easterhouse suburb on the citys eastern edge. Once the work space was set up, the volunteers started to arrive. Nurses, retired tailors and seamstresses all offered their services to get the project rolling. One of the first to sign up was former dressmaker Tony McGlynn, 62. I retired three years ago, he said. I answered the call from Tommy because I had machines, I had fabric that was lying back home doing nothing. Donations of cotton cloth -- the material required by the health service -- and food keep on coming as the volunteers put in long days. Fashion companies across Britain are also helping to fight the coronavirus. At the end of March, Burberry -- famous around the world for its trench coats -- started using its factories in Yorkshire to manufacture hospital gowns and masks for patients. Meanwhile, David Nieper, a fashion firm in Englands East Midlands region, this week urged other British manufacturers to switch production after receiving its first order to make scrubs for NHS trusts. The Derbyshire-based company is set to make an initial 5,000 sets of scrubs for a local trust running hospitals. For Rae, the devastation caused by the pandemic has in some ways been countered by the kindness shown by people. For me it is quite overwhelming -- the kindness -- especially the volunteers that have come on board and the other store owners here, he said. Theyve been making sure we have enough food to get us through the day. We are like a family now. (This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.) Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter Congress Must Include African American Independent Professionals In COVID-19 Recovery Gig Economy Professionals Help Make Your Districts Thrive! The term gig has its modern origins in music. Jazz musicians in the early 20th century used to refer to any job that paid money as a gig. They used the term to differentiate between playing with friends and playing for money because musicians, like pretty much all artists, tend to follow their passions in life and business whether it pays the bills or not. They do what they love. If they can string enough gigs together to make a career out of doing what they love, theyre living their dreams. The great Louis Armstrong once said, Musicians dont retire; they stop when theres no more music in them. ADVERTISEMENT The COVID-19 pandemic exposed gaps in our economic safety net across all industries. No one is spared unemployment when a meteor this big hits the economy. There has been a lot of political noise on the plight of GigWorkers, especially those offering low-skilled services like ridesharing and house cleaning who cant shelter-in-place without missing a rent payment. But the reality is that todays gig-economy workforce is big, diverse and made up of some of the most passionate and independent professionals on the planet. Labor law changes for some should not mean eliminating freedom for all. Ironically, the gig-economy is uniquely resilient to the kind of global economic body blow COVID-19 delivered. Yes, millions of Freelancers and GigWorkers had work disappear the instant the economy shut down as businesses across the globe froze spending. But unlike millions of people with traditional employment whose actual jobs disappeared, there is a ton of work waiting for GigWorkers the moment the economy opens up again. In fact, the gig economy generated nearly $1 trillion to the US economy in 2019 and it will be the gig-economy that leads America back to economic health in a post-COVID world. GigWorkers today come in all shapes and sizes from freelance writers and musicians to web-designers, business consultants, artists and hair stylists. GigWorkers are people making a living by selling their skills and services directly to people willing to pay. No bosses. No timecards. No middlemen. Most of them dont want to be someone elses employee. Theyre doing what they do by choice. To be sure, some GigWorkers dont have many choices theyre doing what they do to survive. But for the independent workforce as a whole, the rise of the platform economy is the great equalizer. With on-line platforms like Amazon, etsy, Angies List and Uber, independent workers dont have to be a cog in someone elses wheel to have access to paying customers for whatever it is theyre selling. Federal and state policies aimed at helping the independent workforce recover from COVID-19 is a uniquely important issue for Black-owned businesses. History has shown that Black families are hit harder in economic downturns and dont recover as quickly in the aftermath. Studies show that the median white family has roughly 10 times the amount of wealth as the median Black family, meaning Black-owned businesses have less cushion to ride through economic disruptions. The Brookings Institute found that just under half of Black-owned firms that existed in 2002 still existed in 2011 after the Great Recession decimated the global economy compared to almost two-thirds of white-owned businesses. With income disparity having reached toxic levels before the COVID-19 crisis, Black and Brown communities will be facing even steeper challenges in recovering from its aftermath. Regulations that hamper California businesses from hiring local, independent talent will cripple Black-owned businesses and the communities we serve. I am publisher of the Black Voice News, a weekly newspaper that has been in my family for two generations. When my sister Regina and I decided to work for the family business we started BPC MediaWorks, our first firm so that we could contract with our parents business. We both wanted our independence and we wanted to control our own destinies. Its the same spirit we both have in the work we continue to do as independent professionals: she has RBW Communications and I have Voice Media Ventures, a firm specializing in media and community engagement strategies. Its also the type of professionals I attract to work with me for clients as well as for the newspaper. They are independent minded communication experts, writers, graphic artists, photographers, videographers, social media strategists, researchers, and editors. But the California law has made this business model nearly impossible. ADVERTISEMENT When I pleaded with lawmakers to fix the law so it didnt hurt thousands of independent professionals and local businesses like mine, my words fell on deaf ears. The author of the legislation actually said she does not believe that freelancing is real work. Unfortunately, thousands of African American independent contractors were laid off before COVID because of misguided policies passed in the name of protecting GigWorkers. I can tell you firsthand that thousands of local, African American businesses and independent professionals have already been hurt by this badly-drafted legislation. Thousands more have now lost work as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. If we fight for policies that support and respect independent professionals and local businesses as our elected leaders draft economic stimulus legislation that will define our future; if we are included as full partners in designing a future of work that empowers independent professionals to pursue their dreams; if we are free to harness our passion for the betterment of ourselves, our families and our communities, without sacrificing our freedom to work as we choose, then as Louis Armstrong implied, we can continue playing the music as long as its in us. But if Congress leaves us out, the music stops now for generations to come. Dr. Paulette Brown- Hinds is the founder of Voice Media Ventures and the second-generation publisher of The Black Voice News. She is also the Founding Co-Chair of the Independent Contractors Association. www.Indywork.org Reliance Jio and Facebook will look to use WhatsApp for delivering goods from local neighborhood Kirana stores to consumers before expanding collaboration in education and healthcare sector, billionaire Mukesh Ambani said soon after announcing the mega Rs 43,574 -crore deal. "All of us at Reliance and Jio are delighted to welcome Facebook Inc," he said in a short video message posted on the group's social media handles. Earlier in the day, Facebook announced an investment of USD 5.7 billion (Rs 43,574 crore) to buy a 9.99 per cent stake in the firm that houses Ambani's telecom arm Jio as the social media giant looks to expand presence in its largest market in terms of subscriber base. "The combined power of Jio's world-class digital connectivity platform and Facebook's intimate relationship with the Indian people will offer innovative new solutions to each one of you," Ambani said. "In the very near future, JioMart -- Jio's digital new commerce platform, and WhatsApp will empower nearly 3 crore small Indian Kirana shops to digitally transact with every customer in their neighbourhood. "This means all of you can order and get faster delivery of day-to-day items, from nearby local shops. At the same time, small kiranas can grow their businesses and create new employment opportunities using digital technologies," Ambani said. While the Facebook deal is part of value unlocking by Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) to cut debt, Facebook will get deeper access toIndia, the second-largest internet market after China. Facebook already has over 400 million WhatsApp users in India and is looking to launch apayment offering. Having a local partner could help it in navigating various regulatory issues, including those related to privacy and local storage. "And in the days to come, this winning recipe to serve other key stakeholders of Indian society. Our kisans (farmers), our small and medium enterprises, our students and teachers, our healthcare providers and above our women and youth who formed the foundation of a new India," Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of RIL said. He said at the core of the Jio-Facebook partnership is the commitment that Mark Zukerberg, founder of Facebook and he share for the all-round digital transformation of India for serving all Indians. "Together, our two companies will accelerate India's digital economy to empower you, to enable you and to enrich you. Our partnership will be a great catalyst to make India the world's leading digital society," he said. Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram have become household names in India over the last few years. "WhatsApp, in particular, has entered our people's daily vocabulary in all the 23 official languages of India. WhatsApp is not just a digital application. It has become aapka aur hum sabka, pyara dost. A friend who brings together families, friends, businesses, information-seekers and providers," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The business leader hand-picked by Scott Morrison to shape Australia's post-COVID economic recovery has warned against sinking public money into "nation building" infrastructure projects that are not commercially viable. Neville Power, the chairman of the National COVID-19 Co-ordination Commission, said part of his work will be helping to identify and promote major projects which can help restart the national economy as it emerges from its greatest contraction for a century. Neville Power says any big post-shutdown infrastructure projects will need to be able to pay their way. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen He is also advising state and federal governments to pursue tax and regulation changes that will deliver "immediate kicks" and build greater economic self-reliance, nominating business investment incentives, the reskilling of displaced workers and cheaper gas supplies as priorities. In an interview with The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald Mr Power, a former chief executive of mining company Fortescue Metals, said infrastructure projects deserving of support would be those that can be built with private funds rather than heavy government investment. Fourteen aircraft parade in a formation known as an elephant walk along the runway at Andersen Air Force Base on Monday, April 13, 2020. By Chen Lufan American media reported that all the five B-52H Stratofortress bombers of the US military departed from the Andersen Air Force Base (AFB) in Guam on April 16 for their home base at Minot AFB in North Dakota, with no aircraft arriving to replace them. This put an end to the US Air Forces continuous bomber presence in the Pacific region since 2004. Whats intriguing was that these bombers just participated in the massive elephant walk show of force several days ago, which was interpreted as an important signal that the US is now targeting other major countries. The USAFs abrupt withdrawal of all B-52H bombers from Andersen AFB captured extensive attention. Some analysts said the withdrawal might be required by Americas prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic on its homeland. After the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt arrived on March 27 with hundreds of sailors infected with COVID-19, most of the service members got off and were quarantined, putting a lot of strain on the local health care system and hindering the pandemic containment on the island. The return of B-52H bombers, which have come to the end of their mission, will lessen the logistics pressure and reveals the US militarys eagerness given the extended military travel ban. Its also within reason that the US didnt assign new aircraft in order to reduce the flow of personnel and avoid massive deployments. However, this move may not be an innocent expedient as far as the US overall strategic layout is concerned, but an important signal of accelerated adjustment of its military strategy driven by the novel coronavirus outbreak. It is anticipated to exert significant impacts on the US militarys strategic deployments worldwide. In recent years, certain countries labeled by the US as main strategic competitors have acquired medium- and long-range strike capability, making fixed military bases more vulnerable. Therefore, the Pentagon has been mulling ways to change the traditional mode of deployment and enhance maritime maneuverability while intensifying its deployments in the Indo-Pacific region. In the meantime, the US military has increasingly adopted a combat concept called Dynamic Force Employment, which is aimed at making major military deployments less predictable to unsettle potential rivals. Earlier in April, the US Navy expressed its intention of curtailing the stationing of bombers in Guam. The USAF Major Kate Atanasoff, a US Strategic Command (STRATCOM) spokesperson, confirmed the bomber withdrawal in a recent statement. "In line with the National Defense Strategy, the United States has transitioned to an approach that enables strategic bombers to operate forward in the Indo-Pacific region from a broader array of overseas locations, when required, and with greater operational resilience, while these bombers are permanently based in the United States. US strategic bombers will continue to operate in the Indo-Pacific, including Guam, at the Americas timing and tempo." While the COVID-19 pandemic has caused numerous infections and deaths in the US, the military re-deployment is obviously not intended to weaken the US military deterrence in the region, but to enhance it. The new move will exert far-reaching impacts on the Indo-Pacific region, on Americas global deployments, and on the world military landscape. According to experts, American bombers are likely to pose more diverse threats to Asian countries in the future. It was easy to monitor the bombers in Guam in the past because their deployment was relatively fixed. Now with the adoption of the Dynamic Force Employment, US bombers may approach East Asia in new ways with the help of tanker airplane, which makes them hard to defend against as there is less visible deterrence but more invisible threats. As a result, it is necessary for relevant countries to establish an air early warning system with more comprehensive coverage and longer detection range. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Soon Staten Islanders will start to see the erection of new tolling infrastructure on the boroughs biggest bridge. On Wednesday, the MTA Board approved two contracts, totaling approximately $42.6 million, for the implementation of split-tolling infrastructure on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. The awarded contracts come just one month after the the MTA Board unanimously approved split tolling on the span with an expectation that the new tolling system -- which is expected to net the agency millions in additional annual revenue -- will be up and running by the end of 2020. In order to implement the split-tolling system -- which is now federally mandated following a push from Rep. Max Rose (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn) and others -- the MTA will need to install new cashless electronic tolling systems over the bridges Brooklyn-bound lanes. The first contract, totaling nearly $17 million, was awarded to TransCore for the installation and maintenance of the tolling equipment. TransCores scope of work includes: furnishing and installing toll system equipment; testing; commissioning and maintaining the system equipment in the toll lanes, according to MTA documents. TransCore will also be responsible for the development of a Catastrophic Events Mitigation System (CEMS), which would allow the agency to continue collecting tolls in the face of unforeseen circumstances. Given that the Toll Collection System is in an area that historically has been impacted by both natural and human events and the size and scope of B&Ts toll collection operations has significantly increased, it is critical that a Catastrophic Events Mitigation System (CEMS) be implemented as expeditiously as possible, according to MTA documents. The agency has proposed upgrading the existing Travel Time System (TTS) to serve as a backup toll collection system in the case of catastrophic events. B&Ts Travel Time System is part of the regional TIMED system, a regional traffic monitoring system that reads E-ZPass tags at strategic locations throughout New York City to provide valuable traffic information to the public. Each B&T facility contains a series of non-tolling tag readers that are used to feed B&T and TIMED travel data. Readers are connected to antennas mounted at multiple locations outside the tolling zone. The existence of these readers and antennas provides B&T with a source of redundant transponder reads that may be utilized for toll revenue collection purposes during a disaster recovery operation, according to MTA documents. The second contract, totaling $25.6 million, was awarded to El Sol Contracting for the installation of new tolling gantries and all associated toll collection infrastructure. The Scope of Work requires civil and structural works associated with the installation of two sets of gantries (6 gantries in total), one for the upper level approach lanes and another set for the lower level approach lanes and local on-ramp lanes, along with electrical, communications, and electronic toll collection infrastructure as well as a Vehicle Occupancy Detection System and a toll enforcement system, according to MTA documents. The MTA expects the new tolling infrastructure to be installed and operational by December 2020. HOW WE GOT HERE In late December, President Donald Trump signed a $1.4 trillion spending package that included a repeal of the split-tolling ban on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, including language to split the spans $19, one-way toll into two, $9.50 split-tolls. Prior to the signing, the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge was the nations only bridge where tolling was controlled by federal mandate, a Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) bill put in place over 30 years ago and co-sponsored by former Congressman Guy V. Molinari to address growing congestion surrounding the spans tollbooths. Rose spearheaded the recent efforts to re-establish split tolling on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, including a speech made on the House floor in June encouraging passage of the legislation. Thanks to the overwhelmingly bipartisan support from every level of government, outdated federal laws will no longer create traffic on the expressway and let New Jersey truckers skip out on paying the same tolls we pay every damn day, Rose said in December. TRAFFIC ANALYSIS Split tolling is expected to correct the daily directional vehicle imbalance on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, decreasing eastbound traffic while increasing westbound traffic, with drivers no longer incentivized to only use the span in the uncharged direction. WSP, a global consulting firm, analyzed the potential traffic and revenue impacts of reinstating split tolling on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. Under the current tolling system, the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge handles approximately 112,000 eastbound and 105,000 westbound vehicles per weekday, a difference of about 7,000 vehicles. According to the report, the implementation of split tolling would help correct this daily imbalance. Traffic diversions between the key crossings may occur because reducing the VNB westbound toll by 50 percent would be a toll-based incentive to utilize the westbound VNB and I-278 corridor, while adding the equivalent toll to the eastbound direction would be a disincentive to use the eastbound VNB and I-278 corridor, according to the report. With split tolling implemented, the report estimates a reduction of 4,325 eastbound vehicles per day on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, with 4,361 additional westbound vehicles per day, a net increase of 36 vehicles per day. Of the 4,325 less eastbound vehicles per day, 254 of them are expected to be medium or heavy trucks. Of the 4,361 additional westbound vehicles per day, 489 of them are expected to be medium or heavy trucks. However, the changes in total traffic volume are not expected to significantly impact rush hour traffic. The highest changes in traffic volumes would occur during the off-peak periods when congestion is lower and when the VNB operates more like a regional bridge and less like a local bridge, as it does during the AM and PM peak periods, according to the report. Of the eastbound diversions, 12% are expected during the p.m. peak period, 13% are expected during the a.m peak period, 24% are expected during the midday period and 51% are expected during the late night and early morning period. Of the westbound diversions, 13% are expected during the p.m. peak period, 18% are expected during the a.m. peak period, 33% are expected during the midday period and 36% are expected during the late night and early morning period. Diversions are less likely to happen during the AM and PM peak periods in part because the VNB primarily serves as a local bridge between Brooklyn and Staten Island, and because congestion along alternate routes is greater during these periods, resulting in lower anticipated diversions, the report continues. However, Sam Schwartz, a local transportation expert, reviewed the preliminary report provided by WSP, and said he is skeptical of the idea that the diversions would have such a minimal impact on peak travel periods. While more motorists may be more likely to travel longer distances and save on tolls when traffic congestion is lower, the diversions projected in the report seem too highly skewed away from the peak periods," he said. "We would like to hear a more in-depth explanation of their key statement that diversions are less likely to happen during the AM and PM peak periods in part because congestion along alternate routes is greater during these periods, resulting in lower anticipated diversions. The Staten Island Expressway would see relatively small increases in westbound traffic and decreases in eastbound traffic, with the highest changes in traffic volume occurring during off-peak periods. According to the report, the changes in traffic volume would have a minimal effect on travel speeds. Speeds may increase eastbound or decrease westbound up to about 0.1 mph during any hour of the day, with most hours experiencing no change in speed, the report states. However, if occurring at the right time, this slight increase could marginally improve traffic flow during the morning commute, the report claims. Currently, during the AM peak hour, the SIE is heavily congested and operates at a very low level of service. A relatively small decrease in traffic volumes during the AM peak hour may result in better traffic flow and thus better travel speeds, according to the report. New Delhi, April 22 : Delhi Women and Child Development Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam on Wednesday said there has been no increase in domestic violence cases during lockdown. Gautam held a meeting with Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal, along with other department officials, to discuss the notice issued by the National Commission for Women (NCW) which reported a spike in domestic violence cases in Delhi. As per the NCW, they received 123 complaints of domestic violence and said that they have observed a rise in such cases during the lockdown imposed to control the spread of coronavirus. "In the light of this, the DCW chief shared the data of calls with the Cabinet Minister that contrary to NCW reports, there has been a sharp decline in the number of domestic violence cases and distress calls on their 181 helpline number," the Department said. Maliwal said that before lockdown, the DCW received 1,500-1,800 calls per day on 181 helpline number for issues pertaining to domestic violence. "However, during the lockdown, there was no increase in the number of calls... rather, there was a decline in the number of calls especially those regarding the issues of domestic violence. Even the number of complaints in DCW's One Stop Centres have come to just 10 during the nationwide lockdown," the Department cited her as saying. As per the call record data of the 181 helpline number regarding domestic violence complaints, the DCW received only 212 calls from March 30 till April 6 and 171 calls between April 14 and 20. The DCW also said that it has also observed a decline in cases and complaints of molestation, sexual assault, stalking in the Capital. Gautam also directed the officials to publicise the 181 helpline number in Delhi so that women in distress can reach out to the DCW for help. Along with this, he has also ordered that more Protection Officers should be appointed under the Domestic Violence Act. "All vacancies need to be filled on an immediate basis," the Minister said. Along with 181 helpline number, the DCW has also launched a special WhatsApp Number +91- 9350181181 to register complaints regarding domestic violence, he said. "The DCPCR (Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights) recently launched a helpline number 011-41182977 for children who need any kind of mental health counselling during the lockdown," he added. A man who claimed to have coronavirus and spat at police while being arrested for domestic assault has been jailed. Brandon Wallace, 21, of no fixed address, was arrested in Barking just before midday on Monday after assaulting a woman in her home and damaging the property, Scotland Yard said in a statement. During his arrest, he said he had Covid-19 and spat at two officers. This led to a further arrest for assault on emergency workers. He was later charged and admitted while in custody that he didn't have the virus or any of its symptoms. He pleaded guilty at Barkingside Magistrates' Court on Tuesday to assaulting the woman and the emergency workers, and to criminal damage. He was sentenced to six months in prison. Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday launched into a fiery takedown of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for saying state and local governments with cratered finances because of the coronavirus pandemic should be allowed to file for bankruptcy rather than rely on federal aid. My breath is taken away, Murphy, a Democrat, said of the Kentucky Republican during his daily coronavirus press briefing in Trenton. Really? This is the time, in a moment of crisis unlike any our country has faced in at least 100 years, to suggest its a good thing for states to go bankrupt?" the governor asked. Come on, man, Murphy said. That is completely and utterly irresponsible. Theres no level of responsibility associated with that. And I dont care what party youre in. Murphy added that, as usual, McConnell is dead wrong. Because that wont happen, the governor said. We wont go bankrupt. You have my word we wont go bankrupt. But without federal aid, Murphy said, states will be forced to lay off public workers and gut the living daylights out of the exact services that our citizens need right now." We will just cut, cut, cut, and cut, he continued. "We wont go bankrupt, senator, but we will leave our citizens in the lurch at their most profound hour of need. We will leave people on the beach, alone, helpless. That is what will happen in New Jersey. And that will happen in Kentucky. You have my word. So watch your words, sir, Murphy said. This is the time to stand up on a bipartisan basis and be there for the states in America, not just for the states sake, but for the American people. Please, God. McConnell, the highest-ranking member of the Senate, made the comments during an interview Wednesday with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. He was discussing how Democrats like Murphy are calling for Congress to provide direct aid for states and cities as their revenues plummet in the wake of stay-at-home orders, business closings, and record unemployment during the pandemic. McConnell said federal leaders would have to thoroughly evaluate giving local governments the money, fearing that states saddled by large debt because of public-worker pensions could add billions more to the national debt. And his office on Wednesday referred to the requests as blue state bailouts. Theres not going to be any desire on the Republican side to bail out state pensions by borrowing money from future generations, McConnell told Hewitt. The Senate leader added he would certainly be in favor of allowing states to use the bankruptcy route. It saves some cities," McConnell said. "And theres no good reason for it not to be available. My guess is their first choice would be for the federal government to borrow money from future generations to send it down to them now so they dont have to do that, he continued. Thats not something Im going to be in favor of. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., speaks at the Capitol in Washington last month.AP Right now, bankruptcy isnt possible. States dont have the ability to file under current law, and Congress would have to act to allow it. On Tuesday, the Senate passed a nearly $500 billion package to provide more funding for small businesses, hospitals, and testing. But aid to local governments wasnt included. With residents ordered to stay home and nonessential businesses forced to close, Murphy has said New Jerseys tax collections are crashing during the outbreak though he has not provided any hard numbers or projections. The governor said this past weekend he might have to lay off an historic number of public workers in the Garden State if Congress doesnt do agree to state aid. He has also urged state lawmakers to allow the state to borrow billions. Murphy said Wednesday if theres no state aid, unemployment would likely double in America because a rash of public workers would lose their jobs. The governor also insisted he wasnt criticizing McConnell to be partisan. In fact, if the words were spoken by a Democrat, I would be equally as forceful, he said. Meanwhile, Murphy said he believes President Donald Trump is in a better place on this. Hes gonna have to be, Murphy said. Because its not an option. If we are going to continue to serve folks who are unemployed, small businesses that are bust, folks who are sick or, God forbid, dying. We have got to be there for them, and the federal government is gonna have to give us the wherewithal to allow us to be able to do that. Murphy wasnt the only New Jersey official angry at McConnells comments. So was U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-9th Dist. These wretched remarks by Mitch McConnell are a smack right into the face of every American, Pascrell said in a statement Our states are being bled bone-dry to weather this storm. Lives will be wrecked for years, if not decades, unless the government steps in and supports every state. And McConnell is vowing to block that support out of vicious, partisan spite." New Jersey, which has 9 million residents, now has at least 95,865 COVID-19 cases, with 5,063 related deaths, officials said Wednesday. Only New York has more coronavirus cases and deaths among U.S. states. State officials have said in recent days the rate of hospitalizations in New Jersey is stabilizing, but Murphy stresses that his lockdown orders must remain for at least another few weeks until numbers drop and there is more robust testing in place. More than 718,000 workers in New Jersey have filed for unemployment in the wake of the restrictions. NJ Advance Media staff writer Jonathan D. Salant contributed to this report. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Storyful An affable deer created somewhat of a buzz in a neighborhood near Salt Lake City, Utah, he regularly visited over the holiday period.The deer, nicknamed Cooper by local residents, has been playing with children in the neighborhood of Herriman and was even spotted posing for photos, reports said.Herriman resident Angelica Lujan recorded footage of the tame deer interacting with her children outside of her home on South Rowell Drive.Speaking to KSTU, a Utah Division of Wildlife Resources representative said despite the deers friendly attitude, the best thing for the animal is for people to leave him alone.People dont realize these beautiful, cute deer can be aggressive as they get older. Weve had times in the past where these friendly deer, they do get aggressive, said Scott Root, Conservation Outreach Manager, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.Weve had kids hurt at bus stops. Bad things happen when we feed deer in a residential area, Root added. Credit: Angelica Lujan via Storyful MDE COVID-19 Early Childhood Information and Resources In response to the COVID-19 crisis, the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) is providing early childhood education information and resources to assist local school districts, educators, child care providers and families. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation in reducing the coronavirus risk to Michigan residents. For more information on statewide efforts, please visit the coordinated Michigan Coronavirus website. Additional Education Information and Resources can be found on the MDE website at the COVID-19 Education Information and Resources page. Early Childhood Instructional Resources Child Care Visit the Child Care page for the most up-to-date resources GSRP Visit the GSRP page for the most up-to-date resources Early On Head Start Visit Heads Start's Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center for the most up-to-date resources Section 32p and 32p(4) michael barbaro From The New York Times, Im Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily. [music] michael barbaro Today: For decades, the United States has feared the consequences of running out of oil. Because of the pandemic, it now has far too much of it. Reporter Cliff Krauss on the energy crisis that nobody saw coming. Its Monday, April 27. Cliff, tell me about this moment when oil prices collapse. cliff krauss So, it was late at night, Im about to go to bed, but I put on Bloomberg television. archived recording And in terms of how far down these moves are going to go, I mean, what are your expectations? cliff krauss Because Im a wonky guy. [LAUGHTER] archived recording Oil really getting hammered today, hitting an 18-year low. cliff krauss And I see, suddenly, the oil prices are collapsing. archived recording 1 Its at $14 and change archived recording 2 Touched around $10. $10 archived recording 3 Oil today falling all the way to a penny a barrel archived recording 4 I mean, we just saw crazy historic drops in U.S. crude today. What on Earth is going on? cliff krauss And I write a quick note to my editors, saying, youre going to see this. Its weird. But this is a technical issue. Its a contract. Its a futures contract thats going to roll over in 24 hours. It may not mean much. michael barbaro Mhm. cliff krauss Then I get up in the morning, and were in negative territory. archived recording At the top, I talked about the craziness of the oil patch. Then we watched as the price of West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery went from the high teens to less than zero, just in one session. cliff krauss Which had never happened before. archived recording Oil falling below $0 a barrel for the first time ever. cliff krauss Just a few years ago, we had $147 thats a plus barrel oil. And its bounced around in recent years between 40 and 60. But negative 37? archived recording The week begins with U.S. crude oil trading at minus $37.63 a barrel. cliff krauss Negative $37. Negative $37. Never happened before. archived recording You probably think that couldnt happen. How do we make sense of this? cliff krauss Never. Preposterous. michael barbaro Right. I remember hearing this news the next morning, after you had flagged it to your editors, Cliff, and being genuinely confused by this. I mean, how can oil be worth less than $0? Right? Like, not just worthless, but somehow having a negative value. cliff krauss Well, since this had never happened before in history, everybody was confused. But nobody wanted the oil. So people had to actually pay to get rid of it. michael barbaro Hmm. I mean, why is it that people would need to pay to get rid of what we regard, universally, as the most precious commodity on Earth? cliff krauss Well, it gets very technical, and I dont want to get into the technicalities of this. But basically, these were futures contracts that rolled over. And so this was a phenomena that occurred over a 12 to 24-hour period. So theres something a bit artificial about it. But it does reflect something thats real. Nobody wants the oil. It is not a precious commodity right now because people are not driving, people are not flying, cruise ships are not cruising, and industry is not burning as much fuel as it was. And yet the world is still producing this oil. michael barbaro What youre saying is that the pandemic basically destroyed the normal demand for oil across the world? cliff krauss Thats right. So now the world is roughly producing 30 million barrels a day more than were consuming. michael barbaro Wow. cliff krauss So the world is awash in oil. Were flooded. archived recording An incredible sight at the port of Long Beach: 24 oil tankers are anchored offshore. Thats four times the number normally waiting to unload crude from Mexico or Alaska. cliff krauss This problem, which is an immediate problem, the seeds of it go back many, many years. michael barbaro What do you mean? cliff krauss Well, there have been a series of traumas, perhaps three major ones that go back to my college days, actually, in the 1970s. [music] archived recording Good evening. It is an all-out war. cliff krauss In 1973 archived recording Thats how Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dyan describes an invasion of the Golan Heights and the East bank of the Suez by Syria and Egypt. cliff krauss During the Arab-Israeli War, the Yom Kippur War, as some still call it archived recording All day today, Israeli reservists have been heading for their units. The streets have been full of military traffic. cliff krauss Arab countries were attacking Israel and almost overran Israel until the Nixon administration archived recording (henry kissinger) We will, in this crisis, as we have in other crises cliff krauss At the last minute archived recording (henry kissinger) not hesitate to take a firm stand. cliff krauss decided to send Israel a massive amount of weapons. archived recording Kissinger hinted that the U.S. has begun to resupply Israeli military losses. cliff krauss Which, of course, made many of the oil-producing countries that we were becoming dependent on in the Middle East quite upset. And all they could do in retaliation was archived recording The oil producing countries of the Arab world decided to use their oil as a political weapon. cliff krauss to inflict an embargo, an oil embargo on the United States and other Western countries that were aiding Israel. archived recording They will reduce oil production by 5 percent a month until the Israelis withdraw from occupied territories. cliff krauss And this was a trauma for Americans, causing long lines at the gas pump. archived recording (richard nixon) Our supply of petroleum this winter will be at least 10 percent short of our anticipated demand. And it could fall short by as much as 17 percent. cliff krauss Certainly, people of my generation recall this. I was in college. I had a new, sporty, red Capri. [LAUGHTER] And I loved tooling around. And then suddenly archived recording Gasoline shortages are spreading across the country. Odd-even service, gasoline lines, and closed gas stations are becoming increasingly common. cliff krauss you had to wait on line. I was in college in Poughkeepsie, New York, at Vassar. archived recording So they waited three hours and there was no gas. cliff krauss I remember that I would wait as long as possible, till I was almost on empty, to fill up the tank. archived recording Were all out of gas! Tomorrow morning! [LAUGHTER] Were all out! cliff krauss It was a real bother to do that. archived recording 1 Now, after waiting two hours, and were not sure if I can make it. archived recording 2 Make it in what way? archived recording 3 Well, if theres any gas left. cliff krauss Now my problem was small compared to people who had to rely on their cars to get to work every day and drive long distances. archived recording 1 Ill betcha theres no gas. archived recording 2 I heard this morning archived recording 3 Well, you get the gas down here. archived recording 4 the Commissioner of Energy from Washington. And they claim theres gas. archived recording 5 We cant make a living. What about this? archived recording 6 I mean, this is ridiculous. archived recording 7 I have to travel. cliff krauss So that was a trauma. And it was a political problem and an economic problem for the country. Prices skyrocketed. The economy was badly damaged. Wed just lost the war in Vietnam. And now we dont even have a secure supply of energy. And were dependent on countries such as Saudi Arabia, far away. We barely understand these countries. And theyre not friendly. michael barbaro Mhm. cliff krauss Were in trouble. archived recording (richard nixon) Let me conclude by restating our overall objective. It can be summed up in one word that best characterizes this nation and its essential nature. That word is independence. cliff krauss And so from that pain comes a dream: energy independence. archived recording (richard nixon) What I have called Project Independence 1980 is a series of plans and goals set to ensure that by the end of this decade, Americans will not have to rely on any source of energy beyond our own. cliff krauss And the leadership of the country archived recording (gerald ford) With a comprehensive plan to make our country independent of foreign sources of energy by 1985. cliff krauss basically, Nixon, Ford, Carter archived recording (jimmy carter) The energy crisis has not yet overwhelmed us. But it will if we do not act quickly. cliff krauss over those years made energy independence a, basically, keystone to all of their policies. The dream is that we can produce our own energy supply so that we dont feel this vulnerability anymore. That was the dream. michael barbaro And what do we start to do to achieve that dream? cliff krauss Those three administrations did several things. archived recording (gerald ford) It is in that spirit that I have decided to sign the energy bill just passed by the Congress. cliff krauss There was the establishment of a strategic petroleum reserve in 1975. archived recording (gerald ford) It will enable us to set up a strategic oil storage system. cliff krauss So we would have a reserve when there would be a war or a natural catastrophe. archived recording Starting in 1977, oil will begin flowing through the pipeline, across Alaska, and then by tanker to the lower 48 states. cliff krauss We built the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. archived recording (jimmy carter) in a new energy department. cliff krauss The Department of Energy was created. archived recording (jimmy carter) to bring order out of chaos. cliff krauss We started to use more coal to burn for power. archived recording Ready for war, sir. Ready for war. cliff krauss We went to war archived recording Well, at this hour, Iraq remains in firm control of the tiny oil-rich country of Kuwait. cliff krauss years later, in the Middle East michael barbaro Right. cliff krauss over the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq. archived recording And now sirens, air raid sirens, are beginning to sound over Baghdad. cliff krauss In part, not just to liberate oil fields in Kuwait, but to defend our gas station, Saudi Arabia. archived recording (george h.w. bush) Much of the world is even more dependent upon imported oil and is even more vulnerable to Iraqi threats. michael barbaro Because suddenly, those foreign sources of oil that we still needed, because we werent quite energy independent, they were at risk of being overtaken by Saddam Hussein? cliff krauss Thats right. So all of those things were done. But all that was accomplished, and it was something, was to stem the bleeding. And that brings us to the second trauma, which is the early years of the current century. When suddenly, our production is in decline again. China is growing by leaps and bounds. India is starting to grow by leaps and bounds. A middle class is growing around the developing world. So demand is going up, like, 5 million barrels a day around the world. And the Middle East is suddenly more unstable. And so prices skyrocket between the years of about 2004 and 2007. michael barbaro And when you say skyrocketing, what do you mean? cliff krauss I mean, prices skyrocket to as high as $147 a barrel. michael barbaro Hm. Correct me if Im wrong. This is the point where U.S. gasoline prices at the pump reach $5 a gallon. cliff krauss Yes. michael barbaro And I remember how upsetting that was to consumers and to voters. cliff krauss Yes. It was very, very upsetting. And for those of a certain age, it was a reminder of the 1970s. michael barbaro Huh. cliff krauss We were right back in the same problem, dependent on foreign oil, which was very expensive. But then something big happened. There was a Texas oil man named George Mitchell. And for years and years, he had been experimenting with hydraulic fracturing, which is basically splitting up shale, hard, shale rock which had been useless when drilled vertically. George Mitchell came up with the idea of drilling horizontally through these layers of rock and unleashing the oil in the rock by basically exploding the rock and then introducing sand and water to keep the cracks open, releasing the oil. michael barbaro Fracking. cliff krauss Fracking. archived recording Consider this a eureka moment for the rest of the world, the biggest energy innovation of the decade. cliff krauss Suddenly, they were able to release enormous amounts of oil in fields that big companies had given up on years before. archived recording The so-called shale revolution has spawned boom towns in the Dakotas. Thats a lot of money. Its life-changing money. Its a dream. cliff krauss We were able to do it in North Dakota, Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma, a few other places. archived recording Thanks to fracking technology, the U.S. now producing about 9 1/2 million barrels a day, a 70 percent jump from just five years ago. cliff krauss And its occurring because the price of oil was so high. That incentivized innovation. michael barbaro And Cliff, what does fracking for oil mean for this still quite unfinished American dream of energy independence? cliff krauss Well, it means that we actually, at least momentarily, seem to almost reach that independence. Because American oil production more than doubled in about five years. michael barbaro Wow. archived recording (barack obama) Last year, we relied less on foreign oil than in any of the last 16 years. archived recording Its changed the whole world and the economy of the whole world. Its changed our dependence on foreign oil. Its changed our alliances in terms of their value to us. cliff krauss The United States became an exporter of oil for the first time in many years. And last year, actually leapfrogged over Russia and Saudi Arabia as the biggest oil producer in the world. michael barbaro So this seems like a pretty good problem to have, right? I mean, too much American oil for the first time, basically, in our history. cliff krauss Economically speaking, no question about it. By 2014, we were bringing down gasoline prices for consumers. It was part of our recovery from the recession. And all of this American production puts the United States in a extremely powerful position economically, employing millions of people and producing revenues for state and local governments across much of the country. Also giving the United States the freedom to act in foreign policy in ways that would have been unheard-of years before, such as putting pressure on Iran without endangering our energy supply. It was basically the culmination of the dream from the 1970s. And it was hard to imagine, just a few months ago, what could happen that could undercut that dream. michael barbaro Like a pandemic? cliff krauss Like a pandemic that would suddenly destroy the demand for oil and kneecap the American oil industry that had produced all of this oil in the first place. michael barbaro Well be right back. [music] michael barbaro So Cliff, when this third trauma arrives, the pandemic, the world at this point, and the United States, in particular, is awash in oil. And from what youre saying, demand for that oil has instantly plunged. So whats actually happening to all of this overproduced oil? cliff krauss So the oil has no place to go. And its rapidly filling up tank farms, strategic reserves around the world. Refineries are running out of space to put the oil. And so the inventories are building to a point where therell be no physical space to put the oil. You now have tankers which, you know, used to ship oil from place to place, just storing the oil and sitting out off of the shores of Los Angeles, for instance, and other places. And these are the people who are making a lot of money. Theyre getting paid to just hold the oil. michael barbaro So this explains those negative oil prices, right? Theyre producing so much oil that they have nowhere to store it. So they end up having to pay people to take it. cliff krauss Exactly. michael barbaro Cliff, maybe this is a bit of a stupid question, but why dont oil producers, knowing that theres just way too much oil, and that, if they keep producing it, theyre going to hurt their own ability to command meaningful prices, just stop pumping or fracking oil? Just leave it in the ground. cliff krauss Well, thats beginning to happen, but its a cumbersome, complex process. First of all, you have thousands of producers in the United States. We dont have a national oil company which is taking orders from the government, such as in Saudi Arabia. And then there are complications that go along with shutting in wells. Its an expensive process. You can actually damage the resource to the point where, when you restart the oil, youll actually pump less oil out. And then, you have all of these companies that, even when theyre losing money, they need cash flow. They need cash flow to meet their payroll, to meet their debt responsibilities. So what oil companies prefer to do, you let the well, basically, slowly decline. michael barbaro So if we cant easily turn off the pumps, and we cant suddenly overnight create enough storage for all this oil, what can and I guess what is the U.S. doing about this glut of oil? cliff krauss Well, there are a number of things that are being considered, such as stopping imports from coming in, particularly imports from Saudi Arabia that are on their way in tankers. archived recording 40 million barrels of Saudi oil is already on its way to the United States. Shipping cliff krauss But there are probably American refiners who have already paid for it. archived recording President Trump is facing pressure to stop Saudi crude oil imports in an effort to save the American oil industry. cliff krauss And so you would be hurting American refiners. Thats not something that the administration would like to do, Im sure. So they dont have a lot of options. But meanwhile, small oil producers are in dire straits and on the verge of bankruptcy. And that could be the future, especially if our demand is going to be depressed for a long time. michael barbaro So Cliff, how is this new reality of the glut and the small producers struggling within that glut, how is that starting to look on the ground in Americas biggest oil towns, including, Im sure, yours, which is in Texas? cliff krauss Well, thousands of people are losing their jobs. Others are being furloughed. Probably, its only going to get worse. You have oil states that rely on whats called severance taxes, which is dependent on the price of oil. So that will have an impact on state and local services. And it will have an impact on people who actually earn money because oil is coming out of fields on their private property. So theres going to be a big macroeconomic impact in these oil-producing states. michael barbaro Cliff there are going to be people who hear this and think, this is what happens when a country like the United States becomes overly focused in this discussion of energy and dependence on old line forms of energy, on oil, rather than on newer, greener forms of energy. And what do you say to that? cliff krauss So there are definitely going to be a lot of people who will celebrate the demise of the American oil industry. michael barbaro Mhm. cliff krauss And there is a strong argument to be made that we need to diversify our energy supply. And we have done that successfully when it comes to power. We are now using wind and solar. But not for our cars. The electrical age, the electric cars, theyre coming. Theres no question about it. But its going to take decades. Because the average car today is on the road for 10 years. So it takes a long time to change the transportation fleet. And our transportation fleet is overwhelmingly dependent on gasoline and diesel. michael barbaro Right. Which comes, of course, from oil. cliff krauss Exactly. [music] michael barbaro Cliff, whats so interesting about the history that you have described here is that it feels like every decision the United States has made about oil was about avoiding a single scenario, which is that we would run out of oil and we would be beholden to our adversaries to get that oil. And it feels like we never really prepared for the opposite scenario, which is the situation were in now. cliff krauss Thats right. Nobody anticipated a pandemic that would destroy demand. And no one is to blame for this, but we are now facing an entirely new set of problems. michael barbaro Right. cliff krauss And of course, if we had anticipated this problem, we would not have solved the problem that we had being dependent on producers in the Middle East and other unfriendly powers. michael barbaro Mhm. cliff krauss So my big takeaway, and it may be obvious to everyone, is the idea of energy security is simply an illusion. michael barbaro Hm. cliff krauss We are not energy secure when we have little oil. And were not energy secure when we have a lot of oil. Its hard to get it just right. michael barbaro Thank you, Cliff. cliff krauss Thank you. michael barbaro Well be right back. [music] michael barbaro Heres what else you need to know today. On Sunday, the head of the White House task force on the coronavirus, Dr. Deborah Birx, said that social distancing rules would likely remain in place throughout the summer, even as some states begin reopening their economies. During an interview on NBCs Meet The Press, Birx was asked about President Trumps unproven claim, made last week, that an injection of a disinfectant like bleach could combat the virus. archived recording Dr. Birx, help me understand what happened with the suggestion that the president made that the task force study disinfectant injection. Do you have any more information? And are you concerned that people might take bleach because of what the president said? archived recording (deborah birx) I think I made it very clear in how I interpreted that. I also made it very clear, and so has Dr. Fauci and everyone associated with the task force in their clarity around, this is not a treatment. What was meant michael barbaro The presidents statement was widely condemned and prompted local health officials, and the makers of cleaning supplies, to warn Americans not to ingest or inject their products. As of Sunday night, the coronavirus had infected more than 938,000 Americans and has killed at least 50,000 of them. [music] She has spent the past few weeks home schooling her children after education facilities closed in Victoria due to the coronavirus pandemic. But Rebecca Judd raised eyebrows on Tuesday when she shared a video to Instagram that appeared to show her three-year-old twin sons, Tom and Darcy, heading off to school. She captioned the footage: 'Woohoo sayonara for the day. Seeya at 3pm.' 'Seeya at 3pm': Rebecca Judd raised eyebrows on Tuesday when she shared a video to Instagram that appeared to show her three-year-old twin sons, Tom and Darcy, heading off to school - despite education facilities being closed in Victoria due to the coronavirus pandemic The boys looked ready for a day of learning in their uniforms, but it turns out they weren't actually leaving the house. Rebecca's children attend a private school in Melbourne that encourages parents and students to stick to a routine when it comes to home schooling. This includes children wearing their uniforms during 'virtual classes'. Where are they off to? The boys looked ready for a day of learning in their uniforms, but it turns out they weren't actually leaving the house. Rebecca's children attend a private school that encourages students to stick to a routine by wearing uniforms during 'virtual classes' The Victorian government has encouraged all school students in the state to stay at home and learn remotely - but there are some exemptions. Children can go to school if their parent is an essential worker or if their home is not a safe environment. Rebecca revealed earlier this month that she had given up on home schooling and was now letting her son Oscar, eight, supervise his younger sister Billie, six. 'Passing the baton on': Rebecca revealed earlier this month that she had given up on home schooling and was now letting her son Oscar, eight, supervise his younger sister Billie, six She shared a photo to Instagram of her two eldest children reading, and joked in the caption that she had 'done her time'. 'I've trained Oscar up to listen to Billie's Fitzroy Reader homework and I'm hoping Billie will be able to do the same with the twins in a couple of years, too,' she wrote. 'I've done my time with these readers - time to pass the baton on.' Rebecca shares her four children with her husband, retired AFL player Chris Judd. Emergex Vaccines and George Mason University's National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases (NCBID) enter into an agreement relating to the development of CD8+ priming RNA virus vaccines, including for SARS-CoV-2 Abingdon, UK, 22 April 2020 - Emergex Vaccines Holding Limited ('Emergex'), a biotechnology company developing CD8+ priming set-point vaccines to prevent serious infectious diseases, today announced that it has entered into an agreement with the George Mason University, based in Virginia, in the United States. The agreement specifies that George Mason University's National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases will provide their unique expertise and resources as a partner in the development of Emergex's vaccines against highly pathogenic RNA viruses. In particular, George Mason University's Biosafety 3 capabilities, coupled with their experience in dealing with RNA viruses, means that they are a well-suited collaborator on the vaccine validation studies, as well as the optimization of vaccine design. Professor Thomas Rademacher, CEO and co-founder of Emergex, commented, "Everyone in the world today has or will be affected by highly pathogenic RNA viruses such as bird flu, Ebola, COVID-19, etc. These viruses have caused significant morbidity and mortality, especially in high-risk groups such as the immunocompromised or elderly. We are therefore very excited to announce today this agreement with George Mason University, which adds an important capability to Emergex's vaccine program." Dr Aarthi Narayanan, Associate Professor of Systems Biology in George Mason University's College of Science, added, "My colleagues and I are looking forward to partnering with Emergex and we are especially pleased to be lending our expertise to efforts to create a vaccine during these challenging times. As members of the faculty of a premier research university, we work with other thought leaders to address global threats. This is how we make progress, and collaboration is the top priority for the College of Science, the Institute for Biohealth Innovation, and the University as a whole." Emergex's set-point vaccines have been designed to offer advantages compared to traditional vaccines. These vaccines modify the initial immune status of the recipients in a way that 'primes' their immune systems to recognize subsequent infectious agents much like a natural infection would do, and thus preventing an acute or severe manifestation of the disease. They do this by providing a cell-mediated immune response (a T-cell response) rather than a humoral immune response (an antibody based immune response) which should stimulate longer lasting immunity. They are self-adjuvanted and limit or eliminate the allergic, autoimmune or antibody mediated side effects associated with the traditional vaccines. They are also 100% synthetic and do not contain any RNA or DNA - do not use inactivated or live-attenuated pathogens - and therefore should be inherently safer to develop and use. ### For further information, please contact: At the Company Emergex Storme Moore-Thornicroft, Executive Director Phone: +44 (0)1235 527589 Email: smt@emergexvaccines.com Instinctif Partners (UK/RoW) Ashley Tapp/ Agnes Stephens Phone: +44 (0)20 7457 2020 Mobile: +44 (0)7792 472 293 Email: Emergex@instinctif.com At George Mason University Institute for Biohealth Innovation Amy Adams Executive Director Phone: +1 703-993-2672 Email: avanmete@gmu.edu George Mason University College of Science Tracy Mason Assistant Dean, Strategic Communications Phone: +1 703-229-2030 Email: tmason11@gmu.edu About Emergex Emergex, a UK-based biotechnology company headquartered in Abingdon, UK, is pioneering the development of set-point vaccines to address some of the world's most immediate health threats such as Dengue Fever, Zika, Ebola, pandemic flu and serious intra-cellular bacterial infections. These set-point vaccines are population based and modify the initial immune status of recipients in a way that 'primes' their immune systems to recognise subsequent infectious agents much like a natural infection would do, preventing an acute or severe manifestation of the disease. Emergex combines validated technologies together with the very latest scientific insights to develop its vaccines, including using synthetic peptide codes determined on actual infected cells and using a proprietary gold nanoparticle carrier system for programming. The Company has a growing pipeline of vaccine candidates. The most advanced development programme is a vaccine for Dengue Fever, which may also be disease modifying for other Flaviviruses such as the Zika and Yellow Fever viruses. Emergex also has programmes in development for a universal Influenza vaccine and a universal Filovirus vaccine (including viruses such as Ebola and Marburg) and discovery programmes for a Yellow Fever Booster vaccine and a Chikungunya vaccine. Find out more online at http://www.emergexvaccines.com. About George Mason University George Mason University is Virginia's largest public research university. Located near Washington, D.C., Mason enrolls more than 37,000 students from 130 countries and all 50 states. Mason has grown rapidly over the last half-century and is recognized for its innovation and entrepreneurship, remarkable diversity, and commitment to accessibility. Learn more at http://www.gmu.edu. The Institute for Biohealth Innovation (IBI) promotes and supports biohealth-related research activities of faculty, staff, and students at George Mason University. The IBI connects Mason researchers in biohealth with potential collaborators, both within the university and externally, to advance human health research. Learn more and hear more from our researchers at ibi.gmu.edu. The College of Science at Mason is a leader in scientific discovery creating innovative solutions for the rapidly-changing needs of today's world. Mason's College of Science blends traditional science education with sought-after programs in disciplines as diverse as personalized medicine, infectious diseases, geoinformatics, climate dynamics, materials science, astronomy, forensic science, and applied mathematics. The College encourages meaningful education and research at all levels offering innovative undergraduate programs, minors, certificates, and graduate degree opportunities, as well as global, transfer-focused, and online, or hybrid, programs that allow professionals the opportunity to reskill or change careers. Learn more at science.gmu.edu. George Mason University Biomedical Research Laboratory is one of thirteen Regional Biocontainment Laboratories constructed with funding support from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/National Institutes of Health (NIAID/NIH). The BRL is a state-of-the-art laboratory with biosafety level 3 and aerosolization capabilities where scientists perform pioneering research of infectious diseases, both emerging and potential bio threat agents. Learn more at ncbid.gmu.edu. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 10:21:02|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MOSCOW, April 22 (Xinhua) -- A senior Russian virologist said on Tuesday that allegations that COVID-19 is man-made are not true. Western experts claiming that the coronavirus could be the result of a lab accident cannot provide reliable evidence, Alexander Semyonov, deputy director of the Pasteur St. Petersburg Scientific Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, told Russia's Izvestia newspaper. "It's like talking about astronautics with an advocate of flat Earth theory," he said. Such allegations are to hide either the incompetence of a country's healthcare system or their negligence in fighting the epidemic, he added. Enditem The price of Malcolm Turnbull's new book has been reduced to a measly $8, just two days after its release with a $55 price tag. Australia's 29th prime minister on Monday released his new book, A Bigger Picture, which focuses on his time in office and his thoughts on other members of the Liberal party. However, the book does not appear to have gathered the attention Mr Tunbull might have hoped it would, with its sale price plunging both in store and on Kindle. Big W slashed the book's price from $55 to $29 earlier this week and it was available on Amazon's website for just $8 at one point on Wednesday. That price has now slightly increased to $13.22 for the Kindle version. Malcolm Turnbull's autobiography dropped to just $8.38 online on Wednesday morning but slightly increased to $13.22 by the end of the day Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's memoir has been reduced by nearly 50 per cent in Big W stores across Australia The book has been the number one bestseller on Amazon's website in the two days since its release. The new tell-all book was leaked ahead of its April 20 release - while Mr Turnbull appeared on ABC's 7.30 to promote the book. In 2015, Mr Turnbull deposed Tony Abbott as PM before winning an election the following year. But Mr Turnbull was himself dumped in a leadership spill in 2018, making way for Scott Morrison, who then had to campaign for a federal election just months later, before winning one Australia's greatest ever political upsets. But in his memoir Mr Turnbull said Mr Morrison should never have won. 'He's a professional politician who understands marketing and messaging better than most,' Mr Turnbull wrote in the book. 'His cringe-worthy "daggy dad" persona is more exaggerated than it is conflated, but in net terms it probably helped. 'All that aside, however, the truth is that Labor lost the election that the coalition, after the August coup, did not deserve to win.' Mr Turnbull's autobiography has sparked controversy across Australia after it featured a number of bizarre claims including former PM Tony Abbott (pictured with Turnbull) was 'dominated' by chief of staff Peta Credlin In the book, Mr Turnbull also claimed Mr Morrison was 'playing a double game' behind the scenes to oust him as the new prime minister. Mr Turnbull faced two leadership spills in one week in August, 2018 and Mr Morrison publicly backed - and voted for - the prime minister to stay on in the first on August 21. And while Mr Turnbull beat Mr Dutton and retained the leadership by 48 to 35 votes, he felt 'at least half a dozen of Scott's closest allies' had backed his rival Peter Dutton. 'The idea that they did this without his knowledge is fanciful,' Mr Turnbull writes. 'Scott is a control freak and I'd seen before ... how he'd publicly vote one way while ensuring his supporters voted the other way. 'I've come to conclude Scott was playing a double game: professing public loyalty to me while at the same time allowing his supporters to undermine me.' Mr Turnbull (pictured with Scott Morrison) also said Mr Morrison was a 'control freak' who would vote one way while ensuring his supporters would vote another Mr Turnbull also claims chief-of-staff Peta Credlin 'owned' Tony Abbott and ran Australia. Mr Turnbull has suggested Ms Credlin dominated Mr Abbott during his two years as PM until September 2015, when he himself overthrew him in a leadership coup. 'You were really dealing with Peta and Peta was running the country and that was obvious, and dominating Abbott,' he told the ABC's 7.30 program. 'It was as though she felt, 'I've created you, you're my creation' and she felt she owned him. It was a truly bizarre relationship. 'Credlin and Abbott destroyed their own government due to their own follies and then set out to destroy mine. 'The relationship was completely asymmetric, he worshipped and feared her and she on the other hand treated him with disdain.' Mr Abbott described the comments as 'odious' and used the opportunity to heap praise on Peta Credlin rather than criticise Mr Turnbull. Ms Credlin, who advised the PM during his time in the top job, was an 'extraordinarily capable person,' Mr Abbott told the Today Show. 'She was an important part of the Abbott Government. She was a fine thinker, a great organiser and a trusted colleague. 'She deserves a great deal of credit,' he said. Mr Turnbull has suggested chief of staff Peta Credlin dominated Mr Abbott (pictured together) during his two years as PM until September 2015, when he himself overthrew him in a leadership coup U.S. President Donald Trump says he has ordered the Navy to attack and destroy any Iranian vessel that harasses U.S. ships after Iranian ships appeared to harass U.S. vessels last week in the Persian Gulf. I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea, Trump said in a tweet posted on April 22. The order comes a week after a U.S. Navy video showed small Iranian gunboats coming close to U.S. warships as they operated in the northern Persian Gulf near Kuwait. The U.S. Navy said its ships were in international waters carrying out exercises at the time of the incidents on April 15. It said 11 vessels of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) made dangerous and harassing approaches toward the U.S. ships. Trump did not cite a specific event or provide any further details in his tweet. When asked about Trumps tweet during a press conference, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist said: "The president issued an important warning to the Iranians. What he was emphasizing is all of our ships retain the right of self-defense. Air Force General John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during the same briefing that the commanders have the authority right now to respond to any hostile act or hostile intent." A spokesman for Iran's military said in response that the United States should focus on saving its armed forces from the coronavirus, according to the semiofficial news agency ISNA. After last week's incident the IRGC accused the United States of giving a false account of the encounter, issuing a statement accusing the U.S. Navy of "unprofessional and provocative behavior" and warning the Americans that any "miscalculation will receive a decisive response." Close interactions with Iranian military vessels have occurred in the region in the past, drawing warning shots from U.S. Navy ships when Iranian vessels venture too close. Tensions between Iran and the United States increased in January after the United States killed Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in a drone strike in Iraq. With reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters The Queen 'desperately prayed for a baby brother' when being told she would be monarch following Edward VIII's abdication, a royal biographer has claimed. In 1936, Her Majesty, now 94, along with the rest of the British public, discovered she would be next in line to the throne after her uncle gave up the crown to marry his divorcee mistress. And British historian Robert Lacey, 76, has suggested the then Princess was so worried about the responsibility she would soon have, that she wished for a brother who would 'jump ahead of her in line of succession'. Mr Lacey makes the claim in tonight's Our Queen At War, with the ITV documentary also revealing how the nation's monarch 'found her humanity' during World War II. Airing at 9pm, the programme also divulges the 'most exciting night of the royal's life' as it recalls the Queen's antics on VE day in May 1945 - which saw her mingle with the crowds outside Buckingham Palace in her ATS uniform. The Queen 'desperately prayed for a baby brother' when being told she would be monarch following Edward VIII's abdication, a royal biographer has claimed. Pictured: Princess Elizabeth talking to her father, King George VI whilst he goes through the Royal boxes in a study at Windsor Castle, Berkshire, on April 11 1942, left, and right, Princess Elizabeth in her Auxiliary Territorial Service uniform King Edward VIII abdicated the throne in December 1936 to marry his divorcee mistress, the American socialite Wallis Simpson (pictured together in 1947) King Edward VIII abdicated the throne in December 1936 to marry his divorcee mistress, the American socialite Wallis Simpson. The public were informed on the 3rd of December and by the 12th of December Edward's brother, the Queen's father, was proclaimed King George VI. Upon discovering that she was now next in line to the throne, having previously thought she would never be made monarch, the Queen was understandably thought to be concerned. Speaking on the documentary, Mr Lacey says: 'When [The Queen] heard what was due to happen to her as a heir to the throne, she started desperately praying for a baby brother. '[He] would've course in those days jumped ahead of her in succession. A nice little baby boy would've taken the load off her shoulders beautifully.' In 1936, Her Majesty, now 94, along with the rest of the British public, discovered she would be next in line to the throne after her uncle gave up the crown to marry his divorcee mistress. Pictured: Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret making a broadcast to the children of the Empire during World War II in 1940 Princess Elizabeth is pictured among a syringa bush in the grounds of Windsor Castle. A new documentary will chronicle her life during the war tonight Unlike many of her peers who were evacuated abroad, Elizabeth remained in Britain. She was prepared for the throne by studying the British constitution at Eton College (she is pictured studying at her desk in Windsor Castle on June 22, 1940) The programme also explores how the Queen - yet to be crowned Britain's monarch - was shaped by the events of the Second World War. Royal biographer Jane Dismore said: 'The war gave Princess Elizabeth a humanity that she might have taken longer to discover. 'She shared a lot in common with ordinary people in that she saw their suffering, she knew about it. She knew that people looked to her as that new generation, that new generation of hope. ' 'War made her, it made her closer to people and it made us closer to her because she's one of us,' Ron Batchelor, a wartime evacuee, said on the programme. The Queen's relationship with the Armed Forces began when, as Princess Elizabeth, she joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) in 1945, becoming the first female member of the Royal Family to join the Armed Services as a full-time active member (she is pictured next to an Army ambulance during WWII) The new documentary explores how the Queen - yet to be crowned Britain's monarch - was shaped by the events of WWII (she is pictured alongside Margaret speaking to evacuees in October, 1940) Four royal pantos were staged during the war by the future Queen and her younger sister (pictured Elizabeth and Margaret during Aladdin in 1943) Royal governess Marion Crawford ('Crawfie') accompanies Princesses Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II, centre) and Margaret (left) to the headquarters of the YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association), off Tottenham Court Road, London, on May 15, 1939 Unlike many of her peers who were evacuated abroad, Elizabeth remained in Britain and spent her time in Scotland before being moved to Windsor Castle. She was prepared for the throne by studying the British constitution at Eton College, while putting on fund-raising pantomimes and worrying about the safety of her parents who remained at Buckingham Palace. By the time she was 16, Princess Elizabeth was inspecting the troops and launching ships while keeping up with developments in the war by watching weekly newsreels. At the age of 18 the Princess joined the women's arm of the British Army, the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), and became the first female member of the royal family to serve in the armed forces. When the end of the War came, on VE day in May 1945, the Queen mingled with the crowds outside Buckingham Palace incognito in her ATS uniform - seven years before taking the throne. Ingrid Stewart, editor in chief of Majesty magazine, says: 'She actually described it as the most exciting night of her life.' Our Queen At War airs tonight on ITV at 9pm. If you own shares in Durango Resources Inc. (CVE:DGO) then it's worth thinking about how it contributes to the volatility of your portfolio, overall. In finance, Beta is a measure of volatility. Modern finance theory considers volatility to be a measure of risk, and there are two main types of price volatility. The first category is company specific volatility. This can be dealt with by limiting your exposure to any particular stock. The second type is the broader market volatility, which you cannot diversify away, since it arises from macroeconomic factors which directly affects all the stocks on the market. Some stocks are more sensitive to general market forces than others. Some investors use beta as a measure of how much a certain stock is impacted by market risk (volatility). While we should keep in mind that Warren Buffett has cautioned that 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk', beta is still a useful factor to consider. To make good use of it you must first know that the beta of the overall market is one. A stock with a beta greater than one is more sensitive to broader market movements than a stock with a beta of less than one. See our latest analysis for Durango Resources What we can learn from DGO's beta value Zooming in on Durango Resources, we see it has a five year beta of 1.17. This is above 1, so historically its share price has been influenced by the broader volatility of the stock market. If the past is any guide, we would expect that Durango Resources shares will rise quicker than the markets in times of optimism, but fall faster in times of pessimism. Share price volatility is well worth considering, but most long term investors consider the history of revenue and earnings growth to be more important. Take a look at how Durango Resources fares in that regard, below. TSXV:DGO Income Statement April 22nd 2020 Could DGO's size cause it to be more volatile? Durango Resources is a rather small company. It has a market capitalisation of CA$2.3m, which means it is probably under the radar of most investors. It takes less money to influence the share price of a very small company. This may explain the excess volatility implied by this beta value. Story continues What this means for you: Since Durango Resources tends to move up when the market is going up, and down when it's going down, potential investors may wish to reflect on the overall market, when considering the stock. In order to fully understand whether DGO is a good investment for you, we also need to consider important company-specific fundamentals such as Durango Resourcess financial health and performance track record. I highly recommend you dive deeper by considering the following: Past Track Record: Has DGO been consistently performing well irrespective of the ups and downs in the market? Go into more detail in the past performance analysis and take a look at the free visual representations of DGO's historicals for more clarity. Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks here. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. DALLAS, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE: KMB) today reported first quarter 2020 results. Executive Summary First quarter 2020 net sales of $5.0 billion increased 8 percent compared to the year-ago period, including organic sales growth of 11 percent. increased 8 percent compared to the year-ago period, including organic sales growth of 11 percent. Diluted net income per share for the first quarter was $1.92 in 2020 and $1.31 in 2019. in 2020 and in 2019. First quarter adjusted earnings per share were $2.13 in 2020, up 28 percent compared to $1.66 in 2019. Adjusted earnings per share exclude certain items described later in this news release. in 2020, up 28 percent compared to in 2019. Adjusted earnings per share exclude certain items described later in this news release. First quarter cash provided by operations was $704 million in 2020 and $317 million in 2019. in 2020 and $317 million in 2019. The company is withdrawing its previous full-year 2020 financial outlook due to the uncertainty related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mike Hsu said, "Since the outbreak of COVID-19, Kimberly-Clark has taken decisive actions to protect the health and safety of our people, customers and consumers, proactively managed our global supply chain to ensure a steady supply of our essential products, and positioned our brands to help support those in need. I am incredibly proud of all the ways our employees are responding to this crisis, all while staying focused on serving consumers who count on Kimberly-Clark." Hsu continued, "A combination of increased consumer demand for our products and strong execution by our teams is reflected in our first quarter results. We increased investments in our business and our market positions remain broadly healthy. In addition, we generated very strong cash flow and further strengthened our balance sheet by executing two long-term debt transactions in the quarter. Given the lack of visibility and uncertainty about the pandemic and its potential effects on the global economy and our business, we are temporarily suspending our forward-looking guidance. We expect that we will resume guidance when the environment stabilizes and we can provide a clear picture of our expectations. As always, we are prudently managing our business in the near-term while maintaining focus on the long-term health of our company." First Quarter 2020 Operating Results Sales of $5.0 billion in the first quarter of 2020 increased 8 percent compared to the year-ago period. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates reduced sales by 2 percent and business exits in conjunction with the 2018 Global Restructuring Program reduced sales slightly. Organic sales increased 11 percent. Volumes increased more than 8 percent, driven by increased shipments to support consumer stock up related to the global outbreak of COVID-19. The stock up impacted all business segments, in particular consumer tissue, and all major geographies. Net selling prices and product mix each improved 1 percent. In North America, organic sales increased 11 percent in consumer products and 6 percent in K-C Professional. Outside North America, organic sales rose 9 percent in developing and emerging markets and 15 percent in developed markets. First quarter operating profit was $904 million in 2020 and $655 million in 2019. Results in both periods include charges related to the 2018 Global Restructuring Program. First quarter adjusted operating profit was $997 million in 2020 and $807 million in 2019. Results benefited from organic sales growth, $100 million of cost savings from the company's FORCE (Focused On Reducing Costs Everywhere) program and $25 million of cost savings from the 2018 Global Restructuring Program. Input costs decreased $115 million, driven by pulp, while other manufacturing costs rose year-on-year. Advertising spending increased and selling, general and administrative costs were also higher compared to the prior year. Foreign currency translation effects reduced operating profit by $15 million and transaction effects also negatively impacted the comparison. The first quarter effective tax rate was 23.6 percent in 2020 and 24.6 percent in 2019. The first quarter adjusted effective tax rate was 23.2 percent in 2020 and 23.7 percent in 2019. Kimberly-Clark's share of net income of equity companies in the first quarter was $38 million in 2020 and $27 million in 2019. The improvement was driven by volume growth and lower input costs. Cash Flow and Balance Sheet Cash provided by operations in the first quarter was $704 million in 2020 and $317 million in 2019. The increase was driven by higher earnings and improved working capital. Capital spending for the first quarter was $352 million in 2020 and $316 million in 2019. First quarter 2020 share repurchases were 1.6 million shares at a cost of $224 million. Total debt was $8.4 billion at March 31, 2020 and $7.7 billion at the end of 2019. First Quarter 2020 Business Segment Results Personal Care Segment First quarter sales of $2.4 billion increased 6 percent. Volumes increased approximately 7 percent, product mix improved 2 percent and net selling prices rose 1 percent. Changes in currency rates reduced sales by 3 percent. First quarter operating profit of $527 million increased 9 percent. The comparison benefited from organic sales growth, cost savings and lower input costs. Results were impacted by higher advertising spending, increased selling, general and administrative costs, other manufacturing cost increases and unfavorable currency effects. Sales in North America increased 10 percent. Volumes increased 7 percent, product mix improved 2 percent and net selling prices rose 1 percent. Volumes increased double-digits in adult care, high-single digits in feminine care and mid-single digits in baby and child care. The changes in product mix and net selling prices were driven by baby and child care. Sales in developing and emerging markets increased 3 percent despite a 6 point negative impact from changes in currency rates. Volumes increased 6 percent, product mix improved 3 percent and net selling prices rose 1 percent. Volumes increased in Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and South Africa. Sales in developed markets outside North America (Australia, South Korea and Western/Central Europe) increased 5 percent despite a 5 point negative impact from changes in currency rates. Volumes increased 8 percent, driven by Australia and Western/Central Europe, and net selling prices and product mix each improved 1 percent. Consumer Tissue Segment First quarter sales of $1.7 billion increased 13 percent. Volumes increased 14 percent and net selling prices rose 1 percent, while changes in currency rates reduced sales 2 percent. The volume increase was driven by increased shipments in all major geographies to support consumer stock up related to the global outbreak of COVID-19. First quarter operating profit of $365 million increased 51 percent. Results benefited from organic sales growth, lower input costs and cost savings. The comparison was impacted by other manufacturing cost increases, higher selling, general and administrative costs, increased advertising spending and unfavorable currency effects. Sales in North America increased 12 percent. Volumes rose 10 percent and net selling prices improved 3 percent, while product mix was down 1 percent. The volume increase included double-digit gains on bathroom tissue and facial tissue. Sales in developing and emerging markets increased 10 percent despite a 3 point negative impact from changes in currency rates. Volumes increased 12 percent and product mix improved 2 percent, while net selling prices were down 1 percent. Volumes increased in all major geographies. Sales in developed markets outside North America increased 17 percent. Volumes rose 21 percent, with significant increases in all markets, and product mix improved 1 percent. Changes in currency rates reduced sales 4 percent and net selling prices fell 1 percent. K-C Professional (KCP) Segment First quarter sales of $0.8 billion increased 4 percent. Volumes increased 4 percent, net selling prices rose 2 percent and product mix improved 1 percent. Changes in currency rates and business exits in conjunction with the 2018 Global Restructuring Program reduced sales by 2 percent and 1 percent, respectively. First quarter operating profit of $181 million increased 21 percent. Results benefited from organic sales growth, cost savings and lower input costs. The comparison was impacted by higher selling, general and administrative costs and other manufacturing cost increases. Sales in North America increased 5 percent. Volumes increased 4 percent and net selling prices and product mix each improved 1 percent. Business exits in conjunction with the 2018 Global Restructuring Program reduced sales 1 percent. Sales in developing and emerging markets increased 2 percent despite a 4 point negative impact from changes in currency rates. Volumes and net selling prices each increased 3 percent, while product mix was down 1 percent. Sales in developed markets outside North America were up 5 percent. Product mix improved 4 percent and volumes and net selling prices each increased 3 percent, while currency rates were unfavorable by 4 percent. 2018 Global Restructuring Program In January 2018, Kimberly-Clark initiated the 2018 Global Restructuring Program in order to reduce the company's structural cost base and enhance the company's flexibility to invest in its brands, growth initiatives and capabilities critical to delivering future growth. As part of the program, Kimberly-Clark expects to exit or divest some low-margin businesses that generate approximately 1 percent of company net sales. As a result of the outbreak of COVID-19 and the related uncertainty and complexity of the environment, the company now expects that some restructuring activity and the related charges will extend into 2021 rather than being completed at the end of 2020 as previously planned. Total restructuring charges to implement the program are expected to be toward the high end of the previously estimated range of $1,700 to $1,900 million pre-tax ($1,300 to $1,400 million after tax). The company continues to expect the program will generate annual pre-tax cost savings of $500 to $550 million. The company continues to target to achieve those savings by the end of 2021, although it is possible the full realization could occur in 2022 because of the uncertainties related to COVID-19. Through the first quarter of 2020, the company has incurred cumulative restructuring charges of $1,495 million pre-tax ($1,105 million after tax) and generated cumulative savings of $325 million. 2020 Outlook The company previously issued its full-year 2020 outlook on January 23, 2020. Due to the rapidly evolving situation and the high degree of uncertainty related to the duration and potential impacts of COVID-19 and the overall environment, including global business and economic activity, consumer and end-market demand, global supply chain operations, and volatility in foreign currency exchange rates and commodity costs, the company is withdrawing its previous 2020 guidance and not providing any additional outlook at this time. The company is temporarily suspending its share repurchase program effective April 24, 2020 for at least the remainder of the second quarter to enhance flexibility in the current environment. The company will continue to monitor the environment and further assess its share repurchase program later in the year. Non-GAAP Financial Measures This news release and the accompanying tables include the following financial measures that have not been calculated in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S., or GAAP, and are therefore referred to as non-GAAP financial measures: Adjusted earnings and earnings per share Adjusted gross and operating profit Adjusted effective tax rate These non-GAAP financial measures exclude the following items for the relevant time periods as indicated in the accompanying non-GAAP reconciliations to the comparable GAAP financial measures: 2018 Global Restructuring Program. Mentioned elsewhere in this release. The company provides these non-GAAP financial measures as supplemental information to our GAAP financial measures. Management and the company's Board of Directors use adjusted earnings, adjusted earnings per share and adjusted gross and operating profit to (a) evaluate the company's historical and prospective financial performance and its performance relative to its competitors, (b) allocate resources and (c) measure the operational performance of the company's business units and their managers. Management also believes that the use of an adjusted effective tax rate provides improved insight into the tax effects of our ongoing business operations. Additionally, the Management Development and Compensation Committee of the company's Board of Directors has used certain of the non-GAAP financial measures when setting and assessing achievement of incentive compensation goals. These goals are based, in part, on the company's adjusted earnings per share and improvement in the company's adjusted return on invested capital determined by excluding certain of the adjustments that are used in calculating these non-GAAP financial measures. This news release includes information regarding organic sales growth, which describes the impact of changes in volume, net selling prices and product mix on net sales. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates and exited businesses also impact the year-over-year change in net sales. Conference Call A conference call to discuss this news release and other matters of interest to investors and analysts will be held at 9 a.m. (CDT) today. The conference call will be simultaneously broadcast over the World Wide Web. Stockholders and others are invited to listen to the live broadcast or a playback, which can be accessed by following the instructions set out in the Investors section of the company's Web site ( www.kimberly-clark.com ). About Kimberly-Clark Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB) and its trusted brands are an indispensable part of life for people in more than 175 countries. Fueled by ingenuity, creativity, and an understanding of people's most essential needs, we create products that help individuals experience more of what's important to them. Our portfolio of brands, including Huggies, Kleenex, Scott, Kotex, Cottonelle, Poise, Depend, Andrex, Pull-Ups, GoodNites, Intimus, Neve, Plenitud, Viva and WypAll, hold No. 1 or No. 2 share positions in 80 countries. We use sustainable practices that support a healthy planet, build strong communities, and ensure our business thrives for decades to come. To keep up with the latest news and to learn more about the company's 148-year history of innovation, visit kimberly-clark.com or follow us on Facebook or Twitter. Copies of Kimberly-Clark's Annual Report to Stockholders and its proxy statements and other SEC filings, including Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, are made available free of charge on the company's Web site on the same day they are filed with the SEC. To view these filings, visit the Investors section of the company's Web site. As more fully described in Kimberly-Clark's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2020, the company has been actively monitoring the COVID-19 situation and its impact globally. The impact of COVID-19 and measures to prevent its spread are affecting our business in a number of ways. We have experienced a short-term increase in demand for some of our products as consumers increase their in-home inventory levels. We have also experienced incidents of supply chain disruption and increased currency and commodity volatility. We expect the ultimate significance of the impact on our financial and operational results will be dictated by the length of time that such circumstances continue, which will depend on the currently unknowable extent and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and any governmental and public actions taken in response. COVID-19 also makes it more challenging for management to estimate future performance of our businesses, particularly over the near term. Certain matters contained in this news release concerning the outlook, anticipated financial and operating results, raw material, energy and other input costs, anticipated currency rates and exchange risks, including in Argentina, net income from equity companies, sources and uses of cash, the effective tax rate, the anticipated cost savings from the company's FORCE program, charges and savings from the 2018 Global Restructuring Program, growth initiatives, product innovations, contingencies and anticipated transactions of the company constitute forward-looking statements and are based upon management's expectations and beliefs concerning future events impacting the company. In addition, many factors outside our control, including pandemics (including the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak), epidemics, fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, the prices and availability of our raw materials, potential competitive pressures on selling prices for our products, energy costs, our ability to maintain key customer relationships, as well as general economic and political conditions globally and in the markets in which we do business, could affect the realization of these estimates. There can be no assurance that these future events will occur as anticipated or that the company's results will be as estimated. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they were made, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update them. For a description of certain factors that could cause the company's future results to differ from those expressed in any such forward-looking statements, see Item 1A entitled "Risk Factors" in each of the company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 and the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019. KIMBERLY-CLARK CORPORATION CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENTS (Millions, except per share amounts) Three Months Ended March 31 2020 2019 Change Net Sales $ 5,009 $ 4,633 +8 % Cost of products sold 3,218 3,205 Gross Profit 1,791 1,428 +25 % Marketing, research and general expenses 873 769 +14 % Other (income) and expense, net 14 4 +250 % Operating Profit 904 655 +38 % Nonoperating expense (11) (11) Interest income 2 3 -33 % Interest expense (61) (65) -6 % Income Before Income Taxes and Equity Interests 834 582 +43 % Provision for income taxes (197) (143) +38 % Income Before Equity Interests 637 439 +45 % Share of net income of equity companies 38 27 +41 % Net Income 675 466 +45 % Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests (15) (12) +25 % Net Income Attributable to Kimberly-Clark Corporation $ 660 $ 454 +45 % Per Share Basis Net Income Attributable to Kimberly-Clark Corporation Basic $ 1.93 $ 1.32 +46 % Diluted $ 1.92 $ 1.31 +47 % Cash Dividends Declared $ 1.07 $ 1.03 +4 % Common Shares Outstanding March 31 2020 2019 Outstanding shares as of 340.8 343.9 Average diluted shares for three months ended 344.1 346.0 Unaudited KIMBERLY-CLARK CORPORATION NON-GAAP RECONCILIATIONS (Millions, except per share amounts) Three Months Ended March 31, 2020 As Reported 2018 Global Restructuring Program As Adjusted Non-GAAP Cost of products sold $ 3,218 $ 70 $ 3,148 Gross Profit 1,791 (70) 1,861 Marketing, research and general expenses 873 23 850 Operating Profit 904 (93) 997 Provision for income taxes (197) 18 (215) Effective tax rate 23.6 % 23.2 % Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests (15) 1 (16) Net Income Attributable to Kimberly-Clark Corporation 660 (74) 734 Diluted Earnings per Share(a) 1.92 (0.22) 2.13 Three Months Ended March 31, 2019 As Reported 2018 Global Restructuring Program As Adjusted Non-GAAP Cost of products sold $ 3,205 $ 125 $ 3,080 Gross Profit 1,428 (125) 1,553 Marketing, research and general expenses 769 28 741 Other (income) and expense, net 4 (1) 5 Operating Profit 655 (152) 807 Provision for income taxes (143) 31 (174) Effective tax rate 24.6 % 23.7 % Share of net income of equity companies 27 (2) 29 Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests (12) 1 (13) Net Income Attributable to Kimberly-Clark Corporation 454 (122) 576 Diluted Earnings per Share(a) 1.31 (0.35) 1.66 (a) "As Adjusted Non-GAAP" may not equal "As Reported" plus "Adjustments" as a result of rounding. Non-GAAP financial measures are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the comparable GAAP measures, and they should be read only in conjunction with the company's consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. There are limitations to these non-GAAP financial measures because they are not prepared in accordance with GAAP and may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies due to potential differences in methods of calculation and items being excluded. The company compensates for these limitations by using these non-GAAP financial measures as a supplement to the GAAP measures and by providing reconciliations of the non-GAAP and comparable GAAP financial measures. Unaudited KIMBERLY-CLARK CORPORATION CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Millions) March 31, 2020 December 31, 2019 ASSETS Current Assets Cash and cash equivalents $ 979 $ 442 Accounts receivable, net 2,519 2,263 Inventories 1,539 1,790 Other current assets 609 562 Total Current Assets 5,646 5,057 Property, Plant and Equipment, Net 7,226 7,450 Investments in Equity Companies 314 268 Goodwill 1,361 1,467 Other Assets 1,130 1,041 TOTAL ASSETS $ 15,677 $ 15,283 LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY Current Liabilities Debt payable within one year $ 1,238 $ 1,534 Trade accounts payable 2,876 3,055 Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 2,008 1,978 Dividends payable 361 352 Total Current Liabilities 6,483 6,919 Long-Term Debt 7,210 6,213 Noncurrent Employee Benefits 859 897 Deferred Income Taxes 512 511 Other Liabilities 538 520 Redeemable Preferred Securities of Subsidiaries 29 29 Stockholders' Equity Kimberly-Clark Corporation (167) (33) Noncontrolling Interests 213 227 Total Stockholders' Equity 46 194 TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY $ 15,677 $ 15,283 2020 Data is Unaudited KIMBERLY-CLARK CORPORATION CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENTS (Millions) Three Months Ended March 31 2020 2019 Operating Activities Net income $ 675 $ 466 Depreciation and amortization 213 234 Stock-based compensation 15 16 Deferred income taxes (9) 11 Net (gains) losses on asset dispositions 7 6 Equity companies' earnings (in excess of) less than dividends paid (38) (27) Operating working capital (144) (375) Postretirement benefits (14) (12) Other (1) (2) Cash Provided by Operations 704 317 Investing Activities Capital spending (352) (316) Investments in time deposits (105) (80) Maturities of time deposits 96 72 Other 2 Cash Used for Investing (359) (324) Financing Activities Cash dividends paid (357) (345) Change in short-term debt (282) 851 Debt proceeds 1,241 Debt repayments (252) (402) Proceeds from exercise of stock options 108 26 Acquisitions of common stock for the treasury (214) (164) Other (24) (8) Cash Used for Financing 220 (42) Effect of Exchange Rate Changes on Cash and Cash Equivalents (28) 1 Change in Cash and Cash Equivalents 537 (48) Cash and Cash Equivalents - Beginning of Period 442 539 Cash and Cash Equivalents - End of Period $ 979 $ 491 Unaudited KIMBERLY-CLARK CORPORATION SELECTED BUSINESS SEGMENT DATA (Millions) Three Months Ended March 31 2020 2019 Change NET SALES Personal Care $ 2,422 $ 2,275 +6 % Consumer Tissue 1,723 1,526 +13 % K-C Professional 848 817 +4 % Corporate & Other 16 15 N.M. TOTAL NET SALES $ 5,009 $ 4,633 +8 % OPERATING PROFIT Personal Care $ 527 $ 484 +9 % Consumer Tissue 365 241 +51 % K-C Professional 181 150 +21 % Corporate & Other(a) (155) (216) N.M. Other (income) and expense, net(a) 14 4 +250 % TOTAL OPERATING PROFIT $ 904 $ 655 +38 % (a) Corporate & Other and Other (income) and expense, net include income and expense not associated with the business segments, including adjustments as indicated in the Non-GAAP Reconciliations. PERCENTAGE CHANGE IN NET SALES VERSUS PRIOR YEAR Three Months Ended March 31, 2020 Total(a) Volume Net Price Mix/ Other Exited Businesses(b) Currency Organic(c) Personal Care 6 7 1 2 (3) 9 Consumer Tissue 13 14 1 (2) 14 K-C Professional 4 4 2 1 (1) (2) 7 TOTAL CONSOLIDATED 8 8 1 1 (2) 11 (a) Total may not equal the sum of volume, net price, mix/other, exited businesses and currency due to rounding. (b) Exited businesses in conjunction with the 2018 Global Restructuring Program. (c) Combined impact of changes in volume, net price and mix/other. N.M. - Not Meaningful Unaudited [KMB-F] Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/648588/Kimberly_Clark_RGB_Blue_Logo.jpg SOURCE Kimberly-Clark Corporation Related Links https://www.kimberly-clark.com A man who spent 44 years in prison for murder has died of coronavirus just 24 days before his planned release from prison, reports say. 60-year-old William Garrison passed away suddenly in his cell on 13 April, it was discovered afterward that he had contracted the novel coronavirus. Garrison was convicted of murder in 1976 for shooting a 50-year-old man during a home-invasion robbery, according to ABC News. His bunk mate reportedly found him gasping for air in their two-person cell at the Macomb Correctional Facility in Lenox Township, a prison spokesperson told the broadcaster. He was looking forward to getting out, Garrisons sister, Yolanda Peterson, told ABC News. He wanted to work as an advocate for people in jail. He was a very knowledgeable person. He had a lot going on. He helped a lot of prisoners, reviewing their cases. He got people out of jail. Chris Gautz, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Corrections told ABC News that Garrison had originally turned down the chance for early parole in Feburary, deciding to wait out the remainder of this sentence instead. What he told the board was, I would rather stay in here until September and walk out a completely free man rather than walk out right now and be on parole and have to report to a parole agent and have to go through all that, Mr Gautz told the outlet. As the coronavirus pandemic hit the US and officials began to fear that prisons would become breeding grounds for the disease, prisons began granting vulnerable prisoners early release. Garrison was reportedly once again offered the chance of early parole on the basis of him being more vulnerable as an elderly prisoner and this time accepted the offer. He was due to be released on 6 May, Mr Gautz said. It speaks to the insidious nature of this virus that some people can have no symptoms at all and all of a sudden, just like that, theyre having these issues, Gautz said. Its just very unfortunate. Michigan Department of Corrections did not immediately respond to request for comment. Notable Concerns in late Chief of Staffs official activities Several complimentary commentaries have been shared with regard to the recently deceased Chief of Staff to the president, Abba Kyari. These included glowing tributes from a current minister who was singlehandedly appointed by Kyari, not by his state or APC or the president, but solely on the basis of their personal friendship. Other tributes are from schoolmates etc some of whom claim Kyari was merely misunderstood. In law, such witnesses are called character witnesses. Character witnesses are usually called when a convicted person is seeking mercy from the court with regard to a lighter sentence. During this allocution stage, when a defendant may speak in his own behalf, others may be invited to speak on his behalf extolling his good sides so that justice is tempered with mercy. In law we also have fact witnesses. These are people who testify to actual happenings around the matter at issue. Unlike character witnesses, they do not speak on extraneous or historical issues but directly on the case at hand. Most times, they are eyewitnesses. Having heard character witnesses of Kyaris earlier days and deeds, let us now look at other witnesses whose stories we saw play out on the national stage during his very specific tenure as Chief of Staff which is the particular matter at issue right now. 1. Oyo Ita Former Head of Service in an altercation with Kyari claimed that she warned them not to reinstate wanted pension scandal fugitive Abdulrasheed Maina. She was removed as HOS and criminal charges of fraud slammed on her. 2. Justice Walter Onnogen Former CJN, confirmed by Acting President Osinbajo, who a ghost Tribunal mysteriously removed on trumped up charges to install a northern Muslim. 3. Matthew Seiyafa Former Acting DG DSS appointed by Acting Prez Osinbajo served for just three weeks till the presidency sent him on early retirement so a northern Muslim could replace him. 4. Babatunde Fowler Former head of FIRS and supposed acquaintance of VP Osinbajo unceremoniously booted, disgraced and replaced by a northerner. 5. Ibe Kachukwu Former minister of state for petroleum dumped after exposing $25B oil deal discrepancy by a northerner Baru in NNPC. 6. Prof Isaac Adewole Former minister of health stripped of funding for health services because he suspended the indicted Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme, Prof. Usman Yusuf a Muslim northerner. Kyari moved Health procurements to the ministry of Agriculture and Adewole was dumped as minister. Agric ministry reportedly supplied animal medication to the health ministry. 7. Omoyele Sowore Once an ardent pro-Buharist, the Activist reporter was framed for treason, serially arrested and detained and injected with unknown substance by a northern lawyer despite court ordered bail. It took pressure from USA to secure his release months later. 8-9. Justices Sylvester Ngwuta and John Okoro Supreme Court judges, whose doors were broken at midnight and were arrested and detained by DSS just because they refused entreaties by the presidency to rule in favor of APC in election appeals. 10. Major General Life Ajemba Rtd distinguished military doctor denied approval by Nigeria upon his nomination by USA to head a West African pandemic response isolation centers for Ebola/corona etc because the presidency preferred a northerner instead. APART FROM THE ABOVE SOUTHERNERS WHO ERRONEOUSLY BELIEVED IN ONE NIGERIA AND IN BUHARIS ANTI-CORRUPTION STANCE, A FEW NORTHERNERS SUFFERED IN KYARIS HANDS TOO: 11. DSP Tijjani Bulama Investigating police officer detained in DSS custody for months for daring to investigate a contract scam involving AbbaKyari. Also posted out of Abuja on punitive reassignment. 12. Bako Waziri Kyari A cousin of Kyari detained by the DSS for months for reporting he was duped of 300m in a contract scam by Kyari. Kyari abused his office and used the DSS to get them both locked up. 13. Sambo Dasuki Ex-NSA detained for five years despite numerous court orders on allegations of sharing weapons funds even though Buhari was a beneficiary of two vehicles from the same funds. 14. AVM Jon Ode Headed military arms corruption probe panel and after finding links to senior Buhari aides was marked for elimination along with other members of the panel (some of whom have died or escaped death or in hiding.) 15. El Zakzaky 1000 of his followers were killed, his sect banned and branded terrorists and he and his wife detained for five years despite court ordered bail. 16. AVM Morgan & Gen. Aliyu Chief and Deputy Chief of Defense Intelligence both removed from office for chairing a panel of investigation into US- based international human rights lawyer Emmanuel Ogebe and refusing to wrongfully indict him as directed and were subsequently retired from service. Replaced with a northern Muslim. KYARI & THE CABALS THREATS EXTENDED TO EVEN HIGHLY PLACED PERSONS 17. VP Osinbajo The VP was marginalized for confirming Onnoghen as the first Southern Christian CJN in 30 yrs, for firing cabal chieftain Lawal Daura and appointing a Christian as acting DG DSS. Both appointments were reversed and replaced by northern Muslims. VP was stripped of his aides and portfolio and his constitutional headship of the economic council undermined by the creation of a counterfeit council and a new ministry. 18. Prominent northern religious ruler Reported that efforts were in the works to depose this top cleric but for the intervention of a foreign leader who had bankrolled the presidents past campaigns. 19. Aisha Buhari Presidents wife badly marginalized. Nicknamed suicide bomber, and a surrogate female SA was appointed to stand in for her on most occasions including traveling with president abroad. Aisha was infamously locked out of villa apartment, denied cash transfer funding for poor in her state and an attempt made to marry another wife for the president in the person of a current cabinet member. 20. Muhammed Dauda Acting DG NIA was removed for allegedly refusing to share the recovered $40 million Osborne loot recovered from ex-DG Oke. He was replaced by Ahmed Rufai a deputy director reported to have failed promotion exams and retired from service but was now translator to Buhari. New DG NIA also northern Muslim of Chadian roots. 21. Governor Ortom Benue state Chief executive was subjected to an attempted impeachment orchestrated from the presidency by the DSS because of his anti-grazing bill to stem herdsmen massacres of his statesmen. 22. Sanusi Lamido Emir of Kano dethroned overnight and banished for criticizing forex corruption at CBN and retrogressive almajiri practice in the north. Kyari received the replacement Emir less than 24 hours after Sanusis removal in Abuja. These are but a few examples of travesties that occurred during the tenure under examination due to limitation of time and space. It is telling that the EU Nigeria Head of Delegation, Ambassador Ketil Karlsen, in a tribute, said: He became a friend and was an inspiration with his passionate approach to the development of Nigeria in general and the north in particular. It is hard to see how we could have conceivably misunderstood all the horrors we experienced. Whatever the case, suffice it to say therefore that Kyari was a good man who is only misunderstood because of the terrible things he did as Chief of Staff. The above-mentioned scandals average about one scandal bimonthly throughout the entire term (i.e. 22 in 58 months) and these are not even all the scandals! The wise would take a hint, at this juncture, to chart a new progressive and inclusive course right now since the alleged Wizard of Oz is no more. For instance, Major General Buhari would rekindle hope in one Nigeria and reunite the nation if he appointed someone from the southeast or south south as Chief of Staff. There is simply no one from those regions in the top echelon of government. More easily, Buhari should release VP Osinbajo from enforced lockdown. It has been the historic lot for Buhari to have been made to look good by able Yoruba adjutants. Tunde Idiagbon made him look good as military dictator. The fact is Osinbajo made him look good while Kyari made him bad. The presidents wife, Aisha, who is liked for her forthrightness should also emerge from the oppressive alienation which the cabal foisted between her and her husband. Nigeria needs, nay requires, leaders who are competent to run their personal homes at the very least. For all of us humans, we are enjoined thus, live well so the pastor wont have to lie at your funeral. A word is enough for the wise. Condolences to Kyaris family on his loss. null Emmanuel Ogebe US NIGERIA LAW GROUP WASHINGTON By Jung Min-ho Another Vietnamese citizen has broken self-quarantine rules just a few days after the government decided to deport three Vietnamese students for violating the regulations. According to the North Jeolla provincial government and police Wednesday, the Vietnamese man, 21, who was ordered to isolate himself at his residence in Jeonju, has disappeared. After reporting the case to the city's immigration office, police are now looking for him. The man, who entered Korea on April 9, left his mobile phone at the residence in an apparent attempt to avoid GPS tracking by health officials, an official said. "He turned on the self-quarantine app at around 11:25 a.m. on April 21 before disappearing," the official told News1, a local news agency. "After losing contact with him, we visited his place with police and realized he was gone." Three Vietnamese students who arrived in Korea between March 28 and April 1 were ordered to leave the country after visiting a park in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, in violation of the 14-day self-isolation rules. PH RED CROSS ACQUIRES MORE TESTING MACHINES TO HELP ADDRESS COVID-19 More Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) testing machines, kits and reagents were acquired by the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) in response to the virus that already afflicted 6,599 Filipinos with 437 deaths as of April 21. According to Senator Richard J. Gordon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the PRC, the organization will be chartering a Philippine Airlines (PAL) plane or a C-130 aircraft to transport the critical materials from Changsha City in China. "We are bringing in six more RNA extraction machines, 20 PCRs, and thousands of testing kits, swabs, and reagents for the additional PRC molecular labs all over the country. This is the third flight that the Red Cross will be chartering in response to COVID-19 and the first time via C-130 through National Defense Sec. Delfin Lorenzana and Foreign Affairs Sec. Teodoro Locsin, Jr. A pleasure to be working with these reliable and dedicated gentlemen," said Gordon. Gordon added that the Red Cross will likewise try to bring a Filipina cancer patient on board the chartered plane. The patient needs to undergo a unique targeted chemotherapy and immunotherapy treatment in Beijing, China. "Pray that we can make this possible for our kababayan," he said. Before the judge has been appointed, before the public inquiry has had its remit set, and long before the crisis is over, the blame has begun. Various unnamed officials close to Downing Street and the like have begun to get their excuses in early, and to identify handy scapegoats. Even by the usual leaky and cowardly standards of Whitehall it has been an unedifying exhibition of base politics. The latest victim of assassination by briefing is the secretary of state for health and social care, Matt Hancock. A former Treasury special adviser to George Osborne, and a former Tory leadership contender, the ambitious Mr Hancock had enjoyed a good start to the crisis, or at least appeared to. He had an action plan. He had impressive expert advisers flanking him at press conferences the two gentlemen of corona, chief medical officer Chris Whitty and chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance. He was chairing Cobra meetings. The government would be guided by the science. Things seemed under control. Then it all went wrong. The science changed, or the advice did. The lockdown arrived, late. The shortages of ventilators, PPE and tests grew ever more acute. The media demanded answers, deadlines, dates. A senior Australian minister on Wednesday rejected Chinese criticisms that Australia is parroting the United States in calls for transparency on the origins of the coronavirus. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg described Chinese Foreign Ministry criticisms as unwarranted and unjustified. The Chinese ministry has criticised Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton's call last week for China to be transparent about the origins of the virus. Frydenberg told Australian Broadcasting Corp, Dutton's role, the prime minister's role, my role, and all our colleagues' roles, is to defend the Australian national interest, and that's what we'll continue to do, and we'll speak up about it as required. Dutton's call for Chinese transparency came after US officials revealed intelligence agencies were assessing whether the respiratory virus escaped from a biological laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the pandemic began. The Chinese ministry said Dutton had obviously received some instructions from Washington. These days, certain Australian politicians are keen to parrot what those Americans have asserted and simply follow them in staging political attacks on China, a ministry spokesman said in a transcript posted on the Chinese Embassy in Australia's website. The ministry has also attacked Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne over her call this week for an independent review into the origins of the virus, including China's handling of the initial outbreak. The ministry said her remarks are not based on facts. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Amid the coronavirus outbreak in Iran, thousands of people have crossed the border into Afghanistan, a country they once fled. Kiana Hayeri for The New York Times What they didnt realize was that they could not escape the pandemic; instead, they brought it over the border with them. Kiana Hayeri for The New York Times Now the virus threatens to explode in a country with few resources to contain it. Kiana Hayeri for The New York Times Afghanistans Next War What happens when the pandemic comes to a country in conflict? One Wednesday in March, 11,627 people crossed the Iranian border into the Afghan province of Herat. A sea of young men formed outside an immigration center that could accommodate only 300 people at a time. Some carried backpacks, others large sacks overstuffed with their belongings. One carried a childs bicycle, another a string instrument. One had just two blankets folded under his arm, another a canary in a cage. As the line slowly moved forward, some put down shawls to pray; others found rocks to rest on. Most of the men were Afghans in their 20s. Their search for a better life in Iran had been abruptly thwarted by the coronavirus, returning them to a border that once took them days to cross in the other direction squeezed into the beds of pickup trucks by smugglers who sped them through deserts at night, leaving some with bruises and others with broken body parts. The least fortunate were left in the desert to rot. Now, as the men waited to be processed back into a war zone they had tried to escape, health care workers shouting through a megaphone instructed them in how to wash their hands. By the afternoon, the crowd grew impatient and started pushing and shoving to get into the offices where each person would be registered. The police, overwhelmed, responded with force, beating the returnees back into a line that wrapped around the building, zigzagged a couple of times and ended in a sprawling crowd. Returnees waiting to register with the authorities at the Afghan border. Afghanistan shares more than 500 miles of border with Iran, much of it in western Herat Province, now the center of the countrys coronavirus outbreak. For years, activity along the border has been a barometer of sorts, reflecting the state of Afghanistan as a whole. When the country gradually devolved into a narco state after the American-led coalition toppled the Taliban in 2001, eventually producing much of the worlds opium, drug shipments were smuggled across the western border. Even low-level officials and commanders would return to Kabul after brief postings in border towns to build so-called poppy palaces in the city. Later, as the war reached a hopeless stalemate and the United States began drawing down its troops after a decade of fighting, a new desperation gripped the Afghan people. The stability and prosperity that was promised with the American invasion evaporated. Hundreds of thousands of people rushed to leave. Many settled in Iran as illegal laborers, making barely enough money to survive and living under the constant threat of arrest but at least safe from bombs. Others continued onward as far as Europe. In February, however, the cross-border current reversed direction. A surge of suspected coronavirus infections in Iran started sparking fears of a major outbreak. Soon, the number of returnees arriving at the Herat immigration center doubled, then tripled its typical average of about 2,500. From Jan. 1 to April 11, nearly 243,000 people crossed back into Afghanistan from Iran, according to the International Organization for Migration. While waiting to be processed, returnees are instructed on how to properly wash their hands and are told to avoid touching their face. Kiana Hayeri for The New York Times Amid the economic crisis, the demand for Afghan day laborers, who work for lower wages than Iranians, dried up. Even under normal circumstances, they couldnt access health care without discrimination. Now they were hearing that the hospitals were overwhelmed. There were also rumors that the Iranian authorities were killing Afghans suspected of being infected with coronavirus. So they came back to what was left of home: villages sometimes ripped apart by fighting between the Taliban and Afghan security forces, or simply impoverished because of a lack of government services bringing the virus with them. The countrys first few cases were detected in people who crossed the border. But quickly, these were outnumbered by others who had never left Afghanistan. People dont even want to say hello to us from 50 or 100 meters, said Khaled Sayedkhili, who returned to his village in Parwan Province in March with 14 members of his family. Yesterday, a relative ran from me as if I was a suicide bomber. The Sayedkhili family crossed the border from Iran on March 18. All together, 15 members of the family returned. Kiana Hayeri for The New York Times They took taxis from the border to the city of Herat, where they spent the night before crossing the country to their village in Parwan Province, just north of Kabul. Kiana Hayeri for The New York Times Friends and relatives visited them in their village after being apart for seven years. When asked about self-quarantining, they said it was in the hands of God if they got sick. Kiana Hayeri for The New York Times Some of the Sayedkhili children were born in Iran, and they are struggling to adjust to their new surroundings. They dont understand that they may never return to the place they call home. Kiana Hayeri for The New York Times Eight weeks after Afghanistan recorded its first Covid-19 case in Herat, the virus has spread to at least 30 of the countrys 34 provinces and killed 30 people, according to official government numbers. But these figures almost certainly understate the viruss reach: Afghanistan does not have the capacity to conduct widespread testing, and it has averaged about 100 tests a day. (The Ministry of Health in Poland, a country with a similar population, said it is conducting 16,000 tests a day.) Although the government has recorded less than 1,000 cases across the country, local officials in most places are working under the assumption that the virus is deeply embedded in their constituencies. In late March, Ferozuddin Feroz, Afghanistans health minister, warned that unless stricter social-distancing measures were enforced, 16 million Afghans could be infected and 110,000 could die. Provincial officials and health care workers, particularly in Herat Province, are preparing, with what little equipment and resources they have, not only for a situation when the death toll starts rising drastically but also for the economic ramifications of shuttered shops and closed government offices outcomes that may tip a country already deeply impoverished, unstable and mired in conflict into a spiral from which it will not recover. The war has been an economic blow, said Abdul Qayum Rahimi, who was governor of Herat Province from January 2019 until the first week of April, but trade continues despite fighting. The factories continue; life continues. The virus, it stops everything. Afghanistan isnt the only country in conflict made vulnerable by conditions that preceded the pandemic. In northwestern Syria, where a million people have sought refuge from the countrys nine-year civil war, limited access to clean water for hand-washing means the virus has most likely swept through many displacement camps. Supplies are slow to arrive, and doctors estimate that more than 100,000 people could die. In Iraq, which borders Iran to the west, the government-imposed lockdown has ravaged the fragile economy already depleted by plummeting oil prices and the countrys three-year battle against the Islamic State. In many ways, the Afghan experience is a microcosm of the viruss reach into the most precarious parts of the developing world, where climate change, food shortages, violence and territorial disputes have created circumstances dangerously ideal for the rapid and uncontrollable spread of a disease. And in what could perhaps be an unprecedented moment in modern history, there may be no superpower left untouched that can afford to offer help. Returnees stop at a transit center run by nongovernmental organizations in the city of Herat before traveling on to their home provinces. Employees spray the facility with disinfectant twice a day. Kiana Hayeri for The New York Times The virus arrived in Afghanistan at a precarious moment, even by the standards of the countrys turbulent history. The government is negotiating the terms of a peace deal with the Taliban that has already begun the departure of the remaining American troops, even as the insurgent group continues to attack Afghan forces. Over two weeks in late March and early April, the Taliban carried out more than 500 attacks across nine provinces, which were also among the worst hit by the infection. Adding to the chaos is a disputed presidential election. In February, Afghanistans election commission declared the incumbent, Ashraf Ghani, the winner of last Septembers vote, but his victory was challenged by Abdullah Abdullah, Ghanis longtime political rival. On the same day as Ghanis inauguration, Abdullah also took the presidential oath of office. Last month, the men failed to come to a compromise, so the U.S. State Department announced that it would cut $1 billion in aid to the government, which relies on foreign funding for 75 percent of its public spending. The virus now serves as a test of the Afghan governments competence without the United States as its benefactor, which Ghani has recognized as an opportunity to demonstrate his administrations ability to govern. But with a bureaucracy bogged down by political infighting, many of his efforts have come across as hollow and contradictory. (While his administration was calling off small gatherings to slow the spread of the virus, both he and Abdullah invited thousands of guests to their swearing-in ceremonies in tightly packed venues, more than two weeks after the first confirmed case.) People arrive every day at a clinic in the city of Herat for a coronavirus test. Most are told to come back later because testing kits have run out. Kiana Hayeri for The New York Times Ingrained long ago into the psyche of Afghanistans leaders was an overreliance on the United States and its allies. The mission in the country has never had clear definitions of success or failure; the abundance of avoidable deaths among civilians and soldiers rarely brought consequences. Corrupt, complacent and dependent, that system now finds itself contending with a swift-moving infection at a time when its most relied-upon patrons are overwhelmed by the same pandemic and are finally growing weary of the mess they have perpetuated for nearly two decades. Officials in Herat follow the news from the rest of the world; they can recite the latest death tolls in Italy, in Britain, in New York. The degree to which the coronavirus brought rich, technologically equipped Western powers to their knees left many of them in shock a shock that has since been replaced by a fear of what the devastation will look like in a vastly less-prepared place like Afghanistan. By the time Herat Province confirmed its first case of coronavirus on Feb. 22, thousands of people were entering the country at the border. Iranian officials were still claiming that the coronavirus would not be a problem for the country, and they were slow to contain the outbreak. Within two weeks, Irans hospitals were overwhelmed with sick patients. Less than 100 miles south of Tehran, satellite imaging showed mass graves newly dug for coronavirus victims. Home to roughly 80 million people, Iran became one of the worlds earliest and worst outbreaks. Ghanis administration, humiliated by the American aid cut, was eager to demonstrate Afghanistans ability to prevent the viruss spread. I dont need W.H.O. to come show my nation how to wash their hands, Amrullah Saleh, one of the countrys two vice presidents, said in a local-television interview. His sentiment echoed that of Ghani, who has long described the United Nations agencies as inefficient. Despite the Public Health Ministrys dependence on nongovernmental organizations for even the most basic services, Ghani asked the U.N. to take a back seat on coronavirus efforts. Saleh went on to call Afghanistans response to the virus the role model of management in the third world. Cmdr. Hussain Ali Hashemi (center) and his police combat unit were called in to guard Shaidahe Hospital in the city of Herat after dozens of patients fled. The facility has also been attacked by the Taliban. Kiana Hayeri for The New York Times But during a recent visit to the city of Herat, the capital of the province of the same name, which is home to 1.5 million people, local officials appeared to be managing very little. Many businesses were closed, but the streets were still jammed with people and cars. As one senior provincial official said, We disrupted the economy but not the virus. The official estimated that there were 150,000 day laborers in the city who werent working because of the lockdown and had no way to feed themselves or their families. People donated generously in the early days, but those donations slowed as the long-term economic impact on businesses became apparent. Outside the main provincial hospital, which is situated in the center of the city, was a small clinic, where in early April doctors dressed in hazmat suits were seeing as many as 400 people a day who were trying to be tested. A loudspeaker repeated a simple message: Coronavirus is dangerous; wash your hands; keep your distance. Most people were turned away and told to come back later. I was in contact with someone who turned out positive about two weeks ago, said 27-year-old Faiz Mohamad. He was among the three dozen people gathered at the clinic in the first hour it opened on a recent Saturday. He said he had a headache that wouldnt go away, and he was also coughing. I have come here three times, he said, and they have told me there are no kits and I should check back. Spare bed frames in Shaidahe Hospitals courtyard. They were collected from other hospitals in and around the city. Kiana Hayeri for The New York Times The doctor in charge of collecting samples for the tests, Mohamad Shah Alokozai, kept apologizing. He said the clinic already had a backlog of 360 swabs. Testing had stopped for 48 hours, and Alokozai said that while the W.H.O. sent a small batch of kits on a United Nations flight, they would sustain the lab for only a few days. There are no kits, he told those showing up every day. If I take your sample now, I would be misleading you. Misinformation has added another layer of complexity to the citys coronavirus response. Early on, unproved remedies spread online; one claimed that drinking two cups of black tea would make you immune to the virus. Later, a widely circulated rumor held that if you died of the virus, the government would refuse to hand over your body to your family or worse, would burn the corpse. People who were hospitalized started fleeing from health facilities. Shaidahe Hospital, a facility on the outskirts of the city dedicated to treating Covid-19 patients, brought in a police combat unit to guard the building after 38 people escaped in the first days it was open. In early April, one patient there broke a window, climbed over the compound wall, clambered onto a waiting motorcycle and roared off into the warren of tents in a displacement camp across the street from the facility. A woman rushed out of the hospital to alert the small group of police guards. Commander, sir, corona escaped! she shouted. Eventually, the patient was returned after three officers chased him in an armored vehicle and a fourth officer on a motorcycle trailed him through the displacement camp and into a shop, where he tried to hide. They tackled him and took turns holding him down as they looked for handcuffs. A displacement camp surrounds Shaidahe Hospital. Many residents are believed to be Taliban members who have tried to attack the facility. Kiana Hayeri for The New York Times Inside the Shaidahe treatment center, which was a childrens hospital before the outbreak, many of the rooms walls were still covered in posters of newborn babies. The facility has 100 beds, with dozens more in reserve. Of the 68 patients at the center in early April, only 35 had tested positive. The rest, suspected of having the disease, sat around waiting some as long as eight days for their results. In the womens ward, female patients were confined four to six to a room, a mix of confirmed cases and those who still didnt have test results. They sipped tea and chatted from their beds, which were spaced about three feet apart. Dr. Asif Rahmani, a hospital manager, said the women were put together at the request of their families, so they wouldnt be lonely. Rooming patients together risked spreading the disease, but hospital workers were not faring much better at guarding against their own infection. Kiana Hayeri for The New York Times They didnt have any N95 masks. An X-ray technician making the rounds of the positive patients wards wore a simple surgical gown. Kiana Hayeri for The New York Times The hospital had about half a dozen ventilators, but none of them worked. The staff kept calling technicians to fix them, but they didnt show up. Kiana Hayeri for The New York Times The government announced that if doctors die, their families would be compensated like the families of security forces. We dont want death payments, one doctor said. What we want is N95 masks and protective gear. Kiana Hayeri for The New York Times Though Ghani sent more than $5 million to Herat by mid-March for equipment and supplies, the provincial administration couldnt tap into it because the procurement process required extensive documentation and approval from the central government bureaucratic measures that took weeks to relax. Beds, protective gear, ventilators and medications are among the supplies that have now been ordered, but its unclear when hospitals will actually receive them. A person might walk big, but we will only know their true strength when they face a challenge, said Rafiq Shaheer, a university lecturer and civil-society activist in Herat who is helping with the coronavirus response. We faced the test, and the system didnt work. As for a newly erected hospital that the government had rushed to complete in 18 days, it was impressive, from the tile floors to the slick automated doors. It even had V.I.P. rooms. But a week after Ghanis office declared that it was officially delivered for use, the rooms had neither equipment nor patients. Local officials said they were unaware of a plan for how to staff the hospital with doctors and nurses. The government ordered a 100-bed hospital to be built as quickly as possible in the city of Herat. It was constructed in 18 days, but it is not yet furnished or staffed. Kiana Hayeri for The New York Times The Taliban, who have refused a cease-fire that could help the government redirect resources toward coronavirus efforts, were quick to seize the opportunity offered by these official failures. In Nangarhar Province in eastern Afghanistan, local Taliban leaders gathered journalists, doctors and residents in a packed room of a clinic, with little space between those seated. There were some masks and gloves on the table. For the cameras, a medical worker, wearing a full protective suit, raised what looked like a thermometer gun to measure a persons temperature. On closer examination, it was simply a prop, made of plastic and wood, wrapped in white tape. In early April, Ghani removed Herats governor, Rahimi, without a clear reason and replaced him with his 33-year-old deputy national security adviser, Sayed Abdul Wahid Qatali. A former mayor, Qatali knew the city well. But when he arrived in Herat, he found a place ill equipped to handle any kind of widespread outbreak that health officials were predicting. In news conferences, his tone was desperate and his message clear: Herat lacked the resources to feed hundreds of thousands who faced hunger and poverty; the population wasnt taking the threat of the virus seriously. He had no qualms about warning of what was most likely coming. I am telling you, clearly, he said. I am busy digging graves. Sabera (right) and her niece, Somaya, tested positive for Covid-19 and were treated at Shaidahe Hospital. Kiana Hayeri for The New York Times Kiana Hayeri is an Iranian-Canadian photographer and a senior TED fellow. She is a regular contributor to The New York Times from Afghanistan, where she has been based since 2014. Mujib Mashal is The New York Times senior correspondent in Afghanistan. Before joining the paper, he wrote for The Atlantic, Harpers and Time. This is his first story for the magazine. Reporting was contributed by Asadullah Timory, Najim Rahim, Zabihullah Ghazi, Fatima Faizi and Fahim Abed. On April 16, the national carrier Indian Railways marked its 167th anniversary with no passenger trains plying on its network for the first time in its history. It has been a nearly month since the suspension of public transport in the country, including air, rail and bus services after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nationwide lockdown beginning March 25. The lockdown was extended on April 15 to curb the spread of the coronavirus, which has infected over 20,000 people in India alone. Studies have shown that public transport poses a major threat in the spread of the global pandemic. There were good reasons to extend the lockdown till May 3. I understand the problems being faced by people who need to travel and request them to bear with us, Union civil aviation minister Hardeep Puri had said when the lockdown was extended in mid-April. During the lockdown, the Indian Railways that operated on a mammoth network ferrying 23 million passengers across 13,000 trains has only operated freight trains to supply essential commodities. The day the railways doesnt operate it seems like the world has come to a standstill. Even so...more than 800,000 wagons have been deployed across the country since the lockdown operating on just one third of our staff strength, a railway ministry spokesperson said. No passenger has stepped foot inside the New Delhi Railway station, which handles roughly 500,000 passengers a day. The Indira Gandhi International Airport in the national Capital, which is the twelfth busiest in the word catering to roughly 69 million passengers annually, now only caters to cargo planes and aircraft ferrying foreigners seeking evacuation. Bus terminals such as Anand Vihar and Kashmere Gate would, in non Covid times cater to between 50,000 and 100,000 passengers every day. All interstate terminals are now empty. Harvard says it did not receive aid from a congressional relief fund created for small businesses amid the coronavirus pandemic, after Donald Trump alleged the university took money "meant for workers". In a statement posted to Twitter, the university wrote: Harvard did not apply for, nor has it received any funds through the US Small Business Administrations Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for small businesses. Reports saying otherwise are inaccurate. The clarification followed comments from the president at a White House press briefing on Tuesday, in which he slammed the university over reports it received $8.6m in relief from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Mr Trump claimed Harvard was going to pay back the money and said they shouldnt be taking it while adding that the university has one of the largest endowments in the country maybe in the world. They have to pay it back, I dont like it he said. This is meant for workers this isnt meant for one of the richest institutions. But the university did not receive funding from the paycheck protection programme, or other components of the CARES Act designed specifically for American workers. Rather, Harvard was the recipient of aid allocated under the CARES Act Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund along with many other US schools. President Trump is right that it would not have been appropriate for our institution to receive funds that were designated for struggling small businesses, the university said in the statement, adding: Harvard has committed that 100% of these emergency higher education funds will be used to provide direct assistance to students facing urgent financial needs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Harvard refuted the notion it would return the reported $8.6m federal stimulus check, instead saying the money would allow the university to continue providing critical financial assistance during the pandemic, including assistance with travel, providing direct aid for living expenses to those with need, and supporting students transition to online education. Mr Trump continued to attack the school after the press conference, saying Harvard should back the money now in a tweet on Tuesday night. He added: Their whole endowment system should be looked at! The historic $2.2trn congressional relief package allocated funding through a variety of different measures for small businesses, major corporations, colleges and universities, as well as direct payments of $1,200 to Americans taxpayers with incomes of $75,000 or less. The package has stirred controversy over reports it was giving immediate financial relief to big businesses with ties to the administration and providing aid to millionaires in the form of windfall tax breaks. In a major counter-terrorism operation, the Indian security forces have killed four terrorists in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district on Wednesday. The Cordon And Search Operation (CASO) was launched by the police and the Army in Shopian on Tuesday night based on specific input about the presence of terrorists in the area. AP/ FILE IMAGE Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the Melhora area of Shopian on Tuesday night following information about the presence of militants there, a police official said. He said the hiding militants opened fire at the security forces, who retaliated, triggering a gun battle. Four militants were killed in the operation, the official said. While two of them were gunned down in the night the other two were killed in the early hours of Wednesday. The identity and group affiliation of the slain militants is being ascertained. Earlier this month a total of nine Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists were killed by the security forces in two separate operations in the Keran Sector of Kupwara and Kulgam. The gunbattle in Kulgam broke out on April 4 as police and soldiers scoured the area looking for terrorists. As troops began conducting searches, they came under heavy gunfire, leading to a fie exchange that killed four terrorists. AP/ FILE IMAGE The second encounter was in the Keran Sector of Kupwara along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir on April 5. The heavily armed terrorists were intercepted by the Indian Army soldiers while they were trying to infiltrate from across the LoC through the Rungdori Behak area of Keran sector. In the gun battle that followed, five terrorists and an Indian soldier were killed, while two army men who suffered injuries in this operation succumbed later in the day. Last week Girish Chandra Murmu, the lieutenant governor of Jammu and Kashmir had said that militancy is under control in the valley but Pakistan has escalated its efforts to disturb the peace with a two-fold increase in ceasefire violations by its troops along the border. The security situation in the Union Territory "is better" as compared to 2018, he said, adding "half of 2019 was under strict restriction. The militancy is under control. The incidents have decreased." BCCL Referring to the rise in ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops, the lieutenant governor said "cross-border elements are desperate" to stage infiltration of terrorists into this side. Over 3,200 ceasefire violations by Pakistan troops were recorded in 2019. St. Francis Manor in Grinnell confirmed today that six staff members and one resident of the long-term care facility have tested positive for COVID-19. The greater St. Francis Manor & Seeland Park community, which serves those over the age of 55, is engaged in an ongoing struggle with the virus. The S&B reported in March that St. Francis Manor & Seeland Park had reported its first case of COVID-19. According to Tiffany Criswell, an administrator at St. Francis, the infected employees are in isolation in their homes. Additionally, she said that infected employees only had contact with residents at St. Francis Manor, designated a Healthcare Center for residents who need severe medical attention, as opposed to residents of Seeland Park or the Hammond Center, the complexs Independent Living and Assisted Living centers. The previous case identified on the campus in March was, however, a resident living at Seeland Park, the independent living center. In a press release provided to The S&B, Criswell wrote that The St. Francis Manor resident continues to be quarantined in their room and seems to be improving. Senior living centers have been severely impacted by COVID-19, as older residents, often with pre-existing medical conditions, are extremely susceptible to the virus. Because residents often live in close proximity to each other, community spread is common. The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) defines a COVID-19 outbreak in a long term care facility to be when three or more residents have been infected with the virus. With only one resident but six staff members currently infected, it is unclear whether that means St. Francis Manor will be officially considered the site of an outbreak. The IDPH uses a point system to track the severity of COVID-19 in the state that includes long term care facility outbreaks. As of publishing, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has not issued a shelter-in-place order for the state based on current data. At the time of this articles publication, Dion Schrack, executive administrator at St. Francis Manor and Seeland Park, turned down a request for an interview from The S&B. Our priority now is to focus on the residents and our staff, Schrack wrote. A Chinese coast guard ship (back) sails next to a Vietnamese coast guard vessel (front) near China's oil drilling rig in disputed waters in the South China Sea on May 14, 2014. (Hoang Dinh Nam/AFP via Getty Images Australia Joins US Ships in South China Sea Amid Rising Tension KUALA LUMPURAn Australian frigate has joined three U.S. warships in the South China Sea near an area where a Chinese vessel is suspected to be exploring for oil, near waters also claimed by Vietnam and Malaysia, officials said on April 22. The warships arrived this week close to where the Chinese government survey ship Haiyang Dizhi 8 has been operating, which is in turn near where a vessel operated by Malaysias Petronas state oil company is conducting exploratory drilling, regional security sources have said. The U.S. navy said on Tuesday the USS America amphibious assault ship and the USS Bunker Hill, a guided missile cruiser, were operating in the South China Sea. The amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) conducts flight operations near the island of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean on July 30, 2016. (U.S. Navy Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Ryan Riley/U.S. Navy) They were joined by Australias frigate HMAS Parramatta and a third U.S. vessel, the destroyer USS Barry, as part of a joint exercise, the Australian defense department said. During the passage exercises, the ships honed interoperability between Australian and US navies, including replenishment-at-sea, aviation operations, maritime maneuvers and communications drills, it said in a statement to Reuters. The Haiyang Dizhi 8 was 325 km (202 miles) off the Malaysian coast, within its exclusive economic zone, data from ship-tracking website Marine Traffic showed on Wednesday. The ship, accompanied by a Chinese coastguard vessel, has been moving in a hash-shaped pattern consistent with a seismic survey for nearly a week, the data showed. The area is near waters claimed by both Vietnam and Malaysia as well as China. China claims most of the energy-rich South China Sea, within a U-shaped nine-dash line on its maps, which is not recognized by its neighbors. A U.S. V-22 Osprey takes off from the USS Wasp, U.S. Navy multipurpose amphibious assault ship, during the amphibious landing exercises as part of the annual joint U.S.-Philippines military exercise on the shores of San Antonio town, facing the South China Sea, Zambales Province on April 11, 2019. (Ted Aljibe/AFP/Getty Images) Petronas and Malaysias foreign ministry have not commented on the situation but the United States has called on China to stop its bullying behavior in the South China Sea. China, however, has denied reports of a standoff, saying the Haiyang Dizhi 8 was conducting normal activities. Last year, Vietnamese vessels spent months shadowing the Haiyang Dizhi 8. It appeared off Vietnam again last week, within Vietnams exclusive economic zone. Vietnam said it was closely monitoring the situation. The United States has accused China of pushing its presence in the South China Sea while other claimants are pre-occupied with the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. At the same time, China has been donating medical aid to Southeast Asian countries to help them tackle the CCP virus, which emerged in central China late last year. A team of Chinese medical experts arrived this week in Malaysia, which has reported more than 5,400 CCP virus infections. On Sunday, Vietnam protested after China said it had established two administrative districts on the Paracel and Spratly islands in the disputed waters. China has called Vietnams claims illegal. By Rozanna Latiff. Epoch Times staff contributed to this report. In 2016, Sze Cheng was appointed CEO of Casablanca Group Limited (HKG:2223). This report will, first, examine the CEO compensation levels in comparison to CEO compensation at companies of similar size. Next, we'll consider growth that the business demonstrates. Third, we'll reflect on the total return to shareholders over three years, as a second measure of business performance. This process should give us an idea about how appropriately the CEO is paid. See our latest analysis for Casablanca Group How Does Sze Cheng's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies? According to our data, Casablanca Group Limited has a market capitalization of HK$152m, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth HK$3.8m over the year to December 2018. While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth noting the salary is lower, valued at HK$2.9m. We looked at a group of companies with market capitalizations under HK$1.6b, and the median CEO total compensation was HK$1.8m. Next, let's break down remuneration compositions to understand how the industry and company compare with each other. Speaking on an industry level, we can see that nearly 68% of total compensation represents salary, while the remainder of 32% is other remuneration. Casablanca Group does not set aside a larger portion of remuneration in the form of salary, maintaining the same rate as the wider market. As you can see, Sze Cheng is paid more than the median CEO pay at companies of a similar size, in the same market. However, this does not necessarily mean Casablanca Group Limited is paying too much. We can better assess whether the pay is overly generous by looking into the underlying business performance. You can see, below, how CEO compensation at Casablanca Group has changed over time. SEHK:2223 CEO Compensation April 22nd 2020 Is Casablanca Group Limited Growing? Casablanca Group Limited saw earnings per share stay pretty flat over the last three years, albeit with a slight positive trend. In the last year, its revenue is up 12%. Story continues I would argue that the modest growth in revenue is a notable positive. And the modest growth in earnings per share isn't bad, either. So while we'd stop just short of calling this a top performer, but we think it is well worth watching. Although we don't have analyst forecasts you might want to assess this data-rich visualization of earnings, revenue and cash flow. Has Casablanca Group Limited Been A Good Investment? With a three year total loss of 48%, Casablanca Group Limited would certainly have some dissatisfied shareholders. It therefore might be upsetting for shareholders if the CEO were paid generously. In Summary... We compared total CEO remuneration at Casablanca Group Limited with the amount paid at companies with a similar market capitalization. Our data suggests that it pays above the median CEO pay within that group. Over the last three years, shareholder returns have been downright disappointing, and the underlying business has failed to impress us. Considering this, we have the opinion that the CEO pay is more on the generous side, than the modest side. On another note, we've spotted 2 warning signs for Casablanca Group that investors should look into moving forward. Arguably, business quality is much more important than CEO compensation levels. So check out this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. The doctor on board the Ruby Princess told authorities there was no risk of coronavirus infection on the ill-fated cruise ship when it arrived in Sydney, an inquiry has heard. The special commission of inquiry into the Ruby Princess heard on Wednesday that Dr Ilse Von Watzdorf had marked 'no' in response to a question on a Maritime Arrivals Reporting System form about whether there was the potential spread of infection or disease from the ship. Another question on the form about difficulty breathing and persistent coughing symptoms had been left blank as the ship, which has so far been linked to 21 COVID-19 deaths and up to 700 infections, docked in Sydney on March 19. Dr Ilse Von Watzdorf is pictured giving evidence the the Special Commission of Inquiry intoth Ruby Princess cruise ship Crew members of the Ruby Princess cruise ship are now leaving the vessel on April 21, 2020, which has been docked at Port Kembla for more than two weeks following a catastrophic COVID-19 outbreak. When asked by commissioner Bret Walker SC why she responded 'no' to the question when 24 passengers had reported high temperatures, Dr Von Watzdorf said she felt 'disadvantaged' because she did not have access to the form during questioning. But she suggested she would not have wanted at the time to convey there were no passengers showing COVID-19 symptoms on board. Dr Von Watzdorf also told the inquiry's opening day she was surprised the ship was allowed to unload its 2700 passengers before coronavirus test results were in. 'If it was my decision, I would've perhaps waited like the previous time,' she said, responding to questions via video link from the ship docked in Port Kembla where she remains with hundreds of crew. She confirmed illness on board the ship increased later in the trip and said a questionnaire was sent out to all passengers after acute respiratory and febrile conditions began to flare about March 15. Mr Walker asked Dr Von Watzdorf if it was correct to say there were no passengers showing COVID-19 symptoms late on March 18 and early on March 19, to which the doctor replied no. A crew member of the Ruby Princess cruise ship leaves the vessel on Tuesday Ruby Princess (pictured on Sunday morning) is being held in quarantine at Port Kembla in Wollongong until health officials work out how to get everyone home safely Australian military members assist with the repatriation of Ruby Princess crew members When asked about the signs of COVID-19 on the ship during the same time period, Dr Von Watzdorf said she did not have a one-word answer for the commissioner and said context was needed. The inquiry will continue on Thursday. It is running parallel to a police probe that is expected to deliver its findings by September. NSW Labor leader Jodi McKay said there was a lack of transparency from the premier who failed to mention the commencement of the inquiry at her news conference hours before it began. 'The reason why I believe this has happened is because the Ruby Princess is being ordered off the coast of NSW tomorrow ... and there are people on board that vessel that need to give evidence,' Ms McKay said on Wednesday. About 57 crew members on Tuesday disembarked the ship and travelled to NSW hotels before being repatriated during the next three days on international charter flights. A further 115 crew members from nine countries disembarked on Wednesday. Of this group, 94 tested negative for coronavirus and were taken to either Sydney Airport or a hotel to await flights to their country of origin, NSW Police said in statement. A total of 21 crew members who disembarked the ship have tested positive for COVID-19 and have been taken to hotels managed by NSW Health for a quarantine period of 14 days. 'Stringent protocols were maintained to ensure the movement of these individuals posed no risk to the public,' NSW Police said. Commissioner Mick Fuller on Wednesday said Australian Border Force Commissioner Michael Outram had written to cruise ship company Carnival Australia directing the Ruby Princess to depart national waters by the end of Thursday. 'Nine individuals flew home last night, another 18 flying home today and the rest will fly home over the next two days,' Mr Fuller said. NSW Health is monitoring the situation. The ship's captain is coronavirus-free and able to sail the vessel. Most of the crew have remained in isolation on the ship and 190 of those on board had tested positive for COVID-19 as of Sunday night. Another 12 seriously ill crew members infected with coronavirus have previously been taken to NSW hospitals. Eleven out of the 12 hottest years to date have all occurred since 2000, according to a new report by the European Unions climate monitoring service. Last year was the hottest year on record for Europe after scorching heatwaves led to record-breaking temperatures in February, June and July, scientists from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (CS3) said in the annual European State of the Climate report. The number of days with high heat stress levels are increasing in both northern and southern Europe, they said. The findings highlight a continuing trend of warming over four decades in Europe which the Copernicus scientists say is being caused by rising greenhouse gases. These record-breaking events are not a surprise. With the climate warming all time, we are bound to see a disproportionate number of record-breaking [hot] years and relatively fewer extremely cold events, Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus climate service, told The Independent. The latest data for all global climate indicators show values in line with the trends of recent decades, with greenhouse gases continuing to increase, while glaciers and ice sheets are losing mass, further contributing to sea level rise, he said. An intense heatwave at the end of July led to record melting of Greenlands ice sheet and all-time records being broken in northern Scandinavia, the Copernicus report noted. According to recent research, Greenlands ice sheet and the polar ice caps are melting six times faster than they were in the 1990s. The high melt rate fits with the worst-case scenario outlined by the UNs Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which states that sea levels will rise 17cm without sweeping reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Europes climate is often tied to conditions in the Arctic, and changes there can have a huge impact on our lives, according to Professor Andrew Shepherd, director of the centre for polar observation at the University of Leeds. People have been enjoying the spring sun in Sodermalm, Stockholm despite coronavirus regulations (Getty) We cant avoid the rapid changes in climate that are happening around our planet, even if they occur miles away in the polar regions, because they affect our weather today and will affect our coastlines in the future, he said. Concentrations of CO2 and methane in the atmosphere continue to increase. It is only possible to find concentrations as high as they were in 2019 by going back millions of years in history, the Copernicus scientists said. Professor Martin Siegert, co-director of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change at Imperial College London, told The Independent that the current level of CO2 in the atmosphere is unnaturally high. He said it should be 280 parts per million (ppm) but is currently 415ppm and could reach 1000ppm by the end of the century if CO2 emissions continue to rise at their current rate. Recommended Climate change helped coronavirus spread The last time the CO2 was this high was during the Pliocene, [around] 4 million years ago. Then temperatures were 3-4C warmer than now and sea level was 20-30m higher, he said. Global temperatures have risen around 1.1C above the pre-industrial era over the last five years. In Europe they have increased almost 2C, according to Copernicus. UN scientists say that global emissions need to be cut by at least 7.6 per cent each year until 2030 to limit global warming to 1.5C, the crucial threshold which will precipitate the risk of extreme weather events and food shortages for hundreds of millions of people. We must act to reduce our global emissions to zero in the next 30 years if we are to keep the planet in a condition that supports our society, Siegert said. Bathed in golden late-afternoon light, Chen Enting snapped a photo of his ticket to commemorate his first ferry ride across the Yangtze River after a 76-day quarantine ended in the Chinese city where the coronavirus pandemic began. The reopening of ferry services on the Yangtze, the heart of life in Wuhan for two millennia, was an important symbolic step to get business and daily life in this city of 11 million people back to normal. Wearing goggles, gloves, a homemade mask and a black trench coat, Chen was checked by security guards in protective suits and bought a 1.5-yuan (20-cent) ferry ticket. He boarded with a dozen other passengers, some pushing electric scooters, and found a bench at the front beside a red flag with a yellow sickle. He sprayed the seat with disinfectant before sitting. "The ferry on the Yangtze River is a symbol of Wuhan's people, said Chen, a 34-year-old cost engineer and Chinese Communist Party member. The choppy river symbolizes the force of life, he said, as the sun set behind the Tortoise Mountain TV Tower. Although Wuhan had such an ordeal, it will flow away just like the river and receive exuberant vitality. Wuhan was one of China's most important centers under inward-looking dynasties that had little interest in foreign trade and carried out commerce and politics over the country's vast river networks. The city was eclipsed by the explosive rise of Shanghai, Hong Kong and other coastal cities after the ruling Communist Party set off a trade boom by launching market-style economic reforms in 1979. Today, Wuhan is regaining its status as an economic dynamo as Chinese leaders shift emphasis from exports to developing more sustainable growth based on domestic consumer spending. The city government says more than 300 of the world's 500 biggest companies, including Microsoft Corp. and Honda Motor Co., have operations in Wuhan to get access to central China's populous market. The metropolis was formed from three ancient cities Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang at the meeting of the Yangtze and Han rivers that grew together. If you are in Wuchang, you can go anywhere under heaven, said Ji Li, a University of Hong Kong historian, quoting a traditional saying. The emperor Kublai Khan visited in the 13th century when China was part of his Mongol empire and Shanghai was a fishing village of a few thousand people. In the mid-19th century, Wuhan became, along with Shanghai, Tianjin and Qingdao, one of a series of treaty ports where China's Manchu rulers were forced to give Western powers trading privileges and exempt their people from local laws. A rebellion began on Oct. 11, 1911, in Wuhan that spread across the country and led to the breakup of the Manchu empire and the founding of President Sun Yat-sen's Republic of China. The Yangtze's water is very sweet, communist leader Mao Zedong said after he swallowed a mouthful while swimming in the 1950s, according to a report from the time by The Associated Press. Meandering 6,300 kilometers (3,900 miles) from Tibet's Tanggula Mountains to the East China Sea, the Yangtze is the longest river in Asia and the world's third-longest. It and the Yellow River in the north are the mother rivers of the nation, much like America's Missouri and Mississippi or Eastern Europe's Danube. It is also the site of the Three Gorges Dam, the world's biggest hydroelectric project. The Yangtze stars in countless poems, songs and history-making events, including the third century Battle of Red Cliffs, which was fought by one of China's wiliest strategists, Zhuge Liang. The story, involving armored battleships, has been turned into a traditional opera and a 2008 blockbuster movie directed by John Woo. Today, Wuhan produces agricultural chemicals, 6 per cent of China's cars, and components for smartphones, industrial machinery and optical devices for markets in Europe and North America. Skyscrapers loom above parks and ancient temples. Ships carry goods 700 kilometers (450 miles) downriver to Shanghai by way of Nanjing, another ancient inland city. Shipping, however, plunged after the coronavirus outbreak started in Wuhan late last year and led to a strict lockdown of the city. Traffic near Wuhan fell by as much as 70%, according to HawkEye 360, a company in Virginia that follows radio communications and ships' satellite-linked tracking beacons. Traffic is back to less than half its pre-outbreak level, the company says. Mao's face, etched in a giant gold coin, perches atop a stone obelisk in the Bund, the riverfront former center of Western business activity and now a tourist spot. On it is etched a poem by Mao calling for a bridge to be built across the river. That bridge was finished in 1957, cementing Wuhan's renaissance as a transportation hub by connecting rail networks in northern and southern China. That connection is one reason the coronavirus spread so fast. Wuhan's Huanan Seafood Market, where scientists suspect the virus might have jumped from a bat to humans, is next door to the Hankou Train Station. Authorities have since decontaminated the station, and on April 11, high-speed trains began leaving Wuhan for Beijing again. The ferry system had opened a few days before. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) WASHINGTON A Health and Human Services official helping to develop a coronavirus vaccine said Wednesday he was removed from his post because he questioned the value of drugs being pushed by President Donald Trump. "Sidelining me in the middle of this pandemic and placing politics and cronyism ahead of science puts lives at risk and stunts national efforts to safely and effectively address this urgent public health crisis," Rick Bright said in a statement calling for an Inspector General's investigation. Bright, who until this week was director of the HHS Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), said he is speaking out "because to combat this deadly virus, science not politics or cronyism - has to lead the way." BARDA is designed to aid in securing the nation from chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats, as well as from pandemic influenza and emerging infectious diseases, according to the HHS website. Trump said he doesn't know anything about Bright or his accusations. "I have never heard of him," Trump said Wednesday at a White House news conference. "I don't know who he is." While he did not mention Trump or anybody else by name, Bright said he "resisted efforts to fund potentially dangerous drugs promoted by those with political connections." The statement was issued by the law firm Katz, Marshall & Banks, which specializes in whistleblower cases. President Donald Trump Bright said he opposed the use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine drugs touted by Trump and others in the administration because they "have potentially serious risks associated with them, including increased mortality observed in some recent studies in patients with COVID-19." After removing him from his biomedical post, HHS transferred Bright to what he called "a more limited and less impactful position at the National Institutes of Health." More: The hydroxychloroquine debate: Donald Trump has advertised it as a coronavirus treatment. Here's what we know about the malaria drug. Story continues More: CDC website drops guidance, anecdotal data on Trump-backed hydroxychloroquine as COVID-19 treatment Trump has particularly touted the virtues of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug. Asked Tuesday about new research questioning the safety of the drug, Trump said: "Obviously, there have been some very good reports and perhaps this one is not a good report. But we'll be looking at it." During a series of White House briefings, Trump has described hydroxychloroquine as "a very strong, powerful medicine," and said people should not mind using it: What really do we have to lose? In recent days, however, Trump has toned down his praise of the drug. In his statement, Bright said he called on the HHS Inspector General, the department's internal watchdog, to investigate the circumstances of his dismissal from BARDA. "This Administration has politicized the work of BARDA and has pressured me and other conscientious scientists to fund companies with political connections as well as efforts that lack scientific merit," he said. "Rushing blindly towards unproven drugs can be disastrous and result in countless more deaths." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus: ex-HHS official says he was ousted for opposing drug As droughts become more frequent and intense, the fragmentation of water service in the U.S. among tens of thousands of community systems, most of which are small and rely on local funding, leaves many households vulnerable to water contamination or loss of service, a new Duke University analysis finds. These vulnerabilities aren't distributed equally, the study shows. Households in low-income or predominantly minority neighborhoods are likely to face the highest risks. Resolving this disparity and making sure the taps in these homes don't run dry will require a fundamental re-evaluation of how the nation's patchwork of community water systems (CWSs) is managed and funded. "Small water systems already are at a disadvantage when it comes to protecting water security during drought, because of the financial constraints they face," said Megan Mullin, associate professor of environmental politics at Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment, who wrote the analysis. "Underlying patterns of segregation can amplify these weaknesses along economic and racial lines." Mullin published her peer-reviewed article April 17 in a special drought edition of Science. Disparities in drinking water insecurity are rooted in segregation and the local political economy of public services, she explained. Because CWSs rely on user fees for their funding, they historically have extended service to neighborhoods or adjacent municipalities where residents are more able to pay. The result is that some communities get high-quality water service, while others -- often rural communities or places where poverty is concentrated -- get lower-quality service. Repairs or upgrades to pipes and other infrastructure are made less frequently, allowing leaks and increasing the potential risks of contamination. When drought arrives, these systems can't cope. advertisement "Drought aggravates vulnerabilities for small, under-resourced water systems. The user fee finance model then limits options for drought response, because policies that conserve dwindling water resources reduce revenue for water systems and make it harder for residents to pay their water bills," Mullin said. "Until now, people have tried to resolve these disparities through piecemeal approaches. We need to think more fundamentally about our reliance on user fees as a financial model for the delivery of such an essential service. States should consider equalizing resources across water systems to counter the legacy of racism and segregation, as we have done in public school funding," she said. To do this, policymakers need to have a clearer understanding about the nature and extent of demographic disparities between water systems, she said. Recent efforts to develop maps of water system service areas in several states show promise, she said, and should be replicated nationwide and integrated with data on drinking water finance, infrastructure, and water supply and use. Over the last year, Mullin has been leading a team of Duke students to produce such a map of North Carolina water systems, through a partnership with the state's Division of Water Resources. "Of the 50,000+ community water systems delivering water year-round in the United States, more than 80% serve fewer than 3,300 people," Mullin said. "Systems this small face tremendous challenges in delivering safe drinking water even under normal conditions, and as droughts become more frequent and intense, the challenges are going to mount." For these systems to become more resilient, they need to encourage and enforce water conservation. The strongest tools at their disposal for doing that are tiered pricing and mandatory use restrictions, but these reduce the water-use fees the systems depend on for funding and create an economic burden for low-income customers that could result in failure to pay and subsequent service shutoff. Equalizing resources across water systems, as states already do for public schools, would circumvent many of these trade-offs and improve water security to millions of American homes. Research supporting the new review paper was funded by a Research Collaboratory grant from Duke University. If the rumors are true, our coronavirus-weary region may be in for an airshow in the coming days. The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds and Navy Blue Angels flight teams are said to be collaborating on a joint flyover of the Philadelphia region to honor medical workers and others serving on the front lines of the pandemic fight. A draft memo about a supposed flyby planned for Wednesday has been making the rounds on social media and was shared by some police departments, but all indications are that it wont happen today. Talk of a flyby comes as airshow enthusiasts are writing about possible plans for flyovers of major cities as part of a national morale-boosting campaign. Other rumors suggested a flyover was planned for today in New York City. The draft procedures bulletin, which purports to be issued by the Philadelphia Air Traffic Control Tower, describes a route that would take 15 aircraft from the combined teams from Joint Base McGuire/Dix/Lakehurst to Trenton and down the Delaware River to Philly, swooping over the Ben Franklin Bridge before heading for Center City. They would continue past Independence Hall to University City before turning north at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, then head over Jefferson University Hospital, before returning to the river and zipping toward Wilmington, Delaware. Traffic at Philadelphia International Airport would be stopped for the 15 to 20 minutes it would take to complete the flyby, according to the bulletin. This document has made the rounds on social media, suggesting a flyby was planned for today in the Philadelphia region. While all of this sounds like a great way to thank nurses and doctors, and an excellent opportunity for politicians to gather footage for future campaign ads, no one is confirming any of it. The Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees air traffic control, referred questions about the draft bulletin to the U.S. Air Force. An Air Force spokeswoman declined comment, noting that it had nothing to do with creating the document. On the possibility of a joint flyby, an Air Force official remained non-committal, but said joint training exercises were taking place. The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds arrived at Naval Air Station Pensacola on (Monday) to conduct joint training with the Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, in preparation for potential future operations. The teams periodically conduct joint exchanges in order to enhance their mission safety and promote best practices. More information will be released when it becomes available. The U.S. Navy Blue Angels perform one of their signature maneuvers during a recent show. In a statement to the Inquirer.com, a Navy spokesman denied the Blue Angels had any plans for a Philly flyover. The Thunderbirds and Blue Angels are practicing on the Blue Angels home turf in Pensacola, Florida, in preparation for something big, TheDrive.com reports, pointing to an Instagram post by a Thunderbirds flight commander suggesting something may be brewing here ... The Thunderbirds have already done these tributes in two cities. They honored medical workers, first responders and other essential workers in Colorado last Saturday with a flyover following the Air Force Academys graduation ceremony near Colorado Springs. On April 11, the Thunderbirds stormed over Las Vegas to honor coronavirus responders. Both events were publicized in advance, including posting flight paths on social media, so the military likely wont spring this on us without a little advanced notice. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Buckland explained: The government indicated on February 27, 2020, that after careful consideration it had decided to implement the whiplash reforms in August 2020. However, it is apparent that the current COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on the medical, legal, and insurance sectors. While the whiplash reform measures remain important, the government is committed to acting to ease the disruption and pressures caused by the COVID-19 outbreak where it can. The Lord Chancellor added that the postponement will enable key sectors to focus their energies on delivering their response to the coronavirus crisis while at the same time allowing the government to zero in on delivering crucial services in the justice area during this difficult time. Welcome news but For the most part the announcement drew positive comments from trade groups and legal circles, although some brought up important points surrounding the timeline adjustment that have to be considered. Given this unprecedented situation, we understand that a delay to implementing these much-needed reforms is necessary, stated Association of British Insurers (ABI) general insurance director James Dalton. However, any delay beyond what is absolutely needed will impact on the benefits to claimants and consumers. For APIL (Association of Personal Injury Lawyers) president Gordon Dalyell, all would be for naught if the things that need addressing arent resolved. Dalyell asserted: Delay is welcome, but another arbitrary date for these reforms to be implemented is meaningless unless critical issues are addressed. The new claims portal lacks vital safeguards to ensure injured people are able to gain access to justice. Without alternative dispute resolution, the portal will leave unrepresented injured people in a very vulnerable position if liability or the value of the claim is disputed. Injured people will be expected instead to switch to the small claims track, which is simply not designed for these types of disputes. On their website, the APIL president stressed that finding workable solutions which will leave injured people with some hope of justice should be high on the agenda. Sensible move Meanwhile some found the postponement sensible, given the current circumstances. This sensible decision will be very welcome news for claimants and the sector, commented Paul Nicholls, chair of MASS or the Motor Accident Solicitors Society. With everyone struggling with bigger issues right now, this delay will hopefully provide time, when it is appropriate, for a proper debate on the many outstanding issues yet to be resolved. Glen Eastwood, managing director of claims business MSL, used the same word to describe the move. That seems like a very sensible step given the huge uncertainty and incredible challenges were all facing just now from COVID-19, he said in a Linkedin update. Gives the MoJ time to deal with the long list of outstanding issues around implementation and then all other interested parties an opportunity to properly plan for the new world. Concurring, Minster Law chief executive Shirley Woolham also welcomed the Ministry of Justices decision to reschedule the launch of the small claims portal to April 2021. Insurers and claims firms alike have made clear in recent weeks that a delay is essential while the industry focuses on looking after customers during the COVID-19 crisis, noted Woolham in a statement sent to Insurance Business. Were pleased that all sides of the industry have been joined up in calling for a delay, and that ministers have listened. This further delay will hopefully afford to the government, MoJ, and MIB (Motor Insurers Bureau) alike the time needed to ensure the portal works for customers. Sharing similar views, Association of Consumer Support Organisations (ACSO) executive director Matthew Maxwell Scott said preparing for the portals launch meant firms were diverting significant investment in human resource and technology away from the crucial challenge of helping consumers and staff get through the pandemic. This can now be focused on working with insurers and other stakeholders to make sure the wheels of justice continue to turn and ensuring injured people get the support they need, he declared in an emailed statement. The remaining consumer safeguards required for the portal to operate effectively must also be given proper attention now that we are no longer rushing towards an artificial August deadline. Ironic yet inevitable First4Lawyers managing director Qamar Anwar sees the latest development as somewhat ironic. In a statement sent to Insurance Business, Anwar had this to say: There is a certain irony in the government delaying an online system when everything else in the world seems to be going online. However, todays (April 21) announcement was inevitable as the Ministry of Justice has dragged its feet in making the decisions needed to meet the April implementation date. And quite frankly, the MoJs focus right now should be on helping the many areas of the sector that are in crisis. Anwar also emphasized that when the reforms are back on the table, it must be ensured that the new rules are published and all outstanding issues with the claims process are settled so that businesses are given the proper time in terms of getting themselves ready. When the time is right, we will also need reassurance that plans have been laid for a much needed public information campaign these reforms are bad enough for injured people without them being left clueless on the changes and how even to access the process, added the MD. Meanwhile ABIs Dalton expressed: As an industry we remain committed to continuing to support the Ministry of Justice so that the reforms can be introduced as soon as it is practical to do so. The Police in the UK on Wednesday arrested a Nigerian after he carelessly fired several gunshots. Known as flexingmike or Instag... The Police in the UK on Wednesday arrested a Nigerian after he carelessly fired several gunshots. Known as flexingmike or Instagram, the suspect recorded himself shooting and screamed, call me the police. The CEO Truth or Dare Records posted five videos showing him holding a firearm. More weapons were displayed as Tupac Shakurs smash track Hit em up played in the background. Officers responded to reports that he brandished weapons on the balcony of an apartment in Chatham, Kent, southeast England. The Police, in a statement, said members of the public reported seeing him with different guns. Patrols, including armed officers, attended the scene. The police helicopter was also deployed. A man in his 30s has now been arrested on suspicion of firearms offences, it read. The Police further disclosed that four suspected imitation firearms were discovered at the scene. SEOUL, South Korea, OFFENBACH, Germany and LONDON, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Kona Electric has been acknowledged as the Best Small Family Car in the inaugural TopGear Electric Awards, after it completed a 1,600-kilometers road trip across 9 European countries. Hyundai Motor's fully electric SUV was not only commended for its efficiency and long-distance capability but also for its smooth and effortless performance. The 24-hour-long drive took place in December 2019, with BBC TopGear magazine's Editor-in-Chief Charlie Turner using the European rapid charger network to supply the Kona Electric with 316kWh of electricity, choosing to only charge to 80% capacity in order to maximise driving time. In total 9 countries were visited with the trip starting in the Czech Republic and the 1,600-kilometre drive taking in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, France, Luxembourg, Belgium and Holland. Charlie Turner said: "Whilst we find ourselves in lockdown, having the freedom to travel through as many countries as you want is the stuff of distant dreams. It's reassuring, however, to know that as electrification becomes an ever growing part of our vehicular future, cars like Kona Electric can already deliver and whilst most won't cover the miles in the way we did, we've proved that range anxiety shouldn't play a part in long-distance travel." Andreas-Christoph Hofmann, Vice Marketing and Product at Hyundai Motor Europe, said: "Following its launch in 2018, Kona Electric has continued to prove itself as an affordable zero-emission all-rounder, combining practicality with range and performance. The most recent updates have brought enhanced connectivity and a three-phase on-board charger, making the overall package even more compelling. We are delighted that TopGear has acknowledged the strengths of Kona Electric, adding to the many previous awards for this remarkable car." The full story of the Kona Electric's epic drive through Europe is published in the current UK edition of TopGear magazine. About Hyundai Motor Company Established in 1967, Hyundai Motor Company offers a range of world-class vehicles and mobility services in more than 200 countries. Hyundai Motor sold more than 4.4 million vehicles globally in 2019, and currently employs some 120,000 personnel worldwide. The company is enhancing its product lineup with vehicles designed to help usher in a more sustainable future, while offering innovative solutions to real-world mobility challenges. Through the process, Hyundai aims to facilitate 'Progress for Humanity' with smart mobility solutions that vitalize connections between people and provide quality time to its customers. More information about Hyundai Motor and its products can be found at: http://worldwide.hyundai.com or http://globalpr.hyundai.com SOURCE Hyundai Motor Group Related Links http://worldwide.hyundai.com Federal judge says Kansas churches can hold gatherings despite state order Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A federal judge has ruled that two churches in Kansas can hold worship services, temporarily blocking an executive order barring religious gatherings of more than 10 people. Pastor Stephen Ormord of First Baptist Church of Dodge City and Pastor Aaron Harris of Calvary Baptist Church of Junction City filed a complaint last week seeking an exemption from the order. U.S. District Court Judge John W. Broomes of the District of Kansas issued an order on Saturday in favor of the two churches, granting them temporary relief from the order. In his order, Broomes argued that the temporary restraining order was justified in part because the churches were likely to prevail on the claim that the shutdown of their services violated their religious freedom. while these executive orders begin with a broad prohibition against mass gatherings, they proceed to carve out broad exemptions for a host of secular activities, many of which bear similarities to the sort of personal contact that will occur during in-person religious services, wrote Broomes. Plaintiffs have made a substantial showing that development of the current restriction on religious activities shows religious activities were specifically targeted for more onerous restrictions than comparable secular activities. With the temporary restraining order in place, a later hearing will be held on the churches request for an injunction on Thursday morning. The week before Easter Sunday, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly issued an executive order expanding an earlier order banning gatherings of over 10 people to include religious services. In a statement defending the measure, Kelly explained that it was a difficult decision to reach, but considered it necessary to curb the spread of coronavirus. As Holy Week gets underway and with Kansas rapidly approaching its projected peak infection rate in the coming weeks the risk for a spike in COVID-19 cases through church gatherings is especially dangerous, said Kelly. Ive said repeatedly during this crisis that we will adjust to circumstances as they develop to make sure we do everything we can to protect Kansans. In response to the order, the state Legislative Coordinating Council overturned the measure, arguing that the expanded order raised First Amendment concerns. However, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled against the LCC action in a per curiam decision released the day before Easter, saying that the legislature lacked the authority to overturn the order. The LCC purported to revoke one executive order. We are asked to determine whether it acted within its lawful authority. We hold that it did not, ruled the court. As ultimately acknowledged by all counsel during oral arguments today, even if we accept House Concurrent Resolution 5025 as an otherwise valid exercise of legislative authority, its plain text did not authorize the LCC to revoke Executive Order 20-18. That acknowledgment ends this controversy. The state supreme court nevertheless explained in their ruling that the decision was not meant to address the religious liberty dimensions of this dispute. Irrfan Khans co-stars in Angrezi Medium, actors Radhika Madan and Deepak Dobriyal, have commended his spirit on the films set. Irrfan shot for the film while undergoing treatment for neuroendocrine tumour. Radhika, who played the daughter of Irrfans character, told Pinvilla in an interview, Everybody was aware of and sensitive to the situation. I think the credit goes to Dinesh Vijan, Homi Adajania, and the whole team. The respect that they gave him was commendable. Especially for Homi and Irrfan sir, they understand each other like no one else. Watching Irrfan sir work, no layman would know that he battled with the disease recently. He was involved in the process. He gave his 200 percent. He would do lines as many times as you want. Radhika added that after the shoot, Irrfan would sit with the others and discuss the scenes. She said, What he has done is just inexplicable. He is all hearts. Angrezi Medium, a standalone sequel to Hindi Medium, was one of the last films to be released before the nationwide coronavirus lockdown. It was subsequently released on streaming. Also read: From Leonardo DiCaprio to Christopher Nolan, 4 times Irrfan Khan turned down Hollywood legends Deepak Dobriyal called Irrfan a philosopher, apart from being a great actor. He recalled, Once I called him after knowing about his condition and asked him Irrfan bhai, yeh jo role mila hai, upar wale ne jo yeh role diya, ab kya karenge, ise kaise dekh rahe hain. And he said, arey haan bhai, ab upar waale ne bol diya hai, ab laga process, hunar nikal, craft, jitna bhi, ab dikha. I heard that and I became emotional that he said such things with humour and wit. His perseverance and will to fight is next level. Directed by Homi Adajania, Angrezi Medium also featured Kareena Kapoor Khan in a supporting role. Kareena had said in an interview that working with Irrfan was the biggest reason she took on the small role. I wanted to work with Irrfan and thats the reason I took up this role, she said, according to an Asian Age report. Follow @htshowbiz for more Australian television presenter Scott Tweedie has spoken candidly about the 'eerie' moment he became aware of how serious the coronavirus pandemic was. The former Studio 10 reporter moved to Manhattan just weeks before New York City went into lockdown to help curb the spread of COVID-19. Scott, 32, told The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday that it wasn't until he took a bike ride past a hospital that he had an 'eye-opening' moment about the crisis. Shocking! On Wednesday, E! News presenter Scott Tweedie revealed the 'eerie' moment he realised the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic in New York City 'It was scary and almost an eye opener when we cycled from my house to the Hudson River,' Scott told the publication. He went on to explain he'd gone past the West Village Hospital, which had a massive truck parked out the front. 'I cant say for sure what that truck was for but Im pretty sure it was for dead bodies,' he confessed. New York City has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, which has seen much of the city put under government-mandated lockdown. 'I cant say for sure what that truck was for but Im pretty sure it was for dead bodies': Scott confessed he'd seen a large truck parked outside of a hospital which he believed was to transport dead bodies (pictured are refrigerated trucks being used as makeshift morgues outside of Bellevue hospital in Manhattan) In New York City alone, there are 139,385 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and there have been 10,657 deaths. Scott moved to New York late last year to host E! News and Pop of the Morning with Lilliana Vazquez. The programs were put on hiatus last month as a precautionary measure. Dream job: The former Studio 10 presenter moved to New York at the end of last year after scoring his dream job hosting E! News and Pop of the Morning with Lilliana Vazquez. Both programs are now on hiatus Scott has been sharing regular updates from New York to Instagram during the crisis. Last month he uploaded several videos to his Instagram Stories which showed the normally bustling metropolis completely empty. The former Loop host explained that he had stepped out to get a few days supply of groceries and support local businesses by buying some hot coffee. He said in the clip: 'It's still super quiet here in Manhattan. I think a lot of people have gone away to their summer homes, to their families, or are just staying at home, keeping out of the street for self-isolation. 'It's 11 o'clock in the morning and there is nobody around,' said Scott, who has been in self-isolation and working from his Manhattan apartment. [April 22, 2020] Avanan Launches Canadian Datacenter NEW YORK, April 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Avanan, a leading cloud email security platform, has launched a new datacenter in Canada to help its customers comply with the countrys Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). Avanan provides clients with the industrys highest-rated cloud email security, protecting users of collaboration suites like Office 365 and G-Suite against risks of data loss or breaches. The solution leverages patented technology to work with the security built into these leading cloud email applications and scans all inbound, outbound and internal emails. Avanan blocks phishing, malware, data loss and insider threats often missed by cloud email apps. This approach allows the platform to act before malicious content reaches user inboxes and before sensitive data leaks. Canadas PIPEDA regulation governs how businesses must manage personal information, including guidance about how and where it should be stored. Avanans new datacenter meets all PIPEDA requirements, for both businesses and their clients. As a security company, Avanan takes the duty of managing and protecting privacy as one of its key pillars. Privacy and compliance go hand-in-hand with security, and the Avanan solution ensures that all are prioritized and protected. As part Avanans ongoing commitment to both its customers security and compliance, as well as the companys security and compliance, this new datacenter complements its European farm to meet similar GDPR requirements, as well as the United States Privacy Shield provisions. Our commitment to security and privacy is unwavering, says Avanan CEO Gil Friedrich. This new datacenter ensures that all Canadian companies who work with Avanan will comply with this important privacy regulation, have their email secured and protect their clients privacy. Learn more online about the industrys highest-rated cloud email security from Avanan. About Avanan Avanan catches the advanced attacks that evade default and advanced security tools. Its invisible, multi-layer security enables full-suite protection for cloud collaboration solutions such as Office 365, G-Suite, and Slack. The platform deploys in one click via API to prevent Business Email Compromise and block phishing, malware, data leakage, account takeover, and shadow IT across the enterprise. Avanan replaces the need for multiple tools to secure the entire cloud collaboration suite, with a patented solution that goes far beyond any other Cloud Email Security Supplement. Media Contact: Deb Montner, Montner Tech PR, [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] (Natural News) In this study, researchers from South Africa and Tanzania examined the antimicrobial efficacy and cytotoxicity of some under-investigated plants from the Myrtaceae (myrtle) family that are endemic to South Africa. Their findings were published in the journal BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) remains an important global health problem, especially since new antimicrobials are difficult to find or develop. Plant extracts present a promising solution to AMR since they contain plenty of compounds which may be effective against microbial pathogens. To test the antimicrobial potential of South African plants, the researchers chose nine species from the myrtle family and obtained crude acetone leaf extracts from each. They used a two-fold serial microdilution assay with p-iodonitrotetrazolium violet as growth indicator to test each extract against six common nosocomial pathogens: the Gram positive bacteria Bacillus cereus, Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus aureus, and the Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella Typhimurium. The researchers also determined the number of antimicrobial compounds present in each extract using bioautography and measured their cytotoxicity against Vero kidney cells using a colorimetric tetrazolium-based assay. Additionally, they calculated the total antibacterial activity (TAA, mL/g) and selectivity index (LC50/MIC) of the extracts, and assayed their anti-biofilm activity. The researchers reported that Syzygium legatii, S. masukuense and Syzygium species A were the most effective against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, with MIC values ranging from 0.04-0.08?mg/mL. Eugenia erythrophylla had the best MIC (0.02?mg/ml) against B. cereus. Most of the extracts showed relatively low cytotoxicity (LC50?>?20?mcg/mL) and reasonable selectivity indices. Only S. masukuense, Syzygium species A and E. natalitia showed moderate cytotoxicity (20?mcg/mL? said on Tuesday, adding that it was premature to say how quickly China sales would rebound. The health crisis first hit China - a major market for high-end goods - late last year before spreading elsewhere, and several European countries, including Italy and France as well as the United States, have since gone into lockdown to try to cope. Kering sales fell 15.4% to 3.2 billion euros ($3.47 billion) in the first quarter, impacted, like its rivals, by store closures and also by the shutdown of production sites in Europe. That was a 16.4% drop like-for-like, which strips out the effect of acquisitions and currency swings. At its star Gucci label, which powers most of its profits, like-for-like sales were down 23.2% in the period, contrasting with a less pronounced 13.8% drop-off at Kering's Saint Laurent brand. Kering Financial Chief Jean-Marc Duplaix said the sales outlook was improving for mainland China as shops reopen, a bright spot for luxury brands hoping to cushion some the impact of the spread of the virus outside Asia. "From the start of April, we've seen an improvement and positive trends for most of our brands in mainland China," Duplaix told reporters. He said Gucci -- which earns 37% of its revenues in Asia excluding Japan -- was leading the pack. But he said it was too early to draw any conclusions about how solid the rebound was, given some stores had only reopened at the end of March and restrictions remained in place in the capital Beijing. "We have to be very cautious as in some cases we have only around 15 days behind us to examine the trend." Business in Hong Kong, where months of protests depressed sales in 2019, was "extremely disrupted" by the halt in tourist flows. Duplaix also said that with most western countries under lockdown until May he did not expect any meaningful recovery in Europe or the United States to take hold before June or July. Story continues OUT OF LINE Bernstein analyst Luca Solca said Guccis sales decline appeared out of line when compared with the 10% drop recorded by the fashion division of rival LVMH , which reported first quarter revenues last week, though Gucci has enjoyed spectacular growth in recent years. "There seems to be a hint of a brand specific slowdown at Gucci, considering that all other brands within the Kering stable have done better," he said. Like LVMH, Kering said it was trimming its dividend payout against 2019 earnings by 30% and cutting costs by renegotiating rents, postponing non-essential projects and shelving advertising campaigns. Kering had previously warned it expected a drop in comparable sales of around 15% in the first quarter and that operating margins would decline. The company, which also owns Balenciaga, has been one of the big winners of a luxury goods bonanza in recent years alongside LVMH. That has put these cash-rich luxury conglomerates in a stronger position than some standalone brands that were already in turnaround mode when the coronavirus crisis hit. Citi analyst Thomas Chauvet said he expected Kering as well as Italian puffer jacket maker Moncler to weather the crisis better than rivals. He also said Kering was likely to benefit more than others from a move towards e-commerce to offset the hit from store closures, although the broader outlook for the sector was still gloomy. Duplaix said online sales had risen 20% in the first quarter, with those at Gucci in mainland China more than 100%. (Reporting by Silvia Aloisi and Sarah White; Editing by Giles Elgood and Jane Merriman) Sipping on a gin tonic while enjoying the views of Madrid will be possible this summer at Ginkgo Sky Bar within the new normality of life post-coronavirus lockdown. Every patron will exist in their own bubble of hygiene: wearing gloves, a face mask, and separated from other patrons by a screen. If someone wants to go up to see the sunset, they will need to ask staff for permission and follow a safe route marked out on the floor of the rooftop bar, which is part of the five-star hotel Plaza Espana Design, of the VP hotel chain. These plans are just one example of how the Spanish tourism industry is trying to reinvent itself in the face of the coronavirus crisis, which is expected to cause losses of up to 92.5 billion this year. VP Hotels believes that the key to attracting tourists will be strict hygiene measures. We want to be the safest hotel in all of Spain, says Javier Perez Jimenez, the managing director of the VP chain. We will have to invest money to buy screens to separate one table from another Restaurant owner Gildo Hidalgo There is still no information about the measures hotels and restaurants in Spain will have to apply when they are allowed to reopen, nor is it known when they will be back in business. Despite this, Perez Jimenez thinks that meeting the legal minimum of hygiene standards will not be enough for a luxury hotel such as Plaza Espana Design. He has been planning how to reorganize common spaces in the hotel to minimize contact with other people, and has contacted personal protective equipment companies about buying supplies. Perez Jimenez believes hotels will need to go the extra mile when it comes to safety, and does not care if he is being paranoid. The strict measures are especially important for Plaza Espana Design, given that the average hotel guest is over 50, an age group that is more vulnerable to the coronavirus. The Madrid Hotel Business Association is also working on a proposal for a Covid Free Hotel certificate to provide to establishments that meet its requirements. When guests arrive at Plaza Espana Design, they will need to undergo a rapid test to check whether they have coronavirus, explains Perez Jimenez. For this to happen, the managing director is talking to several clinics, which would occupy one of the rooms on the ground floor. The test may even be carried out in an ambulance outside the hotel, says Perez Jimenez. A sketch of how the layout of the Ginkgo Sky Bar may be redesigned. If a guest is healthy, they will go to reception and receive a welcome kit with personal protection equipment: gloves, face mask and hand sanitizer gel. Hotel rooms will be subject to the strictest hygiene measures. Even the television remote control will be covered in plastic, and almost every corner of the room will have dispensers with disinfectant, explains Perez Jimenez. The breakfast buffet will disappear and be replaced with a picnic basket with fruit and yogurt that guests will collect by keeping to a marked-out route. Cloths will no longer be used to wipe down tables in the hotel restaurants. In the future, waiters will have to use steam cleaners. Perez Jimenez estimates that the seating capacity of the Ginkgo Sky Bar and Restaurant and Botania Restaurant, which hold 800 and 250 people respectively, will be cut by a third and by half. Unlike other summers, it is unlikely that there will be long lines of people waiting to go up to the rooftop bar. Reservations will also be compulsory. Its an ambitious and expensive plan, says Perez Jimenez. Indeed only a few hotel giants in Spain have the resources to reinvent themselves as clean spaces. It is expected that only the largest chains, without too much debt, will survive the fallout from the coronavirus crisis. The managing director believes the VP chain will resist until September thanks to business tourism and events. One of the advantages of Plaza Espana Design, adds Perez Jimenez, is that the bathrooms in the restaurants open automatically, meaning no door handle has to be touched. In the common areas, you only touch the button for the elevator and inside [the elevator] you will find an alcohol dispenser, says Perez Jimenez. We are going to put dispensers [in the building] as though it were the end of the world. But it will not be the end. This is just a break. Future of bars and restaurants The owners of bars, restaurants and beach bars, known in Spain as chiringuitos, are less optimistic about the future. For now most have ruled out radical changes to their businesses, but some have invested in protective screens. The uncertainty of not knowing how or when they are going to let us open is very restrictive, says Gildo Hidalgo, the owner of the restaurants Dona Calma Gastrobar and Veranillo de Santa Ana in Barrameda, in the southern province of Cadiz. The reduction in seating capacity is also something we have considered, we will also have to invest money to buy screens to separate one table from another, he explains. Its really messed up. I feel really sorry for our workers, because if before we had eight employees for 70 diners, and now they only let 20 in well, you see what I mean. The prohibitions have us on tenterhooks, says restaurant owner Guillermo Garcia Munoz, in reference to the Spanish governments lockdown measures. Garcia is the owner of the bar Dona Clo, the beach bar Vida Mia and the club La Barberia. Ive given up on reopening the club. Its a business thats only profitable if its full. The situation with the beach bar is different because I own the property and if I dont open it I dont incur any losses. The bar I can sustain because the owner of the property is not charging me rent, he explains. English version by Melissa Kitson. The US has attempted to defend itself in the face of harsh criticism of the unilateral coercive measures that it has imposed on countries, in the time of coronavirus writes Al-Watan. Few among us have access to information about what is happening in the corridors of the UN, amid the diplomatic scuffles between permanent representatives and their teams, and their alliances, and the communications that occurs in the lead-up to each decision or drafting of resolutions, or even during votes of the Security Council and General Assembly. Perhaps what was issued yesterday in the statement of clarification from the US regarding the unilateral coercive measures it enforces on a number of states, including Syria, is what pushed us to communicate with a number of diplomats in New York, to reveal the circumstances of this clarification, as well as its reasons, background and meaning. Al-Watan has learned that the issuance of this American statement came as a defensive step against a number of criticisms towards the US, which is preventing aid and medical supplies from reaching counties that it has placed unjust economic sanctions on. The statement was also in response to a campaign launched against them in the corridors of the UN calling on the US to lift and abolish these coercive measures. According to information obtained by Al-Watan, the Syrian diplomatic mission in New York was the first to take on this campaign against the US in coordination with the Iranian mission. The Syrian diplomats worked for days on draft resolutions and statements, which led initially to the issuance of an official stance by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. In it, he called on the US and the EU to lift sanctions immediately and open the way for all countries to obtain the necessary supplies to confront coronavirus. But his demand was not heeded in Washington and European capitals. This pushed diplomats to redouble their efforts to coordinate with permanent member states such as China and Russia, which responded quickly to the demands of the Syrian delegation and delegations from other countries impacted by US and European sanctions. China and Russia began a coordinated campaign within the Security Council and General Assembly to pressure Washington and Europe to lift their siege and cancel unilateral coercive measures. Information obtained by Al-Watan indicates that there were real diplomatic battles in New York that led to the embarrassment of the US mission, whose country stands accused of blocking humanitarian aid and medical supplies from reaching countries on its sanctions list. This pushed the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) at the US Treasury Department to release a rare clarification, or a so-called fact sheet titled Provision of Humanitarian Assistance and Trade to Combat COVID-19. In it, the US administration detailed the sanctions that it imposes on each country, presenting the statement as a public relations stunt to clear itself of all accusations against it. Washington wants, through this paper, to deliver a single message that can be summarized as such, the unilateral measures take into account considerations related to providing humanitarian aid and the export of goods related to the humanitarian needs of countries subjected to the sanctions detailed in this paper. And Washington wants, through this paper, to deliver a single message that can be summarized as, unilateral measures take into account considerations related to providing humanitarian aid and export goods of a humanitarian and service nature to the countries subject to sanctions through exceptions detailed in this paper. Despite the issuance of this paper, sources in New York tell Al-Watan that there is continued mobilization within the Security Council from the countries impacted by sanctions, and that the statement released by the US does not constitute a response to demands by Guterres and a number of Security Council committees. These bodies have published specialized reports on the negative impacts of sanctions. The paper stands contrary to the lightening or lifting of sanctions that some had promoted. Rather, it is an attempt by Washington to escape some of the impacts of sharp criticism in the UN from a complete axis formed by countries impacted by the sanctions, in addition to Russia, China, and a number of other states that respect human rights, rejecting sanctions policies that hurt people with the goal of advancing Western and American agendas. It is worth noting that the states impacted by unilateral coercive measures of the United States are Syria, Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, Ukraine and Russia. Popular initiatives have been launched in Syria and other countries demanding that the US lift its sanctions immediately, and allow their governments to provide all the necessary supplies to combat coronavirus. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Professor Akin Abayomi, Lagos State Commissioner for Health, disclosed that 17 hospitals in the state have been exposed to Coronavirus. Abayomi said the state Ministry of Health through one of its agencies Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFEMAA), is helping the hospitals decontaminate its facilties. Some of the hospitals have also been told to stop admitting patients until the process is complete. The Commissioner said; They have to go through a process of Infection prevention and control training of all their staff and if they go through the HEFAMAA certification, they will receive guidelines on how to manage COVID-19 patients in the future should the case arise where government will partner with private sector to manage COVID-19. This scenario may present itself if we begin to see very large numbers of cases on a day-to-day basis and the Lagos state facility may be overwhelmed. Abayomi further revealed that the testing capacity has increased in the state, with each of the testing facilities testing 200 at a shift and a total of 1000 test per day. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Calls for Health Minister Vaughan Gething to be relieved of duties following sweary outburst during Zoom meeting This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Apr 22nd, 2020 Calls have been made for the Welsh Health Minister to be relieved of his duties following a sweary outburst during a meeting on Zoom. Minister Vaughan Gething was heard criticising Labour colleague Jenny Rathbone AM during todays virtual Senedd plenary meeting after accidentally leaving his microphone unmuted. The Health Minister asks "what the f**k is the matter with" on a hot mic in today's Zoom based Senedd meeting we have also done action replay as some AM reactions were amusing! pic.twitter.com/Shh9vhwfhx Wrexham.com (@wrexham) April 22, 2020 It attracted some animated reactions from other ministers and Plaid Cymrus leader Adam Price has asked the First Minister to relieve him of his post with immediate effect. The Welsh Government has already come in for criticism this week after dropping its 5,000 daily testing target for Covid-19. Mr Price said: He has not only failed over the last month several times, he has failed to acknowledge that he has failed and aggressively attacks even those within his own party who question him. He does not have the right attitude, skills or temperament to lead the governments response to the coronavirus pandemic. To maintain public confidence the First Minister needs to relieve him of these responsibilities with immediate effect. There are experienced members on the First Ministers backbenchers who could be brought into Government to fill any vacuum. In footage of todays meeting, Mr Gething appears to say: What the f*** is she doing? in reference to his colleague. It followed Ms Rathbone asking him about comments made by a Nobel Prize-winning scientist, who accused the Welsh and UK governments of a dereliction of duty for failing to make better use of assistance to address testing and equipment shortages. Sir Martin Evans said every resource should be used against coronavirus, but claimed an offer of help from Cardiff University had gone unanswered. Ms Rathbone said the government should not shoot the messenger after Mr Gething admitted there were only days worth of personal protective equipment available in Wales earlier this week. She expressed her belief that the country should be self sufficient in creating PPE and also challenged him on when home testing would be rolled out. The Health Minister said he had contacted Ms Rathbone to apologise following his outburst. Posting on Twitter, Vaughan Gething said: Im obviously embarrassed about my comments at the end of questions today. Ive sent a message apologising and offered to speak to Jenny Rathbone if she wishes to do so. It is an unwelcome distraction at a time of unprecedented challenge. A month after California's gig workers, the self-employed, independent contractors, and freelancers were promised unemployment insurance there is finally a set date to apply for benefits. The state will start accepting applications under a new program, called Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), on April 28. It will deliver financial assistance to thousands of people across California who have not received any income since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. UPDATE: The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance site will not go live until 10 am PDT according to the EDD. In a series of Facebook live talks, California Labor Secretary Julie Su explained the delay was because the California Employment Development Department, which manages the state's unemployment insurance fund, was unable to accept applications from independent or self-employed contractors under its current system. They have to build an entirely new system to manage their unemployment insurance claims. The EDD claimed the new PUA system will likely rival the size of the regular UI program it administers. RELATED: Confusion reigns for sole proprietors, gig workers seeking COVID-19 financial aid Secretary Su said that applicants who file in the new PUA system on April 28 would start receiving benefits within 2-4 days after completing the application. "In order for us to get unemployment benefits out as quickly as possible, we will be automatically paying the $167 a week minimum amount that is provided under PUA," Su explained. Applicants will initially receive the minimum benefit amount of $167 a week and the additional $600 a week benefit promised by the CARES Act passed by Congress on March 29. To decide their eligibility for the program, PUA applicants will self-declare their income for the 2019 tax year. The EDD noted claims would be able to be backdated to when you became directly impacted by COVID-19, include as far back as early February. However, the additional $600 a week federal benefit will only apply to claims from March 29 through July 31, 2020. Additional PUA benefits will be available for as long as 39 weeks until the end of December. MORE: Here's how California self-employed, independent contractors can file for unemployment Once you have applied, you will be able to potentially increase your weekly benefit by certifying your actual pay from your sole proprietor business or gig work in 2019. The EDD promises to adjust your weekly benefit payment from a minimum of $167 a week to a possible maximum of $450 a week. The process should take a maximum of 21 days, and any additional assistance will also be backdated to when you first received unemployment assistance. During the webinar, Lu also apologized for problems the regular unemployment system has encountered. She noting that the EDD released three billion in payments the past four weeks, equal to their unemployment payouts for all of 2019. To alleviate any problems applicants have, the unemployment call center has expanded its hours from 8 a.m till 8 p.m. Additional instructions on applying for PUA and who is eligible are posted on the EDD website. Online Photo Editor Douglas Zimmerman oversees SFGATE's Instagram and covers the Bay Area soccer scene on SFGATE's Beautiful Blog. View his latest stories and send him news tips at dzimmerman@sfgate.com. The Indian Oil Corporation on Wednesday said it is facing problems in "systematic and timely" home delivery of LPG cylinders in Assam after withdrawal of security from the distributors' premises as as customers have resorted to panic buying of the fuel. In a statement, the IOC appealed to people not to pay heed to rumours and asserted that there is no shortage of LPG cylinders across the Northeastern region. "It has been observed that many customers are crowding LPG distributorships for LPG refills out of panic following spread of rumours. Many customers are even demanding LPG refills without bookings and are coming down to collect cylinders from the godown," it said. "Even though security was given at all the distributorship premises during the lockdown, the same was withdrawn on April 20 after relaxation of the lockdown. Indian Oil has again requested for police support at all the distributorships for seamless delivery of LPG refills to our customers whilst maintaining all social distancing and safety norms," the statement added. The company said it is in continuous touch with the district administration, which has assured it to seek support from the police department to maintain law and order, social distancing and safety norms at the distributors' premises. It was also found that people are intercepting LPG delivery vehicles en route to home delivery and demanding refills without booking, the company said. "This is creating a problem in systematic and timely home delivery of the refills. The matter has already been brought to the notice of the district authorities and help for the same has been sought by Indian Oil wherever required," the company said. On rumours that the supply of LPG refills is not adequate, the company clarified that it takes a day or two for cylinders to reach the dealers from bottling plants after they place the orders. "To ensure that all the LPG demand across North East is fulfilled, Indian Oil has augmented its supply chain logistics and has also started 24x7 operations of two major locations in the region, North Guwahati and Silchar bottling plants," the statement informed. This has increased the company's bottling capacity by nearly 45,000 LPG cylinders in a day, which is enough to meet the LPG backlog of the entire North East, it added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) NEWSALERT-NATO-RUSSIA-TALKS NATO chief says the military alliance and Russia agree to try hold more meetings despite tensions over Ukraine. (AP) RSNATO chief says the military alliance and Russia agree to try hold more meetings despite tensions over Ukraine. (AP) RS RS Three generations of one of Hollywoods most iconic families grace the 2020 cover of Peoples Beautiful issue: Goldie Hawn, her daughter, Kate Hudson, and Hudsons youngest child, Rani Rose. They posed for the cover back in February before the coronavirus pandemic forced the country into quarantine, but speaking to People in April, Hudson said she was using her time in isolation to think. Its definitely an interesting time for reflecting on what is truly important, she told People from her home in Los Angeles. She lives with boyfriend Danny Fujikawa, daughter Rani and her older two sons, Ryder, 16 and Bing, 8, from previous relationships. The Almost Famous actress said her mother was the person who inspired her confidence. My mom gave me the floor to be able to feel confident enough to go out and feel like my life could be my own, Hudson said. Mom was my greatest cheerleader. And it just made me think about Ranigoing, I hope I give her that kind of confidence, you know? She added that her mom has often given her good advice. UK- Glamour Women Of The Awards in London (Rune Hellestad / Corbis via Getty Images) Mom always said to me, Dont you ever let a man dim your light,' she recalled. So Ive never defined myself through the way a man sees me, but I can define myself in the unit that we can create together. That is what Mom gave to me. Hawn, 74, is quarantining with her partner of 37 years, Kurt Russell, 69. She said she is getting through the crisis with meditation as well as focusing on nurturing, loving, kindness for all in my heart and staying safe inside. Hawn is a self-proclaimed proud mom when it comes to her superstar daughter. In a heartfelt post on Hudsons birthday on Sunday, she gushed excitedly about her daughters success. Premiere Of 20th Century Fox's "Happy birthday to my only daughter @katehudson!!! I love you deeply and cant imagine my life without you. You entered this world wide eyed and ready to roll. And look at you now! Im so proud!" Hawn wrote in the caption. Pop Culture Hudson was previously on the cover of the "Beautiful" issue in 2008. Last year's issue featured actress Jennifer Garner. Peoples 30th anniversary Beautiful issue will be on newsstands nationwide Friday. Related Egypt's Sisi says state is committed to repatriating 3,500 citizens stranded abroad Governor of Egypt's Red Sea governorate Amr Hanafy announced on Wednesday night that 299 Egyptians who had been stranded abroad by the coronavirus crisis have arrived at Marsa Alam International Airport from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. According to a statement, Hanafy said that the returnees were directly taken following their arrival to a hotel in the Red Sea city where they will spend their 14-day quarantine period. "All the returnees underwent medical examination by quarantine doctors in the governorate," said the governor, adding that "for their safety, all their personal belongings were also sterilised." Immediate tests were performed and the samples were sent to laboratories to ensure that they were free of coronavirus infections, he noted. Hanafy also pointed out that the "states efforts are continuing to repatriate Egyptians stranded abroad." Egypt began in March bringing back hundreds of its nationals stranded in various countries owing to the pandemic. The cabinet consequently decided to quarantine all Egyptians returning to the country from abroad, and is requiring returnees to sign a written acknowledgement that they agree to the quarantine before boarding their flights. El-Sisi stated on Wednesday that Egypt is committed to repatriating the Egyptians stranded abroad at the earliest opportunity. "I assure all Egyptians [stranded abroad] who are listening to me, even if our circumstances are difficult, we will not leave you. As a state, we are obligated to bring home all stranded Egyptians, who are estimated at 3,500 citizens or slightly more, as soon as possible," El-Sisi said. Search Keywords: Short link: Aerial photo taken on Sept. 1, 2018 shows the rural scenery in Kechang Township of Longlin Various Nationalities Autonomous County, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Zhang Ailin) Longlin Multi-ethnic Autonomous County, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, are working hard to win victory over the battle against poverty. As one of the 52 poor counties in China, Longlin is a hard nut to crack in Guangxi's poverty alleviation. The county still had 7,829 impoverished people from 2,219 households in 10 villages by the end of 2019. Longlin has been taking concrete measures to tackle real problems with attention paid to details, so as to ensure that all poor villages and people will be lifted out of poverty as scheduled, said Zhang Qisheng, Party chief of the county. "Eradicating poverty has now come to a critical stage, we must go all out to strengthen measures to realize the goal," Zhang said, adding that the county has made a general plan and different projects for the 10 poor villages to resolve prominent problems in poverty alleviation. According to these plans, heads of the county Party committee and government should visit poor villages every month. Leaders at the county level who are responsible for the 10 poor villages should help solve difficulties in poverty alleviation at least once each month. In addition, additional officials and working team members for poverty alleviation will be dispatched to these villages. "Since the implementation of the plans, the Party chief has visited our village several times to solve difficulties," said Gou Shiyou, the first secretary of Pingtai village in charge of poverty alleviation. During Zhang's visit to the village, he allocated funds to support Wang Ayou, a poor resident, in expanding construction of his 40-square-meter house for five family members. He also urged the department of water resources to implement a project to ensure that residents in the village will have access to safe drinking water, which is expected to be put into use by the end of April. Longlin is also taking a full inventory of all registered households living in poverty, so as to take targeted measures to lift them out of poverty. In April, the county sent over 600 officials to conduct thorough investigations into the housing conditions of impoverished villagers, and relocate those living under poor housing conditions. Meanwhile, Longlin has also developed industries that cater to local conditions. So far, the county has planted 37,000 mu (1 mu is 667 square meters) of bananas, 56,000 mu of mulberry trees, and 100,000 mu of Chinese chestnuts and tea-oil trees, respectively. Yang Hua, an impoverished resident in Meji village, planted 8 mu of mulberry saplings, which were provided by the county for free, in late March. "I can earn 4,000 yuan per mu," Yang said, adding that he would earn 47,000 yuan from the planting this year if a subsidy of 15,000 yuan is included. With 390 impoverished people from 86 households, or a poverty headcount ratio of 14.8 percent, Meji is the village with the largest poor population in Longlin county. Most of villagers used to plant corns, with a slender income of about 500 yuan per mu. Due to serious rock desertification, mulberry tree is the most suitable crop to plant, said Yang Zaihong, the first secretary of the village in charge of poverty alleviation, noting that 54 impoverished households have planted mulberry trees and bred silkworms, which will allow them shake off poverty. Longlin has stepped up efforts to develop the silkworm-raising industry. It invested about 30 million yuan to build cocooneries covering an area of more than 30,000 square meters for impoverished people free of charge. "The development of suitable industries will help boost poor residents' income and lift them out of poverty," said Yang Ke, head of the county, adding that Longlin plans to build two new silkworm-raising demonstration bases and plant over 30,000 mu mulberry trees this year. (Bloomberg) -- Epic Games Inc., the Fortnite videogame maker and owner of the Houseparty app that has exploded in popularity during the pandemic, has held talks to raise a new round of funding valuing it above its last valuation of $15 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. The company has hired a financial adviser to handle the fundraising, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. The company has discussed raising between $500 million to $1 billion, one of the people said. The exact valuation it was seeking couldnt be learned but some of the people said it would be significantly higher than $15 billion. The plans arent final and could still change, the people said. A representative for Epic Games declined to comment. A group including KKR & Co., Vulcan Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, Iconiq Capital and e-sports startup AXiomatic Gaming bought $1.25 billion of Epic Games shares in 2018. The company, founded by billionaire Tim Sweeney in his parents basement in 1991, was valued in the investment at $15 billion, a person familiar with the matter said at the time. Sweeney sold 40% of the company to Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. in 2012. Other minority owners include Walt Disney Co. and Endeavor Group Holdings Inc., along with Lightspeed Venture Partners. Fortnite is a cartoonish fight-to-the-death battle royale where players thrash one another in a struggle for weapons, resources and survival on a shrinking, storm-ravaged island. Houseparty Grows Epic Games, based in Cary, North Carolina, acquired Houseparty last year for an undisclosed sum. Alongside Zoom Video Communications Inc., Houseparty may be the product that most defines the current moment, when some 300 million Americans have been urged to stay home to help mitigate the spread of the new coronavirus. At its core, Housepartys free mobile and desktop apps let people video chat with friends or family, similarly to Zoom or Apple Inc.s FaceTime. But Houseparty, which had previously been popular mainly with teenagers, builds in a slew of other features meant to encourage interaction, including the ability to remotely play games like trivia or Heads Up, or to jump into friends ongoing conversations. Story continues Houseparty said earlier this month it had 50 million sign ups over 30 days, with some markets seeing as many as 70 times the normal rate of new users. While Houseparty and Fortnite are brand names, much of Epics value may lie in its Unreal Engine, a popular software for game developers thats the backbone of hundreds of video games. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. By Chris Gallagher and Chang-Ran Kim TOKYO (Reuters) - More than 30 crew members on an Italian cruise ship docked for repairs in Japan's Nagasaki prefecture have tested positive for the new coronavirus, raising concern about the impact on the local community. The cluster of infections found on board the Costa Atlantica follows the case of the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Yokohama two months ago, where more than 700 were found to be infected, although this time only crew members were on board. The Costa Cruises-operated ship was taken into a shipyard in Nagasaki city, in western Japan, in late February by a unit of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries after the virus pandemic had scuttled plans for scheduled repairs in China. The vessel has 623 crew, and after detecting one had been infected tests were carried out on close contacts among fellow crew members. Nagasaki prefectural authorities on Wednesday said they had confirmed a total 34 infections on the ship and appealed for help from the central government to tackle the incident. "There are a lot of infections on board, and we don't have the medical system to confirm the health situation and to separate" those who test positive and negative, Governor Hodo Nakamura told a news conference. "We'll also need a system for transporting patients. It's difficult for the prefecture to carry out decontamination work so I want to seek the country's support." Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga, told a separate news conference that the health ministry was cooperating with the Italian government and had sent specialists and cluster infection experts to the ship. CONCERN FOR LOCAL COMMUNITY Concern was growing, however, about the potential impact on Nagasaki residents after revelations that some crew had left the restricted area where the ship was being repaired. A Mitsubishi official, at the same news conference, said the company had been assured by Costa Atlantica that crew would not leave the terminal as of March 14, but it later found out that some had left, for reasons such as visiting hospital or going to the airport to return home upon completion of their work contract. Story continues "Our understanding is that any departure was not for purposes such as sightseeing or eating out," the official said. He added that anyone leaving the terminal area was screened, with no one allowed out if they had a fever of over 37.5 degrees Celsius. "We had been told that there was no embarking or disembarking so this is a very regrettable situation," Nakamura said in response. The governor also faulted the Italian cruise ship operator for not managing the movements of its crew in the manner it had promised, when asked his view on Mitsubishi's responsibility. News of the ship infections was trending on Twitter and sparked comparisons to the Diamond Princess, which had been quarantined in February. The virus spread to more than 700 people on board the Diamond Princess and experts criticised the governments quarantine process. "What, have none of the lessons of the Diamond Princess been learned? It was docked for repairs but were they urgent enough to require this, why was this allowed? one user tweeted. They should go back to their own country as soon as possible." Japanese health authorities are testing other crew on board the Costa Atlantica. Those who test positive with slight symptoms or who are asymptomatic will stay aboard for monitoring, while those in serious condition will be taken to medical institutions, Nakamura said, with those testing negative sent to home nations. Japan has seen more than 11,500 infections and close to 300 deaths from the new coronavirus, excluding figures from the Diamond Princess. (Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus: open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser.) (The story fixes typo in paragraph 10) (Reporting by Chris Gallagher and Chang-Ran Kim; Additional reporting by Naomi Tajitsu and Elaine Lies; Writing by Chris Gallagher; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman & Simon Cameron-Moore) Flash Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Lim Jock Hoi on Tuesday thanked the Chinese government for providing medical supplies and hailed the cooperation between ASEAN and China in fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chinese government donated medical supplies to the ASEAN Secretariat (ASEC), which consisted of 75,000 surgical masks, 300 bottles of hand sanitizers and 35 infrared thermometers. At a handover ceremony held at the ASEAN Secretariat Building in Jakarta, Lim said that from the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak, ASEAN and China have cooperated in responding to the pandemic at national and regional levels of health and other relevant sectors. Through transparent and timely technical exchanges and information sharing, ASEAN and China have effectively mitigated the impacts of the pandemic on public health, trade and tourism. The Chinese aid would benefit the health of over 300 employees at the ASEAN Secretariat, the secretary-general added. Chinese Ambassador to ASEAN Deng Xijun said the Chinese government decided to donate face masks, hand sanitizers and infrared thermometers to the ASEAN Secretariat as China has always stood together with ASEAN in difficult times. "It further highlights the close ties and profound friendship between China and ASEAN," said Ambassador Deng. Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN Kung Phoak also spoke highly of the efforts of ASEAN and China to fight the pandemic, and appreciated China's timely donation to the ASEAN Secretariat. (Repeats item issued earlier) By Anshuman Daga SINGAPORE, April 21 (Reuters) - Deloitte & Touche LLP said on Tuesday it was confident in its standards of auditing of the financial statements of Singapore energy trader Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd (HLT) following news that HLT's founder directed the trading firm not to disclose losses. "We stand behind the quality of our work. Our audit was performed with the highest standards of audit and compliance with the information made known to us at the time," a Singapore-based spokeswoman said in an email to Reuters. She declined further comment, citing "client confidentiality obligations". Deloitte's assertions came in response to questions from Reuters about HLT's losses and whether Deloitte, as the company's auditor, had noticed and flagged any discrepancies in HLT's financial statements. In an affidavit filed on Friday by HLT founder Lim Oon Kuin and reviewed by Reuters, but that has not been made public, Lim said he had directed HLT, one of Asia's top energy traders, not to disclose hundreds of millions of dollars in losses over several years. Last week, HLT filed for a debt moratorium in Singapore after it began talks with creditors, two sources told Reuters. Singapore police said late on Monday that they had launched an investigation following news of HLT's founder not disclosing the losses. HLT and Lim did not respond to Reuters requests for comment on the police investigation. (Reporting by Anshuman Daga Editing by Nick Tattersall) L.A. County Appointed Strategic Leader to Oversee Urgent Response for Unsheltered Populations during COVID-19 Tuesday, April 21. Los Angeles Public Officials welcomed Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Director of Public Health provided new data regarding the coronavirus outbreak in the Los Angeles region. Head of the Chief Executive Offices Strategic Integration Branch, Tiana Murillo has been named the strategic leader to oversee the unsheltered population during this pandemic. Murillo was selected by CEO Sachi A. Hamai to manage the county departments homeless initiatives. Urgent solutions are needed for those who are most susceptible to the virus. Los Angeles is looking for innovative ways to withstand the anticipated second wave of increased positive cases for COVID-19. L.A. County appointed Tiana Murillo to coordinate strategies, the mission is to temporarily house the unsheltered population during the coronavirus outbreak. Selected by Chief Executive Officer Sachi A. Hamai, Murillo will oversee the L.A. County Departments initiatives to secure and assist those experiencing homelessness county wide. Tiana is collaborating with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority and other partnerships in the County department. Initiatives under her direct supervision include medical sheltering for those experiencing homelessness. This includes those who already contracted the virus and need a place for isolation. In addition to that, Murillo is supervising the Roomkey project. The Roomkey initiative is a public and private sector collaboration between hotels in L.A. county; hotels and motels supply vacant rooms for those experiencing homelessness. Barbara Ferrer, Director of Public Health shared the latest updates on the COVID-19 Virus. Ferrer shared Tuesday, April 21. there were 46 additional deaths, 33 of these individuals were between the ages of 65 and over, 19 of them with underlining health conditions. This brings the total COVID-19 related deaths in the L.A. County to 663. Barbara disclosed as of April 21. There are 1,400 new COVID-19 reports. The jump in number of reports is due to backlogged cases and delayed lab results. In summary, there is a total amount of 15,140 coronavirus cases in the Los Angeles region. ADVERTISEMENT These numbers reflect 464 positive cases in Long Beach and 249 COVID-19 reports coming from Pasadena. Approximately 25% of those infected with COVID-19 are hospitalized at some point. 89% of positive cases that died, had underlining health conditions. Data is reflecting 4.5% of carriers of the coronavirus have died, which is higher than the general mortality rate for influenza related deaths in the United States. The current initiatives have temporarily housed more than 900 people that were exposed to the elements. The vacancy and building of sites to come online for the unsheltered grow daily. The L.A. County efforts to combat both the homeless disparity among a global pandemic are essential, to flatten the curve among the most vulnerable population. Their efforts protect the capacity of the overall health care system. Tiana Murillos assignment as Temporary Supervisory Administrator is effective immediately and has a term of 120 days. Tiana stated, This assignment is a big challenge, not just for me personally but for all of the hardworking county staff and partners who are making a difference under difficult circumstances. Photo: The Canadian Press President Donald Trump announced what he described as a temporary suspension of immigration into the United States on Tuesday. But the executive order would bar only those seeking permanent residency, not temporary workers. Trump said he would be placing a 60-day pause on the issuance of green cards in an effort to limit competition for jobs in a U.S. economy wrecked by the coronavirus. The order would include certain exemptions," he said, but he declined to outlined them, noting the order was still being crafted. By pausing immigration well help put unemployed Americans first in line for jobs as America reopens, so important," Trump said at the White House. "It would be wrong and unjust for Americans laid off by the virus to be replaced with new immigrant labour flown in from abroad. An administration official familiar with the plans, however, said the order will apply to foreigners seeking employment-based green cards and relatives of green card holders who are not citizens. Americans wishing to bring immediate family will still be able to do so, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity before the plan was announced. About 1 million green cards were granted in the 2019 fiscal year, about half to spouses, children and parents of U.S. citizens. By limiting his immigration measure to green cards, Trump was leaving untouched hundreds of thousands of foreign workers granted non-immigrant visas each year, including farm workers, health care workers and software programmers. The Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think-tank , estimated that some 110,000 green cards could be delayed during a two-month pause. Trump said he would consider extending the restrictions, depending on economic conditions at the time. Trump has long advocated restrictions on both legal and illegal immigration and has raised concerns for years about foreigners competing with American citizens for jobs. But he denied he was using the virus to make good on a longstanding campaign promise during an election year. No, I'm not doing that all," he said. The president has also used the crisis to push other stalled priorities, from tax reform to dramatic border restrictions. Trump has often pivoted to his signature issue of immigration when hes under criticism. Its one he believes helped him win the 2016 election and one that continues to animate his loyal base of supporters heading into what is expected to be a brutal reelection fight. It has also served as a useful tool for distracting from news hed prefer removed from the headlines. Much of the immigration system has already ground to a halt because of the pandemic. Almost all visa processing by the State Department has been suspended for weeks. Travel to the U.S. has been restricted from much of the globe. And Trump has used the virus to effectively end asylum at U.S. borders, including turning away children who arrive by themselves and putting a hold on refugee resettlement something Congress, the courts and international law hadn't previously allowed. Criticism of Trump's announcement was swift, especially his timing during the pandemic. Ali Noorani, president of the National Immigration Forum, noted that thousands of foreign-born health care workers are currently treating people with COVID-19 and working in critical sectors of the economy. Andrea Flores of the American Civil Liberties Union said Trump seemed "more interested in fanning anti-immigrant flames than in saving lives. Japan is changing its stock exchange structure to improve corporate governance. IFLRs latest primer looks at how the changes will impact asset managers and whether the changes go far enough to address corporate governance issues. What are changes to the JPX about? Financial services operator, the Japan Exchange Group (JPX) is planning to restructure the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) from April 1 2022. Under the proposed changes the five existing market segments: first section, second section, Mothers and JASDAQ (standard & growth) will be reorganised into new market segments: prime, standard and growth. The prime segment will include companies with large market capitalisation, excellent corporate governance, and high liquidity. This segment requires that the tradable market capitalisation of companies be at least JPY10 billion ($92.7 million). Companies under the standard segment will have basic corporate governance standards and a standard level of market liquidity. The growth segment will include companies with relatively high risks that need to disclose progress at set time periods. For asset managers, the question is which companies will make the cut to be included in the prime section. This will determine what companies will fall under the Topix index, which tracks companies in the first section of the JPX. See also: PRIMER: Japans new foreign investment law Why is the JPX changing its structure? The focus on corporate governance reform in Japan started about 10 years ago when the Japanese government and the TSE started discussions on encouraging the appointment of outside and independent directors at Japanese listed companies. Since then, a number of reforms, including the establishment of the corporate governance code and the stewardship code have been implemented, said Masakazu Kumagai, partner at Mori Hamada & Matsumoto. Investor scrutiny on Japanese corporate governance is getting stricter and stricter. The TSE has indicated that it will review the corporate governance code and apply higher standards to those companies listed on the prime market. This would contribute to the trend of heightened corporate governance in Japan. Yusuke Motoyanagi, partner at Nishimura & Asahi, said: Higher market capitalisation requirements are required because of the increase in passive investment. This and other high thresholds will give Japanese companies an incentive to improve corporate governance. What are the concerns of the reform? Sources suggest that a main concern of the reform is that it does not go far enough to reduce the number of companies in the prime segment. The existing first section of the TSE has more than 2000 companies. We welcome the intention to simplify the market structure and clarify the role of each section, given that there are ambiguities about the distinction between the current lower sections, said Sachi Suzuki, associate director of engagement at Federated Hermes. However, it appears that a vast majority of the more than 2000 companies currently on the first tier of the exchange will likely stay in the new prime section after the reform. Suzuki is concerned that the restructuring may fail to address concerns that the top tier is overpopulated, from large global companies to very small ones. This is one of the factors making the Japanese market less attractive to global investors, she said. Investors typically investing in index funds would be investing in companies across the board on Topix, said Chie Mitsui, senior researcher at Nomura Research Institute. The problem is that there is no competition for companies to be better, even with the corporate governance code in place. She continued: Its easy for companies to stay the same when passive funds are investing into them but there are too many companies on the Topix." "If the list of 2000 companies were to go down to 150, for instance, it would be much easier to engage with companies on corporate governance issues. How are asset managers preparing for the changes? Since all companies currently listed in the first section of the stock exchange are included in the Topix, investors who use the index as a benchmark will need to prepare for the change to the composition of the index related to the reform of the stock exchange. According to Kumagai, the TSE intends to review the selection rule of the Topix constituent companies so that liquidity will be more heavily weighted. It is expected that the new rule will be determined and announced by March 2022. The TSE has indicated that it will seek opinions from Topix users in the course of its review. For asset managers, the question will be which companies will be included in the premium segment of the Topix as they will need to sell companies that are not included, said Mitsui. They will be tied down by investment policies and the shift will take time because contracts between asset managers and clients will need to be changed. The challenge is that all of these existing contracts need to be changed. Mitsui added that there will be a lot of uncertainty as to whether companies on the borderline will be able to meet the minimum market capitalisation threshold. What areas lack clarity? Suzuki said that it is also encouraging that the JPX is planning to apply more stringent governance requirements to companies listed in the prime section, although it is unclear what new criteria will be introduced at the next revision of the corporate governance code. While it may be reasonable to make compliance a criterion for listing in the prime section with the enhanced criteria of corporate governance code, it is important for the stock exchange to ensure the compliance is not superficial but also has substance, she said. Kumagai said that attention should be paid to the definition of tradable market capitalisation. In particular, TSE indicated that it will review the definition of a tradable share and shares held as cross-shareholdings could be considered non-tradable. While cross-shareholdings are still prevalent in the Japanese market, investor pressure on listed companies to unwind such relationships is getting stronger and stronger, he said. There might be certain companies which could be affected by how tradable market capitalisation will be defined. Suzuki said that plans to revise the definition of tradable shares, the amount of which will be used as an additional criterion for the each section of the market, and in particular, to exclude shares held as cross-shareholdings from the definition, are welcomed. She hopes that this will not only help select companies with sufficiently liquid shares, but may also help unwind cross-shareholdings, which are associated with a number of other issues, such as ignoring shareholders interests. See also:Japan: disclosure of corporate affairs 2021 Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC. For help please see our FAQs. Share this article Hundreds of hospital staff lined streets to pay their final tribute to a 'devoted' father-of-four surgeon after he died from coronavirus aged 58. Touching footage captured from Sadeq Elhowsh's hearse shows medical workers standing in a row along the pavement to pay their respects on Tuesday. The staff then burst into a round of applause for the orthopaedic surgeon, who worked at St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in Merseyside. Doctors, nurses, hospital staff and patients gather together outside Whiston Hospital to pay respects to Sadeq Elhowsh, who died on April 20 after contracting coronavirus NHS workers, some wearing PPE, and patients lined the road, hospital driveway and stood in every facing window in tribute to Mr Elhowsh as his hearse drove past the doors of his place of work. The video was shared on Twitter, captioned: 'Seems the entire hospital came out to pay respect to colleague Mr Sadeq Elhowsh.' The social media user added: 'This is so humbling and beautiful. 'Moments like this truly are the best side of humanity.' In a tribute to Mr Elhowsh, who passed away on April 20 in the hospital he worked at for more than 17 years, his family said: 'Sadeq was a wonderful husband as well as a devoted father and he dearly loved his family. 'We cannot put into words the depth of our loss. 'He loved his work and was dedicated to supporting his patients and his colleagues.' Ravi Gudena, Mr Elhowsh's colleague and a consultant orthopaedic surgeon, said: 'Nothing was ever too much trouble for Sadeq, he was always there to help anyone and was happy to do whatever was needed to help his colleagues and patients.' Mr Elhowsh's hearse pictured as medical workers erupt into applause for the surgeon, who worked at St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in Merseyside Mr Elhowsh's hearse drove past the doors of Whiston Hospital, where he worked, with his fellow colleagues lining the road, hospital driveway and standing in every facing window Hospital chief executive Ann Marr OBE added: 'Sadeq will be sadly missed by all who knew and worked with him. He was without doubt a much-loved member of the team.' A GoFundMe page created by the surgeon's colleagues in support of his family and his son's education at medical school has raised over 71,000 at the time of writing, reaching over 50,000 within 24 hours. Part of the description says Mr Elhowsh was 'always there to help any one', adding: 'His famous quote is "dont worry I will sort it". 'He was well respected by all the patients, and dearly loved by all the staff, colleagues and juniors.' Mr Elhowsh pictured left and right, with his two sons. In a tribute to the surgeon, who died in the hospital he worked at, his family said he was a 'wonderful husband' and 'devoted father' The surgeon is one of six health workers announced to have passed away from coronavirus yesterday. Josephine Peter, a nurse at Southport and Formby District General Hospital, has been described as a 'heroine' by her devastated husband after she died from the virus on Saturday, April 18. According to a GoFundMe page set up to honour Mrs Peter, who worked as a nurse for 20 years, she leaves behind her husband Thabo, her two children Bongani and Buhle who live in South Africa and a granddaughter. She was raised in Johannesburg, South Africa during Apartheid where, according to the fundraising page, she was 'whipped and humiliated by the then white ruling party' but she never let it break her spirit. She had been working at Southport hospital since February on an agency contract until she fell ill in early April. Josephine Peter (left), a nurse at Southport and Formby District General Hospital and Liz Shale (right), an NHS administration worker, were announced to have died from the virus yesterday Juliet Alder, who worked at the Hammersmith and Fulham Mental Health Unit supporting older people in the last weeks of their life, died from coronavirus aged 58 on Tuesday, April 14 Liz Shale, a 61-year-old NHS administration worker from Leeds, died just two days after being rushed to hospital on Tuesday, April 7. Her family, who described her as 'loving and crazy' pleaded with people to 'take this virus seriously' after they were unable to visit and say goodbye to her before she died at St James's University Hospital and will have to watch her funeral via video link due to new restrictions. The grandmother-of-eight worked for the NHS for more than 20 years and spent the last decade working in palliative care in Bradford. Another victim, Kirsty Jones, 41, had been working as a healthcare assistant and recently taken up a position in one of Lanarkshire's Assessment Centres, based in Airdrie Health Centre, to help in the frontline response against the pandemic. Kirsty Jones, 41, was working at an assessment centre helping in the frontline response. She leaves behind her husband Nigel and two sons, Sam age 14 and Finlay, four Khulisani Nkala, 46, worked as a mental health nurse for the Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and was the first staff member at the trust to die from the virus Her death sees her leave behind her husband Nigel, and two sons, Sam aged 14 and Finlay, four. Tributes have also been paid to Khulisani Nkala, a mental health nurse who died on Friday. The 46-year-old was the first staff member at Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust to died from the virus. Juliet Alder, who died from coronavirus aged 58 on Tuesday, April 14, worked at the Hammersmith and Fulham Mental Health Unit supporting older people in the last weeks of their life. She is the first member of the team to die from Covid-19, leaving behind her husband and daughter, and was described by her colleagues as 'kind, caring and thoughtful.' By Associated Press BERLIN: Small shops reopened Wednesday in Berlin as a few nations began easing coronavirus restrictions to restart their economies, but trepidation expressed by some workers and customers indicated a return to normality is still a long way off. Restrictions were also being eased in Denmark and Austria. In France, long lines built up outside the few McDonald's drive-thrus that started serving customers again. In the US , some states were relaxing restrictions amid vocal protests by those demanding to return to work. Although some virus hot spots like Italy, Spain and New York have seen a drop in daily death tolls and new hospitalizations, other areas are facing a resurgence of the coronavirus. Singapore, once a model of virus tracking and prevention, saw an explosion of new cases and announced Wednesday it would extend its lockdown into June. In California, health officials said two people with coronavirus died in the state weeks before the first reported US death from the disease on Feb. 29 in the state of Washington. The development shows that COVID-19 had been circulating in the US earlier than was previously thought. There has been growing impatience over virus-related shutdowns that have seen tens of millions of people lose their jobs. But even in areas where businesses were allowed to open, some were hesitant. Galina Hooge, who opened her small Berlin toy store for the first time in over a month, welcomed the change but remained wary. Of course Im happy that I can open again and we can keep our heads above water, she said. Government aid had covered the store's rent and bills, and Hooge said she felt relatively secure thanks to Germanys universal health insurance and strong social safety net. But she worried that some Germans still arent taking the outbreak seriously. Relaxing the rules doesnt mean that everything is over. Its not over by a long stretch, she said. Serbia reopened open-air food markets Wednesday, with vendors wearing masks and gloves, along with shops selling technical goods and bookstores. Authorities also shortened a daily curfew by one hour and allowed people over 65 to go for a walk three times a week. Serbias elderly had been ordered indoors for over a month. The country has reported 6,890 infections and 130 deaths. Across the Atlantic in Savannah, Georgia, where Gov. Brian Kemp announced that gyms and salons can reopen this week, gym owner Mark Lebos said it would be professional negligence to do so right now. We are not going to be a vector of death and suffering, he said. In California, Santa Clara County officials said two people who died at home on Feb. 6 and Feb. 17 tested positive for the virus, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. California Gov. Gavin Newsom promised a deep dive update Wednesday of the states ability to test for the coronavirus and to track and isolate people who have it. He said that is one of six key indicators needed to lift a stay-at-home order which has slowed the spread of the virus but forced millions of people to file for unemployment. The pandemic has infected over 2.5 million people and killed more than 178,000 around the world, including more than 45,000 in the US , according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. Health authorities have warned the crisis is far from over and that relaxing stay-at-home orders too quickly could enable the virus to come surging back. Economic damage mounted as oil prices suffered an epic collapse and US stocks registered their worst loss in weeks Tuesday on Wall Street. Asian and European markets were mostly higher Wednesday. The US Senate approved nearly $500 billion in coronavirus aid for businesses, hospitals and testing after Congress and the White House reached a deal. Spain, one of the world's worst-hit countries, was getting ready to allow children out of their homes next week for the first time in nearly six weeks. The country's death toll reached 21,717, behind only the United States and Italy, after 435 more deaths were reported Wednesday. Spain has over 208,000 confirmed infections. Both numbers reflect the plateauing of the nations outbreak over recent days as a result of Spain's strict home confinement rules. I am aware of the tremendous effort that the confinement has demanded of our smallest ones and their families, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said. I insist that this exception, this small relief ... must not impact the general confinement restrictions that remain in place. In another hopeful sign, a large makeshift morgue at a Madrid ice rink was closing as the daily toll dropped under 500 deaths from a high of 950 three weeks ago. But Singapore, which had been praised for its swift response and meticulous tracing of contacts in the early stage of the outbreak, was grappling with an explosion of cases in foreign worker dorms that were largely overlooked earlier. The tiny city-state's infections surged to 10,141 after it reported 1,016 new cases Wednesday, maintaining its position as the worst-hit nation in Southeast Asia. In Pakistan, doctors urged the country's religious clerics and prime minister to reverse a decision to leave mosques open during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, warning it could result in an explosion of COVID-19 cases. Large gatherings will only increase infections and overwhelm the health care system that has less than 3,000 acute care beds for 220 million people, said Dr. Qaiser Sajjad, chief of the Pakistan Medical Association. India partially eased one of the world's strictest lockdowns this week, but health officials fear a surge in cases. The country is planning to use wristbands fitted with a contact-tracing app, Arogya Setu, to help people identify their risk of infection. The wristband aims to counter the vast manpower needed to try to track the contacts of coronavirus patients among the country's 1.3 billion people. Officials said it is likely to be rolled out in May. In the US , some states, including Tennessee, West Virginia and Colorado, announced plans to begin loosening restrictions in stages in the coming days. Sunbathers flocked to those South Carolina beaches that reopened with the governors backing. Yet political tensions over restrictions showed no signs of easing. Sheriffs in Washington state, Michigan and Wisconsin said they wont enforce stay-at-home orders. Angry protesters demanding the lifting of restrictions marched in Alabama, North Carolina and Missouri with signs like Enough is enough. Wisconsin Republicans asked the states high court to block an extension of the stay-at-home order there. Numerous governors and local leaders have said before they can relax social distancing restrictions, they need help from Washington to expand testing to help keep the virus in check. The man at the centre of a Gold Coast siege on Wednesday has escaped from the unit where he was holed up, apparently slipping through a police cordon and going on the run. The man was armed with an axe inside the Labrador unit but it was not known whether he was still armed as police patrolled the area in search of him. The police cordon on Brookside Road, Labrador, during the siege. Credit:Nine News Gold Coast - Twitter A police spokesman said there was still no update on the situation as of Wednesday night. Police decided to enter the unit about 2pm, six hours into the siege, but officers found the residence was empty. The U.S. has decided to withdraw nearly 1,000 U.S. citizen contractors from Afghanistan amid the growing novel coronavirus threat in a country ill-equipped to cope with the pandemic, according to a top Pentagon official. "We just issued a memo that directs contracting officers to support a U.S. Forces Afghanistan memo to redeploy at-risk contractor employees due to insufficient medical capability in-country," said Ellen Lord, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment. "We project this number to be less than 1,000, but we are committed to taking care of them," she said at a Pentagon briefing Monday. Related: Air Force Uses Cutting-Edge Isolation Pod to Evacuate COVID-19 Patients from Afghanistan The nearly 1,000 to be withdrawn would come from the more than 10,500 U.S. citizens among the more than 26,000 Defense Department contractors in Afghanistan, according to a U.S. Central Command report in January. Lord gave no timeline for the withdrawal and did not say how many contractors had tested positive for coronavirus or shown symptoms, but the announcement follows the evacuation of three contractors from Afghanistan to Germany aboard an Air Force C-17 Globemaster III specially outfitted to isolate infectious patients. "This marks the first operational use of the system that was developed for the 2014 Ebola crisis, but was never used until now," Lord said. She said the evacuations are part of continuing efforts by the Pentagon's Joint Staff, U.S. Transportation Command and the Air Force "to ensure that we can safely transport COVID-19 patients from overseas locations to the United States." In addition, "We are absolutely committed to the safety of the air crew and medical support staff during these missions," Lord said. In a phone briefing from Brussels on April 16, Air Force Gen. Tod Wolters, commander of NATO and U.S. European Command, said the C-17 with the three American contractors aboard landed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, on April 10. "This was a first for our U.S. Department of Defense from Afghanistan to Europe," Wolters said. He did not give an update on the conditions of the three contractors, but said they were taken to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center for treatment. According to Lord, the C-17 carried a Transport Isolation System, or TIS, originally developed in 2014 to transport Ebola patients but never used. The TIS is a tent-like, infectious disease containment enclosure that allows patients to be treated aboard the aircraft while protecting aircrew members from exposure, according to Air Mobility Command (AMC). Before the evacuations from Afghanistan were announced, the Air Force said in a release that AMC had developed a COVID-19 Patient Movement Plan. In coordination with U.S. Transportation Command, "we've produced a detailed plan that guides our crews on how to safely and effectively move ill patients to a location where they can receive greater care, all while providing protection for our aircrew, medical personnel and aircraft," Brig. Gen. Jimmy Canlas, 618th Air Operations Center commander, said in the Air Force release. As reported by Military.com last week, the Air Force and AMC are also testing methods for the possible transport of dozens of COVID patients at a time aboard aircraft without using the TIS isolation tents. The tests earlier in April by Air Mobility Command with researchers from the National Strategic Research Institute at the University of Nebraska and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency involved airflow experiments on six different aircraft. The goal was to analyze how air travels through a cargo hold using specialized, traceable droplets, said Maj. Dave Sustello, AMC's Test and Evaluation Squadron operations officer. In its latest coronavirus report Tuesday, the DoD said there were a total of 5,575 confirmed cases among service members, civilians, dependents and contractors worldwide. The DoD does not give locations for the positive cases but said that 420 were among contractors, and 58 of them were hospitalized. The U.S. has not given an update on the number of coronavirus cases among U.S. and coalition troops in Afghanistan since March 24, when the NATO Resolute Support mission said there were four cases, without stating whether they were among U.S. or coalition troops. Also on March 24, Army Gen. Austin Scott Miller, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, issued a plea by Twitter and by teleconference with Afghan officials to the Afghan people to stop fighting and turn to combating the coronavirus. "All sides need to reduce violence so we can stay focused on preventing the spread of this virus," Miller said. According to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, there were 1,092 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Afghanistan as of midday Tuesday and 36 deaths. Afghanistan's Health Ministry reported the same figures Tuesday, according to local Tolo News, but the spread of the disease was difficult to determine in a nation with a precarious health care system lacking in basic equipment for testing and treatment. There is no lab to analyze coronavirus tests for troops in Afghanistan, U.S. and NATO officials reported last month, resulting in the airlift of samples to a U.S. military testing facility in Germany for analysis. -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. Read more:Air Force Testing Ability to Mass-Evacuate COVID Patients Without Getting Crews Sick Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 21:40:08|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) Commission on Wednesday commended the Chinese tech entrepreneur and philanthropist, Jack Ma, following the latest announcement of the third batch of medical supplies donated by the Jack Ma and Alibaba foundations in support of Africa's fight against the spread of COVID-19. The statement was made by the AU Commission Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, who commended Jack Ma for the third batch of massive medical equipment donation in support of the 55-member pan African bloc and the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) efforts in containing the spread of COVID-19 across the African continent. "I thanked him for the donations of supplies to the AU Commission. This includes 4.6 million masks, 500,000 test kits, 200,000 personal protective equipments (PPEs), as well as 300 ventilators," Mahamat said after holding a phone call with Jack Ma on the latest medical supplies donation. These vital supplies will enhance the Africa CDC's strategic stockpile to assist member states in the COVID-19 fight, he said. The AU Commissioner of Social Affairs, Amira Elfadil, also commended the latest batch of massive medical equipment donation from Jack Ma in support of Africa's fight against the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, calling it "a true solidarity with Africa". Elfadil emphasized that the donation from Jack Ma would support the AU's recently launched Partnership to Accelerate COVID-19 Testing (PACT) "Test and Trace" initiative, which envisaged to roll out 1 million tests in 4 weeks and 10 million more in 24 weeks across the African continent. Ahmed Ogwell, Deputy Director of Africa CDC, also hailed the donation made by Jack Ma, saying that "this is a partnership that works. The Africa CDC values friends of Africa." On Monday, Jack Ma disclosed that the third donation to Africa "will immediately be made" to the AU and the Africa CDC. The latest batch of the donation mainly includes 4.6m masks, 500,000 swabs and test kits, 300 ventilators, 200,000 clothing sets, 200,000 face shields, 2,000 thermal guns, 100 body temperature scanners and 500,000 pairs of gloves, Jack Ma disclosed in a twitter post on Monday. On Tuesday, the Africa CDC disclosed that the death toll from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on the African continent reached 1,158 as the number of confirmed cases hit 23,505 as of Tuesday. On March 22, the first batch of massive medical supplies donated by China's Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation arrived in Africa. The massive medical supplies, soon after its arrival in the Ethiopian capital through an Ethiopian Airlines cargo flight, had been transferred to 54 African countries. The medical supplies include 5.4 million face masks, kits for 1.08 million detection tests, 40,000 sets of protective clothing and 60,000 sets of protective face shields, according to the Jack Ma Foundation, in which each of the 54 countries receiving some 100,000 medical masks, 20,000 test kits and 1,000 protective suits and face shields. On April 6, the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation made the second round of donations, which went to all 54 countries in Africa as the continent grapples with the pandemic. Enditem President Donald Trump. AP Photo/Alex Brandon President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday suspending immigration into the US for 60 days. Trump initially tweeted about the measure on Monday night and said his decision was spurred by an "attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens." The measure includes exemptions for medical workers and other essential workers, as well as the spouses and children of American citizens. The ban does not apply to any non-immigrant visas used to bring temporary workers into the US. Additional immigration measures might be considered later as the country seeks to reopen its industries that were shut down to stop the novel coronavirus' spread. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday suspending immigration into the US for 60 days. He initially tweeted on Monday night that he planned to sign the order but provided few details. In his tweet, Trump said his decision was spurred by an "attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens." Trump officially signed the measure on Wednesday before a coronavirus press briefing. "This will ensure that unemployed Americans of all backgrounds will be first in line for jobs as our economy reopens," Trump said at the briefing. "It will also preserve our healthcare resources for American patients." The order suspends new immigrant visas and will be in effect for 60 days, though it may be amended or extended as the US seeks to reopen its industries impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The order includes exemptions for medical and other essential workers who are working to slow the coronavirus spread, as well as spouses and children of American citizens, and "certain other aliens." Story continues The measure leaves guest worker programs, which allow foreign nationals to temporarily work in certain industries like farming and reside in the US during employment, intact, though the order states that Trump is discussing possible restrictions on the program with his administration. According to The New York Times, the decision to leave the programs in place came after business groups "exploded in anger." Trump discussed the measure during a Tuesday press briefing and said the temporary ban was aimed at protecting US workers. "By pausing immigration we'll help put Americans first in line for jobs as America reopens," he said. "I would be wrong and unjust for Americans laid off by the virus to be replaced by new immigrant labor flown in from abroad." Suspending some types of immigration into the US marks a major expansion to several travel bans put in place to curb the coronavirus' spread. As of Wednesday evening, the US recorded more than 839,000 coronavirus cases and more than 46,000 deaths. Democratic Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia responded to Trump's tweet on Monday, calling it "xenophobic scapegoating." "From the beginning, Trump has flailed about seeking someone to blame for his own failure," Bayer wrote on Twitter. "Immigration has nearly stopped and the US has far more cases than any other country." Rep. Eric Swalwell of California, a Democrat who ran for the party's 2020 presidential nomination, said Trump's order was an attempt to blame the US's failure to stem the coronavirus' spread on immigrants. "We don't need to protect America from immigrants. We need to protect her from you," he said in a response to Trump's tweet. "He wants us to think our pandemic is the fault of immigrants & other nations," Swalwell wrote in a follow-up tweet. "But we're in this crisis- 42k-plus deaths & a faltering economy as other nations did better- due to his failures of foresight & leadership, & his ongoing failure to take responsibility & accept reality." Sen. Kamala Harris of California, also a former 2020 presidential candidate, responded to Trump's tweet as well, saying the move was "shamelessly politicizing this pandemic to double down on his anti-immigrant agenda." "Trump failed to take this crisis seriously from day 1," she wrote. "His abandonment of his role as president has cost lives. And now, he's shamelessly politicizing this pandemic to double down on his anti-immigrant agenda. Enough, Mr. President. The American people are fed up." Read the original article on Business Insider While it's too soon to make accurate predictions on what the impact of the national lockdown and the global Covid-19 pandemic will have on the property market, it is sure to disrupt the industry one way or another. And disruption, (recent) history teaches us, isn't necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it's often exactly what an industry needs to bring about new opportunities. Carl Coetzee, CEO, BetterBond Data and analytics Consumer empowerment Streamlined processes Proptech like many other terms that end in tech has become something of a fancy buzzword, which is why it is useful to turn to an expert on the matter for a comprehensive definition. James Dearsley, co-founder of Unissu - the largest most accurate directory of proptech businesses in the world - explains that proptech is one small part of a wider digital transformation [that] considers both the technological and mentality change of the real estate industry. In its simplest form, proptech is the application of technology for new ways of conducting business in the property sector, with the focus on efficiency and impact.The stats certainly support the role digital technology is playing in shaping various aspects of the sector. A global survey conducted by KPMG in 2018 showed that 97% of the 270 respondents from 30 countries believed digital innovations are influencing their businesses somewhat.In South Africa, too, were adopting more proptech solutions in various parts of the sector and theres every likelihood that a digital-first approach to property will become more pervasive in the coming months and years, and particularly as we look for innovative ways to strengthen and grow the industry amidst the global Covid-19 pandemic. Proptech can help make the industry more efficient and more resilient, with the purpose of driving more value for clients in the most relevant way.Here are some of the key ways in which digital technologies are likely to impact the property market, many of which are already at play.Data is increasingly becoming the modern businesss most important and valuable asset. The ability to capture, interpret and analyse relevant information makes it easier to spot trends and make strategic decisions that have a positive impact on the business at large. Data effectively takes the guesswork out of decision-making, which in the property sector can help decision-makers predict market fluctuations and plan accordingly, as well as take advantage of opportunities.And as technology becomes more sophisticated, it becomes easier to leverage the tools needed to access and interpret the data.The transparency and convenience that digital technology allows for means much of the power has shifted to consumers, which in turn means they are able to make more informed decisions.At the most basic level, the nature of the interaction between the agent and buyer has changed significantly as digital resources bring the information about properties closer to them, helping them narrow their search and empower them with all the relevant information pertaining to their search and interests. Having said that, the role estate agents play in property transactions remains vital. While the digital tools help to make information more readily available to the client, the agent offers advice and expertise that are invaluable in the home-buying process.BetterBonds own experience in recent days has further reinforced the power of online tools. While there has been a decrease in the number of enquiries and applications were getting for home loans, the fact that they are still coming in during lockdown speaks to the efficacy of the online systems and the fact that people are readily and comfortably using them.When clients are equipped with the right knowledge and resources, they are able to make smarter decisions that ultimately enhance the industry.With most property companies having to embrace remote work, they've also had to become more adept at using new technologies.Were of the optimistic view that this time of social and economic uncertainty also presents an opportunity for the property industry to streamline processes, to embrace digital technologies more widely, to rethink age-old ways of thinking and doing, and to strive more earnestly to ensure the client is at the heart of what we do.When the world emerges from the crisis, the companies that stand out will be those who've leveraged these technologies to provide clients with the best possible products and services, amidst the limitations and uncertainty that prevailed.As a sector, we need to be mindful of the impact technology has on our business, but we also need to embrace its power and potential for improving both business operations and client experiences. Though only time will tell, early indications are that those who are strategically embracing proptech are likely to better weather the storms in the coming years. Live Assured isnt just a tagline. Its our promise to be here for our customers, protecting what matters most, especially during this time of uncertainty." As part of its ongoing efforts to help customers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Preferred Mutual (Preferred Mutual) Insurance Company today announced its Stay Home, Stay Assured Auto Program, which will provide over 65,000 customers a 15 percent credit on their April and May personal auto insurance premiums. During this difficult time, Preferred Mutual is pleased to be able to alleviate some of the financial hardships our customers are facing, said Christopher Taft, President and Chief Executive Officer. Live Assured isnt just a tagline. Its our promise to be here for our customers, protecting what matters most, especially during this time of uncertainty. The credit will be given to New York and Massachusetts personal auto policyholders as of April 30, 2020. No action is needed to receive the credit; policyholders will automatically receive their 15% premium credit via check in the coming weeks. Preferred Mutual estimates the Stay Home, Stay Assured Auto Program will distribute $2.5 million back to our customers. The Stay Home, Stay Assured Auto Program is the latest step we have taken in our commitment to providing exceptional service and support to customers during COVID-19. We are offering flexible payment options, waiving late fees, and extending personal auto coverage at no cost to individuals delivering food or medicine. Community support is also a priority for Preferred Mutual, as employees and partners work together to provide assistance to frontline workers, local food banks, as well as other organizations that address humanitarian issues. About Preferred Mutual Preferred Mutual Insurance Company provides property and casualty insurance coverage to more than 232,000 individual and business customers through an exclusive network of more than 500 independent agents throughout New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. In business since 1896, Preferred Mutual is rated A by A.M. Best Company and is headquartered in New Berlin, New York. Learn more at http://www.preferredmutual.com. Pizza Express fans rejoiced this week after the chain shared the recipe for its Margherita pizza, just days after revealing how to make its famous dough balls. The recipes, usually a closely guarded secret, were shared after the Italian favourite closed all its restaurants four weeks ago, amid the coronavirus pandemic. They follow high-street favourites including Greggs, McDonald's and IKEA who have spilled the beans on how to make their popular menu items at home. Now fans have rushed to recreate some Italian magic from the comfort of their own kitchens - with some very successful results. Here, FEMAIL shares the best attempts from social media users... Pizza Express fans have shared their joy after the high-street chain released the recipes for its much-loved Margherita pizza and doughballs - and now they're trying them at home HOMEMADE PIZZA Chris Daniel Bessant said his offering tasted 'amazing' after he added fresh basil to the pizza Mark Creed whipped up an Italian feast of dough balls and margherita pizza using the chain's recipes, he served it with wine and a delicious rustic Italian platter Will Churra, added olives to his Italian pizza for an extra bit of flavour, and cured meats for a salty taste Alex Ruth cooked up a Pizza Express pizza and dough balls (not pictured) for her daughter after the chain closed Padrina Rodirique squared of the edges of her pizzas and added a touch of pepperoni Hannah Milway used Pizza Express's Margherita recipe but added an egg york to the top Teddy B served his pizza with beer and salad, which he joked was the 'perfect Saturday night' Rob Wells added sweetcorn and ham to his pizza in an Hawaiian twist using the chain's recipe as a base Caroline Chad Williams made her pizza, alongside a calzone and Pizza Express' doughballs, which she called her lockdown feast Linsday Matthews served up a pollo ad astra and dough balls for her Pizza Express at home Poppy Douglass said she made her pizza on the barbecue, but said she needed a pizza paddle next time HOW TO MAKE PIZZA EXPRESS MARGHERITA PIZZA Prep time: 40 mins | Cooking time: 10 12 mins | Makes: 1 large pizza Ingredients 150ml warm water around 27 degrees 1 teaspoon of sugar 15g fresh yeast (or 2 level teaspoons of dry yeast) 225g of plain flour (plus extra for working) 1.5 teaspoons of salt Extra virgin olive oil (and a little for drizzling) 80g of PizzaExpress passata (or any tomato passata you have) 70g mozzarella (or any cheese you have) Pinch of oregano 1 Basil leaf (if you have one) Black pepper Pizza Express also shared a clip of one of their staff members attempt of making the pizza at home Method 1. Preheat the oven to 230C. 2. Add the sugar and crumble the fresh yeast into warm water. 3. Allow the mixture to stand for 10 15 minutes in a warm place (we find a windowsill on a sunny day works best) until froth develops on the surface. 4. Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl, make a well in the middle and pour in the yeast mixture and olive oil. 5. Lightly flour your hands, and slowly mix the ingredients together until they bind. 6. Generously dust your surface with flour. 7. Throw down the dough and begin kneading for 10 minutes until smooth, silky and soft. 8. Place in a lightly oiled, non-stick baking tray (we use a round one, but any shape will do!) 9. Spread the passata on top making sure you go to the edge. 10. Evenly place the mozzarella (or other cheese) on top, season with the oregano and black pepper, then drizzle with a little olive oil. 11. Cook in the oven for 10 12 minutes until the cheese slightly colours. 12. When ready, place the basil leaf on top and tuck in! Advertisement HOMEMADE DOUGHBALLS Emma Bannister said she 'missed' and 'loved' Pizza Express, as she thanked them for the recipe Marc Foster, from Northern Ireland, said his homemade pizza dough balls were 'heaven' Lisa Clarke, said her attempt at dough balls turned out perfect as she shared a picture of them in a bowl at home Kezia said she loved and missed Pizza Express and made their Pollo Pesto pasta to serve with dough balls Amanda Carter served her dough ball with blue cheese on top in an indulgent twist Kamal Mitrey added tomato and cheese to his dough ball recipe to take it to the next level OTTAWA COUNTY, MI -- Ottawa County coronavirus cases are inching up slowly, but well slower than the pace of neighboring Kent County. The latest data for Ottawa County shows 130 cases on Tuesday, April 21, up three from the previous day. The countys total COVID-19 deaths remained at seven. Michigan coronavirus daily death numbers spike to new high, but with a caveat Kent County added 76 new cases Tuesday for its largest single-day increase. Browser does not support frames. The Ottawa County data also shows that, of the 130 cases, 15 percent of those people required hospitalization. Ottawa County statistics also show that of the total cases, 25 people have recovered. The definition of recovery being used by Ottawa County is the states definition -- someone who tested positive and is alive 30 days past the onset of illness or symptoms. At Holland Hospital, the latest numbers show seven people currently hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19 and one person with pending test results. PREVENTION TIPS In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus. Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible. Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and when you go into places like stores. Read more Michigan coronavirus coverage here Tuesday, April 21: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan How to treat COVID-19? Michigan doctors say protocols change day by day, week by week Partisan politics infect Michigan coronavirus response Which surfaces does the coronavirus stay on longest? 18 expert disinfecting tips Michigan healthcare system lays off 2,475 due to dire financial effects of coronavirus As a leading provider of news, information and advertising in Southeast Missouri, today we are proud to announce the launch of our Local Marketing Grant program. This program offers matching marketing funds to local businesses whose livelihood has been impacted by the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. Since our inception, the Daily Journal has partnered with local businesses across our region to deliver their message to customers in both times of prosperity and in times of great challenge. While the COVID-19 virus has created change and difficulties for us all, the ability of our local business community to market to their customers remains essential to their, and all of our, sustainability and recovery. Our companys greatest assets, by far, are the local communities we serve, and were firmly committed to supporting them through this grant program. This program will be available to locally owned and operated businesses impacted by the COVID-19 virus, and will provide matching advertising grants for use in the Daily Journals print and digital publications and services. This builds upon our existing commitment to our local business community through such successful initiatives as our Buy Local gift card program, and our programs to highlight local restaurants offering carry-out and delivery. Through our Local Marketing Grant program, we are enabling small business owners to access a much broader portfolio of marketing products. This program will allow us to take a far more comprehensive approach to overcoming the unique challenges our local business partners face as a result of this pandemic. Grants will range from $250 to $15,000 each month, and will be awarded in April, May and June. Applicants may apply online at https://dailyjournalonline.com/pages/local-marketing-grant.html. As a trusted source of news and information for the communities that we serve, we feel that we are uniquely positioned to assist our local business community during these trying times. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen record-setting trends in both page views, and users who are accessing our content both in our printed newspaper, and online at dailyjournalonline.com. These audiences present a tremendous opportunity for our local business community to get their messaging out to local residents each and every day. During these uncertain times, we believe each of us can do our part to help our community come through the other side of this pandemic, stronger and more united to tackle the challenges that lay ahead. We ask that you join us in supporting our local business community in the weeks and months to follow. The UN General Assembly has demanded equal access for any future COVID-19 vaccine but its seeming unanimity was a fluke. The United States in fact opposed the resolution but acted too late to stop it, diplomats say. The 193 members of the General Assembly adopted by consensus Monday a resolution led by Mexico that calls for "equitable, efficient and timely" access to any vaccine developed to fight the pandemic. But the non-binding resolution irked the United States for another reason. It highlighted the "crucial leading role" of the World Health Organization, which President Donald Trump has strongly criticized for not doing more to halt the virus after it was detected in China. The adoption of the text was announced three hours after the vote, an unusually long gap. The reason for the delay, diplomats told AFP, was that the United States had tried unsuccessfully to block it after the fact. There is no veto at the General Assembly, which includes every UN member state, unlike the more powerful Security Council where five powers -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- can stop any resolution. In ordinary times, the General Assembly adopts resolutions either by consensus or by majority votes -- displayed openly on an electronic board or held secretly in the case of elections. But faced with the coronavirus pandemic, the General Assembly has changed its way of doing business until at least late May to avoid physical meetings at the UN headquarters in New York. Under the temporary setup, a country puts forward a text which is adopted after a "period of silence" of several days in which any member can voice objections -- effectively a veto. The United States did not "break the silence" before Monday's deadline for the resolution -- but, according to diplomats, tried to voice objections just afterward. "One delegation wanted to break the silence after the silence," a diplomat told AFP, with another diplomat confirming the United States was the country. The US mission at the United Nations did not respond to requests for comment. Trump has ramped up his broadsides against the WHO amid criticism at home over his handling of the crisis. - Concerns for upcoming votes - For the United Nations, the temporary procedures were seen as vital to ensure that texts, not to mention budgetary authorizations, can move forward. But the arrangement effectively lets any one of 193 nations hold up the entire United Nations. On April 3, no country broke the silence to stop a resolution that called in general terms for international cooperation to fight COVID-19. But a separate bid the same day by Russia to urge the lifting of economic sanctions amid the pandemic was blocked by Ukraine, Georgia, the United States and European Union. Russia has moved forward this week with another resolution that targets sanctions. It calls on all nations to "face global challenges as good neighbors, refraining from implementing protectionist and discriminatory measures inconsistent with the World Trade Organization rules." Member states have a deadline of 1600 GMT Wednesday to break the silence on the Russian draft -- and most diplomats think that this time around, objections will be lodged in time. On June 17, the General Assembly will have to tackle one of its thorniest issues -- selecting five new non-permanent members to the Security Council. Diplomats say that the candidates for Security Council seats -- which include Canada, Djibouti, Ireland, Kenya and Norway -- are already voicing alarm on how the election can take place if the crisis restrictions remain in place. The need for a comprehensive national policy on migrant workers that will include provisions for their social security, guaranteed jobs, medical support and insurance was flagged on Wednesday by the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) at the International Labour Organisation (ILO)-United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO)-led UN Bipartite Dialogue on the Revival of MSMEs and protection of workers. The BMS, which is an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and claims to represent over 6,000 trade unions, underlined that in a post-coronavirus disease (Covid-19) world, governments will need to focus on issues related to migrant workers, including reverse migration. The dialogue, in which representatives of trade unions and industry bodies from India shared their views, was held via video conference. Initially, the government imposed lockdown restrictions for 21 days but it was further extended for another 19 days till May 3 amid the spike in Covid-19 positive cases and also issued an order against slashing jobs or wages of stranded migrant workers. Thousands of migrant workers are stranded across the country. The Centre and state government have opened shelters and are providing food to hundreds and thousands of migrant workers, who have been left stranded because of the lockdown amid uncertainties over the loss of their livelihood triggered by the economic downturn due to Covid-19. BMS president CK Saji Narayanan, who participated in the dialogue, said the twin concerns of labour shortage and mobilising returnees back to their workplace can be addressed by issuing electronic passes, free train tickets, cash incentives, etc. There is a growing need to create a National Agricultural Labour register with details of Aadhaar and Jan Dhan direct benefit transfer accounts, etc. Migrants in labour camps need to have access to ration, health, income support and free internet for communicating with their family members, he said. He said though the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment has taken the initiative to identify the migrant workers and prepare their database, there is an immediate need for a national policy on this class of people. We need to normalise economic activities and protect the livelihood of labourers after the lockdown restrictions are lifted. We welcome the Centres directive to employers to pay wages and salaries, landlords to exempt payment of rent and not to retrench workers, particularly contract and casual ones. Both domestic laws and international labour standards need to be complied with for MSME workers. Social dialogue and effective consultation with tripartite partners cannot be compromised, he said. The BMS president offered a suggestion for the MSMEs who are finding it difficult to pay their wage bills during the lockdown period. He suggested that they can look at paying the bills and getting them reimbursed from the governments stimulus package as income support or wage subsidy. If the MSMEs could avail of this facility, it would improve the relationship between an employer and his workers, he added. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Israeli PM Netanyahu, main rival Gantz ink emergency unity gov't deal People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 08:20, April 21, 2020 JERUSALEM, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main rival, Benny Gantz, signed on Monday a deal to form an emergency unity government. The deal, between Netanyahu's rightwing Likud party and Gantz's centrist White and Blue party, ends more than a year of a political stalemate. "We have a national emergency government," Gantz wrote on Twitter. He said the deal has spared Israel a fourth round of elections in about a year, vowing "to fight the coronavirus and serve the entire people of Israel." "I secured a national emergency government that will act to save the lives and the livelihood of the citizens of Israel," Netanyahu said in a separate statement issued by his office. Under the power-sharing deal, a copy of which was seen by Xinhua, Netanyahu will serve as prime minister for 18 months before being replaced by Gantz, who will serve the post for another 18 months, as part of a rotation deal that will be bound by law. Before taking the helm, Gantz will serve as defense minister, while Gabi Ashkenazi, a former military chief from Blue and White, will serve as foreign minister. The governing coalition will also include a bloc of Jewish ultra-Orthodox and far-right parties, which sit in Netanyahu's current government. The deal put under question Netanyahu's controversial promise to annex the West Bank's Jordan Valley, which was a major part of U.S. President Donald Trump's so-called peace plan for the Middle East. The deal does not straightforwardly cancel the annexation but states that such a move could be made only if it will not harm regional stability and future prospects for peace. The Palestinians firmly oppose the annexation because the Jordan Valley is part of the West Bank, a territory seized by Israel in a 1967 war, where the Palestinians wish to build their future state. Ayman Odeh, leader of the Arab-Jewish Joint List party, Israel's third-largest party, criticized Gantz for choosing to join forces with "the corruption and racism." The deal "is a slap in the face of the majority of citizens who repeatedly voted to oust Netanyahu," Odeh wrote on Twitter, referring to Gantz's main campaign promise that he will not sit in a government with Netanyahu as a prime minister. The deal comes a day after more than 2,000 Israelis took to Tel Aviv's main plaza, calling for Netanyahu's resignation over a series of criminal cases in which he is involved. The opening session of his trial is scheduled to begin on May 24, where he will face a series of corruption charges. Many lawmakers with the opposition criticized the size of the government and its high costs during the economic crisis inflicted by the coronavirus, with about a quarter of the Israelis becoming unemployed. Under the deal, the government will include up to 36 ministers and 16 deputy ministers, the largest government in the history of Israel. "This is Gantz's and Ashkanzi's only contribution to the war against unemployment," Ofer Shelah, a lawmaker with Yesh Atid, a centrist party and Gantz's former partner, wrote on Twitter. The deal comes after a period of 484 days in which Israel has an interim government in the wake of three rounds of inconclusive elections in about a year. Enditem NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address A woman who covered up her father's murder of her mum has been released from jail and could inherit millions from her late mother's estate. Tiffany Wan has been released on parole after serving three years in jail for accessory to her mother Annabelle Chen's 'body-in-a-suitcase' murder in Perth in 2016. The 58-year-old's body was found with a fractured skull in a suitcase full of tiles in the Swan River after being bashed with a blunt object in her home by her ex-husband Ah Ping Ban. Wan was sentenced to four years and ten months in prison for her involvement with the crime and was released from jail on November 7 last year, with her release being made known to the public on Wednesday. Despite her crime, the 29-year-old could be eligible for a major cash influx from her mother's estate as the sole beneficiary of her inheritance. Tiffany Wan (pictured with her father Ah Ping Ban) has been released from prison after serving three years for accessory to her mother Annabelle Chen's murder in 2016 Ms Chen was killed by her ex-husband Ah Ping Ban in her Perth home before being stuffed in a suitcase and dumped in a river Ms Chen did not have a will when she died, but had a trust fund which included property and millions of dollars. It is unknown if Wan will reap the benefits of the trust fund, as a convicted murderer can not inherit anything from their victim's estate, though Wan's role as an accessory leaves a grey area. Barrister John Hockley told ABC Radio National's Law Report Wan's case had no precedent and said there was a chance she could benefit from her crime. Mr Hockley argued that her involvement in the crime could warrant her losing her inheritance. 'She told persistent lies to the police,' he said. 'She knew her mother was dead. It appears that her involvement may have been quite significant.' After her body was recovered, Ms Chen's identity remained a mystery for two months, until Wan reported her missing. Covering for her father, she told police a false story about the last time she had seen her mother. The young woman said the last time she saw her mother alive was when she walked out of her home and got into a car that was driven away by an Asian-looking man. Ah Ping Ban (right) was convicted of Ms Chen's murder, while Wan (left) served three years in jail for accessory to the crime Ms Chen's body was found stuffed in a blue suitcase, floating in Fremantle's Swan River Wan stopped covering for her father in early 2018, when she was charged with her mother's murder alongside Ban. The pair had blamed each other for Ms Chen's murder. Ban was sentenced to life in prison for the murder and has appealed his conviction. Mr Hockley said an estate forfeiture ruling could prevent Wan from receiving any inheritance. 'Is she the sort of person that should benefit from her mother's estate or should the forfeiture rule extend to cover her?' he said. 'There is a public expectation that a person shouldn't benefit from their crime.' Paul Haynes from law firm Haynes Leeuwin was appointed as the administrator of Ms Chen's estate. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Haynes Leeuwin for comment. 22.04.2020 LISTEN The persons under discussion today are two medical doctors who are also Members of Parliament (MPs) for constituencies in the capital city. One belongs to the ruling Elephant, while the other is a member of the opposition eagle-headed Umbrella. The former is Dr. Bernard Okoe Boye, MP for Ledzokuku Constituency, and the latter is Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, MP for Korley-Klottey Constituency. One person who has brilliantly explained the characteristics of the coronavirus and calmed many nerves since the deadly virus reached our shores is Dr. Boye. He inspires hope anytime one listens to his medical sermon as he disproves the doom and gloom theories. He explained about a month ago that with a vigorous contact tracing system, the country's COVID-19 cases would be far better than what we were seeing in the advanced Western nations. For sure, his stance has been vindicated by the figures we are seeing today. It, therefore, came as no surprise to many when he was nominated for the position of Deputy Health Minister by the President; so he could bring his expertise to bear in the fight against the pandemic. A very good decision, I must say, considering the fact that many have wondered why such a brilliant mind had been allowed to go to waste. But it is better late than never, isn't it? He exuded confidence and a lot of wisdom during his vetting. Almost every idea he espoused was well-thought-out. He did not only exhibit 'book knowledge', but also displayed 'home sense'. One could also not help but perceive his modesty and humility. The House of Honourables affirmed his appointment as a Deputy Health Minister on Friday. I have no doubt that he is an important addition to the Health Ministry, especially in these trying times. My hope is that he remains modest and humble. I wish him well! Dr. Rawlings, on the other hand, has not been as active on the advocacy front as Dr. Okoe Boye since the virus arrived here. That is understandable considering the fact that her party is not in power. Until a few days ago, I only saw her during the inauguration and subsequent press conference by her party's COVID-19 team, of which she is a member. The next I saw of her was distributing food to the needy in her constituency, an act which deserves commendation. But before one could wink, she was heard screaming 'party card for food'. She claimed she was compelled to distribute food to about 200 'kayayes' because they were denied food by government for not holding Elephant party cards. The evidence she provided were comments from social media. Very irresponsible, isn't it? Its very preposterous to even imagine that one would go asking for party cards when distributing food to the downtrodden. Only a mischievous politician will believe that people distributing food will have time to ask for party cards in such a calamitous situation. Having lived a privileged life since childhood, it's obvious she has not taken time to study the country's political structure. How many kayayes in this country have party cards? I'm scandalized by Dr. Rawlings' indiscretion. How could she ride on the back of patriotism and engage in such puerile partisanship? I'm being charitable because I still want to believe she is not as mischievous as most of her party folks. Frankly, I would have avoided discussing her in this column because the Gender Minister and Paul Adom-Otchere of 'Good Evening Ghana' fame have already put some 'home sense' into her thick skull. But her call on government to investigate her infantile propaganda made me change my mind. Which serious government would investigate an allegation with no iota of evidence? Which serious government in such a health crisis would waste precious time and resources to investigate blatant display of jaundiced propaganda and partisanship? Indeed, the Nana Dee government cannot waste time and resources to investigate such a Kwaku Ananse tale in the midst of this pandemic. Dr. Rawlings, please produce one evidence and put your critics to shame. Otherwise, you would now be referred to as 'Zanetor Alakpator', to wit 'Zanetor the Liar'. As was expected, the entire Zu-za family has jumped to her defence singing the 'party card for food' song. The party has even gone a step further to ask for Paul's head because he was bold enough to call out Zanetor for spewing pure lies. Ha, ha, ha! Well, they can scream all they want. As for me and my compatriots, all we ask is a single evidence to support their Kwaku Ananse tale. Until then, the new chorus on our lips is 'Zanetor Alakpator, Zanetor Alakpator, Zanetor Alakpator'. Sing along if you can! See you next week for another interesting konkonsa. Deo volente! A civil aviation ministry employee who resumed work when the Centre reopened its office on April 15 has tested positive for the coronavirus disease, the ministry said on Wednesday. Government officials said Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan, the headquarters of the aviation ministry, is being sealed for now. All ministry staffers who had come in contact with the officials have been told to go into isolation and will be tested. The ministry, in a tweet, stated that the employee tested positive for Covid-19 on April 21 and had attended the office on April 15. An employee of the ministry who had attended office on 15 April 2020 has tested positive for COVID19 on 21st April. All necessary protocols are being stringently followed on the Premises. All colleagues who came in contact are being asked to go into self isolation as a precaution, the ministry tweeted out. We stand by our colleague at @MoCA_GoI who has tested positive for COVID19 & have extended all possible medical help & support. Those in contact have also been asked to follow the laid down procedures. I wish him strength & speedy recovery. https://t.co/ff8gN9dFOW Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) April 22, 2020 Minister of Civil Aviation, Hardeep Singh Puri, said the ministry stands by its employee who has tested positive for Covid-19 and assured all possible support. We stand by our colleague at @MoCA_GoI who has tested positive for COVID19 & have extended all possible medical help & support. Those in contact have also been asked to follow the laid down procedures. I wish him strength & speedy recovery, Puri tweeted out. Ministry of Civil Aviation (B) wing at Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan, Delhi has been sealed. The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has been asked to sanitise the entire wing. This comes a day after housekeeper of the Lok Sabha tested positive for the coronavirus disease. The staff member was not working at the Parliament complex but at one of the establishments of the Lok Sabha secretariat at 36 GRG Road. Approximately 10 days ago, he fell ill and went to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital (RML) for check-up and tests, including ECG. He was discharged the same day, an official said. A young Chinese-Australian family is living in fear after vandals targeted their home in the latest racially motivated attack since the outbreak of the coronavirus. The family from Knoxfield in Melbourne's east woke on Monday to find the words 'COVID-19 China die' spray-painted across their garage The residents were targeted again early Tuesday morning when a rock was hurled through their window. A family member, who asked only to be referred to as Jackson, said they have now been forced to buy security cameras. Racist vandals spray painted 'COVID-19 China die' on the family's home in Knoxfield in Melbourne's east A rock was also hurled through one of the windows in the early hours of Tuesday morning 'I'm just scared. I'm busy buying CCTV systems, repairing glass and buying lamps,' Jackson told the ABC. 'I'm afraid these people will come back tonight.' Footage shows one person hanging around the home before a loud crash is heard and the culprit flees the property. Victoria Police said they are investigating the two incidents. Daniel Palmer, a designer and developer, shared the images of the graffiti that read 'death to dog eaters' on his street in Epping, 18km north-west of Sydney's CBD, on Monday The incident is the latest in a string of racist attacks on people of Chinese heritage over the spread of the coronavirus. Earlier this month, in Epping in Sydney's north-west a street with a large Asian population was covered in graffiti that read 'death to dog eaters'. Daniel Palmer who lives in the street shared the pictures online. 'Week 2 of isolation: This s*** on my road in front of an Asian household in f***ing Epping,' he captioned the images. 'S*** like this lurks beneath the surface in society, and you usually only notice it if you're ethnic when it creeps out in small bite-sized chunks.' In Kyabram, north of Melbourne, Chinese and Nazi swastika flags were seen flown from a communications tower as part of an alleged racial attack. The words #COVID-19 had been written on one of the Chinese flags. The words #COVID-19 had been written on one of the Chinese flags Sophie (pictured, left, with sister Rosa) said no one should be able to get away with racial attacks, which have ramped up in recent months due to the COVID-19 pandemic The argument broke out in the streets of Marrickville, in Sydney's inner west with a woman in grey (pictured) racially abusing two sisters On another occasion in Sydney's Inner West, a teenage girl was charged after she allegedly spat at and racially abused two women. Shocking footage obtained by Daily Mail Australia in March showed two women in Marrickville copping a torrent of racist abuse before one of them was spat at. 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 Sophie Do, 23, and her sister Rosa, 19, were allegedly called 'Asian dogs' and a 'dumb wh***' as they crossed the street and were told they 'brought corona here'. One man was captured in footage cracking a whip outside the Chinese Embassy in Sydney and hurling racist remarks at people lining up outside. The racial tirade went on for several minutes with the man claiming the Chinese 'deliberately released coronavirus'. 'We know it's deliberate. Five million people left your country and spread that filthy f***king disease worldwide,' he said. 'You're all wearing your masks and you know why you're wearing your masks? You knew about it! 'I'm onto you. I know you deliberately released this virus. 'Wake up Australia! Be wise to these pr**ks.' The Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly has donated Personal Protection Equipment PPE to some key stakeholders in the fight against COVID-19. The key stakeholders include; the Public Health and Emergency Team, Assembly Members, Revenue Collectors, Task Force, and Sanitation Workers. The items presented were Liquid soap, Hand gloves, Hand sanitizers, and Nose masks. The Public Health Emergency Team was also given a cheque of ten thousand Ghana cedis to enhance its activities. The Municipal Chief Executive Amiyuure Joseph Aturah who made the presented the items indicated that it was the Assemblys contribution to help combat the spread of the virus. He lamented that a lot of education has been done, by various radio stations and the information van too created much awareness of the deadly virus, the general public is yet to comply with the directives of the President of the Republic. The MCE stated that the Assembly has constituted task force which would from Monday 13th April 2020, enforce the measures instituted by the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo, to help curb the spread of the virus in the Municipality. He commended the Public Health and the Emergency Committee for their vigilance that led to the detection of the one case recorded in the Municipality. I ts been a long wait but Netflix are finally delivering the goods season two of Selling Sunset is on its way. The first series gave us a glimpse into the super glamorous world of Los Angeles real estate as The Oppenheim Groups team of formidable realtors set to work selling some of the biggest and most beautiful homes in Hollywood. After being quietly released on Netflix, Selling Sunset soon became a hit and its cast have previously been open in encouraging fans to call for more episodes. And its now been revealed that the pleas worked. Deadline announced on Tuesday that the second series will arrive on Friday, May 22. Season one provided plenty of gripping twists (including an engagement, pregnancy and plenty of fighting at work) and it seems the ladies at the Oppenheim Group have plenty more in store. Netflix has teased (via Deadline) that they deal with even more mind-blowing mansions, shocking new romances, and explosive truths that will change their lives, relationships and careers forever. Since series one, the cast have kept us up-to-date with their lives via social media and Christine Quinn was recently confirmed to have secretly got hitched - an event that will surely feature in the series. Maya Vander, who was pregnant with her first baby in series one, is now expecting her second child and splitting her time between LA and Miami. A doctor who was removed as head of the federal agency that is helping develop a vaccine for the coronavirus said he was ousted after resisting widespread adoption of a drug promoted by President Donald Trump as a treatment for Covid-19. Dr. Rick Bright also said that he believed he was removed from his post because he insisted that "the billions of dollars allocated by Congress to address the Covid-19 pandemic" be invested "into safe and scientifically vetted solutions, and not in drugs, vaccines and other technologies that lack scientific merit." "I am speaking out because to combat this deadly virus, science not politics or cronyism has to lead the way," Bright said in a statement, which was first reported by The New York Times. "Rushing blindly towards unproven drugs can be disastrous and result in countless more deaths. Science, in service to the health and safety of the American people, must always trump politics," said Bright, who until earlier this week was director the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. Bright and his lawyers also called for investigations of his abrupt transfer out of his post at time when the United States is the global epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak.On Wednesday, there more than 830,700 reported Covid-19 cases in the U.S., with more than 45,600 related fatalities to date. The White House declined to comment on Bright's statement. Trump, during a press conference Wednesday night, said "I never heard of him" when asked about Bright's allegations. When Bright was removed from his post leading BARDA, he was given a job, with fewer responsibilities, at the National Institutes of Health, according to the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, which oversees BARDA and NIH. An HHS spokeswoman on Wednesday night said Bright was the official who had requested emergency use approval of donations of the drug chloroquine for use on coronavirus patients. Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration under Trump, on Wednesday told CNBC on Wednesday that he had worked closely with Bright while leading the FDA. "He was very good at running that agency [BARDA], and I think it's a loss to see him step out of that job right now," said Gottlieb. "That's a position that's really criticial to trying and getting some of these therapeutics [treatments for coronavirus] over the finish line." "It's an unfortunate to see a loss of continuity in that position at really a critical time from a public health standpoint in the history of that agency." Bright, in his statement, said, "Sidelining me in the middle of this pandemic and placing politics and cronyism ahead of science puts lives at risk and stunts national efforts to safely and effectively address this urgent public health crisis,." He said that he will ask HHS' inspector general, an internal ethics watchdog, to "investigate the manner in which this administration has politicized the work of BARDA and has pressured me and other conscientious scientists to fund companies with political connections and efforts that lack scientific merit." Bright's attorneys, Debra Katz and Lisa Banks, said in a prepared statement that "the Administration's removal of Dr. Bright from his position as director of BARDA is retaliation plain and simple." "The results from the Administration's refusal to listen to the experts and to sideline those like Dr. Bright who point out any errors in the government's response will continue to be catastrophic for the American people," said Katz and Banks, whose law firm specializes in representing whistleblowers. "We will request that the Office of Special Counsel seek a stay of Dr. Bright's termination and that Dr. Bright be permitted to remain in his position pending the OSC and IG's investigation of this unlawful forced transfer." Katz in 2018 represented Christine Blasey Ford, a Stanford University psychology professor who testified that she was sexually assaulted by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh when they were high school students. Kavanaugh was confirmed for a seat on the high court after Ford's testimony. Kavanaugh denied her allegations. In his statement Wednesday, Bright wrote, "My professional background has prepared me for a moment like this to confront and defeat a deadly virus that threatens Americans and people around the globe." "To this point, I have led the government's efforts to invest in the best science available to combat the Covid-19 pandemic." "Unfortunately, this resulted in clashes with H.H.S. political leadership, including criticism for my proactive efforts to invest early into vaccines and supplies critical to saving American lives. I also resisted efforts to fund potentially dangerous drugs promoted by those with political connections," he wrote. Bright also wrote, "Specifically, and contrary to misguided directives, I limited the broad use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, promoted by the administration as a panacea, but which clearly lack scientific merit," he said. Trump has suggested that those drugs could be effective in treating Covid-19 patients. Hydroxychloroquine is normally used to treat malaria. An analysis released Tuesday found that there was no benefit to using that drug to treat the coronavirus, and, in fact, that there were more deaths among Covid-19 patients in American veterans hospitals who received hydroxychloroquine compared with those who were given standard care. Bright wrote, "While I am prepared to look at all options and to think 'outside the box' for effective treatments, I rightly resisted efforts to provide an unproven drug on demand to the American public." "I insisted that these drugs be provided only to hospitalized patients with confirmed Covid-19 while under the supervision of a physician." He added that, "These drugs have potentially serious risks associated with them, including increased mortality observed in some recent studies in patients with Covid-19." HHS said in its statement Wednesday night that, "Dr. Bright has departed BARDA to NIH where he'll work on development and deployment of novel point-of-care testing platforms." "As it relates to chloroquine, it was Dr. Bright who requested an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for donations of chloroquine that Bayer and Sandoz recently made to the Strategic National Stockpile for use on COVID-19 patients," said HHS spokeswoman Caitlin Oakley. "The EUA is what made the donated product available for use in combating COVID-19." -- Additional reporting by Meg Tirrell and Christina Wilkie. Carrying posters with photos of nurses who died of COVID-19, members of National Nurses United protested in front of the White House on Tuesday, demanding more personal protective equipment like respirators, gowns, gloves, and face shields for the medical workers treating coronavirus patients. Six weeks into the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses are "still not protected when they are caring for suspected or COVID-19 patients," Amirah Sequeria, lead legislative advocate for the union, told CBS News. "Nurses are getting sick and nurses are dying and the administration and Congress have failed." With 150,000 members, National Nurses United is the largest union of registered nurses in the United States. They are asking President Trump to fully invoke the Defense Production Act in order to ramp up production of personal protective equipment and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to enact uniform health and safety standards for PPE. Britta Breenan, a critical care nurse at Washington Hospital Center, said nurses "are not heroes. We're human beings and we are susceptible just like everyone else is. And if we are dying then we can't take care of our patients. We have had nurses from our hospital die from COVID-19. And they are not dignified deaths." More stories from theweek.com A parade that killed thousands? Trump seems oddly convinced COVID-19 won't return in the fall or winter The Navajo Nation outbreak reveals an ugly truth behind America's coronavirus experience Carnival Corp. is facing lawsuits from several passengers who claim they werent warned of the high risk of being infected with the novel coronavirus on the companys cruise ships. Wells Fargo, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and US Bancorp have been sued by small businesses that missed out on coronavirus rescue loans because, the small firms contend, the banks first processed big loans that generated big fees rather than on a first-come-first-served basis. Six Flags Magic Mountain is being sued by a theme park fan who objects to the park collecting monthly payments for his membership pass while the park is closed due to the pandemic. Crisis and calamities spark finger pointing and demands for compensation, and the coronavirus outbreak is no different. Like the pandemic, coronavirus-related legal disputes are likely to be widespread and drag on for years. You are going to see more lawsuits, said Brian Kabateck, an attorney and chairman of the board at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. They are going to keep coming. Things that you and I cant even imagine, they are going to be coming. A litigation surge followed the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, including lawsuits by victims and families alleging that aviation companies and the owners of the World Trade Center failed to anticipate the possibility that terrorists could hijack planes and crash them into buildings. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was sued for its alleged failure to protect New Orleans from the storms floodwaters. Los Angeles police and fire departments, along with insurance companies, were sued after the widespread unrest of 1992, accusing them of failing to protect victims or refusing to pay out insurance claims. Floods, terrorist strikes, riots and illness generate waves of lawsuits because victims often try to find someone to blame for their misfortunes while opportunistic attorneys will look to capitalize on the crisis, Kabateck said. In addition, companies that put profits ahead of the safety of their customers during a crisis are sure to face lawsuits, he added. Here you have a crisis that is not only the likes of which weve never seen before, but it affects so many people, Kabateck said. The latest litigation surge includes lawsuits by federal, state and local agencies, accusing companies of price gouging on items such as face masks, paper towels and hand sanitizers and selling fake coronavirus cures. The U.S. Department of Justice shut down a website in March that offered a vaccine kit to fight off the virus for $4.95. The state of Alaska sued a man for buying thousands of N95 masks and selling them at a huge markup. The lawsuit seeks to collect $25,000 in penalties and to force the man to repay the markup price to his customers. Although the outbreak forced the closure of most civil courts in California since March, that has not stopped attorneys from filing the suits. Getting the cases before a jury is likely to take even longer than usual. Carnival Corp., the parent company of Carnival Cruises, Princess Cruises, Costa Cruises and others, has been named in several lawsuits, stemming from coronavirus outbreaks on ships that set sail after the virus had begun to spread around the world. James and Kelea Nevis of Arizona filed a suit against Costa Cruise Lines on April 14 in Florida, claiming they both contracted the coronavirus on a 30-day cruise to the Caribbean on the Costa Luminsoa, which set sail from Florida on Feb. 24. They claim in the lawsuit that Costa Cruises should have cancelled their trip considering the virus had already spread on a previous voyage of the Diamond Princess ship and the CDC issued a statement on Feb. 18, highlighting the risk of infections on a ship. If youre going to still set sail then have precautions in place, said Jeremiah Lowe, an attorney representing the Nevis. The lawsuit, which seeks more than one million in damages, alleges that the crew of the Luminosa didnt ask passengers to isolate themselves in their staterooms until March 15, after several passengers already fell ill and were taken off the ship for treatment. Roger Frizzell, a spokesman for Carnival, said he could not comment on ongoing litigation but added: Looking back, there are always opportunities for improvement, but we operated our cruise ships based on the direction of government and health authorities, using the best information that was available at the time. Suing a cruise line is more complicated than suing most U.S.-based company because some violations that occur on international waters are governed by maritime law and cruise lines also impose a Carriage of Contract provision with the sale of each cruise, limiting where and how a passenger can sue, according to legal experts. Anyone suing the cruise lines will need to overcome a number of legal and practical hurdles, including where to file, whether they can even proceed through a class action, and whether they can prove that the cruise line had enough warnings about the coronavirus such that they should have done more to prevent the transmittal of the disease, said Brad Brian, a Los Angeles attorney who represented Transocean, the operator of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that exploded in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. Southwest Airlines, among other air carriers, has been sued by at least one traveller who says he was not given a refund when his flight was cancelled but was only offered credits toward a future flight. Adrian Bombin filed a lawsuit April 13 in Pennsylvania, alleging that after a flight he booked from Baltimore to Havana was cancelled, Southwest denied his request for a refund, offering only a credit for a future flight. He seeks a refund, attorneys fees and any other relief the court deems reasonable the just. A similar lawsuit was filed in Chicago by a Minnesota resident against United Airlines. A Maryland man sued Delta Air Lines Friday on similar grounds in Atlanta. The U.S. Department of Transportation issued a warning April 3 to all airlines, noting that The obligation of airlines to provide refunds, including the ticket price and any optional fee charged for services a passenger is unable to use, does not cease when the flight disruptions are outside of the carriers control. In email statements, both Southwest and United said refunds are one of the options passengers have if a flight is cancelled. Despite such statements, Hassan Zavareei, an attorney representing Bombin, said his client was refused a refund. Zavareei said he plans to sue other airlines for doing the same. Because they are in a difficult situation they cannot simply turn around and violate their contract with their costumers, he said of airlines. Frankie Ruiz of Los Angeles filed a suit this month against Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia and its parent company, saying the theme park is deducting $9.95 from his credit card each month for a membership to enter the park even though the park closed March 13 due to the outbreak. Disney had a similar policy for its annual pass holders after closing its parks in Anaheim and Orlando in mid-March. Disney later reversed its policy, announcing that pass holder could stop making monthly payments without penalty. The Six Flags claim seeks to be classified as a class-action suit to include all other members who are being charged a monthly payment. It requests unspecified damages. The lawsuit says Magic Mountain advertised that the park would be accessible every day of the year, and that their customers would have access to their parks upon paying a membership fee. In the lawsuit, Ruiz calls that advertising false and misleading. In a statement, Six Flags said members who keep making payments will get free upgrades once the parks open and will have their passes extended to make up for the time the parks were closed. The Six Flags Magic Mountain website page that explains that the park closed because of the outbreak does not mention the option to stop making monthly payments. A Six Flags representative said there is aneasily and readily available online membership service page that gives people the option to pause or cancel a membership. The company also mentioned the option of pausing payments on its Facebook page. When authorities in Rajasthans Sikar accommodated 54 jobless workers at a school in Palsana on March 31, they thought it was a matter of a fortnight before they will be able to resume their journeys back home. The workers from Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh were trying to return to their homes because of the 21-day lockdown when they were brought to the school. They became restless when the lockdown imposed to check the Covid-19 pandemic was extended until May 3. Very rarely had they done no work for 15 days. The workers began cleaning and painting the school to get over their boredom and also as a token of gratitude for Palsana residents for taking good care of them. Rajendra Kumar Meena, the school principal, said they first started cleaning the school campus from April 15 and three days later came to him asking for work that would be remembered after they are gone. He said the school had not been painted for 10 years. I discussed with sarpanch [village head] Roop Singh Shekhawat if we could arrange paint. He agreed. My colleagues also agreed to fund one 20-litre bucket of paint each. We brought paint and other material for them and they began painting the verandahs the next day, Meena said. The workers said they were painting the school to express their gratitude to the villagers for looking after them. Around five to six of them began with painting the school verandahs on April 19. From Wednesday, they began painting classrooms. We are labourers. We will become sick if we continue to sit idle, said Shankar Singh Chauhan, 58, one of the workers from Haryana. The villagers are taking good care of us. We want to do something for them in return, he said. Shekhawat said some of the workers are painters while others are helping with scrubbing the old paint off and cleaning. He added they provide the workers three-time meals and fruits. They were happy...so, they are doing this in gratitude. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON India is readying separate rapid response teams for dispatching to friendly neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan in spirit of its commitment to help them deal with the coronavirus pandemic, official sources said. A 14-member rapid response team was sent to Maldives last month to help the island nation set up coronavirus testing laboratories and train local medical professionals to fight the pandemic. Earlier this month, India sent a 15-member team, comprising healthcare personnel from the Army, to Kuwait as part of bilateral cooperation between the two countries. Three weeks back, India gifted a 10 tonne consignment of essential life saving medicines to Sri Lanka in view of the COVID-19 crisis. India has assured all friendly neighbouring countries of all possible assistance to help them fight the pandemic. New Delhi has also been playing a key role in pushing for a common framework in dealing with the crisis. At a video conference on March 15, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitched for formulating a joint strategy to fight COVID-19 in the SAARC region and proposed an emergency fund with an initial offer of USD 10 million from India. It is understood that India has already made the contribution. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a regional grouping comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. All the SAARC member nations are reeling under adverse social and economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. India is also supplying anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to 55 countries. A number of countries including the US, Mauritius, Seychelles have already received the drug. Hydroxychloroquine has been identified by the US Food and Drug Administration as a possible treatment for the COVID-19 and it is being tested on more than 1,500 coronavirus patients in New York. The demand for the drug has swelled rapidly after India decided to lift a ban on its export. In the neighbourhood, India is sending the drug to Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh Nepal, the Maldives, Mauritius, Sri Lanka and Myanmar, sources said. Taraba State Government has ordered a total lockdown of the State due to the increase in number of Coronavirus cases in the country. The deputy governor of the State, Alhaji Haruna Manu disclosed this during a broadcast on Tuesday. Also Read: Police Arrest Bishop For Defying Lockdown Order In Lagos He announced that the action became necessary because of the increase in number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in neighboring states. Manu said the police have been directed to arrest and prosecute those violating the lockdown, adding that movement of persons and vehicles is banned. He added that roadblocks have been mounted at boundaries between Taraba and all neighbouring states, as well as all local government areas that shared international boundaries with Cameroon. The total lockdown is scheduled to take effect from 11pm on Wednesday, 22nd of April. WASHINGTON : President Donald Trump said hes ordered the US Navy to destroy any Iranian gunboats that harass American ships at sea. Trump issued the warning to shoot down and destroy" the ships in a tweet sent from his iPhone Wednesday morning. It comes after 11 gunboats from Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps crossed the bows and sterns of American ships at close range last week. I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 22, 2020 US Central Command called the Iranian maneuvers dangerous and provocative actions" in a statement, and said at the time that that American commanders on the scene retain the inherent right to act in self-defense." The US military vessels were conducting joint integration operations in the international waters of the Persian Gulf when the Iranian ships harassed them, Central Command said in the statement. The Iranian ships came within a 50-yard point of approach with the USS Lewis B. Puller and within 10 yards of the bow of the Coast Guard cutter Maui, according to the statement. Iran has disrupted shipping routes in the Gulf and used asymmetrical warfare to undermine American interests across the Middle East, though rarely does it target US ships directly. Trumps comments could mark another flare up of tensions between the US and Tehran. Going back to the Obama administration, Revolutionary Guard members in small but agile speedboats have harassed US ships, but the encounters usually have ended with warnings from the Americans to back off. In 2017, a US Navy guided-missile naval destroyer fired warning shots at four Iranian rapid-attack craft in the Strait of Hormuz. An Iranian surface-to-air missile system shot down a US Navy surveillance drone last June while it was operating in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran said the drone was over its territory. The attack escalated regional tensions. Early this year, the US killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. An Iranian counter attack on a US base in Iraq didnt kill anyone, but left American soldiers with head injuries, which Trump downplayed the severity of. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. A Covid-19 stigma and loneliness add to the woes of foreign teachers who have lost their livelihoods due to the closure of schools. "No job. Please donate money to buy food. Thank you." These words, in Vietnamese, were on a piece of paper held up by a British man on a Saigon street last week. He was seeking alms. John, 53, said he was suffering since he could not earn a living from teaching English as he used to after schools and English centers shut down three months ago. John, a 53-year-old English teacher in HCMC, holds a placard on a street on April 8, 2020, saying: "No job. Please donate money to buy food. Thank you." Photo courtesy of Phong Bui. He is among many foreign teachers facing great difficulties these days. Many had been casual workers paid by the hour, and are now without a livelihood. For Thomas Evans, this is "one of the toughest periods in everyone's life." The Briton had traveled around Southeast Asia and returned to Vietnam after the Lunar New Year (in January) to prepare for classes set to resume at the beginning of February. But the closure of his English center meant the man who used to earn around $1,500 a month began to struggle to find a source of income. He said: "Since March I have been using my savings. I had to ask my landlord to delay my rent payment for April and reduce my spending on food." He is still paying off his student loan. Many language teachers have tried to teach online, but parents are not willing to pay the full fee for online lessons. According to Marie Price, an English teacher in Hanoi, most of her friends are okay with the income they earn from online lessons though it is only about a third of the regular fee since "something is better than nothing." Some are trying other means to earn money. A British woman teacher posted on a Facebook group for English teachers in Ho Chi Minh City: "Due to the coronavirus situation, I am looking for extra work. I have experience in professional cookery, babysitting and tutoring." Besides the financial hardship, many are also facing a stigma and ostracism. Chris Russell, 34, cannot forget how when he walked into a pharmacy on Hanoi's Hang Ma Street recently people looked at him as if he was a zombie. "They stepped away from me, and the sellers waved me away. I just wanted to buy masks for my girlfriend and me." Before the semi-lockdown saw all restaurants close, he was also refused permission to enter many of them since people feared foreigners could have brought the infection with them. After all, 160 of the 268 Covid-19 patients in Vietnam so far have been people, both Vietnamese and foreigners, who came from abroad. "I cause fear because I am white, it is not my fault," Russell said. He only ventures out once every two weeks to "avoid weird looks from people." Some foreigners in Hanoi carry a placard written in English and Vietnamese saying how long they have been in Vietnam and the last time they left the country. "I have been living in Hanoi for more than two years and I am not a traveler wandering around with that virus in my body," Isabelle Lee, Russells girlfriend and also an English teacher, said. Many teachers who live alone also lamented they felt increasingly lonely. Matt Fenton, an American teacher in Saigon's District 7, said he has experienced loneliness and sometimes jealousy toward those who have a partner or family amid the social distancing campaign. "I cannot see my colleagues or go to my favorite coffee shop. I miss the personal interactions and cannot wait for this ordeal to be over." Glimmer of hope The situation has made many people think about leaving for home. One of Evans's friends returned to the U.K. in March after being jobless for one month. But then there are travel restrictions and the fear of infection while traveling or in their own hometown. Evans said: "I was thinking about leaving. I told my landlord and decided to return the apartment at the end of March, but then the country (Vietnam) suspended all international flights." There was a commercial flight organized by the British embassy on April 14, but it was from Hanoi. Luke Fraser, a Canadian teacher in the capital, said, "I am thinking about going home, but commercial flights are limited, so I am holding on a little longer." He started working part-time as a bartender at a bar on Hang Buom Street in March but became unemployed once more due to the stay-at-home orders since the beginning of this month. A foreigner teaches English to Vietnamese students of an English center at an open park in HCMC in 2018. Photo by VnExpress/ Thanh Nguyen. Amid the hullabaloo, for many teachers, visa extension has become another problem. According to Domicile Corporate Service, Vietnamese authorities temporarily stopped accepting new applications for work permits in March and only approved a limited number of renewals. Maria, a Philippine teacher in Saigon's District 2, has been fretting for the last few months since her business visa will expire on May 4. "I was worried, then I paid $300 to a firm to extend my visa, but I do not know if they can do it." But Maria and many other teachers know that Vietnam offers safety and stability, especially when "there are millions of people who are poorer and facing a more difficult situation amid the pandemic." Russell said he has made up his mind about staying in Vietnam since the country has been coping well with the novel coronavirus, giving him hope and ease of mind. "My country has been struggling with this virus. We feel safer in Vietnam. So being jobless for a period of time is somehow acceptable." Isabelle agreed, adding she felt safe in Hanoi and could not wait for things to return to normal after "this semi-lockdown ends and children can go back to school after the longest spring break they have ever had." By Yi Whan-woo A Korean-American writer has won a book prize from the Los Angeles Times with her latest novel inspired by the racial tension between Korean immigrants and African-American communities during the 1992 LA riots. Steph Cha Ukrainian farm machinery exports shrink by 10% in 2019 21:15, 22.04.20 2730 Shipments of Ukrainian tractors declined the most. Your storefront might be closed, or business shut down. Maybe youre awaiting federal funding. But youre not powerless. There are some easy things you can do right now from the comforts of home to better prepare and position your business to get through this crisis. Attend a webinar Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard has put together a list of online workshops, seminars and resources designed to meet the needs of small businesses in the struggle to recover from this crisis. All of the events listed here are free. Contact the virtual tech help desk Local technology and engineering company Infinit Solutions has created a team to address networking and technology-related questions from small businesses. Its free with no obligation to send in questions to the team online. Infinit Chief Operating Officer John Spiridiliozzi said his company has been busy helping clients transition from working in the office to working remotely. If your current phone, internet and security set-up at home dont suit the needs of your business right now, Infinit might be able to provide guidance. Market your business Its difficult to strike the right tone when selling products or services during a pandemic. What should you share on social media? How should you update your website? Are you still showing up in Google? Is it appropriate to launch a marketing campaign during a public health crisis? The answers will be different for everyone. Watertown marketing firm Hammerback Media is offering free marketing strategy sessions to small businesses struggling because of the coronavirus shutdown. They can help navigate these thorny questions. Strategize for the future Central New Yorks business leadership institute and chamber of commerce CenterState CEO is offering help to any small businesses in the area that are struggling. Whatever the question may be, or if a business is simply trying to come up with a plan for the next few months, CenterState is encouraging business owners to reach out for help. Anyone interested can contact the organization by emailing support@CenterStateCEO.com. Sort out your finances There are a number of places to call for financial assistance, counseling, budgeting and understanding debt relief programs. The U.S. Small Business Administration, which is handling the federal aid programs for small businesses, has a local office, as well as programming and advice through its small business development center at Onondaga Community College. Officials are available to answer questions at 315-471-9393, though callers are cautioned that they may have to leave a message and wait for a call back due to high volume. The city of Syracuse also offers financial counseling to residents through the Financial Empowerment Center. The center continues to schedule virtual appointments. Anyone interested can call 315-474-1939, extension 5. CNY BACK IN BUSINESS Coronavirus devastates Central NY small businesses but ingenuity, people bring hope Donut drops and virtual pizza parties now en route to CNY neighborhoods Small business tips: What to do if employees ask to be laid off to collect unemployment PPP loans on pause: 7 more places small businesses can turn for coronavirus help Small businesses: 2 things you need to do if you missed out on federal PPP loans Advance Media NY to offer free online seminar on consumer behavior during coronavirus outbreak More from CNY Back in Business Following the rise of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Lagos State, the Lagos State Health Management Agency (LASHMA) on Tuesday launched the Eko Telemed, a Telemedicine initiative to cater for Health issues not related to COVID-19 during the pandemic. The Eko Telemedicine, which will kick off on Wednesday, would provide 24/7 health care to Lagos residents during the pandemic. Emmanuella Zamba, the Director-General of LASHMA, said the Eko Telemed is an initiative of the government aimed at protecting citizens and reducing their risk of contracting the COVID-19 infection. Mrs Zamba said residents would have access to highly-trained & experienced physicians for non-emergency primary care consultation via voice or video call from Wednesday, April 22. She added the toll-free line would enable residents to converse with doctors in any of the four major languages in Lagos State English, Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo. READ ALSO: The medical services will last for a period of eight weeks and only non-COVID-19 health issues will be accommodated. Residents with health issues can dial the 08000EKOMED (08000356633) toll-free line for consultation. If further medical treatment is needed after due consultation with the medical doctors, non-coronavirus cases would be referred to designated Healthcare Providers under the Lagos State Health Scheme (LSHS) or preferred Healthcare Providers, Mrs Zamba said. PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported how the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) commenced its telemedicine outfit on April 4, to provide scheduled medical care for outpatients during the pandemic. With telemedicine, the hospital hopes to reduce the number of people who visit the hospital as a way of curbing the spread of COVID-19 in the state. KOKOMO, IN Vice President Mike Pence will visit a General Motors plant in Kokomo, Indiana where ventilators are being produced in mass. The trip is planned for April 30, according to the Associated Press. GM is working with Seattle-area ventilator maker Ventec Life Systems to produce 30,000 by the end of August. The production schedule planned as part of a $489.4 million deal with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services allows for the delivery of 6,132 ventilators by June 1. GM to build 30,000 ventilators for national stockpile for $489M Pence was in Madison, Wisconsin on Tuesday visiting a General Electric plant where ventilators are also being made. The General Motors electronics plant in Kokomo has been retooled to make the medical devices. Each device is being made at a cost of $16,300. GM is proud to deploy its purchasing and manufacturing capability alongside the respiratory care expertise of Ventec, a GM statement from earlier this month reads. We remain dedicated to working with the Administration to ensure American innovation and manufacturing meet the needs of the country during this global pandemic. Additional details regarding Pences visit will be released at a later date, according the Associated Press. George Poikayil By Express News Service KASARGOD: When Fathimath Shahala was eight months old, she lost her right eye to cancer. All of four years old, Shahala was in danger of losing her left eye too during the lockdown, if not for the timely and synchronized intervention of the various arms of the state government. Shahala was sent to Chennai in an Ambulance for her sixth round of chemotherapy and possibly a surgery. All expenses are borne by the Kerala Social Security Mission's 'We Care' scheme. She and her mother Ayishath Misra (27) reached Chennai at 1.30 am on Wednesday. She underwent chemotherapy on Wednesday morning. "We missed her chemo date because of the lockdown. But thankfully, the government took up the case of our daughter," said her father Abdul Hameed (35), who lost his vision to a degenerative disease six years ago. Last November, her mother Ayishath Misra spotted a white patch on her left iris, it was the beginning of another tumor. With the help of charity organisations, her parents -- from Dharmathadka in Puthige panchayat -- began Shahala's treatment in Sankara Nethralaya, a not-for-profit hospital in Chennai. "She underwent five chemotherapy in six months. The sixth round of chemo was slated for March, but we could not make the trip," said Hameed, who used to be a waiter in a restaurant in Dubai, before returning home six years ago. Now, the family lives of the government's pension. Through a social worker, the parents contacted K Manikandan, a DYFI leader and member of the Kerala State Youth Commission. "The girl's condition is complicated and the charity organisations which supported the family are helpless during the lockdown," said Manikandan. He contacted the office of the Minister for Social Justice and Health K K Shailaja. "The minister intervened and facilitated the travel to Chennai," he said Since all the government ambulances were in COVID service, Manikandan arranged the ambulance of Madikai Palliative Care and two drivers - Sreeraj and Ajeesh. "The KSSM's We Care Scheme will bear all her treatment expenses," said Jisho James, district coordinator of the mission. Back in the district, Collector D Sajith Babu worked on his phone and ensured a hassle-free interstate travel. State Police Chief Loknath Behera too directed his officers to ensure a smooth passage of the ambulance. The ambulance left Kasaragod with Fathimath Shahala and her mother Ayishath Misra on Tuesday morning. "We are checking with Sreeraj and Ajeesh every two hours to ensure they reach Chennai safely," said James. He said he had spoken with the hospital in Chennai as well. Maybe it's the Irish blood in her or just an innate rebel instinct, but Emily Cunningham is wearing her sacking by the world's richest man as a badge of honour. "I would do this a million times over. I have no regrets," she says of the defiance that saw her job as a tech worker for Jeff Bezos's Amazon come to an end on Good Friday. It was a year to the day that she, Maren Costa and 8,700 other Amazon employees wrote an open letter to Mr Bezos and the Amazon board, urging them to take responsibility for the company's contribution to climate change. "We were in a pretty unique position in being employees of one of the most powerful companies in the world that had a huge carbon footprint, but was also in a position to help," she says of her involvement in Amazon Employees for Climate Justice (AECJ). "If you move Amazon, it is very well-positioned to move the entire global economy to transition off fossil fuels." Up to that point, Amazon, with almost 800,000 employees, its own airline and ground transport fleet, chain of warehouses and growing network of data processing centres used by everyone from Netflix to big oil, had been slow to address the climate crisis. Tech workers often get company stock as part of their remuneration, so AECJ members were able to attend a shareholders' meeting with a resolution for action. The resolution was rejected, but the publicity seems to have been a catalyst. Before year's end, Mr Bezos had made a list of commitments and donated $10bn (9.2bn) to a climate action fund. But the company also clamped down on AECJ. The group announced participation in the global climate strike in September and immediately new rules were introduced, prohibiting employees speaking to the press without prior approval. Undeterred, 3,000 Amazon tech workers around the world, including in Dublin, walked out to join the strike. In all, 13 AECJ members spoke to the press about the action, but Ms Cunningham and Ms Costa received official warnings. They went public with the warnings in the Bezos-owned 'Washington Post', and for a time, the threat seemed to have abated. But then came Covid-19 and AECJ was approached by Amazon warehouse workers concerned about working conditions. Amazon's online retail operations are so busy since the restrictions that the company has employed 100,000 extra workers. "Amazon tries to position itself as an essential company, but much of what it's selling is not essential," says Ms Cunningham from her Seattle home. "Ping-pong balls and hair-straighteners is how one of the workers described it. "I can't meet with my neighbour for tea yet Amazon can have warehouses with thousands of employees that make it impossible to do social distancing well." Ms Cunningham didn't think twice about getting involved. "I see many parallels between Covid and climate," she says, stressing how both emphasise inequalities. "Right now, in this moment, who we value and what we value will become a model and reference point for how we behave and who we protect during the climate crisis." Ms Cunningham and Ms Costa forwarded a petition in support of the workers and publicised a planned webcast to be addressed by author and activist Naomi Klein. And then they were sacked. Amazon's response is brief: "We support every employee's right to criticise their employer's working conditions, but that does not come with blanket immunity against any and all internal policies. We terminated these employees for repeatedly violating internal policies." It also points to statements on worker safety, saying it is rolling out masks, temperature checks and Covid-testing for warehouse workers. On the wider issues raised by AECJ, it says it is committed to achieving net zero carbon operations by 2040 and is working to convert to renewable energy, electrify its delivery fleet and reduce packaging. In Ireland, it has invested in two windfarms specifically to power its operations and its latest data centre in Tallaght will supply its waste heat-free to a district heating scheme. Ms Cunningham says the actions do not go far enough, fast enough. AECJ is calling a 'sickout' day this Friday and is urging Amazon employees globally to call in sick. The company has more than 2,500 employees in Ireland, with more than 300 new jobs waiting to be filled. Ms Cunningham, whose paternal grandmother was a Sheridan and her grandfather a Cunningham, is immensely proud of her Irish roots. "One of the things I love about Irish people is that we make a wave. You try to keep us down and we keep living. It's like if you put in a sidewalk, the grass still comes through," she says. She asks that Irish employees understand what AECJ is trying to achieve. "Customers also need to raise their voices," she adds. "Amazon prides itself on being a customer-centric company and they need to let it be known that how the company behaves is not OK with them." As the coronavirus confinement measures have shut down restaurants and markets, French cheese makers can no longer sell their products. In order to ease the pressure, the government has decided to allow some producers to modify the strict AOP rules. Spring is when animals are put out to pasture after spending winter in the barns. Its also calving season, and Franceand Europeis awash in milk. But consumers are not buying it. Cheese counters in French supermarkets have been shuttered, as have open-air markets, under the government's strict lockdown measures to try to curb the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus. Particularly hit have been small cheese makers and cooperatives making AOP, or protected origin cheeses. France counts 45 AOP cheeses, which have strict rules about how milk is stored and processed, and how the cheese is aged, stored and distributed. Farmers and cheese makers in Auvergne, which counts five AOP cheeses have sounded the alarm about a drop in sales. The region counts five AOPs, including Cantal, Salers, Bleu dAuvergne, Fourme dAmbert and Saint Nectaire. Dairy farmers producing milk for these cheeses have been asked to reduce milk production by 30 per cent. The government has decided to temporarily loosen some of the strict rules to qualify for the AOP label for four cheeses, three in the Auvergne region. Four cheeses Farmers providing milk for Bleu dAuvergne and Fourme dAmbert cheese are now allowed to stock milk up to 60 hours after the last milking, compared to 48 hours previously. Cheese makers can now store young cheeses at below-zero temperatures for a few weeks, to prolong their shelf life. Saint Nectaire can usually be frozen between 1 April and 31 July to be thawed the next year and aged. The new rules allow cheeses made in March 2020 to be frozen as well. And dairy farmers providing milk to make Comte cheese can stock milk longer, and cheese makers can portions of the large cheeses up to five days after they are cut, compared to two days usually. Story continues Cheese solidarity These small measures can help by allowing for more flexibility in production and longer storage, but cheese makers are calling on consumers to eat local cheese, in solidarity. While sales of packaged Emmental cheese have soared, according to Lactalis, he world's biggest dairy producer, as people stock up on packaged foods, AOP cheeses have been hit in particularly. Some cheese makers have setup direct sales, but it is not enough to offset usual sales in supermarkets. One solution is to have supermarkets package pre-cut portions that would have usually be sold at the counter. Regions are also asking nursing homes to order AOP cheeses, and encouraging schools, when then re-open in May, to order French-made cheese as much as possible. Didier Raoult, the French scientist whose claims for chloroquine treatment helped place it on the radars of President Trump and Dr. Oz, in a video recorded at his Marseille institute on Jan. 21. (Les-crises.fr ) You may have noticed that mentions of antimalarial drugs as remedies for the novel coronavirus infection have fallen off a cliff lately. Two new data points released in recent days might well end the craze completely. The two latest developments include a study of cases at Veterans Affairs Department hospitals showing that COVID-19 patients who received hydroxychloroquine died at higher rates than those who didn't receive it. Nor did the researchers find that treatment with the drug affected the rate at which the patients, who generally had advanced COVID-19 illness, needed to be put on ventilators, the most extreme therapy for the disease. The fact of the matter is, we don't know .... At this point ... we are better off waiting for the randomized trials Dr. Fauci has been asking for. Dr. Oz backs away from his chloroquine claims The second development is an advisory from the National Institutes of Health recommending against the use of hydroxychloroquine in conjunction with the antibiotic azithromycin in COVID-19 cases. The advisory carries the code A-III, meaning that it's a "strong recommendation" against, based on "expert opinion." The NIH cites the drug combination's "potential for toxicities." These developments, as it happens, are probably beneficial for patients, as they'll discourage doctors from prescribing a treatment that has not been shown to be effective and carries documented risks of harm, including heart damage. Randomized controlled trials underway at several institutions the gold standard for medical research may yet show some benefits for the drugs, but expectations among healthcare professionals were falling fast even before now. The latest developments are bad news for President Trump, whose aggressive promotion of the hydroxychloroquine/azithromycin combination, which he predicted might be "one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine," was one of the very few concrete actions he has taken in the crisis. Story continues Trump has backed away from this claim in recent days. After regularly trumpeting the treatment at his daily White House coronavirus briefings, he ceased mentioning it around April 14, according to briefing transcripts. HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine. The FDA has moved mountains - Thank You! Hopefully they will BOTH (H works better with A, International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents)..... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 21, 2020 At Tuesday's briefing, Trump was forced by reporters' questions to confront the new developments. "I don't know of the report," he said of the VA study. Of the NIH recommendation, which came from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases headed by Dr. Anthony Fauci, he said: "Well, well take a look at that .... Im always willing to take a look." Television doctor Mehmet Oz, who has also been aggressively talking up the hydroxychloroquine/azithromycin treatment in appearances on Fox News, also became more circumspect on the air Wednesday. Dr. Oz, on Fox & Friends, says the VA study on hydroxychloroquine shows that "we don't know" if it works and "we are better off waiting for the randomized trials Dr. Fauci has been asking for." Just an astonishing turnaround for a network that has been aggressively promoting it. pic.twitter.com/9EzzzNAzrQ Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) April 22, 2020 "The fact of the matter is, we don't know," Oz told a panel of Fox News anchors. "At this point ... we are better off waiting for the randomized trials Dr. Fauci has been asking for." The study of VA patients by researchers at the VA and the University of Virginia was posted on medRxiv, a website that previews research that has not yet completed the peer-review process. The study examined retrospectively 368 COVID-19 patient cases at VA hospitals from March 9 through April 11. Of those patients, 113 received the combination treatment, 97 received hydroxychloroquine alone and 158 received neither. The death rates were 27.8% in the first group, 22.1% in the second and 11.4% in the third. The patients weren't given the treatment for purposes of the study, which only began after all either had died or been discharged. All were males. The researchers observed that hydroxychloroquine was administered at the VA to patients with more severe disease and therefore a higher chance of death. But they said they made statistical adjustments to accommodate the distinction as well as some other differences including underlying medical conditions among those receiving the drugs. The researchers offered veiled criticisms of doctors rushing to prescribe the antimalarial treatments during the coronavirus pandemic. Their findings, they wrote, "highlight the importance of awaiting the results of ongoing prospective, randomized, controlled studies before widespread adoption of these drugs." They noted that enthusiasm for the treatment could be traced to a single, nonrandomized study in France. As we've reported, that study, which was the basis for the claims offered by Trump and Oz, has been widely criticized as sloppy and inconclusive. Indeed, the medical society that published the study has said it "does not meet the Societys expected standard." The VA researchers also implicitly criticized the Food and Drug Administration for issuing a rare emergency use authorization for hydroxychloroquine "despite limited and conflicting data" on its use and based on "anecdotal and limited observational evidence." The study's lead author, Jayakrishna Ambati of the University of Virginia, declined to comment on the findings because the paper is still undergoing peer review. The NIH, in its guidelines, stated that there are "insufficient clinical data to recommend either for or against using chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19," but it either drug is used, doctors should monitor patients for heart irregularities known to be associated with the drugs. The combination of hydroxychloriquine and azithromycin drew a stronger warning that they should not be used except in the course of a clinical trial. The air quality index (AQI) was good for the first time this year on Wednesday, which also happened to be the 50th Earth Day. The last time the city recorded good air quality was in October 2019. According to the System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), the pollutant-measuring indicator AQI for PM 2.5 was 46, making it the cleanest air day so far this year and lowest pollution levels during lockdown. Prior to Wednesday, Mumbai had recorded its lowest air pollution levels with an AQI of 61 on Monday, 63 on Tuesday, and 65 on March 22 (Janta Curfew day), all falling under the satisfactory category. SAFAR categorises AQI for pollutants in the 0-50 range as good; 51-100 as satisfactory; 101-200 as moderate; 201-300 as poor; 301-400 as very poor and above 400 as severe. Pollutant concentration for PM2.5 pollutant breathable particulate matter (solid and liquid particles) 2.5 microns in size or smaller was 32 micrograms per cubic metre (g/m) on Wednesday against the safe limit of 60 g/m for 24 hours. Similarly, PM10 (larger coarser particles) was 55 g/m, almost half its safe limit of 100 g/m for 24 hours. Eight of 10 locations in Mumbai, where SAFAR monitors air quality, recorded good AQI levels. While Mazagaon had the cleanest air with an AQI of 18 followed by Colaba 32, Navi Mumbai had comparatively poor air at 75 followed by Malad 58, both satisfactory levels. SAFAR said they observed a 10% increase in residential emissions (biofuel burning from residential areas for cooking purposes) mainly emitting carbon dioxide while on the other hand a 90% reduction was witnessed for other pollutants such as PM2.5, PM10, and oxides of nitrogen due to lesser vehicular and industrial emission sources. The lockdown should be called off in a phased manner or else it will lead to sharp spike in overall air pollution, said Gufran Beig, director, SAFAR under the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune. Researchers said changing weather factors were responsible for improvement in air quality. Wednesdays AQI is the optimal air quality Mumbai should be recording during lockdown when external emissions are minimal. However, over the past three weeks, we observed that owing to rising temperatures or late setting in of sea breeze, the wind pattern allowed dust and other pollutant particles to settle close to the surface, said Beig. The day temperature over Mumbai witnessed a sharp drop from Mondays high of 37.8 degrees Celsius to 34.3 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, and even the minimum temperature on Wednesday was close to the normal mark. Humidity levels were high with 92% in south Mumbai and 74% in the suburbs. The drop in temperature, high moisture content and early setting in of sea breeze allowed pollutant concentration to reduce significantly on Wednesday. The drop in pollution maybe temporary due to fluctuating weather and rising temperatures. An AQI of 75 (satisfactory) has been predicted for Thursday while PM2.5 and PM10 concentration is likely to rise to 46g/m and 61g/m by Friday from current levels. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Industries often position products to tout the benefits of one category over another -- such as the higher-quality, traditional ingredients of a microbrew over mass-produced brewery beer. Researchers suggest that during the past decade, efforts to promote e-cigarettes as a healthier alternative to combustible cigarettes instead backfired, resulting in a product with a reputation as bad or worse than the existing cigarette category. A review of press releases, news and retail coverage, research, and other documents on e-cigarettes between 2007 and 2018 found that the e-cigarette category of tobacco suffered in reputation over time. "As the U.S. e-cigarette market has grown and producers have tried to increasingly differentiate from cigarettes, value-based distinctions between the two categories have eroded and social valuations of e-cigarettes as a whole have become increasingly negative," said Greta Hsu, professor at the University of California, Davis, Graduate School of Management, in her latest research. The paper, "The Double-Edged Sword of Opposition Category Positioning: A Study of the U.S. E-cigarette Category, 2007-2017," was published today in the journal Administrative Science Quarterly. The article is co-authored by Stine Grodal, professor at Boston University, Questrom School of Business. Researchers collected more than 1,200 documents from different groups with interests in e-cigarettes, including producers, retailers, financial analysts, government and public health officials, and anti-tobacco organizations. They also conducted interviews with policymakers, public health advocates and industry leaders and analyzed over 2,000 abstracts of research papers on e-cigarettes. E-cigarettes as a product category Early e-cigarette entrepreneurs framed their product as a virtuous alternative to the older, existing category of cigarettes, in a manner similar to touting the benefits of wind power energy, organic produce and grass-fed meat compared to existing products, researchers said. Because consumers were unfamiliar with e-cigarettes and their use, producers made sure to emphasize that e-cigarettes were similar to cigarettes in function and experience. They did so by designing the new technology to physically resemble cigarettes, using the term "cigarette" in their labeling, describing the e-cigarette as closely replicating the cigarette smoking experience and emphasizing that the audience for this new product was existing cigarette smokers looking to reduce harm. They secondarily emphasized potential health and social benefits of using e-cigarettes relative to smoking. Before 2012, when the industry consisted of small, independent producers, the media discussed e-cigarettes in relatively positive terms and even promoted them as a way to help smokers quit smoking. "E-cigarettes were initially introduced as a healthier alternative to combustible cigarettes," researchers said. Producers also portrayed e-cigarettes as a product that would "not offend non-smokers" and avoided "the social and health concerns that smoking entails." Boundaries weakened Yet, over time, the symbolic boundaries separating e-cigarettes from cigarettes weakened. Tobacco company diversification into the e-cigarette category after 2012 played a major role, Hsu said. References to e-cigarettes in various media as "dangerous" or "unhealthy" increased from 2013 to 2014, peaking in 2014, after all three "Big Tobacco" companies (Altria, R.J. Reynolds, and Lorillard) had entered the e-cigarette category with nationally distributed e-cigarette brands. In 2014, reports suggested that e-cigarettes had become the most commonly used tobacco product among youth. By mid-2014, researchers said, stakeholders widely referred to e-cigarettes as "a gateway to cigarette use among youths, and thus a danger to the health, well-being and longevity of a new generation of Americans." Critics, from academics to elected officials, expressed fears that e-cigarettes had "re-normalized" smoking, undoing much of the anti-smoking campaigns of previous years, according to researchers. The stigma associated with cigarettes became diffused, intensified and generalized across the entire category of e-cigarettes. By 2018, the FDA called the use of JUUL and other e-cigarette products, including flavored tobacco, a teenage epidemic. A 2019 outbreak of lung disease cases related to vaping THC further intensified public alarm. In contrast, several prominent United Kingdom health organizations, including the Royal College of Physicians, Cancer Research UK and the British Medical Association, continued to endorse a more positive view of e-cigarettes as substantially less harmful than combustible cigarettes. Drawing distinctions Research in product categories has shown that businesses should ensure that their claims of distinction or tradition are both clear and legitimate, the authors said. "Studies of oppositional categories such as French nouvelle cuisine, biodynamic wine, wind energy and grass-fed beef have found that new category proponents expend considerable effort elaborating how a new category is different from and normatively superior to an existing category," the researchers said. The lack of a clear distinction between cigarettes and e-cigarettes allowed tobacco companies to enter the e-cigarette market and grow their market share, but this lack of distinction also blurred boundaries between the two products, the researchers concluded. ### Read the paper: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0001839220914855 Washington Americans are increasingly hostile to China as the coronavirus pandemic wreaks havoc on the U.S. and global economies and after three years of Trump administration antagonism toward the country, according to a nationwide poll released on Tuesday. The poll, conducted last month by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center, found that two-thirds of those surveyed, or 66 percent, had an unfavorable view of China. That's the most since the center first asked the question 15 years ago and a significant jump of 20 percentage points since President Donald Trump entered the White House in 2017. The results suggest that Americans' antagonism toward China has increased in recent weeks over criticism of Beijing's handling of the COVID-19 outbreak that originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan. The poll suggests the Trump administration's trade war with China and relentless criticism of its policies may be having that effect. The upward trend in negative views began in 2019, and the survey did not find changing attitudes toward China over the course of March, when the virus outbreak was rapidly progressing. The poll of 1,000 Americans found unfavorable opinions of China are shared across party lines, with about 70 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents and 60 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents holding them. In addition, the poll shows that about 90 percent of those surveyed see growing Chinese power and influence as a threat. At the same time, the poll found that Americans recognize that the United States is the world's leading economic power and the world's leading military power. A significant majority, 91 percent, believe that the world is better off with American rather than Chinese leadership. WatchTower, a cloud-based platform that simplifies the process of buying and selling employer-sponsored insurance, announced today it has started supporting distribution of medical stop-loss coverage. The new offering makes the companys platform a one-stop shop for employee benefit brokers representing mid-to-large employers, enabling them to run RFPs for dental, vision, life, disability, worksite and medical stop-loss insurance through a single user-friendly system. This is a key step in our continued system expansion, further empowering brokers with a robust, data-supported platform that drives better outcomes for their clients, said Ryan Sachtjen, Chief Executive Officer of WatchTower. Medical stop-loss coverage is an essential deliverable for brokers who serve mid-to-large employers. Our ability to digitize and bring data intelligence to this highly-specialized workflow will drive real value to our broker partners and certified carriers. Since 2016, WatchTower has been at the forefront of modernizing employee benefit sales. Its platform supplants manual, error-prone processes with technological tools that enable brokers to easily compare bids from multiple insurance providers and assess how they measure up to industry standards. By simplifying that analysis, the platform allows brokers to quickly provide employers with high-quality, cost-efficient benefits and data-informed advice. WatchTowers platform solves several prevalent problems specific to transactions of medical stop-loss insurance, a product which protects self-insured companies against catastrophic employee healthcare claims. The platforms digitized firming stage during RFPs erases uncertainty about when stop-loss bids are explicitly finalized, allowing brokers to confidently assess offers. The systems built-in, HIPAA-compliant encryption eliminates privacy concerns when sending sensitive employee medical records. And de-identified transaction data aggregates information about medical stop-loss sales, giving brokers up-to-the-minute insights into the marketplace. "The fluid nature of the stop-loss market is unlike any other, said Richard Perrott, Chief Operating Officer of WatchTower. Until a carrier's bid is firmed, their offer is subject to change in concert with the underlying risk it's meant to insure. We worked hard to design a workflow that drives constant alignment between brokers and carriers, while providing the flexibility necessary for getting deals done. All of this helps employers obtain the best possible protection for their self-funded plans." Sixty-one percent of American workers with health insurance are currently covered under plans self-funded by their companies. That rate is forecasted to increase in coming years as employers increasingly turn to self-funded healthcare plans to avoid ballooning insurance premiums. As that happens, the demand for medical stop-loss is set to grow proportionately. About WatchTower Technologies, Inc. WatchTower was founded to help employee benefit insurance carriers and brokers simplify the complex process of providing employers insurance. More than $400 billion of employee benefit insurance is placed each year using manual, error-prone workflows and low-tech solutions. WatchTower drives connectivity and trust between brokers and carriers through the transparent exchange of information, enabling them to write better business faster and unlock insights to help employers offer the best possible benefits for their employees. WatchTower's goal is to become the operating system for the employee benefits insurance industry so that they can better the lives of their customers and the millions of people who rely on them every day. For more information, visit watchtowerbenefits.com. Kim, 36, last appeared publicly in the Norths state media April 11, when he presided over a meeting of the Politburo of the ruling Workers Party. It is not unusual for senior North Korean leaders to stay out of public view for weeks at a time Seoul: There was one State event that the secretive leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, never missed: A visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun every 15 April to mark the birthday of his grandfather, the founder of the dynastic regime. In the mausoleum, both his grandfather and his father lie in state. So when Kim was a no-show at this years anniversary in Pyongyang, it triggered speculation about his whereabouts and even his health. Such rumours gained further traction after Daily NK, a Seoul-based website relying on anonymous sources inside the North, reported Monday that Kim was recovering from heart surgery performed 12 April. By Tuesday, South Korean officials were questioning the accuracy of the report. Kang Min-seok, a spokesman for President Moon Jae-in, said South Korea has so far detected no special signs inside North Korea, a stock phrase often used to cast doubt on unsubstantiated news reports. North Korea also tried to dispel the speculation. On Tuesday, its official news agency said Kim had sent birthday gifts to exemplary workers and a birthday letter to the Cuban president Monday. Such declarations will not necessarily quash the chatter, especially in a nuclear state where so much power is concentrated in a single leader. Kim, 36, last appeared publicly in the Norths State media 11 April, when he presided over a meeting of the Politburo of the ruling Workers Party. It is not unusual for senior North Korean leaders to stay out of public view for weeks at a time. But the inner workings of the top leadership in Pyongyang, the capital, have been cloaked in such secrecy that those disappearances always catch the attention of analysts, who look for signs of trouble within the country, especially a possible problem with Kims health. When his father, Kim Jong-il, died in 2011, outside intelligence officials did not know until the news was announced two days later on North Korean television. For Kim Jong-un, not visiting the Kumsusan Palace on 15 April, is all but unthinkable in North Korea. Its the closest thing to blasphemy in the North, said Cheong Seong-chang, director of the Centre for North Korean Studies at the Sejong Institute in South Korea. It is reasonable to think that there is something temporarily wrong with his health, although it may stretch things too much if we say his life is in danger. The information blackout in North Korea means that rumours about military rebellions or mass political purges can often take months and even years to confirm, while some sensationalistic reports eventually prove false. One outlandish report that made headlines around the world claimed that the body of Jang Song Thaek, Kims uncle, whose execution he ordered in 2013, had been fed to a pack of starved German shepherds. The origin of that story turned out to be an unattributed Chinese blog post. Generals who were reported by South Korean media to have been executed by Kim have sometimes resurfaced in new jobs. North Koreas media treats its top leaders like godlike figures and seldom mentions their health. But speculation about it has not always been unfounded. In 2008, Kim Jong-il was absent from view for months. It was eventually confirmed that he had suffered a stroke. In his later years, Kim Jong-uns grandfather, Kim Il-sung, developed a large cyst on the back of his head, but North Korean media never showed it in photos. In 2014, Kim Jong-un disappeared for more than a month, prompting rumours that he might have been grounded by a severe hangover, gout or even a coup. North Korean state TV later showed him walking with a limp, saying that he was not feeling well. South Korean intelligence officials said Kim had a cyst removed from his ankle and that his ankle trouble could return. The family history has fed speculation about health crises. Both Kims grandfather and father suffered various ailments, like diabetes, and died of heart failure. The outside world saw Kim as an adult for the first time in 2010, when he debuted as his fathers heir at a party meeting. He was already portly by then, but he has since gained more girth. Kim is also a heavy smoker, and in recent years, his face has often assumed a puffy and tired complexion. The current round of speculation started after South Korea said the North had launched short-range cruise missiles off its east coast on 14 April, as part of Kim Il-sungs birthday celebration. Although Kim Jong-un has attended similar missile tests, State media this time did not report the launch. It also did not report whether there had been an annual national meeting of party officials in Pyongyang on the eve of the 15 April anniversary. Both of those omissions were highly unusual. Some analysts said North Korea may have skipped the national meeting this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. But its rubber-stamp parliament, the Supreme Peoples Assembly, met on 12 April. The rumours intensified after Daily NK quoted an anonymous source as saying that Kim had undergone a cardiovascular procedure at Hyangsan Hospital, a clinic dedicated to treating the Kim family, on 12 April. The website said Kim was recuperating at a villa near the hospital, which is in the foothills of Mount Mohyang, north of Pyongyang. But most of the doctors called in from Pyongyang returned to the capital a week later because Kim had recovered sufficiently, it said. Daily NK, one of a slew of Internet-based news outlets in South Korea that specialise in covering the North, has ferreted out news about hunger, floods and unofficial market activities in the North, often by using defectors as reporters. But many stories by such outlets contradict each other and remain unconfirmed. Rumours about Kims health carry serious overtones: What happens to a nuclear State when the leader who has executed or purged all potential challengers to his power, including his own uncle, is suddenly gone? Kim is too young to have a grown-up child to continue the Kim family dynasty, which has ruled North Korea since its founding at the end of World War II. Analysts instead focus on Kims sister, Kim Yo-jong, who has accompanied her brother to meetings with the leaders of South Korea, China and the United States. Kim Yo-jong has emerged as a key aide to her brother. Last month, she issued a statement under her own name attacking South Koreas presidential office and calling it an imbecile. In another statement last month, she revealed that President Donald Trump had sent a letter to Kim Jong-un expressing his willingness to help the North battle the coronavirus. She called Trumps letter a good judgment and proper action. In recent weeks, she has positioned herself as the public face of North Korea, as her brothers spokesman, chief of staff and national security adviser, said Lee Sung-yoon, a North Korea expert at Tufts Universitys Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. She is the natural heir to the throne, as the Kim family regime is more a dynasty than republic, he added. One thing Miss Kim has going for herself and prospects for regime preservation is that she is a known entity both within and outside North Korea. Lee Byong-chol, a North Korea expert at Kyungnam Universitys Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul, said the Norths deeply patriarchal elites would find it hard to accept a young, inexperienced female leader. Instead, Choe Ryong Hae, the current No 2 in the government hierarchy, could fill a power vacuum created by Kim Jong-uns death. Either way, a new leadership in Pyongyang could presage a new bout of tensions on the Korean Peninsula. A change at the top has always unleashed military provocations like weapons tests or bloody purges of top generals and officials, as the leader struggled to establish his own totalitarian grip on power at home and show his mettle to external enemies. I would not be surprised even if he died today or tomorrow, Lee said. What should worry us is how power in North Korea is going to be realigned after his death. Choe Sang-Hun c.2020 The New York Times Company The crisis management team lifted the first coronavirus restrictions on April 22. Read your overview of news from Slovakia. Slovakia began to reopen itself amid the coronavirus pandemic on April 22, 2020. (Source: SITA) Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled This is your overview of news from April 22. For all news about the coronavirus in Slovakia click here. Read more about the measures currently in place in Slovakia. Coronavirus in Slovakia (statistics) - Slovakia has reported 45 new cases, increasing the total to 1,244, by the evening of April 22. No further deaths were reported on April 22. See detailed coronavirus figures. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement - Border guards in Bratislava continue to carry out increased border controls, in particular, at the Jarovce/Kittsee and Bratislava/Berg checkpoints. Four two-member patrols supervise the checkpoints 24/7. Employees of the Financial Administration of the Slovak Republic (FS SR) cooperate at the border checkpoints with the police and soldiers as well. - Another nursing home, in Batizovce near Poprad, has reported nine COVID-19 cases. Medical workers carried out 206 tests and results are now coming in. (TASR) - A hospital in Bojnice, a spa town in the Trencin Region, has confirmed 15 COVID-19 cases among the staff. The number might not yet be final as testing goes on. How Slovakia is coping with COVID-19 (measures) - The first phase of lifting the measures started on Wednesday, April 22. Take a look at what it means and see a gallery below. - The new Slovak application Stay Home Help makes it possible for everyone to become a volunteer. Its aim is to bring together volunteers and people who need help. (Dennik N) - MPs approved amendments to the law on universities on April 22. University students will not have to be physically present when taking state exams to complete their studies. Instead, universities will be allowed to use video calls and other IT solutions. - Teachers in primary schools will now have an opportunity to assess their pupils academic performance with descriptions, not only by numerical grades. Up to 84 percent of parents welcome this possibility according to a recent survey by the Focus polling agency. More than a fifth of the parents would prefer only a written evaluation, 61 percent would want to see a combination of grades and the written evaluation. This poll was done for the Comenius Institute. (TASR) Related article Related article Outdoor markets have opened Read more - The postal service provider Slovenska posta will return to its standard opening hours across Slovakia from April 23. However, other coronavirus measures remain in place. Measures for businesses to cope with COVID-19 - Parliament has adopted new but temporary insolvency measures aimed at businesses and individuals to prevent them, if they are unable to pay rent due to the impact of the coronavirus, from being forced to file for bankruptcy. (SITA) Related article Related article Thousands of bank clients have asked for the 9-month deferral of instalments Read more - Volkswagen Slovakia will be relaunching another segment of its car production in Bratislava on April 27. Economy and business news - The National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) has launched a chatbot on its website. People will need Facebook Messenger to access it. The chatbot will respond to queries on deferrals of loan instalments or the exchange of banknotes, while more serious questions will be forwarded to employees. - Slovakia failed to meet its budgetary plans last year, Eurostat confirmed. The country managed its finances, furthermore, worse than in 2018. A budget deficit reached 1.3 percent of GDP compared to 1.05 percent in 2018. - Up to 571 jobs are threatened by a mass layoff announced by two firms in Kosice. The unemployment rate in the city has not changed markedly since early 2020. In January, it stood at 7.67 percent, increasing to 7.70 percent the following month. Kosice reported an unemployment rate of 7.68 percent in March. (TASR) Other news from Slovakia - The National Criminal Agency (NAKA) detained Juraj Kozuch, former head of the Agricultural Paying Agency (PPA), during the police raid Stockbreeder. The raid is believed to be linked to a corruption case in which millions of euros were spent on bribes in exchange for agricultural subsidies. (Aktuality.sk) - The Constitutional Court has agreed that Kajetan Kicura, a former head of the State Material Reserves Administration (SSHR) and out-of-the-office judge, should be taken into custody. However, the Specialised Criminal Court will have to give its consent too. The police accused Kicura, on April 21, of accepting a bribe and legalising the proceeds of crime. - The Bratislava Self-governing Region (BSK) will not order the summer-season train Zahoracik, which usually takes tourists to Plavecke Podhradie, nor the bus Malokarpatsky expres running between Bratislava and Red Stone Castle (Cerveny Kamen) in Casta. - President Zuzana Caputova said it is time to take responsibility and protect nature. She added people take the environment and biodiversity as consumer goods. - Ladislav Csemi, a former head of Foreign and Border Police, now serves as Slovakias police attache in the United Kingdom. (SITA) - The trial in the case of the murder of ex-Hurbanovo Mayor Laszlo Basternak (2010) continued at the Specialised Criminal Court in Banska Bystrica. The court heard witness Zoltan Andrusko, who has been found guilty in the Kuciak murder case. (TASR) - Drought is becoming a serious problem because of a shortage of rainfall in Slovakia. The Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute (SHMU) said it has not rained heavily since early March in most parts of the country. SHMU added more rainfall is, however, expected next week. - On the occasion of Earth Day (April 22), the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) has announced a competition for students. Corona Crisis as a Chance for the Planet Earth is a topic on which students are asked to write a letter to Mother Earth. The competition ends on May 10. Also on Spectator.sk today: How the Matovic government plans to deal with low trust in judiciary Read more Minister Kolikova: I had no idea how deep Jankovska's influence reached Read more NGOs called on the government to support the green renewal of Europe Read more YEREVAN, APRIL 22, ARMENPRESS. US President Donald Trump said his new immigration ban would last 60 days and apply to those seeking green cards for permanent residency in an effort to protect Americans seeking to regain jobs lost because of the coronavirus, reports Reuters. Trump plans to institute the ban through an executive order, which he said he was likely to sign on Wednesday. He said it would not apply to individuals entering the United States on a temporary basis and would be re-evaluated once the 60-day period had passed. Trump said that pausing immigration would put unemployed Americans first in line for jobs as the country re-opened. It would be wrong and unjust for Americans laid off by the virus to be replaced with new immigrant labor flown in from abroad. We must first take care of the American worker, he told reporters at the White House. Trump said there would be some exemptions in the order and he could renew it for another 60 days or longer. The US has the largest number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) - 819,175, according to the latest data. When Amazon began deprioritizing book sales due to the new coronavirus outbreak in March, Vermont publisher Chelsea Green moved quickly to find a workaround. Using print-on-demand capabilities through its new warehousing and distribution partner, the publisher shipped copies to a third-party Amazon vendor who sells the publishers hurt books and he sold them on their behalf. As a result, Invisible Rainbow, a book about the effects of electricity and EMF radiation on human health, has sold a few thousand copies, with sales unabated by the interruption to one of the publishers most essential sales channels. It was an incredible pivot, said co-founder and publisher Margo Baldwin, But a book thats selling a couple hundred copies a day? We had to sell it. Nor was Baldwins quick action an accident. During the 2008 financial crisis, publishers of DIY, craft, and simple living books were sustained by a growing audience of readers looking for ways to live simply and inexpensively during a challenging time. For Chelsea Green, the titles that are sellingand the companys overall numbersare proof that coronavirus is shaping up to have the same effect. Chelsea Green books on homesteading, fermentation, foraging, and cooking drove a rise in direct web sales of 136% in March and sales through that channel are up 65% this year compared with last. Total sales for Chelsea are up 13% so far this year in 2020 over the comparable period last year. At Massachusetts-based Storey Publishing, the first wave of coronavirus concerns in March sparked interest in Steven Buhners Herbal Antivirals. The book does not purport to offer a cure for the virus, but does offer advice on herbal immune supports, something which drove strong sales of the book, according to publisher Deborah Balmuth. We have shipped 7,500 copies of the book this year, Balmuth said. We only shipped 4,500 last year. While Storey has long had a customer base for books like Backyard Homestead and Root Cellars, childrens books have been a standout as consumers transition from initial fears of the coronavirus to figuring out ways to do activities with kids while schools are closed. The publishers Backyard Explorer series and Anatomy series, including books Ocean Anatomy, and Nature Anatomy have all sold well, something that Balmuth could anticipate based on their consistent popularity with homeschoolers. Weve always been about teaching skills, and the movement toward screen-free time and getting kids to use their hands, and discover the pleasure of those things, Balmuth said. Its about kids engaging in learning skills for life. How many people are lamenting right now that they dont know how to sew? Sewing and Origami Titles Sewing is just the skill that C&T publisher Amy Barrett-Daffin in poised to share with readers. C&T was prepared to transition to a socially distanced world by mid-March after one of the companys co-owners came down with what they believe to have been coronavirus and asked Barrett-Daffin to devise a plan for working remotely. C&T, which specializes in quilting and sewing books, saw strong sales through craft store retailers that remained open into early April, and has also seen a boost in online orders through large specialty companies like Missouri Star Quilt Company. The publisher has added beginner catalogs to its website and is driving sales by doing a large amount of social media outreach through its authors. Our authors are used to travelling and teaching so when we say wed like you to make a video, we have the ability to do it, said Barrett-Daffin. Along with books like Jo Averys New Patchwork and Quilting Basics, the publisher has also seen interest in craft, doodling, and coloring books that are part of a Fun Stitch Studio webpage that also includes free materials for kids. More than half of Tuttles top 100-selling titles are craft-focused at the moment, led by two closely-linked products. Origami books and paper packs which include colorful papers that can be used in arts and crafts top Tuttles list for a simple reason, according to sales and marketing director Christopher Johns. You dont need any equipment to do origami. Thats the beauty of it. My First Origami Kit, which is geared for children and includes instructions for how to do origami with small hands, is one of the many titles that Tuttle is having success with. With a focus on titles relating to East Asia, Tuttle was hoping for a boost with this summers Tokyo Olympics, which have now been postponed until 2021, but Johns said the increased interest in titles based on stay-at-home regulations is offsetting the impact. Along with origami, books on doodling, manga, and Japanese knitting, and Finger Knitting for Kids, are all seeing interest among readers, as are puzzles. Puzzles and More Puzzles Tuttle was just beginning to sell puzzles in time for the Olympics, with two slated for release; one with Mt. Fuji and the other of a Tokyo cityscape. Our pre-orders right now are crazy, Johns said. Theyre not going to touch the shelves because the demand is already there. An ironic puzzle is proving to be a bestseller for Gibbs Smith. Cabin Fever is one of a slate of puzzles that are moving so fast that sales director Sarah Rucker said, we are blowing through inventory. Unlike books, puzzles are sold non-returnable and prepaid, which has helped create positive cash flow for the publisher. Its something that everyone wants and were happy to supply them. We think that theyll last. Once you start doing puzzles, youll keep doing puzzles, Rucker said. Along with puzzles, Gibbs-Smiths director of marketing Lareen Strong said sales of books on the outdoors, especially for parents and children, are increasing. Camping books, books on how to cook outside, hiking, and other things for children and adults are things people will want as the weather gets warmer. People will want to get outside and also isolate, she said. Kid and Family Favorites Cedar Lanes Paul McGahren is looking to provide information inspiration through craft titles that work for readers who are spending time in isolation, and is seeing the greatest interest in books that use what is easily at hand, from wood scraps to spare pieces of paper. Were seeing more of the fundamental hand tool types of books sell as you get more people wanting to try things who never have before, McGahren said. Introductory and easy-to-make titles like Make Your Own Cutting Boards are selling well for the press, but so are some advanced titles like CNC Router Essentials, which require the time to learn that readers now have. Along with woodworking titles, McGahren is seeing interest in projects parents can do with kids like Dinosaurs to Crochet, Wooden Toy Spacecraft, and Wooden Dinky Toys. Along with growing sales for new titles, Cedar Lane is also seeing interest in backlist books, with a 60% of sales accounted for by backlist titles. DK was in the midst of reissuing newly updated versions of what DK Life publishing director Mary-Clare Jerram calls, the three backlist craft bibles. The Sewing Book and The Knitting Book were both republished in the last two years and The Crochet Book will be reissued this fall. The books were first published following the 2008 crisis, and Jerram said the publisher is once-again turning to them as stalwarts, making them an integral part of a newly launched online DK Stay Home Hub that has free content for readers. In addition, DK subsidiary Alpha Books is republishing older titles, reaching into the backlist for everything from Idiots Guides to titles on fermenting, raising chickens, doing origami, and drawing. Tween-oriented titles are among the standouts for Fox Chapel Publishing, whose doodling books Notebooks Doodle Go Girl! and Notebook Doodles Girl Power! have both gone into reprints. I think its parents looking to buy those books to reinforce to their kids and friends that theres a lot of positive still out there, said Fox Chapel president David Miller. Along with the doodling titles, the Rock Art Handbook and Making Pipe Cleaner Pets are a sign of families looking for simple, creative ways to do activities with kids. Thats whats really pulling through, Miller said. How do I keep my kids busy? People are looking for things that are inexpensive where they dont have to go out of their home and track things down. Those titles have suddenly now surged. For Cedar Lanes McGahren, that simplicity is the point of craft and DIY titles. I dont think anything bad can come out of doing crafts. Getting creative, putting your hands to work, getting your hands going, its all good. Crafts is always bubbling under the surface and were looking at what the situation are where it can be actualized in someones life. Its a form of therapy. Irans Revolutionary Guards force said it had launched the countrys first military satellite which had gone into orbit. The powerful force said a 'Messenger' satellite carrier was used to launch the Noor (light) satellite, without going into further detail on the technology used. The launch took place at a time of high tension with the United States over Tehrans nuclear and missile programmes and months after Iranian top military commander Qassem Soleimani was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad on January 3. Irans first military satellite, Noor, was launched this morning from central Iran in two stages. The launch was successful and the satellite reached orbit," Reuters cited state TV as saying. Noor was now orbiting 425km above the Earths surface, the Guards said on their website. The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam has proposed that carriers operate one flight per day from Hanoi or HCMC to other localities in the country. The administration proposed to the Ministry of Transport a plan on operating domestic routes from April 23 to 30, with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc set to decide whether or not to extend the social distancing campaign applied to Hanoi, HCMC and other 10 localities on April 22. Under the proposal, CAAV says carriers should be allowed to operate one flight a day each from Hanoi or HCMC to other localities in the country, except for the Ho Chi Minh City to Con Dao route with four flights. The routes between localities other than Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City should also be allowed to have one flight a day for each airline, it proposed. The administration said 20 return flights a day be allowed on the Hanoi - HCMC route, up from the current six. In particular, Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet Air would have six flights each, while Jetstar Pacific and Bamboo Airways would have four flights each. On routes from Hanoi and HCMC to Da Nang and back, CAAV proposed that Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet Air are allowed to have three flights each. Bamboo Airways and Jetstar Pacific would get two flights a day each on these routes. Currently, only two flights a day are operating on these routes. The carriers would still have to implement social distancing, keeping passengers at least one seat apart on flights departing, maintain prevention and control measures including checking passengers' health at the airport, requiring online health declarations before boarding flights and refusing to carry passengers with Covid-19 infection symptoms (cough, fever, shortness of breath). The Vietnam Railway Corporation (VNR) has also proposed to the transport ministry that two more pairs of trains on the Hanoi - HCMC route are allowed to operate from April 23 to 29, bringing the total to four pairs. From April 30, all trains on the Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City route should operate normally, it proposed. Currently only two pairs of Thong Nhat trains are operating on the Hanoi HCMC route. There were only a limited number of flights operating between the three major cities of Hanoi, Da Nang and HCMC between April 1 and 15 following the government's directive on the prevention and control of the Covid-19 epidemic. With CAAV approval, several airlines have increased the frequency of flights between Hanoi and HCMC from one per day to 2-5 since last Thursday. The April 1-15 social distancing campaign had been extended for a week until April 22 in Hanoi, HCMC, and 10 other localities deemed to be at "high risk" of Covid-19 infections spreading. Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City proposed Monday that the government not extend the campaign. The same day, the PM said that Vietnam will ease social distancing step by step and implement adequate controls to avoid underestimating the Covid-19 epidemic. He is expected to make a new decision on social distancing Wednesday. All Vietnamese carriers have suspended international routes since late March to contain the Covid-19, with many of the active patients being people coming in from other countries. Wednesday morning marked the sixth consecutive day in Vietnam without a new Covid-19 infection, keeping the country's tally of active infections unchanged at 52. The Covid-19 pandemic, now in 210 countries and territories, has a reported death toll of more than 177,600. Notorious "pharma bro" Martin Shkreli in a court filing Wednesday asked to be released from prison for the remainder of his seven-year criminal sentence so that he can both work on developing a coronavirus treatment and avoid contracting a potentially fatal case of Covid-19 himself. Shkreli, who has about 41 months remaining on that sentence for securities fraud, is requesting that a judge direct his release into home confinement with a person described as his fiance "at her apartment" in Manhattan, according to the new filing in Brooklyn federal court. Shkreli had said in a scientific paper online posted two weeks ago that he wanted just a three-month-long furlough from prison to do his coronavirus work. But Shkreli's lawyers in their filing Wednesday urged a judge to give the fallen pharmaceuticals executive "compassionate release" for the rest of his sentence on an emergency basis. The filing notes that the warden of Shkeli's prison, the Allenwood, Penn., low-security federal facility, last week denied his petition to that warden for compassionate release under critieria established by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. The warden had cited the fact that Shkreli was considered at "low" risk of committing crimes when released, as determined by a so-called PATTERN assessment tool, when the criteria requires a "minimum" risk of reoffending. But attorneys for Shkreli, who has exhausted appeals of his conviction, warned in their filing that he has a "susceptibility to infection [from the coronavirus] due to allergies and asthma." "It is likely that he will soon be exposed to the virus and potentially become critically ill or die," their filing said. Lawyers said that if the 37-year-old was freed he could be directed "to serve the remainder of his prison sentence in home confinement with electronic monitoring and with permission to work on his research from home, or, with permission of probation, to report to a specific local workplace to perform research on a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) treatment." RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute kicks off by hosting an exclusive virtual event on April 23rd, moderated by entrepreneur and futurologist, Dr. Peter H. Diamandis. This inaugural meeting marks the start of the FII Institute Series, bringing together an influential group of leaders looking beyond the COVID-19 pandemic to explore its systemic implications on the global economy and the potential of AI and cutting-edge innovation to aid in a worldwide response. The FII Institute Series will be a year-round regular event series feeding into the Future Investment Initiative in October 2020. A first-of-a-kind illustration of interactive and immersive event technology, this event will highlight the most important lessons learned from the current crisis and outline a clear roadmap for action for the future, generating concrete solutions and long-term recommendations out of the sessions. "With an ambitious vision to empower the brightest minds to shape a better future for ALL and with ALL, the FII Institute will bring together global leaders and experts to collectively cultivate and support the implementation of innovative solutions," Chairman of the Board of the FII Institute His Excellency Yasir Al-Rumayyan comments. "The FII Institute is a new generation of not-for-profit foundation that curates and enables ideas that can solve today's global challenges by using technologies that have the potential to positively impact humanity," CEO and Board Member of the FII Institute Richard Attias explains. The FII Institute will initially focus on four key impact areas that have the power to positively impact humanity: Healthcare, Sustainability, Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. To achieve its mission, the FII Institute can count on the extensive experience from its Board of Trustees, including chair of the board H.E. Yasir Al-Rumayyan, H.R.H. Princess Reema Bint Bandar Al Saud, Senator Matteo Renzi, Mr. Mohamed Alabbar, Professor Tony Chan, Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Professor Adah Almutairi, and Mr. Richard Attias. To keep up with the latest news and to learn more about the Future Investment Initiative Institute, please follow the FII Institute on Twitter and LinkedIn and visit the FII Institute website https://fii-institute.org/ About the FII Institute: The FII Institute is a new generation of global foundation that ensures the world's brightest ideas find their way to materialize, scale and create positive sustainable impact on humanity. With an ambitious vision to empower the brightest minds to shape a better future for ALL and with ALL, the FII Institute will bring together global leaders and experts to collectively curate and enable concrete ideas that can solve today's most pressing societal issues while creating long-term platforms to reshape the future of humanity. Social Media Platforms Twitter: @FIIKSA LinkedIn: Future Investment Initiative YouTube: Future Investment Initiative Instagram: @FIIKSA Flickr: Future Investment Initiative CallToImpact and ImpactOnHumanity Website: https://fii-institute.org/ Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1158839/FII_Institute_Logo.jpg Celebrating 50 Years of Earth Day April 22, 2020 marks the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day. Insight Homes has partnered with One Tree Planted to plant 200 trees for each home that is sold from April 22nd until May 1st. Insight Homes has always been a leader in the area for their "Green Homes" and has won Innovation Awards back to back from The Department of Energy, so it is natural that we would want to give back for this prestigious anniversary. One Tree Planted is a 501 charity with a mission to help global reforestation efforts. The organization is built on a network of individuals, businesses, and schools who either donate monetarily or volunteer to help plant trees around the world. Trees help clean the air we breathe, filter the water we drink, and provide habitat to over 80% of the world's terrestrial biodiversity. Forests provide jobs to over 1.6 billion people, absorb harmful carbon from the atmosphere, and are key ingredients in 25% of all medicines. To find out more about One Tree Planted and how you can make a difference visit https://onetreeplanted.org. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nathan Allen and Emma Pinedo (Reuters) Madrid, Spain Wed, April 22, 2020 17:03 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd39628f 2 World Spain,coronavirus,COVID-19,COVID-19-lockdown,COVID-19-quarantine,pandemic,reopening Free Spain aims to begin winding down its coronavirus lockdown in the second half of May, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Wednesday, though restrictions could come back if the epidemic worsens again in one of the worst-hit nations. With the world's second most infections, more than 200,000, and Europe's second highest death toll, 21,282, Spain has imposed one of the severest lockdowns, including a controversial bar on children leaving homes even for walks. It has taken a few tentative easing steps, including allowing some workers to return from last week and giving permission for children to go outside from next weekend, but most restrictions remain in force. With the epidemic seemingly having passed its peak, measures will be eased slowly and gradually to ensure safety, Sanchez said at a parliamentary session where he will ask lawmakers to extend the state of emergency until May 9. "We will be going back-and-forth depending on how the pandemic evolves," he said. On Tuesday night, the government bowed to public pressure and said children under 14 would be able to take short walks outside under supervision. The cabinet had initially said children would only be allowed to accompany parents to buy food or medicine, provoking criticism on social media and pot-banging protests on balconies. "This is a government that listens," said Health Minister Salvador Illa. A sharp slowdown in infections has Spaniards optimistic their nightmare may be easing, and officials are turning their attention to restarting the flagging economy. Carmaker Volkswagen's Spanish unit SEAT, which employs around 15,000 people, said it plans to resume production from April 27 and aims to carry out 3,000 coronavirus tests a week on its workforce to minimize risk. The crisis has also hit Spain's vital tourism industry: on Tuesday the San Fermin bull-running fiesta in Pamplona was suspended for the first time in four decades. A FedEx delivery driver told deputies he didnt intentionally hit a dog on his route in North Carolina but that didnt stop a woman and her son from chasing him down with a gun, according to the sheriffs office. Maxwell Dixon fired at the FedEx vehicle using a semi-automatic handgun, according to the sheriff's office. Sandy Monet Dixon, 51, and her 23-year-old son Maxwell Lynn Dixon were arrested Monday on assault charges after they followed the driver into the parking lot of a highway patrol office, the Catawba County sheriffs office said in a news release. When interviewed, the driver explained that he accidentally ran over a dog while pulling into the driveway of a residence on Rome Jones Rd in Newton, the release states. The dog belonged to the Dixons and died shortly after being hit, Captain Aaron Turk told McClatchy News. Newton is roughly 50 miles northwest of Charlotte. The driver, who was not identified by police, then drove a short distance down the road to call his supervisor, the sheriffs office said. The Dixons followed him in their own car. According to the sheriffs office, the driver felt threatened when the pair started yelling at him and he tried to drive away. During that time Maxwell Dixon fired three shots with a semi-automatic handgun at the drivers vehicle, the release states. All three shots struck the left rear door of the Fed Ex truck. The delivery vehicle had three bullet holes in its rear door, the sheriffs office said. Then the Dixons followed the driver to the Highway Patrol Station. Maxwell Dixon was charged with discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle and assault with a deadly weapon. He was issued an $11,000 bond and had his first court appearance on Tuesday. Sandy Dixon was charged with aiding and abetting assault with a deadly weapon and was given a $1,500 bond. Her first court date is June 8, according to the sheriffs office. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Maharashtra Police has taken over the investigation in the Palghar lynching incident. Three men - two seers and their driver - were dragged out of their vehicle and beaten to death by a mob on suspicion that they were child-lifters. The incident happened on April 16 when they were going from Mumbai to Surat in Gujarat to attend a funeral. Their vehicle was stopped near a village in Palghar district. The deceased were identified as Kalpavriksha Giri (70), Sushil Giri (35), and driver Nilesh Telgade (30). The Maharashtra government had earlier ordered a high-level probe into the incident, and two policemen from Palghar were suspended on Monday for alleged dereliction of duty. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Tuesday issued a notice to Maharashtra Police chief over the Palghar lynching case, observing that the incident is apparently indicative of negligence by public servants. According to the release, NHRC has sought a detailed report within four weeks including action taken against the culprits and relief, if any, granted to the next of kin of the three deceased. BJP leader Kirit Somaiya had said that an investigation into the case should be done under the guidance of a judge of a high court or by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Congress party leaders too have condemned the incident. Palghar police on Sunday arrested 110 people, including nine juveniles, in connection with the lynching. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The core of the foundations plan is the conscription of laboratory facilities that currently perform other kinds of tests, including university labs and small private labs. The foundation estimates that two-thirds of the nations molecular testing capacity is used for other purposes and could be easily redirected. The report calls for states to oversee this comprehensive mobilization, but the money would come from the federal government, in the form of a fixed $100 fee for each completed test. It estimates the total cost around $100 billion a huge bargain compared to the economic toll of continuing or recurring economic shutdowns. Rockefeller also is proposing to create a nonprofit to place bulk orders for needed supplies, backed by a foundation guarantee of payment. Labs across the country report that they could conduct more tests but for shortages of critical supplies swabs to gather nasal samples, containers to transport samples, chemicals to test samples. Moreover, a lack of coordination has forced labs to compete for available supplies, creating huge inefficiencies: Some places have plenty of swabs but not enough containers, or containers but not chemicals. Dr. Nirav Shah, the director of Maines Center of Disease Control and Prevention, said he would not disclose what kind of testing equipment the state was buying for fear others would hoard necessary supplies. Vice President Mike Pence called on governors last week to simply activate machines sidelined by shortages. This has the quality of putting a man in shackles and then urging him to run. There is a crying need for coordination. Finally, the Rockefeller report calls on states to hire at least 100,000 people to perform the work of testing and contact tracing. This, too, most likely requires federal funding and has the virtue of doubling as a jobs program during this period of extremely high unemployment. All of this, however, falls well short of what is needed. To maintain a more normal level of economic activity, the Rockefeller report says, the United States needs to aim for the capacity to perform 30 million tests every week by the fall. 40 Days for Life CEO: 'We're starting to see the end of abortion' amid uptick in pro-life millennials Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The head of a prominent pro-life organization said he believes society is beginning to see the end of abortion as up-and-coming generations grow increasingly uncomfortable with the pro-abortion movement. Theres a mass exodus out of the abortion industry, Shawn Carney, president of 40 Days for Life, told The Christian Post. Thanks to new technology and science teaching us that life begins at conception, I believe there is growing discomfort with abortion, regardless of how common it is. A 2019 poll from Students for Life of America's Institute for Pro-Life Advancement found that 93 percent of millennial-aged Americans do not subscribe to the official Democratic Party platform on abortion. According to the 2016 Democratic Party platform, every woman should have access to quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortionregardless of where she lives, how much money she makes, or how she is insured. The findings corroborate a January 2017 Quinnipiac poll, which found that 18- to 34-year-olds were more likely than other age demographics to support a ban on abortions after 20 weeks gestation. The pro-life movement has gotten younger and larger, and I believe were beginning to see the end of abortion, Carney told CP. The response to the pro-life movement has been overwhelmingly positive, whereas it was overwhelmingly negative 20 years ago. Launched in 2007, 40 Days for Life is a global movement that orchestrates 40-day spring and fall campaigns of prayer, fasting, and nonstop peaceful public vigils outside abortion clinics. Carney, himself a father of seven, said that so far, his organization is operational in more than 30 countries and in 507 cities worldwide. As a result of their efforts, nearly 17,000 lives have been saved, 196 abortion workers have quit, and 106 abortion centers have closed. We are not protesting; we are holding prayer vigils, taking a Christ-like approach of being peaceful and law-abiding, he said. Because of this approach, weve gotten a great response from those in the abortion industry. Anytime there's an act of violence near an abortion facility, we hear abortion advocates say, We know that wasnt 40 Days for Life,'" the bestselling author continued. "Its been wonderful to see such a positive response to our work. We wouldnt have saved so many lives and helped so many people leave their jobs if we took a violent and judgmental approach. That would just be fuel to help justify their jobs. One of the most recognizable figures to leave the abortion industry thanks to the work of 40 Days for Life is former Planned Parenthood clinic director Abby Johnson, whose story is featured in the 2019 film Unplanned. Following the release of the film, 40 Days for Life saw a 30 percent increase in volunteers. Abby Johnson, a Planned Parenthood abortion center director, walked into my office on October 5, 2009, and told me she'd had a change of heart on abortion, Carney recalled. She was the 26th abortion facility worker to have a conversion and leave the abortion industry during a 40 Days for Life campaign. Obviously, abortion workers dont want us at their facilities in the beginning, but over the weeks, they start thinking about us and the work were doing, he said. Despite the positive steps toward ending abortion, Carney stressed that there is still a culture of death that pervades American society. We have to acknowledge that we are in a crisis, he said. Weve lost over 60 million children to abortion. Three thousand children are aborted every day. Its an easy statistic to ignore because its overwhelming. Earlier this year, Carney released the devotional To the Heart of the Matter: The 40 Day Companion to Live a Culture for Life. The book provides direction and inspiration for all pro-life advocates seeking to make a difference in the ongoing battle for the unborn. In this book, I show how we can live out a culture of life every day, through our obligations, jobs, families, and marriages, he said. We didnt get here overnight with the abortion crisis. I want people to know that when you live out your faith, that is living a culture of life and changing the world. In his book, Carney draws from real-life stories and statistics to identify practical ways pro-life readers can foster a culture of life, from engaging in prayer, fasting, and Scripture-reading to being intentional in their marriages and other relationships. Our relationships have become superficial and distant thanks to technology. Were not getting together or going to coffee, so were not having healthy recreation and human interaction. When we dont, we can get to a very dangerous place where we no longer cherish life or care about human dignity, Carney said. I have a whole chapter on simply taking your spouse on a date, he continued. When theres no authentic love or respect between the parents of a child, its easier to discard the fruit of that relationship. Couples need to be fostering and growing their relationship to help build a culture of life. Carney stressed that the most powerful way to fight abortion is through prayer, adding, We have to pray, daily, for an end to abortion. What a tragedy to let a day go by where we dont pray for an end to abortion. For those who feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of abortion, he stressed that its possible to change the culture in your daily life. We need to get back to the basics; the heart of the Gospel, he said. Our Lord came into the world through a womb and through a family. The more we drift from that, the more we will support a culture that attacks marriage and the unborn child. We need to make an intentional effort to do these small, substantial things every day to foster a culture of life, trusting in our Lord all along the way. Australians who buy a house or employ people could be spared having to pay hated taxes as part of a plan to kickstart the economy after the coronavirus lockdowns end. Economists regard the state taxes as a killer to growth and employment, with COVID-19 threatening to cause the steepest downturn since the 1930s Great Depression. In Sydney, someone buying a typical house to live in has to pay more than $41,400 upfront in stamp duty if they aren't a first-home buyer. That's in a city where the median price stands at more than $1.02million, CoreLogic data showed. Australians who buy a house or employ people could be spared having to pay hated taxes as part of a plan to kickstart the economy after the coronavirus lockdowns end. In Sydney, someone buying a typical house to live in has to pay more than $41,400 upfront in stamp duty if they aren't a first-home buyer (stock image) Business owners in New South Wales also have to pay a 5.45 per cent payroll tax for every person they employ if they have a turnover of more than $900,000. That threshold is increasing to $1million from July 2021. The government of Australia's most populous state however is open to scrapping those taxes to stimulate the economy as unemployment rises, and possibly replacing them with land or state income taxes. NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said he wanted to 'retool and rebuild our economy' after coronavirus with new policies. 'It's very clear - business as usual is not an option,' he told Daily Mail Australia. Victoria's Labor Treasurer Tim Pallas also wants federal help to get rid of inefficient state taxes as coronvirus restrictions are lifted later this year. 'We are keen to work with the commonwealth,' he told reporters on Wednesday. 'We'll have to reassess the way that the burden of taxation and the recovery effort falls within the economy because there will be some sections of the economy that are quite profoundly and adversely and in a long-term affected by these changes.' The NSW Treasury's Review of Federal Financial Relations, headed by former Telstra boss David Thodey, has suggested replacing those 'unfair' taxes, with possible help from the commonwealth government to make this happen. 'The state taxes that received the most mentions across submissions and consultations were transfer duty (stamp duty), payroll tax and insurance-based taxes,' it said. Economists regard the state taxes as a killer to growth and employment, with COVID-19 threatening to cause the steepest downturn since the 1930s Great Depression. Pictured is a Sydney cafe owner Marc Zheng practising social distancing to give a customer a coffee 'More than half of all submissions raised transfer duty, with the majority of people calling for the tax to be replaced, while others suggested the tax rate be reduced or thresholds increased.' 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 Committee for Sydney told the inquiry stamp duty was 'a major financial disincentive for retirees seeking to downsize'. The Property Council of Australia said it made housing even more unaffordable for young people. 'Stamp duty distorts business decisions, locks families out of housing choices, worsens housing affordability, suppresses economic activity and leaves governments with highly volatile revenue streams,' it told the review. 'It is a tax that is a relic from our colonial past, representing a stamp of the states authority over property transaction that has absolutely no economic relevance in our modern Australia.' Stamp duty is a major cash cow for the state government, with NSW raising an estimated $8.3billion from this transfer duty measure in the 2019-20 financial year. Budget papers predicted this revenue stream would continue growing by 1.5 per cent a year until 2022, when the tax would raise $9.2billion annually. Palestinian President Abbas says Palestinians will not stand hand-cuffed if Israel annexes of any part of our land. United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday that it was Israels decision whether to annex parts of the occupied West Bank, and the US will offer its views on this to the new Israeli government in private. As for the annexation of the West Bank, the Israelis will ultimately make those decisions, Pompeo told reporters. Thats an Israeli decision. And we will work closely with them to share with them our views of this in [a] private setting. Pompeo also said he was happy that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and centrist rival Benny Gantz signed a deal on Monday to form an emergency coalition government, saying he did not think a fourth Israeli election was in Israels interest. According to the joint statement, the coalition is to serve as an emergency government for an initial six months. During that time, no laws are to be introduced that have nothing to do with the coronavirus. One exception however, is Israels intention in accordance with US President Donald Trumps Middle East plan to annex the Jordan Valley and illegal Jewish settlements and other territory in the occupied West Bank, actions that would defy international law. Netanyahu could submit these plans for approval from July, according to the statement. Palestinians have condemned the formation of a new Israeli annexation government, saying the agreement would wreck hopes of peace. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in remarks aired on Wednesday that his administration would regard agreements with Israel and the US completely cancelled if Israel annexes land in the occupied West Bank. We have informed the relevant international parties, including the American and the Israeli governments, that we will not stand hand-cuffed if Israel announces the annexation of any part of our land, Abbas said on Palestine TV. Israeli forces stand guard as Palestinian demonstrators gather during a protest against Israeli settlements in Beita town, near Nablus in the occupied West Bank [File: Mohamad Torokman/Reuters] Hanan Ashrawi, a senior Palestine Liberation Organization official, said earlier this week that very serious, challenging days are expected, given Trumps close relationship with Netanyahu. This is extremely dangerous not just for Palestine, for Israel, for the region, but for the world, Ashrawi said. According to several United Nations Security Council resolutions, the most recent in 2016, Israeli settlements are illegal under international law, as they violate the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits an occupying power from transferring its population to the area it occupies. The Trump administration has repeatedly sided with Israel and against stances taken by the Palestinians and Arab states, including recognising Jerusalem as Israels capital and moving the US embassy there. Last year, the US government said it would no longer abide by a 1978 State Department legal opinion that the settlements were inconsistent with international law. Representational picture A pizza delivery rider who had delivered food to over 72 families in South Delhi and had tested positive for coronavirus said on April 22 that he has received calls from at least 15 of his customers in the past eight days that he has spent in quarantine. "Almost every one of them spoke with warmth some told me to be brave, others told me not to hesitate to call them if needed," he told the Hindustan Times, adding that the customers had got his number from their bills. He said that initially he was feeling guilty that he might have infected others. However, when he saw the news on his phone that all the high-risk contacts' tests have come out negative, he was relieved. When he was informed that his own coronavirus test result had come out positive, the food delivery boy said that the ground beneath his feet sank. Follow our LIVE Updates here. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show "I hadnt expected it. I thought I would die. I am the youngest of three siblings, and I hadnt even seen the world yet," said the 19-year-old. He then called his manager, and then his elder brother in Uttar Pradesh. "I had moved to Delhi for some work this year. A cousin helped me get this job, and my employer provided me with a room in Savitri Nagar," the man said. He said that between March 20 and 25, he had got drenched in rain while delivering food. Subsequently, he caught a cold and visited a hospital for a check-up and was given some pills. Also Read: How tribal quarantine rituals helped Arunachal Pradesh become COVID-19 free By the end of that month, he had developed a high fever, and went to Safdarjung Hospital on April 2. However, it was only during another visit on April 10 to the hospital that he was told to go to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital for a COVID-19 test after he complained of coughing. According to the newspaper, he was first admitted to the Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital and was recently shifted to a police colony in Delhi's Mandawali, where three patients are allotted one room. Although he coughs occasionally, he said that he is fine and would try to get back to his village once he is discharged. A war of words has broken out between the Irish State and a senior UN official with responsibility for human rights after the Government delayed the publication of a letter critical of the public services card (PSC) project by a number of days. On April 14, Professor Philip Alston, the UNs special rapporteur at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), wrote a 40-page letter to the Irish State accusing the PSC of being, among other things, discriminatory against the less well-off in Irish society. It is believed that letter was delayed after the Government exerted pressure at the OHCHR to delay its publication. The letter was officially released yesterday, with a stinging response from Irelands chief diplomat, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tanaiste Simon Coveney, having been delivered to Prof Alston in return. It is, however, believed that the letter, which bears Mr Coveneys signature, was not drafted by his own officials, but rather by the body with chief responsibility for the card, the Department of Social Protection. In the correspondence, Mr Coveney noted his disappointment that efforts by the Government to engage with Prof Alston on these critically important issues were not answered. He said it is surprising that Prof Alston had made no mention of the Covid-19 crisis in his own letter, and said that no inference should be drawn from the decision to waive the need for a PSC for the duration of the pandemic. I would like to reiterate the Irish Governments clear position that the PSC is properly grounded in law and does not contravene any of Irelands human rights obligations, he wrote. The Tanaiste likewise derided the fact that Prof Alston had not taken up a standing invitation to visit Ireland officially during his tenure, saying he was at a loss to understand therefore, given your obvious interest in our social protection system, why you did not take up this invitation during the term of your mandate. Prof Alston has returned fire, stating that the Governments response had failed to address any of the key concerns of his letter. He said that any efforts by the Government to engage with him were limited to two occasions the first followed an unofficial visit to Ireland last August in which he had been similarly critical of the card which led to a letter from Social Protection at the time saying everyone loves it (the PSC) and theres no problem. The second engagement, Mr Alston said, had followed the delivery of his new letter last week, which he said amounted to an attempt to delay its publication. Its important to note that Im all in favour of improving accessibility and efficiency and preventing fraud he said. The PSC is actually a key plank in a broader strategy of digital transformation. That will lead to it becoming a de facto national biometric identity card. There hasnt been the necessary debate to agree on the shape of such a card, the purposes for which it will be required, or the protections against abuse and for privacy that are an indispensable part of any such system, he said. Dr Ahmed Abubakar, the Team Lead of the Rapid Response Team, Covid-19 Technical Committee, says the Kwara Government will continue to monitor discharged Coronavirus patient who have tested negative. Abubakar, who stated this while fielding questions from newsmen in Ilorin, explained that patients that are certified negative of Coronavirus are advised to be on self isolation for two weeks. Speaking further, Abubakar pointed out that, the state government will continue their monitoring also on monthly basis, to be sure that patients will not relapse. He urged people to obey directives on social and physical distancing and maintain hygiene at all times. Also speaking with newsmen also, Dr Shuaib Belgore, Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), team leader in Kwara, said that Covid-19 is a serious business. He said serious efforts must be put in place by stakeholders to ensure that Africa does not become the next epicentre for the virus. According to him, the virus is developing and the only way to slowdown the fiction rate is to stay away and maintain social distancing. This virus is not only killing people with underlining health conditions but killing young and healthy people, he said. He urged newsmen in particular to use their profession to save lives through objective and fair reporting of the pandemic. Share this post with your Friends on The Government will introduce contact tracing at large scale as a way of easing lockdown restrictions, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said, as he told MPs the UK had reached the peak of its Covid-19 outbreak. Mr Hancock said he was confident the country was at the peak but stressed that continued social distancing was needed to bring the number of new cases down. He told MPs, many of whom joined the Commons session remotely: We are ramping up our testing capacity and our capacity for contact tracing in a matter of weeks. Shortly afterwards, the Department of Health said 18,100 patients had died in hospital after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK, as of 5pm on Tuesday, up by 763 from 17,337 the day before. Scientific experts and former health secretary Jeremy Hunt have pressed the Government for more details on mass testing and contact tracing, which is a key route out of the UK lockdown. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) By finding those who are infected with coronavirus and tracing their contacts and isolating both routes of onward transmission of Covid-19 can be slowed until a vaccine is found. Mr Hancock told MPs the expansion of testing capacity was ahead of plans and the number of people eligible for testing was being expanded. And as we have reached the peak, and as we bring the number of new cases down, so we will introduce contact tracing at large scale, he said. However, the latest Government figures showed less than half the testing capacity was used in the 24 hours up to 9am on Tuesday. Capacity stood at 41,398 but only 18,206 tests were carried out over the period in England, Wales and Scotland. Mr Hancock said the Government was working closely with some of the best digital and technological brains on the contact tracing app, which is in trials. He said: The more people who sign up for this new app when it goes live, the better informed our response will be, and the better we can therefore protect the NHS. Asked what the current level of Covid-19 was in the general population and when test, track and trace (which includes contact tracing) could be brought in, Mr Hancock said: The current level of incidence is unknown until we expand testing further. But it is far, far higher than where it needs to be, though we are at a peak. We want to reopen the NHS to non-coronavirus symptoms and to patients with non-coronavirus conditions safely and carefully Matt Hancock We have high confidence that we are at a peak in this disease, but obviously we need to see that come down. Its a question of degree. The fewer new cases, the more effective test, track and trace are as a way of keeping the disease down, and therefore the more of the social distancing measures can be lifted. He stressed that the Government was working to build the capacity for that very large style contact tracing. He agreed that contact tracing professionals would need to be used for test, track and trace alongside the app, adding: That way we can control this virus, with fewer of the very extraordinary social distancing measures that have been in place. Mr Hancock said the NHS would resume treating patients with a wider range of conditions soon following fears that thousands of people are dying or seeing serious conditions, including cancer, go undetected. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) He said: We want to reopen the NHS to non-coronavirus symptoms and to patients with non-coronavirus conditions safely and carefully, as soon as its safe to do so. But the first step that were taking is to send the message loud and clear to people who have suspected conditions that they should come forward. If you think you might have a lump that might be a cancer, then you should come forward now, and you will be safely and properly treated in the NHS. The same goes if you have a suspected heart attack or stroke we have the systems in place to make sure that if you come to the NHS, you will be looked after and protected. He said the Government was working to gradually reopen the rest of the NHS to other procedures, including non life-threatening, planned surgery. There is a pattern emerging here. We were slow into lockdown, slow on testing, slow on protective equipment and now slow to take up these offers from British firms Sir Keir Starmer The Government was also looking at why the death rate as a proportion of the population is lower in Germany than in the UK as we try to learn, he said. It comes after Dominic Raab faced a grilling in his Prime Ministers Questions clash with Sir Keir Starmer. The new Labour leader and Foreign Secretary Mr Raab deputising for Boris Johnson as the Prime Minister continued his recovery from Covid-19 faced each other in a sparsely attended House of Commons. Sir Keir questioned the Governments progress towards its target of 100,000 tests a day by the end of the month and claimed that opportunities to acquire personal protective equipment (PPE) from British firms had been missed. He said: There is a pattern emerging here. We were slow into lockdown, slow on testing, slow on protective equipment and now slow to take up these offers from British firms. Mr Raab told him the Government was guided by scientific advisers. He said that if Sir Keir thinks he knows better than they do, with the benefit of hindsight, then thats his decision. Mr Raab said 8,000 British businesses had responded to a call for assistance on PPE and they had all received a response, with 3,000 followed up where it was sensible if they had equipment with the required specification and volume. He said it was an incredibly difficult and competitive international environment to source PPE from overseas. Mr Johnson continues to recover from coronavirus at Chequers and Mr Raab said the Prime Minister was in good spirits. In other developments, an RAF plane landed at Brize Norton from Turkey in the early hours of Wednesday, after being sent to collect a shipment of PPE. The Government also continues to face questions about its participation in EU schemes to secure vital equipment, with Brussels saying there had been ample opportunity for the UK to join in. On the last day in the room, the writers debated what should happen when Elena sees Mias piece. What if we make it a comment on race and class? Tigelaar asked her diverse group of writers. Attica Locke, one of the writers, noted that The fact that you can separate race and class from motherhood is a privilege. There was talk about having Witherspoons Elena dismantle the bird cage as an act of liberation, but another writer, Shannon Houston, objected: I really dont like a story that ends with a white woman destroying a black womans art. Tigelaar said it was a truth thats hard to hear, and it really changed how we viewed the ending. During a phone interview, she discussed why the writers diverged from the book at key moments (the ending, the abortion story line) and how an act of arson freed the characters from themselves. Here are edited excerpts from the conversation. In the book, readers learn right away that Izzy set the little fires everywhere that burned down the Richardson house. But in the show, Izzy intends to start the fire but its her siblings who actually ignite it. Why did you make that change? Celeste Ngs book is so beautifully nuanced, and it was a real challenge to figure out how to bring to life the interior thoughts, the prose, the back stories. I felt like the ending was a place where we could go even deeper into the layers and the complexity. While we certainly didnt want to rule out the possibility that it could be Izzy, we had an opportunity to create this mystery that it could have been anybody. At first, I started kicking around the idea that it could be Elena, because that would be taking a character to the furthest point. But we wondered if that would be believable. So then I kicked around different ideas about the siblings: Could it be Lexie? Could it be Moody? Could it be Trip? And then I thought, What if it didnt have to be one person? What if it was all three? coronavirus uk Getty The UK's coronavirus death toll is probably more than double the government's official figure, according to a new analysis by the Financial Times. The analysis puts the likely real death toll in the country from the pandemic above 41,000, more than double the latest official figure of 17,337. This is a "conservative" estimate based on Office for National Statistics data about the total "excess" number of deaths in the country, the Financial Times said. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. The UK's real coronavirus death toll is probably more than double the government's official figure, according to a stark new analysis published Wednesday. The latest official statistics, released Tuesday by the Department of Health, suggest that 17,337 people in UK hospitals have died after testing positive for COVID-19. These numbers do not include people who die of COVID-19 outside hospitals, however, or those who have died indirectly because of the pandemic, perhaps fearful to seek treatment for other conditions. The Office of National Statistics this week released figures suggesting that the overall number of deaths registered in England and Wales for the week that ended April 10 was 75% higher than historical averages and at its highest level in more than 20 years. The Financial Times has used this ONS data for "excess deaths" and accounted for delays in reporting and longer-term mortality trends to estimate that the actual number of pandemic-related deaths in the UK was 41,102. The newspaper described this as a "conservative" estimate. If accurate, it would mean the UK is faring much worse than the government had predicted. The UK's chief scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance, said on March 17 that a death toll of 20,000 and below would be a "good outcome" for the country. The new estimate would mean the UK had already more than doubled that outcome with hundreds of additional deaths still being reported every day. Story continues It would also support a recent prediction by Jeremy Farrar, a medical expert who is advising the government's coronavirus response, that the UK might become the "worst affected" country in Europe. UK under pressure to change how it records coronavirus deaths A volunteer marking coffins at Central Jamia Mosque Ghamkol Sharif in Birmingham, England, which is operating a temporary morgue during the COVID-19 pandemic. Getty Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government is under growing pressure to change how it presents the UK's death toll. Care providers have said hundreds of elderly people in care homes are dying from the coronavirus but not being included in the government's daily figures. Other countries, such as France, already include these figures in their death counts. The number of people who died in care homes after catching the coronavirus was 1,043 up until April 10, according to the ONS. This was a big increase on the 217 recorded the week before and suggests the number of people dying in care homes is much higher than the UK government has suggested. "The government must now publish daily figures of COVID-19 deaths outside hospital, including in care homes, so we know the true scale of the problem," said Liz Kendall, the Labour Party's shadow minister for social care. "This is essential to tackling the spread of the virus, ensuing social care has the resources it needs and getting vital PPE and testing to care workers on the front line." Read the original article on Business Insider Students of two prominent universities in West Bengal have raised money and provided financial assistance to casual workers of the institutes, shut since March 16 in the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak. Students of the Presidency University have recently given Rs 1,000 each to eight casual workers of the Hindu Hostel and a hawker while those of the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST), Shibpur have given Rs 2,000 each to 35 canteen staff. "This is a small contribution from us to help these people who are in dire straits with virtually no earning due to closure of the university. "We know this amount is very little to provide them relief but we want to tell them that we are always by their side," Presidency University Students' Council President Mimosa Ghorai told PTI on Wednesday. The IIEST pupils have formed 'Quarantined Shibpur Students' Collective' and raised the money this month for the initiative, BTech student Saptadeepa Chowdhury said. The balance amount of the total money raised for the initiative has been used for buying rice, pulses, edible oil, soya beans and soap for them, she said. "We are also providing financial aid to those running coffee shops, laundry and other similar establishments on the campus," another student said. The initiatives have been lauded by the faculty members and netizens on social media. "The students have shown how they can rise to the occasion. We are proud of them," an IIEST faculty member said. "Laal Selaam to Presidency University Students' Council for standing by Badam Kaku, Ananda Da and the mess staff of Hindu Hostel," a netizen commented on a Facebook post by a student on the initiative. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) We are members of the Class of 2020. In the last few weeks, youve heard about us as the class who wont get to go to prom, throw a senior prank, or share a normal graduation with our classmates and families. These things are true, but more importantly, you should know us as the class that started kindergarten in 2007, the year the Great Recession hit. We have been living with the consequences ever since. In Philadelphia, this means that we have spent much of our education in classrooms with too many students, in schools without enough nurses and counselors, and under roofs that leak and may be contaminated with environmental hazards. In our specific experience, we have faced classrooms that lacked supplies, libraries without books, and a district with little available technology for students. Despite these challenges, we have made it through. And we were proud to be leaving a better and stronger public education system behind us. After significant work and advocacy by our school communities, district leaders, and elected officials, public education in Philadelphia is on the rise. Our school system is no longer in fiscal distress. The district has been slowly restoring staffing levels. Across Philadelphia, the academic performance of our public schools is starting to improve. And the district was once again about to have a balanced budget that would allow for more investments in our schools. But this is now all in serious jeopardy due to the projected financial impact of COVID-19. READ MORE: Are Philly schools waiting too long to get students online after the coronavirus closures? We dont have the full financial picture yet, but the district is already expected to lose $60 million before July, and Mayor Jim Kenney has made clear statements that he expects next years city budget to be dire. So at this critical moment, we are asking our Philadelphia community to honor the Class of 2020 by ensuring that tomorrows public education students do not experience the educational hardships that we have lived. They deserve better. READ MORE: The pandemic has upended education for all children. For those with disabilities, the challenges are greater. In honor of the Class of 2020, here is what we ask our Philadelphia community (including board members, teachers, students, parents, and families) to do to safeguard the education of all future classes: Write to the governor and your state legislators today and tell them that education funding is too important to cut. Tell them not to send our schools backward. The state must continue to fund education at its current level and send federal stimulus funding directly to schools and districts. HELP US REPORT: Are you a health-care worker, medical provider, government worker, patient, frontline worker, or other expert? We want to hear from you. Finally, tell them about a public education student you know, and why their educational future is too important to jeopardize. Doha Ibrahim is a senior at Lincoln High School and is a student representative on the Philadelphia Board of Education. Imere Williams is a senior at Boys Latin of Philadelphia and is a student representative on the Philadelphia Board of Education. A devastated daughter who lost both parents to Covid-19 within hours of each other has called for cemeteries in Northern Ireland to be reopened to the public. Fiona Vallely's father Christopher (79), who was better known as Arty, and mother Isobel (77) died just 12 hours apart in the same room at the Mater Hospital in their native Belfast on March 28. The couple, who had been married for 53 years, had a joint funeral Mass which was watched remotely by their loved ones ahead of Arty's cremation and Isobel's interment at Milltown Cemetery. Fiona (40) said not to be able to visit her mum's grave following her burial was "really heartbreaking". "I didn't realise I wouldn't be able to see the wreaths and flowers on her grave afterwards," she said. "Under usual circumstances you could visit her final resting place and have a quiet moment. "I believe that cemeteries should be open but, having said that, I understand why it may be difficult at this present time." Fiona, who is based in Tenerife, but returned to Belfast to care for her mother when she had a stroke seven months ago, suggested the implementation of social distancing guidelines. She said people "will need to respect the rules". "Maybe there's a way of not opening cemeteries completely, or letting families visit at certain times, or by appointment," she added. "Only a certain number of people should be allowed in at a time because of coronavirus." Fiona said that losing her parents was especially hard for her and brothers Mark (43) and Chris (47) as it happened so publicly and at such speed. "It was all so surreal," she said. "I understand why there are restrictions, but some parks are open and people are walking around and I can't see the difference between them and cemeteries. "It can also be difficult to keep your distance in supermarket aisles, even though numbers are restricted, whereas cemeteries are big open spaces. "If they reopened the cemeteries, the first thing that I would do is visit mum." Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang's Regular Press Conference on April 22, 2020 2020/04/22 China News Service: The COVID-19 situation outside China is still severe, with a surge of confirmed and fatal cases in some countries. Many overseas Chinese citizens have encountered various difficulties and are worried about their health and whether they can continue with their work and study business-as-usual. What kind of help has the Chinese government and overseas diplomatic missions provided to them and have their concerns been effectively addressed ? Geng Shuang: The global spread of COVID-19 poses a sustaining threat to the health and safety of Chinese citizens overseas. The Party and Government in China always put all Chinese compatriots' safety and health in the first place. President Xi Jinping has on many occasions made instructions to strengthen guidance and support for Chinese citizens abroad in epidemic prevention and control and convey the solicitude of the Party and Government. Since the outbreak began, President Xi Jinping has spoken by phone 40 times with 32 leaders of countries and heads of international organizations, and Premier Li Keqiang has spoken by phone 12 times with 11 leaders of countries and heads of international organizations, and State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi has spoken by phone 66 times with 46 foreign ministers and heads of three international organizations. During these calls, the Chinese leaders urged the foreign sides to take effective measures to protect the health, safety and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens and offer them necessary convenience with regard to their stay and everyday life. The foreign ministry and diplomatic missions overseas have firmly and fully implemented the CPC Central Committee's decisions and instructions, drawing on various resources we have access to offer timely help and support for Chinese citizens abroad. Our efforts can be summarized in the following aspects: First, we have been in close contact with the host countries' governments and departments in charge of diplomacy, health, education, police and immigration to facilitate visa extension and medical diagnosis and treatment for Chinese citizens and ensure their safety. Second, we have upgraded information services and made them more readily available to overseas Chinese citizens by setting up new consular protection hotline and creating WeChat groups. In the past two months or so, the 12308 consular protection hotline of the Foreign Ministry has received nearly 170,000 calls, three times the number for the same period last year. Third, we have assisted Chinese citizens who have been confirmed with or suspected of infections in getting timely medical help and followed up with their conditions while urging host countries to spare no effort in their treatment. We have raised urgently-needed epidemic prevention materials in a short time and distributed them via different channels to Chinese citizens abroad, taking the heat out of their pressing situation. Embassies and consulates in the US, the UK, Russia, Japan, Germany and other countries arranged for heads of mission or organized Chinese medical experts to conduct virtual exchanges with Chinese people living, working and studying there, offering professional medical advice and psychological counseling and recommending domestic online health consulting services to them. Fourth, for those Chinese citizens in severely affected countries who are in real difficulty and in urgent need of returning home, the Foreign Ministry and other involved departments, with coordinated efforts and resources, sent out temporary flights to bring them home in a gradual and orderly way. Fifth, we have given priority to overseas students. We look after these students as if they were our own children. By early April, the foreign ministry has coordinated with various departments to raise, allocate and distribute more than 500,000 health kits to overseas Chinese students. A number of Chinese embassies and consulates have set up hotlines for parents who are in China and reached out to underage students to address their practical difficulties. These measures effectively alleviated the anxiety of overseas compatriots and played a stabilizing, encouraging and positive role in their lives and their response to the pandemic. The mutual help and warmth and love from overseas embassies and consulates have won high recognition and universal praise from our compatriots at home and abroad, which has further aroused their patriotism and inspired all diplomatic personnel to do a better job. In accordance with the requirements and instructions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on the normalization of epidemic prevention and control, we will continue to coordinate with relevant parties to actively implement anti-epidemic measures, provide more help and support to Chinese compatriots overseas in a timely manner, and make joint efforts to achieve the final victory over the pandemic. TASS News Agency: Attorney General Eric Schmitt of the State of Missouri filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Chinese government in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri over the coronavirus, alleging that Chinese officials are "responsible for the enormous death, suffering, and economic losses they inflicted on the world, including Missourians". Does the Chinese Foreign Ministry have any comments on this allegation? Geng Shuang: This kind of "lawsuit" has no factual or legal basis. It only invites ridicule. Since the outbreak began, the Chinese government has been nothing but open, transparent and responsible in timely informing the WHO and relevant countries and regions including the US of pandemic-related information. We have shared the genome sequence of the virus, actively responded to the concerns of all parties and strengthened cooperation with the international community. Recently, we used a timeline to detail our exchange of information with the US. Since January 3, China has been regularly updating all countries including the US on the latest development of the situation. The US has unfettered access to information and data from China. China has made significant contributions to the global fight against the pandemic. The international community bears witness to and highly commends this. Such lawsuit is nothing short of frivolous litigation which defies the basic theory of the law. Based on the principle of sovereign equality prescribed by international law, US courts have no jurisdiction over the sovereign actions taken by Chinese governments of all levels in response to the epidemic. Such frivolous litigation will not help the US with its epidemic response, nor will it contribute to the global cooperation in this regard. The right course of action for the US side is to dismiss this abusive lawsuit. AFP: According to a study released yesterday from the Pew Research Center, 66 percent of Americans have an unfavorable view of China. What's your comment? Geng Shuang: A friendly China-US relationship is the aspiration of people in both countries and serves the two sides' common interests. It is our consistent belief that China and the US stand to gain from cooperation, which is the only right choice, and lose from confrontation. We hope the US will work with China for the same goal, manage differences on the basis of mutual respect, expand mutually-beneficial cooperation and jointly advance a bilateral relationship featuring coordination, cooperation and stability. CCTV: On April 17, Jack Ma sat down with News 1+1 for an interview. When asked how to respond to criticism on his donations to foreign countries, he said that probably in any country, 99 percent are good people and 1 percent are brain-damaged, and if we focus too much on the 1 percent and lose sight of the 99 percent, it would be too sad. What is your comment? And could you update us on the assistance China has offered to the world? Geng Shuang: Mr. Jack Ma was being very candid and straightforward. As a foreign ministry spokesperson, I'd like to say that in the face of major disasters and plagues, selfishness, hatred or acrimony is never the right choice. It is good conscience, mutual assistance and gratitude that gives us strength. We will never forget the sincere help and strong support we received from the international community after the outbreak of COVID-19. Despite the high pressure of guarding against domestic resurgence and imported cases, China has been offering assistance to others as its ability permits. According to statistics on hand, the Chinese government has provided or is providing urgently-needed medical supplies to more than 150 countries and international organizations. We are also facilitating other countries' commercial purchase in China. At the same time, many Chinese enterprises, civil organizations and localities including the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation have also been extending a helping hand to foreign countries. These acts of kindness embody the traditional Chinese virtue of reciprocating kindness as well as the Chinese people's big heart and humanitarian spirit. It is also a vivid illustration and good practice of the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind that demonstrates China's sense of global responsibility as a major country. The virus is a common enemy of all human beings. We can only win this global fight by pulling together. China will continue to do the right thing, provide assistance to others as its capacity permits, and work with the international community to secure the final victory against the pandemic. Beijing Media Network: On the night of April 19, medical supplies purchased from and donated by China were delivered via Russian military aircraft from Shanghai to Chisinau, Moldova. In a press interview at the airport, the Moldovan President Dodon thanked Russia and China for their help, saying it's the best Easter present for the Moldovan people. I wonder if you have any comment? Geng Shuang: China-Moldova friendly cooperation has been developing with a good momentum in recent years. After the COVID-19 broke out, Moldova gave China support. President Dodon sent President Xi a letter of sympathies at the earliest time possible. In return, China has also provided support to Moldova to the best of its ability. The practice of mutual assistance demonstrates deep friendship between our two peoples. China and Russia, as comprehensive strategic partners of coordination for a new era, have been closely cooperating to fight COVID-19 and promoting concerted international response. Upholding the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind, China will continue cooperating with all countries to jointly safeguard global public health security. Shenzhen TV: Australian reports say that an Australian plane carrying aid to cyclone-struck Vanuatu was unable to land as scheduled on April 12 as a Chinese plane with medical supplies for Vanuatu was on the tarmac of Port Vila Airport for too long. Could you confirm this? Australian foreign minister Marise Payne said in an interview that Australia had raised concern with the Chinese side over the regrettable delay of its humanitarian aid shipment. What's your comment? Geng Shuang: The reports you cited were not accurate. We regret and disapprove the false expressions used by the Australian side. An Australian civil aviation expert believed technical reasons led to the delayed unloading of supplies from the Chinese cargo plane, as a result of which the Australian aircraft was unable to land. The expert also said this is very common in small airports and called on Australian media to reject conspiracy theories. These views are objective and just. I want to stress that China relates to the difficulties and challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic to Pacific island countries and will continue to join the international community in offering assistance to them, including Vanuatu. We also stand ready to step up cooperation with Australia on this. As China helps Pacific island countries combat the virus, Australian media should not resort to malicious hype-up with political calculations, and certain Australian politicians should not aid and abet such attempts with ulterior motives. We hope certain individuals in Australia will discard the zero-sum game mindset, help island countries' pandemic response, and work to enhance mutual trust and cooperation between China and Australia. Reuters: I have a question about the fast-tracking entry into China for foreign nationals. The electronics firm Samsung has confirmed its engineers from South Korea are traveling today to Xi'an. I want to ask are these workers subject to quarantine in China? Or does the fast track agreement with South Korea and indeed potentially with other countries allow such workers to skip quarantine if they meet certain conditions? Geng Shuang: Yesterday I shared information on China's discussion with relevant countries regarding the establishment of fast tracks for urgent essential travels including for business and technical purposes. The aim is to stabilize important economic and trade cooperation while guaranteeing epidemic prevention and control, and to ensure safe and smooth operation of the international industrial and supply chains. As I also said, China and the ROK have reached principled consensus on this. As to the specific incident you mentioned, including with regard to the Samsung engineers to Xi'an, I'm not aware of it and can only update you later. China Daily: Recently some US Republican lawmakers including Tom Cotton, Josh Hawley, Marsha Blackburn, Ted Cruz, Jason Smith introduced successive bills accusing China of covering up the COVID-19 pandemic and calling for investigation and compensation. What's your comment? Geng Shuang: A handful of US politicians, in a bid to find a scapegoat for their inefficient response, disregard facts to denigrate and smear China and even resort to tireless political maneuvering. At a crucial moment when solidarity is needed, they are disrupting China-US cooperation. This defies people's wishes and cannot make the situation in the US any better. We advise them to focus on fighting COVID-19 and saving American lives, instead of preoccupying themselves with deflecting attention and shifting the blame. Please stop spreading political viruses on top of the novel coronavirus that we are already doing all we can to fight. AFP: Yesterday Canadian Prime Minister said that two planes sent to China to pick up shipments of medical supplies were forced to return to Canada empty. He said it was because of China's ground time limit for charter flights. Can you confirm this news and do you have any comment on that? Geng Shuang: Since the outbreak of COVID-19, China and Canada have been offering each other support and assistance and conducting anti-pandemic cooperation. Recently, the Canadian side has purchased medical supplies through various channels in China and sent charter flights to Shanghai to bring them home. China has been assisting and facilitating the Canadian side in its purchase, customs clearance and charter flight permits. The Canadian side has also expressed thanks for this on various occasions. As to the incident involving two Canadian flights returning empty, we have checked with the competent department and found relevant reports to be inaccurate. Relevant airports and civil aviation authorities place no limit on the ground time of chartered cargo planes. The Paper: On April 21, White House National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien, when pressed to answer how the US plans to hold China accountable, said that the US has many tools at its disposal, including lawsuits in the US against China, and also China has enormous assets around the world, so let's see what comes out of that. What is your comment? Geng Shuang: I already responded to a question about such litigation and won't repeat myself. I will just stress that the virus knows no borders and this pandemic is the common enemy of mankind. It is pretty clear now that some people are deflecting their responsibility mainly to cover up their own problems. They'd better invest more time and efforts on their own business and take good care of their people with concrete actions. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States Wed, April 22, 2020 09:50 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd3724ac 2 World coronavirus,COVID-19,COVID-19-drugs,Hydroxychloroquine,chloroquine-drugs Free A malaria drug widely touted as a potential cure for COVID-19 showed no benefit against the disease over standard care -- and was in fact associated with more deaths, the biggest study of its kind showed Tuesday. The US government funded analysis of how American military veterans fared on hydroxychloroquine was posted on a medical preprint site and has not yet been peer reviewed. The experiment had several important limitations, but adds to a growing body of doubt over the efficacy of the medicine that counts President Donald Trump and right wing news channel Fox News among its biggest backers. Researchers looked at the medical records of 368 veterans hospitalized nationwide who either died or were discharged by April 11. Death rates for patients on hydroxychloroquine were 28 percent, compared to 22 percent when it was taken with the anti-biotic azithromycin -- a combination favored by French scientist Didier Raoult, whose study on the subject in March triggered a surge of global interest in the drug. The death rate for those receiving only standard care was 11 percent. Hydroxychloroquine, with or without azithromycin, was more likely to be prescribed to patients with more severe illness, but the authors found that increased mortality persisted even after they statistically adjusted for higher rates of use. Other drawbacks include the fact that the study did not assign people randomly to groups, because it was a retrospective analysis meaning it looked back on what had already happened. In addition, the results are hard to generalize because the population was highly specific: most of the patients were male, with a median age over 65, and black, a group that is disproportionately affected by underlying illnesses like diabetes and heart disease. There was no added risk of being on ventilator among the hydroxychloroquine only group, leading the authors to suggest that increased mortality among this group might be attributable to side-effects outside the respiratory system. Previous research has found that the medicine is risky for patients with certain heart rhythm issues and can cause blackouts, seizures or at times cardiac arrest in this group. Hydroxychloroquine and a related compound chloroquine have been used for decades to treat malaria, as well as the autoimmune disorders lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. They have received significant attention during the novel coronavirus pandemic and have been shown in lab settings to block the virus from entering cells and prevent it replicating -- but in the pharmaceutical world, "in vitro" promise often fails to translate into "in vivo" success. The true answer can only be determined through very large, randomized clinical trials that assign patients to receive either the drug under investigation or a placebo. Several of these are underway, including notably in the United States, Europe, Canada and the United Kingdom. The company said in a statement that it was not aware of how The Shark Group would gain access to our respirators as it is not an authorized distributor of 3M products or one of our channel partners. It added that 3Ms list prices are far lower than what appears to have been offered to the State of Florida. The statement added: 3M is filing lawsuits in cases where third parties use the companys name, brand or trademark to engage in price gouging of N95 respirators and other illegal and unethical behavior. We have no knowledge of whether that occurred in this situation. We are happy, though, to assist law enforcement authorities if they wish to look into this matter. A spokesman for the Florida attorney general said on Wednesday that the office did not have enough information to comment on the matter. In a statement on Wednesday, Mr. John criticized news media reports about the deal and defended his involvement. Let me be clear, he wrote, proper reporting would have shown I did not set any prices and that my team worked with the State of Florida to: 1. Save lives 2. Help vet the overwhelming amount of incoming PPE offerings based on my manufacturing expertise and guide them how to best do this 3. Play a pivotal role to stop pricing gouging, and successfully identify potential fraud and theft of PPE product to protect taxpayers funds. VANCOUVER, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Oroco Resource Corp. (TSX-V: OCO) ("Oroco" or "the Company") announces that it has filed on SEDAR a revised Technical Report (the "Revised Report") on the core concessions of the Santo Tomas Project. The Revised Report, entitled "Geology, Mineralization, and Exploration of the Santo Tomas Cu-(Mo-Au-Ag) Porphyry Deposit,", authored by D.A. Bridge, P. Geol., has been filed in response to comments from the British Columbia Securities Commission. Key revisions focused on the format and cautionary parameters around the disclosure of historical mineral resource estimates. There are no material differences between the Revised Report and the original report disclosed in the Company's news release of September 9, 2019. A copy of the Revised Report can be found on the Company's website at www.orocoresourcecorp.com or under the Company's profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). Mr. Paul McGuigan, P. Geo., of Cambria Geosciences Inc., a Qualified Person under NI 43-101 and a senior consulting geoscientist to the Company, has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure in this news release. ABOUT OROCO: The Company holds a net 61.4% interest in the collective 1,172.9 ha core concessions of the Santo Tomas Project in NW Mexico and may increase that majority interest up to an 81.0% interest with a project investment of up to CAD$30 million. The Company also holds a 77.5% interest in 7,807.9 ha of mineral concessions surrounding and adjacent to the core concessions (for a total project area of 22,192 acres). The Project is situated within the Santo Tomas District, which extends from Santo Tomas up to the Jinchuan Group's Bahuerachi project, approximately 14 km to the north-east. Santo Tomas hosts a significant copper porphyry deposit defined by prior exploration spanning the period from 1968 to 1994. During that time, the property was tested by over 100 diamond and reverse circulation drill holes, totaling approximately 30,000 meters. Based on data generated by these drill programs, a historical Prefeasibility Study was completed by Bateman Engineering Inc. in 1994. The Santo Tomas Project is located within 160km of the Pacific deep-water port at Topolobampo and is serviced via highway and proximal rail (and parallel corridors of trunk grid power lines and natural gas) through the city of Los Mochis to the northern city of Choix. The property is reached by a 32 km access road originally built to service Goldcorp's El Sauzal Mine in Chihuahua State. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Information This news release includes certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact included herein, including without limitation, statements relating to future events or achievements of the Company, are forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that such forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated or implied in such statements. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release concerning these matters. Oroco does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements should they change, except as required by law. SOURCE Oroco Resource Corp. Related Links www.orocoresourcecorp.com [April 22, 2020] BrightHR Launches New Furlough Navigator to Support UK Businesses MANCHESTER, England, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- BrightHR, the international HR software and employment law advice service, has announced a media campaign to promote the release of an innovative new tool, the Furlough Navigator, to support UK businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. The unique Furlough Navigator gives business owners one place to record and seek guidance on all things furlough. The tool also offers users a clear view of whose on furlough, for how long and who's still working, so employers can continue to weigh up their team's availability during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, with BrightHR's unlimited document storage space, clients can store all their furlough correspondence and job retention claims information for five years in line with government guidance. Along with the Furlough Navigator, users of BrightHR can access expert HR and employment law support through the BrightAdvice helpline. Their UK-based legal specialists are on hand to help employers throughout the whole furlough process and are available 24/7 to answer questions. With the UK government confirming high usage of Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (April 21st), the tool has already been in high-demand among BrightHR's 330,000 users. With clients binning pen and pads for the simple and effetive, Furlough Navigator. Alan Price, CEO at BrightHR, said: "Once the COVID-19 pandemic started to impact our clients, we saw their people management priorities change overnight. We recognised this and wanted to help them navigate through these uncharted waters. We did this by changing the focus of our entire development team so that it only built features to help customers manage the current situation. "We pivoted very fast, stripping back features to make them as simple as possible and get them into the hands of our clients as quickly as possible. The data determined our decisions, as once we saw a shift in the type of features employers were using, we took action." Price added: "It's our mission at BrightHR to make it easier for employers to run their business. Right now, it's really tough and many are struggling, especially in the charity sector. With that in mind, BrightHR is teaming up with NCVO, the champions of the voluntary sector, to give their members a 25% discount off all BrightHR software and services." Andrew Walkey, Head of Membership and Enterprise at NCVO, told us: "Charities are playing a vital role in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, however many have also taken a serious financial hit and are in desperate need of support. Charities will be reluctant to furlough staff at a time when they're most needed, but they may also choose to do so in order to ensure their long-term sustainability. Every penny really counts at the moment, so it's enormously helpful that BrightHR, will be offering a discount to charities at such a difficult time.' BrightHR is inviting businesses to book a free demo today to see how quick and easy the new Furlough Navigator makes the whole furlough process. You can call them on 0800 783 2806 or book your free demo at brighthr.com. About BrightHR BrightHR is an international HR software and employment law advice service. Its cloud-based software offers users a single place to record their employees' absences, respond to annual leave requests, and make shifts and rosters. BrightHR also offers 24/7 employment law advice, expert health & safety support, a confidential employee wellbeing service and much more. For more information about the Furlough Navigator and BrightHR, visit: https://www.brighthr.com/hr-software/furlough-tracker Media Enquiries: [email protected] +44 (0)161-830-2405 +44 (0)784-275-6471 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] YEREVAN. The Azerbaijani side views Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) as a territory, we, the Armenian side, consider it as security, and security is not subject to concessions. Armenias parliament majority My Step faction member Ruben Rubinyan, who is also Chair of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Relations, stated this in a talk with journalists in parliament on Wednesday, referring to the statement made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday. When asked whether this means that Lavrov's statement is not true, Rubinyan answered. "I am telling the truth, and Armenias Foreign Minister said the truth yesterday." To a journalist's remark that perhaps the Armenian side demand clarification as to why the Russian side makes such statement which, according to the Armenian side, is a lie, Rubinyan said. "First of all, the Armenian side said what it said. The Armenian side presented the situation and its positions, and the Russian Foreign Minister presented his position, or his perception. I think that if necessary, our possible actions, or the lack or the type of actions, will be decided at the Foreign Ministry." Asked whether Lavrov's statement can be considered as Russia's support to Azerbaijan, Rubinyan responded. "The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are mainly balanced in their positions. There may be different interpretations as to why this or that statement is being made. The Armenian parliament majority member also touched upon the content of the Karabakh peace talks. "There is no document on the negotiating table. It has been repeatedly stated at the highest level that no document is being discussed. But, for example, it has been said for years that there are negotiation principles and elements, they are generally discussing how the parties imagine, or perceive those elements. And to a journalist's remark that the Armenian side says there is no document, whereas Lavrov says there is, Ruben Rubinyan said as follows, in particular: "I am telling the truth, I am making a reference to Armenias Minister of Foreign Affairs; he presented the situation and the position of the Republic of Armenia more than clear and simple yesterday." Lawmakers and the White House agreed on nearly $484 billion in new aid for small businesses, hospitals and testing efforts. Italy announced plans to begin easing its lockdown, the most severe in Europe, probably by early May. Some cherished national traditions are canceled: Oktoberfest in Germany; the running of the bulls in Spain. Get the latest updates here, plus maps and full coverage Moves to relax rules in some states run into resistance The governors of some states, including Georgia, are easing stay-at-home orders and allowing some businesses to reopen, despite immense criticism and loud warnings from public health experts that the coronavirus outbreak has not leveled off. Otherwise eager business owners and mayors of cities large and small are pushing back, arguing that testing is not widespread enough to reopen safely, and that doing so too soon could spark another wave of infections. That could be setting us back, Anthony S. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said of the moves to reopen. It certainly isnt going to be helpful. Staring Friday, people in Georgia, which has more than 19,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 800 deaths, will be able to go to the gym or get a haircut, pedicure or tattoo. Next Monday, the states restaurants and movie theaters will be permitted to reopen. U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia didnt mince words on Tuesday in describing Texass slow progress on testing for the coronavirus. Texas is nowhere near where it needs to be in testing, especially as the state is taking steps to reopen our economy, the Houston Democrat said. We have a responsibility to keep our constituents safe and cannot allow for vulnerable communities like African Americans, Latinos, and senior citizens to be left behind in our efforts to fully tackle COVID-19. Garcias comments come as she and U.S. Rep. Al Green, D-Houston, sent letters to Gov. Greg Abbott and the Federal Emergency Management Agency calling for more mobile testing units, especially in vulnerable communities. TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox Their pressure on Abbott and FEMA comes as the governor points to an increase in testing. Just since Monday, the state reported a 15,000-test increase the biggest one-day jump since the pandemic began spreading in the U.S. Texas has still conducted far fewer tests for COVID-19 than other big states. Florida and New York, each with nearly 10 million fewer people than Texas, both have tested far more people. As of late Tuesday, Florida had tested 284,206 people for the virus and has almost 28,000 positive cases. Texas has tested 205,399 people and has just over 20,000 confirmed cases. New York has tested over 649,000 people and has more than 295,000 positive cases. Even smaller states such as Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma have been testing at a higher rate per capita than Texas according to a Houston Chronicle analysis. On Monday, Abbott announced that the Texas National Guard will set up 25 mobile testing centers around the state as Texas tries to boost its testing capabilities. Abbott said each of the mobile sites will be able to test up to 150 people per day. Elyse Knowles has spoken candidly about the effect of the global coronavirus pandemic on the environment. In an interview with A Conscious Collection on Wednesday for Earth Day, the 27-year-old model called the deadly outbreak of the disease a 'gift' for the planet. 'While the spread of coronavirus has been devastating in countless ways, if we look for a silver-lining well find the gift its given our planet,' she said. As of Wednesday evening, there have been 2,578,930 confirmed cases of COVID-19 globally, which have resulted in 178,096 deaths. 'Our world can take a breath and re-set': Elyse Knowles (pictured) said the global coronavirus pandemic has been a 'gift' for the 'planet' in an interview with A Conscious Collection on Wednesday for Earth Day The Myer ambassador went on to list the benefits including cleaner air, 'glistening' beaches and rivers and wildlife enjoying 'a safer home' as people stay home to practise social distancing. 'Mother Nature has proven to us all that by minimising the collective human footprint, our world can take a breath and re-set,' she continued. 'Its ignited the fire in my belly to keep advocating for positive change! We have ONE world. We have to treat it with absolute care.' Elyse is a passionate environmental advocate who moved to Byron Bay with her boyfriend Josh Barker last year in order to live a more environmentally conscious life. 'We have ONE world. We have to treat it with absolute care': The former reality star said seeing the changes in the environment as people stay home to practise social distancing has 'ignited a fire' in her belly to 'keep advocating' Meanwhile, Elyse was criticised last month for sharing photos from her camping trip to Moreton Island in Queensland. The former Block contestant left fans fuming after she uploaded a picture of herself and Josh alongside a gushing caption about their 'magical week'. Responding to the backlash, Elyse explained that she hadn't been aware of the severity of the pandemic when she and Josh set out on their holiday. 'Tone deaf': Elyse and her boyfriend, Josh Barker (left), landed themselves in hot water after sharing photos from their camping holiday taken during the coronavirus pandemic 'A lot has changed in a week, let alone daily. We were away last week, and it was more so we weren't near anyone,' she wrote. As soon as they became aware of the severity of the situation, she said, they made every effort to return home to Byron Bay. There are currently 6,647 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Australia, with 74 deaths. (Bloomberg) -- Ericsson AB said Europe risks falling further behind on fifth-generation networks as phone carriers postpone upgrades to the latest cellular technology due to coronavirus lockdowns. The pandemic is already making it harder for the communications equipment supplier to deliver its services, though this had only a limited effect on operating income and cashflow during the first quarter, the company said in a statement. Key Insights Ericsson and peers such as Nokia Oyj are seen as relatively insulated from the virus pandemic as demand for communication services is holding up with the shift to home working and schooling.However, the pandemic has led to the postponement of European 5G spectrum auctions in countries including Spain, Austria and Poland, and a U.K. auction scheduled for the second quarter could also be delayed.A general pushback in 5G investments would be a setback for Ericsson, which has gone through a turnaround under Chief Executive Officer Borje Ekholm by focusing on the development of a competitive 5G product portfolio.Ekholm said there is near-term uncertainty around sales volumes due to Covid-19 and the macroeconomic situation, but with current visibility we have no reason to change our financial targets for 2020 and 2022. Market Context A rebound in Ericsson stock that began in mid-March, driven by optimism that it can weather the pandemic relatively unscathed, has erased most of its decline since the start of the year. Get More Ekholm said Ericsson still sees the market for radio access networks growing 4% this year, though sequential sales growth in the second quarter will be somewhat lower than normal.The risk of 5G investment delays means that Europe may fall behind on a critical digital infrastructure for the future, he said. We believe governments should encourage 5G investments as a way to restart economies.See the numbers here (Adds comment from CEO at end) For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ari Altstedter (Bloomberg) New Delhi, India Wed, April 22, 2020 17:15 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd39704d 2 World India,COVID-19,doctor,nurses,harrasment Free Doctors withdrew their plan to light candles in homes and hospitals across India, after Prime Minister Narendra Modis government promised to ensure their safety against rising violence over fears medical staff are spreading the deadly coronavirus. The Indian Medical Association had planned the silent protest for 9 p.m. on Wednesday, a stark parallel to Modis own exercise a few days earlier, when he urged Indians to light lamps to honor and support doctors. Home Minister Amit Shah, Modis confidante, appealed to the IMA not to hold even a symbolic protest and assured them of safety and support. He has assured that government of India will take all necessary steps and come out shortly with relevant legislations to address the safety and dignity of doctors and healthcare givers, the IMA said in a statement Wednesday. It said it is withdrawing the protest to maintain the unity and integrity of our country. While a backlash against doctors has been seen from Australia to the Philippines, its proving more widespread and intense in India, where trust in the healthcare system was already low, misinformation is rampant on social media, and tensions are mounting as the countrys strictly enforced 40-day lockdown drags on. Indian doctors over recent weeks have endured campaigns from their neighbors to force them out of apartment buildings, been attacked by a mob while tracing contacts of a coronavirus case through the slums, and have also been stopped by police and beaten with batons on the way back home from an emergency shift. The final straw was an attack on a convoy carrying the body of a doctor who died of Covid-19. Local media published reports on how his family and friends were attacked by mobs wielding sticks and stones as they tried to bury him, and his colleagues broke down on TV as they narrated the ordeal. IMA has maintained utmost restraint and patience inspite of extreme provocation, the IMA had previously said, while calling for the protest. If dignity is denied even in death, our patience and restraint lose their value. The nation has pulled together to face the myriad challenges posed by coronavirus which is why it was so important this week for Prime Minister Scott Morrison to call out those targeting Chinese-Australians. The 1.2 million-strong community has been the target of slurs, juvenile xenophobia in The Daily Telegraph, vandalism and even physical attacks: COVID-19 China Die was spray painted on the house of a Chinese family in the Melbourne suburb of Knoxville on Monday; a Chinese-Australian councillor in the South Australian city of Salisbury was spat at by a passerby who blamed her for the pandemic; and the Australian Human Rights Commission has reported that about one in four complaints made to it under the federal Race Discrimination Act in February and March were from Asians with similar stories. A group of 16 Chinese-Australians, including Herald contributors Benjamin Law and Adam Liaw, penned an open letter this month warning this racial vilification posed a threat to national unity. The letter has received bipartisan support from ALP Senator Penny Wong and Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg. Another 30,000 have signed the petition. It should go without saying that Chinese-Australians are not to blame for the pandemic or for the mistakes which the Chinese Communist Party undoubtedly made in January when it failed to control the spread of the virus. Yet a number of other unfortunate claims are sometimes made which should be challenged. Some mistakenly blame Chinese people returning from visits home for spreading the virus here. In a normal year, the departures of the two top Republicans in the General Assembly would create a seismic shift in the legislative pecking order. The coronavirus pandemic, which has essentially ended the 2020 legislative session before it had a chance to get off the ground, makes the year anything but normal. House Minority Leader Themis Klarides abrupt announcement Tuesday that she would not seek re-election, on the heels of Senate Minority Leader Len Fasanos recently revealed retirement at the end of the year, usher in an eventual reshuffling for 2021 even as the legislature works to salvage progress for 2020. Veteran Deputy House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, appears to have an unimpeded path to moving a couple chairs over, to the aisle seat occupied by generations of Republican leaders. An eventual successor to Fasano in the Senate seems more complicated. Both Sen. Kevin Witkos of Canton, Fasanos top deputy, and Sen. Kevin Kelly of Stratford, the leading Republican on three legislative committees including insurance, said Wednesday they are interested in the job. Kelly and Witkos also agree there are a lot of unknowns in the months to go before the November election and an eventual vote on leadership in the Senate next January, when the next General Assembly takes office. Fasano said its up to the Senate caucus to decide. Right now both Witkos and Kelly, like all state lawmakers, are focused on the real-world problems in the pandemic, including assisting constituents navigating the myriad issues they face, from accessing benefits to dealing with a grim business climate. Witkos, an 18-year veteran of the General Assembly, could be seen as the natural heir as Fasanos top deputy, who in recent years has been inside often-tense negotiations over major pieces of legislation. One thing Ive learned is to never count your chickens before they hatch, said Witkos, a retired police officer from Canton who is now a community relations specialist for Eversource. Witkos started his legislative career in the House of Representatives winning election in 2002. He won the Senate seat representing 11 towns in the Torrington region in 2008. He hopes he has enough support to become the next leader of the caucus, which hasnt held a majority since 1996. But the coronavirus crisis is putting the State Capitol literally out of reach, as it was closed on March 11 and will remain closed until at least May 20. The legislatures constitutional deadline is May 6, so any more business this session would have to go forward in a special session. While Kelly is interested in pursuing Fasanos job leading the minority, which is currently outnumbered 22 to 14, the coronavirus and constituent needs are his chief concern. With COVID, were just trying to get through a day at a time, focusing on people in need, he in an intervoewWednesday. Youre always honored when somebody mentions something like that, Kelly said. From the day youre elected, youre always looking for upward mobility, to have a better role, to play a bigger role. First elected in 2010, Kelly, a resident of Stratfords Lordship neighborhood on Long Island Sound, looks back fondly on the previous legislatures 18-18 tie in the Senate, which allowed Republicans to become committee chairs on equal footing with Senate Democrats in the General Assemblys joint committee structure. Kelly said the leadership issue will take care of itself. Thats not todays work, Kelly said. Whats here now is important. Well eventually have that conversation and the caucus will make the decision. We have to focus now on the people we serve. Candelora, who is likely the unopposed choice to succeed Klarides, believes he has wide support. He described the Derby Republican as a close friend whose tenure as the first female House GOP leader will be remembered as historic, and will stick with him. Her leadership style was not to be a party of no, but to stick to solutions, said Candelora, the owner of a recreational business who was first elected in 2006. There are successful ways of thinking in a minority situation, when you come up with proposals that are real, rather than merely political. We have our fights with Democrats, but we cant let go of the fact that we all want whats best for the state. Were not just going to walk away, watch the state implode and just blame Democrats. kdixon@ctpost.com @KenDixonCT By Ernest Scheyder MOUNTAIN PASS, Calif. (Reuters) - The United States wants to curb its reliance on China for specialized minerals used to make weapons and high-tech equipment, but it faces a Catch-22. It only has one rare earths mine - and government scientists have been told not to work with it because of its Chinese ties. The mine is southern California's Mountain Pass, home to the world's eighth-largest reserves of the rare earths used in missiles, fighter jets, night-vision goggles and other devices. But the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has told government scientists not to collaborate with the mine's owner, MP Materials, the DOE's Critical Materials Institute told Reuters. This is because MP Materials is almost a tenth-owned by a Chinese investor and relies heavily on Chinese sales and technical know-how, according to the company. "Clearly, the MP Materials ownership structure is an issue," said Tom Lograsso, interim director of the institute, the focal point of the U.S. government's rare earths research and a facility that typically works closely with private industry. "We're going to allow the people in Washington to figure this out." The DOE instruction, which has not been previously reported, illustrates the competing pressures facing officials looking to resurrect the U.S. commercial rare earths industry, which has all but disappeared since its genesis in World War Two's Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb. Lograsso did not say how the guidance was delivered to the institute. Reviving domestic rare earths production has become a priority in Washington as relations with China, which dominates global supplies, have become increasingly frayed and U.S. lawmakers warn of the dangers of relying on a competitor for critical defense components. Even as the DOE has blacklisted MP Materials, the company is a candidate to receive up to $40 million in funding from the Pentagon to produce light rare earths, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Light rare earths are the most-commonly used of the specialized materials. Story continues The Pentagon has yet to announce its decision on that funding, which could go to more than one project, after delaying the decision from March due to the coronavirus crisis. Late Wednesday, MP Materials said it had been awarded Pentagon funding for a facility to process heavy rare earths, a less-common type of the specialized minerals. The amount was not disclosed, but the funds will be used for planning and design work. MP will have to solicit the Pentagon again for construction-related funds. MP Materials is by far the most advanced player in the U.S. rare earths industry, given no rival project has even broken ground. As such, Mountain Pass is widely seen by industry analysts as a front-runner for Pentagon funding. The DOE did not respond to requests for comment on the instruction to scientists or any potential conflict with Pentagon policy. The Pentagon is working closely with "the president, Congress, allies, partners and the industrial base to mitigate U.S. reliance on China for rare earth minerals," said spokesman Lt Col Mike Andrews. The department did not respond to requests for comment on whether it might fund Mountain Pass or potential conflicts with DOE policy. APPLE TO LOCKHEED MP Materials, which bought the mine in 2017, describes itself as an American-controlled company with a predominantly U.S. workforce. The privately held firm is 9.9%-owned by China's Shenghe Resources Holding Co, though, and Chinese customers account for all its annual revenue of about $100 million. "Had we not had a Chinese technical partner helping us do this relaunch, there's no way this could have been done," said James Litinsky, chief executive of JHL Capital Group LLC, a Chicago-based hedge fund and MP Materials' majority owner. Litinsky declined to comment on the Pentagon funding. Asked for comment on the DOE instruction to scientists, Litinsky said: "MP is on a mission to restore the full rare earth supply chain to the United States of America, whether the government helps us or not." Shenghe did not respond to requests for comment. MP Materials is among a slew of U.S. companies dependent on China's rare earths industry. Apple Inc uses Chinese rare earths in its iPhone's taptic engine, which makes the phone vibrate. Lockheed Martin Corp uses them to make the F-35 Lightning fighter jet. General Dynamics Corp uses them to build the Virginia-class submarine. The COVID-19 pandemic has further driven home the global nature of supply chains and just how heavily Western countries rely on manufacturing powerhouse China for a host of key products, including drug ingredients. MANHATTAN PROJECT Mountain Pass first opened in the late 1940s to extract europium, a rare earth used to produce the color red in televisions. It drew heavily on technology developed by Manhattan Project government scientists to separate the 17 rare earths, a complex and expensive process. By the early 1980s, the mine was a top global rare earths producer. Its minerals were in much of the equipment that U.S. soldiers used during the first Gulf War in 1990. However, China ramped up development of a massive rare earths refining network and began boosting exports, undercutting other producers. "The Middle East has oil. China has rare earths," then-Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping said in 1992. In 2010, China halted supplies to Japan during a diplomatic dispute, unnerving U.S. military officials who wondered if China could one day do the same to the United States. That refocused Washington's attention on the mine and its then-owner Molycorp, which launched a $400 million initial public offering the same year. Even as U.S. government scientists began research projects with Molycorp, though, the company went bankrupt in 2015 under the weight of its debt - partly built up to comply with tightened environmental regulations from the Obama administration - and cheaper Chinese competition. Two years later, Litinsky's group and Shenghe bought Mountain Pass out of bankruptcy. The processing equipment installed by Molycorp, however, remains unused because of poor design, Litinsky said. For now, MP Materials ships more than 50,000 tonnes of concentrated rare earths per year to China for processing, the Achilles heel of the U.S. industry. The company aims to restart its own processing by the end of 2020, Litinsky said. The goal is to produce about 5,000 tonnes per year of the two most common rare earth metals, more than enough for U.S. military needs. Some rare earths analysts and academics have doubted whether Mountain Pass can resume processing so soon, citing concerns about its plans for waste disposal and water filtration. 'NATIONAL SECURITY MALPRACTICE' Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio told Reuters that the United States' reliance on China for defense components could pose a strategic military threat. "It would be national security malpractice not to address this," said Rubio, who sits on the Senate's Intelligence and Foreign Relations committees. This was echoed by Representative Chrissy Houlahan, a Pennsylvania Democrat, who said the issue of creating a viable domestic industry had been ignored for too many years. "This isn't an issue we can just kick down the road," said Houlahan, who sits on the House Armed Services Committee. The Pentagon asked miners in early 2019 to outline plans to develop rare earths projects and processing facilities, according to documents seen by Reuters. President Donald Trump sharpened the directive last July, telling the Pentagon to fund U.S. rare earths projects and find better ways to procure military-grade magnets made from rare earths. Earlier on Wednesday, Australia-based Lynas Corp and privately held Blue Line Corp also said they were chosen by the Pentagon to process heavy rare earths imported from Australia in a plant to be built in Texas. The deadline to apply for that for that project was in December. Other applicants for the Pentagon funding programs included Texas Mineral Resources Corp; a joint venture between Alaska's UCore Rare Metals and Materion Corp; Medallion Resources Ltd and Search Minerals Inc, both of Canada; and Nebraska's NioCorp Developments Ltd. For a FACTBOX about these projects, click here: Meanwhile, U.S. government scientists at the DOE institute are studying ways to recycle rare earth magnets, to find substitutes and to locate new sources of the strategic minerals. None of that research is shared with MP Materials. "MP Materials recognizes they have become the elephant in the room that the U.S. government doesn't want to acknowledge, given their relationship with Shenghe," said Ryan Castilloux, a rare earths industry consultant at Adamas Intelligence. (Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Amran Abocar and Pravin Char) Tyson is closing its largest pork plant, a decision that will have significant ramifications for the industry and create further disruption of the nations pork supply, according to its president. The Tyson Fresh Meats facility in Waterloo, Iowa will indefinitely suspend operations mid-week until further notice due to the coronavirus. It already been running at reduced levels of production due to worker absence. Tyson Fresh Meats is the beef and pork subsidiary of Tyson Foods, Inc. The facilitys 2,800 team members will be invited to come to the plant later this week for COVID-19 testing. Protecting our team members is our top priority and the reason weve implemented numerous safety measures during this challenging and unprecedented time, said Steve Stouffer, group president of Tyson Fresh Meats. Despite our continued efforts to keep our people safe while fulfilling our critical role of feeding American families, the combination of worker absenteeism, COVID-19 cases and community concerns has resulted in our decision to stop production. The closure has significant ramifications beyond our company, since the plant is part of a larger supply chain that includes hundreds of independent farmers, truckers, distributors and customers, including grocers, Stouffer said. It means the loss of a vital market outlet for farmers and further contributes to the disruption of the nations pork supply. Affected Waterloo team members will continue to be compensated while the plant is closed, according to the company. The facilitys reopening depends on variety of factors, including the outcome of team member testing for COVID-19. Tyson Foods had already been taking worker temperatures and requiring workers to wear face masks. Social distancing was being promoted through the installation of workstation dividers and expanded break room space. Tyson Foods other meat and poultry plants currently continue to operate, but some are running at reduced levels of production, the company said. Founded in 1935 by John W. Tyson, Tyson Foods in headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas and employs 141,000 people. The company is known for brands like Tyson, Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm, Ball Park, Wright, Aidells, ibp, and State Fair. *Find uses for kitchen scraps to keep them out of the garbage. For example, sprinkling coffee grounds around outdoor plants adds nutrients, and might even keep slugs and other pests away. Eggshells also can be crushed and used in soil for nutrients. Never use meat or meat byproducts in your yard for any type of composting. To learn more about creating a simple compost pile and what to do with kitchen scraps, visit: https://www.swalco.org/35/COMPOSTING Fayaz Wani By Express News Service SRINAGAR: Four militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in a village in south Kashmir's Shopian district on Wednesday. A police official said, Joint contingent of police, CRPF and Army laid siege around Melhora village in Shopian district yesterday evening after receiving inputs that a group of militants were hiding in the area. As the security personnel launched a search operation in the village, they came under heavy fire from militants hiding in the area. The fire was returned by the troops, triggering an encounter that continued throughout the night. Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Kashmir Vijay Kumar said four militants have been killed in the gunfight. Another police official said the gunfight has stopped as all four trapped militants have been killed. He said identity and group affiliation of the militants killed in the encounter is being ascertained. "The search and combing operation is going on," the official added. Sources said it is suspected that all the four militants belonged to Alqaeda linked group Ansar Gazwatul Hind (AGH). BAKU -- The lawyer of a member of the opposition Popular Front Of Azerbaijan (AXCP) says the failure of a local court to provide documents is holding up his client's appeal and forcing him to remain in the psychiatric clinic he was placed in after criticizing the country's leadership. Lawyer Nemat Karimli told RFE/RL on April 22 that his client Aqil Humbatov had yet to receive a copy of the April 2 court ruling which forcibly put him in a psychiatric clinic in Baku's Mastaga district. "Without the written copy of the court's decision, we technically cannot appeal the ruling to the country's Supreme Court," Karimli said. Critics of longtime President Ilham Aliyev's government say authorities of the oil-rich South Caucasus nation frequently seek to silence dissent by jailing opposition activists, reporters, human rights defenders, and civil society advocates without grounds. Dozens of AXCP members have been arrested, and some imprisoned, in recent years on what their supporters have called trumped-up charges. Humbatov was first detained on March 30, a day after he placed a post on Facebook that criticized the government and President Aliyev for ignoring the rights of poor children, many of whom need medical treatment. He was sent to a psychiatric clinic the same day with a diagnosis of "paranoid personality disorder." However, on April 1, a court ruled that Humbatov could not be placed in a clinic against his will and the activist was released. Humbatov then published new posts on Facebook describing the conditions in the psychiatric clinic as "inhuman" and "horrible." On April 2, police detained Humbatov again and a court of appeals in Baku ruled that he must be placed in a psychiatric clinic for treatment. Humbatov, his wife, and his lawyer insist that he is absolutely healthy, both physically and mentally, and that there is no need to keep him in the clinic. Aliyev denies any rights abuses. He took power in 2003 shortly before the death of his father, Heydar Aliyev, a former KGB officer and communist-era leader who had ruled Azerbaijan since 1993. MOGADISHU, Somalia, 22 April 2020- Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) strongly refutes the trumped-up and baseless allegations by the Somali Federal Ministry of Information against Radio Hiigsi's editor, Mohamed Abduwahaab Nuur (Abuuja) held incommunicado since March 7. In a statement on Wednesday 22 April, the Information Ministry weirdly and without any proof of evidence alleged that the imprisoned journalist is a member of al-Shabaab. These allegations only came after press freedom advocate groups including SJS on Monday this week protested against the continued arbitrary detention of journalist Mohamed Abuuja and after the Ministry of Information itself previously said that it was not aware of the journalist's arrest. This last action of the Somali government's accusation against journalist Mohamed Abuja is a well calculated move to send a chilling message to journalists and other critics that the government does not tolerate criticism. Abdalle Ahmed Mumin, Secretary General of the Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) said, The new trend of threats used by the Somali Federal Government and its security agencies against freedom of the press is very dreadful. Mohamed Abuuja has been working as a journalist for more than seven years now and has a record of professional journalism. Officers from National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) illegally and without a warrant of arrest detained him on 29 February 2020 only three days after he wrote a very critical editorial article criticizing the ethical behavior of the security forces. He was released on 02 March, without charges. After his release, the journalist told SJS that he was tortured in the detention. On 7 March, same officers from NISA re-arrested the journalist and held incommunicado until today. He neither had access to a lawyer nor was he presented to a court of law. His family told SJS that they were not given access to see him. We call for the authorities to stop these threats and immediately demand that the editor of Radio Hiigsi, Mohamed Abuuja should have urgent access to a lawyer and his family. Also he should be released or produced in a civilian court to hear his case, adds Mumin. SJS is extremely concerned by the new tactics employed by the Somali Federal authorities meant to intimidate journalists and to limit the freedom of speech and that of the press in Somalia. On 02 April, NISA publicly threatened Voice of America (VOA) journalist, Harun Maruf with legal actions, for allegedly having links that are threat to national security. This is in addition to the public threats by the Information Minister, Mohamed Abdi Hayir (Maareeye), who in October last year, described local media and their journalists to be abetting al-Shabaab due to their security related coverage. (END) Protests grow after maternity ward on Pantelleria, which is coronavirus-free, was closed. Rome, Italy On Sicilys southernmost island of Pantelleria, 33-year-old Annalucia Cardillo was looking forward to the birth of her first child. But in the past few weeks, for Cardillo and the seven other women on the island due to give birth in May, anticipation has turned to fear. On March 2, the maternity ward of Pantellerias Nagar hospital was abruptly shut down and its pregnant residents ordered to travel the more than 75 miles (120km) to Trapani on the main island of Sicily, one month before their due date. Were obviously very angry and frustrated, said Cardillo, the spokeswoman of Pantelleria Vuole Nascere (Pantelleria Wants to Give Birth), a group petitioning to have the ward reopened. Youre thrown into in a completely unfamiliar environment where you dont know any of the doctors, and because of the coronavirus emergency, you cant even bring someone into the room with you during labour. Its really a serious [violation] to do this to someone in such a vulnerable moment. Pantelleria, home to about 8,000 people, is currently coronavirus-free, and the Trapani hospitals where the women are being sent treat COVID-19 patients. Aside from the risk to themselves, they risk bringing the virus back here, which is a very serious concern, Pantelleria Mayor Vincenzo Campo told Al Jazeera. The maternity wards closure is unrelated to the coronavirus emergency. It results instead from a 2012 law which allows authorities to close hospital maternity wards which see fewer than 500 births a year. Authorities can at their discretion relax the law for a set time period, and have done so in the past for Pantelleria. But in December 2019, the wards permit lapsed, and, for reasons that are contested, the documentation needed to continue operations was not produced. Cardillo has decided to give birth at home on the island. But most of her contemporaries are not prepared to accept the increased risks a home birth carries. Annalucia Cardillos pregnant belly with the words Per Il Mio Parto, Io Non Parto (For My Labour, Im Not Leaving) painted on [Courtesy: Annalucia Cardillo] I had hoped until the last moment that this wouldnt happen, but here I am on the boat that will take me away from my island to deliver my son Our cries have gone unheard, said Pantelleria resident Laura in a video posted to Facebook on Friday. In the lead-up to Easter, Mayor Campo, Pantellerias vice mayor and city council president went on a week-long hunger strike to try to provoke a response from authorities. They say they are protesting the closure of the maternity ward, and generalised budget cuts which meant the island cannot offer even basic treatment to its 50 immunosuppressed cancer patients who are also required to make frequent visits to Trapani. In a video call last week with Campo and members of Pantellerias the Future Mothers Committee, representatives of the Ministry of Health said they would approve the reopening of the ward if the Region of Sicilys Department of Health guarantees it can meet certain requirements contained in the law, which include increased staff and equipment. Now were just waiting to hear back from the region, says Campo. If they dont agree to reopen the ward, were prepared to go back on hunger strike. The regions Department of Health did not respond to Al Jazeeras request for comment. We feel that we have been utterly abandoned to ourselves, in the absence of any willingness by the responsible institutions to step up and protect our rights, says Cardillo. All we can do is continue to make our voices heard. Its our anger that motivates us to keep going. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Top view of mixed race business team sitting at the table at loft office and working. Woman manager brings the document Young investors want to know which top dividend stocks might be the best picks to start a Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) retirement portfolio today. TFSA investing The TFSA contribution limit increased by $6,000 in 2020. Investors now have as much as $69,500 in TFSA contribution room. This is large enough to build a decent portfolio of top stocks that could generate substantial returns over the next two or three decades. Millennials in particular might find the TFSA a better investment vehicle compared to the RRSP. And people in their late 20s and 30s will see earnings increase as their careers progress. Saving RRSP contribution space for later year makes sense, as the contributions can be used to reduce taxable income that might be at a higher marginal tax rate. In addition, the TFSA provides more flexibility. Ideally, retirement investments are left to grow for decades. However, moments arrive in life when we might need to tap the funds for an emergency. TFSA withdrawals can be made at any time without a tax penalty. RRSP withdrawals are subject to withholding taxes. Best stocks to buy A popular strategy involves buying top-quality dividend stocks and using the distributions to acquire additional shares. Companies with strong track records of dividend growth deserve to be on your radar. In the current environment, it also makes sense to search for business that provide essential services. Lets take a look at one top Canadian dividend stock that appears oversold today and has delivered strong returns for long-term investors. Bank of Nova Scotia Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX:BNS)(NYSE:BNS) trades near $53.50 at the time of writing and provides a 6.75% dividend yield. The stock traded above $74 in February, so there is decent upside potential on an economic recovery. The company made big bets in recent years on the Pacific Alliance countries that include Mexico, Peru, Chile, and Colombia. The combined market is home to more than 225 million people. Banking penetration remains below 50% and Bank of Nova Scotia sees strong potential for growth as the middle class expands. Story continues Risks The pandemic will put pressure on these economies due to heavy reliance on strong commodity markets. Oil and copper prices, for example, are under pressure amid the current global economic downturn. Bank of Nova Scotia gets about 30% of adjusted net income from the international operations, so investors should expect rough results in the next two or three quarters. At home, people are having trouble paying their loans. The Canadian government is putting aid measures in place to keep businesses alive and help unemployed Canadians pay their bills during the lockdowns. In addition, Canada is buying up to $150 billion in mortgages from the Canadian banks to provide liquidity for ongoing lending. A prolonged shutdown or a second wave of the outbreak would be negative for the Canadian banks. Opportunity As long as the economy starts to open up again in the back half of 2020, Bank of Nova Scotia should see a strong rebound in 2021. The current share price reflects the anticipated damage over the next few months. Long-term investors have done well with the stock. A $6,000 investment in Bank of Nova Scotia 20 years ago would be worth about $42,000 today with the dividends reinvested even after accounting for the crash in the past eight weeks. The bottom line The International Monetary Fund predicts a strong global recovery in 2021 once the pandemic runs its course. Buying top stocks during a correction takes courage, and more volatility should be expected. However, history suggests the long-term rewards should outweigh the near-term risk. The post Young Investors: How to Turn a $6,000 TFSA Investment Into $42,000 appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada. More reading The Motley Fool recommends BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA. Fool contributor Andrew Walker has no position in any stock mentioned. The Motley Fools purpose is to help the world invest, better. Click here now for your free subscription to Take Stock, The Motley Fool Canadas free investing newsletter. Packed with stock ideas and investing advice, it is essential reading for anyone looking to build and grow their wealth in the years ahead. Motley Fool Canada 2020 The first coroanvirus death in the United States was three weeks earlier than originally believed, new autopsy results show. Santa Clara Medical Examiner-Coroner says it has identified three individuals who died with COVID-19, including one victim who passed away on February 6. Washington's first deaths were then reported on February 29 after two people - one who was a resident at a nursing home - died in the same Seattle hospital. The new development also means the first fatality in Santa Clara, which had been recorded as Azar Ahrabi, 68, on March 9, was in fact more than a month earlier. The number of statewide cases surged following an outbreak at the Life Care Center nursing home facility in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland. Washington's first deaths were reported on February 29 after two people - one who was a resident at the nursing home - died Jeff Duchin, Health Officer, Public Health for Seattle and King County speaks following the death of a a King County, Washington resident due to COVID-19 on February 29, marking the first death on US soil. Santa Clara Medical Examiner-Coroner says it has identified three individuals who died with COVID-19 including one victim who passed away on February 6 The number of statewide cases surged following an outbreak at the Life Care Center nursing home facility in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland. But the coroner is Santa Clara now says: 'The Medical Examiner-Coroner performed autopsies on two individuals who died at home on February 6, 2020 and February 17, 2020. 'Samples from the two individuals were sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Today, the Medical Examiner-Coroner received confirmation from the CDC that tissue samples from both cases are positive for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19). 'Additionally, the Medical Examiner-Coroner has also confirmed that an individual who died in the county on March 6 died of COVID-19.' They died at home 'during a time when very limited testing was available only through the CDC', the coroner added. The death toll in the U.S. stood at more than 45,000 Tuesday evening the highest in the world with more than 820,000 confirmed infections. But the true figures are believed to be much higher, in part because of limited testing and difficulties in counting the dead. Dr. Jeffrey V. Smith, the Santa Clara county executive, said the deaths 'reveal that the virus was around for a long time'. He added: 'It was probably around unrecognized for quite some time.' Dr. Sara Cody, Health Officer and Director, County of Santa Clara Public Health Department speaks during a press conference about what was thought at the time to be the third confirmed cases of COVID-19, in Santa Clara on February 28 Healthcare workers transport a patient on a stretcher into an ambulance at Life Care Center of Kirkland in Kirkland, Washington on February 29 All 50 states in the US have now reported deaths due to coronavirus after Wyoming announced its first fatality earlier this month. Washington was the epicenter of the country's initial outbreak. It had recorded the first known coronavirus case in the US and also the first few deaths of the pandemic before it started spreading rapidly across the country. At one point, Washington had recorded 37 of the country's first 50 fatal outbreaks. The state recorded its first known coronavirus case - and the first in the US - on January 21 after a patient returned from Wuhan, China where the global outbreak initially started. Following the outbreak, the state enforced strict social distancing measures by banning large gatherings in late February and closing schools in early March. David Oyedepo, presiding bishop of Living Faith Church Worldwide, has commenced the weekly distribution of foodstuffs to poor househol... David Oyedepo, presiding bishop of Living Faith Church Worldwide, has commenced the weekly distribution of foodstuffs to poor households in Ogun state in an effort to cushion the effect of the lockdown on them. In a statement on Wednesday, Sheriff F. Folarin, media and editorial board of church, said the food distribution would last as long as the lockdown lasts. Folarin said the food items include bags of rice, beans, garri and other staples. The initiative is targeted at the vulnerable and needy in the state, including members of the Winners Family, he said. The distribution is systematically and fairly done, with a dedicated team, which maps communities and identifies homes of the poor; while the Winners Satellite Fellowship cell system and network is used to engender a fair distribution among members of the church. For this week alone, a sum of twenty five million Naira (N25) from personal account was set aside to take care of putting food on the tables of poor Nigerians and smiles on the faces of tens of thousands of people, who are the worst hit economically, by the stay-at-home- order that has since paralyzed the financial base and income of hundreds of thousands of homes. These weekly relief packages complement the continuous and phased support to the governments of Ogun, Lagos and Abuja in the fight against the coronavirus that is spiralling in numbers, in Nigeria and the world. The church had donated medical equipment to Ogun, Lagos, and the federal capital territory (FCT). France warned on Wednesday it would not give its blessing to the European Union's next long-term budget if wasn't big enough to tackle the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. French President Emmanuel Macron has said the EU had "no choice" but to set up a fund that "could issue common debt with a common guarantee" and has also called for the future EU budget currently being discussed to be bigger than its current size. "The president was clear on this: we will not give our agreement to a budget which doesn't change enough to take into account the response to this crisis," a French presidency official said. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has sought to ease opposition in some northern countries such as Germany and the Netherlands to the joint issuance of debt by proposing a temporary European recovery fund strictly focused on future investments. While France is open to the idea of creating the fund within the EU's budget, Le Maire said on Tuesday that it would be more effective if it was set up as a standalone special purpose vehicle. On Wednesday, the French presidency official said France would rather have short stop-gap EU budgets than agreeing to a "bad deal" on the so-called multiannual financial framework (MFF), the EU's long-term budget for 2021-2027. "We will have, wherever the recovery fund is located, a discussion on the MFF, and for that you need unanimity," the official said. "For the moment, we'd rather have transition budgets than a bad deal on the MFF, regardless of this recovery fund. The approval of France and other countries will be indispensable on this point," the official said. France also backs a Spanish proposal for a "recovery fund" for the EU in principle, the official said, adding that the terms can be discussed but it should have long debt maturities. "What's important is the principles: that the amounts are not ridiculously small -- they should be at least several points of European GDP," the official said. "We must reinforce transfers between European countries at least temporarily during the crisis. And we also need joint debt. Again, not to mutualise past debt, but to fund the necessary joint post-crisis expenses," he said. The French official also said he thought re-opening Europe's open-border Schengen area to non-European travelers before the summer seemed unrealistic, but that checks at internal borders such the Franco-German one should continue for the shortest time possible. (Reuters) Source: www.businessworld.ie MORGANTOWN, West Virginia A man wanted in connection with the shooting death of a 30-year-old man in 2018 was taken into custody Tuesday by federal officers. Bryan Esters, 33, was arrested without incident, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. A firearm and marijuana were recovered during the arrest, authorities say. He is being held in West Virginia until he can be extradited to Akron. Esters was being sought in connection with the July 1, 2018, shooting death of Dominique Thomas, 31, in the parking lot of Julians Restaurant in the Goodyear Heights neighborhood. Authorities say Esters and Andre Warren got into an argument with Thomas outside the restaurant. Marshals say Esters and Warren both opened fire on Thomas. Esters is accused of shooting Thomas several times at close range while the victim was laying on the ground. Another 20-year-old man suffered non-life-threatening wounds in the incident. In May 2019, Warren was found guilty on several charges and sentenced to life in prison, with the possibility of parole after 29 years, authorities say. More crime-related stories on cleveland.com: Cuyahoga County Jail officer, already on unpaid leave from prior arrest, accused of driving drunk with loaded AR-15 Man shot and killed in Clevelands Glenville neighborhood Medical examiner identifies man found fatally shot in Akron 13-year-old accused of robbing pizza delivery drivers in Akron, police say Bond set at $2 million for man in deadly beating of 94-year-old World War II veteran in Cleveland Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: Global venture capital deal-making has stumbled as the world comes to terms with the COVID-19 pandemic, said a study. Nearly 1,000 fewer deals were completed globally in Q1 2020 compared with Q4 2019, while aggregate deal value fell by 18% in comparison, Preqin said in its quarterly update of venture capital. The quarterly deal flow had remained steady throughout 2019, following a drop from 2018 levels, but the figures for the first quarter of 2020 represent a sharp decline. According to Preqin, the venture capital market in Greater China was hit the hardest. As the original epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, business activity was significantly disrupted at the start of the year. The 495 deals completed for Greater China-based venture capital companies represent a drop of 39% from the previous quarter. That said, deal activity declined in all major venture capital markets across the globe. Markets in North America (-27%) and Europe (-12%) recorded notable declines from the previous quarter in the number of completed deals. Aggregate exit value remained steady in Q1. The $35bn of exits globally exceeds the previous two quarters, despite the number of exits falling by 8% in comparison with Q4 2019. Two large exits of San Francisco-based fintech companies boosted total Q1 exit value: Intuit Inc.'s $7.1bn purchase of Credit Karma, Inc. - a financial platform that enables users to receive credit scores and reports - and ...................... To view our full article Click here GIS Planning, the industry-leading provider of online economic development solutions, today launched ZoomBusiness, a mapping tool for small businesses created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We created ZoomBusiness after realizing that small businesses need new, accurate ways to communicate that they are still open to their customers, said Pablo Monzon, managing director and co-founder, GIS Planning. GIS Planning, the industry-leading provider of online economic development solutions to more than six out of 10 Americans, today launched an online tool that enables local businesses across North America to communicate with customers for free in real time. ZoomBusiness, created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, is an interactive, mobile-responsive mapping directory for communities that ensures customers can find open restaurants, stores and services in their region at no charge. Businesses can list themselves for free on their local ZoomBusiness site, hosted by economic development organizations like cities, towns, counties or chambers of commerce. The businesses can provide customized details including websites, modified hours, delivery or curbside pickup options, promotions and gift card stimulus programs. Residents can search for area businesses by categories, including grocery stores, pharmacies, banks, health facilities, hardware stores, pet stores and automotive shops, among others. Local ZoomBusiness sites have already been deployed in over 20 communities across North America during its soft launch, including regions of eastern Pennsylvania, Columbia, S.C., the state of Wyoming (which has listed more than 600 businesses on the directory) and Abbotsford, British Columbia. We created ZoomBusiness after realizing that small businesses need new, accurate ways to communicate that they are still open to their customers, given that social distancing requirements, product availability and operating hours are changing by the day, said Pablo Monzon, managing director and co-founder, GIS Planning. Our development team has created an intuitive tool to index and map business information across North America in real-time, and we believe it will be an enormous resource for the communities we serve. ZoomBusiness is a simple-to-use data tool, powered by Google Maps, using various layers for precise queries. Businesses are prompted to directly enter information on their current status and the content is verified by the organization hosting the GIS tool. GIS Planning also added free map layers, including a COVID-19 case map updated daily by the New York Times, and a job-loss vulnerability index using recent employment data from Chmura. The City of Columbia, S.C., currently features 180 businesses on ZoomBusiness, helping residents discover delivery and curbside food options. That number is expected to quickly rise to over 300 as business owners input data. Through our work with GIS Planning, weve been able to take our list of open restaurants and businesses and integrate it into the available properties map on our website, said Ryan Coleman, director of the City of Columbia Office of Economic Development. During this crisis, local businesses need every advantage we can give them, and this is another tool in their arsenal in helping to mitigate the negative impact of COVID-19. Columbia will continue to promote safe and responsible Shop Local practices, Coleman added, in hopes that residents will take advantage of the service and support local businesses. The new solution has also made an impact in Canada, including the City of Abbotsford, British Columbia, which is promoting 130 businesses ranging from grocers to auto shops and medical suppliers. This is a resource that fills an urgent need. The long-term health and security of our businesses depend, in part, on the decisions were making right now, said Kim OSullivan, City of Abbotsfords economic development coordinator. ZoomBusiness allows owners to communicate directly with their customers, many of whom would frequent these businesses, even online, if they knew they were able to do so. ZoomBusiness clients are given a unique link to their region which is then shared across organizational websites and social media to reach residents. Main street businesses are truly the lifeblood of a community, said Alissa Sklar, vice president of marketing for GIS Planning. According to FEMA, up to 40% of small businesses never reopen after a major disaster. With ZoomBusiness, we want to help make sure the local restaurants, retailers and service providers that define local communities are still there to serve area residents when this pandemic is over. GIS Planning has made its ZoomBusiness tool free for its existing economic development clients (those using its investment attraction map, ZoomProspector) and it is also available to new clients for a nominal fee. Prices are indexed to population size to keep them affordable for all communities. New clients can also be set up and ready to launch the tool within one day. Following the COVID-19 recovery, data experts at GIS Planning forecast continued use of the directory to promote small and medium-sized businesses across North America. For more information about ZoomBusiness, visit: http://www.gisplanning.com/products/zoombusiness/overview. About GIS Planning GIS Planning, a service of the Financial Times, is the world leader in online economic development solutions for corporate site selection. Its suite of tools provides real estate, demographic, labor force and industry data to help investors select optimal geographic locations through powerful online mapping analysis. GIS Plannings software as a service helps regions create jobs, nurture existing companies and grow their economies through business investment. GIS Planning tools currently serve six out of 10 Americans in 45 states, including 28 statewide economic development organizations, Canada, Switzerland, several counties in the U.K., Murcia (Spain), Bordeaux (France), Dusseldorf (Germany), Gothenburg (Sweden), Kyiv (Ukraine) and more. For more information visit: http://www.gisplanning.com. The covid-19 pandemic is plausibly the biggest challenge to Europe's economies since the Great Depression. The coronavirus is hurting all European countries at the same time - but with differing economic fallout. Countries such as Germany and the Netherlands can easily borrow money to respond to the crash. But countries like Italy and Spain fear that their bond yields - the price they pay to borrow money - will spike if they increase their public debt. Are common European bonds a possible solution? Some countries and economists have called for this response. Such suggestions have always failed in the past, because of perceived public opposition in northern countries like Germany and the Netherlands. Our new research suggests that public opinion in Germany is more complicated than most people think. The crucial question is whether the European Union - and in particular the euro zone, the group of 19 E.U. member states that share a common currency, the euro - can help protect its weaker members when they need to raise money to tackle an urgent crisis but can't go to the markets. In theory, Italy and Spain can take advantage of a special arrangement called the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). It would provide them with loans, in principle conditional on budget cuts and structural reforms, with the possibility of further support from the European Central Bank. In practice, the example of the Greek austerity program means that governments are wary of submitting themselves to the ESM. These objections explain why nine euro-zone countries and many economists have argued for the mutualization of European debt through commonly issued bonds, which were once known as "eurobonds" but are now called "coronabonds." In the past, northern E.U. members fiercely opposed eurobonds. German politicians, for instance, argued that they can't support eurobonds because their voters are strongly opposed to them. This results in an impasse. On the one hand, German and Dutch politicians don't want to issue common debt for fear of voter anger. On the other, Italian voters are increasingly alienated from the euro and their northern neighbors. In one recent Italian poll, 45% of respondents considered Germany an "enemy." Are German politicians right to worry that voters will punish them if they agree to the E.U. issuing coronabonds? To answer this question, we fielded a representative online survey experiment in Germany with 4,500 respondents in early April. The survey was funded by the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies in Cologne. We gave each individual a scenario in which Italy is hit by a financial crisis and is considering exiting the euro. We randomly assigned respondents to receive different combinations of three pieces of additional information that might change how they interpreted events. Some individuals were informed that Italy's deficit had increased because of the coronavirus, a health emergency beyond its control. Others were told that Italy's exit from the euro might cause the currency's collapse, endangering the competitiveness of Germany's exports. Others were informed of the costs to Germany of agreeing to share Italy's future debt. Finally, some individuals received no further information beyond the initial scenario - this was our control group. Thus, each survey respondent was exposed to one of eight combinations of information. We then asked respondents how the German government should respond if Italy refuses to push through austerity measures in exchange for financial rescue programs. Respondents could choose to prevent Italy's exit from the euro or facilitate it. The results suggest that German voters want to stop Italy from leaving the euro zone. Among those who didn't receive any further information, a relative majority wanted to stop "Italexit." An absolute majority of those who had received information about the costs of Italy's exit to the German economy wanted to prevent it. When this information was combined with information highlighting the effect of the coronavirus, nearly 60% of Germans want Italy to remain in the euro. Some respondents who learned about the costs for Germany of sharing debt with Italy were less likely to want to stop Italy from leaving the euro, but the effect was smaller than that of the other two kinds of information. And when the respondents received all the information simultaneously, more than 50% of respondents wanted Italy to remain in the euro zone, while 30 favored Italexit. The figure below shows these results, on the left panel. Are Germans willing to share debt within the euro zone? We also asked respondents whether they preferred a scenario in which Germany and other European governments don't agree to share debts, and Italy exits the euro - or one in which Germany and other European governments agree to share debts, and Italy remains in the euro zone. Both scenarios are costly to Germany, leading to divided public opinion, according to our data. For the group that didn't get additional information, this second question showed 41% preferred that Italy left the euro, while 38% were willing to share the risks of supporting Italy's economic recovery. More than 20% were uncertain. Providing respondents with further information had less effect in this case, suggesting that people's preferences were more rigid in the face of this trade-off. However, mentioning the costs of Italexit affected people's opinions more than mentioning the costs of introducing eurobonds. When respondents were given all three pieces of information, almost 50% of them were in favor of eurobonds, while 35% were opposed, as shown in the results in the right panel. This suggests that Germans are open to mutualization, or shared debts - as long as there is a real risk of Italy leaving the euro zone. Another survey that we did at the same time suggests that Italian voters, for their part, are indeed seriously considering exiting the euro if there is no debt mutualization. In the face of this threat, preferences in Germany are malleable and uncertainty among voters is relatively high. This suggest that politicians have some room to shape people's understanding of the facts. All in all, public opinion imposes fewer constraints on German politicians than the consensus would suggest. - - - Baccarois is director at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies in Cologne, Germany. Bremer is a senior researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies in Cologne, Germany. Neimanns is a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies in Cologne, Germany. For other commentary from The Monkey Cage, an independent blog anchored by political scientists from universities around the country, see www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage Boutique shopkeepers put protective masks on mannequins before they open their store on Wednesday for the first time since March in Berlin, Germany. (Maja Hitij/Getty Images) Germanys 16 federal states have made it mandatory for people to wear face masks when they enter shops or board public transport from next Monday. It was up to each state to decide whether it would insist on mouth-and-nose covering in public, and several of them already mandated masks last week. There are no set rules about what kind of masks they should be home-made cotton ones are also acceptable as protection. Johns Hopkins University data shows that as of Wednesday, Germany has 148,704 confirmed coronavirus cases, and 5,100 recorded deaths. Authorities have stressed that wearing a face mask does not mean people should not stick to social distancing rules the masks can only help prevent asymptomatic carriers of coronavirus from infecting others. Read more: Merkel warns 'we mustnt think for one second that we are safe' as Germany eases restrictions The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said in a recent report that masks may prevent people spreading respiratory droplets by coughing or sneezing. While many EU countries strongly recommend that people should use some form of mask, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria all made mask-wearing compulsory. In the UK, the government is reportedly set to require people to wear masks in public soon. Germany took the first steps towards easing the country-wide lockdown this week, with small shops of up to 800m floor-space allowed to reopen; including car dealerships. Some classes in primary and secondary schools are allowed to begin from 4 May. Read more: Germany approves first human trials of a coronavirus vaccine Strict lockdowns still apply to public movement only in groups of two, apart from members of one family and the 1.5m social distance rules will be in place until further notice. Chancellor Angela Merkel warned this week that Germany is still at the beginning of the pandemic, urging people to follow rules as it would be a crying shame if we had a relapse with our eyes open. From a collective point of view, one of the best things we can all do during the Covid-19 pandemic is practice social distancing and isolate ourselves. But as individuals, the side effects of isolation -- especially with no known end date in sight -- can be devastating. A number of studies show that feelings of loneliness can cause significant health effects. The death rate is twice as high for people who lack social and community ties. In fact, one researcher says loneliness can be as bad for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes each day. Of course those effects are the far end of the impact spectrum. But then there's this: Our brains process information more efficiently in the presence of other people than while alone -- even if you're engaging with people on a phone or screen. Add it all up, and isolation, while necessary, is also a problem. So how can you better deal with the repercussions of all that alone time? For answers, I went to two experts in spending time alone: Nicole Apelian and Zachary Fowler, both of whom were contestants on HISTORY's Alone. (The new season, Alone: Million Dollar Challenge, premieres June 11th on HISTORY.) The premise of Alone is simple: Drop contestants in the wilderness with limited gear, isolated from all human contact except for periodic medical check-ins, and see who lasts the longest. Which, since there's no way to know when the contest will end, only adds to the mental and emotional stress. (Sound familiar?) So how do you dealing with the fact no set end is in sight? "The key is to stop obsessing over everything you can't control and just take it one thing at a time," Fowler says. "Every time I did something, I finished something, I just did the next thing. Whenever I'm stuck, whenever I'm alone or frustrated... I just do the next thing." Small, day to day goals that serve a larger goal help keep you motivated -- and more importantly, feeling successful. Because feeling successful, in however small a way, always feels good. Apelian sees the lack of normal connections as an opportunity to make other connections, especially with nature. She has a "sit spot," a place where she watches the birds, the deer, and the change of seasons. "You can connect not just to robins," she says, "but to a robin. I knew the bears on Alone; I wanted to know what they were doing. I knew the eagle, the pair of kingfishers. That made me feel connected to their lives, and in a way, like they were connected to mine." Apelian also tries to enjoy the gift of timeliness. "If you find yourself with a little free time, let go of the need to be constantly productive and instead actively try to not think about what time it is. When I was in Mongolia, a man said to me, 'Every time one of you looks at a watch, the very next thing you do is rude,' because checking your watch means you just disconnected. Constantly checking the time takes you out of the present moment." Fowler also recommends knowing your "weak" times. "At the end of the workday, people naturally start to miss the life that was their life," he says. "If that happens to you, plan for it: Use that time to reach out, to call family or friends, or to find old friends. And if you can connect with someone who is tired and struggling and give them a kind word... then you both win." Bottom line: While your day-to-day has changed, you can still find a sense of meaning. According to Eckhart Tolle in the bestselling A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose, the happiest people are those who live in the moment -- with purpose. When your options are limited," Apelian says, "that can actually be a kind of gift, because it means you can live in the right now." And to do check off a long unfilled box. "Instead of complaining about what you've lost," Fowler says, "focus on the opportunity you've gained to do what you've always said you wanted to do. Start that project. Learn that instrument. Get more disciplined and consistent with something you've always wanted to do." As the Stoics would say, you can't control what happens to you. The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has placed a curse on any official diverting palliative materials. The administration also warned the officials handling the distribution of the palliative items to the vulnerable groups across its six area councils or risk severe sanctions. The FCT Minister of State, Ramatu Aliyu, placed the curse and issued the warning during the inspection of palliative items for Kwali Area Council on Wednesday in Abuja. Ms Aliyu implored those in charge of the palliatives not to divert the items designed for the rural poor and urged relevant stakeholders to be transparent in the discharge of their responsibilities. The minister explained that the palliative programme was community-based. Irrespective of tribe or religion, everyone that is representing his or her own group here must know that you are the eyes of your group. If you compromise, posterity will judge you. You must stand for your people and make sure that they are served. I beg you in the name of God, if you eat this food, you are indirectly inviting Coronavirus to your homes. It is not food for campaign and not for you to do charity for your family members. If you want to do charity, go to the market and buy your own materials for charity. These palliatives are from the Federal Capital Territory Administration as directed by President Muhammadu Buhari to be distributed to the poor to cushion the effect of sit-at-home It is a community-based programme, we want the community to own it but you can support us by obeying the rules, better still by sitting at home. We want the real data of beneficiaries by marking the houses because we dont want to work on estimated figures. Do it the same way we conduct our census, Ms Aliyu said. Receiving the items on behalf of the council, the Chairman of Kwali Area Council, Danladi Chiya, thanked the minister for her diligence in the discharge of her duties and pledged to disburse the items equitably. (NAN) The county agreed to back the grant application and put up $1,800 as part of the grant match for the application. The city of Hickory is being asked to put up a matching amount for the grant. Atriax has expanded to Dayton, Ohio, and Kansas City, Missouri, over the past several years, Huret said. Now they want to expand their home base to recruit talent to come to Hickory. They want to make the best possible case, so they need this in their arsenal, Huret said. The commissioners also voted to support a grant application for the District Attorneys Office for Burke, Caldwell and Catawba to start a veterans treatment court. District Attorney Scott Reilly said the court would help veterans get through court processes with more attention to their needs as veterans. The grant, from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance, could be as much as $500,000 over three years. The Catawba County court is only expected to require about $350,000 over three years, Reilly said at Mondays meeting. Catawba County agreed to put up a 25 percent match to the grant that can be supplied through in-kind contributions like staff hours and building use. [April 21, 2020] AXA Launches Global Solidarity Challenge to Support Intensive Care Units in 60 Countries SINGAPORE, April 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In response to the unprecedented global health emergency arising from the COVID-19 outbreak, AXA has launched with 101 Fund a global solidarity challenge on social media that enables all its employees to support 1,200 intensive care units in 60 countries, including Singapore. Employees in Singapore are invited to join in the challenge starting today. By publishing a post, such as an encouraging message to healthcare workers, on Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram with the #AXASolidarityResponse, each employee will unlock a EUR5 donation to the 101 Fund, financed by AXA, and will also have the opportunity to make a personal donation if they wish on a dedicated 101 Fund page. Through this global initiative, AXA hopes to extend its action in the fight against COVID-19, by providing concrete and rapid support to healthcare services around the world,while enabling its employees to take action. The global solidarity challenge is an extension of AXA's partnership with 101 Fund which aims to foster information sharing and collaboration between the intensive care units in its network which is crucial to accelerating the improvement of therapeutic protocols. The donation from AXA will support the deployment of training programs for the management and treatment of patients in intensive care units and the development of a clinical research program dedicated to COVID-19. It will also enable 101 to develop artificial intelligence algorithms to predict the occurrence of complications in the treatment of the virus. Jeremy Ong, Chief Customer and Operations Officer in charge of Corporate Responsibility, AXA Singapore, said, "Corporate responsibility is a key tenet of the way we operate as a business and this means being contributive citizens of society. During difficult times such as this, we must come together to support and encourage those on the frontlines who are doing their utmost to ensure patients can survive. Through the global solidarity challenge, our employees have an opportunity to step up and contribute to the collective fight against COVID-19." ABOUT AXA INSURANCE AXA Insurance is part of the AXA group, a worldwide leader in insurance and asset management with 160,000 employees serving 108 million clients in 57 countries. Present in Singapore since 1969, AXA Insurance has been serving the general and life insurance needs of individuals and companies in Singapore through a wide range of innovative products. As one of the top global insurers in Singapore, AXA Insurance protects more than a third of a million customers in Singapore. As a company whose business is about protecting people, AXA Insurance is committed to building a stronger and safer society by empowering customers to live better lives. For more information, please visit www.axa.com.sg. SOURCE AXA [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A Minnesota dentist, an Ohio bridal shop and a New York pizzeria are among six small businesses that are the latest to sue insurers seeking compensation for business interruption claims due to the coronavirus crisis. The lawsuits, which are class actions, have been filed against Aspen American Insurance, Auto-Owners Insurance, Lloyds of London, Society Insurance, Oregon Mutual Insurance, and Topa Insurance Co. The plaintiffs include a San Diego restaurant and nightclub; a Cleveland-area bridal retailer; a Madison, Wisconsin bakery and cafe; a Minnesota chain of restaurants and bars; a St. Paul, Minn. dental practice; a Portland, Ore. restaurant; and a New York restaurant group and pizzeria. Each of the lawsuits claims that the businesses purchased business income insurance coverage, which promises to pay for losses due to necessary suspension of operations. In all instances, according to the lawyers, these coverages either included or did not expressly or effectively exclude losses caused by viruses such as COVID-19, which caused state and municipal governments to mandate widespread business closures. Despite these facts, the insurers have, on a broad and uniform basis, refused to uphold their contractual responsibilities for losses suffered due to COVID-19, as well as losses caused by executive orders by civil authorities and any efforts to prevent further property damage or to minimize the suspension of business and continue operations, the plaintiffs contend. The plaintiffs argue that their property insurance policies are all-risk property damage policies that cover all risks of loss, except for risks that are expressly and specifically excluded. The law firms bringing the cases are DiCello Levitt Gutzler in Chicago; The Lanier Law Firm in Houston; Burns Bowen Bair in Madison, Wisconsin; and Daniels & Tredennick is a trial firm in Houston. Litigation has been building against insurers over coronavirus business interruption. The cases are part of a series of cases that has the property/casualty insurance industry publicly arguing that most business interruption or contingent business interruption policies require that there is direct physical loss or damage. The industry also notes that many policies also exclude communicable diseases, although there are some policies with coverage options for fungi, bacteria or virus. There are also some business interruption policies that provide coverage if government denies access to a property. President Donald Trump commented on business-interruption claims last week, stating that unless the policy excludes pandemics, insurers should pay and several states are considering legislation to force insurers to pay, although The cases include: Gio Pizzeria & Bar Hospitality, LLC and Gio Pizzeria Boca, LLC v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyds, London, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Rising Dough, Inc., et al. v. Society Insurance, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin Bridal Expressions LLC v. Owners Insurance Company, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio Caribe Restaurant & Nightclub, Inc. v. Topa Insurance Company, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California Dakota Ventures, LLC d/b/a/Kokopelli Grill v. Oregon Mutual Insurance Co.;U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon Christie Jo Berkseth-Rojas DDS v. Aspen American Insurance Company; U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas Topics Lawsuits Carriers USA New York Property Oregon Wisconsin As ever more ominous reports emerge from across Brazil of the collapse of health systems and an increased death toll due to the uncontrolled spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, last weekend saw two days of fascist marches denouncing the partial economic shutdowns decreed by governors and mayors and calling for an immediate return to normal economic activities. Brazil currently has more than 42,000 confirmed cases and 2,700 deaths, but authorities admit the real number of cases is up to 15 times higher than the official count, and that thousands of people have died with symptoms of COVID-19 but were never tested. Images of rows of fresh graves dug in Sao Paulo and videos of convoys of hearses heading to cemeteries have already circulated in the international media. Nurses block street in protest against unsafe conditions in Belem (WhatsApp) On Saturday, large Brazilian cities such as Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, Fortaleza and Porto Alegre saw convoys of hundreds of upper-middle-class demonstrators hypocritically calling for the economy to be reopened from safely inside their cars, only to be heckled and pelted with eggs when they drove through working class neighborhoods. On Sunday, Brazilian Army Day, fascist demonstrators gathered in front of the Army headquarters in the capital Brasilia to demand that Bolsonaro shut down Congress and the Supreme Court for supporting the partial economic shutdowns decreed by governors and mayors. They once again called for the revival of AI-5i.e., Institutional Act number 5a 1968 decree by the 1964-1985 military dictatorship that outlawed opposition, suspended habeas corpus and legalized political kidnappings, torture and executions. Facing opposition from Congress, state governors and the Supreme Court against his attempt to override the partial economic shutdowns, Bolsonaro has charged that the Congress is attempting to provoke an economic crisis in order to force him out. On Sunday, he ranted before the demonstrators that we dont want to negotiate anything, and that politicians should understand they are subject to the will of the people to reopen the economy, adding that now the people should be in power. For over a year, fascist movements have used calls for the revival of the vicious methods of the former dictatorship to mobilize the most violent and disoriented layers of Brazilian society in favor of the removal of any restraint to capitalist profit-making and alignment with US imperialism. Now, such forces have been mobilized to denounce the partial economic shutdowns decreed by governors and mayors across the country as an intolerable obstacle to crisis-ridden Brazilian capitalism. Even before the pandemic, Brazil had already faced five years of economic crisis due to falling commodity prices and declining demand, along with decreased investments from its main economic partner, China. Now. It must rush to keep up with efforts of the imperialist powers to re-open their economies in order to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on its competitiveness. But in doing so, it faces growing working-class resistance. Popular anger is fueled by the consensus among the ruling class, including its representatives within both Bolsonaros opposition among Brazils traditional right wing and the left, led by the Workers Party (PT), that nothing will be done to counter the catastrophic impact of the pandemic upon workers lives, health and living standards. All that is on offer is starvation aid to the most impoverished layers, equal to less than half their average incomes. Violent means are being prepared to counter social opposition. Jair Bolsonaro (Wikipedia Commons) Brazilian governors were quick to issue an open letter criticizing Bolsonaros participation in the fascist demonstration and declaring support for the House and Senate leaders in face of the declarations by President Jair Bolsonaro regarding their attitude and offending the democratic principles that rule our nation. This was followed on Monday with governors announcements of back-to-work directives, even as state health authorities warn that not one Brazilian state has managed to control the pandemics spread. Both state officials and editorials in Brazils leading newspapers have denounced Bolsonaros speech at the rally, while in the same breath minimizing it as inconsequential. They have pointed to perfunctory statements by military personnel to claim that, except for Bolsonaros behavior, all the other political actors in the Brazilian establishment are defending democratic principles. This attitude was summed up yesterday in the editorial of O Estado de S. Paulo, which regularly features the writings of Brazilian military officials in its opinion pages: It is comforting to realize, however, that, this time, authorities from every institution in the Republic reacted strongly against another offense to democracy by Bolsonaro and his followers. Such a statement is wishful thinking at best. O Estado de S. Paulo was referring to reports of frantic closed-door Sunday meetings between congressional, Supreme Court and military leaders that reportedly resulted in a Monday statement by the Defense Ministry that the Armed Forces work to maintain peace and stability in the country, always obeying the Constitution. The reality is, however, that the COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed an intense crisis within the ruling class over how to defuse the crisis and threatens to provoke a constitutional breakdown. These developments come barely days after the dismissal of Brazils health minister, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, last Thursday. Mandetta had been universally praised by bourgeois political parties and editorial boards for publicly criticizing Bolsonaros photo-ops with crowds of supporters as countering social distancing recommendations. In the crisis leading up to his dismissal, the unanimous prediction of congressional officials and media pundits was that Mandetta would be kept on the job by the adults in the roomi.e., the military in Bolsonaros cabinet, including his chief of staff, Gen. Water Braga Netto, and his vice president, Gen. Hamilton Mourao. They could be counted upon, it was claimed, to keep Bolsonaro in check. In fact, Bolsonaros appearance at the fascist rally Sunday for the reopening of the economy expressed his confidence that the ruling class will close ranks behind his extreme-right policies. Bolsonaro has for a month put pressure on governors to reopen local economies, reaching the point of requisitioning health equipment production from all national manufacturers, without a timetable for their distribution, forcing governors to engage in direct negotiations with Chinese companies. Now, the Brazilian Internal Revenue Service has opened an investigation against one of the governors, Maranhao states Flavio Dino, from the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB), for bypassing both the federal government and US imperialism in bringing ventilators from China through Ethiopia. Only last week, Bolsonaros congressional base succeeded in stalling a bill providing states compensation for the drop in sales tax collections, with Economy Minister Paulo Guedes declaring it would provide a malign encouragement to governors to extend the shutdowns against the federal governments will. Governors, including in the opposition-held impoverished Northeast, previously adopted a tactical criticism of Bolsonaros bluntness in stating that workers must return to work and confront infection and death from the coronavirus or starve. Now, they are closing ranks behind the back-to-work orders, while simultaneously adopting Bolsonaros reckless promotion, without scientific backing, of hydroxychloroquine for treating COVID-19. In the countrys epicenter of the pandemic, Sao Paulo, with more than 14,000 confirmed cases, 1,000 deaths and thousands of unprocessed exams, retail is set to be reopened on May 11, before what the government itself predicts will be the peak of the pandemic. The Army has already admitted that it is searching for mass burial sites in the countrys second-wealthiest city, Rio de Janeiro, while northern states such as Pernambuco, Ceara and Amazonas have declared that their health care systems are already in a state of collapse. As in every other capitalist country, the COVID-19 pandemic is exposing and deepening the crisis of Brazilian capitalism and laying bare the bankruptcy of all factions of the ruling class, which is unable to formulate any alternative to the unfolding social catastrophe. This includes the social democratic and pseudo-leftist formations claiming to speak for workers, represented in Brazil by the PT and its petty-bourgeois backer, the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL). Both are terrified of the consequences of breaking ranks with the ruling class and of encouraging, even if accidentally, any social opposition to Bolsonaros government. PSOL President Juliano Medeiros reacted to growing public indignation over Bolsonaros authoritarian campaign by cynically writing in the pro-PT Forum that for the president to be removed, it is necessary for the center-right to break with the government. He admitted that when Bolsonaro crosses the line as he did yesterday, those against it become desperate for some initiative. It is normal. On social media the left leaders become the target of all kinds of demands, enough with censure motions some say, do something demand others, only to conclude: but the center parties also need to be addressed. The ball is not in our court, but in theirs. Indignation must be channeled to demands to the presidents of the House and Senate. Vancouver, Canada As cases of coronavirus continue to rise and uncertainty remains, NAFCU has canceled its 53rd Annual Conference and Solutions Expo, scheduled to take place June 23-26 in Vancouver, Canada. NAFCUs executives meet daily to discuss the pandemic and are taking steps to ensure credit unions remain safe, operational, and informed of developments. Registered attendees have been notified of the cancellation via email, which contains additional information on how to transfer conference registrations or obtain a refund, and how to proceed with canceling hotel and flight reservations. Please contact info@nafcu.org with any questions. Although the conference has been canceled, NAFCUs Annual Business Meeting will still take place in June at the associations headquarters in Arlington, Va., and via a virtual format. More details will be sent to members soon. Thousands of migrant labourers from Chhattisgarh and Odisha, who had been working in chilli fields in Telangana and parts of Andhra Pradesh, have been returning to their native villages due to extension of Covid-19 lockdown. And many have returned on foot, passing through the difficult terrain in dense forests having presence of Maoists in Chhattisgarh and Odisha. According to official estimates, around 10,000 workers, majority of them from Chhattisgarh, had been working in chilli fields spread over 10,000-12,000 acres along the Godavari river belt in Vajedu and Venkatapuram mandals (revenue blocks) of Mulugu district and Charla and Dummugudem mandals of Bhadradri Kothagudem district (both in Telangana), besides Chintoor, Kunavaram and V R Puram mandals of Andhra Pradeshs East Godavari district. They migrate to these parts during the chilli crop season - in February and March - to earn their livelihood. But this year, as the crop almost reached the harvesting stage, the coronavirus epidemic started and thousands of labourers began hurriedly returning to their native villages in Chhattisgarh and Odisha. Except 1,000-1,500 labourers from Chhattisgarh and around 500 from Odisha, all of them have left for their native places on foot, notwithstanding the imposition of lockdown and sealing of inter-state borders. Since they know the forest route, they might not have come to the notice of the police authorities, said Jatvati Venkatesh, an activist belonging to Jana Vikas Samithi (JVS), working for the rights of Chhattisgarh tribals. The plight of Chhattigarh tribals returning from the agricultural fields of Telangana back to their native hamlets came to light with the death of 12-year-old Jamlo Madkami, a resident of Aded village of Bijapur, on her way back to her village on April 18. The girl came with her maternal uncle to work as labourer in the chilli fields of Peruru village of Vajedu mandal in Telangana. As the lockdown was extended till May 3, she started back to her village, about 150 km away, but collapsed, reportedly due to dehydration and lack of proper food, about 50 km away from her village. The Mulug district administration ordered an inquiry into how Madkami, a minor girl, was allowed to work in chilli fields and how she managed to cross the border. Ever since the lockdown was announced, our district officials have been taking all measures to see that the migrant tribal labourers remained in their respective areas of working and not ventured to go back breaking the lockdown, Mulug district collector S Krishna Aditya told Hindustan Times. He said each migrant labourer was provided with 12 kg of rice, besides 500 towards subsistence allowance, though some big farmers promised to take care of these migrant labourers. In Vajedu mandal alone, we distributed rice and money to around 1,726 migrant labourers. Yet, some of them seem to have tried to go back to their native places fearing uncertainty in lockdown, he said. The exodus of tribals back to their native places have left the chilli farmers in lurch. We are not able to get labourers to harvest the crop when we actually need them, as majority of them have walked back to their native places, Srinu Kandula, a chilli farmer in Nandigama village of Chintoor block said. Normally, these migrant labourers come in groups of families - each comprising parents and their children. We pay equal wages to each of them, irrespective of their age - ranging from 200 to 300 depending on the work they do. If we deny work to minors, the parents, too, drop out from work. So, we are forced to employ even minors, Kandula said. Besides cash, the labourers also get some quantity of chillis as wages, which they carry along with them back to their villages, where they sell it to make some money. This time, the yield in chilli crop is very good and the market price is also very encouraging - 12,000 per quintal, as against 7,000 last year. But we are not position to harvest the crop due to migration of labourers. If we cant complete the harvesting in another couple of weeks, we will be at a big loss, said Kandula. Back home, these tribal migrant labourers are not finding it easy to return to their villages. The villagers are informing administration about their return. In most of the places these migrant labourers are camping outside the village, said a police officer posted in Bastar region, who was not willing to be named. Dantewada superintendent of police Abhishek Pallav said that about 2,500 people from Telangana and Odisha returned to their villages in the district in last 20 days. Police are monitoring them through sarpanch, village secretary and police station and putting them under quarantine outside the village after medical examination, he said. Bijapur Collector KD Kunjam said about 6,000 labourers returned from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and are quarantined in 40 camps. The tribal villagers have become vigilant about the Covid-19; they are not allowing their own relatives to enter their villages. We are taking care of each and every labourers and for that relief camps have been set up in schools and ashrams, said Kunjam. Chief Medical Officer of Bijapur district Dr BR Pujari said many labourers had returned from crossing jungles and mountains. Most of these are camping outside their villages with the help of villagers and administration, said Pujari. Bastar Collector Ayaj Tamboli informed that 41 relief camps have been set up in Bastar district. As many as 1,084 people have been kept in quarantine. Recently, 17 laborers of Odisha have been stopped outside the village Nangur Gaon, 20 km away from the headquarters, he said. Bastar Commissioner Amrit Khalko said that that the villagers of Bastar division are aware of the coronavirus. More than a thousand villagers are been closed. The traditional Mati festival of Bastar, Devguri Puja, Ama Tihar, Cock fight are not celebrated and people are following the rules, said Khalko. The daughter of a murdered New York millionaire says she still feels animosity towards detectives who initially suspected she was behind the gruesome crime. In the premiere episode of HLN's new series Killer Truth, set to air this Sunday, Susanne Nadell-Scaccio recounts how she was interrogated and surveilled by police who believed she had killed her wealthy mother, 80-year-old Peggy Nadell. Peggy Nadell, a noted Democratic party activist, was found stabbed to death by Susanne who decided to pay a visit to her mother's Valley Cottage mansion on January 25, 2014. 'I walked in and I found her, and the first thing I noticed was that she was bashed in the head. There was blood coming out of eyes and her nose and the side of the mouth,' Susanne recalled. Sus Susanne Nadell-Scaccio (right) says she still feels animosity towards detectives who initially suspected she was behind the gruesome 2014 murder of her wealthy mother, Peggy Nadell (left) Peggy Nadell was a noted Democratic party activist and prominent member of her Jewish community. She had an estimated net worth of more than $4 million and lived in the ritzy New York hamlet of Valley Cottage She soon noticed her elderly mother had a knife 'sticking out of her chest' and was cold to the touch. In a panic, Susanne pulled the knife out of her mother's chest before phoning 911 in a panic. Police descended on the property and took Susanne down to the sheriff's office for questioning. 'They started asking questions. I told them that I pulled out the knife. I said I was trying to do CPR on her and I realized it was past that point,' Susanne states in the new HLN special. 'I also told them that my fingerprints will be on the knife, and my DNA will be all over the house, as I'm there two or three times a week. My hair will be here, my fingerprints will be on every doorknob. 'At this point, I think they were trying to focus in on me'. In the new episode of HLN's Killer Truth, Susanne Nadell-Scaccio recalls how police pegged her as their prime suspect after she found her mother dead inside her home Earl Lorence took the lead of the grisly 2014 murder. He and his team suspected the killer was known to Peggy, as there were no signs of forced entry to her home Surveillance footage taken from inside the police station is included in the new series, and shows cops questioning Suzanne about her mother's sizable fortune. Peggy Nadell - who had been widowed for more than a decade - had a net worth estimated at more than $4 million. Killer Truth also includes an interview with long-term family friend, Darcy Greenberg, who recalls how undercover detectives frequently trailed Susanne around town and watched her from their cars. Darcy was also in touch with Susanne's brother, James and his wife Diana, who lived in Florida. The couple had two children together, but were contemplating a separation. Peggy is pictured (far right) with her grown son, James, and her daughter-in-law, Diana (second from right). Peggy had been sending the couple checks prior to her death According to Darcy, wealthy Peggy had been sending checks down to her son and daughter-in-law down in Florida. Peggy had been reluctant to funding the couple's lifestyle, but daughter-in-law Diana needed the cash to keep up appearances. In the new HLN special, Darcy says she became suspicious of Diana after she constantly began calling her to ask about the case. 'She was calling me almost every morning... She seemed very rattled and very off... It seemed like she was getting nervous, like the police were going to look at her. Every day she seemed to be getting more nervous. 'She called me one morning, and said she was taking one of her kids and moving to Jamaica,' Darcy recalled. At this point, Darcy called police with news that it looked like Peggy's Florida-based daughter-in-law would be fleeing the country, and detectives began zeroing in on her. While investigators initially believed Diana was in Florida at the time of Peggy's death, they later learned that she said she was in Washington, DC for a wedding. Police wiretapped Diana's phone, and investigation led them to two other women who appeared to be involved in a cover-up. Piecing together the evidence, detectives learned that Diana had flown up north from Florida on the weekend that Peggy was killed - but did not attend the wedding. Instead, she promised to pay another woman $10,000 to help accompany her to Peggy's New York mansion to murder her mother-in-law. Peggy's gruesome murder rocked the quiet town of Valley Cottage. The 80-year-old was known among locals for her style, grace and activism. She was a prominent activist and environmentalist Investigators believe Diana's husband, James, was about to divorce her - which would have prevented Diana from receiving any more of Peggy's money. According to investigators, Diana and her accomplice, Andrea Benson, called around to Peggy's mansion in the early hours and asked her to let them inside. Once inside the home, Diana stabbed Peggy before the pair fled the scene. Diana eventually plead guilty to first-degree murder, and admitted that money was her motive. In 2015, she was sentenced to a minimum of 23 years behind bars for her crime. Her husband, James, knew nothing about the murder of his mother, and was stunned his wife was responsible for the crime. Peggy's daughter-in-law Diana Nadell (left) eventually plead guilty to first-degree murder. She promised to pay accomplice Andrea Benson (right) $10,000 to help kill her 'I hope you stay in prison until you take your last breath," Susanne Nadell-Scaccio said to her former sister-in-law at the time. "My wish for your future is exactly what I feel about you. Absolutely nothing. Accomplice Benson was sentenced to a minimum of 20 years for the crime. The full episode of Killer Truth is set to air this Sunday at 10pm ET/PT. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 21, 2020) - Tower Resources Ltd. (TSXV: TWR) ("Tower" or the "Company") announces that the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange") has consented to an extension on the term of 6,250,000 common share purchase warrants (the "Warrants") that were issued under the Company's private placement of units completed on May 8, 2019. The Warrants have an exercise price of $0.10 per common share and were set to expire on May 8, 2020. The Company has received consent from the Exchange to extend the expiry date of the Warrants to May 8, 2021 in accordance with Exchange policies. About Tower Resources Tower is a Canadian based mineral exploration company focused on the discovery and advancement of economic mineral projects in the Americas. The Company's key exploration assets are the Rabbit North copper-gold porphyry project located between the New Afton and Highland Valley Copper mines, the Nechako gold project near New Gold's Blackwater project and the More Creek gold project in the Golden Triangle area of Northern British Columbia. On behalf of the Board of Directors Tower Resources Ltd. Joe Dhami, President and CEO (778) 996-4730 www.towerresources.ca Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/54724 [April 22, 2020] Machine Condition Monitoring Market by Top Manufactures, Material, Production, Geography 2020 analysis and Forecast 2023 Market Scenario: The global machine condition monitoring market is touted to touch a valuation of USD 2.91 billion by 2023, as per MRFR. It can display 5.55% CAGR from 2017 to 2023 (forecast period). Various performance metrics such as machine faults, unexpected failure, and machine health are likely to drive the market growth. The increased need for reduced maintenance expenses can bolster the market growth. The demand for transforming maintenance strategies in light of rising industrialization has evoked the need for machine condition monitoring software. The data collected can provide insights to organizations to reduce the time between repairs and take preventive action during power outages. Use of motor analysis for sensing inaction of components with the help of an electric signal is likely to drive the market growth during the forecast period. Get Free Sample Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2776 The hazardous nature of certain industrial zones such as power plants and assembly units are predicted to elicit the market demand over the forecast period. Spectrum analyzers can control dangerous zones as well as detect faults in equipment at a preventive stage. Moreover, development of mobile applications to ensure remote monitoring can open up novel growth opportunities. Key Players: The prominent players in the market of Machine Condition Monitoring Market are Emerson Electric (U.S.), General Electric (U.S.), Rockwell Automation (U.S.), Timken (U.S.), FLIR Systems (U.S.), SKF (Swedan), NSK (Japan), Parker-Hannifin (U.S.), PCB Piezotronics (U.S.) among others. Regional Analysis: The machine condition monitoring market takes into consideration the following regions Asia Pacific (APAC), Europe, North America, and Rest-of-the-World (RoW), for a careful consideration of the future of the market. The North America region was valued at USD 754.77 million in 2016. It can display a significant growth rate during the forecast timespan due to the surge in remote monitoring solutions. This has led to adoption of wireless heating, ventilation, and air condition (HVAC) equipment for providing cooling solutions to servers. Europe and Asia Pacific are regions with the utmost potential for growth due to rollout of policies mandating the safety of workers in the region. Machine condition monitoring is useful in sending out alerts and prevent machine shutdown or uncertain events. Rapid industrialization in economies of APAC such as Australia, India, China, and Japan can lead to a surge in machine condition monitoring solutions amid the expansion of the utilities sector. Segmentation The global machine condition monitoring market is segmented by end-user. Major market end-users include food and beverage, steel and metal, chemical and petrochemical, pulp and paper, oil and gas, power, cement, pharmaceutical, and automotive. The automotive industry can be a significant contributor for the market due to improper lubrication of components and stress of heavy loads in processes can induce the need for machine condition monitoring systems. Get Complete Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/machine-condition-monitoring-market-2776 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures Figure 1 Research Process Figure 2 Economic Indicators Figure 3 Development Cycle Of Maintenance Technologies Figure 4 Types And Analytic Techniques Used In Machine Condition Monitoring Figure 5 Machine Condition Monitoring Market Snapshot Figure 6 Machine Condition Monitoring: Porters Five Forces Figure 7 Segmentation Based On End-Users Figure 8 Segmentation Based On Geography Figure 9 Geographic Industrial Concentration (2015) Figure 10 Comparison Between Types Of Maintenance Strategy And Costs Ncurred Figure 11 Market Drivers Figure 12 Employee Health And Safety Standards Figure 13 Capital Investment By Leading Automobiles Figure 14 Impact Of Drivers Figure 15 Market Challenges Figure 16 Major Economies Of World Figure 17 Impact Of Drivers Figure 18 Market Trends Figure 19 Machine Condition Monitoring Market, By End Users (Usd Million) Figure 20 Power Industry Market, By Region (Usd Million) Continued Read or Blogs @ http://mrfrblog.com/ About Us: At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services. Media Contact: Market Research Future Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar, Pune - 411028 Maharashtra, India +1 646 845 9312 Email: [email protected] As a community-building service, TMCnet allows user submitted content which is not always proofed by TMCnet editors. If you feel this entry is of inferior quality or wish to report it for some reason, please forward the URL to "webedit [AT] tmcnet [DOT] com" with your comments. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Veteran actor Val Kilmer has opened up about his battle with throat cancer that has significantly altered his voice. The 60-year-old actor is best known for featuring in some of the most critically-acclaimed films of '80s and '90s, such as "Top Gun", "Tombstone" and "The Doors". Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2015 and for its treatment, he had to undergo a treatment that reduced his voice to a rasp. He talked about his battle during an interview with Good Morning America while promoting his memoir "I'm Your Huckleberry". "I feel a lot better than I sound, but I feel wonderful. I was diagnosed with throat cancer, which healed very quickly. "This is a tracheotomy to help me breathe, because the glands in my throat swelled up as well," Kilmer said. When asked what he missed most about his old voice, the actor said, "That I had one! And that I didn't laugh like a pirate." The title of Kilmer's memoir is inspired by a dialogue from his 1993 hit "Tombstone". During the interview, the actor discussed the book, in which he also covers his romances with famous celebrities like Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer and Cindy Crawford. "I'm very shy. I've tried to live a quiet life out in New Mexico despite all my famous girlfriends of the past,. "You have to be committed with a woman that's as dynamic and as committed to their work as someone like Cindy Crawford who was the number one model on the planet at the time," he said. On the work front, Kilmer will be making an appearance "Top Gun" sequel, "Maverick". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Coronavirus: social media comic campaign by Cefa in Tunisia Illustrations by graphic journalist Calia in fight against virus (ANSAmed) - TUNIS, APRIL 22 - A social media campaign to fight the spread of the coronavirus in Tunisia, composed of comics by Cladio Calia, a leading Italian graphic journalist, has already had over one million views. Non-profit organisation Cefa chose the comic format to build awareness among Tunisians, because illustrations are able to overcome linguistic barriers as well as illiteracy. Calia has already worked with Cefa in Rabat, Morocco, and in four other governorates in Tunisia, as part of the project Jasmin Tunisie, in collaboration with the non-profit Overseas. For this campaign, he drew a series of responsible behaviors aimed at stopping the spread of the virus, with 11 precautions to follow, from frequent hand-washing to wearing face masks in enclosed public spaces. The 11 vignettes portray daily life in Tunisia, respecting the country's customs and in line with measures adopted by national institutions. The illustrations, available online through Cefa Tunisia's digital platforms, were viewed over one million times in the first five days, with the campaign reaching more than 400,000 people. The two-language project is published daily on the Cefa Tunisia Facebook page. "We are very satisfied by the results of the campaign," said the project's leader, Chiara Angeli. "The Tunisian people have responded well to containment measures and the number of infections is relatively limited. But the fragility of the national healthcare system and the impossibility of facing an eventual sudden rise such as in Europe require us to not lower our guard. Prevention continues to be essential," she said.(ANSAmed). Islamabad, April 22 : At least 492 Pakistanis, including 92 women, left stranded in the wake of travel restrictions due to coronavirus pandemic have returned to their country from Afghanistan via the Torkham border. Officials said another 111 children, not registered with them as stranded persons but travelling with their parents, mostly mothers, were also allowed to enter Pakistan, Dawn reported. Shamsul Islam, the focal person for returning Pakistanis, told Dawn that among the 492 registered persons, 470 were sent to the quarantine centres in Landi Kotal, 22 to Shah Kas centre in Jamrud. One person with visible symptoms of coronavirus was admitted to the isolation ward of the district hospital in Landi Kotal. He said so far 1,205 registered persons stranded in Afghanistan after the closure of the borders on March 16 had returned to Pakistan via the Torkham border. A statement issued from the deputy commissioner's office said a total of 1,318 persons, including those coming from Afghanistan, had been kept in different quarantine centres in the Khyber district. It said 43 returnees had so far tested positive for Covid-19. FLINT, MI-- A coalition of unions representing healthcare workers across the state is demanding that McLaren Health Care Corporation executives reduce their own salaries rather than implement layoffs in the hospital system. The coalition is asking that all salaries are reduced so no executive will make more than $1 million this year, arguing this money should instead be used to support front line workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and purchase personal protective equipment. Front line health care workers, like McLaren Lapeer nurse Tom Hall, say they feel like McLaren Corporate is misspending its resources by prioritizing executive salaries over those on the front lines. Our patients deserve the best care possible. McLaren Corporate could be investing millions more in front line care if their executives would do the right thing. Its a shame that they have not done so," Hall said. Kevin Tompkins, senior vice president of marketing and planning at McLaren Health Care, said McLaren is supporting its employees, especially those on the front lines, by providing additional PTO and time-off benefits including access to state and federal benefits. McLaren is historically a fiscally responsible organization that has taken proactive steps both prior to and during this crisis to ensure that our employees have job security, even in times of uncertainty such as this, Tompkins said. Although we have taken measures of limited furloughs and leadership reductions in pay, we have been able to minimize the long-term negative impacts to our employees and have not laid off needed front line healthcare workers. Tompkins said that providing added benefits or making job cuts in a time of crisis can have long term consequences on a business, and McLaren is cautious as they consider what changes need to be made. He said their goal is to prevent permanent layoffs or reductions and return to normal levels of patient care and staffing over the next several months. Melissa Bloom, a nurse at McLaren Bay said she feels like the company should acknowledge the sacrifice employees have been making. We risk exposing ourselves to COVID-19 every day on the front lines of the pandemic," she said. "We are putting our bodies on the line, shouldnt our employers reward us for our sacrifice? The coalition is made up of unions representing healthcare workers all over the state, including: The Michigan Nurses Association represents more than 13,000 nurses and health care workers across the state including at McLaren Central, McLaren Lapeer, McLaren Cheboygan and McLaren Homecare. The Office and Professional Employees International Union, Local 459, represents more than 1,100 employees at McLaren Greater Lansing hospital, home care and physicians practices. Teamsters Local 332 represents about 150 technical bargaining unit members at McLaren Flint. SEIU Healthcare Michigan Represents 11,000 healthcare employees in Michigan and about 650 front line workers at McLaren Thumb, McLaren Bay and McLaren Oakland. Local 688, UNITE HERE! represents most of the ancillary workers at McLaren Bay Medical Hospital in Bay City. Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 40 represents more than 600 nurses and 320 service group members at McLaren Macomb. Read more here: 11 more die from coronavirus in Genesee, Saginaw counties but cases on the wane Michigan awarded federal funding for mental health services during coronavirus pandemic Kroll Bond Rating Agency Europe Limited (KBRA) releases research regarding Salus (ELOC No. 33), a KBRA-rated single-asset single-borrower (SASB) CMBS transaction with exposure to coworking office tenants. The transaction collateral is secured by CityPoint, a 708,594 square foot office building in London. The UK government recently extended measures through at least early May to reduce the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, including the requirement for people to stay at home, except for very limited purposes. In this context, KBRA reviewed loans with exposure to coworking office tenants that operate shared workspaces. The loan that serves as collateral for the Salus (ELOC No. 33) transaction has a sizable (20.1% of total contracted rent) coworking tenant concentration. In recent dialogue with the transaction servicer, KBRA found that the subject's two coworking tenants had requested a rent holiday. In addition, in our surveillance review in December 2019, KBRA previously noted that the property was operating below market occupancy levels due to the recent departure of three tenants. As a result, KBRA assigns a KBRA Performance Outlook (KPO) of Underperform for the loan that serves as collateral for the Salus (ELOC No. 33) transaction. A KPO is an assessment of Outperform, Perform, or Underperform based on recent and expected collateral performance. As events surrounding the crisis unfold, our thoughts are with the individuals and families who have been affected by the virus. Click here to view the report. Related Publications Coronavirus (COVID-19): Sponsor Support and Structural Features to Insulate UK CMBS from Rent Disruptions Coronavirus (COVID-19): Kanaal CMBS Finance 2019 Retail Exposure Salus (ELOC No. 33) DAC Surveillance Report About KBRA and KBRA Europe KBRA is a full-service credit rating agency registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an NRSRO. In addition, KBRA is designated as a designated rating organization by the Ontario Securities Commission for issuers of asset-backed securities to file a short form prospectus or shelf prospectus. KBRA is also recognized by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners as a Credit Rating Provider and is a certified Credit Rating Agency (CRA) with the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). Kroll Bond Rating Agency Europe Limited is registered with ESMA as a CRA. Kroll Bond Rating Agency Europe Limited is located at 6-8 College Green, Dublin 2, Ireland. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005563/en/ Contacts: Analytical Matthew Horner, Director +353 1 588 1240 mhorner@kbra.com Stephen Hughes, Director +44 208 148 1004 shughes@kbra.com Yee Cent Wong, Senior Managing Director +1 (646) 731-2374 ywong@kbra.com Business Development Mauricio Noe, Senior Managing Director, Head of Europe +44 208 148 1010 mnoe@kbra.com Katie Price revealed she had been the target of yet another kidnap threat as she faced interrogation on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins. The 41-year-old mother-of-five appeared on the Channel 4 reality show in an explosive launch episode which saw her flash a nipple and have water thrown in her face by ex-forces instructors. Asked by chief instructor Ant Middleton what she was doing there Price said: I'm not here for sympathy, I'm just saying, I have been through a lot of s**t and I'm still going through it. I don't even know where to start. My fifth kidnap threat happened two weeks ago. Then my mum being told she was terminally ill last year. Katie Price revealed she had received yet another kidnap threat on 'Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins' (Channel 4) Read more: Katie Price reveals her 'Celebrity SAS' bond with fellow contestant Anthea Turner Then my horse escaped on my front road and died in my hands. My dog got run over in my driveway. Then held at gunpoint in South Africa with my kids. That's the first time I've ever had a proper gun to my head thinking we're going to die. F**king horrific. Team member Ollie Ollerton observeded: What shocks me the most about that is the way you just told that story, without any emotion. Price replied: Because that's the only way I deal with it. I have to be the strong one. What can I do? When I got told my son was blind, what was I going to do? Just sit in the corner and cry? You can't! Katie Price said she let herself down on 'Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins'. (Channel 4) You've got to get on with life. You've got to deal with it! Read more: Katie Price returns to social media on Mother's Day Later in the episodem the former glamour model flashed a nipple on camera when she was ordered to change out of wet clothes. She was told to Shut the f**k up for coughing and had water thrown in her face for not listening to orders. Price - who last year split from fiance Kris Boyson and was declared bankrupt - is believed to have quit the show just two days into filming. Celebrity SAS line-up (Channel 4) She has said that she was not physically or mentally fit enough to take part in the show. The reality star has spoken out in the past about being the target of kidnap plots by criminal gangs, including one which threatened her son Harvey in a bid to extort 50,000 from her. Her car was hijacked in March 2018 during a family holiday to South Africa. Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins continues on Channel 4 on Monday, April 27th at 9pm. This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic. Read about others here. Orlando Moncada pursued the American dream, and grabbed it with both hands. When he came to the United States from Peru 40 years ago, at age 16, he didnt know a word of English. He found his way, with his mother and two siblings, to New York, where they joined his father, who was already working in the city cleaning buildings. Orlando, too, found work as porter and rose to foreman for ABM Industries, a large company that manages office buildings. He last worked at 450 Lexington Avenue, a skyscraper at East 44th Street in Manhattan, where he oversaw the cleaning staff and handled administrative tasks. Mr. Moncada died at 56 on April 8 at New York-Presbyterian Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville, N.Y. The cause was complications of the novel coronavirus, his daughter Bonnie Moncada said. Australia could be eased out of coronavirus lockdown in just three weeks, the deputy chief medical officer has announced, thanks to the country's remarkably low rate of infection over the past week. Professor Paul Kelly said on Wednesday there had been just four new cases across the country in the 24 hours from 3pm Tuesday. 'There may be more [cases] later, but we certainly appear to be flattening that curve very successfully at the moment,' he said. On Monday, there were 23 new COVID-19 cases and just 13 the previous day, down from a peak of 460 on March 28. Prof Kelly said the promising numbers had led the government to consider easing the strict measures, which have closed businesses and forced people to stay in their homes unless for essential purposes. But three benchmarks need to be met before Australia reopens, he said, as residents continue to endure the unprecedented lockdown. It has left hundreds of thousands of Australians unemployed, with businesses on the brink of collapse and the country facing a recession. Despite the dramatic fall in cases, Professor Kelly warned the public not to become complacent, remarking that 'you don't take the parachute off as you're approaching the ground.' Despite increased testing, such as at this drive-through facility in Bondi Beach (pictured on Tuesday), Australia recorded only four new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday As of Wednesday evening, Australia had 6,647 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 74 deaths linked to the respiratory virus The first criteria that needs to be met is the continued flattening of the infection rate, which Australia is on track to meet. The second is large-scale uptake of a health tracking app, based on the one used in Singapore, which the government is planning to roll out within weeks. Lastly is the ability of health officials to successfully deal with further outbreaks in vulnerable areas, such as the cluster which began in a Sydney care home on March 4. 'We certainly appear to be flattening that curve very successfully at the moment,' Professor Kelly told reporters. 'We are doing well. We need to absolutely be sure before we can start to release our social distancing measures.' The government hopes that a health tracking app, similar to Singapore's TraceTogether app (pictured) will help them to ease coronavirus restrictions People queue up outside a Centrelink office in Melbourne on April 20 (pictured) after restrictions left thousands unemployed HOW CAN AUSTRALIA ESCAPE CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWN? The government has spelled out three crucial benchmarks that need to be met before lockdown is lifted. 1) Flattening the curve - a reduction in the number of new cases of COVID-19 2) Large uptake of a health tracking app - due to be rolled out soon 3) Response capability to major outbreaks - particularly in vulnerable places such as care homes Advertisement Speaking about the health tracking mobile phone app, based on Singapore's TraceTogether app, Professor Kelly said large-scale uptake would help to control the spread of the virus. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has previously said that 40 per cent of Australians would need to install the app before restrictions are eased. 'That will really assist us in terms of finding the contacts of people as quickly as possible so that the spread through the community can really be controlled,' Professor Kelly said. The app is not mandatory, but uses Bluetooth to collect information about who users have come into close contact with. It means if a user contracts COVID-19, health officials can work out who they may have unwittingly infected. Syndey's Coogee Beach is seen on Tuesday (pictured) after it was re-opened for residents to exercise Social distancing (pictured at Sydney Fish Market on April 10) has helped Australia to contain the coronavirus outbreak, which has crippled many other countries As for the third criteria, the readiness of health authorities to respond to clusters of the virus, Professor Kelly said officials need to be able to protect the vulnerable. 'The third one is our response capability whenever there is an outbreak related to particularly vulnerable settings, and aged care facilities are one of those vulnerable settings,' Professor Kelly said. 'We need to be able to show how quickly we can assist from the Commonwealth and between states to deal with outbreaks such as that.' Even if these benchmarks are met, it will not mean a sudden return to normality, he remarked. Instead, there is likely to be a gradual easing of restrictions to ensure the infection rate doesn't spike - which would affect health workers' ability to treat patients. 'As a colleague said to me today, just because you're slowing down, you don't take the parachute off as you're approaching the ground,' Professor Kelly said. 'You wait until you've landed. Australia's daily infection rate has dropped significantly over the last few weeks, from a high of 460 a day to as few as four new cases a day Travellers are seen arriving at an Adelaide hotel on Tuesday (pictured) for their 14-day isolation after being repatriated to Australia 'So, we are really clear here and the Prime Minister is clear we're waiting for that four weeks to (pass) before we change our advice broadly about social distancing and the other measures that have been put in place.' Speaking after a meeting of the National Cabinet on Tuesday, Mr Morrison said Australia's response to the virus was 'working' and was 'saving lives and livelihoods'. As of Wednesday evening, Australia has 6,647 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 74 deaths related to the virus. This is far fewer cases than most of the country's G20 partners, including the United States - which has suffered more than 45,000 deaths. 'We have got to stick to our plan,' the prime minister said on Tuesday. Success could mean the opening of bars, restaurants and beaches over the coming months (pictured, Bondi Beach closed on Tuesday) Hotels have been closed during the coronavirus outbreak, as have numerous shops and restaurants, leaving thousands out of work (pictured, Sydney's Darlinghurst on Tuesday) 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 'Our plan is working. Our plan is saving lives and it is saving livelihoods. So we need to stick to that plan. We need to stick together in ensuring we maintain the implementation of that plan right across the country. 'For those who are asking when can we ease? Well, we were clear about that last week. We laid down some clear markers as to what the requirements would be.' He explained that there needed to be an effective rate of transmission less than the score of one - and that that would need to be achieved within the month. High testing numbers, as well as tracing of contacts and response capabilities are key, Mr Morrison said. 'They are the clear prerequisites,' he added. 'There is no uncertainty about that. I think that's very clear.' A police officer is seen speaking to walkers at Bondi Beach on Tuesday (pictured) amid tough coronavirus restrictions But states and territories are able to take action to ease their own restrictions. After the Federal Government introduced stage three restrictions on March 31, three states took the additional step of shutting their state borders. These are Western Australia, the Northern Territory and South Australia. 'We are not Sydney or Melbourne, we do not have the community transmission, the Territory is the safest place in Australia,' NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner said last week. Mr Gunner said by the end of April 'we will have made enough progress to begin planning our pathway back to normal'. Texas oil and gas regulators Tuesday put off a decision to order energy companies to cut crude production. Two of the three members of the Texas Railroad Commission refused to vote on the proposal by a third commissioner, Ryan Sitton, to reduce oil production by 20 percent. Chairman Wayne Christian pushed the matter to May 5. We need to make darn sure when we make the motion that it fits legal requirements, Christian said. As commissioners debated Tuesday, oil prices industry continued to drop in the U.S. and globally, driven by an oversupply of crude and falling fuel demand. Restrictions to curb the coronavirus have keep motorists largely at home and airlines grounded. Storage facilities for oil are quickly running out of space. On Tuesday, West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. oil benchmark price, closed at $9.06, a more than 169 percent decline from Monday. Commissioner Christi Craddick is expected to vote against any plan to cut production, expressing support for the position articulated by multinational producers such as Exxon Mobil Corp. and Occidental Petroleum Corp. against production cuts. The companies argue that the free market will handle any glut of oil. With large cash reserves, theyre better able to handle the oil price shock than smaller producers, many of whom are wrestling with heavy debt. Two Texas-based producers, Pioneer Energy Co. and Parsley Energy Inc., first proposed the production cuts and found an ally in Sitton. In a shift, Sitton on Tuesday said Texas should cut production in concert with other oil-producing states in the U.S., Canada and other global oil players. He proposed cutting 1 million barrels from Texas average daily production of 5 million barrels on June 1 if the other states and nations agree to cut 4 million barrels a day. Texas produces about 40 percent of the 13 million barrels a day that comes from the United States, the largest oil producer in the world. Saudi Arabia and Russia last week agreed to cut 10 percent of global supply along with other countries a reduction of just under 10 million barrels a day in a deal that was brokered by President Donald Trump. Sitton argued that the Railroad Commission needed to do its part to reduce the oil glut. Were seeing a level of demand destruction and oil industry downturn that in the past happened in a couple of years happening in a couple of days, he said. I don't believe that inaction on our part is acceptable. Neither Craddick nor Christian seconded his motion. Christian, however, agreed that if Texas acted, it needed to do so with other states and countries. He said he had spoke this week with the Canadian oil minister and oil officials in North Dakota. Oklahoma energy regulators are considering a proposal to curb output today. It would be much more powerful to move in conjunction with other states, Christian said. Craddick said any proposal needed to be reviewed by the state attorney general, otherwise, it could be held up by courts Randy Diamond covers energy and manufacturing in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Randy, become a subscriber. randy.diamond@express-news.net Eleven police personnel have so far tested positive for coronavirus in Madhya Pradesh's Indore district, a senior official said on Wednesday. However, the police force is upbeat and standing strong against all hurdles in the battle against COVID-19, Deputy Inspector General of Police Harinarayanachari Mishra told PTI. "So far, 11 of our personnel, including two IPS officers, have been infected by coronavirus in the district. They are undergoing treatment," he said. Indore, which has reported over 900 COVID-19 cases so far, is the worst affected by the disease in Madhya Pradesh. "Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, the mood of our force is upbeat. The police personnel are fighting as frontline warriors against this epidemic," Mishra said. At present, nearly 5,000 police personnel are deployed at different places in the district on various duties, including effective enforcement of curfew. Out of these, 170 police personnel are posted in various containment zones on rotational basis. Mishra said the police personnel are being provided adequate number of masks, sanitisers and personal protection equipment (PPE). Steps have also been taken at the administrative level to protect the police personnel from coronavirus. "As a precaution, police personnel who are over 50 years of age and those suffering from chronic and critical illnesses have been removed from duty in the containment zones and posted at other places in the district," he said. Out of the 11 police personnel who have so far tested positive for coronavirus in Indore, a 41-year-old inspector died at a hospital on Saturday. According to a health department official, the police inspector tested negative for coronavirus after the treatment, and doctors suspected 'pulmonary embolism' (blood clotting problem in the artery) as the immediate cause of his death. But there is also a possibility that pulmonary embolism may have been caused due to the coronavirus infection, the official said. So far, 923 people in Indore district have tested positive for coronavirus, another health official said. Of these, 52 patients died during treatment, while 72 were discharged after recovery. The local administration has imposed curfew in the urban limits since March 25 after the first coronavirus patient was found in Indore. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A popular fast food restaurant has announced it is reopening its Portlaoise branch. Supermac's had closed all its restaurants on March 26 due to the coronavirus Covid-19. It has announced the reopening of 15 of them this week. See full list below. "Supermacs will provide a limited service in a number of outlets following consultation with the authorities, staff, customers and our suppliers including farmers. The outlets will open on a phased basis in locations where the company can provide hot cooked meals to the public while fully implementing government guidelines regarding social distancing for our staff and customers," they said. Initially they will provide only Drive Thru, Delivery and Drive & Collect where it is safe to do so. New procedures are in place to keep staff and customers safe. "The safety of our staff and customers is paramount and the following procedures will be implemented: all services will be contactless, card payment only, dedicated work stations for all staff, staff gloves will be provided, staff masks will be provided, staff temperature monitoring will take place at the commencement of each shift, dedicated delivery driver working area, dedicated drive and collect points where applicable, dedicated delivery and collection bags. "Since we closed on March 26th, we have spent that time developing systems and processes in order to open and provide a service to the community where safety, wellbeing and standards are not compromised. We would like to thank our customers and staff for their loyalty and understanding," the company said. Three outlets will open today Wednesday April, two in Galway on the Headford Rd and Tuam Rd for Drive Thru and one in Wicklow, in Newcastle Delivery Only. Then on Friday April 24 Portlaoise Drive Thru, Delivery and Drive & Collect Ballysimon Rd, Limerick Drive Thru, Delivery and Drive & Collect Kinnegad Drive Thru and Drive & Collect Clonmel Drive Thru and Drive & Collect O Connell St Dublin Delivery Only Carrick on Shannon Drive Thru, Delivery and Drive & Collect Roscommon Drive Thru and Drive & Collect Trim Drive Thru, Delivery and Drive & Collect Drogheda Drive Thru and Drive & Collect Sligo Drive Thru, Delivery and Drive & Collect Ballindine Drive Thru and Drive & Collect Carlow Drive Thru, Delivery and Drive & Collect All lobbies will remain closed until further notice. The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association has welcomed the announcement. ICSA beef chair is Edmund Graham. It is one small step that might boost beef demand as we struggle to cope with the impacts of Covid-19. We have to open restaurants and food service operations in a realistic time frame. Their closure has had devastating consequences, not only for their staff but for the wider economy and for the beef sector in particular. We also know that for every week they remain closed, those impacts are being compounded. Supermacs have always been a big supporter of Irish beef producers and we commend them for that and for taking this move now," the ICSA chair said. Western countries, which may contain their own coronavirus outbreaks, will have to reckon with the fact that if the virus finds refuge among the world's most vulnerable, it could return anytime. There are over 70 million people worldwide who have been driven from their homes by war and unrest, up to 10 million are packed into refugee camps and informal settlements, and almost none have been tested for the coronavirus. While the relative isolation of many camps may have slowed the virus' spread, none is hermetically sealed. Without testing, as the world has seen repeatedly, the virus can spread unchecked until people start showing symptoms. That could have catastrophic results among the world's refugees: There will be few if any intensive care beds or ventilators for them. There might not even be gloves or masks. "Testing is in short supply even in New York and Norway, but it is nonexistent in most of the countries in the (global) south for the people we try to help," Jan Egeland, the head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, told The Associated Press. His group recently conducted a review of all 30 countries where it operates and found virtually no testing before people became sick. In Syria's war-ravaged Idlib province, only one small health facility is equipped to receive suspected coronavirus cases. In the world's largest refugee camp, in Bangladesh, aid workers are racing to build isolation facilities. In two sprawling camps in Kenya, Somalis who survived decades of famine and war fear the worst is yet to come. "If it's killing people daily in America, then what do you think will happen to us?" asked Mariam Abdi, a vegetable vendor in Kenya's Dadaab camp, where 217,000 people live in endless rows of tents. "We will all perish." Follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak Western countries, which by then may have contained their own outbreaks, will have to reckon with the fact that if the virus finds refuge among the world's most vulnerable, it could return anytime. Some refugee camps have been around so long they have apartment blocks and paved roads. Others are little more than clusters of tents or abandoned buildings. In many, cramped conditions and poor infrastructure can make it impossible to practice social distancing and frequent hand-washing. There are no official figures for the number of refugees who live in camps, but Egeland estimates they make up 10 to 15 percent of all refugees and displaced people, a population the UN estimates at over 70 million. Refugees have already tested positive in Italy, Germany, Iran, Australia and Greece, where authorities said Tuesday that 150 people living in a quarantined hotel for asylum-seekers had contracted the coronavirus, and none displayed symptoms of COVID-19. Most people who become infected experience mild to moderate symptoms. But the virus can cause severe illness and lead to death, particularly among older people and those with underlying health problems. It is highly contagious and can be spread by those who appear healthy. A 'MIRACLE' THAT NO CASES HAVE BEEN FOUND The coronavirus has already appeared in Syria, where the decade-long civil war has displaced more than half of the population of 23 million. At least 350 health facilities have been bombed, mostly by the government. More than 900 medical staff have been killed and countless more have fled. No cases have been reported yet in Syria's northwestern Idlib province, the last bastion of opposition to President Bashar Assad and where heavy fighting forced nearly a million people to flee their homes earlier this year. Zaher Sahloul, a Syrian physician based in Chicago who heads MedGlobal, an international health NGO, calls that a "miracle." He notes that the entire province, which is home to 4 million people, has 98 ventilators, compared to 230 in the Advocate Christ Medical Center, where he is a critical care specialist. An outbreak would be "catastrophic," he said. The World Health Organization has sent 5,900 testing kits to Idlib, where they are being carefully rationed. Authorities have carried out around 200 tests so far, all of which came back negative. In Jordan, the two largest camps for Syrian refugees have been sealed since last month. In Zaatari, which has about 80,000 residents, the Jordanian government conducted 150 random tests, all of which came back negative, said Dominik Bartsch, the head of UN refugee agency in Jordan. Residents of Azraq, home to about 40,000, will be tested soon. "We don't need the camp managers to tell us how serious the virus is. We see it in the news and read about it," said an anxious Massoud Ali, 35, who fled Syria for a camp in neighboring Iraq in October. BECOMING 'INVISIBLE' Refugees living outside camps are also uniquely vulnerable. Nearly 5 million Venezuelans have fled economic chaos, crossing by foot and bus into neighboring Colombia and other countries. Many live in crowded apartments in Bogota, which has the bulk of Colombia's coronavirus cases, and work as street vendors jobs now prohibited. During the capital city's lockdown, many have been evicted from rentals and fined for being on the streets as they struggle to put food on the table. "All of a sudden, they've become invisible, locked away behind closed doors," said Marianne Manjivar, International Rescue Committee director for Colombia and Venezuela. 'NO DOCTORS CAN SAVE US' There's been little if any testing in Cox's Bazar, in southern Bangladesh, where more than a million members of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslim minority are packed into the world's largest refugee camp. Kate White, the emergency medical coordinator for Doctors Without Borders, said there is "very limited testing capacity" in Bangladesh, with most of it in the capital, Dhaka, some 250 miles (400 kilometers) away. While cases have been reported in the district, none have been detected inside the camp. There, refugees still gather in large groups to collect aid, and humanitarian workers are preparing for the worst. The UN refugee agency is building isolation and treatment centers that can house 150-200 patients. It is also distributing soap and talking about how to prevent the virus' spread, but a government ban on cellphone and internet services in the camps has hindered those efforts. Sakina Khatun, who lives with her husband and seven children in a small bamboo and tarp hut, said "the virus will kill everything it touches" if it enters the camps. "No doctors can save us then." 'IT WILL CERTAINLY COME BACK' There's a similar sense of foreboding in conflict zones across Africa. Burkina Faso is grappling with one of the world's fastest growing displacement crises, with 8,00,000 people having fled attacks by jihadis in recent months. "We ran away from the terrorists and came here, but now there's the coronavirus, and we don't know what will happen," said Boureima Gassambe. He and around 600 others have settled in an abandoned school on the outskirts of the capital, Ouagadougou. Twenty to 30 people stay in each room. Aguirata Maiga says soap is so expensive for her 40 cents a bar that she has to choose between washing her children's hands and their clothes. Burkina Faso's fragile health system has only 60 intensive care beds and a handful of ventilators, for a population of around 20 million people. In Kenya's crowded Kakuma refugee camp, more than 1,90,000 Somali refugees live in tents and rely on 19 wells. "That's more than 10,000 people getting water from the same borehole," said Kurt Tjossem of the International Rescue Committee. There are also shortages of protective equipment, drugs and trained health workers. There is no coronavirus testing at Kakuma or at the Dadaab camp, said the IRC's Kenya health coordinator, John Kiogora. There are no intensive care units or ventilators, either. The situation is even more dire inside Somalia, where more than 2.2 million people live in camps for the internally displaced. They have been uprooted by cycles of drought and the ever-present threat of al-Shabab, an al-Qaida-linked extremist group. The camps have no testing facilities or equipment to treat those who contract the virus, according to Yuko Tomita, an officer with the UN migration agency. Somalia has just 46 intensive care beds nationwide. In South Sudan, more than 180,000 people still live in crowded UN-run camps after a five-year civil war that left the health system reliant on NGOs for almost all services. "The reality is, if the virus presents itself, we have no choice," said Charles Franzen, director of humanitarian and disaster response for World Relief. "Are we in a position to offer much in response other than having people just go home?" Egeland, of the Norwegian Refugee Council, says vulnerabilities among refugee populations put the whole world at risk. "If the pandemic survives in Venezuela or in Honduras or any other of the more vulnerable countries ... it is a permanent risk for the United States," he said. "If the coronavirus is spread from Europe, via Turkey, to Idlib, and gains a stronghold there, it will certainly come back to Europe." Since the first confirmed case, the coronavirus has spread to all 50 states, claiming the lives of Americans coast to coast. This week, several Southern governors announced that they would ease restrictions on businesses. As governors in other parts of the country form coalitions to strategize lifting stay-at-home orders, a look at regional patterns reveals the challenges they will face as they try to combat the crisis. The Northeast This region has been the hardest hit in the entire country. New York State has become the epicenter of the outbreak with 37 percent of all U.S. deaths. Even after adjusting for population size, the state still has the highest fatality rate for coronavirus in the nation. The states in the Northeast account for nearly two-thirds of fatalities in the United States. Researchers suggest that the virus began spreading in this region in mid-February, weeks before the first confirmed case, and that a majority of cases have links to Europe, not Asia. The West Some of the earliest cases in the country were diagnosed in this region, which has also been the most successful in mitigating the virus. California, Oregon and Washington have in fact shipped ventilators to hot spots on the East Coast. California, the most populous state in the country, had nearly 600 direct flights to China in January more than twice as many as New York State making it especially vulnerable to the spread of the virus. Still, the state was the first to implement broad stay-at-home measures, and has managed to keep its death toll comparatively low, ranking 29th among all 50 states and Washington, D.C. in deaths per capita. Late Tuesday, officials in Santa Clara County, Calif., announced that two residents there died of the coronavirus in early February, shifting the timeline of the viruss spread across the country much earlier than previously believed. The Midwest Several governors in the Midwest, which is home to multiple hot spots, have announced that they will coordinate plans to reopen their economies. Protesters in some of these states have taken to the streets to demand that governors loosen restrictions, even though public health experts warn that relaxing stay-at-home rules too soon could lead to new waves of outbreaks. In Illinois, the Chicago area has emerged as a hot spot. The Cook County Jail one of the nations largest is among the largest single sources of infection in the country. Michigan has some of the highest rates of infection and fatality in the country, ranking third in coronavirus deaths and seventh in total cases among the 50 states and Washington, D.C. Racial disparities are also stark in Michigan, where black residents make up just 14 percent of the population, but 40 percent of virus deaths. The South Most states in the South lagged behind the rest of the country in implementing stay-at-home orders, with many waiting until the end of March or early April to do so. These same states are now poised to be among the earliest to loosen those very restrictions, even though their populations have disproportionate rates of underlying conditions that put people at a higher risk of dying of the coronavirus. In Florida, a beach festival held in early March was the source of dozens of infections. Nearly a month later and after the official case count in Florida reached 7,000 Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a stay-at-home order. A quarter of Floridas population is older than 60, the age group for whom the coronavirus is most deadly. In Georgia, a funeral in the small city of Albany became a super-spreader event. Three counties near this city have some of the highest per capita rate of infections outside of the New York area. Many point to New Orleans failure to cancel Mardi Gras as a precipitating factor in Louisianas outbreak and the state ranks fifth in the country in deaths and is home to numerous hot spot counties. BERLIN, April 21 (Reuters) - The procurement for Germany's air force of up to 93 Eurofighter jets, along with 45 F-18s from Boeing, would be reasonable, the Defence Ministry wrote in a confidential letter to the parliamentary Defence Committee seen by Reuters. The Eurofighter is built by Airbus, Britain's BAE Systems and Italy's Leonardo SpA. Purchases of the F-18 U.S. fighter jets had previously failed due to resistance from some members of the left-leaning Social Democrats (SPD), junior partners in Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling coalition. But ministry sources said on Monday the SPD had been involved in talks for weeks. (Reporting by Sabine Siebold Writing by Paul Carrel Editing by Michael Nienaber) Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-23 01:11:10|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TOKYO, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Coronavirus cases in Japan increased by 449 to 11,965, with 132 new daily infections recorded in Tokyo, according to the latest figures from the health ministry and local authorities Wednesday evening. With the figures showing the virus in urban areas in Japan is continuing to spread consistently, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday again called on the country for more cooperation in the fight against the deadly virus. "To bring an end to this state of emergency as soon as possible, now is the most critical time for us," Abe said. "I'd like to ask the people of Japan to take a fresh look at their behavior and cooperate in attaining the 80 percent cut in person-to-person contact," Abe said at a meeting of a government task force on the coronavirus response. The nationwide death toll from the virus has now increased to a total of 295, including those from a cruise ship that was quarantined in Yokohama near Tokyo, the latest figures showed. In Tokyo, the epicenter of Japan's outbreak, the number of COVID-19 cases has increased to 3,439 confirmed cases, accounting for well over one-third of all COVID-19 cases across the nation, followed by hard-hit Osaka Prefecture where cases have risen to 1,380 infections. Kanagawa Prefecture, meanwhile, has recorded 836 infections, Chiba Prefecture 746 cases, Saitama Prefecture 726 infections, Fukuoka Prefecture 563 case, while Hyogo Prefecture has recorded 560 cases of COVID-19, according to the latest figures Wednesday evening. The health ministry here also said there are currently a total of 245 patients considered severely ill and are on ventilators to receive respiratory assistance or have been admitted to intensive care units for medical treatment. Abe also said that during the upcoming Golden Week holidays from late April to early May, people should refrain from going to their hometowns to see their parents and family members, or otherwise take vacations. He said that catching up with family and friends over the lengthy holiday period could be done online. Abe declared a state of emergency for Tokyo and six other prefectures two weeks ago, but it was expanded nationwide later, with many prefectures also asking their residents to stay home and refrain from going outside unnecessarily, while requesting some businesses to suspend their operations. The prime minister also pledged to provide all residents with a 100,000 yen (930 U.S. dollars) cash handout. The Japanese leader has been urging citizens to reduce person-to-person contact by up to 80 percent and reduce commuting by 70 percent by working from home. He said that on weekdays, people's movements have reduced by 60 percent and more than 70 percent on weekends in urban areas over the past two weeks compared to before the outbreak of the virus. Abe said, however, that the virus had spread from urban to rural areas during the holidays in March and that it was imperative this not reoccur during Golden Week. Enditem Child actor Lee Kyung-hoon, left, and actress Lee Hang-na in a scene from "Beyond That Mountain" / Courtesy of Little Big Pictures By Kwak Yeon-soo "Beyond That Mountain" is a biopic that portrays the early life of the late Stephen Kim Sou-hwan, Korea's first Roman Catholic cardinal. Kim (played by Lee Kyung-hoon) was born in the city of Daegu in 1922, the youngest of eight children. His father Kim Young-seok (played by Ahn Nae-sang) was a pottery dealer, and so poor that he was often unable to provide food for his family. In the film, Kim's father dies because he cannot be given proper care as the family is unable to afford herbal medicine. This triggers young Kim to dream of becoming a dealer of ginseng, one of the most frequently used ingredients in herbal medicines. However, Kim's devoted mother Seo Jung-ha (played by Lee Hang-na) expresses her wish for her two younger sons to become priests. Kim begins to look deep into his heart and moves on towards the priesthood. Overall, the film focuses on Kim's relationship with his mother, and how he makes the decision to become a priest. The movie also tells the story of Kim's grandfather, a convert to Catholicism, who died in prison during the persecution of Catholic converts in Korea during the 19th century. "This film is set for release in May, which is considered a family month (in Korea). Enjoy this heart-warming film with family and love each other," child actor Lee said at a press screening held in Seoul, Monday. "Cardinal Kim was more than a religious person, he was a saint," Ahn said. Although the film is a biographical account of a prominent religious leader, it avoids an overbearing focus on religion. Rather, it concentrates on family and the importance of inner strength. It features many child actors, including Lee, who plays the main role of the young Kim. He was chosen from among 260 candidates who auditioned for the role. Actress Lee Hang-na, who plays Kim's mother in the film, presents her character as a strict but caring person. Poster for "Beyond That Mountain" / Courtesy of Little Big Pictures 4 in 5 parents say coronavirus has brought family closer together, study says Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Some four out of five parents on lockdown with their children due to the coronavirus pandemic say the crisis has brought their families closer together, according to a new study. A survey of 2,000 British parents by MumPoll revealed that 80% of parents believe they have formed stronger bonds with their families as a result of the increased time they have been spending together during the lockdown, StudyFinds reports. Approximately 50% of parents in the survey have played board games with their children while another 30% say they have formed book clubs and read together. And this study is not alone in observing the positive impact of the coronavirus on families normally separated by a faster lifestyle. For the first time since the early 19th century, many parents and kids and even grandchildren are all under the same roof round-the-clock. And if past periods of emergency are any guide, this enforced togetherness could deepen our relationships for years to come, said Erica Pandey, a business reporter for Axios. While the survey focused on British parents, several parents in the U.S. made similar observations to Axios. "The strangest thing Ive noticed is a sense of bonding," Steven Singleterry, who works in finance and lives in Brandon, Mississippi, said. "We spend much less time on electronics and more time together. I think its a product of schooling the kids from home as well as home becoming the new all-in-one." While working from home with his family was difficult at first, Christopher Mims, a Wall Street Journal columnist who lives in Baltimore, Maryland, told the outlet that things have gotten better over time. "They interrupt me constantly. ... But each day it gets easier. They get wrapped up in deep imaginative play and I can ignore them for long periods," he told Axios. In a recent interview with People magazine, Prince Harry, who recently moved to Los Angeles, California, revealed how much he has appreciated his time with his wife, Meghan, and their 11-month-old son, Archie, during the lockdown. Theres a hell of a lot of positives that are happening at the same time and being able to have family time so much family time that you almost think, Do I feel guilty for having so much family time? he said. Youve got to celebrate those moments where you are just on the floor rolling around in hysterics. Inevitably, half an hour later, maybe a day later, theres going to be something that you have to deal with and theres no way you can run away from it. However, the prince was criticized for suggesting that some in the media are exaggerating the severity of the coronavirus by saying in an interview on the Declassifed podcast that things are "better than we are led to believe." Brad Wilcox, a professor of sociology and director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, told Axios that suffering forces people to become less self-centered. When society is facing a tremendous challenge or theres a big uptick in suffering, people orient themselves in a less self-centered way and in a more family-centric way, he said. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 22) A group of economics professors from the University of the Philippines (UP) has proposed the use of sample-based random testing for COVID-19 from among the different industries or sectors and localities such as barangays to fully understand and monitor the transmission of the deadly virus. In discussion papers by 12 professors of the UP School of Economics plus one professor from the College of Medicine, they said their suggestion entails a two-level design, which is composed of a random sample of firms, and another of employees within the selected firms identified by the Department of Trade and Industry and the Philippine Statistics Authority. Both agencies will determine both samples. Meanwhile, local government units will identify firms operating exclusively within their borders, such as neighborhood or city markers, retail stores, and local transportation providers. The size of the random samples will depend on the firm size, which are 30 or less workers, 31 to 100 workers, or over a hundred workers, and the physical location or nature of workers within a firm. Some workers will also receive more frequent testing depending on the nature of their jobs. The professors recommended using the rapid antibody-based test, which costs 1,930 on the workers that will be included in the sampling. Should anyone test positive, the RT-PCR testing protocol will then be executed on the entire shift of workers exposed to the infected individual. For this protocol, they suggested the pooled approach, which will test blood samples or swabs from workers by group or batch instead of just one individual being tested. Meanwhile, if any worker tests positive for the disease using the RT-PCR test, the group said all workers must be brought to a quarantine facility or in a hospital if they're symptomatic, the workplace must be disinfected, and contact tracing must be done in the community where the infected worker lives. The group said this form of testing is a "feasible and economical way" to keep infections under surveillance, adding it could "cost a fraction of mass testing yet still provide statistically reliable information." This method also allows for the monitoring of 'herd' or community immunity, which means a group of people is protected from the disease if enough people are resistant to it, leading to infection rates dropping and the disease eventually dwindling, the professors said. Meanwhile, the professors found the current approach by the government, which prioritizes only those with symptoms, is not capable of giving an estimate of how many are actually infected, especially asymptomatic people. It is also unable to reflect disease transmission rates and other indicators required to design policy, such as when and how to lift the enhanced community quarantine and deployment of health resources across localities, the group explained. "As it is, little is known about whether, when, and where surges of new cases may happen," it added. The group also said there is an urgent need to expand the Department of Health's capacity in granting accreditation to private and LGU laboratories, in order to allow for more RT-PCR testing, whose current capacity will be overrun even with pooled testing. The group is composed of UP School of Economics Dean Orville Jose C. Solon and faculty members Toby C. Monsod , Maria Socorro Gochoco-Bautista, Emmanuel S. de Dios, Joseph J. Capuno, Renato E. Reside Jr., Ma. Joy V Abrenica, Agustin L. Arcenas, Ma. Christina Epetia, Laarni C. Escresa, Karl Jandoc and Cielo Magno. UP College of Medicine faculty member Carlo Irwin A. Panelo is also part of the group. The full paper may be read here. CLEVELAND, Ohio A Cleveland business owner cited with violating Gov. Mike DeWines stay-at-home order that closed non-essential businesses said she will remain open because she has no other option. Jamie Davis, the owner of the secondhand store The Yard Sale Lady, said shes a single mother and small business owner who must remain open in order to pay her bills. Until I have the national guard or some army guy come in and say we all have to shut down, Im not closing my business, Davis said. This is how I pay my bills. If my business shuts down, thats all I have. Davis is one of three people cited by Cleveland police with violating the governors March 22 stay-at-home order that shuttered non-essential businesses. The owner of a beauty supply store and a 20-year-old man who threw a large party were also charged. The charge is a second-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a $750 fine. A Cuyahoga County Common Pleas judge on Monday ordered a Parma Heights consignment shop shuttered after the store, Seconds City Consignment Home Furnishings, remained open after the stay-at-home order. Cleveland police about 1 p.m. Thursday showed up at her store on Fulton Road and Arnold Court, about two blocks from the Second District Police headquarters, after someone reported her store remained open. The officers spoke to Davis, who refused to close her store, according to police reports. The officers asked a supervisor for advice and the supervisor called the Cleveland Department of Public Health, according to the police report. Brian Kimball, one of two commissioners for the health department, told the officers Davis business is non-essential, police reports say. Davis told the officers she would remain open. She said in an interview that she took her open signs down. Five minutes after the officers left, she put the open signs back up, she said. The officers filed the charge Saturday and noted in court records that Davis re-opened her business after officers told her she was violating the stay-at-home order. Davis, who opened he store in 2018 and takes care of her young daughter, said she believes she should be allowed to remain open because she sells items similar to other stores that remain open. She said she sells household items, kitchenware, outdoor accessories among a slew of items. Davis also said 90 percent of her business comes from online orders and that she limits foot traffic in her store normally by keeping her door locked. Customers enter only after ringing a door bell, she said. Im a single mom and a small business owner, Davis said. I have to pay my rent at the store and I have bills to pay at home. I have no choice but to stay open. Read more from cleveland.com: Man cited with violating Ohios stay-at-home order after throwing party at AirBnb in Ohio City that drew 100 people Cleveland police issue first citation for violation of Ohios stay-at-home order to beauty supply store Cleveland Heights man cited twice in three days for violating Ohio Gov. Mike DeWines stay-at home-order after two large house parties Slate is making its coronavirus coverage free for all readers. Subscribe to support our journalism. Start your free trial. The half-loaf agreement that Democratic and Republican negotiators reached on Tuesday to replenish the the governments emptied-out small-business rescue offered nothing on one of Democrats top negotiating demands: additional grants for cash-strapped state, local, and tribal governments, which have seen expenditures soar and revenues plummet during the coronavirus pandemic. Republicans would not negotiate on the aid in this interim bill to reup the Payroll Protection Program, and with restaurants and bookstores collapsing by the day, Democrats agreed to defer it to the next relief bill. And that next one, Democratic leaders say, will be substantial, in line with the multitrillion-dollar CARES Act that passed in late March. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the weeks ahead, Congress must prepare another major bill, similar in size and ambition to the CARES Act, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor Tuesday. Among the items this bill would need to include, he said, was additional state, local, and tribal government assistance, rent assistance, hazard pay for front-line workers, Postal Service relief, a boost to food assistance programs, and resources for November election integrity (i.e., making sure people can vote). He promised that the administration and his negotiating partner, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, were seeking another big bill, too. Around the same time, though, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnellwho had just secured more money for PPP, and a month ago had secured all the money that large corporations would ever needsuggested it might be time for Congress to declare victory and call it a day. Advertisement Advertisement I think its also time to think about the amount of debt that were adding to our country and the future impact of that, McConnell said at a press conference Tuesday. And I think weve also seen, with this catastrophic damage to the economy, that until we can begin to open up the economy we cant spend enough money to solve the problem. While he said he understood that state and local governments were suffering, he felt that weve gone so far on the national debt here that the next time we address this issue, the Senate should be back in session, fully up and running, with everybody involved in the discussion. The Senate is scheduled to return May 4. Advertisement Advertisement It had been difficult to get a straight answer during negotiations over the most recent bill about why Republicans had drawn such a red line around additional state and local assistance. Was it the logistical issue that McConnell had offered, believing it was a matter for the full Senate to debate in person? That it wasnt as immediate a concern as replenishing the flat-broke PPP? In remarks McConnell made on Hugh Hewitts radio show Wednesday morning, though, we got a little closer to the dirty truth: Its about good ol ideology. Advertisement Advertisement I said yesterday were going to push the pause button here, because I think this whole business of additional assistance for state and local governments needs to be thoroughly evaluated, McConnell told Hewitt. You raised yourself the important issue of what states have done, many of them have done to themselves with their pension programs. Theres not going to be any desire on the Republican side to bail out state pensions by borrowing money from future generations. Advertisement Advertisement McConnells office excerpted this quote in a press release under the subtitle, On Stopping Blue State Bailouts. He addedat Hewitts prompting, surethat he would favor changing bankruptcy laws to allow states to declare bankruptcy instead of using federal funds to rescue them. Cue the Democratic panic. Advertisement Advertisement In short: It doesnt seem that Mitch McConnell is particularly interested in granting anywhere near the $500 billion in additional relief that the bipartisan chair and vice chairs of the National Governors Association has been requesting, and is suggesting that bloated blue states want to exploit the crisis to cover for poor fiscal management predating the crisis. More cynical yet are murmurs that Republicans are intentionally starving governors of resources as a lever to get them to end stay-at-home orders, and resume revenue-generating economic activity, sooner than public health guidelines would recommend. Advertisement The question of whether McConnell is shutting the doors on congressional relief, though, leans too credulously into the myth of Mitch McConnells omnipotence. The more important question is whether McConnell can shut the doors on congressional relief at a time when theres no question that additional congressional relief is needed. Regardless of how quickly state governments act to lift restrictions on economic activity, there will need to be at least one more major relief bill. PPP will run out of money again. Hospitals will need more money. Human beings will need more money! At least 22 million jobs have been lost in the past few weeksand we have no idea how long it will take for them to come back. The damage is incalculable. It is untenable for a legislator or president to say their hands are tied because of the deficit, because that legislator or president will risk blame for a worsening economic depression in an election year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The position that the pleas for federal aid are simply a trick Democratic governors and mayors are playing to cover for their years of bloated pensions, mass-distributed free condoms, and mandatory abortions is also not tenable. Gaping state and local budget deficits will cause mass layoffs of police, firefighters, and teachers, and the austerity that state and local officials are forced to impose to balance their budgets would dramatically slow the pace of economic recovery even when restrictions are lifted. The situation will be dreary in any state thats had a run on its unemployment insurance and health systems while revenues have collapsedin other words, theyll be dreary in any state. Ohio and Louisiana, a reddish state and a red state, for example, have been hit hard by coronavirus outbreaks. Thats why Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman, for example, is calling for additional state and local assistance, while Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy has joined with New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez to propose their own $500 billion fund for state and local help. There will be Republican pressure to get something doneboth from within Congress and from the president, whos already compiling his own wish list. The need for additional action is undeniable, and Democrats are drawing up a long list of items they intend to compile in a House bill. McConnell is setting a marker on the other end. After a few weeks of theatrics, Pelosi, Schumer, and Mnuchin will cut a deal somewhere in the middle. McConnell may be hitting the brakes, but even he cant bring Congress to a complete stop. For more COVID-19 coverage, listen to What Next. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-23 00:25:59|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A screen capture image shows Huang Ping, China's consul general in New York, speaking at a virtual handover ceremony via Zoom, in New York, the United States, April 21, 2020. Two Chinese diplomatic missions, which regard New York City as their homes, on Tuesday donated a batch of medical supplies, including 25,000 N95 masks, to the city to help its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. (Xinhua) NEW YORK, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Two Chinese diplomatic missions, which regard New York City as their homes, on Tuesday donated a batch of medical supplies, including 25,000 N95 masks, to the city to help its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chinese Consulate General in New York and the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations altogether donated 25,000 N95 masks, 2,000 protective suits, and 75,000 pairs of medical gloves, to the city at a virtual handover ceremony via Zoom. Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, said at the ceremony that every day at 7 pm EDT, he and his wife, from their balcony, join their neighbors in clapping to support the city's essential workers. He said he believes that the "unity of all New Yorkers" will defeat the pandemic and bring "dynamic and colorful life" back to New York. "We are in one world. Virus knows no borders. The pandemic poses an extraordinary challenge to the whole world. In fighting the virus, we have no choice but to stay united and cooperate with each other. With solidarity and cooperation between China and the United States, as well as other countries, we will win the war against the virus," he said. "China and the United States are members of the UN family and permanent members of the Security Council. Strengthening cooperation between China and the United States not only serves the common interests of our two countries, but also meets the expectation of the international community. We need to support the UN and the World Health Organization in playing a leading and coordinating role to defeat COVID-19, the common enemy of mankind," he added. "We should stand firm against the politicization of the pandemic and remove all obstacles which hinder our cooperation," he said. "All of our staff and family members see ourselves as New Yorkers, and always want to reach out to help," Huang Ping, China's consul general in New York, said at the ceremony. He also paid tribute to the dedication displayed by healthcare professionals, first responders and medical researchers citywide. Huang urged the two biggest economies in the world to lead the effort against the coronavirus. "This is not the time for finger-pointing. This is the time for solidarity, collaboration, cooperation and mutual support," he added. According to Huang, China also has donated 1,000 ventilators, 6.55 million masks, 310,000 pairs of surgical gloves, 150,000 goggles and 32,000 protective suits to the United States, much of it to New York, based on an estimate. Penny Abeywardena, New York City's commissioner for international affairs, acknowledged China's contributions. "We are grateful for your support and your partnership. And we will not tolerate any harassment or discrimination of your community here." Abeywardena expressed her deep gratitude on behalf of Mayor of NYC Bill de Blasio for the support and partnership. She said that what Chinese government and Chinese community have donated have been truly extraordinary. "We have seen how the diplomatic communities have shown that they are part of the NYC. The Chinese community is one of the most important communities in NYC and the city government will not tolerate any harassment or discrimination against any of our communities," she added. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-23 05:29:08|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A staff member sprays disinfectant in a restaurant in Rome, Italy, April 22, 2020. The coronavirus pandemic has claimed over 25,000 lives in locked-down Italy, bringing the total number of active infections, fatalities and recoveries so far to 187,327, according to the latest data released by the country's Civil Protection Department on Wednesday. (Photo by Elisa Lingria/Xinhua) ROME, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The coronavirus pandemic has claimed over 25,000 lives in locked-down Italy, bringing the total number of active infections, fatalities and recoveries so far to 187,327, according to the latest data released by the country's Civil Protection Department on Wednesday. Wednesday saw 437 new deaths, bringing the total to 25,085 fatalities since the pandemic first broke out in the northern Lombardy region on Feb. 21. A total of 2,943 additional recoveries were registered on Wednesday compared to Tuesday, bringing the total to 54,543. It was also the biggest daily recoveries recorded so far. The active infections stood at 107,699, which is 10 lower than Tuesday. It was the third consecutive daily drop in the number of active infections nationwide. A positive trend was also confirmed in the number of patients hospitalized. Of those infected, 2,384 are in intensive care, down by 87 compared to Tuesday, while 23,805 are hospitalized in normal wards, down by 329. The rest, or 75.7 percent, are in isolation at home. In related news, the number of doctors who have died from the coronavirus infections grew to 144, after two more fatalities were registered in the last 24 hours, the National Federation of Orders of Surgeons and Dentists (FNOMCeO) said. REGULARIZING UNDOCUMENTED MIGRANTS Also on Wednesday, Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese confirmed a plan was being discussed within the Italian cabinet on the possibility of providing irregular workers, including undocumented migrants, a regular permit. The measure would aim at allowing irregular workers to fill a labor shortage caused by the coronavirus emergency in some economic sectors, and especially in agriculture. "Together with the ministries of Agriculture and Labor, we are assessing the positions of undocumented workers, both Italians and foreigners," Lamorgese told senators in a hearing to the upper house. "This issue arises from the need to find a specific solution to the problems concerning agriculture and fishing industry, in order to remedy the labor shortages in those sectors without affecting national production," she explained. The first to openly talk about regularizing at least some of the estimated 600,000 undocumented migrants living in the country had been Agriculture Minister Teresa Bellanova in an op-ed on Il Foglio newspaper last week. "Figures are clear: the regular foreign labor force in Italy's agriculture counts on about 400,000 units (workers); for ten years, Italians have fallen and foreigners have increased," Bellanova explained. "Today, due to the (coronavirus) emergency, many have returned to their countries of origin, and we are dealing with a vacuum estimated in about 350,000 and with a need for skills." She argued regularizing undocumented migrants -- many of which working in the fields of southern Italy, and living in unsafe makeshift settlements -- would be a matter of both economy and health safety. "(It would help) preventing a humanitarian emergency, which might occur in informal settlements crowded with people who are now not working... and at the risk of hunger, at the mercy of the virus threat," the minister wrote. At the same time, she continued, it would meet the urgent need for labor of many farms, just ahead of the harvest time for many products. SPRING CROPS AT RISK The idea was strongly opposed by right-wing political forces, which expressed fears such regularization might work as a trigger for further irregular immigration into the country. According to Italy's farmers' association Coldiretti, several spring crops were at risk due to the lockdown imposed in the coronavirus emergency, and the consequent borders closure to foreign workers. In a statement on Tuesday, the group approved of the agriculture minister's proposal, while calling on the government to provide as soon as possible "more flexible (hiring and paying) tools, such as vouchers for pensioners, students, and redundancy workers" in order to partially fill the gap. Italy's agricultural sector employed about 1.13 million people last year, according to a report issued by the Italian General Confederation of Agriculture in February. Italy entered into a national lockdown on March 10 to contain the pandemic. The lockdown, which is expected to last until May 3, will be followed by a so-called "Phase Two," involving "the gradual resumption of social, economic and productive activities," the Italian government has explained. Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh has said that there is no communal angle to the April 16 Palghar lynching incident and the attack was a fallout of swirling rumours triggered by social media posts about child-lifters on the prowl in the area. Not even a single member of the minority community was among the attackers. Altogether, 101 people have been arrested on charges of lynching. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has started the probe. Well release the list of names of all the accused soon, Deshmukh said. The home minister stopped short of naming the main opposition, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but alleged that a few politicians were trying to give a communal angle to the unfortunate incident. Three persons were lynched by a mob in an unfortunate incident. The deceased were pleading with their attackers. But their cries were misinterpreted because of language barriers and were erroneously thought to be seeking help from a particular community. There was no communal angle to the incident, he said. The BJP has attacked the ruling Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government --- a coalition of the Nationalist Congress Party, the Shiv Sena and the Congress -- over law and order. The BJP has also demanded Deshmukhs resignation. On April 16, three men --- two seers and their driver --- were dragged out of their vehicle outside Gadhchinchale village, located about 110 kilometres from Palghar, and beaten to death by a mob on suspicion that they were child-lifters. The incident occurred when the victims were going from Mumbai to Surat to attend a funeral. The deceased were identified as Kalpavriksha Giri (70), Sushil Giri (35), and driver Nilesh Telgade (30). The seers belonged to Varanasi-based Juna Akhara and were on their way to attend the last rites of their guru Mahant Shri Ram Giri in Surat. Around two hundred people, who are from West Bengal and placed in a quarantine centre in Pakur, have been demanding release as they have completed the mandatory 14 days isolation period. The staff at Polytechnic College informed us that the quarantined people are demanding release and are refusing food. "We made them understand that we have sent the report to the higher authorities and once clearance comes, they would be released," Pakur Civil Sub-Divisional Officer Prabhat Kumar said. According to the staff of the quarantine centre, for the last two days the quarantined inmates were saying ami khabo na; ameder ke chhede din (we will not eat, let us off). After understing the matter now they have accepted the food, the staff said. All the quarantined people were heading to their homes in West Bengal from different places in Jharkhand when their buses were stopped about two weeks ago and were lodged in the centre as per the guidelines to contain and prevent the spread of the COVID-19. The coronavirum prompted lockdown was imposed since March 22 by the state government and from March 25 by the Central government, officials said. The nationwide shutdown has been extended till May 3. Pakur Civil Surgeon R D Paswan said that the authorities were waiting for test reports of samples of two persons, who are in the college, which has been converted into quarantine centre. The samples have been sent to RIMS, Ranchi, Paswan said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Department of Education is creating a 10m euro fund to help schools buy IT equipment to help students learn at home during the Covid-19 pandemic. 7m will be provided to secondary schools, while 3 million euro will be allocated to the primary sector. The default email app on iPhones and iPads might be vulnerable to surreptitious malware attacks, at least if you ask a security research firm. ZecOps briefed the Wall Street Journal on a claimed vulnerability in Mail that lets attackers infect your device with malware without input you wouldnt have to tap a link or download a file. Its virtually undetectable for users, the security firm said. While researchers didnt explain exactly how the attack would work, it wold involve sending a specially designed message. The exploit may have been use for a while. ZecOps said it had evidence attackers had used the flaw for at least two years. There had been at least six targets, including staff at a Japanese telecom, a large North American firm, tech companies in Israel and Saudi Arabia, a German individual and a European journalist. The problem, though, is that evidence is relatively difficult to find. ZecOps found its evidence through hints in iOS, and couldnt obtain the malware as the messages had already been deleted. Jamf Software security researcher Patrick Wardle also told the WSJ that the evidence of ongoing attacks was compelling, but not authoritative. Weve asked Apple for comment. The investigators believe Apple has fixed the flaw in an iOS beta (presumably 13.4.5), though, so it may not be an issue for long. If the findings are accurate, though, they suggest that a patch is coming long after hackers dealt their damage however limited it might have been. Update 4/24 3PM ET: Apple tells Engadget that it has studied the issue and doesnt believe it poses an immediate risk to users as they are insufficient to bypass security measures. Theres also no evidence it has been used against customers despite ZecOps claims, Apple said. Nonetheless, a fix will be coming soon. You can read the full statement below. Louisiana authorities have issued an arrest warrant for Pastor Tony Spell, who flouted a prohibition on large gatherings by holding services that drew hundreds of followers. He is now accused of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and improper backing of a vehicle during the Sunday incident, a Central Police Department dispatcher told Fox News. Spell announces that the man has been in front of his church driveway for three weeks straight as he told WAFB-TV on Monday. "He shoots people obscene finger gestures and shouts vulgarities." From his innocence, he stated, "I was pulling in from my bus route, picking up black children who haven't eaten because of this sinister policy that has closed schools. I was going to approach this gentleman and ask him to leave." Spell was reportedly filmed backing a church bus toward a protester outside the church before stopping a few feet away from him, according to local media reports. The protester, Trey Bennett, told the news station that he's been demonstrating outside of the church since Easter Sunday. One of his signs reads: "CAUTION: Coronavirus incubator. Do not enter. You may die." According to the local station, Pastor Tony Spell was taken into custody at the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison earlier on Tuesday after police in Central, La, issued a false warrant on Monday, accusing him of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. As he was being released, he stated, "my inalienable rights are given to me by God and those rights are my rights to assemble and have church. I cannot give up those rights," SAN ANTONIO -- April 21, 2020 -- NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently awarded Southwest Research Institute a $12,862,664 contract to develop a magnetometer for a satellite mission dedicated to tracking space weather. The magnetometer is part of the satellite's solar wind instrument suite, which measures the characteristics of the solar wind plasma that interact with the Earth's geomagnetic environment. "The satellite will collect solar wind data and coronal imagery to support NOAA's mission to monitor and forecast space weather events," said Dr. Roy Torbert, a program director in SwRI's Earth, Oceans, and Space office at the University of New Hampshire in Durham and principal investigator of the magnetometer. "Space weather refers to the variable conditions on the Sun and in space that can influence the performance of technology we use on Earth, such as electrical power grids, and disrupt satellite-based communication and navigation systems." The Space Weather Follow-On Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1) satellite will orbit the Sun at approximately 1.5 million kilometers from Earth where the Earth's and the Sun's magnetic fields meet, a point known as L1. The satellite will make local measurements of the solar wind thermal plasma and magnetic field. It also carries a Compact Coronagraph instrument to detect coronal mass ejections. "The instrument, known at SWFO-MAG, provides key data about the solar wind as it approaches Earth," Torbert said. "The data will be available to the science community but are targeted to the Space Weather Prediction Center." SwRI will work with UNH to design, develop, fabricate, integrate, calibrate and evaluate the magnetometer instrument. The team will also support launch and on-orbit check-out of the instrument, supply and maintain the instrument's ground support equipment and support NOAA's mission operations center as needed. SWFO-MAG includes two three-axis magnetometers and associated electronics to measure the vector interplanetary magnetic field. "The solar wind magnetic field controls the processes that transfer energy and particles into the Earth's magnetosphere and often initiate geomagnetic storms," Torbert said. "These disturbances can create spectacular auroras but can also shut down electrical power grids and disrupt satellite-based communication and navigation systems." NASA is planning to launch the SWFO-L1 in 2024 as a rideshare with the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe vehicle. SwRI also plays a role in this mission, managing the payload and payload systems engineering for IMAP. In addition, SwRI is providing a scientific instrument and other technology for the IMAP spacecraft, which will sample, analyze and map particles streaming to Earth from the edge of interstellar space. NOAA is responsible for the Space Weather Follow-On program. NASA is the program's flight system procurement agent, and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is the lead for acquisition. ### For more information, visit: https://www.swri.org/heliophysics. The Pennsylvania Department of Health has heard the complaints from coroners around the state about how it is collecting and reporting data on the coronavirus pandemic, but it is standing by its system. Coroners who are elected at the county level to investigate and determine cause and manner of death in sudden, violent or other unnatural deaths, or deaths that occur outside medical treatment settings have argued in recent days that data collection would occur more efficiently and accurately if COVID-19 deaths were reported to them, and then they funneled that data to the state. There are parallel concerns that the state is in some ways bigfooting them, since, by their reading of Pennsylvanias County Code, they have a duty to investigate when a death is known or suspected to be due to contagious disease and constituting a public hazard. There are practical considerations about cutting coroners out of the loop, too, added Susan Shanaman, solicitor to the Pennsylvania Coroners Association. The people in any given county generally will reach out to the coroner (as a locally elected official) for updates on how bad the pandemic is in their county, she said Tuesday. Theyre not going to call the Department of Health. Heres what the Department of Health had to say in response to the questions being raised. Responses here came from Health Department Press Secretary Nate Wardle, though its worth noting that at a Wednesday evening press briefing state Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said her staff will continue to hold conversations to try to strike a better balance with county coroners going forward. We will work with the coroners to make sure that we reconcile our of data, and that were all on the same page, Levine said during the briefing. Q: Why are you requiring all COVID-19 cases to be reported by attending doctors directly to DOH, and bypassing county coroners? A: The department believes that the current structure of handling deaths, where medical professionals handle deaths in which they attend to, is appropriate. This is what happens for other diseases, such as the flu. Deaths are referred to a coroner if a death case occurs when a medical professional is not able to certify the death, or if the circumstances surrounding the death suggest the death was sudden, violent, suspicious in nature or was the result of other than natural causes. In addition, the Disease Prevention and Control Act requires reporting of disease data to the department at all times, regardless of if it is during a pandemic. We have the authority to set the data points for the report. In many cases, it must be noted, local hospitals and doctors are sharing their reports with the county officials, too. Q: What about the language in Pennsylvanias County Code that states it is the coroners duty to investigate contagious disease cases that could constitute a public hazard? Isnt this in conflict with that? A: The Coroners Law in the county code comes into play when the coroner views the body. If the death is attended to by a medical professional, the coroner would not see the body. The coroners only have authority if the death case is referred to them, which again occurs if the death is not witnessed, or if it sudden, violent or suspicious. A death associated with COVID-19 would not be sudden, violent or suspicious, and in most cases would occur in a health care setting. Again, flu is an infectious and contagious disease, and coroners do not investigate flu deaths. Q: Coroners say there are discrepancies between the numbers of COVID-19 deaths theyve received notice of and what the state is reporting for their counties. Franklin County Coroner Jeff Conner, for example, told PennLive Wednesday hes had notice of four COVID-19 deaths with positive tests (only one of which was a Franklin resident), while the states count for Franklin County is at 10. True numbers are important to know where we really stand, Conner said. When it comes to regional reopening it matters a lot if we are one (death) or ten. One would we were in fair shape. Ten might give them a reason to not allow this area to open. Why is this happening, and how concerned should we be about accuracy of the data? A: As we collect data, we also are verifying its accuracy and that can create a time lag in public reporting. For example, some deaths are reported to us with several causes of death and COVID-19 is listed as the fourth or fifth cause of death. Our epidemiologists then investigate whether or not that person had previously tested positive for COVID-19 or lived in a setting like a nursing home where there are other people are known to have the virus. There are some discrepancies, but we believe that as we move forward those discrepancies will be worked through and will not continue to be issues. (Wardle did not address the specific discrepancy in Franklin County.) Q: Coroners are also stating that many doctors had not routinely used the states Electronic Death Reporting System prior to this pandemic, and their lack of familiarity with the system is a needless time-suck as they try to battle the infection. Are you concerned about the professionals readiness to use the EDRS and its functionality? A: Our notices go step by step into how to sign up for an account to report to EDRS. We have seen thousands of individuals sign up recently, and do not view it as a problem. We believe that the electronic reporting is the fastest and most-efficient way for information to get to DOH. Q: Some coroners are also questioning listing deaths with the county of residence. In one case, for example, a Pennsylvanian who died in Idaho, where the person maintained part-time residence, was listed as a death in Sullivan County. Why are you doing that? Coroners argue its most important to contact-trace where the person was, as opposed to where they lived? A: This is nothing new for how things are handled in regard to infectious diseases in Pennsylvania, or around the country as this is how infectious disease cases are handled across the country. In most cases, because of COVID-19s incubation period, the place of residence is just as important as the place of death, which may simply be a medical facility in a neighboring county. By Jung Min-ho Ali, the undocumented hero from Kazakhstan / Yonhap A Kazakh man who risked his life to save 10 people from a burning building faces deportation after his illegal status came to light. Moved by his story, more than 10,000 people have signed a petition urging the government not to deport the man, 28, who they say deserves permanent residency and a reward, not deportation. "The government should compensate him for what he did," a petitioner said on the Cheong Wa Dae website. "I have heard he is going to be deported. If the government did so to such a person, it would be an international embarrassment." The man, identified only by his given name Ali, smelled something burning when he arrived at his one-bedroom apartment in a town in Yangyang County, Gangwon Province, about 11:20 p.m. on Mar. 23. After realizing the building was on fire, he immediately opened the windows on the second and third floors to let the smoke out. He then he screamed "fire, fire!" to wake up everyone in the complex. After being told that one woman was still in her room on the second floor, Ali climbed gas pipes to get in and ran through flames to rescue her. In doing so, he suffered burns to his neck, back and hands. But unfortunately the woman died after inhaling too much toxic smoke. Worried about his illegal status, Ali left the scene as soon as firefighters arrived. After learning what happened to him, his neighbors eventually took him to a hospital where they helped him receive treatment. On April 16, Ali reported himself to the Korea Immigration Service as an undocumented worker. Following his admission, he now has to leave Korea by May 1. Ali, a father of two children, came to Korea on a tourist visa in 2017 and has worked at various places to support his family in Kazakhstan. In 2018, an undocumented Malian migrant who rescued a child dangling from the balcony of a fourth-floor flat in Paris was given French citizenship for his bravery. WASHINGTON - Tensions between Washington and Tehran flared anew Wednesday as Iran's Revolutionary Guard conducted a space launch that could advance the country's long-range missile program and President Donald Trump threatened to shoot down and destroy any Iranian gunboats that harass Navy ships. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 22/4/2020 (630 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. In this Wednesday, April 15, 2020, photo made available by U.S. Navy, Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessels sail close to U.S. military ships in the Persian Gulf near Kuwait. A group of 11 Iranian naval vessels made "dangerous and harassing" maneuvers near U.S. ships in the Persian Gulf near Kuwait on Wednesday, in one case passing within 10 yards (meters) of a U.S. Coast Guard cutter, U.S. officials said. Iranian officials did not immediately acknowledge the incident. (U.S. Navy via AP) WASHINGTON - Tensions between Washington and Tehran flared anew Wednesday as Iran's Revolutionary Guard conducted a space launch that could advance the country's long-range missile program and President Donald Trump threatened to "shoot down and destroy" any Iranian gunboats that harass Navy ships. The launch was a first for the Guard, revealing what experts described as a secret military space program that could accelerate Iran's ballistic missile development. American officials said it was too early to know whether an operational Iranian satellite was successfully placed into orbit. Trump's top diplomat accused Iran of violating U.N. resolutions. After Iran's announcement, Trump wrote on Twitter, without citing any specific incident, "I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea." Last Wednesday, the U.S. Navy reported that 11 Guard naval gunboats had carried out "dangerous and harassing approaches" to American Navy and Coast Guard vessels in the Persian Gulf. The Americans used a variety of nonlethal means to warn off the Iranian boats, and they eventually left. Such encounters were relatively common several years ago, but have been rare recently. "We don't want their gunboats surrounding our boats, and travelling around our boats and having a good time," Trump told reporters Wednesday evening at the White House. "We're not going to stand for it. ... They'll shoot them out of the water." Iran said the U.S. was to blame for last week's incident. Conflict between Iran and the U.S. escalated after the Trump administration withdrew from the international nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions. Last May, the U.S. sent thousands more troops, including long-range bombers and an aircraft carrier, to the Middle East in response to what it called a growing threat of Iranian attacks on U.S. interests in the region. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a press briefing at the State Department on Wednesday, April 22, 2020, in Washington. (Nicholas Kamm/Pool Photo via AP) The tensions spiked when U.S. forces killed Irans most powerful general, Qassem Soleimani, in January. Iran responded with a ballistic missile attack on a base in western Iraq where U.S. troops were present. No Americans were killed but more than 100 suffered mild traumatic brain injuries from the blasts. At the Pentagon on Wednesday, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. John Hyten, welcomed Trump's tweet as a useful warning to Iran. He drew a parallel between last week's naval encounter in the Gulf and Wednesday's space launch, which said was "just another example of Iranian malign behaviour." "And it goes right along with the harassment from the fastboats. ... You put those two things together and it's just more examples of Iranian malign behaviour and misbehaviour," Hyten said. Iran considers the heavy U.S. military presence in the Middle East a threat to its security. Trump did not cite a specific Iranian provocation in his tweet or provide details. Senior Pentagon officials gave no indication that Trump had directed a fundamental change in military policy on Iran. "The president issued an important warning to the Iranians," David Norquist, the deputy secretary of defence, said at a Pentagon news conference when asked about the tweet. "What he was emphasizing is, all of our ships retain the right of self-defence." Rep. Elaine Luria, a Virginia Democrat and Navy veteran, said Trump's tweeting could lead to war. "The presidents continued issuing of orders to our military via tweet is a threat to our national security and, if followed without clear guidance and rules of engagement, will unnecessarily escalate tensions with Iran and possibly lead to all-out-conflict," she said. Hyten said he thinks the Iranians understand what Trump meant. Asked whether the tweet means a repeat of last weeks incident in the Gulf would require a lethal U.S. response, Hyten said, "I would have to be the captain of the ship in order to make that determination." The nature of the response, he said, "depends on the situation and what the captain sees." Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi, a spokesman for Irans armed forces, accused Trump of "bullying" and said the American president should focus on caring for U.S. service members infected with the coronavirus. The U.S. military has more than 3,500 confirmed cases of coronavirus, and at least two service members have succumbed to COVID-19, the disease the virus causes. The space launch has potentially bigger implications for conflict with Iran. U.S. officials believe it is intended to advance Iran's development of intercontinental-range ballistic missiles that could threaten the U.S. Using a mobile launcher at a new site, the Guard said it put a "Noor," or "Light," satellite into a low orbit circling the Earth. Iranian state TV late Wednesday showed footage of what it said was the satellite, and said it had orbited the earth within 90 minutes. State TV said the satellites signals were being received. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Hyten said it was too soon to know whether the launch had successfully placed a satellite in orbit. He said U.S. tracking technology showed the launch vehicle had travelled "a very long way, which means it has the ability once again to threaten their neighbours, their allies, and we want to make sure they can never threaten the United States." Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United Nations needs to evaluate whether the space launch was consistent with Security Council resolutions. "I dont think it remotely is, and I think Iran needs to be held accountable for what its done," Pompeo said. In a letter Wednesday to Trump, 50 former senior U.S. officials and experts on Iran accused Tehran of using COVID-19 as a reason to pressure the U.S. to ease sanctions while continuing to spend money to bankroll malign activities in the region. The administration has repeatedly said humanitarian aid to Iran is not affected by the sanctions. The letter called on Trump "to double down on the maximum pressure campaign to force the mullahs to spend their money on the Iranian people, not their nuclear ambitions, imperialism, and internal oppression." __ Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writer Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report. Hadiza el-Rufai, wife of the Kaduna state governor, has threatened to institute a libel suit against a group that accused her of endor... Hadiza el-Rufai, wife of the Kaduna state governor, has threatened to institute a libel suit against a group that accused her of endorsing sexual assault comments made by Bello, her son. In a heated argument with a Twitter user, Bello had threatened to pass a woman to his friends after he was done with her. Oh and tell your mother Im passing her to my friends tonight. No Igbo sounds, please! Tueh, he said. This had generated a lot of controversy. The North Normal Group had accused the Kaduna first lady of endorsing her sons comments. However, in a statement signed by Kunle Ajagbe, her lawyer, the first lady, described the allegations of the group as a pack of injurious falsehoods. Your statements proceeded from an egregiously false premise that our client condoned, aided and or encouraged the statements of her son, Bello El-Rufai, in his online exchanges with the operator of a twitter account, identified as ethanos_zer, the statement read. For the avoidance of doubt, the views expressed by our clients son were unreservedly unacceptable to her and they were inconsistent with her values. Accordingly, our client tweeted thrice (through her Twitter account, @hadizel) with respect to her sons views. Both the content and chronology of the tweets are self-explanatory. Within 24 hours of her initial tweet on the subject and without prompting, our client posted two further unambiguous tweets, where she publicly condemned her sons reckless statements. Is this not a clear demonstration of our clients integrity? Our client is a respected architect, a writer, a patron of the arts and a committed champion of womens rights. She is not an enabler of or an apologist for sexual and gender-based violence, as portrayed in the statement issued by the North Normal. She demanded an immediate and unconditional retraction and apology from the group within 7 days of receipt of this notice including by but not limited to Twitter. She added that the key members (each) of the group must post a one minute video recording of an appropriately remorseful apology and retraction on their individual Twitter pages. This retraction and apology must also be published in two Nigerian newspapers: The Daily Trust and Punch newspapers, the lawyers asked. In the event that the north normal group fails, declines or neglects to oblige with our demand, we shall proceed to immediately institute legal proceedings against you. At least four rebels killed after gun battle with Indian soldiers in Shopian district of Indian-administered Kashmir. Indian government forces have killed four rebels in a gun battle in Indian-administered Kashmir during a stringent lockdown to combat the coronavirus, the Indian army has said. The fighting broke out in a village in southern Shopian district as police and soldiers raided a house on a tip that rebels were hiding there late on Tuesday night, said army spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia on Wednesday. During the gunfight, troops blew up the house with explosives, a common tactic by security forces, residents said. India has continued its counterinsurgency operations across Kashmir despite a coronavirus lockdown. Rebels, who either fight for independence or merger of the Muslim-majority region with Pakistan, also have not ceased their attacks on government forces and alleged informants. On Sunday, fighters attacked a paramilitary post and killed three soldiers. The latest violence comes amid near-daily fighting between Pakistani and Indian soldiers along the highly militarised Line of Control (LoC) the de facto border that divides Kashmir between the two rivals. Street protests against Indian rule Kashmir has been placed under a security lockdown since last August when Indias Hindu nationalist government stripped the Muslim-majority Himalayan regions limited autonomy. Low-speed internet was revived in March after more than six months of communication blackout. Officer Amritpal Singh said police had not yet identified the slain rebels. Residents posting on social media said they were local rebels. Last week, police secretly buried the bodies of two fighters as unidentified in a faraway graveyard despite their families seeking to claim them. According to human rights groups, thousands in Kashmir are buried in unmarked graves, most of them close to the LoC. Indian authorities say those fighters are of foreign origin who sneaked into the Indian-administered portion of Kashmir from the Pakistani-administered territory to fight government forces. India and Pakistan claim divided Kashmir in its entirety. Most Kashmiris support the rebel cause that the territory be united either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country while also participating in civilian street protests against Indian rule. Rebels have been fighting Indian control since 1989. India accuses Pakistan of arming and training the rebels, a charge Pakistan denies. Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian military crackdown. Tony Blair today insisted decisions on how to ease the coronavirus lockdown must be taken now - warning ministers cannot allow a 'void' while Boris Johnson recovers from the disease. The former PM said the government had been 'behind the curve', underlining his demand for mass testing and a fundamental reorganisation of Whitehall, with experts being pulled in from business to help a war-style response. He also raised concerns over the government's insistence that an 'exit strategy' cannot be laid out now. Mr Blair said Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and senior ministers must make crucial choices on releasing schools, regions and sectors to avoid huge damage to the economy. Mr Blair waded into the row amid signs of Cabinet divisions over when and how to loosen the draconian social distancing curbs threatening to wipe a third off GDP and destroy millions of jobs. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair (pictured above) has today claimed that Boris Johnson's government is 'overwhelmed' Mr Johnson has intervened from his recuperation at Chequers to snuff out speculation of an imminent easing, with scientists warning the situation is so delicate that even marginal changes to the rules could cause another flare-up in cases. So-called 'doves' in the Cabinet, like Health Secretary Matt Hancock, have been suggesting restrictions will need to be in place for many months more, until the disease is suppressed to much lower levels. Mr Blair said the government seemed 'overwhelmed' by the pandemic, amid heavy criticism over PPE shortages, testing blunders, and the lack of a clear exit plan. The ex-PM told Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid on ITV's Good Morning Britain: 'I think in a situation where every day matters and where every day decisions have to be taken, I think the person who is the acting prime minister along with what is essentially the war cabinet - the top four ministers that are meeting together - that person has got to be taking those decisions. Mr Blair said he 'completely' sympathises with Mr Johnson's condition, but insisted some important decisions have to be 'taken now', adding: 'You can't have a void of decision making.' He went on: 'These decisions around how the government organises itself, what are the issues that we need to be preparing for now to exit from this lockdown, around things like schools, geographic sectors, age sectors, business sectors - those have got to be taken now.' There are growing signs that Mr Johnson is close to a return, after he spoke to Donald Trump yesterday, and he will have his audience with the Queen this week. However, No10 insists he is not yet back working, and Mr Raab is taking PMQs and chairing Cabinet in his absence. Mr Blair said wanted to be 'constructive' rather than 'criticise', but the government needed to be 're-organised'. 'I think you need to re-position government completely', he added. 'Many of the skills you need to deal with something like this, which is around things on production of equipment how you source different elements of the equipment, the heart of this is mass testing and what I'm saying is that you have to reorder the whole of government. 'You should divide up the different key elements and have senior ministers in charge of each element, divided up in that way with good outside people, people who have got the skill set that won't be politicians or people in government or bureaucracy.' He claimed the government needs to get to the point where it has the capability of dealing with 'all the different dimensions and not getting overwhelmed'. 'I say that with a lot of humility because I know how difficult it is to be in government and I know how tough the decision making is. 'I'm sure everyone is working flat out by the way but it's really just a question of whether we are positioned rightly to measure up to the scale of this problem and there is a need for action, decision making and speed.' Asked on if he thought the army should be more involved he said that when he was dealing with the foot and mouth outbreak during his tenure, it was only when the army stepped in that they were able to 'accelerate our ability to deal with it.' 'In normal government, as you know Piers, you have your education department, your health department, your industry department, your defence department. This is just a government with one challenge and so I don't think you can leave the system operating as the normal system and that's really the point I'm making. 'When you come to the exit from the lockdown, this phase of the suppression of the disease which is absolutely right and necessary, that in my view is actually probably a simpler task than how you exit from the lockdown. 'How you exit is really, really complicated and unless you have the right skill set there at the centre of government right from the very beginning then it's going to be very hard to do things like mass testing, which I can't see any other way out of this.' Photo: The Canadian Press Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks about the coronavirus Thursday, March 12, 2020, in Wilmington, De. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Joe Biden's presidential campaign has refunded a $2,800 donation from Louis C.K., a comedian and writer whose career was derailed after five women accused him of sexual misconduct. The comedian, whose real name is Louis Szekely, donated to Biden on March 4, according to Federal Election Commission records. The donation was made the day after the former vice-president's commanding win in more than a dozen Super Tuesday contests put him on the path to becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee to take on President Donald Trump. A Biden campaign spokesman said the contribution has since been refunded, which will be reflected in his next report filed in May. The spokesman declined to comment further. Szekely did not immediately respond to an email on Wednesday requesting comment, and a publicist who once represented him also did not immediately respond to a message. The New York Times in 2017 published an investigation in which five women, four of whom spoke on the record, detailed misconduct by the comedian in the late 1990s and in the 2000s. Some of the women said he abruptly began masturbating in front of them. One said he requested to do so, but she refused his request. Another said she could tell he was masturbating while speaking on the phone with her. Szekely later said that their stories were true and that he was remorseful of his actions, but the fallout was swift. FX Networks quickly dumped him from shows he was part of, Netflix scrapped plans for a stand-up special and the release of his feature film I Love You, Daddy was shelved. HBO also removed his work from its on-demand video streaming service. Presidential campaigns typically vet who donates to their campaigns and often return contributions from figures who could pose a problem. Ejaz Kaiser By Express News Service RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh police on Wednesday registered an FIR against the Republic TV chief Arnab Goswami for allegedly vitiating an environment of harmony by provocative remarks on the basis of community and creating animosity among them (different communities) through his statements on the TV debate. Chhattisgarh health minister TS Singhdeo and PCC chief Mohan Markam lodged separate police complaints against Goswami at civil lines police station in Raipur on Wednesday holding him accountable for spreading rumours, playing communal canards in the context of Palghar mob-lynching case. The police had registered the case under various IPC Sections of 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 295 A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings) and 502 (2) (making statements that create enmity and hatred between different classes). The Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh had also lodged police complaints in various districts seeking the arrest of Goswami. The leaders came down heavily against Republic TV editor-in-chief for allegedly propagating hate-mongering rumours and attempting to defame Congress president Sonia Gandhi during one of the debates. The false and spiteful remarks by Arnab Goswami cant be cited as journalism. He is into spreading the same hate-mongering and baseless rumours that the trained cadres of the RSS are doing on the social media platforms, stated Shailesh Nitin Trivedi, the Chairman of Congress Media Cell. The Congress leaders have been demanding his arrest. A Tauranga mans afternoon walk along Wairoa River took an unexpected turn after he caught a 20kg kingfish with his hands. Logan Reid was walking his dog Bonny at Miles Lane Reserve along the river's edge when all of a sudden he spotted a huge white fish moving gently in the shallows on Tuesday. Of course I didnt have my fishing gear with me - but I couldnt quite believe it when I realised it was a kingfish. As I approached, it saw me and swam out into the river further - so I thought that was the end of that. But only minutes later, the fish swam up to Logan once again. The fish was floating on its side in about a metre of water. I took off my shoes and waded towards it. In the spur of the moment, he made the call to spear the fish with a long, sturdy stick. Logan then grabbed a hold of it, carrying it to dry land. It was all a bit overwhelming. I had nothing to end its life with, so I rustled around in the surrounding bush and found a brick. Fishing is banned under alert level 4 restrictions. When New Zealand moves to alert level 3 at 11.59pm on Monday, April 27 fishing is allowed from the shore. Logan describes the experience as a miraculous provision, saying when he left the house yesterday he had no intention of catching a fish. When I was walking back with it, I had to drag it across the grass because it was much too heavy to carry. My wife just couldnt believe it when I bought home. Longtime Bay of Plenty angler Mark Sherburn says a number of saltwater species enter rivers, particularly at high tide to feed. The harbours and lower parts of the rivers are a rich environment food-wise for them. Tauranga Sport Fishing Club manager Roly Bagshaw echoes this sentiment, but says it is unusual to find a kingfish as far up as Miles Lane Reserve. Finding a kingfish up that far the Wairoa River is quite unusual but it is amazing where they do turn up. Its not the sort of place you would naturally go to catch a Kingfish. Logan, who is a seasoned fisherman, says normally lingfish are very good fighters. But this one was clearly struggling. If you caught one on a rod on the boat you could battle with it for more than half an hour but this fish wasnt acting normally - it was tired. He spent the evening gutting the fish, cutting it up and handing it out to neighbours. Over the fence and from a safe distance of course, he adds. Logan reckons hell get about 12-15 meals out of the kingfish. This is absolutely the biggest fish I have ever caught. Blast from the past: People drinking in the Loewenbrau Beer Tent on the Theresienwiese Oktoberfest fairground, in Munich, Germany, on 2 October 2014. (Getty) Oktoberfest, the worlds biggest beer festival, has been called off in the face of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Oktoberfest runs annually from mid- September until early October in Munich, Bavaria and attracts visitors from all over the world. Even though large events are only banned until 31 August in Germany, the massive beer festival was deemed too risky. We want to continue to protect Bavaria, state premier Markus Soder said at a press conference. Oktoberfest, he said, was the biggest and most beautiful festival in the world but the risks were just too great. Soder said keeping distances and wearing face masks were just not feasible in the huge beer tents on the meadows in central Munich. Neither was some kind of half alternative to the event, he said, referring to the suggestion by some Oktoberfest vendors to hold a pared-down festival just for locals. Cancelling Oktoberfest, which attracts some 6 million visitors a year, will be a blow to the local economy. According to the City of Munich, the event generated over 1.2bn (1bn) last year. Oktoberfest first started in 1810, as a celebration of the wedding of King Ludwig 1. This year will be the first time that it has been cancelled in 70 years, but not the first time its been shut down due to a pandemic: it was called off in 1854 and 1873 over cholera. Chancellor Angela Merkel warned on Monday that Germany was far from out of the woods and still at the beginning of the pandemic. Germany has currently over 147,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection, and some 4,800 deaths from the virus. Read more: Merkel warns 'we mustnt think for one second that we are safe' as Germany eases restrictions Although the country is slowly lifting restrictions by allowing smaller shops to open, social distancing rules and bans of groups larger than two in public remain in place for the foreseeable future. The situation is still delicate and the government fears a new spike in infections. "We have to stay vigilant and disciplined," Merkel said. "It would be a shame if we went into a relapse with our eyes open." Oktoberfest is the latest in a long list of global events that have been cancelled this year, from huge tech festivals, to car shows, and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. As a result of "the intense focus by politicians and others on Harvard" and issues surrounding the use of the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF), the Ivy League institution said it will not be taking any stimulus money. "Harvard did not apply for this support, nor has it requested, received or accessed these funds," the university said in a statement. Harvard University said on Wednesday that it has decided "not to seek or accept" funds allocated to the institution under the federal coronavirus relief package after President Donald Trump criticized and questioned the elite institution's need for financial assistance. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act signed into law by Trump last month allocated Harvard with $8.6 million, according to a report from the Harvard Crimson. The funding was supposed to help higher education institutions cover fundamental expenses such as course materials, technology, food and housing. On Tuesday, Trump called out large companies and private higher education institutions like Harvard for taking federal loans intended to assist small businesses. "Harvard is going to pay back the money. And they shouldn't be taking it," Trump said during his evening news briefing on Tuesday. "They have one of the largest endowments anywhere in the country, maybe in the world, I guess. And they're going to pay back that money." Trump tweet Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos also issued a statement on Wednesday on the allocation of HEERF. "Wealthy institutions that do not primarily serve low-income students do not need or deserve additional taxpayer funds. This is common sense. Schools with large endowments should not apply for funds so more can be given to students who need support the most," DeVos said. DeVos previously sent a letter to college and university presidents on April 9 advising them to give their allocation "to those institutions within your state or region that might have significant need." DeVos tweet Harvard said it will inform the Department of Education of its decision and "encourage the department to act swiftly to reallocate resources previously allocated to Harvard." It hopes that "special consideration will be given to Massachusetts institutions that are struggling to serve their communities," the university added. tweet Tens of thousands of people with student loans in the commonwealth are expected to receive additional relief during the coronavirus pandemic through a multi-state program, Gov. Charlie Baker announced Tuesday. The Massachusetts Division of Banks has joined an initiative that gives payment relief options to borrowers with 15 private different student loan providers, according to a statement from the governor. These new options stand to benefit over 182,000 Massachusetts borrowers with privately held student loans, the statement said. The CARES Act, the $2.2 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package passed in late March, already provides relief to students saddled with federal loans. The bill instituted a halt on interest, involuntary collection activity and monthly payments until Sept. 30. Some have claimed the federal aid is not enough, though, and as congressional leaders worked on a fourth relief bill on Tuesday, Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Sherrod Brown of Ohio proposed pausing all debt payments and canceling student loan debt altogether. Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts also cosponsored a bill last month to bring student loan relief to up 45 million borrowers in the U.S. The act would cancel at least $30,000 in outstanding student loan debt per person. During this unprecedented crisis, no one should have to choose between paying their student loan payment, putting food on the table or keeping themselves and their families safe and healthy," Pressley said in a statement on March 23. Bakers announcement came the same day he told the public that the state Department of Education would be deferring loan pays until Aug. 1 for roughly 12,000 students enrolled in the commonwealths $5 million No-Interest Loan Program." Individuals eligible for the DOBs initiative include borrowers with private loans or commercially owned Federal Family Education Program Loans who are struggling to make their payments because of the public health crisis, according to the governor. Relief options include a minimum 90-day forbearance, a suspension on debt collection lawsuits for about three months as well as a halt on late payment fees and negative credit reporting. The state will also work with people eligible for relief to enroll them in other aid programs, Baker said in his statement. Borrowers in need of assistance must immediately contact their student loan servicer to identify the options that are appropriate to their circumstances, the governors statement said. Related Content: England's Chief Medical Officer today admitted there have been local shortages of PPE but insisted nationally the UK has never been 'under water' on the supply of crucial kit for medics and care staff. Professor Chris Whitty said that supplies have been 'tight at different times for different items' and sometimes it has been 'very, very close to the line'. But he stressed 'at a national level we are not under water on anything' as he suggested there is enough life-saving equipment to go around. However, he conceded there have been 'significant local pressures from time to time' in an apparent admission that some hospitals and care homes have temporarily run out of key items. His comments at the daily Downing Street coronavirus briefing came after military staff attacked the health service for the way it has been distributing the equipment. Military personnel accused the NHS of 'appalling' handling of the issue with the army apparently pushing to be given a more prominent role in making sure gowns, gloves and face masks get to where they need to go. They claimed NHS logistics were 'knackered' and questioned why certain items were not being rationed. The supply of PPE has emerged as one of the key battlegrounds for the government amid fears shortages are putting frontline workers' lives at risk. Supply did receive a boost today after an RAF plane carrying a shipment of PPE from Turkey finally arrived back in the UK, with the materials supposed to have arrived on Sunday. Meanwhile, the government has faced accusations of being slow to take up PPE offers of help from British businesses as millions of items continue to be shipped out of the UK despite domestic need. Labour today claimed it had been told by dozens of UK companies that offers of help on PPE had been ignored by ministers. Professor Chris Whitty today insisted the UK does have enough PPE for frontline workers but admitted things have been 'very, very close to the line' An RAF cargo plane arrived back from Turkey at RAF Brize Norton this morning with a cargo of PPE equipment Prof Whitty today insisted the UK does have enough PPE but admitted there have been allocation issues which have resulted in some facilities being left without what they need. He said: 'It is very clear that at the moment we are tight at different times for different items of PPE. It is not everything at all times, but different things at different points have been very, very close to the line. Of course, when you are close to the line, inefficiencies in any kind of part of the system tend to lead to local stock-outs so if you are very heavily overstocked that is less true and this is why the support from the armed forces has been so critical to trying to reduce this. At this point in time we are still close to the line but at a national level we are not under water on anything that I am aware of and I keep quite a close eye on this because I care very deeply about this as do all members of my profession. But of course there may be local issues and I am aware of them from my colleagues along the way and all of us want to be in a position where there is a sufficient excess over a long period of time that this can all be balanced out. Citing examples of hospitals and care homes sharing their resources, Prof Whitty said the UK had managed to avoid 'getting to the point where we are no longer able to cope with it'. He said he was unable to say when the UK will have a comfortable excess supply of PPE but added: 'We have managed to keep just ahead at a national level with some significant local pressures from time to time.' Military planners who are experts in logistics were sent out to different parts of the country by the Ministry of Defence in the early stages of the outbreak to help ensure vital supplies were appropriately and swiftly allocated. But military sources have suggested that the NHS distribution network has seen PPE being sent to hospitals without fully taking into account need. That has meant some hospitals have ended up with more than they need while others have been left with a shortage. A senior army source told The Times: 'We know how knackered their [NHS logistics] systems are, but we've been surprised we've not been called in to help more, and we've been surprised by their failure to ration [kit].' Military commanders are thought to be frustrated that the so-called Covid Support Force which can call on 10,000 personnel and has disaster response planning expertise has not been put in charge of PPE distribution. Delayed RAF plane finally lands with PPE cargo from Turkey An RAF plane carrying a delayed consignment of PPE from Turkey finally landed in the UK this morning - but is only carrying up to half the promised 84 tonnes of life-saving equipment. Flight tracker RadarBox showed the Airbus A400-M registered ZM416 depart Istanbul and land just after 3.30am at RAF Brize Norton. The jet is one of three that have been waiting for days for the go-ahead to pick urgently needed medical clothing and equipment, including 400,000 gowns made by Turkish suppliers. It is not known how much of the consignment has arrived today, but the RAF Atlas is believed to only have capacity for 40 tonnes. After the jet touched down, three pallets were seen being unloaded onto the tarmac. The government promised that the cargo would arrive in Britain on Sunday and it when it didn't the RAF plane was sent to pick it up. It didn't land in Istanbul until Monday, at 9.10pm local time. Fury over coronavirus PPE shortages is escalating amid claims the government was ignoring offers of help from businesses - and millions of pieces of PPE are still being shipped out of the UK in spite of the lack of equipment for NHS frontline staff. Reports suggested that the government missed out on 16million facemasks for the NHS after ignoring offers from two major firms. Advertisement A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: 'The MoD understands just how challenging logistics can be, especially under current pressures. 'Of course there may be frictions at a local level, but those same armed forces are doing everything possible to support their health colleagues. The MoD has full confidence in the NHS.' The arrival of the RAF plane back from Turkey was a welcome piece of news for ministers as they struggle to boost supply of PPE. But they are facing domestic criticism after manufacturers suggested conversations with Whitehall about ramping up production and supply of items like gowns in the UK only started in the last two weeks. Adam Mansell, head of the UK Fashion and Textile Association, said: 'We have started probably four weeks later than we should have.' Reports overnight suggested the government missed out on 16 million face masks for the NHS after offers from two major firms were ignored. The Guardian reported that infectious disease specialists Landcent said they could have delivered six million FFP2 masks for the NHS to use if the government had placed an order three weeks ago. Volker Schuster, who owns Merseyside-based chemicals company EcoLogix, also claims he wrote to the Cabinet Office's 'COVID commercial response unit' to offer a shipment of 10 milllion FFP2 masks from China. The firm said it only got a response eight days later - by which time the items had been sold to other countries. Mr Schuster's local MP, Labour's Bill Esterson, confirmed he had contacted Health Secretary Matt Hancock to highlight the offer on March 27 but that he had never received a reply. Labour today said it had been contacted by 36 British companies which had 'not received a reply' from the government after submitting offers to supply things like face guards, aprons and gowns. Shadow Cabinet Office minister Rachel Reeves said in a letter to her counterpart in government Michael Gove: 'You and your officials and those at the Department for Health and Social Care will be best placed to validate what capability and capacity these firms have, but as they have not received a reply after contacting the government, I wanted to ensure that the Cabinet Office was aware of them. 'Of these firms, if just one, five or 10 were able to contribute to the national effort of ensuring that our NHS and care workers and indeed anybody who needs to use some form of Personal Protective Equipment and clothing could be better protected, or just one hospital or care home were able to access adequate supplies of the PPE they need, I know you will agree that that would go a long way and make a big difference.' The Atlas A400 is spotted approaching the runway early this morning. It is only carrying up to half the promised 84 tonnes of life-saving equipment The RAF transport plane being loaded with vital PPE equipment in Turkey which is destined for frontline healthcare workers in the UK Mr Hancock announced yesterday at the daily Downing Street press conference that 8,331 companies had come forward with offers of PPE - some of which had led to 'very large-scale' purchases. 'I am very grateful to all of those who have come forward and we are now actively engaged with hundreds of these companies,' he said. 'I can announce that we are working with 159 potential UK manufacturers which are starting to come on stream.' Mr Hancock said the government needed to carefully consider all of the offers made to make sure firms can actually deliver on what they have promised. 'We have had some offers, for instance, that have come from companies where, upon investigation, the company has only just been formed in the previous day or two before coming and asking for a cash deal with the government,' he said. The RAF plane carrying supplies from Turkey is believed to only have been stocked with up to half of the promised 84 tonnes of life-saving equipment ordered from Istanbul. The delay in the arrival of the cargo had been blamed by the UK government on problems in Turkey. But Turkish officials hit back and said there had been no hold up on their end, claiming ministers had only requested help with the shipment on Sunday. The government is insistent that it is pursuing 'every possible option' to secure additional kit but unprecedented worldwide demand means the situation is 'very challenging'. A University of Cincinnati ear, nose and throat specialist says your nose may hold a clue in identifying COVID-19. The loss of smell may be a key indicator. Physicians are increasingly recognizing the importance of the nasal cavity in determining the physiology of COVID-19, explains Ahmad Sedaghat, an associate professor in the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine's Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and an UC Health physician specializing in diseases of the nose and sinuses. "COVID-19 is not associated with the symptoms that are typically associated with a viral cold such as nasal blockage or mucus production," says Sedaghat. "This distinction is also why it is fairly easy to distinguish COVID-19 from seasonal allergies. "COVID-19 is associated with a fairly unique combination of nasal symptoms: a sudden loss of one's sense of smell, also known as 'anosmia,' without nasal obstruction," said Sedaghat. "The occurrence of sudden onset anosmia without nasal obstruction is highly predictive of COVID-19 and should trigger the individual to immediately self-quarantine with presumptive COVID-19." Most individuals experiencing COVID-19 report symptoms two to 14 days after exposure such as fever, cough and shortness of breath. Medical assistance is needed if individuals have trouble breathing, persistent pressure or pain in the chest or confusion or inability to rouse, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For most, recovery comes without assistance. Sedaghat's conclusions are available online in the scholarly journal Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology, where he explains that anosmia without nasal obstruction is "a highly specific indicator of COVID-19." His findings are based on his review of 19 studies which describe the sinus and nasal disorders reported in relation to the current coronavirus plaguing the nation. Sedaghat's published paper also references a recent study led by Paris physicians Dominique Salmon and Alain Corre, which shows that out of a group of 55 patients presenting with anosmia without nasal obstruction 94% were found to test positive for COVID-19 by nasal swabbing and polymerase chain reaction tests. Sedaghat said COVID-19 can be spread when the virus, if present in the body, is produced in the lining of the nose and then released into mucus. "When someone sneezes, this mucus -- which contains the virus -- is aerosolized outwards. Similarly, if someone wipes their nose and then touches surfaces without washing their hands first, that could lead to spread of COVID-19," explains Sedaghat. Loss of smell can occur during anytime an individual is infected with COVID-19, but when this occurs as an initial symptom it is particularly instructive, says Sedaghat. "A sudden loss of one's sense of smell wouldn't trigger most people to think they have COVID-19," explains Sedaghat. "These individuals could continue business as usual and spread the disease as a carrier. The guidelines for when to formally test for COVID-19 remain fluid in the setting of limited tests. But if someone experiences anosmia without nasal obstruction, aside from quarantining, it would not be unreasonable to reach out to one's primary care physician about getting tested." Sedaghat says the nasal cavity is likely the major site of entry and infection by COVID-19 since at least 90% of inhaled air enters the body through the nose. "Nasal virus production is at very high levels and tends to occur early in the disease process while patients are still asymptomatic or having very mild symptoms," he says. ### Other co-authors in the study include Dr. Isabelle Gengler and Dr. James Wang, both residents in the UC Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, along with Dr. Marlene Speth from Kantonsspital Aarau in Aarau, Switzerland. None of the study authors have conflicts of interest or financial investments to disclose. Shown is a portion of a Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program Borrower Application Form, Tuesday, April 21, 2020 in Washington. The Paycheck Protection was supposed to be a lifeline for small businesses, helping them stay afloat and keep their employees on the payroll during the coronavirus pandemic. But there is lots of opportunity for fraud, experts say. (AP Photo/Wayne Partlow) Read more Has your small business applied for a Paycheck Protection Program loan under the CARES Act? Or is planning to apply? I hope you succeed in getting those forgivable loans. But more important, I hope that the information youre providing to receive that money is on the up and up. If you knowingly make a false representation to a federally insured financial institution, that can be considered bank fraud, says Jed Silversmith, a lawyer at Blank Rome LLP in Philadelphia. It carries mandatory jail time and the statute of limitations is 10 years. Silversmith says that, as a felony, bank fraud is about as serious as it gets. The Paycheck Protection Program, which ran out of funds last week but is being replenished by Congress this week, has already provided billions of dollars of assistance to hundreds of thousands of small businesses around the country. But one has to ask: Did they all deserve the money? Of course, the many small businesses that suffered forced shutdowns and dramatic revenue drops due to the pandemic are the targeted beneficiaries of this program. But unfortunately, like TARP, federal aid after Hurricane Sandy, and similar other government programs, its likely that some small-business owners received their money fraudulently. All focus now is on getting those funds to the small-business owners in genuine need as soon as possible. But my bet is that, months from now, we will be reading of many cases where small-businesses owners took more money than they should have some unaware and some fully aware of their actions. There will be stories of abuse of these funds, says Cherry Hill tax lawyer Todd S. Unger. I guarantee it. Why?? Because the process for getting these loans has lots of room for interpretation. When a business owner applies for a Paycheck Protection loan, the application is made through a financial institution, which needs documentation to support the request. Some of this information comes from tax returns. But most of it is from user submitted representations and prior years financial numbers that are good faith estimates. . That data undergoes little scrutiny from the banks. It is passed through to the Small Business Administration, which ultimately approves the loan. ASK US: Do you have a question about the coronavirus and how it affects your health, work and life? Ask our reporters. Even with federal approval, many banks were uncomfortable with this process. The whole thing was done very quick and back of the envelope, Unger says. The changing of regulations spooked a lot of banks and most of the application is self-certification, where very few documents were required, and thats why a lot of big banks were fearful of accepting applications. Even after the Small Business Administration approves the loan, the bank still has the final say, but according to many bankers I spoke to, getting federal approval means theyre getting a federal guarantee so in just about all cases they would move ahead with issuing a final promissory note to the borrower to expedite the receipt of funds. All of this creates an environment that makes it fairly easy for the unscrupulous applicant to game the system. How? By inflating payroll numbers to receive and get forgiveness for far more than whats deserved. By taking the money and using it for purposes other than payroll, such as buying stocks or property. By accepting loans for multiple businesses that are owned, and controlled, by the same stockholder to slip under the affiliation rules requiring that only companies with fewer than 500 employees are eligible. By making up incorrect facts about the pandemics hardship on their business and then accepting funds when its not really needed because ... hey, why not? According to Colin Devlin, a lawyer at Philadelphias Lex Nova Law LLC, some of this may not be the fault of the business owners. In their rush for money, many may have been forced to take liberty with some of the information they provided. There was such a gold rush to apply for these loans as evidenced by the funds running out so quick, and because of that, there was a lot of confusion and ambiguities by both borrowers and lenders, he says. But the consequences for the business owners who get caught could be catastrophic. Bank fraud is a serious felony. So how can applicants stay out of trouble? Two big things. The first is to be true and accurate in your representations. Dont make false statements or ask for more money than you need. One of the certifications is that youre certifying that the loan is necessary to support your ongoing operations, Devlin says. By not using the funds for those purposes, youre exposing yourself to fraud. Also, track your money carefully. All three lawyers I spoke to recommended setting up a separate bank account to receive and disburse funds so that the money is segregated and can be accounted for in case of an audit. Maintain records for at least 10 years. If history repeats itself, its likely that once this pandemic ends, there will be investigations into how the CARES Act money was used. If youre a small-business owner, dont think that youre too small to get noticed. The government is really going to go after people that try to take advantage of this program, Devlin says. Its pretty evident theyre going to go after anyone that took malicious advantage. As many as 44 COVID-19 patients, including police personnel and doctors, were discharged following recovery in Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal city, official said on Wednesday. A police band welcomed the recovered patients with the song "Hum Honge Kamyab," an official from the state public relations department said. At least 44 persons, including 22 police personnel and health workers, who had tested positive for coronavirus earlier, were discharged after recovering from the infection, he said. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan congratulated the discharged patients for winning the fight against the deadly virus and spoke to them over video conferencing. As of Wednesday afternoon, the count of COVID-19 cases in Bhopal stood at 303. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Alhaji Adamu Mohammed Duguri, the elder brother of Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, has recounted his ordeal in the hands of ki... Alhaji Adamu Mohammed Duguri, the elder brother of Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, has recounted his ordeal in the hands of kidnappers. The 65- year- old retired Customs Officer, who spoke to reporters for the first time on his abduction, said the kidnappers initially demanded N350 million before they later agreed to accept N50 million. Duguri revealed that they actually paid N50 million ransom to the kidnappers to secure his release. The Governors elder brother, who was freed after spending 13 days in kidnappers den, disclosed that security agents had no hand in his release. The revelation is contrary to the belief that he was rescued by security personnel in the state. He was kidnapped on March 26 at a tailoring shop at the Unguwar Jaki area of Bauchi metropolis. DSP Kamal Abubakar, the Police Public Relations Officer (P.P.R.O) of the State Police Command, announced his release on April 7. Governor Bala Mohammeds brother, who holds the traditional title of Wakilin Bauchi, told reporters, They said they have not kidnapped somebody as big as l am. You know l was a uniformed man before. They know l knew all that they were doing. He said the four-man gang felt he was a threat to them and were demanding N350 million, which he told them that when you look for that kind of money l will continue to be a liability for you here. He explained that he let his captors know that he has acclimatized already in their den, adding, I eat well. The only thing was l didnt sleep well because it was on a mat all of us were sleeping. He explained that they gave him three pillows and supplied him apples with a bottle of maltina, adding that he got anything he wanted. He added, l made it clear to them if you are looking for money from Bauchi State they dont have. Or are you thinking you want to demand more money so that Bauchi State governor will bring money and you will release me and impeach him? Because they told me there was a kind of problem in the State Assembly which was centered on whether the governor would remove money from Bauchi coffers and release me. Duguri said his abductors were educated with western education, not only religious, adding that they refused to talk to avoid being traced. They knew what they were doing. They had to take my voice, they would later take it to Jos, relay it to somebody in Kaduna. That person then sends it to Kano before calling my family. That was what they did, he said. To avoid being tracked, they went to Gombe, not Jos this time because of the anti-tracking device. To get the anti-tracking took time because i wouldnt have stayed there long. They were even complaining that l stayed too long with them and that they were afraid. On the issue of ransom, they said they would come down to N100 million but I insisted that nobody will give them that amount of money. They, however, suggested that if they released me, they could collect the remaining amount later but I asked them how they will collect the money and I told them it wont work because if you come to my house l will shout. So we gave them the ransom but it was not up to N100 million, It was about N50 million. A teenage mother who gave birth without even knowing she was pregnant said she thought she 'had gastro' before her water suddenly broke. Amber Smith, 18, from Mareeba in Far North Queensland, said she felt 'tensing' in her stomach before 'a huge stream of water and pink liquid' gushed out onto the floor. Ten minutes later her 'miracle child' - Cooper Allen-Robert Woods - was born, changing the lives of her and her fiance Blairdon Nicol, 20, forever. He was born at 1.22am on April 15, weighing 3.06kg. Amber Smith, 18, gave birth to her son Cooper Allen-Robert Woods on April 15. Pictured: Ms Smith, baby Cooper and Blairdon Nicol Ms Smith told Daily Mail Australia she had finished work with a headache and thought she was coming down with gastro so she spent the afternoon relaxing. 'I had to work in the morning and about 20 minutes into my shower my whole stomach tensed and as I looked down a huge stream of water poured out of me,' she said. 'I thought it must of been urine or something but it was a pink colour so my mind flipped to my water breaking but I thought no way as I wasn't pregnant.' The young couple appeared on Today to speak about the shock childbirth on Wednesday morning. Hosts Karl Stefanovic and Allison Langdon asked Ms Smith whether she had any inkling she was about to become a mother. 'Not at all, because I still got regular periods and I didn't have any showing or what, or any symptoms like morning sickness,' she said via video chat. When Ms Smith realised something was wrong she screamed for Mr Nicol to come and help her. 'I realised what was happening when she did a terrible scream in the shower and I freaked out,' he said. Ms Smith was in the shower when she felt a sharp pain in her stomach as saw blood and water cover the shower floor The young couple appeared on Today to speak about the shock childbirth on Wednesday morning The 20-year-old father said the birth of their first child was 'absolutely, 100 per cent' a 'complete shock'. 'I don't know exactly what went through my mind but it was a massive shock,' he said. 'As I had to deliver my son, it was a complete whole thing. No one gets to do this, no one gets to experience this.' Mr Nicol saw the head of the baby exposed, so he called an ambulance before helping to deliver the baby. 'We both were completely in shock but Blairdon was instantly in love. I was in so much pain and it hurt to sit, my legs couldn't stop shaking and I couldn't stop crying,' she told Daily Mail Australia. Ms Smith said she had no clue that she was pregnant as her body didn't change much and she was still having periods. Pictured: Cooper Allen-Robert Woods, whose surprise birth changed the lives of his parents forever She said there had been a small weight gain but that was it. Ms Smith said she didn't tell her family until they were all gathered around at the hospital. The family were disbelieving until they saw the photo of her with the baby. 'They instantly were ecstatic and coming up with names for bub to call them. Both our families and friends and co-workers were so supportive and instantly were trying to help us to get ready for life as parents,' she said. Ms Smith said the couple always wanted children but wanted to wait until they were more financially stable. Now, six days on, they can't imagine their lives without Cooper. Mr Nicol helped deliver his own child in ten minutes and fell 'instantly in love' with Cooper Ms Smith and Cooper were allowed to return home from the hospital on Monday morning. 'I was actually happy to stay in hospital as the midwives really helped me start to learn how to take care of Cooper at home, ' she said. 'The only bad thing was no visitors were allowed due to coronavirus. Cooper and I are avoiding the coronavirus by staying home and limiting who can come to the house.' The 18-year-old told Today the doctors aren't 100 per cent certain how her pregnancy went unnoticed. 'Some say it's like a cryptic pregnancy and that he was sitting further back to the spine and being covered up and that's why I couldn't feel kicks and stuff. 'It's a bit iffy, they can't say exactly.' - The faithfuls pleaded with God on behalf of their compatriots so he could heal the sick and end the COVID-19 scourge - The group knelt down in broad daylight and some stretched their hands towards walls as they shouted and spoke to God with vigour - They maintained distance throughout the intercessory session and wore masks as they focussed on covering their country with God's embrace Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in In most desperate moments and times of needs, humans have proved they can only rely on God to try and understand what is going on in the world. Most people turn to prayers at times of calamities and seek God's intervention when tragedy strikes. READ ALSO: Chelsea: Mlinda lango nguli wa zamani Peter Bonetti aaga dunia akiwa na miaka 78 The COVID-19 scourge gave Christians a new reason to return to God and pray for the world. On Monday, April 13, a video of the Christian faithfuls praying for Kenya made rounds on the internet and elicited mixed reactions. READ ALSO: 9 heartwarming photos of Ruth Matete, late hubby which prove they had a happy marriage The lot who were united in prayer had one agenda - to intercede on behalf of the country. Photo: Emmah Wanzalah Wanzalah Source: UGC The prayerful people were spotted on their knees, humble and dedicated as they pleaded with God to have mercy over their fellow Kenyans and humans across the world. They looked like they woke up early and made a trip to Nairobis Central Business District (CBD) with the sole purpose of dedicating their city and country to the able hands of God. It was a rare yet picturesque moment that captured worshipers surrendering to the Almighty and declaring that without him they were nothing. They knelt, stood, walked around and stretched their hand with the aim of healing the nation. Photo: Emmah Wanzalah Wanzalah Source: Facebook Some looked up to the sky while calling out to God while others had their heads bowed in respect. All of them had one thing in common. They were at war, fighting for their motherland which was under attack by COVID-19. Without caring about who was watching, they shouted, chanted, sang, prayed, worshiped and interceded. They all maintained social distancing and donned masks while speaking to their maker. As soon as people on the internet saw the clip, their spirits were uplifted and indescribable hope engulfed them. Everyone was touched and urged each other to copy the way of their brothers and sisters spotted in the clip. President of Ghana lifts partial lockdown of Accra and Kumasi | #Yencomgh Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page. Source: YEN.com.gh Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has dismissed allegations of cover-up and mismanagement in his governments response to the coronavirus outbreak. They are a small minority and the mouthpieces of foreigners, Rouhani said in his portrayal of those critics, who are simply parroting the enemys stance, trying to profiteer from the pandemic by disseminating mistrust in society. Iran announced 94 new deaths April 22, raising coronavirus mortalities close to 5,400. Infections stood near 86,000 as signs appeared that the earlier sharp rise in COVID-19 cases was slowly coming under control. From day one, however, Irans official account has been challenged not just from abroad, but with an even more fierce, blistering critique at home. City council members, mayors and lawmakers representing the hardest-hit cities such as Qom, Rasht, Mashhad and Tehran have relentlessly expressed skepticism about the governments version, which they believe is not reflective of the larger number of deaths and cases. Earlier this week, Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour, who has become a familiar face on Irans state TV with daily coronavirus briefings, lashed out at some members of the Reformist-dominated Tehran city council for questioning his statements, advising them to stay out of areas in which they lack specialty. They do have a history of expressing such opinions about elections as well, Jahanpour said, referencing the 2009 disputed election in Iran, when the larger Reformist camp alleged widespread vote rigging in favor of hard-line candidate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In his Wednesday Cabinet meeting, Rouhani once again defended his governments handling of the pandemic but warned also that the fight is far from over. While admitting that Iranian hospitals faced equipment shortages at the outset, Rouhani said the medical community has now accumulated expertise and experience to tackle the outbreak. Coronavirus testing kits a global challenge to all hard-hit countries are no longer an issue in Iran, Rouhani added, declaring that his government could even export them abroad any moment. The comment came in apparent contrast with a Customs Office report on the importation of a six-ton cargo of testing kits from France the very same day. In another development, the Iranian army said it had funded a project focused on training sniffer dogs capable of detecting coronavirus infections. Only last week, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps unveiled a device it claimed was capable of identifying infected humans and objects within a 100-meter radius. The announcement, nonetheless, sparked fact-versus-fiction debates on social media, where it was interpreted as mockery of physics, and met a fierce backlash from some Iranian scientists. Since the second week of April, the Iranian government has been stepping on a fine line in trying to strike a balance between pandemic containment plans and reopening the economy. Social distancing measures have been introduced along with a piecemeal relaxing of lockdowns, which has seen low- and medium-risk businesses resume normal activity. Nevertheless, for the capital, Tehran, with a population of over 9 million, the new strategy has been deemed a hasty step that could ruin the country's relative success with COVID-19. In his latest message, Alireza Zali, the head of Tehrans committee combating the coronavirus, raised fears about an emerging pattern in transmissions. New patients seeking treatment in hospitals, he said, are increasingly demonstrating heightened, fast-worsening acute symptoms upon entry; this has triggered a spike of admissions into intensive care units. I went out to his place after they closed it and walked around with Lorin, said Gregory, the longtime Tribune reporter, whose coverage of Womack began then and would grow more intense as criminal authorities became interested, too. And I remember that of course, it was closed I remember thinking of it as something akin to a ragged roadside zoo, not anywhere near as well kept as what I could see in Tiger King. We have had over one month to let this situation settle in . . . global pandemic; food and medical supply shortages; economic free fall; ethnic and social inequalities exposed; lack of leadership from the White House; and to top it off, the warnings that another pandemic is inevitable in the future most likely the very near future. What is astonishing are the parallel scenarios of COVID-19 and the Climate Crisis: both share a history of predictions, warnings, and government initiatives passed then ignored. And ironically, as if by some divine playbook, their paths intersect and lay vividly clear on the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day: Early Warnings 1896 - Svante Arrhenius, Swedish Scientist discovered that fossil fuel combustion enhanced global warming. 1956 - Physicist Edward Teller informs the American Petroleum Institute (API) that a 10 percent increase in CO2 will be enough to melt the icecaps and submerge New York. 1965 - President Johnson: This generation has altered the composition of the atmosphere on a global scale through radioactive materials and a steady increase in carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels. 1970 First Earth Day 1972 Meteorologist John Sawyer accurately predicted the rate of global warming between 1972 and 2000 President Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency. 1977 President Carter installed solar panels on the White House and created a think tank to create the blueprint for a renewable energy economy. 1981 - President Reagan removes the solar panels, promised less government oversights and proceeded to weaken environmental regulations. Internal Exxon memo warns it is distinctly possible that CO2 emissions from the companys 50-year plan will later produce effects that will be catastrophic. 1989 - U.S. industry groups establish the Global Climate Coalition (GCC) a lobbying group that challenges the science on global warming. 2014 U.S. Defense Department: Climate change will likely lead to food and water shortages, pandemic disease, disputes over refugees and resources. 2016 President Obama signs the Paris Agreement 2017 - President Trump pulls out of the Paris Agreement; and forms a cabinet comprised of climate change deniers entrenched in the fossil fuel industry. The EPA is stripped of career scientist and any science that suggests the climate reality. The pandemic timeline is shorter but strikingly similar. 2005 After 9/11 President Bushs administration created the Health and Human Services Pandemic Flu Plan that included tactics, models and other details that eerily resemble todays coronavirus crisis. Michael Osterholm infectious disease specialist wrote in Foreign Affairs Magazine: This is a critical point in our history. Time is running out to prepare for the next pandemic. We must act now with decisiveness and purpose. 2006 Lawrence Brilliant, an American epidemiologist for the United Nations and World Health Organization stated: [I am] firmly confident that the steps the U.S. is currently taking will help to flatten the curve, and provide scientists with more time to develop a vaccine or prophylactic. 2015 Bill Gates cited lessons learned from Western Africas 2014 Ebola virus crisis. The U.S. and other countries are not prepared for the future pandemic that was going to hit them. 2017 Government agencies slowly abandoned their pandemic-planning efforts, with the Homeland Security department shelving its decade-plus efforts to devise models of how outbreaks affect the economy. 2018 The intelligence communitys Worldwide Threat Assessment warned that a novel strain of a virulent microbe that is easily transmissible between humans continues to be a major threat. 2020 President Trump withdraws funding for the World Health Organization What history has shown in both the COVID-19 and climate crises is the recurrence of shock and forgetting. Too often politicians are warned, provide funding for research, and make legislative promises only to let those pledges lapse as the memory of global outbreaks, record floods, infernos, and extinctions fade. The health of mankind and the environment are interconnected by a global economy that helps the spread of new infectious diseases with its long supply chains dependent on petrochemicals. We have witnessed that both are uniquely vulnerable to the disruption that they cause. It is at this intersection where human health, the economy, and the environment meet that a major shift to a sustainable future must begin. Our military is designed and funded to fight war on two fronts. The most insidious war of all time is before us revealing our two fronts clearly. The question is whether we together with all this mandated downtime to reflect - have the collective will to seize this moment. On this 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, as we enjoy a bluer sky and cleaner air, let us demand strong leadership in Washington, in state and local government, and in board rooms. Leadership that puts science before self-interests; leadership that understands that for any public health system to be successful, it must take into consideration all life systems. Char Magaro, Enola. Pa. Nearly half of Australia doesn't want the country's strict restrictions to slow the spread of the coronavirus to be lifted, a survey has found. Despite the national growth in cases of the virus slowing to just half a per cent per day, 49 per cent believed it was too slow to start easing travel restrictions and social distancing measures. Just 14 per cent of those who responded to The Essential Report survey this week said they supported lifting restrictions in the next month - and only six per cent wanted them relaxed within the next two weeks. It comes after Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday said it would be at least another month before he considers lifting social distancing measures. Pictured: Police moving beachgoers along at Bondi Beach on Tuesday. Nearly half of Australia doesn't want the country's strict coronavirus measures to be lifted yet When asked about their satisfaction with the response to the outbreak, 63 per cent of those polled believed it had been proportionate. The study also revealed Australians were becoming becoming increasingly worried about the impact of the coronavirus crisis on the economy. With the prospect of pubs, cafes and restaurants remaining shut for the near future, 87 per cent said they were worried about the Australian economy as a whole. That figure was up two per cent from last week - while the percentage of those worried about the impact on their superannuation, savings and investments increased from 63 per cent to 67 per cent. Nearly half of those surveyed meanwhile thought the economy would suffer for up to a year and then stagnate or grow slowly in the months after. Essential Report's survey found though concern about the spread of the coronavirus itself was becoming less of a concern to Australians. Bondi Beach is pictured closed off to the public on Monday. Only six per cent of respondents to a national survey thought restrictions should be lifted within the next two weeks A queue outside a Centrelink office in Melbourne on Monday. The study revealed Australians were becoming becoming increasingly worried about the impact of the coronavirus crisis on the economy Just 19 new cases of the coronavirus were confirmed nationally on Tuesday - taking Australia's total to 6,645. On March 29 - at the peak of the growth rate in COVID-19 cases in Australia - 53 per cent of respondents said they were 'very concerned' about the threat posed by the illness. But only 44 per cent had that level of concern in the survey results from April 20. AUSTRALIA'S BIGGEST CONCERNS DURING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC To what extent are you concerned about the threat of the coronavirus in Australia? Very concerned - 44% Quite concerned - 43% Not that concerned - 11% Not at all concerned - 2% To what extent are you concerned about these possible impacts of the Covid-19? The Australian economy as a whole - 87% General unemployment if companies are forced out of business - 83% The physical health of close family members - 74% The impact on my superannuation, savings or investments - 67% My close family members' mental health - 64% When do you think governments should start to ease the restrictions on travel and gatherings to allow offices, shops, restaurants, other workplaces and public spaces to start operating again? As soon as possible - 9% Within the next one to two weeks - 6% Within the next month - 14% By the end of next month - 13% It is too soon to consider easing restrictions - 49% Source: The Essential Report Which of the following is closer to your personal views of the Covid-19 outbreak? There has been an over-reaction to the threat of Covid-19 - 14% The response to the threat of Covid-19 is about right - 63% The threat of Covid-19 has been under-estimated - 24% Which of the following is closer to your expectations of what will happen to the economy following the Covid-19 situation? The economy will rebound within 2-3 months and grow just as strong or stronger than before Covid-19 - 11% The economy will be impacted for 6-12 months or longer and will stagnate or show slow growth thereafter - 47% Covid-19 will have long lasting impact on the economy and the country will fall into a lengthy recession - 30% To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements about the government's proposed tracing app? I would be uncomfortable if the government was able to track all my movements via an app on my mobile phone - 57% This app would help limit the spread of Covid-19 - 52% This app would speed up the removal of physical distancing restrictions - 42% Advertisement The survey raised concerns though among Australians about the government's proposed contact tracing app, which will use mobile phone data to track who has been in contact with confirmed COVID-19 cases. Fifty-seven per cent said the app made them feel uncomfortable and only 23 per cent said they did not have a problem with it. On Monday, federal and state leaders agreed to lift restrictions on category two and some category three surgical procedures from April 27. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it is an important step on Australia's path back to a post-virus world. Pictured: A drive-through testing clinic in Bondi in Sydney's eastern suburbs on April 8. Essential Report's survey found concern about the spread of the coronavirus itself was becoming less of a concern to Australians 'There is a road back,' he said. The decision will be reviewed on May 11 and was made possible because of ample supply of personal protective equipment as well as a slowdown of new cases. 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 Supermarkets are also resuming their home delivery services in another sign that things are slowly returning to normal. However, RBA government Philip Lowe has warned nearly 850,000 sacked Australian workers are likely to remain unemployed for years after the pandemic subsides. The Reserve Bank predicts Australia's economy will contract by 10 per cent by the middle of the year before a long, slow recovery from the coronavirus crisis. Health Minister Greg Hunt said the growth rate has been at less than one per cent for nine consecutive days. 'This is a collective national achievement but every Australian has been contributing and I want to say thank you for what people have done. You have made this happen,' he said. Students in some states will be heading back to classrooms in another step towards the gradual return to normal life. NSW students will return one day a week from May 11, while South Australian schools will be back to normal from Monday. The coronavirus pandemic has seduced policy analysts into drawing parallels between the current state of the world and a crisis they envision unfolding due to global warming. For Yales climate-change center, the Society of Environmental Journalists, and Vox, among others, this analogy has proven tempting. Even NYU professor and renowned climate economist Gernot Wagner has drawn the parallel, writing at Project Syndicate that a good way to think about the coronavirus pandemic is that it is like climate change at warp speed. But the coronavirus-climate analogy is too clever by half. Eager to draw attention to their fields of interest, these analysts have disregarded two significant differences between our ability to deal with epidemiological risk and with climate risk. The first difference arises from the time-scales on which pandemics and climate change occur. The second difference is the degree to which a local, regional, and even national government can institute effective mitigation policies. With respect to time-scale, we need not call into question Wagners preferred climate-risk models to show why the comparison is improper, we need only to recirculate his own work that explains the profundity of the differences. Wagner writes in his Project Syndicate article that public-health breaking points are to the COVID-19 pandemic what tipping points are to climate change. But the analogy is inconsistent with Wagners 2016 paper co-authored with Robert E. Kopp, Rachael L. Shwom, and Jiacan Yuan under the title Tipping Elements and ClimateEconomic Shocks: Pathways toward Integrated Assessment. The 2016 paper is an exercise in language clarification, assessing the use of tipping point in the climate economics literature. The term itself, of course, was introduced to our vernacular by Malcolm Gladwell in his 1996 New Yorker article and his subsequent book. Gladwell characterizes tipping points as being contagion-like and involving large changes that result from small changes and (this is important) occur quickly. Wagners 2016 paper accounts for Gladwells popularization of the term and, thus, cautions against using it too liberally. In the authors words, [We] recommend that the term tipping point be reserved for Gladwellian critical thresholds, which we define as the critical thresholds exhibited by tipping elements with no significant lag between commitment and realization, and recommend that the generic term critical threshold be used more broadly. The authors contrast their recommendation with the more cavalier usage of Timothy M. Lenton et al., writing that [Lenton et al.s] climatic definition dropped Gladwells third element altogether: state shifts in climatic tipping elements need not occur rapidly but can instead play out over an extended period of time. Tipping point, Wagner and his colleagues argued in 2016, should be used to describe the Gladwellian pattern in which consequences follow quickly from actions. Story continues A pandemic is a quintessential Gladwellian event. Consequences come at us fast. Climate change may have similar elements, but as the 2016 paper warns, to consider it Gladwellian in toto is to ignore key differences. Relative to the current pandemic, time is on our side with respect to climate change. We have decades of iterative science to guide our expectations for the future and, accordingly, our plans. We can adapt and, because of the lag effect, may even be able to undo climate impact through geoengineering. Again, Wagners 2016 argument cuts against his 2020 coronavirus-climate analogy: Provided that the committed state shift can be detected, lags between realized and committed changes may allow for interventions. That climate change entails decades, even centuries, of lag means that pandemic breaking points and climate tipping points differ not in degree, but in kind. The second error in comparing the pandemic to climate change is that it implies we can respond to pandemics and to climate change with the same institutions. As different countries, U.S. states, and municipalities have responded in varied ways to the global pandemic, we have been able to observe the successes and failures of different approaches. The evidence suggests that a governments action can mitigate the spread of SARS-CoV-2 into and within its population. Wagner highlights the responses of Hong Kong and Singapore as effective. Indeed, the actions taken by Hong Kong and Singapores respective governments seem to have lessened their populations exposure. No action is available to those same governments to limit their populations exposure to climate change. Climate change requires no contact; it knows no political borders. So while Singapores government can bar all Chinese nationals from entering the country, it has no power to bar Chinas greenhouse-gas emissions from threatening its coastline via accelerating sea level rise. Singapore has the capacity to flatten its own coronavirus curve, but it is only responsible for 0.15 percent of global carbon emissions. And the U.S. certainly has more diplomatic heft, it is itself only responsible for 14 percent of global emissions. To resolve a global challenge like atmospheric greenhouse-gas concentrations would require more international coordination and compliance than our present geopolitics would suggest is possible. If we cannot trust the Chinese Communist Party to relay critical epidemiological information, such as the viruss genetic sequence or even the number of deaths it has caused, why should we trust it, the worlds largest emitter of greenhouse gases, to enforce emissions policies detrimental to the sectors that have enables the countrys economic ascent? While climate change is something no local, regional, or national policy can stop, the lag between emissions and climate consequences allows private actors and governments to adjust their expectations and plans. In this regard, Singapore is again exemplary. The acute, Gladwellian nature of the coronavirus pandemic distinguishes it from the slow burn of climate change. Rather than teaching us much about climate change, the pandemic has simply highlighted the human propensity to map new circumstances onto our existing formulas, whether they fit or not. More from National Review Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 22) More than half of the 5,176 metric tons of waste materials illegally dumped in the country in 2018 has been returned to South Korea. The Department of Finance in a statement on Wednesday announced that the Bureau of Customs has shipped back some 2,676 metric tons of trash. A third batch, consisting of 50 containers, was repatriated last March 21, according to Customs Commissioner Rey Guerrero's report to Finance Secretary Sonny Dominguez. The first and second batches were sent to South Korea in January 2019 and January this year, for a total of 151 forty-footer containers with 2,676 metric tons of wastes. The re-exportation took some time because the wastes have been exposed to natural elements of heat and rain, which made it difficult to re-bag and stuff inside the containers, Guerrero said in his report. The remaining 2,500 metric tons of wastes were initially set to be repatriated by March, but the process has been delayed because of the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine to contain the spread of COVID-19, Guerrero said. The wastes still need to be re-bagged, Guerrero added. The Luzon-wide lockdown forced most people to stay home, while most government offices have implemented a skeleton workforce. Rest assured that the Bureau will undertake all the necessary means, within the bounds of law, in order to expedite the re-exportation of these wastes, Guerrero said in his report. The garbage was part of some 6,500 tons of waste illegally shipped to the Philippines in July and October 2018. The consignee, Cebu-based Verde Soko Industrial Corporation, initially declared the shipment as soft plastics, but authorities said there were illegal and hazardous waste materials such as used intravenous lines, light bulbs, and old batteries. Around 1,400 tons of the trash were earlier returned to South Korea while the rest remained at the Verde Soko compound within the Phividec Industrial Authority premises in Tagoloan town, Misamis Oriental. The government of South Korea earlier committed to help pay the shipment cost. KABUL: The Afghanistan Security Force has arrested a Pakistani linked with Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) during a raid in the country. According to a statement released by the National Directorate of Security (NDS), arrested terrorist Muneeb, resident of Pakistan, also known as Abu Hilal is a "judge" at IS and responsible for relations with other terror groups like LeT and the Haqqani Network. He also has close links with the Talibans Peshawar Council, "Muneeb is a key member of the Central Council of ISIS Khorasan who was also in charge of shadow court, coordination and contact with the other groups including Lashkar-e Taiab, Haqqani Network, Sepa-e Sahaba, Jamiat-e Ulema-e Islam and the Peshawar Council of Taliban," the NDS said in a statement. NDS also added that many detained ISKP terrorists have close coordination with Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Haqqani terrorist network. Pakistani agencies actively supporting various terror groups to launch attacks in Afghanistan. Indian security agencies had earlier also expressed apprehension that after the withdrawal of US troops, Pakistan's agencies will carry out attacks on Indian bases in Afghanistan. This month a Jaish-e-Mohmmad (JeM) terrorist held by Afghanistans security forces had revealed Pakistan's plan to launch massive attacks in Kashmir as well as on Indian assets in Afghanistan. The captured terrorist was given arms training in Pakistan for four months and sent to Afghanistan to carry out attacks. Earlier, Indian security agencies had also expressed similar apprehensions that Pakistan was using Taliban camps for attacks in Kashmir, now the JeM terrorist's confession has completely exposed Pakistan. In an encounter with terrorists in Nangarhar province of Afghanistan, security forces had killed 15 terrorists and recovered arms and ammunition from the Talabani camps. The security forces discovered that only 5 of them were Talibani and the rest were from the JeM outfit. ''In the intervening night of April 13-14, a big group of JeM terror outfit was intercepted while entering in Nangarhar provenance. In an encounter, several terrorists were killed, and arms and ammunition were recovered from them," reports Afghani media. Indian security agencies are assessing the current situation. Many feel that the infiltration in Kashmir will see a rise and the terrorists will be battle-hardened veterans from Afghanistan. "Pakistan's ISI is trying to infiltrate the Taliban into Kashmir. Most of the Taliban terrorists are war veterans. There are also reports about the presence of JeM terrorists at launch pads near Line of Control. Some of them also trained in Taliban camps," said an officer working in the Indian security establishment. Due to the peace agreement between the Taliban and the US in Doha, American troops will return from Afghanistan in a few months. In such a situation, Pakistan is trying to take advantage of this opportunity. Indian security agencies had earlier also expressed apprehension that after the withdrawal of US troops, Pakistan's agencies will carry out attacks on Indian bases in Afghanistan. "ISI is playing its old game but better than before. Unlike in the past when ISI didnt hide its military role inside Afghanistan, now they are projecting that they are changed now. This is to placate the Americans. However, Afghan NDS has been unexpectedly putting up a strong fight against ISI design to colonize Afghanistan," said another official. In the recent terrorist attack at a gurdwara in Kabul, more than 25 people lost their lives. The investigation revealed that the Haqqani Network, an ISI-controlled group that is part of the Taliban, wanted to attack the Indian mission in Kabul but failed due to tight security. Since they were not able to attack the Indian mission, they attacked the gurudwara instead. This attack was a clear signal to curtail Indian influence in Afghanistan for the near future. As per the security agencies report, Masood Azhar is not well and his younger brother Mufti Rauf Asghar is the de facto head of JeM. Rauf's son Wali Azhar has also trained in Talibani camps. SHIPPENSBURG, Pa., April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Shippensburg University (SU) & the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) committed to a long-standing sustainable future in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, part of the University's annual StewardSHIP week. Shippensburg University President Laurie Carter signed the Campus Climate Commitment on the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, agreeing to develop a comprehensive Climate Action Plan by 2023. This community focused plan will integrate carbon neutrality planning with climate adaptation and capacity-building to promote regional planning efforts. In a live stream earlier today, SU President Laurie A. Carter and Pennsylvania Secretary of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Cindy Dunn agreed to take action in following the climate leadership commitment. This agreement unites regional partners in pledging to develop a comprehensive Climate Action Plan by 2023 with the goal of creating carbon neutral operations on campus and building climate resilient communities. "This agreement speaks to the vision and leadership at Shippensburg University," Dunn said. "We have a longstanding, focused partnership through our South Mountain Conservation Landscape that's really deep and substantive. Shippensburg University joins colleges across the nation by embracing a climate initiative. It's really going to be incumbent on colleges and universities to lead the way on climate," Dunn added. "We are making a commitment to be leaders in making a more sustainable and better future for all of usat our university, in our community and globally," notes Dr. Russ Hedberg, the university's sustainability coordinator and professor of Geography and Earth Science. "We aim to no longer contribute to emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane that are driving our planet toward unsustainable futures." "We will move towards climate resilience with an adaptation plan to help our community and our community partners in south central PA become climate resilient," adds Dr. Claire Jantz, director of the Center for Land Use and Sustainability at Shippensburg. "Our work on the climate commitment also includes the South Mountain Partnership and Michaux State Forest, and today's signing ceremony with DCNR reaffirms our collaborative and continued efforts in bringing sustainable measures to the region." "We are proud to begin our climate commitment in partnership with the South Mountain Partnership, Michaux State forest and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources," states Carter, adding that the University is committed to assisting the region in doing the work of sustainability. "Together, we commit to taking leadership in our community, to create a more sustainable and positive future." For more information visit www.ship.edu/sustainability/climate_commitment/. Learn more about The Presidents' Climate Leadership Commitments, an initiative through Second Nature, at https://secondnature.org/signatory-handbook/the-commitments/. SOURCE Shippensburg University Is Oregon wine being threatened ... by California? Thats what it looked like to vintner David Adelsheim when he visited a Whole Foods in Maine last summer. Im looking at their rather amazingly large Oregon wine section, says Adelsheim, the founder of Adelsheim Vineyards in Oregons Willamette Valley and a pioneer in the states winemaking community. Then I looked at the back labels and realized about a third of the wines were bottled in California. Most of us dont pay close attention to the fine print on a wines back label. But the specifics of how a wine advertises its content and origin are more important than many drinkers realize and in Oregon, the debate over wine labeling has erupted into a full-on industry battle over the last two years, which could have lasting implications for what ends up in our glasses. What were those Oregon-grown, California-bottled wines Adelsheim was looking at in Whole Foods? The grapes had been grown in Oregon, and then a winery had brought either the freshly picked fruit or just-fermented wine down to California, where it bottled the wine under its own label. (A wine produced under these circumstances can identify Oregon on its front label, but cannot use an American Viticultural Area (AVA), like Willamette Valley.) As the Whole Foods shelf suggested, this sort of practice has ballooned in recent years, reflecting Oregon wines rising prestige: 24% of Oregon grapes were sold to out-of-state wineries in 2018, according to Tom Danowski, president of the Oregon Wine Board. California interest in Oregon wine might sound like a good thing, but Adelsheim sees it as a problem. Oregon has the strictest wine labeling rules of any state, and once wine leaves the states borders, Oregon can no longer enforce them. To Adelsheim, the fact that more wineries might be making Oregon wine without following those rules could endanger Oregon wines global reputation a reputation that he and his peers have spent the last five decades establishing. Weve lost control of what Oregon wine is, he says. Amanda Lucier / Special to The Chronicle 2019 This sentiment led Adelsheim and some of those peers like Jim Bernau of Willamette Valley Vineyards and Ken Wright of Ken Wright Cellars to push, over the last two years, for state legislation that would have made Oregons wine-labeling laws even stricter. During the 2019 legislative session, their efforts mostly failed. And in the process, the campaign exposed some deep-seated divisions within the Oregon wine industry, which does not uniformly share Adelsheims view that the proliferation of out-of-state Oregon bottlings is problematic. In the midst of this conflict, what bubbled to the surface was a range of interconnected contentious issues for the Oregon wine industry: rifts between Willamette Valley and the states other wine regions. Discomfort with corporate outsiders moving in. Disputes over wine style. Could California wineries, in their attempt to capitalize on Oregons high wine quality, end up diminishing it? At the core of the wine wars lay an urgent, unresolved question: Who should get to tell the story of Oregon? Oregon, and Willamette Valley in particular, may be modern wines most astonishing success story. Fifty years ago, the 150-mile-long valley just outside of Portland had no wine industry to speak of. Beginning in the late 1960s, a small group of dedicated vintners staked a claim in Willamette. Adelsheim, who purchased the land that would become his first vineyard in 1971, was among them, and describes a tight-knit community that was strongly aligned in its purpose. Willamette Valley was founded by idealists whose motivating goal was to put Willamette Valley on the map as a region for fine wine, he says. No one ever talked about making money. These idealists managed to establish a reputation for consistently high-quality Pinot Noir and for a style more reminiscent of restrained, elegant Burgundy than of the blockbuster, fruity wines of the state to its south. The style of wine we make is the result of 50 years of collaboration, Adelsheim says. Essentially, Oregon skipped over the equivalent of Californias jug-wine era. Today the average price of an Oregon wine is $16.41, nearly double the $7.62 price of the average domestic bottle, according to Nielsen data. Growing grapes here is an inherently costly proposition: Yields are lower than in other U.S. states, averaging under 3 tons per acre, according to the Oregon Wine Board, less than half the California average. Thats due to its generally cool, wet weather and the fact that most grapes are grown on hillsides, which are harder and more costly to farm than valley floors. Amanda Lucier / Special to The Chronicle 2019 Since the wines are going to be pricey, for Oregon to compete, its got to be on quality, says Danowski. And compete they have. The state accounts for just 1.2% of wine produced in the U.S., but 6.6% of the direct-to-consumer sales segment. And while U.S. wine sales on the whole were flat or down in 2019, Oregon wine shipments to U.S. buyers rose by 13%. In other words, Oregon overperforms. That overperformance has attracted lots of outside investment, including from some of the worlds highest-profile wine companies like Burgundys Domaine Drouhin and Maison Louis Jadot and Californias Jackson Family Wines. Meanwhile, the industry expanded beyond Willamette. Southern Oregon, including the Rogue, Applegate and Umpqua valleys, now has more than 150 wineries, with a climate that rewards warmer-climate grape varieties like Syrah and Tempranillo. But the rules of Oregon wine had been set by that small cadre of Willamette Valley pioneers, and as the industry grew, those rules started to feel outdated. In 1977, Adelsheim and his cohort had convinced the state to pass very strict labeling laws, under which a wine labeled Willamette Valley had to be 100% from the Willamette Valley, and a wine labeled Pinot Noir had to be at least 90% Pinot Noir. These were more stringent than the federal guidelines (85% place, 75% grape variety), which allow wineries a little bit of wiggle room for blending. In 2007, in part to accommodate the growing exchange between Willamette Valley and southern Oregon, the state wine industrys stakeholders agreed to relax those requirements to 95% and 90% respectively. Because southern Oregon grapes are significantly cheaper than Willamettes, many Willamette wineries wanted to round out their wines with a little bit of Rogue or Umpqua fruit as a way of saving some money, as long as crucially they could still retain the right to label the wine as Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. We felt it was worth it to help southern Oregon, says Adelsheim of the 2007 rollback. In retrospect it was the dumbest thing weve ever done. A 2018 saga involving Joe Wagner, the owner of Napas Copper Cane Wines & Provisions, brought Adelsheims anxieties to bear. Wagner released a Pinot Noir called the Willametter Journal. Because he bottled the wine in California, not Oregon, he had illegally used the name of an American Viticultural Area (AVA), his critics alleged. (Wagner claims he did not violate the law, using the word Willamette on his label as a fanciful term, not a description of geographic origin. Nevertheless, the federal government ordered him to change seven of his wine labels.) The Wagner debacle might have sounded like a lot of wonk to laypeople, but to vintners like Jim Bernau of Willamette Valley Vineyards, the problem was simple: Wagner was capitalizing on the cachet of Willamette Valley wine without following the Oregon rule book. If youre making Oregon wine in California, youre not obligated to follow the Oregon law, says Bernau. Amanda Lucier / Special to The Chronicle 2019 The dispute moved Bernau, Adelsheim and other Willamette Valley pioneers to campaign for new legislation to reinstate stricter labeling laws, bringing the requirements for grape variety and AVA up to 100%. When two bills that would have required that were introduced during the states 2019 legislative session, thats when tensions began to escalate into what Adelsheim describes as a total unraveling of the Oregon wine industry. To some, these bills seemed like a direct attack on southern Oregon by the Willamette Valley elite. They had the potential to cut off an important lifeline for southern Oregon farmers those Willamette wineries that round out their pricey Pinots with cheaper fruit. It would be a game changer if I cant sell Pinot Noir to a Willamette Valley winery thats going to call the wine Willamette Valley, says Elin Miller, owner of Umpqua Vineyards. We need that flexibility. The sentiment coming from southern Oregon was that Willamette Valley producers thought their fruit wasnt good enough, says Bernau. I just think the 100% purity law is something that nobody except for a really small band of consumers cares about, says Sam Tannahill, owner of Rex Hill winery and A to Z Wineworks. We just said lets stop, pull the legislation, find a compromise behind closed doors. Take a breather. And, a few months removed from the peak of the 2019 conflict, even Adelsheim concedes that unity should be the priority. He and his camp have agreed to hold off on pushing any wine legislation this year. Hes more optimistic now, he says, about finding a solution that appeases both Willamette and the south. With all sides now sounding the same tune unity! the current moment seems to mark a detente. And as much as these wine wars exposed some of Oregon wines deepest tensions, they also marked a milestone in its maturation. Growing pains, yes and irrefutable proof that Oregon wine is valuable enough to be worth fighting over. Mandy the Skeleton looks over the empty UNLV Library while students complete coursework from home. (Photo: Aaron Mayes) A Las Vegas university is making people smile after staging a photo shoot with a figure well-known to students and alumni at one of its empty libraries on campus. The University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) is one of many universities across the country that have transitioned to online learning amid coronavirus pandemic. With students and most staff still home, UNLV officials decided to stage a photo shoot with Mandy the Skeleton, who is known to help students prepare for anatomy and physiology exams. In a Facebook post on Monday, UNLV Libraries shared the pictures. Mandy has a lot of free time on his hands since the COVID-19 pandemic sent the campus into a remote instruction mode. Heres a peek at how hes spending his days, following social distancing guidelines and wearing a mask out in public, as he waits for campus to re-open and students to return, the post reads. As of Wednesday afternoon, the post has been shared at least 6,000 times, with messages from commenters who said the pictures brought a smile to their faces. He looks good for his age, one person noted. I love these. What a perfect laugh. I keep thinking of the person taking the pictures. I bet they were having fun and laughing, someone else commented. These are the best....thanks for the laughs, a commenter said. Maggie Farrell, the dean of UNLV Libraries, tells Yahoo Life that as the school has made the transition to online learning in March, they have tried different ways to keep students, staff and faculty engaged, and energized. Humor is one way to connect in a stressful time, she says. This photo project seemed like a unique way to let students know we miss them and are supporting them during this time, while also giving them something to laugh about. Aaron Mayes, who took the pictures of Mandy, works as a curator for visual materials in the librarys Special Collections and Archives department. Mayes tells Yahoo Life that the idea for photo shoot came from Sean Kennedy, who is the director of communications at the library. Story continues Mayes hoped this could bring joy during this uncertain time. I have been working on a photograph collection for future researchers showing Las Vegas' response to the COVID-19 pandemic, he says. Those images can be a bit depressing. Being able to create something completely different, something humorous, something that can make people smile and laugh, if only for a minute, made it worth the effort. Mayes notes that the response to the pictures has been positive and has helped to connect students and the rest of the UNLV community. Some have noted the places in the library they can't wait to get back to enjoying, he recalls. Others remember using Mandy while finishing their studies. We've had requests for Mandy to be greeting students when we reopen. And, surprisingly, Mandy has fans now from all over the world. My favorite comment though is one that just says, Miss you Mandy! It reminds me that good libraries are not buildings, they are places for people to connect, learn, grow and laugh. Farrell hopes this gesture shows students to know how much they mean to the school and its resident skeleton. We hope students know how much we miss them and we are thinking of their academic and health needs, she says. And that Mandy will welcome students back with joy with his skinny outstretched arms when it is safe to be together again. For the latest coronavirus news and updates, follow along at https://news.yahoo.com/coronavirus. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please reference the CDCs and WHOs resource guides. Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle Want daily wellness, lifestyle and parenting news delivered to your inbox? Sign up here for Yahoo Lifes newsletter. Representative image Dr Pankaj Ashiya, a medical doctor and an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, has been pressed into service at a hospital specially set up to deal with coronavirus patients in Malegaon, in Nashik district, which is fast emerging as a hotspot in Maharashtra. Ashiya has been given special powers to take criminal action against both patients violating the curfew norms and health workers abdicating their duty. Nashik District Collector Suraj Mandhare hopes that Ashiya will combine his medical knowledge with his administrative skills to battle COVID-19. In Maharashtra, as in many other states, the infected people have been quarantined either at home or at special quarantine centres, and migrant workers, the homeless, and destitute have been lodged in government shelters. The lockdown has been enforced to the extent possible, and to mitigate inconvenience caused by this in some places, for example, even ambulances have been pressed into service to deliver medicines. Markets have been regulated to observe social distancing norms and direct sale from farmers to the consumer is in the works. A crisis of this magnitude is a challenge for the best of administrators. That is why the success in this fight squarely lies on the administrative acumen of each state. A supportive political establishment is also necessary, but to a great part its role is in enabling the bureaucracy to work freely. The lack of political leadership in many states and cities across India is proving to be an impediment, but where it exists, as in Maharashtra, officers are doing their best to follow the rules and have them followed. That said, there are some exceptions as well. Amitabh Gupta, principal secretary for home in Maharashtra, disregarded the norms of the lockdown and issued passes for friends and members of the Wadhawan family to travel from Mumbai to Lonavla and later Mahabaleshwar. The DHFL promoters Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan facing charges in the Yes Bank case refused to appear before the Enforcement Directorate in March citing health risk arising from COVID-19. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was on the lookout for them but it turns out Gupta, who described them as family friends, knew where they were holed up. Not surprisingly, Gupta has been sent on compulsory leave pending investigation with Home Minister Anil Deshmukh stating he will not be spared if found guilty. Apart from a few, by and large bureaucrats are handling the crisis well. Mumbai Commissioner Pravin Pardesi is an officer who has handled many a disaster to the satisfaction of chief ministers across the board. NCP chief Sharad Pawar entrusted him with major rehabilitation work during the 1993 Latur earthquake. Pardesi was former Chief Minister Vilasrao Desumukhs trusted man in Kutch when Maharashtra undertook rehabilitation of some villages in neighbouring Gujarat after the 2001 earthquake. 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 Under Pardesi, Mumbai has been testing far more patients than other cities, which could also be a reason why the figures are so high in the state. When it comes to Mumbai, the population and more importantly the population density must not be overlooked. This is what makes the task of controlling the outbreak in Mumbai a challenging one. Perhaps now would be a good time to act on previous suggestions and divide the metropolis into smaller administrative zones to make them more manageable. While the bureaucracy is largely focused on fighting the pandemic, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is the principal opposition, appears to be focusing on destabilising the government. While Guptas actions have caused an uneasiness between the government and the bureaucracy, some highlight the fact that Gupta, along with Pardesi and Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta were officers handpicked by Devendra Fadnavis when he was Chief Minister. However, Anil Deshmukh is letting no grass grow under his feet. He was swift to act against those, including reporters who spread fake news, who incited migrant workers to gather in large numbers at Bandra station on April 14. He has been equally swift in arresting 110 people, including nine minors, and suspending two police officers after three men, including two sadhus, were killed by a mob at Palghar, in Thane district, on April 16. Some were quick to give both incidents a communal colour, but the culprits in Bandra case were identified as from the majority community and in the second case as adivasis who thought the saffron-clad men were child-lifters posing as sadhus. There seems to be a sentiment against leaders who are trying to gain political capital while we are all facing an unprecedented crisis. BJP leaders, such as Sudhir Mungantiwar, have complained that their attempts to have live chats with their followers on Facebook was interrupted by gangs on social media. While the truth in that needs to be unearthed, for now it seems the bureaucracy has a tough job at hand. The bureaucracy across India is under severe stress and hopefully it will deliver us out of this pandemic. As the coronavirus pandemic bears down on vulnerable nations in Africa and South Asia, experts say there are only weeks to help fill chronic shortages of what medics need to help people breathe. Not ventilators, but oxygen itself. Medical oxygen is a core component of the life-saving therapies hospitals are giving patients with severe cases of COVID-19, as the world waits for scientists to find vaccines and treatments. The pandemic has pushed even the most advanced health systems to their limits, with concerns often focused on the supply of mechanical ventilators at the high-tech end of the breathing assistance spectrum. But experts fear this has distorted the narrative about what constitutes an effective response, giving the wrong blueprint for nations with under-funded health systems. Oxygen supply is an integral part of well-funded health systems. By Lucas BARIOULET (AFP/File) "The reality is that oxygen is the only therapy that will save lives in Africa and Asia-Pacific now," said Hamish Graham, a consultant paediatrician and research fellow at Melbourne University Hospital and International Centre for Child Health. "I fear that undue focus on ventilators without fixing oxygen systems will kill." One report in February on thousands of cases in China's epidemic found that nearly 20 percent of patients with COVID-19 required oxygen. Of those, 14 percent needed some form of oxygen therapy, while a further five percent required mechanical ventilation. In severe cases of COVID-19, the virus attacks the patient's lungs in the form of pneumonia, causing inflammation that prevents them from absorbing oxygen. This can cause their blood oxygen levels to fall well below normal, a condition known as hypoxaemia that can deprive critical organs of oxygen and "substantially" increase the risk of death, Graham said. Schematic showing the components of a mechanical ventilator machine, highlighting the placement of a breathing tube in the trachea of a patient.. By John SAEKI (AFP) "In hospitals in high-income countries, we take oxygen for granted," he told AFP. "In low-resource settings, healthcare workers are acutely aware of the challenges as they fight to get oxygen to patients every day." Many larger hospitals across Sub Saharan Africa and South Asia will have some oxygen cylinders in operating theatres and wards, as well as concentrators -- portable devices that filter and purify the surrounding air. But surveys throughout Africa and Asia-Pacific have shown that less than half of hospitals have oxygen available on wards at any given time, Graham said, and even fewer have the pulse oximeters that allow medical staff to measure blood oxygen levels and guide dosages. 'Helpless' Oxygen supply has long been a source of alarm among specialists who treat pneumonia, the world's biggest preventable infectious killer of children under five. In Nigeria, one of the worst-affected countries, the government introduced a national policy several years ago to improve pneumonia treatment, but experts say it has not trickled down to a regional level. Landlocked Malawi has no domestic bottling plant for oxygen and often struggles to secure imports of medicines. By AMOS GUMULIRA (AFP/File) Adamu Isah, who leads Save the Children's work on pneumonia in the country, said the charity recently assessed primary healthcare facilities in two states and found that oxygen supplies were "really, really concerning". A former clinical physician, Isah said it was common to see children "suffering and gasping". "If you don't have something like an oxygen system you find yourself helpless, there's really not much you can do," he told AFP. A 2018 report published by Every Breath Counts, a coalition of UN agencies, businesses, donors and aid agencies, said supplies of oxygen were "severely limited" in countries across South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. It cited surveys that suggested only one in 10 children with pneumonia in Nigeria received the oxygen they needed. In Ethiopia, research found that while 64 percent of hospital paediatric wards had oxygen supplies, only 14 percent had health workers trained to use them or standard operating procedures. Leith Greenslade, the lead coordinator for Every Breath Counts, said the mining industry often has better oxygen supplies for its workers than under-funded hospitals. "These health systems in Africa and South Asia could not be more exposed to a pandemic like this one because they haven't been investing in respiratory therapy," she told AFP. "This is what terrifies me." 'Flying blind' Despite pneumonia killing 800,000 children a year globally, campaigners say it has not been given the same attention as other infectious diseases like HIV, Malaria and TB. Greenslade said global health authorities have also "completely neglected" oxygen, and this means there is very little information about supplies. Pakistan, along with Afghanistan, India and Bangladesh, also has areas without sufficient oxygen supplies experts say. By YOUSUF NAGORI (AFP/File) "The absence of global data on this is going to be a major problem trying to respond to COVID-19 because we are flying blind, we really don't know which countries are in more desperate need than the other," she said. The pandemic is still largely in its early stages in Africa and parts of Asia, giving the international community "probably a two-month window" to act, she added. While it is still unclear how the new coronavirus will spread in poorer nations, there are acute fears over densely populated cities and refugee camps. Experts say there is no one-size-fits-all approach, urging low income countries to go beyond lockdowns and urgently scale up basic health systems. "Like everywhere, flattening the curve is the idea, but if your health system doesn't have any intensive care beds -- or, like Malawi, has got 25 beds for 17 million people -- you can't flatten the curve to the extent that'll work," said Gwen Hines, Save the Children's executive director for global programmes. Malawi, one of the poorest countries in Africa, has started to record cases of COVID-19, but a court last week temporarily blocked a government lockdown order. Hines said her organisation has worked on providing solar powered concentrators to the country, which has intermittent electricity, no domestic oxygen plant, and often struggles to secure imports of medicines. Pneumonia is considered a 'forgotten' epidemic despite killing some 800,000 children a year. By SIA KAMBOU (AFP/File) The mechanical ventilators used in well-funded health systems are the "wrong focus" for resource-poor countries, where they would have little impact, said David Lalloo, head of the Liverpool School for Tropical Medicine, which also has a large programme in Malawi. He said the international community should instead prioritise oxygen supplies and protective equipment for health workers. Experts fear the international community may not act fast enough, as cases rise in Africa and Asia at the same time as Europe and the United States hit their peaks. But Graham said it was also crucial for the response to be more strategic than "buying equipment and dumping it on hospitals", urging proper staff training and maintenance. 'Solidarity and collaboration' In Nigeria, Isah said his wish-list of equipment would start simple, with pulse oximeters, then oxygen concentrators that can be used in small healthcare settings, and finally higher-tech equipment like ventilators. But he said a "major fear" was competition in global supply chains for even basic devices. Nigeria has imposed a lockdown and launched testing as it tries to slow the spread of the virus. By Kola Sulaimon (AFP/File) He called for "solidarity and collaboration" with richer nations helping those that are struggling to tackle COVID-19. "My fear is if this COVID pandemic stays longer than a couple of months, we will face very serious problems, there will be loss of so many lives," he said. "Countries in Europe and the US and other places, they may have the financial capacity to address the need, or they could get support easily, but in Africa we don't have those resources, even in peacetime." VERNON, CT All around Vernon, messages of thanks and togetherness have been springing up in front of homes and businesses as feelings of isolation continue during the new coronavirus pandemic. Patch took a quick jaunt through town Wednesday morning and shows a representative sampling of signs in the gallery below. We know there are many more inspirational messages out there, and would like to include them in this showcase. Please email your original photo, with a description and location, to tim.jensen@patch.com. To sign up for Vernon breaking news alerts and more, click here. George Dr. (Photo: Linton family) A creative setup for the mail carrier on Orchard St. A sign at Route 30 and Bamforth Rd. Vernon Manor nursing home on Regan Rd. Vernon Center Middle School student Abigail Harlow decorated her family's van at a recent parade. (Photos: Chris Dehnel/Patch) This article originally appeared on the Vernon Patch WATERLOO, Iowa -- With Black Hawk County now at 374 cases of confirmed coronavirus, and three deaths attributable to COVID-19, community leaders begged county health officials Tuesday to do what they could to temporarily shutter a meatpacking plant at the heart of the outbreak. "I receive calls from folks that are terrified," the Rev. Belinda Creighton-Smith told the Black Hawk County Board of Health during an emergency meeting Tuesday morning. Creighton-Smith said people in her parish and around the community have told her of working conditions at Tyson Fresh Meats in Waterloo, whose workers account for 182 of the county's coronavirus caseload as of Tuesday morning, according to the Black Hawk County Health Department. She accused Tyson of risking "their team members' lives for production and profit" by staying open. "The governor expressed a concern about having to euthanize 50% of the hogs" if the plant shutters temporarily, Creighton-Smith said. "My concern is that, if we don't close this plant down, we will find ourselves with a number of those who we love dead in their homes or on ventilators dying from this virus." Black Hawk County NAACP president LaTanya Graves said she had also received numerous calls from Tyson employees afraid they will unwittingly spread the virus to their family members. She said a large outbreak here would be "devastating." "I'm asking you to do whatever you can to ensure people will not lose their lives for being forced to work," Graves asked the board. But the board can do very little under a disaster declaration, which gives Gov. Kim Reynolds broad powers under Iowa Code, said the board's attorney Michael Treinen, warning board members Tuesday that if they tried to order Tyson to close, they could face a lawsuit and it might "hurt our favor" with the state. "(Reynolds has) talked a lot about trying to keep Tyson open; clearly that's what she's trying to do," Treinen said. "Right now, I say work within the law and try to work with the governor on this." Board members noted they wanted to do more. Dr. Adam Froyum Roise, a board member and medical director at Northeast Iowa Family Practice Center in Waterloo, said patients of his who work at Tyson have told him they're given a cloth mask or face shield and not told what to do with it, or registering a fever while at work, given a Tylenol and ordered back to the line. "It just seems like there is a complete lack of communication, and this is among people who speak English as a first language. I can't imagine workers who don't," Roise said. "Businesses and essential services should support Iowans, not Iowans giving their lives to support essential services." Ultimately, the board unanimously approved a proclamation that first asks Tyson to voluntarily shutter its plant temporarily to allow for cleaning and for testing to catch up. Barring that, the proclamation asks Reynolds to order it closed. The board's proclamation adds to the voices of 20 Black Hawk County legislators, mayors and other elected officials asking the same thing, as well as five local labor unions and multiple immigrant and refugee rights organizations across the state. But Reynolds has so far said she will not force Tyson to close its plant, saying she wants to keep the food supply chain running. "Our community deserves to hear something from Tyson as to why they're choosing to remain open at this point," said board member and pharmacist Wes Pilkington. "They owe it to our community to explain why they're choosing to put people in danger." Tyson spokesperson Liz Croston gave the following statement to The Courier on Tuesday: "Workplace safety continues to be top priority for us, and we are monitoring a variety of factors closely as this situation continues to evolve and change," she said. Singapore: Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday extended the "circuit breaker" period until June 1 to control the spread of the deadly coronavirus and assured that his government will take full care of foreign workers, including Indian nationals. In a televised address to the nation, Prime Minister Lee said the government was committed to doing its "utmost" to keep the deadly virus at bay. "We will extend the circuit breaker for four more weeks, i.E. Until June 1," said Lee while giving an update on the COVID-19 and the rising number of cases among foreign workers living in dormitories. Singapore reported 1,111 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, a majority of them foreign workers living in dormitories. A total of 9,125 people have been infected in the country. Noting that the businesses and workers would be hurt by the extension, the Prime Minister said, "But I hope you understand that this short-term pain is to stamp out the virus, protect the health and safety of our loved ones, and allow us to revive our economy." "The Government will continue to help our businesses and workers cope during the extended circuit breaker period. We will provide the same level of support to our workers and businesses as we are doing now," he said. Lee last addressed the nation on April 3 to announce the "circuit breaker" measures that kicked in four days later, forcing people to keep their distance from one another in an effort to limit the virus' spread. Since then, the number of new cases reported in the wider community has gone down, but in foreign worker dormitories, cases have shot up over the past week as a result of crowded living conditions and active testing for the virus. Highlighting the government's aggressive testing of foreign workers in dormitories, Lee said that almost all the migrant workers infected had only mild symptoms. "This is not surprising as they are generally young, and thus much less likely to become seriously ill with COVID-19," he said. Medical resources are being stepped up to protect the health of migrant workers, Lee said. "We will also pay special attention to the older workers, who are more vulnerable. We are pre-emptively moving them to a separate dorm, where they can be monitored more closely," he said. The Prime Minister also emphasised that his government will take care of the foreign workers just as it cared for Singaporeans. "We will care for you, just like we care for Singaporeans. We will look after your health, your welfare and your livelihood. We will work with your employers to make sure that you get paid, and you can send money home, and we will help you stay in touch with friends and family," he said. The holy month of Ramzan begins in a few days' time and arrangements will be made for Muslim migrant workers, he said. "When Eid comes next month, we will celebrate with our Muslim friends, just as we celebrated the New Year with our Indian friends last week. This is our duty and responsibility to you, and your families," Lee said. Apart from the workers living in dorms, two other groups of migrant workers are being monitored closely. Workers who live in shophouses, private housing, or HDB flats and workers in essential services, this group is still working during the circuit breaker, helping to keep Singapore going, Lee noted. Some are cleaning housing estates and or hawker centers while others are maintaining key infrastructure like our broadband networks. These essential workers are being housed separately. They are being tested to make sure that they are healthy, and to pick up any infections early, he said, adding that the clusters in the dorms have remained largely contained, and have not spread to the wider community. Singapore is now the worst-hit country in Southeast Asia, surpassing coronavirus cases in Indonesia and the Philippines. The country has introduced measures such as the closing of schools and non-essential businesses to control the spread of COVID-19. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary Candidate for Effutu Constituency, Janes Kofi Annan, has been dragged to court for stealing an amount of one hundred thousand Cedis GH100,000. This situation has caused some anxiety among members of his party, especially when he was an Independent Candidate who recently crossed carpet to join the NDC and his loyalty now in doubt. Some of his party members have even doubted his allegiance to the party and argued that if he was truly a loyal member of the NDC, he would not have started campaigning as an independent candidate with his own different colors and emblems at a time he knew the NDC as a party had a candidate. James Kofi Annan, only became the NDC candidate after the elected candidate, Victor Nkankson resigned from the position. Though the NDC candidate, James Kofi Annan has denied the charges of stealing, the facts of the matter are that he is said to have between February 5th and 12th this year at the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) North Campus Branch dishonestly appropriated the said amount of one hundred thousand Cedis (GH100,000) It is the case of the prosecution led by Ms. Dorinda Azumah that the said amount which was fraudulently transferred into James Kofi Annans GCB account number 3051120002103 belongs to one Benjamin Ackah. The stealing court case hanging on the neck of the NDC candidate, James Kofi Annan, plus the question of his doubted loyalty to the party, has created some disaffection for him, making some of his own NDC voters shift support for the incumbent Member of Parliament, Alex Afenyo-Markin. The general chorus and chants on the lips of Effutu constituents has been 4 More For Afenyo-Markin, He Does Not Seal Money, 4 More For Afenyo-Markin, He Does Not Jail Fishermen, Alex, Showboy among others. Alex Afenyo-Markin, in the time being has focused on creating an enabling for job creation and entrepreneurial opportunities for his constituents. EFFUTU NOT LAZY PEOPLE Speaking to thousands of people who has gathered at the Effutu Youth Conference to observe the official launch of the Effutu Dream recently, Afenyo-Markin said from experience, the people of Effutu are not lazy and that they rather take full advantage of opportunities that come their way. Afenyo-Markin explained: When I hear people say Effutu Youth are lazy, I laugh at them because they do not know what they are saying. We, Effutus are not lazy. I remember when I decided to buy cars for the commercial drivers in Effutu to work with, many people said drivers are lazy so I should not buy them cars. But I went ahead and got as many brand new cars for the drivers and today they are happily working with the cars and no one calls them lazy anymore. They are making their own money through hard work, paying tax to government and are seen as responsible husbands at home. When people were insulting Effutu fishermen as lazy, I said no, they are not lazy. They only need the proper machines and equipment to do their fishing, quickly, we organized brand new outboard motors for them and today, they are happily fishing with the outboard motors. They have proven that they are not lazy. We have masons who were not working and they were described as lazy. I said, no, they are not lazy. They need tools to work with. So we bought head pans, trowel, level gauge and other tools masons need. We distributed to them and today they are busily working all over Effutu. No one calls them lazy. Today, when you go to the estate site we are building for Effutuman, over 400 Effutu youth are there working because we have provided the training, the push and the environment. Same support has been given to several groups of workers and artisans across Effutu. Hundreds of deep freezers have been given to people to start or expand their cold store businesses, hundreds of industrial sewing machines have been shared to our Effutu people who are in dressmaking businesses and today no one calls them lazy We have given over hundreds of hair driers to our sisters and mothers in the hairdressing business and today no one calls them lazy anymore because they are working to achieve their dreams. We have given capital to hundreds of Effutu people who want to do mobile money business, we have given capital to hundreds of Effutu people who want to do professional music spinning. We call them spinners. We have distributed high spec laptops to teachers across the constituency we have given even head pans to our sisters and mothers to support their fish carrying businesses at the beach, Afenyo-Markin noted. The New York City Council is taking care of business from the safety of their own homes. On Wednesday, the City Council will hold its first stated meeting, remotely, since the new coronavirus pandemic intensified in New York in mid-March. Stated meetings, which are normally done once or twice a month, are meetings of the entire Council to introduce and vote on legislation. Since they cant meet in person at City Hall, lawmakers will convene and vote remotely using the video conferencing service so many Americans have recently grown familiar with (and maybe slightly suspicious of): Zoom. The City Council has not met in person since March 13th, and Wednesdays meeting and following remote hearings scheduled on Thursday and Friday, will presumably allow city lawmakers to introduce and pass bills responding to the pandemic. One proposal floated by Council Speaker Corey Johnson and Councilwoman Carlina Rivera would close or reduce vehicle traffic on 75 miles of city streets to allow for more socially distant foot traffic. News of the City Councils move to remote legislating raises some questions, including how secure the proceedings will be, how lawmakers will be participating, and, perhaps most importantly, why the City Council seems to be able to legislate remotely while the state Legislature has not resumed session since passing the budget. (While both the state Senate and Assembly have passed rules allowing remote voting, and used some video conferencing to pass the state budget earlier this month, the Legislature has not deployed actual digital voting and has yet to confirm that the legislative session will resume this year.) City & State reached out to Council members and staff to see how it will all go down. The City Council is meeting remotely. What does that mean? The City Councils meeting on Wednesday at which lawmakers will introduce and vote on a long list of bills will take place entirely over the video conferencing service Zoom. If youve used Zoom for work meetings or hangouts with friends, youve likely been sent a private link or access code, and only people with that link can participate. Wednesdays Council meeting will be a little bit different, using Zooms webinar format, in which the speakers are still a select, invited group of people, but the meeting is able to be livestreamed and viewed by the general public. Council members and staff also confirmed that members will be able vote on legislation over Zoom something that the state Legislature hasnt done by voicing their votes over video. The person presiding over the meeting will recognize a member by un-muting them, and the member will vote verbally. While voting verbally seems pretty straightforward, it will likely also be a slow and arduous process especially with so much business for the Council to get through after not meeting for over a month. City Councilman Ben Kallos, whose district includes a large swath of the Upper East Side, told City & State that the process of voting on each piece of legislation will likely take a very long time. We are expecting it to be long, laborious and painful, he said. Councilman Robert Holden, who chairs the Councils Committee on Technology, acknowledged that there may be some road bumps, but said hes optimistic about the transition. Hosting the bodys first ever Stated meeting remotely is obviously a daunting task, but I have confidence in Speaker Johnson and his staff in setting up the technology to run with little to no issues, Holden said in an emailed statement. This will be a learning experience, and hopefully it leads to further technological modernizations for this historic body as we move into the future. While some Council members may choose to go into their district offices for the meeting, many will likely be at home. And while the transition to Zoom may have been rocky for some members who werent familiar with the technology, Kallos said that the overall attitude is positive. I think by this point everyone has already adapted to using Zoom, whether in the classroom, or in their office, he said. I know there will be some growing pains with some members who are less technologically savvy, but I know that the support is there, the training is there, and that folks will be able to participate. Will the City Council get Zoom-bombed? Zoom bombing is a phenomenon in which malicious hackers or pranksters gain access to a private Zoom meeting, often to troll, post graphic content or, for example, hurl verbal abuse and racist insults. A Council spokesperson told City & State that necessary security precautions have been taken, but didnt elaborate on what those were. Kallos mentioned one precaution that could at least quickly solve a Zoom bombing if any were to happen. The Councils sergeant-at-arms will be the host of the Zoom meeting, and have the authority to remove any unwelcome members. If anything goes wrong even if a member were to do something foolish, as we've seen on the internet with the person who brought a laptop into the bathroom with them the sergeant-at-arms will have the power to boot somebody out of the meeting, Kallos said. Councilman Kalman Yeger, whose district includes Bensonhurst and Borough Park in Brooklyn, said that he wasnt especially concerned about Zoom bombings. I've been in the Council chamber when people have hurled pieces of paper dollar bills, in fact from the balcony and started shouting out our meeting, Yeger said. So I cant imagine that a Zoom bombing to the extent that one happens will be much worse than things that I've seen in person. Was a rules change necessary to allow remote voting? While the state Legislature hasnt yet taken full advantage of remote voting, it is now able to do so because both chambers adopted resolutions allowing remote voting during a declared state or national emergency. The City Council is also able to meet virtually, a spokesman said, because of Gov. Andrew Cuomos March 7 executive order which, among other things, authorizes any public body to meet remotely. They also cited New York City Mayor Bill de Blasios March 16 emergency executive order, which suspended the section of the City Charter requiring that meetings of the City Council be held according to its usual rules, which require in-person voting. So while an additional rules change may not be necessary to allow remote voting for the Council, the spokesperson also added that the Council will vote on a rules change at the start of Wednesdays meeting to allow for suspension of any Council Rules that would keep them from legislating virtually. Why is the Council able to meet and vote remotely and the state Legislature isnt? If the Council is getting on board for remote voting, why isnt the state Legislature? This is the million-dollar question. All the same technology options whether Zoom or software specifically designed for digital voting are available to the state Legislature, which is technically still in session but hasnt picked up since the budget was passed. The City Council has been a leader in reform, whether its getting rid of outside income or lulus, Kallos said, referring to a practice that was banned in the Council but continues in the state Legislature, in which lawmakers with leadership positions receive allowances. Continuing on with our business is just another way that the Council continues to lead by example. While Senate and Assembly leaders have said that they want to reconvene before session ends in June, others doubt that that will happen, despite legislative staff having the ability to set up remote voting, assuming that social distancing measures are still in place. Sure, the transition might be more complicated for the Legislature, with more members to coordinate and train, but some argue those road bumps can be worked out. Good-government advocacy organizations such as Common Cause New York have called on the Legislature to resume session entirely remotely. We are paying them to be legislators, so it behooves them to utilize the technology that exists and do their jobs remotely, just as we are all doing our jobs remotely those of use who are still employed, Common Cause New Yorks executive director Susan Lerner told City & State earlier this month. The US was set to temporarily stop the issuance of green cards (initially for 60 days, according to US President Donald Trump) but will not institute an immigration ban, as Trump had initially threatened. An anti-immigration and anti-immigrant stance was at the heart of Trumps successful 2016 presidential campaign, and with elections due this year in the US, his motivations are clear. Trump couched his moves as an effort to prevent Americans losing jobs to foreigners, but the fact is, businesses roiled by the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and the lockdowns it has necessitated in the absence of a cure, this seems to be the only way are merely laying off people, not replacing American workers with foreign ones. The US President touted the malaria drug Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) as a wonder cure but several studies and opinions from experts (including one on Tuesday from a panel of US experts asked to weigh in by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, headed by Dr Anthony Fauci) have recommended against its use. In India, too, the Indian Council of Medical Research said a clinical trial to judge the efficacy of the wonder drug doesnt make sense simply because there isnt any evidence that HCQ is a good prophylaxis. Isolation, quarantines, and lockdowns seem to be the best prophylaxis at this point in time, although the economic consequences are something governments will have to live with and address by announcing relief and stimulus packages. India has announced a relief package aimed at the most vulnerable, and its central bank has infused liquidity into the system and ensured that too many loans wont go bad, but the government is yet to announce a package, although there are reports that one was discussed during a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs at the Prime Ministers residence on Wednesday. The current lockdown in India lasts till May 3, though there has been some opening up in terms of business activities especially in areas with not too many cases of Covid-19. Last week, an analysis by Hindustan Times found that the 170 districts classified as red zones by the health ministry are also important centres of commercial activity. Another analysis has found that 90% of Indias air travellers start their journeys from an airport located in a red zone. Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Hyderabad Chennai, Pune and Ahmedabad are all in the red zone (if not entirely, then at least significant parts of the cities are). There have been reports including one in this newspaper, that interstate air travel may not be opened up immediately after May 3, even if there is no further extension of the lockdown. This data explains why its a bad idea to open up air travel when the pandemic is still raging through some cities (Mumbai and Ahmedabad, especially, have seen a rapid increase in cases over the past few days). Another city that has seen the number of cases soar is Indore, which, not too long ago, was winning awards for being Indias cleanest city. Interestingly, the primary reason seems to be a violation of the lockdown. That the fight against Covid-19 isnt easily won is evident in the experience of Agra whose initial efforts at fighting the diseases spread were so successful that they gave birth to a so-called Agra model. On Wednesday, the number of Covid-19 cases in the city of the Taj crossed 300 . It is equally evident in the case of Kerala: 19 cases were recorded on Tuesday, after only 2 and 6 were reported on Sunday and Monday respectively. The state, which currently tests around 624 people per million of its population, plans to start community testing and strictly enforce the lockdown. Its almost become a cliche now, but the only things that work seem to be widespread testing, and staying in. From Rihanna to Kylie Jenner, countless celebrities have launched successful beauty lines in recent years. And the next star to do so is none other than Married At First Sight's KC Osborne, who has announced her own line of luxury lipsticks. The 31-year-old has partnered with the beauty brand Vixin for the collaboration, which will be available exclusively in over 100 Blooms The Chemist stores across Australia. Mogul in the making! Married At First Sight's KC Osborne has released details about her upcoming line of lipsticks, called KC Kiss x Vixin 'I had so many messages about what stick I was wearing during MAFS,' KC wrote on Instagram. 'I have been working at making the most perfect lip colours that I personally love and I hope you love it as much as I do,' she said of the line. In a statement, Vixin said that the line will start off with 'luxury lip products', but hinted that it could expand to other products in the future. Collaboration: The 31-year-old has partnered with the beauty brand Vixin for the collaboration, which will be available exclusively in over 100 Blooms The Chemist stores across Australia KC is in good company with Vixin, who also work with A-lister Erin Molan. The brunette beauty isn't the first Married At First Sight star to move into the beauty business, with season five star Sarah Roza beating her to the punch. Back in 2019, Sarah launched her own affordable makeup line with budget brand DB Cosmetics. Beauty brand: KC is in good company with Vixin, who also work with A-lister Erin Molan Outside of the beauty business, KC is focused on promoting her work as a dance instructor. She's currently offering online dance classes to children and adults, and also has her own line of merch in the works. Outside of work, KC is currently in a happy relationship with fellow Married At First Sight star Michael Goonan. " " The San Gabriel Mountains are visible under clear skies just beyond downtown Los Angeles after weeks of reduced traffic as coronavirus has Californians at home. Southern California is just one area across the globe experiencing improved air quality. David McNew/Getty Images To contain the coronavirus pandemic, billions of people have been told to stay at home. In China, authorities placed almost half a billion people under lockdown, the equivalent of nearly 7 percent of the world's population. Many other countries have since taken similar measures, initially in hard-hit Italy and Spain, and more recently in the United States and India. The restrictions have sent financial markets into freefall. But they have also given residents in some of the world's most polluted cities something they have not experienced in years: clean air. These visualizations, based on data from NASA's Global Modeling and Data Assimilation team, show how concentrations of some pollutants fell drastically after the lockdowns started. Satellite observations record information on aerosols in the atmosphere. NASA's model is then able to provide estimates of the distribution of these pollutants close to the Earth's surface. Advertisement China The maps below show how levels of PM2.5 nitrate fell in China's Hubei province after the government imposed travel restrictions. Nitrate is one of the components that make up PM2.5, tiny particles, about 3 percent of the diameter of human hair, that can penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream, leading to heart disease, strokes or cancer. Nitrate aerosols are formed from nitrogen compounds, which can be emitted by human activities, especially burning fuel and diesel. " " "We may soon learn how much of an impact this temporary pause in pollution has had on human health and the environment, but the clearest takeaway from this event is how satellite measurements of nitrogen compounds can be used as an indicator of economic activity," says Ryan Stauffer, a research scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Ground station metrics from Wuhan, where the pandemic originated, show how certain pollutants including nitrogen dioxide were at record lows during the first few months of the year. Some of the major sources of nitrogen dioxide are vehicle exhausts, power plants and wastewater treatment plants. Scientists say nitrogen dioxide pollution has been steadily decreasing over the last few years. However, the lockdown may have contributed to this year's drop. The following charts show monthly averages of pollutants over the last seven years. " " "Most important to health would be reductions in PM2.5, as that is the single pollutant most associated with severe adverse health effects, such as heart attacks and death," George D. Thurston from the New York University School of Medicine, told Reuters. Beyond China, many other countries have experienced big drops in PM2.5 and other pollutants in recent months. Advertisement South Korea In early March, South Korea reported a large increase in COVID-19 cases. Since then, ground stations have been measuring the lowest levels of some pollutants for seven years. Although South Korea did not impose major restrictions on residents, changes in daily activity could have contributed to the drop. " " Advertisement Italy Similar patterns unfolded across Italy following the introduction of a nationwide lockdown on March 9. Restrictions had already been implemented in late February in some northern regions, where COVID-19 cases had surged. The industrial belt across northern Italy often experiences high levels of air pollution, but estimates show otherwise this year. " " Of the pollutants that fell most significantly in northern Italy, nitrogen dioxide stood out, according to data recorded at ground stations. Bergamo, one of the provinces most affected by the virus, has experienced improvements in air quality. " " Advertisement India Every winter, New Delhi and other big cities in the north are enveloped in a blanket of smog as farmers burn crop residue. The air tends to clear a little in spring. However, in the first few months of this year, India experienced a significant decline in some pollutants. The lockdown imposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the country's 1.3 billion people could be a major contributing factor. However, there may also be other factors impacting air quality, according to Pallavi Pant, an air quality scientist at the Health Effects Institute in Boston. "Air pollution levels are often influenced by local meteorology, like temperature or wind speed. Several early analyses are showing declines in air pollution in regions where shutdowns have taken place. However, any such analyses should consider all relevant factors," Pant says. " " Ground stations in northern India also show a downward trend in overall PM2.5, according to data from local authorities. " " Beyond improvements in outdoor air quality, scientists are also curious how lockdowns have affected indoor air quality, with millions of people staying at home for far longer than usual. "As we continue to talk about improvements in outdoor air quality, people are spending a lot more time indoors and the exposure patterns for indoor air pollution might be different at this time too," says Pant. Sources: Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO), NASA. China National Environmental Monitoring Centre. Wuhan Environmental Protection Bureau, Hubei Environmental Protection Agency. U.S. Embassy and Consulates' Air Quality Monitor in India. India Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Delhi Pollution Control Committee. South Air Korea Environment Corporation, Seoul Clean Air Pollution Information. World Air Quality Index Project. Regional Agency for Environmental Protection (ARPA) Lombardy. This story originally appeared in Reuters and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. COVID-19 is unlikely to be spread through semen, according to University of Utah Health scientists who participated in an international study of Chinese men who recently had the disease. The researchers found no evidence of the virus that causes COVID-19 in the semen or testes of the men. The study was not comprehensive enough to fully rule out the possibility that the disease could be sexually transmitted. However, the chances of it occurring, based on this limited finding, appear to be remote. "The fact that in this small, preliminary study that it appears the virus that causes COVID-19 doesn't show up in the testes or semen could be an important finding," says James M. Hotaling, M.D., a co-author of the study and a U of U Health associate professor of urology specializing in male fertility. "If a disease like COVID-19 were sexually transmittable that would have major implications for disease prevention and could have serious consequences for a man's long-term reproductive health." The study appears in Fertility & Sterility, a peer-reviewed journal published by the American Society of Reproductive Medicine. The international team of researchers from China and the United States launched the study in response to concerns that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, could be sexually transmitted like Ebola, Zika and other emerging viral pathogens. To find out, they collected semen samples from 34 Chinese men one month (on average) after they were diagnosed with mild to moderate cases of COVID-19. Laboratory tests did not detect SARS-CoV-2 in any of the semen samples. But just because the virus wasn't present in the existing semen didn't necessary rule out that it hadn't entered the testes where sperm cells are formed. "If the virus is in the testes but not the sperm it can't be sexually transmitted," says Jingtao Guo, Ph.D., a postdoctoral scientist at the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah who also co-authored the study. "But if it is in the testes, it can cause long-term damage to semen and sperm production." To sort this part of the puzzle out, the researchers analyzed a dataset generated from a single cell mRNA atlas from healthy young organ donors that was available from prior work. This atlas allows them to examine mRNA, the genetic material used to make proteins, in any single testicular cell. In this case, scientist used it to examine the expression of a pair of genes associated with SARS-CoV-2. These two genes, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2) act as receptors, allowing SARS-CoV2 to penetrate cells and replicate. In order for the virus to access cells effectively, both receptors must be present in the same cell. When the scientists examined the dataset, they found that genes encoding these two proteins were only found in four of the 6,500 testicular cells, suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 is unlikely to invade human testicular cells, Guo says. Despite these findings, the researchers acknowledge that their study has several important limitations including a small sample size and the fact that none of the donors had been severely ill with COVID-19. "It could be that a man who is critically ill with COVID-19 might have a higher viral load, which could lead to a greater likelihood of infecting the semen. We just don't have the answer to that right now," Hotaling says. "But knowing that we didn't find that kind of activity among the patients in this study who were recovering from mild to moderate forms of the disease is reassuring." However, Hotaling warns that intimate contact can still increase the risk of spreading the disease through coughing, sneezing and kissing. In addition, some infected people are asymptomatic and can appear healthy, even as they pass the virus along to others. ### In addition to Drs. Hotaling and Guo, other U of U Health researchers involved in this study titled, "No Evidence of SARS-CoV-2 in Semen of Males Recovering from COVID-19," were Darshan Patel, MD, and Adam Spivak, MD. The research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Huazhong University of Science & Technology. UPDATE: Facebook deletes event for stay-at-home protest in Michigan Two weeks after cars gridlocked the area surrounding Michigans capitol to protest the governors stay-at-home order, a second rally in Lansing is being organized. The event Rally on the State Capitol Lawn" has been scheduled for 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, April 30, in downtown Lansing, organizers said. Michigans stay-at-home order, which was signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on March 24 and extended April 9, is set to expire at 11:59 p.m. April 30 if it isnt extended. Rally organizers picked April 30 because they said legislators would be voting on whether or not to extend the governors state of emergency declaration, which also expires April 30. The message is this: Were asking Republicans in the Senate to vote not to extend the state of emergency order, said Jason Howland, one of the organizers. Howland said organizers are asking participants to stay on message as much as possible, keep it clean, be nice to the haters before, during and after the event and come make some noise and let people know what we think. The hosts are asking those who are at high risk of having a serious case of the virus, or who have relatives who are high-risk, to protest from their vehicles or stay home. Theyre leaving the choice to wear masks up to participants. Howland said the group believes the coronavirus outbreak has been blown out of proportion. We believe the media has control over the people and if we allow the media narrative to control us, were staying under their control, he said. Michigans state of emergency declaration was issued by Whitmer on March 10 after the first two presumptive-positive cases of COVID-19 were reported in the state. The declaration gives the governor and her administration additional executive authority to respond to the outbreak. The virus has since infected nearly 34,000 people in Michigan, including 2,813 who have died. Michigan Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey has said he doesnt expect the legislature to agree to extend the stay-at-home order as is, though he predicts some form of restrictions on social gatherings and interactions will continue. Its unclear if the governor can extend the order without approval from the legislature. Michigan has two statutes that address emergency powers of the governor, one of which does not require legislative approval, according to Shirkey. Protesters on April 15 -- mostly in vehicles -- flooded the streets around the Capitol in protest of the stay-at-home order, which prohibits gatherings of any size outside a household, as well as in-person business and activities not deemed essential. Dozens of protesters left their vehicles, many of whom were not wearing masks as recommended by health officials to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The April 15 protest -- Operation Gridlock -- was hosted by the Michigan Conservative Coalition and Michigan Freedom Fund. The April 30 rally is hosted by five individuals. As of Wednesday morning, April 22, the Facebook event had 524 people who said they were going, and at least 2,300 people who said they were interested in attending. Howland said a group of about 100 people are behind the upcoming rally. The group says it has contacted the states special events coordinator and received approval. Were filling out the proper paperwork and will have the trash receptacles needed for an event like this, he said. Weve reached out to all state and local authorities to make them aware and Lansing police have agreed to help us with traffic." Robert Merritt, public information director for the Lansing Police Department, confirmed the organizers of the protest have been in contact with local law enforcement. Lansing police has a planned traffic route for the rally and will communicate that information to the public and protesters to mitigate traffic flow issues. Merritt said the police department will actively monitor the situation and take enforcement when appropriate and within consideration of officer safety and resource allocations at the time." One comment on the Facebook page asked if participants should instead stay in their vehicles to avoid giving the governor ammunition to extend the stay-at-home order. Another comment asked that everyone stand 6 feet apart and consider wearing a mask. If this is going to be successful everyone needs to wear PPE and no Flags except American Flags and no Guns, reads a comment on the Facebook event. She has to know this is about HER Executive Order and no use it as a Trump Rally or Gun Rights, but about her Excessive Executive Order. After the April 15 protest, Whitmer said the event wasnt really about the stay-at-home order at all" during an interview on MSNBC. It was essentially a political rally, a political statement that flies in the face of all of the science and all of the best practices from the stay-at-home order that was issued," she said. Whitmer said she respects residents right to protest, but said showing up and being irresponsible endangered not only attendees, but first-responders. "They absolutely impacted peoples lives today and threatened peoples lives, Whitmer told CNN. Well never know the precise number of COVID-19 cases that come as a result of this gathering, but we know that there will be some. This is precisely the worst thing that could have happened, today. The April 30 rallys Facebook event description reads: April 30th, our Legislators vote if the Governors State of Emergency Declaration can be extended - We The People make our voices evident - We Vote MICHIGAN OPENS NOW. No more government over reach by executive order, no more restrictive stay-at-home orders, no more restrictions on our purchasing choices and business are to open up unregulated May 1st. Plan to join us for this Revolutionary time and event in Michigan. (This is a peaceful protest). CORONAVIRUS PREVENTION TIPS In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus. Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible. Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home ( door handles, faucets, countertops) and when you go into places like stores. Read more on MLive: White House touts aid to Michigan as nurses call for more protective equipment Adhering to stay-at-home order now will help businesses reopen sooner, Whitmer says Michigan healthcare system lays off 2,475 due to dire financial effects of coronavirus State Rep attending Operation Gridlock is heartbreaking, Jackson mayor says Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 21/4/2020 (630 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. It's a daily exercise in futility. Pretty much every day, we in the news business receive a media advisory indicating that Premier Brian Pallister will be appearing at a virtual news conference to announce new "COVID-19 measures." No other details are provided. Each of these news conferences begins the same, with Pallister offering some sort of spoken-word folk song about the ferocity of the Manitoba spirit in the face of adversity. Tuesday, his latest COVID-19 measures news conference, was no different. RUTH BONNEVILLE Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister makes his way out of the press conference on April 21. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press) "We will face this challenge together," Pallister said, "just like the Manitoba Bison turn together and face the storm and protect each other in doing that." Even though most of the journalists listening into the virtual news conference know better, there is a moment when you're almost certain Pallister will finally deliver meaningful support to Manitobans who are being crushed under the weight of the economic shutdown. It is at that moment that the premier delivers his final demoralizing blow in the form of a minor gesture that avoids any direct or immediate help. On Tuesday, there were two new underwhelming gestures. First, Pallister announced a $16-million provincial contribution to a federal rent and mortgage support program but could not say when the program would start or who exactly would benefit. The other new gesture was $37 million in Workers Compensation Board premium rebates. Whether that results in meaningful support remains to be seen; the $37 million will be divided among 34,000 Manitoba employers. For the smallest and most vulnerable businesses with the smallest payrolls, many of whom have been forced to close by public-health directive, this will not provide a lifeline. It is at that moment that the premier delivers his final demoralizing blow in the form of a minor gesture that avoids any direct or immediate help. Put them together and the WCB rebate and rent/mortgage assistance is just another in a string of disappointing and underwhelming announcements by a first minister who is clearly more concerned about the government balance sheet than the state of the province's economy. Manitoba remains an outlier among Canadian provinces in the economic supports it is providing during the pandemic lockdown. Most other provinces have connected the economic dots, and are providing immediate financial support to ensure that businesses, and the jobs they provide, do not disappear when the suffocating measures are lifted. In addition to his confounding daily announcements, Pallister's inability to acknowledge the longer-term economic consequences of his austerity can also be seen in a foolish directive to colleges and universities to reduce their staffing expenses by as much as 30 per cent. These institutions have already laid off some staff, including educational assistants, recreation staff and lab demonstrators. But the new directive would force much deeper cuts at a time when most post-secondary schools are still operating at full capacity through virtual means. More importantly, it is yet another Pallister directive that will take money out of people's pockets and in so doing, risk prolonging the economic suffering that has come with the pandemic. The premier may want to take notice that criticism of his fiscal and economic policies is not just coming from one end of the political spectrum. Yes, public-sector unions are understandably concerned about his proposals to furlough civil servants for up to three days a week. But other voices from other sectors are joining in the chorus of concern. Sandy Riley, a former chair of the Manitoba Hydro-Electric Board and one of the province's highest-profile business executives, published a commentary in the Free Press which accused Pallister of failing to act to save the economy. A string of disappointing and underwhelming announcements by a first minister who is clearly more concerned about the government balance sheet than the state of the province's economy. Riley had a very public falling out with Pallister over Hydro policies. Even so, his critique of the province's pandemic response highlights the growing concern in the business community that the premier cannot see the damage that his policies are doing to the economy. "The province has been sending the message that it is more concerned with protecting its own financial position than in helping many of its citizens who have been hurt through no fault of their own," Riley wrote. "While I believe the federal government has the best tools to address the economic needs of Canadians, and that Manitobans should take full advantage of programs announced by the federal government, there is a vital role for the province to play in helping Manitobans survive this war." Dan Lett | Not for Attribution A weekly look at politics close to home and around the world that is sent every Tuesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Riley's concerns are mirrored by a new economic analysis by Lynne Fernandez and Jesse Hajer from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The analysis estimates Pallister's plan to have provincial civil servants work two days a week and draw Employment Insurance benefits a plan, if approved, that would result in a roughly 25 per cent cut in pay would eliminate up to $1.1 billion in labour income, as much as $189 million in provincial tax revenues and cut provincial GDP by up to $1.5 billion. "If Manitoba spends instead of cutting, the GDP increases and increases our capacity to weather the crisis, grow in the future and repay the debt once the economy recovers," Fernandez said in the report. Pallister likes to talk about how his government's response has been shaped by constant consultation with business leaders. However, increasingly, it's become obvious that while he may be consulting with those people, he is not listening to them. Manitobans whether they are small-business owners or government-employed public servants want direct and immediate financial support to weather the current crisis in the hopes that it allows the overall economy to recover more quickly and more completely. They do not want folk songs and tales of stoic bison weathering a storm. dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca Give me liberty or give me death, they cried. If the virus had a collective intelligence like something out of Star Trek I imagine it would say: If thats what you want, buddy. The Colorado healthcare workers who stood in front of the cars of those defending their freedom to be assholes played the role of the sane and sensible Captain Picard. Facing down bullies with assault rifles before facing down microscopic murderers, they risked their lives twice in a day. The phrase were not worthy comes to mind. Hope seems desperately hard to find at the moment. All the same, its just possible to find some in Americas lockdown protests, and Im not just talking about the astonishing bravery of those healthcare workers. The protestors live in a fetid swamp of disinformation, outright lies and abject contempt for their fellow Americans and the rest of the world. Slithering out of the muck to serve as its leader: Donald Trump, a diseased president who described those wilfully putting their countrymen at risk of contact with a deadly pathogen as great people. Lining up behind: Fox News, and a host of lesser predators and scavengers. But these Burmese pythons have been far less successful with their attempts to throttle democracy than those that have been out throttling the life out of Floridas Everglades. Despite the dyspeptic outpourings of the besuited rabble standing behind them, albeit at a safe distance (most of the yahoos arent as stupid as InfoWars founder Alex Jones, who fronted a protest in Texas), the numbers of demonstrators have been small, in some cases pitifully so. Popular protests, then, these are not. Their organisers have been far more successful at convincing the media that this is a news story than they have at inducing people to join them. The chief executive of the country's third-largest super fund says the coronavirus could be a catalyst for mergers as small or underperforming funds struggle to cope with the wave of cash withdrawals as part of the government's early access to super scheme. Deanne Stewart, who runs the $100 billion First State Super said it was the poor-performing, smaller funds that were most at-risk of liquidity issues. "If youve gone into COVID-19 as an underperforming fund that has negative cash outflows, COVID-19 would probably exacerbate that and it's those type of funds that are likely to be struggling more," Ms Stewart said. "Will it likely be a catalyst for additional mergers? I do think that it may act as a catalyst for some funds." First State Super boss Deanne Stewart said smaller, under-performing funds were more at-risk. Credit:Photo: Dominic Lorrimer The emergency scheme, which allows people who have lost work as a result of the coronavirus to withdraw two instalments of $10,000 from their retirement savings, opened this week. Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe said the scheme could cause assets under management in the sector to shrink by 25 per cent, putting the liquidity of super funds to the test. Georgias governor announced plans Monday to restart the states economy before the end of the week, saying many businesses that closed to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus could reopen as early as Friday. The governor in neighboring Tennessee planned to let businesses in most of his state begin reopening as soon as next week. Georgias timetable, one of the most aggressive in the nation, would allow gyms, hair salons, bowling alleys and tattoo parlors to reopen as long as owners follow strict social-distancing and hygiene requirements. By Monday, movie theaters may resume selling tickets, and restaurants limited to takeout orders could return to limited dine-in service. Such a swift reopening runs counter to the advice of many experts, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the governments top authority on infectious diseases, who warned again Monday that resuming business too soon risked a fresh spike in infections. Republican Gov. Brian Kemp said it was important to allow businesses that had been shut down a chance to get some revenue flowing. Businesses Fear Lawsuits from Sick Employees, Patrons After Reopening Whenever U.S. stores, restaurants and theaters reopen from coronavirus shutdowns, they may face an unexpected problem: lawsuits from sick patrons and workers. Learn more. I think this is the right approach at the right time, Kemp said. Were not just throwing the keys back to these business owners. Were talking about people the government shut down their business. Bars, nightclubs and live performance venues will remain closed. Kemps action comes a month after he closed many businesses and not quite three weeks after he issued a shelter-at-home order that will remain in place until April 30. Kemp said elderly and medically fragile people should continue to stay at home until May 13. The governor said a decline in emergency room visits by people with flu-like symptoms indicates that infections are coming down. The bottom line is, social distancing worked, state Public Health Commissioner Kathleen Toomey told a handful of reporters after Kemps news conference. Kemp acknowledged Georgia has lagged when it comes to COVID-19 testing and announced new initiatives to ramp it up. He said the state medical college in Augusta will begin producing thousands of swabs each day for collecting test samples. The school will also offer an online app statewide that would let people with symptoms consult with a clinician and be referred for testing if warranted. Meanwhile, the Georgia National Guard will begin deploying teams to nursing homes and other long-term care facilities with equipment for administering 1,500 tests per day. Testing defines the battlefield and informs our long-term strategy, Kemp said. These efforts significantly increase our capacity as we take measured steps forward. In downtown Savannah, Patrick Godleys restaurant 17 Hundred 90 has been closed for a month. His fine-dining menu doesnt suit itself to takeout, so he just locked the doors. His cooks, waiters and dishwashers were furloughed, allowing them to draw partial unemployment benefits. Godley said Monday he fears its too early to reopen for business and that doing so might trigger a new spike in infections. Id rather stay closed an extra week and wipe this thing out than to open prematurely, have a second wave and have to shut down again, he said. Even if he did reopen next week, Godley said, he doubts he would have many customers. I dont think people are going to be going out and celebrating a lot right now. Ian Jones, who owns four restaurants in the Atlanta area with about 100 employees, said hes concerned that Kemps order could force people to reopen before they are ready because lenders and landlords might stop being forgiving. He also fears that employees would have to give up unemployment benefits to return to work, but might be thrown out of work again if infection rates grow. It just seems like its too early, Jones said. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, also a Republican, said his mandatory safer-at-home order will expire April 30, which will pave the way for 89 of the states 95 counties to begin opening businesses. Lees announcement did not apply to counties with the largest cities areas that are not overseen by Tennessees Department of Health but have their own public health districts. Lee said officials were working directly with our major metropolitan areas to ensure they are in a position to reopen as soon and safely as possible. Some businesses will be allowed to reopen as early as April 27, but it was unclear exactly which ones will be granted such clearance. Lee told reporters that details would be finalized later this week. Georgias death toll from COVID-19 rose above 700 as new numbers were reported Monday. Infections have been confirmed in nearly 19,000 people. Kemps announcement followed calls from President Donald Trump and protesters to lift restrictions. Automaker Kia planned to reopen its manufacturing plant in west Georgia next Monday after a nearly monthlong shutdown that the company attributed to supply chain shortages and concerns about the virus, plant spokesman Rick Douglas said. On Monday, about 40 workers at the plant began making face shields to help offset a shortage of protective gear for medical workers and first responders. The company said those workers are having their temperatures scanned and are being provided with masks and gloves. Their workstations are arranged to enforce social distancing. Douglas said similar safeguards will be used when the rest of Kias Georgia employees return to work next week. For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms. For some, it can cause severe illness such as pneumonia or death. ___ Associated Press Writer Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this report. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Georgia Tennessee A deadly rampage that left four people dead in the 100-mile stretch between Auburn and Birmingham apparently started when the suspects vehicle became stuck in a ditch, according to court records. New details emerged Wednesday through Lee County court records filed in the capital murder case against 21-year-old Kentrice Symonee Hill. The Birmingham woman is charged with capital murder during a burglary, capital murder during a robbery and theft of property in the Friday slaying of 54-year-old Nancy Nash. Also charged in Nashs slaying is 32-year-old Derrick Hightower. The Columbus man has also been charged with capital murder in the Saturday shooting death of a man in Birmingham. Auburn police responded to the Farmville Volunteer Fire Departments call for assistance on a vehicle fire in the 9500 block of U.S. Highway 280 West around 6 a.m. Friday. When officers arrived, they found a white 2005 Chevrolet Silverado truck on fire Nash dead nearby at Creative Habitats Landscaping. The grandmother from Smiths Station had been shot several times, according to charging documents. Three shell casings were found inside the business, as well as one projectile that was lodge in an interior wall. Investigators also discovered Nashs 2019 black Nissan Frontier missing. Evidence suggests that a suspect or suspects entered the building while Nash was alone inside and robbed her of her vehicle. That vehicle was later found in Irondale. Next, the suspects are believed to have been involved in the double murder of a couple in Dadeville Friday evening. It wasnt immediately clear when the couple was killed, but they were found Friday night by a concerned family member, said Dadeville Police Chief Johnathan Floyd. Floyd identified the victims on Saturday as Willie Tidwell, 61, and his wife Barbara, 65. Floyd said they were communicating with Birmingham investigators and Hightower is the suspect, but no charges have yet announced. In Birmingham, Sgt. Rod Mauldin said officers were notified about 11 p.m. Friday that a vehicle being sought out of Auburn was spotted at the USA Economy Lodge on Crestwood Boulevard. That vehicle was Nashs truck. According to the Auburn court records, Hill was located at the same location as Nashs stolen vehicle. Hill told investigators she had joined Hightower in Columbus. It wasnt immediately clear where they were going, but they became stuck in a ditch at Creative Habitats Landscaping. She advised (that) Hightower then went down a driveway, where she later heard several loud noises that she described as tires blowing, an investigator wrote. After the noises, she stated Hightower drove up the driveway in the victims stolen Nissan Frontier. Hill told police she got into the vehicle with him, and they fled the scene together. Hill further admitted to facilitating the rental of the motel room, records state. She also stated that when officers arrived at the motel parking lot, Hightower asked if he could hide out in her room, and she stated he could. Hightower gave Hill a pistol to hide as well, records state. Police found the keys to Nashs stolen vehicle inside Hills purse. Nashs wallet was also found to be in the suspects possessions. As police searched for Hightower, a silver sedan was seen leaving the area and Birmingham police tried to stop the vehicle. At that point, said Sgt. Rod Mauldin said, a man got out of the sedan and exchanged gunfire with Birmingham police. Officers lost sight of the suspect after the shooting. Early Saturday morning, as police continued their search, evidence led them to a home in the 100 block of Briar Grove Drive. A resident in the area was letting his dogs out in the backyard to use the restroom when a black male wearing all black appeared seemingly out of nowhere and said, Hey, you got a phone? the resident told AL.com, asking that his name not be used for fear of retribution. The resident said, no, and the man fled on foot toward the area of Briar Grove Road. It was then, investigators believe, that the suspect broke into a home and 36-year-old Antione Harris was killed. Hill has not been charged in Harris slaying. A large perimeter was set up in the Crestwood Boulevard and Montevallo Road areas. About 4 p.m. Saturday, Hightower walked out of the neighborhood that backed up to where police had set up their command post. He was disoriented and had been shot in the arm. Hightower was taken to UAB Hospital and then booked into the Jefferson County Jail Little is known about Hightower and what may have prompted the spate of violence in which he is accused. Public records indicate Hightower went to prison in Georgia in 2006 on cocaine charges and again in 2014 on an aggravated assault conviction. He was sentenced to 10 years in the assault case but it wasnt clear how long he actually served. Hightower was booked into the Jefferson County Jail at 2:10 p.m. Monday and is being held without bond. Hill is being held without bond in the Lee County Detention Center. According to Nashs obituary, she was born in Colorado Springs and later moved to Alabama. She worked as an accountant for Creative Habitats Landscaping. Nancy loved working in her yard and spending time at the beach, according to her obituary. She is survived by her fiance, a daughter, two sons, seven grandchildren and other family members. After weeks of delay blamed for a fast-rising death toll, Ontario is now planning to test every resident in the provinces 626 nursing homes for COVID-19, along with more staff. Premier Doug Ford confirmed the measure Wednesday but acknowledged the provinces limited capacity means the effort might take a few weeks. Experts have long urged the government to step up testing in the close confines of nursing homes, where the virus can spread quietly and quickly. Figures from the Ministry of Long-Term Care show at least 447 nursing home residents had died as of Tuesday afternoon the latest figures available including an increase of 48 in the previous 24 hours. Just under 2,000 nursing home residents and 957 staff have been infected to date, with one personal support worker dead. Across the province, another 701 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 were reported by regional public health units as of 5 p.m. Wednesday, bringing the total to 13,718, according to a Star tally. There were another 61 deaths, raising that tally to 760. Canada has recorded 38,422 COVID-19 cases and 1,834 deaths, about half of them in nursing homes. The hardest hit facilities have had dozens of deaths and infected workers, resulting in staff shortages. As the situation worsened, Ontario moved last week to shore up testing, swabbing all residents in 21 homes to get a better picture of the spread. The government also mandated tests for every resident with COVID-19 symptoms, their roommates, residents in adjacent rooms and staff on the unit, along with essential visitors and others as necessary. But with the picture declining to the point where Ford requested help from the Canadian Armed Forces for five nursing homes in severe crisis, that level of testing quickly proved inadequate. A directive from Ontario chief medical officer of health Dr. David Williams ordered public health units to develop plans to immediately begin proactive surveillance testing to understand the current status of COVID-19 in every nursing home, including residents and staff not showing any symptoms. No firm timelines for the testing were released. With labs in the province currently testing about 10,000 samples a day, and aiming for 14,000 daily by the end of the month, it would take about two weeks to test all 77,000 residents and 56,000 workers a prospect that is highly unlikely given that there are other priorities for testing in hospitals, other health care workers and in the community. The Economic Survey of 2018-19 projected India's economic growth rate at seven per cent for 2019-20. By the time the first and second advance estimates came around a year later, it was scaled down to five per cent. With Covid-19 impacting the economy in March, nobody is now talking of even five per cent growth for 2019-20. Exports have already shrunk by 34.5 per cent in March, the steepest monthly fall in at least 25 years. IHS Purchasing managers' index for services also contracted sharply in March to 49.3 from a level of 57.5 points in February. In PMI parlance, the ... A manhunt is underway after a teenage boy was stabbed in the back, before walking into a pharmacy and screaming for help. The 17-year-old was attacked about lunchtime near shops on Military Road at Neutral Bay, on Sydney's north shore, on Wednesday. After being knifed in the back the teenager walked into a nearby Priceline Pharmacy in search of help. A manhunt is underway after a teenage boy was stabbed in the back on Military Road, Neutral Bay, on Sydney's north shore The 17-year-old was attacked about 1.30pm before walking into a nearby pharmacy and asking for assistance. He was taken by ambulance to Royal North Shore hospital in a stable condition Police and paramedics were called to the scene and the boy was rushed to the Royal North Shore Hospital about 1.30pm. In a statement, NSW Police said he is in a stable condition and is being treated for a 'wound to his back'. 'Officers from North Shore Police Area Command established a crime scene, which was examined by specialist forensic officers,' the statement said. 'North Shore detectives are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident and appealing for anyone who was in the area to come forward.' The Africa Centre for Media and Financial Literacy (ACMFL) organized a webinar on digital parenting for selected parents in Ghana last Sunday. The webinar which took place from 6 pm to 8 pm was organized to help parents appropriately guide their children on the best use of the internet; especially around this time when a lot of activities are taking place on the internet. The webinar was under the theme; 'Trends, issues, and challenges of parenting in the digital age'. It was delivered via Zoom in partnership with Ramsys InfoTech Solutions Limited and was attended by over 60 participants across the country. The participants were mainly parents, teachers and child rights advocates. Speaking after the Webinar on Sunday, the Director of ACMFL, Mr. Stephen Tindi, indicated that the Webinar forms part of several literacy programs the ACFML has lined up to help people make informed decisions about media usage. He says the Internet is an important tool but people need to be educated to use it effectively. Parents especially have no choice than to become digitally literate because that's the only way they can monitor and support their children online especially during this pandemic. Among issues discussed at the webinar were Internet safety Measures for both parents and children, Child security, parental control measures among others. Mr Emmanuel Arthur, CEO of Ramsys and resource person for the seminar encouraged parents to pay attention to the activities of their children on the internet. He encouraged parents to endeavour to understand the emerging trends in internet usage and applications to guide their children effectively. Parenting today is like reading law, you have to learn a lot to be able to train the digital generation, he said. Some of the participants who spoke to this writer after the webinar expressed gratitude for the opportunity to learn about digital parenting. They also expressed an eagerness to join subsequent webinars organized by ACMFL. The ACMFL is an independent educational nonprofit organization with a laser-like focus on two critical literacies that have become indispensable; Media Literacy and Financial Literacy. Their Vision is to empower all citizens, particularly the vulnerable on media literacy and financial literacy. About ACMFL Africa Centre for Media and Financial Literacy (ACMFL) is an independent educational nonprofit organization with a laser-like focus on two critical literacies that have become indispensable; Media Literacy and Financial Literacy. Our vision is to empower all citizens, particularly the vulnerable through media literacy and financial literacy, and we are on a mission to become the frontline institution best known for promoting education, influencing policy and encouraging research into media literacy and financial literacy in sub-Saharan Africa Our goal is to partner governmental & non-governmental Institutions, Media Organisations, Financial Service providers, funding agencies, individuals and all other relevant stakeholders to advocate, develop and implement Media & Financial Literacy Programs across the country. While the majority of Americans follow indefinite orders to work from home or learn that they're newly unemployed, hundreds of thousands of Amazon workers are going into its 175 fulfillment centers to meet unprecedented demand. In an effort to keep workers safe, Amazon now does temperature checks, gives out masks and says it's taken "intense measures" to ensure workers stay 6 feet apart. "I absolutely feel safe coming to the building every day. I would not be here if I didn't," said Adrian Melendez, the general manager of an Amazon fulfillment center in New Haven, Connecticut. But some workers are protesting because they say Amazon isn't doing enough to keep them safe. This week, workers from warehouses around the country didn't show up to work, staging the "mass call out" to call for the immediate closure of the more than 50 warehouses with positive cases, among other things. "I have to do this. I can't not pay my bills and live my life. But then it was just knowing that I can possibly contract Covid-19 while at work and either become ill or even possibly die from it," said Tonya Ramsay, a shipping dock worker for an Amazon warehouse in Romulus, Michigan. Meanwhile, Amazon has fired at least six employees who have spoken up against working conditions since the pandemic began, citing a variety of reasons, from vulgar language to breaking social distancing protocols. Watch the video to hear from Amazon workers around the country about what it's really like to work inside an Amazon warehouse right now, and what Amazon's doing to protect them while managing to keep the vast majority of its warehouses open for business. CNBC's Annie Palmer contributed to this report. ENDEAVOUR PROVIDES UPDATE ON COVID-19 RESPONSE George Town, April 21, 2020 - Endeavour Mining (TSX:EDV) (OTCQX:EDVMF) provides an update on its coronavirus ("COVID-19") response to safeguard the health and wellbeing of its employees, contractors and local communities, while ensuring business continuity. Endeavour is pleased to report that its few employees who previously tested positive for COVID-19 have successfully recovered, and it has not had any new reported cases. Since the onset of the pandemic, governments in the region have acted decisively to implement appropriate response measures, leveraging their recent experience with Ebola. Endeavour has been supporting the national response in close collaboration with the health authorities in its host countries. The Company's first response was to quickly mobilize and send to West Africa an expert medical response team. Through this measure, Endeavour was able to work closely with government authorities to identify the priorities and act quickly. Endeavour's efforts leverage its global supply chain, health and safety systems, community relations and communication teams, and notably include the provision of medical equipment and supplies to local communities, such as masks, gloves and cleaning equipment, training dozens of local health workers and running COVID-19 awareness campaigns. Endeavour will continue to provide these essential supplies and services for the duration of the pandemic to support the healthcare centers in its local communities. In order to do more, Endeavour's President & CEO, Sebastien de Montessus is donating 30% of his base salary, and members of the leadership team and the Board of Directors have also volunteered to donate a portion of their salaries or fees for the next three months. Endeavour will match these funds, resulting in a total donation of approximately $1 million. The funds will be deployed by Endeavour's community relations and medical teams to source much needed medical equipment for local community health centers and to also provide financial support to families and schools who have been impacted by a loss of income due to COVID-19. These donations, combined with the amount already spent at the mines and supporting national and local efforts in Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, and Mali will bring Endeavour's total contribution to $6 million. Sebastien de Montessus, President & CEO, said: "The world is currently facing an unprecedented challenge fighting COVID-19 and dealing with the economic, social and health consequences that have arisen. Beyond financial aid, we have leveraged our global supply chain, broader network and medical expertise to obtain key medical supplies to bolster the national authorities' response across Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Mali. I would like to express our profound thanks to the healthcare professionals on the frontline for their outstanding and selfless work under very difficult circumstances. In addition, I'd like to thank our Directors and employees who have contributed both financially and by supporting the implementation of our business continuity program. In particular, we have seen tremendous dedication at our mine sites as employees have committed to extended rotations to help maintain production levels." Each of the Company's operations are continuing to operate at normal levels with gold shipments and sales continuing, albeit with increased health and safety measures designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The operations are continuing to manage and respond to COVID-19 within the framework of the Company's incident management and response plan, which is being monitored by an epidemiologist special advisor to Endeavour. For more information about Endeavour's response to COVID-19, including an interview with CEO, Sebastien de Montessus, please visit the Company's website: Endeavour's Response to COVID-19 . CONTACT INFORMATION Martino De Ciccio VP - Strategy & Investor Relations +44 203 640 8665 mdeciccio@endeavourmining.com Brunswick Group LLP in London Carole Cable, Partner +44 7974 982 458 ccable@brunswickgroup.com (mailto:ccable@brunswickgroup.com) Vincic Advisors in Toronto John Vincic, Principal +1 (647) 402 6375 john@vincicadvisors.com ABOUT ENDEAVOUR MINING CORPORATION Endeavour Mining is a TSX listed intermediate African gold producer with a solid track record of operational excellence, project development and exploration in the highly prospective Birimian greenstone belt in West Africa. Endeavour is focused on offering both near-term and long-term growth opportunities with its project pipeline and its exploration strategy, while generating immediate cash flow from its operations. For more information, please visit www.endeavourmining.com . Corporate Office: 5 Young St, Kensington, London W8 5EH, UK Neither Toronto Stock Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Attachment French researchers are planning to trial whether nicotine patches will help prevent - or lessen the effects of - the deadly coronavirus. Evidence is beginning to show the proportion of smokers infected with coronavirus is much lower than the rates in the general population. Scientists are now questioning whether nicotine could stop the virus from infecting cells, or if it may prevent the immune system overreacting to the infection. Doctors at a major hospital in Paris - who also found low rates of smoking among the infected - are now planning to give nicotine patches to COVID-19 patients. They will also give them to frontline workers to see if the stimulant has any effect on preventing the spread of the virus, according to reports. It comes after world-famous artist David Hockney last week said he believes smoking could protect people against the deadly coronavirus. MailOnline looked at the science and found he may have been onto something, with one researcher saying there was 'bizarrely strong' evidence it could be true. One study in China, where the pandemic began, showed only 6.5 per cent of COVID-19 patients were smokers, compared to 26.6 per cent of the population. Another study, by the Centers for Disease Control in the US, found just 1.3 per cent of hospitalised patients were smokers - compared to 14 per cent of America. And research by hospitals in Paris found that smokers were under-represented in both inpatients and outpatients, suggesting that any protective effect could affect anyone, not just those hospitalised by their illness. French researchers plan to give nicotine patches (pictured) to hospitalized coronavirus patients, intensive care patients and frontline workers It comes after a study found 4.4% of 350 coronavirus patients hospitalized were regular smokers and 5.3% of 130 patients at home smoked compared to the general population. Pictured: A man wearing a face mask smokes a cigarette in Paris, France, March 16 The French study, performed at Pitie Salpetriere - part of the Hopitaux de Paris, used data from 480 patients who tested positive for the virus. Three hundred and fifty were hospitalized and the remainder recovered at home. Results showed that of the patients hospitalized, with a median age of 65, only 4.4 percent were regular smokers. But among those at home, with a median age of 44, 5.3 percent smoked. By comparison, among the general population, 40 percent of those between ages 44 and 53 smoke, and around 11 percent of those aged 65 to 75 smoke. The researchers determined that far fewer smokers appear to have contracted the virus or, if they have, their symptoms are less serious. Research by scientists in France found that smokers made up disproportionately small amounts of coronavirus patients both in and out of hospitals, suggesting any protective effect is not limited only to those who get seriously ill 'PROTECTIVE EFFECT MAY COVER BOTH SEVERE AND NON-SEVERE PATIENTS' Research by the Hopitaux de Paris and Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, in the French capital, has claimed a potential protective effect of smoking against COVID-19 could have benefits for people with mild or severe symptoms. While many studies have focused on patients in hospital or intensive care units, this research looked at outpatients, too. And they found that a disproportionately small number of those - patients who were not ill enough to need a hospital bed - were smokers. This was the same phenomenon observed among the more seriously ill inpatients. They found 5.3 per cent of 139 outpatients were smokers, compared to 4.4 per cent of 343 inpatients. In the French population, the smoke rate was 25 per cent. The researchers, led by Dr Makoto Miyara, wrote: 'The [smoking rates] did not differ between outpatients and inpatients, suggesting that the protective effect of smoking covered the whole population of symptomatic (both non-severe and severe) patients.' Advertisement 'Our cross-sectional study strongly suggests that those who smoke every day are much less likely to develop a symptomatic or severe infection with Sars-CoV-2 compared with the general population,' the study reads. 'The effect is significant. It divides the risk by five for ambulatory patients and by four for those admitted to hospital. We rarely see this in medicine.' The team says it is not advocating that anyone start smoking because cigarettes have fatal health risks. However, French neurobiologist Jean-Pierre Changeux, who reviewed the study, told The Guardian that nicotine may be hindering the virus from entering the body's cells. In addition, the authors theorize nicotine could abate the immune system's overreaction to the virus, which leads to serious complications in some patients. The researchers will verify the study's results by giving nicotine patches to hospital patients, those in intensive care and frontline workers. This is not the first article to suggest that nicotine may ward off the coronavirus. A French study from the Universite Pierre et Marie Curie found that just 8.5 percent of 11,000 hospitalized coronavirus patients were smokers compared to 25.4 percent of the country's population. And it also found, albeit in a small study, that people who had milder coronavirus infections and didn't need to be admitted to hospital had lower smoking rates, too. Just 5.3 per cent of the 139 outpatients in the study were classed as active smokers - still a fifth of the proportion of smokers in the general public. The paper focused on statistics but pointed to past research which suggested nicotine may alter receptors inside the body called ACE-2 receptors, which the coronavirus relies on as its gateway into the body. Any protective effect, the researchers suggested, may therefore work for people with any level of infection, not just those with severe illness. They wrote: 'The [smoking rates] did not differ between outpatients and inpatients, suggesting that the protective effect of smoking covered the whole population of symptomatic (both non-severe and severe) patients. However, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has said that cigarettes can increase the risk of contracting the disease. 'People who smoke cigarettes may be at increased risk of infection with the virus that causes COVID-19, and may have worse outcomes from COVID-19,' the agency told Bloomberg News. The FDA has previously warned about 'worse outcomes' for coronavirus among smokers but did not specify what that meant. Does smoking PROTECT against coronavirus? That was the amazing claim from David Hockney but multiple scientific studies now suggest he might be on to something When world-famous artist David Hockney wrote a letter to the Daily Mail saying he believes smoking could protect people against the coronavirus many scoffed. Mr Hockney wrote: 'Could it not be that smokers have developed an immune system to this virus? With all these figures coming out, its beginning to look like that to me.' Understandably the claim was brushed off as laughable and 'rubbish' by many. But is it? A leading infectious disease expert at University College London, Professor Francois Balloux, said there is 'bizarrely strong' evidence it could be true. And data from multiple Chinese studies shows that COVID-19 hospital patients contained a smaller proportion of smokers than the general population (6.5 per cent compared to 26.6 per cent), suggesting they were less likely to end up in hospital. Another study, by America's Centers for Disease Control of over 7,000 people who tested positive for coronavirus, found that just 1.3 per cent of them were smokers - against the 14 per cent of all Americans that the CDC says smoke. The study also found that the smokers stood no greater chance of ending up in hospital or an ICU. The reasons for this are unclear. Evidence coming out of scientific studies is conflicting and some say doctors are just too busy to be accurately noting down everyone's smoking habits. Some researchers suggest smoking could reverse one of the ways in which COVID-19 damages the lungs while others argue the lung damage caused by smoke makes the organs more susceptible to failure. Governments in both the UK and US urge people to stop smoking to protect themselves from the virus, but scientists admit there is no clear proof cigarettes can worsen the disease. The eccentric artist David Hockney, who is a smoker himself, asked in a letter to the Daily Mail 'Could it not be that smokers have developed an immune system to this virus?' DAVID HOCKNEY'S LETTER TO THE DAILY MAIL I USED to joke that being a smoker in Malibu was the equivalent of being a non-smoker in Pasadena. They used to have very bad pollution there. Could it not be that smokers have developed an immune system to this virus? With all these figures coming out, its beginning to look like that to me. Im serious and remember cigars and cigarettes are vegan. David Hockney, Normandy. Advertisement In his letter, Mr Hockney wrote: 'I used to joke that being a smoker in Malibu was the equivalent of being a non-smoker in Pasadena. They used to have very bad pollution there. 'Could it not be that smokers have developed an immune system to this virus? With all these figures coming out, its beginning to look like that to me.' The British artist, now 82 and living in France, adds 'I'm serious' and has in the past revealed he's smoked for more than 60 years but still considers himself healthy. Around 1.1billion people around the world smoke cigarettes in spite of evidence they cause lung cancer, heart disease and numerous other life-threatening illnesses. Whether they make people more likely to end up in hospital or die if they catch COVID-19, however, is unclear. A study published earlier this month by scientists in New York and Athens claims the opposite. It looked at 13 Chinese studies that had registered smoking as a precondition and found that the number of smokers across the whole sample of 5,300 patients was 6.5 per cent. An astonishingly small number in country where half of all men still smoke. 'This preliminary analysis does not support the argument that current smoking is a risk factor for hospitalization for COVID-19,' it reads. 'Instead, these consistent observations, which are further emphasized by the low prevalence of current smoking among COVID-19 patients in the US (1.3 per cent), raises the hypothesis that nicotine may have beneficial effects on COVID-19.' A group of studies from China found that the average proportion of coronavirus patients who were classed as smokers - from a total of almost 6,000 people - was just 6.5 per cent. For comparison, more than 26 per cent of the country's population as a whole are smokers WHAT IS AN ACE-2 RECEPTOR AND WHAT DOES IT HAVE TO DO WITH COVID-19? ACE-2 receptors are structures found on the surface of cells in the lungs and airways which work with an enyzme called ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme) to regulate blood pressure. Its exact function in the lungs is not well understood but studies suggest it is protective against lung damage and low levels of it can worsen the impact of viral infections. Scientists say that the coronavirus which causes COVID-19 enters the body through the ACE-2 receptor, which the shape of it allows it to latch on to. This means that someone with more ACE-2 receptors may be more susceptible to a large viral load - first infectious dose of a virus - entering their bloodstream. ACE-2 receptors have a shape which matches the outside of the coronavirus, effectively providing it with a doorway into the bloodstream, scientists say People who have higher than usual numbers of ACE-2 receptors may include those with diabetes or high blood pressure because they have genetic defects which make them produce more. Emerging evidence shows that smokers may also produce more. High levels of ACE-2 receptors may also be protective, however. They are thought to be able to protect the lungs during infection and a study on mice in 2008 found that mice which had ACE-2 blocked in their bodies suffered more damage when they were infected with SARS, which is almost identical to COVID-19. Smoking has in the past been repeatedly linked to lower than normal levels of ACE-2 receptors, potentially increasing the risk of lung damage from COVID-19. Advertisement The paper has not been reviewed by other scientists and admits that it is based on limited data, but says that nicotine and the coronavirus both interact with the same receptors on cells inside the lungs. It was done by Dr Konstantinos Farsalinos and Dr Anastasia Barbouni, from the University of West Attica in Athens, and Dr Raymond Niaura of New York University. They suggest that while the virus causes lung damage by depleting the numbers of those receptors - known as ACE-2 receptors - smoking can increase the number of them, reversing the effect. ACE-2 receptors, which are found on cells in the airways and lungs, have been said to work as the coronavirus's doorway into the body and to 'facilitate' infection. Therefore having more of them would seem to be a bad thing, but scientists say they have a protective effect in the lungs and low levels are linked to worse damage from viral infection. A 2008 study in mice found that getting rid of ACE-2 made the animals more likely to suffer severe breathing difficulties when infected with the SARS virus, which is almost identical to COVID-19. ACE-2's function in human lungs is poorly understood. Dr Farsalinos's study was shared on Twitter by Professor Francois Balloux, director of the genetics institute at University College London. Professor Balloux described the paper as 'puzzling' and added: 'Whilst the study design is far from perfect - and the authors are clear about its limitations - the evidence for a protective effect of smoking (or nicotine) against COVID-19 is bizarrely strong... actually far stronger than for any drug trialled at this stage...' It is a claim that has been emerging around the world. French scientist Professor Jean-Francois Delfraissy, who is leading a scientific council advising the country's government on COVID-19, said: 'We have something very special with tobacco. 'We have found that the vast majority of serious cases are not smokers, as if () tobacco protects against this virus, via nicotine,' French news site Sud Ouest reported. The study by Dr Farsalinos adds by way of explanation: 'It has been observed that decreased ACE-2 availability contributes to lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome development. 'Therefore, higher ACE-2 expression, while seemingly paradoxical, may protect against acute lung injury caused by COVID-19.' This is a disputed area of science - there are studies which show smoking can both increase and decrease the levels of ACE-2 available on someone's lung cells. An increase before infection could allow more of the viruses to get into the body in the first place, making someone more vulnerable to the disease. A paper published by scientists at University College London offers the opposite view to Dr Farsalinos. WHAT DO STUDIES SHOW ABOUT SMOKERS WITH COVID-19? A team of scientists at Harvard University in Boston and the University of Crete in Greece have reviewed five of the first studies on links between smoking and COVID-19. They found smokers do face a greater risk of suffering complications but others suggested they were less likely to be infected in the first place. In all of the studies, fewer than 15 per cent of the patients were smokers - a figure that clashes with China's smoking rate, which is between 20 and 26 per cent and almost half of men. The review of the evidence, led by Harvard's Dr Constantine Vardavas, was published in the journal Tobacco Induced Diseases. Here's what it found: STUDY 1 How many people were involved? 78 patients at 3 hospitals in Wuhan, China How many of them were smokers? Unclear Where were the results published? Chinese Medical Journal What did it find? The patients who progressed to severe illness had a 'significantly' higher number of smokers compared to the patients who got better 27 per cent compared three per cent STUDY 2 How many people were involved? 1,099 at 552 hospitals across China How many of them were smokers? A total of 12.6 per cent (137) were current smokers and 1.9 per cent (21) were former smokers. Where were the results published? New England Medical Journal What did it find? Among the 173 patients with severe symptoms, 16.9 per cent (29) were current smokers and 5.2 per cent (nine) were former smokers. In comparison, 11.8 per cent (108) of the 926 with milder symptoms were current smokers, and 1.3 per cent (12) were former smokers. In the group of patients that either needed mechanical ventilation, admission to an ICU or died, 25.5 per cent were current smokers and 7.6 per cent were former smokers. That was more than twice as high as the proportion of patients who did not need intensive care, 11.8 per cent of whom were current smokers and 1.6 per cent were former smokers. STUDY 3 How many people were involved? 140 in one hospital in Wuhan How many of them were smokers? 6.4 per cent were either current smokers (two) or past smokers (seven). Where were the results published? Allergy What did it find? Among the 58 patients who severely ill, 3.4 per cent (two people) were current smokers and 6.9 per cent (four) were former smokers. In comparison, of the 82 with milder symptoms, none were current smokers and 3.7 per cent (three) were former smokers. STUDY 4: How many people were involved? 191 in two hospitals in Wuhan How many of them were smokers? Six per cent (11 people) were current smokers Where were the results published? The Lancet What did it find? Among those that died (54), nine per cent (five people) were current smokers. Of those who survived, four per cent (six people) were smokers. STUDY 5 How many people were involved? 41 in one hospital in Wuhan How many of them were smokers? Seven per cent (three people) were current smokers Where were the results published? The Lancet What did it find? None of the 13 patients who needed to be admitted to ICU were current smokers. In contrast, 11 per cent (three) of those who did not need intensive care were smokers. Advertisement It said: 'SARS-CoV-2 has been shown to enter cells through the ACE-2 receptor. 'Some evidence suggests that gene expression and subsequent receptor levels are elevated in the airway and oral [cells] of current smokers, thus putting smokers at higher risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2. 'Other studies, however, show that nicotine downregulates the ACE-2 receptor.' Professor Jamie Brown, an addiction researcher at UCL and one of the authors who wrote that paper, told MailOnline the link is 'very difficult to understand'. 'Everything we know about other respiratory viruses and comorbidities [health problems] suggests smokers will suffer worse outcomes,' he said. Only recently - a paper published this year claimed to be the first - have scientists started to record that smoking increases ACE-2 levels in the airways. It had previously been reported to reduce levels, something that researchers have linked to worse lung damage in coronavirus infections. While higher levels of the receptor may offer some protection in theory, they also offer more doorways through which the virus can enter the body. The study in the European Respiratory Journal said: 'While the up-regulation of ACE-2 may be useful in protecting the host against acute lung injury, chronically, this may predispose individuals to increased risk of coronavirus infections, which uses this receptor to gain entrance into epithelial cells.' Professor Brown added that, considering how smoking influences other lung infections, he would be 'very surprised' if it didn't make COVID-19 worse. One paper suggested that a reason children appear not to be badly affected, in general, by the coronavirus could be that they have more ACE-2 receptors than adults, but it added there is 'a lack of evidence to show that ACE-2 expression varies with age'. Dr Farsalinos and his colleagues' study even suggested that withdrawal symptoms from not being able to smoke in hospital could make cigarette users' symptoms worse. It added: 'Hospitalization for COVID-19 will inevitably result in abrupt withdrawal of nicotine and its beneficial effect linked to this hypothesis in smokers or users of other nicotine products. 'This could, at least partly, explain the association between smoking and COVID-19 severity among hospitalized patients.' The theory of smokers having some level of protection from the virus stems from raw hospital data which suggested only small proportions of seriously-ill patients smoke. Hospitals in China, the US, Germany and France have had hundreds of thousands of coronavirus patients but admitted disproportionately small numbers of smokers. According to the campaign group, Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, early data showed that in Germany six per cent to 21 per cent; and in France six per cent compared to 27 per cent. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US showed that of around 7,000 COVID-19 patients, former smokers were more likely to be hospitalised or taken into intensive care than current smokers. Just 22 of the hospital patients and five of those in intensive care admitted to being smokers, while 45 in hospital and 33 in ICU said they were former smokers. Public Health England has not published any information about the people diagnosed or hospitalised with coronavirus in the UK. Why then, scientists have asked, do smokers make up such a small proportion of patients when there are significantly more of them in the countries? Experts have knocked this theory down and say reporting of who smokes and who doesn't has not been accurate enough. UCL's Professor Brown told MailOnline: 'It's difficult to assess how well smoking status has been recorded in an emerging epidemic and a lot of these people have been too sick to answer or have not replied totally honestly.' He added: 'We know generally smokers tend to come from lower income groups which have poorer access to healthcare... so may be more likely to die in the community.' Professor Paul Hunter, a former NHS doctor and now medicine lecturer at the University of East Anglia, agreed that recording was likely to blame. He told MailOnline: 'One interpretation is that smokers are less likely to end up in hospital. 'But actually it's more of an indication that when you've got doctors who are unbelievably busy they don't complete all of the questioning they would normally do.' Professor Hunter added that the notion smoking could protect people from COVID-19 was 'rubbish', but admitted the ACE-2 receptor link deserved further study. EARLY US DATA SHOWS JUST 1.3 PER CENT OF CORONAVIRUS PATIENTS ARE SMOKERS Early data from America's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that just 1.3 per cent of people diagnosed with COVID-19 were classified as smokers. From a sample of 7,162 of the nation's earliest patients, just 96 were 'current smokers'. Just 22 out of 1,037 patients in hospital were smokers, along with five out of 457 in intensive care, according to the data. This contrasts sharply with the CDC's statistics that show 14 per cent of all Americans regularly smoke cigarettes. It is not clear whether there is a link between smoking and a lower risk of catching or falling ill with coronavirus, or whether recording of who smokes and who doesn't isn't up to scratch. University College London's Professor Jamie Brown, a tobacco and public health expert, said he expects it to be the latter. He told MailOnline: 'It's really difficult to assess how well smoking status has been recorded in an emerging epidemic and a lot of these people have been too sick to answer or may not have replied totally honestly. 'We know, generally, smokers tend to come from lower income groups which have poorer access to healthcare and may be more likely to die in the commmunity.' Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US showed that of around 7,000 COVID-19 patients, former smokers were more likely to be hospitalised or taken into intensive care than current smokers Advertisement A study of 41 patients at Jin Yin-tan Hospital in Wuhan found that none of the 13 patients who needed to be admitted to ICU were current smokers. In contrast, 11 per cent (three) of those who did not need intensive care were smokers A study of 552 hospitals across China, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that of the 173 patients who had severe symptoms, 16.9 per cent of them were current smokers and 5.2 per cent had previously smoked. In comparison, of the patients with less-severe symptoms, 11.8 per cent were current smokers and 1.3 per cent were former smokers One study of 140 coronavirus patients found that among the 58 patients who severely ill, 3.4 per cent (two people) were current smokers and 6.9 per cent (four) were former smokers. In comparison, of the 82 with milder symptoms, none were current smokers and 3.7 per cent (three) were former smokers Researchers at the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University made the conclusion that only 1.4 per cent of 140 hospitalised patients were smokers The NYU Grossman School of Medicine study found that just five per cent of coronavirus hospitalisations were current smokers - roughly the same percentage seen in the group that didn't need hospital care SMOKING NOT LINKED TO COMPLICATIONS, CLAIMS NYU STUDY A study by New York University found that just five per cent of 4,103 coronavirus hospital patients in the city admitted to being smokers. This was far lower than the 15.5 per cent of smokers in the population there. The same proportion of smokers were found in COVID-19 patients who did not need hospitalisation, suggesting they were less likely to catch the virus or were not being accurately recorded. The New York study is not the first to find a low number of smokers in COVID-19 hospital admissions. One team of experts from Wuhan - where the pandemic began - were mystified after finding smokers were less likely to catch the deadly virus in the first place. Scientists have called for further trials to clarify if smoking poses a real threat, but admit, in general, smokers are more susceptible to infection. Public Health England has warned users face a greater risk because the tiny hairs inside the airways and lungs, which help move pathogens and mucus away, are often damaged by the toxic chemicals in cigarette smoke. The new study was published on the archive site medRxiv and not in a journal. Its authors said: 'Surprisingly, though some have speculated that high rates of smoking in China explained some of the morbidity in those patients, we did not find smoking status to be associated with increased risk of hospitalization or critical illness.' Advertisement A researcher at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, Jason Sheltzer, picked apart Dr Farsalinos paper on Twitter with similar logic, calling the study 'severely flawed'. He said that the measures for what defined a smoker varied across the world and across the multiple other studies that were referenced in the paper. One of them, he said, only classified very heavy smokers and not those with lighter habits. A deeper dive into data, Mr Sheltzer wrote, revealed that smoking actually appeared to be linked to a higher risk of severe infection. He said: 'In order to further investigate, I emailed the authors of some of the studies on COVID-19 in China. One doctor replied that their smoking frequency was so low because some patients were literally too sick to answer the question. 'So... its clear that in these studies, the definition of a smoker is neither consistent nor consistently applied. You cant throw them all on a graph and call it a meta-analysis.' He added: 'In short, I think that this analysis is severely flawed. Theyre comparing statistics that shouldnt be compared. 'I dont think that theres any convincing evidence that smoking protects against coronavirus.' Government bodies are adamant that people should not consider the prospect of smoking being protective against the illness, which can be deadly, especially for people who already have health problems. Both Public Health England and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have urged people to stop smoking to protect their health. British Health Secretary Matt Hancock last month said: 'It is abundantly clear from the research into previous coronaviruses that smoking makes the impact of a coronavirus worse.' And his chief medical adviser, Professor Chris Whitty, added: 'If you are going to give up smoking, this is a very good moment to do it.' Premier Doug Ford is not yet ready to cancel the school year. Nor is he prepared to reopen the Ontario economy anytime soon. Schools have been closed since March 23 due to COVID-19, but the premier stressed its still too early to writeoff the academic year. We can see things loosening up a bit. People want hope, he told Bill Carroll at CFRA 580 Radio in Ottawa on Wednesday morning. The premier, who is set to soon reveal a plan for slowly reopening the Ontario economy, conceded it will probably be later on that students are back in classrooms, adding Education Minister Stephen Lecce would announce plans within days. But he suggested Lecce isnt yet ready to scrap a school year scheduled to conclude June 25. I dont think it will be the final decision, but it will give people a little more certainty on where were going, said Ford. Our biggest fear is to make sure this doesnt spread especially within our schools. I know our kids are resilient, but still my number one concern is protecting our kids out there, he said. Ford added that he will look to Dr. David Williams, the chief medical officer of health, for his advice on when the coast is clear. Williams said the main consideration is the level of person-to-person transmission of COVID-19. If we still have widespread community transmission, were going to be leery to do that and I think some parents would be leery, he said. Lets see how were going to do over the next number of weeks, Williams said, noting the virus differs from influenza and doesnt seem to be that transmittable from child-to-child. A review by the Public Health Agency of Canada suggests patients under 18 are a very small percentage of COVID-19 cases and studies suggest children are very rarely the source of infection for others in the household, said associate medical officer Dr. Barbara Yaffe. Usually there are others who have given it to them, so those are promising findings in terms of children, she added, noting some of the studies have not been published and its early days. Ontario is talking to other provinces about plans for school returns, and possible measures to mitigate risks of the virus spreading in classrooms, lunchrooms and school playgrounds. Ford, meanwhile, threw cold water on any hopes of a wide open Ontario economy by the Victoria Day long weekend. Can we start opening up a trickle of the economy? Ive got to be very, very clear: theres never going to be one date that we just open up the economy, the premier said. Were going to open it up with a trickle and from there just constantly measure, but by no means are we going to have, for instance, the May 24th weekend, were just going to open things up. That is absolutely not going to happen, he said. Thats going to be a long, drawn-out process. Were going to make sure that we do our due diligence and make sure that we communicate with municipalities along with our federal government before we do anything. Ontario has been in a state of emergency since March 17 and will remain so until May 12, though the premier has indicated that could be extended. I realize people are getting a little antsy, but nothings more important than our health, he said. Were talking a month down the road. I dont have a crystal ball and neither does anyone else. If we keep seeing the curve flatten and headed southward, yeah, we can start opening up a little bit at a time. Please have patience. Williams said the province must slash its daily increase in new COVID-19 cases by more than half to 200 or fewer before the economy can begin reopening. On Wednesday morning, Ontario reported 361 confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19. Robert Benzie is the Stars Queens Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie Read more about: A 70-year-old man from the hotspot area of East Midnapore district of West Bengal, who initially tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in a hospital in Odishas Bhubaneswar and later recovered, died of cancer on Tuesday. Odishas information and public relations department officials said the man was admitted to a Covid-19 hospital in Bhubaneswar and died on Tuesday due to hypopituitarism (cancer in the pituitary) with septic shock and multi-organ failure. The man from West Bengal was operated upon at a Bhubaneswar-based private hospital for a pituitary tumour. On April 7, he came for a follow-up treatment to the same hospital where he tested positive for Covid-19. After the treatment, the man had tested negative twice for Covid-19 and was technically cured of the disease as per ICMR protocol. However, he was not released from the hospital due to co-morbidities, a health department official said requesting anonymity. Also read: State funeral and martyr status for Odisha Covid warriors, cash and job for families The man was officially tagged as patient number 44 in Odisha. Till Tuesday, 79 people in Odisha, including a two-year-old girl, tested positive for Covid-19 and 29 have recovered. A 72-year-old man from Bhubaneswar with acute respiratory distress became the first Covid-19 casualty in Odisha on April 6. His swab sample tested a day after his death confirmed the presence of Sars-Cov-2 in his body. Also read: What you need to know today The simultaneous presence of more than one health disorder such as cancer, diabetes, hypertension in a person is known as comorbidity. According to a study published in The Lancet medical journal, Covid-19 is likely to be fatal in people who already have hypertension, diabetes or heart disease. Also read: To reach home amid lockdown, 27 migrants from Odisha, Andhra escape in a boat Doctors said Covid-19 would prove to be a massive challenge for a state like Odisha where a significant number of people have co-morbid conditions. As per the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke, more than 92,000 people in Odisha were diagnosed with diabetes alone during screening clinics held between January 1 and December 31, 2018. Similarly, more than 118,000 people in the state were found to be suffering from hypertension while close to 34,000 had both diabetes and hypertension. Missouri attorney general Eric Schmitt on Wednesday told National Review that he believes the states first-of-its-kind lawsuit against China could potentially bring massive compensation to Missourians who have suffered as a result of Beijings mishandling of the coronavirus. The lawsuit seeks recovery for the enormous loss of life, human suffering, and economic turmoil experienced by all Missourians caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Several defendants are identified, including the CCP, Chinas health ministry, the governments of Hubei province and the city of Wuhan, and the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The suit claims that these entities were negligent in attempting to contain the initial outbreak in Wuhan, and that they deceived the international community as to the prevalence of the outbreak. While the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 generally prevents Americans from suing foreign governments in U.S. courts, there are certain exemptions embodied in the legislation which are targeted in the lawsuit. Our claim, which I think people are starting to understand is a little bit different than what people might have thought it was, is that we believe those allegations fit squarely in an exception to the Federal Sovereign Immunities Act that would typically give immunity to other nations, Schmitt said in an interview with National Review. [This] is the commercial activities exception, Schmitt explained. So, if youre operating a [negligent] virology lab, if youre hoarding PPEyou no longer have those protections. So we believe that those common law claims that we have fit squarely within that exception, which is why we think well ultimately be successfulto the tune of tens of billions of dollars. Those damages could be sought from Chinese entities within the U.S. There is precedent for using commercial activities exemption of the FSIA, such as in the 1992 Supreme Court case Republic of Argentina v. Weltover. Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in his opinion that Argentinas issuance of the Bonods [bonds] was a commercial activity under the FSIA, and the bond payment in question was to be made in New York City. Because of this, the court ruled unanimously that Argentina could be sued in the U.S. for breach of contract on a bond payment. Story continues Senators Marsha Blackburn (R., Tenn.) and Martha McSally (R., Ariz.) have also introduced legislation that would establish an immunity exemption for a foreign state that discharges a biological weapon, and for other purposes, to enable Americans affected by the coronavirus to directly sue China. National Review contributor Andy McCarthy criticized that legislation, writing that paving the way for such lawsuits could backfire if China decided to retaliate against American investments abroad and to argue for stripping immunity from the U.S. Schmitt, however, sought to ease concerns that the Missouri lawsuit could have unintended consequences, saying it was his obligation to seek the truth on behalf of Missouri residents. The coronavirus pandemic is something that weve not seen the likes of before, and if you look at how this all played out, in the suppression of information at a really critical time, theres just no other conclusion you can draw: the Chinese government is responsible for this, Schmitt said. My duty, as the lawyer for six million Missourians, is to prosecute that case. The attorney general added, I think as people take a look at the complaint, I wouldnt be surprised at all if other states follow suit. As of Wednesday the coronavirus had infected over 6,000 and killed 200 in Missouri, and the state has implemented economically-harmful social-distancing measures and business closures similar to those in effect in most of the U.S. Freshman Missouri senator Josh Hawley, a Republican, has taken a hard line on Chinas handling of the coronavirus pandemic, calling in March for an international investigation into the Chinese governments coverup of the outbreak. More from National Review LONDON, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Neudata announced today that it has launched Literature Review, a platform that provides overarching summaries of academic research papers from the financial data science community. All reviews will be written by Neudata analysts, who will source papers and provide recommendations on studies that help clients understand the role data plays in different investment scenarios. In addition to summarising each paper's findings, analysts will share Neudata's view on the datasets mentioned in the study and share additional data sources that can be used in similar use cases. In general, Neudata analysts will review papers that use alternative datasets the team has already covered or that answer clients' frequently asked questions. "In our first review, for example, we looked at several papers to answer a question we hear a lot from clients: 'Can mobile app usage help predict stock returns?'" said Daryl Smith, Neudata's Head of Research. "Our analysis of the research led us to conclude that app downloads can provide predictive power of future stock returns across the mobile app data ecosystem." The reports are included in Neudata's Scout subscription for buy-side clients. Academics who wish to submit a paper for review are not charged for their participation. Neudata can also facilitate author introductions for readers who have specific questions on how the research can be deployed in their investment process or who want to collaborate on future research projects. Authors may send their papers directly to the Neudata research team at [email protected] for consideration. To be accepted for review, papers should have recently been published in a reputable academic journal. About Neudata Founded in 2016 in London, Neudata is a human- and technology-powered data sourcing and research service that is completely independent this means that it does not sell datasets or ask for revenue shares from data providers. Instead, its aim is to educate alternative data users and providers about new developments in the market. It also hopes to inspire new adopters across a spectrum of fundamental, quantamental and quant strategies, as well as those in the PE and corporate space. The Neudata Scout platform captures over 3,500 datasets across sentiment, social media, weather, web-tracking, transactional, ESG and more. Our team of New York-, London- and Shanghai-based analysts source and evaluate unique and hard-to-find information on a daily basis, enabling investors to make better informed decisions on what data to buy and how to use it. SOURCE Neudata Veteran broadcaster Mike Murphy has launched a scathing attack on Donald Trump, calling him a "narcissist" and "appalling creature" for withholding funds from the World Health Organisation (WHO). Former Labour Party leader Brendan Howlin added his criticisms, branding the US president an "ignoramus" and declaring his presidency in the current crisis a "tragedy". Uproar The two were taking part in a web conference hosted by the African-European Parliamentarians Initiative on responding to Covid-19 in Africa. Mr Murphy, who chaired the event, asked an expert panel why there had not been more uproar over Mr Trump's decision to withhold the US's annual $400m (368m) contribution to the WHO. Mr Trump has claimed the WHO mismanaged the spread of Covid-19 - claims the organisation has strongly refuted. "Why did world leaders not scream in protest?" Mr Murphy asked, saying he did not understand why they had not tackled the "narcissist" or called up to tell the "appalling creature" to change his "pathetic" behaviour. "He is using his nightly briefings as an electioneering ploy," he said. "It's all 'elect me - I'm doing a great job'." Mr Howlin agreed that Mr Trump's response was divisive. "It is a tragedy for the world that the US is led by an ignoramus at this time of real need. Everything he does is damaging to the solidarity that is needed," he said. The event was addressed and watched by parliamentarians, public health experts and community leaders in Ireland, the UK and Africa. President Michael D Higgins sent a video message, strongly urging debt cancellation for African countries. He said it was almost impossible to ask them to adopt the hygiene and social distancing measures relied upon in Ireland when so many places lacked clean water and suffered extreme overcrowding, and where there were no social supports for those who did not go out to work. "It would be an invitation to starve," Mr Higgins said of trying to impose a stay indoors policy. "Europe has a legacy in Africa that it would like to forget but which Africans have not forgotten. "Now is an opportunity to make a new beginning and not only respond to Covid-19 but to the structural imbalances that are there - unfair trade and the burden of debt." U.S. President Donald Trump says his recent executive order will only apply to people seeking green cards. The clarification comes a day after he announced the legislation---which bars new immigration---in a Tweet on Monday. Trump spelled out details on the forthcoming executive order on Tuesday. The new provision will affect people seeking permanent resident status in the country and will last for 60 days. He said workers entering the U.S. would be temporarily not included. The order on the immigration ban is currently being written down. It is expected to receive the president's signature on Wednesday. The order may be extended following a review that will be conducted at the end of 60 days. Protecting American Workers The new order is said to have economic effects. Trump emphasized, however, that it would "protect American workers." He also said that there would be certain exemptions to the bill. The immigration ban will allow unemployed American citizens to be prioritized for jobs when the nation reopens its economy. According to Trump, it will be unjust for Americans to be laid off due to COVID-19 closures and replaced by immigrants flown in from outside the country. "We must first take care of the American workers," he said. "Further details on exemptions will be announced soon," he added. Trump's officials began working on the order last week. Before that, the president reportedly discussed the matter privately with aides. His principal adviser, Stephen Miller, will also play a role in the discussion. The late-night announcement shocked some officials since the order wasn't finalized. Some of its provisions have yet to be thoroughly discussed. Several allies and his reelection campaign team voiced their support for the executive order. Roy Beck, an advocated for reduced immigration, heralded President Trump's proposed order. He believes immigration "makes no sense," while tens of millions of Americans are struggling to find full-time job opportunities. Advocates push back Immigrant advocates expressed their disappointment over the news. They say many immigrants are working on the frontlines in the battle against the coronavirus pandemic. They make up a significant part of the medical workforce. Many immigrants also work in jobs necessary to fight the virus and keep the country afloat. The Trump administration recognized the need for additional workers in some industries. Last week, the government announced it was temporarily amending visa requirements for foreign workers to help the U.S. agricultural employers who rely on foreign labor. Qualified employers can employ those already residing in the country with specified visa status. The temporary rule change will protect the nation's food supply change, according to the Department of Agriculture. They also said seasonal farmworkers would not be affected by the executive order. Workers on H-1B visas could also be covered in a separate action that is currently under consideration. While parents and other family members of American citizens need to wait for the ban to be lifted, spouses and children will still be eligible for green cards under the new policy. Check out the latest news: Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. According to Stratistics MRC, the Global Commercial Building Automation Systems Market is accounted for $82.60 billion in 2017 and is expected to reach $144.36 billion by 2026 growing at a CAGR of 6.4% during the forecast period. Growth in need for energy-efficient commercial buildings is one of the major factors driving the market growth. However, lack of skilled labors and high cost of implementation may restrict the market growth. Commercial building automation is the automatic centralized control system, which controls air conditioning, heating and ventilation, lighting and other systems of a building through a building automation system (BAS) or building management system. By Product, Lighting Controls held considerable growth during the forecast period. Commercial lighting control systems can significantly lower building operating costs, improve working environments, and enhance security. By geography, North America is estimated to have a lucrative growth due to the rapid growth of the construction industry in developing countries such as China and India. Request for Report sample :https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/12119 Some of the key players profiled in the Commercial Building Automation Systems include Honeywell International Inc., Ingersoll-Rand plc, ABB Ltd, Robert Bosch GmbH, Johnson Controls International plc, Siemens AG, Schneider Electric S.E. and United Technologies Corporation. Products Covered: Fire & Light Safety Controls Wireless Controls HVAC Controls BAS Communications with IP Lighting Controls Security & Access Controls End Users Covered: Schools Residences Other Applications Regions Covered: North America o US o Canada o Mexico Europe o Germany o UK o Italy o France o Spain o Rest of Europe Asia Pacific o Japan o China o India o Australia o New Zealand o South Korea o Rest of Asia Pacific Request for Report Discount:https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/discount/12119 South America o Argentina o Brazil o Chile o Rest of South America Middle East & Africa o Saudi Arabia o UAE o Qatar o South Africa o Rest of Middle East & Africa What our report offers: - Market share assessments for the regional and country level segments - Strategic recommendations for the new entrants - Market forecasts for a minimum of 9 years of all the mentioned segments, sub segments and the regional markets - Market Trends (Drivers, Constraints, Opportunities, Threats, Challenges, Investment Opportunities, and recommendations) - Strategic analysis: Drivers and Constraints, Product/Technology Analysis, Porters five forces analysis, SWOT analysis etc. - Strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations - Competitive landscaping mapping the key common trends - Company profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent developments - Supply chain trends mapping the latest technological advancements Make an Inquiry before Buying@:https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/checkout/12119/Single Free Customization Offerings: All the customers of this report will be entitled to receive one of the following free customization options: Company Profiling o Comprehensive profiling of additional market players (up to 3) o SWOT Analysis of key players (up to 3) Regional Segmentation o Market estimations, Forecasts and CAGR of any prominent country as per the clients interest (Note: Depends of feasibility check) Competitive Benchmarking o Benchmarking of key players based on product portfolio, geographical presence, and strategic alliances - Mike Sonko accused the Nairobi Regional Coordinator and the Kibra Deputy County Commissioner of being behind the vandalisation - The governor also alleged the officers frustrating him confirmed they were working under the instructions of PS Karanja Kibicho - Sonko said those with the ill motive to punish him were instead punishing city residents who were set to benefit from the facilities Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has accused the Nairobi Regional Coordinator and the Kibra Deputy County Commissioner of directly interfering with his initiatives to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. This came a day after he had launched several sanitisation spray booths in Nairobi with an aim to sanitise city residents in various public spaces in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. READ ALSO: Ken Walibora: Autopsy report shows late author had stab wound on right hand The accusations come a day after he had launched several sanitisation spray booths in Nairobi. Photo: Mike Sonko. Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Restaurant owner sells car to pay jobless employees after shutting down eatery due to coronavirus However, according to the governor, one of the booths erected at the Kibera DC Police post to help poor residents access the crucial sanitisation service was vandalised. Sonko alleged the officers frustrating him confirmed to him were working under the instructions of Interior PS Karanja Kibicho. I am saddened by the vandalism that occurred earlier today, supervised by the Kibra Deputy County Commissioner who personally confirmed his ill actions to me," said Sonko. READ ALSO: Majengo slums brothers modify motorcycle to supply free water, facemasks to street families "He was allegedly following instructions from the Nairobi Regional Coordinator, who also confirmed the same to my chief of staff... installed at the Kibra DCC's offices, Sonko alleged. The county boss had also accused the individuals behind the vandalism as having ill motive to punish him but were instead punishing city residents who were set to benefit from the facilities. Today's action is not only evil but proof that indeed we have people in government who would rather have Kenyans die of the pandemic," he said. READ ALSO: Kenya destroys 761 bags of dried fish smuggled from Somalia Sonko also questioned why he was being frustrated yet his counterparts in other counties were doing the very same things he was doing without sabotage. He pointed out the recently launched public sanitisation booths in Mombasa by Governor Ali Hassan Joho in partnership with the Suleiman Shahbal Foundation. READ ALSO: God has a lot of work to do, he isn't here to look after idiots - President Museveni "It is boldly emblazoned with the names of the two leaders and nobody has had a problem with that," he said. "But when Sonko started distributing food to starving families in Nairobi's informal settlements, the Provincial Administration was quick to ban the exercise," he lamented. His sentiments were echoed by residents of Kibra who were set to benefit from the booths insisting they were open to receiving aid from anyone with the capacity. READ ALSO: DCI detectives declare Ruth Matete's house a crime scene after 6 hour grilling over husband's death According to the governor, one of the booths erected at the Kibera DC Police post was vandalized. Photo: Mike Sonko. Source: UGC They further urged relevant authorities within the government to desist from sabotaging such individuals. Reached for comment by TUKO.co.ke on the said allegations, both Nairobi Regional Coordinator and the PS's phones went unanswered by time of going to press. Story by J.Papanoo, TUKO.co.ke correspondent- Nairobi County. Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly Source: TUKO.co.ke In the last few weeks, weve all become a little more familiar with epidemiological models. These calculations, which make estimates about how many people are likely to get sick, need a hospital bed or die from coronavirus, are guiding public policy and our expectations about what the future holds. But if you look at the models, they dont really agree. U.S. coronavirus deaths in five different forecasts Reported deaths are rolling 7-day averages. Lines differ on whether to include roughly 5,000 probable deaths in New York City. Latest model projections for Northeastern, I.H.M.E. and M.I.T. are April 21; Columbia is April 19; Imperial is April 13. The chart above includes five leading models predictions of U.S. coronavirus deaths through May 30, most of them standardized and compiled by a team at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Youll see differences in how high the peak of deaths is likely to get, and in how far we are from such a peak. Most of the models shown above predict that the country is currently past or near the peak number of deaths for this wave of the epidemic, assuming current restrictions arent relaxed. But they estimate a range of total deaths 60,000 to 100,000 through May 23. These models use different techniques to project the future. But most of them share an important basic assumption: They are built around the notion that the current regimen of stay-at-home orders and social distancing will continue. And almost all of them cut off their predictions after two months or less, even though epidemiologists believe that the coronavirus pandemic will be with us for far longer. However good the modelers mathematical strategies may be, many of the descriptive facts about the virus are still unclear. Researchers arent sure about the rate at which people who become infected die, or about the rate of transmission to other people. They dont know for sure how many people have already been infected and have some immunity to the disease or how long that immunity will last. Even the count of coronavirus deaths itself is uncertain. In addition to the usual challenges, the models have recently been asked to contend with a large revision in the number of deaths believed to be caused by coronavirus in New York. Several epidemiologists said it was hard to expect the models to offer precise forecasts at this point because they rely on such uncertain inputs. Its like trying to repair a car while its still running, said Andrew Noymer, an associate professor of public health at the University of California, Irvine. The range of possibilities in projections of death can be large Reported deaths are rolling 7-day averages. Lines differ on whether to include roughly 5,000 probable deaths in New York City. M.I.T. calculated confidence intervals, but chose not to include them. The model most frequently cited by the White House is from researchers at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. It makes its estimates by comparing the recent trajectory of the coronavirus in the United States with those of countries further along in their epidemics. That method allows them to estimate a trajectory without having to know too many facts about the disease itself. This model has tended to be less pessimistic than the others about the next few months; the White House has cited its estimate of around 60,000 deaths over the next few months. Epidemiologists have been loudly and publicly critical of its design. The other models, including those from Northeastern University and Columbia University, which are built on epidemiological theory, use estimates about how contagious the virus is, how long it takes for people to recover, and what share of infected people with different risk factors will develop a serious illness or die. In theory, such methods are more precise, because they are built around the ways that diseases actually spread and kill people in different circumstances. But because these models all rest on a shaky foundation of knowledge about the virus, several of them have also conflicted with recent death counts, and their projections vary. We want them to provide more information than they can, said Jeffrey Shaman, a co-author of the Columbia model, who said the models were still valuable in showing a range of what could happen. We have uncertainty on top of uncertainty on top of uncertainty. But they remain the best guide as policymakers and hospital executives try to plan for how many hospital beds or ventilators or how much morgue capacity they need. That doesnt mean the models have been as useful as policymakers would like: New York relied on models that told it to create far more bed and ventilator capacity than it has turned out to need. Researchers at the Los Alamos National Lab have released a model with state-level predictions that assume social distancing interventions will continue. Their predictions for New York State include a broad range of possibilities, including cumulative totals of less than 25,000 deaths and more than 60,000 deaths by the end of May. Four of the other modelers are publishing estimates for individual states as well as the nation as a whole. New York State coronavirus deaths in five different forecasts Reported deaths are rolling 7-day averages. Lines differ on whether to include roughly 5,000 probable deaths in New York City. Los Alamos model available only at the state level. Columbia, Los Alamos and Northeastern include 80% intervals. I.H.M.E. shows a 95% interval. M.I.T. calculated confidence intervals, but chose not to include them. Nicholas Reich, a biostatistician who runs a seasonal flu forecasting lab at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, said it was important to collect outputs from all the models, because of the uncertainty around all the projections. If youre just looking at one model, youre not seeing the full diversity of what could happen, said Mr. Reich, who leads the team that aggregated the data. How the different projections of U.S. deaths have changed over time Models as of... Reported deaths are rolling 7-day averages. Lines differ on whether to include roughly 5,000 probable deaths in New York City. A review of all these models shows how much they are adapting to new information. The projections change, as new death counts and public health research bring them closer to understanding how the disease, and the people it affects, are behaving. Most of the projections have reduced their expected number of cases and deaths in the coming weeks. Although some politicians like to treat the models as precise, all of them include large bands of uncertainty around their principal projections. In some cases, the real numbers have ended up outside these ranges more often than they should, a sign that the modelers have underestimated how little they know. Samuel Clark, a demographer at Ohio State University, says he has been closely watching the model from Imperial College London for a sense of how the epidemic might respond to different scenarios, but he does not currently expect any of the models to function like crystal balls. Theyre basing their model on very few data, and because of that you have very large uncertainty, Mr. Clark said. Errors may come from methodological flaws in the models. And they may come from errors in assumptions about the disease, like its fatality rate. But they may also come because no mathematical model can be sure what actions governments and individuals will take in the face of a prolonged epidemic. Currently, most states have imposed some form of stay-at-home order, and several cities have required people to wear masks when they work and shop. Those kinds of measures are designed to slow the spread of the virus, to achieve a reduction in cases and deaths that all of these models expect. But the White House has already begun preparations for states to loosen such restrictions once the cases get low enough. Once behavior changes, the spread of the disease is likely to change too, meaning all the models will need to recalibrate. The teams from Imperial College London and Northeastern University release projections only about a week into the future, because their researchers worry that policy and norms could change quickly. The Columbia University model tries to anticipate those different possible futures. In our charts above, we showed the output of the middle scenario of the range. But the model has three outputs, based on different estimates of how much governments and people will work to reduce social contact when they see an increase in confirmed cases. Reported deaths are rolling 7-day averages. Lines differ on whether to include roughly 5,000 probable deaths in New York City. Dimitris Bertsimas, a co-author of a model from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said his team had declined to make very long-term predictions, given the policy uncertainty. We are reasonably certain until approximately June 15 there will be significant measures to contain the spread of the virus, said Mr. Bertsimas, an associate dean of business analytics at M.I.T.s Sloan School of Management. After that, God knows. Yanbu Cement to reduce heat and power consumption 22 April 2020 Saudi-based Yanbu Cement Co(YCC) has signed an agreement in early 2020 for a considerable efficiency upgrade to be carried out by FLSmidth, focussing on reducing heat and power consumption. With increased attention on sustainability in the region, YCC, located 400km north of Jeddah, has chosen FLSmidth to provide the equipment and carry out the installation, projected to bring significant reduction in heat and power consumption. The project includes the supply and installation of new top cyclones, cooler modifications and removal of old ESP filters. "We are constantly on the lookout for more efficient ways to run the operation. With a project like this, we are not only reducing emissions, we are also cutting costs by minimising heat and power consumption. It is a win-win situation," explains Amr Nader, COO of Yanbu Cement. "Over the years, FLSmidth have proven to be a world-class provider of sustainable solutions and was the obvious choice to handle these upgrades." FLSmidth was pleased to receive the order from Yanbu as it was a repeat order from a valued customer. "The order reaffirms our strong and long-lasting relationship with Yanbu," says Martin Paterson, who leads the upgrade sales department at FLSmidth. "We know the site and expect equipment to be delivered, installed and commissioned by end of 2020," Mr Paterson added. Published under NEW YORK, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- 3DR Holdings LLC announced today that its Inside Quantum Technology scheduled originally for April 2020 is now rescheduled for June 23-26, 2020 as a virtual event due to COVID-19. The complete program and list of virtual exhibitors can be found at www.iqtevent.com. 3DR Holdings, based in New York City offers events, research, consulting services, and daily news for the fast-growing field of Quantum Computing. Inside Quantum Technology New York "We are pleased to be able to offer this comprehensive and long-planned event virtually as well as completely archived. Paid attendees will be able to watch and participate in sessions over four-days, from June 23 through 26," stated Alan M. Meckler, CEO of 3DR Holdings. "Each day we will offer four hours of programming that will include live presentations from exhibitors along with the many sessions. We see this as an International Quantum Computing Week, as archived sessions will be available for all attendees so they can assure being able to view any session live or at their leisure, which ensures a huge international attendance." The complete conference schedule will be announced shortly, and will feature a keynote presentation by Robert Sutor, VP Quantum Ecosystem Development, IBM Research. The new online event format allows for generous discounts for groups for both commercial, government and academic organizations. For exhibit and sponsor opportunities contact [email protected]. For additional information see www.iqtevent.com call +917-403-6300 or email [email protected] About 3DR Holdings 3DR Holdings is a technology media organization with website, research and international trade show interests in the fields of 3D Printing and Quantum Computing. For more information, please visit https://3drholdings.com. About Inside Quantum Technology Founded by Lawrence Gasman and Alan Meckler, Inside Quantum Technology is the first company entirely dedicated to meeting the strategic information and analysis needs of the emerging quantum technology sector. In addition to arranging conferences and publishing articles of critical importance to the quantum technology sector, the company's consulting group, provides published reports on important revenue opportunities in quantum technology including quantum computer markets and software, quantum key distribution, post-quantum cryptography, quantum sensors, and on important verticals such as the military, the financial sector, big pharma, and more. For additional information, please visit https://www.insidequantumtechnology.com. Media Contact: Barry Schwartz, Schwartz Public Relations [email protected], 212-677-8700 ext. 118 SOURCE Inside Quantum Technology Related Links https://www.insidequantumtechnology.com Remember Phoebe had triplets on Friends? Friends ended in 2004, naturally, everyone on the show has aged by 16 years now. One of Phoebe's triplets is all grown up and is a TikTok star now. In fact, in her very first TikTok she reveals this big secret. The video has crossed over 2.7M views now. Warner Bros. Television In the fifth season of Friends, Phoebe, played by Lisa Kudrow, plays a surrogate for her little brother Frank Jr. and his wife Alice, by giving birth to the couple's triplets. Those triplets were actually played by quadruplets from the Cimoch family, and now, 21 and a half years later, Alexandria Cimoch is sharing photos of her and her siblings on the sitcom. On the show, Phoebe gave birth to two girls and a boy: Leslie, Chandler, and Frank Jr. Jr. As it turns out, the triplet babies were, in fact, played by four children: Alexandria and her three brothers, Cole, Justin, and Paul. Alexandria, who is a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin La Crosse, joined TikTok recently and her first video addresses this. She has captioned it by writing, "Yes... I was on friends." In the comments section, she also jokes that one of her brothers had to play a baby girl in the series, something they still joke about to this day. There's also an image of Chandler holding one of the babies, as well as a childhood photo that appears to be hung in their parents' home. Warner Bros. Television But, it wasn't just the clips and photos shared in the video that took everyone by surprise, Alexandria's resemblance to her on-screen surrogate mom Lisa Kudrow is also striking. This makes us wonder is she will be a part of the Friends' reunion. Warner Bros. Television Phoebe was glad that she could always be the cool aunt for her triplets. We think she would've been proud of Alexandria's TikTok moment. Testing crucial before reopening, retailers say Shop owners and restaurateurs says broad testing is needed before retail can reopen. [PHOTO BY SAM DEAN] The brand of downtown historic Hendersonville is small town, friendly and personal. What we sell is an experience and you simply cannot translate that experience to something on line, Caroline Gunther, owner of the Wag! pet store on Main Street, said Monday. Gunther was one of around 25 people on a committee of business owners county commissioners appointed to begin looking at how the county might go about reopening for business when the threat of a coronavirus spread eases. Meeting by Zoom, the committee representing everything from small shops to large manufacturers showed a spirit of cooperation and caution. The panel meets again on Friday, and in the meantime commissioners who lead the panel Bill Lapsley and Rebecca McCall asked the business owners to email specific requests or concerns about reopening. Lapsley told the business owners that commissioners want to know what they can do to prepare for a safe reopening when Gov. Roy Cooper lifts or modifies the statewide stay-at-home order. The committee heard from factory managers who describe careful spacing, constant cleaning and universal use of masks, from restaurateurs who said diners will have to feel safe before they return, from salon owners who say the availability of sanitizers is one factor that will determine whether they can reopen and from a commercial real estate broker who said the coronavirus outbreak does not appear to be as bad as its been advertised. Those in retail were unanimous in emphasizing that broad availability of antibody testing is critical to keeping employees safe and restoring the publics confidence in going out and mingling with strangers. Clear guidelines Clear guidelines, Gunther said, is one of the most important ways county commissioners can help. Gunther said she had been active on social media and even made cold calls to customers to try to push sales. And I still have people that had no idea I was open or that any of the restaurants on Main Street was open, she said. I still have a large amount of people that are 70 or older are really just scared to come out. When she polled stores on Main Street, one shopkeeper said she would feel safe with six people in her 1,000-square-foot space and another with a 3,000-square-foot space said two would feel safe. Policing customers is next to possible, she said. Its hard to tell kids dont touch stuff and dont touch your faces. You can say it all day but theyre cute and unwieldy. It is impossible for our staff to be 6 feet apart. If were going to be in the same space for more than 5 minutes its not going to matter anyway. We have to lift things together and its impossible to stay 6 feet apart. At Smartrac, a Fletcher-based manufacturer of radio frequency identification tags, workers are innovating while remaining 6 feet apart. An employee sent us this article from Facebook that said, Hey, this Boy Scout came up with these straps that you can use to get the mask off your ears, vice president Chris Hykin said. Were wearing them every single day. Were starting to see complaints from people that theyre cutting into their ears so we set up our 3D printer and we started making these and weve actually started to donate these out and were sending them out to some of our medical establishments. We can make these things available and lets get them out in the community if theyre helpful. Real estate broker Steve Dozier said listings fell to 27 during a week earlier this month compared to 69 a year earlier. Closings have not really slowed down much, he said, because the final paperwork generally comes 45 days or so after a sales agreement. I think were going to see our closings fall off big time in May and possibly June. Were concerned when we can get back into a normal state of business but we dont want to rush into it either. Can kindergartners socially distance? Henderson County schools are in a holding pattern, schools Superintendent Bo Caldwell said. Under the current order, school would resume May 18 but no one knows whether thats realistic. In the meantime, the school system continues its learn from home process, serving 6,000 meals a day through school pickups and Meals on the Bus feeding sites, and providing day care for the children of first responders. Is the school system prepared, Lapsley asked, to protect not only the customer, in this case the students, but the employees? Caldwell said school leaders dont know what that will look like. When you talk about social distancing, youve got 20 kindergartners in a classroom running around? Is that going to be truly reality to keep those kids 6 feet apart? Thats going to be extremely hard for us, he said. School leaders have tossed around numerous scenarios of children back in school observing safety: Half the kids can come back on Monday and Wednesday, the other half can come back on Tuesday and Thursday. Every kid would wear a mask. Ultimately, Caldwell said, the advice of public health professionals will guide the schools actions. You put 800 middle school kids together social distancing, I just dont know if its going to happen. Antibody testing is critical Hannah Flanagans owner Matt Johnes said diners wont come back without assurance that the environment is safe. Our big concern is testing, he said. In order to get the restaurant fully open you have to be able to sit down in a restaurant and have a complete stranger sit next to you for an hour and thats not going work until we know whos sick and who isnt. Our big focus right now is how do we get the testing part fixed. Thats whats going to get restaurants open sooner rather than later. I think from the restaurant perspective, if the county or whomever can get testing really going and get folks some clarity on who is safe to deal with and who isnt, thatll be the big thing that lets us incrementally open restaurants. Southern Appalachian Brewing owner Kelly Cubbin said business cant return until fear goes away. We see it with our customers and our employees, she said. No one really knows who may be carrying it asymptomatically. Pardee UNC Health CEO Jay Kirby agreed antibody testing which could signal that people have developed an immunity to the virus is a key. What you will likely see is once that becomes widely available you will see that information provided on ones cell phone, as some countries are doing now, Kirby said. But that antibody testing will not be done in a restaurant or other places outside a health care provider setting. Hair Gallery owner Martha Huggins said that before the governor shut down salons, stylists had already been heavily sanitizing their work spaces, chairs, combs, brushes and other tools. I believe we cannot reopen until the antibody testing is in place, she said. We will have to wear masks and gloves. Each salon has a different layout but I believe if we wear masks and gloves and get the antibody testing, I dont see a problem. Not as bad as its been advertised Summer camps, like schools, are waiting to see whether theyll have a season. Yates Pharr, who owns Falling Creek Camp with his wife, Marisa, pointed out that there are almost 20 camps in Henderson County that generate almost $120 million in revenue during the 10-week season. We want to keep that business flowing but we want to do the right thing in opening, he said. Were really waiting for direction on what were expected to do in order to receive these campers. If were looking at contact tracing we have to think about how that would impact going back to these folks homes, Marisa added. We dont want to open up and have all the folks spend here, eat here, recreate here, drink here, to be coming and infiltrate the population. How can we make sure people are not anxious about this? If we get a case, we need direction from the health department on what to do. A lack of supplies would also prevent camps from opening. Falling Creek ordered hand sanitizer back in February that it still has not received, Marisa said. Jeff Justus, a commercial real estate broker and owner of the Mountain Inn & Suites, said the hotel business had fallen to zero, though his car wash on U.S. 64 East seems to be doing pretty well. The Golden Corrals of the world, theyre just coming to see you and saying, Were shutting down and were not going to be paying rent anytime soon. Justus said he observed over the weekend that although the Hendersonville Lowes was packed, shoppers were keeping their distance. I just dont feel like its as bad as its been advertised, he said. There are hot spots. New York City is a catastrophe. The hospitals in the area are going broke. They were expected to be covered up with Covid-19 patients and dropped elective surgeries and saw other profitable services fall away. He fears that South Carolina, with a much less restrictive shelter-at-home order, may pull retail dollars away from the county. If this contamination is going to happen its going to happen, he said. I would recommend keeping people 65 in as much as possible and maybe helping them with groceries and things like that and allowing the younger people to begin to move and eat at restaurants and just live. * * * * * Gracie Milner contributed reporting. Before, those that were found violating ECQ guidelines (not wearing face masks, not following social distancing guidelines, unauthorized persons outside of their homes, etc.) were only given a warning. But with the number of violators continuing to increase, the PNP has decided to be tougher against ECQ violators. With just a few days left before the eventual lifting of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), the Philippine National Police (PNP) has announced that they will intensify their enforcement regarding quarantine violators throughout Luzon. There will be no more warning for ECQ violators. Instead, arrest and inquest procedures will be applied to cases of violations of Republic Act 11469, Republic Act 11332, as well as Article 151 of the Revised Penal Code. We will implement the strict enhanced community quarantine, said General Archie Gamboa, PNP Chief. The stricter implementation of the ECQ guidelines is already in effect in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon. In addition, the PNP will also be strictly enforcing the guidelines in localities with high or increasing COVID-19 infections. With it, the PNP seeks to prove that they mean business and all must strictly follow the guidelines. These violations of the law carry with it appropriate penalties and fines, but, what will be more burdensome for violators are the tedious judicial process and the implications of a derogatory record to their personal criminal profile, included Gamboa. The PNP has already ordered the deployment of several Special Action Force (SAF) teams to assist local police units. I have authorized the deployment of 12 teams of Special Action Force, totaling 116 personnel to strategic locations, initially within Metro Manila to augment local PNP Units in the intensified enforcement of ECQ, added Gamboa. Based on PNP data gathered from March 17 up to now, there have been a total of 98,986 violators warned, 6,186 fined and 31,363 arrested, with 2,467 violators still detained. Meanwhile, 24,248 cases have already been filed, totaling to 136,517 violators for the past 35 days of the ECQ. The largest number of violators in Metro Manila is in the Southern Police District with 15,745 cases, followed by the Northern Police District with 7,407 cases. Meanwhile, the Eastern Police District and Quezon City Police District tallied over 2,000 cases each, while the Manila Police District has over 1,000 cases. We should learn from the experience of other countries that prematurely relaxing the enforcement of their lock-down can cause a resurgence of infection. So please, let us not be complacent and let us do this together. We need to do this because we also want to mitigate the continued risk faced by front line PNP personnel who are exposed to an increasing number of people and motorists violating the ECQ at checkpoints said the PNP Chief. To date, the PNP has 74 personnel infected by the virus, with a total of 723 cases pending including those that are suspected or are probable of having the coronavirus. 12 PNP personnel has already recovered while 3 have died due to the disease. Gamboa also mentioned that along with the Armed Force of the Philippines, they will not allow the health workers to continue getting infected by the virus due to ECQ violators because this will increase the risk of hospitals being overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases. Gamboa urged the local government units (LGUs) to support the police by imposing ordinances in order to mitigate the spread of the virus in their local communities. The PNP Chief also reminded everyone to wear face masks while outside, follow social distancing guidelines, as well as avoiding unnecessary trips outside of their homes. Integrates sales, agronomic and customer data into a user-friendly digital hub accessible to growers and retail teams LONDON, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Proagrica, the largest tech and data business serving the global ag market, has launched an Omnichannel Platform for agricultural retailers looking to unify their customer experience. The new offer strengthens customer relationships by integrating retailers' existing systems and sales channels into a single online portal for customers to easily place orders themselves. Graeme McCracken, CEO at Proagrica, says: "Best practice from market leaders in the B2C space means ag retailers are now being judged by the standards set by the likes of Amazon and Apple that are differentiating through data-led experiences. Consequently, growers increasingly expect the same types of slick and seamless customer experiences. If incumbents don't act fast, they will see their market position chipped away by digital-first challenger brands." Research into US ag retailers Proagrica completed earlier this year revealed that over three-quarters of ag retailers still use legacy tools such as manual spreadsheets to manage relationships and only 16 percent employ CRM systems. McCracken comments: "Agriculture generates more data than any other industry and, historically, it's been challenging for ag retailers to unlock the inherent value this presents. Consequently, key information gets missed or isn't available at point-of-sale so conversion opportunities are lost. This has made ag retail experience frustrating for all parties." Proagrica's Omnichannel Platform enhances existing channels to customers by eliminating interoperability barriers and securely connecting the retailer's supply chain data from disparate systems and sales channels. This includes customer-specific pricing, and ties in interactions with agronomists and reps, whether these have been conducted in-field, in-store, over the phone or online. It overlays this information with customers' own agronomic data and account information which they can add and update using a self-service interface. Growers can also place, evaluate and track orders 24/7, view their account balance and review messages within a user-friendly interface that is branded to the retailer's specifications. The integrated portal supports growers preferences, regardless of how they prefer to buy. Flexible payment options include pre-pay, pay by account and the option to pay by bank transfer. McCracken says: "Growers want expert guidance from trusted partners that builds on the smart use of their data, and they expect that support as and when they need it. Unifying ag retailers' existing systems and sales channels can feel overwhelming in an ecosystem that's as complex as agriculture. However, it's not an insurmountable challenge thanks to the data and tech available to us today, as our new solution demonstrates." Proagrica's Omnichannel Platform gives field and phone reps immediate access to information on all the applicable products and services their employer has to offer and automates processes such as notifications, quotes, claims and converting agronomist recommendations into orders. McCracken concludes: "Reducing the time wasted on administration offers retailers an opportunity to concentrate on adding value to their customers. Understanding their pain-points in granular detail helps agronomy and retail teams collaborate more effectively to promote the right products that will help the grower meet quotas and rebate targets. "The immediate advantages to the ag retailer are improved customer engagement and loyalty. It breaks down the barriers between grower and retailer, building trust to elevate the supplier/client relationship to the status of valued partnership. However, Omnichannel can also open up new revenue streams in allowing reps to recommend products and services that will help customers future-proof their operations." For more information, please visit https://proagrica.com/products/omnichannel-platform/. About Proagrica Proagrica, part of RELX Group, is a global provider of independent connectivity and data-driven support solutions for the agriculture and animal health industries. It delivers actionable intelligence to drive business growth across the value chain. Proagrica's superior products and services connect and empower industry participants to address their key needs around trading, productivity and compliance. Proagrica's solutions are built around the key competences of data connectivity and data analytics delivering seamless supply chain management, customer insight and engagement, essential for businesses looking to improve their value offering and expand in the modern marketplace. Proagrica.com About RELX RELX is a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. The Group serves customers in more than 180 countries and has offices in about 40 countries. It employs over 30,000 people, of whom almost half are in North America. The shares of RELX PLC, the parent company, are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York Stock Exchanges using the following ticker symbols: London: REL; Amsterdam: REN; New York: RELX. The market capitalization is approximately 37.2bn, 41.1bn, $45.6bn RELX.com Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/473567/Proagrica_Logo.jpg Around 30 homeless people have been sleeping at Heathrow's Terminal 5 because their immigration status has left them unable to claim benefits - including emergency accommodation - during the coronavirus pandemic. One of the rough sleepers, a professional woman in her 40s from west Africa, told The Guardian the number of homeless people at the airport had doubled since October. She said councils 'refused' to offer shelter to around 30 rough sleepers at the airport in the London Borough of Hillingdon. One of the rough sleepers at Heathrow Airport, a professional woman in her 40s from west Africa, told The Guardian the number of homeless people at the airport had doubled since October (file image) 'I first started sleeping at the airport last October when I lost my accommodation,' she said. 'There were 10-15 of us then. Now we have grown to about 30.' She revealed those sleeping in the terminal were a mix of migrants and British citizens, and that staff at the airport were 'kind as long as we behave ourselves'. A letter from Hillingdon council's chief executive Fran Beasley, dated April 16, revealed the authority claimed to have taken 'all the necessary steps in assisting known rough sleepers as required'. In a recent bulletin from councils it was claimed local authorities could be left to front the costs of providing homeless people with no access to benefits somewhere safe to sleep. The unnamed woman claimed councils 'refused' to offer shelter to around 30 rough sleepers at the airport in the London Borough of Hillingdon (file image) It read: 'A consequence of the Home Office not relaxing restrictions on access to benefits during the pandemic for people subject to the no recourse to public funds condition is that local government is likely to incur additional costs when accommodation and financial support needs to be provided.' And when approached for comment Hillingdon Council claimed it was the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government that was responsible for rough sleepers at the airport. 'We have offered accommodation to all of the rough sleepers in other parts of the borough,' a spokesman said. A Government spokesman told MailOnline today: 'Over 90 per cent of those known to be living on the streets at the start of the crisis have been offered safe accommodation - ensuring some of the most vulnerable people can stay safe during the pandemic. This is a remarkable achievement is the result of a collaborative effort across Government and with local authorities, health providers and charities. 'This is backed by 3.2billion of Government funding for local authorities as part of the wider government response to the coronavirus pandemic.' 1 of 1 Global coronavirus cases pass 2.5 million, US deaths top 45,343 Globally, 2,565,299 people have been infected and 177,775 have died so far, according to Worldometer. Countries hit with most number of cases are the USA (819,175), Spain (204,178), Italy (183,957), France (158,050) and Germany (148,453). The United States has by far the world's largest number of coronavirus cases. US deaths increased by more than 2,750 on Tuesday alone, shy of a peak of 2,806 deaths in a single day on April 15. US coronavirus total deaths topped 45,343. US President Donald Trump has threatened to terminate the trade deal with China if Beijing did not honour its provisions in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic that originated in the country. Total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Singapore has risen to 9,125, according to Channel News Asia. The city-state reported 1,111 new cases yesterday. While 839 patients have been discharged from hospitals so far, 11 have died. Over 4,682 remain in isolation. A total of 17,337 people in hospital with coronavirus have died in Britain, show new health ministry figures, an increase of 828 from the previous day. Indonesia reports 283 new coronavirus infections, 19 deaths. Malaysia reports 50 new coronavirus cases; 5,532 in total with one new death. A German tabloid has put together a bill of $162 billion that China owes to Berlin following the impact of novel coronavirus, sparking outrage from Beijing, according to a report. The rumors were fueled by Kim's conspicuous absence from a ceremony on April 15 marking the birthday of nation founder Kim Il-sung at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where he lies embalmed. The Daily NK website here had reported Monday that Kim is in critical condition after emergency surgery for a heart condition, and the story was later picked up by CNN. South Korea on Tuesday denied reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is at death's door after cardiovascular surgery. But the government here said there are no unusual movements backing up the speculation. A senior Cheong Wa Dae official said, "Kim is believed to be staying outside of Pyongyang with his close advisers and appears to be performing his duties as usual." The National Intelligence Service here believes Kim is in Wonsan in the east. The U.S. only said it has no information about Kim's health. President Donald Trump said he doesn't know whether Kim is ill. "These are reports that came out, and we don't know," he said at a White House press briefing on Tuesday. "I can only say this, I wish him well." White House National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien said, "We're monitoring these reports very closely." The last public appearance Kim made was about 10 days ago. Kim, who is obese and has a family history of heart disease, took power after the sudden death of his father Kim Jong-il in 2011 who died of a heart attack. If Kim Jong-un remains out of public sight for a lengthy period, it would be hard to quell further rumors. Some North Korea experts speculate that his sister Kim Yo-jong's recent rise in the North's hierarchy would be related to Kim Jong-un's ill health, but power is now centered so completely in his hands that any struggle over his succession could bring the whole house of cards down. Actor Gul Panag recently shared a picture of herself from her trip to the Maldives, clubbing it with a 1999 throwback photo of herself in the same swimsuit. Gul has taken up the #MeAt20 challenge, leaving netizens stunned with her beauty. Check out what fans are saying. Gul Panag takes MeAt20 challenge by sharing pictures in the same swimsuit Actor Gul Panag shared a collage of her pictures on Instagram, taking up the MeAT20 Challenge. The actor can be seen posing in the Maldives in 1999 and 2019, wearing the same jumpsuit. Fans have expressed disbelief by saying there's absolutely no change in both the pictures. Also Read | Gul Panag to narrate unheard storied of India's Armed Forces in upcoming podcast Gul Panag captioned the post saying, "then and now. Back in the Maldives after twenty years!! My @marksandspencer swimsuit still going strong. Fans in huge numbers gushed to comment on Gul Panag's photos. One of them wrote, If it werent for the flippers, it wouldve been impossible to find the difference! while another fan said, "Hard to believe, you are looking absolutely stunning in both the pictures. Ever young". Also Read | Gul Panag talks about phase where she did 'jhaadu-pocha' after winning Miss India in 1999 Also Read | Gul Panag lauds SC verdict for women officers, shares what deterred her from joining Army Before this, Gul Panag shared another picture of herself taking up the MeAT20 Challenge. The photograph was shot when she won the Miss India title in 1999 and was reportedly crowned Miss Beautiful Smile at the same pageant. Gul Panag's photos took fans down the memory lane, reminiscing her days as a model. A fan said, "Maam have been a big fan of your smile...just had a recap watching you at your peak and super cute..regards". Another fan wrote, "I was 14 when I saw you first (Miss India), and have been in love with your charisma ever since! You are truly a woman of substance. Lots of Love from Chandigarh". Take a look. Also Read | Gul Panag's lockdown tweet termed 'adventure', actor hits back with husband's feats 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. Kerala witnessed spike in COVID-19 cases for the second day in a row with 11 people testing positive on Wednesday, taking the tally of active cases to 127, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said. He hailed the Centre's decision to bring out an ordinance making acts of violence against health workers involved in the COVID-19 battle as cognizable andnon-bailable offences. After reporting cases in single digit and higher number of recoveries for some days, Kerala recorded a spurt on Tuesday with 19 people testing positive and 11 on Wednesday. Seven out of the 11 new cases were from Kannur District, which has emerged as the latest hotspot for the coronavirus accounting for 61 cases, and two were from Kozhikode. One new case each was detectedfrom Malappuram and Kottayam, a Green Zone, while one person was cured in the state, the Chief Minister said. "With the 11 new cases, the total number of Covid-19 affected persons in the state has gone up to 437. One personwho was reported cured is from Palakkad district. A total of 29,150 people are under observationin the state with 346 in isolation wards at various hospitals," Vijayan told reporters here. So far 20,821 samples have been sent for testing. "Three of today's 11 cases had contracted the virus through contacts while five cases were of foreign returnees. One case is a health worker and two are house surgeons of Kozhikode Medical College who came to the state from outside Kerala," he said. The two doctors had travelled to Kerala from Delhi in a train before the nationwide lockdown. Vijayan welcomed the Centre's decision to bring out an ordinance making acts of violence against health workersas cognizable andnon-bailable offences. "We welcome the ordinance," he said, reacting to the union cabinet decision which met a key demand of health professionals in the wake of recent attacks on them in various parts of the country. On the situation in Kannur, his native district, Vijayan said stringent implementation of lockdown protocol will be in place in the northern district, where 61 cases have been reported, the highest in the state at present. "The hotspots in the state are completely sealed. In Kannur, 437 cases were registered and 347 vehicles seized for violating lockdown protocol," he added. He also announced the state has decided to set aside a part of the salary of the government employees to fight the pandemic. "The state cabinet has decided to set aside six days salary for five months of all government employees except those who have monthly salary less than Rs 20,000 and it will be added to the CMDRF. "This amount will be given back to the employees when the financial condition of the state improves," Vijayan said. Ministers, MLAs, members of various commissionsand boards among others will contribute their 30 per centsalary for a year to help the state which is facing a severefinancial crisis. The Chief Minister also remembered Russian revolutionary leader Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known by his alias Lenin, on his 150th birth anniversary. The Marxist leader recalled how Lenin, who served as the head of government of Soviet Russia and Soviet Union from 1917 to 1924, urged the countries to battle the Spanish Flu during the First World War and drew a comparsion with the situation the world was facing now due to COVID-19 pandemic. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Fort Bend County has released a breakdown of available race and ethnicity data for COVID-19 cases in the diverse Houston suburb. In a news release Tuesday evening, the county reported that 34 percent of cases for which information was available are black, 22 percent are Hispanic, 21 percent are Asian, 19% are white and 4 percent are other. The county stressed that the reporting was not complete, but based on all available race and ethnicity data for residents of Fort Bend County who have tested positive for COVID-19. It was not clear how many of the countys 808 positive cases were able to be analyzed. The virus has been blamed for 18 deaths. Of these persons, 9 were white, 4 were Hispanic, 3 were Asian and 2 were black, the news release said. Officials said in the news release that they did not previously report the race and ethnicity of positive cases online because reports from doctors, labs and hospitals did not always include this information. Given the heightened national interest, they said, the countys health department is going back to pull as much information as it can. But they stress there is a lag in reporting and that the lack of complete data from medical professionals means the county website will likely never equal 100 percent of cases. County Judge KP George stressed that information will be updated daily going forward on the countys COVID-19 website. I am committed to transparency and that means releasing data about the novel coronavirus cases accurately and quickly, George said in a written statement Tuesday. I ask everyone of all ages, genders, races and areas in Fort Bend to help stop the spread of this virus in our county by social distancing, hand washing and wearing masks in public places. For information, visit fbchealth.org/ncov The municipality of Papantla in the northern part of Veracruz, Mexico, is a quiet and peaceful town in the eastern region of the country. However, all of the peace changed on March 30. The tranquil streets of the town transformed into a combination of blood and death when a reporter named Maria Elena Ferral Hernandez was shot with a gun in broad daylight. She lost her life in the hospital a few hours after the incident. She was the first journalist in Mexico to have died in the year. Mexico is one of the deadliest places in the world for journalists. A Threat to People in the News Industry The news industry of Mexico is overwhelmed by violence, impunity, and instability. Since 1992, at least 120 journalists have been murdered in the country. According to information from various sources, including Article 19 and the Committee to Protect Journalists or CPJ, it is estimated that the impunity rate for deaths caused by murder to workers in the media in Mexico tops 90 percent. The majority of these groups see the job of a reporter in Mexico as more dangerous compared to other countries not involved in a war. Mexico ranks 144th in RSF's Press Freedom Index out of 180 nations. Decreasing Interest among Potential Journalism Students Most of the classrooms that once were filled by people like Maria Elena Ferral Hernandez are now empty. Hernandez had been in the news industry for thirty years. She was the founder of a local news outlet located in Veracruz. The news industry had seen deaths and disappearances of the very few journalists that Mexico has. A lot of Mexican journalists continue to put their lives at risk while on the streets. This problem is typically displayed in classrooms where there is a decreasing interest in journalism among prospective students due to the low wages and increased occupational risk. However, those who are left serving the people by providing news and reports about current events are keeping the news industry in the country alive. But for how long? Check these out: Schools and Their Journalism Programs In 2012, two universities in Mexico, Universidad de Morelia, and Universidad Popular Autonoma del Estado de Puebla or UPAEP, announced the termination of their journalism programs. Universidad Veracruzana has also been reporting a declining number of enrollment in their journalism programs. The program of UPAEP had more or less ten enrolled students during the time of the termination of the program. In comparison to the United States of America colleges, it is typical for U.S. colleges to have at least ten students per semester. Recently, the trend had revealed a little sign of reversal. After eight years, the surviving journalism programs in Mexico, such as in Tecnologico de Monterrey in Mexico City is seeing good enrollment numbers. The Times Union has lifted the paywall on this developing coverage to provide critical information to our community. To support our journalists work, consider a digital subscription. Total COVID-19 cases: 263,292 in New York state, including 19,413 deaths. 669,982 total tested. 840,897 in the U.S., including 46,640 deaths. 77,800 recovered. 4,466,559 total tested. 2,626,929 worldwide, including 183,283 deaths. 710,285 recovered. Note: The figures include presumed COVID-19 deaths. The number of positive confirmed cases is cumulative and includes people who have recovered as well as those who died. Additional resources: Here are the latest cancellations and postponements. For a detailed map, check out the Times Unions New York Coronavirus Tracker To get regular updates on our coverage, sign up for our coronavirus newsletter. Share stories about people helping others in our Facebook Group. Wednesday's latest news: 4:11 p.m.: Rensselaer County reports four new cases to reach 206 confirmed COVID-19 cases One of the new positive cases is at the Diamond Hill nursing home in Schaghticoke to reach 17 cases involving residents and seven employees. There are 14 county residents in the hospital with three in ICU. There are about 400 residents in monitor quarantine. The county cleared nine more cases for recovery bringing the total cleared to 91. The county has seen nine deaths. ___ 2:50 p.m.: One more death in Schenectady County The death toll in the county from COVID-19 is now up to 15 people. A total of 358 individuals have tested positive for the coronavirus, with 693 under quarantine, and 170 in isolation. So far, 172 people have recovered while 27 have ended up in the hospital as a result of the virus. ___ 2:49 p.m.: Columbia County reports 9th nursing home death due to COVID-19 County Public Health Director Jack Mabb said Wednesday that a ninth resident of the Pine Haven Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Philmont has died after becoming infected with the novel coronavirus. The nursing home has been battling an outbreak since March. To date, 30 residents and 12 members of staff have tested positive for the virus, Mabb said. The only other known cases at long-term care facilities in the county are at the Livingston Hills Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Livingston, which had two cases as of Tuesday. ___ Noon: Albany Med says 88 employees have tested positive for COVID-19 to date Albany Medical Center executives said Tuesday that 88 members of their staff have tested positive for the novel coronavirus since the pandemic hit the region. The hospital system which has about 10,000 employees has tested 772 staff members for the virus, meaning the percent positive among those being tested stands at about 12 percent. Half of the employees whove tested positive have recovered and are back to work, said Fred Venditti, hospital general director. About one-third of the cases were connected to on-the-job work, and the rest were acquired in the community, he said. The reason we know whether or not it was here or in the community is our infection preventionists will actually investigate every single one of these cases and try to figure out how that occurs, said Dennis McKenna, president and CEO. ___ 11:16 a.m.: Comptroller Tom DiNapoli predicts major money loss from coronavirus DiNapoli appeared with Albany County Executive Dan McCoy on Wednesday, saying the virus could cause a revenue hit of between $10 and 15 billion. ___ 11:14 a.m.: Four more deaths in Albany County Four more deaths in Albany County are being attributed to the coronavirus. County Executive Dan McCoy says two of the victims were men and two were women. Their deaths bring the county's death toll from the virus to 29 people. So far, 713 people have tested positive, an increase of 35 diagnoses since Tuesday. Read more ___ 11:05 a.m.: Rensselaer County's state legislators ask for 5,000 test kits for county Assemblymen John T. McDonald III, D-Cohoes, and Jake Ashby, R-Schodack, and State Senators Neil Breslin, D-Bethlehem, and Daphne Jordan, R-Halfmoon, wrote Gov. Andrew Cuomo Tuesday asking the state to give Rensselaer County 5,000 test kits for the coronavirus to allow testing in the county. County residents now have to leave the county to be tested. ___ 9:40 a.m.: Schenectady County to hold free drive-thru food pantry Wednesday afternoon The county and regional food bank along with the Schenectady Foundation are teaming up to distribute food at no cost to the needy from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the rear parking lot of Schenectady County Community College. To avoid contact, people who show up to the the college are being asked to remain in their car and pop open the trunk for volunteers to place the food items ranging from fresh produced to frozen meats inside. A volunteer at the last station in the line will close the trunk. ___ 6:45 a.m.: Amid pandemic, Troy budget proposal cuts all reading teachers There will be no reading teachers in the Troy City School District when schools open in September for the 2020-21 school under a budget proposal designed to close a $2.93 million budget gap that was presented to the Board of Education Tuesday night. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. The district will eliminate 23 reading teacher positions and rely on classroom teachers with small class sizes in the elementary schools to take up reading instruction, Superintendent John Carmello said in outlining the fourth proposed budget to the school board. Theres no good choice to close a $3 million gap. This is our best case scenario, Carmello said. Read more ___ 6:41 a.m.: Cohoes judge suspects Cuomo order unconstitutional Cohoes City Court Judge Thomas Marcelle says he might be inclined to suspect that Gov. Andrew Cuomos executive order that allowed preliminary hearings for criminal defendants to be suspended during the coronavirus pandemic to be unconstitutional. In a ruling Monday, Marcelle said defense arguments to compel preliminary hearings for nine incarcerated defendants in Albany County had true force yet he ruled against them. Marcelle wrote that his inclinations and suspicion will not and cannot override a March 22 order from the court systems chief administrative judge, Lawrence Marks, which limited criminal courts to essential functions that did not include preliminary hearings. Read more ___ Tuesday: More aid for hospitals, business, tests Days after money for key small business relief programs ran dry, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved a fresh $470 billion for coronavirus response aid. ___ Tuesday: Rensselaer County reports 6 news cases The county has 202 confirmed cases after reporting the six new cases. The county reports 14 cases cleared for recovery, bringing the total number of cleared cases to 82. Twelve residents are hospitalized with three in the intensive care unit. There are 390 residents in monitor quarantine. There have been 2,126 residents tested. The county has had nine deaths, the most recent announced today. ___ Tuesday: More deaths in Rensselaer, Warren counties Rensselaer County officials reported the death of a 99-year-old East Greenbush man who tested positive after he died. Warren County officials said a sixth person died who lived in a nursing home in the southern part of the county. They did not provide further details on the person. It was the county's third nursing home death. ___ Tuesday: Schenectady County reports 16 new cases, more quarantine The total number of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 has risen to 352 with 201 individuals exhibiting symptoms in isolation, 30 in the hospital, and 134 recoveries. The number of people under quarantine is up to 686 and 14 people to date have died from the virus. ___ Tuesday: Columbia County reports 2nd spike in overdoses since outbreak The county has seen 19 overdoses since March 1, the county Department of Health reported Tuesday. This represents a dramatic uptick that is likely connected to the pandemic and the isolation people are now facing from the closure of schools and workforces, as well as social distancing protocols, it said. This incredible reduction in human physical contact that is saving the publics health is also putting those in active addiction and those in recovery at risk, the department said in a news release. Individuals struggling with addiction can call New York's HOPEline at 1-877-8-HOPENY or text 467369 for support, treatment referrals and other resources. ___ Read more updates from Tuesday The Brong-Ahafo Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana has donated relief items to some health facilities such as the Municipal Government Hospital and SDA Hospital in Sunyani. The items which include boxes of Sanitizers, liquid soap, tissues, hand gloves, face masks, detergents, bags/sachets and bottles of water and some essentials, worth over GH 6,500 were meant to augment governments effort in the fight against the Coronavirus. The Chairperson for the B/A Presbytery Rev Dr. William Kwabena Ofosu-Addo who made the presentation at separate ceremonies, in an interview, noted that the church took the initiative to show appreciation for the continuous sacrifice and commitment exhibited by health workers as front liners in the wake and fight against the coronavirus pandemic, considering the associated risks. He emphasized that Social Distancing as one of the protocols to prevent the spread of the virus did not mean stigmatization and social disconnection from families and the living God. Rev Dr. W.K. Ofosu-Addo urged Christians to be spiritually closer to God and Ghanaians to be united in faith and prayer while observing all the necessary protocols instituted by the government. He advised the public to frequently wash their hands, use sanitizers and observe personal hygiene. He said the Presbyterian Church of Ghana would continually stand by the nation with its unwavering support as usual in these abnormal times. The Clerk of the Presbytery Rev George Yeboah-Boakye shared the word of God in a short sermon with emphasis on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ signifying the triumphant victory over diseases and death. The Sunyani District Minister Rev Sam Foster Kwakye of the Ebenezer Congregation supported by Rev Ministers of the gospel, representing the Districts and Congregations in the catchment areas of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, led a fire-brand intercessory prayer for the nation and COVID-19 patients. The Medical Superintendents who receive the items on behalf of the management of the beneficiary Hospitals expressed their gratitude and readiness to put their lives on the line for the country. Mr. Philip Karikari stressed on strict adherence to social distancing as a sure way to avoid the spread of the virus. They also advised the public to use nose masks and learn from history by referring to the 1918 Pandemic which claimed many lives. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings' fortunes continue to rise as a new SEC filing reports the streaming service's co-founder received a total of $38 million in 2019. Hasting's total pay package last year was up 16 per cent from what he was paid in 2018, reports Netflix in its annual proxy statement Wednesday. Hastings' most recent package includes $37.4 million in options awards that were added on top of his base salary of $700,000. Netflix cofounder and CEO Reed Hastings received a total of $38 million in 2019, according to a new SEC filing. He is pictured as he inaugurates the new offices of Netflix France, in Paris earlier this year Hasting's total pay package last year was up 16 per cent from what he was paid in 2018, reports Netflix in its annual proxy statement Wednesday. Pictured are Netflix offices in Hollywood, California, this week Options, which typically include shares of stock, kick in for executives when a company reaches certain performance benchmarks. Hastings' base has gone unchanged for two years. Ted Sarandos, Netflix's chief content officer, received a total of $34.67 million in 2019, up about 17 per cent from the year before, including options, reported the Los Gatos, California,-based company. Netflix, meanwhile, has seen a spike in subscribers for the service after lockdown orders were issued because of the coronavirus pandemic. The company added 16 million new customers from January to March and now has 183 million subscribers worldwide. As the Netflix numbers have gone up, there have been 827,093 confirmed cases in the US of the coronavirus, which has been blamed for 45,435 deaths. Hastings, 59, started Netflix in 1997 with colleague Marc Randolph, by offering DVD rentals by mail. It grew rapidly as the internet expanded and Hastings became the unchallenged boss when Randolph left in 1999. It was when Netflix began producing its own content, however, that it truly became a force to be reckoned with. For seven years, now, Netflix has taken on the big production houses and even Hollywood by creating its own films and TV series with quite astonishing success. For seven years, now, Netflix has taken on the big production houses and even Hollywood by creating its own films and TV series with quite astonishing success. Pictured is the company's recent hit documentary show, Tiger King Hastings certainly enjoys the fruits of his labour, sharing his vast home with his wife of 30 years, Patty Ann Quillin, and their two adult children, musician Molly and Sean. Together, they lead a lifestyle that seems an unusual blend of high-tech luxury and pastoral charm. They own two private jets. The Santa Cruz mansion boasts an Olympic-sized swimming pool and a 12-person Jacuzzi. A home theatre for Netflix binges, no doubt has cutting edge Dolby Atmos surround sound, a system more advanced than most US cinemas. The vast garage can house 12 cars; the driveway has space for a further 15. Hastings was born in Boston, Massachusetts, attended Bowdoin College, and after considering serving in the armed forces as a Marine, joined the Peace Corps instead. He then got a masters in computer science from Standford University in 1988. Before Netflix, he founded Pure Software, a software troubleshooting company in 1991. He later left the company after an acquisition to start Netflix. New Delhi: Indian security agencies have intercepted a group of terrorists near LoC as they were waiting at their launching pads to infiltrate in Kashmir. Terrorists in eight groups at various locations were identified and security agencies have issued an alert on the LoC as well as an International border all along Jammu to check the misadventure. Sources told Zee Media about the presence of 8 groups of terrorists in the following locations. 1. Two groups of LeT terrorists concentrated at Kel and Tejian opposite Macchil Sector 2. Two groups of LeT terrorists concentrated at Tejian and Athmuqam opposite Keran Sector 3. A group of six LeT terrorists at Lipa opposite Tagdhar Sector 4. A group of four Al Badr terrorists concentrated at Jabri opposite Poonch Sector 5. A group of five Al Badr terrorists concentrated at Battal opposite Krishna Ghati Sector 6. Two groups of 11 JeM & LeT terrorists concentrated opposite Naushera Sector 7. A group of 9 LeT terrorists concentrated opposite Bhimber Gali Sector to carry out IED attack on Indian Army positions on Line of Control. 8. A group of JeM terrorists seen in the Anantnag area planning to carry our attack on police and CRPF. Notably, four terrorists were killed in an encounter between security forces and terrorists in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir today (April 22). Sources told Zee Media that the terrorists were hiding in the area and operation to eliminate them was launched on the basis of credible information. On Tuesday night, the encounter started in the Melhora area of Zainapora village after terrorists opened fire on a joint team of Jammu and Kashmir Police, 55 Rashtriya Rifles and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). IGP of Jammu and Kashmir police, Vijay Kumar, said the identity of killed terrorists is not known. The security forces, however, recovered a huge amount of arms and ammunition from the site of encounter. Turkey Tuesday sharply criticized France and called the European country to end its support for rebel and east-based retired Gen. Khalifa Haftar. The tirade was made by Hami Aksoy, spokesman for the Turkish Foreign Ministry, in response to an interview of French Foreign Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian with Le Monde. In the interview, the French top diplomat castigated Turkeys foreign policy including its activities in Libya and in the eastern Mediterranean. By targeting Turkey in his interview with Le Monde newspaper, French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian is trying to cover up the desperate situation that France is facing due to the coronavirus crisis, Aksoy said in a written statement. In fact, it is France who is supporting terrorist organizations in Syria, backing the forces against the legitimate regime in Libya, eroding the solution dynamics of the Island and persistently ignoring the rights of the Turkish Cypriots and trying to implement sanctions on its ally, Turkey, the statement added. Libya has become a playground for a proxy war between foreign countries since 2011 following the collapse of the Gaddafi regime in a NATO-backed revolution. France, US, UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan have endorsed Haftar in his military offensive to topple UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) supported by Turkey, Qatar and Italy. Haftars offensive launched in April last year has stacked on the outskirts of the Libyan capital. The combats have caused death of hundreds of people and the displacement of thousands of others. Let us not forget that in contradiction with Resolution No 2259 of the United Nations Security Council, by supporting Haftar, France is preventing the cessation of the Libyan peoples suffering, Aksoy said. The spokesman lambasted Haftar who believes, he said, that the only solution to the crisis in Libya is through military means, sabotages all ceasefire efforts, bombs hospitals even during these epidemic days, blocks Libyas only income, which is oil production and cuts water lines. The Turkish official urged the French government to focus primarily on maintaining the health of the French and European people and relieving their wounds in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak. TEHRAN, IranIrans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said on Wednesday that it launched a military satellite into orbit amid wider tensions with the United States, describing it as a successful launch after months of failures. There was no immediate independent confirmation of the launch of the satellite, which the Guard called Noor, or light. The U.S. State Department and the Pentagon, which contend that such launches advance Irans ballistic missile program, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On its official website, the Guard said the satellite successfully reached an orbit of 425 kilometers (264 miles) above the Earths surface. The Guard called it the first military satellite ever launched by Tehran. The two-stage satellite launch took off from Irans Central Desert, the Guard said, without elaborating or saying when exactly the launch took place. The paramilitary force said it used a Ghased, or Messenger, satellite carrier to put the device into space, a previously unheard-of system. The launch comes amid tensions between Tehran and Washington over its collapsing nuclear deal and after a U.S. drone strike in Iraq killed Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani in January. Iran has suffered several failed satellite launches in recent months. The latest came in February, when Iran failed to put its Zafar 1 communications satellite into orbit. That failure came after two failed launches of the Payam and Doosti satellites last year, as well as a launchpad rocket explosion in August. A separate fire at the Imam Khomeini Space Center in February 2019 also killed three researchers, authorities said at the time. The rocket explosion in August drew even the attention of President Donald Trump, who later posted on Twitter what appeared to be a classified surveillance image of the launch failure. The successive failures raised suspicion of outside interference in Irans program, something Trump himself hinted at by writing at the time that the United States was not involved in the catastrophic accident. The United States said that such satellite launches defy a U.N. Security Council resolution calling on Iran to undertake no activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. American officials, as well as European nations, worry that these launches could help Iran develop intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons. Iran, which has said it does not seek nuclear weapons, previously said that its satellite launches and rocket tests do not have a military component. The Guard launching its own satellite now calls that into question. Tehran also says it hasnt violated a U.N. resolution on its ballistic missile program as it only called upon Iran not to conduct such tests. Western missile experts have also questioned the U.S. contention that Irans program could have a dual use for nuclear weapons. Over the past decade, Iran has sent several short-lived satellites into orbit and in 2013 launched a monkey into space. The launch comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S. since Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Tehrans 2015 nuclear deal with world powers in May 2018. Iran since has broken all the deals limitations while still allowing U.N. inspectors to its sites. On Sunday, the Guard acknowledged it had a tense encounter with U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf last week, but alleged without offering evidence that American forces sparked the incident. A U.S. Navy release video of the incident last Wednesday shows small Iranian fast boats coming close to American warships as they operated in the northern Persian Gulf near Kuwait, with U.S. Army Apache helicopters. In the Guards telling, for which it released no evidence to support its allegations, its forces were conducting a drill and faced the unprofessional and provocative actions of the United States and their indifference to warnings. It said the Americans later withdrew. Then on Monday, the Guard said it has significantly upgraded the range of its anti-warship missiles and that it now possesses surface-to-surface and subsurface anti-warship missiles with a range as high as 700 kilometers (430 miles). Iran periodically announces major advances in its weapons capabilities that cannot be verified independently. Its armed forces are believed to have surface-to-surface missiles with a range of 2,000 kilometers, or 1,250 miles, that can reach Israel and U.S. bases in the Mideast. Even as both face the same invisible enemy in theCOVID-19 pandemic, Iran and the United States remain locked in retaliatory pressure campaigns that now view the outbreak as just the latest battleground. Initially overwhelmed, Tehran now seeks to sway international opinion on U.S. sanctionsimposed by the Trump administration after the U.S. president pulled America out of Tehrans nuclear deal with world powersby highlighting its struggles with COVID-19, the illness caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, also known as the novel coronavirus. In Iran, the regional epicenter of the outbreak, the CCP virus has killed more than 5,290 people, from among over 84,800 reported cases. By Amir Vahdat and Job Gambrell NTD staff contributed to this report. Public health experts have warned the US could be headed for a 'perfect storm' of new virus infections as the southern states form a coalition to reopen the economy. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis revealed Tuesday that Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi are joining forces to ease lockdown measures across the states, in a move that mirrors the coalition already set out by some northern states. Jill Roberts of the University of South Florida's College of Public Health issued a grave warning that together the six states - which are rife with chronic health conditions and are lagging behind on testing - could trigger a new spike in cases and deaths if they push to reopen too soon. 'If you put these states together, there is a perfect storm for a massive epidemic peak later on,' she told Politico. Public health experts have warned the US could be headed for a 'perfect storm' of new virus infections as the southern states form a coalition to reopen the economy The six Republican states are teaming up to reopen the region, with several governors already relaxing stay-at-home rules while protesters have marched in the streets demanding lockdowns come to an end. Governor DeSantis announced the coalition Tuesday in an interview with Fox & Friends. 'We have had a meeting with all the Southeastern governors Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee,' DeSantis said. 'And we shared a lot of ideas. I think we will be the same page on some stuff.' His communications director Helen Aguirre Ferre later confirmed the news on Twitter saying the six states would be 'working in a coalition.' Details have not yet been given over how the coalition will work. But several experts are warning that the move could cost more lives. The guidelines suggest that states should record two weeks of declining cases before reopening. None of the states have yet to record such a decline. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis revealed Tuesday that Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi are joining forces to ease lockdown measures across the states Florida is the hardest-hit of the southern states, with 27,869 cases and 867 deaths from coronavirus. This is closely followed by Georgia, which reached 20,750 cases and 838 deaths Tuesday. Alabama recorded 192 deaths as of Tuesday and 5,358 cases, while Mississippi stood at 4,716 cases and 183 deaths. In South Carolina, the number of confirmed cases rose by 173 Tuesday taking the total to 4,608, and the death toll rose to 135. Jill Roberts of the University of South Florida's College of Public Health issued a grave warning that the states could trigger a new spike in cases While over in Tennessee another 167 people tested positive Tuesday, taking the state's total to 7,394 and its death toll reached 157. The figures present a worrying picture as the southern states are also plagued by high rates of chronic conditions including obesity and diabetes, which leave sufferers at greater risk of dying if they contract coronavirus. The healthcare systems are also notoriously underfunded. 'The Southeast region is not known for having the best health record. Diabetes and heart disease come to mind. I am very concerned about how our states will do it,' warned Roberts. The southern states have also lagged when it comes to rolling out coronavirus testing. As of Tuesday morning, the six states had tested just 0.001 percent of their total populations, according to the Covid Tracking Project. Mississippi has the highest rate of testing among the group, with 1.7 percent of its population being tested. Meanwhile, Georgia has tested less than 0.0001 percent of residents, ranking 42nd out of all 50 states for testing. The IHME predicts the earliest date that individual states can potentially consider easing social distancing and reopening so long as strong containment measures including widespread testing, contact tracing, and continued restrictions on mass gatherings are in place. It shows that each of the six states in the southern coalition are relaxing the lockdowns earlier than is safe In the northeastern state partnership of seven states, there has been double the rate of testing - although this still only amounts to 0.002 percent of the population. Yet while many northern states, like hard-hit New York, are taking a cautious approach to reopening as the pandemic continues to rage throughout America, southern states are rushing to get back to business. Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee are among the first states to reopen. South Carolina led the way, as some nonessential stores including department stores, sporting goods stores and flea markets reopening at limited capacity in parts of the state Monday. Beaches reopened Tuesday ahead of the reopening of all nonessential businesses on April 27. Some beaches and parks also started welcoming Florida residents Friday as the state is expected to end its shelter-in-place order on April 30. In Tennessee, Governor Bill Lee said the state's stay-at-home order will not be extended beyond April 30 and announced a phased reopening of businesses will start next week. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp faced a backlash when he announced that gyms, hair salons, bowling alleys and tattoo parlors can reopen on Friday while admitting that cases are likely to continue to rise in the state. Movie theaters and restaurant dine-in service will also reopen by Monday. 'We're probably going to see our cases continue to go up, but we're a lot better prepared for that now than we were over a month ago,' said Kemp Monday. Roberts slammed the move: 'I kind of enjoyed Gov. Kemp's talk about reopening these places with 'screening.' He did not say testing. That capacity does not exist. 'My guess is he meant taking temperatures, which as we know is pointless.' Dr. Aileen Marty, a pandemic and infectious disease expert at Florida International University, told Politico the southern states are 'tempting fate' by reopening too soon based on the evidence. 'They are heavily Republican with social conservatives who are all of a like mind. They are tempting fate by having the virus out and about among us, but if they don't do it in a controlled way, we will again be back in situations of overwhelmed hospitals and more people dying,' she said. 'They are making decisions with inadequate knowledge.' People walk down the beach in Jacksonville on April 19 after Florida reopened some beaches and parks Experts have warned that more lives will be lost as southern states reopen too soon A new model from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation also shows the states are not ready to reopen safely. The map, updated Tuesday, predicts the earliest date that individual states can potentially consider easing social distancing and reopening so long as strong containment measures including widespread testing, contact tracing, and continued restrictions on mass gatherings are in place. It shows that each of the six states in the southern coalition are relaxing the lockdowns earlier than is safe. Warning signs hang over Georgia and Florida in particular as they ease their lockdowns a whole two months before the IHME forecasts they should. The IHME shows that Georgia should not consider reopening until June 19, Florida June 11 and South Carolina June 5. Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi could reopen sooner on May 17, 20 and 30 respectively - but these recommendated dates are still around a month after they are relaxing rules. Across the US the death toll continues to surge, doubling in 10 days to 46,720 while confirmed cases have also soared to 837,633. KYODO NEWS - Apr 22, 2020 - 04:45 | All, World, Japan, Coronavirus Farm ministers from the Group of 20 major economies on Tuesday vowed to oppose any restrictive measures that would threaten food security and disrupt global food supply chains amid the coronavirus pandemic. More than a dozen countries, including Russia, Cambodia and Thailand, have imposed export restrictions on agricultural products and other supplies as of Monday, according to the Japanese farm ministry. The restrictions center on grain. Some countries are apparently concerned that the spread of the epidemic, which has triggered governments around the world to implement various types of lockdown measures, could affect farm production systems and cause nations to prioritize their domestic markets. "We will guard against any unjustified restrictive measures that could lead to excessive food price volatility in international markets and threaten the food security and nutrition of large proportions of the world population, especially the most vulnerable living in environments of low food security," the G-20 agriculture ministers said in a statement following a videoconference. Related coverage: G-20 agrees to support debt relief for poor nations G-7 to provide debt relief to poor nations amid virus outbreak G-20 vow to take "immediate" steps to ensure flow of medical supplies The statement also said the G-20 countries agree that emergency measures taken in the context of the current pandemic must be "targeted, proportionate, transparent, and temporary" actions that "do not create unnecessary barriers to trade or disruption to global food supply chains." During the virtual meeting, Japanese farm minister Taku Eto said the pandemic should not be used as an excuse for countries to impose unnecessary restrictions on imports and exports, according to the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. In Japan, imports accounted for 88 percent of domestic wheat consumption, 92 percent of soybean consumption and nearly all of the country's corn consumption in fiscal 2018. Its major suppliers include the United States, Canada and Brazil. So far, Japan has not experienced any major disruption in food supplies, but officials are expected to continue to monitor the situation. Among export restrictions seen worldwide, Russia has set a 7 million-ton cap on grain exports. Cambodia has banned the exports of fish and rice, and Thailand has prohibited the export of chicken eggs, according to the Japanese farm ministry. The G-20 consists of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United States and the European Union. President Donald Trump speaks about the CCP virus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington on April 21, 2020. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo) Trump Demands Harvard Return CCP Virus Relief Money President Donald Trump on April 21 accused Harvard University of taking funds from the federal governments CCP virus relief package, and requested that the institution return the money. The president said the Ivy League college, which is rated the wealthiest university in the world, took stimulus money intended to benefit small businesses under the CARES Acts Paycheck Protection Program, and demanded it pay back nearly $9 million. I want Harvard to pay that money back, OK? If they wont do that, we wont do something else, Trump said during Tuesdays White House CCP virus briefing. They shouldnt be taking it. The White House has faced mounting scrutiny in recent days as the Small Business Administrations Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)which was passed last month as part of the third stimulus packageran out of money, meaning no new loans could be issued until it was replenished. They have to pay it back, I dont like it, Trump continued. This is meant for workers, this isnt meant for one of the richest institutions, not only, far beyond schools in the world. They got to pay it back. Im not going to mention any other names, but when I saw Harvardthey have one of the largest endowments anywhere in the country, maybe in the world. Theyre going to pay back the money, he added. Harvard University, which has an endowment fund valued at $40 billion, pushed back against the claims and said the federal funds it received are part of a separate fund intended for academic institutions under the CARES Act, which reserved $12.5 billion in federal aid to some 5,000 universities and colleges. The institution said in a statement that the $8.6 million it received would be used solely to help students facing urgent financial needs because of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic. It did not state whether it would be returning the funds. Like most colleges and universities, Harvard has been allocated funds as part of the CARES Act Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, Harvard University said. (1/5) Harvard did not apply for, nor has it received any funds through the U.S. Small Business Administrations Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for small businesses. Reports saying otherwise are inaccurate. Harvard University (@Harvard) April 21, 2020 Harvard has committed that 100 percent of these emergency higher education funds will be used to provide direct assistance to students facing urgent financial needs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the college said on Twitter. President Trump is right that it would not have been appropriate for our institution to receive funds that were designated for struggling small businesses, it said. This financial assistance will be on top of the support the university has already provided to studentsincluding assistance with travel, providing direct aid for living expenses to those with need, and supporting students transition to online education, it added. Yale University, which which has an endowment fund valued at $30 billion, is receiving $6.9 million in federal aid from the stimulus bills Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, while Princeton, which has an endowment fund valued at $26 billion, will receive $2.4 million. The U.S. Senate on Tuesday passed a bill for a new round of CCP virus aid, sending it to the House for a vote this week. The legislation in this round of stimulus funding approves $482 billion in aid, including for small businesses, hospitals, and to increase CCP virus testing, including an additional $310 billion for the PPP program. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that more than a million small businesses with less than 10 employees each received loans through PPP. Companies and nonprofits that have fewer than 500 workers can apply for PPP loans up to $10 million to cover two months of payroll along with other expenses. Under the deal, borrowers that retain workers and dont cut wages will have most or all of their loans forgiven by the government. The Treasury Department said (pdf) last week that 1.6 million PPP loans had been approved. Trump noted that Mnuchin will immediately begin working on the next phase of the stimulus package. The governments response to the economic toll of the shutdowns triggered by the CCP virus already amount to the largest stimulus action in U.S. history. Jack Phillips contributed to this report. MAPUTO, Mozambique About 52 villagers in Mozambiques troubled northernmost province were killed by Islamist insurgents on April 7 after they refused to be recruited to their ranks, the countrys police reported on Tuesday. The young men were about to be recruited but they resisted, which provoked the ire of the bandits that killed the 52 indiscriminately, said Orlando Modumane, a police spokesman. The killings took place in the village of Xitaxi in Muidumbe district in the province of Cabo Delgado, home to multibillion-dollar gas projects led by major oil companies like Total. Last Wednesday, Mozambiques national police commander, Bernardino Rafael, said no parts of the troubled province were under the control of insurgents. His comments came after an increase in the frequency of attacks in the province. CHICAGO, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As higher education institutions across the country make decisions in support of slowing the spread of the coronavirus, North Park University (North Park) is also encouraging its campus community to continue to practice holistic healthy living. In addition to implementing CDC-recommended and individually adopted precautionshand sanitizing and respiratory health stations, work-from-home, paid sick leave, prolonging study abroad programs, frequent and thorough disinfecting high touch-point surfacesmaintaining emotional and spiritual well-being is and continues to be part of overall wellness of the campus community. Mary K. Surridge, President, North Park University, reminds students, faculty, and staff to care for the entire selfmind, body, and soul. "It's important to eat well, sleep well, and exercise well," Surridge said. "I like running and walking. I also think that, during a sustained crisis, it is normal to be anxious, to be easily distracted, and not to concentrate as well as usual. So, acknowledge that and practice grace with yourself and others." In order to stay cognitively and emotionally healthy, Dr. Elizabeth Gray, North Park Psychology Professor encourages, "choosing a reliable source of information about COVID-19." Dr. Gray suggests taking a break from screens and connecting with others. "To respond well to this community stressor, engage in regular self-care, even add an extra care routine like exercise or meditating, and seek social support," added Dr. Gray. With deep roots in the Christian faith, North Park's University Ministries remains connected to the campus community by offering virtual daily devotionals. In addition to daily devotionals, there's virtual weekly chapel worship and staff available for spiritual counseling and support via phone and video conferencing. "I have found a very apt scripture for this time that has helped me and that I have shared with our campus community," added Surridge. "It is a portion of Paul's letter to the Romans: 'Be joyful in hope. Be patient in affliction. Be faithful in prayer.'" While following social distancing, "staying physically active and connecting to our emotional and spiritual selves are areas to nurture while we as a community follow the precautions to stay healthy," said Surridge. ABOUT NORTH PARK UNIVERSITY North Park University is a city-centered, intercultural, and Christian university located in Chicago. https://www.northpark.edu/ SOURCE North Park University Related Links http://www.northpark.edu Dozens of people were arrested during protests against a controversial Citizenship Amendment Act enacted in December. Police in India are being accused of targeting Muslims during investigations into communal violence earlier this year. Dozens of people were arrested during the protests against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act, which was enacted in December. Al Jazeeras Elizabeth Puranam reports from the capital, New Delhi. For todays piece, I talked with the husband and son of Patricia Walter about her life and how theyve adapted their mourning: She had hoped to donate her body to science. But when Patricia Walter died from Covid-19 on April 11 at U.C. Davis Medical Center, the family was told that wouldnt be possible right now. So, instead, Ms. Walter will be laid to rest on the 50th Earth Day. She was 86. She will be buried in a low-impact, biodegradable wicker coffin. Her grave will be marked with a field stone in a meadow overlooking the section of a cemetery in Placerville reserved for pets. She was into all things natural animals, trees, birds, Keith Walter, her husband of almost 65 years, said. So it seems appropriate. He lives not far away in Fair Oaks, in a small condo with Ty, a dog, and Tig, a cat. Ms. Walter grew up in New York State, where she and Mr. Walter met at a mixer not long after they graduated from high school. She wore a red dress, Mr. Walter recalled, and he saw her from across the room. He took her for pizza after the dance and, he said, pausing to laugh quietly, the rest is history. Friends and family members remembered Ms. Walter she answered to Pat, Patti or Hey you as a vivacious people person, a woman who had a way of making you feel like you were the most important person in the world whenever you were around her, as one family member posted on an online memorial guest book. [Read more about how families have grieved in the pandemic.] She was beloved by colleagues, as well, said Keith Walter Jr., her oldest son, who also lives in Fair Oaks. He told me his mother was one of the few mothers he could recall who worked full time. The family lived with Ms. Walters parents while she worked as an administrative assistant to the dean of what is now Binghamton Universitys engineering school. An Idaho mother who allowed her children to use a playground was arrested for violating a city-wide ban on using park equipment. The mother of two, Sara Brady, was arrested and charged with one count of misdemeanour trespassing, the Meridian Police Department (MPD) said in a press release on Tuesday. According to the report, police officers arrived at Kleiner Park, in Meridian, Idaho, following several calls to Ada County Dispatch. Video from the scene showed a number of parents and children using an enclosed playground area, in an apparent violation of state-wide social distancing orders. Ms Brady confronted police officers who asked her to leave the playground, and claimed that parents some of whom had captured video of the incident were not trespassing. But according to the MPD statement, officers saw that metal signage and caution tape announcing the playground closure due to COVID-19, was removed. Ms Brady asked officers whether they would arrest everyone for not social distancing over there, while pointing to people off camera. Officer, you dont want to do that, a woman is heard saying as the 40-year-old mother was hand-cuffed by police. Her kids are here! Her kids are here? What is going to happen? Whos got her kids? Mothers gathered around MPD officers in a second video as they walked Ms Brady away from the scene. One woman is heard yelling: As a person, does this make sense to you? As a person not as a police officer, as a person does this make sense to you? The MPD statement added that Meridian officers made several attempts to help Brady adhere to the rules. She was non-compliant and forced officers to place her under arrest to resolve the issue. Ms Brady later told Idaho News that she felt singled out. "I wasn't the only person standing on the park. I definitely wasn't playing on the playground equipment. I wasn't swinging, never touched them. But yeah, I do feel like I was singled out and maybe it was because I asked too many questions." Local media reports suggested on Tuesday that the group of parents had planned the incident as a protest against coronavirus lockdown measures. There are a BUNCH of us taking our kids to Kleiner Park in Meridian today at 3pm to tear the tape off the playground. ANYONE can join us, kids or no kids, lets take a stand!, read the social media post shared with TheBlaze news. Meanwhile, another video of the arrest uploaded to Facebook and YouTube had been named Gestapo in America Arrests Mom and Kicks Kids off the Playground. Demonstrators arrived at Meridian City Hall within hours of Ms Bradys arrest to protest the actions of the MPD. It comes as President Donald Trump has encouraged protests against coronavirus measures in a number of states A man who was the first person to be charged with offences under new emergency powers to enforce public compliance with Covid-19 travel restrictions has been jailed for six months. Denis Constantin (24), of Shingaun, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, admitted two charges after he was stopped twice at checkpoints in Co Wexford by gardai over the Easter weekend - more than 2km from his home without a valid reason. The two offences are contrary to Section 31A(6)(a) and (12) of the Health Act 1947 as amended by Section 10 of the Health (Preservation and Protection and other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2020). The charges read that he contravened a regulation made under Section 31A(1) of the Health Act 1947 as amended, to prevent, limit, minimise or slow the spread of Covid-19. Breach Constantin was given two concurrent three-month jail sentences for each breach. He also pleaded guilty to a number of driving without insurance - and driving while disqualified - charges. He was given another three-month jail sentence for the driving offences and disqualified from driving for 28 years. In total, he was jailed for six months for the combined offences. Judge Brian O'Shea said the offences were at the top end of the scale considering that he was also driving without insurance. Constantin was one of seven people arrested over the Bank Holiday weekend after gardai were given new powers of arrest under temporary regulations. The 24-year-old was stopped at a checkpoint in Bunclody, Co Wexford, on Good Friday driving a car while disqualified and while being more than 2km from his home without a valid reason. Tough He was not arrested on that occasion but was held on Easter Monday after encountering another garda checkpoint near New Ross in Co Wexford, which was also over 2km from his home. Gardai then consulted with the DPP and Constantin became the first person in Ireland to be charged under the tough new temporary laws. Inspector Syl Hipwell outlined the facts of the case to Gorey District Court. Gardai yesterday announced that there had been a high level of compliance nationwide with the public health guidelines but there had been some breaches. "From April 8, which was when the regulations came into effect, until April 18 inclusive, gardai have invoked the regulations 34 times," a garda spokeswoman said. "In all cases where arrests were made under the regulations, gardai consulted with the DPP on the decision to charge." Many of them are over the age of 60. Many of them themselves probably have chronic medical conditions, Goldman said. Its one thing to say, well, our nation needs to bring them together so they can see each other and deliberate. . . . But if they become ill or end up having to be isolated, then that could have a very serious impact on our government, and I think that needs to be considered as well. World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (R) and WHO Health Emergencies Programme Director Dr. Mike Ryan attend a press briefing on COVID-19 in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 6, 2020. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images) US Reviewing How WHO Is Run as Groups Chief Defends Actions The United States is reviewing how the World Health Organization (WHO) is being run, an American official said Wednesday, around the same time the WHOs chief defended the bodys actions during the CCP virus outbreak. President Donald Trump paused U.S. funding to the United Nations group this month amid widespread backlash to the WHO seemingly being in lockstep with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). They called it wrong. They missed the call. They could have called it months earlier. They would have known. They should have known. And they probably did know. So well be looking into that very carefully, the president told reporters in Washington earlier in April, referring to the CCP virus, a novel coronavirus that emerged from mainland China last year. The review will focus on whether the WHO is being run well, said John Barsa, acting administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, on Wednesday. The review is going to be all encompassing, get into all manners of management operation questions, Barsa told reporters at the State Department. Theres numerous questions in terms of the management of the WHO; how they have been operating holding member states accountable in their actions. John Barsa of USAID speaks during a ceremony in Brazil on Jan. 28, 2020. (Adriano Machado/Reuters) During the pause in funding, the Trump administration will look for other partners for work on important issues, including vaccines, Barsa added. Ninety-six percent of U.S. funding for health groups in 2018 went to organizations other than the WHO, he noted. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at the same briefing that U.S. officials strongly believe the Chinese Communist Party did not report the outbreak of the new coronavirus within the 24 hours required under WHO policy. Even after it did notify the WHO, it withheld information about the virus and continues to do so. As part of new rules adopted in 2007, the WHOs chief was given the ability to go public when a member country flouted the rules, but that did not happen in this case, Pompeo said, adding that WHOs regulatory arm clearly failed in responding to the outbreak of the CCP virus. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva around the same time that the group raised an alarm to countries around the world at the right time. Looking back, I think we declared the emergency at the right time, and when the world had enough time to respond, Ghebreyesus said. There were only 82 cases and no deaths [outside China], including a few in Europe and none in Africa. This was more than two months and 21 days ago, close to three months now, he added later. Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHOs health emergencies program, said at the briefing that the characterization of the disease as a pandemic in itself has no basis other than a description of the event at that time in regards to how many countries are affected. World Health Organization (WHO) Health Emergencies Programme Director Dr. Mike Ryan talks during a daily press briefing on COVID-19 in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 11, 2020. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images) The WHO declared a public health emergency of international concern on Jan. 30, nearly a week after it declined to do so. Ghebreyesus told reporters at the briefing announcing the declaration that the body was opposed to countries restricting travel from China. Even as the CCP virus crisis increasingly worsened and appeared to meet the definition of a pandemic, the WHO held off defining it as one. Using the word pandemic now does not fit the facts, but it certainly may cause fear, Ghebreyesus said on Feb. 24, even as the number of cases spiked in a number of countries, including Iran, South Korea, and Italy. The WHO finally declared a pandemic on March 11, more than three months after the first patient was identified in China. The virus had spread to 114 countries by then, infecting more than 118,000 cases and killing over 4,000. Medical staff wear protective clothing to protect against a CCP virus patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan, China, on Jan. 25, 2020. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images) A number of U.S. lawmakers have backed Trumps position on the WHO, calling for oversight on its role in spreading Beijings propaganda. They need to be held accountable for their role in promoting misinformation and helping Communist China cover up a global pandemic, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said in a statement. Amid calls to defund the WHO, one lawmaker introduced a resolution to withhold federal funding to the group until Ghebreyesus resigns. The WHO helped the Chinese Communist Party hide the threat of COVID-19 from the world and now more than 10,000 Americans are dead, a number that is expected to rise dramatically in the coming weeks, Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-Penn.) said in a statement. Eva Fu, Jack Phillips, Ivan Pentchoukov, and Bowen Xiao contributed to this report. WASHINGTON How many deaths are acceptable to reopen the country before the coronavirus is completely eradicated? One is too many, President Trump insists, a politically safe formulation that any leader would instinctively articulate. But that is not the reality of Mr. Trumps reopen-soon approach. Nor for that matter will it be the bottom line for even those governors who want to go slower. Until there is a vaccine or a cure for the coronavirus, the macabre truth is that any plan to begin restoring public life invariably means trading away some lives. The question is how far will leaders go to keep it to a minimum. Some of the more provocative voices on the political right say that with tens of millions of Americans out of work and businesses collapsing, some people must be sacrificed for the greater good of restoring the economy quickly. To many, that sounds unthinkable, but less inflammatory experts and policymakers also acknowledge that there are enormous costs to keeping so much of the work force idle, with many of the unemployed struggling to pay for food, shelter or medical care for other health challenges. And so the nations leaders are left with the excruciating dilemma of figuring out how to balance life and livelihood on a scale unseen in generations. Every governor in the nation is asking that, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, where 2,700 have died and more than 1 million have lost jobs, said this week. Theres no such thing as zero risk in the world in which were living. But we know that not taking measures to control the spread means thats going to translate into lives lost. Coronavirus cases among homeless people in shelters, and staff members, are on the rise, a new report finds. At least one-quarter of people experiencing homelessness have contracted COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed on Wednesday. In addition, about one-tenth of staff members at shelters across four cities were confirmed to have the virus. The pandemic is particularly challenging for the homeless because they are unable to self-quarantine, cannot social distance in crowded shelters and less than adequate access to healthcare. Among 1,192 homeless shelter residents in four cities that were tested, 293 people, or 25%, tested positive for the coronavirus. Pictured: LAFD help in administering coronavirus tests to the homeless population in Skid Row in Los Angeles, California, April 20 Out of 19 shelters where testing was carried out, 33 staff members, or 11%, of 313 were confirmed positive. Pictured: Homeless wait to get tested for COVID-19 in Los Angeles, California, April 20 Health experts say the pandemic challenging for the homeless because they are unable to self-quarantine and cannot social distance in crowded shelters. Pictured: A homeless person sleeps in front of the LAC+USC Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, April 21 For the report, the team looked at cases reported at five homeless shelters in Boston, Massachusetts; San Francisco, California; and Seattle, Washington between late March 2020 and early April 2020. At the same time, the Seattle team tested residents and staff members at 12 shelters where just one case in each had been confirmed. Additionally, a team in Atlanta, Georgia, tested residents and staffers at two shelters that had not reported any cases. 'In each city, the objective was to test all shelter residents and staff members at each assessed facility, irrespective of symptoms,' the authors wrote. Results showed that among 1,192 residents that were tested, 293 people - or 25 percent - tested positive. And, at the 19 shelters where testing was carried out, 33 staff members, or 11 percent, of 313 were confirmed to have the virus. The highest percentage of positive residents was in San Francisco with 66 percent testing positive, while the percentage of staff members was in Boston at 30 percent. 'Homelessness poses multiple challenges that can exacerbate and amplify the spread of COVID-19,' the CDC researchers wrote in their report. 'Homeless shelters are often crowded, making social distancing difficult. Many persons experiencing homelessness are older or have underlying medical conditions, placing them at higher risk for severe COVID-19associated illness.' To protect homeless shelter residents and staff from infection, the CDC suggests social distancing guidelines be implemented. This includes residents' head are at least six feet apart while sleeping and all residents wear masks or cloth face coverings. The authors also recommend making sure all residents and staffers are tested, whether or not they have symptoms, at shelters where clusters have been identified. 'If testing is easily accessible, regular testing in shelters before identifying clusters should also be considered,' they concluded in their report. 'Testing all persons can facilitate isolation of those who are infected to minimize ongoing transmission in these settings.' In the US, there are more than 827,000 confirmed cases of the virus and more than 45,000 deaths. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he has directed the Navy to "shoot down and destroy" Iranian gunboats that "harass" U.S. ships, and U.S. officials said the threat was meant to warn Iran not to repeat what the Pentagon described as a provocative encounter last week in the Persian Gulf. It was the president's most direct threat of military action against Iran since the two nations came close to war in January, when Trump ordered the killing of a top Iranian general and Iran retaliated with attacks that harmed U.S. forces. Although Trump said he had "instructed" the Navy on the U.S. response, the nation's No. 2 military officer later said the decision to use deadly force against an Iranian ship is up to individual Navy commanders, depending on the level of threat to their ships and sailors. Trump's directive, issued in a morning tweet, came a week after the U.S. military said 11 small vessels belonging to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps conducted "dangerous and harassing approaches" toward a fleet of American ships, including the USS Lewis B. Puller, an expeditionary mobile base vessel, and the USS Paul Hamilton, a destroyer. In one case, an Iranian fast boat zipped by within 10 yards of a Coast Guard cutter, the Navy said. The Revolutionary Guard Corps later acknowledged a tense encounter with the U.S. warships but alleged without evidence that U.S. forces initiated it. "I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea," Trump said in a tweet. "Shoot down" implies that the target is airborne. The Iranian vessels in question are surface ships, which the Navy could attack with missiles, torpedoes or other weapons. In a subsequent tweet, Trump suggested that his administration would adopt a tougher posture toward such incidents than had the Obama administration. "Sleepy Joe thought this was OK. Not me!" Trump said, referencing former Vice President Joe Biden, now the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. The president has a pattern of issuing tough military threats to Iran, often alongside offers to negotiate. He has imposed crippling economic sanctions meant to force Iran to bargain with him over its nuclear program after Trump pulled the United States out of the 2015 pact between world powers and Iran that he deemed too weak. The White House declined to say Wednesday whether the president has issued a written order or to provide a copy. Pentagon officials did not directly answer when asked by reporters Wednesday whether the military has received an order changing long-standing policies or procedures regarding naval engagements. "So, the president issued an important warning to the Iranians. What he was emphasizing is all of our ships retain the right of self-defense, and people need to be very careful in their interactions to understand the inherent right of self-defense," Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist said when asked about Trump's tweet. Gen. John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that use of deadly force "depends on the situation and what the captain sees" but that he did not want to discuss hypotheticals. Under current policy, U.S. ships have the right to defend themselves but are expected not to open fire on harassing boats unless required for the safety of U.S. ships and crews. Trump said Iranian ships should be destroyed for engaging in harassment, which is short of the determination of lethal intent or hostile intent that guide U.S. military responses now. "You can't let a boat, a fast boat, get into a position where they can threaten your ship. And I think that every captain at sea understands what that is right now, and we have very specific guidance on how we can use lethal force," Hyten said during a Pentagon news briefing. "I go back to - what the president says sends a great message to Iran. That's perfect. We know how to translate that into our rules of engagement. We don't talk about rules of engagement in public, but they're based on the inherent right of self to defense, they're based on hostile intent and hostile act. That's all we need in order to take the right action," Hyten said. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also was asked what the tweet meant. "What he said this morning, and what I know he's told all of us in leadership inside the government, is 'take whatever action is necessary to make sure that you can defend and keep our people safe,' " Pompeo said. A senior Navy spokesman, Rear Adm. Charles Brown, said Wednesday that the Navy will continue to follow international laws of armed conflict. Those include guidelines that dictate that a ship's crew should not exceed the amount of force necessary to repel an attack. A spokesman for the Iranian armed forces said Trump's threat is misplaced. "Today, instead of bullying others, the Americans should put all their efforts toward saving those members of their forces who are infected with coronavirus," Abolfazl Shekarchi said, according to the Iranian Students' News Agency. The Guard also announced Wednesday that it has put a military satellite into orbit for the first time, a move that further exacerbated tensions with the United States. Pompeo told reporters Wednesday that the launch puts the lie to Iran's assertion that its space program is for commercial purposes. "I think every nation has an obligation to go to the United Nations and evaluate whether this missile launch was consistent with that Security Council resolution," he said, referring to the resolution that endorsed the 2015 nuclear agreement and called on Iran not to test missiles capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. "I don't think it remotely is," he added. "They've now had a military organization that the United States has designated as terrorist attempt to launch a satellite." The Trump administration has had military clashes with Iran and affiliated groups over the past year. Iran downed a U.S. drone and launched ballistic missiles at facilities housing U.S. personnel in Iraq. The United States, meanwhile, conducted a drone strike in Baghdad in January that killed Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, a top Iranian commander, and has attacked Iranian-linked militias in Iraq. Encounters at sea have been common at different points in recent years, with naval officials sometimes classifying Iranian approaches as "unsafe and unprofessional." The Navy has long adhered to a policy of defending ships with an escalating series of warnings that include attempts to communicate by radio, horn and warning shots. The Navy said the Iranian ships ignored U.S. communications for an hour. After finally responding to a bridge-to-bridge radio query, the Iranian ships turned away, the Navy said. In a training scenario observed by The Washington Post in January, a crew aboard the USS Tempest, a 170-patrol craft, practiced how to respond to a harassing speedboat nearby in the Persian Gulf. Even a couple of weeks after Iran launched ballistic missiles at bases in Iraq in retaliation for the U.S. killing of Soleimani, the Navy stressed to sailors the need to follow protocols and thoughtfully escalate the use of force only as needed. In the wake of provocative actions at sea attributed to Iran, the United States and several partner nations last year established a new mission headquartered in Bahrain, Operation Sentinel, designed to prevent the seizure of commercial ships or attacks on them. Smaller ships like the Tempest are expected to carry out "sentry" duties and respond to problems that arise, and larger vessels such as destroyers use their sensors to watch out for attacks in a "sentinel" role. Richard Goldberg, who until recently directed efforts to counter Iran at the National Security Council, said the April 15 encounter in the Persian Gulf probably led to "high-level discussions on existing rules of engagement and whether additional steps were needed to strengthen U.S. deterrence" and protect U.S. forces. "While Iran's leaders are growing more desperate for sanctions relief and may believe that harassing the U.S. Navy will prompt political pressure on the president to provide sanctions relief, they also know they cannot win a direct military confrontation with the United States," said Goldberg, who is a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Trump critics said he is risking war, and perhaps doing so to distract from domestic problems, including the administration's handling of the coronavirus pandemic. "There is no worse time for a disastrous war than in the middle of a pandemic, with U.S. service members already at heightened risk of contracting covid-19," said Jamal Abdi, president of the National Iranian American Council. - - - The Washington Post's Missy Ryan contributed to this report. But these reform ideas really are not privatization schemes in the traditional sense of the term. Instead, they are proposals that would set up a two-tier Social Security system in this country, not quite the same as the Australian system, but with some similar characteristics. And as you might guess, both major political parties had their own take on what the system should look like. Almost every plan Ive ever seen backed by a leading Republican politician is what is commonly known as a carve-out plan. It is called that because it gets its funding by carving out a chunk of the current Social Security system. For example, 6.2% of a workers salary is deducted for Social Security taxes. A carve-out plan might specify that 4.2% continue to be used to fund Social Security, while 2% would be turned back over to taxpayers for them to invest on their own. On paper, it may sound great. You get to keep a chunk of your payroll tax to use as you want. And of course it is hoped you will invest that money and not buy a new car or boat. (A better version of these plans mandates that the payroll tax portion you keep must be invested in one or more of several managed, IRA-type accounts.) If Mamata's defence is that her states numbers are too low to demand attention, it is precisely for that reason that the data coming out of Bengal should be put under severe scrutiny. Worldwide, the pandemic has established a link between number of positive cases and testing. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet. The Bard might as well have been talking about West Bengal. There is something foul in Mamata Banerjee's state and all the perfumes of Arabia, narrative building or data fudging, cannot hide the stench. It could explain why the West Bengal chief minister is being so obtuse and nervous about a central fact-finding team visiting the state. Acting on complaints, the Union ministry of home affairs has dispatched Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCT) to assess the level of preparedness in the battle against the pandemic in different red and orange zones across India. These teams are mandated to evaluate implementation of lockdown measures and any complications arising from laxity, condition of health infrastructure, safety of health workers, violation of social distancing norms in "hotspots and emerging hotspots" that may pose a "serious health hazard". They will make on-the-spot assessment, prepare reports and give suggestions. As it happens, seven districts in Bengal are under the radar Kolkata, Howrah, East Medinipur, North 24-Parganas, Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Jalpaiguri. The MHA, in an order dated 19 April, has stated that "after analysing prevalence of violations in major hotspot districts, it is clear to the central government that the situation is especially serious in these districts." Is Bengal the only state where such teams are being sent by the Centre? No. While the two five-member teams will visit West Bengal, two will visit Maharashtra and one each will head for Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. While Madhya Pradesh has a BJP government, three of these states are ruled by the Opposition. Only Mamata, however, is creating a furore. Mamata initially refused to cooperate with the central team and denied them access and logistical support. She abided when Amit Shahs ministry issued a warning and a letter asking Mamata not to obstruct the central teams from doing its duty. GoI directs G/o #WestBengal not to obstruct working of Central Teams reg. review & on-spot assessment of implementation of #Lockdown2 measures to fight #COVID19 in the State WB directed to comply with MHA orders & make arrangements for IMCTs to carry out their responsibilities pic.twitter.com/h5nRnszOat Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) April 21, 2020 At a news conference in New Delhi, a home ministry spokesperson said if West Bengal fails to extend cooperation, they may face action. Latest reports indicated that after putting the teams on hold initally, the Mamata government has finally allowed ICMT members to do their job. Prima facie, this controversy makes little sense. If the Centre has assessed that certain districts need to be closely monitored, why would the states create hurdles in that effort, given the unique threat posed by a pandemic that demands a collaborative effort? After all, the virus did not originate in Bengal. The answer to this question takes us to the heart of the rot that lies within Bengal where administrative apathy, political opportunism, bureaucratic inertia, censoring of information and data fudging has created a situation where nobody is sure how deep and far the COVID-19 pandemic has spread. Faced with a loss of credibility in its data, the Mamata Banerjee government is busy spinning a furious yarn to control the narrative. It has taken a leaf out of the Chinese playbook in bullying into silence all dissenting voices and releasing only sanitized information. Some of it so brazen that it defies belief. During a recent news conference where Mamata was questioned on the silence of Tablighi Jamaat attendees from Bengal who went for Nizamudddin Markaz event in New Delhi a known hotspot Mamata rebuked the journalists, telling them not to ask "communal questions". That she has largely escaped censure despite such autocratic behavior tells us the way liberal media treats secular leaders. But thats another story. Let us first look at Mamatas allegations against the Centre before we assess how deep the public health crisis is in Bengal. The chief minister has accused the Centre of political witch-hunt and asked why the Centre has not sent teams to states such as Gujarat or Uttar Pradesh that are ruled by the BJP. This is a non-sequitur. One of the central teams is going to Madhya Pradesh. Second, Mamata has questioned the validity of Centres move, calling it an assault on federalism. In her letter to the prime minister and Union home minister, she called it an unilateral action. Trinamool Congress MP Derek OBrien has said the Central team is doing adventure tourism. In response, the Centre has pointed out these teams "have been deputed under the authority conferred on the central government under Section 35 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, which in turn authorises the Centre to take all such measures" It has also reminded the state of the Supreme Court order passed on 31 March, 2020, where states have been asked to "comply with the directives and orders issued by the Union of India in letter and spirit in the interest of public safety." Mamata has also accused the Centre of breaching protocol since the ICMT delegation arrived just minutes after a formal communication. This is a valid charge, but in dealing with a state government that has a history of covering up incidents and dressing-up data, there is a good reason why Central teams on a fact-finding mission didnt want to give the administration too much time for preparation. Mamatas final allegation is that Centre's discriminatory behaviour has been "exposed" by the fact that it targeted Bengal, a state with among the lowest coronavirus cases in India, whereas states with more cases and hotpots have been ignored. This is a poor attempt at spinning the narrative. The Centre should be lauded for sending an investigative team to Bengal where swirling allegations point to large-scale data suppression, surreptitious cremation of bodies, lack of testing, collapse in public health infrastructure and charges of corruption in distribution of ration through PDS. If Mamatas defence is that her states numbers are too low to demand attention, it is precisely for that reason that the data coming out of Bengal should be put under severe scrutiny. Worldwide, the pandemic has established a link between number of positive cases and testing. It is an established fact that Bengals testing is among the lowest in India, and it may explain why one of Indias most populous states has such a low number of positive cases. Well may Mamata claim that this is a result of her stellar administrative skills, facts indicate otherwise. A study by India Today found that Bengal's testing rate as 'abysmally low', and calls it a 'cause for concern' given Bengals large population. A similar data crunching by The Wire found that Bengal has actually performed the least number of tests amongst all the large states in India. A Reuters report published on 14 April pointed out that West Bengal has done just 33.7 tests per million, compared to a national average of around 156.9 per million, and 442 per million in Rajasthan." Why is Bengal performing so few tests? Mamata has claimed that the state has very few testing kits available, but once again facts belie her claims. The chief of National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED) nodal arm of ICMR in Kolkata has gone on record to say that Bengal government is not sending enough samples for testing. Dr Shanta Dutta, Director, NICED, told media that flow of samples has not been equal from the very beginning. In an article published on 13 April, Dr Dutta was quoted, as saying to India Today. "There is a big drop last week we didnt even have 20 samples per day. Number of samples being sent is determined by the state government, so if they send more samples, we are able to test more. I think sample collection has not been as per the recommendation." She refuted allegations on lack of testing kits, pointing out that ICMR has dispatched 42,500 kits to NICED so far. So, why are samples not being sent for testing in Bengal? Has the coronavirus decided to spare the Bengal residents? The truth is disturbing. Bengal has become the only state to install a bureaucratic layer between the doctor and a patient. Even if a doctor decides that a patient needs to be tested immediately, a body constituted by the state government will verify whether there is a need for testing. And it may refuse permission. This administrative step has created a fissure between the state and health service providers. Doctors are angry not only at being superseded but also because this red tape is causing a delay in isolation and treatment, allowing the deadly contagion to spread faster. Dr Arjun Dasgupta, who represents West Bengal Doctors Forum, a body that has 19,000 doctors as members, was quoted by Reuters as saying: If you suspect COVID and send the samples, either they are refused, or the report comes back after three to four days. Needless to say that this is not only crippling public health, it is also leading to likely under-reporting of positive cases. Not only is the state doing meagre testing leave alone asymptomatic cases it is failing to test even those who doctors think are infected with COVID-19. This may explain why Bengals count is so low. This devious plan to keep the numbers down makes it impossible to understand the true extent of the outbreak in Bengal. And thats not all. Mamata has introduced yet another bureaucratic layer that takes away power from the doctors to write the cause of death in death certificates. A state-appointed committee will decide whether a patient has died of coronavirus, or not. What explains the rationale behind this move? Dr Pratim Sengupta, a noted Nephrologist in Kolkata associated with Belle Vue clinic, in a Facebook post alleged that even when coronavirus patients were dying with symptoms of respiratory failure, the expert advisory committee was not citing COVID-19 as cause of death. (Also see Reuters report). Attaching pictures with his post of a deceased patient, the doctor has written (sic): Friends below is the X-ray and CT scan of PT died at a hospital of North Calcutta who was COVID19 positive; but declared as death due to renal failure !! I am practising nephrology for last one decade, Its new learning for me!! These are not one-off charges. The states death figures have been called into question by a number of people from medical fraternity. Many doctors are scared of identifying themselves in fear of retribution from state machinery but there are some like Dr Sengupta who have raised a stink. Corroborating the nephrologists charges, Dr Archana Majumdar has been quoted as saying in a Sunday Guardian report that the state is hiding the real figures of death. Let me cite one example. It happened this week at one of the hospitals. A patient, named Sudipta Mukherjee, got admitted and eventually died around 1004 hours. She was 43 years old and her body was sent out of the hospital as a Hepatitis B case. China has recently revised Wuhans death figures, raising it by 50 percent and adding 1,290 fatalities after a US intelligence report indicated that China cited false statistics and kept the figures artificially low to hide the true extent of the outbreak and create an impression that they were on top of the crisis. The Bengal government has copied from the Chinese playbook, but its implementation has been comical. CPM leader Md Salim has tweeted purported documents that show discrepancy in death figures. One COVID patient, Nepal Barman from Malda, was surreptitiously cremated on 12 April but his sample was apparently collected the day after on 13 April. The CPM leader asked: How can swab of a person, cremated on 12th, be collected on 13th and report come on 14th? Are you treating patients or your 'Banglar Garvo' signboard? Mamata Banerjee govt had said till then that he's not dead&reports show he tested negative. But sample was collected on 13th. How can swab of a person, cremated on 12th,be collected on 13th&report come on 14th? Are you treating patient or your 'Banglar Garvo' signboard?: Md Salim pic.twitter.com/CHgklLxiFX ANI (@ANI) April 20, 2020 Note: These documents provided by senior CPI(M) leader Mohammad Salim about alleged discrepancy in death and COVID-19 test of Nepal Barman. pic.twitter.com/QmptByxVDL ANI (@ANI) April 20, 2020 The state government is accused not only of dressing up death data to hide real figures and changing the parameters of counting but also playing around with numbers that expose lack of coordination between the different arms of the State machinery. In a report published on 3 April, The Hindu noted how the chief secretary of state refuted fatality numbers within hours of the states own Covid task force releasing it. Not just crunching numbers, the states laid-back approach in mitigating the crisis has alarmed the doctors to such an extent that they have shot off a 10-point letter to the chief minister, red-flagging issues of non-availability of PPEs for health workers leading to 137 medical staff including doctors, nurses and para-medical staff being infected, treatment of suspect and positive COVID patients in hospitals earmarked for the pandemic instead of keeping them in general ward and absence of real-time data. Bengal's response in tackling the issues raised by doctors is eerily close to Chinese authoritarian system. Oncologist doctor Indranil Khan was detained and allegedly mentally tortured by police for raising the issue of safety gear for health workers. Facing State-sponsored bullying, Dr Khan eventually approached the high court that came down heavily on the Mamata Banerjee government and barred any coercive action against the doctor." Mamatas failure in implementing non-pharmaceutical interventions that have been touted as the only effective way of breaking the contagion chain placed Bengal at a disadvantage in the battle against the pandemic. Her negligence and reluctance in enforcing strict lockdown measures (see here, here and here) likely aided the spread, and the dressing up of data is a desperate attempt to stop that reality from shaping the narrative. It is clear that in obstructing the Centres fact-finding team, Mamata wanted to use federalism as an excuse to avoid scrutiny. This is a political ploy that India, much less Bengal, cannot afford. Sunlight, after all, is the best disinfectant. Instead of trying to thwart Centres efforts, the chief minister should double down on collaborative attempts and present a united front. The pandemic demands no less. New Delhi, April 22 : Much before announcing its $5.7 billion investment for nearly 10 per cent stake in Reliance Industries Limited (RIL)-led Jio Platforms on Wednesday, Facebook had already started investing in Indian firms. The social media giant made its first minority investment in an Indian startup called Meesho in June last year. Meesho is a platform that enables Indian entrepreneurs to establish online businesses via social channels. What Meesho does is it relies on the existing behaviour of communities in India and leverages especially on women entrepreneurs for pitching products to their friends and families, Ajit Mohan, Facebook's Vice President and Managing Director for India explained at an event in Kerala last year. While Facebook did not disclose the amount it invested in Meesho, reports suggest that it could be in the $20-$25 million range. Again in February this year, Facebook joined General Atlantic, Sequoia India and others for a fresh $110 million round of funding into one of India's fastest growing education technology start-up Unacademy. Another Indian edtech startup Byju's counts the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), founded by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, philanthropist Priscilla Chan. In 2016, Byju's became the first ever Asian company to have their backing. While announcing its $5.7 billion investment in Jio Platforms, Facebook said that "this investment underscores our commitment to India..." "India is a special country for us. Over the years, Facebook has invested in India to connect people and help businesses launch and grow," Mohan and Facebook's Chief Revenue Officer, David Fischer, wrote in a blog post. "We are excited about furthering our investment in India's vibrant digital economy," they added. India is a huge market for all of Facebook's major platforms including WhatsApp and Instagram. By Mata Press Service A hand sanitizer distribution program that was held in conjunction with the Vaisakhi celebrations has become a catalyst for local businesses, organizations and individuals wanting to help fight the spread of COVID-19 in B.C. The Its in your hands program, now in its third week, was launched in conjunction with the Vaisakhi celebrations in Surrey and Vancouver by local entrepreneur Harbinder Singh Sewak with support from the B.C. Dairy Association. As the pilot program winds down, demand for the Asli Alooatta hand sanitizers continues to grow, especially with a national shortage of the product, said Sewak. We are now expanding the program to other groups and companies who want to help the community and channelling whatever we can from the sales to charity organizations, said Sewak, the CEO of the Surrey-based Alooatta.com Caring and providing for others is the very essence of Vaisakhi and the Sikh way of lifeby helping us make and distribute these Health Canada approved hand sanitizers you are helping keep your family, your neighbour and your community safe, he said. Health Canada this week said that there was a sevenfold increase in sales of hand sanitizer in mid-March compared to sales during the same one-week period last year. This high demand has led to shortages of raw materials, such as ethanol, which has led to searches for substitute ingredients. Proper hygiene and disinfection is essential during the COVID-19 outbreak to reduce the risk of infection. Washing your hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds remains the most effective way to limit the spread of COVID-19. If soap and water are not available, a hand sanitizer, with at least 60% alcohol, that has been approved by Health Canada should be used, states Health Canada. Medical experts are also warning against the use of online recipes for homemade hand sanitizer. These recipes for homemade hand sanitizer concoctions have been multiplying online but experts are warning that many of the DIY solutions are ineffective even harmful, reported CBC. "You don't want anyone making up their homemade hand sanitizers that might have a component that's going to lead to some kind of toxic reaction on their hands," said Dr. Alyson Kelvin, an assistant professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax and a member of the Canadian Centre for Vaccinology. "We don't need any more people in the hospitals right now." Health Canada which considers alcohol-based hand sanitizers to be natural health products authorizes the products that can be sold in Canada and assigns each one an eight-digit Natural Product Number, displayed on the product's label. The Alooatta.com/BC Dairy Vaisakhi Its in your hands program was launched after the annual mammoth parades to commemorate the Sikh Holy Day were cancelled this month. About $100,000 worth of hand sanitizers have been distributed at Sikh temples, schools and community centres. The response to the program has been overwhelming, said Sewak. "I encourage businesses and organization to do their part and help in this undertaking as this is a good way to contribute to a worthy cause and keep us all safe," said Rajeev Mohindru, Director of Care at the Progressive Intercultural Community Services Society (PICS) Seniors Care Facility; a service designed for South Asian seniors who are physically frail or require emotional support. Giani Narinder Singh, head priest of the Gurdwara Dukh Nivaran in Surrey said the Its In Your Hands Program is an extension of the Sikh tenet to perform Sewa or sacrifice. It is Sarbat Da Bhalla (Goodness for the world), and we are happy to partner with Alooatta as they have provided us with the hand sanitizers that are needed by volunteers who reach out to hundreds of people on the front line and those in need, he said. Contributions from the sale of the hand sanitisers will also help us buy things that are needed for our other outreach programs, Raj Dhillon who operates Mantra Beauty & Spa is urging her friends and customers to spread the word about the Its in Your Hands campaign. "Be safe and do your part..buy the sanitizers for yourself and distribute it to seniors and those who need it", said Dhillon. Agreed Rajini Sharma, a Surrey insurance salesperson We are one big Canadian familywe must take care of each otherIf you can, please contribute to this worthy cause. If you are interested in purchasing and distributing Asli Alooatta hand sanitizers during the current health crisis please email [email protected] or visit the website at alooatta.comalooatta.com . Its in your handswhat you should do To limit the spread of COVID-19, wash your hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If this is not possible, use a hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol that has been approved by Health Canada. Always follow the label directions on hand sanitizer products. Check whether a product and its claims have been authorized by Health Canada. Authorized hand sanitizers have an eight-digit Drug Identification Number (DIN) or Natural Product Number (NPN). Some hand sanitizers that may not fully meet Health Canada requirements and may not have a DIN or NPN on the label are being permitted for sale as an interim measure given the shortage of supply of hand sanitizers because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Check for these products by searching the List of Products Accepted under Interim Measure. Report any adverse reactions to Health Canada by calling 1-866-234-2345. For the latest and most up-to-date information on COVID-19, visit Canada.ca/coronavirus. Health Canada Botswana signed a P17 million grant aid with Japan this Monday to help her distribute set-top boxes to needy households and switch off analogue transmission. The Signing of Exchange of Notes between the two governments for the Economic and Social Development Programme was done by Japanese Ambassador Kozo Takeda and Finance Minister Dr. Thapelo Matsheka in Gaborone. According to a press release from Dr. Tadakazu Kanno of the Politics, Protocol and Cultural Affairs of the Japanese embassy, the 150 million yen (P17million) grant is for distribution of set-top boxes (STBs) or receivers, to be aligned with deployment of digital terrestrial television (DTV) and analogue switch off in Botswana. Botswana announced the adoption of the Japanese standard for its DTV and first broadcasted by Botswana Television (BTV) in February 2013 thereby becoming the first African country to adopt the Japanese standard for its DTV. Since then, government has been making efforts to shift from analogue broadcasting to DTV and Japan has been assisting Botswanas digital TV transition. Dr. Kanno explained that after analogue switch-off, there will be vacancy of frequency band, which will in future enable people to use hi-speed internet using mobile phone. In 2015, with support from several Japanese companies, DTV was broadcast in the whole country.Botswana government has also been working on utilisation of data broadcasting, which is a service associated with DTV. Through data broadcasting services, people can watch real-time traffic news, weather forecast, information on searches for lost cattle and most importantly, obtain government issued information such as public safety, natural hazards and healthcare advice while watching TV. Dr. Kanno said the other remarkable feature of the Japanese standard DTV is the emergency warning broadcasting system (EWBS) function. With EWBS, an emergency alert sound and announcement automatically come out of STB from its built-in speaker even when a TV itself is switched off. To watch DTV, people need a STB, a small box-shaped receiver to be directly hooked to each TV. While the Botswana Government moves on with analogue switch-off, there is a concern that vulnerable people may not be able to purchase STBs due to economic reasons. As a result, it will be difficult for them to access aforementioned information through data broadcasting services that closely affects their daily lives. Through this grant aid, Japan cooperates with Department of Broadcasting Services, Ministry for Presidential Affairs Governance and Public Administration, to distribute STBs to the households who are truly in need of assistance, to ensure their access to the information through DTV that would complement their well-being. People should be aware that there are two types of STBs: one that is equipped with receiving data broadcasting function and the other without. In order to enjoy and benefit from data broadcasting services, people should get the former type, which is the type this grant aid will provide. It is expected that the cooperation will contribute to mitigate information disparity caused by income inequality, and hence lead to improvement of quality of life as well as reduction of disaster damages in Botswana. Telecommunications giant PLDT donated 30 of its service units to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as the country continuously battles the deadly coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Pldt services AFP The units turned over to the government arm last week include were 14 Toyota Innova multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs), 10 Toyota Avanza units (MPVs), 4 Isuzu mini trucks, and 2 Isuzu Crosswind crossover utility vehicles (XUV). Of the 30 vehicles, 17 have been assigned to the AFP health servicesspecifically the Health Service Command, the Office of the Surgeon General and the Military Treatment Facilities of the Army, Navy and Air Force. These units are providing health care support for troops that are deployed in checkpoints in Metro Manila and other parts of the country. The remaining 13 vehicles will be deployed to various senior offices such as the AFP Command Center, the Joint Task Force NCR, the Special Operations Command, AFP, the AFP Communications, Electronics and Information Systems Service and the AFP Civil Relations Service. Pldt services AFP PLDT and its wireless subsidiary has been providing communications support to the AFP and the Philippine National Police for their COVID operations. Earlier, Smart donated SIMs and load cards for more than 1,000 AFP personnel deployed in Metro Manila, to provide for their connectivity needs during the enhanced community quarantine. PLDT Enterprise has also provided 200 smartphones with free postpaid subscriptions for the use of AFP and PNP personnel manning about 60 checkpoints in Metro Manila. These smartphones will be used to access the Rapid Pass online application which is designed to facilitate movement of people through checkpoints in the National Capital Region. In a statement, PLDT Chairman and CEO Manny Pangilinan expressed gratitude to the frontliners. Helping the countrys frontliners in the fight against COVID-19 is a key focus of our efforts during this health emergency. This includes keeping our frontliners safe and healthy," Pangilinan said. Story continues " With more and more soldiers and policemen falling ill with the virus, we hope that these service vehicles will help the AFP Medical Corp to protect our men and women in uniform, he added. Also read: Houston: Secrecy surrounding executions could hinder efforts by a group of medical professionals who are asking the nation's death penalty states for medications used in lethal injections so that they can go to coronavirus patients who are on ventilators, according to a death penalty expert and a doctor who's behind the request. In a letter sent this month to corrections departments, a group of seven pharmacists, public health experts, and intensive care unit doctors asked states with the death penalty to release any stockpiles they might have of execution drugs to health care facilities. "Your stockpile could save the lives of hundreds of people; though this may be a small fraction of the total anticipated deaths, it is a central ethical directive that medicine values every life, according to the letter." But it's unclear what drugs the states may have, as they have tended to release information about execution protocols and drug supplies only through open records requests or lawsuits. Only one state, Wyoming, responded directly to the letter, and it indicated it doesn't have the drugs in question. "I'm not trying to comment on the rightness or wrongness of capital punishment," said Dr Joel Zivot, one of the medical professionals who signed the letter. "I'm asking now as a bedside clinician caring for patients, please help me." For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. But for some, it can cause severe illness, requiring them to be placed to ventilators to help them breathe. Many medications used to sedate and immobilize people put on ventilators and to treat their pain are the same drugs that states use to put inmates to death. Demand for such drugs surged 73% in March. Twenty-five states have the death penalty, while three have moratoriums on capital punishment. While some states contacted by The Associated Press, including Alabama and Florida, didn't respond to inquiries about the letter, others, including Arkansas, Texas and Utah, limited their comment to mainly saying they don't have the medications in question. Tennessee wouldn't confirm whether it has the drugs and indicated it has no plans to give any medications to a hospital. Oklahoma said it hadn't received any requests for such medications from state hospitals. States may be hesitant to turn over their drugs because they have had problems securing them as many pharmaceutical companies oppose their use in executions, said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. Since 2011, 13 states have enacted new statutes that conceal information about the execution process, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, which takes no position on capital punishment but has criticized the way states carry out executions. Drugs being requested include the sedative midazolam, the paralytic vecuronium bromide and the opioid fentanyl. They're needed because putting a patient on a ventilator "with no drugs ... would be torture," said Zivot, an associate professor of anesthesiology and surgery at Emory University in Atlanta who has studied medicine's role in capital punishment. The tense debate over the supply of execution drugs was highlighted in a 2018 lawsuit that several pharmaceutical companies filed against Nevada over accusations that it illegally obtained its inventory. In a court brief, 15 states, including Florida, Oklahoma and Texas, called the lawsuit part of the guerrilla warfare being waged by antideath-penalty activists and criminal defense attorneys to stop lawful executions." The lawsuit was dismissed this month after Nevada agreed to return its supplies to the companies, leaving the state without any drugs to carry out executions. Pharmaceutical companies have long warned that states' use of these medications for executions could result in shortages, Dunham said. "Some of the responses over the past several years had been, 'That's chicken little saying the sky is falling," Dunham said. "But with COVID-19, the sky has fallen." When Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, had to alter its Month of the Military Child celebration plans, the USO and Airman & Family Readiness Center opted to hand out activity bags to the children. Inside those bags were child-sized face masks. Air Force spouses Edvin Dover and Rachel Miller joined forces to tackle the giant task of making masks to protect the children living on base. "Over the last week and a half, these women handmade almost 400 child-sized masks to give away to the children of Creech AFB community," said Kim Chmielewski, key spouse for the 556th Test and Evaluation Squadron. (Photo Courtesy of Kim Chmielewski) And they aren't the only ones stepping up to help out. Face masks are in incredible demand right now, and many military spouses have been making them for their community and for sale. Units overseas have used military spouse volunteers -- and service members -- to produce masks for the community. Even I have made more than a hundred masks for the local military hospital, my spouse's unit and military spouses in the community. Making masks may be a simple task if you have experience sewing, but they are still time-consuming. Finding materials is another obstacle, as elastic is on back order on Amazon and fabric is limited. With the additional requirements of solid color masks for service members, and even more specific guidelines on colors by particular units, the cost increases. Military spouses Megan Brown and Sarah Mainwaring started sewing and formed the group Milspo Mask Makers at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. They started with masks for health care workers and essential personnel. But when the Defense Department mandated the use of masks on installations, they shifted focus. (Photo Courtesy of Kim Chmielewski) Brown described the assembly line at her kitchen table, where she and Mainwaring sew for eight-hour blocks, producing about 200 masks a day. "We sit at opposite ends of my dining room table. I assemble; my kids flip them inside out and trim them; then Sarah irons, pleats and top-stitches," she said. Milspo Mask Makers is encouraging military spouses "to stand in the gap and sew 10,000 masks for the community." It has partnered with other organizations, like the military spouse-founded nonprofit WeHaveMasks.org to make this a real possibility. Between Milspo Mask Makers and We Have Masks, almost 8,000 masks have been distributed. Do you want to help? Here are some ways you can: 1. If you sew and have material, get going! The most popular pattern (and the easiest, in my opinion) is this one. 2. If you don't sew but want to help, find someone local who is making masks and see if you can help by cutting fabric. 3. If you want to sew but don't have material, consider getting one of the kits from We Have Masks. 4. Post a picture of the masks you have made and use the #milspomaskmakers. Brown admits that it's tiring work, but she knows it's important. She was heartbroken when she saw a young mother turned away from the commissary because she didn't have a required mask, so Brown is donating some to the commissary to prevent that from happening again. "We're going to make masks until we're no longer needed," she said. Keep Up with the Ins and Outs of Military Life For the latest military news and tips on military family benefits and more, subscribe to Military.com and have the information you need delivered directly to your inbox. --Rebecca Alwine can be reached at rebecca.alwine@monster.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebecca_alwine. Harbin, a city in Chinas northeast known for the worlds largest annual ice festival, imposed a near lockdown on Wednesday, banning non-residents and their vehicles from entering residential compounds and tightening restrictions on inbound traffic following a surge in imported Covid-19 cases. The surge in the city involved an imported case from the US who then triggered a big cluster of infections involving two hospitals. According to state media and agency reports, one cluster in Harbin related to the imported case from the US -- involves an 87-year-old man surnamed Chen who had stayed at two hospitals since April 2. Chen is said to have then infected 78 people, with 55 confirmed, though 23 who tested positive have yet to show symptoms. Harbin, the city of around 10 million is the capital of Heilongjiang province, which is close to the Russian border and has become the hardest coronavirus-hit region in China. The gates of all communities and villages (of Harbin) will be guarded, residents who enter and exit must hold a health code, wear masks and show normal body temperatures, while no other people and vehicles will be allowed to enter, new measures adopted by the Harbin government on Wednesday said. Visits and gatherings between families and friends have also been prohibited. Weddings and funerals are also banned under the new anti-epidemic policy, and all public events including performances, forums and exhibitions have been suspended, a state media report said. The city had reported 52 active confirmed cases and 23 asymptomatic infections as of Tuesday midnight. According to the tabloid Global Times, the chain of infection started from a Chinese student surnamed Han who had returned from New York. Han then passed the virus on to her neighbor, triggering a chain infections involving two hospitals after one among the infected Chen, mentioned earlier -- was admitted to one hospital for a separate ailment. The national health commission (NHC) said it received reports of 30 new Covid-19 cases on the mainland on Tuesday, 23 of which were imported. The remaining seven were domestically transmitted, the NHC said, adding that all were reported in Heilongjiang. The overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 82,788 by Tuesday, including 1,005 patients who were still being treated and 77,151 people who had been discharged after recovery, the NHC said. Altogether 4,632 people had died of the disease in China, it said. Heilongjiang has been on the frontline of Chinas latest efforts to identify infected citizens arriving from Russia, with which it shares a border, so as to halt the virus. Earlier this month, Harbin authorities made 28 days of quarantine for all arrivals from abroad mandatory, with two nucleic acid tests and an antibody test for each. Labour Secretary Heeralal Samariya on Wednesday ruled out appropriating funds of the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) for payment of wages to workers or to employers to meet their salary bill during the coronavirus lockdown. There has been lobbying for sometime for using funds of the retirement fund body EPFO as well as ESIC for providing relief to workers to help them sustain themselves during the nationwide lockdown. Earlier this month, a labour ministry spokesperson had also denied any such move to appropriate funds of the ESIC and Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) to give relief to workers under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana or any other scheme. During a webinar organised by industry body FICCI, Samariya said, "ESIC (fund) is a money of insured persons and employers who are contributing (to this social security scheme). It already has a provision that if an employee is unemployed then 25 per cent of wages can be paid." "...but diverting money (of the ESIC) to somebody else or paying the wages is not at all advisable because we want to reduce the contribution further so that it (ESI scheme) can run in better way in future," he added. He also told the industry representatives that ESIC in July last year reduced the contribution towards its insurance scheme ESI from 6.5 per cent to 4 per cent of pay. "Now we are thinking about reducing the contribution further. We would be able to take all these steps if we have money," he pointed out. Central trade unions had strongly condemned the idea of diverting funds of the EPFO as well as ESIC for giving relief to workers under the lockdown. They had demanded that the government should pay for relief from its own budget rather than dipping into the reserves or surplus of the two social security bodies. "Let us not give this idea that ESIC money can be diverted for (payment) wages or to employers...it is the poor man's money. Let it be with them. With great difficulty we are saving it so let us not do it," Samariya said during the webinar. At present, an employer contributes 3.25 per cent and employee contributes 0.75 per cent of gross salary towards ESI. About taking steps to give relief to industry as well as employees, he said the EPFO and ESIC have deferred the payment of contributions towards the social security schemes run by them in view of the lockdown. Talking about labour reforms, he said the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour has given its report on the Code on Industrial Relations and it would soon submit a report on the Code on Social Security. Earlier last year, the Code on Wages got Parliament nod. The codes on occupational health safety, industrial relations and social security were introduced in the Lok Sabha and sent for standing committee scrutiny. The government wants to concise 44 labour laws into four broad codes. Samariya also agreed with the industry that industries should not be booked by law enforcement agencies if their workers get COVID-19. He assured them that he will take up the matter with higher authorities. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) SDLP MLA Matthew OToole who has warned there is a high risk that this crisis will wipe out a significant chunk of our local news media. (Peter Morrison/PA) The Northern Ireland Executive has been urged to take action to support local and regional media amid the coronavirus pandemic. The lockdown has brought challenging conditions for newspapers and other types of media in terms of circulation and advertising revenue. Some titles have furloughed staff while a number of weekly newspapers including the County Down Spectator and Newry Reporter have temporarily halted publication. We are facing a crisis in our local media which threatens not just the people who own papers, but the resilience of the local communities they serve SDLP MLA Matthew O'Toole SDLP MLA Matthew OToole has warned there is a high risk that this crisis will wipe out a significant chunk of our local news media. The South Belfast representative has proposed an action plan for preserving regional, local and community media. This includes a rates holiday for local titles as well as a commitment from the Northern Ireland Executive to expand its advertising buying across media. It also includes a call to facilitate more daily newspaper deliveries for vulnerable groups as well as helping local media plan for the future by expanding their online presence and recruiting new journalists. Mr OToole has also proposed a new two-year 1 million annual Northern Ireland Journalism Fund to train and locally employ young local democracy journalists for the first two years of their careers. Expand Close Matthew OToole who has warned there is a high risk that this crisis will wipe out a significant chunk of our local news media (Peter Morrison/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Matthew OToole who has warned there is a high risk that this crisis will wipe out a significant chunk of our local news media (Peter Morrison/PA) He is asking for grants for local papers to invest in new digital products and digitally upskill their staff, as well as lobbying Westminster and the Irish governments to institute a digital information levy on companies like Google and Facebook to be redirected towards funding local and community journalism. We are facing a crisis in our local media which threatens not just the people who own papers, but the resilience of the local communities they serve, Mr OToole said. Local and regional papers are not just sources of information though that is vital they are the meeting point of people and places. They bind communities together, mitigate against isolation and provide something close to an essential service. For that reason, it is unthinkable that the Northern Ireland Executive would let local papers go to the wall. Im calling on the Executive to take real action to protect these community assets into the future and to ensure Northern Ireland trains the professional journalists it needs to allow citizens to hold their leaders to account. Ive been a civil servant, a politician and a journalist at different points in my career I know that the first two can only work if there are trained journalists to hold them to account and viable local news titles to serve communities. Westlife have become the latest act to cancel their summer tour due to the coronavirus pandemic. The recently reformed Irish boyband currently consisting of Shane Filan, Nicky Byrne, Mark Feehily and Kian Egan were due to embark on a stadium tour of the UK in June and July. A statement on their Instagram page said: To all our UK fans it is with great sadness that despite our best efforts, our shows scheduled for the UK in June and July must be cancelled. We have been monitoring the UK Governments advice surrounding mass gatherings and it is very clear that this is the course we need to take to ensure the protection of our fans, our crew and everyone around us, but also to ease the pressure on those working tirelessly to fight this virus. Those who have been on the Westlife journey with us know how important performing is to us, but also know that safety must come first and foremost in delivering a successful tour. However, the group said their show at Londons Wembley Stadium in August, featuring special guests James Morrison and All Saints, might still go ahead. They said: With regards to our show at Wembley Stadium in London, this is a fluid situation which is being reviewed on a daily basis. Expand Close Little Mix have also axed their summer tour (Owen Humphreys/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Little Mix have also axed their summer tour (Owen Humphreys/PA) We will only deliver this show in August if it is completely safe to do so and will update you as soon as the position is clear. Video of the Day Westlife have enjoyed a successful comeback since reuniting in 2018 for their 20th anniversary, scoring their first UK number one album in more than a decade with Spectrum last November. Spectrum was the bands 11th studio album, and their first since 2010 record Gravity, which peaked at number three in the UK charts. Earlier on Wednesday, girl group Little Mix also cancelled their UK summer arena tour due to the outbreak. They joined a growing list of acts, including The Who, Harry Styles and Miley Cyrus, forced to postpone or cancel tours amid the crisis. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Naomi Tajitsu (Reuters) Tokyo, Japan Wed, April 22, 2020 13:30 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd38495c 2 World Japan,coronavirus,COVID-19,coronavirus-prevention,coronavirus-mask-rush,face-masks Free Japan's effort to distribute protective cloth masks in its coronavirus battle has been marred by complaints about mold, insects, and stains, fuelling further concern that the government has botched its handling of the pandemic. Just weeks after it began supplying every household with two washable, reusable masks at a cost of $430 million in the strategy to contain the virus, the government has been forced to replace some masks following reports of defects from recipients. "I'm thankful to receive these masks, but is this a bug? Debris? Dirt?" asked Twitter user Aiai, posting a photo of two white masks in their original packaging, with what appeared to be an small insect trapped near the side seam of one. In a manga sketch posted by another user, two soiled masks crash through a bedroom window to wake a man from sleep. The issue has generated its own Twitter hashtag, #Abenomask, a pun on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's "Abenomics" economic strategy. The Health Ministry confirmed that by Friday it had shipped nearly 30 million masks to pregnant women, medical and nursing facilities and schools. These drew 1,903 complaints of soiled or defective products, the vast majority from pregnant women. "We are asking manufacturers to confirm how these defects occurred, and asking for their cooperation in replacing the defective products," a ministry spokesman said. Japan's tally of infections stood at 11,500 by Wednesday. As infections rise, Abe's government faces growing pressure over what many see as delays prompted by a desire to avoid a shutdown of the economy. "Ensure confidence" Abe announced the policy of masks for Japan's 50 million households on April 2, as calls mounted for a lockdown nationwide. Last week, he widened to the entire country a state of emergency declared in the largest cities on April 7. "We would like to ensure that people have confidence in the safety of these masks," chief government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters on Wednesday. The pandemic has caused a shortage of masks in Japan, where the items fashioned from paper or cloth are a common sight, particularly in winter and spring. Electronics maker Sharp has halted online sales of masks until further notice, after overwhelming demand crashed its website soon after it began taking orders on Tuesday. Stained, moldy masks have provoked the latest social media complaints about Abe's initiative, following gripes about their poor design and fit as well as criticism of the use of tax money. "Hey, Abe - it's not too late to stop sending those masks around!" wrote a Twitter user with the name "King of the Wind". "Instead, set up a good and broad testing system, provide enough medical equipment, and support the doctors and nurses who are working without sleep or rest." The percentage of women and girls in Nicaragua's second-largest city who reported experiencing physical violence by their partners during their lifetimes decreased from 55% in 1995 to 28% in 2016, according to a new study published in the journal BMJ Global Health. Researchers at the George Washington University's Global Women's Institute (GWI), in partnership with the Autonomous National University of Nicaragua at Leon and InterCambios, a Nicaraguan nongovernmental organization, recorded the decline in a follow-up study conducted on intimate partner violence (IPV) in the city of Leon 20 years after the initial prevalence study. Led by GWI Director Mary Ellsberg, the research team also found that women and girls reporting physical violence by partners in the 12 months preceding their study interviews decreased from 28% to 8%. The team recorded similar decreases in emotional violence over respondents' lifetimes (from 71% to 42%) as well as the preceding 12-month period (from 43% to 23%) of the study. No significant difference was found in the prevalence of lifetime sexual violence between the two time periods. The only other country to our knowledge with a documented reduction in IPV prevalence is the U.S., where the Justice Department reported a similar decrease in IPV victimization between 1994 to 2012. That Nicaragua, the second-poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, shows a comparable reduction in IPV to the U.S. is a stunning achievement." Dr. Mary Ellsberg, GWI Director Intimate partner violence is defined as physical violence, sexual violence, stalking or psychological harm by a current or former partner or spouse. Thirty-five percent of women globally experience sexual or physical IPV or nonpartner sexual violence at some point in their lives, according to the World Health Organization. Though efforts to address violence against women and girls around the world increased over the last 25 years, few studies measured a long-enough period to adequately measure large-scale and sustained reductions in IPV and to identify the proven strategies that work to reduce violence. GWI led the first study to measure population-level change in IPV prevalence over a 20-year period. It conducted the study in Leon by comparing prevalence of physical, emotional and sexual violence against women and girls between 1995 and 2016. During that time period, the influence of the Nicaraguan women's movement over social policies and the movement's efforts to increase women's knowledge of their rights spurred multiple sectors of Nicaraguan society to address violence against women and girls, resulting in legislative and judicial reforms as well as collaboration among the police, government ministries, civil society organizations and others to protect and support victims. The study included additional data findings: Physical IPV Lifetime (happened at least once during their lifetime) decreased from 55% to 28%. 63% decrease in violence when controlling for possible factors that could influence the results, such as age and education 12-month prevalence (happened in the 12 months preceding study interviews) decreased from 28% to 8%. 71% decrease in violence when controlling for possible factors that could influence the results, such as age and education Emotional IPV Lifetime decreased from 71% to 43%. 66% decrease in violence when controlling for possible factors that could influence the results, such as age and education 12-month prevalence decreased from 43% to 23%. 51% decrease in violence when controlling for possible factors that could influence the results, such as age and education Sexual IPV Lifetime decreased from 20% to 15%, but that change was not statistically significant. The researchers noted the reduction in violence was not primarily because of demographic shifts, such as increased education or age, but reflected a true decrease in the prevalence of IPV. They concluded that violence against women and girls is preventable through large-scale, structural interventions undertaken by advocacy groups, civil society organizations, national governments, international donors and other sectors. Now, however, the ongoing violence in Nicaragua and the COVID-19 crisis may threaten those gains. "Defenders of women's rights have been prominent in the movement calling for election reforms and justice for those who were killed or arbitrarily detained," Dr. Ellsberg said. "As for COVID-19, we can assume that many more women will experience domestic violence, so the need to reestablish services and support for women and girls suffering from violence is even more critical." Experience: Rahul Dhir served as CEO of Cairn India from 2006 to 2012 Irish exploration group Tullow Oil has appointed Rahul Dhir as its new chief executive. He replaces Paul McDade, who resigned from the helm of the group in December. Mr Dhir is currently CEO of Delonex Energy, an Africa-focused oil and gas company that he founded in 2013. Under his leadership, Delonex has delivered low-cost drilling and seismic operations in sub-Saharan Africa. In Chad, the company has achieved "material exploration success and discovered substantial oil resources", according to a statement from Tullow. Delonex has also delivered exploration campaigns in Ethiopia and Kenya, where it operates an oil block with Tullow as a non-operating partner. Prior to establishing Delonex, Mr Dhir served as managing director and CEO of oil business Cairn India from its initial public offering (IPO) in 2006 until 2012. With oil prices currently collapsing, the newcomer will face a massive task at Tullow. Last month Tullow said it was to reduce its headcount by 35pc after it reported a loss after tax of $1.7bn (1.56bn)for 2019, on the back of exploration write-offs and impairments. Dorothy Thompson, chair of Tullow Oil, yesterday said she was "delighted to welcome Rahul to Tullow and am very pleased that he has accepted the position of CEO". "His oil & gas, financial and African experience combined with his record of strong leadership made him the stand-out candidate for the board," she said. Mr Dhir started his career as a petroleum engineer, before moving into investment banking where he led teams at Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch, advising oil and gas companies on merger and acquisition and capital market issues. A UK citizen, he was educated at the Indian Institute of Technology, the University of Texas and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Job Langbroek, analyst at Davy Stockbrokers, said Mr Dhir "looks to have the right mix of African, new venture and business mix experience". "Oil markets are clearly shredded at the moment," said Mr Langbroek. "However, taking the view that this reflects the immediate oversupply/Covid-19 scenario, the news today should in time put Tullow back on a stronger footing." Founded by former Aer Lingus accountant Aidan Heavey over 35 years ago, Tullow primarily focuses its oil production and exploration activities in Africa. Shares in the company were down 10.8pc in afternoon trading yesterday. CCP Virus Tracing App Code Will Be Published for Transparency Speaking to reporters in Canberra on April 21, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison addressed privacy concerns about the yet-to-be-released COVID-19 contact tracing app called COVID Trace, and said the code will be published for transparency. Morrison said it is an important tool to help track the spread of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as coronavirus. Concerns were raised by some members of Parliament and former politicians about data security and privacy. The prime minister insisted that no Commonwealth government department or agency would have access to the data, including Home Affairs. The app only collects data and puts it into an encrypted national store which can only be accessed by the states and territories, said Morrison. Morrisons statements about the app are part of ongoing efforts to get at least 40 percent of the nation to use it. Firstly, it protects Australians in their own health and those of their own family by participating in this process. Secondly, it helps other Australians to keep them safe Thirdly, it ensures that we can more effectively get back to a more normal setting where we have widespread take-up of this app and we will say more about that when we are in a position to launch the app in the not-too-distant future, said Morrison. COVID Trace is based on a Singaporean app called TraceTogether. Researchers from Macquarie University (pdf) released a study on Trace Together and found that the app continued to store data after 21 dayswhen it was meant to be deleted. Some politicians have been supportive, however, some have been fairly outspoken about their issues with the app. On April 19, Federal MP and former Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce wrote about his privacy concerns on Twitter, citing a study by Imperial College London about metadata being used to identify users. I have to add some further information for Minister Robert to consider in regards the four pieces of information he refers to and anonymity. I am putting my faith in Imperial College London and the malevolence of those who hack and mine databases. pic.twitter.com/VRRb8gQ4zi Barnaby Joyce (@Barnaby_Joyce) April 19, 2020 I think most Australians, like me, arent too concerned where Barnaby is, said General Services Minister Stuart Robert in an interview with ABC News Breakfast on April 20. He went on to say that there will be a privacy impact assessment published for the public to read. Well publish the codebase so youll be able to see exactly what the app does. And remember this is all about saying hey youve been in contact with, not where you are, he said. The prime minister said issues such as these were addressed at a National Cabinet meeting. There will be the privacy statement which is being developed up with the privacy commissioner. There are also the technical assurances that we have been working very carefully through. We have not been rushing to this solution, he said. App Code Transparency Speaking on Triple M radio with host Brian Carlton, Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt was aksed about Minister Roberts comments about the open-source aspects of the app. Your government has said that youll release the source code so all the pointy heads, the geeks, and the nerds can go through it line by line basically to see what it contains and whether those promises are actually true. Are you prepared to do that still? as Carlton. The first thing we want to do is make sure that were protecting the safety and the privacy of individuals. Everything that can be released, will be, for sure, said Hunt. Compared with what happens every day in terms of your engagements with Google or Apple or [Amazon], its a scintilla, Hunt stressed. In fact, Google and Apple are teaming up to create a contact tracing app of their own. The New Zealand government, meanwhile, is taking an old-fashioned approach. I noticed in New Zealand they are asking people to keep diaries of these things, said Morrison on April 21. Australias app is being launched to help track the spread of the CCP virus in Australia. The crisis caused by the virus has severely impacted Australias public health and economy. The app is scheduled to be released within the next two weeks once technical matters are resolved. A decade ago, a Catholic man named Victor Damian Rozo denounced his religion to serve who he believes to be the "one true God," Lucifer. Rozo, a Colombian man, claimed to be the very Son of the devil, establishing what others now know as the Templo de Lucifer. Templo de Lucifer, also known as The Luciferian Seeds of Light Temple, is located in Quimbaya, Colombia. The "church" itself is bedecked in symbols commonly associated with Satanism, including inverted crosses, and Baphomet sigils and idols. Belief System Luciferianism is a belief system that hails Lucifer as a guardian and a light bringer that guides spirits to darkness. Though often associated with Satanism, Luciferianism worships "a broader idea of Lucifer" based on ancient Greek and Egyptian cultures. In both ancient societies, Lucifer, who is also referred to as "the morning star," signifies enlightenment, independence, and progressiveness. According to Learn Religions, Luciferianism revolves around seeking knowledge. Worshippers are not dependent on Lucifer the way other religions regard their key figures. Knowledge is fluid and open to criticism and change. Luciferians are encouraged to keep a dynamic perspective of life and view knowledge and wisdom as the key to happiness. Luciferianism also celebrates arts and sciences the way people who lived in the Rennaissance era adhered to creative expression and scientific exploration. In the Luciferian belief system, arts and sciences are important to personal development. The Temple In an interview with a media company, Victor Damian Rozo claimed he is arranging an army of Lucifer's children to "confront" the Catholic church who they refer to as "the grand whore." Rozo said he denounced Catholicism primarily due to their history, a subject that has been criticized for decades. He also claims the Catholic Church has involved millions of people across the world in "a huge scam." The Catholic church has been embroiled in multiple controversies, including covering up thousands of sexual misconduct involving priests. High-ranking officials and church leaders were often transferred to other religious institutions when complaints came in. In February 2012, the Roman Catholic Church also cut funding for a small nonprofit organization after the group joined forces with an LGBTQ+ advocacy group. In the Seeds of Light temple, Rozo said the idea of evil does not exist. Followers are judged based on their character and behavior. Devil's Pact The Templo de Lucifer performs pacts with the devil that effectively "changes a person's doctrine and religion." A pact, Rozo said, only requires worshippers to embrace and accept Lucifer. The temple was established after Lucifer visited Rozo in his sleep. He said the Morning Star selected him as "the chosen one." He was also ordered to organize a Luciferian army made of loyal souls. A man who lost his legs and was living in poverty allegedly gained money, a car, and a better life status after he turned to the Devil. A local journalist who investigated the church, however, found Rozo paid the handicapped man to promote the church. The Temple of Lucifer was also accused of playing with people's hopes and dreams. They also arranged to undergo an initiation where Rozo was caught and recorded negotiating money for actors who would play as the temple's believers. Materials and items used during the ceremony were thrown away in bushes or in the pool after the event, signifying that Lucifer's "son" may also have doubts in his "faith." "No doubt, this guy knows how to put on a show," the journalist said. Watch the full video below: Want to read other interesting stories? Check these out: If you're an ardent fan of Thalapathy Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi, then the following piece of information will definitely get you super excited. Well, according to the latest buzz, Sethupathi has bought the Tamil remake rights of his Telugu film, Uppena, which was supposed to arrive in theatres on April 2 but has been postponed due to the Coronavirus lockdown. That's not all! According to cinemaexpress.com, the Super Deluxe actor will not only produce the Tamil version of Uppena, but he will also play the antagonist in the film. As if that's not enough, Sethupathi is even going to launch Thalapathy Vijay's son, Jason Sanjay, through his production venture. Yes, you heard that right. Jason Sanjay is going to make his acting debut in Tamil with the remake of Uppena. A source in the know told Cinema Express, "Vijay Sethupathi discussed the script of Uppena with Vijay on the sets of Master, and the latter felt it would be an ideal debut for his son." Now, isn't that the best news that you've heard today? We definitely think so! Buchi Babu Sana, who has directed the original, will also helm the Tamil remake. Vijay Sethupathi will bankroll the project along with Mythri Movie Makers and the official announcement about the film and its casting will be made once Jason returns from Canada. The young lad is currently studying filmmaking and is expected to be back in Chennai after the situation gets normal. We hear the Tamil version of Uppena will go on floors early next year. Well, in that case, we hope things pan out smoothly for Jason, as we just can't wait to see him lock horns with Vijay Sethupathi in his very first film. What's interesting is that Sethupathi is also the villain in Thalapathy Vijay-starrer Master, which is one of the most-awaited Tamil films of the year. ALSO READ Uppena: Vijay Sethupathi's Intense Look As Rayanam Is Impressive The tragic final texts of a retired NYPD sergeant who died alone in the street hours after being diagnosed with COVID-19 reveal how his friend desperately tried to save his life. Yon Chang, 56, was suffering from hallucinations and a 105-degree fever when he collapsed outside Lenox Hill Hospital on Manhattan's Upper East Side at around 2am on April 7. He was found by a friend, Dr Marvin Moy, who came looking for him after receiving a slew of distressed messages from the former cop. Chang had discharged himself from the hospital hours earlier against the advice of doctors, according to texts Moy shared with the New York Daily News on Wednesday. Moy recounted how he dragged his delirious friend back to the hospital whilst listening to him ramble about how the ER was crawling with Nazis, goblins and ghosts. When they arrived at the ER entrance, Moy claims that Chang fell to the floor while a hospital administrator and city cop working security denied him re-admission. 'The man was clearly not in his right mind,' recalled Moy. 'He was obviously highly infectious... The man had hours to live.' Lenox Hill denied Moy's account, saying that Chang had fought against re-admission and emphasizing the fact that he had ignored doctors' advice when he left in the first place. Retired NYPD sergeant Yon Chang, 56, was found dead in the street on April 7, hours after he was diagnosed with COVID-19. Tragic final texts reveal how Chang's doctor friend desperately tried to save his life after the former cop checked himself out of the hospital In the texts with Moy, Chang acknowledged that he had left 'A. M. A.' - against medical advice. In a message at 1.30am on April 7, Chang told Moy: 'I'm cry low energy. In the door stoop e. 77th and park.' Moy responded: 'You better get back into a hospital. You're going to crash and die.' He then asked where Chang was, to which he replied: 'In on en e 77 and park.' 'Ok,' Moy wrote back. 'I'm coming over and providing you with protective gear.' Dr Marvin Moy went looking for Chang after receiving a slew of distressed text messages in which he said that he was 'low energy' and sitting on a stoop near the hospital After arriving at the scene and confirming Chang's spiking fever, Moy brought him to the ER. When staff allegedly wouldn't readmit Chang, Moy left him standing by the entrance and went to go get some snacks and drinks to help get his energy up. Chang was nowhere in sight when Moy returned, at which point he texted: 'I'm here looking around. I can't find you. 'Yon ... where'd you disappear to? I'm back with a red bull food and more drinks. 'I'm here looking for you and its beginning to rain. 'Yon. I need you to muster all your energy and respond back to me.' But Chang never responded. Moy said he assumed that the hospital had brought Chang inside for treatment. 'I went home. The next morning I heard on the news they had found a body. My heart sank,' Moy said. Hospital staff on their way to work discovered Chang's body on the traffic island at E 77th St and Park Ave. Moy told the Daily News he wanted to share his side of the story because: 'I want his family to know... someone was there.' File image of the emergency room at Lenox Hill Hospital pictured on April 2 Chang was appointed to the NYPD in February 1994, working out of the 110th Precinct in Queens. He was promoted to sergeant in December 2006 before retiring in 2014 from the Upper East Side's 19th Precinct. 'It's tragic. We extend our sympathy to his family. It's almost like a science-fiction movie. This isn't ending, and the impact of coronavirus is hitting the people who are closest to us,' Ed Mullins, the president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, said on Chang's passing. 'This is a sergeant who was at the point where he was retired, and he should be enjoying himself,' he added. Chang's relatives are seen holding a photo of him at his funeral last week, which was attended by NYPD officials Chang is seen left in a tribute posted to Twitter after his death KALAMAZOO, MI -- The number of positive COVID-19 cases in Kalamazoo County are now into the triple digits and elected officials want to know where the cases are located. Kalamazoo City Commissioner Erin Knott encouraged her fellow commissioners and constituents earlier this week to ask Kalamazoo County Health Officer Jim Rutherford to release zip code data tracking the positive cases. Knott said she and Kalamazoo County Chairperson Julie Rogers requested the health department to make a heat map to show COVID-19 hot spots but were met with little interested from Rutherford. Both of us are stumped as to why this wouldnt be a tool to help protect our first responders and also help with resource allocation, Knott said. Most importantly, weve all heard dozens and dozens of times that we dont have enough testing so this would give us an inclination of where there is community spread. During the April 21 county commissioner meeting Rutherford and Medical Director William Nettleton addressed their concerns around releasing zip code data. RELATED: Why isnt more Michigan coronavirus data available by zip code? In part, the concern came from protecting patient privacy, Rutherford said. There are some areas of the county that have as few as one or two positives therefore the zip code could be considered identifiable information, he said. Nettleton said as a rule of thumb, public health data needs to have a sample size of at least six to protect privacy. Health officials did recognize that sample size is becoming a moot point as testing ramps up at hospitals, the health department and the Family Health Center. On Tuesday, the Kalamazoo County recorded 201 positive cases. In southeast Michigan, where most of the states people and cases are located, Wayne, Macomb, Oakland, St. Clair and Livingston counties, as well as the city of Detroit, are reporting cases and/or deaths at either the municipality or zip code level. Kent County officials plan to join a growing number of Michigan counties disclosing COVID-19 cases and deaths at the zip-code or municipality level. Ottawa County, which is a little larger than Kalamazoo County but has fewer cases, has begun reporting a list of cases by zip code. In contrast, the state health department has taken a similar stance to Nettleton and Rutherford saying that zip code data does not provide actionable information for residents. Zip code data would misrepresent the spread of COVID-19 in the county, Nettleton said. Given that the virus is spread rapidly through exposure to carriers, public places like grocery stores are more likely to be exposure sites than a home, he said. Its a false conclusion for folks to make if theyre using graphical representation to say, Well, I just wont go to this part of the county or this zip code to avoid getting sick'," Nettleton said. On the flip side, a zip code map could also misrepresent an outbreak as being more widespread than it is. Nettleton used nursing homes as an example of a site that might have a cluster of cases even if the surrounding area did not. RELATED: A timeline of coronavirus in the Kalamazoo area This week, the health department released a map of Kalamazoo Countys cases broken down in more broad geographic terms than zip code. The map shows 63.2% of cases were in a central urban region, compared to 25.9% in the west portion and 10.9% in the east portion of the county. The health department data defined the urban region as all of the cities of Kalamazoo and Portage in addition to Parchment and Kalamazoo Township. During the zip code discussion, Democrat Stephanie Moore raised concerns about people of color disproportionately being infected both in the county and statewide. Of the 201 cases confirmed as of Tuesday, 74 people were black, making up 36.8% of the countys total confirmed cases. African Americans make up less than 12% of the countys total population, according to the latest census data. In Michigan, African Americans make up 14% of the population but represent 33% of confirmed cases and 40% of the deaths caused by the COVID-19 virus. Im so concerned that we have to have a plan thats based on equity, and its led with diversity and community, Moore said. And some community input in it, because we cannot be an afterthought. Commissioners continued to press for the zip code data in an effort to make sure the areas with the greatest need were receiving resources. Rutherford responded to commissioners saying that although the zip code data isnt being made public, the health department is tracking it. We are allocating our response and our resources based upon the information that we have, he said. I assure you that those considerations are being taken. A visual representation of the increasing case counts and death toll in Kalamazoo County is shown below, based on data reported by the state. Apparent conflicts in data reported there result from slight differences in daily case counts provided by state and county health officials. Browser does not support frames. More coronavirus coverage on MLive: 60 coronavirus cases, 1 death at Plainwell meat plant Kalamazoo City Commission approves needle exchange program Kalamazoo State Theatre will host virtual prom on Facebook Live Second coronavirus outbreak this winter could be worse than this one, CDC chief warns Bronson Healthcare announces pay cuts, furloughs amid coronavirus financial downturn $11K of laundry supplies, services given to Kalamazoo families in honor of advocate who was killed Mississippi will file suit against China over the coronavirus pandemic, state Attorney General Lynn Fitch announced Wednesday. In a statement, Fitch said China must be held accountable for the malicious and dangerous acts that caused death, health injuries and serious economic loss from the COVID-19 crisis. Too many Mississippians have suffered as a result of Chinas cover-up, she added. They must not be allowed to act with impunity. Mississippians deserve justice and I will seek that in court. Mississippi currently has 4,716 cases of coronavirus with 183 total deaths. Earlier this week, Missouri became the first state to sue China over the virus, which originated in Wuhan in December before spreading to the U.S. where it has killed more than 46,000 people. Missouris civil lawsuit filed in federal court claims China is responsible for the enormous death, suffering, and economic losses they inflicted on the world, including Missourians. Missouri currently has 6,137 cases of coronavirus with 208 deaths. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 13:16:17|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Local people arrange the coffin of a victim of a roadside bomb on a vehicle in Ghazni city, Afghanistan, April 22, 2020. Four Afghan civilians were killed when a vehicle they were traveling in touched off a roadside bomb in eastern Ghazni province Tuesday night, provincial government spokesman confirmed on Wednesday. (Photo by Sayed Mominzadah/Xinhua) GHAZNI, Afghanistan, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Four Afghan civilians were killed when a vehicle they were traveling in touched off a roadside bomb in eastern Ghazni province Tuesday night, provincial government spokesman confirmed on Wednesday. "The incident occurred in Peerka locality of Khogyani district. The district police officials were trying to find and notify the next of kin of the victims," spokesman Harif Noori told Xinhua. He blamed enemies of peace, referring to the Taliban militant group, for the attack in the province, 125 km south of the country's capital Kabul. Militants in Afghanistan have been using home-made IEDs to make roadside bombs and landmines to target security forces, but the lethal weapons also inflict casualties on civilians. On Tuesday morning, two police officers were killed and three police officials, including provincial police chief, were injured after a roadside bomb struck a police van in central Daikundi province. Auctions will take place in April and May, and will be held online. A24, which is based in New York, will give the proceeds to four local organizations: the FDNY Foundation, which supports the New York City Fire Department; the hunger-relief nonprofit Food Bank for New York City; the public health-care organization NYC Health + Hospitals; and the Queens Community House, which provides services to children and adults throughout Queens. The first auction begins Wednesday at a24auctions.com. Each auction will last 16 days. Other items going on the block include the 33-pound floral dress worn by Florence Pugh for the finale of Ari Asters Midsommar; a skateboard from Jonah Hills Mid90s; a shoe-box time capsule from Bo Burnhams Eighth Grade; and the enormous replica lighthouse lens that enthralls the keepers played by Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe in The Lighthouse. Centrists cannibalizing themselves as the poc ones realize the white ones dgaf about them. You love to see it Reply Parent Thread Link This is why he should *NOT* pick anyone who ran in 2020. It's time to bust up these cults of personality. Apparently the Pete stans are going fucking WILD over Biden's team not hiring anyone from his failed campaign. Reply Parent Thread Link Heh. And Bernie followers are the cult, amirite? Reply Parent Thread Link I dont understand twitter! Im trying to follow the thread and idk wht the fuck is going on Reply Parent Thread Link Lmao so idpol until we actually just end up with a white person. Funny how that works. Reply Parent Thread Link I can only laugh at them at this point. The KHive really thought that voting for Joe Biden was going to pay off for them in some largely meaningless symbolic representation. They can't even get that. Reply Parent Thread Link lmao there was a user here with a jade from little mix icon that pulled the same "you poc are should be happy to have us white women" bs Reply Parent Thread Expand Link They can fight amongst each other because that is a losing battle either way. I wont be voting for Joe period unless he picks a progressive VP. Some of us vote based on policy not faux woke identity politics. Reply Parent Thread Link So many people complacent about Trvmp getting re-elected in those threads. Kind of makes you wonder how they think they're gonna survive four more years of Trvmp. Reply Parent Thread Link wait didn't like 50% of white women vote for trump?? wtf kind of comment is that Reply Parent Thread Link It was interesting that Stacey at first was like nah idts but now really go for it. Idk why but Pitbull is crazy fine to me. Im immediately attracted and smitten by him. Smh Reply Thread Link same re pitbull. Though I think hes looking a bit to thin here. I have a thing for stocky guys lol. Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah! He does.... I noticed after his hairy arms got me all . He got all silver foxy now. Unf Reply Parent Thread Link I hate that Fireball song. So now everything Pittbul related gives me an automatic migraine Reply Parent Thread Link Pitbull live is AMAZING. I totally got a bb crush afterward and he just happened to be on a jingle ball bill I went to Reply Parent Thread Link Pitbull has been doing it for me recently but also I haven't been outside in a month, so Reply Parent Thread Link He aint picking Stacy. Hes 100% picking Whitmer. Reply Thread Link He ain't picking Whitmer. His numbers go down by 2 pts with her on the ticket. He does better in polling without her. She adds nothing to the ticket. He's been polling way ahead of Trvmp with white, blue collar voters in 300 swing districts on his own. She doesn't excite the base of the Democratic party, she's not the one. Reply Parent Thread Link I want you to love me is a pretty weak opener and song in the collection, IMHO. Rack of His, Cosmonauts, Ladies....are the strongest to me. Maybe it's just not your thing! There are a lot of artists in the vein of Fiona that I just can't get into. Reply Parent Thread Link I grew up listening to her and am not that into it either tbh (though it is growing on me). Have you listened to anything off of Extraordinary Machine? Reply Parent Thread Link Las Vegas Mayor offers city as "control group", "we offer to be a control group" to see how many people die without social distancing. pic.twitter.com/NESE2hActE Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) April 22, 2020 Reply Thread Link holy crap at her getting mad at him even tho that's exactly what she said! Reply Parent Thread Link Ummm....I think maybe the people who live there should get a say on being offered up as lab rats. Reply Parent Thread Link That was crazy Reply Parent Thread Link What the fuck Reply Parent Thread Link truly wild Reply Parent Thread Link Holy shit shes insane. She claimed that she had a family so she wouldnt go back into the casinos if they were opened. That just show how little she values the people that work there. Reply Parent Thread Link That truly shocked me. Like she really doesn't think the workers have families too? Or she just doesn't care. Reply Parent Thread Link Disgusting but not surprising. At least she's up front with how vile she is. Reply Parent Thread Link She just primaried herself after this I hope because YIKES Reply Parent Thread Link This ho is crazy. I cant believe shes my mayor Reply Parent Thread Link This was unreal. Reply Parent Thread Link To be honest, I have no idea how youd open a city like Las Vegas with social distancing. Its like New York City. Its just too crowded. Even if you could solve the issue inside the casinos, what do you do about the outside? And its not like they have a decent leader in her. Reply Parent Thread Link insanity. the questions he asked were good Reply Parent Thread Link She pushed Anderson over the edge. He was ready to reach through the screen and grab her by the collar. Kind of tells you about Nevada voters, that they elected her mayor of Vegas. Reply Parent Thread Link It's been such a wonderful journey where I've found so much beauty so I hope you all hit shuffle and find something too x https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1oHyxK1f4FO2uRz8PyFDJq?si=lqfnM113QD-i4APqiEj_hw I'm always plugging this, and I hope I'm not getting on anyone's nerves but I've spent quarantine curating a female-centtic Spotify playlist and I'd love suggestions.It's been such a wonderful journey where I've found so much beauty so I hope you all hit shuffle and find something too x Reply Thread Link i can't open right now but will listen later! is it just songs by women or is there another theme as well? Reply Parent Thread Link It's just female artists. I'm sorely lacking in areas like bands with a female musician but not the lead. I know dick about most popular music and a whole lot of other stuff. That's what I've loved about this project, I've found so many wonderful female musicians and therefore so much fantastic music! Reply Parent Thread Link 3/4 members of the band Tropical Fuck Storm are women but a dude is usually doing the main vocals so idk if that would count? Reply Parent Thread Link iLe I saw her live and it was amazing! also her second album has very intelligent lyrics regarding many issues in Puerto Rico today. from around the world: Ana Tijoux Lido Pimienta La Lupe, Celia Cruz, La India Olga Tanon Ivy Queen Angelique Kidjo Blaya Karol Conka, MC Carol Shiina Ringo (and band Tokyo Jihen. Her voice is divisive but I like how she composes in different genres) Cifika Singersen Zuzuka Poderosa Kinoco Hotel (Concha) Buika Ding Wei Mala Rodriguez Renata Flores Brown-Eyed Girls Aaradhna Coraline Clement Neon Bunny Bonnie Pink Gal Costa Toto la Momposina Susana Baca Maria Rita Laura Mam Pen Ran and Ros Serey Sothea Mojo Juju Cilla Black Princess Nokia Dessa Sa Dingding Kate Nash Akiko Wada Miriam Bryant Rhiannon Ghiddens MOI Sampa the Great Nicole Atkins Little Simz Rico Nasty Shirley Bassey Yseult (I'm including video because her name alone turns up a ton of results) current-day jazz vocalists: Melanie de Blasio Cecile McLorin Salvant vocal oddities: Happy Rhodes Alexandra Savior Gwenno (originally a member of The Pipettes) Indila Mercedes Peon Alev Lenz Malukah Peaches Tanya Taqaq composers: Anna Meredith Jlin Sneha Khanwalkar Kelly Moran Yoko Kanno all the composers on this album (it is performed by guys tho) http://www.duonoire.com/music-2 on the doom and gloom side: Anna von Hausswolff Helen Money Cold Specks female-vocal-heavy bands of various genres: Crystal Fairy (special project w the lead singer of Les Butcherettes) The Noisettes (now lead Shingai Shoniwa has gone solo) Banda Magda Music Go Music Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton (also from Metric as well as Broken Social Scene) Rita Indiana y los Misterios Bomba Estereo (Li Saumet) Band of Skulls Blood Red Shoes Black Mountain The Bombay Royale Bones (UK) Dengue Fever Os Mutantes The Kills Monchy y Alexandra Veronica Falls Nico Vega Pridjevi Radiation City Wednesday Campanella Haya Band Ladytron finally, two rap videos: sorry that I'm not explaining much but I think I'll run into character limitiLeI saw her live and it was amazing! also her second album has very intelligent lyrics regarding many issues in Puerto Rico today.from around the world:Ana TijouxLido PimientaLa Lupe, Celia Cruz, La IndiaOlga TanonIvy QueenAngelique KidjoBlayaKarol Conka, MC CarolShiina Ringo (and band Tokyo Jihen. Her voice is divisive but I like how she composes in different genres)CifikaSingersenZuzuka PoderosaKinoco Hotel(Concha) BuikaDing WeiMala RodriguezRenata FloresBrown-Eyed GirlsAaradhnaCoraline ClementNeon BunnyBonnie PinkGal CostaToto la MomposinaSusana BacaMaria RitaLaura MamPen Ran and Ros Serey SotheaMojo JujuCilla BlackPrincess NokiaDessaSa DingdingKate NashAkiko WadaMiriam BryantRhiannon GhiddensMOISampa the GreatNicole AtkinsLittle SimzRico NastyShirley BasseyYseult (I'm including video because her name alone turns up a ton of results)current-day jazz vocalists:Melanie de BlasioCecile McLorin Salvantvocal oddities:Happy RhodesAlexandra SaviorGwenno (originally a member of The Pipettes)IndilaMercedes PeonAlev LenzMalukahPeachesTanya Taqaqcomposers:Anna MeredithJlinSneha KhanwalkarKelly MoranYoko Kannoall the composers on this album (it is performed by guys tho)on the doom and gloom side:Anna von HausswolffHelen MoneyCold Specksfemale-vocal-heavy bands of various genres:Crystal Fairy (special project w the lead singer of Les Butcherettes)The Noisettes (now lead Shingai Shoniwa has gone solo)Banda MagdaMusic Go MusicEmily Haines and the Soft Skeleton (also from Metric as well as Broken Social Scene)Rita Indiana y los MisteriosBomba Estereo (Li Saumet)Band of SkullsBlood Red ShoesBlack MountainThe Bombay RoyaleBones (UK)Dengue FeverOs MutantesThe KillsMonchy y AlexandraVeronica FallsNico VegaPridjeviRadiation CityWednesday CampanellaHaya BandLadytronfinally, two rap videos: Reply Parent Thread Link thank you for reminding me to listen to fetch the bolt cutters again. Reply Thread Link I am obsessively listening to billy woods. he's so underrated The touch screen cold, glow, shine Couldn't read a book if I tried A failure of imagination They say the treatment outpatient Everything outdated the day it come out Hurtlin' down, the ground racin' I'm sure he doesn't have the biggest budget for music videos but they're always visually interesting! Reply Thread Link Id love to see what Stacey could do on a grand scale tbh Reply Thread Link North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks during a political bureau meeting of the ruling Workers' Party, April 11, according to the North's state media reports the day after. A South Korean media outlet reported, Monday, that Kim received a cardiovascular surgery on April 12 and his condition was improving, while CNN reported he is in grave danger. Yonhap By Kim Rahn Speculation is rising on the physical condition of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, following reports of a suspected cardiovascular surgical procedure. While South Korean online media dealing with North Korea issues reported he was recovering from the recent operation, CNN reported he was "in grave danger." Citing a local source in the North, the South Korean media outlet the Daily NK reported Monday that Kim underwent the surgery at Hyangsan Medical Center near Mount Myohyang in North Pyongan Province, an exclusive hospital for the Kim family, April 12, and has been receiving treatment at his vacation home nearby. According to the Daily NK, the procedure was performed by a surgeon from Kim Man Yu Hospital, the North's most up-to-date medical facility in Pyongyang, attended by other renowned doctors in the country who were mobilized to Hyangsan. Most of them were sent back to Pyongyang, Sunday, as Kim's condition was improving and only a few are still there to check on his condition, the source said. However, CNN reported, Tuesday morning (KST), that the U.S. had monitored intelligence that Kim was in a serious condition after the surgery, citing a U.S. official with direct knowledge of the matter. However, citing an official from the Chinese Communist Party's International Liaison Department, Reuters reported Kim was not believed to be critically ill. Kim's grandfather and the country's founder Kim Il-sung as well as father Kim Jong-il all died from acute myocardial infarction, and the latter is known to have suffered from high blood pressure, diabetes and hyperlipidemia. Experts have noted the current leader could easily develop cardiovascular system-related diseases because of his family history, obesity and smoking habit. Regarding the reports, Cheong Wa Dae said later in the day that there had been no unusual signs to suggest Kim was suffering from a health problem. "As to the reports on Chairman Kim Jong-un's health issue, we have nothing to confirm, and so far we haven't spotted any specific signs within the North," presidential spokesman Kang Min-seok said in a message to reporters. An official from the unification ministry also said it had no official comment about the reports. Ranking officials of North Korea attend a ceremony at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang, April 15, to mark the anniversary of founder Kim Il-sung's birth, in this photo released by the North's state-run Rodong Sinmun, April 16. Current leader Kim Jong-un did not attend, raising speculation about his health. Yonhap Uttam Ghosh offers his take on the lynching that occurred in Palghar, Maharashtra, on the night of April 16, 2020. The police have arrested 101 people involved in the killing of two sadhus and their driver. The three men were dragged out of their car and beaten to death by a mob who suspected that they were child lifters. The Maharashtra government has ordered an inquiry into the crime, which has led the Bharatiya Janata Party to allege a breakdown in law and order in the state. Whether it came from a bat or a pangolin is not certain, but one thing is: the coronavirus outbreak that has killed tens of thousands and turned the world upside down comes from the animal world. It is human activity enabled the virus to jump to people, and specialists are warning that if nothing changes many other pandemics of this nature will follow. The name given to diseases transmitted from animals to humans is zoonoses, based on the Greek words for animal and sickness. They are not new -- tuberculosis, rabies, toxoplasmosis, malaria, to name just a few, are all zoonoses. According to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), 60 percent of human infectious diseases originate from animals. This figure climbs to 75 percent for emerging diseases such as Ebola, HIV, avian flu, Zika, or SARS, another type of coronavirus. The list goes on. The emergence of zoonotic diseases is often associated with environmental changes or ecological disturbances, such as agricultural intensification and human settlement, or encroachments into forests and other habitats, said a 2016 UNEP report. Changes in the environment are usually the result of human activities, ranging from land use change to climate change. Gwenael Vourch of INRAE, a French public research institute, also blames human activity for the crossover between species. Given the growth of the human population and its ever more intense use of planetary resources, the destruction of more and more ecosystems multiplies contacts, she says. A key area of concern is deforestation to make way for agriculture and intensive livestock farming. Domesticated animals are often a bridge between pathogens from the wild and humans. The widespread use of antibiotics in the livestock industry has also led to bacterial pathogens building up immunity to front-line drugs. Urbanisation and habitat fragmentation are also highly disruptive of the balance between species, while global warming can push disease-carrying animals into new territory. - Unprecedented in human history - The novel coronavirus is believed to have emerged in a wet market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year. Scientists think it originated in bats and could have been passed on via another mammal like a pangolin, an endangered species whose meat and scales are highly prized in parts of Asia. But researchers have yet to come up with a definitive answer on how it migrated to people. The only sure thing is that human activity facilitated the jump. The process that leads a microbe, such as a virus, from a population of vertebrates such as bats to humans is complex, but driven by people, says Anne Larigauderie, executive secretary of IPBES, the panel of UN experts on biodiversity. People, through their actions, create opportunities for the microbes to come closer to human populations. The rate of global change in nature during the past 50 years is unprecedented in human history, and the most important direct driver of change in nature is land use change. Beyond the current outbreak of coronavirus, IPBES estimates that zoonoses kill some 700,000 people a year. A study by American researchers published last week and completed before the new coronavirus outbreak identifies rodents, primates and bats as hosts of three-quarters of viruses transmitted to humans. But domestic animals also carry about 50 percent of the zoonoses identified. In terms of endangered wildlife, the study shows that those who share the most viruses with humans are precisely populations declining due to exploitation and loss of habitat. Christine Johnson, of the University of California veterinary school, who led the study, blames the human urge to alter the landscape. This also increases the frequency and intensity of contact between humans and wildlife -- creating the perfect conditions for virus spillover, she says. - Global tragedy - According to Larigauderie, this coronavirus outbreak may just be the tip of the iceberg. Increased trends in land use change, combined with increased trends in trade, and global travels, are expected to increase the frequency of pandemics in future, she says. Transformative change is needed in order to find a solution to this global tragedy. Vourch is also calling for a systemic response. Beyond the essential response to each epidemic, we must think about our model... rethink our relationship with natural ecosystems and the services they provide, she says. The 2016 UNEP report, which noted that ecosystem integrity underlines human health and development, said effective strategies already exist to control most neglected zoonoses. The main constraint, however, appeared to be lack of investment. At 86, Jane Goodall has spent most of her life studying and defending animals, especially chimpanzees in Africa, especially from Tanzania. And she pulls no punches on where she lays the blame. It was predicted that this was going to happen and its going to happen again until we learn the lessons, warns the British primatologist. It is our disregard for nature and our disrespect of the animals we should share the planet with that has caused this pandemic. (This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.) Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter M inisters have come under renewed pressure to release thousands more prisoners after it was revealed that more than 500 jail staff and inmates have contracted Covid-19. The Liberal Democrats, in a move backed by prison reform groups, are calling for the Government to temporarily release prisoners deemed "low risk" and who have short sentences left to serve. The chief inspector of prisoners, Peter Clarke, told MPs this week that 4,000 older inmates were still sharing cells. At least 13 prisoners are known to have died after contracting coronavirus since the epidemic started. Ministers were forced to pause a release scheme in England and Wales last week after six convicts were mistakenly released due to an "administrative error", according to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). Other parts of the UK have or are set to release hundreds of prisoners. Humza Yousaf, the Justice Secretary in Scotland, announcing that up to 450 inmates will start being released from jails next week, while 200 were freed in Northern Ireland. The MoJ confirmed that 294 prisoners and 231 staff have now tested positive for coronavirus. The Lib Dems are pushing for releases to "urgently" continue in England and Wales, with MPs and peers both pressing for cell doors to be unlocked for those no longer deemed a risk. The party's justice spokeswoman, Daisy Cooper MP, has written to Justice Secretary Robert Buckland demanding an "urgent end to overcrowding in prisons". Loading.... Lord German, the former deputy first minister for Wales, will meanwhile use a topical debate in the House of Lords on Thursday to also press the matter. Ms Cooper, in her letter to the secretary of state, which has been seen by the PA news agency, wrote: "We urge you to urgently end overcrowding in prisons, including releasing prisoners serving short sentences and suspending any new short sentences to slow the spread of the coronavirus." Loading.... In a letter co-signed by all 11 Lib Dem MPs, including acting leader Sir Ed Davey, Ms Cooper said it was "not good enough" that only 18 prisoners had been freed as of April 18, and referred to the Prison Governors Association's statement that official health advice was to release 15,000 inmates. Only 14 out of the 70 imprisoned pregnant women the Government committed to give early release to have been freed, Ms Cooper added. Lord German said: "The fact that conditions in our prisons were so already poor has made them a perfect crucible for the disease. "By ministers allowing coronavirus to spread through our prisons, they are not only failing in their duty of care, but threatening the public health of our communities." The Howard League for Penal Reform, which has launched joint legal action with the Prison Reform Trust against the Government's "insufficient" mitigation, said the opportunity to save the lives of those behind bars was "vanishing". Chief executive Frances Crook said: "The Government has admitted that the number of people behind bars must be reduced significantly in order to protect people living and working in prison, as well as the wider public. "Unfortunately, this has not - and cannot - be achieved by the measures currently in place. "With coronavirus cases now confirmed in more than half of prisons across England and Wales, the window of opportunity to save lives is vanishing. "Ministers must rise to the challenge and move further and faster, to avert a public health catastrophe." The Howard League has called for the Government to free all prisoners "at particular risk" from coronavirus and relax the need for electronic tagging of those released to allow for greater numbers to be allowed out. The doctor in charge of the federal effort to develop a coronavirus vaccine said he was fired for refusing to push hydroxychloroquine and is now demanding an inspector general probe. Dr. Rick Bright was the head of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA, until Tuesday, when the Department of Health and Human Services announced that he was being moved to a narrower role at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines partnership. 'I believe this transfer was in response to my insistence that the government invest the billions of dollars allocated by Congress to address the Covid-19 pandemic into safe and scientifically vetted solutions, and not in drugs, vaccines and other technologies that lack scientific merit,' he said in a statement to The New York Times' Maggie Haberman, a reporter the president has attacked by name in recent days Dr. Rick Bright told The New York Times Wednesday that he was fired from his position running BARDA because he wouldn't promote drugs include hydroxychloroquine 'I am speaking out because to combat this deadly virus, science - not politics or cronyism - has to lead the way,' Bright said. When asked about Bright's removal, President Trump said Wednesday that he didn't know who the doctor is. 'I never heard of him. You just mentioned a name. I never heard of him,' he said at the briefing. 'If a guy says he was pushed out of a job maybe he was maybe he wasn't, I'd have to hear the other side. I don't know who he is.' Bright said he encountered 'clashes' with HHS's polical leadership, including that he was criticized for early investments into vaccines and supplies to combat the coronavirus pandemic. 'I also resisted efforts to fund potentially dangerous drugs promoted by those with political connections,' Bright said. 'Specifically, and contrary to misguided directives, I limited the broad use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, promoted by the administration as a panacea, but which clearly lack scientific merit,' the doctor added. Trump has again and again brought up hydroxychloroquine as a potential COVID-19 cure, calling it a 'game-changer.' Bright said he was willing to think 'outside the box' when looking for a coronavirus treatment he said he 'rightly resisted efforts to provide an unproven drug on demand to the American public.' 'I insisted that these drugs be provided only to hospitalized patients with confirmed Covid-19 while under the supervision of a physician,' he continued. 'These drugs have potentially serious risks associated with them, including increased mortality observed in some recent studies in patients with Covid-19.' Bright then shamed members of the Trump administration for demoting him in the middle of the crisis. 'Sidelining me in the middle of this pandemic and placing politics and cronyism ahead of science puts lives at risk and stunts national efforts to safely and effectively address this urgent public health crisis,' he said. The government official said he would request that the inspector general of DHS 'investigate the manner in which this administration has politicized the work of BARDA and has pressured me and other conscientious scientists to fund companies with political connections and efforts that lack scientific merit.' 'Rushing blindly towards unproven drugs can be disastrous and result in countless more deaths. Science, in service to the health and safety of the American people, must always trump politics,' the doctor added. Under Bright's leadership, BARDA announced nearly $1 billion in support of vaccine manufacturing efforts by Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. Pictured: A technician analyzes a rapid test COVID-19 nasal sample at UMass Memorial in Worcester, Massachusetts The New York Times reported that Bright hired lawyers Debra Katz and Lisa Banks, known for their work representing Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who accused Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault in the run-up to his confirmation. At BARDA, Gary Disbrow, Bright's former deputy, will serve as acting director, STAT News first reported. BARDA was created in 2006 to aid drug and vaccine development projects for pandemics such as Ebola and Zika. Bright joined BARDA in 2010 as its influenza and Emerging Infectious Diseases Division director before he became the lead in November 2016. As the agency's director, he oversaw the development and procurement of therapeutics against infectious diseases. Under his leadership, BARDA recently announced nearly $1 billion in support of vaccine manufacturing efforts by Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. Additionally, under the most recent stimulus package, Congress voted to more than triple BARDA's budget, reported STAT. In Bright's new role, he will reportedly be working on speeding up the development of diagnostic tests in a public-private partnership announced last week between NIH and 16 pharmaceutical companies, an HHS spokeswoman said Tuesday. Gary Disbrow (left), Bright's former deputy, will serve as acting director of BARDA. Early reports of why Bright was demoted said he had personal disputes with Trump administration officials including Bob Kadlec (right), the HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response 'Dr Rick Bright will transfer the skills he has applied as Director of BARDA to the National Institutes of Health, as part of a bold plan to accelerate the development and deployment of novel point-of-care testing platforms,' a statement read. 'Dr Bright brings extensive experience and expertise in facilitating powerful public-private partnerships that advance the health and well-being of the American people.' No other details were provided by the government regarding the circumstances of Bright's departure from BARDA. Officials had previously told BioCentury that his leaving was a result of a personal fallout with several members of the Trump administration. According to unnamed sources, STAT said Bright had personal disputes with Bob Kadlec, the HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, which oversees BARDA. Prior to working at BARDA, Bright worked for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with research focused on influenza viruses, antiviral drugs and tests, according to his public biography on the HHS website. He has also served as an advisor to the World Health Organization and the United States Department of Defense. Australia has called for international experts to scrutinise wild animal markets thought to be the source of the coronavirus in China. Agriculture Minister David Littleproud on Wednesday attended a virtual meeting with his international counterparts from G20 countries. He said wet markets - where coronavirus is likely to have been transmitted to humans - pose a risk to human and animal health. 'We must learn from COVID-19 on how we better manage and mitigate both human and animal biosecurity risks and to ignore wildlife wet markets in that assessment would be wrong,' he said on Thursday. 'There are risks with wildlife wet markets and they could be as big a risk to our agricultural industries as they can be to public health so we have to understand them better.' Australia has called for international experts to scrutinise wild animal markets thought to be the source of the coronavirus in China. A man wearing a mask walks through a wet market in Guangzhou, Guangdong province on Monday Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week scolded the World Health Organisation for supporting the reopening of China's wet markets Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week scolded the World Health Organisation for supporting the reopening of China's wet markets. Mr Morrison said it was 'unfathomable' to back live animal markets. 'I'm totally puzzled by this decision,' he said. China has resisted Australia's calls for an independent international investigation into the origins of the coronavirus. The push for scrutiny of wild animal markets could further inflame tensions between the two nations. 'The G20 of Agriculture Ministers have a responsibility to lead the way and draw on global experts and engage international organisations to rationally and methodically look at the many significant risks of wildlife wet markets,' Mr Littleproud said. 'Our people should have confidence that the food they eat is safe. We owe it to our domestic population and our international markets.' Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said wet markets - where coronavirus is likely to have been transmitted to humans - pose a risk to human and animal health Agriculture ministers agreed emergency measures to stop the spread of the virus must not upend global food supply chains. A senior World Bank official, Mari Pangestu, also warned at the meeting against import barriers and export restrictions, urging global cooperation to avert food crises. The G20 ministers said they would guard against measures leading to excessive food price volatility in global markets and threats to food supply. The ministers cautioned against food waste, saying it could exacerbate food insecurity and nutrition risks and economic loss. Mr Littleproud also pushed for trade negotiations to be accelerated on technical barriers that cause supply chain issues and tariffs. He said while there wasn't a shortage of food globally, international supply chains are under pressure from trade barriers. People wearing protective face masks shop at a chicken stall at a wet market in Shanghai World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a daily press briefing on COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, at the WHO heardquaters in Geneva on April 16 Meanwhile, Scott Morison on Wednesday spoke to Donald Trump about the economic impacts of coronavirus and the performance of the World Health Organisation. Scott Morrison and the US president discussed the need for transparency, in a clear reference to China, and the need to improve global institutions such as WHO in their response to pandemics. Mr Morrison raised Australia's focus on supporting countries in the Pacific and Southeast Asia, where the United States also holds a keen strategic interest. He also spoke about the role of the WHO with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron. Mr Morrison has been scathing of the United Nations agency for its handling of COVID-19 after it criticised Australia for closing its borders to Chinese tourists and took two weeks longer to declare a pandemic. He has also challenged its decision to support China reopening wet markets, which were the likely cause of the deadly disease. Asked if the WHO should have the power to compulsorily enter countries at a time like the present, Mr Morrison said world organisations need to be able operate without being 'fettered in any way'. Mr Morrison spoke to US President Donald Trump on Wednesday about WHO's handling of the coronavirus pandemic There is a clear view among other leaders that a transparent and independent process is needed to examine what has happened and what needs to change, Mr Morrison told Sky News on Wednesday. 'One of the things that would have been very helpful to the rest of the world is if there wasn't any delay and if there was the ability to get this information very early on - that could have alerted the rest of the world to the greater risk that was occurring there. It did take a while,' Mr Morrison said. 'It would be very helpful ... that if there is a virus of this nature that is believed to be of pandemic potential and very dangerous to the world, well, we need to know what's going on and very fast. 'If we have that ability that could potentially save thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of lives, and we need to have that sort of ability and so that's why I am an advocate of that case.' 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 Global organisations have to be able to continue their good work without being 'fettered in any way in the way they find out what's going on so the rest of us can take action'. The prime minister discussed co-operation on repatriating stranded citizens with Ms Merkel and the pair also talked about negotiations on a free trade deal between Australia and the European Union. He and Mr Macron discussed the need for greater international co-operation in response to pandemics, including on developing a coronavirus vaccine. Labor leader Anthony Albanese said he hoped Mr Morrison raised with Mr Trump Australia's concerns with the US withdrawing funding from the WHO. 'The decision by the United States to withdraw funding is a very short-sighted decision indeed,' Mr Albanese told ABC television. 'It isn't in Australia's interest and it's not in the world's interests to undermine the World Health Organisation.' He said the WHO should be given unfettered access to records in order to get to the bottom of how the pandemic occurred and ensure it cannot happen again. As the oil price crash squeezes oil companies across the globe, Mexicos Hacienda Hedge is set to deliver $6.2 billion to the Latin American country, Mexicos President Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday in Mexico City, according to Bloomberg. Mexico has been insulated from this weeks extremely volatile oil prices, in that the hedge allows Mexico to sell its oil at a price that was determined earlierprior to the price crash. In this case, Obrador said today, Mexico hedged at $49 per barrel. The current Mexican basket price is hovering a bit above $7 per barrela fine save for Mexico. Mexico employs the hedge to some extent every year, although some years it benefits more than others. This year the benefits of the hedge will be invaluable to Mexicos oil industry, which otherwise would have had a rough go of things at $7 per barrel for its oil exports. Of course, the hedge costs Mexico upfrontit has typically paid about $1 billion per year for the hedge ($1.23 billion in 2018), for the privilege of locking in a fixed price negotiated with banks and major traders. If market oil prices rise above that negotiated price, Mexico is able to sell its oil for those higher market prices. If oil prices fall, however, Mexico can sell its oil at the negotiated rate. This year, it turned out to be well worth its $1 billion spent. While it is unclear exactly how many barrels Mexico hedged at that $49 price, it typically hedges hundreds of millions of barrels. It is not known which banks are at the wrong end of this hedge but Citi, JPMorgan, and Goldman Sachs have been parties to the hedge before, and Shell and BP have also gotten into the action before. Whichever banks bet against the Hacienda hedge for 2020 will likely see a sharp hit to their bottom line, dwarfing the proceeds they took in during negotiations. By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Kiyoto Nagasu, left, and Ikuko Nagasu, center, work at their Arcadia restaurant with family friend Michelle Hamano to pack lunches for medical workers. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times) Mirai Nagasu grew up in her parents restaurant, Sushi Kiyosuzu in Arcadia, sleeping in the storeroom and earning quarters for washing dishes when she wasnt in school or taking figure skating lessons. Her mother, Ikuko, and father, Kiyoto, didnt always attend her skating competitions because they felt obligated to keep their business open and their employees working. Mirai respected that and she learned much more from them than how to make an appetizing tuna roll. Like thousands of other small businesses, Sushi Kiyosuzu was staggered when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and restaurants were forced to close their dining rooms. Ikuko and Kiyoto, who immigrated to the United States from Japan, couldnt navigate the maze of government loan programs and were reluctant to tell their daughter how dire their situation was. They try to protect me from a lot of hardship. I think its more like they want to stay strong and be strong for me because I think that they know I would worry for them, said Nagasu, who became the first American woman to land a triple axel jump in the Olympics while leading Team USA to a bronze medal at Pyeongchang in 2018, eight years after she finished fourth in the Vancouver Games. Ikuko Nagasu prepares lunches Tuesday as part of the Power of 10 program. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times) Her need to be strong for her parents kicked in when she learned they had let go all but one employee. Through a friend of a friend, she discovered a restaurant relief initiative called the Power of 10, which launched last month in Washington, D.C., and funds restaurants so they can rehire staff and cook food for healthcare workers and others affected by the pandemic. The Nagasu familys restaurant on Tuesday became the first Los Angeles-area business to participate in the initiative, starting with a plan to cook 500 meals this week and soon double that number. From Boston, where she has been self-isolating after consulting doctors there about a skating-related hip injury, Nagasu recruited some of her high school friends back home to help deliver the meals. Were excited that its starting in L.A. with my parents restaurant," she said, "and we hope its an initiative that we can start to offer throughout the entire country. Story continues Thats a big goal, a huge goal, and its a little overwhelming. But at the same time, going to the Olympics was a big goal for me, and to immerse myself in an equally big goal is something that I enjoy. To be able to focus on my parents more and to be able to help them, its a nice change. Ikuko Nagasu, mother of figure skater Mirai Nagasu, carefully assembles lunches for medical workers. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times) Signed photos of Olympic figure skater Mirai Nagasu hang on a wall at her family's restaurant. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times) Erik Bruner-Yang, a Washington, D.C., chef and restaurateur who organized the Power of 10 project, said the initiative had raised $200,000 from individual contributions and foundations. In three weeks, 10,000 meals were delivered in the area to a hospital, a childrens center, a homeless shelter in Virginia and a residence for elderly Asian immigrants, in addition to some drop-offs in low-income areas. Individuals can contribute by purchasing one to 1,000 meals at $10 each, and the money funds the food and restaurant workers salaries. The restaurants dont have to repay the grants. Until the federal governments Paycheck Protection Program ran out of funding, Bruner-Yang said, We were kind of hoping for a trickle-down solution. But the reality is, there are so many people that always get missed. The only way for small independent operators to move forward is to create our own social safety net and help trickle it up. The more money you can keep in your community, the longer its going to be successful. After ensuring the Nagasus' restaurant could make enough meals and deliveries for four weeks, Bruner-Yang saw it as a perfect first California outpost. We found an amazing partner with a great story that fits our mission to help independent small operators, especially mom-and-pop restaurants who would have a hard time navigating through this time period. It all kind of really lined up, he said. Kiyoto Nagasu, father of Olympic figure skater Mirai Nagasu, takes a moment after preparing lunches for medical workers at their restaurant Sushi Kiyosuzu in Arcadia. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times) Bruner-Yang said the situation was "almost serendipitous" since he and Mirai Nagasu shared a similar background. "I'm an immigrant from Taiwan, and our stories are so similar of our parents doing whatever it took to make our dreams a reality. I think that our ability to connect through social media and to have this program in place supports our parents generations. And theres so much information coming out. How are people like Mirais parents supposed to figure out how to get through this without the support of people like us who are savvy and up to date and can help out? The meals from Sushi Kiyosuzu are packed in individual containers that will be handled as little as possible to avoid potential spread of COVID-19. Her parents planned to start by serving chicken teriyaki and later serve salmon and vegetable rolls and other items. Meals containing raw fish weren't included because the containers might sit a while before the recipients can eat. Im sure Ill be involved in choosing because every five minutes theyre texting me, How about this idea? Mirai said. The meals are targeted for the area where she grew up. Clearly, she inherited her parents admirable sense of responsibility. I went to elementary school, middle school, and high school in Arcadia, she said, and to be able to do something for the community, especially when I saw how much support they gave me when I went to both Olympics, is something that means a lot to me. Actor Arjun Rampal and his girlfriend Gabriella Demetriade are stuck in Karjat amid the coronavirus lockdown. The couple was at their second home when PM Modi announced the lockdown. Considering the safety of their baby, they decided to stay back. Instagram "We decided to stay back for my sons safety. While he is too young now, this will be a story to tell him when he grows older. Besides, Mumbai is just a few hours away, and hence, easily accessible in case of an emergency," Arjun revealed to Mid-Day. Meanwhile, Karjat hasn't registered any case of Covid-19 so far. On the other hand, the virus is spreading rapidly in Mumbai. 419 cases have been reported so far and 12 people have died. Arjun Rampal along with his family has recently has extended a helping hand by providing PPE kits to hospitals for doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers. Not only that, he also urged his fans to donate at least one uniform for the corona soldiers. "I request all of you to help here. The real heros out there, (the doctors and nurses), the PPE. their health is in jeopardy daily, looking after ours, As unfortunately they are not equipped with the armour they need, making them sick by the corona virus. If each one of you can donate just 1 uniform for these brave hearts, it will keep your soldiers safe and healthy. Please please be generous, they need this and we will get it to them. Its Rs. 1200 for the best suits for them, Below are the details Acc name," he wrote on Instagram. Several other celebrities have also done their bit. The Texas Comptrollers office has established a website called Meet Your Future as a creative way to make kids think about their futures. According to a news release from the comptrollers office, the website which can be found at https://savenowforcollege.org/fun/ -- features interactive video and activity series. The page is presented by the Texas Tuition Promise Fund and the Texas College Savings Plan. P olice have arrested six people and seized about 1m in assets from brothels in Westminster as part of a major crackdown operation. The Met's Modern Day Slavery Investigation team launched a series of raids on Wednesday to tackle the sexual exploitation of women. Officers carried out early morning warrants at seven London addresses - including four brothels - as well as one residential address in Gloucestershire. Four women and two men have been arrested while paintings, watches and luxury cars are among the high value items to have been seized. 1m worth of assets were seized in London including high value watches / Met Police The force is now safeguarding a number of victims, who are being supported by specialist officers and partner agency the Salvation Army. The majority are Chinese but there are also Romanian and British victims, the Met Police said. It comes as part of Scotland Yard's Operation Huai, which was launched to tackle an organised crime group believed to be sexually exploiting women. As part of Operation Huai, detectives established a second investigation called Operation Martagon to build evidence against the perpetrators using criminal proceeds to fund luxurious lifestyles. 1m worth of assets were seized in London including high value paintings / Met Police During the raids in London, officers seized cash and about 1 million worth of assets, including high value watches and paintings. At the residential address in Gloucestershire, they recovered a number of high value assets including two luxury cars. A 38-year-old woman, 30-year-old man, a 67-year-old woman and 29-year-old woman have been arrested on suspicion of modern slavery and proceeds of crime offences. A 27-year-old man and a 28-year-old woman have also been arrested on suspicion of money laundering. Two high value cares were seized from the address in Gloucestershire / Met Police Four have been taken to a central London police station and two have been taken to a station in Gloucestershire where they all remain in custody. Detective Inspector Grant Anderson, of the Modern Slavery Investigation Team, said: I am delighted that the many months of hard work spent putting this investigation together has resulted in the arrests of six people and, more importantly, that weve been able to recover and support vulnerable victims. Detective Superintendent Tara McGovern, of the Modern Slavery Investigation Team, said: We are committed to protecting the vulnerable and bringing those responsible for exploiting others to justice. "I hope this investigation continues to raise the publics awareness of this shocking crime and sends a clear message to those involved that we will take robust action. The Met will continue to work with partners, including The Salvation Army, to combat human trafficking and modern slavery in order to safeguard those who are most vulnerable. "Even during these unprecedented times, we will continue to target organised crime groups who seek to profit from these audacious acts and bring them to justice. Director of Anti-trafficking and Modern Slavery for The Salvation Army, Major Kathy Betteridge, said: "We are really grateful to the police for continuing to prioritise the protection of people being abused through slavery despite all the extra demands currently placed on them as part of their response to the pandemic. "This means that we can reach the vulnerable people who urgently need our help. Following the operation in London this week, all victims have been offered protective care and specialist support through a Government contract operated by The Salvation Army." Casino workers and food bank volunteers distribute food for casino workers at Harbor Square in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., on Wednesday, April 22, 2020. Hundreds of cars lined up to receive food at the event, which was organized by Unite Here Local 54 and the Community Food Bank of New Jersey. Read more EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, N.J. The line of out-of-work Atlantic City casino workers backed up for miles, snaked around empty department stores, continued across from a closed movie theater, crawled by an Amish furniture store, and then went around the motor vehicles office. The workers dealers, cooks, valets, housekeepers, banquet servers were at this shuttered shopping mall on the Black Horse Pike on Wednesday to pick up donated food from the Community Food Bank of South Jersey. Flash your ID Harrahs, Ocean, Hard Rock, Tropicana, Borgata, Resorts among those represented and pop your trunk. The casino workers, about 1,500 of whom were finally were able to get through the traffic and the enormous queue, left with a 14-day meal kit, plus supplemental boxes of onions, milk, fruit, and vegetables. Its a little help, said Diego Ramirez, a bartender at the Borgata for 15 years, as he waited in the line. I just hope they open quick. But safely. The food giveaway was sponsored by the Food Bank and Unite Here Local 54, which represents about 9,000 of the citys nearly 27,000 casino workers. All casino workers were eligible for Wednesdays food donation. Some also volunteered, like the crew of banquet servers from Harrahs and Borgata repurposing their skill sets. The turnout was sobering. At one point, a police car with flashing lights escorted the big box truck of food coming from the food bank to the distribution point. It underscored the urgency of the moment. In all, 1,500 casino workers got boxes of food and additional produce, and 300 more got produce after the boxes ran out, said Kim Arroyo of the Community Food Bank. Others were turned away after the food ran out. These casino workers have been through plenty: bankruptcies and closures, Hurricane Sandy, the devastating recession of 2008, seasonal layoffs, strikes. But the coronavirus pandemic, which shut down all nine casinos on March 16, seemed to them somehow worse than all of that. I miss seeing a smile, said Jeanette Lamparty, one of the banquet servers helping to load up the supplemental boxes with a crew of their fellow banquet servers. I just want to see a face without a mask, said co-worker Brenda Ford. Working together, if just for a few hours and with masks and gloves, outside in a chilly wind, in a way they surely would never have expected to replace the jobs they love, it was at least somewhat familiar: serving food to lots of people, friendly camaraderie, practiced efficiency. But the massive turnout, which caused some fender benders and prompted police to close off certain entrances for a time, weighed heavily on everyone there. The need was overwhelming, as people waited for hours and several new trucks arrived. One by one, the cars reached the distribution point, and trunks were filled with needed food. Donna Britto, a dealer at Resorts for the last eight years, stepped out of her car to open the trunk. Several family members were with her. Terrible, terrible, she said. We all work at Resorts. It helps out a lot. You could tell she and the others were veteran hospitality workers, as most managed smiles and friendly greetings even under distress. Im sorry, she said, then called out: You have a good day. Yue Chao Mei, a 16-year Borgata dealer, was concerned about how safe it would be to return to work. Its very tough, he said. I dont know. Too many people will be together. Ivan Mendez, a banquet server, wore his Ballys windbreaker as he waited in line. Others wore Hard Rock winter caps or union strike sweatshirts from years past, or relics of casinos that were permanently closed by economic forces, like the Showboat. ASK US: Do you have a question about the coronavirus and how it affects your health, work and life? Ask our reporters. Im very nervous, Ford said as she loaded cabbages. Im very concerned. This is the worst. This is far worse than Sandy or the strike or the recession in 2008. This is worse. You cant see your family. My mothers in a nursing home. Arroyo, director of agency relations and programs for the Food Bank, said the response was quadruple what similar donations had drawn in the past, including after Sandy. She said there was continuing need for donations and volunteers. She said those who arrived too late would be redirected to neighborhood pantries and the food bank itself, at 6735 Black Horse Pike. Theres a great need in our community, she said. Im very worried about running out. The casino industry is what helps support most of our residents. Another event is planned, she said. I dont think any community in the country had to deal with this particular thing, where the entire industry is out of work, said Bob McDevitt, president of Local 54, who has manned his union ship through strikes, hurricanes, bankruptcies, closures. Atlantic County is projected to be the third-worst-hit region economically in the country by the pandemic. A recent economic forecast from Stockton University said as much as $5.1 billion could be siphoned out of the local economy. Many casino workers are seasonal and do not qualify for unemployment. In this moment, this is I think the worst of any setbacks, McDevitt said. Right now, it feels like this is worse than anything thats ever happened in my lifetime. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-23 00:42:10|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits a commercial street in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 22, 2020. Xi on Wednesday inspected the city of Xi'an during his trip to northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (Xinhua/Yan Yan) XI'AN, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, Wednesday inspected the city of Xi'an during his trip to northwest China's Shaanxi Province. Xi visited the Shaanxi Automobile Holding Group, Xi'an Jiaotong University and a commercial street in the city to learn about the reopening of business and the return of normal life order. Congress leaders on Wednesday urged the centre to provide more foodgrains to the states to ensure that no poor persondies of hunger during the lockdown, even as they called upon the BJP to desist from playing "dirty communal politics" over COVID-19. Addressing a press conference through video conferencing, Chhattisgarh Health Minister TS Singh Deo said he favoured bringing the Doctors' Protection Bill in view of repeated attacks on doctors across the country. Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma said the state government has no problem with the visit of the Central government team and that more such teams can be sent for the Centre's satisfaction over the provisions in the state to fight coronavirus. The Rajasthan minister also said the Centre's team had expressed satisfaction with the work being done by the Congress government in the state. He said the Centre should provide foodgrains from godowns of the Food Corporation of India to tide over their shortage in states. "The Centre should provide more wheat, rice and pulses to states to tide over the shortage of foodgrains. The Centre should open the gates of FCI godowns to states for helping save the lives of the poor and destitute. No person should die of hunger in this crisis as the country has enough food," he said. Sharma also accused the BJP in Rajasthan of playing by communalising the health crisis. "We are working without any to save every person from the deadly coronavirus. Still some BJP leaders are doing communal and dirty and they should desist from doing so, as everyone has to fight this battle against COVID-19 together to defeat it," he said. Pointing out that cases have been registered against some BJP leaders in Rajasthan, the minister said they should not be allowed to indulge in communal politics during the pandemic. Sharma also urged the centre to provide money to the states as their economies were crippled due to the lockdown and they were finding it difficult to cope with the financial crunch. "Government of India should provide more money to states to strengthen health infrastructure in the country to tackle a situation like this arisen due to coronavirus," the Rajasthan minister said. He also urged the centre to open state borders to enable all migrant workers and students to reach their homes. Chhattisgarh minister Deo said the lockdown should be used as a "training period" as projections by experts say there may be a surge in the cases of COVID-19 once the lockdown is lifted. He also talked about making sanitisers in his state with alcohol from mahua flowers, which are in bloom currently. "There is a talk of a Doctors' Protection Bill. I am in favour of bringing such a bill to help protect doctors from attacks on them across the country," he said. Both Deo and Sharma said the situation pertaining to the pandemic was still grave and the Centre should evolve a plan for increasing the level of testing in the country to know the extent to which the virus has spread and contain it accordingly. "The situation is very grave. The government of India should make an action plan with states for increasing testing," Sharma said. The Rajasthan minister said the state was following the guidelines set by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) with regard to testing kits provided by it. He said the testing kits have been found to have an accuracy of only 5.4 per cent, after the state conducted 168 tests with these kits. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With European Union leaders due to hold a meeting by videoconference on how to deal with the coronavirus crisis this Thursday, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte addressed first the country's Senate and then the Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday afternoon. Conte told those gathered in the upper and lower houses of parliament following his address, that he did not expect EU leaders to deliver their final word during Tursday's conference. I don't believe the upcoming meeting of the 27 leaders will find a definitive solution but I will do everything ... to ensure it expresses a clear political path in the only reasonable direction, Conte said. Italy wants the EU to share the cost of rebuilding the economies devastated by the coronavirus pandemic. North-South EU divide From the outset of the crisis, EU nations have appeared divided on the financial response that needed to come from the bloc leading to calls that failure to reach common ground could lead to a break-up of the union. So far, the EU has unlocked half a trillion euros of an immediate rescue plan and is working on a further trillion euro as part of the recovery program. Italy and other southern European states would like the EU to issue joint debt, referred to as coronabonds, but northern nations have voiced their opposition to that idea. Italy has said it is against the use of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). Prime Minister Conte said new measures worth at least 50 billion euros would be unveiled for Italy by the end of the month and these would be in addition to the 25 billion euro package approved by the government last month. Italy has been the worst affected country in Europe and the death toll from coronavirus has surpassed 24,500. As the number of new cases continues to slow, Conte said that by the weekend he would reveal details of Phase Two, a serious, scientific plan outlining how the government planned to ease the lockdown starting May 4. The country's economic engine must re-activated but on the basis of a well-structured plan, Conte said. The prime minister has repeatedly said the next phase would be gradual in order to guarantee safety for all. He said that the plan being elaborated needed to be homogenous and at a national level and would involve the progressive reopening of a large part of productive and commercial activities at a national level, while at the same time keeping the contagion curve under control. Phase two will be complex and haste would wreak damage, he said. Other details he provided for this next phase for Italians included the use of protective masks and disinfectant at the workplace and when going into stores, social distancing measures that would also have to be adopted when using public transport and the possibility of going to the workplace at different times during the day. Conte also said a contact tracing app is under consideration but assured that activating it on one's phone would be voluntary and that Italians who did not join in this program would not be penalised in any way. Underwater scene with acquatic life is seen in clear Venice's canals as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Venice (Reuters). Wildlife have started to take advantage of the nearly empty urban areas, roaming the unoccupied streets. They are either looking for food, as rats do, or simply enjoying increased freedom, which makes for a fantastic and fascinating spectacle since the coronavirus lockdown. (Photo : Reuters Connect ) Many countries all over the world have been put quarantine or lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic, and the move has shut down normal daily activities and affected billions. Since then, wildlife has started to take advantage of the nearly empty urban areas, roaming the empty streets. They are either looking for food, as rats do, or merely enjoying increased freedom, making for a fantastic and fascinating spectacle. Among the earliest reports came from Venice, Italy, where the canal waters became more transparent after a short absence of human activity. Ducks and fish have reportedly become more visible with the absence of boats that used to traverse the canals. These may be because no more boats are stirring up the silt in the water, which then makes it clear. In Llandudno, Wales, people have seen a wild Kashmiri goat herd composed of 122 individuals roaming the town. They usually live on a limestone headland called Great Orne, leaving it only in bad weather. The town residents think that the herd got curious about the lack of town activity and people, which prompted them to visit. Since then, they have decided to stay; goats have been photographed eating hedges and flowers and wandering around the town center. In Barcelona, Spain, sightings of wild boars that roam the streets also occur. Wild boars sightings are not uncommon in cities in Europe, but not in large numbers boldly exploring the streets. Animals that have been used to free food given by tourists now wander the city streets searching for new sources of food. In Nara Park, Japan, sika deer wander through the subway stations and streets looking for something to eat. Similarly, in Lopburi in Thailand, monkeys accustomed to being given meals by tourists now compete among one another over food scraps. Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo Urban Wildlife Institute Director Seth Magle said that people should not worry that animals like the monkeys and sika deer may go hungry. He goes to explain that the animals will be able to adapt to their new situation, as they have also adapted to people feeding them before. Some animal facilities are doing something new. The Shedd Aquarium, also in Chicago, lets its penguins wander the grounds while there are no visitors due to the quarantine. The Forth Worth Zoo also did the same to its Patagonian mara. The animals being seen are just near their wild homes. They just started to get bolder in entering urbanized areas. Magle told The Guardian that, generally, the animals are living in those parts of cities that are not used by humans. They are like ghosts on the fringes, unseen but ever-present. Still, though it seems like animals have taken over our cities, it is not likely that they have taken over civilization in such a short period as the month-long lockdown. There will, however, be small changes, such as coyotes and foxes being more frequently visible than usual. These changes are excellent opportunities for observing wildlife that we have been unaccustomed to see for so long. It serves as a reminder for us that they are still part of nature, and have always been here, said Magle. They are part of our world. Whenever the reopening of the American economy occurs, it is likely to be shaped not merely by presidential politics and the American dream but by the rules of tort liability. Torts is the body of law that holds individuals accountable for needlessly causing harm to others. In the United States, tort law is immensely important. All law students study it, many lawyers practice it, and courts enforce its rules each year in thousands of cases. The negligence principle is the heart of tort law. It holds that a person whose failure to exercise reasonable care foreseeably causes harm to another is liable for resulting injuries. A jury award of damages in a negligence lawsuit often includes compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. The risk of this type of liability deters careless practices, which is why life in the United States is safer than in many other countries, at least with respect to accidental harm. Businesses opening to the public after coronavirus-related shutdowns will need to worry about liability under the law of negligence. Negligent transmission of an infectious disease is a well-established theory of tort liability. There is case law going back to 1873. Many lawsuits have involved negligently transmitted sexual diseases, such as herpes, pubic lice, HIV/AIDS and syphilis. But the same rules have been applied to negligent transmission of smallpox, typhoid fever, sepsis, tuberculosis and whooping cough. There is no reason that equivalent legal reasoning might not apply to negligent transmission of COVID-19. How could a shuttered business be negligent in reopening to the public or operating thereafter? In countless ways. The carelessness that forms the basis for a negligence lawsuit might be as simple as: Operating in contravention of a mandated shutdown. Failing to exclude from the premises patrons or employees displaying symptoms of COVID-19. Improperly disinfecting surfaces that might foreseeably transmit the virus. Neglecting to enforce social distancing guidelines, limits on crowd size or face mask requirements. Any decision that is based on superstition or wishful thinking, rather than on scientific principles, might be found to have been negligently made. An important factor in determining whether a business is negligent will be whether it acted in conformance with customary practices. Conformance with custom raises an inference of reasonableness. Taking the same precautions other businesses take often demonstrates reasonable care. However, engaging in customary practices, despite signs of special dangers, could be found to be negligent. It is not surprising that many festivals, such as Fiesta in San Antonio and South by Southwest in Austin, were postponed or canceled this year amid news of a spreading pandemic. If a federal, state or local governmental entity decides it is time to reopen the economy, could a business that reopens still be sued? In many cases, yes. A reopened business would still have a duty to operate in a reasonably safe manner. Just because a business can open its doors does not mean that it may neglect to provide hand sanitizer or soap, or fail to take similar precautions. In contrast to private businesses, it is unlikely that a governmental entity could be successfully sued for making a premature decision to end a shutdown, even if that decision results in many illnesses or deaths. Such policymaking decisions by other branches of government are ordinarily immune from review in the courts. Businesses reopening and operating after a shutdown must carefully consider the risk of tort liability for negligently disseminating an infectious disease. Vincent R. Johnson is interim dean and the Charles E. Cantu distinguished professor of law at St. Marys University School of Law. News of Defector Envoy's Election Victory in South Shocks North Korean Officials Abroad 2020-04-21 -- President Moon Jae-in's ruling party swept South Korea's April 15 National Assembly elections, but it is the two newly elected lawmakers from the opposition who were once North Korean citizens that are creating a hopeful buzz among fellow exiles from the reclusive country. Thae Yong-ho, North Korea's former deputy ambassador to the U.K., who defected to the South with his family in 2016, won his election as a member of the opposition United Future Party, and will be the first such defector to represent a constituency in the assembly. He will be joined by Ji Seong-ho, who fled North Korea in 2006 and after arriving in South Korea, formed an advocacy group called Now Action & Unity for Human Rights (NAUH). Ji also won an assembly seat in a satellite party aligned with the opposition. As the two former North Koreans make plans to leave their marks on South Korea's political landscape, their accomplishments may have greater effect on those still connected to Pyongyang, as news of Thae's election is spreading rapidly among North Korean expats and exiles, sources say. "I saw on the internet that [Thae] was elected to the National Assembly," a North Korean trade official, stationed in Dalian, China, who requested anonymity to speak freely, told RFA's Korean Service on Sunday. "This news is a hot topic for trade officials," the source added. Most striking to the trade officials is that someone who was once so loyal to North Korea could simply move to the South and become successful in such a short time. "Other trade officials have been saying that they are surprised to see Thae [win his election] only a few years after defecting to South Korea," said the source. "They quip that he is doing much better now than when he was a diplomat for North Korea," the source added. Thae's success is causing some of the trade officials to consider defecting themselves, according to the source. "Trade officials [like me], who have been stationed in China for many years, earn our salaries in foreign currency, and make loyalty offerings to the country. But we are always anxious to know when we will be summoned home and purged," the source said. "Although many of us want to defect, we are hesitant because of the safety of our family members who remain inside North Korea," the source added. "But honestly, the fact that Thae Yong-ho has become successful in settling down in South Korea, it's opening our eyes." Another source, a trade worker stationed in Donggang, China, who requested anonymity, contrasted Thae's new position in the South Korean government with that of the equivalent position in North Korea's. "A member of South Korea's National Assembly can make their voices heard to the president, and make laws according to the people's demands. This is very much unlike a deputy of the Supreme People's Assembly in North Korea," the second source told RFA on the same day. "They are like scarecrows who act like yes men. Senior officials in Pyongyang will be so shocked when they hear that Thae Yong-ho has become a lawmaker in the South," the second source said. But for now, Thae is making waves among Pyongyang's officials stationed abroad. "Trade officials in China are paying keen attention to the fact that Thae was elected, and representing Gangnam to boot. Gangnam in Seoul is like the Central district of Pyongyang," said the second source, alluding to the area of the North Korean capital where the wealthy and elites live. "[The trade officials] have high expectations and are watching him curiously, because [Gangnam] is a rich, high-status area," the second source said. But the second source predicted that North Korea's government will move quickly to discourage the spread of the news of Thae's success in the South. "The authorities will tighten their ideological control efforts while thoroughly monitoring the movements of senior officials in fear that [those] who hear the [news] will envy Thae Yong-ho or show signs of admiring South Korean society." Hope for the People Several members of the North Korean escapee community in South Korea told RFA that the successes of Thae and Ji would give hope people in the North, possibly encouraging them to consider leaving the authoritarian country themselves. "[In South Korea] freedom is guaranteed," Seo Jae Pyoung, the secretary general of the Association of North Korean Defectors, told RFA. "North Koreans [who hear about Thae and Ji] must now be fully recognizing that South Korea is a society where one can even become a member of the National Assembly if he or she works hard," said Seo. "Middle class officials must be in shock," he added. Paek Yosep, the secretary general of the Coalition for Change in North Korea, told RFA, "Former minister Thae settled in South Korea not so long ago." "It would be a great message to North Korea that ordinary [South Koreans] gave votes to such a person, especially among the North Korean elites," Paek said. "They will have hope that they too can be recognized [as fellow citizens] by South Koreans if they go to the South," he added. Lee Woong-gil, who heads the Saeteomin Lounge, an organization that assists recent arrivals in the South who escaped from the North, told RFA that it is likely that news of Ji's win will likely resonate in Ji's hometown of Hoeryong, North Hamgyong province. "If North Koreans learn that everyone in South Korea is given an equal opportunity, many people will be shaken, and this will lead to a change in North Korea," said Lee. In colloquial speech, both Thae and Ji are referred to by a catch-all term that can be translated into English as "defector," but human rights groups outside Korea would call Thae a defector and Ji a refugee due to the circumstances of their respective escapes. Reported by Hyemin Son and Yong Jae Mok for RFA's Korean Service. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong. Copyright 1998-2016, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content April not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to sweep around the world, the lives of many have been changed by imposed travel restrictions and stay at home orders. Many have been forced to cancel or reschedule vacations and excursions due to the current situation, which has placed an immense burden on the tourism industry. Book Africa Travel is providing a breath of fresh air for those who crave travel experiences, even during this time. With their Virtual Africa Experience, explorers can get a taste of a new land by taking an online-based tour with a local tour guide. This gives people an authentic look into African culture, food, language, and much more. Some of the Virtual experiences that you can book are: Virtual Zambia Experience with Dee, to discover the history of Zambia, a look into Zambian arts including where to shop locally, a guided tour through some Lusaka galleries, cultural tourism experiences in Zambia, and Dees top picks for those who want to visit Zambia. Virtual Zanzibar Experience with Nassor, which offers a basic Swahili language lesson, the history of Zanzibar, the best tourist sites such as Paradise Island, and a question and answer session. Virtual Ghana Experience with Charles, which introduces guests to the local language - Twi - before telling them a bit of local history; cultural staples including currency, Ghana geography, religion, climate, economy, and more. People can also indulge their interests in a special question and answer session. These virtual excursions are convenient, offering anyone the ability to explore Africa from the comfort of their home. Virtual Africa Experiences are also a great way to save time and money, with experiences starting at just $40, and can serve as a springboard for a future physical trip. Plus, these Virtual Africa Experiences give people the opportunity to support the struggling tourism industry while also supporting a local tour guide. The new Virtual Africa Experiences offer a unique way for people everywhere to embrace an opportunity to explore a new place while they are avoiding the novel Coronavirus. In the future, if they decide to physically travel to Africa, the team at Book Africa Travel will be ready to help. According to Anne E, with Book Africa Travel, We are beyond excited and ready to help you discover Africa like never before. Although people feel like theyre stuck at home right now, they can escape with our Virtual Africa Experience excursions. Currently, Virtual Africa Experiences can be booked at https://bookafricatravel.com/live-virtual-africa-experience About Book Africa Travel Book Africa Travel is an online platform to customize and book authentic tours, activities, and experiences in Africa. With a network of tour guides and travel experts across several African countries, Book Africa Travel helps connect people to authentic Africa experience while helping locals earn a sustainable income. Contact Anne Etim Book Africa Travel Phone: 978-294-9353 E-mail: press@bookafricatravel.com Website: https://bookafricatravel.com/ A ceremony marking the completion of a COVID-19 testing lab contracted by Chinas biotech company BGI Group in Belgrade, capital of Serbia, was held on Apirl 20. (Photo/Peoples Daily App) Present at the ceremony held in the Clinical Center of Serbia were Ana Brnabic, Prime Minister of Serbia, Zlatibor Loncar, Minister of Health in Serbia, Zoran Radojicic, Mayor of Belgrade, Chen Bo, Chinese Ambassador to Serbia, and etc. The completion of the lab in Belgrade is a milestone for Serbia in the fight against the epidemic, said Ana Brnabic, adding that the lab, together with the other one to be built soon in Nis, the third-largest Serbian city, will significantly strengthen the testing capacities of Serbia. (Photo/Peoples Daily App) It took only 12 days from the signing of agreements between the Chinese company and the Serbian government to the completion of the lab in Belgrade, noted Chen Bo. Earlier on April 8, the BGI Group signed the deal with the Serbian government via video conference to build two labs, one in Belgrade and the other in Nis, helping to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The two labs are expected to add a combined daily testing capacity of 3,000 to Serbia. The core equipment in the Belgrade laboratory and all the instruments in the Nis laboratory will be donated by the Chinese company. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke with US President Donald Trump on Tuesday and thanked him for his good wishes while he was recovering from the coronavirus as the two leaders agreed on the importance of a coordinated international response to the pandemic that has infected over 2.5 million people worldwide. Johnson, 55, is gradually engaging with government officials and his Cabinet as he prepares for a full-time return from his convalescence following his COVID-19 hospitalisation, Downing Street said on Tuesday. He will not be resuming formal government duties yet but spoke to Trump on the phone to thank him for his get-well wishes during his illness. The Prime Minister spoke to President Trump this afternoon, and thanked him for his good wishes while he was unwell, said a Downing Street spokesperson. The leaders agreed on the importance of a coordinated international response to coronavirus, including through the G7 which the US currently chairs. They also discussed continued UK-US cooperation in the fight against the pandemic, the spokesperson said. The two leaders also committed to continue working together to strengthen the US-UK bilateral relationship, including by signing a free trade agreement as soon as possible. This was the first conversation between the two leaders after Johnson's recovery from the coronavirus. During the call, the two leaders reaffirmed their close cooperation through the G7 and G20 to reopen global economies and ensure that medical care and supplies reach all those in need, the White House said. President Trump and Prime Minister Johnson also discussed bilateral and global issues, including our shared commitment to reaching a United States-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement, it said. Johnson is also scheduled to hold his weekly audience with Queen Elizabeth II over the phone later this week. "He has been receiving updates from Number 10 on the coronavirus response and has spoken with the First Secretary of State (Dominic Raab) and senior members of his team," Johnson's official Downing Street spokesperson said. On Monday, Johnson sent a message of condolence to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after the very sad loss of life in the shooting in Canada. However, it was stressed that the UK prime minister would be "continuing his recovery at Chequers and isn't formally doing government work", with Raab continuing to be in charge as his deputy. Johnson has been recuperating at his prime ministerial country residence in Buckinghamshire since his discharge from St. Thomas' Hospital in London last week, after he tested positive for coronavirus and had to be shifted into intensive care for a few days as his condition worsened. It is customary for the UK prime minister to hold a weekly audience with the monarch, which had been transformed into telephone engagements as the coronavirus lockdown came into force last month. Johnson will now be resuming the phone audience with the Queen, who turned 94 on Tuesday, after a three-week hiatus due to his illness. Globally, the virus has infected over 2.5 million people and the disease has claimed over 170,000 lives. Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here. Catch our entire coverage on the Facebook-Jio deal here She is currently on lockdown with her husband and their young children. And Jacqueline Jossa was fulfilling some domestic duties as she headed to the shops for essentials on Wednesday. The former EastEnders actress, 27, donned protective gloves for her outing to the shop as she picked up the family food shopping, including a large multipack of crisps. Shopping: Jacqueline Jossa was fulfilling some domestic duties as she headed to the shops for essentials on Wednesday The I'm A Celebrity winner put on a casual display for her outing, clad in a pastel pink hoodie and matching joggers. Opting for comfort she completed the ensemble with box fresh trainers. Her brunette tresses were pulled into a stylish updo, held back from her face with a gold-studded headband. Jacqueline appeared to have overestimated how much shopping - which included Fab ice lollies, a pepperoni pizza and some fruit juice - she would need to get for her brood as she struggled with the bags before heading to the car. Food: Jacqueline appeared to have overestimated how much shopping - which included Fab ice lollies, a pepperoni pizza and some fruit juice - she would need to get for her brood as she struggled with the bags before heading to the car Necessary: The former EastEnders actress, 27, donned protective gloves for her outing to the shop as she picked up the family food shopping, including a large multipack of crisps Radiant: Her brunette tresses were pulled into a stylish updo, held back from her face with a gold-studded headband Jacqueline is married to former TOWIE star Dan Osborne, 28, with couple sharing daughters Ella, five, and Mia, 22 months. Dan also has son Teddy, six, from a previous relationship. The outing comes after Jacqueline revealed the reason behind why she signed up to I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here, after years of thinking the ITV reality competition could potentially ruin her acting career. The star spoke to TOWIE's Bobby Norris via an Instagram Live on Tuesday, where Jacqueline explained she took part in the show to 'gain control' over the constant speculation her marriage with Dan was on the rocks. Jacqueline married former Dan in 2017 and has had to deal with numerous allegations he has cheated on her during their three year marriage. Oh dear: The beauty dropped her car keys as she headed to her vehicle Lockdown life: Jacqueline looked gorgeous as she headed to the shops to grab supplies The former EastEnders star told Bobby: 'If you'd ask me four years ago would you ever do the jungle I would say no. 'Back then people would judge you if you were to do it, it would ruin your career. I've never done anything like that before. I was an actress and I thought if I do this "will I ever work again? Will I be in the reality world?" 'But then I was sort of already in that world in my reality TV life. All I've ever done before the jungle was EastEnders, Good Morning Britain and Loose Women interviews, that is literally it. Ive never done anything like that before. After departing EastEnders, Jacqueline said she was determined to take the narrative back on her personal life following Dan's cheating rumours. Pick up: The star retrieved her keys as she headed to her car Casual cool: Jacqueline opted for a relaxed ensemble as she headed out to shop She said: 'My life was already getting ripped to shreds already and I thought this is almost a way of gaining control back and being like this is me", who I am as a person. I thought this is time now. 'I kind of just want to be able to be myself and not to keep walking about judging in they are a different version of me.' Jacqueline, who previously said she has a new found confidence since winning the show, admitted she has 'no regrets at all' in taking part. During her time in the jungle, rumours surfaced that Dan had a threesome with Celebrity Big Brother co-stars Chloe Ayling and Natalie Nunn in 2018. After endless denials, Dan finally admitted last year he had been unfaithful and then referenced his misgivings in a post showing him in 2010 and now while surrounded by his three children. The United Nations General Assembly designated 22 April as International Mother Earth Day through a resolution adopted in 2009 The United Nations General Assembly designated 22 April as International Mother Earth Day through a resolution adopted in 2009. However, the roots of the day go back to the 1970s. The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment 1972 in Stockholm was the beginning of a global awareness of the interdependence between people with other living species and the planet. The UN celebrates Earth Day through the Harmony with Nature initiative. When the UN General Assembly proclaimed 22 April as International Mother Earth Day, member states acknowledged that the Earth and its ecosystems are the common home of living organisms. In a statement issued on Earth Day, the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said that all eyes are on the COVID-19 pandemic and we must work together to save lives, ease suffering and lessen the shattering economic and social consequences. The UN chief said people must act decisively to protect the planet from both the coronavirus and the existential threat of climate disruption. The thematic significance of the day has also been highlighted by Earthday.org which says the theme for Earth Day 2020 is climate action. On World Earth Day 2020, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu tweeted that all must renew their commitment to shape humanitys collective future on the planet by preserving and replenishing its valuable resources. Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked everyone to pledge to work towards a cleaner, healthier and more prosperous planet. A shout out to all those working at the forefront to defeat COVID-19," Modi tweeted. On International Day of Mother Earth, we all express gratitude to our planet for the abundance of care & compassion. Let us pledge to work towards a cleaner, healthier & more prosperous planet. A shout out to all those working at the forefront to defeat COVID-19. #EarthDay2020 Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 22, 2020 Minister of Railways, Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said people must unite against COVID-19 and pledge to nurture Mother Earth for a better and healthier tomorrow. Since ancient times, we Indians have lived in peace and harmony with nature. This #EarthDay, while we unite against COVID-19, let us also pledge to nurture our Mother Earth for a better & healthier tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/NO23zCNw26 Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) April 22, 2020 Actress Madhuri Dixit Nene also tweeted asking people to take a pledge on Earth Day 2020 to switch off appliances when not in use, plant trees, conserve fuel and water. This lockdown has shown us how little nature needs for it to revive & thrive.On the 50th #EarthDay let us all pledge to #DoOurBit by switching off appliances when not in use, plant trees,use fuel & water conservatively.Together we can build a better world, one we all are proud of pic.twitter.com/VZEIkYCebZ Madhuri Dixit Nene (@MadhuriDixit) April 22, 2020 US space agency NASA shared a video showing five decades of its Earth observations from space. For the 50th anniversary of #EarthDay, a look at five decades of @NASAEarth observations from space. From the Apollo 8 "Earthrise" image to a growing fleet of satellites, these missions enhanced our understanding of our home planet: https://t.co/S8DuPAQpm1 #EarthDayAtHome pic.twitter.com/cu0skXQNVj NASA (@NASA) April 22, 2020 Today's Google Doodle is also dedicated to Earth Day 2020. The doodle has been made in collaboration with New York's The Honeybee Conservancy. The animated doodle allows users to guide the bee to pollinate flowers all the while revealing intriguing facts about them and the planet. STAVANGER (dpa-AFX) - Equinor said that Tim Dodson will step down as executive vice president Exploration, a role he held since 2011. He will take on the role as vice president Strategy Execution in Global Strategy and Business Development from 1 June 2020. Tore Lseth has been appointed acting executive vice president of Exploration and will join the corporate executive committee in this capacity. Tore Lseth joined Equinor in 2001. He comes from the position as senior vice president Exploration International Onshore, which he has held since October 2017. Before this, Lseth was senior vice president Exploration Gulf of Mexico, based in Houston. From 2008 to 2013, Lseth has held various leadership positions within exploration in Norway. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. The Real Estate Institute of New South Wales has called for a reduction of stamp duty amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Tim McKibbin, CEO of REINSW, said a significant reduction in the rate of stamp duty will benefit not just the housing industry, but also the broader economy. "Obviously, there are immediate economic benefits stemming from an increase in residential transactions. A property transaction sets in motion a ripple effect of other immediate business opportunities. And there's a longer game at play too," he said. McKibbin said the stamp duty destined for the government coffers could be distributed through the economy, boost businesses, support workers, and reduce the size of the stimulus needed. "And here's the kicker: because that stamp duty tax is there, the initial real estate transaction that could trigger this chain of events often doesn't occur in the first place. It's that significant a barrier, and even more so right now," he said. Also read: Six Initiatives To Support Construction March figures from CoreLogic show that the current median house price in Sydney is $882,849. For this price, the stamp duty is around $35,000. McKibbin said reducing the rate of stamp duty will allow buyers to use the money to personalise their homes or even boost their savings. "But they can't. That money is being withheld from the economy at this, of all times in our history, as COVID-19 inflicts generational damage. It must change," he said. McKibbin said the state government needs to "get with the times" and slash the stamp duty rate by 75%. "In this COVID-19 world, the goalposts for every industry are shifting. Every business owner and operator are trying to keep the wheels turning. For real estate, and every business in the flow-on supply chain, stamp duty is the brake. Let's face it, 25% of something is a lot better than a 100% of nothing," he said. The plan to sell Victorias Secret to a private equity investor appears to be in trouble, with the buyer saying on Wednesday it wanted to terminate the deal because of the retail chains response to the coronavirus pandemic. Sycamore Partners, which agreed to buy a majority of Victorias Secret from its embattled owner, L Brands, in February, argued its case in a Delaware court filing. The move sent the companys shares plummeting by about 20 percent before trading of the stock was temporarily halted. L Brands, which also owns Bath & Body Works, said in a statement that it believed Sycamores attempt to terminate the acquisition was invalid, and that it planned to vigorously defend the lawsuit and work toward closing the deal. The public health crisis, which has hit apparel chains especially hard, has forced nonessential retailers to close stores, cut corporate salaries and furlough employees. Sycamore pointed to such actions as evidence that L Brands had violated the terms of its agreement, including the obligation to essentially conduct business as usual and to refrain from changing any cash management policies, practices, principles or methodologies. LORAIN COUNTY, Ohio -- The family of an 18-year-old Lorain County high school wrestler who died in 2014 of a caffeine powder overdose says online retail giant Amazon played a role in his death, according to filings with the Ohio Supreme Court. Logan Stiner died May 27, 2014, a few days before he would graduate from Keystone High School in LaGrange. The Stiner family filed suit in March 2015 against a myriad of defendants they accused of contributing to Logan Stiners death. Defendants included Stiners friend, who sold him the caffeine supplements, Bulk Source, the company that sold the powder and Tenkoris, the Chinese company where Bulk Source got its product. The lawsuit also included Amazon. To date, all parties have settled with the Stiner family, except for Amazon. The Ohio Supreme Court scheduled arguments in the case at 9 a.m. April 29. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Ohio Chamber of Commerce filed a so-called friend of the court brief in support of Amazon, saying that online retailers do not fit the traditional definition of supplier, and dont share the liability of third-party retailers like Bulk Source. The courts below correctly refused to interpret the statute in a way that would expand strict liability to companies that have no contact with or control over the product itself, the chambers wrote in their brief. The company has argued that it played no role in Stiners death, nor was it responsible for the sale of the powder. Amazon said in court filings that it was Tenkoris that advertised the powder on its site. The online retailer also maintains that it is not a supplier of the powder, and Tenkoris put it on the market. Stiners family took the case to the Ninth District Court of Appeals, which ruled in Amazons favor. In some instances, Amazon acts as a seller, retailing products offered through the Amazon Site, the appeals court said in its decision. The majority of sales, however, are through third-party sellers who either, (1) source and sell their products which are stored, shipped and handled through Amazon facilities -- Amazon-Fulfillment Products -- or (2) the third-party seller sources, sells, fulfills, ships, and delivers its products -- Seller-Fulfillment Products. Tenkoriss entered an agreement with Amazon to sell the products through a digital storefront called The Bulk Source. It sold products, including the Hard Rhino Pure Caffeine powder. Amazon activated the listing, the appeals court decision says. The appeals court, in its ruling, said that Amazon never had any direct possession of the caffeine powder and that Tenkoris shipped and supplied it to Stiners friend. Stiners family appealed the ruling to the states highest court. Stiner asked his friend days before his death about supplements he could take before his workout to help with training. The friend looked on Amazon and found a page featuring a product called Hard Rhino and bought it through Amazon. The Bulk Source fulfilled the order, according to appeals court documents. She used some of the powder for her own drinks then gave a portion of the powder to Stiner in a plastic bag. She did not show Stiner the label but warned him in a text message that taking too much of it could be fatal, documents say. Stiner left school the day he died to eat lunch at home. His brother found him later unresponsive with a white powder near him, documents say. It was later determined Stiner ingested the caffeine and died from acute caffeine toxicity, which caused him to have a seizure and a heart attack, documents say. Investigators determined it to be a potent brand of powdered caffeine, Lorain County Coroner Dr. Stephen Evans previously told cleveland.com. Read the appeals courts decision here. Read more crime and court stories from cleveland.com: Suspect in 2018 Akron slaying arrested in West Virginia Violent crime in Cleveland mostly unchanged during the coronavirus crisis, as arrests and warrants decrease Cuyahoga County Jail officer, already on unpaid leave from prior arrest, accused of driving drunk with loaded AR-15 Man shot and killed in Clevelands Glenville neighborhood Medical examiner identifies man found fatally shot in Akron The sweeping shutdowns across the world appear to have absorbed what may only be the first wave of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) infections, according to officials from the World Health Organization (WHO) and findings by researchers in France one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic. The assessment is based on the number of people who appear to have contracted and recovered from the disease the only way to develop an immunity till the time a vaccine is developed which, according to WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, was not more than 2-3%. Early data suggests that a relatively small percentage of the populations may have been infected, even in heavily affected areas, Tedros said at a briefing in Geneva on Monday, after warning that the the worst is yet ahead of us. The estimates were based on detection of antibodies in the regions where blood tests have been carried out. The findings are backed by a research uploaded to the French open access journal HAL. By 11 May, when interventions are scheduled to be eased, we project 3.7 million (range: 2.3-6.7) people, 5.7% of the population, will have been infected. Population immunity appears insufficient to avoid a second wave if all control measures are released at the end of the lockdown, the authors say in the report . France accounts for the highest number of infections as well as fatalities after the United States, Spain and Italy. As on Tuesday, 155,383 have been infected and at least 20,000 have died in France. The country ordered a nationwide shut down on March 17 when infections were at close to 7,000 with 175 fatalities. The researchers also add that an analysis of hospitalisations and ICU admissions suggest the lockdown had a drastic impact in France. We find that the basic reproduction number R0 prior to the lockdown was 3.31 (95% CrI: 3.18-3.43). At the national level, the lockdown resulted in a 84% reduction in transmission with the R dropping to 0.52 (95% CrI: 0.50-0.55), they said. R0 or R naught is the number of people infected by one person carrying the virus. A 95% Crl means there is a 95% probability that a value falls in a particular interval, also called credible interval or Crl. National daily ICU admissions have gone from 700 at the end of March to 220 on the 14th of April. If current trends continue, by the 11th of May, we project between 10 and 45 daily ICU admissions, the researchers add. This suggests France may have flattened the curve, a disease containment strategy that aims to reduce infections to levels that a countrys health infrastructure can manage. With a population of 1.36 billion, this is especially hard for a country like India, which has one doctor for every 1,457 people. France, on average, has 3.2 doctors for every 1,000 people, according to World Bank data. Globally, more signs emerged that the lockdowns that began in mid-March may have helped enough for some of these curbs to be relaxed in some areas. On Tuesday, Germany reported the smallest increase in infections 1,323 in a month. German chancellor Angela Merkel told a meeting of her Christian Democratic Party on Monday that easing the curbs risks sparking a new wave of infections. In Australia, health minister Greg Hunt said the lockdown measures have led to a sustained and consolidated slowdown in new infections he said the growth rate had been less than 1% for nine consecutive days but cautioned that there would be no relaxations for at least three more weeks. (With inputs from Bloomberg) The story of OatMeals, a Greenwich Village hot cereal bar, shows how the damage inflicted on businesses might cast a long shadow on the future of the U.S. economy. April 22, 2020 Samantha Stephens realized her longtime dream eight years ago, opening an oatmeal bar in Greenwich Village where customers can build bowls with toppings that range from chia seeds and berries to bacon and poached eggs. Now, the coronavirus has left the little company fighting for its life. Ms. Stephens had methodically prepared to jump into New Yorks competitive dining scene, attending culinary school at night while working full time as an investment bank executive assistant. When she did, she turned an initial loan into a small but solid business, one that pulls in about $45,000 in revenue each month. But her shop, OatMeals, a 380-square-foot cubby that offers oat-themed pastries and 30 set bowls among them The Hot Date and Truffle RisOATto has suffered a serious blow amid quarantines. It has forced Ms. Stephens to make tough choices. Her story is one of many but shows why the damage inflicted on businesses today might cast a long shadow on the future of the U.S. economy. Below is a diary of the decisions she has made, the hurdles along the way, and what lies ahead. Friday, March 6 The Last Day of Normalcy The shop is open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, so my staff and I are there by 6:15. We get in early and start cooking the hot oatmeal and baking the fresh oatmeal pastries. We open at 7 a.m. our main rush is 8:15, 8:30 to 10:30. Thats our big, busy rush. The deliveries start coming in, and weve got multiple tablets, she said, explaining that the devices keep the oatmeal baristas posted on takeout orders, which are very popular. They all start chirping and buzzing at us. By Doug Steinhardt Almost one year ago, Moodys Investor Service published a report that warned New Jersey is the least prepared state in America to handle a recession. They specifically cited small cash reserves and our enormous pension liability as the main reasons for our vulnerability. Then, this week, amid the economic fallout of the coronavirus, Moodys lowered New Jerseys outlook to negative and warned significantly reduced liquidity levels" and increased cash-flow borrowing could spur a credit downgrade. Sadly, New Jerseyans are accustomed to bleak outlooks of our states economic forecast. However, it is avoidable. As discussions on reopening New Jersey evolve, our Democrat-controlled state government will be tempted to plug budget holes with big loans and bigger tax increases. Gov. Phil Murphy already telegraphed his plan to raise taxes and borrow billions. Dont let him. We cant afford it. I am convinced that the hardest part of leadership isnt having the courage to do whats right, its resisting the temptation to do whats easy. Thinking we can tax and spend our way out of a recession sounds easy, but its absurd. We cant afford to fall back into the same bad habits that brought us here. The only way to avoid an economic collapse is by implementing fiscally responsible economic policies that help New Jersey get back on its feet without breaking New Jerseyans backs. Now is the time to be contemplating the next steps. The states budget must be addressed in an immediate and transparent way, balancing and prioritizing the physical and fiscal needs of 9 million New Jerseyans who are being crushed by this crisis. How will the economy reopen safely and when? What are the reduced revenue projections for fiscal years 2020 and 2021? What is the effect on the states budget? Will there be cuts and, if so, from where? New Jersey has the worst fiscal health in America, according to US News and World Report. Borrowing heavily, in the form of the New Jersey COVID-19 Emergency Bond Act, cant be the only plan. There are alternatives. That means things like tax holidays that increase taxpayers available cash, not tax increases that reduce it. It means updating outdated school funding formulas and antiquated COAH requirements. It means improving our worst-in-the-nation tax climate through tax-cutting policies that make New Jersey more affordable, not less. It means streamlining approvals and cutting red tape to keep businesses open and people working. It means repurposing our profit centers and investing in ourselves. It means funding for businesses and non-profits, support for local governments, and COVID education, prevention, tracking and treatment. It also means living within our means, not raising taxes and borrowing, which artificially inflates our resources. This pandemic has motivated New Jerseyans to do amazing things. Weve seen communities unite, health care workers and first responders perform superhuman tasks and extraordinary acts of kindness that restore our faith in society. It proves there is no end to New Jerseyeans resolve and ingenuity in times of crisis. We must take care, though, as we emerge from one crisis, that we dont throw ourselves into another one. How much more are we willing to mortgage our childrens future? The telltale signs of a state economic collapse are here. We can either accept our economic fate or rise to the challenge and change it. I want to change it. I believe that family is worth fighting for. This lockdown reminded me why. I dont want to be one of those parents or grandparents who have to visit his children or grandchildren on Skype or FaceTime because they cant afford to buy a house here, find a job here or start a life here. Thats a fight worth having and a challenge worth accepting. Doug Steinhardt is chairman of the state Republican Party. The Star-Ledger/NJ.com encourages submissions of opinion. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. The former prime minister and current leader of the Future Movement (FM), Saad Hariri, who last Friday evening returned home from Paris where he had been since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, seems determined to intensify opposition to the government of his successor, Hassan Diab, and to work toward a joint front with several political forces, in particular the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) and the Lebanese Forces (LF). But will an opposition made up of traditional parties, if they manage to overcome their differences, be effective and above all credible, while the whole traditional political class, whether in power or not, seems to have lost the confidence of many Lebanese nationals? Hariri who, according to FM sources, will remain under self-quarantine for 14 days although he tested negative for coronavirus on his arrival in Beirut aboard a private jet, immediately contacted PSP leader Walid Jumblatt. An FM source told LOrient-Le Jour that there is full coordination between the two men, who have recently stepped up their attacks on Diabs government. According to this source, the grace period granted by Hariri to the Diab government is now over, especially since the government has not been able to pursue a coherent policy to steer the country out of its crisis. Hariri, who initially refarined from strongly criticizing the Diab government, decided to speak up after the cabinets draft economic reform plan was published. He accused it of wanting to implement an economic suicide plan based on confiscating the money of the Lebanese deposited in the banks. For his part, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, who had also initially indicated that he wanted to give the government a chance, has recently intensified his criticisms, going as far as accusing Diab 10 days ago of preparing a political-financial coup. He was referring to fears of imposing a haircut on certain bank deposits. Jumblatt's advisor, Rami Rayyes, confirmed to L' Orient Le Jour that the PSP is engaged in an ongoing dialogue and coordinating with the Future Movement and other parties against government policies. Rayyes noted that coordination between the PSP and the FM began well before the coronavirus crisis and included meetings between officials of the two parties in various regions. According to political sources, Hariri, Jumblatt and LF leader Samir Geagea would work towards closing their ranks in an attempt to create a unified front to pressure the government. It is from this perspective that we should interpret the April 17 meeting between Geagea and two of Jumblatt's emissaries, Akram Chehayeb and Nehme Tohme, who are members of the Druze leaders parliamentary bloc. According to an LF source, the meeting was "part of the coordination" between the two parties. Each party explained its view about the health and financial crises, the political situation and the governments performance, the source said, adding that there was "a convergence of views. Geagea, too, has not spared the government of his criticism, saying that as long as the sinister trio controls power in Lebanon, there is no hope for genuine reforms or rescue plan. He was apparently referring to the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and the Shiite duo (Hezbollah and Amal Movement). The LF source said the Lebanese Forces and the Progressive Socialist Party decided to beef up their coordination, saying that a revitalisation of the March 14 Coalition is not being considered for the time being. A source close to the PSP explained that the Druze leader does not want to antagonize Parliament Speaker and head of the Amal Movement Nabih Berri or Suleiman Frangieh, the leader of the Marada Movement, believing that it is better to keep allies inside the government at a time both parties do not spare the prime minister of their criticism. Rayyes also believes that the creation of a united opposition front is still premature. Hariri and Geagea must first normalize their relations, which have been tense since the LF refrained from nominating the FM leader for the post of Prime Minister during the parliamentary consultations last December. Hariri resigned on October 29, a few days after the popular uprising broke out. Those who destroyed the country will not be able to rebuild it On the internal front, Hariri must also work on consolidating his popular base, which was shaken, like that of several traditional parties, by the popular uprising. He must also deal with a new element: the ambition of his elder brother Bahaa Hariri to get into politics. The latter is preparing to open offices in all Lebanese regions, said Nabil Halabi, a lawyer who presented himself as being close to Bahaa Hariri. Halabi told the OLJ that Bahaa Hariri supports the young people who rose up against the political class, but has no ambition to become prime minister. Since his resignation, Saad Hariri has also tried to listen to those among his supporters who criticized him for having made concessions as part of the presidential compromise that allowed Michel Aoun to become President of the Republic in 2016. The former prime minister also came under fire for having been complacent about Hezbollah, asserting since the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) started its proceedings in 2014 that the countrys internal stability was his priority. The main defendants in the 2005 murder of his father, former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, are alleged members of the pro-Iranian party and are being tried in absentia before the STL. Is it in this context that he wanted upon his return to the country on April 17 to send a message of firmness, attacking lawmaker Jamil Sayyed, who, according to his critics, played an influential role in the formation of the Diab government and is one of its grey eminences? It should be recalled that Sayyed and three other former intelligence and security officials were arrested in 2005 as part of the investigation into Rafic Hariris assassination, before being released four years later, for lack of evidence. In principle, the STL is due to deliver its verdict in the case of Hariri's murder in mid-May. In a press release issued by his press office upon his arrival, Hariri asked the legal representative of the victims (killed along with his father) to the STL to inform the tribunal of a tweet published by the pro-Syrian lawmaker on April 11. In the tweet, Sayyed acknowledges indirectly that he had received $27 million for the murder of Rafic Hariri, said Saad Hariri, who requested lifting the deputys parliamentary immunity to prosecute him by a competent court. Sayyed was quick in publishing another tweet, accusing Hariri of lying and affirming that he outstripped him by preparing a file for the STL claiming that the former prime minister has falsified documents. But all of these political calculations do not take into account the political earthquake caused by the October 17 popular uprising, which showed that a large part of the Lebanese no longer identify themselves with the traditional political class. An opposition front formed by the traditional parties has zero credibility, according to Pierre Issa, secretary-general of the National Block party which is engaged in the popular movement. There is a lack of confidence in the traditional political class and there is the failure of the political parties, Issa told the OLJ. For us, the six major confessional parties and the small parties that revolve around them are finished, he said.It is impossible for them to get us out of the crisis because those who destroyed the country will not be able to rebuild it. (This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour on the 21rst of April) Australia said Wednesday it will take advantage of record low oil prices to develop a long-needed strategic oil reserve, which will be located in the United States. With global demand for oil slowing to a trickle owing to worldwide virus lockdowns, crude prices turning negative and storage facilities bursting at the seams, Energy Minister Angus Taylor said it was time to act. Australia has long had one of the lowest levels of emergency petroleum stockpiles in the developed world, leaving it hugely exposed in the event of tensions in hotspots such as the Strait of Hormuz. Taylor said Australia would spend Aus$94 million (US$59 million) to begin developing an oil stockpile established on US soil. "This is a unique opportunity to begin a fuel reserve because we are seeing historically low prices," he said. "Now is the time to move. We are moving with the storage we can access, which right now is in the United States." The two allies signed an agreement in early March allowing Australia to lease space in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which could be accessed in emergencies. Taylor said Australia's own oil storages were already full, but the government had begun discussions with local industry to boost capacity and eventually move the strategic reserve onshore. "In the event there is a global disruption that slows fuel supplies, moving around the world, we will get access to the fuel we need to keep our country going," he said. The deal will also allow Australia to begin complying with International Energy Agency (IEA) obligations to hold 90 days of the previous year's net imports in reserve. Taylor said the country currently has 20 to 30 days' worth of consumer supply on Australian soil, but held the equivalent of about 50 to 80 days under the IEA requirements. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The College of Engineering (CoE), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), has held a demonstration exercise to explain the working operation of Ghanas first home-made prototype ventilator. The medical equipment, which is in the advanced stages of development, is a collaborative work between the Colleges Computer Engineering Department and Michigan Technological University. The purpose of the demonstration exercise is to outdoor to stakeholders what the University is doing from its own perspective to augment access to quality healthcare delivery. We think this home-made ventilator could be of utmost importance to patients with breathing deficiencies and disorders if the project is taken up for further development, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, Professor Mark Adom-Asamoah, Provost of the College, noted. In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Kumasi, on the sideline of the programme, which brought on board the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), the Provost said less expensive materials and technology were used in building the portable ventilator. The project design focused on the exterior casing and pneumatics (gas flow and tubing), electronic circuit design, the device operating algorithm construction and microcontroller programming. The use of external signals from the muscle of the conscious patient as feedback signal to trigger the ventilator into operation when the need arises and stop it when no longer needed had also been considered to fine-tune the equipment. Prof. Adom-Asamoah hinted that the collaborative work commenced three years ago, saying the intention was to use the ingenuity of student engineers and faculty members to address the inadequacy of ventilators. According to the Ghana Health Service, the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), the nations second-largest health referral facility, remains the only hospital in the Ashanti Region which could boast of few ventilators. Mr Eric Sackey Mensah, in-charge of the Regional Clinical Engineering Unit, GHS, said the authorities were happy that the CoE responded to the needs of the nation by coming out with the innovative automated home-made Ventilator. He said they would be working with the University to complete the project, and see how best the medical equipment could be produced on a larger scale in order to serve the interest of health facilities in the country. The GNA gathered that a standard commercial Ventilator could cost about GH300, 000 on the market. Prof. Kwame Osei Boateng, who is heading the KNUST side on the project, said the CoE estimated that the cost of the finished KNUST Ventilator would go for about GH30,000 on the market. Consequently, he stressed the need for the project to be taken seriously as they were critical to resuscitating patients with breathing difficulties given its relatively low cost. Dr Samuel Frimpong, Regional Director of the GSA, assured that his outfit would collaborate with the College to calibrate the equipment to ensure its efficient use. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video This was always a moral issue, one we should have faced decades ago. But this pandemic has shown us that weve given a totalitarian country control over the supply of many things that we need to survive, like N95 masks and basic pharmaceutical products. How much more would we be willing to pay for goods essential for public health and the national defense to be produced here? And how could we properly value and protect those who do that work? Can we put truth and science before political correctness? As a woman who has worn a size 10 for my entire adult life, I have benefited from the body positivity movement. But I refuse to pretend that obesity is not a public health crisis one that this virus has made searingly plain. A new study suggests that obesity is one of the major predictors of whether the coronavirus will land someone in the hospital. The study has not yet been peer-reviewed, but it jibes with what many doctors have observed. Can we still rely on the journal Nature for unbiased scientific expertise if it apologizes for associating the virus with Wuhan and with China and calls such an association erroneous? The journal did so on the grounds that racists are using the coronavirus as an excuse to discriminate against Asian people something that appalls anyone with a conscience. But there is no dispute whatsoever that the virus emerged in China and that, by suppressing crucial information about the outbreak, including heroic whistle-blowers who tried to warn the world, the Chinese Communist Party hastened its spread. You can see the way our scientific thinking has been corrupted in those on the right who insist this pandemic is Gods vengeance against urban hedonists, and those on the left who claim this is payback from an angry Mother Earth. These are the arguments of ideologues using science as a hammer. The fight to reclaim the skepticism that science relies upon is a life-or-death one. Meanwhile, I dont want to hear another thing about the healing power of crystals for as long as I live. The body of the Indian migrant who died from coronavirus far from home was kept inside the ambulance in front of the crematorium in case a friend came by for a last goodbye. But nearly an hour later no one had appeared, and the workers in protective suits had to carry out their grim task. In silence, the four men carefully moved the body, wrapped in a white plastic bag, to a furnace where it was reduced to ashes that were placed in a silver box. Millions of foreigners work in the United Arab Emirates and across the other wealthy Gulf nations, providing the backbone of the workforce in hospitals and banks, as well as on construction sites and in factories. Many have spent decades toiling to provide for their families, with the hope of returning one day to open a business or build a house. But a death from coronavirus means that the body cannot be sent home, and that it has to be cremated or buried in the country where the person dies. "The whole world is changing. Nobody comes anymore, nobody touches, nobody says goodbye," said Ishwar Kumar, a manager of the Hindu Cremation Ground located in a desert area south of Dubai. Before coronavirus "people would come here, around 200 to 250, to grieve and bring flowers. Now they die alone," he told AFP. The majority of the 166 deaths and 26,600 registered cases in Gulf countries so far have been foreigners, according to health ministries, most of them from Asian countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and the Philippines. A few hours before the cremation of the Indian man -- aged in his 50s and a partner at a tourist company in Dubai -- the body of another victim, a 40-year-old Filipino beautician, was also cremated at the facility. Both had one thing in common on their death certificates -- "covid pneumonia" as the cause of death. The silver boxes, bought from a hypermarket, are handed over to the next of kin if they are in Dubai, or to the embassy. "They work as labourers so most of them don't have family members. Sometimes their work colleagues come," said Suresh Galani, another manager at the facility. Despite halting commercial flights to stop the spread of the pandemic, governments in the region have been trying to lay on repatriation flights for foreign workers who are now out of a job as the economy grinds to a halt. But dealing with victims' bodies is another challenge, as the presence of the contagious disease means that burial or cremation has to take place immediately. In Saudi Arabia, according to a source in the health ministry who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, "until now all the families are asking to bury the bodies inside Saudi because they prefer so." Among them was Wazir Moahmed Saleh, a 57-year-old Afghan who worked and lived in the Muslim holy city of Medina since the 1980s after he fled his country during the war with the former Soviet Union. The stationery shop owner died of coronavirus last week. He had family in the holy city where the prophet's grave is located but had to be buried with only four people in attendance -- all his sons. His nephew Amed Khan, a sales agent born in the kingdom, could only look at photos and videos of his uncle's burial on a smartphone. "His dream was to be buried in Medina, and his dream came true," he told AFP. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) She shared a throwback from the 1990s featuring her mother Kris Jenner the day before. Kim Kardashian moved on to her daughter Chicago, two, on Tuesday as she started organizing the photos on her phone. The 39-year-old Keeping Up With The Kardashians star shared a cute photo to Instgram of the toddler playing with her blocks. Throwback: Kim Kardashian, 39, shared a cute photo of her daughter Chicago, two, playing with her blocks on Tuesday. Kim said she was organizing all her children's photos on her phone Chicago looked to be deep in thought as she assembled a tower from her blocks, which were all adorned with cartoon animals. She had on a tiny black tank top and camouflage shorts, and her hair was pulled back in a messy bun. 'The best thing I've been doing is organizing all of the pictures in my phone and making folders for each of my children,' Kim explained in the caption. In addition to Chicago, Kim shares North, six, Saint, four, and Psalm, 11 months with her rapper husband Kanye West, 42. Motherdaughter memories: The day before, Kim shared another throwback photo, this time of her mother Kris Jenner sending her off before her prom in 1996 Glam goddess: Kim Kardashian posted a gorgeous selfie to her Instagram earlier on Tuesday as she pined for a time before quarantine when she could get glammed up On Monday, her journey through the past uncovered a throwback photo featuring her mother Kris. She posted that tiny snapshot, which was dated to 1996, to her KKW Fragrance Instagram account to advertise her new KKW X Kris perfume. Kim would have been 15 or 16 when the prom photo was taken, and she had her raven locks piled high for the special occasion, while kris wore a black suit. While her self-quarantine at home with Kanye and her children has given her plenty of time to sort through old images and spend quality time with the family, she seems to be missing the glamorous lifestyle that came with access to professional makeup and hair artists. Earlier on Tuesday, the reality star shared a photo of herself with midriff-length raven locks and as she pouted her luscious lips and gazed longingly into the camera. 'I miss glam. Can we FT and get a glam lesson,' she wrote, tagging her hairstylist Chris Appleton and makeup artist Ariel Tejada. Beauty icon: 'Can we FT and get a glam lesson,' she asked in Tuesday's post, tagging her hairstylist Chris Appleton and makeup artist Ariel Tejada Critical: The Keeping up with the Kardashians star tweet the same day about Kevin Keith, a prisoner sent to death row for a triple murder before his sentence was commuted to life in prison Though she's been focused on what has been missing since going into quarantine, Kim hasn't let her focus stray from criminal justice issues that have inspired her in recent years. Also on Tuesday, she posted a furious tweet about Kevin Keith, a prisoner at the Marion Correctional Institute in Ohio, which has become the nation's hot spot for coronavirus infections. 'The police rushed to judgment when they arrested Kevin,' she wrote in a tweet. 'This innocent man went from living freely to having his world upended by a murder trial to death row in under 4 months. That's more than enough injustice for one person. OH needs to correct its mistake before it's too late.' Keith was convicted of a triple murder in 1994 and sentence to death, in a trial so marred by procedural problems that former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland commuted his sentence to life imprisonment in 2010 before leaving office. The entrepreneur was previously able to meet with Keith and learn his story in a video chat from behind bars. New details have become known about the murder committed by Garik Mashadyan, the brother of Rafik Mashadyan, the First Deputy Chairman of the State Revenue Committee of Armenia. This criminal case has been joined to the criminal case initiated in 2019 into the murder of Yerevan resident Tsoghik Badikyan, 65, shamshyan.com reported. Garik Mashadyan, 46, was arrested on suspicion of killing his neighbor Badikyan. A criminal case was initiated Tuesday on the fact that after the murder, it was found out that large amounts of gold jewelry and money had been stolen from Badikyan's apartment. During the investigation at the scene of the murder, the suspect had told how he had entered the house and what he had done inside. To Our Australian Readers: About Recent Media Reporting on The Epoch Times In the last week, several media have written about The Epoch Times, and the special edition we published featuring exclusive coverage of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemicwhich we call the (Chinese Communist Party) CCP virus. First was 7News website on April 16, followed by the Daily Advertiser, then 9News website, and the Daily Mail. We think this is a good opportunity to properly introduce ourselves to new readers, and to Australia as a whole. What Is The Epoch Times The Epoch Times is an independent global media that takes the principles of Truth and Tradition as our guiding light. We are nonpartisan and do not endorse political candidates or parties. As such we are not endorsing Wagga Wagga Council Member Paul Funnell, as Daily Advertiser implied. We are not interested in playing politics. With that in mind, lets set the record straight about our reporting on Funnells motion for Wagga Wagga to cut ties with its Chinese sister city over the CCP virusreporting that was misconstrued in some of those recent reports. The Reality of the Chinese Communist Party The Epoch Times was founded in the United States in 2000 to bring honest and uncensored news to people oppressed by the lies and violence in communist China. The editorial staff we had in China were all arrested and given jail terms of up to 10 years. Today we are headquartered in New York, and operate in other free countries around the world. We have been exposing the atrocities committed by the CCP for 20 years.This pandemic is helping Australians realise the extent of the CCPs corruption and gross malfeasance. Those who are awakening to this threat include public officials at all levels of government, and in a growing number of countries. Australia is appropriately calling for an independent international investigation into Chinas handling of the pandemic. Multiple Australian media have been over the past year exposing the staggering levels of influence the CCP has here, and the pressure it exerts on public officials, corporations, universities, and others. This is a regime that kills its own people for organs on an industrial scale, as the China Tribunal in London recently concluded. In this context, wed argue its hard to challenge Council Member Funnells actions as not being courageous. Issues with the Daily Advertiser Piece The CCP has convinced many to conflate criticism of the regime with that of the Chinese people. Anyone with common sense knows this is not true. Our loyal readers know this is not true. We published a special edition, How the Chinese Communist Party Endangered the World, to give Australians information they need, in real-timeeven as the CCP attempts to rewrite history in real-time. The facts are that the CCP didnt share evidence of human-to-human transmission, they arrested doctors who tried to warn their friends, theyve consistently lied about the number of deaths, and they are pushing propaganda narratives that the virus didnt originate in China. Their goal is to obscure the truththat they allowed the virus to spread across the world. It is the duty of a free press to expose this. We hope every Australian can read about this for themselves. To note, we first printed the special edition in March and have been distributing it across the country ever since, including in Wagga Wagga. The timing has no connection to Funnells motion in council, contrary to what the Daily Advertiser implied. If our reporting in any way helps Wagga Waggas council reach informed decisions, we are gratified. Relationship with Falun Gong It is no secret that among The Epoch Times founders were Falun Gong practitioners. The Epoch Times is not funded by Falun Gong, nor does it speak for Falun Gong, but it does report on Falun Gong. For 20 years, the CCP has brutally persecuted Falun Gong practitioners. We see the remarkable and heroic ways in which Falun Gong followers have responded to that persecutionwhile living by their principles of truthfulness, compassion, and toleranceas one of the most underreported stories of the last 20 years. We also report on the CCPs many other human rights violationsthose against lawyers, pro-democracy advocates, and religious believers, like Christians, Tibetans, and Uyghurs. The CCP has sought to silence The Epoch Times from the start. For Australian media to cast aspersions about the religious beliefs of a companys staff, borders on religious discriminationit also repeats a common CCP propaganda talking point used to try to discredit our efforts. The Epoch Times is a proudly independent global media company headquartered in New York, with a bureau in Australia. We print a weekly newspaper in Australia (subscribers can receive a print copy in the post) and in Canada, and daily in New York and Washington, D.C. We still believe journalism is a noble vocation, but only when it genuinely seeks to serve its communities and help them to flourish. In all that we do, we will hold ourselves to the highest standards of integrity. This is our promise to you. To learn more about us visit our website. To subscribe click here. To receive a print copy of our special edition (pdf) contact enquiry@epochtimes.com.au. Seventeen Canadian women have come forward accusing fashion mogul Peter Nygard of rape and sexual assault, adding their allegations to an international rape lawsuit involving 46 women in total. Three of the Canadian women say they were 16 years old or younger when the alleged assaults took place. One says she was 14. Nine of the assaults are alleged to have taken place in Canada. The allegations are contained in an updated class-action legal complaint filed in New York on Monday by civil lawyers acting for a group of women who say they were raped by Nygard. The complaint also names several Canadian Nygard executives, claiming they "conspired," "concealed" and "enabled" their boss's alleged criminal behaviour. None of the allegations have been proven in court. "Nygard used his considerable influence in the fashion industry, his wealth, his power through corruption of officials, and a network of company employees under his direction, to kidnap, groom and entice children and women," the complaint says. "The Nygard Companies, through Nygard and a close ring of upper-level executives and employees, knowingly and continuously conspired with Nygard to enable, act as a front, and conceal Nygard's criminal activity." Nygard denies allegations Nygard, through his spokesperson Ken Frydman, says the allegations are all untrue. "Mr. Nygard vehemently denies these baseless allegations and looks forward to clearing his name and the names of others who have been so recklessly and falsely accused," Frydman said in a written statement. The amended class-action complaint is a continuation of a civil class-action lawsuit launched in New York against Nygard in February. Paul Smith/CBC The original lawsuit involves 10 complainants who allege Nygard raped them. All but one of them were from the Bahamas, where Nygard owns a palatial seaside mansion. The new lawsuit involves women who came forward after the original claim, alleging rapes in different locales around the world, including Winnipeg, Montreal and Toronto. Story continues "Canada is a huge factor in our lawsuit now," said Lisa Haba, one of the lawyers acting for the complainants. "More than a third of our victims are from Canada." Canadian complainants The Canadian allegations include a woman, referred to as Jane Doe No. 15, who says she was flown to Winnipeg for a modelling job. The complaint says she was held "captive" for three days by Nygard and repeatedly raped. "After three days, Jane Doe No. 15 was able to escape," the complaint says. "She was told by Nygard's nephew not to report Nygard's crimes to the Winnipeg police because Nygard 'owns them.'" Another says she attended a party at Nygard's office in Toronto when she was 16 years old. She claims Nygard drugged and raped her. A third says she was 15 when Nygard pushed her into a bathroom at a Winnipeg restaurant and raped her. She says Nygard knew her father, who was in the fur business at the time. Another, referred to as Jane Doe No. 18, met Nygard at the airport in Montreal. The claim says she was offered a ride to her "dormitory." On the way she says Nygard stopped to drop his bags off at his apartment. "Nygard invited Jane Doe No. 18 up to his apartment to wait for him," the complaint says. "While at the apartment, Nygard forcibly raped Jane Doe No. 18." She was 19 years old at the time. The youngest complainant says she was just 14 when she met Nygard in Winnipeg, where she grew up. Sears Canada via The Canadian Press "Nygard picked Jane Doe No. 44 up on the street where young, adolescents gathered on several occasions," the complaint says. "Nygard promised Jane Doe No. 44 that he would fly her to California, where he could take her to parties with drugs and alcohol. Nygard drove Jane Doe No. 44 to the Nygard Companies property in Winnipeg on several occasions and paid her for oral sex. Nygard would then drive Jane Doe No. 44 back to where he picked her up." Lawsuit says employees knew The complaint says several of Nygard's senior employees were aware of and helped cover up his alleged crimes in order to profit from his brand and company. "Until recently, Nygard has largely been able to silence his victims, with the help of the Nygard Companies and their upper-level executives and employees, through various tactics including intimidation, threats of retribution, bribery, payoffs and forced non-disclosure agreements," the complaint says. "We have corroborating evidence that each one of [the named senior employees] definitely knew what was going on and in some capacity enabled him to continue," said Haba. WATCH | Nygard company restructures: In February, the FBI raided Nygard's offices in New York and California. Following that, Nygard said he would step down as chairman of his company and divest his ownership stake. In March, a Manitoba judge ordered the company into receivership. The Nygard chain, headquartered in Winnipeg, operated 169 retail stores in North America and had 1,450 employees worldwide. Nygard, through his spokespeople, has repeatedly blamed the allegations on an ongoing feud with his neighbour in the Bahamas, retired billionaire hedge fund manager Louis Bacon. "These claims ... are the product of a well-funded and well-documented scheme by Louis Bacon to pay women to fabricate stories about him," Nygard spokesperson Frydman said in his statement. "Peter Nygard looks forward to exposing the details of the billionaire-backed conspiracy Louis Bacon has orchestrated for years, which sadly now counts as its victims the more than 1,400 people who worked for the Nygard companies and relied upon those jobs to support themselves and their families." If you have tips or information about this story, please contact timothy.sawa@cbc.ca More than 40 experts from around the world are calling on governments to give 'urgent consideration' on how to prevent suicide amid the coronavirus pandemic. There is a growing concern about the far-reaching impact the pandemic may have on people's mental health, with consequences 'likely to be present for longer and peak later' than the actual outbreak. In an article in The Lancet Psychiatry, the experts say there are suggestions that suicide rates will rise but this is 'not inevitable'. What's more, a spike in suicides could be like those seen in the wake of the Spanish flu and SARS. A team of 42 researchers calling on governments to give 'urgent consideration' on how to prevent suicide amid the coronavirus pandemic (file image) This includes providing financial help for citizens such as for food, housing and unemployment support. Pictured: EMTs wheel a patient into the emergency room at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx, New York, April 15 The group recommends increasing volunteers on mental health hotlines and workers undergo training for speaking with suicidal people. Pictured: Medical personnel remove a person from an ambulance near an entrance to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, April 20 The group of 42 researchers have formed a group called the International COVID-19 Suicide Prevention Research Collaboration. 'Suicide is likely to become a more pressing concern as the pandemic spreads and has longer-term effects on the general population, the economy, and vulnerable groups,' they write in The Lancet. 'Preventing suicide therefore needs urgent consideration. The response must capitalize on, but extend beyond, general mental health policies and practices.' There is some evidence that suicides increased in the US during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, and among older people in Hong Kong during the SARS epidemic in 2002-3. Additionally, earlier this month, a Kaiser Family Foundation report found that four in ten adults - 45 percent - felt that worry and stress related to the coronavirus was having a negative impact on their mental health. This was up from 32 percent who reported feeling the same way in early March. The researchers in the new article say the likely adverse effects of coronavirus 'might be exacerbated by fear, self-isolation and social distancing'. Suicide risk may also be increased because of stigma towards people who have COVID-19, their families and their healthcare providers. In particular, the pandemic has been fueling racism and discrimination against Asian Americans. 'Those with psychiatric disorders might experience worsening symptoms and others might develop new mental health problems, especially depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress,' the group writes. 'These mental health problems will be experienced by the general population and those with high levels of exposure to illness caused by COVID-19, such as frontline healthcare workers and those who develop the illness.' The Daily Beast reported that nurses and other frontline workers were getting evicted from their homes and facing housing discrimination from scared landlords. Not having a home to go - or the fear of not having one - could increase rates of anxiety and depression. Mental health services should develop clear remote assessment and care pathways, while staff should be trained to support new ways of working, they say. Helplines should be supported to maintain or increase volunteers, while digital training resources should be given to those who have not previously worked with suicidal people. Evidence-based online interventions should also be made available, the researchers write. Governments should provide financial safety nets, such as food, housing and unemployment support to reduce the impact of loss of employment and financial pressure. They should also consider a person's current situation but also their future - with the researchers highlighting how young people have had their education interrupted and are 'anxious about their prospects'. Universities, colleges and school must seek alternative ways to deliver education and governments should be prepared to offer them financial support, they say. 'Social isolation, entrapment, and loneliness contribute to suicide risk and are likely to increase during the pandemic, particularly for bereaved individuals,' the researchers write. 'Providing community support for those living alone and encouraging families and friends to check in is helpful.' The researcher describe easily accessible help for those who have lost loved ones as 'crucial'. Other concerns include the social effects of banning religious gatherings and funerals, violence and vulnerable migrant workers. The researchers conclude: 'These are unprecedented times. The pandemic will cause distress and leave many people vulnerable to mental health problems and suicidal behavior. 'However, research evidence and the experience of national strategies provide a strong basis for suicide prevention.' VANCOUVERVancouver Police are asking for the publics help after an elderly Asian man with dementia was assaulted in a racially motivated attack in East Vancouver. The 92-year-old victim had wandered into a convenience store near Nanaimo Street and East 1st Avenue on the afternoon of March 13, when the male suspect began yelling racist insults at the victim, including comments about COVID-19, police said Tuesday. Outside the store, the suspect shoved the man, which caused him to fall to the ground and hit his head, police said. Everything about this assault and the behaviour of the suspect is despicable, said Constable Tania Visintin in the emailed statement. Police have released photos and surveillance video showing the attacker. They are asking for the publics help to identify the suspect, described as a white man in his fifties who is around six feet tall with a heavy build and dark, balding hair He was wearing heavy gold jewelry including a thick, gold bracelet, a gold necklace and several gold rings. The case was first reported to police on March 13, a police spokesperson told the Star. When asked why police waited more than a month to release information about the attack to the public, the spokesperson said: Investigators have been working diligently on identifying the suspect since this happened. We take these types of crimes very seriously ... There are many different avenues to investigate a file. One aspect of an investigation is calling on the public for help. In recent weeks, Vancouver Police said they have seen a spike in reports of anti-Asian hate-motivated incidents and criminal behaviour. Out of eleven hate crimes reported to police in March, five of those reports (45 per cent) had an anti-Asian element. So far in 2020, there have been a total of nine anti-Asian hate crimes reported to police, in comparison to 12 cases in all of 2019. We know that hate crimes and hate-motivated incidents are generally under-reported. We believe the increase in March is indicative of a larger issue, added Visintin. We are making a plea to victims or people who witness hate crimes to please come forward and report the incidents to police so they can be investigated. Since the coronavirus first appeared in Wuhan, a city in central China, waves of xenophobic and racist attacks have happened all over the globe. In Ontario, a family doctor said her young son was cornered at school by bullies who wanted to test him for coronavirus because he is half-Chinese. Last month, an Asian-American family, including a two-year-old girl, was attacked outside a grocery store in Texas at knifepoint in what the FBI has called a coronavirus-related hate crime. The suspect indicated that he stabbed the family because he thought the family was Chinese, and infecting people with the coronavirus, according to an FBI report obtained by ABC News. Anyone with information about the attack in Vancouver is asked to call VPD investigators at 604-717-2763 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477. Joanna Chiu is a Vancouver-based reporter covering both Canada-China relations and current affairs on the West Coast for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @joannachiu Read more about: Moscow Region police warn of QR-code sale fraud RAPSI, Eugeny Varlamov 14:48 22/04/2020 MOSCOW, April 22 (RAPSI) The Moscow Region Main Directorate of the Interior Ministry reminds of the illegality of buying QR-codes to move through Moscow and Moscow Region and warns of the risk to lose money and personal data, a statement on its website reads. Digital passes are registered on a free basis. Moscow Region police urge citizens not to transfer their money to unknown accounts or abonent numbers. The Interior Minister calls for the peoples vigilance and report all illegal attempts and services to police. Observing that gambling often has a connection with organised crime, the Bombay High Court has upheld invocation of the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against some persons who were arrested during a raid on a gambling den. In a ruling passed on Tuesday, a bench of Chief Justice B P Dharmadhikari and N R Borkar said the police could very well invoke MCOCA in such cases if one or more accused had faced cognisable offences with a punishment of imprisonment of three years or more in the past. When a police team raided a gambling den allegedly run by Salim Mullah in Kolhapur district of western Maharashtra in April 2019, his wife and aides allegedly attacked them, injuring several police personnel. During the probe, the police realised that under the garb of gambling den, the co-accused were aiding Mullah in running an organised crime syndicate. Mullah also had chargesheets filed against him in cases such as dacoity, extortion and betting. The police invoked MCOCA -- under which it is difficult to obtain bail -- besides IPC sections aginst them. Twelve of the accused moved the court challenging the invocation of MCOCA, denying that they were part of an organised crime syndicate which the Act requires. The police could have at the most pressed the Maharashtra Prevention of Gambling Act under which the maximum punishment is two years, the petitioners said. The High Court, however, took note of the allegation that the accused helped Mullah in illegal transfer of money as well as in his betting operations and other organised crime rackets. While gambling itself might not be an organised crime, "it was very likely that it intersected with organised crime and aided organized crime syndicates in their activities", the court said. Whether the petitioners were part of a crime syndicate can be decided by the MCOCA court during trial, it said. "Though the gambling by itself may not be an organized crime, however, an organized crime syndicate may take recourse to it as one of its profit making ventures. It may support in contract killing, abduction or dacoity or other similar offences along with gambling," the court said. "If the existence of an organized crime syndicate comes to the knowledge of State while conducting raid on a gambling establishment and the investigation shows previous two or more charge-sheets for cognizable offences punishable with imprisonment of three or more years, the police may take recourse to the MCOC Act," the HC said, dismissing all 12 petitions. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode has expressed that he is looking forward to the moment Nigeria Military will kill Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau. In the past few days, there have been reports that the terrorist leader is planning to surrender. Also Read: Nigerian Army Kills 105 Boko Haram Terrorists In Yobe Reacting to this development, the former minister expressed that the terrorist deserves to be killed for his acts. He wrote: I am not interested in Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekaus surrender. I am interested in them sending him to his maker & bringing his head to us on a plate. He deserves no less. You do not take blood-sucking & flesh-eating demons prisoner: you bind them & send them to hell. I am not interested in Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau's surrender. I am interested in them sending him to his maker & bringing his head to us on a plate. He deserves no less. You do not take blood-sucking & flesh-eating demons prisoner: you bind them & send them to hell. Femi Fani-Kayode (@realFFK) April 22, 2020 A new red scare is developing in the U.S. While Beijing is busy with a global propaganda crusade following the spread of the coronavirus from China to around the world, foreign policy hawks in Washington are seething. Donald Trump lashes out at Beijings response to the crisis at daily press conferences amid growing reports of anti-Chinese sentiment among Americans. As a scholar of international affairs and former policy advisor to the German Embassy in Beijing, it is clear to me that China is turning the crisis into an opportunity. It is touting its role in the world and praising its governmental system and enormous countrywide surveillance network for successfully battling the coronavirus. Yet, this is the nature of international relationships. The U.S. or any other great power would be tempted to do the same. China is exploiting the situation while the U.S. and the Western world are occupied with their own problems and have little time for anything else. Trading insults During most of Trumps years in office, relations between China and the U.S. have been tense. Much of this has centered on the huge American trade deficit with China which Trump strongly criticized even before he became president. In the 2016 election campaign, Trump accused Beijing of raping the U.S. and talked about the greatest theft [of American jobs] in the history of the world. While referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping as a good friend, Trump has accused China of intellectual property theft, unfair trade practices and lack of market access for U.S. companies. In late 2018, the U.S. president unleashed a painful trade war with sharply escalating tariffs, but it did little to resolve Trumps grievances. Neither the U.S. nor China could win this harmful conflict and a provisional trade deal was signed on Jan. 15, 2020. The truce lasted exactly two weeks. On Jan. 31, Trump announced a travel ban on visitors from China. Story continues Conspiracy theories In his many remarks on the crisis since, Trump has not hesitated to resort to language criticized as xenophobic and anti-Chinese, such as referring to the coronavirus as the Wuhan virus or Chinese virus. Meanwhile, the administration has done little to discourage a conspiracy theory that has the virus originating from a Chinese research laboratory near Wuhan and not from a live animal market in the city which most scientists believe. On April 15, Trump said the U.S. was investigating the lab claim and ratcheted up the rhetoric further a few days later by suggesting that China would face consequences if it was knowingly responsible for the pandemic. Meanwhile Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said China needs to come clean over the emergence of the virus and how it spread. Certainly there are many questions that need to be answered over the true extent of the disease in China on April 17 Beijing revised the number of fatalities in Wuhan up by 50% but the rhetoric from the White House may be contributing to anti-Chinese sentiment directed not at the government in Beijing, but at people in China and of Chinese descent. On the ground in U.S. cities and towns, Asian Americans are reporting being subjected to verbal and even physical abuse. Tit-for-tat measures The Chinese government isnt blameless when it comes to conspiracy theories. With the likely nod of Beijings all-powerful seven-member Standing Committee of the Politbureau, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian speculated wildly on Twitter that it might well have been the U.S. army which brought the virus to Wuhan. There have also been plenty of reports that foreigners, in particular Africans who live in China, have faced severe discrimination and abuse since the coronavirus crisis broke. They are unfairly accused of having imported the virus to China. Meanwhile, both Washington and Beijing have put in place tit-for-tat restrictions on each others media outlets, severely limiting the number of journalists who are allowed to work in their respective countries. It accompanied growing reports in the western media about Chinas slow initial response to the virus and the silencing of the late Dr. Li Wenliang and other doctors who had attempted to alert Chinese authorities about the looming pandemic as early as December 2019. Saving face Despite a sluggish start which contributed to the initial spread of the virus, China has since trumpeted the success of its policy of locking down entire cities and provinces. The country has now been able to open up for business again. Beijing is also praising itself as a benign global hero by donating and selling huge amounts of much-needed face masks, ventilators and other protective gear to countries round the world, including the U.S. In so doing, China is subtly using the opportunity to expand its global influence, not least its soft power appeal. Beijing has embarked on a global charm offensive. While this may be regrettable from a Western perspective, would any other big country behave differently? If the roles were reversed, I believe the U.S. would also be tempted to exploit its position for political advantage. It seems this is the instinctive reaction of any great power. But there is no reason for panic about this. Without doubt, relations between China and many of the countries it is helping have become closer. But they still need to be cemented in the long run this may or may not happen. Ruling the world? China, like many great powers, has a track record of not following through with its promises of financial help. Just ask the countries who have signed up to Beijings huge and creative Belt and Road initiative that seeks to pump Chinese money into infrastructure projects around the world, or the 17+1 China-Central Eastern Europe initiative linking China with governments in central and eastern Europe, including many EU countries. There is much disappointment about broken or semi-fulfilled financial promises and agreements. And some of the face masks and other gear donated to European countries have proven faulty or of inferior quality. For the time being, the world should be pleased that China is able and willing to help out with much needed equipment as well as doctors and nurses to help fight the coronavirus crisis in the U.S. and elsewhere. It does not mean that once the crisis is over, China will be able to run the world. In fact, the U.S. should build on Beijing and Washingtons haphazard and sporadic cooperation during the current crisis to improve relations with China in a more lasting way. [Youre smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversations authors and editors. You can get our highlights each weekend.]

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Klaus W. Larres does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. [April 22, 2020] Leading U.S. Student Researchers in STEM and Humanities Connect Virtually to Compete for Scholarships and Awards at the 58th National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium The Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS), the premier showcase for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) research by high school students, is pleased to announce the 2020 winners of the 58th National JSHS competition. The competition, sponsored by U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force and administered by the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA), gives students (grades 9-12) a chance to present original scientific research and compete for scholarships and cash awards, while participating in workshops, panel discussions, career explorations, and research lab visits. After 57 years of bringing students and researchers together for face-to-face national competitions, this year's competition brought students and researchers together virtually. The national winners, announced last Friday at the virtual awards ceremony, first presented their original scientific research at one of 47 regional competitions hosted by universities and colleges in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Department of Defense (DoD) Schools of Europe and the Pacific Rim. The top five students from each region-230 high school students in total-then participated in oral or poster presentations during the national event. The first and second place regional finalists competed for a chance to earn scholarships ranging from $4,000-$12,000, while the third, fourth, and fifth place regional finalists competed in the poster competition for a chance to win cash awards. "We were honored to be able to create a virtual space this year to recognize the work that these young researchers have been working on all year long," said Alexis Mundis, JSHS Project Manager. 1st Place Oral Presentations: Earning $12,000 scholarships Environmental Science Julia Kagiliery, The Episcopal School of Jacksonville, Jacksonville, Florida Research Title: A Dual Sensor Machine Learning Approach to Sulfur Quantification of Lignite Coal Biomedical Science Evelyn Bodoni, Cherry Creek High School, Greenwood Village, Colorado Research Title: Novel Preventative Strategies for Acute Kidney Injury & Chronic Kidney Disease Medicine & Health/Behavioral Science Sarah Burkey, Rockdale Magnet School for Science and Technology, Conyers, Georgia Research Title: Developing A Urinalysis Immunoassay for Cortisol Detection Year 2 Life Science Audrey Anderson, Omaha North High Magnet School, Omaha, Nebraska Research Title: Resilin Distribution and Abundance in Apis mellifera Wing Joints across Biological Age Classes Engineering and Technology Ryan Westcott, Oregon Episcopal School, Portland, Oregon Research Title: Development of a Fully Reusable and Autonomously Landing Suborbital Launch Vehicle Physical Science Mina Mandic, St. Paul Academy and Summit School, St. Paul, Minnesota Research Title: Exploring the Wonders of the Early Universe: Green Pea Galaxies and Light Flux Chemistry Emma Steude, The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, Durham, North Carolina Research Title: Synthesis of a Tau Aggregation Inhibitor in Relation to Alzheimer's Disease Mathematics and Computer Science Ryan Park, Millburn High School, Millburn, New Jersey Research Title: X-Net: A Deep Convolutional Neural Model for X-Ray Threat Detection 2nd Place Oral Presentations: Earning $8,000 scholarships Environmental Science Elise Scheuring, Oak Park and River Forest High School, Oak Park, Illinois Research Title: The Application of Advanced Oxidation Using an Isopropyl Alcohol and -Cyclodextrin Enhanced Fenton Reaction to Remove Pharmaceuticals from Synthetic Wastewater Biomedical Science Ishaan Brar, Stockdale High School, Bakersfield, California Research Title: Designing, Prototyping and Testing of a Multi-lumen Urinary Catheter with Sustained Unidirectional Biocide Flow Medicine & Health/Behavioral Science Shan Lateef, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, Virginia Research Title: Using Drosophila melanogaster as an Integrated Model to Elucidate the Cellular and Genetic Mechanisms Underlying Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Life Science Caroline Reed, Ossining Hig School, Ossining, New York News - Alert) Noise and a Novel Paradigm for Passive Acoustics Research Engineering and Technology Axel Toro, Dr. Carlos Gonzalez High School, Aguada, Puerto Rico Research Title: Guiding Device for the Visually Impaired using Artificial Intelligence Category: Engineering and Technology Physical Science Alay Shah, Plano West Senior High School, Texas Research Title: Computational Eye-Tracking Biomarker for Improved Neuropsychological Evaluation via Deep Learning Chemistry Reagan Guerra, Metro-East Lutheran High School, Edwardsville, Illinois Research Title: Evaluation of Isoheme: A Novel Replacement for Blood in Forensic Science Mathematics and Computer Science Tarun Martheswaran, The Waterford School, Sandy, Utah Research Title: An Enhanced Early Detection Model of Dengue Fever Outbreaks Using SEIR Infectious Disease Epidemiological Compartments, Generalized Linear Regression Relationships, and Statistical Computing 3rd Place Oral Presentations: Earning $4,000 scholarships Environmental Science Ella Dommert, Gwinnett School of Mathematics Science and Technology, Lawrenceville, Georgia Research Title: Oil Adsorption Capacities of Organic Materials Biomedical Science Anne Liang, DuPont Manual High School, Louisville, Kentucky Research Title: Grape Polyphenols Inhibit Dental Bacteria and Pro-Inflammatory Signaling Medicine & Health/Behavioral Science Grace Sun, Caddo Parish Magnet High School, Shreveport, Louisiana Research Title: The Potential Role of Trophoblast Slc20a2 Mutations in Vascular Calcification of the Placenta Life Science Emily Tianshi, The Cambridge School, San Diego, California Research Title: Atmospheric Moisture Harvesting Device: Biomimicking Torrey Pine Needles Engineering and Technology Vetri Vel, Bangor High School, Bangor, Maine Research Title: Embedded System for the Real-Time Fall Detection of Elderly Individuals using Thermal Imaging and Deep Learning Physical Science Owen Skriloff, Byram Hills High School, Armonk, New York Research Title: An in vitro evaluation of the relationship between stress and mineralization through the use of a piezoelectric barium titanate composite Chemistry Anna Grondolsky, Kamehameha - Kapalama, Honolulu, Hawai'i Research Title: Building an Efficient Reversible Fuel Cell Stack for Use as a Backup Power Source (News - Alert) Mathematics and Computer Science Michelle Tang, Montgomery Blair High School, Silver Spring, Maryland Research Title: Deep Multimodal Learning for the Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum (News - Alert) Disorder 1st Place Poster Presentations Earning $550 cash award Environmental Science Diya Desai, Caddo Parish Magnet High School, Shreveport, Louisiana Biomedical Science Shruthi Ravichandran, Brown School, Shaker Heights, Ohio Medicine & Health/Behavioral Science Samuel Aberman, Byram Hills High School, Armonk, New York Life Science Pooja Kasiviswanathan, Ames High School, Ames, Iowa Engineering and Technology Brendan Crotty, Hickory Hill Academy Home School, Muskogee, Oklahoma Physical Science Ashley Granquist, William H. Hall High School, West Hartford, Connecticut Chemistry Emma Price, Camdenton High School, Camdenton, Missouri Mathematics and Computer Science Sadhana Lolla, Poolesville High School, Poolesville, Maryland 2nd Place Poster Presentations Earning $450 cash award Environmental Science Sonja Michaluk, Hopewell Valley Central High School, Pennington, New Jersey Biomedical Science Margaret Kennedy, Oak Park and River Forest High School, Oak Park, Illinois Medicine & Health/Behavioral Science Rishab Jain, Westview High School, Portland, Oregon Life Science Jake Miller, Cypress Bay High School, Weston, Florida Engineering and Technology Rachel Pizzolato, John Curtis Christian School, River Ridge, Louisiana Physical Science Eric Zhong, Upper Dublin High School, Fort Washington, Pennsylvania Chemistry Lisa Zhang, Providence High School, Charlotte, North Carolina Mathematics and Computer Science Isha Narang, Ardrey Kell High School, Charlotte, North Carolina 3rd Place Poster Presentations Earning $350 cash award Environmental Science Katherine Pommerening, The Potomac School, District of Columbia Biomedical Science Halla Clausi, Greenwich High School, Greenwich, Connecticut Medicine & Health/Behavioral Science Abihith Kothapalli, Blue Valley West High School, Overland Park, Kansas Life Science Siona Beaudoin, Lake Linden-Hubbell High School, Lake Linden, Michigan Engineering and Technology Irelyn Meckley, Camdenton High School, Camdenton, Missouri Physical Science Ethan Mandojana, Ankara High School, Turkey Chemistry Nadine Meister, Centennial High School, Ellicott City, Maryland Mathematics and Computer Science AnaMaria Perez, Albuquerque Academy, Albuquerque, New Mexico Poster Peer Review Awardees (Peer Selected) Receiving certificate and digital badge of achievement Environmental Science Esha Agarwal, Enloe High School, Cary, North Carolina Biomedical Sciences Ishraq Haque, Academic Magnet High School, Summerville, South Carolina Life Sciences Pooja Kasiviswanathan, Ames High School, Ames, Iowa Medicine & Health/Behavioral Sciences Taylor Moniz, Kamehameha Schools Kapalama, Honolulu, Hawai'i Engineering & Technology Berkan Ottlik, Northview High School, Duluth, Georgia Mathematics & Computer Science Benjamin Yan, Century High School, Rochester, Minnesota Physical Sciences Paxson Swierc, Hellgate High School, Missoula, Montana Chemistry Vikram Ailiani, Onalaska High School, Onalaska, Wisconsin During the three-day virtual event, administered by the National Science Teaching Association, students also participated in interactive activities to enrich their JSHS experience and were exposed to additional DoD opportunities available to them. Approximately 130 high school teachers, mentors, university faculty, ranking military guests, and others also attended. For more information about the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS), visit https://www.jshs.org/. About JSHS The Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS) is a tri-service program founded by the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force to encourage high school students to conduct original research in STEM fields. In cooperation with higher education, program sponsors include the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics & Technology); Office of Naval Research, Arlington, VA; and Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Washington, DC. JSHS is administered by the National Science Teachers Association, the larger professional organization in the world promoting science teaching and learning for all. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005751/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Johana Mendoza Chancay hasnt held her daughter yet. Zion was born in an emergency C-section on April 1, while her mother was in a medically induced coma, due to complications of COVID-19. The infant, who was born 14 weeks early and weighed just under 2 pounds, remains hospitalized while Chancay recovers with family in Connecticut, she told CNNs Chris Cuomo in an interview Tuesday night. Chancay said on Cuomo Prime Time that she tested positive for the virus in late March, and initially wasnt too worried, figuring that she could self-quarantine and handle flu-like symptoms at home, until her symptoms worsened. She could not be reached for comment Wednesday. She was hospitalized for three weeks and intubated for 10 days, her family wrote on a GoFundMe page. Unfortunately, while in induced coma, Johana had to deliver the baby via an emergency C-section since the baby was not getting enough oxygen. Chancay had a brief phone call with her family before she was intubated, telling them Im going under, she recalled to Cuomo. Her daughter, Zion, was born on April 1. She woke in the hospital, and said she immediately asked wheres my baby? She was shown a video of her daughter on a webcam, but said the adjustment takes a while to grasp. Chancay is now recovering with family in Connecticut. She has lung damage and limited mobility, and is doing intense physical therapy, her family said on the fundraising page. Im fragile right now, as my baby is, Chancay told Cuomo. Zion remains in the neonatal intensive care unit, where shell likely stay until her original due date, July 8. The baby tested negative for the coronavirus, but is unable to breathe on her own. She has been developing and feeding well. We are hopeful that she will thrive just like her mommy did, the family wrote. Chancay said shes still processing her experience and dealing with her emotions, including the knowledge that I am a mom, shes just not here. More than 2,000 donors have contributed to the GoFundMe page, which launched this week and has already surpassed its goal of $100,000. Johana and Baby Zion still have a long road in their recovery process, the family wrote on the fundraising site. As you know medical health care bills can be costly and it is important to alleviate any additional stress that can disturb their healing journey. Liz.teitz@hearstmediact.com John Cho in Los Angeles. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) I called my parents a few nights ago to tell them to be cautious when stepping out of the house, because they might be targets of verbal or even physical abuse. It felt so strange. Our roles had flipped. My plea mirrored the admonitions I received from them as a child growing up in Houston. The world, they cautioned, was hostile and it viewed us as strangers. So they warned me to stick close to my family. Close to my kind. The fact that the coronavirus seems to have originated in China has spawned a slew of anti-Asian hate crimes. Across the country, Asian American parents and children are making versions of the call I made. Friends are sharing first-hand accounts of abuse on text chains and circulating articles on Facebook, always ending with the suddenly ominous stay safe. Growing up, the assumption was that once we became American enough, there would be no need for such warnings that we would be safe. To that end, my parents encouraged me and my younger brother to watch as much television as possible, so that we might learn to speak and act like the natives. The hope was that race would not disadvantage us the next generation if we played our cards right. When I became an actor (maybe as a result of all that TV), and really started to work, I felt glimmers of my parents hope coming to fruition doors were open, strangers were kinder. In some ways, I began to lead a life devoid of race. But Ive learned that a moment always comes along to remind you that your race defines you above all else. It might be a small moment, like a salesperson greeting you with konnichiwa. Or it might be a string of moments, like the press tour that Kal Penn and I took to promote Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle in 2004, a few years after 9/11. We flew across the country New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle and it became a grim routine: Flight after flight, Kal would be pulled aside for a random search. On one leg of the tour, Kals friend Gabe joined us, and when we hit security, Kal was selected for a search while Gabe and I flew through unscathed. We gathered our bags and waited on a bench for Kal to be released. Rummaging through his backpack, Gabe suddenly said, Kals going to be annoyed. When I looked inside it, I realized why: Gabe, who is white, had gone camping recently, and had neglected to remove his Rambo-sized hunting knife from his backpack. Story continues I gasped and looked back at Kal, who was watching a Transportation Security Administration worker empty the contents of his bag. It was a reality check. Asian Americans are experiencing such a moment right now. The pandemic is reminding us that our belonging is conditional. One moment we are Americans, the next we are all foreigners, who brought the virus here. Like fame, the model minority myth can provide the illusion of raceless-ness. Putting select Asians on a pedestal silences those who question systemic injustice. Our supposed success is used as proof that the system works and if it doesnt work for you, it must be your fault. Never mind that 12% of us are living below the poverty line. The model minority myth helps maintain a status quo that works against people of all colors. But perhaps the most insidious effect of this myth is that it silences us. It seduces Asian Americans and recruits us to act on its behalf. It converts our parents, who in turn, encourage us to accept it. It makes you feel protected, that youre passing as one of the good ones. And because the stereotypes may be complimentary (hardworking, good at math), it makes people including us think that anti-Asian sentiment is somehow less serious, that its racism lite. That allows us to dismiss the current wave of Asian hate crimes as trivial, isolated and unimportant. Consider the comedians who mock Asians, but restrain themselves when it comes to other groups. Of course, with the falsely positive come the negative stereotypes (youre sneaky, youre stealing jobs, youre corrupt). After I had been busted for cheating on a Latin quiz in high school, I recall my teacher asking, Why are Koreans such cheaters? During times of national stress, its these darker stereotypes that prevail. My wifes families were incarcerated in camps during World War II, even while her great-uncles were serving in an all-Japanese American battalion of the U.S. Army. Vincent Chin, a Chinese American autoworker, was brutally beaten to death in Detroit in 1982, blamed for the Japanese takeover of the auto industry. And just recently, an Asian woman in Brooklyn had acid thrown at her while she was taking out the trash, another among the skyrocketing attacks against Asians. I came to this country in 1978, at the age of 6. I was naturalized on Nov. 21, 1990, during the military buildup before the start of the Gulf War. I remember being surprised by the judge at the ceremony asking me whether I would defend my country in uniform if called upon. I wasnt expecting that question, though my friends and I had been wondering about a possible draft, and I took my time to truly consider it. I answered yes and I meant it. I claimed the citizenship my parents wanted for me and I think Ive spent my life earning it. Im not going to let anyone tell me or anyone who looks like me that we are not really American. If the coronavirus has taught us anything, its that the solution to a widespread problem cannot be patchwork. Never has our interconnectedness and our reliance on each other been plainer. You cant stand up for some and not for others. And like the virus, unchecked aggression has the potential to spread wildly. Please dont minimize the hate or assume its somewhere far away. Its happening close to you. If you see it on the street, say something. If you hear it at work, say something. If you sense it in your family, say something. Stand up for your fellow Americans. John Cho is an actor best known for his roles in the Harold & Kumar and Star Trek films. He lives in Los Angeles. WHO: Novel Coronavirus of 'Animal Origin', Shows No Signs of Human Study: COVID-19 Mutates More Than Previously Believed, 30-Plus Strains Exist Sputnik News 18:59 GMT 21.04.2020 A new study carried out by researchers at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China, finds that COVID-19 has mutated into at least 30 different variations, and that the ability of the novel coronavirus to mutate has been underestimated. The study, which was led by Professor Li Lanjuan and published on the website medRxiv.org on Sunday, analyzed the strains of the coronavirus that had infected 11 patients from Hangzhou, where there are at least 1,264 reported cases of the illness. Researchers found that there were many more mutations within the small sample pool than had previously been reported. Within the sample, officials detected more than 30 mutations, around 60% of which were new. Some of the changes were so rare that "scientists had never considered they might occur," according to the South China Morning Post. Laboratory tests also found that certain mutations resulted in deadlier strains of the coronavirus. "Sars-CoV-2 has acquired mutations capable of substantially changing its pathogenicity," the researchers wrote in the paper. The study also determined that the deadliest mutations in the sample group were also found in the coronavirus strain most frequently identified across Europe. The milder strains were predominantly found in parts of the United States, such as Washington state. A previous study indicated that the predominant strains in New York, the US state hit hardest by the virus, were imported from Europe. However, the Chinese researchers also found that mutations which weakened the virus did not mean lower risk of severe illness for all people. Two of the patients in the sample group had contracted milder strains but still required admission to an intensive care unit. The researchers also discovered that various mutations lead to changes in the coronavirus's spike protein, which it uses to bind to human cells. The researchers infected cells with various strains in a laboratory setting and found that the most aggressive strain could "generate 270 times as much viral load as the weakest type," thus killing the cells faster, the South China Morning Post reported. The results indicate "that the true diversity of the viral strains is still largely underappreciated," Li noted. Li and her colleagues believe that understanding how strains vary by geographic region might help determine how best to combat the virus. "Drug and vaccine development, while urgent, need to take the impact of these accumulating mutations into account to avoid potential pitfalls," they said in the paper. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address CROWN POINT A 17-year-old boy is wanted on charges alleging he shot a man multiple times April 6 in Gary after asking where the man was from and how much money he had. James P. Miller, of Gary, was identified as a suspect after police released surveillance images from the shooting scene at East 19th Place and Maine Street, in Gary's Dorie Miller housing complex, court records say. Miller is accused of shooting a 46-year-old man in the head and stomach. The man remained in a coma April 13 at a Chicago hospital, and medical staff there told police the man will have to live in a skilled nursing facility if he survives his wounds, Lake Criminal Court records say. Witnesses told police Miller walked up to the man and asked where he was from. The man said he was from Chicago, and Miller asked how much money he had, records state. Miller and the man began fighting, and Miller pulled out a black and pink semi-automatic handgun and shot the man several times, records allege. Miller turned and ran between homes in the 1900 block of Maine Street, tossing the gun into a yard, according to documents. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Bramantya Basuki (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, April 22 2020 The recent shooting by security forces which killed two young Papuans, Eden Armando Bebari and Ronny Wandik, in Mimika regency on April 13, followed an escalation of security operations and the deployment of additional troops in Papua. During the current outbreak of COVID-19, armed conflicts will only deepen Papuans fear for their wellbeing, and would seriously hamper the handling of the pandemic. The Indonesian Military (TNI) troops who carried out the shooting argued that those two young Papuans were members of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB). But the victims family said they were just young men who had gone to a river to fish. Eden turned out to be a computer engineering student at the Multimedia Nusantara University in Tangerang, Banten, with no known affiliation to such pro-independence groups. Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Paulus Waterpauw said it was difficult for the authorities to distinguish between armed groups and civilians amid the armed conflict in Mimika. To the victims families, he also promised to investigate the case. Previously, the escalation of violence between security forces and armed groups in Mimika regency also killed a New Zealand citizen last March. The security forces say the shooting in the area of PT Freeport Indonesia was carried out by the TPNPB. The ongoing armed conflicts in Papua, especially in Mimika regency, are far from reaching a peaceful resolution. The government remains fixated on security operations and deploying additional armed forces to deal with the pro-independence groups. Data from the Lokataru Foundation show an increase of 3,982 Mobile Brigade (Brimob) and 700 TNI personnel in Papua between August and September 2019. ______ The continuation of armed conflicts is not only inappropriate for any efforts to stop the outbreaks but also dangerous for medical workers and the general public. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Tri Indah Oktavianti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, April 22 2020 The use of virtual medical services has climbed in recent months as people try to contain the spread of COVID-19 at hospitals and clinics in Indonesia, telemedicine platforms have reported. As the role of telemedicine has become broader in the country, President Joko Jokowi Widodo expressed his appreciation for the business on Monday. He said he hoped the platforms would continue to grow. I think that medical consultations through advanced technology, or telemedicine, should be enhanced so that we could limit direct contact between doctors and patients [during the pandemic], the President said during a Cabinet meeting at the State Palace complex on Monday. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Advertisement The coronavirus death toll in the United States has doubled in a little over a week to more than 48,000 - the highest in the world - and the total number of infections has increased to over 856,000. As the number of cases and death toll continues to rise, the current fatality rate for COVID-19 across the United States is 5.6 percent. In New York - the current epicenter of the US outbreak - the death rate is 5.9 percent with more 15,000 deaths. According to figures, the state has about 78 deaths per 100,000 people. All 50 states in the US have now reported deaths due to coronavirus after Wyoming announced its first fatality earlier this month. The true figures, however, are believed to be much higher, in part, because of limited testing across the country and difficulties in counting the dead. Here is a state-by-state breakdown of death rates, as well as the average number of deaths per 100,000 people: New York remains the hardest-hit state amid the coronavirus pandemic. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said his state was showing more signs the worst was over including a drop in hospitalizations but he warned of a potential 'second wave' if restrictions are relaxed irresponsibly. Cuomo has announced that he is creating a massive 'tracing army' that will find infected people and get them into isolation. He acknowledged that local officials were feeling political pressure to reopen businesses but warned against making decisions based on such factors. A handful of states in the Northeast have created a pact to ordinate reopening amid the pandemic. It comes as the death toll in New York state climbed past 15,000. The toll doesn't count nearly 4,900 deaths in New York City that are believed to have been caused by the virus but haven't been confirmed by a lab test. NORTHEAST STATES STATE DEATH RATE BY % DEATHS PER 100K New York 5.9% 78.6 New Jersey 5.5% 57.3 Connecticut 7% 39.9 Massachusetts 4.8% 28.4 Rhode Island 3.1% 16.1 Pennsylvania 4.6% 13 Maryland 4.3% 10.4 Delaware 2.8% 9 Vermont 4.9% 6.4 New Hampshire 2.8% 3 Maine 4.3% 2.9 West Virginia 2.9% 1.5 In California, health officials have said that two people with coronavirus died in the state weeks before the first reported US death from the disease on February 29 in Washington state. The finding adds to the evidence that the virus was circulating in the US earlier than previously thought. Health officials in Santa Clara County revealed on Tuesday that two people died at home on February 6 and February 17. The first confirmed US death from the virus was reported on February 29 in Kirkland, Washington. The Medical Examiner-Coroner, however, received confirmation on Tuesday that tissue samples sent to the CDC for the prior two deaths had tested positive for the virus. California, Oregon and Washington have formed a pact to coordinate reopening the West Coast states. WESTERN STATES STATE DEATH RATE BY % DEATHS PER 100K Washington 5.4% 8.9 Colorado 4.6% 8.4 Nevada 4.1% 5.3 California 3.7% 3.4 New Mexico 3.1% 3 Arizona 4.2% 3 Idaho 2.9% 2.8 Oregon 3.9% 1.8 Montana 3.2% 1.3 Wyoming 1.4% 1 Utah 1.0% 1 Alaska 2.7% 1.2 Hawaii 2.0% 0.8 Protests have flared in Midwestern states over the current stay-at-home orders in place. The stay-at-home measures, which experts say are essential to slow the spread of the virus, have battered the US economy and more than 22 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits in the past month. Demonstrations to demand an end have been erupting in states like Ohio and Minnesota, Michigan. Despite the protests, the governors of seven mostly Midwestern states - Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky - have said they will work in close coordination to reopen their economies battered by efforts to contain the coronavirus. The governors of Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota declined to join the partnership. MIDWEST STATES STATE DEATH RATE BY % DEATHS PER 100K Michigan 8.2% 27 Illinois 4.4% 11.5 Indiana 5.4% 9.8 Ohio 4.1% 4.7 Wisconsin 5.3% 4 Kansas 4.9% 3.7 Missouri 3.7% 3.7 Minnesota 6.6% 3 Iowa 2.4% 2.8 Nebraska 1.9% 1.7 North Dakota 2.0% 1.7 South Dakota 0.5% 0.9 A handful of US states, mostly in the South, are aggressively moving towards reopening their economies even though health officials have warned that lifting lockdown restrictions too soon could risk a second surge in infections. Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, South Carolina and Colorado have all set states for to partially reopen. None of those states have met basic White House guidelines unveiled by President Trump last week that call for 14 days of declining cases before a state should reopen. The loosening of economic restrictions in the middle of the still deadly pandemic is set to provide a live-fire test on whether parts of the US can start to reopen without triggering a surge in infections that may force them to close again. Amid a national debate over how to fight the virus while mitigating the deep economic toll, these moves by the cluster of states are the first to test the borders of resuming 'normal' life. Georgia has been hardest-hit of these states with 19,000 cases and nearly 800 deaths. Infections in South Carolina have increased to more than 4,600 and there are now 135 deaths. There are nearly 7,400 infections in Tennessee and 157 deaths. Texas has recorded nearly 21,000 cases and 545 deaths. New Jerseys state government has bought and received 500 ventilators to help hospitals treat patients during the coronavirus pandemic which could also be crucial if theres any resurgence in the outbreak, Gov. Phil Murphy said Wednesday. Murphy said the shipment of the lifesaving breathing machines, which help the most critical patients, arrived Tuesday. He said they are ready to be distributed to hospitals as the state grapples with the second-most COVID-19 cases and deaths among American states. Even though officials say ventilator use in the state during the crisis is leveling off, Murphy said the state purchased them to ensure every New Jerseyan who needs a ventilator has one. This also puts us to be better prepared for potential spikes as we look to reopen and for spikes that many predict may continue through fall and winter," the governor added during his daily coronavirus press briefing in Trenton. The cost of the machines was not disclosed. State officials have been actively seeking more ventilators, including getting thousands from the federal government and others from private donations or other states. State officials have projected New Jersey could need more than 6,000 of the machines, depending on the scope of the outbreak. The new 500 ventilators, Murphy said, are ours. And we dont have to give them back, the governor said. Weve been scrapping at this literally every single day. So this is an important day. The news comes as Murphy announced Wednesday that New Jersey a state of 9 million residents has now seen at least 95,865 COVID-19 cases and 5,063 related deaths. Though cases and deaths keep rising, Murphy said hospitalizations, critical care admissions, and ventilator use in New Jersey has stabilized in recent days. Officials reported Wednesday that as of 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, there were 7,210 patients hospitalized with the coronavirus or suspected cases in the Garden State. But the state Department of Health website points out that the data is missing two of New Jerseys 71 hospitals, making comparisons to previous days incomplete. Of those reported, 1,983 patients were in critical care and 1,570 were on ventilators. And between 10 p.m. Monday and 10 p.m Tuesday, at least 351 new coronavirus patients were hospitalized, while at least 745 were discharged. State Health Commissioner said that means 69% of critical care patients were on ventilators the lowest percentage we have had in over four weeks. Persichilli said Tuesday the virus is now moving south to the central part of the state. But she also the state will still deal with heavy hospitalizations" through mid-May, though flattened and spread out. Meanwhile, Murphy stressed the curve of cases must now go down and testing has to increase before he can lift stay-at-home restrictions. Murphy also noted how he spent Wednesday morning visiting two pop-up care sites at East Orange General Hospital and New Bridge Medical Center in Paramus that will add 380 beds to help the state increase hospital capacity. Again, he stressed, even if the added ventilators or beds arent needed now, they may be needed in the coming months, especially as the state reopens. Experts say a second wave of the virus is probable. Are we gonna need the East Orange beds next month? We might, but I hope not, Murphy said. Are we gonna need any of these ventilators over the next weeks or months? We may. I hope not. The likelihood of it coming back is pretty high, the governor added. We may need them even if we do everything right. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. [April 22, 2020] EnginZyme Secures 6.4 Million Series A Financing Round Led by Sofinnova Partners EnginZyme, the cell-free synthetic biology company, today announced a Series A investment of 6.4 million led by Sofinnova Partners, a leading European life sciences venture capital firm based in Paris, London and Milan, bringing the company's total funding to over 10 million since 2014. The funds will be used to accelerate the development of EnginZyme's technology platform and take its first internal production process to pilot. The company also announced that Michael Krel, Partner of the Sofinnova Industrial Biotech Fund, will join EnginZyme's Board of Directors. "Sofinnova Partners brings a deep industrial experience, which makes them the perfect partner for us," said EnginZyme CEO Dr. Karim Engelmark Cassimjee. "This is a complex field, so it is important to have investors that can provide not only the financial support but also strategic guidance. With over a decade of experience investing in industrial biotechnology, there are few investors as well placed as Sofinnova Partners to bring this domain expertise to the table." "There's never been a more important time to provide solid, long-term support to pioneering companies in industrial biotechnology," said Michael Krel, Partner of the Sofinnova Industrial Biotech Fund. "We strongly believe in EnginZyme's outstanding team and the potential of its technology to join the power of biology with the efficiency of chemical engineering to bring us towards a more sustainable future." EnginZyme seeks to solve one of the fundamental problems of our time: How to produce sustainable alternatives to plastics, nylons, rubbers, and the tons of other synthetics that are used on a daily basis, without compromising on cost-effectiveness. To achieve this, EnginZyme's technology platform combines the breadth and power of nature (enzymatic cascades with the efficiency of the chemical industry (packed bed reactors) in a best-of-both-worlds technical solution. "It has long been recognized that if we could effectively access nature's full palette of molecules, we could solve many of the world's most pressing problems," said Dr. Engelmark Cassimjee. "There's just so much more you can do with biological systems than with traditional catalysts and petroleum-based building blocks. But the key word here is 'effectively' - it needs to be as cheap and easy to scale as the chemical solutions we've used for more than a century now. We're the first company to truly address that and by doing so we are building foundational technology for an entire future industry." About EnginZyme EnginZyme's cell-free synthetic biology platform marries the efficiency of the chemical industry with the power and diversity of biology. The company was founded in Stockholm, Sweden. Since its start in 2014 it has used its technology to provide R&D services to leading companies in multiple industries, such as pharma, food, chemicals and flavors & fragrances. Its long-term aim is to make its cell-free synbio platform the foundation upon which the future chemical industry rests. For more information, please visit: www.enginzyme.com About Sofinnova Partners Sofinnova Partners is a leading European venture capital firm specialized in Life Sciences. Based in Paris, France, with offices in London and Milan, the firm brings together a team of 40 professionals from all over Europe, the U.S. and Asia. The firm focuses on paradigm-shifting technologies alongside visionary entrepreneurs. Sofinnova Partners invests across the Life Sciences value chain as a lead or cornerstone investor, from very early-stage opportunities to late-stage/public companies. It has backed nearly 500 companies over more than 48 years, creating market leaders around the globe. Today, Sofinnova Partners has over 2 billion under management. For more information, please visit: www.sofinnovapartners.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200421005045/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Wagner College is shining blue to spotlight the contributions of health care workers serving on the front lines of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Photos of the Main Hall illuminated as part of the Light it Blue initiative are posted on the Wagner College Facebook page. Like many other sites across the country, from the Empire State Building in Manhattan to Lucasfilms Yoda Fountain in San Francisco, Wagner Colleges Main Hall was lit blue as part of the Light It Blue tribute honoring the medical workers who are putting themselves in harms way to guard our health safety in these challenging times, said a statement from Lee Manchester, a spokesman for the college on Grymes Hill. Students have been excluded from health care facilities during the COVID-19 crisis," he said, adding that all students in the Nursing and Physician Assistant (P.A.) programs are doing their clinical studies remotely. There are a few students who have jobs in health care facilities, but those jobs are not functions of their Wagner studies, the statement said. "We also have students, staff and faculty from all disciplines, not just nursing and P.A., volunteering in the community but, again, those volunteer activities are not functions of their Wagner studies. Hey there, It's a Wednesday. It's anyway the most boring day of the week, but what's boring and interesting in these times anyway. But today happens to be Earth Day. It is the day the world celebrates the Earth, the International Space Station tells us how beautiful this closed-for-repairs planet still looks, we say we are grateful to be on this planet, and then return to our human ways. But that's tomorrow. Today, from within our homes, we will take you to a place on Earth where no one can go to. No, it's not Area 51. It's an island called Poveglia, just off Venice in Italy, which once served as a place to quarantine people who the Black Plague had felled. Poveglia lies off the eastern coast of northern Italy. Now, we have all seen those gondolas and gondoliers taking many a naive tourist down the Grand Canal in Venice for prices that can probably buy you the entire boat, but tourist traps are tourist traps. And there's nothing we can do about it. But boats won't take you to Poveglia. Poveglia is one of the 166 islets that dot the lagoon around Venice. The island has the reputation of being among the most haunted places on the Earth. But what's the big deal about haunted, you might ask. Well, not all ghosts are Ruskin Bond's friendly ghosts. Some drive people mad and push them to commit suicide, like what happened in Poveglia. Poveglia has the reputation of being among the most haunted places on the Earth. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons) So after more than 1,00,000 plague victims were piled up and their dead bodies were burnt, the island got a 'mad doctor' who tried numerous experiments, mostly torture, on mentally ill people. This doctor finally jumped off the bell tower on the island, because, according to one version, the 'ghosts of the tortured people drove him to it'. But a more believable version is that this doctor killed himself to try and absolve himself of the sins he committed. Well, finally, in 1968, the last inhabitants of the island left. And till today, Poveglia remains uninhabited. Poveglia also served as a checkpoint for ships trying to enter Venice in 1777. But in the 1790s, when two ships were found to have infected people, this island became a quarantine centre all over again. Sounds a little too familiar to our situation at the moment, right? Well, at least we don't have those infamous Plague Doctors anymore, and thank the advances of science for that. The advances of science bring us to the current day. We are fighting another pandemic. And human trials of a potential Covid-19 vaccine are to take place in the UK tomorrow. Now we all know from Class 6 Biology classes that Edward Jenner was the first person to develop a vaccine. Did that mean there were no vaccines before May 1796? There were, but technically not vaccines if you were to look at the word vaccine. The word originated from vacca, Latin for 'cow', because Jenner used the cowpox virus to make his vaccine for smallpox (it was also our Word Of The Day last month). But all of this happened several centuries after China already had a sort-of vaccination system in place. Human trials of a potential Covid-19 vaccine are to take place in the UK tomorrow. (Photo: Reuters) In the 1000 CE (AD), that's about 800 years before Edward Jenner, China had something called 'variolation' ('variola' is Latin for smallpox) in place. This is basically inoculation. There is evidence which says that China used the smallpox virus itself to 'infect' a person. This variolation took place by taking smallpox scabs or pus from a patient and either rubbing them on superficial wounds on a healthy person's body, or by blowing powdered scabs up the person's nose. Yes, that is giving us the heebeegeebees already. While China got the inoculation right for smallpox, it is yet to develop one for Covid-19, the disease that originated in the country. We are not sure if China has developed a vaccine already and is unwilling to let the world know. China is China. Expecting any sort of transparency from them is tougher than trying to get into the Queen's bedroom. Unless you are Michael Fagan. Now there are intruders and there are intruders who get their own Wikipedia pages. Michael Fagan is the latter category. All Fagan did earned himself a place in the worst security breaches of the 20th century. What happened? At 7 am on July 9, 1982, Fagan scaled the 14-foot high wall around the Buckingham Palace, climbed up a drainpipe, and entered the palace. He then got into the Queen's bedroom, and all of it, because of an apparent bet with his friends! Till date, Fagan remains the only civilian to get into the Queen's bedroom. In all these decades of her monarchy. Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her 94th birthday yesterday. Well, not 'celebrated' in the way her birthday celebrations usually are, given that she too is isolated with Prince Philip thanks to the coronavirus. This virus doesn't leave anyone. It infected Prince Charles, sent UK's Prime Minister to the ICU, and has now made his Pakistan counterpart take a test. Imran Khan met Edhi Foundation chairman Faisal Edhi, who tested positive. So Khan too had to take a test; grudgingly, we guess. On this side of the border, the coronavirus has taken 640 lives and infected 20,000 people. Scientists are tearing their hair out trying to develop a vaccine, but it's going to take some time. For now, hospitals have already begun convalescent plasma therapy as a possible treatment. But the problem with Covid-19 is that it is so new a disease that no matter what you do, there's nothing foolproof at this point. But what exactly is this plasma in plasma therapy? Plasma, our Word Of The Day, is the clear, straw-coloured residual liquid portion of the blood after all red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and other cellular components are removed. Plasma also has another meaning (the fourth state of matter: a gas becomes a plasma when it is heated until the atoms lose all their electrons, leaving a highly electrified collection of nuclei and free electrons). Your plasma television sets all get their name from this second meaning. But let us go back to the first. So the plasma has antibodies which fight against a disease. When you recover, the antibodies stay on in your blood, waiting to attack the virus if it were to infect you again. When you have recovered, the antibodies in your plasma, when introduced into a patient suffering from the disease, can attack the virus in this other person and help her recover. The convalescent plasma therapy is currently being used only in severe cases, given that a vaccine is still months away. Our battle with Covid-19 has also brought to us many covidiots and our pick for the day is this District Agriculture Officer from Bihar's Araria, Manoj Kumar. Mr Kumar, Covidiot Of The Day, was asked to show his vehicle pass. He got down, and made the homeguard do sit-ups for daring to ask him for the pass. The video has left people all over the country furious. Quite understandably. The lal batti is gone, but the lal-batti entitlement of government babus are yet to go. Shame on you @NitishKumar and police constable in araria Bihar because he asked in agriculture Officer (manoj Kumar), to show the pass while checking the car this is a shocking shameful scene #Araria #BiharPolice @bihar_police #politics ???? pic.twitter.com/Z1npQ5Ceq1 Surajtiwari123 (@Surajtiwari1232) April 21, 2020 After the video made national headlines, Manoj Kumar apologised. But what do you do with an apology if it is of no use to the person hurt? Maybe if an apology video goes viral on Facebook and WhatsApp, like the sit-up one did, people will see that not every babu is always right. Facebook, along with WhatsApp, is the biggest source of 'news' in India today. Mark Zuckerberg's company has taken over India thanks to Mukesh Ambani's Jio, and now the two are business colleagues too. Facebook has bought a 9.9 per cent stake in Jio for Rs 43,574 crore. That's a figure we will leave to the Zuckerbergs and the Ambanis of the world to make sense of. But a figure that we will tell you is the number of people in India who use Facebook. In 2020, that number is 260 million. 2.6 crore of the Indian population is on Facebook. If you are one of those 2.6 crore, and are reading this on Facebook, we wish you a fake-news-free Wednesday. Stay on Facebook if you want, but stay home. See you tomorrow. Also read: DailyOh! Why Kim Jong-Un took a white horse up Mount Paektu, to the Malinga cut mystery Donald Trumps two sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., are asking for federal money to help rescue the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC, whose revenues have plummeted thanks to the coronavirus pandemic and which is operated by a company that the president himself owns. In a statement quoted by the New York Times, Eric Trump said all that he and his brother were asking from the government was the same relief that other federal tenants are receiving. Just treat us the same, he said; Whatever that may be is fine. However, responding to the Times story, leaders of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform warned the administration that allowing an agency to grant relief to a Trump-owned business would present a blatant conflict of interest, and that the US General Services Administration (GSA), which owns the building in which the hotel operates, should stand up to the president and deny his sons rent relied. The five-star Trump International Hotel hotel is situated in the Old Post Office building, which the Trumps leased from the GSA in 2013. The building had previously fallen into a state of disrepair, and the Trumps leasing it meant that the government began to pull in substantial revenue from a building that had previously been a drain on public money. However, the pandemics decimation of the hotel business means that the business may struggle to pay its $268,000 rent, and the Trumps are reportedly seeking to negotiate changes to the rental agreement to ameliorate the outbreaks effects on their business. The Old Post Office hotel has been a bone of contention since Mr Trump was elected, with lawsuits arguing its business may violate the constitutions foreign emoluments clause, a rule designed to bar the president and other officials from receiving gifts and money from foreign governments without congressional approval. Critics of Trumps business interests have long argued that the hotel presents a major risk that conflicts of interest could arise, with foreign figures and governments potentially paying huge sums for rooms there that would go directly to a Trump-owned business. The hotel has regularly been used by foreign delegations visiting the US capital, some of whom have paid tens of thousands of dollars or more to stay there for extended periods. According to the Washington Post, among the various high-level guests known to have stayed at the hotel were a group of lobbyists representing Saudi Arabia who paid for 500 nights at the hotel over a three-month period. At the end of 2019, the Trump Organisation said it would consider offers to buy it out of the hotels lease. They welcomed their fifth child together last October when their daughter Birdie was born. And David Tennant and his wife Georgia looked every inch the happy couple as they shared a kiss while out on a stroll with the tot, six months, in London on Tuesday. The former Doctor Who star, 49, cut a casual figure, sporting a black The Beatles T-shirt with navy shorts and a grey cap. Romantic: David Tennant, 49, and his wife Georgia, 35, looked every inch the happy couple as they shared a kiss while out on a stroll with the tot in London on Tuesday Also sporting a pair of shades, the actor completed his look for the day with a pair of trainers. Georgia, 35, also went for a laid back look, wearing a black leather jacket which she paired with a navy pleated skirt. Letting her blonde locks fall loose down her shoulders, the actress also wore pink glasses and multi-coloured trainers. It comes just days after David celebrated his 49th birthday in lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic where he was gifted with a homemade birthday cake by his other half. Family: David and Georgia welcomed their fifth child together last October when their daughter Birdie was born (pictured in March 2018) David posed with the birthday treat, which was also decorated with Jaffa Cakes and green and orange Skittles, in the sweet celebratory snap. The couple share Tyler, who David adopted in 2012, along with Olive, eight, Wilfred, six, Doris, five, and Birdie. Georgia 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. Out and about: The former Doctor Who star cut a casual figure, sporting a black The Beatles T-shirt with navy shorts and a grey cap. Tyler revealed the name of his youngest sibling during an appearance on Lorraine last month, 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. Celebrations: It comes just days after David celebrated his 49th birthday in lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic where he was gifted with a homemade birthday cake 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. 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 ace director of Bollywood has come forward to help the on-duty policemen, he facilitated eight hotels for them in which they will be provided with facilities like rest, shower and change there are also arrangements of breakfast and dinner. Read the full article to know more. The coronavirus pandemic has become a risk to the world. In India, the deadly COVID-19 is spreading rapidly and each day we are getting to hear about new cases,.The nation is under lockdown, nobody other than emergency workers are allowed to move out of their house. In this lockdown, many celebrities have also come forward to support these workers. Everybody has donated some amount to the PM CARES fund. All of them are supporting mainly the frontline workers, the doctors, nurses, ward boys, policemen another doing their duties during this pandemic. Recently the ace director of Bollywood Rohit Shetty came forward to provide his helping hand in such pandemic. He has facilitated eight hotels across the city for on-duty policemen so that they can rest. Meals will also be provided to them there, this is a big help to the policemen. The policemen of Mumbai thanked him through a tweet from their official twitter handle. The tweet read as Rohit Shetty has facilitated eight hotels across the city for their on-duty COVID 19 warriors to rest, shower and change with arrangements like breakfast and dinner. They thanked him for this gesture and for helping them. Earlier Rohit also donated rupees 51 lakh to the Federation of Western India Cine Employees to support the daily wage workers from the film industry. If we talk about the work front then Rohits film Sooryavanshi was about to release on March 24 but is now postponed due to the pandemic. Also Read: RadhaKrishn actors Sumedh Mudgalkar, Mallika Singh along with 180 crew members stuck at Umargaon sets due to lockdown Recently, the celebrity Sonu Sood also offered his hotel in the city for the frontline workers like doctors, nurses and the paramedical staff, for stay. This is also a big step to help the people who are fighting the toughest battle right now. Everybody should provide whatever they can, giving out help to them and to the people who need it in the lockdown period is the most necessary. If we talk about Soods work front then he will be seen in Shettys Sooryavanshi. Also Read: Coronavirus lockdown: Jennifer Winget, Shivin Narang Beyhadh 2, Patiala Babes and Ishaaron Ishaaron Mein to go off air due to channels demand For all the latest Entertainment News, download NewsX App As of now, the road ahead is still long in Italy. With one-third of world's population under lockdown and countries trying to get out of this health emergency as efficiently as possible, taking a cruise in the Mediterranean or flying to a new country to discover a new culture wont be allowed any time soon. A disappointing truth as we approach the long-awaited summer vacations. In Italy, one of the most asked questions for phase two of the covid-19 emergency has been will we able to travel after May 4th. Although the new regulations are still being discussed, it is highly likely that free circulation will not be a possibility right away, and citizens will need a valid motive to travel out of their region. So what will the next months bring for Italy and the rest of the world? Italian beaches As discussions continue, some good news came out about Italian beaches. The government gave the green light to beach club owners to start their maintenance, giving hope to the citizens who would like to spend some time at the seaside this summer. However, it is going to be a completely new experience for the beach lovers. There will be a minimum of 2m between sunbeds, and people will have to respect each others personal space all day. For sure, we wont have young crowds playing volleyball or a group of toddlers building sandcastles. A more extreme idea was also introduced earlier this month, suggesting building transparent cabins out of plexiglass to assure social distancing. Hypotheses continue with possible ticket dispensers for a take-a-number system for swimming and self-certifications to fill out about current health status. But will people still go to a beach club if they need to wait their turn as in a bank and present documentation for what is supposed to be a relaxing experience? What happens in Europe Ursula Von Der Leyen. Ph: Alexandros Michailidis / Shutterstock.com As the curve is flattening out in many countries, EU member states are starting to lift restrictions one by one. So, when will Italy start welcoming tourists again to resuscitate its tourism? With many hotels and restaurants preparing to reopen, business owners hope to get back the tourist crowds as soon as possible to make up for the loss of the last months. However, even if Italians will be able to spend a day or two at the beach this summer, it doesnt look good for international travellers. Ursula Von Der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, warned against booking summer vacations, urging people to hold off their travel plans in Europe as no one can make reliable forecasts for July and August. The phase two of European countries include obligatory face masks, social distancing, and a gradual reopening of shops. Not the perfect scenario for a dream vacation in Italy. A similar warning came from the French Prime Minister Emanuel Macron, suggesting that the borders of the Schengen Area (together with the four Schengen Associated States - Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland) may remain shut until September. For now, all nonessential travel to the EU is blocked until May 15th. However, further extensions are highly expected. Each country will make its own decision regarding domestic travel while the EU regulations on allowing free movement of people between borders will depend on the growth rate of COVID-19 all around the world. It is likely that the border restrictions will first be lifted inside the EU, and access to other countries will be granted only on a later date. The Airline Industry Airline companies, especially those that offer low-cost charter flights, hope to operate during summer, their peak season, by taking appropriate social distancing measures such as barring the use of middle seats and monitoring the body temperature of the passengers before allowing them to fly. More prominent companies such as Emirates introduced rapid blood tests for Covid-19, conducting on-site antibody tests to passengers before boarding the plane. Nevertheless, to go back to normal we will have to wait for a vaccine. EU commissioner Thierry Breton said Tourism was the first sector to be hit by the coronavirus and I am sure that it will be the slowest to recover and come out of this phase, underlining the hardship the member states are going through, estimating that the tourism economy could slump up to 70 percent. A nightmare scenario for a country like Italy where tourism represents around 13% of the countrys GDP. What can we expect? As of now, in Italy the road ahead is still long. There will be many steps such as giving the green light to domestic travel and short train rides before its time to start considering welcoming back tourists. The predictions are numerous. Some news channels suggest the borders will reopen completely by November while other calendars shared on social media indicate that international flights will resume only in March 2021. At the moment, these are simple predictions, and as of today, there is no new statement by the government regarding a long time ban on international travel. However, as Italy is still trying to adjust to a new lifestyle where the citizens will learn to co-exist with covid-19, it is presumable that we wont see many tourists for the rest of 2020 and the concept of travel will have a completely new look for the next year. A London brewery is donating the income from two new beers brewed in honour of frontline healthcare workers to NHS charities. London Beer Factory has launched Lifesavers, an American pale ale, and National Heroes, a lager, in response to the crisis. All money is going to Kings College Hospital Charity and Guys and St Thomas Charity. The firm is also donating a pint to the hospitals for each order more than 1,000 so far. A nurse and a paramedic are the latest of almost 60 public health workers in NSW who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the crisis began. A Sydney Adventist Hospital nurse and a paramedic from the Liverpool Ambulance superstation were among the five coronavirus cases confirmed in NSW on Thursday, which NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said was "one of the best results we've had". NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian speaks to the media during a press conference in Sydney on Thursday morning. Credit:AAP "We know that these restrictions that we've had in place are working," she said. A worker and resident from western Sydney aged care facility Newmarch House were among the new confirmed cases. There have now been 44 confirmed cases linked to the home, 15 staff and 29 residents. Two militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district on Wednesday Srinagar: Two militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district on Wednesday, police said. Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the Melhora area of Shopian Tuesday night following information about the presence of militants there, a police official said. He said the hiding militants opened fire at the security forces, who retaliated, triggering a gun battle. Two militants have been killed so far in the operation, which was going on till the last reports were received, the official said. The identity of the slain militants is being ascertained, he added. Haiti - News : Zapping... Curfew : Between sanctions and prevention Between sanctions, prevention and support, Audain Fils Bernadel the Minister of the Interior supported by the PNH as part of night vigilance and respect for the curfew https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30585-haiti-news-zapping.html, distributed dozens of masks to residents caught in the streets without a mask, as a means of protection against the Covid-19. See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30585-haiti-news-zapping.html Press freedom, Haiti back by 21 places In the 2020 press freedom ranking by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Haiti drops from 62nd (2019) to 83rd (2020) out of 181 countries, down 21 places due to the dangerous working environment and precarious emphasizes RSF "[...] Haitian journalists are particularly vulnerable and regularly targeted during demonstrations. Some are intimidated and attacked [...]" specifies RSF. It is the worst position for Haiti since the creation of this ranking in 2013. The Dominican Republic retains its 55th place. Disinfection : Airport and Three Hands area Tuesday, as part of an awareness campaign around the Coronavirus, a team of Press Coordination and Public Relations of the National Police of Haiti, escorted by agents of the Intervention and Maintenance Corps (CIMO), traveled several arteries of the Capital launching messages reminding the sanitary instructions. In addition, Toussaint Louverture Airport and the Three Hands area were disinfected with bleach by law enforcement personnel using a CIMO water truck. Student reflections Restitution session of a reflection produced by a group of young graduates from the State University of Haiti (Psychology, sociology, social service) on the reorganization of the 6 public markets and public transport at Carrefour. Restitution followed by debate with a panel of notable of the city. Public policy decisions should take into account the reflections of academics for a better approach in favor of the population. The PM in videoconference Tuesday Joseph Jouthe chaired by videoconference, a working session with the scientific unit responsible for managing the Covid-19 crisis in Haiti, with a view to implementing the recommendations on health measures to effectively combat the spread of the sickness. Delmas : Distribution of food kits at the Municipal Palace At the beginning of the week at the Municipal Palace of Delmas, "Food For The Poor" in partnership with the Town Hall of Delmas proceeded to the distribution of various food kits containing among others corn, peas, rice, charcoal, milk... This activity aimed to support the population of Delmas during the Covid-19 health crisis. HL/ HaitiLibre With an emphasis on building a unique aesthetic and tone, the narrative structure is ragged almost to a fault. The guiding device is a letter written by Kelly to his as yet unborn child, detailing his rough upbringing as the son of an Irish convict. His beloved mother, Ellen (Essie Davis), uses every skill she has to keep her family intact, and as a boy, Ned is pressed into service with bushranger Harry Power (Russell Crowe) in a savage servitude that drives a wedge between young Ned and his family. When he returns, grown, with a reputation as a child assassin and successful bareknuckle boxer, he mends his fences with his mother and takes up the family business of horse-thievery and murder after a feud with a local English constable, Alexander Fitzgerald (Nicholas Hoult), lands Ellen in jail. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 22, 2020) - Pancontinental Resources Corporation (TSXV: PUC) ("Pancon" or the "Company") announces that, due to delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company has agreed with the Brewer Gold Receiver ("Receiver") to extend by six months the initial term of the Brewer Option Agreement. The initial option term, which commenced on April 1, 2020, is now 24 months. If Pancon spends US$2 million during the initial term, it can extend the option period another 18 months, for a total of 42 months. Pancon President and CEO, Layton Croft, stated: "Pancon is grateful to the Receiver for granting us more time to explore Brewer in light of unforeseen delays caused by COVID-19. The delays have given us opportunities to optimize and further de-risk our exploration plan. Pancon's goal for 2020-2021 is to discover new gold-copper mineralization under and/or nearby the former gold mine. To achieve this goal we have four objectives: 1) to understand, through iterative data analysis, the probable location of new gold-copper mineralization; 2) to find, through drilling, new gold-copper mineralization; 3) to expand, through more drilling, the size and shape of new gold-copper mineralization; and 4) to demonstrate, through data modeling, Brewer's economic potential." 2020-2021 Brewer Exploration Plan Based on the Company's current understanding of what a realistic implementation schedule will be in light of COVID-19, the following summarizes the Brewer exploration plan. The schedule may be modified as needed in order to follow government protocols and to ensure Company activities keep all employees, contractors, suppliers and community members safe from COVID-19. In 2020, the Company envisions the following: Improve knowledge of Brewer mineralogy by using x-ray diffraction (XRD) on historic drill core Complete the compilation of historic geophysical, geochemical and geologic data Conduct new geophysics (radiometrics, ground magnetics, gravity, induced polarization) Based on historic data compilation plus new geophysical data and interpretation, establish a baseline geologic model and finalize initial drill plan and targets for Phase 1 of drilling Complete Phase 1 of drilling Produce assay, geochemical and hyperspectral mineralogy data from Phase 1 drill core In 2021, based on the above, the Company envisions the following: Update database and geologic model Finalize initial drill plan and targets for Phase 2 of drilling Complete Phase 2 of drilling Produce assay, geochemical and hyperspectral mineralogy data from Phase 2 drill core Update database and geologic model Finalize initial drill plan and targets for Phase 3 of drilling Complete Phase 3 of drilling Produce assay, geochemical and hyperspectral mineralogy data from Phase 3 drill core In addition, Pancon has partnered with the local Helping Hands Outreach Center in Pageland, South Carolina. Serving families in need in the communities of Pageland, Mount Crogman and Jefferson - where Pancon's Brewer and Jefferson gold projects are located - Helping Hands Outreach Center is a recently established food bank run by volunteers and dependent on charitable donations. Also, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pancon has deferred its 2020 Annual General Meeting to September. About Pancon Pancon is a Canadian junior mining company focused on exploring the prolific and underexplored Carolina Slate Belt in South Carolina, USA. In January 2020, Pancon won the exclusive right to explore the former Brewer Gold Mine. Between 1987-1995, Brewer produced 178,000 ounces of oxide gold from open pits that extended to 50-metre depths, where copper and gold-rich sulphides were exposed but could not be processed by the oxide heap leach processing facility. Brewer is a high sulphidation system driven by a sub-volcanic intrusive and possibly containing a large copper-gold porphyry system at depth, as indicated by: widely known prospective geology, including diatreme breccias; associated high sulphidation alteration; gold and copper mineralization; and geophysics. Pancon's 100%-owned Jefferson Gold Project nearly surrounds the former Brewer Gold Mine, and both Jefferson and Brewer are located 12 km along trend northeast from the producing Haile Gold Mine, which produced 146,100 ounces of gold in 2019. In addition, Pancon has four nickel-copper-cobalt exploration projects in Northern Ontario, surrounding or near producing and former mines. For further information, please contact: Jeanny So, Manager, External Relations E: info@panconresources.com T: +1.647.202.0994 For additional information please visit our new website at www.panconresources.com and our Twitter feed:@PanconResources. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release contains forward-looking information which is not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking information is characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, changes in the state of equity and debt markets, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in obtaining required regulatory or governmental approvals, and other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, including those risks set out in the Company's management's discussion and analysis as filed under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking information in this news release is based on the opinions and assumptions of management considered reasonable as of the date hereof, including that all necessary governmental and regulatory approvals will be received as and when expected. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable securities laws. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/54745 Vietnams labour market is in desperate need of high-qualified and skilled workers, experts have said. Students of Hanoi's Mechanical and Electric College in a robot control class. The local labour market has long faced a paradox of many trained labourers being unable to find suitable jobs while businesses dealt with a labour shortage, as graduates often had to be retrained to be competent. Vietnam is also one of the countries most heavily influenced by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0), with many jobs set to become obsolete and many other new ones to appear. Facing the trend of automation, Vietnamese workers must be trained to meet job requirements in this new situation. According to Tran Tuan Anh, former vice director of HCM Citys Human Resource Forecast and Labour Market Information Centre, businesses' demand for workers of all types would increase by 14.5 per cent by 2025. The demand for average-skilled jobs would generally rise at the fastest rate of about 28 per cent while skilled workers would be at 13 per cent, Tuan Anh told online newspaper baotintuc.vn. The labour market in HCM City was always busy, he said. Only in the first quarter this year, businesses in HCM City still needed 65,430 employees although it was a time of difficulties for all economic sectors due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tuan Anh said. In the second quarter, businesses would need about 47,000 workers in commerce, information technology, administration, health care, consulting service and customer care, he said. The demand for trained labourers accounted for 81 per cent of the total. According to human resource experts, skilled and high-qualified human resources have not yet met labour market demand. Many graduates were not well equipped with expertise, soft skills and foreign languages so they could not find jobs. School-business co-operation In order to overcome the situation, training co-operation among education institutions and businesses should be enhanced to supply high-qualified human resource meeting businesses requirement as well as increase the prestige of educational institutions, said Nguyen Hoan Hao, a lecture of HCM Citys Pedagogical University. Businesses would decide how many qualified and capable employees they need every year while schools would be responsible for training students to the firms' requirements, said Hao. Nguyen Hong Quang, vice president of C.T Group, said that close relations between schools and businesses via training courses and internship programmes would help employers find suitable employees. HCM Citys University of Economics has long had ties with businesses via workshops for evaluating students suitability for businesses needs, seminars on improving training courses, career festivals, and internship programmes. Since 2017, the percentage of newly-graduated students from the university who found jobs immediately after their studies has been 93.4 per cent. After graduating, the students often looked for jobs from business recruitment ads, career fairs or job promotion centres, said Dr Dinh Cong Khai, a lecturer of HCM Citys Economics University. Knowledge and skills are important requirements to recruiters, said Khai. Lack of soft skills such as communication, time management and teamwork were reasons that made graduates fail to find jobs, he said. Cao Van Duong, an employee of KPMG Ltd Co Vietnam, said to meet the demands of the labour market, graduates must be strong in their expertise. Technology could change rapidly but basic knowledge of a professional is a solid foundation for employees to quickly grasp new knowledge in their working environment, Duong said. Additionally, recruiters now focused on soft skills such as communication skills, time management, teamwork, crisis management and personal life balance, he added. VNS High demand for skilled workers Dao Quang Vinh, Director of the Institute of Labour and Social Affairs under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, talks on challenges and opportunities presented to Vietnamese working people by Industry 4.0. The film adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda's hit Broadway production "In The Heights"has a new release date. The film, being directed by John M Chu of "Crazy Rich Asians" fame, was set to release in June this year but due to the coronavirus pandemic, the movie was postponed. According to The Hollywood Reporter, "In The Heights" will now open on June 18, 2021. Miranda, who created the stage musical with Quiara Alegra Hudes, will appear in a small role in the movie, besides providing the music. The movie is about a bodega owner (Anthony Ramos) who has mixed feelings about closing his store and retiring to the Dominican Republic after he inherits his grandmother's fortune. It will also feature Corey Hawkins, Melissa Barrera, Leslie Grace, Jimmy Smits, Olga Merediz, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Stephanie Beatriz and Dascha Polanco. Miranda had last month hinted that "In The Heights" will get delayed after all the production activity in Hollywood was shut down in the wake of the pandemic. "We were literally recording the score when all of this started happening... There's a lot that remains to be done on that movie. "We were finishing the score and the mixing and just getting the music exactly right," he told Rosie O'Donnell in a livestream interview. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- The White House has told governors their leadership is critical in testing for coronavirus and provided a map showing that Oregon is among four states with the lowest testing capacity in the United States. Oregon, Montana, Oklahoma and Maine are able to test fewer than 30 in 1,000 people a month. An email sent by the White House coronavirus task force Monday shows that states with the highest testing capacity are Wyoming, Utah and Vermont. They can test over 90 in 1,000 people a month. The Oregon Health Authority says it's revised guidelines for COVID-19 testing to prioritize at-risk groups and front-line workers. By James Greenfield We have been through a long winter of death and devastation from the coronavirus pandemic. As a priest and president of a Catholic university, I lean on religious faith to make sense out of the senseless. We have just come through Lent and into the Easter season and all of us, no matter our beliefs, can believe this: death does not have the last word. Winter subsides; spring, resurrection, and new life always comes. A powerful way to find meaning amid suffering is to serve others. In these pandemic-stained times, I pray we can see this Earth Day as an opportunity to serve the whole world. I am moved by the words of Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl: In some ways suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning. Our lives may not be free from adversity; our freedom lies in how we respond. As individuals, we can pull meaning from this tragedy by finding ways to serve vulnerable people, even while we physically distance for the good of all. I was inspired recently by two physician assistant students at our college, DeSales University, who looked at the lockdown of our communities and became mindful of forgotten members of our human family people with no home to which they can retreat. Many emergency shelters have had to close their doors, and these students set about turning old plastic bags into water-resistant sleeping mats for folks sleeping outside. They even created an instructional video for making these plarn mats and put it on YouTube. I pray we as a society find new meaning in global cooperation. This Earth Day is unlike any we have experienced. The worlds interconnectedness has been starkly revealed, both in our hardship and in our hope. It is clear now that an affliction from a virus halfway around the world can threaten all of us. And yet, groups of people scattered around the globe working together can prepare one another, move supplies where they are most needed, and collect our best minds to work on a vaccine. We have an opportunity to live on this planet together as one human family. In a recent interview, Pope Francis said, let us not lose our memory once all this is past; let us not file it away and go back to where we were. He recalled the need to care for Gods creation and to stem climate change, a message he delivered five years ago next month in his major encyclical letter, Laudato Si. This pandemic is not directly tied to climate disruption, but the next one could be. Climate change is a major reason one current epidemic, Lyme disease, is exploding as ticks multiply in the warmer climate. Cases have tripled in Pennsylvania in recent years and studies now show the number of Americans diagnosed with Lyme disease each year has reached 300,000. Each one of us can find a way to serve the common good during our long road to recovery. This Earth Day, one way we can welcome the spring and draw forth new meaning is to advocate to our members of Congress for greater international cooperation. It is clear we are going to need it even more now. Pope Francis and the United States Catholic bishops have been urging the U.S. to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement, which would help us prevent more death and destruction from worsening epidemics, hurricanes, and wild fires. The words of C.S. Lewis about living in an atomic age are very poignant now: The first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things praying, working, listening to music not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. This Earth Day, let us resolve to do sensible things to look after one another and prevent future devastation. The Rev. James Greenfield is president of DeSales University in Center Valley. Palma community radio journalist Ibraimo Abu Mbaruco was arrested on 7 April and held incommunicado by the Mozambican military in the troubled northern province of Cabo Delgado. Update: Journalist Ibraimo Abu Mbaruco has been missing for over one month while the government has not officially commented on the case The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate the Mozambique Union of Journalists in calling for the immediate and unconditional release of journalist Ibraimo Abu Mabaruco. On Tuesday 7 April, journalist Ibraimo was arrested by soldiers after leaving his office by about 6:00pm. According to the Media Institute of Southern Africa MISA Mozambique Ibraimo informed his colleagues about his supposed arrest by the armed forces through a text message in which he wrote I was surrounded with soldiers." MISA also stated that a police officer assigned to the district police command in Palma told them that it was the Armed Forces of Mozambique that took the journalist," confiding in them that "he knew that the journalist was taken from Palma to Mueda where the armed forces have the interrogation room. The MISA report further stated that Ibraimos work was centered on collecting, processing and publishing information related to population resettlement processes and their impact on Palma." IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger, denounced the arrest and incommunicado detention as arbitrary and illegal which was tantamount to forceful disappearance. The journalist posed no threat to the military or the security forces but was doing his job in the public interest. Many journalists have been harassed, intimidated, arrested and detained in the troubled northern province of Cabo Delgado. The Government of Mozambique must immediately put an end to these illegal arrests of journalists by the military. The authorities must guarantee the safety and security of journalists in the country and release our colleague immediately." The pandemic coronavirus (COVID-19) also hit the TV and film industry. Many movies that were set to premiere in February, March, and early April were put on hold, including the thriller film "Time to Hunt." On February 22, at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival, "Time to Hunt" pioneered to be screened in the event's Berlinale special section. But due to COVID-19, the film's supposed-to-be theater debut last February 26 was delayed, prompting the film's distributor, Little Big Pictures, to have its global premiere on Netflix. Since the pandemic, theaters in Korea hit its lowest number of moviegoers. April 10 was the original date for "Time to Hunt." However, the film's debut was stopped by the Seoul Central Court last April 9 due to pending negotiations between the two companies. Contents Panda signed a contract with the Little Big Pictures. But with the internal dispute between the two companies, the local distributor Little Big Pictures terminated their contract with the international sales rep. Contents Panda protested since they already sold the film to 30 countries. They even had some promotions before Berlinale. Shortly after, the two companies resolved their conflicts. A statement was released by Little Big Pictures, apologizing to fans and Contents Panda. On the other hand, Contents Panda also declared a statement that they had fortunately concluded negotiations, and the film will be aired on Netflix. The movie's dystopian setting will be headlined by actors Lee Je Hoon, Choi Woo Shik, Ahn Jae Hong, and Park Jung Min will be chased by Park Hae Soo, a mysterious man named Han. Lee Je Hoon, 35, is an award-winning actor who gained widespread fame for his critically-acclaimed roles in the indie film "Bleak Night" and the commercial film "The Front Line." His role in the movie is Joon-Seok and will be the one to gather his three other friends to join his cause to rob people. The 30-year-old Korean-Canadian actor Choi Woo Shik will play as Ki-Hoon. He debuted as an actor in "The Duo," a 2011 historical drama, and became very popular in world-renowned and multi-awarded film "Parasite." The multi-awarded actor, 34-year-old Ahn Jae Hong, will play as Jang-Ho. The 2009 short film "A Perfect Sight" was his acting debut. His roles in the films "The Sunshine Boys" (2012) and "The King of Jokgu" (2013) made him popular. Park Jung Min, 33, will play as Sang-Soo. Jung min made his debut in the 2007 short movie "The End of the World." He gained fame with his role in the indie it movie "Bleak Night" in 2011. Park Hae Soo, 38, will be joining the film as Han, a mysterious and unstoppable killer who won the Best Actor award for his role in "Quantum Physics" (2019) at the 40th Blue Dragon Film Awards. The setting will feature great suffering and injustice. "Time to Hunt" is an action thriller where four men had to rob in order to escape from their miserable life. Unfortunately, they ended up being chased by a killer whom they wrongly chose to rob. "Time to Hunt" is one of the highly-anticipated Korean films, due to its star-studded casts. Not only that, but Yoon Sung-hyun will direct this film, who helmed "Bleak Night." Further, the movie is the first-ever Korean film to cancel its scheduled theater release and went straight to Netflix. It will be simultaneously released on Thursday, April 23, at 4:00 p.m. in 190 countries. OSLO (Reuters) - Aker BP has suspended work on all oil and gas development projects yet to be approved by its board due to the coronavirus-related crash in crude prices, the Norwegian energy firm said on Wednesday. North Sea oil slumped to less than $16 a barrel on Wednesday, hitting its lowest since 1999, with the market awash with excess supply as the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic hammers demand for fuels. "As a response to the dramatic change in the market situation, Aker BP has stopped all non-sanctioned projects, including the Hod redevelopment project in the Valhall area which was just about to be sanctioned prior to the dramatic turmoil," the company said in a statement. Aker BP's Senior Vice President Kjetel Digre said tens of thousands of oil industry jobs were at risk in Norway as investments and exploration activities were being put on hold. The company said, however, that the industry's recent proposal to make temporary adjustments to tax regulations could boost cash flow and increase activity, and preserve some investments on the Norwegian continental shelf. "The industry's proposal ... will result in increased activity and new investment opportunities offshore Norway within the next 12-24 months," Digre said. Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg said on Tuesday the government was looking at possible measures, but declined to elaborate. Aker BP, 30% owned by BP , said on March 23 it would cut its planned 2020 capital and exploration spending by 20%, but kept its production guidance unchanged. The company said on Wednesday it had started production at its Aerfugl Phase 2 gas development in the Norwegian Sea, three years ahead of schedule. (Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis, editing by Terje Solsvik and Mark Potter) Saint Thomas Dr., 2000 block, 2 a.m. March 30. A 29-year-old Waldorf man reported his 13-month old daughter was having trouble breathing. When officers and paramedics arrived, the child was unresponsive and taken to a hospital. It was determined the toddler sustained trauma consistent with child abuse. She was in critical condition and died the following day. Detectives arrested the father and charged him with child abuse, first-degree assault, and second-degree assault. On April 14, the man was charged with first-degree murder. Ramanand Sagars Ramayan first aired more than three decades ago in 1987. The amount of sentimentality and reverence the show enjoyed at the time, can be gauged not only by the testimonials the elders in our house share, but also by the shows current rating on Doordarshan. MensXP People flocked to the sets in large numbers to get a glimpse of Ram, Laxman and Sita, made immortal by actors Arun Govil, Sunil Lahri and Dipika Chikhlia. As the popular show is being rerun on DD National amid the country-wide lockdown, MensXP got in touch with the son of the shows late art director. Mr Vipin Bhai Patel was kind enough to share some unknown facts and never-seen-before photos related to Ramanand Sagars Ramayan. MensXP/Vipin Bhai Patel 1. There are many reports which claim that Ramayan was shot in Mumbai. But in reality, the show was shot in the Vrindavan Studio in Umargam, Gujarat. 2. Art director and the then owner of the studio late Mr Hirabhai Patel was responsible for designing all the major components of the show, right from the costumes, sitting areas, chariots to the set itself. MensXP 3. Hirabhai Patel had also been well-versed in Trick Photography (a special form of photography that uses special methods to make unreal things seem very real), which gave the show a whole new dimension and made everything seem true to life. 4. Mr Hirabhai Patel acquired a 40-acre piece of land in Gujarat under a government subsidy scheme, and set up the Ramayan studio on it. MensXP 5. The studio is located along a seashore and has multiple locations on its premises. Many scenes featuring the sea in Ramayan were shot inside the studio itself. It is also said that post the shooting of Ramayan, Shri Krishna was also shot in the same studio. 6. Son of Late Mr Hirabhai Patel and the current owner of Vrindavan studio, Vipin Bhai Patel also shared that director Ramanand Sagar and his father were close associates. The director would discuss various matters of the show with Hirabhai Patel and then decide on the future course of action. MensXP 7. Reportedly, the shooting of Ramayan began in 1985 and went on for the next five years. 8. The studio was let out on shift basis and for every 8-hour shift, the renting changes would be Rs 2000. Every significant scene in the show, right from the jungle to the battle scenes were shot inside the studio. 9. The creation of particular elements of the set, including costumes, jewellery and even weapons were first hand-painted by Mr Hirabhai Patel upon discussing it with the director. Only then were they physically created. 10. Trick photography/videography would be used to make things appear larger than life on-screen. For instance, Ravans palace in the show seems humongous, but in reality, the palace was merely 4 feet in height. MensXP Check out more never-seen-before photos here: MensXP MensXP MensXP Inputs taken from an exclusive story covered by Mradul Rajpoot for MensXP Hindi. Tina Knowles-Lawson mourned the loss of her former roommate and one of her best friends - registered nurse Sheila Campbell - who once enlisted Beyonce to serve flower girl duties at her wedding. And while the 66-year-old grandmother-of-four didn't explicitly say Campbell passed away from the coronavirus on Monday, she certainly hinted that the fast-spreading respiratory illness was the cause of death. 'She was so beautiful so kind,' Knowles-Lawson wrote to her 2.4M Instagram followers. 'I got the saddest news!' Tina Knowles-Lawson mourned the loss of her former roommate and one of her best friends - registered nurse Sheila Campbell - who once enlisted Beyonce to serve flower girl duties at her wedding (pictured Tuesday) 'She was my maid of honor at my wedding and Beyonce was her flower girl at her wedding. Losing our healthcare workers who are fighting for our families and us is the saddest thing. These are real people with real families. 'Sheila has a beautiful daughter Courtney, who lost her precious mom. These healthcare workers are dying of this disease. Please take it seriously and stay home if you can. RIP Sheila.' As of Tuesday, the global COVID-19 pandemic has claimed the lives of over 176,984 people in the world, and infected an eye-popping 2,561,044 others - according to Johns Hopkins University. The 66-year-old grandmother-of-four wrote: 'Sheila (R) was so beautiful so kind. She was my maid of honor at my wedding and Beyonce (M) was her flower girl at her wedding' RIP: And while Tina didn't explicitly say Campbell passed away from the coronavirus on Monday, she certainly hinted that the fast-spreading respiratory illness was the cause of death Knowles-Lawson continued: 'Losing our healthcare workers who are fighting for our families and us is the saddest thing...These healthcare workers are dying of this disease. Please take it seriously and stay home if you can' (nurses protest outside the White House on Tuesday) Crisis: As of Tuesday, the global COVID-19 pandemic has claimed the lives of over 176,984 people in the world, and infected an eye-popping 2,561,044 others Tina (born Celestine Ann Beyince) divorced Mathew Knowles, the father of her daughters Beyonce and Solange, in 2011 after he admitted to secretly fathering children with TaQoya Branscomb and Alexsandra Wright. The glamorous Texan moved on by marrying actor Richard Lawson in 2015 after the 68-year-old former Destiny's Child manager wed ex-model Gena Charmaine Avery in 2013. The main union representing journalists in Britain is calling on the government to triple a tax on global tech giants to support the industry, as it faces fresh shocks from the coronavirus outbreak. Sector analysts predict that as many as 5,000 journalists could lose their jobs without state intervention, as the national lockdown hits already declining print sales and dwindling advertising revenue. The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) said urgent action was now needed, and the government should look to increase its new digital services tax on tech heavyweights to fund a wider, more long-term "news recovery plan". "It has been estimated that the current proposals by the UK government could raise as much as 500 million ($620 million, 570 million euros) in a year," NUJ assistant general secretary Seamus Dooley told AFP. "That's the two percent they plan. We're saying triple it. That would represent a sizeable immediate injection if treated as a windfall tax." The digital services tax, which came into effect on April 1, targets search engines, social media services and online marketplaces of British users, provided the company's revenue is more than 25 million. It is expected to raise 280 million in its first year and 500 million by the end of 2025, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility. The levy was introduced after controversy about foreign-based online platforms such as Google and Facebook, which generate huge advertising revenues in Britain but pay relatively little domestic tax. "There's very much common cause between employers and owners that effectively these are platform providers that are eating our lunch," said Dooley. "They're reliant on the work of media organisations -- of journalists, photographers and videographers -- and the real challenge for media organisations who are dependent on commercial revenue has been the haemorrhaging of advertising to online." - Layoffs and leave - Broadcasters such as the BBC have reported record audiences while websites have seen a surge in traffic since the start of the outbreak, and Britain's lockdown which began on March 24. Ian Murray, executive director at the Society of Editors, said the apparent increase in trust in traditional media was "a very thin silver lining from a horrible dark cloud". But there remains concern about the economic and social fall-out on journalists, including freelancers not covered by government rescue plans. Nearly 250 local newspaper titles closed between 2005 and 2018, and the current crisis has seen more than 2,000 mainly non-editorial staff at some 500 newspapers temporarily laid off, according to industry magazine Press Gazette. Some companies are predicting multimillion-pound losses in revenue, have cut salaries or asked staff to work fewer hours and take unpaid leave. Others have announced mergers or warned they could close completely. Media research firm Enders Analysis has predicted advertising sales in the British press could fall by 330 million or 30 percent this year, and circulation could be cut in two. Britain's culture secretary Oliver Dowden has warned the news industry could lose 50 million during the crisis, particularly as big firms had blocked online ads alongside stories on COVID-19. - Existential threat - The editorial director of the Yorkshire Post in northern England, James Mitchinson, said his team had been working hard to provide accurate, reliable information on the outbreak. But he warned that many titles could close without "immediate" government support. "The measures we have taken to cut costs don't make up for the reduction in ad revenue," he was quoted as saying in the Sunday Times recently. "We need grants and a change to the furlough scheme to pay journalists -- key workers -- to work, not down tools." Roy Greenslade, a former editor of the Daily Mirror and now media commentator for The Guardian, said the financial impact on companies and consumers could leave many organisations unable to recover when the lockdown ends. Companies were likely to reassess their newsroom operations, print or online strategies and ultimately look at their bottom line, as they take a hit on the stock market, he said. The period after the outbreak "will likely mark the final stage in newsprint's long decline", he predicted. Dooley said the crisis was an opportunity to act, to prevent large parts of the country having no local media representation to hold public bodies to account or reflect community life. "Doing nothing is not an option," he said. "The irony is that journalism has never been in a more precarious position but also in our lifetime probably never more important." Britain's culture secretary Oliver Dowden has warned the news industry could lose 50 million during the crisis, particularly as big firms had blocked online ads alongside stories on COVID-19 Earlier this year, I left my home in Vancouver to start working as a visiting researcher in Stockholm, Sweden. The world has changed significantly since that time. Being away from home while the COVID-19 crisis grew from purported media-borne hype to the extraordinary pandemic it is today, has highlighted how cultural differences have led to differences in public health management. Sweden and Canada have taken two different paths. According to the WHO director general, in many wealthy countries hospitals are designed to operate in a lean and mean and efficient manner. This is true for both Sweden and Canada where hospital capacity has diminished over the last several years. This is the key reason for the need to flatten the curve (reduce infections) so as not to overwhelm an underprepared health care system and reduce mortality. During the earlier stages of the epidemic, almost every country encouraged social distancing as an effective way for COVID-19 containment, Sweden and Canada included. Since that time, behavioural modifications have become particularly important to flatten the curve. Many countries have adopted stringent lockdown approaches. In most European countries with larger outbreaks, such as Italy, Spain and France, all non-essential public places have been shut down. In many cases, special permits are required to leave home, even to walk the dog. One notable exception to this approach is Sweden. Unlike most countries that are relying on obedience to contain COVID-19, Sweden has decided to use the conformity principle. The Swedish government is banking that a culture of trust among citizens, and between citizens and the government, will be enough to contain the virus. This means that despite the pandemic, borders along Sweden are only partially closed, there are no shutdowns of restaurants or public spaces; public health officials are mostly compelling, not demanding, that work places and schools switch to online methods. Unsurprisingly, this trust approach has raised criticism. Responding to critics, Swedens chief epidemiologist, Dr. Anders Tegnell, has suggested that there is no consensus that closing borders is going to work to reduce the spread of the virus. In fact, thats still the advice of the World Health Organization to date. Canadian officials echoed similar tones early on. However, unlike Sweden, Canada has rapidly changed tone and moved toward more enforced measures, both federally and within specific provinces. Having personally experienced the outbreak in both Sweden and Canada, I can understand the Swedish governments confidence in a system based on trust. When the risk level was raised, despite a lack of law enforcement, fewer people could be seen in public spaces. Academic and research institutions were strongly urging working from home, and within a short time, meetings were being held online. The Swedes are betting everything on their rule-abiding citizens. Canada has also tried to use somewhat of a trust-based approach during the COVID-19 crisis. For instance, international travellers were initially merely asked whether they had symptoms, or to self-isolate upon returning home. However, the introduction of the Quarantine Act now imposes serious fines and penalties. This is a responsible measure given the abundance of people not abiding the original 14-day self-isolation rule. Canada is showing that it is willing to give trust a chance, but if that fails, it will resort to force. Which approach is better? So far, neither approach seems to be working particularly well. There are pros and cons to both approaches. A trust-based approach imposes a smaller burden on the economy and on the psychological welfare of citizens. However, the cost is dear. It may prove ineffective against virus spread and endanger more lives. An enforcement-based measure, like Canadas, is all about timing. If done too soon and for too long, it could cripple the economy and the mental health of its citizens. If done too little, too late, it may not flatten the curve as hoped. Time will be the ultimate judge. However, the numbers so far indicate that Canadas approach has been vastly more effective than Swedens in keeping down the relative number of cases and deaths. Indeed, most countries share Canadas, not Swedens, approach in dealing with the COVID-19 crisis. And now, in Sweden, there is growing pressure to adapt more enforced measures too. Netiquette Die Kommentare auf weltwoche.ch dienen als Diskussionsplattform und sollen den offenen Meinungsaustausch unter den Lesern ermoglichen. Es ist uns ein wichtiges Anliegen, dass in allen Kommentarspalten fair und sachlich debattiert wird. Scharfe, sachbezogene Kritik am Inhalt des Artikels oder wo angebracht an Beitragen anderer Forumsteilnehmer ist erwunscht, solange sie hoflich vorgetragen wird. Personlichkeitsverletzende und diskriminierende Ausserungen hingegen verstossen gegen unsere Richtlinien. Sie werden ebenso geloscht wie Kommentare, die eine sexistische, beleidigende oder anstossige Ausdrucksweise verwenden. Beitrage kommerzieller Natur werden nicht freigegeben. Zu verzichten ist grundsatzlich auch auf Kommentarserien (zwei oder mehrere Kommentare hintereinander um die Zeichenbeschrankung zu umgehen), wobei die Online-Redaktion mit Augenmass Ausnahmen zulassen kann. Die Kommentarspalten sind artikelbezogen, die thematische Ausrichtung ist damit vorgegeben. Wir bitten Sie deshalb auf Beitrage zu verzichten, die nichts mit dem Inhalt des Artikels zu tun haben. Das Nutzen der Kommentarfunktion bedeutet ein Einverstandnis mit unseren Richtlinien. Unzulassig sind Wortmeldungen, die Nichts mit dem Thema des Artikels zu tun haben Kommerzieller Natur sind andere Forumsteilnehmer personlich beleidigen einzelne Personen oder Gruppen aufgrund von Rasse, Ethnie oder Religion herabsetzen in Rechtschreibung und Interpunktion mangelhaft sind verachtliche Abanderungen von Namen oder Umschreibungen von Personen enthalten mehr als einen externen Link enthalten einen Link zu dubiosen Seiten enthalten Nur einen Link enthalten ohne beschreibenden Kontext dazu Als Medium, das der freien Meinungsausserung verpflichtet ist, handhabt die Weltwoche Verlags AG die Veroffentlichung von Kommentaren liberal. Die Online-Redaktion behalt sich jedoch vor, Kommentare nach eigenem Gutdunken und ohne Angabe von Grunden nicht freizugeben. Es besteht grundsatzlich kein Recht darauf, dass ein Kommentar veroffentlich wird. Weiter behalt sich die Redaktion das Recht vor, Kurzungen vorzunehmen. Its neighbors closed borders, schools, bars and businesses as the coronavirus pandemic swept through Europe, but Sweden went against the grain by keeping public life as unrestricted as possible. The strategy aimed at allowing some exposure to the virus in order to build immunity among the general population while protecting high-risk groups like the elderly has been controversial. Some health experts liken it to playing Russian roulette with public health. But now, the country's chief epidemiologist said the strategy appears to be working and that "herd immunity" could be reached in the capital Stockholm in a matter of weeks. Remember what this felt like? People enjoy the warm spring weather at Hornstull in Stockholm on April 21, 2020, during the new coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. JONATHAN NACKSTRAND "In major parts of Sweden, around Stockholm, we have reached a plateau (in new cases) and we're already seeing the effect of herd immunity and in a few weeks' time we'll see even more of the effects of that. And in the rest of the country, the situation is stable," Dr. Anders Tegnell, chief epidemiologist at Sweden's Public Health Agency, told CNBC on Tuesday. Herd immunity among a population, usually achieved through vaccination, is reached when around 60% of citizens are deemed immune. Without a vaccine for the coronavirus, however, scientists are looking at whether exposure to and recovery from Covid-19 leads to long-term immunity. Some reinfections, or reactivations, of the coronavirus have been reported. Tegnell said sampling and modeling data indicated that 20% of Stockholm's population is already immune to the virus, and that "in a few weeks' time we might reach herd immunity and we believe that is why we're seeing a slow decline in cases, in spite of sampling (testing for the coronavirus) more and more." "Unfortunately the mortality rate is high due to the introduction (of the virus) in elderly care homes and we are investigating the cause of that," he said. The major part of Sweden's 15,322 confirmed cases are in Stockholm and its surrounding areas, with very small incidences of the virus in the rest of Sweden a country of around 10 million that has a low population density outside its urban hubs. The number of cases in Sweden is almost double that in neighboring Denmark (it has 8,108 cases and has reported 370 deaths) and Finland (with just over 4,000 cases and 141 deaths) that imposed strict lockdown measures. Since their populations are each about 5 million half of Sweden's the rates are about the same, although the comparison could be skewed by testing numbers in each country. Still, Sweden's 1,937 death toll is far higher than its neighbors. Sweden originally tested only people who came into a hospital but is now testing more key workers and those in care homes. Tegnell said the decision to test more groups of people was a reason for the number of confirmed cases not declining as quickly as it could have. Sweden is testing around 20,000 people a week and hopes to increase that to 100,000 in a few weeks' time, Tegnell said. Elderly paying the price? While the number of new cases appears to be declining, achieving herd immunity has proved controversial. Tacitly allowing the virus to spread (albeit having put measures in place to slow its spread) puts the elderly and people with existing health conditions at a greater risk of becoming seriously ill and, potentially, dying. Tegnell conceded that the situation in Sweden's care homes, which have seen the majority of deaths from the coronavirus, is worrying. "The death toll is very closely related to elderly care homes. More than half of the people that have died have lived in elderly care homes." Tegnell said, adding that he and the Public Health Agency are "still very concerned about the elderly." "It's the group we said we needed to protect," he said, adding that the agency was working with homes to see what improvements could be made to lower risk factors. Nonetheless, Tegnell said he was "fairly confident" in the strategy his agency had pursued but said it would be too early for the Swedish government to lift restrictions imposed to delay the spread of the virus. "A big part of the country has not been affected at all yet." "(But) if you look at the exit strategies that now many countries have opted for, they look very much like Sweden's (strategy and restrictions)," he said. People enjoy themselves at an outdoor restaruant, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in central Stockholm, Sweden, on April 20, 2020. ANDERS WIKLUND Tegnell said that soon, several studies will be published to show the extent of infection and recovery (and hopefully) immunity to the virus. Data showed the peak of infections had already been reached in Stockholm. Sweden's response to the pandemic has been guided by Tegnell and the Public Health Agency. While other countries have gone into lockdown at the advice of their scientific advisors, Sweden was conspicuous in its different approach, largely trusting the public to adopt voluntary measures to delay the spread of the virus. The Public Health Agency raised eyebrows Wednesday when it pulled a report from its website due to an error, but Anders Tegnell told CNBC Thursday that the issue was not related to the herd immunity claims. He said the report would be amended and re-published Thursday and that the error had to do with the modeling of cases. Sweden's government has advocated working from home if at all possible and to avoid nonessential travel and social contact with the elderly. Meanwhile, restaurants, bars, cafes and nightclubs have been offering seated table service only, and gatherings of more than 50 people have been banned. Yet schools for under 16-year-olds have remained open and life has generally carried on as before, just at a quieter pace. Tegnell said the country was conducting more widespread testing and sampling to gauge the extent of the outbreak. "We are right now going out and doing countrywide tests on immunity to see what big differences we have in different parts of Sweden," Tegnell said. "It's a little bit of a mystery why nothing has really happened in other parts of Sweden." "The virus keeps on surprising us when it comes to this," he said, noting that the most southern region of the country, which borders Denmark, had seen relatively few cases given its border location and the constant movement of people between the countries, which was allowed to continue for the most part despite the virus. Nurse Arnold Garcia, right, collects a sample for a coronavirus test from Michael Weiss at Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center on April 10. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) Even as California continues to bend the coronavirus curve, a rise in the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths as well as concerns about a second wave of the outbreak are reasons to stay vigilant, officials say. California has recorded more than 37,000 cases, adding nearly 2,000 on Tuesday alone. Part of the increase in new cases this week is the result of a lag in labs reporting test results and releasing bulk numbers. More than 1,400 people have died across the state. Gov. Gavin Newsom and others have said that California and the nation have not necessarily seen the worst of the coronavirus and that lifting stay-at-home rules could be disastrous. "If we all pull back, we could see a second wave that makes this pale in comparison," Newsom told CBS News. "I don't anticipate that normalcy that many of us wish for happening anytime soon." Concerns about a second wave of coronavirus infections have been echoed by others. Theres a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield told the Washington Post. And when Ive said this to others, they kind of put their head back. They dont understand what I mean. Redfield said a second wave could be more devastating to the healthcare system if it came at the same time hospitals were dealing with flu cases. Some California officials have pointed to the 1918 influenza pandemic, in which the second wave of illness was worse in some cities than the first. The really important lesson of 1918 is to keep interventions in place as long as possible, Alex Navarro, assistant director of the Center for the History of Medicine at the University of Michigan, told The Times last week. Because once the controls are removed, its very difficult to reinstate them. Both Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and San Francisco Mayor London Breed have cited that history in calling for caution. Story continues Last week, Breed said she was well aware of the premature celebrations before the end of the 1918 contagion. She described how the illness came back with a vengeance. With her eye on the present day, she added: The fact is, its not over. We will get through this. But it is going to require time, and its going to require patience, like never before. During a news conference Tuesday, Newsom called on Californians to remain cautious in order to protect one another as the numbers of deaths and hospitalizations continue to rise. Were making progress in the state, but there was a spirit that defined that progress, and that was community, he said. If we pull back too quickly, those numbers will go through the roof. The governor told residents of communities that have been less affected by the virus to disabuse themselves of the idea that they are in the clear. He also said that several counties have reached out to ask about stay-at-home modifications, all with different proposed timelines, which he said he would be addressed Wednesday in the states update on its road map to reopening. This virus knows no jurisdiction, the governor said Monday. Different parts of this state [have been] impacted differently, but the collective responsibility we have to one another, neighboring counties, neighboring cities, also must be considered. Newsom on Wednesday reemphasized that there are six key indicators for potentially modifying the stay-at-home order. Among those is increasing testing capacity, which he said "may be among the most important." Currently, the state can provide about 16,000 tests a day, he said, and the goal is to boost that to 25,000 a day by the end of the month. He said the state is bringing 86 new testing sites online, which will be placed in more rural areas of the state and regions where they can serve "black and brown" communities. "These sites will provide the kind of continuity that we need to ultimately advance our collective goals in this state to reach these testing goals," he said, adding that their strategic deployment will "make sure we are truly, culturally competent in our testing." Newsom also announced that California hospitals can resume providing scheduled surgeries which reflects confidence in the capacity of the statewide system. However, he emphasized that "we will be very thoughtful and judicious about how we do that. We will not overload the system." "We recognize that anytime we begin to toggle back and start opening things back up, we have to look every day at the data to make sure that we are adjusting to these new decisions and maintaining an understanding that we need to be vigilant about the intended consequences of these decisions and the unintended consequences of these decisions," he said. Los Angeles County officials on Wednesday confirmed 1,318 more coronavirus cases, some of which were attributable to a backlog from laboratories that had not previously reported results through the countys electronic system. Similar numbers had been reported the previous two days as well. L.A. County officials continue to emphasize the need for residents to maintain social distancing practices after a study suggested that tens of thousands of county residents may have been infected with the virus. Without such efforts, that number would be far higher than the more than 16,000 cases that have been confirmed in the county of roughly 10 million people, officials say. More than 89,000 county residents have been tested for COVID-19, Public Health Department Director Barbara Ferrer said. Los Angeles Countys stay-at-home order was previously extended to May 15, but Ferrer said that date is not a magic number. She noted that officials are relying on data and science and working with local hospitals to determine when to lift restrictions, and she asked residents to continue adhering to such directives until told otherwise. We have to take responsibly for 10 million people who live in L.A. County, she said. Beginning Thursday, Garcetti said, all critical workers in Los Angeles, including those without symptoms, can get tested for the virus at county sites. Healthcare professionals, grocery store employees, first responders and critical government employees can get swabbed at any of the testing sites throughout the county, Garcetti said. The expanded testing criteria, which the mayor said he hopes provide some peace of mind to workers, is also a critical milestone on the road to reopening. During a news conference Wednesday evening, Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore thanked Garcetti, telling him that LAPD officers would no doubt be grateful to learn they could get tested. Its great as a leader for me to know that," the chief said. The Los Angeles Police Department has 71 employees who have tested positive for the coronavirus, and the Fire Department has had 20 members test positive. Twenty-five LAPD employees have recovered and returned to full duty, one individual is hospitalized, and all others are self-isolating at home and recovering. Fourteen LAFD employees have recovered and returned to duty, and six employees are isolating at home. During his address, Moore urged victims of domestic violence to keep calling the police. Although calls to abuse hotlines are up across the nation, Moore said that his department is taking about 10 fewer crime reports a day stemming from domestic violence calls a concerning juxtaposition, he noted. Well get you help, Moore said, noting that the department can help victims get into shelters. Moore also urged Angelenos to continue heeding orders to avoid beaches and trails, especially over the weekend, when temperatures are expected to get into the upper 80s and low 90s. Following those orders will not only save police the awkwardness of admonishing you, Moore said, but also would help Los Angeles reopen sooner. Meanwhile, there is new evidence that the virus claimed its first California victims earlier than thought. Two COVID-19 patients died in Santa Clara County on Feb. 6 and Feb. 17, the county medical examiner revealed Tuesday, making them the first documented coronavirus fatalities in the United States. Until now, the first U.S. fatality was believed to have occurred in Kirkland, Wash., on Feb. 29. Officials previously had said the first Silicon Valley death was March 9. But that was preceded by the two February deaths, and another person who died of COVID-19 on March 6, the Santa Clara County medical examiner said Tuesday. Santa Clara County health officials identified the newly discovered first victim only as a 57-year-old woman who died at home, but The Times independently confirmed with relatives that the victim was Patricia Dowd. Family members said that Dowd, who exercised routinely, watched her diet and took no medication, developed flu-like symptoms for a few days but then improved enough to start working from home. At 8 a.m. on the day she died, she was corresponding with a colleague; two hours later, her daughter found her dead at home, relatives said. Dowds older brother, Rick Cabello, described his sister as a hardworking and caring person whose deep network of friends dated to her childhood and her high school years at St. Francis in Mountain View, where their family grew up. "She was living the life she deserved," he said. Santa Clara County, the heart of Silicon Valley, was an early hotbed of the coronavirus outbreak. So far, it has reported nearly 2,000 cases and 94 deaths. There have been growing suspicions that the new coronavirus has been in California longer than experts first believed. Dr. Jeff Smith, the chief executive of Santa Clara County, said this month that data collected by the CDC, local health departments and others suggest the virus has been in California a lot longer than we first believed most likely since back in December. Ferrer agreed there was probably a gap between when the coronavirus first arrived in L.A. County and when the first infections were confirmed. "We would anticipate that across the country, particularly in travel hubs like L.A. County is, we were probably seeing some infection much earlier on than we were able to diagnose," she said Wednesday. Despite evidence that the number of coronavirus cases appears to be stabilizing or declining in many nations in Western Europe, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, cautioned at a news conference Wednesday that the global pandemic is still in its early phases. Make no mistake: We have a long way to go, he said. This virus will be with us for a long time. Since the virus erupted in China in late December, 2.5 million cases of COVID-19 have been reported to the WHO, along with more than 160,000 deaths. Tedros said there is no question that stay-at-home orders and other physical distancing measures have successfully suppressed transmission of the coronavirus in many countries. Our people Col. Craig Maceri fights invisible enemy: COVID-19 The Rhode Island National Guard commander is currently on military leave from Merck as part of an effort to combat the pandemic. With 24 years in the Army, Col. Craig Maceri, director, HPV supply strategy, has been deployed on missions that have taken him as far away as Kuwait and Iraq. But his latest mission in Rhode Island might be the most unique: fighting against COVID-19. Its definitely not like any deployment Ive been on before, says Craig. Although we dont have to worry about bombs and bullets we do have to worry about an invisible enemy. Theres not really a front line; we cant seek safety inside the wire, so we really have to do our best to figure out how to mitigate the impact of this spreading COVID-19. Craig is currently on military leave from Merck as commander of the Rhode Island National Guards Joint Task Force Guardian. He oversees Air National Guard and Army National Guard forces responding to the pandemic in Rhode Island. His team is conducting COVID-19 testing for symptomatic people in the state, carrying out contact tracing determining people who have had contact with confirmed COVID-positive people so they can take appropriate quarantine measures and providing support, such as supplying food, water, fuel and personal protective equipment (PPE), to sites the National Guard is operating in the state. Another of these mission sets for Joint Task Force Guardian is establishing alternate care facilities in case nearby hospitals reach capacity. We are all trying to flatten the curve while ensuring the safety and security of the people of Rhode Island, says Craig. Working as a unit while social distancing has its own challenges: There are no close formations or tightly packed conference rooms. Its a different way of working, explains Craig. We have to continue to protect our forces as well. If somebody is suspected COVID-positive, we have to take very aggressive countermeasures so we can keep the soldiers and airmen healthy so they can complete these missions. Craig says that military personnel usually push through coughs or sore throats during a normal deployment, but now, anyone who exhibits any type of symptoms gets sent home and tested for COVID-19. Even with the risks involved, Craig says joining the efforts against the pandemic was a no-brainer. No one really wants to leave their family for an extended period of time, but it would have been very difficult for me to watch this unfold from the sidelines, says Craig. When something of this magnitude is going on and to have the capabilities to respond and help out the people of Rhode Island I felt a calling to do this. Craig feels that his experience working on vaccine supply at Merck helps him streamline operations as he leads the joint task force. It can be very challenging having enough personnel to respond to all of the increasing mission sets, he says. Were constantly taking on more and more and we need to figure out how do we streamline operations and operate more efficiently? And concepts I learned at Merck Lean fundamentals and Merck production system (MPS) principles I apply in my job here. Craig also says that Mercks military leave policy gives him peace of mind that his family is taken care of while hes away, while his management and the Veterans Employee Business Resource Group make him feel supported whether hes on deployment or back at his desk. Craig is looking forward to coming home to Pennsylvania, but says he needs help from his colleagues: Stay at home, practice social distancing and wash your hands. Everybody has a part to play in battling this pandemic. The sooner we can flatten the curve, the sooner we can wrap things up here and the sooner I can get back to my family and get back to work. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced New Zealand would move to a less stringent lockdown on Monday. Hagen Hopkins/Getty New Zealand is loosening its lockdown level next week after getting coronavirus transmission rates down to 0.48%, but people are already breaking isolation rules, and some local leaders are concerned people are becoming complacent. Between April 18 and April 20, the police reported 1,071 lockdown breaches, compared to the entire month's lockdown total of 3,800 breaches. However, police did increase enforcement measures, including formally charging people, later in the month. Nick Wilson, a professor who is the director of a burden-of-disease epidemiology program at the University of Otago, said 500 breaches per day might sound like a lot, but it was only one in every 10,000 people. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories New Zealand is about to leave its highest lockdown level, but some authorities are worried people are already growing complacent about isolation rules. On April 22, RNZ, New Zealand's state-funded broadcaster, reported that over two days between April 18 and April 20, there were 1,071 breaches of level 4 restrictions including things like stepping out their lockdown bubble, meeting in public places, and failing to obey social distancing. Over the whole month of lockdown, as of Monday, there were 3,800 breaches. The rise in breaches happened days before Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on April 20 that the country's level 4 lockdown would ease to level 3. She said: "We have a transmission rate of 0.48% one of the lowest in the world." As of April 22, New Zealand has 1,445 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 13 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The exact details of what level 3 will look like when it kicks in on April 27 haven't been released, but according to the New Zealand Herald, some workplaces will open, including construction, forestry, and manufacturing, although those who can work from home should do so, and others that require face-to-face contact will remain closed. Story continues Yet even before the change in lockdown was announced, people's growing complacency about following regulations was concerning local authorities, according to RNZ. Hamilton Mayor Paula Southgate told RNZ that traffic levels had risen in Hamilton over the last few days. She said: "From my point of view, human nature is to become a little bit complacent from time to time." Chief executive of Hutt City Council Jo Miller said there had been an increase in people breaking isolation rules in Hutt City, and told RNZ, it was not the time to have a relaxed attitude to the restrictions "even if it's a glorious day." However, Nick Wilson, a professor who is the director of a burden-of-disease epidemiology program at the University of Otago, who previously told Insider that New Zealand's elimination policy could fail, said 500 breaches per day might sound like a lot, but it was only one in every 10,000 people. He said he was "very impressed by the marked reduction" of movement by New Zealanders. Data from Google Mobility that was covered by a blog published by Otago University showed New Zealander's activity had fallen across the board. Pedestrians practise social distancing in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak along a street of Lower Hutt, near Wellington, on April 20. Marty Melville / AFP / Getty The Google Mobility report published on April 10 showed retail and recreation activity had fallen by 90%, people going to grocery stores and pharmacies had fallen by 48%, people going to parks had fallen by 74%, and people going to workplaces had fallen by 57%. Even so, he said, the country and its economy would "get so much benefit from eliminating this virus as quickly as possible." He said it was appropriate for police to prosecute those who had failed to follow the lockdown restrictions. Early on in the lockdown, New Zealand's police focused on educating and enforcing measures, but later in the month turned to charging people for breaking regulations, and nearly 400 people have been prosecuted. "It may also be appropriate to consider other low-cost strategies to reduce spread," he said. This included mass mask-wearing by the public. In another blog published by Otago University on April 22, it said, as New Zealand's restrictions were eased, "we need to consider all control options, even if the evidence is only suggestive." The blog set out that since making masks was relatively cheap the New Zealand government should seriously consider mass use. Read the original article on Insider They welcomed their first born child - a son called Malik - back in November. And now Gogglebox stars Sarah Marie and Matty Fahd have released their stunning maternity photo shoot. In images supplied to Daily Mail Australia, Sarah Marie looks radiant as she shows off her baby bump in white lace lingerie. She's got that glow! Gogglebox star Sarah Marie Fahd shows off her baby bump and goes topless in lace lingerie in a stunning maternity shoot with husband Matty The makeup artist stripped down to a white lingerie set teamed with a sheer shawl over the top. The brunette beauty had her dark locks styled out and over her shoulders in loose curls, and wore natural-looking makeup. Baby on board: The candid shots of the pair are simply stunning Radiant: The brunette beauty wore her dark locks out and over her shoulders in loose curls, and natural-looking makeup Family: In one intimate image, Matty kisses Sarah Marie's kisses and cradles her belly New mother: They welcomed their first born child, son Malik, back in November So in love: Matty is seen planting a kiss on his wife In one intimate image, Matty is seen kissing Sarah Marie's tummy and cradled her belly. In another photograph, Sarah Marie holds her bump while dressed in an orange frock. The shots were taken by photographer Dane Tucker at The Salty Shutter, who is offering family and maternity sessions for clients. Intimate: The makeup artist stripped down to a white lingerie set, which she teamed with a sheer shawl over the top What a journey: The couple welcomed son Malik George on November 13, with Sarah Marie saying at the time that she felt 'so blessed' to be a mother Oh baby! In another photograph, Sarah Marie holds her bump while dressed in an orange frock Their pride and joy! Sarah Marie is seen doting on her tiny tot as she took him for a swim in a recent image she shared online The couple welcomed son Malik George on November 13, with Sarah Marie saying at the time that she felt 'so blessed' to be a mother. 'I'm so proud to be your mother and so blessed to be on this journey,' Sarah Marie wrote in an Instagram post at the time. 'Malik and I are doing perfectly. Thank you to everyone for your beautiful well wishes.' Going strong: Sarah Marie and Matty tied the knot back in 2018 at Sydney's Doltone House on the Jones Bay Wharf Their story: The pair first met back in 2014 She added the hashtags including 'love of my life' and 'my son.' Sarah Marie and Matty tied the knot back in 2018 at Sydney's Doltone House on the Jones Bay Wharf. They first met back in 2014. At least 595 Oregonians who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus about a third of the known cases are no longer believed to be infected with the illness, new data compiled by state health officials show. The figures, released Tuesday by the Oregon Health Authority, offer the first statewide snapshot of COVID-19 recoveries since the global pandemic touched down in the state nearly eight weeks ago. As of Wednesday, there were 2,059 known COVID-19 cases in Oregon and 78 deaths from the virus. The health authoritys recovery data was based on the 1,853 known coronavirus patients through Sunday. It found 595 of them, or 32%, had fully recovered while another 682, or 37%, remained sick with the illness. State health officials said they were still assessing the recovery status of the remaining 576 cases. Those patients either could not be reached by workers conducting weekly status checks, declined to be interviewed or hadnt shown signs of improvement long enough to be deemed recovered, said Philip Schmidt, a health authority spokesman. Coronavirus in Oregon: Latest news | Live map tracker |Text alerts | Newsletter The health authority said it considers a coronavirus patient recovered if they dont display the symptoms of coughing, fever or shortness of breath for 72 hours. Those who are asymptomatic are considered recovered seven days after their last positive test. According to state health officials, the recovery time for all cases ranged from 10 to 20 days with a median recovery time of 14 days. For those patients hospitalized, recovery times ranged from 11.5 to 24 days with a median of 16 days. State health officials didnt provide a breakdown of cases by county, but some local health departments have started to make their recovery data public online, including Deschutes County (45 of 64 cases), Jackson County (33 of 48 cases), Klamath County (19 of 33 cases) and Lane County (21 of 48). Recovery data for Oregons three largest counties Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas was not publicly available Wednesday afternoon. -- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh; 503-294-7632 Email at skavanaugh@oregonian.com Follow on Twitter @shanedkavanaugh Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Mardika Parama (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, April 22, 2020 18:05 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd39b5a0 1 Business manufacturing-industry,industry-ministry,COVID-19,agus-gumiwang-kartasasmita,textile-industry,healthcare,economic-growth,GDP-growth Free While a number of large manufacturing companies are adapting to the shifts in demand toward health equipment and basic necessities during the COVID-19 pandemic, widespread layoffs and furloughs have still been seen with small and medium-sized manufacturers struggling. Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita said the industrial landscape was changing during the pandemic with some industries thriving and others suffering while the government was looking to strike a balance between keeping the economic engine running and curbing the spread of COVID-19. Weve provided stimulus packages and support to keep the manufacturing sector running because its the largest contributor to the national economy with a 19 percent share, Agus told reporters during an online press briefing on Tuesday. According to the ministrys data, 60 percent of manufacturers have been hit hard by the pandemic, while the rest have seen moderate or high demand. Demand has increased for personal protective equipment (PPE), medical equipment, pharmaceutical products and food and beverages, while the petrochemical sector has also seen moderate demand. A recent survey by the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) and SurveySensum found that 85 percent of respondents were washing their hands more frequently, while 46 percent said they were taking vitamin supplements, indicating a shift in consumer behavior. The survey findings were in line with retailers reports of a hike in demand for hygiene products. The changes in demand have pushed manufacturers to shift their production lines to make high-demand products. Plastic part producer PT Yogya Presisi Tehnikatama Industry (YPTI) and robotics company PT Stechoq Robotika Indonesia have joined hands with Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta to produce 600 high-grade ventilators per month. The consortium plans to start production in May. State-owned weapons manufacturer PT Pindad, electronics producer PT LEN and airplane producer PT Dirgantara Indonesia have also joined forces to produce ventilators. The three companies worked with the Bandung Institute of Technology to produce 10,000 emergency ventilators by mid-April, according to Industry Ministry data. Textile companies have also been quick to adapt to changes in demand by producing much-needed PPE and masks. With 28 textile companies that have switched their production lines to produce PPE, we can now produce 1.8 million pieces of PPE per week. We can also produce 20 million medical-grade masks per week, the Industry Ministrys chemical, pharmaceutical, and textile industry director general, Muhammad Khayam said. While some companies have been able to adapt, Agus said not all industries would be able to weather the crisis unscathed. In the textile sector, large producers can shift from producing garments to producing PPE. However, not all companies can shift their lines of production so quickly, Agus said. In the textile sector, he said, four large companies had been able to export US$3 billion in products during the pandemic. However, 1.5 million workers have still been furloughed, with the majority having worked for small and medium-sized textile companies. The majority of the industry is suffering, but things are worse for small and medium-sized manufacturers. We will start collecting data on the number of layoffs and coordinate with the Office of the Coordinating Economic Affairs Minister to provide workers with preemployment card benefits, he said. Around 2.8 million people have lost their jobs so far, according to data from the Manpower Ministry and the Workers Social Security Agency (BPJS Ketenagakerjaan). Meanwhile, IHS Markit announced on April 1 that Indonesias PMI, the gauge for manufacturing activities, had slumped to 45.3, the worst in the survey's nine-year history. An index reading above 50 reflects an expansion, while a value below 50 indicates a contraction. The situation could get worse as Indonesias economy is projected to see sluggish growth, Agus said. If our economic growth reaches 2.4 percent, then our [industrial] growth could hover around 2.5 to 2.6 percent. However, if our economy only grows by 0.5 percent, we will adjust the manufacturing industry growth projection to around 0.7 to 0.8 percent, he said. The government projects the countrys economy to grow 2.3 percent this year under a baseline scenario and even contract 0.4 percent under a worst-case scenario. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently slashed its projection for Indonesias GDP growth to 0.5 percent, which would be the lowest growth rate since the 1998 financial crisis, from 5.1 percent in its October projection. By Justin Sink, Bloomberg News Washington Harvard University denied Tuesday that it applied for or received funding through the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses grappling with the coronavirus crisis, after President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House he planned to force the school to pay back federal assistance. President Trump is right that it would not have been appropriate for our institution to receive funds that were designated for struggling small businesses, the university said in a statement Tuesday. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday that the program wasnt intended for publicly traded companies that had other ways to access funding, and that his department would be issuing guidelines soon in an effort to get those corporations to give back the forgivable loans to the federal government. The Shake Shack Inc. burger chain said earlier this week it planned to return a $10 million loan it received through the program amid public outrage that the package benefited chain restaurants and hotels rather than local businesses. As Mnuchin was discussing the effort, Trump interjected to say Harvard will also pay back the money. They shouldnt be taking it, Trump said. When I saw Harvard one of the largest endowments anywhere in the country, maybe the world, and they are going to pay back that money. President Trump: "Harvard's going to pay back the money." pic.twitter.com/YXGQuK17sP Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) April 21, 2020 The university which had an endowment valued at $40.9 billion as of June said it had received funding under a separate $14 billion program targeted at higher education institutions in the $2.2 trillion relief package passed by Congress late last month. That program grants universities assistance based on a formula that looks at overall enrollment and the number of students receiving federal financial aid, and at least half the funding must be provided directly to students affected by the coronavirus. Like most colleges and universities, Harvard has been allocated funds as part of the CARES Act Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, Harvard said in a statement. Harvard has committed that 100% of these emergency higher education funds will be used to provide direct assistance to students facing urgent financial needs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Harvard says it will give all the $8.6 million it received directly to students, despite being eligible to spend half that on its institutional costs related to the virus. Other top-tier and highly endowed universities also received funding under the program. Yale University was allocated $6.8 million, the University of Chicago got $6.2 million, and Stanford University took nearly $7.4 million in federal assistance. NEW: Harvard University provides NBC News the following statement regarding President Trumps request for the institution to return the federal relief money it received under the CARES Act. pic.twitter.com/boCfsYvpX3 Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) April 21, 2020 Late Tuesday evening, Trump posted on Twitter that Harvard should give back the money now. He did not say if he meant the $8.6 million. Their whole endowment system should be looked at, the president added. The White House earlier Tuesday declined to comment on whether the administration would still seek to claw back Harvards grant under the legislation. MORE ON CORONAVIRUS Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources As coronavirus spread, a Fayetteville retirement community became a hotbed McMahon: No more shelter-in-place, but urges people to travel even less; hospitals can reopen Syracuse, Onondaga County miss out on $90 million in coronavirus relief bill Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is back at its fight against phone scams. This time, the commissions focus is on pricey one-ring scams. On Wednesday, the FCC issued a notice of proposed rulemaking in hopes of getting feedback and suggestions on how telephone service providers can block calls that are, in all likelihood, related to one-ring versions. How the one-ring scam works The wrinkle in this scam is that U.S. consumers receive a call from a foreign country. After one ring, the scammer hangs up. And, as some people are wont to do, they call the number back thinking that they may have missed something. However, in this ploy, when the consumer calls back, theyre hit with significant phone charges of which the scammer gets a share. In ConsumerAffairs deep dive into the situation, those fees could be as much as $19.95, plus a large per minute charge as high as $9 per minute. The tell-tale signs are pretty simple: most often, the FCC says the area codes that show up are from Caribbean countries, such as 649 (the Turks and Caicos) or 809 (Dominican Republic). ConsumerAffairs found similar scams linked to area codes 473 (Grenada); 876 and 658 (Jamaica); and 284 (British Virgin Islands). The FCC says theres also a slightly different version of the one-ring scam in vogue these days. In that version, the caller leaves a voicemail message with the pretext of getting the consumer to call a certain international number to schedule a delivery or some other reason that might rouse the consumers curiosity. Like herding cats The FCC says that keeping track of robocall scams is particularly difficult because the variations of the scams continue to multiply. One-ring scams are annoying and pernicious, waking up many Americans with confusing calls in the middle of the night and tricking them out of their money if they call back, said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai in a news release. With this effort, this agency shows its serious about aggressively combating this scam. I look forward to hearing from the public about their ideas for putting an end to this. And in the meantime, I urge them not to call back if they get calls like this. The FCC continues to get tough Robo scams have gotten so far out of the FCCs control that its Enforcement Bureau brought in the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to help out. Together, the two agencies have turned up the heat on telephone gateway providers because their systems are often used by scammers to perpetrate their hustle. Earlier this month, the agencies went after gateway providers who were apparently routing and transmitting Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) scam robocall traffic. Regulators warned that the Commission would authorize other U.S. voice service providers to block all calls entering the U.S. via these gateway providers if they did not stop such traffic. The combo effort seemed to work its magic. Inside of 24 hours, the gateway providers completely stopped allowing those scam robocalls to go through. We must stay nimble, vigilant and aggressive, Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said, asking for the consumer to help by letting the FCC know when they encounter a suspected scam call. By focusing on how to promote consumer education about one-ring call scams, and how to identify (and stop) these calls as they happen, we can empower U.S. voice service providers to help us protect all Americans consumers from them. BRUSSELS -- The European Union's executive arm says it will give 3 billion euros ($3.25 billion) in macro-financial assistance to 10 mainly Eastern European countries to help them limit the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. The money, which comes on top of cash for medical equipment pledged earlier last month, will be made available for 12 months on what the European Commission in a press release called highly favourable terms" to help these countries cover their immediate, urgent financing needs. Ukraine will be allotted 1.2 billion euros, while Georgia will receive 150 million euros, and Moldova 100 million euros. In the Western Balkans, Bosnia will receive 250 million euros, Albania 180 million euros, Kosovo 100 million euros, North Macedonia 160 million euros, and Montenegro 60 million euros. Outside of Europe, Tunisia (600 million euros) and Jordan (200 million euros) will also receive assistance. The European Parliament and the EU member states are expected to approve the proposal in the coming weeks. The Commission hopes to disburse the first installment upon the agreement on a memorandum of understanding with each partner country, the statement said. With the number of coronavirus infections on the rise, Israels Cabinet approved today a series of restrictions concerning upcoming Memorial Day, Independence Day and Ramadan celebrations. As of April 23, to coincide with the beginning of Ramadan, all stores in towns with majority Muslim populations will be closed to the public from evening until dawn, to discourage people from congregating for festive iftar dinners. Deliveries of food will continue, and pharmacies are allowed to stay open. On April 28, or Memorial Day, visits to military cemeteries and memorial sites are banned. Intercity travel will be prohibited, except for those authorized to work outside the home and for shopping in permitted stores. On Independence Day, April 29, Israel will enter a nationwide lockdown, requiring people to remain within 100 meters of their homes. On April 18, after the Passover holiday ended, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the easing of some restrictions, with the intent of slowly resuming economic activities and opening shops and businesses. Schools for children with special needs were to reopen, and prayer in small groups of up to 19 people outside could resume. Though the government took its time to make decisions regarding next weeks holidays, Israelis knew that these new April 22 restrictions were in the offing. Authorities would not repeat the mistake of the Purim festival March 10, when festivities, especially within ultra-Orthodox communities, generated sharp spikes in the number of coronavirus cases. Israeli-Arab leadership welcomed the government's lockdown decisions, which were made after consultations with health experts, security bodies and representatives of the Arab public. Last week, muezzins called on residents to pray at home and stay away from the mosques, with Arab doctors on Arabic-speaking media promoting social distancing, even during Ramadan, when families traditionally celebrate together. However, the Memorial Day decision was met with considerable criticism from bereaved families. Ahead of todays Cabinet meeting, members of bereaved families had pleaded with the government to allow them to visit their loved ones graves, as is tradition on Memorial Day. Defense Minister Naftali Bennett said after the meeting that the bereaved families would be allowed to visit military cemeteries ahead of Memorial Day, to avoid a mass gathering on the day itself, stating, "Its a painful decision, but its necessary." A flag, wreath and memorial candle will be placed on the graves of the fallen by Defense Ministry representatives, and the public is encouraged to light memorial candles at home. On Independence Day, Israelis will have to forgo the traditional public concerts, street dancing and barbecues. Instead of forests and parks, this year's picnics will be held in backyards and on balconies. MedinCell is a clinical stage pharmaceutical company that develops a portfolio of long-acting injectable products in various therapeutic areas by combining its proprietary BEPO technology with active ingredients already known and marketed. Through the controlled and extended release of the active pharmaceutical ingredient, MedinCell makes medical treatments more efficient, particularly thanks to improved compliance, i.e. compliance with medical prescriptions, and to a significant reduction in the quantity of medication required as part of a one-off or chronic treatment. The BEPO technology makes it possible to control and guarantee the regular delivery of a drug at the optimal therapeutic dose for several days, weeks or months starting from the subcutaneous or local injection of a simple deposit of a few millimeters, fully bioresorbable. Based in Montpellier, MedinCell currently employs more than 130 people representing over 25 different nationalities. Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Defendants in falcon smuggling case go on trial in Russias Altai flickr.com / Shawn Allen 16:17 22/04/2020 MOSCOW, April 22 (RAPSI) A court in Russias Altai Krai will consider a criminal case against four citizens accused of attempt to transfer rare peregrine falcons abroad, the press service of the Prosecutor Generals Office reports Wednesday. Depending on their alleged role in the crime, the defendants are charged with attempt to illegally move highly valued wild birs through the state border and illegal purchase and keeping of rare wildlife from the Red Book of Russia, the statement reads. According to the investigation, in October 2019, the defendants attempted to transfer 6 rare peregrine falcons listed in the Red Book to Kazakhstan. As estimated by experts, all birds grew in the natural habitat and their smuggling could cause damage worth 3.5 million rubles (over $45,000). BOSTON, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Recorded Future, the largest global security intelligence provider, today announced that it has joined the ranks of the world's most successful SaaS companies by exceeding $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR). This milestone follows the announcement of the Recorded Future Security Intelligence Platform , which provides security and IT professionals with targeted intelligence so they can focus on specific pain points and business outcomes. "Reaching $100 million in ARR confirms Recorded Future's vision and desire to democratize security intelligence putting meaningful, real-time context in the hands of all defenders including security and IT professionals that extend beyond the historical consumers of threat intelligence. We are impressed to witness Recorded Future respond quickly to the needs of its clients, no matter how unexpectedly the threat landscape evolves, most recently demonstrated by the team's response to the COVID-19 crisis." Thomas Krane, Vice President, Insight Partners Clients and analysts have recently shared the following outcomes using Recorded Future: Reduced time spent on due diligence and reference checking by 50% Improved threat intelligence workflow efficiency by 50% Improved overall visibility of threats targeting the organization by 25% "From day one, we set out to build an intelligence company with a flexible, action-oriented platform at its center, designed to scale with security teams and respond to a rapidly changing threat landscape. Today's COVID-19 crisis is an incredible example of just how quickly teams must be enabled to pivot and respond to a new environment at a moment's notice. Reaching this milestone validates our mission to deliver intelligence to all security and IT professionals and enable fast, confident decision-making." Dr. Christopher Ahlberg, CEO and Co-Founder, Recorded Future Recorded Future is dedicated to helping build and sustain intelligence collection that allows clients to quickly understand their threat landscape, which is especially relevant in times of great change and crisis. In response to COVID-19, Recorded Future has released several product enhancements and published multiple reports . Clients can now monitor for COVID-19-related cyber threats, fraud, and supply chain risk, as well as detect and prevent attacks that use malicious COVID-19-related domains. The Recorded Future Security Intelligence Platform enables collaboration across security functions while providing a single authoritative source for all intelligence needs, including: SecOps and Response, Threat Intelligence, Brand Protection, Vulnerability Management, Third-Party Risk, and Geopolitical Risk. Request a demo of Recorded Future at: https://www.recordedfuture.com/demo/ Financial Growth and Leadership Appointment Recorded Future grew ARR on average by 80% year over year for the last five consecutive years and expanded its base with 317 new clients in 2019. In May 2019, Insight Partners bought out Recorded Future's investors for $780 million to help accelerate the next phase of the company's global growth and expansion. Recorded Future clients include private and public sector leaders such as: Verizon, US Cyber Command, and Gap. To learn more about Recorded Future clients, visit: https://www.recordedfuture.com/clients/ Recorded Future is also excited to share that Craig Adams has joined the company as chief of product and engineering. Craig comes to Recorded Future from Akamai, where he was general manager for Akamai's $1.7 billion Web Security and Web Performance business units. During his 20 years at Akamai, Craig worked in numerous functions and global locations, helping to grow the company to more than $2.7 billion in revenue. About Recorded Future Recorded Future delivers security intelligence to amplify the effectiveness of security and IT teams in reducing exposure by uncovering unknown threats and informing better, faster decisions. Working to provide a singular view of digital, brand, and third-party risk, the Recorded Future platform provides proactive and predictive intelligence, analyzing data from open, proprietary, and aggregated customer-provided sources. Recorded Future arms threat analysts, vulnerability management teams, security operations centers, and incident responders with context-rich, actionable intelligence in real time that's ready for integration across the security ecosystem. Learn more at www.recordedfuture.com and follow us on Twitter at @RecordedFuture. SOURCE Recorded Future Related Links http://www.recordedfuture.com Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessels sail close to U.S. military ships in the Persian Gulf near Kuwait on April 15, 2020. (U.S. Navy via AP) Trump Instructs Navy to Destroy Iranian Gunboats If They Harass Our Ships President Donald Trump said he has instructed the Navy to destroy Iranian gunboats if they harass U.S. ships. The warning follows an incident last week during which 11 Iranian boats were filmed buzzing six U.S. Navy ships in the Persian Gulf, coming as close as 10 yards in an hour-long encounter. I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea, Trump wrote on Twitter on April 22, adding no further details. The developments come following several months of heightened military tensions between the two countries. On April 15, the U.S. Navy revealed footage and images of 11 Iranian vessels coming dangerously close to six U.S. vessels. According to the Navy statement, the Iranian navy ships were repeatedly crossing their bows and sterns while they were conducting integration operations with U.S. Army Apache attack helicopters to support maritime security outside of Irans territorial waters. The IRGCN vessels repeatedly crossed the bows and sterns of the U.S. vessels at extremely close range and high speeds, including multiple crossings of the Puller with a 50 yard closest point of approach (CPA) and within 10 yards of Mauis bow. The U.S. Navy said the dangerous and provocative actions from the IRGCN increased the risk of miscalculation and collision and were not in accordance with the internationally recognized Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea [pdf]. Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy vessels crossed U.S. ships bows and sterns at close range while operating in international waters of the North Arabian Gulf. The guided-missile destroyer USS Paul Hamilton (DDG 60) was conducting joint interoperability operations in support of maritime security in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations on April 15, 2020. (U.S. Navy photo) Iran later acknowledged the incident, but blamed the U.S. ships, saying its forces were conducting a drill and faced the unprofessional and provocative actions of the United States and their indifference to warnings. It offered no evidence for this explanation. The incident comes amid heightened military tensions between the United States and Iran following the killing of Irans top general by a U.S. airstrike earlier this year. Iran has continued to try to develop its missile and space programs, despite being restrained by international sanctions and arms restrictions. Unable to buy the latest military technology from around the world, it primarily relies on proxies, hybrid warfare, naval power, and missile defense, according to an unclassified Pentagon report published in November 2019. The Pentagon monitors Irans missile- and rocket-development programs, as the technology could be adapted to carry nuclear warheads. Iran claimed on April 21 to have added to its array of long-range missilesalready one of the most powerful in the region, according to the Defense Intelligence Agencywith a new design of anti-ship missiles with a 430-mile range. After several failed attempts in recent months, Irans Revolutionary Guards on April 22 also claimed they had successfully launched a satellite into an orbit 264 miles above the Earths surface. That launch has yet to be corroborated by U.S. officials. Irans space program is of particular concern to the United States, as the technology needed to hoist a satellite into space could potentially be converted for use in long-range ballistic missiles. The United States takes the position that such satellite launches are also in defiance of a U.N. Security Council resolution that restricts Irans development of ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. The developments come as one of the United States 11 aircraft carriers is benched in Guam after an outbreak of COVID-19 aboard. However, U.S. military leaders have warned adversaries not to test U.S. military strength and resolve during the COVID-19 pandemic saying that the virus-hit USS Theodore Roosevelt could be quickly put to sea if needed, and that readiness overall remains high. If our adversaries think this is our moment of weakness, they are dangerously wrong, said Deputy Defense Secretary David L. Norquist on April 9. To those who wish us harm, make no mistake: even with the challenges that this disease has brought to our shores, the Department of Defense stands ready to meet any threat and defend our nation. The Associated Press contributed to this report. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he has ordered the Navy to shoot down and destroy any Iranian gunboats that harass U.S. ships, a directive that comes a week after the Navy reported a group of Iranian boats made dangerous and harassing approaches to American vessels in the Persian Gulf. Trump did not cite a specific Iranian provocation in his tweet or provide details. Senior Pentagon officials gave no indication that Trump had directed a fundamental change in military policy on Iran. The president issued an important warning to the Iranians, David Norquist, the deputy secretary of defense, said at a Pentagon conference when asked about the tweet. What he was emphasizing is, all of our ships retain the right of self defense. He called the tweet a very useful thing. Air Force Gen. John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he thinks the Iranians understand what Trump meant. He said the Navy also understands that if an Iranian on a gunboat has a gun and you point it at me, that can be interpreted as an expression of hostile intent that may be answered with U.S. force. In the tweet, Trump said: I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea." Asked whether the tweet means a repeat of last week's incident in the Gulf would require a lethal U.S. response, Hyten said, I would have to be the captain of the ship in order to make that determination. Hyten said the nature of the response depends on the situation and what the captain sees. Last Wednesday, the U.S. Navy said Revolutionary Guard vessels repeatedly crossed the bows and sterns of several American ships at close range and high speed in the northern Gulf. The American vessels included the USS Paul Hamilton, a Navy destroyer and the USS Lewis B. Puller, a ship that serves as an afloat landing base. The ships were operating with U.S. Army Apache attack helicopters in international waters, the statement said. Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi, a spokesman for Iran's armed forces, accused Trump of bullying and said the American president should focus on taking care of U.S service members infected with the coronavirus. The U.S. military had more than 2,600 confirmed cases of coronavirus as of last week, and at least two service members have succumbed to COVID-19, the disease the virus causes. Today, Americans must do their best to save those troops who are infected with coronavirus instead of bullying others, Shekarchi said, according to Iran's semi-official agency ISNA. Shortly before Trump's tweet, Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it had put the Islamic Republic's first military satellite into orbit, dramatically unveiling what experts described as a secret space program. That launch raised concerns among experts about whether the technology could be used to help Iran develop intercontinental ballistic missiles. Iran currently has short- and intermediate-range missiles. Hyten told reporters the lranian payload went a very long way. He said it was too early to say whether the launch had successfully placed a satellite in orbit. This is just another example of Iranian malign behavior, Hyten said. U.S. Navy ships and Iranian Guard naval vessels occasionally have encounters in the Gulf that the U.S. calls unprofessional, but they rarely escalate or include an exchange of gunfire. Tehran views the heavy presence of American forces there as a security threat. During last Wednesday's incident in the Gulf, the U.S. Navy said the 11 Iranian gunboats' dangerous and provocative actions increased the risk of miscalculation and collision ... and were not in accordance with the obligation under international law to act with due regard for the safety of other vessels in the area." According to the Navy, the Americans issued multiple warnings via bridge-to-bridge radio, fired five short blasts from the ships' horns and long-range acoustic noise maker devices, but received no immediate response, the statement said. After about an hour, the Iranian vessels responded to the bridge-to-bridge radio queries, then maneuvered away. Iran claimed the U.S. triggered that episode. American commanders are trained to make nuanced and careful judgment calls about how to respond to incidents at sea. Rather than immediately resort to the use of deadly force, commanders are expected to act based on the specific circumstances, including the threat to their own crews and adherence to the international laws of warfare. Generally, as in the case of last Wednesday's incident, warships will issue warnings by a variety of means, including via bridge-to-bridge radio, before taking more direct action. Tensions between the nations escalated after the Trump administration withdrew from the international nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran. Last May the U.S. sent thousands more troops, including long-range bombers and an aircraft carrier, to the Middle East in response to what it called a growing threat of Iranian attacks on U.S. interests in the region. The tensions spiked when U.S. forces killed Iran's most powerful general, Qassem Soleimani, in January. Iran responded with a ballistic missile attack on a base in western Iraq where U.S. troops were present. No Americans were killed but more than 100 suffered mild traumatic brain injuries from the blasts. Also, Iran-backed Shiite militias in Iraq continue to threaten American forces there. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, April 22, 2020 14:31 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd389656 1 National COVID-19,farts,scientists,research,doctors,peneliti,kentut,virus-korona-indonesia Free COVID-19 might be transmitted through farts and feces, Airlangga University molecular biologist Chairul Anwar Nidom has said. According to him, the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute (HVRI) in China has tested the hypothesis using dogs and cats. Chairul explained that the researchers were conducting swab tests through the dogs anus instead of through nose and throat. Nidom went on to explain that such a swab test method was normal, given that the matching protein receptor, called ACE2, was normally found in several human organs the lungs, kidneys, heart and the gut. "The researchers found that the virus transmission through a respiratory system or digestive system depends on the host of the virus," he explained as quoted by tempo.co. Although the research suggested that the coronavirus could be spread through farts and feces, Nidom said, there was no scientific evidence of flatulence alone posing a risk of COVID-19 transmission. However, the coronavirus was uniquely hard to predict, he added. Read also: Scientists call for global cooperation, use of scientific methods in fight against COVID-19 Meanwhile, Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology director Amin Soebandrio also confirmed that the coronavirus could match with receptors in the mucous membrane of the digestive system. However, he also said the likelihood of this was low compared to the common transmission through respiratory droplets. Previously, Australian doctor Andy Tagg pointed out that farts could spread the coronavirus the coronavirus had been found in the feces of 55 percent of COVID-19 patients. While respiratory droplets transmission could be spread through coughing and touching hands, Tagg said, small feces particles like "aerosolized feces" among fart gases could also spread the virus. What has all this farting talk got to do with the coronavirus? Well, SARS-CoV-2 can be detected in faeces and has been detected in an asymptomatic individual up to 17 days post-exposure.https://t.co/6IflYTLFWr pic.twitter.com/XuYCmYoEQ7 Andy Tagg (@andrewjtagg) April 6, 2020 However, Tagg also suggested that people not throw around assumptions against "gas", and he reminded everyone to keep their pants on. "Perhaps SARS-CoV-2 can be spread through the power of parping we need more evidence. So remember to wear appropriate PPE at all times and stay safe," Andy Tagg wrote on his Twitter account @andrewjtagg on Apr. 6. (trn) A child sex trafficking survivor whose case was recently featured on Oxygen's "Kim Kardashian West: The Justice Project," was freed from jail Friday. Alexis Martin (Ohio Dept. of Rehabiliation and Correction) Alexis Martin, who was sentenced to prison at 17 for her role in the fatal shooting of her pimp during a robbery in 2013, had her sentence commuted by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine. "She is a child sex trafficking survivor," DeWine said Friday when he announced Martin was among a group of seven Ohio inmates he would free. "She will be sent to an appropriate group home and she will be under supervision for an extensive period of time." DeWine said Martin's case was "of particular interest." Martin was 15 at the time of the slaying. Martin collaborated with a female friend and two men to rob the home of her pimp, Angelo Kerney, in Akron, Ohio, according to court documents. Though Martin was not accused of firing a gun, the documents state she and the other female distracted Kerney "with dancing and sex." Kerney was killed in the shooting. Martin's forced prostitution was cited as a factor leading to her involvement in the fatal shooting. Martin pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and other charges and was sentenced to 21 years to life in prison. In 2018, Martin appealed her sentence arguing her history as a sex trafficking victim was not properly explored by a juvenile judge during a hearing that determined if she should be charged as an adult. The court upheld her conviction in a 6-1 vote, the Associated Press reported. Her story became a cause celebre among advocates of criminal justice reform, including Kardashian West, who has become a force in the world of criminal justice reform. The Oxygen documentary revealed that while in prison, Martin earned her GED, became a certified dog trainer and ran a group for survivors of human trafficking. Kardashian West tweeted about DeWine's decision Friday, writing: "Alexis Martin is a sex traffic survivor and I was honored to be able to share her story on the Justice Project. Thank you Governor DeWine for commuting her sentence." Kardashian West has advocated for the release of numerous inmates, most notably Alice Marie Johnson who was sent to prison for life in federal court in Tennessee in 1996 for attempted possession of cocaine and conspiracy to possess cocaine. Kardashian West persuaded President Donald Trump to commute Johnson's sentence in 2018. NAPLES - The most important tour operators in the world consider Greece to be the top Mediterranean destination as soon as travel resumes after the Covid-19 emergency, according to Greek Travel Pages, citing statements by Greek Development and Investments Minister Adonis Georgiadis. In an online forum titled "Covid-19: Business Against Uncertainty", Georgiadis also explained that next week he will participate in a European forum with his colleague, Greek Tourism Minister Harry Theonaris, and other primary stakeholders in the European tourism market. "There are large tour operators that say they want to bring tourists back to Greece instead of other countries due to our health system's success in managing the pandemic," Georgiadis said. "The positive surprise that we elicited with our health system will also be brought into play in our economy," he said. He said if Greece maintains its positive image and this sense of security, it could take a large slice of the small tourism pie in summer 2020 and next year. "Forecasts by the International Monetary Fund that see tourism at zero this year, with a heavy weight on our GDP, could be disproved," he said. REUTERS In response to the growing concerns surrounding COVID-19, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the government will spend $9 billion fund to help post-secondary student and recent graduates in Canada. The fund, called the Canada Emergency Student Benefit, will provide support to students who are not eligible for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit. A press release from the government said it will provide $1,250 per month for eligible students or $1,750 per month for eligible students who have dependents or disabilities. This benefit will be available from May to August 2020, the release noted. Right now, you might be worried about how to make ends meet. You probably cant work your normal job, and that might be a big problem for rent or groceries, Trudeau said during his daily press briefing. This benefit is designed for you - if you are a postsecondary student right now, if you are going to college in September, or if you graduated in December 2019. Its there for you even if you have a job, but youre only making up to $1,000 a month. He indicated that payments will be delivered through the Canada Revenue Agency and will be working with the opposition to move the legislation to put the benefit in place. The government also announced it is creating 76,000 jobs for young people in addition to the Canada Summer Jobs program, Trudeau said. The $9 billion fund will also include $291 million to extend scholarships, fellowships and grants to ensure student researchers and graduate students are able to continue their work, he said. Depending on your funding, it will be extended by either three or four months, he said. For those students who are volunteering in the fight against COVID-19, Trudeau said they will soon be eligible for $1,000 to $5,000, depending on their hours, through the new Canada Student Service Grant. The fund also includes $75 million to increase support specifically for First Nations, Inuit, and Metis Nation students. Story continues To all the students watching today, let me say this: As youre building your future - thinking about how to contribute, or about starting a family or career - all of a sudden youve been faced with this crisis. The uncertainty may feel overwhelming, Trudeau said. But in Canada, we look out for each other...these measures will help you get through this, so you can build that career and future youve been working for. Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android and sign up for the Yahoo Finance Canada Weekly Brief. 3 Serhiy Kozyrev, a doctor inside the hospital who contracted the coronavirus, speaks with photographer Dubchak by telephone. Kozyrev described watching one after another of his staff fall prey to the virus. I want everything to end soon Kozyrev said. "I'm worried about my wife and daughter." He vowed to return to work treating patients as soon as he is cleared to, saying "I'll be back." An illustration of the 2.5-meter wide-field survey telescope. [Photo/China Daily] Chinese scientists are building the world's most powerful widefield survey telescope of its class in the northern hemisphere near the "Mars Camp" in Qinghai province. Construction of the telescope is due to be completed by 2022 and it will begin surveying the night sky around 2023. Scientists hope its panoramic view will lead to new astronomical discoveries, such as finding faint celestial bodies or studying how the structure of galaxies changes over time. It can also be used to monitor space debris to ensure the safety of spacecraft during future explorations. On April 16, the University of Science and Technology of China signed a cooperation agreement with the Haixi Mongol and Tibetan autonomous prefecture in Qinghai province. They plan to build the telescope on top of Saishiteng mountain near the town of Lenghu in the prefecture, famed for being China's "Mars Camp" due to its eerily eroded desert landscape that closely resembles the surface of the red planet. The instrument is called the Wide Field Survey Telescope, or WFST, and has an estimated cost of 200 million yuan ($28 million), according to project information obtained by China Daily. It boasts a 2.5-meter in diameter optical telescope and a 750-million-pixel, 1.5 metric ton camera, making it the most capable widefield survey telescope of its class north of the equator. Zheng Xianzhong, a researcher at the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, one of the key institutions behind the project, said in a presentation last year that the telescope can survey the entire northern sky once every three nights, and collect around 400 terabytes of image data annually over its six-year operation period. This survey speed is on par with the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope currently being built in Chile, which is the world's flagship wide-field telescope at 8.4 meter in diameter, equipped with a 3.2-billion-pixel camera, and used for surveying the southern sky. The WFST is "complementary and has synergy with the LSST in terms of sky accessibility and science", Zheng said. "The WFST is a powerful survey machine, and its six-year survey period will yield the deepest imaging of the northern sky, providing key data for multiple scientific research." NASA also has a new wide-field survey telescope in the pipeline, albeit in space rather than ground-based, called the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope. However, this hefty $3.2 billion project has faced repeated threats of cancellation by the current United States administration, and its fate remains undecided. The US currently has the Sloan Digital Sky Survey in New Mexico that also uses a 2.5-meter wide-angle telescope, but it cannot survey the entire northern sky. Christian Ready, an astronomy lecturer at Towson University in the United States, said most telescopes study the universe by focusing on a relatively small area of the sky for up to several hours at a time. "But the rest of the sky isn't sitting still," he said. "As many as 1 million supernovae explode in distant galaxies every single day, but in order to keep track of the changing skies, we need a telescope unlike anything built before." Large telescopes are also notoriously expensive and difficult to build. Therefore, engineers are building more compact and cost-effective telescopes that can take pictures of the universe with greater width and depth than before. Wide-field survey telescopes achieve this goal by bouncing light between multiple mirrors before capturing them on a giant camera. Given how most of the survey telescopes north of the equator are clustered in the US, Japan, and the Canary Islands, the WFST's longitude coordinate can complement that of its foreign peers, allowing continuous monitoring of the northern night sky if working together. Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Wednesday thanked Union Home Minister Amit Shah for speaking to Maharashtra Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray for the evacuation of the Sikh devotees stranded at the historic Gurdwara Hazur Sahibin Nanded. The Bathinda MP also asked the Punjab government to give permission to buses in which devotees were being brought to the state from Maharashtra. Came to Delhi to meet HM @AmitShah ji & thank him for speaking to Maharashtra CM today to fast track repatriation of Sikh devotees stranded at Hazur Sahib. Now request Pb govt to give permission to buses arranged by SAD since 3 days to bring them back home at earliest, tweeted Harsimrat. Around2,000 pilgrims from Punjab had gone to pay obeisance at Gurdwara Hazur Sahib in Maharashtra's Nanded before the coronavirus lockdown was imposed. Because of the cancellation of trains, they were stuck there. Responding to the development, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said he has instructed officials to make arrangements for their safe return. I am happy that today we finally got a go ahead from Centre for movement of all our pilgrims who were stuck in Hazur Sahib, Nanded for a long time. I have already instructed the relevant officers and arrangements are being made by Government of Punjab for their safe return, the CM tweeted. Earlier during the day, the CM said he received a call from Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray over this issue. Just received a call from MH CM who confirmed that HM @AmitShah Ji has conceded to our request for travel of our pilgrims stuck in Hazur Sahib, Nanded to Punjab. Have asked Chief Secretary to tie up logistics & we will bear the cost of transportation. Thank you all!, the CM tweeted. The CM had earlier written to Home Minister Amit Shah and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to help evacuate the devotees. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 22 By Yusif Aghayev - Trend: A new campaign on voluntary car insurance has been launched at Azerbaijans PASHA Insurance OJSC, Trend reports referring to the company. In accordance with the terms of the campaign, the customers who will use voluntary car insurance at PASHA Insurance company before May 22 will receive full annual car insurance by paying an insurance premium for 10 months. As part of the campaign, customers will also have the opportunity to pay insurance payments in installments in accordance with a special preferential schedule. PASHA Insurance company is a recognized leader in the non-life insurance market in Azerbaijan. The authorized capital of the company is 50 million manat ($29.4 million). It renders insurance services on 36 voluntary and compulsory types of insurance for 300,000 corporate and individual clients. As a result of the activity in 2019, the company collected insurance premiums in the amount of 150.2 million manat ($88.3 million) and paid insurance indemnities in the amount of 52.8 million manat ($31 million), ranking second in the ranking of domestic insurers. Today, 22 insurance companies and one reinsurance company operate in Azerbaijan. (1 USD = 1.7 AZN on April 22) Bazaar Corporate Radar | Feb 22, 2021, 12:00 AM IST Bazaar Corporate Radar Bazaar Corporate Radar is your window into the minds of top CEOs, Boardrooms, global economists, fund managers and sector analysts. If it?s making news, you?ll find it on Bazaar Corporate Radar. Waterless beauty is new eco-friendly trend we can all get behind (ABC News) The beauty world has made major moves toward sustainability over the last few years, showcasing environmentally friendly packaging and "clean" ingredients. Now, waterless beauty is the latest trend. "We have seen a surging trend in people's awareness about sustainability," Susanne Norwitz, founder of Maya Chia, a clean beauty line, said. "Our consumers increasingly express interest not only in what is in our formulation, but how it is delivered to them -- including the packaging we use, where we source the raw materials from and how we make the products." Waterless beauty products that use little to no water in their formulation are a burgeoning category in beauty. "It's a great thing to see a trend toward more concentrated and waterless products, so that we can be more conscious of water usage," Mia Davis, director of Environmental and Social Responsibility at Credo Beauty, told "GMA." While it's not a top sustainability trend yet, Davis said the trend has sparked a lot of interest among their consumers. Without water in their formulation, waterless beauty products help to conserve our water supply. "We take water for granted in the United States; we think that we have plenty of it and we tend to waste it," Davis said. Two-thirds of the world's population could face water shortages by 2025, according to the World Wildlife Fund. "Water covers 70% of our planet, and it is easy to think that it will always be plentiful. However, freshwater -- the stuff we drink, bathe in, irrigate our farm fields with -- is incredibly rare," the WWF writes on their website. If you want to go waterless, here's everything you need to know. Story continues MORE: 8 rental clothing services to keep your wardrobe in constant rotation. What do waterless beauty products look like? Waterless beauty products come in many different forms, from powders to highly concentrated oils. Products are often more concentrated than their counterparts, which means you're able to use less. "Waterless products are efficient in a couple of ways," said Davis. "Not only in conserving water, but really around the carbon footprint." Norwitz, whose company is known for their award-winning waterless pressed serums, explained: "When you are able to use less product without sacrificing efficacy that leads to less packaging, less consumption, less transportation ... all things that have a positive effect on the environment." Another standout in this space is OWA Haircare, which created the first powder shampoo that is activated by water. Simply sprinkle some of the powder into a wet hand and rub to activate. "In our shampoo, the concentrated ingredients and formulations without fillers result in less packaging and less waste," OWA founder Kailey Bradt told "GMA." MORE: Rothy's, a Duchess Meghan favorite, launches handbags created from 100% recycled materials What to look for when shopping When shopping for new products, always check the ingredients label. If you want go waterless, avoid products where water is one of the top ingredients. Credo has a full "Dirty List" on their website of ingredients to avoid, including ones banned in Europe but not the United States. No matter what products you choose, make sure to turn off the faucet in between product applications to conserve water. Waterless beauty is new eco-friendly trend we can all get behind originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com P olice have been using drones and quad bikes to catch people not obeying coronavirus lockdown rules in Italy. The officers in Rimini, on the east coast of Italy, one of the countries worst hit by the global Covid-19 pandemic, shared a video of their tactics online. The drone footage shows police on quad bikes surrounding two man sunbathing separately and alone on the beach, before also patrolling local parks. Officers said in a statement that they had stopped more than 1,200 people in just a few days after the Easter weekend using the new equipment granted by emergency regulations. Officers approach a man sunbathing / Comune di Rimini Police added: "Many... citizens are grateful for the great work that the local police of Rimini is doing, whose men and women in these weeks have always continued to provide their service for the community, leaving their families and risking contagion every day." Italy has been in lockdown for more than a month, as its Government tried to ease pressure on a health service badly hit by the coronavirus outbreak. More than 24,000 have died in the country after catching the virus. But Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Friday that some restrictions will be lifted on May 4. He added in a Facebook post: "Many citizens are tired of the efforts that have been made so far and would like a significant loosening of these measures, or even their total abolition. "I would like to be able to say, let's open everything. Right away. But such a decision would be irresponsible. It would make the contagion curve rise uncontrollably and would jeopardise all the efforts that we have made until now." Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte / Reuters Some British police forces have also used drones to enforce the coronavirus lockdown. Derbyshire Constabulary were criticised in March for "shaming" Peak district walkers by filming them with drones and sharing the footage online. Big Brother Watch called the move "sinister" and "counter-productive". Director Silkie Carlo said: Police spying on innocent members of the public with drones to shame them on social media is excessive. Its not at all clear what police powers are being used to do this. By PTI MUMBAI: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday said Muslims should offer namaz during Ramzan from their homes and not in mosques or any other public place in view of the COVID-19 threat. The current lockdown, imposed to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus, will be in force till May 3. Extending greetings to Muslims on the occasion of Ramzan, which begins later this week, Pawar said, "Muslim brothers should offer namaz, Taraweeh (additional ritual prayers) and breakfast with Iftar staying inside their homes and not in mosques or any other public place." In a statement, the senior NCP leader exuded confidence that the unity of countrymen will help register victory in the fight against coronavirus. Muslims have observed discipline during the lockdown period, the state finance minister said, adding they should continue doing so during the month of Ramzan too. ALSO READ: COVID-19 LIVE Pawar also expressed concern over reports of doctors, nurses, other paramedical staff, policemen, government employees and journalists getting infected by the coronavirus and urged them to take care of their health while discharging their duty. Referring to the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra, Pawar said it is unfortunate that some people are yet to understand the seriousness of the situation. "The virus is spreading as some citizens are coming out on the streets. People should remain inside their homes," he said. As people move into months of sheltering in place, many are doubling down on cooking at home. But not everyone is always happy about it. Today, a company that makes products that can help them bypass at least some of that effort but still eat nutritiously is announcing a fundraising to continue growing its business. YFood, a Munich-based startup that creates and sells complete-nutrition drinks, drink powders and snack bars, has raised 15 million (around $16 million), money that it plans to use to continue investing in product development and more innovative distribution of its food. The investment is being led by Felix Capital, the London firm that has been investing big in direct-to-consumer startups as part of a bigger e-commerce push. Strategically, New Zealand-based global dairy co-operative Fonterra is also participating in this round, along with previous investors Five Seasons Ventures and New Ground Ventures. The company is not disclosing its valuation but we understand that it's in the region of $100 million and -- as has been the case for other startups -- was not impacted by COVID-19. Notably, much of its previous fundraising -- 5 million before now -- is still in the bank because the startup is already profitable, having grown revenues by more than 300% in the last year. Based out of Munich, Germany, and strongest in the DACH region of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, YFood has started to expand to more European countries and is investing in boosting its online presence, which already has some 200,000 customers; and to grow relationships with retail partners that can help with delivery. While focusing on distribution is key for any D2C e-commerce startup at all times, it's especially key at the moment, as a result of how much business-as-usual has been disrupted -- and not "disrupted" in a good way, even though that has been something regularly celebrated in the tech world. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, YFood had been selling through 13,000 retailers, and also had a business of selling its products via vending machines as well (another retail channel that I imagine will be hard-hit by the current public health crisis). Story continues But just as a would-be competitor like Soylent was borne out of the founder's own need for fast nutrition at a time when he was working hard in the tech industry and didn't love to cook and eat, those vending machines were actually the fillip for starting YFood, co-founders Ben Kremer and Noel Bollmann told me in an interview this week. The two had been working in investment banking, and working late hours, they found that there were precious few options for them when they got hungry and needed sustenance fast. "We had a problem we were solving for ourselves," Bollmann said. "All there was were candy machines and the choice was Snickers or crisps. We couldn't understand why fast eating always had to be unhealthy. That was the inspiration." The company's next steps are likely to involve creating a wider range of products that bring in more savoury options for getting their complete nutrition -- since not everyone has a sweet tooth or wants a candy bar or milkshake replacement. And much further down the line, it's potentially going to consider how to better make itself accessible and used to populations who would be unlikely to ever consider having meals-in-a-drink but might love the idea of adding something to what they're already eating to give it a nutrition boost, not unlike a vitamin supplement. "We have never tried to attack the social aspect of cooking," said Kremer. "Our products shouldnt replace good meals. This is about tackling unhealthy eating habits, and providing solutions that are affordable to meet the demands of that product category." Like many other startups and food businesses, YFood has been stepping up its own efforts to provide supplies to frontline workers. In its case it has so far donated 100,000 worth of ready-to-drink meals to medical staff currently very short on time to shop, cook and eat. Updated to clarify details on valuation, specifically to correct the characterization that it was a "flat" round. WASHINGTON President Donald Trump lobbed another threat at Iran on Wednesday, vowing to destroy any Iranian gunboats that "harass" U.S. vessels. "I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea," he tweeted. For Trump, it was another threat in a feud that brought the two countries to the brink of war earlier this year. But for some of the president's critics, it was the idea of shooting down a boat that caught their attention. They quickly pointed out that boats float on the water rather than fly in the air. "After this, well sink their planes!" tweeted Princeton historian Kevin Kruse. "Are we 'shooting down' the flying boats?" tweeted Frank Figliuzzi, a former FBI assistant director. Others said Trump was trying to distract people from his administration's struggle to contain the coronavirus pandemic. President Trump said he has instructed the U.S. Navy to destroy any Iranian gunboats that "harass" U.S. vessels in the Persian Gulf. Joe Lockhart, former press secretary to President Bill Clinton, said it would be illegal to fire at ships based on "mere harassment," and the threat "does show how desperate the @realDonaldTrump is to distract from the pandemic." I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 22, 2020 The White House had no comment on Trump's tweet. Trump's threat to Iran the latest in a series came a week after the nation said it is stepping up patrols in the Persian Gulf. The U.S. Navy reported that 11 Iranian ships approached their vessels in a "harassing" manner. Tensions between the United States and Iran have been particularly high since Trump pulled out of the Iranian nuclear agreement and spiked sanctions on Tehran's fragile economy. And, like the United States, Iran has been hit hard by the deadly coronavirus. Story continues Trump and his aides have accused Iran-backed interests of attacking U.S. troops in neighboring Iraq and harassing American ships in the gulf. More: Trump crisis mismanagement on full display with roll of dice on Iran, Iraq and Suleimani More: Exclusive: Americans say Soleimani's killing made US less safe, Trump 'reckless' on Iran In early January, Trump authorized a drone strike that killed a top Iranian general, leading to a retaliatory strike on U.S. troops. On April 1, Trump said Iran and groups backing it were planning a "sneak attack" on U.S. troops in Iraq, and he threatened that the Iranians would "pay a very heavy price" if they carried it out. There have also been interludes of diplomacy, such as when Trump said he would help Iran fight the effects of the coronavirus if it asked. Then there are days like Wednesday, as social media lit up with critics and the idea of shooting down boats. "Trump thinks the Iranians have flying boats that he can shoot down," tweeted the Palmer Report, an account that focuses on political analysis. Trump supporters, meanwhile, focused on the president's pledge to "destroy" Iranian gunboats if necessary and praised the president for standing up to the threats emanating from Tehran. "President Trump has changed the Navy's rules of engagement at sea, ordering @USNavy to destroy #Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships," said Twitter user Joe Chenelly. "Hopeful this deters further naval aggression by #Iran in international waters. Praying it doesn't lead to further escalation." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump slammed for saying US would 'shoot down' Iranian boats Evening Standard Here are all the bank holidays you should note in 2022. What bank holidays are planned for the Queens Jubilee and is there an extra day? In celebration of the Queens 70th year as monarch, bank holidays have been rearranged to allow for four consecutive days of celebration. As the Ghanaian artiste, Edem celebrates his wedding anniversary, his wife, Stacy Osekere took to Twitter to shower praises on her him. She described her six years marriage to the musician in a weird but unique way, which has got several people talking. Some have praised her for her boldness, while others find it too revealing, arousing the curiosity of other people. The post shows how happy the rapper has made her for the past six years. According to reports Stacy has been Edem's long-time girlfriend even before marriage. 6 years of legally fkg you been orgasmic Happy +1 my fav dk @iamedem. To celebrate him she shared on Twitter a short video clip capturing her time with her husband Edem. Reacting to the post, Edem said Madam you are not correct, with a love emoji to accompany the note. Edem has been recognised as one of Ghana's finest rappers, in the music industry. Rapping in his local dialect Ewe, has been his style which has earned him many accolades over the years. ---Daily Guide New Delhi: In the wake of a large number of media persons contracting COVID-19, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issued an advisory to print and electronic media on Wednesday, calling on journalists covering coronavirus-related incidents to take precautions. The advisory also asked the management of media houses to take necessary care of their field as well as office staff. "It has come to the notice of the Ministry that a large number of media persons have recently contracted COVID-19 while covering the happenings in certain parts of the country," it said. In view of the fact that media persons, including reporters, cameramen, photographers, etc. are covering incidents relating to COVID-19 in various parts of the country involving travel, amongst others, to containment zones, hotspots and other COVID-affected areas, it is advised that all such media persons may take due health and related precautions while performing their duties, the advisory said. "Management of media houses is requested to take necessary care of their field staff as well as office staff," it said. The advisory comes a day after the governments of Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Delhi decided to arrange COVID-19 tests for media persons. Some journalists from a Tamil news TV channel in Chennai tested positive for the infection in a fresh incident involving scribes. Also, during a special camp organised at the Azad Maidan in Mumbai on April 16 and 17 for COVID-19 testing of scribes, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) collected swab samples of 171 media persons, including electronic and print media journalists, photographers and cameramen. Out of the 171 media persons, 53 have tested positive for coronavirus. Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javdekar had expressed shock on Monday over the Mumbai incident involving media persons, and said an advisory is being issued to all newspaper and media establishments to ensure that adequate precautions are taken. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Professional services provider Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. (JEC) released a Climate Action Plan on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, on Wednesday, aiming to be net zero carbon in 2020 and carbon negative by 2030. The company said it would achieve and maintain 100% renewable energy, net zero carbon for the company's operations and business travel in 2020 and carbon negative for its operations and business travel by 2030. The Climate Action Plan is based on the foundations of Jacobs' PlanBeyond strategy, which was launched in early 2019 to set out sustainability priorities across the business. The company also has set an ambitious, science-based target for carbon reductions across both operations and supply chain emissions by 2030. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. A man was booked for thrashing a doctor working on the front-line in the battle against Covid-19, at a theekri pehra in Surajpur, Pinjore, on Tuesday night. The accused has been identified as Jarnail Singh. The complainant, Dr Ashok Kumar, a resident of Sector 20, Chandigarh, told police he is currently deputed at the Covid-19 district control room at mini secretariat in Sector 1. Dr Kumar told police he had recently shifted near health sub-centre in Burj Kotian village, Pinjore, where he had bought a house. I had a night shift at the DCs office on Tuesday. My children told me they were feeling unsafe and insisted I drop them to my in-laws house in Surajpur, he said. He added that while dropping his children, he was stopped at a theekri pehra on the villages entrance. Around 15 locals, including Jarnail Singh, were present at the checkpost. Singh started hurling abuses at me. Then, he dragged me out of my car and thrashed me. He also threatened me with dire consequences, Kumar stated in his complaint. Amravati police post in-charge, assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Shyam Lal, said, The complainant and accused know each other. The scuffle broke out after locals stopped Kumar and misbehaved with him. Despite showing his identity card, the accused hurled abuses and allegedly thrashed him. Based on Dr Kumars complaint, we have initiated further investigation, and booked Jarnail Singh, under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code at Pinjore police station. Recent cases This is the third incident in which a frontline Covid-19 worker has been assaulted or misbehaved with in Panchkula. On April 11, a 33-year-old woman working as a nurse at the Panchkula Civil Hospital was assaulted by five men in Chandimandirs Billa village, when she was returning home. She alleged the men also hurled communal remarks at her. The accused were later arrested. On April 9, police arrested four men for allegedly misbehaving with women health workers, conducting a Covid-19 related survey, at Indira Colony in Sector 16. A woman constable arrived at the scene with a police party was also assaulted and injured. The COVID-19 pandemic has commanded a new way of life, and not just for people even Chicagos rat population has been affected. Some formerly reliable food sources for rats, such as dumpsters behind restaurants or overflowing outdoor garbage cans stuffed to the brim daily with Chicagoans food scraps, now sit empty. But rats are resilient and theyll move into residential homes, eat dog feces, or even cannibalize dead or young rats before theyll starve. President Donald Trump addresses the daily CCP virus task force briefing at the White House in Washington on April 17, 2020. (Leah Millis/Reuters) Trump Says Hell Suspend Issuing Green Cards for 60 Days President Donald Trump said Tuesday that his upcoming executive order suspending new immigration will apply to people seeking green cards while workers entering the United States on a temporary basis wont be affected. The ban on new green card issuances will last for 60 days, he said during a briefing on the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic. His administration is currently working on the details of the executive order, which came about a day after Trump wrote on Twitter Monday that he would temporarily suspend immigration into the United States. After the 60-day period is up, he will review the executive order and decide if it should be renewed, Trump said during the briefing. The order will likely be signed on Wednesday, he added. The order would protect American workers, Trump said. I want our American citizens to get jobs. I dont want them to compete right now. In the briefing, Trump suggested there would be certain exemptions on the green card ban but didnt elaborate. It would be wrong and unjust for Americans laid off by the virus to be replaced with new immigrant labor flown in from abroad, he added. The lines to reach TSA immigration process are seen empty at one of its terminals at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on March 9, 2020. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters) Amid the pandemic, much of the U.S. immigration system has already ground to a stop. Most visa processing by the State Department has been suspended for several weeks as travel into the country has been restricted from much of the world. In a statement, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the order was designed to protect the health and economic well-being of citizens during the CCP virus crisis. The United States, Canada, and Mexico this week also agreed to place another suspension on unnecessary border travel ending in mid-May. Commercial traffic and a wide range of essential workers are still allowed to travel freely. The Department of Homeland Security, in confirming the development, said an additional 30 days will be added to the restrictions, meaning that it will end around May 20. Mexicos foreign relations secretariat confirmed on Twitter the agreement to extend the restrictions, saying it came after reviewing the development of COVID-19 propagation in Mexico and [the United States]. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the United States and Canada agreed to keep the border closed for another month, but he stipulated it would be likely much longer before the restriction is lifted. Last month, the administration effectively ended asylum, relying on a rarely used 1944 law aimed at preventing the spread of communicable disease. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The Morrison government will not intervene in state bidding wars to rescue Virgin Australia as the troubled airline fields bids from investors and governments to help it recover from a financial collapse. The federal government has rejected the airlines pleas for cash and will wait for bidders to emerge over the next three weeks before any decision on further support. The Morrison government is letting states outbid each other to help Virgin Australia. Credit:Wolter Peeters In a briefing with company chiefs, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg restated the government's commitment to having two airlines but made it clear the government was not interested in "bailing out" Virgin shareholders with deep pockets. Government MPs are being targeted in a union campaign to demand a federal investment in Virgin, with ACTU emails blaming the Liberals and Nationals for putting the airlines 16,000 workers at risk. Monday 16th March: the day when time sped up. Over the weekend I'd come to the conclusion that it was unrealistic to be offering actors parts in a play (Marivaux' The False Servant) that I just didn't believe would be happening. By lunchtime we realised that even concluding the run of the current play (The Mikvah Project) now seemed untenable, having felt hardy and valiant until about the middle of last week. Last Easter will have to stop rehearsing. By the afternoon it's clear that we are heading for closure. At 5pm the Prime Minister tells the public to avoid going to the theatre. He's behind the beat: it's been decided by everyone. And so, at 5.45, I spoke to the team: we are shutting for the foreseeable future. At 6 the actors arrive, early. Stoic in the face of bitter disappointment (it's a great show), they cleared their dressing room, we said our goodbyes, and they went home. A couple of us stayed to meet the few audience members for tonight that we hadn't managed to contact. One or two were perhaps understandably a tad peevish about it, so a momentous day ended on a deflated note. And we couldn't even go to the pub. In times of civic crisis, one of a theatre's historic functions has been as the place people gravitated towards for solace, for shelter, for a political meeting: literally to re-group. Outside of drama, theatres are arenas for protest and agitation; places to grieve, places to celebrate. They are secular churches. So as much as it feels dreadful not to have shows on, I can't bear that the theatre, our theatre, cannot fulfil its deeper civic destiny either. "Gather round, and we'll tell you a story": the OT's unique auditorium has always felt like a physical testament to this, the oldest form of theatre. Thousands of years ago, in a clearing in the forest, no one ever said: "you all go and sit way over there where you can't really see us and we'll yell at you". No: gather round. And now it's not possible. Taboo, even. But I try to reflect on the fact that communion, coming together, strangers gathered in the dark sharing in an imaginative act, has always been subversive. And that perhaps the endlessly fascinating and mysterious frisson between this and ideas of civic duty is why, ultimately, we all ran away to join the circus in the first place. But close we must and closed we are. A journalist asks what I am missing most, and what I'm looking forward to. What comes to mind sounds so silly but seems profound to me: I look forward to settling once and for all which is my favourite sound at the OT: shared silence or shared laughter. Either is sublime. As long as it's shared. To entertain' is from a French word originally meaning to hold together': well, the virus has put a stop to that. I am now old enough to understand the truth of an insight someone offered when I was young and uncomprehending. We are all heavily invested in the idea that the theatre's special quality is that is entirely in the moment and the next day it's gone, over. Only it's not true, or rather, misses out on a much larger truth: that theatre is unique as an art-form in its potent tendency to live long, and vividly, in the memory. So, for the lucky 1000 or so who saw The Mikvah Project, with such beautiful performances in such a tender production by Georgia Green of this remarkable play, the experience is just now starting its second, longer, run: this time in people's minds. I promised the two actors (Josh Zare and Alex Waldmann) that in 20 years' time in a random bar there will be someone excitedly saying "I saw you in that play! You were AMAZING!", and it'll be just the best feeling. In other words, theatre lasts. Meanwhile, business. Autocorrect seemed to acquire an Easter theme: it became convinced that I was typing about our three year Bunnies Plan. Then I was quoted in the Bunnies, sorry, I mean, Business section of the Daily Telegraph. This really is not what I ran away to join the circus for. All the spreadsheets and Zoom meetings and timelines are to one purpose: recovery. The theatre is the most frail of art-forms, depending as it does on the human body. It's also the most tenaciously resilient. More so than, surely, in the end, when all's said and done, some virus. We will gather round again. Our astonishingly loyal audiences in fact turned out to respond brilliantly and offered to donate the vast majority of their tickets back to us or hold as a credit. The OT team is consistently astounding in its stoicism, resourcefulness and commitment. Our Board are terrific, and even the bank manager has been nice. We will hibernate, and then recover. We will hold together. And then we'll be back. To entertain. England's deputy chief medical officer has defended the Government's decision not to screen passengers arriving at UK airports for coronavirus. Professor Jonathan Van-Tam said that because of the virus's incubation period of up to 14 days people could still 'sail' through any screening at airports. He said a 'basic problem' with port entry checks was that they would not pick up cases of people infected who weren't showing any coronavirus symptoms, such as a fever. Tourists have criticised the 'shocking' lack of testing when arriving in the UK during the pandemic. England's deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam said that because of the virus's incubation period of up to 14 days people could still 'sail' through any screening at airports without symptoms Some passengers said other countries required medical questionnaires and health checks at land borders and travel terminals and appeared to be taking the pandemic more seriously. Earlier this month Heathrow Airport's chief executive called for an international common standard on medical screening so people can 'travel with confidence' once the crisis recedes. Professor Van-Tam told the Downing Street daily briefing on yesterday: 'The problem is that people can be infected before they get on the flight and the incubation period for this virus is up to 14 days. And it's typically five days. 'So I can fly back... on a long flight and I can become infected in that country before I get on the aircraft, and I will sail through Heathrow with absolutely no symptoms at all. 'I'm not being untruthful, there is nothing to declare. I won't have a fever, I won't be picked out.' 'But when I get to my home in the north of England, at that point I may develop symptoms a few days later, and clearly the port of entry screening hasn't worked.' Professor Van-Tam said the proportion of new cases coming in from abroad 'would be miniscule' compared to the 'force of infection' in the UK at present. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the number of arrivals had 'dropped dramatically' so the UK did not carry out testing at airport. He told Good Morning Britain last week that about 15,000 people were arriving each day. Heathrow warned it expects passenger numbers for the whole of April to be down by more than 90% year-on-year Heathrow chief John Holland-Kaye claimed a single system for assessing passengers's health will help demand for air travel recover. He said: 'Now is the time to agree a common international standard for healthcare screening in airports so that when this crisis recedes, people can travel with confidence and we can get the British economy moving again.' Heathrow warned it expects passenger numbers for the whole of April to be down by more than 90% year-on-year. The collapse in demand saw the airport move to single runway operations on April 6, and two terminals will be closed in the coming weeks. Sheriff's deputies search the home of Paul Flores in February 2020 in connection with the case of missing student Kristin Smart, who vanished from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 1996. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) For the second time this year, investigators have served a search warrant on the home of a former classmate of Kristin Smart, who disappeared 24 years ago while walking back to her dorm at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Sheriff's detectives from San Luis Obispo County, accompanied by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies, entered the San Pedro home of Paul Flores early Wednesday morning seeking evidence in the cold case. Flores was the last person to be seen with Smart the night she vanished. "The Sheriff's Office is announcing today that it has served another search warrant for specific items of evidence at the Los Angeles County home of Paul Flores," San Luis Obispo County sheriff's spokesman Tony Cipolla said. "Flores continues to be a person of interest in the disappearance of Kristin Smart in 1996." In February, investigators served search warrants at Flores' home in the 900 block of West Upland Avenue and three other locations, in California and Washington state. As with the earlier warrants, Wednesday's search was sealed by the court. "This continues to be an active and ongoing investigation. The Sheriff's Office will not be commenting any further, and no additional information will be released at this time," Cipolla said. Multiple sources told The Times the searches are part of an ongoing effort to gather physical evidence, including DNA, that may reveal what happened to the 19-year-old Smart, who disappeared on her way home from an off-campus party May 25, 1996. Flores was seen walking on a path to the college dormitories with her the night she went missing. Flores was questioned in Smart's disappearance at the time but has lived in San Pedro for more than a decade while working in Orange County, according to sources. The February warrants came after two trucks connected to Flores family at the time Smart went missing were found by investigators in another state. Flores was questioned in Smart's disappearance at the time. Story continues A missing-person flier is still posted on a telephone pole across the street from the home of Paul Flores in San Pedro. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) Smarts family has sued Flores in civil court, but he has not been criminally charged. In response to the suit, Flores has denied every allegation raised against him. He invoked his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination before a grand jury and a civil deposition. The latest searches mark a new twist in one of California's most enduring cold case mysteries. After Smart disappeared, law enforcement used helicopters, horses and ground-penetrating radar as they hunted for the missing student. She was officially declared dead in 2002, although her body was never found. In 2016, federal investigators dug up a hillside near the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo campus, looking for remains. They also searched the yard of a home. Since San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson took office more than a decade ago, investigators have collected 140 new items of evidence, previously searched nine separate locations, served 18 search warrants, resubmitted 37 pieces of evidence from the investigations early stages for more current DNA testing and conducted more than 90 face-to-face interviews. But in the last few months, the investigation has intensified with efforts to track vehicles owned by Flores family at the time of Smart's disappearance. When she disappeared, authorities delayed searching Smart's dorm room until June 5, 1996, and did not search Flores room until June 10, more than two weeks after the woman was last seen. Flores, who grew up in nearby Arroyo Grande, had moved all of his belongings out of the room by then. A year before Smart's disappearance, a female student summoned San Luis Obispo police at 1 a.m. and told dispatchers that Flores, apparently drunk, had climbed a trellis outside her apartment and was refusing to leave her balcony. He was gone by the time officers arrived, police said. Times staff writer Priscella Vega contributed to this report. Kathmandu, April 23 Two days after the government issued an ordinance relaxing requirements to split a party, two regional parties have decided to merge, fearing Oli was targeting dissatisfied leaders of their parties. Top leaders of the Samajwadi Party Nepal and the Rastriya Janata Party signed an agreement to merge their parties some minutes before midnight yesterday. They have decided to name the new party as Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal in Nepali and Peoples Socialist Party Nepal in English. The existing flag of the Samajwadi Party will be used as the flag of the new party whereas the partys election symbol will be the umbrella, used by the RJPN now. The four-point agreement does not mention anything about the leadership of the unified party. Though the leaders claim there will not be any dispute, it will be interesting to watch how they will manage it. Both constituents of the parties were formed out of mergers among different parties in the past few years. Unable to find an all-acceptable leader, the RJPN had a six-member presidium whereas the Samajwadi Party had different chairmen for the federal council and central committee. Four leaders of each side have signed the merger agreement. They include Mahantha Thakur, Rajendra Mahato, Mahendra Raya Yadav, and Sharad Singh Bhandari of the RJPN, and Baburam Bhattarai, Upendra Yadav, Ashok Rai and Rajendra Shrestha of the Samajwadi. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ivany Atina Arbi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, April 22, 2020 15:24 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd38ff84 1 National sexual-exploitation,victim,victim-protection,victim-blaming,West-Java,garut,high-court,appeal Free The Women's Solidarity Network for Justice has started an online petition demanding the Garut High Court in West Java rule in favor of PA also known as V, a woman sentenced to prison for starring in several pornographic videos. The group launched the petition on change.org on Tuesday. More than 880 people had signed it by Wednesday afternoon. PA is a victim of sexual exploitation, human trafficking and domestic violence, the group wrote in the petition. After secretly getting married to her husband at 16 years of age, she experienced verbal and sexual violence inflicted by her husband. She was also sold by him and forced to have sexual intercourse with three men while being filmed, despite her reluctance. While her husband argued the video had been made for his private collection, it went viral on social media leading to her arrest in August last year. Her husband identified as 31-year-old A and two other men were also apprehended. PA insisted that A had forced her to engage in sexual acts with other men for money. The husband, however, died one month later, before his trial started. Read also: Pornography dominates negative content reported to ministry in 2019 In a ruling on April 2, the Garut District Court in West Java found PA guilty of violating the 2008 Pornography Law and sentenced her to three years of imprisonment and Rp 1 billion (US$63,671) in fines. The other two men appearing in the video got lighter sentences than PA. PA and her legal team appealed the verdict to demand a lower sentence or acquittal, while prosecutors did the same for the sake of a higher sentence. "We will support PA to get a fairer verdict, as she is actually the real victim in this case," said the network, which includes the Legal Aid Foundation of the Indonesian Women's Association for Justice (LBH Apik). LBH Apik's director Siti Zuma expressed hope to collect 10,000 signatures before the Garut High Court rules on the appeals. "Hopefully, the court will no longer issue an incriminating verdict against PA after seeing huge support from the public for her. "As coronavirus continues to sweep across America, leaders are trying to figure out the right balance between keeping people safe and keeping the economy moving," Trevor Noah said on Tuesday's Daily Social Distancing Show. And some governors are erring on the side of business, he said, comparing Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp's (R) decision to reopen bowling alleys to urging "people to join a competitive sneezing league. But while some are opening up their states, President Trump has announced that he's shutting down the border." Yes, "in a 10 p.m. tweet last night, Trump declared that due to coronavirus, he's going to sign an executive order suspending all immigration into the United States," Noah said. "This is a big step for Trump, because remember, two-thirds of his wives have been immigrants. So closing the immigration system is Trump's version of deleting Tinder." This executive action is "yet another policy he's pushing through during the corona pandemic," following other immigration freezes and gutting environmental enforcement, he said. "So don't forget, while you're finally getting around to watching Ozark and trying to bake bread for the first time, Donald Trump, he's also using coronavirus as an opportunity to do all the things he always wanted to do," only "Trump's hobbies are going to keep going for a very long time." "I don't necessarily agree" with Trump's immigration "bombshell," Stephen Colbert said at A Late Show, "but it's probably the safest thing for the immigrants. Because right now America is basically a petri dish on the floor of a bus station men's room. But this ban's not going to do anything to stop the spread of the virus or put Americans back to work," and "Trump's tweet is less about information and more about promoting today's press briefing, reality show style." He dissected some of the crazy things Trump said at Monday's press briefing. Story continues Trump did tell "a pretty funny joke" at the briefing, about how he never lies, before promptly lying, Jimmy Kimmel noted. Trump claimed he hasn't left the White House "in months," but "he held rallies in February and March, and he let the White House four times in March, including a trip to Mar-a-Lago. Mar-a-Lago, by the way, laid off 153 workers today in addition to the 560 laid off at Trump's resort in Miami maybe this is why he's so anxious to open for business again: He's getting hurt." More stories from theweek.com Florida governor responds to #FloridaMoron backlash, defends beachgoers Trump is throwing Georgia under the bus Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert rubberneck at the Las Vegas mayor's dark COVID-19 gamble Alpha Pro Tech (NYSEMKT:APT) shares have continued recent momentum with a 33% gain in the last month alone. Zooming out, the annual gain of 286% knocks our socks off. All else being equal, a sharp share price increase should make a stock less attractive to potential investors. While the market sentiment towards a stock is very changeable, in the long run, the share price will tend to move in the same direction as earnings per share. The implication here is that deep value investors might steer clear when expectations of a company are too high. Perhaps the simplest way to get a read on investors' expectations of a business is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). A high P/E implies that investors have high expectations of what a company can achieve compared to a company with a low P/E ratio. View our latest analysis for Alpha Pro Tech How Does Alpha Pro Tech's P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers? We can tell from its P/E ratio of 60.24 that there is some investor optimism about Alpha Pro Tech. The image below shows that Alpha Pro Tech has a significantly higher P/E than the average (15.2) P/E for companies in the building industry. AMEX:APT Price Estimation Relative to Market April 22nd 2020 That means that the market expects Alpha Pro Tech will outperform other companies in its industry. Clearly the market expects growth, but it isn't guaranteed. So further research is always essential. I often monitor director buying and selling. How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios Earnings growth rates have a big influence on P/E ratios. When earnings grow, the 'E' increases, over time. That means even if the current P/E is high, it will reduce over time if the share price stays flat. And as that P/E ratio drops, the company will look cheap, unless its share price increases. Alpha Pro Tech saw earnings per share decrease by 12% last year. But EPS is up 8.9% over the last 5 years. Remember: P/E Ratios Don't Consider The Balance Sheet The 'Price' in P/E reflects the market capitalization of the company. Thus, the metric does not reflect cash or debt held by the company. In theory, a company can lower its future P/E ratio by using cash or debt to invest in growth. Story continues Such expenditure might be good or bad, in the long term, but the point here is that the balance sheet is not reflected by this ratio. Is Debt Impacting Alpha Pro Tech's P/E? Alpha Pro Tech has net cash of US$6.9m. That should lead to a higher P/E than if it did have debt, because its strong balance sheets gives it more options. The Verdict On Alpha Pro Tech's P/E Ratio Alpha Pro Tech's P/E is 60.2 which suggests the market is more focussed on the future opportunity rather than the current level of earnings. The recent drop in earnings per share might keep value investors away, but the net cash position means the company has time to improve: and the high P/E suggests the market thinks it will. What is very clear is that the market has become significantly more optimistic about Alpha Pro Tech over the last month, with the P/E ratio rising from 45.1 back then to 60.2 today. If you like to buy stocks that have recently impressed the market, then this one might be a candidate; but if you prefer to invest when there is 'blood in the streets', then you may feel the opportunity has passed. Investors should be looking to buy stocks that the market is wrong about. If the reality for a company is better than it expects, you can make money by buying and holding for the long term. We don't have analyst forecasts, but you could get a better understanding of its growth by checking out this more detailed historical graph of earnings, revenue and cash flow. You might be able to find a better buy than Alpha Pro Tech. If you want a selection of possible winners, check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a P/E below 20 (but have proven they can grow earnings). If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. The World Spanish Language Day is also known as United Nations Spanish Language Day. The significant day is observed on April 23 every year. World Spanish Day was organised by UNESCO in the year 2010. UNESCO made the day official in order to celebrate multilingualism and cultural heterogeneity as well as to encourage equal use of all six of its official working languages throughout the organisation. The day is also celebrated as a tribute to the writer Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. Check out more about what is World Spanish Language Day and its history. Also Read | HBO announces short film anthology series 'At Home' from five Spanish filmmakers What is World Spanish Language Day Originally, the day goes back to the year 1926, when a profound writer Vicente Clavel Andres first proposed the idea of a day dedicated to celebrate Spanish literature. Post the proposal, the tradition first started in Valencia and later quickly spread throughout Spain. By the year 1964, the day was adopted by all Spanish-speaking countries. Also Read | 'Money Heist' inspires 'The Raikar Case' actor Parul Gulati in to taking Spanish lessons Initially, October 12 was chosen as the day of celebration as it is traditionally recognised as the day when Christopher Columbus discovered America, tracing the beginning of the spread of the Spanish language and culture as well as its lasting impact on the new world. However, later the date was changed by the UN and there has been no official statement made by the UN as to why the date was changed. The United Nations urges all the companies around the globe to celebrate the days of languages. They also encourage them to organise cultural events that show the importance of multilingualism through music, art, food, and movies. Also Read | 'Money Heist' Season 4: Where was the popular Spanish drama filmed? In another history, World Spanish Language Day is also celebrated as an honour to the writer Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, deceased on April 23. Known as El Manco del Lepanto, Cervantes left his novel The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha, a monumental text that contributed to the enrichment of world literature and Spanish language. Described as the first modern novel, this has been the most translated and edited book in history. Also Read | Lives Lost: Spanish father leaves behind bits of history We think of Russian spy stories as a 20th-century genre of storytelling, but imperial Russia retained a sprawling corps of intelligence-gathering bureaucrats that it sent to spy on Qing-dynasty China. The intrigue: In "Spies and Scholars: Chinese Secrets and Imperial Russia's Quest for World Power" (Belknap Press, 2020), Georgetown University historian Gregory Afinogenov draws on never-before-seen material from Russian archives. The big picture: Afinogenov's research shows that Russian intelligence on China was highly coveted in Europe, granting Moscow greater prestige among European powers. In an 18th-century "cold war," Afinogenov told me, Russia and China competed for the "hearts and minds" of inner Asian peoples on the frontier between the two empires. Why it matters: Then, like today, an increasingly strident tone in the missives that Chinese diplomats sent to Russia indicated shifting geopolitical realities. What they said: A letter, sent in 1764 by the Bureau of Foreign Tributaries in Beijing roughly analogous to a foreign ministry today revealed rising tensions between Russia and China: If you've always thought your handsome hound had a shot at winning big at Crufts, now is your chance to find out. The Kennel Club, the organisation behind the prestigious event, has launched an online dog show for pet owners stuck indoors during lockdown. The competition includes classes for both pedigree and crossbreed mutts, as well as different age categories. The virtual show began on Easter Monday and has already attracted more than 11,000 entries from dog lovers across the UK. The Kennel Club, the organisation behind the prestigious event, has launched an online dog show for pet owners stuck indoors during lockdown. Pictured: Cutest puppy class winner Aruba the Chesapeake Bay Retriever Entries for each class open in the morning, with owners urged to submit photos or a video of their precious pooch to the Kennel Club's social media accounts - Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. The winning hound will then be selected by judges from the club, and the winners announced at the end of the day. You still have time to enter the Prettiest Bitch competition, which is running today, with other categories remaining this week including Best Puppy Dog Eyes, Golden Oldie (for the over seven-year-olds), Best Rescue and Best Dog Doppelganger. The competition continues until Sunday 3 May. Here FEMAIL brings you a selection of the winners and runners-up so far. Dior the Dalmatian won the Best Utility class on April 16 - and he's clearly no stranger to having his picture taken The winner of the Toy class category was the adorable and immaculately groomed Ziggy the Bichon Frise, from Northampton Working class winner was Queenie the five-year-old St Bernard. This photo is of her visit to her ancestral home in Switzerland. Last Christmas she helped raise money for schools in Africa selling mince pies in her reindeer antlers Pastoral class winner was retired Police dog Pharaoh who served in the West Midlands police dog unit. He's now enjoying his retirement, living with his handler Gundog class winner was Shadow the Labrador. Shadow is a Working Gundog, Blood Donor, and has an Organ and tissue donor card, plus he's competed at Crufts twice Hound class winner was Maximus the Otterhound. He loves to cuddle everyone, and enjoys naps and tasty treats Handsome dog class winner was Bilbo the Cocker Spaniel, pictured in a rather dashing bow tie Terrier class winner was Fudge the Cairn Terrier. Despite having a bad start in life, having been abandoned just before Christmas when he was five months old, he has a great temperament and is super willing to learn. He loves his agility and trick training Coco the Weinamarer was entered into the Best Gundog category and was a favourite among the judges Tiggi, a sixth-month-old Miniature Schnauzer, was entered into the Best Utility competition Barney, the adorable Old English Sheepdog, was entered into the Pastoral category and narrowly missed out Glamorous Afghan Hound Donna was entered by her owner into the Hound category but didn't quite scoop the win Louby the West Highlands Terrier was also a popular choice among the judges within the Terrier group Hathi the Kooikerhondje entered best Utility - and though she didn't win the trophy, at least she's still got her toy What a mucky pup! Jasper the Miniature Poodle was entered into the Best Utility category This Airedale terrier, called Mr Darcy, didn't win overall - but he certainly won the hearts of the judges Kelly the Greyhound was also a favourite among the judges thanks to her glossy coat and gentle nature Albert, a 17 week-old Miniature Schnauzer puppy, is full of mischief and mayhem and his owner Donna credits him as being a much welcomed release from all the current craziness Betty, a six month-old Hungarian Pumi, was up there in the Puppy category but just missed out Ruari, an eight-week-old Irish Setter who loves a teddy bear (and clearly a snooze) was also among the runners up in the Puppy category Scooby, a six-month-old Lurcher puppy, also proved a big hit with the Kennel Club judges Frodo, an Italian Spinone and complete gentleman who loves to snuggle and protect his mum, was a runner-up in the Most Handsome Dog category Blaze, a 12-year-old Eurasier, is apparently still as mischievous as he was when he was a puppy. He was entered into the Most Handsome Dog category Upcoming Kennel Club online classes Wednesday 22nd April - Prettiest Bitch Thursday 23rd April - Best Puppy Dog Eyes Friday 24th April - Golden Oldie (7 years+) Saturday 25th April - Best Rescue Sunday 26th April - Best Dog Doppelganger (you and your dog) Monday 27th April - Best Canine Colleague Tuesday 28th April - Best At Home Agility Wednesday 29th April - Best At Home Heelwork to Music (including Freestyle) Thursday 30th April - Best At Home Obedience Friday 1st May - Best At Home Handling (circle, triangle or straight up and down) Saturday 2nd May - Best At Home Trick Sunday 3rd May - Best At Home Dog and Owner Workout Advertisement More information about the show and how to enter is available on the Kennel Club's social media channels and website, as well as other lockdown tips and activities, and coronavirus information and advice: www.thekennelclub.org.uk/coronavirus. SHANGHAI, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Governors (BoG) of the New Development Bank (NDB) held its Fifth Annual Meeting virtually on April 20, 2020. Governors exchanged views on the next five-year General Strategy of the New Development Bank, highlighting that the NDB supports infrastructure and sustainable development projects tailored to the needs of individual countries, respecting their development priorities and strategies. "Our approach has been one of being extremely receptive to client needs, offering local and hard currency products, managing risks prudently, avoiding the traditional donor-donee mindset, and focusing on contributing to our members' sustainable development goals," said the NDB President Mr. K.V. Kamath in his statement at the Meeting . The Board of Governors approved Audited Financial Accounts of the Ordinary Operations for the period from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019. The BoG also approved Audited Financial Accounts for the Project Preparation Fund for the period January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019. The Board elected Mr. Anton Siluanov, the Governor for Russia, Minister of Finance as the Chairperson of the Board of Governors, and Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman, the Governor for India, Minister of Finance as the Vice-Chairperson of the Board of Governors. It was announced that they shall serve in the respective positions until the end of the next Annual Meeting of the Board. The Board of Governors decided that its Sixth Annual Meeting will be held in Russia in 2021. It was also decided that the Board will hold a special meeting in May 2020 to elect the next President of the Bank. During the Meeting, Governors exchanged views on responding to the novel coronavirus outbreak and approved Statement on Response to COVID-19 Outbreak. "On behalf of the Bank, I would like to convey that we deeply regret the loss of life and economic and social distress being caused by COVID-19. The Bank stands in solidarity with you and the global community in the fight against this pandemic and is devoting a significant portion of its human and financial resources to assist its members," said Mr. K.V. Kamath. Background information The NDB was established by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to mobilize resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging economies and developing countries, complementing the existing efforts of multilateral and regional financial institutions for global growth and development. To fulfill its purpose, the NDB will support public or private projects through loans, guarantees, equity participation and other financial instruments. According to the NDB's General Strategy, sustainable infrastructure development is at the core of the Bank's operational strategy for 2017-2021. In August 2018, the Bank received AA+ long-term issuer credit ratings from S&P and Fitch. ### OKLAHOMA CITY Rep. Kevin McDugle will stay on the ballot despite a challenge alleging he didnt live in House District 12. The Oklahoma State Election Board on Tuesday heard contests of candidacy. Action by the board is final. Republican Justin Dine alleged McDugle, R-Broken Arrow, did not live in the district but resided at a condo in Tulsa. McDugle said he leased the Tulsa condo to another individual while maintaining a residence in HD 12. As always in a fair democracy, we all have the ability to run for office, McDugle said. And I encourage all to do so. But what we saw today causes me to question the decision making of my opponent because of the witnesses that he brought in and the fact he has never once called his own representative to ask questions or show concerns. McDugle also drew an unsuccessful residency challenge in 2018. Dine and McDugle are the only candidates for HD 12. The coronavirus pandemic has impacted many around the globe, including college students who had to stop their normal day-to-day activities, pack up their belongings, and travel thousands of miles back home as colleges and universities canceled in-person classes and events and postponed spring commencement ceremonies. Malin Enger, a University of Miami senior, did not expect to be spending her second-to-last semester back home in Oslo, Norway. Living in Miami for nearly three years after transferring from Santa Monica College in California, Enger had a daily routine. During the week, after breakfast, she would take the Metrorail to campus for classes and end her day at the gym, followed by dinner and a quick study session. On the weekends, she enjoyed going out with her friends to local Miami hotspots such as Story and LIV. With the current outbreak of COVID-19 and having to move back home and adjust to a different lifestyle, Enger is having a difficult time acclimating to the cold weatherbecause she had been living in warm weather since 2016. Enger also had to adjust to taking her courses online, and she had to accommodate the time zone differences between Norway and Miami. She misses her friends, her routine in Miami, and the ability to go out whenever she wants. Typically, the only interaction she has with her friends at UM are during virtual class discussions or group meetings. When Enger initially returned to Norway, she had to self-isolate for 14 days at her mothers house. She only recently visited her father. Although Enger is not happy with the current situation, she is trying to make the best of it by incorporating some of the things she did in Miami. Even though gyms in her hometown are closed, she has continued to exercise at home. In addition, Enger and her mother are jogging together for extra physical activity. And, she is considering resurrecting an old hobbyknittingto help keep her busy. Despite the negatives, being back home has also been positive. It has given Enger the opportunity to spend quality time with her family. When she isnt in class or studying, she spends time with them watching television and baking. My mom is glad that Im back home; she wanted me to be home during all of this, Enger said. My dad usually handles me being away better than my mom, but he is still happy that Im not in Miami. As cases of COVID-19 around the world continue to increase, Enger is grateful that she is healthy and still can finish her courses. HAMPTON BAYS, NY A family mourning the loss of a beloved Hampton Bays man to the coronavirus found comfort in a caring nurse who reached out to them after his death and shared his last moments reassuring them that he did not die alone. Danielle Carroll, on the Facebook page, "In Memory of John Carroll," shared the story of love and kindness. "One of Daddys nurses reached out to me," she wrote. "I wanted to share with you the very emotional message she sent me." With his family unable to visit her father John Carroll, 65, Danielle said the nurse's message was a gift from the heart: "I wanted to reach out to you and your family personally during this very difficult time," his nurse wrote. "First, I want to express my deepest sympathy for the loss of your dad," she said. "I could hear very clearly how much he meant to all of you through all of the phone conversations that you and your family had with him on his final days. I could feel the immense amount of love and I am sure he was a very special man to you all. Again, I cannot express my sympathy enough. "I want you to know that I know how difficult it must have been for you and your family to not be able to come in to say good-bye in person. But I also want you and your family to know that I was there for your dad, your brother, your son, your cousin, your friend. I want you to know that he heard you all of you and he heard all of your conversations and all of your good-byes. He did not pass away alone. I was with him the whole time, during his final moments. I held his hand and told him it was going to be okay. I want you to know he was comfortable and at peace. He did not suffer during his final moments." The caring nurse said she just wanted to reach out to his family "in hopes that it would provide some sort of peace for you all. The love you all expressed to him was heard, and it was felt! And I just wanted you to know that you all provided exactly what he needed. God bless you all, and I hope this provided some closure and peace for you." Story continues Danielle Carroll, John's daughter, said she and her sister, Melissa, as well as the rest of her father's family, including his parents, who are 90 and 91 years old, are devastated by his loss. Her father, a retired plumber, had COPD, and, when he became disoriented in late March, was taken to the hospital by ambulance and admitted directly into the ICU. During the week that he was hospitalized before he died on March 27, Danielle said her father was on a ventilator and intubated the entire time. The nurse who sent the message and another nurse both nurses are not identified due to privacy issues both called all of Carroll's relatives, including his daughters, his four siblings, and his parents, so that they would have a chance to speak to him one more time. For that, Danielle said, she is eternally grateful. "I wouldn't have gotten a chance to say good-bye." The day her father died, Danielle said, was beautiful, with blue skies and 60-degree weather. Her uncles in Florida also sent photos; the sky there was a vivid blue, too, she said. Her mother, Danielle said, felt it was a sign; her father loved the Allman Brothers Band and the song "Blue Sky." He passed soon after the family shared photos of the blue skies and they believe it was a message. "He wanted us to know he is okay," Danielle said. "I think that was his way of saying he was there." Courtesy Carroll family Losing their beloved family member has been even more painful because, due to coronavirus protocols, no traditional wake or funeral can be held. "He is part of a big family," Danielle said. "So we are going to have a celebration of his life in the summer when we can all be together." (Video courtesy Carroll family) Friends, however, organized a drive-by memorial; more than 90 cars passed by over a period of 15 minutes to honor her father, Danielle said. "We were speechless," she said. Remembering her father, Danielle said he shared his love of blues music with her and her sister Melissa, taking them to music festivals in Riverhead and upstate: "There are so many memories." Her also loved spending time with her sister Melissa's family, including his granddaughters Haylee, 4, and Aubrey, 2. He loved taking the family to IHOP and he enjoyed days at the Ponquogue Bridge or the Shinnecock Canal looking for seals; he also loved fishing and hunting. From her father, Danielle said she inherited his dry sense of humor. John Carroll's daughter Melissa and her daughters Haylee and Aubrey. Courtesy Carroll family. "He was very quiet," Danielle said, adding that she used to joke sarcastically that he "was a man of many words. But he said what he needed to say." The bond was strong, she said. "We were very close." Losing him, Danielle said, has been a shock. When he was first hospitalized, after they got the first test results, they had prayed for good news when his fever wasn't high. Initially, the plan was that he wouldn't remain intubated but then, everything moved quickly as his illness worsened. Danielle said because she is an essential worker, she is forever grateful to her sister Melissa for being able to take all the calls from doctors and nurses. "I give her a lot of credit, and she will never know how truly thankful I am," she said. She and her family are still in shock at the sudden loss of the man who shaped their lives, Danielle said; the unthinkable loss runs deep. Danielle Carroll with her father John. / Courtesy Carroll family "I say it every day, how much I loved him, how much I am going to miss him. But there is nothing I missed out on telling him," Danielle said. "I feel content. We had a good relationship. I always told him I loved him and he always told me he loved me." When the coronavirus has passed, Danielle said her family will finally be able to grieve together. "Right now, we can't even hug," she said. "I can't even go and hug my sister. When all this is over and we can hug each other again, that first hug is going to be a different kind of hug." Her father's legacy will live forever, Danielle said. "My dad made me the woman I am today by teaching me to be a fearless, independent spirit with a will to go after what I want." After they heard their son was hospitalized, his parents, 90 and 91, came home from Florida where they were staying with their son Christopher Carroll, John's brother. "My mom said, 'I want to go home and be near my son,'" brother Jim Carroll said. But John, he said, was hospitalized on March 20, his parents arrived back on March 23, and John died on March 27. "All of us are devastated," Jim said. "None of us could see him." Jim, too, is thankful to the nurse who gave him a chance to speak to his brother, one last time. "She got all suited up to enter his room," he said. Then she used her own cell phone to call family members so they could say the final good-bye. "It was horrible," he said. "And so hard for my parents. They can't be comforted." But even on the darkest days, the care shown by nurses meant everything and the message about her father's last moments, sent from a compassionate, caring nurse, was a gift beyond measure, Danielle said. "I know how overwhelming and chaotic it must be at the hospital," she said. "Even on the hardest days, I went her to remember how appreciated and loved she is by many just for doing that simple thing, without having to." Front line nurses, she said, "are doing such an amazing job for all the people that can't be there for their families or friends. They're being their family, their friends, for us," she said. Danielle said she can't even read the nurse's message without crying. "She was holding his hand," she said. "Of course, I wish it had been me, but at least there was someone there with him. The love I have for this woman, I don't even know how to put it into words, how kind she was. We need more people like her. She treated him as if he were her own dad. She is an angel." Courtesy Carroll family This article originally appeared on the Westhampton-Hampton Bays Patch Update April 23 10 a.m. Following Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo's mandatory face covering order, several Houston-area county judges said they would not follow suit. Fort Bend County Judge KP George said on Twitter he is not issuing a specific order but strongly recommends residents wear masks when in public. Galveston County Judge also opposed the order, saying via Twitter that while he encourages residents to wear masks, he is not mandating it because he believes it is unconstitutional to do so. Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough said he did not believe he had the legal ability to issue such an order, the Houston Chronicle reported. Click through the photos above for a look at how the Houston community is responding to the order... Original story April 22 Houstonians, public officials and police unions had plenty to say on social media after Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo issued a 30-day order mandating citizens to wear face masks in order to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus. The order takes effect Monday, April 27 and requires the county's nearly 5 million residents ages 10 years and older to cover the nose and mouth while out in public or face up to a $1,000 fine. Those with mental or physical health issues, and those who are driving, eating or exercising alone will be exempt. The Houston Chronicle was the first to report the order. "We are doing all that we are doing so that we never get there and continue to make progress," Hidalgo said during a Wednesday press conference, referring to the mass grave digging in hard-hit cities such as New York City. "Lets not get complacent...we still have work to do." Hidalgo clarified the order requires residents to wear "face coverings," which can be made from a bandana, T-shirt, scarf or homemade mask, and urged the public not to seek out medical masks or N95 masks, which are in short supply and needed by healthcare workers on the frontlines. "I know this takes some getting used to, but these are all small but powerful actions," Hidalgo said. "We have saved over 4,500 lives according to Rice University...This will continue to make a difference." Houstonians were quick to react to the news, offering a mixed reaction on Twitter of approval and dismay. Some residents and public leaders praised Hidalgo's efforts to implement policies that some say have proven to flatten the curve of cases in the region. The number of cases inside the city of Houston has increased by 27 as of Wednesday, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner announced during the press conference. Wednesday marks the third straight day in a row that no new deaths have been reported inside the city. ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: The model showed 6,000 would die in Texas. Now it's 1K. What's changed? Others had not-so-positive responses, leading to a barrage of hateful comments aimed at Hidalgo on Twitter. In an April 22 letter addressed to the community, the Houston Police Officers' Union called the order "draconian" and said it is seeking counsel from the Texas Attorney General's Office on the legality of imposing a fine for not wearing a mask in public. "It is clear the so-called leader of Harris County lacks any critical thinking skills," Joe Gamaldi, Houston Police Officers' Union Lodge 110 President wrote in the letter. "But let me assure the public, our officers do!" THINGS TO KNOW: Meet Armando Walle and Marvin Odum, Houston's coronavirus recovery czars Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called the order "the ultimate government overreach" and said it will fuel public anger, "and rightfully so." Hidalgo responded to the police union's comments during the conference, saying "everyone is entitled to their opinions." Turner added to her remarks and said the order is not intended to be punitive or overbearing but to slow the progression of the virus. "This is not a police state...this is not about trying to find folks who are not wearing a mask," Hidalgo said. "It's something we have to do for the sake of our safety, our lives and our economy." Click through the photos above for a look at how the Houston community is responding to the order... In this article: 30 Days of Night, Wonder, A Single Shot. Theres a powerfully emotive drama, some Oscar-winning movies and a Sam Rockwell double bill today as TopFilmTip brings you the best films on TV for Wednesday, 22 April. In inescapable orbit of facially-disfigured boy, friends and family find their lives and hearts uplifted as he self-actualises in deeply affecting, masterfully emotive drama Wonder 6:45pm Film4 Softened by success, self-doubting Italian stallion must rediscover his eye-of-the-tiger with beefcaking montages and short-shorts fun at the beach in Rocky III 9pm ITV 4 Wily bounty hunter outsmarts FBI, mobsters and rivals to deliver money launder in characterful, flawless odd-couple fun Midnight Run 9pm Film4 Robert De Niro stands in the desert with Charles Grodin in a scene from the film 'Midnight Run', 1988. (Photo by Universal/Getty Images) The few survivors of vampire onslaught on Alaskan town battle blood-lusting baddies in axe-decapitating, JCB melee: 30 Days Of Night 10pm SyFy Read more: The best 4K TV deals Pulling no punches, loquacious force-of-will personified blazes trail through haters and humanity alike in intricate, intimate pugilistic powerhouse biopic Ali 11:10pm ITV 4 Cowardly, intellectual, sporty teen learns fortitude from terminally ill ex-assassin in wry-witted coming of age dramedy Ashby 11:35pm Film4 Accidental killing of a woman draws creeping chaos upon stubborn rural poacher Sam Rockwell in grimy tension builder A Single Shot 11:45pm Sony Movies Awkward boy escapes parental penumbra and with Sam Rockwell's quick quipping friendship self-actualises at waterpark The Way Way Back 1:25am Channel 4 Everything new on streaming in April: Netflix UK: Aprils new releases Everything coming to Now TV in April Amazon Prime Video UK: The biggest April releases Everything coming to Disney+ in April Follow TopFilmTip on Twitter for daily film recommendations. Some films may require a Sky subscription. He was born to Albert E. Thornburgh and Phoebe (Jones) Thornburgh on June 26, 1925, in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Great Depression necessitated a move to Oak Park, Ill. to live with his grandparents who were also housing his aunts family. He was particularly close to his cousin Owen Evans whose father called them Jim and Joe. Though Joes name did not stick, Jims did. The house was crowded and Jim was sent to Randolph to live with his Aunt Mabel Roberts family. He started his education in the one room schoolhouse in South Randolph. Those early ties lasted his entire life. Jim graduated from Oak Park High School, and enlisted in the Army Air Corps. He attended Rockhurst College where he received flight instruction. Jim served in air traffic control in the Philippines and was one of the first Americans to enter Japan at the end of WWII. After his discharge, Jim returned to Randolph, attended UW-Oshkosh, and renewed his friendship with Elaine Smith. They were married on June 7, 1947, in the First Congregational Church in Randolph. Elaine preceded him in death in 2016. Exxon Mobil Corporation XOM recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Algerias state-run hydrocarbon company, Sonatrach. The deal focuses on potential exploration and development opportunities in the North African country. Algerias oil-dependent economy will likely improve from the agreement. The OPEC country introduced new hydrocarbon laws last January to bring in more investments. Algerias production and exports have declined in the past few years due to declining foreign investments amid growing demand in the domestic market. The countrys economy has significant reliance on earnings from oil and gas productions. As such, declining oil prices and export volumes have affected the states finances in recent years. The most recent crude price crash, triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, forced the government to slash public spending by 30%. The global oil market is currently suffering from oversupply and demand destruction due to coronavirus-induced lockdowns and travel bans. The situation is expected to improve once the restrictions are removed. As such, focus on low-cost exploration and development opportunities in Algeria will benefit ExxonMobil in the long term. To navigate through the current market uncertainty, ExxonMobil stated earlier that it plans to slash 2020 capital spending plan by 30% or $10 billion from its original guidance to $23 billion. On a positive note, ExxonMobil expects long-term industry fundamentals to remain unchanged. As such, demand will rise as soon as the market reverts back to its normal state. Keeping the long-term aspect in mind, the company is trying to keep its major projects unaffected. Therefore, it expects the current offshore Guyana operations to be unaffected as well. The commencement of the second phase of the Liza development is scheduled for 2022. However, due to the current deferred activities, its Payara development can be delayed by six months to a year. Story continues Price Performance The companys stock has plunged 41.3% year to date compared with 40.3% fall of the industry it belongs to. Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider Currently, ExxonMobil has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked players in the energy space are RGC Resources Inc. RGCO, Murphy USA Inc. MUSA and Comstock Resources, Inc. CRK, each having a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. RGC Resources 2020 earnings per share are expected to rise 14.8% year over year. Murphy USAs 2020 earnings per share are expected to rise 22.6% year over year. Comstock Resources 2020 sales are expected to gain 33.1% year over year. 5 Stocks Set to Double Each was hand-picked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2020. Each comes from a different sector and has unique qualities and catalysts that could fuel exceptional growth. Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor. Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) : Free Stock Analysis Report Comstock Resources, Inc. (CRK) : Free Stock Analysis Report Murphy USA Inc. (MUSA) : Free Stock Analysis Report RGC Resources Inc. (RGCO) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Pranab Mondal By Express News Service KOLKATA: The two central teams visiting West Bengal for an on-the-spot assessment of the implementation of lockdown measures taken to fight novel coronavirus sat idle at a guest house of BSFs South Bengal frontier headquarters in south Kolkata as the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool government allegedly refused to send its representatives with them. The team, left the BSF headquarters around 10 am, but had to return after travelling for a kilometre. The five-member team, led by Apurva Chandra, the additional secretary, Department of Defence, was scheduled to meet Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha at Nabanna, the state secretariat, around 11 am on Tuesday. Yes, they were scheduled to meet me at my office. But I got to go for an emergency meeting and so could not give them time, said Sinha. ALSO READ | 'Adventure tourism': TMC on central teams' visit to West Bengal to assess COVID-19 situation Sinha went to the BSFs headquarters around 2.20 pm and held a meeting with the members. Sources said the state government allowed the team to visit some places in Kolkata after a letter from the Ministry of Home Affairs arrived asking the governments cooperation. ALSO READ | MHA directs West Bengal not to obstruct working of central teams assessing lockdown measure The central team left the BSF office around 4.10 pm and visited some pockets in south Kolkata. Debashmita Roy, deputy commissioner of police, south-east division, went to the BSF headquarters and reportedly informed the central team that Kolkata Police would not be available to escort them. On Monday, April 20, 2020, Tel Aviv University's Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry and the Moshe Kantor Database for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism held a press conference via Zoom with the European Jewish Congress to highlight their annual report on the state of antisemitism worldwide. The conference was led by Prof. Dina Porat, Head of the Kantor Center; Dr. Giovanni Quer, Academic Director of the Kantor Center; and Adv. Arie Zuckerman, Chairman of the Kantor Center Board. Dr. Moshe Kantor, President of the European Jewish Congress, made taped opening remarks. The main points underlined in the report included the following: There was an 18% rise in violent antisemitic incidents worldwide over 2018, the highest rise since 2014. There were 456 major violent antisemitic attacks; 53 attacks on synagogues; 169 attacks on individuals; and seven murders. There is now a new crop of antisemitism: COVID-19-related antisemitism. People are using the pandemic to spread racism, xenophobia and antisemitism. This kind of antisemitism proposes that Jews as a collective and Jews as individuals are behind the spread of the virus or are directly profiting from it. This "new" antisemitism draws on "classic" antisemitism: medieval blood libels; Jews as responsible for the spread of disease, poisoning wells and controlling the economy. As people feel the economic effects of the lockdown, they look in tandem for someone/something to blame. This allows conspiracy theories to flourish, with Jewish people and other minorities at the center of these. Social distancing measures have positioned online platforms as the main mode of communication. The Kantor Center suggests enforcing stricter rules against hate speech online, including but not limited to closing any pages that promote hate speech. "If leaders do not respond to the social and economic effects of the COVID-19 health crisis, the consequences will be catastrophic not only for the Jewish community but for our societies and our future," Dr. Kantor said in a taped statement. "There has been a dramatic increase in online hate speech, and what happens on the internet does not stay on the internet," said Dr. Quer. "Major violent attacks have exemplified this. There is a causal link between online hate speech and violence." "There is a discrepancy between action taken by governments and the impression on the streets. It is our main mission to try to bridge the gap in antisemitism between government and society," said Prof. Porat. "It is terrible what we are being accused of: We are being accused of manufacturing this virus to create a vaccine to sell it to the entire world and make money off of people's suffering. It is terrible, but we must remember we are not alone. Chinese people are being detained everywhere; we are not alone in this. That said, some 40% of young Jewish people are contemplating leaving Europe today, which is very serious." ### American Friends of Tel Aviv University supports Israel's most influential, comprehensive and sought-after center of higher learning, Tel Aviv University (TAU). TAU is recognized and celebrated internationally for creating an innovative, entrepreneurial culture on campus that generates inventions, startups and economic development in Israel. TAU is ranked ninth in the world, and first in Israel, for producing start-up founders of billion-dollar companies, an achievement that surpassed several Ivy League universities. To date, 2,500 US patents have been filed by Tel Aviv University researchers -- ranking TAU #1 in Israel, #10 outside of the US and #66 in the world. The best meal I had on Necker Island, Sir Richard Branson's ultra-exclusive private playground in the British Virgin Islands, was a sushi "boat". I was lounging beside the idyllic beachside pool, palm trees waving overhead, when a staff member appeared in the water, pushing a canoe filled with ice and covered with huge platters of fresh sashimi and maki rolls. I gasped and clapped. "I've heard," the guest on the next lounger whispered to me, "that sometimes one of the girls strips down to a bikini, and they lay out the sushi on her." Sir Richard Branson's luxury resort at Necker Island. That's the thing about Necker. It's always had a sense of friskiness mixed with high power. On the one hand, we've seen pictures of Branson kitesurfing with Barack Obama, and on the other, there's Kate Moss and Harry Styles partying hard. This is a place where high rollers talk business and where sushi might well be served on the naked torso of a lithe staff member. I was lucky enough to spend a few days on Necker on a press trip in 2014, and I saw neither high rollers nor humans serving platters. Branson had left a few days earlier, and instead I shared the island with just five other guests, all here for a "celebration week" where you rent a room for $10,000 per night. If that sounds pricey, consider the usual cost. Necker is generally let exclusively, costing $162,000 per night for up to 40 guests. It's a hefty price tag, but one that doesn't seem to put people off. When Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston wanted to honeymoon here, they were reportedly turned away as the island was so booked up. Before COVID-19 hit in full and shelter-in-place orders were issued, Springfield, Ill., was like most cities taking a holistic approach to digital inclusion, trying to boost the numbers of students in area schools who had access to the Internet at home.And like most cities, obstacles such as infrastructure and available resources were challenges. Then the pandemic hit, and suddenly the schools were closed, students were home, and teachers were moving to online instruction. Connecting those students went from a long-term project to a necessity, and it needed to be done in days not in weeks, months or years.Tom Chi, who is the central Illinois citys telecommunications manager and acting chief innovation officer, said there was no time to build out infrastructure, and no time to wait for resources. The city wanted to buy Wi-Fi hot spots to give to students during the crisis, he said, but even that was a challenge because nationwide demand had the tech on month-long backorders.So Springfield reached out to Verizon, and through the companys contacts, the city was able to overcome supply chain issues caused by the crisis to acquire 1,000 Wi-Fi hot spots to give to public school students. To do this, Verizon connected Springfield with Connected Solutions Group , in Mechanicsville, Va.And Springfield is not the only city that has been forced to take this immediate, whatever-it-takes approach to digital equity during the crisis. In fact, cities all over the country are working to find new and agile ways to bridge the digital divide, even if those ways are often temporary.As the vice president of business and development for the gov tech company UrbanLeap , Rich Lechner has helped convene a discussion and resources network of more than 200 cities from 37 states during the crisis. In a recent Zoom conversation, Lechner described rapidly bridging the digital divide the way Springfield did as a frequent topic of discussion.He said for many cities, the work has long involved creating resources at physical locations such as libraries or community centers, and it now has to change to helping residents get online access without having to go out in public.Angelina Panettieri is the legislative manager for information technology and communications with the National League of Cities , a professional network for civic leadership. Panettieri is also involved with efforts to connect cities with each other so they can share lessons learned during the crisis, and she, too, pointed to digital inclusion as one of the more pressing matters currently facing local leadership.Its a challenge that faces both the public and private sector as well as city hall itself how can organizations get devices into peoples hands so they can conduct all their business online?What might have been a three- or five-year timeline has now been pushed into three weeks, Panettieri said of the rapid acceleration of need.To this end, there are several communities across the country that have converted unused school buses into Wi-Fi hot spots, so users in need can park beside them and get online from portable devices in their cars. While this works in the short term, the cost and logistical hassle of the connections hardly make it an endgame solution.Thats happening because we have fallen down on the job as a country, she said, because we have failed at providing adequate broadband infrastructure at a price where people can afford it. Thats happening because we messed up.While Panettieri said shes been heartened to see bi-partisan support for action taken by the FCC around digital equity during these times to make programs flexible and to secure volunteering commitments from Internet service providers, she said legislation aimed at fixing underlying digital equity issues namely poor broadband infrastructure and prohibitive service pricing is best remedied by legislative action. Bills such as the Digital Equity Act and the LIFT America Act are currently in existence and would be immensely helpful, provided they come to fruition.We just have to get it together and actually pass those bills, Panettieri said. A bunch of them have been sitting around for a while.Panettieri is also one of a chorus of voices in the local government and adjacent spaces voicing optimism that the crisis has illustrated the pressing and tangible needs for nationwide connectivity, doing so as it did with the school kids in Springfield and in other parts of the country with capabilities such as telehealth.In the meantime, cities are doing what they can, aided by public-private partnerships in their communities. In Kansas City, Mo., for example, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City has teamed with both the city and the business community on a program called the Employer Laptop Challenge An outgrowth of digital equity work the bank has been involved with for some time, the challenges verbiage notes that it would take at least 5,000 computers to meet the needs of the most at-risk families in metro Kansas City, and more to help nonprofits struggling to operate virtually.The basic idea behind the Employer Laptop Challenge is to organize a community effort for businesses to donate discarded computers to be refurbished and given out to those in need, said Jeremy Hegle, senior community development adviser for the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.The bank itself discards hundreds of computers each year, most of which could be refurbished and repurposed. Computers donated as part of the challenge will go to Connecting for Good , a Kansas City-based nonprofit that works to provide low-income communities in the city with Internet access, devices and digital literacy training the big three of digital inclusion.We see this as a low-cost, immediate way to support the schools in communities, Hegle said.In addition to helping the kids continue their learning, there is also a public health benefit to keeping households online. If they have Internet at home, they wont have to leave the house as much to accomplish basic tasks, and therefore wont be at risk of spreading or catching the virus.Its a rare obstacle that brings the public, private and nonprofit sectors together to take action in a matter of days, but with everything at stake, thats exactly whats happening with digital inclusion efforts in many cities nationwide. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-23 00:52:57|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LAGOS, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese automaker Guangzhou Automobile (GAC Group) has donated about 51,000 U.S. dollars to Nigeria to support its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the company announced Wednesday. GAC Group's chairperson in Nigeria, Diana Chen said the company's efforts include donations of an ambulance and 50,000 surgical face masks to health authorities in Lagos, Nigeria's economic hub, and other parts of the nation. The company has to join notable figures pushing the frontlines in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic in the West African country, said Chen in a statement sent to Xinhua. Since the outbreak of the epidemic in Nigeria, the government has stopped international and domestic passenger flights, closed all educational institutions and extended a lockdown in Abuja, Lagos and Ogun states, among other measures to curb the spread of the virus. The Consulate-General of China in Lagos in partnership with the Overseas Chinese Association in Nigeria last Friday donated about 91,000 dollars and medical supplies to the government of Lagos to help the state fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Enditem The legendary politician was declaiming, a hand reaching out to snatch at the air. Gary Scott, a Parkrose High sophomore on his first assignment for the school paper, hefted the brick-like Graflex XL camera hed been issued and steadied himself. He pressed the button. The resulting image is now a piece of history, marking a generation gap-bridging moment from the inaugural Earth Day on April 22, 1970. The photograph is held in the Oregon Historical Societys permanent collection. Fifty years after the experience, Scott recalls being terrified as he lined up the shot. He doesnt think he said a word to his subject, Oregon Gov. Tom McCall. I was just this shy, skinny 15-year-old kid bearing the weight of this massive camera, he told The Oregonian/OregonLive last week. I probably wouldve been too scared to even say, May I take your picture? He knows for sure he didnt say anything to the other person in the frame. In the photo, a girl, a fledgling student-journalist like him, is leaning toward the governor, her notebook open, brows knit. She has a makeshift press credential pinned to her dress. In fact, Scott didnt even know who the girl was. She was younger than him, a student not at Parkrose High but at Fremont Junior High, where the Earth Day event took place. The assignment sparked in Scott a passion for photography. He went on to become a professional photographer, first for the Navy and later for Leica Camera. (During his Navy stint, his handiwork landed on the front page of The Oregonian: a photograph of the damaged U.S.S. Belknap after it had collided with the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy in the Mediterranean.) Gary Scott says he took the photograph of the damaged U.S.S. Belknap that appeared on The Oregonian's front page in 1975. (The Oregonian) Two years ago, Scott decided to find the girl in the arresting image from his first-ever assignment as a photojournalist. Even though he had donated the photograph to the Oregon Historical Society, he figured she had never seen it. This led him to Anne Kolibaba Larkin and her husband, Jerry Larkin. Scott gave her the photograph of her moment with the governor. Indeed, she had never seen it before. Kolibaba Larkin pulled out her scrapbook as they reminisced. She had kept the paper press badge she wore that day and her reporters notebook. She also still had the issue of The Hoof Beat, Fremont Junior High Schools newspaper, in which she quoted the governor as saying: It is amazing what young people are doing. Theres no generation gap about pollution here. Its your future, and we want to give you a heritage that is worth inheritance. Anne Kolibaba Larkin kept the handmade "press pass" she wore on the day she interviewed Gov. Tom McCall in 1970. (Courtesy of Anne Kolibaba Larkin) I was so proud, Kolibaba Larkin told The Oregonian/OregonLive of her short interview with McCall. I think I was kind of nervous. My handwriting was shaky. I thought this was important. I took it very seriously. So did McCall, she recalls. Kolibaba Larkin, a retired language-arts specialist who taught in the Reynolds School District and at Portland State, says the late governor, a former journalist himself, was not the least bit condescending to her. He treated me as a real reporter. That overcast Wednesday in April 1970 proved to be an unusual one, and not just at Fremont Junior High. Strange things were happening across the country. America, riven by race riots and the Vietnam War for years, had found a reason to come together. In New York, Mayor John Lindsay rode in an electric car, a futuristic vehicle unavailable to the car-buying masses, while demonstrators pushed a tree on wheels down Fifth Avenue. In Chicago, activists handed out hundreds of soot-black balloons with the word GASP etched across them. In Portland, Grant High School students beat an automobile to death with an ax and gave it a fitting burial near the school, The Oregonian reported. In comparison, what was going on at Fremont was rather low-key. Gov. McCall was heralding an issue on which young people and their elders could mostly agree and work together, one that had special resonance in Oregon. During their brief interview, the Republican politician explained to Kolibaba how he had been ahead of the curve on this issue. (His political career essentially had been launched seven years earlier thanks to a one-hour documentary he made for KGW called Pollution in Paradise.) Ive had a litter pick-up campaign and publicity to make people more aware of the pollution problem, Kolibaba Larkins handwritten notes of the interview say. Her notebook then indicates McCall asked her what she thought should come next. What else can we do to curb pollution in our community and the state? Kolibaba Larkin wasnt a shy kid like Scott. She was wearing the handmade press badge that day, she says with a laugh, because she was filled with my own sense of self-importance. But she admits that, like Scott, she wasnt really able to enjoy the moment. I was so concerned about taking down what [the governor] said, getting it right, she recalls. That was my focus. -- Douglas Perry @douglasmperry Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. The devastating effects of the criminally mismanaged response to the coronavirus pandemic are driving New York City towards economic disaster. The city and its surrounding metropolitan area are among the most severely affected regions in the world and the citys economy has been crippled. Thousands of city residents have already died, hundreds of thousands have already lost or will lose their jobsan estimate of half a million total over the first three quarters of the yearand millions are living under increasingly desperate conditions. Due to the impact of the pandemic, the citys mayor, Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, projects a $7.4 billion reduction in tax revenue. He has declared that as a result many municipal services cant be a priority right now and will be slashed by at least $2 billion. The mayor has stated, this is in effect wartime. If this is war, who is the enemy? Not the super-rich. Evidently, it is the overwhelming majority of the citys 8.4 million residents. A spokesperson for the mayor has stated, We are committed to keeping New Yorkers fed, safe and healthy. The reality is quite different. New York City is home to the worlds financial capitalWall Street. As of last year, it was also the residence, at least part of the time, of 72 billionaires, according to the Forbes 400 list, and many more multimillionaires. Furthermore, with the federal government funneling hundreds of billions of dollars to big business, the stock market has been soaring on a sugar high. Nevertheless, despite the huge wealth that could be marshalled to ameliorate the mass suffering brought on by the coronavirus, these riches remain sacrosanct and untouchable. De Blasios proposed $89.3 billion executive budget for the 2020-2021 fiscal year represents a $3.5 billion reduction from the previous years approved budget. The mayors current proposal is $6 billion less than his initial estimate last January, before the emergence of the pandemic. De Blasio had previously warned that the January number was already in jeopardy given the uncertainty regarding the amount of funds expected from the state of New York, which at the beginning of the year had itself projected a deficit of at least $6 billion in its own budget. That has now at least doubled. The mayor expects an $800 million reduction in state funding. However, given the growing losses in tax revenue for the state, and the provision in the state budget that permits further cuts as the economic situation worsens, it is likely that state aid will be reduced even further. The state budget already includes a cut of $138 million from the citys public hospitals and tightened rules for Medicaid eligibility, at a time when hospitals are being overwhelmed by the pandemic. It also mandates that the city contribute $3 billion to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the state agency that runs the citys buses and subways. New York states governor, Andrew Cuomo, also a Democrat, has explicitly stated that, given the ballooning deficit at the state level, New York City and other municipalities can expect no additional assistance from the state. So far, additional expenditures incurred by the city as a consequence of fighting the coronavirus amount to $700 million. This is expected to reach a total of $3.5 billion by the end of the year. By comparison, additional aid from the federal government has amounted to less than half thata paltry $1.4 billion. Meanwhile, trillions are being provided in bailouts to the banks and major corporations. Other estimates project the fall in the citys tax revenues at even greater levels than that anticipated by the mayor. The citys Independent Budget Office projects a $10 billion reduction due to escalating job losses. During the week of March 22 alone, nearly 144,000 city residents filed unemployment claims, a 2,637 percent increase from the same period last year. The mayors office expects that a half million jobs will be lost as a result of the pandemic. In another gauge of the desperate economic state of New Yorkers, New York Cares reports that 130,000 meals were distributed in March, an increase of 55,000 from February. De Blasio told MSNBC that without additional aid from the federal government, the citys massive budget deficit would have impacts across the board. Education, health, social services, transportation, housing and parks have already taken major hits. Municipal workers will be a prime target of the budget cuts. Although no layoffs have yet been announced, calls for massive reductions in the citys work force are emanating from business groups, such as the Citizens Budget Commission. The mayor has stated that layoffs would be contemplated if sufficient assistance is not forthcoming from the federal government. A hiring freeze and vacancy reductions are being implemented across city agencies, which are expected to save $106 million. The city budget is already looting reserve funds, including $2.6 billion from retiree health benefits. Despite this, unions who bargain for city workers have remained largely silent. Health and social services are being slashed by $256 million. $24 million is being taken from the Transportation Department and $80 million from the Sanitation Department. The citys Fair Fares program, which provides half-price Metrocards to low income New Yorkers for rides on public buses and subways, will also be reduced. The citys Department of Education has already announced plans to cut $827 million from its budget next school year. Other cuts that will impact the citys youth include: The elimination of 75,000 summer youth employment jobs; The closing of all outdoor pools for the summer; The suspension of 1,000 summer camp slots. The cuts announced so far are only the beginning. The head of the Citizens Budget Commission has stated that what has been revealed so far is simply a first down payment. A full budget proposal is due by the end of the week. De Blasio, Cuomo, and US President Donald Trump are all trying to blame one another other for the devastating economic impact of the pandemic on the working class. In truth, the city, state, and federal governments are all equally culpable, since they all begin with the same premise there is no money. In fact, there is plenty of money, but all of it is going to prop up the financial and corporate elites, while the citys working class is to be made to suffer increasing misery and death. The Bank has donated a portable Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing equipment to The Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research to complement efforts to test more people for COVID-19. Bank has donated 2,000 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to support frontline hospital staff in The Greater Accra Regional Hospital 21st April, 2020, Accra: - Standard Chartered has today donated portable Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing equipment and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research to support and expand testing capabilities in the fight against COVID 19. The portable PCR equipment would enable Noguchi to remotely test samples of suspected COVID 19 cases making it possible to test more people and within their communities and neighbourhoods hence providing the ability to detect cases much quicker. The Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) is one of the institutions in Ghana mandated to carry out testing, contact tracing and provide diagnostic confirmation of COVID 19 in Ghana. In addition to the equipment, the Bank also donated N95 masks to protect the health workers as they go into the field to do contact tracing and testing. Speaking during the presentation, Mrs. Mansa Nettey, Chief Executive, Standard Chartered Bank Ghana Limited said, Standard Chartered in keeping with our brand promise to be Here for good, particularly in times of adversity has committed GHC1million to support efforts in curbing the spread of COVID 19 in Ghana. Testing is very important in the fight against the pandemic and we believe that is appropriate to support the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research with the right equipment to expand and enhance its testing capabilities. Receiving the items Professor Abraham Kwabena Annang, Director Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research said, The Standard Chartered donation will go a long way in the fight against COVID 19. The PCR equipment is a mobile one and the institute will use it to augment its work in testing for the virus. The gesture from the Bank fits into the vision of the world. SDG 17 Encourages the building of partnerships. Strategic and Innovative partnerships break barriers. The Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research would like to show its appreciation by accepting Standard Chartered as a key strategic partner and will continue to collaborate with them. Today the Bank also donated, 2000 PPE to the Greater Accra Regional Hospital in Ridge. The PPE made up of N95 masks, surgical gloves and disposable coveralls are to augment the supply of PPE for frontline staff. The Greater Accra Regional Hospital in Ridge is the first medical facility in the country to be designated as a Case Management Centre to deal with the outbreak of COVID 19 in Ghana. Mr. Adoteye Anum, Head, Financial Markets presenting the items to the Greater Accra Regional Hospital said we appreciate the dedication and sacrifice of frontline workers in the fight against COVID- 19. We are committed to supporting them with the resources they need to carry out their work effectively. Dr. Emmanuel Srofenyoh, Medical Director at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital said, This donation has come at an opportune time. PPEs are items that are critically needed by the frontline. There is a high need for them as they are disposable. We appreciate this gesture from Standard Chartered. These donations form part of the Banks initial GHS1million commitment to fight Covid19. The Bank will be making additional donations including testing equipment and Personal protection equipment to hospitals and health facilities across the country as well as supporting the vulnerable in underserved communities. As the ongoing Covid-19 crisis is being tackled in a united manner by the UAE government and other entities, Emirates International Schools (EIS) are stepping up to the challenge to protect their student community by ensuring no student will be deprived of an education due to financial constraints, as an increasing number of residents face salary cuts and job layoffs. EIS is offering customised discounts on upcoming third term fees for 2020 - up to a 50 per cent reduction in special cases - following extensive consultations with staff and parents. This timely relief is set to ease financial pressure on families and improve their confidence in the security of their children's education provided by EIS. In a few cases, school fees have also been waived for parents who provided documentation showing that their income or jobs had been direly affected. Large number of students at the two EIS schools - EIS Jumeirah and EIS Meadows, are set to benefit from the fee discounts or waivers, allowing them to continue their education unhindered in the face of economic upheavals. EIS, the UAE's first and leading IB (International Baccalaureate) School, has consistently worked to provide both immediate and long-term relief to parents facing financial challenges, well before the coronavirus outbreak. By approaching the school management on or before April 30, parents can avail of means-tested discounts and settle outstanding tuition fees. The re-registration deadline was extended after EIS made a decision to review the immense appeals from parents seeking fee relief measures. In spite of the current uncertainties, EIS has also pledged to retain all of their current staff members, lending them full support until normal school operations are resumed post-Covid-19. Amna Khalaf Al Habtoor, director of Schools at EIS, said: "In the light of the ongoing challenging situation, with a number of our parents facing layoffs and financial exigencies, we are willing to go the extra mile and work hand in hand with them to mitigate some of their pressures. We will do what we can to support them in these unprecedented circumstances, ensuring no student is denied their education. We trust this personalised approach is more effective, allowing us to make a significant difference to the school community." "Apart from the special third-term discounts which we are currently offering parents on a need-based roll-out, we are also providing students with devices to facilitate and ease their distance learning programme from home. We are working in tandem with our parent community to better adapt distance learning protocols to the students' needs," Al Habtoor added. Providing unequivocal support to its teaching staff, EIS has also provided teachers with school resources, to enable their comfort while delivering distance learning classes from home. As the UAE stands in solidarity to combat Covid-19, EIS will continue to offer sustainable and value-based fee structures, customised teaching methods and learning devices. The schools, whose students consistently beat global average scores in the IB Diploma Programme, are also working on readying its campuses to welcome students back in September. - TradeArabia News Service Halifax, Nova Scotia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 22, 2020) - Antler Gold Inc. ("Antler") (TSXV: ANTL) is pleased to provide an update on progress made on its Erongo Project in central Namibia. The Erongo Gold Project covers areas of the Navachab-Damara Belt, which is highly prospective for gold, and overlies similar lithologies and structures as the known Namibian Gold mines (QKR's Navachab and B2 Golds' Otjikoto) as well as Osino Resources' recent Twin Hills discovery. Antler's total license position now comprises three licenses (EPL 5455, 6162 and 7261) under option (see Press Releases dated September 10, 2019 and December 12, 2019) and a further five (EPL 7854, 7930, 7960, 8010 and 8042) under application, for a total landholding of approximately 81,100ha (811km2). The Erongo Gold Project is located approximately 130 km north-west of Namibia's capital city Windhoek and benefits from Namibia's well-established infrastructure of paved highways, railway, power and water. Please see Appendix #1 appended to this press release for the location of Antler's licenses. Note that mineralization hosted on adjacent and/or nearby properties is not necessarily indicative of mineralization hosted on Antler's property. EPL 5455 The first phase of work on Antler's large western license (EPL5455) (now called the "Western Project") was completed on March 25, 2020 and included systematic validation of historical surface geochemical sampling and geological mapping augmented by high-resolution walk magnetic surveys. This work has successfully defined four additional high priority targets. The work was completed by Remote Exploration Services (RES) and included reprocessing and interpretation of Government aeromagnetic data, collection of 661 line km of high-resolution ground magnetic data and collection of 964 soil, rock or calcrete samples. All samples will be analysed for gold and 36 multi elements. Soil and calcrete samples will be submitted to ActLabs in Canada and BLEG soil and rock samples will be submitted to Scientific Services in South Africa. As one of the largest independent exploration consultancies in Africa, RES has a proven track record of implementing discovery driven exploration solutions for both multinational mining companies as well as listed and private junior exploration companies. EPL 6162 and 7261 The contract with RES was expanded to include work on EPL's 6162 and 7261 (now called the "Central Project"). At present, RES is completing a desktop reinterpretation of regional Government airborne magnetic data, and compilation and review of historical datasets within the immediate area, which includes the historical workings of Onguati Mine, Brown Mountain and Western Workings. Once the reinterpretation and compilation is complete, future work will be planned and commenced. It is envisaged that this work will include, surface geochemistry and high-definition geophysics followed by trenching and drilling of priority targets. Land access agreements and applications for environmental permits for this work are underway. Exploration approach Antler and RES are employing a knowledge based Mineral Systems Analysis approach in order to prioritize areas within the current properties and develop targets for additional acquisition. This approach provides a framework that considers all the geological processes that control the formation and preservation of economically viable mineral deposits, and leverages off a comprehensive database of geophysical, geological, geochemical and remote sensed data. A Mineral Systems approach is very much process driven particularly steering away from prescriptive ore deposit model nomenclature and focuses on understanding the mineralising processes and, using weights of evidence, translates these into mappable elements for targeting. Employing this approach on regional and district scale allows Antler to identify new targets that have the potential to host tier 1 mineral deposits. Dan Whittaker, President and CEO of Antler stated, "We are very pleased to have made significant progress on our Erongo Project during this unprecedented time. We have several high priority targets to follow up on and eagerly await further information from the ongoing work on the Central Project which contains the southwest extension of a known mineralized trend. The safety and security of our employees, contractors and consultants is paramount and we are assured all are following the necessary and recommended procedures. We are also working closely with the Ministry of Mines and Energy and the Chamber of Mines in Namibia regarding the status of national health directives." Antler is also focused on rapidly acquiring and developing quality gold projects in the region, by adopting a multi-disciplinary approach to targeting. Our goal is to make multiple discoveries, while concurrently diversify jurisdictions and continually advancing projects creating value for all shareholders and stakeholders. David Evans, P.Geo., consulting geologist, is the qualified person as defined by NI 43-101 guidelines and has reviewed and approved this release. Cautionary Statements This press release may contain forward-looking information, such as statements regarding the ongoing and future work in Namibia by Antler and future plans and objectives of Antler. This information is based on current expectations and assumptions (including assumptions in connection with the continuance of Antler as a going concern, availability of funds to finance planned work and general economic and market conditions) that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict, including risks relating to the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic on Antler's work. Actual results may differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking information. Antler assumes no obligation to update forward-looking information in this release, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward-looking information unless and until required by applicable securities laws. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties is contained in filings made by Antler with Canadian securities regulators, copies of which are available at www.sedar.com. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. For further information, please contact Daniel Whittaker, President and CEO of Antler Gold Inc., at (902) 488-4700. Or Christopher Drysdale, Corporate Development of Antler Gold Inc., at +27 72-507-7560 Appendix #1 To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5124/54748_6f385a4ab4e1d931_001full.jpg To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/54748 Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 22:07:18|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Indonesian police officers inspect motorcyclists during a large-scale social restriction in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia, April 22, 2020. Indonesia has reported 283 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total to 7,418, the government's spokesperson for the COVID-19-related matters Achmad Yurianto said at a press conference here on Wednesday afternoon. Indonesia will deploy hundreds of thousands of police and military personnel to prevent regular mass departures of people to hometowns ahead of the Islamic festivity, a police officer said on Wednesday. (Photo by Septianjar/Xinhua) (CNN) Hundreds of billions of dollars are flowing every day from the largest emergency economic package in US history. The watchdogs, if they're even in place, are now just trying to keep up. The oversight work is starting, but there are already questions about whether the commissions and panels are getting set up fast enough and de-conflicting enough to stay on top of the spending. An even bigger looming question is whether the White House and President Donald Trump who has made clear he's no fan of oversight and criticism of his administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic will cooperate. The $2.2 trillion stimulus package, the largest in history signed into law last month, created several overlapping oversight entities to keep tabs on spending that would be doled out by the Trump administration. The legislation established a new special inspector general for pandemic recovery appointed by the President, a new oversight body within the inspectors general community and an independent congressional panel appointed by House and Senate leaders. The law also gave $20 million to the nonpartisan congressional watchdog, the Government Accountability Office. "People want to know what is happening to the money," said Angela Nicole Clowers, the leader of the GAO's health care unit. Congress, too, is taking its own oversight steps: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she will create a new committee dedicated to tracking government spending on the coronavirus recovery. There's plenty to look at. There have been early glitches in the Small Business Administration's loan program, criticisms over chain restaurants receiving some of the loans meant for smaller mom-and-pop restaurants and concerns that adding the President's name on stimulus checks may have delayed the money going out. But for some of the oversight panels, it's been a slow start. The first appointee to a newly created congressional body in an effort to get the ball moving sent out a request for information before any other members of his committee had even been appointed. The head of the inspectors general panel was removed. Still, several inspectors general started their audits, and the nonpartisan congressional watchdog has launched its own examination with its first report expected at the end of June. Many of the oversight efforts are reminiscent of the oversight set up in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and the resulting Troubled Asset Relief Program legislation to bail out the financial industry. Trump's oversight resistance Trump has already signaled he's likely to resist the oversight efforts. When the President signed the Cares Act last month, he included a signing statement suggesting he would ignore several of the oversight requirements, including that the newly appointed special inspector general inform Congress if the administration refuses to cooperate with requests for information. Trump then removed the acting inspector general for the Pentagon, Glenn Fine, after Fine had been selected to chair the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, the group of inspectors general who will oversee the stimulus spending. Trump also lashed out at a Health and Human Services inspector general report earlier this month that had surveyed hospitals across the country and said they had "severe" and "widespread" shortages of needed medical supplies. And Trump's selection to be the special inspector general for pandemic recovery, Brian Miller, is a lawyer in the White House counsel's office. The pick prompted sharp criticisms from Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who said that a White House aide is "exactly the wrong type of person to choose for this position." Miller, who was previously General Services Administration inspector general during the Bush and Obama administrations, needs Senate confirmation to the role, though the Republican-led Senate could confirm him without Democratic votes. The confirmation timetable, however, remains up in the air with the Senate out of Washington due to coronavirus. Congressional commission still needs a chair One place Trump cannot interfere is with the five-person congressional oversight commission that was created in the stimulus law, after Democrats demanded additional oversight measures over the Treasury Department's $500 billion fund to help stabilize the economy. The money, unlike the Small Business Administration programs, was intended to go to larger corporations affected by coronavirus. But the panel still does not have a chair, which is supposed to be jointly selected by Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The first person selected for the commission, Bharat Ramamurti, took matters into his own hands last week, sending a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell requesting public disclosure for individual transactions the Fed makes. And, Ramamurti has been tweeting in real time his concerns about how the $500 billion program is structured. Asked if he'd continue using Twitter in upcoming months to broadcast his concerns, he told CNN Monday, "I cannot say exactly, but I think it is a valuable tool, and I think overall the mandate of the commission is to inform the public." Over the last several days, more members have been added to the commission. Top House Republican Kevin McCarthy named Rep. French Hill of Arkansas to the commission. Pelosi named Rep. Donna Shalala of Florida, and McConnell selected Sen. Patrick Toomey of Pennsylvania. The commission members and their staffs have started speaking informally as they await a chair to be named to lead the panel. The commission is instructed to issue reports every 30 days, beginning next month. Pelosi told reporters last week that she and McConnell had agreed to "submit names who we think might be acceptable to each other" to chair the panel. "I'm sure there are plenty of people that would meet that test, who would be good to chair this panel. And so that is in the process," Pelosi said. In addition to the commission, Congress will be doing its own traditional oversight. Pelosi said she was creating a select committee on the coronavirus that would be led by House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, and the House Oversight Committee has already been pushing for data on the difficulties with supplying states with medical equipment amid the pandemic. In the Senate, McConnell designated Senate Banking Chairman Mike Crapo of Idaho to lead the Senate's oversight of the Cares Act. And Sen. Marco Rubio, who chairs the Small Business Committee, said Monday his panel would use its subpoena power to ensure that businesses receiving money from the Paycheck Protection Program are actually in need of the funds. "If companies are not forthcoming, the committee will use its subpoena power to compel cooperation," the Florida Republican said in a statement. The Cares Act and the latest stimulus bill Congress agreed to on Tuesday also include a host of provisions requiring the federal government, states and localities to provide reports to Congress. Inspectors general begin their audits Despite the removal of Fine, the committee of inspectors general appears to have started its task of auditing and investigating the money deployed from the $2 trillion stimulus, as well as two related laws that preceded that legislation. Inspectors general at the Departments of Defense, Labor, Justice and Health and Human Services have already announced or begun the process of audits and investigations into the coronavirus pandemic and the emergency relief law enacted last month. Unlike some other oversight entities, the way the committee is structured gives it an advantage into launching its oversight activities. Individual inspectors general can undertake initial audits and investigations into the implementation of the laws. They are then expected to coordinate their findings across the committee. The committee, made up of 21 members from offices of inspector general across the federal government, hasn't been without problems, however. The Council on Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) moved quickly to appoint the chair of the committee, naming Fine just three days after the $2 trillion economic relief bill was signed into law. Fine and Michael Horowitz, the Justice Department Inspector General and CIGIE chairman proceeded to add another 12 members to the committee. But a little more than a week later, Trump removed Fine from his role as acting Pentagon inspector general, making him ineligible to chair the committee. A replacement has not yet been named. Oversight 'as comprehensive as possible' One division of oversight is already up and running. The Government Accountability Office an office that's part of the Legislative Branch, meaning Trump himself cannot control it says it's on target to release its first report on the coronavirus response by the last week of June. After that, GAO will release reports every 60 days and cover a range of topics from the administration's preparations for coronavirus to the way the Small Business Administration's loan program was launched. Clowers, GAO's health care unit chief, told CNN the goal of the audits is to be "as comprehensive as possible" with the work already well underway. GAO has experience overseeing stimulus spending. The GAO regularly issues reports on disaster response to hurricanes, and it helped oversee the handout of TARP money during the 2008 financial crisis. Clowers said GAO has already begun to deconflict with inspector generals in an effort to ensure the work is not duplicative. "In this environment, it is important to make sure we are building on each other's work and not duplicating work," she said. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Watchdogs scramble to keep tabs on billions in stimulus spending" Deposit Insurance Agency seeks to recover $300 mln from Russian ex-banker banker RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 10:52 22/04/2020 MOSCOW, April 22 (RAPSI) - The Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA) has filed an application seeking to collect over 2.3 billion rubles (about $300 million) from a former president of Rosprombank Sergey Salogubov, according to the Moscow Commercial Courts records. The court has scheduled the hearing for June 30. In December 2019, Moscows Presnensky District Court sentenced Salogubov to 5 years in penal colony for embezzling more than 730 million rubles ($9.5 million at the present exchange rate). In February, the Moscow City Court upheld the ruling. According to investigators, in 2016, Salogubov and other managers of the bank conspired to embezzle assets of Rosprombank. From August to September 2016, one more top manager Olga Saberova and their accomplices concluded fictious claim assignment agreements, contracts of sale and agreements on compensation. Therefore, they stole banks assets worth over 730 million rubles entrusted to Salogubov and caused large-scale damage to the bank, the Investigative Committees press service reports. Saberova has been put on the international wanted list on embezzlement charges. The Central Bank of Russia revoked the license of Rosprombank in September 2016 for failure to abide by banking legislation. In November 2016, the Moscow Commercial Court declared the financial organization bankrupt. BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The COVID-19 epidemic has created a new challenge to China's efforts to eradicate absolute poverty by the end of this year. Still, China has never considered finding any excuse to retreat. Chinese President Xi Jinping, in his inspection trip to northwest China's Shaanxi Province, inspected local poverty alleviation work. The message is clear: China is determined to complete the world's biggest poverty-relief project as scheduled. Tasks are daunting as the deadline approaches. But China has enough capabilities, including support policies, funds and task force, to win the battle. Key measures taken include industrial development, relocation, ecological compensation, education, and providing allowances for people to meet their basic needs. China is also developing a new economy in its efforts. As Xi said during his tour to the village of Jinmi in Zhashui County, e-commerce can promote sales of agricultural products, help rural residents shake off poverty and facilitate rural vitalization. China bases poverty elimination on the precise identification of real problems of different localities and individuals. This enables the government to take targeted measures to ensure substantive and sustainable outcomes. By the end of 2019, 5.51 million people were still living in poverty. None of them will be left behind on the nation's way to become a moderately prosperous society in all respects. Among the sites inspected by Xi were a community, a township hospital and a primary school in Pingli County. It demonstrates the leadership's special attention to ensure all the poor residents have adequate food and clothing and have guaranteed access to compulsory education, basic medical services and safe housing -- basic human rights the Chinese government is determined to safeguard. China's efforts significantly contribute to the decline in global poverty. Upon completion of the poverty eradication task this year, China will achieve the goals set in the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years ahead of schedule. The approaches China has adopted might not be simply replicated in other countries due to different systems and conditions, but there is definitely something to learn from the determination, persistence and concerted efforts China has shown to protect every person's rights in pursuit of a happy life. This legislation is common sense, he said then. When its said, the thought of impropriety, we are surrounded by impropriety at the state level, at the county level and in this body. The feds are all around us. We need to send a message that this B.S. is over with. If we need to come back in three months or six months and alter it, then well work with (the Law Department)." JASPER, Ind., April 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kimball Electronics, Inc. (KE) will announce its third quarter fiscal year 2020 financial results on Monday, May 4, 2020 after the closing of the market. The company will hold a conference call and live webcast to review the results on Tuesday, May 5, 2020, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The telephone number to access the conference call is 800-992-4934 or internationally at 937-502-2251. Please reference conference ID 2576287. The live webcast of the conference call can be accessed at investors.kimballelectronics.com/events-and-presentations . For those unable to participate in the live webcast, the call will be archived at investors.kimballelectronics.com/events-and-presentations. About Kimball Electronics, Inc. Kimball Electronics is a multifaceted manufacturing solutions provider of electronics and diversified contract manufacturing services to customers around the world. From our operations in the United States, China, India, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Thailand, and Vietnam, our teams are proud to provide manufacturing services for a variety of industries. Recognized for a reputation of excellence, we are committed to a high-performance culture that values personal and organizational commitment to quality, reliability, value, speed, and ethical behavior. Kimball Electronics, Inc. (KE) is headquartered in Jasper, Indiana. To learn more about Kimball Electronics, visit: www.kimballelectronics.com. Lasting relationships. Global success. Pakistan's senior doctors based in the county and abroad have urged the Imran Khan government to review its decision to allow congregational prayers in mosques during the month of Ramzan amid the coronavirus outbreak which has infected more than 10,000 people. The Pakistan government has succumbed to pressure from the hardline clerics and allowed conditional congregational prayers in mosques during Ramzan, endangering the drive to curb the spread of coronavirus that has killed more than 175,000 people worldwide. In a letter to the government as well as religious leader, the doctors asked to limit the prayers to 3-5 persons - a practice already going on to check the coronavirus outbreak. Indus Hospital CEO Dr Abdul Bari Khan confirmed that the letter had been sent to express fears and reservations of the medical community. The doctors wrote that mostly aged people of 50 years and above go to mosques and referred to videos that surfaced in the past 48 hours had shown that more than 80 per cent of the people attending prayers in mosques were mostly in their 60s and 70s, Dawn online reported. "Clearly this has resulted in the violation of the first and foremost principle of preventing the spread of the virus in the most vulnerable group" of elderly people, stated the letter, which has been endorsed by the Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA). "With Ramzan approaching, we would understandably expect higher number of namazis (worshippers) attending the prayers. Moreover, long Taraweeh prayers and waiting times will lead to prolonged gatherings. It is all but certain that this will cause significant mayhem..." it added. Hospitals in Karachi have started experiencing a "significant influx of corona positive patients", the letter said. "We anticipate these numbers and resultant mortality to expand exponentially in the next few days." "This will undeniably result in significant pressure on our already compromised health system." The doctors explained that increased exposure to the virus increases the likelihood of getting infected and, as a consequence, of complications and death. "We fear that allowing congregational prayers in larger number in our mosques may contribute to such fatal outcomes," the letter stated. It expressed the fear that all of the above issues will have the combined effect of jeopardising the "reputation of Islam and that of our ulema" and will lead to "unwanted loss of lives". "In these circumstances, if COVID-19 disease becomes an epidemic in Pakistan and the government loses control of its management in the country, it will not just be a failure of Pakistan as a country but it may have substantial unwanted and unforeseen effects on the whole Muslim ummah," the letter said. It also cautioned that while doctors are ready to put their lives at risk, if healthcare professionals in Pakistan die as per the trend seen in other countries, "there won't be many resources [left] including manpower to look after our patients". According to officials, so far 140 doctors, nurses and paramedics have been infected across the country mostly in worst-hit Punjab province. The medics also clarified that Pakistanis "are no more immune to this virus than the rest of the world", saying data released by the UK's National Health Service had shown that a vast majority of healthcare staff who died there due to COVID-19 comprised Asians including many Muslims. They observed that the "social fiber" of the Pakistani society is one where "mismanagement, indiscipline and not following or obeying the rules is predominantly common [and] where [even] educated people do not follow the day-to-day traffic rules (for example) and miscommitment in our dealings is a norm". With such habits and behavioural patterns, it is "almost impossible" for ulema, mosque managements and the administration to make people abide by the conditions mentioned in the consensus document of the government and the ulema, especially in densely populated areas of the country "where people are generally not educated and unable to comprehend the consequences of such violations", their letter stated. Noting that the comparison between the opening of mosques with the opening of businesses and shops is "not valid", the doctors requested the government and business community to "practice patience" and continue to keep markets and non-essential shops closed and only allow home deliveries from restaurants. In the same vein, "any other worldly matters leading to public gatherings and interactions should also be curtailed in exactly the same fashion", the letter suggested, reminding that the novel coronavirus does not distinguish between people based on the nature of their activities but the strength, quantity and duration of their gatherings. President Dr Arif Alvi last week said a 20-point plan has been reached with the clerics on the congregational prayers during Ramzan after they agreed to follow the government guidelines on social distancing while praying. Several countries including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Algeria, Tunisia, Jordan, Kuwait, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt have stopped congregational prayers in mosques. In several Arab countries, the 'azaan' (call for prayer) has been amended and now it urges people to pray in their homes. Last week, Saudi Minister of Islamic Affairs Dr Abdul Latif Al Sheikh asked people to perform the special 'taraweeh' prayers at their homes during the month of Ramzan in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic - UFC 220 Daniel Cormier has been working toward retirement for more than a year, but it might not end the way he had always envisioned... and he's okay with that. Cormier told ESPN's Ariel Helwani on Monday that he's already beginning to train for a third bout with UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic, although he doesn't yet have a date and certainly not a location. He is, however, anticipating that it could happen at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The promotion is expected to hold most of its U.S. based events in the Apex at its headquarters once Nevada lifts some of its coronavirus restrictions, allowing them to begin operating there again. Cormier first fought Miocic at UFC 226 in July of 2018, where he shocked many people by knocking him out in the first round and taking the UFC heavyweight belt. The two rematched at UFC 241 with Miocic returning the favor by TKOing Cormier late in the fourth round to regain the title. Wherever it may be, Cormier expects that his third fight with Miocic, expected to be the final bout of his career, win or lose, would likely take place without a crowd in attendance. "Empty arena and if its at the (UFC) Apex, I think the cage is smaller. Its like the Ultimate Fighter cage, so thats a whole other fight. Its a smaller cage than the one we fight in for pay-per-views. But yeah, Ill go fight this guy in the empty arena. I want to fight him," said Cormier. It's not ideal, but as Cormier said, "At least I get an opportunity to finish. One thing Cormier would really want to have happen for his final fight is to have his family in attendance. But even if he gets the okay to fight Miocic, it's not a given that his family would be allowed to attend. Any return to operations, especially in the near term, is likely to include strict limits. TRENDING > Flashback Fight: Watch Brock Lesnar KO Frank Mir in his first UFC title defense Looking at the fight taking place sometime this summer, Cormier still thinks that it could be a monster event, perhaps even more so because of the pandemic restrictions. "I was pretty confident that it was gonna happen at the time in my head that I know, but right now I dont know when in the summer its gonna happen. But I just can feel that when it does, its gonna be bigger than it was ever gonna be," Cormier concluded. "More good fights, more people at home watching. Its gonna be the perfect way to go out on top, as the man." Iran Army Introduces New Drones, Upgrades Older UAV Models Radio Farda April 21, 2020 A large number of new combat and reconnaissance drones were delivered to the Iranian army on Sunday April 19 and IRGC-linked news agency Tasnim has presented details about each model on April 21. According to Tasnim, the drones include new generations of Atlas and Ababil drones, adding that the two models Ababil-3 and Karrar had been showcased previously. The UAVs [Unmanned Aerial Vehicles] are to be used by the Air Force and Air Defense Units of Iran's conventional army, the report said. Iran has introduced these high-cost drones while it has been complaining about the adverse impact of US sanctions on its economy. Last week, General Kiumars Heydari, the Commander of the Ground Force of the Army had said on the occasion of the Army Day (April 17) that the new weapons are going to be issued to army units. As far as his own units at the ground force were concerned, Heydari said that the G-3 rifle was going to be replaced with a type of MP-5 weapon the Ministry of Defense has provided and the T-90 tanks will be introduced to the ground force's armored units. Another commander broke the news about new drones that can reach Israel but did not elaborate on the type of the UAV, its fuel, guiding and navigation system and other specifications. The drones introduced in a ceremony in the presence of the Minister of Defense and Army commanders included Ababil-3, Karrar, Atlas, and Naseh. This is how Tasnim described the aircraft. According to Western observers Islamic Republic sources often exaggerate the capabilities of its armament. Ababil-3 Although Ababil-3 was officially first delivered to the Iranian armed forces in November 2014, it has been part of the Iranian army's arsenal since May 2010 when pictures of it were first published during a military exercise over the Persian Gulf simulating a reconnaissance mission to check out vessels sailing in the Gulf. Ababil-3 was also observed in several other military exercises between 2010 and 2014. It can fly up to 8 hours and can transmit pictures to its base or to any other platform within a range of 250 Km from its base. It is gasoline-fuelled, has a composite body and can fly up to an altitude of 15 thousand feet. According to Tasnim, this drone has been in use "at the resistance front" which could mean, Iraq, Syria, Southern Lebanon, Yemen and possibly elsewhere. Initially a reconnaissance UAV with two revolving cameras, Ababil-3 is now mounted with Ghaem bombs to convert it into a combat flyer. Karrar The is the first Iranian made drone flying with a turbojet engine. Karrar was first showcased in 2010. It carries 500 Kg of fuel, has a range of 1,000 km and can fly with a speed of up to 900 Km/hr. Karrar can reschedule its flight mid-air and also can shut off enemy jamming devices. Karrar has been used in reconnaissance and interception missions and boasts a very efficient navigation system. Depending on the mission it can fly in an altitude between 25,000 to 40,000 feet. It can fire anti-vessel Kowsar cruise missiles to target vessels within 25 kilometres. Atlas Atlas is an upgraded version of Ababil-3, and one of the new models that were displayed on Sunday. Its main structure is similar to Ababil-3 but improvements have been made in some of its functions including its landing mechanism. The front wheel has a hydraulic system and improvements have been made in the rear wheels and axis to make take-off and landing smoother. Atlas can carry Ghaem bombs and its wings and body have been fortified to make it capable of carrying at least two bombs. However, the biggest advantage of Atlas to older models is its auto take-off and landing system and a laser sensor underneath the body which makes it more agile and capable of landing and taking off without help from a pilot. With this system, the UAV can change the landing area if the situation in the pre-planned area is not ideal for landing. Naseh This is yet another jet-engine drone with a turbojet engine made by the Qods Defense Industries. It is mainly used for training or for misleading enemy radars. Its engine is the same model used in Karrar Drone and Noor cruise missiles. Atlas is made based on the US Drone MQM-107. It can fly for less than an hour with a speed of ).7 Mach. It lands with a parachute at the end of its mission. Its low-wings system gives it a high manoeuvrability in high speed. Therefore, air defense personnel use it while being trained to work on the defense system to make the test and training situation similar to real situations. Atlas does not carry bombs. However, it carries payloads that are used for other purposes including the ones that are dropped so that air defense system can deal with them as bombs and missiles. In September 2017, a similar drone was seen during a military exercise while carrying 4 Misagh-1 missiles. Source: https://en.radiofarda.com/a/iran-army- introduces-new-drones-upgrades-older- uav-models/30568207.html Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address LOS ANGELES, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cannabis Global, Inc. (OTC: MCTC), a cannabinoid and hemp extract science forward company developing infusion and delivery technologies, today announces the licensing of several patent-pending technologies to Sacramento-based BudCars Cannabis Delivery Services, in conjunction with Sugarmade, Inc. (OTCQB: SGMD), for use in cannabis edibles for the regulated California marketplace. Under the terms of the licensing agreement, Cannabis Global Inc will license its unique cannabinoid infusion technologies, which will be utilized by Budcars for the production of super-premium, highly bioavailable cannabis edibles. "We have developed and have pending patents on several technologies that not only make the production of cannabis edibles less expensive but also improve product quality. While we are rolling out our own hemp-oriented product lines utilizing these technologies, we are now able to leverage these developments via licensing arrangements to manufactures within the regulated cannabis markets," commented Cannabis Global Inc (MCTC) CEO Arman Tabatabaei. We are looking forward to our working relationship with BudCars and Sugarmade. Under the terms of the licensing agreement, Cannabis Global will supply technology and licensing rights to BudCars, which will be responsible for the manufacturing and distribution of cannabis edible products to its delivery customer base. Additionally, BudCars is being granted rights to manufacture and distribute products, based on the technologies, within the state of California, under BudCars' existing cannabis licenses. Jimmy Chan, CEO of Sugarmade commented, "This agreement is important for a number of reasons. First, we believe the Cannabis Global Inc technology set is superior to everything else we have seen. This will allow BudCars to produce ultra-premium products for its growing customer base. Second, this agreement is an important additional step relative to opportunistic margin expansion opportunities for BudCars through selective vertical integration and brand internalization. Additionally, the agreement allows BudCars to expand its marketing efforts in the fast-growing cannabis edibles sector. While sales across the board for BudCars have been up significantly since the COVID-19-related stay at home orders, sales of edibles have been especially strong. We welcome Cannabis Global Inc (MCTC) to the BudCars and Sugarmade families." Cannabis Global Inc (MCTC) has recently announced several innovations in the field of cannabinoid infusion especially relating to its Hemp You Can Feel infusion technologies. In total, the Company has recently filed six patents on cannabinoid extract technologies and delivery systems. The company is currently working with patent counsel to protect various other aspects of its other new technologies. As previously announced, the Company plans to continue other areas of delivery systems research including its programs pertaining to cannabinoid glycosides, polymeric cannabinoid nanoparticles and nanofibers, and its hemp extract-based alcohol replacement technologies. About Cannabis Global, Inc. Cannabis Global, Inc. (MCTC) is a Nevada registered, fully reporting and audited publicly-traded company. With the hemp and cannabis industries moving very quickly and with a growing number of market entrants, Cannabis Global plans to concentrate its efforts on the middle portions of the hemp and cannabis value chain. The Company plans to actively pursue R&D programs and productization for exotic cannabinoid isolation, bioenhancement of cannabinoids and polymeric solid nanoparticles and nanofibers for addition into consumer products and for dermal application. The Company was reorganized during June of 2019 and announced its intent to enter the fast-growing cannabis sector. The Company is headed and managed by a group of highly experienced cannabis industry pioneers and entrepreneurs. About Sugarmade, Inc. Sugarmade, Inc. (OTCQB: SGMD) is a product and branding marketing company investing in operations and technologies with disruptive potential. Brand portfolio includes CarryOutsupplies.com, SugarRush and Budcars.com. For more information please reference www.Sugarmade.com More information on the Company can be viewed at www.CannabisGlobalinc.com. Forward-looking Statements This news release contains "forward-looking statements" which are not purely historical and may include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such forward-looking statements include, among other things, the development, costs and results of new business opportunities and words such as "anticipate", "seek", intend", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "project", "plan", or similar phrases may be deemed "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainties associated with new projects, the future U.S. and global economies, the impact of competition, and the Company's reliance on existing regulations regarding the use and development of cannabis-based products. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although we believe that any beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that any such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate. Investors should consult all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosure outlined in our annual report on Form 10-k, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other periodic reports filed from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For more information, please visit www.sec.gov. For more information, please contact: Arman Tabatabaei, [email protected] SOURCE Cannabis Global, Inc. Pope Francis made an impassioned plea for protection of the environment on Wednesday, the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day, saying the coronavirus pandemic had shown that some challenges had to be met with a global response. The pope, who wrote a major encyclical in 2015 on the defence of nature and the dangers of climate change, dedicated his general audience - broadcast from the library of the Apostolic Palace because of the coronavirus lockdown - to the topic. 'We see these natural tragedies, which are the Earth's response to our maltreatment,' Francis said. 'I think that if I ask the Lord now what he thinks about this, I don't think he would say it is a very good thing. It is we who have ruined the work of God.' Francis praised the environmental movement, saying it was necessary for young people to 'take to the streets to teach us what is obvious, that is, that there will be no future for us if we destroy the environment that sustains us'. Pope Francis leads mass at Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican City on April 22, which coincided with the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day Recounting a Spanish proverb that God always forgives, man sometimes forgives but nature never forgives, Francis said: 'If we have deteriorated the Earth, the response will be very ugly.' A landmark in the emergence of the environmental movement when it first took place in 1970, this year's Earth Day has prompted calls from many, including U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, for governments to pursue 'green recovery' in response to coronavirus Both the pope and Guterres have made environmental protection and climate change signature themes during their time in their respective offices. 'Saying the Earth was not an endless deposit of resources to exploit, he said: 'We have sinned against the Earth, against our neighbour and, in the end, against the creator.' The pope has been addressing his audience from the library of the Apostolic Palace during the coronavirus lockdown The Pope has joined U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in calling for world leaders to pursue a 'green recovery' when reopening the economy after the coronavirus crisis Last year, after a synod of bishops from the Amazon region, Francis said he was considering adding a definition of 'ecological sins' in the Roman Catholic Church's Catechism, a compendium of teachings and rules. Francis, like Guterres, has likened the response to environmental dangers to that of the coronavirus. 'Only together, and looking after the most fragile (members of society) can we win global challenges,' the pope said. So far, massive economic stimulus packages launched by the United States, China and European governments have focused mainly on staunching the damage to existing industries and staving off the threat of a global depression. But ministers from Germany, France and other EU members have signalled their support for subsequent interventions to align with climate goals, a theme taken up by climate campaign groups around the world. Pictured: ope Francis greets members of the media after leading a Mass and the Regina Coeli prayer in Rome's Santo Spirito in Sassia church without public participation due to an outbreak of the coronavirus disease in Rome According to figures from the Johns Hopkins University there have now been over 2.5 million cases of the coronavirus confirmed worldwide, with 178,481 deaths. As of April 21, in Italy, home to the Vatican City and the pope, there have been 183,957 confirmed cases, second only to the United States, and 24,648 confirmed deaths. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has said that the war in Donbas will end during his presidential term. "I am sure that we will put an end to this war during my presidential term. I am personally sure of this. I have said that I am ready to wait for one year, I am ready to work for one year. If the Minsk process does not work, then we will change our tactics. We are ready for this a year has not passed," he said in a film dedicated to the first year of his presidency, which was broadcast on the Ukraine TV channel on Wednesday. Zelensky also said that the Trilateral Contact Group will be meeting in the format of video conferences every week. "So, we have accelerated the process and we will have some results. After every Minsk meeting a document must be drawn up on our agreements and we have taken a step forward," he said. Kayleigh McEnany, the new White House press secretary, has come under fire for telling a reporter how to refer to her boss even though she has referred to him in the same way. To you, hes not Trump, hes PRESIDENT Trump! she wrote in response to a tweet by ABC White House correspondent Katherine Faulders concerning coronavirus testing. Ms McEnany, a former CNN contributor and Republican National Committee spokesperson took over as press secretary earlier this month. Her response drew immediate criticism on social media. First Amendment freedom of speech issues were raised, and then people pointed out her total hypocrisy, if indeed she really thinks it is disrespectful to refer to elected officials by their last name especially within the confines and shorthand of social media. Ms McEnany has referred to the president as Trump on social media in the past, and to former President Barack Obama both as Obama and son. Others suggested the use of a fuller title for the commander-in-chief, with Alyssa Milano tweeting: Impeached President Trump. NBC legal contributor Katie Phang quoted Trump back to Ms McEnany, specifically when he told CBS reporter Weijia Jiang to just relax in Sundays coronavirus press briefing Nice and easy, nice and easy. Just relax. Youve got a nasty tone. Twitter users listed other occasions when Ms McEnany referred to Biden, Obama, Zelensky, Trump, Clinton, and Giuliani either by their last or first names. One user suggested: Have several seats, Kayleigh. Californians have started to see money appear in their respective bank accounts. Specifically, single people received $1,200, and each child received $500. However, for California citizens who have consumer debt, the money sent them can simply vanish fast. As part of the national COVID-19 response package, also called the CARES Act amounting to $2.2 trillion, the payments forbid the state governments and the federal from intercepting them, except if there is a need to collect for "child support debt. However, the bill is remarkably mum on banks and private debt collectors, leaving citizens defenseless against garnishments. In relation to this, consumer advocates claim this is defeating the purpose of cash relief intended to help those who are the most financially insecure, stay afloat. And, as the other states have stepped in to ensure the protection of the stimulus checks against debt collectors, California has unfortunately not. According to Ted Mermin, this is not the main reason why the payments are being issued to pay for the old debt. Call to Halt Debt Collection and Debt Collection Lawsuits Immediately Mermin, the leader of California Low-Income Consumer Coalition added, the stimulus checks are issued "to put food on the table." Also, consumer advocates want Gov. Gavin Newsom to put an instant termination to most debt-collection lawsuits. Relatively, an executive order, the advocates said, would shield the stimulus checks and preserve the millions of Californians' economic lives. Debt collectors for their part, commit, "They won't stand in the way." The California Association of Collectors Cindy Yaklin explains, her group is only against a suspension on all collection efforts, which she said would impede the sector. The office of the governor, on the other hand, has not responded yet to multiple questions if the creditors should be permitted to take the stimulus checks. Instead, Gov. Newsom's office directs the queries to an EO signed on Thursday, which allows checks for any individual late on payments for child support, "to be sent to the custodial parent first" before the administration can have the money applied to old debt related to child support. Despite Gov. Newsom's seemingly quietness on the issue in general, other elected officials have pushed for action. Specifically, attorneys general in 25states, which include California, as well as 14 US senators which Sen. Kamala Harris leads, sent letters advising the US Treasury to allocate the relief payments as relieved from garnishment. Who are Potentially at Risk? Remarkably, hundreds of thousands of Californians are said to be potentially at risk. According to the Urban Institute analysis, about one in every four California citizens, "Have some debt in collections." The same institute also indicates that banks go first in line when it comes to taking the stimulus checks from people who have negative balances on their account, although most major banks have sworn not to. Next in line, as the analysis shows, are the private debt collectors who have won a lawsuit on debt collection. With the court judgment, these collectors are permitted to ask the county sheriff's department to order a particular bank to freeze the non-exempt funds in a bank account of a person. Aware that stimulus checks have begun arriving, according to Consumer Justice Practice at the East Bay Community Law Center director, Sharon Djemal, debt collectors may choose to levy bank accounts in the next couple of weeks. The State's Role As mentioned, several states have already stepped in to protect the stimulus checks against debt collections and related lawsuits. Therefore, according to Mermin, the Judicial Council of California can also exercise its emergency powers to prohibit the garnishing practice. Moreover, Gov. Newsom can also follow the lead of governors, specifically in Washington and Illinois. They have delayed the state laws, which allow sheriffs to issue bank garnishment and wave levy. Check these out! In the new world of COVID-19, gathering for something as simple as a birthday party has become all but taboo. With the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) advising that individuals stay six feet apart in order to stop the spread of the disease, the type of celebrating the world is used has been temporarily abandoned. But one Cheshire resident has found a way to acknowledge the CDCs social distancing guidelines while still making people feel special on their big day. My sister, who lives in Hopedale, Massachusetts, has started doing these birthday parades for the people in her community who have birthdays during this quarantine, said Michele LaMadeleine, the creator of the Cheshire Birthday Parade Facebook group. I noticed there was so much negativity out there, and I wanted to do something positive during all this. Currently, the Birthday Parade group on Facebook has over 300 members, and encourages people to meet up in their vehicles and create drive-by parades for those in town child or adult who have a birthday during the nationwide quarantine. Some members who have participated in the parades have dressed in costume, and even the frog from Whippersnappers Play Gym has made an appearance during a few parades. One of the first parades we did was for an adult; we had over 20-30 cars in a caravan and drove by their house honking and cheering, LaMadeleine added. It was a great time! The caravans typically meet at one central location to coordinate and then head towards the unsuspecting birthday girl or boys residence. The first few that we did were total surprises, but they dont always have to be. We are even considering extending it to graduation parties because we know our seniors are getting short changed with what has been going on, she continued. LaMadeleine, who is considered an essential worker, cannot always attend all of the parades her group organizes due to the demands of her job, but she is determined to make each person feel like theyre the center of attention, even if only for a few moments. I cant be at all the parades, although I really want to be. I work for a company that makes the metal that goes into the ventilators that are used at the hospitals. If I cant make it, I try to make sure my husband can, she said. I am someone who prefers to make people laugh and have a good time rather than be serious, and we need that now more than ever. One mother, Meredith Jermine, whose daughter Katies birthday was in April, gave a special thank you to the group for their efforts. Thank you to everyone for coming out and making Katies birthday so special! She had so much fun thanks to all of you, she posted on the Facebook page. This month, LaMadeleines group has 18 birthday parades planned, with room for more. The group can be found by searching for the Cheshire, Connecticut Birthday Parade Facebook group page. Health workers take samples of people for a rapid test at mobile COVID-19 testing van, in wake of the coronavirus pandemic during the nationwide lockdown, in Chennai. PTI photo New Delhi: India's apex medical research body ICMR on Tuesday advised states to stop using the rapid antibody test kits for next two days till it examines their quality in the wake of complaints that they are not fully effective. Last week, India procured five lakh rapid antibody test kits from two Chinese firms and they were distributed to several states reporting rising cases of coronavirus infection. Rajasthan government on Tuesday said that the kits were giving out inaccurate results. At a press briefing, Head of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases at Indian the ICMR, Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar, said the companies which supplied the kits will be asked to replace them if the kits are found to be faulty. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has been the nodal medical body in the country's fight against the pandemic. "We have received complaint from one state and so far discussed the issue with three states. High variations ranging from 6 to 71 per cent have been reported between the results of the rapid tests and RT-PCR tests. We will advise states not to use these testing kits for the next two days," he said. These kits will be tested and validated in the field by teams from our eight institutes after which we will issue a clear-cut advisory for the states. If there is some fault in the batch, we will ask the company to replace the kits," Gangakhedkar said. Officials clearly indicated that the kits over which questions have been raised are from China. Rajasthan health minister Raghu Sharma on Tuesday said the kits gave only 5.4 per cent accurate results against the expectation of 90 per cent accuracy and therefore were of no benefit. In the wake of adverse reports about quality of Chinese medical equipment, spokesperson in the Chinese embassy Ji Rong last week said China attaches great importance to quality of medical products. "We hope that foreign buyers can choose products certified by Chinese regulatory authorities and with production qualifications when importing relevant products," Ji had said. She said the Chinese authorities introduced stricter regulatory measures, requiring exporters to declare that their supplies have obtained the registration certificate for medical device from the State Food and Drug Administration and meet the quality standards of the importing country. About questions over quality of the tests, Gangakhedkar said that these were first general tests and may show variations. It has been just three-and-half months since the disease appeared and so any test will have to be refined further, he added. At present, the government uses the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests to detect coronavirus from throat or nasal swab samples of people. These take around five to six hours to show the results. In the rapid antibody tests, the blood samples of suspected patients are taken, and it normally takes around 15-30 minutes to give the result. The government has recommended the use of rapid antibody tests in hotspot areas. "It is to be used for surveillance and for epidemiological purposes in such areas. The RT-PCR test is the gold standard for frontline test and antibody test cannot replace this test. Utility of rapid antibody test is primarily for assessing prevalence of infection in a particular area," officials earlier had said. India has been facing severe shortage of testing kits amid rising cases of the coronavirus. Asked if the number of cases would stabilise, Gangakhedkar said, "The doubling time of cases is increasing, the current situation indicates that significant increase in number of coronavirus cases is unlikely." A total of 4,49,810 samples for COVID-19 infection have been tested till Tuesday of which 35,852 were tested on Monday, he said. As many as 29,776 samples have been tested in 201 labs under the ICMR network, and 6,076 at 86 private laboratories, he said. Joint Secretary in the ministry of Health Lav Agarwal said that along with Mahe (Puducherry), Kodagu (Karnataka) and Pauri Garhwal (Uttrakhand) , a new district Pratapgarh in Rajasthan has not reported any fresh cases during the last 28 days. There are now 61 additional districts from 23 states and UTs that have not reported any fresh cases in the last 14 days. Four new districts which have been included in the list are Latur, Osmanabad, Hingoli and Washim from Maharashtra, according to the official. Agarwal further said that the Union Health Minister has written to all state and UT health departments asking them to ensure adequate availability of blood in blood banks especially for people requiring regular blood transfusion on account of disorders such as Thalassemia, Sickle Cell Anemia and Hemophilia etc. Also, a 24x7 control room has been started by Indian Red Cross in Delhi. Whoever requires or want to donate blood can contact on 011 233 59379, 9319982104 and 9319982105. He said that detailed guidelines have been issued to states that they should focus on COVID-19 cases while, at the same time, non-COVID hospitals should provide regular services relating to maternal and child care, dialysis as well as treatment for cancer and HIV patients. While providing all these services, required infection prevention control practices should be ensured in hospital set-ups to prevent spread of hospital related infections, he said. Agarwal said that a total of 1,336 new cases have been reported in the last 24 hours since Sunday morning taking the total number of cases in the country to 18, 601. Also 3,252 people have been cured so far with 705 people, the highest so far, having recovered on Monday. So overall 17.48 per cent people have recovered in the country so far, he stated. Responding to a media query about 80 per cent of the COVID-19 patients being either asymptomatic and having mild symptoms and how the government is dealing with it, Gangakhedkar said that it is just one study according to which 80 out of 100 patients are asymptomatic. "Among the total coronavirus tests conducted so far, 69 per cent were asymptomatic cases and 31 per cent were symptomatic cases. Which means for one positive patients when we initiated contact tracing, on an average we found three or four asymptomatic patients," he said. "There are few reports of lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases which are truly asymptomatic. There has been no documented asymptomatic transmission. This does not exclude the possibility that it may occur," Agarwal said referring to a WHO report. "Using community surveillance and contact tracing, we are taking pre-emptive action to test asymptomatic persons with high risk contacts so that we are able to identify infected patients in early stage, treat them and reduce mortality," he said. At present there is data for more than 1.24 crore human resources on the 'covid warriors' -- a dashboard developed by the government for augmenting human resources -- and it is continuously being updated, chairman of the empowered group, Arun Kumar Panda, also Secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises said. As on date, 14995 AYUSH professionals have been deployed in 15 states and 2 UTs, whereas 3492 NCC cadets and 553 NCC staff have been deployed in 68 districts in 16 states and 3 UTs. More than 47,000 cadets have already enrolled for training and will be available for deployment. Also, 1,80,000 ex-servicemen have been identified by the Sainik Boards for deployment. More than 40,000 volunteers from Indian Red Cross are actively participating in COVID-19 related activities in over 550 districts in the country. British Ambassador to Ukraine Melinda Simmons has expressed regret that a ceasefire regime in eastern Ukraine during the Easter holidays was not observed. This was reported by the press service of the UK Embassy in Ukraine on Facebook. "I was saddened to see no respite for those in eastern Ukraine over the long Easter weekend. Despite a supposed ceasefire, violations continued, including the use of heavy artillery by Russian proxies. Sadly 1 member of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was killed and 7 injured," Ambassador Simmons wrote on Twitter. She also noted that the UK fully supported the essential work the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission was undertaking in eastern Ukraine, and expressed deep concern that Russian proxies are restricting OSCE SMM patrols freedom of movement across the line of contact, purportedly due to the Covid19 pandemic. In her opinion, the pandemic is extremely serious, and it cannot be used as an excuse to restrict SMMs access. We commend the SMM for its efforts to protect its staff and the local population, whilst also continuing as far as is safely possible their vital work, she said. The UK calls on Russia to use its undeniable influence over the armed formations it backs to respect the ceasefire and allow unimpeded access for the OSCE SMM and humanitarian organisations across the line of contact and within non-government controlled areas, reads the report. The UK remains resolute in its support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders, the ambassador stressed. ish A gunman shot dead nine people on Tuesday, including five Syrians, in a mountain village southeast of the Lebanese capital Beirut. The shooter fled into nearby fields and was being chased by security forces, according to the state-run National News Agency. Such shootings are rare in Lebanon, where many people keep rifles or pistols in their homes. Lebanon is home to more than a million Syrian refugees and many other Syrians who have residency. NNA said a pump action rifle and a Kalashnikov assault rifle were used in the shootings. Marwan Hamadeh, a member of parliamant from Baakline, visited the village and told reporters that the motive for the killings was not yet known. The shooting comes as Lebanon is experiencing its worst economic and financial crisis in decades. A crash in the value of the local currency against the U.S. dollar has led to a sharp increase in prices. Anti-government protests resumed Tuesday calling on the Cabinet to work on improving living conditions in the nearly bankrupt country. Speaker of the National Assembly of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Ashot Ghulyan has posted the following on his Facebook page: Judging from the responses of Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov, it is safe to assume that efforts are being consistently made to return to the phased option for the settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabakhi conflict, and that option is a deadlock. The foreign minister of a country that is a Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group and who knows about the conflict in depth, could have given a more complete interpretation of the events. True, all four Resolutions of the United Nations Security Council that the foreign minister mentioned were adopted during the war in 1993. Those Resolutions required complete discontinuation of military operations, de-blockage of communication and transition to negotiations as a major precondition. Has Baku, the other party to the conflict, implemented the major condition? If it did, the war wouldnt have continued until May 1994 when Azerbaijan was compelled to sign the Yerevan-Baku-Stepanakert agreement on ceasefire and the agreement on strengthening of the ceasefire in February 1995. After the signing of these documents, many options have been considered, and they have been rejected by either Baku or Stepanakert. I would like to draw attention to the fact that the draft for settlement rejected by Stepanakert in October 1997 went on to be referred to as the phased option. Even if we try to understand the Co-Chairs consistent efforts to seek new paths for the conflicts settlement, the only thing left to do is to feel pity that they have returned to the option that was rejected 23 years ago. The Republic of Artsakh will not accept any plan that will be developed and considered without the direct party to the conflict, that is, the Republic of Artsakh. As for this latest statement according to which the plan for phased settlement is on the negotiating table, this convinces us once again that Artsakhs participation in the negotiations is mandatory, and whats more, in all stages of the negotiations. New Delhi, April 22 : In a significant move, the Union cabinet on Wednesday amended the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1987 through an ordinance in order to ensure safety of health workers at a time when there has been a spate of attacks on them. Any violence against health workers may now bring steep fines and even imprisonments of up to seven years. This move comes hours after Home Minister Amit Shah addressed Nina Medical Association through a video conference, assuring them of safety and urging them to withdraw the symbolic protest scheduled for later this month against incidents of violence on health workers pressed into CVID-19 duty. From now on, not just such violence is cognizable but also non-bailable offence. Additionally, it has provisions to provide compensation for injury to healthcare service personnel or for causing damage or loss to the property, the government said on Wednesday. K.S. Dhatwalia, Principal Spokesperson for the government, tweeted: "Ordinance would help protect healthcare service personnel and their living/working premises against violence". "This actually helps protect the entire health fraternity including doctors, nurses, paramedics up to ASHA workers, " said Union I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar. The Minister said the amendment was necessitated after incidents of violence were witnessed against them while discharging their crucial duty for the country. The amendment has ensured that the investigation takes place in a time-bound manner. A special provision is also made in the ordinance in case vehicles or clinics are damaged. In such cases, two times the cost will be recovered from assailants. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Mississippi Attorney General to Sue Chinese Regime Over CCP Virus Outbreak Mississippis attorney general announced on Wednesday that she is preparing to file a lawsuit against the Chinese regime to hold it accountable for malicious and dangerous acts that she claims caused the CCP virus pandemic, which resulted in widespread human and economic devastation in the United States and internationally. Attorney General Lynn Fitch said her case, which will be filed on behalf of the state, will seek damages under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA). Normally, Americans are barred from suing another country because of the doctrine of sovereign immunity, which is a legal rule that insulates countries from being sued in other countries courts. The FSIA provides for certain situations where private individuals in the United States can sue a foreign country for its actions in its list of exemptions. Fitch claims that the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) cover-up of the virus in the early stages of the pandemic had resulted in the suffering seen today in Mississippi. There are over 4,700 cases in the state as of Wednesday, and 183 deaths, according to the states health department. [The CCP] must not be allowed to act with impunity. Mississippians deserve justice and I will seek that in court, Fitch said in a statement. This comes after Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said on Tuesday that he had filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri against the communist regime, alleging that the Chinese authorities actions led to harsh effects and deaths in the state. Missouri is the first state in the country to launch a lawsuit against the CCP. That lawsuit (pdf) alleged that Chinese authorities had suppressed crucial information, arrested whistleblowers, made misrepresentations about the transmissibility of COVID-19the disease caused by the CCP virus, destroyed medical research, and hoarded personal protective equipment. The Chinese government lied to the world about the danger and contagious nature of COVID-19, silenced whistleblowers, and did little to stop the spread of the disease. They must be held accountable for their actions, Schmitt said. The Chinese regime responded to the Missouri lawsuit on Wednesday, dismissing the legal basis of the lawsuit and calling it absurd. A patient is assisted by medical staff as he gets off an ambulance in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, on Jan. 26, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) Cover Up Between mid-December and mid-January, the Chinese regime displayed a pattern of behavior of withholding information and making misrepresentations about the severity of the disease. There was evidence that the CCP had failed to expeditiously provide the World Health Organization (WHO) with important information about the virus, such as the transmissibility of the virus, details of the viruss genome, and infection of healthcare workers. Experts have found that this lack of transparency and candor hindered the international response to the virus. One study, currently in preprint from researchers at the University of Southhampton in the UK, found that if Chinese authorities had acted three weeks earlier, the number of cases could have been reduced by 95 percent. The Chinese regime was also not responsive to international requests to learn about the virus and the outbreak. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar previously said the United States had been trying to send a group of experts to understand the outbreaks transmission and severity since Jan. 6. However, the United Statess repeated offers were left unanswered for a month. Moreover, when multiple Wuhan doctors attempted to warn their colleagues and the public about a pneumonia with an unknown cause, later known to be the CCP virus, authorities attempted to silence them and reprimanded them for rumor-mongering. The most notable of them was Dr. Li Wenliang, an ophthalmologist who ultimately succumbed to the disease after contracting it from a patient he was treating. A nurse adjusts her personal protective equipment (PPE) at a COVID-19 testing station in Stamford, Connecticut, on March 23, 2020. (John Moore/Getty Images) Class Action Lawsuits A number of class actions against the Chinese regime have also begun appearing around the country. A law firm in Florida, The Berman Law Group, has filed two class-action lawsuits against the Chinese regime to hold it accountable for allegedly causing the CCP virus pandemic. One of those lawsuits is filed on behalf of U.S. healthcare workers and claims that the CCP is deliberately buying up medical-grade protective masks, face and eye shields, and other protective equipment, while blocking exports on these supplies, in order to sell the items at substantively higher prices. There are a number of instances and reports in recent months that the regime had been buying and importing large amounts of medical supplies. Between Jan. 24 to Feb. 29, China imported 2.46 billion shipping cartons of supplies for epidemic prevention, valued at 8.21 billion yuan ($1.158 billion), according to recent Chinese customs data. Among them were 2.02 billion protective masks and 25.38 million protective suits. During that time, Chinese authorities, the regimes foreign affairs ministry, and Chinese embassies around the world attempted to mobilize the Chinese diaspora to help buy up goods from around the world. Meanwhile, Chinese state-run enterprises, companies with government entities as majority shareholders, and private firms also began sourcing medical supplies to ship into China since January. Staff members and volunteers are transferring medical supplies at a warehouse of an exhibition centre in Wuhan, China, on Feb. 4, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) It is unclear how the Chinese regime is using the supplies that theyve amassed. Similarly, a coalition of small businesses in California has filed a proposed federal class action (pdf) against the Chinese regime, its health commission, and the City of Wuhan on behalf of Americans seeking trillions of dollars in damages for the harm caused by the pandemic. Fitch said she has also written to the Mississippi Congressional delegation to urge the members to support a bill sponsored by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) that would carve out a specific exemption in the FSIA that would allow Americans to sue the Chinese regime for damages. The bill would clarify that the suppression of information about the virus, which caused it to spread faster or further than it otherwise would have, can be considered a tortious act. China did the world a great injustice by engaging in a complex cover-up of the dangers of this deadly virus. By silencing journalists, doctors, whistleblowers, and others, China exposed millions to the Coronavirus and kept the world from preparing, leading to higher death tolls and more dangerous public health impacts. They must be held to account for the damage they have done, Fitch wrote in her letter to the delegations members. Nicole Hao contributed to this report. An earlier version of this article misstated when the Mississippi attorney general announced the lawsuit. She announced it on Wednesday, April 22. Men line up to get their meals at a dormitory for foreign workers in Singapore, April 19, 2020. Kuala Lumpur is moving to hold talks with Singapore on repatriating Malaysian workers who have been placed on leave in the neighboring city-state during the coronavirus pandemic, a senior Malaysian government official said Wednesday. Singapore has seen the number of COVID-19 cases soar past to past 10,000 this week, with health authorities there tying many of the more recent infections to dormitories that house tens of thousands of foreign workers. Malaysian and Singaporean officials need to meet to determine how many Malaysian workers could be repatriated, said Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Ismail Sabri Yaakob. We have yet to receive the details from [the] Singapore government. We have instructed the Human Resources Minister to hold discussions with his counterpart on whether Malaysians who have been given unpaid leave will return, he told reporters, according to the state-run Bernama news service. Ismail Sabri said he and his Singaporean counterpart had agreed that Malaysians, if they were to leave, would come home in stages. He said there had been no mass homecoming so far because factories in Singapore were still operating despite the coronavirus pandemic We will plan on how to avoid congestion ... as I mentioned yesterday, we will provide 10,000 rooms at quarantine centers if there is a mass return of Malaysians (from Singapore), the senior minister said. Thousands of Malaysians have already returned from Singapore, according to the chairman of the Health and Environment Committee in Johor state, which borders the city-state. Over the last two weeks, 4,783 Malaysians who worked in Singapore have been quarantined after reentering the country. Across Malaysia, 15,946 Malaysians who returned from abroad have been quarantined since April 3, according to Ismail Sabri. The Johor state is viewing this matter seriously and will make sure that health officers and the state immigration department will closely monitor the entry procedure for Malaysians who returned from Singapore through the tight screening process, state committee chairman R. Vidyananthan said. On Monday, the Singapore Health Ministry reported that 95 Malaysians working there had tested positive for COVID-19, according to Ismail Sabri. Singapore reported 1,016 new cases on Wednesday including 999 who are work permit holders (foreigners), most of whom live in dormitories. Disease experts at Johns Hopkins University in the United States reported the total number of cases in Singapore stood at 10,141, as of Wednesday. Malaysia reported 50 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, increasing the total confirmed cases since the outbreak to 5,532, and one death, increasing the total to 93. Globally, nearly 2.6 million infections have been recorded while the death toll stood at nearly 180,000 as of Wednesday, according to data from Johns Hopkins. Indonesians in Singapore Meanwhile, Indonesia has reported that some of its citizens have tested positive for COVID-19 in Singapore as well. Earlier this month, the Indonesian Embassy noted that most Indonesians in Singapore do not live in dormitories. As of Wednesday, 48 Indonesians were confirmed to have tested positive for COVID-19 and two have died. Most of the Indonesian migrant workers work in domestic sectors. They do not live in a dormitory but live with their employers, or they are Indonesian professionals who live in their own place or in a place designated by their office, said Ratna Lestari, chief of the social and cultural section at the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore during an interview with BBC News. NEW YORK, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Elsevier, a global leader in information analytics specializing in science and health, is releasing an Earth Day special issue collection in honor of Earth Day's 50th anniversary. Thirty journal articles and 20 book chapters on various related topics will be freely available on Elsevier's ScienceDirect starting today, April 22, 2020 (#EarthDay2020) to commemorate the occasion. The free content consists of journal articles and book chapters related to the United Nation's (UN) Sustainable Development Goals and are intended to support new research and raise awareness around sustainability. The world's first Earth Day started in 1970. Twenty million Americans, at the time 10 percent of the US population, gathered to protect the environment. Today, the Earth Day Network is now the world's largest recruiter to the environmental movement, working with over 75,000 partners in more than 190 countries, mobilizing more than one billion individuals every year. This year's Earth Day theme is on climate action. Climate change still represents the biggest challenge to the future of humanity and the life-support systems that make the world habitable. According to the UN, the human global population is estimated to reach 9.6 billion by 2050, and it would take the equivalent of three planets to produce enough natural resources to sustain our current lifestyle. While emissions have a chance to fall up to five percent this year due to ongoing restrictions from the Coronavirus pandemic, Director of the International Energy Agency, Dr. Fatih Birol, has said not to count this as a climate victory. "This decline is happening because of the economic meltdown in which thousands of people are losing their livelihoods, not as a result of the right government decisions in terms of climate policies," Dr. Birol said. The Earth Day Network this year is creating multiple digital activities including a Citizen Science App to download. The app will be the world's largest ever coordinated citizen science campaign. The initiative integrates existing citizen science projects and builds capacity for new ones all to grow citizen science worldwide. Using mobile technology and open citizen science data, the app will empower people around the world to monitor and mitigate threats to environmental and human health in their communities. In an effort to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, Elsevier's Education, Reference, and Continuity group, along with scientific and technical journals, is devoting a free special issue for Earth Day, covering a range of topics including energy, food science, transportation, health and well-being, water quality, plastic waste, and sustainable cities. The goal in highlighting these 50 curated chapters and articles is to illustrate the dependability and care that scientific research offers in various aspects of civilization. "As a global community, today more than ever we are aware that we are all in this together. Earth Day serves as a conscious reminder to all of us that our planet is fragile," said Laura Colantoni, Vice President, Reference Content, Elsevier. "It continues to be our great honor to protect it. Science continues to provide the path for all of us to think globally and act locally." Peter Lee, Director of Publishing, Cell Press, Global STM Journals added, "Earth Day was initiated to mobilize citizens to take action on environmental issues. Fifty years on, the urgency has never been greater. "These actions should be driven by sound scientific understanding so that they are thoughtful, deliberate and effective. We are humbled to play a part in fostering, curating and disseminating important scientific research to support this initiative." Please see the links below to access these free chapters and articles. Access to the special issue collection of these articles and chapters can also be found on Elsevier's Twitter accounts. To view the special issue, visit SciTechConnect Earth Day or RELX's UN SDG Resources Center Special Issue on Earth Day. About Elsevier Elsevier is a global information analytics business that helps scientists and clinicians to find new answers, reshape human knowledge, and tackle the most urgent human crises. For 140 years, we have partnered with the research world to curate and verify scientific knowledge. Today, we're committed to bringing that rigor to a new generation of platforms. Elsevier provides digital solutions and tools in the areas of strategic research management, R&D performance, clinical decision support, and professional education; including ScienceDirect, Scopus, SciVal, ClinicalKey and Sherpath. Elsevier publishes over 2,500 digitized journals, including The Lancet and Cell, 39,000 e-book titles and many iconic reference works, including Gray's Anatomy. Elsevier is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. www.elsevier.com 1 Gane, Tamara. "50 Statistics You Should Know for Earth Day's 50th Anniversary". Reader's Digest. Accessed April 15, 2020. 2 Ambrose, Jillian. "Carbon Emissions from Fossil Fuels Could Fall 2.5bn tonnes in 2020". The Guardian. Accessed April 15, 2020. Media contact Christopher Capot Elsevier Communications, US +1-917-704-5174 [email protected] SOURCE Elsevier China on Wednesday dismissed as nothing short of absurdity and violation of sovereignty the lawsuit filed by the US state of Missouri which alleges that Beijing suppressed COVID-19 information, arrested whistle-blowers and denied its contagious nature, leading to the loss of life and causing "irreparable damage" to the world. Filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, the lawsuit was submitted by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt against the Chinese government, the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), and other Chinese officials and institutions. It alleges that during the critical weeks of the initial outbreak, the Chinese authorities deceived the public, suppressed crucial information, arrested whistle-blowers, denied human-to-human transmission in the face of mounting evidence, destroyed critical medical research, permitted millions of people to be exposed to the virus, and even hoarded Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), causing a global pandemic that was unnecessary and preventable. The lawsuit seeks relief on one count of public nuisance, one count of abnormally dangerous activities, and two counts of breach of duty. Remedies could include civil penalties and restitution, abatement of the public nuisance, cessation of abnormally dangerous activities, punitive damages and more, it said. Reacting to the lawsuit, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said: this so-called accusation has no factual and legal basis. It is nothing short of absurdity. He reiterated that since the outbreak, the Chinese government has been acting in open, transparent and responsible manner to report the information to the US and other countries and the World Health Organization (WHO) besides issuing general sequence of the virus. Geng said China is in communication with the US on this issue since January 3, ensuring updates. This is part of China's important contribution and recognised by the international community. This so-called litigation is a malicious abuse of litigation. It violates the basic law and principle of equal sovereignty in international law. The Chinese government's response in the pandemic is not under the jurisdiction of US courts, he said. Geng said that such abuse of ligation is not conducive to epidemic response at home in the US and also runs counter to international cooperation. What the US should do is to refute and reject such abuse of litigation, he said. Besides the lawsuit, China faced stringent criticism from US President Donald Trump and its top politicians and officials including allegations of cover-up and underreporting of coronavirus casualties. While China has reported 82,788 novel coronavirus cases, including 4,632 fatalities, the US registered over 824,600 cases and more than 45,290 deaths -- the highest in the world. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 22 Trend: The destructive statement by Armenian foreign minister is a serious blow to the negotiating process, said the Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Head of Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmat Hajiyev following the Armenian foreign ministers response to a statement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. This statement by the Armenian foreign minister draws a line through the process of negotiations on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. Such a destructive statement by the Armenian side represents a serious blow to the negotiating process and disrupts the talks. At the same time, it is disrespectful to the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, he said. Hajiyev noted that the stage-by-stage settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict on the basis of the principles of the Helsinki Final Act and UN Security Council resolutions and the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the territories around the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan as a first step in this process are reflected in the statements by the heads of co-chair countries. The statement by the co-chairs from 9 March 2019 also reiterates the position on a phased settlement of the conflict. The known UN Security Council resolutions condemn the use of force against Azerbaijan, reaffirm Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and sovereignty, and demand an immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied territories, he said. He recalled that during a roundtable discussion with members of the A. M. Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund on 21 April, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov touched upon the UN Security Council conflict-related resolutions and spoke about plans and proposals on a step-by-step settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. If Armenia aims to withdraw from the negotiating process by making such destructive statements, then it must declare its position openly. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group must also give an assessment to such a destructive position of Armenia and express their own position. As stated by President Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan's position on the conflict is resolute, unequivocal and clear. President Ilham Aliyev reiterated this position at a plenary session of the 16th Annual Meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club and in an open debate with the Armenian Prime Minister on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. As President Ilham Aliyev noted at a meeting on the socioeconomic results of the first quarter of 2020, the position of the international community in connection with the illegal elections in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan dealt a severe blow to Armenia's position. No-one recognizes this illegal junta. Numerous international organizations and states, including the Non-Aligned Movement, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, the European Union, NATO, the European Parliament, the Turkic Council, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and others, made statements on non-recognition of these elections. The conflict must be resolved in accordance with the Helsinki Final Act, UN Security Council resolutions, norms and principles of international law within the framework of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, Hajiyev concluded. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. New York City residents have made it a nightly ritual to cheer for essential workers during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, but one organization is adding musical instruments to the mix. Make Music For NYC, in partnership with the local artist collective Tenth Intervention, has scheduled a citywide music performance for April 29 at 7 p.m. in support of those on the front lines. Musicians of all skill levels beginners, youth, amateurs and professionals are encouraged to participate with their voices, strings, brass, winds, keyboards, drums and household items. The goal is to be as loud as possible with music ringing from rooftops, windows and doorways. Those who wish to publish video clips of themselves playing music during the coordinated performance can do so on social media using the hashtags #PlayBecauseWeCare and #ClapBecauseWeCare. The performance, according to the event page, starts at 7 p.m. Wind players are instructed to start by playing the notes of a concert Bb major chord; string players can freely play open A and D strings; low instruments play a concert Bb chord; keyboard players play Bb-F-A as fast as possible. Percussion and drums should follow cymbal rolls. At 7:03 p.m., those participating are instructed to take moments of reflection. Wind and string players should play low notes in concert D natural minor scale (D-E-F-G-A-Bb-C-D); low instruments should slow pulsing on D and A chord; keyboard players should play a slow D natural minor chords and scales (D-E-F-G-A-Bb-C-D). Percussions and drums should play drums slowly, no cymbals. At 7:06 p.m., organizers instruct all musicians to play anything of their choice at full-blown volume. At 7:09 p.m., participants are instructed to play in a gratitude portion of the performance. Those singing are instructed to sing Ah on a note of your choice. Instruments should play in unison concert Bb. The whole performance is slated to end at 7:11 p.m. Co-sponsors of the music performance initiative include The Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, HONK NYC and Sing in Solidarity. In addition, many Staten Island musicians have used their voices to promote solidarity through song and positive messages. In The Wings Theatre offered a cover of Tomorrow from the Broadway musical Annie, and the Rosenberg family of Eltingville posted a cover of Rainbow Connection. This is a tragedy of Zimbabwe. This is a tragedy that comes with cynicism and the tragedy that comes with self-hate. You cannot go and get the worst part and publicise it internationally for essentially the purpose of denigrating your own country. This is not proper. We have looked at the facility there. In a state of disaster, this is a sufficient to cover the period these returning residents will be here, he said. Over 2.58 million people have now been infected with COVID-19, and over 178,500 have lost their lives. Over 2.58 million people have now been infected with COVID-19, and over 178,500 have lost their lives. Here is a summary of developments from across the globe. The UN on equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and global hunger The 193 members of the UN general assembly passed a resolution that calls for equitable, efficient and timely access to future COVID-19 vaccines. Scientific endeavours have progressed at breakneck speed, and there are countless clinical trials testing medicines and vaccines. However, even if a vaccine is developed soon, manufacturing it in the millions will be a challenge, so global collaboration is crucial to aid development and distribution as well. The UN has also said that the number of people on the brink of starvation could multiply from 135 million to 265 million this year; COVID-19 will stretch humanitarian programs even more. The agency urged member states to sign the global ceasefire resolution floated last month. Pakistans PM Imran Khan tested for COVID-19 The PM came in close contact with Faisal Edhi, a philanthropist, who later tested positive. Edhi came to Islamabad to personally deliver a cheque of PKR 10 million to aid the COVID-19 response. While the two men were not in contact for too long, photographs of the event showed that they stood closer than six feet apart from each other, and the envelope could theoretically transmit the disease as well. PM Khan has been tested and the result is expected today. Swedens top epidemiologist defends the countrys unorthodox methods Unlike most of Europe, Sweden has not imposed a strict lockdown. Voluntary, trust-based measures have been put in place instead; people over 70 have been advised to stay in, and physical distancing is recommended but not enforced. Restaurants and bars, schools for those under 16 remain open. The approach has faced criticism; there has been an outbreak in geriatric facilities, and the infection rate of 131 per million citizens is markedly higher compared to neighbouring Scandinavian countries. Anders Tegnell, of Swedens Public Health Agency, said in an interview with Nature that the disease cannot be eradicated simply by physical distancing alone and that Swedish law doesnt allow broad lockdowns to be employed; containment is dependent on individual responsibility. He added that closing borders would be ridiculous since the disease is already so widespread and that measures such as closing schools are more effective when applied earlier on in an outbreak. He also said that while asymptomatic people can transmit the disease, current evidence does not suggest that they contribute majorly to the spread. Only time will tell if these measures will pay off - for now, satellite data does suggest that people are restricting movement and staying close to home. Japan cuts over 100,000 tulips to discourage crowds in the times of COVID-19 The city of Sakura, 50 miles from Tokyo, cancelled an annual tulip festival and cut over 100,000 flowers to discourage crowds from congregating in the area. Japan has over 11,500 cases and is moving aggressively to mitigate further transmission. Oxford University to begin vaccine trials this week Matt Hancock, UKs health secretary said that the government would help fund vaccine trials that will start this week at Oxford University. There are also plans for vaccine development at Imperial College, London. Over 500 healthy participants are expected to be a part of the trial by May. For more information, read our article on How to avoid getting COVID-19 infection if you are a healthcare worker. Health articles in Firstpost are written by myUpchar.com, Indias first and biggest resource for verified medical information. At myUpchar, researchers and journalists work with doctors to bring you information on all things health. SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Police in Chile broke up a fresh round of anti-government protests in one of Santiagos central squares late on Monday, arresting 14 and citing rules against congregations intended to ward off the spread of coronavirus. Protests over deep-rooted inequality erupted last October over a hike in metro fares, devastating the economy and leading to thousands of arrests and injuries SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Police in Chile broke up a fresh round of anti-government protests in one of Santiagos central squares late on Monday, arresting 14 and citing rules against congregations intended to ward off the spread of coronavirus. Protests over deep-rooted inequality erupted last October over a hike in metro fares, devastating the economy and leading to thousands of arrests and injuries. But the fast-spreading coronavirus, and the measures put in place to combat it, had all but silenced the masses that once turned out on a near nightly basis. Chiles "Carabinero" police force said on Twitter the arrests in Santiagos Plaza Italia, were warranted "because mass congregations are prohibited in public spaces." Police did not specify how many people had gathered in the square. But videos on social media showed several relatively small groups shouting and touting signs of protest. Health authorities have banned gatherings of more than 50 people nationwide to thwart the spread of coronavirus. The country remains under curfew each evening. Restaurants, bars, malls and movie theaters have all been shuttered. But protesters anger over low wages, high cost of living and meager pensions continues to simmer. President Sebastian Pinera sparked outrage in early April when he by posed for photographs at the empty plaza amid a strict lockdown in the city. Pineras approval ratings had plummeted to historic lows for a Chilean president as the 2019 protests raged. Many called on him to resign. The presidents ratings have nonetheless crept upwards amid the countrys measured response to the pandemic, and a raft of stimulus measures worth more than 5% of gross domestic product. The package included a promise on Monday to cut checks to the countrys poorest citizens, a plan worth at least $300 million monthly. Critics, however, said the measures do not go far enough, and argue that loopholes in the proposed stimulus allow some to fall through the cracks. Analysts and marketwatchers predict a sharp contraction of Chiles economy in 2020 and double-digit unemployment, triggering deepening poverty and inequality and a return to the protests of 2019. (Reporting by Dave Sherwood and Fabian Cambero; Editing by Alistair Bell) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Google Cloud has announced that Anthos the companys software for deploying and managing Kubernetes workloads across multiple on-prem and cloud environments now supports running workloads on rival cloud platform Amazon Web Services (AWS), with Microsoft Azure support still in preview for now. Speaking to InfoWorld, Jennifer Lin, vice president of product management at Google Cloud, said the delay in Azure support was simply down to internal engineering resources and market demand making AWS a higher priority for customers than Microsofts cloud. Google Cloud was planning on announcing the news during its big Cloud Next conference earlier this month, but pushed it back after the event was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Made generally available last year, Anthos promises customers a single platform from which to run container-based applications on-premises, in the Google Cloud, and crucially, in other major public clouds like Microsoft Azure and AWS, but it has been somewhat slow to bring support for those rival cloud options online. The race to multicloud Azure has long provided customers with the ability to extend their on-premises workloads into the cloud with its Azure Stack products, and AWS belatedly entered the hybrid market with AWS Outposts in 2019, but neither of these offer a single pane of glass across rival clouds. Underpinned by Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), GKE on-prem, and the Anthos Config Management console, Googles Anthos platform promises unified administration, policies, and security across hybrid Kubernetes deployments. A companion product, Migrate for Anthos, allows workloads to be converted into containers for Kubernetes directly from physical servers and virtual machines (VMs). Google Cloud is already testing Anthos on Microsoft Azure with customers and Anthos support for virtual machines is in early preview. Support for VMs would allow engineers to store key policy and automation in Anthos for both containerized and VM-based workloads, further enabling a gradual journey to the cloud for large enterprise customers. The main delta is being in production with these customers and modernization involves us working collaboratively with them to do more automation and move from that human middleware layer to more automated control planes with Anthos Config Manager, Lin said. That is the return on investment they are looking for. Policy and config management for VMs Anthos now supports the same configuration management for VMs on Google Cloud as you would use for containers, through the Config Management console. Google Cloud is also working on bringing support for applications running on VMs into the Anthos Service Mesh in the coming months. This would allow for consistent security and policy management across workloads in Google Cloud, on-premises, and in other clouds. The central idea around these developments is to allow operators to set dynamic configurations and automated security and identity policies that are linked to certain workloads and namespaces, regardless of where they are running. Using Kubernetes also allows Google Cloud to try and combat what Lin calls config drift by automatically checking the operational state of configurations against the desired state. Policy doesnt care if it is in a container or VM, Lin explained, adding that this capability was particularly important to Googles financial services customers, such as HSBC and KeyBank, who want to bring the best of cloud into their data centers rather than adding a Kubernetes orchestration layer to existing environments with VMware or other proprietary software vendors. With this latest release, we are making managing diverse environments easier than ever before, with deeper support for virtual machines, letting you extend Anthos management framework to the types of workloads that make up the vast majority of existing systems, Lin wrote in a blog post. Declaring independence from vSphere Google Cloud also announced that later this year it will allow users to run Anthos without the need for a third-party hypervisor, further simplifying the delivery of hybrid cloud functionality. Anthos has long run in tandem with the VMware vSphere hypervisor, which comes at an additional cost to customers as well as an additional operational consideration for the application team. The vendor is also working to simplify its Migrate for Anthos service, which promises to ease migration of workloads to Anthos without rewriting or replatforming them manually. Migrate for Anthos was launched off the back of the 2018 acquisition of Velostrata, an Israeli company specializing in cloud migration by cleverly decoupling storage and compute, allowing companies to leave storage on-premises and run a virtual machine in the cloud. President Muhammadu Buhari has called for urgent measures towards the speedy trial of cases and decongestion of custodial centres in the country in view of Covid-19 pandemic. In a letter to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, the President drew His Lordships attention to the recent call by the United Nations on all countries to consciously reduce the population of prison inmates since physical distancing and self-isolation in such conditions are practically impossible. According to President Buhari, From available records, the inmates population at various custodial centres across the country presently stands at about 74,127 out of which 52,226 are Awaiting Trial Persons (ATPs). Most of these custodial centres are presently housing inmates beyond their capacities and the overcrowded facilities pose a potent threat to the health of the inmates and the public in general in view of the present circumstances, hence the need for urgent steps to bring the situation under control. In view of the above scenario, the President said it has become imperative for Your Lordship to request State Chief Judges to embark on immediate visit to all custodial/correctional centres within their respective States to identify and release deserving inmates where that has not been done already. He noted that during such visits, the Chief Judges are enjoined to consider conditional or unconditional release of ATPs who have spent 6 years or more in custody. ATPs who have no confirmed criminal cases against them, aged inmates and terminally ill may be discharged. It is expected that particular attention should be on the aged, those with health issues, low risk offenders, those with no sufficient legal basis to remain in custody, inmates convicted for minor offences with or without option of fines and inmates who have less than 3 years term left to serve having served a substantial term of their service for offences that attract 5 years and above. Payment of fines may be made in favour of inmates convicted of lesser offences with option of fine, who are in custody because of their inability to pay such fines. President Buhari said a Report on the proposed visits is expected to be forwarded to the Presidential Committee on Correctional Service Reform and Decongestion Secretariat, Federal Ministry of Justice, Abuja for compilation and onward transmission to his office. He also suggested to the Hon. Chief Justice of Nigeria to at this stage, consider taking immediate steps as appropriate to ensure the setting up or designation of Special Courts in all States, including the FCT, to try cases of armed robbery, banditry, kidnapping and other serious offences, in order to facilitate speedy trials. In addition, President Buhari said there is the need to ensure that the Chief Judges of States and FCT High Courts direct lower courts to comply with requirements of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act/Law in issuing remand warrants in criminal cases especially in cases which are not within their jurisdiction. According to him, this will regulate the volume of entry of Awaiting Trial Inmates into custodial centres. Pakistan prime Minister Imran Khan was tested for COVID-19 after Edhi Foundation Chairman Faisal Edhi, who met the premier a few days ago, was diagnosed positive for the virus Islamabad: Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan on Tuesday was tested for COVID-19 after Edhi Foundation Chairman Faisal Edhi, who met the premier a few days ago, was diagnosed positive for the virus. A team of doctors from the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital collected samples from the premier and the result is expected on Wednesday, Express Tribune reported. "As a responsible prime minister and a responsible citizen I am happy to announce that the prime minister has agreed to get tested on my advice," Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital CEO, Dr Faisal Sultan, who is also the Khan's personal physician, told reporters. Earlier in the day, Sultan had told the media that the prime minister was chairing a cabinet meeting and after he was finished, he would meet him and recommend that he should be tested for the virus. Faisal Edhi, son of the late renowned philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi, had met the prime minister in Islamabad on 15 April to donate Rs 10 million to the government's coronavirus relief fund. A picture shared by the state-run PTV's Twitter account showed Edhi handing over a cheque to the prime minister. Both Edhi and the prime minister as well as the two other people seen in the picture were not wearing protective masks. Edhi later told a television news channel that he and two industrialists had spent around six to seven minutes with the premier. In the last five days, Khan has presided over many meetings and met important individuals including President Arif Alvi and ISI chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed. Sultan further said the tally of COVID-19 cases in the country was expected to reach between 12,000 and 15,000 by the end of current month according to the government estimates. He added that though the coronavirus situation in the country was better than that in other countries and it was necessary to keep it under control. Edhi has placed himself in self-quarantine at Islamabad's Edhi Home. Mohammad Bilal, spokesperson for the Edhi Foundation, said the test was conducted two days ago at Al-Shifa hospital in the federal capital. "We feel he contracted the virus in Islamabad, as he has been there for a week," he added. Edhi has been on the forefront in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic with his charity organisation. He is also a member of the Sindh's coronavirus emergency fund. His son, Saad Edhi, said his father had started developing symptoms including mild fever and headache soon after meeting the prime minister. He added that the symptoms lasted for four days after which he had himself tested and was diagnosed positive for the disease. In a video message, Faisal Edhi said he was not suffering from any symptoms at the moment but his results had come back positive. He urged his foundation to continue working hard to provide relief to people. The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Pakistan rose to 9,749 on Wednesday after new infections were confirmed in the country. Sheets, who also works as a home birth midwife assistant, said many pregnant women worry that they or their babies will contract COVID-19 in the hospital. Others are considering home birth because of new hospital restrictions on how many support people can attend births. Several hospitals, including Northwestern Medicine and UChicago Medicine, have prohibited women from having more than one person with them in delivery. Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) The Armed Forces of Nigeria on Wednesday said that four of its troops lost their lives and 21 armed bandits killed during a gunfight in Zamafara, Northwest Nigeria Channel to represent significant distribution avenue for fast-growth cyber start-up that offers secure application access for remote workforce, partners using Zero Trust approach SAN MATEO, Calif., April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Axis Security , the private application access company, today unveiled the Axis Security Partner Program (ASPP) for VARs, systems integrators, MSSPs, OEM partners and distributors. The program enables Axis channel partners to expand their security offerings to include a cloud-native security and analytics platform that offers organizations simple and secure control of private application access built on a zero trust model. Axis also signed its first value added reseller, BlackLake Security , a full range cybersecurity services company based in Austin that serves the southwestern United States, to the program. "The channel represents a significant opportunity for Axis Security," said Dan Parelskin, vice president of Sales for Axis Security. "The program equips a range of partners to introduce Axis Security's Application Access Cloud to their customers and prospects and offers the easiest and fastest path to implementing a zero trust business. It enables organizations to secure private applications, accelerating partner and remote worker readiness, M&A activities and cloud migration." With industry analysts predicting that nearly two-thirds of all enterprises will move to a zero trust model by 2023, Application Access Cloud provides an alternate to dated VPN models. The App Access Cloud solves the issue of implicitly open network access and removes the pain points of network-based security associated with Virtual Private Networks (VPN's) which can be complex, slow to deploy, hard to manage and inflexible. "Axis Security offers a great new platform to enhance and expand the cybersecurity portfolio we offer our clients," said Mark Jones, CEO, BlackLake Security. "We know the founders and team very well and respect and appreciate their in-depth knowledge of this space. This is a game changer for companies that want to rapidly enable both their partners and employees with remote access to applications from anywhere, no client software required. Our customers need a zero trust solution that solves problems in hours, not months or years. Axis delivers that and more." Axis Security Adds Value to Partner Offerings Application Access Cloud is positioned to be part of a comprehensive cybersecurity portfolio enabling resellers to bring incremental value to existing solutions. The Application Access Cloud connects users and their applications and mitigates many security risks exposed by legacy access solutions and vulnerable applications. The solution is ideal for organizations across geographies and industries around the globe. The program offers partners a SaaS subscription model, strong end-user experience, fast proof of concept and lightning-quick deployments that easily integrate with and complement existing technology choices to deliver a strong return on investment. The Axis Security Partner Program offers support according to two tiers Authorized and Premium. Based on level, this includes business development opportunities, training, joint marketing, partner resources (collateral, sales enablement, essential resources), marketing co-op funds, sales leads, website presence, and field account planning. For more information on the Axis Security Partner Program, click here . About Axis Security Axis Security's Application Access Cloud is a purpose-built cloud-based solution that makes private app access amazingly simple. Built on a zero-trust approach, the solution offers a new agentless model that delivers the easiest and safest way to connect users anywhere on any device, to private apps, without ever touching the network or the apps themselves. Axis Security is a privately held, venture-backed company, headquartered in San Mateo, California, with research and development in Tel Aviv, Israel. For more information, visit www.axissecurity.com . Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn . SOURCE Axis Security Related Links https://www.axissecurity.com/ Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. With having published myriads of reports for global clients, Future Market Insights exhibits its expertise in the market research field. Our dedicated crew of professionals rides the wave of advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence, and big data analytics, to project the adoption pattern and consumption trends regarding the market. A three-step quality check process - data collection, triangulation, and validation is paramount while assuring the authenticity of the information captured. 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And many more WASHINGTON - The Senate Intelligence Committee has unanimously endorsed the U.S. intelligence community's conclusion that Russia conducted a sweeping and unprecedented campaign to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. The heavily-redacted report, based on a three-year investigation, builds on a committee finding nearly two years ago that the January 2017 intelligence community assessment (ICA) on Russia was sound. The spy agencies also found that Russia sought to shake faith in American democracy, denigrate then-candidate Hillary Clinton and boost her rival Donald Trump. The report, while not unexpected, is nonetheless a milestone - the first extensive bipartisan congressional affirmation of the intelligence agencies' conclusion, which continues to be at odds with President Trump's oft-stated doubts about Russia's role in the 2016 race. "The committee found no reason to dispute the intelligence community's conclusions," Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., said in a statement. "The ICA summarizing intelligence concerning the 2016 election represented the kind of unbiased and professional work we expect and require" from the agencies, Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., said. "The ICA correctly found the Russians interfered in our 2016 election to hurt Secretary Clinton and help the candidacy of Donald Trump. Our review of the highly classified ICA and underlying intelligence found that this and other conclusions were well-supported." The committee said the CIA, National Security Agency and FBI - coordinated by the Director of National Intelligence - presented a "coherent and well-constructed" case for their assessment, supported by intelligence from human and electronic sources. Significantly, the committee said, "interviews with those who drafted and prepared the ICA affirmed that analysts were under no political pressure to reach specific conclusions." The report comes amid a separate, special investigation ordered last year by Attorney General William Barr into the origins of the FBI's 2016 probe into possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia, and the intelligence agencies' development of their assessment. Barr assigned the U.S. attorney in Connecticut, John Durham, to conduct that investigation. One line of inquiry Durham was pursuing centered on whether the CIA was inappropriately withholding material from the NSA and the FBI to enable a finding about Russia's covert activities sought by then-CIA Director John Brennan, according to individuals familiar with the matter. That focus of Durham's inquiry was first reported by the New York Times. But according to the report, the committee "heard consistently" from analysts "that they were free to debate, object to content, and assess confidence levels, as is normal and proper for the analytic process." The 158-page report redacts many sections, including one on Russian President Vladimir Putin directing "active measures" or covert influence operations. It did note, however, that intelligence officers involved in the ICA said the issue of potential coordination between Moscow and the Trump campaign did not arise in their review. "We didn't have any evidence for that,'' said the officer who handled Russia and Eurasia. "There was not information that pointed us in that direction." The committee also found that "specific intelligence as well as open source assessments support the assessment that Putin approved and directed aspects of this influence campaign." The report redacts most of the debate on the sole aspect of the ICA where agencies differed - their confidence levels regarding Russia leadership intentions in 2016. The CIA and FBI assessed with "high confidence" - and the NSA with "moderate confidence" - that Putin aspired to help Trump win, when possible by discrediting Clinton. But it does say the committee found the "analytic disagreement was reasonable, transparent, and openly debated among the agencies and analysts." The committee also reviewed the debate over whether to include material from a series of reports compiled by a former British intelligence officer, Christopher Steele, that had been shared with the FBI. The so-called Steele dossier has been discredited in part, and Republican allies of the president have portrayed Steele's reporting as a politically motivated effort to undermine Trump. Then-FBI assistant director for the Counterintelligence Division, E.W. "Bill" Priestap, told the committee the bureau "didn't want to stand behind" the Steele report, but because then-President Barack Obama had directed the agencies to include all information on Russian interference in the 2016 election, the bureau felt it "would have had a major problem" if it had not been cited in some way. Ultimately, the FBI included a two-page summary of the Steele material in an annex to the classified version of the ICA. The committee noted that all personnel interviewed stated the Steele material "did not in any way inform the analysis in the ICA - including the key judgments - because it was unverified information and had not been disseminated as serialized intelligence reporting." One of the ICA's most important conclusions "was that Russia's aggressive interference efforts should be considered 'the new normal,' " Burr said. "That warning has been borne out by the events of the last three years, as Russia and its imitators increasingly use information warfare to sow societal chaos and discord. With the 2020 presidential election approaching, it's more important than ever that we remain vigilant against the threat of interference from hostile foreign actors." The World Health Organisation (WHO) is under extreme pressure from the United States for hiding details of the novel coronavirus. Responding to claims, the WHO, on Monday, insisted that it sounded the alarm on the novel coronavirus right from the very start and had hidden nothing from Washington about the deadly pandemic. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there were no secrets at the UN agency after being blasted by the United States for allegedly downplaying the initial COVID-19 outbreak in China. At @WHO, we are an open book. Technical experts from around the are always embedded in our operations, working hand-in-hand with our own employees to scrutinize global data & make scientific deductions. This is how we always operate, incl from Day 1 of the #COVID19 outbreak. pic.twitter.com/IttwjOcBZC Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) April 20, 2020 "We have been warning from day one that this is a devil that everyone should fight," Tedros told a virtual briefing in Geneva, reported news agency AFP. The novel wirus emerged last year in the Chinese city of Wuhan. So far, it has infected more than 2.4 million people globally and killed more than 165,000, according to an AFP tally. The United States has by far the highest death toll of any country, at more than 40,000 fatalities, and President Donald Trump has faced criticism over his handling of the pandemic. Washington is the biggest contributor to the WHO but Trump is freezing funding, alleging that the organisation mismanaged and covered up the spread of the virus. WHO said there were 15 staff from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the US health protection agency, detailed specifically to work with the organisation on its COVID-19 response, meaning everything is transparent. AFP "Having CDC staff means there is nothing hidden from the US, from day one. Because these are Americans working with us. It just comes naturally and they tell what they are doing," said Tedros. "WHO is open. We don't hide anything. Not only for CDC, them sending messages, or others -- we want all countries to get the same message immediately because that helps countries to prepare well and to prepare quickly." Earlier in January, WHO had tweeted the preliminary findings from an investigation conducted by the Chinese authorities, which allegedly hamper the handling of the virus. Preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the novel #coronavirus (2019-nCoV) identified in #Wuhan, #China. pic.twitter.com/Fnl5P877VG World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) January 14, 2020 Last week, Trump said he is going to halt funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) because it has "failed in its basic duty" in its response to the coronavirus outbreak. He also accused the UN agency of mismanaging and covering up the spread of the virus after it emerged in China, and said it must be held accountable. In response, the UN's chief said it was "not the time" to cut funds to the WHO. Meanwhile, Trump himself is under fire for lopsided handling of the outbreak. By Express News Service NEW DELHI / JAIPUR: The Centre on Tuesday asked states not to use the new rapid antibody or serological test for Covid-19 for two days amid complaints from states that these kits, procured from China, are giving false results. Around 5.5 lakh rapid test kits had been procured by the government recently from two Chinese firms Guangzhou Wondfo and Zhuhai Livzon and distributed among states after the Indian Council Of Medical Research (ICMR) recommended extensive sampling in coronavirus hotspots. Out of 100 Covid-19 confirmed positive patients tested in Jaipurs SMS medical college, the rapid test could detect only five. Following this, the state government announced it will not use the kits and flagged the issue to the Centre. After the test samples failed, there have been questions regarding the reliability of the rapid test kit. We used it in the state as per ICMR guidelines but this experiment failed completely, Raghu Sharma, states health minister said Tuesday.Rajasthan had received 40,000 kits costing Rs 600 each. Rapid antibody test kits were distributed to all states and one state flagged inaccuracies. We confirmed this with three other states. This is not a good sign, said Dr R R Gangakhedkar, chief epidemiologist with the ICMR.He added the reported accuracy of the tests varied between 6% and 71%. The ICMR said over the next two days, it will send eight teams from to states to get the kits validated before issuing further directions on this.Concerns had already been raised regarding these kits in several countries including the US and UK where the kits were rejected after being tried for testing initially. Advertisement By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 22, 2020 | BENTON, KY By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 22, 2020 | 11:55 AM | BENTON, KY Marshall County High School announced Wednesday three juniors and one alternate have been selected to attend this years Governors Scholars Program. The school congratulated Madison Clark, Madelyn Goins (alternate), Karly Jones, and Ethan Morgan in a Wednesday press release. The Governors Scholars Program is a five-week summer residential program for outstanding high school students in Kentucky who are rising seniors. The Program originated in 1983 as a result of Kentucky leaders concern that the states best and brightest were leaving the Commonwealth to pursue educational and career opportunities elsewhere without fully understanding the potential of their talents at home. The Programs mission is to enhance Kentuckys next generation of civic and economic leaders. Students who are selected attend the Program without charge. More than 2,000 applications are received at the state level each year, with about 1,000 students selected to attend. In order to participate in the Program, students must be nominated by their districts to enter at the state level. In addition to an academic profile that includes difficulty of course load, GPA, and at least one standardized test score, the application requires an outline of all extracurricular activities, volunteer service, and employment history. A teacher recommendation, which includes both a quantitative evaluation and qualitative descriptions of the students performance and potential, is an additional component, along with a community recommendation, which shows how a student performs in a community setting beyond the high school. The final component of the application is an original writing entry. Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday (April 22) directed the state officials to take firm steps to contain coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. The state has stood first in the country by conducting 830 tests covering a population of 10 lakh, reflecting the state's proactive steps in containing COVID-19, according to AP government statement. According to officials, so far 41,512 tests were conducted and the state stood first in the number of tests per million followed by Rajasthan. ICMR has given permission to conduct tests with TreuNat machines and 5,757 tests were conducted on Tuesday. The Chief Minister has been told that the sample tests conducted with the kits from China were not satisfactory and hence they were not purchased. "As an alternative, test kits from South Korea were ordered on a chartered flight, though they were meant to be flown to the US. The tests conducted with the South Korea kits proved to be satisfactory," the officials said. "They said the best practices world over in containing COVID-19 were being observed and pulse-axi-meters were being used for the COVID-19 patients to check their pulse and oxygen levels on a regular basia. The number of such kits would be increased as per the requirement," it said. The Chief Minister directed the officials to ensure adequate number of oxygen cylinders. The cash sheets were being maintained for all the patients and that standard protocol was also being maintained in all the hospitals. "TreuNat machines were helpful in identifying the positive cases in just two hours and video-conferencing with experts was arranged to keep track of the patients health on a regular basis. In all, 300 doctors were involved to cater to the needs of the patients through telemedicine," it said. When the Chief Minister directed the officials to provide medicines also to the patients identified through telemedicine, the officials replied that it would be ensured by Saturday. The Chief Minister directed the officials to ensure proper tests for the 7,578 patients in the quarantine and to increase the number of ICU beds in the hospitals in Anantapur, Prakasam and Nellore districts, adding that hospitals should be identified in the towns where there is the intensity of the cases to treat them locally. The Chief Minister said that relaxation should be applicable to only green clusters and regulations strictly followed in the red and orange clusters and to see that physical distance was maintained at all the places. He also directed the officials to constantly monitor the prices of essentials in the market and take action against those resorting to hoarding. With reference to Rythu Bharosa and Matsyakara Bharosa schemes, the CM said that list of beneficiaries should be maintained at the village secretariats for two weeks and wait for a week to receive grievances, adding that cold storages should be ensured for aqua products and to regulate the purchase of produce at the farm gates. The US state of Missouri has issued a lawsuit against the Chinese authorities, accusing them of appalling campaign of deceit, concealment, misfeasance, and inaction which led to the enormous loss of life, human suffering, and economic turmoil caused by the coronavirus pandemic. During the critical weeks of the initial outbreak, it reads, Chinese authorities deceived the public, suppressed crucial information, arrested whistleblowers, denied human-to-human transmission in the face of mounting evidence, destroyed critical medical research, permitted millions of people to be exposed to the virus, and even hoarded personal protective equipment thus causing a global pandemic that was unnecessary and preventable. Under US federal law, individual states are unable to sue entire countries - except in exceptional circumstances. The state's case argues that Chinas behaviour over coronavirus and its implications stemmed from commercial interests, meaning they have the right to sue. Defendants are responsible for the enormous death, suffering, and economic losses they inflicted on the world, including Missourians, and they should be held accountable. Concerns about the Chinese governments transparency about the virus have been a running theme since early in the pandemic. In particular, questions have circulated about the governments candour when it comes to the viruss nature and infectiousness, as well as the true death toll in Wuhan. On the point of hoarding personal protective equipment (PPE), China was criticised by the US in early March for keeping tons of masks and other medical safety wear, which it manufactures, for its own pandemic control efforts, even as it received an 18-ton shipment from the Trump administration which had many times downplayed the viruss global impact. Missouri has confirmed close to 200 deaths from coronavirus, with around 2,000 cases. Speaking to Fox Newss Tucker Carlson, Missouri attorney general Eric Schmitt laid the outbreaks human and economic toll at the Chinese governments feet. Whats become clear in recent weeks is the deception, the misrepresentation, the concealment of the Chinese government of the origins of this vicious virus thats impacted the entire globe they were aware of the human-to-human contact and transmission very early on, hid that, punished and concealed the evidence from whistleblowers, and the impact has been devastating. Asked in the Fox interview whether he had received pushback, Mr Schmitt sounded upbeat. He pointed out that while US law says that foreign countries do not come under the jurisdiction of American courts, there is a legal exemption under the Federal Sovereignties Immunity Act that allows states to sue other countries for an act outside the territory of the United States in connection with a commercial activity of the foreign state elsewhere and that act causes a direct effect in the United States. We feel very confident in the case The fact that they were running the virology lab, the fact that they were running hospital systems, the fact that they were hoarding PPE, we think thats squarely under that exemption, which is why we brought the case. The virology lab to which Mr Schmitt referred is the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which is cited in the case as one theorised point of origin for the virus. Theories about the labs involvement in the viruss spread have lately become popular on the US right, ranging from claims that the virus escaped via an infected worker to the notion that coronavirus was developed there as a biological weapon. No hard scientific evidence has as yet been advanced to support either claim, and the current mainstream scientific consensus is that the virus is animal-borne. (Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of updates by London-listed companies on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, issued on Wednesday and not separately reported by Alliance News: BATM Advanced Communications Ltd - networking solutions and medical laboratory systems - Secures EUR29 million order for the delivery of 1,000 critical care mechanical ventilators to an unnamed European government. Receives an upfront fee of EUR7.3 million and expects the balance to be paid on completion of delivery in the second half of 2020. Ventilators aimed at intensive care unit environments for patients suffering from Covid-19. To deliver 25% of the ventilators in the first half and the remainder in the third quarter of 2020. Continues to ramp up delivery of diagnostic kits. DP Eurasia NV - franchisee of Domino's Pizza - Reports 12% drop in like-for-like system sales for Turkish unit following Covid-19 measure from March 16 to April 19. Same store sales in Russia down 31%. Continues to provide delivery and take-away services. Balance sheet strong enough to operate for six months under current cost structure even if all its operations are shut down by government action. Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals PLC - biopharmaceuticals - To use its advanced humanised mice to develop potential treatments for Covid-19. Will seek to discover human neutralising antibodies - antibodies that are typically developed by the human immune system to neutralize invading viral pathogens - that could be used to fight SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. To transplant cells from blood samples from patients who are either recovering or have already recovered from Covid-19 into its humanised mice. Ebiquity PLC - media and marketing consultancy - Appoints Nick Waters as chief executive officer and director. Interim CEO Alan Newman to resume as chief financial and operating officer. Providing no guidance on 2020 outlook. Undertaking cost reduction including a 20% salary reduction by senior manager, a deferral of the annual pay review, and temporary freeze on recruitment. To defer dividend payment until economic and business conditions are more certain. Jadestone Energy Inc - oil & gas - Cuts 2020 capital expenditure by 80% to between USD30 million and USD35 million due to collapse in oil prices as a result of reduced demand. Has already spent USD15.5 million of 2020 capital expenditure in first quarter. Defers infill drilling campaign in Australia to 2021 to maximise potential future returns and preserve cash. Targeting average production between 12,000 barrels and 14,000 barrels per day in 2020. Expects 25% growth in 2021 production. On track to deliver maiden dividend in 2020. Has total cash of USD109.4 million plus restricted cash of USD10.0 million as at March 31. TOC Property Backed Lending Trust PLC - debt investor - To delay payment of the dividend of 1.5 pence per share declared on February 28 and due for payment on May 4 until June 1. Sufficient cash reserves to meet all current commitments. Assuming that some borrowers may not be able to fully meet their obligations in the near term given the current trading environment. Actively monitoring ability of borrowers to meet their interest payment and capital repayment obligations. Intelligent Ultrasound Group PLC - software and simulation - Veteran's Administration NY Harbor Healthcare Simulation Center in New York using BodyWorks Point-of-Care Ultrasound simulator for providing critical care simulation based training sessions for newly installed Covid-19 lung module. Training sessions preparing non critical health care professionals including surgery, anaesthesiology, paediatrics and acute care nurse practitioners for roles as bedside ICU providers. CareTech Holdings PLC - social care and education services - Too early to understand the full financial implications of coronavirus crisis. Negative financial impact to date of Covid-19 minimal. Working with authorities to ensure facilities remain open and operational. Performance for the half year ended March 31 in-line with market expectations, with strong year-on-year growth in revenue and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. Occupancy level in the mature estate at March 31 was 85% versus 84% at September 30 last year. On track to deliver GBP5 million in pretax profit synergies in the year ending September 30. Cash of GBP35 million at March 31, plus an undrawn revolver of GBP25 million and significant head room under the existing bank facilities and bank covenants. Reconfirms paying final dividend of 7.95p per share for financial 2019. Avacta Group PLC - developer of cancer immunotherapies - Generates several highly specific Affimer reagents for a Covid-19 antigen rapid test. To use reagents for developing a laboratory test for the SARS-COV-2 virus antigen within the next few weeks. Reagents will also be used to develop a point-of-care test strip. Biome Technologies PLC - bioplastics and radio frequency technology - Impact of Covid-19 in the first quarter limited, with trading in line with management's expectations. Continues manufacturing and development operations. Revenue for three months to March 31 declines to GBP1.3 million from GBP2.1 million a year before, reflecting a very strong revenue performance from the Bioplastics division and subdued demand in the Stanelco radio frequency division. Current trading continues in line with management expectations. Taking actions to maximise commercial opportunities whilst managing cost base and cash resources. TechnipFMC PLC - oil & gas - Revises dividend policy to USD0.13 per share on an annualised basis due to the sharp decline in commodity pricing and the coronavirus impact. Taking this action to further strengthen the balance sheet and preserve liquidity. Intends to pay its 2021 dividend in quarterly instalments beginning in April 2021. Starcom PLC - remote tracking and monitoring - Sees delay in client orders due to temporary shutdowns. Experiencing delays in supply and delivery to and from factory due to local transport difficulties and airport restrictions. Unable to predict financial impact of virus pandemic on trading. Should restrictions on trade continue for a sustained period, company does not expect to achieve the levels of growth previously anticipated. Taking all necessary steps to contain costs and preserve cash. GetBusy PLC - document management and productivity software - Expects disruption to the appetite of customers to adopt new technology at this time. US unit GetBusy USA Corp gets USD515,000 loan under the US Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program. By Tapan Panchal; tapanpanchal@alliancenews.com Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. GENESIS A group made up of those against a new register and those for a new register met to brainstorm and debate to find solutions and make recommendations on the 2020 election. The Caucus for Democratic Governance, Ghana ( CDG-Gh) which is also looking for solutions, decided to collate the solutions and recommendations. COMMON GROUND Both sides agreed that the EC`s appointment, to replace her predecessor led to polarization on party lines. Many thought Madam Jean Mensah`s strong NPP background, will obliterate fairness and neutrality.. There were others who suggested she is too focused on new voter`s register. There were others who said the register has names of dead people. A few others suggested the register is not credible, yet others suggested the register is credible but has been stretched. CHANGING EVENTS Be it as it may, these are individual or group opinions of Ghanaians and must be respected. Between time and space, a few things have happened. There have been demonstrations, there has been procurement processes which were boycotted by IPAC; there has been a meeting of EC, IPAC and the Advisory Council of EC. There has been attempts by EC to train its registration agents; there has been attempts by NIA in spite of partial lockdown to continue registration in the Eastern Region; the EC has also laid a Constitutional Instrument (CI ) before Parliament. The CI is expected to give legal backing to the EC to compile a new register. It was later withdrawn and is expected to be laid anew; and lastly the deadly COVID-19. COVID-19 Invariably COVID-19 took all the attention of the President, the Nation Ghana and the whole world. World Health Organization as a result of deadly corona virus became the centre of medical directions. Soon election 2020 and the new biometric register became secondary; subject to directions on COVID-19. On the basis of this new variable, leadership of Electoral Commission led by Madam Jean Mensa suspended the training of registration officers till further notice. Meanwhile, those who initially supported ECs decision to compile a new voters register are gradually getting worried. SET DOWN DATE Sometime in March, the EC set April 18th as the date for the begin of the registration of the new register. However, due to the corona virus and its corresponding partial lockdown in Greater Accra, Kumasi and its environs, due to the President's order banning social gathering and enforcing corresponding social distancing. due to the total closure of our borders (land, sea and air ways); this set down date of 18th April cannot work. ANALYSIS IN LEADERSHIP Since the national election day, for all times, is constant (does not change), the variables, within time are also limited; that is, you cannot freely change the set down dates. With eight months to election, the time factor is obviously not on the side of the Electoral Commission. Registration of voters, no matter how fast, will have to take into consideration social distancing and the partial lockdown. The procurement of equipment and its delivery and simulation (according to manufacturing Companies) can take several months. The exhibition of register for verification by the public can also take time. The withdrawal of the Constitutional Instrument (CI) before Parliament might plunge the EC into irreversible Constitutional crises. Leadership is always guided by a sense of stewardship to the people and not guided on the basis of winners or losers. EC leadership decision is required. DECISION IN LEADERSHIP The decision by Madam Jean Mensah and his team to suspend registration, until further notice is a move in the right direction. If COVID-19 and its corresponding obligatory partial lockdown and social distancing will not allow training of registration staff; if the few months left will not allow fair and impartial conduct of registration, then there is the need for concrete decision. Besides the country as a result of COVID-19, has increased expenditure. The GRA is losing about 20% of its revenue as a result of shutting down at ports. The National finance is struggling. Astute legal experts, advice the EC to drop the idea of a new voters register and concentrate on the current register for the December elections. PROJECTIONS Projections of leadership qualities of past and present ECs are all guided by a sense of stewardship to the people and the understanding of the objectives of leadership appointment, which in this case includes preventing the country from plunging into Constitutional crisis. It is therefore in the right direction to pull out of the trajectory and find the best possible alternative solution. Dr E.K.Hayford Managing Director, CDG-Gh 0277606338 / 0507694343 Postings from the interface of science and culture COPENHAGEN, Denmark, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Napatech (OSLO: NAPA.OL), the leading provider of reconfigurable computing platforms, today announced that a company expert will be a featured presenter at the System of Systems Consortium (SOSSEC) Defensive Cyber Operations Cyber Talk. Napatech will discuss the leading use cases for SmartNICs to achieve stunning benchmarks for the most demanding, mission-critical applications in government networks. Click to Tweet: @Napatech Demonstrates #SmartNIC Use Cases for Mission-Critical Application in Government Agencies: https://www.napatech.com/about/events/ Napatech has recently joined the SOSSEC community to expand upon its already successful engagements in U.S. government agency networks and gain access to the thought leaders in the SOSSEC community. Its members have developed, integrated, and supported more than 250 leading-edge technology prototypes and deployments to help meet its members' diverse and critical needs. SOSSEC offers the unique ability to integrate and harness the power of a diverse consortium of organizations. The Consortium was specifically formed to address the needs of the Department of Defense (DoD). With over 700 member companies, SOSSEC collaborates with federal, state, local, regional, and private sectors to conceive and implement transformational solutions. As a result of their SOSSEC membership and participation, Napatech will speak at the Defensive Cyber Operations Cyber Talk, a virtual event to be held on Thursday April 23, from 1pm-3pm ET. Napatech's VP of Field Application Engineering, Pete Sanders, will discuss the implications of network traffic loss on applications for monitoring, recording and security. His presentation will highlight how FPGA-based SmartNICs guarantee zero packet loss to preserve the integrity of the most demanding applications at speeds up to 100 Gbps. Additional event information is available at https://www.eis.army.mil/event/defensive-cyber-operations-cyber-talkstm. Jarrod Siket, chief marketing officer, Napatech said: "We are pleased to join leading innovators in the SOSSEC community and have the opportunity to present our technology at this virtual event. We appreciate the collaborative, supportive nature of the Consortium and look forward to a long and mutually beneficial association." About Napatech Napatech helps companies to reimagine their business by bringing hyperscale computing benefits to IT organizations of every size. We enhance open and standard virtualized servers to boost innovation and release valuable computing resources that improve services and increase revenue. Our reconfigurable computing platform is based on a broad set of FPGA software for leading IT compute, network and security applications that are supported on a wide array of FPGA hardware designs. Additional information is available at: www.napatech.com. No Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain forward-looking statements which are only predictions and may differ materially from actual future events or results due to a variety of factors, including but not limited to, business conditions, trends in the industry and markets, global economic and geopolitical conditions, macro-economic factors, and other risks and uncertainties set forth in Napatech's reports. The matter discussed in this release is based on current expectations and maybe subject to change. Napatech will not necessarily update this information. For details, visit us at www.napatech.com. Media Katrina Porter, Nadel Phelan, Inc. +1.831.440.2406 [email protected] Investor Relations Heine Thorsgaard +45.2241.8090 [email protected] SOURCE Napatech Related Links http://www.napatech.com IS fighters use curfew and restrictions to target military assets. Operations are centred in the Kirkuk area. For Iraqi priest, jihadis carry out hit-and-run operations. The scope of violence is not comparable to the past. Although the situation is improving, focus remains on containing the outbreak. Kirkuk (AsiaNews) Despite its military defeat, the Islamic State (IS) group is still active in a number of areas of the Middle East, taking advantage of the emergency situation created by the novel coronavirus pandemic. This is especially the case in Iraq. In April, local sources report that IS fighters or unknown groups carried out various operations and attacks in disputed areas in northern Iraq, in particular in and around Kirkuk, a city disputed by Iraqs central government and the Kurds because of its rich oil reserves. According to sources cited by al-Monitor, jihadi activities have increased since a curfew and the state of emergency were imposed on 17 March. Some IS sleeper cells are reportedly behind attacks in Hawija, south-west of Kirkuk, a city notorious for IS beheadings of Kurdish soldiers. On 12 April, an IS sniper shot and killed a policeman at a checkpoint in Hawija; the next day IS ambushed some Iraqi soldiers. Iraqs Security Media Cell (SMC), part of the state security forces, announced on 20 April that it destroyed IS bombs in hideouts in Samarra. On the same day, the SMC announced that an unknown group had killed three Iraqi soldiers in Diyala. The following day, three more soldiers were wounded in another attack in the same city. "There are still IS cells and fighters ready to strike in Iraq," said Fr Paul Thabit Mekko, head of the Christian community in Karamles, a town in the Nineveh plain, northern Iraq. Speaking to AsiaNews, he explained that Usually, they (IS fighters) engage in hit-and-run attacks, but the scale and intensity of the violence are not comparable to the past. Although the situation "is not clear, these are limited operations and should not lead to "a return of the Caliphate". Overall, the situation is uncertain" and the emergency situation created by the novel coronavirus "has caused further confusion". This "has certainly helped" jihadis "in their attacks". Other groups of dubious nature have joined them. The most critical situation "is south of Kirkuk where some cells are hiding in the desert. From here they can launch "sudden attacks, like a few weeks ago against the Peshmerga (Kurdish fighters). The clergyman rules out any large-scale return of IS, but the withdrawal of US soldiers from a base south of Kirkuk "may have encouraged jihadis. In any event, there is no widespread panic. Everyone, from the government down, is focused "on containing the coronavirus" and mitigating its terrible effects on the economy and jobs, which could affect up to 40/50 per cent of Iraqis". In Mosul and Nineveh, fears of the pandemic seem to have diminished. Many areas in Iraqi Kurdistan are reopening because all the sick have recovered. In Erbil the situation is improving. In Baghdad the central authorities have loosened restrictions; for example, by reducing the duration of the curfew. A significant chunk of a $10 billion fund established for hot spots affected by the coronavirus pandemic will go to New York hospitals. U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer said on Wednesday that New York hospitals will receive $4.3 billion more than 40% of the available funding. The federal aid can help hospitals that are struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Several New York hospitals, especially medical facilities in upstate, are facing massive financial losses. For many hospitals, the cancellation of elective surgeries an order from Gov. Andrew Cuomo that was part of a statewide push to expand hospital capacity was costly. Cuomo said Tuesday that some hospitals can resume elective procedures next week. The hot spot fund is part of the $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill that Congress approved and President Donald Trump signed in March. The $10 billion in aid will be directed to hospitals in 100 counties across the U.S. that have high numbers of COVID-19 cases. "New York and its hospitals have been amongst the hardest hit in the nation, and with this funding going out, the frontline fight being waged by our health care system and its incredible workforce will receive the hot spot dollars they need and so very much deserve to keep saving lives," Schumer, D-N.Y., said. There are more than 830,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the U.S., with 257,216 in New York the most of any state. As of Wednesday, 15,302 coronavirus-related deaths have been reported in New York. Many New York City-area hospitals have been overwhelmed by patients, although the number of hospitalizations has been on the decline since last week. Total hospitalizations dropped to 15,599, down 536 since Tuesday. The number of discharged jumped 1,470 to 38,769. The coronavirus relief bill in March included $100 billion for hospitals, and New York medical centers received some of that funding. An additional $75 billion for hospitals is in a new bill that the Senate passed on Tuesday. The House is working to finalize that legislation. But Schumer pushed for a separate fund that would help New York and other hot spots for the virus. He thought it was necessary because some states haven't experienced the same effects of the pandemic as New York. "The strain on hospitals and health systems is felt even more acutely in regions like the New York metropolitan area where the bulk of COVID-19 patients are being treated at this time," he said. "These costs obviously do not exist evenly across the country, and it is therefore crucial that subsequent rounds of funding provide an adjustment for hot spots like New York." Politics reporter Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding. 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. Filter coffee can cut risk of heart attack, with its drinkers being 15 per cent less likely to die from the condition, a study has concluded. Preparing your morning brew using a filter-based approached is best to avoid heart problems and lower cholesterol and is better for you than not drinking any coffee. When coffee is poured through a filter, the oily components that can raise cholesterol and lead to health complications are removed. Scroll down for video Filter coffee can cut risk of heart attack, with its drinkers being 15 per cent less likely to die from the condition, a study has concluded Previous studies have shown coffee consumption to be linked to so-called 'bad' cholesterol and be potentially detrimental to the health of one's heart. Further research revealed the substances in coffee responsible for this effect can be removed simply by using a filter. In fact, a cup of filtered coffee contains around a 30 times lower concentration of fatty lipid-raising substances in comparison with unfiltered coffee. In the new study, European researchers looked at the relationship between different methods of brewing coffee and risk of heart attack and death. More than 500,000 healthy men and women aged 2079 recorded the amount and type of coffee they drank, for an average of 20 years. They also recorded other factors that could influence heart health such as smoking, physical activity, blood pressure and cholesterol. The team's analysis revealed that drinking coffee is not a dangerous habit in and of itself but drinking filtered coffee was safer than no coffee at all. Filtered brew was linked to a 15 per cent reduced risk of death from any cause regardless of age, gender or any lifestyle choices. The risk of death from heart disease, specifically, was lowed by 20 per cent in women and 12 per cent in men who drank filtered coffee. Furthermore, people who drank between one and four cups of filtered coffee a day had the lowest mortality levels. Unfiltered coffee did not raise the risk of death compared to no coffee at all with the exception of with men aged 60 and over, where it was linked to an increased chance of cardiovascular death. Preparing your morning brew using a filter-based approached is best to avoid heart problems and lower cholesterol and is better for you than not drinking coffee. When coffee is poured through a filter, the oily components that can raise cholesterol are removed 'Our study provides strong and convincing evidence of a link between coffee brewing methods, heart attacks and longevity,' said paper author and epidemiologist Dag Thelle, of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. Professor Thelle recommends switching to filtered coffee, especially if you are concerned about high cholesterol. 'For people who know they have high cholesterol levels and want to do something about it, stay away from unfiltered brew,' he said noting that this would include coffee made with a cafetiere, or French press. 'For everyone else, drink your coffee with a clear conscience and go for filtered.' The full findings of the study were published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. EDWARDSVILLE Madison County States Attorney Tom Gibbons on Tuesday filed first-degree murder charges against a 20-year-old Tilden man following a Sunday evening shooting in Collinsville. Caleb D. E. Smith has been charged with three counts of first degree murder, one count of armed robbery and one count of unlawful possession of weapons by a felon. Devin Judd, 25, or Marissa, was found with gunshot wounds to his body Sunday. He was transported to Saint Louis University Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Collinsville Police officers were dispatched to the Hampton Inn in Collinsville for a report of a man suffering from gunshot wounds. Investigators from the Major Case Squad arrived at the scene to question witnesses and secure surveillance footage. The investigation also led to one count of armed robbery against Dakota L. Winters, 24, of Granite City, for her alleged involvement in the incident. Smith is being held on a $500,000 bail. Winters is being held on a $200,000 bail. Both were set by Circuit Judge Kyle Napp. I want to praise the swift action taken by the detectives of the Major Case Squad on their investigation on this case, said First Assistant Madison County States Attorney Crystal Uhe. Despite everything that is going on in the world right now, these men and women carried out their duties admirably and skillfully so that justice can be brought to the family of Devin Judd. Gibbons acknowledged the work of Collinsville Police, Illinois State Police and the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis. He also commended Uhe, head of the Violent Crimes Unit, and Assistant Madison County States Attorney Lauren Heischmidt for their swift collaboration with law enforcement. At this time of the year, the sun is pretty unbearable in the north-central Dominican Republic city of Santiago. On Tuesday, the Santiago mayor's office decided to deploy a fire truck that was willing to hose down residents with water - free of charge - if they refused to follow the city's social distancing recommendations. 'Attention, attention. Warning,' a loud pre-recorded message blared out of a SUV while a firefighter stood atop the truck that slowly moved along a busy street packed with pedestrians standing on line to enter a local bank. 'If you are not two meters apart, they will start to pour water to separate you. This is a danger zone. Respect the distance. This is the last warning. They are ready to start wetting you.' A fire truck was deployed by the mayor's office in the Dominican Republic city of Santiago to warn residents they will be hosed with water if they fail to cooperate and follow the nation's social distancing measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus A firefighter stands atop a fire engine as the city of Santiago unveiled a coronavirus preventive measure that threatened any resident with being sprayed down with water if they are seen ignoring the country's social distancing recommendations Since President Danilo Medina declared a state of emergency in March, authorities have had a difficult time enforcing stay-at-home orders and social distancing measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus epidemic. Mayor Abel Martinez hopes the threat of being sprayed with water in public would deter his city's residents from breaking any of the coronavirus preventive measures that have been in place. 'Without spilling a single drop of water, the [physical distancing] began,' Martinez wrote on Twitter. 'This is the kind way we have gone about to ask the population to abide by the measure. This makes [people] voluntarily comply with this necessary and vital measure.' Firefighters adjust their attire before participating in a PSA announcement that warned residents not to disobey social distancing measures Residents in the north-central Dominican city of Santiago keep their distance from each other while waiting in line to enter a local business Abel Martinez, the mayor of Santiago, the fourth-largest city in the Dominican Republic, says warning residents with being hosed with water 'is a necessary and vital measure' to ensure they adhere to all of the preventive recommendations and orders that are in place to combat the spread of the ravaging coronavirus The Dominican Republic's health ministry reported 250 deaths and 5,300 infections caused by the COVID-19 pandemic as of Wednesday. Santiago, the fourth-largest city in the Dominican Republic, has reported 638 confirmed cases and 38 deaths. Authorities in a nation with a population of 10.5million have reported 45,308 arrests as a result of residents failing to adhere to nationwide quarantine. More than 1,000 people have been fined and over 5,000 have been handed community service sentences. Law enforcement agents detained 886 people throughout the island nation Tuesday, including 95 in Santiago. A 35-year-old man killed during a fatal stabbing on the Gold Coast overnight has been identified as Nicholas Braid (pictured) A 35-year-old man killed during a fatal stabbing on the Gold Coast overnight has been identified as Nicholas Braid. The industrial relations adviser died outside the Beachcomber Apartments on Hanlon Street at Surfers Paradise after 7pm on Tuesday night. A 20-year-old woman known to Mr Braid was arrested on Wednesday afternoon and taken into custody for questioning. The young man has been remembered by his family and friends as a smart and personable individual with drive and compassion. Scroll down for video Earlier on Wednesday, police released an image (above) of a woman wanted for questioning Mother Michele Braid said he will be sorely missed. 'Nick was a much loved and loving son, brother and friend,' his mother Michelle Braid told The Courier-Mail. 'Despite his struggles, he never stopped caring for them and always had compassion for the underdog. Mr Braid was found with a gaping chest wound lying on the footpath outside the apartments on Tuesday night. Despite being rushed to the Gold Coast University Hospital he was unable to be revived. The young man has been remembered by his family and friends as a smart and personable individual with drive and compassion Mr Braid was found with a gaping chest wound lying on the footpath outside the apartments on Tuesday night Police take photos at the crime scene after the body of 35-year-old Nicholas Braid was found on Tuesday night Detective Inspector Chris Ahearn from the Gold Coast Criminal Investigation Branch said they believe Mr Braid knew his accused killer. 'They're loosely known to each other, but that will be the focus of our investigation going forward,' he said. 'We have a number of people who have provided versions of what has occurred.' Witnesses from a nearby apartment block described hearing a woman screaming and an alleged 'argument' before the Mr Braid's body was found on the footpath. Tree snaps power pole, knocks out power, blocks road A large tree fell across Fourth Avenue West on Thursday, snapping a power pole in half, blocking the road in the 1200 block and knocking out power to dozens of residents. No one was hurt. Duke Energy reported at 3 p.m. that there were eight active power outages and 533 customers without power. No other details were immediately available. A High Court judge has said it is just and fair to remit a case relating to the planning permission for a cluster of giant wind turbines outside Macroom, Co Cork back to An Bord Pleanala. An Bord Pleanala will now have to decide again on the development of six wind turbines up to 131m in height at Barnadivane, Terelton. In the latest development in the six year long planning saga, Barna Wind Action Group went to the High Court to legally challenge whether the windfarm case should be remitted back to An Bord Pleanala after the planning board agreed to an order quashing its grant of permission in April last year. Permission had been granted to Barna Wind Energy Ltd for the construction of the windfarm. Permission was also given to Arran Windfarm Ltd for the construction of an associated electricity substation compound. Both companies and Cork County Council were notice parties to the judicial review proceedings before the High Court. Mr Justice McDonald in a decision this month ruled it was fair and just to remit the case back to An Bord Pleanala and also recommended that An Bord Pleanala should seek further material to address changes in the environment in the intervening period since the Environment Impact Study was prepared. The judge said he will leave it up to the Board to decide for itself how it should proceed. Barna Wind Action Group had opposed the remitting of the case back to the Board. It contended that having regard to the changes to the EU Directive in relation to environment impact assessments it would be inappropriate to remit the matter back to the Board. The developer supported remitting the case back for consideration by An Bord Pleanala. Planning applications for the windfarm and sub station were initially lodged in 2014 and permission was granted by Cork County Council the following year. The matter was appealed to An Bord Pleanala who upheld the planning permission grant in 2016. This was the subject of a legal challenge and in November 2016 the Board consented to an order quashing both of its decisions on fair procedures grounds. The matter was remitted back to An Bord Pleanala and an inspector completed a report on the applications in 2018 and recommended that planning permission be granted. An Bord Pleanala in April 2019 granted permission for the developments. Mr Justice McDonald said in addition to an order quashing the two decisions of An Bord Pleanala of April 2019, he would also make an order that the subject matter of both decisions be remitted to the Board to be determined in accordance with law. The judge also awarded costs of the judicial review proceedings to Barna Wind Action Group. More than 44.58 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses given so far: Health ministry Health ministry, ICMR have issued guidelines for 'official document' for Covid deaths: Centre to SC As supplies are hit, Health Ministry suggests ban on export of anti-TB drug India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Apr 22: The Health Ministry has recommended a ban on the export of the anti-TB drug as the lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak has hampered the supply of the drug to the National TB Elimination Programme. Macleods and Lupin, the leading anti-TB drug manufacturer has written to the Health Ministry and pointed out that in view of the emergency measures taken, availability of manpower and material is limited. This is affecting the production capacity, it was also stated. Coronavirus outbreak: COVID-19 cannot be cured by BCG vaccine, says WHO Health secretary, Preeti Sudan wrote to an empowered group of government officials to direct the department of pharmaceuticals and commerce ministry to ban the export of the drug. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Staten Island has been left out of a plan for six new coronavirus testing sites for the citys 400,000 NYCHA residents. New sites -- specifically for NYCHA city housing residents -- will be located in the other four boroughs. Staten Island NYCHA residents will get priority testing at the already open NYC Health and Hospitals/Gotham Health Vanderbilt clinic in Clifton, said a City Hall spokesperson There are 10 NYCHA developments with 4,318 households and 9,713 residents on Staten Island. While Cumberland Health Center, Belvis Health Center and Gouvernor Health Center are opening this Friday, the sites at Jonathan Williams, Woodside and St. Nicholas will open next week, said the mayors office in a statement about the sites in the other four boroughs. ***** CLICK HERE FOR MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE **** SIX-PART PLAN NYCHA residents are the backbone of New York City, but for decades they have not received the support they deserved from all levels of government, said de Blasio. We refuse to continue this pattern, and this new plan will provide residents with the support they need to protect themselves and their families during this crisis. My promise to the New Yorkers who call NYCHA home: we will have your back, no matter what." In addition to the new testing sites, De Blasios plan outlines the following six steps for NYCHA residents: The plan includes: -Access to Free Testing: The city is increasing access to free testing for NYCHA residents by opening six additional sites at or near NYCHA developments. All six sites will be run by NYC Health + Hospitals, and will offer free walk-in COVID-19 testing. However, none of the new testing sites have been earmarked for Staten Island. -Personal Protective Equipment: To help residents protect themselves and their family during this crisis, the city will be distributing face coverings and gloves to all residents. The city will also distribute hand sanitizer to NYCHA senior citizen buildings starting next week. The city has already provided NYCHA staff with 60,000 masks and 10,000 pair of gloves. -Food for Seniors: The city is enrolling all NYCHA senior citizen buildings in the food delivery program over the coming weeks. This will make it easier for residents to get food delivered directly to their door. The city has already delivered 288,000 meals to 24,000 NYCHA households over the past month. -Wellness Checks: NYCHAs wellness call program will be extended to all senior citizens and vulnerable residents. These live, telephone calls are made to check on residents health and well-being, and ensure they have all their basic necessities, such as medicine and groceries. Since the start of the outbreak, NYCHA has made 40,000 wellness calls. -Free Tablets and Internet Service for Seniors: The city is investing $5 million to provide free tablets and internet service for 10,000 senior citizen NYCHA residents to help them remain connected with their loved ones. -Cleaning Schedule: NYCHAs third-party vendor is sanitizing common areas three times a week at family developments and five times a week at senior developments. These cleaning schedules will be posted on the NYCHA website this week. FOLLOW TRACEY PORPORA ON FACEBOOK and TWITTER United Kingdom health secretary, Matt Hancock, has revealed that there will be clinical trials of a potential COVID-19 vaccine on patients from Thursday. The vaccine, called ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, is being developed by scientists at the University of Oxford. Hancock revealed this while Speaking at the daily Downing Street press conference saying the government was throwing everything at the vaccine drive. He announced a provision of 20 million had been made for the Oxford team to help fund the clinical trials. Hancock said an additional 22.5 million in funding will be made available for researchers at Imperial College, London. He said the government will back them to the hilt and give them every resource they need to get them the best possible chance of success as soon as possible. In the long run, the best way to defeat coronavirus is through a vaccine. This is a new disease, this is an uncertain science, but Im certain that we will throw everything weve got at developing a vaccine, he said. The UK is at the forefront of the global effort. Weve put more money than any other country into the global search for a vaccine. And for all the efforts around the world, two of the leading vaccine developments are taking place here at home, at Oxford and Imperial. Both of these promising projects are making rapid progress and Ive told the scientists leading them that well do everything we can to support them. And today making available 20 million pounds to the oxford team to fund their clinical trials. The team has accelerated its process working, with the regulator of the MHRA ((Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency), who have been absolutely brilliant. As a result, I can announce that the vaccine from the oxford project will be trialed in people from this Thursday. In normal time, reaching this stage takes years and I am very proud of the work taken so far. At the same time, we will invest in manufacturing capability so that if either of these vaccines safely works then we can make it available for the British people as soon as humanly possible. He, however, added that nothing about this process is certain. The upside of being the first country in the world to develop a successful vaccine is so huge that I am throwing everything at it, he said He said on the most recent figure, 535,342 tests have now been carried out in the UK, adding that of this figure, 129,044 people have tested positive. He said the number of patients with COVID-19 symptoms is now down to 17681, adding that 17,366 people have died in hospitals. Sarah Gilbert, a professor of vaccinology at Oxford, had earlier said the inoculation being developed by her team could be ready for use as early as September. There is still no known vaccine for COVID-19. With cabin fever setting in for many of us, the weekly shop has become a very different beast to the routine household task it was only a few months ago. Some of us relish the chance to get out of the house and do something useful; others are wary of spaces in which there are plenty of other people. There's no doubting, either way, it's become a bit of a minefield. But we asked a few experts about the best way to get a grocery shop done safely, effectively and quickly, meaning that shopping is one less thing to worry about. WHEN SHOULD I SHOP? As many people are working from home, shoppers will notice that there is a post-5pm or weekend rush at many supermarkets. "Although many more people are working from home, the most popular times to visit Aldi continue to be at the end of the week from Thursday to Sunday," explains an Aldi spokesperson. "However, we have noticed that some customers who have the flexibility are now shopping on Monday to Wednesday. Opening hours have been extended with stores opening from Monday-Sunday, 9am-9pm. Priority shopping hours for the elderly and those most vulnerable between 11am and 1pm daily." If you're a key worker or frontline staff, many stores also offer priority access. Expand Close Customers social distance while queueing at a Lidl in Dublin / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Customers social distance while queueing at a Lidl in Dublin Tesco offer priority shopping to healthcare workers before 9am on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and before 9am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for over-65s and carers. "When store colleagues are limiting the number of customers in store, any frontline staff with a relevant form of ID will be allowed to enter the store as soon as social distancing guidelines permit," notes the Aldi spokesperson. "Priority access for frontline staff applies seven days a week, from 9am to 9pm." Check your particular store for hours dedicated to elderly shoppers or frontline staff workers. In Marks & Spencer's food halls, for instance, the first hour of trading on certain days is dedicated to older/vulnerable shoppers and medical staff. They also note that afternoons are quieter times in-store (don't worry, they restock their shelves all day long). WHAT TO BUY Make a list for a substantial weekly shop; this ensures you will have to visit the supermarket fewer times in the week. Some stores still have restrictions on hand wash and sanitiser products (a spike in demand often follows government announcements), so try not to stockpile those. Many stores are noticing a shortage of flour , toilet roll and eggs - pick up what you need. HOW CAN I STAY SAFE IN-STORE? Stores are doing their best to keep customers safe while inside. "Sanitisation stations are now in place at the front of stores so it is easy for customers to self-hygiene and disinfect their hands as well as disinfectant to clean trolleys and baskets before doing their shop," notes Aldi's spokesperson. "Social distancing measures comprise of in-store posters and clear two-metre markings throughout the store including 2m distance markers on the floor at all tills. Perspex screens have been installed at checkouts across all 142 stores to offer extra protection for customers and staff (Tesco has installed similar features). "Encouraging everyone to use a contactless payment method if they can, as it means fewer shoppers will have to handle cash or come into contact with the payment terminal. The limit for contactless payments has been increased to 50, which should mean that more people can make use of them. There is also no limit on Apple Pay and Google Pay which are both accepted in all stores." It should go without saying that shoppers should practice social distancing inside the shop, too. CAN I BRING MY CHILDREN? For many parents, this remains a huge issue for grocery shopping. "Where possible, we are encouraging all customers to try and reduce the number of family members they bring with them into our stores," says Aldi's spokesperson. "We fully appreciate that this is not possible for all of our customers and stores will use their discretion." On their website, Dunnes Stores suggests shopping at certain times to parents who would like to bring their children in-store. "The social distancing safety measures we have implemented mean that there may be queuing at the store entrance," their statement reads. "Safety is our priority. If there are any queues, elderly and vulnerable customers and carers will be prioritised. We respectfully ask customers with children to avoid coming to the store during these hours and to shop at other times." WHAT SHOULD I WEAR? Disposable gloves are perfect, although there is no specific need to wear a mask. N95 masks are in short supply among healthcare workers at the moment. The official line from the HSE is that using a facemask is unlikely to be of any benefit if you are not sick. SECURING A DELIVERY SPOT If you're an able-bodied, young and healthy person, perhaps leave the supermarket delivery slots for those who need them more. With many over-70s cocooning and several vulnerable people preferring to sidestep the stores altogether, securing a delivery slot has become an exercise in futility. SuperValu's Irish stores are franchised, so delivery times vary from store to store. A spokesperson notes that the company has hired additional drivers to meet demand, and that delivery slots are available within 1-3 days. Buymie, the app through which you can buy Lidl items, notes that slots open up for customers every day (book as early in the morning as you can). A spokesperson for Tesco, meanwhile, notes that the chain has been moving fast to meet the surge in demand, and they have introduced an over-65s priority service, which offers greater access to delivery slots. "For grocery home shopping we have introduced a number of measures to help simplify our operations to best service our customers, these include increasing the number of pickers and drivers and starting earlier to pick orders in-store at 2am and 4am," a spokesperson says. "Measures like these have enabled us to open new delivery slots for home delivery and Click + Collect services over the coming days and weeks. Our slot availability is refreshed daily, so we recommend keeping an eye on our website for the latest slot availability." To register for the over-65s service, call (01) 215 2002. DO I NEED TO CLEAN MY GROCERIES? There is no evidence of food or food packaging being associated with the transmission of the coronavirus. But the virus can survive on surfaces, including plastic, so the Irish Global Health Network advises that people should wipe down any packaging with a disinfectant wipe once it's brought home (scrub fruit and vegetables for 2 seconds with water). Alternatively, leave non-perishable foods in a safe place for 72 hours; like the porch or utility room. Don't forget to wash your hands after unpacking your groceries, too. BUY DIRECT & GET IT DELIVERED Hate the idea of a supermarket, or frustrated at the wait times for online delivery? A handy way to circumvent the supermarkets - and keep Irish suppliers and food producers on an even financial keel - is to buy direct from them. Slow Food Ireland are constantly updating their list of artisan producers, independent retailers, restaurants and cafes that are providing an online delivery service. Elsewhere, Shop Local Online (shoplocalonline.ie) has just launched, and helps shoppers find the nearest businesses that offer home delivery. The Centre on Wednesday asked all states and union territories to provide adequate security to doctors and frontline health workers who are facing attacks from unruly people. In a letter to chief secretaries of all states and union territories, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla also flagged a few heinous instances of unruly behaviour by people where the families and relatives of medical professionals, suspected to have died due to COVID-19 infection, were prevented from performing the last rites of the deceased. "In such cases, adequate security should be provided; and, stringent action should be taken against such offenders who obstruct the performance of last rites of medical professionals or frontline healthcare workers, who, unfortunately, succumb to the infection from COVID-19 while discharging their services, or otherwise," the letter said. Bhalla said the state governments and union territory administrations are also requested to appoint nodal officers at state or union territory level and at district level, who would be available 24x7 to redress any safety issue on the functioning of medical professionals. The states and union territories should also take immediate and strict action in case any incident of violence takes place, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) UPDATE (April 22): Straight-line winds blamed for storm damage across N.J. A powerful storm, possibly a tornado, touched down Tuesday afternoon in Toms River and downed trees that fell on houses and cars, police said. The storm hit the Ocean County town around 3:30 p.m., authorities said. The portion of town that saw the most damage was in the area of Bay Avenue between Hooper and Vaughn Avenue, according to a Facebook post from the Toms River Police. The National Weather Service has not yet confirmed whether or not it was a tornado that caused the damage. The Toms River Police said the damage in this photo was possibly caused by a tornado on Tuesday.Toms River Police Regardless, police asked people avoid the area because of unsafe conditions which include downed wires. Just a few miles away in Normandy Beach a waterspout appeared, but it was unclear if it actually made contact with the ground, a National Weather Service spokesman told NJ Advance Media. The storms followed a severe thunderstorm warning that covered most of the state until 5 p.m and caused large hail, lightning and damaging wind gusts. Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrsheldon Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. CHICAGO (dpa-AFX) - Boeing (BA) said a newly formed group - Enterprise Operations, Finance & Strategy - will consolidate the company's several important areas. It will be led by Greg Smith. Jenette Ramos, senior vice president of Manufacturing, Supply Chain & Operations, will will take on a special assignment in support of Smith and Boeing President and CEO David Calhoun. The company is combining its legal and core compliance programs, including global trade controls, ethics and business conduct, into a single organization led by Brett Gerry. Diana Sands, senior vice president of the Office of Internal Governance and Administration, has decided to retire from Boeing later in the current year. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Medical workers walk through the Field Medical Station at the Atlantic City Convention Center, which was preparing to open Tuesday. By working collaboratively with our partners at the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, New Jersey State Police, and the Office of Emergency Management, weve significantly expanded our hospital beds, sourcing capabilities, and health care workforce to prepare New Jersey for a surge in COVID-19 cases, said Governor Murphy. Read more More than 10,000 Philadelphians have tested positive for the coronavirus since the infection was first detected in the city six weeks ago, Mayor Jim Kenney announced Tuesday, as New Jersey moved closer to a staggering total of 100,000 cases and officials throughout the region called for federal help with testing supplies. Philadelphia could be not at the worst, but near the worst of the epidemic, officials said, indicating they hope to know by the end of the week whether the number of new cases is beginning to decline. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey all need a much higher ability to do diagnostic testing for the virus, which is seen as critical to reopening the economy and loosening stay-at-home orders, their leaders warned Tuesday. Swabs used for testing and chemicals needed to analyze results have been in short supply. In one instance, Philadelphia placed an order for 10,000 swabs from a company and received only 500, officials said. Gov. Tom Wolf said Pennsylvania officials are trying to work with federal emergency officials and the private sector to get more supplies. Gov. Phil Murphy said New Jersey, where 73 testing sites are operating, will have to at least double its testing capacity before he believes it will be safe enough to restart the economy and that the state needs the feds in a big way to do that. READ MORE: Is it even possible to social distance at the Jersey Shore? Such pleas for help came a day after mixed messages on testing came from the White House, where President Donald Trump accused governors requesting aid of playing politics while Vice President Mike Pence assured the states that federal help was coming. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo met with Trump in Washington on Tuesday to discuss how the states and federal government would collaborate to increase testing. HELP US REPORT: Are you a health care worker, medical provider, government worker, patient, frontline worker or other expert? We want to hear from you. The Senate passed a new coronavirus aid package Tuesday evening, expected to reach Trumps desk this week, that includes a requirement that the White House create a national testing strategy. The $484 billion stimulus package, on which the House is expected to vote on Thursday, will replenish a small business payroll fund and provide new money for hospitals and testing. Testing can show how much of the population is infected and how the virus is circulating. In Philadelphia, for instance, between 1,200 and 1,500 people are being tested per day, but Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said he would like 5,000 or 10,000 to be tested per day. Wolf and Kenney also said federal aid for contact tracing was needed. If we dont have the data, we dont know what were up against, Kenney said on CNN. A mass testing site in the Northeast began operating Monday, Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine said, and the state may consider opening other such sites. Wolf has also talked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health officials about the effectiveness of antibody, or serological, testing and when the state might be able to reliably conduct such screenings. Experts are still determining how much immunity antibodies offer, Levine said. Pennsylvania reported newly calculated death numbers on Tuesday that include both probable and confirmed coronavirus deaths, raising the states toll to 1,264. Of those, 300 deaths are considered probable; the state has gathered the new data from a collection of reports over the past number of weeks, Levine said. In all, Pennsylvania reported 1,296 new positive cases on Tuesday for a total of 34,528. The number of new daily cases confirmed in Philadelphia remained about level on Tuesday at 475. While predicting cases would continue to increase, Farley said he was hopeful, though, that were near the worst of this and will get better from here. Kenney said reaching 10,000 confirmed cases in the city was very scary. My message now is simply, thank you, he said. I see hundreds of thousands of Philadelphians doing everything they can do. We are feeding each other. We are staying away from each other. We are wearing masks. And we are doing what needs to be done. Some Philadelphia hospitals that are at or near capacity are experiencing shortages in staffing, particularly with intensive care unit nurses, Farley said, though he did not identify which facilities. In some cases there may be hospitals that literally have a vacant bed but they cannot provide the staffing to support a patient being in that bed," he said. READ MORE: Heres how low Phillys case count has to be for the state to consider reopening Southeastern Pa. The citys hospitals have enough combined capacity to handle all the patients, and Farley is encouraging them to transfer patients to other facilities as needed. Four patients had been admitted to the overflow hospital at Temple Universitys Liacouras Center as of Tuesday morning, he said. About 2,670 coronavirus patients were hospitalized statewide as of Tuesday, down from 3,507 on Monday. Levine cautioned not to read too much into ones day data, but said it could be promising. If there is a continued trend in terms of a decrease of hospitalizations, that of course will be a really good sign, she said. Officials said they continue to closely watch the Philadelphia regions hospitals, as they remain the hardest-hit in the state. As the virus has filled beds and taxed staff, it has also caused revenue-generating procedures to be canceled, and the hospitals fighting the virus are struggling financially. Tower Health, citing the loss of as much as half its revenue, on Tuesday announced the furlough of at least 1,000 employees in its Berks County-based seven-hospital system. And Delaware County became the first in the Philadelphia region to institute temporary furloughs as a result of the pandemic, taking about 400 workers off the job for a few weeks. As more than a million Pennsylvanians have become unemployed, Wolf said Tuesday that the unemployment office has increased staffing and is working to get call wait times down to under 10 minutes. New Jersey reported its highest number of deaths in a single day 379 and looked likely to reach 100,000 confirmed cases within the next several days. There are still weeks to go before the states economy begins reopening, Murphy said Tuesday. Heavy hospitalization is expected to last until May, said state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli. The states surge of patients has shifted from Northern to Central New Jersey, where most critical care beds are now full and at least one major hospital is reporting it is overwhelmed and diverting patients. Some may be sent to South Jersey. A field hospital in Atlantic City opened Tuesday and was set to accept patients, Murphy said, but health officials dont expect it to be as busy as those in other parts of the state. A Monmouth University poll released Tuesday showed that Murphys approval rating has skyrocketed to 71% and that more than 90% of residents agree with his major social distancing measures. Things wont pop back as they were, said Murphy. Going back to the way things were, and doing nothing, would be our greatest danger. The new normal wont look like the old normal. Staff writers Laura McCrystal, Sean Collins Walsh, Vinny Vella, Rob Tornoe, and Harold Brubaker contributed to this article. Elizabeth Betty McGovern, of Freehold, NJ, passed away peacefully on April 20, 2020. Although she had been suffering from dementia for the last few years, she had recently tested positive for COVID-19. Born on Staten Island, NY, Betty met her husband, former horseman driver/trainer Jim McGovern, at age 16. They married not long after, and spent the majority of their lives travelling from racetrack to racetrack. The two actually petitioned to have the Meadowlands Racetrack built in the early 1970s. She was a former member of the group known as the Speedy Fillies back in the day. The group consisted of the wives of the sports most prominent drivers and trainers. Horses were and always will be an essential part of their family. Her son, Jamie, followed in his dads footsteps and also drove and trained horses until the age of 30. Her daughter, Karen Fagliarone, has worked at Freehold Raceway for more than 40 years, including serving as the racing secretary since 2009. Her son-in-law, Mike Fagliarone, was also a driver/trainer, and is now the Freehold track superintendent. Her granddaughter Gina Fagliarone is an accomplished rider and horse enthusiast. She loved life, her daily afternoon cocktail, always a cigarette in hand, and cooking for friends and family. In addition to her children, she is survived by five grandchildren, Michael Fagliarone, Christine McNamee, Gina Fagliarone, Kristi McGovern, and Karli McGovern; and five great-grandchildren, Michael, Madison, Myles, Emma, and Lorenzo. Her family would like to thank the nurses and caretakers who sat with her and made her as comfortable as possible in her final days. They would also like to thank everyone in the harness racing community for their outpouring of support. A celebration of life will be held when circumstances permit. In lieu of flowers, her family requests memorial contributions to www.specialstrides.com in her name. Special strides is a non-profit organization devoted to improving the lives of special need individuals through equine therapy. Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Betty McGovern. (USTA) Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 04:28:32|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WASHINGTON, April 21 (Xinhua) -- More than 700 crew members from the USS Theodore Roosevelt, a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier docked in Guam, have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Tuesday, CNN reported, quoting the U.S. Navy. The Navy said 94 percent of the crew has been tested and at least 3,872 crew members tested negative for the disease. Nine sailors have been hospitalized for the disease, said the report. The U.S. Navy and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have launched an investigation into the outbreak aboard the carrier, said the report. The U.S. Navy on Thursday said that a sailor aboard the aircraft carrier died of coronavirus-related complications earlier this month. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 15:16:27|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close JINAN, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Three stir-fry robots are "working" in the kitchen of a restaurant in Jinan, capital of eastern China's Shandong Province, during peak lunch hours. The robot chefs can automatically add oil and seasonings, take good control of the heat and fried rice can be ready in less than three minutes. The robots can cook over 30 dishes, including the most popular black pepper and garlic flavored beef fried rice, tomato fried Japanese noodles and spicy noodles. The whole dining process is touchless. Customers order food on their mobile phones or on in-store tablet computers and then take their own meals. "Many high-tech measures are being applied in our restaurants," said Hou Mingjing, marketing director of Shandong Camry Commercial Group. "Our staff has been cut from over a dozen to just four after the robot chefs were introduced, and we also have food delivery robots in more than 20 of our restaurants." Industry insiders believe that embracing big data and AI will become an important direction for the future development of the catering industry. It is also an effective method to save costs and improve service quality. A fast food company in Jinan went online to serve customers via a WeChat program during the epidemic. The move received a surprising welcome from nearby white collars, who no longer need to wait for food inside the eatery. "We were inspired and planned to set up thermal cabinets in some office buildings. Customers can order food in advance and we will deliver the food to the cabinets," said Song Yefei with the company. Many restaurant chains in China have also expanded their service online and stepped up efforts to develop semi-cooked or ready-to-serve food, as well as promoted their products in shopping malls or via live streaming to lure cooped-up foodies. "We suffered huge losses amid the epidemic. But we are gradually recovering with more restaurants open these days. We stay confident in the future as the consumption market in China is very big," said Hou. Enditem The 'Global 2-Acetylbutyrolactone (CAS 517-23-7) Market Outlook 2019-2024' offers detailed coverage of 2-acetylbutyrolactone industry and presents main market trends. The market research gives historical and forecast market size, demand, end-use details, price trends, and company shares of the leading 2-acetylbutyrolactone producers to provide exhaustive coverage of the market for 2-acetylbutyrolactone. 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Key Regions - North America - Europe - Asia Pacific - Middle East & Africa - South America Request for Report Discount: https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/discount/3818 Key Vendors - Brother Enterprises Holding Co., Ltd. - Lianyungang Ke'erjian Chemical Co., Ltd. - MYJ Chemical Co., Ltd. - Shaanxi Jinxinyi Chemical Technology Co., Ltd. - Shouyang Century Fine Chemical Co., Ltd. - Taizhou Huangyan Jinsong Medical & Chemical Co., Ltd. - Taizhou Yanling Fine Chemical Co., Ltd. - Zhejiang Hisun Chemical Co., Ltd. - Zhejiang Realsun Chemical Co., Ltd. - request free sample to get a complete list of companies Key Questions Answered in This Report - Analysis of the 2-acetylbutyrolactone market including revenues, future growth, market outlook - Historical data and forecast - Regional analysis including growth estimates - Analyzes the end user markets including growth estimates. - Profiles on 2-acetylbutyrolactone vendors including products, sales / revenues, SWOT, and market position, recent developments. - Market structure, market drivers and restraints. Make an Inquiry before Buying: https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/checkout/3818/Single Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 22) More government facilities converted into quarantine areas are now accepting COVID-19 patients, the Department of Health announced on Wednesday. The DOH said the World Trade Center in Pasay, which has a 502-bed capacity for overseas Filipino workers, and the ASEAN Convention Center in Pampanga, which has 150 beds, have begun welcoming patients infected with the coronavirus. The Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), which completed its conversion on Tuesday, is also accepting occupants. The DOH, meanwhile, said the National Government Administration Center in Pampanga is not yet ready to accommodate patients as it needs to undergo more inspections and implement other safety measures. The DOH retracted its earlier announcement that the center was opened to patients on Tuesday. "Agad po naming ibabalita kung kailan po ito bubuksan sa mga susunod nating episodes," said Health Spokesperson Ma. Rosario Vergiere in the DOH daily virtual briefing. [Translation: We will report immediately when it will open in our next episodes.] The Transportation Department will also rent out two passenger ships from 2GO Group Inc. for two months as quarantine facilities. On Tuesday, officials also opened The Eva Macapagal Super Terminal in Manila South Harbor's Pier 15 while on Monday, The Ninoy Aquino Stadium sent off its first COVID-19 survivor. Authorities are also preparing the Philippine Arena in Bulacan, the PhilSports Arena or ULTRA in Pasig and the Filinvest Tent in Alabang. Medical staff from the police, coast guard and the Armed Forces, together with the DOH, will be assigned to some of the facilities, the agency said. The DOH also previously reported that the country currently has 75 COVID-19 referral hospitals. WASHINGTON, D.C. Democrats and Republicans in Congress have reached a bipartisan agreement for a new coronavirus relief package, including funding for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that was exhausted last week. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, and Representative Greg Walden announced the agreement on Tuesday afternoon. This bill provides urgently needed stopgap funding for our national response to the coronavirus threat," said Sen. Merkley. "Over the last several weeks, Ive spoken with hundreds of small business owners and health care providers in Oregon who are hanging on by their fingernails. Todays action will help send out a desperately needed life raft to our small businesses and their employees, and to our hospitals and health clinics, while also providing more resources to ramp up testing efforts around the country." RELATED: Small businesses struggling to survive as PPP loan funding runs out The Senate has passed a $483 billion aid package, most of which would go toward the PPP. About $75 billion would go toward health care providers, in addition to the creation a nationwide virus testing program. According to the Associated Press, President Trump has already announced his support of the bill, which now goes on to the House. The agreement did not come easily or immediately. While Republicans last week favored a smaller, quick injection of funds into the PPP as it stalled, Democrats fought for additional measures to be included in the bill including funds specifically earmarked for smaller "underbanked" businesses that struggled to gain traction with the first round of funding. "We need an economic recovery that is built from the grassroots up, not from the wealthy and powerful down," Merkley said. "Its crucial that this support goes out to Main Street businesses all across America, instead of just businesses that are already well-connected and well-served by the financial system." On Tuesday, Rep. Walden accused his Democratic colleagues of playing "partisan politics every step of the way" with both the CARES Act and the PPP funding. RELATED: Oregon unemployment struggles to keep up with demand amid COVID-19 pandemic Im glad an agreement has finally been reached to provided needed funds for the Paycheck Protection Program, and look forward to supporting it, but it didnt have to be this way," Walden said. "With record unemployment claims, weve seen that every single day counts in this pandemic." "My phone has been ringing off the hook in the last several weeks with small business people in Oregon needing federal relief, and health care providers and hospitals desperate for more PPE, testing, and other support to protect themselves and Oregonians in their care," said Sen. Wyden. "The interim agreement passed by the Senate today provides essential funding to help now for all of these folks, and its an improvement to what Republican Leader Mitch McConnell wanted to do a week ago." A general view, taken from the tourist attraction Victoria Peak, shows the skylines of Kowloon (back) and Hong Kong Island (foreground) in Hong Kong on April 7, 2020. (ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images) Hong Kong Government Reshuffle and Beijing Agencies Unusual Moves Trigger Fears that Citys Autonomy is Destroyed Amid recent political events that signaled Beijings tightening rule over Hong Kong, local media outlets reported that four senior officials in Hong Kong government would be replaced. Hong Kong, a former British colony, was handed back to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, with the express guarantee that the citys autonomy and essential freedoms would be preserved. But recent events drew concerns that Beijing was further encroaching on Hong Kong affairs. They were triggered when one week ago, two offices of the Chinese regime, the Liaison Office and the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of Chinas State Council, made rare attacks on lawmakers in Hong Kongs Legislative Council, triggering a debate about the limits of Beijings interference. Four Officials Hong Kong media, including public broadcaster RTHK, quoted anonymous sources who said four top ministers will be replaced. Patrick Nip Tak-kuen, who was secretary of constitutional and mainland affairsan office that handles trade, business, and other forms of cooperation between Hong Kong and the mainlandwould take over the Civil Service Bureau. Current immigration director Erick Tsang Kwok-wai will then replace Nip. Tsang would be replaced by the current deputy director Au Ka Wang. Current director of the Civil Service Bureau, Joshua Law Chi-kon, will leave government after Nip takes his position, according to the RTHK report. Meanwhile, Lau Kong-wah, current home affairs secretary, will be replaced by Caspar Tsui Ying-wai, the current under-secretary for labor and welfare, the report said. Lau was elected as a district councillor in Sha Tin in 1985 and then started his political life. The innovation and technology secretary Nicholas Young Wei-hsiung and secretary for financial services and treasury James Henry Lau Jr. will leave their government posts as well. They will be replaced by electrical and mechanical services director Alfred Sit and executive director of the financial services development council Christopher Hui Ching-yu. The report said these changes will be officially announced soon. Some local lawmakers said the moves reflected Beijings tightening grip over the city. This is not an ordinary reshuffle. This is a show of power, Civic Party lawmaker Alvin Yeung told Reuters. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam speaks during her weekly press conference at the government headquarters in Hong Kong on April 21, 2020. (ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images) Three Definitions The changes came after the Hong Kong government released three different versions of a statement relating to the powers of Beijings representative office in charge of handling Hong Kong affairs, the Liaison Office. On April 18 before 7 p.m., a statement was published, explaining that the Liaison Office was set up by the central government in accordance with Article 22(2) of the Basic Law, referring to the citys mini-constitution stipulating rules and regulations post-handover. That provision forbids any departments of the Central Peoples Government to interfere in the internal affairs of Hong Kong. It also states that any offices set up by such departments must abide by local laws. At around 11:30 p.m., the statement was revised, with the reference to the Basic Law removed. Again after midnight, the statement was updated, stating that the Liaison Office was set up under the Central Peoples government [referring to Beijing] and not under Article 22(2) of the Basic Law. On April 20, the government released another statement explaining that the changes were made because the initial statement was found to be factually inaccurate, and reiterated that the Liaison Office was not set up under provisions of the Basic Law. On April 21, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam repeated the statement, emphasizing that the two Beijing offices have the power of supervision in Hong Kong. Observers took this statement as a sign that Beijing would directly interfere with Hong Kong in the future. U.S.-based China affairs commentator Tang Jingyuan said this statement, coupled with the recent arrests of 18 Hong Kong pro-democracy activists and lawmakers and the recent news of personnel changes, was a sign of Beijings desire to tighten control over Hong Kong. I believe that we will see Beijings next steps soon. The ultimate purpose is, Beijing wants to make use of this pandemic period [when the worlds attention is focused on the pandemic] to take control of Hong Kong, Tang commented. Former lawmaker and pro-democracy activist Martin Lee (C) leaves the Central District police station, after being arrested and accused of organising and taking part in an unlawful assembly in August last year, in Hong Kong on April 18, 2020. (ISAAC LAWRENCE/AFP via Getty Images) Intervene Vs Supervise The catalyst for the statement is the Hong Kong legislature, where the chairman of the House Committee has not been filled since Oct. 16, 2019. The House Committee decides which bills are brought before the floor. The deputy chairman, pro-democracy lawmaker Dennis Kwok Wing-hang, led other pro-democracy colleagues to filibuster the vote. Thus on April 13, the Liaison Office and the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, Beijings top agency for handling those territories policies, issued a statement criticizing Kwok and his colleagues. Subsequently, Hong Kong society became concerned that this rare statement directly attacking local lawmakers was a sign of Beijing meddling with local affairs. On April 14, the Hong Kong Bar Association released a statement condemning the Beijing offices criticisms, explaining that they amounted to interference with Hong Kongs affairs. After the Hong Kong government statements, the bar association released a second statement, delineating the powers designated to Hong Kong and Beijing within the Basic Law: HKSAR [Hong Kong Special Administrative Region] shall enjoy a high degree of autonomy (Article 12 of Basic Law) and executive, legislative and judicial powerswhilst the Central Peoples Government (CPG) shall be responsible for the foreign affairs and defence relating to the HKSAR (Articles 13 and 14). Upon conducting a legal analysis, the bar association concluded that if Beijings supervision as mentioned by Lam connotes intervention in matters falling within the remit of the HKSARs autonomy under the Basic Law, then the Beijing offices powers would be inconsistent with provisions in the Basic Law. MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI Muskegon County health officials have reported an uptick in elderly patient deaths as well as confirmed cases related to coronavirus. Of 11 total reported deaths from COVID-19 in Muskegon County, five of six people whose deaths have been reported since Saturday were over the age of 80, a county public health spokesperson told MLive on Tuesday, April 21. Prior to that, just one death had occurred in a person over 80, according to health officials. County health officials reported the recent coronavirus-related deaths of a man in his 60s, and one man and four women over the age of 80 on Tuesday evening. Officials did not specify when those patients died. The first five coronavirus-related deaths reported in Muskegon County included an 83-year-old man, a 78-year-old man, a 64-year-old woman and two men in their 50s. Related: Two Muskegon-area assisted living centers report 5 coronavirus deaths There had been a total of 165 confirmed positive cases in the county as of 9 p.m. Tuesday, 15 of whom are over the age of 80, according to data on the Muskegon County Health Department website. Health officials confirmed last week that positive coronavirus cases had been identified in staff and residents of residential living facilities in Muskegon County. The affected living facilities include local long-term care, assisted living and adult foster care facilities, health officials said in a released statement. The health department did not release any further information about the positive cases or where they were identified, citing privacy laws. Because residents of these types of facilities are typically elderly and many have medical conditions, they are at higher risk of becoming sick with many illnesses including COVID-19," said Muskegon County Health Officer Kathy Moore in a statement released April 15. RELATED: Coronavirus at Muskegon area group living facilities confirmed by health department Browser does not support frames. Fifteen of the total 165 confirmed positive cases in Muskegon County are patients over the age of 80, and nine patients are within the ages of 70-79, according to data released by the county health department. That compares to last week, when there was a total of 11 cases of patients over the age of 70 on April 13. Statewide, the average age of patients who have tested positive for coronavirus is 74, according to data released by the state of Michigan health department on Tuesday. There have been 32,967 positive cases and 2,700 deaths in total. COVID-19 has caused deaths among nursing home residents throughout the state. A Clio nursing home reported that 17 of its residents have died of the virus. Nursing home officials reported that an additional 24 residents have tested positive for coronavirus, seven of whom are hospitalized, while 26 employees have tested positive. A Grand Blanc Township nursing home reported 16 positive coronavirus cases and four deaths last week. The Genesee County health department had previously confirmed that all 15 nursing homes in the county have reported coronavirus cases. A nursing home near Kalamazoo reported 10 cases of the coronavirus, including two deaths, as of April 20. A Kalamazoo-area long-term care facility reported that 20 of its residents had tested positive for the coronavirus, while a homeless shelter in Kalamazoo reported one positive case of coronavirus, county health officials announced April 20. MLive has complete coverage on coronavirus COVID-19, including maps of known cases, at mlive.com/coronavirus. PREVENTION TIPS Michigans State Emergency Operations Center is coordinating state-government resources and the response to the coronavirus spread. It has shared the following tips: What you can do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases: Always cover coughs or sneezes with a tissue or sleeve. Stay home if you are sick and advise others to do the same. Avoid close contact with people who are sick. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands. Wash your hands often with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol, if soap and warm water are not available. Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces (computers, keyboards, desks, etc.). Its not too late to get your flu shot! While the influenza vaccine does not protect against COVID-19 infection, it can help keep you healthy during the flu season. For statewide and national information on the virus, visit Michigan.gov/Coronavirus or CDC.gov/Coronavirus. More on MLive: Wednesday, April 22: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan Muskegon County coronavirus deaths double in three days Kalamazoo-area nursing home reports 10 coronavirus cases including 2 deaths Michigan 5-year-old dies of coronavirus after complications Paris, April 22 : France, which plans to unwind some restriction measures from May 11, registered 531 more COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday as hospitalisation-related figures pursue a slow decline. Hospitals and nursing homes numbers showed that combined deaths caused by the COVID-19 rose to 20,796, up from Monday's 20,265, Director-General of Health Jerome Salomon told a daily briefing on the epidemic, Xinhua reported. The number of new hospitalisations and serious cases continued to slow down, suggesting that the national lockdown has positive effects in containing the respiratory illness. As of Tuesday, 30,106 patients were hospitalised, compared with 30,584 a day before and 30,610 on Sunday. The number of people in intensive care had fallen for the 13th consecutive day to 5,433. "The virus spread remains at high level. We should be fully mobilised," stressed Salomon. France has been in lockdown since March 17 to curb the spread of the epidemic. President Emmanuel Macron announced last week that the lockdown will be progressively lifted from May 11. The government will unveil details of the deconfinement plan in coming weeks. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 20:09:42|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close JAKARTA, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia will deploy hundreds of thousands of police and military personnel to prevent regular mass departures of people to hometowns ahead of the Islamic festivity, a police officer said on Wednesday. President Joko Widodo has officially banned citizens from the exodus following the issuance of several rules to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, violations frequently occurred against previous policies such as those on the obligation to wear face masks and physical distancing, suggesting how urgent a supervision is to ensure the policies to be well implemented. A total of 171,000 policemen and military personnel will be engaged in a mission called "the COVID-19 Operation", starting on April 24 when the exodus prohibition takes effect, the National Police's Spokesman Brigadier General Argo Yuwono said. According to the spokesman, the personnel will suggest that citizens, who are found to be on their ways to hometowns or villages, abort their plans. The operation will be carried out until seven days after the Muslims' post-fasting festivity Eid al-Fitr which falls on May 24, Yuwono remarked. The return to hometowns or villages is a tradition in Indonesia with over 18 million people regularly having journeys that trigger over crowded situation at railway stations, airports, seaports and bus stations. Such a circumstance has the potential to make the recurrent physical distancing collapse, while travelers may also transmit infections during trips to their destinations. The government's spokesman of the COVID-19 Related Matters Achmad Yurianto warned travelers that their journeys to hometowns are dangerous, and encouraged them to keep staying in cities during the virus outbreak that has killed 635 people and infected 7,418 others across the archipelagic country. Also aiming at preventing the exodus, the government has removed the holidays from days ahead of the Islamic festivity in May to the end of this year. Enditem COHOES With state lawmakers unable as yet to take action because of the coronoavirus pandemic, a proposed moratorium on burning toxic PFAS chemicals, such as those that have been incinerated at the Norlite aggregate plant, will be tackled by the Cohoes Common Council next week. Tuesday's vote, to be webcast, is the latest chapter in a saga that began last winter when city officials learned the plant had been incinerating unused firefighting foam that contained aqueous film-forming foam with perfluorocarbon, or PFAS chemicals under a federal Department of Defense contract to dispose of the substance. The incineration was used to fuel one of the kilns at the Norlite plant, which is used in producing aggregate, or mined rock material that goes into roads and construction. Infographic: The lingering threat of PFAS Norlite earlier told the state Department of Environmental Conservation about the incineration but city officials learned of it when environmentalists filed a federal lawsuit seeking to stop the burnings. Norlite was not under a legal obligation to provide notification of the incineration. Despite that, the burning has raised safety alarms, especially given the growing awareness of PFAS contamination in water supplies around the state. Known as forever chemicals, PFAS, per and polyfluoroalkyl substances, have raised concerns due to their sturdy chemical makeup which means they can persist in a persons bloodstream for a long time. The substances are associated with illness such as thyroid disorders, cancer and other ailments, mostly in people where the public water supplies have been contaminated. The Rensselaer County village of Hoosick Falls is rebuilding its municipal water systems after PFAS substances were found in their system, coming from nearby industrial plants. PFAS were used in making Teflon and other non-stick surfaces as well as firefighting foam. Shortly after learning of the incineration last winter, Cohoes Mayor Bill Keeler reached out to the company and local lawmakers. By then, Norlite had halted the incineration amid upgrades to its kilns but said they wanted to resume burning in June. Assemblyman John McDonald and Sen. Neil Breslin then put in a bill that, if passed, would ban such incineration of firefighting foam with PFAS statewide. Before that bill had a chance to move forward and possibly be debated, though, the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. After hastily passing a 2020-21 state budget at the start of April, legislators went home and its uncertain when they will be back. With Norlite saying they wanted to resume incineration in coming months, Keeler concluded that the city should look at passing a year-long moratorium on its own. The next best thing for us is to plug that hole until they can get the legislature back in session, Keeler said. He added that he has spoken of the moratorium proposal during recent Common Council workshops. Keeler has previously said he favors a moratorium since science is still uncertain as to whether incineration at high temperatures is safe or effective. Norlite officials didnt return an email on Wednesday. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. The plant is located near a public housing complex where 70 families live. PFAS contamination from firefighting foam, which has mostly been phased out, is more common than previously thought. Norlite, for instance was burning unused foam from Vermont as well as New York state. Recently, evidence of potential contamination was found in Cairo, Greene County, at a site that had been used for firefighting drills. And a recent survey by the Environmental Working Group suggested that other sites such as airports or industrial spots may have similar deposits of PFAS from firefighting practices. The moratorium will go before the Council at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 28. Due to the pandemic, the public wont be allowed in City Hall but interested people can dial in that day at 1-646-749-3122 and by using the Access Code: 457-528-253. People can also submit e-mail comments by 5 p.m. April 28, to PublicComment@ci.cohoes.ny.us rkarlin@timesunion.com 518 454 5758 @RickKarlinTU Home Just In Medical supplies donated by Tibet arrive in Nepal Kathmandu, April 22 Medical supplies provided to Nepal for its Covid-19 response by the government of Tibet Autonomous Region of China have entered Nepal. According to the Tatopani Customs Office, the Chinese side handed over the materials to Roshan Pokharel, a senior expert of the Ministry of Health, at the Nepal-China trade point in Tatopani on Wednesday. Tatopani Customs Office Chief Lal Bahadur Khatri informs that the materials cost more than Rs 8 million. The materials received include 10,000 units of N-95 mask, 10,000 units of PPE, 1,000 units of infrared thermometre, two units of PCR machine, 20,000 units of testing kit, and 50 units of wet wipes. On March 11, the head of the Tibetan governments foreign ministry handed over the medical supplies to Nepals Consul General Govinda Karki in Lhasa. According to a press release issued by the spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu, the health materials brought to Nepal at this stage have been sent as a grant. Washington Americans are increasingly hostile to China as the coronavirus pandemic wreaks havoc on the U.S. and global economies and after three years of Trump administration antagonism toward the country, according to a nationwide poll released on Tuesday. The poll, conducted last month by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center, found that two-thirds of those surveyed, or 66 percent, had an unfavorable view of China. That's the most since the center first asked the question 15 years ago and a significant jump of 20 percentage points since President Donald Trump entered the White House in 2017. The results suggest that Americans' antagonism toward China has increased in recent weeks over criticism of Beijing's handling of the COVID-19 outbreak that originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan. The poll suggests the Trump administration's trade war with China and relentless criticism of its policies may be having that effect. The upward trend in negative views began in 2019, and the survey did not find changing attitudes toward China over the course of March, when the virus outbreak was rapidly progressing. The poll of 1,000 Americans found unfavorable opinions of China are shared across party lines, with about 70 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents and 60 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents holding them. In addition, the poll shows that about 90 percent of those surveyed see growing Chinese power and influence as a threat. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. At the same time, the poll found that Americans recognize that the United States is the world's leading economic power and the world's leading military power. A significant majority, 91 percent, believe that the world is better off with American rather than Chinese leadership. South Korea and China have cast doubt on claims North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is seriously ill after undergoing heart surgery. Daily NK, a Seoul-based speciality website, reported late on Monday citing an unnamed source in North Korea that Kim, 36, was recovering after undergoing the procedure on 12 April. CNN also cited a US official as saying Washington was "monitoring intelligence" that Kim was in grave danger after a surgery. However, South Korea and China have said they do not believe Kim is fighting for his life. Two South Korean government sources rejected the CNN report without elaborating on the surgery, according to Reuters. The presidential Blue House said there were no unusual signs coming from the reclusive state building nuclear weapons. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends a meeting in Pyongyang on 11 April. (AP) An official at the Chinese Communist Party's International Liaison Department, which deals with North Korea, also said the source did not believe Kim was critically ill. Speculation about Kims health was raised after he missed a celebration honouring his late grandfather and state founder Kim Il-sung on 15 April. He had been seen four days before that at a government meeting. South Koreas presidential office said in a statement no suspicious activity had been detected in North Korea that may have given backing to the reports. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspects an air defence unit earlier this month. (AP) The absence of Kim Jong-il, Kims father and predecessor as the countrys leader, from a parade celebrating North Koreas 60th anniversary in 2008 was followed by rumours that he was in poor health. Read more: Kim Jong-un sends South Korea friendship letter after coronavirus deaths It was later revealed he had a stroke, after which his health declined further until his death in 2011. Credible information about North Korea and especially its leadership is difficult to obtain and even intelligence agencies have been wrong about its inner workings in the past. People in a train station in Seoul watch a TV news broadcast on Tuesday showing file footage of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. (AFP via Getty Images) There have been reports North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un is recovering from heart surgery. (AFP via Getty Images) CNN quoted Bruce Klingner, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation and former CIA deputy division chief for North Korea, as saying rumours had circulated recently about Kims health. Story continues There have been a number of recent rumours about Kims health (smoking, heart, and brain), it quoted Klingner as saying. Read more: Kim Jong-un rides white horse up mountain in stunt aimed at US If Kim is hospitalised, it would explain why he wasnt present on the important April 15th celebrations. But, over the years, there have been a number of false health rumours about Kim Jong-un, or his father. Well have to wait and see. North Korea insists it has not had a single case of coronavirus, but those claims have been challenged by scientists. Detectives have taken a young woman into custody as part of investigations into the fatal stabbing of a man on a Gold Coast street on Tuesday. The 20-year-old woman, who is now assisting police, was among the group of people at the scene when the 35-year-old man was stabbed in the chest. Emergency services were called to the footpath outside Beachcomber Apartments on Hanlan Street in Surfers Paradise about 7.15pm. Specialist critical care paramedics performed CPR on the victim, identified as 35-year-old local man Nicholas Braid, before he was rushed in a critical condition to Gold Coast University Hospital where he was declared dead. The Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research has clarified that the covid-19 test results made public are from unique cases. A top official of Noguchi made the remark after some contentions and conflicting comments from some government officials on whether the data on testing made public included duplicate tests. The Presidential Advisor on Health, Dr. Anthony Nsiah-Asare, for instance publicly said the declared data on tests includes duplicate cases of testing. The 120 persons who have recovered from the virus are known to have been tested at least three times in line with Ghana Health Service and WHO protocols. But Noguchis Head of Virology, Professor William Ampofo, explained that: those counts for the retests of people who are positive are in separate databases. It is not counted among those who we are screening for the first time. When we provide the cumulative figures to the Ghana Health Service, it excludes those who have been retested what Ghana Health Service is reporting is the number of individuals who are tested, he said. Addressing a press briefing on Wednesday morning, Dr. Ampofo also noted that every individual is assigned a case investigation form that outlines the testing process. Results are not accepted without case investigation form and each test result is based on the sample and the case investigation forms. Even if the retesting was added to the data made public, Prof. Ampofo noted that it would be insignificant. Even if you add them, for the close to 80,000 individuals who have been tested, that will just be 480 test results. Testing backlog Noguchi currently has a backlog of 6,000 cases. Prof. Ampofo said that his outfit had processed 76,921 samples of which 70,921 had been tested. He expects they will be able to clear this backlog by the end of this week. Once we are able to sort out the backlog, then they will be able to calculate the rate of infection, they will be able to present data on incidence and we will all understand how the spread has actually taken place. According to the Noguchi Head of Virology, the centre currently has over 150 people working three shifts 24/7. The other major testing outpost in Ghana, the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR), has a backlog of about 10,000, according to Prof. Ampofo. It has one lab with a staff strength of about 15 to 20 and has tested 15,280 samples out of 25,219 samples processed. Barcode to be introduced To improve efficiency in the processing of samples, the Ghana Health Service is set to introduce a barcode system. We wish we had done this from the beginning, Prof. Ampofo admitted during the briefing. Each sample will have a barcode with a geographical location of where the sample is collected, the sample will arrive in the lab, the barcode will be read, and then the results will be transmitted electronically from the lab back to the central database, he explained. ---citinewsroom A dive shop in South Florida is one of the first businesses in the state to file suit against its insurer for the denial of a business interruption claim initiated because of the current coronavirus pandemic. The lawsuit, Mace Marine Inc., dba Conch Republic Divers v. Tokio Marine Specialty Insurance Co., claims the dive shops business interruption claim denial was improper, in bad faith, a breach of contract and that the dive shop has been injured and suffered financial harm as a result. The suit, filed April 6, asks for $30,000 in damages, exclusive of attorney fees. The dive shop is located in Tavernier, Fla., and is being defended by the Landau Law Group of Boca Raton, Fla. The suit claims that the Conch Republic dive shop had a commercial lines policy that covered business income, extra expense, ingress/egress and civil authority. Conch alleges in the complaint that it ceased operations and closed its business by order of the State of Florida and Monroe County in March because of the COVID-19 outbreak. Conch was not deemed an essential business and was unable to remain open so it filed a claim under its business income coverage, which was subsequently denied on March 30. The suit claims the denial was improper because the dive shops policy contains coverage for acts of civil authority, which precluded Conch from operating its business. The suit also cites the CDC and WHO as stating the virus can spread from person to person through contaminated objects and surfaces and recommends the routine cleaning of all frequently touched surfaces and disinfection-level deep cleaning of surfaces thought to be contaminated. A surface that is touched by a person infected with COVID-19 is presumed to be contaminated, the suit states. Accordingly, the presence or danger of COVID-19 on property renders that property unusable and non-functioning until such time as the property is sanitized. As such, the property owned by the dive shop was capable of being contaminated by direct physical contact by an infected person(s) either knowingly or unwittingly, rendering the property owner temporarily unable to use its property even though structurally unaltered until such property is sanitized. The suit alleges the insured will incur extra expenses for cleaning and sanitizing its equipment and property and that, pursuant to the policy, it was insured for business income losses and extra expenses. Plaintiff suffered a loss of business income and extra expenses as a direct result of the pandemic, acts of civil authority and other causes beyond its control, the suit states. The suit claims the insurers wrongful denial of coverage breached the policy and that, subject to limitations and exclusions, the policy insured against all risks of direct physical loss or damage to the insureds property. Additionally, a pandemic is a type of risk that was not excluded under the policy and the insurers failure to fairly adjust the claim, investigate the loss and cover undisputed damage constitutes bad faith. The suit also alleges the policy contains coverage for acts of civil authority and that civil authority actions precluded the dive shop from operating its business because it is not essential as defined under the civil authority orders. The plaintiff demands a jury trial and calls for a declaratory judgement from the court to affirm that a pandemic is a covered cause of loss not subject to any exclusion under the policy, that contamination from COVID-19 constitutes a direct physical loss or damage to property, and that the inability to used the property because of the risk of contamination from COVID-19 is tantamount to direct physical loss of that property. It also requests a declaratory judgement that acts of civil authority are tantamount to a direct physical loss or damage to property. In an email to Insurance Journal, attorney for the insured Conch Republic Divers, Matt Landau, said the policy does not have a pandemic exclusion and it makes limited reference to virus, which we believe does not apply here. The insurer could have provided a direct exclusion for viral outbreaks such as this and did not, rather we believe they are manipulating the policy language to avoid having to pay valid claims, Landau said. Landau added the firm will be filing additional lawsuits related to business interruption coverage throughout Florida in the coming days. At this point, at least two other suits have been filed in Florida against insurers by other firms Prime Time Sports Grill vs. Lloyds of London and Cafe International Holding Company LLC vs. Chubb Ltd. A spokesperson for Tokio Marine Group said the insurer had no comment on the case at this time. The Florida case is one of many that the industry is facing from businesses over business interruption coverage denials. The industry has been under increasing pressure from everyone from President Donald Trump to insurance regulators and lawmakers to investigate and cover business interruption claims. The industry has responded by saying they are being asked to rewrite the terms of insurance contracts, which it says is unconstitutional, and doing so would bankrupt the industry. Insurance defense attorney with Florida firm Kelley Kronenberg Jeffrey Wank, who is not associated with the aforementioned suit, said every insurance policy is different and if coverage is available to businesses because of losses from the pandemic will depend on the specifics in the language of the policy and that is typically interpreted very broadly by Florida courts. When somebody files an insurance claim for business interruption, the first thing that the insurance company is going to look at it is was there actual physical damage to the property which necessitated the business to shut down, he said. In order to trigger a business interruption coverage, there needs to be some actual physical loss to the property. So, the debate and the conversation thats being had right now in our world, in the insurance industry is, is COVID-19 actual physical damage to the property? Wank said businesses, such as the Conch Republic Divers, argue they have had to close their doors to clean their properties and government proclamations have required the business to shut down and that amounts to actual physical damage as a result of COVID-19. But, he notes even if there is actual physical damage, many policies exclude viruses, pandemics and bacteria. Unless the policy does not have those exclusions, coverage is not likely to be triggered. The ultimate decision for these cases will be up to the courts and it is uncertain at this point how each court will interpret these coverage disputes, Wank said. If theres a finding from the courts that COVID-19 causes actual physical damage to property, then a lot of these policies and insurance would lend itself to providing coverage for these losses, subject to any exclusions, he said. Topics Lawsuits Carriers Florida Profit Loss Property Pollution S ome NHS medics are being re-tested for Covid-19 after being wrongly cleared of carrying the virus. Care minister Helen Whately said some tests were not up to scratch and those concerned would be contacted, amid fears that some might have gone back to work and unwittingly carried Covid-19 into hospitals or care homes. The admission came on a day the Government was mired in fresh embarrassment over the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) to frontline medical staff and carers. An RAF flight carrying delayed masks and gowns from Turkey, which has become a symbol of the problems in meeting the need in critical care units at hospitals, was said to contain only about half the cargo it was originally supposed to bring back. An Airbus A400M at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire / PA A government official said the Atlas A400M transport aircraft, which landed early today at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, was not big enough for the 80 tonnes of PPE purchased and a second trip would be needed. The Government was also under pressure over why it failed to join an EU scheme for bulk-buying PPE and ventilators. Ms Whately said this morning that it was down to a communication error an email went astray. However questions were asked by Labour after a senior Foreign Office official said and then retracted the claim that it had been a political decision. In a round of media interviews, Ms Whately was challenged over reports that early testing for Covid-19 led to some wrong results, in particular that people who feared they had the virus were cleared to return to work. Helen Whately on GMB / Good Morning Britain She said the flaws applied to some of the early tests and went on: Those who were tested with the test that we think isnt up to scratch have been written to, to let them know they will be offered another test. A Department for Health spokesman later clarified that the number of people given wrong results was in the hundreds and represented a very small proportion of those tested. A London Ambulance worker puts on a protective mask outside the Royal London Hospital on April 20 / Getty Images It was wrong to suggest that bulk letters were being sent out, but testers were contacting those whose results did not appear correct, they added. On the PPE flight, Ms Whately was unable to say how much has arrived. She promised that millions of face masks from China were due to arrive this week, saying the Turkey consignment was one of many purchases from around the world. The delivery has been at the centre of controversy after a minister said it would be picked up on Sunday but it was delayed, possibly because of an issue over placing the order in the first place and the production of the equipment. The RAF plane being loaded with PPE in Turkey / TRT World The plane has now arrived bringing really vital PPE with it, Ms Whately told Sky News this morning. The consignment is being checked at the moment because what we do know with some of these deliveries is that they dont always have exactly what you are expecting. Its absolutely vital to make sure that the kit is what we need and up to specification. Loading.... Flight tracker RadarBox showed the RAF Airbus A400-M registered ZM416 depart Istanbul and land just after 3.30am today. The Government has faced mounting criticism over its failure to ensure NHS staff treating coronavirus patients have the protective equipment they need. British firms have also stressed that they have offered to supply some of the kit but have not heard back from Whitehall. Ms Whately told BBCs Radio 4 Today programme: What the team is doing ... is moving quickest on those who have the largest scale that they can supply because we need billions of items of PPE. Loading.... Loading.... But Labour is calling for hundreds of small British firms to be used to boost supplies of the equipment, even if they can only deliver small quantities. With fears that staff in hospitals and care homes are risking their lives, the TUC called for an independent inquiry into the Governments handling of the issue to be held before the end of the year. NHS bosses say gowns are in particular short supply in hospitals, and other protective equipment is also lacking in many care homes. Ms Whately told Today that the Government had rejected offers of PPE from companies that did not have a track record in the field. Some companies we have heard from have only set up in the last couple of days and have had a conversation with somebody they think they can get some stock to the UK. Lockdown London 1 /18 Lockdown London There is a difference between that and those who have established, experienced supply chains. Former Labour prime minister Tony Blair today warned against allowing a void of decision making with Prime Minister Boris Johnson recovering from symptoms of the coronavirus. He called for faster action on a plan to ease lockdown. Mr Blair, who said he completely sympathises with Mr Johnson given his present condition, added that some important decisions have to be taken now. These include matters such as how the Government is organising itself, what needs to be done now to prepare to exit from the lockdown and various issues around schools and business sectors. Deaths linked to coronavirus in the UK might have already reached 41,000, according to new analysis. The Financial Times estimate is more than double the latest total announced by the Department of Health, which stood at 17,337 at 5pm on April 20. Listen to The Leader: Coronavirus Daily podcast A hot microphone left on in the White House press briefing room has sparked controversy, after a journalist was overheard joking that everyone there had been vaccinated against the coronavirus. Two journalists - identified online as Fox News' John Roberts and New York Times photographer Doug Mills - were caught chatting before an official press briefing. 'You can take off the mask, the case fatality rate is 0.1 to 0.3 according to USC,' Roberts is heard saying. Mills then apparently jokes saying, 'We've all been vaccinated around here.' The video has since gone viral - and has been jumped on by conspiracy theorists. There is currently no vaccine or cure for coronavirus, which has killed more than 40,000 Americans, and infected more than 800,000. A hot mic in the White House briefing room captured a conversation between Fox News reporter John Roberts, left, and New York Times photographer Doug Mills, seen right When White House briefings are streamed live, some outlets often carry the feeds in advance complete with audio and video before the events begin. Roberts is also heard quoting statistics, saying: 'USC and LA County public health came out with a study that found that there are 7,000 cases in California but they really believe there are anywhere from 221,000 to 442,000 people who are infected.' 'So it was a hoax,' Mills jokes. ' But Roberts replies: 'No, I don't think it was a hoax'. Roberts appears to be referring to a study this week which found four percent of adults in Los Angeles County tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies. It suggests hundreds of thousands of people might have actually been infected in early April when only 8,000 cases had been confirmed - meaning many people may have the virus but show no symptoms. The antibody testing was carried out last week by county officials working with scientists from USC. The test is manufactured by Premier Biotech and has a 90-95% accuracy rate. They randomly tested 863 adults with finger prick tests. Of those, 4.1 percent tested positive for the antibodies. When scientists adjusted the results to factor in a margin for error, they said that between 2.8 percent and 5.6 percent of the county's adult population - between 221,000 and 442,000 people - had the virus. Roberts, left, told Mills, right, to take off his mask and quoted statistics from a California study that saw the fatality rate from coronavirus to be around seasonal flu levels Mills then tells Roberts 'everyone around here has been vaccinated' for COVID coronavirus, apparently jokingly During the briefing that followed, Roberts went on to ask Dr. Deborah Birx on the White House coronavirus task force about the study he mentioned to Mills. Dr. Birx explained that the study was of interest because there is no specific data about the number of asymptomatic cases which would be crucial to understanding the infectious rate and the mortality rate. She went on to explain that the team is looking at the findings of the study which might see authorities to 'recalibrating disease prediction models and rethink public health strategies.' Mediaite was first to report on the viral video. On social media some tweeted that they believed the video might have been faked while others have said that Mills was likely not joking. Some suggested the exchange proved that coronavirus is 'fake news'. 'Seems like an intentional leak. Well played if so. Wake up another wave,' wrote one. 'WTF does the guy in the mask mean by "everybody here has been vaccinated anyway?"' questioned another. 'Well does that mean they have a COVID vaccine? ?? I don't want it anyway but sure seems shady if so,' tweet another user. A report by the Ghana News Agency reveals that many customers had thronged the banks after the three week partial lockdown was lifted by President Akufo Addo. Some of the banks visited were the Consolidated Ghana Bank, National Investment Bank (NIB), Access Bank and the GCB. Mr. Joseph Etse Ashigbui, a retired engineer, who had come for his pension stipend, hinted that he would not go home until he was served. He noted that he was unable to withdraw his money last week due to the partial lock down. According to Mr. Ashigbui, the bank officials must put measures in place to ensure that customers adhered to the laid down protocol to prevent the spread of COVID-19, saying the officials must provide canopies with spacing marking at the forecourt of the banks for customers. Some of the Bank officials who spoke on condition of anonymity revealed that the customers had trooped in because the ban on movements had just been lifted adding that the situation would be normalized as the days go by. The GNA however observed that some of the customers wore the face mask whilst others did not, also most banks had the thermometer gun to check temperature of customers before allowing them into the banking halls. Veronica baskets and alcohol based sanitizers were also available. Meanwhile, the heavy military and police presence in Ashaiman during the lockdown were missing on Monday with no barrier in sight. The Ashaiman main and other markets that were shut down due to the failure of traders to observe social distancing during the lockdown remained closed as trading continued at the various satellite markets created by the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly. A number of people were seen cleaning their shops to start selling after three weeks of partial lock down. Madam Vida Amponsah, an orange seller said leadership of the markets had decided they would operate a shift system when they relocate to their selling points to ensure social distancing. ---GNA The German government has condemned an anti-Semitic incident that took place during an online Holocaust memorial event organized by the Israeli Embassy in Berlin. Unknown persons interrupted the Zoom meeting with Holocaust survivor Zvi Herschel late Monday by shouting anti-Semitic slogans and displaying pictures of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. Berlin police confirmed that a criminal investigation has been opened. German government spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters Wednesday that the incident was a disgrace, a despicable act. Seibert said the government expressed its deep regret to the embassy and to Herschel, who lost most of his family in the Holocaust. Herschel, who was born in 1942 in the German-occupied Netherlands, survived after being taken in by a Dutch Protestant family. "The vast majority of Germans and the German government are firmly resolved to stand up to any form of anti-Semitism in our country, Seibert added Israel's ambassador to Germany, Jeremy Issacharoff, said on Twitter that the event had to be briefly paused due to the disruption. Israel marked Holocaust Memorial Day on Tuesday. More than 6 million Jews died during the genocide perpetrated by Nazi Germany during World War II. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A charity which is training dogs to detect coronavirus in the hope they can be deployed at UK airports says it has been in discussions with the government and remain hopeful the project will work. Claire Guest, CEO of Medical Detection Dogs, which has dogs trained to detect cancer and malaria, says its dogs can detect diseases in less than a second. She believes its dogs, among them cocker spaniels and a Labradoodle, could be used to test people arriving at UK airports when lockdown measures are relaxed. On Monday the Daily Mail reported around 15,000 passengers were still flying into the UK every day, without any tests when they land. Medical Detection Dog Florin takes part in a training exercise to see if he can sniff out a deadly virus. It's hoped dogs could be trained to detect coronavirus, following similar success with malaria and cancer Claire Guest told the BBCs Today programme: 'We're in discussions with the government, we're very hopeful that they will support this and see there's a huge value in this.' The CEO explained how the testing process would work in the UK's airports: 'People are coming in and may be asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic those few days when youve got the virus and dont know it. 'A dog is sniffing each person in turn - it takes 0.5 of a second, the dog quickly identifies which people need a test and need to go straight into isolation to prevent the further spread around the UK.' The charitys website details the six dogs who are being taught to find Covid-19 with the help of London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and Durham University. The group of three working cocker spaniels, a Labrador, a Labradoodle and a Labrador golden retriever cross could be trained in six to eight weeks, but 500,000 funding will be needed to complete the training, Ms Guest said. She told the BBC: 'We know that diseases have got these unique odours, we know how rapidly (dogs are) able to identify them, thats why theyre used for drugs and explosives. 'Its exactly the same with a disease,' she added. Medical Detection Dogs says it is in talks with the government over plans to place dogs at UK airports, including Heathrow, to test passengers for Covid-19 Before boarding his Iran Air flight from Tehran, Farzad Parhizkars temperature and those of the other 80 or so passengers was checked by a laser-beam thermometer, he told me. They had also been obliged to fill in a form giving such details as their name and address, destination, reason for travel, and whether they had any symptoms of coronavirus. Then, when I arrive here in London, there is nothing at all, he said. There was no temperature check, no questions about my health, no advice on how to avoid catching the virus. Nothing. Everything was all just like the world is normal. The head of disease control at the LSHTM said dogs could detect malaria with 'extremely high accuracy' and, as other respiratory diseases changed body odour, there was a 'very high chance' it could also work with COVID-19. Ms Guest told the programme the charity have been in discussions with the Government and said they were 'hopeful' about the project. Home secretary Priti Patel and health secretary Matt Hancock are both thought to be aware of the proposal, with a Home Office spokesman confirming the government had opened talks with the charity about its proposals. Neither Crosby ISD superintendent Scott Davis nor Huffman ISD superintendent Benny Soileau were surprised when Governor Greg Abbott issued an order on April 17 mandating that all schools in the state remain closed for the remainder of the school year as part of the efforts to flatten the curve and curtail the spread of the coronavirus. Coronavirus school closures: Gov. Abbott closes Texas schools but takes steps to reopen economy Schools in both districts, just like schools all over Texas, will continue to use the remote learning systems that they have been developing and using for the past month. We have all invested great amounts of effort and time into setting up remote learning for our students in CISD, said Davis. So our continuance of that instructional format for the duration of the school year validates those massive efforts to redesign public education on a moments notice. Both superintendents acknowledged the fluidity of the situation and the uncertainty of the future. Soileau said Huffman ISD is planning for each of the two paths traditional, in-person learning and remote learning going into next school year. There really is no certain way to guarantee what social and health contexts we will all face that many months away given COVID-19s impact on us all, Davis stated. We have always operated knowing that flexibility guides how we go about teaching kids. That wont go away any time soon. Coronavirus lasting effects: Texas school districts still could feel ill effects of coronavirus pandemic on budgets next year Both school districts are working on plans for graduation. Davis expressed pride in the way students, parents, teachers and support staff have been handling the challenging circumstances. Huffman ISD will hold a Facebook live online session on Thursday, April 23 starting at 6 p.m. to answer questions from community members. elliott.lapin@hearst.com Advertisement Donald Trump on Tuesday insisted that anti-lockdown protesters are social distancing, despite clear evidence to the contrary, as he dismissed the CDC chief for calling them 'unhelpful', arguing that 'they want their lives back'. The president told reporters at his daily briefing: 'I've watched some of the protests, not in great detail, but I've seen that and they're separated, a lot of space in between.' Thousands of protesters took to the streets of North Carolina, Missouri, Alabama and Florida to demand governors bring an end to coronavirus lockdown rules and reopen the states for business on Tuesday. They were pictured standing close by to one another, disregarding the social distancing rules that health experts insist are critical to saving lives amid the deadly outbreak. Trump said: 'They're watching, believe it or not, they're doing social distancing, if you can believe it and they are. And they're protesting and the groups I've seen have been very much spread out so I think that's good.' The president had last week supported the protesters, calling them 'very responsible people'. He said Sunday that he saw protesters that looked to adhering to the measures and standing six feet apart. The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Tuesday a second wave of coronavirus next winter could be 'even more difficult'. Robert Redfield warned the 'assault on our nation' could potentially be 'even more difficult than the one we just went through'. He labeled anti lockdown protests as 'not helpful'. But the president hit back, saying: 'Look, it's not a question of helpful or not, people want to get back to work, they want to make a living. They have to take care of their family. They don't want to do this. 'It's unfortunate, but you have a lot of people that are anxious to get back. We have to build back our country. People have really been through a lot.' Of a second wave Trump said: 'I really believe we will be able to put out the fires. It's like fires. And we've learned a lot.' Donald Trump, pictured, on Tuesday insisted that anti-lockdown protesters are social distancing despite clear evidence to the contrary, as he dismissed the CDC chief for calling them 'unhelpful', arguing that 'they want their lives back' People hold up signs saying 'Fauci is corrupt', 'Enough is enough' and 'A man chooses, a slave obeys' Raleigh, North Carolina: Police bikes are seen at the front of crowds in Raleigh. Hundreds are packed into the roads, with social distancing totally disregarded Hundreds of protesters have taken to the streets for a second week in a row to demand Governor Roy Cooper brings an end to the state's coronavirus lockdown rules and reopens the state for business Trump sparked anger from Democrat governors Friday when he made a series of Tweets calling for liberation for states - one day after he said he would leave the decision to reopen states in the hands of individual governors. He tweeted 'Liberate Minnesota' Friday before following it up with similar tweets for Michigan and Virginia. All three states that Trump singled out have Democratic governors - and are potentially swing states in the 2020 election. Trump last week gave the nation's governors his roadmap for how the US can reopen businesses and schools shut down by the coronavirus. Protesters marched on downtown Raleigh in North Carolina throughout the day, gathering outside the General Assembly from 11am and filling Lane Street. The ReOpenNC protest began just minutes after the state announced that another 34 people have been killed by coronavirus, marking the deadliest day North Carolina has so far seen during the pandemic. This marked the second week of protests in North Carolina, with Tuesday's event drawing a larger crowd of around 1,000 at its peak and political leaders joining in. Protesters were seen flouting social distancing altogether Tuesday, with people packing much closer together than the six feet guidelines and ignoring health warnings to wear masks. Governor Roy Cooper earlier said residents have a right to protest after State Capitol Police arrested a woman at last week's march. But he said protesters must practice social distancing while doing so in line with his executive order. Instead of protective gear, many carried Trump 2020 paraphernalia including hats, flags, and T-shirts as well as merchandise promoting Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, who has been eyeing the state governor's job. Others held signs accusing Dr Anthony Fauci, the government's infectious disease expert, 'corrupt'. Others said: 'No Fauci, No Gates, No Fear'. Some organizers claimed the protest was bipartisan but the sea of Republican and 'MAGA' propaganda - along with shouts against Democratic House speaker Nancy Pelosi - suggested the crowd was predominantly right-wing. One sign read: 'Investigate COVID and 5G'. Conspiracy theorists have wrongly speculated that the 5G mobile network created the virus. The death toll in the U.S. stood at more than 44,000 Tuesday evening the highest in the world with more than 800,000 confirmed infections. The true figures are believed to be much higher, in part because of limited testing and difficulties in counting the dead. Protesters marched on downtown Raleigh throughout the day, gathering outside the General Assembly from 11a.m. and filling Lane Street This marked the second week of protests in North Carolina, with Tuesday's event drawing a larger crowd of around 1,000 at its peak and political leaders joining in Republican Representative Dan Bishop of North Carolina's Ninth District was pictured in the crowd wearing a mask, which he sometimes removed, while carrying a bottle of hand sanitizer and copies of the Constitution. 'I'm definitely going to deliver this to Roy Cooper because he's forgotten what it's about,' Bishop told The News & Observer. Protesters are demanding the state lockdown comes to an end, claiming it takes away their liberty and that businesses are being damaged beyond repair. Governor Cooper earlier said residents have a right to protest but they must practice social distancing while doing so in line with his executive order. But protesters were seen flouting social distancing altogether, with people packing much closer together than the six feet guidelines and most ignoring health warnings to wear masks Protesters hold up banners with slogans including 'No mandatory vaccines', 'Reopen NC!!' and 'Freedoms are essential' They held up banners with slogans including 'Freedoms are essential', 'Rights are not an option' and 'Everyone here knows the truth except the Democrats!' Other signs read: 'Enough is enough' and 'A man chooses, a slave obeys'. Cars with 'Make America Safe Again! Trump 2020' rode down the streets blasting horns and drivers shouted from their open windows. Some passengers seemed to be enjoying themselves with a woman pictured beaming as she stuck her head out of a car sunroof and gave a thumbs up to the crowds. Many marchers brought their children along - also without face masks, placing them at risk of exposure to the virus. One woman who said her family's roofing business has been hard-hit due to mass closures had brought her four young children along to the protest. She told The News & Observer that she was leaving it up to God if her family contracted the killer virus. 'Our faith is in God,' said Tabitha Dawes. 'If we get it, we get it.' A group of healthcare workers gathered in their scrubs to counter-protest the calls for re-opening, with one pharmacist telling The News & Observer they were 'very concerned' that the outbreak could worsen if the state reopens too soon. 'I'm very concerned that we're opening North Carolina too early,' said Nicholas Blanchard. 'I'm here to try and get people to understand that this is a problem. I want people to follow the science and not their emotions.' Protesters are demanding the state lockdown comes to an end, claiming it takes away their liberty and that businesses are being damaged beyond repair Instead of protective gear, many carried Trump 2020 paraphernalia including hats, flags, and T-shirts as well as merchandise promoting Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, who has been eyeing the state governor's job Some organizers claimed the protest was bipartisan but the sea of Republican and 'MAGA' propaganda - along with shouts against Democratic House speaker Nancy Pelosi - suggested the crowd was predominantly right-wing As demonstrators flocked to the streets demanding it is time to reopen the state, official figures suggest North Carolina may not be out of the woods yet. Its death toll rose by another 34 people Tuesday morning taking the total to 235, and marking the deadliest day North Carolina has so far seen during the pandemic. Confirmed cases reached 7,099 after another 187 also tested positive for the infection. Cooper said in a press conference in the afternoon that he understood people were 'frustrated' with the lockdown but that the measures to slow the spread of the virus have been working. 'I know that many people are frustrated, restless, anxious, and eager to get back to work and school. I also know that many people want to make sure that their families are as safe as possible from this virus,' he said. Under mounting pressure from people wanting to get back to work, Cooper also issued a new executive order Tuesday to help people out of jobs due to the pandemic. Under the new order, furloughed workers will now be able to claim unemployment benefits. One man holds up a banner saying 'Let us out' amid swathes of people packed in together in Raleigh A group of healthcare workers gathered in their scrubs to counter-protest the calls for re-opening One pharmacist told The News & Observer they were 'very concerned' that the outbreak could worsen if the state reopens too soon. Counter-protesters stand as people with ReopenNC demonstrate in Raleigh, N.C., to press Gov. Roy Cooper to allow businesses to reopen during the COVID-19 outbreak Protests also took place in Missouri and Alabama Tuesday with crowds descending on the governors' official residences to push back against lockdown. Crowds flooded an area in Jefferson City, Missouri, and marched past Governor Mike Parson's mansion to protest against his stay-at-home order. The Reopen Missouri protesters are calling for 'everyone over 70 and anyone with serious underlying health conditions to hunker down more than they have been,' while healthy individuals should return to work, the group's Facebook page states. Over in Alabama, a group called Stand Up Alabama led a car rally called 'Operation Back to Work' demanding businesses are allowed to get back up and running. The uproar comes as Governor Kay Ivey said she intends to keep the stay-at-home order in place through April 30, striking a more measured approach while some Southern states push to quickly reopen. The protest was set up by grassroots organization Reopen NC and aims to put pressure on Governor Cooper Police officers wear masks during Tuesday's protest. As demonstrations ramp up, they signify a growing sentiment among aggrieved workers that the country must resume its economic activity sooner rather than later Protesters planned to drive vehicles along a designated route, but Tuesday morning Montgomery Police Captain Regina Duckett ordered the closure of some streets to prevent the move. Instead, some were pictured riding horseback through Dexter Avenue in downtown Montgomery. Similar protests have taken place across the US over the last week, largely in Republican states and egged on by President Trump. Tennessee, Oregon, Illinois, California, Montana, Michigan, Minnesota, Colorado and Washington State have all seen demonstrations from protesters demanding an end to state shutdowns. In Colorado, on Sunday, demonstrators flocked to the state Capitol in their hundreds to urge Governor Jared Polis to lift stay-at-home orders. Titled 'Operation Gridlock', the day's largest demonstration took place in Denver, where protesters waved flags with slogans such as 'Your 'health' does not supersede my right', 'Freedom over fear', and 'I would rather risk coronavirus than socialism' after being summoned on social media. One person's sign says 'I need a haircut' as people - in Trump merchandise and American flags - demand businesses reopen A video captured a woman hurling racists remarks at a nurse counter-protesting the march. 'This is a free country. Land of the free,' she yelled at him, pulling out a homemade poster displaying those very words. 'Go to China if you want communism. Go to China.' By Monday morning, the video had gone viral on social media and 'Go to China' was trending on Twitter in the US as users expressed disgust over the woman's remarks. This followed scenes in Minnesota where around 400 people descended on Governor Tim Walz's St. Paul residence Thursday and Friday. Walz slammed the actions of protesters and urged them to social distance. 'If they're protesting staying at home, they're protesting first responders too,' he said. As the protests expand across the nation, they signify a growing sentiment among aggrieved workers that the country must resume its economic activity sooner rather than later - even in spite of the fact that US coronavirus deaths and infections continue to mount. North Carolina residents march through the streets as Governor Cooper announced new efforts to support people furloughed during the pandemic 'A little rebellion now and then is a good thing' read one woman's banner while another held a mini book of the Constitution People hold signs as they walk past the governor's mansion in Jefferson City, Missouri, Tuesday - with very few wearing face masks Jacksonville, Florida: A group of people gathered at the Duval County Courthouse to rally for re-opening parts of Florida and the country that have been closed because of the coronavirus Tuesday Susan Callahan, a nurse, gathered with a group of people at the Duval County Courthouse to rally for re-opening parts of Florida and the country that have been closed because of the coronavirus A group of people gathered at the Duval County Courthouse to rally for re-opening parts of Florida and the country that have been closed because of the coronavirus Tuesday Heath experts and governors have continuously warned that reopening states too soon could lead to higher fatalities and renewed outbreaks of the virus. But President Trump has repeatedly encouraged protesters, even praising their actions during his Sunday White House briefing. 'I've seen the people. I've seen interviews of the people. These are great people, Trump said. 'They've got cabin fever. They want their lives back.' The president rejected the assertion that he was inciting violence with his words of encouragement, as one reporter pointed out that governors around the country were seeing an uptick in death threats. 'No, I am not. I've never seen so many American flags,' Trump said. 'These people love our country. They want to get back to work.' The new three-phase guidelines are aimed at easing restrictions in areas with low transmission of the coronavirus, while holding the line in harder-hit locations like New York. Some states including Texas, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee have started relaxing lockdown rules. Texas was the first state to begin reopening Monday. Georgia will reopen some businesses as early as Friday and Tennessee businesses can open again next week. Montgomery, Alabama: Protesters ride horseback through Dexter Avenue in downtown Montgomery, Alabama, Tuesday South Carolina permitted some stores - including sporting goods shops and department stores - to reopen at 5pm Monday with social-distancing measures in place and beaches opening Tuesday. Some states, like hard-hit New York, had already committed this week to extending lockdown measures into at least mid-May prior to Trump's recommendations. About 95 percent of the country currently remains on some form of lockdown in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus. Seven states - Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming - still have no stay-at-home orders in place for its residents. The US continues to be the epicenter of the pandemic, with over 820,000 cases and 45,000 deaths. Edward Bastian, chief executive officer of Delta Air Lines Inc., speaks during an interview in New York, U.S., on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019. Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian told employees Wednesday that it could take two to three years for the airline's business to recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The airline is carrying about 5% of its normal passenger loads, Bastian told CNBC in an interview, as demand for air travel has nearly disappeared because of the virus and measures to stop it from spreading such as stay-at-home orders. Delta is slashing costs by parking planes, freezing hiring and asking thousands of employees to take unpaid leave as revenue falls. Sales in the second quarter will likely be 90% less than expected, Delta said in a earnings release. Delta reported a net loss of $534 million in the first quarter, its first quarterly loss in more than five years. Airlines have been especially hard hit by the coronavirus, which has been whiplash for an industry that had been planning for record numbers of passengers in this and the coming years by increasing staffing and buying new planes. Bastian warned employees that the airline will be smaller because of what's expected to be a slow recovery. "We are confident that people will begin to travel again," he told employees in a memo. "We don't know when it will happen, but we do know that Delta will be a smaller airline for some time, and we should be prepared for a choppy, sluggish recovery even after the virus is contained. I estimate the recovery period could take two to three years." Bastian said he hopes things turn around sooner "but we need to be realistic in our planning." Airline CEOs have said they do not expect a quick rebound in demand, even though some state governments, including in Georgia, where Delta is headquartered, are exploring reopening some businesses. United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz and its president, Scott Kirby, who takes the helm next month, told employees on April 15 that "we expect demand to remain suppressed for the remainder of 2020 and likely into next year." Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 22 for sending 23 tonnes of essential medicines and showing support in the formers battle with coronavirus outbreak. Amid the unprecedented global health crisis, while leaders around the world are struggling to flatten the curve of the disease, Oli showed gratitude to PM Modi for his generous support and informed that the essential medicines were handed over to Nepals Department of Health. I thank Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji for India's generous support of 23 tonnes of essential medicines to Nepal, to fight COVID-19 Pandemic. The medicines were handedover to the Minister for Health and Population today by the Ambassador of India. K P Sharma Oli (@kpsharmaoli) April 22, 2020 Read - Ajay Devgn Thanks PM Modi For 'personal Bodyguard' Aarogya Setu, Urges Fans To Download Read - Senior Medical Forum Member Hails Modi Govt's Ordinance To End Violence Against Doctors Special relationship While acknowledging Olis regards, PM Modi claimed that the relationship between both countries is special and said that the bonds are strong and deep-rooted. India sent assistance to Nepal when the nation has confirmed at least 20,471 cases of coronavirus with 652 fatalities till now. However, PM Modi restated the support for the Nepalese government and said they would combat the coronavirus outbreak in solidarity. India-Nepal relationship is special. Our bonds are not only strong but also deep-rooted. India stands in solidarity with people and the Government of Nepal to fight COVID-19 pandemic.@kpsharmaoli https://t.co/jQ6hYgkKfY Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 22, 2020 Read - PM Narendra Modi To Interact With CMs Of All States Via Video Conference On April 27 Read - 'Will Ensure Safety Of Our Professionals': PM Modi On Ordinance for Healthcare Workers (Bloomberg) -- Indonesia extended stringent social distancing rules in Jakarta, home to more than 10 million people, as the capital region continued to remain the epicenter of infections in the Southeast Asian nation. The large scale social distancing measures, which include a ban on gatherings of more than five people, limited public transport services and mandatory work-from-home, were extended to May 22, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said Wednesday. The restrictions, first imposed on April 10, were to end Thursday. Jakarta and its satellite cities have emerged as the hub of the pandemic in the worlds fourth most populous country with infections more than quadrupling to 7,418 since the start of the month. The outbreak has killed 635 people in Indonesia, the most in Asia after China and India, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The key to a successful and massive social distancing is discipline from all stakeholders, Baswedan said. We will enforce the rules strictly in the coming days and all those who violate the rules wont just be warned but slapped with penalties. Jakarta, which reported its first positive cases in early March, has been under some kind of social distancing measures for a month now but has yet to see a decline in infections. The capital accounted for 3,383 positive cases and 301 deaths, official data show. The implementation of stricter social distancing in Jakarta was not effective as many businesses are allowed to remain open, said Achmad Sukarsono, a senior analyst at Control Risks. If it wants to be effective, it needs to have strong enforcement like Singapore or India. Burial Protocol Governor Baswedan said a decline in the number of bodies buried according to the Covid-19 protocol in recent days offered some hope. Whether this is a temporary thing or not, we have to keep monitoring. Hopefully this is a permanent trend. he said. Indonesian authorities have now placed several cities and towns under partial lockdowns to contain the virus with the government warning the worst phase of the pandemic has yet to come. Infections may peak at around 95,000 by the end of next month before starting to ease, according to officials. Story continues President Joko Widodo on Tuesday also banned an annual ritual that usually sees millions of people traveling to their hometowns and village to celebrate the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr on concern the exodus may spread the virus. The government needs to extend the social distancing rules across Java, the nations most populated island and home to about 150 million people, to prevent the virus from spreading, said Dono Widiatmoko, a senior lecturer at the College of Heath and Social Care, University of Derby. The social distancing policy has to be in sync with other regions, Widiatmoko said. It has to be implemented to the entire Java island for the measure to be effective, otherwise it will be useless. The virus outbreak and restrictions on peoples mobility has already battered Southeast Asias largest economy with millions of people being either fired or sent on leave without wages. The government has slashed its growth forecast for this year to 2.3%, less than half the pre-outbreak projection of 5.3%, and unveiled stimulus packages worth $28 billion besides scrapping a budget deficit cap to cushion the blow of the pandemic. Governments around the world need to choose between the economy and public health in fighting the virus, Sukarsono of Control Risks said. And the ones that choose the latter can flatten the curve while those that are half hearted or fearful of economic consequences usually cannot slow the spread. (Updates with governors comment in fourth paragraph.) For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. Take a look at some of the biggest movers in the premarket: Delta Air Lines (DAL) Delta lost 51 cents per share for the first quarter, less than the 70 cents a share Wall Street had anticipated. Revenue was below forecasts, however, and fell 18% from a year ago. Delta said it expects to receive support from the CARES Act passed by lawmakers, and that the steps it has taken to conserve cash will cut its daily cash-burn rate in half. AT&T (T) AT&T reported quarterly earnings of 84 cents per share, a penny a share below estimates. Revenue also missed forecasts. The company said the coronavirus outbreak is clouding its financial outlook, and it has pulled its full-year forecast. Kimberly-Clark (KMB) The consumer products company earned $2.13 per share for its latest quarter, beating the $1.97 a share consensus estimate. Revenue also beat forecasts, driven by an 11% jump in organic sales, as consumers stocked up on essential items. Kimberly-Clark is withdrawing its full-year forecast due to uncertainties surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic. Quest Diagnostics (DGX) Quest said it had begun testing for Covid-19 antibodies in its medical labs, using tests made by Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and a unit of PerkinElmer (PKI). Separately, Quest reported quarterly earnings of 94 cents per share, 5 cents a share above estimates. Revenue also topped expectations. Quest reiterated previous statements that testing volume had fallen sharply in recent weeks. Biogen (BIIB) The biotech company reported quarterly earnings of $9.14 per share, beating the consensus estimate of $7.73 a share. Revenue came in above forecasts as well. Biogen said the pandemic had introduced potentially unquantifiable risks to its business but believes compelling opportunities continue to exist in the therapies it is pursuing. Netflix (NFLX) Netflix gained nearly 16 million subscribers during the first quarter as pandemic-related stay-at-home orders took hold, nearly double what the video streaming service had predicted. The company said it expected that pace of growth to slow. Netflix also reported an 8 cents a share miss in quarterly profit at $1.57 per share, with revenue essentially in line with expectations. Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) Chipotle reported quarterly earnings of $3.08 per share, 18 cents a share above estimates. The restaurant chain's revenue was in line with estimates. An 80% jump in online orders helped blunt the negative impact of the drop in restaurant dining due to the coronavirus outbreak. Texas Instruments (TXN) Texas Instruments beat estimates by 24 cents a share, with quarterly profit of $1.24 per share. The chipmaker's revenue also beat Wall Street forecasts, however the company said the virus outbreak would hit earnings this quarter, forecasting numbers that are below analysts' projections. Snap (SNAP) Snap lost 8 cents per share for its latest quarter, a penny a share wider than analysts were expecting. The social media company reported better-than-expected revenue and surging user numbers, however, as use of its chat app jumped with more people staying at home. United Airlines (UAL) United announced a secondary stock offering of more than 39 million shares to raise more than $1 billion. The offering was priced at $26.50 per share, 4.9% below Tuesday's close. Chevron (CVX) Chevron was ordered by the White House to wind down its Venezuela operations by December 1. Chevron is the only major U.S. oil company still operating in Venezuela. Expedia (EXPE) Expedia is near a deal to sell a stake to private-equity firms Silver Lake Partners and Apollo Global Management (APO), according to sources. Such a deal would raise about $1 billion, with Expedia seeking to raise funds as the pandemic takes a heavy toll on Expedia's online travel bookings. Medtronic (MDT) Medtronic said revenue had plunged in recent weeks, as hospitals delay elective procedures that use Medtronic's medical devices. Macy's (M) Macy's is seeking to raise as much as $5 billion in debt, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke to CNBC. The retailer is not said to be focusing on a bankruptcy option at the current time. Lyft (LYFT) Lyft withdrew its 2020 guidance, saying the pandemic is having a negative effect on ride volumes. It said it would reveal detailed actions to weather the virus outbreak in early May. The Karnataka government has decided to partially ease lockdown restrictions in the state to allow IT and ITeS companies to reopen offices with essential minimum staff from Thursday. Restrictions will be eased for select sectors starting 00:00 hours of April 22, according to a notification issued by the state chief secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar. While IT and ITeS companies will be allowed to reopen their workplaces, majority of their staff will have to continue working from home. The nod to IT firms is seen as a critical move since Karnataka is one of the largest exporters of IT and ITeS, and is the biggest employer in the organized sector in the state. In a detailed 14-page order, the chief secretary said that works under MNREGA, courier services, cold storage and warehousing services, private security and facilities management, self-employed electricians, IT repairs and other industrial projects can resume from Friday outside the containment zones. The list of services also includes plumbers, motor mechanics, carpenters, food processing industries in rural areas, manufacturing units of essential goods, packaging material and construction activities including metro rail, roads and irrigation works. More than 400 containment zones have been identified by the government across the state. The notification emphasized that wearing of masks, social distancing and other measures should be followed strictly and only local workers could be employed in these activities and fresh workforce cannot be brought in from elsewhere. For Coronavirus Live Updates The government has been under immense financial pressure ever since the lockdown came into effect on March 24, paralyzing almost all revenue-generating activities across the state. However, apart from the above-mentioned exceptions, Karnatakas primary and secondary education minister Suresh Kumar emphasized that lockdown in other sectors would continue till May 3 as announced earlier. This means schools, colleges, malls, theatres, metro, bus, train or flight services will remain suspended along with all religious places and gatherings. The HT Guide to Coronavirus COVID-19 Small shops reopened on Wednesday in Berlin as a few nations began easing coronavirus restrictions to restart their economies, but trepidation expressed by some workers and customers indicated a return to normality is still a long way off. Restrictions were also being eased in Denmark and Austria. In France, long lines built up outside the few McDonald's drive-thrus that started serving customers again. In the US, some states were relaxing restrictions amid vocal protests by those demanding to return to work. Although some former virus hot spots like Italy, Spain, China and New York have seen a reduction in their daily death tolls and new hospitalizations, other areas are facing a resurgence of the new coronavirus. Singapore, once a model of coronavirus tracking and prevention, saw an explosion of new cases and announced Wednesday it would extend its lockdown into June. There has been growing impatience over virus-related shutdowns that have seen tens of millions of people lose their jobs. But even in areas where businesses were allowed to open, some were hesitant. In Savannah, Georgia, where Governor Brian Kemp announced that gyms and salons can reopen this week, gym owner Mark Lebos said it would be professional negligence to do so right now. Ronique Holloway, who runs a hair salon in Smyrna, Georgia, said she would wait until May 1 to reopen and was still nervous about contracting the virus. The pandemic has infected over 2.5 million people and killed more than 177,000 around the world, including more than 45,000 in the US, according to a tally Johns Hopkins University. Health authorities have warned the crisis is far from over and that relaxing stay-at-home orders too quickly could enable the virus to come surging back. Economic damage mounted as oil prices suffered an epic collapse and stocks registered their worst loss in weeks Tuesday on Wall Street. Asia markets continued their slide on Wednesday. In the United States, the Senate approved nearly USD 500 billion in coronavirus aid for businesses, hospitals and testing after a deal was reached between Congress and the White House. President Donald Trump urged House members to quickly pass the measure. Spain, one of the world's worst-hit countries, was grappling with how to allow children out of their homes for the first time in nearly six weeks. The country's death toll reached 21,717, behind only the United States and Italy, after 435 more deaths were reported Wednesday. Spain has over 208,000 confirmed infections. Both numbers reflect the plateauing of the nation's outbreak over recent days as a result of Spain's strict home confinement rules. Yielding to pressure from parents, Prime Minister Pedro Snchez is allowing children to go outside again beginning Monday. In another sign that Spain's health crisis is becoming more manageable, a large makeshift morgue in a Madrid ice rink is closing as the daily toll drops under 500 deaths from a high of 950 three weeks ago. Singapore, which has been praised for its swift response and meticulous tracing of contacts in the early stage of the outbreak, was grappling with an explosion of cases in foreign worker dorms that were largely overlooked earlier. The tiny city-state's infections surged to 10,141 after it reported 1,016 new cases Wednesday, maintaining its position as the worst-hit nation in Southeast Asia. In Pakistan, doctors issued a letter calling on the country's religious clerics and prime minister to reverse a decision to leave mosques open during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, warning it could result in an explosion of COVID-19 cases. India partially eased one of the world's strictest lockdowns this week, but public health officials fear a surge in cases. The country is planning to use wristbands fitted with a contact-tracing app, Arogya Setu, to help people identify their risk of infection. The wristband has been envisioned as a way of countering the drain of manpower in trying to track the contacts of corona patients among the country's 1.3 billion people. Officials said it is likely to be rolled out in May. In the US, some states, including Tennessee, West Virginia and Colorado, announced plans to begin reopening in stages in the coming days. Sunbathers quickly flocked to the sand after some South Carolina beaches reopened with the governor's backing. Yet political tensions over coronavirus restrictions showed no signs of easing. Some sheriffs in Washington state, Michigan and Wisconsin said they won't enforce stay-at-home orders. Angry protesters demanding the lifting of restrictions marched in Alabama, North Carolina and Missouri with signs like Enough is enough. And Wisconsin Republicans asked the state's high court to block an extension of the stay-at-home order there. During an online ceremony to donate masks, ventilators and other medical supplies to hard-hit New York, Chinese Consul-General Huang Ping indirectly appealed to Trump to tone down his recent rhetoric against the Asian country where the virus first emerged late last year. After weeks of elaborate praise of Chinese President Xi Jinping's response to the pandemic, Trump has turned to blaming China and halting US contributions to the World Health Organization, accusing it of parroting misinformation from Beijing. This is not the time for finger-pointing," Huang said. This is the time for solidarity, collaboration, cooperation and mutual support. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) THE business sector is backing calls for the Philippine government to look into attracting companies planning to shift production out of China. By all means, we should try and get those Japanese firms moving out of China to come to the Philippines, Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Steven Yu said. Japan, for one, is looking to reduce its reliance on China as a manufacturing base amid supply chain disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Yu, however, raised that the country hasnt cleared up yet its direction on tax incentives meant to attract overseas investments. It would be best if we have a clear direction on our tax incentives by now. Unfortunately, this Covid-19 crisis came and it is of higher priority, the Cebuano business owner told SunStar Cebu. Yu though pointed out that not all Japanese firms are reliant on certain tax incentives. Some are looking at access or sources of raw materials and pool of labor talents, he said. Earlier this month, the Japanese government announced it has set aside US$2.2 billion of its economic stimulus package to help its manufacturers move production out of China and into Japan or Southeast Asia. Despite the enhanced community quarantine, our government should organize a team to identify, invite, lure and convince these prospective Japanese firms to transfer to the Philippines, and it has to be sooner than later, Yu said. Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Benedicto Yujuico also echoed such call earlier, saying that the government should maneuver its policies in attracting these investors by offering generous incentives. The Duterte administration is pushing for the second package of its comprehensive tax reform program, the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act, which aims to rationalize tax perks mostly enjoyed by big companies. But the Philippines might have to struggle in luring these Japanese investors, as more competitive Southeast Asian nations such as Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand are also potential relocation choices. Story continues Survey A recently released 2019 survey by the Japan External Trade Organization (Jetro) showed that some Japanese firms are mostly shifting supply chains from China to Vietnam or Thailand. Among all respondents in this survey, a total of 159 production bases have been transferred (including partial transfers and plans to transfer) in response to trade protectionism, the survey report said. Most of the Japanese firms transfer of production are from China, accounting for 69.2 percent. Moreover, 61 percent of Japanese firms listed Southeast Asia as a major transfer destination.But Thailand and Vietnam emerged as the top relocation choices of Japanese companies. Looking at the major restructuring patterns of the production bases, transfers from China to Vietnam accounted for 24.5 percent (39 cases), followed by transfers from China to Thailand at 14.5 percent (23 cases). The Philippines, however, accounted for only 3.8 percent with six cases of transfer. The Jetro survey noted 37.7 percent of these production base transfers are scheduled for 2020 or later. The Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Philippines has over 600 member firms. SAFEGUARDS | Consumer ProductsNO. 049/20 In February 2020, the US state of Illinois introduced SB 3378 'Toxic-Free Kids Act' to require the Department of Health (DOH) to establish and maintain a list of high priority chemicals of concern to children's health (HPCCCHs) used in the manufacture of children's products. The initial list of HPCCCHs should include the list of chemicals of high concern to children (CHCCs) from Washington State Department of Ecology's reporting list and will be evaluated every two years thereafter. According to the definitions in the proposal, 'children's product' is defined as products for children under the age of 12: Car seats Childcare articles intended to facilitate sucking, teething, sleep, relaxation, feeding, or drinking Clothing and footwear Cosmetics Jewelry Toys The proposal requires manufacturers (which includes importers and domestic distributors) to disclose information to the DOH on the use of HPCCCHs in children's products. Reporting is required if the HPCCCH is: Intentionally added and is equal to or greater than the practical quantification limit (PQL), or A contaminant that is equal to or greater than 100 ppm The use of an HPCCCH, however, is required to be removed or substituted by the third biennial notice (within six years of the first reporting) if the children's product is the following: A cosmetic Intended for children under the age of three Mouthable (less than 5 cm in any one dimension of a children's product or part of a children's product) Manufacturers are exempt from removing or substituting HPCCCHs if the concentration levels are within the levels established in the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA, Public Law 110-314). The DOH may also grant a waiver if a manufacturer can provide an alternative assessment demonstrating that it is not financially or technically feasible to remove the HPCCCH. If approved, Illinois will join the states of New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington (SafeGuardS 48/20, 135/18, 118/19 and 157/17) for reporting chemicals in children's products. Maine State also regulates priority chemicals for reporting in 'children's products' (SafeGuardS 78/17). Highlights of the proposal are summarized in Table 1. SB 3378 'Toxic-Free Kids Act' 101st General Assembly, Illinois Substance Scope Requirement* Proposed Effective Date High priority chemicals of concern to children's health (HPCCCHs) Products for children under the age of 12** Reporting to the Department of Health if HPCCCH is Intentionally added and = PQL A contaminant = 100 ppm (*By submission of third biennial notice, HPCCCH must be removed or substituted if children's product is a cosmetic, intended for children under the age of 3 or mouthable) First biennial notice by January 1, 2023 (A biennial notice thereafter by January 1 of the year following the year that the HPCCCH is added to the list) **Car seats, childcare articles intended to facilitate sucking, teething, sleep, relaxation, feeding, or drinking, clothing and footwear, cosmetics, jewelry and toys Table 1 SGS is committed to providing information about development in regulations for consumer products as complimentary services. Through a global network of laboratories, SGS provides a wide range of services including physical/mechanical testing, analytical testing and consultancy work for technical and non-technical parameters applicable to a comprehensive range of consumer products. Please do not hesitate to contact us for further information. For enquiries, please contact: Hingwo Tsang Global Information and Innovation Manager t: (+852) 2774 7420 Stay on top of regulatory changes within your industry: subscribe to SafeGuardS! Read more articles for the Consumer Goods and Retail Industry New Jersey hospitals will now be required by law to include demographic data when reporting coronavirus data to the Department of Health. Gov. Phil Murphy signed the bipartisan bill, S2357, mandating hospitals to report age, ethnicity, gender and race of people who have tested positive for COVID-19, or died from the virus, he announced during the daily coronavirus press briefing Wednesday. Hospitals must also report data for people who tried to get testing and were turned away, people who attempted to get treatment, and patients admitted for treatment. Understanding the impact of COVID-19 by demographic group is critical to ensure equity in our response to this virus," Murphy said. We must do everything we can to protect the most vulnerable groups in our state during this unprecedented crisis. This data will inform our efforts and allow us to make sure that no one is left behind. Black residents are dying at alarming, disproportionate rates after contracting the coronavirus 21.3% of New Jersey coronavirus deaths involve African American patients, although they make up just 14% of the states population. CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage Trends such as a lack of health care options and a higher rate of underlying medical conditions have resulted in lower average lifespans for African Americans and concerned public health experts for years. Many essential workers, including service and grocery store jobs, are not white and must continue reporting to work. Doctors and experts said reporting the data publicly will give a more comprehensive view of how the virus is affecting different minorities. Now, the demographic statistics will be published on the states Department of Health website and updated daily during the pandemic, Murphy said. Our country has an incredibly poor history of health care when it comes to the treatment of minorities, especially in the black community, said state Senator Ronald Rice, D-Essex. If hospitals have limited funding and decide to pull resources away from sick minorities, this causes all sorts of problems. Collecting and then receiving this data will allow for us to know which hospitals need more funding and resources in order to properly care for our minority populations. U.S. Sen. Cory Booker has also proposed legislation requiring the federal government to collect and disclose demographic data. As of Wednesday, at least 5,063 New Jersey residents have died from coronavirus, with 95,865 cases confirmed statewide, state officials announced. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription. Sophie Nieto-Munoz may be reached at snietomunoz@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her at @snietomunoz. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Protesters from ReOpenNC calls on North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper to ease COVID-19 restrictions due to economic concerns in Raleigh, N.C. (Robert Willett/The News & Observer) On Monday night, I was watching TV coverage of the pandemic, first on MSNBC then on Fox News, and a thought occurred. We are so helplessly, irrevocably divided, its time to quit talking about coming together as one and do the only sensible thing. Roughly 30 years ago, the USSR came to grips with its irreconcilable regional differences and broke apart, splitting into 15 independent republics. Why cant we do that here? All those who love the man currently running the United States of America would become residents of the Kingdom of Mar-a-Lago. Good luck to ye all. If this sounds delusional, maybe it is. Maybe Ive got a case of cabin fever and its eating at my brain. But were five weeks into this and it seems like an eternity. Oh, how I long for the days when I could roam free and focus on more positive news than coronavirus, like the arrest of the L.A. City Councilman jammed up in a federal corruption probe or the rat infestation at City Hall. Ive seen people suggest that any of us who are complaining about our enforced staycations are nothing but wimps. After all, Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison. Yeah, but he didnt have cable TV. Im both addicted and repulsed. Its torture. One minute youre watching scientists warn that well pay with our lives if we return to normal before testing and tracing are in place. The next minute youre watching President Trump canonize people for demanding the return of their God-given right to eat at a Waffle House and infect everyone around them. Monday night, sadly, was a no-alcohol night for me. I try to have a couple of those a week. Booze without TV is okay. TV without booze is a test of will and I may not have what it takes. I watched 30 minutes of MSNBCs merciless attacks on Trump and Fox News. Then I switched to Fox for 30 minutes of Sean Hannitys militant defense of Trump, along with a volley of cannon shots at what he calls MSDNC. This is who we are. A nation irrevocably divided, perhaps more than ever. We hate each other and I have proof. You wanna read some of the email I get? Story continues We could do it the USSR way and divide into 15 self-governed countries. We could have the Republic of America First, the Commonwealth of God and Guns, the Federated Sanctuary of Huddled Masses (with California as its capital). But splitting in half seems a little easier to pull off, especially since the president himself expresses such deep-seated contempt for blue states. The Kingdom of Mar-a-Lago would for sure include the states now racing to reopen for business despite the risks that have been clearly laid out by one medical authority after another. Texas, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina and Florida. Some have said theyll be cautious, but why hold back? This weekend, to celebrate the birth of their new republic, they could hold a massive liberation party on all southeast Atlantic beaches. Social distancing would be abandoned. Anyone possessing, wearing or selling a mask or wondering if the ocean water has gotten warmer would be shot on sight by a citizen militia. In Texas, suspended executions would not only be resumed, but death row inmates would be given lethal COVID-19 injections. And all houses of worship in the Kingdom of Mar-a-Lago would be required to reopen if they hadnt already, with no restrictions on hugging and kissing. All Mar-a-Lago immigrants except for Melania would be sent home on rubber rafts, all the kings conversations with foreign allies and enemies would be "perfect," nobody smart would pay taxes and journalists would be turned away at the border unless they worked for Fox News. California, of course, has plenty of red, Trump-loving regions, the largest of which is the Central Valley. When the country splits, everything from Modesto to Bakersfield might want to become a territory of Mar-a-Lago. But once the labor force was deported, Im not sure how they'd find anyone to work the fields. I dont mean to suggest, by the way, that California doesnt have its own leadership challenges. It aint all milk and honey here, by a long shot. Weve got a housing crisis weve temporarily forgotten about, epic numbers of homeless people and great wealth alongside even greater poverty. The L.A. Unified School District budget is full of holes. L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti says there will be furloughs and even fewer of the basic services he promised. And lets not forget Newsoms secretive and suspicious deal to buy $1 billion worth of masks from a Chinese company with a sketchy track record. But all things considered, we tend to trust science, and, while were eager to rediscover our groove, we're cautious about moving too quickly. Newsom, if you havent noticed, keeps calling us a nation state. Lets make it official. [April 22, 2020] QuillBot Applies AI to Help Millions Worldwide Write Proficiently in English CHICAGO, April 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- QuillBot today announced that it raised over $4M in seed funding, led by GSV Ventures and Sierra Ventures with participation from Service Provider Capital. QuillBot is the first and only comprehensive AI writing collaborator that rewrites full paragraphs and refines content. The organically growing company is expanding access, improving quality and increasing the speed of writing. More than a million people around the world use QuillBot to instantly deliver a more concise, compelling message. Founded in 2017 by three computer science students with deep expertise in natural language processing (NLP), QuillBot is a complete writing solution driven by sophisticated AI paraphrasing technology. This breakthrough uses natural language understanding to reconstruct the users content to improve the clarity of the intended message. QuillBots extensive user base trains the algorithm for continuous improvement as the AI learns with the human. The funding will be used to integrate intelligent new capabilities into the existing platform to become an all-in-one writing collaborator. For example, QuillBot will add a summarizer that quickly obtains the most relevant information from an article or online source; additionally, content generation will tap into QuillBots understanding of user intent to suggest ways to clearly complete sentences. The QuillBot team also plans to establish an NLP Lab to conduct research and introduce cutting-edge innovations to the field of NLP. Our vision for QuillBot has always been to make writing easier, so that people can spend more time focusing on wat they should write instead of how they should write it, said Rohan Gupta, Co-founder and CEO of QuillBot. Were already helping a network of more than a million people write at a high level, many of whom would not otherwise have the option. This funding will allow us to expand our global reach and impact as we take our holistic approach to AI-driven collaborative writing to the next level. More than 60 percent of current QuillBot users are non-native speakers. Many are college students who write extensively in a language thats not their first. Others are among millions of non-native professionals who communicate about complex topics every day, all while navigating the nuances of the English language. QuillBot aims to reduce stress and time spent perfecting written content to help level the linguistic playing field. "English has become the global language of business, creating a barrier for hundreds of millions of non-native speakers around the world, said Michael Cohn, Partner, GSV Ventures . QuillBot is the first solution to break open access to high-quality English writing for everyone, giving all people equal access to participate in the future." QuillBots application of AI and NLP sets it apart from spelling, grammar or syntax-focused online tools, and infuses innovation into the actual process of writing. "QuillBot is already helping more than a million people across the world to write better, and there is massive potential for where it can go from here, said Mark Fernandes, Managing Director of Sierra Ventures . Proficiency in written communication is critical to success both academically and professionally, but writing can be daunting, slow, or even impossible. QuillBot empowers everyone to articulate their original ideas and unlock their potential, and that will have a meaningful impact on the world. To learn more about QuillBot, please visit quillbot.com . About QuillBot QuillBot is the first and only comprehensive AI writing collaborator that rewrites full paragraphs and refines content. Founded in 2017 by three computer science students - Rohan Gupta, Anil Jason and David Silin, the companys mission is to make writing painless. QuillBot is driven by sophisticated AI paraphrasing technology that uses natural language understanding (NLU) to automatically reconstruct the users content to improve the clarity of the intended message. More than a million people around the world use QuillBot to improve their writing and deliver a more compelling message. For more information, visit www.quillbot.com. Media Contact LaunchSquad for QuillBot [email protected] 773-218-5733 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The Travelers Companies Inc. (TRV) said it expected premium volumes to be negatively impacted in the second quarter and the remainder of the year as a result of the deteriorating economic environment induced by the coronavirus pandemic. The comments were made as the property and casualty insurer reported a 25% profit decline in the first three months of the year versus the same period last time. Net premiums increased 4% to $7.35 billion during the same period. Net income in the first quarter dropped to $600 million, or $2.33 per diluted share, from $796 million, or $2.99 in the same period a year earlier. Core income amounted to $2.62 per share, below analysts estimates of $2.85 per share and down from $2.83 year-on-year, mainly due to higher catastrophe losses. The company incurred catastrophe losses of $333 million in the first quarter, up from $193 million a year earlier. The catastrophe losses included the tornado in Tennessee, as well as other wind and winter storms in several U.S. regions. Beginning in March the global coronavirus pandemic began to impact the insurers results. To account for the impact and related economic turmoil its underwriting margins included pre-tax net charges of $86 million. Wall Street analysts have a Hold consensus rating on Travelers stock based on 7 Holds, 1 Sell and 1 Buy. The $118.22 average price target suggests investors may yield a 16% gain in the shares in coming 12 months. (See Travelers stock analysis on TipRanks). The insurers Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of 85 cents per share, representing an increase of 4%. The dividend is payable on June 30, to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 10. Related News: Coca-Cola Sees Coronavirus Impact to Be Material in Q2; Slashes 2020 Guidance United Airlines Expects $2.1 Billion Quarterly Loss as Travel Stalls IBM Beats Quarterly Profit Estimates, Suspends 2020 Guidance More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: Local coffee chains are struggling to keep their stores alive amid the crisis, with expansion plans stagnating too, Photo: Le Toan Under the impacts of the ongoing health crisis, beverage giants like Trung Nguyen and Starbucks have been negotiating with landlords to cut leasing costs that make up the majority of their expenditures. Starbucks Vietnam has been in talks with property owners for months after foreseeing more hardships in business during the outbreak. However, not all owners have agreed to drop prices. As society is in shared trouble, I think they should do something to support lessees. We appreciate the landlords quick feedback and agreement with our proposal to reduce leasing expenses in the next few months, a Starbucks Vietnam representative told VIR. Hampering expansion In the last two months, revenues and profits of beverage chains have plunged due to being closed during the pandemic, and Starbucks is not alone in its struggle. The Coffee House, a fast-growing startup, debuted in Ho Chi Minh City in 2014 before reaching 40 shops after only two years. Today, the figure stands at 250 units. In 2018, founder and CEO Nguyen Hai Ninh revealed the target to open as many as 700 outlets across Vietnam in the next five years, at an average of 10 new stores each month. In late 2019, Vo Duy Phu, marketing director of The Coffee House, shared with local media that 2020 would be a milestone for its expansion after careful preparations in recent years. According to the plan, The Coffee House was set to open an additional 100 shops across the country in 2020. Meanwhile, Highlands Coffee, a Vietnamese brand with nearly 300 stores as of last December, is a nationwide leader in the middle- and high-end coffee retail segment. Although there has been no specific information about its expansion plans for 2020, past experience shows that the brand can grow in quick fashion. In 2018 alone, 80 new Highlands Coffee facilities were opened. It is unlikely that the chain will ignore any opportunities that arise in the market in the near future. However, COVID-19 is now surely hurting the plans of both The Coffee House and Highlands Coffee. E-Coffee, owned by Trung Nguyen Group, targeted to expand its network to 3,000 units this year to become the largest cafe chain in Vietnam. To realise this ambition, Trung Nguyen issued an incentive package that charges no initial franchising fee for coffee shops of 4-40 square metres and setup cost of VND65-175 million ($2,800-7,600), including interior decor, furniture, training, and so on. However, it currently only operates approximately 127 shops, equalling 4.2 per cent of the plan. Some coffee staples have been forced to shut down altogether. Terra Coffee & Tea was one such chain, closing its doors and handing back leased land. A representative from the coffee chain refused to admit that the move was due to the pandemic, only confirming that dropping revenue and falling customer volumes were to blame. In another case, Tranquil Book & Coffee as well as Cu Xa Ca Phe chains were forced to announce that they will have to temporarily close shops until the health crisis is under control. Back at Starbucks Vietnam, the representative emphasised the negative impacts of COVID-19 on its business performance, adding that despite increased online sales, the move cannot fully cover the groups traditional trading channels. Last straw The prolonged health crisis is driving beverage chains like Starbucks and Trung Nguyen to desperation. As a result, along with expansion plans, maintaining performance has also been a great burden for them during this time. Trung Nguyen has been slowing down for half a decade now. By the end of 2018, its pre-tax profit dropped 50 per cent on-year to VND347 billion ($15 million). In comparison with 2016, the pre-tax profit in 2017 also fell by 11 per cent to VND681 billion ($29.6 million). Moreover, the revenue of its subsidiary Trung Nguyen Franchising the operator of E-Coffee and Trung Nguyen Legend has been far worse than the competition. According to Trung Nguyen Groups latest financial report, its coffee chain in 2018 earned VND350 billion ($15.2 million) in revenue, down 3 per cent on-year. Its losses also surged from VND8 billion ($347,830) in 2017 to VND24 billion ($1.04 million) in 2018. Despite being present in Vietnam for seven years, Starbucks only operates 49 stores in the country, while the numbers in Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia are 330, 320, and 190, respectively. According to data published by market research company VIRAC, in 2018, Starbucks Vietnam saw about VND593 billion ($25.8 million) in revenue, equalling 36 per cent of Highlands Coffees earnings of VND1.628 trillion ($70.8 million) in the same year. Turnover was even inferior to that of The Coffee House, which earned VND669 billion ($29 billion). Solutions to overcome Amidst the pandemic, maintaining operations to offset expenditure for premises and employees is a huge challenge, even in terms of preserving the number of chains after the emergency is over. Hence, beverage chains are negotiating with hosts of premises to reduce fees. The Coffee House is a prime example, with monthly expenditure for leasing premises sitting at VND100 million ($4,350) per store, with a system of nearly 160 shops across the country. Vo Duy Phu of The Coffee House, said The coronavirus has delayed our plans to expand by an additional 100 shops this year. After the Lunar New Year, we were to open more shops but have been forced to adjust plans until after May at least. Trung Nguyen has proposed its proprietors to lower the lease by 20-50 per cent and extend the payment timeline. However, similar to Starbucks, several of them were unwilling to help. Facing the tough situation, the company will review business results to decide whether to liquidate contracts or halt the renewal of expired contracts. Responding to VIR, the representative of Starbucks Vietnam said that the company has no concrete plans to expand the number of stores but has a long-term business strategy for each of its current stores. For now, we will only say that we are doing well in comparison with our business plan in the country, the representative insisted. US threatens Turkey with sanctions over purchase of Russian S-400 systems Iran Press TV Tuesday, 21 April 2020 11:03 AM The United States has once again threatened that Turkey could face sanctions if it proceeds with the installation of the S-400 missile systems that it has purchased from Russia, repeating the call for Ankara to cancel the deal with Moscow, which has been a major bone of contention between the two NATO allies. In an emailed statement to Reuters on Monday, US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said that Washington continued to object "strenuously" to Turkey's purchase of the Russian-made S-400 missile systems. She voiced "deep concerns" about reports that Ankara was going ahead with the process of installing the systems it has already taken delivery of, adding that this could lead to sanctions against Turkey under the so-called Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). "We continue to stress at the highest levels that the S-400 transaction is the subject of ongoing CAATSA sanctions deliberations and it remains a major obstacle in the bilateral relationship and at NATO. We are confident that President Erdogan and his senior officials understand our position," Ortagus said in the statement. Meanwhile, Reuters quoted an unnamed Turkish official as saying that Ankara has postponed a decision to activate the S-400 systems in April amid the fight against a new coronavirus outbreak. He stressed, however, that Turkey has no plan to cancel the decision. "There is no going back on the decision to activate the S-400s (but) due to COVID-19 ... the plan for them to be ready in April will be delayed," the senior official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The comments came after earlier speculation that Ankara-Washington tensions over the purchase of Russian S-400s could reach a showdown in April, when the anti-aircraft systems were planned to be switched on. In September 2017, Ankara signed a $2.5 billion deal with Moscow to procure the S-400, a Russian-made mobile surface-to-air defense system, which is designed to destroy aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles, and can also be used against ground installations. The United States has objected to Turkey's intentions, claiming that the war crafts were incompatible with NATO equipment and has pressured Turkey to procure the US-made Patriot air defense system instead. US officials have repeatedly threatened sanctions against Ankara over the deal with Moscow. The United States announced last April that it would suspend all "deliveries and activities" related to Turkey's procurement of F-35 stealth fighter jets over Ankara's plans to purchase the S-400s. In response, Turkey said it would remain firm in its intentions. He further suggested the establishment of a technical working group with the inclusion and leadership of NATO to resolve the conflict. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Old battle lines within the Australian Greens have reopened as thousands of grassroots members take part in a month-long plebiscite to decide how the party will elect its future federal leaders. The party's 15,000-strong membership base has begun voting on whether they will be given a direct voice in the election of future leaders, removing the right of the elected party room members to single-handedly make the decision. Greens Leader Adam Bandt will stay mute during the party's month-long membership vote on how to elect party leaders. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer Former federal leaders Bob Brown, Christine Milne and Richard Di Natale have joined forces to encourage members to endorse a 50-50 model, giving weighted consideration to both the membership vote and the decision of elected MPs. However, a number of former Greens senators and current state MPs are pushing for the party to endorse a one member, one vote policy, which would give the membership the power to directly elect the leader. Dressed in a hazmat suit, two masks and a face shield, Du Mingjun knocked on the mahogany door of a flat in a suburban district of Wuhan on a recent morning. A man wearing a single mask opened the door a crack and, after Du introduced herself as a psychological counsellor, burst into tears. I really cant take it anymore, he said. Diagnosed with the novel coronavirus in early February, the man, who appeared to be in his 50s, had been treated at two hospitals before being transferred to a quarantine centre set up in a cluster of apartment blocks in an industrial part of Wuhan. Click here for the complete coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic Why, he asked, did tests say he still had the virus more than two months after he first contracted it? The answer to that question is a mystery baffling doctors on the frontline of Chinas battle against COVID-19, even as it has successfully slowed the spread of the coronavirus across the country. Chinese doctors in Wuhan, where the virus first emerged in December, say a growing number of cases in which people recover from the virus, but continue to test positive without showing symptoms, is one of their biggest challenges as the country moves into a new phase of its containment battle. Those patients all tested negative for the virus at some point after recovering, but then tested positive again, some up to 70 days later, the doctors said. Many have done so over 50-60 days. Click here for the latest updates from the coronavirus outbreak The prospect of people remaining positive for the virus, and therefore potentially infectious, is of international concern, as many countries seek to end lockdowns and resume economic activity as the spread of the virus slows. Currently, the globally recommended isolation period after exposure is 14 days. So far, there have been no confirmations of newly positive patients infecting others, according to Chinese health officials. China has not published precise figures for how many patients fall into this category. But disclosures by Chinese hospitals to Reuters, as well as in other media reports, indicate there are at least dozens of such cases. In South Korea, about 1,000 people have been testing positive for four weeks or more. In Italy, the first European country ravaged by the pandemic, health officials noticed that coronavirus patients could test positive for the virus for about a month. As there is limited knowledge available on how infectious these patients are, doctors in Wuhan are keeping them isolated for longer. Zhang Dingyu, president of Jinyintan Hospital, where the most serious coronavirus cases were treated, said health officials recognised the isolations may be excessive, especially if patients proved not to be infectious. But, for now, it was better to do so to protect the public, he said. He described the issue as one of the most pressing facing the hospital and said counsellors like Du are being brought in to help ease the emotional strain. When patients have this pressure, it also weighs on society, he said. DOZENS OF CASES The plight of Wuhans long-term patients underlines how much remains unknown about COVID-19 and why it appears to affect different people in numerous ways, Chinese doctors say. So far global infections have hit 2.5 million with over 171,000 deaths. As of April 21, 93% of 82,788 people with the virus in China had recovered and been discharged, official figures show. Yuan Yufeng, a vice president at Zhongnan Hospital in Wuhan, told Reuters he was aware of a case in which the patient had positive retests after first being diagnosed with the virus about 70 days earlier. We did not see anything like this during SARS, he said, referring to the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak that infected 8,098 people globally, mostly in China. Patients in China are discharged after two negative nucleic acid tests, taken at least 24 hours apart, and if they no longer show symptoms. Some doctors want this requirement to be raised to three tests or more. Chinas National Health Commission directed Reuters to comments made at a briefing Tuesday when asked for comment about how this category of patients was being handled. Wang Guiqiang, director of the infectious disease department of Peking University First Hospital, said at the briefing that the majority of such patients were not showing symptoms and very few had seen their conditions worsen. The new coronavirus is a new type of virus, said Guo Yanhong, a National Health Commission official. For this disease, the unknowns are still greater than the knowns. REMNANTS AND REACTIVATION Experts and doctors struggle to explain why the virus behaves so differently in these people. Some suggest that patients retesting as positive after previously testing negative were somehow reinfected with the virus. This would undermine hopes that people catching COVID-19 would produce antibodies that would prevent them from getting sick again from the virus. Zhao Yan, a doctor of emergency medicine at Wuhans Zhongnan Hospital, said he was sceptical about the possibility of reinfection based on cases at his facility, although he did not have hard evidence. Theyre closely monitored in the hospital and are aware of the risks, so they stay in quarantine. So Im sure they were not reinfected. Jeong Eun-kyeong, director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has said the virus may have been reactivated in 91 South Korean patients who tested positive after having been thought to be cleared of it. Other South Korean and Chinese experts have said that remnants of the virus could have stayed in patients systems but not be infectious or dangerous to the host or others. Few details have been disclosed about these patients, such as if they have underlying health conditions. Paul Hunter, a professor at the University of East Anglias Norwich School of Medicine, said an unusually slow shedding of other viruses such as norovirus or influenza had been previously seen in patients with weakened immune systems. In 2015, South Korean authorities disclosed that they had a Middle East Respiratory Syndrome patient stricken with lymphoma who showed signs of the virus for 116 days. They said his impaired immune system kept his body from ridding itself of the virus. The lymphoma eventually caused his death. Yuan said that even if patients develop antibodies, it did not guarantee they would become virus-free. He said that some patients had high levels of antibodies, and still tested positive to nucleic acid tests. It means that the two sides are still fighting, he said. MENTAL TOLL As could be seen in Wuhan, the virus can also inflict a heavy mental toll on those caught in a seemingly endless cycle of positive tests. Du, who set up a therapy hotline when Wuhans outbreak first began, allowed Reuters in early April to join her on a visit to the suburban quarantine centre on the condition that none of the patients be identified. One man rattled off the names of three Wuhan hospitals he had stayed at before being moved to a flat in the centre. He had taken over 10 tests since the third week of February, he said, on occasions testing negative but mostly positive. I feel fine and have no symptoms, but they check and its positive, check and its positive, he said. What is with this virus? Patients need to stay at the centre for at least 28 days and obtain two negative results before being allowed to leave. Patients are isolated in individual rooms they said were paid for by the government. The most concerning case facing Du during the visit was the man behind the mahogany door; he had told medical workers the night before that he wanted to kill himself. I wasnt thinking clearly, he told Du, explaining how he had already taken numerous CT scans and nucleic acid tests, some of which tested negative, at different hospitals. He worried that he had been reinfected as he cycled through various hospitals. His grandson missed him after being gone for so long, he said, and he worried his condition meant he would never be able to see him again. He broke into another round of sobs. Why is this happening to me? SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Changes continue to be made at the Bexar County jail where COVID-19 has spread among inmates, sheriffs deputies and jail staff, officials said. The outbreak has disrupted routines meal service, cleaning regimes, health screenings inside the 3,000-inmate lockup where safe social distancing is limited at best and face masks are now mandatory. One inmate and two deputies tested positive for the coronavirus, officials said Tuesday, bringing the total to 29 inmates, 27 deputies and six staffers. At least three more inmates are awaiting test results. Some inmates and employees have recovered. One common complaint among inmates has been about poor food, and Sheriff Javier Salazar acknowledged as much during a Commissioners Court meeting. Two inmates, both housed in South Tower, said they noticed some improvement by Tuesday morning. They received lunch on time around noon. The meal consisted of cereal, four pieces of bread, frozen juice, milk and some jam. For breakfast, around midnight, they received the makings for a PB&J sandwich, along with potato chips. The meals were the first decent ones theyve received in at least five days, the men said. It was really good, inmate David Gonzalez, said by phone. Way better than anything Ive seen in here. Gonzalez who was arrested in June after police say he led authorities on a car chase, eventually crashing and killing a woman in a second vehicle said Tuesday that inmates in his unit still hadnt received new masks, but that they were able to use a new blue disinfectant to clean their cells. I cant tell what it is, he said. But it smells stronger. While conditions may have improved for some, one inmate in another part of the jail where Becky Kalsons son is being held on a parole violation for a nonviolent drug offense said he only received one meal Tuesday. The food was spoiled, she said. The meals are all messed up, Kalson said. I dont know how they can get away with this. The changes come a day after the Express-News detailed conditions inside the jail. Lawyers, inmates and their families have described living spaces with bunk beds barely three feet apart not nearly the six feet of separation recommended for social distancing infrequent cleanings, disinfectant that is watered down, a scarcity of soap, and temperature checks that occur less than twice a day. Five inmates, in phone interviews, complained that meals lately have been irregular and meager. One morning, it was a plate of vegetables and an uncooked potato. Another morning, it was concoction with potatoes that was unrecognizable and tasted like cat food, the men said. On ExpressNews.com: At Bexar County jail, inmates complain of superficial cleanings, scarce soap and flimsy masks amid COVID outbreak Salazar said his office continues to work with Aramark, a company that provides food and other services to institutions, to have inmates meals prepared offsite and improve the process. Our food service has hit some delays, he said. If that was my brother or sister or cousin, or any relative in the jail, I would want them fed on a regular basis, with the required 2,800 calories a day among the three meals. Salazar said meal service may have to be supplemented with free items from the commissary. That may help them fill their bellies between some of these meals were still trying to figure out, he said. The last thing we want to do is open ourselves to a riot-type situation, which is what weve seen in other parts of the country. He said officials recently reopened two units inside the jail to provide more space for inmates so theyre not sleeping right on top of each other. There is plenty of soap for inmates, Salazar said, refuting claims by some that they were denied more soap after depleting their weekly allotment of one small, motel-size bar a week. Salazar said there is also plenty of masks. At last count, the Sheriffs Office had 22,600 masks designated solely for inmates. A shipment with another 30,000 is expected soon. On Monday, Salazar said, he instructed jailers to test the peroxide-based disinfectant solution that is provided to inmates to clean living quarters and common areas. He said the solution may not smell strong, but that it was mixed properly. He instructed jailers to increase the amount of peroxide to six ounces per gallon of water from five ounces. Despite his best efforts, Salazar said the situation at the jail could continue to worsen. We knew we were going to get hit, Salazar said. We know were going to continue to get hit. Do you work at the Bexar County jail, or do you know people who are incarcerated there? Share your experience about the COVID-19 outbreak at the jail with reporter Emilie Eaton at eeaton@express-news.net or 210-650-2779. Your identity can remain confidential. Emilie Eaton is a criminal justice reporter in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Emilie, become a subscriber. Twitter: @emilieeaton An unbridled outbreak of coronavirus that rapidly infected dozens stemmed from a single Qantas baggage handler. A mysterious COVID-19 cluster at Adelaide airport that started with one infected employee on March 27 swelled to 34 cases within weeks. Moving torrents of luggage daily, touched by thousands of passengers, the virus jumped from employees, to departments - and onto family members. A coronavirus cluster at Adelaide airport (pictured) has been linked to a single baggage handler A document obtained by Daily Mail Australia shows a Safe Work notice issued in February following a complaint about hygiene practices on a Qantas plane Meanwhile, Safe Work documents seen by Daily Mail Australia reveal accusations the aviation company did not implement cleaning protocols to reduce the risk of a contagion. The deadly virus diffused into Adelaide's aviation community four days after the first diagnosis, when five more Qantas baggage handlers fell ill. The outbreak prompted a Sydney to Adelaide flight to turn back to NSW mid-flight and a further six Adelaide flights to be cancelled due to a lack of baggage handlers on ground. South Australia Health stepped up precautions and issued a message urging those still wishing to wipe down luggage and wash hands frequently. But the next day, the figure had risen to 13- including a further five baggage handlers and two family members. Two days later, on April 3, Qantas announced 50 employees across all of its Australian operations had caught the illness. Safe Work NSW launched an investigation into Qantas cleaning protocols in February following a staff complaint about a plane at Sydney Airport Numbers continued to climb in South Australia, with the cluster hitting 34 on April 12- only 17 days after the first infection. The figure now included 18 baggage handlers, 13 close contacts, and three Qantas staff from other terminals- indicating the virus had leapt into other departments. In response, Dr Nicola Spurrier, South Australia's Chief Public Health Officer, ordered her team to map out the 'day-to-day' interactions of the newly infected workers to track the pathogen's path across the airport. A total of 23 areas across three floors were identified as a coronavirus risk, including staff areas at both check-in and the Qantas Club lounge, cabin crew and pilot areas, lifts, bathrooms, management offices, customer service and staff canteens. In light of the contamination risk, SA Health and Qantas executives ordered 750 of the airline's staff into 14 days of quarantine, including cabin crew, pilots, customer service staff, engineers and baggage handlers. Qantas and SA Health have both insisted that no public areas were contaminated, but the health body urged anyone with symptoms who had been in the facility to get tested. Scores of Qantas and Virgin Australia planes had been flying in and out of the airport carrying potentially infected passengers- but the initial transmission is still shrouded in mystery. According to data from South Australia health, in a 15-day period, between March 10 and March 25, there were 69 flights with at least one infected passenger on board. However, of the initial baggage handlers who first tested positive, none had travelled overseas, holidayed on a cruise ship or been in close contact with a confirmed case. The Transport Workers' Union (TWU) has squared up to Qantas with accusations the company kept employees at works despite the outbreak and downplayed the risk. The TWU claims it is compiling 'a dossier of evidence' it alleges will show how Qantas allowed the virus to spread at Adelaide Airport . 'The evidence we have gathered so far shows that Qantas knowingly exposed other workers to the coronavirus after it became clear that a worker at Adelaide Airport had contracted the virus,' TWU SA Branch Secretary Ian Smith said. 'Instead of directing workers who had been in contact with that worker to self-isolate, Qantas directed staff to continue coming to work. Others went on to contract the virus and no doubt spread it to even more staff and their families. 'We want a full investigation into how Qantas mismanaged the situation in Adelaide and will be turning over evidence to both SA Health and Safe Work SA.' Health Safe Work SA has launched an investigation. Qantas has strenuously denied the TWU claims as false. 'Its really disappointing to see the TWU wilfully misrepresenting the situation at Adelaide Airport to drive their own agenda,' a Qantas spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday. 'Unfortunately, a few weeks ago one of our baggage handlers at the airport came to work whilst infectious and unknowingly passed the virus to others. This is despite lots of workplace and community messaging not to. 'We have worked closely with SA Health and provided support to our employees.' In February, another SafeWork investigation was launched in NSW after a Qantas staff member complained about cleaning protocols on a plane at Sydney airport. The regulator issued an improvement notice was issued to the flying kangaroo airline, requiring them to comply with the order by March 30. On April 3, Qantas reported that 50 staff across all Australian operations had become infected with COVID-19. Baggage handlers are pictured unloading luggage from a Qantas plane at Adelaide airport on Wednesday April 1 In the notice provided to Daily Mail Australia, an inspector observed cleaners at Sydney airport on February 26 handle wet and dirty tissues, used face masks and soiled nappies without gloves, masks or surgical gowns. 'Workers and other persons may be exposed to a risk of injury or illness from the inadequate system of work used to clean planes that may have transported passengers with an infectious disease,' it said. 'I also observed workers wiping over multiple tray tables with the same wet cloth with no disinfectant and cleaning unknown liquids on floors and surfaces,' the notice issued to Qantas said. Qantas vowed to fight the notice after a cleaner was dismissed for raising concerns about hygiene. 'We are investigating claims made by SafeWork NSW, after an inspector observed one of our aircraft being cleaned in Sydney last week,' the company previously said in a statement to Daily Mail Australia. 'We are considering appealing the notice.' 'Qantas is not known for being complacent when it comes to safety or the cleanliness of our aircraft.' Daily Mail Australia also obtained a notice threatening the cleaner with disciplinary action for failing to comply with directions. Qantas, however, refuted the NSW government inspector's finding that Qantas cleaners worked without protective equipment. 'All of our Fleet Presentation teams are provided with personal protective equipment for cleaning the aircraft and for more hazardous items, we have additional equipment such as masks and safety suits,' it said. Ministers are confident coronavirus in the UK has hit a peak, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said. But he warned a number of tests still had to be met before the government can consider lifting the lockdown. And he ruled out giving the public free face masks, as other countries have done. Mr Hancock said: "We have high confidence that we are at a peak in this disease, but obviously we need to see that come down. He added: "I just want to thank everyone from across the country for their steadfast commitment in following the rules." "It is making a difference. We are at the peak. But before we relax any social distancing rules or make changes to them we have set out the five tests that have to be met." Experts, including at least one of the government's own advisers, have already said that the UK has already passed the peak of the disease. Ministers have been much more cautious, however. Declaring that the UK has passed the peak will fuel calls for a strategy to end the lockdown. But ministers fear that unless the public continue to socially distance from each other the UK could face multiple waves, and peaks, of the virus. Mr Hancock also told MPs the government would follow the advice of scientists on the use of masks. But he added: "I can't promise that we will give everybody free masks, I mean that would be an extraordinary undertaking, and we do have to make sure that we have supplies available especially for health and social care staff where the scientific advice throughout has been that the wearing of masks is necessary in those circumstances and we've got to make sure the provision is there for them." New Delhi, April 22 : Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said on Wednesday that the major challenge is the return movement of the people from Jammu and Kashmir living in other parts of the country and the labourers who are keen to move back to their respective states. The issue came up during the discussion on COVID-19 related issues with councillors/ corporators from the across the Union Territory of J&K. In a one-and-a-half-hour video conference interaction, Dr Singh exchanged inputs with representatives of various municipal bodies. The discussion included Chandra Mohan Gupta, Mayor Jammu, Hilal Shah from Anantnag, Dr Ishey from Leh, Naresh Kumar from Kathua, Vijay Kumar Sharma from Hiranagar, Riyaz Ahmad Mir from Kupwara, Dr Yogeshwar Gupta from Udhampur and others representatives from the UT. He said he has been receiving requests from students from Jammu & Kashmir who are living in different parts of the country as well as from their parents back home. He said that there is an inference to be drawn from district Kathua, which had been corona-free in spite of a huge influx of people after the declaration of lockdown. It reported a corona positive case last evening when a person working in Maharashtra chose to return to his village in Hiranagar without following the prescribed guidelines. Dr Singh also complimented the elected representatives of all the municipal bodies for ensuring perfect coordination between civil society and the administration for effective implementation of government's guidelines regarding COVID-19 crisis management and offering their full cooperation in ensuring lockdown. He also elicited cooperation of public representatives, particularly the local body representatives who had grassroots contact, to explain to the people that the movement and return can happen only in small groups and in a very strategized and discreet manner. Dr Singh appreciated the spirit of the civil society, which contributed ration and food to labourers in the last four weeks. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 12:03:42|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close More European nations have decided to tentatively relax restrictions with various requirements being introduced to the public. Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Wednesday said its joint venture with Krishna Group -- Krishna Maruti, which is into car seat manufacturing, has handed over the first batch of 2 lakh units of triple-ply face masks developed by it to Gurugram administration. At the end of last month, Haryana and Central government had asked if the company's production infrastructure can develop and produce protective face masks in large numbers in the fight against COVID-19. Although the company had no knowledge of the product test specifications, MSI Chairman R C Bhargava on a phone call with JV partner Krishna Group Chairman Ashok Kapur committed to developing and producing triple-ply face masks based on the confidence of experience of manufacturing cars, which uses a vast number of materials, production processes and technologies across its value chain, the company said in a statement. The mask was developed by engineers of Maruti Suzuki and Krishna Group with almost hourly monitoring by Maruti Suzuki management and active support by Department of Textiles, Government of India and was finally approved by SITRA laboratory. The company had undertaken a few days of mass production to gain confidence in the manufacturing set-up before handing over the masks to the Gurugram administration, it added. Reflecting on how the company has been able to deliver on its commitment, Maruti Suzuki India Managing Director & CEO Kenichi Ayukawa said,"we had committed to support the government with protection gear and masks even though the test specifications and process technology were not known. My message to all our teams was - some doctor, some nurse will be depending upon our product, so please give top priority to quality and performance testing." It is a time of national crisis and this is our duty to the nation. We have committed 1 million masks each to Haryana and Gujarat Governments. I am also planning to import some machines and produce N-95 masks," Krishna Group Chairman Ashok Kapur said. All important safety and physical distancing guidelines have been observed while manufacturing these masks to ensure the safety of all the staff, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Odisha government which is preparing itself for the return of 7.5 lakh migrants of the State after the lockdown ends said the challenge would be a huge one. We have to take back our homeward bound brothers and sisters. This is a big humanitarian challenge. In addition to that we have to keep them and the people staying inside Odisha safe, said state governments chief spokesperson on Covid-19 Subroto Bagchi. The lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus ends on May 3. Most of them will be returning from States like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Telengana and Andhra Pradesh where the number of infected people and apprehension of infection is much higher than ours. Odisha now has 83 cases of Covid-19 after it reported four new cases on Wednesday, all with travel history to neighbouring West Bengal. Odishas ratio of positive cases to samples tested is the lowest in the country and only one person has died of Covid-19 so far. Of the 83 positive cases in Odisha, 28 or about one-third of the patients had clear travel history to Bengal, where the cases are surging over the last few days. Many of the people who tested positive, sneaked in through ambulances, fish trucks and other hired vehicles from Bengal. With the porous border failing to prevent people from sneaking in, the Odisha government on Wednesday barricaded more than 50 roads connecting Balasore, Mayurbhanj districts to West Bengal. At least 10 platoons of police have been put on round the clock vigil. Apart from deploying police on the border, chief minister Naveen Patnaik administered the oath of responsibility to sarpanches to prevent people from crossing through the border. Aware of the risk of infection that the migrant population could bring from May 4 onwards, the state government said it would start an online portal, through which thousands of people stranded in various states will register to get back to the state once the lockdown is relaxed. The registration will begin on April 24. Principal secretary of Panchayati Raj Department DK Singh said all the migrants planning to come back to Odisha will have to mandatorily register on the portal for their return. The registration can be done by the migrant person himself/herself, anyone on behalf of the person or a relative of the person in his native who will have to fill a form and submit it to the officials at Gram Panchayat. Through the registration, the government will get to know about the details about the returnees and make arrangements for transport and other medical facilities for them at respective Gram Panchayat level, Singh said. Once they arrive, they will be sent on quarantine at temporary medical camps set up at GP level for 14 days. They will be allowed to go back to their houses after the quarantine, Singh said. A Kolkata-based early stage startup Datasutram is looking to solve the problem of availability of products during this uncertain period by using multiple data sources and running its analytics engines to predict demand. Started by three Jadavpur University engineering graduates - Aisik Paul, Ankit Das and Rajit Bhattacharya - the startup has worked with around 10 pharma companies to ensure a steady supply of medicines across Mumbai, Pune and Kolkata. They are also in talks with more than 20 other companies to help them predict demand and initiate supply. We were developing predictive models based on more than 178 data sources like tracking thermal patterns, heat data to show concentration of consumers to identify commercial areas in cities which can be targeted by businesses for their own expansion, We have utilised those same models to help bridge demand supply gap for medicines during these extraordinary times," said Bhattacharya. For data sources they rely on satellite data, private data sources, government data, Google among many others. COVID-19 has provided as opportunity for Datasutram to showcase the utility of their analytics engines. The founders claim they have managed to increase deliveries by more than 30 percent for some of their clients. Among products they facilitated are hand sanitisers, medicines, essentials, among others. 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 Track this blog for latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak Bhattacharya said these models help predict demand and also give confidence to the consumer that essential products will be available. It can stop panic buying. While they have done it for pharma companies, they are looking to replicate it for grocery: another sector hit by demand and supply mismatch because of the pandemic. They have held conversations with multiple online grocers as well. "The idea for us is to remain sector agnostic, we can create location centric structured data sets which can be used in multiple ways from government programmes to business insights," said Bhattacharya. Being part of Sanjay Mehta's 100X VC's first cohort of 20 companies, Datasutram is in talks with angel investors to close a round of funding in the range of Rs 1.5 crore to 2 crore soon. Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak YEREVAN. How much the price of Russian natural gas is in Orenburg region or Krasnodar, the transaction costs and Georgias transit will be added. Mikayel Melkumyan, a member of the opposition Prosperous Armenia faction in the National Assembly and an economist by profession, said this at a briefing with journalists in parliament on Wednesday, referring to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's statement on Tuesday. "Strategic relations should not be politicized, also in terms of the gas price; this once again proves that the political, not the economic component is huge in resolving the gas price issue, the MP said. "If it is political, yes, there should be political talks. But I would also like to say that we are a member of a joint unionwith questions arising from it, and secondly, Armenia has the peculiarity that it receives gas not only from the Russian Gazprom [company], but, also, the domestic operator in the market is still Russian; its like that solely at us; there is no such thing in another EEU member state. After the revolution, we have adopted one thing that everyone must abide by the laws of Armenia, regardless of the origin of the founders, () our laws must be observed, and our state must protect its interests. According to Melkumyan, the Armenian government should create an environment for Russian investments to remain in Armenia. "The price of gas should be so that jobs will be created, in that old, affordable conditions, our products be competitive (). After all, Armenian-Russian relations are not conditioned by the authorities of the day (); there are warm Armenian-Russian relations coming from centuries." With two of Australia's biggest breweries selling to giant Japanese-controlled companies, only one large independent brewer has been left standing. Coopers, based in Adelaide, is the last major Australian-owned brewer left in country. The brewery, which has been in the Cooper family for six generations, has had to fight off takeover attempts and battle against major players with far deeper pockets. Tim Cooper, managing director and chief brewer at Coopers, told Daily Mail Australia they were determined to remain independent no matter what. 'We may be only a small percentage of the Australian market but we are Australian owned and that profit stays here,' Dr Cooper said. 'Many Australians take satisfaction in Coopers being Australian owned.' Coopers, based in Adelaide, is the last major Australian-owned brewer left in country (Pictured: Two young women enjoy Cooper XPA) Carlton is under the CUB umbrella, which is in the process of being taken over by Japanese company Asahi Carlton and United Brewies (CUB), which includes Aussie favourite VB, is in the process of being taken over by Japanese company Asahi. It has been owned by Belgium company AB InBev since 2016. Asahi Group is the largest brewer in Japan, and one of biggest in the world, owning brands such as Italy's Peroni, Spain's Estrella Damm and Australia's Mountain Goat. Rival Lion, which owns brands such as XXXX, Tooheys and Hahn, is owned by Kirin Brewery Company, which is also based in Japan. Dr Cooper said that while the average Australian might not know who owns what brewery, those that do are proud Coopers drinkers. And while it might not be easy competing against such large conglomerates, Dr Cooper said they were determined to succeed and ensure their beer remained on the shelves. Competition within the industry - in both pubs and in bottle shops - is robust, Dr Cooper said. Rival Lion, which owns brands such as XXXX, Tooheys and Hahn, is owned by Kirin Brewery Company, which is also based in Japan Coopers has been in the same family for six generations, and managing director Tim Cooper says they plan to keep it that way He said the biggest struggle is getting beers on taps at pubs, because the major breweries often sign long-term agreements with publicans. Coopers came under pressure in 2005 to sell to Lion. The aggressive takeover attempt saw Lion try to buy shares for $260 per share - a 478 per cent increase from a buyback conducted by Coopers of $45.01 per share in 2003. What are CUBs beer and cider brands: CUBs beer brands include Victoria Bitter, Carlton Draught, Fat Yak, Crown Lager, Fosters and Balter. CUB also licences and distributes a range of other beer brands including Corona, Stella Artois, Becks and Budweiser. CUBs cider range includes Strongbow, Mercury, Bonamys, Little Green, Spring Cider Co., Dirty Granny and Pure Blonde Cider. CUB also manufactures and distributes Bulmers under licence from Heineken. Advertisement And while shareholders were shocked by the offer, the majority ultimately voted against it. Removing the beverage giant's share-owning rights in December 2005. A spokesman for CUB told Daily Mail Australia joining AB InBev gave them access to some of the best beer knowledge in the world. 'This means drawing upon world-leading technical know-how from the global industry to continually improve the quality of our beer. Theyve also laid the foundations for our ambitious sustainability agenda, which includes our commitment to brew all our beer using 100 per cent offset solar electricity which were well on the way to achieving. 'We continue to employ more than 1,700 people in Australia and were incredibly proud of our 180-year history, with our brands having a unique cultural relevance.' A Lion spokeswoman said the company is a pioneer in brewing and continues to innovate across a range of adult beverages. 'Lion is proud to have been involved in the founding of many of Australias most-loved craft beer brands such as Little Creatures, James Squire, Kosciuszko and Furphy. Weve always believed in founding and nurturing our own craft brands with a focus on exceptional brewing credentials and craftsmanship.' A spokesman for CUB told Daily Mail Australia joining AB InBev gave them access to some of the best beer knowledge in the world (pictured: A general view of the Carlton Brewhouse at the Carlton and United Breweries in Melbourne) Railroad Commission Chairman Wayne Christian announced the formation of a Blue Ribbon Task Force for oil economic recovery at Tuesdays public hearing. The task force will be headed by the states major trade associations, including the Permian Basin Petroleum Association, Texas Oil and Gas Association, Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association, the Panhandle Producers and Royalty Owners Association, and the Texas Pipeline Association. I want to challenge the task force to look at every aspect on what can be done at the state level to assist operators and save jobs as we endure these historic circumstances operations, permitting, timelines, tax policy and deadlines, storage capacity expansion, pipeline capacity, market access barriers, and anything else the task force can think of that will aid the industry in managing through difficult times, Christian told commissioners Christi Craddick and Ryan Sitton. The goal is to save as many jobs, enable operators to survive and return to a robust level as quickly as possible. Given the immediate nature of this emergency, Ive asked them to get us recommendations quickly in advance of our next public meeting May 5, he said. Ben Shepperd, president of the PBPA, told the Reporter-Telegram by email, The PBPA is honored to have been asked by RRC Chairman Wayne Christian to serve on a Blue Ribbon panel to provide input on important industry issues. The Commission is seeking industry input on steps the Commission can take to support industry through these extraordinary times. The Commission seeks to be flexible on administrative issues as well as operational issues as long as those actions do no endanger health, safety or environmental concerns. The PBPA will submit items later this week for consideration. Ed Longanecker, president of TIPRO, told the Reporter-Telegram by email, TIPRO is pleased to be among the trade associations asked to participate in the industry task force by Railroad Commission Chairman Wayne Christian. Over the past several weeks we have engaged with our members and the commission to identify recommendations focused on protecting Texas oil and gas producers and mineral owners during this extreme downturn. We appreciate the leadership of Chairman Christian and his willingness to engage various stakeholder in this process. Our recommendations will address ways to provide support to the Texas oil and natural gas industry in the areas of state and federal regulatory action, severance and ad valorem tax relief, federal and state legislation and other related strategic initiatives. Todd Staples, president of TXOGA, told the Reporter-Telegram in a phone interview that he believed Christians forming the task force was the right move. He added that he and the heads of other associations are talking to each other on the phone, were talking with each other, were talking with our members, discussing legal issues, storage capacity, pipeline capacity and other issues. Were also talking with the General Land Office and University Lands on what relief measures they can do, and theyve been very receptive. Staples said he has also spoken with his counterparts in other states to exchange information, brainstorm and generate ideas. Staples said task force members have been asked by Christian to particularly look for opportunities to help small operators producing 1,000 barrels a day or less who are really hurting. Thats the focus for us as we identify issues. He listed more permit flexibility for shutting in wells and bringing them back online as a focus. When the time comes to restart, we want producers to have maximum flexibility, Staples said. It's been nearly two hundred years since the 25-year old Alexis de Tocqueville arrived in America in May 1831 for his nine-month visit. Only 30 when he published the first part of his great work, Democracy in America, even at such a tender age, Tocqueville proved himself to be a political philosopher of the first rank. As importantly, he was a keen observer of the emerging American character and the American way of confronting what he called life's inevitable "vicissitudes of fortune." As our nation begins emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic and preparing for the reopening of America indeed, the reinvigoration of America! Tocqueville has been on my mind. What he wrote in 1831 in Democracy in America regarding the proclivities of Americans to embrace private associations and voluntary activity aimed at achieving common societal goals is especially pertinent now. In one of the most oft-quoted passages in his book, Tocqueville observed: "The political associations that exist in the United States are only a single feature in the midst of an immense assemblage of associations in that country. Americans of all ages, all conditions, and all dispositions, constantly form associations. They have not only commercial and manufacturing companies, in which all take part, but associations of a thousand other kinds religious, moral, serious, futile, general or restricted, enormous or diminutive." In the midst of the our current coronavirus travails, even as government has assumed an unprecedented massive relief role, we continue to witness the multitude of ways that religious institutions, food banks, civic groups, private foundations, charitable organizations, and, as Tocqueville put it, "associations of a thousand other kinds," play a crucial role in ameliorating our difficulties. A shrewd student of human nature, Tocqueville understood that, when individuals participate in voluntary associations in pursuit of a common objective, "the heart is enlargedby the reciprocal action of men upon one another." None of this is to say that Tocqueville didn't acknowledge a proper role for government. Interestingly, in discussing local administration in Massachusetts, he pointed to a 1797 state law with special resonance today. The statute provided that when "a stranger arrives in a township from a country where a contagious disease prevails, and he falls ill," two justices of the peace, with the assent of the local selectmen, can "remove and take care of him." Sound familiar? At a time when the size of America's government was truly miniscule, Tocqueville was especially prescient in his worry about the natural tendency, even of democracies, to dangerous centralizations of power that, inevitably, threaten individual freedom. According to Tocqueville, the majoritarian impulse, inherent in a democracy, would impel the government to amass ever more power as it seeks to impose ever greater degrees of what he called "equality of condition." To Tocqueville's mind, by such aggrandizement of authority, government would take "each member of the community in its powerful grasp." To be sure, I do not want to be misunderstood as suggesting that in the current crisis our national, state, and local governments have not been justified in taking some extraordinary measures to protect the health, safety, and well-being of the American people. While surely there is room for legitimate public debate regarding the size, scope, and duration of the various unprecedented lockdown mandates, financial relief packages, and the like, my present purpose is not to critique what has been done so far. Rather, I want to urge, as America returns to what Warren Harding famously called "normalcy" not long after the 1918 influenza pandemic, that we do with a Tocquevillian mindset. By a Tocquevillian mindset I mean to suggest that the vast assertion of government control that has been quickly implemented for health and safety reasons, along with the extraordinary level of government largesse made available for purposes of economic relief, should be scaled back to pre-crisis levels as soon as reasonably possible. Such retrenchment will help ensure that incentives for Americans to get back to work as the pandemic recedes are not diminished. And it will help ensure that the voluntary associations that Tocqueville so admired will have the incentives and breathing space they need to continue providing community services and mutual aid in a way that does not further heighten Americans' dependence on government. And, finally, this too from Democracy in America is especially worth remembering now: "America is a land of wonders, in which everything is in perpetual motion, and every movement seems an improvement. The idea of novelty is there indissolubly connected with the idea of amelioration. No natural boundary seems to be set to the efforts of man; and what he has not yet done is only what he has not yet attempted to do." America is still a land of wonders. The voluntary associations that so impressed Tocqueville during his visit nearly two centuries ago, and which have enlarged the hearts of Americans ever since, must play an important role in fostering the recovery of the nation's social and economic fabric, and, as importantly, in reinvigorating the uniquely American spirit. Randolph May is President of the Free State Foundation, a free market-oriented think tank in Rockville, MD. JUNEAU, Alaska - Conservationists have asked the federal government to provide better protection for a wolf population in Southeast Alaska. A letter sent to the supervisor of Tongass National Forest says a record number of 165 wolves killed by trappers threatens wolves on and around Prince of Wales Island, CoastAlaska reported Monday. The April 13 letter to Forest Supervisor Earl Stewart was signed by representatives of advocacy groups Defenders of Wildlife, Southeast Alaska Conservation Council and the Center for Biological Diversity. This was a shocking number of wolves that was killed this season, said Patrick Lavin, a Defenders of Wildlife policy director. The management approach in the past season cannot ensure a sustainable wolf population on Prince of Wales, Lavin said. The Alaska Board of Game and wildlife managers lifted the quota for killing wolves before last winters hunting and trapping seasons. Trappers doubled their efforts, leading to nearly as many wolves killed as the number estimated to live in the region. Some residents argue the wolf population is much higher than official estimates and they blame wolf packs for killing deer prized by subsistence hunters. Tongass National Forest spokesman Paul Robbins Jr. said in a statement that the forest service will partner with state game biologists to survey the fall population using field work that goes beyond DNA testing of hair samples. A reduced or closed season is among the options we will consider, Robbins wrote. Environmentalists unsuccessfully petitioned the federal government twice to list the Alexander Archipelago wolves as an endangered species. Conservationists point to a legacy of commercial forest clear-cutting across Prince of Wales as a reason for the deer populations decline. A challenge for all the agencies on Prince of Wales is the legacy logging and road-building has destroyed a lot of habitat and do make it challenging to provide sufficient habitat for wolves and deer, Lavin said. Nurses read out the names of colleagues who died coronavirus during a protest in front of the White House. Members of the National Nurses United (NNU) union staged the demonstration on Tuesday to demand the government supply healthcare workers with adequate personal protective equipment. One nurse said: We remember the thousands of nurses and other healthcare workers that have become infected with Covid-19, and those who have died. She added: We are demanding that the Trump administration and the US Congress listen to these names, all dedicated nurses, who have left families, friends, and colleagues behind. Listen to their names and take action so more nurses dont get sick and die. In a statement announcing their intention to protest on Monday, NNU denounced the Trump administrations response to PPE as a failure. It said: With the failure of the Trump administration to protect health care workers, NNU is demanding that Congress include a mandatory Occupational Safety and Health Administration emergency standard in its next Covid-19 legislative package. The union urged Donald Trump to use the Defence Production Act to produce the equipment and supplies health care workers need and to conduct mass testing that is required to control the spread of the virus. Last week, a group of nurses based at the Providence Saint Johns Health Centre in Santa Monica, California, were suspended after they refused to treat coronavirus patients without PPE, when one of their colleagues tested positive for Covid-19. They had previously asked for masks to be supplied to them, but were told by hospital administrators that they were not necessary, according to the Associated Press. In a statement, the health centre said that its no secret there is a national shortage. According to a tracking project hosted by Johns Hopkins University, in the US there are more than of 825,306 people who have tested positive for coronavirus. The death toll has reached at least 45,057. COLORADO SPRINGS, April 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- Gold Resource Corporation (NYSE American: GORO) (the Company) announced today that Mexico extended its national health emergency for another 30 days until May 30, 2020 to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The extension order was published April 21, 2020 in the Official Gazette of the Federation and extended the original order set until April 30, 2020. This suspension order continues the temporary closure of the Companys Oaxaca Mining Unit operations in Mexico. The Mexican government has signaled it is evaluating zones with the least COVID-19 impact for potential earlier start-up. The COVID-19 impact map provided by the government shows Oaxaca among the least impacted zones in Mexico. The Company is finalizing its proposed start-up plan to submit to the Federal Government requesting an earlier potential start-up date. While the Companys Oaxaca Mining Unit is prepared to remain closed until the new extended May 30, 2020 date if needed, the plan to be submitted includes a staged ramp-up focused on utilizing local workforce first with a potential quarantine period for those that would be returning to work from outside the local area. The Company is also working closely with the local towns and citizens prioritizing safety first. The Companys Nevada Mining Unit continues to operate while taking numerous precautionary measures to keep its employees and contractors safe. The Company is also donating to local food banks and other social programs in the communities around both mining units and in the cities where it has offices. As this unprecedented situation continues to evolve on often an hourly basis, we appreciate our shareholders support as we navigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the business world. Cautionary Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. The statements contained in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. When used in this press release, the words plan, target, "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "intend" and "expect" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the statements regarding Gold Resource Corporations strategy, future plans for production, future expenses and costs, future liquidity and capital resources, and estimates of mineralized material. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon information available to Gold Resource Corporation on the date of this press release, and the company assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, and there can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those discussed in this press release. In particular, the scope, duration, and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mining operations, Company employees, and supply chains as well as the scope, duration and impact of government action aimed at mitigating the pandemic may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Also, there can be no assurance that production will continue at any specific rate. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed in the Companys 10-K filed with the SEC. Contacts: Corporate Development Greg Patterson 303-320-7708 www.goldresourcecorp.com To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! As UMass Memorial Health Care seeks recovered COVID-19 patients who are willing to donate plasma to help treat patients currently suffering from the respiratory illness, the system has reported success with its first such treatment. Online, UMass Memorial has put out a call for people local to Central Massachusetts who are fully recovered from COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. The health care system wants those people to sign up to donate plasma to help current coronavirus patients. People who have fully recovered from COVID-19 have antibodies in their plasma that can attack the virus, the website reads. This convalescent plasma is being evaluated as treatment for patients with serious or immediately life-threatening COVID-19 infections, or those judged by a healthcare provider to be at high risk of progression to severe or life-threatening disease. The system wants to create a registry of potential donors and has already started plasma treatment. UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester has reported success with its first plasma treatment. UMass Memorial Medical Center has completed its first dosing of a critically ill COVID-19 patient with plasma, and the results are encouraging! After hours of transfusion the patient has dramatically improved overall and is now starting to wean off of the ventilator after having required near maximal settings to oxygenate him prior to the plasma transfusion, the hospital wrote in a news release. Last week, the FDA encouraged recovered coronavirus patients to donate plasma to help other people fight the virus. Convalescent plasma is an antibody-rich product made from blood donated by people who have recovered from the disease caused by the virus. Prior experience with respiratory viruses and limited data that have emerged from China suggest that convalescent plasma has the potential to lessen the severity or shorten the length of illness caused by COVID-19," the FDA wrote in a news release. It is important that we evaluate this potential therapy in the context of clinical trials, through expanded access, as well as facilitate emergency access for individual patients, as appropriate. UMass Memorial Health Care CEO Dr. Eric Dickson said Tuesday that the hospital system had seen a 30% increase in the number of patients needing a ventilator since Friday, amid a surge that is currently hitting Central Massachusetts hard. Across the state, 1,961 residents have died from illness related to coronavirus and at least 41,199 have tested positive for the virus. Related Content: The grieving mother of a 17-year-old hacked to death with machetes has hit out at one of his five killers for taunting her about the murder by posting photos of himself enjoying prison life on Instagram. Defenceless Kyle Yule was fatally stabbed in October 2017 near his home in Gillingham, Kent when five thugs hunted him to his friend's front door before savagely attacking him with knives and machetes in a row over a bike. Kyle begged them to stop and desperately called for help - but no one came to his aid - with horrified witnesses later saying they heard him screaming for his mother. The teenager died hours later after suffering a severed artery and the gang were all jailed for a total of 88 years in June 2018, charged with murder and violent affray. Ring leader Victor Maibvisira, then 19, was caged for a minimum of 24 years but Kyle's devastated mother Nikki says that the thug still torments her. He spent the 2018 trial laughing about killing her son and has now set up an Instagram account from prison. Ring leader Victor Maibvisira, then 19, was caged for a minimum of 24 years for Kyle Yule's murder but the 17-year-old's devastated mother Nikki says that the thug still torments her through an Instagram account set up from prison Kyle Yule, with mother Nikki, was fatally stabbed in October 2017 near his home in Gillingham, Kent in a row over a bike The murderer's name on his account - which is not being disclosed - indicates he has killed someone and is proud of it. Maibvisira has posted on the social media app from his jail cell boasting about the murder. Nikki says she also often gets sent photos her son's killer of him relaxing and enjoying himself in prison. The mother-of-four said: 'He's behind bars but he's proud of himself for what he's done. My Kyle is never going to take another breath. 'He's never going to live another birthday and have another Christmas. 'He's never going to have a baby, he's never going to get married. 'But it's alright for that man to murder my son, and then go on Instagram taking pictures. Kyle begged them to stop and desperately called for help - but no one came to his aid - with horrified witnesses later saying they heard him screaming for his mother 'I can't look at his face, it disgusts me. How can my son be dead, and he's sitting in prison living the highlife?' Heartbroken Nikki says that the killer hasn't shown a moment's remorse and spent the whole trial mocking his murder victim Kyle. 'Victor kept laughing, thinking it was a joke all the time,' Nikki says. 'None of his killers showed any remorse at all. The court said they were like vultures. 'Kyle was screaming - begging them to stop and saying he wanted to see his mum. 'They thought that was a joke. Now I'm absolutely petrified of something happening to my other kids.' Nikki still lives in the house where she raised Kyle, in Gillingham, Kent with son Vinnie, 11, daughter Aaliyah, eight, and a teenage son who is so terrified he doesn't want to be named. Nikki still lives in the house that Kyle was raised in, with son Vinnie, 11, daughter Aaliyah, eight (pictured with Kyle), and a teenage son who is so terrified he doesn't want to be named It is thought Maibvisira was angry about people who stole his bike so 'tooled up' and 'gathered his troops' - before hunting down and killing Kyle - who's mother says had nothing to do with the missing bike Shezakia Daley, then 18, Tyler Ralph and Ephrain Akinwunmi-Streets, both 17, and 16-year-old Jordan Dania were all jailed for at least 16 years 'Kyle loved his brothers and he absolutely idolised his little sister Aaliyah,' Nikki recalls. 'He'd take her to the park and they'd lie in her bed and watch movies.' As well as looking after Aaliyah, Kyle would help Nikki - doing the shopping and dropping off his siblings at school. 'On Mother's Day he would always be the first one up, he'd run upstairs and bring me breakfast in bed,' she say. On the night he was killed in October 2017, Nikki made Kyle his favourite dinner - spaghetti bolognese. She remembers him saying 'love you Mumsy' before leaving the house. About 45 minutes later, Nikki heard banging at the door. Despite the sentences Nikki cannot move on from her son's horrific death because of his killer's Instagram posts Nikki remembers seeing 15 surgeons surround Kyle when he got to Medway Maritime Hospital - where he died from a severed artery Outside there were girls screaming: 'Kyle's been stabbed, Kyle's been stabbed.' 'My heart just dropped to the floor, I felt sick,' Nikki says. 'I went into a panic.' She ran to where they said he was - just five minutes away from her house - and saw police cars and ambulances at the scene. Nikki broke down in tears as she recalled that the emergency services wouldn't let her see her beloved son who was fighting for his life. 'They wouldn't even let me go up there to see him,' Nikki says. 'That was really hard. They said I'd be traumatised if I ever saw him like that. 'You just want that last cuddle. I just needed that cuddle, but they said I would have been traumatised. 'I think I should have been given the opportunity to say goodbye to my son.' Ringleader Maibvisira was jailed for a minimum of 24 years for murder and affray after Kyle's death Maibvisira reportedly laughed through Kyle's trial and showed no signs of remorse at his death Single mother Nikki remembers seeing 15 surgeons surround Kyle when he got to Medway Maritime Hospital. 'I don't think it even clicked into my head that he was dying,' she sai. Then came the news no mother wants to hear - doctors told Nikki they couldn't keep her son alive. 'I told them they could have my heart and my blood, and give it to my son,' Nikki sobbed. 'I kept saying: He can have my heart, he's got a life to live. He can take all my blood. 'But they said it was too late.' Nikki went to the morgue to say goodbye to her son. 'I cuddled him - he was ice cold and blue and gray,' she remembers. 'It was the worst feeling in the world. My heart broke that day.' Shezakia Daley, then 18, Tyler Ralph and Ephrain Akinwunmi-Streets, both 17, and 16-year-old Jordan Dania were all jailed for at least 16 years for Kyle's murder after a trial at Maidstone Crown Court in June 2018. Ringleader Maibvisira was jailed for a minimum of 24 years for murder and affray. It is thought Maibvisira was angry about people who stole his bike so 'tooled up' and 'gathered his troops'. Nikki maintains Kyle had nothing to do with this. Despite the sentences Nikki cannot move on from her son's horrific death. 'I've told the police that Victor has a phone in prison, otherwise how else can he post on Instagram but they don't seem to want to do anything about it,' Nikki raged. 'They're meant to be getting punished in there, not boasting on social media. 'I've been getting calls from withheld numbers at 4am and 5am constantly. 'I don't know who they are from, but they leave me petrified.' A Prison Service spokesman said: 'Prisoners found with a mobile phone are punished, and we are spending 100m on x-ray scanners and better security to stop them being smuggled into prisons.' With services overburdened, healthcare professionals are having to decide who should receive treatment. But is it wrong to prioritise younger patients with COVID-19? Two experts debate the issue in The BMJ this week. There are three reasons why age should not be used to decide who should and who should not receive potentially life saving treatment, argues Dave Archard, Emeritus Professor at Queen's University in Belfast. The first is that a simple "younger than" criterion is clearly unsatisfactory. It cannot be that an 18 year old is preferred to a 19 year old on the grounds of one year's difference in age. This would be not much better morally than tossing a coin or a crude "first come, first served" principle using the time of arrival at a hospital to determine whether care is given, he writes. Secondly, there is the fair innings argument. This holds that everyone should have an opportunity to lead a life of a certain duration. Resources should then be distributed (and care given selectively) to ensure that those who have yet to live that length of life are prioritised over those who have already managed to do so. But while this has an intuitive appeal, there is no agreement on what counts as a fair innings. "Someone who has had her fair innings may yet have much to give the world that another who has not may be unable to offer," he says. Finally, to discriminate between patients in the provision of care on the grounds of age is to send a message about the value of old people, he writes. Such discrimination publicly expresses the view that older people are of lesser worth or importance than young people. "And it would be hard not to think-- even if it was not intended--that a cull of elderly people was what was being aimed at," he concludes. But Arthur Caplan, Professor of Bioethics at NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York, argues that age is a valid criterion when supported by data. He points out that age has played a role for many decades in limiting access to care when rationing life saving treatments, such as access to renal dialysis and organ transplants. That said, even in conditions of extreme scarcity "it would be discriminatory to simply invoke age to exclude those in need from services," he writes. The key ethical question, he says, is whether age by itself is ever a morally relevant factor in deciding who gets care when rationing is unavoidable. Like Archard, he points to the notion of fair innings, but says this commitment to equality of opportunity has nothing to do with the relative contributions of old people versus young people. However, if the goal is to save the most lives with scarce resources then age may matter if there is a diminishing chance of survival with increased age, he adds. "Indeed, the relevance of old age as a predictive factor of efficacy--combined with the powerful principle of healthcare affording equality of opportunity to enjoy a life--makes age an important factor in making the terrible choice of who will receive scarce resources in a pandemic," he concludes. "Ageism has no place in rationing, but age may." ### Externally peer-reviewed? Yes Type of evidence: Opinion Subject: Healthcare resources Junaidu said, This is to inform the Muslim Ummah that Thursday, April 23, 2020, which is equivalent to the 29th day of Shaaban 1441 AH, shall be the day to look out for the new moon of Ramadan 1441 AH. As the coronavirus pandemic bears down on vulnerable nations in Africa and South Asia, experts say there are only weeks to help fill chronic shortages of what medics need to help people breathe. Not ventilators, but oxygen itself. Medical oxygen is a core component of the life-saving therapies hospitals are giving patients with severe cases of COVID-19, as the world waits for scientists to find vaccines and treatments. The pandemic has pushed even the most advanced health systems to their limits, with concerns often focused on the supply of mechanical ventilators at the high-tech end of the breathing assistance spectrum. But experts fear this has distorted the narrative about what constitutes an effective response, giving the wrong blueprint for nations with under-funded health systems. "The reality is that oxygen is the only therapy that will save lives in Africa and Asia-Pacific now," said Hamish Graham, a consultant paediatrician and research fellow at Melbourne University Hospital and International Centre for Child Health. "I fear that undue focus on ventilators without fixing oxygen systems will kill." One report in February on thousands of cases in China's epidemic found that nearly 20 percent of patients with COVID-19 required oxygen. Of those, 14 percent needed some form of oxygen therapy, while a further five percent required mechanical ventilation. In severe cases of COVID-19, the virus attacks the patient's lungs in the form of pneumonia, causing inflammation that prevents them from absorbing oxygen. This can cause their blood oxygen levels to fall well below normal, a condition known as hypoxaemia that can deprive critical organs of oxygen and "substantially" increase the risk of death, Graham said. "In hospitals in high-income countries, we take oxygen for granted," he told AFP. "In low-resource settings, healthcare workers are acutely aware of the challenges as they fight to get oxygen to patients every day." Many larger hospitals across Sub Saharan Africa and South Asia will have some oxygen cylinders in operating theatres and wards, as well as concentrators -- portable devices that filter and purify the surrounding air. But surveys throughout Africa and Asia-Pacific have shown that less than half of hospitals have oxygen available on wards at any given time, Graham said, and even fewer have the pulse oximeters that allow medical staff to measure blood oxygen levels and guide dosages. - 'Helpless' - Oxygen supply has long been a source of alarm among specialists who treat pneumonia, the world's biggest preventable infectious killer of children under five. In Nigeria, one of the worst-affected countries, the government introduced a national policy several years ago to improve pneumonia treatment, but experts say it has not trickled down to a regional level. Adamu Isah, who leads Save the Children's work on pneumonia in the country, said the charity recently assessed primary healthcare facilities in two states and found that oxygen supplies were "really, really concerning". A former clinical physician, Isah said it was common to see children "suffering and gasping". "If you don't have something like an oxygen system you find yourself helpless, there's really not much you can do," he told AFP. A 2018 report published by Every Breath Counts, a coalition of UN agencies, businesses, donors and aid agencies, said supplies of oxygen were "severely limited" in countries across South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. It cited surveys that suggested only one in 10 children with pneumonia in Nigeria received the oxygen they needed. In Ethiopia, research found that while 64 percent of hospital paediatric wards had oxygen supplies, only 14 percent had health workers trained to use them or standard operating procedures. Leith Greenslade, the lead coordinator for Every Breath Counts, said the mining industry often has better oxygen supplies for its workers than under-funded hospitals. "These health systems in Africa and South Asia could not be more exposed to a pandemic like this one because they haven't been investing in respiratory therapy," she told AFP. "This is what terrifies me." - 'Flying blind' - Despite pneumonia killing 800,000 children a year globally, campaigners say it has not been given the same attention as other infectious diseases like HIV, Malaria and TB. Greenslade said global health authorities have also "completely neglected" oxygen, and this means there is very little information about supplies. "The absence of global data on this is going to be a major problem trying to respond to COVID-19 because we are flying blind, we really don't know which countries are in more desperate need than the other," she said. The pandemic is still largely in its early stages in Africa and parts of Asia, giving the international community "probably a two-month window" to act, she added. While it is still unclear how the new coronavirus will spread in poorer nations, there are acute fears over densely populated cities and refugee camps. Experts say there is no one-size-fits-all approach, urging low income countries to go beyond lockdowns and urgently scale up basic health systems. "Like everywhere, flattening the curve is the idea, but if your health system doesn't have any intensive care beds -- or, like Malawi, has got 25 beds for 17 million people -- you can't flatten the curve to the extent that'll work," said Gwen Hines, Save the Children's executive director for global programmes. Malawi, one of the poorest countries in Africa, has started to record cases of COVID-19, but a court last week temporarily blocked a government lockdown order. Hines said her organisation has worked on providing solar powered concentrators to the country, which has intermittent electricity, no domestic oxygen plant, and often struggles to secure imports of medicines. The mechanical ventilators used in well-funded health systems are the "wrong focus" for resource-poor countries, where they would have little impact, said David Lalloo, head of the Liverpool School for Tropical Medicine, which also has a large programme in Malawi. He said the international community should instead prioritise oxygen supplies and protective equipment for health workers. Experts fear the international community may not act fast enough, as cases rise in Africa and Asia at the same time as Europe and the United States hit their peaks. But Graham said it was also crucial for the response to be more strategic than "buying equipment and dumping it on hospitals", urging proper staff training and maintenance. - 'Solidarity and collaboration' - In Nigeria, Isah said his wish-list of equipment would start simple, with pulse oximeters, then oxygen concentrators that can be used in small healthcare settings, and finally higher-tech equipment like ventilators. But he said a "major fear" was competition in global supply chains for even basic devices. He called for "solidarity and collaboration" with richer nations helping those that are struggling to tackle COVID-19. "My fear is if this COVID pandemic stays longer than a couple of months, we will face very serious problems, there will be loss of so many lives," he said. "Countries in Europe and the US and other places, they may have the financial capacity to address the need, or they could get support easily, but in Africa we don't have those resources, even in peacetime." Oxygen supply has been a long-running source of alarm for specialists in pneumonia Oxygen supply is an integral part of well-funded health systems Schematic showing the components of a mechanical ventilator machine, highlighting the placement of a breathing tube in the trachea of a patient. Landlocked Malawi has no domestic bottling plant for oxygen and often struggles to secure imports of medicines Pakistan, along with Afghanistan, India and Bangladesh, also has areas without sufficient oxygen supplies experts say Pneumonia is considered a 'forgotten' epidemic despite killing some 800,000 children a year Nigeria has imposed a lockdown and launched testing as it tries to slow the spread of the virus Yu Ri tried to convince Gang Hwa that her presence would complicate the life of their daughter Seo Woo. Her reincarnation would further expose Seo Woo to spirits, which is not good for her future. What matters the most is to protect Seo Woo and live a normal life to the expense of her own. Yu Ri wishes not to tell Gang Hwa about leaving after 49 days to avoid regrets on his part but he found it before she could explain. Yu Ri apologized for all the pain he felt and wished things would be easier for him and Min Jeong. Yu Ri insisted that her choice of leaving is the best for their daughter. Dong Daek (shaman) went to the temple and saw the wish card from Yu-Ri's mother, which says, "I want to see my daughter just once." It came to her senses that Eun Sook visits and prays at the temple everyday, not for Yu Ri's peaceful soul but seeing her daughter once more. Back home, Yu Ri cleaned her room by putting all items stored in a box. Eun Sook is surprised to see the room almost empty. She shared with Yu Ri how a good daughter she grew up to be. She continued keeping her room the same and chose not to pack all her stuff after she died to feel Yu Ri's presence everytime. Yu Ri asked her mother to keep her memories inside her heart always. Eun Sook felt pain in her heart as reality hit her of Yu Ris reincarnation. She went to the kitchen and took out dry seaweed, one of Yu Ri's favorite foods. Yu Ri visited Dong Daek. She saw the wish card of her mother and the note on it. Dong Daek explained that it's her mother's wish that she returns to life. Her sacrifice in the temple every day and praying for her daughter's return came to reality. Dong Daek stressed that her decision to stay on earth would be in exchange for Seo Woo's life. Yu Ri then realized the meaning of her second life is "A Gift" and "A Blessing." "At first, I don't understand if this is a reward or a punishment. I don't understand why this happens to me. Then I found that this is "A Gift." Come to think of it, I died all of a sudden without getting to hold my child and say goodbye to her. I guess I got this gift because I was too pitiful. If I went up there just like that, I would've been really upset. But I'm fine now," Yu Ri calmly explained to Dong Daek. Yu Ri visited Hyun Jeong and Geun Sang in the restaurant. She politely asked for her help and support from them with her decision. "I want to leave with a smile. Please help me with that,'' Yu Ri asked her best friend. Hyun Jeong cried heavily, knowing she will lose her friend again. Hyun Jung showed Yu Ri the friendship bracelet Min Jeong bought for them. Min Jeong came to see her and handed over the gift. She told her that she might proceed with the divorce with Gang Hwa. As Yu Ri heard it, she felt sad and thought of Seo Woo. Gang Hwa went to the crematorium house, kneeling on Yu Ri's altar. Dong Daek arrived and explained to him the circumstances of Yu Ri's fate on earth. Dong Daek advised Gang Hwa to give Yu Ri a peaceful send off in showing respect is the best he can do. Yu Ri visited Seo Woo in her school and timely helped in sending Seo Woo to the hospital. Seo Woo experienced pain in her stomach and vomited. At the hospital, the doctor assured them that Seo Woo is fine. Min Jeong arrived and met Yu Ri, she preferred to walk away, leaving Yu Ri with Seo Woo. Yu Ri ran after Min Jeong and asked her to stay if they could talk. She asked her not to leave Gang Hwa and Seo Woo, keep them as her family. Yu Ri shared with Min Jeong that she only has a few days left before she dies again. Yu Ri continues that Gang Hwa knew about it and she is worried he feels guilty of everything. She thanked Min Jeong for the past five years she supported him even though deep in her heart she felt pain. Seo Woo recognized Min Jeong as her real mother and no one can change that. Yu Ri felt happy that her family is well-taken care of by Min Jeong. A psychiatrist at the Lehigh Valley Community Mental Health Centers who claimed he was able to see more than 120 patients in one day at Valley and Philadelphia clinics has reached a settlement with federal prosecutors. Dr. Pramod Pilania said he was able to see that many patients and traveled between clinics at the Northeast Community Mental Health Centers in Philadelphia and the Lehigh Valley Community Mental Health Centers locations in Allentown, Bethlehem, and Reading, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said. Pilania will now pay $91,109 under a settlement agreement to resolve potential liability under the False Claims Act. Dr. Pilania, who has never had any legal issues before, regrets his involvement in this case, but is proud that he cooperated with the governments investigation in every way, his attorney, Abraham Rein said. He looks forward to moving on with his work during this difficult time. The allegations against Dr. Pilania that he billed federally funded healthcare programs for over 120 patients per day while also commuting between locations that are an hours driving distance apart are egregious, U.S. Attorney William McSwain said. My office is committed to rooting out healthcare fraud and protecting the integrity of our Medicare and Medicaid systems by holding everyone involved accountable, including any providers who try to cheat those systems. Pilania, claimed to have seen more than 120 Medicaid patients, including children, in a single day, on six dates in 2010, according to a news release. On each of the dates in question, Pilania said he travelled between the Northeast clinic in Philadelphia and the Lehigh Valley clinic in Allentown. Federal authorities said under Medicaid time requirements, it was impossible Pilania saw that many patients in one day. Medicaid administrators are required to have medication management or med check visits last at least 15 minutes long, and practitioners have to record the start and end times on patient encounter forms. If Pilania saw 120 patients in one day, and stuck to the 15-minute requirement, it would have taken him 30 hours, authorities said. According to the settlement agreement, Pilania did not see some of the 120-plus patients for 15 minutes on specific dates. The settlement alleges that Pilania did not record the beginning and ending times on patient encounter forms. In 2015, the U.S. Attorneys Office filed a civil health care fraud lawsuit against Lehigh Valley Community Mental Health Centers and its principals, Melchor Martinez and Melissa Chlebowski. At the time, the Northeast and Lehigh Valley clinics were the largest providers of mental health services to Medicaid patients in their respective regions. The nine Pennsylvania clinics collected about $75 million in federal Medicare and state-and-federal Medicaid payments from 2009 through 2012, the suit states. The Lehigh Valley and Northeast clinics had several hundred employees and, as of 2012, more than 14,000 patients combined. Authorities said Martinez was convicted in 2000 for billing psychotherapy services not rendered and falsification of records at Philadelphia clinics. As such, he was prohibited from participating in Medicaid, Medicare or any federally funded health care programs. Melissa Chlebowski, Martinezs wife and the clinics owner, was accused of presenting herself as the public face of the clinics, and obscuring her husbands management of the clinics. The suit was settled two years ago, and a $3 million consent judgment made against the defendants. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. He is best known for living the high life with Kim Kardashian on her hit TV series Keeping Up With The Kardashians for the past 11 years. But Jonathan Cheban was seen helping others as he donated a truck full of beverages to the staff of a Miami hospital fighting COVID-19. So far there are 233 deaths in Miami-Dade county with over 10,000 cases of the coronavirus during the frightening pandemic. Good move: Jonathan Cheban was seen helping others as he donated a truck full of beverages to the staff of a Miami hospital fighting COVID-19 Sad times: So far there are 233 deaths in Miami-Dade county with over 10,000 cases of the coronavirus during the frightening pandemic He loves the show! Here Cheban is seen with Kim Kardashian during an episode of KUWTK shot in a sushi restaurant Jonathan was on site as he helped carry in boxes of drinks like bottle water and Coca-Cola with his friend Adam. The star, who wore a black T-shirt and ripped jeans, brought up an 18-wheeler truck that to the Mount Sinai Hospital and University of Miami Health Center. 'It was such an honor,' the man who changed his name to FoodGod last year told PageSix. A workout: Jonathan was on site as he helped carry in boxes of drinks like bottle water and Coca-Cola with his friend Adam He got into it: The star had on gloves as he pushed a cart into the hospital Coke is it! There was a ton of Coca-Cola in plastic bottles Masked man: And he was smart to wear a mask; his model looked like it was yellow and black 'It was a really great feeling because Ive been hiding for weeks, and I didnt know when was the right time to go. 'Ive been wanting to do it forever, but it wasnt the time because there was so much confusion [surrounding the news]. 'Theres a light at the end of the tunnel, so I was personally able to concentrate and get stuff together.' Cheban said the staff was thrilled with the gift. Thirsty? There was enough water for the staff and then some as he posed outside 'They were just so happy and so excited. It was a really rewarding experience,' he told the site. 'Its fun for them to have someone else come to them. It brought some reality back as well. I came in with my sense of humor and lightened it up.' The star also told the site it took him a while to adjust to self-isolation. He came in style: The reality TV icon arrived in a green Rolls-Royce with fun doors Now with the top down: The vehicle was a convertible; he seems to have a new car every week 'Now Im back on it and definitely ready to help, but its emotional,' he said. 'Its still weird to talk to people and interact with people even if you just pass them. In Miami, youre allowed to walk by the beach, but no one says "hi" to each other. 'Im praying that people will acknowledge each other [when the stay-home order ends].' The docs and nurses were only too happy: Here the FoodGod posed with the staff Jonathan also said that his mother Galina has been staying with him for over a month. Meanwhile his close pal Kim Kardashian has been plugging her SKIMS line which launched the ribbed collection on Tuesday. The 39-year-old Selfish author has been modeling the items herself, with one of her best photos shared on Monday evening. Mrs Kanye West looked fit as she had on a bralette that made the most of her muscular arms and abs. Haute stuff: Kim Karashian's new SKIMS collection finally launched on Tuesday after weeks of savvy promotion on social media. The 39-year-old Selfish author has been modeling the items herself, with one of her best photos shared on Monday evening On the SKIMS Instagram page, which has an impressive 1.4M followers, it said: 'Kim Kardashian wears the Scoop Bralette available in 3 colors and in sizes XXS - 5X.' Last week the social media master shared two new images to her SKIMS Instagram account where she looked flawless in the new 'ribbed' designs. 'Kim wears the Stretch Rib Scoop Bralette and Stretch Rib Short in Bone launching on Tuesday, April 21,' said the caption for the shots. Inclusive! On the SKIMS Instagram page, which has an impressive 1.4M followers, it said: 'Kim Kardashian wears the Scoop Bralette available in 3 colors and in sizes XXS - 5X' Looking flawless: And later the Calabasas native shared this pinup photo in the same look Kim had her hair pulled back into a uni-braid that looked modern as she had on a full face of nude KKW Beauty makeup. The bralette looked like a regular bra top with thick straps and a scooped neckline, and the shorts matched perfectly. The siren, who has four kids with West, appeared to be standing in the ocean as she made her supermodel poses. Top asset manager BlackRock Inc, which has vowed to put more focus on climate issues, said that companies might give a lower priority to sustainability reports as they struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic. In a stewardship document provided by a BlackRock spokesman late on Tuesday, the firm suggested it would tolerate the change. BlackRock also took a neutral stance on the question of whether companies should continue to pay dividends or buy back shares, and said it expected companies to provide shareholders the chance for "meaningful participation" when they move annual meetings to cyberspace. The details marked some early specifics from the world's largest asset manager about its expectations for companies dealing with the sudden economic shock stemming from the deadly respiratory virus. BlackRock earlier this year outlined tougher policies for the influential proxy votes it casts at springtime annual meetings, including a focus on having companies report more details about topics like their emissions and water pollution. In its new stewardship document, BlackRock said it encouraged companies to produce such reports, including Sanderson Farms Inc and streaming service Netflix Inc. 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 But BlackRock also said it had been told by some companies that certain non-financial projects like sustainability reports had been "de-prioritized" due to COVID-19. "We recognize that in the near-term companies may need to reallocate resources to address immediate priorities in these uncertain times," BlackRock's report stated. BlackRock said it would "expect a return to companies focusing on material sustainability management and reporting in due course." BlackRock representatives did not provide more details or make executives available for further comment on Tuesday. In the report, BlackRock said it voted against management recommendations 8% of the time among 2,269 company meetings worldwide in the first three months of 2020. In North America, it voted against management 13% of the time on "miscellaneous" shareholder proposals, the category that includes environmental matters, during the period. In addition to climate reporting, companies have faced calls to suspend their dividend payments or share buybacks in order to concentrate on paying workers during the pandemic. BlackRock took a neutral stance on the question, saying that absent regulation, "a company's decision to pay a dividend or buy back shares should be determined by its management and board of directors." Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here. Neo-Nazis are spreading nearly 25,000 email addresses and passwords belonging to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Gates Foundation and other groups fighting the coronavirus outbreak. The SITE intelligence group, which monitors both far-right and Islamist terror groups, said the data dump was released on Sunday and Monday. It was then used to facilitate hacking and harassment attempts by far-right extremists, the group added. Neo-Nazis and white supremacists capitalised on the lists and published them aggressively across their venues, Rita Katz, SITEs executive director, told The Washington Post. Using the data, far-right extremists were calling for a harassment campaign while sharing conspiracy theories about the coronavirus pandemic. The distribution of these alleged email credentials were just another part of a months-long initiative across the far right to weaponise the Covid-19 pandemic. More than 9,000 emails and passwords included in the data were from the US National Institutes of Health, while more than 6,800 were from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, 5,120 from the World Bank and 2,732 from the WHO. Other entries were from the Gates Foundation, co-founded by Microsofts Bill Gates, which recently announced a $150m fund to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. The data has been shared on 4chan and then forwarded on Twitter and extremist channels on the messaging app Telegram. Information allegedly gained from using the emails and passwords has already been used for disinformation purposes, the Post reported, linking the coronavirus outbreak to HIV. Far-right groups have sought to spread disinformation about the Covid-19 pandemic and stoke discord, through sharing conspiracy theories and encouraging protests against lockdown measures. Stella Artois has launched an online initiative aimed at assisting restaurants that are affected by the Covid-19 lockdown in South Africa. Through the #SaveYourSpot initiative, consumers may buy a voucher to their favourite restaurant or bar and Stella Artois will add an additional 50% of the value of each voucher. With most restaurants and bars having already been brought to their knees by social distancing regulations that began even before the national lockdown, and which might extend after the official lockdown ends, the ongoing livelihood of hundreds of thousands who rely on these businesses to survive hangs in the balance. Not only can you redeem your voucher at your favourite local spot after the lockdown, and enjoy 150% of the value you paid for it, but the spot itself will benefit from some much-needed financial relief to pay wages and rent when they need it most right now. Why participate? Vijay Govindsamy, commercial director, high-end company at SAB, reminds us whats at stake: Most restaurants and bars have about 16 days worth of cash flow reserves to keep their business afloat. Thats a global average. For many South African outlets, that figure will be significantly less. If we hope to see our favourite spots survive this lockdown, we need to rally together and do what we can to support them now when they need our help the most. This initiative is born out of genuine love for our restaurants and bars. Its a love we share with most South Africans who are famously sociable and gregarious the world over. By buying a voucher to #SaveYoutSpot, youre investing in the good times that still lie ahead youre investing in hope, Govindsamy continues. Stella Artois is investing R1.5m which, together with the amounts patrons pay toward their vouchers effectively translates to a much-needed R4.5 million cash injection into the food and beverage industry. After the 50% incentive bonus runs dry, Stella Artois has committed to still oversee and run the online platform, in the hopes that a movement toward rallying for our restaurants and bars will continue. It will continue to facilitate the purchasing of vouchers and their value being transferred directly to the outlets they relate to. Heres what you can do to #saveyourspot: Go to rallyforyourbarandrestaurant. com Buy a digital voucher to your favourite spot (for R100, R250 or R500). Stella Artois will add an extra 50% to the total voucher amount. Redeem your voucher after lockdown, and enjoy 150% of the value you paid for it. If you cant find your favourite local spot, you can nominate it via the website and Stella Artois will get hold of them directly to try and get them listed as soon as possible. With revenues down and uncertainty looming large on how long the coronavirus crisis will last, most hospitals are busy working out ways to outlive the crisis. In fact, there seems to be an urgent need for the government to release a financial package, especially for hospitals to help them stay afloat amid the crisis. Analysts say, even major corporate hospitals will need short-term financing (liquidity) to the tune of Rs 200-250 crore each because of the cash burn they are facing in the ongoing quarter. Although big players are expecting 50 per cent cut in earnings, they are still in a better position than smaller ones to raise bank loans. However, the uncertainty around how long the corona crisis will last will add to their problems. If it continues beyond the current quarter, which cannot be ruled out, the hospitals will need financing for the next few quarters. Otherwise, they will not be in a position to repay and will run the risk of liquidation or bankruptcy. The time is now to plan for keeping the hospitals solvent, say promoters of the hospitals. In case some hospitals shut their operations due to financial woes, it may lead to lack of facilities for non-corona patients. Mumbai saw the glimpse of it recently when several leading hospitals such as Wockhardt, Jaslok and Breach Candy had to temporarily shut some of their facilities after some of their staff tested positive for coronavirus. Hospitals typically have four sources of revenue - patients admitted, surgeries, pathology and radiology tests and OPD (outpatient department). On one hand, there are huge corporate hospitals, on the other, single doctor-led nursing homes with limited staff and about 10 to 15 beds. These are expected to survive because even if the patient inflow is down, the regular expenditure is also not high. However, the ones with more than 15-100 beds and doctors across specialities along with bank borrowings are likely to face financial constraints and could encounter serious problems unless new ways are found to sustain the crisis. Consider the case of a 30-bed hospital in Navi Mumbai. In the best of times, it has had an average 60 per cent occupancy, which is down to 15 per cent now. There are no elective surgeries such as cataract or hernia. People are scared to get admitted to hospitals and even OPD operations are limited as most consultations are being conducted through telephone or videos. Cost of operations, however, has increased with consumables such as masks and PPEs (personal protective equipment) becoming expensive and additional costs being incurred towards staff transportation during the lockdown and the fixed costs (utility bills) remaining unchanged. One of the hospital promoters, who does not wish to be named, says, "Our monthly expenditure is around Rs 40 lakh and with almost no revenue, it is difficult to pull through beyond a couple of months." What is the way out for such hospitals? They typically seem to be in need of low-cost bank loans with long repayment periods. Since they need to retain staff and have a back-up also, their staff is working in shifts and even those staying at home are getting the full salary. In such cases, they will need subsidy from the government to sustain such operations. The government may also consider exempting hospital items from Goods and Services Tax. Most hospitals are looking at immediate quarter with an aim to conserve cash, defer payments, clear old dues and even explore pay cuts for senior administrative staff without affecting the compensation for frontline healthcare workers. Those with no or low debt feel they can sail through the next couple of months with tight control on costs to conserve cash. Others, especially those with debts and multiple specialities, are looking at all options to prune costs. Max Healthcare, a brand that is strong in North India with its 14 hospitals in the region -- 11 of which are in Delhi alone -- has seen the occupancy down to 35 per cent from the usual 75-80 per cent. To cope up with this, it has cut down all non-essential activities, deferred new hiring and curtailed expenditures across the board. It has also made requests to suppliers and partners to defer payments till situation stabilises. Ranjan Pai, chairman of Manipal Education and Medical Group says banks could perhaps be a little more lenient and lend at concessional rates. Manipal talks of an occupancy down to around 25 per cent and at times getting close to 30 per cent but a far cry from around 70 per cent under normal circumstances. The current activities are only focused on emergency care such as cancer, dialysis and cardiac care with all elective surgeries deferred. Most hospitals are expecting a bounce-back post the lockdown because while many routine procedures and elective surgeries have been postponed, they will still need to be done. The current challenge is sustaining through the crisis. Those on rented premises are seeking to delay the rent payment and get relief on it. Most hospitals are also urging the government to clear the past dues, especially from public sector units and CGHS (Central Government Health Scheme) and ECHS (Ex-servicemen Contributory Health Scheme). In Hyderabad, Yashoda Hospitals Group that has little over 2,000 beds across three hospitals has seen its occupancy down to 15-20 per cent. It is only handling emergency cases even as fourth hospital is coming soon that will nearly double its total capacity. G S Rao, one of the promoters of the hospital chain, says that they are trying their best to conserve cash and should be able to sustain for the next three to four months. "Sustaining the crisis is a huge challenge for all hospitals." Also Read: India's unemployment rate hits 26% amid lockdown, 14 crore lose employment: CMIE Also Read: Coronavirus crisis: Govt brings in ordinance; up to 7-year jail for attacking health workers Also Read: Coronavirus outbreak: Govt approves Rs 15,000 crore for healthcare to fight pandemic Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has demanded that the Centre issue guidelines by this month-end on sending the migrant workers to their native places in the wake of the coronavirus-enforced lockdown. Speaking to the central team led by additional secretary Manoj Joshi through video conference on Tuesday evening, Thackeray said his government has opened shelter camps for over six lakh migrant labourers and they are being looked after well. But, these people want to go back to their native places and are also protesting some times, he pointed out. "If the central government feels the coronavirus spread will be more from April 30 till May 15, it should consider if the stranded labourers can be sent back to their homes before that. If it is possible, guidelines in this regard should be issued," Thackeray said. The Centre should consider if the stranded labourers can be monitored "end-to-end" and quarantined after they reach their homes to ensure there is no spread of the coronavirus, Thackeray said, and urged the Union government to take a timely decision. The chief minister said 80 per cent of the coronavirus patients in the state are asymptomatic and wondered what could be the reason for it. He also expressed the need to study what steps are being taken in Dubai to contain the disease. "We all know what is happening in the US, but need to study what steps are being taken in Dubai. The coronavirus entered Maharashtra through these two places," he said. Thackeray also reiterated the demand for more personal protective equipment (PPE), ventilators and other medical equipment from the Centre. He also sought the Centre's guidance for construction of hospitals by the Army on war-footing, if needed. Thackeray also sought relaxation of central government rules to provide food grains to those who don't have a ration cards. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Heather King was overjoyed when she got the letter from a fourth-grader at a Portland elementary school in December. Hi Heather, the note read. I am nine years old. I am starting a club to help stop pollution and were trying to raise money to donate money to you. If you have any tips please let me know. The author, a girl named Lila, had been inspired after seeing a fundraising letter from Willamette Riverkeeper, where King works as deputy director. They met and, over hot chocolate, hatched a plan for a spare change fundraiser at Lilas school. Within a few weeks, shes collected more than $100. All that was left to do was celebrate with a pizza party. Then the coronavirus hit. The pizza party was postponed. A planned river cleanup at Kelley Point Park, scheduled for the spring, was supposed to give the kids a real-life example of how the money they raised was being spent. With orders to stay at home, the event was canceled. There are so many pieces of this that are heartbreaking, King said. I love this organization and the work that we do. That we cant be out there doing it, it's just sad. Willamette Riverkeeper is just one of countless environmental organizations that have had to cancel or overhaul plans after gearing up for a big celebration Wednesday, Earth Days 50th anniversary. Like nearly every other aspect of daily life, those plans were thrown into disarray by the coronavirus, and the groups face daunting challenges they are scrambling to face. For example, Earth Day Oregon, a relatively new organization in its second year, has had to cancel or postpone dozens of fundraising events and sponsorship deals. Workshops planned to take place in the real world have been moved to video-conferencing platforms. And the usual rallies will fill no streets this year, as societies across the globe have been effectively shuttered. Instead, organizers are taking their movement fully online, with talks and movies and gatherings held on streaming apps and Zoom calls. While Earth Day itself might be tempered by distancing protocols, the work of environmental groups remains as important as ever, they say, even as it grows harder to do. Environmental issues remain a concern Anne Kolibaba Larkin interviewed Gov. Tom McCall on Earth Day in 1970. (Photo courtesy Gary L. Scott) Earth Day got its start in 1970 when Denis Hayes, then a young activist, helped organize a day of nationwide teach-ins focusing on environmental issues. About 20 million people, 10% of the U.S. population, are estimated to have taken part in rallies, demonstrations and protests across the country that first Earth Day. Soon after, President Richard Nixon established the Environmental Protection Agency. In 1990, Hayes was again tapped to broaden the reach of Earth Day rallies with a global audience in mind, and the event ballooned to 200 million participants in 141 countries. The 40th anniversary of Earth Day in 2010 saw more than 1 billion people participate worldwide, according to organizers, and today its billed as the largest secular observance in the world. Then-City Commissioner Earl Bluemenauer (from left); Denis Hayes, international chairman for Earth Day 1990; and then-US Rep. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., join the Portland Earth Day observance with an Earth ball. The spread of the pandemic has changed how those billion people will gather, but it hasnt affected the importance of environmental activism, advocates say. Even with physical distancing and stay-home orders, not every aspect of society has ground to a halt. In late March, the EPA announced it didnt have the staff to fully enforce environmental regulations and that some companies would be charged with monitoring themselves. Last week, the agency effectively loosened regulations on releases of mercury, a highly potent neurotoxin. Public access to public lands has been mostly prohibited, but industries like grazing, mining and timber harvesting have been deemed essential business. In the forests of the Pacific Northwest, logging continues, albeit at a reduced clip, as reported by the Salem Statesman-Journal. For groups like Oregon Wild, normal work would include keeping tabs on those timber sales and logging contracts, said Sean Stevens, executive director of the organization. Distancing protocols have made that all but impossible. That poses a real challenge, with people logging on public lands, but no access for the public, Stevens said. Its a little bit galling. Across many sectors, there are tough decisions about how to keep business going versus what to do for public health, but this lays bare the priorities. Defenders of Wildlife, a national organization that works to protect endangered species like Oregons population of gray wolves, is usually doing field work at this time of year, with dozens of staff members taking surveys, hosting workshops or attending hearings from Alaska to the Rocky Mountains to the Southeast. The organization is still doing some work, said Shawn Cantrell, vice president of field operations, but its mostly limited to online meetings and phone calls. Late spring and summer is our very busy field season. Thats when we put out camera traps and hair snags and try to measure the occupancy of various imperiled species, he said. There is still a need for that work, and were not sure how well well be able to do that in a social distancing way. Financial frustrations But a bigger worry for environmental organizations is one familiar to many as coronavirus has put a squeeze on the economy: funding. Oregon Wild depends, in large part, on foundations, and the losses in the stock market will likely be felt in coming months. Defenders of Wildlife depends on individual donors and, so far at least, theyve fared OK, but Cantrell cautioned that six weeks is not a long time to gauge the economic fallout of the shutdown. Some organizations rely heavily on Earth Day events to raise money, said Bethany Thomas, founder of Earth Day Oregon. Last year, in her inaugural effort, Thomas helped match 84 businesses with nearly two dozen nonprofits to host events with a portion of the proceeds going to environmental groups. She was ready to expand her efforts this year, with more than 200 businesses breweries, wineries and restaurants on deck to host events for more than 50 nonprofits. All of those events have been canceled. Instead, her organization has started an online campaign called My planet, my pledge, wherein people make a promise to take action on an environmental issue and display it publicly. Thomas is trying to keep things in perspective. She knows the challenges most people are facing are far larger than hers, especially among the businesses that have had to pull out of Earth Day. It's been tricky and disappointing. Our plans have been thrown off for the month, but theirs are much worse, she said. It's so hard for the businesses, from the ones as big as Intel and Columbia, down to mom and pop shops. There are so many different stories. Willamette Riverkeeper sits at the intersection of both of those problems, as staff and volunteers have been kept away by stay-home orders and fundraising events have been canceled or postponed. King said the organization seemed to be on the verge of recruiting a dedicated group of volunteers for its monthly river cleanups before the pandemic, and shes not sure how many will return once distancing orders are eased. Three of the organizations biggest fundraisers, which usually raise about $100,000, were scheduled for the coming months. But King is still encouraging her members to get out for individual river cleanups, properly distanced, of course. We are really trying to engage our membership to get them out there to do these kinds of things, King said. If you have your kids at home, make a science class out of it. You can have them identify a bird. If you find invasive weeds, you can still report them to us. If and when things return to something resembling normal, King said she hopes to be back on the banks of the Willamette. In the last cleanup in Eugene, volunteers collected nearly 200 cubic yards of trash, so the need isnt going anywhere. And theres one aspect of her work that she wouldnt dare cancel: the pizza party for Lila, the young girl who collected change from her classmates to donate to Willamette Riverkeeper. Once its safe to do so, King plans to add ice cream to the menu. -- Kale Williams; kwilliams@oregonian.com; 503-294-4048; @sfkale Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Karnataka police have arrested 60 more people in connection with the attack on health workers and destruction of government property in Padarayanpura area of the state capital of Bengaluru late on Sunday night. The ASHA workers and other government officials had gone to Padarayanapura, a very congested and densely populated area, to quarantine the primary and secondary contacts of some people who had tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) after attending the Tablighi Jamaats March event in Delhi Nizamuddin. On Monday, police had arrested 59 people and filed five first information reports (FIRs). Also read: Karnataka rules out relaxation of lockdown after attack on health workers State home minister Basvaraj Bommai said on Tuesday that 60 more people, who were involved in the violence, have been detained. All of them are being charged under the national disaster management act as well as the epidemic diseases act apart from various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). With this, the total number of people detained has risen to 119. Meanwhile, Karnataka High Court expressed serious concern on the assault of health workers. A divisional bench of Chief Justice AS Oak and justice BV Nagaratna asked the government to submit a report on what action has been taken against the culprits and what measures are being taken to protect the health workers by April 24. The bench was hearing an interim petition filed in this regard by a lawyer Geeta Mishra. Also read: Padarayanapura incident an act of goondaism, says Karnataka CM In a separate incident, Mysore Police arrested three men for verbally assaulting, using abusive language and trying to intimidate an ASHA worker who as a part of a state government campaign had gone door to door in Alim Nagar requesting people to maintain social distance, hygiene and wear a mask. An NR Mohalla police station officer said an FIR has been registered and the three men have been detained. Australia's Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton announces measures against online sexual exploitation during a press conference at the Department of Justice in Washington on March 5, 2020. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images) Chinese Regime Targets Home Affairs Minister in Propaganda Push The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has targeted Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton in its latest attempt to deflect blame over the regimes mishandling of the initial outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic on April 21. The regimes embassy complained about Duttons calls for transparency in a media release. Dutton told the Nine Network on April 17 that he thought it was Chinas duty to answer those questions and provide the information to give people clarity and so that it doesnt happen again. We dont want it to be repeated and we know this is not the first instance of a virus being spread from the wildlife wet markets [in China] and we need to be honest about that, he said. Government Support For Dutton Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said on April 22 in an interview with the ABC that the regimes comments about Peter Dutton were unwanted and unjustified. Frydenberg said that while Australia and China maintain a good relationship at the commercial level, ultimately Peter Duttons role, the prime ministers role, my role, and all my colleagues role is to defend Australias national interest and that is what we will continue to do and we will speak up about it as required. The Australian media have also increasingly been a target of the CCP. The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, and the Daily Telegraph have all raised the ire of the Chinese regime for their reporting on the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus. Global Propaganda Campaign Australia is not alone in receiving this treatment from the CCP. Internationally, the CCP has been pushing a global propaganda campaign in an attempt to change the narrative around the outbreak and it is targeting media outlets and politicians. In the United Kingdom, the regimes embassy has published 13 separate media releases in the past three months attacking different UK news outlets including The Economist, The Times, and The Guardian for reporting that the outbreak came from China. Meanwhile, in France, the French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian summoned the Chinese envoy over public statements the embassy made regarding Frances handling of the outbreak. The remarks by an anonymous Chinese diplomat accused western media and politicians of abandoning their people and of slandering China. Countries around the world are currently rethinking their relations with China. Foreign minister for the United Kingdom, Dominic Raab said on April 16 it cannot be business as usual with China after this crisis. Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne has called for an independent international investigation into the CCPs handling of the outbreak. In an interview with the ABC on April 21, Payne signalled that Australia would also be reviewing its relationship with China. Payne said, I do think that relationships between China and its partners, Australia and China, will be changed in some ways. She added that Australia has a well-founded relationship with China. However all of these things will need to be reviewed, will need to be considered in the light of changes in the world economy, in the light of changes in international health security, and so many other things. And that is the work that we are doing at the moment, she said. New Delhi: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat will deliver an online address on Sunday on the current situation in wake of the COVID-19 crisis, the Sangh said on Wednesday. According to senior functionaries of the Sangh, this is for the first time in its history that such an address of its head is being held through a virtual platform. In a tweet, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh said, Bhagwat will address on 'Current Situation and Our Role' on April 26 at 5 pm. "All of you are invited to join this session along with family members and well-wishers," the Sangh said. The Sangh chief addresses only twice a year - once on Vijaydashmi, which sets the agenda and gives direction to RSS workers for the upcoming year and in the first week of June on the conclusion of the annual training session of the RSS for its workers. Sources in the Sangh said the focus will be on suggesting the way out from this crisis. And at the same time what changes are required in the aftermath of this crisis, the sources said. The outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease across the world has brought with it a lot of uncertainties resulting in fear, anxiety, and insecurity among employers and employees. In effect, the situation is testing stress levels and the ability of the partners to stay stable and resilient in these trying and unusual times. It is against this background that IHRMP has identified the obvious and foreseeable challenges such as how to get a consistent flow of information and updates out to employees; how to maintain high employee engagement levels and trust with the leadership teams; how to act as a trusted advisor to management during the crisis and how to maintain relevant work regulations and practical rules during the pandemic. Other challenges include: how to predict future workforce needs in response to the evolving economic landscape, how to manage with inadequate resources to aid the control and prevention of the outbreak in workplaces and how to measure and improve the work efficiency of remote workers. As IHRMP encourages employers to contact the Institute for assistance on staff management in these difficult times through the numbers: 0202012110; 0244204641; 0277596868; 0244328677; 024456936, the Institute also recommends the following measures to HR practitioners and other stakeholders as part of efforts to mitigate the negative impact of the pandemic on organisations: WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT Facilitate a review of current working arrangements and HR policies and procedures to accelerate the institution of FlexiWorking, Working From Home, remote working, or teleworking arrangements as well as explore to select and invest in fit-for-purpose cost-effective technical support systems including digitization and Information Technology. Delay new hires, decrease outsourcing arrangements and carry out job-sharing arrangements. AWARENESS CREATION Increase regular communication to bring to the awareness of staff and clients safety assurances based on adequate COVID19 preventive measures and protocols being employed. Establish Counselling Services for Employees. Consider the need for engaging the services of Occupational Psychologists to provide occupational therapeutic and counseling services to help employees navigate through the phases of fear and panic. REDUCTION OF EMPLOYEE-CLIENT INTERACTIONS Evaluate and reduce the employee-customer ratio to the barest minimum to minimize interactions between employees and clients. Identify high traffic areas of the work settings where there's regular contact of personnel, or personnel with clients contact and increase the frequency of disinfection, fumigation, and cleaning of such areas. Where applicable, provide relevant training and retraining of all employees interfacing with clients who provide online services to ensure customer service and efficiency do not decline. STAFF TRAINING Upskill staff training in digital technology and where applicable, provide relevant training and retraining of critical employees in the use of Public Health Authorities' recommended Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to ensure correct usage. BENEFITS/LEAVE MANAGEMENT Review HR policies and procedures with regard to leave and sick leave to be in tandem with public health demands and standards. Furthermore, where applicable, consider active leave management, voluntary and involuntary leave as well as early retirement options without penalty. Self-isolation under the present circumstance as either paid leave, sick leave, or compassionate leave. Requesting staff whose services may not be required during the lockdown period to take their leave. However, the employer would need to notify the employee(s) in advance that the absence from work will be deemed as leave or that some number of days of absence will be deemed as leave. Negotiating with employees on the variation in remuneration under the existing employment contract, such as paying a lesser salary for such period, where the lockdown period exceeds employees leave entitlement. SALARY OR INCENTIVES Organisations that may experience a period of a drastic reduction in revenue and/or have been operating largely with loans/overdraft may consider, where applicable: Deferring or delaying annual Cost of Living Adjustment(COLA) and merit salary increment; Deferring or Reducing Annual bonus. The IHRMP encourages employers across the country to implement the above-stated measures out of good faith and based on facts and figures as well as transparent communication with employees. WALLULA, Wash., April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Even before any workers at the union-represented Lamb Weston French Fry plant in Pasco, Wash. were diagnosed with COVID-19, the union representing over 550 workers at the plant insisted that management take steps to protect workers from the deadly virus. When a worker at the plant was eventually diagnosed with COVID-19 in late March, the plant was immediately closed and the workers were sent home with pay for two weeks as the plant was disinfected. After that even more measures were taken by management and the union to protect workers. Just 15 miles down the road in Wallula, Wash., workers at the nonunion Tyson Foods beef processing plant might as well be living in a different world. That plant has had a COVID-19 outbreak which has reached at least 99 confirmed cases as of this writing but has continued to operate near full capacity. The contrast between these two plants lays bare the struggle that nonunion workers have faced in advocating for their safety when company profits are on the line. The message they've been forced to take home over and over again? "You don't matter." Worker safety was at the top of the list of priorities for Local 839 even before the COVID-19 pandemic first touched workers at the Lamb Weston facility. When the threat of this new virus was first identified, social distancing measures were put in place, portable cafeterias were set up, and the Lamb Weston attendance policy was modified so that workers wouldn't be penalized for staying home if they or a loved one was having symptoms. Additional measures were also taken, all of which included the voices and ideas of the actual workers who would be affected by them. Once the virus struck the facility directly, Teamsters made sure that workers were paid during the two weeks that the plant was closed for disinfecting; since then workers have been provided with personal protective equipment. Nurses have been on site taking temperatures and interviewing workers to assess their risk of exposure to COVID-19. "Would they be taking care of us like this if we didn't have a strong union presence here? I can't say for sure, but from what's going on at the nonunion plants around here, I guess not," said Lamb Weston worker and Local 839 Shop Steward Patricia Gilmore. "The nonunion plants are too focused on profits, so they aren't interested in spending the money it costs to take care of their workers properly. That's why we're thankful to be Teamsters here." The situation at the nonunion Tyson Food plant seems to confirm Gilmore's view. As the number of infections at the Tyson Fresh Foods plant in Wallula continue to creep upwards, a petition has circulated with more than 3,000 signatures calling for the plant to be closed for 14 days to allow workers to self-quarantine before they resume operations. In the face of this increasing pressure from the community to do something to address the outbreak, Tyson has finally announced that it will temporarily close the plant to assess the situation and test all of the workers. "The situation at the nonunion Tyson plant is the absolute epitome of what we mean when we use the phrase 'corporate greed,'" said Local 839 Secretary-Treasurer Russell Shjerven. "You have close to ten percent of your workforce testing positive for COVID-19 but it takes a community petition with over 3,000 signatures before you'll take any real action about it? Unacceptable." The contrast between workers' experiences at unionized Lamb Weston and nonunion Tyson Foods are symptomatic of a larger problem that has been exposed by this crisis: without a union to make their employer do the right thing, many workers in essential industries in Washington are stuck relying on the goodwill of their bosses to keep them safe. Many are finding that goodwill to be in extremely short supply. "What we want is for workers to be safe that's what the labor movement has been fighting for for over 100 years," said Shjerven. "Tyson isn't doing nearly enough to keep their workers safe, just like we're seeing at Amazon, where they're doing the absolute bare minimum to get the government off their back. It's a disgrace that nonunion workers are treated this way, and we hope that people are taking home a lesson here about how much their bosses care about them: they only care about you as much as they can profit off your labor." Chartered in 1950, Teamsters Local Union No. 839 represents over 2,100 hard-working people in Southeastern Washington and Northeastern Oregon. Contact: Russell Shjerven, (509) 628-6071 [email protected] SOURCE Teamsters Local 839 Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose) is among lawmakers who face the longest flights to return to Washington for voting as airlines reduce operations. (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) Amid deep opposition from Republicans, House Democratic leaders on Wednesday scrapped plans to vote this week on a historic change to congressional rules that would have allowed lawmakers to vote remotely during the coronavirus pandemic. Democrats had hoped to set up a system of proxy voting by which lawmakers could direct another member to cast a vote on his or her behalf, allowing Congress to function without requiring all 435 House members to travel to Washington. The concern is particularly acute for lawmakers from the West Coast, who face the longest flights to Washington, as airlines reduce operations. Instead, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) said Wednesday she would set up a bipartisan group of lawmakers to review the issue of remote voting by proxy and reopening the House, according to a Democratic leadership aide. Republicans almost universally panned the idea, and the aide said Pelosi wanted a bipartisan resolution. GOP lawmakers argued that allowing members to vote without being in Washington would undermine the American system of representative government and marked a change in precedent that they might never be able to undo. If lawmakers were able to make it to Washington to vote during the Civil War or the 1918 flu pandemic, lawmakers can travel on nearly empty planes to cast their votes today, they said. Weve operated for 200-plus years without having proxy voting on the floor of the House, said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), the top Republican on the House Rules Committee, noting that other parts of the federal government were still functioning. Its not as if the president and vice president are holed up in Cheyenne Mountain or something, he said in an interview before the vote was canceled, referring to the defense bunker built during the Cold War to ensure the federal government could continue operations if an attack took place in Washington. House rules have always required members to vote in person in the House chamber. Lawmakers slip an ID card into electronic machines scattered around the cavernous chamber and push a button to record their position on a bill or amendment. Story continues Under the Democratic proposal, which would have been temporary, members would have been allowed to give another member of Congress their proxy to vote on their behalf and in accordance with their instructions. The proxy would have to be arranged ahead of time in writing likely via email and the member not in Washington would have to spell out his or her position in advance. Ensuring that lawmakers can continue their work during the pandemic is vital. Congress has already approved trillions of dollars in spending related to the economic fallout of the coronavirus, and lawmakers are preparing to open federal coffers again with additional legislation. The Democratic plan also would have allowed the remote meeting of congressional committees, many of which are led by members eager to conduct oversight of the coronavirus relief bills already approved by Congress. Lawmakers have grappled before with how to function during an emergency or disaster. After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the House put a rule in place that aimed to ensure Congress could vote even if dozens or even hundreds of lawmakers were incapacitated. But Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose), the chair of the House Administration Committee responsible for the operations of Congress, says those plans are not enough to address the current crisis. Now we have a situation where everyone is told to shelter in place and not to be with 10 other people at a time, she said. How can American voters be told one thing and were not going to do the same thing. Thats not setting a very good example. Lofgren and Cole will participate in Pelosi's group to examine the issue, alongside Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), the top Republican on the House Administration Committee; Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Rules Committee; House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield); and House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.). McCarthy insisted Wednesday that any change in the House's long voting history needs to be bipartisan a point he made to Pelosi in a conversation between the two leaders Wednesday morning. "I made a commitment to her that we would be able to look at that and get to that point," he said of bipartisanship. He insisted that the group address not only remote voting, but also "reopening" Congress. McCarthy suggested that reopening Congress may involve calling back only the lawmakers who serve on certain committees until a major vote is planned that would require all members. Republicans are worried that the Democrats plan could open the door to allowing proxy or remote voting more often. Lofgren said in an interview before the vote was scrapped that if the process worked well now, committee hearings could be conducted remotely more often. Before the pandemic, there was a lot of cost and air pollution associated with flying members of Congress and witnesses all over the country, she said. As long as the hearing is publicly accessible and lawmakers are accountable, that may be something we might want to think about doing more often. Another chief concern has been cybersecurity vulnerabilities. But Democrats said the public nature of the vote should ensure that members would know if his or her vote was changed. Republicans said the process would further consolidate power in congressional leadership. For years, members of both parties have grown frustrated with bills that are written by congressional leaders and only shown to rank-and-file members shortly before the vote is called. Democrats were trying to "take advantage of this crisis and really take the voice of members and people who elect them out of service by authorizing a proxy process that can give leadership more power," Davis said in an interview before the vote on the rule change was canceled. "We are elected to represent a district in this democratic republic. Were supposed to be the voice of our district. Were not supposed to give that voice to somebody else," Davis said. Proxies could also become a partisan tool, he said. While the Democratic plan would require those receiving a proxy to vote as the absent lawmaker instructed, giving a proxy to prominent lawmakers could carry symbolic significance, he said. He gave an example, citing MSNBC host Rachel Maddow and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). If Maddow "said you ought to give AOC your proxy vote, some people here would say, 'OK, Ill give AOC my proxy vote. Cause thats going to get me more social media hits and likes and retweets,' Davis said. Conversely, if [Fox host] Sean Hannity said go give [Rep.] Jim Jordan your proxy vote, youll be cheered for it by our crowd." Dr Raman Gangakhedkar said the companies that supplied kits will be asked to replace them if found to be faulty. India's apex medical research body ICMR on Tuesday advised states to stop using the rapid antibody test kits for next two days till it examines their quality in the wake of complaints that they are not fully effective. Last week, India procured five lakh rapid antibody test kits from two Chinese firms and they were distributed to several states reporting rising cases of coronavirus infection. Rajasthan government on Tuesday said that the kits were giving out inaccurate results. At a press briefing, Head of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases at Indian the ICMR, Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar, said the companies which supplied the kits will be asked to replace them if the kits are found to be faulty. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has been the nodal medical body in the country's fight against the pandemic. "We have received complaint from one state and so far discussed the issue with three states. High variations ranging from 6 to 71 per cent have been reported between the results of the rapid tests and RT-PCR tests. We will advise states not to use these testing kits for the next two days," he said. These kits will be tested and validated in the field by teams from our eight institutes after which we will issue a clear-cut advisory for the states. If there is some fault in the batch, we will ask the company to replace the kits," Gangakhedkar said. Officials clearly indicated that the kits over which questions have been raised are from China. Rajasthan health minister Raghu Sharma on Tuesday said the kits gave only 5.4 per cent accurate results against the expectation of 90 per cent accuracy and therefore were of no benefit. In the wake of adverse reports about the quality of Chinese medical equipment, a spokesperson in the Chinese embassy Ji Rong last week said China attaches great importance to the quality of medical products. "We hope that foreign buyers can choose products certified by Chinese regulatory authorities and with production qualifications when importing relevant products," Ji had said. She said the Chinese authorities introduced stricter regulatory measures, requiring exporters to declare that their supplies have obtained the registration certificate for the medical device from the State Food and Drug Administration and meet the quality standards of the importing country. About questions over the quality of the tests, Gangakhedkar said that these were first general tests and may show variations. It has been just three-and-half months since the disease appeared and so any test will have to be refined further, he added. At present, the government uses the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests to detect coronavirus from the throat or nasal swab samples of people. These take around five to six hours to show the results. In the rapid antibody tests, the blood samples of suspected patients are taken, and it normally takes around 15-30 minutes to give the result. The government has recommended the use of rapid antibody tests in hotspot areas. "It is to be used for surveillance and for epidemiological purposes in such areas. The RT-PCR test is the gold standard for frontline test and antibody test cannot replace this test. Utility of rapid antibody test is primarily for assessing prevalence of infection in a particular area," officials earlier had said. India has been facing severe shortage of testing kits amid rising cases of the coronavirus. Asked if the number of cases would stabilise, Gangakhedkar said, "The doubling time of cases is increasing, the current situation indicates that significant increase in number of coronavirus cases is unlikely." A total of 4,49,810 samples for COVID-19 infection have been tested till Tuesday of which 35,852 were tested on Monday, he said. As many as 29,776 samples have been tested in 201 labs under the ICMR network, and 6,076 at 86 private laboratories, he said. Joint Secretary in the ministry of Health Lav Agarwal said that along with Mahe (Puducherry), Kodagu (Karnataka) and Pauri Garhwal (Uttrakhand) , a new district Pratapgarh in Rajasthan has not reported any fresh cases during the last 28 days. There are now 61 additional districts from 23 states and UTs that have not reported any fresh cases in the last 14 days. Four new districts which have been included in the list are Latur, Osmanabad, Hingoli and Washim from Maharashtra, according to the official. Agarwal further said that the Union Health Minister has written to all state and UT health departments asking them to ensure adequate availability of blood in blood banks especially for people requiring regular blood transfusion on account of disorders such as Thalassemia, Sickle Cell Anemia and Hemophilia etc. Also, a 24x7 control room has been started by Indian Red Cross in Delhi. Whoever requires or want to donate blood can contact on 011 233 59379, 9319982104 and 9319982105. He said that detailed guidelines have been issued to states that they should focus on COVID-19 cases while, at the same time, non-COVID hospitals should provide regular services relating to maternal and child care, dialysis as well as treatment for cancer and HIV patients. While providing all these services, required infection prevention control practices should be ensured in hospital set-ups to prevent spread of hospital related infections, he said. Agarwal said that a total of 1,336 new cases have been reported in the last 24 hours since Sunday morning taking the total number of cases in the country to 18, 601. Also 3,252 people have been cured so far with 705 people, the highest so far, having recovered on Monday. So overall 17.48 per cent people have recovered in the country so far, he stated. Responding to a media query about 80 per cent of the COVID-19 patients being either asymptomatic and having mild symptoms and how the government is dealing with it, Gangakhedkar said that it is just one study according to which 80 out of 100 patients are asymptomatic. "Among the total coronavirus tests conducted so far, 69 per cent were asymptomatic cases and 31 per cent were symptomatic cases. Which means for one positive patients when we initiated contact tracing, on an average we found three or four asymptomatic patients," he said. "There are few reports of lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases which are truly asymptomatic. There has been no documented asymptomatic transmission. This does not exclude the possibility that it may occur," Agarwal said referring to a WHO report. "Using community surveillance and contact tracing, we are taking pre-emptive action to test asymptomatic persons with high risk contacts so that we are able to identify infected patients in early stage, treat them and reduce mortality," he said. At present there is data for more than 1.24 crore human resources on the 'covid warriors' - a dashboard developed by the government for augmenting human resources - and it is continuously being updated, chairman of the empowered group, Arun Kumar Panda, also Secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises said. As on date, 14995 AYUSH professionals have been deployed in 15 states and 2 UTs, whereas 3492 NCC cadets and 553 NCC staff have been deployed in 68 districts in 16 states and 3 UTs. More than 47,000 cadets have already enrolled for training and will be available for deployment. Also, 1,80,000 ex-servicemen have been identified by the Sainik Boards for deployment. More than 40,000 volunteers from Indian Red Cross are actively participating in COVID-19 related activities in over 550 districts in the country. The coronavirus might have disrupted their senior year, but Helmetta Mayor Chris Slavicek was not going to let the Class of 2020 leave his borough without a proper send-off. With the possibility of students going back to school getting slimmer by the day, and the odds of graduation being canceled or postponed rising, Slavicek had to get creative to honor the boroughs 25 graduating seniors. In the coming weeks, all 25 Helmetta seniors at Spotswood High School will have their photo displayed on banners down Main Street. Theyre a personal gift from Slavicek, and he hopes theyll be displayed for the entire month of June. Any bit of positivity we can bring to the table in these uncertain times is important, Slavicek said. As mayor, I feel a responsibility and obligation to be a pillar of positivity. Each banner will have the name and photo of a senior displayed, along with the slogan #SmallTownBigHeart. Slavicek knows exactly what these students are missing, having graduated from Spotswood High School himself. He says the school gave him the foundation he needed to be successful professionally and thinks its important the students get some type of closure as they get ready to leave high school. I know these kids, I know their families, he said. I just want to give back. He first teased his plan in a Facebook post, sharing a news article about an Oklahoma town that also flew banners, before eventually confirming theyd be coming to Helmetta, too. Reaction to the surprise has been overwhelmingly positive. Parents of the Class of 2020 say Slaviceks initiative is a bright spot in an otherwise rough time for their children. When I found out Mayor Chris was doing this... Ive been crying for a month and it put a smile on my face for the first time, Rosanne Hologounis said. He knows how important senior year is, and all these memories. Her daughter, Alexa Hologounis, is one of the 25 seniors from Helmetta who will be graduating from Spotswood High School. Its been a difficult time for Alexa, Hologounis said, as her final time in high school is being taken by the pandemic. Alexa was able to enjoy her senior season as a varsity cheerleader, but schools shut just before her last season as a track and field athlete was about to start. Prom and graduation remain question marks on the school calendar. The banners cant replace graduation, Hologounis said, but theyre a welcome tribute to the tight-knit class. She hopes the banner will put a smile on her daughters face, even if having her photo on Main Street is embarrassing at first. Maria Karczewski, whose son, Steven, is graduating this year, says if it was up to Slavicek, hed throw a full parade for the seniors thats just the kind of mayor he is. Long before Helmetta knew him as Mayor Slavicek, he was known around town as Mr. Chris, the Spotswood elementary drama director. Current seniors got to know Slavicek when he directed them in their fifth-grade production of Peter Pan. And when hes not doing mayoral duties or working part-time in schools, Slavicek is the director of an assisted living facility. As soon as the kids see (the banners) theyll know it was Chriss idea, she said. The banners are just part of a long list of good deeds hes done for the community, including personally sponsoring a scholarship, she said. Steven Karczewski doesnt know about the banners Karczewski doesnt think any of the students have heard yet but thinks hell love it. I think hes going to love that they are getting recognized in a very different way, Karczewski said. Like Alexa, Steven is missing his spring track season, and Karczewski says hes devastated that the DECA international conference set for this spring has been canceled. Karczewski hopes her son will be able to look back at this time and see that the community came together to support them. Personally donating banners to honor the seniors is just another act of kindness in a long list from Slavicek, both parents said. Everything he does for the town is so selfless and comes from the bottom of his heart, Hologounis said. Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share. If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter. Katie Kausch may be reached at kkausch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KatieKausch. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us: nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. In a bid to help Dharavi residents who are facing financial crisis due to the coronavirus-enforced lockdown, a senior civic official has come up with a novel concept of adopting families from the containment zones of Mumbai's slum area for next few months. The idea is to 'Adopt a Family' from Dharavi slums, where the coronavirus cases have gone over 150, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's G-north ward assistant commissioner Kiran Dighavkar said. As a precautionary measure, some areas of Dharavi have been sealed and declared a containment zones, from where no family can go out even to buy essential items, he said. "If one person adopts five families from Dharavis slum area for the next couple of months, it will be a great help in our fight against the coronavirus. These people are financially stressed. If these families are adopted, they will not require to come out on streets during the lockdown," Dighavkar said. "Already, some multi-national companies and corporates are distributing food packets in Dharavi. If we rope in people who can take care of these families, the BMC can reach out to more people in the containment zones," he said. Some areas of Dharavi come under the high risk category because of the dense population and small houses, the official said. The risk factor also increases as these people are worried about their future and tend to come out of their houses in search of some work. "Once they are assured of supply of food grains, vegetables and medicines at regular intervals, they will not come out on streets," the official said. The cost of one family's requirement of food grains, vegetables, edible oil, fruits and medicines for 15 days is around Rs 5,000, he said. "We are going to hold a meeting with local police officials to work out the plan, he added. Dharavi is one of the biggest slum areas in Asia. Nearly 15 lakh people live in this highly congested area of Mumbai. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) WOONSOCKET (dpa-AFX) - CVS Health Corp. extended its rapid COVID-19 drive-thru testing sites to Michigan, with the launch of a new rapid COVID-19 drive-thru testing site in Dearborn in collaboration with federal and state officials. Since March, the company has conducted more than 35,000 COVID-19 tests. The new testing is part of CVS Health's efforts to expand access to coronavirus (COVID-19) testing for everybody impacted by the pandemic, particularly to underserved, multicultural communities that have existing challenges with access to care. The Michigan testing site is among the five large-scale testing sites open to the public by CVS. Other sites are in Connecticut, Georgia, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The testing site in Dearborn will be at the parking lot at the Henry Ford Centennial Library and will be overseen by licensed health care providers from MinuteClinic, the retail medical clinic inside CVS Pharmacy locations, with assistance from CVS pharmacists. No testing will take place at CVS Pharmacy or MinuteClinic locations. CVS Health will provide state residents with rapid COVID-19 testing and on-the-spot results free of cost, using the new Abbott ID NOW COVID-19 test. This will help them properly quarantine or seek treatment as appropriate. Abbott's new test had received emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration earlier in the month for being the fastest available molecular point-of-care test for the detection of COVID-19. Testing will be free for people who meet the criteria established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC. Patients will need to pre-register in advance in order to schedule an appointment for testing. To help ensure the safety of both patients and health care providers, the testing site cannot accommodate walk-ups and patients are required to remain in their vehicles throughout the entire testing process. After a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and major U.S. health-care companies as well as retailers in mid-March, three companies apart from CVS were designated to host drive-thru testing for COVID-19 in their parking lots - Walgreens, Walmart, and Target. Walgreens activated its first drive-thru testing site in the Chicago area on March 21, which was initially for first responders and health care workers and later for the most vulnerable citizens, including those aged over 65. Walgreens is also expanding its drive-thru testing for the COVID-19 to fifteen new locations in seven states across the U.S. They include Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Tennessee and Texas. It has already activated nine testing locations across five states now, including Arizona, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan and Texas. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de Coronavirus: Where to buy face masks, bandanas, scarves, face coverings Health officials are recommending people wear non-medical face coverings such as masks, bandanas or scarves when they are in public. The recommendation is just one of the efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the virus caused by coronavirus. Dr. Mary McIntyre, chief medical officer for the Alabama Department of Public Health, said the face coverings are an alternative to medical masks, which need to be reserved for use by hospitals, first responders and other healthcare providers. The push for face masks has led to numerous tutorials on how to make your own (You can see the CDCs here). Sewing groups and individuals are also making masks. If youre not crafty, you can also order masks. Many places are selling masks, including: Balaclavas style Kohls Amazon Backcountry Dicks Sporting Goods Bandanas Amazon Target Urban Outfitters Claires Scarves: Fanatics Kohls Amazon Claires You can even get a face covering that shows off your team spirit. You can get University of Alabama scarves here and Auburn here. When it was created in late March, the PPP which is run by the federal Small Business Administration (SBA) was designed to lend $349 billion to help small businesses retain their employees and cover other expenses during the temporary shutdowns the coronavirus pandemic has caused. If a company borrowed money through the PPP, that loan could convert to a grant if the business used most of the money to pay employees wages. The new bill also includes $2 billion for the SBA to cover administrative costs. Demand for PPP loans was high, and the program ran out of money. Congress and the White House quickly began negotiating over additional funding, resulting in the bill the president signed today. The bill will provide an additional $60 billion for the SBA's Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, which also has seen high demand from businesses looking for ways to fill the gaps from the revenue lost due to the coronavirus. To address the health care demands of the pandemic, the bill contains $75 billion in funding for hospitals, along with an additional $25 billion to research, develop and expand testing for the coronavirus, which can cause COVID-19. Many small businesses that were unable to get loans urged the federal government to add more funding for the PPP. The PPP is particularly important because it enables businesses to keep paying workers while preventing employers from falling into bankruptcy as a result of the economic disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The promoters of crisis-hit Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL), Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan, have been released from COVID-19 quarantine facility and have been asked to stay at their home in Mahabaleshwar from where they were detained on April 9. The Wadhawan brothers, accused in YES Bank fraud case, along with other family members were released from the facility after completing 14 days of quarantine at a government school in Maharashtra's Panchgani. The Wadhawan family has been directed by the government authorities to not leave Satara District without permission from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), officials said. On April 9, billionaire brothers Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan along with 21 others were detained in Mahabaleshwar, a hill station in Maharashtra, for violating lockdown orders. The CBI had asked District Magistrate of Satara to not release DHFL promoters from quarantine facility without its approval as they face non-bailable warrants in the YES Bank fraud case. Both Kapil and Dheeraj were absconding since the case was registered against them on March 7, prompting the CBI to get non-bailable warrants (NBWs) against them from a special court. The CBI is likely to arrest Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan. However, court has put a stay on non-bailable warrant against the duo till May 5. Also Read: Coronavirus in India: DHFL promoters Kapil, Dheeraj Wadhawan booked for breaking lockdown The Wadhawan brothers are named as accused in CBI FIR pertaining to alleged swindling of money by YES Bank former CEO Rana Kapoor and others. The CBI is probing the role of Wadhawan brothers in the YES Bank case on allegations that DHFL received Rs 3,700 crore of investment in exchange for paying Rs 600 crore as bribes to firms related to family members of YES Bank founder Rana Kapoor. The ED, which is also probing DHFL and its promoters in connection with Iqbal Mirchi property case, is also in touch with authorities in Satara and is keeping a close watch on developments as well. The CBI and the ED said the Wadhawans have been visiting Mahabaleshwar for some time now, sources told India Today TV. They said the family was there with a big entourage in mid-March as well. Also Read: Coronavirus in Maharashtra: IPS officer sent on leave for letting Wadhawans travel This development comes at a time when the probe agencies have had issued multiple summons to the Wadhawans to join the probe in the YES Bank case. However, they have refused to appear for questioning arguing that they can't appear for questioning due to the spread of novel coronavirus in India. Meanwhile, Maharashtra government has informed the CBI and ED that all 23 members will be released on April 22 and they will provide assistance if the agency decides to take any action against the Wadhawan brothers. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is better known for yelling at journalists than consoling them. But when Pompeo got on the phone with the publishers of The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times on March 21, he said he was there to offer help, according to a person with direct knowledge of the call. And he acknowledged that the Trump administrations latest shot at China had been, if not wrong, poorly timed. Thats because on March 2 a month after President Donald Trump banned travel from China, and the day the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States passed 100 the State Department announced a long-planned expulsion of about 60 employees of five Chinese state media outlets working in the United States. The US move gave the Communist Party the perfect excuse to get rid of pesky American journalists who had, over the previous two months, offered the world a window into Chinas deadly mistakes in responding to the outbreak of the virus. On March 17, China slammed that window shut, announcing the expulsion of reporters for The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and New York Times, and forcing the firing of Chinese nationals who worked for those outlets as well as for Voice of America and CNN. Given the fact that its vital to have good information out of China right now because of coronavirus, the US decision was pretty disastrous timing, said Megha Rajagopalan, a correspondent for BuzzFeed News whose visa was not renewed in 2018 after she reported about the mass internment of Muslims in China. Rajagopalan and other expelled reporters stressed, however, that the US crackdown in no way compares with the brazen Chinese efforts to undermine a free media. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show The Chinese government is at fault, far and above the US government, she said. A senior administration official told me that the US move had been on the wish list of US counterintelligence officials and China hawks, and was pursued on a totally different track from coronavirus. The official argued that even in early March, the virus was not the all-consuming epidemic that it was now. But the ill-timed US action underscores how slow the Trump administration was to recognise that the coronavirus would effectively be the most consuming issue this year. The United States made its point but paid a big price for it. China lost reporters for low-impact state media outlets, while US citizens and leaders lost access to rare up-close reporting in an increasingly closed state. The administration didnt really accomplish much, said Marcus Brauchli, a former Wall Street Journal editor and former China correspondent. He said that he doubted the US government had better sources on the ground than the journalists who were expelled. So they just sacrificed one eye for what? These questions are not easy ones. The rise of Xi Jinpings authoritarianism in China is the story of a generation. The battle now is over who controls that story, and that battle has only intensified as citizens around the world try to understand the coronavirus crisis and governments around the world try to deflect blame for the deep losses it has caused. This time around, the Trump administration has a broader goal of strengthening the US position against China on all fronts, abandoning the once broadly held theory that Chinas embrace of open markets and engagement with the West would ultimately lead it to adopt democratic values. Now, the administration is considering its next step, which could be to expel specific Chinese journalists it views as spies, Edward Wong and Julian E Barnes reported. Other ideas are also being discussed, said Michael Pillsbury, a Trump adviser and director of the Hudson Institutes Centre on Chinese Strategy, including whether Chinese access to the big American platforms of YouTube, Twitter and Facebook could be limited. (The platforms are blocked in China, but are powerful vehicles for Chinese propaganda globally.) To read the coverage of the expelled reporters is to understand what is lost. Revelatory investigations in the Times, Post, and Journal exposed Chinese government mistakes and cover-ups as the coronavirus spread. Other articles simply let American readers identify with Chinese pain, as The Washington Posts Emily Rauhala put it. There was The Wall Street Journals look at the chaos in a Wuhan hospital, Anna Fifields reporting in The Post on the suspicions of grieving families, Amy Qins portrait of a devastated family in The Times and the empathetic tweets by Chris Buckley of The Times. Now, the US and Chinese governments seem to be shifting their focus to the blame game. Pottinger has been pushing the plausible, but unproven theory that the pandemic started with an accident in a Chinese lab. The claim has entered the Washington spin cycle, with echoes of the run-up to the Iraq War. And the fewer independent American reporters there are working in Beijing, the more the China story may be shaped by US officials. The Chinese government is going to discover that the cost of not having a significant presence of reporters on the ground, said Buckley, an Australian-born reporter for The Times, who was under quarantine in Wuhan when he was told he was being expelled. The China story as a whole becomes even more hostage to these lurid representations and misrepresentations of the country that you would think the Chinese government would have some interests in allowing people to rebut. Meanwhile, a Chinese journalist in Washington told me that China Global Television Network already has a plan to replace the staff it sent home: Theyll hire some American journalists on contract to help with the propaganda broadcasts. In this job market, they probably wont be hard to find. c.2020 The New York Times Company A new search warrant was served today at the Los Angeles home of a man who has long been described as a person of interest in the 1996 disappearance of college student Kristin Smart. The warrant served at the home of Paul Flores, 43, on Wednesday was seeking 'specific items of evidence,' the San Luis Obispo County Sheriffs Office said in a press release. KABC news helicopter recorded video showing officers in Hazmat suits working in the yard on Flores' home in the 900 block of West Upland Avenue. Officials did not elaborate on the items sought or recovered during the search. Scroll down for video Law enforcement officials are seen on Wednesday executing a search warrant at the Los Angeles home of Paul Flores, a person of interest in Kristin Smart's disappearance The warrant was seeking 'specific items of evidence' at Flores' home, San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office announced on Wednesday Smart was a 19-year-old California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo student who vanished after a party in May 1996. Flores, also a student, was the last person to see her alive Flores home in the San Pedro district near Los Angeles harbor was among four locations in California and Washington state where search warrants were previously served in February. The Sheriffs Office said all warrants were sealed by the court and nothing about them would be disclosed. Smart, 19, of Stockton, California, vanished while returning to a dorm at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, after an off-campus party. She was seen with Flores, who also was a student, but he has never been arrested or charged in the case. The Sheriffs Office has described the investigation as 'active and ongoing.' In this February 5, 2020, photo, Los Angeles County Sheriff's investigators remove items from Flores' home in San Pedro section of the city Pedro, 43, is seen speaking to sheriff's deputies during the February 5 search Authorities also searched Flores' mother's home in Arroyo Grande (pictured) last month In all, 19 search warrants have been served at various locations since 2011 in connection to the Smart case. Back in February, officers searched Flores' home in Los Angeles County where he's lived since 2010, and the residence of his mother, Susan Flores, in Arroyo Grande. In January, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office announced that investigators seized two trucks that belonged to Flores' family. They also revealed that 37 pieces of evidence from the early days of the investigation had been submitted for modern DNA testing. Since 2011, investigators have recovered 140 new items of evidence, carried out 18 search warrants and conducted 91 interviews - racking up a bill of $62,000 in expenses related to the Smart case, the sheriff's office said. In addition to the warrants, investigators conducted digs on the campus in 2016. At the time, an investigator said a lead strongly suggested her remains might be buried near a large concrete letter 'P' that is the school's landmark. The search ended with no trace of Smart's remains. The cold case has been drawing intense public interest after becoming the subject of a podcast. Smart's body was never recovered, but she was legally declared dead in 2002 Smart's mother revealed that she had been contacted by a former FBI agent who warned her to be ready for news related to her daughter's case. Smart was last seen in the early hours of May 25, 1996 when she returned to her dorm after a party near the Cal Poly campus. Flores was the last person to see her alive, according to investigators. He told police at the time that he walked Smart back from the party but parted ways with her about a block from her dorm. She was reported missing two days later by a friend but a search didn't begin until days later due to a miscommunication between authorities. During the investigation, four different search dogs trained to pick up the smell of human remains led police to Flores' dorm room. By the time investigators searched the room on June 5, he had moved all of his belongings out and no evidence was found there. Smart was officially declared dead in 2002 but her body has never been found. Smart's family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Flores in 2005, but the case has remained stagnant pending the conclusion of the criminal investigation. In response to the suit, Flores has denied every allegation raised against him and invoked his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination before a grand jury and a civil deposition. He also filed an emotional distress lawsuit against Smart's family. Harare, Zimbabwe (PANA) - Zimbabwe Vice President Kembo Mohadi has issued a price moratorium ordering retailers to revert to the prices they were charging on 26 March 2020 amid a spike in the pricing of basic groceries The fighting in Libya continues despite the obligations adopted by the local and foreign sides during the January conference in Berlin, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said in an article published on Wednesday by the Bruxelles2 blog MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd April, 2020) The fighting in Libya continues despite the obligations adopted by the local and foreign sides during the January conference in Berlin, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said in an article published on Wednesday by the Bruxelles2 blog. "The fighting continues unabated, despite intense efforts of the United Nations and despite the clear commitment to work for a ceasefire made by all Libyan factions and all major international actors including the EU at the Berlin conference last January and in turn endorsed by the Security Council," Borrell wrote. He described violations of the arms embargo as an aggravating factor in the conflict. "The fighting in Libya is fuelled by weapons and other military reinforcements coming from abroad, in direct violation of the UN imposed embargo," Borrell wrote. Borrell's statement appears on the backdrop of a recently intensified struggle around the Libyan capital of Tripoli, which is controlled by the UN-backed Libyan Government of National Accord and has been under an assault by rival Libyan National Army for about a year. In late March, the EU launched an initiative to prevent arms smuggling to Libya via the Mediterranean. On January 19, the international conference on Libya took place in the German capital, counting Russia, the United States, the European Union, Turkey and Egypt among its participants. The sides agreed to a ceasefire and the noninvolvement of third parties in the conflict. New Delhi, April 22 : The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval to relax the mandatory requirement of Aadhaar seeding of data beneficiaries of Assam, Meghalaya, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh for release of benefits to them under PM-Kisan Scheme up to March 31, 2021. The government says the decision was taken to ensure the eligible beneficiaries do not fail to get the benefits for want of non-compliance of Aadhaar seeding of data. The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) Scheme was launched by Modi on February 24 last year. The scheme aims to provide income support to all landholder farmer families across the country with cultivable land, subject to certain exclusions. Under the scheme, an amount of Rs 6,000 annually is released in three 4-monthly installments of Rs 2,000 each, directly into the bank accounts of the beneficiaries. The scheme is effective from December 1, 2018. "From 1st December, 2019, release of benefits is done only through Aadhaar seeded data of beneficiaries uploaded by the State /UT Governments on the PM-KISAN portal, except in case of the states of Assam and Meghalaya and the UTs of J&K and Ladakh, which have been given exemption from this requirement till 31st March, 2020, as Aadhaar penetration there has been miniscule," said a government statement. The assessment says that it would take much more time for the two states and two Union territories to complete the work of Aadhaar seeding of data of beneficiaries resulting in beneficiaries of these states or UTs possibly failing to avail the benefits of the scheme from April 1 this year, if the relaxation from mandatory requirement of Aadhaar seeding of data is not extended. The total number of beneficiary farmers in these states and UTs who have been paid at least one instalment as on April 8 this year, are 27,09,586 beneficiaries in Assam, 98,915 beneficiaries in Meghalaya and 10,01,668 beneficiaries in J&K and Ladakh. GRAND RAPIDS, MI When Brewery Vivant owner Jason Spaulding heard about the federal Paycheck Protection Program, he thought it might provide the lifeline his brewpub needed to weather the financial storm caused by the coronavirus pandemic. But as Spaulding began to research the program, he soon realized it wasnt a good fit for him. The program would help Spaulding bring back many of the roughly 65 employees he laid off after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered bars and restaurants to close their dining rooms and limit service to take-out and delivery. But until hes permitted to reopen Brewery Vivants dining room, and the public once again feels safe dining out, those workers would have little to do once back on the job, he says. Plus, theres another concern: Can restaurants lure employees back to work given the more generous unemployment benefits many are now receiving? Its like our ships been overturned at sea and were already treading water waiting for a life preserver to come by, Spaulding said. They throw this PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) out there, and its so tempting to take it and you almost have to take it but its not really going to help you in the end. Spaulding is not alone. Several Grand Rapids-area restaurant owners echoed his comments, and said that as lawmakers prepare to pump more money into the program it ran out of money last week they should make it more friendly to the hospitality industry. As of now, businesses can have their Paycheck Protection Program loans waived if they use 75 percent of their funding for payroll. The National Restaurant Association, an industry trade group in Washington D.C., says the mandate should be reduced to 50 percent because many restaurants spend half their monthly expenses on lease or mortgage obligations. The association also says businesses should have the rest of the year, not eight weeks, to spend their loans. The longer timeframe is needed because its unclear when restaurants and breweries will be able to fully re-open and patrons will feel comfortable dining-out, the association says. The forgiveness period for the PPP ending on June 30 at this point in time appears too early, said Peter Krupp, owner of CDKI Holdings, which operates Sandy Point Beach House in West Olive, MeXo in Grand Rapids, and Sandy Point Beach House GR in Grand Rapids. Restaurants cant plan on how to bring their employees back to work fulltime without knowing when its safe for the employees and patrons to frequent the restaurant. The Paycheck Protection Program, administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration, was created to help small businesses survive the economic downtown caused by the coronavirus pandemic. In Michigan, 43,438 Payroll Protection Program loans were approved by April 16, according to the SBA. Overall, the loans add up to $10.4 billion. Nationwide, there were 1.7 million loans approved, for a total of $342 billion. Spaulding, the owner of Brewery Vivant, said he was approved for a $500,000 loan but is leaning toward not accepting it. He says taking the money now would give his brewpub a boost. But hes hesitant to accept the funds, because he fears the restaurant industry will still be struggling by June 30, the deadline to spend the money and qualify for loan forgiveness. He wouldnt want to have to lay off workers after his Paycheck Protection Program loan runs out because the industry remains sluggish. Theres no way that were going to be happy, up and going at full-employment by June 30, said Spaulding, whose brewpub has seen its monthly revenue fall by about 80 percent because of the pandemic. Business owners have also raised concerns about another matter: Will restaurants and breweries that take advantage of the Paycheck Protection Program be able to lure employees back to work, given the more generous state and federal unemployment benefits? People who have been laid off can now temporarily receive $600 a week in unemployment pay on top of what theyre provided by the state of Michigan, according to a new federal law signed by President Donald Trump. Why would I bring somebody back and not be able to pay them what theyre making on that, said Dave Ringler, founder of Cedar Springs Brewing Company. I dont know if thats in their best interest. Ringler, whose brewpub is staying afloat through carryout and delivery, said he applied for and was approved for a loan through the Paycheck Protection Program. Hes now weighing whether it makes sense for his business to accept the funding. Mitch Ermatinger, the owner of Speciation Artisan Ales in Comstock Park, said he has received a $60,000 loan through the program. He plans to use it to bring two production employees back to work now and bring a third production worker back later on. Its good that we have money to bring some people back to do production, said Ermatinger, whose revenue is down by as much as 60 percent due to the coronavirus pandemic. But its not nearly as helpful as it could have been if there werent stipulations on that. He said he would like the eight-week time frame, under which he and other recipients can use the loan and still qualify for forgiveness, to be extended. Doing so would enable him to hire people back once the governors stay-at-home order ends and restaurants and bars can offer dine-in service. On Tuesday afternoon, The Hill, a Washington D.C.-based news website, reported that the White House and Congress had reached a deal to replenish the Paycheck Protection Program. In Michigan, supporters of the hospitality industry were hopeful changes to the program supported by the National Restaurant Association would be incorporated into any new funding. John McNamara, vice president of government affairs at the Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association, said more than 400,000 people work in the restaurant and foodservice industry in Michigan. Its important to preserve those jobs and ensure that restaurants can whether the downturn, he said. Theres going to be recapitalization hopefully this week of this program, he said. Hopefully with that recapitalization we can also get some tweaks that would then make this a much better program and a much fairer program for our industry. Spaulding said hell be watching the deal that comes out of Washington. He said he might consider taking the loan if the program is tweaked to better fit business owners such as him. Were holding on until we hear what they say, he said. Read more Michigan restaurant owners seek help after chains gobble up initial federal funds Michigan coronavirus daily death numbers spike to new high, but with a caveat Tuesday, April 21: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan "We don't make this decision lightly," Bob Krebs, president of Colorado-based JBS USA Pork, said in a statement. "We recognize JBS Worthington is critical to local hog producers, the U.S. food supply and the many businesses that support the facility." Iowa's governor has also warned of the threat to food supply if authorities clamp down too hard on facilities with outbreaks, and has refused to shutter a sprawling Tyson Foods pork processing facility in Waterloo where dozens of workers are infected. Reynolds said the state is working with meat companies to test workers and prevent outbreaks from growing too large, even as she acknowledged that more "clusters of positive cases" are certain. "These are also essential businesses and an essential workforce," she said. "Without them, people's lives and our food supply will be impacted. So we must do our part to keep them open in a safe and responsible way." Reynolds noted that Iowa produces about one-third of the nation's pork. If hogs can't be processed, farmers will have to euthanize them, the governor warned. "We're not that far from it and it will be devastating, not only for the food supply but for the cost of food moving forward," she said. The Trump administration vowed to stem job losses and rescue the oil industry with stimulus funds and other measures as the U.S. responds to a global glut in crude thats led to an historic rout in prices. We are taking very aggressive but appropriate steps to help the industry, Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said during an interview on Bloomberg Television. The administration was working to ensure that oil and gas companies can access lending programs created by the $2 trillion coronavirus rescue plan, including those meant for medium-sized businesses and the Federal Reserve facility, he said. The government also is looking to expand oil storage, pressure allies to buy U.S. oil and effectively pay domestic drillers to halt production by buying their undeveloped crude reserves and making them part of the U.S. emergency stockpile. However, it has yet to find a successful strategy for heading off the devastation among U.S. producers reeling from the twin shocks of the coronavirus crippling demand and a price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia that has flooded the market with oil. The market is ruthlessly efficient at weeding out high-cost producers, Brouillette said. The demand curve has moved so quickly in a downward fashion, the production is simply not able to keep up with it. President Donald Trump earlier helped broker a deal by top oil producers to pull nearly 10 million barrels of crude from the market. Yet demand has collapsed by at least twice that amount and storage tanks will keep filling with crude as long as coronavirus restrictions keep planes grounded and drivers off the roads. In the meantime, West Texas Intermediate futures plunged below zero Monday and the sector has hemorrhaged an estimated 51,000 drilling and refining jobs in March -- 9 percent of the workforce -- according to BW Research Partnership, a research consultancy. The firm said the industrys job losses could reach as high as 30 percent or more in the first quarter of 2020. A tidal wave of bankruptcies is about to hit the sector, said Dan Eberhart, the chief executive of oil-field services company Canary Drilling Services, which has furloughed about 200 people and implemented across-the-board salary cuts. We will never let the great U.S. Oil & Gas Industry down, Trump said in a tweet Tuesday morning that came a day after U.S. oil prices went negative for the first time ever. Trump didnt release many details but said he asked members of his administration to make funds available to companies. The Trump administration has spent weeks looking for ways to help independent oil companies battered by the price rout, including ensuring they can access coronavirus stimulus loans.increasing loans available in coronavirus stimulus funding. Oil firms can access funds from the $2 trillion pandemic rescue aid that Trump signed into law on March 27. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin could also deem some of those companies as critical to national security, qualifying them for a share of $17 billion authorized by Congress. Or the companies could tap one of the Federal Reserve lending facilities, which are for distressed sectors and companies with high credit ratings. The rescue bill authorized $454 billion to the Treasury Department to use as a backstop for lending through the Fed, which the central bank is leveraging into trillions of dollars. Trump is also being urged to pressure China to buy U.S. oil -- and live up to its trade pact pledge to purchase more than $52 billion worth of American energy. China has only purchased a de minimis amount of U.S. crude in the first months of 2020, while it has increased purchases of crude oil from Saudi Arabia and Russia, the American Exploration and Production Council said in a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. Rather than increasing imports from countries like Russia and Saudi Arabia, the Chinese government must take the necessary steps to remain in good standing with the U.S. as a trusted trade partner. Environmental activists, meanwhile, blasted Trumps pledge to outright rescue the oil industry with taxpayer funds. Putting people and public health first means not a cent of taxpayer money should go to the corporations that created and profited from the climate crisis, said Jack Shapiro, a senior climate campaigner with Greenpeace USA. Trump has rebuffed other proposals for industry-targeted aid, including a broad effort to stop charging energy companies royalties for oil and gas produced on federal lands and waters. The Interior Department has said oil companies can seek royalty relief on a case-by-case basis, instead of under a broad Trump administration waiver. The collapse is reverberating across the oil industry. On Monday, WTI Midland in Texas -- a flagship marker for the U.S. shale industry -- was at -$13.13 a barrel, while crude in Alaska was at -$46.63. Oils meltdown continued Tuesday as the price for the June contract plummeted plummeted 43 percent to close below $12 a barrel in New York. The measures embraced by Drs. Mecher and Hatchett would result in significant disruption of the social functioning of communities and result in possibly serious economic problems, Dr. Henderson wrote in his own academic paper responding to their ideas. The answer, he insisted, was to tough it out: Let the pandemic spread, treat people who get sick and work quickly to develop a vaccine to prevent it from coming back. Caught in the middle, C.D.C. leaders decided to conduct more research and survey community leaders around the country. The administration ultimately sided with the proponents of social distancing and shutdowns though their victory was little noticed outside of public health circles. Their policy would become the basis for government planning and would be used extensively in simulations used to prepare for pandemics, and in a limited way in 2009 during an outbreak of the influenza called H1N1. Then the coronavirus came, and the plan was put to work across the country for the first time. Dr. Mecher was a key voice on the Red Dawn email chain of public health experts in raising early warnings this year about the coronavirus outbreak and Mr. Trumps reluctance to embrace shutdowns and social distancing. The shutdown this year is much bigger than Dr. Mecher and others imagined would be necessary or practical. Testing has been limited and some states issued social distancing orders even before confirming the coronavirus was spreading within their borders. Dr. Markel called it very gratifying to see our work used to help save lives. But, he added, it is also horrifying. We always knew this would be applied in worst-case scenarios, he said. Even when you are working on dystopian concepts, you always hope it will never be used. A top consultant for California's high-speed rail project is investigating allegations that it clamped down on employees bringing forth negative information about the project, which is behind schedule in the Central Valley. Above, project construction in Fresno in 2018. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) A California bullet train consultant facing allegations that its executives retaliated against employees for bringing forth negative information about the project has hired a law firm to independently investigate the matter. The investigation was disclosed by the California High-Speed Rail Authority at a meeting of its Board of Directors on Tuesday where it separately approved a plan to help fund the modernization of Los Angeles Union Station. The Times first reported the allegations about the firm, Montreal-based WSP, last month. Brian Kelly, chief executive of the rail authority, said that WSP, which it calls its "rail delivery partner," hired the law firm to investigate allegations by former WSP employees quoted in The Times. The Times story reported that Mark Styles, WSPs former senior supervisory scheduler for construction in the Central Valley, was ordered to withhold information that could be politically damaging to the project. I was told to shut up and not say anything, Styles said. I was told I didnt understand the political arena the project was in. I told them I am not going to shut up. This is my job. Styles left his job at WSP in November. The project is also being investigated by the criminal division of the U.S. Department of Transportations inspector general, The Times has learned. Former project officials told The Times that they were contacted by investigators out of the agencys San Francisco office. Styles said he was among those contacted. A former state engineer was contacted by the FBI, as well. The FBI and a spokesperson for the inspector general declined to comment in recent months. Styles' account of the project's dysfunctional corporate culture was corroborated by a dozen current and former officials who work on the project. Two other former WSP executives, Todd Bilstein and Vera Lovejoy, told The Times that they too were discouraged from sharing bad news. WSP officials rejected the allegations, saying that the firm prepares realistic and transparent reports on the projects it works on. Story continues The investigation disclosure was made at Tuesdays board meeting in response to a question raised by board member Martha Escutia, a former state senator and now USC vice president for government relations. Escutia said she raised the matter because it was important to protect the integrity of the project. Kelly did not identify the law firm conducting the investigation, but Denise Turner Roth, a spokeswoman for WSP, said it had hired the San Francisco office of Fox Rothschild, a major U.S. law firm. She said WSP launched the investigation and informed the rail authority. A call to the firms office was not returned. Separately, the rail authority board voted Tuesday to approve a long-delayed plan to provide its $423-million share of modernizing L.A.'s Union Station. The $950-million project would replace "stub-in" tracks, which force trains to back up out of the station, with run-through tracks. The plan would cut many minutes off current schedules with seven elevated platforms with the run-through tracks that would pass over a bridge across the 101 Freeway and then turn toward the Los Angeles River. The improvements would also increase passenger capacity at the station. The investment is part of the rail projects so-called bookend investments into Los Angeles and San Francisco. The Bay Area is getting an even bigger investment with a plan to electrify the 50-mile Caltrain commuter system between San Jose and San Francisco. In the public comment period of the meeting, several speakers came forward to endorse a proposal by Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood), in which $5 billion of funding allocated to the Central Valley construction would be spent instead to improve the Southern California Metrolink system and the Bay Areas commuter system. Rendon said the investments would prepare the region for high-speed rail and in the meantime provide greater public value. A spokesman for a Little Tokyo business group asked the board to give serious consideration to Rendons proposal. The coverage on this live blog has ended but for up-to-the-minute coverage on the coronavirus, visit the live blog from CNBC's Asia-Pacific team. Global cases: More than 2.6 million Global deaths: At least 180,784 US cases: More than 840,300 US deaths: At least 46,497 The data above was compiled by Johns Hopkins University. 8:45 pm: Los Angeles expands Covid-19 testing to all essential workers Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced that the county is expanding free Covid-19 testing to all essential workers whether they are experiencing any symptoms or not as of April 22. Those eligible for testing included physicians, nurses, caregivers, hospital janitors, grocery store, pharmacy and other retail workers and others in government and Covid-19 related roles. Permitted workers, who are not in "essential" categories, are not yet eligible for the Covid-19 tests in Los Angeles. First responders including police and fire fighters have their own dedicated lanes at Los Angeles County testing centers, and are now tested daily. In the past day, Los Angeles tested 12,200 people for the virus, Garcetti said. Lora Kolodny 8:15 pm: Illinois sees most Covid-19 cases in a single day The Illinois Department of Public Health reported their highest daily number of confirmed Covid-19 cases yet in the state. Illinois saw 2,049 new cases, and 89 deaths due to Covid-19 in the last day, pushing their total so far to 35,108 and total deaths to 1,058. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said, earlier in the week, that the peak of the novel coronavirus outbreak in the state would likely fall in mid-May, later than he previously expected. However, he said it would likely be a smaller peak, if wide compliance with his stay-at-home orders continues. Lora Kolodny 7:30 pm: Chamath Palihapitiya: We've 'ripped the philosophical band-aid off' on universal basic income Investor Chamath Palihapitiya said that the United States should continue sending Americans checks as the coronavirus pandemic continues to impact the economy. "We really need to think about direct, capital injections into the hands of people," Palihapitiya said on CNBC's "Fast Money Halftime Report." "We've already done it once, we've already ripped the philosophical band-aid off, there's nothing stopping us from saying, instead of two weeks, here's two months, or here's six weeks," Palihapitiya said. "We are that compassionate and we can be that compassionate." Palihapitiya has been critical of the United States' economic reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic, saying that stimulus money should go directly to consumers and workers rather than businesses. The government has already dolled out cash to some Americans as part of its $2 trillion stimulus bill. That included one-time direct payments of up to $1,200 for individuals and $2,400 for couples, with $500 added for every child, based on 2019 or 2018 tax returns. Jessica Bursztynsky 7:01 pm: Trump says he 'disagrees strongly' with Georgia governor's plan to reopen businesses President Donald Trump said that he strongly disagrees with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp's "phase one" plans to allow non-essential businesses to re-open in his state at the end of the week. The re-opening of businesses, which begins Friday, includes tattoo parlors, spas, hair salons or barbershops, movie theaters and bowling alleys. They will be allowed to open their doors to the public, as long as they, and their patrons, follow physical distancing orders and other OSHA guidelines, Kemp announced on Monday. Trump said he told the governor, "I disagree strongly," adding that the governor "has to do what he thinks is right." Lora Kolodny 6:48 pm: Updated map of global cases, which now total 2,622,273 6:29 pm: Trump says CDC director's coronavirus warning was 'totally misquoted' Dr. Robert Redfield, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks during the daily briefing of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, at the White House April 17, 2020 in Washington, DC. Alex Wong | Getty Images President Donald Trump said that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield was "totally misquoted" when he said challenges from the coronavirus could be "more difficult" in the winter. "He was talking about the flu and corona coming together at the same time," Trump said at a White House press briefing, "and corona could be just some little flare-ups that we'll take care of." Redfield told The Washington Post on Tuesday that the already daunting task of responding to the coronavirus outbreak could only become more challenging in the winter, when flu season begins. "There's a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through," Redfield told the Post. "And when I've said this to others, they kind of put their head back, they don't understand what I mean." Kevin Breuninger 6:15 pm: Stock futures steady as investors digest oil turbulence, await jobless claims 5:50 pm: Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan defends state's decision to reopen some businesses Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan defended the state's move to allow some nonessential businesses to re-open as soon as this week, saying on CNBC that "nobody is being forced to open." "This is not forcing anybody back to business," the Republican official said during an interview on "Closing Bell."Georgia, led by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, is one of the first states to experiment with reopening parts of its economy that were shuttered to stop the spread of coronavirus. Kemp said Monday that gyms, hair and nail salons, bowling alleys and tattoo parlors can resume operations as soon as Friday. Dine-in restaurants and movie theaters will open Monday. All of the companies will have to implement strict sanitation measures. Duncan said it's up to those businesses to convince people that they are being operated safely."I think the consumer here is going to need to continue to gain confidence, and these businesses are going to have to work toward that," Duncan said. Tucker Higgins 5:40 pm: Two pet cats in New York test positive for the coronavirus, CDC says Cat sitting still while a Veterinarian administers his vaccines. aabejon | iStock | Getty Images The coronavirus has infected two cats in New York state, making them the first pets to test positive for the virus in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. One of the cats was tested after it showed mild respiratory signs, although its owners were not confirmed to have Covid-19. The virus may have been transmitted to this cat by mildly ill or asymptomatic household members or through contact with an infected person outside its home, the CDC said. The owner of the second cat had tested positive for the coronavirus and the animal was also tested after showing signs of respiratory illness. Noah Higgins-Dunn 5:25 pm: OpenTable data shows the absolute devastation in the restaurant industry The number of seated diners has plummeted to zero over the past two months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to data released by OpenTable. The company, which is owned by Booking Holdings, provides reservations software for about 60,000 restaurants, mostly in the U.S. Seated diners, which include reservations and walk-ins, were down 100% year-over-year starting in mid-March in every country where the company does business, according to the data. In an effort to slow the virus, government officials have implemented stay-at-home mandates or suggested people socially distance themselves. That's led to a huge dent in restaurants, cafes and bars, all of which rely on a normally steady stream of customers. Some have tried to adapt by offering takeout, delivery or drive-through, while others have temporarily closed. Jessica Bursztynsky 5 pm: Top vaccine doctor says his concern about Trump's coronavirus treatment theory led to ouster from federal agency A doctor who was removed as head of the federal agency that is helping develop a vaccine for the coronavirus said he was ousted because he called for resistance to widespread adoption of a drug promoted by President Donald Trump as a treatment for Covid-19. Dr. Rick Bright also said that he believed he was removed from his post because he insisted that "the billions of dollars allocated by Congress to address the Covid-19 pandemic" be invested "into safe and scientifically vetted solutions, and not in drugs, vaccines and other technologies that lack scientific merit." "I am speaking out because to combat this deadly virus, science not politics or cronyism has to lead the way," Bright said in a statement, which was first reported by The New York Times. "Rushing blindly towards unproven drugs can be disastrous and result in countless more deaths. Science, in service to the health and safety of the American people, must always trump politics." The White House declined to comment. The Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Dan Mangan 4:34 pm: New Jersey governor says state is preparing for future spikes in cases after reopening New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said the state has received an additional 500 ventilators that could be used for any potential resurgence of coronavirus cases once restrictions are lifted or the virus returns later this year.Murphy said the state is concerned about a resurgence of cases and said the likelihood of it returning is "pretty high" after comparing Covid-19 to H1N1 and the 1918 flu. The state doesn't know the true number of people who are or have been infected with Covid-19, and it has to prepare for a spike of cases "that will surely come" once they lift social distancing restrictions, he said. He added that the state is working toward finalizing a reopening strategy. Murphy reported an additional 3,551 confirmed cases from the day prior, bringing the state's total to 95,865. He said the state recorded an additional 314 deaths. The overall number of patients in critical care and the number of ventilators in use remains stable, he said."We may need the capacities we are preparing for, whether it's beds, ventilators and health care workers, we may need them even if we do everything right and we get it exactly right, we may need this down the road," Murphy said at a press conference Wednesday. Noah Higgins-Dunn 4 pm: San Francisco raises over $10 million for coronavirus relief fund for seniorsand small businesses San Francisco Mayor London Breed said the city's coronavirus relief fund has raised $10 million for seniors, undocumented immigrants and small businesses during its first round of funding. The "Give2SF COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund" will provide San Franciscans with "food security, access to housing, and security for workers and small businesses." There are currently 1,233 confirmed cases in San Francisco, with a total of 21 deaths. Breed said 60,000 residents have filed for unemployment amid the outbreak so far and anticipates an additional 40,000 people will file in the coming weeks. "There are so many San Franciscans who are struggling to make rent, put food on the table, and keep their small business open," Breed said. "That's why we created the Give2SF Fund, which is collecting support for our small businesses and individuals who are dealing with the challenges of COVID-19. We are grateful for the generous contributions of private donors and philanthropic organizations who are supporting our efforts to take care of our residents during this incredibly difficult time. This is just the first round of funding, and we'll keep working to get additional support into the hands of those who need it most." Riya Bhattacharjee tweet 3:20 pm: California to start scheduling certain surgeries again Thamrongpat Theerathammakorn / EyeEm | Getty Images California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a modification to the state's stay-at-home order that would allow certain essential surgeries to be scheduled again. He did not provide a date for when other coronavirus restrictions will be lifted. "We are working with our health directors throughout our healthcare delivery system to get these surgeries up and running again," Newsom said at a press briefing Wednesday. He cited tumor and heart valve surgeries as examples of procedures that will be allowed to go ahead. Newsom said that California is looking at Washington and Oregon as models for loosening coronavirus restrictions. Newsom also said that he and President Donald Trump agreed to significantly increase testing in California, with hundreds of thousands of new swabs coming into the state. Trump promised California 100,000 swabs this week, with 250,000 swabs scheduled to arrive next week. California is also working to open 86 test facilities in testing "deserts" where people don't have easy access to testing, according to Newsom. California currently has 35,396 confirmed positive cases of coronavirus. 3,357 of which are in our hospitals and 1,219 of which are ICU cases. --Hannah Miller tweet 3 pm: Harvard will not accept stimulus funds after pressure from Trump Harvard's Widener Library marvinh | Getty Images Harvard University said it has decided "not to seek or accept" funds allocated to the institution under the federal coronavirus relief package after President Donald Trump questioned why the elite institution needed financial assistance. "Harvard did not apply for this support, nor has it requested, received or accessed these funds," the university said in a statement. As a result of "the intense focus by politicians and others on Harvard" and issues surrounding the use of the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, the Ivy League institution will not be accepting any stimulus money. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act signed into law by Trump last month provided Harvard with $8.6 million. The funding was supposed to help higher education institutions cover fundamental expenses such as course materials, technology, food and housing, according to the Department of Education. However, Trump called out large companies and private institutions like Harvard for taking federal loans intended to assist small businesses. "Harvard is going to pay back the money. And they shouldn't be taking it," Trump said during his evening news briefing on Tuesday. "They have one of the largest endowments anywhere in the country, maybe in the world, I guess. And they're going to pay back that money," the President added. Both Stanford and Princeton universities also returned the federal aid allocated to them. Jasmin Kim 2:45 pm: Coronavirus job losses and pay cuts are hitting these households the hardest U.S. households that already were less prepared to weather a financial storm are getting hit hardest from the recent rash of job losses across the country, research shows. Adults with lower income (under about $37,500 annually) and middle income ($37,500 to $112,600) comprise a greater share of those who have lost their job or taken a pay cut due to the economic crisis brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Pew Research Center. Those groups also report having less in emergency savings than their higher-income (above $112,600) counterparts. "I think we're seeing a deepening of the inequality that was already there," said Anna Brown, a Pew research associate. Sarah O'Brien 2:20 pm: Sweden isn't on a national lockdown amid coronavirusHere's why Unlike its neighbors, Sweden did not impose a lockdown amid the coronavirus outbreak. The strategy is aimed at building a broad base of immunity while protecting at-risk groups like the elderly has proved controversial. But Sweden's chief epidemiologist has said "herd immunity" could be reached in Stockholm within weeks. However, "It's a myth that life goes on as normal in Sweden," according to Sweden's Foreign Minister Ann Linde. Anna Hecht 1:50 pm: San Francisco expands testing to essential workers and uninsured residents Medical personnel collect a sample from a patient at a drive-thru COVID-19 testing clinic at a Kaiser Permanente facility in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Thursday, March 12, 2020. David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images San Francisco is expanding its CityTestSF testing capacity to include private sector and non-profit essential employees as well as residents who can't otherwise access testing, according to a statement from the San Francisco Mayor's Office. The two testing sites combined have the ability test 1,500 people each day. CityTestSF was initially launched to provide testing for critical first responders and health-care workers. "Our goal is for every San Francisco resident who has symptoms of COVID-19 to have access to testing," said San Francisco Mayor London Breed in a statement. "We want to ensure all frontline and essential employees that leave their homes every day to serve our residents have a fast, easy and accessible option for testing." --Hannah Miller tweet 1:38 pm: Baseball agent Scott Boras has a plan to bring the game back One of the most powerful sports agents in the country has a plan to ready America for its return from coronavirus and, unsurprisingly, it involves baseball. While Major League Baseball has yet to publicly put forth its plan for the return of baseball, Scott Boras, who has negotiated more than $10 billion worth of contracts for some of the biggest stars in the game, said sports have a unifying effect on culture and there's no better way to begin the return to normalcy than through America's favorite pastime. "I'm not waiting for big pharma," Boras told CNBC in an interview this week. "While pharma is working on vaccines, we need to advance earlier." Boras has spent his days in isolation consulting with immunologists and medical experts around the world, and he said this elite class of professional baseball players, made up of young healthy athletes, are the perfect subjects to get America running again if done properly. Jessica Golden 1:26 pm: 'No lines, no crowds' Germans stay home as stores reopen A shopping window of a shoemakers store is seen, during the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Berlin, Germany, April 20, 2020. Axel Schmidt | Reuters German consumers are counting their pennies rather than returning to shop in large numbers as stores gradually reopen after being locked down during the coronavirus crisis, the national retailers association said. Europe's largest economy allowed stores of up to 8,600 square feet to open again from Monday, along with car and bicycle dealers and bookstores, provided they adhere to strict social distancing and hygiene rules. On Wednesday, larger furniture outlets were also allowed to open in the western state of North Rhine Westphalia, such as 11 stores of Swedish chain Ikea. "It was very relaxed, there were no lines, there were no crowds," said Stefan Stukenborg, head of an Ikea branch on the outskirts of the western German city of Cologne. The HDE association said the mood among shoppers remained very subdued due to concerns about jobs and finances. "Consumers are in a crisis mode, consumer sentiment is in the doldrums," a spokesman said. Germany's government is trying to mitigate the effects of the shutdown on the economy with a range of measures, including a 750 billion euro ($811.95 billion US) rescue package, and hopes consumer demand will return to help it out of a sharp recession. Reuters 1:13 pm: Here are Congress' next steps in response to the coronavirus pandemic As Congress moves to pass its latest $484 billion coronavirus relief bill this week, leaders have started to detail their goals for additional legislation as part of an unprecedented emergency response. The measure approved by the Senate on Tuesday puts about another $370 billion into aid for small businesses damaged by the pandemic, along with $75 billion in relief for hospitals and $25 billion to expand testing. The House plans to pass the package and send it to President Donald Trump's desk by Thursday. Even as the U.S. spends nearly $3 trillion to try to curb the outbreak's economic destruction, congressional Democrats and the White House are spelling out priorities for further rescue measures. Republicans on Capitol Hill, meanwhile, are becoming wary of adding to the mounting coronavirus bill setting up another possible partisan clash over priorities and spending as the pandemic evolves. "There will be a big, broad, bold [fourth relief bill]. For anyone who thinks this is the last train out of the station, that is not close to the case," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said at a news conference Tuesday with his fellow Democratic leader House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after the Senate passed the $484 billion legislation. Jacob Pramuk 12:58 pm: World Health Organization warns: Coronavirus remains 'extremely dangerous' and 'will be with us for a long time' The World Health Organization warned world leaders that they will need to manage around the coronavirus for the foreseeable future as cases level off or decline in some countries, while peaking in others and resurging in areas where the Covid-19 pandemic appeared to be under control. "Make no mistake, we have a long way to go. This virus will be with us for a long time," WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a press conference at the agency's headquarters in Geneva. While social distancing measures put in place in numerous countries to slow the spread of the coronavirus have been successful, the virus remains "extremely dangerous," Tedros said. Current data show "most of the world's population remains susceptible," he said, meaning the epidemic can easily "reignite." "People in countries with stay-at-home orders are understandably frustrated with being confined to their homes for weeks on end. People understandably want to get on with their lives," he said. "But the world will not and can not go back to the way things were. There must be a new normal." Berkeley Lovelace Jr., Jasmine Kim 12:47 pm: Massive layoffs and pay cuts are likely coming to state and local governments as federal aid goes elsewhere A bus driver in Detroit, March 24, 2020. Seth Herald | AFP | Getty Images State and local governments are warning of a wave of layoffs and pay cuts after getting left out of the federal coronavirus relief package expected to pass Congress this week. In many places, those painful reductions are already taking shape: Los Angeles plans to force city workers to spend 26 days on unpaid leave as revenues are forecast to drop as much as $600 million next fiscal year. Detroit has proposed laying off 200 workers and furloughing thousands more. In Ohio's Hamilton County, Commissioner Denise Driehaus is taking a 10% pay cut alongside county workers. "We are really struggling," Driehaus said. The $2.2 trillion emergency legislation known as the CARES Act, which President Donald Trump signed late last month, included $150 billion in direct help for state and local governments grappling with the impact of the deadly outbreak. Democrats pushed to include another $150 billion in the next tranche of aid, but Republicans sought to keep the bill narrowly focused on support for small business. By Tuesday night, Democrats yielded on their demand. The Senate passed the legislation by unanimous consent without additional help for state and local governments. The House is slated to vote Thursday, and Trump is expected to sign it. Local jurisdictions are facing higher expenditures on health care and other services to combat the disease at the same time that revenues are plunging as Americans stay home and businesses remain shuttered. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, states could be $500 billion in the hole over the next two years. Ylan Mui, Karen James Sloan 12:35 pm: Some high-risk Americans expect to shelter in place for a year or longer to avoid Covid-19 Clinton Mielke is considering moving to rural Oregon. Source: Clinton Mielke As states begin to allow non-essential businesses like gyms and restaurants to open their doors, many Americans will cautiously emerge from their homes after weeks of isolation. Tayjus Surampudi, a Google employee, will not be one of them. Surampudi, 24, works as a strategic program manager for the company's apps business, so it's been easy for him to work remotely these past few months. He expects that he'll continue to do so for the foreseeable future, regardless of any policy changes at Google or in Mountain View, California, where he lives. That's because Surampudi has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic condition that causes progressive muscular degeneration. That makes him one of millions of Americans at high risk for complications if he contracts Covid-19. "I have to be careful, and really don't want to put myself in a situation where I could end up in the hospital," he said by phone. "I recognize that it could be a year or longer." Surampadi is just one of about half a dozen people who told CNBC they're preparing to remain at home until there's a vaccine available, which could take 18 months or more, or until they hear from a scientific expert like Dr. Anthony Fauci that it's safe for them to resume life as normal. Somewhere between a third and half of Americans fall into a high-risk category when it comes to the coronavirus, suggests Dr. Ashish Jha, the director of the Harvard Global Health Institute. They include people over the age of 65, nursing home residents, and people with underlying medical conditions including heart problems, chronic lung disease or a condition that attacks their immune system. Christina Farr 12:29 pm: Quest Diagnostics takes steps to shore up its balance sheet, ramps up antibody testing as profit plunges A medical provider bags a completed test at the STRIDE Community Health Center's COVID-19 drive-thru testing site at the Aurora Health and Wellness Plaza March 26, 2020. Andy Cross | The Denver Post | Getty Images Quest Diagnostics is cutting pay and benefits for executives, furloughing employees and renegotiating credit terms with its lenders as the national lab tries to stymie losses from the Covid-19 pandemic, even as it expands into much-needed antibody testing. A surge in coronavirus testing during the last few weeks of the first quarter wasn't enough to offset a decline in all other types of laboratory tests as physicians canceled nonessential medical procedures, helping to drive an almost 40% drop in profit to $99 million, down from $164 million during the same three months the year before. To rein in spending, the New Jersey-based diagnostics lab one of several major U.S. private labs manufacturing a diagnostic test for Covid-19 is suspending certain employee benefits, slashing work hours and furloughing employees. The company is maintaining its quarterly dividend but it drew $200 million in backup financing from its credit lines in April. Shares of Quest jumped more than 5% in midday trading, but the stock is down by about 8% since Jan. 1. As states across the U.S. started closing nonessential businesses and ordering residents to stay indoors, Quest's testing volume plunged 40% during the last two weeks of March, even with the additional Covid-19 testing, CEO Steve Rusckowski said in a statement. Will Feuer 12:21 pm: Billionaire Mike Bloomberg will help New York develop coronavirus test and trace program, Gov. Cuomo says Mike Bloomberg, the billionaire philanthropist and former mayor of New York City, will help the state develop and implement an aggressive program to test for Covid-19 and trace people who have had contact with infected individuals, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announcedy. "Michael Bloomberg will design the program, design the training, he's going to make a financial contribution," Cuomo said at a press conference in Albany. "He has tremendous insight both governmentally and from a private sector business perspective in this." As the state continues to ramp up its capacity to test for Covid-19, Cuomo said tracing and isolating people who have come into contact with infected individuals will be key to containing the outbreak. Will Feuer 12:13 pm: Delta CEO: Business will take 'two to three years' to recover from coronavirus Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian told employees that it could take two to three years for the airline's business to recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The airline is carrying about 5% of its normal passenger loads, Bastian told CNBC in an interview, as demand for air travel has nearly disappeared because of the virus and measures to stop it from spreading such as stay-at-home orders. Delta is slashing costs by parking planes, freezing hiring and asking thousands of employees to take unpaid leave as revenue falls. Sales in the second quarter will likely be 90% less than expected, Delta said in a earnings release. Delta reported a net loss of $534 million in the first quarter, its first quarterly loss in more than five years. Leslie Josephs 12:06 pm: Lowe's to advertise during NFL Draft, hinting a bolder marketing strategy is part of its turnaround plans A sign asking for customers to maintain "social distancing" due to the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) is displayed at the Lowe's Home and Garden center on April 02, 2020 in Scottsdale, Arizona. Christian Petersen | Getty Images In the spring, customers usually come to Lowe's to buy gardening items and get ready for renovation projects. This year, the home improvement company is keeping its doors open as an essential retailer during the coronavirus pandemic. Disrupted routines and quieter days are reflected in the company's new TV commercials. They will debut on ESPN, starting Thursday, during the NFL Draft, another ritual that's changed dramatically during a time of social distancing. In three TV spots, Lowe's celebrates the hard work of its approximately 300,000 employees across its 2,200 stores. All share the tagline: "Home is What Unites Us." One ad describes Lowe's workforce as the "home team." Another focuses on how employees have helped their communities during other crises, such as natural disasters. And a third shows images of different kinds of homes, from apartment in a city to a house in a suburban neighborhoods, to emphasize the commonality that all Americans share at this moment: They're stuck at home. That is a message that will likely resonate with the football fans, draft picks and sports commentators participating in this year's NFL Draft, which won't be a splashy event in Las Vegas as planned. Melissa Repko 11:50 am: EU 'misunderstandings' push back deal on coronavirus economic recovery It may take European Union countries until the summer or even longer to agree on how exactly to finance aid to help economies recover from the coronavirus pandemic as major disagreements persist, a bloc official said on Wednesday. A summit on Thursday is expected to produce only a broad agreement to use the EU's 2021-27 joint budget to help kick-start growth. The bloc's 27 national leaders should also rubber-stamp 500 billion euros of rescue measures effective from June. The novel coronavirus has claimed tens of thousands of lives in Europe and measures to curb its spread have left economies at a virtual standstill. "My hope is to make progress in June, July," said the EU official, who is involved in preparing the leaders' summit. But a final deal might take even longer: "Political lines are moving ... but it will take time," the official stressed. Wealthy, fiscally conservative countries like Germany, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands have rejected calls by the bloc's ailing southern economies led by Italy, France and Spain to sell joint "coronabonds" to raise funds to restart growth. Reuters 11:42 am: Battered automakers lure buyers with steep incentives U.S. car sales in 2020 were expected to be slightly below the near-record levels seen in recent years. Then the coronavirus struck the United States. Auto sales forecasts have fallen by millions of units from where they were in early 2020, sparking automakers to roll out unprecedented deals and adopt new tech-heavy methods of selling vehicles to shoppers stuck at home. The pandemic is something the U.S. auto industry has never faced before, but analysts see in it hints of the past. Carmakers are confronted with supply chain challenges, restrictions on production, and, perhaps most worrying, severe dents in consumer demand sparked by shelter-in-place orders from governments and economic effects, such as job furloughs or layoffs. Automakers are taking pages out of playbooks used in other challenging times, such as in the weeks and months after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Robert Ferris 11:36 am: Most kids with coronavirus usually recover within two weeks, JAMA study finds Mary-Lou McCullagh, 83, and her husband Bob, 84, greet Axel Stirton, 2, the little boy who lives across the street April 3, 2020 in Ventura, California. Mary-Lou and Bob are in isolation from the Covid-19 pandemic, trying to ensure that they do not come in contact with the virus. Brent Stirton | Getty Images Most kids infected with the coronavirus develop only mild symptoms and typically recover within two weeks, according to a study published Wednesday in JAMA Pediatrics. However, it found that some children become seriously ill, including a 13-month-old infant who was admitted to intensive care. Researchers in Italy analyzed 1,065 Covid-19 patients, mostly in China, under age 19. They analyzed studies published between Dec. 1 and March 3. At least 444 of the patients were younger than age 10, while 553 were ages 10 to 19. Most children were reported to have mild respiratory symptoms, namely fever, dry cough, and fatigue or were asymptomatic, meaning they produced no symptoms, the researchers said. Many of the children were hospitalized, but most kids with symptoms required only supportive care and didn't need oxygen or assisted ventilation, they said. No children under age 9 died, but one death was reported in the 10-19 age range. Berkeley Lovelace Jr. 11:29 am: Fannie and Freddie will now buy loans in mortgage bailout program, in a bid to loosen lending The Federal Housing Finance Agency, regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, announced that the two mortgage giants will now buy home loans that go into the government's forbearance program just after they close. Fannie and Freddie had not been doing that, and as a result, lending had tightened up dramatically. "We are focused on keeping the mortgage market working for current and future homeowners during these challenging times," FHFA Director Mark Calabria in a release. "Purchases of these previously ineligible loans will help provide liquidity to mortgage markets and allow originators to keep lending." Mortgage lenders, both bank and non-bank, sell most of their loans to either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, known as government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs. Or, if they are backed by the FHA, they are sold to Ginnie Mae. It can take a few weeks after a loan closes for it to be sold. When the government's mortgage bailout, which started just over a month ago, some loans that had just closed but were not purchased yet went into forbearance. The forbearance program allows borrowers with economic hardship due to Covid-19 to delay monthly payments for up to a year. Those payments must be made at a later date. The CARES Act, which was signed into law late last month, does not require that borrowers provide any documentation or proof of hardship. Diana Olick 10:42 am: NYC can't ease restrictions until it can run 'hundreds of thousands' of tests a day, Mayor de Blasio says The Store Fanelli is seen shuttered due to COVID-19 pandemic on April 20, 2020 in New York City. Eduardo Munoz | VIEW press | Getty Images New York City will need to run "hundreds of thousands" of coronavirus tests a day before officials can ease social distancing guidelines, Mayor Bill de Blasio said. "To get to low-level transmission and to hold onto it, you need a huge amount of testing. Not just tens of thousands of tests per day but as many as hundreds of thousands tests per day for a city of 8.6 million people," de Blasio said at a press conference. There is still widespread transmission throughout the city, meaning that health officials aren't able to trace the origin of most Covid-19 cases and residents need to maintain social distancing to contain the outbreak, de Blasio said. To get to the next phase, low-level transmission, the city needs greater testing so that it can isolate individual cases faster and trace and isolate the patient's contacts, de Blasio said. Noah Higgins-Dunn, Jasmine Kim 10:33 am: Lockdowns have led to an unprecedented drop in air pollution for major cities The area around Colosseum is empty of tourists during the Coronavirus emergency, on March 30, 2020 in Rome, Italy. Antonio Masiello | Getty Images IQAir, a Swiss-based air quality technology company, compared measurements of the world's deadliest air pollutants before and during the Covid-19 outbreak in 10 major cities. The findings, published Wednesday on Earth Day, revealed a "drastic drop" in air pollution for almost all of the cities under lockdown from the same period a year earlier. New Delhi recorded a 60% drop in air pollution with 2019 levels, Seoul registered a 54% decline over the same period, while the drop in China's Wuhan came in at 44%. See how lockdowns have affected other major cities here. Sam Meredith 10:28 am: Pandemic is freezing funding for space companies, and more than half may not make it, analyst says Years of private funding flowing into young and growing space companies has ground to a halt during the coronavirus pandemic, in what one firm describes as a "culling" of space companies backed by venture capital. Investment in private space companies had seen a golden age in recent years, including a record of nearly $6 billion last year. But that's ended due to the coming "Covid-19-induced recession," a report by Quilty Analytics on Monday said, in a shakeout the firm expects will last about two years. Quilty is a boutique research and investment firm focused on the satellite and broader space industry. "When the dust settles, we believe that a bit less than half of the companies listed on our Top Venture Companies list below will remain healthy and operational (or alternatively, will have completed a decent exit event)," analysts Chris Quilty and Justin Cadman said in the report. Michael Sheetz 10:08 am: AT&T misses revenue estimates as coronavirus weighs on business A man walks with an umbrella outside of AT&T corporate headquarters on March 13, 2020 in Dallas, Texas. Ronald Martinez | Getty Images AT&T's first-quarter revenue fell short of Wall Street expectations and the company pulled its annual forecast on Wednesday, as the impact of the coronavirus outbreak overshadowed a strong growth in monthly phone subscribers. The U.S. media and telecommunications giant said the pandemic reduced earnings by 5 cents per share. Advertising sales, which was severely hit due to the postponement of live sports such as March Madness and lower wireless equipment sales led to a $600 million decline in revenue, AT&T reported. The company said it had limited visibility for the rest of the year, but added that it had enough free cash flow to pay dividends and make debt payments. Reuters 9:38 am: Dow jumps more than 400 points as oil stages sharp turnaround after record plunge Stocks rose for the first time in three days on Wednesday as crude prices tried to stabilize after a record plunge. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 450 points, or 1.9%. The S&P 500 climbed 2.1% while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 2.2%. The West Texas Intermediate contract for June was up 12.3%, trading at $12.99 per barrel, after an earlier decline. Brent futures, meanwhile, were up 5.9% at $20.48 per barrel, recovering from a sharp overnight drop. Fred Imbert, Maggie Fitzgerald 9:35 am: Scramble to make nasal swabs for coronavirus testing leads to 3D printers 3D printed swabs Source: University of South Florida Some health experts say the U.S. may have to do millions of tests as many as 20 million to 30 million per day. That will take many more nasal swabs a simple, but critical tool that's in short supply. A group of hospitals and companies is turning to 3D printers to ramp up production. Researchers at University of South Florida Health, a Tampa-based medical school, and Northwell Health, New York's largest health-care provider, teamed up to develop a 3D-printed swab that they can make at hospitals. They tested the design and produced the swabs with Formlabs, a 3D printing company that plans to make hundreds of thousands of them. The swabs are used for the most common type of Covid-19 test. The stick, which has a bristled end, goes deep into a person's nasal cavity and collects a sample that's tested for the coronavirus. The thousands of additional swabs could help alleviate some of the supply chain struggles that have slowed efforts for widespread testing. Melissa Repko 9:21 am: Macy's weighs raising as much as $5 billion in debt to weather coronavirus crisis Macy's is taking extreme measures to avoid dire outcomes like bankruptcy and will try to raise billions in debt to weather the pandemic crisis, according to people familiar with the matter. The country's largest department store chain is looking at raising as much as $5 billion in debt, the people said. It will seek to use its inventory as collateral to raise $3 billion and real estate to raise $1 billion to $2 billion, they said. It is not planning to pledge its prime Herald Square location in New York as part of the deal, one of the people said. The people requested anonymity because the information is confidential. The retailer earlier this year retained investment bank Lazard to help shore up its balance sheet. Lauren Hirsch 9:15 am: Delta books first-quarter loss after burning $100 million in cash a day during coronavirus travel slump Planes belonging to Delta Air Lines sit idle at Kansas City International Airport on April 03, 2020 in Kansas City, Missouri. Jamie Squire | Getty Images Delta Air Lines' on Wednesday posted a pretax loss of $607 million for the first quarter and issued a bleak forecast for this spring as the coronavirus saps travel demand. The Atlanta-based carrier's revenues plunged 18% in the quarter to $8.6 billion. CEO Ed Bastian said second-quarter revenue will likely fall 90% on the year. The airline spent the quarter shoring up cash and slashing expenses to combat the sharp drop in revenue. It burned through $100 million a day at the end of March, a rate it expects to halve by the end of the second quarter. Airlines are among the industries hit hardest by coronavirus and harsh measures to stop it from spreading, like stay-at-home orders. Carriers including Delta were granted a portion of $25 billion in government grants and loans dedicated to paying employees through Sept. 30. Leslie Josephs 9:04 am: Nasdaq CEO sees taking workers' temperatures as part of coronavirus plan to reopen their offices Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman told CNBC on Wednesday that taking employees' temperatures will probably be part of its plan to return workers to company offices around the world. "We will likely ask them a series of questions, take their temperature and do other things to make sure we can manage our employees successfully," Friedman said on CNBC's "Squawk Box." Nasdaq has offices in 30 countries. Friedman said that decisions on returning employees, including in New York City, will depend on the curve of the virus in each specific place. The first criterion in sending workers back will be whether the number of new Covid-19 cases is on the decline, Friedman said, adding Nasdaq will also evaluate whether local hospitals are "able to manage through the case load they have." Kevin Stankiewicz 8:49 am: Oil jumps 14%, reversing steep losses after a volatile overnight session Oil jumped more than 10% on Wednesday, reversing steep losses after a volatile overnight trading session which saw international benchmark Brent crude fall to its lowest level in more than 20 years. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, rose $1.73, or 14%, to trade at $13.19 per barrel. Earlier in the session WTI had traded as low as $10.26. Brent crude traded 7%, or $1.37, higher at $20.68, after previously breaking below $16. Sam Meredith, Pippa Stevens, Eustance Huang 7:48 am: Most antibody tests will 'give a very high false positive rate' Serology tests, which can detect the presence of coronavirus antibodies and identify whether someone has already been exposed to Covid-19, have a "very high false positive rate," former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told CNBC. Earlier this week, University of Southern California professor Neeraj Sood, who led a large antibody study in Los Angeles county, claimed the tests he used were very accurate. However, Gottlieb was cautious about the antibody tests. "They shouldn't be using these tests to make individual decisions for individual patients," Gottlieb said. "They're good for population-level studies and they're good maybe in certain professions where there's a very high exposure to coronavirus, but for the general population an antibody test probably isn't that helpful." Will Feuer Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and is a member of the boards of Pfizer and biotech company Illumina. 7:06 am: Sweden resisted a lockdown, and its capital is expected to reach 'herd immunity' in weeks People enjoy themselves at an outdoor restaruant, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in central Stockholm, Sweden, on April 20, 2020. ANDERS WIKLUND Its neighbors closed borders, schools, bars and businesses as the coronavirus pandemic swept through Europe, but Sweden went against the grain by keeping public life as unrestricted as possible. The strategy has been controversial. The country tried to slow the spread of the virus while allowing some exposure to it, aiming to build immunity among the general population while protecting high-risk groups like the elderly. Some health experts likened it to playing Russian roulette with public health. But now, the country's chief epidemiologist said the strategy appears to be working and that "herd immunity" could be reached in the capital Stockholm in a matter of weeks. The number of cases in Sweden is almost double that in neighboring Denmark (it has 8,108 cases and has reported 370 deaths) and Finland (with just over 4,000 cases and 141 deaths) that imposed strict lockdown measures. Since their populations are each about 5 million half of Sweden's the rates are about the same, although the comparison could be skewed by testing numbers in each country. But Sweden's 1,937 deaths is far higher in number and proportionally to Denmark's 370 and Finland's 141. Holly Ellyatt 6:55 am: Pandemic will drive carbon emissions down 6% The coronavirus pandemic is expected to drive carbon dioxide emissions down 6% this year, the head of the World Meteorological Organization said, in what would be the biggest yearly drop since World War II. "This crisis has had an impact on the emissions of greenhouse gases," WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas told a virtual briefing in Geneva. "We estimate that there is going to be a 6% drop in carbon emissions this year because of the lack of emissions from transportation and industrial energy production." Reuters 5:52 am: Cases exceed 10,000 in Poland A mural paying tribute to the sacrifice of doctors, nurses and paramedics fighting with epidemic of the new coronavirus COVID-19, is seen in Warsaw Poland, on April 2, 2020. Wojtek Radwanski | AFP | Getty Images The number of confirmed infections has passed 10,000 in Poland. The somber milestone comes as the country prepares for a presidential election on May 10. Poland was among the first countries in Europe to impose lockdown measures to try to contain the virus. A deputy health minister said the rise of new infections "had been contained to a degree," Reuters reported. "We are still seeing increases," ministry spokesman Wojciech Andrusiewicz told reporters. "What we can achieve is to level them off. If it wasn't for the restrictions, we could be seeing 30,000 to 40,000 people infected." Holly Ellyatt 5:15 am: Spain's daily death rate remains stable A nurse and a firefighter talking are seen in the Villalba General Hospital on April 05, 2020 in Madrid, Spain. David Benito Spain's death toll from has risen to 21,717 from 21,282 the previous day, a rise of 435 deaths, the country's health ministry said. Spain reported 430 deaths on Tuesday, higher than the 399 deaths reported Monday. The total number of cases has reached 208,389, up 4,211 from the day before. Holly Ellyatt 4:50 am: India halts antibody tests as reliability questioned India has ordered a pause in testing for antibodies because of concerns over the accuracy of the results, health officials said Wednesday, Reuters reported. Earlier in April, India's health authorities approved blood tests for coronavirus antibodies as a faster way to bolster the screening effort, and they ordered more than a half-billion testing kits from China. But the chief of epidemiology at the Indian Council of Medical Research said he has asked health authorities to temporarily stop the tests for antibodies because of conflicting results. India has almost 20,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19. Holly Ellyatt 4:31 am: Virus is a 'huge challenge' for Russia and the world, Putin's spokesman says Russia's President Vladimir Putin during a video conference meeting on the COVID-19 coronavirus situation in Russia, at Novo-Ogaryovo residence. Alexei Druzhinin The Ho Chi Minh City Party chief has discussed 'a new normal' in the fight against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, as Vietnam has achieved good results in its anti-epidemic efforts. According to Nguyen Thien Nhan, secretary of the municipal Party Committee, the epidemic began in Vietnam on January 23, when two Chinese men were diagnosed with COVID-19 in Ho Chi Minh City. The Southeast Asian country had a phase shift on March 29, Nhan continued. A phase shift occurs when a country goes from having a daily increase in numbers of confirmed and active cases to reporting a decrease in the ratio of the number of active cases to the countrys tally. The number of active cases in Vietnam had dropped from its peak at 163 86.7 percent of the national tally to 65 by April 19, accounting for 24 percent of the countrys total, Nhan elaborated. He classified Vietnam as a country with a 'mild' COVID-19 epidemic, adding that 38 out of 63 provinces and cities in Vietnam have not reported any case. During the rest of 2020, Vietnam, as well as other countries that have had a phase shift in combating COVID-19, should have a plan to relax lockdown and social distancing rules and reopen schools, shops, and services in a suitable manner. Codes of conduct and regulations must be established at businesses, agencies, and institutions to reduce the risk of an outbreak. Until a vaccine is available, COVID-19 infection cannot be completely prevented, Nhan said, but it can be controlled like other infectious diseases. A new normal Nhan highlighted aspects of 'a new normal' that Vietnam may have to adapt to in the upcoming period. Wearing face masks should be made mandatory at schools, markets, on all forms of public transportation, and when one meets a person they have not seen after a certain amount of time (three months, six months, one year, or longer). People arriving from COVID-19-hit regions must be tested for the virus. They will be quarantined for at least 14 days if they show symptoms of infection. The screening may also be applied to people disembarking from planes and trains. If a person is confirmed to be infected with COVID-19, all people having direct or indirect contact with the patient have to be isolated. A minimum distance between people at production facilities, restaurants, and theaters, as well as in classrooms, trains, and cars should be promulgated. The scale of some crowded activities such as cultural, sports, and tourism events should be limited. People should practice washing their hands regularly, while all vehicles need to be sterilized periodically. In order for 'the new normal' to work, all of the countrys sectors must coordinate properly and every citizen has to clearly understand the plan and strictly comply with regulations. Secretary Nhan is expected to task all agencies and businesses with establishing suitable codes of conduct within April so that the rules can be applied from May. As most of Vietnams trade and investment partners are still busy battling the pandemic, Nhan advised local businesses to focus on targeting the domestic market, as well as monitoring the situation in countries already going through a COVID-19 phase shift to prepare plans for investing in these markets. According to the Party chief, Vietnam is completely capable of treating 1,000 COVID-19 patients simultaneously. Even if the number of cases tops 2,000, overcrowding at hospitals and medical centers will not happen, he underlined. However, these scenarios will not become a reality if all measures are taken thoroughly to contain the epidemic, he stated. Vietnam, a country with nearly 100 million people, a per capita GDP of only US$3,000, and a shared border with China one of the worlds COVID-19 epicenters has only recorded 268 cases so far, most of whom have recovered, while no death has been reported, Nhan remarked. Ninety-five percent of the countrys hospital capacity prepared for COVID-19 treatment has not been used, he added. The country has done an excellent job in COVID-19 prevention, while the pandemic remains very serious across the world. However, this is not the time for the people and the political system to let their guard down, as preparations must be made for the society and economy to adapt to 'the new normal' from May, Nhan underscored. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! African airlines are struggling amidst the coronavirus lockdown as demand has evaporated since measures were put in place across the globe to halt the spread of Covid-19. Air Mauritius became the latest victim of Covid-19 as the companys board of directors announced on Wednesday that the carrier would be put into voluntary administration. Unfortunately, travel restrictions and the closure of borders in all our markets and cessation of all international and domestic flights in an unprecedented crisis, has led to a complete erosion of the companys revenue base, said a statement from Air Mauritius. Trading in the company was suspended on Mauritius stock exchange and the company appointed administrators. Air Mauritius started flying in 1967 and served 22 destinations on four continents, according to the companys website. Namibias flag carrier Air Namibia said on Wednesday that it was having cashflow problems, according to local media reports. Air Namibia would be delaying the payment of salaries of some 700 employees by a week, The Namibian reported. The carrier has suspended its operations until 5 May, but is continuing to offer cargo services, according to its website. Continuing with cargo Kenya Airways has pivoted its service to cargo and converted four of its passenger aircraft to lessen the impact of Covid-19 and increase its freight capacity. It has already started to transport fresh produce, including vegetables, to Europe using the converted widebody aircraft. Destinations in Europe served by Kenya Airways have been suspended until at least 6 May, while cities served by the Kenyan carrier in China, India, Thailand and Dubai will also not resume until May. Ethiopian Airlines, the African continents largest carrier, is struggling for survival, CEO Tewolde Gebremariam told AFP news agency in an interview. The state-owned carrier is facing revenue losses of 508 million euros from January to April and might need to secure outside financial help if the crisis lasts for another three more months, Tewolde said. Story continues Ethiopian Airlines, like Kenya Airways, is looking towards cargo to help sustain operations. It had 12 cargo planes and is using an additional 10 to 15 passenger jets to increase the capacity, according to AFP. Another bailout for SAA? South African Airways last week went cap in hand to the government, requesting 485 million euros in funding. SAA like other airlines has seen its operations dwindle over Covid-19 measures. Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan rejected SAAs request, dealing it the latest blow following attempts to save the indebted airline and a business rescue last year. This is an enterprise that in the past three years has consistently and inexplicably missed every reporting deadline as prescribed by the Public Finance Management Act, said Adrian Saville of Cannon Asset Managers. In this environment, it is an extraordinary ask, he added. The aviation industry in Africa contributes 51.5 billion euros to the continents economies and supports 6.2 million jobs, according to the International Air Transport Association. 3 1 of 3 File photo / Contributed Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Stamford Police Department / Contributed Show More Show Less 3 of 3 STAMFORD City police said they ticketed an alleged shoplifter for reckless endangerment Monday evening after he began coughing and telling employees of a city drug store that he was Covid-19 positive. Sgt. Jose Alvarez said employees from CVS on West Main Street called in a complaint about shoplifters at 7 p.m. on Monday. They said that when they confronted a man for stealing things from the store he began coughing and told them he was positive for the coronavirus, Alvarez said. Dozens more women, including 18 Canadians, have added their names to a class-action lawsuit alleging rape and sexual assault by fashion mogul Peter Nygard. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 22/4/2020 (629 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Dozens more women, including 18 Canadians, have added their names to a class-action lawsuit alleging rape and sexual assault by fashion mogul Peter Nygard. "The facts are coming out and more and more people feel empowered to tell their truth," Greg Gutzler, one of the lawyers representing the women, said in a news release Wednesday. Peter Nygard arrives at the 24th Night of 100 Stars Oscars Viewing Gala at The Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on March 2, 2014. Dozens more women, including Canadians, have added their names to a class action lawsuit alleging rape and sexual assault by fashion mogul Nygard. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Invision - Annie I. Bang Thirty-six women some from Toronto, Winnipeg and Montreal have been included in the lawsuit in an amendment filed this week in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The original lawsuit against Nygard was filed in February and included allegations from 10 women accusing him of enticing them to his estate in the Bahamas. Several allege they were 14 or 15 years old when Nygard raped them. Soon after, FBI and police in New York City raided his office there and Nygard stepped down as chairman of his company. Nygard, once one of the richest people in Canada, started the company more than 50 years ago in Winnipeg, where it is still headquartered. His spokesman Ken Frydman said the accusations in the lawsuit are baseless and Nygard vehemently denies them. Frydman said they mark the latest chapter in a feud with Nygard's neighbour in the Bahamas, Louis Bacon. "Peter Nygard looks forward to exposing the details of the billionaire-backed conspiracy Louis Bacon has orchestrated for years," Frydman said in an email. The amended complaint alleges that a series of Nygard corporate entities and executives financed, facilitated and covered up decades of abuse. It says they "knowingly and continuously conspired with Nygard to enable, act as a front, and conceal Nygard's criminal activity." "Nygard was permitted and enabled to traffic, rape, and abuse others in plain sight for years," co-counsel Lisa Haba said in the news release. "That lack of accountability ends now, and governments can no longer turn a blind eye to human trafficking." The lawsuit alleges the women, whose names have been withheld, have strikingly similar stories about being lured to Nygard's offices and properties with false promises of modelling and other career opportunities. They tell graphic accounts of being held against their will and forced into sex. One Canadian woman alleges that in 2007, when she was 17, she went to New York City to meet her modelling manager, who in turn took her to Nygard's apartment. She was encouraged to drink alcohol spiked with drugs, the lawsuit alleges, before she passed out and woke up to find Nygard raping her. Another woman alleges that in 1993, when she was 20, she was flown to Winnipeg to model. Instead, the lawsuit claims, she was held against her will for three days and raped multiple times. The lawsuit says the woman didn't report the attack because Nygard told her he "owned" the police. Another woman alleges that she went to Nygard's Toronto office to model clothing in 1992. But the lawsuit alleges that during a tour with Nygard, she was taken to a dark room with a bed and raped. In another allegation, a woman alleges she was 14 when she performed oral sex multiple times on Nygard in his car in Winnipeg. The lawsuit says she was lured with false promises of trips to California and glamorous parties. The women are asking for a trial by jury and are seeking yet-to-be determined damages. The lawsuit says Nygard has an estimated net worth of about $900 million. Nygard, who came to Canada as a child from Finland, invested in a Winnipeg clothing company in 1967. A few years later, he owned the entire thing and created the Tan Jay brand. The Alia, Alia Sport, Nygard Collection and Bianca Nygard brands followed and became popular in department stores across North America. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 22, 2020 Note to readers: This is a corrected story; a previous version said Frydman is a company spokesman. On April 17, 2020, HSLDA attorney Peter Kamakawiwoole asked the seven members of the Supreme Court of Virginia to strike down a Franklin County School Board policy that purports to add evidentiary requirements to Virginias homeschooling statute. The case began in 2017, when homeschool graduates Kristen and Kirk Sosebee sent in their notice of intent to homeschool their oldest child. Read more here. They were surprised when the school district told them their notice was deficient because it did not include a birth certificate or a utility bill to prove residency, neither of which were required by the statute. But the school board had recently adopted a local homeschooling policy requiring these two documents. Kirkwho happens to be a lawyerwrote to the school board, saying the statute did not require him to submit these documents to operate a lawful homeschool. The school boards lawyer then threatened court intervention if Kirk and Kristen did not comply with the school boards new policy. A Question of Authority To prevent the Sosebees from being wrongly prosecuted, HSLDA sued the school board, arguing that it did not have the lawful authority to add to or alter the statute passed by the General Assembly. The trial court agreed with the school board, and we asked the Supreme Court of Virginia to take the case, which it did. Due to COVID-19, the court heard oral argument by telephone conference call. You may listen to the argument here: (Sosebee et al. v. Franklin County School Board). Peter argued that the General Assembly established, by statewide statute, how homeschoolers commence a homeschooling program in Virginia. The General Assembly made it easy to begin a program by simply providing a notice of intent at the beginning of the school year. The statute then requires evidence of progress at the end of the year. Nowhere do Virginia statutes authorize the Commonwealths 133 school districts to add to the statute. At Risk of Prosecution The school boards lawyer acknowledged during the courts questions that if the Sosebees did not comply with the local policy, it intended to either prosecute them for a misdemeanor truancy charge or take them to family court. There, it would be alleged that their son is a child in need of servicesin other words, that he is being abused or neglected by his parents. In response to this alarming assertion, the chief justice interjected, It sounds to me like its not a child in need of services. Its a school board in need of paper. Homeschoolers learned long ago how important it is not to acquiesce to the unlawful demands of bureaucrats. That principle is not about how difficult it is to comply, but rather about who gets to make the law. Going along with this seemingly small burden today opens the door for each of the 132 other school districts in Virginia to impose additional, perhaps more onerous, burdenslike requiring home visits, instituting curriculum review, or mandating specific days and hours of instruction. Focus on Freedom James Madison, in his famous Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments in 1785, said: [I]t is proper to take alarm at the first experiment on our liberties. We hold this prudent jealousy to be the first duty of Citizens, and one of the noblest characteristics of the late Revolution. The free men of America did not wait till usurped power had strengthened itself by exercise, and entangled the question in precedents. They saw all the consequences in the principle, and they avoided the consequences by denying the principle. School boards in Virginia do not have the lawful power to amend the General Assemblys homeschooling statute. Kirk and Kristen Sosebee took alarm at this first experiment on their liberty, and acted on that principle and to prevent further usurpations. HSLDA will always come alongside homeschoolers to vindicate this quintessentially American view of liberty. If you would like to be a part of this and other cases HSLDA is pursuing, please consider making a donation to assist our efforts to defend homeschool freedom. We expect a decision from the Supreme Court of Virginia in the next few months. Please pray for a favorable outcome. Wales' health minister has apologised after being caught swearing about a Labour colleague in a video conference - to the appalled horror of everyone else on the call. Vaughan Gething could be heard muttering: 'What the f*** is the matter with her?' in reference to Cardiff Central AM Jenny Rathbone. The blunder was made after he left his microphone on by mistake in a virtual Welsh Assembly session conducted via Zoom this afternoon. Ms Rathbone had been asking questions about the Welsh Government's response to the coronavirus crisis, the BBC reports, before the gaffe, which left colleagues open-mouthed, laughing, and covering their faces in shock. Mr Gething has since apologised to his colleague, as opposition leaders have called for him to be sacked. He tweeted: 'I'm obviously embarrassed about my comments at the end of questions today. I've sent a message apologising and offered to speak to Jenny Rathbone if she wishes to do so. Vaughan Gething, pictured, was caught swearing during a virtual Welsh Assembly session Jenny Rathbone, pictured, who Mr Gething was referring to, got up from her seat and walked off camera Colleagues covered their faces, pictured, as they reacted to the shocking incident on Zoom Neil McEvoy, pictured, saw the funny side of the gaffe, for which the health minister has since apologised 'It is an unwelcome distraction at a time of unprecedented challenge.' Mr Gething made the comments after ending his contribution to the day's business, but they were quickly picked up on by fellow members, who urged him to turn off his microphone. The meeting was halted after the incident, which saw Ms Rathbone get up from her seat and walk off camera. Opposition parties, meanwhile, have criticised Mr Gething, with some calling for him to be sacked. Mr Gething's unexpected outburst was a head in hands moment for many present on the call, pictured Russell George, pictured, appears to stifle laughter in response to the embarrassing blunder Neil Hamilton, pictured, was left open-mouthed after the microphone was left on by mistake Adam Price, leader of Plaid Cymru, said: 'The Health Minister has not only failed over the last month several times, he has failed to acknowledge that he has failed and aggressively attacks even those within his own party who question him. 'He does not have the right attitude, skills or temperament to lead the Government's response to the coronavirus pandemic. 'To maintain public confidence the First Minister needs to relieve him of these responsibilities with immediate effect.' The Welsh Liberal Democrats added in a statement: 'He should not have made those remarks, whether his microphone was muted or not. 'However, we all need to be focusing on what is most important tackling this deadly pandemic by ensuring we increase testing and give families and businesses the support they need.' Beijing's Chaoyang district is home to about 3.5 million people. Photo: Xinhua CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Gov. Mike DeWine has asked Ohios hospitals and doctors to review any elective surgeries theyve postponed amid the coronavirus pandemic so they can start resuming those procedures. Ohio Department of Health Director Amy Acton ordered hospitals to postpone elective surgeries last month, citing the need to preserve beds and personal protective equipment in case of a spike in COVID-19 cases. DeWine said during Wednesdays coronavirus briefing that social distancing measures have dramatically improved Ohios outlook, and have kept hospitals from being overwhelmed with an influx of COVID-19 patients. Doctors, hospitals and outpatient surgery centers should review any of the procedures they postponed to determine whether they should occur now, DeWine said. My first concerns are the patients that have had procedures and surgeries delayed, DeWine said Wednesday. They have been waiting, and its time for them to catch up. Last month, @DrAmyActon issued an order postponing elective surgery in order to conserve critical PPE and clear out necessary bed space we had anticipated would be needed to care for #COVID19 patients. Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) April 22, 2020 Patients should be consulted about their elective surgeries, so doctors can assess if their quality of life is being hurt by a postponement, DeWine said. He also instructed doctors to notify their patients of the risk of contracting COVID-19. Patients must have the information necessary to make informed decisions, DeWine said. DeWine announced last week that he asked hospitals to develop a plan for resuming elective surgeries. He asked hospitals to submit the plan by Wednesday. The order to delay elective surgeries led to some confusion about what procedures qualified as elective. DeWine said Wednesday that hes heard some procedures state officials had no intention of stopping" have been postponed, but he did not offer any examples. DeWines office and the Ohio Hospital Association issued guidelines March 18 but gave hospitals some leeway to make determinations for patients. Some Northeast Ohio doctors told cleveland.com that some procedures might be considered elective in the short term, but problems could develop if they are not addressed. HOUSTON, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- KBR (NYSE: KBR) announced today it has been awarded a $15 million bridge contract by the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Europe, Africa, Southwest Asia (NAVFAC EURAFSWA) for repair, maintenance and construction services at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, Africa. This is a bridge contract for an existing indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) job order contract (JOC) KBR previously won in 2014. This six-month contract brings the total ceiling value to $65 million. Under the bridge contract, KBR will perform engineering, design, new construction, renovation, repairs, maintenance, replacement, alterations, demolition and other construction tasks at Camp Lemonnier and its associated Chabelley Air Field. For more than 30 years, KBR has supported multiple JOCs in the U.S. and overseas, establishing a legacy of delivering high-quality enduring projects. This contract follows the recently awarded Camp Lemonnier Djibouti Mini-Multiple Award Construction Contract (MACC) under which KBR will continue providing construction, renovation, alteration and repair services at multiple bases across Djibouti and Kenya. The MACC contract includes one base year and four option years and has a total ceiling value of $95 million. KBR's work through both contracts complements its existing base operating support at Camp Lemonnier, highlighting the company's premiere construction and services capabilities. The company has provided base operating support services at Camp Lemonnier, the largest U.S. base in Africa, since 2013. Its work in the region dates back to 2002. "These contracts demonstrate the Navy's desire to continue working with a proven partner that has a track record of performing on a large scale," said Byron Bright, KBR President, Government Solutions U.S. "KBR will keep delivering safely and successfully its reliable expertise in this austere and remote environment." While performing vital services in Djibouti and Kenya, KBR has achieved almost 25 million hours without a lost-time incident. As a leading base operations support provider, KBR serves U.S. and allied military forces, and diplomatic and civilian personnel deployed around the world. About KBR, Inc. KBR is a global provider of differentiated professional services and technologies across the asset and program lifecycle within the Government Solutions and Energy sectors. KBR employs approximately 37,000 people worldwide (including our joint ventures), with customers in more than 80 countries, and operations in 40 countries, across three synergistic global businesses: Government Solutions, serving government customers globally, including capabilities that cover the full lifecycle of defense, space, aviation and other government programs and missions from research and development, through systems engineering, test and evaluation, program management, to operations, maintenance, and field logistics Technology Solutions, featuring proprietary technology, equipment, catalysts, digital solutions and related technical services for the monetization of hydrocarbons, including refining, petrochemicals, ammonia and specialty chemicals, as well as inorganics Energy Solutions, including onshore oil and gas; LNG (liquefaction and regasification)/GTL; oil refining; petrochemicals; chemicals; fertilizers; differentiated EPC; maintenance services (Brown & Root Industrial Services); offshore oil and gas (shallow-water, deep-water, subsea); floating solutions (FPU, FPSO, FLNG & FSRU); program management and consulting services KBR is proud to work with its customers across the globe to provide technology, value-added services, integrated EPC delivery and long term operations and maintenance services to ensure consistent delivery with predictable results. At KBR, We Deliver. Visit www.kbr.com Forward Looking Statement The statements in this press release that are not historical statements, including statements regarding future financial performance, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the company's control that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the outcome of and the publicity surrounding audits and investigations by domestic and foreign government agencies and legislative bodies; potential adverse proceedings by such agencies and potential adverse results and consequences from such proceedings; the scope and enforceability of the company's indemnities from its former parent; changes in capital spending by the company's customers; the company's ability to obtain contracts from existing and new customers and perform under those contracts; structural changes in the industries in which the company operates; escalating costs associated with and the performance of fixed-fee projects and the company's ability to control its cost under its contracts; claims negotiations and contract disputes with the company's customers; changes in the demand for or price of oil and/or natural gas; protection of intellectual property rights; compliance with environmental laws; changes in government regulations and regulatory requirements; compliance with laws related to income taxes; unsettled political conditions, war and the effects of terrorism; foreign operations and foreign exchange rates and controls; the development and installation of financial systems; increased competition for employees; the ability to successfully complete and integrate acquisitions; and operations of joint ventures, including joint ventures that are not controlled by the company. KBR's most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K, any subsequent Form 10-Qs and 8-Ks, and other U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings discuss some of the important risk factors that KBR has identified that may affect the business, results of operations and financial condition. Except as required by law, KBR undertakes no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason. SOURCE KBR, Inc. Related Links http://www.kbr.com CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The 40th annual Cleveland Race Week, the largest sailing regatta on Lake Erie and one of the largest in the country, has been postponed from June to August because of the coronavirus. The nine days of racing usually attracts more than 300 boats from across the United States, Canada and internationally. The event includes a popular Juniors Day, which normally draws about 100 Optis, Lasers, 420s and Thistles from yacht clubs like Put-in-Bay, Mentor Harbor and Erie. See photos from the 2018 race week and 2019 event. What to expect during a summer amid the coronavirus is still unknown. When Gov. Mike DeWine on Tuesday was asked about staples like pools and zoos, he didnt give a definitive answer but said the coronavirus still requires people to social distance and stay home. Lake Erie is still open, though Michigan has banned motor boats during the coronavirus crisis. Edgewater Yacht Club, which hosts Cleveland Race Week, has postponed the event to Aug. 21-30. For more Lake Erie news, follow RocktheLake on Facebook. CHESAPEAKE BEACH, MD / ACCESSWIRE / April 22, 2020 / Dental Equipment Specialists is pleased to announce that a manufacturer of one of the products the company sells has completely re-purposed its sterilizer to decontaminate previously used N-95 masks during the COVID-19 crisis. The unit concerned is CPAC's RapidHeat High-Velocity Hot Air (HVHA) Sterilizer and it has been shown to assure viral inactivation as well as maintaining certified N95 respirator performance. This process ensures that the optimum number of possible mask reuses can be achieved. Interested organizations can learn more about Dental Equipment Specialists via their website. There is a comprehensive report made available by Dr. Nelson Slavik, a senior microbiologist of CPAC regarding research undertaken into N95 respirator decontamination and how the use of CPAC's RapidHeat (RH-N95 HVHA) Technology can assist this process at www.cpac.com. Dental Equipment Specialists is based in Maryland and has been in business for more than 44 years. Al Irey, the founder, and owner of the company said that Dental Equipment Specialists is pleased to be able to assist health care providers by helping to make these sterilizers easily obtainable by hospitals during this extremely difficult time for the country. "Of course, we want to help," Mr. Irey said. "CPAC immediately stepped up to the plate when the mask shortage and sterilization needs were made public, and they reworked these units as quickly as they could. It is a New-York based company that is highly respected within its field. We've been carrying their products for some time." According to the manufacturer, these N95 sterilizers provide a fast, effective method of decontaminating masks without compromising mask performance. The machine can process up to 100 masks per hour. They go on to state that the machine is a convenient way for healthcare facilities to achieve the required level of viral kill, while maintaining mask performance and function. Clearly, on-site decontamination by a medical facility will assure that personnel can receive their own previously used masks. Units can be installed in departments, floors, units or wings of healthcare facilities. Interested persons and organizations can view their products online and contact DES if necessary. Dental Equipment Services has several full-time staff members who have extensive experience in their field. They are able to help customers determine which products to purchase, how to install and maintain them, and to understand different available options. In addition to the sterilizer, the company, of course, sells a number of items for dental practitioners - everything from handpieces to X-ray machines, operatory furnishings, and more. Mr. Irey said "It is not acceptable that people are taking care of patients without adequate protection. Nurses have been putting their N-95 masks in paper bags after using them and hoping for the best. These units can eliminate that - and we can ship them worldwide. CPAC makes very good machines and has been in business for many years. We know that the people who are on the front lines of taking care of COVID patients - doctors, nurses, and dentists alike - can be kept safer as a result of using these units." The process does not use any water at all, the manufacturer states. CPAC also states that the RH-N95HVHA Decontamination System meets the criteria for market clearance contained in FDA's March 2020 guidance documents. The RH-N95 unit completes its cycle in about 30 minutes and is said to be very easy to use. It has a touch screen which makes it simple to operate. The shipping weight is only about 109lbs. Dental Equipment Company even offers financing in many cases through a company called Marlin. This would allow many organizations to purchase these units and pay for them over time. Mr. Irey said, "These machines could really put some minds at ease if organizations simply put them into use." For more information, interested persons can visit the Dental Equipment Services company website, contact them by phone at (855) 877-0692. They can also be reached by email at info@desdental.com. For more information about Dental Equipment Specialists, contact the company here: Dental Equipment Specialists Al Irey 410-257-2323 info@desdental.com SOURCE: Dental Equipment Specialists View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/586151/Dental-Equipment-Company-Sells-Re-Purposed-Sterilizer-to-Decontaminate-N-95-Masks We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 20:05:18|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NANJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The Nanjing Lukou International Airport in east Chinas Jiangsu Province has taken a series of measures including converting passenger flights into cargo flights to guarantee the transportation of medical supplies, according to the airport. Flight LH781 loaded with 11 tonnes of medical supplies took off Tuesday afternoon from the airport in Nanjing, capital of the province, bound for Frankfurt in Germany. The flight was converted from passenger flight, according to the airport. More passenger-to-cargo flights linking the airport and countries, including Finland and Ukraine, will come into service later this month as scheduled, the airport said. The airport has also partnered with local customs to raise the efficiency of logistics by granting online approvals and conducting electronic checks. Jiangsu is one of the major production bases of medical supplies in China. Enditem Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have officially declared war against British media, but are seemingly striking a better relationship with the US media. Markle has officially made her first TV appearance since Megxit. She was expected to deliver a message - and she did, using her clothes more than her words. In a subtle method, Meghan Markle delivered her commitment to both charity and family, according to Page Six Style. In a pre-recorded episode of Good Morning America on Monday, the 38-year-old discussed her new Disney documentary "Elephant." Watchful eyes would look beyond her words to her clothes and behaviors. She was wearing a crisp white Misha Nonoo shirt for her very own clothing line for Smart Works, a charity. She accessorized this with gold zodiac necklaces from Suetables, a Canadian brand - one that is of Virgo pendant to represent Prince Harry and one Taurus charm for her firstborn, baby Archie. The white shirt symbolizes her commitment to charity while these accessories show just how much she loves her family. The white shirt was released as part of the September 2019 collection, just one piece among the five-piece capsule collection that benefits the organization. Smart Works is established to provide outfits and job interview training for women trying to enter the workforce once more. On the other hand, Markle already wore these same pendants last November. At the time, the company behind the jewelry wrote on Instagram that they are thrilled to see her keep her loved ones close to her heart by wearing those pieces. It seems she's keeping them close to her heart too as she embarks once more her Hollywood career while making sure she's also known for her penchant for charity works. After all, she's also a woman trying to "reenter" the workforce! In the interview, it was noticeable that she did not talk about her royal life. Even if pre-recorded, it can be remembered that last year, she was already in a lot of predicament and issues for being part of the palace. Instead, she focused on the documentary ad shared that she is very fond of elephants. She thinks elephants are just like human beings because they are protective of their young and can also remember things. "I think they're a lot more like us than they are different," Markle said. This is not the first time she worked with these majestic creatures. She spent time with Elephants with Borders charity in Botswana back in 2017. She was with Prince Harry already back then, although they were not married yet. 'I've been very lucky to have hands-on experience with elephants in their natural habitat,' she said. "When you spend time connecting to them and other wildlife, you really understand that we have a role to play in their preservation and their safety," she added. The interview was already recorded last summer, but her message can still be embraced at the moment. According to her, she hopes that when people see the film, they will be able to realize how connected everyone is, including the animals and the planet. READ MORE: Royal Truth: Meghan Markle Making Prince Harry Suffer? 'He Has Lost His Purpose,' Expert Says Beijing Warns Any Attempt to Deny China's Sovereignty in S China Sea Will be Doomed to Fail Sputnik News Oleg Burunov. Sputnik International 07:29 GMT 21.04.2020(updated 08:24 GMT 21.04.2020) Apart from Beijing, disputed territories in the South China Sea are also claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, and Taiwan. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang has warned that any attempt to reject Beijing's sovereignty in the South China Sea will be doomed to fail. He also referred to stern representations, lodged by Beijing in retaliation against what it described as Vietnam's illegal claims in the South China Sea. The statement comes after Vietnam lodged a claim with the UN, protesting Beijing's efforts to boost its presence in the disputed area. This was preceded by data from the ship tracking website Marine Traffic indicating last week that a Chinese survey ship, which was involved in last year's standoff with Vietnamese vessels, had returned to waters in the South China Sea near Vietnam. According to the data, the ship Haiyang Dizhi 8 appeared last Tuesday about 158 kilometres (98 miles) off the Vietnamese coast flanked by a Chinese Coast Guard vessel and shadowed by at least three Vietnamese vessels. While Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Hanoi was closely monitoring activity in the South China Sea, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian stressed that the Haiyang Dizhi 8 "was conducting normal activities in waters administered by China". The developments followed Hanoi lodging a diplomatic protest over the alleged ramming and sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat by a Chinese Coast Guard ship in the South China Sea earlier this month. Beijing responded by blaming the Vietnamese boat for illegally entering Chinese waters, claiming that the vessel had collided with the Chinese ship Haijing 4301 after taking "dangerous actions". The US State Department, for its part, expressed "serious" concern about the incident, urging Beijing "to remain focused on supporting international efforts to combat the global pandemic, and to stop exploiting the distraction or vulnerability of other states to expand its unlawful claims in the South China Sea". A majority of islands in the area is controlled by Beijing although many of those territories are claimed by other countries, including Vietnam, Cambodia, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, and the Philippines. Although the US has no claims to the territories, it continues to send its military vessels to the South China Sea to implement what Washington calls "freedom of navigation" missions, slammed by Beijing as "provocations". Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Madison County Health working on transition to 988 number for... Organizations across the state are working to implement the Community Emergency Services and... Berzon earns certificate EDWARDSVILLE S. M. Wilson & Co. Virtual Design & Construction (VD&C) Technology... Tuckers earns small business honor GODFREY Tuckers Automotive and Tire, Inc. at 124 Northport Drive in Alton has been chosen as... New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday (April 22) quashed the January 2000 order of the erstwhile state of Andhra Pradesh which provided 100 per cent reservation to the Scheduled Tribe candidates for the post of teachers in schools in the scheduled areas, saying it was "arbitrary" and "not permissible" under the Constitution. A five-judge Constitution bench, headed by Justice Arun Mishra noted that providing 100 per cent reservation would be "unfair" and "unreasonable" and no law mandates that only tribal teachers can teach in the scheduled areas. Referring to the 1992 Indra Sawhney judgement, popularly called the Mandal Commission verdict, the apex court said it was emphasised that the founding fathers never envisaged reservation of all seats and 50 per cent quota shall be the rule. It noted that as per the 1992 verdict, extreme caution has to be exercised and special case has to be made out for exceeding 50 per cent reservation limit. "There were no such extraordinary circumstances to provide a 100 per cent reservation in scheduled areas. It is an obnoxious idea that tribals only should teach the tribals. When there are other local residents, why they cannot teach is not understandable," said the bench, also comprising Justices Indira Banerjee, Vineet Saran, M R Shah and Aniruddha Bose. "The action defies logic and is arbitrary. Merit cannot be denied in toto by providing reservations," the bench said, adding that the order providing 100 per cent reservation is "arbitrary, illegal, impermissible, and unconstitutional". In its 152-page verdict, the top court said it is apparent that despite more than 72 years of attaining independence, "we are not able to provide benefits to the bottom line, i.E., downtrodden and oppressed classes. Benefits meant to such classes are not reaching them". It said that those belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were making a struggle for freedom, various rights in the country and they have also suffered discrimination and remained an "unequal and vulnerable section of the society". It said the basis for providing them reservation was to provide them upliftment and to eradicate their sufferings. "We have not been able to eradicate untouchability in the real sense so far and to provide safety and security to downtrodden class and to ensure that their rights are preserved and protected, and they equally enjoy frugal comforts of life," it said. The bench, while emphasising on the need to improve the system and ensure implementation of beneficial measures, observed that the right to information system has to be strengthened at the village level and people must know how money meant for development has been utilised. "Transparency of administration is vital for the removal of corruption," the bench said. Dealing with the issue of quota, the top court said that rights of tribals, who are not residents of scheduled areas, shall be adversely affected if 100 per cent reservation is provided in such areas. It also dealt with the issue related to validity of action of the Governor in issuing the notification providing 100 per cent reservation and said that, "Every action of the legislature, whether it is Parliament or State, has to conform with the rights guaranteed in Part III of Constitution". "There is no power to the legislature or to the Governor to act contrary to the constitutional provisions, and they cannot enact a law in derogation to the provision contained in Part III of the Constitution," it said. Referring to the Presidential Order issued under Article 371-D of the Constitution, which deals with special provisions with respect to the states of Andhra Pradesh or Telangana, the bench said it intends that the candidates have to apply within the district. "The candidates of local areas or other candidates except for Scheduled Tribes have been deprived of the opportunity of seeking public employment because of the order issued by the Governor, and they cannot apply outside the local area in view of the Presidential notification," it said, adding, "The Governor could not have issued the order in derogation to the Presidential Order." The bench also noted in its verdict that a similar order was issued by the erstwhile state of Andhra Pradesh in 1986 and the same was quashed by the state administrative tribunal. It said that against the quashing of order, an appeal was preferred in the apex court but it was dismissed as withdrawn in the year 1998. "After withdrawal of the appeal from this Court, it was expected of the erstwhile State of Andhra Pradesh not to resort to such illegality of providing 100 per cent reservation once again," the bench said. "In the peculiar circumstance, we save the appointments conditionally that the reorganised states i.E. The States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana not attempt a similar exercise in the future. If they do so and exceed the limit of reservation, there shall not be any saving of the appointments made, w.E.F. 1986 till date," it said, adding, "The cost of the appeal is quantified at Rupees Five Lakhs and to be shared equally by the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana". Checkout No resources available in your cart (Photo : Draganfly Inc. Facebook Page) The Draganflyer X4-P is an electric-powered semi-autonomous small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) ready-to-flyweight 5 pounds, intended to be flown within line-of-sight by the Pilot in Command (PIC). The aircraft features the ability to automatically take-off and is manually flown and navigated through the airspace. The PIC has the option to fly the aircraft in a GPS assisted mode and with optional Surveyor software, fly automated grids for aerial surveying. The Westport Police Department in Connecticut will fly "pandemic drones" to monitor if residents have fevers or other health symptoms of coronavirus. This aims to reduce the risk of transmitting the virus and check whether if residents observe social distancing. Westport is a town in Fairfield County, which is the nearest county to New York. Fairfield now has 8,472 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and is the epicenter for the outbreak in Connecticut. "One of the major problems for cities and towns like Westport in managing and responding to a pandemic like the COVID-19 virus, is finding out who could be infected and how widespread the disease has spread," said Westport First Selectman Jim Marpe adding examining causal symptoms could help do this. READ ALSO: BREAKING NEWS: COVID-19 Has Now Mutated to Over 30 Strains, Says China Who is Draganfly? According to Draganfly, an aerospace company that manufactures the pandemic drones, the devices will have special sensors and computer vision systems. These allow drones to quickly detect COVID-19 symptoms such as coughing, sneezing, rapid heartbeats, and high blood pressure using deep learning algorithms from up to 190 feet in the air. This could help provide better health monitoring for high-risk groups, including the elderly or those with pre-existing health concerns. In a press release, Draganfly also stated the drones could also examine social distancing in public areas like beaches, train stations, parks, and shopping centers as certain conditions can be detected from 190-feet away. The device reads biometrics in its analysis process. Its software can provide significant data, which can be used to understand patterns in a community allowing users to react efficiently to new or on-going health threats. "The Westport Police Department, along with first responders around the world are looking for effective ways to ease the spread of COVID-19 and keep their communities safe," said Foti Koskinas Westport Chief of Police. Is it safe to use? Koskinas also said the drone technology enhances the safety of the police and the public. It is being tested by the Westport police as part of their "Flatten the Curve Pilot Program." "The concept of using drones remains a go-to technology for reaching the most remote areas with little to no manpower needed." Meanwhile, the police also assured the public that the drone will not go into individual private yards, and it does not employ facial recognition in the protection of their privacy rights. Draganfly manufactures Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for commercial use. It has been chosen by the Australian authorities to provide engineering, integration, and distribution assistance "for immediate deployment of the drone technology." With an initial budget of $1.5 million, Draganfly developed the surveillance device with the help of the University of South Australia, Australia's Defence Science and Technology Group, and healthcare data services company Vital Intelligence Inc. Draganfly CEO Cameron Chell said the system can be used to "help establish an early warning system." A former World Health Organization official Jack Chow said that new technologies are needed to detect and track outbreaks worldwide. "Critical inventions can be deployed sooner and with greater effectiveness," said Chow. Recently, various organizations have offered unusual approaches to making needed medical supplies and technologies. Read also: ROBO-INSECTS: New Little Drones That Can Fly Like Insects; Will They be Useful in Rescue Missions? 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. [April 22, 2020] Prometheus Group Acquires Enterprise Workforce Management Provider WorkTech Prometheus Group, a leading global provider of asset management operations and optimization software, announced the acquisition of WorkTech, a US-headquartered provider of contractor management and productivity solutions software. WorkTech enables organizations to optimize contractor spend by streamlining data capture, tracking, approvals, and payment processes. By bridging the divide between software and the real world with data connections to physical gates, WorkTech allows its customers to tightly manage contractor expenses and track workforce utilization. As part of the Prometheus platform, WorkTech's technology will be used to not only help control costs but will add an important piece to Prometheus's STO solution, further improving the planning and execution of shutdowns and turnarounds by providing real-time snapshots of planned vs. actual activity and spend. "We are excited that WorkTech is joining the Prometheus family," said Eric Huang, CEO, Prometheus Group. "With the mounting pressure on margins, having visibility into the contractor workforce is mission-critical. This acquisition is another advancement in our strategy to help customers ptimize their asset management efforts." "Our functionally rich workforce management productivity suite coupled with Prometheus Group's expanding platform provides the perfect landing spot for WorkTech," commented Jack Hall, President & CEO, WorkTech. "We look forward to expanding traction in our traditional markets and gaining new traction in the wide array of markets that Prometheus Group serves." Prometheus Group's platform integrates all enterprise asset management software from planning and scheduling to analytics into a cohesive view. The company is trusted by the largest asset-intensive organizations spanning oil & gas, chemical, pulp & paper, mining & metals, and utilities industries across the globe. Financial terms of the acquisition are not being disclosed. About Prometheus Group Prometheus Group is a leading global provider of comprehensive and intuitive plant maintenance operations and optimization software, with a broad platform of solutions addressing the unique idiosyncrasies and requirements of heavy asset operators. Prometheus' interconnected platform allows changes to be communicated in real-time across an organization, improving manpower efficiency and driving production uptime. Learn more about Prometheus Group here and connect on Twitter and LinkedIn. About WorkTech WorkTech develops innovative solutions and provides consulting services for time and contractor cost tracking and fatigue management for businesses in asset-intensive industries. The company's productivity suite integrates with Maximo and other EAM or ERP systems to provide users with a more comprehensive view of their relevant data. Its fatigue management solution received Plant Engineering Magazine's Product of the Year award. Founded in 1993, WorkTech is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass. To learn more, visit www.worktech.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005453/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The Chattanooga chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, a political action group, on Wednesday released a "list of demands on local government and business leaders to alleviate the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on the working and vulnerable people of greater Chattanooga." We are calling on Mayor Berke, the Chattanooga city council, the Hamilton County mayor and commission, and local business leaders to take these critical steps to protect the working and vulnerable people of our communities, to protect and reward our essential workers for their critical service, and to ensure our city can continue to function effectively during this crisis, said Katie Keel, co-chair of the group. Their demands are focused on: securing personal protective equipment (PPE), sick leave, and hazard pay for all essential workers in Chattanooga, ensuring no Chattanoogan is permanently harmed by the financial ramifications of the lockdowns necessary for public safety, by demanding the city suspend evictions and rent and mortgage payments for the duration of the crisis, pushing the city to prevent humanitarian disasters by releasing the jailed and securing housing for Chattanoogas homeless, ensuring public safety and the continuance of public education by extending public utilities, including internet, to all Chattanooga families regardless of ability to pay, ensuring all Chattanoogans benefit from these efforts regardless of their documentation status, and formally declaring Chattanooga a sanctuary city to prevent ICE raids on our undocumented friends and neighbors during this frightening time. ensuring our democracy continues to function, by postponing all local and county elections, consolidating them into the November 3rd national election, and converting the entire process to mail-in balloting. We hope that our local leaders will immediately recognize the practical and strategic benefits of these actions and fulfill their duty to serve the people of Chattanooga, especially in times of crisis. said Ms. Keel. Almost all of our demands will be necessary regardless of whether Tennessee reopens in the short term. The chapter has been incorporated since early 2018, and has engaged in a range of actions to support socialist and progressive causes in Chattanooga most recently a mutual aid program to help connect vulnerable Chattanoogans to COVID resources, and local canvassing for Bernie Sanders during the recent Democratic primary election. Keel said they plan to engage in similar direct actions to build a bottom-up response to their top-down demands list. Our work is aimed at building a better world for all by breaking down the class barriers that disempower working people, and we urge anyone who is interested in pressuring local leaders to contact us and get involved, said Ms. Keel. The group can be reached on their public Facebook page, at chattanoogadsa@gmail.com, or by calling or texting 423-226-1787. BERLIN - Derided by many economists for years for insisting on a balanced budget and criticized for a health care system seen as bloated and overly expensive, Germany has found itself well equipped now to weather the coronavirus pandemic. Already applauded for early actions such as social-distancing regulations and aggressive testing seen as helping keep the death toll comparatively low, Europes largest economy has had the financial flexibility to launch a massive rescue plan to help businesses and keep workers paid. As the country moves to relax some restrictions this week, Chancellor Angela Merkel is pointing to the example of South Korea, which relied on its experience fighting a different coronavirus five years ago to combat COVID-19, as the way forward. Meantime in the U.S., some protesters have taken to the streets supported by President Donald Trumps tweets to demand an end to virus-related shutdowns to help the faltering economy, which has caused tens of millions to lose their jobs, even if it could lead to an increase in deaths as the health care system struggles. This is a crisis which, on the one hand, has probably hit the U.S. where it is most vulnerable, namely health care, said Carsten Brzeski, ING banks chief Eurozone economist. While at the same time it has hit the German economy where its the strongest. Brzeski was among those who argued for Germany to spend more to stimulate the economy as growth ground toward stagnation, but concedes now the country is in a fortunate position. For years, balanced budget proponents argued it was prudent during good economic times to bring Germanys house in order to be prepared for a crisis. So in announcing a 1 trillion euro ($1.1 trillion) rescue plan for the countrys 83 million people last month, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz was able to assure there was more money available, if needed. And while Italy and Spain were faced at the height of the crisis with having to decide whether to allocate precious ICU beds to elderly patients with the most urgent need or to younger patients with the greatest chance of survival, Germany has never had a shortage and has even taken in patients from other European countries. They had the means, but then they also had the political will, and also the very good analytical insights to use the means, Brzeski, said, noting Merkel was a scientist before entering politics. I cant imagine any government better than Angela Merkels to deal with this. Germany is now taking baby steps to ease restrictions, allowing smaller shops to reopen this week while sticking to strict social-distancing guidelines and requiring face masks on public transport and in stores. The effect will be analyzed after two weeks to see whether infections have again started to significantly climb. We must not overwhelm our health care system, Merkel said, warning restrictions could be snapped back. The best path is one that is careful, and not taken light-heartedly. The far-right Alternative for Germany party has criticized Merkels go-slow approach as ruining our country, but the chancellors popularity has been steadily rising and Germans overwhelmingly see her governments crisis management positively. Opening her Berlin toy store Wednesday for the first time in over a month, Galina Hooge said she had already received government aid and the process was surprisingly quick and uncomplicated. She said it only covered the stores rent and bills, but she felt relatively secure thanks to Germanys universal health insurance and strong social safety net. The main thing is that everyone stays healthy and the situation doesnt become like America, she said, referring to the large number of cases and deaths in the United States. Besides help for small businesses, Germanys aid package is designed to keep the unemployment rate down and allow workers to return quickly when possible. While Washington is sending out one-time stimulus checks to Americans, the German government plan pays at least 60% of the salary of employees who are on reduced or no hours. As restrictions are eased, Merkel has pointed to South Korea as an example of how Germany will have to improve measures to get ahead of the pandemic with more testing and tracking of cases to slow the infection rate. Experts say one reason South Korea has managed to avoid lockdowns or business bans was because of its aggressive testing and contact-tracing program that draws from its experience of fighting a different coronavirus MERS or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome -- in 2015. Following that outbreak, which killed 36 people and sickened around 200, South Korea rewrote its infectious disease law to allow health authorities quick access to a broad range of personal information to fight infectious diseases. Amid criticism from privacy advocates, authorities have fully exercised such powers during the COVID-19 pandemic, aggressively tracing virus carriers contacts with tools such as smartphone GPS tracking, credit card records and surveillance video. Peoples movements before they were diagnosed are published on websites and relayed via smartphone alerts to inform others whether they have crossed paths with a carrier. The government is also using smartphone tracking apps to monitor the tens of thousands of people placed under self-quarantine at home and plans to use electronic wristbands on people who defy quarantine orders. South Korea on Wednesday reported 11 new cases of the coronavirus, the 21st day in a row that the daily jump in infections came below 100. The approach has meant South Korea has managed to slow the spread of the virus without imposing massive lockdowns or banning nonessential businesses, so there has never been any debate over reopening its economy. In the U.S., there has been growing impatience over virus-related shutdowns that have led tens of millions to lose their jobs, and the U.S. Senate on Tuesday approved nearly $500 billion in new aid for businesses, hospitals and testing, on top of a $2.2 trillion package passed last month in the country of some 328 million. Trumps administration has issued guidelines advising relaxation of restrictions only after prerequisites, like a two-week downward trajectory of cases, are met. Trump himself, however, has grumbled our country wasnt meant to be shut down and has tweeted support for anti-shutdown protests, and some states are moving ahead with plans to begin reopening as early as this week. The U.S. has registered more than 825,000 infections and 45,000 deaths so far, including some 15,000 fatalities in New York City alone. Often at odds with Trump, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has warned against relaxing restrictions too early and risking a new spike in infections, no matter how badly the economy is faring. Were not going to accept a premise that human life is disposable, Cuomo said. And were not going to put a dollar figure on human life. Germany has registered some 150,000 infections, not far behind the worst-hit European countries of Italy, with more than 180,000 cases, and Spain with about 205,000. But where around 5,000 people have died in Germany, Spains toll is nearly 22,000 and Italys has passed 25,000. At the height of the crisis in Spain and Italy the sheer numbers overwhelmed their health care systems, and painful decisions had to be made on who to treat. Domenico Arcuri, Italys extraordinary commissioner for the COVID-19 crisis, told reporters Tuesday that for the first time during the pandemic the nation now has more respirators than patients in ICU beds, and lamented the anguish officials faced deciding who to treat in the early weeks. Each night, we had to decide where to send these instruments, which, in the end, save lives, he said. Ill keep that with me for all my life, and I wouldnt wish anyone else to experience the dilemma of choosing which hospital received them. With the numbers of new infections now stabilizing, Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte confirmed Tuesday that Italy can start reopening on May 4, but he doused any hopes of a total loosening of some of the strictest lockdown measures in a Western democracy. Spain, which has turned hotels into makeshift hospitals and converted a Madrid skating rink into a morgue, has not yet announced plans on relaxing restrictions, with Health Minister Salvador Illa saying it will hinge on advances made in treatment and vaccines to ensure theres no second wave. Spain is still in a difficult place, with some hard weeks ahead, he said Tuesday. In announcing a tentative easing of restrictions in the Netherlands, allowing elementary schools to reopen with reduced class sizes starting May 11, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he had faced devils dilemmas in trying to decide how to move forward. The Netherlands was projected to have a budget surplus of 3.4 billion euros in 2020, however, and Rutte said the government could afford to take a cautious approach as he ordered bars and restaurants to remain closed until at least May 19. Thanks to the governments good financial position, it can offer first aid to companies, independent business owners and affected sectors, his government said. ____ Frank Jordans in Berlin, Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, and reporters around the world contributed. The state of Tennessee and Hamilton County government will officially begin a process of phased reopening in the next several days. Amongst the reasons cited are an apparent flattening of COVID-19 rates. The state's largest municipalities will be exempt and will work with their local health departments to assess when this process might proceed. Today, the Hamilton County government mirrored much of the state's rationale and will begin reopening in the very near future. While we acknowledge their right to come to such conclusions, nevertheless, we cannot concur with this decision on the basis that we believe testing has failed to be robust, the science and data do not align with this reasoning, and the underlying health and economic disparities of black, Latino and marginalized communities, those most disproportionately impacted, have failed to be meaningfully and adequately addressed. Evidence and data do not demonstrate that COVID-19 is slowing or even maintaining a flat rate. The online medical health site MEDPAGE referenced that the unofficial U.S. case count this morning was 787,960 total cases and 42,364 deaths, which was up more than 28,000 cases and nearly 1,700 deaths from yesterday. Tennessee numbers strongly corroborate with these statistics. This is one basis that thousands of Tennessee medical professionals like Dr. Aaron Milstone, who was an early advocate of a statewide stay at home order, are cautioning against reopening too soon. Likewise, Vanderbilt University medical experts have also stated in a recent report that while Tennessee has made progress in combating COVID-19, because of continued transmission levels that could lead to infections and hospitalizations, that progress is "fragile, uncertain and delicate." Many medical experts also point to long-term tracking metrics produced by leading groups studying coronavirus trends such as John Hopkins University and Washingtons Institute for Health and Metrics and Evaluations modeling, neither of which display that Tennessee has had a downward trajectory in the number of COVID-19 new cases over a 14 day period. Many medical officials also believe a second and third wave of COVID-19 will occur throughout this year. Numerous assessments are also continuing to indicate that the black community has a disproportionate amount of COVID-19 related cases and deaths. The most current data released by the CDC last week shows that 30 percent of coronavirus patients are black. Similarly, data compiled by the Associated Press has determined that nearly one-third of COVID-19 deaths are black. The numbers for the Latino and other minority groups are equally as troubling according to the rising data and mounting evidence. One who is consistently reviewing race-based data is Dr. Uche Blacstock of Advancing Health Equity, who was quoted in the Skanner News as saying, "Collecting racial and ethnic demographic data on testing, cases, and health outcomes will be imperative to mitigating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our already vulnerable populations and will ensure healthcare resources are allocated equitably. The National Medical Association has equally raised COVID-19 concerns in an April press release, (Underscores Wealth and Health Disparities in the African American Community), where they said, "It is known that the social determinants of health (SDoH) play as important a role in a persons health as genetics or medical treatment. There are broadly six SDoH categories: economic stability, physical environment, education, food community and social content and healthcare systems." There are other mitigating factors that should be considered prior to reopening. There are concerns over workers safety when we see 900 employees at the South Dakota meat packing plant and over 90 at the Goodlettsville Tyson plant become infected within the last week. Within the last week, 70 people have succumbed to the coronavirus at Andover Subacute and Rehabilitation Center II in New Jersey and 45 at the Canterbury Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center in Virginia. There have been over 7,000 COVID-19 nursing home deaths. Oddly enough only 1 in 10 nursing homes report data as this is not a mandated requirement. This week, there have been nearly 2,000 new COVID-19 cases reported at the Marion Correctional Institution in Ohio, nearly 40 percent of all Arkansas COVID-19 cases are in prisons, and there is currently an outbreak in Bledsoe County. Store clerks, transportation workers, first responders, fire and police, hospital staff, and millions of workers deemed essential face to face continue to work, be exposed, and pray that their families and loved ones don't become infected. In regards to the reopen declarations issued by the state and Hamilton County, we must object, we do dissent, because they are not firmly rooted in science, evidence and data. Until such time as we have more adequate and robust testing; until such time as the needs of minority and marginalized communities are given serious considerations; until such times as we have an adequate food supply and PPE such as masks, gloves and disinfectants; until such time as we have protections for all workers; until such time as the data and evidence demonstrate that we are ready; we will continue to assert that this action will have damming and detrimental consequences on a community already suffering and ravaged. We urge the community to continue social distancing, proper hygiene and sanitation practices, and most of all follow the recommendations and best practices as outlined by medical, science and other health experts and officials. Unity Group of Chattanooga Sherman E. Matthews Jr., Chairman Eric Atkins, Corresponding Secretary Actor Gong Yoo is the latest Korean star to unveil plans to work with streaming platform Netflix. An industry source said on Tuesday that Gong will star in a sci-fi drama series set in a dystopian future in which Earth lacks sufficient food and water due to global desertification. The Netflix original series has already generated hype since it was reported that top actor Jung Woo-sung will join it as a producer. It will consist of eight episodes and shooting will begin in August. For centuries, the House of Commons witnessed raucous debates and rousing speeches as nearly 650 MPs sat closely to each other on the green benches, but from Wednesday barely 170 of them will be able to join proceedings, 120 of them remotely. Sitting on sparsely occupied benches, some MPs on Tuesday debated and approved a motion that will allow them to participate in questions (including Prime Ministers Questions), urgent questions and ministerial statements via video link. The motion, which was approved without a vote, will allow members to participate either virtually or physically in the Chamber. A maximum of 50 MPs will be able to be present in the Chamber at any one time to comply with social distancing guidelines. A maximum of 120 MPs will be able to take part remotely over the course of any hybrid proceedings, which will constitute the first two hours of each sitting. Under the terms of the motion, the House will continue to meet at its usual sitting times, but only on Mondays (from 2.30pm), Tuesdays and Wednesdays (both from 11.30am). Foreign secretary Dominic Raab, who is deputising for Prime Minister Boris Johnson recuperating from cornavirus infection, will face Keir Starmer, the newly-elected Labour leader, during Prime Ministers Questions on Wednesday. Speaker Lindsay Hoyle said: By initiating a hybrid solution, with steps towards an entirely virtual Parliament, we are enabling Members to stay close to their communities, while continuing their important work scrutinising the Government. I do not want Members and House staff putting themselves at risk. By working virtually, this is our contribution to the guidance of stay home, protect the NHS and save lives. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON On Sunday morning, Prime Minister Viktor Orban paid an unannounced visit to the Magyar Imre Hospital in Ajka, of which he posted a video message on his Facebook account, Bertalan Havasi, the Prime Ministers press chief informed the Hungarian news agency MTI. In the epidemic hospital designated for the treatment of coronavirus patients, the Prime Minister inspected the institutions entire patient path, from the entry airlock unit all the way to intensive care. In peace time there are six intensive care beds in the hospital; however, in the past few weeks, the institutions management has successfully extended the available capacity. As a result, they are now able to provide intensive care for as many as 86 patients at any one time, as laid down in the hospitals emergency plan. In this regard, Mr Orban said it is a warning sign that one seventh of all coronavirus patients registered in Hungary came from elderly care homes operated by the Metropolitan Municipality. He recalled that there were some 1,100 elderly care homes throughout the country, and we must prepare for a scenario where the disease appears everywhere. At present, the vacating of hospital beds is only a dress rehearsal, the dress rehearsal for a worst-case scenario, the Prime Minister said during his visit, adding that even if the worst-care scenario materialised, Hungarian hospitals must be able to provide care for every coronavirus patient. Everyone can sleep well; everyone who falls ill will have a place, Mr Orban said. Photo: PM's Facebook page The extended lockdown in India due to the coronavirus pandemic has cut off revenue streams for the country's largest cinema chains. If the outbreak is not under control within the next three months, then one of the largest cinema operators in India, PVR, is likely to run into problems without government assistance, according to its chairman and managing director. "Our fixed costs are controllable and noncontrollable," PVR's Ajay Bijli told CNBC's "Street Signs" on Wednesday. PVR says it operates around 821 screens in 70 cities across India and Sri Lanka. Controllable costs include electricity and water bills, which go down when venues are not being used, he explained. Noncontrollable costs include things like rent, where many of PVR's agreements have "force majeure" clauses that exempt the company from contractual obligations. "It's more about liquidity management than profitability. It's difficult. The revenues are zero," Bijli said, pointing out that no one could have prepared for the pandemic. "I think the idea is only to be able to see through it, that it doesn't go beyond 2-3 months because after that liquidity can become a problem as well." Liquidity is a company's ability to meet its current debt obligation using existing assets. This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic. Read about others here. On summer nights in central Brooklyn, the roar of traffic gives way to the twinkle of steel-pan drums as musicians of all ages rehearse, improvise and compete in sidewalk lots. Chances were good that if a steel-pan band was hitting its stride, Martin Douglas was close by. For over two decades Mr. Douglas was a leader in Brooklyns steel band scene, playing his music everywhere, mentoring generations of young players and keeping steel-pan music a vibrant part of New Yorks cultural life. He was the founder of Crossfire, a steel-pan band admired across the city and beyond, and president of the United States Steelband Association. He died on March 31 in a hospital in Brooklyn, less than a week after he was admitted there with complications of the new coronavirus, his family said. He was 71. [April 22, 2020] MITRE Releases Results of Evaluations of 21 Cybersecurity Products MITRE released the results of an independent set of evaluations of cybersecurity products from 21 vendors to help government and industry make better decisions to combat security threats and improve industry's threat detection capabilities. Using its ATT&CK knowledge base, MITRE emulated the tactics and techniques of APT29, a group that cybersecurity analysts believe operates on behalf of the Russian government and compromised the Democratic National Committee starting in 2015. The evaluations, which were paid for by the vendors, include products from Bitdefender, Blackberry Cylance, Broadcom (News - Alert) (Symantec), CrowdStrike, CyCraft, Cybereason, Elastic (Endgame), F-Secure, FireEye, GoSecure, HanSight, Kaspersky, Malwarebytes, McAfee, Microsoft, Palo Alto (News - Alert) Networks, ReaQta, Secureworks, SentinelOne, and Trend Micro, VMware (Carbon Black). "The ATT&CK Evaluations help the cybersecurity community by improving the security products that we rely upon and arming end users with objective insights into those product capabilities to detect known adversary behaviors," said Jon Baker, MITRE department head for adversary emulation and orchestration. MITRE developed and maintains the ATT&CK knowledge base, which is based on real world reporting of adversary tactics and techniques. ATT&CK is freely available, and is widely used by defenders in industry and government to find gaps in visibility, defensive tools, and processes as they evaluate and select options to improve their network defense. MITRE previously evaluated products from Carbon Black, CrowdStrike, GoSecure, Endgame, Microsoft, RSA, SentinelOne, Cybereason, F-Secure, FireEye (News - Alert), McAfee, and Palo Alto against the threat posed by APT3, a Chinese group that analysts believe is currently focused on monitoring Hong Kong-based political targets, and began releasing those results in late 2018. "We've seen a huge growth in participation from our initial evaluations based on APT3 to this round of evaluations because vendors have seen the value of this kind of testing," said Frank Duff, ATT&CK Evaluations lead. "We bring a very collaborative approach to evaluations, by working with vendors who want to improve their products, which ultimately makes cyberspace safer for everyone." The ATT&CK Evaluations team chose emulating APT29 because it offered the chance to evaluate the cybersecurity products against an adversary that uses sophisticated implementations of techniques through custom malware and alternate execution methods, such as PowerShell and WMI. The team also made changes to the way that it presented the results based on feedback on the APT3 evaluations from analysts, vendors, and end users. The ATT&CK Evaluations website now features a tool that enables users to select particular vendors and display a side-by-side comparison of how they detected each technique, as well as a data analysis tool to take a deeper look at how they handled those techniques. The team has also released a Do It Yourself APT29 evaluation that leverages CALDERA, an automated red team system that MITRE developed using the ATT&CK knowledge base. This enables users who are intrigued by the evaluations to test security products in their own environments against the same adversary. This may be particularly useful for organizations that can't afford to employ a red team, Duff said. Vendor Perspectives Israel Barak, chief information security officer (CISO), Cybereason: "The ATT&CK Evaluations have really solidified many of the concepts that Cybereason has placed at the core of our product development and helped drive our product management. We've seen great alignment between how we, together with MITRE, approached the concepts of detection, triage investigation and response, both in our recent and upcoming versions." Dustin Duran, general manager of security research, Microsoft (News - Alert): "We believe this open testing approach gives customers a more informed view of the dynamic threat landscape and of sophisticated attacks faced today. Microsoft actively tracks and protects against these advanced threats like APT29, emulated in this simulation, which is why we're proud to have contributed tangible threat intelligence on adversary behavior to the MITRE community so defenders can better hunt for, protect against, and ultimately prevent these kinds of attacks." Vladimir Kuskov, head of advanced threat research and software classification, Kaspersky: "This unique technical assessment compares the capabilities of EDR solutions in response to real-world adversary activities, with an unprecedented level of attack detail and execution transparency. Such tests reveal the overall level of industry readiness to address advanced threats and the gaps that need to be closed. Participating in the test has become a valuable experience which we already use to further improve our products. We look forward to taking part in Round 3 which will focus on FIN7/Carbanak." Jarno Niemela, principal researcher, F-Secure (News - Alert): "MITRE's evaluation helped us to further improve our detection coverage and also improve user experience of our solutions. Prior to the evaluation, F-Secure's detection and response solutions were improved with built-in MITRE ATT&CK categorization to provide standardized descriptions about the techniques used in the attacks, and the evaluation generated plenty of additional ideas on how to improve our offering." Alberto Pelliccione, CEO, ReaQta: Participating in the MITRE evaluation has allowed us to stress-test ReaQta-Hive in a very complex scenario. From this independent assessment, we've been able to evaluate our visibility and coverage in an objective and well-defined framework/approach meaningfully. For future comparative purposes, we can now rely on the framework as an objective standard. This evaluation served as a sort of collaborative environment that helped us to focus on those features that are more important when investigating sophisticated attacks. We are constantly innovating and measuring our capabilities, so the evaluation learnings were valuable in understanding what to prioritize for our end-users. Michael Sentonas, CTO, CrowdStrike: "CrowdStrike firmly believes that independent third-party testing is critical to the cybersecurity industry, as it provides customers with an unbiased view on the effectiveness of the solutions they rely on to stop breaches every minute of every day. MITRE's deep expertise allows them to look beyond measuring how security solutions react to malware, focusing holistically on extended attacks, reflecting the types of sophisticated techniques we observe in the real-world every day. CrowdStrike is proud to partner with MITRE on this mission to measure and drive continuous improvements in the cyber security industry." Benson Wu, CEO, CyCraft: "We see the ATT&CK Evaluations as a great playing field leveler. Finally, there is a place for vendors to go head-to-head in a transparent way that is meaningful to buyers and the rest of the industry--a veritable blue-team cyber colosseum for leading products around the world to benchmark their true capabilities. End users are often overwhelmed with marketing buzzwords and frustrated in the dearth of concrete info when comparing products to avoid redundant, weak, or non-existent capabilities. With the MITRE evaluation and accompanying matrices, end users, vendors, buyers and the industry at large now have a lexicon and a map to best spot, detect, respond to every move, and communicate effectively when facing sophisticated attacks." Yi Zhou, vice president of product management, HanSight: "The whole evaluation process is systematic yet comprehensive to help us improve our product from different angles, including identifying the blind spots in detection to improve our SIEM correlation rule design, evaluating the effectiveness for different types of Windows event log data sources for threat detection, and leveraging the multi-dimensional scoring system to help evaluate the detection result in a more objective manner." About ATT&CK ATT&CK was created by MITRE's internal research program from its own data and operations. ATT&CK is entirely based on published, open source threat information. Increasingly, ATT&CK is driven by contributions from external sources. Cybersecurity vendors may apply to participate in the next round of evaluations, which will feature the Carbanak and FIN7 threat groups as the emulated adversaries, via [email protected]. About MITRE MITRE's mission-driven teams are dedicated to solving problems for a safer world. Through our public-private partnerships and federally funded R&D centers, we work across government and in partnership with industry to tackle challenges to the safety, stability, and well-being of our nation. www.mitre.org 2020 MITRE View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005833/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] FoRx Therapeutics AG Raises EUR 10 Million Seed Round and Becomes First Company to Develop a Pipeline of Drugs Targeting DNA Replication Stress for Cancer Details Category: Small Molecules Published on Wednesday, 22 April 2020 10:38 Hits: 1019 Seasoned Biotech Executive Colin Goddard Joins as Executive Chairman BASEL, Switzerland I April 22, 2020 I FoRx Therapeutics AG (FoRx), the biotechnology company developing a new generation of cancer drugs focusing on novel DNA Replication Stress (DRS) pathways, today announced the closing of a EUR 10 million seed financing led by M Ventures (venture capital arm of Merck), Novartis Venture Fund and Omega Funds. Pfizer Ventures, the venture capital arm of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and LSP (Life Sciences Partners) also joined the seed financing. The company also announces the appointment of Colin Goddard as Executive Chairman. FoRx is developing a new generation of drugs against a unique target class for the treatment of cancer. The company's scientific foundations are built on the pioneering work of Professor Thanos Halazonetis, from the University of Geneva. Professor Halazonetis discovered novel DNA repair pathways, such as Break Induced Replication (BIR) that enable cancer cells to overcome DNA Replication Stress, a prevalent feature in human cancers but absent in normal, healthy cells. These repair pathways constitute a vulnerability that can be exploited for targeted intervention using synthetic lethality. The work of Professor Halazonetis describing oncogene-induced replication stress has been published in renowned scientific journals including Nature[1]. The Company's validated BIR targets furthermore appear to have potential for both therapy and maintenance treatment as shown in preclinical knock-out models. Newly appointed Executive Chairman, Dr. Colin Goddard, said: "I am excited to join the Board of FoRx as we embark upon this new approach for therapeutic intervention in cancer. With strong scientific foundations and a high quality investor syndicate, the Company has the potential to materially improve the options available to oncologists around the world." Dr. Colin Goddard has a long track record of leadership and success in the industry. He works as an investor and board member in a number of early stage and public biotechnology companies, leveraging over 30 years of experience in the industry. He is Chairman of Mission Therapeutics and BlinkBio. He was previously a non-executive director of Endocyte Inc. which was acquired by Novartis in 2018 for US$ 2.1 billion. From October 1998 until its US$4 billion acquisition by Astellas Pharmaceuticals Inc. in June of 2010, Dr. Goddard was CEO of OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc. Dr. Goddard holds a PhD in Cancer Pharmacology. Therese Maria Liechtenstein from M Ventures, Florian Muellershausen from Novartis Venture Fund, Vincent Ossipow from Omega Funds, Vincent Brichard from LSP, and Denis Patrick from Pfizer Ventures joined the FoRx board along with Professor Halazonetis. Andreas Goutopoulos, current Senior Scientific Director at EMD Serono and Chief Scientific Officer at Metabomed, is supporting FoRx Therapeutics as interim Chief Executive Officer, as part of his role as Entrepreneur-in-Residence at M Ventures. About FoRx Therapeutics FoRx Therapeutics, was founded in the fall of 2019, is a biotechnology company developing a new generation of cancer drugs focusing on novel DNA Replication Stress pathways activated in cancer. Drawing on discoveries by Thanos Halazonetis and Dr. Sotirios Sotiriou, FoRx was co-founded in 2019 with M Ventures, Novartis Venture Fund and Omega Funds along with Pfizer Ventures, the venture capital arm of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and LSP (Life Sciences Partners). For more information, visit www.forxtherapeutics.com About M Ventures M Ventures is the strategic, corporate venture capital arm of Merck. Its mandate is to invest in innovative technologies and products with the potential to significantly impact the company's core business areas. From its headquarters in Amsterdam and offices in the US and Israel, M Ventures invests globally in transformational ideas driven by great entrepreneurs. M Ventures takes an active role in its portfolio companies and teams up with entrepreneurs and co-investors to translate innovation towards commercial success. M Ventures has a significant focus on early stage investing and company creation including the creation of spin-offs to leverage the company's science and technology base. For more information, visit www.m-ventures.com. About the Novartis Venture Fund Novartis Venture Fund is a financially driven corporate life science venture fund whose purpose is to foster innovation, drive significant patient benefit and generate superior returns by creating and investing in innovative life science companies at various stages of their development. For more information, go to www.nvfund.com. About Omega Funds Founded in 2004, Omega Funds is a leading international investment firm that creates and invests in life sciences companies that target our world's most urgent medical needs. Omega focuses on identifying and supporting companies through value inflection points across the full arc of innovation, from company formation through clinical milestones and commercial adoption. Omega Funds' portfolio companies have brought 37 products to market in multiple therapeutic areas, including oncology, rare diseases, precision medicine and others. Please visit omegafunds.com for additional information. About Pfizer Ventures Pfizer Ventures (PV), the venture capital arm of Pfizer Inc. was founded in 2004 and invests for return in areas of current or future strategic interest to Pfizer. PV seeks to remain at the forefront of life science advances, looking to identify and invest in emerging companies that are developing breakthroughs and technologies that have the potential to enhance Pfizer's pipeline and shape the future of our industry. For more information, visit www.pfizerventures.com. About LSP LSP's management has raised $2.5 billion since it started to invest in the life sciences in 1988. The group has offices in Amsterdam, Munich and Boston. Alongside the latest biotech fund LSP 6, recently closed at 600 million euros, the firm is investing from its $300 million Health Economics Fund and its $200 million public fund and mandates. Among LSP's signature deals are argenx, Crucell, KuDOS, Movetis, Neuravi, Okairos, Prosensa, Qiagen and Zealand Pharma. In addition, LSP is an active contributor to the life sciences industry through roles as founder and board member of the Oncode Institute, board member of both the German and Dutch private equity and venture capital associations, initiator of the Dutch Venture Initiative (DVI), as well as board member or advisor to a number of European technology transfer institutes and government bodies such as Health~Holland. [1] Nature. 2005 Apr 14;434(7035):907-13. SOURCE: FoRx Therapeutics G oogle has released a homepage Doodle game to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. To mark this year's event, which is dedicated to preserving the planet and reversing the effects of climate change, the search engine has partnered up with The Honeybee Conservancy and created an animation worth some buzz. Players can learn some interesting facts about one of the world's smallest and most critical organisms before participating in a challenge to help bees pollinate different flowers. The first Google Doodle was used as an illustrative out of office message for Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin when they attended the Burning Man festival in 1998 and the animation has gone on to mark key events around the world in news, popular culture and sports. The animated game can be viewed on the homepage / Google What is world Earth day? After millions of Americas protested for environmental reforms, Earth Day was launched in 1970. The idea was created by US Senator Gaylord Nelson to teach the nation about environmentalism. Players are encouraged to match up flower pollen with the help of a bee / Google The event came after an oil spill in Santa Barbara, California, which inspired new laws and the formation of the Environmental Protection Agency. After the first Earth Day, the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act were passed in the US. This year's doodle is inspired by bees who pollinate 85 per cent of the world's flowers / Google Traction soon grew around the world and as more nations got involved it became a global environmental movement. As more than a billion people take part in clean-ups, marches and petitions it is the largest civic observance in the world. Google has released a special 50th anniversary design to mark Earth Day / Google Participants are encouraged to recycle, plant trees, reduce the carbon footprint and take up acts that will help the environment. Due to coronavirus lockdown, Earth Day will be done slightly differently in 2020 and people have bee encouraged to protest virtually. Kathleen Rogers, president of Earth Day Network, said: "At Earth Day Network, the health and safety of volunteers and participants in Earth Day events is our top concern. "Amid the recent outbreak, we encourage people to rise up but to do so safely and responsibly in many cases, that means using our voices to drive action online rather than in person." Ms Rogers said the project cannot shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic. "Whether it be coronavirus or our global climate crisis, we cannot shut down, she added. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, left, holds a news conference March 18. She has defended not placing a statewide stay-at-home order. "South Dakota is not New York City," she said April 1. (Jeff Easton / Rapid City Journal) California became the first state to issue a stay-at-home directive, effective March 19, and 41 states and the District of Columbia have followed. Eight states have not. The leaders of Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming have taken steps to limit the size of gatherings, close schools and some nonessential businesses, and prohibit on-site dining at restaurants. But they have stopped short of directing all residents to stay home except for essential business. The Republican governors in those states have defended their decisions, arguing that their hospitals aren't overrun and their rural states haven't been hit as hard as others with denser urban centers, such as New York, Washington or Louisiana. The governors have said they don't want to hurt small businesses or infringe on individual freedoms. At the same time, several of the states are dealing with outbreaks at meat processing plants, senior homes and long-term care facilities, and prisons that have raised concerns about the absence of stricter regulations. A lack of widespread testing, experts say, makes it difficult to gauge the full extent of the outbreak. Two studies in California suggest official counts have missed thousands of cases as a result of a slow start to testing and shortages that prioritized people showing symptoms. Several states have sought to increase testing or are focusing testing in areas with growing outbreaks, but for now official tallies offer only an estimate. Here's what those governors have done so far, and why they don't plan to issue a stay-at-home order. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson has closed schools and fitness centers, banned on-site dining at restaurants and prohibited indoor social gatherings of more than 10 people. But he has stopped short of a stay-at-home order and has blocked local leaders, including the mayor of Little Rock, from issuing stricter orders. Hutchinson said his administration has worked with mayors on targeted responses, but he wants to take a "long-term approach" to combat the outbreak. Story continues "You're not going to win simply by a lockdown because there's no such thing as a true lockdown where everybody stays at home and does not go out," he said April 12 on CNN's "State of the Union." "The most important message is you wear your mask, you do your social distancing. And the people of Arkansas have embraced that." The state of 3 million people has more than 2,270 confirmed coronavirus cases and 43 COVID-19 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. There has been a massive outbreak at the Cummins Unit state prison, where 670 inmates tested positive as of Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. The governor said Sunday that he'd asked the state parole board to identify and review nonviolent offenders not convicted of sex crimes who are near the end of their sentences to be considered for early release. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has stopped short of issuing a stay-at-home order, but she has closed schools and some businesses and banned public gatherings of more than 10 people. In the northeast region of the state, which includes Cedar Rapids and Dubuque, she's issued stricter rules that limit social, community, recreational, leisure and sporting gatherings to only people who live in the same household. Weddings, funerals and religious gatherings of no more than 10 people are allowed if participants practice social distancing measures. The move followed coronavirus outbreaks at long-term care facilities and meat processing plants in the region. The state has had more than 3,740 confirmed cases and 90 COVID-19 deaths. About 3.2 million people live in Iowa. Reynolds has argued that her approach is equivalent to a stay-at-home order. Were gonna continue to look at metrics and well make decisions based on that, but the end result is the same, she said at a March 25 news conference . At an April 6 White House briefing, Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the actions taken by Iowa and neighboring Nebraska are "functionally equivalent" to a stay-at-home order. "I want to make sure people understand that just because they don't have a very strict stay-at-home order, they have in place a lot of things that are totally compatible with what everyone else is doing," he said. Nebraska On April 3, Gov. Pete Ricketts announced that the state was under a "directed health measure," closing schools, limiting bars and restaurants to takeout or delivery, banning large public gatherings and elective surgeries. The order doesn't close nonessential businesses, including malls, though some counties have issued stricter measures. Ricketts closed salons, indoor theaters and tattoo parlors on April 10. Hall County, Nebraska's fourth-largest, has become the epicenter of the state's cases. There were 558 confirmed cases in the county as of Tuesday afternoon, 237 of which were tied to the JBS meatpacking plant in Grand Island, according to the Omaha World-Herald. In the state of 1.9 million people, there have been more than 1,720 confirmed cases and 38 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has also argued that the measures he's taken add up to a stay-at-home order. In a series of executive orders signed between mid-March and early April, he closed schools, gyms, movie theaters and person grooming businesses like salons and tattoo parlors. Visitors are banned from long-term care facilities. People who test positive for the coronavirus must quarantine at home for 14 days along with family members. This isnt as much about what government says, its more about what individuals do, Burgum said this month. About 762,000 people live in the state, which has seen more than 670 confirmed cases and 14 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins. South Dakota "South Dakota is not New York City," Gov. Kristi Noem said April 1. Though schools have been closed since March 16, Noem has not closed businesses or banned public gatherings. She has ordered residents older than 65 or with underlying health conditions in two counties to stay home, limited government gatherings and directed businesses to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines on social distancing, all while emphasizing the importance of protecting civil liberties. "I believe in our freedoms and liberties. What I've seen across the country is so many people give up their liberties for just a little bit of security and they don't have to do that," Noem said during a Fox News interview last week. "If a leader will take too much power in a time of crisis, that is how we lose our country." The state of 884,000 people has had more than 1,850 confirmed cases and nine deaths. South Dakota now has one of the largest outbreak hot spots in the country, at a Smithfield Foods pork processing plant in Sioux Falls. Smithfield announced April 12 that the factory, one of the biggest in the country, would close indefinitely. More than 700 employees at the facility have tested positive for the coronavirus. Noem argued that a stay-at-home order wouldn't have prevented the outbreak because the facility is an essential business. "Let's be perfectly clear: a shelter-in-place order would NOT have prevented Smithfield from happening," she tweeted April 15. "They are a critical infrastructure business." On March 26, Sioux Falls, the state's largest city, passed a "no lingering" law limiting the number of patrons who can visit a business at one time to 10 or fewer in a bid to encourage social distancing. Republican Mayor Paul TenHaken issued a voluntary proclamation encouraging residents to stay home. TenHaken asked Noem to issue a stay-at-home order, but she declined. Oklahoma Nearly 4 million people live in Oklahoma, which has more than 2,800 confirmed cases and 170 COVID-19 deaths. The state has closed schools and nonessential businesses, but Gov. Kevin Stitt has issued stay-at-home orders only for at-risk populations such as the elderly and those with preexisting health conditions. Mayors in the state's biggest cities, including Oklahoma City and Tulsa, have issued blanket stay-at-home orders. Unlike the safer-at-home order issued earlier this week by the governor, for which I am very grateful, this safer-at-home order applies to everyone in Tulsa, not just those over 65, Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum said at a March 29 news conference. Utah Gov. Gary Herbert has issued a series of guidelines encouraging people to stay home and practice social distancing and good hygiene. Schools and nonessential businesses such as fitness centers are closed. On Friday, Herbert announced plans to slowly begin to reopen the state as soon as May. We dont want to go too fast, but we also dont want to go too slow either, Herbert said. It not just only about healthcare; its also concern about the livelihood of those we represent too. About 3.2 million people live in Utah, which has more than 3,440 confirmed coronavirus cases and 32 COVID-19 deaths. Some counties have issued strict stay-at-home orders. Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon closed schools and some businesses and prohibited gatherings of 10 or more people. During an April 3 news conference, Gordon said he and his administration have encouraged people to stay home, wash their hands, go to the store only when necessary and not gather in large groups. That is essentially what a stay-at-home order is, he said. "And if you're waiting for me to issue a 'shelter in place' order when ... I'm telling you to stay home, what are you waiting for? Are you waiting for Mother, may I?' or are you taking care of yourself and practicing the common sense that we expect? One of our Wyoming values is talk less and say more. Our orders talk less and say more." About 579,000 people live in Wyoming, which has had more than 440 confirmed cases and six deaths. Jackson, a town of about 10,000 people, issued a stay-at-home order March 28. A woman found her parents love letters from the Second World War in a suitcase. The letters tell of her parents' heartbreaking story of waiting five years to marry each other while the groom was taken and kept as a war prisoner by the Nazis a few days before he was supposed to return. Captain Brian Dowling, 23 at the time, and Margery Street, 20 at the time, were supposed to get married in May 1940 but had to wait five years after Dowling was captured by the Nazis at Dunkirk. Street did not know whether her fiance was dead or alive until the Red Cross delivered a post card to her with the news that Dowling was being kept as a war prisoner. The couple wrote letters to each other over five years while Dowling survived numerous camps in France, Belgium and Germany and Street worked at at Woking Hospital in Surrey. Captain Brian Dowling, 23 at the time, and Margery Street, 20 at the time, were supposed to get married in May 1940 but had to wait five years after Dowling was captured by the Nazis at Dunkirk The US Air Force returned Captain Dowling to his beloved when the war finally ended and they married five years after their original date on May 23, 1945, in West End, Surrey The couple's oldest daughter, Sue Hatt, wrote a book, called On His First Leave, based on the letters. She said: 'I think for my father it was easier. It was loving her and waiting to go back to her that kept him going. 'He would tell her: "we are very young and we have got a lot to look forward to. We have got all these joys to come".' The US Air Force returned Captain Dowling to his beloved when the war finally ended and they married five years after their original date on May 23, 1945, in West End, Surrey. The couple lived a happy life with three children, nine grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. The couple wrote letters to each other for five years while Captain Dowling was a prisoner of war Sue Hatt found the letters in an old suitcase in 2013 and decided to write a book about her parents' life Sue Hatt, a retired economics lecturer, said that when she was younger she did not think anything of her parents' story because everyone she knew had parents with a wartime story. 'Their story didn't seem remarkable because, in my generation, everybody's parents had a wartime story to tell,' said Hatt. Hatt was reminded of her parents remarkable story when she found the letters in an old suitcase in 2013. 'As I read the letters I realised that there was something rather special there and found lessons that are relevant for today,' she said. The couple lived a happy life with three children, nine grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren Margery Street (left), her eldest daughter Sue Hatt (middle) and Captain Brian Dowling (right) Hatt spent six years writing the novel and ad libbing her parents' dialogue. She thought her mother's side of the story added the most suspense to the book. While Captain Dowling was captured two men, a doctor and a family friend, proposed to his fiancee. Hatt said: 'It's the waiting. 'Will he survive and will her love survive? 'For my mother the war was her big moment sort of like going to university nowadays. 'She was going to dances and meeting all sorts of people so it's that sort of tension that keeps the book going.' Hatt said that reading the letters made her see her parents in a different way. She said: 'I realised when reading the letters that these were people I had never known. 'We don't think of our parents before we were born. 'They were young, passionate and idealistic. 'All the things you don't think your parents are.' Hatt said that her father was a lot more adventurous than she ever thought. 'Maybe the war changed him and he decided that Surrey was really rather nice after all,' she said. Hatt spent six years writing the novel based on the letters and photographs and ad libbed her parents' dialogue. But the story was not just about love. Hatt said that it was difficult to think about the her father's suffering during the war. Besides being captured by the Nazis and separated from his love for five years Captain Dowling also lost his best friend in the war. During capture Dowling was forced to march back to Germany though France, Belgium and Holland. Hatt said: 'They were some of the first prisoners of war, so the guards were rough. 'They had to show them who was boss and that escape wasn't going to be allowed. 'They were marching day in day out. 'There wasn't much food because the Germans had taken what was there on their advance. Hatt said she wants the book's lessons to be applied to today's challenges. She said: 'This is a very difficult time for a lot of people now. 'The enduring lesson from their story that you won't necessarily go back to where you were before, but you will come through. 'If you believe in yourself, you can come through and make something out of it afterwards.' Captain Dowling died at 88 years old in 2004 and Street died at 98 in 2017. Hatt said that her parents both remembered their story until the end. For most Americans, its just another day of anxiety-producing quarantine as the unemployment rates continue to skyrocket, and they wonder whether the coronavirus-induced recession is going to turn into a depression. For others, theres a silver lining. This years celebration of Earth Day is giving environmental alarmists some grim satisfaction. While most people are lamenting the collapse of the economy, some activists are happy that the earth is being given a rest from the ravages of capitalism. In the weeks leading up to the annual environmental festival, there has been a steady stream of commentary on the gifts of the coronavirus, as one Psychology Today headline put it, that have provided some green balm for angry planet. Leftists often insist that the Right disrespects science. But there is no scientific study or analysis supporting the notion that the pandemic is Mother Natures revenge for economic development development that has, by the way, reduced poverty worldwide. For those who have long argued that an imminent global-warming apocalypse is payback for our destruction of nature, its a short step to paint the coronavirus as Earths way of saying Ill get rid of you to humanity as actor Idris Elba recently told Oprah in a video interview. A host of other leftists, including professor emeritus of peace and national-security studies Michael Klare and CounterPunchs Evaggelos Valliantos, have issued similar rants. But the effort to link the pandemic to environmentalism isnt confined to fever-swamp pundits or celebrities. The same theme was sounded by global-warming rock star Greta Thunberg and by Britains Prince Charles (as always, a lagging indicator of fashionable pseudo-intellectual comment on any topic) in his otherwise anodyne Earth Day message. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) caught flack for tweeting that you absolutely love to see it in response to collapse of the oil market in the wake of the virus. She subsequently deleted the tweet when critics pointed out that she was, in effect, cheering, massive job losses for the workers she purports to care about. Story continues At the heart of these morbid reflections is a hope for an environmental Gotterdammerung a twilight of the gods in which proud humanity will meet its downfall and be rightly punished for its sins. In an era when faith is no longer universal (even in a relatively religious nation such as the United States), politics and environmentalism can serve as a kind of religion. That is reflected in the frequent adaptation of biblical constructs about sin and punishment. The unfounded assumption that humanity is not merely polluting but actually destroying the planet has generated a belief that nature like a wrathful God of Israel in the Bible who strikes down those who sin will punish humanity for bad behavior. This has become a kind of popular folk wisdom for those whose environmentalism is a substitute for religious faith. For such zealots, it is no great leap of faith to seize upon the current coronavirus crisis as proof that we are not merely enduring a pandemic but paying for our sins. Given the ubiquity of the gospel of environmentalism in popular culture and the educational system, the idea that we must mitigate the impact of climate change is almost universally accepted. And even many conservative critics of people such as Thunberg see Earth Day as a harmless expression of support for the idea that we must be good stewards of nature. Many people sympathize with the ideals of the environmental movement, but that has not translated into working majorities for radical plans such as AOCs Green New Deal. Treating the pandemic lockdown as a just punishment for humanitys wrongdoing helps explain why the radicals havent succeeded. Theoretical dystopian scenarios are one thing, but when disaster in the form of a shutdown imposed by government to halt a pandemic becomes reality, it stops being an intellectual abstraction. Empty rhetoric about wanting the planet to survive harms no one, but treating the economic devastation from the virus as a blessing isnt just tasteless; its a clear and present threat to any hopes of recovery. AOCs talk of a post-pandemic economy driven by green industries and Thunbergs jeremiads about radical changes including the end of air travel and meat consumption suggest that returning to normalcy, which is what ordinary workers and small-business owners want, is not their goal. Reasonable people view any talk about the benefits of corona-related economic devastation as tasteless, at best, or cruel. Those not under the spell of new-age environmental theology dont believe they deserve their current suffering, and they will want no part of anyone who says they do. A half-century after the first Earth Day, this ought to be a moment to celebrate the fact that the environmental movement has succeeded in many respects: Americas air, lakes, and rivers are far cleaner today than they were in 1970. But by treating the current economic crisis as either a good thing or a long-delayed just punishment, the Left is ensuring that their radical plans will generate little support from people who would rather return to a robust 21st-century economy than be sentenced to spend the rest of their days as if they were living in the 19th century. More from National Review WASHINGTON This is how the Supreme Court embraces technology. Slowly. It took a worldwide pandemic for the court to agree to hear arguments over the telephone, with audio available live for the first time. C-SPAN plans to carry the arguments. Just two years ago case filings were made available online, decades after other courts. Other forays into technology, including posting opinions online, have not always gone smoothly. Chief Justice John Roberts acknowledged in 2014 that courts will always be cautious when it comes to embracing the next big thing in technology. And even the decision to hold arguments via telephone is sort of retro, given much of the country and other courts are doing meetings and arguments using video conferencing, said Clare Cushman, the director of publications at the Supreme Court Historical Society. But the decision remains a giant leap forward, Cushman said, for a court that has shunned technology in favor of tradition. The court used an obsolete document delivery system, pneumatic tubes, until 1971. It was slow to add computers and late in transitioning from printing opinions in the courts basement on Linotype machines, which used metal type, to electronic printing in the early 1980s. Before the coronavirus outbreak, the justices circulated messages and opinion drafts on paper rather than by email. Still, most of the nine justices six of them over the age of 65 seem perfectly comfortable with modern technology in their own lives. Justice Elena Kagan has said she is on Twitter, and Justice Samuel Alito has described reading briefs on an iPad. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wears an electronic sensor that monitors her diabetes. And Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh have teenage and pre-teen children who might be expected to text their fathers. Even the courts two oldest justices are somewhat tech savvy. This month, 81-year-old Justice Stephen Breyer used Zoom to talk to students at a New York school. His background: a picture of the court. And 87-year-old Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has said she reads her email on an iPhone and uses an iPad, though not perhaps to its maximum advantage she told an audience in 2016 that she uses the iPad as a sound machine to help her sleep. The court has come a long way since 1993, when Justice Anthony Kennedy, now retired, marveled over a new device in his home and invited two colleagues who lived nearby to come use it. In my lower level office at home I have a FAX machine. The thing works 24 hours a day. You can use it to send and receive any time you like, Kennedy wrote in a note now in the Library of Congress archives. Still, the decision to hold 10 arguments in cases via telephone during six days in May and let the public listen in was unimaginable even two months ago. The dramatic change is a product of efforts to slow the spread of the virus, recognize the reality that most of the justices are at risk because of their age and decide significant cases by the courts traditional summer break. This year, those cases include President Donald Trumps effort to shield his tax and other financial records and whether presidential electors must cast their Electoral College ballots for their states winners. Until now, argument sessions have looked the same, day after day, year after year. A buzzer sounds at 9:55 a.m. to signal the start of court is five minutes away. It rings again at 10 oclock, followed by the crack of the marshals gavel. The justices emerge from behind a heavy red curtain, the marshal calls the court to order and everyone sits. An hour or two of arguments ensue. When the last lawyer asks for a favorable ruling, Roberts says, The case is submitted. With that, the gavel cracks again, everyone stands and the justices disappear whence they came. The new arrangement might be good for one month only, assuming the justices can return to courtroom arguments when their new term begins in October. But several advocates of greater transparency hope the justices will allow simultaneous broadcasting of arguments even after the pandemic is over. You cant walk back these kinds of things, New York University law professor Melissa Murray said, adding that live audio gives Americans the ability to monitor the third branch of government at work. I dont know why you wouldnt want that. Audio should lead to ending the biggest technological taboo, allowing cameras into the courtroom, said Judge Stephen Dillard of the Georgia Court of Appeals, a vocal supporter of broad access to the courts. This is a great first step, and Im excited about it, but I hope they will go further in years to come and allow live video streaming, Dillard said. The idea that yielding on live audio would inevitably lead to cameras has partly motivated the courts resolute stance against it. Audio has been released days later and thats progress. Until 2010, the public had to wait months. Audio in big cases occasionally has been provided to broadcasters the same day as arguments since the Bush v. Gore case, which helped settle the 2000 presidential election. Video of arguments seems like a non-starter. No justice is on record as backing cameras in the Supreme Court, and several have backtracked from their confirmation hearings when they said they were open to the idea. But neither has any current justice been as vehement as retired Justice David Souter, who said in 1996 that the day you see a camera come into our courtroom, its going to roll over my dead body. Amid Coronavirus pandemic, the United Nations reportedly warned that the world is at risk of widespread famines of biblical proportions. While the deadly virus has affected nearly 210 countries and territories globally, David Beasley, who is the head of the World Food Programme (WFP), reportedly said that urgent action was needed to avoid a catastrophe. Beasley, while addressing the UN Security Council, said that the world had to act wisely and act fast as there could be multiple famines of biblical proportions within a short few months. According to the fourth annual Global Report on Food crisis, the number of suffering from hunger could almost double from 135m to more than 250m. The report also highlighted that countries including Yemen, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Nigeria and Haiti are at risk as they are already affected by conflict, economic crisis and climate change. READ: German Firms Turn To Making Masks As Demand Grows Amid Coronavirus Pandemic Call for a global action Furthermore, the report also noted that 61 per cent of the population in South Sudan was affected by food crisis last year and parts of East Africa and South Asia are also facing severe food shortages caused by drought and the worst locust infestations for decades. In a call to action, Beasley reportedly said that with expertise and partnership, the team can bring together programmes necessary to make certain that the pandemic does not become a human and food crisis catastrophe. READ: Foreigners Repatriated From Dhaka Amid Coronavirus The WFPs senior economist, Arif Hussain, also reportedly said that the economic impact of the pandemic was potentially catastrophic for millions and is also a hammer blow for those who can only eat if they earn a wage. He further added that the lockdowns and global economic recession have already decimated their nests and it only takes one more shock, like COVID-19, to push them over the edge. Arif said that the world must collectively act now to mitigate the impact of this global catastrophe. Meanwhile, health experts have also warned that the virus could devastate the regions that lack healthcare equipment and infrastructure. According to data from the International Rescue Committee (IRC), South Sudan, which has a population of 12 million people, has just four ventilators and 24 ICU beds. The IRC also reported that Burkina Faso has 11 ventilators, Sierra Leone 13, and Central African Republic 3. Venezuela also has only 84 ICU beds for a population of 32 million, and 90 per cent of hospitals face shortages of medicine and critical supplies. (Image source: AP) READ: Coronavirus Pandemic: Hundreds Protest NC Stay-at-home Order In Raleigh READ: Missouri Sues China Over Coronavirus Pandemic Kim Jong-uns major heart surgery was remarkably detailed for the leader of a country hidden behind an opaque screen of secrecy. The operation apparently took place on 12 April at the Hyangsang clinic in Myohyang, which looks after the health of the ruling family. It was carried out by the best surgeon from the Kim man Yu Hospital in Pyongyang, who stayed to observe the recovery process for a week. The North Korean leader then went to a dacha at the Mount Kumgang resort for convalescence with 30 guards on constant watch. Some of the information came from Daily NK, a newspaper based in Seoul focusing on North Korea. CNN then produced a report, citing US administration sources, that surgery had indeed taken place and Kims condition remained critical. According to some officials in South Korea and China however, the rumours of Kims near death were much exaggerated. They had no information about a hospital stay, and, claimed that he was not in the mountains of Myohyang at all, but most likely at Wonsan, beside the sea. One official said that nothing unusual has been seen in the activities of the leader. The last assertion can be questioned. For the first time as the head of state the title of Chairman of State Affairs Commission Kim had failed to take part in the annual flower laying ceremony on 15 April to commemorate the birthday of his grandfather and the dynastys founder, Kim Il-sung, at the Kumsusan Palace, one of the most auspicious dates in the states official calendar. Kim Il-sung had died from a heart attack as had his son and heir Kim Jong-il. Heart conditions can be hereditary and Kim Jong-un is said to weigh around 136kg (300 lbs) at 5ft 7ins and is a chain smoker. No South Korean or Chinese officials, it should be noted, have actually denied that he has had a heart attack. What they say is that they have no evidence that his life is in danger. North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits Show all 16 1 /16 North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits In the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea, portraits of former supreme leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il are required by law to be hung in the home, the classroom, the factory and all manner of other private and public places Reuters North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits In the classroom AFP/Getty North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits In the living room AFP/Getty North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits In the maternity ward of the hospital Alamy North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits On board the ship Reuters North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits At the ballot box Mannen av bord North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits In the office AFP/Getty North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits On the bridegroom Reuters North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits On the Pyongyang subway Reuters North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits On a government building Reuters North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits In the teacher training facility AFP/Getty North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits In Kim Il Sung square in Pyongyang Reuters North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits In the home AFP/Getty North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits At the military parade Reuters North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits In the hall Reuters North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits At the Chinese border AFP/Getty The last supposed public appearance of the leader was on 11 April when he took part in a meeting of the extended politburo of the Central Committee of the Workers party of Korea, in Pyongyang. This would indicate that there was a sharp deterioration of health for the operation to have been carried out the following day. Kim has not appeared in public since and the scenario has echoes of 2008 when there were also reports of a serious health issue. He appeared unwell when he eventually surfaced, and evidence emerged later to indicate that he had suffered a stroke. In 2014 the leader dropped out of sight for six weeks before emerging with a cane. South Koreas intelligence agency said he had an operation to remove a cyst from his ankle. Pictures from the politburo meeting showed hundreds of members sitting in close proximity, leading to claims that Kim Jong-un had suffered not a heart attack, but coronavirus. North Korea has said it has tested 700 people for the disease and put more than 500 in quarantine. But, it has insisted to the World Health Organisation (WHO) that it has no cases of infection. What happened at the politburo has added to the political speculation around Kims supposed ill health. The leader used the meeting to carry out a reshuffle of the State Affairs Commission, replacing five of its 13 members. Among those to lose their posts were two influential figures, former foreign minister Ri Su Yong and diplomat Ri Yong Ho. The former army commander and new foreign minister, Ri Son Gwon, was brought into the committee. There is also a lot of conjecture about the role of Kim Yo-jong, the leaders sister. She would be the obvious stand-in if he were to be incapacitated for a period. Not only is she from the Paektu blood line of the Kim dynasty; she has emerged as the most important member of the regime after him. Yo-jong was recently reinstated to the politburo. This was an important comeback for her after her star had temporarily fallen due to Kim Jong-un being unsatisfied with what was gained from the summits with Donald Trump. Yo-jong is said to have helped persuade him to pursue detente after the two leaders had spent months hurling insults at each other and accompanied him to the meetings in Singapore and Hanoi. Yo-jong has also been reconfirmed in her post of first vice-director of the Propaganda and Agitation Department. Last month she made well publicised incursions back into public life, praising Trump for sending Kim a letter pledging to maintain bilateral relations and offering any help needed with coronavirus. She also attacked South Korea as a frightened dog barking after Seoul complained about the North resuming missile testing. Last December Yo-jong issued her first military order, sent to the armys all-female units. There have been a spate of photographs showing brother and sister inspecting institutions and factories together and riding white horses at Mount Paektu, the sacred birthplace of the nation. The US Treasury placed Yo-jong under sanctions three years ago in response to the regimes ongoing and serious human rights abuses and censorship activities. Western intelligence agencies also claim that she is a senior member of a government department which overseas illicit activities to raise foreign reserves including counterfeiting, cybertheft, drugs and arms sales. However, if Kim Jong-uns health problems do turn out to be true, then it is Kim Yo-jong who emerges, for the time being at least, the custodian of power in North Korea. But fathoming just when this takes place, and for how long, will remain difficult to ascertain in a state which goes to such lengths to shut itself off from the outside world. APRIL 22, 2020 In the first of a new series of Community Conversations four UTSA experts convened for The Pandemics Economic Impact on San Antonio, a virtual panel discussion, today to describe the broad economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic at the local, state and national levels. The experts emphasized the severity of the public health crisis on San Antonios economic health while at the same time providing messages of hope and resilience. Panelists Thomas Tunstall, senior director of research for the Institute for Economic Development; Richard Sifuentes, director of the IEDs Small Business Development Center; Pamela Smith, professor of accounting and associate dean of administration and faculty; and Mike Villarreal, director of the Urban Education Institute, touched on issues such as unemployment, small business assistance, oil production, a sales tax slump, the digital divide and looming state budget cuts during the hour-long town hall. Tunstall kicked off the conversation with some startling numbers: 17%, a projected current national unemployment rate thats still climbing, and minus-$37.60, which was the crude oil price on Mondaythe first day in history that the price for a barrel of oil dipped into the negative. Were certainly experiencing unprecedented events, Tunstall said. As the Texas oil industry braces for the worst, Tunstall predicted that the ramifications will be felt more in a city such as Houston, where probably almost 50% of their economy is driven by the oil and gas industry, than in San Antonio, where the industry makes up only a relatively small population of overall employment. It will have an impact, Tunstall explained, but San Antonios economy is more diversified than in the past. It should be able to weather this better than otherwise expected. I have a lot of hope for us. I believe that we are going to come out of this stronger. It was noted by all four panelists that bars, restaurants, tourism and all other small businesses in San Antonio will experience a big financial hit over the course of the year. Sifuentes discussed how he and his team at the Small Business Development Center are doing all they can to help small business owners weather the pandemic. The SBDC is providing assistance to businesses applying for the Economic Injury Disaster loan or the Payment Protection Program loan as well as guidance and helpful information to help small businesses weigh their options. Our call volume right nowthe inquiry volumeis about six times what it normally is, said Sifuentes, adding that deposits are now being made into the bank accounts of small businesses that were assisted by the SBDC. Smith suggested that individuals could help the Alamo Citys small businesses by doing simple little things like calling in orders and making safe pickup purchases to keep them afloat while the citys stay home, work safe order is in effect. She also gave sound financial advice regarding federal relief incentives and personal tax deductions, and noted that a 401(k) withdrawal may not incur the common 10% penalty for those under the age of 59.5 right now. During this particular time period, with special circumstances, that penalty will not be assessed, Smith explained. It applies to individuals who have been diagnosed with COVID-19, or are suffering adverse financial consequences, such as a layoff, a closure or reduced work hours. Smith went on to discuss how more than 58% of the City of San Antonios budget comes from sales tax. Unfortunately, budget cuts appear to be an imminent certainty with sales tax revenue declining across the city and state. This will negatively impact public schools and universities, infrastructure and transportation projects, and other public ventures. Villareal explained that the Texas legislature could balance the states budget when it meets for its 2021 legislative session through one of four means: raising taxes, eliminating previous tax cuts, tapping into the Texas Economic Stabilization Fund or making public spending cuts across the state. He predicts that state budget cuts will be the likely strategy. We could see budget cuts in public education, K-12, anywhere between 15 and 25%, and in higher education from 10% to 15%. Those are big numbers, Villareal said, adding that cuts for all education institutions will likely be significantly higher than during the Great Recession, which started in 2008. Villareal also praised the efforts of local school districts and higher education institutions to close the digital divide as their students transitioned to distance learning. Each panelist spoke about how the pandemic has pushed both San Antonio and UTSA to be more resilient and more innovative. I have a lot of hope for us. I believe that we are going to come out of this stronger, Villareal said, touching on how the pandemic has highlighted weaknesses in the public health system, access to higher education, and the quality of distance learning that are now being addressed. I believe UTSA will play a very important role in discovering those solutions, and serving our community and our nation. Poland is doing it. Denmark, too. But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada would not deny bailout funds to companies that operate in offshore tax havens. We do not want to punish workers based on the company they work for. They have families and communities that depend on them, Trudeau said. We are focusing on the workers and not the company. In the House this week, members of the Bloc Quebecois repeatedly asked Trudeau about whether public dollars would be sent to companies that use tax havens to avoid contributing their fair share to public coffers. Is it morally right for a business to do whatever it takes to avoid paying taxes, use accounting strategies to avoid paying taxes, and use tax havens to avoid paying taxes, then ask the state for help and get it? asked BQ MP Alain Therrien. (The government) can tell these people that, from now on, if they want government assistance, they will have to pay their taxes and bring their money back from tax havens. Trudeau and other members of the Liberal government were adamant that while tax avoidance is a problem, this is not the time to solve it. At every stage of our reflection, we have remained focused on Canadians, on the workers and families who might be affected by a loss of revenue because of COVID-19, Trudeau said in Parliament. We did not ask whether people work for small businesses or large corporations, for local businesses or multinationals. We did not judge Canadians on whether they work for a company considered morally acceptable or for a firm that sells tobacco or cigarettes. We are not passing any moral judgements on workers. We are simply saying that if they have lost their jobs because of COVID-19, we will help them. Earlier this month, Poland and Denmark announced that companies registered in countries that are listed on the EUs black list of tax havens will be denied financial aid from the coronavirus bailout packages. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said large companies wanting to benefit from the bailout fund must pay domestic tax. Lets end tax havens, which are the bane of modern economies, he said, according to a report in Business Insider. A Canada Revenue Agency analysis of 2014 corporate taxes suggested that Canadian corporations avoid paying between $9.4 and $11.4 billion in tax each year. This was the equivalent of 24 to 29 per cent of the total corporate tax bill that year. This estimate squares with a 2017 Toronto Star investigation that found Canadas largest corporations avoided paying more than $10 billion in tax each year mostly by using tax havens. And those calculations only relate to legal tax avoidance. There are also illegal tax evasions and grey-area strategies that deprive the public of billions the kinds of behaviour that were exposed in the Panama Papers. The fact that this tax avoidance is legal does not make it right, said Bloc leader Yves-Francois Blanchet, adding that he was astounded to hear (Trudeau) say that the government will do nothing to ensure that the businesses it is helping act morally or ethically. We all agree that some of the money should go to businesses, but there are businesses, and then there are businesses. Some businesses, some small local businesses, fight for survival every day and are having a lot of trouble. Other businesses have no trouble at all. They pay little or no tax in Canada but pay tax elsewhere because it is cheaper, he said. Blanchet said regular taxpayers will be on the hook to pay for the enormous bailout package, now estimated to cost more than $200 billion, while big companies stash their profits offshore. We cannot ask taxpayers to pay more because some businesses are not paying. That seems like a basic ethical issue to me, he said. Blanchet called on Trudeau to ensure that none of our measures are accessible to businesses that are registered abroad and consequently engaging in tax avoidance. One member of the Bloc went even further, calling on the government to ban the use of tax havens. The House of Commons is taking unprecedented measures to provide income support to individuals and businesses...In exchange, however, we expect everyone to collaborate, said BQ MP Gabriel Ste-Marie. Unfortunately, large companies like Torontos big banks are not collaborating, because they are avoiding tax by using tax havens, which enable them to get out of paying the taxes they owe, he said. As we know, Ottawa provides the banks with a great deal of assistance. Why is the government not instead prohibiting them from avoiding taxes through tax havens? Read more about: (Photo : Pixabay) Engineers have created a cooling hydrogel material that can convert excess heat from electronic gadgets into electricity. The thin hydrogel film, that's made from a polymer and water, can draw heat faraway from the batteries of smartphones, tablets, and computers, so they don't overheat. Researchers say their new device, that's yet to be added to the market, is the first to both cool devices and convert waste heat into power. Researchers, whose research is published in ACS' Nano Letters, tested the film on a mobile cellphone battery and noted its temperature dropped by 68F (38C). ALSO READ: You're Charging Your Smartphone The Wrong Way: 7 Charging Mistakes That Affect Battery Life How it works The hydrogel could save frequent cellphone users from having to buy new devices while being more environmentally friendly regularly. The strip consists of a polyacrylamide framework - an organic polymer current used as a suspending agent, lubricant, and oil recovery agent - is infused with water and ions. The hydrogen patch would then generate electricity once two of the ions - ferricyanide, and ferrocyanide - will heat up. Hence, the strip would adjust its shape depending on the temperature once it's attached to the phone battery. Meanwhile, water in the hydrogel evaporates, which has a cooling effect on the patch. After use, the hydrogel regenerates itself by absorbing water from the encompassing air. Water in the hydrogel can self-adaptively break out from the hydrogel and re-enter by evaporation and absorption cycle - a temperature-controlled 'thermodynamic' cycle. To demonstrate the new strip, the researchers connected it to a smartphone battery during fast charging. Some of the waste energy was converted into five microwatts (W) of power as the battery temperature decreases. Some of the extra heat was also transformed into electricity that would be used to power the device. Dr. Xuejiao Hu, study co-author from Wuhan University in China, told DailyMail the reduced working temperature ensures the safe operation of the battery. "The electricity harvested [from the gadget] is [enough] for monitoring the battery or controlling the cooling system," he said. Effects of overcharging phones One of the errors many people make with their cellphone is "overcharging" it, which can have dire outcomes on battery life. While the possibility of overheating or overcharging remains, experts urge the users not to leave your phone connected to its charger for too long. Using electronic gadgets for too long can cause it to overheat, which could slow them down, harm their parts, or maybe cause them to explode or catch fire. Experts said the heat generated by batteries, lights, and processors reduces the efficiency, reliability, and lifespan of gadgets - and wastes energy. Cadex Electronics marketing communications manager John Bradshaw told Time your phone will lose bits of battery life here and there if you leave your phone charged overnight. Such a "trickle charge" attempts to preserve battery at 100% to compensate for the small bit of price that your cellphone only certainly loses on its own. So your phone is continuously being bounced between a full charge and a bit under a full charge. These trickle charge can lead to higher ambient temperatures for your cellphone, that could reduce potential overtime. ALSO READ: From Hoverboards To The Samsung Galaxy Note 7: Why Batteries Are Exploding And How You Can Protect Yourself 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. [April 22, 2020] Hagens Berman: American Airlines Customer Sues Airline in Class Action Lawsuit Demanding Refunds for Flights Cancelled Due to COVID-19 An American Airlines customer who was left without a return flight from Lima, Peru, sued the airline in a class-action lawsuit seeking ticket refunds for flights cancelled due to the outbreak of COVID-19 after the airline rampantly denied customer requests, according to attorneys at Hagens Berman, in conjunction with Webb, Klase & Lemond LLC and Vaught Firm LLC. The class-action law firm brought similar claims against United Airlines and Delta Air Lines recently, and attorneys say consumers are entitled to monetary refunds - not travel vouchers - under the law. If an airline denied your refund request after your flight was cancelled due to the outbreak, find out more about the lawsuit and your rights. According to the lawsuit filed Apr. 22, 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas Fort Worth Division, American Airlines acted in deceptive and unfair manners in failing to honor ticket refunds and requests from its passengers in light of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. The suit accuses the airline of, "limiting and forcing customers into a rebooked flight or travel voucher instead of returning their money." American Airlines Leaves Passenger Stranded in Peru The suit's named plaintiff is a resident of Arizona who purchased tickets for a Mar. 12, 2020, flight to Lima, Peru from Las Vegas with a layover in Los Angeles. Plaintiff's return flight was scheduled through Miami and was booked on American, through American's agent, OneTravel.com. After the plaintiff had travelled to Peru, his return trip was cancelled by American. Despite requesting and being entitled to a refund for his cancelled flight, American has refused to provide plaintiff a refund. Roundtrip, the flights totaled $1,05. "At Plaintiff's own expense he booked a return flight home from Peru on different airlines," the suit states. "Since returning from Peru, American has refused to refund Plaintiff for its portion of his cancelled flight back to Las Vegas." The plaintiff also purchased another trip to Lima due to occur in May 2020, returning August 2020, for which he paid American and other airlines $2,176.36. He has also requested a refund for this travel given Arizona's current stay-at-home order. American has so far refused his request. "Our client was left without a flight home, and he isn't the only individual who has been stranded by the airlines. American Airlines - like United, Delta and others - has refused to take responsibility to their customers during a global health emergency," said Steve Berman, managing partner of Hagens Berman and attorney for consumers in the class action. "Even during a pandemic, even when faced with their own customers left abroad with no flight home, the airlines are only concerned with profits. We intend to change their tune by every measure available under the law." American Airlines Changed Refund Policy Under American Airlines' Conditions of Carriage, if American cancelled a flight or changed a flight time by over four hours, passengers could receive a full refund. "However, American is focused on keeping passenger money through providing travel credits, not refunds," attorneys say in the filed class action. According to the suit, "As American announced flight cancellations (combined with decreased domestic bookings), American took a variety of steps to make it difficult, if not impossible, for consumers to receive any refund on pandemic cancelled flights." Passengers are similarly entitled to a refund if an airline makes "a significant schedule change and/or significantly delays a flight and the passenger chooses not to travel," according to the class action. "Not only is American refusing to refund passengers for cancelled flights, American is misleading passengers about their rights by making it difficult to locate information about refunds, refusing refunds, unilaterally providing travel vouchers if a passenger is unable to contact an American customer service representative, and waiting until the last minute to cancel flights to induce passengers to cancel their flights." As the Department of Transportation advises consumers of their rights: "If your flight is cancelled and you choose to cancel your trip as a result, you are entitled to a refund for the unused transportation-even for non-refundable tickets." The lawsuit against American Airlines seeks refunds for class members for the amount paid for airline tickets, punitive damages and an injunction directing American to issue refunds for cancelled flights. Find out more about the class-action lawsuit against airlines for failure to refund tickets due to COVID-19-related cancellations. About Hagens Berman Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP is a consumer-rights class-action law firm with nine offices across the country. The firm's tenacious drive for plaintiffs' rights has earned it numerous national accolades, awards and titles of "Most Feared Plaintiff's Firm," and MVPs and Trailblazers of class-action law. More about the law firm and its successes can be found at www.hbsslaw.com. Follow the firm for updates and news at @ClassActionLaw. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005952/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Actor Rose McGowan has announced that she will be unveiling her debut music album soon. Titled 'Planet 9', the album consists of eight tracks. The actor has collaborated with the likes of DJ Falcon, underground Parisian duo Punishment, David Sitek, mixer Michael Patterson and Stuart White for the LP. It will release on music streaming platforms on Friday. "This may come as a shock, but this Friday, April 24th, my album 'Planet 9' is being released on all platforms. I'm not trying to be a pop star, but I did make music that heals in a new way. Link is in bio. If you want to go to a better place, come to 'Planet 9'," the 46-year-old actor said in a post on Twitter. McGowan also posted a brief statement on her website, explaining the genesis of the album's title. "When I was a small child going through tough times, I created a utopian world in my mind and I named it Planet 9. I felt safe on this invented planet of mine. I also used to wonder what sounds existed on my planet. "As life went on, I forgot about how special my planet was, I forgot I could go there in times of trouble. Six years ago, astronomers found a new planet they namedPlanet 9 it's the new planet that demoted Pluto to a star. Holy s**t! They found my Planet 9," the actor said. McGowan said she decided to make music to lift the spirits of the people as she believes that art heals. "'Planet 9' takes you on a very special journey. I am not trying to be a pop star, I will not be performing this album. By using my knowledge of cinema sound design, I carefully created the sounds and words for a better place, an unknown world in our own mind that we can all travel to. "'Planet 9' is an artistic endeavour that I hope will help others meditate in a unique way," the actor added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The TVS Motor Company on Wednesday handed over 3,000 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and 10,000 N95 masks to Chief Minister B S Yediyurappaas "as part of their proactive measures to support the government towards containing COVID-19." The company said in a statement that it has regularly been distributing face masks, disposable hand gloves and packed meals for essential care workers, including police personnel, healthcare workers and migrants in Bengaluru. TVS Motor has also deployed vehicles with disinfectants to prevent the spread of virus in the outskirts of Bengaluru, the statement said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Motorola Edge+ vs OnePlus 8 Pro: Specifications, features and prices compared Motorola Edge+ was just unveiled at a virtual event hosted by the company due to the Coronavirus pandemic that has forced people to stay at home, with most businesses taking a direct hit due to slowdown. However, smartphone companies are coming up with new phones with online launches now. OnePlus did it for its OnePlus 8 series and now Motorola is re-entring the flagship segment after two years with the Edge+. The phone follows the current trends adopted by the current crop of flagship phones with the latest Qualcomm processor, high-refresh-rate display, versatile camera setup and a big battery to power it. The same is also true for the recently launched OnePlus 8 Pro which is why we decided to pit both phones against each other for this specification-based comparison. Motorola Edge+ vs OnePlus 8 Pro: Pricing Motorola Edge+ is priced at $999 in the US but its Indian pricing hasnt been announced yet. By the current conversion ratio, the Edge+ could be priced around Rs 76,000 in India. As for the OnePlus 8 Pro, it starts at Rs 54,999 for the base variant with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage while the maxed-out model with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage retails for 59,999 in India. Interestingly, the OnePlus 8 Pro is much affordable in India than in the US. Having said that, theres no word when the Coronavirus lockdown will end in India and deliveries of non-essential goods be permitted. So, well have to wait a while before we see the Edge+ launch in India. Motorola Edge+ vs OnePlus 8 Pro: Design and Display Motorola Edge+ has a metal and glass design with a display that wraps around the edges and is dubbed the waterfall display. It measures 9.6mm at its thickest point and weighs 203 grams. On the other hand, OnePlus 8 Pro is also built using an aluminium chassis and glass back but is thinner than the Edge+ at 8.5mm thickness and is lightweight at 199 grams. The rear panel of the phone is also coated with a layer of Gorilla Glass which is missing from the Edge+. The 8 Pro is also IP68 certified making it resistant to dust and water. The Edge+ features a 6.67-inch display that uses an AMOLED panel flushed with a punch-hole cutout in the top-left corner that houses the selfie camera. The display has a Full HD+ (2340 x 1080 pixels) resolution, 90Hz refresh rate support and is certified to playback HDR10+ content. OnePlus 8 Pro features a slightly larger 6.78-inch AMOLED screen that has a QHD+ (3168 x 1440 pixels) resolution and supports 120Hz refresh rate. Like the Edge+, the display is certified for HDR10+ playback but is topped by Gorilla Glass coating for added protection against daily wear and tear. Being flagship phones in their own right, both the phones come fitted with an in-display fingerprint sensor for easier phone unlock. OnePlus display has also received critical appreciation from DisplayMate and has broken over 13 records in their benchmarking tests. Thats why its rated as A+ but we still have to get our hands on the phones to have a detailed look. Motorola Edge+ vs OnePlus 8 Pro: Under the hood Motorola Edge+ marks the comeback of a flagship smartphone in the companys catalogue as it is powered by top-of-the-line Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset with built-in 5G support. The new processor gets a decent 25% bump in performance while leveraging Qualcomms fifth-generation AI Engine. This is paired with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage with an option to expand the storage by upto 1TB using microSD card. On the other hand, OnePlus 8 Pro is powered by the same chipset but comes in two storage variants. The base model has 8GB RAM and 128GB UFS 3.1 storage followed by the maxed-out version with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. Motorola Edge+ runs on stock Android 10 out-of-the-box with some specifications customizations done by the company and not to forget, the popular Moto Actions also make a return. However, OxygenOS on the OnePlus 8 Pro is a whole different ball game altogether as it has been tweaked and optimised in such a way that its fast and smooth in general use at all times. The phone also has a dedicated MEMC chip built-in thats responsible for smoothening out low frame rates video playback. With the latest powerful processor underneath, both the phones are expected to offer great performance, its just the optimizations done at the fundamental level make the experience better, something that OnePlus is known for. Other than that, both the phones feature a decent array of sensors and connectivity features. The 8 Pro supported Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.1 with aptX HD codec while the Edge+ comes with Bluetooth 5.0. Motorola Edge+ vs OnePlus 8 Pro: Cameras The Edge+ has a triple camera setup that consists of a primary 108MP camera with an f/1.7 aperture, an 8MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom and a 16MP ultra-wide-angle lens with 117-degree field-of-view. The main camera can record in 6K UHD at 30fps and is supported by OIS. On the front, theres a 25MP selfie camera housed within the punch-hole notch cutout with an f/2.0 aperture. OnePlus 8 Pro features a quad-camera setup that consists of a primary 48MP camera with an f/1.8 aperture, a secondary 8MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom, a 48MP ultra-wide-angle-lens and a 5MP depth sensor to assist in portrait photography. The rear cameras can do 4K UHD videos at upto 60fps and is supported by EIS and OIS on the primary sensor. On the front, theres a 16MP selfie camera with an f/2.5 aperture and supported by EIS. Both the phones come with a versatile array of camera sensors, but well have to test the phones ourselves to form an accurate opinion about the photography capabilities of the Edge+ and OnePlus 8 Pro. Motorola Edge+ vs OnePlus 8 Pro: Battery Motorola Edge+ is fitted with a 5,000mAh battery that supports 15W fast charging thanks to the companys TurboPower solution. The phone also supports fast wireless charging at 15W peak output. OnePlus 8 Pro has a slightly smaller 4,500mAh battery with support for 30W fast charging via Warp Charge solution. The phone supports 30W fast wireless charging as well. 22.04.2020 LISTEN The Chief Executive Officer of Marrer Ghana Limited and Susatgad Boat Building and Fishing Industries, Mr Novihoho Afaglo, has stated that the President's decision to lift the partial lockdown in Greater Accra and Greater Kumasi is a cause for worry. According to Mr Afaglo, Ghana went to partial lockdown when the country had 141 confirmed cases of Covid-19 so why lift the ban when the nation has recorded 1042 confirmed cases with nine deaths. "I think Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is acting like irresponsible father and his children the citizens like the prodigals biblically because what is the motive behind the partial lockdown when Covid-19 cases were less and lifting up the ban when the cases have now increased." He described the decision by the President for lifting the partial lockdown as hasty one indicating that even though "we all know the pressure the system was given him." Speaking in an interview, Mr Afaglo said "are we not better off keeping ourselves at home safely knowing this war against the deadly Covid-19 will soon be a thing of the past. Than to insist on self freedom to go about our normal activities and end up contracting this virus when your cure isnt guaranteed." The CEO added that this isnt the time for the sitting government to feel pressured by the opposition but rather take the best decision in critical times like this. On food distribution He criticised the decision by the government and the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) mode of distributing food to the vulnerable in certain areas during the lockdown period without ensuring strict observation of social distancing. Mr Afaglo said the decision to distribute the food was excellent but the plain disregard for social distancing was a health risk because the Coronavirus could be spread rapidly in the Greater Accra and Greater Kumasi due to the scramble by the people for the food. According to him, because NADMO disregarded social distancing in distributing the food, many people, in trying to get access to the food, scrambled and touched each other forgetting they could contract the virus and infect a number of people at home. The CEO has, therefore, called on the government to ensure NADMO used a better way to forestall the unbridled way of spreading the disease. He said NADMO should have recorded the number of people forming a household and share the food according to numbers instead of the current approach where they sent the food to places for the people to struggle for it. Mr Afaglo said per what is happening now, many of these people who struggled to get the food distributed may have moved with the virus from one place to another, making Covid-19 spread fast and wide. "You see, alternatively, the government should rather be given the monies to the people through the network operators so that individuals will be able to get their own food items because that will stop the scramble for food and also stop the possible spread of the Coronavirus. "The current system of people struggling to catch the attention of the distributors and disregarding the social distancing is outrageous," he stated. Mr Afaglo said with the kind of quotation "we are been given as cost of distribution exercise, each Ghanaian is better off having these monies sent to their phones. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo should take firm decision in these times or when this is over he would have himself blamed for lives lost in the war with this deadly virus Covid-19." He said the government must learn to put the people interest and health above their own. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will discuss the coronavirus COVID-19 situation with all the state chief ministers on April 27. This is the third time that the PM will interact with the CMs to discuss the issues related to COVID-19 and lockdown. The meet will be held via video conferencing. A few days prior to this, the PM will participate in the National Panchayati Raj Day through video conference on April 24 and interact with Gram Panchayats across the country. PM Modi will launch the unified e-Gram Swaraj Portal and Mobile App on the occasion. The Unified Portal is a new initiative of Ministry of Panchayati Raj which will provide the Gram Panchayats with a single interface to prepare and implement their Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP). The Prime Minister will also be launching the Swamitva Scheme on the occasion. The scheme provides for an integrated property validation solution for rural India; the demarcation of inhabited land in rural areas would be done by the use of latest surveying methods Drones technology with the collaborated efforts of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, State Panchayati Raj Department, State Revenue Department and Survey of India. Every year, on this occasion, Ministry of Panchayati Raj has been awarding the best performing Panchayats/States/UTs across the country under the Incentivization of Panchayats in recognition of their good work for improving the delivery of services and public goods. In 2020, three such awards viz. Nanaji Deshmukh Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Puraskar (NDRGGSP), Child-friendly Gram Panchayat Award (CFGPA) and Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) Award have been finalized which will be shared with the concerned States/ UT. [April 22, 2020] AM Best Affirms Credit Ratings of Tokio Marine GRV Re, Inc. AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Rating of "a" of Tokio Marine GRV Re, Inc. (TMGRV Re) (Oklahoma City, OK). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable. The ratings reflect TMGRV Re's balance sheet strength, which AM Best categorizes as very strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, limited business profile and very strong enterprise risk management (ERM). The ratings also reflect the capacity available in TMGRV Re's balance sheet for the expected level of assumed risk and a clearly defined business plan, which contemplates a level of execution risk. The company serves as a reinsurer for affiliated entities with a worldwide presence. The ratings also benefit from the explicit support provided to TMGRV Re through a capital maintenance agreement with Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd. (TMNF) and implicit support provided by affiliated entities, including day-to-day management of operations, and inclusion in TMNF's robust ERM processes and procedures. This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best's website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings refernced in this release, please see AM Best's Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best's Credit Ratings. For information on the proper media use of Best's Credit Ratings and AM Best press releases, please view Guide for Media - Proper Use of Best's Credit Ratings and AM Best Rating Action Press Releases. AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in New York, London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com. Copyright 2020 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005935/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ahmad Parhizi (Agence France-Presse) Tehran, Iran Wed, April 22, 2020 17:30 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd39787c 2 World Iran,Iran-US,military-modernization,satellite,satellite-launch Free Iran's Revolutionary Guards announced they had successfully launched the country's first military satellite on Wednesday, at a time of renewed tensions with US forces in the Gulf. The United States alleges Iran's satellite program is a cover for its development of missiles. The Islamic republic has previously insisted its aerospace activities comply with its international obligations. Tensions between the arch foes escalated last week with the US accusing Iran of harassing its ships in the Gulf. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the surprise satellite launch was a milestone for the country. "The first satellite of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been successfully launched into orbit," said the Guards' Sepahnews website. The satellite dubbed the Nour -- meaning "light" in Persian -- had been launched from the Markazi desert, a vast expanse in Iran's central plateau. The satellite "orbited the earth at 425 kilometers" above sea level, said Sepahnews. "This action will be a great success and a new development in the field of space for Islamic Iran," it added. State television aired footage of what it said was the satellite mounted on a rocket for Wednesday's launch. The rocket bore the name Qassed, meaning "messenger", in what appears to be the first time Iran has used a launcher of this type. 'Great national achievement' Its fuselage also had a koranic inscription that read: "Glory be to God who made this available to us, otherwise we could not have done it." There was no way to independently verify the launch. It was hailed by Iran's Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi. "Sincere congratulations to the IRGC Air Force for this great national achievement," he tweeted, adding he had visited the launch site three weeks ago. "They were great," he said of the satellite and what he described as a "three-stage solid fuel" launcher. Iran has repeatedly tried and failed to launch satellites in the past. The most recent was on February 9 when it said it launched but was unable to put into orbit the Zafar, whose name means "victory" in Persian. Arch enemies Iran and the United States have appeared to be on the brink of an all-out confrontation twice in the past year. Their long-standing acrimony was exacerbated in 2018 when US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from a deal that froze Iran's nuclear program, before issuing demands that it curtail its development of ballistic missiles. High-seas encounter Tensions escalated again in January when the US killed Major General Qasem Soleimani, head of the Guards' foreign operations arm, the Quds Force, in a drone strike in Iraq. The US Department of Defense last week accused Iran of "dangerous and provocative" actions in the Gulf. It said 11 Guards boats "repeatedly crossed the bows and sterns" of US vessels in international waters. Iran said the US gave a "Hollywood" account of the encounter and warned it that any "miscalculation will receive a decisive response". Washington has also raised concerns in the past about Tehran's satellite program, saying the launch of a carrier rocket in January 2019 amounted to a violation of limits on its ballistic missiles. Iran maintains it has no intention of acquiring nuclear weapons, and says its aerospace activities are peaceful and comply with a UN Security Council resolution. The Islamic republic, battling the world's deadliest novel coronavirus outbreak at the same time as dealing with crippling US sanctions, has accused Washington of "economic terrorism". Tehran says the punitive measures have denied it access to the medicines and medical equipment it needs to fight the virus. Iran says the disease has claimed the lives of nearly 5,300 people and infected almost 85,000 since the outbreak emerged on February 19. The number of Iranians killed and sickened by the virus is widely thought to be much higher, however. Iran has requested a $5 billion emergency loan from the International Monetary Fund to help it tackle the outbreak. But the US, which effectively holds a veto at the IMF, has signaled it has no intention of agreeing to such a line of credit. The Conversation Sometimes, pollution is blatantly obvious: the iridescent slick of an oil spill, goopy algae washing up on a beach or black smoke belching from a smokestack. But, more often than not, pollution is more inconspicuous. Our air, water, land and wildlife are tainted with thousands of chemicals that we cannot see, smell or touch. It may not come as a surprise then, that this unnoticed pollution isnt considered the important threat to wildlife that it should be. The planet has entered the sixth mass extinction of plants and animals, according to scientists, and Canada is not immune. More than half of Canadas grassland birds and aerial insectivores have been lost in only 50 years, and between 1970 and 2014, the more than 500 mammal populations monitored in Canada shrank by an average of 43 percent. But the assessments that evaluate species to determine those that are at risk of extinction are underestimating the importance of pollution. The good news is that my colleagues and I think we have come up with a potential solution to this problem. So many chemicals, so much pollution Globally, tens of thousands of chemicals exist in commerce today. The global chemical industry exceeded US$5 trillion in 2017, and is projected to double by 2030. These chemicals are used in all facets of our daily lives, from pharmaceuticals and fertilizers to pesticides and flame retardants. Here in Canada, about five million tonnes of pollutants are produced each year by more than 7,000 industrial facilities. More than 150 billion litres of sewage is discharged yearly into Canadian waters. Close to 700 pipeline spills over the past decade have led to the release of natural gas, crude oil and other substances into the air, soil and water. More than 23,000 federal contaminated sites such as abandoned mines, airports and military bases are known or suspected to be contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons, heavy metals and other pollutants. In a nutshell: The current process Expert opinion is an essential and invaluable part of the assessment process to list wildlife species at risk for extinction in Canada. This process relies on scientists to estimate the proportion of a species population that may potentially be affected by a pollution source this is called scope. A small team of scientists with expertise on the species considers scope along with the potential severity of the impact to determine the threat from pollution, along with ten other potential threats. However, the breadth of expertise of the team assessing a particular species may not necessarily cover all categories of threats, and based on our experience, ecotoxicologists the scientists who study the fate and effects of environmental contaminants are often underrepresented on these committees. My colleagues and I suspected the committees might be underestimating pollution as a threat to species, and so we set out to find out if this was the case or not. What did we do and what did we find out? We began by mapping all the point sources of pollution in Canada we could find from existing, publicly accessible databases. This included household sewage and urban waste water, industrial and military effluents, agricultural and forestry effluents, among others. We used the same pollution categories as COSEWIC, but we compiled a large database of geospatial information on all known pollution sources. Next, we secured information on locations of almost 500 terrestrial and freshwater species including everything from mosses and lichens to birds and mammals from NatureServe, a nonprofit organization that compiles data on species occurrence across North America. We put these two sources of information that is, pollution sources and species occurrence together onto one map, so we could calculate the percentage of the species habitat that was covered by pollution. Then, we compared our calculations to those determined by expert opinion in the COSEWIC process. We found two important things. First, we found that, on average, more than half of every species habitat is polluted in some way. The species that had pollution in most, if not all, of the places they live include the prothonotary warbler, gypsy cuckoo bumblebee, copper redhorse fish, a freshwater mussel called the round hickorynut and several perennial plants, including the American columbo, green dragon and phantom orchid. Second, we found a very weak relationship between the scope of pollution for a species that we calculated and the scope of pollution scored by expert opinion in the COSEWIC process. In other words, scientists scoring threats were not particularly good at identifying sources of pollution that may be having negative effects on the species at risk they are trying to protect. Scientists sometimes identified exposure to pollution as negligible even for species whose entire ranges overlapped with pollution sources. This was especially true for vascular plants and terrestrial mammals. We havent yet assessed whether the type of pollution found within the species habitat was a known threat to that species. But that is a logical next step for future research. The path forward Our work represents a major first step toward a more objective and rigorous assessment of the role of pollution in the decline of species-at-risk in Canada one that we hope will be adopted. More broadly, it points to the need for a more holistic approach to protecting wildlife species and their habitats. The Trudeau government has pledged to prevent wildlife species from becoming extinct by securing the necessary actions for their recovery, under its 2020 Biodiversity Goals and Targets for Canada. Yet the high prevalence of pollution we found in the homes of many wildlife species in Canada is a reminder that the government must take a much more proactive approach to the regulation of chemicals in the environment if we are to truly protect Canadas biodiversity. Diane Orihel, Assistant Professor, School of Environmental Studies, Queen's University, Ontario This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. At the entrance of an Istanbul mosque, the racks usually reserved for the shoes of the faithful are loaded with pasta packages, oil bottles, biscuits -- like a supermarket. But they aren't for sale. Instead they are destined for the needy, hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic. The sign on the mosque's window asks anyone who can to leave something, and says those in need can take something. Abdulsamet Cakir, 33, imam of the Dedeman mosque in the Sariyer district, came up with this idea of reaching out to the poor via the place of worship after Turkey suspended mass prayers in mosques until the risk of outbreak passes. Turkey's official death toll from the virus now stands at 2,259 after 119 more deaths were reported on Tuesday, and major cities including Istanbul will be under lockdown for four days from Thursday. "After the suspension of mass prayers, I had an idea to revive our mosque by bringing together well-off people with the people in need," Cakir told AFP inside the mosque, where bags of food and cleaning products were piled up on the floor. The young imam, who takes the products from the floor and places them on the shelves at the entrance, said he was inspired by a donation culture in the Ottoman period called "charity stone" -- a small pillar stone erected at certain locations of the city to connect rich people with the poor. - 'Tough situation'- In this Ottoman system aimed at giving charity in a dignified manner without offending the needy, people with means would leave whatever amount they wanted in a cavity on the top of the charity stone. Those who were in need would then take the amount they needed and leave the rest for others. "After the coronavirus pandemic, we have thought about what we can do to help our brothers in need," said Cakir, who would already help the poor in his neighbourhood before the outbreak. "With the inspiration from our ancestors' 'charity stone' culture, we decided to fill the racks in our mosque with the help from our brothers with means," he added. Cakir hangs a list on the wall of the mosque where citizens who need help write their names and telephone numbers. The imam later sends the list to local authorities who check whether the names are really in need and his team then sends a message that they can visit the mosque and receive whatever they need: eight items at maximum. "I am really in dire need. My husband doesn't work. I used to clean houses but since the virus, they no longer call," Guleser Ocak, 50, told AFP. "I wrote my name on the list before. I received a message today to pick up aid," she said. "We are in a tough situation." - 'No cash'- The mosque has been providing services for two weeks and reaches out to 120 people in need per day. And the list includes over 900 people. A maximum of two people wearing masks and gloves enter the mosque and take what they need, while others wait outside, standing a few paces from each other. "We spread the services through the day. We call 15 people for each half an hour, so that we respect social distancing and do not cause big queues," the imam said. "We are doing our best to help our sisters and brothers in the best possible way without offending them," he added. The mosque does not accept cash donations and instead receives aid packages. "Producers also donate. A miller brings in flour, a baker brings in bread, a water distributor brings in water," Cakir said. The mosque's shelves are full of products sent from all over Turkey and even abroad. "Everyone does whatever they can to help people in need. For example, a brother who lives in France did online shopping and directed the aid to our mosque," he said. "What the mosque is doing is really, really good for us. Ramadan is coming," said Duygu Kesimoglu, 29, referring to the Muslim fasting month beginning this week. "I am unfortunately jobless, they don't employ us because of the coronavirus. No job, no money. This help is very, very good," she said. With mass prayers suspended, the Dedeman mosque in Istanbul has turned itself into a food bank Abdulsamet Cakir, 33, imam of the Dedeman mosque was inspired by the Ottoman tradition of 'charity stone' Boost came on hopes of more supply cuts from OPEC and word that US inventory builds are less dire than anticipated. Brent crude oil rebounded from two days of losses and US futures surged on Wednesday, bolstered by tentative discussions of additional supply cuts from OPEC producers and US inventory builds that were less dire than some anticipated. Oil trading has been more volatile than ever in recent days, as the market has become overwhelmed by a growing supply glut and catastrophic declines in demand as governments order people to stay at home, restricting travel and halting daily life, to stop the spread of the coronavirus. US futures fell deep into negative territory on Monday, closing a record minus $37.63 a barrel, while Brent touched its lowest level since June 1999 early on Wednesday. As of 3:06pm EDT, Brent, the global benchmark, was up 7.71 percent at $20.82 a barrel. Earlier in the session, the global benchmark fell to $15.98, its lowest since June 1999. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for June delivery rose $2.56, or 22.13 percent, to $14.13 a barrel. Since the start of the year, Brent has fallen more than 68 percent, while WTI has dropped around 75 percent. The worlds major oil producers, led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, attempted to wrest control of spiralling inventories by announcing a collective cut of 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) in supply in early April. But those cuts will come too slowly to offset rising inventories, which hit 518.6 million barrels in the US last week, just 3 percent off an all-time record, the Energy Department said. If storage continues to increase at the end of the day, which seems likely considering all these Saudi barrels knocking at the door, then we are going to get to maximum storage sometime in the not so distant future, said Bob Yawger, director of futures at Mizuho in New York. Saudi Arabia on Tuesday said it was ready to take extra measures with other producers and Iraq made similar comments. The Saudi finance minister also said Riyadh may borrow around $26bn more this year and will draw down up to $32bn from its reserves to finance a government deficit caused by the slump in oil prices. Reuters also reported that the Saudi supertankers headed for US shores with 40 million barrels of oil may be looking to reroute amid growing pressure in the US to turn them around. The next formal meeting by OPEC and allies, a group known as OPEC+, is in June. Even without another formal agreement, decreasing storage capacity and falling demand could force producers to cut more. An OPEC source told Reuters news agency that it was logical to expect the market to force more cuts on OPEC+ producers. US crude inventories rose 15 million barrels last week, in line with analysts expectations, though some even predicted a build of more than 20 million barrels. Meanwhile, US gasoline stocks rose by just 1 million barrels, less than expected, while product supplied, a proxy for demand, increased modestly for the first time in weeks. This week the front-month US contract fell below zero for the first time ever ahead of its Tuesday expiry as panicking traders paid customers to take oil off their hands so they would not have to take delivery with nowhere to store the surplus. Inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub for WTI are nearly full, at almost 60 million barrels, with much of the rest leased already. The foreign ministers of Russia, Turkey, and Iran will hold a video conference on April 22 to discuss Syria and a de-escalation deal in the last rebel-held enclave in Idlib. Turkey and Russia, which back opposing sides in the conflict, brokered a March 5 cease-fire in rebel-controlled Idlib Province following a monthslong Russia-backed offensive by Syrian forces that displaced nearly one million people and threatened to send a flood of refugees into Turkey. The escalation earlier this year brought the Turkish military and Syrian government into direct confrontation. Ankara retaliated for the death of some 60 Turkish troops by increasing support for opposition groups and unleashing a devastating drone campaign on Syrian government forces. As part of the cease-fire deal, Turkish and Russian troops conduct joint patrols in a buffer zone between rebel fighters and Syrian government forces along a section of the strategic M4 highway, which connects Aleppo to Latakia on the Mediterranean coast. On April 20, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the Syrian government of taking advantage of the worlds distraction with the coronavirus pandemic to increase attacks in Idlib. "Should the regime, which has violated the cease-fire and other conditions of the agreement, continue in this way, it will pay a price with heavy losses," he added. The threat comes amid reports of minor clashes between Syrian forces and Turkey-backed opposition forces and extremist rebel factions, although the buffer zone appears to be limiting fighting. Ahead of the foreign ministers video conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rohani on April 21. The three countries are part of the so-called Astana process designed to support a diplomatic solution to Syrias 10-year civil war. On April 20, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met in Damascus with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Along with Russia, Tehran has provided crucial military support to Assad during the country's internal conflict. With reporting by AP, Interfax, Reuters, and Haber Turk Dramatic footage has shown a man being pinned to the ground by enraged neighbours after he allegedly drove a car into a suburban home, leaving a teenager who was sleeping inside in a coma. The driver, 36, allegedly slammed the Subaru Impreza car into a home at Caversham in Perth's north-west at midday on Tuesday before attempting to leave the scene. While some neighbours rushed to help 19-year-old TAFE student Adam Mercer inside the home, others tackled and pinned down the driver in a citizens' arrest. A 36-year-old driver allegedly drove into a Perth home and struck 19-year-old TAFE student Adam Mercer (pictured) who was sleeping at the time of the crash In footage of the arrest the driver appeared to be disorientated as neighbours held him down. 'What's going on? You know what the f*** is going on,' a woman screamed. Mr Mercer's family said the teenager was sleeping in his bed at the time of the crash before he was violently thrown across the room by the impact of the car, according to 9 News. The driver allegedly attempted to flee the scene before he was tackled and pinned down by neighbours in a citizens arrest Dru Wishart was standing nearby when the Subaru Impreza crashed into the home and worked with Mr Mercer's mother to tend to the 19-year-old until paramedics arrived. 'He wasn't near the car he was pushed up against the wall with rubble on top of him,' she said. Ms Wishart said she worked his with mother to keep the teenager still as he faded in and out of consciousness. Mr Mercer was thrown across his bedroom and pinned against the wall. It took paramedics half an hour to free him It took paramedics half an hour to rescue the student from the rubble before he was rushed to Royal Perth Hospital with serious head injuries and placed into an induced coma. The driver was arrested by police and taken to hospital for a blood test. He was charged with Driver Failed to Stop and Ensure Assistance Received after Incident Occasioning Grievous Bodily Harm. The driver is due to appear before the Midland Magistrates Court today, 22 April 2020. Zain Bahrain, a leading telecoms operator in the kingdom, has recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Education Zone, a regional education consultancy that offers free counselling and expert guidance for students who are looking to study abroad and support in finding internship opportunities. The partnership between Zain Bahrain and Education Zone will focus on identifying the right internship positions for students through offering them a unique opportunity to gain valuable experience, said a statement. The internship program, which comes under Zain Bahrain Youth Development Program, is designed to educate, mentor and motivate university and college students who graduated or are months away from graduation. It will also increase their understanding of business practices and the working environment of a telecom company, it said. Mohammed Isa, Zain Bahrain Employee Relations and Youth Development Manager, said: "Zain Bahrain is proud of its strategic partnership with Education Zone which aims to enhance the learning outcome of students and prepare them for Work and Life. This initiative is in line with our overall CSR goals of providing all the right tools to the Bahrain youth to boost their skills and knowledge. Zain Bahrain partnership with Education Zone is in line with its youth development program which is designed to support university students to gain experience and address existing business challenges, he added. TradeArabia News Service Most academics and economists predict the economy will rebound slowly once stay-at-home orders are lifted. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) Vince Lee, like the rest of us, is getting mighty tired of being stuck at home and is looking forward to stores, restaurants and other businesses reopening. But the Newport Beach resident is in no hurry to return to how things were before the COVID-19 pandemic. "I'd like to get the hell out of the house," Lee, 87, told me. "But I'm not going to be rushing anywhere." That, in a nutshell, is why all of those prognosticators including President Trump who say the economy will come roaring back once current safety measures are eased may be indulging in wishful thinking. The Achilles' heel of all our post-pandemic recovery plans is that consumer spending accounts for about 70% of total U.S. economic activity. If wary consumers keep a tight grip on their wallets and purses as the viral clouds begin to lift, the subsequent recovery won't be turbocharged. It will be gradual and guarded, and many businesses will continue grappling for months or even years with significantly lower sales. "Consumers will not simply flock to restaurants because they are open," said Tom Meyvis, a marketing professor at New York University who focuses on consumer behavior. The millions of jobless claims filed in recent weeks speak to the challenges faced by many businesses. "Even though there will be pent-up savings, demand and desire for experiences, it may take a while before people feel comfortable acting on it," Meyvis told me. Scott Rick, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Michigan, said that, rather than consumers returning to their formerly free-spending ways, a more likely scenario is "an enduring shift toward tightwaddism." "The feelings toward spending developed now are likely to persist even when things get better," he said. Protesters in California and elsewhere conservative backers of the president, by the looks of things have been calling in recent days for a speedy lifting of stay-at-home policies. Story continues Enough is enough, they say. Government officials have no right to tell them how to live their lives. The reality, of course, is that officials are acting in the best interests of the nation, and a hasty end to social distancing will only result in the coronavirus resuming its ferocious spread through the population. "It's very unfortunate," Connie Pechmann, a marketing professor at UC Irvine, said of the protesters placing their own needs ahead of society's. Like every expert I spoke with, she predicted a step-by-step return to economic normality, with most consumers only slowly resuming their pre-pandemic ways. "The first thing that will rebound will be delayed expectations things people have put off getting for a while," Pechmann said. "New clothing, for example, and cosmetics and haircuts. Everyone's going to get a haircut right away." Beyond such immediate expenditures, she said, "people are going to be cautious. We're not going to see an overnight turnaround." This runs contrary to Trump's reelection-minded forecast that the economy will take off "like a rocket ship" as soon as Americans are allowed to leave their homes. Most academics and economists say the recovery and, yes, there will be a recovery will be a lengthy process of both gradually reopening businesses and gradually persuading consumers that it's safe to start splurging again. For many people, especially younger ones, the last recession was their first taste of economic hardship. It left a lingering sting of financial vulnerability. The coronavirus only reinforces that sense of fragility, driving home the precariousness of receiving a steady paycheck, paying the rent, even buying groceries. Hemet resident Candy Christian, 66, told me she's going to be a lot more reluctant to spend as a result of both the recession and the coronavirus. "We never know when something like this will hit again," she said. Christian described how, before the pandemic, she'd pop in at her local Family Dollar discount store from time to time and prowl the aisles in search of knickknacks and other impulse purchases. "Now I'll only buy things I absolutely need," she said. Carol Docan, 71, told me the same. "I'm going to be much more cautious from now on," the Granada Hills resident said. The same applies for my household, and probably yours as well. The coronavirus has served as a wake-up call for many consumers that there's a difference between "want" and "need" with the former now placing a distant second to the latter in terms of priorities. That said, we're still Americans, and instant gratification is deeply embedded in who we are as a people. Consumers carried $12.7 trillion in debt before the recession in 2008. We're talking credit card balances, auto loans, mortgages and such. As the economy tanked, many people started "deleveraging" to ease their financial burden, paying off loans and avoiding new obligations. Once the economic storm clouds passed, however, guess what? The shopping sprees resumed. U.S. consumer debt is now at a record high, topping $14 trillion. Lauren Grewal, an assistant professor of business administration at Dartmouth College, said many businesses probably will try to lure consumers from their coronavirus cocoons with sales and flashy promotions. There's a lot of unsold inventory to move. Still, Grewal said, "some consumers will be cautious to go back into physical stores," and much of our shopping will remain online. That could be a particularly difficult issue for sellers of big-ticket items such as cars and heavy appliances, which many people might prefer to see in person before making a purchase. Keith Niedermeier, an adjunct professor of marketing at the University of Pennsylvania, said many consumers will focus their purchases, at least for a while, on home improvement. "This will also be a new era of making your home your castle," he predicted. "When people do start spending, there will be a whole new emphasis on making your home a comfortable, warm and entertaining space to be." Lee, the Newport Beach resident, said he and his wife are looking forward to dining out again, but they're in no hurry to reserve a table at a favorite restaurant. "I don't think things are ever going to get back to normal," he said. "It's never going to be like before." Which is to say, don't expect a rocket ship. The economic recovery will be more like a Prius, puttering along a little too slowly for some but getting us where we need to go. WOOD RIVER The only way to obtain an approved coronavirus test is through your primary care provider, according to Amy Yeager with the Madison County Health Department. She said that, although there are drive-through testing sites such as one at Anderson Hospital in Maryville and another in East St. Louis, people still need an order from their primary care physician. Even to do a drive-up, a physician has ordered that, said Yeager, the director of community health and public information for the county health department. Yeager said the test currently available for public use can determine if a person has COVID-19, but not if they are a carrier for the new coronavirus. There is no test to see if youre a carrier without symptoms, she said. Globally we are trying to save peoples lives when symptoms are hitting. Yeager said most people who contract COVID-19 will experience mild symptoms and a physician must determine the cause of those symptoms. A physician also determines if a person gets the current RT-PCR test, which is different than an antigen test, of which researchers and scientists have not developed an accurate test. The antigen tests still produce a high number of false positives and have yet to be perfected, she said. So health departments are advising people to assume everyone is a carrier. This is all new, testing supplies have to be created, said Yeager, whos been with the Madison County Health Department for 20 years. If a person is approved for the RT-PCR test, a physician will tell them where to go to get tested. There are different places of authorization which can quickly change, Yeager said. The RT-PCR test is prioritized by criteria, such as if a person is in a high-risk category, including age and underlying conditions, she explained. In certain high-risk categories, our physicians are deciding all this, Yeager said. That hasnt changed. From the beginning, it has been that you have to call your health care provider. Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security said there is a demand for viral serology testing, which monitors the immune systems antibody response to viral antigen exposure to better quantify the number of COVID-19 cases, including those who may be asymptomatic or have recovered. Serology tests are blood-based and can identify if people have been exposed to a particular pathogen by looking at their immune response. In contrast, the RT-PCR tests currently used at drive-through testing sites can only indicate the presence of viral material during infection and will not indicate if a person was infected and subsequently recovered. The drive-through testing sites do limit human traffic to hospitals and clinics, preventing unnecessary exposure to patients and caregivers. At Anderson Hospital, you have to meet certain criteria and have a physicians order to complete the test, Yeager said. Yeager likened the current situation to a time when rubella and polio first occurred in the U.S. and testing had to be developed. Theres no test for (novel coronavirus), not yet, she said. Its a brand new virus. Public health and the medical field are learning about this as we go. Rubella and polio moved slower, but public health and the medical field had to look at those viruses and it took time. Were trying to do this at mach speed, she said. It would be great if we could do this quickly. But thats not the reality of where we are today. Yeager said she is seeing progress. I feel like we are flattening the curve, she said. I see people are getting it, social distancing. But the days of running to the grocery store just because you forgot one pack of hot dog buns are over at this time. Please dont risk exposing someone or being exposed for a pack of buns. For more information, visit https://www.co.madison.il.us/departments/health/corona_virus.php. Bill & Teds Excellent Adventure is many things: a time-traveling buddy comedy, an early Keanu Reeves vehicle, andaccording to at least one expertthe standard for Regency period costuming on film. Fashion historian Hilary Davidson created the Bill & Ted test after noticing that a scene in which the two slackers kidnap Ludwig van Beethoven features surprisingly well-executed costumes for the era.* On her nascent Twitter account, she gives other Regency movies a pass-fail grade based on how their costumes and styling stack up against that excellent adventure. Advertisement Mary Shelley fails to live up to the Bill & Ted standard, thanks to its inaccurate hairdos and out-of-place knitwear, while the new adaptation of Jane Austens Emma passes with flying colors. Slate spoke to Davidson by phone to find out more about the test and her pet peeves in period-drama fashion. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rachelle Hampton: What inspired the Bill & Ted test? Hilary Davidson: Its a story in two parts. I spent six years writing a book on Regency fashion, called Dress in the Age of Jane Austen. I have spent a lot of time looking at genuine Regency dress. But I also spent a lot of time in the last year or so doing a lot of tedious production work for the book. I watched a lot of films on the way. I love Bill & Teds Excellent Adventure. I was watching it in the background as I was copy editing my index or some tedious, tedious thing and just enjoying it. Then, we got to the bit where they kidnap Beethoven. Advertisement Advertisement My eye is so attuned to Regency dress, and anyone who follows my Twitter will know that I get quite opinionated about Regency costume on-screen. I was looking at the background extras, and I suddenly paused it and went, Hang on a second. I rewound it a bit and went through it in slow motion and went, You know what? This is really, really good. Its a 1980s teen comedy. You dont expect a high standard of costuming. After that, I thought, well, thats it. Thats my benchmark. If the main characters costumes in a Regency production arent better done than the background extras in a 1980s teen comedy, I think youve failed in the costume design. Advertisement This is @fourredshoes Regency screen costume benchmark: the Beethoven scene from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. If a production's main costumes are less well done than those of the extras in a minor part of a 1980s teen comedy movie, we have a problem. PASS OR FAIL? pic.twitter.com/cGVSstvMBi The Bill and Ted Test (@BillAndTedTest) March 27, 2020 Advertisement Advertisement That was last year. This year, I had a whole book tour planned. I was in the United States doing lectures and promotions and all sorts of things. Coronavirus hit when I was in Washington, and I managed to make it out of New York before things got really bad. Now Im self-isolating in South Wales, which is very lovely, and Ive been having a whole lot of conversations about Regency costume and the new production of Sanditon, which Im reviewing for an academic journal. Ive had a lot of people asking me, Is this good? Is this not good? Every now and then, Ill do little threads. I suddenly thought, You know what? Why dont I just use the Bill & Ted test? I set up the Twitter account just for my own amusement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What are the criteria for authenticity? Is it about the fabric or the styling? Im curious what exactly is going into these pass-fail grades. It is about fabric. If youre using something thats obviously polyester, satin, like War & Peace, it just looks wrong. Im finding that it looks like a lot of productions have been inspired by the Empire style rather than the Regency style. But to me, the most obvious thing is the hair. Is the hair up or down? The heroines hair in the recent production of Sanditon is down at the back all the time, which is just a fundamental Regency no-no. They did not do that if you were grown up. Even if they have got the hair up, they can do it sort of too tightly or style it wrong or have a kind of a side part. Advertisement Amour Fou (2014) FAIL. Half Up Hair is an autofail. The tailoring is off and baggy. And the gowns have odd necklines, either too high or too low. pic.twitter.com/reI39tZEAJ The Bill and Ted Test (@BillAndTedTest) April 17, 2020 Advertisement Advertisement You can have great costumesbecause often a costume isnt designed specifically for a production, its just borrowed from one of the big costume housesbut if you style it wrong There was an episode of Doctor Who where they put the spencer, which is the short jacket, over the pelisse, which is the long jacket, and that just makes no sense. Its like wearing your gilet [vest] on top of your puffer jacket. Its also about how well the britches fit, what kind of decoration theyve got on the dresses, whether or not the cuts appropriate for the time of day. Lots of kind of little things that add up. Advertisement What time frame exactly is considered the Regency period for your purposes? The actual, technical Regency period is the time in Britain when the Prince of Wales became effective ruler of the country after his father, King George III, went mad. He became regent in 1811 and continued until he became king in 1820, when his father died. It was actually only nine years, but Regency has become a capital phrase for the early 19th century. In French, its often called the first Empire period. I say its about 1795 to about the early 1820s. Its the period of great change when the 18th century becomes the 19th century and theyre working out what theyre doing at that point. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Death Comes to Pemberley (2013) [Note: set in 1803, not late 1810s] PASS. Silhouettes and waistlines good, though some of that insidious piping. It doesn't much start to be used until c. 1815, and takes off for women's necklines in the 1820s. pic.twitter.com/ZYxd2ZZ83P The Bill and Ted Test (@BillAndTedTest) April 15, 2020 Advertisement Advertisement Does it take you out of the viewing experience when you notice something thats obviously inaccurate in a movie set in that time period? Advertisement Yes, it absolutely does. Ive had a lot of other people share a similar experience. I think its important to stress that Im not advocating absolute historical accuracy for everything. Part of the thing about having these discussions on Twitter is you get other peoples responses. Someone pulled up a really great difference between authenticity and accuracy. If something is authentic to the directors vision, to the character, to the world, you can often get away with a lot thats not strictly accurate, but it works for the world building. Advertisement Im having a little bit of trouble with whether the production Taboo, starring Tom Hardy from 2017, passes or fails because its fantastically styled and the costume does convey this fantastically immersive, authentic Regency style. But actually, when you break it down, its not an accurate Regency style. Im kind of interested in how that works as well, when something thats not, if were being pedantic, right can sometimes be more effective than when people add together all of these elements that are right and yet they fail in how its put together. Advertisement What are the worst offenses that you see costume dramas usually commit? Well, as I say, the half-up hair, thats the really screamingly obvious one to me. That goes for all costume dramas. They use it for everything from the Middle Ages to the 1940s, for the Renaissance or Poldark in the 18th century or the Victorian period. I feel its really a compromise between how our cultural code now says that long hair on a woman is sexy and attractive and that ye olden days hair, which is up, signifies dowdy and uncool. I feel like people are trying to find a compromise between shes a heroine in the past, so her hair is half up, but shes also feisty and modern and attractive. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That, to me, is trying to impose contemporary mores onto history. Im generalizing madly, but if you had your hair down and you were a mature woman, you were either unmarried and a virgin, you were a prostitute, or you were mad. As soon as I see someone with their hair down, it tells me a lot about the cultural and historical values of the production and what they find interesting. Ive often been accused of being pedantic about this on Twitter, but it tells me so much about how the whole production understands history. I think theres also a real tendency to display too much flesh. Sleeveless gowns or decolletage thats too big, to show a heroine or the lead actress is attractive, is still very much tied into our modern times. I also feel that peoples clothing on-screen is often too undone. Its not tight enough, especially mens coats. They were actually really quite tightly fitting. One of the joys of the recent Emma, which was very, very well costumed, was how closely all the mens clothing fit. Advertisement Emma. (2020) (Hard) PASS pic.twitter.com/Qbv3mZSoEO The Bill and Ted Test (@BillAndTedTest) March 28, 2020 Advertisement Advertisement Are you watching or rewatching all of these films to do the test? Advertisement No. I have seen a lot of them, but Im working from stills. Im trying to sort of mix it up as well. Theres so many Austen adaptations, but when you look into it, theres [only] so many films set in Regency. I did a thorough deep dive once I realized that I might need to keep this going. Anything that is about the Lord Byron, Mary Shelley, Percy Shelley clan and Frankenstein counts as Regency. Jane Eyre is often costumed in the 1840s, when Charlotte Bronte wrote it, but its actually set probably end of the 18th century, early 19th century. Then of course weve got films [on] the martial side of the Regency, like Sharpe, Horatio Hornblower, Master and Commander. There are quite a few films about Beethoven out there, which is appropriate, given the nature of the test. The garment exporters somehow managed to pay full wages in March, but cannot afford to pay the wages for the month of April. New Delhi: The Garments Exporters and Manufacturers Association (GEMA) on Wednesday said it is not in a position to pay wages for April and May to workers engaged in the apparel sector following a disruption caused by coronavirus-forced lockdown in the country. The body has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and state chief ministers to facilitate payement of wages to workers for these two months. GEMA president Vijay Jindal also sought intervention of textile minister Smriti Irani and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the matter. "We humbly wish to inform that we are not in a position to pay wages for the months of April and May despite our best intention," he said. Jindal said the garment industry is labour intensive and almost 30- 35 percent of revenue forms the salary part. "Most of the export orders have either been cancelled or put on hold, the consignments already shipped is also stuck. Even the apparel manufactured against orders are lying in factories because of the ban on movement/transport. The situation has become grave as they have yet not got any receipt of payment from the buyers," Jindal said. According to him, the recent advisory of the government that wages must be paid by employers even during the lockdown period will push the apparel industry deeper into the crisis. The garment exporters somehow managed to pay full wages in March, but cannot afford to pay the wages for the month of April, Jindal said, suggesting that the government should pay wages from the funds available in the Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana (ABVKY) Scheme, which has, "as understood, huge reserves. ESI and labour funds can also be used to pay the wages for Employees covered under these schemes, he said. The industry is collapsing and looking for the much-needed ray of hope and support to survive and sustain. We request the government to come forward and stand by the apparel export industry to pay wages for workers for the months of April and May," Jindal said. Bir Lehlu (Liberated Territories), April 20, 2020 (SPS) - The Saharawi Head of State sent a congratulatory message this Sunday to his Namibian counterpart SE, Mr. Hage Gottfried Geingob on the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the founding of the South West African People's Organization (SWAPO). POLISARIOs SG, Brahim Gali congratulated the Namibian leader and the SWAPO party for 60th anniversary of its founding recalling that this political formation founded on April 19, 1960 was a movement that fought a long struggle lasted until 1990, concluded with the liberation of this African nation. The President praised the excellent relations that have historically united both the POLISARIO and SWAPO front and the two countries. He has laso thanked Namibia for the solidarity and support in the international stages of the Saharawi cause. On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the constitution of the Swapo party, the Cuban newspaper Granma had the opportunity to dialogue with the founding father of Namibia, Sam Nujoma. Nujoma spoke of the ravages of colonial heritage and the importance of unity for the present and the future: "135 years after the infamous Berlin Conference and 56 years since the creation of the Organization for African Unity, the colonial legacy it still remains. "Culture and unity are important weapons that we must use to undo the heritage of centuries of colonialism in Africa," said Sam Nujoma.SPS 125/090/tra I watch with horror as people protest the rules of their state on closures and social distancing. For me, its personal. My 70-year-old cardiologist husband and my 37-year-old cardiologist son, a father of four, work in hospitals which are virtually all COVID. Last week, I watched as my husband sat and cried over the young nurses at his hospital who risk it all to save those who can be saved. He said they are so young and so brave. He worries about them constantly. He is there working, but he figures this is the life he chose. My son called from the car a few days later and I knew he didnt sound like his usual, cheerful self. He loves his work so much that he once told me that even if he won the lottery he would still do his work because he simply loves doing it. But this call was different. They had lost the 45-year-old father of a 5-year-old child to the virus. He was just so sad. This is the reality of COVID. People are dying. Old and young. So do not ask me to condone the rights of people who insist on their need to gather and protest or worship. I refuse. If they insist on these unsafe practices they should at lease waive their right to hospital care should they contract the virus. But, they probably know that no one will ever really ask them to do that. They probably know that my guys will be there. The nurses will be there. They dont ask who they treat. They just do what needs to be done. So I beg. Please, please follow the rules. Lives depend on it. (Jean Prabhu is a Dongan Hills resident.) The number of people facing starvation could almost double, the World Food Programme warns. Millions across the world already rely heavily on food aid to survive Image copyrightReuters The world is at risk of widespread famines "of biblical proportions" caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the UN has warned. David Beasley, head of the World Food Programme (WFP), said urgent action was needed to avoid a catastrophe. A report estimates that the number suffering from hunger could almost double from 135m to more than 250m. Those most at risk are in 10 countries affected by conflict, economic crisis and climate change, the WFP says. The fourth annual Global Report on Food Crises highlights Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Nigeria and Haiti. In South Sudan, 61% of the population was affected by food crisis last year, the report says. Even before the pandemic hit, parts of East Africa and South Asia were already facing severe food shortages caused by drought and the worst locust infestations for decades. Addressing the UN Security Council during a video conference, Mr Beasley said the world had to "act wisely and act fast". "We could be facing multiple famines of biblical proportions within a short few months," he said. "The truth is we do not have time on our side." In a call to action, he added: "I do believe that with our expertise and our partnerships, we can bring together the teams and the programmes necessary to make certain the Covid-19 pandemic does not become a human and food crisis catastrophe." The WFP's senior economist, Arif Husain, said the economic impact of the pandemic was potentially catastrophic for millions "who are already hanging by a thread". "It is a hammer blow for millions more who can only eat if they earn a wage," he said in a statement. "Lockdowns and global economic recession have already decimated their nest eggs. It only takes one more shock - like Covid-19 - to push them over the edge. We must collectively act now to mitigate the impact of this global catastrophe." Earlier this month, this WFP said it was set to halve aid to parts of war-torn Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels due to a funding crisis. It said some donors had stopped their aid over concerns that deliveries were being obstructed by Houthi forces. The WFP feeds more than 12 million Yemenis a month, 80% of whom are in areas controlled by Houthi forces. Yemen confirmed its first case of Covid-19 earlier this month, with aid agencies warning that the disease could quickly overwhelm the country's weakened health systems. BBC [April 22, 2020] LightSpeed Technologies Named Nokia's #1 Business Partner in North America for the Third Consecutive Year LightSpeed Technologies, Inc., a full-service systems integrator providing next-generation networking solutions that address the ever-growing need for bandwidth, is proud to announce that it has once again received the Top VAR Sales and Growth Award from Nokia (News - Alert). This represents LightSpeed's third consecutive year achieving the highest levels of sales and success aiding businesses as they make the transition from legacy to next-generation technologies, including IP/MPLS, DWDM, 5G/LTE (News - Alert), Ultra-Fast Broadband and more. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005088/en/ Top VAR Sales and Growth Award from Nokia (Photo: Business Wire) "On behalf of Nokia Enterprise, I extend our sincere congratulations to LightSpeed Technologies, winner of Nokia's VAR Sales Award for North America for the third year in a row," says Vikas Trehan, Vice President of North American Channels for Nokia. "LightSpeed has successfully positioned Nokia's end-to-end portfoli with its customers, including IP/MPLS, DWDM, Broadband/GPON and Microwave solutions. LightSpeed continues to invest in Nokia's offerings such as 5G/LTE private wireless solutions, and I look forward to the ongoing success that this partnership will generate for years to come." "Since our company's inception in 2001, we have continued to be on a trajectory of constant growth, ensuring that customers can leverage best-in-class solutions for their networks to realize their digital goals," states John Brannon, President, CEO and Founder of LightSpeed Technologies. "Our partnership with Nokia not only allows us to leverage mutual success, it also enables us to more comprehensively support our customers across the utility, transportation, public safety, state and local government and service provider market segments." LightSpeed has been an exclusive Nokia VAR for 19 years, offering the full line of Nokia solutions. This includes optical (DWDM), data networking (Ethernet and IP/MPLS), microwave radio and ultra-broadband technology (FTTX, GPON and 5G/LTE) product solutions. As a full-service systems integrator, LightSpeed remains committed to enhancing its customers' investment in their mission-critical networks by delivering expert-level systems engineering and design services, as well as network installation, integration and ongoing maintenance. "We are proud that the investments that we have made in these next-generation technologies are being recognized by the industry," notes Joe Caruso, LightSpeed's Executive Vice President. "To win Nokia's #1 Business Partner award once is an honor. To win the award three years in a row is a great testimonial from our customers." LightSpeed provides end-to-end network services and support, including network design and engineering, installation and integration services, project management, ongoing maintenance and technical support. This allows its customers to optimize and enhance their networks to achieve access to new revenue streams, lower operating costs, enhanced performance and reliability, heightened security and more. For more information about LightSpeed Technologies, Inc., visit www.lightspeedt.com or email Joe Caruso at joeca[email protected] or by phone at 917-882-8455. About LightSpeed Technologies, Inc. Founded in 2001, LightSpeed Technologies specializes in providing next-generation networking solutions that address the ever-growing need for bandwidth. We offer a full line of Nokia solutions including Optical (DWDM), Data Networking (Ethernet, IP/MPLS), Microwave Radio and Ultra-Broadband Technology (FTTX, GPON, LTE) products, to support the Utility, Service Provider, Enterprise, Transportation, Public Safety and State & Local Government market segments. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005088/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] New Delhi: The Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Wednesday called off its nationwide protest against violent attacks on the medical fraternity amid COVID-19 pandemic after getting an assurance from Union Home Minister Amit Shah. "Considering the immediate high-level response of government and solid assurance given by the Home Minister himself it is decided that the White alert protest of 22nd and Black Day of 23rd stands withdrawn to maintain the unity & integrity of our country," an official release by the IMA said. After the meeting, held through video-conferencing, the Home Minister said that the safety and dignity of doctors at their workplace is "non-negotiable". "Safety and dignity of our doctors at their workplace is non-negotiable. It is our collective responsibility to ensure a conducive atmosphere for them at all times. I have assured doctors that Modi govt is committed to their cause and appealed to reconsider their proposed protest," Shah tweeted. Safety and dignity of our doctors at their work place is non-negotiable. It is our collective responsibility to ensure conducive atmosphere for them at all times. I have assured doctors that Modi govt is committed to their cause and appealed to reconsider their proposed protest. pic.twitter.com/AJcxghGRkx Amit Shah (@AmitShah) April 22, 2020 According to Zee Media sources, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, Health secretary Preeti Sudan, MCI BOG Chairman Dr V K Paul and other officials were also present in the meeting. "Shri Amit Shah ji today interacted with IMA through VC, during which I was also present with him. He assured the safety of the doctors and appealed them not to do their proposed symbolic protest. Doctors also assured to fight this disaster with the government," Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan tweeted. During the interaction, IMA National President Dr Rajan Sharma, Honorary Secretary-General Dr Asokan and IMA leaders voiced concerns of the medical fraternity during the meeting. The doctors body had earlier announced that it will observe April 23 as Black Day if the government fails to enact Central Law on violence against doctors and hospitals. This comes after several incidents of attacks and stigmatisation of medical staff and doctors being reported from across the country following the outbreak of COVID-19. "Home Minister, Health Minister and all others acknowledged and praised IMA and the medical community for their great efforts and sacrifice in this testing times. Especially Shri Amit Shah was very much aware and concerned about it. He has assured that the government of India will take all necessary steps & come out shortly with relevant legislation to address the safety and dignity of doctors and health caregivers," read the release. #ImportantAlert - High powered meeting held today morning under chairmanship of Hon. Shri Amit Shah with #IMA leaders pic.twitter.com/Fzh6MOAj9i Indian Medical Association (@IMAIndiaOrg) April 22, 2020 "He and Health Minister appealed to IMA leadership to believe in this government and defer the symbolic protest. It is also expressed that in this period of global crisis, where each one of us is fighting on the frontline for the very existence of the human race, such protests will send out a bad signal of the unity of our country and will damage its image internationally," it said. Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Wednesday said the Central committee has recommended an increase in the capacity of quarantine facility in Mumbai from 1,200 beds to 2,000, in light of the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in the city. An inter-ministerial central team (IMCT) arrived in Mumbai on Tuesday for a two-day visit to assess the state's preparedness to fight the coronavirus outbreak. "The Central committee has also asked us to provide minimum oxygen supply to patients undergoing treatment, as it will help ease their breathing distress if any," the minister said. In keeping with the committee's directives, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has been asked to arrange for more beds and increase testing across Mumbai, Tope said, adding that tents can also be put up in open grounds if needed. The IMCT on Wednesday visited quarantine facilities and transit camps at Dharavi to assess the corrective measures taken by the state government. "The COVID-19 cases in Dharavi have not increased in the last couple of days, indicating that our containment strategy has been working in the area, which has five containment zones," he said. The team was accompanied by Tope and officials from the state health department and the BMC during the visit. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) DETROIT - Skylar Herbert loved dressing up and performing. She adored going to kindergarten. She started reading at age 4. She liked "girly things" and bling. "She could take over a room," her grandmother Leona Pannell Herbert said. About a month ago, Skylar started to complain of headaches. Within days, she was hospitalized in the Detroit suburbs, where she was diagnosed with covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, and then with a rare form of meningitis. Her brain started swelling, and she was placed on a ventilator. On Sunday, surrounded by doctors and her family, the 5-year-old became the first child in Michigan to die of covid-19 and one of several pediatric deaths in the United States. Skylar's death stands as a heartbreaking exception in a pandemic that has largely spared children even as it ravages older populations and people with underlying medical conditions. She was both young and without known underlying conditions. Her death serves as a reminder that the coronavirus can present peril to people at any age. In Michigan, about 1% of the 32,967 reported covid-19 cases have been in patients younger than 20, state statistics show. The average age of coronavirus patients who die in Michigan is 74. Her story disproves "the myth now that children couldn't get it," said her father, Ebbie Herbert. The family has agreed that the hospital may use Skylar's tissue to research covid-19, her mother said. Boston Children's Hospital, one of the nation's major pediatric medical centers, reported a jump in covid-19 admissions last week, when as many as 13 patients were hospitalized with the disease at one point. Over the course of the pandemic, Boston Children's has admitted 25 children, said Michael Agus, the hospital's chief of medical critical care. By Monday, the number of patients at Boston Children's with covid-19 had fallen to 11, with three in intensive care. Children's National Hospital in the District reported a steady increase in cases, as did Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Doctors at both hospitals say they believe the increase correlates to the surge of cases in the broader populations of those cities, though the number of adults infected still dwarfs the number of children testing positive. Julia Sammons, medical director of the Philadelphia hospital's Department of Infection Prevention and Control, said fewer than 10% of the children who test positive at the hospital require inpatient care. Of those patients who are hospitalized, she said, about 5% have experienced severe symptoms. At Seattle Children's Hospital, which has been tracking the virus since late February, 1% of children who have been tested have the virus. Of those, few experienced severe symptoms, according to infectious-disease specialist Janet Englund. "The numbers are low," Englund said. "Until it's your child." Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and empirical evidence from doctors at several of the nation's top pediatric hospitals suggest children, by and large, are less severely affected by the virus. As of April 6, when the CDC published its last comprehensive report on the coronavirus and children, 2% of confirmed covid-19 cases had occurred in people under age 18. That mirrored data from China and Italy, which reported that children accounted for about 2% of infections. Children who test positive appear to experience severe symptoms at a far lower rate than adults. "Relatively few children with COVID-19 are hospitalized, and fewer children than adults experience fever, cough, or shortness of breath," the CDC wrote in that April 6 study, which also made clear that "severe outcomes have been reported in children." As of Tuesday, the CDC's data included two deaths of children between the ages of 1 and 4, one death of a child between 5 and 14 years old, and 17 deaths of people between 15 and 24. While disease trackers have said they believe more people in the United States are infected with the virus than the data shows, specialists said the figures on pediatric deaths are probably a true reflection of the most severe toll among children. "I think we are seeing the children who are becoming ill. I don't think there are many sick kids staying home going unrecognized by the health-care system," Agus said. "Are there kids getting over this infection with hardly any symptoms? For sure. That seems very likely to be the case and has been the case in other countries." Robert Posada, associate professor in the Divisions of Infectious Diseases and Medical Education at Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital in New York, said the hospital has admitted about 20 children with covid-19, with no major uptick in recent days. He said most of those children sick enough to require inpatient treatment are dealing with underlying conditions, something echoed by doctors at pediatric wards elsewhere. At Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Sammons said about 25% of patients who have tested positive for covid-19 suffer from asthma. At Mount Sinai, the numbers have been similar. "I would say that more than half of those patients have had some underlying condition. Some of them are patients with cancer, a couple of patients with diabetes. One patient, at least one or two, that are transplant recipients," Posada said. Yet some children may not be clearly or easily tracked. Michigan had 266 confirmed cases of covid-19 in children and youths as of Monday. Of those, 147 stayed in their homes, 23 were hospitalized and 96 were of unknown status, said Bob Wheaton, a spokesman for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. While Skylar did not suffer from underlying conditions, she did fall into other categories that meant she was at higher risk of contracting the virus. Skylar was African American, and CDC data shows that black patients account for 33% of reported cases; census data shows that 13.4% of the U.S. population is black. And Skylar's parents have jobs that force them to continue working outside the home during the pandemic. Skylar lived with her mother, LaVondria Herbert, a Detroit police officer for 25 years, and father, Ebbie Herbert, a firefighter for 18 years, in a neighborhood in Detroit with one of the highest rates of the coronavirus. "When talking about Skylar's story - it brings to heart for me, her parents are first responders. And first responders have anxiety about infecting people in their household," said Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, a Democrat who leads a new state task force on racial disparities related to covid-19. That task force will be dedicated to Skylar's memory, he said in a briefing Monday. "They've been on the front line and they've served with honor and integrity," said Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat. "They did not deserve to lose their child to this virus. Nobody does." Skylar's death was mourned in Detroit on Facebook, in homes and in fire stations. "Skylar touched our hearts with her cheerful spirit and brightened our Sundays with her smile," the Metropolitan Church of God wrote in a Facebook post that was shared more than 120 times by Monday evening. "My daughter was a giver, sunshine and light. She would give anything she had, a sucker right out of her mouth," said her mother, LaVondria Herbert. Her father, Ebbie Herbert, added: "Our daughter would come up out of the blue and say I love you." Her parents spent Tuesday trying to figure out how a funeral for a vibrant girl can take place in Detroit amid a pandemic. They haven't come up with an answer. But they want the world to know Skylar's life and death serve as a message to take covid-19 seriously. "We just want the world to know that this can happen to anyone," Herbert said. "This could have been your kids." - - - Janes reported from Washington. I first became aware of the political influence of Charles and David Koch in 2009 when I started looking into who was behind the protests at health care town halls. The Tea Party, formed after America elected its first black president, used a series of health care town halls to spur angry Republicans to oppose the Affordable Care Act as a socialist takeover of American medicine. Little matter that it was modeled on a plan devised by Mitt Romney, a Republican, when he was the governor of Massachusetts. Such false claims about the act have not aged well, as millions of Americans now depend on the law for health care coverage as the coronavirus contagion sweeps across the nation. And yet a Tea Party co-founder, Mark Meckler, is using the same tactics and same phony claims to stir his followers to protest against governors seeking to mitigate the Covid-19 death toll by closing businesses and banning public gatherings. That public anger is both real and manufactured. The same was true in 2009, when the Koch fortune fueled the Tea Partys attacks on the Obama administrations health care law. Three policemen were injured in a clash with locals who were protesting in Baduria area in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district on Wednesday, alleging that they were not given relief materials amid the lockdown, officials said. Residents of Daspara in Baduria were protesting since morning over relief materials and blocked a road in the area, they said. A police contingent arrived at the spot in the afternoon and tried to pacify the protesters, officials said. The police urged the protesters to return to their homes and assured them that they will be delivered essential items. However, the protest went on, provoking the police to "use force", they said. Soon after, a scuffle broke out between the locals and police. The local people also hurled stones at the policemen, officials said. The police then baton-charged the protesters to bring the situation under control, they said. Three policemen and some locals were injured in the incident, officials said State food supplies minister Jyotipriyo Mullick said the incident happened after a local councillor told people of the area that they will be provided additional relief materials. "After I came to know about the incident, I enquired about it and found that all families in the area have received the free ration being provided by the state government. The trouble happened after the local councillor who promised some relief materials in his personal capacity failed to provide it to all the families," he said. Mullick, also the Trinamool Congress's district president, said he has asked the Block Development Officer to provide relief materials to the people who were protesting. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Lesotho Coalition Government Calls for Prime Minister's Immediate Resignation By VOA News April 21, 2020 The southern African country of Lesotho's coalition government is calling for the immediate resignation of scandal-plagued Prime Minister Thomas Thabane. The 80-year-old leader has been under pressure to leave office after being linked to the murder of his estranged wife, 58-year-old Lipolelo Thabane, three years ago. The prime minister's current wife, Maesaiah Thabane, is charged with shooting to death Lipolelo, two days before Thabane's inauguration in 2017. Both the government of Lesotho and South African mediators released a joint statement Monday, saying Thabane's departure should be graceful and that he gets what is described as a secure retirement. Its unclear if that means Thabane would no longer face legal consequences for his alleged ties to his estranged wife's murder. Thabane has also been criticized for calling up troops over the weekend to restore order in Lesotho, following his claim some leaders in law enforcement were seeking to undermine democracy in the small country surrounded by South Africa. Observers believe the troop deployment to the capital, Maserua, was a last ditch effort by Thabane to remain in power. A day before he called up the troops, his authority took another hit when the constitutional court ruled against his decision to suspend parliament. Although Thabane has previously promised to leave office at the end of July, South African mediator Jeff Radebe told reporters his departure should be imminent. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The prosecutor's office in Latina, Italy, is investigating a baby girl's case to shed some light on a matter of violence. The infant was taken to the hospital by her mother because the baby was continuously crying, says an article. Finding Multiple Injuries After an examination, the doctors found that the newborn had broken ribs, a lot of bruises, and bites on her body. After finding out about the situation of the baby, she was immediately entrusted for protection. The baby girl was brought at the Saint Maria Goretti Hospital in Latina by her mother. The Latina prosecutor opened an investigation on the case of the injured infant to find answers and clarifications if the child was subjected to violence by those who are taking care of her. New Rib Injury, Old Ribs Injuries, Bruises, and Bites After some tests, it was found out that the baby girl had a recently broken rib while some of her other bones were also broken from a few weeks before the recent rib injury. Additionally, doctors also found out that the baby girl had bruises in different parts of her body. Furthermore, a bite was also discovered on the baby girl's thigh. Check these out: Investigating on the Infant's Case Prosecutors are currently in the process of reconstructing a series of events that may lead to the cause of the injuries of the baby girl. They are making investigations on the family where the baby girl lived. Also, the prosecutors are examining those who have been close to the couple who were taking care of the injured baby girl. The investigators are gathering information and statement from people. They continue to collect relevant data to find a more detailed story of the violence towards the infant. The investigators are keeping the information they gathered to full confidentiality. Violence Against Children Violence against children covers all types of violence against people below 18 years old. For younger children and infants, violence mainly includes the maltreatment of a child, including sexual, physical, and emotional abuse and neglect. The parents or other authority figures primarily incite the violence. Boys and girls are equally at risk for emotional and physical abuse from their parents or guardians. Also, girls are at a higher risk of sexual abuse. As the children grow older, intimate partner violence, peer violence, and child maltreatment become more prevalent. Violence against children can be avoided. A response to this issue requires a systematic approach to addressing risk and protective factors at the child's society, individual, relationship, and community levels of risk. In May 2016, a resolution was made by the World Health Organization (WHO) to endorse the first WHO Global plan of action to strengthen the part of the healthcare system to address interpersonal violence, especially towards women and children. WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a new polyester-based Q-tip-type swab for COVID-19 testing from Cleveland-based U.S. Cotton, which already makes 90 billion cotton swabs each year sold under brands including Wal-Mart and Target. An announcement from the FDA said the company will harness its large-scale U.S. based manufacturing capabilities to produce the new swabs in large quantities to help meet the needs for coronavirus diagnostic testing. This action today demonstrates the ingenuity that results from the FDA working in partnership with the private sector," said a statement from FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn. The Trump Administration has been working side-by-side with our industry partners to fight this pandemic, and today is a great example of that work. The FDA announcement said the swabs U.S. Cotton will produce will allow self-collection by patients at the front of their noses, which would limit the exposure of health care providers and is more comfortable for patients. It said its approval was based on a clinical investigation resulting from a collaboration with UnitedHealth Group, the Gates Foundation and Quantigen. During an April 17, press conference, President Donald Trump said the collaboration between U.S. Cotton and the other three entities will greatly expand the supply of essential swabs, and help the nations testing capability to continue to grow dramatically. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Director Brad Smith on Monday told reporters the company is converting its line from making Q-tips into making swabs, and would ramp up production of the new product this week and produce 10 million of them monthly. U.S. Cotton, which employs 750 people in Cleveland, is a subsidiary of a North Carolina-based textile company, Parkdale Mills, Inc. In a March interview, company CEO Anderson Warlick told reporters that his company was working with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in an effort to produce coronavirus testing swabs that are in short supply, and said the United States should not rely on outsourced foreign production for such critical health care needs. With the help from our government, were the perfect company to help get testing swabs in large quantities to the market, If we could enter that market, said Warlick. In a subsequent press statement, Warlick said he worked on the effort with Ohio Senators Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman, Gov. Mike DeWine, and Peter Navarro, who heads Trumps office of trade and manufacturing policy. Brown said the federal government needed to ensure U.S. Cotton would be able to sell the new product if it retooled its plant to produce them, without being undercut by Chinese products that are produced with low wages, no worker safety protections and no environmental kinds of laws. If his company is making cotton swabs next year, hes got to be able to sell them at a competitive price, said Brown. More coverage: Q & A: CEO of Clevelands U.S. Cotton explains why regular Q-tips wont work for coronavirus testing Senate approves deal on extra coronavirus funding for small businesses and hospitals Whats in President Trumps three-phase plan for reopening the country, and will it work for Ohio? Bipartisan congressional group including Ohioans releases reopening checklist Northeast Ohio firms start mask sales during the coronavirus pandemic and donate $50,000 worth to local institutions Rep. Jim Jordan wants Judiciary Committee to probe stay-at-home orders effects on liberty Can a debt collector grab your stimulus check? In Ohio many cant, says AG Dave Yost Sen. Rob Portman and five Ohio Congress members to advise White House on reopening the economy What Ohio members of Congress want in a fourth coronavirus stimulus bill How to track your federal stimulus check New Cleveland company gets federal approval to produce ventilators during coronavirus pandemic Feds approve new mask sterilization process from Mentors STERIS Battelle to expand coronavirus mask decontamination to 60 sites around the country Feds will use extra Great Lakes Restoration Initiative money to fight water pollution and invasive species Coronavirus boosts demand for Elyria-based Invacares oxygen products and beds Navy veteran running for Ohio congressional seat turns coronavirus-related firing of ships captain into campaign issue Islamabad, April 22 : Pakistan fast bowling great and former captain Waqar Younis on Wednesday posted a video message on Twitter urging people of his country to support their Prime Minister Imran Khan in the fight against coronavirus. Waqar asked people to donate whatever they can to the Prime Minister's relief fund that has been set up to mitigate the pandemic. "Our country is going through a difficult phase. After such a pandemic, the economy falls to the ground and this is exactly what has happened to Pakistan," Waqar said in the video. "You also know that Pakistan is already in a lot of debt. During this difficult phase, our Prime Minister Imran Khan has requested donation to the coronavirus fund." Pakistan media reports stated that Imran will be participating in 'Ehsaas Telethon' on PTV on Thursday where donations will be collected. "It is our responsibility that we support him so that our country prospers again. In one or two days he will be coming on television too and will be doing the telethon and it is our responsibility to support him," Waqar said. "We need to back him so that he will be able to get the country to stand on its own feet again. So I request the people living in the country and outside it, please donate how much ever you can." MasterChef Australia star Poh Ling Yeow knows a thing or two about tasty dishes - both inside and outside the kitchen. The popular chef, 47, is married to aspiring actor Jono Bennett, 39, and it's not hard to see why she was attracted to the hunk when they met in 2009. Jono was working as a production assistant on the first season of MasterChef when he crossed paths with Poh on set. Meet Poh Ling Yeow's hot husband! MasterChef Australia's Poh Ling Yeow, 47, (left) is married to hunky aspiring actor Jono Bennett, 39, (right) who was working as a production assistant on MasterChef when they met in 2009. Pictured in 2016 'We weren't really allowed to talk because that's part of the rules. You can't fraternise with the staff because I guess they can tell you secrets (about the next challenge) or something,' Poh told News Corp this week. 'I think it got a little more charged because we weren't allowed to talk to each other. It was like the playground cute looks across the yard, sort of thing. Then, after the show we hooked up,' she added. Poh explained that the couple exchanged numbers at the show's wrap party and began dating shortly after that. 'We weren't really allowed to talk because that's part of the rules': Poh (right) recently revealed that she and Jono (left) weren't able to speak while the show was filming, and had to wait until the wrap party to finally exchange numbers What a tasty dish! Poh (left) recently uploaded this heartwarming photo of herself sharing a bowl of pasta with her husband (right) Jono rarely features on Poh's Instagram page, and does not have any publicly-accessible social media accounts. Meanwhile, Jono works with Poh, her ex-husband Matt Phipps and Matt's new wife Sarah Rich at their cafe in Adelaide called Jamface. He previously spoke about the unusual arrangement, admitting that he used to feel 'jealous' of Poh's close relationship with her ex-husband. Unusual arrangement! Jono (right) works with Poh (left), her ex-husband Matt Phipps and Matt's new wife Sarah Rich at their cafe in Adelaide called Jamface 'It was something we all had to work on': Jono (pictured) previously spoke about the unusual arrangement, admitting that he used to feel 'jealous' of Poh's close relationship with her ex-husband 'It was something we all had to work on essentially,' Jono told Woman's Day in 2017. 'I know it's very human to be jealous, but it doesn't make it right. 'There's a lot of history [between Poh and Matt], so it's not something that can be taken away. It's not something that should be.' Poh's unique love life is certainly an interesting tale. 'It's actually really good!' Poh has made no secret of the unusual arrangement in the past, but insists she's learnt to make it work as mature adults When the chef met Jono, she had had been divorced from her first husband, Matt Phipps, for nine years. Matt - who married Poh in 1990 when they were both practicing Mormons - meanwhile went on to marry Poh's best friend of 20 years, Sarah. Poh has made no secret of the unusual arrangement in the past, but insists she's learnt to make it work as mature adults. 'He's my ex-husband. She's my best friend. And when we broke up, they got together and it's all dandy. It's actually really good!' she told Mamamia in 2017. 'Everyone tries to complicate it. From the outside in, they're all like 'love triangle!' And I'm like, 'no!' He's like my brother now and I think people are never interested in the back story. They want everything to be sordid,' Poh said at the time. Government to look at good clear protocols to protect public health as and when hospitality sector restarts This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Apr 22nd, 2020 Good, clear protocols will be needed to help protect public health as and when the hospitality sector reopens, the Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales has said. The UK has entered another week of of lockdown, with a further fortnight left until a decision has to be made on whether the current restrictions are eased or extended. In Europe some countries have laid out guidelines for what businesses and industries can begin opening, starting with schools and smaller non-essential shops. This has prompted speculation and pressure on governments on whether similar will be replicated locally and in the rest of the UK. However, this week Michael Gove, warned that as and when lockdown measures are eased, pubs and restaurants could be amongst the last to see restrictions lifted. The Welsh Government have stated they prefer a UK-wide approach to any future lockdown easing, rather than geographic specific rules. Responding to a question from ITV Wales during this afternoons Welsh Government press conference, Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales Ken Skates said politicians would not wish to compromise public health in restarting parts of the economy where coronavirus can be spread most quickly and most easily. Mr Skates added: Unfortunately, the hospitality sector is one of those sectors where social distancing has to be maintained, but where it can be difficult to do so. I have asked sector leaders to look at whether protocols that could be consistently applied, good clear protocols, can be developed to ensure that when certain sectors resume as best normal activity, they do so in strict adherence to social distancing rules that will in all probability have to last beyond the immediate future. Mr Skates also noted that the Welsh Government is looking at how it can support businesses during both the reset period and through the recovery period as and when lockdown measures are eased. He said: Some sectors and sub sectors will require a lengthier period of direct support. Ive already raised this very issue with UK government ministers. Ive highlighted not just the strains on the hospitality and retail sector, but also the events sector, as well. But equally there are industrial sectors where its anticipated that the furlough scheme will have to be lengthened again. The Chancellor has rightly, in my view, said that the furlough scheme will be utilised in a flexible way, and I hope that he takes account of all of certain sectoral difficulties in determining whether furlough has to be taken forward for a lengthier period. You can view todays brief along with the Q&A session below: UPDATE: You can now get a coronavirus test at these 2 N.J.-run sites even if you dont have symptoms Testing for the coronavirus remains mostly accessible to symptomatic New Jersey residents, but various testing options are also available for those not exhibiting any COVID-19 symptoms. Gov. Phil Murphy stated Tuesday that testing in New Jersey is not remotely where we think it needs to be for folks to be feel comfortable and confident to get back to some semblance of normalcy, yet state officials have not commented on whether or not state-run testing sites will expand procedures to encompass asymptomatic patients despite the fact that they can carry and spread the illness to others. Nonetheless, a number of urgent care facilities across the state are testing patients not exhibiting symptoms of the coronavirus, which include fever, cough, runny nose and shortness of breath. One of these centers is Medemerge in Green Brook, which performs tests for sick patients from the safety of their vehicles and triages and assesses asymptomatic patients at the front door of its facility. Dr. John Pilla of Medemerge said that the center is currently using a nasal or oral swab test for pretty much almost everyone that requests to be tested," which ranges from 100 to 150 patients per day. The number of sick people has declined somewhat," Pilla said. So were seeing less sick people and more people looking for screenings, people in follow up, people looking to return to work, various situations like that. The facility will also be assessing its patients using antibody testing within the next week, Pilla confirmed. Antibody tests draw blood from patients to evaluate their immunity to the coronavirus and caters to individuals that "have not been ill, may have been exposed to the virus and not developed symptoms, or may have developed mild symptoms, Pilla explained. The antibodies will be in your system if you have an immunity, and theoretically that would say that youre more than likely not to get that coronavirus illness for the next six to 24 months, for the most part, Pilla said. "There are exceptions to every rule, but if you do get coronavirus in the next six months or so, when you have antibodies, more than likely youll get a very mild infection. Pilla emphasized that symptomatic patients of the center will continue to be tested using the nasal swab procedure. If youre ill, you should get the swab. If youre not ill, or if you want to just see if youre immune or a silent carrier, you would use the antibody test, Pilla explained. Beyond Green Brook, urgent care center Immediate Care has partnered with Quest Diagnostics to introduce antibody testing at its locations in Toms River and East Windsor, and by early next week will have tests available at its other five facilities in Hazlet, Marlboro, Brick, Edison and Red Bank. The tests will be available via appointment only for patients with no coronavirus symptoms, those with mild symptoms, or even those with symptoms that have come and passed. It will be for patients that either never once exhibited COVID-19 symptoms ever," said William Schuler, business development manager for Immediate Care. Or, if they had, they have not done so in the last 10 days. All patients are required to wear masks upon entering the facilities. Immediate Care facilities in Hazlet, Marlboro, Brick, Edison, and Red Bank continue to exclusively perform nasal swab tests on patients exhibiting coronavirus symptoms, which Schuler said numbers over 1,000 each week across all five locations. Schuler said that Immediate Care is not currenlty seeking to extend its nasal swab testing to asymptomatic patients. We literally on a day-by-day basis have to count out swabs to make sure we have enough to do the next day. And we are always reaching out to different labs and medical facilities that maybe dont have use for them," Schuler said. In addition to these urgent care centers, all five facilities of the The Doctors Office Urgent Care, located around the state, are also conducting curbside testing for the coronavirus on both its symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. The Doctors Office Urgent Care has locations in Paramus, West Caldwell, Manalapan, Brick and Midland Park, at each of which doctors use the nasal swab procedure to test patients for the coronavirus. Janet Leech, manager of the Manalapan and Brick sites, said that the facilities she oversees receive 35 to 100 patients a day, roughly 50 percent of whom are not symptomatic of the coronavirus. Reflecting upon the importance of testing those who are not exhibiting symptoms related to COVID-19, Leech emphasized that the pandemic is largely influenced by asymptomatic patients who can unknowingly carry the virus and expose it to others. Its for the safety of everybody else. If we find out theyre positive, then at least they know they need to stay home," Leech said. Excel Urgent Care, which operates under the same division as The Doctors Office and has state locations in Old Bridge, Iselin, and Chester, is also testing asymptomatic patients for COVID-19. Looking beyond urgent care facilities, an at-home testing kit for COVID-19 has recently been approved by the FDA and will be available to the public in the coming weeks though individuals interested in purchasing a kit must be recommended by their health care provider. Asymptomatic patients interested in receiving a coronavirus test should call ahead to their local medical or urgent care facility to ascertain if they are providing tests for individuals free of COVID-19 symptoms. A list of additional New Jersey testing centers is provided online by the CDC. If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter. Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share. Have a tip? Tell us.nj.com/tips. Caroline Fassett may be reached at cfassett@njadvancemedia.com. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post) Medan Thu, April 23 2020 Dozens of Indonesian migrant workers returning from Malaysia have been caught attempting to sneak past border authorities via illegal routes. The Indonesian Navy spotted and secured a fishing vessel carrying 22 undocumented Indonesian migrant workers from Malaysia in Tanjung Tumpul in Asahan, North Sumatra, on Monday. Belawan I Naval Base commander Adm. Abdul Rasyid said the authorities were keeping a close watch on the countrys borders with Malaysia because there were concerns that illegal migrants might enter Indonesia and spread the coronavirus disease upon arrival. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login OTTAWA Two airplanes that returned to Canada from China minus a cargo of badly needed medical supplies were not the first jets to come back empty from the Asian country since the start of the Covid-19 crisis and they are unlikely to be the last. Canada also isnt alone. Six countries saw planes forced to take off from China at the start of this week without their freight of personal protective equipment, a senior Canadian official tells POLITICO. The world is converging on China to scoop up medical supplies, including gloves, gowns, masks and ventilators, in an intense global competition thats creating chaos on the ground. It is a Wild West right now, Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said Wednesday of the fierce competition to buy PPE in China and the battle to get it out of the country. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said this week the return of the empty planes Monday illustrates the entanglements of securing and actually extracting the valuable commodity from China. The senior Canadian source said Wednesday that the Shanghai airport has experienced a huge bottleneck including about four times the usual number of flights with so many countries scrambling to get shipments of medical supplies onto planes. On Sunday, there was just a massive congestion kind of like Berlin 1948 in terms of the flow of goods that are going out, the person said, referring to the post-war Berlin Airlift. This will continue to happen the key thing is that we just have to keep the flow high just keep the planes coming. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter. Trudeau said Tuesday the planes were forced to return empty due to severe restrictions on how long an airplane can stay on the ground in China before it is forced to leave. He added that supply lines and truck shipments to Shanghais airport are held up by checkpoints and quarantine measures. Story continues One aircraft, Trudeau said, was chartered by the federal government, the other by a province. Multiple sources say it was the first time a federally chartered flight had returned to Canada empty from China since the start of the public health emergency. Cecely Roy, a spokesperson for Procurement Minister Anita Anand, said trucks carrying the supplies faced delays before entering the terminal area of the Shanghai airport where the federally chartered plane was waiting. But Roy said four flights carrying N95 respirators, surgical masks, coveralls and testing reagent from China managed to arrive in Canada over the weekend. She said more flights are expected to land in Canada with PPE shipments from China later this week. The experiences of provincial governments has been far bumpier. The senior official said there have been a number of provincially chartered, cargoless planes returning from China. On the weekend, the person said the other empty Canadian plane was chartered by the Manitoba government. Like for so many countries, including the United States, China has become a core source of PPE for Canada. The senior insider said Canada is getting about 70 percent of its imports of Covid-19 medical supplies from China, with much of the rest coming from the U.S., the United Kingdom and Switzerland. The senior source declined to name the other countries that sent home empty planes last weekend. Geng Shuang, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, was asked Wednesday about Trudeau's comments that two Canadian flights returned empty, according to a transcript posted on a Chinese government website. He said Chinese officials checked and "found relevant reports to be inaccurate." He added that aviation authorities do not limit the ground time of chartered cargo planes. "China has been assisting and facilitating the Canadian side in its purchase, customs clearance and charter flight permits," the transcript said. Canadian officials in China, who are overseen by Ambassador Dominic Barton, are keeping an eye out for another potential Chinese traffic jam likely to snarl shipments at the end of next week. The official said the Chinese government has extended a labor holiday, which starts May 1, from two days to five days this year in an effort to encourage more consumer spending. Canadian officials are hopeful theyve lined up workers who wont be affected by the holiday, but it could create logjams. Government officials has also been amassing a massive Canadian stockpile of PPE, some of it already pre-approved by customs, ready to move from its leased warehouse in Shanghai. To remain competitive, the Canadian government has set up an account of up to C$250 million to enable quick payments for supplies and to prevent other buyers from swooping in, the senior source said. Weve been cranking through that it gets replenished, the person said of the account. Canada has been working to build a diversity of exit paths and airports to move the goods out of China. The senior source said Canadian preparations are underway in case of any possible shutdowns caused by the furious movement of goods. Canada, for example, exported a potentially explosive reagent on a Saturday flight that could cause huge disruptions if an accident ever were to occur at the airport. Freeland said the federal government started working to diversify its sources of PPE from the outset and is also working to boost its domestic supply of PPE. Everyone is fighting this global pandemic, everyone desperately needs PPE and medical supplies. (Newser) Michigan's Democratic governor has come under fire for her stay-home order, one of the country's strictest. On Tuesday, Gretchen Whitmer addressed the "gut-wrenching" choices she's made amid the coronavirus pandemic. "I never imagined having to use the levers of my office this way to protect the people I serve," she writes in the New York Times. "Each action taken weighs heavily on me. Each action has been informed by the best science and epidemiology counsel there is. These choices have been tough. They havent always been popular. And we will never know precisely how many lives were saved as a result." She says it's absolutely essential to avoid a second wave of COVID-19 cases, which could happen if states lift restrictions too soon, and notes that's why Michigan has teamed up with six other nearby states to coordinate their reopenings. story continues below "Here in the Great Lakes region, we have called upon experts in health care, business, labor and education to work on a data-driven approach to re-engaging our states in a responsible manner," she writes. "Re-engaging our economies will be based on facts, science and mitigating risk to public health." She says that to do any differently could lead, as it did during the 1918 flu pandemic, to a second quarantine that lasts even longer than this initial period. Whitmer was making the rounds Tuesday: She also said, per ABC 7, that her stay-home order will be extended in "some form" past its current expiration date of April 30, and she gave an interview to the AP in which she said President Trump's plan to temporarily suspend immigration is distracting people from the real issues the country should be focusing on, like increasing coronavirus testing capacity. "This is what we need right nownot additional new things to be upset about, fearful of, or mad about." (Read more Gretchen Whitmer stories.) Metals and mining giant Vedanta on Wednesday said it has spent Rs 151 crore so far to provide preventive healthcare to local communities and distributing free meals to daily wage workers. Having taken various precautionary measures to ensure the safety and well-being of its employees, Vedanta has reached out to over seven lakh community members to prevent the spread of the pandemic, the company said in a statement. Vedanta had earlier announced a Rs 100 crore corpus which it this month increased to more than Rs 200 crore for providing relief to daily workers, preventive healthcare and welfare of employees and contract partners amid the lockdown to contain coronavirus pandemic. Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal expressed confidence that the Indian economy will become self sufficient. "I am confident that our economy will become self-sufficient. Make in India 2.0' will be the mantra, Start-ups will innovate, MSMEs will provide work, the mining & manufacturing industry will resurrect, and our people will emerge stronger. We will ensure strict norms for health & safety at work and recalibrate our economy," he said. "PM Modi has full support from India Inc. and the lives and livelihoods of our people is of prime importance," Agarwal said. The company mentioned that it has so far provided more than 5.5 lakh meals to daily wage earners across the country. Vedanta has pledged 10 lakh meals to daily wage earners in Delhi, Mumbai and Patna. In addition, dry ration packets are being provided to 13,500 fisherman families in Mumbai. Its business units have also distributed more than 21,000 dry ration packets to local communities. Vedanta Foundation has distributed food grains to 300 families, comprising around 850 beneficiaries, at a school in Mumbai. Keeping in mind the poor condition of stray animals, who hardly have any access to food during the lockdown, the company is feeding more than 50,000 stray animals every day. To strengthen preventive healthcare, Vedanta has distributed more than 2.5 lakh masks across communities. The company is in the process of handing over another 2 lakh N95 masks to the Centre. Vedanta has joined hands with the Ministry of Textiles to import 23 machines for indigenously personal protective equipment (PPEs). The imported machines, which will be fully functional later this month, will be able to produce around 5,000 PPEs per day. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) R apper French Montana has doubled down on his claim that he has more hits than Kendrick Lamar. In an interview with Complex magazine last week, Montana said he could go neck to neck with Lamar and that he has more hits than his rival, who is also a Pulitzer Prize winner. "I mean, honestly, I could go against anybody. You could put somebody like Kendrick Lamar next to me on the same stage at a festival," Montana said. "I might outshine him... not because I'm a better rapper or whatever it is. It's just that I got more hits. Kendrick Lamar got albums. He got masterpieces. "But if you was to put us on the festival stage, I would outshine him because I have more hits than Kendrick Lamar." French Montana's 30th birthday bash 1 /9 French Montana's 30th birthday bash silhouettes Khloe gushed about French after posting this photo (Photo credit: @khloekardashian) All together French celebrates with a big group of friends (Photo credit: frenchmontana) Legendary night All eyes were on French as he celebrated his 30th birthday (Photo credit: frenchmontana) That's so t-high! Khloe flashes lots of leg as she takes her dress split to new levels (Photo credit: @kimkardashian) Birthday boy Kim failed to crack a smile as she posed with French (Photo credit: @kimkardashian) Funny faces Kim, Khloe and Kylie poke their tongues out for the camera (Photo credit: @kimkardashian) Man of the night French captioned the picture "#legendarynight #bdaydinner" (Photo credit: frenchmontana) After facing bemusement and questions from fans, Montana has reiterated his comments in a series of tweets. I BELIEVE I CAN GO NECK TO NECK !! I BEEN MAKING HITS FOR A LONG TIME ! IT AINT MY FAULT I BELIEVE IN MYSELF, he wrote. HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION ? HOW MANY TIMES I GOTTA PROVE MYSELF BEFORE I GET MINE. [sic] He continued: I love kendrick! thats not just for kendrick thats to anybody they put in front of me, and ask me that same question what u want me to say lol ? It should be your attitude too. If u think any less of yourself dont blame it on the next person who dont !" [sic] French went on to say Lamar is a different artist, and that he is gonna win everything else. Fans were bemused by Montana's comments, taking to Twitter to question his comments. Lamar has had 15 singles in the UK top 40 charts, while French Montana has had six. Lamars album To Pimp A Butterfly also went to number one in the UK in 2015 and he was set to headline Glastonbury this year, before the festival was called off. OTTAWAThe federal government is promising students monthly payouts, enhanced grants and cash incentives to volunteer their time in the face of a tough job market that has many worried about finding work. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday unveiled a $9-billion aid package aimed at students who are leaving school with little hopes of finding employment in an economy that has been shut down, hindering career starts for grads and income for returning students. For a lot of students, the month of May normally marks the start of a summer job. But right now, it might be really tough to find something, he said. As youre building your future, thinking about how to contribute, to about starting a family or a career, all of a sudden youre faced with a massive crisis. This uncertainty that you feel can be overwhelming, he said during his daily pandemic briefing. He promised that Wednesdays measures, will help you get through this. The main measure is the Canada Emergency Student Benefit, which will pay $1,250 a month and up to $1,750 for those with dependants or those with disabilities. The benefit will be paid between May and August and those going to school and recent graduates will be eligible. Students with jobs will qualify but only if they make less than $1,000 a month, Trudeau said. As well, he said the government would create 76,000 jobs for young people on top of previous enhancements to the federal student jobs program. These placements will be in sectors that need an extra hand right now or that are on the front-line of this pandemic, he said. Yet the prime minister had few details on what exactly these jobs that might entail, saying such details would be hammered out in the coming days. Were looking at sectors that need extra support, perhaps agriculture, he said. Trudeau also announced the Canada Student Service Grant, an incentive worth up $5,000 to encourage students to volunteer. The prime minister said the government will also double grants for students, provide an extra $75.2 million for First Nations, Inuit, and Metis Nation students pursuing post-secondary as well as boost research scholarships, grants and fellowships with an extra $291.6 million. The federal government had already made some limited moves to help students by temporarily suspending loan repayments and interest on Canada Student Loans as well as enhancing its student jobs program. Yet the dearth of jobs had prompted calls to allow students to apply for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), which pays $500 a week for 16 weeks, to people who have lost income because of the virus. Sofia Descalzi, Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students, said Wednesdays measures would go a long way to relieving the financial pressures facing students. This announcement is providing them with the financial relief they were looking for, she said, while noting gaps like the fact that international students are not covered. She called the measures a step in the right direction, but again expressed the desire that the more generous CERB should be made universal. We dont understand why students will have less support given that we also pay rent, pay our bills, we have to get our groceries. We do hear from many that this will not be enough, she said in an interview. Nicholas Ferreira, part of the Dont Forget Students coalition, which had pressed Ottawa for financial help for students, called the help significant. It is a very substantial step that will go a long way toward meeting a lot of students needs, he said. But he cautioned that students are keen to hear more details, especially about the new jobs program and requirements for the volunteer incentive. Ferreira is finishing fourth year studying international relations and political science at Trinity College at the University of Toronto and considering going back to school in the fall. With his own job picture uncertain, he thinks he may be eligible for the support announced Wednesday. This is something that thankfully should help me out but I know there are people out there who will need more support, he said. With a patchwork of federal programs taking shape to blunt the economic fallout, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh against pressed the government to make the CERB available to all who need it so that no one gets left behind. Its easy. The government should make the CERB universal so that students and anyone else who needs help can get the help they need right away, he said in a statement. Pressed on that point Wednesday, Trudeau defended his governments approach to provide tailor-made programs. There are millions of Canadians who need help. There are others who do not need help We feel that targeting the maximum amount of help to the people who needed it quickly was the right way to begin to get through this process, the prime minister said. But at the same time, he conceded that weeks into the crisis, gaps still remain in the governments response. For example, he said that further measures to help seniors would be coming shortly. The March labour force survey by Statistics Canada underscored the concerns about student job prospects. The March data captured just the early impact of the economic shutdown and revealed that youth aged 15 to 24 suffered the sharpest job loss with employment dropping by 392,500. Statistics Canada reported that the decrease was almost entirely in part-time work. Almost two-thirds of youth are students. Those in school were hit harder than nonstudents. The unemployment rate for youth jumped 6.5 percentage points to 16.8 per cent, the highest rate for this group since 1997. Statistics Canada reported that an additional 88,400 youth wanted work in March but did not search due to reasons related to COVID-19. A couple walks along a deserted street in Old Montreal on March 31, 2020, amid the ongoing global pandemic. (The Canadian Press/Paul Chiasson) Pandemic a Symptom of Beijings Culture of Corruption and Criminality: Former Justice Minister COVID-19 is cost of ignoring Chinese regimes crimes for years, says rights lawyer David Matas The Chinese Communist Partys continued suppression of truth, which has been a fundamental part of widespread persecution in China for decades, is also to blame for the COVID-19 pandemic the world is now suffering from, says former Canadian justice minister Irwin Cotler. The pandemic was really generated by the CCPs suppression of the truth, by its arrest and disappearances of those who sought to tell the truthbe they medical doctors or dissidents, and by a global campaign of disinformation to cover up the truth and blame others for what has occurred, Cotler, also a former attorney general, said in an interview. The global pandemic is the latest symptom of the deep-seated culture of corruption and criminality within the Party, Cotler said, pointing to ongoing endemic human rights abuses in China, such as the forced organ harvesting of Falun Gong prisoners of conscience, the repression of Uighur Muslims and Tibetans, and persecution of journalists and democracy activists. Beijing has faced growing international pressure over its handling of the outbreak, as questions circulate over the transparency and accuracy of official data on COVID-related deaths and infections. Some Western countries, including the United States and Australia, among others, have demanded an international investigation into the origins of the virus and how it spread. But the fact that COVID-19 reached the level of a pandemic is due in part to the international communitys failure to hold China to account for systemic medical abuses for years, said David Matas, a prominent Canadian human rights lawyer. If the global system had insisted on transparency and accountability in dealing with organ transplant abuse, and China had come to a global pressure for transparency and accountability in its health system in dealing with organ transplant abuse, we wouldnt have this coronavirus now, Matas said. We are suffering the consequences now of turning a blind eye. Matas was one of the earliest researchers into Chinas forced harvesting of organs from Falun Gong adherents. The Epoch Times first broke the news about transplant abuse of living Falun Gong prisoners of conscience in China in 2006. Accountability The United States recently announced it would put a hold on funding to the World Health Organization and launch an investigation into the U.N. agencys mishandling of the pandemic, citing its apparent close ties to China. The WHO repeatedly downplayed the risk of the spread of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, also known as the coronavirus, and repeated the Partys infection data as fact, even as evidence of a coverup was emerging. In ongoing efforts to address the pandemic, the world needs to stop taking information coming from the regime at face value and step up systems to keep it accountable, said Matas. We have to be on our alert about the Chinese governments health system, the Chinese government narrativethat we cant rely on their data, we cant rely on their pronouncements, he said. The CCP is throwing its weight around globally to propagandize, to pressure, to intimidate using economic and political leverage to cover up, deny, obfuscate, and present a counter-factual narrative. And for too many people around the world, its just been politically and economically convenient to go along. China increased the death toll numbers in Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, by 50 percent to 3,869 on April 17, saying cases were originally missed due to overwhelmed medical resources. But widespread skepticism remains as to whether the updated numbers can be trusted. Although several Western countries have openly criticized Chinas handling of the pandemic, Canadian officials have been silent. When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was asked by reporters at a press conference on April 17 about whether he felt the revised number of deaths from China was evidence Beijing has been covering up the full extent of the outbreak, he declined to directly answer, saying now is not the time to focus on other countries management of the outbreak. Former senator Consiglio Di Nino said Canada needs to take a tougher stance on Chinas lack of transparency and disinformation around the virus outbreak and independently investigate data coming from the regime. [The CCP] didnt even try to allow the world to better understand what was going on, he said. If we work together as a human family we can solve most of our problems China does not see us as equal partners in that family. Di Nino says he hopes the new parliamentary Canada-China committee will investigate Chinas early response to the outbreak. I think the government of Canada should fully endorse and support this committee and give them the opportunity to do the research necessary to call witnesses, wherever they may be in the world, that can help us to come to a better conclusion about whats been happening, he said. Cotler said the least Canada can do is use the Magnitsky Act to apply sanctions against specific CCP officials who have violated human rights by engaging in a deliberate coverup and the persecution of whistleblowers. Those specific individuals should be held accountable for what has tragically now become a global pandemic, he said. Cotler noted that there are other legal initiatives that can be taken to hold Beijing to account, such as those pursued by some American lawmakers. In one case, a lawmaker is asking the State Department to bring China in front of the International Court of Justice, and in another case a congressman has introduced a bill that would make it easier for Americans to bring legal action against the Chinese regime for its role in the pandemic. This week, the state of Missouri launched a lawsuit against the regime for its handling of the crisis. The main thing is that we stand in support with the Chinese people, Cotler said. With reporting by Danielle Zhu and Limin Zhou VANCOUVER, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - B2Gold Corp. (TSX: BTO, NYSE AMERICAN: BTG, NSX: B2G) ("B2Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company is providing financial support to community organizations in Metro Vancouver, Canada, that are on the frontlines in assisting people impacted by COVID-19. B2Gold has also made critical financial contributions to assist communities and governments in Mali, the Philippines, Namibia and Colombia in addressing the risks related to the outbreak of COVID-19. Clive Johnson, President and CEO of B2Gold stated, "As a Canadian company based in Vancouver, we believe it is essential to support those in our community most vulnerable to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are pleased to be working with three respected local organizations that provide food security, health services and housing to at-risk members of the Metro Vancouver community." Mr. Johnson continued by stating, "Internationally, we are working closely with communities where we operate and local and national governments in their efforts to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. B2Gold is helping to ensure food security and is providing support for medical equipment and health services to local communities around our mining operations." In Metro Vancouver, B2Gold is contributing CDN$500,000 to support three local community organizations in response to the COVID-19 outbreak: Supporting Access to Food The demand for food support in the local community has increased dramatically during the pandemic. B2Gold is donating CDN$250,000 to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank, which provides healthy food to those in need, including over 8,500 clients and approximately 80 Community Agency Partners across Metro Vancouver. The demand for food support in the local community has increased dramatically during the pandemic. B2Gold is donating to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank, which provides healthy food to those in need, including over 8,500 clients and approximately 80 Community Agency Partners across Metro Vancouver. Housing, Health Care and Harm Reduction Vulnerable communities are at greater risk during the COVID-19 crisis. B2Gold is donating CDN$125,000 to PHS Community Services Society, which provides housing, health care, harm reduction and health promotion for some of the most vulnerable and under-served people in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside community. Vulnerable communities are at greater risk during the COVID-19 crisis. B2Gold is donating to PHS Community Services Society, which provides housing, health care, harm reduction and health promotion for some of the most vulnerable and under-served people in Downtown Eastside community. Support for At-Risk Youth and Homeless Isolation measures and safe practices are challenging with the homeless population. B2Gold is donating CDN$125,000 to Covenant House Vancouver, which provides food, shelter and medical care to Vancouver's homeless and at-risk street youth. Internationally, as announced on April 8, 2020, B2Gold made financial contributions to support local communities and local and national authorities in the countries in which it operates in response to the COVID-19 outbreak: In Mali, B2Gold has committed US$500 ,000 towards the government's COVID-19 response plan, which includes funds for much needed medical supplies. ,000 towards the government's COVID-19 response plan, which includes funds for much needed medical supplies. In the Philippines , B2Gold is working with the local communities around the mine site and the local and regional governments to assist families with food and basic medical requirements in line with the government's COVID-19 response plan. A commitment of US$415,000 from the 2020 Social Development and Management Program budget (subject to standard approvals) and corporate social responsibility programs will be applied to these efforts. , B2Gold is working with the local communities around the mine site and the local and regional governments to assist families with food and basic medical requirements in line with the government's COVID-19 response plan. A commitment of from the 2020 Social Development and Management Program budget (subject to standard approvals) and corporate social responsibility programs will be applied to these efforts. In Namibia , B2Gold has committed US$321 ,000 towards the COVID-19 response efforts, with a focus on hygiene, sanitation and food security within urban townships. , B2Gold has committed ,000 towards the COVID-19 response efforts, with a focus on hygiene, sanitation and food security within urban townships. In Colombia , where B2Gold is the operator of the Gramalote development project, a joint venture with AngloGold Ashanti Ltd., B2Gold has provided food and medical assistance to vulnerable communities impacted by COVID-19 in the project area. B2Gold continues to work closely with local communities and local and national authorities in the countries in which it operates to implement enhanced and comprehensive COVID-19 response measures. The Company is closely monitoring activities at each of its sites, ensuring the safe operation of its mines, as well as the safety of its personnel and those living in the surrounding communities. About B2Gold Corp. B2Gold is a low-cost international senior gold producer headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. Founded in 2007, today, B2Gold has operating gold mines Mali, the Philippines and Namibia and numerous exploration and development projects in various countries including Mali and Colombia. B2Gold continues to forecast consolidated gold production of between 1,000,000 and 1,055,000 ounces in 2020. On Behalf of B2GOLD CORP. "Clive T. Johnson" President & Chief Executive Officer For more information on B2Gold, please visit the Company website at www.b2gold.com or contact: Ian MacLean Katie Bromley Vice President, Investor Relations Manager, Investor Relations & Public Relations +1 604-681-8371 +1 604-681-8371 [email protected] [email protected] The Toronto Stock Exchange and NYSE American LLC neither approve nor disapprove the information contained in this news release. This news release includes certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation, including: projections; outlook; guidance; forecasts; estimates; and other statements regarding future or estimated financial and operational performance; statements regarding activities or achievements of B2Gold including, without limitation: consolidated gold production of between 1,000,000 and 1,055,000 ounces in 2020. All statements in this news release that address events or developments that we expect to occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, although not always, identified by words such as "expect", "plan", "anticipate", "project", "target", "potential", "schedule", "forecast", "budget", "estimate", "intend" or "believe" and similar expressions or their negative connotations, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could", "should" or "might" occur. All such forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made. Forward-looking statements necessarily involve assumptions, risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond B2Gold's control, including risks associated with or related to: the volatility of metal prices and B2Gold's common shares; changes in tax laws; the dangers inherent in exploration, development and mining activities; the uncertainty of reserve and resource estimates; not achieving production, cost or other estimates; actual production, development plans and costs differing materially from the estimates in B2Gold's feasibility and other studies; the ability to obtain and maintain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for mining activities; environmental regulations or hazards and compliance with complex regulations associated with mining activities; climate change and climate change regulations; the ability to replace mineral reserves and identify acquisition opportunities; the unknown liabilities of companies acquired by B2Gold; the ability to successfully integrate new acquisitions; fluctuations in exchange rates; the availability of financing; financing and debt activities, including potential restrictions imposed on B2Gold's operations as a result thereof and the ability to generate sufficient cash flows; operations in foreign and developing countries and the compliance with foreign laws, including those associated with operations in Colombia and including risks related to changes in foreign laws and changing policies related to mining and local ownership requirements or resource nationalization generally; remote operations and the availability of adequate infrastructure; fluctuations in price and availability of energy and other inputs necessary for mining operations; shortages or cost increases in necessary equipment, supplies and labour; regulatory, political and country risks, including local instability or acts of terrorism and the effects thereof; the reliance upon contractors, third parties and joint venture partners; challenges to title or surface rights; the dependence on key personnel and the ability to attract and retain skilled personnel; the risk of an uninsurable or uninsured loss; adverse climate and weather conditions; litigation risk; competition with other mining companies; community support for B2Gold's operations, including risks related to strikes and the halting of such operations from time to time; conflicts with small scale miners; failures of information systems or information security threats; the outcome of the ongoing tax assessment by the Colombian Tax Office (DIAN) in respect of the Gramalote property; the ability to maintain adequate internal controls over financial reporting as required by law, including Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act; compliance with anti-corruption laws, and sanctions or other similar measures; social media and B2Gold's reputation; as well as other factors identified and as described in more detail under the heading "Risk Factors" in B2Gold's most recent Annual Information Form, B2Gold's current Form 40-F Annual Report and B2Gold's other filings with Canadian securities regulators and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), which may be viewed at www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov, respectively (the "Websites"). The list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect B2Gold's forward-looking statements. B2Gold's forward-looking statements are based on the applicable assumptions and factors management considers reasonable as of the date hereof, based on the information available to management at such time. These assumptions and factors include, but are not limited to, assumptions and factors relating to B2Gold's ability to carry on current and future operations, including: development and exploration activities; the timing, extent, duration and economic viability of such operations, including any mineral resources or reserves identified thereby; the accuracy and reliability of estimates, projections, forecasts, studies and assessments; B2Gold's ability to meet or achieve estimates, projections and forecasts; the availability and cost of inputs; the price and market for outputs, including gold; the timely receipt of necessary approvals or permits; the ability to meet current and future obligations; the ability to obtain timely financing on reasonable terms when required; the current and future social, economic and political conditions; and other assumptions and factors generally associated with the mining industry. B2Gold's forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management and reflect their current expectations regarding future events and operating performance and speak only as of the date hereof. B2Gold does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's beliefs, expectations or opinions should change other than as required by applicable law. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. Accordingly, no assurance can be given that any events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do, what benefits or liabilities B2Gold will derive therefrom. For the reasons set forth above, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. SOURCE B2Gold Corp. Appeals brought by four men involved in a deadly carjacking at an upscale New Jersey mall seven years ago were all rejected Tuesday by state appellate courts who found their arguments were without merit. Basim Henry, Kevin Roberts and Hanif Thompson had claimed that errors by the trial judge, such as a failure to suppress certain evidence, had prevented them from receiving fair trials. The fourth defendant, Karif Ford, had argued that a search warrant was improperly issued, and all four also questioned the fairness of the sentences they received. Prosecutors said the men were involved in the December 2013 carjacking and fatal shooting of Dustin Friedland at The Mall At Short Hills in Millburn. Friedlands wife had testified at trial about seeing her husband gunned down in front of her. I f quarantine has you wanting to brush up on your beauty regimen, rather than overloading your skin with layers of products, which can sometimes lead to breakouts, how about finally learning how to properly use that crystal facial tool that's been gathering dust on your shelf. Gua sha is a traditional Chinese self-care ritual, which involves using a smooth crystal plate to unblock stagnant "qi" (energy flow) along channels in your body. "It is an Eastern technique that uses a scraping motion to improve circulation," explains Ada Ooi traditional Chinese medicine practitioner and founder of 001 Skincare London. 'Gua' translates to 'scraping' while 'sha' refers to the red flush of the skin that can be seen afterwards representing the delivery of fresh oxygen and nutrients. TCM practitioner and founder of the Hayo'u Method Katie Brindle suggests spending just two minutes a day on facial gua sha one in the morning and another in the evening is enough to forgo fancy face creams altogether. "Facial gua sha is a simple, at-home massage technique that supports collagen and elastin production and releases tension to relax facial muscles. It lifts, plumps and sculpts, nourishing your skin by boosting circulation and lymphatic flow, for a brightened complexion and radiant glow. "It negates the need for expensive face creams or single-use plastics. You can take it into the shower and use the water as a lubricant. Simply press-stroke gently all over your face for about a minute or, if you prefer, you can use it after your shower with facial oil." Jade and rose quartz are two of the most commonly used crystals for gua sha tools. The former is known for its healing and cooling properties. "Jade is the perfect all-rounder, it's used to balance yin and yang energy," says Brindle. Opt for rose quartz if you have sensitive or inflamed skin. "It's especially good to use in the morning and is said to support heart energy in particular," says Brindle. "So it's good to gua sha on the chest with rose quartz because the action tonifies the heart qi. Its believed that the properties in rose quartz help to generate skin cell renewal, as well as improve uneven or dull skin complexion." Here, and in the video at the top, Katie Brindle shares her simple one-minute routine using the Hayou jade Beauty Restorer (38). Try first thing in the morning and after removing make up in the evening. 1. Starting at the neck, press-stroke downwards to help drain excess fluid. 2. Press the tool gently all over your neck, face and decolletage. 3. Gently press and hold the tool under each eye, then over each eye, with the lid shut. 4. Angling the tool at 45 degrees in the direction that you want to work, use the rounded edge to press-stroke the forehead, the cheekbones, then the lips about eight sweeps in each direction. What are anniversaries good for if not reflection Its difficult for me to describe my many experiences with nature. They are powerful and yet commonplace. You undoubtedly have your own examples. Casting a hook and line into a local fishing hole, into a clear, cold river, into the salty surf; walking or running through a city park or hiking in a state or national park; sitting in a deer blind in the quiet dawn; backpacking in the wilderness or RVing in parks; birdwatching near and far; rafting, tubing, or canoeing in quiet or white water; drinking your morning coffee on your back deck or your back forty; planting in your containers, your yard, or your fields if were lucky, weve experienced nature up close and personal in very positive ways. My feelings include joy, contentment, exhilaration, tranquility, gratitude, satisfaction, awe, restoration, peace. What are yours? How much are those feelings worth to us? Its impossible to put a dollar value on all the emotional benefits of outdoor experiences, but the almost 86 million visitors at our national parks in 2018 is a partial snapshot of the hunger for that experience. That hunger translates to real dollars as well. National parks alone added $20.3 billion to the U.S. GDP in 2017 a 28 percent increase from 2012. Many states and localities are also realizing the economic benefits of outdoor travel and have started preserving and promoting their natural spaces as a result. Think Pure Michigan. They are also so important that now psychologists and therapists urge us to get outside with physical distancing and masks where possible for our mental health during the coronavirus pandemic. Before the novel coronavirus pandemic struck, we were learning that we did not have to choose between the environment and the economy. No one knows how the global economy is going to be affected by this pandemic, but one thing is certain. We will have many choices to make. Do we restore the business as usual scenario that was burying us in trash, killing us with pollution, and destabilizing the earths climate? Will we use this time to restore employment with clean energy jobs and build the infrastructure and understanding we need for a cleaner, healthier Earth? A hybrid plan? Smart, bipartisan legislation in Congress, supported by millions of Americans, is needed to respond adequately to our two simultaneous crises. Many understand the dangers of the coronavirus pandemic and have welcomed emergency legislation to address them. Fewer realize the equally catastrophic threats posed by climate change. In the early 1970s after the first Earth Day, Congress passed strong, bipartisan, first of their kind pieces of federal legislation that dramatically improved the air, water, and land of the United States. That legislation protected millions of men, women and children from disease and death and hundreds of species from extinction. We can choose to tweak and strengthen such legislation, beef up our medical preparedness system, and reduce carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions to start getting us back on track to a healthy economy and healthy world. Congress needs some breathing room to deal with the immediate crisis at hand. Some Americans are overwhelmed with the stress of coronavirus impacts and grief with loss of friends and loved ones. We all have to come to grips with the powerful forces of biology and physics that affect our daily lives and the earth. We should do our parts, collectively and individually, to provide a healthy future for our children and grandchildren on a livable earth. We need to manifest our collective power by voting in every election, whether local or national or in between, especially if were among the over 15 million environmentally minded people who dont vote. TurboVote.org is a nonpartisan tool that assists with voter registration, polling locations and reminders. To get strong bipartisan solutions, environmentally minded people will need to vote to influence their party because politicians poll voters, not nonvoters, on issues. The 50th anniversary of Earth Day is a chance to renew our commitment to protecting the earth for ourselves and generations to come. If we do that, on the 75th and 100th anniversaries of Earth Day our children and grandchildren will be proud. Marie Koper Mt. Pleasant Residents and business owners in Hanoi and HCMC prepare for a new normal, hoping the semi-lockdown would end with more positive Covid-19 news. Last weekend, Nguyen Thi Hoa told her housekeeper, who had returned to Saigon's Cu Chi District, to prepare for work. Hoa, 41, knew she would struggle to take care of her children if she had to return to her office instead of working from home. "If the social distancing campaign ends this week, I should be prepared," Hoa said, adding she would book an appointment with her hairdresser as soon as possible. After three weeks, Hoa and many others in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi are counting the days to get back on track as both metropolises have proposed the government not extend the social distancing campaign set to end April 22. The Prime Minister stated Vietnam would ease social distancing and implement adequate controls to contain Covid-19. Previously, the 15-day nationwide social distancing campaign, launched April 1, asked people to stay at home and only go out when truly necessary. Factories had to maintain safe distances, disinfect premises and ensure employees wear masks to prevent infection. The campaign was extended for a week until April 22 in Hanoi, HCMC, and 10 other localities deemed to be at "high risk" of Covid-19. Now, urbanites and migrant workers are bracing themselves for a normal life after the semi-lockdown. In the last few days, many streets have witnessed an increasing number of commuters as a myriad of citizens who could not stand staying home ventured out. Commuters on a street in HCMC on April 13, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Nhu Quynh. Many are stuck on Saigon's Cong Hoa, Au Co, and Duong Ba Trac streets each day, especially during rush hour. In Hanoi, a minor accident on April 20 caused a massive traffic jam along four kilometers of Phung Hung Street in Ha Dong District. After three weeks of living behind closed doors, many residents could not wait to return to work. According to Nguyen Quynh Nhi in HCMC, her company in District 1 hired people to clean and sanitize the office on Monday, telling staff to be ready to return to work soon. "I am relieved to be back at the office after more than a month working from home. We plan to have a small party to celebrate," Nhi said. For migrant workers and street vendors who had lost their jobs due to Covid-19 and travel restrictions, returning to normalcy means more income. On Monday, Nguyen Van Son filled up his motorbike, leaving his hometown in Long Thanh District of southern province Dong Nai. "I cannot stay home anymore and need to provide for my family," he said, adding he would return to his wood workshop in Saigons Binh Thanh District. Meanwhile, Nguyen Thu Thao, 45, also plans to take a bus from her home in northern Tien Giang Province to HCMC right after the semi-lockdown is lifted to continue her job as a housekeeper in District 7. "I have not earned anything since March, even though I have three mouths to feed," she said. Business owners are also waiting to resume operations. In Hanoi, on Tuesday, one day before authorities take a final decision on the social distancing campaign, many restaurants and coffee shops were waiting to open. Traditional Pho Thin restaurant stated it has been looking forward to resuming business after closing for the most prolonged period of time in its history. "My staff have been jobless for over a month, and customers miss our pho," said owner Bui Chi Thanh. Nguyen Thu Quynh, a spa owner, plans to spend one day cleaning equipment and welcoming back her staff, who had left Hanoi for their hometowns in March. "I will need only one day to prepare if authorities allow me to open again," she said, adding she expects at least two months before her spa on Hanoi's Quan Su Street could return to normal, "but it is still better then earning nothing." The new normal "Seeing the crowds return to the streets makes me nervous, I am used to quiet streets during the last several weeks," said Tran Thanh Thao, a white-collar worker in Saigon's District 1, after going shopping Monday. She added many of her friends also feel conflicted about the social distancing period coming to an end. Huynh Phuong Tuan, a headhunter, concurs: "Of course we want to go back to normal. But it is difficult to make the switch after getting used to life under semi-lockdown." Getting used to the traquility outside his apartment in Saigons District 4, Tuan somehow feels bad thinking about joining the sea of urban commuters each morning. People ignore social distancing rules at Hanoi's Long Bien Market on Arpil 16, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Hue. In HCMC, Nguyen Thanh Danh, 28, has planned to go to BBQ and hotpot restaurants with his colleagues and friends as soon as possible. "To many people to meet and too many things to eat out there right after this (social distancing period) ends." According to Nguyen Thanh Tuan, a university student in Saigon's District 10, who has not seen any friends since March, he is thrilled to "get exit loneliness." However, Tuan and Danh both know the Covid-19 risks are here to stay and should not let their guard down too soon. PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc noted that transmission risks were still high, urging authorities at all levels and all citizens to remain focused on the main principles of the Covid-19 fight - identifying, quarantining, zoning and stamping out outbreaks; and providing effective treatment to patients. Tran Dac Phu, senior advisor at the Public Health Emergency Operations Center under the Health Ministry, told people not to let their guard down even amid positive Covid-19 news across Vietnam the last few days. Vietnam has gone six days straight without recording any new Covid-19 infection, keeping its tally at 268 since Thursday morning. Of these, 216 have made full recovery. Hoa is happy since her parents can step outside without worrying and her children could return to school soon. "The worst is over, normalcy is slowly returning and all we can do to protect ourselves and our loved ones is to remain on guard." The Assam government has decided to allow one-time conditional relaxation for people who are stuck across the state due to the lockdown. Health and finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stressed that the relaxation for travel will be from April 25 to April 27 and those willing to avail it will have to get permission from authorities. Patients who need to travel from one place to another or move from one district to another will be allowed to travel on all days but they will need to get clearance from deputy commissioners of their districts. Those who have their own vehicles and are stuck in one place due to lockdown will be allowed to travel to their homes or workplace with due permission from the district authorities, said Sarma on Wednesday. Similarly, employers who need to transport their workers to the workplace, which have been allowed to function, will be allowed to do so after necessary permission from district authorities. The state transport department will operate buses on designated routes on April 25, 26 and 27 for those who dont have own mode of travel. They can get details by calling on helpline number 104, Sarma said. The government has instructed private schools to deduct only 50% of total fees for one month. They have also been instructed not to increase fees or deduct salaries of teachers and other staff. If schools remain closed till end of May, we will lose 52 working days. If the situation improves, we should be able to cover the session by taking classes on Saturdays and by reducing the number of holidays, Sarma, who also handles the education portfolio, said. The minister announced that the state government will conduct free Covid-19 tests for journalists on April 25 at the Guwahati Medical College and Hospital. Assam hasnt recorded any new Covid-19 case in last one week. Of the states 34 patients, 19 have recovered, 1 has died and the 14 others are recovering in different hospitals. We have conducted 5,789 tests till date. At present there are 3,338 isolation beds, 440 ICU units and facility to quarantine over 10,000 people. We have adequate stock of PPEs and masks. The state government has ordered 1 lakh rapid testing kits and they should reach the state soon, Sarma said. Till date, the state government has paid 1000 USD each to 34 persons from the state stranded abroad, Rs 25,000 each to 717 patients who are stuck in different parts of the country and Rs 2,000 each to 1.02 lakh people from the state who are stranded outside due to lockdown. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Facebook has bought 9.99 per cent stake in Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio for Rs 43,574 crore, making it the largest minority shareholder in Jio Platforms Limited. The investment values Jio Platforms Limited (JPL) at a record Rs 4.6 lakh crore. This will catapult JPL as the fifth largest firm, considering market capitalisation of listed companies in India, behind its parent Reliance Industries (RIL), TCS, HDFC Bank and Hindustan Unilever (HUL). While the first two are far ahead, the other two are close with around Rs 5 lakh crore m-cap. The American social media giant Facebook Inc will soon sign the binding agreement, which will be the largest foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country for a minority stake. The telecom arm Reliance Jio has grown as one of the largest telecom networks with a subscriber base of 370 million in a short span of three years. In its amazing journey, it disrupted the entire telecom business in the country and many telecom companies either stopped the service or merged with others or filed for bankruptcy. Also read: Facebook buys 10% stake in Reliance Jio for Rs 43,574 crore It posted standalone revenue from operations, including access revenues, of Rs 13,968 crore in the third quarter, up 28 per cent compared to the same period last year. The EBITDA stood Rs 5,601 crore, up 38 per cent, and EBITDA margin of 40.1 per cent. The net profit of Rs 1,350 crore is 62.5 per cent higher. The ARPU during the quarter of Rs 128.4 per subscriber per month, better than that of rivals. The total wireless data traffic during the quarter of 1,208 crore GB went up 40 per cent. JPL was created as a subsidiary of RIL in October last year to bring together all digital and mobility businesses under one roof. The new entity has become the parent of Reliance Jio Infocomm and applications like MyJio, JioTV, JioCinema, JioNews and JioSaavn, besides content-generation ventures. Thus, the operating company Reliance Jio became a step-down subsidiary of RIL. For making JPL debt-free, the parent company has infused Rs 1.08 lakh crore in it. They want to build JPL like Alibaba and Google, which claim high valuations in the stock markets. The Facebook deal emphasises that JPL will expand as a digital giant for India. RIL has been using the cash flow from its flagship petroleum refining business to build the telecom and retail subsidiaries all these years. The Indian conglomerate has spent about Rs 4 lakh crore to build Reliance Jio. Also read: Facebook-Reliance Jio deal: Social media giant pumps in Rs 43,574 crore in Mukesh Ambani's telco; 10 points Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 22) The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology said more isolation facilities were being built in different parts of the country where infected detainees could stay amid the COVID-19 crisis. BJMP Spokespeson Xavier Solda made the statement at the Laging Handa briefing Wednesday. Apart from the isolation facility in Quezon City, Solda said another one was readied in San Fernando, Pampanga and another in Quezon. There were a total of 41 patients in the Quezon City facility, he added, who are continuously being monitored. Apart from these facilities, Solda said psychologists were talking to the detainees or "persons deprived of liberty" as well as personnel helping them cope with the crisis. Meanwhile, Muntinlupa City denounced the transfer of 18 coronavirus disease-positive inmates from the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong to the New Bilibid Prison. City Public Information Officer Tez Navarro said the local government was not given a heads up on the transfer. Bureau of Corrections Spokesperson Col. Gabriel Chaclag confirmed that detainees were transferred to Bilibid on Tuesday afternoon a few hours following the release of results. He pointed out the decision was made to contain the spread of the virus within the facility. Speaking to CNN Philippines Wednesday, Solda said most of the patients were asymptomatic, while about three or four showed mild symptoms. "BuCor director General Usec. Gerald Bantag decided yesterday to transfer them to these isolation area, quarantine area, here in Bilibid that we have identified weeks ago. We have prepared this area in support of our government initiative to look for more quarantine area. So nakita namin dito yung site na ito dito sa [So we saw the site here at the] National Bilibid Prison at ito naman po ay [and this is] very secure, far from residents and far from the prison cells," he said. Solda gave his assurance that residents of Muntinlupa would be very safe. AKRON, Ohio ArtsNow, an Akron nonprofit that advocates for the arts, and The Social Dept., a Summit County maker of hand-screened clothing, are launching a T-shirt series to benefit local artists struggling due to the coronavirus pandemic. Proceeds will benefit ArtsNows free digital leadership series called The Dreamers & Doers, which features works by Ohio artists. Shirts in the series feature the phrase United State of Ohio and can be customized for specific counties and used on clothing or social media graphics. The shirts are designed by Andy Taray, owner of The Social Dept. and Ohioboy Art & Design Co., in collaboration with ArtsNow. The arts and culture sector has traditionally been a space for healing, documenting our shared history and providing a path forward in recovery, said ArtsNow Executive Director Nicole Mullet in a release. We are proud to partner with a business so willing to lend their talents to sharing our solidarity as a community and a state. To buy a shirt, visit The Social Dept. website. ArtsNow is also accepting donations that will be used to support local artists via The Dreamers & Doers. To donate, visit artsnow.charityproud.org/Donate/MiniCampaign/7000. ArtsNow.org/covid-19-resources/ also provides resources for nonprofit organizations, artists and gig workers who have been negatively impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and related business closures. ArtsNow is also partnering with Summit County artists to create unique streaming content for the community. To learn more, visit ArtsNow.org or email nicole@artsnow.org. Want more Akron news? Sign up for cleveland.coms Rubber City Daily, an email newsletter delivered at 5:30 a.m. Monday through Friday. A temporary ban on US immigration could affect its technology sector and the foreign talent it needs. President Donald Trump's immigration ban could be a big blow for the fast-growing US technology sector. A rising number of migrant workers, particularly from Asia, head to the US to work in Silicon Valley. Alongside Mexico, China and India now provide large numbers of the new working population. This supply of talent could soon be cut off under Mr Trump's temporary ban, aimed at stopping the virus spreading and protecting American jobs. According to Pew Research Center, more than one million immigrants arrive in the US each year, although this figure has fallen in recent years. In 2017, India accounted for most of the new foreign workforce, followed by Mexico, China and Cuba. "This will definitely impact immigration movements into the IT sector in the US from India and China, being two countries with large migration numbers globally, " said Latha Olavatth at immigration specialist Newland Chase. "China and India also have other business sectors where the ban will impact their movements to the States, further crippling trade and the economy adversely." According to Pew Research Center, almost half of immigrants live in just three states - New York, Texas and California, home of Silicon Valley, where tech giants such as Google, Facebook and Cisco are based. "Trump's immigration ban will hurt US tech companies' ability to recruit the talent necessary to remain competitive and focus on innovation," said Shaun Rein, managing director of the China Market Research Group. "Instead of staying in America and building America's tech prowess, top talent will return to their home countries and build the next round of innovation powerhouses." US companies are battling it out with Chinese internet giants such as Alibaba and ByteDance in the field of innovation. "Now, with the immigration ban, more top Chinese, Indian and other foreign talent will seek jobs in tech hubs globally like Shenzhen, Seoul and Bangalore rather than Silicon Valley. They will push invention and innovation in software, hardware and in semi-conductors," Mr Rein added. When Mr Trump imposed travel bans on immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries in 2018, tech firms voiced their disapproval. "Apple would not exist without immigration," Apple chief executive Tim Cook said at the time. He was joined by the heads of other tech giants, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who spoke out against the travel bans. Before Tuesday's announcement, the US government had been debating how man migrant workers to allow into the country under its seasonal H-2B programme. Pressure has been growing on policymakers to slow immigration as the number of Americans who have lost their jobs during the coronavirus downturn moves above six million. The executive order that temporarily suspends all immigration does not apply to farm workers and healthcare workers. It is not expected to include legal immigrants already in the US. BBC In a worst-case scenario where California COVID-19 cases surge, hospitals will judge who gets a ventilator depending on a patients chances of survival, life expectancy and age, according to new state guidelines. The California Department of Public Health released 38 pages of guidance earlier this month to help doctors make agonizing ethical decisions if the coronavirus overwhelms the states health care system. In New York City, where more than 500 people have died of the disease in a single day, a shortage of ventilators forced doctors to choose which patients to place on the breathing machines. While Californias case numbers are lower than New Yorks, the state recorded its deadliest day Wednesday, with 118 fatalities. Failing to issue guidance about how to make tough choices in a crisis would be irresponsible, said Carmela Coyle, president of the California Hospital Association. The guidelines are extremely sobering and challenging, Coyle said. The guidance describes a world in which were providing care that we hope we never get to. But when we are involved in pandemics, this is like nothing any of us have seen in our lifetimes, it is an exercise in triaging scarcity. A number of states have made similar plans where the goal is to avoid what ethicists call moral distress when a medical professional knows the right thing to do but cant. In crisis mode, ethical decisions must shift from providing the best care to each patient, to achieving the best possible outcome for the largest number of people, the document read. Hospitals should ration available resources with a focus on saving the most lives and saving the most life-years. If supplies run low, the guidance recommends substituting one type of pain medication for another in short supply, reusing protective gear, and turning machines that anesthetize patients into ventilators. The states guidelines lay out a scoring system for deciding who is admitted to intensive care and who gets a ventilator. Clinicians estimate a patients short-term life expectancy based on their vitals, and their long-term life expectancy based on whether they might die within a year or 10 years of other conditions like cancer, dementia or heart or lung disease. After doctors tally the points, if there is a tie, they are supposed to consider the patients age and whether theyre a frontline health worker. The justification for this principle does not rely on considerations of ones intrinsic worth or social utility, the guidelines read. The state directed hospitals to create a triage team to make these difficult decisions and gave doctors advice about how to communicate triage decisions to patients or their loved ones, allowing for appeals. Coyle at the California Hospital Association said creating a team insulates potentially biased doctors from making decisions about patients theyre treating. But some bioethicists said they feared deciding whether someone could live for up to 10 years invites bias inherently. It could be discriminatory against different races, socioeconomic classes, and the disabled, said David Magnus, director of the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics. He questioned whether clinicians faced, for example, with a nonwhite homeless patient versus an affluent white one could impartially judge who would live longer. 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. Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle A California Department of Public Health spokeswoman said the state is working with stakeholders to strengthen meaningful access to care for all patients and ensure that no one is denied care based on stereotypes, assessments of quality of life, or judgments about a persons worth based on the presence or absence of disabilities, age or other factors. State Public Health Officer Dr. Sonia Angell said in a letter to health providers introducing the document that it will prompt difficult conversations. Medical experts say they are hopeful California wont ever see a surge that would force hospitals to use the guidelines. Fortunately, this is largely an academic exercise because it does not appear that were going to have to ration at all in California, Magnus said. He added things could always change a second wave of cases when society starts to reopen, or an earthquake in the middle of the pandemic but hes cautiously optimistic. Mallory Moench is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@mallorymoench North Wales Police to commemorate Stephen Lawrence Day This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Apr 22nd, 2020 North Wales Police will today take part in the second ever national commemoration for murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence. The day is coordinated by the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust, which was founded by Stephens mother, Baroness Lawrence. The Trust works to inspire and support young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and to create a fairer society Stephen was just 18, and a keen student, hoping to become an architect when he was murdered in an unprovoked racist attack in east London on 22nd April, 1993. His death prompted wide-spread outcry and ultimately held to changes in the way police forces across the country deal with such crimes. Two years ago Stephen Lawrence Day was launched to mark the 25th anniversary of the day he died, to ensure that his life and death would never be forgotten. Inspector Ceri Hawe from the North Wales Police Workforce Representation Team said: Stephen Lawrence Day is about the part we all play in creating a society in which everyone can flourish. It is also an opportunity for young people to be inspired about what they can achieve in their own lives and to get involved in creating the kind of community they want to live in. We are asking people to share cards on social media as part of a national campaign to tell people what a difference Stephens story has made to their lives. Or other ways to get involved include asking children to paint a picture of Stephen to upload to social media. We all have the power to make a difference. Lets make Stephen Lawrence Day full of small, positive actions that can make a difference. Carl Foulkes, Chief Constable of North Wales Police said: Stephen Lawrence Day provides us with a fantastic opportunity to celebrate and remember Stephens life and legacy, and also focus on the steps we can take to help young people make positive choices, contribute to their communities and live their best life. The Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust has set three challenges to choose from that reflect the aims of Stephen Lawrence Day, and asking you to post what you do online. They are: Inspire and support children and young people to make choices and actions that enable them and others to live their best lives Encourage and enable children and young people to play an active role in building stronger communities in which everyone can flourish Give children and young people a strong voice in driving social change and creating a society that treats everyone with fairness and respect Further information can be found on the campaign website. Social media users can follow the Workforce Representation Team will be posting messages on their social media accounts. NWP Your Career Twitter https://twitter.com/nwpyourcareer NWP Your Career Facebook https://www.facebook.com/NWPYourCareer/ NWP BAPA Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/NWPBapa/) NWP BAPA Twitter (https://twitter.com/NwpBapa) An air assault brigade under the PLA Army conducts a fast-rope assault exercise in the desert of northwest China. (Photo by Cui Songrou) By Qian Xiaohu and Yang Yuanqing BEIJING, April 22 -- The air assault force is a new-type combat troop of the PLA Army. It emerged in the reform of China's national defense and armed forces several years ago, aiming to accelerate the PLA Armys pace into an era of multi-dimensional warfare. During the past years, the aviation force of the PLA Army has paced up its integration with over 10 branches of ground forces, including the infantry and the artillery forces, with the mode of "combined arms and multi-dimensional assault" being normalized in routine training. It was a rough road of exploration from organizational integration to operational integration. Pilots of the army aviation force came to the infantrys training field to get familiar with the command and combat methods and tactics in ground attacks; while the detachments of ground forces conducted special training with emphases on air assault. This has helped shorten the running-in period for integrated operations among the PLA Armys air and ground troops. A pilot of the army aviation force said, "The aircraft carrying infantrymen used to complete force projection by low-altitude hovering and fast-roping. This required long range into the designated area and high accuracy control in flight. However, for now, the flight range and accuracy can be adjusted according to real-time battlefield needs, since the light and high maneuvering infantrymen onboard can overcome terrain obstacles on their own and win the battle by virtue of rapid maneuver." At present, the Chinese PLA Army's air assault forces are giving full play to the combat potential of combat aircraft and personnel, stepping up the construction of an air-ground integration combat system, and promoting the development of a new-type of PLA Army featuring combat capabilities of full-spectrum maneuver, as well as multi-dimensional offense and defense. The number of positive cases for Covid-19 in Andhra Pradesh touched 800 mark on Wednesday with 56 new cases being reported from different parts of the state, apart from two more deaths due to the dreaded virus, in the last 24 hours. For the second consecutive day, Guntur reported two more deaths, taking the total number of deaths in the district due to Covid-19 to eight. Both the deaths are said to be the secondary contacts of the returnees from Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhis Nizamuddin last month. Overall, Andhra Pradesh has reported 24 deaths, while 23 people are reported dead in neighbouring Telangana. According to a bulletin issued by the state medical and health department in the afternoon, as many as 5,757 samples were tested in the last 24 hours of which 5,701 turned negative. Of the remaining 56 positive cases, Guntur and Kurnool accounted for 19 cases each, while Chittoor reported six, Kadapa five, Prakasam four and Krishna three cases. Kurnool and Guntur are leading the list with 203 and 177 positive cases, respectively, followed by 86 in Krishna district, 67 in Nellore, 59 in Chittoor, 51 in Kadapa, 48 in Prakasam, 39 in West Godavari and 36 in Anantapur. The bulletin said 24 patients got discharged from the hospitals in the last 24 hours, including eight in Guntur, five in Anantapur, four each in SPS Nellore and Kadapa, two in Krishna and one in Visakhapatnam. The total number of patients recovered and discharged in the state till now has increased to 120. Interestingly, an 85-year-old woman recovered from Covid-19 in Anantapur. She, along with five others, was discharged from KIMS Saveera hospital, the designated hospital for Covid-19 in Anantapur late on Tuesday night, after they fully recovered from the disease. All of them got admitted to the hospital on April 5 had been undergoing treatment since then. Doctors and paramedical staff were happy to see off the octogenarian, who was brought out on a wheel-chair. They clapped to greet the woman and other four patients, as they came out. Doctor Ravi Shankar, director of the hospital, said he was particularly happy that the 85-year-old woman had responded to the treatment like any other normal person. The woman had contracted the infection from her son who died of Covid-19 early this month. Her grandson and three others who were serving the deceased were also affected. In addition to the medication, the patients were provided nutritious food to improve their immunity, he said. The state government on Wednesday announced that the number of Covid-19 hospitals in the state had gone up from three to 79 as state had increased the number of Covid-19 exclusive hospitals in the state to six per district. A total of 79 hospitals in 13 districts have been converted into Covid-19 hospitals till date. On Wednesday, the government decided to convert the Kurnool government general hospital into a Covid-19 hospital. These 79 hospitals are apart from the existing four Critical Care hospitals in the state. This results in the bed capacity of the state being boosted by 25,309. Each district is equipped to get 700 ventilators up and running, an official bulletin from the government said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON PR-Inside.com: 2020-04-22 11:42:02 CQC-regulated online doctor launches service as part of national efforts to boost testing capacity The laboratory test is approved by Public Health England and is 98% effective at detecting the virus Designed to provide businesses with affordable testing for workers The service costs 135 with a 40% discount for key workers to enable them to return to the frontlines as soon as possible UK Online Doctor Service Zava Contributes to National Coronavirus Testing Effort With Affordable Service for Businesses Victoria Mayman victoria@thirdcity.co.uk. UK online doctor Zava has today launched its coronavirus service, designed to provide businesses of all sizes with an affordable test for workers who are currently self-isolating with potential symptoms. The service includes a home sampling kit and lab test which is approved by Public Health England (PHE) and is the same type of test that is currently being used by the NHS. It is 98% effective at detecting the virus, with results reviewed by Zavas GMC-registered doctors and available in two to three days or less. The test looks at the DNA within cells to detect the presence of viral RNA in a laboratory to tell whether patients currently have the virus or not. A negative test result means that patients can stop self-isolating, so its especially important for key workers and those who have an essential work role. The service is priced at 135 - making it one of the most affordable offerings on the market - and Zava is offering a 40% discount for key workers as part of the national effort to enable people to get back to work sooner. Dr Babak Ashrafi, Clinical Lead for Service Expansion at Zava said: This service comes as part of a huge national effort to provide testing for everyone who needs it, which is key to preventing the further spread of COVID-19, saving lives, and enabling vital services to keep going. Zavas new service has the capacity to carry out several thousand tests per day, and our digital platform facilitates the provision of a safe and clinically approved test service. The service is fully remote - assessments and ongoing support take place without the need for any physical interaction between doctors and patients - removing the possibility of spreading the disease. Zava is also currently actively exploring ways to support the governments own free testing service, as part of a commitment to contributing to the national effort in tackling COVID-19. How does Zavas coronavirus service work? The service uses a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test that is sent to you in the post. Using a swab, you take samples of your cells from the back of your throat and nose. You then send this sample to our UK-based laboratory for testing. Patients using the service can contact a Zava doctor with any questions or concerns throughout the process. The results will be available around two days later and a Zava doctor will then contact you to give advice and support on what to do next. The test does not test for antibodies, or whether or not you have had the virus in the past. To contribute to national testing efforts and figures Zavas partner laboratory will contact PHE about the result. Zava doctors will contact the patients local health protection agency and their GP. For more information visit Zavas coronavirus service page ENDS View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005 People can activate the service by sending 'Hi' on the number 9337929000 through WhatsApp. The Odisha chief minister also tweeted about the initiative. The Naveen Patnaik government in Odisha has launched a coronavirus WhatsApp helpdesk for providing information to the public on measures taken by the state to contain the pandemic. People can activate the service by sending 'Hi' on the number 9337929000 through WhatsApp. The Odisha chief minister also tweeted about the initiative. #Odisha Govt has launched its #COVID19 #WhatsApp Helpdesk for disseminating information on various measures taken by State Govt to contain the pandemic. It can be activated by sending Hi on 9337929000 or clicking on: https://t.co/DMc6TH9iLB#OdishaFightsCorona pic.twitter.com/NKtPNXYK8H CMO Odisha (@CMO_Odisha) April 22, 2020 The information will be provided in both English and Odia languages. The state government has also launched a COVID-19 dashboard http://statedashboard.odisha.gov.in/ which will provide the latest information and statistics related to the virus. Odisha has so far reported one death due to COVID-19. Nearly 80 people have been infected by the deadly virus in the state. Odisha was the first state to extend the coronavirus lockdown till 30 April. Patnaik had made the announcement ahead of the extension of nationwide lockdown till 3 May. Earlier this month, the Delhi government had also launched a dedicated WhatsApp helpline number to ensure people get accurate, up-to-date information on COVID-19. The Government of India has started a chatbot on WhatsApp to respond to the queries of people. The chatbot has been named MyGov Corona Helpdesk. It aims to make citizens aware of the pandemic and keep them away from myths and misinformation. Click here for Coronavirus Outbreak LIVE Updates To use the MyGov Corona Helpdesk, users will have to send their queries related to COVID-19 on 9013151515. The helpdesk is free for all. Nearly 20,000 people have been tested positive for COVID-19 in the country. The virus has claimed lives of at least 640 people in India. At least 40 US Navy ships have had coronavirus cases on board, with 26 still affected, according to new reports. The number of service members to test positive stands at 3,578 as of Wednesday with two deaths. A Navy official told CNN the 26 ships with current cases are in being held in ports or yards but did not name the vessels in question. There are said to be no reported cases on 90 ships at sea; there are 297 active duty warships. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he had instructed the U.S. Navy to fire on any Iranian ships that harass it at sea, a week after 11 vessels from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy came dangerously close to American ships in the Gulf. An Iranian armed forces spokesman said after Trump's comments that the United States should focus on saving its military from the coronavirus, . The startling figures of coronavirus in the Navy come just weeks after the captain of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt was fired for pressing the Navy to take greater action to safeguard his crew from the virus. The captain of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt was fired for pressing the Navy to take greater action to safeguard his crew from the virus. The Navy's top admiral will soon decide the fate of the ship captain who was fired after pleading for his superiors to move faster to safeguard his coronavirus-infected crew on the USS Theodore Roosevelt, pictured Captain Brett Crozier, commanding officer of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. The Navy's civilian leader, Thomas Modly, fired the ship's captain on April 2 'We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die. If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset our Sailors,' fired Capt. Brett E. Crozier wrote in the leaked letter. 'The spread of the disease is ongoing and accelerating.' Just days later a sailor who tested positive for coronavirus while aboard the Roosevelt died in Guam on April 13. Chief Petty Officer Charles Robert Thacker Jr., assigned to the USS Theodore Roosevelt, who died from the coronavirus on April 13 at U.S. Naval Hospital Guam In a statement, the Navy said Aviation Ordnanceman Chief Petty Officer Charles Robert Thacker Jr., 41, of Fort Smith, Arkansas, died at the US Naval Hospital in Guam of COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus. 'As of today, 94% of USS Theodore Roosevelt crew members were tested for Covid-19, with 710 total positive and 3,872 negative results,' a release from the U.S. Navy on Tuesday said. Of the 710 positive cases, nine sailors are being treated at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Guam, 42 have recovered and one sailor has died as a result of the disease. The remaining 3,872 crew members tested received negative results. Thacker was the first active-duty military member to die of COVID-19. He tested positive the same day that a letter written by the ship's captain begging the Navy high command to evacuate the virus-stricken vessel leaked to the press. The Roosevelt had been in a coronavirus crisis that prompted the Navy's civilian leader, Thomas Modly, to fire the ship's captain on April 2. Five days later - after having flown to the ship and delivering a speech in which he insulted the skipper, Capt. Brett E. Crozier, and criticizing the crew for supporting Crozier - Modly resigned. Modly said he felt compelled to remove Crozier from command because he had distributed too widely via email a letter in which he called for more urgent Navy action to prevent a deeper coronavirus crisis aboard his ship. Crozier's words angered Modly but were seen by others as necessary. Crozier received cheers and chants of 'Captain Crozier' from the crew as he left the ship. He later tested positive for COVID-19. Defense Secretary Mark Esper has now said it is possible that the fired captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt currently stationed in Guam could be reinstated to his post. President Donald Trump, pictured with First Lady Melania, said on Wednesday he had instructed the U.S. Navy to fire on any Iranian ships that harass it at sea A sailor who tested positive for coronavirus while aboard the Roosevelt died on April 13 Senior Pentagon officials said that Trump's Wednesday comments on Iran were meant as a warning to Tehran, but suggested that the U.S. military would continue to abide by their existing right to self-defense instead of any changes to their rules. 'The president issued an important warning to the Iranians, what he was emphasizing is all of our ships retain the right of self-defense,' Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist told reporters at the Pentagon. Earlier this month, the U.S. military said 11 vessels from the IRGCN came close to U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships in the Gulf, calling the moves 'dangerous and provocative.' At one point, the Iranian vessels came within 10 yards of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Maui. While such interactions at sea had occurred occasionally a few years ago, they had stopped recently. Tensions between Iran and the United States increased earlier this year after the United States killed Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds Force, in a drone strike in Iraq. Iran retaliated on January 8 with a rocket attack on Iraq's Ain al-Asad base where U.S. forces were stationed. No U.S. troops were killed or faced immediate bodily injury, but more than 100 were later diagnosed with traumatic brain injury. Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps said on Wednesday it had successfully launched the country's first military satellite into orbit. T he skies over London havent been this clear for decades. You can hear birdsong in Trafalgar Square. Carbon emissions from transportation and power are plummeting. The fossil fuel industry is in freefall. If only this were part of a plan. If only this were part of a measured, strategic, global response to the climate crisis; that would be cause for celebration on todays Earth Day. But, of course, it isnt. This climate easing is the result of the global economic slowdown caused by Covid-19. And while some hope that travel habits and personal consumption will change when all this is over, we cant afford to count on that. We have to emerge from this crisis with a plan to deal with the bigger, longer, more dangerous crisis of climate chaos and use Covid-19 as a chance to reset. Among the desperate tragedy and economic disruption of coronavirus Ive seen some positive moments that should inspire us for the climate fight. First, were actually paying attention to the science. Graphs and models have become primetime TV. That trust in science must be strengthened if were all to understand how to tackle the complexities of global warming. Second, were seeing unprecedented co-operation across industries and government departments. In my industry, energy, CEOs and the Government are holding weekly meetings on customer welfare. As far as I know, this has never happened before. We should extend this co-operation to the climate battle. We have seen that global co-operation is paramount, delay can be deadly. This is also true for global warming Third, massive government intervention commitments of vast sums to support industry and commerce is now commonplace. That also must be used to address the climate. In the aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2008, President Barack Obama encouraged the rescued US motor industry to produce electric vehicles. That should be our inspiration; future support schemes should be tied to new and more stringent environmental commitments. As a start, all British businesses need to be required to report on their environmental impact and make a commitment to reducing their emissions. You cant reduce what you cant measure. In this crisis we have seen that preparedness and global co-operation are paramount and delay can be deadly. This is also true for global warming, which still looms over us. In our recovery from Covid-19, lets make sure we stimulate a green recovery, the growth of a cleaner, more sustainable economy. Turkey observes the National Sovereignty and Childrens Day every year on April 23 and 2020 will mark the centenary of the inauguration of its Grand National Assembly in Ankara which in 1920 during the War of Independence, laying the foundations for an independent, secular and modern republic. The April 23 celebrations focus on children after the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, dedicated the day to children as the nations future. This unique and very special international celebration would, under normal circumstances, be celebrated with events held all around the country, as you can see from the featured photograph. International Childrens Day: celebrating from home This year, the measures in place to reduce the spread of coronavirus, mean the children of Turkey will celebrate from their homes. The children of Fethiye are celebrating together by decorating the balconies of their homes and Fethiye Municipality is holding a Balcony Decoration Contest for the most beautiful balcony. Balconies adorned with Turkish flags, balloons and flowers can be seen everywhere and children are drawing pictures and making video clips with 23 April National Sovereignty and Childrens Day, Stay home in Turkey as the theme. A Dolphin Team surprise for a student in Tasyaka One elementary school student in the Tasyaka District of Fethiye had a lovely surprise. Parents of another student, who knew that the financial situation of the family wouldnt allow them to decorate the balcony of their house, reported it to police teams. On receiving the information, the dolphin team affiliated to the District Police Department, went to the house in Tasyaka and decorated the balcony with items they bought with money they had collected. The Police teams, on discovering the family didnt have internet in their home, recorded a video of the student reading poetry on the balcony, and sent it to the class teacher. The children from Fethiye have also been celebrating by singing from their homes. Video courtesy of Fethiye Belediyesi https://www.facebook.com/fethiyebelediye/videos/2324637214503971/ We would like to wish a happy International Childrens Day to children everywhere. Police said laws to allow them to enforce the coronavirus measures could have been clearer in order to make their job easier. The PSNI has also requested the Department of Health consider designating other public officials to enforce lockdown measures so it can focus on its "core responsibilities". Police have been criticised over their handling of new powers to enforce the Covid-19 lockdown with some arguing they are going beyond what the legislation allows. The force said it recognised the impact its actions in response had on public confidence but it had the backing of the Department of Health. Read More Assistant Chief Constable Alan Todd told the BBC Stephen Nolan show: "The regulations provided by the Department of Health were produced in order to deal with the current health emergency. "Greater clarity in the regulations would have undoubtedly made our job easier; however, we recognise the difficult circumstances under which the regulations were produced and the ultimate desire to save lives." The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020 introduced by the Northern Ireland Assembly states that no person may leave the place where they are living without reasonable excuse". One of the "reasonable excuses" listed in the legislation is "to take exercise either alone or with other members of their household". The Department of Health have recognised our current approach is a reasonable and pragmatic approach to enforcement. ACC Todd The legislation makes no reference to where exactly the exercise should be carried out. PSNI advice states that people can leave home "to exercise, for example, a run, walk or cycle - alone or with members of your household". Chief Constable Simon Byrne told the public exercise should start at the front door. Police have set up a dedicated reporting hotline for the public to report concerns about people potentially flouting the rules. On Tuesday it was revealed more than 600 reports had been made every day since it was introduced on April 10. The PSNI said the reports included claims of people exercising more than once a day and a jogger coming within two metres of someone on a footpath. However, reports they said lacked clarity or provided insufficient information for them to act. Hundreds have been fined since the lockdown was introduced. We understand the need to be transparent and accountable to the community. ACC Todd. Police said they had taken legal advice on the new laws, but refused to disclose that guidance saying it was subject to "legal privilege". Assistant Chief Constable Alan Todd continued: Our view of the current regulations continues to be that people are required stay at home unless they have a reasonable excuse/need to be away from home. While our legal advice is subject to legal privilege, we understand the need to be transparent and accountable to the community on this issue. It is therefore important to note that our current approach was developed with the benefit of other legal consultation and guidance and that it has the support of a range of partners including the Northern Ireland Policing Board and the Northern Ireland Executive including the Department of Health and the Department of Justice." The attorney general's office said it was in discussions with the Public Prosecution Service on providing guidance on the measures. ACC Todd continued: "We continue to talk to the Department of Health and other Executive partners about the regulations and our policing approach. "In their most recent correspondence with us, the Department of Health have recognised our current approach is a reasonable and pragmatic approach to enforcement. We will continue to engage with the Department of Health, particularly in relation to their commitment to review the Regulations every 21 days. We are not seeking to criminalise people quite the opposite "We will respond to any changes directed by the Department of Health and the Executive and if further guidance is forthcoming, from whatever source, clearly we will take that on-board. As the public would expect us to do, we have undertaken our role in the current health emergency to support the health service. We did not assume these new powers lightly and we recognise that our approach has an impact on public confidence. We are not seeking to criminalise people quite the opposite. The key focus of our approach continues to be one of engagement. We continue to talk to people we see out and about; explaining what we require them to do and encouraging them to change their behaviour to reduce the spread of the virus. We are only using enforcement as a last resort if people are not listening and putting lives at risk. Our key role is to support our Health Service colleagues by reducing the spread of the virus. We want to thank the vast majority of our community who are supporting us by staying at home and saving lives. The Department of Health has been approached for comment. The Kashmir Press Club on Wednesday expressed concern over the FIRs against journalists in the Valley and sought their immediate withdrawal to allow media to function in a conducive atmosphere. In a statement issued here, the press club said in the latest instance, a case has been registered against journalist and author Gowhar Geelani. This is third such FIR in a row in last few days against a journalist, the club said while seeking withdrawal of the FIRs against Peerzada Ashiq, Masrat Zahra and Gowhar Geelani. As already conveyed, the club on behalf of the fraternity will write a representation to the Press Club of India detailing these issues and other grievances related to difficulties faced by media during the pandemic. In this regard, a memorandum will also be written to the highest authorities including J&K L-G GC Murmu. We hope the media fraternity, which is working amid huge challenges will get a conducive atmosphere to deliver their day to day duties, the statement reads. Jammu and Kashmir Police on Tuesday had filed a FIR against journalist Gowhar Geelani accusing him of glorifying terrorism on social media. He is the third journalist to be booked in last two days. Police said the cyber police station, Kashmir zone, has received information through reliable sources that Gowhar Geelani is indulging in unlawful activities through his posts and writings on social media platforms which are prejudicial to the national integrity, sovereignty and security of India. The fresh case comes a day after police had registered cases against woman photo journalist Masrat Zahra and Peerzada Ashiq. Police had invoked the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) against Zahra for allegedly uploading anti-national posts on her social media accounts. Former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah tweeted: No ifs, no buts, no whataboutery - this campaign of FIRs against journalists and commentators in Kashmir is wrong and must stop. If your version of events is so weak that you have to charge these people, it says more about what is happening in Kashmir than anything they have written. DALLAS, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Fears Nachawati Law Firm is donating $50,000 to Public Justice, a nonprofit organization devoted to assisting those affected by government and corporate abuse, as well as ensuring that individuals have fair and equal access to open courts and the civil and criminal justice system. The mission of Public Justice is to identify, support and engage in litigation that advances the public good. These matters include civil rights and liberties, anti-bullying, consumer protection, gender and sexual violence, environmental pollution, criminal justice reform and workers' rights. The organization also works to increase awareness and protections for food workers from servers to distributors through the Public Justice Food Project. "Our legal system is under attack by corporate interests, and in Public Justice, we found an organization whose values aligned perfectly with our own," said Fears Nachawati co-founder Majed Nachawati. "The work that this organization is doing has never been more important and we want to do our part to support it. The civil justice system provides a way for individuals to level the playing field against powerful corporate interests, and it's critical that we defend this uniquely American institution." Public Justice is supported by the Public Justice Foundation, a nonprofit membership organization made up of attorneys and other interested parties across the country. Fears Nachawati's donation will support Public Justice, as well as the organization's Justice for All Fund, which was created specifically to combat the efforts of lobbyists working to restrict the public's access to the legal system. More information on Public Justice can be found by visiting the organization's website at https://www.publicjustice.net/. Founded in 2006, Fears Nachawati Law Firm represents individuals, businesses and public entities in cases involving business interruption insurance disputes, medical device and pharmaceutical liability, environmental damage claims, and serious personal injury and wrongful death. For more information on the firm, visit https://www.fnlawfirm.com. Robert Tharp 800-559-4534 [email protected] SOURCE Fears Nachawati Law Firm Related Links https://www.fnlawfirm.com An elderly man who managed a Melbourne brothel where a teenage girl was being sold for sex has walked free from court. Xiang Zhang, of Doncaster, faces a swag of child sex exploitation charges amid accusations he put up a 16-year old for sale. Zhang was in charge of Heidelberg Angel in September last year when police stormed the premises and rescued the child. Xiang Zhang, 60, of Doncaster leaves Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Wednesday. He is accused of employing a 16-year old as a sex worker at the Vernon Street brothel Melbourne brothel Heidelberg Angel has been caught up in a child prostitution investigation that has already seen three people charged The 60-year old appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Wednesday with the help of an interpreter. The court heard Zhang had not even been placed on bail by police following his arrest late last month. Instead, he was summonsed to appear before the court alongside a 32-year old man and a 50-year old woman. His co-accused Cheng Li and Ying Yang also remain free in the community after also being released on summons. The revelations appeared to surprise Magistrate Donna Bakos, who exclaimed, 'Summons?'. Outside court, Leading Senior-Constable Glenn Holland told Daily Mail Australia the alleged pimps' were released on summons last month while detectives prepared the case. It is understood the alleged victim had worked at the Vernon Street brothel - 10kms northeast of Melbourne - between August and September last year. However, they were not charged until March 25. All three face charges of: causing a child to take part in sex work; obtaining payment for sexual services by a child; agreement for provision of sexual services by a child; and allowing a child to take part in sex work. The two men were also charged with failing to have supervision of a brothel. The brothel promotes itself to largely to Asian clientele. Leading Senior-Constable Glenn Holland has brought the charges against the alleged child pimps. He charged the group on summons late last month as Victorians went into COVID-19 lockdown Heidelberg Angels (pictured) has been busted for allegedly employing a child as a sex worker 'Just 5 minutes from Northland Shopping Centre, Heidelberg Angel is one of the hottest Asian brothels you can find in the Eastern suburbs of Melbourne,' it boasts. 'Heidelberg Angel is your stop-by for some gentlemans fun.' Police will allege the teenager was offered for sex for as little as $100. The brothel claims to abide by Victoria's Sex Work Act of 1994. 'To protect our girls and ensure their rights while offering our customers great gentleman fun,' it states. 'We follow every single rule of the Sex Work Act 1994 from Victoria for a legal and licensed environment to both you and our girls.' Xiang Zhang, of Doncaster, faces a swag of child sex exploitation charges amid accusations he put up a 16-year old for sale Heidelberg Angel listed its rates on its website. Police allege a teenage girl was being hired-off to its customers for sex It remains unclear where the alleged victim originates, with the brothel claiming to employee girls from Australia and China, to Japan, India and the United Kingdom. 'Our angels come from all around the world to bring you an authentic sexual experience across the globe,' it claims. Google reviews of the establishments reveals the brothel was under pressure from customers to hire younger women. 'The girls are too old and the service was too short and less than the time i paid for,' one disgruntled customer posted just under a year ago. 'Only 2 old ladies when I was there, won't come back,' another wrote. One review received a response from the owner defending the supposedly old age of its employees. 'Dear customer, I am sorry for giving you a bad feeling! There were eight girls in their 20s at our store todayWe update girls every day, welcome to visit again,' the post stated. Zhang was not required to address the court and will return with his co-accused on May 22. The specialised unit that busted the brothel visited legal brothels more than 50 times and suspected illegal brothels 150 times last year. Brothels are among the long list of venues that have been banned from operating during the coronavirus pandemic. Police have been cracking down on companies operating illegally during this time. A Sydney brothel was fined $5000 for continuing to operate and three staff were each fined $1000 on March 29. Like all sectors, the legal world has had to adapt in light of the coronavirus crisis. But there are mounting concerns among those involved in defending personal injury cases that the pandemic may give rise to exaggerated claims. From virtual courtrooms to judgments delivered via YouTube, uncharted territory has been entered in a bid to maintain legal activity since the world went into lockdown. However, some legal experts believe the chaos may provide an unwelcome opportunity for those with a history of bringing spurious injury claims. New measures have been introduced by the Personal Injuries Assessment Board to help facilitate those who wish to make a claim during the lockdown restrictions. One big change concerns the provision of a medical report when initiating an injury claim. During normal times, it is standard procedure for someone making a claim to provide a medical report. However, this requirement has now been temporarily waived. A spokesperson for the Injuries Board said "it would be inappropriate for medical examinations to take place at this time" as health facilities across the country "rightly prioritise" the response to Covid-19. Instead, a letter must be given stating that a medical report has been commissioned for a later date. This means that a claimant may not be physically examined by a doctor until weeks or months after submitting their claim. Louise Smith, a partner with Ronan Daly Jermyn solicitors, is well known for her work in the area of insurance fraud. She fears that some opportunists who claim they suffered soft tissue injuries may use the coronavirus chaos as the ultimate excuse. "The nature and severity of the claims being brought will be difficult to determine from a medical assessment which is not undertaken until some time after the alleged incident occurs," she said. "It could now be up to six months after an Injuries Board claim is lodged before a medical report is provided, and further down the track if we question people who we suspect may be making an exaggerated claim why they didn't seek medical attention for such an extended period following the accident, the coronavirus can be legitimately used as an excuse." The Injuries Board spokesperson added that even if medicals were possible, "sending in parties to medical facilities at the moment may put them at risk". Claimants will still have to supply medical reports and attend independent medical examinations after the government restrictions have been lifted. While it is right for the Injuries Board to prioritise the health and safety of claimants and healthcare professionals, this change may inadvertently cause significant issues down the line. Ms Smith believes there could also be serious repercussions for those with genuine injuries. "People with genuine injuries may be unable to undergo treatment in light of Covid-19," said Ms Smith. "This could impede their recovery and extend their symptoms. "In personal injury claims there is a duty on the claimant to mitigate their loss but, in light of the current lockdown, this may not be possible, which could lead to a longer recovery time, which will ultimately result in greater awards," she added. While fewer people are driving and the majority of public places are now closed, people have up to two years to bring a personal injury claim. Therefore, those who suffered injuries before the pandemic unfolded may only decide now to take legal action for accidents which happened months ago. Ms Smith believes that the statute of limitations for bringing a claim may end up being extended as a result of Covid-19. "From an insurer's point of view, this could be quite a tough pill to swallow as two years is already a significant time period within which one can take a claim, especially if you believe the claim to be exaggerated or fraudulent," she said. "You often see cases where people are involved in a minor collision, as a result of which there is little or no damage done to either vehicle. "The parties exchange their details, but in light of the minimal nature of the impact think nothing more of it and don't bother notifying insurers. "Months later they get a solicitor's letter in the post at which stage the defendant can be at a significant disadvantage, as a result of the delay in reporting, to properly investigate and defend the claim. "If they extend the statute of limitations, the prospect of robustly defending the claim will become even more difficult." Dublin GP Maitiu O Tuathail said it would be very difficult for doctors to assess patients weeks or months after they suffered an injury. "It will be hard to provide a medical report based on what patients are telling you alone when you haven't assessed them straight away. It will definitely provide for an interesting few months," he said. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has tested negative for the Coronavirus, one of his aides said on Wednesday, days after the premier came in contact with a civil society activist who had tested positive for Covid-19. There was some confusion earlier in the day after Samaa TV news channel reported that Khan underwent a test for Covid-19 on Tuesday, whereas the premiers focal person for the Covid-19 crisis, Faisal Sultan, clarified that his sample had been collected for testing on Wednesday. Prime Minister Imran Khan was tested today for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus strain that causes coronavirus disease 2019 [COVID-19]). The test used was a polymerase chain reaction (PCR). I am happy to report that his test is NEGATIVE, Firdous Ashiq Awan, special advisor to the prime minister for information and broadcasting, tweeted late on Wednesday. Earlier, Sultan issued a brief video message that said only the sample had been collected. The test takes a few hours. We will release the report through official channels once it is received, he said. The decision to test Khan was made according to a standard operating procedure (SOP) that states every contact of a confirmed Covid-19 case should undergo a test, officials said. The news about the test for the prime minister came on the day that the number of Covid-19 cases in Pakistan crossed the 10,000 mark. The country has also recorded 212 deaths while 2,156 people have recovered. On Tuesday, it emerged that Faisal Edhi, the son of late philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi, had tested positive for the novel Coronavirus. Faisal Edhi met Khan on April 15 to hand over a cheque for Rs10 million for the premiers coronavirus relief fund. Saad Edhi, the son of Faisal Edhi, told Dawn newspaper that his father began showing symptoms last week, soon after meeting Khan in Islamabad. The symptoms lasted for four days before subsiding, Saad said. He added his father was currently in Islamabad and doing better. Faisal Edhis test was conducted at Al-Shifa Hospital in Islamabad last week. A spokesperson for the Edhi Foundation, Muhammad Bilal, told the media that Faisal Edhi had gone into self-isolation. However, Khan faced considerable criticism, mostly on social media, for continuing to hold meetings and for not going into self-isolation after it became known that Edhi had tested positive. He was also criticised for his governments decision to allow prayers at mosques, especially during the holy month of Ramzan. Your tax-deductible gift today powers our reporters and keeps us independent. We rely on you, our reader, not paywalls to stay funded because we believe important news and information should be freely accessible to all. Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe Lewis MacAdams, credited for his pioneering work to reimagine the much-maligned Los Angeles River, has died at the age of 75. The Los Angeles Times reports that he died today of complication of Parkinson's disease at an L.A. healthcare facility. We are restoring this profile from our KPCC archives when MacAdams announced his retirement. By Adriana Cargill | Dec. 1, 2016 The Los Angeles River, once the lifeblood of the city, was encased in concrete by the Army Corps of Engineers after devastating floods in the 1930s. Before Lewis MacAdams began his work, most Angelenos were scarcely aware they even had a river. MacAdams' unique use of poetry, art and community engagement help change the ways Angelenos think about their once forgotten river. His 30-year love affair with the river started one night in the winter of 1986 with a lot of heavy drinking. He and a few friends went down to a stretch of the river just north of downtown and cut a hole in the chain link fence, declaring the waterway "open to the people." "When I saw the river for the first time, it was just a tragedy it was so screwed up," MacAdams, 72, said. He asked the river if he could speak for it in the human realm and it didn't say no. From that night on, the river became his muse. He went on to create Friends of the Los Angeles River or FoLAR to advocate for it. icon DON'T MISS ANY L.A. CORONAVIRUS NEWS Get our daily newsletters for the latest on COVID-19 and other top local headlines. Terms of Use and Privacy Policy At first people didn't understand why MacAdams was so bent on restoring the natural ecosystem of what many people saw as a concrete flood channel. He envisioned a more beautiful waterway that would bring people and nature together. "When we started river clean up the first year, I called for 10,000 people to show up, and 10 showed up," MacAdams said. "But I didn't care, and people made fun of it, but I didn't care because I knew something was going on there." Andy Lipkis, executive director of the environmental non-profit TreePeople, said MacAdams has inspired him and others who pioneered L.A.'s early environmental movement. "Nobody has had the impact that he has had. He's not a classic leader but he is a classic visionary," Lipkis says. "We so undervalue visionaries because they're often a threat to us. They shake up our reality and have us uncomfortably see things we don't see." In 1995, the city set about bulldozing all the vegetation in the L.A. River in the name of flood control. When MacAdams heard about it, he lay down in front of the bulldozers to stop the destruction. He called it performance art but it led to FoLAR's first meeting with the county government. MacAdams told us: "I was called into a meeting with head of the county Department of Public Works. And he keep referring to the river as a flood control channel. And every time he said, 'flood control channel,' I interrupted him, and I said 'river.' This back-and-forth [went on] for a few minutes, these middle aged men shouting at each other 'River!' 'No, flood control channel!' 'No river!'" It took decades to settle that argument. In 2008 the L.A. River was officially designated as a "navigable waterway" by the Army Corps of Engineers. The crowning jewel of his push to revitalize the waterway is the so-called Alternative 20 plan, passed by the Los Angeles City Council this June. It's a $1.3 billion plan to revitalize the river --removing concrete, restoring the ecosystem and creating more bike lanes and public parks. MacAdams didn't do it alone. The plan is the result of work by many politicians, engineers, scientists, community activists, artists and environmentalists who MacAdams energized over decades. Mayor Eric Garcetti, a former creative writing student of MacAdams, said he inspired him push hard for river revitalization in his political career. A train crosses the Los Angeles River on November 20, 2015 in Los Angeles, California.(David McNew/Getty Images) When MacAdams stepped down as president of FoLAR in 2016, Marissa Christensen, the current senior policy director, took his place. He said he's turning over the reins with regret that he couldn't have accomplished more. "Well, we haven't gotten any concrete out yet," he said. "When we get some concrete coming out, I'll give myself the benefit of the doubt." MacAdams insists he isn't retiring despite his recent stroke. He plans to stay on FoLAR's board and continue urging people to make their own personal connection with the river. But how? "That's a question many people have asked me and the answer is basically just take a walk along the river and the river will tell you what to do next," he said. "It's no secret." Currently in the planning phase is a seven-foot-tall statue of MacAdams somewhere along the river's edge. It'll be an homage to the man who has devoted his life to shaping the city's vision of the river. A poem he has written about his beloved river muse will be etched into the statue: "To Artesia" I think of the river the way it reads in the Sam Shepard story, Cruising Paradise-- a "huge concrete serpent," a "dumping ground for murder victims." I think of the river beside a freeway off-ramp as roller-bladers, bent into it, spandexed buttocks rotating, roll downstream. I think of William Mulholland's "gentle, limpid stream" coursing from a Pharaoh's forehead or from the brow of a Rhine-maiden, green-eyed and coffee-colored, a bracelet of drowned children wrapped around her wrist, descending from the mountains east of Irwindale into the jardin des rocas. The river is a rigorous mistress, but when you tickle her with your deeds, you can hear laughter from beneath her concrete corset. A version of this story originally ran on KPCC. MORE ON THE LA RIVER WE LOVE TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS The Republican governors of three southeastern US states, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee, have put plans into motion that partially lift COVID-19 restrictions in their respective states, some of which have already taken place. These aggressive moves go beyond US President Donald Trumps vague guidelines for Opening Up America Again, which all US states are now using to remove restrictions and reopen in the coming weeks. Counter-protesters stand as people with ReopenNC demonstrate in Raleigh, N.C., to press Gov. Roy Cooper to allow businesses to reopen during the COVID-19 outbreak Tuesday, April 21, 2020. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome) Georgia Governor Brian Kemp approved reopening gyms, fitness centers, bowling alleys, body art studios, barbers, cosmetologists, hair designers, nail care artists, estheticians, their respective schools & massage therapists beginning on Friday, April 24, with restrictions. He also stated that theaters, private social clubs and restaurants will be allowed to reopen on Monday, April 27. South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster began removing economic restrictions April 19, allowing businesses previously deemed non-essential, such as department stores, flea markets, bookstores and music shops, to reopen. Last week, McMaster reopened public boat ramps that had been closed for several weeks and encouraged people to practice social distancing on the states waterways. When asked why he was not adhering to Trumps guidelines that recommend 14 days of declining positive tests before lifting restrictions, McMaster stated that these were good guidelines but not requirements. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced this week that some of his states businesses will be allowed to reopen on Monday, April 27, and that the vast majority can follow suit on Friday, May 1. Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, has also announced that he intends to remove restrictions this week, allowing businesses such as restaurants and hair salons to reopen. Source: Georgia Department of Public Health According to Trumps guidelines, which are an expression of the interests of Wall Street and finance capital, phase one states should allow large venues such as restaurants, movie theaters, sporting venues and places of worship to operate under strict social-distancing protocols; elective surgeries would resume on an outpatient basis; and gyms would reopen if they adhere to physical distancing and sanitation protocols. Schools, daycare centers and bars should remain closed in phase one, and visits to senior living facilities and hospitals should also continue to be prohibited. The gating criteria for phase one include a downward trajectory of influenza-like illnesses reported within a 14-day period, a downward trajectory of documented cases reported within a 14-day period, and a robust testing program in place for at-risk health care workers. Even though these criteria are themselves inadequate for the health and safety of workers, none of the states in question actually meets them, or is even close, particularly on the question of testing. Virtually all US states have told their residents, including health care workers, that they should get tested only if they exhibit strong symptoms of COVID-19. This means that the number of people infected with the novel coronavirus (which causes COVID-19) are much higher than what is actually reported. An examination of the data reported in each of the three states shows an overall upward trajectory in the number of new cases reported each week, not downward. Source: South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control During the last two weeks, Georgia has had six days with more than 700 new cases each. The state has performed 84,779 tests and confirmed 19,398 cases of COVID-19, placing it at number 12 among all US states. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Georgia has had 3,702 people hospitalized and 774 people die due to the illness. Tennessee has seen a steady overall increase in new COVID-19 cases, with a consistent peak in data at the beginning of each week. There are about 300 new cases reported on each of the peak days and an increase of about 1,000 new cases overall each week. South Carolina showed a lower number of new cases reported last week, but the states Department of Health and Environmental Control reports that this is likely due to incomplete data collection. Only 766 new cases were reported for the week ending on April 18, while each of the previous two weeks saw over 1,200 new reported cases. South Carolinas state epidemiologist, Linda Bell, stated that there has been a potential leveling off in the states new cases, but that the decline is not yet consistent. We all obviously want to see an economic recovery, but at the same time we have to give the message that the risk of exposure remains for everyone. Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a cardiologist who was an adviser to the George W. Bush administration, told CNN that the crisis has not abated. In Georgia, the virus is still very, very active and this behavior is frankly reckless. Reiner has previously stated that everyone should be tested for COVID-19, even if they do not show symptoms of the virus. Source: Tennessee Department of Health Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned against reopening too quickly. During an interview on Good Morning America, he stated: If you jump the gun and go into a situation where you have a big spike, youre going to set yourself back. As painful as it is to go by the careful guidelines of gradually phasing into a reopening, its going to backfire. Thats the problem. The reopening is going ahead despite these warnings, with the governors assured that Trump will not make any effort to enforce the White House guidelines, whose real purpose was to give the administration political cover in the near-certain event that the first states to reopen will suffer appalling casualties. This is a virtual death sentence for many of the residents of these states, who are being used as guinea pigs in the ruling elites bid to begin making profits again. Georgia Governor Kemp admitted, I will say that, when we have more people moving around we probably will see our cases continue to go up, but were a lot better prepared for that than we were a month ago. People in all three states have responded with vehemence to these developments. In a Facebook group created to follow developments in South Carolina, one member said, We are the experiment! Georgia is opening bowling alleys and movie theaters. No words! Another wrote, I disagree with opening these places. Im a massage therapist, and yes, I need money, but not at the cost of losing my life or putting anyone else in jeopardy. We are headed for disaster. A Twitter user declared: I live in Tennessee and this scares the hell out of me. Seven days ago, the Republican governor extended the stay at home and promised more testing. Only 11k were tested this weekend, and now hes reopening the state. Another wrote, Brian Kemp is not reopening Georgia economy [sic]. He is kicking uninsured, vulnerable workers off unemployment. If businesses reopen, workers have to go backwhether or not it is safe. Owners have to reopen because they cant file for aid if Kemp says it is safe. It is cruelty. Since March 14, Georgia has received 853,618 unemployment claims, 16.6 percent of the states labor force. Tennessee has 317,535 new claims, which represent 9.4 percent of its labor force, and South Carolina received 272,560 new claims from 11.4 percent of its workforce. In addition to outrage being expressed by state residents, many of the businesses in question have reported that meeting these deadlines for reopening may be impossible. Many of the largest movie theater chains, for instance, such as AMC, Regal and Cinemark, have already furloughed or laid off almost all of their employees across the United States. Local officials are also refusing to comply with state directives. Mayor Kelly Girtz of Athens-Clarke County, Georgia stated Tuesday, Im exhorting everybody in this community to shelter in place. Do not reopen at this point. Its not time to do it. Officials in Charleston County, South Carolina said that they will not totally reopen their beaches and issued a joint statement: There is no evidence from medical professionals that indicates that the threat of COVID-19 in our region has diminished. South Carolina is still in the acceleration phase and even with the reduction in growth of new cases, new cases could begin to grow quickly if social distancing restrictions are lifted. In addition to the reopening of businesses and waterways in South Carolina, the City of Jacksonville in Florida reopened some of its beaches last week. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, another Republican, echoed his southern counterparts when he told Fox News that Florida has flattened the curve. People have done a great job, and I think we understand that you can do both. You can continue to fight COVID-19 but also get people back to work and have society function again. Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick has also called for the reopening of his state, blatantly stating on Fox News on Monday, There are more important things than living, and thats saving this country for my children and grandchildren and saving this country for all of us. Patrick had previously suggested that grandparents should be willing to risk death in the interests of reopening business operations more generally. While Trump-style Republicans are taking the lead, all of the states, including those run by Democrats, are using Trumps vague guidelines to reopen their states in the coming weeks. Colorado Governor Jared Polis has extended his states stay-at-home order only to April 26 and stated that while not all restrictions will be lifted at once, We have to find a sustainable way that will be adapted in real time to how we live with it. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker stated Monday that he will slowly start lifting shelter-in-place orders so that some industry workers can go back to work. Polis is a multi-millionaire and Pritzker a billionaire. Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has stated that she expects the coronavirus cases to peak between April 19 and 29, and has extended her states stay-at-home order only through May 3. Some Democratic Party governors and local officials claim that they will lift restrictions based on the use of scientific evidence, but they are already responding to the concocted media narrative, based on tiny right-wing demonstrations in various state capitals, that there is an overwhelming popular demand to go back to work. In reality, this demand is coming from the corporate bosses and the banks, not the workers, and it is driven by the necessity to resume the extraction of surplus value that is the motor force of the capitalist system. President Trump, for his part, took the opposite approach. In a Twitter message on the eve of Earth Day, he promised help for the fossil fuel sector, saying he had instructed administration officials to ensure that federal funds be made available to the oil and gas sector, so that these very important companies and jobs will be secured long into the future. His administration has rolled back a raft of environmental protections and announced its exit from the Paris climate accord, which is designed to slow down the rate of global temperature rise and avert the worst effects of climate change. The coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed around 180,000 lives, came at a time when attention to climate change had risen globally. Children and teenagers had launched worldwide protests, demanding that presidents and prime ministers take climate action. The titans of business and finance had unveiled pledges to reduce their carbon footprints, and BlackRock, the worlds largest asset manager, with $7 trillion in global investments, announced that it would start pulling its money from ventures with high levels of climate risk. For the first time, climate change policies had begun to figure prominently in the United States presidential election campaign. Then came the pandemic, which, as Greta Thunberg, the 17-year-old climate activist, put it, turned everything upside down. Whether we like it or not, the world has changed, she said Wednesday from the Nobel Museum in Stockholm, her home city. It looks completely different from how it did a few months ago and it will probably not look the same again and we are going to have to choose a new way forward. Khristen Hamilton, 18, an organizer with a youth activist group called Zero Hour, said her organization had been forced to drop plans for an ambitious bus tour and in-person voter registration drive. Now, the group is running the registration effort online and hosting weekly webinars on what it calls the roots of the climate crisis. In March, the Trump administration closed the Mexican and Canadian borders to non-essential travel, and it also barred entry to any foreign nationals who in the past 14 days had been in China, Iran or the countries that make up Europe's Schengen area. Restricting immigration has been a top priority for Trump, who has been roundly criticized for initially downplaying the coronavirus. The U.S. has by far the most confirmed COVID-19 cases in the world, with nearly 789,000 instances and 42,458 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking cases. The U.S. has nearly one-third of all reported cases. He offered few details, saying only the move would come by way of executive order. Halting immigration to the U.S. could affect hundreds of thousands of visa holders and people hoping to apply for permanent resident "green cards." U.S. President Donald Trump says he will suspend immigration to the United States due to the coronavirus outbreak. In a tweet late Monday, Trump called the outbreak "the attack from the Invisible Enemy," and he cited a "need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens." Two researchers with the Cato Institute, a Washington-based libertarian research group, said in a blog post that Trump has the authority to restrict immigration to protect public health. "However, blanket bans like those imposed by the administration in recent months and those coming on April 21 are akin to closing the bar door after the horse has escaped," wrote researchers Andrew Forrester and Alex Nowrasteh. "Most research on travel bans in response to pandemics finds that they don't limit the spread of the disease, in part because they are always imposed after the disease has spread," Forrester and Nowrasteh added. The American Civil Liberties Union's Andrea Flores said spread of the virus can be curbed by "ensuring equal access to testing and treatment," releasing people who have been detained by U.S. immigration and border protection authorities, and suspending enforcement of immigration policies. "Unfortunately, President Trump seems more interested in fanning anti-immigrant flames than in saving lives," Flores said. "We cannot allow President Trump to exploit this pandemic to advance his racism and xenophobia." But Trump's national security adviser, Robert O'Brien said the suspension is aimed at protecting the health of the American people and would not be "dissimilar" to the January travel restrictions Trump placed on people traveling to the U.S. from China. "We're trying to do everything, the president's trying to do everything he can to put the health of the American people first during this crisis," O'Brien said during a Fox News Channel interview. O'Brien said the travel restrictions to the U.S. from China and hard-hit European countries have saved "tens of thousands of American lives" by slowing the spread of the virus in the U.S. But Trump has not imposed similar travel restrictions to other countries that are currently experiencing outbreaks. With more than 789,000 confirmed cases in the U.S., critics questioned the effectiveness of the suspension and suggested the move is an attempt by Trump to portray immigrants as the cause of the crisis. "Trump is trying to distract and deflect from his failure to address the ongoing pandemic," tweeted Democratic Senator Kamala Harris. "To our immigrant community: know that we see you and we won't stop fighting against Trump's anti-immigrant agenda." "President Trump's tweet is an outrageous attempt to divide us and distract us from his abject failures in dealing with the current pandemic," said Democratic Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, chairwoman of the Judiciary Committee's Immigration and Citizenship Subcommittee. Republican Senator Ted Cruz said, however, that Trump's suspension is a sensible short-term decision that Democrats are, nevertheless, opposing. "It's the same opposition they had when the president on Jan. 31 halted flights in and out of China. That decision saved lives in America," Cruz said in an interview on "Fox & Friends." The U.S. State Department issued an estimated 462,000 immigrant visas during the 2019 fiscal year and U.S. Citizens and Immigration Services approved permanent residence status to almost 577,000 people. Calls to open the economy back up have been growing louder. However, it would be a mistake to do so right now from both a public health and an economic perspective. This undated picture released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on April 12, 2020 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) inspecting a pursuit assault plane group under the Air and Anti-Aircraft Division in the western area of North Korea. After a flurry of speculative reports surrounding the health of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, a top defector from the country and experts warned Tuesday against relying on thin sourcing for information on the opaque regime, while one former resident of the North said Kim had undergone a surgical procedure. An escalating series of reports Monday night and Tuesday morning began with a report on the Daily NK website, the Seoul-based outlet that specializes in news about the North said the North Korean leader was recovering after his April 12 surgery, citing a single source. Subsequent reports by other outlets put Kims health in varying states of emergency, with CNN at one point saying Kim was believed to be in grave danger or even brain-dead. South Koreas presidential Blue House issued a statement Tuesday saying that it had not detected any unusual developments in North Korea and could not confirm any of the reports. South Koreas Yonhap News Agency, quoting a senior Blue House official, reported that Kim was staying outside of Pyongyang with his aides, and that the various branches of North Koreas government were not making special moves or undertaking any emergency maneuvers. Ji Seong-ho, a former North Korean citizen who won a seat in the South Korean National Assebly last week, told RFAs Korean Service in a telephone interview that indeed, Kim did have a medical procedure. From what I hear, it is true that Kim Jong Un has some health issues. His heart has been in a bad condition due to cardiovascular problems, said Ji, who cited a source familiar with the internal situation in North Korea. Thae Yong Ho, the former North Korean deputy ambassador to the U.K. who defected in 2016 and last week who also won his election to the South Korean National Assembly, said in a press release that the movements of the Kim family and their personal affairs are unknown to ordinary people, even among top officials. He did however stress that the situation should be closely watched, because whenever there is controversy over the status of the countrys leader, North Korea would soon make a big deal out of the leaders next public appearance. A U.S.-based North Korea expert told RFA that there appeared to be little doubt about the 36-year-old Kims having undergone a surgical procedure, but warned against errant speculation about his health status. I think that we know that Kim Jong Un has health issues, based on his smoking, his weight and previous concerns about gout and other health related issues, so health is certainly a concern, said Frank Aum, the Senior Advisor to the Asia Center at the United States Institute of Peace. That being said I think, the report that came out last night, we have to be very cautious about, because it goes from one unconfirmed source. We shouldnt be getting too spun up from a report that has one unconfirmed source, he said. We dont have enough information so we shouldnt spend too much time speculating about this, he added. Mark P. Barry, who is an associate editor of the International Journal on World Peace, told RFA that the Daily NKs story, which he read a corrected version of, seemed largely credible. CNN continues to use the phrase grave danger in describing Kims condition after cardiovascular surgery. I dont necessarily think that either the U.S. or South Korea has any way to know, said Barry. Did he have open heart surgery? If so, what procedure(s) were done? Did he merely get a stent for a blocked artery? Were the doctors Korean, Russian, Chinese or European? In any case, Kim Il Sung had heart surgery in 1986 and Kim Jong Il in 2008, yet they still lived several more years, albeit in declining health, Barry added. The eldest Kim died in 1994, and his son, in 2011. RFA attempted to contact the Department of State for comment, but were referred to the White House. National Security Advisor Robert OBrien told local media Tuesday that the U.S. does not know about Kims health. Reported by Albert Hong, Heejung Yang and Jeong Eun Lee. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong. 4 Men Allegedly Held Woman Captive for Hours to Steal Stimulus Check Police arrested four men who were accused of attempting to rob a woman for her pandemic stimulus money. An unnamed woman drove to Lake Station Police Department in Indiana to report that she was held in her home by four men that she knew, reported the Times of Northwest Indiana and Fox59. She alleged the four broke into her home at 1:30 a.m. before stealing her phone, adding that one of the men had a gun, according to officials. The men recently knew she had received her pandemic stimulus check and wanted to rob her, The woman said they left her home after holding her captive for several hours. She then went to the police station but said the men told her they would return. Paul David Blankenship, Phillip David Guzman, Christopher William Jay Henderson, and Jacob Baughman were arrested later that day, police told the Times of Northwest Indiana. They face charges of burglary with a deadly weapon, attempt to commit armed robbery, criminal confinement while armed with a deadly weapon, burglary of a dwelling, and residential entry break and enter. The four are currently being held on $75,000 bail. Under the recently passed stimulus package, many Americans are eligible for up to $1,200, couples are eligible for $2,400, and children can get $500. The Treasury Department last week said tens of millions of Americans received their stimulus cash. The Internal Revenue Services (IRS) also launched a Get My Payment portal that allows people to see when their money will be deposited or when a check will be mailed. The website will also confirm if the IRS will send the money in the mail or via a direct deposit. Advertisement Five massive cargo ships and an oil tanker that have anchored themselves off the Welsh coast have mystified residents - with residents speculating some could contain toilet roll. The vessels are stationed in the Bristol Channel as they wait to dock at Port Talbot after the first of the group arrived at the weekend. The 200-metre Mediterranean Highway was the first to arrive and is registered in Panama, WalesOnline reports. The 55,000 tonne-ship was followed by the Whitstar, registered in the UK, the Golden Eagle, from the Marshall Islands, Sagar Samrat from Singapore, the Bulk Endurance from Panama and the SSI Excellent from the Marshall Islands. The vessels are stationed in the Bristol Channel as they wait to dock at Port Talbot after the first of the group arrived at the weekend One of the vessels - the UK-registered Whitstar - is classified as an oil products tanker Measuring from 75 to 229 metres, it is not clear how long the ships will be in the channel or why they are there. But Business Insider yesterday reported that a record amount of crude oil is being stored offshore due to a huge decline in demand during the coronavirus pandemic. One of the vessels - the UK-registered Whitstar - is classified as an oil products tanker. It came as US oil prices hit below zero for the first time earlier this week, which means producers are paying buyers to take it. In the latest never-before-seen number to come out of the economic coma caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the cost to have a barrel of U.S. crude delivered in May plummeted to minus $37.63. It was at roughly $60 at the start of the year. The drop came because contracts to have US oil delivered in May expired on Tuesday and traders were expected to run out of places to store it within the next two weeks, meaning they were paying buyers who have space to take barrels off their hands. People have taken to social media to share their confusion and demand answers about the ships People have taken to social media to share their confusion and demand answers about the ships. One wrote on Facebook: 'Anyone know what ship/boat is in the bay this morning? Looks like a cruise ship.' Another responded: 'If it's the right one I believe it's a car carrier!' One Twitter user wrote: 'The shortage of toilet rolls finally resolved as six ships anchor in the Bristol channel waiting to enter Port Talbot docks.' Dead & Company has pulled the plug on it summer tour that featured a two-night stand in Boston. The classic jam band was scheduled to play Fenway Park on Aug. 7 and Aug. 8. The group was also set to play the Saratoga Springs Performing Arts Center on Aug. 3. In all, 17 concert dates were canceled. The well-being and safety of our Deadhead community, venue staff and the bands touring family is of the utmost importance," the band wrote in a statement on its website. "We also want to get refunds back to our fans while so many are hurting economically. All tickets will be fully refunded at point of purchase. Dead & Company features Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, as well as Oteil Burbridge, John Mayer and Jeff Chimenti. This is the first summer the band wont be touring since its inception in 2016. Shop for concert tickets here: StubHub, SeatGeek, Ticketmaster. New Zealand's COVID-19 'eradication' strategy looks to be paying off After more than a month confined to dry land without being immersed in the salt and sea, New Zealander Zen Wallis says it feels like he's living in someone else's body. "It's really strange to not go into the water," the professional surfer told CBC News in an interview by Skype. "My skin feels different; my hair feels different." Surfing has been one of the casualties of New Zealand's extreme COVID-19 lockdown introduced in mid-March, one of the most stringent virus-fighting regimes anywhere in the world. Wallis, 28, runs a surfing school in Piha on New Zealand's North Island, about 40 kilometres southwest of Auckland. Coming at the tail end of the Southern Hemisphere's summer, his classes would normally have been full, he says, and he'd have been in water for as long as there was daylight. Luke Darby "It was an interesting call to make to actually make [surfing] criminal," he said. But with the end of the prohibition on surfing and many other activities now just days away, Wallis says he feels the gains in New Zealand probably made the ban worthwhile. "We may be able to open New Zealand back up if we can 'crush' this," he said of the government's stated goal of eradicating the infection. Eradicate COVID-19 On Monday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that what New Zealand calls its Category 4 measures the most intense level would last until end of day April 27, after which the country will revert to Category 3, a level with greater freedoms. "We have done what few countries have been able to do we have stopped a wave of devastation," said Ardern, who has received widespread praise both at home and abroad for taking early, decisive action against COVID-19. "The number of cases that each person with the virus passes it on to is now 0.48, less than half a person each. Overseas, the average is 2.5 people, so we have among the lowest number of confirmed cases per 100,000 people in the world." Story continues As of Tuesday, the country of five million people had registered 1,445 cases and just 13 deaths, most of them in nursing homes. The majority of those infected have also now recovered. Martin Hunter/Reuters For much of March and April, under the Category 4 lockdown, only essential trips to the grocery store and pharmacies were permitted, along with brief trips outside for exercise. Swimming at the beach and surfing were not designated as essential activities, and related businesses closed. Stringent measures The measures, in place since March 25, go significantly beyond what most Canadian provinces have brought in. In British Columbia, for example, restaurants have been serving takeout food, many public parks and beaches have remained open, organizations such as Amazon and Canada Post have been making deliveries and some retailers have been able to continue with in-store sales as long as they abide by physical distancing guidelines. Whereas most countries have focused on "flattening the curve" of cases to ensure health-care systems aren't overwhelmed at the peak of infections, New Zealand's government decided early on it would go a big step further and try to wipe out COVID-19 completely. Siouxsie Wiles/Skype "It's only a viable strategy if you do it early enough. It becomes harder to do it the longer you leave it," said Siouxsie Wiles, an infectious disease expert at the University of Auckland. Wiles, with striking, bright pink hair and an easy way of communicating difficult concepts, has become something of a national celebrity since the beginning of the epidemic with near daily appearances on local media. Measles outbreak In an interview with CBC News, she said one of the key considerations for Ardern's government in adopting the strictest measures possible, was the interconnectedness the country has with many small Pacific islands that were in an extremely poor position to fight COVID-19. "We saw last year in Samoa, when we exported measles, how absolutely devastating it was to them. They just don't have the health-care system we have." In 2019, the small nation in the South Pacific registered almost 6,000 cases of measles resulting in 84 deaths. Scientists believe the disease was carried there by an infected patient who arrived on an Air New Zealand flight. After April 27, Wiles says the plan is to keep New Zealand's borders closed to international travellers and to carefully track every new COVID-19 case that turns up, seeking out and isolating anyone who had contact with the infected person. "If your contact tracing and testing is good enough, then you can minimize outbreaks you can find cases and stop that spread." Luke Darby While New Zealand health officials have not released the raw data on their capacity to contact trace, several independent experts brought in as consultants have agreed with the Ardern government's approach and that New Zealand is in a position to make contact tracing work. Incomplete data Opposition politicians, however, insist the lockdown could have ended even sooner if the government had been more forthright about its ability to monitor the spread of the virus. "This is a real shame, as businesses will suffer further damage, and that will lead to poor health outcomes as a result of the huge stress this will cause for a lot of people," said opposition National Party Leader Simon Bridges. Practically speaking, Category 3 will leave New Zealanders freer than Canadians in some ways but not in others. People will be able to extend their "bubble," as health officials refer to it, by having caregivers or cleaners return to their homes, for example, as long as those workers don't also visit other homes. Schools will open for elementary and middle school students, but the expectation is that any student who is in a position to continue with online learning from home will do so. Luke Darby Industries such as construction and forestry will be allowed to resume. Restaurants will not be able to open up for table service, but takeout will be permitted. And people will be able to head to the beach again to surf. Relapse possible After two weeks, if there is no COVID-19 relapse, the prime minister said the nation could move down to Category 2 by the middle of May, which would permit even greater freedoms. Taiwan and South Korea have had similar success to New Zealand's in cornering the virus, though Singapore, which was also seen as a textbook case, is now experiencing a dramatic second-wave of infections after initially relaxing its prohibitions. Wiles says it is still too soon to know when international flights will resume to New Zealand but she says she expects the first steps may be to resume flying to other nations, such as Taiwan, or those in the South Pacific, that have also virtually wiped out the infection. "We may end up having countries around the world that are these little islands that you could travel between," she said. "Going forward, it's an interesting thing how you maintain [a virus free status]." All of that is heartening news for Zen Wallis, who is planning to be back in the water first thing once the surf ban is lifted. "I'm psyched up. I am getting ready now," he said. Still, after that instant rush, he says, he worries about how long it will take his business and so many others to recover. "I am sure people are going to want to surf, but obviously, there's no tourism." "There's going to be a hit for a long time." Principal Economic Adviser Sanjeev Sanyal on Wednesday said more calibrated monetary and fiscal stimulus measures are on the anvil to deal with the economic fallout from COVID-19 and the consequent lockdown. He expressed hope that a significant part of the economy will be functioning, if not everything, by May 3. International passenger travel would remain shut for a long time, not for weeks but for months, he said citing examples of sectors which will continue to be non-functional. As far as internal economy is concerned, he said, it will be opened up in phases and efforts would be made to provide a cushion to the sectors hit hard by the lockdown through a series of measures from both fiscal and monetary sides. Sanyal said the RBI has already announced two stimulus packages and Governor Shaktikanta Das has hinted at more measures in the future depending on requirement. To mitigate hardships faced by the poor, he said, the government last month announced a staggering Rs 1.70 lakh crore package to cushion the bottom of the pyramid by providing free food and ex-gratia. "We are willing to spend. We will spend a lot. We do have resources particularly on the monetary side but we will also make fiscal resources available...we will get a package sooner rather than later, which is already in preparation...we will do it in a calibrated way," he said while virtually addressing members of PHD Chamber here. Sanyal said the Indian model to tackle the problem has been appreciated the world over. "The world over people are now beginning to appreciate the approach we took. In fact, other countries are beginning to follow us. You have seen Singapore has gone back. So in many ways we are pioneers in this approach and well before the rest of the world would be out, the Indian economy will be opened," he said. He said the world has also recognised efficiency of India's administrative machinery in handling such kind of lockdown without much of a problem. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Efforts to halt the spread of the coronavirus have been unable to prevent a blown car engine or an automotive lease from expiring. Effective Monday, a month after auto dealers were ordered closed along with other businesses deemed non-life-sustaining, vehicle sales are once again permitted in Pennsylvania. They have to be done online, and test drives are still prohibited under safety guidelines from the state: "No in-person viewing of vehicles is authorized under this guidance." But it's a start, representatives of Lehigh Valley auto dealers say. "To me it's a sign of hope, that's the way I look at it," said Sam Borelli, president of the Greater Lehigh Valley Auto Dealers Association. "It's not an easy task that they put in front of us to do this." Key to resuming auto sales is a section of Senate Bill 841, signed into law Monday by Gov. Tom Wolf as Act 15 of 2020, that permits notaries to notarize documents remotely, said state Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Pat Browne. A notary public would still be required to confirm an individuals identity, reasonably identify records and make an audio/visual recording of the notarial act and all related interactions, according to a news release from Browne, R-Lehigh. The signing of Act 15 came the same day Wolf extended the statewide stay-at-home order to May 8. Further rolling back mitigation efforts will depend on how soon infection rates drop. Areas like the Lehigh Valley are continuing to see some of the highest rates in the state, with Lehigh County home to the most people infected per capita anywhere in Pennsylvania. The guidance for the resumption of auto sales eliminates the customer-facing experience, while spelling out just how dealers can go about working with buyers, setting up financing and transferring ownership. "There's a lot of hurdles to overcome, but I understand them for public safety and for our employees' safety," said Borelli, who is also president of Faulkner Chevrolet Cadillac in Bethlehem. "We learned a lot in the last handful of weeks with our service department being essential and being open and learning as we go along." Tom Kwiatek, executive director of the Greater Lehigh Valley Auto Dealers Association, described Act 15 as "the light that just turned on." "Obviously shifting back to what we're used to is going to take time, and I think one step at a time is helpful for the auto dealers," he said. Dealers as of Tuesday night were already inviting customers back, virtually. Our Sales Departments remain closed by the Governors order at this time, Brown-Daub said on its site. However, our individual store websites are being updated daily with new tools to allow you to shop online, plus configure payments and financing from the safety of your home. You can even get instant trade values. Rothrock was advertising the ability to purchase a vehicle online 24/7 while showrooms are closed: Take delivery at your home, office, or here at the dealership. BY APPOINTMENT ONLY. One big part missing from transactions will be the emotional connections buyers make to the car or truck that's right for them, Borelli said. Lehigh Valley auto dealers and buyers alike missed out on the chance to kick the tires on 145,000 square feet worth of new vehicles during the 2020 Lehigh Valley Auto Show that had to be canceled last month due to the COVID-19 illness. Displays for the March 19-22 show in Bethlehem were scheduled to include Ford's all-electric Mustang Mach-E SUV and the first-ever production mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette. Since Pennsylvania confirmed its first cases of the coronavirus illness March 6, 34,528 people have tested positive and 1,564 of those infected have died, state health officials say. Sales representatives furloughed by auto dealers have been among those forced out of work by the virus and efforts to control its spread. At Borellis dealership, sales staff are being brought back in a rolling process as we speak to begin pursuing internet leads that have been coming in, he said. Borellis been doing that himself, as he continued to come into the empty dealership daily during the past month. Ive been trying to contact them personally, he said. They like to hear its not an autoresponder with a robot person on the other end. For more information on the coronavirus, consult your state health department at health.pa.gov or covid19.nj.gov and the website of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover or a personal story you want to share. 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. Executives at Texas Childrens Hospital are taking a 20 percent pay cut because of slowing activity during the coronavirus pandemic, the hospital said Wednesday. The first 10 percent was cut April 6, and hospital officials slashed the next 10 percent April 19, according to a statement. Sixty executives, including president and CEO Mark A. Wallace, are affected by the cuts. Leadership looks different in a bear market and instead of growing, you are faced with challenging times where you instead need to mitigate downdraft and thats what we are doing right now, he said in a statement. The hospital said activity is "reduced" during the pandemic, after Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the reduction of non-emergency elective procedures in late March. Public health measures have caused a decrease in revenue and patient visits. While only the executive team has seen a slash in base pay, the pandemic has also triggered a cut in hours for some staff, said Jenn Jacome, a Texas Children's spokeswoman. "We are adapting our care delivery to meet the challenges of this current situation," Jacome said. "Even with these measures, some of our team members have reduced work hours to ensure we are staffed to meet our current demand." Some Texas Medical Center hospitals will begin gradually returning to non-COVID-19 care on Wednesday after Abbott lifted some restrictions. Earlier in the month, more than 12,000 Texas Childrens employees received stipends up to $500. gwendolyn.wu@chron.com twitter.com/gwendolynawu Suresh Patel, who recently turned 60, began showing signs of the infection around April 5, his son-in-law Jobby John told India-West. Washington: The family of a Southern California Indian-American dentist, who has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, is desperately seeking plasma to help him survive a the disease, it was reported. The infection started with a fever, and then developed into shortness of breath. Patel was tested on April 10 and admitted to a hospital in Alhambra, California. As his symptoms worsened, he was transferred to St. John's Providence Hospital in Santa Monica, California. At St. John's, Patel is being treated with an intensive form of care, known as ECMO extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Local physician Rishi Manchanda told India-West that ECMO is "an intensive intervention in which the work of the heart and the lung are being done by a machine". "It is a sign of how critically ill he is," said Manchanda. Jobby John told India-West that the family has turned to the community to find people who have survived COVID-19 and can donate their antibody-rich plasma to help Patel survive. The family is looking for donors who have A positive or negative or O positive or negative blood types. Donors must be COVID-19 symptom free for a minimum of two weeks, said John, noting that the American Red Cross, which collects the plasma, is recommending a minimum of 28 days, since people can be re-infected. John told India-West the family was hopeful and noted that St. John's effectively treated a patient with COVID-19 using ECMO. "We have all witnessed the severity of this virus," he said, noting that his sister, who is a doctor in New Jersey, has also tested positive. (Bloomberg) -- Indonesia banned an annual ritual of citizens traveling in large numbers to their hometowns and villages ahead of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the worlds largest Muslim-majority country. President Joko Widodo, who announced the ban at a cabinet meeting in Jakarta on Tuesday, said the prohibition was based on an assessment that about 24% of people who usually undertake the holiday travel were planning trips irrespective of the virus outbreak. The government has begun distribution of food kits and rolled out other social assistance programs this week to help the jobless and poor staying back in cities, he said. Infections in Indonesia have quadrupled this month alone with officials saying the pandemic may peak only toward end of May in a country of 270 million people. The virus has infected more than 7,000 people and claimed 616 lives, the second-highest fatalities in Asia, even with the enforcement of some social distancing rules for more than a month. Millions of Indonesians Get Ready to Travel From Outbreak Center The lack of progress in containing the virus in Indonesia is in contrast to phased easing of lockdown measures being contemplated by other major countries to minimize the economic shock from the pandemic. Jokowi, as Widodo is commonly known, has rejected calls for a complete lockdown, citing the impact on jobs and businesses. But the president on Monday called for a review of the lenient social distancing rules and ordered an urgent expansion of testing and aggressive containment measures. Healthcare experts had called for a ban on the exodus, known as mudik, as it could spread the virus to more areas from the Greater Jakarta region, the nations epicenter of the outbreak. Roughly one out of every eight Indonesians head home ahead of Eid, the Muslim festival marking the end of Ramadan. An estimated 19.5 million people traveled to their hometowns from big cities like Jakarta during last years Eid, official data show. Story continues Flights, Cars The ban will be effective from April 24 and violators will be penalized from May 7, Luhut Pandjaitan, the acting transport minister said. Airlines, buses and other means of transportations will not allowed to carry people to and from areas implementing stricter social distancing policy or those that have been identified as red zones of the outbreak, according transport ministry spokeswoman Aditya Wiharto. Toll roads will only be available for logistics transport, she said. A ban on domestic flights for a week before and after Eid may force people to abandon travel plans, said Rusli Cahyadi, an analyst at Jakarta-based Indonesian Institute of Sciences. The largest portion of people going home will use airplanes and private cars, so the prohibition policy should target primarily these two modes of transportation, Cahyadi said. Besides there must be massive awareness campaign about the perils of traveling and spreading infections. Government should also impose reasonable penalties on violators. While the ban may hurt the economy in the short term as its weakens consumption, which makes up almost 60% of Indonesias gross domestic product, it may help contain the virus faster and accelerate a recovery, according to Evan Hadiwidjaja, head of research at PT Sinarmas Sekuritas. If the outbreak is prolonged in Indonesia, it could lead to higher unemployment and damage the economy even further, Hadiwidjaja said. With the fiscal space that we have, the ban looks to me a more viable alternative. Jokowis government has slashed its growth forecast for this year to 2.3%, less than half the pre-outbreak projection of 5.3%. It has warned it could even contract 0.4% under a worst-case scenario and unveiled stimulus packages worth $28 billion besides scrapping a budget deficit cap to cushion the blow of the pandemic. (Updates with details of curbs on airlines in sixth paragraph.) For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. (Photo : Top 5 Best Visitor Management Systems 2020) When it comes to visitor management systems, clients, managers, and visitors pose varying needs. Some visitors would drop by only once, while some would do periodically. Some hosts may have specific visitor lists, while some welcome even the plus ones of their guests. In turn, some managers would prefer an assisted sign-in of their building visitors while some lean towards automated systems. Because the market is saturated with products, it could be difficult and time-consuming for clients to find the product that suits their needs. Of course, if there is one thing that anyone is not keen on, it is wasting time. It follows that clients are not too forthcoming with long training hours just to master the use of a new system. In turn, they would prefer a system that will not require the visitor to ask for any assistance from the front desk. Other factors that are critical when screening for the perfect visitor management software include remote accessibility, security, and price. It is because of these factors that the following platforms are deemed to be today's best-performing systems: Features. SwipedOn is designed with versatile features that can be tailored to the needs of the business - big or small. Still, standard features are packed into the software. Automation makes it easy for visitors to log-in while the system lets their host know that they have a visitor. Importantly now, SwipedOn also doubles as a visitor screening and contact tracing tool in your workplace. Other standard features such as printing of an ID Badge for the visitor and storing signed digital agreements are included in the software. Subscribers will be able to use their unique business branding on the customizable home screen, letting their visitors know that the company or business welcomes their arrival. SwipedOn also features a multi-language app for visitors who prefer to use other languages and aids in evacuation management during emergencies. AddOns. SwipedOn recently introduced AddOns which are additional modules that are essential in completing a highly impressive front desk solution. One example is SwipedOn Deliveries which manages deliveries to the reception desk, including parcels, food deliveries, and many others. Another AddOn is SwipedOn Catering. This feature is intended to let visitors feel a warm welcome through a surprise beverage or a platter of snacks. Now that's hosting with style! For the Staff. Of course, as SwipedOn has features for the client and visitors, it also boasts features for the staff. SwipedOn is one of the very few software in the industry that offers an employee in-out function, and their Microsoft Azure Active Directory integration helps streamline employee management processes, allowing you to keep an accurate and true record of all your employee movements. Since SwipedOn is cloud-based, multi-location management is possible and effortless, yet being kept secure with tools that assist with data privacy. SwipedOn also focused on being a handy evacuation management assistant that can reassure the safety of both visitors and the staff. For the Subscribers. SwipedOn has been cited by many leading review sites such as G2, and Capterra to be the most user-friendly software for visitor management. In fact, G2 reports SwipedOn as one of the best software companies in Australia and New Zealand. If there is a need to troubleshoot or if there are inquiries, SwipedOn's world-class customer service boasts a response time of 2 minutes or faster! If all these praises do not spell out "Best ROI" or "Best Value," what will? Giving Back. SwipedOn is committed to the environment and their communities. To show appreciation, SwipedOn is planting a tree for every new customer that subscribes to their system.This is just one of the many charities that SwipedOn has under their belt. For more information you can visit their Giving Back page. To add to the candy coating, SwipedOn offers a 14-day free trial for those who would like to take the software for a spin. That's 14 days of free use, no strings attached! Basic Features. When it comes to enterprise visitor management, iLobby has notable features to brag about. Other than having its own kiosk, iLobby has features including automatic visitor notifications, generation of custom visitor badges, QR Code scanning for recurring guests, capture and store images, easy visitor check-In, and third-party watchlist integration. Other features include report generation on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. This will allow managers to track visitors, keeping their buildings safe and secure. Automated Security. iLobby serves as an automated security checkpoint with a host-generated watchlist for unauthorized guests. This feature flags any unauthorized guests and denies entry. The third-party watchlist integration also checks with official security lists for those with criminal records or those with backgrounds that can be flagged for security threats. Visitor Experience. Although security with iLobby is a tight seal, authorized visitors still experience ease when signing in. The kiosk offers a guided sign in, followed by a security check, host notification, and lastly, the visitor's ID badge is printed, ready to be used. iLobby's price goes to $199/month and $275/month respectively for their Corporate and Enhanced plans. A free iPad is included and those who wish to test all the bells and whistles first before committing to subscribe, a free trial is also available. Basic Features. Envoy is a visitor management software that is made to be installed on iPads. The software has basic features such as guest or visitor sign-in/out, printing or ID badges, and notification of hosts upon their guest's arrival. Special Sign Ins. Signing in is made easy with Envoy. Visitors will be able to pre-register as a guest, using Envoy's pre-registration feature. This feature makes signing in a hassle-free. Envoy offers various sign-in modes, depending on the visitor type. A visitor could be a recurring visitor or a one-time visitor. Envoy is also capable of listing an unlimited number of guests with Envoy's Plus One Sign in, whether the guests are specified in the host's dashboard or not. This is different from the Group Sign-In feature, which lets a group of visitors in with only a representative checking into the iPad, all the while, printing visitor ID badges for each member of the group, and at the same time, notifying the host of their visitors. This feature is made especially for hosting large groups. On the other hand, there is the VIP Check-In feature which lets visitors in without having to sign-in on the iPad. Of course, their entry will still be known to the host and visitor ID badges will also be issued. Envoy Standard and Premium Packages can be tried for free as well. Features. Traction Guest promises to be a check-in/out experience that visitors would consider to be memorable, secure, and effortless. Traction Guest offers a seamless sign-in process with visual identification and faster id verification. The software is also capable of generating, printing and issuing ID badges for verified visitors. Those who are not authorized visitors or pinged by a cross-check against security lists will be denied entry. Security lists are third-party based checklists including those issued by authorities. The hosts are notified via text message, email, and even via Slack, that their guest has arrived. Of course, Traction Guest has a mobile app too, making the whole process easier for both visitors and hosts. For visitors who are more comfortable with using other languages, there is no need to worry as Traction Guest is a multilingual platform. Packages. Traction Guest offers packages namely, Essential, Plus, Enhanced, and Complete. Each package has specific numbers of features and limits built into the package, with the Essential package offering the most necessary features and integrations to manage visitors, and the Complete package offering the most comprehensive features and integrations. Each of these packages has demo versions for those who wish to sign up and try the software. Features. Lobby Guard is a visitor management system that offers both self-service kiosk installments and software-only systems. LobbyGuard is used by many schools, hotels, hospitals, and government buildings because of its enhanced security features, efficiency, and automation. LobbyGuard does more than badging visitors, it also monitors and screens them against comprehensive security lists such as criminal databases. Still, the automation feature makes it easy for visitors with clean records to sign-in and out unassisted. Once the visitor has signed in, the system sends a message to the host through text messaging or via email. Visiting time is also tracked and stored by LobbyGuard. A mobile app is also available so that visitors won't have to ask for assistance or to wait when there's a long queue. LobbyGuard Products. There are four LobbyGuard products, each with its list of advantages. Their products include LobbyGuard Versa, LobbyGuard Defender, LobbyGuard Go, and LobbyGuard SL. Versa and Defender are kiosk products where the software is already installed in the purchased kiosk. Go is a mobile application, made especially to assist in checking-in/out LobbyGuard users without using the kiosk. SL lets LobbyGuard users access data from their already existing units or computers. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A 73-year-old man appeared in court Wednesday after police charged him in the death of another senior and fellow resident of a Toronto Community Housing highrise on Royal York Road in Mimico. Charged with second-degree murder is Janusz Rusin, alleged by police to have killed Djuro Orlovic, 72. The two men were acquaintances, said Toronto police Homicide Det. Sgt. Roger Caracciolo. Caracciolo was otherwise tight-lipped on what allegedly happened between the two men. Were still putting pieces together, he said Wednesday. On Tuesday at 6:22. p.m., officers responded to unknown trouble at 340 Royal York Rd., inside the Edwards Manor building. They located a man with obvious signs of trauma. He died at the scene, and an autopsy is scheduled for Thursday. Both the accused and the victim were tenants at the TCH building, a spokesperson for the housing agency said. Rusin was remanded in custody following his court appearance. Investigators would like to speak to anyone who has information on his movements in the days prior to the incident, a Toronto police news release said. The Edwards Manor program operates at the address and offers 24-hour support to individuals to address individual cognitive and behavioural needs for adults living with the effects of an acquired brain injury. Clarification April 22, 2020: This article was edited from a previous version to make clear that the victim and accused are Toronto Community Housing residents and not affiliated with PACE Independent Living. Jacob Lorinc is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Star's radio room in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @jacoblorinc Read more about: ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Marylands first lady Yumi Hogan is already hugely popular in the states Asian-American community. Now, her instrumental role in Marylands response to the coronavirus pandemic helping to secure 500,000 test kits from South Korea has emphatically shown that theres much more behind her gracious demeanour and artistic talent. As Gov. Larry Hogan praised his wife for championing the confidential negotiations, the first lady stood quietly by his side, wearing a mask and a pin with the U.S. and South Korean flags. She added not a word to his surprise announcement that she engineered the arrival of $9 million in critical testing supplies. It was characteristic of the Korean-born artist, who has generally avoided the spotlight during the Republican governors tenure. But those who know Yumi Hogan say they arent surprised that she accomplished what most governors and even the White House have struggled to do. She is a celebrity and a rock star, really, in the Korean American community in the region, and so her being in the governors mansion with Mr. Hogan, its a really big deal for folks back home in Korea as well as here, said Del. David Moon, a Democrat whose parents immigrated from Korea. State Sen. Susan Lee, a Democrat who has worked with the first lady, describes her as very classy but also tenacious: a tiger person. Let me tell you, she may come across as beautiful, elegant and soft but she is very determined, and she knows what she wants and she knows who to work with and she gets things done, Lee said. And in the Korean community, she is just adored enormously, but shes also adored by the whole Asian-American community, too. Yumi Kim was the youngest of eight children on a chicken farm outside Seoul before she emigrated to the U.S. in the 1990s with her first husband. She later divorced and was raising three daughters in Marylands Howard County when she met Hogan, who then ran a real estate company. They married in 2004. Chung Pak, a retired U.S. administrative patent judge who has known Yumi Hogan for about 20 years, noted that her non-profit that helps children with art therapy doesnt grab headlines the way Mondays announcement did. Shes not an attention seeker, Pak said. All she wants to do is to help. She was never a politician. Shes also an adjunct professor at Maryland Institute College of Art. Her artwork abstract pieces that use traditional Hanji paper and Sumi ink and mixed media has been shown in museums in Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia and South Korea. Speaking to a group of women entrepreneurs in 2018, she described herself as a first-generation immigrant who followed her dreams to become an art teacher and artisan. Some people say, oh, you got the job because your husband is governor. No, I was able to stand up myself, she said to wide applause. Women can do anything when we put our minds to it. Mondays announcement that 500,000 tests had been secretly flown to Maryland on a Korean Air jet on Saturday is surely the most high-profile endeavour shes been involved with as first lady, but she also has travelled overseas to attract business to the state, and in 2015, she met with Korean-American business owners after rioting in Baltimore following the death of a black man in police custody. The governor said Maryland began working on a confidential project called Operation Enduring Friendship when he asked his wife to join him on a call with South Koreas ambassador to the U.S., Lee Soo-hyuck, on March 28. We spoke of the special relationship between Maryland and the Republic of Korea, and we made a personal plea in Korean asking for their assistance, Hogan said. Hogan thanked a long list of elected officials in the U.S. and South Korea but reserved his highest praise for the woman by his side. Most importantly, I want to thank Marylands first lady, my wife Yumi, Hogan said. She truly is a champion of Operation Enduring Friendship. It wasnt the first time this year that she worked to enhance relations between the two nations. Hogan said they worked with the ambassador to hold a reception at the ambassadors residence in Washington during the National Governors Association annual winter meeting in February. It was the first time the nations governors had all gathered together at the ambassadors residence, Hogan said, recalling how South Koreas President Moon Jae-in appeared on a video screen to recognize his nations partnership with Maryland. He said he was so proud of my wife, and he said that they considered me as a han kuk sah we, which means son-in-law to the Korean people, and I considered it quite an honour for him to say that that night, but I had no idea just how much that that would truly come to mean these two very long months later, Hogan said. Citing catastrophic damage to state economies from the coronavirus pandemic, leaders of the National Governors Association (NGA) have called for $500 billion in federal assistance to the states. Is this a reasonable and measured request, or is it a case of chutzpah taken from the Donald Trump playbook, Nobody can argue that the states and their subdivisions are facing a fiscal double whammy. The COVID-19 pandemic response has forced vast numbers of Americans to stay home, stop working and stop spending. The almost instantaneous loss of income- and sales-tax revenues is truly unprecedented. At the same time, the nations social-services system is mostly administered locally. State and local spending for welfare benefits, unemployment insurance, Medicaid and other safety-net programs increases automatically in recessions. Thats why economists distinguish between the counter-cyclical dynamic of the federal budget, which offsets recessions, and the inherently pro-cyclical nature of state and local budget cutbacks, which only throw salt on the economys wounds. In the Great Depression of the 1930s, the retrenchment of state and local governments offsetof FDRs New Deal spending programs. Overall, government stimulus to the economy back then was a zero. Since then, however, the federal governments share of the economy has expanded dramatically, so the math no longer works the same. But almost every political economist would agree that in times like these federal assistance must include aid to states as part of the public sectors fiscal firefighting. What Congress must grapple with is how much is enough? and how much is too much? Thats where opinions will differ. Its not just a matter of ideology and partisan politics, although those surely will come into play. A huge obstacle to logical legislation is that nobody can tell us how long this pandemic will last, how long people will be required to stay home, how long there will be massive unemployment, and when consumers will resume spending beyond their grocery stores and Amazon. Two days before the governors $500 billion press release, I tried to size up one part of the breadbox, the revenue shortfall, in acolumn that focused on avoiding state and local government layoffs . The important metric that I presented in that analysis stands today: The total revenue from state and local government sales and income taxes before this pandemic was running at about $1 trillion annually. Hence, it makes no sense to fiscal conservatives that the federal government should be expected to fork over half of a full years cyclical tax revenue to the states when we do not expect the entire economy to be shut all the way down to half-throttle for 12 months. My guesstimate at the time, when GDP was running about 30 percent below trend, was that the national revenue shortfall for the states and localities would run somewhere between $100 billion and $250 billion, depending on the length and depth of the pandemic recession. What that column did not discuss was the other whammy: the spending surge that is now required of the states and counties in particular. As with the revenue shortfall, the size and duration of the counter-cyclical spending now automatically required of this half of the federalist system cannot be predicted accurately, but we will soon have some data points once the states start reporting the numbers on unemployment, Medicaid and welfare claims. The point here is not to dispute the NGA, which has far better data than I ever will, but to suggest that a congressional authorization and appropriation should be structured to secure the votes of fiscal conservatives. After my prior column was posted, a reader emailed me. He is a chamber of commerce county commissioner who thinks that states and local governments must tighten their belts at the same time as private citizens. He predicts an anti-government backlash if we socialize everything at the local-government level. Whether or not one agrees with that premise, political pragmatism requires that congressional Democrats and that the NGA and other public-sector associations lobbying the Hill acknowledge that sentiment. Accordingly, I encourage the advocates for counter-cyclical assistance to the states (and through them, to their local governments and other subdivisions) to: Present hard empirical data on the need to congressional-committee staffs as soon as possible. This includes both tax shortfalls and the increased volumes and costs of social services and public assistance. The double whammy must be quantified with the most recent monthly data as it becomes available. The financial professional associations are geared up to help, right now. Request authorization for a full years worth of federal aid, but include a release mechanism that shoots out a smaller number (such as $150 billion) quickly to avoid public-sector layoffs but rations out the remainder on a monthly or quarterly basis using hard data on GDP, safety-net expenditures and revenue shortfalls as trigger points. Acknowledge that if somehow the economy gets back on its feet as quickly as the White House asserts, the consequence would be controversial windfall intergovernmental-aid payments of more than is actually necessary. That political black eye would last for a generation. Im certainly not in a position to disagree that the right top-line number is $500 billion. Its as good a guess as any, on the assumption that this pandemic and a deep recession runs all year or even longer. All Im asking is that the intergovernmental advocates and the congressional sponsorship be driven by humility and timely hard numbers, not chutzpah.GoverningGoverning Two mountain lions, who arrived as rescues, hang together in a hammock at the Oakland Zoo. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) While animals in deserted national and state parks seem to be thriving without the presence of people, many at the Oakland Zoo seemed downright bored without the crowds. On Monday morning, a pair of mountain lions lolled together lazily in a hammock, while a gibbon couple, Rainer and May, sang and called, before dejectedly lying back in the high branches of the Chinese elm they call home. Since March 17, the Oakland Zoo, a 100-acre wildlife park, has been closed to visitors by order of state and local governments requiring the public to shelter in place during the coronavirus pandemic. According to the zookeepers, only the bald eagles, and maybe the wolves, seem to relish the solitude. The eagles are using parts of the enclosure weve never seen them use before, said Joel Parrott, the zoos president and chief executive. On Monday, a bald eagle that was resting in this newfound area, close to the pedestrian walkway, retreated back to hide in the cover of the trees when a visitor approached. All of the more than half-dozen zookeepers interviewed for this story said visitors offered a form of stimulus for most animals. However, Leslie Storer who was slingshotting food into the grizzly enclosure Monday also wondered if the animals were resting more because they were more relaxed without the normal crowds. "It's hard to know which it is," she said. While the animals have been afforded some downtime, the keepers, vet staff and administrators havent had the same luxury. A female gibbon at the Oakland Zoo, which has been closed since March 17. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) According to Parrott, it costs roughly $800,000 a year to feed the animals and $24 million a year to run the zoo. Finding that money, while attendance is at zero, is a daunting task. Other zoos nationwide are confronting similar challenges. In Southern California, San Diego Zoo Global, which operates the San Diego Zoo and a sister facility, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, spent about $231 million in 2018 on animal care and exhibition operations. In 2018, the nonprofit organization reported revenues of $342 million, much of which will be wiped out, depending on how long the two zoos remain closed. Story continues In Oakland, the zoo qualified for an eight-week loan as part of the federal Paycheck Protection Program. That is enabling the zoo to maintain a full-time crew of keepers, veterinarians and vet staff. But that still leaves them short. To help cover part of the remaining shortfall, the zoo has launched a subscription-based Facebook feed, which offers viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the animals and staff. On Monday, a zoo-based marketing crew was filming an episode about goat-hoof trimming at the petting farm at the base of the hill. The goats seemed thrilled to have people around, jogging to the fence as visitors approached and braying until they were petted. Erin Harrison, vice president of marketing and communications for the zoo, said the show was bringing in roughly 100 subscribers per day, at tiered pricing for members and nonmembers. Although thats helping somewhat, actually finding food has become a challenge. Keepers rely on local landscaping and tree-trimming services to provide browse for the elephants, giraffes and camels excess tree branches, sticks and grass. Zebras eat pellets off the ground at the Oakland Zoo. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) The staff is now relying on individual donations from neighbors, and the stockpile is getting low. That's especially true for the giraffes, who, unlike the camels, are very picky about the browse they will eat. It cant have anything on it, said Alyssa Watt, as she fed the non-discriminating camels. The giraffes wont eat it if it has dust on it, ash, or even the slightest hint of a chemical odor. And she said washing the browse doesnt help. Theyll still reject it. Most of the animals at the zoo are rescues taken from circuses, private owners or, in the case of the animals in the California exhibit, found orphaned in the wild. The Oakland Zoo has started a Facebook live stream showing life at the zoo during the shutdown. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) The four grizzlies, two sets of cubs, were found in Alaska. Their mothers were killed for being nuisance bears. And at the veterinary hospital on campus, four parrots had been brought in the day before rescues from Wildlife Waystation, a wildlife preserve in Sylmar that ran out of money during the recent economic downturn. The parrots were sitting quietly in some branches, their feathers puffed out, suggesting a level of stress and maybe underlying health issues, said Ilona Kovary, a keeper at the hospital. Wild turkeys wander through the parking lot of the Oakland Zoo on April 20. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) The birds will remain here for the next 30 days, quarantined from the rest of the zoo, and tended to until a new home can be found for them. All animals brought to the zoo must be quarantined for 30 days, said Parrott, the zoo director and a veterinarian by training. The spread of disease is not a new concern for zoo staff. Even so, they are taking special precautions during the COVID-19 pandemic especially after news that a Malayan tiger at the Bronx Zoo was infected by a keeper. All of the keepers at the zoo Monday were wearing masks. And in the hospital, where a mountain lion cub was brought in at the beginning of the month, social distancing and quarantine measures were even stricter. A clean set of footwear is required if visitors approach her cage. The animal, found in a tree in the Bakersfield area, weighed only 9 pounds when the zoo brought her in. She is now almost 24 pounds, although feeding her is not easy: She is extremely wary of people, and therefore cautious about eating while anyone is looking. She growled and hid under a wooden pallet on Monday as visitors attempted to watch her during feeding time. But as soon as they gave up and walked away, she darted out and ate the food and milk that had been left for her. Like the bald eagles and maybe the wolves, this cub seems happier without people around. Los Angeles Times reporter Susanne Rust and photographer Carolyn Cole are embarking on a road journey throughout California. They aim to give voice to those in remote parts of California as they grapple with the worst health and economic calamity of our lifetimes. The average rent in Ireland rose to over 1,200 per month last year, with renters in seven counties spending more than 1,000 monthly. The average rent rose by 6.4% in 2019, according to the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) rent index the lowest annual increase since 2014. Five new areas have been designated as rent pressure zones, bringing the total to 47, with rent rises capped at 4% per annum. These include Mallow, Co Cork, and Killarney, Co Kerry, as well as Athy, Co Kildare, Tullamore, Co Offaly, and Mullingar in Westmeath. The latter two saw average rents increase by more than 19% in the last year. In Dublin, rent is now 1,716 per month, up 5% year on year, the lowest rent increase in the city since 2013. Outside the capital, standardised rents are 922 on average a 7.6% increase but seven counties have average rents of over 1,000 per month: Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kildare, Louth, Meath, and Wicklow. Three others Kilkenny, Laois, and Limerick are between 900 and 999. The rental market varies broadly. In Dublin, rents are now 32% higher than the Celtic Tiger peak and less than 10% of new tenancies were for under 1,000 per month. In comparison, two-thirds of rental agreements in the rest of the country are under 1,000 per month. Some 59% of renters in Dublin pay above 1,500 per month, with just 6% of renters elsewhere doing so. In Cork City, rents rose 6.8% to 1,207 per month. In the cities, Waterford saw the biggest rise in 2019 at 7.9%, though it was starting from the lowest base. Rent in Galway city was up 5.7%, with Limerick up 2.7%, the lowest of the cities. Padraig McGoldrick, interim director of the RTB, said they are encouraged by the slowing of increases, showing signals of stabilisation in urban areas. He added that the report reflects a very different world to the one we are living in today and that Covid-19 represents new challengers for renters and landlords. Archbishop Samson Mustapha Benjamin Archbishop Samson Mustapha Benjamin was arrested yesterday April 21, while protesting at the Chinese Embassy in Victoria Island, Lagos. Recall that few days ago, some Nigerians living in China raised an alarm of allegedly being ejected from their homes and being forced into isolation facilities. This was however resolved after the Speaker of Nigerias House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila intervened. The General Overseer of Resurrection Praise Ministries International was accused of defying the lockdown order issued by President Buhari, to lead a protest he described as a one man protest against the inhumane treatment of Nigerians and Africans at large in China. Here is a video which captured moment he was being confronted by police officials before being led into a police van; The mobile phone and finance industries have joined forces to help tackle the problem of spoofing (Lauren Hurley/PA) Efforts to identify and block scam text messages pretending to be from trusted organisations during the coronavirus crisis are being stepped up. The mobile phone and finance industries have joined forces to help tackle the problem of spoofing. Spoofing techniques by criminals mean they can make text messages appear to be from a legitimate organisation, by changing the sender ID at the top of the text. Texts may also be spoofed so that they appear in a chain of messages alongside previous legitimate ones. Some may claim to offer goodwill payments from bodies such as HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and encourage recipients to click on links. Our Managing Director of Economic Crime Katy Worobec said: We would urge consumers to be on their guard against criminals exploiting the Covid-19 outbreak to commit fraud." https://t.co/ra2Hy4WOJG pic.twitter.com/e1IMkzQyMZ UK Finance (@UKFtweets) April 22, 2020 Trade association UK Finance, which is working with several other organisations, said a white list and a blacklist have been set up to thwart the scammers. The white list, developed by the Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF), allows legitimate organisations to register and protect sender IDs used when sending texts. This limits the ability of criminals to send messages using the same sender ID as a particular brand or government department, by first checking whether the sender is the genuine registered organisation. UK Finance said 50 bank and government brands are currently being protected through the initiative, with 172 trusted sender IDs registered to date. Meanwhile, the blacklist helps to block messages from sender IDs that have been used to send scam texts, or from potential sources that could be used to impersonate trusted brands and organisations in future. More than 400 sender IDs have been identified so far on the blacklist, including 70 related to Covid-19. Joanne Lacey, chief operating officer of the MEF, said: The industry has been able to support the UK Governments campaign and demonstrate the vital role of messaging, not least in times of emergency and crisis. We are aware of scammers claiming to be from HMRC offering financial support as a result of #coronavirus If you receive an email, text or call claiming to be from us that asks you to click on a link or give information such as your name, credit card or bank details, its a scam. pic.twitter.com/CyQ36a099a HM Revenue & Customs (@HMRCgovuk) April 22, 2020 Mike Fell, head of cyber operations at HMRC, said: This trial builds on the success of an HMRC pilot, conducted with telecoms providers, which resulted in a 90% reduction in reports of the most convincing HMRC-branded SMS scams. Other bodies taking part in the industry efforts to block scam texts include Mobile UK and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). Dr Ian Levy, technical director at the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), said: We are pleased to be supporting this experiment, which is yielding promising results. Katy Worobec, managing director of economic crime at UK Finance, said: We would urge consumers to be on their guard against criminals exploiting the Covid-19 outbreak to commit fraud. Always follow the advice of the Take Five To Stop Fraud campaign and avoid clicking on links in any unsolicited text messages in case its a scam. Remember, you can report suspicious texts by forwarding the original message to 7726, which spells SPAM on your keypad. Gareth Elliott, head of policy and communications at Mobile UK, said: The contribution from the industry to the registry will help reduce the number of scam texts pretending to be from trusted brands. This gives much-needed protection against fraud, including for the most vulnerable customers. Paul Davis, retail fraud director at Lloyds Bank, said: We have already seen some benefit as a result of fewer of these types of texts being sent, and right now, when fraudsters are trying as hard as they can to trick people into handing over their cash, its more important than ever to do everything we can to stay safe from scammers. Remember, if youre not sure about an email or text message do not reply, and delete it. And your bank will never ask for your personal details by text or to send any money. As grocery shopping has become equal parts essential and fraught during the coronavirus crisis, safety responses have varied from chain to chain. One retail juggernaut has gone as far as temporarily shutting down certain stores in New Jersey. Walmart has closed four of its 71 New Jersey locations for one day each over the last two weeks, in order for for third-party cleaning and to restock merchandise according to spokesperson Phillip Keene. The Garfield store closed on April 9, the Freehold location was closed on April 17 and both the Secaucus and Kearny locations were shut down on April 20. In all four cases, the stores reopened the next day without issue. Positive COVID-19 tests among staff members, inadequate staffing numbers and stocking issues are all among the considerations that can trigger a one-day shutdown at a Walmart location, Keene said. Walmart is initiating the closings, with no outside input from health departments. Were assessing a number of factors in stores in hot zones like New Jersey and the New York metro area for issues that we want to correct in terms of customer service, Keene said. It could be that were assessing stock levels, or the scheduling for associates and how were being able to serve customers to our standards in those stores. And then, of course, were not immune to COVID." Walmart is not disclosing specific cases and is not announcing when staff members test positive, citing privacy issues. Even if they were sharing it, Keene would not confirm if there were COVID-19 cases at the four New Jersey locations. How stores are handling coronavirus cases among staff members has varied throughout New Jersey. ShopRite has been transparent, announcing cases on their stores specific Facebook pages, while Kings Food Market emails loyalty club members at individual stores to disclose cases. Stop and Shop confirmed it had staff members test positive and is disclosing them to local health departments but not announcing them publicly citing privacy concerns. Keene says the closures are proactive, and that New Jerseys location in the coronavirus epicenter makes them necessary. He noted that a Long Island location had the same type of closure, and wouldnt rule out more New Jersey stores shutting down for a day as the pandemic continues. Those stores are in areas of the country where you know COVID is prevalent," Keene said. Youre trying to do your very best to stay ahead as much as anybody can of any sort of issues, you know, COVID-related or staffing-related or stock-related. It would make sense that you would make that sort of decision in those in those locations... Whats the very best we can do? Part of the answer to that is closing the facility for a day and getting caught up, and then being able to open up the customers and serve the community." Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share. If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter. 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. Rajesh Asnani By Express News Service JAIPUR: With the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic peaking in India, many employees in essential services and those on the frontline have started catching the infection. In Rajasthan, over 90 employees of essential services (including doctors, nurses, ANMs, policemen, home guards and their families) have now been hit by COVID-19. Sadly, some of them are also putting the lives of others in danger due to sheer carelessness. On Tuesday, 4 doctors were found COVID-19 positive at the Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur. Now, the people who came in contact with the four doctors are put in quarantine. In addition, samples of doctors' families are also being taken. According to information, two of the infected doctors are Assistant Professors in the Surgery Department, one is a resident and the fourth is a resident of medicine department. It has been reported that these doctors had treated a COVID-19 positive patient a few days ago, after which they have caught this infection. Dr Laxman Agarwal, Head of the Department of Surgery, said that a youth, resident of Faizabad, was admitted to the hospital on April 14 with a complaint of stomach ache. "Investigations revealed that he had intestinal problems and he was then operated. During the operation, doctors did not wear the kit to protect against COVID-19. On 16 April, the youth was confirmed to be COVID-19 positive and later died the next day," he added. FOLLOW COVID-19 LIVE UPDATES HERE In Jaipur alone, 23 doctors, surgeons, policemen have so far been found COVID-19 positive and family members of some of them are also infected. Similarly, 11 doctors, nurses, ANM and policemen in Jodhpur, 9 doctors and nurses in Bhilwara, hospital staff, 3 women police officials in Nagaur and 6 head constables, home guards, Asha workers in Kota have been found positive. More than 3 people have been found positive in Udaipur, including a nurse and a doctor. Bhilwara is the classic example of how carelessness of a doctor infected not just doctors medical staff but the entire city on risk. In Bhilwara, a doctor of Brajesh Bangad Hospital who got the virus allegedly. from one of his guest from UAE and spread to nearly three dozen persons in the city. Dr Narendra Gupta, associated with health rights and doctors training programs for long and the Co-Convenor of the Jan Swasthya movement says that more and more frontline workers are getting infected in the country due to their own mindset and cost-cutting ways of private sector hospitals. "The Indian doctors don't follow the protocol unlike their counterparts in the west. They take precautions lightly and private hospitals don't buy proper protection equipment. The doctors don't demand it strongly which is why more deaths of medical officials have occurred in the private sector", he added. Dr Rateesh Sareen Consultant Pathologist and Assistant Medico-legal director SDMH Jaipur remarks, those who will swim will get wet. So those who are facing frontline will be the most affected. Why only doctors, even police officials are getting infected. As both police and government hospitals are facing the full burden of COVID-19 patients, they are getting infected. As far as protective equipment is concerned, most experts say that it needs to be mandatory. However, in dealing with medical patients, nothing is really fool-proof. Some doctors who didn't use PPE have resulted in catching the infection. But what about others who are using PPE and still getting infected? The right approach will be to ensure the availability of PPE and to make everyone aware and convince them to use it. They also point out that doctors are also not divine but human beings and the current crisis of working in a pandemic is bound to create stress and fear and cannot be equated with normal work. In Nagaur, the staff of 3 police stations and a large number of police personnel, including some in police lines, are being made aware of the risk of infection. In Kota, more than 40 policemen, including home guards, are feared to be infected. In addition, two policewomen were found positive in Nagaur on Tuesday. With this,100 police personnel from two police stations and the police lines are now under COVID-19 threat. In Kota, a head constable and a home guard met patients on Tuesday. The head constable is stationed at the Hotspot Makbara Police Station, while the home guard resides in Mokha Pada whose wife was found positive a day earlier. The SP has now quarantined the entire Police Station and 40 policemen are kept in an isolation ward. On Wednesday, 133 new positive cases of COVID-19 have been detected in Rajasthan. With this, the number of COVID-19 positive patients has reached 1868 in the state and 27 people have died due to infection. There are 26 districts which have been hit by the virus in the state. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 10:44:09|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SHANGHAI, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai reported one imported case of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and zero increase in locally transmitted COVID-19 case on Tuesday, the municipal health commission said Wednesday. The confirmed patient, a Chinese citizen returning to Shanghai from Britain, has been sent to a designated medical institution for treatment. A total of 19 people in close contact with the patient on the flight have been put under quarantine. There were 12 suspected imported cases under screening as of Tuesday. The municipal health commission said a total of 300 imported cases had been reported in Shanghai by Tuesday. Among them, 101 people have remained in hospital for treatment with one of them in critical condition. On Tuesday, no new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases were reported. By Tuesday, the municipality had reported 339 locally transmitted confirmed cases, including seven deaths. Enditem Syracuse, N.Y. Taste of Syracuse, Central New Yorks biggest food-centered festival, has been canceled for 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The festival, which had been scheduled for June 5 and 6 in and around Clinton Square, is expected to return in 2021. This would have been the 24th year for the event, produced by Galaxy Events, a division of Syracuse-based Galaxy Media. Taste of Syracuse typically draws 200,000 people to downtown Syracuse over its two-day run. It features about 140 food and beverage vendors, plus both local and national music acts on multiple stages. With so much uncertainty pertaining to large gatherings such as concerts and festivals, Galaxy Events has decided to make the very difficult decision to cancel the Taste of Syracuse for 2020, Carrie Wojtaszek, chief operating officer of Galaxy Media, said in a statement. The safety and wellbeing of our vendors and festival goers has always been our number one concern. We plan to bring back the event bigger and better than ever in 2021. Wojtaszek said organizers had looked into alternatives, including postponing the Taste to a later date. But the uncertainty over when things might get back to normal made that impossible. This was not a decision we took lightly, she said. We know for many people the Taste marks the beginning of summer. And a return to an event with restrictions like wearing masks or observing social distancing would have been impractical. You cant have people wearing masks at a food festival," Wojtaszek said. "You cant stay six feet apart anyone whos ever been to Taste of Syracuse knows six feet of separation is impossible. Taste organizers had already filled almost all of their vendor spots and lined up a full array of sponsors, Wojtaszek said. Shes hoping they can return for next year. Organizers are also reaching out to local bands and some vendors to see if theres some way of doing a virtual Taste on the weekend of the event. The great thing about the Taste of Syracuse is that its like a big family, she said. So were optimistic we can get everyone back on board for 2021. MORE ON CORONAVIRUS Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources As coronavirus spread, a Fayetteville retirement community became a hotbed McMahon: No more shelter-in-place, but urges people to travel even less; hospitals can reopen Syracuse, Onondaga County miss out on $90 million in coronavirus relief bill Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook. Risk independent of other potentially influential factors, such as general health and lifestyle Social isolation is linked to a heightened risk of hospital admission for respiratory disease among older adults, suggests research published online in the journal Thorax. This risk is independent of other potentially influential factors, such as general health and lifestyle, the findings indicate. Hospital admissions caused by respiratory disease feature prominently in winter bed crises and emergency department overcrowding. They have risen at three times the rate of admissions for all other causes in the UK in recent years and disproportionately affect the vulnerable in society, including older adults. Social isolation and loneliness are associated with admission to hospital for various health conditions, but it's not clear if socially isolated adults with respiratory conditions might also be at risk. To explore this further, the researchers linked up hospital records and death statistics for 4478 people taking part in the English Longitudinal Study on Ageing (ELSA), a nationally representative long term study of older adults. Social isolation was measured in terms of whether that person lived alone or not (domestic isolation); how much social contact they had with friends and family (social isolation); and how much social engagement they had, including with volunteering, cultural activities, and involvement with community groups. Loneliness was measured using a validated (UCLA) scale. Information on potentially influential factors was also gathered. Among other things, this included gender; ethnicity; education; household income; area deprivation; underlying health conditions, including undiagnosed COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease); and lifestyle, such as smoking and physical activity levels. Participants' health was then tracked until January 2018 or death, whichever came first, with the average monitoring period lasting 9 years. Around one in 10 (11%) of the study participants were admitted to hospital because of respiratory disease. After taking account of potentially influential factors, loneliness and levels of social contact with friends and family weren't associated with a heightened risk of admission. But living alone and poor social engagement were associated with, respectively, heightened risks of 32% and 24%. This is an observational study, and as such, can't establish cause, but the researchers point out that their findings chime with those of other published studies linking social isolation and loneliness with poorer health. In a bid to explain the associations they found, the researchers suggest that people who are socially isolated may be more physically inactive and smoke more, and less likely to be prompted to see a doctor when symptoms first appear. Doctors may also be more tempted to admit them to hospital because of the increased risk of falls among those living alone. "Older adults living alone with existing lung conditions may benefit from additional targeted community support to try and reduce the risk of hospital admissions," suggest the researchers. "The roll out of social prescribing schemes may present opportunities for referring those individuals to social engagement community activities," they conclude. Lead author, Associate Professor Daisy Fancourt, of Psychobiology & Epidemiology / Wellcome Research Fellow, Research Department of Behavioural Science and Health, UCL, comments: "Whilst this research study focused on respiratory disease, it does raise questions as to if, and how, hospital admissions for other respiratory conditions such as COVID-19 may be related to social factors such as isolation in addition to biomedical factors."* ### Peer reviewed? Yes Evidence type: Observational Subjects: Older people Justice Elena Kagan shocked the world on Monday when she joined a dissent by Justice Samuel Alito that wouldve made Robert Bork proud. In Ramos v. Louisiana, Alito contested the Supreme Courts 63 decision striking down split verdicts, which allow conviction by a nonunanimous jury. Kagan, a Barack Obama appointee, typically sides with the courts liberal wing on civil rights and criminal law. Yet here she was, joining a reactionary dissent defending an unjust practice rooted in bigotry. Civil libertarians were understandably disappointed, baffled, angry, skeptical, and saddened. Advertisement Kagans vote in Ramos really shouldnt have come as a surprise: The justice crosses ideological lines in divided decisions more frequently than any of her liberal colleagues do. Shes also a pragmatist with a fierce commitment to precedent who will follow her principles even when they lead to an outcome she dislikes. Kagan is no closet conservative. She is playing the long game in two related ways: establishing herself as the courts fiercest defender of precedent and sacrificing ideological purity in favor of compromise with her conservative colleagues. But that is no guarantee that she will prevail, or that any of her compromises will actually pay off. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was fairly clear after oral arguments that Kagan would vote to uphold split verdictsnot because she believes theyre constitutional, but because the court has approved them for 48 years. In 1972s Apodaca v. Oregon, five justices upheld nonunanimous convictions in state court. Before Monday, Louisiana and Oregon relied on that decision in conducting jury trials. Overturning Apodaca will void hundreds, possibly thousands, of convictions and force two states to change their criminal procedures. As Kagan noted during arguments, Apodaca has been completely clear. States have had every right to rely on this for 50 years. Maybe, in light of that fact, she said, it doesnt matter whether it was wrong because overruling something requires more than just the decision be wrong. Advertisement Advertisement Kagan has made this point before, in 2015s Kimble v. Marvel. She wrote the majority opinion refusing to overturn an old patent case, citing the doctrine of stare decisis, or respect for precedent, and including a line to which she has since returned in much bigger cases: Respecting stare decisis means sticking to some wrong decisions. Why? Because, as she put it in 2019, society relies on the idea that law is stable and law is predictable and law wont change just because particular members of the court are different or change. Advertisement Stare decisis has, historically, been a conservative doctrine, one that seeks preservation of the norm over evolution of the law. But today, conservative judges are chipping away at this principle in an effort to erode progressive precedent and kick-start a conservative judicial revolution. Its easy to see why: With extremely conservative judges ascendant in state and federal courts, as well as SCOTUS, stare decisis is all that protects important constitutional rights like abortion access, marriage equality, and limitations on the death penalty. The only way liberal judges can protect these rulings is by demanding that their courts stand by past decisions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This philosophy is why Kagan joined Alito in defending Apodaca: She wants to practice what she preaches. Whats harder to grasp is why she signed on to a portion that condemns the majority for being, in short, woke social justice warriors. Alito trashed his colleagues for acknowledging that both Louisiana and Oregon adopted their split verdict laws in a bigoted effort to dilute the influence of racial, ethnic, and religious minorities on juries. He accused the majority of contributing to the worst current trends by favoring ad hominem rhetoric over rational and civil discourse. The justice then suggested that both states had cleansed their laws of bigotry by reenacting them in later years. Advertisement Advertisement At first blush, Kagans decision to join Alitos rant is baffling. After all, she herself has repeatedly called out the unconstitutional bias behind ostensibly unprejudiced laws. But journalist Mike Sacks pointed out a possible explanation here, too. Another major case this term, Espinoza v. Montana, may resolve the constitutionality of so-called Blaine amendmentsstate constitutional provisions that bar public funding of religious institutions. Montana and 37 other states placed these clauses in their constitutions in the 19th century, and they are now roadblocks for school choice advocates who want states to subsidize religious schools. These advocates assert that Blaine amendments were motivated by anti-Catholic bigotry and are thus a violation of the First Amendments free exercise clause. This claim is dubious and heavily contested, but some conservative justices seem to believe it. If they invalidate every Blaine amendment, it will open the floodgates to state funding of religion. Advertisement Advertisement Theres a hitch, though: Most of these states, including Montana, readopted their Blaine amendments more recentlyand theres zero evidence they did so out of anti-Catholic animus. In Ramos, Alito argued that readopting a law for unbiased reasons cleanses it of any unconstitutional taint. And Chief Justice John Roberts joined his opinion as well. As the court continues to deliberate over Espinoza, Kagan can now remind Alito and Roberts of their position in Ramos and try to shame them into sticking to principle. Advertisement Does this tolerance for horse trading make Kagan a conservative? When the situation calls for it, Kagan can write a scorching dissent calling out hypocrisy. But her usual style is much more conciliatory; more so than any other liberal justice, shes prepared to make deals with the conservatives and even join them in affirming conservative precedent. Along with Justice Stephen Breyer, Kagan famously made a deal with Roberts to salvage the Affordable Care Act: Breyer and Kagan agreed to make Medicaid expansion voluntary in exchange for the chief justices fifth vote upholding the individual mandate. Last term, Kagan also managed to preserve federal agencies power by nabbing Roberts vote, though she had to weaken that power in the process. Advertisement Does this tolerance for horse trading make Kagan a conservative? By most metrics, she is certainly the least liberal of her four Democratic-appointed colleagues: According to Adam Feldman of Empirical SCOTUS, which analyzes Supreme Court statistics, Kagan has voted with the five conservatives in 63 decisions more frequently than the other three progressive justices have. This term, for instance, Kagan wrote the opinion in a 63 decision allowing states to abolish the insanity defense, over the dissent of her fellow liberals. Over the past few years, she has written or joined split decisions upholding conservative precedents involving congressional power to regulate the states and presidential authority over federal agencies. She has sided with an anti-gay business that discriminated against gay customers. She has repeatedly voted to erode the separation of church and state. And she has voted to expand exemptions from the Freedom of Information Act. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These moves have drawn criticism and suspicion from the left. It is notable, though, that Kagans vote was not decisive in any of these decisions. In most cases, Kagan simply assented to precedent that, whatever its merits, is now firmly entrenched in the law. In otherslike, for example, the anti-gay discrimination caseshe signed on to a compromise that forestalled a much broader conservative rout. There is reason to believe that her strategy is paying off. Roberts often assigns Kagan the majority opinion when she is the only liberal justice to join a 63 decision, or when he is the only conservative justice in a 54 decision. By doing so, he allows her to write minimalist decisions that alter the law little, if at all. Her opinions tend to be narrow and riveted to precedent. When she writes for the conservatives, she might nudge the law to the right. But if she dissented instead, the conservatives, lacking any moderating force, likely wouldve pushed the law much further rightward. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The strongest critique of Kagans strategy is that she is giving up something for nothing, trading away her votes for table scraps. We probably dont have enough data yet to make that determination either way. Assessing her work in 2019, the New Yorkers Margaret Talbot concluded that the jury is still out. Shes right, but by the end of this term, we should have a better sense of the final verdict. The justices are poised to rule on a number of hot-button issues, including abortion rights, contraception, religious liberty, LGBTQ discrimination, and Donald Trumps power to shield his financial records from congressional oversight. If Kagan can hold the line in any one of these cases, or mitigate potential harm by forestalling a 54 defeat, her conservative votes may be vindicated. If she fails to prevent a clean sweep of conservative triumphs that fundamentally reshape the law as we know it, she might have some soul searching to do. For more on the latest news, listen to What Next. Put that all together and how badly will Covid-19 strike poor countries? We just dont know, Esther Duflo, an M.I.T. economist who won the Nobel in economic science last year, told me. Dr. David Nabarro, a veteran U.N. global health expert, put it this way: We can only have hypotheses, and the hypotheses are vaguely hopeful. I share that view: As a purely medical matter, Im not as pessimistic about the impact on the developing world as some other commentators are. But I greatly fear that the indirect impact will be devastating. Polio eradication campaigns are being suspended. The same is true of vitamin A distribution, which saves childrens lives and prevents blindness. School feeding programs have often been shut down along with schools. In Bangladesh, where the economy has been hard hit by the coronavirus, a survey by a respected aid group, Brac, found that household incomes have declined an average of 75 percent. Factory workers saw incomes drop by 79 percent, drivers by 80 percent, city day laborers by 82 percent, maids by 68 percent and rickshaw pullers by 78 percent. Four in 10 respondents had three days worth of food at home or less. Schools are closed in many countries, and some students, especially girls, will probably never return to their studies. When families are desperately short of money and food, they are less likely to pay school fees, particularly for girls. They also cope by marrying off their daughters, even young ones, so that another household has the responsibility of feeding them. Toyota Motor (NYSE:TM) will cut its auto production in Japan by about half from its most recent plan next month, a move that will affect 18 of the company's factories and dozens of suppliers, according to a Nikkei report on Wednesday. Nikkei reports that the Japanese auto giant will also cut its Japan production in June due to growing pessimism about the prospects for recovery in the North American auto market. About a quarter of the vehicles that Toyota manufactures in Japan are exported to North America. Toyota's U.S. sales fell 37% in March as social-distancing measures took hold in most parts of the country. The company's North American factories closed in mid-March and will remain closed at least until May 1. Toyota produced 3.41 million vehicles at its 18 Japanese factories last year, and had planned to produce about 3.24 million this year before the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. About 62% of the vehicles that Toyota builds in Japan are exported. The remainder are for domestic consumption. Toyota has already cut some production in Japan. It shut down production lines at five of its factories for several days in the first half of April, hoping to bring supplies of its vehicles in line with slumping overseas demand. The moves to reduce production in May and June will put Toyota at risk of falling below an annual production rate of 3 million vehicles per year, a so-called "red line" below which it would have to consider cutting jobs. The reductions will also put additional pressure on Toyota's suppliers, many of which operate with relatively thin margins. Toyota will report earnings for the quarter and fiscal year that ended on March 31 in early May. A lecturer at the University of Ghana Dr Augustine Ocloo has raised concerns over the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) recall of the immune booster drug COA FS. According to the researcher, the FDA has more questions to answer over its decision to recall the drug from the market. The FDA has come under a deluge of criticisms from some Ghanaians following its decision to recall the popular product from the market over claims it is contaminated. Speaking to Francis Abban on the Morning Starr Wednesday, Dr. Ocloo who has researched into COA FS, said it is surprising that the FDA is now making claims against the drug when it has been around since 2016. FDA itself hasnt come out to say the medicine is not good anymore, it is some batches they have issues with and that can be resolved. Since 2016, this product has been around since so does it mean that since 2016 the FDA hasnt analysed it from microbiology? so why all of a sudden the whole product has become bad. Im not saying they are cooking up stories but these are questions we should ask them, he said. Meanwhile, Producers of immune booster drug COA FS, Centre of Awareness Global Peace Mission, have rejected claims by the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) that the product is contaminated. According to the manufacturers, a new laboratory test at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital has proven that claims by the FDA about the drug are inaccurate. In a statement, the manufacturers said: We, therefore, find the Press Statement from the FDA that they detected a microbial contamination in COA FS as a surprise. The self-preserving nature of COA FS is the reason why we have never received any of the adverse drug reactions enumerated in the FDA Statement over the period. Contrary to the claims in the Press Statement, the evidence rather indicates that people with weakened immune systems and or kidney malfunctions, rather got better after taking COA FS. We find it unfortunate that the FDA seeks to associate the alleged contamination in COA FS to kidney failure. A thorough search through scientific literature shows that it is a particular strain of E. Coli that causes kidney problem, but the FDA has not provided any data to prove that this particular strain has been found in COA FS. ---Starrfm.com.gh Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Jerusalem Wed, April 22, 2020 15:03 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd38d5ac 2 World Israel,politics,Politician,political-stability,government,power-deal,power,sharing Free Israel's coalition deal between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz breaks a year-long deadlock but has pitfalls -- from power sharing mechanisms to West Bank policy and the premier's corruption charges. Monday's agreement for a unity government, signed by Netanyahu and parliament speaker Gantz after three inconclusive elections in less than a year, seeks to give the Jewish state desperately-needed political stability as it confronts the coronavirus pandemic. "After a year and a half of political stalemate and as the country endures one of the most severe economic crises in its history, it is high-time for Israel to have a functioning government," said Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute think-tank. But he warned that the Netanyahu-Gantz deal risks creating a government "without a grand vision or clear goals" that would be vulnerable to being bogged down with "cumbersome political agreements." Here are the main points of the deal: Power sharing Implementing the deal will require majority support in Israel's 120-seat parliament, the Knesset. That is likely to happen, assuming it is backed by Netanyahu's unified right-wing bloc and most of Gantz's supporters. Netanyahu will serve as prime minister through the first 18 months of the three-year deal. Gantz will first serve as "alternate prime minister," a new position that must be created through an amendment of Israel's so-called Basic Laws. Passing that amendment is a key part of the coalition deal. After 18 months, Gantz takes over as prime minister, with Netanyahu serving as his alternate. Through the first six months, the government will be defined as an "emergency" body focused primarily on containing the COVID-19 pandemic and mitigating the economic devastation it has caused. Israel has more than 13,800 confirmed virus cases, including over 180 deaths, and a nationwide lockdown has left huge numbers of people without an income. Cabinet portfolios are split between the two camps. Key ministries assigned to Netanyahu's side include finance and interior, while Gantz's side will control the justice ministry and the position of foreign minister will rotate. The former army chief announced Tuesday evening he would serve as defense minister. Ministers can only be fired if there is agreement from both sides, and the prime minister cannot sack his alternate. Netanyahu's trial The prime minister was due to face trial on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust last month. The trial's start date was postponed to May 24 because of the pandemic. Under Israeli law, a prime minister can continue to serve while under indictment, but a regular cabinet minister cannot. With his trial, including possible appeals, expected to last several years, the veteran premier did not want to be forced out of government when his term expired. His expected transition to alternate prime minister in 2021 likely solves that problem. Netanyahu's Likud party also retained significant say over the appointment of judges and prosecutors, influence that could help the prime minister as his case moves forward. Legal cases have also been filed by non-government groups seeking to block an individual under indictment from serving as prime minister. Under the coalition deal, if Israel's top court bars Netanyahu from serving, his agreement with Gantz is dissolved and another election will be called. West Bank annexations For Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump's plan for Middle East peace offered Israel an "historic" opportunity. The plan -- rejected by the Palestinians and condemned by much of the international community -- gave Israel the green light to annex Jewish settlements and other strategic territory in the occupied West Bank. Such annexations would violate international law and likely inflame tensions in the volatile region. Gantz had praised Trump's controversial plan but was more cautious regarding its implementation. The coalition agreement says that any measures regarding Trump's plan would be executed "in full agreement of the United States," while maintaining "international dialogue" and "the need to maintain regional stability". At the same time, with Gantz's permission, Netanyahu can bring Trump's annexation plan to cabinet and parliament for discussion and approval from July 1. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh on Monday condemned the formation of an "Israeli annexation government," saying it marked the end of the two-state solution. WASHINGTON - Congressional Republicans have strongly backed President Donald Trump's efforts to respond to the deadly coronavirus pandemic and its crippling impact on the economy, even as many of their home state officials have pushed for more to be done. But on the issue of testing, some Senate Republicans are looking for ways to get the federal government to play a bigger role despite Trump's insistence it is an issue that governors should handle. Led by Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Roy Blunt of Missouri, Senate Republicans have largely envisioned the federal government taking a lead role in experimenting with diagnostic and serological tests for the coronavirus, even if some of the ideas ultimately fail - the thinking being that the government can take chances that perhaps the private sector cannot. "We're encouraging some risk-taking here," Blunt said in an interview Tuesday. There is about $1 billion allocated for that effort in the a $484 billion economic stimulus agreement that cleared the Senate on Tuesday afternoon. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., has proposed a centralized immunity registry that would track who would be protected from infecting others with the coronavirus, modeling it on existing systems for other diseases that record who has been vaccinated. The new agreement gives the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention $1 billion to be used in part for surveillance to determine who is infected. "If we are going to be able to figure out how to open up the economy again, and prior to having at least a vaccine, then we've got to figure out who has the virus and who doesn't," said Senate Majority Whip John Thune, R-S.D. Senate Republicans remain united in agreement with the president that the administration of coronavirus tests should be left to state and local public health agencies. "I really believe . . . the more local something is, they probably can do a better job," said Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., who ran a private for-profit health-care company before his time in public office. "The feds can fund things, but not run things well." The dispute over how to efficiently run testing was one of the remaining hurdles resolved in a $484 billion economic stimulus agreement finalized Tuesday, which would also replenish a new small-business lending program whose funds ran dry last week. In addition to more money for testing, Democrats insisted on a new reporting regimen that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., touted as a key win. During the negotiations, the White House - which wanted to delegate more responsibility to the states - and Republican negotiators worried that Democrats were trying to craft a reporting system that would more easily pin the blame on the Trump administration for any shortfalls, according to GOP senators and aides who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private talks. The agreement includes $25 billion for tests, including a national strategic testing policy highlighted by Democrats that Republicans said will still leave enough flexibility to state and local health departments, including more money to increase their capacities to administer them. Thune said the agreement Tuesday strikes a balance - giving states more resources to carry out the tests, but "it also recognizes that the federal government has a role." Democrats had called for a $30 billion testing plan that would create a comprehensive national testing strategy and put the onus on the administration to allocate tests and create a pipeline to ensure there are enough of them nationwide. "There's a reason that people that run the executive branch are called the administration," because they administer, said Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, who caucuses with Democrats and said he was infuriated after a call with Democratic senators and Vice President Mike Pence last week over what Democrats said were inadequate answers about a national testing strategy. The clashes over testing have been most acute between governors and Trump when it comes to the shortfall of tests and supplies - particularly with Trump's decision to let states largely fend for themselves and his reluctance to fully invoke the powers of the Defense Production Act. In a Washington Post Live interview Tuesday, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, said states still need Trump to enact the obscure law so local health departments can more readily obtain testing supplies such as cotton swabs and reagents. "None of that has been done at the federal government level. That's the mistake that has been made all along here," Pritzker said. "We could have organized this and led this at a federal level." While Trump's plans to use the Defense Production Act to boost the development of testing swabs have been beset by mixed messaging and contradictory claims, officials said the effort was moving ahead. Trump initially said he was planning to invoke the act because he's "had a little difficulty" with one swab manufacturer, but senior administration officials contradicted him by saying the White House was instead cooperating with Maine-based Puritan Medical Products to produce more swabs. Under the law, the government will incentivize, rather than force, Puritan to step up swap production. "This is the hand up. This is the government coming in and saying, 'How can we help you expand your lines?' " Brett Giroir, the federal official overseeing coronavirus testing efforts, told reporters Monday. "There's no asynchrony here at all." Brad Smith, director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, told reporters Monday that efforts to use the Defense Production Act were underway, with Puritan actively negotiating with the Pentagon over how to build four new production lines and begin making 20 million additional swabs monthly. But Trump added to the confusion minutes later about the act, saying that "we really don't need it," making the case that the threat of invoking the powerful war-era legislation had been enough. The White House press office did not respond to requests for clarification. Trump and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, met in the Oval Office on Tuesday to discuss testing, with the president telling reporters that the two leaders spoke to discuss Cuomo's statewide testing strategy and "how we can work together to help expand it, with the goal of doubling testing in the next few weeks." Former vice president Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has aggressively criticized Trump over testing, arguing that the president has failed to use his powers appropriately. "Instead of quickly and fully deploying the Defense Production Act to secure materials like swabs to ramp up our testing capacity - as I called for over a month ago - Trump is only now beginning to address the shortage of swabs after an unacceptable test slowdown that has left us far below where we need to be to reopen our country, and with countless Americans left with horrible uncertainty as they and their loved ones fight this disease," he said. Meanwhile, as partisan tensions flare, some governors have gotten creative in getting what they need. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, told reporters last week that his state had been using 3-D printers to develop testing swabs, but continued to face a shortfall of reagents. Widespread testing, he said, would be key to reopening Louisiana's economy. Edwards said the state had ramped up testing significantly in recent weeks, but it still "was not as robust as we would like." And Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, enlisted his wife, Yumi Hogan, to negotiate with her country of origin, South Korea, to secure 500,000 coronavirus tests, which arrived Saturday at Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport and will help to dramatically expand Maryland's ability to quickly identify patients sickened from the virus. Trump didn't appear pleased with the Hogans' efforts to go abroad, saying Monday of the Maryland governor, "I think he needed to get a little knowledge, would've been helpful." Over the past day, the highest-trending question asked in the US regarding coronavirus news on Google Search was "How to buy crude oil stock?" The following are the highest-trending queries asked in Google Search about COVID-19 over the last 24 hours in the US: How to buy crude oil stock? How to invest in oil? As reported by the BBC, Monday was the first time ever that the price of oil in the US fell below zero dollars and into negative values, a fall the media deems as a "striking illustration of just how much economic activity has slowed around the world" thanks to the COVID-19 outbreak. As a result, residents of the US have had an increasing interest in investing in crude oil. Finance and investment sites like Investopedia have been publishing guides on what exactly is going on right now and how it might be possible to make a profit from the historical drop in value. When will I get my stimulus check? According to the report CNN published over the weekend, though stimulus payments have begun being deposited into some US taxpayers' bank accounts already, about 60 million people are still waiting for theirs. The IRS first distributed the funds to those it could reach the quickest -- those with direct deposit information accessible via their 2018 or 2019 tax returns. Starting on Wednesday, "the agency will begin sending paper checks -- with President Donald Trump's signature -- to those who haven't authorized a direct deposit in the past two years;" However, only about 5 million checks can be processed per week, so for some recipients, getting the stimulus payment could still take months. Where is my stimulus money? According to the IRS, the distribution of the stimulus checks is automatic for those who are eligible to receive one. People who filed their taxes in 2018 and 2019 and had their refunds directly deposited into a bank account will have these payments deposited directly into the same account. Those who didn't file aren't eligible for direct deposit, while those who opt out of direct deposit will have checks sent to them by postal mail. Story continues Where can I track my stimulus check? The IRS recently launched a stimulus payment tracking tool called "Get My Payment" which US taxpayers can use to find out the status of their stimulus payment and update their direct deposit information. The crippling effects the coronavirus pandemic had dealt to the local economy has placed an even greater demand on the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank, which has seen the need for its services more than double over the past few weeks. Mike Manning, president and CEO of the food bank, says he fears the agency will start having issues in May meeting the public's need for food boxes. "We've never see anything to this degree," Manning said. "We've had natural disasters like hurricanes, which move through and then we recover. But we're potentially 45 days before we see a break in this. It's really going to come down to how quickly (the economy) opens back up or people start getting other assistance and won't need us as much." Manning said the food bank usually distributes about a million pounds of food a month to the network of agencies it serves throughout the 11-parish Baton Rouge region. In March, they handed out 1.2 million pounds of food, he said. And during the first week of April, more than 520,000 pounds of food was distributed to needy families in the region, Manning said. The increase in traffic at their food distribution sites is mostly people who've been laid off or furloughed from their jobs in the retail, hospitality and restaurant industries which have been the hardest impacted by stay-at-home orders. 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 "A lot of people who have never needed us before are showing up at food distributions," Manning said. "Some don't know how to apply for unemployment or SNAP benefits, they don't know because this has never happened to them before." Although the need has increased, Manning says, food donations have sharply declined because stay-at-home orders have resulted in more people raiding grocery store shelves to stockpile food at home. +4 Online grocery shopping on rise in Louisiana during coronavirus; pickup, delivery services strained Shoppers in Louisiana are buying groceries on the internet at a pace that's straining pickup and delivery services as customers try to avoid o That has a ripple effect: Retail stores that used to donate food that was set to expire no longer have the inventory to do so since they're struggling to keep their shelves stocked. Monetary donations are also low at the moment. That will make it impossible for the agency to purchase more food, which they've been doing for the past few weeks, once their coffers run out of funds. "We don't want to miss anyone," Manning said. "We're reaching out for government assistance, but that takes time." To make monetary donations, the agency is directing everyone it its website at www.brfoodbank.org. Patna, April 22 : As Bihar sees a steady rise in the number of coronavirus patients, the real reason is being attributed to negligence, according to health department officials. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has accepted the fact that the rise in the number of cases is due to people coming in contact with infected persons inadvertently. The maximum number of Covid-19 cases in Bihar has been reported from Siwan, Monghyr and Nalanda. A resident of Monghyr who returned from Qatar created a chain of transmission and infected 13 persons, and himself succumbed to the disease at a Patna hospital. Similarly in Siwan, a person who returned from Oman created a chain of transmission and infected as many as 24 people who came in contact with him directly or indirectly. Health department's principal secretary Sanjay Kumar said, "the infected person's responsibility increases manifold. He should stay at home even on a slight suspicion to break the chain of transmission." Similar is the case of another hotspot in Bihar -- Nalanda. Here one coronavirus positive person infected 16 persons. The nodal officer of the Nalanda Medical College said, "If a person thinks he is infected with the virus, he must isolate himself immediately to check the transmission." The Chief Minister accepted that the number of cases in Bihar is on the rise, but said there is no cause for worry as the government has ramped up testing. He said, "The government has stepped up efforts to check the spread. We can control the disease only through social distancing." After five new cases of coronavirus were reported on Wednesday, the total number of cases rose to 136 in the state. Siwan has the highest number of Covid-19 cases at 29 confirmed infections followed by Monghyr (27). This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic. Read about others here. Bennie G. Adkins received the Medal of Honor, the militarys highest award for valor, at a White House ceremony in September 2014. While he was mainly remembered for an extraordinary act of bravery in the Vietnam War, he devoted his postwar years to helping both his community members in Alabama and latter-day Special Forces troops better their lives through education. As a Green Beret sergeant, Mr. Adkins played a major role in preventing the annihilation of his outnumbered unit when it was ambushed in March 1966 at its remote South Vietnam camp. During the 38-hour battle and 48 hours of escape and evasion, Adkins fought with mortars, machine guns, recoilless rifles, small arms and hand grenades, killing an estimated 135 to 175 of the enemy and sustaining 18 different wounds, the Medal of Honor citation read. Madagascar: The deadly coronavirus wreaking havoc all around the world and people are afraid of this virus. As of now, the number of people who have died from this virus has exceeded 1 lakh. The fear of this virus is spread among people. Doctors are still searching for treatment to fight this disease. Many scientists from all over the world are looking for a break from this virus with shoulder to shoulder doctors. Madagascar President Andrey Rajoelina has officially launched its herbal tea and herbal drink. Relief from corona in lockdown, exemption announced in Australia According to the information, he has claimed that this virus can be both treated and prevented. While addressing his ministers, diplomats and journalists at the Malagasy Institute of Applied Research (IMRA), the President has even said that tests have also been done on this drug. Two people have been treated with this. PM Conte says, ' Lockdown will be relieved from May 4 in Italy' According to him, the results are also visible on the patient in 7 days. He also showed it by drinking in front of journalists. He said that it is also safe for humans. There is no risk of life from this. This drink is named Covid-Organics. It has been prepared from a plant named Artemisia which has proved its ability in treating malaria. More local herbs have been used to make herbal tea. IMRA Director General Doctor Charles said, 'Covid-organics will be used as a prophylaxis, which is for prevention, but its clinical tests have shown that it is also effective in corrective treatment.' This city become corona's huge victim, rapidly increasing number of deaths Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism officials on Tuesday announced a plan to transform the way they market the Adirondack region as the state lifts its New York on PAUSE social distancing restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic. Getting the economy back on track is the ultimate goal. Many businesses are currently closed, or their services have been scaled back. For Adirondack communities, that means opening the region back up to tourism, which has been on hold for more than five weeks. And that will require a new tourism strategy. Its going to be a very delicate dance, Willsboro supervisor and Essex County Board of Supervisors Chairman Shaun Gillilland said Tuesday during a video conference call hosted by ROOST, based in Lake Placid. About 200 people took part in the virtual meeting, which included a slide show presentation led by ROOST CEO Jim McKenna titled Adirondack Tourism Strategy: Pathway Forward. ROOST performs marketing duties for Essex and Hamilton counties and the villages of Tupper Lake and Saranac Lake. Gillilland said hes been in touch with state officials daily on how the economy will be reopened. I think when it happens, Gillilland said, there wont be much prep time once the announcement is made, so everybodys got to be ready in the various economic sectors. That plan has got to be ready to go. McKenna unveiled ROOSTs new marketing strategy shortly before Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced in Buffalo that New York will reopen the states economy by region, based on COVID-19 facts. Cuomo said different parts of the state have different pandemic curves than others. New York City has had 64% of the states COVID-19 cases, with 21% from Long Island, 8% from Westchester County and 7% from the rest of the state. ROOSTs four marketing phases are called mitigation, local kick-start, regional movement and reinvented travel market. The region is currently in the mitigation phase. We think that, planned properly, we can get up to the final stage over the coming months, McKenna said. Certainly it depends a lot on our public health organizations and our county, state and federal governments. McKenna said hes not sure about the timeline. It all depends on when state officials begin to lift restrictions. Mitigation After the state began its social distancing mandates in the middle of March, local and county government and tourism officials began asking travelers to stay home. ROOST suspended its paid advertising, modified its marketing message and focused on local communication. We started planning and positioning at that point on how we were going to reemerge in the travel market, McKenna said. The main marketing message for mitigation is, Well be here: Well be here, ready to welcome you back when the time is right. Pause now; play later. Wish you were here; glad you are staying home. Local kick-start Once the economy starts opening up, ROOST will change its marketing message to We are here, focusing on the local and regional residents who want to get out and explore. We are here, saving a place for you. We are here, getting ready to welcome you back. International travel is probably not going to happen much. Domestic flying is not going to happen much, McKenna said. But certainly some drive-to destinations with the right mechanisms in place should be positioned to welcome some guests, we hope, over this coming summer. Businesses will begin to reopen. Locals will want to start moving around within their communities. Travel desire will need to be built. Recovery of the Adirondack economy will begin with local communities. There will be an emphasis on the need and value for business activity and local government engagement. Its a time when we can really start concentrating on our communities, McKenna said. Lets freshen them up, make them look clean, make them look pristine. ROOST will continue to prepare to welcome visitors back and engage communities. Appropriate events will be considered, and road trip itineraries and walking tours will be promoted.q Regional movement As the economy continues to open up, the marketing message will change to The Adirondacks, were open, focusing on regions within a three- to four-hour drive such as Albany, Syracuse, Rochester and the Hudson Valley. As things develop, well see how that works, but were not looking at reaching out to the major metropolitan areas at this particular time, McKenna said. ROOST will focus on strengths of the Adirondack region: fresh air and open spaces, road trip itineraries, reconnecting with nature, affordable experiences and a return to traditional vacation experiences. What we mean by that is family travel, McKenna said. Maybe theyre in a hotel room playing Monopoly at night or certain things that maybe we havent experienced in the past. We have to be ready to provide those so that some travel can happen in the appropriate way. Businesses will have to ensure that cleanliness protocols are in place, and theyre easy for travelers to find as part of their travel planning process. The traveler will be different, McKenna said. Theyll have some new expectations. Most of the research says discretionary income will be lower. People will be ready for experiences, but they wont be looking for long distances to travel. And drive-to destinations are certainly ones that will be favored. Reinvented travel market Once the economy is fully reopened in whatever form that means ROOST officials will look at turning the tourism changes into marketing opportunities. Certainly the traveler is going to be looking for different experiences, McKenna said. They want to be assured that our destinations are as safe as possible. Working together on a unified marketing message is the best approach for the Adirondack region, McKenna asserted. If we have different plans for different areas, its going to be much more difficult, he said. We want to raise the level of confidence in our local market and raise the level of confidence in our travel market. The idea of a reinvented travel market echoes the governors message that New Yorks economy will also be reinvented. It will never be the same. In fact, as the states 10 economic development regions reopen, Cuomo said hed like to see them improve. Lets not talk about just reopening, Cuomo said Tuesday. Lets not have gone through this, and all were going to do is go back where we were. How do you use this as an opportunity to learn the lessons and to build back better? Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 DanHenson1/iStockBy BILL HUTCHINSON, ABC News (DETROIT) -- Yolanda Peterson says she had prepared a room in her Michigan home for her brother, eagerly anticipating his release from prison after serving 44 years for a murder that initially got him a sentence of life without parole when he was barely old enough to drive. On April 12, she said a parole agent inspected her suburban Detroit residence and deemed it a suitable place for 60-year-old William Garrison to live. "He was looking forward to getting out," Peterson told ABC News of her older brother. "He wanted to work as an advocate for people in jail. He was a very knowledgable person. He had a lot going on. He helped a lot of prisoners, reviewing their cases. He got people out of jail." But a day after the parole agent visited Peterson's home, Garrison died at the Macomb Correctional Facility in Lenox Township, Michigan, and a postmortem test confirmed he had contracted the novel coronavirus, prison officials said. His death came just 24 days before he likely would have been released. "I'm grieving right now," Peterson said on Tuesday while adhering to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's statewide coronavirus stay-at-home orders. "I'm the only person who closely stood with my brother for 44 years and walked this road with him. We're heartbroken because he was coming home. Justice should be served because my brother shouldn't have died." At the age of 16, Garrison was convicted of murder for gunning down a 50-year-old man during a 1976 home-invasion robbery, a mistake his sister said "he repented for over and over again." However, her brother, she said, had felt the courts had done him an injustice by making him a juvenile lifer. After the U.S. Supreme Court banned life-without-parole sentences for juveniles in 2018, Garrison was resentenced in January to a term of 40 to 90 years. By then he had already served more than his minimum sentence. Garrison rejects offer of early parole Chris Gautz, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Corrections, said the case is even more heartbreaking because the state parole board had granted Garrison early parole back in February before the first cases of coronavirus appeared in Michigan, but he refused to accept it. He decided to wait out the remainder of his sentence, which, at that time, would have ended on Sept. 4, Gautz said, noting that Garrison had been awarded more than 7,000 days of "good time" credits. "What he told the board was, 'I would rather stay in here until September and walk out a completely free man rather than walk out right now and be on parole and have to report to a parole agent and have to go through all that,'" Gautz told ABC News. But when the first presumptive cases of COVID-19 were announced in Michigan in early March, corrections officials began scrambling to reduce the state prison population, anticipating that social distancing would be tough to accomplish in packed prison cellblocks. "We started proactively looking for individuals who were elderly, who might be more prone to contracting the virus. So, he popped up on our list," Gautz said. "We went to him again and said, 'Hey look, we tried to parole you before and you didn't want to go, but now that this virus is here and you're over the age of 60, and the experts say that you're more prone to get it, we'd like to consider you for parole again.'" This time, Garrison accepted the offer. But before he could be paroled, corrections officials were obligated to send a letter to prosecutors in the county where Garrison was convicted of murder advising them of his impending release. The letter was sent on April 8, giving the Wayne County prosecutor 28 days to appeal, Gautz said. "Obviously they're our most populous county and we've sent them more than 100 letters," Gautz said of the county that encompasses Detroit. "We haven't heard back on any of them, but we know that they have many other things that they're doing." Barring an appeal from the Wayne County prosecutor, Garrison was set to be released on May 6, Gautz said. 'Gasping for air' On April 13, Garrison's cellmate cried out for help when he noticed Garrison appeared to be in medical distress, Gautz said. "His bunkmate said that he was gasping for air and he called out for help, and our officers rushed in, performed life-saving measures, got the ambulance in there, got him to the hospital," Gautz said. "Once he was at the hospital and died, the doctors there decided to test him postmortem for COVID-19." Peterson claims she was contacted by her brother's cellmate, who she says told her that he had symptoms of coronavirus prior to Garrison's death. She said other prisoners who witnessed her brother's fatal episode told her that prison staff was slow in responding to repeated calls for help from Garrison's bunkmate and that corrections officers handcuffed her brother when he fell unconscious onto the cell floor. "He caught it from his roommate, being locked down in there since February. He hadn't been outside since February," said Peterson, adding that she has contacted an attorney about taking legal action. "He's not going to die in vain because he did ask for help. His roommate asked them for help. Then they put him in shackles after he died on the floor. Gautz said Peterson has apparently been misinformed. He said Garrison nor his cellmate exhibited symptoms or complained of being ill before to the fatal episode. He said that the prison's nursing staff had even gone cell-to-cell examining inmates prior to Garrison's death. Gautz said that Garrison's cellmate was immediately placed in quarantine and was tested for the virus. He said the test on the cellmate came back negative. "It speaks to the insidious nature of this virus that some people can have no symptoms at all and all of a sudden, just like that, they're having these issues," Gautz said. "It's just very unfortunate." Hundreds of prisoners test positive in Michigan He said that 81 prisoners at the Macomb Correctional Facility, which houses about 1,300 inmates, had tested positive for the virus as of Monday night. He said no other coronavirus-linked deaths have occurred at the prison. Gautz said that of the 38,000 inmates in the entire state prison system, 574 had tested positive and 21 had died. Overall, Michigan had recorded more than 32,000 positive cases of the virus as of Tuesday and at least 2,700 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University's Coronavirus Resource Center. Gautz said the Department of Corrections is continuing to work to reduce the prison population, adding that 200 inmates are scheduled to be paroled this week and 700 to 900 others by the end of this month. "That's just a little bit higher than average. We parole about 9,000 prisoners every year in general," Gautz said. He said only about 5,000 prisoners are eligible for early parole. "Certainly every prisoner that we release, the parole board is first and foremost looking at whether or not they are going to be a harm to society if they're released," Gautz said. "[Garrison] certainly was not one that we were worried about committing new crimes and that's why the board was happy to vote him out twice." Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. The Conroe ISD board granted superintendent Curtis Null additional delegations in a second emergency resolution Tuesday. With the passing of the new resolution, Null now has the authority including waiver of board policies, determined by the superintendent and board president, to be urgent given the unique and fluid circumstances and, if required by law, subject to later ratification of the board of trustees, in consultation with board president Datren Williams. The motion was passed unanimously with no discussion from board members over video conference to comply with social distancing guidelines. Since March 16, 2020, the district has been either closed or functioning under emergency operations in keeping with orders issued at all levels of government in an effort to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, reads the explanation of the resolution in the meeting board book. On March 17, 2020, the board of trustees passed a resolution delegating certain authority to Dr. Null necessary to maintain the operations of the district during this time. Since then, various governmental agencies have issued guidance and rules relating to continuing governmental functions. As a result, the district is submitting a second emergency resolution to the board of trustees for approval. Tuesdays resolution also suspended all timelines for district personnel to hold hearings or issue responses required under board policies given the remote working conditions, but timelines of appeals are not suspended. With the new resolution, the district determined that a day that the district is offering remote instruction to students is considered a school day for purposes related to posting vacancies. District offices are now officially designated closed for purposes of public health. At its March 17 meeting the board approved its first emergency resolution granting Null the power to act in place of the board when it came to decisions about employee payments, implementing provisions of board policy, changing the school calendar, create guidelines around absences and leave time for quarantined employees, seek necessary waivers from the TEA, make necessary purchases, and take appropriate actions regarding temporary suspension of the Texas Public Information Act. Discussion from board members during the passing of the first emergency resolution inquired about how the board would be informed or updated about actions Null takes under the resolution so that the board can respond to questions from constituents accordingly. This weeks resolution directs Null to report to the board actions taken under the authority the resolution grants him until the first meeting of the board after the COVID-19 crisis is over. The resolution can be read in full in the meeting board book, which is accessible on the districts website: https://www.conroeisd.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/2020-4-21-Regular-Meeting.pdf jamie.swinnerton@chron.com China has successfully slowed the spread of coronavirus disease Covid-19, and in outbreak epicentre Wuhan, life also returned to normal. But a new mystery is now baffling the doctors in China: A growing number of patients who had recovered from the Sars-CoV-2 virus continue to test positive without showing symptoms. Those patients all tested negative for the virus at some point after recovering, but then tested positive again, some up to 70 days later, the doctors said. Many have done so over 50-60 days. A man told news agency Reuters that he had stayed at three hospitals in Wuhan before being moved to a flat in the centre. He had taken over 10 tests since the third week of February, he said, on occasions testing negative but mostly positive. I feel fine and have no symptoms, but they check and its positive, check and its positive, he said. What is with this virus? The prospect of people remaining positive for the virus, and therefore potentially infectious, is of international concern, as many countries seek to end lockdowns and resume economic activity as the spread of the virus slows. Currently, the globally recommended isolation period after exposure is 14 days. China has not published precise figures for how many patients fall into this category. But according to Reuters, there are at least dozens of such cases. In South Korea, about 1,000 people have been testing positive for four weeks or more. In Italy, the first European country ravaged by the pandemic, health officials noticed that coronavirus patients could test positive for the virus for about a month. We did not see anything like this during SARS, said Yuan Yufeng, a vice president at Zhongnan Hospital in Wuhan, referring to the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak that infected 8,098 people globally, mostly in China. Meanwhile, Wang Guiqiang, director of the infectious disease department of Peking University First Hospital, said at a briefing on Tuesday that the majority of such patients were not showing symptoms and very few had seen their conditions worsen. The new coronavirus is a new type of virus, said Guo Yanhong, a National Health Commission official. For this disease, the unknowns are still greater than the knowns. Experts and doctors struggle to explain why the virus behaves so differently in these people. Some suggest that patients retesting as positive after previously testing negative were somehow reinfected with the virus. This would undermine hopes that people catching Covid-19 would produce antibodies that would prevent them from getting sick again from the virus. Other South Korean and Chinese experts have said that remnants of the virus could have stayed in patients systems but not be infectious or dangerous to the host or others. Meanwhile, the number of Covid-19 patients jumped by 1,383 in India on Wednesday, pushing the countrys tally to 19,984, according to the health ministry. Fifty people died due to the disease in the last 24 hours, the health ministry data further said. (With inputs from agencies) Vos and Fitzgerald said there was immense frustration with the extension, which the lawsuit argues if left in place will devastate the economy and leave Wisconsin in shambles. Protests against the order have popped up around the state, with one scheduled for Friday at the Capitol. Banks in charge of handling the payment protection program funds made $10 billion in fees by processing the loans, even though many small businesses were shut out of receiving the grants. Federally insured banks and credit unions that distribute these funds took in between 1-5 per cent in fees while processing them, according to an analysis of financial records by NPR, while the loans provided little risk for the banks. Loans worth less than $350,000 brought in 5 per cent in fees, according to government figures, while loans worth anywhere from $2 million to $10 million brought in 1 per cent in fees. The money for the loans are provided by taxpayers and guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA), with banks essentially acting as the middle men in distributing the loans, which range from tens of thousands to a cap of $10 million. Some small businesses who do not have previous relationships with a bank were not able to obtain the $10 million loans meant to help keep their businesses open and employees on the bankroll in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak. Banks were put in charge of administering the loans granted by the SBA as part of the payment protection program (PPP), which was allocated $349 billion as part of the CARES Act signed at the end of March. While mom-and-pop shops and other small businesses were unable to receive loans as the funds dried up in less than two weeks, several huge multi-million dollar public companies were able to get their hands on the $10 million grants. Banks authorized to distribute the payment protection program loans have made a combined total of more than $10 billion in fees from processing the funds meant to help small businesses during the coronavirus crisis Banks take on no risk in distributing the loans since the money is from taxpayers and guaranteed through the Small Business Administration as part of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act Several small businesses, however, have struggled to obtain the grants especially those without a previous relationship with a bank threatening main streets all over the country In one example, RCSCH Operations LLC, the parent company of Ruths Chris Steak House, received a $10 million PPP loan on April 7 despite having much more than 500 employees nationwide. JPMorgan Chase & Co., acted as the lender for that loan to Ruths Chris and took a $100,000 fee on the one-time transaction, even though the bank assumed no risk and could pass through the money with fewer requirements than for a typical loan. Research from Morgan Stanley shows that $243.4 million of the fund's $349 billion, $243.4 million was allocated to at least 90 publicly traded companies, which could have gone to help around 1,100 smaller businesses, causing public outrage. The PPP was created by Congress and designed to loan money to small businesses with 500 employees or less to help them survive the economic downturn during the coronavirus crisis, ensuring they can still pay their employees and bills, and to avoid mass layoffs. Companies that use the money to avoid layoffs will not have to pay the money loans making the structure more like a grant. The Senate approved new legislation that seeks to expand the PPP with $331 billion more for the fund as part of a wider $483 billion coronavirus relief package. President Donald Trump is urging swift passage this week as the bill moves to the Democrat-controlled House with a vote planned for Thursday. The bipartisan bill, Washington's fourth in response to the crisis, is not expected to be the last as lawmakers take unprecedented steps to confront the virus and prop up communities nationwide amid the health crisis. The emergency interim relief bill also includes $75 billion to hospitals and $25 billion to boost testing for the virus, a key step in building the confidence required to reopen state economies. There is an additional $60 billion allocated for small-business loans and grants separate from the PPP. As part of the new agreement, around $60 billion has been set aside for smaller banks and community lenders, a nod to neighborhoods and rural areas under-served by banks. Due to loopholes in the conditions of the original small business lending program, some large public companies with thousands of employees and easy access to credit were able to claim relief dollars through the scheme, depriving smaller businesses of tax-backed funds that could save them from going under. Many of the public companies claiming loans thought the scheme have a market value of over $100 million, and some have claimed the maximum $10 million allowed through the scheme. Table: Some of the public companies, listed in order of their market value, who have received loans from the Paycheck Protection Program set up to help small businesses Public companies that have received funding from the PPP include metal working giant DMC Global, which has a $405 million market value, biotech company Wave Life Sciences ($286 million), biopharmaceutical company Mannkind ($273 million) and prefab home builder Legacy Housing ($229 million). Restaurant chains, which were exempt from the 500-employee cap if they have less than 500 workers per location, were also among the large companies claiming benefits.y Fiesta Restaurant Group, the parent company of the Pollo Tropical and Taco Cabana brands which employs more than 10,000 workers, claimed the maximum $10 million in loans. Other large restaurants chains like Potbelly and Ruth's Chris Steak House also secured the maximum $10 million. Kura Sushi, a chain with locations in California, Texas and several other states worth $78 million, took a $6 million PPP loan. At least 94 publicly traded companies have been recipients of taxpayer-backed loans, and according to AP around 25 percent of these companies warned investors in the run up to the crisis that their ability to remain viable was in doubt. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, 4,400 of the approved loans exceeded $5 million when nationally the typical amount requested from the program was $206,000. If the $243.4 million claimed by the corporate giants had been split fairly between typical businesses requesting money through the program, over 1,100 more businesses could have received funds. 'The intent of this money was not for big public companies that had access to capital,' Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said when addressing the issue during Tuesday's White House press briefing. The department also highlighted that 74 percent of the loans were for less than $150,000, saying this demonstrated that the loan is accessible 'to even the smallest of small businesses.' Lenders have approved 1.6 million loans from the PPP which depleted last week. However, In total, nine of the loans received from the PPP were for the $10 million maximum available to businesses. Taco Cabana, a chain operated by Fiesta Restaurant Group, which received the maximum $10 million allowed from the Paycheck Protection Program California technology company Quantum Corp., which has a market value of 151 million, also secured the maximum amount. According to AP, Quantum settled a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation late last year into accounting errors that overstated its revenue. AP said that five other companies identified have previously been under investigation by regulators, including firms that paid penalties to resolve allegations. In 2016, Marrone Bio Innovations, a bio-pesticide company in Davis, California, agreed to pay the SEC $1.8 million after its CEO was found to have inflated financial results to hit revenue projections. Marrone received a loan of $1.7 million from the PPP. The company's CEO Pam Marrone said the company 'shouldn't be punished' for what happened in 2016, saying that the incident had been a 'body blow' to the company. In order to recover from the damage done by the investigation, Marrone said that the company had to take on $40 million in debt and is still working to get itself out of a financial hole. 'People don't realize how tough it is to be a small public company like us that's not yet profitable,' she said. 'We can't just go to investors and say, "OK, open up your wallets."' Shake Shack, the $1.6 billion burger empire, also received the maximum $10 million from the Paycheck Protection Program, but has said it will return the money after public outrage What is the small-business relief program? The Paycheck Protection Program exhausted its $350 billion in funding last week and many small businesses were unable to obtain loans they desperately need to stay afloat. Congress and the White House say they're close to an agreement on that would give the program about $300 billion in fresh funds. The government program, which is overseen by the Treasury and administered by the Small Business Administration, limits loan recipients to businesses with fewer than 500 employees and revenue of less than $2.5 billion. But it makes an exception for restaurants and other food service businesses that employ fewer than 500 people per location, meaning that restaurant chains are as eligible for the loans as a neighborhood restaurant or bar. The small business lending program is part of the $2.2 trillion rescue package approved by Congress last month. Advertisement Another company that took the maximum $10 million was Shake Shack, the $1.6 billion burger empire, igniting public anger. In response, Company Executives announced they have made the decision to return the money after finding alternative sources of capital. Another restaurant company, J. Alexander's Holdings, was able to secure more than $15 million from the PPP. One of its subsidiaries borrowed the maximum $10 million, while another, Stoney River, borrowed $5.1 million, taking the firm's total to $15.1 million. Some of the companies that received loans from the PPP appeared to have enough cash in reserves to survive the economic downturn. Lindblad Expedition Holdings, a New York City-based cruise ship and travel company, received a $6.6 million loan. The company, which employs 650 workers and has a branding deal with National Geographic, reported at the end of March that it had around $137 million in cash on its balance sheet. Writing in an email to AP, spokeswoman Audrey Chang wrote: 'When this crisis hit, we had two business planning cases: 1) substantial layoffs and furloughs or 2) receiving these funds and not impacting our employees.' Donald Trump listens to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin during Tuesday's White House press conference. Another relief package is currently being agreed and will replenish the funds from the PPP which has now depleted 'Lindblad is the very rare travel company that has not imposed any layoffs, furloughs or salary reductions to date,' she added. One of the companies said to have warned investors about its ability to meet financial obligations was Enservco Corp., a Denver-based oil and gas industry firm. In its annual report filed last month, Enservco said it does 'not generate adequate revenue to fund our current operations.' Chief executive Ian Dickinson said his company wouldn't have folded without the $1.9 million loan it received. But, he said, he welcomed the money and would've had to let go more employees than he already has without it. 'Our employees are really no different than the employees of a nonpublic company,' Dickinson said. 'These are funds being used to keep folks on payroll and keep food on their tables.' One Democratic Senator, Gary Peters of Michigan, has called for an investigation into how funds from the Paycheck Protection Program were distributed. Peters sent a letter on Tuesday to Gene Dodaro, the comptroller general for the Government Accountability Office (GAO), asking for the investigation. In his letter, we wrote that 'a substantial amount of PPP loans have gone to large hotel and restaurant chains, rather than the struggling small and minority-owned businesses who may be forced to permanently close their doors without urgent assistance. 'I am concerned that PPP loans may not have gone to those who need them most,' he added. The U.S. Army may need to start converting its wheeled fleet, including the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, to run on electric engines in the next decade, according to the general in charge of future force design. Vehicle designers at Tesla Inc. in Palo Alto, California, have already shown that electric motor technology can be scaled up to run vehicles the size of the JLTV and larger, Lt. Gen. Eric Wesley, deputy commander of Army Futures Command and director of the Futures and Concepts Center, told defense reporters Tuesday. "The technology to power a vehicle of that weight exists today," he said. "If it exists now, you can anticipate that we are going to have to transition some of this stuff in the next 10 years." Related: Here's Why the Army Is Buying Fewer JLTVs Next Year Wesley is leading an effort to write a proposal, set to be published in early summer, that lays out a path for overcoming the challenges the Army would face if it transitions from internal-combustion engines to electric-powered vehicles. Such an undertaking, however, would not be easy for an organization as large as the Army, he said. "The issue is not whether we can build hybrid vehicles -- that's easy," said Wesley, describing how it's simple for people to buy a Tesla vehicle without drastically changing their way of life. "The Army has to look at this bigger, because we have to look at the entire supply chain, which is why you haven't seen a lot of movement on this in the past," he said. "But as you can see, the entire automotive industry is migrating toward this idea of electrification, and there [are] a lot of good reasons for it." If the automotive industry "goes to electrification, the supply source for internal combustion engine parts is going to go down and therefore prices are going to go up," Wesley said. Transporting fuel for vehicles in wartime is also a huge undertaking for the Army. "The main supply routes that we have to protect in a given theater and the ability to move fuel, it really takes combat power away from the battlefield," Wesley said. Electric engines would also be simpler to maintain and create less of a burden on the supply chain, he said. "The number of parts associated with electric vehicles is in the dozens," he said. "If you count the number of moving parts in an internal combustion engine, it's in the thousands. So, if you are talking about a logistic supply line, you have to carry fewer parts." One of the biggest challenges for the Army would be figuring out a way to dependably recharge electric vehicles anywhere on the battlefield, Wesley said. "We can't just go buy an electric vehicle; we have to look at the supply chain, so how are you going to have sources for charging?" This is a bigger problem for the Army than for any corporation or private family, he said. "You have to have a means to move the energy and generate the energy at the right time and place." Currently, the Pentagon is looking at ways to make alternative fuel options organic to its formations, he added. "Technology tells us that safe, mobile nuclear power plants -- for example, that is something that goes on the back of a truck -- is something that is realistic," Wesley said. It will likely be a long time, however, before electric motor technology can reliably power heavy combat vehicles such as the Next Generation Combat Vehicle -- a top Army modernization priority that is being developed to replace the Bradley fighting vehicle, he said. "Right now, we don't see the technology on the near-term horizon being able to power heavy vehicles; it's just too much of a drain on the battery," he explained. But Wesley said the Army may have to make a decision in the next decade to transition its wheeled vehicles to electric motor technology. "If that is true, then we have to have a transition plan for the Army to move in that direction. It should include a very detailed strategy and step-by-step pathways," he said. "If we can reduce the fossil-fuel consumption by transitioning our wheeled vehicles on a horizon that we can see ... it wouldn't be prudent not to consider that and have a plan to do so." -- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com. Read More: New Army Approach on Bradley Replacement: 'Lower the Bar' for Companies to Compete Dubai Airports is working closely with its aviation and commercial partners and is planning for a gradual remobilisation once travel restrictions relating to the Covid-19 pandemic are lifted. Under a business stabilisation framework, aviation partners, tenants and concessionaires have been provided with details of an assistance programme agreed by Dubai Airports. Dubai Airports has responded decisively to the Covid-19 crisis and is among the first airport operators to propose meaningful assistance to airline and commercial partners. The programme, which is applicable for the impacted period March 1 to May 31, includes waiving 100 per cent of minimum guarantees or equivalent fees for partners who have been required to cease trading due to the suspension of airport operations caused by the global pandemic. For partners that have maintained partial operations, other measures are in place to address the reduction in aviation activity, including rescheduling and other financial adjustments. Flexibility is more important now than ever, said Eugene Barry, executive vice president of commercial at Dubai Airports. Of paramount importance is that we protect and retain our aviation and business partnerships, which have been carefully built over a number of years, and ensure that our revenue and service drivers will be in a position to remobilise, in line with approvals from federal authorities. We have taken a number of unprecedented measures to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 to our own business, as well as those of our partners. By providing clarity and meaningful assistance to our business partners at this moment, we are confident that we will re-emerge to continue delivering the highest levels of assurance and service in a new commercial landscape, in which DXB and DWC will play leading parts. Our futures are intertwined, and dependent on our ability to maintain core relationships, but also on adapting to unprecedented conditions and new behaviours. Passenger operations at DXB and Dubai World Central (DWC), with the exception of repatriation flights, were effectively suspended by UAE authorities on March 24. The suspension is in place until further notice. Cargo operations are excluded from the ban and have experienced a surge of activity at DXB as 12 airlines, including Emirates SkyCargo and flydubai, have been given permission to operate an average of 110 weekly flights weekly in response to heightened demand for pharmaceuticals, food, and other essential goods. - TradeArabia News Service Greece shut down its society later than many other countries in Europe did, but relatively early in terms of the progression of its coronavirus outbreak. Greece closed schools on March 10, when it had fewer than 100 confirmed cases. It shuttered cafes, restaurants, museums and shopping centers on March 13, after the first death, and it imposed a national lockdown on March 23, when the death toll stood at 17. By contrast, when Italy extended its lockdown to the entire country on March 10, more than 460 people had died. When Spain imposed its national lockdown on March 14, it had recorded 190 deaths. A Detroit nurse who was fired from her job has filed a lawsuit against the hospital where she worked after she publicly expressed doubts about its preparedness for the COVID-19 pandemic. Kenisa Barkai, 38, is suing Detroit Medical Center for wrongful discharge and violation of Michigan's Whistleblower Protection Act after she was terminated from the company's Sinai-Grace Hospital on March 27. The company alleges Barkai's was terminated because she violated social media policies by sharing a seven-second video to Facebook on March 17 which showed her inside the hospital wearing a face mask, gloves and medical gown. The clip was later featured in a local news report about the coronavirus pandemic. However, in her newly-filed lawsuit, Barkai claims she was actually fired for speaking out about poor work conditions at Sinai-Grace Hospital. Kenisa Barkai, 38, is suing Detroit Medical Center for wrongful discharge and violation of Michigan's Whistleblower Protection Act after she terminated from the company's Sinai-Grace Hospital on March 27 Barkai was working as a nurse at Detroit Medical Center's Sinai-Grace Hospital, and had publicly complained about multiple issues facing the facility amid the COVID-19 crisis On March 17 - the same day she filmed her short clip for social media - Barkai met with the director of nursing at Sinai-Grace and aired concerns about the hospital's ability to cope as the coronavirus crisis worsened. She allegedly told her boss that she was simultaneously tasked with treating COVID and non-COVID patients, and was worried that she might inadvertently be spreading the infection. Barkai also made comments about the hospitals lack of personal protective equipment, according to the lawsuit. The next day, March 18, Barkai appeared on a Local 4 broadcast revealing she was treating both COVID and non-COVID patients, and describing the situation as 'scary' 'It's scary because we don't know if we've been exposed, even in the previous weeks,' she stated in the news bulletin. She was also worried that the hospital may be 'overwhelmed' with cases. Her appearance prompted the Detroit Medical Center to issue a statement to the network stating: 'The DMC has taken the appropriate steps, and we have trained professionals and the necessary equipment to act accordingly. We can safely and appropriately care for our patients with the necessary supplies and equipment'. Barkai is pictured at right with her former colleagues outside Sinai-Grace. She is now suing the hospital's parent organization, Detroit Medical Center Barkai - who has worked as a nurse for 11 years - was terminated from the hospital 10 days later. She is now seeking a jury trial and is seeking in excess of $25,000 with interest, costs and attorney fees, according to the Detroit Free Press. However, Barkai isn't the only employee at Sinai-Grace to speak with the media amid the coronavirus crisis. Several staffers have previously spoken out about the chaos at Sinai-Grace, describing warlike conditions in the ER as a high fatality rate led to dire shortages of body bags and space to store victims. 'All three coolers are filled, the morgue and the viewing room next to the morgue are full and right now, we're taking bodies to the sleep lab to store them,' Jeff Eichenlaub, a weekend day-shift emergency room nurse at the for-profit hospital, told The Detroit News earlier this month. 'We initially had to double bag each patient, but we started to run out of body bags and began scrambling floor-to-floor to find places to take them.' One worker described the hospital as looking like a 'third world country in a war zone'. Another said patients 'we know are going to pass' have been taken off monitors to free it up for 'someone else that needs it'. An emergency room worker at Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit shared harrowing photos with CNN which were purportedly taken inside the facility as it scrambled to treat an overwhelming number of COVID-19 patients earlier this month. In one photo shown above, two victims in white body bags are seen lying side-by-side on a bed and a third is propped up in a chair. Two other ER workers claimed that the photo was taken in a room that is typically reserved for studying sleep habits but was temporarily used to store bodies one night when the morgue reached capacity A second photo shows multiple body bags stacked on the floor of what is believed to be a mobile morgue parked outside the hospital. Two ER workers said they have personally witnessed victims being placed inside the refrigerated units in this manner due to space concerns with the growing number of bodies needing storage. The workers said that the blue bags in the photo contained personal effects belonging to the deceased Meanwhile, harrowing photos allegedly taken by an emergency room worker at the hospital were released to the public earlier this month showing bodies stored in vacant rooms and piled on top of each other. In one photo, two victims in white body bags are seen lying side-by-side on a bed and a third is propped up in an arm chair. A second photo allegedly shows multiple body bags stacked on the floor of what is believed to be a portable refrigerated storage unit parked outside the hospital. Two other ER workers confirmed to CNN that the shots are an accurate portrayal of what took place at Sinai-Grace during an overwhelming 12-hour shift earlier this month. Medics were left scrambling to treat up to 130 patients at a time as COVID-19 killed around five people every 12 hours. At least two patients were reportedly found dead after being left in emergency room corridors, sources claimed as they described a constant shortage of staff, supplies and space to store bodies. A DMC spokesman said in a statement on April 17 that Sinai-Grace has been impacted by the "significantly greater than normal mortality rates in the Detroit community." A popular riverside walk alongside the Thames near Londons Tower Bridge is almost deserted (Yui Mok/PA) Pictures taken by PA news agency photographers at noon on Wednesday reveal the impact of coronavirus on the UK and Ireland. While youngsters and parents continue to tackle home-learning, and scientists in laboratories work testing swabs from frontline staff, Prime Ministers Questions was held in a sparsely attended House of Commons with many MPs opting to join in via video conference. Elsewhere, with shops and businesses closed, once bustling spaces remain deserted. Expand Close An almost deserted M5 motorway looking south towards Devon (Ben Birchall/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp An almost deserted M5 motorway looking south towards Devon (Ben Birchall/PA) Expand Close A boy in Dublin reads to his younger brother as his home-schooling timetable suggests noon is Drop Everything And Read time (Brian Lawless/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A boy in Dublin reads to his younger brother as his home-schooling timetable suggests noon is Drop Everything And Read time (Brian Lawless/PA) Expand Close Scientists at the Lighthouse Laboratory in Glasgow analyse coronavirus swabs taken from NHS staff and other frontline workers (Andrew Milligan/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Scientists at the Lighthouse Laboratory in Glasgow analyse coronavirus swabs taken from NHS staff and other frontline workers (Andrew Milligan/PA) Expand Close Meanwhile, the Speaker calls for the start of Prime Ministers Questions in the chamber of the House of Commons (PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Meanwhile, the Speaker calls for the start of Prime Ministers Questions in the chamber of the House of Commons (PA) Expand Close The concourse at Londons Waterloo station at midday (Jonathan Brady/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The concourse at Londons Waterloo station at midday (Jonathan Brady/PA) Expand Close While Liverpool waterfront was deserted (Peter Byrne/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp While Liverpool waterfront was deserted (Peter Byrne/PA) Expand Close Streets in Newcastle upon Tyne (Owen Humphreys/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Streets in Newcastle upon Tyne (Owen Humphreys/PA) Expand Close Waterlooville town centre in Hampshire (Andrew Matthews/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Waterlooville town centre in Hampshire (Andrew Matthews/PA) Expand Close Kings Parade in Cambridge (Joe Giddens/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Kings Parade in Cambridge (Joe Giddens/PA) RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. -- Researchers say a new discovery on a U.S. Army project for optoelectronic devices could help make optical fiber communications more energy efficient. The University of Pennsylvania, Peking University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology worked on a project funded, in part by the Army Research Office, which is an element of U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command's Army Research Laboratory. The research sought to develop a new design of optical devices that radiate light in a single direction. This single-sided radiation channel for light can be used in a wide array of optoelectronic applications to reduce energy loss in optical fiber networks and data centers. The journal Nature published the findings. Light tends to flow in optical fibers along one direction, like water flows through a pipe. On-chip couplers are used to connect fibers to chips, where light signals are generated, amplified, or detected. While most light going through the coupler continues through to the fiber, some of the light travels in the opposite direction, leaking out. A large part of energy consumption in data traffic is due to this radiation loss. Total data center energy consumption is two percent of the global electricity demand, and demand increases every year. Previous studies consistently suggested that a minimum loss of 25 percent at each interface between optical fibers and chips was a theoretical upper bound that could not be surpassed. Because data centers require complex and interwoven systems of nodes, that 25-percent loss quickly multiplies as light travels through a network. "You may need to pass five nodes (10 interfaces) to communicate with another server in a typical medium-sized data center, leading to a total loss of 95 percent if you use existing devices," said Jicheng Jin, University of Pennsylvania doctoral student. "In fact, extra energy and elements are needed to amplify and relay the signal again and again, which introduces noise, lowers signal-to-noise ratio, and, ultimately, reduces communication bandwidth." After studying the system in more detail, the research team discovered that breaking left-right symmetry in their device could reduce the loss to zero. "These exciting results have the potential to spur new research investments for Army systems," said Dr. Michael Gerhold, program manager, optoelectronics, Army Research Office. "Not only do the coupling efficiency advances have potential to improve data communications for commercial data centers, but the results carry huge impact for photonic systems where much lower intensity signals can be used for the same precision computation, making battery powered photonic computers possible." To better understand this phenomenon, the team developed a theory based on topological charges. Topological charges forbid radiation in a specific direction. For a coupler with both up-down and left-right symmetries, there is one charge on each side, forbidding the radiation in the vertical direction. "Imagine it as two-part glue," said Bo Zhen, assistant professor, department of physics and astronomy at University of Pennsylvania. "By breaking the left-right symmetry, the topological charge is split into two half charges - the two-part glue is separated so each part can flow. By breaking the up-down symmetry, each part flows differently on the top and the bottom, so the two-part glue combines only on the bottom, eliminating radiation in that direction. It's like a leaky pipe has been fixed with a topological two-part glue." The team eventually settled on a design with a series of slanted bars, which break left-right and up-down symmetries at the same time. To fabricate such structures, they developed a novel etching method: silicon chips were placed on a wedge-like substrate, allowing etching to occur at a slanted angle. In comparison, standard etchers can only create vertical side walls. As a future step, the team hopes to further develop this etching technique to be compatible with existing foundry processes and also to come up with an even simpler design for etching. The authors expect applications both in helping light travel more efficiently at short distances, such as between an optical fiber cable and a chip in a server, and over longer distances, such as long-range Lidar systems. ### This project also received funding from the Air Force Research Laboratory, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Natural Science Foundation of China, and HPCP of Peking University. CCDC Army Research Laboratory is an element of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command. As the Army's corporate research laboratory, ARL discovers, innovates and transitions science and technology to ensure dominant strategic land power. Through collaboration across the command's core technical competencies, CCDC leads in the discovery, development and delivery of the technology-based capabilities required to make Soldiers more lethal to win the nation's wars and come home safely. CCDC is a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Futures Command. W ere a good few weeks in now, and the UK like the rest of the world is still in the grips of the coronavirus lockdown. Things are tough out there, but with millions of us have been tuning in for these online events, as well as theatre shows, live comedy and art exhibitions from our sofas, there are plenty of ways to feel connected even in isolation. Nightlife, too, has been making its way into peoples homes through virtual club nights, and people are finding ways of enjoying live music during these testing times. These are our top picks of the things to get up to today make sure to check out our main guide for things to keep yourself occupied with at home, too. Join Sink The Pink for a Drag Quiz Show One of Londons best-loved drag troupes has teamed up with gin brand Wildcat Gin to launch its very own online pub quiz show. At The Queens Head, drag queen Ginger Johnson will be hosting a pub quiz show tonight (and every Thursday) at 7pm, which will be live streamed on Sink The Pinks Instagram account. The quiz is posted afterwards to their Facebook page, but join in live for the chance to win prizes, including bottles of Wildcat gin and loo roll. Take a brain power masterclass A new series of brain power masterclasses is launching today, designed to stimulate the nation during these difficult times. Register and tune in from 6.30pm for the first of the new weekly sessions from Heights, which consist of a 45-minute talk on how to achieve peak mental fitness. Neuroscientist Dr Tara Swart is the first guest to take part this evening, with Stephen Fry, Jay Shetty and Dr Sophie Scott among the names set to appear over the course of the series, which runs until late summer. Learn to sing with Piano Works Advertisement Haunting drone footage has revealed the path of destruction blazed by the forest fires in Chernobyl's exclusion zone. Firefighters fought back the flames for almost two weeks, hyper-aware that the inferno was creeping towards the site of the exploded nuclear plant. Spikes in radiation levels have been measured in the exclusion zone, but the fire was wrestled under control before it reached the site of the gamma-flooded reactor. Yet while potential disaster was averted, the devastation wreaked by the fire has been laid bare by aerial footage. A large part of the woodland has been razed into a scorched wasteland, while some areas are still smoldering. The 1,000-square mile exclusion zone, which was established to prevent exposure to lethal gamma, is largely deserted except for about 200 people who have defied orders to leave. Charred buildings which have weathered the blaze can be seen surrounded by blackened trees, which would usually be in green spring bloom in the Chernobyl exclusion zone Haunting drone footage has revealed the path of destruction blazed by the forest fires in Chernobyl's exclusion zone The charred buildings which have weathered the blaze can be seen surrounded by blackened trees, which would usually be in green spring bloom. The footage was taken by local resident Stanislav Kapralov, who said that over the last 30 years the local flora and fauna had successfully revived after the 1986 disaster, but has in the space of a fortnight been decimated once again. Ukrainian police said residents had started the fire by burning rubbish around their houses and then taking the smoldering residue to a landfill the sight. The residue then reportedly caused dry to catch on fire and the wildfire spread quickly, becoming a full-blown emergency on April 4. The fire-starters - who have been fined - tried to put the fire out themselves before calling the fire service, making the firefighters' job more difficult along with strong winds. The smoke from the fires was blown to the Ukrainian capital of Kiev some 60 miles away and the authorities warned residents not to leave their homes unless strictly necessary because of the risks the smoke posed for their health. A large part of the woodland has been razed into a scorched wasteland, while some areas are still smoldering The footage was taken by local resident Stanislav Kapralov, who said that over the last 30 years the local flora and fauna had successfully revived after the 1986 disaster, but has in the space of a fortnight been decimated once again Spikes in radiation levels have been measured in the exclusion zone, but the fire was wrestled under control before it reached the site of the gamma-flooded reactor. Yet while potential disaster was averted, the devastation wreaked by the fire has been laid bare by aerial footage (pictured) Only a few small fires remained and they were under control as they work to stop the fire reaching Belarus. The Chernobyl disaster occurred on April 26, 1986, at unit number four in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Initially covered up by the USSR, the explosion sent radioactive fallout across Europe exposing millions to dangerous levels of gamma. The three other reactors at Chernobyl continued to generate electricity until the power station finally closed in 2000. A giant protective dome was put in place over the fourth reactor in 2016. Fires occur regularly in the forests near the Chernobyl power plant. Since the hit HBO series Chernobyl, tourists have flocked to the site of the reactor to glimpse the fallout from the explosion. Even the control room, which has 40,000 times the average amount of radiation, is open to visitors, who don protective suits as they tour the compound. The federal government of Nigeria has disclosed that there is no proof yet that COVID-19 can be sexually transmitted. This was disclosed by the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic who noted that no scientific proof exists that the Coronavirus infection is sexually transmissible. The National Coordinator of the PTF, Dr. Sani Aliyu, confirmed this on Wednesday during the daily press briefing by the task force. He made the submission while reacting to a question bordering on alleged proof that the virus, after treatment for the disease, still remains in the male testis. At the moment, theres no evidence of sexual transmission when it comes to COVID-19, but of course, we are still in the early days of the disease. The same thing happened in the case of Ebola, when subsequently it was proven that it was sexually transmissible. There was a small test case series of ten women who had severe COVID-19 and genital secretions were negative of COVID-19 virus. I think its still in the early days, Ill just say, watch this space, he said. Speaking further during the briefing on the issue of increasing testing for the virus across the country, Aliyu explained that despite the difficulties been experienced in the area of operational efficiency and testing sites, the task force was already working on solving that through more collaboration with appropriate partners. Yes, we are looking at every possibility of expanding testing, but there are a lot of bottlenecks. Some of the bottlenecks are less to do with the laboratories, but more to do with the operations efficiency and also the availability of easy sampling sites. For example, in Lagos they have a lot of places where people can go to get tested and we are looking at that model. We already have the Chief Executive Officer of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Faisal Shuaib, is part of the task force now, we are working with him closely to see how we can expand testing. All options are on the table, he said. Aliyu also used the opportunity to denounce an allegation that the federal government plans to impose a national lockdown soon due to the increasing spread of the disease. He said: My attention has been drawn to a fake task force media statement, which was said to be signed by me, talking about a proposed complete lockdown of the country. Not only did the statement patently fail, it was badly written. It is unfortunate that a small number of persons continued to engage in mischief making at such a serious time when we are talking about Coronavirus infection. I must reiterate that the task force has not released any official statement on a complete lockdown, I refer to the SGFs speech yesterday, on submitting formal findings to Mr President, this is yet to happen. I request that the public and the media take caution in circulating or publishing unverified news. To be very clear, all formal statements on the emergency response are made through this daily press briefing or through official press statements. Share this post with your Friends on The effort comes amid a statewide stay-at-home order designed to stop the spread of the virus, which has killed 1,565 in Illinois and more than 46,000 nationally. Distancing measures have shut down waves of offices, restaurants, bars, shops and other businesses, leading downtown Chicago streets to become sparsely populated. How can technology complement health measures during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and how will this impact the longer-term development of certain technologies? OWUSU-ANSAH: A wider segment of the population can benefit from a variety of health services because of the potential of innovative health technology. For instance, through telemedicine a doctor can consult with a patient remotely, request laboratory tests, prescribe medications, and enable a pharmacy to deliver medicine to the patient all without the patient stepping out of the house. This can greatly reduce the pressure on healthcare infrastructure by reducing the number of people that would otherwise be lining up in waiting rooms and pharmacies. DANIEL MARFO: Innovative technologies such as drones have the potential to play an important role in how we observe social distancing and implement the various preventive measures that have been effective in reducing the spread of the pandemic. Because of this, it is expected that there will be a push to fully commercialise drones in many parts of the world, and many Western countries will speed up the approval process for commercial drone licences. Other technologies that allow people to keep in touch and work remotely, including teleconferencing platforms and telemedicine, will also be popular. What opportunities do you expect the crisis will create for health tech in Ghana even after the immediate threat is over? OWUSU-ANSAH: COVID-19 highlighted the inefficiencies in health care that have long made the sector unattractive to the tech world. Hopefully, the scale of the pandemic, and its direct and indirect effects on the global economy and everyday life, will encourage more investors and firms to venture into health technology. Ghanaians and Africans may realize that we do not need to commute as much, and instead start to rely on offerings such as telemedicine, e-commerce and e-services. This will drive growth in these segments, improving service delivery. E-services have the potential to drastically reduce costs and can provide the opportunity to do more meaningful things such as spending time with the family that can lead to overall better quality of life. MARFO: COVID-19 exposed many of the challenges and shortcomings of health systems across the world. I expect that many of the health tech initiatives deployed during the crisis will remain after the crisis. As such, we could see the increased use of drone technology in health-related logistics, a boom in telemedicine and online pharmacies, and remote disease tracking and patient monitoring. In what ways do you anticipate the crisis will impact the economy? MARFO: The short- and medium-term economic effects of the virus will be drastic. It will take a long time for the world to recover, especially in terms of employment and consumption. It is important to note that many people in Africa live hand to mouth, and measures such as social distancing and lockdowns will cause them to lose their livelihoods. I expect the tourism industry to be the hardest hit, with the sector not fully recovering until 18 to 24months after the crisis. Public budgets will also be strained, as many people and businesses will require bailouts and other forms of support. OWUSU-ANSAH: Ghana is already looking to the new budget to be introduced by July 2020 to help reposition the economy after COVID-19, with a lot of revenue targets likely to be missed due to the effects of the global pandemic. Crude prices are at an all-time low, most manufacturers and other members of the private sector have had to pause operations due to partial lockdowns in major economic centres around the country, and the government has less revenue coming in. On a brighter note, local manufacturers are producing more essential goods in response to the disruption in global supply chains. If this trend is sustained, we can empower our local industries in a way that is positive for the economy in the long run and mitigate some of the effects of the crisis, such as job losses. Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 21:42:30|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. - - - - NEW DELHI -- India's federal health ministry on Wednesday evening said 12 new deaths due to the COVID-19, besides fresh 487 positive cases, were reported since the morning across the country, taking the number of deaths to 652 and total cases to 20,471. "As of 5:00 p.m. (local time), today 652 deaths related to novel coronavirus have been recorded in the country," read the information released by the ministry. - - - - MADRID -- The Spanish Health Ministry on Wednesday reported 4,211 new COVID-19 cases and 435 new deaths from the virus in the past 24 hours, both up, and bringing the death toll across the country to 21,717. So far, Spain has confirmed 208,389 coronavirus cases, with the third-highest death toll in the world after the United States and Italy. - - - - MINSK -- Belarus reported 558 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, bringing the country's caseload to 7,281. According to the country's health ministry, 769 patients have recovered, while 58 coronavirus patients suffering from chronic diseases have died. - - - - KUWAIT CITY -- Kuwait on Wednesday reported 168 new cases of COVID-19 and two more deaths, bringing the total infections to 2,248 and death toll to 13, the Health Ministry said in a statement. Among the new cases are six Kuwaiti citizens who returned from the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, the statement said. - - - - LUSAKA -- Zambia on Wednesday reported four more COVID-19 cases, raising serious concerns on the continued rise. The four new cases were picked after 322 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, according to health minister Chitalu Chilufya. - - - - BRUSSELS -- Belgium has recorded a total of 6,262 COVID-19 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the figures released by health authorities on Wednesday. Altogether 266 new deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours, among which 87 occurred in hospitals and 178 in care homes and facilities. - - - - MOSCOW -- Russia has registered 5,236 COVID-19 cases over the last 24 hours, raising the total number to 57,999 as of Wednesday, the country's coronavirus response center said in a statement. Enditem The Bombay high court (HC) on Tuesday turned down a four-year-old certificate of registration of marriage obtained by a Thane resident and his girlfriend on grounds that it lacked the sanctity, as no rites for solemnising a marriage was performed, and also observed that the Thane Family Court was not justified in rejecting his plea. The appellant had moved the HC after the Thane Family Court had rejected his plea on November 16, 2017. He had sought a declaration that the marriage registration certificate issued by the Thane Municipal Corporation on September 29, 2016, which stated that he married his girlfriend on July 28, 2016, at a local Mandal, which solemnises marriages, was illegal and that he was still a bachelor. Also Read : Man asks for marriage certificate after 16 yrs. Officials say, remarry He said that he had fallen in love with one of his colleagues at a gymnasium, where both of them worked. Though they were keen to get married, they were apprehensive that their family members might not accept the match. They hatched a plan to convince their family members. They obtained a marriage registration certificate from a local Mandal and had planned to reveal to their family members about tying the nuptial knot. But the womans parents were annoyed when she disclosed the plan. They compelled her to lodge a police complaint at Rajaram police station in Ratnagiri district, alleging that she was abducted and her signatures were forcibly obtained to get hold of the forged marriage registration certificate. A case was registered against the man and some other persons. Later, the dispute was settled amicably. The HC held that the family court was not justified in rejecting the appellants plea. It said under section 7(1) of the Family Courts Act a suit or proceeding for a declaration as to the validity of a marriage or as to the matrimonial status of any person is within the exclusive jurisdiction of the court and that the Thane residents plea fell in that category. The respondent woman (his purported wife) has not disputed these facts, said the HC bench. She is not opposing the prayers made before the Family Court at all. The Family Court was not justified in dismissing the petition filed by the appellant on the ground of lack of jurisdiction, it added. Bengt Akerblom Earns 2020 Arne Asplund Mechanical Pulping Award Bengt Akerblom, CEO and founder of Dametric AB in Varby, Sweden. April 22, 2020 - The Arne Asplund Mechanical Pulping Award Foundation announced that Bengt Akerblom, CEO and founder of Dametric AB in Varby, Sweden, is this year's recipient of the Arne Asplund Mechanical Pulping Award. The award is endowed every second year by The Arne Asplund Mechanical Pulping Award Foundation to promote the development of new technology for the manufacture of high-yield pulp. Presentation of the award was planned for June 9, at the International Mechanical Pulping Conference, IMPC, which is hosted by The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada this year. However, the event has been postponed and the prize will be presented on a later occasion. The 2020 Laureate Mr. Akerblom has devoted his entire professional life to developing, constructing and providing the pulp market with equipment and solutions for process measurement and control, particularly for the mechanical and chemi-mechanical pulping industry. He is the principal owner and Chairman of the Board of Dametric, which produces and markets his various inventions. The way in which Mr. Akerblom has developed the True Disc Clearance (TDC) and Adjustable Gap Sensor (AGS) for chip and pulp refiners has enabled tremendous improvements to be made in both the availability and control of refiners, thereby increasing pulp quality and reducing specific energy consumption. These sensors are installed in the vast majority of high-consistency mechanical pulp refiners around the world. Lately, Mr. Akerblom's work has enabled the development and usage of refining processes based on feeding refiner segments. Such systems, in which the very accurate control of extremely small refiner gaps is fundamental, allow significant specific energy reductions to be made. The Arne Asplund Mechanical Pulping Award Foundation The Arne Asplund Mechanical Pulping Award promotes the development of new technology for the manufacture of high-yield pulp. It is awarded to a person or persons in recognition of outstanding achievement in the research and development of mechanical pulping technology. The Arne Asplund Mechanical Pulping Award Foundation was established in 1985 to commemorate the contributions made by Dr. Arne Asplund to the pulp and paper industry worldwide. The Award was made possible through a donation Valmet made to the foundation in 1985. The Chairman of the Foundation is Professor Goran Bengtsson. To learn more about the award, please visit: www.valmet.com/campaign/arne-asplund-award . SOURCE: Valmet AB Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-21 23:32:41|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BUJUMBURA, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Burundian government on Tuesday said four COVID-19 patients have recovered and have been discharged from the hospital. It is the first time the central African country reports recovered cases. Burundian health minister Thaddee Ndikumana said at a press conference that the four recovered people have been discharged from Prince Louis Rwagasore hospital. He also said five new cases were found, adding that they were among 198 contacts of the first confirmed cases who were screened from April 18 to 19. A rapid response team established by the health ministry is identifying other people who could be the contacts with the new cases, he added. The minister called on residents to remain calm, while abiding by the hygienic measures to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. So far, Burundi has reported 11 cases, including one death and the four recovered. Enditem If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here He says a color-coded quarantine level advisory system needs to be introduced. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal predicts Ukrainians will have to wear face masks for at least two years. "We all must adhere to the 'mask regime,' obey certain disinfection rules, we all must follow social distancing [rules], certain rules of conduct in transport, in public places, in shops, etc. That is, this is a number of things we must learn to live with every day. The way we brush our teeth every day, we must learn to live with it. According to the World Health Organization, [this will be] for at least the next two years," he said in an interview for the RBC Ukraine news agency. Read alsoNumber of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Ukraine rises by almost 500 in past day The official stressed the need to introduce a color-coded quarantine level advisory system: "yellow, orange, red." "Yellow is when the situation is moderate, and we can unlock key industries and work under very mild quarantine conditions. Orange is when the number of patients begins to grow, and, for example, there are one or two fatal cases in a separate region. Then we bring this region under control and isolate it. Red is a lockdown when a region or the country is in fact locked down completely, like today," he said. As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukraine's Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said the ministry would offer to extend quarantine measures until May 12. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 18:32:26|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BERLIN, April 22 (Xinhua) -- German stocks were off to a good start on Wednesday, with the benchmark DAX index rising by 120.40 points, or 1.17 percent, opening at 10,370.25 points. The biggest winner among Germany's largest 30 companies was chip manufacturer Infineon, increasing by 2.44 percent, followed by software company SAP with 2.43 percent and financial service provider Wirecard with 1.53 percent. On Wednesday, Wirecard is scheduled to present an independent report by KPMG, after the German financial service provider was accused last year by the Financial Times (FT) newspaper of illegal accounting practices at its subsidiaries. Growing by 0.17 percent, the German energy company RWE was the least increasing company at the start of trading on Wednesday. On Wednesday, the leaders of the governing parties CDU/CSU and SPD, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, are scheduled to discuss the situation with the coronavirus pandemic and further possible aid measures. The yield on German ten-year bonds went up by 0.015 percentage points to minus 0.466 percent, while the euro was trading almost unchanged at 1.0859 U.S. dollars, increasing slightly by 0.02 percent on Wednesday morning. Enditem External Article 22 April 2020 A hotel stay that doesn't include a breakfast buffet, an in-room minibar and a coffee station would have been inconceivable to many Americans three months ago. But the onset of the coronavirus has prompted a sea change that could alter everything from how guests check in and eat to how rooms are cleaned. Advertisements Hotel experts predict that the pandemic will drastically alter hotel stays in coming months, prompting many properties to embrace a host of new practices, up to and including temperature checks upon guests' arrivals. "Hotels tend to be a reactive business," said Chekitan Dev, a professor of marketing and branding at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration. "It's taken COVID-19 for a lot of hotels to take a harder look at safety procedures and to up their game." Dev points to safety-conscious procedures enacted in recent days at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York City as a prime example of the changes that could be coming soon to hotels across the country. "We're a guinea pig," said Rudy Tauscher, general manager of the Four Seasons. "We're at the forefront of the hospitality world's 'new normal.'" Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney (pictured) on Tuesday said that he will not enforce Washington's stay-at-home order The sheriff of a Washington county which saw the nation's first COVID-19 cases says he will not enforce the statewide stay-at-home order because he believes it is unconstitutional. Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney penned a lengthy Facebook post condemning strict lockdown measures on Tuesday night following a press conference where Gov Jay Inslee outlined a road map for reopening the state economy. Inslee stressed that the timing of the reopening will depend on the state's progress on key public-health indicators, including its fatality and hospitalization rates. Fortney said that after watching the address he was 'left to wonder if [Inslee] even has a plan'. 'To be quite honest I wasn't even sure what he was trying to say half of the time. He has no plan. He has no details,' the sheriff wrote. 'This simply is not good enough in times when we have taken such drastic measures as the suspension of constitutional rights.' He said he'd wanted to defy the stay-at-home order two weeks ago but 'decided to wait out of respect for the Governor and my own misguided hope that each day he did a press conference he would say something with some specificity on getting Washington back to work'. 'After what I witnessed tonight I can no longer stay silent as I'm not even sure he knows what he is doing or knows what struggles Washingtonian's [sic] face right now,' Fortney wrote. Fortney penned a lengthy Facebook post condemning strict lockdown measures on Tuesday night following a press conference where Gov Jay Inslee (pictured) outlined a road map for reopening the state economy. The sheriff said that after watching the address he was 'left to wonder if [Inslee] even has a plan' Inslee has faced mounting calls to ease Washington's stay-at-home order - with a weekend protest (pictured) at the capitol in Olympia drawing 2,500 people He went on to lament the crushing effects lockdown measures have taken on local businesses, expressing fear that the governor's reaction to 'not entirely accurate' projection models could make the economic toll far worse than the disease itself. 'I believe that preventing business owners to operate their businesses and provide for their families intrudes on our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,' he wrote. 'As your elected Sheriff I will always put your constitutional rights above politics or popular opinion.' He also called on other elected officials to join him in questioning Inslee's decisions. 'This is a very serious issue and the appropriate precautions need to be taken to protect our most vulnerable populations,' Fortney wrote. 'However, our communities have already shown and continue to show they understand the severity of the situation and are doing all they can already to keep themselves, their families and neighbors safe and healthy.' As of Wednesday, more than 2,150 people in Snohomish County have tested positive for COVID-19 and at least 99 have died, according to the state Department of Health. The county was America's first to report a coronavirus case when a man tested positive on January 20 after a recent trip to China. It also neighbors King County, where the nation's first severe coronavirus cluster was reported at the Life Care Center nursing home in Kirkland. Across Washington, more than 12,730 people have tested positive for COVID-19 and 682 have died to date. Fortney mentioned that other sheriffs in Washington will not be enforcing the stay-at-home order but did not say which ones. Franklin County Sheriff Jim Raymond came out against the order last week. That county has experienced far fewer cases, with 207 infected and four deaths. Fortney shared his essay on a Facebook page representing his campaign for sheriff. Within the first 12 hours after the post went up, the post was shared nearly 9,000 times, racking up 3,400 comments and more than 7,500 reactions, most of them likes, loves and angry emojis. As of Wednesday, more than 2,150 people in Snohomish County have tested positive for COVID-19 and at least 99 have died, according to the state Department of Health. Nationwide, more than 827,000 infections and 45,435 deaths have been reported The response to Forney's post mirrors growing unrest across the US as protesters take to the streets to condemn lockdowns, prompting some governors to speed up their timelines for reopening the economy. On Wednesday, Colorado joined four other Republican states - Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas - in beginning to lift lockdowns. Inslee has already said that the decision to lift Washington's stay-at-home order will be made in conjunction with the governors of Oregon and California. There have been mounting calls for the governor to ease the Washington's stay-at-home order - with a weekend protest at the capitol in Olympia drawing 2,500 people. In the Midwest, six states - Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio - have formed a coalition to reopen together. Seven states in the Northeast - New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Rhode Island and Massachusetts - formed a similar coalition over the weekend. About 95 percent of the country currently remains on some form of lockdown in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus. Seven states - Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming - still have no stay-at-home orders in place for its residents. On Tuesday, US Attorney General William Barr said he would not rule out legal action against states if he thought their actions infringed civil liberties. 'We're looking carefully at a number of these rules that are being put into place. And if we think one goes too far, we initially try to jawbone the governors into rolling them back or adjusting them,' Barr said during a radio interview on the Hugh Hewitt show. (CNN) A leading US model has upped its projected coronavirus death toll by August to 66,000, a 10% increase from its previous prediction. The change came as states began updating their death tallies, adding residents of nursing homes whom officials are now counting as presumptive positives, Dr. Chris Murray, the director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, said Tuesday. But as those numbers grow and paint the pandemic as larger than previously thought, the timeline for relaxing social distancing measures should be slowed down, Murray said. Murray's team of experts was taken aback when states like Georgia, which still has a high number of infections, announced they'll soon ease some restrictions, he said. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, a Republican, has said his state is prepared to handle an expected uptick in cases as businesses there begin to reopen Friday. "If people start to go back to normal social interaction or even progressively go back, the risk of transmission will go up... and then, you go back to the sort of exponential rise that was happening before we put in social distancing," Murray told CNN. "The risk is very great for resurgence from these early openings." That's as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director gave an ominous forecast of a possible second wave of the virus in the winter. "There's a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through," CDC Director Robert Redfield told The Washington Post. "We're going to have the flu epidemic and the coronavirus epidemic at the same time." The US has so far recorded more than 825,306 infections and at least 45,075 deaths. Your coronavirus questions, answered California is first state to recommend testing for asymptomatic people To safely move forward, experts have long emphasized the country should be able to track, trace, and isolate cases. Bolinas, a remote Northern California community, may be one of the first in the world to attempt to test all of its residents for the virus, and for the antibodies that may make people immune. Fewer than 2,000 people live in the town; and in the first two days of testing, more than 700 residents showed up. The community-wide free testing is voluntary, and part of a new study launched by the University of California, San Francisco, that's attempting to get a more complete understanding of how the virus is invisibly spreading. That unseen spread is something health officials all over the state are trying to tackle, now recommending coronavirus testing for asymptomatic people who live or work in high-risk environments, such as nursing homes or hospitals. The new guidelines, from the state's health department, were announced in an April 19 memo, and made California the first state in the nation to broaden its guidelines for testing to include those without symptoms, state health officials told CNN. The CDC previously advised testing high-risk patients with symptoms and healthcare workers with symptoms, a California health department spokesperson said. California is averaging 14,500 coronavirus tests a day, Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said Tuesday, calling the number "still inadequate," with a long way to go before the state can attempt to reopen. The US has so far conducted 4 million tests In two different plans for reopening society, economists and public health experts have said millions of tests should be conducted each week before restrictions can be lifted. One report estimates three to 30 million tests should be conducted weekly, while the other says the US should be conducting 20 million tests each day to get a handle on the pandemic. So far, the country has performed about 4 million tests. And while federal officials tout the country has testing capacity, some state leaders including Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat have reported that while they may have the necessary machines, they lack the materials and staff to run them. A new test that was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration may mean Americans can mail in their results. The test would allow patients to collect their samples using an at-home test kit, and then mail it into the lab for testing, the FDA said Tuesday. That test could be available within weeks in most states to patients with a doctor's order, the agency said. "Throughout this pandemic we have been facilitating test development to ensure patients access to accurate diagnostics, which includes supporting the development of reliable and accurate at-home sample collection options," FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said in the agency's announcement. Another company, meantime, warned of possibly misleading results. Abbott Laboratories, the maker of a rapid coronavirus test that's been widely used across the country and distributed by the federal government, warned its device can produce false negatives if a certain solution is used to move or store the patients' samples. The company told healthcare workers not to use "viral transport media" solutions on its device, and instead said customers should only place swabs with patients' samples directly in the device. States are grappling with how to move forward Despite the questions still surrounding tests, many US governors have turned their attention to reopening the economy. Last week, the federal government said in order to do so, states should wait to see a 14-day continuous decline in cases, the first of three phases of reopening. South Carolina and Georgia announced this week before either hit that milestone they'll be easing restrictions. Georgia's governor said workers and business owners need relief, adding that businesses including bowling alleys, body art studios, and hair and nail salons can reopen this week. Theaters and restaurants can open their doors next week with social distancing restrictions. Kemp said no local ordinance can restrict the openings, which will be implemented state-wide. Mayors across the state were left astounded many saying they're unprepared for such a move. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, a Democrat, told CNN Tuesday she's exploring whether the city has legal grounds for putting different orders in place than what Kemp has announced. "I have searched my head and my heart on this, and I am at a loss as to what the governor is basing this decision on," she said. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, announced retail stores selling furniture, books, music, flowers, clothing and accessories, as well as department stores, sporting goods stores and flea markets are allowed to open at 20% capacity or five people per 1,000 square feet. Beaches, he said, will reopen Tuesday at noon. In Tennessee, GOP Gov. Bill Lee announced most businesses across the state will be able to reopen May 1, once the state's stay-at-home order has expired; but hinted some may be able to open sooner. Other governors including Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Newsom have announced they have partnered with neighboring states to come up with plans to reopen, but have stopped short of giving a timeline just yet. Cuomo has highlighted that ramped up testing will be key in preparing the state. On Tuesday, he tweeted the state was planning to double its capacity to 40,000 tests per day, saying it was an "ambitious" goal, but "critical." This story was first published on CNN.com "US could see a higher summer death toll as CDC warns of a winter coronavirus outbreak that may be worse" The Trump administration is poised to announce an expanded diplomatic presence in Greenland and a new assistance package for the vast island aimed at thwarting growing Chinese and Russian influence in the Arctic. The announcement, expected on Thursday, will come less than a year after President Donald Trump drew derision for expressing an interest in buying Greenland. Already, suggestions of a greater US presence in Greenland have been met with criticism in Denmark, of which the island is part. US and European officials say the administration, along with Greenland's government, will announce the opening of a US Agency for International Development office at the new American consulate in the capital, Nuuk, and at least USD 12 million in new aid projects. The American ambassador to Denmark, Carla Sands, previewed the announcement when she wrote in an online publication this week that the United States could offer a substantial package of economic aid to Greenland and would be the preferred partner in the Arctic." In the outlet Altinget, Sands accused Russia of aggressive behaviour and increased militarisation in the Arctic and China of pursuing predatory economic interests in Greenland. That sparked harsh reactions in Denmark. They have clearly crossed the line, said Carsten Hoenge, an outspoken member of the left-leaning Socialist People's Party that supports the Social Democratic minority government. He said Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen must take action" to clarify relations with United States. "We must draw a line in the ice cap, Hoenge told Altinget on Wednesday. The US Agency for International Development office in Nuuk will initially oversee the handling of at least USD 12.1 million in new US assistance for Greenland that is intended mainly to boost the energy and tourism sectors and blunt Chinese and Russian influence, the officials said. They were not authorized to speak to the matter publicly before the formal announcement and spoke on condition of anonymity. When the State Department notified Congress in January that it intended to move ahead with both steps, the department said that Washington considers Greenland to be strategically important, particularly as China and Russia become more engaged in the region. The department told lawmakers at the time that they would help counter malign Chinese and Kremlin influence by supporting Greenlanders to build their capacity, resilience and self-reliance. Last August, Trump's desire to buy Greenland, a semi-autonomous part of the Denmark, emerged in press reports in Washington. Greenland Premier Kim Kielsen said then that the island was not for sale, adding: Greenland is not Danish. Greenland is Greenlandic. I persistently hope that this is not something that is seriously meant. Retreating ice could uncover potential oil and mineral resources in Greenland which, if successfully tapped, could dramatically change the island's fortunes. But no oil has yet been found in Greenlandic waters and 80 per cent of the island is covered by an ice sheet that is up to 3 kilometers (2 miles) thick, which means exploration is only possible in coastal regions. Even there, conditions are far from ideal, due to the long winter with frozen ports, 24-hour darkness and temperatures regularly dropping below minus 20 Fahrenheit (minus 30 Celsius) in the northern parts. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Graffitti art by the 'guerilla' artist Banksy is seen on May 16, 2006 in Chalk Farm, London. The striking large scale spray-painted image entitled 'Sweeping It Under The Carpet' depicts a maid who cleaned the artist's room in a motel in Los Angeles. The piece commissioned by 'The Independent' newspaper edited on Tuesday by U2's frontman Bono, is intended to represent a metaphor for the west's reluctance to tackle issues such as Aids in Africa Getty Images In the backdrop of persistent attacks on health care workers in the front line of the battle against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, the Centre has approved an ordinance to make such attacks a cognisable and non-bailable offence, expedite investigation, imprison those convicted to up to seven years, and impose stringent penalties on vandalism and damage to property. Underlining its importance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, The Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 manifests our commitment to protect each and every healthcare worker who is bravely battling COVID-19 on the frontline. It will ensure safety of our professionals. He underlined that there could be no compromise on their safety. The medical fraternity has welcomed the ordinance. The governments decision, following a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, came in the wake of assurances of safety given by home minister Amit Shah and health minister Harsh Vardhan to representatives of the Indian Medical Association (IMA). The IMA subsequently cancelled protests scheduled on Wednesday and Thursday. Later in the day, the home ministry also sent an advisory to all state governments to ensure adequate security to all health care workers, and take strict action against any individual obstructing the functioning of health care workers, and the performance of the last rites of these workers. The Cabinets decision to promulgate the ordinance which will amend the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 follows a spate of incidents in which doctors and paramedical workers, engaged in testing suspected Covid-19 cases for confirmation, or treating patients, were assaulted and their vehicles damaged by people who feared catching the infection or stigmatised and ostracised health care workers for their proximity to confirmed or suspected cases. The government, Opposition, and civil society have repeatedly called for honouring these professionals workers. On Sunday, the burial of Samuel Hercules, a doctor in Chennai, was disrupted by violent protesters who damaged the ambulance carrying his body and injured its driver out of fear of the spread of the coronavirus. On April 8, two resident doctors of Delhis Safdarjung Hospital were allegedly assaulted by a neighbour who accused them of spreading the disease. A week before that, two doctors and their team were pelted with stones during a drive to screen and identify possible Covid-19 patients in Madhya Pradeshs Indore. Addressing a press conference in Delhi, Union minister for information and broadcasting Prakash Javadekar said such offences have no place in a civilised society, adding that they will not be tolerated by the government. The Centre has, therefore, he said, decided to bring in an ordinance to amend the 1897 Act; this has, so far, served as the key legal umbrella for a range of government measures against the pandemic. Once the President promulgates the ordinance officially, causing serious injury to health professionals and damage to property will invite imprisonment of up to seven years and a fine of up to 5 lakh. The offences will be probed in 30 days under the proposed amendment, and a decision will be given within a year. If the cars or clinics of doctors are damaged, double the cost will be recovered from the vandals, Javadekar said, pointing out that the government had also worked towards providing an insurance cover of up to 50 lakh for health workers on the front lines of the Covid-19 battle. Both the Centre and the states can exercise the powers awarded by the ordinance. The scope of the amendment will cover health professionals ranging from doctors and paramedical staff to accredited social health activists. Health care professionals welcomed the move. DS Rana, chairperson of the board of governors of Delhis Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, said it was the need of the hour as the instances of violence against health care workers, including doctors, were on the rise. Not everyone was unruly but a section of people was misbehaving and it needed a regulation to rein it in as this section would not have listened to reason. There was no other way to check their irresponsible behaviour. Health care workers are putting their lives at risk in treating patients, and harassment and violence against them is the last thing they want in this crisis situation, he said. Other doctors said these provisions must not be temporary but last beyond the pandemic. Commenting on the decision, from the perspective of law enforcement, Yashovardhan Azad, a retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, said it was about time that the government intervened on behalf of the health workers to amend the toothless 1897 Act and display its strong intent. However, to serve its purpose, special police officers should be appointed. This will help resolve the issue of scarcity of law enforcers for immediate response. The Centres response came in the wake of demands by the IMA for a stronger law; the umbrella medical body had also called for White alert and Black day protests on April 22 and 23. Home minister Shah and health minister Vardhan met representatives on Wednesday morning. According to an official government statement, Shah allayed the concerns of the medical fraternity regarding their security, and assured them that the government would leave no stone unturned in ensuring their well being and security. He strongly condemned the recent attacks on health professionals and said Prime Minister Modi was closely following all issues and concerns of doctors. He also appealed to doctors to withdraw their planned protest -- a call heeded by the IMA. On Wednesday evening, the home ministry sent out an advisory to stage governments and Union territories. It pointed out that at this time, even a single incident of violence against health care professionals was likely to create a sense of insecurity among the entire health care community. It underlined its own past advisories, as well as the Supreme Court directive to provide necessary police security to doctors and medical staff in hospitals and places where patients who have been diagnosed with Covid-19, or patients suspected of Covid-19, or those quarantined are housed; and to doctors and other medical staff who visit places to conduct screening of people. It urged states to act in line with the Supreme Court directives and provisions of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, and also consult local chapters of IMA. The home ministry letter, sent by home secretary Ajay Bhalla to all state chief secretaries, also urged that governments impose strict penalties against those obstructing the functioning of health care workers, and against those offenders who obstruct the last rites of health care workers who may have died due to Covid-19 or any other reason. It also asked states and UTs to appoint a nodal officer both at the state and at the district level, on a 24*7 basis, to redress any safety issues of medical professionals. The logos of AccorHotels group is pictured during a news conference at the Pullman Bangkok King Power hotel, in Bangkok PARIS (Reuters) - Accor, which has closed hotels around the world due to lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic, expects April and May to be its toughest months as it awaits clarity on them being lifted. However, Europe's largest hotel group, owner of brands including Ibis and Movenpick, said some markets were showing signs of improving, particularly China, where confinement orders to try and contain the health crisis have now ended. "Tourism is picking up again, restaurants are not full but are reopening," Chief Executive Sebastien Bazin said. Accor said it was preparing for gradual reopenings and to start taking reservations again in the weeks ahead, although it is not expecting business to return to normal for at least 12 months - and is bracing for changes in consumer habits. Of the 112 countries in which the French company operates, 92 still had coronavirus confinement measures of some sort in place, Bazin said, and two-third of Accor's hotels are closed. Accor said first-quarter sales fell 17% drop to 768 million euros (674.94 million pounds), while like-for-like revenues were down 15.8%, excluding currency moves and acquisitions. Despite the results, Bazin said he was "still very optimistic" about the hotels industry. "We might have to reinvent ourselves. Maybe tourism will become more local, more respectful of the environment, maybe there will be less transatlantic tourism .. It will be up to us to adapt," Bazin added. The company, which had already cancelled its dividend, has said it has enough liquidity to withstand the turmoil. It added on Wednesday that it did not yet have enough visibility in terms of the financial impact of the crisis on 2020 results. Accor said it was cutting spending and has placed the bulk of its staff on furlough or unemployment schemes. Accor has kept some hotels in France open, partly to accommodate medical workers, and it will also host people infected with the coronavirus who are symptom-free or showing slight symptoms. The French government plans to start gradually lifting restrictions on movements from May 11, and will also ramp up testing for the coronavirus. It has said that people who test positive should remain isolated, in hotels if needs be. (Reporting by Sarah White; Editing by Jane Merriman and Alexander Smith) Saakashvili, in turn, confirmed he had received this proposal from Zelensky. Former President of Georgia and ex-Governor of Ukraine's Odesa region Mikheil Saakashvili may be appointed deputy prime minister for reform. Several Ukrainian media outlets reported about this, citing their own sources. According to the Ukrayinska Pravda online newspaper's Telegram channel, which cites sources in the Servant of the People parliamentary faction, this issue is being discussed in the faction, and the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, may consider Saakashvili's appointment on Friday. In addition, Deputy Head of the Servant of the People faction Yevhenia Kravchuk confirmed to the Ukrainian news outlet Obozrevatel information on Saakashvili's appointment to the government. According to her, his candidacy is being considered. According to the news portal Strana, lawmakers' groups are now holding preferential voting. The information was also confirmed by several sources in the government, as well as the LB.ua media outlet. "Yes, that's true. Now we are having debates, gathering the colleagues' feedback," one of the sources said. Read alsoUkraine's Supreme Court recognizes Saakashvili's expulsion to Poland as lawful Saakashvili, in turn, confirmed he had received such a proposal from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. "It is a great honor for me to receive a proposal from President Zelensky to become deputy prime minister of the Ukrainian government on reform issues. I also had a very informative and useful conversation with Prime Minister Shmyhal, during which we discussed in detail all the issues related to my possible work in the government," he said on Facebook. As UNIAN reported earlier, in July 2017, the then Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko issued a decree depriving Saakashvili of Ukrainian citizenship. The latter was charged under three articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: criminal attempt (Part 1 of Article 15), criminal offense committed by a group of persons (two or more) upon prior conspiracy (Part 2 of Article 28), as well as assistance to members of criminal organizations and covering up their criminal activity (Part 2 of Article 256). On February 12, 2018, Saakashvili was transferred to Poland under the readmission procedure. On May 28, 2019, newly elected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky excluded the provision stripping Saakashvili of Ukrainian citizenship from his predecessor Petro Poroshenko's decree dated July 26, 2017. On May 29, 2019, Saakashvili arrived at Kyiv's Boryspil Airport from Warsaw, Poland, saying he returned to Ukraine not for revenge. On October 7, 2019, the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine opened criminal proceedings at the request of Saakashvili over his expulsion from Ukraine. Harvard University, with its more than $40 billion endowment, announced Tuesday it would be keeping nearly $9 million in federal funds it was given through the coronavirus stimulus package, despite President Donald Trump saying the school is going to pay back the money. The school was criticized this week for accepting $8.6 million in relief from the CARES Act. The $2.2 trillion bill created a $30.7 billion Education Stabilization Fund," around 46% of which was dedicated to public and private colleges to provide aid amidst the public health crisis. A spokesperson for the university, whose endowment stood at around $40.9 billion in 2019, told MassLive all the money awarded to the school through the CARES Act will be given to students struggling financially during the pandemic. Like most colleges and universities, Harvard has been allocated funds as part of the CARES Act Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, the university said in a series of tweets. Harvard has committed that 100% of these emergency higher education funds will be used to provide direct assistance to students facing urgent financial needs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump at a press conference on Tuesday claimed the COVID-19 aid was not meant for higher education institutions with large endowments like Harvard and urged the school to refund the federal government. They have one of the largest endowments anywhere in the country, maybe in the world, I guess, and theyre going to pay back that money, Trump said about the university. The presidents comments came in response to questions about the depleted Paycheck Protection Program, a part of the stimulus package that aimed to provide $349 billion in relief to small businesses to keep them running. The fund instead gave more than $350 million to publicly traded firms and large companies, The Associated Press reported. The program ran out of money within a couple weeks. Over social media, Harvard noted it never accepted funds through the Paycheck Protection Program. Harvard did not apply for, nor has it received any funds through the U.S. Small Business Administrations Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for small businesses. Reports saying otherwise are inaccurate, the university tweeted. The school added, President Trump is right that it would not have been appropriate for our institution to receive funds that were designated for struggling small businesses. Other Massachusetts private universities with large endowments have accepted millions in federal aid through the CARES Act as well. Boston University, whose endowment was worth more than $2 billion, is getting $15 million from the stimulus package, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, whose endowment stood at 17.4 billion in 2019, is set to receive $2.5 million in federal funds. Altogether, $270 million from the Education Stabilization Fund is expected to go to colleges and universities in the commonwealth. Related Content: Hyderabad/Jaipur: After complaints of faulty Covid-19 kits prompted the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) to suspend rapid antibody testing for two days, a debate has started over the efficacy of Chinese and South Korean kits being used in the states to conduct the tests that are supposed to deliver results faster than the time-consuming Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) method. While some states such as Rajasthan and West Bengal received the Chinese rapid testing kits imported by ICMR, states such as Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh on their own have imported the kits from South Korea. Rajasthan and West Bengal governments have both complained about the efficacy of thousands of Chinese rapid testing kits, saying they were delivering faulty results after which the ICMR on Tuesday suspended the tests across the country. Only 6% of the samples that tested positive in the RT-PCR tests were found to have tested positive in the antibody test Andhra Pradesh, which has imported 200,000 rapid testing kits from South Korea, has had no complaints so far. The states medical and health commissioner Katamneni Bhaskar, said as many as 10,000 samples were tested using the South Korean kits and there had been no complaints by expert overseeing them. The tests have been stopped following instructions from the Indian Council of Medical Research. We will resume testing after getting the nod from the ICMR, he said. Bhaskar declined to reveal how many of the 10,000 samples had tested positive and negative. We cannot reveal the details without approval from the ICMR, he said. The health commissioner said the rapid antibody tests cannot be relied upon entirely to test whether a person was positive or negative for Covid-19. It is only a screening test and not the final test to prove whether a person is Covid-19 positive or negative. You cannot take the result of these rapid antibody tests on its face value, he said. Bhaskar said the rapid tests had to be done only on people who were suffering from Covid-19 related symptoms for at least 10 days. If we do rapid antibody tests before this 10-day period, there is a possibility that it may give a false negative result. The person might test positive in the RT-PCR, which is an authentic test, he said. The Rajasthan government, which was the first to say no to rapid tests using Chinese kits, said only 5.4% of the results of tests using the kits procured by ICMR were accurate. The co-relation between the PCR test and rapid kit test should have been 90% but it was only 5.4%, said Rajasthan health minister Raghu Sharma. Dr S Banerjee, head of the medicine department at Jaipurs SMS Hospital, and a member of the panel formed to check the efficacy of the rapid testing kits, said when an antibody test is positive, two bands appear on a test card after a drop of blood from the sample is put on it. If a single line appears on the card, the test is deemed to be negative. In the tests they conducted, the kit did not show two bands even for (Covid) positive patients, he said. On Wednesday, West Bengal chief secretary Rajiv Sinha termed conducting tests with the rapid kits a wastage of time, alleging that the ICMR did not check the efficacy of the kits before sending them to the state. West Bengal has received 10,000 rapid testing kits, of which 220 were used. Bhaskar refused to comment on whether the Korean kits were superior to Chinese kits. We have imported Korean kits and not Chinese kits. So it is not proper to talk about Chinese kits without using them, he said. Special chief secretary (medical and health) K S Jawahar Reddy said recently that the state had preferred importing rapid antibody testing kits from a South Korean company because of doubts over the Chinese-made kits. Because of the increase in demand from Indian states, the South Korean company SD Biosensor Healthcare Private Limited has set up a kit manufacturing unit in Manesar, Gurugram, having the capacity to make 500,000 kits, a statement from the embassy of India in Seoul said on Tuesday. India is importing 500,000 kits from the South Korea, which are expected to reach India by April end. Some other state governments such as Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have also placed orders with South Korean firms for rapid testing kits. Purchase of rapid testing kits from China has been put on hold for the time-being, said ICMR officials. There is also a considerable price difference between the kits imported from the two countries. A Rajasthan government official said the cost of a Chinese kit was Rs 600; a Chhattisgarh government official said the state had procured the kits from a South Korea for Rs 337 apiece. (Joydeep Thakur in Kolkata and Ritesh Mishra in Raipur also contributed to this story) VANCOUVERHealth authorities in Vancouver have declared a COVID-19 outbreak at a chicken processing plant in the city affecting nearly 30 employees, according to Vancouver Coastal Health. The agency said one employee at United Poultry Company received a positive test for the virus on Sunday, which lead to further testing of staff finding another 27 cases. All employees at the facility are being managed as either COVID-19 cases or close contacts and have been told to self-isolate, Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) said in a release Tuesday afternoon. Provincial Health Officer Bonnie Henry said the numbers today may not reflect the full extent of the outbreak and testing will continue to be reported in the coming days. The health teams are doing the contact tracing and investigation of this outbreak, even as we speak, Henry said. The health authority said there is no evidence suggesting the virus can be transmitted via food products, pointing to the Canadian Food Inspection Agencys assertion that no cases have been linked to food or its packaging. VCH said there will be no recall of chicken products due to the outbreak. VCHs Matt Kieltyka said the plant closed voluntarily, but that a formal order to close will also be issued. It is the second case of mass infections in a Canadian food processing plant this week. Yesterday in Alberta, one of the countrys largest beef processing plants was shuttered due to an outbreak of COVID-19. The plant, owned by Cargill, employs 2,100 people and was linked to 350 cases of the virus in High River, Alta. The company urged all employees to be tested for the virus. In a media conference over the phone Monday, Canadian Cattlemens Association vice-president Dennis Laycraft said the Cargill closure adds to a processing backlog expected to cause a $500 million loss for cattle farmers by the end of June. There are plants in eastern Canada that are pretty much at full capacity, Laycraft said. The reality is, in the short term, there wont be readily available alternatives. On Monday federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau praised companies for making the health of their staff a priority and praised food workers themselves. During these unprecedented times, the meat industry is adapting to the pressures on the supply chain and ensuring prudent management, including for the welfare of people and animals, she said. Canadians should be proud of the workers across the food supply chain, who are stepping up to feed them in their time of need. With files from Alex Ballingall Read more about: A nurse who got fired from the Sinai-Grace Hospital last month during the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus outbreak is suing the Detroit Medical Center (DMC). Kenisa Barkaia 38-year-old nurseposted a 10-second video on Twitter of herself wearing her face mask, hair covering, gloves, and medical gown inside the hospital before treating a COVID-19 patient. Im ready to rock and roll, Barkai said in the short video. Im going in. She was fired about one week later on March 28, after the video gained some public attention. The hospital told her her contract was terminated because she violated the social media policy. However, Barkai maintains she didnt break any rules, and no information on patients was exposed in the video. Barkai told the Detroit Free Press the real reason she got fired was because of her previously complaining to supervisors about the hospitals problems, lack of equipment, and staffing before and during the outbreak, and that she threatened to report issues at the hospital to state authorities. Were just trying to right what was wrong in regards to myself being basically terminated and basically used as a scapegoat to try to keep my co-workers quiet, Barkai said. We were already struggling to manage and when COVID came about, it just made it a lot more dangerous. Barkai, who is also a single mother of a 7-year-old son, said the hospital terminating her contract left her without health insurance for both herself and her son. In her lawsuit, she seeks a jury trial and at least $25,000 in damages, alleges a violation of Michigans Whistleblower Protection Act. Brian Taylor, the director of communications and media relations for DMC said in an email to the Detroit Free Press the hospital system does not comment on pending litigation. Health Care Workers Claim Hospital Overrun The Michigan hospital has been a focus in media reports recently during the CCP virus outbreak. Earlier this month, emergency room nursing staff at Sinai-Grace were told to leave on the night of April 5 after they refused to work and demanded more nurses be brought into their overrun emergency room, health care workers told CNN. Hospital administrators decided, after four hours of deliberation, they would not be bringing in any more nurses to help and that the nurses could get to work or leave the hospital, a doctor at the hospital said. We are disappointed that last night a very small number of nurses at Sinai-Grace Hospital staged a work stoppage in the hospital refusing to care for patients, DMC Communications Manager Jason Barczy told CNN. Detroit is one of the hardest-hit cities in the United States by the CCP virus. As of Wednesday, the city counted 8,026 infections and 747 deaths, the state Department of Health and Human Services reported. CNN Wire contributed to this report. In 1793 Philadelphia was assaulted with the worst recorded case of yellow fever in the new nations history. Respected Philadelphian Benjamin Rush considered the Father of American Medicine and also a Founding Father who was the countrys preeminent physician took the lead in helping to create public health awareness about the devastating disease. Rush asked ministers Richard Allen and Absalom Jones, two of the citys most respected black leaders, to rally black Philadelphians to help yellow fever patients. Members of the black community answered the call. They served as grave diggers, nurses, garbage collectors and a host of other jobs during the epidemic. Rush did so because he believed African Americans were not as susceptible to the disease and might be immune to Yellow Fever. The death toll numbers revealed how wrong Dr. Rushs beliefs were about supposed black immunity from yellow fever. Five thousand Philadelphians died and nearly 10 percent of those who died were black residents.. In response to the disproportionately large numbers of deaths in the African American community, many of whom were on the front lines assisting the sick, a white publisher Matthew Carey wrote a damning pamphlet that berated black Philadelphians as conniving thieves who robbed the houses of those they cared for as nurses and caregivers during the epidemic. The pamphlet was in its fourth printing by the time the Reverends Richard Allen and Absalom Jones published a rebuttal to Careys racist argument against the citys black citizens. Over 200 years later, African Americans are still more likely to suffer because of the social determinants of health that compound a lower quality of medical treatment. Medical racism is made even more apparent to members of the black community when statistical data reveals how complications from illnesses and death greatly impact them. Since the 18th century, African Americans have had a fraught relationship with the medical field. Over centuries, they have been used as experimental patients, made to patronize segregated and poorly funded hospitals, doubted by physicians when they detailed painful illnesses, and die earlier and more so, from preventable disease and conditions. With the emergence of COVID-19, leading public health officials, black scholars of the history of medicine and racism, and experts on health inequities knew the virus would have a devastating effect on the black community. We were not prescient, we simply understood deeply what the historical records have shown us consistently about medical racism. The reasons are varied of course. There is a disproportionate number of African Americans who suffer from conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and are overweight. Yet, nearly 40 percent of all Americans are obese, nearly one-third of American whites have hypertension, and 10.5 percent of the U.S. population has been diagnosed with diabetes. Even with these alarming statistics, especially compared to other high-income earning nations, African Americans have died at disproportionately higher rates than their white counterparts in many urban centers throughout the Midwest and East Coast. For example, in St. Louis black people make up nearly all COVID-19 deaths. Unsurprisingly, New Orleans is the only southern city with black death tolls that are comparable to New York City. Why do African Americans fare so badly in the United States when it comes to their health and disease? Largely because there has not been a national effort to establish racism as a public health crisis. In the late 1990s, then Surgeon General David Satcher created a national initiative meant to eradicate health disparities between African Americans and white people by 2010. His goal was never met. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still has not made racism a public health crisis although racism meets the four criteria the agency established for a public health crisis. Racism places a massive burden on society, it disproportionately affects a segment of the countrys population, the U.S. current measures are not enough to stop the crisis, and lastly, an expansive and coordinated public health approach is needed to eliminate racisms negative effect on society. As the numbers of black victims of COVID-19 increase, those of us who study, write, and teach about medical disparities between black and white people will unfortunately include COVID-19 death rates as another example of how fragile African American health is in a society that has stark inequities between those who receive good medical care and those who do not. Until the nations federal agencies and government prioritize how menacing racism is on this society, African Americans will continue to suffer from higher rates of death from pandemics like COVID-19 to maternal morbidity. As Americans, we must ensure that every citizen receives equal and good medical care and every statistic that the government has conducted for decades indicates that unequal treatment in health care is predicated upon racism, classism, citizenship, homophobia and a host of discriminators. Medical racism affects us all and its menacing presence has been a part of this countrys legacy for too long. It is time to surgically excise it for good. Cooper Owens, Ph.D. is an award-winning author, medical historian and director of the Humanities in Medicine Program at the University of Lincoln-NE. 21.04.2020 LISTEN The outbreak of novel coronavirus has brought global political, economic and social engagement to a standstill. Most hard-hit countries continue to either remain in total or partial lockdown. European countries including Italy, Spain, Germany, UK and Belgium are the hardest hit; and the United State is leading the chart with case count including death toll. The havoc of the coronavirus has led to these countries implementing pragmatic strategic activities such as lockdown of states, provinces and or the entire nation. The rationale has been to enable countries to limit and control the spread of the virus. Lockdown limits the movement and interaction of people thereby reducing the risk of exposures from persons harbouring the virus. The outbreak of the virus although have not caused any much havoc in Africa considering the scale of the spread in the continent. African countries have been very fortunate to learn from the experience of major countries including Italy who have delayed in closing their borders and lockdown to control the spread. The partial lockdown of Ghana epicentres i.e. parts of Accra and Kumasi and closure of our borders among other preventive measures were touted as the best attempt by the government considering earlier calls to restrict movement. Many Ghanaian were therefore anticipating from the president's 7th address to the nation on COVID-19, free goodies such as a reduction in fuel prices, data and amongst others. Others presumed that the partial lockdown could be extended for another week or more and even with extension to parts of Eastern Region, Northern Region, Upper East and Upper West Region that have recorded some cases to prevent them also becoming epicentres. Contrary to their expectation, the president shocked many well-meaning Ghanaian by lifting the much-touted partial lockdown on the movement of people in some selected regions. This came from the backdrop that, Ghana case count has risen sharply to 1,042 with 9 deaths. It is therefore not out of place for one to speculate that the government's decision may not be backed by science and data as claimed. This is because the data from which the president indicated in his earlier address will inform the government's next line of action is still being collated, that is the number of case count from laboratory analysis has not been concluded. We still have over 18,000+ samples yet to be tested. So why should the government take a hasty decision to lift the partial lockdown? Another point worth noting has been the possibility of primary exposure further spreading it to secondary exposures and tertiary exposure. The scenario is that an infected person comes into contact with one or 50 people and likely to infect 10 of those he comes into contact with as primary exposures. These 10 infected persons might come in to contact with 40 people each and could infect 15 persons each as secondary exposures. These second group of infected persons also infect 20 people they come into contact with as tertiary infection and the risk level goes higher and higher. We doubt the accuracy of data and contact tracing as figures are not accumulated and announced daily. It appears the government decision has been rushed to create the impression that, all is well and the situation is under control. Why would you implement a partial lockdown for having recorded 50 cases and would relock the best bet approach when our case count is 1042? The justification has been that, the transmission of the disease is under control cannot be honest admission. What have been the daily rate of infection and at what level did we as a country begin to appreciate the rate of infection? With more community infection, the government should have been more careful to extend the partial lockdown and even implement stringent measures considering how the majority of Ghanaians are flaunting the social distance campaign and secret busy markets at nights in some parts of Accra. With US$100,000000.00 loans facility from IMF to combat COVID- 19 pandemic in Ghana, another US$1billion from economic stimulus package; US$35,000,000.00 from World Bank; US$12,000,000.00 generated from COVID 19 Fund; GH$2billion from the road fund, the government is a significant resource to feed the vulnerable in our society for the extension of lockdown to effectively manage the situation. This explains why economic burden may not be far convincing as political commentary seems to suggest. Fear grips me as Ghana's efforts to defeat the fight against this COVID 19 may be compromised from this unpopular decision taken by the government. This is because the risk level has increased and adherence to social distancing campaigns would continue to be flaunted with impunity. I see a possible return to a partial or total lockdown of city centres. In the interim, the following action point should be considered in an alternative strategic plan to combating COVID- 19; Ban all major markets days in all parts of the country. Proper isolation centres and surveillance must be identified and made ready in all sixteen Regions of Ghana. Localized strategic actions, communication and screening and testing of COVID- 19 to all sixteen Regions of Ghana Decongest all mortuaries and forced families to organize private burials for their deceased relatives not only for COVID- 19. Stockpiling of the dead in the Mortuaries could lead to another public health hazard. Comprehensive daily updates on COVID- 19 would lead to restoring confidence and show of commitment to fighting the pandemic. Vigorously trace all primary and secondary contacts to minimize the risk of community level Encourage carries of COVID 19 to share experiences on their sickbed to help reduce stigmatization Stimulate package must be non- partisan and transparent Institute a strong mechanism for financial accountability Design a localized COVID- 19 strategic action plan with integrated from models of other parts of the world. We hope the spread of the virus indeed has been contained and the lifting of the partial lockdown would not further lead to the spread of the virus. Nonetheless, we must not be complacent or else we may head to crisis and total lockdown may even prove costly than we expect. It is important to continue to adhere to experts' advice and the guidelines of WHO/ GHS to adhere to social distancing; staying at home; no to a public gathering; washing hands under running water and reporting to health facilities immediately you show signs and symptoms of the disease. We have a greater duty to protect ourselves to stay alive. Author; Tahiru Lukman Email: [email protected] Position; Youth Activist, Dev't Consultant & Pan- African Writer Private schools who fear they will lose students in droves as the country enters recession have asked Education Mister Dan Tehan for a taxpayer bailout to prevent mass job cuts. Independent school heads had a meeting with federal Education Minister Dan Tehan recently where they made the request. Catholic Education Melbourne is also believed to be pushing for emergency funding to minimise the financial effects of COVID-19. Private schools fear they will lose students in droves as Australia enters an economic downturn due to the coronavirus. Credit:Arsineh Houspian Beth Blackwood, chief executive of the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia, said schools were reviewing "all options" to survive the pandemic, including standing down staff or making them redundant. No school wants to stand down staff, but the financial realities of it are that they may," Ms Blackwood said. "They would be looking at all options." Besides being a red carpet reporter and reality TV star, she has several successful restaurants, a wine brand as well as a clothing line and skincare line. And Giuliana Rancic has now added a home collection to her long list of accolades. The 45-year entrepreneur has teamed up with the Home Shopping Network and her interior designer friend, Lonni Paul, to launch a new brand, August & Leo. New venture: Giuliana Rancic has released a new home range called, August & Leo, in partnership of the Home Shopping Network 'They were the very first people we reached out to,' she told WWD when speaking about HSN. Giuliana also couldn't help but gush over her new business partner Lonni. 'I just loved her work. She's incredibly talented. I love, love, love the way she makes the home feel warm and inviting but still incredibly stylish. She's very good at mixing high and low pieces.' Wide price range: The pair's collection, which will be officially released on Friday, ranges from an affordable $20 to $680 Entrepreneur: Besides being a red carpet reporter and reality TV star, she has several successful restaurants, a wine brand as well as a clothing line and skincare line (pictured 2020) The pair's collection, which will be officially released on Friday, ranges from an affordable $20 to $680. 'Affordability was so important to us. Everybody should be able to have a beautiful home, no matter what your price point is,' Lonni said. There will be over 30 pieces, including; throws, towels, candles, lamps, mirrors and furniture. And while most HSN products are launched via their shopping channels, this won't be the case for August & Leo amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Family: The former E! News host has been spending the past few weeks self-isolating with her husband Bill Rancic and their son, Edward Duke, seven 'HSN allows us to introduce the collection to customers through their digital broadcast channels, which provides a safe space for everyone,' they said on Monday. 'They're practicing safe social spacing, so there's no more in-studio guests. The real change for us is that we won't be in the studio.' The former E! News host has been spending the past few weeks self-isolating with her husband Bill Rancic and their son, Edward Duke, seven. Giuliana took to social media on Monday to update fans on how they were doing and how they were keeping in contact with her parents, Anna and Eduardo DePandi. 'One of the best parts of my day is calling my parents and making them smile ' she began. Staying connected: Giuliana took to social media on Monday to update fans on how they were doing and how they were keeping in contact with her parents, Anna and Eduardo DePandi 'Whether its reminiscing about good times or watching Duke doing a funny dance, I know these calls really lift their spirits and that always warms my heart ' The beauty went on to thank all her fans for their good thoughts. ' We have been praying for all of you around the world and my family and friends in Italy. Many have been asking on my DM how they are doing and thankfully my family in Italy is safe and healthy. We really appreciate you asking.' Giuliana ended with: 'Bill, Duke and I continue to send love and prayers to you and your families, throughout the world, each and every day. We are all in this together.' The COVID-19 pandemic has seen over 2.5 million cases worldwide and has taken the lives of nearly 172,000 people. Hanoi and HCMC have been allowed to relax their social distancing measures from Thursday as infections have plateaued. Both cities will begin implementing more relaxed restrictions than before when the 22-day social distancing campaign Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc launched in April 1 was still in place. The end of the social distancing campaign means the rules that do not allow gatherings of more than two people and ask people to stay at home, stepping outside only for emergencies, buying food and medicine, and working in factories, production facilities and businesses that involve trade in "essential" goods and services are no longer applied to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Those rules were applied to all localities across Vietnam between April 1-15, and extended for another week for 12 localities deemed to carry "high risks" of Covid-19 infections, including Hanoi and HCMC. Both cities, now classified only as "at risk", as well as other localities will still have to stop social events, gatherings of over 20 people in a place and gatherings of 10 people or more outside workplaces, schools and hospitals. A minimum distance of two meters should be maintained between people in public places. Earlier, in an online meeting of senior Covid-19 prevention officials from all 63 provinces and cities, HCMC Peoples Committee Chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong said that during the 22-day social distancing campaign, the city went 19 consecutive days without new cases and only has two active cases left. Accordingly, Ho Chi Minh City proposed that the Prime Minister allows it to stop the social distancing campaign starting Thursday. HCMC is allowed to open shops, street businesses and some non-essential services. With a couple of areas like the districts of Thuong Tin and Me Linh still deemed "high-risk" of infection, Hanoi will have more restrictions in place than HCMC. Stringent social distancing measures will still fully be applied to those districts. Hanoi authorities said they will continue to prohibit bars, karaoke, restaurants, game centers and tea shops, which typically gather people in large numbers, from opening. Festivals and sport events will also remain paused. People can go out normally but should still do so only when necessary. When going out, they must wear masks and keep a safe distance. Not wearing a mask when going out will continue to be fined. Transportation such as buses, taxis and ride-hailing services can resume, but the city will set certain restrictions; for instance, on the number of seats that can be filled and should remain empty. All means of transportation need to have hand-sanitizers at hand. Hanoi hasnt decided when to resume school for over two million students in the capital city. The city has recorded 112 Covid-19 cases so far, of which 81 have been discharged and 31 are under treatment. Hanoi hasnt recorded a new case since April 16. Living with the pandemic The Prime Minister said that over the past three months, Vietnam has consistently taken many measures to achieve important and encouraging results. However, people still need to be alert, he cautioned. "We have applied social distancing properly and promptly, so in the past six days no cases have been detected. Particularly in Ho Chi Minh City, there have been no new cases for 19 days straight," the PM said. Phuc said that in the coming time, Vietnam has to accept the situation of living with the pandemic and people should be aware of this. "Many parts of the world are still infected, so the risk is not over for us. So, adapting to Covid-19 is normal and pandemic control is necessary," he noted. In the 22-day distancing campaign for "high-risk" localities that ended Wednesday, all "non-essential" businesses such as bars, clubs and restaurants were ordered to close temporarily. Of Vietnams 268 Covid-19 cases so far, 223 have recovered. The country has recorded no new infection in the last six days. The pandemic has spread to 210 countries and territories and its reported death toll has crossed 177,600. An elderly couple who fought Covid-19 together in hospital has heaped praise on NHS staff after recovering from the infection. Sidney and Jean Moore, both in their 70s, say they feared the worst when they were both diagnosed with the infection earlier this month. The couple, who have been together for more than six decades, were admitted to Whiston Hospital in Merseyside for treatment but have since been discharged. Mr Moore says he and his wife chose to battle the disease together and were treated in the same ward in hospital. Describing their ordeal, Mr Moore told St Helens Star: It was our wish to face this together and they made sure we could. Jean is hard of hearing so it helped because then we both could understand what was going on and it stopped me worrying about her. Weve never been apart for sixty plus years, we dont do apart. The couple is now recovering at home in Newton-Le-Willows and thanked NHS staff for their magnificent care. I havent got the words to describe the staff. Brilliant. Informative. Considerate. The doctors and consultants were great, Mr Moore added. Recommended Hospital staff capture emotional moment elderly couple reunite How youve got the courage to walk into that place every day, knowing whats in there, well never know Youre quite simply magnificent. Health secretary Matt Hancock has announced that human trials of a potential coronavirus vaccine are to begin this week. Speaking at the daily Downing Street press conference on Tuesday, Mr Hancock said the government was throwing everything at the search for a vaccine. He also announced that the government is to provide 20 million to the Oxford team to help fund its clinical trials, with a further 22.5 million going to researchers at Imperial College London. These tactics arent new. Many Chinese children of my generation read a newspaper column for students called Socialism Is Good. Capitalism Is Bad. Each week, it described the wonders of China alongside the hardships of capitalist societies. The lesson: Socialist China takes care of its people, while people in the United States go hungry and the elderly die alone. Even if the stories were true, they didnt represent the full picture. Chinese children like me pitied Americans even when almost all of China lived in poverty. How much would we have envied them if we had known that most could eat meat whenever they liked? Such campaigns became much easier to sell when Chinas economy took off, and we could see the countrys progress for ourselves. Now that mission is getting tougher. Even before the pandemic, Chinas economy wasnt growing the way it once had, and the government has been intruding more and more into everyday life. Chinas propaganda machine has ramped up the volume to deliver its message, encompassing all of Chinese official media and the countrys social media platforms. If that newspaper column existed today, it would be called China Is Great. Whoever Says Otherwise Is Our Enemy. And it would be impossible to avoid. The website of Global Times, a tabloid controlled by the Communist Party, added Chinese subtitles to a video from Mr. Noahs show that featured President Trump and many Fox News personalities, showing how for weeks they played down the risks of the coronavirus. Dont look for an early back-to-school, one of our meat processing plants takes a hit, and the weather service is in the process of counting Sundays tornadoes. Listen to Down in Alabama, above. Get this post and more in your weekday Down in Alabama newsletter by subscribing here. You can also hear Ike each weekday by looking for Down in Alabama on the device of your choosing. Click here for the Spotify podcast page Click here for the Alexa skill page on Amazon Click here for the iTunes podcast page Click here for the Stitcher podcast page Brenda Aloff of Midland has spent a lifetime working with dogs and horses. Her work with dogs, especially, has garnered her a reputation as a whisperer of sorts; helping pet owners, and those involved in performance, to better understand and communicate with their dogs. I got into animal behavior primarily because I had a very difficult dog; a bit of a character, she said. I went to a lot of experts but really didnt get any joy from that. So I started studying the species. I studied wolf behavior; dogs as a species; street dog behavior; third world behavior and domestic dogs. Eventually her research, along with techniques she discovered, led to knowledge that other pet owners and professionals could rely on. My veterinarian knew I had an extremely difficult dog and I modified her behavior, she said. Local veterinarians at that time then began calling to ask for help with boarding dogs, especially ones that had difficulty boarding elsewhere. As time went on, Aloff became certified with the international association of animal behavior counselors and the national association of dog obedience instructors. Ive been doing this for 28 years professionally; working with dogs and horses since I was child, Aloff said. Her love for animals started fairly early on. She shared fond memories of riding her pony, Lucky, when she was 9, around the time she began to show horses in 4H. I couldnt wait for the summer, she said. I would ride the pony the whole day. The cat (a Siamese cat named Henry) would follow behind me. I had Lucky until the time I turned 40; my child learned to ride on the same pony. A few years later, she was showing horses in different arenas. She showed in the A Circuit from the time she was 16 until about 25 or 26. After getting married and having a daughter, she decided to focus on working with dogs. Aloff boarded dogs for 10 years and showed dogs for 15, all the while continuing to learn about animal behavior. Dog training eventually became part of her work. I did a lot of work with performance dogs: performance behavior, stress performance behavior, agility, competition obedience, she said. She was also hired to consult when trainers of working dogs including service, drug detection and search and rescue dogs encountered difficulties. The teaching is what she really enjoys. I love what I do; I love communicating with animals and being a liaison between people and their animals, Aloff said. Understanding dog behavior is more about how the dog learns and what the animal hears than what we are saying. And it involves the pet and the owner working collaboratively. Its teaching the clients to train their animal training the people to train the dogs and getting them to understand how the dog communicates, she said. The moments when the learning kicks in, for both the animal and the owner, have been especially gratifying. Its seeing that look on a dogs face; the aha moment, when they understand through good communication. And then knowing that I am communicating and that we are having a good conversation, she said. Equally rewarding is that look on the clients face when they are finally communicating with their dog effectively and feel a connection that they have not been able to achieve in the past. Another dynamic that helps Aloffs work is her horse training. Horses are good for my soul, for one thing, in a way that nothing else is, she said. Also, working with sensitive, high-powered flight animals puts a patina on your training that nothing else does. Ive learned a lot from French Classical Dressage that helps me connect with the animal in a really unique wayIts a different connect and its helped me to approach a domestic animal in a more sensitive and considerate way, I think. Aloff offers classes and dog behavior consultations through her Heaven on Arf training center in Midland. Her associates teach while she leads workshops. Diane Kovak Gaw of Mount Pleasant assists with consults and teaches puppy and entry-level classes. She also helps with workshops. Kathy Fox of Saginaw assists Gaw with entry-level classes. Brenda Young, of Mount Pleasant, helps with consults and setting up for workshops. She also advises as Aloffs assistant. I would be lost without all of my associates, Aloff said. Brenda Young, especially, keeps me organized. In 1995, a Michigan based Humane Society recognized Aloff for rescuing dogs. She rescued at least 100 over a 10-year stretch and then would retrain them and adopt them out. She has also published several articles and six books: Positive Reinforcement: Training Dogs in the Real World; Aggression in Dogs: Practical Management, Prevention and Behaviour Modification; Foundation Behaviours for Every Dog; Canine Body Language: A Photographic Guide; Get Connected with Your Dog: Emphasizing the Relationship While Training Your Dog and Puppy Problems? No Problem! Canine Body Language received a Maxwell Award in 2011. Aloff has presented at workshops and conferences around the world. Locally, she was featured in a book and coordinating exhibit at Midland Center for the Arts titled Voices: extraordinary women of Midland County. Recently, she added an update to her class schedule, mentioning that classes and private lessons will be rescheduled onsite after the shelter order in Michigan ends. In the meantime, I am doing conference or video calls to do private consults with clients, she said. For our entry-level puppy class students, we have set up a special webpage with training videos and worksheets until we can get back to hands-on help. And we are doing Zoom calls until we can have a real class. For more information, visit brendaaloff.com or look up Brenda Aloff on Facebook and YouTube. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan underwent a test for the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, days after meeting a well-known philanthropist who was diagnosed positive for the COVID-19 infection, according to a media report. A team of doctors from the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital collected samples from the Prime Minister. The result is expected on Wednesday. "As a responsible prime minister and a responsible citizen I am happy to announce that the prime minister has agreed to get tested on my advice," Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital CEO Dr Faisal Sultan was quoted as saying by The Express Tribune. He said that the result of the test would be available soon and we will immediately inform the people about it. Sultan, who is also Khan's personal physician and focal person on COVID-19, on Tuesday told the media, that Khan would undergo the test. Advisor on Information Firdous Ashiq Awan said on Wednesday that the family of the Prime Minister had already tested negative. Khan agreed for the test after Faisal Edhi, the son of late philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi and chairman of the Edhi Foundation, met him last week, and has now tested positive for the coronavirus. Saad, the son of Faisal Edhi, told the Dawn newspaper on Tuesday that his father started showing symptoms last week, soon after meeting Khan in Islamabad on April 15. "The symptoms lasted for four days before subsiding," Saad said. Faisal Edhi had met Prime Minister Khan to hand over a Rs 10 million cheque for the premier's coronavirus relief fund. The Edhi Foundation was founded by the late Abdul Sattar Edhi and is the leading charity organisation in Pakistan. Khan will participate in an event on Thursday organised to collect donations to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. A total of 17 more people have died in Pakistan from the COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 209. The number of coronavirus cases has risen to 10,072, according to officials. Pakistan's Punjab province has reported 4,331 cases, Sindh has 3,373, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 1,345, Balochistan 495, Gilgit-Baltistan 283, Islamabad 194 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 51 patients. So far, 118,020 tests have been done nationwide, including 5,647 in the last 24 hours. A total of 2,156 patients have recovered. Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Qamar Javed Bajwa visited the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) and was briefed about the joint efforts by civil administration and Army to tackle the threat of the virus. Bajwa emphasised on the need for continued stratified risk assessment and managing trinity of health crisis, economic slide and psycho-social impact, according to Army. "The Pakistan Army in collaboration with other national institutions should take all possible measures to bring comfort to the nation in these challenging times, the Army quoted him as saying. Advisor on Health Dr Zafar Mirza in his daily media briefing said that the all institutions were working together like never before to defeat the pandemic. He also said that a new committee was set up under his leadership to develop a consensus on the technical aspects of the response to the coronavirus. Mirza said that the next three or four weeks would be "absolutely critical" for Pakistan and asked the people to follow the guidelines and standard operating procedures (SOPs) to help control the spread. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that peak of the virus could be reached by end of May or start of June. He said this after meeting with the Chairman of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Lieutenant General Muhammad Afzal. Meanwhile, at least 492 Pakistanis, including 92 women, stranded in Afghanistan due to coronavirus pandemic have returned to their country from the Torkham border. Officials said another 111 children, not registered with them as stranded persons but travelling with their parents, mostly mothers, were also allowed to enter Pakistan, the Dawn newspaper reported. Syria seizes US-made missiles, ammunition in terrorist redoubts Iran Press TV Tuesday, 21 April 2020 1:11 PM Syrian government forces have seized United States-made weapons and ammunition, left behind by terrorists, in Syria's southwestern Dara'a and Sweida provinces. State news agency SANA reported on Tuesday that Syrian authorities discovered and seized American TOW missiles, shoulder-launched missiles, anti-armor missiles, light and medium machine guns, automatic rifles of Western origin, and RPG launchers with their projectiles. The report added that the authorities also found and seized a surveillance drone, advanced surveillance cameras, communication devices, as well as large quantities of ammunition in deserted terrorist bases in the two provinces. The discovery and the seizure of the weapons came just a day after Syrian authorities in the southwestern provinces of Damascus and Quneitra found and seized Malutka anti-tank missiles, RPGs, rifles, Western- and US-made submachine guns, hand grenades, satellite broadcasting and telecommunications devices, medicines and medical equipment, and a number of stolen cars abandoned by defeated terrorists. Turmoil erupted in Syria in 2011. Foreign-backed militants and Takfiri terrorists overran parts of Syria before government forces retook almost all of them with help from Damascus' allies. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Donald Trump said he instructed the Navy to shoot down and destroy" Iranian gunboats if they harass US ships at sea following a tense encounter between US warships and Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in the Persian Gulf. In a tweet posted on Wednesday morning, the president wrote: "I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea." The apparent orders follow reports last week that Iranian fast boats were coming into close proximity with the US warships while conducting a drill near Kuwait. The altercation involved 11 vessels from Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN), according to Reuters. The Navy later released video of the incident, which showed the Iranian boats nearing US vessels, with at least one pointing a deck-mounted machine gun towards the American boats. Irans Revolutionary Guard seemed to blame the US, saying the close encounter was caused by the unprofessional and provocative actions of the United States and their indifference to warnings in a statement. The Revolutionary Guard has not released any evidence that supports such a claim. Tensions have continued mounting between Washington and Tehran in recent weeks, with the Revolutionary Guard also alleging US vessels blocked Iranian warships earlier in the month. Still, the Navy said in a statement to the Associated Press that US forces continue to remain vigilant in regards to their interactions with other ships and are trained to act in a professional manner during such incidents. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif meanwhile attacked Mr Trump in a tweet during the weekend, writing: All you need to do is stop interfering in the affairs of other nations; mine especially. He added: And believe me, we do not take advice from ANY American politician. Irans Revolutionary Guard has also been accused of preventing other vessels from travelling near the Strait of Hormuz, including one Hong Kong-flagged tanker earlier in the week that was boarded by armed Iranian officials, the AP reported. Beijing's envoy to Washington accused senior US politicians on Tuesday of ignoring scientific expertise in favour of pursuing "groundless accusations", after US President Donald Trump said over the weekend that Beijing may be "knowingly responsible" for the coronavirus outbreak. "So little attention is paid to the views of the scientists," Ambassador Cui Tiankai, appearing on a webcast event organised by Bloomberg News, said of the US. "And some politicians are so preoccupied in their efforts for stigmatisation, for groundless accusations". Last week, Trump amplified unproven theories that the coronavirus may have emerged from " or even been bioengineered at " a virology lab near Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the outbreak first occurred. Trump said that a line of inquiry was being actively pursued by his administration; US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently called on Beijing to let independent experts visit the lab to conduct an on-site investigation. Trump's interest in such an inquiry comes despite the acknowledgement by Dr Anthony Fauci, the administration's top infectious-disease expert, that recent research by leading virologists had found the contagion's mutations were "totally consistent" with animal-to-human transmission. "There is little attention being paid to the views of scientists," Cui, who did not mention Trump by name, said on Tuesday. "What are these people up to? Why are they doing all this when our priority is to save lives? Why, at a time when we need science so badly, are there so many rumours swirling around?" The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Cui appeared on Tuesday to concede that Chinese officials had not been entirely blameless in their own embrace of speculative theories. When asked about comments made by Zhao Lijian, a mid-level foreign ministry official who publicly boosted conspiracy theories that the virus was brought to Wuhan by US soldiers last year, Cui said that such blame games were being played out by "a small number of such politicians" and did not reflect the sentiments of either country's wider public. Story continues Zhao's comments in March led to a significant uptick in the Trump administration's anti-China rhetoric, including Trump's repeated description of the disease as the "Chinese virus". Trump has since dropped the term, but has continued to challenge China about the speed of its response and the accuracy of its case numbers, claiming last week without evidence that the country had the most deaths in the world. To date, more than 42,000 people have died from Covid-19 in the US, nearly 10 times higher than China's official toll of around 4,600. The pandemic has seen Congressional Republicans and administration officials rally around a strategy to hold China responsible, including calls for financial reparations. On Tuesday, Missouri's state attorney general, a Republican, filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Chinese government, alleging that Chinese officials were "responsible for the enormous death, suffering, and economic losses they inflicted on the world, including Missourians". But as election season draws near, Cui said, he doubted that Americans wanted to make China the "centrepiece" of their domestic political debate, suggesting that the public was instead most concerned about matters like health care, education and job security. Cui's remarks came as a new Pew Research survey found that two-thirds of the US public held unfavourable views of China " a new high and up significantly from the 47 per cent when Trump took office in 2017. Almost three-quarters of Americans said they had "no confidence" in Chinese President Xi Jinping to "do the right thing regarding world affairs". As local Covid-19 cases continue to decline, Hong Kong's experience in battling the pandemic holds many lessons for the rest of the world. Join our free webinar, "Hong Kong vs. Covid-19: Lessons Learned and Next Steps", on April 22 (Wed) 10am HKT, to hear from one of the city's top medical professionals about the latest on Covid-19 and what to expect for the city in the coming weeks and months. Sign up now and get a 10% discount (original price US$400) off the China AI Report 2020 by SCMP Research. Learn about the AI ambitions of Alibaba, Baidu & JD.com through our in-depth case studies, and explore new applications of AI across industries. The report also includes exclusive access to webinars to interact with C-level executives from leading China AI companies (via live Q&A sessions). Offer valid until 31 May 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, April 23 : The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has now taken the initiative of distributing Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) to health workers as well. The VHP on Wednesday distributed 400 PPE kits to protect doctors and nurses from infection at Swami Dayanand Hospital, North Delhi Municipal Corporation. According to the VHP, the doctors, nurses and paramedical staff of the hospital stated that the Delhi government has not provided safety kits i.e. PPE kits to the corporation hospitals. Therefore, the risk of infection is more for them. The VHP said Delhi ranks second among the infected states of the country where more than 2,000 people are infected and 47 patients have died untimely, in such a situation, government's negligence can be very dangerous hospital administration as well as patients. East Delhi Municipal Corporation Mayor Anju Kamal Kant and Medical Superintendent of Swami Dayanand Hospital Dr Rajni thanked the VHP for its contribution. The VHP also provided sanitizers and food to patients. VHP Delhi President Kapil Khanna, head of the office Vagish Issar, Vice President Rurudin Prasad Rustagi, Surendra Kumar Gupta, Babu Panicker, Publicity Head Mahendra Rawat and all other officials and activists were present. Like their counterparts in the for-profit world, Capital Region arts organizations have begun taking advantage of federal relief programs related to losses from the COVID-19 crisis, but leaders say factors unique to cultural institutions present different challenges and opportunities than faced by commercial enterprises. For venues that present performances, much of the income projected for spring and early summer is being considered deferred, as many shows have been postponed, not canceled. At Albanys Palace Theatre, for instance, six performances over three days by standup comedian Sebastian Maniscalco, originally planned for April 3 to 5, have been rescheduled for July 31 to Aug. 2. At the Cohoes Music Hall, 29 performances were postponed after venues were ordered closed as part of the effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus; almost all have been rebooked for dates in the fall, along with additional programming to be announced soon, said Holly Brown, the music halls executive director. Latest coronavirus-related cancellations, postponements The latest coronavirus numbers in NY Sign up for the Times Union coronavirus newsletter Full coronavirus coverage The majority of (ticket) income is not lost, said Peter Lesser, executive director of The Egg in Albany, where all but two events on the calendar have been rescheduled for later dates. Lesser said, (Its) just not available until later in the year. Representatives of all organizations contacted for this story said, mostly via email, that they have sharply cut costs, starting with layoffs and pay reductions for remaining employees. Proctors in Schenectady and its affiliates, Capital Repertory Theatre in Albany and Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga Springs, laid off 80 percent of employees. The Eggs staff has been furloughed down to one person, to handle essential business operations and box-office matters, and the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy laid off 40 percent of full-time staff and all part-timers, managers said. In other business areas, Cohoes Music Hall cut its advertising budget by 85 percent. Playhouse Stage Company, which presents productions at Cohoes Music Hall and Albanys Washington Park amphitheater as Park Playhouse, canceled its main summer production, scaled back budgets for remaining productions by 25 to 30 percent and is reassessing programming for next years 33rd season with an eye toward reducing costs, said Playhouse Stages producing artistic director, Owen Smith. Arts organizations have also been working with sponsors, donors, board members and others that contribute income to allow it to be used differently than originally intended, and some are asking ticketholders seeking refunds to instead consider the purchase cost to be a donation to the institution. Weve turned to our board for assistance in advancing their annual gifts, said Smith. Theyve been extremely supportive. Billy Piskutz, interim executive director of the Palace, said, Were working with current sponsors and supporters to convert their contributions, where possible, into general operating support that can be used during this time. Not all area arts organizations have business-interruption insurance. Those that do say their claims have been denied, or they expect they will be, because a viral contagion typically has not been among the covered losses. Legislators at the state and federal levels have proposed requiring insurers to cover COVID-19 claims, but the industry opposes such measures, saying they would lead to financial catastrophe. On a national level, this is going to be in the courts for years, said Philip Morris, CEO of Proctors, which had its claim denied. In the meantime, most local groups are seeking federally underwritten assistance in the form of loans and grants. Proctors, the Palace, Cohoes Music Hall and Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, among others, have all been approved for funds from the Paycheck Protection Program of the Small Business Administration; the low-interest loans will be forgiven if they are used to cover payroll costs, mortgage interest, rent and utility costs. The Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs has received its PPP funds. As a result, said CEO Elizabeth Sobol, We are currently able to keep our year-round staff intact, ready to spring into action in the event that conditions permit programming to move forward. Many local arts and culture nonprofits are also applying for repayable federal loans similar to those available to commercial enterprises, though representatives say they have yet to see any money. Other potential funding sources include grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities, which each received $75 million under the federal stimulus package passed last month. The Institute of Museum and Library Services, which disburses grants to museums and libraries, received another $50 million. Our income is virtually nonexistent, said Piskutz of the Palace, reflecting the opinion of most of his peers in the arts and culture sector. He said, It will be critical for our federal and state governments to identify and create additional stimulus programs or grants that focus on our arts institutions in order to help keep them viable. Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan underwent a test for the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, days after meeting a well-known philanthropist who was diagnosed positive for the COVID-19 infection, according to a media report. A team of doctors from the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital collected samples from the Prime Minister. The result is expected on Wednesday. "As a responsible prime minister and a responsible citizen, I am happy to announce that the prime minister has agreed to get tested on my advice," Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital CEO Dr Faisal Sultan was quoted as saying by The Express Tribune. Sultan, who is also Khan's personal physician and a focal person on COVID-19, on Tuesday told the media, that Khan would undergo the test. "Prime Minister Khan will undergo a test of the coronavirus to show that he is a responsible citizen of this county. We will follow all protocols in place and make recommendations accordingly, he said. Advisor on Information Firdous Ashiq Awan said on Wednesday that the family of the Prime Minister had already tested negative. Khan agreed for the test after Faisal Edhi, the son of late philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi and chairman of the Edhi Foundation, met him last week, and has now tested positive for the coronavirus. Saad, the son of Faisal Edhi, told the Dawn newspaper on Tuesday that his father started showing symptoms last week, soon after meeting Khan in Islamabad on April 15. "The symptoms lasted for four days before subsiding," Saad said. Faisal Edhi had met Prime Minister Khan to hand over a Rs 10 million cheque for the premier's coronavirus relief fund. The Edhi Foundation was founded by the late Abdul Sattar Edhi and is the leading charity organisation in Pakistan. Khan will participate in an event on Thursday organised to collect donations to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. A total of 17 more people has died in Pakistan from the COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 209. The number of coronavirus cases has risen to 9,749 with 533 new infections reported as of Wednesday, the Ministry of National Health Services has said. Pakistan's Punjab province has reported 4,328 cases, Sindh has 3,053, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 1,345, Balochistan 495, Gilgit-Baltistan 284, Islamabad 194 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 51 patients. So far, 118,020 tests have been done nationwide, including 5,647 in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, at least 492 Pakistanis, including 92 women, stranded in Afghanistan due to coronavirus pandemic have returned to their country from the Torkham border. Officials said another 111 children, not registered with them as stranded persons but traveling with their parents, mostly mothers, were also allowed to enter Pakistan, the Dawn newspaper reported. A panel of experts called by US governments top infections diseases agency on Tuesday recommended against the use of a combination of an antimalarial drug and an antibiotic that President Donald Trump has touted as a potential game-changer in treating Covid-19. The experts panel said in guidelines for Covid-19 treatment that except for the purposes of clinical trials it recommends against the use of the antimalarial drug Hydroxychloroquine plus Azithromycin, the antibiotic, because of the potential for toxicities. Follow latest updates on coronavirus here But it left open the use of Hydroxychloroquine or another version of it, Chloroquine, by itself, saying there is insufficient data to recommend for or against its use, but warned clinicians that if they did administer it, they should monitor the patient for adverse effect. Also, an analysis published Tuesday on the use of Hydroxychloroquine to treat coronavirus patients in US Veteran Affairs hospitals showed no benefits and caused more deaths. Researchers and experts have said the study was not rigorous enough, and more data is required. The panel of experts that issued the guidelines was convened by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a federal agency headed by Anthony Fauci, a member of President Trumps White House task force on the coronavirus outbreak. Also read: Trumps 60-day immigration suspension to impact those seeking green cards Fauci had previously, and repeatedly, cautioned against overestimating the benefits of the drug, or the combination, arguing there was no tested evidence it works against Covid-19. And he had been blunt about it, making his case from the podium of the White House daily briefing by the task force with the president looking on. Fauci did not attend the Tuesday briefing. When asked, Trump said he had not seen the guidelines. The president has been an outspoken advocate of the antimalarial drug by itself and in combination with the antibiotic. HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine, he wrote in a tweet on March 21. Also read: Lockdowns may have only arrested first wave The president pressed in tweets and remarks to reporters despite public pushback from his experts. A key part of his argument wast: What do you have to lose. The drug, Hydroxychloroquine, had been proven to be safe for for decades of being prescribed to malaria patients and even if ti did not work on a Covid-19 patient it will do them no harm. The panel experts has concluded it can be harmful in combination with the antibiotic. On its own, the drug has been allowed for clinical trials, which are currently underway on Covid-19 patients in New York, the epicenter of the American outbreak that infected 824,438 people all over the country and killed 45,052 by Tuesday night. Click here for complete coronavirus coverage India lifted restrictions on the export of a bunch of drugs this month to allow a consignment of Hydroxychloroquine to ordered by the United States at the urgent request by President Trump to Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this month. India is one of the worlds largest manufacturers of the medicine and has deployed it for large-scale use as a prophylactic for healthcare workers. Hydroxychloroquines efficacy against the coronavirus has faced worldwide scrutiny and it has not fared very well. Hospitals in Sweden stopped using Chloroquine earlier this month after reports of severe side effects and researchers in Brazil aborted a trial after the death of patients administered the drug. Pastor Jamal Bryant calls reopening of Georgias economy assault on minorities, 'contrary to Gods will Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Outspoken megachurch pastor Jamal Bryant of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church slammed the Georgia governor's decision to begin reopening the local economy by Friday as akin to an "assault on the minority community and contrary to Gods will amid the coronavirus pandemic. Gov. [Brian] Kemp, if you have a decibel of moral integrity, before Friday comes, I am pleading on your conscience, even when the evangelicals remain silent in this hour, I stand and cry loud and spare not, that what it is you are calling for is contrary to the will of God who declared openly I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly, Bryant said in a Facebook Live broadcast Tuesday night. I am calling on Governor Kemp to immediately reverse and retract his order that is supposed to start on Friday. What it is that he is doing is launching, in no uncertain terms, an assault on the minority community in Georgia, he argued. On Monday, Kemp announced plans to begin reopening some businesses across the state as early as Friday with specific guidelines. Among the businesses that can begin reopening on Friday are fitness centers, bowling alleys, body art studios, barber shops, cosmetologists, hair designers, nail care artists, their respective schools and massage therapists. The Georgia governors office further noted that minimum basic operations include but are not limited to screening workers for fever and respiratory illness, enhancing workplace sanitation, wearing masks and gloves, separating workplaces by six feet, teleworking if possible and staggered shifts. Theaters, private social clubs and dine-in services at restaurants will also be allowed to reopen on Monday, April 27, with specific social distancing guidelines and sanitation mandates. Bars, nightclubs, amusement parks and live performance venues, however, will remain closed. Bryant said he was banding with several other prominent black pastors across the state, including Raphael Warnock, E. Dewey Smith, and William Murphy, to keep their churches shuttered in a united show of resistance. I am afraid and I am frightened that this is going to set an immoral precedent for other wayward governors across the South who believe that if he can do it, then it is in fact the new standard for death to happen to the black community. I stand with countless numbers of other clergy who have resolved within our heart, our spirit, and our mind and our ethical compass, that we cannot resume church as normal because nothing is normal, Bryant said. Prior to making the call, Bryant pointed out that black and brown Americans are still disproportionately dying from the new coronavirus due to higher levels of underlying health conditions and lower access to healthcare. He also pointed to issues of lower levels of testing for the virus in minority communities. New Birth will not be holding church because we understand that life is valuable and we cannot in fact go down this rabbit hole of a slippery slope. Where are the testing kits? And if were gonna deal with testing kits weve got to deal with the inequity of healthcare that is provided to black and brown people in this state, he said. We keep hearing the flag being raised about pre-existing conditions, pre-existing conditions like hypertension, obesity, high blood pressure, and things of that magnitude and heart disease. Its because we have not addressed the fact that many people in our community are living in food deserts. Many people in our community do not have access to affordable healthcare. Many people in our community only end up seeing a doctor when they come through an emergency room, he said. He also pointed out that Bernice King, CEO of The King Center in Atlanta and daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., who is a member of Kemp's Coronavirus Task Force, along with Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms were both blindsided by the governors decision. Like many of you who are in the state of Georgia, Im extremely concerned about the governors plans and what his decisions will mean for the safety, health and lives of Georgia residents, King said Monday in a Facebook Live broadcast, in which she revealed she was considering resigning from Kemps task force. I have a great working relationship with our governor, but I did not speak with him before he made this announcement, Lance Bottoms told CNN. She further noted that she spoke with other mayors across the state who revealed Kemp had not consulted with them either before making the decision to reopen the state for business. Ive spoken with several leaders across this state. So we really are at a loss, and I am concerned as a mother and as the mayor of our capital city, she said. Im perplexed that we have opened up in this way. And again, I cant stress enough, I work very well with our governor, and I look forward to having a better understanding of what his reasoning is but as I look at the data and as I talk with our public health officials, I dont see that its based on anything thats logical, she said. We really are at a loss, and I am concerned as a mother and as the mayor of our capital city. Atlantas mayor says Georgias Republican governor did not consult her and other key state leaders before deciding to allow some businesses to reopen. pic.twitter.com/qSw2Kbe0gr Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) April 21, 2020 As of Tuesday, the Georgia Department of Public Health reported a total of 20,166 individuals who tested positive for the coronavirus. Just over 800 persons have died from the virus and more than half of them are black. Gov. Kemp, I am asking you in the next 48 hours, you already have two amazing conscientious committed black sisters on your task force in Bernice King and in our mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, I ask that you will meet with both of them immediately because I trust that they speak for our community and for the welfare of our people," Bryant said. "I pray for repentance over this governor and the legislators who support him, who believe that this is a good idea. Something is wrong with the moral fiber of our community, when we put commerce over the value of human life. A bipartisan group of senators is proposing a bill to ban the U.S. from buying animals from the Chinese "wet markets" that have been blamed for outbreaks including the current coronavirus crisis. The government has previously used animals including cats and dogs purchased at those markets in gruesome experiments at a federal lab in Maryland. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said the purchases effectively subsidized the markets, which are believed to be the source of the current crisis as well as the 2002 SARS outbreak. As Iowans, and all Americans, continue to battle COVID-19, we need to do all we can to ensure something like this never happens again. That includes preventing any more American tax dollars from going to unregulated wet markets in China, Ernst said. The bill proposed by Ernst and Sens. Mike Braun, R-Ind., Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Joe Manchin, D-W.V., would ban agencies and government grantees and contractors from spending money at the markets. Image: Feline (WCW) NBC News reported last year that U.S. government scientists had bought hundreds of dogs and cats from "meat markets" in China and Vietnam that were then euthanized and fed to cats at the USDA's Agricultural Research Service's Animal Parasitic Disease Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland. The experiments some of which the agency said in scientific reports were aimed at studying a parasite that causes the food-borne illness toxoplasmosis are believed to have been conducted between 2003 and 2015. Jim Keen, a former USDA scientist, told NBC News the experiments sounded "crazy." "Cannibal cats, cats eating dogs I don't see the logic," Keen said. The A.R.S. announced it was permanently halting the experiments after the NBC News report. The White Coat Waste Project, a non-profit that combats wasteful government spending on animal testing and waged a year-long campaign against the cat experiments, applauded the senators for their bill, which it said would "ensure government employees dont ever go on another taxpayer-funded shopping spree for cats, dogs or any other animals" at the markets. "The government never should have spent taxpayer dollars at China's wet markets, and this bill will make sure it never does again, said Justin Goodman, the groups vice president of advocacy and public policy. Nairobi, April 22, 2020 -- Ugandan authorities must investigate security forces recent attacks against journalists and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Since March 19, security forces have harassed or assaulted at least six journalists in the country while enforcing restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19, according to the journalists, who spoke to CPJ, and a statement by the Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda, a local press rights group. Ugandas COVID-19 response measures have included a curfew and restrictions on public gatherings and transportation, according to news reports . President Yoweri Museveni classified the media as essential workers, not subject to those restrictions, according to declarations from the president and a report by the Daily Monitor. Journalists are essential workers and perform a vital public service in keeping Ugandans informed amid the COVID-19 pandemic, said CPJ sub-Saharan Africa Representative Muthoki Mumo. We call on the government to urgently investigate and hold accountable security personnel who have attacked journalists, and to ensure that media can report on COVID-19 without interference. On March 19 in the northern district of Kitgum, police officers slapped, punched, and kicked Julius Ocungi, a bureau chief of the Uganda Radio Network news agency, while he was taking pictures of security personnel closing down a local bar pursuant to the COVID-19 lockdown, he told CPJ via messaging app. Three police officers attacked him and tried to drag him to a waiting vehicle, but he resisted, he said. Ocungi told CPJ he was able to leave the scene, but that the officers confiscated his camera. When he picked up his camera from the local police station later that evening, the officers demanded he delete his photos, but he refused, Ocungi said. I asked them to give me a good reason to delete the photos. Did they do something nasty that they did not want to appear in the press? They are police officers, public officers. What are they trying to hide? he said. He told CPJ that he suffered swelling on his right leg and one of his eyes after the attack. On March 20, when Ocungi tried to file a formal report with the local police, he said officers refused to record the incident and referred him to the office of the Professional Standard Unit, a police oversight body, in Gulu, a town about two hours away from Kitgum. In Gulu, he said officers there also refused to take his statement. Ezekiel Emitu, the police commander in the region, told CPJ in a phone call today that he refused to comment on Ocungis case but would follow up if the reports were brought to him in person. Ocungi told CPJ had had previously approached Emitu about his case. On March 30, military officers in plainclothes who were enforcing a curfew assaulted Denis Okello, a production manager with local broadcaster Radio Apac in northern Uganda, he told CPJ. Three men confronted Okello while he was standing at the veranda of his radio stations office and started beating him with sticks and kicking and punching him, according to Okello and his manager, Kenneth Ongom, both of whom spoke to CPJ via messaging app. The men tried to order Okello to walk to a nearby police station, but he refused, he said. The men, whom Ongom recognized as military officers, only stopped beating the journalist after the Resident District Commissioner, a local official, intervened and ordered that the journalist be taken to hospital in a government car. Okello told CPJ he was hospitalized until April 1, after suffering cuts to his arms, hands, and back. CPJ reviewed pictures in which the journalist was bleeding from his head. Okello also said that the men kicked him in his chest, and that he was now having trouble sleeping due to pain. He said he gave a statement to the police about the attack on April 8. On March 31, in the central Mukono district, a police officer beat Daniel Mwesigwa, a reporter for the privately owned NTV Uganda broadcaster, with a stick at office of the Resident District Commissioner, where he had gone to seek clarification on media accreditation to cover COVID-19 and credentials to drive his car while reporting during the lockdown, he told CPJ via messaging app. He said that he also planned to file a report on a local COVID-19 task force meeting that was taking place at the commissioners office. He said that the beating only got worse when the officer learned that Mwesigwa was a journalist. He only wanted to beat me more. He told me: we are tired of you, Mwesigwa said. He suffered bruises and shoulder pain from the attack, he said. On April 1, police and military officers beat Perezi Rumanzi, a reporter with the privately-owned Daily Monitor newspaper in the western district of Ntungamo, while he was photographing security personnel enforcing a curfew, Rumanzi told CPJ via messaging app. Rumanzi said that the six officers beat him with a rubber-insulated electric wire, and that he suffered bruises and swelling to his arms, legs, and chest. They also confiscated his camera, he said. Rumanzi told CPJ that he did not go to hospital immediately, as he was afraid of breaking the curfew. He retrieved his camera from the local police station the following day but told CPJ that police officers at the local Ntungamo Central Police station refused to accept reports on any cases of assault during curfew enforcement. On April 1, Henry Nsubuga, a reporter with the New Vision newspaper in Mukono, was at the same Resident District Commissioners office where Mwesigwa was assaulted the previous day to report on the regions response to COVID-19 and to collect credentials allowing him to move around freely during the lockdown, when a police officer ordered him to stop filming and to delete his footage, which he did out of fear of retaliation, he told CPJ via messaging app. The next day, a police officer beat David Musisi Kalyankolo, a reporter with the Luganda language Bukedde TV, the sister broadcaster of New Vision, with a baton until he was unconscious, Kalyankolo told CPJ in a phone interview. Kalyankolo was on the veranda of his home shortly after arriving from work, when the officer attacked him, leaving him with injuries that included a deep, bleeding wound on his head, according to the journalist and medical documents seen by CPJ. He was hospitalized twice over two weeks in connection to his injuries, according to his wife, Hadija Namutebi, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview. The police officer who allegedly assaulted him, later identified as Noah Mukoshi, was arrested on charges of assault , according to media reports . Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Patrick Onyango today told CPJ that investigations in the case are ongoing but claimed that Kalyankolo had been at a trading center at the time of the alleged assault. In a WhatsApp message, military spokesperson Richard Karemire told CPJ that the army would treat all complaints reported to them with the seriousness they may deserve but did not comment on the specific cases of Rumanzi or Okello. Uganda police spokesperson Fred Enanga and Kampala Metropolitan police commander Moses Kafeero did not respond to CPJs calls or text messages. BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 22 By Tamilla Mammadova Trend: Georgia exported 3,542 tons of flours, meals and pellets, totaling $4.4 million to Turkey from January through March 2020, Trend reports referring to Georgian National Statistics Office (Geostat). On an annualized basis, Georgia increased the products' export to Turkey by 2,004 tons. Over the same period last year, 1,538 tons of flours, meals and pellets were exported by Georgia to Turkey for a total amount of $2,26 million. Turkey ranks first in Georgias commodity circulation. From January through March 2020, total imports from Turkey to Georgia amounted to $348.2 million. In turn, Georgia exported goods worth $53.9 million to Turkey. The foreign trade turnover of Georgia with Turkey in the reporting period exceeded $402.2 million, which is 14.5 percent of Georgia's total trade turnover. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Mila61979356 PG&E Corp. CEO Bill Johnson will retire at the end of June, a little more than one year after he took control of the embattled energy company during the fallout of deadly wildfires that prompted it to file for bankruptcy protection. The company said Wednesday that Johnson will be replaced on an interim basis by Bill Smith, a PG&E board member and former AT&T executive, and the transition will begin next month. But Johnsons retirement will not be effective until June 30, which is the state-mandated deadline for the company and its subsidiary Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to resolve their bankruptcy case. Johnson joined PG&E last May after a seven-year run as CEO of the Tennessee Valley Authority power company. He was hired to steer PG&E through its Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring, a case fueled by devastating wildfires its power lines caused in 2015, 2017 and 2018. PG&E is also pleading guilty to 85 felony counts, all but one for involuntary manslaughter, over its role in the 2018 Camp Fire, Californias deadliest and most destructive wildfire. The disaster predates Johnsons tenure. Johnsons departure is the latest in a long run of senior executive turnover at PG&E and signals that the company is looking for new leadership to steer it through its post-bankruptcy era. I joined PG&E to help get the company out of bankruptcy and stabilize operations. By the end of June, I expect that both of these goals will have been met, Johnson said in a statement. As we look to PG&Es next chapter, this great company should be led by someone who has the time and career trajectory ahead of them to ensure that it fulfills its promise to reimagine itself as a new utility and deliver the safe and reliable service that its customers and communities expect and deserve. Andy Vesey, CEO and president of the PG&E utility subsidiary, will remain in his role, the company said. Smith, Johnsons interim successor, said in a statement that he has been deeply involved in the PG&E boards efforts to resolve the companys bankruptcy case. I am delighted that I can bring my knowledge and experience to bear going forward, working together with employees, our regulators, and elected officials to introduce the new PG&E and continue to fulfill the companys commitments to its customers and communities, Smith said. The retirement of Johnson may do little to appease the companys toughest critics. Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network consumer group, called the CEOs time at PG&E a big failure. I just think he was a bad choice from the start, Toney said. Hes done very little to improve PG&Es safety performance or its record in general. Toney said the only silver lining he saw was the possibility that a new CEO would take the company in a new direction and ensure that customers come before shareholders and that accountability for safety is the top priority. But to the PG&E workforce, Johnson provided stable leadership during a really hectic time, said Tom Dalzell, business manager of PG&Es largest union, IBEW Local 1245. He got them through fire season. He got them through a big legislative session. He got them out of bankruptcy, Dalzell said. He was a steady hand and a calming influence. Johnsons tenure was heavily influenced by the bankruptcy case and the deadly fires the company caused prior to his arrival. Days after he started at PG&E, the company was ordered by U.S. District Judge William Alsup to tour the burned remains of Paradise, the Butte County town that was all but leveled by the Camp Fire. Johnson, Alsup and a host of PG&E officials conducted the secretive tour in June. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes During a lengthy round of public questioning by a 2017 fire victim at a regulatory hearing in February, Johnson said he heard 911 call recordings from the Camp Fire while he was on that tour of Paradise. He said PG&Es role in the disaster had deeply affected him and promised to do everything he could to make this right. Johnsons time at PG&E was also marked by the historic steps the company took to avoid causing more wildfires in October, when it shut off power to millions of Californians. The planned blackouts, which occurred in multiple rounds that month, were designed to prevent power lines from igniting more dangerous blazes during dry windstorms. PG&E was widely criticized for executing the blackouts poorly, particularly a large round that began Oct. 9 that was plagued by a faulty website and communication failures. Also that month, The Chronicle reported that PG&E gas executives had attended a Sonoma County winery retreat on the eve of the Oct. 9 blackouts and the two-year anniversary of the 2017 Wine Country wildfires, many of which the company caused. Johnson called the event insensitive, inappropriate, tone deaf, and the companys top gas executive was out of a job the following week. Later in October, PG&E reported that one of its high-voltage Sonoma County power lines malfunctioned right at the time and place that the 2019 Kincade Fire began. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but Johnson said at the February regulatory hearing that it was inspected multiple times by qualified workers who found no major problems. He also said the company could not prevent all problems with its power lines. Sometimes things just break, he said. Wall Street did not appear unsettled by Johnsons retirement announcement. Shares of PG&E Corp. were trading at $11, up 1.43%, early Wednesday afternoon in New York. San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Alejandro Serrano contributed to this report. J.D. Morris is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jd.morris@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thejdmorris Whale Carcass Buried After Landing on N. Oregon Coast Beach near Pacific City Published 04/21/2020 at 6:54 PM PDT - Updated 04/21/2020 at 6:59 PM PDT By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Pacific City, Oregon) A 39-foot Gray whale carcass that landed on a beach near Pacific City this week has been buried in the sand. The male, which had been deceased for a week or more, rolled onto the Sand Lake Recreation Area sometime before morning on Friday, discovered by a park host still working there. (Photos courtesy OPRD) Beach rangers from Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) and a local contractor buried the whale on Monday, which was in an advanced decomposed state and smelled badly. Sand Lake Recreation Area, a popular beach spot about 15 miles southwest of Tillamook on the north Oregon coast, is operated by the U.S. Forest Service. The area is closed to visitors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Members of the NOAA West Coast Marine Mammal Stranding Network were on scene before the burial to take tissue samples from the whale. (See Stinky Whale Washes up on N. Oregon Coast Beach near Pacific City for full story) On Friday, the central Oregon coast arm of the Marine Mammal Stranding Network associated with OSU and the Hatfield Marine Science Center came up from Newport and took samples. Jim Rice is the manager of that team. He talked to Oregon Coast Beach Connection earlier this weekend and said test samples from the whale would likely not yield any conclusive evidence on how it died because it had been dead so long, and most tissue was already quite rotten. He did, however, add that it seemed underweight. There was nothing obvious about how it died, Rice said. No signs of fishing interaction or a predation event. Necropsies are the regular procedure for whales that wash up on the Oregon coast and the Washington coast, as part of regular scientific research but also to determine if there are any new trends in whale deaths. In fact, Rice said there has been some unusual mortality in gray whales in the last year. More photos of this situation below: Photos below of the whale when it was discovered, courtesy Tillamook County Sheriffs. More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted A report by a business and government-backed think tank has effectively undercut efforts by Australian governments to cover up the mass unemployment caused by the coronavirus crisis and its devastating impact, especially on low-paid and casualised workers. The Grattan Institute report, released on April 19, calls into question the claims of the Liberal-National government and the bipartisan national cabinet of state and territory leaders that the governments unprecedented $130 billion JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme will keep unemployment down to 10 percent. Titled Shutdown: estimating the COVID-19 employment shock, the report states: Using our preferred method of estimating the job shock, we estimate that about 3.43 million Australians could be out of work as a result of the response to COVID-19. If all of these people were classified as unemployed, the unemployment rate would rise to 30.2 percent. That would be nearly 3.5 million jobless workers. As the report explains, this reality will be disguised because not all the people who lose work as a result of COVID-19 will be classed as unemployed. Some will receive pay from their employer via the JobKeeper program even if theyre not at work. Many others will be forced into reduced hours, some will drop out of the workforce and others will not be counted because the official unemployment statistics exclude anyone working as little as an hour a week. Even so, the crisis will have an enduring impact on jobs and the economy for years to come. More than half of all workers in the hospitality industry could lose their livelihoods, as will many workers in retail, education, and the arts. While saying it is too early to reliably gauge the true figure, the report says its upper estimates would indicate the highest jobless levels since the Great Depression in the 1930s. And there would be no quick turnaround. History tells us that recovery from periods of high unemployment is rarely fast. The report indicates that the pandemics impact is exacerbating poverty and social inequality. It states: Lower-income workers are twice as likely to be out of work as high-income earners. Younger Australians and women are also likely to be hit harder, because they are more likely to work in occupations and industries most affected by the shutdowns. According to the report, about 40 percent of low-paid workersthose on less than $150 a week in personal incomeare likely to be thrown out of work. By contrast, people earning more than $3,000 per week have less than half the risk of losing work. The lower a persons income, the more likely their job is at risk. That was predictable because industries like hospitality and retail require workers to be in close contact with other people, whereas professional jobs generally usually involve less proximity to other people and more can be done from home. Nearly 40 percent of workers in the hospitality industries, including restaurants and accommodation, were short-term, casual workers who will be ineligible for the JobKeeper program. The arts and recreation services industry followed closely behind hospitality. This will mean widespread impoverishment. The report notes: Many Australians are poorly placed to support themselves through a substantial period of little or no income. It cites research showing that half of working households had less than $7,000 in the bank before this crisis and had 5.6 weeks income or less in the bank. Even worse, a quarter of all working households have less than one weeks income in the bank. The JobKeeper scheme excludes about 1.1 million casual workers, international students and 1.4 million foreign workers on temporary visas. Moreover, the payments to employers do not start until next month. Many businesses, particularly smaller ones, will not survive until then. Other employers may keep workers on their books but exploit the scheme to slash their wages to $1,500 a fortnightthe level of the wage subsidyand impose deep cuts to conditions, such as leave entitlements and penalty pay rates. One indicator of the actual lack of employment prospects was that the average number of weekly job posts on the hiring website Indeed at the start of April was 50 percent below where it was at the same time in 2019. Grattan researchers used a range of methods to estimate the size of the employment shock and cautioned that the precise magnitude remained unclear, both in Australia and internationally. But even if the JobSeeker wage subsidies hid some of the impact, the official unemployment rate would likely rise to between 10 and 15 percent. Another report this week gave some idea of the reality behind the JobSeeker scheme. A special survey by the Australian Bureau of Statistics found between the first week of March and the first week of April, nearly 400,000 workers lost their jobs, and three million more lost working hours. So far, the federal and state governments, Liberal-National and Labor Party like, have handed more than $325 billion to big business and the banks, including $130 billion via JobSeeker, since the coronavirus triggered the current crisis. But the Grattan Institute implores governments to go further. The economic shock from COVID-19 is going to be so big that more business rescue packages will be needed, although the report makes no specific proposals. The Grattan report warns that the economic breakdown is not solely a product of the domestic lockdown measures. It notes this months IMF World Economic Outlook, which forecasts the global economy to contract by 4.2 percent in 2020, with a 6.7 percent contraction in Australia. The report states: Sharp slowdowns in demand among Australias major trading partners will sharply reduce demand for Australian exports. For example, the Chinese economy contracted by 6.8 percent in the March quarter of 2020, compared to the same period a year earlier. Economists at the Reserve Bank of Australia have estimated that a 5 percentage point decline in Chinese GDP alone would reduce GDP growth in Australia by up to 2.5 percent. Australias other major trading partners are likely to record similarly severe economic contractions in the June quarter of 2020. In addition, the prolonged closure of the countrys borders would choke off a large share of Australias economic growth in recent yearsnet overseas migration. The Grattan report shows why the corporate elite and its political servants in parliament, like their international counterparts, are pushing for a premature return to work, despite the worsening worldwide pandemic. They must seek to extract the cost of the breakdown out of the labour power of workers, and exploit the crisis to accelerate the decades-long assault on social spending and workers jobs, wages and conditions. The author also recommends: Australian ruling elite seizes on pandemic to demand harsh economic restructuring [18 April 2020] Unemployment already at Great Depression levels in Australia [16 April 2020] COVID-19 and the role of Labor and the unions in Australia [16 April 2020] Canadians only had to look abroad, Italy to be specific, to know exactly what we didnt want to risk happening here. A health-care system so overwhelmed that the sick werent able to get into a hospital, let alone get the care they needed to survive COVID-19. So when governments told people to stay home, stop the spread, flatten the curve, Canadians did just that. And its working. The community spread of COVID-19 has peaked in Ontario, according to the latest modelling data released on Monday. In fact, the province is tracking even better than the best case scenario the experts presented a little over two weeks ago. Ontario now expects its need for intensive care beds and ventilators to be well below its maximum capacity. Thats very good news. But heres the bad news: Were fighting two pandemics and only one seems to be under control. The other one is happening inside long-term-care homes, homeless shelters, prisons and other group settings where people live in close quarters. Those numbers are growing and, tragically, more deaths will follow. While the call on citizens to be diligent in following public health advice to protect themselves and others goes a long way in determining what happens in the community, it does far less to affect the outcome in those group or congregate settings. What happens inside those facilities is determined by the regulations and standards governments put in place to control everything from staffing requirements to living conditions. The existing rules (and funding) have clearly not been up to the task and many of the new measures Ontario introduced have come too late or been incomplete. Were witnessing the dire consequences of that, with more than 60 per cent of COVID-19 deaths in Ontario occurring in long-term care homes alone. Health officials have acknowledged that staff working in these homes inadvertently spread the disease to residents but the Ford government was slow to stop staff from working in multiple homes. And even when Ontario moved to restrict staff to one facility it left a loophole by exempting temporary agency workers, which undermines the whole point of the exercise. And despite the governments repeated claims that all the necessary personal protective equipment and staffing help is available, some homes still say they dont have what they need to keep staff and residents safe. Long-term care, with its particularly vulnerable population, is the first canary in the coal mine. But outbreaks in shelters and correctional facilities are on the rise, and officials are struggling with how to manage those outbreaks, let alone prevent new ones. On the weekend, widespread testing discovered that 74 residents and at least 12 staff at Torontos Willowdale Welcome Centre for refugees were positive. On Monday, inmates were moved from one provincial correctional facility after 60 prisoners (half the population) and eight staff tested positive, to another facility known to have problems with understaffing at the best of times. As Premier Doug Ford put it: If there was ever a time to see the cracks in the system this is the time that the cracks are showing up. And its our job as government to make sure we fix it. Hes right. And nothing short of getting Ontarians back to some semblance of normal life, even an easing of restrictions, depends on his government getting on top of the pandemic in group settings. By complying with public health directives and putting their business and personal lives on hold, Ontarians are doing what needs to be done to limit the spread of COVID-19 in the general community. Whats happening inside long-term care and other group settings is a different problem. And that one is up to government, not the rest of us, to solve. The world is facing its gravest challenge in decades, but President Trump issued a reminder today that geopolitical tensions wont wait until its over. The big picture: Trumps threat to destroy Iranian boats that harass U.S. ships comes amid rumors about Kim Jong-un's health, arrests in Hong Kong of leading pro-democracy activists, and clashes in Afghanistan that could further undermine the peace process there. China is using the cover of coronavirus to strengthen its territorial claims in the South China Sea, Axios Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian reports. What to watch: Many crises that pre-date the pandemic rumble on, while new ones could emerge while the worlds attention is elsewhere. Rob Malley, CEO of the International Crisis Group, tells Axios he has two main concerns: "Countries could decide that now is a good time to act precisely because the world is distracted, and they think they can get away with it with limited international pushback. Leaders who are under pressure over their handling of the coronavirus and its economic ramifications might try to create a diversion in hopes the country will rally around the flag. Between the lines: Malley notes that both Trump and Iran's leaders have been under intense scrutiny during the pandemic. It's worth pondering whether in this case or in others we're going to see leaders trying to change the subject, he says. whether in this case or in others we're going to see leaders trying to change the subject, he says. Trumps threat came after Iran announced its first military satellite launch and the Pentagon accused the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of dangerous maneuvers near U.S. naval vessels in the Persian Gulf. Where things stand: U.S.-Iran tensions aren't the only holdover from the pre-COVID world. Libyas civil war continues and attacks from jihadist groups including Boko Haram have intensified in Africas Sahel region. Countries like Venezuela that were already contending with political and economic crises now face a pandemic. Earth Day comes with emissions falling as the world locks down, but international efforts to fight climate change on the back burner. The flipside: The pandemic also presents opportunities to reduce tensions or end conflicts, as is being attempted in Yemen (with inconclusive results so far) and through the UNs call for a global ceasefire. While battling with a severe economic crisis, the Lebanese Parliament has legalised the farming of cannabis for medicinal purposes on April 21. According to international reports, this move was advised by financial advisers in Lebanon even before the world was rocked with the coronavirus outbreak. A Lebanese newspaper has stated that under the new legislation, farmers who would grow cannabis would be regulated within the country. Before the new law, cultivation of cannabis was illegal but it has been reportedly openly farmed in the fertile Bekaa Valley. According to the international news agency, Alain Aoun, a senior lawmaker in the movement founded by President Michel Aoun, has said that the real driving force behind the new move of Lebanese government was 'economic motives, nothing else'. He further told a global media outlet that even though MPs have 'moral and social reservations', there is a 'need to help the economy' of the Mediterranean nation. Read - Mike Tyson Opens Up On His 418-acre Cannabis-themed Resort And Company's Future Plans The medicinal drug is also widely used for recreational purposes in some parts of the world, however, under the new law in Lebanon, its usage apart from medicinal, remains illegal. Moreover, the Lebanese Parliament has also allowed the fostering of a new industry for both, producing cannabis items for pharmaceutical purposes, and wellness products including the CBD oil. Other industrial products will also be allowed to manufacture such as fibres, textiles that use different parts of the plant. Read - Man Held With Cannabis Worth Lakhs In Mumbai Hezbollah opposes Parliaments move However, according to reports, the extremist group, Hezbollah in Lebonan were among the few parties that opposed the new law. Hilal Khashan, a professor of political studies and public administration at the American University of Beirut while talking to an international media outlet suggested that since Hezbollah used to benefit from Cannabis trafficking, the only way it will accept the new law is for the government to directly involve them in the implementation. Meanwhile, Malawi had also legalised cannabis farming in a bid to find an alternative to tobacco, which faced criticism from anti-smoking campaigns but was the main source of foreign currency. Malawis Parliament had given the green light to drugs cultivation earlier, this year only for its medicinal and industrial usage so that it can contribute to the countrys economy. Read - Chennaiyin FC Official Held For Carrying Cannabis At ISL Match Read - Drug Peddler Held With 5.5 Kg Cannabis In Noida (With agency inputs) (Image Source: Unsplash/Representative) Cruise, the subsidiary of GM that also has backing from SoftBank Vision Fund, automaker Honda and T. Rowe Price & Associates, is turning to a heavy hitter to head up its legal team. The autonomous vehicle technology company has hired Jeff Bleich, board chairman of utility Pacific Gas & Electric, as its chief legal officer. Bleich has a lengthy resume that includes a position as special counsel to former President Barak Obama and as a U.S. ambassador to Australia. But it's his legal career that Cruise is tapping into. Bleich was a partner during two stints for a collective 19 years at Los Angeles-based law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson. After leaving Munger in 2015, Bleich became partner at Dentons and led the firm's global consulting group. Bleich left Dentons in March 2019 and was named board chair of PG&E a month later. During his three-decade career, Bleich has become a specialist in complex litigation with a particular interest. in cybersecurity, intellectual property and international disputes. He has also been awarded California Lawyer Attorney of the Year among others honors. "Cruise is leading the way to change lives in a shift that is as important as the move from horses to cars," Bleich said in a statement. "I am honored and inspired to be joining a team that is unrivaled in their focus on safety, accountability, and trust. That perspective is critical to scaling this extraordinary technology to everyone, everywhere." The autonomous vehicle industry is at a crossroads of sorts. The flood of startups that popped up several years ago is starting to recede. A handful of well-capitalized and partnered players have emerged, a group that includes Argo.ai, Aurora, Cruise and Waymo. Cruise has raised upwards of $7.25 billion. Money is just part of the challenge. Companies hoping to commercialize autonomous vehicles to shuttle people and packages face a maze of legal hurdles, including protecting trade secrets, determining product liability and even squaring off against local, state and federal governments. Dutch students have accused universities of violating their privacy by using monitoring software to prevent cheating in exams being conducted online because of the coronavirus. Dutch universities have been scrambling to find ways of continuing during the coronavirus crisis after the government ordered campuses to shut down on March 12. For exams, some have started using software that can access a students webcam, microphone, location data, browsing history and details of which programmes they are using, among them the University of Tilburg in southern Netherlands. Thousands of students have signed a petition started by first-year psychology student Naomi de Leng and backed by the Dutch students union to demand that the university find an alternative. Coronavirus News India LIVE Updates COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show We also need to provide a webcam video of our entire personal space to make sure that we dont cheat. Its insane, she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. We have a lot of worries about our privacy and they dont provide us with an alternative. The University of Tilburg said it understood the concerns, but needed to assess 130,000 exams before the start of the new academic year to avoid delays to peoples studies. In a statement on its website, it said it was only using the most basic surveillance offered by the programme, called Proctorio, and all data collected would be deleted. The privacy infringement may even go further with a physical exam, said Klaas Sijtsma, the universitys rector magnificus, who sits on the executive board, in the statement. At least three other universities have made use of the software and more are testing it out in the Netherlands, where measures to curb the spread of the new coronavirus have been relatively relaxed. The government has asked people to stay at home as much as possible and to keep their distance from others when outside, but many shops remain open. Catch our entire coverage on the Facebook-Jio deal here The monitoring technology has been used in higher education in other European countries including France, Germany and Britain, but is most commonly used in the United States. I understand the universitys desire to take measures to limit fraudulent activities to the greatest extent possible, but there are potentially many ways of doing this, said Jurre Reus, a lawyer specialised in privacy at Dutch firm Houthoff. The university should be able to explain to the students what its assessment is from a privacy perspective. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have vowed not to engage with four U.K. tabloid newspapers, asserting their coverage is "distorted, false, or invasive beyond reason." The Sussexes said they refused to engage with the newspaper brands because they would not like to sell themselves for "clickbait." Editors of the Daily Mail, the Sun, the Express, and the Mirror reportedly were sent a letter citing that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's communications team would cut ties with their papers. "Please note that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will not be engaging with your outlet," the letter read, which was subsequently also tweeted by reporter Mark Di Stefano. It was another twist in the newly independent couple's toxic relationship with the tabloid press which chronicled the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's courtship to their stepping down as senior members the royal family. The decision drew judgment from several in the British news media as being self-centered, ill-timed, and self-defeating. "The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have watched people they know - as well as complete strangers - have their lives completely pulled apart for no good reason, other than the fact that salacious gossip boosts advertising revenue," the letter indicated. The new treatment will apply to the 4 newspapers, their online mastheads, and their Sunday editions. The letter was regarded as censorship by the Society of Editors. According to Executive director Ian Murray, the statement was "sadly a clear attempt to undermine certain sections of the UK media who often ask uncomfortable questions." Also Read: Meghan Markle Envies Kate Middleton? Survey Says People Prefer the Duchess of Cambridge Prince Harry and Markle said that the new media regulations corresponded with their abdication from royal duties. Since they no longer benefit from public funding, they do not have to engage with publications on the royal rota - a circulation of British newspapers that chronicle and attend royal family engagements. The only line of communication between them and the newspapers would be through their lawyers. The letter said that the policy is not about avoiding criticism, eradicating public conversation or censoring accurate journalism. Prince Harry and Markle, who has made a return to Hollywood doing a voiceover for the Disney film "Elephant," emphasized that their decision is not a blanket ban on all media. The prince apparently did not advise Prince Charles, his father, that he and Markle would be initiating an unprecedented boycott of sections of the U.K. Press in a form of protest over how their lives have been covered. The Buckingham Palace was stunned. An insider said, "We have been left stunned. They have not taken any of our advice." The couple's letter criticized the lack of accountability of tabloids and reiterated its human cost. "When power is enjoyed without responsibility, the trust we all place in this much-needed industry is degraded." David Yelland, a former editor of The Sun, said he does not think there is any upside to Prince Harry and Markle's letter. He acknowledged that the pair had endured much under the glare of the media over the years. Related Article: Meghan Markle's Dark Side: Rumored Clash With Royal Staff Linked to Celebrity Status @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has vowed to continue its indefinite strike despite the order by President Muhammadu Buhari that the withheld salaries of lecturers in federal universities be paid. ASUU called the strike on March 23 after the government in February stopped the salaries of federal university teachers who failed to enrol in the centralised payment platform for federal government workers. But at a meeting with the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, on Tuesday, President Buhari directed that the withheld salaries be paid urgently, according to a report by Vanguard newspaper on Wednesday. The minister also said vice-chancellors had been asked to revalidate the affected lecturers Bank Verification Numbers and forward them to the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation for the payments. ASUU has been locked in a protracted dispute with the Nigerian government over the refusal of the university teachers to join in the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). The IPPIS is the governments accountability software that has been made compulsory for all public institutions, mainly for personnel payroll. ASUU is opposed to the use of IPPIS for lecturers, saying it does not consider some of the peculiar operations of universities. The lecturers union then developed a prototype of the IPPIS, called University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), which it wants the government to adopt for universities. Angry with the government for not implementing their agreements and other issues, the union embarked on an indefinite strike, arguing that the implementation of the IPPIS was against the FG-ASUU 2009 agreement. Reacting to the payment of withheld salaries, the National President of ASUU, Abiodun Ogunyemi, in a phone interview with PREMIUM TIMES Wednesday afternoon, said the payment would pave way for meaningful engagement with government. In the first place, there was no reason to stop the salaries of our members. Our members worked in February and partly March so they are entitled to their salaries and so why should they stop the salaries of our members except for victimisation for IPPIS, he said According to him, we can now discuss without an atmosphere of intimidation. This will lead to a meaningful dialogue between both parties, he added. Asked about the strike, the ASUU president said payment of salaries was not part of their initial demand. The ongoing industrial strike action by the union is still on. We had issues that we placed before the government and those issues are still on. However, we are open to discussion on these issues. Mr Ogunyemi said the union members would not submit their BVNs to the vice-chancellors, let alone forward it to the Accountant General of the Federation for the payments. I am believing the government will agree to pay our members using the old platform because we dont submit BVN before. Our members will not accept BVN and I believe they will see our point, he said Strike Although condemnation trailed the declaration of the indefinite strike by the ASUU amid the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the union said there is no wrong time to embark on a strike because people would also complain if a strike was declared after the coronavirus pandemic is over. In the 21 years since Nigeria returned to civil rule under the Fourth Republic, university teachers in the country have embarked on strike 15 times that saw them stay away from work for about 41 months. The latest strike by the teachers under ASUU began on March 9 with a two-week warning strike and there is yet no end in sight, in spite of several rounds of meetings between leaders of the union and the federal government before the union declared an indefinite strike on March 23, amidst the lockdown of schools to contain the spread of coronavirus. President Buhari last October issued a directive for the implementation of the IPPIS for the payment of salaries of all federal government workers. The president said any worker who is not on the platform would not receive a salary after October 31 last year, a move strongly opposed by the university lecturers. Also, the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, earlier said out of 137,016 academic and non-academic staff members of universities, 96,090 had been enrolled in the IPPIS. But the union said it was not bothered as anyone can brandish any figures. Amid the lockdown that has turned roads across the country into desolate strips of asphalt, many ambulance drivers in Karnataka are trying to mint money by using their vehicles as taxis and for bootlegging. Late Tuesday night, when a police patrol on national highway 13 in Chitradurga district saw an ambulance racing away, it did not initially pay any attention because the sight of ambulances ferrying sick people during the lockdown is a common sight. But when Sub Inspector Manjunath Sidappa and a constable later saw the same ambulance parked some distance away on the highway with a van close to it, they got suspicious and decided to investigate. When they checked the ambulance belonging to Horakere Deverapura (or H D Pura) primary health center, they found that instead of carrying sick people it was ferrying alcohol. The van was the conduit to shift the alcohol to interior villages where it is sold at exorbitant prices to desperate tipplers. Four people including ambulance driver Subaan, lab technician Santosh and two people driving the van Girish and Jeevan were arrested. They were selling liquor sachets which normally cost Rs 90 per sachet at Rs 500 to those desperate for a drink. The four have been arrested, the ambulance seized and a case registered. Chitradurgas superintendent of police G Radhika made it clear that action will be taken against anybody violating the lockdown. Across Karnataka, ambulances are being used for purposes other than what they are meant for ever since the lockdown began. On 19 April, seven people were arrested from an ambulance which was carrying them from Puttur to Mysore. The ambulance was detained after cops at a checkpoint in Dakshina Kannada district got suspicious by the presence of several men in the ambulance. The men later confessed that they were getting a ride in the ambulance to escape the lockdown. Inter-district movement is banned and Karnataka has sealed its borders with all neighbouring states except for emergency traffic movement. On 13 April, Lingadahalli police had detained an ambulance travelling from Bangalore to Chikmagaluru. The ambulance driver had taken Rs 28,000 from five people who had wanted to go to Ganguru village of Chikmagaluru from Bangalore. The ambulance driver had managed to evade all check posts till Tarikere where some policemen became suspicious because an ambulance with Bengaluru registration was entering a remote village. All of them were not just taken into custody but a case registered and sent to quarantine. A senior health and family welfare department officer speaking to HT who did not want to be identified as he is not authorized to speak to the media said, There may have been some instances of misuse of essential services like ambulance either to ferry people or liqour. In all cases which come to our notice we take the strictest action possible under law. Licenses of such ambulances are suspended and cases registered. NHS staff are to be given new coronavirus tests after a minister admitted the initial results were inaccurate. Care minister Helen Whately announced on Wednesday morning that those who had received inaccurate tests were being notified. She told Sky News: "My understanding from the clinical advisers is that some of the early tests were evaluated and the evaluation is that they weren't effective enough. Testing at an NHS drive-through coronavirus disease testing facility in an Ikea car park in Wembley, north London. (PA) "This is a normal process when you are using a test for an illness when this is a new illness. "Those that were tested with the test that wasn't up to scratch have been written to and offered another test." 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 6 charts and maps that explain how COVID-19 is spreading Whately refused to answer when asked whether workers in hospitals had been cleared to work on the frontline despite being infected. She said: "We have to make sure we look at the reliability of tests. "This is really really important, not just to test but to make sure we test people effectively. Shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth described the admission as really worrying. He said: I think ministers need to be absolutely clear about how many NHS staff they think have had false tests and what the plan is now to contact those staff so they can be tested again. It is worrying because we were told that the tests developed by Public Health England were world-leading. Whatelys admission comes as it was revealed Public Health England (PHE) sent a memo earlier this month that warned about the potential inaccuracies of the tests. It said there had been discordant results in the existing tests and that they were to be replaced with commercial ones. Some 100,000 NHS and social care staff and their relatives have so far been tested for COVID-19 so they are able to work on the frontline without fear of infecting vulnerable patients. Story continues Ashworth said: It shouldn't have really been revealed because someone had leaked a memo. Ministers should have been upfront about this. PHE called reports that the in-house check had failed to detect a positive diagnosis 25% of the time "inaccurate". The agency said the COVID-19 test had produced different results to an alternative test in "less than 2% of samples", and that advice was issued to laboratory staff to ensure the test continued to be reliable. Professor Sharon Peacock, director of the national infection service at PHE, said: "The test is regularly and thoroughly reviewed to make sure it remains reliable and effective. "It is standard practice to move to commercial test kits once available, and this work is already underway." The government is still only around a fifth of a way towards its COVID-19 target of 100,000 tests per day across the UK, even as an expert said Northern Ireland is ready to begin a contact-tracing pilot to curb spread of the virus. Health secretary Matt Hancock announced a COVID-19 target of 100,000 tests per day by the end of April. (PA) Less than half of the available coronavirus testing capacity has been used, according to the latest figures, with fewer than 20,000 tests conducted in the 24 hours to 9am on Monday. That is despite there being capacity for 39,250 tests to have been carried out over the same period and a deadline of 100,000 tests per day set for the end of this month, Downing Street insisted Boris Johnson who is continuing his recovery from COVID-19 had full confidence in health secretary Matt Hancock and the testing target. Yahoo News has contacted PHE for comment. Coronavirus: what happened today Click here to sign up to the latest news, advice and information with our daily Catch-up newsletter WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) During the coronavirus pandemic, some Purdue students have been working on the front lines. They are working to make glasses, face mask, N95 respirators and disposable fittings for ventilators. Purdue University graduate student, Soho Yun, is one of them. She can be found making the medical equipment at the Indiana Manufacturing Institute in West Lafayette. Purdue University faculty and staff have begun producing medical supplies to deliver to hospitals in Indiana. Using test-bed manufacturing facilities at the university, they have produced safety glasses, face shields, disposable connectors for ventilators Purdue University faculty and staff have begun producing medical supplies to deliver to hospitals in Indiana. Using test-bed manufacturing facilities at the university, they have produced safety glasses, face shields, disposable connectors for ventilators "I was not expecting to be working on this specific project where we get to help a lot of people in need of protective equipment," said Yun. Yun and other Purdue students have been making frames for protective glasses and face shields. Even though Yun never imagined she would be doing this, she is glad she has experience. "My experience in computer aid, design and 3D printing has come in handy during this kind of project," said Yun. Nathan Hartman, Purdue's Dauch Family Professor of Advanced Manufacturing and head of the Department of Computer Graphics Technology, is one of the staff members involved. Hartman said once the virus hit, it took them three weeks to get things rolling. "In that three week period of time, it's almost as if we went from nothing to what resembles a start up company," said Hartman. Hartman says by the end of this week they will have made 10,000 shields and 300 sets of gowns, caps and foot covers. Once the equipment is made, the team sends the supplies to hospitals in Indiana. "Right now we are in discussion about whether any certain surplus can be sent out of state," said Hartman. "But for the time being we're pretty sure it will all get absorbed in Indiana." Hartman says at this time they do not have the capacity to be someone's main supplier, but with roughly 50 people working on the project from multiple departments on campus, they are continuing to increase their supply. Says Barris: "It's the biggest risk I could have ever taken, creatively. My joke, which is not a joke, is that I had watery stools for four days. I'm up in the middle of the night thinking, 'What have I done?' "This is the hardest and scariest thing I've ever done. I have so much respect for actors. They are magic people, the way they can make you feel things." Pro-Iranian Fighters Reported Killed In Israeli Attack In Syria By RFE/RL April 21, 2020 Nine pro-Iranian militiamen were killed when Israeli planes fired several missiles in central Syria, according to a group monitoring the Syrian conflict. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strikes late on April 21 targeted "military posts for Iranian militias" in the Palmyra desert in Homs Province. The Israeli military declined to comment. The slain militiamen included three Syrian nationals and six foreigners of unknown nationalities, the observatory said, adding that the dead included some fighters loyal to the Lebanese militant group Hizballah. Syrian state news agency SANA reported that the country's air defenses "confronted an Israeli missile aggression" and "shot down a number of the hostile missiles before reaching their targets." Syrian state media regularly overstates the success of the country's defenses against Israeli air strikes. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria in recent years targeting Iranian forces, Syrian government positions, and allied militias. Western and Israeli intelligence say Iranian forces and allied militias use the eastern Syrian desert bordering Iraq to transfer fighters and advanced weapons systems to support the Syrian government and the Hizballah group. Last week, an Israeli drone fired two missiles at a vehicle carrying Hizballah members in Syria close to the border with Lebanon. The Shi'ite militant group said its members escaped. The strikes on April 20 came as Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met in Damascus with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Along with Russia, Tehran has provided crucial military support to Assad during the country's civil war, which entered its 10th year last month. More than 400,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since the conflict began with a crackdown on anti-government protesters in March 2011. With reporting by AFP, AP, SANA, Reuters, and dpa Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/israel-syria- iran-assad-hezbollah/30566673.html Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Testing is critical to controlling the coronavirus and eventually easing restrictions that have halted daily life for most Americans. But theres been confusion about what kinds of tests are available and what they actually measure. There are still just two main types in the U.S. One tells you if you have an active infection with the coronavirus, whether you have symptoms or not. The other checks to see if you were previously infected at some point and fought it off. Currently, almost all testing in hospitals, clinics and drive-thru sites uses the first testing method, to help doctors detect and treat people with active COVID-19. The other method known as antibody testing is still getting rolling. But eventually experts predict the blood test will play a key role in allowing many Americans to safely return to work and school by identifying those who are likely immune from the virus. Neither test can be done at home yet. Here's a look at both tests and how they work: TESTING FOR INFECTION (including rapid tests) Genetic testing is the best method for detecting active COVID-19 infections and making a diagnosis. The process requires several steps and high-tech testing equipment to detect tiny traces of the virus that causes COVID-19. First, the doctor or nurse gathers samples from a patients nose or throat using swabs. The sample is developed through a process called polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, which is used to boost any traces of virus until they are detectable. The same process has long been used to diagnose viruses like HIV and hepatitis. The Food and Drug Administration has now authorized dozens of these types of tests that can be run at hospitals, university laboratories and large testing chains like Quest Diagnostics. The tests typically take 4 to 6 hours to run and can take a day or more to turn around if a sample needs to be shipped to another site for processing. Last month, several faster options that dont require laboratory processing came on the market. The fastest is a 15-minute test from Abbott Laboratories run on small, portable electronic machines found in thousands of hospitals, clinics and doctors offices. The test puts all the chemical ingredients into a small cartridge thats inserted into the Abbott machine along with the swabbed sample. The rapid tests have been available on a limited basis in Oregon. Earlier this month, the federal government sent 15 rapid testing machines to Oregon, which gave the machines to three small rural counties: Lake, Morrow and Curry. But the machines came with only enough supplies to run 120 tests. Legacy Healths GoHealth Urgent Care clinics in Oregon acquired their own rapid testing machines and have tested hundreds of people in recent weeks. But getting such a test requires a medical providers approval. The reliability of Abbotts rapid tests also was thrown into question this week after a new study found that it had a false negative rate of about 15 percent -- finding that people didnt have the novel coronavirus when they actually did. There are caveats to these types of tests: Someone can test negative one day and then positive the next. Much depends on the level of virus and whether the swab picked up enough of it to make a good sample. The FDA recently authorized the first genetic test that uses saliva, rather than a nasal swab, but its availability is limited for now. U.S. testing continues to be squeezed by huge demand, limited testing machines and shortages of key supplies like swabs. While the U.S. is now conducting well over 1 million tests per week, most experts say that number will need to increase at least threefold before social distancing is dramatically eased. TESTING FOR ANTIBODIES The second type of test won't tell you whether you're currently infected with the virus, but whether you were infected sometime in the past. Instead of searching for the virus itself, these tests search for blood proteins called antibodies, which the body produces days or weeks after fighting an infection. The same approach usually a finger-prick of blood on a test strip is used for HIV, hepatitis and many other infections. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nations top infectious disease official, says its a reasonable assumption, that if you have antibodies, you will be protected from another infection. But federal researchers still have to answer several key questions: How accurate are the tests? What antibody level is needed for immunity? How long does that immunity last? By testing broad populations for antibodies, researchers hope to learn how widely the virus spread and how deadly it really is. Both questions remain unresolved since experts believe at least 25% of those infected never show symptoms. Some of those larger studies are getting started. For now, FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn suggests the blood tests could be used by front-line health care workers. For example, a doctor who tests positive for antibodies could be in a safer position to treat COVID-19 patients than a colleague who tests negative. The FDA has authorized four antibody tests based on preliminary reviews. But more than 90 others have launched without FDA oversight under a federal emergency policy intended to quickly ramp up testing options. Those tests are supposed to bear disclaimers, including that they have not been FDA-approved, though many dont. Several laboratory and physician groups have called for tighter FDA control. They have a responsibility to go back, demand more rigorous clinical trials and probably put some guard rails around these tests, said Dr. Gary Procop of the Cleveland Clinic who is chair of the American Society for Clinical Pathologys Commission on Science, Technology and Policy. (Aimee Green of The Oregonian/OregonLive contributed to this report.) -- The Associated Press A New Jersey woman, who gave birth to her daughter while in a medically induced coma after she contracted the coronavirus, broke down in tears while speaking with CNN's Chris Cuomo and revealed that she won't be able to hold her child until July. Johana Medoza Chancay, 40, went to a clinic to fill out her maternity leave paperwork on March 20, when a doctor noticed her cough. She was tested for the coronavirus and just days later the results came back positive. Scroll down for video Johana Medoza Chancay (right), 40, of New Jersey, who gave birth to her daughter while in a medically induced coma after she contracted the coronavirus, broke down in tears while speaking with CNN's Chris Cuomo (left) Chancay revealed to Cuomo that her baby, Zion (right), was born premature and she won't be able to hold the little girl until July On March 30 Chancay was rushed to the Hoboken University Medical Center after her she started having trouble breathing. Chancay told CNN that when she arrived to the hospital, a doctor told her that they would need to perform an emergency C-section. 'I was freaking out,' Chancay said, adding that she called her family to let them know what was happening. According to the New York Daily News, doctors put Chancay in a medically induced coma before she was transferred to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick where she received the C-section. Chancay's daughter, Zion, was born the morning of April 1 and weighed 1 pound, 13 ounces. The baby girl wasn't due until July and was born at 26 weeks. Chancay's daughter, Zion, was born the morning of April 1 and weighed 1 pound, 13 ounces Chancay's daughter wasn't due until July and was born at 26 weeks. Chancay is seen holding her baby bump in a photoshoot before she fell ill with the virus On April 13, Chancay was awakened and told that her baby girl was safe and being cared for by doctors. Chancay is seen leaving the hospital after she was awakened from the coma She is currently being cared for in the neonatal intensive care until at the New Brunswick hospital and will remain there until July. Chancay's sister, Patsy Mendoza, told the Daily News that Chancay's symptoms didn't show much of an improvement after she had the baby. Mendoza said that at one point the doctors told the family about remdesivir, an anti-viral drug that has helped some critically ill patients recover from the coronavirus. 'We didnt hesitate. There was no other choice,' Mendoza told the newspaper. On April 13, Chancay was awakened and told that her baby girl was safe and being cared for by doctors. There are more than 837,000 cases in the US and 46,720 deaths But she was heartbroken upon learning that she wouldn't be able to hold her daughter until July. 'There's so many emotions. I just can't put it into words,' Chancay told CNN. Chancay said she has been able to see her daughter via a web camera at the hospital. 'I'm dealing with a huge recovery plan. My C-section isn't ordinary. I have a big wound there that has to be taken care of,' she said. Both Chancay and her daughter have long roads to recovery. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help cover some of their medical expenses. So far, it has raised more than $101,000. KEY HIGHLIGHTS: With Facebook's investment, Jio Platforms is valued among the top five listed companies in India by m-cap RIL's infra, understanding of local market and retail network was a big pull for Facebook Facebook has struggled with cracking the payments market in India RIL's refinery and petrochemical businesses are under duress due to coronavirus outbreak The deal needs just CCI clearance, and should close in the next few months, analysts say On Wednesday, when the country's richest person Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries, announced a deal with US-based social media giant Facebook, it took the corporate world by storm. The deal is historic on several counts. It has substantially upped Jio Platforms' (Jio's holding company) enterprise value to a record-high - Rs 4.62 lakh crore. In December 2019, brokerage Axis Capital had estimated Reliance Jio's enterprise value at Rs 4.64 lakh crore by 2023/24. Having reached that enterprise value four years in advance is no mean feat. For the uninitiated, the newly-formed Jio Platforms houses all of Reliance's digital businesses, such as telecom arm Jio (mobile and broadband), Jio's suite of apps, digital investments (KAI-OS, Haptik), and tech capabilities like big data, AI and IoT. Then, cracking such a large deal in the middle of a global pandemic has brought in a fair bit of surprise element. More so in the case of RIL which is battling with its core oil and gas business. With crude oil prices trading at near-zero levels, the refining and petrochemical demand has fallen significantly. RIL's blockbuster deal with Saudi Aramco - signed last year - is also facing cancellation after the government reportedly asked a court to restrain the $15-billion deal. "While the Saudi Aramco due diligence is ongoing, clearly with COVID-19 disruptions, the transaction would likely get pushed out. The key investor concern is whether the collapse in crude would lead to deal cancellation," says an April 22 report by J.P. Morgan. While a deal between RIL and Facebook was in works for some time, it's rather unexpected that it could be sealed within weeks of the initial news reports. Broadly, the deal is divided into two parts. Firstly, Facebook will invest Rs 43,574 crore for a 10 per cent stake, out of which Rs 15,000 crore is retained in the company and rest (about Rs 28,000 crore) will be used to redeem OCPS (optionally convertible preference shares) of RIL. A separate partnership has also been signed with Facebook-owned WhatsApp, Reliance Retail and Jio Platforms (a subsidiary of RIL) to grow RIL's new commerce business (called JioMart) using WhatsApp. For RIL, there are several upsides from the deal. It will result in RIL bringing down its consolidated debt, but more importantly, it will bring in a new partner (Facebook) on board that can effectively monetise the vast amounts of data that Jio collects from its 388-million subscribers. "The 9.99 per cent financial investment would allow RIL ...the potential to benefit from FB's expertise in platform businesses and look to monetise the vast streams of data," says the J.P. Morgan report quoted above. Then, it would enable RIL to compete with the likes of Amazon and Flipkart with its new commerce platform (JioMart). At the 41st AGM of RIL in July 2018, Ambani first talked about the new commerce business where he said that this vertical would redefine the retailing in India and become one of the biggest new growth engines for Reliance in the years to come. Last year, Ambani said that new commerce is a $700 billion opportunity. "In the very near future, JioMart - Jio's digital new commerce platform, and WhatsApp - will empower nearly 3 crore small Indian kirana shops to digitally transact with every customer in their neighbourhood. This means all of you can order and get faster delivery of day-to-day items, from nearby local shops. At the same time small Kiranas can grow their businesses and create new employment opportunities using digital technologies," Ambani said in a video-recorded message on Wednesday. But what exactly is JioMart or new commerce? JioMart has tied up with millions of local kirana stores across the country where it has brought them on its platform. Now with integrating their offline stores with WhatsApp, these local retailers can have a wider reach, and ease to display their products on Jio's platform. "New commerce is going to be our e-commerce offering. We will enable local kirana stores to become full-fledged e-commerce company. The customers would go to their WhatsApps, and access JioMart where they can find these kirana stores. The idea is to digitise the whole supply chain that's informal right now," says a RIL source. As per some estimates, India's 90 per cent retail industry is unorganised. "RIL now could leverage WhatsApp's userbase and increase its platform's reach to digitise the kirana stores and their supply chain to potentially go far beyond other players like Paytm," says, Avinash Godkhindi, MD at fintech firm Zaggle. Recently, Paytm has launched all-in-one PoS machines that aim to onboard 10 million merchants with its customer management, billing, and payment-related solutions. What's more? Jio could also use the heft of its retail arm - Reliance Retail - to lower the cost of procurements for these kirana stores so that they can compete with players in offline and online worlds. "Historically, RIL is known for its backward integration capabilities. They are masters in it. Remember how they moved backwards from a textile company to an oil refiner. They could leverage the retail experience to benefit mom-and-pop stores," says an analyst. "This will help RIL create a strong rival to online e-commerce giants like Amazon and further strengthen its leadership position in retail in India," says an April 22 report by Axis Capital. In a way, the tie-up between the two seems like a marriage of convenience. How? Each partner is bringing something to the table which the other lacks. Take Jio, for instance. Even though it has its own chat and payments apps - JioChat and JioMoney - both haven't been able to compete with the larger players in their respective segments. Facebook's WhatsApp, on the other hand, is a clear segment leader in messaging space with over 400 million users in the country. Similarly, Facebook has been trying hard to establish a wider presence in India for a long time. From market size, India and China are crucial markets for social media companies. Since Chinese market is closed for US players, gaining a deeper foothold in India becomes much more important. Back in 2016, Facebook suffered its biggest setback in the country when it received huge backlash from net-neutrality activists for its Free Basics programme. RIL's understanding of the local market, particularly regulatory aspects, could bring Facebook closer to the Indians. On its own, WhatsApp has struggled to penetrate the Indian payments market over data security and storage concerns. Despite beta-launching, its payments service WhatsApp Pay over two years ago, the messaging service has been reportedly approved by NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India) for commercial launch just two months ago. During this waiting period, others like Google Pay, Amazon Pay, and PhonePe have taken a clear lead. Jio is also holding a payments bank license (with SBI) but it hasn't been able to make a mark. In fact, the whole payments bank concept has failed to take off in India with several players - Tech Mahindra, Cholamandalam and Sun Pharma's Dilip Shanghvi - having surrendered their licenses to RBI. With this new RIL-FB venture, there are possibilities that Jio's payments bank business could get a leg-up by offering credit to small merchants and MSMEs since there's a huge demand for short-term loans. Hong Kong-based CLSA says that there is unlikely to be any tax incidence and the approval process for closure should also be rather quick. It's believed that only the CCI (Competition Commission of India) approval is required, and the transaction should close in the next few months. "This seems like a beginning of a much-deeper partnership between the two. I expect more such investments in the future. Kiranas are low-hanging fruits; more verticals like healthcare, education are going to be tapped later. Jio's infrastructure play, and its large subscriber base are going to be game-changer. In future, we will see 10 other players who would want to use Jio's infra to create new opportunities," says a telecom analyst. Also Read: India's unemployment rate hits 26% amid lockdown, 14 crore lose employment: CMIE Also Read: Coronavirus crisis: Govt brings in ordinance; up to 7-year jail for attacking health workers Also Read: Coronavirus outbreak: Govt approves Rs 15,000 crore for healthcare to fight pandemic U.S. President Donald Trump has recently announced that his administration is halting its funding to the World Health Organization (WHO), adding that a review is being conducted to assess the WHO's role in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. Since Trump became the President of the United States, he has been trying to impose his will on other countries and international organizations. The unilateralism pursued by him has dimmed the chances of finding solutions to a global crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. As a matter of fact, this is not the first time that Trump abandons multi-party agreements or treaties and removes the U.S. from international organizations, such as the Paris Agreement, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Global Compact for Migration, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and the Iran nuclear deal. At such a crucial time when the world is going through a health crisis and the functions of the WHO are in need more than ever, why does Trump blame the world's leading health organization and decide to suspend funding for it? He is trying to find a scapegoat to shift the criticism to the WHO in response to the pandemic. Trump has been accusing the WHO of failing to provide "accurate information" in a "timely manner." Actually, the WHO has warned the world since the beginning of the outbreak in early January, and at that time, all available information about COVID-19 was shared with the world. The WHO cannot immediately declare every outbreak occurring anywhere in the world a global pandemic without any conclusive evidence to do so. In 2009, the WHO came under criticism after it announced that the H1N1 flu virus had turned into a pandemic. It based its decision on criteria that were no longer used, even though the virus had spread throughout the world. However, it was not as dangerous as expected. Therefore, the organization was accused of being too hasty to declare it a pandemic, sparking a global panic without justification. The U.S. declared a state of emergency on March 11, six weeks after the WHO declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global health emergency at the end of January. It was Trump, himself, who underestimated the pandemic and ignored all warnings from the WHO and related reports from his administration. He did not take necessary measures in a timely manner to prevent the pandemic from spreading in the U.S. As of April 20, over 700,000 people had been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the U.S., with more than 40,000 deaths. The only way to survive this pandemic and face the common enemy of COVID-19 is to unite and stand together, instead of exchanging accusations or making others the scapegoat. We have seen how countries such as China, Russia, and others stood in solidarity with Italy and other countries and sent medical aid and medics. It's not wise to ignore professional advice from respiratory experts or health organizations. Trump's decision to halt funding to the WHO at this crucial moment will not only weaken the capability of the organization but hinder the global fight against the pandemic, which will consequently affect social and economic development in the United States and beyond. Human beings are facing a tough challenge; we should realize that cooperation, common interest, building confidence, and preserving social values are the only way to help us beat the virus. Hisham AbuBakr Metwally is the first economist researcher at the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Trade and Industry. Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors only, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. If you would like to contirbute, please contact us at opinion@china.org.cn. Register with JOC.com and receive 5 free pieces of content for the first thirty days. After thirty days, you will receive 3 pieces of content and after sixty days you will receive 1 piece of content. To receive full access, Subscribe Today . You can also subscribe to our daily newsletter. Register New Delhi: Amid lockdown, if you are feeling bored, what exactly looks the best activity to kill time? Watching a movie or a web-series besides cooking up a meal, right! So, it's not just us but people across the globe are doing the same as they stay at home to fight against the deadly novel coronavirus pandemic. This morning a top trend 'Five Perfect Movies' caught up netizens on Twitter where users shared their top 5 movies to watch amid the COVID-19 shutdown period. Therefore, we thought of sharing a few interesting ones here: #FivePerfectMovies My list in no particular order: Interstellar Thr Shawshank redemption Ratatouille Amilie Blade runner pic.twitter.com/oajOxzWs7h (@paperbackbex) April 22, 2020 #FivePerfectMovies Not in order.. Dr Strangelove Pulp Fiction Pans Labyrinth City of God There will be blood pic.twitter.com/l93Lfgwhsz Farheen Akhtar (@Farheen79217352) April 22, 2020 #FivePerfectMovies 1.There will be blood 2. scarface 3. Taxi driver 4. Wolf of wall street 5. Gangs of wasseypur pic.twitter.com/mzO8ulcN32 Ankit kumar (@Aman29960257) April 22, 2020 #FivePerfectMovies Pulp Fiction Annie Hall Dog Day Afternoon In The Mood For Love Paris, Texas pic.twitter.com/Ia0AAggCPW etin Cem Ylmaz (@cetincem) April 22, 2020 #FivePerfectMovies Hugo The girl with dragon tattoo Kahani Rang de basanti Shutter island pic.twitter.com/Lz0Ijm8BFZ rajib goswami (@rajibgoswami) April 22, 2020 Make your own list or follow from any of these but do watch the best of cinema to inspire you in testing times like these. Our celebs meanwhile are trying out different activities to keep them busy. From painting, sketching to make-up tutorials, cleaning and washing dishes - almost everything. Coronavirus which first emerged in China's Wuhan city has now spread across the globe. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the Coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic, prompting the governments worldwide to take extraordinary measures to contain the spread of the deadly virus. TDT | Manama Bahrains convalescent plasma transfusion trials on coronavirus (COVID-19)-infected patients have proven effective thus far, Infectious Disease Consultant and Microbiologist at Bahrain Defence Force (BDF) Hospital and National Taskforce for Combatting COVID-19 member Lt. Col. Dr Manaf Al Qahtani claimed yesterday. Dr Al Qahtani was speaking during the National Taskforces press conference at the Crown Prince Centre for Training and Medical Research, located at BDF Hospital in Riffa. Also in attendance were Minister of Health Faeqa bint Saeed Al Saleh; Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism Zayed R. Alzayani; Public Security Chief and National Disaster Management Committee head Lt. Gen. Tariq Al Hassan; and Infectious and Internal Diseases consultant at Salmaniya Medical Complex Dr Jameela Al Salman. Dr Al Qahtani thanked all the recovered cases through the convalescent plasma transfusion for their cooperation. He revealed that a second batch of donors has already been received. From their blood samples, antibodies that will be used to help infected patients fight the virus will be taken. Meanwhile, Health Minister Al Saleh stressed on the need for social distancing to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 especially during the Holy Month of Ramadan, when social and religious gatherings are central. The Health Minister also reiterated on the guidelines issued by the Governments Executive Committee, led by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, for all to follow during the holy month. The Health Minister also revealed that Bahrain hopes to complete its International COVID-19 Repatriation Programme by May 7. She said that between 500 and 600 stranded Bahraini citizens abroad are flown home each week. On his part, Industry Minister Alzayani affirmed that food reserves remain sufficient to ensure the supply of essential food during Ramadan. He announced that the Ministry will launch an online platform tomorrow, accessible at www. mall.bh, to bolster online sales. Minister Alzayani invited all businesses, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises, to register for the website by calling 17-574972 or e-mailing mall@ moic.gov.bh. Registration is free, and 100 businesses have already signed up so far, he said. Lt. Gen. Al Hassan confirmed that the Ministry of Interior, led by Interior Minister General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, has identified the locations in which expatriate labour workers will be moved, in response to the directives issued by the Government Executive Committee to reduce the density within their existing accommodations. Speaking on the plan, Lt. Gen. Al Hassan highlighted that the Ministry has phased the workers transfer to ensure that living standards are held, while at the same time the testing and quarantining of suspected cases continue. Lt. Gen. Al Hassan went on to note that the Ministry is contributing towards curbing the spread of COVID-19 in many other ways, such as spraying disinfectants in public spaces, conducting random testing across the Kingdom, making coronavirus-related information available in multiple languages, and ensuring expatriate communities adhere to precautionary measures. Lt. Gen. Al Hassan welcomed the support provided by volunteers who, together with local authorities, have strengthened national efforts to tackle the spread of COVID-19. He also revealed that the government has approved the automatic extension of visit visas for foreign nationals in Bahrain whose visas have expired and are unable to fly home during this period. He said that the renewal is free of charge and the move comes following directives from the Government Executive Committee. Also during yesterdays conference, Dr Al Qahtani noted that the increase in active COVID-19 cases reported during the past week is an expected result of the rigorous random testing efforts conducted by the Health Ministrys mobile testing units across Bahrain. He added that increased testing has facilitated the swift identification of active cases and the delivery of medical treatment, as well as the timely isolation of contacts of active cases. On her part, Dr Al Salman reviewed the status of cases. She added that Bahrain continues to learn something new about the virus day by day Egypt on Tuesday flew a plane of medical supplies to the United States to assist in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, a role reversal for a top US aid recipient. Egypt's general-turned-president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, has been eager to cement relations with President Donald Trump, and his country has already shipped medical goods with fanfare to China and Italy. A video statement from Sisi's office showed crates in wrapping that read in English and Arabic, "From the Egyptian people to the American people," being loaded into a military cargo plane. Dutch Ruppersberger, who leads a group in the US House of Representatives that promotes relations with Egypt, said the plane landed at Andrews Air Force base outside Washington. The plane brought 200,000 masks, 48,000 shoe covers and 20,000 surgical caps among other supplies, said Ruppersberger, a Democrat who heads the bipartisan group. "This is why international diplomacy and maintaining relationships with allies like Egypt are essential not in times of crisis, but every day," he wrote on Twitter. The US ambassador in Cairo, Jonathan Cohen, also voiced appreciation for the "generous" shipment. Egypt has reported 250 deaths from COVID-19 and some 3,300 cases, according to the World Health Organisation. It is far below the nearly 45,000 deaths recorded in the United States, which has been scrambling to provide supplies and tests. Still, some questioned whether Egypt, where one-third of the population lives on about USD 1.50 or less a day, was in a position to offer relief. "Egyptians who are happy and proud that Egypt sent medical supplies to Italy, UK and the US are probably the ones who can afford to pay 10 EGP for a mask," tweeted a prominent blogger who goes by The Big Pharaoh. Ten Egyptian pounds is more than half a dollar. Egypt last month revoked the press credentials of a journalist from The Guardian who wrote that the country's COVID-19 infections were higher than reported. Trump has voiced enthusiastic support for Sisi, who toppled Egypt's elected Islamist president in 2013 and has backed strong relations with Israel. The United States gave Egypt more than USD 1.2 billion in the 2018 fiscal year, largely in military aid that goes back to US contractors. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US worries coronavirus outbreak may threaten deal with Taliban Iran Press TV Tuesday, 21 April 2020 10:15 AM US officials have reportedly expressed concern about a possible failure of Washington's bid to end its war in Afghanistan if Taliban and government prisoners die of coronavirus infection before being swapped as outlined under a US-Taliban deal. Four sources familiar with the matter said that if Taliban and government prisoners died in custody before they could be exchanged, the deal would be in jeopardy because a blame game could follow, Reuters reported on Tuesday. Keeping the plan on track is also increasingly urgent for the US as the spring fighting season by the Taliban militants in Afghanistan approaches, according to two sources "familiar with the matter." Accelerating clashes between the militants and government forces may lead to greater difficulty to contain the spread of the contagious pandemic among the respective captives. "If... a good number of prisoners on either side contract the disease or die in prison because of an outbreak, it will be a humanitarian issue and it will make intra-Afghan negotiations that much more difficult," said one of the sources on the condition of anonymity. While the virus has grounded other American envoys, special US special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad visited the Qatari capital of Doha and the Pakistani capital of Islamabad last week. Those trips by Khalilzad came after a March 23 visit to Doha and the Afghan capital of Kabul by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Hastening the exchange of the prisoners and tamping down violence as the spring fighting season approaches were among Khalilzad's key objectives when he met with Taliban negotiators in Doha last week, said a former senior Afghan official cited in the report. The former official said Khalilzad had told Afghan officials that he was "incredibly worried" that the coronavirus pandemic could undermine the US-led deal if it spread into prisons. Afghanistan has so far reported 1,000 confirmed infections, including 20 staffers within the Afghan presidential palace in Kabul. That both high-level diplomats visited the region despite the spreading pandemic highlights the depth of the US President Donald Trump administration's concerns that US efforts to pull US soldiers out of Afghanistan could fail, denying him a perceived foreign policy victory to boast about ahead of next November's presidential election. "The fact that they came to the region is a clear sign that the president under no circumstances wants this deal to collapse," a Western diplomat said as quoted in the report, insisting that it was crucial for US diplomats to arrange face-to-face meetings to convey the urgency of the messages. The unnamed sources cited in the report also said that the prisoner exchange could be undercut by the current pandemic because its spread into jails could ignite bitter recriminations by both sides. The Western diplomat said Khalilzad and Pompeo were both worried that the Taliban militants would begin their traditional springtime offensive, making it harder to control the spread of the disease. "That's what Khalilzad and Pompeo are determined to stop," he said, emphasizing that Khalilzad's April 13 visit to Doha had been meant "to convey a stern message to Taliban and prevent the spring offensive." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh on April 22 held phone talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of Spain Arancha Gonzalez Laya to discuss bilateral cooperation amid COVID-19 pandemic. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh Minh informed the Spanish FM about the situation in Vietnam and its preventive measures. He highlighted the governments determination to carry out dual tasks of containing the coronavirus outbreak while maintaining socio-economic stability and growth after COVID-19. As ASEAN Chair and non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in 2020, Vietnam has been actively cooperating, sharing information and experience with foreign partners to prevent the pandemic, Minh went on. Arancha Gonzalez Laya thanked the Vietnamese government and people for presenting Spain 110,000 antibacterial face masks. She highly appreciated Vietnams proactive and strong measures against COVID-19, as well as the countrys active role and proposals about this matter at regional and international forums. The minister hoped the two countries will closely work together and set up a cooperation channel in the fight against COVID-19. The two sides agreed to strengthen strategic ties and intensify coordination at multilateral and international forums as well as in matters of mutual concerns during this year when Vietnam is playing the role of ASEAN Chair and non-permanent member of the UNSC for 2020-2021./.VNA White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow has said that a federal loan program for small businesses hurt by the coronavirus pandemic is working 'pretty darn well' despite 'glitches' that saw large public companies snapping up hundreds of millions in aid dollars. The Paycheck Protection Program, intended to help small businesses avoid layoffs with forgivable loans, has come under fire after it emerged publicly traded companies had tapped the fund for some $300 million. 'I know there's been some controversial cases, but gigantic programs like this, put together quickly, are always going to have glitches,' Kudlow told CNBC on Wednesday. 'But I think on the whole it's worked pretty darn well.' Kudlow said the Trump administration would try to fairly distribute the next round of aid for small businesses, saying demand for the first round of funding was 'overwhelming.' White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow has said that a federal loan program for small businesses is working 'pretty darn well' despite a few 'glitches' 'We're always making adjustments wherever necessary. We're always trying to be as totally fair as possible in allocating' the money, he said. Congress is now considering an additional $331 billion injection into the loan fund, after the initial $349 billion ran out in just two weeks. Kudlow said that he expected there to be 'very significant' demand for the loans, and that the second round of funding would have additional protections to steer loans to small businesses through community banks. 'The last one went out like hotcakes,' he said, citing data from the Small Business Administration suggesting that the first round of loans saved 30 million jobs. Kudlow added that additional legislation may also be needed to protect businesses from liability as states start to reopen economic activity. Kudlow, whose personal assets are valued at a maximum net worth of $2 million, previously touted how simple it was for his wife to take out a PPP loan for her business. Kudlow previously touted how simple it was for his wife Judy (with him above) to take out a PPP loan for her business as a self-employed artist His wife Judy is a self-employed artist and was eligible for the loan program to support her operation. 'She went to a local, community bank up by our place in Connecticut and apparently it's just a one-page form, that's all it is. It couldn't be easier,' Kudlow said. While there is no indication Kudlow's wife got special treatment, other small business owners across the country have complained that they have received nothing, even as large publicly traded companies took out millions in loans. At least 94 publicly traded companies have been recipients of the taxpayer-backed loans, and according to the Associated Press around 25 percent of these companies warned investors in the run up to the crisis that their ability to remain viable was in doubt. Public companies that have received funding from the PPP include metal working giant DMC Global, which has a $405 million market value, biotech company Wave Life Sciences ($286 million), biopharmaceutical company Mannkind ($273 million) and prefab home builder Legacy Housing ($229 million). Restaurant chains, which were exempt from the 500-employee cap if they have less than 500 workers per location, were also among the large companies claiming benefits.y Table: Some of the public companies, listed in order of their market value, who have received loans from the Paycheck Protection Program set up to help small businesses Fiesta Restaurant Group, the parent company of the Pollo Tropical and Taco Cabana brands which employs more than 10,000 workers, claimed the maximum $10 million in loans. Other large restaurants chains like Potbelly and Ruth's Chris Steak House also secured the maximum $10 million. Kura Sushi, a chain with locations in California, Texas and several other states worth $78 million, took a $6 million PPP loan. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, 4,400 of the approved loans exceeded $5 million when nationally the typical amount requested from the program was $206,000. If the $243.4 million claimed by the corporate giants had been split fairly between typical businesses requesting money through the program, over 1,100 more businesses could have received funds. 'The intent of this money was not for big public companies that had access to capital,' Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said when addressing the issue during Tuesday's White House press briefing. The department also highlighted that 74 percent of the loans were for less than $150,000, saying this demonstrated that the loan is accessible 'to even the smallest of small businesses.' 22.04.2020 LISTEN A barrel of US crude oil has dropped to -$31. Effectively, oil companies have ran out of storage capacities due to continuous production but lack of consumption, arising from Covid-19 pandemic; and are therefore paying buyers to lift the product. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has just announced, in a tweet, that, he is going to sign an Executive Order to, temporarily, stop immigration into the United States of America, to protect American jobs" in the wake of Coronavirus pandemic. Role of migrants Ironically, the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic has brought to the fore, the fact that medical systems of most of these highly-advanced countries, including Donald Trump's America, are staffed and managed by 95% doctors, nurses and paramedics of immigrants from Asia, India, Latin America and Africa. As a matter of fact, the two nurses who stood by the bedside of the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson for 48hours, continuously, in the intensive care unit at Saint Thomas' hospital in London during his critical battle against covid-19, were a Portuguese and a New Zealander. Strangely, the Brexit policy largely championed by ideological Right to which Boris Johnson belongs, was meant to isolate Britain from mass migration from citizens of the relatively poor European countries and further target those outside the EU. Indeed, the stone which the builder rejected ended up becoming the foundation upon which the fortress is built. America First A similar scenario played, and continue to play out in America since the inception of Donald Trump's administration. In advancement of American self-interest espoused in his AMERICA FIRST MANTRA, Trump cancelled many international bilateral and multilateral trade agreements signed under the Obama administration which he deemed unfair to the US economy. A good example is the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); a multilateral trade agreement comprising America, Mexico and Canada. His argument was that American companies were relocating their production lines across the border into Mexico due the availability of cheap labour, which was inimical to the American job market. He therefore sought for a re-negotiated agreement called US-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) which either prevents American companies from relocating their production lines to Mexico, or, suffer massive tariffs when their finished products are entering the American market. He also accused Canada of hugely benefitting from unfair trade surplus with US and he threatened to impose counter tariffs on goods entering the American market from Canada. That issue was also renegotiated under the USMCA agreement which replaced NAFTA. Again, he withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action (JCPOA), a multinational agreement meant to monitor and prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, signed in 2015 by the Barack Obama administration, with the reason being, America did not get a fair deal. He has cut American financial commitments to other allied Organisations like North Atlantic Organisation (NATO), World Health Organisation etc., because he claims Americans were having a wrong deal. Domestic battle This move by Donald Trump therefore fits, perfectly, into his ideological inclination of Realism which places priority on self-interest through military and economic muscle, vividly espoused in his AMERICA FIRST mantra. Donald Trump is therefore using ideological inclination to, subtly, reap political advantage from an unveiling global crisis by energising his groups of his support base who are currently on the streets of some States agitating against job loses due to lockdown policy by their respective Governors. These Governors from the Democratic party who are currently facing 'uprising', incidentally, are of the liberal ideological inclination which is asymmetric to the realist theory Donald Trump ascribes to. So, after picking an ideological fight with China on a turf of global geopolitics, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) as an innocent third-party victim, Donald Trump has now taken the battle to his ideological opponents on home-soil. ALUTA CONTINUA!!! Newton-Offei Justice Abeeku email: [email protected] Guest Commentary By Ian Madsen While residents around the world deal with restrictions imposed to minimize transmission of COVID-19, many wonder how we got into a predicament where thousands die, millions are infected, and millions more lose their jobs or investment nest eggs. There were preliminary indications as far back as Nov. 17 that some people who frequented the wet market in Wuhan, China, contracted a previously unknown and influenza-like illness. By Dec. 15, there were 27 cases and a doctor in Wuhan identified the illness as a coronavirus. By late December, more doctors in China had expressed alarm, as some of the cases were progressing towards critical viral pneumonia. The doctors were called into police stations, held for hours and made to sign silence pledges. One doctor who remained more emphatic was forced to recant entirely. By the end of December, there were 266 confirmed cases. The infamous wet market was closed the next day, Jan. 1. The Chinese government was still trying to downplay the severity of the outbreak. Its state-run media said there were only 27 cases as of that day, when in fact there were 381. The authorities in Wuhan and surrounding Hubei province didnt enact a quarantine until Jan. 23. Meanwhile, national leaders maintained there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission of the virus and conveyed that message to the World Health Organization, which announced as much on Jan. 14. All of this occurred despite abundant evidence that people with no exposure to the market in Wuhan, or its contaminated products, had become ill with the contagion. But it should be noted that China is a major donor to WHO, and withdrawal of its donations could threaten its viability. On Jan, 18, a dinner of an estimated 40,000 families to celebrate the lunar new year went ahead in Wuhan with the blessing of authorities. By this time, the presence of the virus in patients outside China, and who hadnt been to the Wuhan market, helped confirm that the virus was easily transmissible from person to person. The first U.S. case of COVID-19 was found on Jan. 21. President Donald Trump enacted a ban on inbound travel from China on Jan. 31. However, the United States can not cover itself in glory in handling this crisis. There have now been more deaths as a result of the virus in the U.S. than any other country. Although the viruss genome was decoded in January, and there were many commercial and government test kits for the microbe developed around the world by early February, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention took on sole responsibility for development, approval, production and distribution of testing kits in the U.S. But quality control measures were apparently dysfunctional. In Italy, COVID-19 has been particularly horrific, with more deaths reported than in China and the whole nation in lockdown. Italy is dependent on tourism and foreign investment, with much of that both coming from China. Italy was slow to block flights from China and reluctant to enact screening, testing and social distancing standards. As a result, the economy has been in free fall and the rickety state health system overwhelmed. In Iran, meanwhile, thousands have died and many more are infected. The extremist Shiite Muslim clerics who govern the country wont allow closure of shrines and prayer halls, where gatherings of worshippers are conducive to virus transmission. The one standout in containing COVID-19 has been Taiwan. Despite being shut out of WHO and continuing to allow air traffic, it has kept infected numbers down, with few deaths. This has been accomplished through vigorous and intensive screening, tracing the contacts of those infected, and monitoring and enforcing self-quarantines. Taiwan is also using prodigious data accumulation and analytics to most effectively put its resources to work and send alerts to the public. While the methods are draconian by Western standards, theyve certainly kept the health crisis to a minimum. The economic damage is negligible, a circumstance dearly wished for elsewhere in the world. Sadly, Taiwans effective response to this crisis is a lone bright spot. In general, governments around the world have been tardy, negligent, dysfunctional or otherwise an impediment to an aggressive and successful outcome. These governments have unnecessarily prolonged the pandemic and caused many more deaths than need be. Authoritarian governments may be the worst in this regard. But democratic ones, which are supposed to be transparent, responsive and accountable, have done little better. Ian Madsen is a senior policy analyst with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. A Government Against the People Loyalty to the president is the chief qualification By Philip Giraldi April 22, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - The 24/7 intensified media coverage of the coronavirus story has meant that other news has either been ignored or relegated to the back pages, never to be seen again. The Middle East has been on a boil but coverage of the Trump administrations latest moves against Iran has been so insignificant as to be invisible. Meanwhile closer to home, the declaration by the ubiquitous Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that current president of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro is a drug trafficker did generate somewhat of a ripple, as did dispatch of warships to the Caribbean to intercept the alleged drugs, but that story also died. Of more interest perhaps is the tale of the continued purge of government officials, referred to as draining the swamp, by President Donald Trump as it could conceivably have long-term impact on how policy is shaped in Washington. Prior to the virus partial lockdown, some of the impending shakeup within the intelligence community (IC) and Pentagon were commented on in the media, but developments since that time have been less reported, even when several inspectors-general were removed. To be sure, Trump has good reason to hate the intelligence and national security community, which utterly rejected his candidacy and plotted to destroy both his campaign and, even after he was elected, his presidency. Whether one argues that what took place was due to a Deep state or Establishment conspiracy or rather just based on personal ambition by key players, the reality was that a number of top officials seem to have forgotten the oaths they swore to the constitution when it came to Donald Trump. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter Be that as it may, beyond the musical chairs that have characterized the senior level appointments in the first three years of the Trump administration, there has been a concerted effort to remove disloyal members of the intelligence community, with disloyal generally being the label applied to holdovers from the Bush and Obama administrations. The February appointment of U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Ric Grenell as interim Director of National Intelligence (DNI), a position that he will hold simultaneously with his ambassadorship, has been criticized from all sides due to his inexperience, history of bad judgement and partisanship. The White House is now claiming that he will be replaced by Texas Congressman John Ratcliffe after the interim appointment is completed. Criticism of Grenell for his clearly evident deficiencies misses the point, however, as he is not in place to do anything constructive. He has already initiated a purge of federal employees in the White House and national security apparatus considered to be insufficiently loyal, an effort which has been supported by National Security Advisor Robert OBrien and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Many career officers have been sent back to their home agencies while the new appointees are being drawn from the pool of neoconservatives that proliferated in the George W. Bush administration. Admittedly some prominent neocons like Bill Kristol have disqualified themselves for service with the new regime due to their vitriolic criticism of Trump the candidate, but many others have managed to remain politically viable by keeping their mouths shut during the 2016 campaign. To no ones surprise, many of the new employees being brought in are being carefully vetted to make sure that they are passionate supporters of Israel. While it is not unusual for presidents to surround themselves with devoted yes-men, as Trump does with his spectacularly unqualified son-in-law Jared Kushner, his administration is nevertheless unusual in its tendency to apply an absolute loyalty litmus test to nearly everyone surrounding the president, even several layers down into the administration where employees are frequently apolitical. As the Trump White House has not been renowned for its adroit policies and forward thinking, the loss of expertise will be hardly noticeable, but there will certainly be a reduction in challenges to group think while replacing officials in the law enforcement and inspector general communities will mean that there will be no one in a high enough position to impede or check presidential misbehavior. Instead, high officials will be principally tasked with coming up with rationalizations to excuse what the White House does. Trumps recent claim that he has the sole authority to shut down or open up the country is clearly unconstitutional based on Article 10 and his warning that he will use his executive authority to adjourn the continuing virtual session of congress to enable him to approve hundreds of pending recess appointments plausibly qualifies as impeachable. His exhortation last Friday to his followers to liberate three states from the control of their governors is insurrection, a dangerous provocation that undeniably meets the requirement to qualify as a high crime as defined by the constitution. Trumps latest firings of top level officials are notable because they have involved two inspectors general . The first one to go was the inspector general of the intelligence community Michael Atkinson. Atkinson, who admittedly was not well liked because of his job responsibilities, was reportedly fired because he had been the official who had forwarded to Congress the initial whistleblower report on the notorious Ukrainian telephone call. Trump explained his decision in a letter to the two congressional intelligence committees : As is the case with regard to other positions where I, as President, have the power of appointment it is vital that I have the fullest confidence in the appointees serving as inspectors general. That is no longer the case with regard to this Inspector General. It should be noted that Atkinson had a statutory obligation to forward the report to initiate congressional oversight of an alleged executive criminal action. After the firing, Justice Department inspector general Michael Horowitz rejected Trumps criticism of Atkinson, saying he had handled the whistleblower matter correctly. It was, of course, a phone call that led to Donald Trumps impeachment, so Atkinson had to go and Horowitz might just be next. Subsequent to the defenestration of Atkinson, Trump went after another inspector general Glenn Fine, who was principal deputy IG at the Pentagon and had been charged with heading the panel of inspectors that would have oversight responsibility to certify the proper implementation of the $2.2 trillion dollar coronavirus relief package. As has been noted in the media, there was particular concern regarding the lack of transparency regarding the $500 billion Exchange Stabilizing Fund (ESF) that had been set aside to make loans to corporations and other large companies while the really urgently needed Small Business Loan allocation has been failing to work at all except for Israeli companies that have lined up for the loans. The risk that the ESF would become a slush fund for companies favored by the White House was real, and several investigative reports observed that Trump business interests might also directly benefit from the way it was drafted. Four days after the firing of Atkinson, Fine also was let go to be replaced by the EPA inspector general Sean ODonnell, who is considered a Trump loyalist. On the previous day the tweeter-in-chief came down on yet another IG, the woman responsible for Health and Human Services Christi Grimm, who had issued a report stating that the her department had found severe shortages of virus testing material at hospitals and widespread shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers. Trump quipped to reporters Where did he come from, the inspector general. Whats his name? On the following day, Trump unleashed the tweet machine, asking Why didnt the I.G., who spent 8 years with the Obama Administration (Did she Report on the failed H1N1 Swine Flu debacle where 17,000 people died?), want to talk to the Admirals, Generals, V.P. & others in charge, before doing her report. Another Fake Dossier! A comment about foxes taking over the hen house would not be amiss and one might also note that the swamp is far from drained. A concerted effort is clearly underway to purge anyone from the upper echelons of the U.S. government who in any way contradicts what is coming out of the White House. Inspectors general who are tasked with looking into malfeasance are receiving the message that if they want to stay employed, they have to toe the presidential line, even as it seemingly whimsically changes day by day. And then there is the irony of the heads at major agencies like Environmental Protection now being committed to not enforcing existing environmental regulations at all. Most damaging to consumer interests, the rot has also affected the so-called regulatory agencies that are supposed to monitor the potentially illegal activities of corporations and industries to protect the public. As University of Chicago economist George Stigler several times predicted, under both Obama and Trump advocates of ostensibly regulated corporations have taken over every U.S. federal regulatory agency . The captured U.S. government regulators now represent the interests of the corporations, not the public. This is more like government by a criminal oligarchy rather than of, by and for The People. Philip M. Giraldi, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest, a 501(c)3 tax deductible educational foundation (Federal ID Number #52-1739023) that seeks a more interests-based U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Website is councilforthenationalinterest.org, address is P.O. Box 2157, Purcellville VA 20134 and its email is inform@cnionline.org . - " Source " A tired healthcare worker by the Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York. (Getty Images) Most of us will never know the name of the first victim of the novel coronavirus. Nor we will know the last. With more than 2.56 million cases and 177,000 deaths worldwide, we are awash for the moment in a statistical contagion that continues to spread. Red dots cover the globe, details lost to the rising tide. As of this writing, the United States has been hit the hardest. COVID-19 has claimed more than 45,000 lives, and we have been asked to be prepared for nearly twice that number. We have more than 825,000 confirmed cases, outcomes unknown. The numbers consume us. Captured on dashboards, bar charts, straight lines and curves, they record and document the virus reach and force us to ask whether we value one life more than thousands of lives. Can we grieve for strangers as we grieve for those we know? The question has haunted survivors of catastrophes throughout history ("Lisbon is in ruins, and they dance in Paris," wrote Voltaire in 1755 after one of Europe's most devastating earthquakes), and the answer if there is one lies less in our ability to empathize than in the stories we tell to explain our losses. Some narratives have already begun to take shape. Early drafts have been circulated. Politicians and bureaucracies failed to prepare; missteps were taken. Healthcare workers stand on the front line of heroism and fear; they do their best. But as we grasp at plausible story lines, something to sustain us, we sense something missing in these familiar tropes. To blame or glorify isnt enough. Darwinian in its design, Malthusian in its reach, this new virus is writing its own script, following its own imperative: first hitting hard, then drifting away. For a culture accustomed to following and liking, such behavior is confounding. Unprecedented is the word often used to describe this moment in our history. There have been plagues before, but the sum total today medical crises, plunging economy is new. So how do we tell a story thats never been told before? Story continues We talk of testing and vaccines, of creating stimulus packages, building a new world order, but such hope and resolution fail to account for the chaos weve experienced. Even as we parse the demographics and narrow in on social disparities, the boundaries of this pandemic remain blurred, and in this blurring a beginning with no end lies a terrible lingering. Todays crisis will provide little resolution. There will be no dancing in the streets, no celebrations of a vanquished woe. The story will merely taper off, and for now, the best we can do is follow the numbers. With solemn recitation, they draw us into the past. In 1937, archaeologists, working in central Europe, discovered a notched wolf bone nearly 30,000 years old. They identified it as a tally stick, a means of remembering a moment in time, a succession of events. What the 55 marks on this artifact meant, we cannot say, but we recognize the impulse: someone looking for a through-line. Out of the welter of life, we try to bestow order, and out of order, we hope to find meaning. Little wonder that counting is often the first step, tragedy the object of our enumerations. In her essay The Wreck of Time, Annie Dillard writes of the flooding that devastated Bangladesh following a cyclone in April 1991, killing 138,000 people. That is hard to imagine, she said to her 7-year-old daughter, who disagreed. A child sits among the wreckage of a village devastated by the 1991 cyclone in Bangladesh. (Peter Charlesworth / Getty Images) No, its easy, she said. Lots and lots of dots, in blue water. In the aftermath of the Civil War, the nation engaged in a ferocious effort to tally the blue dots. The numbers then were stunning, especially for a country whose population was a fraction of todays: 3,968 killed at Vicksburg; 3,675 at Antietam; 3,969 at Chickamauga. Historians might question such precision, but there was comfort in the mastery of the facts. Counting helped, says historian Drew Gilpin Faust. Her elegy to the Civil War, This Republic of Suffering, chronicles the effect of that tragedy upon Americans, who lost loved ones in battlefields far from home, leaving families unreconciled to the news. Death in America had had a theatrical familiarity: at home, surrounded by loved ones, prepared and ready to meet God. But this war and the enormity of these numbers changed that, giving the loss of a father or son a ghostly, faraway demeanor, and a culture was forever changed. One of the words that got used in the 19th century that was arresting to me was what it took to 'realize' that someone was dead, said Faust. Without a corpse, the answer seemed unclear, but by counting, said Faust, you could connect yourself to those who had died. Counting became such an obsession that Fords Theatre, the site of Lincolns assassination, was appropriated for the task. Then in 1893, two floors, bearing the weight of documents and personnel, collapsed, killing 22. But numbers alone didn't tell the whole story, leaving historians with a recognizable problem: how to grasp both the significance of a single death and the meaning of hundreds of thousands, as Faust writes. Eventually the culture adopted two storylines. One asserted the value of life, and the other questioned that assertion. One invoked sentimentality the diaries and daguerreotypes of the killed, wounded and missing while the other struggled to reconcile these sad pictures in the face of wars mass brutality. Today two competing accounts have emerged as well. Twitter tributes celebrate lives lost too soon, and coronavirus doubters believe everyone is overreacting. The truth lies somewhere between sentiment and skepticism, and for that we turn again to the numbers. Initially, forecasters estimated that between 100,000 and 240,000 people in the U.S. would die of COVID-19. More recently that number was dropped to 60,000. A small service was held April 15 at the Angelus Funeral Home in Los Angeles for Charles Jackson Jr., who died from COVID-19. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times) But for statistician Edward Tufte, the revision is inconsequential. Almost everything is an underestimation, he said, citing suppression and politics in discounting the scope of this tragedy. But the numbers are good enough to tell us what to do social distancing, behavior modification even if they are underestimated. Tufte, who has written extensively on the interpretation of information, understands how challenging numbers alone can be for those who want a more empathetic connection, but that absence shouldnt minimize the value of these lives. Were walking in their shoes, he said of those whose one life now counts among tens of thousands. It is as if we did a brief interview with everyone, and they are telling their story with a number. We would like more detail, but this tells us about the scope of the problem." Statistical lives matter, but numbers alone are not always enough. Against any catalog of the dead, we must continue to look for the story that will reconcile us to these mostly impersonal deaths. Perhaps the story we most need to hear is the story we least want to tell. Death is taking a central place in a society that has pushed death from its consciousness, said Faust, who looks to the mid-19th century, when Americans believed that by contemplating death, one lived life to the fullest. For modern Americans, she says, to live life to the fullest, you dont think about death. Such reluctance might be attributed to the urgencies of our lives and an unwillingness to accept the simultaneity of both life and death. We embrace one and believe we can forsake the other. Faust argues that we have fooled ourselves into thinking that we have control over our lives, our ambitions, our sense of an ordered society. This pandemic, she said, shows we control nothing, which is humbling for a society that has not been humbled. And avoidance, like denial, will come with a cost, especially if we just pick up where we left off. Not so long ago, we faced this dissonance, and it began with numbers as unavoidable and disconcerting as those we face today. More than 1.3 million people died in the war in Vietnam, including 58,318 Americans. Ending in defeat, this tragedy tore through the country, begging for resolution. In November 1980, an open competition was announced for the design of a Vietnam War memorial. Jurors were selected, rules laid out, and a 21-year-old architecture student at Yale submitted her winning proposal. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., succeeds in merging two narratives, making the deaths of each American soldier feel intimate without minimizing the scale of the losses. Maya Lin designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington in 1981, when she was a 21-year-old student at Yale University. (Washington Post) Lin said she hoped the memorial would allow "each individual to resolve or come to terms with this loss." (John Tlumacki / Boston Globe) Even though its designer, Maya Lin, knew the monument would convey the sense of overwhelming numbers, she hoped that it would allow each individual to resolve or come to terms with this loss. For death is in the end a personal and private matter, she wrote in her 1981 submission, and the area contained within this memorial is a quiet place meant for personal reflection and private reckoning. But the memorial is more than an intimate encounter with death. It is a story of grief that will play out over generations. Visitors step close and reach out. They touch a name and see themselves as the world sees them reflected in the polished black marble. Lin's work is a reminder that death is not anonymous. Grief transforms us all, no matter the numbers, and that story bears repeating even as the pandemic leaves us counting. A round 2,000 people died with coronavirus in care homes in England by mid-April and many more are believed to have passed away since then, health chiefs revealed today. Initial analysis suggest around 1,000 Covid-19 related deaths were reported in care homes in just a five-day period up to April 15. With the epidemic in care homes still not believed to have peaked, the death toll among their elderly residents is likely to rise by several thousand more. The emerging scale of fatalities in care homes suggests Britain is set to have one of the highest number of coronavirus deaths in Europe. Figures up to April 10 from the Office for National Statistics, published yesterday, put the death toll in care homes in England at just under 1,000. Amid controversy over the government fatality data, the Department of Health and Social Care and the Care Quality Commission said in a statement today: The ONS data published yesterday covers the period until 10 April. CQCs current preliminary analysis is up to 15 April; it is anticipated that the number of deaths in care homes relating to COVID-19 reported by providers between 11 April and 15 April could mean double the number of care home deaths reported yesterday." Our thoughts are with everyone who has lost a loved one and with the care workers who are working tirelessly to provide care and support during the pandemic. Health minister Helen Whately said one in four care homes was believed to have been hit by an outbreak, rising to about 30 per cent in London and the North. Before and during Coronavirus lockdown - In pictures 1 /44 Before and during Coronavirus lockdown - In pictures AP Buckingham Palace AP Piccadilly Line tube AP Big Ben AP Millennium bridge AP Wembley Stadium AP St Pancras International train station AP Downing Street AP Victoria Station AP Regent Street AP The Mall leading to Buckingham Palace AP London's National Gallery in Trafalgar Square PA Edinburgh's Royal Mile PA Barry Island, South Wales PA Bath PA Bath PA London's Waterloo station PA London Bridge PA London's Canary Wharf Jubilee Line platform PA London's Canary Wharf Station PA London's Buckingham Palace PA London's Tower Bridge PA London's Leicester Square PA London's Millennium Bridge with St Paul's Cathedral PA London's Criterion Theatre PA London's Palace Theatre PA London's Phoenix Theatre PA London's Canary Wharf Station PA Bournemouth beach PA Bath PA Bath PA Barry Island, South Wales PA Bournemouth beach PA She appealed to GPs and district nurses to give extra support to care homes and warned more residents were likely to die in coming days. Listen to The Leader: Coronavirus Daily podcast Director of the Economic Council Larry Kudlow speaks during the Wall Street Journal CEO Council, in Washington, on Dec. 10, 2019. (Al Drago/Reuters) Larry Kudlow Says Oil Will Bounce Back as Lockdowns Lift and Economy Restarts White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow told CNBC on Wednesday that he expects the price of oil to rebound in the next few months as states lift lockdowns and the economy begins to recover. Im hoping that this oil slump will prove to be temporary, Kudlow said in the interview. Not many people are driving right now, as you know, and theres a glut of oil. Kudlows remarks come in the wake of extreme, record-setting volatility in oil futures trading in the past few days. U.S. crude futures for May delivery plunged below zero on Monday, with desperate traders at one point paying customers nearly $40 a barrel to take oil so they wouldnt have to take delivery on an expiring futures contract. Then on Wednesday, U.S. crude rebounded 25 percent after President Donald Trump threatened the destruction of any Iranian gunboats that harass U.S. Navy ships, raising the possibility of a disruption to oil supplies. The outbreak of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, the novel coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 disease, has slashed fuel demand worldwide, and storage space for the unused oil is quickly filling up, particularly in the United States. Demand collapsed. The coronavirus worldwide caused the collapse in demand. Through no fault of anybody, this virus has pushed us into a big economic contraction, Kudlow told the outlet. On Tuesday, energy ministers from OPEC and other major oil-producing countries held an unscheduled conference call to discuss the price collapse but did not agree on any steps to slash output. We will never let the great U.S. Oil & Gas Industry down. I have instructed the Secretary of Energy and Secretary of the Treasury to formulate a plan which will make funds available so that these very important companies and jobs will be secured long into the future! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 21, 2020 By Wednesday, U.S. oil prices had zig-zagged overnight and were close to flat earlier in the morning, before Trumps tweet. At the time of reporting, a barrel of U.S. oil to be delivered in June climbed to $13.95 on the CME Groups New York Mercantile Exchange. While significant, Wednesdays big rebound of U.S. oil means its recovered just a fraction of its steep losses. It was close to $30 at the start of last week and nearly $60 at the beginning of the year. I think in the United States the rig count is way down, demand is way down, production is falling. Theres not much we can do about that, Kudlow told CNBC in the interview, adding that the Trump administration would seek to help the U.S. oil industry with regulatory, tax, and investment policies. It will, I hope, take care of itself. Markets will take care of themselves over time, Kudlow told the outlet, adding that he hopes the strict lockdowns that have stifled economic activity and depressed demand for oil and other goods, would soon lift. The coronavirus crisis has already changed the way this year's crop of high school seniors are thinking about higher education. And community colleges across the country are preparing accordingly. "Under the circumstances, families may turn to us as the gateway of opportunity, and we've been ready," said Michael Baston, the president of Rockland Community College in Rockland County, New York. More from Invest in You: As college classes move online, don't expect a tuition discount Here's what to do if you suddenly can't pay for college next year Colleges extend decision deadline due to coronavirus Amid a global pandemic and sharp economic slowdown, students and families may be more likely to choose local and less-expensive public schools or community college rather than private universities far from home, according to Robert Franek, editor in chief of The Princeton Review and author of "The Best 385 Colleges." As price becomes a growing consideration, 40% of students already have said they would attend public college and 26% have said they would choose community college, according to a separate report by the College Savings Foundation, a Washington-based research group. For starters, community college is significantly less expensive. At two-year public schools, tuition and fees are $3,730 for the 20192020 school year, according to the College Board. Alternatively, at in-state four-year public schools, tuition is $10,440 and at four-year private universities it averages $36,880. "From a college savings standpoint, I think it's the best investment you can make," Julio Martinez, executive director of California's ScholarShare Investment Board, said of community college. Earth Day Live Starts at 9am ET TODAY @EARTHDAY.ORG WASHINGTON, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In honor of Earth Day's 50th Anniversary, Earth Day Network and Earth Day Italia announce today in Rome, His Holiness Pope Francis celebrated Earth Day with a message to the global community. His message was one of hope for the planet. A few hours earlier, in honor of today being the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, world-renowned musical artists Zucchero "Sugar" Fornaciari and Bono sang "CANTA LA VITA" adapted from Bono's "Let Your Love Be Known" to Pope Francis and Earth Day. Bono and Zucchero performed in front of Rome's Colosseum. This marks an incredible artistic partnership between Zucchero and Bono. The final part of the song is merging the voices of both artists, to launch a worldwide message of union. To see the music video of "CANTA LA VITA" please click here. Attached are photos of Zucchero and Bono singing in front of the illuminated Colosseum. These are all available for use with proper attribution and must include @Courtesy of Earth Day Network. "This celebration of Earth Day by Pope Francis is one that we know will galvanize the world to support our planet," said Kathleen Rogers, President of Earth Day. "We are so moved by Zucchero and Bono's musical collaboration of 'CANTA LA VITA' and we know everyone around the globe will be united and touched by this emotional song. The outpouring of celebration for 50th Anniversary of Earth Day from around the globe is like no other." "Italy - Earth Day Italia - has been called to open the world celebrations of the Earth Day dedicating it to Pope Francis who has done so much to create awareness on climate change," Pierluigi Sassi, President of Earth Day Italia. "After the universal forgiveness offered to the world by a completely empty St. Peter's Square, we thought that raising a song with an extraordinary artist like Zucchero, in front of a Coliseum lit up in blue in an empty eternal city, would have been the best way to say thank you to the Pope and collect His powerful message of hope. I can't imagine a better way to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day." About Earth Day Network??? Earth Day 2020 comes 50 years after the first Earth Day which, in 1970, mobilized over 20 million citizens to demand action on the environmental challenges of the time. Today, Earth Day is observed in around 190 countries and close to 100,000 organizations. More than 1 billion people now participate in Earth Day activities each year, making it the largest civic observance in the world. To learn more about Earth Day 2020, please visit earthday.org. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1158574/Zucchero_Colosseo1.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1155792/Earth_Day_Logo.jpg A third nursing home resident has died of coronavirus, Warren County Public Health officials said Tuesday. A total of six people have died of COVID-19 in Warren County, including two hospitalized patients and one person in an adult care facility. The most recent death was at Glens Falls Center. We would like to offer our deepest condolences to the loved ones of all six of our residents and neighbors who have passed away from this virus, Warren County Board of Supervisors Chairman Frank Thomas said in a statement. At the states maximum-security Great Meadow Correctional Facility in Comstock, seven inmates are sick with coronavirus and three others have recovered, the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision announced as of 3 p.m. Tuesday. It is now releasing test results of inmates from every prison. At Great Meadow, six inmates are being isolated while they await test results and four have tested negative. At two other prisons, it appears no one has been tested. Across the road from the Great Meadow prison is the medium-security Washington Correctional Facility. There and at the medium-security Adirondack Correctional Facility in Ray Brook, Essex County, DOCCS shows that no inmate has tested positive or negative. Statewide, 813 staff members have tested positive; 219 inmates, with 62 who are now fully recovered and 35 parolees. Two staff members; five inmates and four parolees deaths have been linked to the virus, according to DOCCS. The coronavirus numbers reported Tuesday: Warren County reported five more cases, for a total of 105. Four residents are hospitalized and one is in critical condition. Saratoga County reported five more confirmed cases, for a total of 277, with 11 people hospitalized. Washington County reported no change, with a total of 70 people testing positive and one person hospitalized. Essex County also reported no change, for a total of 24 confirmed cases and 14 people diagnosed based on symptoms. Saratoga Hospital has nine coronavirus patients and Glens Falls Hospital has six. Statewide, 16,076 people with coronavirus are hospitalized, about the same as yesterday. The overall curve is on the way down and that is good news, certainly, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in Tuesdays press conference. There were 1,308 new hospitalizations in the state Monday, which is far less than the peak of 3,173 about 17 days ago. On Monday, 452 people died of the virus in the state, including 29 residents of nursing homes. Cuomo finally acknowledged Tuesday that the statewide statistics dont reflect whats going on upstate. Different parts of the state have different curves, he said. Manhattan is not Buffalo. The state will reopen in regions, based on when each regions infection rate goes down, as well as the hospitalization rate, hospital capacity and whether the number of new cases is going down, he said. However, he did not specify the location of each region. He said he wants to set up regions that are large enough that people dont drive from one area to another because certain things are open there. That suggests that Warren and Washington counties will not reopen until the Capital Region which has been much harder hit has the virus under control. For now, he is looking at western New York and the Finger Lakes as two separate regions, as well as downstate. There are regional economies, he said. Lets talk about reopening economies within that regional context. He also announced that many hospitals, including Glens Falls Hospital, can resume elective outpatient procedures. You can reach Kathleen Moore at 742-3247 or kmoore@poststar.com. Follow her on Twitter @ByKathleenMoore or at her blog on www.poststar.com. Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Iran announced on Wednesday 94 new deaths from the novel coronavirus but said the cases of people infected in the country was on the way down. Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said the fatalities detected in the past 24 hours took Iran's overall death toll to 5,391. The number of people infected with the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease rose by 1,194, bringing the total to 85,996. "The gradual downward trend in cases of infections has been maintained," Jahanpour told a televised conference. President Hassan Rouhani however called on people to remain vigilant. "If we arrogantly think that the job is done and we have won, then this would be the biggest problem that could affect us," he said during a weekly meeting of his cabinet. Iran has struggled to contain the virus outbreak since reporting its first cases on February 19 -- two deaths in the Shiite holy city of Qom. The number of Iranians killed and sickened by the virus is widely thought to be much higher, however. Despite that, Iran has allowed many businesses to reopen since April 11 after shutting most down in mid-March to prevent the spread of the disease. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) This optimization involves the introduction of a new leadership team and the creation of a single global insurance underwriting function as part of proposed changes to AXA XLs operating model. Geographical business units, to be led by CEOs, have been set up to divide the business into the Americas, Eurasia, and the UK & Lloyds market. Appointed as chief underwriting officer is Nancy Bewlay, who previously served as global chief underwriting officer for long tail P&C risks. Her new role will see Bewlay work to design the structure of the proposed new model. She will also be in charge of underwriting governance, pricing, profit & loss, and the management of the global heads of business lines. The geographical business unit chief executives, meanwhile, will be responsible for the balance sheets of their geographies as well as managing talent. These are Joseph Tocco, CEO for the Americas; Gunter, who will act as interim CEO for Eurasia; and Sean McGovern, interim CEO for the UK & Lloyds market. Tocco was head of North America P&C while McGovern continues to be AXA XLs general counsel. The rest of the leadership line-up consists of reinsurance CEO Charles Cooper, chief claims officer Brent Hoffman, chief human resources officer Karen le Duc, chief operating officer Matthieu Caillat, chief risk officer Noel Richardson, and chief finance officer Rainer Schoellhammer. I have spent my first 60 days as CEO considering our priorities and our structure and assembling the right team to drive AXA XL forward, noted Gunter. We want to continue to serve our clients and brokers to the very best of our ability while being a simpler organization to navigate. The regional structure would mean decisions can be made faster in country, while the global functions would mean our clients and brokers continue to benefit from our global expertise and experience. This leadership team is an international, highly experienced team of individuals: around half the team have a background at legacy XL Catlin, while the other half bring diverse and valuable experience from across the AXA Group. The chief executive called the development a positive step forward for AXA XL, expressing his strong belief that the new team will ensure the entity is the insurance partner of choice across business lines and around the world. With Coronavirus pandemic affecting the economy, Burkina Faso and Ghana have reportedly eased some lockdown restrictions in a bid to test the possibility of a return to normality. According to reports, Burkinas capital, Ouagadougou, markets had been closed since March 25 and the government on April 20 reopened one of them as a test to see if it could safely do the same with the rest by the end of the month. Due to low testing, Africa has a low number of coronavirus cases and the virus could create havoc because of the weak health systems. However, amid the pandemic, Armand Beouinde, Ouagadougous mayor opened one of the markets. Although, according to an international media report, the sellers and customers who entered the market had to wear a mask, wash their hands and have their temperature taken. Beouinde reportedly said that only two people were allowed inside shops at one time and all the shoppers also had to carry hand sanitizer. READ: World On Brink Of 'a Hunger Pandemic', Says UN Food Agency Chief In Ghana, President Nana Akufo-Addo also lifted the three-week lockdown in its two main cities, where non-essential businesses reopened. President Nana reportedly said that the decision was based on an improved tracking of the disease, and to protect the economy. Due to the unprecedented pandemic, last month, Ghana also reportedly cut its 2020 GDP growth forecast from 6.8 per cent to 1.5 per cent, a rate that would represent its worst performance in nearly four decades. READ: More Deaths, No Benefit From Malaria Drug In VA Virus Study Economic and social devastation Meanwhile, health experts have warned that the virus could devastate the regions that lack healthcare equipment and infrastructure. According to data from the International Rescue Committee (IRC), Burkina Faso has only 11 ventilators in the country and the authorities are now worried that the virus, which has quickly overwhelmed health systems in countries with relatively advanced health systems, can devastate the countries with weaker health systems. The regional director for Africa at WHO, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, reportedly said that the virus has the potential not only to cause thousands of deaths but to also unleash economic and social devastation. Last week, WHO also reported that there are fewer than 2,000 functional ventilators in 41 African countries and the total number of available intensive care unit beds in 43 countries is less than 5,000. Authorities are also concerned about the high prevalence of tuberculosis, HIV, malaria and diabetes in the region. Moreover, healthcare workers and experts are also concerned that the virus will hit the vulnerable population that is already dealing with complex needs. (Image source: AP) READ: Sri Lanka Remembers Easter Bomb Victims Amid Virus READ: Top Fijian Official Leaves World Rugby Role Amid Allegations It was the moment all of Yanira Soriano's doctors and nurses had been waiting for the first time the New York mom was able to hold her baby, born while she was in a medically induced coma. Earlier this month, Soriano tested positive for COVID-19 and pneumonia, and was immediately admitted to Southside Hospital in Bay Shore, New York. She was 34 weeks pregnant, and Dr. Benjamin Schwartz, chairman of the hospital's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, said because of the "critical nature" of her case, she had to be put into a medically induced coma and placed on a ventilator. An emergency cesarean section was performed, and Soriano's son, Walter, was transferred to a children's hospital in New York City while his mother remained in the intensive care unit. After two weeks, Soriano recovered, and upon her discharge last Wednesday, she was finally able to meet Walter. Hospital workers cheered as Walter was put into Soriano's arms for the first time, and Schwartz said it was an "incredibly proud moment" for everyone who helped make it happen. "It takes many, many people over many, many shifts to provide the level of care that this patient needed," Schwartz added. "Many patients that end up on a ventilator with a COVID-19 pneumonia do not survive, and the fact that this mom not only survived but was able to get out of her wheelchair and walk into her car and hold her baby gives us incredible hope for future patients and our existing patients that have COVID disease." More stories from theweek.com A parade that killed thousands? Trump seems oddly convinced COVID-19 won't return in the fall or winter The Navajo Nation outbreak reveals an ugly truth behind America's coronavirus experience TOKYO, Apr 22, 2020 - (JCN Newswire) - As the impact of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to grow, the Hitachi Group is taking steps to prevent the spread of the outbreak, placing top priority on the health and safety of its employees and their families worldwide, as well as its stakeholders, customers and partners. Subsequently, the Hitachi Group is making maximum efforts to ensure an environment in which business can be conducted through remote working, whilst continuing to support our customers and maintain the functions of critical social infrastructure.Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501) today announced that it will promote the following support measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, defined as "what the company can contribute" and "what each employee can contribute."1. Support for the medical fieldIn order to respond to the requests for support from the Japanese government, the Hitachi Group will swiftly implement the following measures:(1) Production of face shieldsHitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd., Hitachi Global Life Solutions, Inc. and Hitachi Terminal Mechatronics, Corp. will begin production of face shields, which are in short supply in hospitals and clinics, at a rate of 2,000 to 3,000 units per week from mid-May at their production sites. The production volume is planned to be increased to between 8,000 to 10,000 units per week by June.(2) Providing space to produce artificial respirators and other medical equipmentHitachi has offered the Japanese government the provision of a clean room (450-500 square meters) owned by a subsidiary of Hitachi High-Tech Corporation for use as a production space for medical equipment, as well as dispatching workers from them and other Hitachi Group companies. After the Japanese government selects the manufacturers to produce medical equipment, Hitachi Group will work with them to make production a reality.(3) Providing masksHitachi has offered the KEIDANREN (Japan Business Federation) the provision of approximately 110,000 medical masks from Hitachi Group companies including Hitachi High-Tech Corporation and Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd., and approximately 400,000 general-use surgical masks from Hitachi High-Tech Corporation.2. What 300,000 Hitachi Group employees can contribute(1) Collecting ideas from employees to prevent the spread of COVID-19 andimplementing them swiftlyHitachi has launched a new "Challenge to COVID-19" category within Hitachi Group's internal idea contest "Make a Difference!" which started in 2015. The category will encourage submission and collect ideas for countermeasures of COVID-19. By gathering the input and ideas from 300,000 Hitachi Group employees around the world, the Hitachi Group aims to overcome the crisis caused by COVID-19 and quickly put such ideas that can contribute to society into action.(2) Donations from employeesHitachi added donations for medical professionals and others who are working to combat COVID-19 to the menu of its benefit plans. Hitachi is accepting donations on the website so that employees who are working from home can make donations. Hitachi is also preparing to use the crowdfunding framework supported by Hitachi Group to provide financing for countermeasures of COVID- 19.3. Comment from Toshiaki Higashihara, President and CEO, Hitachi, Ltd."First and foremost, we would like to wish all those who have been affected by COVID-19 a speedy recovery, and we express our deepest condolences to those who have lost loved ones. We are also very grateful for efforts by governments around the world, our employees and the public to prevent the further spread of the virus. As a result of this emergency, the business environment has changed. However, we will consider what we can do uniquely with our innovation centered on digital technology, and will continue to contribute to the maintenance, recovery, and development of people's lives. We will work together with all of our stakeholders to overcome this crisis by leveraging the strengths of Hitachi Group in a wide range of industries and communities. We are in this together."About Hitachi, Ltd.Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is focusing on Social Innovation Business combining its operational technology, information technology and products. The company's consolidated revenues for fiscal 2018 (ended March 31, 2019) totaled 9,480.6 billion yen ($85.4 billion), and the company has approximately 296,000 employees worldwide. Hitachi delivers digital solutions utilizing Lumada in five sectors including Mobility, Smart Life, Industry, Energy and IT, to increase our customer's social, environmental and economic value. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at https://www.hitachi.com.Source: Hitachi, Ltd.Copyright 2020 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved. Amid several reports about the health of North Korean Supreme leader Kim Jong-un, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday wished him "well", issuing his first statement amid the speculation. However, he stopped short of directly commenting on his health amid reports that he underwent a bypass surgery. When asked about the same during Donald Trump's White House briefing on the Covid crisis, he said: "I wish him well," noting the "good relationship" he shares with the North Korean leader. "If he is in the kind of condition that the reports say, that the news is saying, it's a very serious condition," he said. READ | Donald Trump pledges to 'never let oil industry down' as prices plung Reports about Kim Jong-Un's health Earlier on Tuesday, the first report came in from a US-based channel saying that Kim Jong-un is "gravely ill" after he underwent a bypass surgery. Soon after, several reports were floated in US media, while a news portal, citing 'multiple US officials', said that Kim Jong-Un caught COVID-19 from a Chinese doctor flown in to help with his heart surgery, and another report going to the extent of claiming that Kim was 'brain-dead' after surgery. Later in the day, quoting a Chinese CCP party source, an international media agency reported that Kim is not 'believed to be critically ill.' READ | North Korea denies sending letter to Donald Trump recently: Report Meanwhile, South Korea too clarified later in the day that he was "not gravely ill". The speculation about Kim's health came arose after the North Korean Supreme Leader did not attend the celebration of his late grandfather and state founder Kim Il Sung on April 15. READ | China slips in re-assurance on Kim Jong Un's health; claims he's not 'critically ill' Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un Among all other things, Donald Trump will be remembered for his historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the Singapore Summit on June 12, 2018. Even after his several barbs on 'tiny rocket man', Trump shook hands with 'Mr. Chairman'. Trump and Kim met for the second time almost seven months later, at the Hanoi Summit in Vietnam. North Korea had on both occasions recommitted to complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Trump also became the first president to step into the North Korean territory during 2019 Koreas United States DMZ Summit on June 30, 2019. READ |COVID-19: Joe Biden says Trump should 'stop blaming others and do his job' China has slammed the Missouri lawsuit as 'ridiculous' and 'malicious' after the US state has held Beijing responsible for 'lying to the world' about the coronavirus pandemic. A Chinese spokesman said today that Missouri's accusation against China 'has absolutely no facts or lawful evidence'. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Missouri on Tuesday, has alleged that Chinese officials are 'responsible for the enormous death, suffering, and economic losses they inflicted on the world, including Missourians.' The country where the virus was first discovered has been criticised by world leaders - including US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron - for a lack of transparency about its epidemic. A Chinese spokesman, Geng Shuang, said today that Missouri's accusation against China 'has absolutely no facts or lawful evidence'. He is pictured at a press conference on March 18 The state of Missouri has filed a lawsuit against the Chinese government over the coronavirus pandemic. The file picture shows Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt speaking in front of the US supreme Court in Washington on September 9, 2019 The state of Missouri has filed a lawsuit against the Chinese government over the coronavirus crisis on April 21, claiming that China's officials are to blame for the devastating outbreak that's sweeping the globe. 'The Chinese government lied to the world about the danger and contagious nature of COVID-19, silenced whistle-blowers, and did little to stop the spread of the disease,' Republican Attorney General Eric Schmitt's office said in a written statement. 'They must be held accountable for their actions.' This marks the first time that a US state has sued China over its handling of the COVID-19 outbreak. Schmitt announced the lawsuit on Tuesday saying: 'The bottom line: they lied to the world & should be held accountable' This marks the first time that a US state has sued China over its handling of the COVID-19 outbreak. Workers in protective clothing screen passengers from Wuhan after they arrive on a high speed train in Beijing on Sunday Geng Shuang, a spokesperson from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has blasted the lawsuit as 'ridiculous' and 'malicious'. 'The so-called lawsuit has absolutely no facts or lawful evidence. It's ridiculous,' said Geng today at a press conference in Beijing. 'Since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, China has always maintained the attitude of being open, transparent and responsible. 'These so-called allegations are malicious and overused. They are against basic laws.' Geng added. Medical workers are pictured transporting a patient outside of a special coronavirus intake area at Maimonides Medical Centre in New York on April 20 The state of Missouri has filed a lawsuit against the Chinese government over the coronavirus crisis on April 21, claiming that China's officials are to blame for the devastating outbreak that's sweeping the globe. The file picture shows Chinese President Xi Jinping visiting Wuhan Schmitt's office accused China of negligence and claimed that the pandemic cost Missourians possibly tens of billions of dollars in economic damage. The US state is also seeking unspecified damages for deaths in Missouri and the hit the virus has taken on the state's economy. 'In Missouri, the impact of the virus is very real - thousands have been infected and many have died, families have been separated from dying loved ones, small businesses are shuttering their doors, and those living paycheck to paycheck are struggling to put food on their table,' Schmitt said in his statement. In Missouri, there are nearly 6,000 confirmed cases and at least 189 deaths. Nationwide there are over 820,000 infections and over 45,000 deaths. One estimate says that coronavirus lockdowns in the state have cost Missouri $44billion, according to Fox. The lawsuit named The People's Republic of China which is the official Chinese government - and the Chinese Communist Party. US President Donald Trump is seen speaking at the daily coronavirus briefing at the White House on April 20 Three New York men sue the WHO for 'incalculable' damages over coronavirus Three New York men are suing the World Health Organization for 'incalculable' damages over its response to the coronavirus pandemic. In a proposed class action, the residents of Westchester County accuse the WHO of a cover up with China and failing to quickly declare a pandemic. The lawsuit by Richard Kling and Steve Rotker, both of New Rochelle, and Gennaro Purchia, of Scarsdale, was filed in the federal court in White Plains, New York. It seeks unspecified damages for what they called WHO's 'incalculable' harm to the roughly 756,000 adult residents in Westchester County who would make up the class. WHO director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has defended the agency's handling of the pandemic, saying the WHO had kept the world informed about the coronavirus Westchester county was one of the earliest U.S. hot spots for the coronavirus and the men have accused the health body of gross negligence in covering up and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The three men also accuse the WHO of failing monitor China's response to the original outbreak, provide treatment guidelines, advise members on how to respond including through travel restrictions, and coordinate a global response. The trio alleged the WHO of conspiring with China's government, which was not named as a defendant, to cover up COVID-19's severity. Advertisement The state also accused China of hiding key information that could have prevented the spread of the virus and hoarding masks and other personal protective equipment as the rest of the globe was in dire need. 'An appalling campaign of deceit, concealment, misfeasance, and inaction by Chinese authorities unleashed this pandemic,' the suit said. 'During the critical weeks of the initial outbreak, Chinese authorities deceived the public, suppressed crucial information, arrested whistleblowers, denied human-to-human transmission in the face of mounting evidence, destroyed critical medical research, permitted millions of people to be exposed to the virus, and even hoarded personal protective equipment - thus causing a global pandemic that was unnecessary and preventable.' While the suit lists a number of claims of China's wrongdoing, it also mentions the theory that the virus could have escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a biosafety level 4 lab that studies infectious diseases including coronavirus. The lawsuit named The People's Republic of China which is the official Chinese government - and the Chinese Communist Party. The state of Missouri accused China of hiding key information that could have prevented the spread of the virus and hoarding masks and other personal protective equipment as the rest of the globe was in dire need. A Chinese man is pictured at Tian'anmen Square on April 15 China is already facing similar lawsuits filed by at least seven federal class-action suits filed by private groups in US courts. But experts said that America's efforts to hold China accountable for the pandemic is likely to be unsuccessful. U.S. federal court cannot handle the Missouri lawsuit against the Chinese government due to a legal doctrine called sovereign immunity, a rule that offers foreign governments broad protection from being sued in U.S. courts, Shen Yi, an academic of international relations at the Fudan University, explained to the press. Tom Ginsburg, a professor of international law at the University of Chicago, echoed Shen's comment and suggested that the recent flurry of lawsuits against China serves a political purpose for Republican leaders who are facing an election in November. 'We are seeing a lot of people on the political right focus on the China issue to cover up for the U.S. government's own errors,' Ginsburg told Reuters. World leaders including President Donald Trump, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron (pictured), Australia's Foreign Minister Marise Payne have expressed concerns over Beijing's transparency amid the outbreak World leaders including President Donald Trump, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron, Australia's Foreign Minister Marise Payne have expressed concerns over Beijing's transparency amid the outbreak. This week China tried to clear its name from international criticism over its handling of the virus outbreak. 'The international community can overcome the virus only if it can stay united and cooperate to make concerted efforts,' China's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang said. 'Attacking and discrediting other countries simply wastes time and cannot save lost lives.' He said that COVID-19 is 'common enemy of all mankind' and that China is 'also a victim.' Michigan has canceled a contract with a politically connected state consultant and national technology firm and will seek a different vendor and software platform to help track the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. A spokesperson for the governors office confirmed Wednesday, April 22, that the contract, which was announced Monday, had been terminated. The public needs to have confidence that this tracing work is being done by a nonpartisan firm, said Tiffany Brown, the governors press secretary. The contract was with Great Lakes Community Engagement, a firm that specializes in outreach campaigns to engage citizens, and Every Action VAN, a contact platform used by nonprofits to provide software to help organize remote phone banking and track information and contacts. On its website, NGP VAN calls itself the leading technology provider to Democratic and progressive campaigns and organizations," among other organizations. It claims to power nearly every major Democratic campaign in America. The contract was approved by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, though Brown said it should have been approved by the State Emergency Operations Center. This issue is being corrected, and a different vendor and software platform will be selected by the SEOC, Brown said in an email. The state is committed to ensuring this important tracing work can begin quickly to help save lives, while also ensuring that public health data is safe and secure. The project behind the contract is an effort to track those in Michigan who have had COVID-19 and determine theyve come in contact with to better gauge the outbreak. The state trained more than 2,200 volunteers to speed up and expand the states contact tracing capacity. Michigan has reported 32,967 confirmed cases of the virus and 2,700 deaths associated with COVID-19. On Monday, the state announced it had expanded coronavirus testing to all residents who are working the front lines, including those who are not experiencing symptoms of the respiratory illness. The same announcement referenced the expanded contact tracing project and vendor contract. Michigan Republicans released a statement Tuesday that said awarding the contract to an openly partisan political firm raises major questions about Gov. Whitmers ethics and her priorities. In addition to the fact that a partisan company should not be handling a public health crisis, the Michigan Republican Party is extremely concerned with how this data will be used," said Michigan GOP Chair Laura Cox. "The fact that there is now the possibility that it will be utilized for partisan ends is deeply troubling. This is yet another example of the governors reckless leadership during a pandemic while abusing her power for political gain. After the state terminated the contract, state Rep. Shane Hernandez, R-Port Huron, said he was pleased to see the governor saw the error in her ways, but said she must answer the question of how this could happen in the first place. As chair of the Michigan House Appropriations Committee, Hernandez said the governors administration should share more information about how contracts are being awarded and how taxpayer dollars are being used during the COVID-19 crisis. I cant believe this is the only instance where this administration has made questionable decisions about awarding contracts that may be political in nature during this time of unprecedented executive power, Hernandez said in a press release. The people of Michigan, as well as their elected representatives, have so far been left in the dark about how our governor is making these decisions and that must come to an end." CORONAVIRUS PREVENTION TIPS In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus. Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible. Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home ( door handles, faucets, countertops) and when you go into places like stores. Read more on MLive: Whitmer slams Trumps messaging as inconsistent and dangerous to public White House touts aid to Michigan as nurses call for more protective equipment West Michigan restaurants treading water as they await much fairer stimulus package Wednesday, April 22: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan Paints, tyres, gas distribution and oil marketing companies are expected to gain from record drop in crude oil prices, according to a latest report. With both Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropping to levels not seen in the last many decades, these companies could see a boost in earnings, YES Securities said in a report on Wednesday. A reduction in input costs is likely to help the earnings of the cement and paints companies, it said. Paints: A 10 per cent correction in crude prices is expected to increase earnings by 4 per cent for the paint companies with other things remaining the same, the report added. "Crude and crude derivatives account for 60% of the RM basket. For paints companies, Titanium Dioxide (a crude derivative), fillers/packing material and other crude linked products accounts for nearly 60% of the RM basket," it added. Cement: Fall in oil prices is encouraging for cement companies as 40% of the cost is indirectly linked to crude. "Expect 10-12% YoY reduction in input cost for FY21 through diesel and coal," YES Securities said. Oil marketing companies: With crude oil prices falling, the working capital requirement of oil marketing companies (OMCs) is likely to ease, the report said. The current fall in prices will benefit working capital slightly offset by rupee depreciation, YES Securities added. "Our calculation suggests that amongst the three OMCs 15 days of crude inventory and a fall of $30 per barrel would mean a lower inventory of nearly Rs 81 billion," it also said. City gas distribution companies: The city gas distribution (CGD) companies such as IGL, MGL, Gujarat Gas price their products (CNG and PNG) at a discount to the comparable crude based products (CNG - Petrol/Diesel, PNG - LPG). "While the crude oil prices have corrected sharply, OMCs have not cut petrol and diesel prices in similar quantum. On the other hand, the government has raised excise duty on the same. Hence, the impact of the current sharp fall in crude oil prices for CGD players would depend on the quantum of price cuts done for petrol, diesel and LPG," the report said. Tyre manufacturers: The natural rubber accounts for 37 per cent, while crude based derivatives such as carbon black and synthetic rubber constitute another 50 per cent of cost for production of a tyre. "Based on the product portfolios, impact would be materially different for companies. As a thumb rule, in a CV tyre 40% in terms of weight is contributed by natural rubber, 25% in passenger cars and 15% in 2Ws. Accordingly, the benefits of falling crude oil prices will be higher for two-wheeler tyres, followed by passenger car tyres and then CV tyres," the report added. In addition, logistics and companies with exposure to Middle East businesses can see a positive impact. Meanwhile, the crude oil prices in the US fell to a historic minus $37.63 a barrel on Monday due to coronavirus-related demand issues. The Brent crude, which is the more relevant benchmark for India, has dropped over 65 per cent so far in 2020. It is currently hovering at around $17 per barrel, down from more than $28 a barrel last week. Also read: Facebook-Jio deal: JioMart, WhatsApp to empower 3 crore kirana shops, says Mukesh Ambani According to the National Public Radio (NPR) of the US, the foundation of Vietnam's success in the work is the early implementation of a drastic policy by the government on social distancing, as well as the countrys experience against previous epidemics. It said that with experience gained from dealing with the 2003 SARS and 2009 H1N1, the Vietnamese government started organising its response in January - right after reports began flowing from China's Wuhan, where the virus is believed to have originated. The country quickly developed a variety of tactics, including widespread quarantining and aggressive contact tracing, it noted. Meanwhile, The Strategist of the US has said that Vietnam has reported no deaths from COVID-19 in recent days and just 268 confirmed cases. This is the result of careful and extensive monitoring of public travel and regular temperature checking at airports, border gates and public places, as well as well managing centralised quarantine areas, it said. According to the newspaper, Vietnam has shown itself as one of leaders" in inventing and exporting fast virus test kits with affordable prices. It emphasised that Vietnam's key strategy is rapid response to reduce infection and the burden on medical staff. International media also spotlighted Vietnams willingness to share practical experience and its support for other countries in the fight against the disease. According to Nikkei Asian Review, Vietnam's measures against COVID-19 are for the benefit of the whole community. After all these hard challenges, Vietnam's voice will be very weighty and convincing, not only on the regional forum but also in the international arena, it said. Bloomberg has reported that Vietnam donated 250,000 medial face masks to the US, handed over made-in-Vietnam face masks and medical equipment worth US$100,000 to Japan, and a great number of medical supplies to its neighbours Cambodia and Laos, and European countries. Meanwhile, Rossiyskaya Gazeta of Russia also reported on Vietnams donation of 200,000 domestically-produced face masks to Russia to help the country in the fight against COVID-19. Earlier, on April 19, Frances daily newspaper Le Figaro ran an article explaining how Vietnam has limited the spread of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 in the community. With 268 infections, including 198 who have fully recovered and zero fatalities, Vietnam, which borders China, where the COVID-19 originated, has become an example in the fight against the pandemic for Western countries, the article said. It quoted Kidong Park, the World Health Organisation representative in Vietnam, in his interview granted to the Journal du Dimanche newspaper, as saying that right after the first cases reported in China, Vietnam has remained vigilant with this threat. Compared to other Asian nations like the Republic of Korea and Singapore, Vietnam does not have sufficient financial resources to combat the pandemic. Therefore, the 94-million-people nation has conducted a low-cost strategy by focusing on massive quarantine and tracing of all possible contacts with infections (known as F1, F2, F3 and F4), the article stressed. It said that Vietnam has ordered a compulsory 14-day quarantine period for all people entering the country, suspended all flights linking to China right after it recorded the first case, and tightened the control over the 1,000km land border line, The closure of all schools following the lunar New Year holiday in late January, and the requirement for locals to wear face masks when going out are also among the measures taken by the country, it added. The article also affirmed that these measures have been implemented effectively thanks to the abidance of the people and their support for the Governments efforts. LIMA, PeruPerus hospitals are straining to deal with a rapid rise in the number of COVID-19 infections, with bodies being kept in hallways, masks being repeatedly reused, and protests breaking out amongst medical workers concerned over their safety. Peru has the second highest number of cases in South America after Brazil, despite a tough lockdown aimed at halting the spread of the coronavirus. Confirmed numbers have risen sharply in recent days, passing 17,000 on Tuesday, double the figure from just one week ago. Almost 500 people have died. We as a hospital have a capacity for only six bodies, Deisy Aguirre, leader of the nurses union at the Maria Auxiliadora hospital in Lima, told Reuters outside the hospital on Monday. Daily we have been seeing 13 to 16 bodies crowded on the first floor. The health ministry says it expects patient numbers to peak within days or in the following week. On Monday, dozens of health workers protested in front of the Maria Auxiliadora hospital, holding banners decrying a lack of protective equipment such as masks. A nurse holds up a sign that reads, A doctor at the protest who declined to give his name provided video showing at least four dead bodies covered in white or black covers in a hospital corridor. Susana Oshiro, the hospitals director, told Reuters that at some point the number of dead had exceeded the capacity of the hospital as there was only space for six bodies in the mortuary. We have now contracted a freezer, a refrigerated container to store the bodies while they come to collect them for cremation, she said. The 100-body freezer has been in operation since Monday, she added. Even the cremation of remains has become an issue, with Limas six crematoriums already exceeding capacity. Edgar Gonzalez, head of Limas Santa Rosa crematorium, told Reuters by telephone that before the pandemic they cremated 10 bodies a day and now they are cremating up to 30. Few masks, "so we re-use and re-use" Peru reported its first case of coronavirus on March 6 and it took 25 days to add 1,000 infections. Fourteen days later it reached 10,000 cases, official data show. Story continues The government has also been gradually increasing the amount of tests, which totaled over 155,000 as of Tuesday, one of the highest levels in the region. In Latin America, only Brazil has more confirmed cases, with over 40,000. Chile is third, with over 10,000. Rosmini Ayquipa, another nurse from the Maria Auxiliadora hospital, told Reuters workers had had to wear the same masks for several days due to a shortage. We have to use three masks throughout the month, so we re-use and re-use it and what has happened? Where I work, colleagues have caught the disease, she said. News Oshiro, the hospital director, said the complaint related to N95 type masks, which she said everyone wanted to use but which were only given to personnel involved in the treatment of COVID-19 patients. Everyone else has surgical masks, she said. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says limited re-use of masks is generally acceptable, though not all types of masks can be reused and they should be discarded when soiled, damaged, or hard to breathe through. Reuters could not confirm how many workers had become sick at the Maria Auxiliadora hospital. However, Ciro Maguina, vice dean of the Peruvian Medical College, said 237 doctors nationwide had been infected to date, with nine in intensive care using mechanical respirators. One doctor had died. Those numbers do not include nurses or other health workers. President Martin Vizcarra has acknowledged that the countrys hospitals are already close to capacity. He has taken steps to increase intensive care units and the number of hospital beds. In the next few days we are going to have an increase in the capacity of care with ventilators arriving, he said in a news conference on Monday. Follow NBC Latino on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. When Kenyan Foreign Minister Raychelle Omamo called up External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday, the conversation was largely centered around the Covid-19 outbreak. Jaishankars counterpart was worried about the drug supplies with the virus now rearing its head in Africa and remote parts of the globe. Jaishankar told his Kenyan counterpart that not only would India provide hydroxychloroquine and paracetamol on a commercial basis but would also send some more as a gift, or assistance In another conversation with Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, Jaishankar underscored that India is already in the process of airlifting drugs to his country. Jaishankars diplomatic outreach to other countries has been guided by Prime Minister Narendra Modis clear observation early this month that asked his team to positively respond to requests for help by other countries to fight Covid-19, people familiar with the development said. PM Modi had made the point that if you help someone when they need it to face a crisis, the gesture wont be forgotten easily. It is this advice that has driven much of the response of Indian diplomats. Officials said India is flying out about 28 lakh hydroxychloroquine and 13 lakh paracetamol tablets to 32 countries as assistance. In addition, drug supplies are being made to 42 countries on a commercial basis. The Indian priorities have been clear with first supplies going to the SAARC countries and extended neighbourhood in Gulf. Europe, Americas, and the Indo-Pacific were covered in the next phase. After supplies reached these countries, India moved to supplying assistance to smaller countries and Island nations. These include Burkina Faso, Marshall Islands, Eswatini, Comoros, Dominican Republic, Seychelles and Jamaica. Global demand for hydroxychloroquine boosted after some studies indicated that the drug, when paired with azithromycin, helped clear patients of the virus at a much faster rate than seen usually. India, the largest producer of hydroxychloroquine, had initially banned exports last month before partially easing rules to allow the export of hydroxychloroquine and paracetamol after meeting all domestic requirements. Health ministry officials have confirmed that the government had access to a lot more than the estimated requirements to cater to any eventuality. The government, officials said, was conscious that the battle against Covid-19 might end up to be a long haul, a lot longer than was initially expected. They said the government is priming up its health sector to not only tackle a sudden Covid-19 flare-up but also diseases accompanying the rains in India such as dengue, measles and cholera. We also have to be ready for a possible second wave of the pandemic later this winter, said a senior official. Apart from drugs, India has also started sending wheat shipments up to 75 metric tonnes to Afghanistan through the Chabahar and has also offered both wheat and rice to Iran as humanitarian assistance. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON HOTEL and guesthouse owners in Limerick and nationwide are calling on Finance Minister Pascal Donohoe to introduce measures to mitigate the impact of coronavirus on the economy. Dermot Kelly, the chairman of the Shannon branch of the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) said his members appreciate the country is experiencing the greatest health crisis in living memory, and that significant resources are being committed. However, he has called for a range of extra measures, including that rates and water charges be waived for at least a year. Mr Kelly said IHF members also want to see interest free loans and a minimum 12-month deferral of major debts and for tourism VAT rates cut to zero for at least a year. He said that mitigating the impact of Covid-19 must go hand in hand with ensuring that Irish people have a viable economy to return to in the coming months. The health and wellbeing of all citizens is intertwined with the economy, and people will need livelihoods after the crisis is over. Tourism supports 11% of total employment nationally. It is important to note that 70% of these jobs are outside of Dublin which highlights its vital role in spreading employment opportunities and prosperity across the entire country. Here in Limerick tourism supported 11,500 jobs and generated 327m in local revenues before this crisis, he said. Irish tourism has been a key driver of job growth over the last decade, and it is essential that our industry remains to the fore of the national economic agenda, including in negotiations on the framework for government. The vast majority of hotels and guesthouses are closed to non-residents at present. Many appliances and consumer durables manufacturers have decided not to resume manufacturing despite the government relaxing certain guidelines for industries to operate in lockdown 2.0, preferring to wait till the curbs are fully lifted. Companies like Panasonic India, Godrej Appliances, Dixon Technologies and Super Plastronics Pvt Ltd said with retail outlets shut there is no point to start production as there is existing unsold inventory of March at warehouses and dealers. Moreover, in certain states like Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and some districts like Noida of Uttar Pradesh, local authorities and governments decided not to allow any manufacturing activities. According to Panasonic India, the company would wait to start production until a favourable market condition returns. As our factory in Jhajhar, Haryana is in the green zone, we are engaging with the local authorities for permission to start manufacturing in the near future. The issue today is more on the demand side than supply, we have enough inventory with our distributors of our ACs and refrigerators to meet consumer demands," Panasonic India and South Asia President and CEO Manish Sharma told PTI. The objective behind starting operations will be ensuring sustainability over longer term once markets are allowed to operate, he added. "We are prepared for staggered operations with workers coming in batches ensuring social distancing, frequent sanitizing, usage of masks among other initiatives to protect our workforce, Sharma explained. Expressing similar views, Godrej Appliances Business Head and EVP Kamal Nandi said, Where will I ship my products? There are no retail activities on the ground and moreover, there is enough stocks available with the dealers. There is no point in production at this stage. Nandi said Godrej Appliances would like to wait till May 3, when the lockdown ends, to plan resumption of production as under the current guidelines it has to consider many factors, including accommodating staff at the plant. Companies like LG, Samsung, Dixon and smart phone makers Oppo and Vivo -- which have manufacturing units in industrial zones at Noida and Greater Noida -- have not resumed production as the district administration of Gautam Buddha Nagar has banned all commercial and industrial activities inside the districts. Dixon Technologies, India's largest contract manufacture in the appliance and consumer electronic, has also not started manufacturing at its units as it is still awaiting approvals. When asked whether the company has started its manufacturing operation, Dixon Technologies CMD Sunil Vachani said, "Not yet. We are waiting for the approvals from the Noida Authority. He further said, "Both of our units at Noida and Tirupati fall under red zone. So we are waiting for the approval. We are hoping it to be sooner than later." While, Super Plastronics Pvt Ltd (SPPL), which manufactures TV under the brand name of Thomson and Kodak, said that the new guidelines should be realistic and helpful for the industry. Currently, we are looking forward to the new notification by the Centre and the state governments and whatever norms the government has decided we will be happy to implement," SPPL CEO Avneet Singh Marwah said. He, however, said all "those notifications and norms should be realistic and the intention of the government should be to give permission to start the manufacturing sites". Meanwhile, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals said it has partially resumed its manufacturing at its plants. pursuant to the receipt of confirmation/ permission received from the concerned administrative authorities, the company has partially resumed the operations at its plants located at Goa and Vadodara in a phased manner, the company said in a regulatory filing. Earlier, in February and March, the Indian appliances and consumer electronics industry was battling for components as it is largely dependent on China for the sourcing of components and some of the finished goods. According to a study by the industry body Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association (CEAMA) and Frost & Sullivan, the industry had a total market size of Rs 76,400 crore in 2018-19. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Passing the buck to WHO not the right thing to do in fighting COVID-19 Solidarity and cooperation are what countries should go after in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. However, at the critical moment, the U.S. announced to suspend funding to the World Health Organization (WHO), ducking its duty and obligation to safeguard global public health security. The practice tramples on the principle of multilateralism and totally goes against the humanitarian spirit. The damage of the so-called American exceptionalism threw a wet blanket on the worlds joint efforts to combat the novel coronavirus and drew wide criticism from the international society. It is not the time to reduce the resources for the operations of the World Health Organization or any other humanitarian organization in the fight against the virus, said United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Josep Borrell, European Union (EU) High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy recently said on social media that there is no reason justifying this move at a moment when their efforts are needed more than ever to help contain and mitigate the coronavirus pandemic. African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat said the U.S. government decision to suspend funding to WHO is deeply regrettable. When the COVID-19 pandemic is posing severe challenges, countries with vulnerable public health systems are in dire need of assistance. Therefore, to ensure that the WHO fully executes its duties is a common responsibility of all countries in the world. Developing countries would be the largest victims if the UN health body is crippled. Editor-in-Chief of The Lancet Richard Horton called the U.S. decision a crime against humanity. The White Houses defunding also triggered resistance and condemnation in the U.S. The president of the American Medical Association Patrice Harris said in a statement that halting funding to the WHO is a dangerous step in the wrong direction that will not make defeating COVID-19 easier. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also blasted the decision, saying it is dangerous, illegal and will be swiftly challenged. The attempts of the White House to undermine the WHO and its leadership in the middle of a pandemic are dangerous and totally inappropriate, Stephen Morrison was quoted as saying by the Washington Post. The defunding is the latest move from a series of actions taken by the U.S. against multilateral organizations, said CNN in a recent article. More and more people are coming to realize that the U.S., shifting blames to the WHO and politicizing the pandemic, is totally unjustified. As the most authoritative and professional international organization in the sphere of global public health, the WHO plays an irreplaceable role in coping with global public health crisis. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the organization has actively assumed responsibility, and called on countries to attach high importance to and prepare for the disease at an early date. Its coordination largely facilitated international cooperation on COVID-19 response, and won wide recognition and high appraisal from the international community. The timeline recently released by the WHO introducing its efforts to combat COVID-19 forcefully proved its achievements and efficiency. With limited, constantly shifting information to go on, the WHO showed an early, consistent determination to treat the new contagion like the threat it would become, and to persuade others to do the same, said New York Times in a recent editorial. A close look at the record shows that the WHO acted with greater foresight and speed than many national governments, and more than it had shown in previous epidemics, the article added. The mainstream of multilateralism and collaboration shall never be changed in the battle against the pandemic. A recent resolution of the UN Assembly stressed the central role of the WHO in the global health and economic crisis, and the G20 extraordinary virtual leaders summit on COVID-19 also issued a statement to support the WHO in assuming its responsibility in coordinating global COVID-19 response and further enhance the organizations roles. The international society is generally in support of the WHO. The COVID-19 pandemic is currently accelerating its spread globally, and the WHO needs substantial capital to advance vaccine development, maintain protective supplies for medical staff, and offer assistance to countries with vulnerable health systems. Lately, China, the UK, and Finland, as well as organizations including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have successively donated to the WHO. Besides, many countries voiced support for the organization for its important role in fighting the pandemic. These all indicate the global common aspiration for multilateral cooperation. Some politicians in the U.S. are trying to impede the global efforts to defeat the virus, but American citizens and people around the world wont allow them. The unscrupulousness to pass the buck and practices to undermine international rules will neither scare off the virus nor the international society. Viruses respect no borders, and no country is able to sit back and watch when COVID-19 stays rampant. Only by joint efforts can the world defeat it, and the U.S. shall take its responsibility as a major country. (Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by Peoples Daily to express its views on foreign policy.) The Dover-Eyota School District doesnt want anyone to go hungry. While many school districts are still providing breakfasts and lunches to students during the pandemic-driven transition to distance learning, Dover-Eyota is going one step further. The district has partnered with Channel One Regional Food Bank, allowing people to order a box of food online. The district then sends a school bus to collect the boxes in Rochester and return them to the Dover-Eyota area where people can pick them up. "That way, the families in our community dont have to drive to Rochester," said Carrie Frank, food and nutrition director for Dover-Eyota Public Schools. "We do have families that work in areas where theyre now being laid off, and this is just an opportunity to help ease that pain." Monday was the first time boxes from Channel One were transported back to Dover-Eyota as part of the program. Frank said about 40 orders were processed. Those who qualify are able to receive a monthly delivery of boxed food from Channel One, which they can order online through the school districts website. ADVERTISEMENT However, those requesting boxes are unable to select what is put inside them. Virginia Merritt, executive director of Channel One, said its still a good way to help provide for peoples needs considering the stay-at-home order. "We love the idea of getting food directly into the hands of the families that need it," Merritt said. "In a pandemic, when were trying to stay away from each other for safety, we really appreciate the willingness of people to partner to distribute food boxes as far and wide in the community as possible." The partnership with Channel One isnt the only change the Dover-Eyota district has made. Instead of distributing meals daily to students, the district has begun distributing a weeks worth of meals at one time to make the system more convenient for families, Frank said. Those who may be interested can get a sneak peak of the work being done behind the scenes. Frank has posted several videos on YouTube, showing the districts staff working. Some are sorting and preparing all the meals inside. Others in the videos are using machinery to lift boxes of food into the back of a school bus. For the school lunch program, Frank said they distributed nearly 3,000 meals on Monday. Since thats enough food for five school days, it equates to 600 meals a day. "Our breakfast and lunch meals are steadily increasing as word gets out," Frank said. President Donald Trump is eager to hit the road. As his own health officials continue to warn against nonessential travel, Trump has privately urged aides over the past week to start adding official events back to his schedule, including photo ops and site visits that would allow him to ditch Washington for a few hours. The day trips would be similar to those Vice President Mike Pence has made visiting businesses during the viral pandemic, according to three people familiar with the planning. Speaking at a coronavirus task force briefing this week, Trump noted he hasnt left the White House in months, except to send off the USNS Comfort from a Virginia naval base and visit the Federal Emergency Management Agencys headquarters in March. The president has otherwise stayed within the executive complex for six weeks, an extraordinary stretch of confinement for a president who even while stuck in Washington loves to golf and visit his businesses. Trump's last big trip outside the Beltway to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta ended with a three-day fundraising swing in Florida, during which he stayed at his Mar-a-Lago beach club and golfed at a nearby course he owns. His itch to get away from Washington comes as his administration pressures governors to begin loosening restrictions on interstate travel, business operations and public gatherings part of a three-phase plan the federal government released last week to reopen the U.S. economy after a near-total shutdown due to Covid-19. The road map has been criticized by some state officials who say they lack the testing capacity needed to safely reopen communities in accordance with the presidents timeline. Trump officials insist enough testing is already available to handle the first phase of reopening. The first step of the administrations Opening Up America Again strategy maintains restrictions on small gatherings if physical distancing measures cannot be adhered to and discourages Americans from pursuing non-essential travel, setting Trump on a potential collision course with swing-state governors who are reluctant to host him or presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden for official or political events in the near future. Story continues If were listening to our best medical minds in this country, political events are going to be some of the last activities that are phased in as we reboot our economy, said Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat who has sparred with Trump over his response to the health crisis and his administration's ability to provide test kits, ventilators and other critical supplies to her state. I think its going to be a long time before anyone thinks its safe to have big gatherings, Whitmer said in an interview. Its important that were all very mindful, and that goes for campaign rallies on both sides of the aisle. Other officials from 2020 battleground states said they would hesitate to permit events that do not comply with the federal governments guidelines. Trump is almost always accompanied by an entourage of advisers and U.S. Secret Service personnel during official and political trips, making it difficult to practice social distancing guidelines in line with the administration's current recommendations. During his trip last month to the Naval Station in Norfolk, Va., he spoke to an empty parking lot and traveled with a limited group of aides and reporters on Air Force One. Still, the combined presence of security, staff and media on the ground exceeded the size limits his administration placed on group gatherings in mid-March. If there was a situation where the president was trying to violate his own guidelines, we would certainly have a conversation about that, said an aide to Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers. A Trump campaign official said the presidents 2020 operation will remain in the digital sphere for the time being and does not currently have any Keep America Great rallies a hallmark of Trumps reelection strategy or physical fundraisers planned for the remainder of April or May. But the same official said the White House is in charge of the presidents schedule and could add events at any given moment. On Friday, Trump abruptly announced his plans to deliver this years commencement address at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. His June 13 appearance will occur on the academys campus 50 miles north of New York City, which has seen more than 10,000 coronavirus-related deaths since March 1. The White House declined a request for additional details about the president's schedule. I understand theyll have distancing. Theyll have some big distance, and so itll be very different than it ever looked, Trump said at a White House briefing. Pence delivered a commencement address at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs on Saturday. Nearly 1,000 cadets sat eight feet apart on the schools parade field during the event, offering an eerie glimpse into what Trumps own appearance at West Point could look like if strict social distancing measures remain in place through mid-June. Cadets are seated to match social distancing norms due to the coronavirus outbreak during the graduation ceremony for the Class of 2020 at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Saturday, April 18, 2020, at Air Force Academy, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) Pence also recently traveled to a Walmart distribution center in Virginia and told reporters aboard Air Force Two on Tuesday, during a trip to a Wisconsin factory, that he will visit a General Motors plant in his home state of Indiana next week. The vice president has used these visits to highlight the role of the private sector in manufacturing and distributing vital equipment and supplies for healthcare facilities across the country. In some cases, state officials said White House aides have provided limited notice prior to a visit from the president or vice president. According to the Evers aide, Pences team notified the Wisconsin governors office of the vice presidents visit to the Madison-based GE Healthcare plant only after they had already finalized the trip. We got a notice after it was already planned, like, by the way, well be in town, recounted the aide. Its not a good idea to bring a bunch of people into a facility right now and they did not coordinate with us at all. A White House official disputed this account and said Pence's team first contacted Evers' chief of staff on April 12 to alert them of Pence's upcoming visit to Wisconsin and to offer an in-person meeting between the governor and vice president. The two men ended up speaking by phone Tuesday morning, hours before Pence arrived in Madison. The Office of the Vice President reached out to the governors office multiple times, both last week and early this week, as we began forming our plans. The governors office did not indicate that they would like an in-person meeting while the vice president was in Wisconsin, said Pence spokeswoman Katie Miller. Other states that will determine the outcome of the November election dont yet appear to have even considered guidelines related to campaign events or presidential visits in the coronavirus era. Asked about the permittance of political activities in the coming months, a spokesperson for Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf referred POLITICO to the Pennsylvania Department of State, which said the states Department of Health was best equipped to respond. The Department of State does not in any way permit or prohibit or even offer guidance regarding political rallies, communications director Wanda Murren wrote in an email. In lieu of the high-energy campaign rallies he normally holds, lately Trump has turned the James S. Brady briefing room into his own political roadshow hijacking briefings by his own coronavirus task force to single out political opponents and battle with members of the media. According to data compiled by the C-SPAN Video Library, Trump has made 41 appearances at the daily briefings as of Tuesday evening, more than any member of the Covid-19 task force, including its leader Mike Pence. A Republican who speaks to the president regularly said Trump has been in good spirits throughout the public health crisis, but like many Americans is eager to get out of his house. This person said Trump is expected to soon follow Pences lead and begin traveling again, but only for official trips and not political events. The Trump campaign has canceled in-person events and fundraisers because of the pandemic, and has instead held virtual weeknight gatherings with supporters and prospective voters. I hope we can do rallies. Its great for the county. Its great spirit. For me, its a tremendous way of getting the word out. We win where we have rallies, Trump said at a task force briefing last Friday. A White House spokesperson declined to say if the president has additional events on his schedule besides his appearance at West Point in June. But Trumps recent focus on field hospitals built by the Army Corps of Engineers combined with his penchant for patriotic settings could mean he could lean into military options as he did with the Norfolk visit. In what was perhaps a tell-tale sign of his own feelings as he entered another weekend holed up in the White House residence, Trump broke from top U.S. health officials at a White House briefing on Friday to lend support to demonstrators who gathered in state capitals to protest stay-at-home orders. They seem to be very responsible people to me, he said with a shrug. Anita Kumar contributed reporting. Help India! By Auqib Javeed, TwoCircles.net Srinagar: The Union Territory administration seems to have started a war against the Journalists working in the valley as coronavirus pandemic continues to upend lives across India and the world. Support TwoCircles At least 3 Journalist have been booked in the past three days under various sections that many deemed draconian. On Tuesday, Journalist and author Gowhar Geelani became the latest victim of the FIR spree in the erstwhile state. The cyber wing of J&K Police booked Geelani for social media posts deemed prejudicial to national integrity. The case against Geelani comes a day after a female photojournalist Masrat Zahra and Peerzada Ashiq, a correspondent of a national daily were booked under various sections of the IPC and the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). The latest World Press Freedom Index has ranked India 142, two points below its 2019 rank, indicating immense curbs on freedom of speech and expression across the country. Zahra, who was booked earlier this week for her social media posts termed the recent cases against journalists as intimidation tactics. It is very unfortunate that they (Police) invoked terrorism law on a Journalist, Zahra, 26 told TwoCircles.net. I have been uploading my work on social media from the last 4 years. I am not a Facebook user that I was called, but a professional photojournalist, she added. On Monday, the J&K Police invoked draconian UAPA law to book Zahra for allegedly uploading anti-national posts photographs on social media. Zahra has been booked under Section 13 of the UAPA, which prescribes punishment of seven years jail if found guilty, and IPC Section 505, which deals with provocation to commit an offence against a class or community. Calling her a Facebook user, the police complaint charges her for uploading anti-national posts with criminal intention to induce the youth and to promote offences against public tranquility. It also adds the user is also uploading posts that tantamount to glorify the anti-national activities and dent the image of law-enforcing agencies besides causing disaffection against the country Masrat says the FIR is an attempt to muzzle the voices of all the journalists working in Kashmir. I dont have any ideology neither I am affiliated with any political party. They did it just to silence me, she said. On Tuesday afternoon, Masrat appeared before the police officers and was let go after a round of questioning. I didnt disown my work and I gave clear answers to the investigating officers. Similarly, Ashiq was summoned by the police to explain the alleged factual inaccuracies in one of his stories. He was subsequently booked under an FIR (No. 81/2020) in relation to the news item at the Anantnag police station. The summoning and subsequent of FIRs against the scribes have led to massive outrage among various quarters, including journalists, who are demanding the withdrawal of complaints. Shams Irfan, who works with The Washington Post from Kashmir said that Kashmiri Journalists literally put their lives at risk to get the truth out. Booking young Journalist on under harsh law is just one example of what we face while doing so, he said. Mushtaq Ahmed, who works with newspaper Kashmir Observer, termed the latest attacks on press despicable and humiliating. State wants to control the media. The narrative that is going out from the Kashmir is irking the establishment, Ahmed told TwoCircles.net. Last week, he was detained for two days in North Kashmirs Bandipora district while performing his professional duties. Several media organizations, including Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), besides political parties and trade bodies have condemned the cases against the journalists. The Amnesty International on Tuesday condemned the Jammu and Kashmir Police for invoking the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against the Journalists. Avinash Kumar, Executive Director of Amnesty International India, said in a statement: Harassment and intimidation of journalists through draconian laws such as UAPA threatens the efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic and creates an atmosphere of fear and reprisal. CPJ demanded an immediate end to the harassment of Journalists and asked Indian government to ensure press freedom in Kashmir. Masrat Zahra and Peerzada Ashiq should be free to report on events in Jammu and Kashmir without facing harassment and intimidation from local authorities, Aliya Iftikhar, CPJs senior Asia researcher said in a statement. Police should drop their investigations into both journalists, and India should reform its laws to make such capricious actions by police impossible. This is not the first time that the Journalists in the conflict-torn Kashmir have been arrested. Both state and non-state actors have been accused of silencing and hampering the work of journalists over the last three decades. According to data released by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) in December, at least 21 journalists have been killed since 1990, often in targeted killings or because of being caught in the cross-fire, while attempting to cover the conflict in Kashmir. Scores have been detained, beaten, kidnapped, intimidated, and harassed for their work. The situation has become worse after August 5 when the Indian government scrapped the special status of the erstwhile state. This case highlights why it is important for restaurants and members of the food services industry to ensure that managers and employees consistently follow food safety policies, said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Justice Departments civil division. The Department of Justice will vigorously enforce food safety laws in order to protect public health. Nick Hanna, U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, said in a statement that Chipotle failed to ensure that its employees both understood and complied with its food safety protocols, resulting in hundreds of customers across the country getting sick. Todays steep penalty, coupled with the tens of millions of dollars Chipotle already has spent to upgrade its food safety program since 2015, should result in greater protections for Chipotle customers, Mr. Hanna said. He added that it would remind others in the industry to review and improve their own health and safety practices. Prosecutors said that the charges in the case stem in part from incidents related to outbreaks of norovirus, which spreads easily and can cause diarrhea, vomiting, nausea and stomach pain. Grocery employees are providing an essential service, but continue to worry about their safety as colleagues around the country begin to die from the COVID-19 virus. The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which represents over 18,000 grocery store and food processing workers across Michigan, is pushing for retail food establishments to ensure the safety of these workers who are restocking shelves, packaging products, and assisting consumers with food purchases. Actions include providing safety gear to employees, additional cleaning and sanitizing, installing Plexiglas shields at check-out lanes, adding floor decals to promote social distancing, and testing one-way aisles. Earlier this month, four Michigan Kroger employees were confirmed to have died from COVID-19. Its unclear where the employees were exposed to the illness. Aaron Squeo of Troy, who works at the Roseville Kroger as a meat cutter, reported shoppers are ignoring safeguards that have been put in place. Our store has been extremely busy and a lot of the customers dont seem to be paying attention to the one-way aisles and social distancing, he said. UFCW President Marc Perrone said the union has never been more concerned about the health and well-being of food retail workers, both union and non-union. Last week, the union conducted a 5,000 person study with 96 percent responding they were worried about being exposed to COVID-19 in the workplace. According to Perrone, at least 30 union members across the country have died from COVID-19 and at least 3,000 members are no longer at work because they have been exposed to the virus. Just four weeks ago, catching the virus at work was the least of their concerns, he said. Grocery stores workers are feeling scared, anxious, worried and stressed. We are seeing some companies not being able to find personal protective equipment or refusing to purchase enough of it. Last week, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer expanded her Stay Home, Stay Safe, Executive Order through April 30. The order included new guidance for essential businesses to follow in order to limit the amount of customers in stores and called on families to limit one person per errand run. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also provided new best practice guidance for grocery store shoppers and workers to help decrease exposure and increase the overall safety of both groups. Kroger, Michigans largest grocery store chain, has been one of a number of retail food chains taking steps to ensure that employees are safe and exposure to COVID-19 is limited as much as possible. Rachel Hurst, Kroger spokesperson, said the company is encouraging customers and employees follow the CDCs suggested hygiene practices to reduce the spread of the virus. A number of cleaning and sanitizing protocols have been put into place to increase store cleanliness including sanitizing restrooms more frequently and restocking with supplies, including soap, paper towels and hand sanitizer, adding extra hand sanitizer at cashier stations and food service counters, wiping down shopping carts, baskets and equipment, and partnering with our suppliers to replenish high-demand preparedness products. She said the company is working to secure more masks and gloves for its employees while continuing to advocate to government officials at all levels for help in securing a priority place in line for all grocery workers, after health care workers, to have access to protective masks and gloves. In addition, Kroger is now providing access to mental health services and other benefits to support the mental and physical well-being of its employees. An employee hotline has also been setup to ensure benefit questions are answered quickly. As the number of unemployed Americans continues to increase, so has the number of food service businesses looking to hire. On March 30, Kroger announced it would be hiring 2,000 workers while Meijer currently has openings for over 370 positions. According to The Washington Post, industry experts say the rise of worker infections and deaths will likely have a ripple effect on grocers ability to retain and add new workers at a time when theyre looking to rapidly hire thousands of temporary employees. One of the biggest mistakes supermarkets made early on was not allowing employees to wear masks and gloves the way they wanted to, said supermarket analyst Phil Lempert to The Washington Post. Theyre starting to become proactive now, but its still going to be much tougher to hire hundreds of thousands of new workers. Were going to start seeing people say, Ill just stay unemployed instead of risking my life for a temporary job. Frank Guglielmi, spokesperson for Meijer, said the company has taken some more recent steps to ensure stores are safe for both shoppers and team members. Some of these newer steps include conducting daily health screenings and temperature checks of employees as they arrive for work, installing plexiglass shields at check-out lanes, educating customers about social distancing, and suspending its weekly sales ad to help decrease the number of customers inside stores. We continue to look for additional ways to ensure the safety of our customers and team members in the face of this difficult challenge, said Rick Keyes, Meijer President and CEO. By working together, we can reduce the spread of this virus and help keep our communities safe. The head of Russias renowned Hermitage Museum said on Tuesday the government should ensure the survival of museums which are struggling during a coronavirus lockdown. Since the introduction of a ban on gatherings of more than 50 people in mid-March, museums across Russia have gradually closed their doors to the public. President Vladimir Putin then declared April a non-working month, encouraging Russians to stay home to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Hermitage chief Mikhail Piotrovsky said the museum had already lost half of its annual budget and was now in talks with the government in the hope to secure financial aid. The state must ensure the survival of culture, Piotrovsky said during an online news conference. The museum earned 2.5 billion rubles ($32 million) in 2018. Piotrovsky said that once the lockdown is over the museum would need about a month to prepare for a re-opening. The museum was founded in 1764 under Empress Catherine the Great and features more than three million works of art and world culture artefacts. Nearly five million people visited the Hermitage last year. Since the beginning of the lockdown, the museum has been organising virtual tours which have become very popular with art lovers. Piotrovsky said museum staff also kept feeding its famous cats that live there and hunt for mice and rats. Cats first found a home at the Hermitage long before it became a museum open to the public in the 1850s. They are now hugely popular with tourists who snap up souvenirs and postcards adorned with cat pictures on sale in the museums shops. (This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.) Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter TROY Three downtown churches will ring their bells 19 times Thursday evening as residents come out on their stoops to make noise and celebrate a sense of community during the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. Buddies Carl Erickson, 78, and J.R. Pattison, 89, came up with an initial Pottery District event for neighbors on April 16 to greet each other outside and get a break from the states stay-at-home order. The notion was they wanted to come out together. It was about community, Erickson said. The inspiration for that event, Erickson said was the Italian people who were locked in their homes in the high rises coming out on their balconies during the pandemic to greet each other. Now, Erickson and Pattison have expanded to honor doctors, nurses, EMTs and essential workers while hoping to bring out more residents. Theyve lined up First United Presbyterian Church, St. Pauls Episcopal Church and St. Johns Episcopal Church to toll their bells 19 times at 7 p.m., or 19:00 military time, Thursday to honor people dealing with COVID-19. Its very important. Its the bells of Troy. The bells were made in Troy, Pattison said. Troy was once the center for the casting of bells that rang out not only locally, but nationally and around the world. The Hudson Mohawk Industrial Gateway at the Burden Iron Works Museum in South Troy maintains records on the bells manufactured in Troy and Watervliet, many of which still ring today. Pattison and Erickson worked together with Rev. Michael Gorsuch, rector of St. Pauls, to install a new clapper mechanism on the church's 19th century bell. Pattisons great-great-grandfather Elias Pattison was a member of the church vestry when the bell was installed - the same one that will toll Thursday. The friends look forward to seeing the Pottery District effort expand and build on the April 16 coming together when the neighbors rang bells and clanged pots and pans. The response showed me that my neighbors shared my need to participate as a community and made me aware that at this point in the crisis the notion of community becomes all the more important to all us, Erickson said, that as an urban community frightened for our lives that standing out together is the right thing to do. . Pakistan has discreetly removed the names of around 4,000 terrorists from its watchlist, including that of one of the major planners of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) startup has revealed. Due to Pakistan's long history of exporting terror to India and the rest of the world, the country has been placed under grey list by Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global watchdog for terror funding. Dissatisfied with Pakistan's efforts to curb terror-funding, the FATF in February noted that Islamabad had addressed only 14 points out of 27 conditions to get off the grey list. The FATF is to again evaluate Pakistan's progress in June. The New York-based startup Castellum, which automates watchlist compliance, has found that in the last year and a half, Pakistan has deleted "3,800 names from the Proscribed Persons List, without explanation or notification to the public". The Imran Khan government removed about 1,800 names from its terrorist watchlist since March 9th "without any public explanation, including Zaka ur-Rehman, an alias of the Lashkar-e-Taiba leader and alleged mastermind of the Mumbai attacks", the Castellum report said. According to a FATF report, Pakistan's terrorist watchlist had about 7,600 names in October 2018. Castellum.AI, which regularly uses new data sources, added the Pakistan Proscribed Persons List to its database on March 9. Between March 9 and March 27, Castellum.AI data showed that the Khan government removed 1,069 names from the Proscribed Persons List, and that all those names then appeared on Pakistan's official denotified list. Since March 27, another 800 or so names have been deleted. To ensure that the AI looked at only the most likely cases where internationally listed terrorists were removed, the startup first downloaded the official Denotified List, then screening the names against its watchlist database. Following this, the AI removed all matches that did not match all name parts and removed all matches where the listed persons were not citizens of Afghanistan or Pakistan (the Proscribed Persons list seems to only have these two groups). Then the AI ensured that exculpatory information does not exist, for example, IDs that do not match, or news reports that the individual is deceased. The AI also ensured that the name, if not exact, matches an official alias. For example, Zaka Ur Rehman, who is more commonly known as Zaki Ur Rehman Lakhvi, but has an official alias 'Zaki Ur Rehman'. "In the case of Zaka Ur Rehman, the difference between Zaka and Zaki fits within the parameters of an accurate phonetic translation. Castellum.AI also searched for the Lashkar-e-Taiba leader's full name, Zaki Ur Rehman Lakhvi, on the Pakistan Proscribed Persons list, and he was not on the list. This means that if the removed name is a false positive, that Pakistan has not added the Lashkar-e-Taiba leader to its terrorism watchlist," the report said. Pakistan's Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) lead, the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), has provided no explanation for removal of the names. Castellum.AI provided data to the Wall Street Journal who in turn contacted the Pakistani government for comment. On April 15, an article was published in a Pakistani newspaper, saying that names were removed because "the list has been bloated up to 7,000 names with multiple inaccuracies such as the names of dead individuals, Afghan nationals, untraceable names without proper identifiers". New York, US (PANA) - The world is not only facing a global health pandemic but also a global humanitarian catastrophe, the UN food relief agency chief told the Security Council on Tuesday via video link There have been reports of doctors being abused, beaten and denied entry into residences A medics wearing protective suit is seen at LNJP hospital during the nationwide lockdown, in wake of the coronavirus pandemic, in New Delhi. PTI photo New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday interacted with a group of doctors and representatives of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and appreciated their good work besides assuring them security, officials said. This comes amid reports of attacks on healthcare workers and assaults on some doctors engaged in COVID-19 duties in different parts of the country. The home minister interacted with the doctors and the IMA through video-conferencing, a home ministry official said. Shah appreciated their good work and assured them full security, he said. The home minister appealed to them to not do even a symbolic protest as the government is with the doctors, the official said. The IMA was planning to stage protests against assaults on some doctors and healthcare workers engaged in COVID-19 duties. There have been reports of doctors being abused, beaten and denied entry into residences. Families of at least two doctors, who succumbed to the novel coronavirus in Shillong and Chennai, had faced opposition while performing their last rites as the locals claimed that burying them in their localities may lead to the spread of the infection. WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he has ordered the Navy to shoot down and destroy any Iranian gunboats that harass U.S. ships, a directive that comes a week after the Navy reported a group of Iranian boats made dangerous and harassing approaches to American vessels in the Persian Gulf. Trump did not cite a specific event in his tweet or provide details. The White House had no immediate comment. The U.S. Navys Bahrain-based 5th Fleet referred questions about the tweet to the Pentagon, and the Pentagon referred questions to the White House. Shortly before Trumps tweet, Irans Revolutionary Guard said it had put the Islamic Republics first military satellite into orbit, dramatically unveiling what experts described as a secret space program. That launch raised concerns among experts about whether the technology could be used to help Iran develop intercontinental ballistic missiles. Iran currently has short- and intermediate-range missiles. I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 22, 2020 Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi, a spokesman for Irans armed forces, accused Trump of bullying and said the American president should focus on taking care of U.S service members infected with the coronavirus. The U.S. military had more than 2,600 confirmed cases of coronavirus as of last week, and at least two service members have succumbed to COVID-19, the disease the virus causes. Today, Americans must do their best to save those troops who are infected with coronavirus instead of bullying others, Shekarchi said, according to Irans semi-official news agency ISNA. U.S. Navy ships and Iranian Guard naval vessels occasionally have encounters in the Gulf that the U.S. calls unprofessional, but they rarely escalate or include an exchange of gunfire. Tehran views the heavy presence of American forces there as a security threat. I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea, Trump said in his tweet. Last Wednesday, the U.S. Navy said Revolutionary Guard vessels repeatedly crossed the bows and sterns of several American ships at close range and high speed in the northern Gulf. The American vessels included the USS Paul Hamilton, a Navy destroyer and the USS Lewis B. Puller, a ship that serves as an afloat landing base. The ships were operating with U.S. Army Apache attack helicopters in international waters, the statement said. The dangerous and provocative actions increased the risk of miscalculation and collision ... and were not in accordance with the obligation under international law to act with due regard for the safety of other vessels in the area, the Navy said in a statement. According to the Navy, the Americans issued multiple warnings via bridge-to-bridge radio, fired five short blasts from the ships horns and long-range acoustic noise maker devices, but received no immediate response, the statement said. After about an hour, the Iranian vessels responded to the bridge-to-bridge radio queries, then maneuvered away. Iran claimed the U.S. triggered that episode. American commanders are trained to make nuanced and careful judgment calls about how to respond to incidents at sea. Rather than immediately resort to the use of deadly force, commanders are expected to act based on the specific circumstances, including the threat to their own crews and adherence to the international laws of warfare. Generally, as in the case of last Wednesdays incident, warships will issue warnings by a variety of means, including via bridge-to-bridge radio, before taking more direct action. Tensions between the nations escalated after the Trump administration withdrew from the international nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran. Last May the U.S. sent thousands more troops, including long-range bombers and an aircraft carrier, to the Middle East in response to what it called a growing threat of Iranian attacks on U.S. interests in the region. The tensions spiked when U.S. forces killed Irans most powerful general, Qassem Soleimani, in January. Iran responded with a ballistic missile attack on a base in western Iraq where U.S. troops were present. No Americans were killed but more than 100 suffered mild traumatic brain injuries from the blasts. Also, Iran-backed Shiite militias in Iraq continue to threaten American forces there. Related Content: Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 17:51:01|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TOKYO, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Nagasaki prefectural government on Wednesday said that 33 more crew members aboard an Italian cruise ship docked in the Koyagi district have tested positive for the coronavirus, bringing the total number to 34. On Tuesday, one member aboard the Costa Atlantica, docked for repairs in the southwestern prefecture, was confirmed as being infected with the virus, with prefectural officials saying they would conduct tests on 53 others who had been in close contact with the infected crew member. In addition, the officials said that tests would also be conducted on four of the ship's cooks. The 33 who have newly tested positive for the coronavirus, at the moment, have not developed severe symptoms and have not been judged as being in a critical condition, the officials added. Of the ship's total crew of 623, those who have tested positive have been put in quarantine, while the remaining are staying in cabins that have balconies, said the officials. There are no passengers aboard the vessel. The ship, operated by Costa Crociere, arrived in Nagasaki on Jan. 29 and was scheduled to remain until the end of April, although health ministry specialists said Wednesday that it is likely that a cluster of coronavirus infections has occurred aboard the vessel. Due to the potential for a significant outbreak of the pneumonia-carrying virus, Nagasaki Gov. Hodo Nakamura said he plans to ask the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to be dispatched to help with the situation. Following a request from the Italian government, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press briefing in Tokyo on Wednesday that officials and specialists from Japan's health ministry had been sent to the ship. "We will take appropriate measures to prevent the spread of the virus in cooperation with Nagasaki Prefecture and others," Japan's top government spokesperson said. Enditem Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met on Tuesday with representatives of the Syrian Opposition High Negotiations Committee HNC in Cairo, the Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement. According to the statement, both sides discussed ways to boost the political reconciliation process in the war-torn Country. Egypt is keen to support efforts for a political reconciliation in Syria in accordance to the UN security council resolution No.2254 that aims at the restoration of security and stability in the war-torn country and that achieves the aspirations of Syrian people. From their side, the HNC delegation expressed their appreciation of the "Egyptian balanced role to reach out for all Syrian parties and political powers in order to end the Syrian crisis as soon as possible." Search Keywords: Short link: As if Southeast Texans didnt have enough to worry about with the coronavirus, a new threat has emerged that impacts our area and the entire state: the sudden collapse of worldwide oil prices. Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick summed up the situation well when he said, We are going to be seeing some difficult times, particularly with oil dropping so low. Branicks concern is justified because oil is so important to the regional and state economy. Southeast Texas is involved with the refining end of the business, with four major refineries here, which insulates us somewhat from the plunge in prices on the drilling side. U.S. consumers and businesses still need the gasoline and related refined products we produce, but at a much lower volume with the general downturn in activity caused by the virus. In other parts of the country, refineries have had to shut down, and fortunately our facilities have avoided that fate. But its hard for some of these huge, complex plants to run at lower capacities. Even so, less demand leads to less need for labor. Oil prices have bottomed out because mega-producers Saudi Arabia and Russia kept churning out huge volumes of oil even as worldwide demand started to drop in January and February. The Trump administration wants to help the U.S. oil industry by purchasing some domestic oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which will help some. The reserve, set up in salt caverns along the Gulf Coast in Texas and Louisiana, currently holds about 635 million barrels and can take another 77 million barrels. But that latter amount is less than what the country consumed on average in just four days in 2019. What happens in West Texas doesnt stay there because the state economy is heavily dependent on oil revenues, from exploration to drilling to trucking to pipelines. When the Texas Legislature convenes in January, it will be looking at a big drop in state tax revenues, possibly even a budget deficit, something lawmakers havent had to face in years. That will means less state funding for cities, counties and school districts in our area and across the state which of course will have less revenue of their own to work with because of the virus. Branick believes that the state and the area are on the back side of viral infections, and we hope hes correct. But this disease has surprised us at almost every stage, so its difficult to make predictions on how it will play out. Clearly, difficult times lie ahead for the economy of Southeast Texas, and that assumes that the virus will recede soon and our businesses can gradually reopen. Local governments, and local most residents, are going to have less money to work with in coming months, and we all need to prepare to adjust to this new reality. By PTI WASHINGTON: Indian pharmaceutical companies, the well-known for producing affordable low-cost medicines, will play an important role in the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic that has affected over 2.5 million people across the world, India's top diplomat here has said. India's Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu also underlined that as global strategic partners, India and the US are prepared to face this public health crisis together. India, one of the largest producers of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, has seen a spurt in demand in recent weeks. India has sent the drug to over 50 countries over the last few days, including the United States, he said on Tuesday. ALSO READ| India co-sponsors UN resolution calling for equitable access to coronavirus vaccines Hydroxychloroquine has been identified by the US Food and Drug Administration as a possible treatment for the COVID-19 and it is being tested on more than 1,500 coronavirus patients in New York. "Indian pharmaceutical companies are global leaders in producing affordable low-cost medicines and will play an important role in the fight against this pandemic," Sandhu said in his virtual conversation with Asia Society Policy Institute Senior Fellow Puneet Talwar. In fact, India and the US have robust partnership in the area of health and scientific research, which will be critical in the fight against this disease that has killed over 171,000 people and affected over 2.5 million globally. "Perhaps the most successful tangible example of our successful bilateral cooperation in recent years was the development of the rotavirus vaccine, which saves thousands of lives every year," he said. Rotavirus vaccine is a vaccine used to protect against rotavirus infections, which are the leading cause of severe diarrhea among young children. "Our network of scientific institutions, including the Indian Council of Medical Research and NIH (National Institute of Health) and the CDC (Center for Disease Control) in the US are in touch with each other. This is part of our longstanding cooperation, which has been energised in the context of this pandemic," Sandhu said. ALSO READ| Coronavirus impact: Experts warn against using water from shut buildings immediately after lockdown Indian and the US companies are also collaborating in the co-development of a vaccine. The US India Science and Technology Endowment Fund has called for proposals that would enable scientists to collaborate, to carry out joint research and to also work towards the development of new technologies, to fight COVID-19. Observing that the shape of the world that will emerge from the pandemic may be unfamiliar, he said "we need" to navigate through this crisis through a coordinated response and individual countries need to rely on their strengths. "As global strategic partners India and the US are prepared to face this together. We are ready to deploy a full sprint of our partnership to fight this pandemic as Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) has said," Sandhu added. The outbreak of coronavirus is an unprecedented challenge in an increasingly interconnected world. The US has been badly affected by the deadly coronavirus as it has claimed 45,000 lives and infected over 824,000 people in the country. "The rapid spread of virus across the globe in a relatively short period of time showed that the virus was ahead of us," he said, noting that governments across the world are making efforts to slow the spread and flatten the curve so that the medical infrastructure is not overburdened. CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW LIVE COVERAGE OF COVID-19 Responding to a question, Sandhu said that given the transnational nature of this pandemic and India's responsibility as a first responder in the region, which it has always done in the time of crisis, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the initiative to invite the other seven South Asian country leaders for a video conference on March 15. The prime minister took the initiative to establish a SAARC emergency response fund with an initial contribution of USD 10 million from India. This has since become operational, he said, adding that all the other countries have also contributed subsequently. Nepal and Afghanistan pledged USD 1 million each, Maldives committed USD 200,000, Bhutan USD 100,000, Bangladesh USD 1.5 million, Sri Lanka USD 5 million and Pakistan pledged USD 3 million to the fund. Founded in 1985, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation and geopolitical union of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. "We are working to create a SAARC platform and we are regularly sharing ideas and proposals for diagnostics and medical interventions with other countries," he said. He said that in the virtual G-20 summit Prime Minister Modi had taken the initiative and has also underlined the responsibility of the G-20 countries in combating this disease. Alia Bhatt features in Mumbai Police force's latest effort in their ongoing campaign exhorting people to stay indoors, in these times of COVID-19 pandemic. On their official page, Mumbai Police have shared a meme featuring a smiling Alia in her "Gully Boy" look. "That face when he says he is going out for a walk during lockdown," reads the meme. Mumbai Police tweeted the meme with this caption: "Abort mission. We repeat - Abort Mission! #StayHome #StaySafe." Lately, Mumbai Police have been posting quirky tweets featuring Bollywood stars, their films and popular on-screen characters, while advising people to stay at home during the lockdown. This is not the first time Alia features in a tweet by Mumbai Police. Recently, they had created a message using the names of her popular films while urging people to stay at home. "Mumbaikars, we hope you all are 'Raazi' with this advise of Ms @aliaa08 to not venture out in any Gully' unnecessarily and take care of Dear Zindagi' for all!" they had tweeted. Mumbaikars, we hope you all are 'Raazi' with this advise of Ms @aliaa08 to not venture out in any Gully unnecessarily and take care of Dear Zindagi for all! https://t.co/WcGui5iYUS Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) April 9, 2020 Other stars who have featured in Mumbai Police's quirky tweets include Ajay Devgn, Shahid Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan and Arjun Kapoor. Recently, Mumbai Police tweeted mentioning Abhishek Bachchan's character in the "Dhoom" franchise, ACP Jai Dixit, as an inspiration. Their official handle shared: "Just taking the 'ACP Jai Dixit' route to ensure that the city gets back to normalcy soon -- that too, with a 'Dhoom'! All Mumbaikars need to do is not make 'Dus Bahaane' about going out unnecessarily!" Just taking the ACP Jai Dixit route to ensure that the city gets back to normalcy soon - that too, with a Dhoom!All Mumbaikars need to do is not make Dus Bahaane about going out unnecessarily! https://t.co/USkaUrnbCE Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) April 9, 2020 They even tweeted using Ajay Devgn's popular movies: "Dear Singham, Just doing what khakee is supposed to do to ensure that things return to how they were - Once upon a time in Mumbai! #TakingOnCorona." Dear Singham,Just doing what Khakee is supposed to do to ensure that things return to how they were - Once upon a time in Mumbai! #TakingOnCorona https://t.co/iZzJNK6mPs Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) April 8, 2020 Their tweet featuring Shahid Kapoor's films read: "The most Shaandaar' support Mumbaikars can provide right now is to stay at home. And make plans for what all we would do together Jab We Meet' post #lockdown #TakingOnCorona." The most Shaandaar support Mumbaikars can provide right now is to stay at home. And make plans for what all we would do together Jab We Meet post #lockdown #TakingOnCorona https://t.co/OrliU3BtXZ Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) April 9, 2020 Tweeting with the names of Arjun Kapoor's movies, Mumbai Police had shared: "Taking no half' measures to ensure safety from #corona in Mumbai - a city with millions of Ishaqzaades' in love with it!" Taking no half measures to ensure safety from #corona in Mumbai - a city with millions of Ishaqzaades in love with it! https://t.co/fvwRIoAk5l Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) April 9, 2020 Follow @News18Movies for more Different countries are trying to come up with different cures for COVID-19. Israel has been banking on placenta based therapy and it seems to be working well for COVID-19 patients. This placenta-based cell therapy formulated by an Israeli therapeutic company has reportedly cured six critically-ill (COVID-19) patients in Israel. REpresentative Image/AFP According to a recent report posted on The Jerusalem Posts website, data provided by Haifa, Israel-based Pluristem Therapeutic Inc., indicated that the six patients, who were suffering from acute respiratory failure and inflammations associated with COVID-19, received treatment at three Israeli hospitals for a week. According to a report, Pluristem Therapeutics uses placentas to grow smart cells, and programs them to secrete therapeutic proteins in the bodies of sick people'. Last week Israel treated its first American COVID-19 patient after treating seven Israelis. All the patients treated with the placenta therapy had high-risk for mortality from coronavirus, while four of them also demonstrated failure of other organ systems, including cardiovascular and kidney failure. The bioreactor where Pluristem produces cells for its treatment /David Garb According to Pluristem, all the patients survived; of them, four showed improvement in their respiratory conditions, three were in advanced stages of weaning from ventilators and two with preexisting medical conditions were showing recovery, aside from improving respiration. The companys president and chief executive officer Yaky Yanay, reportedly said that they are pleased with the initial outcome of the compassionate use program and committed to harnessing PLX cells for the benefit of patients and healthcare systems. Pluristem is dedicated to using its competitive advantages in large-scale manufacturing to potentially deliver PLX cells to a large number of patients in significant need." Yanay is confident that his innovation will save lives, by improving the health of critical patients, thereby freeing up space in intensive care units for others. David Garb I think this will have a huge impact because currently the battle is in the ICUs. We need to take people off ventilation machines and get them out of ICUs, he reportedly said. The therapy has worked in three hospitals in the country till now. Israel currently has close to 14,000 cases of which over 4,500 have recovered. Even though the country seems to have found a potential cure for COVID-19, they must tread carefully, experts warn. Proper trails should be carried out first in order to implement the therapy across the nation. Last week, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio invoked the ineffable uniqueness of his city's character as a justification for declining to shut down streets for pedestrians. In a press conference on Wednesday, de Blasio doubled down on his New York exceptionalism with a bizarre generalization about California drivers. Asked once more to name specific reasons that de Blasio did not support following the Oakland model of closing some streets to through traffic, the mayor explained that drivers are just different in California. "A very obvious specific thing in California: drivers stop at intersections even if there's no light or stop sign," de Blasio said. "They stop when people are trying to cross the street even in the middle of the street, a lot of the time. This is a very different culture." In Wednesday's press conference, the mayor once again incorrectly stated that Oakland's program lacked enforcement or physical signage. (In fact, Oakland's "slow streets" feature signage and barriers on each block.) BDB: 'I do not believe it will work': NYC mayor Bill De Blasio dismisses Oakland's plan to close streets "The Oakland model, as I understand it, was assessed by NYPD and Department of Transportation," de Blasio said. "(They have) streets that are delineated as pedestrian. They are not blocked off physically this is what I've been briefed on and there is not an enforcement apparatus in place. So It's something of an honor system, if you will." On Twitter, Californians roasted the mayor for his confused takes. "California is an incredibly diverse state with over 160k square miles of land area, so almost any generalization is going to be incorrect," Oakland bicycle advocate Robert Prinz wrote. "That being said, no, de Blasio has no idea what hes talking about." Many Twitter users pointed out that California is actually infamous for the "California stop," where drivers roll through a stop sign without coming to a complete stop. Meanwhile, during the presser, de Blasio maintained his stance. "The leading model was Oakland," de Blasio said. "I do not think that model fits our circumstances, specifically. Obviously, we are much more densely populated and we have a very different driving culture." Michael Rosen is an SFGATE digital editor. Email: michael.rosen@sfgate.com. Almost every single person in this world is experiencing some sort of stress right now. If you are in the same boat, you probably know what I'm talking about. Stress can affect our bodies in more ways than one and it might be taking a different kind of toll on the female body. Women, including myself, are experiencing irregular periods during this lockdown period and apparently, there is a reason behind it all. While some women are facing intense cramps and light spotting for the first time, others are getting their period way too early. If you are someone who is going through the same, fret not because you are not alone. Unsplash In an interview with Cosmopolitan UK, Dr Sarah Toler, Doctor of Nursing Practice said, "Stress activates a hormonal pathway in the body called the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Together, these three components (that's the HPA axis, cortisol, and CRH) help to control stress response in the body." Dr Toler who is also a science writer at female health app Clue, added, "Excess release of cortisol can suppress normal levels of reproductive hormones, potentially leading to abnormal ovulation, which can disrupt your cycle." She further explains that this disturbance to the body could push the period to start early or later than expected. In some cases, some women might not get their period at all. Clue (Dr Sarah Toler) Stress also has the potential to affect the length of your menstrual cycle by making your periods longer or shorter than your usual cycle. To make matters worse, women are finding themselves in more than usual painful menstrual cramps. The doctor also mentions that if you haven't experienced any of it, there are chances you just might in the coming future. She explains that the changes might not be clear enough initially and could take their sweet time to be evident. She said, "Stress from the preceding month may also affect the frequency of dysmenorrhea, so someone might not experience painful menstruation as a result of stress until their period the following month." Diabetes UK WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate has approved a nearly $500 billion coronavirus aid bill after Congress reached an agreement with President Donald Trump. The measure would replenish a small business rescue program, provide hospitals with another $75 billion, and implement a nationwide virus testing program to facilitate reopening the economy. Trump has announced his support, saying hell sign the bill if it passes both chambers. The package now goes to the House. Most of the funding, more than $300 billion, would go to boost a small-business payroll loan program that ran out of money last week. NEW HAVEN As federal stimulus checks in response to the coronavirus pandemic begin to reach businesses, institutions and individual taxpayers this week, Danny Diaz has noticed that some are excluded from receiving support. In undocumented communities, they dont get the incentive checks the government is giving, and they also dont qualify for other programs, but theyre the ones on the front lines offering services and theyre the people who work on the farms and in the restaurants, said Diaz, coordinator of parent engagement for New Haven Public Schools. Diazs job consists largely of assisting the families of public school students who are ordinarily disconnected from resources for reasons ranging from citizenship to language barriers, to poverty. Although school buildings closed on March 13 to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus, those families need help now more than ever, he said. In the first week, parents wanted chromebooks to make sure their kids get educated [during distance learning], but now theyre saying they need food, he said. According to state data, 60.4 percent of New Haven students are federally eligible for free lunch, which means their household earns below 130 percent of the federal poverty level in income for a family of four, that would be $33,475 annually. But as a result of the pandemic, many people are losing their jobs, which has created even more need, Diaz said. Families weve spoken to have ranged from homeless families who are doubled up through (The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act) to some families who lost their jobs. Its an array of families and the need has extended to people from all walks of life, Diaz said. According to the Connecticut Department of Labor, the state preliminarily lost 7,600 non-farm jobs in the month of March, which was 0.5 percent of jobs in the state. However, the department noted that the March report could not capture the full extent of the impact of COVID-19 for that month. While an estimated 180,000 Connecticut residents filed unemployment claims last year, 220,000 had filed them in the 18 days preceding April 2, ctnewsjunkie.com reported, citing Gov. Ned Lamont. Because of the greater need, Diaz began to seek a network of donors who could give families in need direct support. One of the first to heed the call was Gabriela Garcia-Perez, a senior at Guilford High School who has run a volunteer program for Fair Haven Middle School students for three years. Garcia-Perezs program, the Community Integration Mentoring Program, is designed to link high school and older middle school students with younger middle school students in a mentoring capacity. A focus of the program is to help young English learners develop their abilities in English, but Garcia-Perez and her team of volunteers also aim to instill a sense of civic engagement in the mentees. The dynamic of the program is small group sessions, because we really do want to develop the idea of a personal connection, she said. In those small groups, the mentees learn about ways to be engaged around helping to reduce homelessness and reducing food waste. Although the closing of schools means the CIMP no longer meets in person, Garcia-Perez is able to continue the work through the Office of Youth, Family and Community Engagement, or YFCE. Ive used contacts within there and reached out to many different organizations around our area to see if people would be willing to donate some sort of grocery list item to those in need in the Greater New Haven area, she said. Were trying to find different ways of continuing to do the good work were used to doing and its great way to integrate our communities with the overarching idea of the program, she said. Diaz said staff within the YFCE office also have been able to rely on connections to obtain donations of N95 masks for families. So far, Diaz said donors have been directly connected to more than 30 families to provide them financial assistance with groceries and other needs. Were working together as a community to support not only families in need, but to support the community as a whole, he said. The office is also picking up canned goods and other materials from donors to contribute directly to organizations such as the mutual aid organization Semilla Collective. Diaz said the work is pertinent to the work schools do because of the importance of proper nutrition for student learning. A healthy child is a healthy mind, he said. brian.zahn@hearstmediact.com Take a look at these 5 people who have been actively raising their voice against climate change. 1. Greta Thunberg. The teenager who is best known for her fiery speech at the United Nations regarding Climate Change has been at the cause since the year 2018. She started her flight with protesting in front of the Swedish parliament building. She pledged to continue her protest till the time the Swedish government met the carbon emissions target agreed by world leaders in Paris, in 2015. In 2019, she took a year off from school and attended environment conferences across the world. 2. Ridhima Pandey. She was all of 9 when Ridhima sued the Indian government in the year 2017 after it failed to address the issue of climate change. In her suit, she had asked the government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, develop a carbon budget strategy, and create plans for recovering from the effects of climate change. 3. Aakash Ranison. Aakash has been a part of projects like Spiti Valley project, The Kozhikode Beach project etc. He is also a climate journalist, and writes about climate change extensively and is also a digital activist and often engages in the same through social media. 4. Licypriya Kangujam. The 8-year-old girl has been actively campaigning for action to be taken in order to tackle climate change in India. The Manipur-based girl during her campaign has continuously urged the government to make new laws in order to control Indias high pollution level. Apart from that she also wants that lessons regarding Climate Change are compulsorily taught in school. 5. Aditya Mukarji. He started campaigning against the use of plastic in the year 2018. He was 13 years old when he started going from cafe to cafe in order to urge them to stop using plastic straws and switch to eco-friendly alternatives instead. He has also been a part of quite a few campaigns that are against tree cutting. (TNS) In stunning new findings, researchers working in Los Angeles County, Calif., contend that the number of people who have been infected with coronavirus could be as much as 55 times higher than the levels experts originally believed.The results of the first round of syrology testing announced by L.A. County public health officials on Monday, April 20, in tandem with researchers from USC found that between 221,000 to 442,000 L.A. County adults may have been infected at some point in the last three months with COVID-19.The results, combined with studies from Santa Clara County, appear to show how the U.S.s severe shortage of testing led to a profound undercount of COVID-19 cases, the researchers said.The numbers indicate the virus could be far less deadly than believed. But they also heighten public health concerns because more people may be spreading to virus to more vulnerable people.The Santa Clara findings, however, have come under fire in recent days and the researchers promised to release more information about how the studies were performed.The L.A. County numbers underscore the belief among some researchers that many people are asymptomatic for the disease, or simply had it and didnt know it.So while I report every day that we have thousands and thousands of people who have tested positive for the coronavirus, the syrology tests let us know we have hundreds of thousands of people that have already developed antibodies to the virus because at some point over the last couple of months, they have been infected with COVID-19, L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said.That doesnt mean they are immune or cannot be reinfected, Ferrer said, adding that more studies are need to confirm that. Ferrer said the results reinforce the need for social distancing. We need to assume that any point in time we can become infected, Ferrer said.In L.A. County, researchers on April 10-14 sampled the blood of a random population of 863 area residents at six testing sites.Researchers found that between 2.8 percent and 5.6 percent of the countys population has been infected at some point. That translated into a preliminary estimate 28 to 55 times higher than the 7,994 confirmed cases at the time of the study, officials said.The next wave of syrology testing is scheduled in about three weeks. These tests seek out antibodies which reveal who has had the virus, whose immune system had fought it off, or was in the process of fighting it off. They are not the same as virology tests, which use a swab of the saliva or nasal passage to collect a specimen, which is then tested for presence of the virus.Antibodies are the bodys crime fighters, binding to alien invaders in your blood. They attack antigens like viruses with the hope of destroying them. And ultimately, researchers think they hold valuable insight into how the body fights off COVID-19.Ultimately, if the numbers hold up over a series of rounds, they could have implications for how soon social distancing orders are eased, and when a humbled economy can reboot.County Public health officials mused about a future where perhaps more frequent antibody testing could help loosen and tighten restrictions over time, a kind of dance that might have to occur over 12 months, said Dr. Paul Simon, chief science officer with county.The county has teamed up with USC Price School of Public Policy and Lieberman Research Worldwide for the antibody study.The Stanford researchers said that their work revealed that between 48,000 and 81,000 people in Santa Clara County may have been infected by the coronavirus by early April 50 to 85 times more than the number of official cases at that date.Stanfords low-end estimate of Santa Clara County cases is nearly double the confirmed total 28,000 for the entire state of California. The study estimated 2.5 percent to 4.2 percent of residents here carry antibodies to the pathogen, a marker of past infection that suggests it may be safe for them to go back to work and school.A heated debate, however, has erupted over the Santa Clara County research. Critics claim the studys methodology is dangerously flawed and question the political motives of the Stanford-led team.Others have pointed to the study as proof that COVID-19 is merely a partisan-driven flu hoax, as protests broke out this weekend over frustrations with the shutdowns, including two in Orange County.In response, on Sunday, the studys authors said they are planning to soon release a detailed appendix that addresses many of the criticisms and incorporates many of the suggestions into the paper itself.We have received a vast number of constructive comments and suggestions on our working paper over the past couple of days, said Dr. Jayanta Bhattacharya, professor of medicine at Stanford University.This is exactly the way peer-review should work in scientific work, and we are looking forward to engaging with other scholars as we proceed in this important work, he said.In Santa Clara County, researchers used social media posts to seek 3,300 participants, which critics say assured that pool wasnt demographically representative of the population. Researchers say they adjusted their numbers based on that fact.In LA County, a market research team was hired to gather those tested, so they would be more demographically representative of the countys residents, said Dr. Neeraj Sood, professor & vice dean for research and faculty affairs at the USC Price School of Public Policy.Sood said he was confident in the integrity of the L.A. County tests, and that researchers were accounting for any false positives and negatives. He also cautioned putting too much weight into the idea of a reduced mortality rate. That rate, under the new findings, falls drastically from where it was hovering around 4%. Ferrer said that was good news, because it means 95% of the rest of the population survives.Sood echoed Ferrer, but with a sobering caveat. We could say maybe that the good news is that the fatality rate is slightly lower that what we thought it would be, he said. But the fatality rate is not the only number we should focus on. Only 4 percent of our population have been infected, which means were very early in the epidemic and many more people in LA County could potentially be infected. And as the number of infects rises, so will the number of deaths, the number of hospitalizations and the number of ICU admissions.Sood and Simons team will continue testing for the next three months, with another round in two to three weeks. Sood said theyd like to get a larger sample, and dig deeper into testing underrepresented communities.As it is, there were some early glimpses of how the respiratory disease is spreading among L.A. communities:L.A. County officials are hopeful they can learn more as local research progresses. If researchers can measure a persons COVID-19 antibodies via blood tests, theyll learn how the bodys immune system is responding to the infection.On a larger scale, researchers are aiming to have a vital tool in:Detecting current and past COVID-19 infections. For instance, maybe somebody has it, but doesnt realize they have it, because somehow theyve got antibodies that are dealing with it.Understanding the spread of the virus in the county. Over a period of months, public health experts will be able to track the spread better including gaining a better sense of demographic data that could ultimately help in containing it.Assessing future hospital bed and ventilator needs. If they better know the bodys immune response, theyll better understand who is the most vulnerable to becoming sick, and when.Examining the differences in COVID-19 infection rates between men and women, different age groups and by race and ethnicity, experts said. And they could help in developing treatments gleaned from the plasma of those who have built defenses against the disease.Preparing for any more waves of the virus.The goal is to give better data to the models, so they can predict better, and then use those data to make better public policy, Sood said. In the wake of shortages, a central Pennsylvania organization has gone the extra mile to ensure local Pennsylvania State Police troopers have the protective gear they need to serve the public during the coronavirus outbreak. The agency shared on Twitter that the Central Pennsylvania Chinese Association recently donated 250 face masks to the Pennsylvania State Polices barracks in Harrisburg. A big thank you to the Central Pennsylvania Chinese Association for their generous donation of 250 surgical masks to PSP to help keep us safe. We are so thankful to those who have lended a helping hand. #WereAllInThisTogether pic.twitter.com/R3ZvXiw8Tw Troopers Megan Ammerman and Kelly Smith (@PSPTroopHPIO) April 21, 2020 We are so thankful to those who have lended a helping hand, the troopers said. The Harrisburg station patrols areas of Dauphin, Cumberland, Franklin, Adams and Perry counties. The CPCA is a non-profit organization which hosts cultural and social activities to promote friendship between central Pennsylvania communities. Since the pandemic took off, the organization has donated more than 9,000 masks to hospitals, police stations, state offices, grocery stores and more, according to President Lan Ziegler. In keeping with the rich tradition of helping our community, members of the Central Pennsylvania Chinese Association have responded powerfully to supporting our healthcare workers in the COVID-19 pandemic, Ziegler said. Face masks have been in high demand over the last month, especially in light of Gov. Tom Wolfs recommendation that all Pennsylvanians wear them any time they need to leave their homes. The gear is a requirement for those who work at life-sustaining businesses, including grocery stores or pharmacies. Harrisburg police officers recently bought 300 microfiber shields or biker bandanas for its officers to use while on the job. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said masks can be made at home with elastic ties and fabric. Scarves are also considered an acceptable alternative. CDC recommendations on how to make and wear face masks can be accessed online. Primeste notificari pe email Contractare si Achizitie Bunuri Anunturi de Angajare (Premium) Granturi - Finantari (Premium) Burse de studiu Stagii Profesionale Oportunitati de voluntariat Toate Articolele Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung (R) gives a box symbolizing a batch of face masks to Indian Ambassador to Vietnam Pranay Verma, April 21, 2020. Photo courtesy of Vietnam-Indian Friendship Association. Vietnam-Indian Friendship Association (VIFA) on Tuesday presented 100,000 antibacterial cloth masks to India to assist the South Asian nations Covid-19 fight. Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung, who also chairs the association, handed over the made-in-Vietnam masks in a symbolic gesture to Indian Ambassador to Vietnam Pranay Verma. The Covid-19 pandemic is one of the biggest challenges humankind has faced over the last 100 years, he said, noting Vietnam and India can cooperate and exchange experience to jointly defeat this outbreak. India has reported over 20,000 infections, claiming 645 lives as of Wednesday. In order to help the country of 1.3 billion combat the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, the association has called on businesses in the information and communications sector to donate 100,000 antibacterial cloth masks to India. Ambassador Pranay Verma received the gift on behalf of the Indian Red Cross Society and thanked VIFA and the people of Vietnam for their friendly gesture, stressing the masks would be allocated to Indian localities in the most suitable way to combat the Covid-19. Vietnam has donated over a million antibacterial masks and other medical supplies to countries worst-hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, including Cambodia, China, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Laos, Japan, Russia, Spain, Sweden, the U.K. and the U.S. Vietnamese companies are capable of producing eight million antibacterial cloth masks a day, with the government allowing their export after domestic demand was met. The country has reported no new Covid-19 cases since last Thursday, with the current patient count at 45. There have been no deaths. The pandemic has claimed over 177,600 lives and spread to 210 countries and territories. Thirty-four nurses from Colorado landed in New Jersey on Tuesday in an effort to assist with coronavirus patients at Catholic hospitals in the state. Were in awe of everyone stepping up to help N.J. in our time of need. We will never forget these incredible acts of selflessness and solidarity, Gov. Phil Murphy said in a tweet. The nurses will work at Catholic Healthcare Partnership of New Jersey hospitals which include St. Josephs Health in Paterson, Trinitas Regional Medical Center in Elizabeth, and Saint Peters Healthcare System in New Brunswick. The nurses are from Colorado-based Centura Health, which asked for volunteers from within their ranks to assist nurses in New Jersey. Colorado nurses have seen a decline in caseloads due to the cancellation of elective procedures and low volumes of coronavirus patients. Each Centura Health caregiver has an inner calling to minister where the need is, as we have always done in our 138-year history, and to stand by their fellow heroes to extend hope, healing, and kindness in a most critical time, Peter D. Banko, president and CEO of Centura Health, said in a statement. All of the nurses were flown in on United Airlines, which is sponsoring flights for medical workers into New Jersey during the crisis. CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage As the COVID-19 crisis continues to impact New Jersey, home to our Newark hub, we believe its essential to support healthcare workers who choose to risk their own lives by joining the frontlines in the state to fight against the virus and offer relief to existing medical workers who have been working tirelessly, Jill Kaplan, president of New Jersey/New York for United, said in a statement. Trinitas Regional is ready to welcome 20 nurses to its team, hospital CEO Gary S. Horan told NJ Advance Media. The nurses are very courageous, coming from Colorado to an area they know very little about, its very inspiring to say the least, Horan said in an interview. Nine nurses will work in the emergency department of Trinitas, while another 11 will be assigned to the medical/surgical units. About 75% of the hospitals current patients are sickened with COVID-19. All of our staff, physicians, nurses, support staff are living the mission of hospital, and its very inspiring to see them come to work, see them take care of patients, wearing the protective equipment necessary, and keeping a sense of humor, Horan said. The hope is that the nurses coming in from Colorado will be able to provide some relief for the New Jersey nurses. A number of Trinitas nurses have been sickened with coronavirus or in quarantine, some of whom have already returned to work. The intensity of this virus really takes a lot out of you. Theyre working very, very hard and hopefully theyre not too fatigued, Horan said. Cases have begun to plateau at the hospital, and Horan hopes they are at the start of the decline. Still, over a month at the front lines of the pandemic has taken its toll, he said. The relief nurses from Colorado are expected to stay for about three or four weeks, depending on need, Horan said. The nurses will be staying at the Hilton in Elizabeth, which gave the hospital a very good rate, Horan said. The hospital is paying for all meals, both at the hospital and at the hotel. Were really looking forward to meeting them and welcoming them with welcome arms, Horan said ahead of the nurses arrival on Tuesday. They are truly are now part of the Trinitas family. Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share. Katie Kausch may be reached at kkausch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KatieKausch. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us: nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Health chiefs have issued guidance for bakeries struggling to source dust masks as the Covid-19 outbreak pushes up demand for protective personal equipment (PPE). With a shortage of masks in many parts of the food industry, the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) has said suitable flour dust control can be achieved using good working practices and local exhaust ventilation. HSE guidance states PPE with an assigned protection factor (APF) of 20 should be used to protect workers from flour dust. If employers expected to run out of supplies of APF 20 equipment and couldnt source it from elsewhere HSE advised they should carry out a COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) risk assessment to identify the additional dust exposure minimising measures in place and ensure the risk to workers would not be increased by providing PPE with an APF of 10. HSE said PPE with an APF of 10, used in a combination of the below measures might control exposure to as low as reasonably possible and meant that a business was complying with Regulation 7 of the COSHH requirements. The additional measures should include: Using non-stick coatings on conveyor belts and greaseproof paper on trays instead of flouring the surfaces Using low-dust flours as a lubricant and for dusting Using flour improvers in paste or liquid form instead of powder to reduce the airborne dust generated when adding ingredients Separating the weighing and dispensing of flour and powdered ingredients from the remainder of the production area, using enclosures to contain the flour dust and minimise its spread Using mixers with lids to contain the dust at the start of mixing cycles Using effective, adequately designed and maintained local exhaust ventilation for dusty tasks, such as bulk flour sieving, dispensing, weighing and tipping powdered ingredients Ensuring all workers had been provided with information, instruction and training on careful flour handling techniques Ensuring supervision of all workers to carry out the careful flour working techniques and minimise their exposure to flour dust, as well as raising any concerns or defects immediately. The HSE said it would continue to investigate reports of occupational asthma and could not guarantee it would not prosecute. We will, however, continue to take decisions on enforcement action in accordance with our publicly available Enforcement Policy Statement, which requires that prosecution, must be both proportionate to the seriousness of the breach and in the public interest, stated the executive. Employers that can demonstrate effective control of risks with the appropriate combination of good working practices, engineering control and PPE are not likely to face enforcement action. We are working across government and with industry on the response to Covid-19 by agreeing sensible and pragmatic approaches to workplace safety that ensure essential services continue. HSE pointed out that the guidance is temporary and limited to the duration of the Covid-19 crisis, and that it is responding to current challenges faced by the baking industry, in respect of the potential for temporary unavailability of PPE used to protect workers from food ingredient dusts. HSE has also given advice on optimising stocks of suitable PPE: Only provide PPE to those workers who need it. Issue PPE specific to the level of risk for specific tasks i.e. use PPE with an APF of 10 where the level of flour dust exposure is lower Provide instruction on maximising the use life of all PPE, by ensuring adequate user checks, cleaning and storage. For more on the dangers of dust exposure, see this British Baker report. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 18:55:54|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ABUJA, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian troops have killed 21 gunmen in an encounter in the northwestern state of Zamfara, a military spokesman said on Wednesday. In a statement, John Enenche, the military spokesman, said troops of Operation Hadarin Daji engaged a large number of bandits on Monday at Zurmi, in Zamfara State, and killed 21 of them. Four soldiers were killed in the crossfire, the spokesman said. Enenche called on the public to provide credible information on the gunmen to help the military "rid the country of the criminal elements." Operation Hadarin Daji is part of the military's intensified efforts to rid the northern part of Nigeria of terror and criminal activities, he said. Enditem This article attempts to assess the impact of COVID-19 on hotel occupancy levels in hotels in Athens and Thessaloniki for 2020 by developing a market simulation featuring three different scenarios, each one of them reflecting the range of potential recovery of the hotel sector. Introduction Imagine for a minute you are a hotel investor seeking after promising opportunities into developing destinations that you consider they have untapped potential. Looking back at the period 2012-19, Greek tourism was breaking one record after another. Following a nadir of 21 million that was caused to a great extent by the rumors about Greeces potential economic default and the consequent negative publicity accompanied by political instability back in 2012, foreign tourist arrivals have been constantly growing since then at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 8.4% to reach 37 million in 2019. Not even the second period of political instability that the country experienced in the first semester of 2015, ending up to a referendum for exiting the Eurozone and the imposition of capital controls, was able to interrupt the positive momentum of the Greek tourism industry. Hotel transaction activity was vivid (some 500 million in recorded transactions in 2018, slightly more in 2019) with new local players coming into the market and international funds finally finding their way to a marketplace that until then had high barriers to entry due to ownership structure (most Greek hotels are owned and operated by family businesses), combined with an old-school business mentality. Including greenfield developments of every kind and size that were recently materialized, or were about to be delivered, one could get the positive outlook of Greek tourism for 2020. In December 2019, perhaps you would consider yourself as belated or even regretful for not having entered this market earlier. Now imagine, at the very same time in December 2019, you come across a prophet warning you about a future where Greek airports would welcome almost no flights at all, all hotels in Greek cities would close down for a couple of months, while coastal resorts would have stopped receiving reservations since February not because of any major tour operator bankruptcy (although numerous Greek resorts still have the scars to prove the collapse of Thomas Cook in late fall 2019) but simply because the entire world would have been quarantined. What would you believe? How would you react? Would you consider the message or rather kill the messenger? Scenario planning, as the word implies, focuses on an outlook for the future with which organizations can form an idea of possible future trends and how these may affect their strategic objectives. Event-driven scenarios are among the most common form of scenario planning that organizations undertake and tend to pertain to the impact of an event within a short-term context. The intent of this approach tends to be about how fore- and longsighted an organization might be against such an event, but also how well-prepared they are to react in case a scenario materializes indeed. The critical pitfall with this practice lays in the fact that it fails to capture the full range of future uncertainty because they are usually selected to illuminate one familiar problem within the organizations comfort zone; thus, leaving aside extraordinary or unimagined events. Would you feel skeptical against the aforementioned prophecy or against the prophet himself? It is hard to believe that companies included a scenario of the simultaneous lockdown of countries due to a pandemic in their planning procedure, no matter how sophisticated they were before the COVID-19 outbreak. Market Simulation To evaluate the potential impact of the current downturn on hotel values, HVS issued an extremely insightful article last week that has modeled three valuation scenarios based on a hypothetical typical hotel. We wanted to take some steps back and examine how a typical investor would project occupancy levels assuming that he would correspond to the prophet in a serious manner. In order to assess the impact of COVID-19 on hotel occupancy in hotels in Athens and Thessaloniki for 2020, we have developed a market simulation reflecting the range of potential recovery of the hotel sector. The model considers a base-case scenario and two alternate scenarios, which reflect the range of potential impact. Keeping in mind that the operational context of event-driven scenarios is typically near-term, we have tried to make a forecast on occupancy levels only up to year-end 2020. The dataset includes monthly supply and demand levels for a sample of hotels of various classes in Athens and Thessaloniki, as published by the hotel associations of each city in collaboration with the local partner of STR Global (GBR Consulting). The sample encompasses some 7,300 rooms in Athens and circa 3,700 rooms in Thessaloniki, covering all hotel categories. To conclude on the expected monthly recovery level for each scenario, specific reductions have been applied to the base reference period, which is January to December 2019. Especially for the period January to March 2020 actual data have already been published; therefore, the scenario planning considers the period from April to December 2020. Then, we proceeded by trying to quantify the share of domestic and international travelers in these specific markets by using the latest data published by the Hellenic Statistical Authority which refers to 2018. We have assumed that domestic and international visitation for 2019 would have been similar to that of 2018. For the region of Athens, data is provided on a monthly basis, while for Thessaloniki, data is published only on an annual basis. Therefore, especially for Thessaloniki, we have applied a steady share of international and domestic visitors each month. This separation provides us with the ability to assume diverse behavior for each market segment (i.e. domestic vs. international). Since all ongoing surveys about tourism forecasts, that we are aware of, show the domestic demand is the one that somehow recovers first (or at least with a faster pace), it has been assumed that in 2020 the hotel sector for both Athens and Thessaloniki will be fuelled mainly by domestic clients. As such we have made different assumptions with regards to the evolution of domestic and international demand in order to reflect the relatively-heavy resilience of the former and the uncertainty prevailing the latter. Especially for inbound tourism, the segments recovery is highly correlated with that of the airline industry and tourism in Athens seems more dependent on international travelers than Thessaloniki, which is more conveniently accessed by car from the neighboring Balkan countries. Additional assumptions made for each scenario are summarized as follows: Base Case Scenario This scenario reflects the anticipated recovery of occupancy based on a rather conservative but overall steady approach. While the termination of the lockdown of the hotel market on a national level is still uncertain, we have assumed that the lodging industry will reopen on June 10th and will follow a steady recovery pattern differentiated for international and domestic clientele. Athens Based on the latest data published by the Hellenic Statistical Authority, the share between international and domestic visitation for the city of Athens in 2018 was 69% and 31%, respectively, indicating its high dependency on international clientele. For the specific scenario, it is assumed that international travelers will be reduced by 70% in June, as compared to the same period last year, while this declining trend will gradually improve in the following months reaching 30% in December. Domestic visitation is expected to recover faster. More specifically, a decline of 50% is projected in June (in comparison to June 2019) and this decline will progressively shrink to 10% in December. The overall downturn in international and domestic clientele by the end of the year, in comparison to 2019, is projected to reach a total of 46% and 26%, respectively. Thessaloniki Thessaloniki is captured room nights are equally driven by domestic and international tourism as reflected by the latest data published by the Hellenic Statistical Authority for 2018. Therefore, the citys visitation is less prone to any socioeconomic changes that might take place on an international level. However, given that data for Thessaloniki is published on an annual basis, we were not able to make the monthly separation between domestic and international clientele and have consequently applied a steady share of international and domestic visitors for each month. Moreover, since the city is easily reachable by car from the neighboring Balkan countries, we have considered a somewhat lower decline, in terms of international visitation, as compared to the city of Athens. For the specific scenario, it is assumed that international travelers will be reduced by 65% in June, as compared to June 2019, while this decline will gradually diminish the following months reaching 25% in December. Domestic visitation is expected to keep the same recovery pace as Athens. More specifically a decline of 50% is projected in June and this decline will progressively shrink to 10% in December. The overall downturn in international and domestic clientele by the end of the year, as compared to 2019, is projected to reach a total of 41% and 26%, respectively. Positive Scenario According to this scenario, one would anticipate monthly occupancy levels to experience a slower downturn for both segments. It is assumed that effective and more radical solutions towards confronting COVID-19 will arise on an international level and therefore the tourism and airline industries will bounce back faster. The hotel industry in Greece is expected to reopen on May 15th, approximately 55 days following the operational shutdown. Athens When compared with the same months in 2019, the international segment is assumed to shrink by 80% for the rest of May, 50% for June, 40% for July, 30% for August, and to gradually reach a 10% decline by the end of the year. Domestic visitation is assumed to recover faster. More specifically, a decline of 50% is projected for the rest of May and this decline will gradually shrink over the following months; from September onwards, it is assumed that domestic visitation will recover to pre-COVID-19 levels. The overall downturn in international and domestic clientele by the end of the year, in comparison with 2019, is projected to reach a total of 33% and 14%, respectively. Thessaloniki Similar to the previous analysis, the international segment is assumed to shrink by 75% for the rest of May, 45% for June, 35% for July, 25% for August, and to gradually reach a 5% decline by the end of the year. Domestic visitation is assumed to recover faster. More specifically, a decline of 50% is projected for the rest of May and this decline will gradually shrink over the following months; from September onwards, it is assumed that domestic visitation will recover to pre-COVID-19 levels. The overall downturn in international and domestic clientele by the end of the year, when compared to 2019, is projected to reach a total of 28% and 14%, respectively. Negative Scenario According to this scenario, one would assume that although hotels will reopen on June 10th, as in the base case scenario, an extreme decline of occupancy will take place in the following months as the world will still be experiencing the devastating impact of COVID-19 and its related effects on tourism. Even by the end of the year tourism is expected to have partially recovered. Athens It is assumed that international travelers will be reduced by 90% in June, and this decline will gradually be contracted to merely 50% in December, while domestic visitation will start with a 70% decline in June and will eventually be diminished to 30% in December. The overall downturn in international and domestic clientele by the end of the year, in comparison with 2019, is projected to reach a total of 65% and 45%, respectively. Thessaloniki International travelers are expected to be reduced by 85% in June and this decline will gradually be contracted to merely 45% in December, while domestic visitation will start with a 70% decline in June and will eventually be diminished to 30% in December. The overall downturn in international and domestic clientele by the end of the year, when compared to 2019, is projected to reach a total of 60% and 45%, respectively. For each examined market, the monthly progression of both captured room nights and occupancy levels, for all three scenarios, is depicted on the following graphs: Monthly Progression of Captured Room Nights-Athens Source: Athens-Attica Hotel Association, HVS Analysis Monthly Progression of Hotel Occupancy-Athens Source: Athens-Attica Hotel Association, HVS Analysis Monthly Progression of Captured Room Nights-Thessaloniki Source: Thessaloniki Hotel Association, HVS Analysis Monthly Progression of Hotel Occupancy-Thessaloniki Source: Thessaloniki Hotel Association, HVS Analysis Results The devastating impact of COVID-19 is evident in each case with the Positive Scenario being the least affected by the outcome of this unforeseen event. As previously mentioned, the scenario planning analysis was made based on data published by the Hotel Association of Athens and Thessaloniki referring to 7,300 and 3,700 rooms respectively, covering all hotel categories. In 2019 these rooms generated some 2.0 million room nights with a total occupancy of 76% in Athens and 1.3 million roomnights with a total occupancy of 72% in Thessaloniki. In the case of Athens, these roomnights were mainly generated by international clientele (representing 61% of the total) with the main feeder markets being the United States of America, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Australia. The captured roomnights in Thessaloniki were equally fueled by international and domestic clientele with the main feeder markets being Israel, Cyprus, the United States of America, Germany, and Romania. Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 the hotel sector in Athens and Thessaloniki was experiencing moderate growth as indicated by the total number of captured roomnights for January and February 2020 which increased by 3% and 2%, respectively, as compared to the same period in 2019. In terms of occupancy levels, a slight drop of 1% was recorded during the first two months in Athens, partially attributed to the new room supply that entered the market (approximately 4% as compared to 2019) and the fact that COVID-19 had already impacted a number of tourism feeder countries causing a certain level of uncertainty. Thessalonikis occupancy levels recorded an increase of roundly 3% while supply levels shrunk by 1%. March is the first month when the disastrous effect of COVID-19 was clearly depicted, hammering the performance of the hotels in both markets. More specifically, available room supply in both cities was reduced by circa 35%, due to the national lockdown that was imposed on March 22nd; marketwide occupancy levels though were suffering way before the suspension of hotel operations, leading March results to record a severe occupancy decline of 69% in Athens and 62% in Thessaloniki. From April onwards the outcome is dependent on each of the chosen scenarios included in our market simulation. The positive scenario results in an occupancy decline of 36% in Athens and 28% in Thessaloniki as compared to 2019 while the worst-case scenario projects the most pessimistic results with a total occupancy shrinkage by 62% and 56% respectively. Limitations Our examined market was limited to the two largest Greek cities as the vast majority of resort hoteliers do not participate in data collection platforms (e.g. STR Global, HotStats, etc.) while official statistics are not updated in real-time (i.e. data for 2019 are unavailable even at a preliminary level) and they are inappropriate for in-depth analysis (e.g. we do not have monthly data for other cities or islands).The lack of comprehensive data related to the Greek tourism industry is a critical problem for professionals working in the field. Working to a great extent on actual facts rather than reasonable assumptions makes the outcome of every research less speculative and restrained, thus providing even more insights for enhanced decision-making process, not only during turbulent periods like the one we are currently living in but also within the scope of destination management. Two elaborate and well-structured studies (only in Greek) were also published in the last few days from the Institute of the Greek Tourism Confederation (INSETE) and the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels where one can find insightful analysis regarding the impact of the current pandemic on Greek tourism. Lastly, we should highlight that both Athens and Thessaloniki were about to welcome numerous new hotel properties within the next 12 months. Our market simulation does not account for any future changes in supply as it is highly doubtful when, which, and how many of the proposed hotels will finally enter each of the examined markets. Conclusion So what would the investor at the introduction of our article do? Even assuming he could find a willing seller indeed in the marketplace, perhaps with suicidal tendency, it would be immensely struggling to define a market value for a hotel property, not only due to the difficulty in projecting income and expense but also due to the liquid valuation parameters. The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors reacted in time by providing a practice alert to its members and any potential buyer should be very well informed when it comes to the level of uncertainty accompanying hotel valuations during this period exactly because they are based on an extremely highly volatile future. Our hypothetical investor could base his decision after running various scenarios and choose the one that would be perceived as the most likely to happen or even assuming a longer than the prevailing 10-year holding period. In any case, it would be hard to predict sunshine when you are in the midst of the storm. About Pavlos Papadimitriou Pavlos Papadimitriou is a Director with the Athens Office of HVS specializing in hotel valuation and financial consultancy, and a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. He joined HVS Athens in late 2007 after completing the MBA programme of Les Roches School of Hotel Management in Switzerland and a BSc in Marketing and Communication from the Athens University of Economics and Business. Since then, he has conducted numerous valuations, feasibility studies, and market research analyses in the Balkans, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Poland, Spain, and Turkey. Contact him at ppapadimitriou@hvs.com. About Nana Boussia Nana Boussia is a Senior Associate with the Athens Office office since early 2016. Since that time she has been involved in various feasibility and valuation projects in Greece, Italy, Spain and other countries. Nana holds a degree in Civil Engineering from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and a postgraduate diploma in hospitality studies from Glion Hospitality School. Contact her at nboussia@hvs.com. Daily News Delivery Join your colleagues and stay up to date on the latest all industry news and trends. Subscribe 2022 Hospitality Trends Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, has warned against complacency in countries that were makin... Speaking during his daily news briefing in Geneva on Wednesday, Ghebreyesus emphasised that complacency was one of the greatest dangers we face now.There is no question that stay-at-home orders and other physical distancing measures have successfully suppressed transmission in many countries.But this virus remains extremely dangerous, and the evidence is that most of the worlds populations remain susceptible, that means the epidemic can easily reignite.One of the greatest dangers we face now is complacency, he said.He acknowledged the suffering and frustration of people confined to their homes for weeks by stay-at-home orders imposed by their governments to check the spread of the virus.The WHO, he said, understood the hardships occasioned by such orders and the peoples desires to get on with their lives.But the world will not and cannot go back to the way things were. There must be a new norm: a world that is healthier safer and better prepared.The same public health measures we have been advocating since the beginning of the pandemic must remain the backbone of the response in all countries:Find every case; isolate every case; test every case; care for every case; trace and quarantine every contact, and educate, engage and empower your people.The fight cannot be effective without empowering our people and without the full participation of all, he said.Ghebreyesuss counsel came as the United States, which had been the epicentre of the pandemic, prepared to reopen for business, after some progress, meaning social distancing measures would be relaxed.The data suggests that nationwide, we are past the peak, President Donald Trump said while announcing a three-phase reopening plan on Thursday.These encouraging developments have put us in a very strong position to finalise guidelines for states on reopening the country, he said.There have also been protests in many states in the U.S. against lockdowns imposed by governors to slow the spread of the disease, which had killed no fewer than 43,000 people in the country.Public health experts warned that relaxing social distancing rules could get the curve back on an upward trajectory. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 22) The Philippines fell two places in the World Press Freedom Index, placing 136th among 180 countries. This marks the third consecutive year that the country dipped on the listing by Reporters Without Borders, with the country placing 133rd in 2018 and 134th in 2019. In its report, the group cited the Philippines for having state troll armies [that] use the weapon of disinformation on social media, like Russia, India and Vietnam. It also noted that Filipino journalists have been attacked by pro-government activists, with the group noting similar incidents in Bangladesh and India. In its summary of the situation of journalism in the country, Reporters Without Borders noted how the Duterte administration targeted the Philippine Daily Inquirer, how it waged a grotesque judicial harassment campaign against Rappler and its executive editor and CEO Maria Ressa, and the threats and intimidation faced by media giant ABS-CBN. All three media organizations have been the subject of tirades by Duterte. Rappler and Ressa are still facing numerous charges in court, while ABS-CBNs franchise renewal bid is still pending in Congress, which is dominated by Dutertes allies. Malacanang has consistently maintained that the press still enjoys freedom in the country. Norway topped Reporters Without Borders 2020 ranking, while North Korea placed last at 180. (Natural News) As President Trump pushes for the economy to return to normal sooner rather than later, concerns are growing that we may be moving to reopen far too quickly. Yet there is another group that takes the opposite stance, insisting that the rules placed on businesses and our daily lives be lifted right away. On Sunday, there were protests in at least five states, with people participating in protests on state capitols and in gridlock demonstrations. A gathering in Olympia, Washington called, Hazardous Liberty! Defend the Constitution! saw people gathered to demand Governor Jay Inslee rescind his states stay at home order even as the number of confirmed COVD-19 cases there climbs towards 12,000. In Illinois, where there are already more than 30,000 confirmed cases, protestors headed to the Lincoln Statue in Springfield to call for their state to be reopened. A similar gridlock demonstration took place in Denver, with cars descending on the capitol and protestors on lawns with signs bearing slogans like, Dangerous freedom over govt tyranny. In Huntington Beach, California, more than 200 protestors showed up for a March for Freedom event bearing signs saying, Quarantine the sick, not the healthy and even proclaiming the virus is a lie. Thousands of protestors also took to the streets in Lansing, Michigan recently, saying that the restrictions that were put in place to stop the virus from spreading are causing irreparable harm to small businesses. Protestors have also gathered in Raleigh, North Carolina, to oppose stay-at-home rules there, with at least one protestor being arrested. And dozens of people shouted as Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear held a news conference at a Capitol building in Frankfort. Rallies have also been held recently in places like New York and Ohio, in some cases with armed demonstrators. Meanwhile, President Trump has been fanning the flames, saying that some governors are being unreasonable with their orders to stay at home. Governor Inslee told ABCs This Week that the presidents stance is only encouraging bad behavior. To have an American president encourage people violate the law, I cant remember any time in my time in America we have seen such a thing, he said. Its dangerous because it could inspire people to ignore things that could save their lives. So far, the U.S. has seen more than 700,000 confirmed coronavirus cases overall and at least 37,000 deaths. When Florida beaches reopened on Friday, people disregarded social distancing rules On Friday, beaches and parks were reopened in Jacksonville, Florida, after getting approval from Governor Ron DeSantis even as the state hit a record number of coronavirus cases. When the beaches opened at 5 in the evening, the crowds were alarming. The beaches were opened for essential activities and recreational activities that are consistent with guidelines for social distancing. This includes caring for pets, walking, fishing and biking; sunbathing and gathering in big groups is not allowed. Unfortunately, photos quickly emerged of people crowding the beaches, with hundreds of them walking and talking in large groups, often without face masks. Twitter was abuzz with outraged observers calling out Floridians for their careless behavior, and the hashtag #FloridaMorons trended across the nation. So far, the state already has 25,000 confirmed cases. An MIT model recently predicted that we could see an exponential explosion in new coronavirus cases should the countrys lockdown measures be relaxed too soon. While wed all like to see normal life resume soon, extreme caution is needed or we could end up in an even worse situation than were already experiencing. Sources for this article include: MSN.com ABCNews.go.com CBSNews.com FoxNews.com We are facing an unprecedented moment that requires immediate evaluation Upbeat, the nations leading K-12 teacher engagement and retention tool, announced this week the launch of a Teaching from Home survey to gather information on educators experiences with remote teaching due to COVID-19 school closures. The first-of-its-kind survey reflects feedback from district leaders across the country who expressed their need to gather information on teacher support and well-being during this unique time in education. In a virtual meeting earlier this month, Upbeat's Director of Research, Dr. Matthew Kraft, met with Upbeat clients from Chicago, IL; Greenville, SC; Austin, TX; Atlanta, GA and New York, NY. The participants included teachers, HR leaders, principals and superintendents. Based on client input, the Teach from Home survey assesses a range of topics including teachers perspective on the quality of communication they have received from school and district leaders during the transition to distance learning; access to technological tools and training to support the transition to online teaching; work-life balance while working from home; and teacher collaboration and self-efficacy while teaching remotely. The survey will have several standardized questions to gain comparable information on teachers' experiences across the country but can be customized for each school or district. We are facing an unprecedented moment that requires immediate evaluation, shared Nyree Sanders, Director of Human Resources in Newton County Schools, a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. First and foremost, we need clear insight into how our teachers are managing this rapid shift to distance learning and an understanding of strengths and opportunities in our leadership during this transition. Scott Frauenheim, CEO of Distinctive Schools, a charter network with schools in Chicago, Illinois and Detroit, Michigan added, We are seeing emotions and tensions rise in this new reality. How do we make sure that we are taking care of our teams without being able to see them or support them constantly? I hope that we are not planning for another nationwide school closure but gathering this data and hearing ideas from schools across the country will put us in a better position to respond if we end up returning to remote learning at some point in the future. We want our teams to have balance while also supporting our students and families. We believe our teams can always help us get better and we listen when they talk. School districts across the nation are facing a new reality. In almost every district, all learning has abruptly moved online. This has presented new hurdles for teachers like leading a class on Zoom or transitioning to a new online reading or math tool all while taking care of their families at home. In other districts, lack of internet access or technology amongst students has complicated online learning. This has forced schools to distribute hard copy packets of schoolwork that students work through with little to no teacher instruction. On top of this, teachers across the country are struggling to maintain daily contact with school leadership and their students. Unfortunately, this doesnt appear to be a short-lived problem. So far, twenty-eight states have made the decision to cancel school for the remainder of the academic year and reopen in the fall. Some district leaders fear that closures could extend into the fall. Tools to understand teacher sentiment must adapt with these changes. When we began to learn more about the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects that it may have on schools, we immediately thought of our partners and how we could work to support them during this unprecedented time. shared Henry Wellington, Upbeats founder and CEO. As a former teacher and parent of a one-year-old, I can only imagine the challenges that teachers are facing trying to balance instruction and other responsibilities that are involved in working from home. At Upbeat, we are lucky to have incredible partners and are excited to have built this new survey based on their feedback. Now, more than ever before, it is critical for school leaders to understand the teacher experience and identify areas where teachers need further support. About Upbeat Upbeat works with K-12 districts across the country to administer a research-grounded survey to elevate teacher engagement and retention by fostering strong school environments. Founded and led by former educators, we bring together data scientists, technologists, and experienced former school leaders to deliver a research-backed solution. Our surveys paired with tailored toolkits and intervention strategies, surface real-time insights so that principals and district leaders are able to better understand and uncover the conditions affecting employee morale and establish actionable plans to improve teacher and staff retention. More information about the company and its approach can be found at http://teachupbeat.com. Truong Duong (C) is at the Binh Duong People's Court in Binh Duong Province, April 21, 2020. Photo courtesy of the Binh Duong Newspaper. A Binh Duong court sentenced a man to 11 years in jail Tuesday for planting explosives at the provincial tax office last year. Truong Duong, 40, was found guilty of engaging "terrorism to oppose the people's administration." Two of his accomplices, Pham Anh Dao (also known as Lisa Pham), 39, and Ha Xuan Nghiem, 57, are on the run. Duong, a driver for a foreign company in Thu Dau Mot Town of the southern province, worked with a terrorist organization called the "Provisional National Government of Vietnam," the indictment said. Last August, he was asked by Pham, a member of the organization, to plant an explosive at the Binh Duong tax office. Pham instructed Duong to go to a convenience store in town and receive a package delivered by Nghiem. Four bombs made with around 1.2 kg of gunpowder were in the package. On September 30, Duong took the explosives inside an urinal on the tax office's first floor. An explosion followed 20 minutes later, collapsing walls and shattering glass in the building. There was no casualty. Duong was arrested four days later. He admitted his crime to the court and asked for his sentence to be reduced. Besides his prison sentence, Duong was ordered to compensate the Binh Duong Tax office with VND800 million ($34,000) for damage caused. The "Provisional National Government of Vietnam" was established in 1990 in the U.S. Its aim is to overthrow the Vietnamese government through violence and acts of terrorism, according to the Ministry of Public Security. The organization is headed by Dao Minh Quan, who has proclaimed himself the "prime minister" of this "government." The public security ministry declared it a terrorist organization in 2018. Vietnam has already issued international arrest warrants against Quan and six other members, all of whom are living either in the U.S. or Canada. In August 2018, two of its members, both Vietnamese-Americans, were jailed for making plans to sabotage the country's celebration of the Reunification Day on April 30. The organization is also accused of being behind a petrol bomb attack that burnt 320 motorbikes at a police warehouse in the southern Dong Nai Province in April 2017; and a failed terror attack at HCMC's Tan Son Nhat International Airport later that month. A HCMC court in December 2017 sentenced 15 Vietnamese to between five and 16 years in prison for the two attacks. WASHINGTON The Texas Democratic Party is launching an effort to register 1 million new voters online after its statewide campaign to expand the voting rolls was stymied by coronavirus restrictions. The party this week rolled out a new website where people can get about as close to registering online as possible in Texas, one of only 11 states that don't allow online registration. Voters can go to the website, fill out a registration form, which the party will print and mail them, along with an envelope and stamp, so all they have to do is sign the form, put it in the envelope and drop it in the mail. Its the partys latest attempt to work around the major hurdles the coronavirus has thrown up to Democratic efforts to make the states November elections competitive. The Democrats hopes in 2020 depend largely on new voters, and both Democrats and Republicans have poured millions into efforts to register them massive campaigns that have already added two million voters since the 2016 election. TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox But without online registration, much of the work in Texas depends on face-to-face interaction going door to door and setting up booths on college campuses, at concerts, naturalization ceremonies, graduations and other big events that are prohibited in the time of COVID-19. Especially in the time of coronavirus, its absolutely a crisis not being able to register voters online, said Abhi Rahman, a spokesman for the Democratic Party. Weve had to figure out a way to do it without breaking any rules. The site is similar to those by groups including Vote.org. But Democrats arent alone in making an effort to register more voters in Texas. U.S. Sen. John Cornyns campaign sent an email to supporters urging them to participate in weekly online trainings to learn how to reach out to voters and help them register. Democrats were emboldened by the last cycle and are pouring MILLIONS into Texas to influence our elections, the email said. Republicans up-and-down the ballot need YOUR HELP registering conservatives to vote! A DEMOCRATIC TRAGEDY: Coronavirus threatens Texas voter registration efforts Democrats effort to expand the electorate in 2020 includes lawsuits in both state and federal court to allow voters to cast ballots by mail, which Texas currently restricts to those 65 or older or with an excuse, such as a disability. A state district judge ruled last week that concern about contracting the coronavirus is a valid reason for voting by mail. But the state is almost certain to appeal the ruling as Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton contends that under the law, fear of getting sick is not reason enough. The Democrats now have a team of organizers making wellness check calls to seniors across the state, another new outreach effort. They ask those residents, who are eligible to vote by mail, how they are faring during the coronavirus outbreak, then make sure theyre registered to vote, as well. The party estimates it can reach hundreds of thousands of voters though the phone calls. ben.wermund@chron.com [April 22, 2020] Avaya Earns CRN 5-Star Rating For Enabling Partner Innovation and Customer Success Avaya (News - Alert) Holdings Corp. (NYSE:AVYA), a global leader in solutions to enhance and simplify communications and collaboration, announced today that CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, has given Avaya a 5-Star rating in its 2020 Partner Program Guide. This annual guide identifies the strongest and most successful partner programs in the channel today, offered by the top technology suppliers for IT products and services. The 5-Star rating recognizes an elite subset of companies that offer solution providers the best partnering elements in their channel programs. Avaya Edge Partner Program is a comprehensive approach that simplifies, integrates and aligns with the needs of the channel partner to help drive growth and introduce additional business opportunities. Avaya Edge Partner Program enhances the ability of partners to best serve their customers and grow by helping to stimulate sales, and combining a straightforward incentive structure and more tailored benefits with an improved partner enablement model. "In a business environment that is changing rapidly and is more reliant than ever on communication and collaboration, it is critical for technology companies to work closely with their channel partners in designing holistic solutions to meet customer needs," said Jon Brinton, VP, North America Channel Sales, Avaya. "We have a deep commitment to our partners and their success, founded on closely engaging with each of them, and we are thrilled that these efforts have been recognized by this highly respected channel authority. We continue to further strengthen our channel engagement, including ongoing enhancements to our Avaya Edge Partner Program, and we continue to innovate by focusing relentlessly on customer success." To determine the 2020 5-Star ratings, The Channel Company's research team analyzed myriad partner programs and scored them based on several factors, including investments in program offerings, partner profitability, partner training, education and support, marketing programs and resources, sales support, and communication. Based on that assessment, Aaya Edge Partner Program stands among the elite technology supplier programs in the IT channel, providing maximum value and support. "With the speed and complexity of technology today, solution providers need partners that can keep pace and support their growing business," said Bob Skelley, CEO of The Channel Company. "CRN's Partner Program Guide features insight into the strengths and benefits of each company's program to identify those that truly support and drive positive change within the IT channel." Integrating extensive feedback and input from partners, Avaya Edge Partner Program also places an emphasis on partner inclusivity, aiming to enable growth regardless of the size or unique partner business model. This means Avaya Edge is now the only channel program in the industry to provide equal growth opportunities to partners of any size. Avaya Edge Partner Program and the 2020 Partner Program Guide will be featured in the April issue of CRN and online at www.CRN.com/ppg. About Avaya Businesses are built on the experiences they provide, and everyday millions of those experiences are built by Avaya (NYSE: AVYA). For over one hundred years, we've enabled organizations around the globe to win - by creating intelligent communications experiences for customers and employees. Avaya builds open, converged and innovative solutions to enhance and simplify communications and collaboration - in the cloud, on-premise or a hybrid of both. To grow your business, we're committed to innovation, partnership, and a relentless focus on what's next. We're the technology company you trust to help you deliver Experiences that Matter. Visit us at http://www.avaya.com. About The Channel Company The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers, and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequalled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelcompany.com Copyright 2020. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This document contains certain "forward-looking statements." All statements other than statements of historical fact are "forward-looking" statements for purposes of the U.S. federal and state securities laws. These statements may be identified by the use of forward looking terminology such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "might," "our vision," "plan," "potential," "preliminary," "predict," "should," "will," or "would" or the negative thereof or other variations thereof or comparable terminology. The Company has based these forward-looking statements on its current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections. While the Company believes these expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections are reasonable, such forward-looking statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond its control. The factors are discussed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC (News - Alert)") available at www.sec.gov, and may cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. The Company cautions you that the list of important factors included in the Company's SEC filings may not contain all of the material factors that are important to you. In addition, in light of these risks and uncertainties, the matters referred to in the forward-looking statements contained in this press release may not in fact occur. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law. Source (News - Alert): Avaya Newsroom View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005087/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Tomorrow's European Council meeting is seen as crucial to the future of the European Union as a political project. President Emmanuel Macron of France has raised the stakes, saying that unless there is agreement on a fund of 400bn to mitigate the effect of the lockdowns across the EU and the eurozone, both the euro and the EU itself will be in danger. He says: "If we can't do this today, the populists will win, today, tomorrow and the day after in Italy, in Spain and perhaps in France." He is right to issue the warning, but there is a real risk that this sort of rhetoric will create a self-fulfilling prophecy. Expectations need to be managed and false dawns avoided. Some of the populist criticism of the EU is misdirected, and needs to be contradicted. In fact the EU, as such, has responded quite quickly to coronavirus. EU institutions, such as the European Central Bank and the European Commission, have acted much more promptly in response to the coronavirus crisis of 2020 than they did to the banking crisis of 2008 and the sovereign debt crisis of 2010. This is in spite of the handicap of having to meet by teleconference. A proposal for a Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative has already been approved by the European Parliament and the council and is in force as of April 1. This will allow the use of 37bn under cohesion policy to address the consequences of the Covid-19 crisis. It is not the EU institutions, but the ministers of some member states who have been unable to make decisions. They are the ones who were unable to decide on eurobonds, or an acceptable substitute. It has been ministers of member states, not EU officials, who have made undeliverable demands of, and used unacceptable language about, one another. It is competing nationalisms that have failed us so far. Indeed, this failure of competing national narratives was predictable. CO2 does not respect national boundaries and nor do deadly viruses. They transcend national boundaries, so the response to them must transcend national boundaries, too. The opposition to mutualisation of debt in countries such as Germany and Netherlands is almost theological. Eurobonds are a good idea, but they are just another form of borrowing. The interest may be a bit lower, but it is still a debt. Eurobonds cannot be set up quickly, and speed is important. The bond-buying by the ECB, which is already under way, has been much more effective. It has eased the financial pressure on Italy and Spain, and bought time for the EU to come up with a more comprehensive recovery programme. The key here is the Recovery Fund, which was agreed in principle by finance ministers of the Eurogroup last week. This is to be aimed at providing funding to programmes designed to kick-start the economy in line with European priorities and ensuring EU solidarity with the most affected member states. Such a fund would be temporary, targeted and commensurate with the extraordinary costs of the crisis, and would help spread them over time. The summit tomorrow will need to decide on the legal and practical aspects of such a fund, including its relation to the EU budget, its sources of financing, and on innovative financial instruments, consistent with EU treaties. This is a huge task because the EU budget at the moment is only 1pc of EU GDP, and is already committed to other things, notably agriculture. One solution might be for the EU to borrow additional money, on a long-term basis, and that a new, but temporary, EU tax be agreed in principle to provide a reserve from which these loans could eventually be repaid. An EU-wide carbon tax to fund this is one possibility. Of course, this would be difficult to accept, but extra borrowing not backed by pre agreed repayment capacity is difficult to accept, too. Meanwhile, we must realise that a break-up on the euro would also destroy the European single market. That will happen unless voters in all EU states think as Europeans, not just as nationals of their own state. Without the euro, there would be competitive devaluations of national currencies, and these could lead to retaliatory trade restrictions, which would destroy the single market. Oddly enough, it is the countries that are most resistant to mutualising debt who benefit most from being in the EU single market. The German-based Bethelsmann Foundation has said "countries like Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands and Denmark benefit more strongly than regions in the southern and eastern periphery of Europe" from the EU single market. Mr Macron is right to say that the political legitimacy of the EU is being challenged. Why is this? The reasons are psychological as well as political. The voters of EU countries rarely get a chance think as Europeans. They are never asked to vote on purely EU issues, and are not confronted with realistic choices about what the EU might do, and what it might cost them. European Parliament elections are really national popularity contests about national attitudes. So the EU becomes remote. The EU is "someone else paying". It is "them" rather than "we". That has to change if the EU is to have the necessary strategic and political depth to deal with crises like this one. If the EU is to survive, it needs to create a European democratic constituency that complements the democratic constituencies to which national leaders appeal. The EU needs a political heart to sustain its economic body. A Conference on the Future of Europe is to be set up to look at that in the next few months. The EU heads of government should send a signal that they intend to take the need for EU-wide democracy seriously. Rather than rely solely on the European Parliament, we need an EU-wide electoral contest, if we are to create an EU identity and democratic legitimacy. One way to do this would be to have the president of the European Commission elected by the voters of the EU. Voters identify with personalities as well as policy programmes and it is personalities who can create the emotional bonds between European citizens that are needed to make European financial bonds politically viable. Another (weaker) proposal would be to elect some MEPs from an EU-wide constituency. Next week will indeed be crucial for the European Union. It needs to get the economics right, but it also needs to get the politics and the psychology right, too. Leo Varadkar will have a vital role to play. Pirates have attacked a Portugal-flagged container ship off the coast of Benin and kidnapped eight crew members, including three Russians, one Ukrainian, and the Bulgarian captain. Shipping firm Transeste said pirates boarded the Tommi Ritscher vessel on April 19 off the coast of the West African country. Eleven crew members were able to hide in the ships citadel and were later freed in a joint Benin Navy and Nigerian Special Forces operation. "Regrettably, eight crew members remain missing and are now believed to have been kidnapped by the pirates," the Hamburg-based firm said on April 21. The Russian Embassy in Benin and Togo confirmed that three Russian citizens were among the hostages. Bulgaria's Foreign Ministry said the pirates also captured the Bulgarian captain of the ship. Ukraine said one of its citizens was kidnapped. The Gulf of Guinea is a center of global pirate attacks, looting, and kidnapping for ransom. Based on reporting by AFP, TASS, and Reuters ST. PETERSBURG (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st April, 2020) Palestinian Ambassador to France Salman Harfi told Sputnik on Tuesday that US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman lied about Washington providing $5 million to help the Palestinian Authority curb the spread of the coronavirus, saying that Palestinians "did not get a cent" from the pledged funds. On Thursday, Friedman wrote on Twitter that he was pleased that the US was giving $5 million to Palestinian hospitals and households for meeting immediate, life-saving needs in combating COVID-19. "He is lying, we don't know where they are going to spend them but not for the Palestinian health care or Palestinian hospitals. The one who wants to donate can go directly to the representative of the Palestinian people and to say: 'I want to resume my help, I was wrong.' The United States gave nothing to the Palestinian people, we didn't get a cent," Herfi said. The diplomat said that the US gave $3.5 million to NGOs that work with Washington. "[The US] gave 3.5 million for the NGOs which work for the United States. The United States didn't resume its support to the World Health organization as well so they cannot pretend as Mr. Freedman said that they gave something to Palestinians," Herfi pointed out, referring to Trump's decision to cut funding to the World Health Organization amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump, who has been a critic of the World Health Organization's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, announced halting funding for the UN agency earlier in April. Herfi recalled that in 2018, the Trump administration decided to cut more than $200 million in aid to Palestinians. Also, in 2018, it cut financial aid for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). Trump has been criticized for jeopardizing Palestinians' ability to cope with the pandemic and putting the global health response at risk by halting US funding to the UN-led agencies. This Russian beauty has a thriving career as a model, a You Tube star and an Instagram trendsetter. Nastya Swan's life in New York City was on the up and up until she came down with COVID-19 in late March. And now the 19-year-old beauty tells DailyMail.com that even though she felt she was going to 'die' from a high fever and breathing issues, she did not check into a New York City hospital because she felt there were so many more 'urgent' cases. Scary incident: Nastya Swan's life in New York City was on the up and up until she came down with COVID-19 in late March. And now the 19-year-old beauty tells DailyMail.com that even though she felt she was going to 'die' from a high fever and breathing issues, she did not check in to the hospital But she has said that she has nothing but admiration for NYC hospitals. 'I have so much respect for the medical community who are tirelessly working on the frontlines to save lives. Every day I am saddened by the loss and death this pandemic has brought in the world but also in New York City,' Swan noted. 'I am so thankful to have recovered from this disease and would like to use my experience by donating plasma to patients in need; as well as spreading awareness on the importance of social distancing to save lives.' So far in the US there are over 45K deaths from COVID-19 with 826K cases. Worldwide there are over 178K deaths and 2.5M cases. Nastya - who is is known for her YouTube segments but she has modeled for Zara, Nike, Puma, Dolce & Gabbana, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Maybelline, La Mer, Estee Lauder and Guess - understood that there were more urgent cases and did the best she could to recover at home. Here she shares her story. 'Back in February and early March, I was very complacent about the virus and overall pandemic when watching the news,' began the cover girl who talked to DailyMail. 'I didn't think it wouldn't affect me as I'm young and went about life as normally as possible in the circumstances.' Tough: The Guess model did not go to a New York City hospital because there were so many patients that were much sicker than she was Model life: The star, left, with her friend, Victoria's Secret model Adrian Lima, right In the early days of the virus, people believed that only the older crowd came down with COVID-19. That has since proved to be not true and the CDC has warned it could strike anyone. 'Around March 20th, I started to feel sick in a way I had never felt before and thought it was an allergic reaction to something,' said the fitness fanatic. 'The next morning I woke up and had difficulty breathing and with very high fever, headaches and I had never felt so tired before. She thought she was too young: 'Back in February and early March, I was very complacent about the virus and overall pandemic when watching the news,' began the cover girl who talked to DailyMail. 'I didn't think it wouldn't affect me as I'm young and went about life as normally as possible in the circumstances' 'Over the next week my condition got worse and I lost any sense of taste and smell; I had started to feel like I was going to die as it felt like I was under water when breathing.' She decided it was time to get tested for COVID-19 but that presented some challenges. 'Until then I had waited to get tested as there weren't enough tests but then I traveled an hour and a half upstate and got tested. All my fears came true when a few days later, I got the positive test results,' said Swan. Not easy: 'Until then I had waited to get tested as there weren't enough tests but then I traveled an hour and a half upstate and got tested. All my fears came true when a few days later, I got the positive test results,' said Swan 'While I could consult doctors, I have never felt so desperate and helpless, knowing there was no specific medication or treatment for relief let alone cure,' she added. 'NYC Hospitals were so packed,' she said, adding that she learned by watching the news that the people being admitted were the ones that needed urgent life support. She understood there were much sicker patients and knew that the city was in the grip of a crisis never seen before. Swan tells DailyMail.com she was relieved she could get well at home. 'My peak illness lasted three weeks but as I got physically better slowly, I was increasingly humbled and the situation that I was not taking seriously before had a whole new and personal meaning,' she said. Harrowing: 'While I could consult doctors, I have never felt so desperate and helpless, knowing there was no specific medication or treatment for relief let alone cure,' she said And Swan wants to pass on a warning to others. 'I now realize how important all the social distancing guidelines are in saving people's lives- this virus doesn't discriminate based on age, race, sex or health conditions. I'm also working on donating plasma to help save other lives in this horrific pandemic,' she added. Three years ago she spoke with Hollywood Stage magazine about how she wants to empower other teens. 'When I was 13 years old I was an absolutely fearless and dreamy girl, but I suffered from a feeling of neglect with a lack of attention being shown from my family, mainly because they were always busy with their own work,' she said. Fashion crowd: And here she is seen on the the left with a friend at the Badgley Mischka front row during New York Fashion Week in 2019 'I decided one day to create a YouTube channel to share my life with other people. I told myself that I just wanted to find voices of support and empathy all around the world. I had been sharing my travels, interests, and thoughts on certain situations in my life and people started to follow me and moreover, started to relate.' And she learned from hard experience. 'I got bullied at school for doing something unusual, which is obvious, but I knew that I was on the right path, so I never considered the need to stop creating the content and put it out,' she said. 'While all my teenage friends were drinking, partying or hanging out, I was basically growing my own business. My passion was fuel for my work and every day I tried to improve my skills in editing, shooting videos and talking openly with the camera. I'm proud and happy that I kept myself busy from such a young age. 'Now, I could not be more grateful for the audience I have built, because they always support me, get my back and don't let me give up.' Find information about a new installment to Karen Kingsburys Baxter Family series and more titles slated for publication in May. Nonfiction May 5 The Ministers Wife: A Story for All of Us Trying to Live Faithfully in a Complicated World by Karen Stiller (Tyndale Momentum, $22.99, ISBN 978-1-4964-4121-8). Stiller, senior editor of Faith Today, explores many classic Christian virtues through the prism of being a ministers wife. Fight to Flourish: Engaging in the Struggle to Cultivate the Life You Were Born to Live by Jennie Lusko (Thomas Nelson, $26.99, ISBN 978-0-7852-3214-8). Lusko, coleader of Fresh Life Church in Montana, uses the backdrop of the 2012 death of her daughter to consider how Gods love can see one through pain and uncertainty. Bamboozled by Jesus: How God Tricked Me into the Life of My Dreams (and Twenty Lessons I Learned Along the Way) by Yvonne Orji (Flatiron, $27.99, ISBN 978-1-250-24703-2). Orji interprets biblical metaphors to fit current times and provides 20 life lessons based in scripture on topics including saving money and opening up to humility. Gideons Bible by Rick and Gideon Salutin, illus. by Dusan Petricic (ECW, $24.95 paper, ISBN 978-1-77041-485-3). Novelist Rick Salutin, in a conversation with his son Gideon, explores the origins and lessons of the Hebrew Bible. Native: Identity, Belonging, and Rediscovering God by Kaitlin B. Curtice (Brazos, $17.99 paper, ISBN 978-1-58743-431-0). Curtice, drawing on her Native American heritage, shares her journey toward a better self-understanding, showing how her sense of nativeness both informs and challenges her Christian faith. May 12 Demystifying Shariah: What It Is, How It Works, and Why Its Not Taking Over Our Country by Sumbul Ali-Karamali (Beacon, $22.95, ISBN 978-0-8070-3800-0). Lawyer and Islamic law specialist Ali-Karamali explains sharia in an effort to dispel the notion it is a set of punitive rules or laws, arguing it is rather a collection of religious rules and recommendations that provide Muslims with guidance in various aspects of daily life. King of Confidence: A Tale of Utopian Dreamers, Frontier Schemers, True Believers, False Prophets, and the Murder of an American Monarch by Miles Harvey (Little, Brown, $29, ISBN 978-0-316-46359-1). Journalist Harvey tells the little-known story of James Strang, self-proclaimed divine king of heaven and Earth who, armed with a letter from Joseph Smith, convinced hundreds of Mormons to follow him to an island in Lake Michigan during the mid-19th century. Henri Nouwen and The Return of the Prodigal Son: The Making of a Spiritual Classic by Gabrielle Earnshaw (Paraclete, $16.99 paper, ISBN 978-1-64060-169-7). Earnshaw, founding archivist of the Henri J.M. Nouwen Archives in Toronto, analyzes Nouwens most famous book, The Return of the Prodigal Son. Broth from the Cauldron: A Wisdom Journey Through Everyday Magic by Cerridwen Fallingstar (She Writes, $16.95 paper, ISBN 978-1-63152-699-2). Wiccan Fallingstar collects teaching stories and chronicles her life story of being raised in a conservative household, then pursuing shamanic and wiccan practices in her adulthood. Emanated Scripture of Manjushri: Shabkars Essential Meditation Instructions by Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol, trans. from Tibetan by Sean Price (Snow Lion, $24.95 paper, ISBN 978-1-55939-498-7) collects instructions for embarking along the Vajrayana path to enlightenment from Rangdrol (17811851), one of Tibets most famous wandering yogis. Fiction May 5 Someone Like You by Karen Kingsbury (Atria, $26, ISBN 978-1-982104-31-3). Maddie Baxter West is shaken when she finds out she was adopted. Betrayed and confused, Maddie leaves her new job and fiance, rejects her familys requests for forgiveness, and moves to Portland to find out who she really is. A Mosaic of Wings by Kimberley Duffy (Bethany, $15.99 paper, ISBN 978-0-7642-3563-4). When Nora Shipley joins an entomology research expedition to India, she never anticipated the impossible choices shed faceincluding choosing between saving a young Indian girl and saving her career. Unyielding Hope by Janette Oke and Laurel Oke Logan (Bethany, $16.99 paper, ISBN 978-0-7642-3567-2). In this companion story to the Hallmark TV series When Hope Calls, Lillian Walsh rushes to a reunion after discovering the sister she believed dead is likely alive. The Best Weve Been by Beth K. Vogt (Tyndale, $24.99, ISBN 978-1-4964-2733-5). The third book in the Thatcher Sisters series provides a conclusion to the travails and successes of Payton, Jillian, and Johanna as they reunite as a family. May 12 Of Literature and Lattes by Katherine Reay (Thomas Nelson, $16.99 paper, ISBN 978-0-7852-2204-0). In Winsome, Ill., former tech worker Alyssa Harrison and Jeremy Mitchell, a single father and local coffee shop owner, work together to save his struggling coffee shop and in the process develop a complicated bond. HOUSTON, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Talos Energy Inc. ("Talos" or the "Company") (NYSE: TALO) intends to release first quarter 2020 results for the period ended March 31, 2020 on Wednesday, May 6, 2020 after the U.S. financial market closes. In addition to this release, Talos Energy will host a conference call, which will be broadcast live over the internet, on Thursday, May 7, 2020 at 11:30 AM Eastern Time (10:30 AM Central Time). Listeners can access the conference call live over the Internet through a webcast link on the Company's website at: https://www.talosenergy.com/investors. Alternatively, the conference call can be accessed by dialing (888) 348-8927 (U.S. toll-free), (855) 669-9657 (Canada toll-free) or (412) 902-4263 (international). Please dial in approximately 15 minutes before the teleconference is scheduled to begin and ask to be joined into the Talos Energy call. A replay of the call will be available one hour after the conclusion of the conference through May 14, 2020 and can be accessed by dialing (877) 344-7529 and using access code 10143385. ABOUT TALOS ENERGY Talos Energy (NYSE: TALO) is a technically driven independent exploration and production company focused on safely and efficiently maximizing cash-flows and long-term value through our operations, currently in the United States Gulf of Mexico and offshore Mexico. As one of the US Gulf's largest public independent producers, we leverage decades of geology, geophysics and offshore operations expertise towards the acquisition, exploration, exploitation and development of assets in key geological trends that are present in many offshore basins around the world. Our activities in offshore Mexico provide high impact exploration opportunities in an oil rich emerging basin. For more information, visit www.talosenergy.com. INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACT Sergio Maiworm +1.713.328.3008 [email protected] SOURCE Talos Energy Related Links https://www.talosenergy.com Last night (21st April 2020), the Government of Ghana projected fifteen-thousand (15,000) deaths from coronavirus. I believe it is based on evidence. It is a projection, not a certainty! This projection assumes 10% of Ghanaians are likely to test positive for the virus before infections peak. We expect that about 10% of the population may be infected and out of the 10% of the population 80% may not show signs or symptoms at all and 5% of them will be very ill, that is the projection, according to Dr Anthony Nsiah Asare, Presidential Advisor on Health. https://www.myjoyonline.com/news/national/government-projects-15000-coronavirus-deaths-in-ghana/ These scary statistics call for a concerted effort and an all hands on deck approach to Ghanas fight against COVID-19. So far, I commend stakeholders for the contributions, support, encouragement and efforts at combating this deadly virus. Needless to say, Ghanas response was late in coming, and release of funds by Government initially was a paltry GHC2.5 million before it was later ramped up. Whiles Government was waiting to release funds, the virus was moving. Hence, this scary projection of 15,000 deaths. But we cannot fight over spilled milk we must all continue to be involved and be partners. To be engaging participants, we also need data. Credible data. Hence there is every need for Government to accept in good faith concerns about discrepancies in its COVID-19 data. Such concerns from the celebrated Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa, a seasoned Pathologist and former Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and many others including my good self are all geared towards our common good to heal our land of Coronavirus disease in good time. Evidence is key to our collective objective. The Evidence-Based Medicine Movement in the early 1990s began advocating increasing use of direct evidence in medical practice. Currently, thanks to the Archie Cochrane inspired, Cochrane Reviews robust evidence is used in health and medicine. Therefore, we must all be interested in relying on credible data which lends itself to reliable and robust evidence. The World Health Organisation, itself, needs credible date from countries to plan for today and for the future. Additionally, Davies (1999), notes that evidence-informed policy making is the integration of experience, judgement and expertise with the best available external evidence This view suggests that evidence-based policymaking in general and in particular health is certainly not based on the extreme case of relying solely on evidence but must necessarily reflect the a delicate balance between evidence, values, beliefs, norms and interests. Therefore, factors such as social values (which are determined by concepts such as belief systems, motivations) and power of interest groups based on ideology, politics and power are vital to the final decision/policy. Indeed, Friedrich Nietzsche the celebrated German philosopher, cultural critic, composer and poet, posits, All things are subject to interpretation. Whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth. Therefore, in order to limit the influence of power on the truth, we need credible and clean data not data that contains duplicates among others. Several models have been explored in evidence-based medicine or health policymaking. They include the: Engineering Model Enlightenment Model Elective Affinity Model Two Communities Model Linkage and Exchange Model Strategic Model. For the sake of relevance and brevity, I will focus on the Strategic Model to explain why Ghanaians must be assured and not be talked down by Government in the ongoing discussion and debate about the discrepancies in the COVID-19 data in Ghana. The Strategic Model views evidence as ammunition which is used to support predetermined positions or to delay or obstruct politically uncomfortable decisions. Weiss (1979, p.173) explained this strategy and history is replete with examples from HIV/AIDS management in Uganda to the search for Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq by the President Bush administration. Hence Ghanaian decision-makers must come to the table with candour, humility and detailed explanations to convince the public that yes, you must continue trusting the Ghana Health Service COVID-19 figures because of a, b, c, d factors. If possible support these factors with timelines and with figures. Such figures should include names of all the centres which conducted the tests with their corresponding figures attached, when the testing centres ramped up operations, any additional equipment deployed and functioning, any more human resource added among others. If need be I hope not independent verification should be allowed. Conclusion The discussion around credible COVID-19 data is healthy, and it must not degenerate. Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa, and many others who have raised concerns must be seen to be helping the process towards healing our land of Coronavirus disease in good time. We must heal the land in good time because the projections are scary. We cannot afford the loss of 15,000 Ghanaians lives. Dr Edward Kofi Omane Boamah MD & MSc. Health Policy Planning and Financing Former Minister for Communication. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- President Donald Trump said he had a very productive meeting with Gov. Andrew Cuomo Tuesday, and said the federal government will increase its coordination efforts on testing. New York state will continue to control its testing, and manage its state and local laboratories. However, the federal government will begin to help coordinate with private manufacturers and distributors to secure more tests, Trump said during his press briefing on Tuesday, April 19. We hope that this model will work with the other states as well, Trump said. Im proud of the relationship my administration has forged with New York and I can say very honestly with New York State and New York City, theyve been terrific to work with. Cuomo had called on the federal government to help coordinate with companies to ensure testing supplies were going to areas that needed them most. The governor headed to the U.S. capital Tuesday following a morning press briefing in Buffalo. He said he was going to speak with the president about the need for more testing and state funding. A current relief bill expected to pass by the end of the week does not contain the funding Cuomo is looking for, but Trump and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin speculated that it could come in the next relief bill. Overall, the governor described a positive meeting with the president, and said the focus remained on the issue of testing. *** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK *** The meeting went well and I think it was productive, he said. The big issue was testing. As everyone knows, thats going to be the next step as we go forward and how do we separate the responsibilities and the tasks on testing vis-a-vis the state and the federal government and the acknowledgment that we all need to work together on this. As of Tuesday morning, New York had over 250,000 statewide cases, and accounted for more than 40% of the nations death toll. However, numbers have been on a steady decline since last week, and Cuomo has said he believes the worst of the outbreak is behind us. Assam has reported no new COVID-19 case for the seventh consecutive day, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday, hoping the state would not have any active case till May 1 if people followed social distancing norm diligently. The state currently has 14 active coronavirus cases, out of the 34 people who tested positive and one died, while 19 have been cured and released from hospitals, he said at a press conference. Two persons, hailing from Morigaon district, had tested positive for coronavirus on April 16. Both were secondary contacts of persons who attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation at Delhi's Nizamuddin Markaz. After the duo tested positive, the samples of Morigaon Deputy Commissioner Rituraj Bora and Superintendent of Police Swapnaneel Deka were tested as they had come in contact with them, but they were found negative. The officials are currently in home quarantine. In Assam, 33 of the 34 who tested positive are related to the Tablighi Jamaat event which has emerged as a major hotspot for the disease in the country. "There has been no positive case for the last seven days. We hope by May one, there should be no active case in Assam, provided people maintain social distance, the health minister said. He, however, pointed that there have been cases of people not maintaining physical distance from each other and this may lead to fresh positive cases. The total number of tests conducted in the six laboratories of the state so far are 5,789, with 34 testing positive, 214 results awaited and the remaining were found to be negative, Sarma said. Besides Assam, tests were also conducted of some patients hailing from neighbouring Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland, he added. The death rate due to COVID-19 in the state is 2.94 per cent as against 3.3 per cent at the national level and the global average of 7 per cent, the minister said. The state currently has 9,960 rapid testing kits, but the tests which were scheduled to begin on Wednesday have been postponed following the ICMR directive. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had on Tuesday advised states to stop using the rapid antibody test kits for next two days till it examines their quality in the wake of complaints that they are not fully effective. "We are ready to begin testing as soon as we get the official communication, Sarma said. There are nearly one lakh test kits with the suppliers at New Delhi and it will be made available to us when we require it, he said. The minister added that there are nearly 2 lakh personal protective equipment (PPE), 83,000 N95 masks and over 70 lakh triple layer masks in the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) This is the new warfare, said Randa Slim, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington. There is going to be precise targeting of individuals and key operatives in what Israel deems an existential threat to its security, which is the precision-guided missiles of Hezbollah. But the tactic of warning shots and efforts to strike equipment instead of people may get Israel only so far, she said. If the precision-guided missile project is going at the rate the Israelis are saying, eventually they are going to start killing these people. Israeli officials believe that Hezbollah has an arsenal of more than 100,000 missiles and rockets that can reach all corners of the Jewish state. Israels Iron Dome missile defense system would be unable to shoot down a large volley of rockets fired simultaneously, officials say, and Israels defense relies in part on the fact that the rockets are not very accurate. But Israel contends that Hezbollah is trying to build guided missiles, which could target key installations such as military bases, government buildings or power plants, and would be nearly impossible to stop. Israel has carried out numerous airstrikes in Syria on what it says were convoys of weapons bound for Hezbollah to drive home the point that it will not accept a fleet of smart missiles on its border. Last August, Israel sent an exploding drone into the heart of a Hezbollah-dominated neighborhood in Beirut to destroy what Israeli officials described as machinery vital to the precision-missile production effort. But in order to avoid killing Hezbollah members, the attack took place before dawn when no one was around, the senior Middle Eastern official said. Scoob! skipping theaters for digital release The new Scooby-Doo! reboot is now skipping a theatrical release and will be available for rent and purchase on digital next month, following the VOD success of Trolls: World Tour. The animated Scoob! was scheduled to hit theaters this spring but was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now, fans can check out the Mystery Inc. gangs new adventure featuring the voices of Zac Efron, Gina Rodriguez, Will Forte, Amanda Seyfried, Mark Wahlberg and Tracy Morgan on May 15 by renting it for $19.99 or buying it for $24.99. Fraggle Rock returns The Fraggles are back in a new Apple TV+ series, Fraggle Rock: Rock On! ET reports the Jim Henson classic has been revived in a new collection of mini-episodes on the streaming service, with the first debuting Tuesday. Additional episodes, featuring Fraggle songs and characters like Gobo, Webley and Boober, will premiere for free each Tuesday on Apple TV+. Each episode is shot on iPhone 11 phones from the homes of the production team and artists during the coronavirus pandemic. Venom 2 Venom 2 has been delayed due to the coronavirus, but the sequel has a now official title: Venom: Let There be Carnage. The Spider-Man anti-hero, played by Tom Hardy, will return in the new movie opposite Woody Harrelson as Cletus Kasady and Andy Serkis will be directing. The Hollywood Reporter reports Venom: Let There be Carnage (greatest sequel subtitle since Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo and Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift?") will be released June 25, 2021, nine months after its original date. MORE BUZZ: The Hunger Games prequel officially in the works ( ET Val Kilmer says he feels better than he sounds after throat cancer ( E! JoJo Siwa reveals what she looks like without signature bow and ponytail ( ET The Mandalorian season 3 already in pre-production ( SF Rose McGowan to release first album Planet 9 ( BB Michael Moore releases climate change documentary ( RS Stanley Tucci shares how to make a cocktail ( E! Millie Bobby Brown to play Sherlock Holmes sister in Netflix series ( SF Aaron Carter expecting first child with ex-girlfriend ( DM Missy Elliott drops colorful Cool Off video ( BB Ex-Falling in Reverse guitarist Derek Jones dies at 35 ( RS Ansel Elgort strips nude to raise money for coronavirus relief ( E! Chris Pine to star in The Saint remake ( SF Jodie Turner-Smith gives birth to first child with Joshua Jackson ( ET Kylie Jenner pictured without makeup amid coronavirus pandemic ( E! Actor Sam Neill covers Uptown Funk on a ukulele ( BB James Gunn shares unused Guardians of the Galaxy playlist ( SF Halle Berry says Pierce Brosnan saved her from choking during Bond filming ( ET Live Nation sued over coronavirus refunds ( BB Buzz is a daily roundup of entertainment news from movies, TV, music and celebrity gossip. Weve been watching the Duggars for years, and fans have gotten to know Jim Bob and Michelle Duggars quirks quite well. From their strict dress code they imposed on their 19 kids to their bizarre courtship rules, weve become fascinated with the Duggar way of life. And we also cant forget how thrifty the family had to be. Jim Bob and Michelle encouraged their kids to shop at thrift stores and purchase certain items in bulk and it seems many of their adult children are still maintaining this way of thinking. Jill Duggar recently showed off bunk beds she and her husband bought their sons. And, of course, she mentioned she purchased them well-used. The Duggars believe in the phrase, buy used and save the difference Caring for 19 kids is no small task, and Jim Bob and Michelle made it known that they had to cut corners with their costs whenever possible. From sticking to a strict grocery budget to exclusively shopping at thrift stores, the family managed to spend very little considering all of the kids they had in the house. Our family motto is to Buy used items and save the difference! We shop at thrift stores and garage sales, Christian Today notes the Duggars said on their family blog. The Duggars even managed to have massive weddings for a smaller-than-average price. We didnt want to spend a whole lot on our wedding, Daily Mail Online notes Jessa said. We wanted to save more for the honeymoon. We can get a lot of things done for free. When you have people in the family who have strengths in certain areas, they are usually willing to help out. Jill Duggar has shown off her thriftiness in the past Jill has gotten more attention than ever. Her husband, Derick Dillard, has it made it known that he and Jill are taking giant leaps away from Jills parents. And Jill and Derick have already started making life-changing decisions for their sons, Israel and Samuel, as they decided to enroll Israel in public school. While Jill might be stepping away from some of Jim Bob and Michelles traditions, its clear she still loves saving money. Shes been called out by her Instagram followers in the past for always taking advantage of store freebies. On Chick-fil-As Cow Appreciation Day, her family dressed up in cow outfits just for a free meal. And she also paid Krispy Kreme a visit for free donuts on National Donut Day. Jills followers also criticized her for the way she, Derick, and the kids spent Halloween. The family dressed up and drove to various restaurants for free food all night long. Last minute costumes for free/cheap food lol, Jill captioned her Instagram Story. Jill mentioned she bought well-used bunk beds Jills started creating more content for her followers via YouTube. And she recently showed off a new purchase she made for her boys. So the boys got bunk beds, and they are super excited about it, Jill stated in the video. Ive been looking on Facebook Marketplace for awhile now really wanted some wood bunk beds. And found one that I felt like was within our price range. And it came with mattresses. It was well-used, and I figured that at least then we dont have to worry about messing anything up. While she and her family seem to love the bunk beds, some of her followers arent so sure about the quality. Be sure to check the screws/bolts every once in a while, one of Jills Instagram followers commented. My sister and I had a similar one and after rough housing on the top bunk it fell down. Were sure this is far from Jills only money-saving purchase shell be sharing with her followers! Check out Showbiz Cheat Sheet on Facebook! He helped coin the phrase flatten the curve. And hes pretty impressed at how well some countries, and American states and cities, have done it in recent weeks. By keeping as many people at home as possible, theyve kept the numbers of serious cases of COVID-19 below or just above what hospitals in most areas can handle, says Howard Markel, M.D., Ph.D. of the University of Michigan Center for the History of Medicine. And that, without a doubt, has saved lives. Its also bought time for researchers to seek treatments and develop vaccines, and for public health agencies and hospitals to build up the testing and treatment capacity that must be in place before any return to normal. But now, Markel worries that some of those places will squander the progress theyve made. If they take recent signs of flattening as a signal to ease up on restrictions, they could end up with something just as bad as, or even worse than, an unflattened curve of COVID-19 cases. Markel is worried about curves with a double peak. Easing up on social distancing steps too soon, and too quickly, could give the novel coronavirus a chance to race back into broad circulation, he explains. Serious cases, and deaths, could spike again, and waste all the progress that has been made so far. Lessons from the past Thats exactly what happened in many cities during the flu pandemic of 1918 and 1919, as Markel and his colleagues showed in their detailed study of how non-pharmaceutical measures like school and business closings affected rates of excess deaths in dozens of U.S. cities. Even though the world of 2020 is far different from that of the World War I period, Markel sees the same thing happening today that happened then, and in other disease outbreaks hes studied. In every pandemic, theres a tug of war. On one end, there are the economic and business interests, and on the other end is the publics health, he says. We know from history that when citizens become restless and protest to their leaders about lifting these sanctions too early, another rise in cases invariably occurs. In some places it was worse than the first peak. This creates a situation where you have endured shelter in place sanctions and crippled the economy for nothing, says Markel, a professor of medicine, history and public health at U-M and member of the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation. Echoes in economic arguments One hundred years ago, U-M Medical School dean Victor Vaughan described bodies stacked like cord wood during his trip to Boston to address the flu pandemic with the Army Medical Corps. Images emerging in recent weeks from New York City and Detroit, of body bags in hospitals lining hallways and stacked in refrigerated trucks, evoke a modern version of what Vaughan saw. But at the same time, Markel hears the calls, and even protests, for Michigan and other states to reopen now that the numbers of cases and deaths appear to be starting to level off, or even falling. Those making an economic case for reopening businesses, schools and public places right now are also echoing the sentiments seen in the popular media of 1918 and 1919, Markel notes. But he does see that some in the business community today are looking at another important lesson of the hundred-year-old pandemic: Those cities that kept their citizens out of public spaces longer fared better economically in the long run. Differences between then and now The biggest difference between dealing with a pandemic in 1918 and dealing with one now? Without a doubt, its the power of modern medical science to make much more rapid progress than the World War I generation could ever have imagined. That speed, though, may also make people more impatient for answers. Another difference: the power of modern medicine to keep many people alive with cancer, heart disease, lung disease and other conditions who would surely have already been dead if theyd developed those conditions in 1918. But now, theyre facing the highest risk of dying if they catch the virus. Markel also points to another difference made possible by technology: the fact that many people but certainly not all can continue to do some of their work from home. And that government agencies can get information about relief measures for individuals and businesses out rapidly and without requiring in-person contact. But for all these reasons, enduring the current hardship, and working to ensure that those most affected get support, is that much more important. If we dont listen to the experts in infectious disease, epidemiology and pandemic preparedness, and follow their lead, we will all be contributing to the spread of this virus, says Markel. As a historical epidemiologist, I really dont want to see my research play out before my eyes. Returning to normal So when will it be safe to loosen restrictions? We will need to be much further down the far side of the curve that weve just spent so much time flattening, he says. The epidemic curve of known cases in every city, state and nation has a turning point, or what Markel calls an inflection point, on the way up from where the virus circulated among so many that its no longer possible to contain its spread. And on the other side of the peak, there will eventually be a de-inflection point, when cases stop piling up and the epidemic quiets itself down. Its not possible to exactly pinpoint the downward inflection point, especially in the absence of broad testing, he cautions. But the ability to test everyone with symptoms, and then to perform contact tracing by identifying and monitoring everyone they came in contact with just before they got sick, will be vital to the process of returning to normal. So will a cautious approach for people with underlying conditions and other factors that put them at higher risk. And of course, development of effective treatments and vaccines. If you ask me, I will always err on the side of the publics health, he says. And I think thats true for any of us who are on or near the front lines of this pandemic, and seeing the horrifying carnage its causing because we dont yet have an effective treatment or vaccine. We need to stay the course, prevent more deaths and buy more time. We are better off safe than sorry. Source: Michigan Medicine Southeast Texas is in for some difficult times as it begins to recover from coronavirus during a historic collapse in oil prices, Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick said in a somber message to Commissioners Court on Tuesday. Branick discussed evolving plans to move the county forward, and how the regions reliance on the oil and gas industry will make the challenge ever more difficult. He told commissioners he spoke Tuesday morning with some local refinery managers, who shed more light on the situation. People expecting refineries to be particularly profitable at this time should note that in March they were only just being delivered crude they bought in January for $60 a barrel, he said. The price of a barrel of oil for delivery in June and beyond closed Tuesday at $11.57, down another 43% for the day. So theyre taking a bath right now, and of course the people that are upstream in the exploration and production are just going to have to stop they just cant do it, Branick told commissioners. So theres going to be a lot of losses of jobs in east and west Texas. With that in mind, Branick said the $16.8 million the county is slated to get for the Jack Brooks Regional Airport down from $17.9 million after an adjustment can be used to cover payroll at the airport for the next couple of years, which should help the countys overall budget. RELATED: SE Texas relaxes coronavirus testing criteria Helpful numbers (409) 550-2536: Hotline for residents of Jasper, Jefferson, Hardin, Newton, Orange and Tyler counties who want to be tested for coronavirus. 211, option 6: For general coronavirus inquiries See More Collapse The money also can be used for construction projects and planned maintenance, among other uses. County Auditor Patrick Swain said he expects to soon begin seeing the stay-at-home orders impact on the countys revenues, as the sales tax payment scheduled for May will include revenues through March. He said hes not yet sure of the overall economic impact. The countys two largest revenue sources are sales and property taxes, which this year are budgeted to make up $25.7 million and $82.5 million, respectively, of the countys $123 million total budget. Swain said he doesnt yet expect to see a huge drop in revenue, although people could also contest their property values moving forward, which could decrease future money coming in. The primary fiscal fallout for county services due to the most recent recession was the loss of the county library, which eliminated four jobs, and eight deputy constable positions. Both took effect in the fiscal year 2011 budget. Generally, the countys first step to avoid eliminating positions, Swain said, would be freezing pay. That has happened about six times in the past 25 years. Related: Parkdale Mall owner, CBL Properties, furloughs 60% of staff Thats where theyve looked first if it got to the point where we had to look at some sort of freezing positions or hiring, he said, noting that there are currently no plans to make any such changes to the budget. Then you work your way back to the essential functions of government. Beaumont Mayor Becky Ames said the city also has started having conversations about the economy and how the changes could impact the citys budget moving forward. She said the citys rainy day fund is larger than required, in part for disasters when it takes time to catch up but government operations must continue. The expectation of its use may have been for the aftermath of a hurricane, but it should bridge any gaps in available funds that coronavirus could create. I think as far as the citys concerned, were going to be fine, she said. Were not going to be able to do some of the things we might have wanted to, but well just have to watch our spending and build the fund balance back up. In another example of the coronavirus impact on the retail economy, the owner of Beaumonts Parkdale Mall on Tuesday announced it had furloughed 60% of its staff. The company, CBL Properties, did not provide specific information about employment at the mall, but the furlough affects about 300 employees across the entire company. RELATED: SE Texas records 16 coronavirus-related deaths Stories like these are just one of the factors local government officials have to consider when deciding how to move forward and reopen businesses. While economic fears are relatively similar across the region, data and advice from public health officials seems to be varying across even small areas. Giving more information about how hes looking at reopening the county, Branick said Texas is supposed to be on the backside of the curve of confirmed cases and deaths. However, he said, he wants to see several days of drops in the numbers, as well as analyze Gov. Greg Abbotts new orders expected at the end of the week and recommendations from his task force. We are in the back side, but tomorrow through mid-May is supposed to be a real rapid drop in the number of cases and deaths, Branick said. Ames, on the other hand, said Beaumont has not seen that downward trend. On Tuesday, the region confirmed 20 new positive cases of coronavirus and saw three more deaths Nederlands first and one additional death in both Port Arthur and Beaumont. Top hits: Get Beaumont Enterprise stories sent directly to your inbox This brings Southeast Texas to 388 positive cases and 16 coronavirus-related deaths. The confirmed cases include a student at the Lamar Institute of Technology, who traveled out of the state over spring break. The student had not been on campus since March 10 and was enrolled online, according to the school. Tuesday also was the first full day that the six-county call center created to streamline coronavirus screening and testing was officially scheduling appointments for anyone who called and wanted one. The hotline logged its highest number of calls 213 since March 30. The testing sites in Jefferson and Hardin counties tested a total of 181 people Monday. While she couldnt give many details as theyre still being worked out, after the meeting Ames confirmed that the city is working on getting a coronavirus testing site within the city limits to help continue to expand the testing capacity. Related: LIT sees first coronavirus case City Councilman Audwin Samuel said he hopes that will give a better picture of the communitys infection rates and particularly individuals at higher risk to contract the virus that, as a result, also face more barriers to travel to the Mid-County testing site. If we have 119,000 residents in Beaumont and theres only been 800 tested from Beaumont, that brings about some question and concern, he said. If theres something the mayors can do, of if theres something we can do to facilitate the ability for there to be testing for those who cant afford to get to the airport we need to try to facilitate that sector of the community Commissioner Michael Shane Sinegal, in the Jefferson County Commissioners Court meeting, echoed similar concerns that not enough residents of Port Arthur are being tested. Branick reiterated that county Public Health Authority Dr. Cecil Walkes has been given the leeway to use the countys mobile medical unit for testing, and more kits are available. Related: Data shortcomings cloud coronavirus impact Commissioner Everette Bo Alfred again asked for more information about the racial breakdown of confirmed cases a request that was repeated by members of the Beaumont City Council during their meeting later in the day. Branick said hes had trouble getting the racial breakdown information that Alfred has been asking for, but that it started coming in about a week ago. Ames said she would work to start including information about the races of individuals within the Beaumont Public Health Departments jurisdiction in her daily report released through Facebook. We need to know whats the breakdown of those that have been tested, because in the minority community theres not been a lot of open testing, Samuel said. Isaac Windes and Jacob Dick contributed. kaitlin.bain@beaumontenterprise.com twitter.com/KaitlinBain BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 22 Trend: During a special quarantine regime introduced to prevent the widespread of coronavirus infection, Azerbaijan began to take the corresponding measures to bring the compatriots from Russia back to Azerbaijan, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. So far, 548 people have crossed the Russian-Azerbaijani border since April 20. 'Eve gedirem (I am going home) website was created to return the citizens temporarily staying in Russia and wishing to return to Azerbaijan, the message said. "In accordance with the registration on the website, the citizens may return by receiving a preliminary notification, the ministry said. A group of Azerbaijani citizens has recently returned to Azerbaijan through a special corridor at the border checkpoint with the support of the Azerbaijani embassy in Russia, as well as via coordination and cooperation with the Russian corresponding structures. As many as 548 people have crossed the border since April 20, 2020, and all these citizens are on quarantine. The people registered on the Eve gedirem website will be informed in advance by phone or via SMS about the date of the next transition through the border checkpoint. There is no need for the citizens staying in Russia and registered on the website to arrive at the border checkpoint or at the airport beforehand. They should stay at their place of residence until they receive the corresponding information, said the ministry. Two men in their 30s are the most recent confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Nuevo Laredo, city and state officials said on Tuesday. Nuevo Laredo Mayor Enrique Rivas Cuellar is urging the community to cover their mouth, since this is an effective way to curtail the risk of transmission, he said. On Tuesday, the Public Health State Lab confirmed 20 more COVID-19 cases in Tamaulipas, including the men in the Sister City whose ages are 33 and 37. Nuevo Laredo also recorded its first three recovered. The city now has 34 confirmed cases, 15 suspected cases and three deaths, as of Thursday afternoon. Stay home, Rivas Cuellar emphasized. Lets work on using the face masks to decrease the spread of COVID-19. Any type of face masks works, including the homemade ones. Everyone can take care of Nuevo Laredo. Fifteen of the 34 positive cases are migrants, Nuevo Laredo officials said. In a videoconference with nine of his counterparts on Tuesday, Tamaulipas Gov. Francisco Garcia Cabeza de Vaca said theres an urgent need to move migrants to suitable spaces outside the entity to be cared for, as well as to comply with the agreements on migration between the state and federal government. I want to express once again, it is urgent. It is a matter of national security this public health problem and that is why we want the relocation," the governor said. The vast majority of them are citizens of other countries that are already generating a very serious public health problem, and what I want is to prevent the coronavirus from spreading among them at all costs. Tamaulipas Secretary of Health Dr. Gloria Molina Gamboa pointed out that the state has 230 confirmed cases, 28 recovered and nine deaths, three of those in Nuevo Laredo. The Uttar Pradesh government will allow other states to take their stranded residents home if they wished, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Wednesday. At a review meeting here on the coronavirus crises, Adityanath said the UP government will give permission and cooperate with other states on this. Uttar Pradesh recently sent buses to bring home its own students stranded in Rajasthan's Kota. Earlier, the government briefly allowed the movement of migrant workers heading back to Uttar Pradesh. The CM also directed officials to seal private hospitals that do not follow safety norms and guidelines. Preparations for Ramzan and the ongoing wheat procurement also figured in the review. The chief minister was informed that 10 districts, earlier affected by COVID-19, don't have any active case now. Thirty-two of the 75 districts are free from coronavirus, he was told. The CM told officials to take strict action against those violating the lockdown and not adhering to social distancing norms. "A lockdown means total lockdown," he said, according to a press statement. Adityanath said the students brought home from Kota should be told through the CM's helpline to stay quarantined in their homes. He said he will personally contact them and enquire about their well-being. He told officials to take all necessary precautions for the holy month of Ramzan, beginning next week. The CM said it should be ensured that there are no gatherings at the time of the sehri and iftar rituals during Ramzan. Briefing reporters later, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi said Muslim religious leaders have fully supported the appeal made by the chief minister to observe the rituals within the homes. The CM said Aligarh, Saharanpur and Moradabad are sensitive districts and labs to conduct coronavirus tests should be set up there. He said industrial units in the districts not affected by the virus should be allowed to function according to the Centre's guidelines. Permission should be granted for the transportation of the construction material, he said. He asked officials to ensure that no one faces any foodgrain shortage during the lockdown. Adityanath called for proper medical examinations of people who are part of the supply chain, which he said should not be disrupted. The state government said 77 per cent of wheat crop has been harvested. It has purchased 30 lakh quintals of wheat and 62 per cent of the procurement has been done through doorstep collection from farmers, the government said. Meanwhile, the Panchayati Raj Department on Wednesday handed over Rs 53 crore for the state's COVID Care Fund. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) It started with a headache in late March. Then came the body aches. At first, Shalondra Rollins' doctor thought it was the flu. By April 7, three days after she was finally diagnosed with COVID-19, the 38-year-old teaching assistant told her mom she was feeling winded. Within an hour, she was in an ambulance, conscious but struggling to breathe, bound for a hospital in Jackson, Mississippi. An hour later, she was dead. "I never in a million years thought I would get a call saying she was gone," said her mother, Cassandra Rollins, 55. "I want the world to know she wasn't just a statistic. She was a wonderful person. She was loved." Shalondra Rollins, a mother of two, had a number of factors that put her at higher risk of dying from COVID-19. Like her mother, she had diabetes. She was black, with a low-salary job. And she lived in Mississippi, whose population is among the unhealthiest in the country. She was one of 183 Mississippi residents who have died of COVID-19, and one of more than 4,700 with confirmed illnesses. Doctors know that people with underlying health conditions - such as the 40% of Americans who live with diabetes, hypertension, asthma and other chronic diseases - are more vulnerable to COVID-19. So are patients without access to intensive care or mechanical ventilators. Yet some public health experts contend that social and economic conditions - long overlooked by government leaders, policymakers and the public - are even more powerful indicators of who will survive the pandemic. A toxic mix of racial, financial and geographic disadvantage can prove deadly. "Most epidemics are guided missiles attacking those who are poor, disenfranchised and have underlying health problems," said Dr. Thomas Frieden, a former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Federal health officials have known for nearly a decade which communities are most likely to suffer devastating losses - both in lives and jobs - during a disease outbreak or other major disaster. In 2011, the CDC created the Social Vulnerability Index to rate all the nation's counties on factors such as poverty, housing and access to vehicles that predict their ability to prepare, cope and recover from disasters. Yet the country has neglected to respond to warning signs that these communities - where people already live sicker and die younger than those in more affluent areas - could be devastated by a pandemic, said Dr. Otis Brawley, a professor at Johns Hopkins University. "This is a failure of American society to take care of the Americans who need help the most," Brawley said. Although vulnerable counties are scattered throughout the country, they are concentrated across the South, in a belt of deprivation stretching from coastal North Carolina to the Mexican border and deserts of the Southwest. Some of the most vulnerable communities are in Mississippi, which has the highest poverty rate of any state; Indian reservations in New Mexico, the second-poorest state, where thousands of households lack running water; and cities such as Memphis, Tennessee, a hot spot for asthma that recently ranked among the bottom 15 metro areas in offering safe, livable housing to its residents. The first U.S. COVID-19 cases were detected in metropolitan areas, with Hispanics and blacks making up a disproportionate number of deaths in New York City. Outbreaks are now flaring in rural communities, the South and Upper Midwest. Both the New Orleans and Albany, Georgia, areas have infection rates above 1% of their populations. More than 1,600 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the Sioux Falls, South Dakota, home to a meat-packing plant that employs immigrants and refugees from around the world. Whether COVID-19 patients live or die probably depends more on their baseline health than whether they have access to an intensive care bed, Brawley said. Some hospitals report that only about 20% of COVID-19 patients on ventilators survive. Many public health experts fear that COVID-19 will follow the same trajectory as HIV and AIDS, which began as a disease of big coastal cities - New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco - but quickly entrenched in the black community and in the South, which is considered the epicenter of the nation's HIV/AIDS outbreak today. Like HIV and AIDS, the first COVID-19 cases in the United States were diagnosed in "jet-setters and people who traveled to Europe and other places," said Dr. Carlos del Rio, professor of infectious diseases at the Emory University Rollins School of Public Health. "As it settles in America, [COVID-19] is now disproportionately impacting minority populations, just like HIV." Mississippi: The legacy of segregation One in 5 Mississippi residents live in poverty. It is also in the heart of the "Stroke Belt," a band of 11 Southern states where obesity, hypertension and smoking contribute to an elevated rate of strokes. Blacks make up 38% of the state population - but more than half of COVID-19 infections in which race is known. They also account for nearly two-thirds of deaths from the virus, according to the state health department. Medical and socioeconomic conditions put Mississippians at higher risk of COVID-19 in several ways, said Frieden, now CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, a global public health initiative. People in low-income or minority communities are more likely to work in jobs that expose them to the virus - in factories or grocery stores and public transit, for example. They're less likely to have paid sick leave and more likely to live in crowded housing. They have high rates of chronic illness. They also have less access to health care, especially routine preventive services. Mississippi is one of 14 states that have not expanded Medicaid. "If they do have chronic conditions such as hypertension or diabetes," Frieden said, "the health system doesn't work as well for them, and they are less likely to have it under control." Minority communities suffer the legacy of segregation, which has trapped generations in a downward economic spiral, said Dr. Steven Woolf, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. "The fact that African Americans are more likely to die of heart disease is not an accident," Woolf said. "COVID-19 is a very fresh, vivid example of an old problem." Research shows that "stress, economic disadvantage, economic deprivation not only affect the people experiencing it, but it's passed on from one generation to another," Woolf said. Tonja Sesley-Baymon, president and CEO of the Memphis Urban League, noted that social distancing is a privilege of the affluent. Just getting to work can put people at risk if they ride the bus. "If you take public transportation, social distancing is not an option for you," she said. Dr. LouAnn Woodward, the University of Mississippi Medical Center's top executive, has treated many people in the emergency room whose life-threatening crises could have been prevented with routine care. She's seen diabetes patients with blood sugar levels high enough to put them in a coma. Health insurance is only part of the problem, she said. When Woodward asked one woman why she waited so long to seek treatment for her breast tumor, the woman said, "I just got a ride." Cassandra Rollins, the youngest of 11 siblings, knows hardship. Two of her sisters were murdered. She helped raise their children, who are now grown. She raised four of her own children as a single mother. Shalondra, the eldest, often acted as a second mom to her brother 18 years younger. Shalondra even attended her brother's parent-teacher conferences when her mother couldn't leave work. In September, her brother died by suicide at age 20. When her daughter was diagnosed with COVID-19, Cassandra Rollins said, "we had just gotten to a point where we didn't cry every day." The Navajo: Health suffers in food deserts The coronavirus is battering impoverished communities. More than 1,200 COVID-19 cases and 48 deaths have been diagnosed in the Navajo Nation, the country's largest Indian reservation, located on 27,000 square miles at the junction of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. There are few hospitals in the region, an area the size of West Virginia, and most lack intensive care units. The communities that make up the Navajo Nation have among the worst scores on the CDC's Social Vulnerability Index. Thirty-nine percent of residents live in poverty. With a shortage of adequate housing, many live in modest homes with up to 10 people under one roof, said Jonathan Nez, Navajo Nation president. That can make it harder to contain the virus. "We're social people," Nez said. "We take care of our elders at home." The first residents tested positive in mid-March, and cases skyrocketed within weeks. In the eight counties comprising the Navajo, Hopi and Zuni nations, 1,930 residents have tested positive and 79 have died. That's more cases per 100,000 residents than the Washington, D.C., area. The Navajo Nation has taken aggressive steps to control the outbreak, including weekend curfews enforced by checkpoints and patrols. But more than 30% of its households lack a toilet or running water, according to the Navajo Water Project, a nonprofit that installs plumbing in homes. Residents often drive long distances to fill containers with water, Nez said. Having no running water makes it difficult to properly wash hands to prevent coronavirus infections. Navajo patients with diabetes have long struggled to clean skin infections, said Dr. Valory Wangler, chief medical officer at Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services in Gallup, New Mexico. Maintaining a healthy weight on the reservation is challenging, Nez said. Residents commonly spend hours daily traveling by car to and from work, leaving little time to exercise or cook. While the region has fast-food restaurants, far fewer stores sell fresh fruits and vegetables, he said, adding, "we're in a food desert." Memphis: Childhood diseases take their toll Most children with COVID-19 are at low risk of death. But many adults felled by the disease suffer the long-term effects of health damage they suffered as children, such as lead exposure or asthma, said Brawley of Johns Hopkins. More than 208,000 homes in Memphis, Tennessee, pose potential lead hazards. Lead - toxic at any level - can cause brain damage and lead to hypertension and kidney disease, conditions that increase the risk of complications in COVID-19 patients. Shelby County, which includes Memphis, is home to 937,000 residents, 14% of the state's population. Its COVID-19 burden is outsized, representing one-quarter of the cases and deaths in Tennessee. Where race is known, most patients have been black. The National Center for Healthy Housing ranked Memphis the worst metropolitan area for housing in 2013, although its rating has since improved slightly. Memphis, with older housing stock and one of the poorest big U.S. cities, is a hot spot for asthma, which afflicts up to 13.5% of its children. The CDC has said that people with asthma may be at higher risk from COVID-19, although some hospitals haven't seen higher death rates in this population. Blacks are almost three times as likely to die of asthma as whites, according to the Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health. Many children develop asthma after being exposed to tobacco smoke or substandard housing with dust mites, cockroaches, rodents and molds. Some suffer for a lifetime. Many poor people can't afford asthma medications and have no regular source of medical care to monitor their disease, said Dr. Robin Womeodu, chief medical officer at Methodist University Hospital. Asthma patients often go through "a revolving door in and out of the emergency department," with an increased risk of death, she said. Health experts say these health risks could remain long after the pandemic passes. "The question is, 'Do we value all life equally?'" said Dr. James Hildreth, president and CEO of Meharry Medical College in Nashville, a historically black college. "If we do, we will find a way to address these things." KHN data editor Elizabeth Lucas contributed to this report. METHODOLOGY Kaiser Health News analyzed COVID-19 case rates across the country and compared them to a number of demographic factors. KHN obtained COVID-19 data by county from The New York Times and populations from 2019 U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates to calculate cases per 100,000 residents. The national map displays COVID-19 case rates per 100,000 by commuting zone, defined as a group of counties that approximate local economies and can cross state boundaries. The charts comparing COVID-19 cases in Mississippi and Shelby County, Tennessee, by population and race are irrespective of Hispanic ethnicity because ethnicity is coded separately in the data. DATA SOURCES COVID-19 cases and deaths by county: The New York Times Commuting zone definitions: Urban Institute, with adjustments for recent county boundary changes Hospitals and ICU beds: Kaiser Health News analysis, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Population: U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates, 2019 Race, ethnicity and age: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, 2018 Health insurance: U.S. Census Bureau Small Area Health Insurance Estimates, 2018 Poverty: U.S. Census Bureau Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates, 2018 Social Vulnerability: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Social Vulnerability Index, 2018 Amur Region resident gets 2 years in jail for possession of 100 kg of hemp plant flickr.com/ Jobs For Felons Hub 12:35 22/04/2020 MOSCOW, April 22 (RAPSI) A court in the Amur Region has sentenced a local resident to 2 ywars in penal colony for keeping over 100 kg of cannabis with no sale intent, a news release of the Prosecutor Generals Office reads. The man has been found guilty of illegal acquisition and felony drug possession. In September 2019, the man illegally bought and kept with no sale intent cannabis weighing more than 7 kg with and hemp plant components weighing over 94 kg, according to the statement. A 7-year-old boy took an unsecured shotgun and shot his 3-year-old sister to death while their mother and another young sibling were in their Colorado home, say police, who have now arrested the mom. Michaela Dawn Harman, 24, of Westminster, was booked and later held at the Jefferson County Jail after the Tuesday shooting, police said. Her children, including the 7-year-old, have been temporarily placed in the care of Jefferson County Human Services. Michaela Dawn Harman, 24, of Westminster, Colorado, was arrested after her 7-year-old boy took an unsecured shotgun and shot his 3-year-old sister to death while the mother and another young sibling were in their Denver suburb home Tuesday, say police Officers were called to the woman's home on Moore Circle near 107th Avenue in the Denver suburbs soon after receiving a 911 call, reports KABC. Once cops arrived, they found the young girl critically injured by the shotgun blast. She had been accidentally shot by her older brother while the two were playing, police said. Westminster City Police were called to Harman's home in the Denver suburbs after receiving a 911 call Officers were dispatched to Harman's home on Moore Circle near 107th Avenue in the Denver suburbs to find a young girl critically injured after her 7-year-old brother accidentally shot her with an unsecured shotgun The child was rushed to a trauma center, but did not survive. Harman was arrested on a charge of 'suspicion of child abuse resulting in death - criminal negligence'. It's not yet clear if she has an attorney who can speak on her behalf. Police reminded gun owners with children at home to keep firearms and ammunition securely stored and separately. Lebanon has become the first Arab country to legalise cannabis farming for medical and industrial purposes a move that could generate lucrative exports and foreign currency as the country struggles to cope with a financial crisis. Although growing the plant was previously illegal, cannabis has long been farmed openly in the fertile and impoverished Bekaa Valley. According to the United Nations, the country is the worlds third largest supplier of cannabis resin, or hashish, after Morocco and Afghanistan. The new law, which was passed on Tuesday, will regulate the already existing cultivation efforts and help stem unlawful production of the plant, with all recreational production and use remaining illegal. The legislation aims to build a multimillion-dollar industry that could generate products ranging from textiles to pharmaceuticals, and even such items as cannabidiol (CBD) oil, Lebanons The Daily Star reported. Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shia paramilitary and political group that controls swathes of the Bekaa Valley, was one of the only parties to oppose the legislation. Lawmakers who supported the bill defended their decision, saying it was driven by economic motives nothing else. We have moral and social reservations, but today there is the need to help the economy by any means, said Alain Aoun, a senior MP in the Free Patriotic Movement. The idea of legalising cannabis cultivation to produce high value-added medicinal products for export was explored in a report by McKinsey that was commissioned by the Lebanese government in 2018. The consultancy firm reportedly estimated that the industry could generate as much as $1bn annually. The Lebanese authorities have long grappled with the illegal trade. Last month, police carried out the countrys biggest drug bust when they seized about 25 tonnes of hashish that was set to be smuggled to an African state. Lebanon is meanwhile in the grip of an unprecedented financial crisis that sparked an uprising in October. The local currency has nearly halved in value since then, while a crippling dollar shortage has impacted imports. Prices have soared, and unemployment has risen sharply. The arrival of the coronavirus and the subsequent strict lockdown, shuttering businesses, has made matters worse. As of Wednesday, 682 people were recorded as having been infected by the coronavirus and 22 had died. Lebanese lawmakers convened on Tuesday in a special session held in a Beirut theatre. Their temperatures were taken, and their legs sprayed with disinfectant so that they could follow social-distancing regulations. On the agenda were dozens of other bills, including fighting corruption in the countrys massive public sector and a controversial draft bill about an amnesty for thousands of prisoners. Anti-government demonstrations that observed the coronavirus safety measures were held across the country to coincide with the session, with many driving around the outskirts of Beirut in protest over the countrys economic and political collapse. Furious protesters told The Independent they felt the government had no plan. Jack, an unemployed physiotherapist, said: First, they promised 400,000 lire (215) to each family and then that never materialised, and then 200,000 lire to students and that disappeared too. And we havent seen any aid for the poor people. We dont need amnesty laws; we need aid packages and reforms, he added. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 22) Two soldiers were killed while three were wounded in an attack by armed communist rebels in Aurora province, the Philippine Army said Wednesday. The Army in a statement identified the fatalities as Pfc. Ken Lester I. Sasapan and Pfc. Jackson M. Mallari. They were killed in an encounter with members of the New People's Army in Barangay Diaat, Maria Aurora town on Tuesday. Sasapan and Mallari were part of the Scout Platoon from the 91st Infantry Battalion, 7th Infantry Division, which was conducting a security patrol in the vicinity "in relation to the distribution of the Department of Social Welfare and Development's Special Amelioration Program," the Army said. According to Army officials, the two soldiers "were fired upon and treacherously killed" by the NPA fighters, which the government considers as terrorists although the tag is still pending with a local court. The firefight lasted for about an hour, resulting in the injuries of three other soldiers. "We mourn the death of Pfc. Sasapan and Pfc. Mallari, whose demise(s) were caused by the treachery of the CNTs capitalizing the assistance provided by the soldiers to the communities in line with distribution of SAP. They fought valiantly and paid a great sacrifice to protect our people from the atrocities caused by the CPP-NPA terrorists, Lt. Gen. Gilbert I. Gapay, Commanding General of the Philippine Army said. There has been a number of clashes between government forces and the NPA despite the latter's declaration of a unilateral ceasefire until April 30. This was in response to the United Nations' call for a global truce so all states can focus on the COVID-19 pandemic. The government's ceasefire declaration ended last April 15. Malacanang said President Rodrigo Duterte has not yet decided if he will also extend his ceasefire order. Presidential Spokesperson Roque on Monday said there is a growing call against it, citing three incidents where the NPA did not honor their own pledge. Rebels reportedly seized relief goods meant for residents of Eastern Samar. He also reported an encounter in Rodriguez, Rizal and a hacking incident involving an indigenous tribe in Surigao. Meanwhile, the Communist Party of the Philippines said the Armed Forces has conducted six aerial bombings since Duterte declared a state of public health emergency on March 16 due to rising coronavirus infections. The latestaerial bombardment was last Sunday in Saranggani province, the CPP said. The NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, with an insurgency that has spanned more than five decades. Duterte walked away from peace talks with communist rebels in 2017 as both sides accused each other of ceasefire violations. The two panels are considering returning to the negotiating table, but Duterte and CPP founding chairman Jose Maria Sison could not agree on contentious issues, including the venue for the meetings. KAMPALA The Cabinet meeting for Monday, April 20, was heated, with President Museveni grilling his ministers on how they looked on as MPs allocated themselves Shs10 billion of the supplementary budget meant for COVID-19, PML Daily has learnt. MPs have over the last week been in the spotlight for the allocation, which was on Tuesday, April 21 temporarily blocked by the High Court. Each MP is supposed to receive Shs20m of the money. And now it has emerged that on Monday, the matter was the centre of debate in Cabinet, with the furious Museveni questioning how the MPs allocated public resources to themselves yet it had not been discussed by Cabinet. Who included this money in the supplementary budget? This is illegal. You cannot allocate public resources to your selves like this, the President is quoted as telling the ministers, most of whom are also Members of Parliament. Sources added that Mr Museveni also tasked Finance minister Matia Kasaija to explain the questionable allocation but the latter was unable to provide a convincing answer to the President. The sources who attended the meeting said at this moment, all the ministers went silent for some time before Foreign Affairs minister Sam Kuteesa shot up and suggested that the Shs10 billion be rechannelled to the Health ministry. However, sources said this did not receive much approval from the ministers and it was suggested that the matter be deferred to another day. Following backlash over the allocation, Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga said that the decision to appropriate the Shs10b was reached by the Commission after several MPs who have ambulances approached her seeking for financial assistance to keep them up and running during this covid-19 crisis. Last Thursday, Ms Kadaga warned MPs against speaking about the money saying on her and the Parliamentary Commission can authoritatively talk to the media about it. Related The ranking is dedicated to assessing the impact of universities on the process of implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) formulated by the United Nations for the period up to 2030. The new ranking assessed the contribution of the universities to the implementation of 17 goals of the UN. Last year, St. Petersburg Polytechnic University has been ranked 85th in the international THE University Impact Rankings. This year, the SPbPU occupied the 37th position, ahead of all Russian and many leading foreign universities. The St. Petersburg Polytechnic University obtained the highest scores for: SDG-7: ensuring universal access to the affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy sources for everyone - the 5th position in the world; SDG 13: urgent measures to combat climate change and its consequences - the 5th position in the world; SDG-14: conservation and rational use of oceans, seas and marine resources for the sustainable development - the 21st position in the world; SDG-8: promoting steady, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for everyone the 28th place in the world; SDG-11: ensuring openness, security, resilience and environmental sustainability of cities and towns - the 30th position in the world. Rector of SPbPU, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Andrei Rudskoi is confident that the university's position in the ranking demonstrates its commitment to the goals of sustainable development through the established university's ecosystem, aimed at achieving the sustainable development goals. According to rector, in particular, the Polytechnic University contributes to the development of society through its R&D and innovations. Meaning, of course, the effective management of the intellectual potential, sources, quality of education, and the degree of influence on the high-tech industry and business. "We can see that the sustainable development goals defined by the UN correlate in many ways with the Russian National Projects. Within its framework the policy of socio-economic development of the country is implemented. Such as education and science, health, ecology, industry, digital economy. And our University makes a significant contribution and has achievements in every area," said the rector of SPbPU. Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1158660/Peter_the_Great_St_Petersburg_Polytechnic.jpg SOURCE Peter the Great St.Petersburg Polytechnic University (SPbPU) US President Donald Trump wished North Korea's Kim Jong Un "well" but stopped short of directly commenting on the reclusive leader's health amid reports he underwent serious surgery. "I wish him well," Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday, noting the "good relationship" he shares with the North Korean leader. "If he is in the kind of condition that the reports say, that the is saying, it's a very serious condition," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) (Natural News) The Cobble Hill Health Center nursing home in Brooklyn has reported a total of 55 dead, the highest nursing home deaths in the country. The death toll at Cobble Hill surpasses that of the Kirkland, Washington nursing home that was one of the first to get struck by the coronavirus (COVID-19) and those of five other nursing homes in the outer borough of New York City which have over 40 deaths each. Underequipped, understaffed, overwhelmed The deaths at Cobble Hill come as the nation struggles to control the rapid spread of the coronavirus in nursing homes that care for its most frail and vulnerable. Cobble Hill officials have pointed out the lack of support from the city, the state or the federal government as one of the reasons for the high number of deaths at the facility. Right here, we are doing it alone, stated Cobble Hill Health Center CEO Donny Tuchman, addressing neighbors who had gathered Monday to show support for the nursing home in Brooklyn, New York. These people right here, he said while pointing to health care staff members in full protective gear who had walked out of the facility to accept the applause. These people are deserving of everything that there is in this world, Tuchman said of his workers. Interviews by the Associated Press with people who have visited Cobble Hill support Tuchmans statements. They describe an overwhelmed facility thats underequipped to deal with its coronavirus outbreak, lacking the necessary staff, personal protective equipment as well as reliable testing. They were under siege, said Daniel Arbeeny, who brought his ailing 88-year-old father from a hospital to Cobble Hill in late March. They were doing the best they could, as far as we could tell at arms length, under siege. On Sunday, Tuchman told AP that he believed that many other nursing homes have more deaths than Cobble Hill, but that the facility had been singled out for its honesty. He explained that Cobble Hill responded to the states voluntary survey with cases in which it was possible that the COVID-19 had been a factor the facility wasnt able to test due to a lack of testing kits. Tuchman also claimed that he reported 50 deaths, not 55, though the state stood by its tally Sunday. Our resident population is, by definition, fragile and vulnerable and almost all have significant underlying health issues, read a statement from Cobble Hill. Any deaths weve reported have been based on the possibility of COVID-19 being a factor. Because COVID-19 testing in skilled nursing facilities has been extremely difficult to obtain, there is no uniform measure to determine conclusively whether COVID-19 was a contributing factor in a residents death. A spokesman for the facility added that it had made repeated requests for more resources such as test kits and personal protective equipment for its already depleted staff. Up to 100 of its 350 healthcare workers have needed to go on sick leave. The facility also attempted to move some of its residents suspected of carrying the coronavirus to the military field hospital set up as New York Citys Jacob Javits Convention Center. However, Cobble Hill was told that the areas main hospitals where more overwhelmed and were a higher priority for relief. Government to require increased transparency, but where is the support? For weeks, New York state officials have refused to release numbers from nursing homes, citing concerns about the residents privacy. However, mounting calls for transparency from families with loved ones in these facilities, as well as complaints from local leaders, have since caused Gov. Andrew Cuomo to issue an executive order requiring communities to report deaths and inform families when a resident tests positive for the coronavirus. (Related: Coronavirus deaths in nursing homes not being tracked, even as space for the dead runs out.) We have had really disturbing situations in nursing homes, Cuomo said. The federal government has also taken steps to increase transparency in nursing homes. A new rule requires these facilities to report COVID-19 cases to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help the government build a database. This is on top of a new rule that also requires these facilities to inform family members when a resident tests positive for the coronavirus. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid administrator Seema Verma called the new rules a critical component of the effort to builds a national COVID-19 surveillance system as the economy begins to reopen. The hope is that more transparency about the alarming numbers of nursing home cases and deaths will help shed more light on this tragic aspect of the epidemic. However, such efforts give little comfort to the actual nursing homes grappling with the outbreak, especially if they dont come with any support for these facilities. Theres been a lot of lip service about how vulnerable nursing homes have been, and everyone has the best intentions, but it didnt materialize, Tuchman said. The PPE didnt materialize, the staffing surge didnt materialize, the testing didnt materialize. How did we expect this not to spread? Sources include: CNBC.com APNews.com By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis made an impassioned plea for protection of the environment on Wednesday's 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day, saying the coronavirus pandemic had shown that some challenges had to be met with a global response. Francis praised the environmental movement, saying it was necessary for young people to "take to the streets to teach us what is obvious, that is, that there will be no future for us if we destroy the environment that sustains us". The pope, who wrote a major encyclical in 2015 on the defence of nature and the dangers of climate change, dedicated his general audience - broadcast from his library because of the coronavirus lockdown - to the theme. Recounting a Spanish proverb that God always forgives, man sometimes forgives but nature never forgives, Francis said: "If we have deteriorated the Earth, the response will be very ugly." A landmark in the emergence of the environmental movement when it first took place in 1970, this year's Earth Day has prompted calls from many, including U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, for governments to pursue "green recovery" in response to coronavirus Both the pope and Guterres have made environmental protection and climate change signature themes of their offices. See in 3D how much plastic is used around the world every hour, day, year and decade. "We see these natural tragedies, which are the Earth's response to our maltreatment," Francis said. "I think that if I ask the Lord now what he thinks about this, I don't think he would say it is a very good thing. It is we who have ruined the work of God." Saying the Earth was not an endless deposit of resources to exploit, he said: "We have sinned against the Earth, against our neighbour and, in the end, against the creator." Last year, after a synod of bishops from the Amazon region, Francis said he was considering adding a definition of "ecological sins" in the Roman Catholic Church's Catechism, a compendium of teachings and rules. Story continues Francis, like Guterres, has likened the response to environmental dangers to that of the coronavirus. "Only together, and looking after the most fragile (members of society) can we win global challenges," the pope said. So far, massive economic stimulus packages launched by the United States, China and European governments have focused mainly on staunching the damage to existing industries and staving off the threat of a global depression. But ministers from Germany, France and other EU members have signalled their support for subsequent interventions to align with climate goals, a theme taken up by climate campaign groups around the world. (Editing by Janet Lawrence) A 27-year-old man from Minnesota has been charged with killing a 19-year-old teenager, dismembering her body and dumping the pieces in the dumpsters of his apartment building. The victim, Dystynee Avery had been missing since April 3, and she was last seen staying with Ethan Broad in Moorhead, North Dakota, according to KVLY. However, Broad told investigators he last saw Avery on April 4, when she left his apartment and taking her things with her. Admitting to the murder The court documents stated that Broad admitted Avery was dead during a follow-up interview. He told detectives that another person had hit Avery over the head with a lead pipe and cut her throat in his bathroom. He then added that he and some other people, who he had not named, moved Avery's body to the garage where they planned to dismember and dispose of the pieces. But the court documents also stated that Broad was seen alone on the surveillance video. He was seen dragging a blue tote from his apartment building to the garage. In another interview, Broad admitted killing Avery. Also Read: Gunman Pretending as a Cop Kills 12 in Shooting Rampage in Nova Scotia, Canada The witnesses of the crime told Moorhead Police that Broad told them he killed and dismembered Avery. The police then searched Broad's apartment and the garage, they found a saw that Broad used to dismember Avery's body. Investigators also found blood in the garage and spots inside his apartment that appeared to have been cleansed of blood. According to the documents, Broad admitted to cleaning the spots using bleach. Self-defense claim Dystynee Avery's mother, Doreen, told NBC's Valley News that she previously considered Ethan Broad to be a great friend for her daughter and a great guy with zero red flags as they've known each other for a while. She added that a worried Broad called her, as well as Dystynee's boyfriend, and he claimed that they had a fight the night before and that when he woke up the next day, Dystynee was gone. However, according to the law enforcement, when Broad was challenged with his statement, he admitted that he was the one who killed and dismembered the teenager and that he acted alone, he also claimed that he had done it in self-defense. The two witnesses also stated in an interview that Broad was alone when the murder happened. Dystynee's mother said she knew that something was wrong when her daughter did not call to check-in like she did every day. She said that it was the moment that she knew that something bad happened because it is not like Dystynee to not call her or her father. She added that the worried call from Broad the day that Dystynee went missing was a bunch of B.S. because obviously he had already taken her life and she was already gone by then. Jordan Yarobrough, Dystynee's boyfriend, added that Ethan Broad told him four different stories that did not add up. Jordan stated that for Broad to commit such a horrific act just shows that he didn't really know him. Dystynee's family and her boyfriend as still in shock over what Broad did. Ethan Broad was charged with second-degree murder and if he is found guilty, he could serve a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison. Related Article: Man Dismembers and Eats Father After Stabbing Him to Death @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. WIA anniversary celebrations The Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) celebrates its 110th anniversary and the World Amateur Radio Day with the following callsigns during the next 6 months: VK1WIA, VK2WIA, VK3WIA, VK4WIA, VK5WIA, VK6WIA, VK7WIA, VK8WIA, and VI110WIA. QSL via LoTW, eQSL. A man has been jailed for eight and a half years for the repeated sexual assault of a four year old child his partner was babysitting. The case saw one of the youngest complainants ever giving evidence and being cross-examined during a nine day trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. The 59-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim, denied the charges. He was convicted in January of two charges of sexually assaulting the girl at his Dublin home on dates between July 2016 and July 2017. After the conviction, a message on a Facebook page revealed the man's name and address and incited violence against his family and the family home. Judge Elma Sheahan said that this was completely unacceptable but noted there was no suggestion that the message was linked to any of the parties in the case. Pauline Walley SC, prosecuting, previously told the court that it would be wrong to take the Facebook posting into account given they didn't know the source of the posting. John Fitzgerald SC, defending, submitted that the court was entitled to take extra-judicial punishment of this nature into consideration when imposing sentence. Judge Sheahan noted the matter was under garda investigation and said she would take it into consideration as the effects of the conviction on the man's family. The man's family had been very friendly for a number of years with the child's mother and his daughter and wife began minding the child when she was a infant. During the summer of 2017 the child told her mother that the man had licked and touched her bum, by which she meant her genital area. Judge Sheahan said the offending was an egregious breach of trust on a vulnerable child. She said it involved premeditation, noting on some occasions the man molested the child on a couch under cover of a blanket while others were in the room. She noted the psychological effects on the child as set out in the victim impact statement of the child's mother. In this the mother also expressed concern for psychological impact on the victim as she gets older and gains a greater understanding of the abuse. Judge Sheahan said this presented the potential for re-victimisation in the future. She noted that the man does not accept the jury verdict and, accordingly, there was no expressions of remorse. She set headline sentences of seven years and nine and a half years for the two offences. After noting the mitigating factors in the case, she reduced these to six and a half and eight and a half, to run concurrently. Judge Sheahan noted the mitigation included the man's psychological vulnerability in the wake of bereavements and traumatic events experienced through volunteer work. She noted his role as a father to his special needs son and his raising of a large family, who continue to support him. Finally, she noted his previous good character, good work record and his contribution to the community in volunteer work. She said that because he refuses to accept the guilty verdicts there was nothing to justify suspending a portion of the prison term to incentivise rehabilitation. Uniformity is the cornerstone of stay-at-home orders. Theyre effective because everyone must abide by them. The linchpin for their eventual rescinding has to be grounded in what the health and science communities say. The scale of virological and antibody testing should be intensified, and Illinois isnt there yet. Once testing is ramped up, experts say people who have had contact with those infected will need to be tracked down to minimize spread. Illinois isnt there either. Bay Area leaders were first in the nation to take dramatic action aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus.Many thought it was going too far. But in the days and weeks following the shelter-in-place orders here, governors and mayors across the country followed the Bay Area and Californias lead. The Chronicle examined weekly coronavirus case rates, or how many new cases were reported per 100,000 people, for major U.S. metropolitan areas to see how the Bay Areas curve compares to the rest of the country. These charts suggest that early, aggressive physical distancing restrictions led to a flattened curve what one researcher called our crushed curve. Compared to hard-hit areas, like New Orleans, New York and Detroit, what were seeing in the Bay Area looks less like a curve, and more like a flat line. Flattening curves Heres a look at some metro areas where charts show hopeful signs of a flattening curve and, like the Bay Area, have lower weekly case rates than the U.S. average. Testing capacity has varied greatly across states and regions, but these regions appear to have avoided worst-case scenarios seen elsewhere. Los Angeles issued its own stay-home order on March 19, the same day Gov. Gavin Newsom imposed the most far-reaching shelter-in-place order in the nation. Los Angeles County has the largest concentration of cases in the state and accounts for nearly half of the deaths in the state so far. But its weekly case rate shows signs of leveling off. Todd Trumbull In Texas, the Houston area (Harris County) reported its first two coronavirus cases on March 5, and perhaps benefited from the virus arriving later than in other major urban areas. Houstons largest event, the Houston Rodeo, was shut down on March 11 after pressure from community members. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo issued a stay-home order on March 24, and public health leaders have said the data show a flattening curve. Washington state is home to the countrys first known coronavirus case, announced on Jan. 21. Gov. Jay Inslee issued a statewide stay-home order on March 23, and law enforcement has been strict to enforce the measure. The Seattle-Tacoma area was the nations first epicenter, but Inslee today said case data look hopeful, and announced a road map for reopening Washingtons economy. The Phoenix area (Maricopa County) reported one of the first U.S. cases in late January, but it wasnt until March 3 when the next case arrived. The governors stay-home order went into effect on March 31, and public health leaders there recently announced the growth rate of hospitalizations was slowing, pointing to a flattened curve. Hardest-hit areas Heres a look at some of the areas that have become epicenters in the pandemic. New York states stay-home order took effect on March 22, not long after the Bay Areas order. But cases there surged after that date. New York Citys weekly case rate curve hit its high in the week of April 6-12. Since then it appears to have leveled off. The Bay Areas line is nearly flat in comparison. Todd Trumbull An early explanation for why New York Citys case count was so much higher than the Bay Areas was that the state was testing far more people at one point three times as many people as California. But, as the crisis there continued to unfold and overwhelmed hospitals, it became clear there was more at work. One reason is population density. New York City has the countrys highest population density, with more than 27,000 people per square mile. San Francisco is also a dense city, but far less so: It has nearly 19,000 people per square mile. Another factor could be the high reliance on public transportation there. 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. Michigan reported its first two coronavirus cases on March 10, including one in Wayne County. The curve shows the areas first significant increase the week of March 16-22, sharply rising to hit its peak the week of March 30-April 5 before a steady decline. Michigans stay-at-home order took effect on March 24. Todd Trumbull Detroit made headlines for its coronavirus cases, spreading through the citys police and sheriffs departments. No one is sure why the Midwest city of just over 670,000 with a population density of fewer than 5,000 people per square mile saw such a significant increase, but Mayor Mike Duggan has pointed to the international airport, and health officials have said the city was not equipped to manage a public health crisis of this scale. The Orleans Parish curve gradually increased from the date of the first reported case in New Orleans on March 9, then dramatically rose during the week of March 30-April 5. Then came an equally sharp drop-off. The Bay Area line is almost completely flat in comparison. Todd Trumbull New Orleans population density is about 2,300 people per square mile, but many suspect the rapid escalation of coronavirus cases is tied to Mardi Gras season. Hundreds of thousands of people descended in February, packing the city with celebrations for weeks. New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell issued a stay-home order on March 20, and Louisiana followed on March 23. Since all educational centres are closed during the MCO period, unifi have decided to extend their assistance to the students, faculty members and staff of Multimedia University (MMU) as a start. But it didn't just end there, the company will help facilitate e-learning via online with unlimited Internet connectivity to other educational centres across the nation. To ensure their e-learning and online teaching to be stable, unifi is offering a new mobile postpaid plan - the unifi Mobile Student Pack. For just RM59 per month (excluding 6% SST), the postpaid plan features unlimited data, unlimited network calls and SMS. This applies to over 40 public and private universities who are in partnership with unifi, which comes with no contract basis starting from 24 April 2020. By the way, all students of the selected IPTA/IPTS who have a valid student email address are eligible for this offer. So do keep a lookout for an invitation notification email from your university administration via your student email address. Once you have received it, visit www.unifi.com.my/studentpack to register and the SIM card will be delivered to your doorstep (takes 1-5 working days). To add on, if you're a local and foreign undergraduate and postgraduate student with a valid student ID and has an official university email, you are counted too. London, April 22 : Mental health conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) could be treated in a new way using drugs that target the immune system, research suggests. Published in the journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity, the study found that patients suffering from (OCD) have increased levels of a protein called Immuno-moodulin (Imood) in their lymphocytes, a type of immune cell. "Our findings overturn a lot of conventional thinking about mental health disorders being solely caused by the central nervous system," said study lead author Fulvio D'Acquisto from the University of Roehampton in the UK. According to the researchers, mice with high levels of this protein was also found to exhibit behaviours that are characteristic of anxiety and stress, such as digging and excessive grooming. When they treated the mice with an antibody that neutralised Imood, the animals' anxiety levels reduced. The findings have led the researchers to file a patent application for the antibody and they are now working with a drug company to develop a potential treatment for human patients. "There is mounting evidence that the immune system plays an important role in mental disorders. And in fact people with auto-immune diseases are known to have higher than average rates of mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression and OCD," D'Acquisto said. For the findings, D'Acquisto created transgenic mice to over-express this protein in their T-cells, one of the main cells responsible for the development of autoimmune diseases, but found the mice showed more anxiety than normal. When the research team analysed the genes expressed in the animals' T-cells, they discovered one gene in particular was especially active. The protein produced from this gene was what they eventually named Immuno-moodulin, or Imood. When the anxious mice were given an antibody that blocked Imood, their behaviour returned to normal in a couple of days. The researchers tested the immune cells from 23 patients with OCD and 20 healthy volunteers. They found Imood expression was around six times higher in the OCD patients. "It is early still, but the discovery of antibodies - instead of the classical chemical drugs - for the treatment of mental disorders could radically change the lives of these patients as we foresee a reduced chance of side effects," he said. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Yes, Theyre Open" is a new web series highlighting local bars and restaurants that are still open for takeout, delivery or pickup during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Live streams from the featured restaurants are broadcast on the Advance Facebook page every weekday around 3 p.m. On Wednesday, the Advance visited Barios in New Springville. The pizzeria is open for pickup and delivery from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Call 718-370-0100 to place your order. Staten Island restaurant owners: If you would like your establishment featured for free as part of Yes, Theyre Open, email reporter Victoria Priola at vpriola@siadvance.com. For a full list of restaurants and bars that are still open for takeout, delivery and curbside pickup, click here. YES, THEYRE OPEN: Barios at 446 Nome Ave. is open for pickup and delivery. Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. All orders can be called in at 718-370-0100. Posted by Staten Island Advance on Wednesday, April 22, 2020 MORE ON YES, THEYRE OPEN Joyces Tavern, 3823 Richmond Ave. Pier 76, 76 Bay St. Johns Deli, 173 New Dorp Lane. Mezcals, 20 Bradley Ave. ONeills, 1614 Forest Ave. Maxs Es-Ca, 1559 Richmond Road. Harvest Cafe, 694 New Dorp Lane Tropical Smoothie Cafe, 1650 Richmond Ave., 1407 Forest Ave. and 7001 Amboy Road Kings Arms Diner, 500 Forest Ave. Giovannis Trattoria, 3800 Richmond Ave. Reggianos, 7339 Amboy Road Beso, 11 Schuyler St. Blue, 1115 Richmond Terrace In Fine Fettle, 961 Jewett Ave. West Shore Inn, 3955 Victory Blvd. Better Gourmet Health Kitchen, 2333 Hylan Blvd., 400 Forest Ave., 4077 Victory Blvd. and 877 Huguenot Ave. Campania Coal Fired Pizza, 3900 Richmond Ave. Call It A Wrap, 1198 Forest Ave. Beans and Leaves, 422 Forest Ave. The idea that the Queen isn't interested in clothes has always struck me as off the mark. I'm not suggesting Her Majesty wouldn't prefer curling up with a copy of Horse & Hound over an issue of Vogue, but no one can look as immaculately turned out as she has, successfully negotiating her way through 90 years of potential sartorial landmines, without acquiring an impressive knowledge and appreciation of cut, colour and silhouette, as well as a thorough understanding of the potency of genuine style. She possesses far too many made-to-measure outfits, much too distinctive a personal style (what is now popularly called A Signature Look) and has conducted far too many genuinely "out there" experiments in colour and headwear for us to believe she doesn't find the process of Dressing The Part diverting. The Queen wore bright pink for a visit to Queensland in 2002. The notion that the young Queen Elizabeth II was somehow too wholesome to care about frocks was part of a deliberate policy on the part of her parents. When they reluctantly ascended to their thrones in 1938, George VI and Elizabeth deliberately distanced themselves from anything that smacked of metropolitan modishness, partly through natural inclination, partly to portray themselves as the antithesis of the immaculately dressed abdicator Edward VIII and his brittle but oh so chic American wife Wallis Simpson, whose well-documented obsession with style was viewed as distinctly "un-British". The idea that the Queen isn't interested in clothes has always struck me as off the mark. Positioning themselves as the quintessential British family fond of dogs, horses and wary of anything that might be deemed pretentious involved judicious image tweaking. For George VI's and Queen Elizabeth's first official royal visit to Paris in 1938, deemed vitally important in shoring up Anglo-French relations in the face of growing German aggression, Queen Elizabeth (dismissed as a dumpy frump by Wallis) commissioned Norman Hartnell to whisk her up a confection of frothy gowns that accentuated her English Rose charm. Today this would be called branding. The national coordinator of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Sani Aliyu, has said there is no scientific proof that the infection is sexually transmissible. Mr Aliyu, while responding to questions at the PTF daily briefing on Wednesday, said although the world was still in the early days of the disease, no research had proven that it could be transmitted through sex. At the moment, there is no evidence of sexual transmission when it comes to COVID-19, but of course, we are still in the early days of the disease, he said. The same thing happened in the case of Ebola when subsequently it was proven that it was sexually transmissible. Mr Aliyus statement came days after the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, said there is a high possibility of the virus being transmitted sexually. If a person is positive, the virus can be transmitted sexually, Mr Ehanire had said. Meanwhile, a scientist has claimed that the virus cannot be transmitted through sexual intercourse except via oral sex. Jessica Justman, who spoke with The Guardian UK, said they are not seeing patterns that indicate sexual transmission. She, however, advised that when a partner is a COVID-19 case, it is better to steer clear of each other as much as possible. As of Wednesday morning, Nigeria had recorded 782 cases of COVID-19 and 25 deaths. Majority of the confirmed cases are people who have come in contact with positive patients. Too early to conclude Meanwhile, Mr Aliyu noted that the disease is still in its early stage hence too early to conclude if it can be transmitted through sex. He cited tests carried out on some women who had tested positive for COVID-19, but whose genital secretions tested negative for the virus. There was a small test case series of ten women who had severe COVID-19 and genital secretions were negative of the virus. I think its still in the early days, Ill just say, watch this space, he said. Challenges Mr Aliyu explained that the task force is experiencing some difficulties in the area of operational efficiency and testing sites. He said the task force was already working on solving that through more collaboration with appropriate partners. Yes, we are looking at every possibility of expanding testing, but there are a lot of bottlenecks. Some of the bottlenecks are less to do with the laboratories, but more to do with the operations efficiency and also the availability of easy sampling sites, he said. For example, in Lagos, they have a lot of centres where people can go to get tested and we are looking at that model. We also have the Chief Executive Officer of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Faisal Shuaib, is part of the task force now. We are working with him closely to see what we can do to expand testing, he added. Former All Blacks star Sonny Bill Williams has praised his wife, Lana, while in isolation in Manchester, England, during the coronavirus pandemic. The 34-year-old rugby league and union star gushed over his wife as she held their newborn baby, Essa, in an Instagram post on Wednesday. 'Naturally beautiful just like our children. I appreciate you, my love,' he wrote, before adding the hashtag #AlwaysAlhumdulliah. 'I appreciate you, my love': Former All Blacks star Sonny Bill Williams has praised his wife, Lana, while in isolation in Manchester, England, during the coronavirus pandemic A makeup-free Lana wore an oversized pink jumper in the accompanying photo. She pulled her raven hair back, drawing attention to her striking features. Sonny has certainly shown his sense of humour while in isolation in UK, having already shared a variety of fun family photos to Instagram. 'It's crazy in this household at times': Sonny has certainly shown his sense of humour while in isolation in UK, having already shared a variety of fun family photos to Instagram In March, he uploaded a picture of himself and his children with their arms in the air. 'It's crazy in this household at times, but I wouldn't have it any other way. #AlwaysAlhamdullilah,' he wrote in the caption. Another photo of him with his kids was captioned: 'Any other parent dreaming of that isolation holiday while being in isolation? #DayIveLostCountAlready.' Fatherhood: Another photo of him with his kids was captioned, 'Any other parent dreaming of that isolation holiday while being in isolation? #DayIveLostCountAlready' It comes after Sonny Bill and Lana welcomed their fourth child in February. He announced the happy news on social media, sharing a photo of himself dressed in hospital scrubs while cradling the newborn. 'Alhamdulillah Alhamdulillah Alhamdulillah! Baby & mum are healthy and well,' he told his followers. 'The stress levels aren't as high the fourth time around, but the love we have for this child is the same,' he added. The couple are also parents to daughters Iman and Aisha, and son Zaid. Doting dad: It comes after Sonny Bill and Lana welcomed their fourth child, Essa, in February Extraction Director - Sam Hargrave Cast - Chris Hemsworth, Rudhraksh Jaiswal, Randeep Hooda, Priyanshu Painyuli, Golshifteh Farahani, David Harbour, Pankaj Tripathi Gone are the days when fancy New York Times profiles of prominent filmmakers would be accompanied by pictures of them carefully framing a shot, their hands outstretched and a look of stern concentration on their faces. In 2020, rules no longer apply. And no feature on director Sam Hargrave would be complete without a picture of him tethered to the bonnet of a chase vehicle racing across cramped streets, a compact digital camera in his hands and a crash helmet on his head. If youre into this sort of thing then youve no doubt seen behind-the-scenes footage of Hargrave filming a key action scene in his debut feature, Extraction, like a daredevil on drugs. And if you arent, you really must. Nearly all promotional material for the film, due out on Netflix on April 24, seems to be highlighting this scene, but none of it truly captures the brilliance of what Hargrave and his team have accomplished. Watch the Extraction trailer here And thats a good thing, because experiencing it as it unfolds, transforming and evolving before your eyes, is a sight to behold. In many ways, the scene is the centrepiece of Extraction, stylistically and tonally similar to the one in the 2017 spy thriller Atomic Blonde, on which Hargrave served as stunt coordinator. Choreographed to appear as if it has been shot in one take, the Extraction action sequence begins with a car chase, which turns into a foot chase, peaks with a knife-fight, and ends with a thunderous mic-drop that would surely have sent a packed house into rapturous applause had the film been released in theatres and not on streaming. Although I suspect more than a few viewers at home might unleash a silent cheer. In it, Hargrave displays a flair for inventive camerawork, a skill for building tension, and an unexpected talent for injecting moments of fist-pumping humour. He switches perspectives and scale seamlessly, all thanks to intricate choreography and a handful of excellent performances, and creates an action scene for the ages -- one that could almost function independently as a short film, with a beginning, a middle and an end. Also read: John Wick 3 Parabellum movie review: Keanu Reeves delivers the best action film since Mission Impossible Fallout Co-produced by Joe and Anthony Russo, Extraction, whose popularity in India stems from the fact that it was largely filmed here and features a bunch of talented local actors, is the shot of adrenaline that we all need right now. It only helps that in addition to being a spectacular action film, Extraction also happens to be a well-written drama as well. Randeep Hooda in a still from Extraction. Structured in the straightforward manner of a classic Western, particularly the 1953 classic Shane (which has also inspired films such as Logan and Children of Men), Extraction stars Chris Hemsworth as a morally ambiguous mercenary named Tyler Rake, who is handpicked to stage a daring rescue mission to locate and extract an Indian drug lords teenage son, who has been kidnapped by a rival Bangladeshi mobster and hidden somewhere in the of city of Dhaka. While the Indian gangster, played by Pankaj Tripathi, appears in just one scene, his son, played by Rudhraksh Jaiswal, is essentially the films second lead. Jaiswal more than holds his own opposite Hemsworth, who plays Rake with the swagger of Thor and the intensity of Steve McQueen. Some of the films best scenes are the ones in which Rake and young Ovi Mahajan bond, stealing moments of brief respite while the entire city of Dhaka descends upon them, trying to stop them from crossing the border into India. These scenes are necessary and they bring a much-needed balance to a film that is breakneck beyond belief. Rarely do the performances in movies such as this get any attention, but both Hemsworth and Randeep Hooda, who plays an associate of Mahajans, are excellent. I wish I could discuss Hoodas Saju, a fascinating, samurai-like character, in more detail, but Im afraid revealing anything else about him would be spoiling the film. Hes a tree of a man, but also enigmatic and cool, with a moral code hidden underneath the combat gear. Joe Russos screenplay is lean, but the manner in which the plot is structured -- streamlined yet brimming with backstory -- feels both classic and very comic booky. Extraction is a redemption tale for both Tyler Rake and Netflix. Follow @htshowbiz for more The author tweets @RohanNaahar EU Members Cool On Eastern Partnership Aspirations, Concerned About Visa Liberalization By Rikard Jozwiak April 21, 2020 BRUSSELS -- EU states have yet to reach a full agreement on the membership aspirations of their eastern neighbors and are concerned about the consequences of the already implemented visa liberalization, according to a leaked document seen by RFE/RL. The seven-page document is being debated by diplomats from the 27 EU states representing the European Council. It represents the response to the European Commission's communique on the Eastern Partnership that was presented last month, and is expected to be approved in the coming days. The Eastern Partnership program was launched in 2009 and is meant to bring Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine closer to the bloc without a clear offer of future membership. Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine have since inked association agreements with the EU, including free-trade deals, but some member states have been reluctant to openly discuss the issue of these countries' eventual EU membership. Moscow has expressed strong misgivings about the program, arguing that closer economic ties between the EU and its main trading partners could harm Russian interests. The document being discussed still lists several conclusions in brackets -- meaning that unanimity has not yet been reached on the language. Officials told RFE/RL on condition of anonymity that France, backed by some southern EU member states, has insisted on putting in brackets the phrase that states that "the Council acknowledges the European aspirations and European choice of the Eastern Partners concerned, as stated in the association agreements." However, the officials said they expect that France will eventually back down since the phrase has for several years been the EU standard for acknowledging that Eastern Partnership countries such as Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine can join the bloc in the future. 'Unfounded Asylum Applications' In a paragraph describing the need to enhance the capacity of the eastern partners to counter hybrid threats and malicious cyberactivities, some countries have also pushed to add "while recalling the non-confrontational approach of the Eastern Partnership," which currently is in brackets. However, the Council members appear to be in full agreement when it comes to the possibility of suspending visa liberalization. While no suspension is thought to be imminent, the document says member countries "note that the high number of unfounded asylum applications by some Eastern partner countries nationals in the EU member states raises concern." Both Germany and Sweden have, in the past, complained that Georgian criminal gangs have used visa liberalization to carry out burglaries in their countries. The document is being discussed while the European Parliament is debating a draft report on the future of the Eastern Partnership. The nonbinding draft states more ambitious goals than the Council text. It suggests a common economic space between the EU and the Eastern Partnership as well as gradual integration of the six countries into the EU's energy union, transport community, and digital single market. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/eu-members-cool-on- eastern-partnership-aspirations-concerned-about -visa-liberalization/30568116.html Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China to announce name of its first Mars exploration mission BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The name and logo of China's first Mars exploration mission will be made public on the Space Day of China, which will fall on April 24, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA). China plans to launch the Mars probe in 2020, aiming to complete orbiting, landing and roving in one mission. Since 2016, China has set April 24 as the country's Space Day to mark the launch of its first satellite "Dongfanghong-1" into space on April 24, 1970. This year will be the 50th anniversary of the start of China's entry into space. The various activities on Space Day have become a window for the Chinese public and the world to get a better understanding of China's aerospace progress. The global death toll from the coronavirus is more than 178,000 with more than 2.5 million infections confirmed, causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness. Here's a roundup of COVID-19 developments in RFE/RL's broadcast regions. Russia Tens of communists in Russia broke Moscow's coronavirus lockdown to march across Red Square to mark the sesquicentennial anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevik revolution. Members of the Communist Party of Russia laid flowers at the front of Lenin's Mausoleum in the square on April 22, led by party leader Gennady Zyuganov. Those gathered were split into small groups and kept at a distance from each other when approaching the granite mausoleum, though their presence broke lockdown rules prohibiting Muscovites from leaving their homes except to buy essentials such as food and medicines, to receive medical treatment, or to take out trash or walk family pets. A day earlier, Zyuganov called on communists in all of Russia's regions, as well as in Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Central Asia, and the South Caucasus, to lay flowers at remaining statues of Lenin. Communists in Russia had planned to hold mass events and celebrations of Lenin's 150th anniversary with the participation of Communists from foreign nations, but all of the events were postponed indefinitely due to the pandemic. Meanwhile, a well-known Russian economist Oleg Vyugin says the Russian government needs to provide more support to ordinary citizens and small businesses to overcome hardships caused by coronavirus pandemic. Vyugin told RFE/RL on April 21 that instead of allocating major support sums to large state-controlled companies and enterprises, the government should focus more on supporting ordinary people and owners of small- and medium-sized businesses. Vyugin, a former deputy finance minister, chairman of the Observation Council of the Moscow Stock Exchange, and a professor at the National Research University of Russia's High School of Economics, was one of the authors of the Coronacrisis-2020 report published by the Liberal Mission foundation on April 13 that criticized the government's coronavirus relief program. According to Vyugin, the government's general financial support package is 500 billion rubles ($6.5 billion), of which only 80 billion rubles ($1 billion) is destined for small businesses. "This attitude might lead to a situation when the revival of small and medium businesses will proceed very slowly and with huge difficulties. [It would be better to choose] what I call a European way, which is a concept to help ordinary people in difficult times," Vyugin said, noting the German governments approach. "Germany started giving financial support to small businesses right away. And later, the federal tax service will look at the situation. If it turns out that your business remained profitable [while under pandemic restrictions], you will have to return the money to the government. If you took the money but failed to preserve your business and left your employees jobless, then you will have to return money to the government too," he said. RFE/RL's Coronavirus Crisis Archive Features and analysis, videos, and infographics explore how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the countries in our region. According to Vyugin, coronavirus restrictions will most likely start being lifted by late May, or early June, by which point officials will have to have figured out ways to "coexist with the virus to avoid an economic catastrophe." According to Vyugin, if the restrictions on individuals and businesses remain in place for months, they may lead to a situation where banks in Russia will also need government support as the ability of clients to repay loans, credits, and mortgages weakens. Georgia Georgia's parliament has approved a presidential decree to extend by one month the countrywide state of emergency implemented to help stem the spread of the coronavirus. In an April 22 vote, 97 lawmakers were in favor of the decree to extend the state of emergency to May 22, while 10 voted against it. Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili said the extension was needed since the virus was expected to continue spreading in the South Caucasus country for "the next two-three weeks." She added that Georgia had been able to "control" the extent of the epidemic since an initial state of emergency was declared on March 21. Georgian health authorities have reported 411 confirmed coronavirus cases, including five deaths. The state of emergency in Georgia includes a nightly curfew and the closure of nonessential shops, restaurants, and cafes. Azerbaijan Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is urging the Azerbaijani authorities to stop using the coronavirus crisis to crack down harder on critical reporting. The Paris-based media freedom watchdog issued the call on April 22, after Natiq Isbatov, a journalist for the 7gun.az news website, was jailed for allegedly violating lockdown regulations when he filmed a protest in Azerbaijans capital, Baku. "The misuse of lockdown measures to target reporters is the latest escalation in the persecution of independent journalism in Azerbaijan," Jeanne Cavelier, the head of RSF's Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk, said in a statement. Cavelier demanded the immediate release of Isbatov, who was detained on April 9 when he filmed protesters gathered outside a municipal employment office in Baku to demand financial support during the quarantine period imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The journalist was later sentenced to 30 days of administrative detention for "violating the lockdown" and "resisting the police." In its statement, RSF said Azerbaijans authorities have repeatedly voiced a desire to control information about the coronavirus epidemic, citing legal amendments adopted last month under which the owners of online media can be prosecuted for any "inaccurate" or "dangerous" content. Meanwhile, the Prosecutor-Generals Office has warned social-media users that the authorities will investigate all reports of "fake news" and will punish "offenders." As a result, media and journalists are under pressure just to use the official information provided by the special unit established by the government to deal with the crisis, according to RSF. Azerbaijan is ranked 168th out of 180 countries in RSFs 2020 World Press Freedom Index. Critics of President Ilham Aliyev say authorities of the energy-rich South Caucasus state frequently jail opposition activists, reporters, human rights defenders, and civil society advocates without grounds in an effort to silence dissent. Turkmenistan Authorities in Turkmenistan's northeastern region of Lebap have banned local residents from using water from the Amudarya River to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the Central Asian nation, where no COVID-19 cases officially have been registered. The ban includes fishing and using birds caught on the river's shores for food. An RFE/RL correspondent reports from the region that local authorities also banned people from washing their hands in the Amudarya River and waters nearby and letting their livestock drink from it. People caught fishing are being detained and placed in quarantine, the report said. The authorities have not provided detailed information, advising only that the measures are to prevent COVID-19 in the area. However, there are no known cases of coronavirus infection from river water or water wildlife in the world. The lack of clarity has created rumors and fear among local residents. In the regional capital, Turkmenabat, personnel in local medical institutions have been forced to raise funds to buy antivirus and disinfection substances for local schools. Turkmenistan and Tajikistan have reported no coronavirus cases, but experts are skeptical given the lack of transparency within their governments and a lack of independent media. The two countries have recently bucked the global trend of suspending sports events during the crisis by resuming their national soccer leagues. Turkmenistan's foreign minister said at a briefing on April 22 that the data was true and that the country isn't hiding anything. "If there was a single confirmed coronavirus case we would have immediately informed...[the World Health Organization] in line with our obligations," Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov said. "We are not hiding anything." Based on reporting by RFE/RL's Georgian, Azerbaijani, and Turkmen services, Reuters, Interfax, RIA Novosti, and Channel 1TV Volkswagen Chattanooga announced Wednesday plans for employees to return to work May 3, following a six-week suspension of operations due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, in alignment with lifted restrictions from the state of Tennessee and Hamilton County. Weve dedicated the past several weeks to implementing stringent health and safety measures, said Tom du Plessis, president and CEO of Volkswagen Chattanooga. After assessing the current situation, weve decided to resume production under clear safety measures and with the health of our employees as our highest priority. To allow ample time for implementation of new health and safety procedures, Volkswagen will resume its Chattanooga operations in phases, gradually increasing production volume over the course of several weeks. Each phase progressively lessens restrictions, with the final phase being a complete return to normal operations. Volkswagen Chattanooga has put more than 90 new measures into place to limit contact and help ensure safe working spaces. These measures include: providing new personal protective equipment, including masks and gloves; implementing temperature checks upon entrance; establishing six-foot distancing barricades and floor markings; ceasing shuttle transportation; increasing disinfection frequency of all contact surfaces, such as machinery and door handles; and replacing plated cafeteria meals with packed lunches. The Company will continue visitor and on-site event restrictions. The companys medical team will evaluate and coordinate appropriate measures for any employees who exhibit COVID-19 symptoms, or who are otherwise ill, at-risk, or have underlying medical issues. Volkswagen will continue to monitor public health and government guidance on COVID-19, and will adjust operational plans as necessary as the situation evolves. The factorys initial restart production schedule will be a five-day, eight-hour work week for most shops. Shift and break times will be staggered. The factory suspended production March 21 prior to stay-at-home mandates from state and local government out of an abundance of caution. Volkswagen employees and production contractors received full pay and benefits during this time, for a total of three additional weeks of compensation. On April 11, production and maintenance employees were placed on temporary emergency furlough. Furloughed employees continued to receive health care benefits and coverage of premiums during this time. Researchers from Russia, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the U.S. have revealed the structure of the protein responsible for vitamin B12 import into the cells of the bacterium that causes tuberculosis. The research findings were published in Nature. Vitamin B12, also known as cobalamin, is vital to the proliferation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which causes TB. But while that vitamin can be synthesized internally, it is much easier for the pathogen to import B12 from the environment, and cobalamin consumption by the bacterium is directly associated with TB progression. However, no known B12 importer has been discovered in the pathogen's genome, only three cobalamin-associated proteins. While one of them -- Rv1819c -- was regarded as a candidate for B12 transport, the amino acid sequence analysis suggested that it likely functions in a different way: as an exporter. The authors of the recent paper in Nature addressed this contradiction: They found that the protein is indeed capable of importing B12 and used single-particle cryo-electron microscopy to explain how it works. The experiment involved a cell line of Escherichia coli, manipulated so as to lack any B12 transporters. Placed in a cobalamin-rich culture medium, the bacteria did not grow until the researchers endowed them with the Rv1819c protein from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which made them proliferate. The team also used a mutated cell line to establish that the Rv1819c-mediated transport depends on ATP hydrolysis. The team resolved the 3D structure of the protein. It consists of two unevenly sized interconnected chambers, with the larger one located in the cell membrane and the smaller one protruding on the inside. The region between the two chambers is narrow, constricted by a loop of 17 amino acids. The large cavity has a volume of about 7.7 cubic nanometers, which is enough to accommodate six or seven vitamin B12 molecules. A cap seals off the chamber on the outside, perhaps opening spontaneously to capture molecules from the external environment. Since the cavity is inlaid with negatively charged and polar amino acids, it is attractive for hydrophilic molecules. This explains why the Rv1819c transporter, despite not being very selective, was found to favor polar and positively charged substrates. For example, the scientists showed that besides B12, the protein can transport a cancer medication called bleomycin. At the same time, it did not work with biotin, probably due to the latter molecule bearing negatively charged groups. The part of the protein inside the cell is sealed with a bivalved gate, which communicates with the sites where the cell generates energy by breaking down ATP molecules. Two of them have to be consumed to open the gate, which explains why Rv1819c-mediated transport is ATP-dependent. Study co-author Albert Guskov, who heads the Laboratory of Structural Electron Microscopy of Biological Systems at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, commented on the findings: "Our study takes us one step further in understanding how tuberculosis develops. We now know how the pathogen acquires vitamin B12, which is vital for it. Importantly, the mechanism we humans use to import cobalamin is very different, making Rv1819c an excellent target for developing anti-TB drugs." "The discovery of this unexpected function of the protein that has been regarded as an exporter rather than an importer offers insights into the possible mechanisms of antibiotic delivery into pathogen cells," the researcher went on. "Aminoglycosides, for example, are positively charged, so they cannot freely penetrate the membrane. Previously, we only knew these drugs somehow got into the cell. We can now say that Rv1819c and similar proteins might well be the transporters involved." The study featured researchers from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University in the U.S., and Stockholm University in Sweden. ### Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington State, one of the Democratic Partys most prominent environmentalists, endorsed Joseph R. Biden Jr. for president on Wednesday after extensive private conversations in which Mr. Biden signaled he would make fighting climate change a central cause of his administration. Mr. Inslee, who mounted a long-shot presidential campaign of his own last year, said in an interview that he had spoken repeatedly to Mr. Biden in recent weeks and came away convinced that the former vice president was preparing to greatly expand his policy proposals for reducing carbon emissions and promoting renewable energy. Though he and Mr. Biden clashed early in the primary season, Mr. Inslee said he was confident that Mr. Biden was willing to aim faster and higher on climate policy than he had indicated at that stage. Mr. Inslee said his aides were consulting with Mr. Bidens campaign about new components to his environmental agenda. I am convinced, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that this will be a major driving force of his administration, Mr. Inslee said. I think what youre going to see is an increased commitment to some shorter-term actions and hes been very open to that. File photo/Xinhua) With the coronavirus outbreak rampaging across the world, there have been rumors coming from the White House and some US media outlets that the virus may have been artificially synthesized at a Chinese bio-research lab in the Chinese city of Wuhan. However, these conspiracy theories have been debunked by scientists worldwide as more scientific evidence comes to light. In a recent piece of research conducted by some of the worlds leading virus hunters, SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the COVID-19 illness, shows no evidence of being artificially engineered, Nature Medicine reported on March 17. The research was a collaborative, international effort, and included scientists from Scripps Research and universities in the US, the University of Sydney in Australia, and Tulane University in New Orleans. After analyzing the public genome sequence data from SARS-CoV-2 and related viruses, scientists found no evidence that the virus was made in a laboratory or engineered in any way. By comparing the available genome sequence data for known coronavirus strains, we can firmly determine that SARS-CoV-2 originated through natural processes, said Kristian Andersen, PhD, an associate professor of immunology and microbiology at Scripps Research and a corresponding author on the paper. The research concluded that the most likely origins for SARS-CoV-2 followed one of two possible scenarios. In one scenario, the virus evolved to its current pathogenic state through natural selection in a non-human host and then jumped to humans. In the other proposed scenario, a non-pathogenic version of the virus jumped from an animal host into humans and then evolved to its current pathogenic state within the human population. These findings are crucially important to bringing an evidence-based view to the rumors that have been circulating over the origins of the virus, said Josie Golding, PhD, epidemics lead at UK-based Wellcome Trust. Theres no reason to believe this was made in a lab, Dr. Robert Shafer, professor of Infectious Diseases at Stanford Medical School, told ABC News. There are many strains in nature that could cause this type of outbreak. Dr. Robert Garry, a professor at the Tulane School of Medicine, said that while some people initially speculated that laboratory work created that mutation, the opposite is actually true. When you pass the virus with that [mutation] through cell cultures, you actually lose it. So that is not the way it couldve been generated, Garry told ABC News. Dr. John Ionnidis, a professor of disease prevention at Stanford Medical School, said that the COVID-causing coronavirus does not behave or look synthetic in any way. If it were man-made, it would not look like that. These alternative theories have not gained currency in the scientific community, Ionnidis added, noting that the only scientific paper sowing doubts over COVID-19s natural origins had to be retracted after being rebuked by the scientific community. Meanwhile, France on April 17 said there was no factual evidence so far of a link between the COVID-19 outbreak and the work of the P4 research laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan, which France helped set up, according to a report by France 24. We would like to make it clear that there is to this day no factual evidence corroborating recent reports in the US press linking the origins of COVID-19 and the work of the P4 laboratory of Wuhan, China, an official at President Emmanuel Macron's office said. The Wuhan research laboratory at the heart of the controversy was completed in 2015, and finally opened in 2018, with the founder of a French bio-industrial firm, Alain Merieux, acting as a consultant in its construction. After looking at Beijing Enterprises Holdings Limited's (SEHK:392) latest earnings announcement (31 December 2019), I found it useful to revisit the company's performance in the past couple of years and assess this against the most recent figures. As a long term investor, I pay close attention to earnings trend, rather than the figures published at one point in time. I also compare against an industry benchmark to check whether Beijing Enterprises Holdings's performance has been impacted by industry movements. In this article I briefly touch on my key findings. See our latest analysis for Beijing Enterprises Holdings How 392 fared against its long-term earnings performance and its industry 392's trailing twelve-month earnings (from 31 December 2019) of HK$8.1b has increased by 6.3% compared to the previous year. However, this one-year growth rate has been lower than its average earnings growth rate over the past 5 years of 10%, indicating the rate at which 392 is growing has slowed down. Why could this be happening? Well, let's look at what's occurring with margins and whether the entire industry is experiencing the hit as well. SEHK:392 Income Statement April 22nd 2020 In terms of returns from investment, Beijing Enterprises Holdings has fallen short of achieving a 20% return on equity (ROE), recording 9.9% instead. However, its return on assets (ROA) of 5.2% exceeds the HK Gas Utilities industry of 4.3%, indicating Beijing Enterprises Holdings has used its assets more efficiently. Though, its return on capital (ROC), which also accounts for Beijing Enterprises Holdingss debt level, has declined over the past 3 years from 3.4% to 2.8%. This correlates with an increase in debt holding, with debt-to-equity ratio rising from 55% to 73% over the past 5 years. What does this mean? Though Beijing Enterprises Holdings's past data is helpful, it is only one aspect of my investment thesis. Companies that have performed well in the past, such as Beijing Enterprises Holdings gives investors conviction. However, the next step would be to assess whether the future looks as optimistic. I recommend you continue to research Beijing Enterprises Holdings to get a better picture of the stock by looking at: Story continues Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for 392s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for 392s outlook. Financial Health: Are 392s operations financially sustainable? Balance sheets can be hard to analyze, which is why weve done it for you. Check out our financial health checks here. Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks here. NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the trailing twelve months from 31 December 2019. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. (Photo : Screenshot from Twitter of @BienPerez) 5G has brought internet usage a long way from its early beginnings. And now you can experience it at Mount Everest's base camp. That's right, the highest peak on Earth is now home to 5G towers--and no 5G conspiracy theorists can touch it way up here. Read More: Swish and Flick: Apple's Smart Ring Will Allow Users to Control Other Devices Just by Pointing at Them The highest peak in the world now has the fastest internet speed on Earth Huawei Technologies teamed up with China Mobile, China Unicorn, and China Telecom to bring 5G technology to Mount Everest. The deployment of 5G base stations on the world-renowned mountain with an elevation of 8,848 meters, has been another milestone of mobile technology for the next generation. 5G has the capability of running autonomous cars, smart cities, new applications, and has also been embraced as the "connective tissue" for the Internet of Things. China Mobile, the world's largest wireless network operator, said on Weibo on Monday, April 20, that its 5G project on Mount Everest marked "not only another extreme challenge in a human life exclusion zone but also laid a solid foundation for the later development of 5G smart tourism and 5G communications for scientific research." They set up three 5G base stations that help radio access gear connect mobile devices to broader telecommunications networks. On April 19, the base stations in two camps of altitudes of 5,300 meters and 5,800 meters, provide a whopping download speed of about 1 gigabit per second. The installation of two more base stations is still underway. It may be completed by China Mobile before April 25 in a camp at an altitude of 6,500 meters, providing coverage to the whole summit of Mount Everest. Read More: 'Visa Secure:' Visa's Brand New Update To Its Already Stellar System Makes It Even Tougher For Hackers To Crack, Here's What You Need To Know Who's part of the endeavor? There are going to be more than 150 China Mobile employees taking part in the construction and maintenance of the new 5G base stations. This includes upgrading the existing infrastructure in the surrounding area, according to China Mobile. China Telecom's role on the Mount Everest Project said that its 5G base stations were already completed at an altitude of 5,145 meters. China Telecom also partnered with state-run China Central Television, which broadcasted a 24-hour live-streamed programmed on April 14 from the mountain itself. More than six million people tuned in. Why put 5G up there in the first place? The reason for delivering 5G on Mount Everest is to solidify the three telecom carriers' commitment to promoting the nationwide roll-out of 5G mobile services despite the coronavirus pandemic. The speedy construction was pushed because there were concerns that the pandemic had delayed the installation of 5G base stations all across the country. Mobile network operators in China initially invested time in 5G services last year. And China has already deployed over 160,000 5G base stations encompassing more than 50 cities, according to reports from GSMA previous month. Read More: Snapchat Had More Viewers and Revenue in Q1 Despite the Coronavirus Pandemic 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. JUNO BEACH, Fla., April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) has posted its first-quarter 2020 financial results in a news release available on the company's website by accessing the following link: www.NextEraEnergy.com/FinancialResults. Jim Robo, chairman and chief executive officer of NextEra Energy, Rebecca Kujawa, executive vice president, finance and chief financial officer of NextEra Energy, and other members of the company's senior management team will discuss the company's first-quarter 2020 financial results during an investor presentation to be webcast live, beginning at 9 a.m. ET today. The listen-only webcast will be available on NextEra Energy's website by accessing the following link: www.NextEraEnergy.com/FinancialResults. Also discussed during the investor presentation will be financial results for NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE: NEP). A replay will be available for 90 days by accessing the same link as listed above. NextEra Energy, Inc. NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) is a leading clean energy company headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida. NextEra Energy owns two electric companies in Florida: Florida Power & Light Company, which serves more than 5 million customer accounts in Florida and is the largest rate-regulated electric utility in the United States as measured by retail electricity produced and sold; and Gulf Power Company, which serves more than 470,000 customers in eight counties throughout northwest Florida. NextEra Energy also owns a competitive energy business, NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which, together with its affiliated entities, is the world's largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun and a world leader in battery storage. Through its subsidiaries, NextEra Energy generates clean, emissions-free electricity from eight commercial nuclear power units in Florida, New Hampshire, Iowa and Wisconsin. A Fortune 200 company and included in the S&P 100 index, NextEra Energy has been recognized often by third parties for its efforts in sustainability, corporate responsibility, ethics and compliance, and diversity. NextEra Energy is ranked No. 1 in the electric and gas utilities industry on Fortune's 2020 list of "World's Most Admired Companies" and ranked among the top 25 on Fortune's 2018 list of companies that "Change the World." For more information about NextEra Energy companies, visit these websites: www.NextEraEnergy.com, www.FPL.com, www.GulfPower.com, www.NextEraEnergyResources.com. SOURCE NextEra Energy, Inc. Related Links http://www.nexteraenergy.com Turkish, British defense chiefs discuss pandemic Earlier in the day, a cargo plane carrying medical equipment from Turkey reached UK. Defense ministers of Turkey and Britain discussed the cooperation in combatting the novel coronavirus on Wednesday. "THE IMPORTANCE OF COOPERATION" Turkeys National Defense Ministry said in a statement that Hulusi Akar and his British counterpart Ben Wallace addressed the importance of cooperation and solidarity in the fight against coronavirus, bilateral and regional developments and defense industry cooperation. The conversation came after a cargo plane carrying medical equipment from Turkey reached the UK early Wednesday. The novel coronavirus has spread to 185 countries and regions since emerging in Wuhan, China last December, with the U.S. and Europe being the hardest-hit. More than 2.58 million cases have been reported worldwide, with the death toll over 178,000 and some 696,000 recoveries, according to data compiled by So, two planes came back to Canada empty. The chase for personal protective equipment, or PPE, remains global and vicious. It veers between a diplomatic logistics challenge and a series of heist movies. In the United States, the states themselves have to act like theyre in a Fast and the Furious movie to hide much-needed medical supplies from being hijacked by their own federal government. Its broken down there in ways we cant even imagine. But Americas full purchasing power has also showed up in China, along with everyone elses, and Canada is feeling the strain as it grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed that a pair of planes, one a federal charter and one a provincial one, flew back from China without any cargo. Which isnt what you want. There are severe restrictions on the ground in China in terms of how long a plane can actually stay in their airports before having to leave, whether its full or not, said Trudeau. And at the same time, supply lines and truck shipments to the airports are difficult and interrupted by checkpoints and quarantine measures. For the most part, weve been able to navigate through those and ensure that Canada has received the equipment that it needs, but these two airplanes were forced to take off empty. In this case, there was a rush of trucks lined up to get onto the tarmac some reports say it was between 30 and 40 hours and several factors squeezed the Canadian window to load and leave. So the planes took off empty, before the goods were loaded. It is less a system failure than a global systems failure. As the CBC has reported, Canada has established a warehouse adjacent to the Shanghai airport, and once PPE arrives there there is a relatively clean pathway to get goods out of China. The Wall Street Journal reported some American PPE had been tangled in export restrictions; Canada has built what it calls an integrated system to bypass that, led by ambassador Dominic Barton, who formerly sat on the advisory board of the state-run China Development Bank. Much of the Canadian diplomatic effort has been turned into a procurement and logistics operation, dedicated to getting quality goods out of the country. The 100,000 testing swabs which arrived contaminated with mould was a failure in that regard. Its not just getting it; its getting high-quality stuff, said one source familiar with the operation. The last thing we want is 10 million N95s (masks) that dont work. With American 3M masks, they go straight to their destinations once they cross the border. Canada tests Chinese goods when they land in Canada; sources indicate shipments were scheduled for Tuesday, Thursday and the weekend. And until its on the ground and tested, its not here. (The Americans) bidding up the prices, and its not just that, because people will pay anything, but they are really bidding up the prices: the counties, the hospitals, the states, and the federal government and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) are all bidding against each other on the same thing, says Dr. Michael Silverman, chair of infectious diseases at Western Universitys Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, who is familiar with the procurement process. People are offering to sell us stuff, and you dont know if theyve already sold it three times to other people, and its still sitting in their warehouse. Or it may be gone, they may have shipped it but they still give you the same serial numbers. Theres so much fraud, because theres so much panic out there. We see it here: all the infection control practitioners feel under siege, because everyones saying, youve got to get me this, Im in danger. And theyre frightened. The reality is, this was a system failure. Most systems are not built for the catastrophic one-offs. This is a once in a 100-year phenomenon, and the system is not built to handle this. Nothing is built for this. So Canadas system is holding, but still fraught. Many Ontario doctors have bought their own equipment double-barrelled respirators like the ones painters use, or goggles and face shields from Home Depot. Domestic medical gown production has been put it motion, because gowns are a choke point, supply-wise, but there is a worldwide shortage on the rubber for gowns and gloves. At least one hospital in the GTA has distributed similar cheap surgical masks that have angered health care workers in Alberta, where doctors are making videos of how easily they slip off your nose. Nurses have been told to affix them with tape. The ones circulating in the GTA are recommended for nail salons, or dust cleaning, and some nurses have had them slip off their faces while dealing with COVID-19 patients. It is not clear who sourced the masks in question, or how widespread they are. One nurse called them a death sentence. So the seams are showing. With the curve appearing to flatten in Ontario, and some stabilization in Quebec, some hope Canadas PPE run could last another two weeks before the pace of usage slows. And then it would be a matter of stocking up for a probable second wave in the fall. All this leaves Canada, as Heather Scoffield writes, at the mercy of China, and the United States. China deserves all kinds of criticism, not least for arresting pro-democracy leaders last week. But 80 per cent of Canadas PPE comes from China. Our health-care system is in their hands. The prime minister has not been critical, and the reason in my view is we are so dependent on China as a source of medical supplies, and we know well need those medical supplies for a while, said Guy Saint-Jacques, who was Canadas ambassador to China from 2012-16. Were stuck. And so governments try to compete in a global cannonball run, but with medical supplies. Doctors and nurses are scared; the United States is a lurching beast; China is an imperious supplier; and Canada is a middle power, trying to squeeze between the freighters into open sea. Lets hope we make it. Read more about: Baylor, TCU deny recognition to conservative student group Turning Point USA Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Christian higher education institutions Baylor University and Texas Christian University have both reportedly denied official campus recognition to chapters of the national conservative student organization Turning Point USA, which is active on hundreds of college campuses. Students at both Texas-based institutions spoke to Breitbart News recently about how their quests to get official recognition for chapters of the student organization founded by conservative activist Charlie Kirk have been unsuccessful. Lori Fogleman, assistant vice president for Media & Public Relations at Baylor, did not explain why the group was denied but told CP that the university "currently has three very active conservative student organizations on our campus: Baylor College Republicans, Baylor Young Americans for Freedom, and Baylor Young Conservatives of Texas." TCU did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Turning Point USA at Baylor Chapter President Oliver Mintz told Breitbart, a conservative online news outlet, that the denial "was biased, plain and simple. According to Mintz, he and others involved in Baylor Turning Point USA have worked unsuccessfully for months to obtain official campus recognition at the worlds largest Baptist university based in Waco. He said that the universitys student activities department has offered little communication with the group and hasn't explained its reasons for denying the club. Mintz said that school officials were unable to provide us with any reason for the denial at a formal meeting, during which the clubs recognition was officially denied. However, Mintz recalled school officials making a vague reference to Turning Point USAs methodology. They also brought up concerns about the leadership of the organization once our current leadership and founders graduate by saying that they were worried about a drop-off and decline with future leadership, he said. This could be said about any club on campus whether its the knitting club or a political organization. Breitbart notes that on Dec. 17, 2019, Mintz sent an email asking for a list of reasons why Turning Point USA was denied recognition at Baylor. After receiving no response, he reached out again in mid-February to request a list of reasons from the Director of Student Activities Matt Burchett. Mintz has yet to receive any list of reasons why the club was denied. We firmly understand that Baylor, as a private university, has the absolute right to deny us a charter, he admitted. However, by denying us, they are showing us their true colors that they are against free speech and against conservative values being presented on campus. At TCU, a 10,000-student institution affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) based in Fort Worth, Breitbart reported on Monday that three students who have tried to get an official Turning Point USA chapter recognized at TCU since last summer have been denied. TCU student Lauren McCoy told the news outlet that she is the last person to try to start a Turning Point USA club at TCU, beginning her application process in January. The approval process should take three or so weeks, she was quoted as saying. Instead, it took nearly all semester until April 15 for them to make their decision to deny my request. I did everything they asked me to in a diligent, respectful, and prompt manner. The students were reportedly told that the group was denied for sustainability concerns on grounds that the club might dissolve after senior members graduate. However, McCoy argues that the administrations excuse is not valid because she expects the club to grow. I made an executive board of students ranging from freshmen to juniors who are all active students on campus, McCoy explained. Of course, the entire point of a student organization is to have the ability to reach out to other students, letting the club be known, and gain members. Turning Point USA TCU Vice President Reagan Gates told the news outlet that it is important to give a space to like-minded students where we can all learn and grow together with our common values. That is something TCU promotes, yet has denied us, Gates argued, adding that the TCU is denying a home for the quiet conservatives on campus and hushing our voice. McCoy launched a Change.org petition, calling on TCU to formally recognize Turning Point USA. A similar petition was launched by Mintz, calling on Baylor to grant recognition to the group. TCU and Baylor are not the first institutions to deny official recognition to Turning Point USA chapters. Other schools that have in the past denied recognition to the group include Drake University in Iowa, the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, Northwestern University in Illinois. Other conservative student organizations like Young Americans for Freedom have also complained that they are often denied recognition on campuses. Turning Point USA seeks to identify educate, train, and organize students to promote the principles of freedom, free markets, and limited government. The organization has received scrutiny from the Anti-Defamation League because it allegedly garnered support from so-called alt-lite activists. In 2017, African American commentator Candace Owens became the organization's communications director. Owens resigned from her role in May 2019 to start Blexit. New Delhi, April 22 : The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Wednesday directed state-run NBCC to implement the approved resolution plan for JIL, but subject to the final order in the matter. The NCLAT's direction came on petition by NBCC, which won the bid to acquire Jaypee Infratech. The public sector construction major had challenged modifications to its bid when it was approved by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal and sought an stay on the implementation of the modified plan. The appellate tribunal, however, declined to stay the implementation of the modified resolution plan. The two judge bench headed by the acting NCLAT Chairman Justice Bansi Lal Bhat also told the Interim Resolution Professional to set up an 'Interim Monitoring Committee'. "Till further orders, the approved 'Resolution Plan' may be implemented subject to outcome of this appeal. The Interim Resolution Professional may constitute 'Interim Monitoring Committee' comprising of the 'Successful Resolution Applicant', i.e., the Appellant and the three major Institutional Financial Creditors, who were Members of the 'Committee of Creditors' as named above," said the order. The appellate tribunal issued notices to ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank among other respondents in the matter, directing them to reply within two others. The matter's next hearing is listed for May 15. The NCLT's Principal bench in March okayed NBCC's resolution plan to acquire Jaypee Infratech, after the CoC of the bankrupt realty firm voted in favour of the NBCC resolution plan in December. Wawa has agreed to pay $3 million to the family of a child who suffered second and third-degree burns after hot water spilled on her at a New Jersey store. The incident happened in April 2018 in Neptune, near the Jersey Shore. The convenience store company and the girl's family reached a settlement on March 30, court documents show. Image: wawa (Paul Hennessy / LightRocket via Getty Images file) Roya Konzman, of Virginia, was in the store with her daughter buying items that included two cups of hot water for tea. According to a lawsuit filed against the convenience store chain, the clerk at the register knocked over a bottle of water as he was bagging Konzman's items, which caused the cups of hot water to spill. "The cup immediately burst, causing its top to come off and hot water to splash all over N.K.s upper body, arms and torso," the lawsuit states. The girl, only identified in court documents as N.K., suffered second and third-degree burns. The child, who was 3-years-old at the time, was rushed to the hospital, according to NJ.com. The lawsuit says that Wawa was aware that the hot water from its machines was at a "highly dangerous temperature" and would cause significant injury if the water spilled on a person. "Despite being aware of this serious danger, Wawa kept the water at such a dangerously high temperature and acted recklessly and with wanton and disregard for the safety of its patrons, including N.K.," the suit states. The child was awarded $2.55 million to be split into a trust and an annuity plan. Konzman will receive $450,000 for emotional distress. The court documents state that the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing by Wawa. The company could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday. Those helping orchestrate the fight against restrictions predict the effort could energize the right in the same way the Tea Party movement did in 2009 and 2010 and potentially be helpful to President Donald Trump as he campaigns for reelection. But the cause has yet to demonstrate that kind of traction. Polls show a majority of Americans are more concerned about reopening the country too quickly than they are about the damage to the economy. And coronavirus protests have drawn smaller crowds ranging from a few dozen to several thousand at a rally in Michigan last week. REGINA - The number COVID-19 tests being done in Saskatchewan has dropped off as the province's premier prepares to release a plan for how to reopen parts of the economy. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 21/4/2020 (630 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe speaks with the media on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Tuesday, November 12, 2019. As Saskatchewan's premier prepares to release a plan for how to reopen parts of the economy the actual number of COVID-19 tests being done in the province has dropped. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld REGINA - The number COVID-19 tests being done in Saskatchewan has dropped off as the province's premier prepares to release a plan for how to reopen parts of the economy. Reports released by health officials show the number of people who have been tested each day since early March. One chart shows those tested dropped to 399 as of Monday from 885 on Friday. The head of the Saskatchewan Health Authority, Scott Livingstone, said it has the capacity to do more than the 1,500 tests per day that Premier Scott Moe has set as a target by the end of the month. So far, there has only been one day when a little more than 1,000 people were tested. "We're just not seeing people show up with symptoms of COVID-19," Livingstone told a news conference Tuesday. "We're also seeing in some cases a drop in the number of calls to 811 in other areas. That doesn't mean we don't have the ability to test more. We're just not seeing those patients." Heath officials said reasons for the drop include lower rates of transmission and the end of the influenza season. "Because of that decreasing circulation of respiratory viruses, people are probably less likely to be interested in being tested," said Dr. Julie Kryzanowski, senior medical health officer with the health authority. To date, the province has performed more than 24,000 tests for COVID-19. On Tuesday, it announced four new cases, bringing the total number of confirmed infections to 320. The health authority said it's working on a strategy to expand testing beyond people with symptoms and those who have been in contact with the virus. Jen Zoratti | Next A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Kryzanowski said officials are exploring the use of home-care and outreach workers to test people in their homes. On Wednesday night, Moe is to deliver a televised address to the province, a first for a Saskatchewan Party premier. He's expected to highlight how residents have managed to slow the spread of the virus so far, while also emphasizing the need to show continued vigilance. On Thursday, the premier is to release the province's plan for how some businesses and services can start operating again during the pandemic. Livingstone said testing and contact tracing will be key as restrictions are lifted. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 21, 2020. SEOUL, South Korea (AP) With North Korea saying nothing so far about outside media reports that leader Kim Jong Un may be unwell, theres renewed worry about whos next in line to run a nuclear-armed country thats been ruled by the same family for seven decades. Questions about Kim's health flared after he skipped an April 15 commemoration of the 108th birthday of his grandfather, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung. It's North Korea's most important event, and Kim, 36, hadn't missed it since inheriting power from his father in late 2011. North Korea's state media on Wednesday published some past comments by Kim but didn't report any new activities, while rival South Korea repeated that no unusual developments had been detected in the North. Kim has been out of the public eye for extended periods in the past, and North Korea's secretive nature allows few outsiders to assert confidently whether he might be unwell, let alone incapacitated. Still, questions about the North's political future are likely to grow if he fails to attend upcoming public events. Kim is the third generation of his family to rule North Korea, and a strong personality cult has been built around him, his father and grandfather. The family's mythical "Paektu" bloodline, named after the highest peak on the Korean Peninsula, is said to give only direct family members the right to rule the nation. That makes Kim's younger sister, senior ruling party official Kim Yo Jong, the most likely candidate to step in if her brother is gravely ill, incapacitated or dies. But some experts say a collective leadership, which could end the family's dynastic rule, could also be possible. In this Monday, Dec. 30, 2019, photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks during a Workers Party meeting in Pyongyang, North Korea. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)AP "Among the North's power elite, Kim Yo Jong has the highest chance to inherit power, and I think that possibility is more than 90%," said analyst Cheong Seong-Chang at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea. "North Korea is like a dynasty, and we can view the Paektu descent as royal blood so it's unlikely for anyone to raise any issue over Kim Yo Jong taking power." Believed to be in her early 30s, Kim Yo Jong is in charge of North Korea's propaganda affairs, and earlier this month was made an alternate member of the powerful Politburo. She has frequently appeared with her brother at public activities, standing out among elderly male officials. She accompanied Kim Jong Un on his high-stakes summits with U.S. President Donald Trump and other world leaders in recent years. Her proximity to him during those summits led many outsiders to believe she's essentially North Korea's No. 2 official. "I think the basic assumption would be that maybe it would be someone in the family" to replace Kim Jong Un, U.S. national security adviser Robert O'Brien told reporters Tuesday. "But again, it's too early to talk about that because we just don't know, you know, what condition Chairman Kim is in and we'll have to see how it plays out." The fact that North Korea is an extremely patriarchal society has led some to wonder if Kim Yo Jong would only serve as a temporary figurehead and then be replaced by a collective leadership similar to ones established after the deaths of other Communist dictators. "North Korean politics and the three hereditary power transfers have been male-centered. I wonder whether she can really overcome bloody socialist power struggles and exercise her power," said Nam Sung-wook, a professor at Korea University in South Korea. A collective leadership would likely be headed by Choe Ryong Hae, North Korea's ceremonial head of state who officially ranks No. 2 in the country's current power hierarchy, Nam said. But Choe is still not a Kim family member, and that could raise questions about his legitimacy and put North Korea into deeper political chaos, according to other observers. By HYUNG-JIN KIM, The Associated Press More: Ohio man dies of coronavirus after calling it a political ploy A public interest litigation was filed in the Bombay High Court on Wednesday, seeking that the probe in the Palghar lynching case be handed over to an independent agency like the CBI or a special investigation team be set up for it. The petition, filed by advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava, has also sought that the high court monitor the probe and seek periodical reports from the investigating agency. The public interest litigation (PIL) also demanded that the case be expedited and financial compensation be provided to the family of a car driver, who was among the three persons lynched by a mob. The incident took place on the night of April 16 when three men - two seers and their driver - were going from Mumbai in a car towards Surat in Gujarat to attend a funeral. Their vehicle was stopped near a village in Palghar district where the three were dragged out of the car and beaten to death with sticks by a mob on suspicion that they were child-lifters. The deceased were identified as Chikne Maharaj Kalpavrukshagiri (70), Sushilgiri Maharaj (35), and driver Nilesh Telgade(30). The petition noted that 101 people have so far been arrested in the case, which has been transferred to the state Crime Investigation Department (CID). The government has also suspended two policemen from Palghar for alleged dereliction of duty. "However, there are allegations that the police personnel present at the scene of the incident did not help the victims. The incident video even shows one police official pushing one of the victim sadhus away from him instead of protecting him, the petition said. The PIL said the incident has shaken the collective conscience of the society at large, and every step needs to be taken to restore public's faith in the police machinery. "Hence, the PIL is seeking for the probe to be handed to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or a special investigation team (SIT) for a free, fair and time-bound investigation," the petitioner said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indian Banks' Association (IBA) has submitted a list of recommendations to both the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to ease the financial burden faced by various sectors due to the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic. Some of the key recommendations included blanket credit guarantee for MSME loans, one-time loan restructuring for sectors hit hard by COVID-19 and raising of moratorium and relief for the NBFC sector, sources said. As per the RBI's norms, restructuring of loans is prohibited and resolution of default cases are dealt as per the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). Based on the representation made by various industry associations, a detailed and comprehensive list of suggestions have been submitted to the government and the RBI for addressing problems faced by various sectors including MSME in general and banking sector in particular, sources said. It is for the regulator and the government to take an informed decision on those suggestions depending on their assessment and keeping in mind prudential norms, sources added. However, the IBA in its meeting last week was of the view that this is an extraordinary situation and response to this should be extraordinary. Bankers believed that some safety net has to be created for both industry and banks for survival first, sources said, adding, revival would follow. Various estimates indicate a drastic reduction in GDP growth forecast for the current fiscal due to the impact of COVID-19 and consequent lockdown. As per the World Bank's latest assessment, India is expected to grow 1.5 per cent to 2.8 per cent. Similarly, the IMF projected a GDP growth of 1.9 per cent for India in 2020, as the global economy hits the worst recession since the Great Depression in the 1930s. Earlier this month, SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar had said that the IBA will request for raising the loan moratorium period from the existing three months to 5-6 months depending on the evolving situation. Kumar, who is also the chairman of the IBA, had said that there was also demand for government guarantees against loans to certain risk-prone sectors to revive credit flow in the economy post lockdown. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) LEHI, Utah, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Young Living, the world's leading provider of essential oils, today announced a $20,000 donation to TreeUtah and the Arbor Day Foundation in honor of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Each nonprofit will receive a $10,000 donation to be allocated for the purchase and planting of trees. Young Living is partnering with the Arbor Day Foundation to restore wildlife habitat by planting more than 5,000 trees in Fishlake National Forest on behalf of each Young Living team member. The Arbor Day Foundation has planted more than 350 million trees in neighborhoods, communities, cities and forests throughout the world to ensure a greener and healthier future for everyone. The organization's vision is to help others understand and use trees as a solution to many global issues, including air quality, water quality, a changing climate, deforestation, poverty and hunger. In addition to its donation to the Arbor Day Foundation, Young Living is investing in local tree planting efforts by donating $10,000 to TreeUtah. This sponsorship will enable TreeUtah to continue the legacy of adding trees to parks that provide beauty, cooling shade and cleaner air to community spaces. TreeUtah works with government agencies, local businesses, church groups and others to plant trees of all types and sizes around the state. Every year, the organization aims to plant 7,000 new trees to make Utah's communities greener and healthier. "We're thrilled to make this donation to two important earth conservation nonprofits," said Jared Turner, president and COO at Young Living. "Even though our Earth Day observance has had to pivot this year due to social distancing, we're still committed to showing our gratitude to nature and to our employees by donating trees in their honor and making the earth a priority, no matter the circumstances." Young Living's generous donations are proof of the company's commitment to bettering the earth and of its investment in local communities. The company hopes to inspire individuals and other businesses to do their part and contribute to Earth Day this year and every year. About Young Living Essential Oils Young Living Essential Oils, LC, based in Lehi, Utah, is the world leader in essential oils, offering the highest quality oil-infused products available. Young Living takes its industry leadership seriously, setting the standard with its proprietary Seed to Seal quality commitment, which involves three critical pillars: Sourcing, Science, and Standards. These guiding principles help Young Living protect the planet and provide pure, authentic products that its members can feel confident about using and sharing with friends and family. Young Living's productswhich all come from corporate-owned farms, partner farms, and Seed to Seal-certified suppliersnot only support a healthy lifestyle but also provide opportunities for over 6 million global members to find a sense of purpose and whole-life wellness by aligning their work with their values and passions. For more information, visit YoungLiving.com, follow @youngliving on Instagram, or like us on Facebook. SOURCE Young Living Essential Oils Related Links https://www.youngliving.com This is an opinion column. The story itself is remarkable, the stuff of Disney movies or heartwarming after-school specials. How two young men were tossed together as roommates their freshman year at a college far from home, how they stayed roommates three years straight, becoming best friends who pushed one another and rooted for one another until their junior year, even as they both competed for a prestigious national fellowship that would help them help the world. It is a story of how, against all odds and expectations from those who presumed to know better, they both won. Crazy. That kind of thing is not supposed to happen. Max Klapow and Zach Eisner learned the news last week in a Zoom call from lockdown, when their college chancellor, Andrew D. Martin, appeared on the screen to say both of the students, juniors at Washington University in St. Louis, had been named Truman Scholars. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! Both?, Eisner said. And Klapow a Birmingham native who attended Indian Springs School, just said what everybody was thinking: Wow. It is a rare and impressive thing, to be a Truman Scholar. Past scholars include Supreme Court justices and members of Congress, not to mention those in more respectable fields. In all, 62 students across the country were named scholars this year. Just two students from Alabama Klapow and UAB student Whitman Miller, made the list. But roommates? Best friends, not just in the same state or the same university but the same apartment? You heard em. Wow. So you can marvel at the serendipity, the hard work and the long odds. But that would presume the story is done, for Eisner or Klapow or Miller, for that matter. That would presume it all ends with some award prestigious though it may be. But it doesnt. And that is the real beauty of it. This is just the beginning. Because the real story is seeing what these young people hope to do with their lives. The real story, for me now, is hearing Klapow talk about the work he wants to do what he has wanted in some way to do ever since high school when he heard Equal Justice Initiative director Bryan Stevenson speak about racial disparities in the justice system, since he read Stevensons book Just Mercy and faced realities he never considered. Max Klapow, a junior at Washington University in St. Louis, was selected as a Truman scholar, and hopes to make prisons more humane and effective. I was angry that I could be raised, and so many others could be raised, in a world where our privilege shields us from that, Klapow said. How could we be so blind? He knows he is still shielded by that privilege, by youth and affluence and educational attainment that looks pristine on paper but tells him nothing of life inside a prison, or the life that gets you into one. But he knows what he does not know, and that is a powerful trait in anyone. He aims to learn all he can, to earn the credibility, as his hero Stevenson did, to make a difference. But Klapow doesnt just have a dream of doing good. He has a plan, and a direction, and now a stamp of approval from one of the nations premier fellowship programs. Klapow wants to work not only to make prisons more humane, but to better prepare inmates for a return to the world. His proposal to Truman argues that inmates who receive training in well-being and resilience commit fewer crimes on release, and cultivating positive traits in offenders is a cost-effective way to reduce recidivism. He knows thats a tough sell in a country that sees the role of prisons as purely punitive. As someone from the Truman program pointed out, Klapow is essentially making the difficult argument that inmates should feel better about themselves. But it is what Klapow is selling. He cites studies that indicate inmates who undergo such training are more likely to become contributing members of their communities. Isnt that better for everybody, he asks. Isnt it? He tells a story about working with inmates as part of the Washington University Prison Education Project. One man did an activity on character strengths things we are good at that help us to thrive no matter our situation and at the end was given a sheet of paper outlining those strengths. He told me that this was perhaps the first time he had a single piece of paper saying, without qualification, that he had something good to offer to the world, Klapow said. He told me he planned to put it up his cell wall as a reminder until he got out. The story of the scholarship is remarkable. Friends, roommates, dreams of changing the world, and perhaps even meeting Bryan Stevenson. The real story has just begun. John Archibald, a Pulitzer Prize winner, is a columnist for AL.com. His column appears in The Birmingham News, the Huntsville Times, the Mobile Register, Birmingham Magazine and AL.com. Write him at jarchibald@al.com. 22.04.2020 LISTEN I am writing you this epistle with mixed feelings, Nana. Do not worry, you will get to know why as we go on. Agyaaku being a farmer, you know how important NPK is for the growing of crops and rearing of animals. And this is common knowledge to most people who are related to agriculture. But what is NPK in this context? You asked? Take it easy, Nana. We are pounding the fufuo so please hold on with the soup. Nana I know you have heard about the current coronavirus and its attendant disease, christened covid 19, and how it is rampaging the whole world. As Lucky Dube puts it in his song titled Crazy World, people are dying like flies everyday, because of covid 19. This virus has been able to almost shut the whole world down. I will not bother you so much about the nitty gritties of covid 19 for now since you might have heard a lot about it already. By now I can imagine you are wondering what correlation is being drawn between the virus and NPK. Let us keep on, Agyaaku, but do not forget the lockdown that came along with covid 19. All over the world, solidarity, hospitality and kind-heartedness are being shown by people to the needy in society. Ghanaians have not been an exception. Adequate care has been given to the needy in Ghana, especially those who were affected by governments lockdown of some parts of the country. From traditional rulers, through priests, imams and famous persons to government itself, the Ghanaian in us has been well expressed towards the covid 19 induced needy. Food, shelter and sanitary items have been adequately distributed to our affected citizens, with rice, tomato puree and cooking oil taken centre stage. The gesture is very commendable. It gives me a feeling of joy and hope even as we are faced with uncertainties and gloom presented by the virus. However, in this commendable gesture lies a problem, Nana. Take a sip of water and let us continue. Agyaaku, in agricultural science, NPK stands for nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). Yes potassium is K. It is derived from its scientific name kalium. These elements are needed in right proportions for optimum growth and fruition of various crops. Their absence or inadequate proportions when present, affects yields, especially if not corrected at the appropriate time during the crops growth. For maximum yields, you need to make these elements available if they are absent, or top them up in case they are there but in inadequate quantities. So how do these salient elements connect to Ghanas economy in this covid 19 situation, Nana? Nana all those who have been distributing these relief items do not produce them. They bought them. But where were these rice, cooking oil and tomato puree or paste sourced or bought from? Most are not sourced from Ghana, primarily. And that gives me a feeling of worry. But Nana, Ghana has its own NPKs when it comes to these 3 items widely distributed to the needy. Nobewam in the Ashanti region represents our N. Nobewam and its environs have the capacity to produce a lot of inland valley rice (including Jasmine rice). Same can be said of places like Ohiamadwen and Benkyema Nkwanta in the Western region, as well as Afife in the Volta region. There are other places in Ghana that are also suitable for the production of both inland valley and upland rice. So Nana, it would have done our economy good if the many thousands of kilograms of rice distributed in this lockdown period had been sourced from Ghanaian rice producers. It may not be the time to grow and harvest rice immediately to support the needy. But its surely not late to consider growing our own rice to feed ourselves when covid 19 is over. Our P is represented by Pwalugu in Northern Ghana. Agyaaku, you get what I mean? The Pwalugu Tomato Factory was set up by our first President. It is supposed to process tomatoes grown in Ghana, including Akomadan and Techimantia, for local consumption, and export if possible. Thousands of kilograms of tomato puree have been distributed to our affected citizens. This is out of the millions of kilograms we import every year with millions of US dollars into the country. Post-covid 19, we should look at making the Pwalugu Tomato factory, renamed Northern Star Tomato Processing Factory, work. It will do our economy a lot of good than importing tomato puree and paste from elsewhere. Nana, I guess you are thinking about what K will be. No, it is not Oseikrom, Agyaaku. Kusi in the Eastern region presents us with our K. Kusi has an institution dedicated for oil palm research. There are lots of other oil palm plantations in and around Kusi, as well as Kade (also in the Eastern region). There are other such plantations around the country too. There are plantations of coconuts and groundnuts also in the country. All these can be processed into cooking oils to meet our demands for such oils. When covid-19 is over, we should look at it and wean ourselves off importing such oils into Ghana. That will give our economy the needed ingredients to grow well. Thus, Agyaaku, as we continue to unravel how to scale this covid 19 hurdle, we can keep on catering for the needy and ourselves by keeping up with the current sources. But post-covid 19, we should do more with local production of rice, cooking oil and tomato puree by making use of our NPKs, viz., Nobewams, Pwalugus and Kusis. The source of these items enumerated herein will determine whether we are providing the salient elements for Ghanas economy to grow. Mesan aba biem, Nana!!! Written by: Clement Boateng Consultant/Founder - ClemBoat Consult (www.clemboatconsult.com) Email: [email protected] NEW YORK - The tourists and conventioneers who once filled the rooms of The New Yorker hotel are long gone, driven away by the coronavirus, but its lobby is still bustling. The big, art-deco hotel in midtown Manhattan is one of several across the U.S. that have become barracks for an army of health care workers deployed to fight COVID-19. You come home, get your dinner, take a shower, get to sleep and then do it all over again the next day, said physician assistant Shadoe Daniels, through his mask, in a ballroom converted into an intake area, where shoe sanitizing stations are a must-stop before guests head to the elevators. The Honesdale, Pennsylvania, resident likened his workday to going to war. More than 15,000 of the nations 56,000 hotels and motels are now offering rooms for emergency and health care workers, according to Chip Rogers, president of the American Hotel and Lodging Association. Some health care workers have snagged free rooms at the Sophy Hyde Park hotel in Chicago or the luxurious Four Seasons Hotel New York. Others, like Daniels, are being put up by staffing agencies hired to quickly bring reinforcements to overwhelmed hospitals. At another time, hotels packed with out-of-town workers on a shared mission might have been buzzing like a college dorm, with nurses or doctors sharing drinks at the bar after shifts or heading out to a Broadway show. But several healthcare workers staying at The New Yorker told The Associated Press that they are too exhausted after 12-hour workdays to do much more than shower, eat, exercise, read and sleep. Shuttered bars, restaurants and businesses limit options. Zuri Longoria, a nurse from Aransas Pass, Texas, said she relieves stress from tending to dying patients by chatting with other medical volunteers like herself. You cant share that type of bond with anybody else, Longoria said. In the hotels ballroom, sanitizing materials rest on a table and prayer cards and handwritten well wishes from the community hang from a bulletin board. Thank you for helping others in their time of need! reads one. One note acknowledged how inadequate words, prayers and small contributions seemed for the workers. Its not a lot and way less than you guys deserve! Please be safe! it said. Nathan Shapiro-Shellaby, a nurse anesthetist from Seattle, said he runs outdoors and meditates before boarding a shuttle bus for work at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, which has been ground zero for the crisis. After work, hes sharpening his Facetime and Zoom skills to maintain relationships. Thats been one of my favourite things to do to kind of release stress and hear about family and friends from all around the world, Shapiro-Shellaby said. Daniels said immediately after a shift he sanitizes his shoes, wipes down anything he carries with Clorox wipes and drops his clothing in a laundry bag at his room. Then I jump right in the shower. My bedroom is like COVID-free, as much as it can be, Daniels said. Daniels, Longoria and Shapiro-Shellaby were recruited to New York by Krucial Staffing, which advertised that three-week stints for 400 nurses starting in mid-April would pay $10,000 per week. Two weeks ago, the Mariott hotel chain announced it would provide $10 million of free Rooms for Responders in New York City, New Orleans, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Washington, D.C. and Newark, New Jersey. In less than two days, 6,200 nights in rooms had been booked, with 53% of them in the New York area and 34% in Los Angeles. Hilton and American Express also teamed up to donate up to 1 million hotel room nights nationwide. Rogers estimates that half of the hotels in the country are closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. And most of the rest are operating with skeletal staffs. Hotel authorities say most hotels still up and running are housing workers, while some have offered space for hospital operations or to provide rooms for the homeless or quarantined individuals. Its a win, win, win, said Kim Sabow, president of the Arizona Lodging and Tourism Association. She said 300 Arizona hotels had volunteered to house medical workers. This is just a wonderful way in which the hotels can keep their doors open and give back at this horrific time of crisis. Some hotels volunteered after Californias governor threatened to use the powers of the state to take over hotels. Hotels were rightfully concerned. At the same time, we had already heard hotels saying: Look, if this starts getting worse, they can use our hotel if they need to, Rogers recalled. Michael Jacobson, president of the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association, said Chicago and state officials asked hotels in early March to identify locations that could be used. Some offered free rooms; others at cost. Tight security ensures nobody breaks social distancing rules. Rather than housecleaning, linens and towels are left outside rooms, along with meals. Hotels arent making a profit out of this. It is allowing them to at least maintain some basic operations and frankly, keep at least a portion of their staff employed, Jacobson said. I knew folks would step up, theres no question about it, but I also knew that every hotel owner I know of is hurting right now, and hurting bad. A 10 million fund has been set up to provide technology and devices for disadvantaged students at primary and secondary level during the coronavirus pandemic, according to Laois Offaly TD and Minister for Justice & Equality, Charlie Flanagan. Minister Flanagan said the funding will be a huge help to both students and teachers as part of our response to Covid-19. Schools across Laois and Offaly know their students best. So they are being empowered to support those who most need access to technology, with the right equipment. Schools are being asked to prioritise exam classes, and then to look at where else access to technology is most needed. I am confident this will make a real difference to thousands of students and provide the technology they need to be able to access online supports. At this time it is imperative we go further as a society to support more vulnerable young people. By redirecting funding we are focusing our attention on where it is needed, with a priority on Leaving Certificate students. Combined with an emphasis on wellbeing, this funding will help to give students the tools they need to succeed, said the Fine Gael TD. The Minister said measures are part of a number of initiatives taken by the Department to support Laois & Offaly children and young people who are at risk of educational disadvantage during the period of school closures. They include: - Guidance being issued to all schools to support the ongoing learning of children with special educational needs and children who are at risk of disadvantage. - Collaboration with Cisco/WebEX to support schools with training in video conferencing software for use by teachers with their classes. - Guidance and resources developed by the National Council for Special Education on supporting children with special educational needs. - Continuation of the School meals programme, funded through the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, to provide food parcels to children who are at risk of food poverty. - Continued funding of Home Tuition or, where this is not possible, flexibility to bank hours for use at a later time in the year. - Resources to support good mental health and wellbeing amongst students produced by the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS). - 10 million funding package secured as part of the Digital Strategy for Schools ICT Infrastructure Fund. In January the Minister for Education announced the latest round of funding for ICT under the Digital Strategy for Schools. 40m grant funding will be distributed in the coming weeks to eligible schools as previously notified. Todays announcement includes a top-up scheme which will see 10m issuing to schools in the coming weeks also. Wang Quanzhang with his wife, Li Wenzu, and their son. Wang Quanzhang, a human rights lawyer, has been detained in China without trial since August 2015. (Courtesy of Li Wenzu) Beijing Forbids Freed Chinese Human Rights Lawyer From Returning to His Family The Chinese regime has continued to bar Chinese human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang from reuniting with his wife and son, more than two weeks after his release from prison. Now, the United States government is calling on Beijing to stop restricting his movements. #WangQuanzhang still cannot rejoin his family in #Beijing, stated the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) in a tweet on April 21. The Commission added: The Chairs renew their call for an end to his arbitrary detention & urges the @UN_SPExperts to investigate the #Chinese govts practice of subjecting political prisoners to exile/house arrest after completing prison terms. Wang has defended local activists, victims of government land grabs, and adherents of Falun Gong, a spiritual practice that is severely persecuted by the Chinese regime. He was arrested in July 2015 as part of a nationwide crackdown on hundreds of activists and lawyers. In January 2019, he was sentenced to four and a half years imprisonment for subversion of state powera catch-all charge Beijing often uses against dissidents. After completing his sentence, including the time he spent in pre-trial detention, Wang was released on April 5. However, he was not allowed to return to his family living in the capital Beijing. Instead, he was taken to his hometown in Jinan city in eastern Chinas Shandong Province, for quarantine for 14 days. On April 17, Netherlands-based NGO Lawyers for Lawyers issued a statement with 36 signatories, calling on Chinese authorities to respect Wangs personal freedom and stop using the current pandemic to extend his imprisonment. The next day, human rights group Amnesty International expressed the same concern about Beijing utilizing the pandemic as an excuse to curb his freedom. On April 20, Wangs wife, Li Wenzu, tweeted that local police had finally given back Wangs phone to him. Li, who has been in touch with her husband, added that he was able to take calls from friends and journalists, while also meeting with fellow rights lawyer Xie Yang in Jinan. On April 22 afternoon local time, Li tweeted out a letter addressed to the U.S. government, thanking the State Department for its public statement two days earlier. The United States calls on the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) to allow human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhangs freedom of movement, including the ability to join his family in Beijing, now that he has been released after five years of unjust detention, the State Department stated. In the letter, Li said she became more encouraged and confident after seeing the public statement, and called on the U.S. government to continue monitoring Wangs situation. She added that Wang was still not allowed to be reunited with his family in Beijing. Hong Kong Cable Television recently spoke to Wang, during which the lawyer said that he never confessed to wrongdoing during his detention and imprisonment. Dissidents are often pressured by authorities to confess to their alleged crimes on camera, as part of the Chinese regimes propaganda efforts. Wang added that, after his release, he was told by officials that he would be stripped of his political rights and he would not be allowed to go to Beijing. He added that what he wanted most at the moment was seeing his wife and son. Once again, under the guise of COVID-19 and inside the beating heart of a disrupted election campaign, immigration is being used as a political punching bag, with Trump announcing his intentions to sign an executive order to suspend all immigration. There are two ostensible reasons given for this executive order. The first is to protect Americans from COVID-19 infection brought in from across borders, against the backdrop of a presidential support for anti-stay-at-home protests and calls to open up the US economy. The second is to protect American jobs at a time when 22 million are now officially unemployed. For now, the suspension of immigration is an executive threat, not an order, and there is a pattern here of Trump making grand pronouncements that create a severe backlash and then are refined before they are signed off on. In other words, this is only the entrance to a rather steep uphill path. However, sources close to the plan told the New York Times that they expect a formal order temporarily barring new green cards and work visas as early as this week. Related: Trump Tweet Sends Oil Soaring 25% As we watch this unfold and as the real order is tweaked, it is possible that those who have been receiving visas for specialized work in the US will be denied, with some exceptions depending on the nature of that specialized work. Plenty will refute the jobs angle to this pending executive order. But refutation is a moot point when the intention is not to save American jobs; rather, to score political points as Election Day nears, and sowing fear is one of the best, time-honored ways to do that. In this case, fear of the other, since it is more difficult to place blame on what Trump calls our invisible enemy, coronavirus. If we take a step back, the numbers seem to render this move a sensible one, rather than a purely political one. Some 22 million Americans have lost their jobs in the past month, and analysts fear the real unemployment rate is closing in on 18%. And as it stands, the Wall Street Journal reports that nearly half of all states are experiencing double-digit percent losses to cash reserves for unemployment claims. In other words, they may need a bailout just to pay the unemployed. But heres where the logic breaks down: If were talking about unskilled workers, data shows that while fewer immigrants tends to lead to higher wages for American unskilled workers, it also means companies wont be able to hire as many based on basic mathematics. Many U.S. businesses are facing bankruptcy, so suspending immigration means increasing the costs of labor. Already, leaks are coming in from the sidelines as to the nature of the pending executive order, and farmers may be given a break. Citing three industry sources familiar with the plan, Politico said the suspension would not apply to foreign farm workers, sparing the agriculture industry. America will also lose the tech war if it bans immigration for specialized workers. In the first 20 days of March alone, when the federal government rolled out a new streamlined H-1B visa process, employers sought to hire 275,000 foreign workers, nearly half of them with advanced degrees from U.S. universities. As it stands, there is a cap of 85,000. But Silicon Valley needs these workers in order to ensure that America has the top talent in a global technology war that is a game of world dominance. The bottom line, a suspension across the board of immigration is a political move meant to appease the right people at the right time, ahead of November. In the end, many believe we are likely to see a very watered-down version of this suspension that only pays lip service to a specific voter segment in a time of crisis. By Charles Benavidez for Safehaven.com More Top Reads From Safehaven.com: New Delhi, April 22 : With the Union cabinet on Wednesday amending the Epidemic Diseases Act, through an ordinance, to ensure safety of health workers amid a spate of attacks on them, the measure has raised some hopes in the medical fraternity but they say this is a temporary relief and a lot more needs to be done in order to stop the violence. Speaking to IANS, the Indian Medical Association's Honorary Secretary General, Dr R.V. Asokan said: "It is an immensely satisfying movement. However it will not stop the future violence. There are lots of limitations of this ordinance but now at least we know that the government needs business and the society as one is by doctors' side in condemning violence against the doctors. "There is a lot more that has to be done to eliminate violence in the health care sectors but this is the first step in the right direction." There has been a significant number of incidents of violence on the health workers across the country, following which the doctors had called for a nationwide black day. It was called off only after Home Minister Amit Shah and Health Minister Harsh Vardhan interacted with the medical fraternity and brought the ordinance, which provides for heavy fines and upto seven years jails for all those indulging in violence. Dr Vijay Kumar Gurjar of AIIMS Delhi expressed some relief but he also echoed Asokan. "We welcome the decision. It was a long-pending demand. We have been protesting for a very long time... right from Maharashtra incident in 2015 in which a resident doctor was assaulted by a deceased person's relatives. We worked wearing helmets as a symbol of protest to the recent assaults on doctors. But this time it is too much therefore it was a much required step to be taken by the government." Dr Adarsh Pratap Singh, President of AIIMS Resident Doctors Association, told IANS: "This is a good step for the medical fraternity keeping in view of the pandemic situation. Something is better than nothing. But a lot needs to be done. "The proposed central protection act needs to be implemented. The government should invest in infrastructure, primary health sector and human resource in the field of medical profession. They should make good referral policies so that people need not to come from far off places just for an ordinary fever. It poses unnecessary burden on both doctor and patient. "There are very few doctors for thousands of people. They resort to violence when they don't get expected attention or long dates for small things like ultrasound and xray. Therefore investing a bigger share of GDP in the health sector and bringing a central protection act will solve the problem." Speaking to IANS, Dr Saurabh Sachar of Safdarjung Hospital said: "It's a great decision. Many other countries also have stringent laws to protect their healthcare workers. I Would like to thank the government for enactment of this long pending legislative demand. Hopefully this will go a long way in instilling a sense of security in the healthcare workers and act as a much required detriment for elements who resort to violence against doctors. "But this law should be there for all times and not just as part of the Epidemic Act." (Sfoorti Mishra can be contacted at sfoorti.m@ians.in) YEREVAN, APRIL 22, ARMENPRESS. The online charity virtual recital of pianist, Honored Artist of the Republic of Armenia Hayk Melikyan, will take place on April 25, LIVE at 23:00 Yerevan time. It is dedicated to the 105th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, and all proceeds from the concert tickets will be donated to the Society for Orphaned Armenian Relief (www.SOAR-us.org), reports Armenpress. Hayk Melikyan will perform the works by Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Komitas, Khachatryan, Babadjanyan, Dellalian and Gurdjieff during the recital. "Today we live in difficult times, but we must never forget, regardless of our problems, the children who need us, because I am sure that we have potential Khachatryans, Komitases, Mozarts and Newtons among them. Of course, performing without the audience is strange for me, I missed the Yerevan audience very much, but I realize that staying at home today is vital for everyone and I hope I will be able to bring some warmth to people's apartments and do something good together,- said the pianist. Additionally, this year, Armenias top leadership will pay tribute to the memory of the innocent victims of the Armenian Genocide at the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial with a live performance by Hayk Melikyan. H ealth bosses have denied a report that transfers of coronavirus patients to the newly built NHS Nightingale in London were rejected due to a lack of nurses. Applications by several London NHS trusts to move patients to the new facility in Docklands were rejected as there were too few nurses to treat them, according to the Guardian. But the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said this was misleading, while NHS London insisted there was spare capacity in the capital's critical care network. The hospital has a 4,000-bed capacity, split into more than 80 wards containing 42 beds each, and was created in just nine days to help cope with the pandemic. It needs an army of up to 16,000 staff in clinical and ancillary roles to keep it going. The Guardian reported that the hospital has been unable to admit about 50 people with Covid-19 and needing "life or death" care since its first patient arrived on the site. Some 30 were rejected because of a lack of staff, it added. NHS Nightingale Hospital - In pictures 1 /33 NHS Nightingale Hospital - In pictures Work being carried out at the ExCel Centre, where the new temporary NHS Nightingale Hospital PA General view of the new NHS Nightingale Hospital via Reuters Work being carried out at the ExCel Centre, where the new temporary NHS Nightingale Hospital PA Work being carried out at the ExCel Centre, where the new temporary NHS Nightingale Hospital will be PA Medical equipment is labelled and prepared for use by NHS staff at the ExCel centre PA Work being carried out at the ExCel Centre, where the new temporary NHS Nightingale Hospital PA Work being carried out at the ExCel Centre, where the new temporary NHS Nightingale Hospital PA Medical equipment is labelled and prepared for use by NHS staff at the ExCel centre in London PA Natalie Forrest, Chief Operating Officer of the Nightingale Hospital at the ExCel centre PA Work being carried out at the ExCel Centre, where the new temporary NHS Nightingale Hospital PA Work being carried out at the ExCel Centre, where the new temporary NHS Nightingale Hospital PA Work being carried out at the ExCel Centre, where the new temporary NHS Nightingale Hospital will be PA Work being carried out at the ExCel Centre, where the new temporary NHS Nightingale Hospital will be PA Work being carried out at the ExCel Centre, where the new temporary NHS Nightingale Hospital will be PA Work being carried out at the ExCel Centre, where the new temporary NHS Nightingale Hospital will be PA Work being carried out at the ExCel Centre, where the new temporary NHS Nightingale Hospital will be PA Work being carried out at the ExCel Centre, where the new temporary NHS Nightingale Hospital will be PA The new NHS Nightgale Hospital at London's ExCel Centre PA AP The new NHS Nightgale Hospital at London's ExCel Centre PA The new NHS Nightgale Hospital at London's ExCel Centre PA The new NHS Nightgale Hospital at London's ExCel Centre PA Work being carried out at the new NHS Nightgale Hospital at London's ExCel Centre PA Work being carried out at the new NHS Nightgale Hospital at London's ExCel Centre PA Worker at the new NHS Nightgale Hospital at London's ExCel Centre PA The newspaper said it had seen NHS documents saying the planned transfer of more than 30 patients to the ExCel exhibition centre site was "cancelled due to staffing issues". The DHSC said the Nightingale was designed to be an overspill facility in the event that hospitals in the capital became overwhelmed by patient numbers. It was normal for transfer applications between hospitals in London to be refused if the correct facilities were not available, it added. The hospital was not intended to be a fully staffed intensive care unit, and nurses working at London hospital ICUs could be sent there if needed. A spokesman said: "It is misleading to suggest coronavirus patients are being turned away from NHS Nightingale due to a shortage of staff. "NHS Nightingale has been set up to treat patients if the NHS was overwhelmed but thanks to the great work of selfless NHS staff, there is spare capacity in existing London hospitals to treat all coronavirus patients there instead." NHS London said: "The most important point about staff at the Nightingale is that thanks to their care and expertise, patients in that hospital are being successfully treated, discharged and ultimately having their life saved. "There remains spare capacity in the critical care network across the capital to look after all coronavirus patients and others who need our care, and while it is incredibly reassuring for both staff and patients to have backup capacity at the Nightingale to alleviate pressure on ICU departments where needed, patients can be transferred to other hospitals in the city if they are better placed to receive them at that time - as is always the case." The report comes after the first patients were discharged from the Nightingale on Sunday, having been successfully treated. Sir Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, said it would be a "huge success" if beds at the Nightingale were never needed and praised the work of NHS workers so far in the crisis. Loading.... "We have not yet had to make extensive use of the Nightingale London thanks to the hard work of NHS staff - who have freed up more than 30,000 existing hospital beds - and the public, who have played their part by staying at home and saving lives," he said. Listen to The Leader: Coronavirus Daily podcast Joe Biden and Donald Trump Getty Images President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden are locked in a tight race in six states that will shape who wins the White House in November, according to a new CNBC/Change Research survey. The Republican incumbent and apparent Democratic nominee are virtually tied in the battlegrounds of Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, according to the States of Play poll of swing states released Wednesday. Trump edges Biden by a 48% to 47% margin across those states, the poll found. The poll, which surveyed 5,787 likely voters in the six states on April 17 and 18, has a margin of error is plus or minus 1.3 percentage points. The split in voter preferences in those states goes beyond their ballot choices. On a range of issues facing the country, from handling the coronavirus pandemic to pulling the economy out of a recession and making health care more affordable, respondents in the six battlegrounds do not have a clear preference for who would do a better job between Trump and Republicans or Biden and Democrats. The coronavirus: 51% said Biden and Democrats would do a better job handling the outbreak, while 49% chose Trump and Republicans Preventing another pandemic: 51% Biden to 49% Trump Recovering from a recession: 50% Biden to 50% Trump The economy: 52% Trump to 48% Biden Creating jobs: 51% Trump to 49% Biden Helping your pocketbook: 51% Trump to 49% Biden Putting the middle class first: 52% Biden to 48% Trump Making health care more affordable: 52% Biden to 48% Trump Relying on facts and science to make decisions: 52% Biden to 48% Trump The stock market: 57% Trump to 43% Biden With months to go until voters cast their ballots, the poll suggests a neck-and-neck contest for the White House. Even as Trump faces widespread criticism over his preparedness for and response to the pandemic, voters think Biden is better equipped to combat it by only the narrowest of margins. Overall, 49% of respondents from the pivotal states approve of the job the president is doing, while 51% disapprove. He gets similar marks when voters are asked specifically about his response to the coronavirus: 48% approve and 52% disapprove. Covid-19 has dominated the 2020 campaign as it tears through the country. The disease has infected more than 825,000 people in the U.S. and killed at least 45,000 people, according to Johns Hopkins University data as of Wednesday. Business shutdowns intended to stop the disease's spread have led to more than 22 million people filing unemployment claims over the latest four-week period. Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN) is shutting down operations indefinitely at its largest pork plant, according to a press release from the company. The shutdown at the Iowa facility begins this week, as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tyson was already operating the plant in a limited capacity as employees opted to stay home to avoid the risk of contracting the coronavirus. But it proved to be too much for the company to keep the plant open. An increasing economic risk The Iowa facility operates under the Tyson Fresh Meats division and employs 2,800 workers. Employees will continue to receive compensation while the plant is closed. But the ramifications extend far beyond Tyson. As Tyson Fresh Meats president Steve Stouffer acknowledged, "...the plant is part of a larger supply chain that includes hundreds of independent farmers, truckers, distributors and customers, including grocers." Meat is an important consumer staple, and the risk to supply is growing. When processing plants shut down, farmers are left to wonder where to sell their livestock. It's a situation Smithfield Foods CEO Kenneth Sullivan said "is pushing our country perilously close to the edge in terms of our meat supply." Smithfield's pork facility in South Dakota is also indefinitely shut down. Tyson employees from the plant will be tested for COVID-19 this week. The results from the tests will play a role in deciding when the facility might reopen. West Rock Quarries Limited, one of the six Quarry mining companies operating in the Anto-Abosu Electoral Area in the Shama District of the Western Region, has observed that fighting covid-19, obviously has become the collective responsibility of all Ghanaians. The company noted that until the virus is defeated, Ghanaians would not feel safe, and productive, hence an appeal for all hands to be on deck. As part of efforts to drive the collective effort directed at fighting the virus in its host communities, the company donated protective gear worth Ghc12,000 to the Shama District. The donation, first of its kind in the area, was made in two separate batches to the Anto Community on one hand, and the Shama District Health Directorate on the other hand. It included twenty veronica buckets, ten hand sanitizer gallons, ten packets of tissues, and two Infrared thermometers. The items were evenly shared among the Anto-Abosu Electoral Area and the Shama District Health Directorate. Making the presentation on behalf of the company to the community, Thomas Adikpo, Administrative Manager explained that the exercise formed part of their corporate social responsibility as an entity operating in the farming Community. He described the fight against covid-19 in the area as the collective responsibility of all stakeholders. "We all need to rally behind health workers to contain the virus and protect Ghanaians against further spread. The role we must play include absolute support to regulatory institutions, communities and health service providers" This, he underscored, obviously informed the decision to offer the donation to the community and the Shama District Health Directorate. Nana Atta Kakra, Chief of Old Daboase Junction, who received the items on behalf of the community, expressed profound gratitude and urged other corporate bodies to emulate the shining example of Westrock Quarries Limited. At the Ghana Health Service Directorate in the Shama District, the Quarry Manager of Westrock Quarries Limited, Daniel Obosu, said the gesture had intended to cement the healthy relationship existing between the company and key stakeholders, including health service providers in the Antu-Aboso Electoral Area. Dr. Osei Assibey, Shama District Director of Ghana Health Service (GHS), who received the donation on behalf of the health directorate, described the kind gesture, as timely and appropriate, considering the impact of the virus and the constant struggle to contain the virus while health service providers who were at the forefront continue to do that under difficult circumstances due to shortage of these safety logistics. Explaining the genesis of the donation, Assembly Member of the Anto-Abosu Electoral Area, Emmanuel Owu-ewie, noted that it had become necessary for all Ghanaians to embrace the fight against the virus. OSLO, Norway, and HELSINKI, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Targovax ASA (OSE: TRVX), a clinical stage immuno-oncology company developing oncolytic viruses and cancer vaccines to target hard-to-treat solid tumors, and Valo Therapeutics (Valo Tx) today announce that they have entered into a collaboration agreement to evaluate PeptiCRAd technology as a tool to coat ONCOS oncolytic adenoviruses with Targovax's TG mutant RAS peptides. Valo Tx's PeptiCRAd technology has been developed to coat oncolytic viruses with tumor antigen peptides for enhanced immune activation and local delivery of antigens directly into the tumor site. With this collaboration, Targovax and Valo Tx will test whether PeptiCRAd coating of ONCOS-102 adenovirus with TG mutant RAS peptides can generate enhanced systemic CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses against mutant RAS, and specifically direct these T-cells to the tumor site. The technical feasibility, in vitro activity and in vivo immune activation potential of the concept will be evaluated in the first phase of the collaboration. If successful, the parties will jointly determine how to further expand and develop the collaboration to establish a first-in-class oncolytic virus engineered to induce mutant RAS immune responses. Dr. Anne-Sophie Mller, Head of Clinical Science of Targovax, said: "We are excited to initiate this collaboration with Valo Therapeutics. We continue to view mutant RAS as a very compelling immunotherapeutic target. The innovative PeptiCRAd technology enables us to merge our peptide vaccine and oncolytic virus platforms to generate a truly novel RAS-targeting ONCOS vaccine. The combination of these promising technologies could become a new platform supporting our aspiration to develop novel therapies for hard-to-treat solid tumors." Dr. Sari Pesonen, Head of R&D at Valo Tx, commented, "We are delighted that Targovax has chosen to partner with us in the solid tumor space, providing further endorsement of our PeptiCRAd technology. By enabling the coating of ONCOS-102 adenovirus with TG mutant RAS peptides, we have a unique opportunity to take full advantage of the clinically proven immune activation potency of ONCOS-102 by directing the immune responses towards mutant RAS neoantigens, driving enhanced tumor-specific T-cell responses in cancer patients." CONTACT: For further information, please contact: Renate Birkeli, Investor Relations Phone: +47 922 61 624 Email: [email protected] Media and IR enquires: Andreas Tinglum - Corporate Communications (Norway) Phone: +47 9300 1773 Email: [email protected] This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/targovax/r/targovax-and-valo-therapeutics-enter-collaboration-to-develop-ras-neoantigen-coating-of-oncos-viruse,c3093798 SOURCE Targovax Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 22) The Bureau of Immigration said Wednesday it is speeding up deportation cases and is eyeing bail for foreigners currently detained in Taguig to decongest the facility and stop the spread of COVID-19. The agency said it is taking steps to reduce the number of inmates held in the alien detention center located inside the BI Warden Facility at Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan. Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente ordered the bureau's legal division to resolve deportation cases against these foreigners as soon as possible, in order to "reduce the risk of COVID-19 outbreak among the foreigners confined in the facility." Morente added that bail may be offered to these illegal aliens, as well as an option to be released through recognizance, which will allow temporary freedom for the accused without posting a fee pending the court's decision on pending cases. So far, the bureau has released two pregnant women on bail, while a third expectant mother has been sent to her home country. Immigration officials arrest foreign nationals caught smuggling illegal drugs and other illicit goods to the country, as well as those with criminal records abroad and those proven using fake passports or travel documents in the country's ports. The agency is also in charge of accosting overstaying foreign nationals, including those illegally working in the Philippines. READ: Nearly 800 immigration personnel reassigned due to 'pastillas' scheme Currently, visitors are not allowed to enter the alien detention center while strict rules on proper handwashing and sanitation have been imposed in the facility. Jail wardens have also requested the International Committee of the Red Cross as well as foreign embassies for face mask donations. The BI's move followed COVID-19 infections among prisoners at the Quezon City Jail and the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong. The Supreme Court has yet to decide on the petition calling for the release of inmates who have a high risk of contracting the disease, particularly the elderly and those with preexisting medical conditions. The nine inmates and nine jail personnel in Quezon City have been transferred to an isolation center in Payatas, while those from the Women's Correctional have been transferred to a quarantine area inside the New Bilibid Prison compound in Muntinlupa, Bureau of Corrections Spokesperson Gabby Chaclag said. READ: 20% of Bilibid inmates die every year due to overcrowding, hospital head says Chaclag said that while most jail complexes have wide common spaces, he admitted that the bigger issue lies within prison cells. "We have wide spaces in our reservation. Meron lang po tayong constraint o challenge sa mga building, sa mga dormitories kasi hindi sila pwedeng mag-social distancing o physical distancing [We have constraints or challenges in the building, inside dormitories because they cannot practice social or physical distancing]," Chaclag told CNN Philippines' New Day. He added that there are mechanisms in place to set up isolation tents for suspected COVID-19 patients within jail facilities. A petition to release high-risk inmates with medical conditions as well as first-time offenders of petty crimes amid the COVID-19 pandemic is pending before the Supreme Court, as some human rights groups call the country's congested detention cells as "ticking time bombs" for infections. For now, the high court has instructed first and second-level courts to fast-track the evaluation of detainees who may be set free just to decongest jail cells in the country. Bureau of Jail Management and Penology spokesperson Xavier Solda said earlier this month that inmates are safer inside jails, especially with local transmission of COVID-19 among barangays and towns in various parts of the country. Tony Blair has said the government is overwhelmed with the coronavirus crisis and called for mass testing. The former prime minister said on Wednesday a vaccine could be a long way away and so testing had to be a priority. Recalling his time dealing with foot-and-mouth disease as PM, he told Good Morning Britain: To be frank about it, for the first few weeks we were behind the curve, but what I learnt is that you just have to set aside all the normal rules and bureaucracy and just reposition the government differently. He added: "You have got to get the point where you have the capability of dealing with all the different dimensions and not getting overwhelmed." Read more: Piers Morgan and care minister in heated on-air row over coronavirus testing On the current outbreak, Blair said: All of us know people who are serious people with capabilities to offer who are have been trying to fight their way into the system to offer them and that is what makes me think we are not yet organised in the right way for the scale of this thing so that every possible avenue is being explored. He stressed it was important authorities had correct testing in place and said the suppression phase of the disease was less difficult than exiting lockdown. Tony Blair has suggested the government may have become overwhelmed by the coronavirus crisis. (Getty) 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 6 charts and maps that explain how COVID-19 is spreading Blair said: How you exit is really, really complicated and unless you have the right skill set there at the centre of government right from the very beginning, then its going to be very hard to do things like mass testing, which I cant see any other way out of this. The government was accused of being slow to respond to the coronavirus crisis at Parliaments first ever virtual Prime Ministers Questions on Wednesday, as foreign secretary Dominic Raab faced questions on testing and protection for NHS and care workers from new Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer. Story continues Raab deputising for Boris Johnson, who is continuing his recovery from COVID-19 faced Starmer in a sparsely attended House of Commons while the majority of MPs participated remotely. Starmer questioned the governments progress towards its target of carrying out 100,000 tests a day by the end of the month, and claimed opportunities to acquire personal protective equipment from British firms had been missed. Read more: Government faces huge backlash after U-turn letter about EU ventilator scheme Ministers have repeatedly insisted the target will be met, and Raab said: Those tests will be crucial not just in terms of controlling the virus but allowing the country to move to the next phase. He said mobile labs were now being used, and that the army is also helping to get tests to where they are needed. Coronavirus: what happened today? Click here to sign up to the latest news, advice and information with our daily Catch-up newsletter Assistance ramped up to DR Congo's South Kivu as floods kill dozens 21 April 2020 - Aid is being rushed to eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) where deadly flooding has swept away people and homes and affected tens of thousands more, including many displaced by violence, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday Announcing assistance measures for South Kivu province in coordination with local partners, UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic said that torrential rainfall in Uvira town in recent days had led to heavy flooding of the Mulongwe river, impacting 80,000 people. "Initial reports suggest more than 25 people have died because of the floods and more than 40 injured with fears of many others swept away by the floodwaters", he said. "A health clinic in one of Uvira's poorer neighbourhoods was destroyed and water and sanitation facilities in the overcrowded town were also damaged." Immediate shelter needs The UNHCR official added: "We are rushing initial supplies of relief items from its local warehouse in Uvira, including badly needed tarpaulins to provide immediate shelter, as well as mats, kitchen sets, buckets and mosquito nets." Additional shelter kits will arrive in the coming days to help alleviate the suffering of some of those who have lost their homes. Local and provincial authorities are leading the response with help from the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or MONUSCO, who have provided initial support to Uvira home to nearly one million people. The blue helmets have prioritized rescuing survivors from destroyed houses, providing drinking water after damage to public facilities and assessing damage to roads and bridges, the UN Mission said in a statement. The flooding is just the latest challenge for a region that's among the hardest hit by years of insecurity, conflict and endemic disease, such as cholera, malaria and Ebola. "The victims lived in densely populated areas of the town and surrounding villages that are hosting displaced people, including refugees," Mr Mahecic explained. With more than 15,000 homes damaged in Uvira, UNHCR has warned that reports of further devastation "are still coming in" from the mineral-rich region, which it describes as the among the "hardest hit" by years of violence involving various rebel groups. Today, the region hosts nearly one million internally displaced people out of the more than five million internally displaced throughout the vast country. South Kivu also hosts nearly 50,000 Burundian refugees out of a total of 500,000 in the country, according to UNHCR, which has warned that the province continues to see large displacement triggered by insecurity and conflict. Coronavirus just the latest health threat The development comes as residents brace for the expected imminent arrival of the new coronavirus, which has so far claimed 25 lives in DRC. In its latest update on Monday, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported 18 new cases of COVID-19 in the capital, Kinshasa, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 350. "UNHCR is concerned over the large number of people left homeless by the flooding and exposed to sickness and disease," said Mr Mahecic. "While no cases of COVID-19 have reached Uvira so far, the risk of cholera has heightened, as it is endemic to the area." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The coronavirus has proven to be a tough virus to fight, not just because of how easily it spreads, but how it attacks the body. A New York emergency room doctor explained part of why its been so devastating to the United States medical system, and in turn to patients, in a New York Times op-ed piece. A major reason this pandemic is straining our health system is the alarming severity of lung injury patients have when they arrive in emergency rooms, wrote Dr. Richard Levitan. Covid-19 overwhelmingly kills through the lungs. And because so many patients are not going to the hospital until their pneumonia is already well advanced, many wind up on ventilators, causing shortages of the machines. And once on ventilators, many die. According to Dr. Levitan, the Covid pneumonia begins before people realize how bad it is. Even asymptomatic people have shown signs of it. According to Dr. Dan Kuritzkes, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Brigham and Womens Hospital, this has led to two different treatment approaches. There are drugs that directly attack the virus, Dr. Kuritzkes told MassLive. I would say there are about half a dozen of those types of drugs that are either in trial now or are about to enter trial. This approach is direct; essentially its a search for an antidote. Then there are drugs that are attempting to quiet down the immune response, Dr. Kuritzkes said. Dealing more directly with what we believe is the mechanism of lung injury after the viral infection is beginning to resolve, but people continue to get sick or get sicker because of the so-called cytokine storm or cytokine release syndrome. The cytokine storm is a process where the body floods the bloodstream with too much of what is normally a good thing. Your body uses cytokines to fight infections, but too much can lead to inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis or Covid pneumonia. It kills cells. Almost all the drugs in that second category are already approved drugs that are used to manage similar situations in patients receiving certain kinds of cancer chemotherapy, or are used to treat a variety of immune disorders or inflammatory disorders, Dr. Kuritzkes said. Those are really all being re-purposed and trials are starting for a large number of those. This is why hydroxychloroquine was so heavily touted right away, and why rheumatoid arthritis sufferers were among those afraid of a run on the drug. It, like others, attempts to stop the bodys cytokine storm, thus preventing or alleviating the pneumonia that has proven to be the biggest COVID-19 issue. Another drug currently in a phase 3 clinical trial is Tocilizumab, another rheumatoid arthritis drug. It blocks an inflammatory protein that relieves joint pain, but may also help treat the pneumonia in COVID-19 patients. Recently, news leaked about another promising drug, remdesivir. The drug is in three clinical trials in the United States. One involves determining short-term versus long-term treatments, and some of the apparent results of that were leaked last week. Most of the 125 patients at a Chicago hospital, all of whom were suffering advanced symptoms, who received the treatment recovered within a week. Remdesivir is an anti-viral drug and it attacks the coronavirus by getting it to stop replicating. Brigham and Womens is participating in two remdesivir studies in patients with more moderate symptoms. Dr. Kuritzkes says the drug has shown potency in a laboratory but when it was tested for its original purpose, to fight ebola, it didnt fare very well. However, it seems to be more promising in this case. When tested in a monkey against MERS, which is the Middle East respiratory syndrome due to a different coronavirus, it showed the drug could protect uninfected monkeys from becoming infected and reduce the amount of virus in monkeys that were infected, he said. In a mouse model it protected against lung injury. A drug similar to remdesivir is also entering clinical trials. Favipiravir is used to fight novel influenza strains in Japan, and is in the same class as remdesivir. These drugs attack enzymes the virus needs to replicate itself. The encouraging results of some of these trials could lead to some significant progress should they continue. Dr. Kuritzkes sees a best-case scenario that could put a treatment in the FDAs hands sometime in May. If the results are that good, they could quickly approve the drug, which would then put pressure on the manufacturer to quickly make and distribute it. We saw this a little bit when the protease inhibitors came out for HIV, he said. The studies were hugely effective. They were stopped early by safety monitoring committees because they were so effective. The FDA reviewed and approved the drugs within a month of the studies being completed and then there was a huge backlog in trying to get enough drug out to all the people who needed it. Its a complicated issue. Related Content: The latest: With a handful of states reopening parts of their economies, a coronavirus model routinely cited by the White House warns that no state should be opening before May 1. South Carolina and Georgia, which are leading the pack to get their economic engines humming again this week, should not open until June 5 and June 19, respectively, according to the model maintained by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. It was updated Tuesday. Montana has the best forecast at May 1, while the only other states that should open by May 10, the model says, are Alaska, Hawaii, North Carolina, Vermont and West Virginia. North Carolina is the only of the six states with more than 1,000 cases, as of Wednesday afternoon. About half the states in the country should remain closed until May 25 or later, with Arizona (June 23), South Dakota (June 25), Iowa (June 26), Nebraska (June 30) and North Dakota (July 12) rounding out the bottom of the list. The reopening dates are based on an assumption that states will have other measures in place aggressive testing, contact tracing, isolation, limits on the size of gatherings to prevent a resurgence of the virus. The IHME model relies on a conservative threshold of one infection per 1 million people, which is the level of infection each state could conceivably manage using containment strategies, such as widespread testing, contact tracing and isolation of new cases, according to an explanation of the model. While the model has been influential, it is one of many, and the IHME has warned against relying too heavily on its projections. "If I were a governor of a state, I would certainly not make a decision based just on our model," IHME Director Dr. Christopher Murray said in a virtual news briefing last week. Another IHME model offered more grim news, as the projected U.S. death toll by August jumped 10%, to 66,000. The change came as states began updating their death tallies, adding residents of nursing homes whom officials are now counting as presumptive positives, Murray said Tuesday. Few Americans support easing virus protections Americans remain overwhelmingly in favor of stay-at-home orders and other efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus, a new survey finds, even as small pockets of attention-grabbing protests demanding the lifting of such restrictions emerge nationwide. The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that a majority of Americans 56% say conditions are unlikely to be safe in a few weeks to start lifting the current restrictions. Meanwhile, 16% think its very or extremely likely that their areas will be safe enough in a few weeks for the restrictions to be lifted. While 27% think its somewhat likely. If we try too hard to restart the economy prematurely, there will be waves of reinfection, said 70-year-old retired medical equipment salesman Goble Floyd, of Bonita Springs, Florida. I dont think the economy or life will get back to normal until theres a vaccine. It just seems this is so seriously contagious. Two Californians died of coronavirus weeks before previously known 1st US death New autopsy results show the coronavirus killed two Californians in early and mid-February up to three weeks before the previously known first U.S. death from the virus. These deaths now stand as the country's first two attributed to the novel coronavirus, a development that may change the understanding of how early the virus was spreading in the country, health experts told CNN Wednesday. Two deaths in Northern California's Santa Clara County happened Feb. 6 and Feb. 17, the county said in a news release Tuesday. The two people died at home. The previously understood first coronavirus death happened in Kirkland, Washington, on Feb. 29. Samples from the two individuals were sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, county health officials said in a statement. On Tuesday, health officials received confirmation from the CDC that both samples were positive for COVID-19. The Santa Clara County medical examiner also identified another person who died of COVID-19 on March 6. That was before a virus-related death on March 9, which was initially thought to be the first COVID-19 death in the county. California town one of the first to try to test all its residents To safely move forward, experts have long emphasized the country should be able to track, trace and isolate cases. Bolinas, a remote Northern California community, may be one of the first in the world to attempt to test all of its residents for the virus and for the antibodies that may make people immune. Less than 2,000 people live in the town and in the first two days of testing, more than 700 residents showed up. The community-wide free testing is voluntary and part of a new study launched by the University of California, San Francisco, that's attempting to get a more complete understanding of how the virus is invisibly spreading. That unseen spread is something health officials all over the state are trying to tackle, now recommending coronavirus testing for asymptomatic people who live or work in high-risk environments such as nursing homes or hospitals. The new guidelines, from the state's department of health, were announced in an April 19 memo and make California the first state in the nation to broaden its guidelines for testing to include those without symptoms, state health officials told CNN. According to a spokesperson from the department, the previous guidance from the CDC was to test high-risk patients with symptoms and healthcare workers with symptoms. Meanwhile, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday the state is currently averaging 14,500 coronavirus tests a day. That number, he said, "is still inadequate" and the state has a long way to go before attempting to reopen. The US has so far conducted 4 million tests In two different plans for reopening society, economists and public health experts have said millions of tests should be conducted each week before restrictions can be lifted. One report estimates 3 to 30 million tests should be conducted weekly, while the other says the U.S. should be conducting 20 million tests each day to get a handle on the pandemic. So far, the country has performed about 4 million tests. And while federal officials tout the country has testing capacity, some state leaders including Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker have reported that while they may have the necessary machines, they're lacking the materials and staff to run them. A new test that was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration may mean Americans can mail in their results. The test would allow patients to collect their samples using an at-home test kit and then mail it into the lab for testing, the FDA said Tuesday. That test could be available in most states to consumers who have a doctor's order within the coming weeks, the agency said. "Throughout this pandemic, we have been facilitating test development to ensure patients access to accurate diagnostics, which includes supporting the development of reliable and accurate at-home sample collection options," FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said in the agency's announcement. The news comes as an announcement from another company warned of possibly misleading results. Abbott Laboratories, the maker of a rapid coronavirus test that's been widely used across the country and distributed by the federal government, warned its device can produce false negatives if a certain solution is used to move or store the patients' samples. The company told health care workers not to use "viral transport media" solutions on its device and instead said customers should only place swabs with patients' samples directly in the device. States are grappling with how to move forward Despite the questions surrounding tests, many U.S. governors have turned their attention to reopening their economies. Last week, the federal government said in order to launch the first of three phases of reopening, states should wait to see a 14-day decline in cases. South Carolina and Georgia have hit neither milestone but announced they'll be easing restrictions. Atlanta is exploring whether the city has legal grounds for putting different orders in place than what Kemp has announced, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms told CNN on Tuesday. "I am at a loss as to what the governor is basing this decision on," she said. In Boston, officials have plenty of work to do to contain the virus, Mayor Marty Walsh told CNN, and it's "pretty scary" to think some states are considering reopening. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced certain stores are allowed to open at 20% capacity, and beaches can reopen, too, but schools will remain closed for the rest of the school year. In Tennessee, Gov. Bill Lee announced most businesses across the state will be able to reopen May 1, once the state's stay-at-home order has expired but hinted some may be able to open sooner. "It would mean the world to me if you would support Claire's Place Foundation, they need our support now more than ever. Every dollar goes to support people living with CF," said Filmmaker and Actor Justin Baldoni. Claires Place Foundation, a non-profit organization providing support to children and families affected by cystic fibrosis (CF), has received an overwhelming number of financial requests from people living with CF since launching their COVID-19 Emergency Fund in late March. The fund provides immediate assistance to individuals with CF and their families with grocery cards, supplies and access to medications during the COVID-19 crisis. Currently, we have run out of funds and have a rapidly growing waiting list of applicants from families affected by CF, said Claires Place Foundation Executive Director Melissa Yeager. The CF community is the most vulnerable to COVID-19, it is likely a death sentence. Thus, as soon as COVID-19 landed in the U.S., long before government stay at home orders, the CF community had to quarantine themselves, resulting in loss of jobs for hundreds of families. In less than a month we have helped almost 300 individuals, giving $10,400 for daily essential needs. It breaks my heart that we no longer have funds to give. In this desperate time, we are looking for corporate donors to be our angels, to nourish and assist this often overlooked community. I'm grateful that Claire's Place Foundation has put forth such an effort to help our families during the COVID-19 pandemic, said PJ Alexander, LCSW, CCTP, BCD Mental Health Coordinator, Social Worker at East Tennessee Children's Hospital. Several of the families that we serve had nowhere else to go. Parents have lost jobs which has limited the financial ability to purchase everything from cereal to copayments for medications. The Claires Place COVID-19 Emergency Fund gave families, who are navigating these uncertain times with few resources, financial help to purchase essential items like groceries. Claire's Place does more than provide financial support, they restore hope to our CF patients and families. Thank you!! Many individuals living with CF have been forced to quarantine for the majority of their lives due to common bacteria and viruses. Now, COVID-19 has left them with no options, and many with no work to pay medical bills and they are forced to be completely isolated, said Filmmaker and Actor Justin Baldoni. When many of us will be given the green light to go back out, many with CF will have to take extra precautions or stay in until there is a cure. It would mean the world to me if you would support Claire's Place Foundation, they need our support now more than ever. Every dollar goes to support people living with CF. To donate to the Claires Place Foundation COVID-19 Emergency Fund please visit clairesplacec-19fund.funraise.org to help manage this current hardship. 100% of donations go directly to the fund. About Claires Place Foundation, Inc. Claires Place Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization providing support to children and families affected by cystic fibrosis (CF). Claires Place Foundation is named in honor of Claire Wineland who lived with CF her entire life and passed away at the age of 21. Claire was an activist, author, TEDx Speaker, social media star and received numerous awards. Claires foundation was a way for her to assure that others living with CF enjoyed the same hope, strength and joy that she enjoyed. Recipient of Los Angeles Business Journals Small Nonprofit of the Year, the foundation provides grants to families affected by CF, offering both emotional and financial support. Today, Claires Place Foundation continues to carry on Claires legacy. For more information and make a donation, please visit http://www.claire's place foundation.org. Students who disagree with their predicted A-Level and GCSE grades may not be able to sit exams in the autumn to try and amend them, it has been reported. Due to the coronavirus lockdown, exams regulator Ofqual has instructed teachers to provide grades for students which reflect the results they would have been most likely to achieve if their summer exams had gone ahead. The watchdog had insisted should they been unhappy with their grades, then students 'will also have the opportunity to sit an exam in the autumn'. It has now emerged however that major UK exam boards are not able to confirm whether they will be running a full complement of exams in the autumn for students to sit should they wish to dispute their predicted grade. Due to the coronavirus lockdown, exams regulator Ofqual has instructed teachers to provide grades for students which reflect the results they would have been most likely to achieve if their summer exams had gone ahead (stock image) When contacted by Tes - a UK publication aimed at education professionals - AQA AQA confirmed they would be looking at the consultation and responding to Ofqual, and Pearson Edexcel referred it to Ofqual for information on the consultation. An OCR spokesman told the publication it 'intends to consult on proposals relating to the autumn series in due course'. He added: 'We want to help our students to progress with grades they can be proud of. We are giving careful consideration to all aspects of our response to the cancellation of this summer's exams, including the composition of the autumn series. 'Ofqual intends to consult on proposals related to the autumn series in due course, and we will provide our schools and colleges with more information as soon as we are able.' Should a full complement of exams not go ahead on the autumn, it could put A-Level students' university places in jeopardy. Those who miss out may have to take a gap year, taking the exams next summer instead. Ofqual said: 'If exam boards decide not to make exams available in the autumn for particular qualifications then any students who consider that the results issued this summer do not reflect how they would have performed in an exam in that qualification will be unable to take such an exam until summer 2021.' Despite Ofqual's initial suggestion of autumn exams however, the regulator has now revealed 'a number of risks associated with compelling exam boards to make qualifications available in all subjects'. It said - in a document outlining how exams should be handled in 2020 - that among the risks for autumn exams were 'the costs for exam boards of providing exams for which there are very small numbers of entries'. It added: 'We are mindful that the autumn series will likely take place during the first term for a new cohort of students who might have been away from school for a prolonged period when teaching resources will be stretched. 'In these circumstances it might be beneficial to the system as a whole to allow exam boards to reduce the number of exams taking place, and the consequent impact on teachers who are also assessors, even if this does detrimentally affect some students.' The watchdog noted the impact of not allowing exams to go ahead in Autumn. It said: 'We recognise that this would undermine the value of the autumn series in mitigating any unfairness which students and centres might consider arises from our proposals in respect of calculated grades and appeals. 'The autumn series will only provide an opportunity for students to demonstrate their abilities in an exam to the extent that exam boards decide to make those exams available.' It has left the decision to hold a full complement of exams down to individual boards. 'Unless we decide otherwise, the default position will be that exam boards will decide which exams to make available to students in the autumn series,' it said. Geoff Barton, the Association of School and College Leaders general secretary, told Tes that he would like to see at least 'an autumn series in GCSE English and Maths, and in A-level subjects'. While Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU teaching union, said it was too early for Ofqual to make any firm promises on Autumn exams. An Ofqual spokesperson said: 'There are a number of considerations relating to the autumn series where we will set out further proposals for consultation as soon as we reasonably can. 'These areas include whether we should require exam boards to make exams available in an autumn series, rather than permit them to do so.' No appeals over exam grades this year, pupils are warned Pupils who should have been sitting GCSEs and A-levels this summer will not be able to challenge the grades their teachers give them, proposals released last week reveal. They will have no way of appealing the 'professional judgment' of their teachers as it would be 'inappropriate, ineffective and unfair', Ofqual said in a consultation document. Their only option if they feel they were unfairly graded will be to sit a fresh exam in the autumn. Appeals will only be allowed to be made by schools on technical grounds, the exams regulator said. The news is likely to exacerbate concerns about the accuracy of teacher assessment and whether pupils such as those with behavioural problems could be unfairly treated. An analysis of nearly 20,000 predicted grades across 22 subjects last year found that only 40 per cent of teachers' estimates turned out to be accurate. Of the 60 per cent that were wrong, 31 per cent were too generous and 29 per cent too negative. The document acknowledged the system could be open to abuse. Earlier this month, Ofqual said teachers will need to decide what grades the 1.3million pupils whose GCSE and A-level exams have been cancelled due to coronavirus 'were most likely to get if teaching, learning and exams had happened as planned'. But they will not have to submit any evidence to show how they reached their decisions. Before the grades are confirmed, exam boards will run a 'standardisation' process to root out teachers trying to 'game' the system by inflating results, or those that are overly harsh. When allotting grades, teachers will be expected to form a 'holistic' view, even taking into account complex factors like pupils who may be 'crammers' and excel at the last minute. The consultation is open until Wednesday April 29. Advertisement On top of possibly not being able to sit their exams in Autumn, pupils who should have been sitting GCSEs and A-levels this summer will not be able to challenge the grades their teachers give them, proposals last week revealed. They will have no way of appealing the 'professional judgment' of their teachers as it would be 'inappropriate, ineffective and unfair', Ofqual said in a consultation document. Schools and colleges have been told to rank pupils within each grade for each subject but not to share these with families until final results are issued. School Standards Minister Nick Gibb said: 'I am pleased to confirm that GCSE and A-level students will still receive their exam results as planned this summer, on Thursday August 20 and Thursday August 13 respectively. 'I want to thank all those who are helping to make this happen despite the challenges we are facing. 'We know that this is an important milestone for students, parents and teachers and so I hope this news will provide them with some reassurance and clarity.' Schools in England closed more than three weeks ago to the majority of pupils, apart from the children of key workers and vulnerable youngsters, due to the coronavirus outbreak. On Wednesday, Ofqual launched a two-week consultation on its plans for awarding grades to GCSE and A-level students amid the pandemic. The regulator had previously said only Year 11 pupils would be awarded GCSE grades, but now it is considering issuing grades to those in Year 10 and below after concerns were raised by parents. Ofqual is also proposing that appeals should only be allowed if a school or college made a data error when submitting information to the exam board, or if the exam board made a mistake when calculating, assigning or communicating a grade. The watchdog said: 'We do not believe it would be meaningful or appropriate for students to appeal on the basis of their centre's judgment of their likely performance in the exams, had they gone ahead, or on their position in the centre's rank order.' It comes as the Government last week confirmed students will receive their GCSE and A-level grades on the pre-planned results days in August after exams were cancelled amid the Covid-19 pandemic. A-level pupils will get their results on August 13 and GCSE students will be given their grades on August 20, the Department for Education (DfE) said. It comes after exams regulator Ofqual said the results would be released no later than originally planned and suggested they could be made available sooner. The Government originally said it was aiming for grades to be awarded to pupils by the end of July. Vietnam required to wait in line for desired MSCI market status - illustration photo American finance giant MSCI announced postponement of reclassification of the MSCI Kuwait Indexes until the SemiAnnual Index Review at the end of the year, instead of next month as initially planned. The delay is bad news for Vietnam because when Kuwait gets an official upgrade to emerging market status, Vietnam could benefit from a larger inflow of foreign capital that targets frontier markets as the largest constituent on the list. After the Kuwait reclassification, Vietnams weights could be increased in the MSCI Frontier Market Index and MSCI Frontier Market 100 Index to 25.2 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively, from 15.4 and 11.1 per cent now, according to Viet Dragon Securities Company. In the notification, MSCI emphasised that MSCI Kuwait Indexes continued to meet all the requirements for upgrading to Emerging Markets. The decision comes as international institutional investors have informed that they experienced difficulties in the process of opening accounts required to trade Kuwaiti stocks as a result of COVID-19 preventive measures. The postponement has spillover effects for Vietnam. Waiting until November seems like a bitter pill to swallow, as Vietnam was poised to become the largest part of the MSCI Frontier Markets Index next month. Last year, one of the significant events Vietnam was hoping to occur last June unfortunately did not transpire being upgraded on the MSCI watchlist for emerging markets. Some analysts warned that the country is unlikely to be shortlisted for a possible lift to an emerging market in 2020 despite satisfying all quantitative requirements for inclusion. Based on the MSCI guide, Vietnam falls short on qualitative measures. Hinh Dinh, senior analyst at VNDIRECT, cited lack of information disclosure in English; limited openness of the market to foreign investors and equal treatment in foreign ownership limitations; lack of an offshore currency market making it difficult for foreign investors to convert holdings from the dong; lack of an independent securities clearing centre; and other criteria for trading, securities transfer, and derivative products. Vietnams stock market needs at least one year before being included in the shortlist, and another one to two years to be officially upgraded to emerging market status, added Dinh. On the other hand, efforts to contain the virus have pushed global markets into further losses. Financiers around the globe have trimmed their appetite to risky assets, triggering the outflow from funds tracking the MSCI Frontier Markets Index. The current turmoil has cast a new light on the allocation strategies as frenetic swings whipsawed the markets. Data reveals the total net asset value of those funds tracking the MSCI frontier and emerging indexes reached $1.915 trillion as of April 9, down 37 per cent since December. Looking on the bright side, if Kuwait makes it into the upgrading list, the Vietnamese bourse may lure an estimated total of $120 million from funds trading in the MSCI Frontier Emerging and MSCI Frontier Markets 100 indexes, given net asset value of those funds remain stable at the current level. Optimists believed that blue-chips, especially those on MSCI indexes, would have foreign investors cash firmly in their pockets in the coming time. These include large-caps such as Vingroup (VIC), Vinamilk (VNM), Vinhomes (VHM), Hoa Phat Group (HPG), Vietcombank (VCB), and Masan (MSN). If Vietnam rectifies the discrepancies in their laws regarding investments and securities with the trade agreements of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, and the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement, they will have a greater chance at making the MSCI watchlist upgrade for 2020, said Oliver Massmann, general director at law firm Duane Morris LLC Vietnam. It is estimated Vietnam could receive up to $10 billion worth of foreign capital in frontier market-focused funds, but could receive much more from emerging market-focused funds. (Natural News) Even as scientists uncover more about COVID-19, they remain uncertain about whether patients whove recovered from the disease gain immunity from it. A number of conflicting reports and studies on the subject have come out, prompting experts to call for more study into the matter. For RNA-based viruses such as the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes COVID-19, it usually takes three weeks to build up sufficient antibodies to provide protection from the disease. However, so little is known about this coronavirus at the moment that virologists and epidemiologists are unable to say if this is actually the case for it. We do not have the answers to that its an unknown, answered Michael Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organizations (WHO) Emergencies Programme, when asked how long a recovered COVID-19 patient would have immunity during a press conference this week. We would expect that to be a reasonable period of protection, but it is very difficult to say with a new virus we can only extrapolate from other coronaviruses, and even that data is quite limited, he explained further. Conflicting reports, inaccurate testing A recent study from China reported that rhesus monkeys that been infected with COVID-19 did not get reinfected after they had recovered from it. This study led some to believe that recovered patients gained immunity. However, not everyone was convinced by the study. However, this is contradicted by reports of actual patients getting reinfected with it. In South Korea one of the first countries to implement mass testing for the virus health officials found that some patients who had recovered from COVID-19 tested positive for it again. Despite these reports, scientists still caution against jumping to the conclusion that recovered patients can get reinfected. Francois Balloux, director of the Genetics Institute at University College London, told Agence France-Presse that the virus may not have been fully cleared out of these patients systems. Instead, Balloux theorizes that the virus remained dormant and asymptomatic in the patients, as a chronic infection. Complicating matters is that testing for the virus has yet been perfected. These imperfect tests could lead to false negatives, where they say that patients are free of the virus even though its still present in their bodies. Its these false negatives that are suspected in the cases of recovered patients being reinfected. That suggests that people remain infected for a long time several weeks, added Balloux. That is not ideal. Antibody response needs further study Another pre-publication study of 175 recovered patients in Shanghai showed that each had different levels of virus-fighting antibodies 10 to 15 days after the onset of symptoms. The researchers found that about a third of the patients had antibody levels that might be too low to provide immunity. The team also found that patients aged 60 to 85 had more than three times the antibodies as those aged 15 to 39. However, some doubt has been cast on the Shanghai study. Maria Van Kerhove, Technical Lead of the WHO Emergencies Programme, stated that whether the antibody response detected in the study means those patients had immunity was a separate question. Thats something we really need to better understand, she said. What does that antibody response look like in terms of immunity. Even if antibodies can provide some degree of immunity, scientists still dont have enough data to accurately say what kind of antibody response provides immunity. This raises concerns about false positives caused by tests detecting antibodies unrelated to COVID-19. Such false positives could end up mistakenly identifying someone as immune to the virus, even though theyre not. This threat of false positives calls into doubts the idea being floated by some countries, of testing people for immunity so they can go back to work. Its too premature at this point, said Saad Omer, a professor of infectious diseases at the Yale School of Medicine. We should be able to get clearer data very quickly in a couple of months when there will be reliable antibody tests with sensitivity and specificity. Sources include: AFP.com Mirror.co.uk SCMP.com 1 SCMP.com 2 Domestic COVID-19 cases exceed imported ones Global Times By Liu Caiyu and Zhang Hui Source:Global Times Published: 2020/4/21 22:28:40 Scholars warn of virus mutation, silent carriers may cause second wave Clustered coronavirus infections in Harbin, Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province have further expanded and resulted in Tuesday's reporting of more new domestic infections than imported ones for the first time in six weeks. Epidemiologists and biomedical scientists reached by the Global Times noted that considering the outbreak has spread across provincial boundaries, large-scale contact tracing and rapid quarantine are urgent to prevent the infections from developing further or even causing a broad second wave. The Chinese mainland reported four imported cases and seven newly confirmed domestic ones in the 24 hours of Monday - the first time since March 12 that daily new domestic infections outnumbered imported cases. Six of the seven domestic cases were from Harbin, which now has 45 confirmed patients and 23 asymptomatic patients. A Chinese national surnamed Han who returned from the US started the chain of infection by passing the virus on to her neighbor while Han herself showed no symptoms. The neighbor's family then held a gathering and one of the attendees went to a hospital after suffering a stroke, leading to clustered infections at two hospitals. The infection chain has now extended to people in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Northeast China's Liaoning Province, who had been to the two hospitals. More than 70 people on the chain have contracted the coronavirus. Such an extra-long infection chain means the virus could have mutated to be more infectious, Zeng Guang, chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told the Global Times on Tuesday. Jin Dongyan, a professor at School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Hong Kong, told the Global Times that the Harbin clusters indicate that some asymptomatic carriers could be highly infectious, but so far there is no evidence that the coronavirus has mutated. Jin noted that silent carriers may become a big challenge for China's COVID-19 control work, and called for an epidemiological investigation to determine the exact proportion of asymptomatic carriers as well as their infectivity. It's possible that more cases like the Harbin one will occur in China and eventually cause a second wave of the epidemic in the country, Jin said. In response, Heilongjiang and nearby provincial regions are conducting a large-scale contact tracing drive to minimize the impact of the infection chain. At least 4,106 people were on the screening list of the two Harbin hospitals. Analysts underlined the importance of identifying close contacts and high-risk people, an effort that requires trans-regional coordination. As for recent cases involving patients who tested positive after finishing their quarantine periods, Jin said that this did not mean the incubation period of the virus was prolonged, as cases with incubation periods longer than 14 days are still very rare. Amid mounting public concern over the Harbin clustered infections, the local CDC released Han's recent activity routes. Han returned on March 19 and finished home quarantine on April 3 with negative nucleic acid and antibody tests. Han had been hanging out and even made a trip to Shanghai before her neighbor was confirmed to be a silent carrier, diverting attention back to Han. Han flew to Shanghai on April 5 for surgery and stayed in the clinic and a hotel for three days, Shanghai government said after contact tracing. Han took five tests in total, all negative. But Harbin health authorities later confirmed she had been infected with the COVID-19. China has 1,003 active COVID-19 cases as of Monday midnight, with 811 imported infections, or 81 percent of all. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The empty interior of the Cathedral of Saints Rupert and Vergilius in Salzburg, Austria Following the Austrian government's announcement of plans to relax its coronavirus lockdown, churches in the country prepare to reopen from the middle of next month. By Fr. Benedict Mayaki, SJ Austria will further loosen its precautionary lockdown measures to allow churches to reopen in the country as of 15 May. The Secretary-General of the Austrian Catholic Bishops Conference, Fr. Peter Schipka confirmed the news, following an announcement by Austrian Prime Minister, Sebastian Kurz. The Prime Minister said Tuesday that restaurants, churches and some schools can reopen from the middle of next month. Welcome reopening Austrias Bishops have already begun working on plans to organize the reopening. They have entered into talks with the government, even though specific details are still to be defined. Prime Minister Kurz specified that reopening will be a step-by-step process which will involve increasing the number of coronavirus tests in the country. He also insisted on the importance of full compliance with the prescribed rules for public safety. First and foremost, safe distance, he said. Responding to the news, Cardinal Christoph Schonborn, the President of the Austrian Bishops Conference, tweeted on Tuesday: We will soon be able to celebrate the Eucharist together with great joy and responsibility. Coronavirus in Austria Austria was one of the first European countries to adopt lockdown measures. After its first two confirmed Covid-19 cases in February, Austrians were asked to stay home from 16 March. As of Wednesday, the country has reported 14,925 confirmed cases, with 510 deaths and 11,328 recovered patients. Austrian Government officials have waived their stipends for one month and sub-secretaries have donated their salaries to charity to support efforts against the spread of Covid-19. On 23 April, the Minister for Integration, Susanne Raab, will share further details of Austrias plans for resuming public services in consultation with religious communities. A Rapid City man is accused of brandishing a knife and assaulting the Whitewood police officer who shot him at a gas station earlier this month. Jaris Kroetch, 41, was charged April 10 the same day as the shooting by Whitewood Police Chief Paul Witcraft with resisting arrest, possessing drug paraphernalia and simple assault against a law enforcement officer. The Lawrence County States Attorney Office then charged Kroetch on April 17 with resisting arrest. Witcraft and officer Kannesha Nept witnessed Kroetch allegedly resisting arrest, according to the charging document. Witcraft also told the Journal that Kroetch brandished a knife, but investigators are still looking into whether he approached the officer with the weapon. States Attorney John Fitzgerald shared all public records related to Kroetchs charges with the Journal. He said his office may file more charges once it receives the report from the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigations, which is investigating the shooting along with the Highway Patrol and the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office. The DCI will publicly release a report on the details of the incident and whether the attorney general finds the shooting was justified or not around May 10. Im still waiting for reports due to the serious nature of the action, Fitzgerald said. Other action could be taken. Kroetch was treated and released at Monument Health in Rapid City for serious but non-life threatening injuries he sustained from the shooting, Witcraft said. He remains out of jail on a personal recognizance bond and has an initial appearance scheduled for June 8, records show. Kroetch was previously convicted in Pennington County of simple assault against a law enforcement officer in 2012 and 2014, records show. He was also convicted of aggravated eluding in 2012. Kroetch's lawyer said he can't comment on his pending charges. Witcraft said he's not releasing the officer's name since she's considered a victim under Marsy's Law. Other South Dakota officers who used lethal force after allegedly being attacked have invoked the victims rights law as well. The affidavit What follows is alleged in a probable cause affidavit for arrest by Whitewood police officer Joshua Bach: Bach said he watched surveillance footage from the gas station and video from the patrol vehicle and body camera of the officer who shot Kroetch. Staff at the Sonset Station at 1322 Laurel Street called 911 around 11:15 a.m. on April 10 to report that a man was acting erratically by yelling at people entering and exiting the gas station. An officer arrived, had Kroetch perform field sobriety tests and then attempted to arrest him. Video shows Kroetch slapping the handcuffs out of the officers hands and running away. Surveillance from the gas station then shows the officer using a stun gun on him. Kroetch was described as throwing the Whitewood police officer over his shoulders as he recovered from the Taser cycle, Bach wrote. The officer was described as directing (Kroetch) to the ground at gunpoint. Kroetch was then described as fleeing to his car. Officers requested a search warrant for Kroetchs vehicle and DCI agents found marijuana paraphernalia inside, the affidavit says. Bach arrested Kroetch at 6 p.m. that day. The affidavit does not describe the shooting nor mention any knife. But Witcraft told the Journal that once Kroetch went inside his car, he brandished a knife. Witcraft said the officer then shot Kroetch, hitting him in the right thigh. He received first aid and another officer arrived to apply a tourniquet. The officer was scraped up and bruised but otherwise OK, Witcraft said. He said the DCI will investigate whether Kroetch only brandished the knife or if he approached the officer with it as well. Eyewitness account Roger Albright, a 65-year-old from Whitewood, was checking out of a convenience store across the street from Sonset Station on the April 10 when the cashier pointed to a police car arriving at the scene. Albright, who spoke with the Journal on Wednesday morning, said he sat down at a bench across from Sonset Station where he watched what happened. Albright said he saw the officer giving Kroetch a sobriety test and when he was ordered to stand on one leg he started to "wobble." The officer began to handcuff Kroetch but he "put up a fuss about it" and ran away. Kroetch ran to his car and then between the gas pumps, Albright said. The officer used her stun gun on Kroetch and again tried to handcuff him. But they "scuffled," the officer ended up on the ground, and Kroetch pulled off the Taser barbs before running away again. Kroetch grabbed two windshield cleaners from the water buckets they sit in and started swinging them around, Albright said. The officer tried to grab them but Kroetch ran to the driver's seat of his car. Albright said he was facing the passenger side of the car so he couldn't see what happened from this point on. But he said he heard the officer ordering Kroetch out of the vehicle and then "all of a sudden I heard one shot." Albright said an ambulance, sheriff's deputies, state troopers and Whitewood officers arrived and he was interviewed by an investigator about what he witnesses. Contact Arielle Zionts at arielle.zionts@rapidcityjournal.com. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 4 Sad 0 Angry 0 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 20:47:58|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KUWAIT CITY, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Kuwait on Wednesday reported 168 new cases of COVID-19 and two more deaths, bringing the total infections to 2,248 and death toll to 13, the Health Ministry said in a statement. Among the new cases are six Kuwaiti citizens who returned from the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, the statement said. A total of 145 cases were those who had contact with infected patients, it said, adding that the cause of the infection for the other 17 is still under investigation. The new death cases are two Indian residents who were in ICU, it added. So far, 1,792 patients are receiving treatment, including 50 in ICU, according to the statement. Meanwhile, Kuwaiti Minister of Health Bassel Al-Sabah announced the recovery of 31 patients from the coronavirus, raising the total number of recoveries in the country to 443. On April 4, Kuwait reported the first death case of COVID-19. The Kuwaiti government has imposed a nationwide curfew to contain the spread of the coronavirus. On March 13, Kuwait suspended all commercial flights. The government also closed stores, malls and barbershops as precautionary measures to curb the virus' spread. Enditem S tephen Hawkings ventilator has been donated to the NHS to help treat coronavirus patients at a hospital in Cambridge. The physicist's equipment will be given to the Royal Papworth Hospital after he died in 2018 aged 76. His family said they want to give back to the NHS in return for the "brilliant, dedicated and compassionate" medical care Professor Hawking received while living with motor neurone disease. The news comes amid pressure on the Government to acquire more ventilators to treat seriously ill Covid-19 patients. Professor Hawking's daughter Lucy said: Our father received brilliant, dedicated and compassionate medical care from both Royal Papworth and Addenbrookes Hospitals in Cambridge. As a ventilated patient, Royal Papworth was incredibly important to my father and helped him through some very difficult times. We realised that it would be at the forefront of the Covid-19 epidemic and got in touch with some of our old friends there to ask if we could help." Ms Hawkins said that, after her father died, the family returned all the medical equipment that belonged to the NHS but they still had some items he bought for himself. Loading.... We are now passing them to the NHS in the hope they will help in the fight against Covid-19," she added. As a family, the NHS has always played a huge part in our lives. We are fully aware of the dedication and commitment of NHS staff to helping people in need. At this time, we would ask that everyone supports NHS staff in every way possible. We would urge people to take social distancing seriously. We all need to do our bit, whatever that may be. The Royal Papworth Hospital has expanded its critical care department to more than double its usual size due to the increasing number of coronavirus admissions. It has received additional supplies of ventilators from the NHS but after a check by the hospitals clinical engineering team has added the ventilator donated by the Hawking family to its fleet. Listen to The Leader: Coronavirus Daily podcast Dr Mike Davies, clinical director for respiratory medicine at Papworth, said: It was lovely to hear from the Hawking family again and we are so grateful for them for donating this equipment. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez delivers a speech during a session at the Lower Chamber of the Spanish Parliament in Madrid on April 22, 2020. (J. J. Guillen/Pool/AFP via Getty Images) Tantrums Over? Spain to Let Children Out, Aims for May Lockdown Ease Relieved Spanish parents welcomed on April 22 a decision allowing children out on short walks for the first time in more than a month as the government contemplated a broader easing of one of the worlds strictest CCP virus lockdowns by late May. With the worlds second most infections at 208,389, and Europes second highest death toll of 21,717, Spains tough restrictions have included a controversial ban on children leaving their homes since mid-March. However, on Tuesday night, the government bowed to public pressure and said those under 14 would be able to take short walks outside under supervision from the weekend. The cabinet had initially said children would only be allowed to accompany parents to buy food or medicine, provoking a social media backlash and pot-banging protests on balconies. Parents welcomed the concession, though it came late for some, stretched to the limit after nearly six weeks cooped up at home. Josep Pons wearing a face mask walks among abandoned roses at his family rose plant nursery Flors Pons in Santa Susanna, near Barcelona, Spain, on April 22, 2020. (David Ramos/Getty Images) The escalation of anxiety, tantrums, irascible behavior have been in crescendo, said Dr. Iban Onandia, 35, a neuropsychologist in the Basque province of Bizkaia, adding that children had paid an indecent price during the lockdown. The truth is that the educational system we have is not up to the job either because theyve left many children to their own devices, including my own, added the father of two children, aged four and two. Ramon Motta, a Madrid-based maitre dhotel with two daughters Carla, 11, and Ariadna, 8, resorted to setting up a tent in their fifth-floor apartment to keep them entertained. We have Disney+, Netflix, and videogames, but you dont want your kids spending five-six-seven hours in front of a screen, yet at the same time theres not much else to do, he said. After such a long time locked in, kids and parents start losing patience pretty quickly. A couple of times Carla went into a tantrum. A volunteer disinfects the streets of the town during the CCP virus pandemic in Zahara de la Sierra, Spain, on April 20, 2020. (Juan Carlos Toro/Getty Images) Tomato-Throwing Fiesta Off As his left-wing coalition marked 100 days in office, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez sought parliamentary approval to prolong a state of emergency until May 9the third such extension. With the epidemic seemingly past its peak, the lockdown could start to be phased out toward the end of May, though measures will be eased gradually, he told lawmakers. We will be going back-and-forth depending on how the pandemic evolves, he said. A sharp slowdown in infections has Spaniards optimistic their nightmare may be easing, and officials are turning their attention to restarting the flagging economy. In one sign of nascent recovery, carmaker Volkswagens Spanish unit SEAT, which employs around 15,000 people, said it plans to resume production from April 27, though with 3,000 CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus tests a week on its workforce to minimize risk. A man takes pictures with a smartphone as revelers throw tomatoes during the Tomatina festival in Bunol, Spain, on Aug. 29, 2018. (Jose Jordan/ AFP via Getty Images) But in the latest blow to Spains vital tourism industry, authorities in the Valencian town of Bunol postponed the 75th annual Tomatina festival, where thousands gather every August to pelt each other with fresh tomatoes. It was the first cancellation since 1957. On Tuesday, the San Fermin bull-running fiesta in Pamplona was also suspended, for the first time in four decades. Spain has been pressing for a stronger European Union-wide economic response, including a 1.5 trillion euro ($1.63 trillion) fund financed by perpetual debt to support the blocs worst-hit members. Sanchez said an initial consensus on the financial response should be reached at a summit on Thursday. By Nathan Allen and Emma Pinedo Epoch Times staff contributed to this report. US Sends Two Warships Into South China Sea as China Surveys Off Malaysia By Drake Long 2020-04-21 -- The United States has sent an amphibious assault ship and a guided missile cruiser to the site of an ongoing survey by a Chinese vessel in Malaysian waters, the U.S. military said Tuesday, signaling Washington's support for other countries in the region as China presses its advantage in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lt. Comm. Nicole Schwegman, spokeswoman for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, confirmed the USS America and USS Bunker Hill have been deployed in the South China Sea. "Through our continued operational presence in the South China Sea, we are working with our allies and partners to promote freedom of navigation and overflight, and the international principles that underpin security and prosperity for the Indo-Pacific," she wrote in an email. "The U.S. supports the efforts of our allies and partners to determine their own economic interests." Schwegman did not state the exact location of the warships but satellite imagery from Tuesday provided by the European Union through the EO Browser service confirms the USS America is less than 60 nautical miles from the West Capella, a Malaysian-contracted oil exploration vessel. In close proximity, there are a combination of Chinese survey vessels, coast guard, and maritime militia ships, according to vessel tracking software. The Chinese survey vessel, named the Hai Yang Di Zhi 8, arrived in Malaysian waters on April 16 and is currently surveying an area within Malaysia's exclusive economic zone, between the West Capella and Malaysia's coast. As of Tuesday morning, the Hai Yang Di Zhi 8 was roughly 180 nautical miles from the Malaysian coast but only 100 nautical miles from the Luconia Shoals, which are claimed by both China and Malaysia in the southernmost part of the South China Sea. On April 17, the Hai Yang Di Zhi 8 was also within 200 nautical miles of Indonesia's Natuna Island. Vessel-tracking software shows that the survey is being conducted in a back-and-forth manner over an area about 150 nautical miles wide, and creeping ever closer to Malaysia's Sarawak state. Malaysia's coast guard last week confirmed that the Chinese survey ship was in Malaysian waters. Zack Cooper, a research fellow at the Washington-based think tank the American Enterprise Institute, said there are numerous possible reasons for the U.S. to have sent warships to the area of the survey ship but it is unlikely Malaysia asked for the U.S. to intervene. "I don't think the United States has any intention to directly engage on behalf of Malaysia, especially because Malaysia may not have asked for assistance and is not a U.S. treaty ally," Cooper explained. "But it is useful for U.S. forces to be there to help monitor Chinese activities and show other claimants that China is not the only outside military capable of operating in the South China Sea." The Commander of the USS America Expeditionary Strike Group said that his forces had interacted with Chinese naval forces in the South China Sea this week. "All our interactions continue to be safe and professional with them," Rear Adm. Fred Kacher told Reuters by phone from the USS America. China has said that the Hai Yang Di Zhi 8 is conducting normal activities and has accused U.S. officials of smearing Beijing. That followed State and Defense Department statements strongly critical of China's recent activities in the South China Sea, particularly the April 2 sinking of a Vietnamese fishing vessel in a confrontation with a China Coast Guard ship. The State Department accused China of exploiting nations' distraction over COVID-19 to expand its "unlawful claims" in the South China Sea. The Hai Yang Di Zhi 8 is currently accompanied by China Coast Guard (CCG) and People's Armed Forces Maritime Militia ships. Two CCG ships, the Zhongguohaijing 4203 and 1105, are sailing alongside the Hai Yang and shadowing supply ships supporting the West Capella, according to vessel-tracking software. Another CCG ship, the Haijing 5203, has been sailing in and around Luconia Shoals since April 1. The apparent standoff near the West Capella occurs as Beijing faces diplomatic pushback from some of its Southeast Asian neighbors against its sweeping assertion of sovereignty across the resource-rich sea. At the weekend, China upped the ante when it announced two new administrative districts for South China Sea and released a new map naming all the islands and reefs it claims in the contested region though Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have sovereignty claims that overlap with China's. In recent weeks the U.S. has in fact withdrawn key assets from the Pacific. The aircraft carrier the USS Theodore Roosevelt had to be pulled out of active deployment on March 26 due to dangerous rates of coronavirus infections among its crew. The U.S. Air Force announced last Friday it would stop deploying strategic bombers to its base on the Pacific island of Guam. But Cooper said the arrival of the USS America and Bunker Hill "serves as a reminder that the U.S. Navy is large and not dependent on one ship to show regional presence." He said the U.S. is using this deployment to remind China and other claimants in the South China Sea that China has no legal basis to economic rights in the area the Hai Yang Di Zhi 8 is operating in. Copyright 1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content April not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address [April 22, 2020] Piper Sandler Expands Public Finance Investment Banking with the Hiring of Mikki Mathews Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE: PIPR), a leading investment bank and institutional securities firm, is pleased to announce the addition of Mikki Mathews to its public finance investment banking team, specializing in municipal financings. Mathews will be based in the firm's new Baton Rouge, Louisiana office, and will work with an existing team of public finance bankers in Memphis to build the firm's presence in the area. Prior to joining the firm, Mathews was a vice president in commercial banking at J.P. Morgan. While in commercial banking, Mathews worked with government clients and managed diverse facets of the relationship including cash management, purchasing government backed securities, and debt financing through bank direct purchases. "We are excited to welcome Mikki to the team.With over 10 years of experience, she brings specialized industry knowledge and deep relationships that will complement our existing team and benefit the municipal issuers in the state of Louisiana," said Jere McGuffee, managing director, public finance investment banking at Piper Sandler. Mathews earned a bachelor's degree in finance from Southern University and A&M College. ABOUT PIPER SANDLER Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE: PIPR) is a leading investment bank and institutional securities firm driven to help clients Realize the Power of Partnership. Securities brokerage and investment banking services are offered in the U.S. through Piper Sandler & Co., member SIPC and NYSE; in Europe through Piper Sandler Ltd., authorized and regulated by the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority; and in Hong Kong through Piper Sandler Hong Kong Limited, authorized and regulated by the Securities and Futures Commission. Asset management products and services are offered through separate investment advisory affiliates. 2020. Since 1895. Piper Sandler Companies. 800 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402-7036 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005163/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Daily I watch the antics of Donald Trump as he bobs and weaves his way through his handling of the coronavirus crisis. His latest Tweet, LIBERATE MICHIGAN is designed to foment his supporters to push Governor Whitmer to reopen Michigan (2227 deaths). This tweet came on the same day as the White House Press Conference, 4/17/20, when Drs. Fauci and Brix explained in great detail the testing necessary for states to remove shelter in place orders. It was very clear, there are no safe states yet. Michigan statistics on 4/17/2020: 134 deaths on that day with 760 new confirmed cases. I recommend everyone read the article, Virus attacks lining in lungs, by Amanda Morris of the Arizona Republic and Alex Li of USA Today Network. Dr. Christian Bime a pulmonary and critical care physician at Banner University Medical Center in Tucson explains, Once the new coronavirus gets inside a lung lining cell, it hijacks the cell and uses the cell as a factory to make more copies of itself. The new coronavirus keeps replicating itself inside the cell until the cell can no longer contain all the viruses, and the cell burst open. When the lung lining is destroyed, it allows other bacteria to get into the lungs. We just do not know enough about this novel virus nor do we have a real treatment to stop it ventilators are not a cure, but necessary to keep a victim alive due to their ruined lungs. Protestors in Michigan say their civil liberties have been violated. But what about the person whose lungs were destroyed? FRAN KOSIK RN, MSN Flagstaff Love 9 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 2 Angry 1 Small business owners are demanding that fresh funding for their struggling sector be tightly restricted, amid rising anger at large corporations claiming millions in aid. An initial $347 billion in federal funding ran out last week, leaving tens of thousands of American entrepreneurs in the lurch until a deal to replenish it is signed into law by Donald Trump, which should happen Thursday. But small businesses' dismay was compounded by revelations that big nationwide chains were walking away with millions under the Payment Protection Program (PPP), while they were abandoned. Small businesses are generally defined as having fewer than 500 employees, but the large companies have found loopholes in the terms of the deals and have been able to apply. At least 75 companies whose applications were successful are publicly traded, and some have market values of well over $100 million. Angel Criado, who with his wife Cree owns and runs a dance studio in Cleveland, Ohio, told DailyMail.com they have no received aid Susan Cybulski, a 53-year-old graphic designer, has yet to receive any support for her Ann Arbor, Michigan-based company that specializes in event design Tara Lynn Baeza, 35, said she was 'emotional and angry' at small businesses being left to collapse, while nationwide corporations are bailed out. Baeza owns Birds of Prey, which specializes in permanent makeup for clinical patients as well as an assortment of wellness treatments Table: Some of the public companies, listed in order of their market value, who have recieved loans from the Paycheck Protection Program set up to help small businesses What is the small-business relief program? The Paycheck Protection Program exhausted its $350 billion in funding last week and many small businesses were unable to obtain loans they desperately need to stay afloat. Congress and the White House say they're close to an agreement on that would give the program about $300 billion in fresh funds. The government program, which is overseen by the Treasury and administered by the Small Business Administration, limits loan recipients to businesses with fewer than 500 employees and revenue of less than $2.5 billion. But it makes an exception for restaurants and other food service businesses that employ fewer than 500 people per location, meaning that restaurant chains are as eligible for the loans as a neighborhood restaurant or bar. The small business lending program is part of the $2.2 trillion rescue package approved by Congress last month. Advertisement At least five successful applicants were being investigated by financial regulators, and a quarter of the sample of thousands of regulators' filings had already warned months ago that they may not be able to stay afloat. Ruth's Chris Steak House, with more than 150 locations and $86 million in cash reserves, confirmed they were given $20 million. The Chicago-based sandwich chain Potbelly, whose most recent financial disclosures show revenues of $102 million, said they received a $10 million loan. Burger chain Shake Shack, which reported nearly $600 million in revenue for 2019, claimed $10 million. On Monday, amid growing outrage, the company announced it was giving it back. Steve Mnuchin, the treasury secretary, said that 74 per cent of the 1.6 million loans that banks approved under the PPP scheme were for less than $150,000. He said this showed 'the accessibility of this program to even the smallest of small businesses.' But Donald Trump admitted to problems and said some cash which has gone to big business might have to be clawed back. Small business owners told DailyMail.com of their frustrating attempts to keep their businesses alive, while large firms flourished. 'This is the sort of thing that drives me up the wall,' said Angel Criado, who with his wife Cree owns and runs a dance studio in Cleveland, Ohio. 'I just don't get it. You'd have thought big companies like that would have had reserves?' Criado, 50, had his business shut down due to COVID-19 on March 21 and applied to his bank US Bank- for funding from the Small Business Administration (SBA) on March 30. 'The minute they opened the gates I was on it,' he told DailyMail.com. His application for a $10,000 grant through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) scheme was rejected, after the SBA ruled that he had an unsatisfactory credit history. He had expanded his business in 2017, and so his personal credit rating 'took a hit,' he said. Then on April 16 he received an email from his bank. 'They said: ''hey, we're out of money!'' Steve Mnuchin, the treasury secretary, said that 74 per cent of the 1.6 million loans that banks approved under the PPP scheme were for less than $150,000, while Trump admitted to problems Big national restaurant chains like Ruth's Chris and Potbelly walked away with millions under the PPE program meant for small businesses Small businesses have been left deserted after stay-at-home orders were put in place across the country, like this main street in Rockton, illinois 'I guess US Bank couldn't get anyone through, because I was there right at the beginning - they said it was first come, first served, and I was among the first. 'It makes me so mad that these huge companies get help and we don't. They have whole teams of people working purely on getting their hands on this money. I just want to make a living for my family.' The SBA say they have worked with 5,000 lenders to issue the loans and grants, but are yet to say how much of that money has actually been distributed. They did not respond to DailyMail.com's inquiry as to whether loopholes allowing large companies to apply would now be closed. Susan Cybulski, a 53-year-old graphic designer, is also yet to receive any support for her Ann Arbor, Michigan-based company, InPrint, which specializes in event design. In the second week of March she lost $15,000 worth of contracts and, in the subsequent weeks, her remaining work has 'evaporated'. On Monday the University of Michigan, her biggest client, emailed to say there would be no more work for 'non-essential contractors', meaning she is facing the very real likelihood of being unemployed for the rest of the year. Cybulski applied for the EIDL immediately and was given a confirmation number, but is yet to hear back. She had all her application documents for PPP prepared last week, and then the screen switched, she said, to: 'We're sorry, but all funds are exhausted.' Big corporations receiving support through the programs 'really angers me,' she told DailyMail.com. 'But it doesn't surprise me. 'Ten years ago, during the downturn, I lost my home. I worked so hard and jumped through all the hoops to save it, but they repossessed it - despite having 11 years of equity in there. 'I saw what they did then, and it felt so unjust. This doesn't surprise me now.' Congress is expected to approve a further $350 billion in support this week, with a Senate vote Tuesday and House vote Thursday to send it to Trump. But concerns linger that the support will once again go to large companies. More than 12,000 people have signed a Change.org petition urging Congress to ensure the money only goes to small businesses. Duncan MacDonald-Korth, who founded the COVID Loan Tracker, told DailyMail.com he launched the petition on Saturday night and has been astonished at the anger it has unleashed. Around 700 people are signing per hour, he said, and Change.org got in touch to tell them how overwhelming the response had been. Tara Lynn Baeza, 35, said she was 'emotional and angry' at small businesses being left to collapse, while nationwide corporations are bailed out. Her Philadelphia-based salon Birds of Prey, which specializes in permanent makeup for clinical patients as well as an assortment of wellness treatments, was closed on March 16. She has applied for a gamut of funding from various agencies, but is losing $5,000 a week and is yet to receive any support. 'It makes me so mad that these huge corporations get help and we don't,' she said. 'I'm a member of a small business association in Philadelphia and everyone is saying the same thing - that they've been denied, or not heard back. 'It really doesn't feel like the system was set up for this.' Local policy singles out religious gatherings contrary to CDC guidelines, U.S. Constitution, and federal law CHEMUNG, N.Y., April 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Liberty Institute today sent a letter to Chemung, New York County Executive Christopher Moss urging him to withdraw a policy that targets churches offering drivein services during the COVID-19 pandemic. First Liberty represents three local churches: His Tabernacle, Journey Church, and Pine Creek Christian Center. You can read First Libertys letter here . The Constitution forbids the government from singling out churches for restrictions that are not imposed on other entities, said Keisha Russell, Counsel for First Liberty. Churches that creatively and safely serve their communities should be applauded, not targeted. Hours before Easter Sunday, County Executive Christopher Moss announced on Facebook Live that drive-in services were prohibited. Chemungs prohibition prevented His Tabernacle, Pine City Christian Church, and Journey Church from holding drive-in services on Easter Sunday. His Tabernacle Pastor, Micheal Spencer said, Drive-in services allow us to stay connected to our church family while remaining socially distant during this time. Unity is especially important to us for the mental and spiritual health of our community. In the past month, His Tabernacle distributed thousands of pounds of food to its local community in Chemung County. In a similar case, First Liberty recently secured a temporary restraining order for On Fire Church in Louisville, Kentucky. There, federal Judge Justin Walker stated in his order that Louisvilles ban on drive-in church services violated the Free Exercise clause beyond all question. First Liberty also advocated for churches in similar cases in Greenville, Mississippi; Frisco, Texas; and McKinney, Texas. After a month of repeated challenges to prohibitions on drive-in worship services, we expect state and local governments to stop targeting churches and protect religious freedom, said Russell. Story continues About First Liberty Institute First Liberty Institute is a non-profit public interest law firm and the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious freedom for all Americans. To arrange an interview, contact Lacey McNiel at media@firstliberty.org or by calling 972-941-4453. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More After emerging as the white knight for beleaguered private lender Yes Bank, State Bank of India (SBI) now holds 48.21 percent stake in the private lender, followed by HDFC and ICICI Bank, which have 7.97 percent each, shows the latest shareholding pattern. Axis Bank holds 4.78 percent stake, followed by Kotak Mahindra Bank (3.61 percent) and Bandhan Bank (2.39 percent). Federal Bank and IDFC First hold 1.92 percent and 1.67 percent each. Life Insurance Corporation of India holds 1.64 percent in the bank, the exchange data showed. The former managing director and CEO of Yes Bank, Rana Kapoor is presently facing investigations for alleged financial misconduct. Also Read | Yes Bank saga: How the cookie crumbled Kapoor, who once proudly described Yes Bank shares as "diamonds" that are forever, eventually sold his entire stake in the bank, leaving investors shell-shocked. According to the latest shareholding pattern, Rana Kapoor has zero shares in the bank while Madhu Kapoor, wife of late Ashok Kapur ,holds 1.12 percent shares of the bank. Also Read | What the Yes Bank rescue plan actually means The new management, led by former SBI official Prashant Kumar, is presently trying to improve the financial situation of the bank. Going by the third quarter numbers of Yes Bank, the lender 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. 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. Biologists have long hoped to understand the nature of the earliest living organisms on Earth. If they could, they might then be able to say something about how, when, and where life arose on Earth, and perhaps by extension, whether life is common in the Universe. Previous studies have suggested this information can be obtained by comparing the genes present in modern organisms. New research indicates that only limited information can be derived using this approach. Biologists classify all living organisms into three major groups they call 'domains.' Two of these domains--the Bacteria and the Archaebacteria--consist of single-celled organisms, while the third--the Eukaryota--includes most of the larger, multicellular organisms we are all familiar with: fungi, plants and animals including ourselves. Of the three domains, the Eukaryota almost certainly evolved the most recently, but questions remain about which of the two single-celled domains arose first in the history of life. Over forty years ago, American biologists Carl Woese and George Fox suggested that these two domains both emerged from a more primitive organism or group of organisms scientists now call LUCA, or the Last Universal Common Ancestor. Scientists would love to be able to say something concrete about what LUCA was like, what types of environment it lived in, and how it made its living. New research from Tokyo Tech and the Max Planck Institute suggests understanding early life may be trickier than previously thought. The research, published in the advanced access edition of the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution, was carried out by Sarah Berkemer, based at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences in Leipzig, Germany, and Shawn McGlynn from the Earth-Life Science Institute at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan comes in. Their analyses confirm other work which suggested that only a limited understanding of the lifestyle of the most ancient cells can be derived from DNA comparison. Although this is a disappointing result for evolutionary biologists, it is important to understand what can and cannot be known from the data that scientists are able to gather from modern organisms. Berkemer and McGlynn's work does supply one silver lining however; while it is clear that we don't know what the first organisms metabolised or where they lived, their work provides insight into how quickly they may have evolved billions of years ago. To do so, Berkemer and McGlynn analyzed thousands of phylogenetic trees derived from the comparison of DNA similarity data from thousands of microorganisms to try to identify the oldest genes and when they might have evolved, and to understand how genes move between organisms to shed light on the nature of LUCA. Their careful analysis showed that early in life's history, different gene types changed at different rates. This suggests that early mutation rates were much higher than at present and there has been a significant contribution of 'gene jumping' over time which makes a simple interpretation of the early 'family tree' of life misleading. They concluded that previous studies sometimes vastly under-sampled the available data and that the data cannot resolve these questions, but that it does show that early evolution was wildly different from what it is at present. Professor McGlynn explains, "A fundamental question in biology is what were the first life forms on Earth. There are two basic ways to try and address this. First, we can use the comparison of gene sequences to try and understand which ones seem most ancient. Second, we can look for evidence biology may have left in the geological record." McGlynn says this work shows that although it is clear there is a fuzzy yet remarkable general outline of a family tree of life in the available DNA sequence data, there has been so much evolutionary change that it is still as of yet impossible to say how the earliest organisms made their living or in what types of environments they lived. This is because the signal is simply too noisy due to this early genetic scrambling. As a result, we are still a long way from understanding what the most primitive organisms on Earth were like or the sorts of environments they lived in. Importantly, however, this study marks the first time scientists have been able to say something about the pace of early evolution. This work shows there is a detectable signal of very rapid early evolution, thus, while we may not know exactly what early organisms were like, it seems likely life was mutating and evolving very quickly early on. Nevertheless, McGlynn believes it is still amazing that this limited information can be understood at all, that it still tells us important things about the evolution of life on Earth, and suggests we need to develop new ways of looking at available DNA data to find novel techniques of learning what Earth's earliest life was like. ### New Delhi, April 22 : In the wake of the coronavirus-induced lockdown, Delhi electricity distribution company (discom) BSES on Wednesday announced the launch of its 'BSES Aap Ke Saath' digital platform to connect with consumers. A BSES statement said a virtual Residents' Welfare Association (RWA) meeting was organized -- a first such virtual initiative -- in capital's Saket and R.K. Puram localities under the jurisdiction of BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd (BRPL). "This virtual meeting, organised last evening with around 40 representatives from around 20 RWAs from Saket and R.K. Puram in south Delhi, was inaugurated over a secure virtual audio-video platform by BRPL CEO Amal Sinha," the statement said. "A similar virtual RWA meeting was organised by BSES Yamuna Power Ltd (BYPL), which was attended by residents from east and central Delhi. BYPL CEO P.R. Kumar led the BYPL team. More such meetings have been planned with RWAs in south, west, east and central Delhi in the days and weeks ahead," it added. The statement also said that this virtual platform will address customers' queries and concerns, while simultaneously updating them about the steps being taken by BSES to mitigate the impact of COVID-19. These services are designed on various digital platforms so that consumers continue to get BSES services while following government guidelines to fight the coronavirus, it said. Noting that the initiative is being conducted over secure online audio-video platforms, a BSES spokesperson said: "Consumers continue to get our services while maintaining social distancing. We can be contacted through our digital platforms like the BSES website, mobile app, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, SMS and the call centre." Curious just how far your dollar goes in Forest Crest? According to Walk Score, this San Antonio neighborhood isn't very walkable, has minimal bike infrastructure and has some transit options. Data from rental site Zumper shows that the median rent for a one bedroom in Forest Crest is currently hovering around $1,114. So, what might you expect to find if you've got $1,100/month earmarked for your rent? Read on for a roundup of the latest rental listings, via Zumper and Apartment Guide. (Note: Prices and availability are subject to change.) Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. 17803 La Cantera Terrace Listed at $1,055/month, this 523-square-foot studio apartment is located at 17803 La Cantera Terrace. You can expect to see hardwood flooring, a walk-in closet and a dishwasher in the unit. When it comes to building amenities, anticipate a swimming pool. If you've got a pet, you'll be happy to learn that cats and dogs are welcome. (See the complete listing here.) 5810 Worth Parkway Next, there's this one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment located at 5810 Worth Parkway. It's listed for $1,067/month. Amenities offered in the building include garage parking. You can also expect to see a walk-in closet, a mix of hardwood floors and carpeting and a dishwasher in the unit. Pet owners, rejoice: Cats and dogs are allowed. The rental doesn't require a leasing fee. (See the complete listing here.) Rim Drive Then, there's this 689-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment at Rim Drive that's going for $1,068/month. In the apartment, expect to see a mix of hardwood floors and carpeting, in-unit laundry, a walk-in closet and a dishwasher. When it comes to building amenities, anticipate assigned parking. Luckily for pet owners, both dogs and cats are welcome. There's no leasing fee required for this rental. (See the full listing here.) 18102 Talavera Ridge Finally, check out this 672-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment that's located at 18102 Talavera Ridge. It's listed for $1,083/month. Building amenities include garage parking. The unit also comes with a walk-in closet, a mix of hardwood floors and carpeting and a dishwasher. For those with furry friends in tow, know that cats and dogs are allowed on this property. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee. (Take a look at the complete 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. WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday restricting certain categories of immigrants from entering the United States for 60 days as the country reels from the coronavirus outbreak, but the measure contains broad exceptions and is more limited than the sweeping closure he proclaimed on Twitter earlier in the week. The order, which takes effect Thursday, will not apply to immigrants who already are living and working in the United States and are seeking to become legal permanent residents. Medical professionals, farmworkers and others who enter on temporary "nonimmigrant" visas are unaffected, and the suspension also exempts the spouses and underage children of U.S. citizens, among other carve-outs. Trump said his order will shield Americans from the virus while also protecting American jobs at a time of excessively high unemployment and economic uncertainty. It will put a halt on employment-based immigration visas as well as the family-based categories for parents and siblings, which the president has often derided as "chain migration." The measure also freezes the Diversity Visa Lottery, another frequent Trump target, which issues about 50,000 green cards annually. Legal permanent residents who are trying to bring their spouses and children into the country also will be unable to do so. The order characterized the move almost entirely in economic terms, with the president facing a difficult reelection contest this November amid the pandemic crisis. "President Trump's efforts will ensure we continue to put American workers first as we begin to reopen our economy," the White House said in a statement following the publication of Trump's order Wednesday evening. "The American people strongly support common sense efforts to restrict immigration as we confront the coronavirus." Trump has said his restrictions could be extended far longer than 60 days if he believes the U.S. economy could not absorb more immigrants. The U.S. State Department issued about 462,000 immigrant visas last year, and more than half went to applicants in the categories that will be frozen by Trump's decree. The president, who is running for reelection on his immigration record and his push to build hundreds of miles of barriers along the border with Mexico, has lashed out for years at U.S. immigration laws he calls the "worst in the world." He also has been repeatedly frustrated by the legal limits on his powers to close off the country to foreigners. But the pandemic has given him an opportunity to invoke emergency authorities granting him broad discretion over the country's borders. "While the order is limited in scope, President Trump's transparent attempt to distract from his own failures with this unwarranted suspension will cause real pain for families and employers across the country," said Omar Jadwat, director of the Immigrants' Rights Project at the ACLU, the administration's most frequent adversary in court cases involving the president's attempts to crack down at the southern border. "Meanwhile, he continues to fail to take obvious steps that will save lives - like releasing people from ICE facilities that cannot keep them safe from covid-19," Jadwat said, referring to the more than 220 confirmed cases in U.S. immigration jails to date. Some of the immigration restrictionist groups that have backed Trump's border agenda said they were disappointed that an executive order purportedly designed to protect U.S. jobs will have no bearing on temporary foreign workers. Trump said he is considering a subsequent order but has not provided details on its scope. "It doesn't seem like it's going to do very much," said Mark Krikorian, director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington-based group that wants to curb immigration. "The majority of green card recipients already live in the U.S. under some other status. If the point is to limit the number of foreigners entering the labor market, not including guest workers isn't going to have much of an effect." The move is yet another attempt by the Trump administration to limit access to the country, after it already has clamped down access to the United States by barring travelers from numerous countries, blocking access to the U.S. asylum system, and immediately turning border-crossers around at the U.S.-Mexico line. Trump has used the pandemic to further seal off the nation, though his order is far more focused on economics than health. The United States already leads the world, by far, in confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths: The more than 830,000 cases in the United States is about four times the next country - Spain has 208,000 cases - and the U.S. death toll of more than 47,000 is more than twice Spain's and is continuing to grow by thousands a day. The order also carries exemptions for members of the U.S. Armed Forces as well as their spouses and children, along with wealthy investors and prospective adoptees. Trump declared his plans via Twitter to shut down the country's immigration system as part of his response to the coronavirus crisis, but the president acknowledged the policy had not been written and attorneys were scrambling to work out his order during the past two days. Trump officials provided few details, sowing anxiety and confusion among Americans and their foreign-born family members, friends and co-workers. Sandra Feist, a Minneapolis immigration attorney, said the order is "pretty tame" because it will not affect the hundreds of thousands of green card applicants already inside the United States. But she said it would have a profound impact on people seeking green cards from overseas. Her affected clients include an opera singer, a samba dancer and chefs from China, tile layers from Ecuador, an ad executive from Sweden and a Brazilian jujitsu expert who intended to open his own gym in the United States. "Talk about stealing jobs," she said of her Brazilian client. "He was coming here to create jobs." She said she feared the "pause" would be extended indefinitely, and that it would be "devastating" for would-be immigrants and their families. "This will be extremely disruptive," she said, adding that many might "just not bother to come to the United States, which is clearly the goal." The White House statements characterized the order as a job-saving measure to protect U.S. workers, saying it would be "unfair to allow Americans out of work due to the coronavirus to be replaced by new immigrant labor brought into the United States." "Mass migration of low-skilled labor into the United States disproportionately harms historically disadvantaged Americans," the statement read. Texas A&M University law professor Fatma Marouf said although the impact is limited to would-be immigrants who live outside the country, the order carried language that troubled her. The 60-day moratorium can be extended and could eventually apply to immigrants who already live within U.S. borders, she said. "I worry that this is the beginning of more to come," said Marouf. "It appears to be part of a larger effort to constrain immigration." Marouf, who was involved in litigation over Trump early travel restrictions on majority-Muslim countries said the order was part of his push for a more skills-based immigration model. During the Supreme Court battles over Trump's ban on immigrants from specific countries, the government argued they were taking those actions on national security grounds, Marouf said. But, she added, "this order may be the first time in history that a president is using these powers for a purely domestic reason: economic stability," Marouf said. "And that's a different legal issue." Late Monday, Houston immigration attorney Ruby Powers sent out a newsletter email to all her clients trying to calm nerves. She said about 500 people opened the email, the highest open rate for her emails in some time. She scheduled a handful of new consults from fearful visa holders afraid that this executive order. But now that the order is out, Powers said she is not sure how many of her clients are impacted. "I think this just looks intimidating and sounds intimidating, but I'm not sure it applies to many people," said Houston immigration attorney Ruby Powers. "This is a very narrow subsection of immigrants that will be impacted. The order did its job of scaring the entire group of immigrants and all their advocates in this country but not much else." Visa holders already in the country and those with pending green card applications are exempt from the order. The group of people who would have to wait during the 60 days are individuals who already don't have access to consulates because of the pandemic. "Not only are the consulates closed, but the travel restrictions are such that most people wouldn't be to travel to the country anyway," Powers said. "This order has more bark than bite." U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services approved about 577,000 green card applications last year, most of which went to immigrants who already were living and working in the United States with some sort of provisional or temporary status. Those applications will not be impacted. [April 22, 2020] Flinn Foundation Selects Top Arizona Students for 35th Class of Flinn Scholars For the 35th straight year, a cohort of Arizona's highest-achieving high-school seniors has chosen to forego attending out-of-state universities and accept the prestigious Flinn Scholarship. The merit-based award, supported by the Phoenix-based Flinn Foundation in partnership with Arizona's three state universities, covers the full cost of tuition, mandatory fees, housing, meals, and a myriad of exclusive opportunities-a package valued at more than $120,000. The Flinn Scholars Class of 2020 will attend Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, and the University of Arizona this fall. "Each year, this rigorous and competitive application process offers us a glimpse into the potential and impact of Arizona students. I continue to be amazed at their academic accomplishment and dedication to extracurricular activities that serve the community," Flinn Foundation President and CEO Tammy McLeod said. "We are proud of the role the Flinn Scholars Program has played over its 35 years in Arizona's educational ecosystem and the benefits it continues to offer not only the students who become Flinn Scholars, but the entire state." The Class of 2020 Highlights from the Class of 2020 include: The class is nearly evenly split between Flinn Scholars from the Phoenix metropolitan area and from outside the region. There are four Scholars from Tucson, two from Flagstaff, and one each from Camp Verde, Fort Mohave, and Lake Havasu City; Two high schools are celebrating thei first Flinn Scholar: Tanque Verde High School in Tucson and Washington High School in Phoenix; For five high schools, 2020 marks their second Flinn Scholar: Lake Havasu High School, Northland Preparatory Academy in Flagstaff, Desert View High School in Tucson, Mohave High School in Fort Mohave, and Gilbert Classical Academy; Red Mountain High School in Mesa is the only school with two Flinn Scholars; and The Scholars represent public district schools, public charter schools, and one private school. A record 1,014 Arizona high-school seniors applied for the Flinn Scholarship, producing a less than 2 percent award rate. "There is so much to admire in each of these Flinn Scholars," said Anne Lassen, Flinn Scholars Program director. "They are all extremely bright and excel in the classroom. But what makes them stand out is how they engage with the world, their dedication to their schools and communities, and their motivation to have a positive impact on the future of Arizona and beyond." Flinn Scholarship Benefits In addition to enabling recipients to graduate without debt, the scholarship offers: An extraordinary community of more than 650 current and alumni Flinn Scholars, including about 80 Scholars studying at the three universities at any given time; Membership in a university honors college, with amenities including small classes, access to top researchers, and guest lectures: Personal mentoring from top faculty, and exposure to Arizona and global leaders in business, government, science, and the arts; Intellectual, cultural and social activities developed exclusively for Flinn Scholars by both the Flinn Foundation and the universities; and Funding for a three-week summer seminar after the Scholar's freshman year and for at least one additional study-abroad experience. The Flinn Scholars Program, established in 1986, is operated by the Flinn Foundation Scholarship Program LLC and supported by the Flinn Foundation, a Phoenix-based private, nonprofit, grantmaking organization. The Foundation, founded in 1965 by the late Dr. Robert and Irene Flinn, also supports the advancement of Arizona's bioscience sector, arts and culture, and the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership and its flagship Flinn-Brown Fellowship. [Editor's note: Student names and high schools are here. Student photos are available for download here] View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005892/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Today marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, a day to celebrate Mother Nature and commit ourselves and our communities to doing better by her. Stay-at-home orders due to the coronavirus pandemic may have led to canceled community celebrations, but theyve also opened an opportunity as Earth Day 2020 has gone digital. Earthday.org has compiled a global calendar of online events, so why not check out whats on the minds of people far and near? In Perth, Australia, for example, theres a student discussion on how technology both helps and hurts the environment. In Malta, theres a virtual sunset tour at a nature and history park. In Okotoks, Alberta, Canada, theres a session on how to grow your own veggies, even in the harsher climate there. Hundreds of events are listed. In New Jersey, three events are registered: Waterspirit , a ministry of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace in Rumson, is hosting a half-hour YouTube meditation at 12:15 p.m. in which we will invite participants to express gratitude for Mother Earth, to grieve for all that is lost or threatened, and to visualize the change we want to see in the world. Go to youtube.com/channel/UCFzJckCCtU22hEjrmoLitwQ to participate. Raritan Valley Community College and Somerset County Business Partnerships Sustainable Somerset Committee are co-hosting a Zoom webinar at 1 p.m. on New Jerseys Changing Climate. State climatologist David Robinson will give a presentation, and information is to be provided about how you may contribute to the monitoring of weather and climate conditions in your area. Go to are co-hosting a Zoom webinar at 1 p.m. on New Jerseys Changing Climate. State climatologist David Robinson will give a presentation, and information is to be provided about how you may contribute to the monitoring of weather and climate conditions in your area. Go to bit.ly/robinson-earthday-2020 to register. At 4 p.m., the Adventure Aquarium in Camden will host a Facebook Q&A on coral and its coral project. Go to business.facebook.com/AdventureAquarium/ to participate. Community celebrations in Hudson County would have been held on Saturday, April 25, but even though we cant be together, we can still do something to mark the day. In a recent COVID-19 update, Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis asked residents to clean up around their homes if possible and reminded everyone that used face masks and gloves should go in the trash, not on the street. We can all review tips for doing our part as well. Earthday.org/earth-day-tips/ has a list of 47 ideas, including replacing inefficient incandescent light bulbs with efficient CFLs or LEDs; fixing leaky showerheads and faucets; and reducing auto emissions by biking, using public transportation, going to an electric or hybrid car, and keeping tires inflated and air filters fresh. Perhaps most importantly, we should review the actions and stances of our elected officials and candidates and push for pledges and work to clean our air and water and to fight climate change. Weve come a long way in the last 50 years, but so, so much more work lies ahead of us. Submit letters to the editor and guest columns for The Jersey Journal to jjletters@jjournal.com. "The Affair" star Joshua Jackson and his wife, actor Jodie Turner-Smith, have welcomed their first child together. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jackson, 41, and Turner-Smith, 33, have become parents to a baby daughter. "The couple has welcomed their first child. Both mother and baby are happy and healthy," their representative told the outlet. The two stars started dating in October 2018 and got married in December 2019. Earlier this month, Turner-Smith had shared a photo of herself showing off her baby bump on Instagram. "A fantastic voyage that begins in wonder and transformation. I will never forget how this felt and now won't soon forget how it looked," she wrote in the caption. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Some blood tests being marketed to tell people if they have had the new coronavirus are a "disaster", Roche Chief Executive Severin Schwan said on Wednesday as he prepares to launch the drugmaker's own antibody test next month. Roche's diagnostics business has moved out of the shadow of its main medicines unit during the pandemic, as the Swiss pharma giant confirmed its 2020 sales and profit outlook amid rising demand for Covid-19 testing. Countries around the world hope such blood tests meant to show whether people exposed to the disease have developed antibodies thought to offer some immunity will guide efforts to restart their economies and keep healthcare workers safe. An erroneous false-positive result could lead to the mistaken conclusion that someone has immunity. In developing its test, Schwan said, Roche scrutinized some existing products for reliability before rejecting them. "It's a disaster. These tests are not worth anything, or have very little use," Schwan told reporters on a conference call. "Some of these companies, I tell you, this is ethically very questionable to get out with this stuff." Schwan said there were about 100 such tests on offer, including finger-prick assays that offer a quick result. The Basel-based company declined to specify which rival tests it had studied, but said it was not referring to tests from established testing companies. Roche also makes separate tests to determine if a person has an active coronavirus infection, with a sample taken via a swab from nasal passages. Sales of those tests helped push first-quarter sales in its Molecular Diagnostics business up 29% in the first three months of the year, it said. Governor Andrew Cuomo has repeatedly scolded New Yorkers for not practicing social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic, but a new map reveals it may be impossible to follow. The interactive map shows every sidewalk in the Big Apple and its surrounding boroughs. Users hover over a street of their choice and are shown the width of the sidewalk, along with how difficult it may be to abide by the policy. However, the average pathway is about 10 feet wide, making it difficult to stay six feet away from a pedestrian travelling in the opposite direction. Scroll down for video The interactive map shows every road, avenue and street in the Big Apple and its surrounding boroughs. Six feet apart has become a common term in our daily lives since the coronavirus made landfall in the US earlier this year. There are more than 827,000 cases and over 45,000 deaths in the US. However, New York City has been deemed the epicenter and officials have taken extreme measures to limit the spread. New York currently shows 251,690 cases and the death toll has surpassed 14,000. Looking at the map designed by Meli Harvey, it seems it is impossible for residents to follow the rules due to the fact that the sidewalks are so narrow. A majority of the streets are just six feet wide themselves and some are less, but the average appears to be 10 feet There are a few pathways shown in green where adhering to the health recommendation should be possible. And yellow means that it may be too difficult to stay six feet apart from others Mayor Bill de Blasio announced last month that New Yorkers who break social distancing rules could face fines up to $500. However, looking at a new map designed by Meli Harvey, it seems it is impossible for residents to follow the rules due to the fact that the sidewalks are so narrow. A majority of the streets are just six feet wide themselves and some are less, but the average appears to be 10 feet. The map highlights the streets that are not big enough for social distancing in red, while those that are safe to travel on are blue. There are a few pathways shown in green where adhering to the health recommendation should be possible. And yellow means that it may be too difficult to stay six feet apart from others. The narrow sidewalks have been a gripe among New Yorkers since state officials rolled out the social distancing policy. The map highlights the streets that are not big enough for social distancing in red, while those that are safe to travel on are blue Doug Gordon, a resident in Brooklyn, shared an experiment on Twitter showing just how difficult it is to keep six feet from someone as they pass by on the sidewalk. We are supposed to keep at least six feet between each other when we pass. There are tree pits all the way down one side of my street, he shared in the tweet. The available sidewalk space between them and the property line? Only 5 feet. This tweet inspired Motherboard to conduct its own study in New York City, which asked residents of Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens to measure the sidewalks outside of their apartments. Approximately 12 of the 17 measured were at least 10 feet wide from the curb to the property line, but had less than six feet of walking space due to fixtures such as tree pits, construction scaffolding, or basement access gates. Doug Gordon, a resident in Brooklyn, shared an experiment on Twitter showing just how difficult it is to keep six feet from someone as they pass by on the sidewalk Motherboard also noted that the citys garbage collection system requires residents to place trash on the sidewalk for extended periods, which results in limited space. Although it may seem impossible to maintain, social distancing seems to have helped flatten the curve and officials are asking the public to help keep it that way. Last week, de Blasio asked New Yorkers to rat out their fellow citizens who are not following social distancing orders during the coronavirus pandemic by taking a photo of the violators on their cell phones and texting it to the city. 'It's simple: just snap a photo and text it to 311-692,' the mayor tweeted Saturday. In a video posted to his Twitter account, de Blasio praised the people of his city, saying: 'You have been extraordinary at social distancing.' There are more than 827,000 cases and over 45,000 deaths in the US However, New York City has been deemed the epicenter and officials have taken extreme measures to limit the spread 'It has taken every fiber of our beings to figure out how to do this because we're warm, emotional people,' he said. The mayor's idea was not well-received on social media, where Twitter users blasted him for suggesting that city residents snitch on each other. One Twitter user noted that Anne Frank and Harriet Tubman were also quarantined. Tubman was an abolitionist who escaped slavery and then risked her life to help other slaves go free. Mayor Bill de Blasio asked New Yorkers to rat out their fellow citizens who are not following social distancing orders during the coronavirus and one twitter user noted that both Anne Frank and Harriet Tubman were in hiding and that de Blasio's proposal likely would have meant outing them One Twitter user said de Blasio's proposal 'is so un-American' Frank was a Dutch Jewish girl whose family went into hiding during the Nazi occupation of Holland. She was shipped off to the death camps after neighbors alerted the Nazi authorities to their hiding place. Another Twitter user called the mayor a 'Karen' a popular internet meme used to describe a person, usually a middle-aged white woman, who complains about usually minor things not being to their liking. Another Twitter user said that de Blasio 'asking people to snitch' is 'so un-American.' Others commented that de Blasio's message is more suited to Soviet Communism. In the Soviet Union of the 1930s, citizens routinely snitched on one another to the authorities in an effort to improve their living conditions and curry favor with the government. One Twitter user joked: 'Comrade citizen! Report all suspected anti-distancing activities to friendly New York Ministry of Social Cleanliness!' Armenian Community Raises Funds to Provide Over 1.5 Million Meals to Americans in Need Los Angeles, April 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- To commemorate the 105th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, a coalition of Armenian community organizations in Southern California launched a nationwide fundraiser in support of Feeding America to provide 1.5 million meals to Americans in need, in honor of Near East Relief and the innocent victims of genocide. The "1.5 Million Meals for 1.5 Million Lives" humanitarian appeal was launched on Friday April 17th, and by Monday April 20th the fundraising target had been met. The fundraiser, still ongoing, has now raised enough to provide over 2.5 million meals. April 24th, 2020 marks the 105th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, where under the guise of war the Ottoman Turkish Empire undertook the systematic eradication of 1.5 million Armenians as well as an additional 1.5 million Greeks, Assyrians, and other indigenous Christian minorities. The government of Turkey denies this crime to this day, and routinely coerces foreign governments into enforcing genocide denial as the last stage of this crime, using this tragedy as a diplomatic bargaining chip. Late last year, both the House of Representatives and the Senate passed historic bipartisan resolutions recognizing the Armenian Genocide and acknowledging the contributions of Near East Relief and the American public to the survival of the Armenian people. Near East Relief (NER) was the first major international humanitarian relief operation in the world, funded by the American People and led by humanitarians, religious leaders, healthcare workers and first-responders. NER pooled resources to save 132,000 Armenian orphans and over one million refugees, and established over 400 refugee processing centers, hospitals, vocational schools, and orphanages thereby ensuring the survival of the Armenian people. The Armenian National Committee of America - Western Region launched its America, We Thank You: An Armenian Tribute to the Near East Relief on the centennary of the Armenian Genocide to honor the work of the NER and its supporters across the country who ensured the survival of the Armenian nation. Story continues -- On April 24th, 2020 the Armenian-American community will commemorate the 105th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide where the Ottoman Turkish Empire under the guise of World War I undertook the deliberate and systematic eradication of 1.5 million Armenians as well as an additional 1.5 million Assyrians, Greeks, and other indigenous Christian minorities. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, in place of the annual March for Justice demonstration that has historically brought tens of thousands of Armenians to the streets of Los Angeles in calling on Turkey to recognize the Armenian Genocide, the Armenian Genocide Committee (AGC), UACLA and UYA have launched an humanitarian fundraiser in support of Feeding America to honor Near East Relief and provide 1.5 million meals to Americans in need. Near East Relief was the United States first Congressionally sanctioned non-governmental organization - and the first major international humanitarian relief operation of its kind in the world - that mobilized all facets of the American citizenry to respond to the systematic destruction of the Armenian people half a world away. The American people and the Armenian nation are inextricably bound thanks to the courage and generosity of the American public in assisting the survivors of the Armenian Genocide, remarked Saro Kerkonian, Chair of the Armenian Genocide Committee. Just as the U.S. came to the aid of the Armenian people in their time of need, it is our collective responsibility to assist the American public through these challenging times by organizing this campaign to provide 1.5 million meals in honor of the 1.5 million victims of the Armenian Genocide. Through the efforts of doctors, humanitarian workers, missionaries, religious institutions and other first-responders in conjunction with State and Federal governments, Near East Relief was able to pool resources and raise over a hundred million dollars to save 132,000 Armenian orphans and over one million refugees, by establishing over 400 refugee processing centers, hospitals, vocational schools and orphanages to ensure the survival of the Armenian people. To honor this outpouring of generosity by the American people between 1915 and 1930, and to highlight the role of Near East Relief in ensuring the survival of the Armenian people, the ANCA-WR launched its America We Thank You: An Armenian Tribute to Near East Relief initiative on the centenary of the Armenian genocide. The campaign documented the work of Near East Relief throughout Asia Minor, as well as the contributions of Americans across the country; raising awareness of relief efforts at a state-by-state level. It is thanks to the eyewitness accounts of first-responders and humanitarian workers who saw the genocide unfold that the memory of its victims and survivors lives on in the United States today, said Armen Sahakyan, Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America - Western Region. Their testimony has been integral to the cause for justice and recognition of the Armenian Genocide, with the latest milestone being last years historic, near-unanimous adoption of official recognition resolutions by the two chambers of U.S. Congress. Late last year, the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate passed historic resolutions with overwhelming bipartisan support recognizing the Armenian Genocide: House Resolution 296 was passed 405 votes to 11 with 3 voting present in October 2019, followed by Senate Resolution 150 which was passed with unanimous consent in December. These resolutions marked the first official recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the United States, ending decades of genocide denial at the behest of Turkey. The Congressional resolutions also recognized the historic response of Near East Relief, citing how Near East Relief was formed at the encouragement of President Woodrow Wilson, chartered by an Act of Congress, and raised over $116,000,000 ($2.5 billion in todays money) for relief operations. Both the House and Senate resolutions firmly rejected Turkeys ongoing denial of the Armenian Genocide, and encouraged public education about the Armenian Genocide and the role of the United States in the humanitarian response. To those ends, the Armenian National Committee of America - Western Region Education Committee has worked tirelessly to implement Genocide Education curricula in public schools, working with local ANCA-WR chapters to address the needs of Armenian-American teachers, parents and students at school sites by monitoring and proposing activities and programs. Through our America We Thank You campaign, the ANCA-WR has been able to build awareness of this proud chapter of our shared history, introducing Near East Relief into public education, and honoring its work through State and Federal congressional resolutions, Sahakyan remarked. This fundraising campaign is a natural extension of our America We Thank You initiative, as we now come together to assist the American people during these challenging times. Feeding America is a United Statesbased nonprofit organization and one of the largest food relief operations in the country. It maintains a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks that feed more than 46 million people through food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and other community-based agencies. Feeding America estimates that as many as 1 in 8 people struggle with hunger in the U.S. The community fundraising target of 1.5 million meals was met on April 20th, 2020 just three days after the campaign launched. The campaign is now on track to provide well over 2.5 million meals to Americans in need. The Armenian-American community of Southern California will continue taking donations at 1915neveragain.org. The Armenian National Committee of America Western Region is the largest and most influential nonpartisan Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues in pursuit of the Armenian Cause. Alex Galitsky Armenian National Committee of America - Western Region (818) 745-4555 alex@ancawr.org The Wuhan-originated novel coronavirus that globally killed around 180,000 people so far, has mutated into at least 30 different genetic variations, according to a new study in China. The study conducted by professor Li Lanjuan and others from Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, was published in a non-peer reviewed paper released on Sunday. The researchers have detected 30 different mutations out of which 19 were new and previously undetected. The study revealed that healthcare practitioners have vastly underestimated the ability of the virus to mutate. Incidentally, Dr Anthony Fauci, the famous immunologist and the leading member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, very early on in his presentation about the virus to US President Donald Trump had stressed the rapid mutation of the virus. This characteristic of the virus, makes it extremely challenging for scientists to find a cure for the disease Covid-19 attacking the respiratory system, which the virus causes. The Zhejiang university study shows that different strains have affected different parts of the world, which will make it even more difficult to develop a vaccine for it. The research study is based on the analysis of the strains from 11 randomly chosen coronavirus patients from Hangzhou, which were tested for their potency to infect and kill cells. "Here we report functional characterizations of 11 patient-derived viral isolates, all of which have at least one mutation. Importantly, these viral isolates show significant variation in cytopathic effects and viral load, up to 270-fold differences, when infecting Vero-E6 cells," the paper said. Li Lanjuan and his colleagues in the paper wrote, "Sars-CoV-2 has acquired mutations capable of substantially changing its pathogenicity." The aggressive strains killed the human cells fastest, the study said. China claims to have only around 84,000 cases of infection and 4,636 deaths caused by the coronavirus so far. Dashcam footage has emerged of a black Porsche, believed to be the same vehicle involved in the horror crash that killed four police officers, speeding down the Eastern Freeway last month. Uber driver James Tsagros was travelling close to 100km/h on March 21, about 5.10pm, inbound on the Eastern Freeway towards the Hoddle Street exit when a black Porsche sped past. "All of a sudden this car has gone swoosh past me on the left hand side, my car just vibrated. It was like a Formula 1 car went by," Mr Tsagros told The Age. "I've been driving for 35 years and I've never experienced anything like that on the road." DENVER, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In an effort to help real estate agents provide a safer home shopping experience, We Work Clean, Inc. has created the first and only certification for the real estate industry to be up to date on the latest health and safety protocols for ensuring a safe home shopping experience. The real estate market will soon be active with the selling season upon us. Once local and statewide bans around the country are lifted it is critical that agents provide peace of mind and a safe experience when you have strangers visiting other strangers' homes. The concern of future exposure to harmful viruses and the associated risks are alarming and could affect sales. The We Live Clean program was created for real estate agents to help clients prepare for the home selling process and offer common sense solutions. The course provides education about best practices around health and safety along with practical preparation and sales strategies. The lead educator of the course is Anisha Rao, an experienced health care consultant & educator. She previously led the development of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMMS) Home Infection Preventionist Training. Steve Nickerson- President of We Work Clean, Inc. and a 25 year real estate industry veteran says "As real estate professionals we have a fiduciary responsibility to act in the best interest of others and that goes beyond just the deal but also to health and safety for the people that hire us and those that tour the homes we list & sell. It's no longer business as usual we must ensure the highest level of care, health & safety for home showings and meetings related to the process" For additional information visit www.weliveclean.com We Work Clean, Inc. is an educational company providing resources, training and marketing services to small businesses and the real estate industry. The company was founded to bring awareness & assurances of the importance of a clean, safe & healthy work environment. Contact: Jessica Kerr Executive Vice President We Work Clean, Inc. 303-801-1760 [email protected] www.WeLiveClean.com SOURCE We Work Clean, Inc. Related Links http://www.weliveclean.com Representative image The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has granted permission to conduct clinical trials on COVID-19 patients across public hospitals to test the safety and efficacy of convalescent plasma therapy, the Business Standard has reported. Among the commissioned trials sponsored by the ICMR, the countrys apex health research organisation, one is set to begin on 20 patients in Gujarats Ahmedabad, said the report, adding that the plan is to have 20-25 such trials across India. The coronavirus pandemic has infected nearly 20,000 people in India and taken 640 lives, according to the Union Health Ministry. Coronavirus LIVE updates There are no approved treatments for COVID-19 and, currently, the disease is being managed with supplemental oxygen and mechanical ventilation besides treatment offered on a case-to-case basis depending on comorbidities, the report suggested. Comorbidity refers to one or more diseases or conditions that occur along with another condition in the same person at the same time. 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 In the absence of any specific treatment, the disease is widely spreading across the globe. Meanwhile, several treatment strategies are being tested across the world, including the use of a protein called Interferon alpha-2b that is expected to reduce the viral load, said the report. Also read | What is plasma therapy and why is it a beacon of hope in finding COVID-19 cure? Amid all this, trials approved by ICMR are critical to arrive at an approved line of treatment. Earlier, a city-based private hospital had been given the nod by ICMR to conduct clinical trials on COVID-19 patients using plasma therapy. This was stated by the Drugs Controller General of India in a letter to HCG Bangalore Institute of Oncology Speciality Centre. The permission was granted on April 20 under the provisions of New Drugs and Clinical Trial Rules, 2019. Sharing the letter on his Twitter handle, the Minister for Medical Education, Dr K Sudhakar, who himself is a medical professional, wrote, "Plasma therapy holds great promise in treating COVID-19 patients and I am happy to inform ICMR agreed to our request and has given permission for plasma treatment to Dr Vishal Rao, HCG Bangalore Inst of Oncology." Follow our full coverage here ROCKVILLE, MD / ACCESSWIRE / April 22, 2020 / The American Kidney Fund (AKF) is urging hospitals and health care systems to not systematically exclude dialysis patients from care because they have renal failure. Some states, municipalities, health care systems and other entities have made directives stating that renal failure or dependence on dialysis can be a reason for excluding patients from intensive care unit (ICU) beds or ventilators during the COVID-19 crisis. "In addition to being illegal, excluding some patients without properly triaging them is immoral and simply unacceptable," said LaVarne A. Burton, AKF president and CEO, in a letter to the CEOs of the Federation of American Hospitals, American Hospital Association, and America's Health Insurance Plans. "End-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients who are dependent on dialysis should be given access to a ventilator until the worst of the illness is over and they can eventually breathe on their own. Americans living with ESRD who are dependent on dialysis have a fighting chance at surviving COVID-19, but the medical staff that triages patients and make these decisions need to be continually informed that ESRD patients on dialysis can live through COVID-19 to be productive members of society. To protect ESRD patients and support the health care workers caring for them, AKF urges hospitals and health systems to follow the United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights (OCR) BULLETIN: Civil Rights, HIPAA, and the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and implement the guidance to avoid discrimination in treatment rationing. "For decades, our country has prided itself on the fact that our health care system does not discriminate against people with disabilities, including those dependent on dialysis machines," Burton noted. "This pandemic is not the time to be discriminatory as ESRD patients on dialysis can, and should be given all opportunities to, live through COVID-19 to be happy and productive members of society." About Us The American Kidney Fund (AKF) fights kidney disease on all fronts as the nation's leading kidney nonprofit. AKF works on behalf of the 37 million Americans living with kidney disease, and the millions more at risk, with an unmatched scope of programs that support people wherever they are in their fight against kidney disease-from prevention through transplant. With programs that address early detection, disease management, financial assistance, clinical research, innovation and advocacy, no kidney organization impacts more lives than AKF. AKF is one of the nation's top-rated nonprofits, investing 97 cents of every donated dollar in programs, and holds the highest 4-Star rating from Charity Navigator and the Platinum Seal of Transparency from GuideStar. For more information, please visit KidneyFund.org, or connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Contacts: Alice Andors Senior Director of Communications Work: 240-292-7053 Mobile: 703-609-8299 aandors@kidneyfund.org 11921 Rockville Pike, Suite 300, Rockville, MD 20852 KidneyFund.org SOURCE: American Kidney Fund View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/586172/American-Kidney-Fund-Urges-Hospitals-to-Ensure-Dialysis-Patients-Are-Not-Illegally-Precluded-from-Intensive-COVID-19-Treatment The first of these motions involves Levin Sedran & Berman and Golomb & Honik, and argues that the question of whether business interruption insurance policies will cover losses incurred by these businesses cant be answered in piecemeal by different courts around the US because of its significant national importance. The second bid, which was filed by DiCello Levitt Gutzler, the Lanier Law Firm, Burns Bowen Bair and Daniels & Tredennick, underscored the efficiency of centralized expert epidemiology discovery and legal analysis. The key issues across the complaints filed against insurers so far are whether COVID-19 causes physical damage or property loss, and whether insurance coverage is triggered when the virus is present on or near a policyholders property, as argued in the brief. However, Frankel noted in the Reuters report that its not definitive that the cases will be consolidated. Law professors Alexandra Lahav of the University of Connecticut and Elizabeth Burch of the University of Georgia told the reporter that the JPML has become reluctant to create new multidistrict litigation (MDL). Lawsuits involving contract disputes, which includes insurance policies, only have a 40% chance of consolidation, said Burch. Read more: Travelers fires back against law firm suing for business interruption cover Meanwhile, Daniel Schwarcz, a University of Minnesota law professor who specializes in insurance law and regulation, said that the plaintiffs firms are correct that some important legal and factual issues span policyholders claims. For example, if businesses were ordered shut because of the physical presence of the virus, this could be covered by business interruption insurance, but if they were ordered shut because of the risk of the virus spreading, this would likely not be covered. However, insurance law questions are matters of state law, according to Schwarcz, and each state has their own precedent on how they define physical loss or damages. Similarly, language on business interruption insurance is varied across policies and so is the language around shutdown orders issued by state governors. It is difficult to see how a consolidated action would deal with these variations, Schwarcz told Reuters. There are immense complications that may ultimately prove insurmountable. At the same time, some plaintiffs lawyers are resisting consolidation. John Houghtaling of Gauthier Murphy & Houghtaling filed the first business interruption suit around the coronavirus shutdown and is working with Thomas Keller and other celebrity chefs to advocate for restaurants demanding cover from insurers. These cases are not removable to federal court and would thus not be part of an MDL in federal court. The lawyer is also opposed to consolidation, calling it inefficient and inappropriate. Read more: Six insurers face federal class action lawsuits for denying business interruption claims Insurance defense lawyer James Martin of Zelle added that a business interruption coverage MDL might make sense down the road, but the recent requests seem premature since less than two dozen business interruption suits have been filed in federal court. With that limited subset, how can the JPML identify the common questions of fact to fashion an order that will identify which of the hundreds or thousands of later-filed cases will get transferred for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings? said Martin. Should the MDL include class actions (which we think are particularly ill-suited for business interruption claims)? Should the MDL be limited to certain types of policies or particular questions? But plaintiffs lawyer Levin said consolidation in an MDL would ensure consistency across what he expects to be significant litigation. Its a managerial tool, he said to Reuters. The courts are going to have to look at it and say, What do we want? Do we want this litigated in every jurisdiction? In every division of every jurisdiction? The DiCello Levitt groups brief argued that a business interruption insurance MDL could address important questions about property insurance, COVID-19, and government-ordered shutdowns, stating that the same type of evidence will be needed in every case to consider and ultimately to determine whether COVID-19 caused or constituted physical damage or loss to property. "The truth of the matter is that many couples are confined in tight spaces with each other for longer periods of time than would otherwise be typical ... there's an abundance of additional stressors being levied on people." As the world and the nation continues dealing with the devastating effects of the novel coronavirus pandemic, and the COVID-19 disease it causes, the most severe outcomes have included death, severe illness, job losses and business closures, and overall economic turmoil. The Law Offices of Brandon Bernstein, experienced divorce lawyers in Maryland, advises of another consequence which has been perhaps overlooked a huge upcoming surge in divorce cases as a result of the quarantine. "The truth of the matter is that many couples are confined in tight spaces with each other for longer periods of time than would otherwise be typical," says Brandon Bernstein, a seven-time Maryland divorce attorney Super Lawyers Rising Star. "Not only that, but there are no social outlets in terms of seeing friends and family, going to restaurants or movie theaters, or any similar pursuits, while instead there's an abundance of additional stressors being levied on people." Life at home hasn't been business as usual for many individuals, and there are a multitude of factors contributing to the potential increased rates of quarantine divorce cases. At the top of the list will be parents who are struggling to find ways to both educate and entertain their children who are home from school. Further, couples have to figure out how to work together from their shared home environment, or, in the cases of those who have lost their jobs, deal with the financial and mental burdens of those setbacks. There's a serious risk as well for elevated rates of domestic violence and child abuse, already recognized as leading causes of divorce. Couples who are already in the midst of such a harmful cycle may be more likely to experience repeated traumas, while others may undergo abuse for the first time as patterns of behavior change. Without being able to leave the residence, safely stay with another family member, or even find a local hotel to move to, at-risk individuals are potentially stuck at home with their abusers. On top of the aforementioned causes of so called coronavirus quarantine divorces, the rates will likely surge in the future due to the simple fact that courts have been closed in the majority of locales across the country. With no new cases able to be filed for, in some cases a month or longer, this has created a divorce case backlog. Such a backlog may then have the impact of delaying the speed in which a case can be processed and move through the court system in the months ahead. The Law Offices of Brandon Bernstein is located in Bethesda, Maryland, and handles all matters pertaining to divorce and family law. The office is currently meeting with prospective clients virtually for consultations. More information is available at BrandonBernsteinLaw.com or by calling 240.395.1418. Disclaimer: Attorney advertising About the Law Offices of Brandon Bernstein, LLC The Law Offices of Brandon Bernstein, LLC is located in downtown Bethesda, and serves clients throughout the state as a divorce attorney in Maryland, covering a broad range of family law matters, and aggressively protecting the best interests of his clients at all times. He has been named a Maryland Rising Star by Super Lawyers for seven consecutive years. The core pillars of his practice are Integrity, Experience, and Results. For a free attorney consultation, prospective clients can visit his website at BrandonBernsteinLaw.com, or call the office directly at 240.395.1418. Kolkata, April 23 : Four cops including the officer-in-charge of a police station were injured when they were attacked by villagers angry over not receiving rice and pulses distributed by a Trinamool Congress councillor in Baduria of West Bengal's 24 Parganas (North) district on Wednesday, police said. The disturbances began on Wednesday morning when the villagers of Taragonia-Daspara began a demonstration and put up road blockades claiming that they did not receive the food grains distributed by the local Trinamool councillor Aritra Ghosh on Monday. Throwing social distancing out of the window, a large number of people gathered. When police came to the spot, they were attacked with sticks, stones and bricks. The OC was beaten with sticks and bricks, as his helmet came out and he fell on to the ground. The mob then tried to take him inside the village, but the other police men managed to rescue him. Three other police personnel also sustained injuries. Police reinforcements were rushed and then the security forces unleashed a baton charge by entering the village. Television footage showed even women becoming the victim of the police wrath. Some people were seen diving into the pond to escape the police rage. Ghosh claimed he had given relief to 950 families in the area. "We went to all the houses. There was no discrimination. Superintendent of Basirhat police district K K Barui said there was no irregularity in ration distribution. "The disturbances happened as the villagers attacked the police". Twenty persons have been arrested. State food and supplies minister Jyotipriyo Mullick alleged the mob was led by a local BJP leader and said he has asked the SP to look into the incident with all seriousness. However, BJP leader Santanu Chakraborty said people were peeved with the state government as they are not getting adequate ration. "It is the failure of the police and administration". More than a year of political paralysis in Israel could be nearing an end now that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and bitter rival Benny Gantz have signed a power-sharing agreement to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. It's a big achievement for Netanyahu because he gets to stay in power for the next 18 months even though he's charged in three corruption cases. For Gantz, it meant abandoning his pledge never to sit in government with the tainted leader -- the key promise that made him a serious candidate to begin with -- with no assurance he'll spend more than a few months in the prime minister's office. The 14-page deal paves the way for a broad government led by Netanyahu's Likud party and Gantz's Blue and White. It gives the indicted Netanyahu influence over senior legal appointees, and allows him to pursue his promise of annexing West Bank territory the Palestinians want for a future state. "The coalition agreement is complex and intricate, designed to shield Netanyahu from the courts and Gantz from Netanyahu's political machinations," Eurasia Group analyst Henry Rome wrote in a note. Here are some details. --- Power sharing: To enter this pact, Gantz reneged on his vow to never sit in a government under Netanyahu while allegations against him are standing. The former military chief cited changed circumstances due to the coronavirus outbreak that's killed more than 180 people in Israel, thrust its economy into a near-shutdown and sent joblessness skyrocketing. Before the government is sworn in, parliament must pass legislation formalizing the rotating leadership. Netanyahu will step aside in October 2021 to trade places with Gantz, who will be designated alternate premier in the meantime. They'll have numerical parity in cabinet, and jointly lead a task force coordinating the government response to the virus outbreak. Gantz's camp will control the ministries of defense, foreign affairs and justice. Netanyahu and his partners will hold the finance and health ministries, and the parliamentary speakership. Gantz's former political partner Yair Lapid apologized to voters on Tuesday for supporting the general, calling his ex-ally's reversal "the worst act of fraud in the history of this country." --- Annexation: Netanyahu has spent the last year vowing to start applying Israeli sovereignty to territory in the West Bank, which the Palestinians view as the core of their future state. The push won the backing of U.S. President Donald Trump, and it was incorporated in the Middle East peace plan he unveiled in January. Starting July 1, lawmakers are allowed to go forward with the plan. Such a unilateral move would sap the Palestinians' dream of an independent state, and after the power-sharing deal was signed, they lamented the prospect of another Netanyahu-led government. Annexation of West Bank territory, captured in the 1967 Middle East war, had been considered taboo for decades in Israeli politics because of the international outcry it would spark. But as religious and nationalist political parties gained clout, and peacemaking with the Palestinians drifted off the country's agenda amid continuing Palestinian attacks, the notion has won widespread currency. --- Rule of law: Power over the judicial system was a key sticking point in talks leading up to the agreement. Netanyahu stands accused of illicitly taking gifts and scheming to tilt legislation to benefit media publishers in exchange for sympathetic coverage. While Gantz's faction will control the Justice Ministry, Netanyahu won increased power over the judicial appointments panel. That in effect potentially boosts his influence over the bench that might one day be asked to judge him. If the country's highest court rules that Netanyahu cannot serve as prime minister or alternate premier, then the coalition breaks up and the other leader takes over for six months while the country prepares to go to elections. The prime minister's trial, delayed on the ground of the coronavirus outbreak, is to start in late May. Shortly after the pact was signed, a good governance group petitioned the High Court of Justice to rule that Netanyahu can't serve while under a legal cloud. --- Potential pitfalls: Netanyahu and Gantz are wary of each other, and the deal is designed to eliminate loopholes that could be used to political advantage. However, its novelty -- for example, in creating a new position in the backup premier -- could open elements of the accord to legal challenges, according to Suzie Navot, a professor of constitutional law at the College of Management Academic Studies in Rishon Lezion. Parliament now has about two weeks to codify the rotation agreement before new elections are automatically triggered. Even if a government is installed, it may be difficult for the different factions to govern effectively together because of the mutual distrust. Having co-opted Gantz into assisting him, Netanyahu may have an interest in ensuring the deal's success. "It legitimizes him because the party that ran on anything but Bibi will now allow him to stay in power," said Reuven Hazan, a Hebrew University political scientist, using Netanyahu's nickname. "Politically it decapitates the only real challenge he has had to his power since 2009." While he's riding high now in the polls because of his assertive response to the coronavirus, it's not clear Netanyahu's approval ratings will hold once the economic pain of the shutdowns deepens. That would make another snap election, after three inconclusive votes in less than a year, risky. "They designed it very carefully and it could easily make the entire three-year duration including the rotation," said International Crisis Group senior analyst Ofer Zalzberg. "And at the same time if past is precedent, Netanyahu will do what he can to avoid the rotation," perhaps by going to a revote, Zalzberg said. UK fashion retailer Animal is closing its 21 stores putting up to 500 jobs at risk. The company, which sells surfing-inspired clothing, has blamed the 'extremely challenging' retail marked which has been made considerably more difficult. The company, which is based in Poole, Dorset, has announced it close permanently in January. Fashion retailer Animal will close down permanently in January after its owners H Young Holdings Ltd confirmed the business was losing money and they were unable to find a buyer or a way to return it to profitability The brand, which is based in Poole, Dorset, was established in 1987. The owners blamed the challenging retail environment combined with the impact of coronavirus The brand is owned by H Young Holdings who told staff the business was losing money and attempts to save or sell it had failed. The Animal brand was established in 1987. According to the BBC, H Young Holdings said in a statement: 'As a result of the extremely challenging retail market which has now further worsened due to Covid-19, H Young announces it will be closing its Animal business by the end of January 2021. 'This will obviously be a very sad announcement for all Animal's hardworking employees and its loyal customers. Earlier this month, high street retailer Debenhams announced it was closing seven stores with the loss of 422 jobs after going into administration. High street shops and restaurants lost to coronavirus With the High Street struggling to cope with the national coronavirus lockdown, a few have started filing for administration. These include: Debenhams: 22,000 jobs at risk Carluccio's: 2,000 jobs at risk Brighthouse: 2,400 jobs at risk Chiquito: 1,500 jobs at risk Laura Ashley: 2,700 jobs at risk Flybe: 2,000 jobs at risk Advertisement The department store firm said it has agreed terms with landlords to continue trading at 120 of its 142 UK stores. It is understood the group is in ongoing talks over the remaining stores and is confident more deals will be secured in the coming days. Debenhams confirmed that it failed to reach agreement with landlords regarding seven stores which will not re-open after the current lockdown. As the High Street faces major disruption, online retailers are reporting massive increases in trade. Online fashion retailer Boohoo has said it suffered a 'marked' fall in sales last month as the coronavirus crisis struck, but revealed a swift rebound in April as it outshines hard-hit high street rivals. The group - which also owns brands including PrettyLittleThing and NastyGal - said the recent Covid-19 events overshadowed a 'great' financial year, with sales falling sharply year-on-year last month. But the firm stressed it is seeing improved year-on-year growth of group sales during April thanks to a recent bounce-back. Caroline Gulliver, an equity analyst at Jefferies, said Boohoo had 'once again exceeded expectations' with its full-year figures. 'Encouragingly, Boohoo has continued to grow sales in March/April as the company has adapted to the Covid-19-impacted environment,' she added. An Adelaide school has been ordered to apologise to a Muslim family for expressing concerns that two students were missing lessons by attending Friday prayers. Mahmoud Amirat took his two sons out of Adelaide Secondary School of English every Friday for 60 to 90 minutes to attend a mosque on Fridays in 2017. The South Australian Education Department school sent a letter home, written only in English despite the family not being fluent, expressing concerns the children were missing valuable lessons as a result. The letter also discussed moving the students onto the adult campus as the oldest child had turned 18 - however Mr Amirat read that as thinking his sons were being kicked out of their school. Mahmoud Amirat took his two sons out of Adelaide Secondary School of English every Friday for 60 to 90 minutes to attend a mosque for Friday prayer in 2017 'The complainant formed the view that his children's enrolment at the school was being terminated due to his family's religious practice of attending the mosque each Friday,' SA ombudsman Wayne Lines said in the findings of an investigation. 'He was very concerned about this.' Before the letter had been sent the school met with Mr Amirat to discuss their concerns regarding the leaving of school during class time, the school's plans to transition the students onto the adult campus and the eldest son's behaviour. An Arabic translator was there at the time. The ombudsman expressed 'concern that a school whose curriculum is specifically adapted for New Arrivals did not show greater understanding of the cultural significance of engaging in Friday prayer at a mosque'. The letter also discussed the students moving to an adult campus as the oldest turned 18 - however the wording of the letter made Mr Amirat believe his sons' education was being ended due to the prayer attendance (stock) The school was also asked to prepare a fact sheet to express the age limits of their campus and properly explaining matters to family members. The SA Education Department said they were willing to implement these changed. Mr Amirat, through a translator, told the ABC: 'I felt alone, and no-one is helping me, and no-one is supporting me. 'I was scared, me and my brother my knees were shaking.' 'After [the ombudsman's] decision we are happy.' Daily Mail Australia has contacted the education department and the school for comment. Guwahati: Assam will allow one-time conditional travel for those stuck across the state due to the Covid-19 lockdown from April 25 to April 27 while the sick can move from one district to another on all days following clearance from deputy commissioners. The state transport department will operate buses on designated routes on April 25, 26, and 27 for those who do not have their own vehicles. They can get details by calling on helpline number 104, state minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. Those who have their own vehicles and are stuck due to lockdown will be allowed to travel to their homes or workplace with due permission from the district authorities. Similarly, employers needing transport for their workers to travel to workplaces allowed to function will be allowed to do so after necessary permission from district authorities. The state government has also instructed private schools to charge only 50% of total fees for one month and not to increase fees or deduct salaries of teachers and other staff. If schools remain closed till the end of May, we will lose 52 working days. If the situation improves, we should be able to cover the session by taking classes on Saturdays and by reducing the number of holidays, Sarma said. He announced the state government will conduct free Covid-19 tests for journalists on April 25 in Guwahati. As many as 53 journalists in Mumbai were found to be Covid-19 positive on Monday. Assam has not recorded any new Covid-19 for week. Of the states 34 patients, 19 have recovered, while one has died. Sarma said they have conducted 5,789 tests till date. At present there are 3,338 isolation beds, 440 ICU [intensive care unit] beds and facilities to quarantine over 10,000 people. We have adequate stock of PPEs [personal protection equipment] and masks. The state government has ordered 1 lakh rapid testing kits and they should reach the state soon, Sarma said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON By Express News Service NEW DELHI: In the latest move to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, US President Donald announced on Monday night that he will sign an executive order to temporarily suspend immigration into his country. In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States, Trump said in a tweet. Trump has already imposed travel restrictions on China, Europe, Canada and Mexico, while the US State Department last month temporarily suspended routine visa services at embassies and consulates. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services has already suspended routine in-person services, but is still offering some emergency services. In terms of India, the 2010 US Census estimated that around 28 lakh Indians to be residing in the US. The figure grew from 16 lakh in the previous census. According to the migration policy, which keeps a track of Indians in America, the US is the third most preferred country for Indian migrants after the UAE and Pakistan. H1-B visas are another aspect where Indians make up a large proportion. In 2016, Indians made up the highest recipients of the category of visa and had the second-largest international student community in the country. There is a crisis, but to ban immigrant is against international laws. Also, it does not set a good precedent. There are travel bans across the world right now and there would be no immigrants coming into the US anyway. To ban immigrants is a wrong thing to do, a professor of international relations at the JNU and an expert on American studies said. He was of the opinion that Indians and immigrants are a key factor which contributes highly to the US economy, and by banning them, the US economy would suffer. 24 lakh-Total number of Indians in the US 30%-Average 10-year increase 3 lakh-Number of H1-B visa holders 2 lakh-Number of students in US Investment in automatic air monitoring systems should be a high priority, Hoang Duong Tung, chair of the Vietnam Clean Air Network, has said. Seventeen air monitoring stations are put under the management of MONRE, including 10 automatic stations managed by the National Center for Hydrometeorological Forecasting and 7 by the General Directorate of Environment. Monitoring parameters include dust (PM10, PM2.5, PM1), NOx, SO2, CO, O3, BTX, THC, and microclimate parameters such as wind direction, wind speed, temperature, humidity, pressure and solar radiation. The reports from 45 out of 63 cities and provinces showed that 40/45 localities (89 percent) have continuous automatic monitoring system (surrounding environment monitoring or emission monitoring), 11/45 (24 percent) of localities have environment monitoring systems. Only 5/45 (11 percent) of localities do not have automatic continuous monitoring stations. The lack of continuous 24/24h monitoring data makes it difficult to assess the situation, trends and changes in air and water quality, and sometimes make the tasks impossible. According to the General Directorate of Environment, because of the lack of money, the manual monitoring with very low frequency (four to six times a year for air environment) makes it unable to keep up with environmental issues, and fails to meet the need for early detection and warning about environmental issues. According to the General Directorate of Environment, because of the lack of money, the manual monitoring with very low frequency (four to six times a year for air environment) makes it unable to keep up with environmental issues, and fails to meet the need for early detection and warning about environmental issues. The agency believes that in addition to maintaining the operation of semi-automatic stations, Vietnam needs to have modern automatic equipment to monitor environmental quality in areas bearing strong influences by socio-economic activities. According to Tung, other countries use automatic monitoring stations to measure the concentrations of major pollutants such as PM2.5, NOx, SO2 and CO2, and other meteorological parameters once every 5 minutes. We have too few automatic continuous air monitoring stations, which is not enough to assess the air quality in a comprehensive way, Tung said, adding that installing such stations is urgently needed. Vietnamese and international experts believe that Hanoi needs to have 10 stations while HCM City needs 15. Air environment monitoring shows air quality, which substances exceed the permitted levels, and causes of pollution. It helps detect measures to prevent pollution. In urban areas, dust pollution is still the most worrying issue. It is necessary to consider investment in automatic air monitoring systems as an investment for development. It must be z high priority order, though it is very costly to buy and maintain, Tung said. Linh Ha Air pollution improves in Hanoi as people stay at home, practice social distancing The social distancing policy has minimized emission activities, improving the air quality in Hanoi. However, the activities in the neighborhoods and surrounding provinces still show certain effects on air quality. BodyViz unveils strategy to deliver online virtual dissection for anatomy programs in higher education and medical institutions across the world CLIVE, Iowa, April 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- BodyViz, a leader in 3D anatomy learning technology, has launched an all-new international reseller program aiming to bring its cutting-edge 3D virtual dissection platform to higher education and medical institutions throughout the world. Institutions often face limited access to cadaveric specimens, making it difficult for them to provide their students with accurate and detailed anatomical content. In light of COVID-19, this challenge has increased exponentially as institutions continue to transition into online/remote learning. BodyViz intends to tackle these issues by providing hands-on virtual dissection experiences for students in both traditional and online learning environments, using 3D visualizations created directly from real human and animal anatomy. "We chose to work with BodyViz because of the flexibility and scalability of their 3D Anatomy Learning Platform. Having the ability to augment anatomy education with virtual anatomy labs all across our country in any setting truly opens the door to significantly enhancing the learning environment and creates more opportunities for our company," said Vipin Chopra, CloudNCare, Managing Director. With its newly developed online anatomy lab and all-new software release in 2020, BodyViz provides unlimited access to active learning resources for students both inside and outside of the traditional anatomy lab and classroom. Students can virtually dissect, examine, and peel away tissue layers to explore the complex 3D spatial relationships of interconnected systems. Using BodyViz Interactive Anatomy Content modules, students can test their understanding directly within their institution's preferred learning management system. "We really focused on refining the user experience for students and instructors in our latest software release. Utilizing the foundation of the BodyViz 3D Anatomy Learning Platform that students and instructors have embraced, we've made the process of integrating virtual resources into anatomy curricula much easier for the instructor and more effective and engaging for the students," said Mike Stuart, BodyViz, Executive Vice President. The cutting-edge technology and flexibility of BodyViz's 3D Anatomy Learning Platform help anatomy instructors significantly increase their students' interaction and exposure with real anatomical resources using computers, tablets, and applications alike. This is particularly important for international universities today, where access to cadaveric specimens is growing increasingly scarce and expensive. BodyViz tackles this issue by providing institutions with a cost-effective way to engage their students with active learning resources. Follow the link provided (https://docsend.com/view/s2vn95b) to download the BodyViz Reseller Brochure and get started today. Contact: Mike Stuart Executive Vice President BodyViz [email protected] www.bodyviz.com Related Links http://www.bodyviz.com SOURCE BodyViz WASHINGTON President Donald Trump's intention to suspend parts of the U.S. immigration system could have wide-ranging implications for industries that rely on foreign workers, experts say. Trump has made immigration restrictions a hallmark of his administration, and his response to coronavirus has included a number of ways to curtail entry into the country. He has halted nonessential travel along the northern and southern borders, suspended flights from China and Europe and suspended regular visa services at U.S. embassies and consulates. But if immigration was suspended broadly, it could discourage a wide variety of employment and may have a major effect on industries where millions of immigrants work, like health care, manufacturing, agriculture and academics. Trump announced his intention in a tweet Monday to protect the jobs of American citizens during the pandemic by signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States! About 22 million people have filed for unemployment claims since Trump declared a national emergency a month ago. Kayleigh McEnany, the White House press secretary, quoted Trump in blaming lower wages and higher unemployment on decades of record immigration. President Trump is committed to protecting the health and economic well-being of American citizens as we face unprecedented times," she said in a statement. "At a time when Americans are looking to get back to work, action is necessary." Trump indicated Tuesday that his executive order would halt new green card awards for at least 60 days and would be reevaluated after that period. The president stressed that his move would not affect temporary workers, such as seasonal workers arriving from other countries through several visa programs. It would be wrong and unjust for Americans laid off by the virus to be replaced with new immigrant labor flown in from abroad, the president told reporters. We must first take care of the American worker. Story continues Trump said his executive order, which the White House had not yet provided, would only apply to individuals seeking a permanent residency, in other words, those receiving green cards. Trump said he would most likely sign the executive order Wednesday. President Donald Trump pauses as he speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, Thursday, April 2, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., retweeted Trump and said its important to get people who were laid off back to work before we import more foreigners to compete for their jobs. Roy Beck, president of NumbersUSA, a group that advocates for lower levels of legal and illegal immigration, said skyrocketing unemployment in the country right now is all the reason necessary to close the nations borders. The president's comments reflect a sensitivity to a primary purpose of all immigration laws of every country, and that is to protect a nation's vulnerable workers, Beck said. With tens of millions of Americans who want to work full time not able to, most immigration makes no sense today, and to allow it to continue at its current level at this time would show a callous disregard for those enduring deep economic suffering." But critics argued that Trump's proposal was entirely political and could cause devastating harm to the economy if implemented. Ben Johnson, executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, suggested Trump is trying to score political points with his base. Hes doing this at a time when there is nobody traveling," Johnson told USA TODAY. Everybody needs to understand that this is a political strategy and if it ever turns into a policy strategy, its going to make things much worse, not better. State unemployment claims Before details of Trump's proposal were provided, the vow raised alarms across a variety of industries. We urge President Trump not to endanger the countrys economic recovery by closing its economy to the rest of the world," Jason Oxman, CEO of the of the Information Technology Industry Council, a trade group for companies such as Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft, told USA TODAY. Oxman said some of the most recognizable and dynamic American companies were started by immigrants. He said the country wont benefit from shutting down legal immigration while tech workers play an essential role in the response to COVID-19. They will be vital to the U.S. economic recovery and must remain part of the workforce, Oxman said. Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, tweeted Tuesday that immigrants are helping respond to the virus through health care, research, infrastructure and the food supply. "Immigrants are vital to our company & the nations economy," Smith said. "As we focus on recovery for all Americans, we must not lose sight of the critical importance of immigrants." Six million U.S. health care workers are foreign born, including about 29% of all doctors, 38% of home health aides and 23% of retail-store pharmacists, according to the Migration Policy Institute. Trump's ill-defined, insidious and irrational tweet insults the thousands of immigrants who are risking their lives in the fight against COVID-19 as health care, pharmacy, manufacturing, transportation, and grocery workers, among other critical roles, said Nihad Awad, national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Banning these and other immigrants from our nation amid the COVID-19 pandemic not only undermines our values but would result in fewer essential workers and makes us less safe. In this 2013 file photo taken near Oxnard, California, workers harvest crops by hand. While some farmers are turning to automation to save money, some crops, such as strawberries, require cultivation by human hands. The largely immigrant labor force that picks such fruits is shrinking due to a lack of young people interested in the work, as well as growing concerns over immigration. Greg Siskind, an immigration lawyer in Tennessee, questioned the message Trump's proposal sends to foreign executives at U.S. manufacturing plants in his state such as Nissan and Volkswagen. "Telling those companies that their Japanese executives and German executives are not welcome in the United States to oversee their plants is going to be an interesting conversation for those governors and senators," Siskind told USA TODAY. "There are hundreds of thousands of workers in our region that are employed by those companies. I am sure that that is going to be a difficult message." More than 1 million international students attend colleges nationwide and contribute more than $39 billion to the economy, according to an analysis by NAFSA: Association of International Educators, as cited in a report from the American Council on Education. Siskind said foreign students subsidize domestic classmates because they pay full tuition that schools rely upon. "All these colleges are no doubt getting inundated today with messages from students who have been accepted, trying to make final decisions on where they're going," Siskind said. "There are a lot of departments at universities around the country that cannot stay open without international students, especially in the sciences. It has huge implications for research and academia in the United States if this stands." Contributing: Alan Gomez This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus: Trump's vow to suspend immigration sounds alarms With two and a half years of work invested into their dream, Bob Chicoine and the team at Dockside Brewery were ready to open their doors this Spring. However, on March 17, when Gov. Ned Lamont closed bars and restaurants, the brewery was faced with a dilemma. We planned on the 23rd, but the week before, we said there is no way we can open if we dont know if we can open, said Chicoine. I thought I planned for everything, but I didnt prepare for a pandemic. Dockside Brewery, which is located on the banks of the Housatonic River in Milford, is only the latest newcomer to the Connecticut beer scene. The brewery, which made waves before opening with the acquisition of Stony Creek Brewerys head brewmaster, Andy Schwartz, and Connecticut restaurant veteren, Kevin Fitzsimmons, officially opened its doors on Friday, April 3. While the brewery is unable to allow the public to enjoy their indoor gaming area, or their spacious outdoor amenities, theyre set for one thing: letting the people enjoy their array of eclectic libations through curbside pickup. Though some businesses are worried about eating the profit of unsold products, Dockside Brewery has been consistently selling out of beer without having their first customer step through the front door. Their double IPA, Squooshy, sold out in 50 minutes last weekend; with customers lining up for curbside pickup. Similarly, 30 cans of their Yeet Hazy Triple IPA sold out in 30 minutes. We can do 1,500 cans, or 400 4-packs over the weekend, said Chicoine. Were forced to keep inventory to make sure we arent selling stuff that we dont have. Despite their unparalleled success during this uncertain time, Chicoine and his team are looking ahead to brighter days. We have five levels of outdoor space, and that is where our focus is now. We think everyone will have enough room to enjoy the outside by the water, said Chicoine. This is not going to be a place where we have 700 people just because were outside. Fitzsimmons, who sits on the board of the Connecticut Restaurant Association, has been helping keep the brewery in the loop with the current talk at the Capitol. This has allowed Chicoine to strike a fine balance with ensuring they have the necessary supplies for when they open up, without being wasteful. Were a brewpub; its not going to affect us as much as some fine dining restaurants, said Chicoine. You may go out to a nice dinner but get your temperature taken, and there are servers with masks...Hopefully it doesnt last that long that it takes the fun of going out to dinner,." With their success, Dockside Brewery has also given back to the community that has allowed them to operate amid the pandemic. Recently, they made donations to the Connecticut Hospitality Employee Relief Fund, as well as donated food to people on the frontlines fighting coronavirus. We delivered food to Bridgeport Hospital two weeks ago, and [Wednesday], were doing the VA in West Haven for the first responders, said Chicoine. Were just fortunate in that respect. In spite of the pandemic, Chicoine chooses to remain positive and has used the time to see the silver lining in all of this madness. I walk the beers out and thank everyone [especially] those who pick up a four pack of beer, said Chicoine. Im blown away that people will drive just to pick up a four pack. Now, we just cant wait to hang out on the deck, added Chicoine. The five-member inter-ministerial central team (IMCT), which is on a visit to Mumbai for an on-spot assessment, has praised Maharashtra government and concluded that Worli Koliwada area could become a model for the rest of the country to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in a cluster, a statement from the chief ministers office (CMO) said on Wednesday. Earlier, the Centre had raised concerns over the implementation of the ongoing lockdown protocol and other measures in Mumbai and Pune, which have emerged as Covid-19 hotspots. Follow latest updates on coronavirus here The team led by Manoj Joshi, additional secretary, Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries, visited the slums in Worli Koliwada on Tuesday for an on-spot inspection of the area. Worli Koliwada falls in the G-South ward of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which has reported 487 Covid-19 positive cases --- the maximum in any cluster in the country -- to date. Aaditya Thackeray, state minister for tourism and environment, represents the area in Maharashtra assembly. The IMCT team praised the Maharashtra governments efforts in breaking the chain of SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease, infection in Worli Koliwada. The team, led by Mr. Joshi, has said that Worli Koliwada can be a good example in the country for making it Covid-19 free. If the same efforts are replicated in other containment zones, it will help break the chain of the viral outbreak, a statement from the CMO said. However, the team expressed concern over the high rate of Covid-19 mortality in Mumbai, which stood at 151 till Tuesday, during a meeting with state chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. The lack of containment in densely populated Dharavi, Asias largest slum, is also another area of concern that figured during the talks. Maharashtra continues to top the countrys list with the maximum number of Covid-19 positive cases, as 552 new cases were reported on Tuesday, taking the total count to 5,218. Mumbai is the epicentre for Covid-19 positive cases in the state, as 419 new cases were reported on Tuesday, and the overall tally in the city stood at 3,451. The state also reported 19 fresh Covid-19 related death on Tuesday, of which 12 were in Mumbai, three in Pune, two in Thane and one each in Sangli and Pimpri-Chinchawad. Maharashtra has reported 251 Covid-19 related fatalities so far. Click here for complete coronavirus coverage The state government issued an order on Tuesday, reversing the earlier relaxations provided in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and the Pune Metropolitan Region (PMR) because of the spike in the number of Covid-19 positive case. The fresh order has banned private building construction activities, the opening of sweet and confectionery shops selling farsan and other edibles. Information technology companies also have been barred from operating with around 50% of their staff strength. However, these relaxations are applicable in other parts of the state amid the ongoing nationwide lockdown restrictions, which was initially enforced for 21 days from March 25 and then further extended by another 19 days till May 3 to contain the spread of Covid-19 outbreak. The state government has also ordered to put a stop on the civic authorities pre-monsoon work till further notice. Construction work on major infrastructure projects, including Metro, coastal road, etc., has also been halted. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON About Ilse van den Berg Ilse is a freelance journalist and editor with a passion for people & their stories (check out Passing Stories ). She is also the editor of Go & Travel , a platform connecting all the stakeholders in the travel & tourism industry. You can check out her work here and here . Contact Ilse through her website here SHOWS: FRANKFURT, GERMANY (NOVEMBER 18, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. THEN NORTHERN IRELAND MANAGER, MICHAEL O'NEILL (LEFT), ON PITCH AHEAD OF TEAM TRAINING SESSION 2. SQUAD JOGGING ON PITCH 3. VARIOUS MORE OF O'NEILL AT TRAINING SESSION 4. O'NEILL SPEAKING AT A NEWS CONFERENCE (NOT A SOUNDBITE) 5. O'NEILL AT NEWS CONFERENCE STORY: Michael O'Neill has left his job as Northern Ireland manager after eight years in charge due to the proposed rescheduling of international fixtures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Irish Football Association said on Wednesday (April 22). O'Neill, who is also the manager of English Championship (second-tier) side Stoke City, was set to oversee Northern Ireland's Euro 2020 playoff semi-final away to Bosnia and Herzegovina which was initially scheduled for March 26. But with European governing body UEFA likely to reschedule the game for September after it pushed the Euros back a year, O'Neill, 50, said this was the best time to step down. O'Neill took charge of Northern Ireland in 2011 and oversaw their qualification for Euro 2016 -- the nation's first major international tournament in 30 years -- where they were knocked out in the last 16. Global soccer has been brought to a virtual standstill by the new coronavirus outbreak, with all major European leagues as well as European club competitions suspended. (Production: Kurt Michael Hall) chp_santa_fe_springs Instagram Shocking CCTV footage has shown the dramatic moment a speeding car crashed through the wall of a family's home in California. In the video, a Toyota Camry soars from the pavement into the side of a house, and two men can be seen running away from the crash moments later. The incident destroyed the side of the house in Rowland Heights at 4.40am on Saturday, NBC News reported. The family members were all asleep in the house at the time of the crash but no-one was injured during the crash, the report said. They may or may not have been injured, CHP officer Marcos Iniguez told NBC News on Monday, attributing their flight from the scene to a likely adrenaline rush. Several images of the destruction caused by the accident were posted on what appeared to be The California Highway Patrol's (CHP) Instagram page in an attempt to warn drivers. In response to the recent question asking the CHP why we are enforcing speed laws amidst the challenges of Covid-19, the account wrote. The owner of the Toyota reported the car stolen later on Saturday, according to officials, NBC News reported. Anyone with information about the two suspects is asked to contact the CHP at 562-868-0503. SEATTLE, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- "Although there was no intentional criminal behavior like there was in the Peanut Corporation of America case that sickened several hundred, killing nine, this hefty food safety fine for negligence, should clearly send a message to the entire restaurant industry," said Marler Clark attorney, William Marler. "The message is clear food safety must be your paramount concern," added Marler. According to a U.S. Attorney press release today, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. will pay $25 million to resolve criminal charges related to the company's involvement in foodborne illness outbreaks that sickened more than 1,100 people between 2015 and 2018. The $25 million criminal fine is the largest ever in a food safety case. Over the last 27 years, Marler Clark represented victims in all major Chipotle foodborne illness outbreaks that also involved criminal sanctions: 2012 Eric and Ryan Jensen Listeria Cantaloupe Outbreak that sickened 147, killing 33 - 5 years' probation. Cantaloupe Outbreak that sickened 147, killing 33 - 5 years' probation. 2012 Jack and Peter DeCoster Salmonella Egg Outbreak that sickened over 2,000 - $7M fine and three months in jail. Egg Outbreak that sickened over 2,000 - fine and three months in jail. 2015 ConAgra Foods Salmonella Peanut Butter Outbreak that sickened over 700 - $11.2M fine. Peanut Butter Outbreak that sickened over 700 - fine. 2014 Stewart Parnell and the Peanut Corporation of America Salmonella Outbreak that sickened over 700, killing nine 28 years in federal prison. and the Peanut Corporation of America Outbreak that sickened over 700, killing nine 28 years in federal prison. 1997 Odwalla E. coli Apple Juice that sickened at least 70, killing one - $1.4M fine. Chipotle was implicated in at least five foodborne illness outbreaks between 2015 and 2018 connected to restaurants in Los Angeles, Boston, Virginia, and Ohio. These incidents primarily stemmed from store-level employees' failure to follow company food safety protocols at company-owned restaurants, including a Chipotle policy requiring the exclusion of employees who were sick or recently had been sick. Not part of the criminal plea, Chipotle was also involved in E. coli and Salmonella cases in 2015. Marler Clark, The Food Safety Law Firm, is the nation's leading law firm representing victims of foodborne outbreaks including E. coli, Salmonella, Hepatitis and Norovirus. Marler Clark is the only law firm in the nation with a practice focused exclusively on foodborne illness litigation. Our lawyers have litigated cases stemming from outbreaks traced to ground beef, raw milk, lettuce, spinach, sprouts, and other food products. SOURCE Marler Clark, The Nation's Food Safety Law Firm Related Links http://www.marlerclark.com Tamil star Vijay, who was last seen on screen in Atlee-directed Bigil, has made a donation of Rs 1.30 core towards coronavirus relief fund. As per a statement, Vijay has donates Rs 25 lakh towards PM relief fund, Rs 50 Tamil Nadu CM relief fund, Rs 10 lakh to Kerala CM relief fund, Rs 25 lakh to Film Employees Federation of South India (FEFSI), Rs 5 lakh each to the CM relief funds of Andhra, Telangana and Karnataka apart from Rs 5 lakh to Puducherry. The statement further added that Vijay has also donated some undisclosed amount to the welfare of members of his fan clubs in Tamil Nadu. On the career front, Vijay will be next seen on screen in upcoming Tamil film Master, which has been directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj. Master stars Vijay in the role of a college professor. Vijay Sethupathi will be seen playing the antagonist. Malavika Mohanan, who made her Tamil debut via Rajinikanths Petta, plays the leading lady. The film also stars Andrea Jeremiah in a key role. Vijays fans recently created and trended the keyword MasterFDFS on Twitter. Since the film didnt release due to lockdown on April 9, fans shared their best first day, first show experience of watching a Vijay film with the keyword MasterFDFS. Vijay was last seen on screen in Atlee-directed Bigil in dual roles. He was seen playing father and son roles and both the characters were well received by the audiences. Bigil, which also starred Jackie Shroff and Nayanthara, went on to mint over Rs 300 crore at the box-office. It emerged as the highest grossing Tamil film of 2019. Also read: Arjun Rampal stuck in Karjat during lockdown with girlfriend Garbriella, son Arik: This will be a story to tell him Meanwhile, Vijay will most likely team up with filmmaker Sudha Kongara for his next Tamil yet-untitled project. Talks have already been initiated. Interestingly, if the project materializes, itll be Vijays maiden collaboration with a female director. Sun Pictures will be bankrolling the project. An official announcement regarding the project is expected to be made this month. It is learnt from reliable sources that Sun Pictures has already paid an advance of Rs 50 crore to Vijay as remuneration for this project. Follow @htshowbiz for more ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop TORONTO - Live concerts are cancelled in most parts of the country for the foreseeable future, yet Ticketmaster and other Canadian ticket portals have continued to sell access to upcoming events that aren't happening. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 22/4/2020 (629 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Fans cheer as American rap artist ASAP Rocky perfoms during a concert at the Stockhom Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019. Live concerts are cancelled in most parts of the country for the foreseeable future, and yet Ticketmaster and other Canadian ticket portals continue to sell access to upcoming events they know aren't happening. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Jessica Gow/TT via AP TORONTO - Live concerts are cancelled in most parts of the country for the foreseeable future, yet Ticketmaster and other Canadian ticket portals have continued to sell access to upcoming events that aren't happening. Several dozen concerts, including a DJ set with Andrew Rayel originally slated for Friday at Toronto's Toybox Nightclub, were still available on Ticketweb, a portal owned by Ticketmaster, until after the company was contacted by The Canadian Press on Wednesday. And concerts once booked throughout May at the PNE Forum in Vancouver were listed by non-profit retailer Ticketleader until the company responded to inquiries on why they were still up for sale. Those PNE shows, which included a Kaytranada concert previously scheduled for May 9, have now been marked "postponed" by Ticketleader until an undetermined new date. The lack of action by ticketsellers illustrates a divide between provincial bans of large public gatherings and how the concert industry is handing the fallout of COVID-19. Several other events organized by Live Nation continued to be available for purchase on Ticketweb until Wednesday afternoon, including a May 2 concert with New York-based singer Margaret Glaspy at a Vancouver venue, and a May 10 date in Toronto with French electronic act Hyphen Hyphen. Other dates, including a Vancouver performance by Ivan & Alyosha on May 9 that was postponed by the artists weeks ago, disappeared from Ticketweb on Wednesday. A Toronto stop on a cancelled tour for Australian singer-songwriter Matt Corby and pianist Lang Lang were still listed on reseller site Stubhub as of Thursday. Ticketmaster representatives provided a statement on behalf of its Ticketweb portal saying it operates a self-service platform for small clubs and independent promoters, who were among the small businesses affected by COVID-19 shutdowns. "Given the complexities of rescheduling event dates with resource-constrained staff and evolving information, these event organizers have needed more time to delist their events as they work tirelessly to make decisions that will ultimately affect their individual livelihoods," the company said. Ticketmaster has already faced backlash for how its handled customers affected by COVID-19 cancellations. The company was widely criticized for its decision to alter its refund policy in the early days of the pandemic, allowing it to decline refunds. After pressure from political leaders, and a reported class action lawsuit filed in the U.S. by a Rage Against the Machine fan, Ticketmaster revised its stance by outlining plans to launch a refund program May 1 "on a rolling basis, for all events impacted by COVID-19." The program, which it's calling "Rock When You're Ready," will offer "concert cash credits" of up to 150 per cent of the face value for future ticket purchases, or ticketholders can choose to donate their tickets to a health-care worker through a Live Nation initiative. Refunds will be issued within 30 days after a concert's cancellation, or a new date has been announced, Ticketmaster said in a statement. The problems surrounding COVID-19 are the latest in a lengthy list of consumer complaints against the ticket giant, which faced widespread scrutiny in Canada four years ago when tickets to The Tragically Hip's final shows were snapped up by ticket bots and reappeared on reseller sites with a massive markup. Pascal Courty, a professor of economics at University of Victoria, has studied the live events and tickets resale industry, and calls the latest moves "profiteering" in a pandemic. "There are general laws to say that you cannot do deceptive practices where you know that you're offering consumers a contract that you cannot deliver," he said. "Ticketmaster is creating a huge mess because once the event is cancelled, knowing how much you're going to give back to these people, it's going to be difficult." However, all of the concerts won't be cancelled outright, and ticketsellers who are buying tickets now will likely be able to use them whenever their show does materialize. Shelley Frost, who oversees Ticketleader as the president of Pacific National Exhibition, said the company is working with concert promoters to reschedule dates, including the Kaytranada show. She said that's why Ticketleader continued to make the events available to purchase, even though there was no certainty when or if they would go forward. The British Columbia government has prohibited gatherings of more than 50 people in one place until at least the end of May. Ready, Pet, Go! Leesa Dahl looks at everything to do with our furry, fuzzy, feathered, fishy (and more!) pet friends. Arrives in your inbox each Monday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. "Promoters have requested that people are still allowed to buy tickets for the show, regardless of what the date is," Frost said shortly before Ticketleader updated its website to note the May 9 postponement. "What we've said in the meantime... is that we're going to take the ability to continue purchasing tickets down, at least through May 30." Frost said Ticketleader would honour refunds if ticketholders made the request. "There is absolutely no intent to try and hold money unnecessarily." This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 22, 2020. Follow @dfriend on Twitter. Tata Steel slipped 0.86% to Rs 263.65, extending losses for the third day. Shares of the steel maker have lost 10.12% in three sessions from its recent closing high of Rs 293.35 recorded on 17 April 2020. Meanwhile, the company announced provisional steel production and sales figures for Q4FY20 and FY20 during market hours today, 22 April 2020. Tata Steel India's steel production rose 5.80% to 4.74 million tons while the sales volumes fell 14.61% to 4.03 million tons in Q4 March 2020 over Q4 March 2019. The steel major said that the Government of India announced a nationwide lockdown with effect from 25th Mar 2020 to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Steel and mining, being essential services and continuous process industries, are exempt from the lockdown measures subject to certain guidelines. However, the lockdown has led to logistic issues and lower demand driven by the shutdown of customer operations in automotive, construction and other segments since last few days of March 2020. While this affected the domestic Q4FY20 sales, production side, however, witnessed a growth in volume. Tata Steel India's full year steel production rose 8.3% to 18.21 million tons while full year steel sales increased by 4.36% to 16.97 million tons in FY20 over FY19. Due to practical constraints in continuing operations, the company is operating integrated steelmaking facilities at lower utilization levels while operations at the downstream facilities have been suspended and put on care and maintenance mode, Tata Steel said in a statement. Tata Steel Europe, despite macro headwinds, was able to keep production and sales stable in Q4FY20 compared to Q3FY20. Overall European steel demand has declined compared to the normal conditions as many customers, including European car manufacturers, have currently paused production. The utilization levels are currently around 70% and dispatches are continuing in both UK and Netherlands. Tata Steel Europe's steel production fell 6.22% to 2.56 million tons while the sales volumes contracted by 7.7% to 2.37 million tons in Q4 March 2020 over Q4 March 2019. For the full year ended on 31 March 2020, European steel production fell 1.16% to 10.18 million tons while the steel sales declined by 3.83% to 9.27 million tons. In South East Asia, Tata Steel's production increased by 5.88% year-on-year (YoY) to 0.54 million tons while steel sales rose 1.69% to 0.6 million tons in Q4FY20. In FY20, Tata Steel South East Asia's steel production increased by 3.82% YoY to 2.17 million tons while the total steel sales remained flat 2.41 million tons. Meanwhile, the steel major announced that the committee of directors has approved allotment of 5,100, 7.85% unsecured, redeemable, rated, listed non-convertible debentures having face value of Rs 10,00,000 each for cash aggregating to Rs 510 crore, to identified investor on private placement basis, on terms and conditions as mentioned in the information memorandum for the said issue. The NCDs are proposed to be listed on the Wholesale Debt Market (WDM) Segment of BSE. On a consolidated basis, Tata Steel reported a net loss of Rs 1,130.65 crore in Q3 December 2019 as compared to a net profit of Rs 2,268.58 crore in Q3 December 2018. Net sales fell 8.7% to Rs 34,774.29 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q3 December 2018. Tata Steel Group is among the top global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of 33 million tonnes per annum (MnTPA). It is one of the world's most geographically-diversified steel producers, with operations and commercial presence across the world. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Midland County is showing one less case testing positive for coronavirus on Wednesday, according to the state's daily afternoon report. Midland County now is listed as having 47 cases and three deaths. "As public health investigations of individual cases continue, there will be corrections to the status and details of referred cases that result in changes to this report," states information on mich.gov, where the daily reports are recorded. Wednesday's report recorded seven new cases for Bay County, bringing its total to 93 and two deaths. Gladwin and Isabella counties each added one, bringing their totals to 10 cases and one death and 54 cases and seven deaths, respectively. Saginaw County added 41 cases, bringing its total to 474 and 35 deaths. The state added 999 new cases on Wednesday and 113 deaths. Overall, Michigan is at 33,966 cases and 2,813 deaths. The average death age is 74, according to the state website, with the deceased ranging in age from 5 to 107. The state lists 39% of the deceased as 80-plus and 27% age 70-79. State statistics show 55% of coronavirus deaths are male and 45% are female. The state lists the total recovered at 3,237 cases, as of April 18, which represents COVID-19 confirmed individuals with an onset date on or prior to March 18, 2020, according to the state website, mich.gov. During this response, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is reviewing vital records statistics to identify any laboratory confirmed COVID-19 cases who are 30 days out from their onset of illness to represent recovery status, according to the state website. The numbers will be updated every Saturday. The state lists the majority of races in positive cases as 33% Black/African American; 31% Caucasian and 22% unknown, and the top three races in deaths as 40% Black/African American; 44% Caucasian and 11% unknown The total positive cases are 45% men, 54% women and 1% unknown. Midland County Department of Public Health continues to encourage residents to take precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19: Continue to practice social distancing as recommended by federal, state and local officials Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash Disinfect commonly touched surfaces Stay home when you are sick Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. We cannot stress enough how important it is for our community to be diligent in their community mitigation efforts," said Fred Yanoski, Midland County Public Health director/health officer. "We know that COVID-19 is in our community, and our residents can make a huge impact on slowing the spread of disease by following the recommended precautions." If you think you've been exposed to COVID-19 and develop a fever and symptoms such as cough or difficulty breathing, call your health care provider for medical advice. If he/she isn't available call MidMichigan Urgent Care in Midland at 989- 633-1350 or MidMichigan Medical Center's Emergency Department in Midland at 989-839-3100. MidMichigan Health has a COVID-19 informational hotline with a reminder of CDC guidelines and recommendations. The hotline can be reached toll-free at 800-445-7356 or 989-794-7600. Michigan Department of Health and Human Services also has a hotline number for Michigan residents for questions about COVID-19. The number is 1-888-535-6136 and is available seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Residents can also send an e-mail to: COVID19@michigan.gov. E-mails will be answered seven days a week between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. If you are feeling anxious, stressed, depressed and feel you need to talk to someone, reach out to Community Mental Health for Central Michigan by calling 800-317-0708. This is the shocking moment an Audi-driving yob tears through a leafy suburb in broad daylight. The cocky thug turned the near-abandoned roads into his own personal racetrack, while laughing pals egged him on and filmed the wild ride in Bromley, south east London. Motorists blasted their horns in outrage as the young man weaved between traffic at break-neck speed and narrowly avoided hitting two unsuspecting cyclists from behind during the one-minute rampage. The footage emerged as Britain's biggest police force, the Metropolitan police, promised to crackdown on speeding motorists who are abusing the clearer roads during the coronavirus lockdown. It's set up a special task force to tackle speeding motorists in the capital. Video of the Bromley joyride was leaked on social media on Saturday and viewed more than 85,000 times. The cocky thug turned the near-abandoned roads into his own personal racetrack, while laughing pals egged him on and filmed the wild ride in Bromley, south east London Motorists blasted their horns in outrage as the young man weaved between traffic at break-neck speed It shows the driver - wearing sunglasses and gloves - accelerating recklessly through deserted residential streets before cornering without looking. He floors it up a long straight road, then takes a bend too fast and veers across the divide. He aggressively overtakes a car then darts between two cyclists and a passing vehicle - missing them by inches, prompting dissent from other motorists. The grinning driver then turns towards the camera and boasts about the move, shouting: 'RS, mate.' The Metropolitan Police claim average speeds on some roads have increased by as much as 50 per cent during lockdown. Pictured: A police officer using a hand-held speed gun (library image) A man in the passenger seat cheers as the driver revs the engine and they go full circle on a roundabout before speeding back the way they came. Viewers on social media were appalled. Louise Macdonald wrote: 'Some poor person could have been crossing the road. They wouldn't stand a chance if they hit them.' Nikki Hanson commented: 'There are people like myself and my colleagues out and about at all times looking after those who have this virus and are in their own homes. He could take away the vital support these people need as they are dying. Inconsiderate selfish pig.' The Metropolitan Police has been approached for comment. Road safety chiefs claim average speeds on some roads have increased by as much as 50 per cent during lockdown. One driver was even caught travelling at 151mph on the M1 in London. Det Supt Andy Cox, who is heading the unit, told the Daily Telegraph that speeding was on the rise due to a combination of 'extreme speeders' and other drivers thinking they could get away with going faster on emptier roads. He said: 'In some roads where we have checks, the average speed has increased by more than 50 per cent and one 20mph road is averaging 40mph. 'When we stop the drivers, they say it is the clear roads and that they didn't expect us to be there because they thought we would be engaged with coronavirus-related issues. 'Such behaviour is totally unacceptable and increases the chances of a serious collision.' Det Supt Cox has posted a series of videos on his Twitter feed showing speeding drivers during lockdown In one, a driver led police officers on a 151mph car chase near the M1. In the footage, police chase the driver for more than a minute, before he comes to a stop, gets out of his vehicle, a SEAT Leon, and flees on foot. In another a driver can be seen travelling at up to 123mph on a road in north London. Figures, from the Met Police and reported in the Daily Telegraph, show the maximum speed recorded in a 20mph zone was 73mph, while one driver was caught speeding at 151mph on the M1 before getting out of the car and fleeing on foot. Data released earlier this month that London has higher traffic levels than other major European capitals - indicating that motorists are still making unnecessary journeys despite the lockdown. Data from TomTom found that 20 per cent of London's roads were congested on average between Monday to Friday in the last week of March, against the usual figure of 40 per cent. Pictured: Traffic congestion is still a problem in some roads in London The analysis, conducted by the Financial Times, using figures Netherlands-based traffic data firm TomTom, found that 20 per cent of London's roads were congested on average between Monday to Friday in the last week of March, against the usual figure of 40 per cent. Separately, the Road Safety Analysis group has found traffic on A roads in South East England fell by 56 per cent by the end of March compared with a week earlier. But it also discovered that average speeds have gone up by at least 10 per cent over the last two weeks on March, amid concerns drivers are breaking restrictions on empty roads. The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) welcomes the news that journalist Mukhtar Mohamed Atosh, reporter for Voice of America -Somali Service (VOA), has been freed on bail following an arrest that prompted national and international condemnation for just reporting on a rape case. Mukhtar Mohamed Atosh, who was arrested on 20 April 2020, was released on bail, following the intervention of the Speaker of the Parliament of Southwest State Ambassador Ali Said Faqi who has conferred with the President of Southwest State Abdulaziz Hassan Mohamed (Laftagaren). 'It is welcome news that Mukhtar Atosh is out of prison. We continue to maintain that Atosh is innocent and all he was doing was his legitimate journalistic work, and we are grateful to all who extended solidarity to him and advocated for his release," said Omar Faruk Osman, NUSOJ Secretary General. NUSOJ wants charges levelled against Atosh to be dropped entirely as they are directly linked to his legitimate activity as a journalist and calls for local journalists to be allowed to pursue their journalistic work without any intimidations. Southwest Attorney General yesterday preferred serious charges against Mukhtar Mohamed Atosh, a member of NUSOJ Executive Committee. Atosh still faces following criminal charges: 1. Penal Code Article 271: Offence against the authorities by means of Damaging information 2. Penal Code Article 326: Intimidation of the Public 3. Penal Code Article 327: Giving False Alarm to Authorities 4. Penal Code Article 328: Publication or circulation of false, exaggerated or tendentious news of capable of disturbing public order South African Airways administrators will be asked to suspend a legal process to dismiss the airlines entire workforce, a labor union said. Unions with members at the state-owned airline met with South Africas public enterprises, labor and tourism ministers in a video conference yesterday. This followed the administrators saying they would start talks on retrenchments after the government cut off funding for the airline, the Aviation Union of South Africa said in a statement. Workers will only get half their salaries this month, the union said. The administrators, known locally as Business Rescue Practitioners, were not invited to the meeting. The administrators were appointed in December. Now read: The end of the road for SAA A growing body of scientific research linking tyre wear to microplastic pollution, as well as increasing scrutiny from lawmakers in the European Union (EU), has led the $180 billion-a-year tyre industry to fight back. The companies have stepped up lobbying with EU lawmakers weighing tougher regulations on tyre wear, according to lawmakers and LobbyFacts.eu, a website that tracks EU lobbying data. They are also quickly countering scientific studies on tyres and microplastic pollution with ones of their own that say tyre particles present no significant risk to humans and the environment. Cardno ChemRisk, a U.S.-based consultancy that has worked with companies facing chemical exposure litigation, including Johnson & Johnson, BP Plc and Ford Motor Co., is spearheading the tyre industry's response to the microplastics threat. It declined to comment for this story. The plastic particles, which are increasingly being found in the air, food, drinking water and even Arctic ice, may pose a risk to human health and marine life, although there is no scientific consensus on the issue. The World Health Organization said last year that there was an urgent need to find out more about the health impact of microplastics, which some environmental researchers say could weaken the immune system. At least 10 studies since 2014 by academics and environmental consultancies cite particles generated by friction between tyres and the road as one of the biggest sources of microplastics - fragments less than five millimetres long being released into the environment. REPORTS COMMISSIONED The tyre industry has published at least ten studies over the last decade concluding that tyre particles present no significant risk to humans and the environment, and are not as prevalent as other research shows. The reports, available online, were all fully or partly authored by Cardno ChemRisk, according to a Reuters review of the documents. Three of the reports have been published since 2017. On its website, the consultancy says its work "is not influenced by the member companies of the (tyre) industry, nor by the trade associations". The Tire Industry Project (TIP) which is funded by 11 tyre companies, including Bridgestone Corp, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co, The Michelin Group and Continental AG - commissioned most of those assessments, according to the group's website. The European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers Association (ETRMA), an industry body lobbying European lawmakers, also commissioned a study authored by Cardno ChemRisk consultants. Two former Cardno ChemRisk employees who prepared some of the reports and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the assessments were partly aimed at preparing for potential chemical exposure claims that could be brought by individuals, companies or governments. It was not possible to independently confirm this. "We focus on issues where we think there is a lot of litigation potential," one of the former employees said. "If we found something that would make our client look bad, we wouldn't publish it." Gavin Whitmore, a TIP spokesman, said the group's sponsored research was aimed at "answering fundamental questions about the potential human health and environmental impacts of tyres" and not as preparation for possible chemical exposure claims. He added that the group had no knowledge of Cardno ChemRisk omitting information from its studies. ChemRisk worked with BP after the Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010, Pacific Gas & Electric in the water contamination lawsuit in the 1990s that inspired the movie Erin Brockovich, and for Johnson & Johnson and Ford in asbestos cases. It was bought by Cardno, an Australian infrastructure group, in 2012. ETRMA and TIP said the research they commissioned from Cardno ChemRisk was independent and fair. NEW REGULATIONS LOOM For tyre makers facing new rules, the stakes are high. EU lawmakers are considering regulations that would set minimum standards for tyre design to reduce microplastic pollution, such as the rate of abrasion and durability. The requirement could lead to billions of dollars in redesign costs for tyre makers, three industry sources said. Jarmo Sunnari, senior manager on standards and regulation at Nokian Tyres Oyj , a Finnish manufacturer, said the effect would be of "that kind of great magnitude", when asked about estimates of a financial hit of billions of dollars made by several industry experts. Such added costs would be a financial headache for an industry that has suffered a sharp drop in sales due to the coronavirus outbreak, ETRMA data last week showed. Fazilet Cinaralp, ETRMA's secretary general, acknowledged a cost from future regulations but that it was too early to quantify. She said ETRMA's goal was to broaden knowledge about tyre wear by funding research and assisting with the development of a tyre wear test. "The tyre industry wants to be part of the solution," said Cinaralp. Olly Jamieson, a researcher for Eunomia, a sustainability consultancy that conducted a 2018 study on tyre wear for the European Commission, said the industry tended to focus on external factors influencing tyre wear like driver behaviour, road conditions and weather, rather than things like tyre design, cited in the scientific studies. Environmental groups have also questioned the independence and accuracy of the industry studies. Specifically, they take issue with the narrow use of consultants and the industry's conclusion that there is no risk to health from tyre particles. "Given evidence of the contribution to both air pollution and aquatic pollution, it is misleading to claim that there is no risk of harm from tyre-wear microplastic emissions," said Julian Kirby, plastics pollution campaigner for Friends of the Earth, an environmental group that has studied the links between tyres and plastic pollution in Britain. "There is an appreciable risk that pollution from car tyres is harmful to human health." The tyre companies and company-funded groups say it is premature to declare that particles from tyres are harmful to humans or the environment. "The peer-reviewed scientific research that we have sponsored concludes that" tyre and road-wear particles "present low risk to human health and the environment," TIP's Whitmore said. "The scientific data that we have do not show a risk on human health or any demonstrative impact on flora and fauna," said Cyrille Roget, Michelin's technical and scientific communication director. "It's important to continue to work on the gaps that we have in our knowledge." Joerg Burfein, who was until recently head of global standards and regulations at Continental, said microplastics had become a focus for the firm in the last two years. "We are open to solve it but we also said let's look at all facts, let's not have an emotional debate," said Burfein, who was named president of Hoosier Racing Tire Corp., a Continental subsidiary, in January. Eunomia's 2018 study concluded that 500,000 tonnes of microplastics are generated from tyres in the EU every year, accounting for potentially the largest source of microplastics in the aquatic environment. A year earlier, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) published a paper that estimated that tyres were responsible for 28% of primary microplastics in the world's oceans. Weeks later, ETRMA, the tyre-lobbying body, commissioned a study that found that most tyre particles never make it into rivers and oceans as they are captured in drains or by the roadside. ETRMA says it could be take up to seven years to roll out a test for tyre abrasion, which will impact the timeframe for future legislation. Some critics say this is a delaying tactic. Cinaralp said the ETRMA was not trying to delay EU legislation. "I do not see any great commitment by the tyre industry to address this problem," said Joao de Sousa, a marine plastics specialist at IUCN who has held consultations on microplastics with tyre industry officials. "They want business as usual." Bay of Plenty If you love working out doors and in a small team then we have the role for you. We are needing someone who has either maintenance... View or Apply on GoodWork.co.nz A 14-year-old girl has been arrested after spitting in the mouth of a police officer. Devon and Cornwall Police was called to Boscawen Street, Truro yesterday after thefts were reported from stores in the city centre. A teenager was apprehended on suspicion of stealing and causing anti-social behaviour at around 6.15pm, before officers were then spat and kicked at, the force said. Devon and Cornwall Police was called to Boscawen Street, Truro, pictured, yesterday after thefts were reported from stores in the city centre It is the latest in a series of disgusting incidents during the coronavirus lockdown. On Sunday, a teenage yob spat in his hand and wiped it on the face of a terrified three-year-old girl before telling her he had the virus. Matt Batty, 28, was returning from the shops with his daughter Alice-Rose in Darfield, Barnsley when the pair were confronted by four teenagers on bikes. Alice-Rose innocently told them they should 'go home because of the nasty bugs' before one of them smeared spit in her face, telling her: 'I've got corona'. A few days earlier, NHS care manager Amy Hall, 28, was targeted by a member of the public in a Lidl car park in Waterlooville, Hampshire. A 'middle-aged man' approached her and branded her a 'virus spreader' before attempting to spit on her as she walked towards the shop. In recent weeks, a number of thugs have been jailed for similar attacks, often on those working on the frontline. Luke Beresford, 24, was sentenced to 17 weeks in prison after he coughed and spat at a policeman on Easter Sunday, having been arrested for being drunk in Cheltenham town centre. A teenager was apprehended on suspicion of stealing and causing anti-social behaviour at around 6.15pm, before officers were then spat and kicked at, the force said Meanwhile, in the West Midlands three men were jailed for related offences. Officers arrested Thomas Wilson, 19, after it is claimed he spat at a lorry driver and brandished an axe during an altercation in Coventry. He resisted arrest and suggested he had Covid-19 symptoms before threatening to cough and spit at the female officer. Wilson, from Hepworth Road, Binley, was charged with possessing an offensive weapon, a public order offence, assault by spitting at the lorry driver, and assaulting an emergency services worker. Most charges were deferred to be dealt with at a later date but Judge Andrew Lockhart jailed Wilson after he admitted the spit threat. On the same day another man, Bevan Burke, was jailed after he spat at a shopkeeper who had banned him from the store for shoplifting. Police said Burke stormed into Allen's Croft Post Office in Northfield, Birmingham, on April 3 and spat at the victim, shouting: 'I have corona ... you're going to die.' The 22-year-old was arrested later that day, and while being transported to police custody began coughing and blowing towards officers and again said: 'I've got confirmed coronavirus and now you've got it. I hope you and your family die.' He was jailed for 42 weeks at Birmingham Crown Court having admitted assaulting emergency workers and the shopkeeper, as well as shoplifting at the convenience store on January 10. Meanwhile, a 54-year-old man was also given a prison sentence for spitting in the face of a West Midlands Police officer in Birmingham city centre. Officers attended a petrol station in Corporation Street following reports of a drunk man causing problems, pouring fuel on the floor and obstructing traffic. Anthony Evans, of no fixed address but originally from Atherstone in Warwickshire, tried kicking out at them and, as they detained him, spat in an officer's face. He was jailed for 16 weeks at Birmingham Crown Court, police said. Anyone with information on the incident in Truro should contact police using the crime reference CR/032004/20. DES MOINES Gov. Kim Reynolds announced a high of 482 new positive cases of coronavirus and four new deaths on Tuesday, noting a third of the new cases were the result of more testing at the states meatpacking plants. She also revealed Iowa is only the second state to begin assessing all its residents online and allowing for the testing of 3,000 more residents per day for the next 180 days, thanks to a new partnership the state has with a private company from Utah. All Iowans were asked to take an online assessment at TestIowa.com, which mandates users provide their full name and address, date of birth, height in inches, weight, an email address and a cell phone number. The questionnaire then asks people if they have symptoms of coronavirus, if theyve been around someone who tested positive or have had respiratory symptoms in the last two weeks, if they have any underlying medical conditions, how many people of what ages live in their home, if theyve been practicing social distancing and in what industry they work. Those who qualify to be tested will then be emailed a QR code they can take to a mobile testing site, which Reynolds said will be set up around the state as needed in the coming weeks. Black Hawk County health director Dr. Nafissa Cisse Egbuonye said Tuesday the questionnaire and process leaves out a lot of low-income individuals who may not have an email address or even the internet at home. Individuals who dont want to share private medical information, those who dont speak English or undocumented people also may be uncomfortable or unwilling to answer invasive questions. The method in which theyve communicated theyd do the testing is not really conducive for our community, she said. An individual would have to go online to answer a questionnaire and use a QR code, and some of our people dont even have smartphones. You have to understand the community. But Black Hawk County is exactly the kind of hot spot officials are looking to get more information on, as Reynolds said Tuesday that 33% of todays positive cases related to surveillance testing at meat processing plants. The information collected is critical to better understand the virus activity across the state, Reynolds said, noting it was also important to know where coronavirus activity was not occurring so that she could responsibly begin to reopen parts of Iowa. Of the 3,641 cases in 84 of Iowas 99 counties, 1,293 people have recovered, for a 35% recovery rate, Reynolds said. Another 214 were hospitalized across the state, 89 of those in intensive care units and 60 on ventilators. Another four had died, bringing the states total to 83. More than half 51% of all deaths were residents of long-term care facilities, she said. Black Hawk County was up to 366 cases in the states count, but county officials said Tuesday morning they recorded 374 cases. Butler County added one case for a total of two, and Fayette County also added one case for a total of seven. Grundy County added one case for a total of six, and Hardin County added one case for a total of four. Winneshiek County also added one case for a total of seven. 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. Delta Air Lines, the biggest and most profitable U.S. airline, lost $534 million in the first quarter, a setback that will appear trivial when the full force of the pandemic is revealed in the current quarter. Delta warned Wednesday that revenue during the April-through-June quarter, typically a period of harried travel, will plummet by 90% compared with last year, when there were no government travel restrictions and flights were full. RAIDING THE STIMULUS: Publicly traded firms get $300 million in small-business loans These are truly unprecedented times for all of us," CEO Ed Bastian said. Delta is the first U.S. carrier to detail the damage that began to emerge in at the tail end of the first quarter, although United Airlines said Monday that it would record a pretax loss of $2.1 billion, confirming what most had suspected. The focus now at Delta and other airlines is to hunker down, cut costs, and borrow billions of dollars needed to ride out the pandemic. The fate of Delta and other airlines will depend on whether that is a matter of months, or years. Industry leaders just weeks ago talked of a slump that would be followed by a sharp rebound once the public felt that the outbreak was under control. They're now bracing for a much more painful and drawn out recovery. Flights within the United States in the past week have averaged about 12 passengers each, according to trade group Airlines for America. And there are already 75% fewer flights than is typical. Delta is now paying out more in refunds for cancelled flights than it receives from new bookings. At the end of March, it was burning through $100 million a day, though it hopes to cut that rate in half before July. With passenger traffic roughly 5% of year-ago levels, Delta is taking an ax to its schedule, cutting passenger-carrying capacity in the second quarter by 85%, with the deepest cuts on international routes. Delta has parked more than 650 planes, closed airport lounges and offered unpaid leave of up to a year 37,000 employees, more than one-third of Delta's work force, have accepted. LEGENDARY SPOT SHUTTERING: Texas venue that launched Janis Joplin's career set to close Delta will get $5.4 billion in grants and loans from the federal government to cover payroll costs through September. What happens to employees after the federal money runs out isn't clear, but Delta expects to be a smaller company after the pandemic subsides. The airline could apply for $4.6 billion more in federal loans. It has raised $5.4 billion from bank loans, aircraft sale-leasebacks and other measures and drawn down $3 billion from earlier credit lines. For the first quarter, the Atlanta carrier's pretax loss, not counting adjustments to investments, was 51 cents per share, matching Wall Street expectations, according to a survey by FactSet. Revenue dropped by $1.9 billion, or 18%, to $8.59 billion, well below industry analysts projections of $9.18 billion, and Delta's weakest since early 2013. The decline was in every part of the plane revenue fell in both premium seating like business class and in the main cabin. The average flight was 73.1% full, down nearly 10 percentage points from a year earlier, but that figure covers the entire quarter there were far more empty seats in the second half of March. About the only bright spot for Delta was the fuel bill, which fell 19%, a savings of $383 million. But like people who are stuck in their homes during the pandemic, Delta isn't taking full advantage of plunging energy prices because it is canceling so many flights. RETURNED FUNDING: Shake Shack to return $10 million loan intended for small businesses Shares of Delta Air Lines Inc., which have dropped 60% since the start of the year, are down slightly before the opening bell. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- While school buildings are closed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19), New York City has set up meal hubs across the five boroughs to hand out free grab-and-go meals to children and adults. The Department of Education (DOE) is offering three free meals on weekdays for any New Yorker at more than 400 hubs across the city. All three meals can be picked up at one time from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Heres what you need to know. Who can receive a free meal? Children and families will be able to pick up meals from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. Parents and guardians can pick up meals for their children. Mayor Bill de Blasio expanded the free meal program to adults -- who can pick up free meals from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. No one will be turned away from receiving a meal, according to the DOEs website. No registration, identification, or documentation is required. Vegetarian and halal options will also be available at all sites. No dining space is available, so meals must be eaten off-premises. We made a commitment to provide any New Yorker with three meals a day if they need them during this crisis, said Nathaniel Styer, a spokesman for the DOE. Whats on the menu? The DOE has menus available for free breakfast and lunch meals. Breakfast meals include cereal, juice, milk, graham crackers and sun-butter cups. Lunch meals include assorted deli sandwiches or wraps with different proteins, vegetables, fruits and milk. All menus are subject to change. Menus are pork-free, and no fried food is offered or served in the meals. No artificial flavors, colors, or sweeteners are used in any school meal. What if my meal hub is closed? Some meal hub sites may close temporarily due to staffing changes, according to the DOE. If a meal hub is temporarily closed for this reason, the DOE places signs at the front of the site directing people to the closest open meal hub. The meal hub at PS 30, Westerleigh, is temporarily closed due to staffing changes, according to the DOE. The nearest meal hubs are located at PS 54 in Willowbrook and PS 29 in Castleton Corners. Where are the sites on Staten Island? There are usually 50 meal hubs on Staten Island, according to the DOE. However, while PS 30 is temporarily closed, 49 meal hubs are currently open for meals. Families can search Free Meals on schools.nyc.gov or call 311 to find a site near them. Families can also text FOOD or COMIDA to 877-877 to find a meal near them. Here is a complete list of meal hubs on Staten Island: -- CSI High School for International Studies, New Springville 100 Essex Dr. -- Curtis High School, St. George - 105 Hamilton Ave. -- Bernstein Intermediate School (I.S. 7), Huguenot 1270 Huguenot Ave. -- Barnes Intermediate School (I.S. 24), Great Kills - 750 Durant Ave. -- Prall Intermediate School (I.S. 27), West Brighton - 11 Clove Lake Place -- Totten Intermediate School (I.S. 34), Tottenville 528 Academy Ave. -- Markham Intermediate School (I.S. 51), Graniteville 80 Willowbrook Rd. -- Morris Intermediate School (I.S. 61), Brighton Heights 445 Castleton Ave. -- Rocco Laurie Intermediate School (I.S. 72), New Springville - 33 Ferndale Ave. -- Dreyfus Intermediate School (I.S. 49), Stapleton - 101 Warren St. -- Egbert Intermediate School (I.S. 2), Midland Beach - 333 Midland Ave. -- New Dorp High School, New Dorp - 465 New Dorp Lane -- PS 9, Concord 1055 Targee St. -- PS 3, Pleasant Plains 80 South Goff Ave. -- PS 4, Arden Heights -- 200 Nedra Lane -- PS 13, Rosebank 191 Vermont Ave. -- PS 16, Tompkinsville - 195 Daniel Low Terrace -- PS 18, West Brighton - 221 Broadway -- PS 19, West Brighton 780 Post Ave. -- PS 20, Port Richmond - 161 Park Ave. -- PS 22, Graniteville - 1860 Forest Ave. -- PS 23, Richmond 30 Natick St. -- PS 26, Travis - 4108 Victory Blvd. -- PS 29, Castleton Corners 1581 Victory Blvd. -- PS 30, Westerleigh - 200 Wardwell Ave. ** Temporarily closed until further notice ** -- PS 31, New Brighton - 55 Layton Ave. -- PS 36, Annadale 255 Ionia Ave. -- PS 42, Eltingville 380 Genesee Ave. -- PS 44, Mariners Harbor - 80 Maple Parkway -- PS 45, West Brighton 58 Lawrence Ave. -- PS 46, South Beach 41 Reid Ave. -- PS 50, Oakwood 200 Adelaide Ave. -- PS 52, Dongan Hills - 450 Buel Ave. -- PS 53, Bay Terrace - 330 Durant Ave. -- PS 54, Willowbrook - 1060 Willowbrook Rd. -- PS 55, Eltingville - 54 Osborne St. -- PS 57, Clifton - 140 Palma Drive -- PS 60, Bulls Head - 55 Merrill Ave. -- PS 11, Dongan Hills - 51 Jefferson St. -- PS 39, Arrochar - 99 Macfarland Ave. -- PS 6, Tottenville 555 Page Ave. -- PS 37R, Great Kills 15 Fairfield St. -- PS 373R, New Brighton 91 Henderson Ave. -- Port Richmond High School, Port Richmond - 85 St. Josephs Ave. -- PS 68 Port Richmond School for Visionary Learning, Port Richmond Center 1625 Forest Ave. -- Ralph R. McKee CTE High School, St. George 290 St. Marks Place -- Staten Island School of Civic Leadership, Graniteville 280 Regis Drive -- PS 59, New Brighton 300 Richmond Terrace -- PS 41, New Dorp 216 Clawson St. -- The Michael J. Petrides School, Sunnyside - 715 Ocean Terrace What about medically fragile students? The DOE has partnered with food platform DoorDash to deliver meals to hundreds of medically fragile students across all five boroughs. For the kids who are medically fragile, such as students with a compromised immune system or those who lack the mobility to access meals at hub sites, DoorDashs fleet of Dashers will deliver meals from the meal hub sites directly to the students home. Each driver will complete anywhere between 10 and 20 drops between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. daily. The partnership is powered by Project DASH, DoorDashs flagship social impact program that leverages its logistics expertise to tackle the dual epidemics of hunger and food waste. 38 Life on lockdown: Coronavirus in NYC FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER. THE Department of Education (DepEd) has yet to decide whether classes for K-12 students nationwide may resume in August or be suspended until December 2020. DepEd Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan on Wednesday, April 22, said the department is closely looking at facts and evidence, in consultation with its partners and stakeholders, in deciding when to open the school year 2020-2021. The department has reiterated that the safety, health, and well-being of learners, teachers, and parents are primary consideration in its Learning Continuity Plan to adapt to the "new normal" of education amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic. The agency said Wednesday it received 833,460 responses to its national survey on the opening of classes for the upcoming school year. DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones, in a Laging Handa press briefing, said most of the responses favored a school opening in August. Sa ating consultations, karamihan ay nagsasabi, para may panahon tayo sa pagbabago ng edukasyon, pagbabago sa pamamaraan ng pagtuturo at saka para masigurado na malinis at safe ang ating kabataan, ay karamihan ay August, Briones said. But she also said the inputs of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Diseases and President Rodrigo Duterte, will play a big role in the agencys decision making. Kung ano man ang rekomendasyon ng IATF, and decision of the President, may influence ito kung kailan magbubukas ang klase, she said. She also said they were looking at online classes as the new normal instead of physical interaction in the classroom. UP Resilience Institute (UPRI) Director Alfredo Mahar Francisco Lagmay earlier recommended the suspension of classes until December 2020. Kapag walang klase hanggang December, there will be a great slowdown in the transmission of the Covid-19. Ito po ay isa sa mga rekomendasyon na binibigay, he said . Malaluan, for his part, asked UP experts to engage with the DepEd before preempting the decision. Story continues We hope the UP experts will engage with DepEd on this; this is under deliberation and consultation with in DepEd and with partners, Malaluan said in a Twitter post Wednesday. We are looking closely at facts and evidence, including theirs. We hope the UP experts would not preempt this decision without even checking with the Department, he added. Classes for school year 2019-2020 were cut short after novel coronavirus infections soared in the country, especially in the National Capital Region. President Duterte ordered the suspension of classes in Metro Manila on March 9, 2020. The class suspension was later replicated nationwide as cases of Covid-19 continued to increase. (JTM/SunStar Philippines) (Newser) With humans at home, animals are free to roamand even reclaim places once dominated by people. A serene example is the jellyfish seen gliding through calm waters in Venice, Italy, in the reflection of a grand palace, Time reports. Biologist Andrea Mangoni shot video of the gelatinous creature as it took advantage of a boat-less canal. "I was able to film a jellyfish that was swimming close to the San Marco square, only few inches below the water surface," he tells Reuters. An Italian professor says this species of jellyfish, the rhisostoma pulmo, roams the upper Adriatic and likely entered the canals via tidal flows. Similar images are appearing worldwide amid the coronavirus pandemic, like: story continues below Wild mountain goats "running rampant" in a Welsh town and macaque gangs fighting in the empty streets of Lopburi, Thailand, Global News reports. Dogs seen hunting a wild boar in Ajmer, India, and several deer resting on the grass bordering homes in Harold Hill, England. Coyotes, foxes, and deer photographed by Toronto residents in "usually bustling areas of the city," the Toronto Star reports. An odd role reversal at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium. With no visitors around, staff there let penguins check out other species, the Chicago Tribune reported in March. This video of a penguin visiting black-barred silver dollars is worth the click. (Or read about America's first cases of coronavirus in pets .) WESTPORT As the town prepares to be the first in the state to launch an aggressive community surveillance campaign with drone technology in the fight against COVID-19, the ACLU has raised privacy concerns. This pandemic has opened up a new frontier and urgent need for the use of drones, Police Chief Foti Koskinas said Tuesday. Using drones remains a go-to technology for reaching remote areas with little to no manpower required. Because of this technology, our officers will have the information and quality data they need to make the best decision in any given situation. One of the major problems in managing and responding to a pandemic is determining how wide the disease has spread and protecting first responders, according to Koskinas. He said the drone software uses biometric readings to understand population patterns and allows quicker reaction time to ongoing events or potential health threats. The goal is to provide better health monitoring support for potential at-risk groups, including seniors, as well as for gathering crowds at beaches, train stations, parks and recreation areas and shopping centers, he said. Koskinas said it will not be used in individual private yards, nor does it employ facial recognition technology. David McGuire, executive director of the ACLU of Connecticut, said he recognizes that COVID-19 is a grave public health risk, and innovative tools should be considered to help mitigate the problem. But, he said, technology is no magic pill to stemming the pandemic. Towns and the state should be wary of self-interested, privacy-invading companies using COVID-19 as a chance to market their products and create future business opportunities, he said. Any new surveillance measure that isnt being advocated for by public health professionals and restricted solely for public health use should be promptly rejected, and we are naturally skeptical of towns announcing these kinds of partnerships without information about who is operating the drones, what data they will collect, or how or if that data will be stored, shared, or sold, he said. While drone technology has been used to fight the pandemic in the U.S. and around the world since late March, it has not yet been used in Connecticut. Westport was an early epicenter in the state for the virus, with many cases connected with a party that was held at a home in town and attended by at least 100 people on March 5. As of Tuesday, Westport had 198 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and one person who died with the virus. The town is partnering with Draganfly, a health care data service, and the University of South Australia in testing the technology here. The Westport Police Department is one of the most progressive public safety agencies in the nation and real pioneers when it comes to adopting and integrating new technology to enhance the safety of their citizens and first responders, said Cameron Chell, CEO of Draganfly. This coronavirus pandemic has opened up a new frontier for advanced drones. In conjunction with our partners, including the town of Westport, together we are the first in the U.S. to implement this state-of-the-art technology to analyze data in a way that has been peer reviewed and clinically researched to save lives. A medical supply company, which provides much-needed personal protection equipment, is finding new ways to meet hospital needs during the novel coronavirus crisis. Medline Industries, based in Illinois, has North Carolina distribution centers in Lincolnton, with 300 workers, and Concord with 75 employees. Were covering all of North Carolina and can get anywhere within 24 hours, said Jesse Greenberg, company spokesman. As the largest privately-held U.S. manufacturer and distributor of medical products, from PPE to advanced electronic equipment for hospital systems, the company finds itself on the forefront of the crisis, Greenberg said. We are managing some complex challenges in the supply chain in response to our customers needs to respond to COVID-19, the disease caused by the new virus, Greenberg said. For example, the company found other sources and ways to speed up the delivery of medical supplies amid nationwide shortages. Medline is the prime vendor for about 40% of U.S. hospital systems, Greenberg said. It has 22 manufacturing facilities and more than 50 distribution centers that can deliver anywhere in the country within 20 minutes, Greenberg said. He didnt say which hospitals in the Charlotte area Medline work with. The companys distribution centers, including Lincolnton and Concord, have been running 24/7 shifts with up to 65 trucks to meet demand thats been up 300% in the Carolinas and east Tennessee since March, Greenberg said. Medline Industries Charlotte distribution center in Lincolnton has been working to meet medical supply demand thats up 300% since March, company spokesman Jesse Greenberg said. Meeting PPE needs Medline is putting a focus on PPE needs. Were responding in different ways to get more PPE to the market, Greenberg said. He said the company has enough supply for current customers, but if new network hospital wants to come in, were not able to accommodate that right now. Our Charlotte distribution center employs more than 300 people who are coming to work each day despite the challenges of social distancing, shelter in place. Our workforce has resiliently responded to rally at this critical moment, said Jesse Greenberg, Medline Industries spokesman. The supply of PPEs come from partners in Asia and China. Gloves come from Malaysia. Were working with manufacturers to increase output, Greenberg said. This month alone, he said, the company will distribute 1.4 billion gloves across the country. And in the next six weeks, Medline will distribute 70 million face masks throughout the country, Greenberg said. Story continues Comparing the first three months of last year to this year, 15 million more face masks have been distributed. Retooling Medlines 400,000-square-foot Lincolnton facility opened five years ago. Joe Egbert, senior director of operations at the site, said the main business is supplying to hospitals. One way the company has worked to meet the demands is by flying in shipments of PPE from China, which shortens the time it would typically take to travel by up to four weeks instead of on cargo vessels. The company also worked with other contracted manufacturers to retool and supply PPEs, for example, increasing facemask supplies from Latin America. Egbert said the hours have been long, similar to hurricanes and other crisis situations. It makes you really proud of each and every team member reporting to work every day, he said. Greenberg said last month, Medline also began retooling its manufacturing facilities in other parts of the country, such as making N95 face masks at a site that normally produces knee and heart surgery equipment. Its liquid facilities that normally make preoperative gels and shampoo are now producing 150,00 bottles a week of hand sanitizer. Growing healthcare needs Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Medline has been growing. In September, the company and North Carolina officials announced a $65 million 1.2 million-square-foot distribution center will be built in Mebane. It is expected to open by summer 2021. It will create 250 full-time jobs paying an average salary of $35,468, according to the North Carolina Department of Commerce. Greenberg said Concords 350,000-square-foot facility that opened in December is a temporary site until Mebane opens. Its been beneficial allowing us to deal with additional products due to the crisis, Greenberg said. A lot of our expansion plans are because the overall demand for healthcare is up. However, the company is also hiring now to meet current needs. To keep employees safe, Medline has hired cleaning companies to sanitize throughout the day, staggered breaks, required that workers wear PPEs, added five sick days for warehouse employees and increased hourly pay. We now we are very much in the middle of everything going on, Greenberg said. Our distribution centers are at the heart of what we do. Sisir Panigrahy By Express News Service BERHAMPUR: Call it sheer determination in face of adversity, seven migrant workers have made a daring 1,200 km journey from Chennai to Sorolo village in Ganjam district on bicycles, braving many odds on way due to the lockdown. The seven, who were engaged in a construction firm in Chennai, reached Sorolo on Tuesday afternoon after travelling for nearly seven days. Among them was Ashok Behera (36) who carried his wife Namita (26) on the carrier mounted on his bicycle. When the lockdown was announced, we thought the situation would become normal within a fortnight and stayed back. However, when the Government extended the lockdown period, we decided to leave for our native place since our family members including elderly parents needed us at home during this crisis, said Ashok. Muna Nayak (40) said over 100 persons of Sorolo are working in Chennai. When the lockdown was extended, we made desperate attempts to return home but to no avail since all means of public transport were suspended. Without any option, 15 of us began our arduous journey on bicycles on April 14 from Chennai, he said. We covered 200 km at a stretch and took rest at roadside sheds. We bought food from dhabas on the highway. On the way, we were stopped by police several times but we managed to persuade them to allow us on the pretext of our ailing parents. At places where policemen were unrelenting, we returned back and took diversions to escape the cops, Muna informed. Before entering Vijaywada, eight of them decided to go ahead as Ashok, his wife and others needed some rest. On reaching Vijayawada, we found the eight detained by police. However, we pleaded Namitas illness and were allowed to proceed, said Bhagaban Behera, another cyclist. All the seven persons reached Balarampur check post at Andhra Pradesh-Odisha border in the afternoon and convinced the officials deployed there that they will remain in quarantine in Sorolo. As none of us had any symptoms, we were allowed to proceed further after screening, he added. On our arrival at Sorolo, we got an emotional welcome from our parents and relatives. All the pain and tiredness of our long journey vanished on seeing the faces of our loved ones, said Tankadhara Jani (40). The workers maintained social distance while meeting their family members and all of them have been put in the isolation centre set up at Mukteswar Vidyapitha in the village. Authorities in Manaus began digging mass graves on Tuesday to bury the increasing number of victims of Covid-19 in the city. According to a City Hall statement, the number of burials has more than doubled in the Nossa Senhora Aparecida public cemetery over the past few days. The average before the pandemic was some 30 burials per day, but the daily figure is now closer to 100. "The municipality has adopted the mass graves system to bury the victims of Covid-19, a method already used in other countries," the city's statement reads, adding that it is "a necessary measure to attend to the demand for burials." With some 2 million inhabitants, the capital of Amazonas state has registered one of the highest rates of deaths and confirmed cases in the country. Manaus is also the only city in the state with intensive care units, most of which are already busy. Last week a video published by local media and posted online, showed bodies in plastic bags next to patients inside the hospital Joao Lucio where in 36 hours, 19 people died of Covid-19. Some of the bodies were removed and put in cold containers that remain parked outside the hospital. The federal government sent doctors, medical equipment and is building a field hospital to treat indigenous people. Two indigenous people with Covid-19 already died in the state, authorities reported. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. More than 2,700 people have died in Brazil infected with Covid-19, with at least 43-thousand cases confirmed by Tuesday. Brazil is the country with the highest rate of victims and confirmed cases in Latin-America. The Air Force is assuming that COVID-19 will be a 'cyclical' virus that will likely come back until (and unless) a vaccine is created, according to Wednesday statements by Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein, the branch's top general. "All the predictions are no vaccine for upwards of a year, so that means we've got to refine our ability to survive and operate and do the missions the nation require," Goldfein said during a conference call with reporters, where he said the Air Force will conduct at "new reset" on June 1 in order to operate in a "new abnormal" environment, according to The Hill. "We've got to bring back those missions that we slowed down, so we can get back to some kind of a sense of new normalcy in an abnormal world," he added. Top experts, including National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci, have warned of the need to prepare for COVID-19 being a cyclical disease. While Goldfein focused on the effects a cyclical virus would have on Air Force readiness, he said all military leaders are looking at the future, studying the models, studying the science. Until we have a vaccine, we're going to be living with this virus and the potential for it to come back in some cyclical way is likely, he said. So if that's the world we're living in, how do we as an Air Force operate in that environment and do the nation's business, especially those key tasks that we should not expect any relief. -The Hill "There is no situation where I see the nation or the leadership giving us relief on having a safe, secure, effective nuclear deterrent connecting the commander in chief with forces in the field," Goldfein said, adding that procedures to separate and isolate airmen operating critical missions such as nuclear, space, cyber and air mobility from each other has been working so far - and that there have been zero known coronavirus cases in nuclear and air mobility forces. Goldfein also discussed the challenges posed by training recruits - of which over 6,000 have come through for basic training of late. Five have tested positive for the virus. The Air Force has reduced its training capacity by around 50% due to the pandemic. Looking ahead to the new reset June 1, Goldfein said Air Education and Training Command Lt. Gen. Brad Webb will make recommendations to him on how to increase training capacity while adhering to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. Goldfein highlighted some steps already taken such as building a tent city at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas where basic training is held and expanding basic training to a second location, Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi. -The Hill "Those are all the protocols that we're putting in place to see if we can get back up from 50 percent," said Goldfein. "We're probably not going to be able get to 100 percent until the protocols change, but if we can get from 50 to 60, 70, 75 percent, that will certainly be helpful." Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on April 21 announced that the government aims to relax COVID-19 restrictions and return to normal life by the end of Eid al-Fitr, the feast marking the end of Ramadan, fueling the hopes of the countrys severely ailing tourism sector. Why it matters: Leading figures in Turkey's tourism industry have been pinning their hopes on a kick start to tourist season in June, after the monthslong imposition of international and national COVID-19 restrictions that have paralyzed the industry. Remarks by Erdogan on April 20-21 give them additional reason to hope. In Turkey, Ramadan starts April 24, and the Eid al-Fitr begins May 24. Ensuring strict adherence to the measures throughout the month of Ramadan, hopefully we can ensure the transition of our country to normal life after the feast, Erdogan said on April 20 in a televised speech after a Cabinet meeting. The president reiterated his commitment the following day in a televised address to members of his Justice and Development Party, suggesting that lockdowns and some restrictions on travel could be loosened by the end of May. Tourism is a major pillar of the Turkish economy. The sector broke a record last year, bringing in almost $35 billion in revenues. More than 1.5 million people make a living from tourism. Before the coronavirus pandemic shredded all semblance of planning, the governments goal had been to double tourism revenue in 2020. By the end of March, two weeks after Turkey registered its first coronavirus case, almost all international bookings had been canceled. Domestic tourism came to a halt after internal flights were grounded, and 31 provinces around the country were put under lockdowns as part of the containment effort. Whats next: The Turkish government plans to focus first on reviving domestic tourism and then extend that effort toward encouraging international travelers to come visit. The Tourism Ministry has launched an initiative to attract tourists potentially wary of traveling due to the coronavirus outbreak. We have initiated a new project to certify coronavirus-free zones, Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy told NTV on April 18. The zones will be designated along the coast. The initiative, Ersoy said, will also involve training and educating workers in the industry, such as hotel and transportation staff, about the coronavirus, proper social distancing, and so on. The Turkish government has long been criticized for prioritizing the economy over public health. Defying widespread calls for a national lockdown, Erdogan earlier this month had emphasized that Turkey needs to keep the wheels turning on the economy. Meanwhile, warnings by experts highlight the dire consequences of reopening the tourist trade before the coronavirus outbreak is completely contained. Most of Turkeys tourist hotspots and coastal towns lack full-scale health care services, with only limited intensive care units. Turkey currently has the highest number of coronavirus infections in the Middle East, with more than 95,000 cases, according to the Health Ministry. The death toll from the virus stood at 2,259 as of April 21. Know more: Read Mustafa Sonmez's article on how the coronavirus outbreak has further crippled Turkeys already struggling economy and Diego Cupolo's examination of why experts and scientists pressed for a nationwide lockdown in Turkey. A group of doctors has asked that the 25 US states with the death penalty hand over their stockpiles of several sedatives, painkillers and paralytic drugs used in lethal injections to help ease intubation for coronavirus patients who need ventilators. Secrecy surrounding executions could hinder efforts by a group of medical professionals who are asking the nation's death penalty states for medications used in lethal injections so that they can go to coronavirus patients who are on ventilators, according to a death penalty expert and a doctor who's behind the request. In a letter sent this month to corrections departments, a group of seven pharmacists, public health experts, and intensive care unit doctors asked states with the death penalty to release any stockpiles they might have of execution drugs to health care facilities. 'Your stockpile could save the lives of hundreds of people; though this may be a small fraction of the total anticipated deaths, it is a central ethical directive that medicine values every life,' according to the letter. But it's unclear what drugs the states may have, as they have tended to release information about execution protocols and drug supplies only through open records requests or lawsuits. Doctors are urging states with death penalties to release stockpiles of drugs used during executions, such as midazolam (pictured), a sedative, to help ease coronavirus patients' pain while they are intubated (AP Photo/File) Only one state, Wyoming, responded directly to the letter, and it indicated it doesn't have the drugs in question. 'I'm not trying to comment on the rightness or wrongness of capital punishment,' said Dr Joel Zivot, one of the medical professionals who signed the letter. 'I'm asking now as a bedside clinician caring for patients, please help me.' For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. But for some, it can cause severe illness, requiring them to be placed to ventilators to help them breathe. Many medications used to sedate and immobilize people put on ventilators and to treat their pain are the same drugs that states use to put inmates to death. Demand for such drugs surged 73% in March. Twenty-five states have the death penalty, while three have moratoriums on capital punishment. Patients who need to be on ventilators have to be intubated, and the doctors who penned the letter describe the process as 'torture' without sedatives (file) While some states contacted by The Associated Press, including Alabama and Florida, didn't respond to inquiries about the letter, others, including Arkansas, Texas and Utah, limited their comment to mainly saying they dont have the medications in question. Tennessee wouldnt confirm whether it has the drugs and indicated it has no plans to give any medications to a hospital. Oklahoma said it hadn't received any requests for such medications from state hospitals. States may be hesitant to turn over their drugs because they have had problems securing them as many pharmaceutical companies oppose their use in executions, said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. Since 2011, 13 states have enacted new statutes that conceal information about the execution process, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, which takes no position on capital punishment but has criticized the way states carry out executions. Drugs being requested include the sedative midazolam, the paralytic vecuronium bromide and the opioid fentanyl. Many of the medications being used to help patients on ventilators are the same drugs used when putting inmates to death by lethal injection in states like Oklahoma (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File) They're needed because putting a patient on a ventilator 'with no drugs...would be torture,' said Zivot, an associate professor of anesthesiology and surgery at Emory University in Atlanta who has studied medicine's role in capital punishment. The tense debate over the supply of execution drugs was highlighted in a 2018 lawsuit that several pharmaceutical companies filed against Nevada over accusations that it illegally obtained its inventory. In a court brief, 15 states, including Florida, Oklahoma and Texas, called the lawsuit part of the 'guerrilla warfare being waged by antideath-penalty activists and criminal defense attorneys to stop lawful executions.' The lawsuit was dismissed this month after Nevada agreed to return its supplies to the companies, leaving the state without any drugs to carry out executions. Pharmaceutical companies have long warned that states use of these medications for executions could result in shortages, Dunham said. 'Some of the responses over the past several years had been, `Thats chicken little saying the sky is falling,' Dunham said. 'But with COVID-19, the sky has fallen.' Officials in Massachusetts believe the state is in the midst of a surge in coronavirus cases, but it may not be the only peak COVID-19 the state experiences. A second wave of the coronavirus will be far worse as it will likely coincide with the start of flu season, the director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Robert Redfield said in an interview with the Washington Post on Tuesday. Theres a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through, Redfield told the newspaper And when Ive said this to others, they kind of put their head back, they dont understand what I mean. Were going to have the flu epidemic and the coronavirus epidemic at the same time. In the interview with the Post, Redfield said simultaneous respiratory outbreaks would put unimaginable strain on the health care system. The current wave of COVID-19 has already killed more than 45,000 people in the United States. Massachusetts has experienced more than 41,000 cases of the coronavirus with 1,961 deaths, the Department of Public Health announced Tuesday evening. Redfield said federal and state officials need to prepare for the second wave of the coronavirus. Even as states design and implement ways to lift stay-at-home orders, they need to continue to stress social distancing, Redfield told the Washington Post. More than 4 million tests have been administered in the U.S., but Redfield told the newspaper, testing still needs to be massively scaled up. Massachusetts plans to implement a system that involves a more formal infrastructure to track down people who may have been exposed to the coronavirus. The collaborative will include more than 1,000 virtual contact tracers at a call center. Baker said the COVID-19 contact tracing effort, the first in the nation, would include both over-the-phone and a variety of digital interventions with those whove contracted the disease and recovered. Many experts believe a COVID-19 vaccine wont be widely available until the spring of 2021. Johnson and Johnson are scheduled to begin clinical testing on a potential vaccine in the fall. The company said it hopes to have a affordable vaccine available globally in early 2021. Related Content: A total of 10 retired entertainers have reportedly died from the novel coronavirus at the Actors Fund Home in New Jersey, US. Earlier deaths were seven and three latest ones have reportedly been recorded bringing the number to 10. The deaths of the last three were reported on Tuesday, April 21, according to Deadline. The Fund had accordingly reported on Friday, April 17, that seven retirees had died from COVID-19, despite the heroic efforts of the staff. The Home located at Englewood, New Jersey, has about 113 residents. The area is believed to be one of Americas hotspots for the coronavirus. Reports say additional 10 residents at the Home have tested positive for the virus; 13 have tested negative, and five others are awaiting their test results. In a Tuesdays address to residents' friends and family members, Jordan Strohl, administrator of The Actors Fund Home, says Overall, we have 11 residents that have been cured and have beat this terrible virus, We are happy to report that the number of residents showing signs and symptoms of the virus is leveling-off. In addition, fewer residents are requiring isolation and testing, he added. Ground zero in the coronavirus pandemic in Midland was the home to 15 new cases Monday. The city of Midland identified the Midland Medical Lodge in north Midland as the location, and members of the Unified Command Team on Tuesday called it a hot spot that until these past few days Midland County had been fortunate to avoid. Health department officials put the count of the confirmed cases inside Midland County with connections to the skilled nursing facility at nearly half of the 64 total confirmed cases inside the county (as of Tuesday morning). The 28 associated with the lodge include eight staff members and 20 residents. The 17 confirmed cases reported Monday night were in addition to the four reported earlier in the day. The 21 cases were the most in one day of any Permian Basin city and shot Midland up the county rankings from the state of Texas. Midland went from 47th to being tied for 38th, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Midland is now ahead of Ector, with 60 cases, and Tom Green, with 41 cases, while trailing Lubbock, 445; Potter, 160, Taylor, 144; and Randall, 115, according to numbers Tuesday on DSHS website. The city on Tuesday reported another confirmed case of COVID-19, and again there is a connection to the lodge. The patient is a male in his 80s. That brings the updated total to 65 total confirmed cases in Midland County and 29 confirmed cases at Midland Medical Lodge. The city also reported Tuesday that another person died as a result of complications with coronavirus. The person also was associated with the lodge. Of the four confirmed cases who have died, three have connections to Midland Medical Lodge. Midland Health CEO Russell Meyers said the lodge continues to be an area of concern but that it appears to be the lone nursing/senior facility that is a hot spot at this time. He said the confirmed cases came as a result of the testing of about 100 people at the lodge. I cant say that was surprising at all that there were a number of positives, Meyers said. We dont know what to expect. Thats why we test. Elective surgeries The conversation about elective surgeries continues, although Meyers said new developments with the coronavirus spiking locally does factor into the hospitals decision-making. Meyers said Tuesday that beginning today the hospital will start slowly into elective endoscopy and colonoscopy procedures. Our three local GI (gastrointestinal) physicians are working with their patients to begin returning to those regular schedules as soon as (today) and we expect them to ramp up over several days. We also are releasing the restrictions on a majority of our imaging procedures, including screening procedures, and so for the most part, imaging will be open for business (today) as well. EZ Rider drivers Meyers also said during his morning press conference that another area of concern was that a number of EZ Rider bus drivers tested positive. He said another 26 people at the Midland-Odessa Urban Transit District which operates public transportation in Midland and Odessa -- have been tested. We expect to get those results in the next day or two and determine if there is further guidance we need to offer, Meyers said. "I thought this is a great opportunity to get creative and paint the places that we wanted to go to or still want to go to and have a little fun and let the kids have a free for all on the walls," said Michele Bell. A person who died at home in Santa Clara County on Feb. 6 was infected with the coronavirus at the time of death, a stunning discovery that makes that individual the first recorded COVID-19 fatality in the United States, according to autopsy results released by public health officials late Tuesday. That death three weeks before the first fatality was reported in the U.S., in Washington state on Feb. 28 adds to increasing evidence that the virus was in the country far earlier than once thought. Santa Clara County on Tuesday announced three previously unidentified deaths from the coronavirus: the Feb. 6 case; one on Feb. 17, which also predates the death that was earlier believed to be the first; and one on March 6. Initially, the first death in the county had been reported March 9. What it means is we had coronavirus circulating in the community much earlier than we had documented and much earlier than we had thought, said Dr. Sara Cody, Santa Clara Countys public health officer. Those deaths probably represent many, many more infections. And so there had to be chains of transmission that go back much earlier. Cody did not provide details about the people who died in February but said the deaths tell us we had community transmission - probably significant community transmission - far before we realized it and documented it. From what we understand, neither of the cases had a history of travel, Cody said. So we assume that they were acquired locally. People typically die of COVID-19 about a month after they are infected with the coronavirus, suggesting that the person who died Feb. 6 likely was infected in early January. At that time, the virus had been reported only in China the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had not yet issued any advisories to Americans about the potential threat. Santa Clara County officials said in a statement that the medical examiner-coroner had performed autopsies on two people who died at home on Feb. 6 and Feb. 17 and sent tissue samples to the CDC. The CDC confirmed that both samples were positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday. The county also confirmed a resident who died March 6 had died from COVID-19. All three residents died at home during a time when very limited testing was available only through the CDC, the county statement said. Testing criteria set by the CDC at the time restricted testing to only individuals with a known travel history and who sought medical care for specific symptoms, the statement said. As the medical examiner-coroner continues to carefully investigate deaths throughout the county, we anticipate additional deaths from COVID-19 will be identified. As of Tuesday, Santa Clara County had reported 1,946 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 88 deaths. John Swartzberg, an infectious disease expert at UC Berkeley, said Tuesday night that he was impressed that Santa Clara County had thought to look at earlier deaths and determine if they could be attributed to the coronavirus. Id like to better understand when this virus got here, he said. Im delighted to hear theyre being aggressive and trying to get a better understanding. 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. He added that he was not surprised to learn of the earlier deaths. Experts have suspected for weeks now that the virus likely entered the United States in December, or even earlier. The first case in the United States was identified Jan. 21, in a man in Seattle who had recently returned from China. The earliest cases in the Bay Area were also in recent travelers. At the time, only people with similar travel histories were tested, or people with whom they came into close contact. Jan. 21 was the first time we identified it here. But we know there were cases in China in December, Swartzberg said. As a matter of fact, it may have been circulating there as early as September. And with so much travel between China and the Bay Area, why would it surprise us if it were here? he said. Many of the earliest cases were likely overlooked, Swartzberg and other infectious disease experts have said. The first outbreak of a new viral infection in China was only reported in late December. The virus itself wasnt identified until early January. And for weeks, it was considered largely contained there no one was looking for it in the U.S. Also, in January the United States was in the middle of the typical influenza season, so a death in someone with symptoms similar to the flu wouldnt have provoked investigation in January, Swartzberg said. In fact, public health experts have surmised that many early deaths from COVID-19 were attributed to the flu instead. It was influenza season, Swartzberg said. Everyone thought it was the flu. Erin Allday and Matt Kawahara are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: eallday@sfchronicle.com, mkawahara@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @erinallday, @matthewkawahara South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has informed the country's Parliament that he is increasing the current number of soldiers monitoring the COVID-19 lockdown from just over 2,000 to more than 70,000. In a letter to the Joint Standing Committee on defence in Parliament, Ramaphosa authorised the deployment of the entire South African National Defence Force (SANDF), including the auxiliary force and reserve force, for an additional 73,180 members of the SANDF to patrol South Africa's streets. The President said in his letter that he had decided to employ the additional members of the SANDF, consisting of the Regular Force, Reserve Force and Auxiliary Force, because the outbreak of COVID-19 continues to increase with reported cases across the Republic of South Africa. Ramaphosa has authorised the employment of the additional members of the SANDF for the period April 2 to June 26 at a cost expected to total over 4.5 billion rand. Darren Olivier, a director at African Defence Review and a defence expert, told local media that this amounts to about 10 per cent of the annual expenditure of SANDF. Cyril Xaba, co-chairperson of the joint standing committee on defence, confirmed in a statement on Tuesday evening that the letter had been received. The joint Standing Committee on Defence will tomorrow (Wednesday) hold a virtual meeting to consider the letter from the President on the Employment of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) in terms Section 201 (4) of the Constitution regarding the reasons, place, number of soldiers as well as the period of employment in the fight against the spread of the Covid-19 virus, the statement said. The move comes amid increasing disregarding for social distancing and self-isolation measures introduced during the extended lockdown of 35 days, which is now in its 27th day. The number of COVID-19 infections continues to rise daily, and police and soldiers have not only been unable to control resistance to the lockdown effectively, but have also been accused of unnecessary hard handedness and even a killing in one instance. A number of police officers have also been arrested for assisting people stealing and illegally transporting alcohol, which is prohibited during the lockdown. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Rajasthan government task force has sought the setting up of a national coronavirus disease (Covid) management fund, the suspension of Central permissions for setting up industries, except highly polluting ones, and the deferring of repayment of all state development loans by three months to revive the economy and improve the states financial health. For specific sectors, it has sought a revolving fund for self-help groups (SHGs), money as seed capital to provide financial aid to small and medium industries and a mandatory chief health officer to reassure people about safety, according to the task forces report accessed by HT. The report also quoted a study by the International Labour Organisation to say that around 90% or 400 million people working in the informal economy are at risk of falling deeper into poverty during the crisis. The latest CMIE report on job destruction due to Covid-19 states that about 12 crore Indians have already lost employment over the first lockdown [sic], the report said, adding that medium and small enterprises and the service sector were staring at bankruptcy. The task force set up by chief minister Ashok Gehlot in the first week of April said that there would be a two to three percentage point decline in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, primarily because three of the four drivers of growth are seeing a huge negative shock in the first half of 2020. The three drivers that will see a fall are private consumption, investment and exports, the report said. A temporary lockdown can have a permanent negative impact, especially in agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing and the service sector A national strategy to minimise the impact of coronavirus on the economy must, therefore, counter the above negative effects, the report said. The task force headed by economic advisor to the chief minister and former union finance secretary Arvind Mayaram had sought inputs from experts such as former RBI governors Raghuram Rajan and Urijit Patel, former chief economic advisor Kaushik Basu and industry captains such as Naina Lal Kidwai, chairman, India Advisory Board, Advent Private Equity, and Anil Agarwal of Vedanta Resources. At the national level, the task force suggested ramping up the interstate movement of goods and services, the immediate transfer of all the budgeted amount of Central Sector Schemes and Central Sector funds to the states, suspending prior approval under Central laws for setting up industries except polluting industries falling under red category and a Covid debt mobilisation plan, in which the amount equal to 4% of the GDP can be mobilised. The report also asked the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India to reschedule and defer all repayments and interests on State Development Loans (SDLs), for three months, with no penalty for deferred payment, and incentives to manage fiscal deficits, which are likely to increase in the current financial year because of the falling revenue and increase in Covid expenditure. The most significant impact that the GOI can have on fighting the economic downturn rests in this coordinated use of fiscal and monetary policy, which only the GOI can do as it has vested sovereign powers. It must recognise that the front-line battle, where resources are urgently required, is at the state level. Therefore, in the spirit of co-operative federalism, states should be trusted with untied resources, the report said. The report suggested introducing the position of Chief Public Health Officer (CPHO) to provide direction to medical, health and family welfare department staff, including medical professionals, scientists, and epidemiologists, as they plan and respond to the emergency, the report said. To boost the MSME sector, the report suggested providing seed capital as grant in aid, in addition to Mudra loans. The MSMEs may also be supported with reimbursement of salaries for three months by the government or given GST credit equal to 50% of the workers wage bill of six months (to be availed over the next two years), the report said. To support the local village economy, self-help groups (SHGs) could be given a revolving fund to lend money to their members as well as to migrants who have lost jobs because of Covid. The infusion of funds to the groups and their federations will meet their consumption needs and help them revive the livelihood of their members, as well as provide capital to improve consumption. Although the suggestions of the task force are aimed at restarting the economy in Rajasthan, the officials said the measures can be implemented anywhere in the country. The task force report will now be submitted to the Central government as the states inputs for reviving the national economy. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Sachin Saini Sachin Saini is Principal Correspondent with HT Rajasthan edition. He covers politics, tourism, forest, home, panchayati raj and rural development, and development journalism. ...view detail Lets try a thought experiment. Although the claim that Trump colluded with Russia during the 2016 election campaign has no basis, it seems likely that Russia tried to interfere in the election via posts on social media. Suppose Congress undertook to investigate this matter. Suppose that, in conducting its investigation, a committee called as witnesses people who participated in social media and who had past ties with Russia. Finally, suppose that some of those called as witnesses refused to appear or appeared but refused to answer questions. Would liberals and the mainstream media regard these people as heroes? I dont think so. Yet, as Scott pointed out today, Ben Mankiewicz views as heroes those who refused to cooperate in the late 1940s with investigations into Soviet influence in the motion picture industry. He and Eddie Muller, his colleague at Turner Movie Classics, never miss an opportunity to lionize anyone involved with a film theyre introducing who refused to cooperate in such an investigation. Its true that the two investigations Im considering the actual one into Soviet communist influence in the film industry and a hypothetical one into Russian influenced engagement on social media are different in some respects. However, the important differences mostly work against viewing the Hollywood resisters of the late 1940s as heroes. Putins Russia is an adversary of America and, in my view, an enemy. However, its not nearly the enemy that Stalins Soviet Union was. Putin is engaged in a soft invasion that threatens Ukraine. Stalin had all of Eastern Europe under his thumb. Eastern European figures who opposed his puppet regimes were imprisoned and often killed. Eastern European nations that tried to assert their freedom faced the prospect of an old-fashion invasion, like the one Hungary would experience in 1956. Stalin was preparing to train nuclear weapons on the U.S. He was putting together Warsaw Pact forces capable of attacking the NATO allies we were obligated by treaty to defend. Putin poses nothing like the threat to America that Stalin did. Nor is he remotely as evil as Stalin was. Now lets compare Hollywoods ability to influence American thinking in the early 1950s with the ability of Twitter users and bots to influence American thinking during the 2016 election. In the late 1940s, movies were the dominant force in our culture. There was no internet. There wasnt even any television to speak of. Movies and the radio were Americans window on the world, and as a visual medium, movies were the king. By 2016, America was saturated with outlets. Social media was important, but not dominant the way movies once were. Thousands of humans and/or bots could tweet forever and not move the public as much as one writer or director of a Hollywood film could do in the late 1940s. Considering the threat posed by the Soviet Union and the enormous influence of movies, it was legitimate for Congress to interview Hollywood figures thought to have belonged to the communist party. After all, the American CP was Stalins instrument. Any Hollywood figure who had repudiated communism and, in Mankiewiczs words was just slogging away on movies and talking about how the world could be better, could so testify. So could those they might have named as fellow former party members. Unfortunately, those who chose this path of cooperation over resistance seem consistently to come in for criticism by Eddie Muller 70 years after the fact. At this late date, I dont think anyone should be called out for the stance he or she took back then, whatever that stance was. In any case, those who refused to cooperate with Congress should not be considered heroes. Refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the influence of a hostile foreign government over American public opinion isnt heroic, however much credit we might give for the personal courage it took to resist. It wouldnt be heroic for those who blasted out provocative tweets during the 2016 election to refuse to testify about their connections (or those of their friends and associates) with Putins Russia, and it wasnt heroic when far more important figures refused to testify about connections with a far more evil and threatening foreign foe. The head of Muintir na Tires community alert in the southern region has warned pensioners not to hoard money in their homes during the Covid-19 crisis because gangs are readying themselves to carry out burglaries once the lockdown is eased. Diarmuid Cronin said he is concerned that many more pensioners are keeping cash in their homes during these difficult times. It is fair to assume that whenever the present clampdown eases, the burglary rate will rise, Mr Cronin said. I would advise pensioners that taking lots of cash home is an absolute no no, he added. Mr Cronin said the side effect of the current lockdown is a drop in spending opportunities for the elderly, many of whom are cocooned in their own homes. While some pensioners will venture out to collect their pensions at their local post office, others will have nominated a relative or close friend to pick it up for them. Mr Cronin said pensioners still collecting their money could make themselves a target for opportunist thieves. He said his advice to all pensioners is to open up a post office account, if they dont already have one, and to deposit any cash they dont need in it. A post office savings account is easy to open and will save their money and eliminate any risk to them, he said. In addition to protecting their cash, Mr Cronin also issued advice to pensioners about protecting other valuables. These days of quietly surviving during lockdown gives them an opportunity to lessen their exposure to the risk of burglary and the robbery of their property, he said. Simple basic common sense tells us that its a no-brainer to have the make, model and serial number written down should an item of property happen to be stolen, Mr Cronin said. He said this makes it easier for gardai to reunite the stolen property with its owner should they recover it. Importantly, it will also enable the gardai to link the criminal in whose possession a stolen item is found, to the crime, he said. Mr Cronin said there is an obvious deterrence factor if everybody does this as he has no doubt it will cause a decrease in house burglaries. He pointed out that Muintir na Tires Community Alert has introduced a logbook to record property details. A version of it has also been integrated into the Text Alert smartphone application known as CAIRDE. An armed man was shot and killed by police late Tuesday when he reportedly charged at officers in northeast Houston, where witnesses say he was attempting suicide, according to Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo. The suspect was only identified as a 27-year-old man. Police said neighbors around the 800 block of Gazin, just east of the Fifth Ward, saw him running in front of cars, jumping fences and threatening people with a metal weapon around 9:30 p.m. An appeals court in Vietnam has upheld a lower court decision to sentence a music teacher to 11 years in prison for criticizing the government on Facebook. Nguyen Nang Tinh, 45, was found guilty of "making and spreading anti-state information and materials" in a one-day trial at the People's Court in the north central province of Nghe An in November. On Tuesday, the Council of Justices of the Supreme Peoples Court upheld that decision at a final appeals hearing. The decision comes amid increased pressure on Facebook to comply with Vietnams censorship demands and a spate of similar charges filed against people who used the platform to criticize Hanois pandemic response online. With limited space for independent journalism, many bloggers and journalists use Facebook and social media to report on important issues. In January, the government accused Facebook of violating the law by allowing users to post anti-government comments. Facebooks local servers in Vietnam were then taken offline until the U.S.-based company agreed to substantially increase the censorship of anti-state posts for local users, as Reuters reported Tuesday. In an emailed statement, Facebook confirmed it had reluctantly complied with the governments request to restrict access to content which it has deemed to be illegal. In its 2020 annual World Press Freedom Index, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said bloggers are a primary source of independently reported information. "The level of terror has risen sharply in the past three years, with many bloggers being jailed or expelled in connection with their posts," said RSF, which added that a 2019 cybercrime law requires foreign online platforms to locally store Vietnamese user data and surrender it to authorities on demand. Tinh, who teaches music at a provincial college, has said the Facebook account does not belong to him and that officials are confusing him with an account that happens to bear his name. "The prosecutors stuck to the idea that the Facebook user named Nguyen Nang Tinh and my client Nguyen Nang Tinh are the same person," Tinh's lawyer Nguyen Van Mieng told Reuters in November. Police arrested Tinh in May 2019, when they claim he was found writing and posting anti-state messages and videos on Facebook, which is widely used in Vietnam and serves as the main platform for e-commerce and dissent. According to Radio Free Asia, a sister agency of VOA, Tinh had been on a hunger strike since March 13 and was not allowed to pray, read religious books or meet with Catholic priests. Tinh ended the strike on April 17, when he was notified that he would be granted the appeals hearing, according to Dang Dinh Manh, one of his defense attorneys during the appeals hearing. Manh said his client now plans to resume the hunger strike. Speaking with VOA's Vietnamese Service, Tinh's father, Nguyen Ngoc Dinh, praised his son's defense team for making "concretely demonstrated and convincing arguments." During the trials, he said, his son repeatedly admitted to using a Facebook account to share stories, but only ones that were "beneficial to the country, not meant to oppose." "He has no partisan ideology or opposition to any party," he said. On Tuesday, Tinh's wife, who could not attend the hearing because of coronavirus quarantine rules, posted a statement on Facebook expressing strong condemnation of "the Hanoi high court in Nghe An and the detention camp for unfair treatment and wrongful conviction of my husband." Her post echoed a broader censure of the ruling, in which numerous democracy advocates called for Tinh's immediate release. "Teacher Nguyen Nang Tinh, a man for patriotism and national destiny, has received an unjust judgment," said dissident musician Tran Vu Anh Binh of Ho Chi Minh City via YouTube. Tinh will be placed under house arrest for five years after serving his jail term, his lawyer said. Other arrests Two other Vietnamese nationals, both women, have been arrested on similar charges since April 10. Police in Ninh Kieu District, Can Tho City, arrested Ma Phung Ngoc Phu, 28, on charges of "abusing democratic freedoms" under Article 331 of the Penal Code. According to domestic media, Phu posted purportedly false articles about the coronavirus outbreak on Facebook. Online newspaper Dan tri reported that Phu allegedly created a Facebook account under the alias "James Ng" to write and share articles criticizing the government and its senior leadership. The paper also reported that Facebook account was removed immediately after her arrest. Activist Dinh Thi Thu Thuy, 38, was arrested Saturday for "conducting propaganda against the state" under Article 117 of the Criminal Code. According to local television news stations, police ransacked Thuy's home during the arrest, which stems from her alleged management of "many" Facebook accounts that were used to distribute information criticizing the government and its leaders. Ms. Thuy participated in protests against two bills of the Special Economic Zone and Cyber Security in Saigon on June 10, 2018," according to Human Rights Defender, a journal run by Australia's University of New South Wales Human Rights Institute. "At that time of her arrest, [she was] beaten and interrogated and eventually fined," they reported. "In recent years, she has been repeatedly harassed by local police for her Facebook posts. Police in Vietnam did not respond to requests for comment about allegations of violence in time for publication. In October, a 54-year-old architect was jailed for 12 months over accusations that he uploaded anti-state posts to his Facebook account, according to police records. In its 2020 annual World Press Freedom Index, RSF ranks Vietnam 175 out of 180 countries, in which one is considered the freest. The reports say some 25 journalists and bloggers are currently held in Vietnams jails, where mistreatment is common. This story originated in VOA's Vietnamese Service ( https://www.voatiengviet.com/ ). Pete Cobus contributed reporting. Some information is from Reuters. Recent Arrest Signals Infighting in Chinas Leadership; Nations Rally Against CCP Economic War A high level security official in China was dismissed from his position and is being probed for serious violations of discipline and law. The individual is Sun Lijun, who was the director of the first bureau of the Ministry of Public Securitys 26th Bureau, and was deputy director of the 610 Officecomparable to the Chinese Gestapo. Inside sources told The Epoch Times that actions against Sun Lijun are not about the virus or about Hong Kong, where Sun Lijun was in charge of security during the recent protests. Instead, they claim his arrest ties to rumors of coups in China. His removal and corruption probe are being interpreted as signs of high-level infighting within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). And nations are joining to call out a new push from the CCP to capitalize on the pandemic to wage economic warfare. These concerns have now been echoed by NATO, the United States, the UK, India, and others. These stories and more in this episode of Crossroads. Crossroads is an Epoch Times show available on Facebook and YouTube. Given that the Supreme Court has acknowledged that Congress cannot legislate wisely or effectively in the absence of information, and given that private parties have standing to enforce compliance with subpoenas, there is, the committee says, no justification for treating a congressional committee less favorably than private parties. Courts have hitherto held that individual legislators or groups of them lack standing to assert an institutional injury. However, the House has, as an institution, authorized the committees suit. The committee says courts frequently resolve disputes about the allocation of power between governmental entities. If subpoenas cannot be enforced, this judicial abstention must mean that a president has no incentive to cooperate, or negotiate a compromise, with a Congress concerned about executive negligence or corruption. Instead of quickly and fully deploying the Defense Production Act to secure materials like swabs to ramp up our testing capacity as I called for over a month ago Trump is only now beginning to address the shortage of swabs after an unacceptable test slowdown that has left us far below where we need to be to reopen our country, and with countless Americans left with horrible uncertainty as they and their loved ones fight this disease, he said. By Nathan Layne and Maria Caspani (Reuters) - New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said he planned to give U.S. President Donald Trump an unvarnished account of what his state needs to test residents for the novel coronavirus when they meet in Washington on Tuesday. At his daily briefing, Cuomo said he would ask that the federal government take control of securing chemical agents and other materials needed to process tests, a major hurdle to increasing output at state labs. "He has no problem telling me when he disagrees and he tells me he agrees," said Cuomo, who added that he is equally frank with the president. "The heck with it, just tell the truth and whatever it is, it is." The White House meeting was due to take place at 4 p.m. ET (2000 GMT). Cuomo outlined a regional approach to reopening businesses and schools, suggesting that rural areas could restart life more quickly than harder-hit urban locations like New York City, the epicenter of the U.S. crisis. New York's 211 state labs rely on manufacturers of testing machines to supply them with materials for processing the tests. Cuomo said the problem is that the manufacturers themselves are struggling to procure them from China and other places abroad. In highlighting the problem, Cuomo showed a slide with pictures of machines made by Roche Holding AG , Hologic Inc and Cepheid, a unit of Danaher Corp Cuomo noted that Maryland Governor Larry Hogan had worked to secure 5,000 test kits, expected to give the state the capacity for 500,000 new tests, from South Korea in recent days. "God bless Governor Hogan," he said, "but you shouldn't expect all these governors to go run around and do an international supply chain while they are trying to put together their testing protocol in their states, coordinating their labs." With social distancing and lockdowns showing some positive results, Cuomo said he can begin to consider how to reopen a state that ranges from New York City with more than 8 million people to farm country and sparsely populated towns. Story continues Cuomo said total hospitalizations for COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus, fell for the eighth straight day, dropping to 16,076 from 16,103 the day before. Intubations also continued to decline, he said. But Cuomo also reported 481 additional deaths statewide, up from 478 a day earlier, bringing total fatalities to 14,828. New positive cases rose by 4,178 to 251,690, marking the lowest one-day increase in a month. New Jersey, the second hardest hit state and located south and west of New York, reported 379 additional deaths, a record daily high, for total fatalities of 4,753, while positive cases increased by 3,643 to 92,387. Cuomo, who last week extended his state's lockdown until at least May 15, said the reopening plan would be regional. "Just like some states will reopen before other states because they have a different circumstance when it comes to COVID ... it's also true across the state." New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy told a briefing that while hospitalizations had largely leveled off, it would be at least several more weeks before the state could relax social distancing measures and open up businesses and schools. Murphy said New Jersey also needed to roughly double the number of people it was testing on a daily basis and that it needed to boost its ability to trace contacts of people who test positive and to isolate them to prevent further spread. "We are better than we were but we are not where we need to be," Murphy said. (reporting by Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut and Maria Caspani and Jessica Resnick-Ault in New York; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Howard Goller) Vulnerable families are pleading with supermarkets to do more to ensure they can get regular food deliveries. Many say they are being forced to stay up into the small hours to try to secure a delivery spot as soon as they become available. Even then, they are not always successful, leaving them fearful they could run out of food. Last week, Ian Murray, Labour MP for Edinburgh South, said he had been inundated with calls from vulnerable constituents unable to book delivery slots. He said: 'My office has never dealt with so many heart-breaking cases, with scared, isolated and vulnerable residents struggling to receive food deliveries.' In demand: Vulnerable families are pleading with supermarkets to do more to ensure they can get regular food deliveries Supermarkets and consumer experts are now urging people who are able to visit the shops to do so and save online delivery slots for those who need them most. Christine Appleyard's daughter, Evie, six, is on the Government's vulnerable list due to complex health issues. But Christine, Evie's sole carer, is still struggling to place orders despite checking supermarket websites almost hourly. After waiting up until midnight several nights in a row, Christine, 41, finally got a Tesco delivery last week. But she now has to wait two weeks for another. She says: 'I don't have time to wait on hold for hours or stay up past midnight for a slot. I need to take care of my daughter. We are having to plan our meals very carefully to ensure supplies last. 'I know other parents of severely disabled children are in the same situation. Supermarkets are not doing enough to ensure our families are not going without.' Pensioners Patricia and Geoff Cravitz say they are having to rely on neighbours and volunteers to do their shopping because they cannot get a regular delivery slot. How the big stores compare Tesco has contacted 230,000 vulnerable customers to offer priority delivery slots. If you have an NHS letter you can create an account online or call 0800 917 7359. There are a total of 964,000 delivery slots available each week. Tesco will not say how many of these are reserved for vulnerable shoppers. Sainsbury's has contacted around 700,000 customers to offer priority slots. If you are not one of them and have an NHS letter, call 0800 636 262. It's aiming to have 600,000 delivery slots a week, with thousands for those at risk. Customers can also add up to 250 on to an online Volunteer Shopping Card (sainsburysgiftcard.co.uk) which can be emailed to someone shopping on their behalf. Waitrose is delivering up to 100,000 orders a week, with 25 per cent of slots for vulnerable customers. Its new service, Waitrose Rapid, will deliver up to 25 items within two hours. Some 40 per cent of these slots will be for priority customers. Asda has emailed 70,000 vulnerable customers to offer them first access to delivery slots. Shoppers can choose to have a repeat delivery of the same items. Morrisons' telephone service for vulnerable and elderly customers offers next-day delivery of 47 essential items, including milk, butter and eggs. Bills can be paid on the doorstep with a debit or credit card. Call 0345 611 6111 and choose option five. No proof of eligibility is required. Aldi has launched a new service for vulnerable customers. Food parcels of 22 essentials, such as tinned soups and dried pasta, can be ordered online (aldi.co.uk/food-parcels) for 24.99, including delivery. However, this service is limited to one per week. Iceland says it has contacted 79,000 vulnerable customers on the Government's list to offer delivery slots. New customers can register online to access these (iceland.co.uk). The couple have been self-isolating at their home in Bournemouth for more than five weeks and have accounts with all the major supermarkets. However, it was only by waiting up until 2am that they finally managed to book a Sainsbury's delivery. Patricia, 80, says: 'It has been very hard work. Getting a slot becomes your life. Supermarkets should be offering different time slots for different categories of vulnerable people to give us all a chance.' Patricia, a former social worker, is able to order up to ten items over the phone from her local Waitrose to be delivered the next day, as part of a scheme run by Bournemouth council. When she last called she requested a Victoria sponge for her husband's birthday and staff added complimentary flowers, a birthday card, candles and champagne. Patricia says: 'This service has provided such relief and staff really have gone the extra mile. 'But I don't want to bother the volunteers too much if I can just order online.' Each supermarket has its own database of priority customers based on information it holds, such as from online accounts. The Government has also shared a list of extremely vulnerable people with all supermarkets so they can prioritise these customers. In addition, the NHS has written to 1.3million people who are most at risk of the coronavirus this includes those who have had organ transplants or are undergoing chemotherapy, for example and who are therefore eligible to receive more support. If you have received a letter, visit www.gov.uk/coronavirus-extremely-vulnerable to register for extra help, such as with supermarket deliveries. If you have not received one and consider yourself to be vulnerable, speak to your GP. Vulnerable people in Scotland, including those who are over 70, disabled, or unable to get online, can call 0800 111 4000 to get help accessing food and medicine. Martyn James, from complaints website Resolver, says: 'This should not be happening. The supermarkets and Government need to be prioritising vulnerable families. 'People should not be ordering online if they can go to a supermarket to save the slots for those who need them.' a.murray@dailymail.co.uk Apple Paythe companys flagship mobile payment platformhas grown at a breathtaking rate since its introduction in 2015. Apple Pay transactions continue to rise, and more banks, retailers, and countries continue to join. You can use Apple Pay to complete web transactions via Safari, too. You can even use Apple Pay for peer-to-peer payment transactionssimilar to Venmo and Square Cashthrough an iOS 11 update that introduces Apple Pay Cash. With all of these Apple Pay options, its high time you jump on the mobile payment bandwagon if youre not there already. Read on to learn more about how Apple Pay works, how to get your iPhone, Apple Watch, and Mac ready for it, and most importantly, where you can go use it. Updated 02/23/21: Apple Pay is now available in Mexico. According to Apples site, customers of Citibanamex, Banorte, American Express, and MasterCard can now use Apple Pay. Apple Pay for iOS In order to use Apple Pay, you need to have a compatible device and the proper version of iOS. For in-store purchases, Apple Pay is compatible with the following iPhone models: iPhone SE (2020) iPhpne 12/Pro iPhone 11/Pro iPhone XR iPhone XS/Max iPhone X iPhone 8/8 Plus iPhone 7/7 Plus iPhone 6s/6s Plus iPhone 6/6 Plus iPhone SE These are the only iPhones equipped with the requisite NFC technology. Besides NFC compatibility, the other piece of the hardware puzzle is Face ID/Touch ID. For in-app purchases, Apple Pay works with the following iOS devices: iPhone SE (2020) iPhpne 12/Pro iPhone 11/Pro iPhone XR iPhone XS/Max iPhone X iPhone 8/8 Plus iPhone 7/ 7 Plus iPhone 6s/6s Plus iPhone 6/6 Plus iPhone SE iPad Air (2019) iPad (2017 edition or later) iPad Pro (all models) iPad Air 2 iPad mini 4/iPad mini 3 Youll also need to update your iPhone to iOS 8.1 or later, which will turn on your phones Apple Pay feature. To check which version of iOS youre running, go to Settings > General > Software Update. Once your iPhone is in order, youll need to link a credit or debit card to use for payments. If you already have a card linked to your Apple ID for making iTunes and App Store purchases, you can opt to keep using that card with Apple Payyoull just have to re-enter the cards security code so Apple knows youre legit. Take note: Some banks will add an extra layer of security to this step, asking you to enter a code they send to you via text, so that they too know youre on the up-and-up. You can also add additional cardsjust launch Wallet and tap + in the top-right corner. Youll then be prompted to add either a credit or debit card to use with Apple Pay or another pass to store in Wallet. Tap Add Another Card, then follow the entry fields on the next screen. You can speed this up by taking a picture of your card with your iPhone. Whether youre using the card already linked to your Apple ID or adding a new one, your iPhone will guide you through the setup process, which includes verifying your card, granting Apple Pay access, and then storing it in Wallet. Be sure to have your card handy so you can verify the card with its security code. The card linked to your Apple ID will be listed as your default Apple Pay card, but you can always change that by going to Settings > Wallet & Apple Pay and updating your transaction default informationor do it in the Wallet app by selecting your default card, choosing the overflow button () in the upper right corner, and changing the details from there. You can also tweak your transaction settings (like your shipping and billing addresses), allow Apple Pay payments from your Mac (more on that in a bit), and allow you to start an Apple Pay transactions by double-pressing the Home button or double-pressing the Side button on iPhones equipped with Face ID, all from Settings. Apple Pay on the Apple Watch To set up Apple Pay on your Apple Watch, youll use the Watch app for iPhone. In the My Watch tab, scroll down to Wallet & Apple Pay. In that section, you can mirror the alerts that show on your iPhone, or choose Custom and elect to have alerts come to your watch or not. If you are already using Apple Pay on your iPhone, your cards should automatically sync up to use with your Apple Watch. If not, you can add cards again much like you would from Wallet, just follow your iPhones prompts. Once youre set up, you can find your debit/credit cards in the Wallet app on the watch, but its much faster to use the shortcut. Just double-press the side button (beneath the Digital Crown). This will bring up your default Apple Pay card, with your other cards available too if youd like to select a different one (just swipe left or right). Apple Pay on the Mac If your Mac is running macOS Sierra or later, you can use Apple Pay to complete online purchases via Safari. However, unless you have a newer MacBook with Touch ID, you cant just use Safari aloneyoull need to use an Apple Pay-compatible iPhone or iPad (running iOS 10 or later) or Apple Watch (running watchOS 3 or later) to verify any transactions. Youll also have to use the same iCloud account across devices. If you have a MacBook with Touch ID you can easily use Apple Pay. Once your iPhone and/or Apple Watch are ready to roll, using Apple Pay on your Mac is super simplejust look for the Apple Pay button at checkout on supported sites, select it, and follow the prompt. Youll be asked to approve the transaction through either your iPhone or Apple Watch: For iPhone or iPad verification, use your devices Face ID/Touch ID to verify your fingerprint. Youll be guided by an on-screen dialogue box. For Apple Watch verification, double-tap the side button underneath the Digital Crown. Your watch will display the total amount. Once verified, youll see a purchase confirmation on your Macs screen. If youre using a Touch Bar MacBook Pro, make sure Touch ID is turned ontap the Apple Pay icon on the Touch Bar to start the process. What online stores actually support Apple Pay payments, you may ask? Apple has a full list on their website. How to use Apple Pay in stores When buying something at a brick-and-mortar store, youll hold your iPhone up to a wireless payment terminal near the cash register, and then use Face ID/Touch ID to complete your purchase. These sensors are the same ones youve already seen in stores, often equipped with both card swipers and a tap-to-pay contactless terminal. The beauty of Apple Pay is that you dont even need to wake up your device or launch Walletyour phone wakes up automatically when it gets in range of the terminal and initiates the payment process. The easiest way to make a purchase with a modern iPhone (one with Face ID and no Home button) is to start by double-clicking the side button while looking at your phone. This will wake it up and launch Wallet, while authorizing you with Face ID. Then simply tap your iPhone to the terminal to complete the purchase. If youre buying something with your Apple Watch, double-press the button underneath the Digital Crown. Pressing twice will bring up your default Apple Pay card, with your other cards available too if youd like to select a different one. Once you pick the card you want to use, youll just hold your Watch close to the contactless payment terminal until you hear a beep and/or feel a vibration. It helps if you turn the Watch face toward the payment terminal, almost smooshing them together like theyre kissing. So you typically cant see the watchs face while the payment is happening, unlike when using Apple Pay on an iPhone, where the screen is typically facing you. Depending on the retailer, the card youre using, and the value of your purchase, you might need to enter your PIN. How to use Apple Pay in apps and online stores If youre buying something through a partnered online store or app on your iPhone or iPad, youll just use Face ID/Touch ID to complete the purchase. Depending on the app, you may have to toggle on a setting to allow the app to access Apple Pay, or to set Apple Pay as your default method of payment. For the Mac, use your Touch Bar and Touch ID sensor, or use your paired secondary device (your Apple Pay-compatible iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch, as outlined in the section above) to complete transactions. Make sure all your devices are connected to the same iCloud account. Where can I use Apple Pay? What makes Apple Pay such a game-changer is how many retail partners the platform has, with new stores being added constantly. Apple doesnt have a complete listing of the stores and restaurants where Apple Pay is acceptedthats a pretty long list. But it is accepted at most major retail and restaurant chains, such as Costco, Target, and 7-Eleven. Apple Pay is supported by a plethora of U.S. banks, credit unions, and credit card companies. For a complete list of banks and financial institutions that support the service, check here. Traveling abroad? Not a problem. Apple Pay is accepted in several countries and jurisdictions around the worldincluding Mexico, the U.K., Australia, Japan, China, France, Spain, and Italy. Check out the full list here. Apple Pay Cash Apple Pay Cash is a new feature that allows you to send money to another iOS user. Its similar to Venmo, PayPal, or Square Cash. Its not a new app that you need to download; you send cash via iMessage in the Messages app. Here are Apples requirements for Apple Pay Cash: A compatible device with iOS 11.2 or later. Two-factor authentication for your Apple ID. An eligible credit or debit card in Wallet, so you can send money. Be at least 18 years old. Live in the United States. Read our Apple Pay Cash guide for all the information you need on how to use Apple Pay Cash, how it works, and more. Apple Card Apple now has its own credit card. Backed by Goldman Sachs, the Apple Card is a cash-back credit card that you apply for and use with your iPhone. Yes, you get a physical card as well (its titanium!) but the whole point is to use it with Apple Pay and for all your Apple purchases (apps, in-app subscriptions, hardware bought from Apple, and other payments processed by Apple). You get 1 percent cash back when using the physical card, but 2 percent cash back when using Apple Pay. For purchases from Apple (including the App Store and iTunes) you get 3 percent cash back, and the company has a few partnerships to give you 3 percent back, too. For more on the Apple Card, check out our FAQ. China has described a lawsuit brought against it by the US state of Missouri as very absurd. Speaking on Wednesday, foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said that the suit, which concerns Chinas handling of the coronavirus pandemic, has no factual and legal basis at all. He defended the countrys response to the outbreak, which has now largely subsided, even in the region where it began. Missouris accusations centre on a delay in reporting the extent of the outbreak in the city of Wuhan in Hubei province in late 2019, reportedly over fears about the political stability of the region. Medical staff were ordered to keep quiet about the outbreak early on, and Wuhan went several days without reporting cases during an annual provincial government conference. This so-called lawsuit is very absurd and has no factual and legal basis at all, Mr Geng said at a daily briefing. Since the outbreak began, China has proceeded in an open, transparent, and responsible manner and the US government should dismiss such vexatious litigation, he added. Missouris lawsuit accuses China of an appalling campaign of deceit, concealment, misfeasance, and inaction which led to the enormous loss of life, human suffering, and economic turmoil caused by the coronavirus pandemic. During the critical weeks of the initial outbreak, it reads, Chinese authorities deceived the public, suppressed crucial information, arrested whistleblowers, denied human-to-human transmission in the face of mounting evidence, destroyed critical medical research, permitted millions of people to be exposed to the virus, and even hoarded personal protective equipment thus causing a global pandemic that was unnecessary and preventable. Under US federal law, individual states are generally unable to sue entire countries, but there are exceptional circumstances. The states case argues that Chinas behaviour over coronavirus and its implications stemmed from commercial interests, meaning they have the right to sue. Speaking to Fox Newss Tucker Carlson, Missouri attorney general Eric Schmitt laid the outbreaks human and economic toll at the Chinese governments feet. Whats become clear in recent weeks is the deception, the misrepresentation, the concealment of the Chinese government of the origins of this vicious virus thats impacted the entire globe they were aware of the human-to-human contact and transmission very early on, hid that, punished and concealed the evidence from whistleblowers, and the impact has been devastating, Mr Schmitt said. As of Wednesday morning, Missouri has just under 6,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19, and has recorded 189 deaths. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-21 23:23:22|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SINGAPORE, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Singapore will extend its COVID-19 "circuit breaker" period by four weeks to June 1 to stem the spread of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Tuesday. These circuit breaker measures, which involved home-based schooling and shutting most workplaces temporarily, were implemented two weeks ago and initially supposed to end on May 4. In his address to the nation, Lee said that many will be disappointed by the extension of the circuit breaker, especially business and workers, who are hurting greatly. "But I hope you understand that this short-term pain is to stamp out the virus, protect the health and safety of our loved ones, and allow us to revive our economy," he said. The government will continue to help the businesses and workers cope during the extended "circuit breaker" period, Lee added. According to him, the circuit breaker is starting to have an effect as the number of new cases in the local communities has fallen to below 30 new cases daily, as a result of people making sacrifices and adhering to the rules. Singapore has seen a sharp increase in its total cases over the past 10 days. The Ministry of Health confirmed another 1,111 cases of the coronavirus disease on Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases to 9,125. The vast majority of these new cases are work permit holders residing in foreign worker dormitories. Lee acknowledged that the large number of cases at the dorms was "a serious problem." Hence, Singapore will deploy more medical personnel to ensure workers with fever or flu symptoms receive appropriate and timely medical treatment. It will also house the mild cases either on site, in a separate facility within the dorm, or in community care facilities elsewhere. Singapore has tested aggressively to assess the extent of the spread among the foreign workers, and Lee noted that almost all of the migrant workers have only mild symptoms. "It is early days yet, but thankfully, so far none of the new cases of migrant workers have needed supplemental oxygen, or intensive care," said Lee. To exit from the circuit breaker, Singapore must open up incrementally, in small steps, just like what New Zealand and Germany are beginning to do very cautiously, he said. "They don't want to open up prematurely after lockdowns, only to find COVID-19 coming back, and then be forced to lock down a second time ... We should try our best to avoid this," explained Lee. Secondly, Singapore needs to ramp up testing for COVID-19 substantially to quickly detect any new cases that pop up. It is beginning to do so by procuring test kits and equipment from other countries, but also by developing and manufacturing its own test kits. Singapore also needs to make full use of IT to raise the efficiency of contact tracing. Noting that this has not been an easy time for everyone, Lee appealed for Singaporeans' support and cooperation. "We are making progress, but we have not yet succeeded ... Let us go all out to beat the virus, and break the chain of transmission. We will overcome this together," he said. Enditem April 22 : Bollywood actress Janhvi Kapoor during lockdown is in a mood to cook something great. She baked her favourite special carrot cake and offered her sister Khushi Kapoor. Woefully Janhvi's experiment failed to impress her sister. Because Khushi in no time disfavoured the taste of the cake and returned it back saying, "It's not good". The day Central government announced complete lockdown, due to coronavirus people are in a complete house arrest. Amid Lockdown every celebrity is keeping themselves engaged in some or the other activities and also entertaining their fans. Some are indulged in cooking, so some are creating songs to keep people motivated and positive. Meanwhile on the work front, Janhvi Kapoor will be next seen in The True Story of Gunjan Saxena, which, as the title suggests, is based on the story of Indias first Air Force woman officer who went to war. The movie will spotlight flight lieutenant Gunjan Saxenas journey from becoming a pilot to leading India into the Kargil war of 1999 and emerging victorious, and will also focus on her relationship with her father, who was her pillar of strength. Apart from this she will also be seen in Dostana 2, a romantic comedy film directed by Collin D'Cunha. Bankrolled by Dharma Productions, it is a standalone sequel of the 2008 romantic comedy Dostana. The film stars Kartik Aaryan and Janhvi Kapoor as siblings along with Laksh Lalwani as their mutual love.a Janhvi Kapoor's Baked Carrot Cake For Her Sister. An artist has created a hilarious 'social distance machine' showing just how difficult it is to walk around cities and stick to the 6ft distancing rules during the coronavirus pandemic. Daniel Rotsztain made the device out of plastic and some rubber tubing and ventured out into the streets of Toronto to prove the city should shut its major streets to vehicles. Mr Rotsztain believes the city's sidewalks are too narrow and comically proved his point by bumping into people and objects as he walked along. Daniel Rotsztain wore his 'social distancing machine' in the busy street of Toronto, Canada, to prove how difficult it is to stay 6ft apart While strolling down Kensington Market, wearing the social distance machine, he almost knocks a cyclist off his bike as they nearly plough straight into his 6ft circle. Other people are forced to walk in the road to avoid him and can be seen doing a double take as they spot his ingenious contraption. Mr Rotsztain, who describes himself as an urban geographer, artist and writer, adds funny quotes to the clip, such as 'watch out' to the cyclist and 'out of the way buddy' to the confused pedestrians. He has no choice but to walk in the road himself as the path starts to narrow and he bumps into metal fencing and lampposts before comically adding expletives in a speech bubble. The artist was forced to walk in the middle of the road to avoid other people and said it was the 'only safe place to walk' The video was made to encourage the Mayor of Toronto, John Tory, to ban cars from busy streets in the city similar to other large cities in Canada He then moves on to Yonge Street where he again finds the streets are too narrow and has to battle to walk his machine underneath some scaffolding. He takes a running jump to try and squeeze through but fails miserably and gives up. With the tubing of his machine getting caught on everything in the street, Mr Rotsztain is hilariously pulled backwards several times and opts to walk in the middle of the road which he says is the 'only safe place to walk'. The humorous video finishes with a strong message: 'Toronto needs more space for pedestrians to stay safe. He wore the machine on Kensington Market and Yonge Street to prove his point and came across several obstacles along the way 'The city needs to close streets like Yonge to cars so we can keep out 2m distance. 'Brampton, Vancouver, Edmonton and Montreal have done it. We can too!' Mr Rotsztain posted the video on April 13 and asked people who watched it to tell Toronto Mayor John Tory and local councillors to shut the busy roads to cars to promote safe social distancing. Despite their protestations, the streets remain open to cars and instead the mayor has suggested introducing one-way-only sidewalks. In the state of Ontario, where Toronto is, the total number of confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus is 12,150 and 634 people have died. In total, 36,831 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Canada and 1,690 have resulted in deaths. (Newser) A Minnesota contract egg farmer says his livelihood has been erased along with 61,000 chickens owing to a drop in demand triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. Kerry Mergen and his wife, Barb, produced 4,500 dozen eggs per day, which were turned into fluid egg and sent to food service companies across North America, reports the Minneapolis Star Tribune. They received about $700 daily from Daybreak Foods, which owned the chickens and covered the cost of feed. But as demand suddenly dropped, Daybreak chose to end its contract with the Mergens months early. And on April 9, a crew arrived at the farm near Albany. Workers culled the still productive flock using carbon dioxide, then hauled away the carcasses to be turned into dog food. story continues below "The longer I was there, the more disgusted and disappointed I was knowing that I'm not going to see anything put back in my checkbook again," says Mergen, who adds he doesn't qualify for unemployment insurance and is on a waitlist for federal aid. "When they euthanized the birds, that was our paycheck euthanized," says Barb. She notes the couple would need a large loan to buy their own chickens and more money to pay for equipment to grade eggs for the retail market. There, demand for eggs is rising, along with prices, per the Wall Street Journal. Demand for fluid egg, however, is declining along with food-service ordersa fact Cargill cited last week in temporarily shutting its fluid egg plant in Big Lake, Minn., where many of the Mergens' eggs were sent. (Read more coronavirus stories.) MIAMIA lawsuit aimed at Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard has grown nearly five-fold with 46 women now accusing him of sexually assaulting them at his sprawling estate in the Bahamas as well as in South Florida, New York and elsewhere. The suit, originally filed as a class action in February with 10 women listed as Jane Does, was amended with a longer list of accusers who say Nygard used executives in his clothing empire to help him lure underage girls and young women to his residences to have sex with him. It portrays the 78-year-old Nygard as a serial predator who recruited them at pamper parties under the ruse of modelling, plied them with alcohol and drugs, and then paid them thousands of dollars in hush money. Among the 46 Jane Does listed in the amended complaint: A young woman who started working for Nygard in 2014 claimed he repeatedly raped her and forced her to defecate on him at his compound on Lyford Cay, a.k.a. Nygard Cay, as well as in Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles and New York City while she travelled with him. Nygards case not unlike the disturbing sex-trafficking allegations that engulfed New York financier Jeffrey Epstein before his suicide in federal custody in August has generated international coverage because of the flamboyant designers notoriety as a playboy. Nygards spokesman, Ken Frydman, issued a statement Tuesday saying the embattled fashion giant vehemently denies these baseless allegations and looks forward to clearing his name and the names of others who have been so recklessly and falsely accused. Days after the original suit was filed in New York, FBI agents raided the global headquarters of Nygards company in Times Square and conducted a similar search at his Los Angeles home as part of a federal sex-trafficking investigation, according to the New York Times and other published reports. Nygard also resigned as chairman of the womens clothing manufacturer, based in Winnipeg, and announced plans to divest his ownership interest, while Dillards department store and other retailers stopped selling his line, leading to the companys bankruptcy filing last month. One of Nygards new accusers in the amended suit is a South Florida woman who came to know him in the late 1990s and agreed to talk with the Miami Herald in an interview arranged by the plaintiffs lawyers. A few months ago, Mary Jean Sassoon said her son sent her the link to a CNN online story about the sex-trafficking case against Nygard. She seethed as she pored over the article, recalling her own painful secret from a visit to his island home. I felt degraded even more by reading it, then knowing that there are so many other women that have gone through worse, Sassoon, 67, said in the interview Monday. Sassoon, a divorced mother who raised her two children in South Florida, said she did not meet him until she was in her 40s but their encounter took a sudden and dark turn. She told the Miami Herald that in 1997, Nygards teenage daughter had become friendly with her own daughter as both were starting college. At one point, the fashion tycoon invited her family to his compound on Lyford Cay to celebrate New Years Eve. It was during that trip, she said, that Nygard began talking with her about his art collection and then suddenly shoved her to her knees, violently grabbed her head and forced her to perform oral sex on him. These details are summarized in the amended complaint filed late Monday, though she is not identified by name. Sassoon said she screamed and ran but told no one not her children, not her ex-husband, and not authorities. Our vacation turned into a nightmare, said Sassoon, a retired artist. Decades later, after reading the CNN story, Sassoon said she could no longer remain silent, so she contacted the attorneys representing Nygards accusers Greg Gutzler with the law firm DiCello Levitt Gutzler LLC, and Lisa Haba in Florida to see if she could join their sex-trafficking lawsuit filed earlier this year in New York federal court. In news accounts, Nygard has blamed the federal suit and investigation on his neighbour in the Bahamas, hedge-fund billionaire Louis Bacon. The two wealthy men have been entangled in a legal battle for years over their Bahamian properties, with Bacon accusing Nygard of hiring hit men in a murder plot targeting the investor. In court documents, Nygards attorneys denied he committed any wrongdoing and revealed plans to seek dismissal of the class-action case based on a lack of jurisdiction in New York. This lawsuit which defendants understand is being funded by Mr. Bacon arises out of Mr. Bacons efforts to pay witnesses to make up stories about non-existent sexual assaults, wrote attorneys with the New York law firm Morvillo, Abramowitz, Grand, Iason & Annello P.C. If this case proceeds beyond our motion to dismiss, Mr. Nygard would prove that these allegations are a complete fabrication. Nygards spokesman, Frydman, said in a statement that the amended complaint is the latest chapter in Louis Bacons conspiracy to destroy Peter Nygard and the Nygard companies. In the amended 247-page complaint, the various underage girls and women are listed as Jane Does to protect their identities. They accuse Nygard, a Finnish native who built his fashion empire in Canada over 50 years, of not only sexually assaulting them but also using his companies and senior employees to fund his alleged predatory behaviour. The revised suit names various Nygard executives and associates in the narrative for the first time. The plaintiffs attorneys assert that the heart of the conspiracy is Nygards relationship with those executives and other associates. The lawyers claim they collaborated to facilitate and enable his sex trafficking of children and women in the United States, the Bahamas, Canada, the United Kingdom and elsewhere around the world. The amended complaint says Nygard instructed his employees to target certain females, the younger, the better. He specifically preyed on young, vulnerable and impoverished Bahamian girls because they were unable to defend themselves against his power and influence in their country, the complaint said. It accuses Nygard of paying off Bahamian police and government officials, including a few who came to his pamper parties attended by girls under 18 and young women. During her familys holiday stay with Nygard at the end of 1997, Sassoon said that after she was sexually assaulted by the fashion mogul, she kept to herself and avoided the host but was required to eat dinner with him and his guests. She recalled seeing a beautiful teenage girl being presented to Nygard as if she were a gift, and hearing another girl who worked at his estate screaming behind closed doors. Sassoon said she felt ashamed to talk about her own traumatic experience after all these years, until she read the CNN story about the sex-trafficking lawsuit. She finally told her son and ex-husband, a Miami lawyer who still supports her, about what had happened to her. She never got the opportunity to tell her daughter, because she died in 2017. Deep down, Sassoon said she had to go public with the truth not just for herself but for other possible victims who endured total degradation at the hands of Nygard. I feel bad that I didnt do it way, way, way back, Sassoon said. I dont want anything from it. I just want the madness to stop. A COVID-19 patient who woke up from a medically-induced coma to find she had given birth to her second child has brought the three-week-old baby girl home from the hospital. Respiratory therapist Angela Primachenko, 27, was 33 weeks pregnant when she tested positive for coronavirus on March 24, and a week later she was in a coma and on a ventilator at Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center in Vancouver, Washington. Angela spent ten days intubated, and when she woke up on April 6, she was told that doctors had safely delivered her baby girl Ava five days earlier in an effort to save the lives of both mother and daughter. Milestone: COVID-19 patient Angela Primachenko, who gave birth while in a coma, has filmed the sweet moment that her newborn daughter met her older sister and her grandparents Saying hello: The sweet meeting came two weeks after Angela, from Washington, woke up from her coma and came off the ventilator, only to discover she had delivered a baby girl, Ava Worth the wait: Respiratory therapist Angela, 27, also shared images of baby Ava and her sister Emily at home over the weekend But despite her joy at welcoming a healthy baby girl, Angela had to spend another week waiting to hold her newborn for the first time - and another week before she was able to bring her home to be with her family. Angela finally got to celebrate that milestone moment over the weekend, when she brought baby Ava home from the NICU to meet her big sister, 11-month-old Emily, whose face lit up when she got the chance to say greet her new sibling for the first time. The heartwarming moment was captured on video by Angela on Saturday, after Ava was discharged from the hospital and taken home to meet her whole family, including her grandparents. In the clip, the newborn baby girl is seen lying down, swaddled in a blanket, as her mother and sister lean over and coo over her, with Emily grinning from ear-to-ear as she says hello to her sibling. 'My girls meeting each other yesterday,' Angela wrote in the caption as she posted the video on Sunday, before following it up with several adorable images of baby Ava settling in at home. 'The last few weeks have been filled with so much unexpected change in my life... and I feel like I can write a novel.. but for tonight Ill just write that life is good, and lets find the good in everyday,' the proud mom-of-two said in another Instagram post, which featured several images of baby Ava - and one of the newborn with her proud sister. Positives: 'Life is good, and lets find the good in everyday,' the mother-of-two wrote while sharing images of her baby girl Fighter: Baby Ava was born on April 1, when she weighed just 4.5 lbs., and she spent nearly three weeks in the NICU Precious: The baby girl was given the all clear to go home on Saturday, April 18 On Tuesday evening, she shared another collection of adorable photos, simply captioning the images: 'My little breath of life - Ava.' Angela's latest update about her baby girl comes just days after the mother-of-two got to hold her newborn for the first time, having tested negative for COVID-19 twice since being brought out of her coma. In a series of heart-warming Instagram images, Angela was seen cradling two-week-old Ava in the NICU, an unforgettable moment that brought her to tears. 'Crying right now!!! IM COVA FREE!!! And holding my baby girl in my hands!' she wrote on April 15, while sharing the first photo of her daughter cradled in her arms. 'Such a testimony to be able to hold my little Ava,' she continued, while posting a selfie that showed her wearing a medical mask, with her baby girl snuggled against her chest. 'The reason Im wearing a mask is because everybody has to wear a mask now when visiting the NICU,' she explained of her protective gear, while adding: 'Ava is doing amazing and gaining weight everyday like a champ! Meet your mom! Last week, Angela held her baby girl for the first time after giving birth 'Crying right now': The mom-of-two had an emotional first meeting with her two-week-old daughter Ava, having had to wait to visit her until she tested negative for COVID-19 twice 'Another week or so and we will be able to take her HOME!!' But her first cuddle with her mother seemed to have such a positive effect on Ava's condition that Angela later revealed they are now aiming to bring their daughter home from the hospital as early as this weekend. 'Our little sunshine is doing amazing!' she revealed on Thursday afternoon. 'Planning to come home this weekend!' On her Instagram Stories, the mom-of-two also paid tribute to the hardworking hospital staff, her coworkers, who worked so hard to save her life and the life of her baby girl. 'So thankful to God and all the amazing staff who made this day possible!' she wrote. 'But do your co-workers help save your life?!' Angela and Ava's joyful news comes just ten days after the mother-of-two was brought out of her medically-induced coma, having spent ten days on a ventilator while doctors fought to save her life, and that of her little girl. Heartwarming: Ava was born premature on April 1, five days before her mother woke up, after doctors decided to induce in order to give both mom and baby the best chance of survival Premature: The baby girl weighed just 4.5 lbs. when she was born, but she tested negative for the virus, and is now doing incredibly well; Angela hopes to take her home this weekend Although Angela pulled through, her condition became so severe at one point that doctors decided inducing labor on April 1, several weeks ahead of schedule, was the best option for both her and her daughter. Tribute: Angela, a respiratory therapist, praised her hospital colleagues for helping to save her life 'We were actually scared we were going to lose our sister that day,' Angela's twin sister Oksana Luiten revealed to CNN. 'All of us were just like, "God, if you dont come through, we might lose our sister,"' she added to WILX. While still in a coma, Angela delivered a 4.5 lb. baby girl. Then, on April 6, the new mother-of-two woke up and was taken off the ventilator and noticed right away that she wasn't pregnant anymore. 'Obviously nobody expected that I was going to get that sick, so no, absolutely not, I did not expect to deliver my child,'' she said. 'After all the medication and everything I just woke up and all of a sudden I didn't have my belly any more. It was just extremely mind-blowing.' She and her husband David named the baby Ava, which means 'breath of life', with Angela revealing that she has always loved the moniker, but that it felt all the more appropriate after what she and her baby have been through. 'I just really like it,' she told WILX. 'I think Ava is just such a beautiful name. Dramatic times: Angela was 33 weeks pregnant when she tested positive for COVID-19 on March 24 Scary: A week later she was in a medically-induced coma and on a ventilator at Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center in Vancouver, Washington 'We did not expect to go down this road, but sure enough, she ended up being our little breath of life.' Born premature, Ava is still in the NICU, but she does not have coronavirus. Because David and Emily did not test positive for the virus, they were able to visit the newest member of the family, and father-of-two David was able to hold their newborn daughter while giving Angela a chance to meet her over FaceTime. But Angela who was released from the hospital on Saturday after 17 days there did not get the chance to meet baby Ava in person until she finally tested negative for COVID-19 twice. Despite the difficult circumstances surrounding the brith of her child however, Angela is incredibly grateful to have pulled through and to have welcomed to a healthy baby girl. 'I feel like I'm a miracle walking,' she told Today, adding on Instagram that she is 'so thankful for amazing nurses who send me update photos.' Surprise: Angela was on a ventilator and unconscious in the hospital for ten days Getting better: Although her condition became incredibly severe at one point, Angela has made a full recovery - and was applauded by hospital staff when she woke up Waiting to hold her: Until Wednesday, Angela had only been able to see her baby via FaceTime Angela says she does not know how she contracted the virus, insisting that she took every precaution to guard against it, and had even stopped working in order to protect herself while pregnant. Once she fell ill however, the respiratory therapist knew that she was likely going to end up on a ventilator, because of her experience in the field. 'Im like, "Im probably going to end up on a ventilator because I cant breathe. I just cant catch my breath,"' she told WILX of her condition. Angela, whose state has been one of the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 10,400 cases and 508 deaths, said that she hopes her story brings joy to others who have been affected by the illness. 'There's hope,' she told Today. '...Even in the hardest days and the hardest times that there's hope and you can rely on God and people and community. 'The amount of community and people that were praying for me is just unbelievable. I was blown away, and I'm so incredibly thankful.' BAY CITY, MI - Downtown Bay City is seeing less foot traffic due to the Stay Home, Stay Safe order during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Some Bay City business owners are getting creative to serve shoppers and keep merchandise moving. Even though theres not as much traffic downtown, that doesnt mean that all businesses are closed. Many are selling their goods and services online, via curbside pick up, and many restaurants are offering take out and delivery," said Suzanne Maxwell, executive director of the Bay City Downtown Management Board and Development Authority. Lana Johnson of Panache Boutique, 215 Center Ave., said the business has been greatly affected by the lack of foot traffic and in-person shoppers. Her store has turned to live clothing try ons on her shops Facebook page. She has been generating sales from it as well. We have had a great response to social media during this time and everyone wanting items shipped to their home, which has been such a blessing," she said. Kathy LaLonde of the Little House, 924 N. Water St., said that while her physical store is closed, shes using the time to update the interior for a fresh new look when she is able to re-open, while selling items on Facebook and Instagram. Brandon Strong, of Regent Floral and Mercantile, at 924 Washington Ave., said he is using Facebook Live to teach the community about a range of subjects, such as floral arranging and houseplants. He admits the current shutdown has hurt sales. I was forced to close our doors on March 23. I launched our first version of the website on March 25, which allows us to sell select gifts. Our sales overall are currently down 90%," he said. Lisa Coyer, of Coyer Candles, said she had to close the storefronts in Bay City and Midland. Closed both of our retail locations and we had to lay off our staff. However, were also using this time to think outside of the box and create new ways for sales," said Coyer. Other businesses owners like Jessica McQuarter and Jordian Pries of Electric Kitsch at 917 Washington said that they are enduring a substantial income loss during the pandemic, but is seeing support from their regular customers and friends through online sales. As the pandemic continues on, the concern grows about the possibility of downtown businesses closing permanently and more empty storefronts. That is something I worry about every day," Maxwell said. "Im optimistic that with the local and federal resources available to small business owners, they wont have to close their doors. Maxwell added that the Downtown Management Board and Development Authority has been meeting virtually to discuss plans on how they can help businesses negatively impacted by the pandemic. Showing support Downtown businesses are working together to help support each other through the pandemic. For example, Maxwell said that businesses like Coyer Candle is selling candles online with an option for customers to select what downtown business they would like a 40% donation to go to. Populace Coffee is also using a revenue-sharing program where the company sells coffee with downtown business logos on each bag, according to Maxwell. The money from the coffee sold is really helping us survive," McQuarter said. As for the local community, Maxwell said that she has seen a push by customers to show their support for downtown businesses. Community support has been outstanding," she said. "It makes me very happy to see that people out there get it, that small businesses are the heart of the community. For those looking for ways to help local businesses, Maxwell said buying gift cards for future use once stores open back up is a solid idea, along with ordering takeout and online items. Strong expressed his gratitude for customers that have been buying gift cards. People keep reaching out asking for flowers, however I am not allowed to do so. I am very thankful to those that have purchased gift cards on our website as the bills have not stopped on our end," he said. Read more: Fourth of July fireworks still a go for now in Bay City, Saginaw as organizers collect cans Bay City Commission approves United Bridge Partners request for extension Bay County tosses pickleball court funding back and forth, sends request to committee Bay City music teacher performing songs from her porch to cheer up the neighborhood Governors Call for New COVID-19 Relief Bill for States and Territories Members of the National Governors Association (NGA) called for Congress to pass an additional $500 billion relief bill to stabilize states and territories, which they say are in dire straits from the pandemic-driven economic fallout. In a letter signed by NGA Chairman Larry Hogan, Republican governor of Maryland, and NGA Vice Chairman Andrew Cuomo, Democrat governor of New York, leaders of the association outlined the damage to local economies from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19 disease. As governors, we prioritize the health and welfare of our citizens above all other considerations. In response to the crisis and to ensure the safety of our citizens, we closed non-essential businesses, limited large gatherings, and implemented stay-at-home orders. We did not make these decisions lightly. As a result, our national and local economies are in dire straits and have resulted in the most dramatic contraction of the U.S. economy since World War II, the leaders wrote. Many states are already reporting precipitous declines in revenues that fund state services in health care, education, public safety, transportation, and other vital programs, states the letter, which was sent on April 21, the day the Senate passed a $483.4 billion economic relief measure that would replenish the popular small business loan program that has run out of money and boost funding for hospitals to ramp up COVID-19 testing. The Senates voice vote sends the bill back to the House for final passage, expected to take place on Thursday. President Donald Trump tweeted his support for the measure, called the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, on Tuesday, saying he would sign it when it reaches his desk. Trump said in a separate tweet that additional items left out of the bill, like payroll tax cuts, infrastructure initiatives, and fiscal relief to state and local governments for lost revenues from COVID-19, could be included in the next round of aid. In the letter, the governors call on Senate and House leaders of both parties to adopt measures that include direct federal aid of $500 billion to states and territories for replacement of lost revenue. These continuing losses will force states and territories not only to make drastic cuts to the programs we depend on to provide economic security, educational opportunities, and public safety, but the national economic recovery will be dramatically hampered, the governors argued. They also called for a temporary increase in Federal Medical Assistance Percentages from 6.2 percent to 12 percent, greater access to personal protective equipment and medical supplies, and enhancements to unemployment insurance, citing the record 22 million Americans [that] have applied for unemployment in the past three weeks. The letter comes amid mounting calls for governors to ease restrictions that have stifled economic activity and driven up unemployment. Before lockdowns can be lifted, however, testing will need to be ramped up, the governors said in the letter. Before governors consider relaxing social distancing measures to protect against reoccurrence of COVID-19 cases, states will need to significantly expand diagnostic and antibody testing capacity which includes an essential public health infrastructure to support contact tracing, surveillance, epidemiology, laboratory capacity, workforce, and community partnerships, Hogan and Cuomo wrote in the letter. Many Philadelphians are reluctant to leave their homes because of fears over contracting COVID-19. But members of the citys Asian American communities have an additional worry many are growing increasingly anxious about dealing with racist incidents. Read more In early March, Yuming Wang, a Philadelphia lawyer, watched with increasing concern reports of racist incidents against Asian Americans over coronavirus fears trickle in from other cities. A Chinese woman was attacked for wearing a mask in New York City. A 16-year-old Asian American student was physically assaulted in Los Angeles. Wang, who is the honorary chairman of the Pennsylvania United Chinese Coalition, decided to create a WeChat group for Chinese Americans who were worried about the rising numbers of racist incidents during the pandemic. Soon after, he began working closely with state and local police, the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations, and other law enforcement agencies to encourage Chinese Americans who experience racist incidents to report them. Chinese Americans have been increasingly worried about their safety every day, and the issue is getting deeper and deeper into their mental health concerns, Wang said. Among [the group members], the biggest concern is that when someone goes somewhere, [they] may be attacked, verbally or physically, because of being Asian or Chinese Americans. Many Philadelphians are reluctant to leave their homes because of fears over contracting COVID-19. But members of the citys Asian American communities have an additional worry many are growing increasingly anxious about dealing with racist incidents, which can lead to negative mental health effects. FAQ: Your coronavirus questions, answered The link between racism and mental health The number of hate crimes against Asian Americans has been decreasing for 15 years, according to the FBIs Uniform Crime Report data from 2003 to 2017. But in late March, federal law enforcement began to warn communities that hate crimes against Asian Americans will increase as the coronavirus crisis goes on. This concerned mental health experts, as a growing body of research indicates a link between racial discrimination and anxiety and depression. In a 2013 review of 121 studies on the effects of racism on youth, researchers found that youth who experienced discrimination were significantly more likely to suffer from mental health problems. A 2007 study that surveyed 2,047 Asian Americans identified racial discrimination as a significant predictor of mental health disorders over a 12-month period. When people are treated unfairly, it can create a stress response called allostatic load, said Gilbert Gee, a professor in the department of community health sciences at the Fielding School of Public Health at the University of California Los Angeles. Allostatic load can impair the body in many ways, such as weakening our immune systems. Even before the pandemic began, Asian American communities were considered a high-risk group among mental health experts. Survey data from the 2011 National Latino and Asian American Study found that Asian American women have a 17% chance of developing a psychiatric disorder over their lifetime, and they are three times less likely to seek mental health services than white women are. Results from the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found only 6.3% of Asian Americans who were age 18 and over received mental health services in 2017, compared with 18.6% of white people. Racism against Asian Americans has existed for centuries COVID-19-related violence is just a recent iteration. Kevin Nadal, a psychologist and professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice whose research focuses on the mental health effects of microaggressions, said its important to acknowledge that the fear of experiencing racism is very real. Even if people arent experiencing direct incidents, just the knowledge of it can cause them to feel anxious, depressed, or hypervigilant, which can lead to other mental health issues, Nadal said. Its a collective trauma the anticipation comes from people of your shared identity having experienced violence. Hate speech on social media is one example. In a study conducted by Gee, early results from an analysis of nearly one million tweets between November and March suggest that negative comments about Asians increased about 70%. Gee also found that negative comments about Asians increased 167% the week after President Donald Trump used the phrase China virus during a news conference. Its really important to acknowledge that language matters and has a direct effect on marginalized communities that may be targeted, said Nadal, who was not involved in the study. When the president assigned blame to China instead of acknowledging that this virus, like most viruses, can come from a number of places, he definitely emboldens people to act out on their racism. Discrimination against Asians protects nobody Min Son and her family began wearing masks to grocery stores in March, even before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended everyone wear a mask. But they worried that the masks could make them a target. We were super cautious whenever we had to go outside, said Son, a senior at Ursinus College. Our president calling COVID-19 a Chinese virus also played a part into our fear of discrimination. I am not Chinese, but to others, I may look like one. And I am not more vulnerable against this virus than other races. Viruses dont discriminate, and discrimination against Asians protects nobody. The stress that results from anticipating racism can negatively affect the immune system, according to Suzanne Chong, a psychologist at Ursinus College. The immune system will be temporarily put on half for the body to be vigilant for possible threatening situations, she said. The anticipation of harassment might manifest as somatic symptoms of headaches, gastrointestinal disturbances, physical aches and pains, and an inability to fight off infections. Chong emphasized that people should not feel alone in facing fears over discrimination and race-based attacks. She pointed out that many organizations, like the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, have condemned anti-Asian American rhetoric. She also encouraged people to reach out for support from friends, family members, community and religious leaders, and mental health professionals because acknowledging the reality of racism and the impact will help dispel the heaviness and burden of being targets. Chong encouraged people to speak out if they see someone being rude or making racist slurs, if they feel safe doing so. Offer your empathy and be an ally against racism," she said. Your presence is the best salve against acts of cruelty. Nadal expects the impacts of coronavirus-fueled racism to be long lasting. He said the psychological effects of discriminatory acts by the U.S. government like the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 and Japanese internment in the 1940s are still felt today. The Asian American community is so diverse, Nadal said. People are going to experience this differently, just like how after 9/11, East Asian Americans might not have experienced the targeting of Arab Americans or South Asians. But we have to care about it, whether or not it personally affects us. We have to be just as vigilant as if it was happening in our own communities. Gromit702/iStock By LUKE BARR, KATHERINE FAULDERS, and ALEXANDER MALLIN, ABC NEWS WASHINGTON) -- The Department of Justice has issued new guidelines to the federal prison system requiring that prisoners eligible for release to home confinement amid the coronavirus outbreak must have served at least 50% of their prison sentence, according to a Bureau of Prisons memo obtained by ABC News. The updated guidance was shared with federal prisons across the country Monday, according to sources familiar with it. Inside some facilities sources described to ABC News confusion over the departments new guidelines, especially since some of the wheels were already in motion for some releases. While the DOJ guidance is technically not a directive, sources familiar with the matter say it is being taken as such. It could call into question the fate of many prisoners who had expected to be released to home confinement prior to the updated recommendations. In a statement, the Justice Department told ABC News it "confirmed to BOP this afternoon that the BOP has discretion under the Attorney General's Memoranda on March 26 and April 3 regarding which home confinement cases are appropriate for review in order to fight the spread of the pandemic. BOP will proceed expeditiously consistent with that confirmation." One high-profile inmate whose future could change because of the new guidance is Paul Manafort, President Trump's former campaign chairman. Manafort's attorneys wrote to the Bureau of Prisons earlier this month asking for him to be released to home confinement. His attorneys have not yet received a formal response to their request. Sources close to Manafort believed he would have a good chance of being released based on the initial guidance announced publicly by the Department of Justice, but now his fate appears more unclear. Manafort, 71, is only at the beginning of a more than seven-year sentence in a federal correctional institution in central Pennsylvania for charges related to special counsel Robert Muellers investigation. He was found guilty of tax fraud and conspiracy and was sentenced by a federal judge in March 2019. He was slated to be released from prison November 4, 2024. The charges stemmed from his work related to Ukraine between 2006 and 2015. Attorney General Bill Barrs initial directive encouraged the federal prison system to increase the use of home confinement for prisoners deemed in the at risk categories for coronavirus. In a phone interview with ABC News late last month, Barr stressed that there would be significant limits on what would make prisoners eligible for release to home confinement, noting that they could not be convicted of violent crimes or sex offenses -- which makes up roughly 40% of the over-60 population. "My main interest is making sure that they're safe to the community and that the situation they're going into is likely to be safer than staying where they are where they have ready access to doctors and we can keep them in isolation," Barr said at the time. Former New York Senate Leader Dean Skelos, who tested positive for coronavirus, and who was expected to be released from prison is now unlikely to be granted release to home confinement under the new guidelines, according to a Tuesday court filing in the Southern District of New York. Skelos was convicted of bribery and extortion and had served approximately 30% of his sentence. On Monday the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York involved in another case wrote in a letter to a U.S. District Judge that the Bureau of Prisons had informed them that DOJ had issued new guidance on releasing prisoners to home confinement, but added in a footnote that they had not yet seen a copy of the guidance. "Based on the new guidance, the BOP anticipates that Stahl, who has served approximately 23% of his sentence, will not be eligible for home-confinement placement at this time," U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman wrote, referring to Lewis Stahl, who had been sentenced to 30 months in prison on tax evasion charges in 2018 and already approved for release. Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. NASA Johnson You want to talk about social distancing? How about spending 174 days floating 240 miles above the Earths surface? Thats what this week's Get a Real Job guest has done, and a whole lot more. Tracy Caldwell Dyson is a NASA astronaut who flew aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor and worked inside the International Space Station. All told she has logged more than 188 days in space, and over 22 hours on spacewalks. Here, she talks about the mental and physical toughness it takes to spend huge amounts of time in confined spaces, and finally reveals whether the Earth is actually flat. (Spoiler alert: It isn't.) A month after closing its branches and furloughing 1,679 employees, the YMCA of Greater San Antonio is taking the first tentative steps toward resuming normal activities. YMCA managers are recalling some employees and discussing ways to reopen. They are also making plans for summer programs that normally would include day camp and swimming lessons. We are starting the conversation on what we will look like when we reopen, keeping in mind the fears and concerns of the community, said Stephanie Chavira, marketing and communications director. Last week, Gov. Greg Abbott announced plans to begin easing statewide restrictions, and this week, city and county leaders formed a panel of experts to guide the local reopening. The YMCA will follow its own timetable. Even if the ban is lifted and authorities tell us it is safe, well still make our own call. Well open when we feel it is safe, Chavira said. The YMCA operates 12 branches from Cibolo to Boerne, plus a summer camp in Hunt. Chavira said it serves about 150,000 people who take part in youth and adult sports, wellness programs and other activities. It also provides some child care. During the shutdown, some important YMCA services continued, including senior outreach, food distribution and child care. The March 18 furlough of the YMCA employees was one of the largest layoffs reported this year to the Texas Workforce Commission. About 1.5 million Texans have filed for unemployment benefits in the last six weeks, an estimated 90 percent of them because of the coronavirus pandemic. Full-time employees who were furloughed by the YMCA kept their medical benefits. During the closure, about 100 essential employees stayed on the job. Recently, an additional 20 came back to work. Today, we have 119 actively working employees, said Stacy Oksenberg, the YMCAs human resources officer. We are providing child care for emergency response workers and medical workers. H-E-B is another of our partners with child care. The child care programs have been increased from three to six sites, in part to accommodate the new needs created by the pandemic. The YMCA is providing child care for 31 new families that are considered emergency or essential personnel, such as nurses, police and grocery store workers. That is in addition to more than 200 children under the age of 4 who already were enrolled in the three early learning sites. The YMCA member call center also has remained open, and as might be expected, the volume of calls has increased. Were doing a lot of member outreach and engagement. A lot of people depend on the YMCA as their community and socializing place. Now that that has been removed, were remaining in contact with them in a virtual state, Oksenberg said. One of the YMCA branches, the TriPoint at North St. Marys and U.S. 281, is serving as a respite site for first responders. They can clean up and shower there before they go home to their families. They can also wash their clothes there and spend the night if they want, Chavira said. During the closure, she said, YMCA members have been given a choice of how to apply their membership dues. About a quarter of them have chosen to donate half or all the money to support the continuing effort to provide community services. Its incredible that our community is still here with us, Chavira said. Although signs increasingly point toward a reopening of businesses in San Antonio, Chavira said that for the YMCA, there remain many unknowns. Foremost, she said, is what the members and users will decide are safe and comfortable activities. We know that things are going to look different. People may not be ready to come back to a closed space, like a gym. And also, they might not be able to do it financially, Chavira said. Do we need to step up and offer more scholarships so families can participate? And will all of our staff want to come back? We wont know until we reopen, she said. you are here: Neesie Doss cant wait to return to the business of running her business, in part because the nature of her profession as a massage therapist is helping people feel better. The coronavirus outbreak has temporarily shuttered Doss PDX Healing Massage, which has an office in Portland and Salem and employs seven licensed therapists. They have hundreds of clients, among them health care workers and seniors. Doss and her staff are on unemployment until Oregon gives the all-clear to open business again. Im massaging my dog and cat a lot, Doss said. One day while walking her dog in her Northeast Portland neighborhood, Doss saw a neighbor conversing with someone in their late 60s, asking how they were doing and do you need anything. The elderly person said they could use some hand sanitizer. One thing led to another, and hand sanitizer was delivered to the persons porch. Doss felt confident the two didnt know each other. Just someone helping someone during a time of need. Something Doss could do while waiting for business to resume. So Doss went to her database of clients and emailed all the people who might be considered high-risk for a coronavirus infection, such as seniors and those with health issues. Her offer was simple: need supplies, like groceries or toilet paper? I can deliver them to your porch. Coronavirus in Oregon: Latest news | Live map tracker |Text alerts | Newsletter Doss got responses. One person had a spouse who was about to go on chemotherapy and could use some toilet paper and towels. No problem. Others requested some standard pantry items. I live a block from Fred Meyer, and its no problem, Doss said. Its not the money or time, its the interaction. If we all do this, it could make a big difference. The outreach gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling. Doss recently increased her offers. She has a couple dozen health care workers among her clients. When her business opens, theyre all entitled to one hour of massage on the house. This type of generosity isnt out of Doss business character. During the 2018 Columbia Gorge fires, she offered firefighters a free 30-minute massage. Each year, PDX Healing Massage does an annual food and coat drive for those in need. While those receiving such gifts as a bag of groceries or a free massage are in need, so is Doss. This is probably helping me more, she said. People are so happy to see you. --Nick Daschel | ndaschel@oregonian.com | @nickdaschel Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Michael Mulgrew, the president of the citys teachers union, suggested that thousands of city school workers may have been exposed to the virus or spread it over a critical two-week period through the second week in March, when schools remained open despite pressure to close them, and then for another week when teachers received in-school training for distance learning. Asked whether he blamed those decisions for the number of dead school employees, Mr. Mulgrew hesitated. I would like to see the science behind it, but logic would say that had something to do with it, he said. Thousands more have been sickened. In a one-week period, from late March to early April, there were 5,804 employees on excused leave, which includes sick leave seven times more than during the same period last year, according to city data that surveyed a little over half of the work force. At the Police Department, 18 percent of the officers were out sick by mid-April. At the Fire Department, 23 percent of its emergency medical responders and 16 percent of its firefighters were out sick. Our city is going through an unprecedented crisis and we owe an extraordinary debt to the city workers helping us, Mr. de Blasio said in a statement. These are our co-workers, our fellow public servants, people we know personally. Each loss hurts and we mourn as though they were part of our family, he continued. Well never forget those who dedicated their lives to our city, and were doing everything in our power to protect every single one of our public servants. China said Tuesday this is a time for solidarity and cooperation, not finger-pointing and politicization, as its top diplomats in New York officially handed over a donation of medical supplies to hard-hit New York City to help tackle the coronavirus pandemic. Consul-General Huang Ping recalled at the online ceremony that Chinas President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump called for anti-epidemic cooperation between our two nations and the world in their last phone call on March 17. As the two biggest economies in the world, China and the United States need to lead the effort to fighting the coronavirus, Huang said. This is not the time for finger-pointing. This is the time for solidarity, collaboration, cooperation and mutual support. But after weeks of elaborate praise of president Xis performance in the pandemic, Trump has turned to blaming China and halting US contributions to the World Health Organization, accusing it of parroting misinformation from Beijing. Chinas UN Ambassador Zhang Jun stressed the importance of multilateralism, saying we live in one world and Covid-19 knows no borders. We need to support the United Nations and the WHO in playing a leading and coordinating role in defeating Covid-19, the common enemy of all mankind, he said. We should stand firm against the politicization of the pandemic and remove all obstacles which hinder our cooperation. Huang said the American people helped China without hesitation when it was in great difficulty, and its consulate and UN mission have donated 25,000 N95 masks, 2,000 protective suits, and 75,000 pairs of medical gloves, which reached New York last weekend. According to incomplete estimates, Huang said, China has also donated a total of 1,000 ventilators, 6,550,000 masks, 310,000 pairs of surgical gloves, 150,000 goggles and 32,000 protective suits to the United States, much of it to New York. Penny Abeywardena, New York Citys commissioner for international affairs, thanked China for its extremely generous donation, saying it is what our health care workers need and we are absolutely grateful that you are in this fight with us. She said the latest donation is already going to health care personel. She also referred to attacks on Chinese-Americans as a result of Covid-19 originating in China, saying New York City will not tolerate any harassment or discrimination against your community. Both the consul-general and UN ambassador expressed hope that the supplies will help New York win the fight against the pandemic. Zhang said he wanted to stress that living in New York we share its joy, we share its pain, and every evening at 7 pm EDT he and his wife go out on their balcony and join their neighbours in clapping to support the citys essential workers. I sincerely hope that, with the unity of all New Yorkers, we will defeat the pandemic and bring New York back to a dynamic and colorful life, the UN ambassador said. Wall Street has suffered its worst slump in three weeks, after oil prices fell for a second day, amid the coronavirus outbreak. Oil prices dropped dramatically on Monday and continued the trajectory on Tuesday, causing stocks to fall for a second day in a row. The stock market has varied wildly in the months since the coronavirus pandemic forced businesses to close all over the world. The S&P fell in both February and March, as investors attempted to navigate the outbreak. However, the market saw a rise earlier this month after a federal rescue package, that promised to put trillions of dollars into the financial markets, was agreed, reports the New York Times. However, with many places in the US and around the world in lockdown, the demand for petroleum has decreased, which has caused oil prices to fall. Recommended Oil market turmoil continues after historic fall into negative prices Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, told the New York Times: Every so often, reality bites. You could not ignore what was going on in the oil markets. Quincy Krosby, a market strategist at Prudential Financial told Reuters that it is too early to tell if the slump will be long term. What youre seeing is pulling back in the areas that have done well, and taking profits while you can, he said. The question will be whether this is a consolidation after the market ran up so quickly, or is this the beginning of a more important pullback in the overall market. Some oil shares rose slightly on Tuesday, after Donald Trump announced on Twitter that he would help support the industry. We will never let the great US Oil & Gas Industry down. I have instructed the Secretary of Energy and Secretary of the Treasury to formulate a plan which will make funds available so that these very important companies and jobs will be secured long into the future, he tweeted. Earlier this month, analysts from Goldman Sachs warned that the coronavirus outbreak is extremely negative for oil prices and is sending landlocked crude prices into negative territory. The fracking industry in the US has been widely forecast to suffer bankruptcies, as those businesses cannot sustain themselves when oil prices fall too low. Goldman Sachs's global head of commodities research, Jeff Currie, said the pandemic would permanently alter the energy industry and its geopolitics, restrict demand as economic activity normalises and shift the debate around climate change. According to a tracking project hosted by Johns Hopkins University, in the US there are upwards of 816,240 people who have tested positive for coronavirus. The death toll has reached at least 44,228. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 14:54:35|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close by Li Hao, Tang Binhui and Jiang Chao ISLAMABAD, April 22 (Xinhua) -- As a part of the measures taken by the Pakistani government to curb COVID-19, all educational institutions in the country have been closed, and stillness becomes the norm in schools. On April 15, it was a little bit "abnormal" in the courtyard of a kindergarten in the capital Islamabad, where Ma Bin and several other volunteers were busy in lining up over 10 local Pakistani people and asking them to keep social distance, to distribute supplies to them. Ma, from northwestern China's Gansu province, came to Pakistan to study in 2011 and has been working and living in Pakistan since graduating in 2018. "We borrowed this kindergarten to distribute supplies to 150 poor local families. In order to avoid gathering of too many people, we divided these families into different groups. They will come at different time," he told Xinhua. Ma and his volunteer team prepared 20 kg of flour, 10 kg of rice and other necessities of life for each family. "The worth of the supplies for one family is only around 3,700 rupees, but they can meet the basic needs of a family for about two months," Ma said. To prevent and control the pandemic, a lockdown has been gradually implemented across Pakistan including in Islamabad, restricting the movement of the people and shutting down shopping malls and markets. The spreading COVID-19 and the lockdown hit the life of the poor especially the daily wagers. Muhammad Iqbal, 62 years old, is a resident in the capital and a bread earner, who needs to support his family of eight members. "I used to be able to earn 600 to 700 rupees a day and spent all my earnings on livelihood. Although the lockdown is necessary for controlling the disease, it has also made it hard for me to find work now. We are short of food at home. I am thankful from the bottom of my heart to the Chinese volunteers," he said after receiving the supplies. At the end of March, Ma decided to help some poor families in Pakistan after learning that they were facing extreme hardship with the danger of running out of food due to the outbreak of COVID-19. The fundraising initiative of Ma and his volunteer team has been well received by the caring people in China and Chinese enterprises in Pakistan. They had provided supplies to a total of 715 poor families before the distribution on April 15. The spread of the disease in Pakistan has accelerated recently. According to the data released by the health ministry on Wednesday, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has reached 9,749 in Pakistan, with 194 in Islamabad. "Going outside might mean a higher risk of getting infected, but we still want to do something meaningful on the premise of taking enough precautionary measures," Ma said. The COVID-19 spreading and the lockdown made it difficult for Ma and his team to purchase and transport the supplies, but they have got help from local volunteers. Because of the closure of shops and the suspension of public transport, it was not easy to prepare the supplies, Muhammad Nauman, from Islamabad, said. "We are locals and we can help in terms of the purchase of goods and contact with local poor families. Most of the people we are providing relief to are daily wagers who basically have no savings, and their life have been severely affected by the outbreak of the pandemic. I am really grateful to our Chinese brothers for providing much-needed help to these poor families," Nauman told Xinhua. To mitigate the influence of the disease and the lockdown, a 144-billion-rupee emergency cash program launched by the Pakistani government commenced on April 9, aiming to provide 12 million deserving families with 12,000 rupees. In addition, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced to gradually open "low risk" industries including construction, chemicals, e-commerce, software development on the premise of following standard operating procedures, to create more job opportunities for the people. "I have lived in Pakistan for many years and have a deep understanding of the friendship between China and Pakistan. The two countries are 'iron brothers,' like a family. When your brother is in trouble, lending a help hand is the most natural thing to do. As long as the conditions permit, we hope to continue this kind of activities," Ma said. (1 U.S. dollar = 161.00 rupees) Enditem The obsession over Netflixs Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness continues, with equal attention on Carole Baskin as much as Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage (Joe Exotic). At issue with fans now is whether Baskin is really innocent based on accusations from other big cat enthusiasts she murdered her husband with her wild tigers involved. Lacking any credible evidence, she has not been named a suspect or person of interest. Many others put on trial for murders and other crimes were not so lucky. They became wrongly convicted, with some finally being released years later. True-crime documentaries continue to thrive due to Tiger King, but many documentaries about falsely accused people are never watched enough. Three, in particular, are worth the time watched in a similar vein. All three of these are available on Netflix and cover cases most likely familiar, depending on your attention. Carole Baskin of Tiger King | Netflix Amanda Knox on Netflix Most everyone knows about the Amanda Knox case if still a mystery exactly on whom she is as a person. Netflix put together a documentary about Knox a few years ago that had everyone riveted. Many remember Knox was convicted twice for the 2007 murder of her exchange student roommate (Meredith Kercher) while living in Perugia, Italy. The original investigation in Italy contended Knox and her boyfriend killed Kercher in a sex act gone wrong. After labyrinthine court cases in Italian courts, Knox was thrown in prison, only to finally be exonerated in 2015. The long road there is still an incredible story if always giving the feeling something was never quite right. Most evidence, however, pointed to Knox being innocent, hence her moving on with her life to this day in Washington State. Those curious about Carole Baskin in Tiger King will find a lot of parallels here, and not because the lead is a woman. A personal public divide on agreeing about complete innocence (regardless of evidence) is what makes cases like this all the more intriguing. Fear of 13 A few true-crime documentary enthusiasts might have let Fear of 13 go through the cracks. When first released in 2015, it won Best Documentary at the London Film Festival. Perhaps it was overlooked a little too much because of its unique narrative structure. The entire movie is the subject himself (Nick Yarris) telling the story of his troubled life, plus conviction for murdering a woman he never met. He spent time on death row for 21 years before DNA evidence finally cleared his name. Once out of prison, he reformed his life to become a writer and professional speaker. His storytelling skills became superior since he tells the entire arc of his prison experience on camera without any cutaways. Maybe not everyone will appreciate that approach, yet Yarris keeps it riveting every minute. The Innocence Files The Innocence Project is a nonprofit legal organization assembled back in 1992 to help exonerate those falsely accused of crimes. Over the last 28 years, the organization managed to help get numerous prisoners released after closer examining evidence and using more efficient DNA testing science. Some of those project cases are examined in the series called The Innocence Files. At the moment, the show is on Netflix with an entire season already underway. Nine episodes have aired tackling various criminal cases exonerated since the organization went into existence. Critics rave about this series, and it may arguably be the singularly most important true-crime series going today. Considering The Innocence Project fights valiantly to rid injustice in the world, the release of the truly innocent only helps refine our prison systems. While Carole Baskin has not been named a suspect or a person of interest in the case of her husbands disappearance, many fans speculate she may be responsible. These stories offer the other side of those presumed guilty. The Assam government will conduct COVID-19 tests for journalists in the state on April 25, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday. Journalists are facing professional hazards and, therefore, "we have decided to carry out tests for them free of cost", Sarma told a press conference here. "Those who want to get themselves tested can come to the Guwahati Medical College Hospital on April 25", the minister said. All protocols related to COVID-19 will be maintained, he added. Scribes in Assam had appealed to the state government to conduct coronavirus tests, after many mediapersons recently tested positive in Mumbai and Chennai. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hong Kong's increasing linkages to mainland China was a reason behind the downgrade of its credit rating by Fitch Ratings. The ratings agency on Monday lowered Hong Kong's sovereign rating from AA to AA- with a stable outlook. The move was Fitch's second downgrade of the city's rating in less than a year, and places Hong Kong just one notch above mainland China's A+ rating with a stable outlook. The linkages between Hong Kong and mainland China "economically, financially and from a sociopolitical perspective have continued to gradually rise over time," noted Andrew Fennell, senior director of Asia-Pacific sovereigns at Fitch Ratings. "So, as a ratings agency, in thinking about where Hong Kong should sit in the rating relative to mainland China, we thought that that gradual integration means the ratings should be closer together," he told CNBC's "Capital Connection" on Wednesday. "Now the ratings are just one notch apart and I think that makes sense ... because Hong Kong still does have some institutional differences with that of mainland China and in particular what we think is relevant is that it continues to maintain an open capital account, has its own currency, it independently manages its fiscal and external account," he added. The Electric Power University (EPU), Vingroup, and the Information Technology Center of the Eastern People Military Hospital are just three of many universities, businesses and organizations that have promised to manufacture robots and ventilators. 1/ Cu Chi Field Hospital has officially put a room disinfection robot into operation. The product is made by the Creative Incubator at the Information Technology Center at the Eastern People Military Hospital to fulfill an order from the HCM City Department of Health. The robot has two major functions spraying disinfectant and mopping the floor after spraying. In addition, it can disinfect itself before leaving isolation rooms. Medical workers control the robot remotely via 3G or the internet, thus reducing the risk of exposure to germs. The HCM City Department of Health plans to equip all the hospitals receiving coronavirus patients in the city with the robots. The robot has two major functions spraying disinfectant and mopping the floor after spraying. In addition, it can disinfect itself before leaving isolation rooms. Medical workers control the robot remotely via 3G or the internet, thus reducing the risk of exposure to germs. 2/ Vingroup reported it has made the first NIPPV (Noninvasive Positive Pressure Ventilation) machine. The product was taken to the Ministry of Health (MOH) on April 13. Prior to that, Vingroup registered to manufacture breathing machines and promised that the products would be available in the second half of April. 3/ BKAV Corporation Nguyen Tu Quang on April 11 said the company has drawn up a plan to make IPPV (Invasive Positive Pressure Ventilation) machines based on Medtronics PB 560. We hope that the first machine will be made by mid-May, when we follow procedures to ask for MOHs permission for mass production, Quang said, adding that BKAVs 9,000 workers and four factories in the BPhone production chain are ready for the ventilator manufacturing. 4/ A group of lecturers and students from EPU has created two trial versions of NIPPV based on open source codes. The lite version uses materials and components available in Vietnam. Mass production is carried within a short time with a very reasonable cost of VND2-3 million. They are still working on the full version which has more functions. However, the product needs more components. 5/ Duy Tan University created NIPPV after considering different breathing machine models available in Vietnam, including E-Vent of MIT, OxVent of Oxford University, Medtronics PB650 and Lowenstein Ventilator. The machine, with high localization ratio, has production cost of VND20 million. It is compact, and very usable for quick response with a backup battery ensuring continuous operation for three hours. 6/ Young researchers at VMINA LAB have introduced automatic hand sanitizer and automatic room disinfection machine. The machine will use 4 automatic nozzles to spray disinfectant solution on hands and can automatically disconnect. Mai Lan Locally-made ventilators introduced in Da Nang A locally-made non-invasive ventilator has been introduced by Da Nang-based private Duy Tan College to help the fight against COVID-19. International real estate firm Hines has confirmed the sale of Bishop's Square office complex in Dublin 2 to GLL Real Estate Partners. The price is believed to be close to the 180m quoted by agents CBRE, although this was not confirmed. The deal will offer some reassurance to investors in Dublin's property market - not just because of the current uncertainty arising from Covid-19 but also because a previous offer for the Bishop's Square complex fell through. South Korean real estate investment firm IGIS Asset Management had been selected as the preferred bidder for Bishop's Square but pulled out. This withdrawal was attributed by some to a cooling by South Korean investors towards European property. They had been outbidding European and other investors in the Irish market for a period up to the autumn of 2019. However they lost their appetite due to a number of factors including challenges in the Korean economy as well as a more cautious approach by syndicate networks following over exposure to global serviced office operator WeWork. GLL is an affiliate of the Australian investment bank Macquarie Group and the German life fund manager Patrizia. HWBC acted for GLL. Hines had bought Bishop's Square in 2015 from US investment firm King Street Capital for 92.5m and subsequently undertook a revamp which added a new penthouse floor and extended the fourth and fifth floors. The redevelopment increased the floor area by 27,000 sq ft to over 180,000 sq ft over seven storeys. The complex generates a combined rent roll of 7.9m, which on the basis of the guide prices would equate to a net initial yield of just over 4pc. Located close to the corner of Wexford and Kevin streets, the building includes the Government's main property agency, the Office of Public Works (OPW), among its tenants. Last year OPW took a long-term lease of the extended space. Other occupiers include Tourism Ireland and International Financial Data Services, which is owned by fund manager State Street Global Advisors. Hines is a privately-owned real estate investment firm with a presence in 205 cities in 24 countries. It has about $133.3bn (123bn) of assets under management. In Dublin, the firm is redeveloping Central Plaza on Dame St, and developing the new Cherrywood town centre and former Player Wills site. It is also joint owner of Liffey Valley Shopping Centre. India is readying separate rapid response teams for dispatching to friendly neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan in spirit of its commitment to help them deal with the coronavirus pandemic, official sources said. A 14-member rapid response team was sent to Maldives last month to help the island nation set up coronavirus testing laboratories and train local medical professionals to fight the pandemic. Earlier this month, India sent a 15-member team, comprising healthcare personnel from the Army, to Kuwait as part of bilateral cooperation between the two countries. Three weeks back, India gifted a 10 tonne consignment of essential life saving medicines to Sri Lanka in view of the COVID-19 crisis. India has assured all friendly neighbouring countries of all possible assistance to help them fight the pandemic. New Delhi has also been playing a key role in pushing for a common framework in dealing with the crisis. At a video conference on March 15, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitched for formulating a joint strategy to fight COVID-19 in the SAARC region and proposed an emergency fund with an initial offer of USD 10 million from India. It is understood that India has already made the contribution. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a regional grouping comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. All the SAARC member nations are reeling under adverse social and economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. India is also supplying anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to 55 countries. A number of countries including the US, Mauritius, Seychelles have already received the drug. Hydroxychloroquine has been identified by the US Food and Drug Administration as a possible treatment for the COVID-19 and it is being tested on more than 1,500 coronavirus patients in New York. The demand for the drug has swelled rapidly after India decided to lift a ban on its export. In the neighbourhood, India is sending the drug to Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh Nepal, the Maldives, Mauritius, Sri Lanka and Myanmar, sources said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A 54-year-old man has been charged with murder following an alleged road-rage incident in London where his victim died months later of the coronavirus, according to media reports. Robert Barrow, 54, of Chigwell, Essex, stands accused in the death of Tahereh Pirali-Dashti, 40, and the assault of a 56-year-old man, according to a statement from the Metropolitan Police. The Telegraph and other media reported that the victim was run over by the suspects car and her husband was injured. Both charges stemmed from a crash on Jan. 20. The woman was taken to a central London hospital where she remained in critical condition until she died on April 10 after reportedly contracting coronavirus. A thug who once attacked a vulnerable man has been jailed again after brandishing a knife at his former lover and hitting her with a glass lantern. David Newlands, 27, pounced on girlfriend Jennifer Watson after suspecting that she had cheated on him at her home in Glasgow's Shawlands. Newlands dragged Ms Watson, a 23-year-old nurse, from her bed, before threatening her with a knife and pushing her against a wall, a court heard. As she tried to flee, she was smacked with a glass lantern and punched. Ms Watson managed to escape when she was yanked out into the close. David Newlands (pictured) pounced on girlfriend Jennifer Watson after suspecting that she had cheated on him at her home in Glasgow's Shawlands Newlands has now been locked up for 20 months after pleading guilty to assaulting Ms Watson at her Glasgow home last December She ended up in hospital where she was treated for head and body injuries. Newlands has now been locked up for 20 months at Glasgow Sheriff Court after he pleading guilty to assaulting Ms Watson last December. Sheriff Johanna Johnston QC told him that he 'abused the kindness' shown by Ms Watson. 'You were welcomed into her home and you ruined that with a fit of jealous rage that you failed to control,' she said. 'All of that must have been terrifying for her.' Newlands was also handed a 10-year non-harassment order stopping him from having contact with Ms Watson. He was previously ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work after he and seven others admitted to chasing a vulnerable man, wrongly branded a 'beast', through Glasgow city centre. Newlands and seven others admitted charges on August 4 after Ivor Miller was wrongly branded 'a beast' and chased until he threw himself out of a flat window in December. But he flouted the order while bragging on Facebook: 'I'm out, bro - easy.' After being hauled back to the High Court and jailed, Judge Norman Ritchie said: 'It's always interesting to see a different view on sentencing as in "I'm out bro easy." As they say, lol. 'I gave you two chances. You didn't take the chances. I hope you don't think I'm doing this out of anger. In truth it enlivened what was otherwise a dull day.' A former Midland High School valedictorian has organized an idea sprint in which more than 200 people submitted plans for helping those affected by the coronavirus, including health care workers, small business owners and teachers transitioning to online learning. Matthew Josefy, valedictorian of the class of 2000 and a management and entrepreneurship professor at Indiana University, said he and his colleagues wanted to use their expertise to help during the coronavirus crisis. The group of professors ran a 72-hour blitz at the end of March in which 21 teams made up of students and business professionals presented their ideas for mitigating one or more effects of COVID-19. Josefy said many of the ramifications of the virus can be solved through the work of small organizations. Many of the related effects and not the medical need itself, but the way that its affecting our communities, affecting our small businesses, the way that its affecting our education -- these are areas where small organizations have a really important role to play, he said in a phone interview. Where small groups of people have the opportunity to step up and pursue their ideas in a really dedicated and accelerated fashion. More Information More information about the coronavirus respons initiative can be found at covid19ideas.org. See More Collapse The teams that participated focused on five main areas: health care, education, small businesses, community and supply chain disruptions. Some of the ideas pitched were ventilator training for health care workers, virtual gaming platforms to mitigate a loss of community activities and corona coupons, or gift card solutions, to help shuttered businesses generate cash flow. One team, called Real Heroes Need Masks, launched a social media campaign to get personal protective equipment to health care workers and has distributed more than 25,000 masks, said Josefy, a Texas A&M University graduate. Austin-based team Airhaven is working to provide Airbnb properties for those in need of shelter after experiencing domestic abuse. Even in the midst of tragedy, even in the midst of very difficult circumstances, people want to have the opportunity to help, and theyre looking to deploy their skills, Josefy said. The more that universities like mine, the more that businesses can find a way of harnessing that potential energy, the more quickly we're going to be able to get to the solutions that we need. Josefy said some of the teams will receive grants from the university to fund their projects. The groups have also each been provided a mentor with connections to venture capitalists and angel investors, he said. The Irish economy will shrink by at least 10% this year and could shrink more than 15% if a second wave of coronavirus forces restrictions on movement to last six months longer than expected, the government said on Tuesday. But Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said he believed the economy had entered the crisis in good health and would bounce back quickly, with growth as high as 6% next year and the economy returning to its pre-crisis position by 2022. Ireland has boasted the fastest economic growth in the European Union for most of the past five years and a decade after being one of the worst hit by the global financial crisis it entered the current crisis near full employment and a balanced budget. The shut-down of the economy in mid-March to curb the spread of coronavirus means it will see gross domestic product shrink by 10.5% in the best-case scenario, the finance department said in forecasts to be submitted to the European Union. That implies a deficit of 7.4%, or around 23 billion euros, it said, nudging up Ireland's debt-to-GDP ratio to 69.1% from 58.8% at the end of 2019. "We are clearly now in the midst of a severe recession, both domestically and globally," Donohoe told journalists. "The scarring effect and uncertainty mean that recovery in the second half of the year will be gradual." But, he added, the economy and labor market remained resilient. "They do have real underlying strengths that were there before the crisis, and this crisis has not altered," he said. Ireland, which has a population of 4.9 million, has so far seen 15,652 coronavirus infections and 687 related deaths and its health service has not so far reached capacity. The government has ordered people to stay home other than short exercise and all schools, bars, restaurants and non-essential shops are closed at least until May 5. The finance department's forecasts are based on the assumption that the country can very slowly begin to ease restrictions after a shut-down of around 12 weeks, Donohoe said. The country's chief medical officer last week said the country had contained and effectively suppressed the first wave of the coronavirus outbreak. But if the unwinding of the restrictions takes three or six months longer than expected, gross domestic product would shrink by 13.8% or 15.3% this year, the department of finance projections showed. "The central scenario implicitly assumes that the virus is essentially suppressed in the second quarter," the department said in a statement. Donohoe said the figures, which are to be submitted to the European Union, were more scenarios rather than forecasts in the usual sense due to the unpredictability of the pandemic. Ireland's central bank earlier this month forecast that the economy would shrink 8.3% if the economy was locked down for three months. As a result of the expected deficit, the country's debt agency on Tuesday increased its borrowing plans for the year by 10 billion euros, to between 20 and 24 billion euros. The National Treasury Management Agency said it was well placed to issue the additional debt, citing high demand for a recent placement, the smoothing of the country's maturity profile in recent years and the bond-buying of the European Central Bank. (Reuters) Source: www.businessworld.ie Earth Day is recognized each year on April 22 chosen because it falls between spring break and final exams on college campuses, according to earthday.org. It marks the anniversary of what is considered to be the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. Earth Days founder was Gaylord Nelson, a former U.S. senator from Wisconsin, after the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, Calif. From earthday.org, The height of counterculture in the United States, 1970 brought the death of Jimi Hendrix, the last Beatles album, and Simon & Garfunkels Bridge Over Troubled Water. War raged in Vietnam and students nationwide overwhelmingly opposed it. At the time, Americans were slurping leaded gas through massive V8 sedans. Industry belched out smoke and sludge with little fear of legal consequences or bad press. Air pollution was commonly accepted as the smell of prosperity. Environment was a word that appeared more often in spelling bees than on the evening news. Although mainstream America largely remained oblivious to environmental concerns, the stage had been set for change by the publication of Rachel Carsons New York Times bestseller Silent Spring in 1962. The book represented a watershed moment, selling more than 500,000 copies in 24 countries, and beginning to raise public awareness and concern for living organisms, the environment and links between pollution and public health. Carson was born in Pennsylvania and graduated from the Pennsylvania College for Women, which is now Chatham University. Children of the convent of the sacred Heart School in New York City man brooms April 22, 1970 as they clean a monument in the city's Union Square. The children came out in force in observance of "Earth Day". (AP Photo).ASSOCIATED PRESS From earthday.org, Earth Day 1970 gave voice to that emerging consciousness, channeling the energy of the anti-war protest movement and putting environmental concerns on the front page. Nelson was inspired, according to earthday.org, by the student anti-war movement, he realized that if he could infuse that energy with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution, it would force environmental protection onto the national political agenda. Senator Nelson announced the idea for a national teach-in on the environment to the national media; persuaded Pete McCloskey, a conservation-minded Republican Congressman, to serve as his co-chair; and recruited Denis Hayes from Harvard as national coordinator. Hayes built a national staff of 85 to promote events across the land. April 22, falling between spring break and final exams, was selected as the date. On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values. Earth Day 1970 achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, city slickers and farmers, tycoons and labor leaders. By the end of that year, the first Earth Day had led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species acts. READ MORE Celebrating Earth Day online during the coronavirus pandemic: Denis Hayes, Head of Environment Teach-In, Inc., the Washington organization coordinating activities for Earth Day on April 22, poses in the group's office in nation's Capital in Washington on April 8, 1970. Teach-ins on the environmental pollution crisis an overpopulation are planned for school campuses across the country that day. (AP Photo/Charles W. Harrity)ASSOCIATED 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. [April 22, 2020] SkySync Commits $25k in 25 Days to Feed Washtenaw County During COVID-19 Outbreak ANN ARBOR, Mich., April 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As Michigan and Washtenaw County residents and businesses continue to be impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, SkySync , an Ann Arbor-based software company, has pledged to purchase $25,000 in meals from local restaurants to feed the community over the next 25 days. SkySyncs $25k in 25 Days community food program will serve three key goals: working with Food Gatherers to ensure Washtenaw Countys most vulnerable residents have safe access to food during the pandemic; providing our essential healthcare workers on the frontlines at the University of Michigan and St. Joseph Mercy hospitals with meals while on shift; and supporting the local restaurant community. Our restaurant community is struggling, our residents are struggling, and our healthcare workers are being pushed to their limits. Everyone needs support, and we are grateful to be able to work with Food Gatherers, our hospitals, and our restaurants to provide some relief to businesses and individuals here in our own backyard, says Mark Brazeau, CEO of SkySync . Working with Food Gatherers over the next five weeks, SkySync will purchase and donate $15,000 in ready-to-go meals from local restaurants to be delivered to affordable housing sites for seniors and individuals with disabilities across the county. We are so thankful for SkySyncs support and know the residents will appreciate these ready-to-go meals at our partner housing sites. The amount of ready-to-eat donations we tpically receive from grocery stores has decreased recently, and we are lucky to be able to offer them another easy and delicious meal option, says Markell Miller, Director of Community Food Programs at Food Gatherers. Simultaneously, SkySync will purchase and deliver $10,000 in meals and restaurant gift cards directly to the University of Michigan and St. Joseph Mercy hospital systems so that administrations can provide food to essential workers over the next several weeks. Ahmad Hodroj, owner of Palm Palace , one of several restaurants participating in the program, says he is looking forward to serving the community. We have been very fortunate to be able to stay open during this crisis and are grateful for the opportunity to help those in need during this difficult time, says Hodroj. Additional restaurants include Cottage Inn , Cuppys Best Soul Food , HutKay Fusion , Jerusalem Garden , Maiz Mexican Cafe , Satchels BBQ , Tios Mexican Cafe , and many others across Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. ABOUT SKYSYNC SkySync, founded in 2012 and based in Ann Arbor, Mich., provides an enterprise content orchestration platform. SkySync connects disparate storage platforms, unites silos of information, and synchronizes content spread across the enterpriseat scale. For more information, visit skysync.com . ABOUT FOOD GATHERERS Food Gatherers mission is to alleviate hunger and eliminate its root causes in Washtenaw County. As the food bank and food rescue program for the county, we distribute 6.6 million pounds of food to 170 non-profit programs serving approximately 44,500 low-income adults, seniors, children, and veterans every year. For a list of our partner programs or to learn more about our specific COVID-19 community response, please visit www.foodgatherers.org or call (734) 761-2796. SkySync Krystal Elliott 734-619-8818 [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The Royal Navy's newest super carrier is causing uproar in its home port because its noisy engines are keeping people awake at night with 'incessant noise pollution'. The 3.1billion HMS Prince of Wales is running its massive diesel generators instead of being hooked up to a land-based power supply. The 65,000-tonne ship returned to Portsmouth Naval Base, Hants, on March 25 and the racket will continue while the navy carrying out trials on a new power plant. Exhausted harbour-side homeowners across the water in Gosport, Hants, say they are burying their heads under their pillows and suffering sleepless nights. The Royal Navy's 3.1billion newest super carrier HMS Prince of Wales has been keeping homeowners near the Portsmouth Naval Base, Hants, awake at night since March 25 The ship is moored at HMSB Portsmouth and its Wartsila diesel generators have caused people in Gosport, Hants, to complain of 'incessant noise pollution' Neil Sutton, 59, said: 'No resident in this long stretch of waterfront can escape the sound of this ship, particularly at night time. 'In this time of national crisis and forced lock down, when people are supporting the country and the NHS by staying at home in our flats and houses, why can we not open our windows and enjoy the peace and tranquillity of the moment? 'Instead, for many of us, we are forced to close our windows at night or stick our heads under our pillows and during the day, instead of enjoying the new pleasure of silence and the new experience of unpolluted fresh air, we are bombarded by the noise and pollution of HMS Prince of Wales.' The warship boasts four Wartsila diesel generators, which each produces a total of 11 Megawatts of power - enough to sustain a town with a population of 25,000 people. The Ministry of Defence has spent more than 200m to overhaul the naval base's infrastructure to support the nation's two vast aircraft carriers HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Elizabeth 'No resident in this long stretch of waterfront can escape the sound of this ship,' says Neil Sutton, 59 Gosport councillor Dawn Kelly has called on the navy to look at the noise problem, saying she can hear it from her home. She added: 'For those living in Clarence Yard the sound must be even louder as it gets reverberated around the square there. 'So I do think the residents have a valid complaint and I have urged them to approach environmental health. 'If the navy could do something to quieten the noise from the ship, that would be very welcome.' Construction for the HMS Prince of Wales began on May 26, 2011, and the ship was launched on December 21, 2017 It is Royal Navy policy to provide shore power to all vessels alongside whenever possible. The Ministry of Defence has spent more than 200m to overhaul the naval base's infrastructure to support the nation's two vast aircraft carriers - including a new power plant to supply them with electricity. A Royal Navy spokesman added: 'The carriers and the power plant remain on initial trials, and there will be occasions when the ships will need to use their own generators. 'These periods are always for the minimum amount of time necessary.' The ship returned to Her Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth, a month ago after conducting its first replenishment at sea trial The Prince of Wales, which launched in December 2017, and its sister ship HMS Queen Elizabeth are the most powerful warships ever constructed in the UK. It has two 33-tonne propellers which produce enough power to run 1,000 family cars, or 50 high speed trains. The 919ft carrier, which has been designed to carry 36 fighter planes and four helicopters, can be put into action for work such as high-intensity war fighting or providing humanitarian aid and disaster relief. In December 2019, the Prince of Wales and his wife Camilla attended an official commissioning ceremony to formally welcome the aircraft carrier into the Royal Navy. Harvard University denied Tuesday that it applied for or received funding through the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses grappling with the coronavirus crisis, after President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House he planned to force the school to pay back federal assistance. President Trump is right that it would not have been appropriate for our institution to receive funds that were designated for struggling small businesses, the university said in a statement Tuesday. Click here for the complete coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday that the program wasnt intended for publicly traded companies that had other ways to access funding, and that his department would be issuing guidelines soon in an effort to get those corporations to give back the forgivable loans to the federal government. The Shake Shack Inc. burger chain said earlier this week it planned to return a $10 million loan it received through the program amid public outrage that the package benefited chain restaurants and hotels rather than local businesses. Click here for the latest updates from the coronavirus outbreak As Mnuchin was discussing the effort, Trump interjected to say Harvard will also pay back the money. They shouldnt be taking it, Trump said. When I saw Harvard -- one of the largest endowments anywhere in the country, maybe the world, and they are going to pay back that money. The university -- which had an endowment valued at $40.9 billion as of June -- said it had received funding under a separate $14 billion program targeted at higher education institutions in the $2.2 trillion relief package passed by Congress late last month. That program grants universities assistance based on a formula that looks at overall enrollment and the number of students receiving federal financial aid, and at least half the funding must be provided directly to students affected by the coronavirus. Like most colleges and universities, Harvard has been allocated funds as part of the CARES Act Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, Harvard said in a statement. Harvard has committed that 100% of these emergency higher education funds will be used to provide direct assistance to students facing urgent financial needs due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Harvard says it would give the all the $8.6 million it received directly to students, despite being eligible to spend half that on its institutional costs related to the virus. Other top-tier and highly-endowed universities also received funding under the program. Yale University was allocated $6.8 million, the University of Chicago got $6.2 million, and Stanford University took nearly $7.4 million in federal assistance. Late Tuesday evening, Trump posted on Twitter that Harvard should give back the money now. He did not say if he meant the $8.6 million. Their whole endowment system should be looked at, the president added. The White House earlier Tuesday declined to comment on whether the administration would still seek to claw back Harvards grant under the legislation. Ukrainian, Romanian and Serbian guest workers heading for Western Europe are only being allowed to enter the territory of Hungary during a fixed period of four hours. Further conditions are that they do not display symptoms of coronavirus infection, verify that they meet the Schengen entry requirements, and have proof that their entry into the country of destination is guaranteed, a staff member of the duty centre of the Operational Group responsible for the containment of the coronavirus epidemic said at an online press conference held on Tuesday. Robert Kiss said guest workers have four hours to enter the country at Roszke, Nagylak and Zahony. Upon entry, yellow warning stickers are displayed on their vehicles in which they are only allowed to travel on the designated transit routes. A fixed time slot has also been determined for the exit of guest workers. Guest workers entering the territory of Hungary are given written information about the fixed time slots, but their attention is also drawn to the new regulations verbally. The new border traffic control system serves to ensure that guest workers heading for Western Europe should leave the country within the shortest possible time, he added. Regarding the restrictions on movement, the Lt. Colonel said people mostly violate the rules by leaving their homes for non-essential reasons, and frequently fail to observe the rules relating to social distancing. In a smaller number of cases, people commit infringements by not going to shops during the hours determined for them, or by staying on the premises of catering establishments for purposes that are not allowed. He said at present there are minor delays in incoming cargo traffic at Rajka and Hegyeshalom. Since the introduction of the restrictions on movement on 28 March, the police have been required to take action in 27,497 instances; they have cautioned 14,946 persons, have imposed 6,568 onsite fines, and have prosecuted 5,983 persons. In connection with the epidemic, 255 criminal procedures have been instituted, 65 due to scaremongering, 26 due to the threat of public danger, 13 due to the violation of disease control regulations and 73 due to fraud. In these cases, 49 suspects have been questioned. In answer to a question from the press, Mr Kiss said those required to stay in compulsory home quarantine are allowed to work from home. The rules in effect do not restrict the right to work; they only lay down that persons in compulsory home quarantine are registered by the competent government offices and the police check whether they comply with the rules. He observed that the number of persons in compulsory home quarantine had further decreased to 11,172; on Monday, 615 persons were required to undergo quarantine restrictions. The police have checked persons in compulsory home quarantine more than 260,000 times, he added. Source: kormany.hu MTI Photo: Zoltan Gergely Kelemen Families recalling thier dead at the graveyard of St. Sebastian's Church in Negombo on April 21, 2020. (AFP or licensors) After a 2-minute silence, Church bells across Sri Lanka tolled on Tuesday, in commemoration of those killed in the suicide bomb attacks on 3 churches and 3 upscale hotels on Easter Sunday, exactly a year ago on April 21. By Robin Gomes In a coordinated move, 9 suicide bombers affiliated to local Islamist group National Thowheed Jamath exploded themselves in the churches and hotels, killing at least 279 people, including 37 foreign nationals, and injuring at least 500. The attack left the nation of 21 million people shell-shocked and devastated. This is a moment to remember this senseless and meaningless tragedy that happened to us on Easter Sunday last year and which is completing one year today, 21 April, recalled Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the Archbishop of Colombo. The first anniversary of the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka was a simplified version of a more elaborate commemoration event that was cancelled owing to the nationwide coronavirus lockdown. Even the country's television channels went silent in tribute. The bombed Catholic churches of St. Sebastian in Negombo, just north of Colombo, and St. Anthonys Shrine Kochchikade were consecrated and reopened to the public but Zion Church of Batticaloa, in the eastern coast, is still being renovated. Listen to Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith We are very keen to remember all these people who died in these bomb blasts and also those have been injured, said Cardinal Ranjith, who had called for the moment of silence and the ringing of church and temple bells to remember their dead. Nearly 300 people were killed and many more injured, many of them suffering even today, said the cardinal, under whose jurisdiction comes St. Anthonys Shrine Kochchikade and St. Sebastians Church in Negombo, which had the highest number of deaths. He told Vatican Radio that some of them were on wheelchairs, disabled for life, some were in bed, and that they need to think about them. He said it is a moment to remember and pray for all those who died. It is also an occasion to console the families who have lost their loved ones or who have injured members, so they can help and show their concern for them, he told Vatican Radio. After the bombings, Sri Lankas public and religious leaders blamed politicians and government officials for failing to act on intelligence about the attacks. In his homily at Easter this year, the Cardinal Ranjith said that Christians had forgiven the killers. However, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Sri Lanka and the cardinal demanded that the perpetrators, their collaborators and supporters be brought to justice. Our goal is to help clients to rethink aging from every angle. That means transforming the current understanding of aging and older adults and inspiring the next generation of aging products and services, said Bob Kramer. Saying that it is time to rethink how we view older adults and aging and to reimagine aging services, Bob Kramer, the founder and former CEO of the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC), today announced the launch of a new firm, Nexus Insights. The firm will provide companies with disruptive ideas and transformative new models for the future of aging services. Kramer is recognized as one of the senior living sectors most influential thought leaders and connectors, and is known for his thought-provoking insights. In addition to aging and aging services companies, the new firm will work with technology, healthcare, consumer products, education, and other industries that see opportunities to meet the needs and aspirations of this fast growing demographic cohort. Our goal is to help clients to rethink aging from every angle. That means transforming the current understanding of aging and older adults and inspiring the next generation of aging products and services, said Kramer. We plan to work with companies that realize the status quo is not acceptable and who want to take on the challenge of accelerating innovations to forge the future of aging services. Nexus Insights offers access to a network of advisors, connecting leaders with the thought leadership appropriate to their needs. The approach of the firm is to identify intersection points across diverse industries and among major trends and big ideas to produce insights and models that can reimagine aging services. The firm will provide services for companies ranging from speakers, strategic planning, and education to industry guidance and assistance in better understanding the present ecosystem and what a different view of older adults and of aging means for products and services. ABOUT NEXUS INSIGHTS Nexus Insights facilitates innovation in the fields of aging and aging services. The firm identifies the intersection points of powerful trends and the business sectors which they will impact. Connecting business decision-makers to a network of thought-leaders and experts, Nexus Insights facilitates the development of actionable new models to service emerging demands in aging services. Weve always designed our landers to be robust, Masten said. Weve found that companies are more willing to let you fly their valuable payload when the vehicle has had dozens of successful flights already." Masten Space Systems has been awarded a contract from the US Air Force to change the way supplies are airdropped to frontline Special Operations Forces. The study will explore rapidly landing supplies under rocket power rather than a long slow fall under a parachute. Under the Phase 1 award from the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program, and in partnership with Rhea Space Activity & Purdue University, Masten will conduct a feasibility study to produce an initial design for a rocket-powered landing craft, named XERMES, to deliver supplies to frontline units. The vehicle, based on Mastens proven Vertical Takeoff Vertical Landing (VTVL) rocket technology, would slow itself from free-fall to a safe landing through an aggressive retro braking burn, pulling above 9 gs of force which is twice as much as a typical rocket launch. Once XERMES lands, ground troops will recover the cargo stored onboard and then the vehicle could be reused for another supply drop. Dave Masten, founder and CTO of Masten Space Systems said that creating a rugged cargo vehicle for the Air Force fits well within the companys design philosophy. Weve always designed our landers to be robust, Masten said. Weve found that companies are more willing to let you fly their valuable payload when the vehicle has had dozens of successful flights already. Were excited for this opportunity to develop a vehicle that the Air Force trusts to reliably deliver critical supplies where theyre needed. Rhea Space Activity came up with the idea to deliver supplies via a rocket-powered lander after an incident in 2016 when a Special Operations resupply crew was endangered as its aircrew flew 800 feet above a besieged compound to deliver supplies as accurately as possible, taking fire as it passed overhead. Rather than drop payloads from low altitude to achieve high precision, the proposed system would guide itself in from high altitude. Starting the drop from above 20,000 feet, well out of the range of small arms fire, the lander would freefall to just 500 feet above ground. Then, the vehicle would fire its rocket engine and land within three feet of a designated area. This high-impulse deceleration burn would last only seconds, providing little opportunity for adversaries to intercept or destroy critical supplies. Steven Collicott, a professor at Purdue University and partner on the contract, said that this project is the latest step in Purdues long history of developing innovative space technology. From Neil Armstrong to next-generation space habitats, Purdue University has made multiple contributions to the space industry, Collicott said. Theres a certain amount of satisfaction in seeing technology made for a Moon landing come full circle to landing here on Earth. Rhea Space Activity worked with Masten Space Systems to develop the idea as a parallel application for their current work with lunar landers under the NASA Commercial Lunar Payload System. Masten has been flying rocket-powered landers for over ten years, with more than 600 successful VTVL flights accomplished across five vehicles. These vehicles have demonstrated high levels of positioning and navigation capabilities including winning both level one and level two of the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge X Prize in 2009 with an average landing accuracy of less than 8 inches from the target. Beau Rideout, an engineer at RSA said that the adaptation of space technology to other applications should be considered more frequently. Especially in todays space industry where innovative new ideas are being developed continuously, its hard to know if one company has solved someone elses problem, said Rideout. This is especially relevant to conversations between small businesses and the government. Lots of space companies have developed technology that solves this and other problems in national security, such as secure communications, novel sensor devices, and intelligent reconnaissance platforms. Following the completion of this Phase 1 award, Masten will apply for a Phase 2 contract to bring operational lander hardware to USAF personnel. The Phase 2 effort will include hot-fire tests of the proposed design along with tests of contingency measures to ensure the safety of ground personnel and supplies. About Masten Space Systems Mojave, California based Masten Space Systems was founded in 2004 by CTO David Masten and is focused on reusable rocket technology, driven by the goal of enabling space transportation and providing reliable planetary landers for the Earth, Moon, Mars, and beyond. Masten is lowering the barriers to space access through their core technology of re-usability. The company sees a future where rocket flights are so commonplace theyre boring. For more information, please visit http://www.masten.aero About Purdue University Purdue University has 25 American astronauts among its alumni and four Nobel Prize Laureates. The graduates of the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics have made significant contributions to the aerospace field and have held positions of high responsibility in government and private industry. Professor Collicott is actively researching low-gravity fluid dynamics and capillary fluid physics as the focus of two-phase fluids research with applications in spaceflight propulsion. For more information, please visit engineering.purdue.edu/AAE About Rhea Space Activity Rhea Space Activity (RSA) is an astrophysics start-up company in the science and technology industry. Specifically, RSA ideates and creates high-risk/high-reward R&D concepts to support U.S. national security objectives. RSA has developed various technologies in the fields infrared satellites, directed energy, artificial intelligence, LIDAR, astro-particle physics, small satellites, cislunar operations, intelligence collection, autonomous underwater vehicles and for the F35 Lightening II. For more information, please visit http://www.rheaspaceactivity.com In recent weeks you have probably seen TV ads put out by the U.S. Census Bureau urging you to participate by sending in your Census form. Theyre very pretty ads, but they do not cover the specifics of why you should participate and how much your participation matters. The Census is simply a count, a count of all the people in the U.S. The numbers collected are used by the government to determine how much money funds for schools, healthcare, and roads and bridges gets sent to each state based on its population. There is $675 billion in federal monies to be distributed in funds, grants, and other financial support throughout the country. Connecticut receives about $10.7 billion of that, but if people are not counted because they dont send in their Census forms, we get less money for essential services. Actually, wed lose about $2,900 in funding for every person who does not get counted. This would be a shame, because we all know how vital good schools, hospitals and other services are to our community. Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Wednesday (April 22) said that home quarantine period of Wadhawan family is ending today at 2PM and he has written a letter to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and CBI to take them in their custody. Deshmukh added that Wadhawan family will remain in the custody of Maharashtra Police till the ED or CBI take their custody. It may be recalled that Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan promoters of Dewan Housing Finance Ltd (DHFL) were detained in Mahabaleshwar on April 9 for violating lockdown. Kapil, Dheeraj and 21 other family members were vacationing in the Mahabaleshwar in violation of COVID-19 lockdown. The DHFL promoters, their families and friends, who availed VVIP treatment to travel from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar, were booked under IPC Section 188 at Mahabaleshwar Police station. Cracking down on the flagrant violation of norms, Maharashtra government sent Home Department Principal Secretary Amitabh Gupta, who had issued the permission, on casual leave. Gupta had granted permission to Dheeraj and Kapil, the brothers who are on bail in DHFL and Yes Bank fraud case, to travel from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar during lockdown on his letter head, citing family emergency as the reason. However, it was found that there was no such emergency. A look out notice had been issued by the CBI against the Wadhwan borthers in the Yes Bank fraud case. A patient discharged from Nho Quan district's General Hospital in Ninh Binh province (Source: VNA) All of the recovered patients are Vietnamese nationals, including Patient 184, Patient 215, Patient 216, Patient 227, Patient 246 and Patient 266. Patient 184, 42, female, was admitted to the hospital on March 28. She had two tests and both came back negative for SARS-CoV-2. The patient currently has no cough, no breathing difficulties and is in a stable condition. Patient 215, 31 years old, male, was admitted to the hospital on April 1. He had two tests and all test results were negative for SARS-CoV-2. Patient 216, 48, female, was admitted to the hospital on March 31. All of her two tests were negative for SARS-CoV-2. Patient 227, 31, male, was admitted to the hospital on April 1. He was tested twice and all tests came back negative for SARS-CoV-2. Patient 246, 33, male, was admitted to the hospital on April 6. He had two tests and both tests were negative for SARS-CoV-2. Patient 266, 36, female, was admitted to the hospital on April 14. She also had two tests and both came back negative for SARS-CoV-2. Currently, the patient has no cough, no chest pain, no shortness of breath, no fever and is in a stable condition. The six patients will continue to be quarantined and monitored for the next 14 days, according to the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases. As of April 22, Vietnam recorded a total of 268 COVID-19 cases, of which 160 people returned from abroad (59.7 percent) and 108 people were infected in the community (40.3 percent). To date, there remained 46 patients being quarantined and treated at health facilities across the country. Rebel Wilson is currently in lockdown at her Los Angeles home amid the COVID-19 pandemic. On Wednesday, the actress shared two rare childhood photos from when she was in school in Australia. In one photo, a young Rebel wore a red beanie while adorably smiling to the camera. 'No hat, no play!' On Wednesday, Rebel Wilson posted two rare childhood photos from when she was in school Throwback! In one photo, a young Rebel wore a red beanie while adorably smiling to the camera 'No hat, no play,' she captioned the post, referencing the policy at many primary schools that only allows children with caps to play outside. In another photo posted to her Instagram Story, a slightly older Rebel wore a dance costume and red ribbon in her hair. 'Did anyone else do physie as a kid?' she captioned the post, referring to the sport physical culture. Physie is a performance sport that combines of dance styles and movements from jazz, ballet, hip hop, contemporary, aerobic dance and yoga. 'Did anyone else do physie as a kid?' she captioned another childhood photo, referring to the performance sport physical culture Last Friday, Rebel promoted her new Amazon Prime Video series Last One Laughing, which she will be hosting when it begins streaming in June, on Instagram. She posted a photo sitting alongside several Australian comedians such as Frank Woodley, Ed Kavalee, Nazeem Hussain and Susie Youssef. 'Very intrigued to see what people think about this new show: Last One Laughing (LOL) for Amazon x (coming in June),' she captioned the post. Squad goals! Last Friday, Rebel posted a photo with Australian comedians Frank Woodley, Ed Kavalee, Nazeem Hussain and Susie Youssef to promote her new Amazon Prime Video show Last One Laughing Rebel's most recent Australian show Pooch Perfect wrapped up last Thursday to a disappointing audience of 316,000 metro viewers. The Channel Seven reality show premiered to 624,000 metro viewers but dropped 259,000 in its penultimate episode. Despite the discouraging performance, Rebel thanked loyal fans for tuning in on Instagram last week. 'Thank you to all the pooch fans out there, we did this season for you! So cool to be a part of something original thats now sold around the world,' she wrote. The European Commission has announced its decision to provide EUR 1.2 billion of assistance to Ukraine during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said. "This is an unprecedented amount of macro-financial assistance. The EU's decision is not only a manifestation of solidarity in difficult times. This is evidence that Ukraine was not mistaken in making the European choice. Indeed, a friend in need is a friend in deed," the head of state's press service said, quoting Zelensky as saying on Wednesday. The financing from the EU will help guarantee the macroeconomic stability of Ukraine. "Thanks to such support, the state will be able to provide extra money to protect citizens and mitigate the negative consequences of the pandemic for people," the press service said. NEW YORK, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Nature's spies are back undercover. Their mission? To go deeper into the animal world than ever thought possible. From the hot and humid tropics to the freezing poles, the sequel to 2017's popular Nature: Spy in the Wild miniseries places even more spy creatures in the middle of some of nature's greatest events. Season 38 finale, Nature: Spy in the Wild 2, premieres nationwide Wednesdays, April 29 May 20 at 8 p.m. on PBS (check local listings), pbs.org/spyinthewild and the PBS Video app. John Downer Productions created more than 50 realistic animatronic spy creatures for the new miniseries, including a gorilla, Komodo dragon, hummingbird, King penguin, Pygmy elephant, koala, quokka, seal and polar bear. Each spy creature looks like the animals they film and behaves like them too. Accepted by animal families, these robotic lookalikes can not only film from an intimate perspective but also interact with the animals, gaining revelatory insights into their worlds as they feed, breed and fight. The spy cams even go beyond the animal kingdom, using innovative camera technology that allows a spy turtle to lay robot eggs, a spy squirrel to gather robot nuts, monkeys to play with a spy snowball and more. "Spy in the Wild 2 has more incredible animal behavior moments and firsts, while escalating the spy cam technology to a whole new level," said Fred Kaufman, executive producer for Nature. "John Downer and his ambitious team built a vast army of incredibly realistic spy creatures. The spies were able to infiltrate all kinds of territory, from under the Pacific Ocean to the harsh Arctic cold. What they captured is unforgettable." One first captured on film includes the phenomenon of mobula rays "vortex feeding" in the seas of Baja California. Another groundbreaking first is Uganda's chorus of wild mountain gorillas singing on-screen. In the jungles of Brazil, a spy jaguar cub stumbles upon a rare intimate moment between a jaguar couple. In the mountains of Mexico, a spy hummingbird ventures into the heart of a breathtaking monarch butterfly swarm. A spy koala films the action-packed breeding behavior of these normally slow-moving animals in Australia, filmed prior to the recent wildfires. In South Georgia, a spy King penguin watches on as penguin parents, home from hunting, must push their way through a barrier of 6,000 elephant seals in order to feed their chicks. "The Tropics," premieres Wednesday, April 29 at 8 p.m. on PBS (check local listings), pbs.org/spyinthewild and the PBS Video app The spy creatures investigate the wildlife that thrives in the tropics. They infiltrate a hippo pod, a nursery of red flying foxes, a gorilla sanctuary and the secret world of pygmy forest elephants. "The North," premieres Wednesday, May 6 at 8 p.m. on PBS (check local listings), pbs.org/spyinthewild and the PBS Video app Travel to the Northern Hemisphere, where the spy creatures learn how animals move, feed and fight. A spy hummingbird films millions of butterflies, and a spy squirrel winds up in a battle. A spy beaver observes other beavers building dams. "The Islands," premieres Wednesday, May 13 at 8 p.m. on PBS (check local listings), pbs.org/spyinthewild and the PBS Video app Explore the islands of the South Pacific with creatures like the spy koala, who captures breeding behavior in Australia, or the spy crab, who joins an army of red crabs on their march to the sea to deposit their eggs. "The Poles," premieres Wednesday, May 20 at 8 p.m. on PBS (check local listings), pbs.org/spyinthewild and the PBS Video app From penguin chicks to elephant seals and wolf cubs to polar bears, the spy creatures meet and observe the hardiest and most charismatic animals in the Arctic and Antarctic circles. Now in its 38th season on PBS, Nature brings the wonders of natural history to millions of American viewers. The series has won more than 700 honors from the television industry, the international wildlife film communities and environmental organizations, including 18 Emmys and three Peabody Awards. The series is available for streaming simultaneously on all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS Video app, which is available on iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Chromecast. PBS station members can view episodes via Passport (contact your local PBS station for details). Nature is a production of THIRTEEN PRODUCTIONS LLC for WNET and PBS. Fred Kaufman is Executive Producer, Bill Murphy is Series Producer and Janet Hess is Series Editor. Spy in the Wild 2 is a John Downer Production for BBC, PBS and THIRTEEN PRODUCTIONS LLC. With John Downer as Creative Director, the series is produced by Matthew Gordon, Philip Dalton and Robert Pilley. Jayce Bartok is narrator. Support for Nature is made possible in part by The Arnhold Family in memory of Henry and Clarisse Arnhold, Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III, The Fairweather Foundation, the Kate W. Cassidy Foundation, Kathy Chiao and Ken Hao, the Lillian Goldman Charitable Trust, Charles Rosenblum, the Filomen M. D'Agostino Foundation, Rosalind P. Walter, Sandra Atlas Bass, Doris R. and Robert J. Thomas, by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and by public television viewers. Spy in the Wild 2 was made possible, in part, by a grant from Anne Ray Foundation. Websites: pbs.org/spyinthewild, facebook.com/PBSNature, @PBSNature, instagram.com/pbsnature, youtube.com/naturepbs , #SpyInTheWildPBS About WNET WNET is America's flagship PBS station: parent company of New York's THIRTEEN and WLIW21 and operator of NJTV, the statewide public media network in New Jersey. Through its new ALL ARTS multi-platform initiative, its broadcast channels, three cable services (THIRTEEN PBSKids, Create and World) and online streaming sites, WNET brings quality arts, education and public affairs programming to more than five million viewers each month. WNET produces and presents a wide range of acclaimed PBS series, including Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, PBS NewsHour Weekend, and the nightly interview program Amanpour and Company. In addition, WNET produces numerous documentaries, children's programs, and local news and cultural offerings, as well as multi-platform initiatives addressing poverty and climate. Through THIRTEEN Passport and WLIW Passport, station members can stream new and archival THIRTEEN, WLIW and PBS programming anytime, anywhere. About PBS PBS, with nearly 350 member stations, offers all Americans the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television and online content. Each month, PBS reaches nearly 100 million people through television and nearly 33 million people online, inviting them to experience the worlds of science, history, nature and public affairs; to hear diverse viewpoints; and to take front row seats to world-class drama and performances. PBS' broad array of programs has been consistently honored by the industry's most coveted award competitions. Teachers of children from pre-K through 12th grade turn to PBS for digital content and services that help bring classroom lessons to life. PBS' premier children's TV programming and its website, pbskids.org, are parents' and teachers' most trusted partners in inspiring and nurturing curiosity and love of learning in children. More information about PBS is available at www.pbs.org, one of the leading dot-org websites on the Internet, or by following PBS on Twitter, Facebook or through our apps for mobile devices. Specific program information and updates for press are available at pbs.org/pressroom or by following PBS Pressroom on Twitter. SOURCE Nature on PBS Related Links https://www.pbs.org/ PHILADELPHIA, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- N2Growth, Inc., a global leader in human and organizational performance and top executive search firm, announced the launch of the Iron Sharpens Iron Leadership Movement, a new podcast now available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts and more. The host, Jim Hotaling, President and Global Head of Leadership Development for N2Growth, shares insights into the power of people-centric leading through the stories of others on how they make themselves and others around them better every day. Listeners will become inspired by the intriguing guest personalities and will find the passion and motivation to be the stewards of leadership, which encompasses the wonderful power of followership, mentoring, and leading. "We propel organizations to greatness by investing in what matters most: people. Jim will bring out the best examples in how this is executed through real-life storytelling," said Mike Myatt, N2Growth's founder and Chairman. "It's a weekly dose of relevant content that will have an immediate impact on our listeners. It could not be more timely in its launch." Jim is a seasoned senior executive providing strategic leadership in human capital utilizing results-orientated knowledge, skills, and abilities to think critically and lead successfully within any operating environment. Prior to joining N2Growth, Jim served as the Command Chief Master Sergeant of the Air National Guard, serving as a principal adviser to senior executives within the U.S. Department of Defense. His 20+ years within Special Forces has given him a unique perspective that translates into being a subject matter expert in Human-Centric leading and resilience. He is an accomplished international public speaker and a leadership instructor. When asked about this opportunity Jim stated, "I wanted to create and host a podcast that would be more than informational, but rather insightful. I truly believe that all things boil down to human-centric environments, which mean success is always tied to the human. It is my hope that The Iron Sharpens Iron Leadership Movement will give you a focused set of ideas that can be applied in both your personal and professional life." Jim holds a Master's degree in Leadership from Trident University, a Bachelor of Arts in Business Communications and Influence from Jones International University, an Associates in Airway Science and a Professional Managers Certification from the Community College of the Air Force. About N2Growth N2Growth is a global leader in human and organizational performance with practice areas in executive search, leadership development, and business transformation. Ranked as a Top 10 Executive Search Firm by Forbes, N2Growth has more than 50 locations across the Americas, the European Community, MENA, and APAC. Media Inquiries: Dan Evans N2Growth (830) 715-4007 [email protected] Related Images n2growth-logo.png N2Growth Logo N2Growth, a Top Executive Search Firm SOURCE N2Growth Chevron Corp. will be forced to effectively wind down its operations in Venezuela, dealing the Maduro regimes crumbling oil industry another blow as President Donald Trump maneuvers for regime change in the Latin American nation. The Treasury Department will no longer allow the company to drill wells, sell and buy crude oil or oil products or transport them, according to the Office of Foreign Assets Control. Chevron is authorized to ensure the integrity of operations and assets in Venezuela through Dec. 1. The decision also affects four U.S. oilfield service providers: Halliburton Co., Schlumberger Ltd., Baker Hughes Co. and Weatherford International Plc. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan underwent testing for the novel coronavirus. He was in a meeting with Edhi Foundation's Chairman Faisal Edhi, who later tested positive for the virus. Edhi had met PM Khan at his residence in Islamabad where he handed in a donation cheque. Later Edhi tested positive for coronavirus and was isolated at his home. Officials from Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital collected his samples, but the results aren't in yet. "I am happy to announce that the prime minister has agreed to get tested for coronavirus on my advice," said Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital CEO, Dr Faisal Sultan, the premier's personal physician said. He is also the topmost authority in controlling the pandemic in Pakistan. After Faisal Edhi, son of the renowned philanthropist late Abdul Sattar Edhi tested positive, it was suspected that PM Khan could have caught the infection due to local transmission. Edhi met Khan on April 15 and made a donation to the Pakistani government's coronavirus relief fund. The meeting between Edhi and Prime Minister Khan was only for seven minutes, but doctors recommended that Khan tested. In a photo that was released, both were seen meeting without gloves or masks. At least 9,794 cases of coronavirus have been reported in Pakistan while 209 people have died. Nigerian serial entrepreneur, music consultant and A&R, Frank Nwafor popularly known as Pimp God, has said every Nigerian artiste needs A&R to survive in the Nigerian music industry which seems to be going through a huge metamorphosis. According to the music entrepreneur, the music industry has risen through leaps and bounds and has gained international recognition across the world. Due to this fact, there has been an upsurge in the amount of new artists that join this industry every day, and one common problem that they all face is getting their voices heard amongst the jungle that is the Nigeria music industry, he stated. He further said; Due to the growing popularity of digital streaming media (or DSPs), it is of the utmost importance for every artist to get their music on these platforms. But to do this, especially if money and connections are not available, every upcoming artist needs a very important tool- an A&R. A&R stands for artist and repertoire, a division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. Nwafor also gave the highlight jobs of A&R as personnel that is very important for every upcoming artist. They are the ones who have the necessary knowledge and tools to connect upcoming artists with DSPs. A&R personnel lookout for certain traits in upcoming artists, they are the ones who decide if the artist has a signature sound, a marketable image, and long-term career potential and also if they can adapt to doing live shows. If all these are found in upcoming artists, A&R personnel becomes the personal hype man for the artist. They attend meet ups and events where they introduce the songs of their clients to DSPs who then put this songs on popular playlists, which in turn gets listened to by users. A&R are the ones who run the backstage set up for every artist; they are the backbone of the music industry and are often overlooked in the Grand scope of things when assessing the success of an artist. A&R outfits are beginning to pop up all over the country but one in particular stands out; The Sound Genie A&R. They have worked with artists like Vector, Supa Gaeta, & Bad Boy Timz who have also notably racked up a combined total of over 8 million streams on different digital streaming platforms, he added. Nwafor ventured into music distribution, curation, marketing and A&R late 2018 after establishing Sound Genie Nigeria. Since then, he has been gaining recognition in the music industry under the wings of one of Nigerias leading record labels; Anonymous Music Group. Sound genie Nigeria has helped multiple upcoming artists to get their voices heard in the new emerging music industry. The most realistic scenario at the moment for Formula 1 is that it will start in Europe and that the races will take place behind closed doors. Several circuits have reacted positively to this, so there is a good chance that races will start in Austria with races at Silverstone shortly afterwards. Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is also one of the possibilities. Costs Organising a race costs a lot of money and part of the budget has to be paid to Formula 1. To earn that money back, tickets are sold, among other things. That will disappear if the races take place behind closed doors and with the current contracts it is not profitable at all. Liberty Media also realizes this and they are willing to renegotiate the contracts, as Joan Fontsere (manager of the circuit in Barcelona) indicated at The Associated Press. Liberty Media would be aware of the fact that races have to take place without fans and that the contracts should therefore be reviewed. "They know that this is an exceptional situation. We are both looking in the right direction. If they want to organize a few races because of the TV rights, because of the teams... they know that our income will be reduced. They realize it's gonna be like this year, so we're on the same page together." No Audience "When the Catalan government invests in Formula 1, it's not just for the tickets we sell. It is also for the financial impact that the event has on the country, in Catalonia," says Fontsere, and will not reach any audience: "the economic impact will be greatly reduced. That means no income for taxis, hotels... so that completely changes the agreement between the two parties". In addition, Fontsere says that the circuit is fully available for all suggestions. So double races, shorter weekends and more. Driving a race the other way around on the track is not one of the options, because that would require too many complex adjustments. It also poses a risk to safety. Finally, Fontsere indicates that the circuit can be ready to organize a race in two to three weeks. Because of this he expects the Spanish Grand Prix to be one of the first races of the season. Kavanaugh cites Roe v. Wade when writing on 'erroneous precedents' in court decision about verdicts Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh cited two major abortion-related decisions in a concurring opinion spelling out when "erroneous precedents" ought to be overturned. Monday's majority opinion, authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch, overturned a prior decision about unanimous jury verdicts, striking down state laws in Louisiana and Oregon which allowed people to be convicted of serious crimes with non-unanimous jury votes. The now-reversed 1972 ruling upheld nonunanimous verdicts in state courts. The final vote was 6-3, with a mixture of the court's conservative and liberal justices on both sides, agreeing mostly or in part with the decision. In his concurrence, the newest member of the high court whose contentious confirmation roiled the nation in the fall of 2018 brought up the doctrine of stare decisis, noting that it promotes the evenhanded, predictable, and consistent development of legal principles, fosters reliance on judicial decisions, and contributes to the actual and perceived integrity of the judicial process." But he added, "The doctrine of stare decisis does not mean, of course, that the Court should never overrule erroneous precedents. All Justices now on this Court agree that it is sometimes appropriate for the Court to overrule erroneous decisions." Kavanaugh brought up Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide, and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a 1992 case that reaffirmed the core holding of Roe but challenged other elements of the ruling. "In Casey, the Court reaffirmed what it described as the 'central holding' of Roe v. Wade," Kavanaugh explained, adding that the court also "expressly rejected Roes trimester framework, and the Court expressly overruled two other important abortion precedents. The justice elaborated that the tradition following judicial precedent, which is often called the doctrine of stare decisis, "is not an inexorable command," noting that to overrule a constitutional precedent, the Court requires something over and above the belief that the precedent was wrongly decided. [E]ven when judges agree that a prior decision is wrong, they may disagree about whether the decision is so egregiously wrong as to justify an overruling, he wrote, going on to explain that in some instances justices might disagree about the severity of the jurisprudential or real-world consequences caused by the erroneous decision and, therefore, whether the decision is worth overruling. Whether Kavanaugh's citation of the famous abortion cases in Monday's opinion means anything beyond the case at hand remains to be seen though speculations are mounting that he may be laying the groundwork for future challenges to the current legal abortion regime. Early last month, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of June Medical Services v. Russo, which centered around a Louisiana law mandating abortion facilities have admitting privileges to local hospitals as is required of other ambulatory surgical centers. The case is the first abortion-related dispute to be heard before the high court with both of President Trump's appointees, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, on the bench. In 2016, the high court struck down a similar Texas law in Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, holding that the restriction was unconstitutional because it placed an undue burden on a woman seeking an abortion. Yet the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over Texas and Louisiana and adjudicated both laws prior to reaching the Supreme court, held that despite the similarities in the statutes, "stark differences" exist between the factual records of the two cases. India has everything needed to be hub for medical tourism: PM Modi PM Modi ranks top among global leaders in fight against COVID-19 India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, Apr 22: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been ranked top amongst world leaders in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic. Modi has the highest popularity among the global leaders as per a recent analysis done by pollster Morning Consult. As of April 14, his net approval rating is 68, according to the pollster. "Our Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi leads the world in combating COVID-19. Ensuring safety and security for the Indian people on one hand and lending all necessary support to other nations on the other, he has been ranked number one amongst world leaders in the fight against the pandemic," Nadda said in a tweet. Many Union ministers and other party leaders also tweeted about the highest approval ratings of Modi amidst the global fight against the pandemic, saying the country has full confidence in his leadership at the time of this crisis. "Prime Minister leads India's fight against coronavirus from the front. Consistent high approval ratings for PM Narendra Modi. Nation has confidence in its leadership in an extraordinary situation due a pandemic," Ms Sitharaman claimed in her tweet. The Finance Minister shared two graphs to back her claim, each of which showed "net approval (approval minus disapproval) among adult residents of each country". As per the graphs Prime Minister Modi was shown to have an approval rating of 68 points; next were Mexico's Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and the United Kingdom's Boris Johnson. However, PM Modi has been criticised by the opposition and civil society activists over his government's handling of the coronavirus outbreak in India, which is now nearing 20,000 cases and has seen 640 people die. Among the reasons for going private, Katanga cited the "attractive" premium being given to shareholders, commodity price risks, operational risks, financial risks, and the lack of sources of financing without support from Glencore. Katanga separately said its copper cathode production increased to 67,298 tonnes in the first quarter of 2020, from 65,402 tonnes in the last quarter of 2019. Production of cobalt decreased to 5,296 tonnes in Q1 of 2020, from 6,173 tonnes in Q4 of 2019. COVID-19 IMPACT In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Katanga said it was reducing spending on some operations and projects not vital to the day-to-day running of the business. It also lowered its cobalt production target for the year to 26,000 tonnes from 29,000 tonnes previously. Katanga said there were no "material" disruptions to operations in the first quarter, but prepared the market for the possibility that restrictive measures implemented by Congo and other governments would impact operations going forward. "The Company will likely be materially and adversely impacted if its operations are disrupted for any extended period of time, or if it is unable to either import required supplies or export finished product," the miner said. "Further, the lack of extensive health infrastructure in the DRC may materially and adversely impact the Company." Congo's mining minister last week warned mine shutdowns would trigger a "catastrophic" economic and social crisis in the country. Katanga last month said the commissioning of a new acid plant at its 75%-owned subsidiary Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) had been delayed as travel restrictions due to the pandemic made it impossible to bring commissioning experts to the site. Katanga said it expects operating cash flow minus capital expenditure to be "modestly positive for the year" if there are no further negative developments or impacts from COVID-19. KCC had undrawn liquidity of $208 million available under its bank facility and cash on hand of $174 million at the end of the first quarter, Katanga added. (Reporting by Helen Reid and Zandi Shabalala, Editing by Jane Merriman and Elaine Hardcastle) Amid Economic Crisis, Scale Back Temporary Foreign Workers, Panel Says Theres no justification for the present high levels of foreign workers in the United States at a time of pandemic-related high unemployment, according to a panel discussion hosted by the nonpartisan Center for Immigration Studies on April 21. The online discussion came after President Donald Trump announced he would sign an executive order temporarily halting immigration to the United States. Trump announced the move on April 20 after a tumultuous day in the markets. The price of futures contracts for oil dropped below zero for the first time ever because of severely reduced demand caused by containment measures aimed at the CCP virus, which causes the disease COVID-19. The market development has spooked investors and shocked policymakers as they ponder its future ramifications. In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States! the president wrote on Twitter. Legal experts say the president has wide latitude in immigration-related matters. They note that 8 U.S. Code Section 1182 gives the president authority to suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants, or impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany expanded on Trumps statement. President Trump is committed to protecting the health and economic well-being of American citizens as we face unprecedented times. As President Trump has said, Decades of record immigration have produced lower wages and higher unemployment for our citizens, especially for African-American and Latino workers. At a time when Americans are looking to get back to work, action is necessary. According to the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), both white-collar and blue-collar workers are being hurt in the current economic crisis as U.S. visa programs continue to import historic numbers of workers. The total number of temporary workers who participate in guest worker programs at any given time isnt known, as the federal data systems that process visas arent linked together. Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at CIS, said, The stock population of temporary or non-green card workers that is now present in our labor market I estimate to be about 4 million at this moment, some of whom have temporary visas, but others have these work permits that are issued in one- or two-year increments at a time. Vaughan said during the panel discussion that about 1.8 million new work permits and renewals of work permits occur each year in a variety of categories, most of which are under control of the executive branch. If they were curbed in number, this would instantaneously almost create jobs for Americans and for other legal workers who are here. The president can take immediate action and some of Congress can play a role as well, but in a crisis like this there are definitely things that the president can do to make sure that we dont have workers from abroad taking jobs that Americans could and would like to do, she said. The employer lobby has managed to convince people that there is a need to bring in foreign workers, Vaughan explained. These visas exist because employers have succeeded in creating this narrative that there is a shortage of highly-skilled American workers and that they need to reach abroad to fill vital jobs for our economy. Many of these jobs simply arent available to Americans to apply for. Theyre filled by labor brokers who recruit from abroad and sometimes even have been found to discriminate against American workers in advertising for workers and in placing workers either with big U.S. companies or even sometimes with states, localities, or the federal government. CIS fellow David North said the current economy isnt causing foreign workers who lose their jobs to leave the United States but it may cause some people not to come. Temporary foreign workers who lose their jobs need to leave the United States to make way for American workers, Vaughan said. We dont want temporary workers to have more time to find another job. This is the time [to say] Sorry, it didnt last three years, its time to go home. Mark Krikorian, executive director of CIS, said the H2B visa program, which is popular among employers, makes no sense. It brings in 66,000 of these seasonal workers every year. Landscapers are the biggest category forestry workers, meat processing workers, amusement park workers, believe it or not carnies, we import carnies because we apparently dont have enough. and the employer line to lobbyists is that these are jobs Americans wont do, which is clearly nonsense, even among landscapers two-thirds of people who do landscaping are native-born Americans nationwide. To claim that theres a labor shortage in these occupations is also ridiculous. In a real labor shortage wages go up. Employers have to bid for workers. They have to make the jobs more attractive, he said. Theres no question with 22 million Americans having filed unemployment claims in just four weeks the idea that landscaping companies couldnt find American workers, that carnival companies couldnt find people to work for them is so absurd you really have to question the good faith of people making this argument. The Ministry of Mines and Energy on Tuesday said it was looking to quadruple its current installed solar power output, even while continuing to invest in coal-fired plants and hydropower on smaller tributaries. In the brief report obtained by VOA Khmer on Tuesday, the ministry is looking to invest in renewable energy, and continue ongoing investments in traditional power sources, largely in a bid to reduce the amount of energy imported from neighboring countries. Victor Jona, a spokesperson at the Ministry of Mines and Energy, said Cambodia had decided to halt hydropower construction on mainstream Mekong River until 2030, but the possibilities of building dams on river tributaries are still being studied, such as the 190MW dam on the Sekong River in Stung Treng province. VOA Khmer in March reported that the Energy Ministry had decided to stop dam construction on the Mekong mainstream. We havent granted any approval for building. It is in the process of studying and I cant evaluate, he said. The ministry report showed nine projects underway which would increase power output by 1,500 megawatts by 2021. The plan was to quadruple the existing 90MW of solar power to 320MW in the next two years. An 80MW wind power plant was being considered at Bokor Mountain in Kampot province. However, there are sizable investments in hydropower, coal, and heavy fuel oil power plants. Preah Sihanouk will have a 700MW power plant, and last week approved two new projects, a 700MW installation in Koh Kong province and another 265MW in Oddar Meanchey province. Kandal province will have a 400MW heavy fuel oil power plant and a new 80MW hydropower dam in Pursat province. The Stimson Center in the United States issued a report as the New Evidence revealing that a severe drought that grasped the lower Mekong Basin in 2019, was directly a result of Chinas upstream dams, which restricted nearly all of the record rainfall and snowmelt from the downstream. Victor Jona rejected the findings, his reasoning being China is very far from Cambodia. I think the river in China is far, thousands of kilometers from Cambodia, he said. I think [dams] in China dont have any impacts on Cambodia since it is very far. At this point, no one can argue that Facebook and Tinder are acceptable alternatives to engaging with the world around you. Had Klapisch advanced the idea 10 years ago, it would have been downright prescient. In 2019, however, his slams on life in the swipe-right era, even if gently delivered, give the movie a tired and dated feel. Still, a film from Klapisch is never without its upside, and his singular knack for examining with sensitivity and detail the relationship highs and lows of the 40-and-under crowd remains undiminished. The film is currently doing okay business in France. Should it earn a stateside release following its recent North American premiere at the COLCOA French Film Festival in Los Angeles, youthful audiences may recognize a bit of themselves but wont be particularly moved. Matthias has shown he is an effective leader who has achieved ambitious targets, inspired his people, and helped grow our very successful Bratislava operation, said Andreas Berger, CEO of Swiss Re Corporate Solutions. I am pleased he will join Corporate Solutions during this transformative time in our development. Matthias will be a driving force in refining our strategy as we advance corporate insurance for the benefit of our customers. Grass succeeds Martin Mueller, who has been named head of global finance transformation for Swiss Re Group. Id like to thank Martin for his many contributions to Corporate Solutions, particularly his leadership during our strategic review, Berger said. By overseeing the successful implementation of our management actions, Martin has helped us make significant progress in our return to profitability, which I am confident Matthias will help Corporate Solutions achieve in 2021, as committed. Three NASA Astronauts recently delivered "Some Good News" straight from the International Space Station on actor John Krasinski's new daily YouTube series. Astronauts Jessica Meir and Andrew Morgan of the Expedition 62 crew and Chris Cassidy of the Expedition 63 crew made their debut on Krasinki's April 19 episode of "Some Good News." Krasinki, who is known for playing the beloved character Jim Halpert from the long-running series "The Office," started the positive "newscast" just three weeks ago to much fanfare, with each new segment earning millions of views. As of Wednesday morning, the video featuring Meir, Morgan and Cassidy had amassed nearly 4 million views on Youtube. ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: NASA seeking to help fight the coronavirus pandemic "There is so much good news happening in the space world right now," Meir said in the video, "This year we will be celebrating 20 years of a continuous presence onboard the ISS. We have been up here conducting thousands of experiments that help benefit life back on earth." Meir and Morgan made their way back to Earth last Friday after contributing to hundreds of experiments in biology, human research and technology development, according to a news release from NASA. Morgans mission began July 20, 2019, and included a 272-day flight that took him on a journey of 115.3 million miles. Meir started her mission on Sept. 25, 2019, and spent a total of 205 days in space while traveling 86.9 million miles. "As awesome as it's been to live and work here for so long, it's super good news that Jessica and I will return to Earth," Morgan said in the video. "It's going to be great to hug my wife and kids again, although I am not really looking forward to gravity." PHOTOS: NASA's Curiosity Mars rover captures stunning panorama pics of the red planet Chris Cassidy also made an appearance in the video after recently starting a 195-day mission serving as station commander, according to NASA. "This is some good news, the earth is still beautiful," one of the astronauts said in the video. "An earth in crisis is still an earth worth returning to." Find more information on the astronauts on NASA's website. Rebecca Hennes covers community news. Read her on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | rebecca.hennes@chron.com Photo by Madeleine Castator/Hendrix Office of Marketing Communications CONWAY, Ark. (April 22, 2020) In the fall of 2017, Tristian Wiles 21 arrived on a college campus more populous than his hometown. Thats probably a more common experience for students attending a flagship state university than for those enrolled at a small liberal arts institution like Hendrix College. But Wiles came from the northeastern Arkansas community of Ash Flat, which has a population of about 1,100. As a first-generation student from a rural area, Wiles admits to being uncertain about whether he would be a good fit for college life. But from the friendly housekeepers and caf workers to my dependable professors, everyone has always made me feel at home in the Hendrix community, he says. Its evident that Wiles feels at home at Hendrix (a feeling so common among students that the campus has earned the name Homedrix). Hes excelled as a biochemistry/molecular biology (BCMB) major and added a philosophy minor to his academic pursuits. Outside of classes and labs, he has participated in the BCMB Club, the Hendrix chapter of the American Chemical Society, and Hendrix Naturalists Club. And drawing on his experience as a first-generation college student, Wiles connects with students following paths similar to his own by serving as a mentor for the IRIS Program: Increasing Retention and Inclusion in STEM. This spring, he learned hed been accepted into three summer research programsat Yale, Duke, and UT Southwestern, all programs affiliated with the Amgen Scholars Program (funded by the Amgen Foundation, the principal channel for biotech company Amgens corporate philanthropy). He ultimately chose Yale, and was waiting to be matched with a research lab there when he learned that this summers program would be canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. He will be able to attend in the summer of 2021, though. Because of that delay, I still dont know exactly what Ill study, but it will be some type of biomedical science, likely to do with genetics and molecular biology, he said. By that time, Wiles will have his Hendrix degree, and plans to move on to pursue a Ph.D. in the biomedical sciences. His ultimate goal: teaching and conducting research at the college and university level. Its one way he plans to pay forward the benefits of his own Hendrix education. I have found such a strong academic support group at Hendrix, he says. I would never have gained the qualifications for these programs without the help of my research advisors, and I certainly could not have written the essays necessary for strong applications without the guidance of my humanities professors and scholarship advisors. Wiles believes in the power of making research opportunities available to undergraduate students because he has benefited from it himself. I was able to start doing research as early as the end of my freshman year, and completed three projects by the time I was a junior. I started with research in ecology, and, thanks to the guidance of my research advisors, I had homed in on my passion for molecular biology by the end of my third project, he says. Hendrix opens so many doors for students interested in undergraduate scientific research. About Hendrix College A private liberal arts college in Conway, Arkansas, Hendrix College consistently earns recognition as one of the countrys leading liberal arts institutions, and is featured in Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges. Its academic quality and rigor, innovation, and value have established Hendrix as a fixture in numerous college guides, lists, and rankings. Founded in 1876, Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. To learn more, visit www.hendrix.edu. 'There are 80 million tonnes of foodgrain in our godowns and yet, 200 million people go to bed hungry.' 'So I decided to fight hunger.' IMAGE: D Sivanandan, Maharashtra's former director general of police, lends a hand in the Roti Bank kitchen. Photograph: Kind courtesy Roti Bank. When D Sivanandan, Maharashtra's former director general of police, launched an NGO, the Roti Bank Foundation, in January 2018 to fight hunger, he could not have imagined how badly India needed an initiative of this kind. From supplying 4,000 meals to the poor every day, today, at the height of the national lockdown, the Roti Bank now supply 35,000 meals to the poor all over Mumbai, with the city police, of which he was once commissioner, helping in the distribution. "You put money in this bank and roti comes out," Sivanandan tells A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com. What made you, a police officer, start an NGO to fight hunger? And why this particular name, Roti Bank? I have seen poverty during my younger days. Also, when I was working in the police department I observed that street children take to crime because they are hungry. To control crime I realised that they have to go to school where they will get a mid-day meal. Once they are educated, they are qualified to work. Roti, Kapda, Makaan (food, clothing, a home) are the basics, and so I named my NGO Roti Bank Foundation. You put money in the bank and roti comes out of it. There are 80 million tonnes of foodgrain in our godowns and yet, 200 million people go to bed hungry. So I decided to fight hunger with my NGO. What were the initial problems when you started the initiative? In the beginning there was no money and no support. Extra food from hotels or functions was available only in the night and if we had to distribute it the next day it would be spoilt. I started buying idlis from Matunga (north central Mumbai) and distributing it to patients and their family at the Tata Memorial Hospital (Parel, central Mumbai). After that, donations started pouring in from the generous citizens of Mumbai. I now have 11 vans, an operations manager and other staff. We are delivering on an average 30,000 meals a day. IMAGE: A Mumbai police officer serves food to the needy as part of the Roti Bank's initiative. Photograph: Kind courtesy D Sivanandan How is your NGO funded? It is funded by the people. Tax concessions are available to our donors. Corporates are helping with their CSR funds. Individuals have also donated. Shah Rukh Khan has donated 10,000 meals for 30 days. Vidya Balan has donated. Diana Penty has given. Boman Irani has donated. Amitabh Bachchan has given an endorsement. There are too many individuals to recall just now. I thank all of them profusely. The citizens of Mumbai have been very generous. From providing 4,000 meals a day you have scaled it up to 30,000 meals a day during the lockdown. How was this achieved? When the lockdown was announced we stopped our operations for three days. After I saw that migrants and the poor were suffering more now, we started again in cooperation with the Mumbai police. Earlier, we were cooking in one location only. Now the cooking is done in many places. Many more people have come forward with donations and we are providing more meals. Like I told you earlier, you put money in this bank and roti comes out. How is the delivery done in the containment zones? We ask the concerned people to come to a specific point. Our vans deliver to various locations in the city. Local organisations deliver from there. In Dharavi (north central Mumbai) we deliver 8,000 to 10,000 meals to the police station there. When people collect the food from us, physical distancing is maintained. All our workers wear protective gear. Apart from your own distribution, how many other NGOs are you providing food to? We are providing food to between 45 and 50 NGOs. You must understand that we are fighting a huge war against hunger. Yesterday (April 20) we delivered 32,000 meals. Today we delivered 35,000 meals. During the lockdown, how are you managing your purchases of essential commodities? The government has allowed the transport of essential commodities. I am buying from Raigad and Khopoli and they are bringing it in trucks. I have not faced any problems in purchase. I just bought four tonnes of rice and two tonnes of dal. You have also expanded your operations to Nagpur. Retired assistant commissioner of police P G Chowdhury is in charge there. I provide everything that is needed there. We are supplying 2,500 meals a day there. Tell us what you provide in a typical meal. We used to provide a lot of variety before the lockdown. After the lockdown, as the number of meals has gone up, we are supplying one wholesome eatable meal. It is normally vegetable pulao or dal khichdi. We serve it hot. Tell us your daily routine since the lockdown. I wake up at 5 am. I either go to the gym or walk 12,000 steps. I have breakfast at 8.30 am. After that I read and write. Then I check on deliveries. I sometimes go to the cooking places. I have to look after the backroom operations. Retired inspector Tambe manages the transport section. I pay my staff salary, they are all insured. I have given them protective gear. I also give them dry rations. The Prominent Civil Rights Advocacy group-: HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to sack forthwith the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force(PTF) on Covid-19 from that special intervention platform (PTF) and to compel him and other members of the committee who violated the NCDC's protocols on burial of dead bodies from COVID-19 AILMENT by attending the burial of the late Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari Mallam Abba Kari without observing social distancing rules to self quarantine and to subject themselves to the prosecutorial powers of the mobile courts in Abuja handling cases of violations of the LOCKDOWN order by the Federal government. HURIWA said the apologies tendered by the discredited Chairman of the PTF Mr. Boss Mustapha was insufficient to atone for the gross misjudgement and the flagrant breach of the fundamental law guiding the declaration of lockdown in Nigeria by President Muhammadu Buhari as a way of containing the spread of the CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC IN NIGERIA just as the Rights group said allowing the Chairman to continue to preside over the strategic task force on CONVID-19 will pass the impression to millions of people around the World that Nigeria is a Country of two laws- one for the commoners and the others for the ruling elite who are apparently above the law. The Rights group said it will be a complete manifestation of tolerance for lawlessness should no action be adopted to penalize Boss Mustapha as well as the Senior Special Assistant on Media to the President Mr. Garba Shehu. HURIWA in a statement by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director Miss Zainab Yusuf said that it was disgraceful and an unmitigated insult on our collective national psyche for Mr. Boss Mustapha to boldly flout the established protocols made by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control and thereby putting the lives of the rest of the public in Abuja at grave risks of contracting the severe flu virus which has no known cure at the time being and to have the temerity to still attend the National briefing session of the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 in the nation's capital. "It is unimaginable that in this same Abuja the seat of political power of Nigeria and the custodian of the central law making organ for the entire nation that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation who should show good example is the person that led some other members of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 to abuse and disobey clearly established laws and regulations meant to keep Nigeria safe but he is being treated as a SACRED COW whereas hundreds of poor residents of Abuja and Lagos such as Jenifer Akindele who committed same infractions of violating the Social distancing rules were prosecuted and convicted." HURIWA maintained also: "We must never create the impression that some persons are bigger than the law. It is in that frame of mind that we believe that the right cause of action is for the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and other members to honourable quit the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 and present themselves to the mobile Court in Abuja to be prosecuted for the offences of violating the Social distancing rules just like all other Nigerian Citizens who have been so prosecuted. He has to exit the PTF or be sacked by the President. In other civilised climes such a person would even be sacked from his political position. But we are not going as far as demanding that he be dismissed from the position of the SGF because he is the only CHRISTIAN holding a strategic national positions under a highly sectional administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. But we are recommending his sack from the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 ". HURIWA quoted Boss Mustapha as tendering apologies thus: "The burial of the late Chief of Staff, Mallam Abba Kyari, on 18 April 2020, has attracted a lot of concerns from Nigerians over the non-adherence to the physical distancing measures and mass gathering restrictions at the Gudu Cemetery. The nonobservance of physical distancing and the flouting of mass gathering restrictions at the cemetery were due to the failure of crowd control measures. We acknowledge that mistakes were made, we have learnt from these mistakes and would ensure that future events are adequately regulated in accordance with the Presidential Task Force and the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) protocols." HURIWA however dismissed the hurriedly packaged apologies from Boss Mustapha as too little too late and in any event the Rights group said there was no better way of telling Nigerians that the current administration tolerates impunity and disregard for the laws than to allow the discredited Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 Mr. Boss Mustapha as well as other members who flouted the protocols to remain on THEIR seats as members of a body (PTF) driving the process of implementing a national response to the rampaging Covid-19 disease. " We must demolish this mountain of hypocrisy being erected by the Federal government and we must insists that the laws, Rules and regulations must be respected by all and sundry because the Rule of law is paramount and nobody is above the law. Mavenir's OpenRAN vRAN deployments continue to grow globally Mavenir, the industry's only end-to-end cloud-native Network Software Provider focused on accelerating software network transformation for Communications Service Providers (CSPs), took home the prize for 'Best OpenRAN Solution' for its dynamic and disruptive virtualized OpenRAN Access Network. "Mavenir was recognized for their work with Turkcell, in testing and deploying OpenRAN vRAN throughout the Turkcell Group. Mavenir have been as the forefront of the TIP OpenRAN project group and continues to lead the way." said Millad Farahani, Head of Content at Layer123. Mavenir's OpenRAN vRAN solution is deployed and running live commercial traffic, transforming the CSP's mobile network economics with potential cost reductions of over 35% while equaling performance metrics of traditional D-RAN solutions. "As a pioneer in the implementation of the OpenRAN approach, we are pleased to see the growing number of deployments with major CSPs around the world," said Pardeep Kohli, President and CEO of Mavenir. "We are honored to be recognized for our OpenRAN expertise as the proven partner for CSPs looking to future proof their networks." As a Network Software Provider, Mavenir's approach is radically different from traditional proprietary approaches. With a comprehensive portfolio of fully virtualized VNFs, cloud native virtualization of the baseband processing is extended to the edge of the network. vRAN brings increased business agility with network elasticity, flexibility, and dynamic RAN optimization. With baseband processing, centralization enables dynamic RAN adaptation through hierarchical mobility, SON, CoMP, centralized scheduling, policy enforcement, and interference control. In addition, Mavenir's vRAN is designed to support multiple Fronthaul architectures simultaneously making the vRAN solution an ideal choice for a vendor-agnostic and future-proof strategy for the CSPs. The Network Automation Awards were announced at the Network Automation World Congress webinar on April 22, 2020. About Mavenir: Mavenir is the industry's only end-to-end, cloud-native Network Software Provider focused on accelerating software network transformation and redefining network economics for Communications Service Providers (CSPs). Mavenir offers a comprehensive end-to-end product portfolio across every layer of the network infrastructure stack. From 5G application/service layers to packet core and RAN, Mavenir leads the way in evolved, cloud-native networking solutions enabling innovative and secure experiences for end users. Leveraging innovations in IMS (VoLTE, VoWiFi, Advanced Messaging (RCS)), Private Networks as well as vEPC, 5G Core and OpenRAN vRAN, Mavenir accelerates network transformation for more than 250+ CSP customers in over 140 countries, which serve over 50% of the world's subscribers. Mavenir embraces disruptive, innovative technology architectures and business models that drive service agility, flexibility, and velocity. With solutions that propel NFV evolution to achieve web-scale economics, Mavenir offers solutions to help CSPs with cost reduction, revenue generation, and revenue protection. www.mavenir.com Mavenir, the M logo, and Cloud Range are trademarks owned by Mavenir Systems, Inc. Copyright 2020 Mavenir Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005514/en/ Contacts: Maryvonne Tubb Mavenir PR NA-Loren Guertin MatterNow EMEA-Kevin Taylor GlobalResultsPR Eggs of the invasive spotted lanternfly have started hatching in Pennsylvania. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, the first confirmed spotted lanternfly hatch of the year was found Tuesday by a USDA employee in the University City section of western Philadelphia, near the University of Pennsylvania/Drexel University. The spotted lanternfly can decimate entire grape vineyards and damage fruit orchards, hops, walnuts, hardwoods and landscape trees. In addition, the insect threatens our ability to enjoy the outdoors during spring and summer months. Theyre known to swarm in the air, cover trees, and coat decks and play equipment with their excrement, known as honeydew. Honeydew, along with sap from weeping plant wounds that result from feeding of Spotted Lanternfly, can attract bees and other insects and stimulate the growth of fungi. The spotted lanternfly, sometimes referred to as SLF, is an invasive insect from Asia that first was found in North America in Berks County in 2014. Most spotted lanternfly eggs begin to hatch in mid- to late April in southern Pennsylvania, and a bit later in the northern counties. As the first instars of the insect hatch from their eggs they immediately begin feeding on tender plant tissue. Lets use this time at home to make a positive impact on spotted lanternfly this season. Scrape and destroy any remaining egg masses you find and band your trees now, said Agriculture Secretary Redding. We need every Pennsylvanian to keep their eyes peeled for this bad bug. We cant let our guard down. Scraping egg masses is the most efficient way to kill 30-50 of the invasive pests at a time. If you discover spotted lanternfly egg masses, scrape them off, using a putty knife, credit card or other firm, blunt edged tool. Penn State Extension has a helpful tutorial on how to destroy egg masses. During the nymph stage, tree banding is the most effective method to capture and kill spotted lanternfly. Its a non-toxic, inexpensive technique that can be used on any tree, but has been documented to snag unintended targets such as birds. Placing a wire cage around a tree band to exclude things like birds, bats and the like will reduce that unintended impact. Prior to this years spring hatch, 12 counties were added to Pennsylvanias spotted lanternfly quarantine zone, which now covers 26 counties. Businesses in the quarantine zone must obtain a permit. Fines associated with noncompliance can be up to $300 for a criminal citation or up to $20,000 for a civil penalty. Homeowners with questions about treatment may contact their local Penn State Extension office or learn about management, including approved sprays, online. Pennsylvanians who live inside the quarantine zone should also review and sign the Compliance Checklist for residents. The department asks anyone scraping an egg mass or squashing a spotted lanternfly to report your sighting by calling 1-888-4BAD-FLY or online at agriculture.pa.gov/spottedlanternfly. More information about the insect in Pennsylvania will be offered in a May 5 webinar by Penn State Extension. The public is invited to hear the latest on the spotted lanternfly during the Spotted Lanternfly Update 2020: How We Are Fighting It and What You Need to Know webinar at noon. Emelie Swackhamer, horticulture extension educator in Montgomery County, will describe the situation that has been unfolding in Pennsylvania and surrounding states over the past five years. She also will discuss management options, explain regulations in place to slow the pests spread and give an overview of current research. Economists warn that the insect, if not contained, could drain Pennsylvanias economy of at least $324 million annually and cause the loss of about 2,800 jobs. At risk are $18 billion worth of agricultural commodities including grapes, tree fruit, nursery plants and hardwood lumber as well as natural habitats, parks and backyards. Swackhamer, a horticulture educator for Penn State Extension in southeastern Pennsylvania for 24 years, has been on the educational front line of the spotted lanternfly invasion since its discovery and is participating in several research projects to learn more about the invasive insect. More information about the spotted lanternfly, the state-imposed quarantine in Pennsylvania, management techniques and how to report a sighting is available on the Penn State Extension website at https://extension.psu.edu/spotted-lanternfly. 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. CALGARYThe union representing workers at a southern Alberta meat-packing plant says some employees dont feel safe because of an outbreak of COVID-19 and they arent showing up for work. The president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 401 says JBS Canada has been paying a shift premium of $4 an hour to workers at its plant in Brooks but its not enough. It didnt get people to come into work. In fact, we hear that 500 to 1,000 workers havent shown up and theyve had to reduce production to one shift, Thomas Hesse said Tuesday. They cancelled the entire second shift and theyre merging the shifts simply because they dont have the workers. The $4 is not enticing people to come into a place they believe to be unsafe. The plant is the second in the area with an outbreak of the novel coronavirus. Cargill announced Monday it would be temporarily shutting down its plant just north of High River. On Tuesday, the outbreak stood at 401 cases, including the death of a worker. Another 114 cases in the community are being linked to the meat packer. The JBS plant in Brooks had recorded 77 cases as of Tuesday. JBS said it is trying to ensure its plant remains open and has been providing support for workers and their families infected with the virus. We will endeavour to keep our facilities open, but we will not operate a facility if we do not believe it is safe or if absenteeism levels result in our inability to safely operate, Cameron Bruett, head of corporate affairs for JBS USA, said in an email. Bruett said the facility has brought in safety measures, including temperature testing for all workers entering the plant, providing and requiring face masks and physical partitioning on production lines. He confirmed the plant has reduced its production to one shift per day because of increased absenteeism. Fabian Murphy, president of the Agriculture Union, which represents federal meat inspectors, said seven inspectors at the Cargill plant have tested positive for COVID-19. He said if cases of coronavirus are found, then all meat-packing plants should shut down for 14 days to give workers time to self-isolate. The plants can then reopen. An Olymel plant in Quebec previously shut down, said Murphy, who added that JBS should stop dragging its feet and follow suit. They are postponing the inevitable if they dont shut down there. Youve probably got folks in there now that are asymptomatic and are carriers and theyre going to continue to spread the virus. Albertas chief medical health officer, in announcing the Cargill death Monday, said special teams have been tasked with helping to contain the virus at Cargill and JBS. Dr. Deena Hinshaw said the case numbers at the Brooks plant are likely to get worse. We have seen some community spread there, and recognize that Brooks has some similar challenges with households that have many people living in those households where there can be difficulty for people to stay away from others if they are sick, she said. Hesse said there should have been more decisive action by the companies and the Alberta government to make sure cases didnt skyrocket at Cargill. Now we know of a worker thats fighting for their life on a ventilator and (is in) a medically induced coma in the hospital. And were aware of a woman who has tragically died, who we believe worked in the production area, Hesse said. This didnt have to happen if the government and employer had acted quickly and acted appropriately. In Edmonton, Opposition NDP Leader Rachel Notley criticized Premier Jason Kenneys United Conservative government for ignoring earlier calls from her caucus and the union to temporarily shut down the Cargill plant and do a thorough safety check after the first case was reported two weeks ago. Now we see the consequences of failing to act, Notley said. Notley called for immediate assessments at all food-processing plants and temporary shutdowns at the JBS plant and the Olymel pork plant in Red Deer to prevent an outbreak there. Read more about: Russia is testing whether the U.S. military has developed any weaknesses during the novel coronavirus crisis, a top general said, noting three run-ins with that country's planes over a two-month period. "We just want to make it very clear to them ... there are no vulnerabilities as a result of COVID-19," Air Force Gen. Terrence J. O'Shaughnessy, head of U.S. Northern Command, told reporters Tuesday. "We are postured and maintain that ability to respond at a moment's notice." There is "no degradation in our ability to defend the homeland," O'Shaughnessy added. Related: Russia and China Are Spreading Lies About Coronavirus, Pentagon Says Air Force F-22 Raptor fighter jets intercepted two Russian maritime patrol planes earlier this month approximately 50 miles from Alaska's Aleutian Islands. About a month earlier, a pair of Russian reconnaissance aircraft were intercepted by U.S. and Canadian jets 50 miles from the state's coast over the Beaufort Sea. That was the second time in days Russian aircraft were spotted in the region. A Russian plane also flew within 25 feet of a Navy P-8A Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft last week. The aircraft was flying inverted at high speed, putting the Navy crew at risk, officials said. O'Shaughnessy said Russia is likely to continue testing the U.S. -- including near the homeland. "That's why we're postured the way we are and that's why we're always ready to respond," he said. The Russian military isn't the only one appearing to test U.S. forces during the global pandemic. A swarm of Iranian boats harassed U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships in the Persian Gulf last week. China also sent its aircraft carrier into disputed waters in the Pacific as its state media mocked the U.S. military's struggles with the coronavirus, Newsweek reported, as a ship remains docked in Guam with thousands of cases. North Korea has also fired "more missiles than ever" during the coronavirus crisis, according to Reuters. O'Shaughnessy also pledged to "defend the homeland with a ballistic capability." -- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins. Read more: Cowboy Russian Pilot Blamed for 25-Foot Inverted Buzz of US Navy Recon Aircraft The Kano State government led by Governor Abdullahi Ganduje has relaxed the lockdown imposed on the state to allow residents prepare for the forthcoming Ramadan fast. Naija News gathered the lockdown will be relaxed from 6am Thursday to 12am Friday. The State deputy governor, Dr. Nasir Gawuna said the relaxation would allow people to adequately prepare for Ramadan. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and is dedicated and observed by Muslims worldwide as a time of fasting, prayer, and piety. The period lasts for 29 or 30 days. Meanwhile, it will be recalled the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Tuesday night announced 117 new confirmed cases of the deadly Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Nigeria. With the latest statistics, Nigeria has now recorded a total of 782 confirmed cases. Of these cases, Kano has a total number of 73, making it the third-highest infected state only behind Lagos and FCT. Share this post with your Friends on DUBLIN, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Drug Overdose - Pipeline Review, H1 2020" drug pipelines has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This Pharmaceutical and Healthcare pipeline guide provides comprehensive information on the therapeutics under development for Drug Overdose (Toxicology), complete with analysis by stage of development, drug target, mechanism of action (MoA), route of administration (RoA) and molecule type. The guide covers the descriptive pharmacological action of the therapeutics, its complete research and development history and latest news and press releases. The Drug Overdose (Toxicology) pipeline guide also reviews of key players involved in therapeutic development for Drug Overdose and features dormant and discontinued projects. The guide covers therapeutics under Development by Companies /Universities /Institutes, the molecules developed by Companies in Pre-Registration, Filing rejected/Withdrawn, Phase II, Phase I, Preclinical, Discovery and Unknown stages are 2, 2, 1, 3, 6, 1 and 6 respectively. Similarly, the Universities portfolio in Preclinical stages comprises 2 molecules, respectively. Drug Overdose (Toxicology) pipeline guide helps in identifying and tracking emerging players in the market and their portfolios, enhances decision making capabilities and helps to create effective counter strategies to gain competitive advantage. Scope The pipeline guide provides a snapshot of the global therapeutic landscape of Drug Overdose (Toxicology). The pipeline guide reviews pipeline therapeutics for Drug Overdose (Toxicology) by companies and universities/research institutes based on information derived from company and industry-specific sources. The pipeline guide covers pipeline products based on several stages of development ranging from pre-registration till discovery and undisclosed stages. The pipeline guide features descriptive drug profiles for the pipeline products which comprise, product description, descriptive licensing and collaboration details, R&D brief, MoA & other developmental activities. The pipeline guide reviews key companies involved in Drug Overdose (Toxicology) therapeutics and enlists all their major and minor projects. The pipeline guide evaluates Drug Overdose (Toxicology) therapeutics based on mechanism of action (MoA), drug target, route of administration (RoA) and molecule type. The pipeline guide encapsulates all the dormant and discontinued pipeline projects. The pipeline guide reviews latest news related to pipeline therapeutics for Drug Overdose (Toxicology). Reasons to Buy Procure strategically important competitor information, analysis, and insights to formulate effective R&D strategies. Recognize emerging players with potentially strong product portfolio and create effective counter-strategies to gain competitive advantage. Find and recognize significant and varied types of therapeutics under development for Drug Overdose (Toxicology). Classify potential new clients or partners in the target demographic. Develop tactical initiatives by understanding the focus areas of leading companies. Plan mergers and acquisitions meritoriously by identifying key players and it's most promising pipeline therapeutics. Formulate corrective measures for pipeline projects by understanding Drug Overdose (Toxicology) pipeline depth and focus of Indication therapeutics. Develop and design in-licensing and out-licensing strategies by identifying prospective partners with the most attractive projects to enhance and expand business potential and scope. Adjust the therapeutic portfolio by recognizing discontinued projects and understand from the know-how what drove them from pipeline. Companies Mentioned Adamis Pharmaceuticals Corp Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Inc Crossject SA Emergent BioSolutions Inc Fab'entech SA Icure Pharmaceutical Inc Insys Therapeutics Inc iQure Pharma Inc Klaria Pharma Holding AB Mucodel Pharma LLC Opiant Pharmaceuticals Inc Orexo AB PledPharma AB ResQ Pharma Inc Vallon Pharmaceuticals Inc Worphmed Srl For more information about this drug pipelines report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/dv1as3 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com The annual yatra to the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas has been suspended this year due to the coronavirus outbreak, Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board spokesman said on Wednesday. This is probably for the first time that pilgrimage has been cancelled. Even during the peak of terrorism in Kashmir, Amarnath Yatra continued. The decision to this effect was taken at the 38th board meeting of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board which met under the chairmanship of Lt Governor G C Murmu at Raj Bhavan, the spokesman said. However, the board decided that 'Pratham Pooja' and 'Sampann Pooja' would be done with traditional fervour. The 42-day-long annual pilgrimage to the holy cave shrine was scheduled to commence on June 23. The Chief Imam of Ghana, Sheikh Osmanu Nuhu Sharubutu, has assured President Akufo-Addo that the Muslim community will respect all existing protocols put in place to prevent the spread of the novel Coronavirus in Ghana as they begin their annual Ramadan, the holy month of fasting. The Chief Imam made the commitment at a meeting with Muslim leaders called at the instance of the President at the Jubilee House today, Wednesday, 22 April 2020, to discuss modalities ahead of the revered annual Muslim time of spiritual reflection, self-improvement and heightened devotion and worship. The spokesperson for the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Aremeyaw Shaibu, addressing the President on behalf of the Chief Imam, noted that the Muslim community will cut out a lot of the things that they would have done in normal times during the holy month of Ramadan. "For the first time, we are going to see Ramadan without the normal routines we see in Ramadan," Sheikh Aremeyaw Shaibu said. "We want to assure you as Muslim leaders, that the situation is something that we will really acknowledge. Our religion is a flexible religion, it is moderate, it contextualises issues, so whatever situation that is, I am sure we will be behind you" spokesperson of the Chief Imam added. Request for Live Broadcast In order to reach the Muslim population during the period of Ramadan, the Chief Imam requested of the President to assist them through the National broadcaster, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), to carry out some of their activities particularly the daily prayer session from 12 noon to 1 pm live on television. President Akufo-Addo President Akufo-Addo in his address reiterated all the measures the government has put in place in the national fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. He indicated that the request for the live television broadcast of the afternoon prayers during the month of Ramadan is in order and he will ensure that same is done. "About the broadcast, it strikes me as a very creative idea and I am going to look into it immediately to see how we can accommodate it but instinctively, it sounds to me as a good way we can bring technology to help us in this our time to see how we can use it to bridge the gap for the faithful. Be rest assured and the Chief Imam should know that it is something that we are going to give very high priority consideration to" President Akufo-Addo said. 2020 Ramadan This year's Ramadan is expected to begin on Thursday the 23rd of April 2020 and end on Saturday the 23rd of May 2020. Believers in the Muslim faith consider the period of Ramadan, a time for spiritual devotion as well as a time to develop a feeling of kinship with other Muslims. ---classfmonline (Newser) The death toll in Canada's deadliest mass shooting has hit 22. That does not include the shooter, who went on a rampage spanning 16 crime scenes across five Nova Scotia communities from Saturday night until almost noon Sunday. The gunman also set fires that damaged or destroyed more than five structures and cars, the CBC reports. Among the victims killed were two nurses, Kristen Beaton and Heather O'Brien. Beaton, the mother of a 3-year-old son who was pregnant with a second child, was on her way to see a continuing care client when she was killed Sunday morning. Her husband says the province's failure to send out any emergency alerts doomed his wife. They didn't realize the gunman was wearing a Royal Canadian Mounted Police uniform and driving a police vehicle "until it was too late." story continues below "I would not have let my wife leave ... if I had that broadcast come across, that he was on the loose and he was driving an RCMP vehicle," he says, per the CBC. He says the couple had been monitoring the situation Saturday night, but assumed it was under control by the following day when no alert was sent out, the Cape Breton Post reports. When he found out the gunman was still at large, he sent his wife a message warning her not to stop for anyonebut she was killed minutes later, never having had a chance to read it. Premier Stephen McNeil has been criticized for the lack of emergency alerts, but he says it's up to the RCMP to ask for such an alert and provide the details for it. "We had staff on hand in the morning to be able to do that," he said. "But it was not requested." Instead, the RCMP provided updates via Twitter. (The victims also included a mother, father, and their teen daughter.) 1. Amitabh Bachchan 2. Shah Rukh Khan 3. Aamir Khan 4. Priyanka Chopra 5. Akshay Kumar Being a film star comes with its fair share of perks. Along with the massive popularity, you also enjoy a luxurious life thanks to those big fat paycheques. However, not every film star starts off rich. Many took the hard route and worked their way up the ladder to get where they are today. So,Amitabh Bachchan is probably the biggest superstar in the history of Indian cinema. However, before coming to Mumbai, the actor worked in a shipping firm in Kolkata where he started off atThe king of Bollywood - Shah Rukh Khan has a special place in the heart of every Bollywood fan. But,Shah Rukh Khan used that salary for a trip to Agra since he wanted to visit the Taj Mahal.While Aamir Khan has some of Bollywoods biggest blockbusters to his name, but the actor started off his journey as anAlthough born to doctor parents, Priyanka Chopra was never interested in medicine. After bagging the title of Miss World,from her first assignment and like a typical Indian child, she gave all the money to her mother to keep it safely. How sweet!Currently, Akshay Kumar is one of the most commercially successful stars in Bollywood. The actor generally has 3 -4 releases lined up each year and they all manage to pull audiences to theatres. However before Bollywood, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo gives a press briefing about the CCP virus crisis in Albany, New York, on April 17, 2020. (Matthew Cavanaugh/Getty Images) Skyrocketing Unemployment Claims Collapsed New Yorks System, Cuomo Says New York states unemployment website system collapsed following a surge in applicants after the state ordered the closure of nonessential businesses to slow transmission of the CCP virus pandemic, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on April 21. Cuomo said there are now 1,000 people working to cope with the surge in applications, as they process unemployment claims online and though New Yorks phone system. Its unbelievable, Cuomo said at a press conference in Buffalo. One thousand people just to take the incoming unemployment calls. Thats how high the volume is and they still cant keep up with the volume. According to state data, roughly 1.1 million people in New York have received $2.2 billion in unemployment insurance benefits since outbreak of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus. Medical workers arrive for their shift at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center during the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City on April 21, 2020. Cindy Ord/Getty Images) Roughly 95 percent of the U.S. population is now under stay-at-home orders, and many factories, restaurants, stores, and other businesses are closed or have seen sales shrivel. New York City, in the week of March 22, saw the filing of nearly 144,000 unemployment claimsup 2,637 percent from the same time period last year, which saw about 5,300 claims, The New York Times reported. The state said that while it still has a backlog of 4,305 phone applications, this figure has been significantly reduced from before April 8, when there was a backlog of 275,000 applications via telephone. Cuomo told reporters that theres nothing worse than being unemployed and nervous about a paycheck and being unable to get though on the phone when calling to apply for unemployment benefits. I get it. I get it. And we have 1,000 people working on it, the governor said. We have Google working on it and we have all these experts working on it. They are trying to bring up a system that did a much, much lower capacity. Cuomo acknowledged that while the delays may be frustrating, everyone will receive the amount that they are entitled to. Once you qualify, the qualification is retroactive, so youre going to get the same benefit, he said. A record 22 million Americans have filed claims for unemployment benefits over the past month, wiping out almost all the job gains since the 2009 recession. In a move to soften the blow, President Donald Trump signed a historic $2.2 trillion fiscal package last month that makes provisions for small businesses to access loans that could be partially forgiven if they were used for employee salaries. The president on Tuesday announced he would be place a temporary suspension of immigration into the United States, implementing a 60-day pause on the issuance of green cards in order to reduce competition for jobs in the United States. The suspension only applies to those seeking permanent residency, not temporary workers, he said. By pausing immigration well help put unemployed Americans first in line for jobs as America reopens, so important, Trump said at the White House. It would be wrong and unjust for Americans laid off by the virus to be replaced with new immigrant labor flown in from abroad. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Students learning with Brainfuse The need for this help hasnt gone away with remote learning, and so we are pleased to be able to offer Brainfuse and many other tools and tips to support families after school, even when school is in their living room. The New York Public Library has partnered with online tutoring service Brainfuse to offer all New York area students access to free after-school homework help, including virtual 1-on-1 tutoring in a wide range of subjects for K-12 students. The new toolavailable beginning March 24, 2020 at nypl.org/brainfuseoffers a bank of videos, activities, writing labs, and other enrichment activities 24/7, as well as tutoring via chat from 2 PM to 11 PM, seven days a week, in both English and Spanish. The service is free with a New York Public Library card, which can be obtained virtually via the Library's e-reading app SimplyE. Brainfuse is just one of a number of remote educational tools that the Library has made available, enhanced, or continues to make available during its temporary closure to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19. In addition to Brainfusebeing offered temporarily to support students and parents beginning remote learningthe Library is offering BookFlix (for remotely-accessible read alouds), the Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center (to build critical thinking skills), and much more at nypl.org/remotelearning. One of the Librarys key roles is to support a culture of learning and reading in New York City outside of the classroom, offering homework help, internet access, and materials access to hundreds of thousands of students each day after school, said Brian Bannon, the Merryl and James Tisch Director of The New York Public Library. The need for this help hasnt gone away with remote learning, and so we are pleased to be able to offer Brainfuse and many other tools and tips to support families after school, even when school is in their living room. With this new service, we are essentially offering every student, regardless of background, the opportunity to have a private tutor, and every parent the support that they need right now. Maggie Jacobs, the Librarys Director of Educational Programs, added, Remote learning requires a different set of skills for teachers, students and their caregivers. We therefore decided to curate the e-resources we thought would be most helpful, not only to support student learning in digital school, but to support teachers in integrating quality, engaging materials into their online teaching, and provide families with fun activities to learn and play together during an otherwise stressful time. We are hoping this becomes a trusted, favorite one-stop resource to meet family and educator needs. In addition to educational resources for students, while the Library is temporarily closed until further notice it is offering a wide range of public service assistance, including: E-Books / Digital Library Cards: During this temporary closure, the Library has seen a significant spike in e-book usage, and will continue to offer access to hundreds of thousands of free e-books via our e-reading app SimplyE. Through this app, New Yorkers can immediately receive a digital library card and gain access to a multitude of other digital resources we have made available during this temporary closure. Expanded E-Resources: The Library has worked with vendors to expand access to several digital research databases to allow for at-home access, including Ancestry.com, periodical archives, JSTOR and EBSCO databases for academic articles and abstracts. All of the various digital resources for researchers, including the newly accessible ones, can be found here. Book Recommendations: The Library offers expert reading recommendations and lists (including our 125 Books We Love list released for our 125th anniversary in February). Existing Digital Resources: The Library continues to offer nearly 900,000 digitized images from our research collections, nearly 11,000 digitized archives, and our Ask NYPL reference / help service. For the latest information on service offerings, patrons should sign up for NYPL Connect, a new, special newsletter focused on digital resources. They can visit nypl.org for more information. About The New York Public Library For 125 years, The New York Public Library has been a free provider of education and information for the people of New York and beyond. With 92 locationsincluding research and branch librariesthroughout the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, the Library offers free materials, computer access, classes, exhibitions, programming and more to everyone from toddlers to scholars, and has seen record numbers of attendance and circulation in recent years. The New York Public Library receives approximately 16 million visits through its doors annually and millions more around the globe who use its resources at http://www.nypl.org. To offer this wide array of free programming, The New York Public Library relies on both public and private funding. Learn more about how to support the Library at nypl.org/support. About Brainfuse Brainfuse is one of the nations leading online tutoring providers, serving a diversified client base of libraries, school districts and colleges/universities for over 20 years. With Brainfuse, users receive real-time tutoring from instructors via our proprietary online classroom. We serve hundreds of library systems throughout the country, including the New Mexico State Library, the Suffolk Cooperative Library System, the San Francisco Public Library, the Sacramento Public Library, New York Public Library, and North Americas largest homework help program through the Chicago Public Library. For more information about Brainfuse services, please contact us at info@brainfuse.com. Order of the Garter is an annual 700-year tradition founded by Edward III in 1348 In a statement it said decision was taken to 'eliminate any uncertainty' for guests Buckingham Palace has cancelled its annual Order of the Garter ceremony at Windsor Castle and all June investitures as the royal coronavirus lockdown is extended. The Palace said it is making the decision for 'practical reasons' under the 'current circumstances'. The statement added that such events involve 'considerable planning' for guests, explaining the step was taken to 'eliminate any uncertainty' for those attending. The monarch wore a huge velvet cloak as she left the prestigious service at St George's Chapel in Windsor last year, with two young footmen needed to carry it behind her (file photo) Buckingham Palace said: 'For practical reasons in the current circumstances all investitures due to be held at Buckingham Palace in June have been postponed. 'The annual Garter service at Windsor Castle has been cancelled. Events of this nature often involve considerable planning for attendees. 'Mindful of current government advice, we have taken this decision to eliminate any uncertainty for guests due to attend.' The Order of the Garter is a a 700-year tradition founded by Edward III in 1348, and recognises contributions of great public service from those honoured - usually Lords and Ladies of the UK. It involves the Queen and senior Royals including Prince Charles, Prince William and Princess Anne all donning fine velvet cloaks and feathered hats as they attend a service at Windsor Castle while hundreds of people line the streets. Although the Order has a limit of 24 members, excluding The Queen and Prince Charles, foreign royals have been given honorary 'Stranger Knight' status since 1813, with controversial recipients over the years including Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany before World War I. Two official appointments made last year were Lady Companion, Lady Mary Peters, and Knight Companion, Robert Gascoyne-Cecil the Marquess of Salisbury, who were both invested with the Order's insignia by The Queen at Windsor Castle. Knights of the Garter are chosen personally by the Sovereign to honour those who have held public office, who have contributed in a particular way to national life or who have served the Sovereign personally. Queen Elizabeth II pictured with King Felipe VI of Spain and Queen Letizia of Spain, after the king was invested as a Supernumerary Knight of the Garter in 2019 (file photo) Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, and Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, watched on by the Duchess of Cornwall and the Queen of the Netherlands at the ceremony in 2019 (file photo) Lady Mary is a former Lord Lieutenant of Belfast while the Marquess of Salisbury is a former leader of the House of Lords. Stranger Knights is a second order bestowed upon foreign royals, with the title not counting towards the official limit of 24 members. The last time a foreign monarch was invested was King Harald of Norway in 2001, with royals often keeping the honour during their reign and then the title being passed on to their successor. Another order of 'extra' members who are not part of the official limit are the Royal Knights and Ladies, which includes Prince Philip, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward, Prince Charles, the Princess Royal and Prince William. Foreign royals have been receiving Stranger Knight status since 1813, when Emperor Alexander I of Russia was invested with Order status. Other foreign royals who are currently Stranger Knights are Queen Margrethe of Denmark, King Carl Gustaf of Sweden, former King Juan Carlos of Spain, Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands, King Harald of Norway and former Emperor Akihito of Japan. The appointment of Knights of the Garter is in the Queen's gift and is made without consulting ministers. Recipients of the honour are chosen because they have held public office, contributed to national life or served the sovereign personally. Other members of the order include Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, a past president of the Supreme Court, and Admiral Lord Boyce, a former head of the UK's armed forces. DALTON, Ga., April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SYNLawn , the largest manufacturer and unrivaled innovator of artificial grass in North America, announced it is leading the industry with the development of innovative technology for artificial turf, which will set its products apart from the competition. Its new line of products are made with Super Yarn technology, which makes it the most advanced artificial grass fiber produced and presented to the market. Super Yarn offers unique additives including Sanitized Antimicrobial, DualChill IR Reflective (IR) and StatBlock Anti-Static. "Super Yarn offers the cleanest and safest turf with its ground-breaking technology," said George Neagle, executive vice president at SYNLawn. "We are proud of our unmatched leadership in the industry. SYNLawn has changed the perception with our artificial turf with the most realistic and plant based artificial grass. We are excited to advance the industry again with Super Yarn." In a marketplace increasingly crowded with undifferentiated products, SYNLawn strives to provide real value to its clients. Super Yarn has been incorporated into key selling styles including a USDA bio-preferred selection. Sanitized Antimicrobial includes an anti-microbial additive introduced into the masterbatch process, which works by eliminating bacterial odors and preventing microbial growth on SYNLawn face fibers. This technology has been around for centuries, so it's dependable and safe for consumers safe consumers and the environment. When used in tandem with SYNLawn's EnviroFill, it adds an extra layer of anti-microbial protection. This additive is a useful addition to SYNLawn's newest products related to the pet and playground categories. It gives consumers peace of mind knowing that they don't have to worry about bacterial odors from the face fiber. includes an anti-microbial additive introduced into the masterbatch process, which works by eliminating bacterial odors and preventing microbial growth on SYNLawn face fibers. This technology has been around for centuries, so it's dependable and safe for consumers safe consumers and the environment. When used in tandem with SYNLawn's EnviroFill, it adds an extra layer of anti-microbial protection. This additive is a useful addition to SYNLawn's newest products related to the pet and playground categories. It gives consumers peace of mind knowing that they don't have to worry about bacterial odors from the face fiber. DualChill IR Reflective acts as a thermal shield dramatically reducing infrared reflectivity which can break down fibers. SYNLawn introduced the DualChill additive which resulted in 42 percent increased IR reflectivity. This result means that SYNLawn fibers will now have increased durability and tolerance to wear. Infrared light is absorbed into the average turf fiber weakening the product over time whereas DualChill mitigates that problem by reflecting the light. Combined with temperature reducing infills, SYNLawn products are now stronger & cooler than ever. acts as a thermal shield dramatically reducing infrared reflectivity which can break down fibers. SYNLawn introduced the DualChill additive which resulted in 42 percent increased IR reflectivity. This result means that SYNLawn fibers will now have increased durability and tolerance to wear. Infrared light is absorbed into the average turf fiber weakening the product over time whereas DualChill mitigates that problem by reflecting the light. Combined with temperature reducing infills, SYNLawn products are now stronger & cooler than ever. StatBlock Anti-Static is a new carbon-based anti-static ingredient that is molecularly bound into the face fiber to inhibit the buildup of static electricity. SYNLawn is the only company in the industry to add this type of technology at a molecular level. While none of our products produce static electricity, this component can help eliminate the transmission of static electricity from items such as playground equipment or metals fixtures. While static incidents are low and more of a nuisance, SYNLawn recognizes the value of limiting static discharge on surfaces like playground equipment or metals fixtures. SYNLawn opted to use StatBlock on turf styles popular with playgrounds, pets and public spaces. For more information about the newest line of products made with Super Yarn technology, watch this video on the SYNLawn YouTube channel and visit www.synlawn.com/super-yarn. ABOUT SYNLawn SYNLawn is the largest manufacturer and unrivaled innovator of artificial grass in North America. As part of the SportGroup Holding family of companies, SYNLawn, along with sister surfacing brands - Astroturf, Rekortan, APT and Laykold - delivers the best products available on the market. SYNLawn's turnkey network of 85 distributors seamlessly combines environmental stewardship with industry-leading innovations. Manufactured in Dalton, GA, SYNLawn uses bio-based ingredients, such as soy and sugarcane, and consumer-conscious additives such as antimicrobials to meet customers' wide range of needs. With more than 100,000 residential and commercial installations, the company is raising the bar for global synthetic turf standards and transforming the idea of grass. For more information visit www.SYNLawn.com and follow us on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , Pinterest and YouTube . Media Contact: Mackenzie Smith [email protected] 877.703.3824 x106 SOURCE SYNLawn Related Links http://www.SYNLawn.com The increasingly close relationship on multiple levels between Russia and China became obvious to anyone with an interest in such matters last July when the two countries staged their first joint air patrol in the Asia-Pacific region, sending the air and naval defences of the principal U.S. satellite countries in the area Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines into panic mode, Oil Price writes in the article Russia Races To Squeeze The U.S. Out Of Asian Natural Gas Markets. At the same time, the two countries continue to push ahead with their game-changing US$400 billion Power of Siberia gas project that will move at least 38 billion cubic metres of gas annually for 30 years from the Chayandinskoye and Kovyktinskoye fields in Eastern Siberia to Northeastern China. Last week saw major announcements from Russia that now that China is apparently past the peak of its coronavirus outbreak, plans for the project are moving quickly ahead and are being expanded in scope and scale. As TS Lombards London-based China research team chairman, Jonathan Fenby, told OilPrice.com: This political-economic nexus is set to bring growing divergence from the U.S. as part of the wider agenda of the national strengthening being pursued by Xi Jinping, and Beijing is shifting from being an economic adversary to the U.S. to a geopolitical alternative and this could result in a step change in the nature of the confrontation between the two countries. In both cases, the Power of Siberia project is perhaps the most tangible representation of this increasing economic and political congruence between the two countries. Russia is looking to extend its leverage further in the shape of Nord Stream 2, the undersea Baltic gas pipeline to Germany, and the TurkStream pipeline to Turkey and Southern Europe. The Power of Siberia pipeline project fits into such a mould, although the initial focus is in undermining the U.S.s geopolitical position in the Asia-Pacific, a broad strategic move that is thoroughly in line with Chinas own plans for the area that it regards as its own backyard. With the outbreak of the coronavirus, it is easy to forget that China was fully engaged in an all-out trade war with the U.S., and in this context the Power of Siberia pipeline can be used to edge out the U.S.s gas supplies to the region as and when the need for an extra negotiating weapon arises. It would also add weight to Chinas global geopolitical game-changing strategy implicit in its multi-generational One Belt, One Road programme. Russia, therefore, in the course of the last week, has stated that it is looking to increase both the flows through the Power of Siberia and the overall capacity (including storage) associated with these flows. Currently, the pipeline in its eastern route - supplies gas from the Chayandinskoye field (the key element in the Yakutia gas production centre) to domestic consumers in Russias Far East and then on to China. According to Russias state gas giant, Gazprom, these commercial flows began last December at a rate of around 10 million cubic metres per day (cu m/d) towards an overall target rate of 38 billion cubic metres per year (Bcm/y). To achieve this as quickly as possible, Gazprom stated last week, the Chayandinskoye field discovered in 1983, with B1+B2 reserves of at least 1.2 trillion cubic metres of gas and about 61.6 million tons of oil and gas condensate is now fully back on track following a two-week maintenance programme that was implemented to coincide with the force majeure on some import obligations declared in March by Chinas PetroChina, due to the coronavirus outbreak. This is aimed at achieving the fields annual design output of 25 billion cubic metres of gas ahead of schedule and specifically includes expanding the operating Comprehensive Gas Treatment Unit (CGTU) that feeds gas into the Power of Siberia pipeline and finalising the membrane unit for helium concentrate extraction (expected to come onstream in the next few months). At the same time, Gazprom announced that it will complete the construction of the second compressor station on the Power of Siberia line before the end of 2020 and that it is to bring gas into the pipeline flow from the second major field involved in the project Kovyktinskoye, the focus of the Irkutsk gas production centre as from the end of 2022. Discovered in 1987, the Kovyktinskoye field holds the largest gas reserves in eastern Russia, with C1+C2 reserves across the licensed blocks (Kovyktinsky, Khandinsky, and Chikansky) containing 2.7 trillion cubic metres of gas and 90.6 million tons of gas condensate. Production drilling is now in full swing, according to Gazprom, with seven drilling rigs currently in operation but 18 in total planned for next year. This will allow the company to export to China at least 5 Bcm of gas in the first year of operations through the Power of Siberia before the figure increases to at least 10 Bcm in the second year and the full capacity of 38 Bcm/y as from 2025. Linking the two key sites of Chayandinskoye and Kovyktinskoye will begin in the third quarter of this year with the construction of a new section of the Power of Siberia pipeline. Alongside this, Gazprom is busy building out its storage capacity, last week announcing a target of more than 1 Bcm/d of withdrawal capacity by 2030. From 2010 to now, Gazprom has increased this amount that can be delivered from storage daily by 36 per cent, to 843 million cu m/d but plans to add a further 200 million cu m/d by the beginning of 2030, according to the firm. This will be achieved by expanding exiting storage facilities at the Kaliningradskoye and Volgogradskoye sites and the construction of a new facility at Shatrovskoye and other as yet unspecified sites in Tatarstan and the Northwestern, Siberian, and Far Eastern Federal Districts, Gazprom concluded. Story Highlights At 55%, Americans' support for Palestinian statehood is highest since 2003 Support up among both party groups, but still much higher among Democrats Public remains more favorable and sympathetic to Israelis than Palestinians WASHINGTON, D.C. -- According to a February Gallup poll, 55% of Americans support the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, while 34% are opposed and 10% are unsure. This reading, conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic that has tested Palestinian and Israeli cooperation in various ways, represents the first time in eight years that the majority of Americans have favored Palestinian statehood. Gallup's long-standing measure of Palestinian statehood frames the concept according to the traditional two-state solution of "an independent Palestinian state on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip." Americans' support for this has been as high as 58% in 2003, recorded as then-President George W. Bush was attempting to negotiate a Mideast peace deal. The low is 40% in July 2000. The higher percentage in favor of Palestinian statehood seen in the Feb. 3-16 World Affairs poll reflects increased support compared with a year ago from both Republicans and Democrats. The rise in Democrats' support is consistent with upticks seen among this party group since 2015. Republicans' views on the proposal have been more variable, but their higher backing for it today could stem from President Donald Trump's including it in the Middle East peace plan he announced in January. Support for statehood has also increased more among certain groups that had previously shown among the least support for a Palestinian state: older Americans, whites, adults with some college, conservatives and moderates. Americans' Support for Independent Palestinian State Do you favor or oppose the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip? % Favor Feb 1-10 , 2019 Feb 3-16 , 2020 Change % % pct. pts. U.S. adults 50 55 +5 Gender Men 53 57 +4 Women 47 54 +7 Race/Ethnicity White 47 56 +9 Nonwhite 55 56 +1 Age 18-34 53 57 +4 35-54 51 50 -1 55+ 47 61 +14 Education College graduate 62 67 +5 Some college 44 55 +11 No college 44 45 +1 Party ID Republican 33 44 +11 Independent 54 57 +3 Democrats 62 70 +8 Ideology Conservative 36 42 +6 Moderate 53 63 +10 Liberal 70 68 -2 Gallup Americans' Sympathies in Israel-Palestinian Conflict Fairly Steady By 60% to 23%, Americans continue to sympathize more with the Israelis than the Palestinians in the Middle East situation. While not a statistically significant change from last year's 21%, the 23% favoring the Palestinians today is the highest recorded in Gallup's World Affairs survey trends since 2001. Gallup's Mideast sympathies trend documents important changes in Americans' reactions toward the Palestinian-Israeli dispute; however, the precise percentage sympathizing more with Israel can vary, depending on survey context. Recent Gallup research found that the standard question order used on Gallup's annual World Affairs Survey, where this question follows the favorable ratings of countries, produces a higher percentage of Americans -- 11 percentage points higher in 2019 -- sympathizing with Israel than when the question is asked on surveys where it does not follow the favorability question. Israel Maintains High Favorable Rating Meanwhile, Israel's favorable rating in the same poll is near its historical high in Gallup trends. The 30% holding a very favorable view of the country is one point shy of the record 31% recorded in 2018, and the combined 74% very or mostly favorable views is exceeded only by the 79% recorded in January 1991, shortly after Iraqi Scud missiles struck Israel during the Gulf War. Republicans' and Democrats' current attitudes toward Israel and the Palestinian Authority are typical of the pattern seen over the past two decades. While the majority of Republicans and Democrats view Israel favorably, and both groups sympathize more with the Israelis than the Palestinians in the conflict, there are differences in degree. Republicans express greater sympathy and favorability toward Israel than Democrats do. By the same token, both groups view the Palestinian Authority unfavorably, but Democrats less so than Republicans. The two partisan groups hold substantively different views on the question of an independent Palestinian state. The majority of Democrats (70%) favor the establishment of such a state, while more Republicans oppose (48%) than support it (44%). Summary of Americans' Views on Aspects of the Palestinian-Israeli Situation, by Party ID Republicans Independents Democrats % % % Opinion of Israel Favorable 91 64 67 Unfavorable 10 33 33 No opinion -- 3 * Opinion of Palestinian Authority Favorable 9 27 34 Unfavorable 87 70 64 No opinion 4 4 2 Sympathies in Mideast situation Israelis 86 48 44 Palestinians 5 28 38 Both/Neither/Unsure 9 23 18 Position on Palestinian state Favor 44 57 70 Oppose 48 32 22 No opinion 9 11 7 * Less than 0.5% Gallup, Feb. 3-16, 2020 Bottom Line Americans are the most supportive of Palestinian statehood they have been in a decade, in part because of enhanced Republican agreement, with Republicans likely following Trump's cues on the issue. Beyond that, the broad strokes of public attitudes toward the Palestinians and the Israelis haven't changed much in the past year. Far more Americans view Israel favorably than is true for the Palestinian Authority, and sympathies lie more with Israel than the Palestinians in the conflict. Gallup's methodological research showing that sympathy for Israel can vary, depending on whether the question is asked after favorability ratings of Israel and Palestine, reveals that these views aren't hardened. In particular, it shows that a segment of the public is inclined not to take sides in the conflict, but will do so when more mindful of their broader opinions toward each country. That could have implications for both Israeli and Palestinian efforts at engaging Americans on the issue. View complete question responses and trends (PDF download). Learn more about how the Gallup Poll Social Series works. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday (April 21) said that if the Centre is anticipating a spike in coronavirus COVID-19 cases between April 30 and May 15 then it must take steps to arrange special trains in order to allow the migrant workers, stuck in Maharashtra, to leave for their native places. The Maharashtra CM urged the Centre to issue guidelines in this regard by Apil end. "If the Central government is anticipating a rise in transmission of COVID-19 between April 30 and May 15, then it must consider if it can utilise the time at hand to arrange for special trains to send them back home and issue guidelines about this by April-end," said Maharashtra Chief Minister`s Office in a statement. If the Central Government is anticipating a rise in the transmission of the virus between April 30 and May 15, then it must consider if it can utilise the time at hand to arrange for special trains to send them back home and issue guidelines about this by April-end. CMO Maharashtra (@CMOMaharashtra) April 21, 2020 Thackeray also said that the state government is providing food, shelter and medical assistance to around 6 lakh migrant workers who are currently living in relief camps set up across Maharashtra. The Maharashtra CM also noted that as majority of migrant workers are staying away from their families, the current situation is proving tough for them. "Approximately 6 lakhs migrant labourers are being provided with food, shelter and medical assistance in relief camps, set up across Maharashtra by the government. However, in such times staying away from their homes and families is taking a toll on them," the CMO added. Approximately 6 lakh migrant labours are being provided with food, shelter & medical assistance in relief camps setup across Maharashtra by the Government. However, in such times staying away from their homes & families is taking a toll on them. CMO Maharashtra (@CMOMaharashtra) April 21, 2020 It may be recalled that on April 18 over one lakh migrant sugarcane workers were allowed by the Maharashtra government to go back to their villages after a medical check-up. The Maharashtra government had directed the sugar factory owners to make the arrangements for the travel and food of these worlkers. Notably, Maharashtra is the worst hit state in India due to coronavirus with 5,218 COVID-19 patients. COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Lithium ion batteries have already become an integral part of our everyday life. However, our energy-hungry society demands longer life, faster charging, and lighter batteries for a variety of applications from electric vehicles to portable electronics, including lightening the load a soldier carries as numerous electronics become adopted by the Army. Can we get closer to such lighter and faster-charging batteries? The current generation of lithium ion batteries uses graphite as an anode, which has a relatively low capacity, and could be replaced with a silicon anode with high capacity and low environmental impact. This is a highly promising direction for research - yet elusive, as batteries with silicon anodes with a large particle size tend to have shorter lives, generally less than 50 cycles. When researchers tried using nanoparticles of silicon, aluminum, and bismuth, they found that these nano-sized alloy anodes still suffer short cycle life and high cost. Chunsheng Wang and his colleagues may have found a new direction for fixing this degradation problem: the electrolyte. The team from the University of Maryland and the Army Research Laboratory have made an electrolyte that forms a protective layer on silicon, which is stable and resists the swelling that occurs in silicon anode particles. The new electrolyte - rationally designed with underlying principles in place - gives the anode particles room for Si to swell insight the protected layer. The results were published in the journal Nature Energy on April 20, 2020. Dr. Ji Chen, a lead author of the paper from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Maryland, said, "Our research proves that it is practical and possible to stably cycle silicon, aluminum, and bismuth particles as lithium ion battery anodes, simply with a rationally designed electrolyte, which has been regarded as unachievable before." "The energy density of the battery is determined by the electrodes, while the performance of the battery is critically controlled by the electrolytes. The designed electrolytes enable the use of micro-sized alloy anodes, which will significantly enhance the energy density of the battery, " said Dr. Xiulin Fan, a co-first author from the University of Maryland, and now a professor in Zhejiang University, China. "Current efforts by combination of molecular modeling and experimental provided a clear path to a new direction to rationally design the electrolytes that enable long cycle life for high capacity silicon anodes opening a path to developing high energy batteries for a warfighter, " said Dr. Oleg Borodin, a collaborator from the Army Research Laboratory. Current electrolyte design for siliconi anodes aims to form a uniform polymer layer called the solid electrolyte interface or SEI that is flexible and strongly bonds with silicon. However, the strong bonding between polymer SEI and silicon forces the SEI to have the same volume change as the anode particles, so both the particles and the SEI crack during battery operation. "After extensive research on silicon electrodes, the battery community has reached a consensus that the micro-sized silicon anodes cannot be used in commercial lithium-ion batteries," said Chunsheng Wang, a professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Maryland. "We successfully avoided the SEI damage by forming a ceramic SEI that has a low affinity to the lithiated silicon particles, so that the lithiated silicon can relocate at the interface during volume change without damaging the SEI. The electrolyte design principle is universal for all alloy anodes, and opens a new opportunity to develop high energy batteries." Challenges still remain for the commercialization of the electrolyte, the voltage window of 4.2V still needs to be expanded, Wang said. ### Wang also heads the Center for Extreme Batteries (CREB) which is a partnership between UMD and the Army Research Laboratory. The center's mission is to solve practical battery problems faced by U.S. ground forces. The research was funded by the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) through the Battery500 Consortium. The Vietnamese government has decided to resume rice exports, but the debate continues about whether the country should continue to do so. The General Department of Customs (GDC) reported that Vietnam exported 929,000 tons of rice in the first two months of the year, worth $430 million, an increase of 40 percent in both volume and value compared with the same period last year. Of this amount, the Philippines consumed 357,000 tons ($155 million) and Iraq 90,000 tons ($48 million). Exports to some markets increased sharply, including France (increasing by 554 percent), Taiwan (215 percent) and Russia (218 percent). China alone bought 66,000 tons of rice, worth $37 million, from Vietnam. The country also increased the imports from Cambodia, 101,345 tons, which accounted for 44 percent of Cambodias total exports. Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh on March 25 said at a meeting with the local press that countries have increased purchases of rice to hoard up. The exports to one market soared by 7 times. China has to import rice in large quantities because its rice output is estimated to decrease by 1.8 million tons this year to 146.7 million. If Vietnam continues to export rice with the sharp increase seen in the first two months of the year, it may face a shortage of rice for domestic consumption, he said. The Straits Times reported that Cambodian PM Hun Sen has requested stopping rice exports commencing on April 5 to ensure domestic food security in the pandemic. Therefore, the decision by the government of Vietnam to resume exports has raised worries, though only 800,000 tons will be exported in April and May. A petty merchant at Vuon Chuoi Market said the amount of rice hesold in the last two weeks increased sharply. Previously, one person bought 10-20 kilograms, but now buys VND50-100 kilograms. Experts and businesses continue to argue about whether to continue exporting rice. Vo Tong Xuan, the leading rice expert in Vietnam, said China rushed to buy rice from Vietnam in the first months of the year because the country bargained the stockpile away last year. China has to import rice in large quantities because its rice output is estimated to decrease by 1.8 million tons this year to 146.7 million. If the government doesnt allow Vietnams enterprises to export rice, importers may sign contracts with Thai exporters. If so, the opportunity will be missed, Xuan said. Nguyen Lam Vien, chair of Vinamit, also thinks it would be better to allow enterprises to export rice, because the rice supply will be supplemented in 3-4 months. He said that natural calamities such as drought and saline intrusion have not had a big impact on rice production, because the stricken areas are not strategic rice growing areas, which only make up 2 percent of total area. Kim Chi Deputy PM requests to use part of May rice quotas for this month Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung requested to provide 100,000 tonnes rice from the May quota to rice exporters that have goods stuck at ports. When you see the lock icon to the left of a websites URL in the Address and Search bar in Safari, you assume the site is secure. That may be nice for any site you visit, but its particularly critical for ones you use for banking, bill payment, and other financial purposes. You may find, however, that after updating Safari or macOS you can longer get features on a financial site to work. That appears to be due to poor security practices at some institutions, maybe owing to them licensing the same server software to handle their customers needs. The issue here is typically cross-site tracking, which relies on passive linking among different sites. That can be as simple as an invisible single-pixel image placed on a webpage that is linked from another site. When you load a page from the first-party site (the sites operator), the third-party image is loaded and information about you can be sent there. When that same one-pixel image appears in your browser on another site, that other party can track your behavior across sites. IDG Blocking cross-site tracking broke some banking and financial sites, at least briefly. Apple has increasingly clamped down on tracking through advertising links and clicks and these sorts of pixels. In the latest major update of macOS, iOS, and iPadOS, Safari imposed stricter protections than previously on tracking and cookies. That broke some financial sites in how they handed off certain operations, like bill pay, to other parties through their sites. Its unclear to me why you would rely on an embedded piece of tracking to be part of your system. All major browsers have increasingly locked down methods used to both overtly and surreptitiously track users across sites and sessions. Instead of embedding something in a page, sites that need to hand off account activity perform a secure hidden server-to-server connection, allowing a user to click through and have their session authenticated. A number of banks and others posted about this problem when Safari 13.0.4 for macOS came out in December, although it apparently effected a version of iOS and iPadOS in an update around the same. Settings and behavior in that release apparently were overzealous in preventing some innocuous uses. Reports indicate that 13.1 for macOS and a later release for iPhone and iPad fixed the problem. If you still find yourself unable to use a financial sites features with current releases, you can see if cross-site scripting is the problem. Here are the instructions for macOS Safari. Choose Safari > Preferences > Privacy. Uncheck Prevent Cross-Site Tracking. Load the site and attempt to carry out your business. When complete, return to the preference and check the Prevent Cross-Site Tracking box. The same setting is available in iOS and iPadOS in Settings > Safari. This Mac 911 article is in response to a question submitted by Macworld reader David. Ask Mac 911 Weve compiled a list of the questions we get asked most frequently along with answers and links to columns: read our super FAQ to see if your question is covered. If not, were always looking for new problems to solve! Email yours to mac911@macworld.com including screen captures as appropriate, and whether you want your full name used. Not every question will be answered, we dont reply to email, and we cannot provide direct troubleshooting advice. COLUMBUS, Ohio - A Republican state senator took to Facebook on Holocaust Remembrance Day to pledge he would not allow the Jewish Ohio Department of Health director to turn Ohio into Nazi Germany. State Sen. Andrew Brenner, of Powell, made the comment Tuesday evening in response to a post from his wife, Sara Marie Brenner. Her post included a photo of Dr. Amy Acton and was in response to the state governments shutdown order due to COVID-19. Sen. Brenner has been denounced by the Anti-Defamation League and by the Republican president of the Ohio Senate. At least one Democratic lawmaker has called for his resignation. After receiving backlash, Sara Marie Brenner deleted her Facebook post and with it her husbands response. The post read, in part: With a German accent, in your head say Show me your papers This actually feels like Hitlers Germany where you had to have blond hair and blue eyes to be able to function anywhere, and you were damned otherwise. When are people going to say enough is enough? Sen. Brenner replied: We wont allow that to happen in Ohio. Sara Marie Brenner had also posted (and later deleted) a photo of an apparent Nazi concentration camp with this caption: If people were told to get in cattle cars to be taken to virus protection camps, most of you would rush to get in line The comments came hours after Acton made reference to Holocaust Remembrance Day and her own Jewish heritage. She mentioned that the pandemic disrupts civil society that can turn us against each other. Just days before, a protest at the Ohio Statehouse featured several instances of anti-Semitism symbols, as reported by cleveland.com. Acton described feeling optimistic that we have the grit and resilience to weather a war, especially given the outstanding leadership we have. Gov. Mike DeWine had followed Acton by noting his own fathers service in World War II in liberating concentration camps. DeWine recounted how his father witnessed the camps ovens first-hand and remembered the images for the rest of his life. To the Brenners, however, the Nazi Germany comparison rests with the present Ohio leadership. This is not the senators first time doing so: he previously likened Planned Parenthood to Nazis in 2018, the Columbus Dispatch then reported. Sara Marie Brenner doubled down in a subsequent edit of her post before ultimately deleting it. She had called the attacks against her a deflection and claimed to have not known about Actons religion. In a statement, Senate President Larry Obhof, a Medina Republican, said he and the Senate Republican Caucus strongly disapprove of the Brenners comparison. Obhof said he and the Caucus believe that any such comparisons or analogies are not only absurd but also harmful. This is a time for cooperation, not inflammatory and overblown rhetoric. Jane Timken, the Ohio Republican Party Chair, said on Twitter that Brenners comments were hurtful and terribly inappropriate. She stopped short of calling for his resignation. James Pasch, the regional director for the Anti-Defamation Leagues Cleveland office (which serves all of Ohio), said he was outraged by the state senators remarks. These comments only serve to normalize dangerous rhetoric while diluting the true horrors of Nazi Germany and insulting the memories of the millions brutalized and murdered by Nazis, Pasch said in a statement, which is printed in full at the bottom of this story. In an interview, Pasch said his organization has noted anti-Semitic protests in Cleveland, Detroit and elsewhere across the country. Extremists use these protests against stay-at-home orders to spread messages of hate and anti-Semitism, Pasch said. In her own statement, Ohio House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes, an Akron Democrat, joined Democratic State Reps. David Leland of Columbus and Casey Weinstein of Hudson in calling Brenners behavior reprehensible. Only sick logic could connect Ohios policy of saving thousands of lives during this crisis with Nazi Germanys final solution of destroying 6 millions lives, Leland and Weinstein said in the provided statement. To make this comparison any day of the year, let alone on Holocaust Remembrance Day, is outright reprehensible, Sykes said in the statement. For anyone to think this was acceptable behavior is alarming, most of all a state senator elected to serve Ohioans of all religions and backgrounds. Weinstein later called on Brenner to apologize or resign. Two Republican state senators have also condemned their colleague: Stephanie Kunze of Hilliard and Matt Dolan of Chagrin Falls. On Wednesday, a Republican operative with apparent connections to Speaker of the House Larry Householder, R-Glenford, made a similarly inflammatory remark. Scott Pullins tweeted on Wednesday that Ohio health officials have obvious Gestapo dreams. The tweet has since been deleted, but the Ohio Capital Journal secured a screenshot of it. Pullins law firm helped to file Speaker Householders Financial Disclosure Statement in 2016, records from the Joint Legislative Ethics Committee show. Pullins purports on his website to currently be a top advisor to Householder. A spokesperson for Householder and the Ohio House Republican Caucus has not responded to a request for comment as of Wednesday evening. Sen. Brenner at first defended his comments to the Columbus Dispatch, saying the comments were meant to show concern about potentially putting in place health standards that are too stringent. Brenner did not apologize, adding he believed his comments were smeared into an insensitive political attack on the director. Later on his official state senate Facebook page, Brenner claimed the posts didnt happen at all. He wrote: sorry didnt happen. The left wing bloggers are lying as usual. Shortly after that, the statement came from Senate President Obhof condemning him. At his Wednesday afternoon press conference, DeWine was asked about the recent anti-Semitic protesters at the Ohio Statehouse. The governor said it was disgusting, it was vile and that everyone has an obligation to denounce it. Brenner served four terms in the Ohio House of Representatives before winning election to the Ohio Senates 19th District, which covers all or parts of Delaware, Knox and Franklin counties in Central Ohio. Brenner is midway through his first four-year term in the Senate and serves as vice chairman of two committees: one on Education; and another on Local Government, Public Safety and Veterans Affairs. Brenner has received extensive support from the Ohio Republican Party throughout his decade in state politics. The biggest support came when he campaigned for his first term in the Ohio Senate. The Ohio Republican Party contributed more than $130,000 to his campaign, while the Republican Senate Campaign Committee pumped nearly $350,000 into his election effort. His next election is not until November 2022, but his campaign committee has already begun receiving donations. Contributions thus far include $2,500 from the Ohio Dental Associations political action committee (PAC); $1,000 from utility company NiSources PAC; and $1,000 from the Wholesale Beer and Wine Association of Ohio. Other Ohio Democrats have added criticism against Brenner. Ohio Democratic Chairman David Pepper called the Brenner comment awful, uncalled for and vile. State Rep. Janine Boyd of Cleveland Heights called it bigoted and shameful foolishness. Rep. Erica Crawley of Columbus wrote that the comments made by Brenner were purely ignorant and disgusting and NOT in any way representative of a leader. Here is the full statement from James Pasch, regional director of the ADLs Cleveland office: We are outraged by Ohio State Senator Andrew Brenner saying that he wont let Ohios health director and governor turn Ohio into Nazi Germany. Likewise, we condemn Scott Pullins comments, a top advisor to Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, comparing Ohio leadership to the Gestapo. These comments only serve to normalize dangerous rhetoric while diluting the true horrors of Nazi Germany and insulting the memories of the millions brutalized and murdered by Nazis. Comparing Dr. Acton and Governor DeWines critical efforts to save the lives of Ohioans during this pandemic to Nazis is unconscionable. Ohio expects more from its leaders and those who advise them. The President of Madagascar presented Monday his medicine for the coronavirus, consisting of a decoction and an organic herbal tea (Tambavy CVO) based on artemisia and other Malagasy plants kept secret. The medicine was developed by the Malagasy Institute of Applied Research (IMRA). The Malagasy president presented the two improved traditional remedies with great pride to an audience of guests, ministers, diplomats and scientists. Today, there are already two cases that have been cured thanks to Tambavy CVO, the head of state said, adding he wants to popularize Tambavy CVO to protect his population. Andry Rajoelina said his country has already received many requests from all over the world, including Canada, the United States and Europe, to provide them with the new products. If you look at the chemical profile of artemisia, you can see that there are known molecules that stimulate the immune system, says Charles Andrianjara, a molecular design researcher and Director General of IMRA. So, first of all, were going to say that its for prevention, the researcher said. For the head of state, the progressive deconfinement of the country, which began on Monday 20 April, is due to these drugs. The president assures that the remedy will be manufactured in sufficient quantities so that all 27 million Malagasy people can have access to it. These medicines will be distributed free of charge to the most vulnerable people and will be on sale from this Wednesday April 22 in pharmacies and supermarkets. The president has decreed the compulsory intake of this medicine for students in the third and final year of secondary school who will return to school on Wednesday. Coronavirus has infected more than 2.4 million people around the world, with the death toll passing 170,000. Here are the latest updates on the pandemic from around the world: VATICAN CITY Pope Francis is urging world leaders to draw lessons from the coronavirus pandemic and work together to protect the planet and the most vulnerable from environmental destruction and exploitation. Francis issued the appeal on Wednesday as he marked the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. He said: As the tragic coronavirus pandemic has taught us, we can overcome global challenges only by showing solidarity with one another and embracing the most vulnerable in our midst. Francis has marked the lockdown period by praying each day for different sectors affected by the pandemic, from doctors and nurses to inmates and the elderly. Francis cheered initiatives of young people to remind older generations of their failure to protect the planet, agreeing that: We have no future if we destroy the very environment that sustains us. INDIA After rolling out a contact-tracing app, Arogya Setu, that is aimed at helping citizens identify their risk of infection, India is planning to use wristbands that will be fitted with the same app. A government document detailing the specifications for the wristband says it will trace contacts & connections of infected persons and also identify unknowing contacts with infected persons. This, officials said, would be used to monitor the movement and body temperature of quarantined patients, at home and in hospital, and help make sure they do not break quarantine. Officials added that the wristband will ease challenges for health workers by letting them know if potential patients have been to high-risk areas. The wristband would also be used for those delivering essential services, such as groceries or medicines. SOUTH KOREA The top infectious disease expert says patients can still test positive for coronavirus even after their bodies develop antibodies. The findings, based on a small sample of patients, came as officials explore why some Covid-19 patients relapse after their release from hospital. Jeong Eun-kyeong, director of South Koreas Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said officials have so far tested 25 patients who developed neutralising antibodies to resist further infections, but 12 still tested positive for the virus. However, virus samples collected from the 12 cases could not be cultivated in isolation, indicating a loss of infectiousness. PAKISTAN Doctors with the Pakistan Medical Association have written a letter pleading with the countrys religious clerics and the prime minister to reverse a decision to leave mosques open during the fasting month of Ramadan, warning it could result in an explosion of Covid-19 cases. Large gatherings will worsen the numbers and overwhelm a health care system that has fewer than 3,000 acute care beds for a population of 220 million people, said Qaiser Sajjad, secretary general of the Pakistan Medical Association and one of the authors of the letter. The numbers are escalating at roughly 500 a day, he said, and the large gatherings at mosques during Ramadan are certain to overcome doctors and paramedics, he warned in an interview. The government has called for social distancing in mosques but has left it to local clerics to enforce the regulations, even as mosques have openly defied earlier orders to limit their congregations to five. Prime minister Imran Khan has dismissed criticism, ordering police not to harass worshippers going to mosques even as other Muslim countries close mosques. USA Health officials say two people died with coronavirus in California weeks before the first reported death in the US. Santa Clara County officials said the people died at home on February 6 and 17. The first reported death in the nation from the virus was on February 29 in Kirkland, Washington. JAPAN Officials say 33 more crew members on an Italian-operated cruise ship docked in southern Japan have tested positive, a day after the first case from the ship was reported. The Costa Atlantica has been docked in Nagasaki since late January for repairs and maintenance by the Mitsubishi Heavy Industry. The potential for an outbreak surfaced on Tuesday when a crew member, identified only as a foreign national, tested positive for the virus. The ship is carrying 623 crew members, including a Japanese translator, but no passengers. None of the crew had serious symptoms and they are being self-quarantined in single rooms, officials said. CHINA The country has again reported no new deaths from coronavirus, but registered 30 more cases 23 brought from abroad. Of the domestic cases, all seven were reported in Heilongjiang province, near the Russian border where a field hospital has been set up to deal with a new flare-up related to people coming home from abroad. China has reported a total of 4,632 deaths among 82,788 cases, the bulk of them in Wuhan where officials recently raised the death toll by 50% after a review of records. Tanzanias President John Magufuli has called on international creditors to cancel debts owed by African nations to enable them to use the savings to battle the coronavirus pandemic. African countries economic capacity is not the same as that of developed countries, Magufuli told a televised meeting of top security organs on Wednesday. He singled out the World Bank, which has been offering new lending to nations on the continent to help them tackle the health crisis. Instead of offering more loans to fight corona, they should forgive debts, the president said. Tanzania has so far reported 284 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Authorities have been urging people to observe personal hygiene to slow its spread, but Magufuli has so far rejected calls to lock down the main city, Dar es Salaam. On Wednesday, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) urged member states to help struggling Muslim states combat the coronavirus pandemic, particularly in Africa. No country alone can deal with the damage and multiple challenges presented by the novel coronavirus, said a statement. We call on all member countries and organisations to show their solidarity with African member states. Later on Wednesday, the World Health Organization director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said there were troubling upward trends in Africa and the Americas. Most of the epidemics in western Europe appear to be stable or declining, Tedros told a virtual press conference in Geneva. Although numbers are low, we see worrying upward trends in Africa, Central and South America, and eastern Europe. Demonstrators against Washington state's stay-at-home order gather at the Capitol in Olympia on April 19. (Elaine Thompson / Associated Press) To the editor: The claims of columnist Doyle McManus notwithstanding, crises have always divided, rather than united, the so-called United States. The Civil War rages on ideologically today, with red states and blue states in our divided country. Not just Charles Lindbergh and his followers, but also many loyal Americans opposed our entry into World War II, even after Pearl Harbor. The Vietnam War tore the country apart, with those who protested and refused to serve in a war they saw as unjust and immoral being told by supporters of the carnage that they could love America or leave it. Mythologizers like McManus blind Americans to the realities of their own shared history. Leigh Clark, Granada Hills .. To the editor: I will never forget that moment after the 9/11 attacks when members of Congress stood on the steps of the Capitol joining in the singing of "God Bless America." It was a statement of profound unity irrespective of political party or ideology. We knew we were one people together in mourning, resilience and dedication to our nation. McManus elucidates how different times are now. I had more than one disagreement with George W. Bush, but I never doubted that he was my president at a time when leadership was crucial. In contrast, President Trump not only fails to unite the country, he also goes out of his way to pit people, communities and institutions against one another. He has exacerbated distrust to a level that may be irreversible. In this day and age, it is hard to call ourselves one nation under God with liberty and justice for all. Barbara H. Bergen, Los Angeles .. To the editor: The irony of McManus' column is evident. One need to look no further than the front page of the very same print edition to find two politically divisive articles on Trump. I prefer Gov. Gavin Newsom's approach. He refuses to play the blame game. Richard Law, Capistrano Beach Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink. (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Richard Branson, the billionaire entrepreneur and occasional poet, spends much of his time on his private island, Necker, indulging a passion for kite surfing. And hes risked life and limb crossing the Atlantic and Pacific oceans in a hot-air balloon. But its only in the past few days that the above line from Samuel Taylor Coleridges Rime of the Ancient Mariner will have begun to resonate as regards his financial affairs. On Monday he penned an extraordinary public letter appealing to the British government to provide an emergency loan to prevent the collapse of transatlantic carrier Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd., which he owns jointly along with Delta Air Lines Inc. of the U.S. Travel restrictions to curb the new coronavirus have walloped Bransons travel and leisure holdings. Hes already spent $250 million to support his various Virgin Group portfolio companies, but most of his $5.9 billion net worth isnt sitting as cash in a bank account ready to withdraw, Branson said. That has forced him to consider the drastic step of mortgaging his beloved Caribbean island home, which doubles as an ultra-expensive retreat. On one level Bransons predicament is simple, and pretty common for someone about to turn 70: Hes asset rich, and cash poor. But considering his pretty relaxed approach to business, Bransons financial arrangements spanning his British Virgin Islands tax residency and a portfolio of often debt-laden holdings are as complicated as they come. This, alongside the unappealing politics of being seen to bail out a billionaire, makes governments wary of offering a helping hand. Another of his investments, Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd., collapsed into administration this week, having failed to secure a lifeline from Canberra. British regional airline Flybe, in which Virgin held a minority stake, went bust last month after Boris Johnsons government declined to provide further assistance. Story continues Branson has plenty of financial capital but he appears to have very little of the political kind. Even now that hes put the keys to the family home on the table, this probably wont change. Helped by his gift for self-publicity, many Britons are as familiar with Bransons business career as they are with their own personal finances. But the consequence of stamping the Virgin name on everything, often in return for no more than a licensing fee, is that the public thinks he owns half of the economy and is in no need of a handout. In reality, Branson has exited businesses such as the broadband provider Virgin Media (now owned by Liberty Global) and he owns only a small piece of high-profile companies like Virgin Money UK Plc, gym chain Virgin Active and Virgin Trains USA (operator of a high-speed Florida rail line). Bransons talent has attracted wealthy partners, willing to invest alongside him in return for a share of the profits. One of the more unfortunately timed of these was a fleet of Virgin-branded cruise ships, co-funded by Bain Capital and the Singapore sovereign fund GIC Pte., due to start sailing this year. Because Branson doesnt own many Virgin Group companies outright, he cant easily switch cash between one investment and another. And having multiple owners complicates decisions on who should bail the business out when trouble strikes. Delta and the U.S. government havent offered publicly to help Virgin Atlantic, for example. At Virgin Australia the buck stopped with Etihad Airways, Singapore Airlines and other foreign airline investors whose holdings were larger than Bransons 10% stake. Some of Bransons businesses were struggling before the coronavirus struck. Virgin Atlantic lost money in the last two years for which there are published accounts. It carries a lot of debt, rents many of its planes and funded its daily operations with cash from selling tickets in advance. Passengers whose flights have been cancelled are demanding refunds. Even the companys valuable Heathrow takeoff slots have been used as collateral. Lately Branson has reinvested profits and dividends from his various ventures into the cruise ships venture, a chain of American hotels and, above all, his space-travel company Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. But with millions of people fretting about how to make their next mortgage or car payment, even the jobs created by these new Virgin ventures are no guarantee of winning taxpayer support. His Virgin Galactic stake is worth almost $2 billion by my calculation.(1) Monetizing it might not be easy(2) but as collateral its worth much more than Necker. In making his case for a bailout, Branson cited the detrimental impact on competition if his airlines were allowed to fail. Hed be the first to admit, though, that failure is part of being an entrepreneur. If he cant persuade commercial backers to provide loans, then governments too must drive a hard bargain in exchange for assistance. Unlike Coleridges sailor, the similarly gray-bearded Branson might have some drinkable financial water. For now, it happens to be tied up in spaceships. (1) Based on the current share price and adjusting for Aabar's ownership interest. (2) Details of the shareholder lockups are in this SEC filing. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners. Chris Bryant is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering industrial companies. He previously worked for the Financial Times. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. CRPF ASI Padmeswar Das distributing ration in Assam (Image: CRPF Madadgaar) CRPF officer Padmeswar Das, who got stuck in his Assam home after the nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, has been paying out of his pocket to feed the poor. The 48-year-old assistant sub-inspector (ASI), who was on leave from March 3, had gone to his home in Chatanguri village near Morigaon district, reported NDTV. He was supposed to return to his unit in Kashmirs terror-torn Shopian district but could not. However, that did not stop the trooper from serving the people of his country selflessly. For live updates on coronavirus, click here ASI Padmeswar Das of 76 bn @crpfindia @JKZONECRPF @jammusector currently at home in Morigaon (Assam) due to Lockdown has been helping the needy in his village by voluntarily distributing food items to them out from his own savings For any assistance call 14411. pic.twitter.com/xGcIiRJJfy CRPF Madadgaar (@CRPFmadadgaar) April 12, 2020 Moved by the ordeals of the poor during the lockdown, he has been using the money he had saved to buy dry ration. Before setting out on this unique mission, he had had a word with his wife and mother, who happily extended their support for the endeavour. Commenting on what encouraged him to help the poor, Das said: I came home for my scheduled leave on March 3 and by the time I was supposed to return, the lockdown was declared. My unit, based in the Kashmir valley, also sent a message asking me to stay put and not return. Had I been with my force, I would have had an army of my colleagues and officers to help the needy. Then I thought I can be a one-man army. 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 Coronavirus pandemic | Global CEOs see U-shaped recession due to COVID-19: Survey To begin his donation drive, the CRPF officer first rushed to the market to fetch dry ration such as rice, pulses, oil, etc. Within a day, his family helped him package over 50 food packets to be distributed among the needy. Each such food packet contains 2 kg rice, half a kilo of pulses, one packet of salt, 1 kg potato, some onions and a bottle of mustard oil. Das carries out the donation work wearing his uniform because civilians are not allowed to move around during the lockdown. Covering his face with a gamocha (Assamese scarf), he carries the ration on a handcart and hands them out to the poor on his way. So far, he has spent nearly Rs 10,000 on purchasing and packing the dry ration. SDG @JKZONECRPF felicitates ASI Padmeswar Das for his outstanding work in helping people in remote area of Assam.#LetsFightCoronaTogether For any assistance 24x7 call @CRPFmadadgaar on 14411#IndiaFightsCOVID19 https://t.co/PPwi3u33YO pic.twitter.com/rA90kouZqj J&K ZONE (@JKZONECRPF) April 17, 2020 Notably, his efforts have been lauded by the Jammu and Kashmir Zone of CRPF, who felicitated him for going beyond his line of duty to serve people in the remote corners of Assam. EzyStayz joins forces with DexOne to launch new tokens on Korean exchange Foblgate SYDNEY, April 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The only Australian-owned global holiday rental website "EzyStayz" has released their own cryptocurrency "EZY" which will be launching on the Korean exchange Foblgate on the 21 April at an introductory price of 0.005 USD. EzyStayz has 1 million listings in 205 countries around the globe, which include 80,000 + destinations worldwide and 1982+ Hotels Chains & Boutique resorts. EzyStayz has enhanced its travel experience by introducing gaming elements to its product offering a different marketing approach towards their customers allowing them to play and win their accommodation booking for free. Foblgate is one of the largest exchanges in South Korea, a country that is responsible for approximately 35% of all global crypto trading. Foblgate is soon to announce a partnership with Binance, so it is a great fit for EzyStayz's first exchange to list on. This launch is being supported by DexOne, a crypto marketing team that is prominent in the Korean trading world, and has built a successful portfolio managing clients within this space. Their local knowledge of the trading habits and trends of the Korean crypto market has helped to shape this launch, increasing the chances of success with this token. EzyStayz token currently has a market capitalisation of USD 28,000,000, and with Bitcoin rebounding from its March USD 4500 low to currently USD 7500, there is no better time to launch on an exchange. There have been some exciting supporters in the project and recent discussions with TRON's Founder and CEO Justin Sun, who sees the investment potential and a very positive future for the company. He was interviewed on Coin Telegraph quoting that he is a long-term believer in cryptocurrencies and owns a stake in many altcoins. He also predicted that Bitcoin will cross the $100,000 mark in 2025, emphasizing that other cryptocurrencies will follow the trend. EzyStayz token purchasers will not only be able to trade EZY on exchanges but they will also benefit from a 25% discount on all booking fees when they pay for their vacation rental or hotel booking with the EZY token. EzyStayz makes it easy to pay and travel using blockchain technology. As per James Moses, Founder & CEO of EzyStayz: "We look forward to continuing to implement innovative technology that supports both the sharing economy and expanded tourism. The EzyStayz website is the first building block of a larger exchange that will eventually target businesses and consumers with more strategic B2B tools to tap into the potential of the hospitality sector." It is estimated that by 2022 the crypto-economy will be equal to 10% of world GDP2. Please visit us at https://io.ezystayz.com to download our Whitepaper, Pitch Deck and other related documents. Regards Sofia Sorberg Public Relations EzyStayz 1/58 Pitt St Sydney NSW Australia 2000 io.ezystayz.com www.ezystayz.com E: [email protected] Related Images foblgate-ezystayz.png Foblgate & EzyStayz Foblgate & EzyStayz Related Links EzyStayz IO website EzyStayz Website SOURCE EzyStayz Sen. John Barrasso and a Democratic colleague from Minnesota are pushing a bill that would allow many rural hospitals to tap into a small business loan program, a needed source of funding for facilities that are struggling to stay afloat amid the pandemic. The threat to them economically right now is significant, as is the potential threat from the health care standpoint, Barrasso told the Star-Tribune on Tuesday. Thats not a partisan issue, its bipartisan. Its focused on rural America. Some hospitals in Wyoming have lost well over 50 percent of their revenue over the past month, as facilities suspended the moneymaking elective procedures that subsidize the primary and emergent care that communities need to stay healthy. Those services have been halted to preserve protective equipment and keep hospitals open, should a rush of coronavirus patients come barreling through the doors. Hospitals in Wyoming aret alone in this struggle. Small facilities, which typically have little cash on hand to keep the doors open should revenues drop, are facing the same problem across the country. But the hospitals most in need dont qualify for the $350 billion program meant to give forgivable and business-saving loans. Barrasso said the restriction comes from decades-old legislation. The loan program is being administered by the Small Business Administration, which cannot give loans to entities tied to the government. Most of Wyomings 26 hospitals fall into that category, from those directly owned and overseen by county boards to those like Wyoming Medical Center, who sit on county land and have a county-appointed board that provides landlord oversight. As a result, hospitals in Wyoming are bleeding money. Campbell County Health in Gillette said last week that its revenues had dropped by more than 50 percent. Wyoming Medical Center and Cheyenne Regional have both undertaken cost-cutting measures to shore up significant losses. But a bill sponsored by Barrasso and Minnesota Democratic Sen. Tina Smith would remove the restriction and allow the hospitals to apply for the loans. Barrasso has been jockeying for rural hospital funding, sending letters to Alex Azar, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Azars agency is overseeing the distribution of tens of billions of dollars to hospitals. Thirty billion of that has already been doled out, but Eric Boley, the head of the Wyoming Hospital Association, told the Star-Tribune earlier this month that the money was only enough to cover one or two pay periods. Theres another $70 billion for Azar to distribute to hospitals, and a deal struck by Congress this week adds another $75 billion. This latest pot will also be administered by Azar. The loan program ran dry last week, exhausting its $350 billion budget (Wyoming businesses received more than $800 million in loans). But Congress has agreed to pump hundreds of millions of dollars back into the program, an effort that Barrasso said will likely be moved along swiftly by the House and by President Donald Trump. Even under Barrassos bill to allow rural facilities with government ties to access the loans, larger facilities like WMC and CRMC still couldnt apply. The loan program only allows for employers with fewer than 500 employees. WMC and CRMC, the states two largest hospitals, have several times that many staffers. Barrasso said hes going to continue working to ensure a healthy slice of the $145 billion that will be available for hospitals should Congress pass the bill in front of it make it to rural hospitals. 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. The World Health Organization warned world leaders Wednesday that they will need to manage around the coronavirus for the foreseeable future as cases level off or decline in some countries, while peaking in others and resurging in areas where the Covid-19 pandemic appeared to be under control. "Make no mistake, we have a long way to go. This virus will be with us for a long time," WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a press conference at the agency's headquarters in Geneva. While social distancing measures put in place in numerous countries to slow the spread of the coronavirus have been successful, the virus remains "extremely dangerous," Tedros said. Current data show "most of the world's population remains susceptible," he said, meaning outbreaks can easily "reignite." "People in countries with stay-at-home orders are understandably frustrated with being confined to their homes for weeks on end. People understandably want to get on with their lives," he said. "But the world will not and can not go back to the way things were. There must be a new normal." The coronavirus has infected more than 2.5 million people worldwide and killed at least 178,845 since it emerged almost four months ago, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. WHO officials have previously said partisan politics and a lack of global solidarity are helping to fuel the coronavirus pandemic, urging countries to work together as Covid-19 continues to spread throughout the world. WHO said Wednesday officials are seeing a number of countries that appeared to be successful in stopping the virus now reporting a resurgence in cases again. "And that's because a large proportion of the population does remain susceptible," Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of WHO's emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, told reporters. In some regions, such as North America and Europe, public health officials are also seeing "devastating" outbreaks inside long-term care facilities, WHO officials said. "As long as the virus is here, there's always an opportunity for that to happen," said Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO's health emergencies program. "It is very difficult to reduce that risk to zero. Each country is going to have to look at how we can minimize bringing the disease into such a setting." Ryan also said it's important to have clear communication between government officials and the general population, who need to understand why they are doing certain actions. Symptoms of the coronavirus can include a sore throat, runny nose, diarrhea, fever or pneumonia and can progress to multiple organ failure or even death in some cases, according to WHO. The median time from the first sign of symptoms to recovery for mild cases is approximately two weeks and between three to six weeks for patients with severe or critical disease, according to the WHO, citing early data from China. It can take up to eight weeks for someone to die from the virus, research shows. Last week, WHO said there's no evidence serological tests can show whether a person has immunity or is no longer at risk of becoming reinfected. Kerkhove said WHO officials discovered many countries suggesting these tests would be able to "capture what they think will be a measure of immunity." --CNBC's Noah Higgins-Dunn contributed to this report. Greta Thunbergs climate activist group has launched a stark new video for the fiftieth annual Earth Day, urging the world to take greater action to avert climate breakdown. Since igniting school strikes across the globe with her solo protest outside Swedens parliament in 2018, the young activists warning that our house is on fire has become synonymous with her fame. A new video created by Fridays for Future depicts that reality, portraying a family happily going about their daily routine as their home is gradually devoured by flames. Sunlight beams into a smoke-filled room as the mother breezily wakes up her young children, who discuss upcoming school tests as they eat breakfast from a burning table. The smiling parents then happily wave their children off to school as flames lick the door frame behind them, looking set to devour the entire house. Environment news in pictures Show all 8 1 /8 Environment news in pictures Environment news in pictures Davos 2019: David Attenborough issues stark warning about future of civilisation as he demands practical solutions to combat climate change Sir David Attenborough has issued a stark warning about climate change to business figures gathered in Davos, telling them that "what we do now...will profoundly affect the next few thousand years". On the eve of this year's World Economic Forum, the renowned naturalist told the audience that the worlds of business and politics should "get on with the practical solutions" needed to prevent environmental damage. "As a species we are expert problem solvers. But we've not yet applied ourselves to this problem with the focus it requires. "We can create a world with clean air and water, unlimited energy, and fish stocks that will sustain us well into the future. But to do that, we need a plan," he said. The broadcaster made his speech after receiving a Crystal Award, which is awarded by the forum to "exceptional cultural leaders". AFP/Getty Environment news in pictures At least 60% of wild coffee species face extinction triggered by climate change and disease Two decades of research have revealed that 60 per cent of the worlds coffee species face extinction due to the combined threats of deforestation, disease and climate change. The wild strain of arabica, the most widely consumed coffee on the planet, is among those now recognised as endangered, raising concerns about its long-term survival. These results are worrying for the millions of farmers around the world who depend on the continued survival of coffee for their livelihoods. As conditions for coffee farming become tougher, scientists predict the industry will need to rely on wild varieties to develop more resilient strains Alan Schaller Environment news in pictures Warming Antarctic waters are speeding the rate at which glaciers are melting The Antarctic ice sheet is losing six times as much ice each year as it was in the 1980s and the pace is accelerating, one of the most comprehensive studies of climate change effects on the continent has shown. More than half an inch has been added to global sea levels since 1979, but if current trends continue it will be responsible for metres more in future, the Nasa-funded study found. The international effort used aerial photos, satellite data and climate models dating back to the 1970s across18 Antarctic regions to get the most complete picture to date on the impacts of the changing climate. It found that between 1979 and 1990 Antarctica lost an average of 40 gigatonnes (40 billion tonnes) of its mass each year. Between 2009 and 2017 it lost an average 252 gigatonnes a year. This has added 3.6mm per decade to sea levels, or around 14mm since 1979, the study shows Nasa/Getty Environment news in pictures Greater Manchester to ban fracking, paving way for confrontation with government over controversial industry Greater Manchester is to effectively ban fracking, raising the prospect of fresh confrontation with the government over the controversial industry. All of the regions 10 councils are to implement planning policies which create a presumption against drilling for shale gas in their areas, Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has announced. Campaigners said the move was the latest sign that the tide was turning against fracking, which has been the subject of multiple legal battles across the country. Critics of fracking say it poses environmental and health risks. Drilling at the UKs only operational fracking site, run by Cuadrilla in Lancashire, has repeatedly been halted due to earth tremors. But ministers support the industry and last year unveiled plans to accelerate the development of new drilling sites Ross Wills Environment news in pictures Japan confirms plan to resume commercial whaling in its waters from next year Japan will resume commercial whaling next year for the first time in more than three decades, in a move that has provoked strong criticism from campaigners and the international community. Chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said his nation would leave the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to resume hunting the marine mammals in Japanese waters. However, he stated the activity would be limited to Japans territory and the 200 mile exclusive economic zone along its coasts. This means controversial scientific trips to Antarctica in which Japanese vessels killed hundreds of whales, as well as activity in the northwest Pacific, will stop in 2019 AP Environment news in pictures COP24: Environmental groups criticise morally unacceptable climate deal reached after major Poland summit Diplomats from around the world have agreed a major climate deal after two weeks of United Nations talks in Poland. But climate campaigners warned the deal effectively a set of rules for how to govern the 2015 Paris climate accord agreed between almost 200 countries lacked ambition or a clear promise of enhanced climate action. Activists cautiously welcomed elements of the plan, saying important progress had been made on ensuring that efforts to tackle climate change by individual nations can be measured and compared. But environmental groups were also highly critical of the agreement, warning it lacked ambition and clarity on key issues, including financing for climate projects for developing countries. The COP24 deal, which is aimed at providing firm guidelines for countries on how to transparently report their greenhouse gas emissions and their efforts to reduce them, was confirmed on 15 December, after talks overran Reuters Environment news in pictures Unprecedented changes needed to stop global warming as UN report reveals islands starting to vanish and coral reefs dying Greenhouse gas emissions must be cut almost in half by 2030 to avert global environmental catastrophe, including the total loss of every coral reef, the disappearance of Arctic ice and the destruction of island communities, a landmark UN report has concluded. Drawing on more than 6,000 scientific studies and compiled over two years, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) findings, released this morning, warn enormous and rapid changes to the way everyone on Earth eats, travels and produces energy need to be brought in immediately. Though the scientists behind the report said there is cause for optimism, they recognised the grim reality that nations are currently nowhere near on track to avert disaster AFP/Getty Environment news in pictures Africas three biggest elephant poaching cartels exposed using DNA from illegal ivory shipments DNA taken from massive shipments of ivory has been used to identify the three largest wildlife trafficking gangs operating at the height of Africas elephant poaching epidemic. Ivory tends to be shipped around the world from African ports in bulk, and scientists have used genetic evidence gleaned from intercepted batches to reveal their origins. Led by Dr Samuel Wasser from the University of Washington, they traced a number of these shipments to three cartels operating out of Kenya, Uganda and Togo. Evidence collected by Dr Wasser has already helped convict ivory kingpin Feisal Mohamed Ali, and as his team joins the dots between shipments they plan to shore up the cases against more of the continents most prolific smugglers Art Wolfe The dramatic imagery is echoed in a report published on the same day by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), which confirms the past five years have been the hottest globally on record. Scientists at the UN organisation urged world leaders to show the same determination and unity in averting climate change as it has in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. Global average temperatures have increased by 1.1C since pre-industrial times, and levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are at record highs, the state of the climate 2015-2019 report found. The Paris Agreement the most significant geopolitical effort to avert climate change aims to keep warming to 1.5C by 2050. Experts had warned that the upcoming UN climate change summit, COP26, due to be held in Glasgow later this year, offered the last chance for signatories agree on crucial carbon trading rules in time to meet the target. While the summit has been postponed due to coronavirus, it is hoped this could give countries more time to prepare for a successful meeting. The previous year, the UNs landmark IPCC report warned that merely an additional 0.5C of warming beyond the Paris accord target could see 10 million more people lose their homes to rising seas by 2100, place hundreds of millions more at risk of climate-related poverty, and push far greater swathes of the natural world towards extinction. While Covid-19 and the grinding to a halt of industry and travel it has brought may result in a temporary reduction in greenhouse gases, it is not a substitute for sustained climate action, the WMO warned. The pandemic will also make it more difficult to tackle worsening climate hazards, such as storms and tropical cyclones, while overstretched health systems may not be able to cope with extra patients from heatwaves. Whilst Covid-19 has caused a severe international health and economic crisis, failure to tackle climate change may threaten human wellbeing, ecosystems and economies for centuries, said WMO secretary general Petteri Taalas. We need to flatten both the pandemic and climate change curves. He added: We need to show the same determination and unity against climate change as against Covid-19. We need to act together in the interests of the health and welfare of humanity not just for the coming weeks and months, but for many generations ahead. It is a year to the day since Ms Thunberg addressed Extinction Rebellion climate activists in London, warning in the face of unprecedented media attention: Humanity is now standing at a crossroads. Shortly after the demonstrations, the UK government agreed to aim for a target of net-zero emissions by 2050, although campaigners warn even this may be not be enough. In the face of the pandemic, climate activism is still ongoing, albeit in largely digital format. Extinction Rebellion has cancelled mass protests planned in London for May, and is currently hosting a week online talks. Fridays for Future continues to urge youngsters to continue their protests in solitude around the world, using social media to broadcast the messages on their pickets and posters. Meanwhile, millions around the world were expected to digitally take part in the digital action planned by the Earth Day movement. Additional reporting by PA F ormer Olympic rower Kenny Dwan has recalled the emotional moment he left hospital after a three-week battle with coronavirus. Mr Dwan, who was discharged from hospital last Monday, said his granddaughter had sent a letter to Father Christmas saying she didn't want any Christmas presents this year, but they just wanted their much-loved grandfather home. Speaking on ITV's Good Morning Britain, the 71-year-old recalled the moment he left hospital and went out "into the sunlight and fresh air". He said: When they pushed you around the corridors and come out all those lock-up zip-up air chambers, and I could see the double doors at the end of the corridor. "As we got closer it opened and I went out into the sunlight and went into the fresh air, it was so emotional, even now. "Id come back to life and Id come home for my children and grandchildren." He added: My little granddaughter, who is four, she wrote herself a letter to Father Christmas, she said, Father Christmas, I dont want any presents this year, and my sister, Isla, doesnt want any chocolate buttons anymore, but all we want is our granddad home. Mr Dwan said he treated his battle with Covid-19 as a race, programming his mind to view getting out of the hospital as reaching the final. "I had that oxygen mask on, which was strapped to my face, reminded me - I thought back to people on the ward begging to die, pulling the mask off their face," he said. Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures 1 /81 Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures A deserted Westminster Bridge PA A man wearing a face mask or covering due to the COVID-19 pandemic, walks past customers sat outside a restaurant AFP via Getty Images Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Runners pass cardboard cutouts of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince William during the London Marathon in London AP An empty escalator at Charing Coss London Underground tube station Jeremy Selwyn Electronic bilboards displays a message warning people to stay home in Sheffield PA A sign is displayed in the window of a student accommodation building following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Mancheste Reuters People take part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions, in Londo AP People sing and dance in Leicester Square on the eve on the 10PM curfew Reuters Hearts painted by a team of artists from Upfest are seen in the grass at Queen Square, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Bristol Reuters Graffiti reads 'good luck and stay safe', as the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases grow around the world, under a bridge in London Reuters A sign is pictured in Soho, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London Reuters Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures, during a coronavirus briefing in Downing Street, London AP A person runs past posters with a message of hope, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Manchester REUTERS Riot police face protesters who took part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions in London AP An image of The Queen eith quotes from her broadcast to the UK and the Commonwealth in relation to the Coronavirus epidemic are displayed on lights in London's Piccadilly Circus PA Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge after members of the 101 Logistic Brigade delivered a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' hospital Getty Images Durdle Door in Dorset Reuters Captain Tom Moore via 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 Coronavirus outbreak PA An NHS worker reacts at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital during the Clap for our Carers campaign in support of the NHS Reuters Goats which have taken over the deserted streets of Llandudno @AndrewStuart via PA Tobias Weller PA Novikov restaurant in London with its shutters pulled down while the restaurant is closed London Landscapes: Hyde Park and the Serpentine, central London. Matt Writtle A newspaper vendor in Manchester city centre giving away free toilet rolls with every paper bought as shops run low on supplies due to fears over the spread of the coronavirus PA Theo Clay looks out of his window next to his hand-drawn picture of a rainbow in Liverpool, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continue Reuters A young man cuts another man's hair on top of a closed hairdresser in Oxford Reuters General view of the new NHS Nightingale Hospital, built to fight against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London via Reuters Jason Baird is seen dressed as Spiderman during his daily exercise to cheer up local children in Stockport, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters A woman wearing a face mask walks past Buckingham Palace Getty Images A man holds mobile phone displaying a text message alert sent by the government warning that new rules are in force across the UK and people must stay at home PA Medical staff on the Covid-19 ward at the Neath Port Talbot Hospital, in Wales, as the health services continue their response to the coronavirus outbreak. PA Prime Minister Boris Johnson taking part in a virtual Cabinet meeting with his top team of ministers PA A shopper walks past empty shelves in a Lidl store on in Wallington. After spates of "panic buying" cleared supermarket shelves of items like toilet paper and cleaning products, stores across the UK have introduced limits on purchases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have also created special time slots for the elderly and other shoppers vulnerable to the new coronavirus. Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour PA Mia, aged 8 and her brother Jack, aged 5 from Essex, continue their school work at home, after being sent home due to the coronavirus PA Children are painting 'Chase the rainbows' artwork and springing up in windows across the country Reuters Social distancing in Primrose Hill Jeremy Selwyn A general view of a locked gate at Anfield, Liverpool as The Premier League has been suspended PA Homeless people in London AFP via Getty Images A piece of art by the artist, known as the Rebel Bear has appeared on a wall on Bank Street in Glasgow. The new addition to Glasgow's street art is capturing the global Coronavirus crisis. The piece features a woman and a man pulling back to give each other a kiss PA The Queen leaves Buckingham Palace, London, for Windsor Castle to socially distance herself amid the coronavirus pandemic PA A general view on Grey street, Newcastle as coronavirus cases grow around the world Reuters 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 Britain's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty (L) and Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance look on as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he speaks during a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) news conference inside 10 Downing Street Reuters The ticket-validation terminals at the tram stop on Edinburgh's Princes Street are cleaned following the coronavirus outbreak. PA Locked school gates at Rockcliffe First School in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear PA A sign at a Sainsbury's supermarket informs customers that limits have been set on a small number of products as the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases grow around the world Reuters Jawad Javed delivers coronavirus protection kits that he and his wife have put together to the vulnerable people of their community of Stenhousemuir, between Glasgow and Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" Getty Images A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A pedestrian walks past graffiti that reads "Diseases are in the City" in Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images Staff from The Lyric Theatre, London inform patrons, as it shuts its doors PA A quiet looking George IV Bridge in Edinburgh PA A quieter than usual British Museum Getty Images A racegoer attends Cheltenham in a fashionable face mask SplashNews.com A commuter wears a face mask at London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn A empty restaurant in the Bull Ring Shopping Centre Getty Images A deserted Trafalgar Square in London PA Passengers determined to avoid the coronavirus before leaving the UK arrive at Gatwick Airport Getty Images "The doctors were pleading with people to reconnect their oxygen. "And I laid there, and I could see it and hear it, and people were ripping their masks off. "They were speaking to their family and then ten minutes later going out in a black bag." Kenny Dwan / Good Morning Britain / ITV Channelling his Olympic spirit, he said: "I thought to myself, I can't move my head, I'm breathing 100 per cent oxygen and my mindset went back to Mexico City. "And prior to Mexico City, I had to do some training on bikes and treadmills with oxygen on. "And I thought, if I'm going to win this race, this is part of the preparation, and I could put up with this." The Care Minister said 61 NHS workers have died of coronavirus / AFP via Getty Images He added: I started to program my mind into thinking if Im going to win this race, this is the preparation Im going to have to do to get me through to the final. "Thats what really, really helped me through. Mr Dwan said he also found inspiration from two elderly men on the same ward as him, aged 82 and 84. They were so determined to get out of that hospital and go home," he said. "Every hour they would get up and walk around the ward you would open your eyes at night and there they were walking up and down. He added: I was laid in bed thinking I cant do it, but if they are doing it, I can do it...it was just so inspirational." UK coronavirus vaccine to be trialled on people from Thursday Mr Dwan also thanked one of the healthcare workers, Dr Dunning, also his brother's neighbour, who looked after him during his hospital stay. She was my angelshe looked after me and she invited me to her wedding," he said. Listen to The Leader: Coronavirus Daily podcast I can only but thank her so much. Ill never forget her. When are all back to normal and everything is fine and dandywe can take the dogs for a walk and have a nice glass of wine. KOLKATA: The West Bengal government led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has assured full cooperation to the two central teams visiting the state for assessing the ground situation in the state in the wake of COVID-19 lockdown. In a letter addressed to the Centre, the West Bengal also assured that it will abide by all its orders related to the ongoing lockdown and its flawless implementation. In a letter to Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, West Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha said it was not correct to say that the two Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs) have not been provided with any cooperation by the state government since he had two meetings with one team and also was in touch with the other. "This is to convey my highest assurances for the implementation of the orders of central government issued under the Disaster Management Act as well as the directions of the Honb'le Supreme Court," the state Chief Secretary told the Union Home Secretary. "We are helping them. There's no question of not doing that. But our stand is that we all are busy in fighting coronavirus... They cannot get information sitting in cars or at the guest house. We will share all information they want, taking time out of our busy schedule, but we will not be able to roam around with the central team shutting all our work,'' Sinha had told reporters at the Secretariat on Tuesday. Sinha's comments came after the Union Home Ministry said the West Bengal government was not cooperating with the central teams visiting the state for on-the-spot assessment of the COVID-19 situation. The arrival of two teams from Delhi, without prior information, for an on-the-spot assessment of the COVID-19 situation has become the latest flashpoint between the Centre and the state government. In a letter to West Bengal Chief Secretary Sinha, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla had said it has been brought to the notice of the ministry that the two inter-ministerial central teams, visiting Kolkata and Jalpaiguri, have not been provided with the requisite cooperation by the state and local authorities. Responding to it, Sinha criticised the manner in which the teams were sent to the state by the central government. He said despite Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi protesting the visit of the central teams to West Bengal, he met the representatives at the state secretariat on Monday and met them again on Tuesday morning at the place where they have put up. The Centre decided to send two teams to West Bengal to assess the ground situation in the wake of reports that the lockdown measures were not being fully implemented in the TMC-ruled state. On Wednesday, federal and state governments decided to gradually relax the current restrictions introduced to combat the coronavirus pandemic. We must learn to live with the pandemic, Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed. This includes the gradual opening of schools, which are to progressively resume operations from May 4. Shortly after Merkels press conference, it became known that the gradual opening of schools will indeed begin as early as this week. Nationwide, those graduating high school will have to take their exams starting next week. Students in the tenth grade will have to start attending schools as of April 27. Starting May 4, sixth grade students will have to return. At the same time, the social distancing and hygiene rules and the general ban on contact will remain in force. The young people, who are only allowed to travel in pairs or only as part of their families, must return to schools that had already come under harsh criticism before the coronavirus crisis because of their dilapidation, the uncleanness of their sanitary facilities and the lack of hygiene facilities and hot water. While the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), under state premier Armin Laschet (Christian Democratic Union, CDU) and Education Minister Yvonne Gebauer (Free Democratic Party, FDP), has already come under criticism on social media for its ruthless policies against students, resistance is also forming in Berlin against the state executives policy of opening up the city. Berlins Senator for Education, Youth and Science Sandra Scheeres (Social Democratic Party, SPD), who had already proven her anti-social attitude towards working people and their children by closing schools and day-care centres far too late in the pandemic, suggested days ago that the schools should be quickly opened again. It is not even clear whether teachers and pupils will be equipped with protective masks. Will a compulsory test be introduced to identify infected students or teachers? What will happen to pupils and young people from households with infected family members who belong to the risk groups? Are they really allowed to stay at home, and what happens to their final grades? What about the public transport that students will have to use? Busses and trains are themselves vectors for spreading the virus. Finally, young people are faced with the question of how the enormous psychological pressure that has been weighing on them for weeks will be taken into account when assessing their examination results. The level of protection standards that Scheeres has in mind can be seen from her assurances thatnowthere should be soap everywhere! Just as the Left Party, the SPD and the Greens at federal and state level agreed to all the rescue packages for the financial elite and corporations, they are now ruthlessly pushing for a lifting of measures to combat the pandemic. The position is that the population should become accustomed to the idea that the pandemic is a normal state and that infection with and death from COVID-19 is unavoidable. NRW Education Minister Gebauer cynically declared, There will ... be school communities that have to mourn the death of teachers, school directors or family members, which can sometimes have a lasting effect on school life. In the opinion of those in power, workers and young people must simply accept this. As the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party) wrote in a statement on April 13, there is a vicious class logic behind these efforts. Workers are treated as a kind of disposable product. Their deaths are regarded as a normal requirement for the generation of profit. Those who succumb to the virus can be replaced. The ignorance and cynicism of those with political responsibility is increasingly meeting with resistance from broad sections of the population. For example, Kristine, a nurse, posted on Twitter angrily and stunned, So Im sending my three children back to 3 different schools together with thousands of other students? Then I go to the hospital to work and then I go to the seven elderly people who must still be cared for. Ingenious. Many students, like Noel, say they do not want to go to school until things improve, I dont want to be to blame for my mother being in intensive care soon. Sherly noted, My beloved father works in the hospital and, even as someone at risk himself, helps with the breathing of Covid-19 patients for hours every day under strict safety measures. And when I come home from school, Im supposed to bring it home? No, thanks. Another student tweeted, I think this is all so stupid. We are like test subjects. Sure, education is precious. But human life is priceless. Stefan Hermanns wrote that he would not send his daughter to school, but wanted to be at school himself on Monday morning to check the hygiene rules. If it depends on the hygienic conditions whether schools open again, there will be no classes in Berlin for the next five years, Hermanns said. With the hashtag #prosecuteScheeres, Sabine tweeted about hygiene in Berlin schools: Now lets be honest, anyone who talks about maintainable hygiene standards in schools has not seen a normal school from the inside for a long time. Larissa Selda asked indignantly, Whats the point of staying home if Im going to get infected anyway because I must go outside? She demanded, I want the health of all citizens to be prioritised and no exams, until there is a solution that will limit any new infections by far. The connection between the rush to open up the schools and the class issues is obvious to many. Chris tweeted, When politicians seriously open up schools & make people take their final exams, it just shows sooo blatantly that business is more important to them than human lives. Simone Buchholz posted, Nobody knows how the ailing schools are going to cope with the hygiene thing, but everyone knows who will pay for it: parents/mothers. Dennis commented, 14 days ago: We are not relevant & of course we are also concerned about your health, we are closing down & bringing in short-time work. Hardly any relaxation, today they call: From Monday on well be working full double shifts again. Honestly, were all just puppets! In his tweet, Kurt Meier drew attention to the class question and the drastic redistribution of wealth from the bottom to the top of society that has been going on for decades: What schools in Germany have long been known for: small classes, good supervision, cleanliness and good hygiene, ... oh, those were the private schools where the grandchildren of the #Leopoldina [National Academy of Science] people are. Rebel Heart wrote, Education and keeping the economy running are unfortunately way more important to our politicians than health or human life. Johann van de Bron from North Rhine-Westphalia explained, In the last few days, we have heard from teachers, scientists, parents, bus drivers, pupils, etc. that hygiene measures cant be maintained in school! And that is also my assessment. If Laschet decides to #openschools, then we get an uncontrolled infection. NRW has 2.5 million school pupils. Even if only 4-5 years are sent back to school, this is surely more than half a million children and young people in schools, on the way to school, on playgrounds .... In order to protect the health and lives of students and teachers, the working class must take up the struggle for a socialist programme. The ruling class and its stooges in the political establishment ruthlessly pose the interests of making a profit against the interests of the working class. This has been mercilessly demonstrated by the pandemic. U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he doesn't know about the health condition of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un amid reports he may be seriously ill. AP-Yonhap U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he doesn't know about the health condition of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un amid reports he may be seriously ill. "These are reports that came out, and we don't know. We don't know," Trump said at a White House coronavirus press briefing. "I can only say this: I wish him well. Because if he is in the kind of condition that the reports say, that the news say, that's a very serious condition." Trump said he doesn't place "too much credence" in any report put out by CNN. Citing an unidentified U.S. official, CNN first reported that the U.S. is looking into intelligence that Kim is in "grave danger" after a surgery. "They came out with very, very serious medical reports. Nobody's confirmed that," he said. Asked about possible successors to Kim in the dynastic regime, Trump declined to weigh in. The Barnes Firm personal injury attorneys donate around 200 face shields to people on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic. Were so grateful to have hardworking healthcare professionals in our communities devoting their time and expertise to those whove tested positive for COVID-19, said John Sheehan, Los Angeles injury attorney. Were all in this together. The Barnes Firm has pledged its support to help medical frontline staff combat the COVID-19 virus. In response to hospitals increased need for medical supplies, The Barnes Firm injury attorneys have donated around 200 face shields to several hospitals and health centers throughout its local communities. The Barnes Firm injury attorneys highest priority is the health and well-being of its clients, employees, and the communities they serve. Were so grateful to have hardworking healthcare professionals in our communities devoting their time and expertise to those whove tested positive for COVID-19, said John Sheehan, Los Angeles injury attorney. Were all in this together. Sheehan says its important that all medical frontline professionals are equipped with the best health and safety gear while theyre working to save lives. The Barnes Firms contribution of protective equipment is their way of thanking those working tirelessly to help save the lives of those affected by COVID-19, in addition to those injured in accidents, such as car accidents. The Barnes Firm team has been closely monitoring the situation involving the coronavirus. Family members who have been wrongfully exposed to the COVID-19 virus in nursing homes, senior care centers, and holding centers, can contact the experienced team at The Barnes Firm to help get the answers to their legal questions. For more information, The Barnes Firms dedicated team is here to help 24/7. About The Barnes Firm: The Barnes Firms experienced personal injury attorneys focus exclusively on accident cases. They have helped thousands of injured victims get the best results possible with their settlements and verdicts. The firm helps families across California, and has offices located in Los Angeles, Oakland, and San Diego. In addition to legal services, The Barnes Firm stays involved in the community through its ongoing local philanthropy efforts. The California car accident lawyers sponsor academic organizations and nonprofits throughout the state. For more information, please visit https://www.thebarnesfirmcommunity.com/. If youve been in an accident, you can count on The Barnes Firm Injury Attorneys to help. Please visit https://www.thebarnesfirm.com/. You can also find The Barnes Firm on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. An investment into additional investigative resources led to a dramatic spike in the number of child porn-related arrests last year in Horry County. South Carolinas Internet Crimes Against Children task force, which operates out of the state Attorney Generals Office and is charged with overseeing child porn and underage solicitation investigations, recorded 23 arrests in 2019 in Horry County, according to records provided to The Sun News. That figure, which led the state last year, is more than triple Horry Countys previous high of seven such arrests in a year, according to the task forces database, which includes arrests dating back to 2004. The only other previous year Horry County was among the top five counties in the state for ICAC-related arrests was 2008, when the six arrests was tied with Charleston County for the third most in the state, though three of those cases were dismissed. The state task force partners on investigations with more than 100 local law enforcement agencies, including the Horry County Sheriffs Office, which has its own dedicated unit to assist on those investigations. HCSO Lt. Chip Squires, who supervises that unit, said they added a second investigator to that team last year, effectively doubling their investigative capabilities, in response to an increase in the amount of tips they were receiving. Conway Police Department also has an investigator dedicated to ICAC, he said. Kevin Atkins, who serves as commander of the statewide task force, said hes been awestruck since joining the unit in 2014 by how many agencies are increasingly dedicating their time and resources to investigating these serious crimes. You dont get this kind of collaboration for petty crimes, he said, noting a search warrant may involve his office, a local sheriffs office, local police, Secret Service and Homeland Security. Its hard to get so many parties to put things to the side and focus on one unified task. The state task forces arrest numbers have diminished during the coronavirus pandemic, but Atkins said investigators work has increased because more people are staying home. He noted the court closures have created a backlog, but investigators are continuing to follow leads, and he expects a spike in arrests once the courts reopen. Story continues Atkins praised HCSO as a great model for what local agencies can accomplish when they make a commitment to fighting these serious crimes. Squires said the sheriffs office also turned its electronics crime task force into a full-time unit last year, which allows them to make arrests more quickly because theyre able to see files in real time while serving search warrants. Chris Bomar, chief investigator for ICACs digital forensics team, said that dedication is key to expediting these cases, but Horry County is one of just a handful of counties in the state with digital forensics examiners, which has led to a lengthy backlog for his team. Bomar and his team find and review all data on digital devices found during search warrants a lengthy, time-consuming process thats only worsened due to an increase in the number and storage capacity of digital devices in an effort to prove the intent of a defendant and to potentially help identify and find child victims. Helping victims As the number of ICAC-related arrests has increased up nearly 170 percent statewide during the past five years from 67 in 2014 to 180 last year so has the number of children being treated for abuse. The Childrens Recovery Center, a local nonprofit that advocates and provides services for children suspected of suffering abuse, has seen about a 95 percent increase in referrals during the past ten years in Horry and Georgetown counties, according to data provided by its executive director Louise Carson, who noted that about 65 percent of the kids they see suffered sexual abuse. Dr. Carol Rahter, the centers medical director, said part of the reason the issue has increased is that kids are being exposed to pornography at younger ages, which desensitizes them and makes them more vulnerable. When you see it all around you, you dont think its a big deal, Rahter said, specifically citing sexual ads that pop up while kids play video games such as Grand Theft Auto. Dr. Melissa Muse, a counselor for Family Bridges Therapeutic Associates with offices in Myrtle Beach and Georgetown, said the issue has been getting progressively worse since smart phones with cameras were introduced. Muse, whose clients are primarily child sex abuse victims, said kids are impulsive and usually more tech savvy than their parents, but its important for parents to closely monitor their childrens internet usage. Education and prevention On the prevention side, the SC Attorney Generals Office employs an education coordinator in conjunction with the ICAC task force to give presentations to schools and other groups throughout the state. Emma Rush, whos served in that position about six months, visited Myrtle Beach Middle School earlier this year to advise parents and students on safe internet usage guidelines. Fewer than 10 parents showed up for the presentation, which Rush said is unfortunately common among schools she visits lots of parents think their child isnt going to be doing these things, it (can impact) everybody but shes encouraged that shes able to speak to many students. Rush told the parents in attendance about different social media apps their children may be using, including Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Discord, Twitch, Reddit and TikTok. South Carolina has investigated (child porn or solicitation) cases involving every single one, she said. Rush noted that federal law restricts anyone under the age of 13 from having a social media profile, but students can easily lie about their age on these platforms, just as predators can. She said lots of parents ask about monitoring software, which can be helpful, but the key is having honest, open paths of communication with their children. No amount of technology or monitoring software can replace being a parent, Rush said. By Jeff Lewis TORONTO, April 22 (Reuters) - Canada's export credit agency will backstop loans to hard hit oil and gas producers, a document seen by Reuters showed, in the latest move by Ottawa to free up credit for the struggling energy industry. The relief comes as banks review borrowing limits in the sector and could head off bankruptcies of small and mid-sized energy firms pummeled by the collapse in oil prices. Canadian banks have eased some lending standards but are expected to chop credit lines as they recalculate energy companies' borrowing bases to account for a 75% drop in U.S. oil prices since the start of the year. The "dramatic fall in prices will force borrowing base redeterminations downwards, in some cases, below the level where current facilities are drawn," Export Development Canada (EDC) said in a slide presentation, dated April 17. Under the program, called a reserve-based lending guarantee, the agency will backstop up to 75% of a bank loan, to a maximum of C$100 million, for at least one year, the document said. "EDC will provide an incremental guarantee of over and above the (banks') borrowing base to partially mitigate the current oil prices," it said. EDC did not immediately respond to questions. The program is targeted at Canadian firms with production no greater than 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, according to the presentation. Canada on Friday said it would offer commercial loans worth between C$15 million to C$60 million to producers through the Business Development Bank of Canada, in addition to C$2.5 billion ($1.8 billion) in aid to help the industry weather fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has estimated the need for liquidity in the sector at C$15 billion to C$30 billion. Finance Minister Bill Morneau on Friday said more needed to be done to ensure large businesses had access to credit, and promised details soon. (Reporting by Jeff Lewis Editing by Marguerita Choy) In the Machiavellian world of geopolitics, governments and intelligence agencies must consider all possibilities in any given scenario. In the case of Kim Jong-un and his highly secretive regime, they include his little-known sister Kim Yo Jong taking the reins of power, or even a military struggle that draws in the US, China and even Australia, says ANU professor and intelligence expert John Blaxland. Prof Blaxland is the author of In From the Cold: Reflections on Australias Korean War and is working on a book detailing the history of Australias top spy agency, the National Signals Directorate. He says there is good reason why intelligence agencies will be scrambling to learn the status of Kim Jong-un after reports that he was seriously ill. The North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and his sister Kim Yo Jong. Source: Getty Reports Tuesday that the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is unwell following surgery triggered speculation about the future of the dictator, and the so-called Hermit Kingdom he leads. The reports, which initially emanated from a South Korean website and then US outlet CNN, have not been confirmed. Chinese and South Korean officials have sought to throw cold water on the notion that Kim Jong-un is gravely ill, suggesting reports of his incapacity might be premature. But they may not be (premature), this is the thing, Prof Blaxland told Yahoo News Australia. When his father Kim Jong-il died of heart complications, the announcement was held for days until they got their act sorted out, he said. The other thought is this is some kind of ruse to flush out would-be betrayers or provoke some sort of reaction. Kim Jong-un was said to be receiving treatment after undergoing a cardiovascular procedure earlier this month, according to Daily NK, a speciality website run mostly by North Korean defectors. The primary source that came out with this is associated with North Korea defectors. They, I think, are pretty well plugged in to reliable sources of information. That gives me a sense there is something to this story, there is some substance here, Prof Blaxland said. Story continues Although thought to be just 36, Kim Jong-un is a smoker, considered obese and has congenital heart problems. There could be complications of a poor surgery, poor medical treatment, Prof Blaxland. And all that is on top of the element of coronavirus. North Korea has been a completely closed book, but its highly likely theyve got a problem on that front. Until the leader is seen in pubic, speculation will likely continue about his health and what could ultimately happen when the North Korean dictator does fall. Little-known sister could be likely successor Unsurprisingly, the unconfirmed reports triggered speculation about what could happen in North Korea because there is no clear succession plan in the event of KimJong-uns demise. Perhaps the top candidate today to take over is his sister Kim Yo Jong who was promoted to the powerful political bureau of the ruling Workers Party in 2017, putting her closer to the centre of the leadership. What the West knows about her is very, very limited, Prof Blaxland said. The West still knows very little about Kim Yo Jong. Source: Getty She went to Seoul for the Winter Olympics, she accompanied Kim Jong-un on visits to Beijing to see Chinese president Xi Ji Ping and on his visits to see US president Donald Trump. He [Kim Jong-un] clearly trusts her and theyre close, he said. The thing is though its a patriarchal society and he has not appointed a designated successor. Members from North Koreas intelligence and military elites might not appreciate her seizing the leadership of the nuclear-armed nation. If the military and security apparatus cant bring themselves to be that enlightened, or not misogynist ... there are others, Prof Blaxland said. As for those others who could potentially take over, theres a couple of clear contenders. Given the cult of personality dynasty that continues to rule the country, its likely to be a member of the family. There is the guitar-playing brother of Kim Jong-un who has shown little interest in politics. Then there is the leaders nephew, who is the son of the dictators half-brother Kim Jong-nam who was killed in a brazen airport assassination in 2017 when two reportedly unwitting women suffocated him with a deadly nerve agent, making headlines around the world. There is also Kim Jong-uns 10-year-old son. Its possible senior military and intelligence people one day appoint a placeholder leader until the boy is old enough to take over. Power tastes good though, Prof Blaxland admitted. People in power usually dont like to relinquish it. Signals, secrecy and power struggles Despite Americas enormous investment in its intelligence infrastructure, no one has a really good grip on what on earth is going on behind the scenes, Prof Blaxland said. They are extremely savvy they are all over signal intelligence counter measures, he said of the North Korean government. That makes it extremely difficult for foreign intelligence agencies to get a clear picture of what is going on inside the country and its leadership circles. Trump and Kim Jong Un sign documents as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the North Korean leader's sister Kim Yo Jong look on. Source: Getty Long-time military journalist Howard Altman argued Tuesday that the sudden loss of Kim Jong-un could destabilise the region, create a massive refugee flow and force the US, South Korea and possibly other regional allies to act. Australia could be dragged into conflict if Korean peninsula destabilises Prof Blaxland says such a scenario is well within the realms of possibility. If there is a certain unravelling of Kim Jong-uns order ... its not unimaginable, he said. If Kim Jong-uns sister did seek power but was thwarted by senior military elites, it could lead to a potential implosion that would draw in the United States and South Korea, possibly China and possibly the United Nations, he told Yahoo News Australia. Australia, he points out, is obligated under UN command which could see us called on to contribute if such a scenario ever played out. Given the incredibly opaque nature of the isolated country, it all remains informed speculation, Prof Blaxland said. But its scenarios like that which mean intelligence agencies in South Korea, China, the US and even Australia will be watching and listening very closely in the coming days and weeks. The North Korean leader also disappeared from the public eye for more than a month in 2014, which at the time prompted speculation about his health. 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. [April 22, 2020] MediaMath Partners with TVSquared to Deliver CTV Attribution TVSquared, the global leader in TV attribution, has been named as MediaMath's preferred partner for connected TV (CTV) attribution. This partnership enables thousands of advertisers to attribute actions directly to programmatic CTV campaigns delivered across screens - from smart TVs to digital devices. Through its partnership with TVSquared, MediaMath is providing accountability to targeted TV investments, while also leveraging real-time analytics to track, measure and optimize the performance of programmatic video ads served via CTV. This brings transparency, standard metrics and proof of performance to digital TV. "The shift from linear to CTV is enhancing advertisers' abilities to reach and engage consumers, lowering rates of general invalid traffic and leading to higher video completion rates for premium publishers," said Jeremy Steinberg, Head of Ecosystem, MediaMath. "Our partnership with TVSquared furthers our ability to deliver greater accountability and addressability to brands and agencies through proven accuracy, scalability and fast time-to-insights." In the U.S., video streaming to TVs increased by 85% in the first three weeks of March 2020, creating a massive opportunity for advertisers to reach consumers via highly targeted buys across ad-supported streaming content. Based on MediaMath's platform data, between February and March, supply increased by 3-5% overall, and CTV grew by 20% due to brands' and advertisers' increasing demand for premium CTV inventory. "Programmatic OTT advertising is extremely attractive in today' changing environment, especially as advertisers look for new ways to reach consumers in this homebound economy," said Jo Kinsella, President, TVSquared. "Advertisers want comparability of metrics and measurement across marketing channels, and opportunities to optimize to drive real outcomes. MediaMath's global footprint makes it a perfect partner to help bring performance to the forefront of CTV everywhere." CTV performance analytics tie TV spots and campaigns directly to business outcomes, tracking brand-specific KPIs, including sales, website visits, app engagement, registrations and more. TVSquared's always-on platform demonstrates ROI, and delivers reach, frequency and recency analytics along with impressions and responses by geography. Additionally, granular performance insights include viewer response by weekday/ daypart, device type, creative, campaign flight, app, etc. As part of the global partnership, advertisers running CTV campaigns through MediaMath can access always-on TV attribution and omnichannel reach extension analytics, powered by TVSquared. "As part of MediaMath's journey to provide a 100% accountable and addressable supply chain, our partnership with TVSquared gives brands full visibility into the performance of CTV buys," added Steinberg. TVSquared ADvantage provides always-on performance analytics for all linear and digital TV, including household-level attribution and OTT measurement at scale, across all ad-supported streaming services on any smart TV and connected device. About TVSquared TVSquared is the largest global enterprise platform for cross-screen, multi-touch attribution across all forms of linear and digital TV content. TVSquared's always-on analytics platform empowers brands, agencies, networks and publishers to quantify TV's impact, tie TV to business outcomes and optimize ad performance across TV everywhere. Thousands of advertisers in more than 70 countries work with TVSquared to measure TV across millions of households and billions of ad impressions. Learn more at www.tvsquared.com. About MediaMath MediaMath helps the world's top brands deliver personalized digital advertising across all connected touchpoints. Over 9,500 marketers in 42 countries use our enterprise software every day to launch, analyze, and optimize their digital advertising campaign across display, native, mobile, video, audio, social, digital out of home, and advanced TV formats. Founded in 2007 as a pioneer in "programmatic" advertising, MediaMath is recognized as a Leader in the Gartner (News - Alert) 2019 Magic Quadrant for Ad Tech and won four awards from the IAB for Sales, Service and Education Excellence. MediaMath is leading an industry-wide effort to create an accountable and addressable supply chain through SOURCE by MediaMath, an alliance of agencies, brands, tech companies, and content owners designed to provide long-term sustainable solutions for a clean digital media supply chain with brand-safe, fraud-free, and viewable inventory. MediaMath has offices in 16 cities worldwide and is headquartered in New York City. To learn more about how MediaMath helps innovative marketers delight their customers and drive real business outcomes, follow us at @mediamath or visit www.mediamath.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005696/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] One of Belfast's best-known publicans, Willie Jack, walks past his Duke of York bar in Belfast. Pic Elaine Hill One of Northern Irelands leading publicans says hed like to see bars opening their doors while maintained social distancing by July. Willie Jack is the man behind the Duke of York, The Harp Bar and Dark Horse in the thriving heart of Belfasts Cathedral Quarter. His businesses, like many others, shut its doors well ahead of the Government mandated closure of non-essential businesses, and a lockdown across Northern Ireland. The pubs will be hit first. Itll be a very slow road to recovery, Mr Jack said. Whether we could put on live music in the Harp Bar by December realistically. The physical distancing is hard to implement. I understand the importance of the pub, across the whole of Ireland. We have a very good offering in the north. To make it all possible it would be a minimum of a year of rates free. If there is a cap on the numbers (value of rent free) its good for the rural pubs and I support that. It would be great if pubs could open in July. Its important to communities. Its a place where people like to talk. Even if it means us losing money, but at least opening the likes of the Duke of York bringing a bit of brightness. "Everyone will abide by the rules. Perhaps there would be no standing at the bar people would collect their drinks and take them down to the table. Then, in a few months, more people would be gathering. We will need someone on the door. Mr Jack says that some of Belfasts busiest live music bars which also includes his own pub The Harp will find it most difficult to reopen, while trying to maintain social distancing. (We want to see) people smiling and being confident again. We hope for a happier future. I could reopen my whiskey shop and The Dark Horse, but we cant compete with the big stores. He said, optimistically, he would hope to see his Duke of York bar one of the citys best-known pubs opening its doors in July. I would love it to be open in July. It would be phased. The publicans will have to monitor and limit the numbers. It will be difficult to do that. "But there is a new learning. If there is a queue in the toilet, people will wait, for example. It will be self-policed. In the good weather, we could open up the courtyard at The Dark Horse. I look forward to going back and pulling a few pints, and getting back to normal. I think restaurants will find it harder than pubs. Pubs with food may struggle at the start but there is a change of direction (needed) for food outlets. It would appear that our government and the island of Ireland has handled it extremely well. There has to be hope there. We have to thank people and take their guidance as when to open. "Staff and customers have to feel safe. A tsunami of smut temporarily shut down Mayor Bill de Blasio's 'snitch hotline' as New Yorkers say what they really think about calls for people to turn on their neighbours during coronavirus lockdowns. City Hall confirmed that the 311 text line Mr de Blasio espoused to dob in quarantine quitters was suspended on Sunday to clear a backlog of prank memes, a large number of which appear to compare the mayor to Adolf Hitler. There was also a large number of middle fingers and unsolicited images of genitalia, colloquially know as dick pics. A day earlier, the mayor released a Twitter video urging New Yorkers to rat on people not practising social distancing measures by sending a photo to 311-692. Repeat offenders face fines up to $1000. "We still know there's some people who need to get the message. And that means sometimes making sure the enforcement is there to educate people and make clear we've got to have social distancing," Mr de Blasio said. "Action will ensue." The video was negatively ratioed, with almost 25,000 comments compared to only 3,400 likes. Critics shared their creative responses to the "tyrannical overreach" across Twitter. In addition to the penis photos texted to 311, an NYPD source told The New York Post a caller saw something and said something with the tip that Mr de Blasio was seen performing oral sex on someone in an alleyway behind a 7-Eleven. "He looked at me...and coofed in my direction," the caller said, referring to the slang for coughing while infected with the coronavirus. "The city has begun vetting everything before dispersing the information to precincts," the NYPD source said. Mr de Blasio has been criticised for breaking the city's own social distancing guidelines by running and strolling in Brooklyn's Prospect Park, 12 miles from Gracie Mansion, the official residence of the mayor. "This is just something that we shouldn't focus on. There's much better things to talk about," the mayor said on NY1's "Inside City Hall". "My situation is particular and I am here serving people ... and I'm just doing something I think will help me to be the most effective." The former mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani, joined the chorus of criticism of the plan to turn people against each other during a time of crisis. "Urging citizens to film non-compliant individuals reminds me of one of the tactics utilized in the country where he spent his honeymoon, Cuba," Mr Giuliani said. Three babies abandoned on three separate occasions at the same apartment complex in Orlando, Florida, have the same biological parents. Orlando Police Department investigators confirmed on Tuesday that the three babies found at the Willow Key Apartments in 2016, 2017 and 2019 shared the same mother and father. The findings were first revealed in a memo from detectives seeking funding to analyse DNA of the three children in an effort to track down their missing parents. Orlando detective Ghena Wasserman Luker wrote that the analogous manner in which all three children were abandoned on a resident's stoop at the Arnold Palmer Drive luxury apartment complex made police believe they must be related. "A note discovered at the scene explained the baby was left at the location because the mother was in fear of the child's father," Det Luker wrote of the 2019 baby. A similar note was left with the newborn abandoned in 2017. "Based on the egregious and neglectful behaviour of the parent(s), and the bizarre facts of this case, unlike any other documented case, it is imperative to conduct a well-being check of all involved parties. This cannot be done without the assistance of United Data Connect." City commissioners approved the $5,000 funding on Monday to hire United Data Connect, which maintains a database of DNA profiles, to track down the parents. While initial testing had identified several possible family members of the babies, more specialised knowledge from a genetic genealogist was needed to interpret the DNA and determine the parents. Orlando police said in a statement on Tuesday that while the three infants were confirmed to be siblings, no other details could be shared to protect their identity. "If we are able to identify the mother, her safety is our top priority, as well as the safety of any other potential children," the police statement said. Trees Around the GLOBE - take your measurements and send them in with the Earth Observer or try on another campaign this month You can look, listen and learn at the GLOBE page for the Earth Day celebration! Four hundred students went to Ireland in 2018: Such fun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSbHax79PZE&t=39s Today the theme is welcoming in the 50th anniversary Earth Day and hearing about what is next for the Fall and 2021. The logo is a student sheltered in home looking out at the world. You too can join in by downloading the Earth Observer app and take measurements on your phone from your window! Hear Director Tony Murphy and join others sending in greetings from all over the world. You can study through out the Covid shelter at home period and talk to your classmates on zoom or schoology integrating STEM studies into studies if you are a student online in LAUSD or watching Nature videos online and reading the GLOBE Elementary storybooks and considering a project with your siblings or school friends that results in learning how to submit a science poster. NASA STEM at Home offered in English and in Spanish: http:www.Nasa.gov/stem and https://ciencia.nasa.gov "Here it is, the World Around me" might describe the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day where moms, dads, grandparents, kids, have joined in to learn how to care and notice the state of the Earth from water, to air, to wildlife and more. Today students are measuring, collaborating, proposing theories and making zoom presentations. On this April 22, 2020, you can join in on this 25th GLOBE Anniversary year from home. With a window into the world as a logo, you can watch the video tribute to the community, find out about awards for student stipends, and more at (https:/www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zvotn6QPu5c&feature=youtu.be). Find out how to bring the love of the blue planet home, www.nasa.gove/content/earth-day-2020-50th-anniversary-toolkit. Killarney in July, marching behind a great big blue planet and learning how to learn with life long friends! See you soon whether online or in a project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JS8UKw1OfNU&t=156s Britannia Industries Ltd is quoting at Rs 2924, up 2.12% on the day as on 12:54 IST on the NSE. The stock is down 2.24% in last one year as compared to a 21.15% fall in NIFTY and a 5.39% fall in the Nifty FMCG index. Britannia Industries Ltd rose for a third straight session today. The stock is quoting at Rs 2924, up 2.12% on the day as on 12:54 IST on the NSE. The benchmark NIFTY is up around 1.63% on the day, quoting at 9127.95. The Sensex is at 31239.41, up 1.97%. Britannia Industries Ltd has added around 36.77% in last one month. Meanwhile, Nifty FMCG index of which Britannia Industries Ltd is a constituent, has added around 24.45% in last one month and is currently quoting at 28480.6, up 1.31% on the day. The volume in the stock stood at 4.32 lakh shares today, compared to the daily average of 8.46 lakh shares in last one month. The benchmark April futures contract for the stock is quoting at Rs 2891.6, up 2.59% on the day. Britannia Industries Ltd is down 2.24% in last one year as compared to a 21.15% fall in NIFTY and a 5.39% fall in the Nifty FMCG index. The PE of the stock is 50.08 based on TTM earnings ending December 19. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Good Morning, welcome to Information Nigerias Newspaper headlines for today, 21st April 2020. Here are the major headlines. Buhari Writes CJN, Demands More Prisoners Release President Muhammadu Buhari has written to Ibrahim Muhammad, chief justice of Nigeria (CJN) to free deserving inmates across Nigeria following the coronavirus pandemic. The president in a letter on Tuesday asked the state chief justices to immediately visit the prisons to free such inmates. Delta State Enforce Use Of Facemask In Public Places Delta State Government says residents would be made to compulsorily use face masks as part of measures to check the spread of COVID-19 in the state. Kaduna State Enforce Use Of Facemask In Public Places The Kaduna State Government has directed residents to wear face masks in public so as to reinforce the mandatory social distancing. If Your Area Has Confirmed Cases, You Can Be Tested NCDC The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says anyone in an area that has recorded a confirmed case of coronavirus can now be tested. Governor Abiodun Frees 249 Inmates Ogun State Government has ordered the release of 249 inmates from five Correctional Centres across the state. Lockdown: No Lecture Sessions During Lockdown Emir Of Sokoto As Muslims gear up to begin the Ramadan fasting in the next coming days, the sultan of Sokoto and of Jamaatu Nasril Islam (JNI), Alhaji Muhammad Saad Abubakar III, has ordered that there would not be public lectures as well as congregation prayers. FG Extends Closure Of Airports By Two Weeks In a new development due to the increasing number of Coronavirus cases in the country, the Federal Government has extended the closure of airports in the country by two weeks. Taskforce To Maintain Rivers State Borders, Not Police Wike The Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has revealed that the state government would establish a task force to replace federal security agencies manning its borders. Killings In Katsina Will Be Met With Decisive Force Buhari President Muhammadu Buhari reacted to the latest attacks by bandits in Katsina State, saying it will be met with decisive force. President Buhari made this known in a statement issued by his media aide, Garba Shehu, on Sunday night. Lagos Begins Enforcement Of Face Mask Wearing In Public Spaces Following the increase in the confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Lagos state, the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has announced that the state would begin the enforcement of nose mask-wearing in the next coming days. Click here to read the full article. Onscreen, Unorthodox star Shira Haas breaks free of her restrictive upbringing to start a new life as an artist. Offscreen, shes simply a breakout as one the years most exciting rising stars. The 24-year-old actress, who lives in Tel Aviv, portrays Esther Esty Shapiro on the Netflix limited series. Shes playing a story based on real life: As directed by Maria Schrader, with a largely female creative team and crew, Unorthodox is adapted from Deborah Feldmans 2012 best-selling memoir Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots. More from Variety But within a version of Feldmans story, Haas finds something entirely new. Her work brings to mind the naivety of Carey Mulligan in An Education and the harder edges of Jennifer Garner from Alias. On a recent afternoon, Haas spoke on a Zoom call with Jessica Chastain, her co-star in the 2017 war drama The Zookeepers Wife, about the role, how she prepared and why the show has struck a nerve. Jessica Chastain: Ive missed you so much. Where are you right now? Shira Haas: Im in Tel Aviv. Its morning for you, isnt it? Chastain: Yeah, in this strange time when morning will last 12 hours. Haas: Thats how I feel. Every day is upside down, but hopefully it will pass, like everything else. Chastain: I loved your show. Were here to talk about Unorthodox, and I am so proud of you. Haas: It means so much for me to hear it from you. I can retire. Thats all. Chastain: Stop it. How long was the shoot? Haas: We started in May last year. I came like two months before for some preparation, but the shooting itself was something like four months. It was mostly in Berlin, because they kind of faked the indoor of New York in Berlin in the studios. And all the outdoors we shot in New York for like a week, because you really cant fake New York streets in Berlin. Story continues Chastain: I dont think you can fake New York anywhere. Were you familiar with the book it was based on before you got the script? Haas: I knew it. I didnt read it, but I knew about it, because its such a big best seller. And after I knew it was going to happen, I read it and it only took me a few hours, and then I read it again and again. And even though the TV series is so different, some of it is really inspired by it. I took as much as I possibly can from the book. Chastain: What were the feelings that first came to you when you read the script? Haas: I was amazed by it. First of all, its very rare to have an opportunity to play such a strong and complicated lead character. To Esty, every time someone asks if Im similar to her, Im like: I hope so. I think that when I was really young, I was very curious. I always had questions. For Esty, its also her curse, asking too much doesnt fit in for where she belongs. Chastain: How did the script come to you? Was it something that was out there that you knew about, that you fought for? Haas: Id been told that it was for a German TV series. No one mentioned Netflix. They tried to keep it a secret. They only sent me a few scenes. I loved it. The director and the producers came to Israel to meet me. I fought for it. Chastain: See this is crazy, because I thought while I was watching you that you mustve naturally spoke Yiddish. But thats something you learned for the role? Haas: Nada. My grandparents obviously knew it, but I never heard them talk. My parents were born in Israel, so they dont know how to speak it. I didnt know a word. It was a very long process. I had the most amazing teacher, Eli Rosen. I recorded him and I listened to it while I was cleaning dishes or stuff like that. I went to sleep with Yiddish and woke up with Yiddish. Chastain: One thing I really want to talk about is that the series has a female creative team the directors, writer, producers and more. Did that impact the series for you? Haas: Of course. Our director, Maria Schrader, is also a great actress, so it was really helpful. The director was female, the producers, the creator, the camera crew; there were so many women in this crew, which unfortunately is so rare. Its always nice to have it, but in this specific story, its a story about a woman who is trying to find her voice. You can really feel the sensitivity. I really felt protected with them. I felt like they listened to me. Chastain: Having a set that had more women on it Ive worked on both kind of sets and done nudity. Did you feel also when you talked about feeling protected, did you feel like your nude scene that you had in this series, did it feel like a safer environment? Haas: Yeah, thats not something that scares me. But it is very important to me to talk about it. For me, its always important to understand whats being seen. And the fact that it was Maria, and there were female creators, really helped me to be very open about what I preferred to show, what is less comfortable for me. Chastain: In addition to all of the research you had done months before, was there any daily ritual that you did before you got on set to play her? Haas: Before we started shooting, I asked for the costume designer for a few theyre called shtreimel, the hats that you have when you are married. I would wear it a lot. It was something in Estys costume that could really bring the physicality of this character. Wearing it helped me find her movement. And music always helped me. Since she had a lot of flashbacks, it was very important for me to know the chronological way of scenes and the journey that shes going through. Chastain: It was very clear, when watching your work, how specific it was. I imagine it wasnt shot like this, because things are never shot like this usually. But it felt like it was shot in chronological order. Haas: No, no not at all. On the last day, we shot by the lake. The first day was the shaving scene. Chastain: What was that like? Because in a sense youre shedding Shira, right? Haas: This is so true. Thats one heck of an opening right at the start. But then I thought that its good not to wait for it. I dont need to wait and be like, Oh my God, in 10 days its going to happen. It really made me very commit to the role. It was a hardcore start, but I really understood the character. Its only like 20 seconds of a scene. But you really have almost all of her conflict because shes looking forward to her married life, and shes really excited and happy. Shes also very scared and saying goodbye to her childhood. Chastain: How does it feel that the show has been such a success on Netflix? Haas: I always believed in the show, and I love my character, of course. But I was not expecting that. To have such a universal love from so many different people from the U.S. and U.K., and Argentina and Israel; its amazing to get that love. Its amazing so many people have seen it. Even though Im in my home all day, I can still really feel the love. And really, its amazing. Im very, very, very grateful for that, really. I truly am. Chastain: You blew me away in this series. You blew me away when we worked together on The Zookeepers Wife. From the moment I met you, I just thought, This is a very important actress. Should we talk about how we met? Haas: It was love at first sight. Chastain: It was for me. I heard about you from Niki Caro, our director of The Zookeepers Wife. She had talked to me about your performance, how incredible of an actress you are, how you had kind of created this instinctual, emotional energy around your character. I was like, Oh great. Im so excited. Haas: When was the first time maybe like at dinner or something? I remember the first scene we shot. Chastain: The first thing we shot, was it the scene when I give you the blanket? Haas: Yeah, in the cages downstairs. Chastain: I remember, and perhaps its good that we dont remember the first time we met, because in that scene Im trying to get you to talk to me, to open up to me. So I remember sitting there and studying you as you were doing that scene, and really seeing what an actress you are. In our profession, were thrown into these situations, with people we dont know. Youre hoping that someone is going to bring something out in yourself, teach you about yourself, teach you about a scene in a new way. And you absolutely did that for me. Your work is profound. I knew it that day working with you for the first time. I see it talking to you, and I see it in all of your work. Haas: You are so supportive and such a huge role model, but also a partner. And thank you for that. I mean, what the hell? You are the best. Watch the full interview with Chastain and Haas above. Best of Variety Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. There are two competing ideas about how to reposition our ship of state currently underlying most of the political debate in our country. There is a deep level of distrust energized by what has become an almost automatic response to action by any level of government, established institution, or big business. Some dislike being taken advantage of by power. For others, it is anger about restrictions placed on their personal choices. Others think that there are better ways to accomplish things or that someone is not doing the job. When money, (taxes or payment for services) is exchanged, there is more despair. The outcry is that Things. Must. Change. But, should they be demolished first and then redesigned from the ground up, or should they simply be remodeled? Demolition takes the good with the bad. When you consider physical objects, the basic structure can be so unsound that it must be liquidated. The same can be said of institutions or businesses. Beginning with those who have proposed a second constitutional congress, I have noted many calls for disruption followed by dismantling. But, over the last two centuries of American history, the most prevalent cries have been toward remodeling cited as reform. Those calling for a rewritten Constitution appear to be wanting to enshrine laws deemed unconstitutional or too open to interpretation. Other ideas, governmental policies, and attitudes which appear to originate in this group lean toward an autocratic approach to governance. Many people who put forth these ideas could be uninformed about why the Founding Fathers constructed the government structure they did. History, at that point, favored absolute rule by one person at worst or by a small group at best. The government and the dogma of the church were the supreme authority. As they wrote the constitution, they were dedicated to destroying that approach to government. Since it was established, our governments framework has demonstrated remarkable resilience as a way of establishing order in society. In addition to personal liberty, it has limited oppression and fostered economic wellbeing. Since this framework is solid, why destroy it? We need reform. Our current distrust is often based on reality. Federally, both our congress and our executive branch are failing to accomplish their basic duties. Our judicial branch is being hampered by attempts to take away its impartiality. Congress must construct laws that are useful and needed. An example of failure to act? Immigration reform. There are others. The executive must administer the laws completely, fairly, and efficiently. I see three glaring problems. The largest is a gigantic failure to audit both process and expenses. Are laws being administered fairly and expediently? Are funds being wasted? Are there enough people to do the job or are there too many? Congress must audit and legislate to end programs that are no longer needed. Currently, they are underfunding on a partisan basis rather than having open debate about ending a program. Audits that are rapidly responded to by agencies and Congress will restore widespread trust in government. The President has too many tasks. As far as I am concerned, the vice-president should oversee some agencies at the discretion of the President. Like the Defense Department, the State Department should operate with semi-autonomy. The president sets priorities, signs treaties, orders troops into action, negotiates with Congress on legislation. For four years, our President represents the best of our impulses to our citizens and the world like a Monarch and guides our country like a CEO with the advice of his board of directors, the citizens of the United States. The part of the government I would demolish and rebuild is our tax structure. At the Federal level, there should be a herculean effort to write new tax codes. Tax codes of all types should be clearly written. Income taxes should consider basic income needs plus the accumulation of savings and other investment capital but not favor unproductive wealth. The cost of the total of Federal, State, and Municipal taxes should start after modest basic needs are met. Let us not let anger or despair depress us into inaction. Let us allow for change. Let us reform not tear down. Linda Brugger, retired from the Air Force, leaning Democrat and community activist can be reached at IdahoAuthor@outlook.com. She welcomes feedback. Love 4 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Mevlut Cavusoglu (The Jakarta Post) Ankara Wed, April 22, 2020 08:12 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd366b5e 3 Opinion geopolitics,Turkey,COVID-19,pandemic,global-cooperation Free After every cataclysmic event one tends to think that the world will never be the same. This time it is true that in certain ways the world must change. Global history is laden with such turning points, almost all being painful. For years we have been warned that a pandemic could be that cataclysm. The sections of humanity that live amid raging wars, crises, endemic fragility, state collapse and human misery could be pardoned for thinking that it could not be worse. Those living in peaceful, prosperous regions could think that nothing could harm them and that they were destined to remain lucky. Yet a pandemic is what it is; no society, no individual can hope to be beyond the reach of a deadly virus. We thus distance ourselves from others, from the blessings of social interactions. Infections have reached all continents except Antarctica, more than a third of humanity is ordered to stay home, and all those lives we have already lost in shocking numbers will be joined by scores of others. The economic toll of this pandemic will also be daunting and can be long-term. The impact on existing state fragilities, on politics and security will surely encumber governments around the world. We have yet to see the light at the end of this tunnel and we cannot wait for it. It is a moment of reflection but also leadership and action. The global system was in tatters even before humanity was struck by the coronavirus. Turkey for one had been making the case that we needed to reform the system. We called it the world is larger than five agenda, referring to the outdated composition of the UN Security Council but not stopping there. As a country that had to address unending conflicts and human misery in our close neighborhood and home to the largest refugee population in the world, we knew that the system was not working. In 2008 when the world was struck, that time by the economic pandemic, the Group of 20 was able to bring a sense of direction and thus stability to the faltering world economy. The system had worked then but thanks in large degree to a relatively new global actor. We must brace for a similar massive economic impact this time around as well and make sure that the system works even as we make the necessary patches and replacements. The top priority is to protect the health and safety of people from COVID-19. We support the timely G20 statement through which the leaders committed to act in solidarity in the fight against the pandemic and safeguard the global economy and unrestricted trade. The extension of swap agreements have been among significant measures agreed by the G20. We are happy that our proposal to form a Senior Officials Coordination Group was embraced by the G20 as we need to coordinate closely on issues such as border management and repatriation of citizens. I thank Canada for presenting initial ideas on its modalities. The G20 is proving again to be the right format in global crisis management. A number of countries are also taking strong individual measures, Turkey included. However, individual efforts would not suffice. A global challenge requires a global response, first on the public health front and then in the economy, and over the long haul in reforming international institutions and the way countries support them. The relevant international institutions should assume an effective role in financial and medical equipment assistance. Protection of fragile communities, irregular migrants and refugees, and support to host countries are even more important now. Global supply networks and cargo transfers must run unhindered. Sanctions as a blunt policy tool must be evaluated from the humanitarian point of view. Many sanctions, including those against Iran hurt not only the Iranian people but also their neighbors. A cross-cutting theme in the much-needed global response is ending the conflicts that exact very heavy toll on the humans, ecosystem, economy and our conscience. We therefore call on the international community to step down in all conflicts, cease hostilities and search earnestly for dialogue and reconciliation, including in the Middle East. Geopolitical competitions and political grievances make little sense when the world is fighting for its very health and know that everyone suffers. This call cannot go unheeded if we all take a moment to support it worldwide. This generation of leaders are in fact defining the future of the world order by the decisions they take today with regard to the pandemic. The seeds we sow today will soon confront us as full-blown realities. The reality of a rules-based global system, a network of functioning nation states that are resilient and accountable, economies that leave no one behind and benefit all, supported by fit-for-purpose international organizations, all focusing on the well-being of the people irrespective of their nationality, faith or race can be within reach. Because the alternative quests are not meaningful even harmful to the common good. And thus there may be an upside legacy of this pandemic, notwithstanding all the pain it has been causing, if we all choose to make it happen. Stay home and safe. *** Turkish foreign minister Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 21) - Muntinlupa City denounced the transfer of 18 coronavirus disease-positive inmates from the Correctional Institute for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong to the New Bilibid Prison (NBP). City Public Information Officer Tez Navarro said the local government was not given a heads up on the transfer. The mayor was also surprised, buong maghapon may plano pala ilipat (there was already plan to transfer them), nobody called us of what theyre doing. The point of the mayor is yung (the) inmates will be added to our data na 126. NBP is under the jurisdiction of Muntinlupa, and the mayor is Mayor Fresnedi, said Navarro. Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Spokesperson Col. Gabriel Chaclag confirmed that the persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) were transferred to NBP Tuesday afternoon a few hours following the release of results. He pointed out the decision was made to contain the spread of the virus within the facility. There are more than 3,100 inmates in CIW with a staff of around 200 personnel. Chaclad assured that the isolation facility for the transferred inmates, which they refer to as Site Harry, is far from where the other NBP inmates are staying and from the residential area. Ito po ay industrial area ito na may walls na 12 meters high na perimeter wall (This is an industrial area with 12 meter high perimeter walls). The nearest dwelling is 400 meters away so hindi po maco-compromise yung safety ng anyone sa NBP whether PDL, resident or staff (So the safety of anyone from the NBP, whether the PDL, resident, or safety, will not be compromised) , Chaclag says. He noted that "Site Harry" can house up to 300 COVID-19 positive patients. The patients are being looked after by the NBPs medical health directorate along with personnel from the Philippine Red Cross. The city government of Muntinlupa and BuCor will be meeting this week to iron out the matter. CNN Philippines correspondent Crissy Dimatulac contributed to this report. Amid the outbreak of deadly coronavirus, while the UK is battling the shortage of ventilators that remain critical in the fight against the pandemic, the British hospitals received two essential donations on April 21. The family of the celebrated physicist, Stephen Hawking donated his ventilator to Royal Papworth Hospital, and 330 Chinese graduates from UK universities have made personal donations 38,000 to buy two ventilators for the British public health service, NHS. As of April 22, UK has recorded over 17,300 deaths and amid these bleak situations, Hawkings family made the unprecedented gesture of donating his ventilator to the hospital which was reportedly the home to the physicist, who passed away in 2018 after making commendable contributions to his field and the study of time. His daughter, Lucy Hawkings lauded Royal Papworth Hospital's service that was provided to her father as brilliant and compassionate. The hospital authorities have also thanked the Hawkings family for providing them assistance during the challenging time of the global health crisis. His daughter Lucy Hawking said her father had received "brilliant, dedicated and compassionate" medical care at Royal Papworth Hospital. We'd like to say a huge thank you to the Hawking family for supporting us at this challenging time #ThankYouNHS @NHSEngland @Telegraph Royal Papworth Hospital (@RoyalPapworth) April 22, 2020 Read - Pence Visits Wisconsin, Thanks GE For Ventilators Read - UK Racecar Company Now Producing Ventilators 'We stand together' Meanwhile, in another essential donation for the NHS, the Chinese alumni wrote an open letter to UK government and said that they wished to stand in support with the British people and mentioned good faith. According to the UK embassy in China, the two ventilators that arrived in Britain had a Chinese proverb written on them that said, We stand together. These students had passed out from the British governments Chevening programme that allows future global leaders to study in the UK. The Minister of State for Asia Nigel Adams also thanked the students and informed that more deliveries are expected from China. Chinese graduates from UK universities have made personal donations of 38,000 to buy two ventilators for the NHS. On each they wrote the Chinese proverb through wind and rain, we stand together/ we are all in the same boat. They gave us this video message to share pic.twitter.com/HrHNTiAvZF UK in China (@ukinchina) April 21, 2020 Read - COVID-19: NYC Announces Strategic Reserve, New Ventilators Read - Gujarat Hospital Innovates Split-ventilators Should Need Arise Amid Coronavirus Crisis Image Source: AP US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he has ordered the US military to attack and destroy any Iranian vessel that harasses US Navy ships. I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea, Trump said on Twitter. The order came one week after 11 small armed Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps speedboats swarmed around six US Navy and Coast Guard ships in international waters in the northern Gulf. US Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist called Trumps tweet an important warning to the Iranians, while not saying whether the US has altered its formal rules of engagement in the Gulf. What he was emphasizing is all of our ships retain the right of self-defense, Norquist told reporters in a briefing. What the president says sends a great message to Iran, said General John Hyten, vice chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. We know how to translate that into our rules of engagement ... They are based on the inherent right of self-defense, they are based on hostile intent and hostile act. Thats all we need in order to take the right action. Nobody should doubt that the commanders have the authority right now to respond to any hostile act or hostile intent, Hyten said. Trump was referring to an incident that took place on April 15 while US Navy vessels were engaged in exercises as part of their patrols in the region. No shots were fired, but the Pentagon said the Iranians engaged in dangerous and provocative actions that risked collision or worse. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps boats repeatedly crossed the bows and sterns of the US vessels at extremely close range and high speeds, coming at one point within 10 yards (nine meters) of the bow of one ship. The much smaller IRGC Navy vessels ignored warnings from the US ships for about an hour before finally responding to radio communications and then leaving, the US side said. On Sunday, the Revolutionary Guards accused the US Navy of unprofessional and provocative behavior that had interfered with their own exercises, according to Mehr News Agency. Asked if Trumps order specifically would mean that US ships could fire on Iranian fast boats doing exactly what they did on April 15, Hyten said it is up to the captain of the US vessel. It depends on the situation, what the captain sees, he said. You cant let a fast boat get in a position where they can threaten your ship. If you come across and youre in a safe distance and youre waving, thats one thing, he said. If you have a gun and you point it at me, thats another thing ... So if you cross that line, we know what the line is and we will respond. Thiruvananthapuram, April 22 : For the past one month, Kerala Police found itself on a somewhat unfamiliar turf that was not only new to its personnel but also the state's residents -- lockdown due to coronavirus scare. And certainly, the police successfully enforced the lockdown, with a novel approach and a bit of help from technology. Speaking to IANS, Additional Director General of Police Manoj Abraham, the man behind the police coordination, said what must not be forgotten is that while there are clear-cut guidelines on policing in all aspects, there was none on how to act when a pandemic looms over the state. "We had to quickly come up with a protocol. From then on, we have been able to put up a good performance. With high literacy and public awareness of basic health issues in Kerala, our job became a bit easy. While 80 per cent of the Kerala population, by and large, behaved, we faced a bit of a problem in tackling mostly the younger generation," said Abraham. Kerala Police deployed around 21,000 officials -- starting from SP-ranked officers to policeman and policewomen -- for the lockdown duties. "Normally, we have an 8-hour shift but for COVID-19 policing we decided to go in for a 24-hour shift at a stretch. After that the officials get an off day," added Abraham. While numerous video clips on the social media about police tough action against lockdown violators, Kerala Police had no reason to use harsh action as those who did not follow restrictions were chased away through the use of psychological protocols. With the lockdown in force for a month now, police has registered about 75,000 cases, including around 40,000 cases on unauthorised use of vehicles during the lockdown. Fines and other legal procedures are likely to follow soon. Abraham said technology was relied on in policing in a big way. It came as a blessing for those on the forefront of enforcement of the lockdown. "We have around 500 drones for aerial duty. These drones were sourced from different persons, who use these for filming at weddings and cultural events. With no such activities happening during the lockdown, we put these drones to good use to locate and identify trouble-makers at different spots. The moment drones were sighted, those violating the lockdown would run away," said the ADGP. The police also took to the social media in a big way with videos, songs, and fillers. "A video clip on hand-washing protocol became a global hit and won us rave reviews. This helped us to come out with more educative and informative clips that got more appreciation," said Abraham. The Kerala Police's popularity can be gauged from the fact that it has more than 1.3 million followers on Facebook and more than 2.5 million followers on TikTok, Share chat, Twitter and YouTube. Another job that the Kerala Police cyber wing effectively handled was tackling fake news on the social media. It has so far registered 150 cases and arrested 106 persons. "A bigger task lies ahead when airports will reopen. Around five lakh Kerala natives are expected to return from the Middle East and a sizeable numbers from within the country," the ADGP pointed out. But, Abraham said, handling this phase once the lockdown ends may not be a big deal, given the fact that the police led by DGP Loknath Behra has successfully tackled the lockdown duties. (Sanu V. George can be contacted at sanu.g@ians.in) KENT COUNTY, MI -- New COVID-19 cases in Kent County have leaped into new territory, well surpassing 100 cases and setting a new daily record. The number of new cases for Wednesday, April 22 was at 131. The previous record came a day earlier with 76 new cases. In total, the county now has 757 cases and 25 deaths. The deaths remained unchanged from Tuesday. Browser does not support frames. Kent County Health Department Director Adam London recently said he expected the number of COVID-19 cases to rise in Kent County because of increased testing and because the infections seemed to be finally reaching West Michigan in a more pronounced manner. The majority of cases and deaths are still in Southeast Michigan. The availability of tests has expanded dramatically in the past two weeks, London said in a Wednesday video post to the health departments Facebook page. London also said that health department staff has conducted 251 targeted tests in the last two days at places for the most vulnerable, high-risk, congregate populations. Of the 251 tests, 69 were positive for COVID-19. London did not specify the targeted testing locations, but mentioned homeless shelters as one location where high-risk populations might live. Of the 757 cases, 604 are in the urban area of greater Grand Rapids and 55 percent are male and 45 percent female. With 999 new confirmed coronavirus cases, Michigan nears 34,000 The latest hospital data shows that Mercy Health St. Marys Hospital has 53 people in the hospital, with 24 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 29 people with pending tests. A Spectrum Health dashboard for COVID-19 numbers had not been updated as of 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. The numbers showed 93 patients -- inpatients, held for observation or emergency department patients -- with 56 confirmed cases and 37 pending tests. In Ottawa County, new coronavirus cases climbed by 11 cases to 150. Deaths remained unchanged at seven. PREVENTION TIPS In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus. Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible. Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and when you go into places like stores. Read more Michigan coronavirus coverage here Wednesday, April 22: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan Coronavirus antibody tests offer big promise, but can they deliver? Nurse who spoke out about coronavirus concerns fired by Mercy Health Which surfaces does the coronavirus stay on longest? 18 expert disinfecting tips In response to the Governors decision Monday to initiate a gradual return to work, the Georgia Department of Labor and Governor Kemp are partnering to make sure Georgians understand their unemployment options. Governor Kemp announced plans Monday to safely and incrementally reopen sectors of the economy. Wenesday, Labor Commissioner Mark Butler encouraged employers to work with employees to determine a successful return to work plan.Thanks to Governor Kemp and his support, we were able to issue an emergency rule that increased the earnings exemption amount from $55 to $300, allowing individuals to make $300 a week without reducing their weekly benefit amount, said Commissioner Butler. If a business opens back up slowly and their employees are returning to work with reduced hours, employers can continue to file employer-filed partial claims on behalf of their employees.Pursuant to the emergency rule issued on March 26, an individual can make up to $300 per week without reducing their maximum weekly benefit amount, allowing employees to work reduced hours and still qualify for state weekly benefits and the federal $600 weekly supplement.As we take measured steps to reopen sectors of our states economy, it is vital that we continue to support Georgians trying to re-enter the workforce, said Governor Kemp.Commissioner Butler and the Department of Labor are working around the clock to do just that. Their action under historic circumstances will continue to give our states workforce viable options to put food on the table for their families as we fight COVID-19 together.Employer-filed partial claims account for 75 percent of the states 1.1 million claims since March 14. Employers are required to report an individuals weekly gross wages when certifying on behalf of the employee with the GDOL. These employer-filed partial claims can include full-time and part-time employees, as long as employers are accurately reporting an individuals weekly wages. An employers account will not be charged for claims filed against it for employer-filed partial claims during this time.Despite claims to the contrary, returning to work does not automatically eliminate an individuals state unemployment eligibility, said Commissioner Butler. In fact, we designed this provision to encourage employers to continue to file while returning employees to work to take advantage of the CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) benefits.The rule states that earnings of $300 or less will not affect entitlement to benefits. Any amount over $300 will be deducted from a claimants weekly benefit amount, a payment determination based on an employees past wages. As long as a claimant is awarded at least $1 in state benefits, he or she is eligible to receive Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), the additional $600 weekly payment.This option was created with lower wage employees in mind, said Commissioner Butler. Allowing Georgians to supplement their income by making an additional $300 or so a week while continuing to receive state benefits, and now the federal supplement, will allow them to continue to heal from the economic wounds brought about by COVID-19.If a decision is made by an employee to separate from his/her place of employment, the employee has the right to file an individual claim where an eligibility determination will be made based on the facts presented in the case.If an employee is concerned about returning to work due to exposure to COVID-19, we are encouraging employees to communicate with their employers on plans to safely return to work, said Commissioner Butler. We are all working together on getting Georgians back to work in a safe and stable environment.Information on filing an individual unemployment claim, details on how employers must file employer-filed partial claims and resources for other reemployment assistance can be found on the agencys webpage at www.gdol.ga.gov. Cass County, which until a few days ago was one of the few west-central Illinois counties without any cases of COVID-19 among its residents, saw its confirmed cases triple overnight. The third, fourth, fifth and sixth cases of COVID-19 among Cass County residents were confirmed Tuesday, according to Cass County Health Department public health coordinator Andrew C. English. The countys first confirmed infection was reported Sunday in a woman in her 20s. On Monday, a positive test was confirmed for a man in his 50s. The new cases involve a man in his 60s, a woman in her 50s, and two women in their 30s. They are all isolated and recovering at home. Only one of those infected, the man in his 50s, required hospitalization. The health department is reaching out to potential contacts to give instructions on in-home quarantine, English said. Cass County Health Department on Friday acknowledged a positive COVID-19 infection involving an employee at a Beardstown company, but that person lives elsewhere so was not counted in Cass Countys numbers. No new cases were reported Tuesday in Morgan County, which stands at 13 cases and one related death. There are five tests pending and have been 168 negative results returned, according to a daily joint communication from the Morgan County Department of Public Health, Jacksonville/Morgan County Emergency Management, Memorial Health System, Morgan County commissioners and the city of Jacksonville. Brown and Scott counties are the only in west-central Illinois that have no COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday. In the region, one infection each has been confirmed in Pike, Greene and Schuyler counties. There are 10 confirmed infections in Jersey County, 22 in Macoupin County, and 68 in Sangamon County. Statewide, there were 1,551 new cases of coronavirus disease and 119 additional deaths reported Tuesday, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. There were 33,059 cases in 96 counties in Illinois as of Tuesday and 1,468 deaths, according to the state health department. By Express News Service BENGALURU: This Earth Day, which falls on April 22, musicians from six countries will be getting together for a concert like perhaps never before. Organised by Bengaluru-based Grammy Award winning musician and environmentalist Ricky Kej, the online concert will have over 40 musicians from India, USA, Senegal, South Africa, Australia and Vietnam, performing from their respective homes. The event is being held in partnership with organisations like UNICEF, United Nations Climate Change and WWF. Thematically, we wanted to look at the environment, sustainability, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the intersectional relationship between all of them, says Kej. The concert, titled Ricky Kej LIVE at One Page Spotlight, is in support of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for WHO, powered by the United Nations Foundation. Besides Kej, the lineup includes other Grammy winners like Laura Dickinson (joining from Los Angeles), Wouter Kellerman (from Melbourne), PT Vishwa Mohan Bhatt (from Jaipur) and Grammy nominee Lonnie Park (from New York). Rehearsals for this pre-recorded concert began two weeks ago, with Kej conducting one-on-one rehearsals with the different musicians. We got lucky since each of the artistes is technically sound. Also, we know each others music styles well, he explains, adding that the biggest challenge was conducting rehearsals with the 30-member South African Mzansi Youth Choir. Its not easy to get 30 members to stay in sync as they perform individually from their own homes. We also added a choreography for them, he reveals. Given that even a one millisecond latency or lag can throw off a musician, Kej felt a pre-recorded concert (though recorded live, it will not be broadcast live) would be the best way to deliver this venture. Online concerts, he explains, are a good way for musicians to readapt to the current scenario, where many future in-person concerts have been called off. Fourteen of my concerts in six countries stand cancelled. But online initiatives like this help musicians continue expressing themselves musically while also engaging with an audience, says Kej.The concert can be viewed on Ricky Kejs Facebook and YouTube platforms at 8pm IST. Former Stanford University President Donald Kennedy died on Tuesday of COVID-19 at a Redwood City long-term care facility, the university announced. He was 88. Kennedy, a neurobiologist, became the eighth president of Stanford in 1980. The university credits him for helping transform Stanford into one of the nations top research universities during his 12-year tenure, but his presidency was tainted by a financial scandal at Stanford that led to his 1992 resignation. Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne said the community is mourning the loss of a man who made enormous contributions to Stanford and to the country. As a biologist, as a national voice for science, as a vigorous leader of Stanford University and as an engaging teacher beloved by so many students, Don brought to his endeavors an enduring commitment to academic excellence, a deep wellspring of warmth and good humor and a vision for the possibilities always ahead of Stanford, Tessier-Lavigne said in a statement. In the early 1990s, the university came under fire for allegations that it had overcharged the federal government by as much as $200 million for research-related costs. In 1994, however, Stanford reached a $1.2 million settlement that cleared the university of wrongdoing. Nothing would have suited me better than to be departing in an era of noncontroversy, Kennedy said at the time. But facts are facts. Campus figures remember Kennedys warmth, devotion to students and engaging teaching style. He joined the faculty in 1960 as a biology instructor. As president, he invited students to join him on morning runs. Through teaching, advising and cheering them on whether on the field, in the classroom, on the stage or in the biology labs some of my very best Stanford experiences involved my interactions with undergraduates, Kennedy wrote in his 2018 memoir A Place in the Sun. 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. Outside of his work at Stanford, Kennedy served as commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for two years under President Jimmy Carter. He was editor in chief of Science from 2000 to 2008. Kennedy lived at Gordon Manor for the past two years after suffering a stroke in 2015. County and state officials have not provided information about the apparent outbreak at the facility, and Gordon Manor representatives did not respond to requests for comment. Kennedy was born in New York City in 1931 and earned a bachelors degree, masters degree and doctorate at Harvard University. He is survived by his wife, four children and nine grandchildren. A celebration of life will be planned when people can again safely congregate. Anna Bauman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: anna.bauman@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @abauman2 Trump says to ban immigration into US over 'coronavirus pandemic' Iran Press TV Tuesday, 21 April 2020 5:49 AM President Donald Trump has said he will sign an executive order suspending all immigration to the United States as the coronavirus crisis deepens. "In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States," he claimed in a tweet late on Monday. Trump's decision, which has drawn condemnation from Democrats, is in line with one of his long-term policy goals of curbing immigration. The president had promised in 2016 to curb immigration by building a wall on the US border with Mexico, and launched a crackdown on both legal and illegal entries into the country soon after he assumed office. The White House gave no further details about the timing of the suspension, and long it would be in place, and what effect it would have on the operation of US border crossings, and on those who already hold green cards. "You cut off immigration, you crater our nation's already weakened economy. What a dumb move" former Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro said in a tweet. Trump halted travel from much of Europe in mid-March and restricted travel from China in January as the virus spread. COVID-19 has infected more than 780,000 people in the US, and killed 42,000 as of early Tuesday morning. More than 22 million Americans have lost their jobs because of the pandemic, wiping out a decade of job gains in the country. Only last week, 5.2 million people filed unemployment claims. Trump has been widely criticized for initially downplaying the coronavirus, which he likened to flu, before later accepting that it was a national emergency. The president, who is seeking reelection in November, has appeared impatient with preventive measures intended to slow the spread of the virus, voicing his support for anti-lockdown protesters outraged by US governors' stay-at-home orders. Trump has said parts of the country can begin to loosen lockdown restrictions and reopen the economy amid the rising virus death toll. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US President Donald Trump has spoken with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and the two leaders agreed to work together on a coordinated response to defeat the coronavirus and minimize its economic impact, the White House said Wednesday. This was the first call between the two leaders during the coronavirus pandemic. Trump and Khan had a bilateral meeting in Davos in January on the sidelines of the Davos Economic Summit. The leaders discussed developments in the global fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and agreed to continue working together on a coordinated response to defeat the virus and minimize its economic impact, the White House said in a readout of the call. The two leaders also discussed regional security and other bilateral issues, it said. In Pakistan, the virus has killed 209 people and infected 10,072 others. Company temporarily closes its Logansport facility, while working closely with Cass County health officials to help keep team members and the community safe during the COVID-19 global health pandemic SPRINGDALE, Ark., April 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc., the beef and pork subsidiary of Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE: TSN), announced today that its Logansport, Ind., facility will voluntarily close while its more than 2,200 team members undergo testing. The company is working closely with the Cass County Health Department to conduct COVID-19 testing beginning as early as tomorrow. The pork processing facility, which produces three million pounds of pork daily and helps support more than 250 independent family farmers from across nine states, suspended production for one day on April 20 for additional deep cleaning and sanitizing. Since then, the facility has been running at limited production and is expected to stop production on or before Saturday, April 25. While we understand the necessity of keeping our facilities operational so that we can continue to feed the nation, the safety of our team members remains our top priority, said Steve Stouffer, group president of Tyson Fresh Meats. Our company is deeply embedded in our plant communities, including Logansport. Were working with the county to make sure our people and the community are safe. The combination of worker absenteeism, COVID-19 cases and community concerns has resulted in a collective decision to close. Affected Logansport team members will continue to be compensated while the plant is closed. Resumption of operations will depend on a variety of factors, including the outcome of team member testing for COVID-19. Tyson Fresh Meats is working with the county health department on plans to re-open as quickly as possible. Were pleased with Tysons collaboration to protect our community, said Dr. Dori Ditty, health officer of Cass County Health Department. Tyson Fresh Meats is an economic anchor for our community and is critical for the food supply. We want to get the facility back up and running as safely and quickly as possible, which is why weve both decided to close the facility in order to test all employees. Were aware that while employees are practicing protective measures at work, they may not be practicing it at home which is critical to help stop overall community spread, Ditty said. Tyson has done its part in implementing measures and are now working with us to test workers. Were making a clear commitment to do our part to mitigate the spread within the community by reinforcing CDC guidelines in our county. Tyson Fresh Meats opened its doors for a group of county and state officials to tour the facility, said Cass County Commissioner, Ryan Browning. We were impressed with the aggressive protective measures the company has implemented. We observed social distancing measures such as installing workstation dividers, putting barriers on break tables to create distance, and putting foot door operators so people dont have to touch doorknobs. Information is key in helping prevent the spread of COVID-19. Throughout their facility, flyers were posted in a number of languages with CDC guidance. Tyson Foods has been focused on COVID-19 since January when it formed a company coronavirus task force. It has since implemented numerous measures to protect workers. It was one of the first food companies to start taking worker temperatures and is in the process of installing more than 150 infrared temperature scanners in its facilities. The company started efforts to secure a supply of face coverings before the CDC recommended them and now requires their use in all facilities. In an effort to promote social distancing, many company facilities have installed workstation dividers and are providing more breakroom space. While Tyson Foods is working with local officials to protect team members during this ever-changing situation, the company takes its responsibility seriously to continue feeding people across the country during this global health pandemic. Closing facilities has serious implications to the national food supply for American families, local communities, growers and farmers, Stouffer said. When a facility closes, the availability of protein for consumers across the nation will only decrease. Consumers will see an impact at the grocery store as production slows. It also means the loss of a vital market outlet for farmers and contributes to the disruption of the nations pork supply. Tyson Foods announced recently its plans to indefinitely suspend operations at Tyson Fresh Meats Waterloo, Iowa, pork plant this week. The companys other meat and poultry plants currently continue to operate, but some are running at reduced levels of production either due to the planned implementation of additional worker safety precautions or worker absenteeism. The company has suspended production for a day at some locations for additional deep cleaning and sanitization. About Tyson Foods Tyson Foods, Inc. is one of the worlds largest food companies and a recognized leader in protein. Founded in 1935 by John W. Tyson and grown under three generations of family leadership, the company has a broad portfolio of products and brands like Tyson, Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm, Ball Park, Wright, Aidells, ibp and State Fair. Tyson Foods innovates continually to make protein more sustainable, tailor food for everywhere its available and raise the worlds expectations for how much good food can do. Headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas, the company has 141,000 team members. Through its Core Values, Tyson Foods strives to operate with integrity, create value for its shareholders, customers, communities and team members and serve as a steward of the animals, land and environment entrusted to it. Visit TYSONFOODS.COM . About Cass County Health Department Cass County Health Department is in Logansport, Indiana. It serves approximately 38,000 residents in the rural community. The Cass County Health Department works closely with the local hospital, law enforcement and government to promote health and safety throughout the community. The civil lawsuit, filed in federal court by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, alleges negligence, among other claims. It says Missouri and its residents suffered possibly tens of billions of dollars in economic damages, and seeks cash compensation. In Beijing, a spokesman for China's foreign ministry dismissed the accusation on Wednesday as "nothing short of absurdity" and lacking any factual or legal basis. Missouri became on Tuesday the first U.S. state to sue the Chinese government over its handling of the coronavirus, saying that China's response to the outbreak that originated in the city of Wuhan brought devastating economic losses to the state. "The Chinese government lied to the world about the danger and contagious nature of COVID-19, silenced whistleblowers, and did little to stop the spread of the disease," Schmitt, a Republican, said in a statement. "They must be held accountable for their actions." The lawsuit also accuses the Chinese government of making the pandemic worse by "hoarding" masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE). U.S. President Donald Trump, also a Republican, initially lavished praise on China and his counterpart Xi Jinping for the official response to the outbreak, which has since spread worldwide to infect more than 2.5 million people. But he and other senior U.S. officials have also referred to it as the "Chinese virus" and in recent days have ramped up their rhetoric. China is already facing similar lawsuits filed in U.S. courts on behalf of U.S. business owners. International law experts told Reuters that efforts in U.S. courts to hold China liable for the virus would probably fail. A legal doctrine called sovereign immunity offers foreign governments broad protection from being sued in U.S. courts, said Tom Ginsburg, a professor of international law at the University of Chicago. Ginsburg said he thought the recent flurry of lawsuits against China serves a political end for Republican leaders facing an election in November. "We are seeing a lot of people on the political right focus on the China issue to cover up for the U.S. government's own errors," Ginsburg said. Trump initially downplayed the seriousness of the virus, which has killed more than 43,000 people in the United States, out of nearly 800,000 infections, by Tuesday. It has also forced state governors to declare stay-at-home orders that have shuttered businesses and social activities, leading a record 22 million people to seek unemployment benefits in the past month. "If the United States wants to bring claims against China, it will have to do so in an international forum," said Chimene Keitner, an international law professor at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. "There is no civil jurisdiction over such claims in U.S. courts." In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang also said China's response was not under the jurisdiction of U.S. courts, adding that it had provided updates on the outbreak to the United States since Jan. 3. "Such abuse of litigation is not conducive to the epidemic response at home in the United States and also runs counter to international cooperation," Geng told a daily briefing on Wednesday, speaking about Missouri's move. "What the United States should do is refute and reject such abuse of litigation." A mannequin dressed in traffic uniform is seen installed at Mysore road in Bengaluru. (PTI) Bengaluru: A dentist in Bengaluru has suddenly become the toast of the town for not only saving a migrant woman labourer, who delivered her child on the pavement, but also reviving her newborn. Though the incident occurred on April 14 morning, it came to light only recently with social media users showering praises on Ramya Himanish, who runs a dental clinic in Dodda Bommasandra. The migrant labourer Shanti from North India had walked seven kilometres looking for a hospital and when she could not find one, she delivered the baby, as she went into labour, on the pavement next to the clinic, which had not opened by then. As the child did not respond, the husband wrapped it with a newspaper assuming it had died. The dentist noticed the woman lying on the pedestrian platform, bleeding and immediately took her to the clinic. "When I went there, I saw the woman bleeding. I brought her inside and provided treatment. Then I checked the baby. After the resuscitation process, the child came to life," Dr Himanish told reporters. Later, the doctor called an ambulance and sent the woman with the newborn to a government hospital for further treatment. French fast-food lovers have been sitting in three-hour traffic jams to tuck into their first McDonald's since the stores shuttered in the coronavirus lockdown. After weeks of being mothballed, the restaurant chain has reopened a handful of its drive-thrus including three in the northern Ile-de-France region. It triggered a rush of people descending on the Golden Arches, causing roads to become gummed up as congestion ground to a standstill. Extraordinary scenes showed a mammoth tailback from the McDonald's branch in Moissy-Cramayel, Seine-et-Marne. But while locals were thrilled their outlet was among the first to start flipping Big Macs on Monday, their euphoria was not shared by chefs who have been slaving away in isolation. Extraordinary scenes showed a mammoth tailback from the McDonald's branch in Moissy-Cramayel, Seine-et-Marne Florent Ladeyn, a local chef who has been selling farm produce at cost price during isolation, scolded those who stampeded to buy burgers. He wrote on Facebook: 'After 6 weeks of volunteering to sell superb products from virtuous and independent farmers at cost price, reading this hurts... 'Three hours in line to poison and support a multinational billionaire that is ruining our planet.' Food-lovers began descending on the McDonald's from 11am and the surge of customers continued until closing time at 11pm. Valentine Pelous, who filmed the rush, said the congestion forced people to wait for three hours. One motorist, Joshua, 24, told local media: 'I had to use another road to go home because it was so gridlocked.' The reopening triggered a rush of people descending on the Golden Arches, causing roads to become gummed up as congestion ground to a standstill Drivers crawl through gridlocked traffic to get their hands on McDonald's after the branch reopened on Monday He said: 'I thought I'd stop there on my way home, but there were already so many cars... I couldn't. 'In the evening when I went to play sports, there were even more people. Some friends waited up to three hours to get their McDonald's!' The mad scramble even prompted some in Twitter to call for the restaurants to shut shop again. News of the opening quickly spread throughout the area and even pulled in punters from neighbouring towns. Sebastien, another local, said: 'I went shopping around 5pm and the queue was already snail-paced. It must have lasted until 10pm. According to local media, McDonald's employees are required to wear masks and are refusing cash payments. France is trying to wrestle back one of the world's largest coronavirus outbreaks, with 159,000 cases and 20,829 deaths. President Emmanuel Macron has warned that the majority of the country will remain under lockdown, although schools will reopen next month. Designer: Paul Costelloe says he will not be showcasing his clothes on the digital platform in June London Fashion Week has moved its style conversation to a gender-neutral, digital platform in June as the Covid-19 lockdown endures. The British Fashion Council (BFC) yesterday announced that the June event - normally limited to menswear only - will now include womenswear, and instead of back-to-back physical catwalk shows, it will be a world of virtual showrooms to which the public will now have access. For the next 12 months, all London Fashion Weeks will merge womenswear and menswear into one gender-neutral platform. Caroline Rush, chief executive of the BFC, said that by "creating a cultural fashion week platform, we are adapting digital innovation to best fit our needs today and something to build on as a global showcase for the future". For those designers who have collections ready, they will share them online. Digital lookbooks, videos, Q&As, podcasts and direct-to-consumer e-tail will roll out from June 12. It's a case of west looking east as fashion weeks in Russia and Shanghai have both been run entirely online. Irish designer Paul Costelloe, who first showed at London Fashion Week in the early 1980s, said while he had his sketches and fabrics for SS21, nothing was yet made and he would not be showing womenswear on the digital platform in June. He said the BFC had confirmed that brands can show at either fashion week, June or September. "They've said they were not forcing brands to change their collections at all but were simply making the calendar more flexible," said Costelloe. Video of the Day Wexford designer Richard Malone welcomed the move to take LFW co-ed. Katie Ann McGuigan, who is making hospital scrubs for the NHS back in her native Newry, said: "We are looking at maybe doing smaller collections and thinking of alternative ways, if September gets interrupted, on how to show our collection in a more digital format." Online fashion firm Boohoo.com saw group sales soar 44 per cent to 1.23billion last year, though it experienced a noticeable fallback last month as fashion sales plummeted due to the fallout from the coronavirus. Its Boohoo and Pretty Little Thing divisions both had revenues climb 38 per cent in the year to the end of February, while sales at its smaller American brand Nasty Gal shot up 106 per cent to 98.9million. Pre-tax profit grew 54 per cent to 92.2million on the back of an expansion in its womenswear range, higher customer numbers in all three of its brands, and improving efficiency at its distribution centres. Manchester-based Boohoo also owns the Pretty Little Thing and Nasty Gal brands In line with the majority of fashion retailers, though, the fast-fashion group has seen its sales harmed by the coronavirus pandemic. Online clothing sales dived 23.1 per cent last month compared to March 2019, mimicking the decline on the high street, where March sales sank 25.9 per cent, according to the BDO High Street Sales Tracker. Yet it says that its performance has 'improved in more recent weeks' and it is now undergoing higher group sales this month. Boohoo's chief executive John Lyttle commented: 'Whilst recent events have understandably overshadowed what has been a great year for Boohoo, they have also highlighted its key strengths. 'Our business is founded on our ability to be agile and flexible, and it is at times like this when these abilities are tested, and I am proud of how our colleagues and business partners from around the world have responded to the challenges posed by this pandemic.' The majority of its sales were in its domestic UK market, followed by the USA and the Rest of Europe, which expanded 59 per cent and 64 per cent respectively. The majority of its sales were in its domestic UK market, followed by the USA and the Rest of Europe, which expanded by 59 per cent and 64 per cent respectively During the 2019/20 financial year, the business helped to grow its market share by purchasing three struggling fashion brands MissPap, Karen Millen and Coast. Boohoo rescued the latter two out of administration for 18million. The Manchester-based company, which was founded by Carol Kane and Mahmud Kamani in 2006, recently had to withdraw fashion face masks this week after receiving a firestorm of public criticism, for which it apologised. 'Eat, sleep, isolate, repeat,' and 'If you can read this, you are too close' were among the messages written on the black face masks, which the firm acknowledged was not designed for protection. Boohoo has implemented strict guidelines for its employees during the Covid-19 lockdown period. It has ordered the 'vast majority' of its office staff to work remotely and instituting social distancing measures at its warehouses. 'CEO John Little remarked that in spite of the 'near-term uncertainty in the markets that we operate in, the group is underpinned by its incredibly strong balance sheet and is well-placed to leverage its scalable multi-brand platform and to continue to disrupt fashion markets around the world.' Shares in the Boohoo Group were up 6 per cent at 287.7p by midday. The spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Germany STUTTGART (Reuters) - Mercedes-Benz is ramping up engine production at its plant in Bad Cannstatt, Stuttgart, this week after Germany eased lockdown measures in a sign Europe's largest economy is getting back to work after the coronavirus brought the country to a standstill. Daimler , parent company of Mercedes-Benz, is gradually opening its plants in Europe using lessons learned from resuming production at its plant in China, to ensure that the coronavirus does not spread among workers in Germany. "Anywhere we can not guarantee a 1.5 metre distance, employees are required to wear face masks," said Frank Deiss, vice president of powertrain production. Daimler has spread out shifts so that workers no longer run into each other. Unlike Italy and Spain, Germany never banned car production, though factories came to a standstill after authorities restricted the movement of people and ordered the closure of car dealerships, hitting demand. Mercedes-Benz plants in Hamburg, Berlin and Untertuerkheim will also resume production this week, with plants in Sindelfingen and Bremen also making preparations to ramp up production. (Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Mark Potter) Belfast City Council has been branded "deplorable" after deciding bin collection staff will no longer receive an extra 30 a day as hazard pay during the Covid-19 crisis. The pay was introduced on March 25 when the council announced it was temporarily scaling back bin collections over health and safety concerns for staff. The council has now said that there is no longer an "identified need" to continue paying the allowance. People Before Profit councillor Fiona Ferguson has said the hazard pay must be offered to "all front line staff" after it ceased yesterday. "The decision by Belfast City Council to remove extra pay from workers on the front line of a health pandemic is deplorable," she said. "It sends out the message that Belfast City Council recognises the danger workers are facing during this crisis, but isn't willing to foot the bill for supplementing their wages accordingly. "We in People Before Profit have been calling for weeks for hazard pay to be implemented for all council staff who are bravely risking their health to keep our city functioning. Council management have just done the opposite." Ms Ferguson added that her party was not consulted by council bosses before the decision to remove the pay incentive was made. Belfast City Council said: "A payment was introduced on March 25 for employees who were undertaking duties within the revised Covid-19 operating model on waste collection routes. "Employees were advised that the payment was subject to review. "Following the latest review, which was carried out on April 17, it has been decided there is no longer an identified need to continue paying the allowance." Authorities in the northeastern Chinese province of Heilongjiang have imposed travel restrictions in the wake of a fresh outbreak of coronavirus cases triggered by people arriving from Russia. Officials in Harbin, Heilongjiang's provincial capital, which is home to some 10 million people, have banned entry to residential compounds to non-locals and vehicles registered elsewhere. Anyone arriving from outside China or "key epidemic areas" is being ordered into quarantine, the city government said. "All confirmed cases, suspected cases, close contacts of asymptomatic people, and close contacts of close contacts should be quarantined and tested," the government said in an announcement carried by official media. Anyone arriving in Harbin from overseas will be place in 28 days of quarantine with mandatory testing, while residential compounds with confirmed and asymptomatic cases will be locked down for 14 days, the government said. The city, which has air links with Russia, reported seven new confirmed cases of coronavirus on , bringing total confirmed cases to 537, although 470 of those have been discharged. Three infected travelers arrived from Russia, while health authorities have around 1,400 people under medical observation after they were in contact with known cases. Near-total information lockdown A Harbin resident surnamed Wang said the authorities have imposed a near-total information lockdown regarding the coronavirus. "They won't let us say anything [on social media]; if we do, they will shut our account down immediately," Wang told RFA. "I don't know what to say; I am pretty much in isolation right now, and I am in a lot of trouble." "It's because of some opinions I posted about current affairs," he said. "I only shared some items of common sense that are part of popular culture right now." Elsewhere in Heilongjiang, Mudanjiang city confirmed it has two current cases. Of the recent infections in Harbin, 78 people were believed infected by an 87-year-old man surnamed Chen after he attended a family dinner and stayed at two hospitals. Contact tracing revealed that he had infected family members, fellow hospital patients and their families, and doctors and nurses, both through direct and indirect contact, the provincial health commission said. The infection cluster has already traveled to the neighboring province of Liaoning, which reported one confirmed case from the Heilongjiang cluster. Authorities in China reported 30 new confirmed cases on , 23 of them in recent arrivals from overseas, bring the total number of confirmed cases to 82,788, with 4,632 deaths. Citizen journalist and former state TV anchor Li Zehua, who emerged with brief post to social media for the first time since his detention two months ago in the central city of Wuhan, April, 2, 2020. Li Zehua Citizen journalist emerges to questions Citizen journalist and former state TV anchor Li Zehua on made a brief post to social media for the first time since his detention two months ago in the central city of Wuhan. Li said he was being well-treated by law enforcement. "The police treated me in a civilized manner while enforcing the law, ensuring that I had adequate rest and food," he said. He said he had been taken back to his hometown after being held in quarantine, but that police wouldn't be pursuing criminal charges against him. Rights activist Ou Biaofeng said the authorities likely told him to make the post to calm speculation about Li's fate and fears for his well-being. "I think they are just doing this to create a false impression," Ou said. "They should never have disappeared him in the first place; he should never have been detained." Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Wong Lok-to for the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Bollywood actor Aparshakti Khurana gave a funny twist to handstands as he posted a video of himself doing the exercise on Wednesday on Instagram. Quoting his parents, the actor said that standing on ones own feet is old school, so he decided to stand on his hands instead. He posted the video and wrote on Instagram, Mom Dad were like apne paero pe khada hona is old school, haatho pe khade ho toh kuch baat hai So I did as they said. Saquib Saleem was quick to reply to the post and wrote, Whattey gymnast. Earlier this week, Aparshakti had shared an audio short film with his fans. Posting the clip on Instagram, Aparshakti wrote, #HisaabBarabar For those who dont know, I was working at a radio station 5 years ago and was working on a pilot of my new audio show but destiny had other plans and Dangal happened (which I am grateful of till date), because of which I had to leave the pilot midway. The idea of this audio show was so close to my heart that it continued to linger in my mind for the last 5 years. Also read: Priyanka Chopra donates 10,000 pairs of footwear to healthcare workers in India He further wrote, One of the segments was to be called YEH DILLI HAI MERE YAAR, where in I would have released one audio short film every Friday. Coming up is a story called Hisaab Barabar which is written and voiced by me and packaged by @rajitsen (audio) and @jvfilms_ (video) Just FYI, I might not have patience and energy to write and voice more stories but I shall try only if you like this one. Aparshakti is under quarantine inside his own house. Speaking about the lockdown amid coronavirus outbreak, the actor told Hindustan Times in an interview, My wife (Akriti Khurana) would complain about me not taking out time for myself, and right now, I feel this small pause in all our lives has really made us know ourselves better. I just called a school friend after 14 years and took his mothers number for her nimbu ka achar recipe. Another school friend in the UK has made a Whatsapp group for the entire batch and in a weeks time we have 74 people out of the 90 on it. Its really nostalgic. Follow @htshowbiz for more This California Town Is Testing Every Resident for Coronavirus and Antibodies A remote Northern California hamlet became one of the first places in the world on Monday to attempt to comprehensively test all of its residents for COVID-19, and the antibodies that are believed to make one immune from infection. The community-wide free testing effort in Bolinas, California, is voluntary. The town is one of two communities taking part in the new study launched by the University of California, San Francisco with the aim of gaining a more complete understanding of how the virus invisibly spread during the initial shortfall of comprehensive nationwide testing. Bolinas, with a population of fewer than 2,000 people, sits idyllically on the Pacific Ocean in rural Marin County, just north of San Francisco. Starting this past Monday, residents of this picturesque town have four days to visit a pop-up testing site to receive nasal swabs for COVID-19 infection, as well as submit for a finger prick to test for antibodies. Five days later, beginning on April 25, and in an entirely different populous, nearly 6,000 residents of a section of the densely inhabited Mission District in San Francisco will have four days of their own in which to take advantage of the testing. More than 700 residents were tested across the first two days in Bolinas, with 302 people on Monday and another 416 on Tuesday, according to venture capitalist Jyri Engestrom, one of those responsible for making the project a reality. Along with several wealthy tech entrepreneurs, including Mark Pincusthe founder of video game maker Zynga who chipped in the first $100,000a GoFundMe page was launched to help raise the approximately $400,000 needed for the operation. Engestrom notes that 93 percent of the more than 150 donors on GoFundMe donated less than $5,000, and said they have raised around $300,000 to date. The study is led by a team of researchers from the UCSF Division of HIV, Infectious Diseases and Global Medicine at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. All our public health decisions, including when it will be possible to relax regional and statewide shelter-in-place orders, are driven by rough assumptions about how this virus behaves based on very limited data, said Bryan Greenhouse, an associate professor of medicine at UCSF and a CZ Biohub Investigator. Studying in detail how the virus has spread in these two distinctive communities will give us crucial data points that we can extrapolate to better predict how to control the virus in similar communities nationwide. One of the keys to the study may be how many people ultimately submit to the voluntary testing, and as only two days of tests have occurred so far, it may be too early to assess the turnout in the initial stages of the study. There is hope however among the studys organizers that there will be ample demand. The study was proposed in Bolinas as the result of local, grassroots efforts and inspired by earlier efforts in the Italian city of Vo, which tested nearly its entire community and dramatically reduced new CCP virus infections. Medical workers at Kaiser Permanente French Campus test a patient for COVID-19 at a drive-thru testing facility in San Francisco, California on March 12, 2020. (Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images) Last month, an effort by San Miguel County in southwestern Colorado had sought to be the first to sample an entire county in the United States, but the effort was later put on hold when troubles arose with the lab conducting the tests. The county, peppered with 14,000 foot plus peaks, had partnered with United Biomedical, Inc. to conduct the testing, and intended to begin with the more than 7,000 residents in the famed ski town of Telluride, before ultimately delaying the effort. The-CNN-Wire & 2020 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved. (CNN) Virgin Australia has collapsed into administration, one day after billionaire founder Richard Branson made a last-ditch appeal for government support for the country's second biggest airline. The carrier is the industry's latest casualty as the coronavirus pandemic continues to eliminate global demand for travel. The company said Tuesday that it had entered voluntary administration as it looked for money to revive its business, and that it eventually hoped to "emerge stronger on the other side of this crisis." Virgin Australia is the first major airline in Asia Pacific to succumb to the loss of business from the pandemic, which has caused carriers to rip up their flight schedules, ground planes and put staff on unpaid leave. Last month, UK budget carrier Flybe also collapsed, saying its financial challenges were too great to withstand in the context of the pandemic. For now, the Brisbane-based carrier plans to continue operating all scheduled flights, "which are helping to transport essential workers, maintain important freight corridors, and return Australians home," the airline said in a filing posted on the Australian stock exchange. The news came just hours after Branson implored the Australian government to step in, warning on Monday that the carrier urgently needed help to keep going. The billionaire businessman, who has already pumped $250 million into Virgin Group companies in response to the pandemic, also said he would offer his Necker Island estate in the Caribbean as collateral. Virgin Atlantic, Branson's British airline, is also seeking a commercial loan from the UK government, and has put its staff on several months of unpaid leave. In a call with reporters Tuesday, administrators said there was no immediate plan for any layoffs at Virgin Australia. The carrier already halted most operations in recent weeks, with 95 percent of flights cut and 80 percent of the workforce temporarily off the job, CEO Paul Scurrah said. Virgin Australia normally has 10,000 employees, with another 6,000 workers indirectly employed, he added. Vaughan Strawbridge, a partner at Deloitte in Australia who is serving as a voluntary administrator, said the company had started looking for new owners or investors to help recover the business. "The intent is to seek to sell the majority, if not all of the business, as one," said Strawbridge. So far, more than 10 parties have already expressed an interest in taking a stake, and the company expects to have a better sense of its future over approximately the next two months, he added. "This is not intended to be a long, protracted process," he said. Branson has argued that Virgin Australia is essential in maintaining competition to the country's flagship airline, Qantas. "If Virgin Australia disappears, Qantas would effectively have a monopoly of the Australian skies," he wrote in an open letter this week. The Australian Treasury said Tuesday that it would work with Virgin Australia's administrators "to ensure Australia maintains two commercially viable airlines." "Our objective is to help keep as many employees as possible in their jobs, a second major domestic airline in the sky, prices down and competition maintained," Australian Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg wrote in a joint statement. A spokesperson for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission also said it was working with Virgin "to identify expected next steps." In addition to approaching the government, the company had looked to investors for help. Outside the Virgin Group, the airline's major shareholders include Etihad Airways and Singapore Airlines. But "our shareholders were unlikely to be able to participate ... given they are all suffering from Covid-19," Scurrah told reporters Tuesday. In another message addressed to employees on Tuesday, Branson called out the Australian government, saying "this is not the end for Virgin Australia." "In most countries federal governments have stepped in, in this unprecedented crisis for aviation, to help their airlines. Sadly, that has not happened in Australia," he wrote. "I want to assure all of you and our competitor that we are determined to see Virgin Australia back up and running soon." Hanna Ziady contributed to this report, which was first published on CNN.com. Editor's note: The headline of this story has been updated to reflect that previous changes made in March and April amounted to an overall increase of 40% for the program's benefits. The United States Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday that it increased its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits by 40% to assist families struggling in light of coronavirus layoffs and financial insecurity. Kansas City Style Cutback Emptied salons, independent contractors feel cut out of relief funds with few options "There's nothing that we can skim off to make our businesses run more efficiently. There's not a lot of room [to make changes] and be OK," Lauren Euston said. 'We need support from our government in getting us microloans that are forgiven." Urban Pandemic Surveillance Kansas City to add $800,000 for COVID-19 testing and tracing, targeted east of Troost Kansas City is gearing up to add $800,000 toits response to the coronavirus pandemic following a City Council committee vote on Wednesday. Most of the money would pay for contracts with outside agencies to provide more testing for the coronavirus. Deadly KCK COVID-19 Hotspot Investigation Continues . . . KCK facility where 27 have died gets inspected MISSION, Kan. (AP) - Inspections are underway at a Kansas City, Kansas, rehabilitation facility where 27 people have died of COVID-19 and dozens more have contracted the disease. The deaths at Riverbend Post-Acute Rehabilitation account for nearly a quarter of Kansas' 110 deaths from the COVID-19 disease caused by the coronavirus. KC Earth Day Cleanup KC Parks urge residents to 'Make a Difference While You Distance' KANSAS CITY, Mo. - In conjunction with the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, KC Parks is encouraging visitors to its parks and trails to Make a Difference While You Distance. The city's parks department is asking residents who visit the parks in the coming days - families or individuals, and not groups - to consider packing a trash bag and gloves to pick up litter along the way. Insta Hotness Explored Demi Rose Flashes Her Bright Smile & Voluptuous Chest In Latest Instagram Snap Demi Rose Mawby was all smiles in her latest Instagram update. On Tuesday, the model uploaded a snap that featured her flashing her pearly whites - and her voluptuous chest - for the camera. Demi's post was an ad for an aesthetic dentist. Prez Trump Tweet Diplomacy Trump tweets order to 'destroy' Iranian boats. Pentagon calls it a warning. President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he had directed the Navy to "shoot down" Iranian gunboats that harass U.S. ships, but Pentagon officials said they had received no new directives. Trump created a stir when he made the announcement via Twitter just after 8 a.m. Progressive Rant Against Prez Covid-19 Highlights Trump's Malignant Narcissism - And Proves Americans Will Survive Despite Him One piece of wisdom from ancient Rome has guided astute public health officials dealing with epidemics for 2,000 years: "Cito, longe, tarde." That's Latin for "Leave quickly. Go far away. Come back slowly." Faced with a highly contagious, lethal disease for which there is no known cure, President Donald Trump has ignored that timeless advice. AOC Hates Ur Job Ocasio-Cortez Condescends: Americans Should Refuse To Go Back To Work Speaking on a new talk show that will premiere Wednesday night, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who receives an annual salary of $174,000 and whose remarks this month about the United States have engendered an incendiary response, urged Americans to refuse to go back to work once the economy begins to open up. KEEP CHECKS COMING!!! Here are Congress' next steps in response to the coronavirus pandemic As Congress moves to pass its latest $484 billion coronavirus relief bill this week, leaders have started to detail their goals for additional legislation as part of an unprecedented emergency response. The measure approved by the Senate on Tuesday puts about another $370 billion into aid for small businesses damaged by the pandemic, along with $75 billion in relief for hospitals and $25 billion to expand testing. Captivity Cuteness Debuts 'Welcome Leilani': Kansas City Zoo introduces baby northern white-cheeked gibbon KANSAS CITY, Mo. - There's a new addition at the Kansas City Zoo. Zoo keepers say Leilani, a northern white-cheeked gibbon, was born in February. Her species is critically endangered, according to zoo keepers, which makes her birth extra special. "When the Zoo reopens, be sure to stop by the Tropics to visit Leilani and [...] Kansas City Meal Deals 3 Kansas City grocery stores with the best meal deals Banh cuon thit ($5) at Hung Vuong Market 303 Grand Blvd., KCMO Banh cuon thit is traditionally a light Vietnamese breakfast that's worthy of eating anytime. Look for these steamed sheets of rolled rice noodles filled with ground pork and black mushrooms near the checkout counter's packaged foods at this River Market grocery store. Cowtown Spring Showers Rain likely off-and-on throughout Wednesday Hide Transcript Show Transcript COMMUNITY BUT NOT NECESSARILY PHYSICALLY IN THE COMMUNITY. MIGHT NOT WANT TO DO THAT TODAY. CLOUDY WITH RAIN LIKELY OFF AND ON THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. WE'VE GOT A LOT OF THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY ACROSS THE PLAINS THIS MORNING IN ARKANSAS, ANOTHER STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN NORTHERN OKLAHOMA. We start the afternoon with, pop culture, community news and info from around the world . . .And this it thefor right now . . . The coronavirus arrived in Mexico one month after it invaded the United States. Now, it is hitting our southern neighbor hard. Mexico started the week with 8,772 confirmed cases, but Mexican health officials believe the real number is eight times higher. Mexico lacks the capabilities needed to weather an epidemic. It has insufficient medical personnel, testing kits, and ventilators. There is a high probability this neighbor, our number one trading partner going into the pandemic, will be in very bad shape by the time its over. Rebuilding will be a serious struggle for Mexico. The United States should lend a hand and the sooner, the better. As our own progress in bringing the epidemic under control allows, we should start providing key countries with medical support. Mexico should be at the top of that list. Here are five reasons why. A Dangerous dependence on China Testing kits and personal protective equipment are essential to getting the disease under control. Mexico needs them, but there are few suppliers anywhere, except in China. Beijing has largely cornered the global PPE market, and it hoards lifesaving supplies. It is selling these items to Mexico, but not out of altruism. (Further, their testing kits and masks have proved to be unreliable.) Rather, China is trying to make a buck and cultivate the image of a life-saving benefactor. Chinas attempt to cover up the coronavirus outbreak is what created this worldwide pandemic. The United States cannot let Beijing whitewash its crimes and profit from them. And our neighbors deserve medical supplies that actually work. Better preparation for a second wave Like much of the world, Mexico was caught off guard this time. That cannot happen again. Much is known about U.S.-Mexico cooperation on trade, security, and immigration, but there is also extensive collaboration on public health. We do not need to reinvent the wheel here. The existing mechanisms for cooperation are already in place. Revitalizing Americas economy North of the border, we also need Mexico to be back in business. While interests diverge in some areas, the robust trade relationship, particularly after the improvements in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal, is a win for both countries. Six million American jobs are supported by the economic relationship. On an average day, $1.7 billion in manufactured goods and services cross the U.S.-Mexico border. Yet social-distancing policies have dramatically scaled back economic productivity in both countries. Lacking in medical supplies, Mexico has shut down factories and limited other business operations. If the United States fails to facilitate Mexicos recovery efforts, American businesses dependent on cross-border commerce will be vulnerable even after the United States opens up. Also, the direr the unemployment situation in Mexico, the greater the odds that we will see a rise in illegal immigration. North American strength lowers reliance on China Strengthening our partnerships with Mexico and Canada will allow us all to rely less on China in the global supply chain. Lessening vulnerabilities to U.S. supply chains is a key pillar of our economic reconstruction. China cannot be trusted to control important industries. Binational manufacturers in North America are uniquely suited to fix this problem. Companies were already moving production out of China and into Mexico before the pandemic. The United States and Mexico need to accelerate this trend. Reinforcing the benefits of trade A prosperous Mexico will heighten the benefits we receive from the USMCA. The trade deal will catalyze the American economy only if Canada and Mexico are up and running. Mexico has drastically scaled back its productive capacity to prevent a worsening of the outbreak. The United States wisely shipped 1,000 ventilators to Mexico last week to help mitigate the health crisis. As the United States health condition improves, we should increasingly provide medical assistance and coordinate economic recovery efforts. U.S. President Donald Trump and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador are not the only players in the effort to limit the health and economic damage resulting from the pandemic. Both countries need to give the private sector, civil society, and state and local officials particularly those along the border a seat at the table. Border security is obviously a factor for both countries but so are the vital manufacturing industries along the border. Focusing on our common interests will help the bilateral relationship emerge stronger from this. Ana Quintana is a senior policy analyst specializing in Latin America for The Heritage Foundation. James Jay Carafano is a Heritage Foundation vice president, in charge of the think tanks research in matters of national security and foreign relations. The views expressed are the authors own. Baidu has partnered with China's National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA), the China Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA), and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) to disseminate authoritative information about biodiversity to netizens and promote sustainable lifestyles. Experts at these partner organizations have provided Baidu high-quality content about wildlife conservation, which Baidu is now using to optimize search results on its information-centered platforms, including Baidu App, Baidu Knows, Baidu Encyclopedia, and others. For example, in response to a search query about selling wildlife, Baidu will display an explanation of the relevant Chinese legal provisions that prohibit selling wildlife in most circumstances. On Baidu App, if a user searches what happens to elephants that lose their tusks, the top result will be a Baidu Knows entry from IFAW that explains the vital importance of tusks for elephants. On Baidu Knows, if a user asks "can I eat Chinese alligator?", the top result will be a response from NFGA explaining that the Chinese alligator is a first-class protected species in China and cannot be eaten. Baidu also launched the Earth Diversity Nature Archive (Earth DNA), an online library for scientific knowledge about wildlife protection, which will include content co-developed by Baidu and its partners. By increasing access to authoritative information about biodiversity, Baidu's aim is for more users to make environmentally-friendly decisions. As the world's largest Chinese language search engine, and with an expansive mobile ecosystem of information and knowledge-centered platforms, Baidu is uniquely positioned to encourage netizens to adopt greener lifestyles and promote a more harmonious relationship between humans and nature. Due to the harmful impacts of humans on the environment, one million animal and plant species are threatened with extinction, according to a May 2019 report from the United Nations on the global state of biodiversity. As the human population and resource consumption continues to grow, safeguarding biodiversity will require concerted efforts from companies, governments, organizations, and individuals around the world. In line with this vision, Baidu, CWCA, and IFAW launched an initiative calling on individual users and peer technology companies to contribute to wildlife protection. The initiative urges users to adhere to laws that protect wildlife, respect nature, and develop green consumption habits. It also calls on technology companies to co-operate to develop AI-powered applications that protect wildlife, and to eliminate illegal wildlife trade on their online platforms. Baidu also launched the "AI Guardian of Endangered Species", an AI-powered tool to identify online images of products related to endangered wildlife, which will empower organizations to monitor and crack down on the illegal wildlife trade. Jointly developed by Baidu's open source deep learning platform PaddlePaddle and IFAW, the tool has obtained a 75% accuracy rate at recognizing images of products made from elephant ivory, pangolin scales and claws, and tiger teeth, skin, and claws. During a five month testing period, the tool recognized 3,348 images of illegal wildlife products that were being traded on Chinese internet platforms. In recent years, the illegal wildlife trade has shifted to online platforms, with sellers relying on images and other techniques to advertise their products while avoiding detection. Baidu will open source the tool's identification model on PaddlePaddle so that other developers can build AI applications for combatting the illegal wildlife trade. Through these initiatives, Baidu hopes to safeguard biodiversity by delivering high-quality content to users, halting the illegal trade of wildlife online, and making the protection of wildlife a core business purpose, strengthening its existing commitment to biodiversity, according to a Baidu spokesperson. The participation of technology companies in environmental governance is increasingly important because they can implement innovative, high-tech solutions at a global scale, said the IFAW China director, adding that environmental initiatives form a foundation for sustainable and successful business operations. This past year, Baidu partnered with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to optimize search results about endangered species. Meanwhile, Baidu has cleaned up more than 260,000 damaging pieces of online information related to wildlife and blocked information promoting the illegal wildlife trade 1.4 million times. Moving forward, Baidu will continue to ensure that its technology is a force for safeguarding biodiversity. About Baidu Baidu, Inc. is a leading search engine, knowledge and information centered Internet platform and AI company. The Company's mission is to make the complicated world simpler through technology. Baidu's ADSs trade on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "BIDU". Currently, ten ADSs represent one Class A ordinary share. SOURCE Baidu, Inc. CLLR Peter Ormond, Cathaoirleach of Offaly County Council, this week made a public statement of thanks to everyone for their efforts during the Covid-19 crisis. Cllr Ormond made his remarks during the council's first ever monthly meeting using video teleconferencing technology on Monday. I want to thank our own staff and management who are working to ensure that our services are maintained. I want to particular thank the management team who are at the end of a phone seven days a week, he said. I want to thank you as members and I appreciate that all elected representatives have been very busy dealing with your constituents over the last number of weeks. I want in particular to remember and thank everyone who works on our frontline services. The work and sacrifices they are making at this time are enormous and we truly appreciate and value their work. The Fianna Fail councillor said the coronavirus crisis had brought about the best in Offaly as a community and he acknowledged the role of community groups, sporting organisations and volunteers. At our Community Call forum meetings, we are hearing of many examples of volunteers assisting people in need. I would like to thank all members of the forum and their agencies for sharing their expertise with each other, he said. The Shinrone representative also thanked the council's IT department for organising the meeting and explained to councillors that in line with Department of Local Government guidelines, statutory business would not be dealt with. I propose to hold a special meeting at an appropriate time to deal with our statutory business, he said. Cllr Ormond was speaking from a room at council headquarters, Aras an Chontae, Tullamore. Just two others were present in the room, Anna Marie Delaney, council chief executive, and Gerry Bruton, council corporate services. Pakistan Opens Strategic China-Managed Gwadar Port to Transit Trade With Afghanistan Sputnik News 09:22 GMT 21.04.2020 New Delhi (Sputnik): China financed more than 80 percent of the $248 million development cost of the port and it will bypass the long shipping route of Indian Ocean through the Strait of Malacca to receive energy. In a major development that will have a strategic impact on the region, Pakistan has announced the opening of the Gwadar Port for transit trade with Afghanistan. Abdul Razak Dawood, adviser for commerce and investment to Pakistani Prime Minister Khan, said that shipments of sugar, fertiliser, and wheat will be transported in sealed trucks to Afghanistan. "In this regard, 16,000 MT of diamonium phosphate and World Food Programme cargo of 500,000 MT of wheat for Afghanistan will arrive next month. Ships from China will also offload at Gwadar", Abdul Razak Dawood said on Monday. The adviser said that the opening of Gwadar, operated and managed by China, fulfils a long standing request by the business community and the shipping industry, paving the way for business opportunities and employment, both in Gwadar and along the nation's highways. "The move will also jumpstart port operations in Gwadar Port and create the necessary eco-system for another big seaport in Pakistan", the adviser added. Pakistan's government already approved the "Gwadar Smart Port City Master Plan", which will be developed in three stages under the so-called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Gwadar Port is considered a counter to Iran's Chabahar which is being developing by India to bypass Pakistan for trading with Afghanistan and Central Asia. It is expected that the strategic position of the deep seaport of Gwadar will attract huge oil transit business due to its strategic location. The port connects South Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East in terms of oil and gas resources and trade impetus. Currently, around two-thirds of China's energy sources pass through the Strait of Malacca, which is very close to India's tri-service command located on Andaman and Nicobar Island. Earlier this year, China had urged Pakistan to step up security at the strategic Gwadar Port, considered the backbone of the CPEC in the wake of a series of militant attacks in the Balochistan region last year. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The possibility of a second wave of the coronavirus later this year could be even more difficult to manage than the first outbreak, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) head Robert Redfield told The Washington Post on Tuesday. Theres a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through, Mr Redfield said in an interview with The Post. And when Ive said this to others, they kind of put their head back, they dont understand what I mean. The CDC director said that a second outbreak, that coincides with the annual bout of winter flu, could mean that health services in the US become even more overwhelmed and unable to cope. As the coronavirus pandemic reaches its peak in many of the worst-hit states across the country, hospitals have become overstretched for resources and are struggling to cope with the number of serious cases. Shortages of ventilators, test kits, and personal protective equipment have put a massive strain on health services not only in the US but across most countries impacted by the pandemic. However, Mr Redfield insisted that the concision of two respiratory outbreaks in winter is inevitable and would only make the health crisis more "difficult" to deal with. Were going to have the flu epidemic and the coronavirus epidemic at the same time, he told the newspaper. Had the flu and the novel coronavirus hit the country at the same time during the initial outbreak, Mr Redfield told The Post: It could have been really, really, really, really difficult in terms of health capacity. The health official said that the government needed to step up their testing to be able to effectively prevent subsequent serious outbreaks, and continue to emphasise the continued importance of social distancing. Over 815,000 people have been diagnosed with Covid-19 in the United States and over 44,000 people have died of the disease in the country, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University. Photograph: Jason Redmond/AFP via Getty Images As the US grapples with when and how Americans can return to work about 27,000 Boeing employees are preparing to resume commercial airplane production in Washington state this week. The move is being closely watched. The decision came almost a month after the company halted work at facilities in the state in response to the mounting threat of the virus. Boeing is the USs largest export manufacturer and its peers are carefully monitoring the companys decision to get back to work. Related: Boeing's 'culture of concealment' led to fatal 737 Max crashes, report finds But with at least two weeks still to go before Washington governor Jay Inslees stay-home mandate is set to expire, which involves the closure of all non-essential companies (Boeing is considered essential), and potentially even longer before comprehensive coronavirus testing is in place, some employees say they are worried for their safety and are questioning why Boeing is rushing to open its doors in the middle of a pandemic. Part of me feels thankful that were still employed, but the other part of me is kind of scared, said a Boeing employee who works in production support for the 767 airplane and will return to the facility in Everett, Washington, on Tuesday. She asked not to be identified to protect her job. The employee, who has asthma, said she was up until 4am the previous night, worried about being able to stay healthy on the job. Its just scary to me, because I know what it feels like to not be able to breathe, said the employee, who has worked for the company for over a decade. The way this disease gets you, you just basically suffocate. Boeing also restarted work at production facilities in the Philadelphia area this week. Pennsylvania has a stay-at-home order in place for non-essential workers until 8 May that has led to protests by anti-lockdown groups. In a statement released last week, Boeing said it would require face coverings, offer voluntary temperature screening and stagger start times so there will be fewer employees coming and going at the same time. Story continues This phased approach ensures we have a reliable supply base, our personal protective equipment is readily available and we have all of the necessary safety measures in place to resume essential work for our customers, Stan Deal, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes and senior executive in the Pacific north-west, said. Workers arrive at the Boeing facility in Renton, Washington, on 21 April. Photograph: Stephen Brashear/Getty Images The company also said all employees able to work from home can continue to do so. And if a worker does get coronavirus, officials will conduct contact tracing to limit the risk to other workers. We have talked about the prospect of Boeing reopening because they are essential, and Im glad theyve committed to a robust use of PPE [personal protective equipment] and workplace hygiene, Inslee said during a press conference. We hope to get more details on that, and our agencies will keep talking with them to ensure workers feel safe going to work. Washington, which reported the first case of coronavirus in the US and for weeks documented the most cases in the country, has since made progress with flattening the curve of infections thanks to its early and comprehensive response. But as numbers continue to rise, officials have been wary about easing restrictions. As of Saturday, the state has confirmed more than 11,700 cases, including 634 deaths. More than a dozen Boeing employees in the Puget Sound region have been infected with coronavirus, including one worker in Everett who died after getting the virus, according to the Seattle Times. In a letter sent to members of the International Association of Machinists (IAM) District 751, which represents about 32,000 Boeing machinists in the Puget Sound region, the union clarified that employees do have the option to stay home. If an employee is high-risk, needs to care for children, has a sick family member, or is simply worried about working at the facilities during the pandemic, they can use vacation, sick leave or excused leave without pay (LWOP), the letter explained. Some of these employees may also qualify for unemployment insurance benefits. But for those who will be returning, the letter stressed that they have a right to a safe work environment and should be provided with all the proper personal protective equipment. After the news broke that Boeing would be reopening its facilities in Washington, workers and local community members alike took to social media to speak out. While there were some who expressed their relief that the facilities were opening and predicted this could prompt additional businesses to follow suit, many others voiced their concern about what this could mean for their health and that of their loved ones. One woman posted on Facebook that she is a pregnant wife of a Boeing employee and wants the facilities to stay closed until it is safe. Putting your life and possibly a unborn childs [sic] life in jeopardy isnt something Id like to do thank you very much! How are they going to prevent this from spreading, she wrote. An inspector at Boeing, who works off-site at the companys supplier partners, told the Guardian that hes not as concerned for his safety at work, as he believes the threat of the virus has been somewhat blown out of proportion. But the employee, who will return to work on Wednesday, questioned Boeings classification as essential and the fact that it is reopening before the stay-home order expires. Im not anywhere near essential, said the worker, who asked for his name to not be included to protect his job. Im not an emergency responder, I dont work in the food service industry. How is what I do essential to the economy other than helping to keep those suppliers running? This is an update of a story posted at 9:01 a.m. LUDLOW The woman who was trapped inside a burning apartment on Rood Street late Tuesday night has died of her injuries, according to a spokeswoman for the office of state Fire Marshal Peter Ostroskey. The woman, whose name was not disclosed to the press, was trapped inside her apartment at 196 Rood St. for several minutes before firefighters entered and found her. She was rushed by ambulance to Baystate Medical Center but succumbed to her injuries, said public information officer Jennifer Mieth. State police assigned to the fire marshals office are investigating. The cause of the fire was determined to be accidental and it is not considered suspicious. On behalf of the Town of Ludlow, I offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the victim. Our thoughts are with them at this difficult time, Fire Chief Ryan M. Pease said in a statement. Firefighters were called to 196 Rood St. at 10:51 p.m. by a resident reporting her apartment was on fire and she was trapped inside. Firefighters arrived in 4 minutes to find the rear of the multifamily dwelling engulfed in flames. Firefighters made a quick entry inside the apartment to find and rescue the woman, Pease said. Residents of the other four apartments in the dwelling were evacuated. Firefighters were able to control the flames, containing them to a single apartment, he said. Firefighters at the scene were assisted by Ludlow police, off-duty Ludlow firefighters, and by firefighters from Westover Air Reserve Base, Chicopee and Wilbraham. Springfield Fire provided station coverage. According to Ludlow records, the property is owned by Pedro D. Fernandes and Luciana L. Rodamilans. As the coronavirus pandemic bears down on vulnerable nations in Africa and South Asia, experts say there are only weeks to help fill chronic shortages of what medics need to help people breathe. Not ventilators, but oxygen itself. Medical oxygen is a core component of the life-saving therapies hospitals are giving patients with severe cases of COVID-19, as the world waits for scientists to find vaccines and treatments. The pandemic has pushed even the most advanced health systems to their limits, with concerns often focused on the supply of mechanical ventilators at the high-tech end of the breathing assistance spectrum. But experts fear this has distorted the narrative about what constitutes an effective response, giving the wrong blueprint for nations with under-funded health systems. "The reality is that oxygen is the only therapy that will save lives in Africa and Asia-Pacific now," said Hamish Graham, a consultant paediatrician and research fellow at Melbourne University Hospital and International Centre for Child Health. "I fear that undue focus on ventilators without fixing oxygen systems will kill." One report in February on thousands of cases in China's epidemic found that nearly 20 percent of patients with COVID-19 required oxygen. Of those, 14 percent needed some form of oxygen therapy, while a further five percent required mechanical ventilation. In severe cases of COVID-19, the virus attacks the patient's lungs in the form of pneumonia, causing inflammation that prevents them from absorbing oxygen. This can cause their blood oxygen levels to fall well below normal, a condition known as hypoxaemia that can deprive critical organs of oxygen and "substantially" increase the risk of death, Graham said. "In hospitals in high-income countries, we take oxygen for granted," he told AFP. "In low-resource settings, healthcare workers are acutely aware of the challenges as they fight to get oxygen to patients every day." Many larger hospitals across Sub Saharan Africa and South Asia will have some oxygen cylinders in operating theatres and wards, as well as concentrators -- portable devices that filter and purify the surrounding air. But surveys throughout Africa and Asia-Pacific have shown that less than half of hospitals have oxygen available on wards at any given time, Graham said, and even fewer have the pulse oximeters that allow medical staff to measure blood oxygen levels and guide dosages. - 'Helpless' - Oxygen supply has long been a source of alarm among specialists who treat pneumonia, the world's biggest preventable infectious killer of children under five. In Nigeria, one of the worst-affected countries, the government introduced a national policy several years ago to improve pneumonia treatment, but experts say it has not trickled down to a regional level. Adamu Isah, who leads Save the Children's work on pneumonia in the country, said the charity recently assessed primary healthcare facilities in two states and found that oxygen supplies were "really, really concerning". A former clinical physician, Isah said it was common to see children "suffering and gasping". "If you don't have something like an oxygen system you find yourself helpless, there's really not much you can do," he told AFP. A 2018 report published by Every Breath Counts, a coalition of UN agencies, businesses, donors and aid agencies, said supplies of oxygen were "severely limited" in countries across South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. It cited surveys that suggested only one in 10 children with pneumonia in Nigeria received the oxygen they needed. In Ethiopia, research found that while 64 percent of hospital paediatric wards had oxygen supplies, only 14 percent had health workers trained to use them or standard operating procedures. Leith Greenslade, the lead coordinator for Every Breath Counts, said the mining industry often has better oxygen supplies for its workers than under-funded hospitals. "These health systems in Africa and South Asia could not be more exposed to a pandemic like this one because they haven't been investing in respiratory therapy," she told AFP. "This is what terrifies me." - 'Flying blind' - Despite pneumonia killing 800,000 children a year globally, campaigners say it has not been given the same attention as other infectious diseases like HIV, Malaria and TB. Greenslade said global health authorities have also "completely neglected" oxygen, and this means there is very little information about supplies. "The absence of global data on this is going to be a major problem trying to respond to COVID-19 because we are flying blind, we really don't know which countries are in more desperate need than the other," she said. The pandemic is still largely in its early stages in Africa and parts of Asia, giving the international community "probably a two-month window" to act, she added. While it is still unclear how the new coronavirus will spread in poorer nations, there are acute fears over densely populated cities and refugee camps. Experts say there is no one-size-fits-all approach, urging low income countries to go beyond lockdowns and urgently scale up basic health systems. "Like everywhere, flattening the curve is the idea, but if your health system doesn't have any intensive care beds -- or, like Malawi, has got 25 beds for 17 million people -- you can't flatten the curve to the extent that'll work," said Gwen Hines, Save the Children's executive director for global programmes. Malawi, one of the poorest countries in Africa, has started to record cases of COVID-19, but a court last week temporarily blocked a government lockdown order. Hines said her organisation has worked on providing solar powered concentrators to the country, which has intermittent electricity, no domestic oxygen plant, and often struggles to secure imports of medicines. The mechanical ventilators used in well-funded health systems are the "wrong focus" for resource-poor countries, where they would have little impact, said David Lalloo, head of the Liverpool School for Tropical Medicine, which also has a large programme in Malawi. He said the international community should instead prioritise oxygen supplies and protective equipment for health workers. Experts fear the international community may not act fast enough, as cases rise in Africa and Asia at the same time as Europe and the United States hit their peaks. But Graham said it was also crucial for the response to be more strategic than "buying equipment and dumping it on hospitals", urging proper staff training and maintenance. - 'Solidarity and collaboration' - In Nigeria, Isah said his wish-list of equipment would start simple, with pulse oximeters, then oxygen concentrators that can be used in small healthcare settings, and finally higher-tech equipment like ventilators. But he said a "major fear" was competition in global supply chains for even basic devices. He called for "solidarity and collaboration" with richer nations helping those that are struggling to tackle COVID-19. "My fear is if this COVID pandemic stays longer than a couple of months, we will face very serious problems, there will be loss of so many lives," he said. "Countries in Europe and the US and other places, they may have the financial capacity to address the need, or they could get support easily, but in Africa we don't have those resources, even in peacetime." On Monday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo joined the bipartisan chorus of voices clamoring for front-line workers to receive hazard pay though officials havent agreed on exactly which workers might be eligible for such a bonus. Thanks is nice, but recognition of their efforts and their sacrifice is appropriate, Cuomo said during his press conference, calling on the federal government to include financing for a 50% hazard pay bonus for all the states essential workers in its next stimulus package. Theyre the ones that are carrying us through this crisis." Hazard pay is defined by the U.S. Department of Labor as additional pay for performing hazardous duty or work involving physical hardship. Typically, members of the military who perform more dangerous duties like parachute jumpers may receive extra pay, as well as those who work in construction and mining industries or in war zones because of how dangerous their work can be. Its not a legally mandated bonus whether or not someone receives hazard pay, regardless of their industry, is ultimately up to their employer. President Donald Trumps administration has shown an interest in providing health care workers with some sort of bonus, The Washington Post reported on April 1. "I think it's something we are discussing in terms of bonus or bonus pay," Trump told ABC News three weeks ago. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has also said that hazard pay for first responders is definitely something well put in the next bill, referring to a fourth stimulus package. Congressional Democrats have also been big supporters of providing essential workers with hazard pay. U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has called for hazard pay to be included in the next stimulus package though his primary concern has been ensuring that health care workers receive the bonus. While Congress hasnt said which essential workers would receive hazard pay, its been reported that medical, maintenance, postal, delivery, transit and grocery store workers might all be entitled to a bonus. State Sen. Andrew Gounardes sent a letter signed by 42 other state lawmakers to the states congressional delegates asking that hazard pay for essential workers in New York be prioritized in Congress next stimulus package. As you consider the phase four of the Coronavirus relief bill, we write to express our strong support for the proposed plan for a robust Heroes Fund to provide hazard pay for essential workers on the front lines of this pandemic, the letter reads. The letter also requests that such Heroes Fund benefits also extend to any gig or freelance workers serving an essential role, including delivery workers, freelance journalists/photojournalists and drivers. Look at the statistics of the number of public workers who have passed away from COVID-19, look at the statistics of the number of health care workers who are getting sick and passing away from COVID-19, Gounardes told City & State. They are literally putting their lives on the line for us and many of them before this crisis even began were underpaid. State Sen. Jessica Ramos and Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas similarly penned a letter to Cuomo, state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie on April 14, asking that a certain amount of federal funding to the state be set aside for hazard pay. Hazard pay is, of course, a small monetary gesture, but it would help us recognize (essential workers) work by compensating them in a deserving way, Ramos told City & State. With the state short billions of dollars thanks to the coronavirus crisis, it's doubtful that the state would be able to afford bonuses for its untold number of essential workers although it wouldnt necessarily be impossible, Gounardes argued. I would argue that this is the precise moment when we should be having honest and earnest conversations around increasing revenue in the state of New York and the city of New York and having that revenue go toward paying workers fairly and toward closing gaps in the health care system, he said. Some private companies have already been offering hazard pay without encouragement from the local or federal government. Amazon, Whole Foods, Albertsons, Kroger and Safeway have all been offering increased pay to their employees during the pandemic. And some private hospital chains in New York, such as Northwell, have already given their health care workers bonuses for combating the virus. Unions representing essential workers acrossthe country have already been campaigning for hazard pay amid the coronavirus crisis. While hazard pay may be included in some organized labor contracts, it's unlikely that most unions had previously bargained for hazard pay. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union has been pushing to ensure that its members, most of whom have been deemed essential workers, are receiving pay that reflects the risks theyre taking on the job. Our members are putting their own lives on the line to keep us safe and fed. They deserve more than just our thanks and gratitude in these challenging times, the union said in a statement demanding that the Kraft Heinz Company provide its workers with essential pay. Ramos and Gounardes are also set on ensuring that undocumented and gig workers receive bonus hazard pay. Reports have detailed the risks faced by workers living in the country illegally during the crisis, especially when they cant access government relief funds. We're also, of course, asking the governor to make sure that some of the federal stimulus money is allocated towards (undocumented, freelance and gig workers), Ramos said. He is the one who is the decision maker, obviously, and he has already expressed agreement to me and Aravella Simotas and we're very happy that he's on board. We just want to make sure that he follows through on his word. Paula Michelle White-Cain is an American pastor, author, and televangelist. Paula shares a powerful message throughout the pandemic and continues to give hope to the community by sending out a daily reminder through her social media. Pastor Paula White quotes, "I call an end to every battle draining you spiritually, emotionally, physically and financially in Jesus' name." For people who are struggling spiritually throughout the pandemic, she speaks to remind Christians to call upon Jesus. As the Coronavirus Pandemic has wreaked havoc on the world, Paula white ministries have been on the forefront of meeting needs through the City of Destiny. Paula quotes, "Satan knows your name but he calls you by your sin. God knows your sin but He calls you by your name!" She demands to Christians that we are known to be God's child. As she continues to remind Christians that there is power within prayer, she claims that there is nothing the blood of Jesus cannot handle. "He has already given you the victory!" During her online sermons, she states a verse that catches the audience. "The Lord appeared to him at night and said: "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices. When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people." "If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and heal their land. "Now my eyes will be open and my ears are attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple, so that my name may be there forever my eyes and my heart will always be there." Paula states, when we don't hear the word, don't do the word, in judgment, God removes himself and when God removes his hand, the enemy has free rein to come. Pastor Paula continues to remind Christians that God is a good God. If one disobeys God, there will be consequences; however, God is not a God that's out to get you. She also states an example of idols and explains that idols can be anything that we give more glory to. People often wonder what kind of idols there can be before God. Paula says children and spouses can also be a great example of idolizing. "When one disobeys God, all the promises are based on harking, hearing, and doing." "When we don't do the word and hear the word, the judgement of God removes himself. When God removes his hand, the enemy has free rein to come." The point of Paula's sermon is to help Christians focus their eyes and hearts on God. God is the healer of the land and in order to be healed, one must obey the Lord and come upon him especially through hard times. Tiger King has become so ubiquitous that even people who havent seen a single episode of the latest Netflix sensation have some sense of who Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin are. Its one of those you have to see it to believe it shows. As is the case with most you have to see it to believe it shows, at least one participant is appearing on TV and in print contending that the hot new show makes him look worse than he actually is. Such is the case with John Finlay, who wants to tell you he is not, in fact, a drugged-out hillbilly. Whats all the fuss about Tiger King? Tiger King | Netflix According to Today, the Tiger Kings given name is the less exotic Joseph Maldonado-Passage, who claimed to be a prolific breeder of tigers in the United States. His exceedingly bizarre story involves everything from a drug lord who may or may not be the inspiration for the movie gangster Scarface, to the now notorious Carole Baskin. To make a long and strange story shorter but no less strange, Exotic ends up in prison for a murder-for-hire plot for conspiring to kill Baskin, the CEO of Big Cat Rescue. And just to make things even weirder, she herself had been suspected by many in the big cat community to have had a role in the 1997 disappearance of her husband at that time, self-made millionaire Don Lewis. The show is not merely fed by people cooped up with the quarantine critics have liked it too. It scored 87 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus stating: A bizarre true crime story you have to see to believe, Tiger King is a messy and captivating portrait of obsession gone terribly wrong. Daniel Fienberg of Hollywood Reporter writes, Whatever flaws it might have, Tiger King is a series that viewers, especially quarantined viewers who might be feeling a little caged themselves, will tear into like a liger into a pile of expired luncheon meat from Walmart. Why does John Finlay dispute Tiger King? People says that Finlay briefly married Joe Exotic in an untraditional three-way wedding in 2014 after meeting him while working at the tiger kings zoo in Wynnewood, Oklahoma. Finlay admits he had a meth problem at one time, but hes worked to get clean. The (documentary) made me look like a drugged-out hillbilly, he complained. But at the time I did that, I was five years clean. I am now six years clean. Previously, he even went so far as to show up his nice new teeth, which dont have the gaps seen on Netflix. He says he is eager to leave his strange past behind him and to inspire others to do better than he once did. I want to work with the youth about drugs and abuse, he said. Its time for me to take a negative and turn it into a positive. Here are more movies and shows like Tiger King Fans of Tiger King may think theyve seen nothing like it, but there are other movies and shows out there involving animal care and other shenanigans that are available. One of these is the movie Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control, a documentary by the acclaimed filmmaker Errol Morris, whose credits include Netflixs Wormwood. Part of Fast, Cheap and Out of Control, about people who have unusual, one of a kind jobs, is about a lion tamer named Dave Hoover. Its available for rent on Amazon, iTunes, and other sources. The documentary The Elephant in the Living Room is about people who own exotic animals and the people trained to catch them when those exotic animals escape. Its available with ads on the Roku channel and Vudu. If youre looking for more true crime documentaries on Netflix, theres no shortage of those. And if you want some Scarface, theres always the 1983 movie starring Al Pacino and directed by Brian De Palma. However, thats based on a 1933 movie starring Paul Muni and directed by Howard Hawks, and that story was inspired by Al Capone. Its available for rent or sale from various outlets and also shows up on Turner Classic Movies. This is what it looks like when a pandemic collides with the culture wars in America. The mayor of Louisville, Ky., warned churches that holding services on Easter Sunday would defy the citys social distancing guidelines. Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican and Senate majority leader, answered with a stern letter, arguing, Religious people should not be singled out for disfavoured treatment. The Democratic governor in Michigan extended bans on certain outdoor activities to include using motorboats. Conservatives called her an authoritarian and caricatured her move as a slap at people who enjoy the outdoors. You cant go fishing, a local activist lamented in an interview on Fox & Friends. And even though firearms stores remain free to do business in most of the country, the National Rifle Association has a stark message for gun owners. They want your guns. They want em all, declared country music legend Charlie Daniels in a promotional video he recorded for the NRA from quarantine at his home in Tennessee. The new patchwork of state and local policies designed to flatten the spread of the coronavirus is inflaming old passions over some of the most contentious issues in politics. Guns, abortion, voting rights and religious expression concerns that would seem to have little to do with a virus that has sickened millions of Americans and killed more than 37,000 have emerged as fault lines in the debate over how government is responding to the crisis. U.S. President Donald Trump does on occasion speak about the importance of social distancing, as he did Monday, but he is also encouraging discontent, seeing it as a source of raw emotion he can tap as protesters across the country wave Trump 2020 flags and demand that the country reopen. With messages last week to his Twitter followers to LIBERATE states where residents are now under orders to limit their movement specifically, Michigan, Minnesota and Virginia, all led by Democratic governors he is feeding what conservatives described as a rising sense of restlessness on the right. Theres a tremendous amount of social unrest, said Jeff Landry, the Republican attorney general of Louisiana and an ally of Trump. Governors who are using the pandemic as an excuse to keep certain measures in place do so at their own peril. For now, Trump is speaking to the minority of Americans who believe the government has gone too far in trying to contain the threat from the virus. And he is doing so by spreading misinformation and innuendo about how the restrictions affect issues like gun ownership and freedom of worship. He falsely claimed last week, for instance, that the Second Amendment was under threat in Virginia. Over the weekend he made unfounded insinuations that Muslims celebrating Ramadan, which begins this week, would not be subject to the same social distancing limitations as Christians were on Easter just over a week ago. Ive seen a great disparity in this country, he said. They go after Christian churches, but they dont tend to go after mosques. So far, a mass uprising seems unlikely. Many of the demonstrations, like one in Denver on Sunday, have drawn only a few hundred people. Larger gatherings, like one at the State Capitol in Lansing, Mich., last week, attracted far-right activists and militia sympathizers, some of whom had semi-automatic rifles slung over their shoulders. The White Houses own current guidelines reflect what most epidemiologists say: Social distancing, limiting personal contact and wearing masks in public are all crucial to keeping the virus in check. Medical experts, including those advising Trump, have warned that easing these guidelines could lead to a surge in new infections. But some conservatives who support the presidents re-election campaign said they believed that many Americans are growing frustrated with the orders that keep them from socializing, working and worshipping normally. The White House is closely tracking those concerns, and has made Trump and Vice President Mike Pence available on several conference calls with faith leaders to assure them the administration is listening. And after a Mississippi church was penalized for holding drive-in services in defiance of a local order, Attorney General William P. Barr lent his support, saying that congregants First Amendment rights were being infringed. My sense is that this is a cauldron, said Ralph Reed, founder of the Faith and Freedom Coalition and a veteran organizer of the religious right. It is simply unsustainable to tell people that they have to sit helplessly in their homes watching their businesses go bankrupt, their jobs disappear and their lives destroyed. Pointing to a recent survey from the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute that found nearly 90 per cent of houses of worship in the country were no longer offering services as usual, Reed said that there were growing questions among religious conservatives, like why liquor stores and grocery stores can be open, but their churches are closed. Reed added that while he thought most people were still willing to stay home, he saw patience fraying. Speaking of Democrats, he said, If theyre not careful, they will take what they think is going to be a referendum on Donald Trump and turn it into a referendum on the denial of basic freedoms and liberties. While tensions have flared in the last week, competing political agendas have shaped how leaders approached the enforcement of coronavirus-related restrictions in the past month. Texas, in particular, has been a laboratory for a conservative pandemic response. Like Ohio, Alabama and a few other states with Republican leadership, Texas initially included abortion among the elective medical procedures it said would have to wait until after the immediate threat of the virus had passed. And as the state started ordering the closure of schools and non-essential businesses late last month, the Republican attorney general, Ken Paxton, warned abortion providers that they would be met with the full force of the law if they did not stop operating. The restriction amounted to an exploitation of this pandemic, said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, one of the groups that sued Texas. Clinics remain closed and the governor has said he will leave it up to the courts to decide whether the easing of restrictions on some medical procedures, set to take effect Wednesday, applies to abortions. Four days after his admonition to abortion clinics, Paxton issued an opinion on an unrelated but equally fraught culture war issue, declaring that emergency stay-at-home orders could not be used to force the closure of firearms stores in the state. The public policy decisions there differ strikingly from states like New York, where Gov. Andrew Cuomo has declared gun stores to be non-essential businesses. The move prompted a lawsuit from the NRA, which is challenging similar actions by lawmakers in New Mexico and California. Conservatives, Landry said, see these as examples of how Democrats have basically leveraged this thing to get what they want. On other issues ranging from property rights to prison policy, Texas has been at the front lines of the escalating clash between left and right. Conservatives have opposed local efforts to prevent second homeowners from going to their properties and to expand access to voting by mail, which is limited to certain populations like older people and those with disabilities. The American Civil Liberties Union sued after Gov. Greg Abbott issued an order preventing the release of some inmates at risk of contracting the virus. Abbott said releasing dangerous criminals put the community at risk because it slows our ability to respond to the disaster caused by COVID-19. A state court disagreed and temporarily blocked the governors order. The ACLU has filed more than 30 similar lawsuits across the country. But there are exceptions. Though Republicans in states like Texas and Wisconsin have tried to prevent broader access to alternatives to in-person voting, in Pennsylvania Republicans are supporting it. And in Oklahoma, the Republican governor has approved the release of hundreds of inmates so overcrowded conditions do not contribute to more infections. The pandemic held out the hope that we could come together and unite and rise above the partisan division that has so long afflicted us, and I think in some instances we are seeing that, said David Cole, the ACLUs national legal director. He added that instances of large church services and gatherings of hundreds of protesters were outliers so far. Which makes it all the more disturbing, he added, that the president of the United States encouraged this kind of activity. It is not difficult to understand why Trump feels the impulse to back the demonstrators. Footage of the recent protests shows a significant presence of Trump paraphernalia and an outpouring of support for him. At the Michigan event, which was documented on Facebook by a reporter for The Detroit Free Press, one man waving a Confederate flag explained through his protective mask why he was there. Trump. Trump all the way, he said. Others carried the bumblebee yellow Gadsden flag, its coiled snake and Dont tread on me emblem a symbol of the Tea Party, which Trump has always felt an affinity toward. At the protest outside the Colorado state Capitol on Sunday, one woman who said the shutdowns had gone on too long told The Denver Post, Pot shops are open, abortion clinics are open and my church is closed. One man who also attended the protest held a sign that read Facts not fear, a variation of the saying that Sean Hannity uses on his radio and Fox News programs Facts without fear to leave his fans with the false impression that they are getting the truth and nothing but. The people at these protests have been overwhelmingly white. And while the coronavirus can strike people of any race, nationality, religion or political persuasion, data shows it is infecting and killing black people in the U.S. at disproportionately high rates. Its spread also appears to be worsening in some of the states where the protests have taken place. In Kentucky, where last week demonstrators stood outside the Capitol building in Frankfort and chanted We want to work! at the Democratic governor, Andy Beshear, officials reported a sobering development Monday. The state recorded its highest number of new coronavirus cases yet in a single day: 273. Read more about: Data from Phase III REACH2 study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, demonstrate Jakavi can improve outcomes for patients with acute graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) who do not respond to first-line steroid treatment 1 Results show 62% overall response rate with Jakavi at Day 28, the primary endpoint of the study, compared to 39% for best available therapy 1 GvHD is a serious and common complication of allogeneic stem cell transplants with a one-year death rate as high as 80% in its acute form2-4 Basel, April 22, 2020 - Data from the Phase III REACH2 study published today in The New England Journal of Medicine show Jakavi (ruxolitinib) improves outcomes across a range of efficacy measures in patients with steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) compared to best available therapy (BAT). The results of REACH2, the first Phase III study in acute GvHD to have met its primary endpoint, reinforce findings of the previously reported Phase II REACH1 study. The new data was also selected for presentation at the Presidential Symposium of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) Annual Meeting, to be held 30 August to 2 September in Madrid. In REACH2, patients treated with Jakavi experienced significantly greater overall response rate (ORR) vs. BAT (62% vs. 39%; p<0.001) at Day 28, the primary endpoint of the study. For the key secondary endpoint, patients treated with Jakavi maintained significantly higher durable ORR (40% vs. 22%; p<0.001) at eight weeks. Additionally, Jakavi was associated with longer median failure free survival (FFS) than BAT (5.0 months vs. 1.0 months; hazard ratio 0.46, 95% CI, 0.35 to 0.60), and showed a positive trend with other secondary endpoints, including duration of response1. "Patients with acute graft-versus-host disease face life-threatening challenges with limited treatment options, particularly for the nearly half of individuals who do not respond to initial steroid therapy," said Robert Zeiser, University Hospital Freiburg, Department of Haematology, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation, Freiburg, Germany. "These new data from REACH2 showing superiority of Jakavi over current standard-of-care therapies add to a growing body of evidence on how targeting the JAK pathway can be an effective strategy in this difficult-to-treat condition." No new safety signals were observed in REACH2, and adverse events (AEs) attributable to treatment were consistent with the known safety profile of Jakavi. The most common AEs were thrombocytopenia, anemia and cytomegalovirus infection. While 38% and 9% of patients required Jakavi and BAT dose modifications, respectively, the number of patients who discontinued treatment due to AEs was low (11% and 5%, respectively)1. "Compelling results from REACH2, the first successful randomized Phase III trial in patients with steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host-disease, give us confidence in the potential of Jakavi to confront this difficult condition," said John Tsai, Head Global Drug Development and Chief Medical Officer, Novartis. "We look forward to initiating discussions with ex-US regulatory authorities." In 2019, the US Food and Drug Administration approved ruxolitinib (marketed by Incyte Corporation in the U.S. as Jakafi) for the treatment of steroid-refractory acute GvHD in adult and pediatric patients 12 years and older based on results of the single arm Phase II REACH1 trial5. The Phase III REACH3 study in patients with steroid-refractory chronic GvHD is ongoing and results are expected in the second half of this year. About Jakavi (ruxolitinib) Jakavi (ruxolitinib) is an oral inhibitor of the JAK 1 and JAK 2 tyrosine kinases. Jakavi is approved by the European Commission for the treatment of adult patients with polycythemia vera (PV) who are resistant to or intolerant of hydroxyurea and for the treatment of disease-related splenomegaly or symptoms in adult patients with primary myelofibrosis (MF) (also known as chronic idiopathic MF), post-polycythemia vera MF or post-essential thrombocythemia MF. Jakavi is approved in 101 countries for patients with MF, including EU countries, Switzerland, Canada, Japan and in more than 75 countries for patients with PV, including EU countries, Switzerland, Japan and Canada. The exact indication for Jakavi varies by country. Additional worldwide regulatory filings are underway in MF and PV. Novartis licensed ruxolitinib from Incyte Corporation for development and commercialization outside the United States. Ruxolitinib is marketed in the United States by Incyte Corporation as Jakafi for patients with PV who have had an inadequate response to or are intolerant of hydroxyurea, for patients with intermediate or high-risk MF, and steroid-refractory acute GvHD in adult and pediatric patients 12 years and older5. The recommended starting dose of Jakavi in PV is 10 mg given orally twice daily. The recommended starting dose of Jakavi in MF is 15 mg given orally twice daily for patients with a platelet count between 100,000 cubic millimeters (mm) and 200,000 mm, and 20 mg twice daily for patients with a platelet count of >200,000 mm. Doses may be titrated based on safety and efficacy. There is limited information to recommend a starting dose for MF and PV patients with platelet counts between 50,000/mm and <100,000/mm. The maximum recommended starting dose in these patients is 5 mg twice daily, and patients should be titrated cautiously5. Jakavi is a registered trademark of Novartis AG in countries outside the United States. Jakafi is a registered trademark of Incyte Corporation. The safety and efficacy profile of Jakavi has not yet been established outside of its approved indications. Jakavi Important Safety Information for Treatment of Myelofibrosis (MF) and Polycythemia Vera (PV) Jakavi can cause serious side effects, including a decrease in blood cell count and infections. Complete blood count monitoring is recommended. Dose reduction or interruption may be required in patients with any hepatic impairment or severe renal impairment or in patients developing hematologic adverse reactions such as thrombocytopenia, anemia and neutropenia. Dose reductions are also recommended when Jakavi is co-administered with strong CYP3A4 inhibitors or fluconazole. Use of Jakavi during pregnancy is not recommended, and women should avoid becoming pregnant during Jakavi therapy. Women taking Jakavi should not breast feed. Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) has been reported. Physicians should be alert for neuropsychiatric symptoms suggestive of PML. Hepatitis B viral load (HBV-DNA titer) increases have been reported in patients with chronic HBV infections. Patients with chronic HBV infection should be treated and monitored according to clinical guidelines. Non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) has been reported in Jakavi treated patients. Periodic skin examination is recommended. Very common adverse reactions in MF (>10%) include urinary tract infections, anemia, thrombocytopenia, neutropenia, hypercholesterolemia, dizziness, headache, alanine aminotransferase increased, aspartate aminotransferase increased, bruising and weight gain. Common adverse reactions in MF (1 to 10%) include herpes zoster and flatulence. Uncommon adverse reactions in MF include tuberculosis. Very common adverse reactions in PV (>10%) include anemia, thrombocytopenia, hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, dizziness, alanine aminotransferase increased and aspartate aminotransferase increased. Common adverse reactions in PV (1 to 10%) include urinary tract infections, herpes zoster, weight gain, constipation and hypertension. Please see full Prescribing Information available at www.jakavi.com (https://www.jakavi.com/). Disclaimer This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by words such as "potential," "can," "will," "plan," "may," "could," "would," "expect," "anticipate," "seek," "look forward," "believe," "committed," "investigational," "pipeline," "launch," or similar terms, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential marketing approvals, new indications or labeling for the investigational or approved products described in this press release, or regarding potential future revenues from such products. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on our current beliefs and expectations regarding future events, and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that the investigational or approved products described in this press release will be submitted or approved for sale or for any additional indications or labeling in any market, or at any particular time. Nor can there be any guarantee that such products will be commercially successful in the future. In particular, our expectations regarding such products could be affected by, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; global trends toward health care cost containment, including government, payor and general public pricing and reimbursement pressures and requirements for increased pricing transparency; our ability to obtain or maintain proprietary intellectual property protection; the particular prescribing preferences of physicians and patients; general political, economic and business conditions, including the effects of and efforts to mitigate pandemic diseases such as COVID-19; safety, quality, data integrity or manufacturing issues; potential or actual data security and data privacy breaches, or disruptions of our information technology systems, and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. About Novartis Novartis is reimagining medicine to improve and extend people's lives. As a leading global medicines company, we use innovative science and digital technologies to create transformative treatments in areas of great medical need. In our quest to find new medicines, we consistently rank among the world's top companies investing in research and development. Novartis products reach nearly 800 million people globally and we are finding innovative ways to expand access to our latest treatments. About 109,000 people of more than 145 nationalities work at Novartis around the world. Find out more at https://www.novartis.com (https://www.novartis.com). Novartis is on Twitter. Sign up to follow @Novartis at https://twitter.com/novartisnews (https://twitter.com/novartisnews) For Novartis multimedia content, please visit https:// (https://www.novartis.com/news/media-library)www.novartis.com/news/media-library (http://www.novartis.com/news/media-library) For questions about the site or required registration, please contact media.relations@novartis.com (mailto:media.relations@novartis.com) References Robert Zeiser, M.D., et al. Ruxolitinib for Glucocorticoid-Refractory Acute Graft-versus-Host Disease. New England Journal of Medicine. 2020. Von Dalowski F, et al. Mesenchymal Stromal Cells for Treatment of Acute Steroid-Refractory Graft Versus Host Disease: Clinical Responses and Long-Term Outcome. Stem Cells, 2016 34(2): 357-366. doi.org/10.1002/stem.2224 Shapira MY, et al. Regional intra-arterial steroid treatment in 120 patients with steroid-resistant or -dependent GvHD. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2017 52(10): 1416-1422. doi.org/10.1038/bmt.2017.120 Pidala J, et al. Mycophenolate mofetil for the management of steroid-refractory acute graft vs host disease. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2010 45(5): 919-924. doi.org/10.1038/bmt.2009.252 Jakavi (ruxolitinib) tablets: EU Summary of Product Characteristics. Novartis; Mar 2015. # # # Novartis Media Relations E-mail: media.relations@novartis.com (mailto:media.relations@novartis.com) Anja von Treskow Novartis Global Media Relations +41 61 324 2279 (direct) +41 79 392 8697 (mobile) anja.von_treskow@novartis.com (mailto:anja.von_treskow@novartis.com) Eric Althoff Novartis US External Communications +1 646 438 4335 eric.althoff@novartis.com (mailto:eric.althoff@novartis.com) Michael Billings Novartis Hematology Communications +1 862 778 8656 (direct) +1 201 400 1854 (mobile) michael.billings@novartis.com (mailto:michael.billings@novartis.com) Novartis Investor Relations Central investor relations line: +41 61 324 7944 E-mail: investor.relations@novartis.com (mailto:investor.relations@novartis.com) NAIROBI, Kenya In the largest slum in Kenyas capital, people desperate to eat set off a stampede during a recent giveaway of flour and cooking oil, leaving scores injured and two people dead. In India, thousands of workers are lining up twice a day for bread and fried vegetables to keep hunger at bay. And across Colombia, poor households are hanging red clothing and flags from their windows and balconies as a sign that they are hungry. We dont have any money, and now we need to survive, said Pauline Karushi, who lost her job at a jewelry business in Nairobi, and lives in two rooms with her child and four other relatives. That means not eating much. Every morning before he wakes up, a group of monkeys starts making noise on the branches of trees outside his home near the world famous Elephenta Caves. Rajendra Padate then gets up and asks somebody to cook 'dal rice, or he gets some bread and distributes among the animals. Earlier, the monkeys used to survive on food left by tourists visiting the Elephenta Caves, a UNESCO world heritage site located on the Elephanta Island, also known as Gharapuri village, 10 km east of the Mumbai shore in the Arabian Sea. But, now these animals are finding it difficult to find food for survival as people have stopped visiting the island since the coronavirus-enforced lockdown. Nearly 850 people reside in 275 houses located on the island. On normal days, hundreds of tourists used to visit the cave temples on the island, but since the lockdown came into force, not a single visitor has arrived, Padate, the former Gharapuri village head, told PTI. The monkeys inhabiting the island had got into the habit of eating snacks and consuming soft drinks left over by the tourists. But, now the primates hardly have anything to eat, and they gather in groups on top of the trees, closed shops and restaurants enroute to the caves in search of food. "After seeing the monkeys in such a state, I decided to feed them and with the help of few other people around, started cooking 'dal rice' for them at a canteen. I also feed them bread or toast at times. We will do this according to our capacity till we have enough food with us, he said. Due to the lockdown, tourism activities have come to a halt at the island and this may probably go on for the next few months, he said. Most of the island residents used to run small snack shops, restaurants and fruit juice centres, while some worked as tourist guides. But due to the lockdown, all of them are sitting at home and waiting for normal day-to-day life to resume, the 55-year-old former village head said. "Our business is dependent on tourists, but as Mumbai has become a coronavirus hotspot, nobody will take a chance to visit the caves in this season," he said. There is a hope that the boat service will resume from May 3, but nothing is definite if the number of coronavirus cases increases in Mumbai, Padate said, adding that people on the island are following social distancing guidelines. On normal days, at least 90 passenger boats used to run between the Gateway of India and the Elephenta Caves everyday. "Now, a few residents go to Uran in Navi Mumbai in a boat once or twice a week to bring the essential food items. Only one month of the tourist season is now left as in June, our business stops due to rainy season. This means our people will be jobless for at least next six-seven months, he said. "Many of them do not have sufficient savings, so I want to request the government that instead of giving monetary aid, it should provide food grains and other essential items to local people, he said. Recently, residents of the island got rice and other food items from the state government. This will be helpful till the tourist season resumes, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) NEW YORK - Tell us about Vikings; tell us about shipwrecks; tells us about pirates and ancient myths. Sara Herlevsen nods, smiles and answers these questions from students via video conferencing. Or this 31-year-old massage therapist and tutor from Calgary helps them with their math homework, a science quiz or an art project. Sometimes, she simply listens. Many want someone to talk to because the spread of the coronavirus outbreak has forced their schools to close and isolated them from their classmates. Herlevsen said it all started because she was worried about students falling behind. So she volunteered to help on social media: During Pandemic Times, she said. I would like to offer FREE remote assistance/tutoring to any child who is at home right now. Anywhere in the world. Her Facebook post last month spread in Canada and other countries, including Australia, Britain and as far away as Vietnam. Since then, she wakes up at dawn every day to teach children and some parents everything from biology to the Latin root of words. I have nothing else to offer at this time as I am self-isolating. But I have Facetime and chat! And lots of time and random knowledge and need something to do! Herlevsen said her wide-ranging knowledge, love for books and teaching comes her father, a theologian. Above all, she hopes to be a mentor to some of the students she tutors who, like her, have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. During a recent lesson, she reviewed facts about the Titanic with Corban Music, a 9-year-old from Calgary who loves ships. They also briefly spoke about Norse mythology (Do you know Thor from the Avengers? she asked) and a bit about Vikings: Did you know that they didnt really have those horns in their helmets? I know about this stuff! the boy said. They both laughed when he changed the virtual backdrop on his video conference to famous tourist spots. She then listened in silence when he read a story that he had dictated to his mother about the popular Nintendo brothers, Mario and Luigi. In her next lesson, she reviewed biology and the Latin roots of medical words with 12-year-old Nevaeh Siipola, who dreams of becoming a doctor. When we see a root word with the word dento in front ... it pertains to? she asked. Teeth! Siipola answered. The lessons have been welcomed by parents who are trying to juggle working from home without childcare. Kindness from a stranger like Sara is more appreciated, said Nevaehs mother, Quynh Siipola. Its more than winning the lottery. ___ While nonstop global news about the effects of the coronavirus have become commonplace, so, too, are the stories about the kindness of strangers and individuals who have sacrificed for others. One Good Thing is an AP continuing series reflecting these acts of kindness. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support from the Lilly Endowment through the Religion News Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for this content. ___ In October 2016, an Access Hollywood video clip of Donald Trump making demeaning remarks about women was leaked. In the aftermath of this revelation, the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Al Mohler, wrote for The Washington Post, Trumps horrifying statements, heard in his own proud voice, revealed an objectification of women and a sexual predation that must make continued support for Trump impossible for any evangelical leader. But last week, Mohler said that the partisan divide had become so great and Democrats had swerved so far to the left on issues of abortion, religious liberty, and LGBT policies that he planned to vote Republican for the rest of his life. This, of course, includes voting to reelect Trump this fall. One of the disappointing things about Mohlers remarks was that they came during a pandemic and a terrible economic downturn, said conservative evangelical writer David French, who has been outspoken about his opposition to Trump since 2016. While I dont put all that on Trumps feet, he just did some really incompetent things that had a severe cost, said French. And then to come in the middle of that, while were bearing that cost, and to say Four more years, seems to be indicating that evangelicals are saying, As long as youre okay on the checklist, no matter your character, no matter what else is happening in the country, were with you. I just found that to be very narrow. French joined digital media producer Morgan Lee and editorial director Ted Olsen to discuss what white evangelicals can learn about political engagement from black Christians, ... 1 Sampson Akpan, a media aide to Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State, stirred controversy during a radio programme in Uyo, April 21, when he said Government says stay at home, please stay at home. They give you palliative, manage it. Dont eat it as a glutton, some of you eat carelessly. In this interview with PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Akpan responds to the criticism that has trailed his comment. PT: We listened to your radio programme yesterday, you said some people that are getting palliative from (Akwa Ibom) government are glutton. How did you mean? AKPAN: No, no, thats not true. People try to politicise everything, and that is why it was difficult for people to understand Jesus Christ. The issue is not the palliative. I told them, come on, if you get the palliatives, just manage it. This is not the time for us to eat like glutton. It was just an advice. . Jesus Christ fasted for 40 days and 40 nights and was able to defeat. Even when Satan said turn this stone into bread, the man said no that man shall not live by bread alone. This is not the time to punch the governor. After all, all that we have even taken in this state is grown in the state. Supposing the governor did not have the foresight to put all these rice mills and the rest of them and brought in investors to assist us, how would we have managed the road blockade, the lockdown, to get lorries (from other states) to bring us food. So what we need to do is to support the government. PT: Do you really think people are politicising what you said? AKPAN: Go and check those who are talking on Facebook. Some of them are pseudo Facebook operators. Let me tell you Cletus Ukpong, you won an award last year, do you think some of your colleagues are happy with you? When Jesus Christ was going about preaching and telling people the truth, didnt you see them accepting the thief and asking that Jesus Christ be crucified? I am being crucified for telling Akwa Ibom people the truth that this is not the time for plenty, it is time we manage (whatever is given to us) with our neighbours. I sit on the radio and transfer my personal money to people. Even today, I have transferred money to over 10 people. I dont need to blow my trumpet because I know the blessings that come forth. PT: The dictionary meaning of the word glutton is an excessively greedy eater? AKPAN: Are you not aware that even when the palliatives were given, some people that are highly placed went away with them? Have you not heard? You are a journalist, you investigate. People should not be greedy over food, people should rather support others to eat. Thats what I mean. PT: So, you were referring to people that took what belongs to others? AKPAN: That is what I said, we should not be glutton. This is not a time for you to have three, four, five bags of rice and then some other person does not have even one cup, and you are happy with it. You see, the context in which I said it, it was on a lighter note, at least, for people to support their brothers and sisters who are, perhaps, not able to eat. If you go to Proverbs 25: 16, youll understand Have you found honey? Eat only what you need, that you not have it in excess and vomit it. The issue is if I have one bag of rice and I will go gluttonously to get another two, and some other person is being deprived. Dont deprive other people of eating. PT: We learnt on Facebook that you have apologised (over this issue). Is it true? AKPAN: I dont owe apology on Facebook, I didnt say what I said on Facebook. When I am on the radio tomorrow, I will let them understand what I actually meant. PT: Is it true you have apologised? AKPAN: Apologised on what? Those who are ranting on Facebook dont event understand the context which I made that statement. Do they even know if I was talking in favour of the downtrodden? Should I be crucified for that, if they dont understand the English? If I say Cletus Ukpong, dont be stupid it does not mean you are stupid. If I say we should not be gluttonous or we shouldnt eat like one, it does not mean we are gluttonous. Is that the main issue now in Nigeria? Is that the main issue now in Akwa Ibom State? Why are you (people) picking on me, call me coconut head and all sort of things? Does that make sense? Does that stop me from being who I am? Does that stop somebody who graduated first class? Does that stop me from being somebody who has won award right from Lagos, then Obong Attah (former governor of Akwa Ibom State) could bring me back here to work? If I was incompetent, I wouldnt have been brought here to work. PT: You said you were talking on behalf of the downtrodden, that people shouldnt be taking (away) what should go to the (ordinary) people. What you have said is an indictment on the (government) process of getting the palliative to the people? AKPAN: The controversy came up and I decided to send my reporters to the villages like I did yesterday. Some of them reported from the palace of the village heads. We are going to ascertain the allegation that some people made away with the palliatives instead of giving it to the downtrodden. That is why we are going, village by village. Tomorrow if you listen to the programme, some of my men will be on hand in some of the villages. Yesterday, we had a successful story in Ibesikpo-Asutan Local Government Area, the community leader there told us how he shared the palliatives among the people. But you cannot because of the Ibesikpo-Asutan sample you go to sleep thinking that all is well, you have to also find out from other local government areas. PT: We have seen information flying around social media quoting the SSG (the Secretary to the State Government) as saying the government is aware that some people diverted the relief materials. Did that actually come from the SSG? AKPAN: The investigative journalism I am embarking on is to ascertain where it actually happened. The SSG must have gotten a security report that certain things are not going well in terms of sharing (of the palliatives). How can you have two meat in your soups and you still go ahead and take from someone who has only one meat? Its unfair. PT: That means you stand by what you said? AKPAN: People misinterpreted me. PT: Most of the governors media aides have been under attack of late. Why do you think this is happening? AKPAN: If you put your crystal ball properly you will understand.. Those who are running around, disparaging and making all sorts of allegations against the media aides to the governor, perhaps, they want to work. I thank God for them. (But) You cannot build what you have destroyed. The media aides to the governors, out of their proficiency and professionalism, were given that responsibility to work. Look at how the commissioner for health was abused by being misunderstood. That man is a professional, he has worked with ExxonMobil for years. He said NCDC did not follow due process when they released the result (of the COVID-19 tests) in Akwa Ibom. People went on to say that the commissioner rejected the result. Can you imagine that? Advertisements The Commissioner for Information, Charles Udoh, cannot release his personal press release, it is government press release. The SSG cannot release his personal press release, it is government press release. But some people who want to be commissioner for information, some people who want to be governors media aide, some people who feel they are better than Charles Udoh, better than Sampson Akpan, would go on social media to make all sort of uncultured utterances. If they dont do it themselves, they pay people to do it. The people who are getting money from (Akwa Ibom) government are the same people who are trying to bring down the same government. Does that work? Government is the biggest enterprise in the world, you cant fight government and succeed. PT: You are an experienced media person, what are your suggestions, how can we get it right in terms of information management and dissemination in Akwa Ibom? AKPAN: The only way we could have it right is for us to first of all express love. For instance, if you love your wife, whatever she tells you, youll take it. If you dont love her, you wont believe her. If you love your state and you want your state to grow, you will at all times protect your state, you will at all times believe in your state. I cannot believe Cletus Ukpongs writing if I dont love him. How many people in APC have ever said, (Governor) Udom, you have done this one right? What we do (here), is that what we dont like we destroy it. How many northerners write about Abba Kyari (the late chief of staff to President Muhammadu Buhari)? How many? They wont talk about him, they know that this is our son. There was a time I was telling people if we bring down Senator Akpabio, who will speak for us when we need somebody like that? PT: What is your assessment of media coverage of COVID-19 in Akwa Ibom so far? AKPAN: I think they have tried their best. I follow PREMIUM TIMES, you guys are doing a great job. But generally in Akwa Ibom NUJ. I saw their press release, it was not really palatable. But I think that has been settled. I trust in the capacity of the honourable commissioner and the chief press secretary to the governor, I think they have handled that professionally. And the issue of them participating in the daily press briefing on COVID-19 is beautiful. But they must also understand the fact that there must be social distancing. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Moch. Fiqih Prawira Adjie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, April 22, 2020 21:25 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd3a3fba 1 City COVID-19,coronavirus,virus-corona,virus-korona-indonesia,PSBB,anies-baswedan,social-restriction,Jakarta-governor,ramadan,fasting-month,ramadhan Free The Jakarta administration announced on Wednesday that the large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) will be extended until May 22 as the COVID-19 outbreak has yet to subside. Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan made the decision to extend the restrictions initially slated to end Thursday for another 28 days after consulting with health experts and the Jakarta Health Agency. The key to implementing PSBB measures is for all parties to be disciplined, Anies said during a press briefing at City Hall on Wednesday. If we are disciplined, stay at home and reduce our activities outside, Insya Allah [God willing] this outbreak will be overcome soon. The governor also urged Muslims to conduct religious rituals during Ramadan, such as tarawih (evening prayers), at home with their families rather than in congregations. He also urged Jakartans not not to participate in the Idul Fitri mudik (exodus) in compliance with the governments recent ban. Read also: Coronavirus outbreak may end in June with 'mudik' ban: IDI This year, Ramadan will last from Friday until May 24. Anyone found violating the PSBB measures, such as individuals participating in public gatherings and offices of nonessential companies remaining open, will be punished to educate the public, Anies went on to say. Under the PSBB regulations, all workplaces, except those in essential sectors such as the financial, fuel, food, medicine, retail, water, communications and logistic sectors, must remain closed and implement work-from-home policies. Nonessential workplaces found operating during the PSBB period will be sealed up, while their business licenses will be revoked if they continue to violate the restrictions. The provincial administration and the Industry Ministry are reviewing the businesses that previously received permits to continue operating during the PSBB period. If we find that they are not in an essential sector, [the administration] will ask the ministry to review their permits, Anies said. Read also: Indonesia to evaluate partial lockdown as companies, factories continue business as usual The Jakarta administration will continue to distribute social aid to around eligible 1.2 million families including packages of staple food, cloth masks and soap worth around Rp 150,000 (US$9.63). Anies added that the administration would update its data on the social aid beneficiaries, as many people were continuing to lose their jobs due to the crisis. The updated data and distribution map will be able to the public at corona.jakarta.go.id. Jakarta, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country, had recorded 3,383 cases with 301 fatalities and 322 recoveries as of Wednesday. Nationwide, 7,418 cases have been recorded with 635 fatalities. While the number of confirmed cases is continuing to increase, Anies said fewer bodies had been buried according to COVID-19 protocol following the implementation of PSBB measures. National Day celebrations in Bamenda Facebook With 1,163 known positive cases of the Coronavirus pandemic, COVID-19, Cameroons Head of State, President Paul Biya has cancelled public celebrations to mark the International Labour Day on May 1 as well as the countrys National Day on May 20. The Minister of State, Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic, Ferdinard Ngoh Ngoh announced the presidential decision in a statement Wednesday, April 22, 2020. The Minister of State, Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic, informs the public that due to the Coronavirus pandemic and the measures prescribed by the Government of the Republic, the President of the Republic, His Excellency Paul Biya, has decided to cancel the public celebrations of the 2020 editions of Labour Day and National Day, read the statement. On March 17, 2020 Cameroons government took measures to curb the spread of the virus, including shutting schools, closing borders, banning mass gatherings, and encouraging people to strictly follow hygiene rules. The compulsory wearing of masks among other measures came to tighten anti-coronavirus restrictions. Cameroon-Info.Net recalls that Labour Day and National Celebrations in Cameroon are always marked by thickly attended matchpasts at ceremonial grounds across the country, with the President of the Republic presiding over the May 20 National Day military and civilian parade at the Yaounde ceremonial ground. Cameroons 48th National Day will however unfold under the theme: United against the COVID-19 Pandemic, to resolutely steer Cameroon on the path of resilience, peace, stability and Economic Development. The theme was made public April 20 by Joseph Beti Assomo, Minister Delegate at the Presidency of the Republic in charge of Defense. The solemn reflections on May 20 will focus not only on the COVID-19 pandemic, but on other biting national challenges including the ongoing armed conflict in the North West and South West Regions as well as the fight against the jihadist fighters belonging to the Boko Haram group. The May 1 Labour Day also comes at a time when jobs are not only scarce, but exisitng jobs are being lost due to unrest in parts of the country. With about twenty thousand contracts of employment and a related monthly wage bill of about FCFA 2.5 billion, the crisis in the North West and South West Regions is taking a heavy toll on the Cameroon Development Corporation, CDC. Workers have been maimed in the plantations, while others were pulled out of their homes and gravely injured. The rubber, banana and oil palm plantations have since not been attended to. With crop production nose-diving, the factories and mills have also had to shut down with only the mill in Idenau working above 50 per cent. PAMOL Plantations in Lobe, Ekondo Titi Subdivision in Ndian Division, another major agro-industrial concern in this part of the country, equally finds itself at the crossroads. Like the CDC, its operations have been grounded, and her workers suffering a similar fate. All that is obvious is that, it is the population of this part of the country that bears the brunt of this senseless war. It is only now struggling to pick up, but the financial loss is enormous. The country lost hundreds of billions FCFA when some production units at SONARA went up in flames on May 31, 2019. It is now hoped that the funds initially set aside for the Labour Day and National Day feasts will be channeled to other projects that will benefit the masses. FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- COVID Cleaning Services are taking to the fight, but are their methods safe or even effective? As the country returns to the "NEW NORMAL" there is an immediate need for decontamination and sanitizing services. However, there is a massive shortage of appropriate disinfectants. As a result, cleaning services and water damage restoration contractors that are now "experts" in industrial hygiene are using anything and everything to fog office buildings, hotels, homes, restaurants etc. Gary Rosen PhD The side effects of improper treatment could result in severe illness, blindness, respiratory damage or even death. Often service providers are spraying or fogging with toxic-chemicals, off label use, that are not even EPA/CDC approved to kill viruses. Because of either poor training or greed or both, many services are using unsafe practices (illegal use of pesticides) that leave behind toxic residues that, while usually killing the virus, are unsafe for the workers and occupants. This illegal use of biocides, while commonplace, is a liability for business owners who can be held liable and sued by employees or customers if they hired service providers that used improper methods or chemicals. A SAFE, COMPLETE, AND EFFECTIVE METHOD Gary Rosen of Certified Mold Free Corp (CMF) is a PhD biochemist (UCLA) and is also a State of Florida authorized training and exam provider for the Florida DBPR Mold Licensing program. Dr. Rosen teaches solutions that are Green, Chemical-Free, EPA/CDC recommended methods of decontamination. One of their key services is sanitizing with chlorine dioxide gas, which is particularly good for sanitizing offices, vehicles and yachts. It decontaminates COVID-19 as well as mold and other very small organic irritants. It is the same technology used in the Federal Government buildings to decontaminate after the anthrax attacks in 2001. Chlorine Dioxide, along with the other products and methods that CMF teaches and uses, are safe and approved for use in ventilation systems and food areas. CMF is a Florida building contractor specializing in fixing moldy, water damaged homes since 2003 for sick people where air quality issues are of the highest concern. Both CMF's Florida licensing program and their contracting services emphasize CDC/EPA approved methods of "green, chemical-free" remediation and sanitizing; methods that do not leave any chemical residues that can make people sick. According to the EPA/CDC, mold is harder to kill than viruses and when you kill mold you kill viruses; CMF and Dr. Rosen are able to put their extensive experience in mold remediation and biochemistry to work against COVID-19, safely and effectively. HOW TO HIRE THE RIGHT CONTRACTOR? Contact CMF if you would like more information on what to ask in order to hire the right contractor, how to minimize liability and decontaminate your property safely. FOR SERVICE CONTRACTORS OR FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE HIRING THEM, sign up for their training webinar offered weekly to learn how to decontaminate with non-toxic CDC/EPA recommended methods. TRAINING IN NON-TOXIC DECON FREE FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PRESS: CMF would also like to get the word out that they are waiving the fee for local governments and members of the media for their upcoming training webinars. These are NOT sales webinars; they are for training industry people in green, chemical-free methods of decontamination. Interested parties should email their request with their credentials. PRESS CONTACT: Linda Rosen Certified Mold Free Corp (954) 614-6860 [email protected] www.free-mold-training.org SOURCE Certified Mold Free Corp Related Links https://www2.free-mold-training.org Stimulus checks were sent out to most Americans last week. And according to a very informal poll of Hearst Connecticut readers, most of that money is going towards rent or mortgage payments in the Nutmeg State. We asked Connecticut residents to tell us how they spent or plan to spend their stimulus checks. Out of about 40 people who responded, 38 percent said they would spend some or all of it on rent/mortgage payments. ALBANY The national movement against coronavirus shutdowns arrived with force here on Wednesday, turning Washington Avenue outside the Capitol into a gridlocked, cacophonous show. Some waved Trump 2020 flags. Many honked and yelled from the socially distant safety of their cars and trucks. Some stood on sidewalks, often separated by socially undistant lengths, and held homemade signs. Poverty is more dangerous than a virus, read one sign. Fear the government, not COVID-19, said another. It would be easy to dismiss the hundreds of protesters as misguided voices from the conspiracy theorizing, wing-nut fringe; some of that, certainly, was on display. And its true the protesters do not speak for most of us; polls show support for restrictions designed to stem the coronavirus. But it would be wrong to not also recognize the Albany protest, and others like it, as signs of rising economic terror. People are worried about supporting their families. They're scared that their livelihoods are slipping away. Hundreds gather at the Capitol to protest state shutdown Want more from Chris Churchill? Sign up for his weekly newsletter Don't misunderstand: I think the closures of schools and businesses ordered by Andrew Cuomo and many other governors were needed to flatten the curve and protect the vulnerable. There was no other responsible option, and its clear that requiring most of us to stay home is working. But I also understand the fear. The economic pain from this pandemic is devastating, and it is going to linger for a long, long time. I have friends whose businesses have closed and will never reopen, said Paul Szakats of Niskayuna, 55, who was holding a sign that read, Enough Already. Back to Work. Our economy is on the verge of collapse, said a protestor with a sign that said: Freedom to Provide. (She lives in Rotterdam but declined to give her name.) Even among New Yorkers who would never show up at Wednesdays protest, patience with the stay-at-home order is wearing thin. As Cuomo acknowledges, theres growing political pressure to relax restrictions especially in parts of the state where COVID-19 cases are rare enough that the threat feels less vivid. Early on Wednesday, before the protest, I talked to Assemblywoman Mary Beth Walsh, a Republican from Ballston, who told me she felt a distinct shift in opinion on the day, last week, when the governor said he'd extend the "pause" to May 15. The shift led Walsh to write Cuomo and urge that he consider opening parts of upstate ahead of downstate areas hardest hit by the virus. I am noticing a marked uptick of hostility from my constituents, she wrote, calling the extension a very bitter pill. Cuomo had consistently rejected calls to reopen the state in pieces. But he changed course on Tuesday, saying he would start planning to open New York by region. He seems to be struggling with this too, but I glad he came around, said Walsh, who acknowledged the complexity and risks of opening even rural parts of the state. It was relatively easy to shut the valve, she said. But turning it back on is going to be really hard. I dont envy the governor. More for you Churchill: Will cities recover when the pandemic ends? During the crisis, Cuomo has repeatedly said there is just one New York. Its a nice thought, but we all know it isnt true. In recent decades, New York City and downstate areas thrived and grew richer while large swaths of upstate New York were left to rot. It's likely, I think, that much of upstate will have more difficulty bouncing back economically when the pandemic ends. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. After all, it's easier to recover from a punch when you're strong. We have to acknowledge that if the pandemic leaves upstate weaker than it already was, there will be real and tragic human costs. Increased rates of addiction and suicide are just two of the many side effects of despair. We should acknowledge, too, that Wednesday's protest in Albany would have been smaller had our country done more to help workers, before and during the pandemic. Losing a job isn't as scary if you don't have to worry about health care. Falling isn't as terrifying if there's a net to catch you. Cuomo spoke inside the Capitol as protesters gathered outside. Little he said would mollify them. The governor warned, for example, that the shutdown is not going to be over anytime soon. He vowed not to cave to the political pressure, because, he said, more people will die if were not smart. The governor is right about that, of course. The pandemic is not over. The risks remain very real. Patrick Crowe is a reminder of that. I wrote about Crowe, 57, a worker at Wal-Mart in Colonie, three weeks ago in a column that noted the risks supermarket workers are taking to keep the rest of us fed. On Tuesday, Crowe tested positive for COVID-19. When I spoke with him, he said something the protestors should hear. You can make up for economic pain by throwing money at it, he said. But you cant make up for death. cchurchill@timesunion.com 518-454-5442 @chris_churchill Former broker Nick Leeson has reportedly claimed he is doing 'very well' by dealing on the stock market amid the coronavirus crisis. The rogue trader, who was jailed for six-and-a-half years after Barings Bank went bust in 1995, insisted 'markets exist through crises' as he confirmed he is 'back trading' in a Facebook post. In the post, which was seen by the Sun, Leeson is said to have declared 'we are continuing to have another few great and profitable weeks', while appearing to disregard those who are struggling financially due to the pandemic. Leeson, 53, who was born in Watford, Hertfordshire, added: 'It really doesn't matter if it's the Gulf War, Coronavirus, Boris Johnson getting sick, Trump tweeting or a banking collapse, the markets react. Former broker Nick Leeson (pictured) has reportedly claimed he is doing 'very well' by dealing on the stock market amid the coronavirus crisis 'That's the beauty of a capitalist society where we have freedom of speech and a free market economy.' Former Metropolitan Police detective chief inspective Mick Neville said it is in 'very poor taste to boast about profits', adding Leeson should 'give all his profits to the health service.' The 53-year-old, who runs an online trading service, has continued to post a commentary about his activity on the stock market to Facebook throughout the nationwide lockdown, which began on March 23. In another post, he wrote: 'The historic collapse in oil yesterday caught the markets and me by surprise, worrying already nervous investors. 'This shows how deep rooted the economic damage from the pandemic can be. Nobody wants oil for delivery this month: there is no demand and no capacity, either location or financial to receive oil. 'Never happened before and the ripple is spreading. What will happen as we approach expiry next month?' Leeson, 53, added: 'It really doesn't matter if it's the Gulf War, Coronavirus, Boris Johnson getting sick, Trump tweeting or a banking collapse, the markets react' Leeson (pictured) worked for Barings Bank between 1989 and 1995, trading speculatively in Singapore and hiding his losses in an 'errors account' Leeson worked for Barings Bank between 1989 and 1995, trading speculatively in Singapore and hiding his losses in an 'errors account'. He memorably left a note reading 'I'm sorry' as losses reached 827million - twice the bank's available trading capital. Leeson fled Singapore for Malaysia, Thailand, and eventually Germany. He was arrested in Frankfurt and extradited back to Singapore in November 1995. He pleaded guilty to two counts of 'deceiving the bank's auditors and of cheating the Singapore exchange' and was sentenced to six-and-a-half years. Leeson has since had management roles at League of Ireland club Galway United and he appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2018, where he finished in fourth place. A representative for Leeson has been contacted for comment. BART and Muni will receive the greatest share of the $780 million in stimulus funding doled out to Bay Area transit agencies, the first round of what will ultimately be $1.3 billion from the federal coronavirus deal struck by Congress. Under a plan approved Wednesday by the regional Metropolitan Transportation Commission, BART will receive about $250 million, while San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, which runs Muni, will collect $197 million. Both agencies are scrambling to stanch losses of hundreds of millions of dollars in fare revenue, and they stand to lose more if the recession causes sales tax dollars to dip. The commission distributed the money using a formula that considered the budgets and operating costs of each transit agency in the Bay Area, as well as the amount of funding they typically draw from fares. Officials tried to prioritize agencies facing immediate and deep holes as riders peeled away and the economy withered, said Therese McMillan, executive director of the commission. Some labor unions and transit advocates objected to the formula, saying it should be weighted to help populations that rely most heavily on public transportation. Jeffrey Tumlin, director of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, agreed. He expressed gratitude for the funding approved on Wednesday, but called for a needs-based approach when the commission awards the next round, anticipated in July. That could mean more money going to buses that serve low-income neighborhoods, instead of rail. The debate illustrates the complexity of the Bay Areas transportation quandary. Officials are trying to help people for whom transit is a lifeline and a key to economic mobility. Yet they also need to shore up systems like BART, which keep the regional economy going. 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. Advocates also requested that 5% of the funding be set aside for protective gear, such as gloves, hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes and plexiglass dividers for transit drivers, masks for every rider who needs one, extra cleanings for vehicles and hazard pay for drivers. Although the commission declined that request, its members agreed to ask each agency for a detailed plan to protect its workers. The commission will also form a COVID-19 response panel, consisting of commission staff, transit officials and advocates, to guide the next round of funding. Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 11:36:36|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- China's leading liquor maker Kweichow Moutai saw its net profit rose 17.05 in 2019 from the previous year. The company's net profit attributable to its equity holders stood at 41.21 billion yuan (about 5.81 billion U.S. dollars) last year, said its financial report filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange Tuesday night. Over the same period, Moutai's revenue was around 85.43 billion yuan in 2019, up about 16.01 percent year on year. The liquor maker, which is based in southwest China's Guizhou Province, produced about 75,000 tonnes of base liquor for its Moutai brand and series brands in 2019, up 6.88 percent year on year. Enditem MUSKEGON, MI Under an ambitious $105 million bond proposal, Muskegon Public Schools wants to demolish the last of its original three middle schools and build a new middle school where Mercy Healths Hackley Campus currently is located. The district is asking Muskegon voters on May 5 to support the two-part proposal that includes demolishing Muskegon Middle School because of high maintenance costs and its out-of-the-way location. It estimates the cost of a new middle school at around $29 million. Muskegon schools $105M bond too 'important to remove from May ballot due to coronavirus Built in 1959, the middle school formerly known as Steele Middle School at one time was one of the districts three middle schools. But as enrollment numbers dwindled in the following decades, the district turned its other two middle schools, Bunker and Nelson, into elementary schools. Bunker Middle School was turned into Lakeside Elementary School in 2012. The closure of the two middle schools left the districts remaining middle school, now known as Muskegon Middle School, sitting on the outer edges of the district. The school at 1150 Amity Ave., on the districts eastern edge, is too far away from the rest of the district, said Muskegon Public Schools Superintendent Matthew Cortez. Thats why he wants to move the middle school to a more centralized location. The idea of centralizing the middle school was expressed by district parents, he said. They wanted to have local elementary schools, and a centralized middle, like we have a centralized high school. The middle school also is costly to maintain, Cortez said. For example, he said, the heating system was built into the ceiling, meaning the first and second floors are heated differently. So if its cold and youre on the first floor, you turn on the heat, but then on the second floor its like the Bahamas because the heat rises through the floor instead of going down, the superintendent said. The facility has insurmountable heating design flaws. The district decided that it would be more costly to update the facilities than to just move to a new building altogether, Cortez said. When we look at energy efficiency and the integration of new technology, that runs a high dollar amount, Cortez said. Muskegon Public Schools is asking voters to consider a two-part millage proposal May 5. The first part, Proposal 1, would renew an existing 7.36-mill property tax for academic and building improvements, which would generate $93 million for the district. The millage would levy $7.36 on each $1,000 of taxable value for 30 years, with no increase from the 2019 levy. Owners of a home with a market value of $100,000 and taxable value of $50,000 would be assessed $368 per year for Proposal 1. Proposal 2 is dependent upon Proposal 1 passing and focuses on security and sports/extracurricular facilities. The second proposal would result in a 1-mill tax increase, where one mill of tax equals $1 for every $1,000 of taxable value, generating $11 million for the district. A home with a market value of $100,000 and taxable value of $50,000 would be assessed $50 per year. If Proposal 1 is approved, the district will build the new middle school, called Charles Hackley Middle School, at the site of Hackley hospital off of Laketon Avenue. Although the building has not yet been designed, Cortez said the district hopes to construct a two-story school with 120,000 square feet. Mercy Health, which is finalizing construction of a new hospital tower at the Mercy Campus where hospital services will be consolidated, would donate the land to the school district if the bond is approved, Cortez previously told MLive. The hospital plans to continue operating the Hackley Professional Center, 1675 Leahy St, and behavioral health and emergency services, 1700 Clinton St. The district hopes to debut the new middle school in fall 2023. Before the district demolishes the old middle school, it would use the building to house Oakview and Marquette elementary students in the following years while the district renovates the two elementary school buildings. If Proposal 2 passes, which would allow the construction of a new track and field by the new middle school, the district could consider selling the land the current middle school sits on for new homes. Its a great location to re-purpose the land into housing and things like that, which would be huge, Cortez said. If proposal 2 fails, the middle school track and field will remain at the old site. The bond proposals also call for the closure of the Nelson Elementary School property. Built in the 1920s, Cortez said the historic building is too old to continue use as it is. Because of its age, its just not feasible for oldest part to be retrofitted into a 21st century learning environment, Cortez said. Cortez floated ideas of private development and a return to a natural watershed as two possible uses for some or all of the land. In addition to the demolition of the middle school and closure of Nelson Elementary, the districts proposal would fund the demolition of the high schools J building and the closure of Moon Elementary School in 2024. Read more on MLive: Timeline of coronavirus in Muskegon County: How we got here Muskegon Public Schools shines Hackley Stadium light on Class of 2020 Betsy DeVos announces $89 million in education grants for Michigan coronavirus response Google is celebrating 'Earth Day' on Wednesday (April 22, 2020) with an interactive doodle to spread knowledge and share fun facts about planet earth. Today's doodle has been made in collaboration with New York-based The Honeybee Conservancy. The user can guide the bee to pollinate the flowers on the fields and learn fun facts about bees and how they help in sustaining the planet. Earth Day is an annual event celebrated on April 22 every year to demonstrate support for environmental protection. It was first celebrated in 1970 and now it includes events coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network in more than 193 countries. Earth Day 2020 is the 50th year and it will be celebrated with activities such as the Great Global CleanUp, Citizen Science, Advocacy, Education, and art. Due to COVID-19 the global emphasis has shifted to digital. In a press release Kathleen Rogers, President of Earth Day Network said, At Earth Day Network, the health and safety of volunteers and participants in Earth Day events is our top concern. Amid the recent outbreak, we encourage people to rise up but to do so safely and responsibly in many cases, that means using our voices to drive action online rather than in person. "Earth Day will educate and mobilize more than one billion people to grow and support the next generation of environmental activists. It's time to reimagine what we can collectively do for our global environment with activities and events," she added. Last year, Earth Day Network had partnered with Keep America Beautiful and National Cleanup Day for the inaugural nationwide Earth Day CleanUp. Cleanups were held in all 50 States, 5 US Territories, 5,300 sites and had more than 500,000 volunteers. A lot of the Philippines are traveling to Korea, particularly South Korea, because of the attractions in the area. If you want to tour this region, you need to start with getting a visa from the embassy. The application process is normally smooth if you are familiar with the process, and you have all the Korean visa requirements. Image: instagram.com, @#koreavisa Source: UGC If you want to visit Korea, get a visa in advance. There are several steps to submitting the application successfully. There are also several requirements that you need to meet. To help you get this document within the shortest time frame, we have provided a detailed guide on the application process. Korean visa application process In the year 2018, the Korean Embassy announced that all the Philippines visa application should be processed through the embassys accredited travel agencies. This was because of the increase in the number of tourists from the Philippines to Korea. Consequently, it is advised to apply for your document at least two months before your visit. READ ALSO: Fact check: U.S. embassy suspends tourist visas due to VFA termination & COVID-19 Determine the type of visa that you need There are different types of South Koreans visas. To determine the type you need, start by identifying the purpose of your visit. We will offer a guide on how to get a tourist visa. If you need a work visa, spousal visa, or you are joining a family in the region, you should check the South Korean Embassy to get the requirements for that respective visa. Korean visa requirements Philippines The approval and rejection of this application are primarily influenced by the completeness and originality of your documents. The main requirements include: Philippine passport You need to present your original passport and a copy of the documents bio page. Not every passport is acceptable, and there are standard passport requirements that yours needs to meet. The instances when your passport may not be adequate include: When the photo page has a lamination that is broken When the passport is valid for less than six months from the date that you intend to travel If your passport does not have your signature If the passport has less than two blank stamp pages OECD visas If you have visited any OECD countries in the last five years, remember to attach a photocopy of your travel documents in your application. Submitting this document is said to help increase the process at which your application is processed. Korean visa application form You will need to download an application form from the embassy website. Once you have downloaded the form, fill it carefully in capital letters. Where you are asked for information that does not apply to you, fill in N\A. Do not leave any blank space. Passport photo Every applicant must have an ID photo. The photo should be colored and taken against a plain white background. It should also be 35*45mm in size. Proof of financial stability You are supposed to provide documents that indicate that you are financially stable. The documents required vary according to your job. Employed people: Certificate of employment Bank certificate Passport for the last three months Original bank statements Photocopy of ITR Self-employed individuals: Bank certificate Copies of business registration Cover letter Express visa application If you are in a rush to have your document processed, you should fill an express application. This form should be submitted to the travel agency of choice. The application processing fee is Php 1000. Get in contact with an accredited traveling agency Once the forms are filled and you have met the requirements highlighted, contact an accredited travel agency. Korean visa application status After completion, you can check your Korean visa status through the embassys online portal. Your application can either be in the received, under review, approved, or denied section. Visa validity If your visa is approved, its validity is dependent on the type you applied. Single entry This type is valid for three months, and you are only allowed to enter Korea once and stay for a maximum of 90 days. Double entry With a double entry, you are allowed to enter Korea twice, and it has a validity of six months. You are only allowed to stay in the state for a maximum of 30 days. Multiple entries This has a validity of 1-5 years. You are permitted to enter the state several times, but you can only stay for a maximum of 30 days. How to renew Korean tourist visa requirements Image: instagram.com, @#koreavisa Source: UGC A tourist visa can be extended under special circumstances such as flight cancellation, accident, or medical problems. To get an extension, you must apply to your local immigration office. The requirements of an extension include: Valid passport A completed renewal form Alien registration card Any document that indicates that you need to extend your stay Korean embassy address In the Philippines, the embassy has several offices. Korean embassy Cebu address and contact These offices are located at the Chinabank corporate center, 12th floor Lot 2, Samar Loop Cor. Road 5, Cebu Business Park, Mabolo, Cebu City 6000, Philippines. You can also contact them through: Tel: (63-32) 231-1516(-9) Fax: (63-32) 231-2950 E-mail: phi_cebu2015@mofa.go.kr Korean Embassy Manila In Manila, the offices are located at 122 upper McKinley road, McKinley town center, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig city, Manila, Philippines. Tel: +6328856-9210 Email: Philippines@mofia.go.kr A visa is required when visiting Korea. Getting this document is not a straightforward process. You need to familiarize yourself with the Korean visa requirements and the application process. In case you are stranded, and you do not know where and how to start, read through the article. We have provided an insight into what is required when applying for this document. READ ALSO: US bans the entry of Filipinos with new work visa Source: KAMI.com.gh To cross this red line would do more harm than good. Corona bonds would breach a founding principle of the eurozone, a core promise that helped convince the Germans of the idea of the euro in the first place: Every country is responsible for its own budget and no one will be allowed to live at the expense of others. Even if intended to be temporary, corona bonds would be viewed as an opening of the floodgates. They would not only reawaken anti-European populist parties like the Alternative for Germany, whose support has been falling. By showing how malleable the rules can be, they would also spread euroscepticism far into the political center. Sure, not granting the bonds is feeding populists in the south like Italys opposition leader Matteo Salvini. The rescue package of 500 billion euros, around $540 billion, agreed to by E.U. governments this month, inflamed him: He is furious that Italy should have to beg for money. Whats more, this rescue money could come from the European Stability Mechanism, an emergency cash box created during the euro crisis, its funds carrying harsh conditions. For many Italians, accepting assistance from it feels humiliating; hence the call for corona bonds instead. Yet the Italian populists merely wield a sentiment, while the Germans have an argument. Corona bonds are simply not necessary to master the crisis. First, rescue funds would come without tough conditions for Rome this time around. The German finance minister made it clear that it would be inappropriate in the current situation to make aid dependent on fundamental debates about the pension system, the tax system, and the labor market. So its baseless to reject the European Stability Mechanism as a mean, disciplinary tool. In addition, the European Central Bank has already decided to buy extra state bonds this year to the tune of 750 billion euros, nearly $814 billion. This act of solidarity enables Italy and other southern European states to keep their sovereign bonds low, meaning they can borrow much more cheaply than they would otherwise be able to. In other words, Europe is printing money to help Italy. A third fund, possibly worth around 1.5 trillion euros, has been suggested by the European Commission and will be up for debate on Thursday, too. The truth is that the challenge for the European Union is far bigger than the usual quarrel between north and south. Europe needs to generate money for continentwide reconstruction for a new Marshall Plan. But the coronavirus has been weakening Europes economic immune system, leaving it unable to defend itself. The European Commission has warned, for example, that China could go on a shopping spree, buying out hundreds of cash-strapped European companies. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was tested negative for the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, his aide said, as the number of the COVID-29 cases crossed 10,000 in the country. Khan, 67, agreed for the test after Faisal Edhi, the son of late philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi and chairman of the Edhi Foundation, who met him last week tested positive for the coronavirus. "I am happy to report that his test is NEGATIVE," government's chief spokesperson Firdous Ashiq Awan tweeted. She said the premier was tested for SARS-CoV-2, the virus strain that causes COVID-19. Awan said the family of the prime minister had already tested negative. Earlier in the day, a team of doctors from the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital collected samples from the PM. Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital CEO Dr Faisal Sultan said that Khan agreed for the test as a responsible prime minister and a responsible citizen. Sultan, who is also Khan's personal physician and focal person on COVID-19, on Tuesday told the media, that Khan would undergo the test. Saad, the son of Faisal Edhi, told the Dawn newspaper on Tuesday that his father started showing symptoms last week, soon after meeting Khan in Islamabad on April 15. "The symptoms lasted for four days before subsiding," Saad said. Faisal Edhi had met Pakistani Prime Minister Khan to hand over a Rs 10 million cheque for the premier's coronavirus relief fund. The Edhi Foundation was founded by the late Abdul Sattar Edhi and is the leading charity organisation in Pakistan. Khan will participate in an event on Thursday organised to collect donations to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. A total of 17 more people have died in Pakistan from the COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 209. The number of coronavirus cases has risen to 10,072, according to officials. Pakistan's Punjab province has reported 4,331 cases, Sindh has 3,373, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 1,345, Balochistan 495, Gilgit-Baltistan 283, Islamabad 194 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 51 patients. So far, 118,020 tests have been done nationwide, including 5,647 in the last 24 hours. A total of 2,156 patients have recovered. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr. 22 By Ilkin Seyfaddini - Trend: The total number of coronavirus infected people in Uzbekistan rose to 1,678, Trend reports on April 22 with reference to the Ministry of Health. To date, 357 patients have fully recovered from the coronavirus infection in the country, six have died. Since April 1, Uzbekistan announced a self-isolation regime in Tashkent, the capital, as well as in Nukus and other regional centers. Citizens over 65 are categorically prohibited from leaving their homes. They can go out only to visit pharmacies and shops near their respective places of residence. The first case of coronavirus infection in Uzbekistan was detected on March 15 in the laboratory of the Research Institute of Virology; it was an Uzbek woman who returned from France. The Ministry of Health later announced that her son, daughter, husband and grandson also tested coronavirus-positive. The outbreak of the coronavirus began in the Chinese city of Wuhan (an international transport hub), at a fish market in late December 2019. The number of people killed by the disease has surpassed 177,000. Over 2.5 million people have been confirmed as infected, over 686,000 have reportedly recovered. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11. Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as November 2019. --- Follow author on Twitter: @seyfaddini The case against a South Jacksonville man charged in his mothers 2018 stabbing death will move forward after he was found fit to stand trial. Glenn C. Van Avery, 26, of South Jacksonville has been receiving treatment at a Chester facility since October 2018, when it was determined he could not adequately assist in his own defense against a first-degree murder charge. South Africa's communications minister has paid an "admission of guilt" fine for lunching at a friend's house during lockdrgown, the national prosecuting authority said Wednesday. Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams was placed on special leave earlier this month for flouting a stay-at-home order meant to curb the spread of coronavirus. She was suspended after a picture posted on Instagram showed her having lunch at the home of a former deputy minister during the second week of lockdown -- which came into force on March 27 and is set to run through to the end of April. A statement from the National Prosecuting Authority said Ndabeni-Abrahams had paid an admission of guilt fine of 1,000 rand ($53) for failing to confine herself to her home. Ndabeni-Abrahams has also been summoned to appear before a court next month. The state alleges her lunch stop was "unlawful" under lockdown regulations, which only allow citizens to leave their homes for groceries, pharmaceuticals and medical appointments. The minister issued a public apology shortly after President Cyril Ramaphosa placed her on a two-month leave. To date South Africa has recorded 3,465 cases of coronavirus, making it the second worst-affected country on the continent after Egypt. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A group of Irish expats have been slapped with almost $25,000 in fines after police broke up an all-night house party in Melbourne at 7:45am on Sunday morning. The party at Bentleigh East in Melbourne's south-east started on Saturday night and continued into Sunday morning in breach of the state's strict isolation rules. Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton said on Tuesday each of the 15 people inside were slapped with a $1652 fine - a total of $24,780. A group of 15 Irish expats have each been slapped with a $1652 fine after police raided a house party in Melbourne (stock image) 'They were having quite the party as I understand,' Dep Comm Patton said. 'We eventually had an authorised officer from the Department of Health and Human Services assist us and we gained entry at about 7:45am because it was a very big party so we gave them all infringement notices. He said police try to use discretion when handing out social distancing fines, but these party-goers were uncooperative and tried to hinder officers. 'They weren't compliant, they weren't letting us in and so that's deliberate, that's obvious, that's blatant,' he said. Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton (left) said the party-goers attempted to block police from entering the building CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement It was the second high profile breach in Melbourne on the weekend. Victoria Police fined the parents of an eight-year-old $1,652 after they held a birthday party for him in breach of social distancing rules. At least 16 parents and children were seen standing outside a home in Beaumaris, 20km south-east of the CBD, on the weekend. Some of the party-goers appeared to be breaking the 1.5metre social distancing rule as well as flouting guidelines banning public gatherings of more than two people. Victoria Police issued the fine to the party's organiser but none of the people in attendance were hit with an infringement. At least 16 people attended an eight-year-old's birthday party in Beaumaris, Melbourne on the weekend Connecticuts aquariums are doing everything possible thinking outside the tank to connect with you during this period of social distancing, this #coronacation. Although Mystic Aquarium and The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk are temporarily closed, they both offer free online resources to provide fun and educational opportunities for people of all ages. For example, Facebook live broadcasts are held daily at 11 a.m. from Mystic Aquarium, featuring different animal care professionals and a variety of species. With more than 4,000 animals in their care, theres plenty to cover. During the broadcasts, viewers are encouraged to ask questions in the comments section. Following each segment, experts follow up to ensure all questions are answered. The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk is doing the same. Sharks and their cousins, the rays, were the topic of a recent live Facebook Q&A there. Dave Sigworth, spokesman for the Aquarium, says people really enjoyed it. Yes, were doing one every day at 3 oclock - even on Saturdays and Sundays - and each day draws in more participants as word gets around, he said. The live sessions are only 10- to 15 minutes long, but we're getting 40 to 50 questions in that time. Thats usually too many to answer live, but we eventually answer everyones submitted questions in the written comments thread. And no glitches in the process so far, other than sometimes having to guide a couple folks who need a second explanation of how they can hear the audio on their computer. Do people have lots of different questions? Do they ever surprise the experts? Folks definitely are asking a good range of questions, he said. For instance, one days topic was How we feed our animals and some questions were basic, like What does the octopus eat? and How often do you feed the rays? But we also had someone ask if marine animals can get indigestion and another ask if any sharks eat plants. We did not anticipate those! Sigworth said they also plan to cover subjects such as the Aquariums conservation efforts. One of the most important things happening right now is that The Maritime Aquarium and about 20 other institutions across America are tending to live stony corals pulled from the Florida Reef Tract, which is being wiped out by a disease. The corals that were tending were saved before the disease got to them. Once this crisis subsides, we and the other organizations will return these corals to the waters off Florida to try to help restart the reef. Its a last-ditch effort thats never been tried before, which is why the effort is being called a Coral Ark, after the Biblical Noah. If youre passionate about specific aspects of Maritime Aquariums work or its animals theres 321 species and close to 6,000 creatures and would like to see your subject addressed in a live session, you can submit suggestions via email or Facebook. The Maritime Aquarium also has links on its website so schools - or anyone - can stream several of its IMAX movies, including The Living Sea, Humpback Whales and Dream Big: Engineering Our World. More Information The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk, 10 N. Water St. 203-852-0700, maritimeaquarium.org; Mystic Aquarium, 55 Coogan Blvd. 860-572-5955, mysticaquarium.org See More Collapse Well, admittedly, the experience of watching an IMAX movie at home is not going to be the same as seeing it on our six-story tall screen in a resolution thats better than any home TV system, Sigworth said. But, personally, I believe viewing them at home - when youre not overwhelmed by the scale - is also when you realize that these movies are beautifully filmed and full of educational content. Sigworth said, The Living Sea was one of the first IMAX movies nominated for an Academy Award, and deservedly so. Many area school teachers bring their students to see our IMAX movies and incorporate the content into their lessons, especially by taking advantage of the Educators Guides that the producers create. We want teachers to know that the movies are still available and that they can still take advantage of them. These IMAX movies were not previously available via links on the Aquariums website, he said, so this is a new development. Im not sure if the production companies will pull them off streaming when this is over. The Maritime Aquarium is also adding live online educational programs for families, individuals and schools, starting March 30. A Friday storytime series for preschoolers (in which participants can talk to the educator) sold out in less than day, but spaces remain for a free virtual Citizen Science class on Wednesdays at 4 p.m. In addition, nine paid STEM-based programs for schools became available for live streaming this week, with more to come. These are longer programs with intentional STEM educational content, and thus are different from the casual live daily Q&As on Facebook, he said. Each program is free, but advance reservations are required so you can receive a needed link. Details are at maritimeaquarium.org. Meanwhile, Mystic Aquarium has a many multimedia resources available at MysticAquarium.org, from the unique offerings of the Aquariums national conservation-based STEM education program to downloadable coloring sheets and activities. The Aquariums Pinterest page also has a host of conservation-focused activities, and storytimes are planned via Facebook. They will include tales about Mystic Aquariums very own Astro the Steller sea lion and Charlotte the green sea turtle, among other marine-themed childrens books. In partnership with Aquarion Water Company, a free live feed from the African penguin habitat is also available at MysticAquarium.org. Our doors may be closed, said Josh Davis, senior trainer of penguins, who is one of the hosts of Mystic Aquariums daily Facebook live events, but we are still here for our animals and our community. So, are all of these fish and other creatures sad because they arent having the usual number of visitors? Ha! Hard to say if the animals miss our guests, Sigworth said. But whats most important to know is that our Animal Husbandry staff remains on full-time status, making sure that all of our animals are healthy and well-fed. lkoonz@newstimes.com; Twitter @LindaTKoonz Citing financial difficulties due to coronavirus, many companies are failing to pay for orders that they placed months ago. Yesterday I wrote about the latest Fashion Transparency Index, which ranked 250 of the biggest fashion brands on how transparent their supply chains and labor conditions are. While it's important to note that transparency differs from ethics and sustainability, it bothered me to see certain companies among the top performers on the list. I'd recently seen their names on another list that made them look much less impressive, accompanied by the hashtag #PayUp. Due to the coronavirus crisis, many major fashion brands have reneged on contracts that they'd signed with garment factories in Asia. These cancelled, paused, or delayed orders, worth over $3 billion, have affected countless workers (mainly female, many with children to feed) in Bangladesh, Vietnam, Pakistan, Cambodia, and Burma. Bloomberg interviewed Rubana Huq, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association: "More than 1,100 of these factories reported canceled orders worth $3.17 billion in export sales as of April 20, affecting 2.27 million workers, said Huq. Almost all the 'brands' and retailers had declared force majeure, canceling orders outright even with fabric on the cutting table, she said. The cancellations sent shockwaves through the banking industry, and now textile companies cant get credit." It has created a devastating situation for garment workers, who are already notoriously underpaid for the long, gruelling hours they put in. It's even worse in Bangladesh, where 80 percent of the country's exports come from the garment industry. Bloomberg described a woman named Rozina whose sewing job in Dhaka has been suspended indefinitely. She said she was paid 8,000 taka ($94) for her salary in March, but that her rickshaw driver husband has had no customers due to the lockdown, and they're running out of savings. Another young Pakistani man, 21-year-old Waleed Ahmed Farooqui, told Bloomberg that his garment factory work was necessary to support his family and pay his university fees. He said, "What else can we do? If this lockdown continues and I cant get another job, I will have to go out and beg on the streets." These awful situations echo the words of garment factory owner Vijay Mahtaney, who runs factories in India, Bangladesh, and Jordan that employ 18,000 workers. He told the BBC, "If our workers don't die from coronavirus, they'd die of starvation." What's the alternative? The situation wouldn't be so dire if American and European fashion brands honored their agreements, if they promised to pay for garments ordered months ago. With the way the fashion industry works, suppliers cover the upfront cost of materials and labor, with the expectation that companies will reimburse them down the road; but in this case, struggling companies are sacrificing the poorest, most vulnerable link in the supply chain in order to stay afloat. As Mahtaney told the BBC, "Their attitude is one of protecting only shareholder value without any regard to the garment worker, behaving in a hypocritical manner, showing complete disregard to their ethos of responsible sourcing. Brand focus on share price, now means some of them don't have money for this rainy day, and are [...] asking us to help them out when they could be applying for a bailout from the US government stimulus package." A petition on Change.org has appeared in recent days, titled "Gap, Primark, C&A; #PayUp for orders, save lives." It shows a list of all the companies that have cancelled orders or refused to pay. These include Tesco, Mothercare, Walmart, Kohl's, JCPenney, ASOS, American Eagle Outfitters, and more. Companies that have promised to pay up include H&M;, Zara, Target, Marks & Spencer, adidas, UNIQLO, and others. The petition said this list will be updated to reflect changes, and that brands will be monitored to ensure payment actually happens. You can add your name to the petition here. Fashion Revolution encourages concerned individuals to write letters to their favorite fashions brands, demanding that they honor the orders "already placed with their suppliers and ensure that the workers making their products are protected, supported and paid properly during this crisis." It provides a pre-populated letter template on its website (here). It also suggests donating money to organizations that are supporting laid-off garment workers at this time, such as the AWAJ Foundation, a non-profit that provides legal aid, healthcare, union organizing, labor rights training and industry and policy advocacy assistance to Bangladeshi workers. Companies would be foolish not to pay up and find ways to support their overseas garment workers during a hard time. It's an investment in the security of their own future. And after so many years of profiting from dirt-cheap wages, it's the only decent thing to do, a way to make reparations of sorts for decades of exploitation. Surely we can use this crisis to create a new type of fashion industry, one that treats the garment workers as the skilled, crucial workers they are and reimburses them fairly. As a way to give back during this time, Jared Leto and his band Thirty Seconds to Mars have dropped new 'America' merchandise themed around Coronavirus with 100% of the profits benefitting Global Giving. Words like Purell, Toilet Paper, Fauci, Zoom and Tiger King are listed on the front of the garments and 'Wash Your F#%king Hands' emblazoned across the back. Masks that say 'If you can read this you are too close' are also available on the band's website with one being donated for every one sold. As a way to give back during this time, Jared Leto and his band Thirty Seconds to Mars have dropped new 'America' merchandise themed around Coronavirus with 100% of the profits benefitting Global Giving Words like Purell, Toilet Paper, Fauci, Zoom and Tiger King are listed on the front of the garments and 'Wash Your F#%king Hands' emblazoned across the back Jared has been promoting the merch with his millions of followers on Instagram The band's album America was released in April of 2018. All the merch for the album is themed around American things, from pop culture icons like Lebron and Oprah to the nation's top earning models and their salaries. 'For me, the lists are almost like a time capsule. Independently they may surprise, entertain or provoke, but as a group they give us a sense of the culture we are a part of and the times we are living in, said the rocker.' While the 48-year-old Academy Award winner only became aware of the coronavirus pandemic after he emerged from a 12 day meditation in the desert, Jared has been prepared for years. Shortly after learning about the current state of the world, he took to Instagram to post a video of himself wearing face masks and gloves and using hand sanitizers long before COVID-19. He captioned the post, 'And they called me crazy.' GlobalGiving is a non-profit organization that provides a global crowdfunding platform for grassroots charitable projects The band's album America was released in April of 2018. All the merch for the album is themed around American things, from pop culture icons like Lebron and Oprah to the nation's top earning models and their salaries. 'For me, the lists are almost like a time capsule. Independently they may surprise, entertain or provoke, but as a group they give us a sense of the culture we are a part of and the times we are living in, said the rocker.' Masks that say 'If you can read this you are too close' are also available with one being donated for every one sold. While the 48-year-old Academy Award winner only became aware of the coronavirus pandemic after he emerged from a 12 day meditation in the desert, the actor has been prepared for years As PC plods in the UK and keystone cops in the US continue to bumble around trying to operate Chinese made drones, numerous tech companies are developing more sophisticated tools that will allow big brother law enforcement to more effectively police social distancing rules. Californian software developer Landing AI has created video surveillance software that watches people and sounds the alarm if they get too close to one another. Landing AI has developed an AI-enabled social distancing detection tool that can detect if people are keeping a safe distance from each other by analyzing real-time video streams from the camera, the company proudly boasts in a statement. Watch: Landing AI explain that the system works by using an artificial neural network to detect each person and puts them (oh the irony) in a box. Then, if two boxes get too close to each other they change from green to red. At that point it will be up to the police to send in compliance robots, kill squads, or whatever they have decided we deserve. A similar technology is already being introduced by Amazon in its warehouses, with the company threatening workers with the sack, if they violate social distancing guidelines. Police in Westport, Connecticut are also going to be testing a pandemic drone that monitors citizens temperatures from almost 200 feet away and detects sneezing and coughing as well as heart and breathing rates. Developed by Draganfly Inc., the software loaded onto the drone cameras also identifies individuals, whose safe distance areas turn red if they get too close to each other. With the justification of the Chinese coronavirus now firmly embedded in society, there is a rush on to profit from stripping away privacy and personal freedoms. If this is our future, we truly have arrived at the prison planet. A person was shot dead Tuesday night in Jersey City and at least one person has been arrested, the Hudson County Prosecutors Office said Wednesday morning. The fatal shooting, which occurred on Brinkerhoff Street between Bergen and Monticello avenues, is the fifth homicide in the city since March 31. In a post on Twitter, the prosecutors office described the victim only as a male. According to police radio transmissions, the victim was shot in the abdomen at approximately 10:35 p.m. The suspect has been apprehended and arrested, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said in the tweet. On March 31, 25-year-old Damone Smith was killed in the area of Rose and Cator avenues and the following night, 17-year-old Stephanie Jacques was fatally shot on Martin Luther King Drive between Oak and Forrest streets. On April 4, 21-year-old Akim Ward was fatally shot shortly after 3:15 p.m. on Ocean Avenue between Bidwell and Bayview avenues, officials said. He was transported to the Jersey City Medical Center and pronounced dead 15 minutes later. Two days later, 23-year-old Javone Smith, of Jersey City, was shot dead in the area of Martin Luther King Drive and Myrtle Avenue. 3D printing fuels U-M efforts to rapidly increase ventilator capacity while providing each patient on vent support with individually tailored gas pressures and pressure monitoring ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- As the pandemic swept across the nation in March, so did urgent questions about the virus' potential strain on the healthcare system. Among top concerns: whether the nation's hospitals had enough ventilators to provide breathing support to critically ill patients with the disease COVID-19, which mainly attacks the lungs. As experts predicted a surge in coronavirus cases and a possible shortage in intensive care unit equipment, University of Michigan teams immediately got to work on a solution. The mission: to quickly develop an efficient, affordable and more controlled way to expand ventilator capacity. Now, just weeks later, U-M and Michigan Medicine researchers have invented an individualized vent-splitter that may allow multiple patients to receive customized pressures while sharing a single ventilator. U-M has filed for patent protection on the technology, and a local start-up, MakeMedical LLC, has licensed the technology and developed it into the VentMITM device. The VentMITM device has been tested in animals and received emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. MakeMedical, which U-M inventors have equity in, will provide the device at cost to other institutions without any profit for U-M or the company. "It has taken relentless positive action by a large number of individuals all motivated by the common good to make this happen," says Glenn Green, M.D., a pediatric otolaryngologist at Michigan Medicine C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and co-developer of the technology. The team has spent the last few weeks using in-house 3D printing to rapidly develop multiple prototypes, test them on machines in a hospital operating room and evaluate how the technology worked on pigs. The FDA's emergency authorization now allows their device to be used on humans if needed. "We have been working 24/7 to develop a system that could at least double ventilator capacity," says otolaryngologist Kyle VanKoevering, M.D., of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Michigan Medicine and an associate faculty member in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Michigan Engineering. "We were looking for innovative ways to potentially help hospitals that were preparing for a ventilator shortage during the pandemic." The device is being manufactured in partnership with Grand Rapids, Mich. facility Autocam Medical, with hundreds of devices available for public distribution before the end of April. MakeMedical, LLC will market the product domestically and internationally, and is in the process of partnering with distributors. MakeMedical cofounders include Green, VanKoevering, Mott pediatric head and neck surgeon David Zopf, M.D. and local business owner Owen Tien. SARS-CoV-2, a respiratory virus, can cause complications like pneumonia and respiratory distress. In severe cases, patients will require a ventilator, a device that is attached to the windpipe and supports a patient's lungs while their body fights the infection. Ventilators are also used for other types of conditions, including brain and spinal cord injuries that interfere with breathing and muscle, lung and sleep disorders. Currently, there are significant limitations to more than one patient using the same ventilator at once. One of the biggest barriers is that, without individualized controls, shared ventilator circuits will deliver only one pre-set pressure to all patients sharing the same ventilator. "The problem is that for patients to share a ventilator using a currently available vent-splitter, they must have the same ventilator needs," VanKoevering says. Patients sharing a ventilator need to have similarly-sized lungs with equal stiffness - or ability to stretch and expand. "Otherwise one person may receive excessive volume or pressure on their lungs, which can cause lung trauma." "Our design would have much broader use because it solves the problem of different ventilatory requirements and monitoring for people that have different lung sizes and degrees of disease." The system mimics a scuba tank regulator. A scuba tank contains compressed air at a very high pressure, but the regulator delivers it slowly at the pressure the lungs need to breathe. "Every innovative idea that comes from our group starts from powerful inspiration - in this case, Dr. Vankoevering's ideas on how to tailor lifesaving shared ventilation," says fellow team member and otolaryngologist David Zopf, M.D., assistant professor of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery at Michigan Medicine and Mott and an affiliate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Michigan Engineering. The team says because VentMITM is inexpensive, light. mobile and readily deployable, it can be delivered quickly to any place that could use it. The individualized pressure regulator system for vent splitting is expected to cost up to a hundredth of the cost of a new ventilator. "The speed with which our team developed, tested, and verified this technology was incredible," says Owen Tien, co-developer of the technology and founder of Ann Arbor-based 3D printing company Thingsmiths, "We couldn't have done it without great industry partners, and our access to, and knowledge of, 3D Printing, CAD design, and the best of rapid healthcare innovation." Tien especially credited Autocam's versatility and capacity to mobilize a precision-manufactured device in less than a week as being critical to the team's success. Researchers represent teams from Michigan Medicine otolaryngology, anesthesia and intensive care and University of Michigan biomedical engineering. While Michigan Medicine is among hospitals that currently have adequate ventilator capacity, the researchers wanted to make the device available to any hospitals anticipating a shortage. "We plan to make the devices available to be used across the world," VanKoevering says. "Our goal is to help provide lifesaving care to every critically ill patient who needs it during this pandemic." ### Hospitals and centers that are interested in receiving the device, may make inquiries online. Lvlqgs3023.hzzycm.com scored 40 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 2/5.0 Stars by Social Team This CoolSocial report was updated on 14 Jan 2013, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the lvlqgs3023.hzzycm homepage on Twitter + the total number of lvlqgs3023.hzzycm followers (if lvlqgs3023.hzzycm has a Twitter account). This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the lvlqgs3023.hzzycm homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if lvlqgs3023.hzzycm has a Facebook fan page). The total number of people who shared the lvlqgs3023.hzzycm homepage on Delicious. 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Twitter account link TWITTER PAGE LINK NOT FOUND The Air Forces top officer said Wednesday that his service does not yet have enough COVID-19 testing kits to test all of his highest priority personnel, including nuclear missile and bomber crews. However, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein told reporters that the service had been able to keep the nuclear crews and other high-priority forces free of COVID-19 by using social distancing and scrupulous cleaning regimens. Along with remarks by Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. John Hyten, who briefed reporters later on Wednesday, Goldfeins comments indicated that the military is preparing for a long fight against COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. In particular, there appears to be a growing acknowledgement among senior military leaders that the virus will return on a seasonal basis. We are all talking about it, Goldfein said. Until we have a vaccine, were going to be living with this virus, and the potential for it to come back in some cyclical way is likely, he said, adding that all the projections are no vaccine for upwards of a year. It is the job of the military to prepare for worst-case scenarios, Hyten said. We will take the lessons learned from this outbreak [and] we will plan for something worse to happen in the fall, while hoping that in the meantime vaccines or therapeutic drugs become available, he added. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images, Steve Helber/AP) Because of the nationwide shortage of test kits, Defense Secretary Mark Esper has directed each military service to divide its forces into four tiers, with tier one being the highest priority for tests when they become available, and tier four being the lowest priority, Goldfein and the other senior officials announced Wednesday. Goldfein listed the nuclear force, the Air National Guard crews who are on alert to defend the homeland, and the services airlift crews as among the Air Forces highest priority forces. In addition, he said, airmen in the Space Force (a separate service under the Department of the Air Force) who maintain the militarys Global Positioning System satellites are also part of the top tier. Story continues While acknowledging an urgency to expand testing, especially as he lacked the kits to test even his highest-priority forces, Goldfein said that national priorities such as nursing homes had to come first. I would not want to take tests away from that top national priority for my younger and healthier force, he said. Hyten later told reporters that the military would be able to test all its tier one forces by the end of this month. In the absence of widespread testing, the Air Force has used aggressive social distancing to keep its nuclear crews and other tier one elements free of COVID-19, according to Goldfein. Nuclear missile crews used to go out there for three to four days, he said. Now were keeping them out there 14 days and longer. Social distancing in the nuclear world is complicated by the two-person rule for operating the weapons. Missileers, Air Force specialists responsible for operating nuclear missiles, work in two-person teams in underground capsules, cramped quarters where the two operators sit just feet away from each other. Goldfein was keen to underscore the importance of the Air Forces nuclear crews. There is no situation where I see the nation or the leadership giving us relief on having a safe, secure and effective nuclear deterrent connecting the commander in chief with the forces in the field, he said. Thats a no-fail mission. We always have to get it done. The Air Forces Air Mobility Command is similarly protecting its aircrews who fly materiel and personnel around the globe. We essentially isolate the crew, keep them in a clean environment, make sure that the cockpit itself is clean, so theyre able to fly the mission, Goldfein said. Once the crew has landed, we keep them isolated, we keep them in a bubble until their return home, he added. Those crews are playing an essential role during the pandemic, according to Goldfein. Air mobility is critical, he said. Theyre becoming, along with our medical professionals, the MVPs of the COVID response. The 305th Air Mobility Wing. (Russ Meseroll/U.S. Air Force) The Air Force is adapting to the pandemic in two stages, according to Goldfein. The first, which Goldfein called a reset to the new normal, began several weeks ago, when the service brainstormed how it could continue to conduct its key missions, even if infection rates in the service were between 15 percent and 20 percent, he said. To protect the Air Forces ability to conduct these missions, the service has built separate teams and kept them isolated from each other and the rest of the force, according to Goldfein. Those procedures have worked so far, he said. No nuclear missile crew members, nuclear bomber crew members or air mobility air crew members have tested positive for COVID-19, he said. Planning for the second stage began Tuesday, when Goldfein said that he held a two-hour video teleconference with his senior generals to discuss another reset, this time on June 1, to posture the Air Force for the new abnormal, which he defined as living and operating with a cyclical virus until we get a vaccine. Part of that reset involves figuring out how to push as many recruits as possible through basic military training while continuing to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions protocols for social distancing, according to Goldfein, who identified basic training as something the Air Force could not afford to give up, as doing so would have a direct impact on readiness, not only today but in the future. The Air Force has worked really hard to figure out how to continue that training while adhering to CDC protocols, Goldfein said. It has cut the number of recruits going through basic training by about 50 percent and opened a small basic-training detachment at Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi to take some of the load off Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, where all Air Force basic training usually occurs, he added. Before recruits begin training, we put them in 14 days of restricted movement, watch them for any symptoms, he said. The system appears to be working, with only five of 6,000 basic trainees testing positive, according to Goldfein. The Air Force quickly isolated those five until they tested negative, at which point they were put back into training, he said. Goldfein said it was an advantage that the Air Forces population, and particularly its basic trainees, was young and healthy, so not a high-risk population for the virus. _____ Click here for the latest coronavirus news and updates. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please refer to the CDCs and WHOs resource guides. Read more: I was excited to learn early in the spring that I had a shot at two great summer jobs. Then both possibilities fell victim to the coronavirus, leaving me wondering how I will make money to help cover my University of Idaho sophomore-year expenses. One of the job possibilities was being a counselor at the National Youth Science Camp in West Virginia that I attended last summer. The selection committee chooses two science students from each state and from several Central and South America countries to have what many participants say is a life-changing experience. The summer camp I attended in 2019 was so inspiring that I applied for a counselors position this summer. I got the sense from my interview with the camp director that I had a good chance of landing this job. But I also had another terrific job opportunity an internship at Rocky Mountain Laboratories in my hometown of Hamilton. I had worked there part-time during my senior year of high school, and when I left, my supervisor said I would be welcome to return as a university intern. With these great possibilities, I had no doubt I would be working in a meaningful and career-boosting job this summer, making money for the coming academic year. Then I got word that the National Youth Science Camp was cancelled. The worry was that if even one person with coronavirus attended the event, a lot of the more than 100 students and several staff members could become inflected. It was just too risky. I still had the standing internship offer at Rocky Mountain Laboratories a job that many students would kill for so thought I would be fine. But just a week after the science camp was cancelled, the lab notified me that it was cancelling this summers internship program, too also because of the coronavirus threat. With both these top-flight opportunities gone, I have been scrambling to find another summer job. The problem is that few businesses are hiring full-timers, part-timers or interns in these uncertain times. As I finish my spring-semester classes online, Im wondering how Ill come up with the money to help defray next years university expenses. And I know Im one of thousands of students across the country fretting about the same thing. Brian Healy is a University of Idaho freshman from Hamilton, majoring in virtual technology and design. MEXICO CITY - The COVID-19 pandemic could have been a fraught moment for U.S.-Mexico relations two leaders from opposite ends of the political spectrum facing the largest crisis ever confronted by either administration. Instead, presidents Donald Trump and Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador are carrying on like old pals. The men appear so chummy that the Mexican president, who has not travelled outside his country since taking office nearly 18 months ago, is talking about visiting his U.S. counterpart. Its almost enough to forget that less than a year ago Trump threatened to put crippling tariffs on Mexican exports. As a candidate, Trump said Mexicans crossing the border brought drugs, crime and tremendous infectious disease to the U.S. After taking office, he continued to promise to build a border wall and make Mexico pay for it. But this month Trump called Lopez Obrador a very good friend and praised his tremendous intelligence. His Mexican counterpart described their relationship as a friendship and said Trump had spoken to him with a lot of fondness. The two have consistently denied observers any fireworks, and their common ground in the virus crisis appears to be an eagerness to reactivate their economies, which is sometimes at odds with warnings from health advisers. The warmth between them recently yielded some benefit to Mexico. To complete an agreement among oil-producing nations to reduce production, Trump offered to make a deeper cut to U.S. production, because Lopez Obrador said Mexico could not afford to. Then on Friday, Trump appeared to grant a favour to Lopez Obrador. The Mexican president said Trump called him and said that Mexico would get 1,000 ventilators by the end of the month with the option to buy more. Its a new gesture of solidarity with Mexico, Lopez Obrador wrote on Twitter. I proposed the possibility of meeting in June or July to personally express our appreciation. Earlier that day, Lopez Obrador had said at his daily news conference that Trump has been respectful of the people and government of Mexico. There isnt the belittling of Mexicans like there had been before, there isnt with the same intensity, he added. On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security reached agreement with Mexico and Canada to continue restricting nonessential travel at U.S. borders for another month. Later, in a tweet, Trump said he was temporarily suspending immigration to the U.S. to curb the virus, though with all the other immigration restrictions, it was not immediately clear who would be affected. Its very clear that theres a high degree of affinity, a surprising degree of affinity, between Trump and Lopez Obrador, who is willing to cater to Trump in order to not only prevent Trump from dumping on Mexico, but also because Lopez Obrador recognizes that he can get help and support where he needs it, said David Shirk, a political science professor at the University of San Diego. Last year, Mexico signed a new regional free-trade agreement with the U.S. and Canada, which had been a Trump priority. Lopez Obrador, who rails against the neoliberal legacy of his predecessors privatizing state-owned businesses, weakening unions almost daily, went along with it. When the number of asylum seekers showing up at the U.S.-Mexico border began last year to overwhelm the U.S. capacity to process them, Mexico averted Trumps tariff threat by deploying its newly minted National Guard, which stopped mostly Central American immigrants headed north. The Mexican government also let the U.S. expand a controversial program to make asylum seekers wait in Mexico while their cases were processed in the U.S. The result was that Mexico became the de facto executor of U.S. immigration policy in the region. Lopez Obrador has shown an incredible penchant for appeasement of Trump, said Tony Payan, director of the Center for the United States and Mexico at Rice Universitys Baker Institute for Public Policy. Hes up against a wall. He has no choice. Picking a fight with Washington today would absolutely and completely poison the waters more than theyre already poisoned. Hes got no other choice but to co-operate with Mr. Trump. And I think Mr. Trump knows it. Under the health emergency, the U.S. government has completely closed its southern border to asylum seekers and in many cases is quickly returning Mexicans and Central Americans back to Mexico. Lopez Obrador has effectively chosen an economic benefit over the welfare of migrants and Mexican border towns, Shirk said. It says to me that this is a president who is absolutely focused on one thing and that is trying to stimulate a moribund Mexican economy. In Mexico, Lopez Obradors hardened position on immigration has not appeared to hurt him with his base, said Ivonne Acuna Murillo, a political science professor at Mexico Citys Iberoamerican University. She sees the real threat to his administration in the pandemic and what she says is an organized opposition campaign against his handling of the situation. I believe that if we are not in a political crisis, we could enter one, Acuna said. There is clearly an orchestrated strategy to hit the presidents popularity. Lopez Obrador frequently refers to his adversaries, a group that by his definition includes opposition politicians, the countrys largest media outlets and most anyone who criticizes his policies. He accuses them of trying to take advantage of the pandemic to damage him. As for Lopez Obradors recent coziness with Trump, Acuna also thinks he has little choice. During the campaign, (Lopez Obrador) said if he tweets, Im also going to tweet, Acuna said. Thats campaign talk. But its not the same being a candidate as being president ... because the United States is still the empire. And politically speaking, Trump is still the most powerful politician in the world. ___ Associated Press Writer Maria Verza in Mexico City contributed to this report. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 19:51:31|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KAMPALA, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Uganda authorities have repatriated 14 Kenyan nationals after they completed a two-week quarantine for COVID-19 at the common border district of Busia, a police spokesperson said Wednesday. Polly Namaye, Uganda's deputy police spokesperson, told reporters that the 14 were received by the Kenyan side late on Tuesday. "They received certificates of completion and certificates of discharge by the District Health Officer of Busia, Uganda side," said Namaye. "We would like to say thank you for cooperating with us. These people were well quarantined and successfully handed back," she said. The Kenyan nationals crossed into Uganda and were taken into quarantine after showing fever, a common symptom of COVID-19. Uganda, now under a three-week nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of the disease, has reported a total of 61 confirmed cases. At least 41 patients have been discharged after recoveries. Enditem P olice are hunting for a man after a girl was sexually assaulted on a bus in east London. Stills of CCTV footage have been released after the victim was attacked while travelling on the W15 in Hackney. Officers were told that the girl boarded the bus in Morning Lane, with the suspect getting on at Glyn Road and sitting next to her on the lower deck, on Wednesday, October 16 2019 at 4.40pm. It was reported that he made sexual comments towards her before touching her. The victim got off the bus in Leyton and walked towards her home. Officers are urging the public to get in contact if they recognise this man / Met Police The man followed her most of the way back before she managed to lose him. Specialist officers are supporting the girl and an investigation to trace the man continues. Met Police are now asking the public for help with identifying him. Detective Constable Dion Bascombe said: This was an extremely distressing incident for the girl to endure. No one should have to experience something like this while going about their daily life and taking a bus home. Weve made various enquiries to trace this man however now believe the public can assist us. If you think you know who he could be, please call us without delay. Los Angeles, April 22 : Filmmaker David Lynch will not be heading to the theatres to watch director Denis Villeneuve's "Dune" adaptation because his own attempt in 1984 was a "failure". "I have zero interest in 'Dune' ... it was a heartache for me. It was a failure and I didn't have final cut. I've told this story a billion times. It's not the film I wanted to make. I like certain parts of it very much - but it was a total failure for me," he told The Hollywood Reporter. Asked whether he'll be watching the film, he said: "I said I've got zero interest." Lynch's 1984 film was based on Frank Herbert's pathbreaking 1965 sci-fi novel of the same name. While other attempts to film the book on screens big and small have happened, Villeneuve's is the latest attempt, scheduled to open in December this year. Lynch's comments come after Villeneuve recently said the story is too complex to make a single movie, reports female first.co.uk. He said: "I would not agree to make this adaptation of the book with one single movie. The world is too complex. It's a world that takes its power in details." The 52-year-old director said that it has always been his dream to create his own vision from the novel but making the movie has been the biggest challenge of his career. Villeneuve's directorial features Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson and Oscar Isaac and was shot in remote regions of the United Arab Emirates, to reflect the setting of the desert planet Arrakis. I go back to what the president says sends a great message to Iran. Thats perfect. We know how to translate that into our rules of engagement. We dont talk about rules of engagement in public, but theyre based on the inherent right of self to defense, theyre based on hostile intent and hostile act. Thats all we need in order to take the right action. Written by Victor H. Cortes who is CEO and co-founder of Contxto, a Latin America website for tech, startup and venture capital news. Ive always thought it was odd that people think being first to market is a good thing. Its mostly not. Subscribe to the Crunchbase Daily Full of bumps, expensive falls and sometimes even downright failure, being the pioneer or even creator of a market is not something every founder should look for. We all know most of the products we use nowadays arent actually from the first company to have come up with the product or idea. Latin America is, most of the time, not a first mover. Contrary to tech powerhouses such as the United States, Canada and (now) China, Latams innovation possibilities and pathways most of the time come from adapting, tropicalizing or copycatting startups that previously worked (or didnt) elsewhere. The advantage? Literature, and lots of it. Weve been first movers before. Mercado Libre and Taringa! in Argentina, both started very closely (timewise) to Amazon and Facebook. But it is not the norm. Just take a look at SoftBanks Latin American portfolio, its practically a Spanish and Portuguese translation of its Vision Fund and its companies in India, China and the U.S. Other equivalents include Ayenda from Colombiathought of as the Oyo Rooms of Latam; Rappi, aiming to be a regional WeChat; Selina being compared to WeWork; Grow as the Lime of Mexico, so on and so forth. But, is there even an advantage to being late to market? Well, in Latam, it is not so late. Most local tech products are relatively new, in fact. But these companies have already seen the rise and fall of their foreign counterparts and have been able to identify what works and what doesnt. Take Ayenda Rooms, for instance. After the massive losses experienced by Indias Oyo in 2019, Ayendas founders looked at the situation and probably saw it was not the right way to go. The result? This quote: Were not going to go into 10 countries or start buying other companies, stated Andres Sarrazola, the startups co-founder. We believe in self-sustaining growth instead. Story continues Stuff happens here too That doesnt mean were immune to screwing up. Many companies, in fact, jumped into a business model at the same time as their foreign counterparts did and others just dont learn from prior mistakes. Grow Mobilitybasically the merger between Mexicos Grow and Brazils Yellowstarted not too long after Bird and Lime inaugurated the e-scooter market. The result? Its going through the same restructuring as both of the Valleys companiesincluding the massive layoffs. And that was before this whole COVID-19 debacle. Indeed, this year was a bucket of ice-cold water to many high-growth startups. It has now become clear that 2020 is the year that forced founders to ponder their business strategy and reassess their action plans. RappiLatin Americas largest last-mile delivery companyraised $1 billion led by SoftBank last year. Nowadays, it is laying off 6 percent of its entire workforce and facing a challenge on its home turf by Domicilios.com and iFood. Now, to be fair, Rappi is indeed aiming to restructure its priorities. So, less uncontrolled growth and more focus on user experience. Something all Latin Americans may agree it needed. Still, the point is the same. Latam still has time to turn around and learn from what has happened elsewhere. Latency during the COVID-19 era What started as a natural economic recession cycle got put on steroids by COVID-19s worsening health and economic crises. If profit over growth was gradually gaining traction as a philosophy among founders and investors, suddenly it was spreading as fast as the virus. Lockdowns all over the world have caused many retail businesses to shut down. Many startups were agile and digital enough to avoid the same fate. However, what no one is going to be able to avoid is the reduction of income from traditional clients who shut down or paused operations. Startups will have to stand and endure as the worst happens. Many will not make it through. The silver lining will certainly be that there will be ever more literature and data points of high- and low-profile business failures to use as references in future scenarios. Interestingly enough, data suggests that, not only is Latin America lagging behind the U.S. and other countries in terms of technological innovation, we are also behind when it comes to what stage of the pandemic were in. This means that Latin America can learn from what U.S.-based startups are doing to confront the pandemic. How are they pivoting? How did they ensure their (now remote) operations remained smooth and efficient? What features can they launch or retrieve from the market? How much runway do they have and how do they decrease burn rate for the time being? If theres a two-month latency window, local startups should make the most of it and learn. Quickly. Its not all about copycats, though Alongside the pandemics pressure to adapt or die, technological advances will keep on naturally accelerating and reaching broader parts of the region. In this sink-or-swim situation were living through, I am pleased to see many startups adapting. Rappi, for instance, is one of the few companies seeing a surge in demand, not despite the crisis, but because of it. Whats interesting and impressive is that it didnt just take it for granted and continue operations as usual. Despite its success, it looked for user-friendly and anti-coronavirus alternatives to handle deliveries. For that reason, it partnered with Kiwibot to let small semi-autonomous robots handle the deliveries, limiting human interaction. Talk about Colombias ultimate crossover. Spot.io from El Salvador, whose founder I interviewed last month, told me the company had adapted its product to fit the markets most urgent needs. Spot.io usually used its computer vision algorithms to provide data on foot traffic, vehicular traffic, and even identity recognition for government and companies. Now, its tweaked it to recognize body temperature in public spaces and match it to a personal identity, so its easier to track. Loft, which has an asset-heavy business model, is rewarding clients who keep paying by offering discounts and rewards post-pandemic. Those funds will go toward paying construction employees while buildings remodels are paused. Strength in diversity Inevitably, newer, more innovative companies will keep sprouting up here and there regardless of the macroeconomic conditions. This is an exciting development to witness, considering most of Latin Americas biggest companies are still brick-and-mortar family-owned corporations. Furthermore, the underappreciated diversity of the regional ecosystem has protected many of its most innovative startups in the long term. It is true that some of Latams first-movers, whose products and business models are new and disrupting, may have a harder time finding precedents to work from. These are some of the regions dearest companies, but their novelty means they will need to experiment; try things out on their own and see what works best, without a guide or example to follow. Take Chiles The Not Company, for instance, a revolutionary application of machine learning on foods biomolecular structure. Although not as dramatic as other companies, it too is letting some of its workforce go. Fortunately, more innovative companies are being launched in Latin America every year. Some of the strongest countries in terms of new products in the region include Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Argentina and Peru, not to mention Brazil. Latin Americas most recent deeds, such as Nubank becoming one of the worlds largest neobanks, Rappi turning into Colombias most valuable tech company and YCs increasing interest in Latin America, as well as the rapid growth of the local venture capital ecosystem, may trigger a deja-vu as to what has happened before in the history of other parts of the world. Im talking about other high-growth and eventual shrink cases, such as Uber, WeWork and even media companies like BuzzFeed. Turns out, COVID-19 is more catalyst than game changer in many respects. I believe it is a good thing that new, innovative companies are arising, and I believe being historys favorite sidekick or second-to-market will allow local companies to learn from the past and other ecosystems mistakes, and now, from those same companies response to this virus. I hope they do. Undoubtedly, they will have a lot of road bumps, and failure will also be an inevitable destiny for many. Fortunately, theres more literature than ever before. Its just a matter of consuming it as quickly as possible and actingbased on observable patternswith speed. Like an intern learning from a mentors mistakes, Latin Americas ever-learning ecosystem is in an advantageous position from years of observing at an extremely close distance. Photo courtesy of iStock Communications Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams has pleaded guilty to breaking the lockdown regulations and paid a R1,000 fine. Ndabeni-Abrahams was investigated for contravening the lockdown rules after a picture emerged of her having lunch with Former Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training Mduduzi Manana. Manana posted a picture to Instagram of Ndabeni-Abrahams and others having a meal at his house. A backlash quickly followed, questioning why a minister was allowed to break the rules while ordinary South Africans were forced into lockdown. Manana released a statement after the backlash, saying the minister visited him to pick up personal protective equipment (PPE) for students. The minister relayed to me that the students are in need of personal protective equipment such as masks, gloves, and hand sanitisers, he said. I then asked the minister to pass by my private residence and collect the material which she gladly did, Manana said. He said on the ministers arrival his family was having lunch and he courteously invited her to join them. She then collected the material and headed to her next assignment. She took the first batch for the Fourways students and indicated that the next visit will be tomorrow, he said. Sanctioned by the President President Cyril Ramaphosa was not convinced, however. He placed Ndabeni-Abrahams on special leave for two months. One month of the leave will be unpaid. Ramaphosa expressed his disapproval of the ministers actions, which undermine the requirement that all citizens stay at home and save South Africa from the spread of the coronavirus. The presidency said that while the minister has been placed on special leave, Minister in The Presidency Jackson Mthembu will act in her position. The President also directed Ndabeni-Abrahams to deliver a public apology to the nation. Ndabeni-Abrahams subsequently apologised for breaching the lockdown rules put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19. Case opened against Ndabeni-Abrahams Following the public outcry, the EFF opened a police case against Ndabeni-Abrahams for contravening the lockdown regulations. News24 reported that the NPA confirmed Ndabeni-Abrahams has pleaded guilty and paid a R1,000 fine for contravening the lockdown regulations. NPA spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane told News24 the minister had unlawfully and intentionally failed to remain confined in her place of residence by visiting Mananas home. The investigations revealed that the visit was not for purposes of rendering essential service or obtaining essential goods, collecting a grant or seeking medical attention as per requirements of the COVID-19 regulations. Mjonondwane confirmed the communications minister now has a criminal record. The feast of Saint Valentine popularly became known as St Valentine's Day which is celebrated throughout the world every February 14th. Even though the celebration gradually turned romantic, it was still a Christian, cultural and commercial observance. The significance of Valentine's Day is the celebration of love and affection. During the observance of that day, cards and gifts are sent to friends and loved ones. There is also dating and church services. In Ghana and in many regions of the world, the celebration of Valentine's Day now centres more on romance and love. February 14 was chosen because it was the day Saint Valentine was imprisoned for preaching to Christians persecuted during the Roman Empire. Just after two weeks of Valentine's Day this year, the whole world was greeted with sadness and insecurity when COVID-19 reared its ugly head. According to Websters, the word Quarantine means to keep a person or an animal away from others to prevent a disease from spreading. Therefore the practice of quarantine specifically involves the separation of a person or group of people reasonably believed to have been exposed to a communicable disease but not yet symptomatic, from others who have not been so exposed, to prevent further spread of the disease. People are put in quarantine not because they are currently sick but because they may have been exposed to a communicable disease like coronavirus. The word quarantine comes from the Italian word "quarantina" which means a period of forty, derived from the word "quaranta,"(forty). What is so special about 40? It has its roots in history. Quarantine originally refers to a period of forty days imposed on ships suspected of carrying infectious or contagious diseases. This practice started in Venice in 14th century. Are there any connection between quarantine and isolation? Generally isolation is when someone or something is set apart or separated from other persons or things. By all intents and purposes, the word quarantine is synonymous with isolation. Quarantine has now become a household word which is used internally to keep those who are suspected to be carrying the coronavirus. Corona virus was first identified in 2019 when cases of pneumonia were diagnosed in China. It turned out that it was not pneumonia but rather a previously unknown coronavirus which was named after the related Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) coronavirus. The disease that this new coronavirus cause is called COVID-19. These viruses are large sets of viruses detected on humans and on animals too. They usually cause respiratory infection (shortness of breath), fever, muscle pain, fatigue, diarrhoea, runny nose, sneezing and coughing. Ever since COVID-19 erupted from China, there are many who have been infected by the disease worldwide, with the largest number of deaths occurring among people who are over 70 years especially those with underlying diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases. Only about 2% of children and youth under 19 who had the coronavirus died. It will be quite misleading to compare the infection and mortality rates in different countries since these change on daily basis. The countries that have quarantined most people because they are hard hit by COVID-19, are China, the United States of America, Italy and Spain. Ghana as at last week had 566 cases of coronavirus patients, but today the number has gone beyond 1000 with eight deaths. The latest update indicates that United States is leading in coronavirus infection and deaths. They are followed by Italy, Spain and Chia. The latest update for coronavirus disease throughout the world stands at 2,347,777 worldwide and the number of deaths also stand at 161,126. Many of the deaths occurred while in quarantine. The figures may not be the same tomorrow since infections and deaths occur on daily basis. It is one particular disease that has spread to almost every country in the world. Despite all efforts to find a vaccine, nothing has come out for testing. The number of deaths in the four major countries is uncontrollable and this unfortunate situation has necessitated mass burials. This is how the situation is now. The bodies are packed in a truck and buried en masse. Very disheartening! Ghana has been recommended by a foreign journalist who saw how Ghanaian authorities were fully prepared to prevent people with COVID-19 from entering the country without first going through quarantine. He was indeed amazed by the thorough and effective control of passengers arriving in Ghana and subsequently putting them in quarantine. All borders are closed including the airport. This step has reduced the influx of people with coronavirus. Ghanaians have so far expressed satisfaction about the very efficient steps Government is taking to contain the spread of COVID-19. However, Ghanaians were angered when the Chinese plane broke all bounds and landed in Ghana to deliver two million dollar worth of face masks and respirators. These goods were rejected by many European countries. It is alleged that Holland tested the masks and found out that the Chinese had infested them with coronavirus. They returned everything to the Chinese. Is Ghana learning any lesson from this? It is a common knowledge that the coronavirus pandemic first began in Wuhan. The Chinese are now blaming Black people in Wuhan as being responsible for a new phase of coronavirus. The Africans living in the Wuhan area have been refused entry into their apartments and hotels. The Africans living in other cities are not facing similar problems of ejection and hatred. Besides, a test of coronavirus is forced on them. Africans are running on the streets of Wuhan with their suitcases. Pregnant women with their husbands and children spend sleepless nights on the streets. One Ghanaian living in Wuhan claims that even though he has paid six months rent advance it was never refunded to him. Those who try to seek refuge in hotels are chased out. This is a clear abuse of their human rights. This is wrong and should not be tolerated. There are more than ten million Chinese people spread throughout Africa. Most of them get married to Africans in order to enable them to pursue their agenda. The Chinese government is very much concerned about the rate the Chinese population is growing and if drastic steps are not taken, there will be population explosion in China and there will be no place to build houses anymore. It is the agenda and plan of the Chinese to push more of their citizens to Africa and other parts of the world. Why is no one complaining about Chinese racism? African leaders especially the African ambassadors in China have taken the issue up with the Chinese government and things are gradually returning to normal as far as the issues of the Africans are concerned. Columnist: Stephen Atta Owusu Author: Dark Faces at Crossroads Email: [email protected] Stormonts health minister has urged his executive colleagues to allow the reopening of cemeteries. Robin Swann said he saw no reason why people should be prevented from visiting graveyards if there was a system in place to ensure access was managed in compliance with social distancing rules. Council-run graveyards were closed in Northern Ireland last month as part of the coronavirus movement restrictions. There have been mounting calls to reopen them, with bereaved relatives highlighting the mental anguish of being prevented from visiting the graveside of loved ones. Expand Close Robin Swann said people could find solace and support in a visit to a family grave (Kelvin Boyes/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Robin Swann said people could find solace and support in a visit to a family grave (Kelvin Boyes/PA) The issue has divided parties in the powersharing executive. The DUP and UUP support reopening, while Sinn Fein and the Alliance Party have said they remain opposed. Mr Swann was asked about the issue at the Covid-19 briefing at Stormont on Wednesday. The UUP minister said: In regards to cemeteries, as health minister I would see no reason why people couldnt be visiting cemeteries at this minute in time. There is a solace, a support there that many individuals can gain from visiting a cemetery and its something when we reflect on where we have been and where we are now its a regulation that I think we as an executive should actually challenge and change. Because we have to realise the mental challenge that were putting on many individuals by asking them to remain in lock-down, and some will receive solace and support by visiting the graves of loved ones. Its something that I hope the executive can come to a reasonable position on where we can open up cemeteries in a managed way. Should it be in a one direction approach round the cemeteries in a single file or the number of people entering cemeteries or the actual time of day that cemeteries are open, but I think its an approach that we as an executive should be looking to. A worker wears mask while at work in Palatine, Ill., Tuesday, April 14, 2020. Workers have died from coronavirus at 30 different grocery stores throughout Illinois. Masks are now mandatory in Pennsylvania at food markets. Read more Of all the coronavirus crackdowns, one taking hold this week in Pennsylvania finally delivers something important to a gargantuan group of essential workers whom we, our corporations, and our economy have dissed for decades: supermarket staffers. The directive from Harrisburg also strikes at a group that could use a past-due pandemic smackdown: COVID-19 deniers. Customers so pathologically entitled that they consider it their right under God to make others sick. What is this magical wand with such power? An order by Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine that as of this week requires everyone who sets foot into a grocery customers and employees to wear masks. READ MORE: All Pa. businesses must require employees and customers to wear masks amid coronavirus pandemic No mask, no entry. This is no longer an honor system. No longer does some vague guidance from government urging masks cut the mustard. Want to shop for your Hellmanns without a mask? Say hello to the police officer who will kick you to the curb. This directive is coming not a minute too soon. Grocery workers are dying of coronavirus-related ailments in spots across the country. They are in the line of fire this group among the lowest-paid of all life-sustaining workers still heading out to jobs across Pennsylvania. READ MORE: Still going in to work in Pennsylvania amid the coronavirus? Chances are, youre a low-wage worker, data show. | PolitiFact It will force reluctant chains to arm their staff with masks, and enforce social distancing and other measures. Not to be diminished, though, is that it also will knock sense into the heads of recalcitrant customers. No longer is anyone allowed to spread germs in grocery stores as part of some perceived constitutional right to be a deleterious dimwit. By sidling up to the bread guy. By breathing over the customer service counter. The state directive, had it been implemented weeks earlier, might have come in handy when, according to the union representing workers at a Philadelphia Fresh Grocer supermarket, a clerk was stabbed with a knife. (He is home recovering, the union said.) A group of rowdy young folks didnt like being told that they had to wait, that there were too many people in the store, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776 chief Wendell Young IV told me Tuesday. It happened on Broad Street. They dragged him out into the parking lot and stabbed him. It was a clerk who was assigned to help work the front door and hold customers off until there was enough room. Weve had incidents in other places, too, Young continued, where customers break into arguments. The new rules come six weeks into the government-ordered shutdown of schools and nonessential businesses that took hold, starting in waves, across Southeastern Pennsylvania and beyond under orders of the Wolf administration to contain the spread of COVID-19. ShopRite supermarket scion Jeff Brown, who runs 12 stores across the region, said it had been tricky until now, trying to work with the UFCW to aggressively protect workers. He simultaneously had to tiptoe around patrons who refused to wear masks. Some customers feel they have a right not to wear it, Brown said. Their so-called gripe? Liberty. As if any of them have been refusing to wear seat belts while driving? Or not paying for car insurance? Please. Generally, if you dont have a crisis, were accustomed to liberties, Brown said. But this is a crisis where one persons liberty could be another person getting sick. We cant really allow that. Now? Theoretically, now the police commissioner of Philadelphia has the right to tell the police officers to tell stores to clear out people or shut it down, said UFCWs Young. Disrespect shown toward grocery workers is part of a bigger problem with our economy that had been brewing for decades. Grocery chains used to be a source of living-wage jobs. But corporations in pursuit of ballooning profits and revenue moved into the supermarket business. They attacked wages, hours, and benefits packages. Walmart, Giant, Target, Aldi, and Amazon to name a few in our region do not have unionized workers. ShopRite, Acme, Fresh Grocer, and Rite Aid have union workers. The average pay overall for the 120,000 grocery workers in Pennsylvania is exceptionally low, an Inquirer analysis found this week. They make up one of the largest groups of life-sustaining workers under the governors definition of who may work during the COVID-19 shutdown. Yet they earn only about $23,000 a year while telecommunications industry professionals working from home are notching take-home pay of $111,000 a year. These workers who are keeping the rest of us alive by exposing themselves to the deadly coronavirus are making so little money. It is a disgrace. A reckoning is due. Brown said his ShopRite workers have shown up with very little attrition. He is paying a hazard differential and also offers sick leave for confirmed and suspected COVID-19-infected workers. Meanwhile, word is that workers at non-union megachains, which are not independent-owner operated like ShopRite, are calling out in high numbers. I hear around anecdotally, Brown said, that some locations have lots of people not coming because theyre afraid. UFCW has secured 25,000 plastic face shields and is distributing them to workers. A union doing good by its people. But these are workers in an industry who should not be hanging by a thread to begin with. During these difficult times, said U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the United States is working in solidarity with our partners and allies to provide humanitarian assistance to countries in need and to take all possible measures to combat the spread of coronavirus. Italy, one of the United States closest allies, has been at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19. Secretary Pompeo commended Italys transparency and sustained heroic efforts to contain the virus and help those affected recover. The pandemic has been particularly devastating for Italy, and Americans extend their deepest sympathies to those who have lost loved ones. In response to the unprecedented toll of the coronavirus, President Donald Trump authorized a substantial assistance package for Italy. The U.S. Government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, and in coordination with the U.S. Embassies in Rome and the Vatican, will provide support for international and nongovernmental organizations, including faith-based groups, many of which are already providing essential relief to Italian communities. These efforts will help support the recovery of the Italian economy. The United States is also providing technical assistance to help Italy respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, building on existing partnerships between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Italys health sector. In addition, USAID and other U.S. government agencies will look to support Italian businesses that are working to produce medical equipment and supplies to combat COVID-19. This includes assisting Italian factories and supply-chains to adapt to the needs of healthcare personnel and patients. The United States, said Secretary Pompeo, will identify excess military supplies and encourage donations from the U.S. private sector. Italy hosts about 30,000 U.S. military personnel and families. These personnel will assist with a variety of functions, including providing telemedicine services, facilitating the transport and assembly of field hospitals and equipment, treating non-COVID-19 patients, and supporting the transport of supplies, fuel and food. This critical assistance will not only help the Italian people, said Secretary Pompeo, but will also bolster global trade and supply chains. We are all in this together, and only through transparency, cooperation, and mutual support will we be able to defeat COVID-19. Meghan Markle and Prince Harrys recent charity work in L.A. delivering meals for people living with critical illnesses amid the coronavirus pandemic was inspired by Meghans mom, Doria Ragland. Meghan didnt have much when she was a child, but her mom made sure they always gave back, a source tells PEOPLE. In fact, it was Ragland, a former social worker and yoga instructor who lives in Los Angeles, who gave her daughter the idea to volunteer for Project Angel Food, a non-profit charity that cooks, prepares and delivers meals to those in need. RELATED: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Hold Hands While Delivering Food in L.A. amid Coronavirus Pandemic She said she wanted to do something to give back on Easter and was talking to her mom and her mom told her that Project Angel Food needs help and Meghan said, Yes, brilliant, Richard Ayoub, Project Angel Foods executive director, told PEOPLE. Meghan Markle and Doria Ragland Meghan has spoken in the past about her modest upbringing and how it shaped her humanitarian efforts from her volunteer trips with charities to volunteering at a soup kitchen in Toronto, where she filmed Suits. My mother raised me to be a global citizen, with eyes open to sometimes harsh realities, she wrote on her former lifestyle blog, The Tig. I must have been about 10 years old when we visited the slums of Jamaica. I had never seen poverty at that level and it registered in my glazed brown eyes. Dont look scared, Flower, she said. Be aware, but dont be afraid. DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/POOL/AFP via Getty She continued: Both my parents came from little, so they made a choice to give a lot buying turkeys for homeless shelters at Thanksgiving, delivering meals to patients in hospice care, donating any spare change in their pocket to those asking for it, and performing quiet acts of grace be it a hug, a smile, or a pat on the back to show ones in need that they would be alright. This is what I grew up seeing, so that is what I grew up being: a young adult with a social consciousness to do what I could, and to, at the very least, speak up when I knew something was wrong. Story continues PA Wire/PA Images Meghan Markle Cant get enough of PEOPLEs Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more! Despite moving back to her hometown of Los Angeles, Meghan hasnt been able to take advantage of being near her mother and friends amid the pandemic as they practice social distancing. But Ragland got lots of family time with her daughter, son-in-law Prince Harry and grandson Archie over the holidays when she spent time with them on Vancouver Island. She definitely gets a lot of her strength from her mother, a friend previously told PEOPLE. Extended footage of the exchange with officers also drew some online backlash against the arrested mother, and local residents told TheBlaze that the event was a staged protest. What are the details? Sara Brady, 40, was arrested and charged with one count of misdemeanor trespassing, the Meridian Police Department announced in a news release, after officers responded to Kleiner Park following "several calls to Ada County Dispatch." The memo noted that "officers saw that metal signage and caution tape announcing the playground closure due to COVID-19 was removed," and that they "observed numerous individuals gathered on the closed playground area." Brady, they said, had been "told to leave the playground multiple times." At least two videos of Brady's interaction with police began circulating across the internet. One shows the mother arguing with police that she and others were not trespassing and asking the officers if they were "going to arrest everyone for not social distancing over there," while pointing to people off-camera. After counting to five, an officer handcuffs Brady, and as she is walked off, another woman from behind the camera can be heard yelling, "Her kids are here! Her kids are here? What is going to happen? Who's got her kids?" In a second video, two officers are seen walking Brady through a gathering of other mothers holding young children as they walk her off the premises in handcuffs. A woman can be heard asking an officer as Brady is carted off, "As a person, does this make sense to you? As a person not as a police officer, as a person does this make sense to YOU?" A crowd appeared to congregate in front of the police vehicle before the video ends. PORT WASHINGTON, NY / ACCESSWIRE / April 22, 2020 / Systemax Inc. (NYSE:SYX) today announced that it will release financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2020 on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 after U.S. market hours. Management will provide pre-recorded remarks on the Company's first quarter 2020 results at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on April 28th. To access the remarks please dial 412-317-6347 five minutes prior to the start time. The pre-recorded remarks will also be available via webcast on the Company's website at www.systemax.com in the investor relations section. If you cannot listen to the call at its scheduled time, the webcast will be archived on www.systemax.com for approximately 90 days. About Systemax Inc. Systemax Inc. (www.systemax.com), through its operating subsidiaries, is a provider of industrial products in North America, going to market through a system of branded e-Commerce websites and relationship marketers. The Company's primary brand is Global Industrial (www.globalindustrial.com). Investor/Media Contact: Mike Smargiassi The Plunkett Group 212-739-6729 mike@theplunkettgroup.com SOURCE: Systemax View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/586325/Systemax-Inc-To-Report-First-Quarter-2020-Results-On-April-28-2020 Just 33 members of a 4,000-strong workforce at Cork University Hospital have tested positive for Covid-19. Mary Horgan, consultant physician in infectious disease at CUH, said it was probably one of the best hospitals in the country in terms of levels of staff infection. Theres been 33 positive swabs in healthcare workers from a working population of about 4,000, said Dr Horgan. Thats extremely low and I believe its a reflection of how well theyve protected the staff here and allowed us to treat patients as best we can. Dr Horgan, president of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, said that, in her 30 years treating infectious disease, she had never seen anything like Covid-19. Im doing this for 30 years and I can tell you after looking after patients, I would not like to get this infection, she said The hospital has begun scaling up outpatient clinics from this week, with clinics re-opening off-site for care of the elderly, rheumatology, respiratory medicine and gastroenterology. Paul Gallagher, consultant geriatrician, said they will be seeing urgent new referrals only for now. Hopefully it will ramp up, but we have to be very cautious, said Dr Gallagher. Appointments will be staggered and time allowed between appointments to clean the rooms, for protection of patients and staff. Liam Healy, clinical lead for stroke services at CUH said the number of stroke patients presenting had halved when the pandemic arrived, but numbers are now returning to normal. Dr Healy said they have had very few stroke patients affected by Covid-19, even though some of the early indications were that a higher percentage of people with the virus would have strokes. Richard Bambury, clinical lead for cancer services at CUH, said they had worked to make the hospital as safe as possible for cancer patients, creating a separate entrance and triage area, swabbing any suspected cases, and if they test positive we dont recommend chemotherapy. Chemotherapy suppresses the immune system, which heightens the risk to cancer patients in the event of Covid-19. Dr Bambury said: The risk-benefit ratio in some situations has changed. For some the risk might outweigh the benefits. In the past six weeks, 200 new patients have commenced radiotherapy and 50 have begun chemotherapy. Rapid access clinics for anyone with a high suspicion of cancer are continuing. While the Covid-19 surge has not materialised at CUH where the planning was for upwards of 100 ICU beds doctors are concerned about the possibility of a future non-Covid surge, if people defer seeking treatment for other illnesses during the pandemic. For a more detailed look at the current situation at Cork University Hospital, click here. There are two types of test - one that tests for infection and the other that tests for antibodies. Testing is critical to controlling the coronavirus and eventually easing restrictions that have halted daily life for most Americans. But theres been confusion about what kinds of tests are available and what they actually measure. There are still just two main types in the U.S. One tells you if you have an active infection with the coronavirus, whether you have symptoms or not. The other checks to see if you were previously infected at some point and fought it off. Currently, almost all testing in hospitals, clinics and drive-thru sites uses the first testing method, to help doctors detect and treat people with active COVID-19. The other method known as antibody testing is still getting rolling. But eventually, experts predict the blood test will play a key role in allowing many Americans to safely return to work and school by identifying those who are likely immune from the virus. Neither test can be done at home yet. Heres a look at both tests and how they work: Testing for infection Genetic testing is the best method for detecting active COVID-19 infections and making a diagnosis. The process requires several steps and high-tech testing equipment to detect tiny traces of the virus that causes COVID-19. First, the doctor or nurse gathers samples from a patients nose or throat using swabs. The sample is developed through a process called polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, which is used to boost any traces of virus until they are detectable. The same process has long been used to diagnose viruses like HIV and hepatitis. The Food and Drug Administration has now authorized dozens of these types of tests that can be run at hospitals, university laboratories and large testing chains like Quest Diagnostics. The tests typically take 4 to 6 hours to run and can take a day or more to turn around if a sample needs to be shipped to another site for processing. Last month, several faster options that dont require laboratory processing came on the market. The fastest is a 15-minute test from Abbott Laboratories run on small, portable electronic machines found in thousands of hospitals, clinics and doctors offices. The test puts all the chemical ingredients into a small cartridge thats inserted into the Abbott machine along with the swabbed sample. There are caveats to these types of tests: Someone can test negative one day and then positive the next. Much depends on the level of virus and whether the swab picked up enough of it to make a good sample. The FDA recently authorized the first genetic test that uses saliva, rather than a nasal swab, but its availability is limited for now. U.S. testing continues to be squeezed by huge demand, limited testing machines and shortages of key supplies like swabs. While the U.S. is now conducting well over 1 million tests per week, most experts say that number will need to increase at least threefold before social distancing is dramatically eased. Testing for antibodies The second type of test wont tell you whether youre currently infected with the virus, but whether you were infected sometime in the past. Instead of searching for the virus itself, these tests search for blood proteins called antibodies, which the body produces days or weeks after fighting an infection. The same approach usually a finger-prick of blood on a test strip is used for HIV, hepatitis and many other infections. Dr Anthony Fauci, the nations top infectious disease official, says its a reasonable assumption, that if you have antibodies, you will be protected from another infection. But federal researchers still have to answer several key questions: How accurate are the tests? What antibody level is needed for immunity? How long does that immunity last? By testing broad populations for antibodies, researchers hope to learn how widely the virus spread and how deadly it really is. Both questions remain unresolved since experts believe at least 25 percent of those infected never show symptoms. Some of those larger studies are getting started. For now, FDA Commissioner Dr Stephen Hahn suggests the blood tests could be used by front-line health care workers. For example, a doctor who tests positive for antibodies could be in a safer position to treat COVID-19 patients than a colleague who tests negative. The FDA has authorized four antibody tests based on preliminary reviews. But more than 90 others have launched without FDA oversight under a federal emergency policy intended to quickly ramp up testing options. Those tests are supposed to bear disclaimers, including that they have not been FDA-approved, though many dont. Several laboratory and physician groups have called for tighter FDA control. They have a responsibility to go back, demand more rigorous clinical trials and probably put some guard rails around these tests, said Dr. Gary Procop of the Cleveland Clinic who is chair of the American Society for Clinical Pathologys Commission on Science, Technology and Policy. O nline fashion retailer Boohoo today admitted that is suffered a "marked" fall in sales last month as the coronavirus crisis struck, but revenues swiftly rebounded in April. The group - which also owns brands including PrettyLittleThing and NastyGal - said the recent Covid-19 events overshadowed a "great" financial year, with sales falling sharply year-on-year last month. But the firm stressed it is seeing improved year-on-year growth of group sales during April thanks to a recent bounce-back. Boohoo has outshone its High Street rivals over the last year as snappy social media advertising campaigns have drawn in new customers. It has also benefitted from consumers increasingly shopping online over physical stores, a trend which is likely to accelerate due to the lockdown. Non-essential stores were ordered to shut last month and footfall is expected to be down sharply even when shops are allowed to reopen due to social distancing measures. Boohoo reported a 54% jump in pre-tax profits to 92.2 million for the year to February 29 as sales raced 44% higher. The shares rose 7% to 290p. The company warned that the virus still represented a risk to demand, and warehouses could be forced to close. It has cut its financial guidance for the year. John Lyttle, chief executive of Boohoo, said: "Whilst recent events have understandably overshadowed what has been a great year for Boohoo, they have also highlighted its key strengths. "Although there is near-term uncertainty in the markets that we operate in, the group is underpinned by its incredibly strong balance sheet and is well-placed to leverage its scalable multi-brand platform and to continue to disrupt fashion markets around the world." Annual sales lifted 39%, while its international operations showed an impressive 62% rise in Europe, a 61% hike in the US and a 19% increase around the rest of the world. Its main Boohoo brand saw sales rise 39% to nearly 601,000, while sales more than doubled at Nasty Gal and rose 37% at PrettyLittleThing. The group's recently acquired fashion brands Karen Millen, Coast and MissPap put in an encouraging performance, with revenues of 19 million according to the group. It said the brands are "resurging under new ownership and direction as online-only brands, with their great heritage intact". Analysts at Peel Hunt said: Boohoo has delivered a strong set of full-year results, as outperformance in P4 takes revenues and profits ahead of expectations. The results really are impressive, with strong growth in actives, orders, frequency and basket. Unlike most, boohoo has seen current trading in April return to growth after the initial shock in March. This means our working assumption of 25% declines this quarter looks overbaked. Caroline Gulliver, an equity analyst at Jefferies, said Boohoo had "once again exceeded expectations" with its full-year figures. She said: "Encouragingly, Boohoo has continued to grow sales in March/April as the company has adapted to the Covid-19-impacted environment. A new tool maps the threats to the tropical dry forests in Peru and Ecuador. Bioscience engineers at KU Leuven combined data on possible threats to these forests - including fires and overgrazing - with data on the vulnerability of local tree species to these dangers, which the team estimated on the basis of species traits such as bark thickness and edibility of the leaves. The result is an online tool that local governments and NGOs can use to restore and conserve forests. The tropical dry forests in Peru and Ecuador are under considerable strain due to fires, overgrazing, and overexploitation, among other things. And then there's climate change as well. In collaboration with the international research institution Bioversity International, researchers from the Division of Forest, Nature and Landscape at KU Leuven developed a model that advises local governments and NGOs on how to restore and conserve these forests. Unique model thanks to tree traits What makes the KU Leuven model unique is the combination of the threats that a forest is exposed to with the traits of local tree species. "Due to this combination of factors, our model provides an accurate representation of the resilience of a forest and its tree species," says doctoral student Tobias Fremout (KU Leuven), who is the lead author of this study. "A forest that mostly consists of trees with edible or 'palatable' leaves will be much more sensitive to overgrazing, for instance. Trees that are very useful for firewood, by contrast, are much more likely to suffer from overexploitation." The possible threats to a forest were divided into five categories: fire, habitat conversion, overexploitation, overgrazing, and climate change. These categories, in turn, were combined with several traits of tree species, including bark thickness, usability as firewood or timber, and growth rates. Tobias Fremout was able to map more than 40,000 km2 of (former) forest and 50 tree species. He combined all this information in an online vulnerability assessment tool. Conservation, restoration or a seed bank It was a very deliberate decision to make the tool available to local governments. "The online tool is freely accessible on the Internet. Local governments can consult it to check for each tree species where it is most at risk due to which specific threat," Tobias Fremout explains. This allows local governments to engage with the conservation and restoration of their forests in a very deliberate way. "The Peruvian authorities are aware of the enormous strain their forests are under, but their restoration efforts are sometimes still ill-considered. Via our tool, the authorities can see which species they should replant where, but especially also from which risks they should protect that specific area. After all, it's hardly useful to replant trees with edible leaves without also providing a fence to keep away cows and goats." Replanting often seems to be the most logical choice. Due to climate change, however, it may not always be the smartest option. "We have used five climate models to predict whether, in the future, the regions under consideration will still offer the right circumstances for the tree species that are currently found there. If certain species are likely to get difficulties in particular areas, it's a better idea to replant these species elsewhere or to store seeds in a seed bank," Tobias Fremout continues. Also useful in other countries As the model developed by Tobias Fremout and his colleagues uses existing data on threats to tree species and traits, the model can also be translated to tropical forests in regions such as Africa or Asia. "To map the risk of forest fires, for instance, we used NASA observations. This information is available for the entire world and can, therefore, also be used for Cameroon or Indonesia, for instance. The characteristics of African and Asian trees are known and can be used in our model." ### More information This study is a collaboration between KU Leuven and Bioversity International. The online tool is available here: https://bioversityinternational.shinyapps.io/vulnerability_assessment. The UK Parliament on Wednesday achieved a historic first as the House of Commons held the weekly Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) in a hybrid form, with around a dozen lawmakers physically present within the chamber and others tuning in online through giant screens set up to adhere to the social distancing norms in place to curb the spread of coronavirus. PMQs, the Commons session held for the Opposition and other MPs to address their questions to the UK PM, was led by UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab as the First Secretary of State who is deputising for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who remains off work as he recuperates from his COVID-19 hospitalisation. Wednesday's session also marked the first PMQs for Sir Keir Starmer, the recently elected Leader of the Opposition Labour Party, who opened the session by paying tribute to the British Sikh emergency consultant Manjeet Singh Riyat who died of the deadly virus on Monday and questioned the government on how many National Health Service (NHS) workers like him have now fallen victim on the pandemic frontline. He was the first Sikh A&E (Accident & Emergency) consultant, respected widely across the country and instrumental in building up Derbyshire's emergency services. He is sadly just one of the many frontline health and social care workers to have died from coronavirus during this crisis, said Starmer, as he asked Raab for the figures of fatalities within the NHS and care homes across the country. Raab confirmed the NHS death toll from COVID-19 as 69 but admitted that the government did not have the exact data for fatalities within the wider care sector for the elderly and vulnerable. Every one of those deaths is a tragedy, he said, adding that the government was working on the challenge of procuring enough personal protective equipment (PPE) such as surgical gowns and face masks for the frontline workers in the pandemic. Raab stressed that PPE procurement is "a massive international challenge" facing every country and denied claims that the government has been slow in any way, in boosting PPE supplies or to build up enough capacity for testing the public for coronavirus to meet the 100,000 tests a day target set for the end of the month. The minister also gave Parliament an update on the repatriation of British nationals stranded from around the world, including 5,000 from India on special chartered flights. A number of MPs logged in through Zoom to address their questions in relation to their specific constituencies. Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle had granted an extra 15 minutes to the usual half-hour PMQs session to allow for technical challenges but the hybrid form of the session went ahead without major hurdles. UK MPs, who approved the hybrid plans for Parliament on Tuesday as they returned after an Easter recess, were told that they must adhere to the same standards expected in the chamber if they are to engage in proceedings remotely. To ensure all members are treated equally, those joining by Zoom will be expected not to display or draw attention to objects to illustrate their contributions, the Commons Commission said. The plan is currently just for debates and statements to be held in a virtual form, with eventually voting on legislation also likely to fall within the hybrid system. The Commons Speaker hailed the historic moment in the UK Parliament's 700-year history to have MPs contributing to PMQs, urgent questions and statements via video link from the safety of their own homes and offices. Hoyle said: "The House has survived being burned down by the great fire of 1834 and bombed during the Second World War. "We now face a new challenge, Covid-19, an invisible killer that has claimed so many lives already. It means that when we come back from the Easter recess, our MPs and the House of Commons will have to work in a different way. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As Earth Day marks its 50th birthday, the founders of the movement, which it is estimated draws in one billion people a year, can celebrate in their significant achievements. Its inaugural demonstrations, on April 22, 1970, led to the founding of the Environmental Protection Agency, by Republican president Richard Nixon, and sparked a wave of legislation in the following years including the Clean Water and Air Acts and the Endangered Species Act. But half a century on, immense environmental challenges remain. There is less than a decade to achieve the Herculean task of limiting global warming to the 1.5C above pre-industrial levels set out in the Paris Climate Agreement. The coronavirus pandemic has shown us the tragic consequences if we dont tackle the destruction of biodiversity along with the trafficking and sale of wild species which increase the risk of zoonotic diseases jumping to humans in close proximity to these animals. And pollution does not affect all equally. Communities of colour, indigenous peoples and low-income communities disproportionately suffer the adverse effects of pollution and climate change. Currently, the Trump administration is rolling back dozens of environmental policies and cosying up to the fossil-fuel industry. Julian Brave Noisecat, Vice President of Policy & Strategy of Data for Progress, viewed the success of Earth Day as a mixed bag. He told The Independent: "The environmental movement has succeeded in its 50-year history of taking on big issues like the hole of the ozone layer quite effectively. But the climate crisis has gotten a little bit out of our control. Even amid this pandemic, emissions reductions are not on track for what the UN says is necessary to keep warming below 1.5C." He added: I would also say that the environmental movement in its history has, for the most part, been a movement led by and for middle-class, white people. The communities that are harmed the most by the fossil-fuel economy, pollution and climate change are communities of colour. But the environmental movement has not done the best job in its history of allowing those communities and people to take leadership and to shape the movement in a way that would prioritise those on the hazardous edge of poverty and pollution. A Pakistani activist displays a placard as others hold candles during a demonstration to mark International Earth Day in Karachi, 21 April, 2005. (AAMIR QURESHI/AFP via Getty Images) (AFP/Getty) Earth Day got its start from Senator Gaylord Nelson, who on seeing an oil spill in Santa Barbara, California in 1969, wanted to organise a series of teach-ins on college campuses. Sen Nelson recruited a graduate student, Denis Hayes, to led the movement which he expanded across the US beyond colleges to encompass a myriad of groups. Some 20 million Americans, 10 per cent of the population at the time, demonstrated from coast to coast on April 22, 1970. Former California Governor Jerry Brown, called Earth Day an opportunity for a wake-up call in an interview with Associated Press, saying a global shift in thinking and action is needed that goes beyond any one day. But the darkness, the blindness is so pervasive, he said. Over the decades, millions more joined the Earth Day movement and were inspired by its message to start grassroots activism. In the 1990s, it paved the way for the first UN Earth Summit and in 2010, the Earth Day Network launched a campaign to plant 1 billion trees which it achieved in two years. In some respects, things have become worse. There has been widespread deforestation. Almost one-fifth of the "world's lungs" Amazon rainforest has been destroyed in the last 50 years, intensifying climate change along with decimating wildlife. The oceans are warming far more quickly than previously thought and in part due to this, sea levels are rising. Members of Greenpeace hold banners during the "Take Back the Earth Day" rally to protest President Bush's environmental policies and protocols outside the White House in 2001 (Photo by Alex Wong/Newsmakers) (Getty) A decade after Deepwater Horizon spill, the oil and gas industry continue to drill deeper, leaving some environmentalists and ocean researchers fearing another disaster. Diane Hoskins, campaign director of Oceana, said: "What was true 50 years ago is still true today. When they drill, they spill. President Trumps radical offshore drilling plan is one of the greatest challenges our ocean has ever faced. "Just 10 years after the catastrophic BP disaster, instead of learning any lessons, President Trump is proposing to massively expand drilling to nearly all US waters, while dismantling the few protections put in place as a result of the catastrophic blowout. More drilling and less safety is a recipe for disaster. Its time for President Trump to pull the plug on his drilling plan." Meanwhile, minority and poor communities disproportionately bear the brunt of pollution and climate change. Some 68 per cent of black people live within 30 miles of a coal-fired power plant despite being 13 per cent of the population, according to GreenAmerica.org, compared to 56 per cent of white people, making them more likely to feel the health impacts of pollution including breathing issues and heart conditions. More than a third of Latinos, who make up 17 per cent of the US population, also live within a 30-mile radius. Indigenous communities in the US and Canada have staged protests and are fighting through the court against oil pipeline construction, which they say is hazardous to the natural resources of their ancestral lands. The devastating toll of climate change is no longer a distant problem and youth activists have been driven by this fear for their futures to act. I want you to act as if our house is on fire. Because it is, activist Greta Thunberg told The World Economic Forum in Davos last year. Rather than unifying behind the science, environmental issues have become political ones. The Trump administration has made dozens of environmental rollbacks including cancelling a requirement for oil and gas companies to report methane emissions; amending rules on how refineries monitor pollution in nearby communities and gutting ambitious Obama-era vehicle mileage standards that were intended to tackle fossil-fuel emissions and reduce air pollution. Trump has also called time on the US's participation in the Paris climate agreement and continues to champion his allies in the oil and gas industry. Mitch Jones, policy director at Food & Water Action, told The Independent: Instead of easing regulations on the oil and gas industry, we should be focusing on a fair and just transition away from fossil fuels, leading with a ban on fracking and new fossil fuel infrastructure. Recommended Keystone XL pipeline suffers setback as judge cancels permit The administration, wrapped in a nostalgia for the 1950s, is wasting an opportunity to begin to transform our economy to create family-supporting union jobs in a vibrant clean energy economy. Democrats have fought back with the Green New Deal - a bold plan to tackle the intertwined crises of inequality and climate change by using public resources to move away from a fossil-fuel economy and build one based on clean energy while providing thousands of new jobs. One pillar of the plan is addressing economic inequality and racial injustice under the climate change umbrella. "The single greatest spokesperson for the Green New Deal, for example, is also the youngest member of Congress, a woman, Puerto Rican and comes from the Bronx, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. I think that's incredibly encouraging," Mr Noisecat said. The plan has sparked Republican backlash. The socialism of the plan would literally destroy the economy, Larry Kudlow, White House chief economic advisor, told the Conservative Political Action Conference last year. To gain momentum, environmental reforms need support from minority communities, who will comprise the majority of the US population within two decades. Yet they are underrepresented in environmental organisations, according to Green 2.0, an advocacy group that tracks racial and ethnic diversity in the field. Green 2.0's recent study found there were positive trends in the diversity of the boards, leadership and staff of major organisations. However, the majority of foundations and several NGOs failed to report their data. Whitney Tome, Executive Director for Green 2.0, told The Independent: "This Earth Day, I hope environmental organisations remember that people of colour have been and continue to be the most impacted by the historic inequities inherent to the ruling systems that permeate our planet. While people of colour were the closest to the land, cultivated it, protected it, and loved it, we are the ones who have been burdened by its degradation. "Only when we hold seats of power will our communities not be burdened. The power dynamic of the environmental movement, like so many other movements, was crafted by and perpetuates white supremacy culture. Once we address this, then we can finally move towards policies and strategies that will fix a planet that continues to burn." Associated Press contributed to this report South African authorities plan to deploy tens of thousands of additional soldiers to help enforce a nationwide Covid-19 lockdown, as some officials have come under fire for flouting measures designed to contain the coronavirus. Meanwhile, Kenyan security forces have been criticised by human rights groups for abuses carried out enforcing a Covid-19 curfew and Africas largest airline is fighting for its survival as coronavirus shutdowns strangle air traffic across the continent. More than 73,000 additional troops would be deployed in South Africa to help enforce a Covid-19 lockdown, according to a letter from President Cyril Ramaphosa to parliament. The extra soldiers from the South African National Defence Force would be deployed until 26 June. The deployment concerns both regular, reserve and auxiliary staff and is expected to cost approximately 2.2 million euros, according to Ramaphosas letter. South African security forces have had a difficult time enforcing the coronavirus lockdown especially in overcrowded townships. The police have also been tackling illegal alcohol sales, sometimes involving their own officers. A number of government officials, including 89 police officers, have been arrested for breaking Covid-19 regulations, many of them for selling contraband alcohol, according to the police minister. Police Minister Bheki Cele said on Wednesday that 131 people including councillors, health officials, correctional services and police have been arrested. South Africas five-week lockdown included a ban on alcohol sales, however several closed liquor outlets have been looted since the start of the coronavirus measures. South Africas communications minister was also fined by the countrys prosecuting authority for flouting the coronavirus lockdown and lunching at a friends house. Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams was fined 49 euros after posting a photo on social media depicting herself at a friends home having lunch. Story continues Ndabeni-Abrahams was placed on special leave earlier this month and is expected to appear before court in May. The prosecutor alleges her lunch was unlawful under lockdown measures. South Africa has registered 3,465 cases of coronavirus and 58 deaths, making it the second worst-hit country on the African continent after Egypt. Kenyan police rights abuses Human Rights Watch on Wednesday said Kenyan police had killed at least six people while enforcing a coronavirus curfew. The US-based rights watchdog said the police had also beaten and extorted others during the 7pm-5am lockdown that has been in place since 27 March. The police, without apparent justification, shot and beat people at markets or returning home from work, even before the daily start of the curfew, said HRW. In Mombasa, police teargassed crowds queuing up to take a ferry home from work on 27 March hours before the curfew started, beating, kicking and slapping them, according to HRW. Kenyas police spokesperson Charles Owino told the AFP news agency that the police had systems in place to deal with errant police officers and some officers had already been suspended and sacked. Ethiopian Airlines on a shoestring Africas largest airline, Ethiopian Airlines, is currently in a struggle for survival as the coronavirus pandemic stifles air travel across the continent, according to an interview with CEO Tewolde Gebremariam by AFP. Ethiopian Airlines is set to lose revenue of 505 million euros from January to April and is attempting to defer lease payments on aircraft, according to Tewolde. Tewolde said the state-owned airline can sustain operations with only 15 per cent of its revenue, but only for a short period of time. By Douglas Busvine BERLIN, April 22 (Reuters) - A design for smartphone technology to trace coronavirus infections, that is in line with the approach taken by Apple and Google, is gaining momentum in Europe after winning support from Switzerland and Austria over an alternative German-led approach. Governments, having slowed the pandemic with economically disruptive lockdowns, see contact tracing apps as a tool for responding quickly to any fresh outbreaks of COVID-19. Switzerland said it would launch an app on May 11 based on a standard, developed by researchers in Zurich and Lausanne, that uses Bluetooth communication between devices to assess the risk of catching COVID-19. Both Switzerland and Austria favour the design, called Decentralised Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing (DP-3T https://github.com/DP-3T/documents/blob/master/DP3T%20White%20Paper.pdf), saying it offers the best privacy protection because sensitive personal data is kept on devices and not on a central server. The German-led effort, Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing (PEPP-PT), faced criticism in an open letter signed by 300 scientists that its approach "would allow unprecedented surveillance of society at large". In Austria, where more than 400,000 people have already downloaded the Red Cross's Stopp Corona app, developers are upgrading its design and architecture after a review by privacy experts. "Once the Austrian Red Cross quickly changes to a standard like DP-3T, this app could also be used quickly in other countries," said privacy campaigner Max Schrems, who provided feedback for the Stopp Corona app. National apps need to be able to 'talk' to each other across borders, to reduce contagion risks that would arise as international travel restrictions are lifted. They would also need to be adopted by 60% of the population to achieve so-called 'digital herd immunity' against COVID-19, say researchers at Oxford University's Big Data Institute. Yet some apps are being rushed out before common standards are agreed. It's also not clear that digital contact tracing is effective - early adopters including Singapore have had teething troubles. Story continues WHERE'S BIG BROTHER? Technologists agree that Bluetooth can be a powerful way to measure the proximity of contacts between individuals, while being less invasive than the location tracking used in countries like China or South Korea. Where they disagree is on where Bluetooth contacts should be logged - on devices or on a central server. Apple and Alphabet's Google back a decentralized approach that would only route information through a server if a notification is issued. They have pledged to provide new application interfaces in May to support decentralized apps, and later incorporate contact tracing into their iOS and Android operating systems, which run 99% of smartphones. Importantly, Apple has resisted calls from Germany and France to allow the Bluetooth monitoring needed to support centralized apps to run on its iPhones in the background. This means that phones must be unlocked for the app to work - a drain on the battery and an inconvenience for the user. Kenny Paterson, a professor at the Institute of Information Security in Zurich who is involved in DP-3T, dismissed suggestions that Apple and Google were imposing unreasonable conditions for contact tracing apps. "We have been talking to Apple and Google for weeks and we were delighted with the approach they proposed," Paterson told Reuters, adding that it was "entirely compatible" with DP-3T. (Reporting by Douglas Busvine; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle) President Donald Trump said Tuesday that 20 states plan to reopen as the United States passed the peak of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus outbreak. We are opening up America again, he said during the White House CCP Virus Task Force press briefing. Twenty states, representing 40 percent of the population, have announced they are making plans and preparations to safely restart their economies in the very near future. Three announced today. President Trump thanked Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the U.S. Senate minority leader, and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the Senate Majority Leader, for passing the new small business relief bill. The legislation in this round of stimulus funding approves $482 billion in aid, including for small businesses, and for hospitals to increase testing. It comes days after the Small Business Administrations Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)which was passed last month as part of the third stimulus packageran out of money, meaning no new loans could be issued until it was replenished. The new bill provides an additional $310 billion for the program. The funding package includes $50 billion for disaster relief loans, which would enable to government to lend up to $300 billion. Funds for hospitals and COVID-19 testing make up the bulk of the rest of the funds. We look forward to the House passing this tomorrow, Trump said after thanked House leaders Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). Business to Rebound Late Summer: Mnuchin The CCP virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus, has been linked to at least 176,926 deaths globally and infected over 2.5 million people as of Tuesday afternoon, according to official government data collated by Johns Hopkins University. The numbers are considered inaccurate by many because of a lag in data collection by governments as well as significant underreporting of known cases and deaths by the regime ruling mainland China. There are over 823,000 confirmed cases and 44,805 deaths in the United States; the data shows. When asked if he expected more stimulus bills to be passed in the future, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said several areas could be the focus of future proposals, including infrastructure and payroll tax cuts. It also depends on the performance of the economy after reopening, and how much money the Federal Reserve System will input, he added. We look forward to business rebounding, especially later this summer, he said. From The Epoch Times Jack Phillips contributed to the report Travelers has reported a 25% drop in quarterly profit. The company also warned that potential claims for compensation coverage for furloughed and laid-off employees would impact its results for the year, according to a Reuters report. With the coronavirus pandemic weighing on the economy, millions of Americans are now jobless. Travelers said it might see elevated claims frequency and severity for its workers compensation line of business as states expand workers comp coverage. Commercial insurers are facing broad pressure to cover claims from businesses impacted by COVID-19-related shutdowns. The regime launched a series of missiles at opposition positions in Idleb, wounding a number of fighters, as Turkey continues to send further reinforcements reports Zaman Al-Wasl. Four opposition fighters were wounded Monday when regime forces launched a missile attack on their stronghold in the northern province of Idleb. According to Zaman Al-Wasls reporter, the elite 25th Division fired 22 Grad missiles on an array of villages in Jabal al-Zawiya. The regime forces and allied Shiite militias also fired on seven villages in western Idleb region. No civil casualties were reported. Since the ceasefire agreed between Russia and Turkey on Mar. 5, 2020, the lowest death toll ever was recorded in Syria in nine years. Also, more than 110,000 displaced people have returned home, the Syrian Response Coordinators Team said. Meanwhile, a new Turkish observation point was set in the Jabal al-Zawiyah region, bring the total to 57, as reinforcements keep pouring into Idleb province. The military point was constructed in the village of Bsamis south of Idleb city. Also, two Turkish military convoys entered western Idleb, carrying tanks, ammunition and fuel. Idleb province is home to 3.5 million civilians, according to the United Nations. In Deir ez-Zor, five civilians were killed by unknown assailants in a desert area west of Deir ez-Zor city, activists said Monday. Activists have accused Islamic State (ISIS) militants of carrying out such crimes against civilians in the Syrian desert, known as al-Badiya. In early April, seven people, including a woman, were also killed by suspected ISIS militants in the desert of Deir ez-Zor. ISIS has been largely defeated in the country but has continued to carry out ambushes, assassinations and bombings there and still poses a threat along its border. This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. N early a quarter of British adults have felt lonely during the coronavirus lockdown, a new study has suggested, sparking fears over the unintended mental health impact of the restrictions. The research, by the Mental Health Foundation, found that young people were the worst affected - 44 per cent of people aged from 18-24 said they had felt lonely under coronavirus restrictions. The next-youngest group, aged between 25 and 34, were the second-worst affected, with 35 per cent reporting loneliness. One in six people over 55 said the same. The results show a major rise in loneliness. When researchers carried out the first round of the study in March only ten per cent of adults they spoke to said they had been lonely recently. People over 55 and young people are among the worst affected / Getty Images Dr Antonis Kousoulis said that loneliness often leads to longer-term mental health problems. He added: The concern is that the longer the pandemic goes on, the more feelings become long-term. The impact of long-term loneliness on mental health can be very hard to manage. While the initial priority must be to prevent loss of life, we fear that we may be living with the mental health impacts of the coronavirus situation for many years to come. Mr Kousoulis went on: This is especially true of vulnerable groups and it is critical that governments and others are mindful of this in developing policy as we go forward. The research took place as part of a wider study on mental health amid the coronavirus lockdown, run by the University of Cambridge, Swansea University, University of Strathclyde and Queens University Belfast. William and Kate's Royal Foundation is formally backing a new initiative from leading charities and organisations to provide round-the-clock mental health support to workers on the frontline of the fight against coronavirus / PA Professor Tine Van Bortel, global and mental health professor at the University of Cambridge, added: It might feel surprising, but what our research shows is that the group most likely to be experiencing these feelings are young people. It is worrying that close to half of them said they are concerned about feeling lonely, and special attention should be given to young people. However, we shouldnt forget that loneliness is also clearly affecting very large numbers of people of all ages. The news comes after Prince William and Kate Middleton backed a new initiative from leading charities and organisations to provide mental health support to frontline workers in the coronavirus outbreak. They said they would make supporting the project their "top priority" in the months ahead. Hyderabad, April 22 : Distribution of cooked food and ration among the poor and needy in different parts of Hyderabad and its outskirts during the ongoing lockdown has been affected by the controversial move by the municipal authorities to cancel the passes issued earlier to NGOs and individuals for relief works. Some NGOs have been forced to shut their kitchens while individuals working to provide succor to the needy in interior areas are unable to move due to new restrictions imposed by the police since Tuesday. With the lockdown completing a month, families of daily wagers, migrant workers and others with meager sources of income are struggling to satiate hunger. Many people, who do not even have ration cards to get 12 kg rice and Rs.500 relief announced by the Telangana government, depend on the food distributed by NGOS and philanthropists. Shakera Begum, who lives in a small rented house in Sulieman Nagar in Rajendranagar area with her six children, has been relying on the aid distributed by philanthropists since the lockdown began a month ago. There are thousands like her who don't get any aid from the government. At a time when scores of NGOs, various socio-religious organizations and individuals are rendering commendable service, the decision of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has come as a rude shock. Greater Hyderabad Mayor Bonthu Ram Mohan on Monday announced that the passes issued to these groups and individuals earlier would not be valid. He instead asked them to deposit the food with the GHMC for distribution. He came under flak from those engaged in the relief works. "GHMC and other authorities are unable to perform their own duties. They don't have additional manpower and machinery to undertake this. How can they reach out to the needy," asked activist S. Q. Masood. Masood told IANS that he could not go for distribution of food as the police restricted his movement in the old city. "Police seized the vehicle of my friend who was going for distribution of aid among migrant workers. He was told that his pass is no longer valid." He said if authorities feel that distribution of food and other aid is leading to any issues ,they should try to address them in coordination with the groups concerned but asking them to stop the work and handover the food to the GHMC is not a solution "It is proved beyond that in any disaster NGOs play a big role in providing relief but authorities here are not understanding this. I don't know what is the political agenda behind keeping out NGOs." Another aid worker Affan Quadri said three kitchens in different areas were shut due to cancellations of passes. "The groups which were running these kitchens have sent the poor families they were so far taking care of to us," said Quadri who along with other aid workers have so far provided meals to over 50,000 people in 47 locations across Hyderabad. Though Quadri and his team did not face any problems during the last two days, he said many had to stop food and other aid distribution because they were told that their passes are no longer valid. The NGOs said lack of any written orders created uncertainty. They pointed out that even the process to get e-passes on the police portal is cumbersome. "Their intention is not to allow us to work so they came out with this system," said Masood. SPRINGFIELD The meat supply chain, which was running at full capacity at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, is now taking a hit as the disease infects plant workers and threatens the livestock industrys ability to keep up with high demand. The spread of coronavirus through employees at some of the nations largest meat plants could slow the flow of food, depending on how long plant closures last. At the same time, other plants that normally supply the food service industry with larger quantities of food are not equipped to distribute smaller packages suitable for grocery stores. When one section of the supply chain has a slowdown or complete shutdown, it bottlenecks the rest of the system, Illinois Farm Bureau President Richard Guebert, Jr. said. With highly perishable products like milk or vegetables, the bottleneck is slowing down the process longer than the items have in shelf life. One of the nations largest pork processing plants, a Smithfield Foods facility in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, shut down earlier this month because of a COVID-19 outbreak, taking 130 million weekly servings of food out of the supply chain. The closure also idled plants in Missouri and Wisconsin that rely on the Sioux Falls plants raw materials. On Monday, food processing company JBS shut down a Minnesota processing plant that produces about 5 percent of the nations pork. Tyson Foods has also shut down an Iowa facility that produces 2 percent of U.S. pork. Those four closures represent 10 to 15 percent of U.S. pork processing, said Illinois Pork Producers Association Executive Director Jennifer Tirey. That just creates a bottleneck for all the other packers, because they try to move those hogs to their other facilities, she said. Of the three major pork facilities in Illinois, one is operated by JBS in Beardstown and another, in Monmouth, is operated by Smithfield Foods. The third major facility in the state is the Agar-operated Rantoul Foods in Rantoul. While Tirey said the plants are experiencing disruptions, they remain in operation. There were, however, three employees at the Monmouth plant who tested positive for COVID-19 last week. Tirey said the bottlenecked supply chain dropped the number of pigs processed in the U.S. on Monday to 370,000, down from 415,000 only a couple days before. Just losing those couple processing plants in neighboring states brings the overall total down, she said. Tirey added, though, that she does not expect the amount of pork in supermarkets will decrease, for now. Instead, she said, shortages at supermarkets should be attributed to consumers heightened demand for meat. Tirey also said that Illinois pork plants, including the one in Monmouth, have stepped up their safety protocols, including social distancing, daily temperature checks for employees and requiring workers to wear personal protective equipment (PPE). Robert Johansson, chief economist for the U.S. Agriculture Department, last week in a post on the USDA website said its data shows "that the U.S agricultural market will remain well supplied and food will continue to be affordable." "Industries that are part of the food supply chain, such as meat packing operations and wheat and rice mills have been deemed as essential industry infrastructure and exempt from any shelter-in-place orders. And according to the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), the USDA agency responsible for regulating meat processors, closures of facilities regulated by the agency due to the disease outbreak have been limited, and temporary," he wrote. Meanwhile, farms in some parts of the country have an oversupply of their products. The inability to bridge the gap between farmers growing produce, milk and meat with the growing number of needy consumers has not been from a lack of trying, Guebert said. Illinois Farm Bureau and the Illinois Farm Bureau Young Leader Committee recently wrapped up a 16-day fundraising campaign that raised a total of $26,000 for eight food banks that serve Illinoisans. County Farm Bureaus in six northern Illinois counties donated $5,000 worth of milk nearly 2,000 gallons to 30 food pantries in those counties. And the American Farm Bureau Federation is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to purchase products from farmers who have lost other markets during the pandemic and redirect them to food banks. It isnt that the food isnt there, the Illinois Farm Bureaus associate director of food systems development, Raghela Scavuzzo, said. What we are facing is a readjusting of the distribution system. That takes time. More time than any of us would like. Guebert said farmers would prefer to donate their products to those who need them rather than dispose of them on the farm. But food pantries capacity to store products with short shelf lives is limited. Its heartbreaking for farmers whenever theyre forced to dispose of products, he said. Many farmers do not know where their income is going to come from during this time, but believe me, they would rather find a home for these products. Many food banks are based on repackaging bulk loads of products into smaller amounts to be distributed individually. But the volunteer base that performs that work has largely dried up because of social distancing guidelines. Other barriers stand in the way of getting meat and dairy products from farm to fork. The facilities that package eggs, milk and cheese, for example, are set up to distribute more than half of those products to food service sectors. Eggs are typically delivered in either liquid form or in 15-dozen quantities. Cheese might be delivered to a pizzeria in 10-pound bags, not the 8-ounce bags a shopper would buy at the grocery store. And large amounts of milk would ordinarily be packaged in half-pint cartons for students eating lunch at school, not the gallon jugs that have been subject to rationing at many supermarkets. Approximately 60 percent to 65 percent of product from farms typically goes into the food service industry restaurants, hotels, schools and cafeterias, Scavuzzo said. The way in which these businesses purchase food is very different than what goes into a retail space or what the food banks are needing due to their labor barriers. Some relief is coming to farmers struggling from low demand, supply chain crises and low prices after the federal government on Friday announced a COVID-19 agricultural aid package. The USDA will provide $16 billion in direct payments to farmers and ranchers, including $9.6 billion for the livestock industry. Producers will be compensated for 85 percent of price losses from Jan. 1 through April 15. Compensation will then decrease to 30 percent of prices losses through the next two quarters. The USDA says another $873 million will go toward purchasing agricultural products to be sent to food banks. This is on top of $600 million of previous COVID-19 relief money set to food banks to purchase food. WEDNESDAY UPDATE: Coronavirus in Central Illinois Downing Street is under fire after refusing to guarantee an independent inquiry into its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, despite mounting criticism. Dominic Raab agreed there would be lessons to be learned when the crisis is over but ducked a call to ensure a judge is appointed to explore what mistakes might have been made. The stance was later echoed by Boris Johnsons spokesman, raising suspicions that ministers are reluctant to see an Iraq War-style probe held. In recent days, criticism has grown that ministers have failed to provide healthcare staff with protective equipment or carry out tests on the scale frequently promised. One analysis now suggests the real death toll from coronavirus in the UK is already above 40,000 twice the total once described by an NHS chief as a good result. Mr Raab came under pressure in the Commons from Ed Davey, the acting Liberal Democrat leader, but the stand-in prime minister replied: I won't take up his offer of committing to a public inquiry. I think that there are definitely lessons to be learned and, when we get through this crisis, it will be important that we take stock and we come together to understand with an unprecedented challenge on an international scale what can be done to avoid it happening again. But I think right now, from our key NHS frontline workers to the members of the public, they would rightly expect our full focus to be, as we come through the peak of this virus, to make sure that we save lives, protect the NHS and steer the whole country through this crisis rather than engaging in that process or that set of deliberations right now. Speaking afterwards, Sir Ed said: It is deeply concerning that the government are avoiding even committing to a future public inquiry into the coronavirus crisis. Coronavirus: London on lockdown Show all 29 1 /29 Coronavirus: London on lockdown Coronavirus: London on lockdown A man walks down a deserted Camden High Street Photos Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Goodge Street Station is one of the many stations closed to help reduce the spread Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown An empty street in the heart of Chinatown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown People in masks in Chinatown a day after the lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A near-empty Piccadilly Circus during the first week of lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Sonja, my neighbour, who I photographed while taking a short walk. It was nice to briefly chat even from a distance Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A couple sit on the empty steps of the statue Eros in Piccadilly Circus Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Making sure I stay two-meters apart DArblay Street, Soho Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A mannequin behind a shop window. UK stores have closed until further notice Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A notice displayed on a shop window in Camden Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown As part of the lockdown, all non-essential shops have been ordered to close.Image from Camden High Street Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A skateboarder wearing a mask utilises his exercise allowance in the Camden area Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Communities have been coming together in a time of need Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A woman stands alone in a deserted Oxford Street. Up until a few weeks ago, on average, half a million people visited the street per day Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A couple walk hand in hand down a street in Soho, a day before the stricter lockdown was announced Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown During the first week of March, shoppers focused on stockpiling necessities ahead of a countrywide lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Many supermarkers are operating a queuing system to make sure only a limited amount of customers are allowed in at anyone time Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Stay Safe Curzon cinemas are temporarily closed under the new measures Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Pubs, restaurants and bars were ordered to shut as part of the lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden High Street There are fears that coronavirus could lead to permanent closure of struggling shops Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden Town is eerily silent on a normal working day Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Shops and supermarkets ran out of hand sanitisers in the first week of the lockdown. As we approach the end of the second week most shops now have started to stock up Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Empty streets around Soho Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A noticeboard on Camden High Street urges the public to stay at home Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden High Street, one of Londons busiest tourist streets turns quiet Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Thriller Live confirmed its West End run ended in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Empty and eerie Soho streets after stricter rules on social distancing announced Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A woman pauses for a cigarette on Hanway Street, behind Tottenham Court Road Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A man steps outside onto Hanway Street, that sits behind what is usually a bustling retail hub Angela Christofilou From the lack protection for frontline health and care workers to the complete mess the government have made of testing, ministers have questions to answer. Ian Blackford, the Scottish National Party leader, told The Independent: When this is over, it is inevitable that there will have to be a review on the government response. This is not about pointing fingers or laying blame but simply about the responsibility to review actions taken. Caroline Lucas, the Green MP, said: If tens of thousands of deaths in the first pandemic for 100 years doesn't merit a public inquiry, I don't know what does. Taking stock, as Dominic Raab suggests, doesn't cover it at all. And Daniel Machover, a public inquiry solicitor, said: A public inquiry along the lines of the Grenfell Tower inquiry would be the best way to determine how well the government has handled this crisis. Inquiries conducted by civil servants behind closed doors or by politicians on select committees can be beholden to whoever is in power questions can be withheld and avoided; witnesses can be missed. The Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq War invasion was able to take evidence in public from Tony Blair and other architects of the invasion, although it was criticised for taking seven years to public conclusions. Theresa May conceded a public inquiry into the Grenfell tragedy but no similar probe took place into the origins of the 2008 financial crash. No 10s stance has been backed by Labour leader Keir Starmer, whose spokesman said: The priority now has got to be on how the government fixes the current mistakes it is making. From a devastating earthquake in Peru and deadly cyclone in Pakistan to the rolling boil of the Cold War and the disbanding of The Beatles, things werent going exceptionally well for the world in 1970. Yet, at the same time, a growing awareness of the impacts of pollution and crewed missions into space were inspiring a recognition of Earths fragile beauty and humanitys role in protecting it. On April 22, less than two weeks after the Apollo 13 tragedy dominated the worlds attention, millions bearing the newly minted title of environmentalist celebrated the first Earth Day. The 50th Earth Day arrives today at a time when many peoples world has been reduced to their own home and backyard. Even amid the ongoing health crisis, however, those who champion the planet are still finding ways to safeguard it. The Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute was founded with the goal of studying and protecting the unparalleled diversity of aquatic life in the Southeast. The coronavirus outbreak has transformed much, but the importance of that mission, at least, remains unchanged, says Dr. Anna George, the Aquariums Vice President of Conservation Science and Education. Though conservation may seem like a minor concern to many people right now, having a healthy environment is actually the foundation for healthy people, including a strong economy and a high quality of life, Dr. George says. We're hearing from so many people right now that sitting in their backyard or watching the webcams at the Tennessee Aquarium is a major stress relief in these scary times, demonstrating the importance of nature in our every day lives." For all of these reasons, its incredibly important that we continue our work to protect the beautiful and diverse rivers and streams of the southeastern United States. We know that the work we do will be appreciated by others when its safe for us all to be back outside enjoying them. From managing strategic care of endangered reptiles to writing new chapters in long-running species restoration efforts, the Tennessee Aquarium continues to serve as a leader in freshwater science on Earth Day, as it does every day. Tennessee Aquarium staff members serve as coordinators for six Species Survival Plans (SSP) cooperative programs designed to manage populations of animals in human care including the critically endangered Arakan Forest Turtle and Keeled Box Turtle. As with care for any animal, the closure has not interrupted management of these species or coordination with other SSP member institutions, says Dave Collins, the Aquariums Director of Forests and Animal Behavior. Caring for SSP animals, like the rest of our living collection, is a 365-day-a-year job, Mr. Collins says. Their needs go on unchanged, regardless of whats going on in our world. Unlike their wild counterparts, they are entirely dependent on us for their care. The Aquarium declared 2020 to be The Year of the Turtle in recognition of these reptiles beloved (often-revered) role in cultures around the world and the challenges many turtle species face in the wild. As part of this yearlong celebration, the Aquarium also announced its leadership of a new Association of Zoos and Aquariums Saving Animals From Extinction (SAFE) program focused on safeguarding native turtles. When it launched, the AZA SAFE American Turtles program encompassed 14 zoos and aquariums as well as 30 field partners representing state and federal agencies, nonprofits, nature centers, universities and more. The programs initial focus was on protecting the Wood Turtle, Bog Turtle, Blandings Turtle and Spotted Turtle, as well as terrapenes (also known as box turtles). Widespread quarantine orders and business closures have prevented the AZA SAFE American Turtles program from adding to its membership for the time being. Despite the pandemic, work continues behind the scenes to plan how best to assist law enforcement with monitoring and curbing illegal trafficking, which has led to the removal of so many turtles from their native habitats. It is important to keep moving forward on growing this program because the threats to turtles are almost certainly not taking a break during the coronavirus pandemic, says Collins, who serves as the SAFE program leader and coordinator. As the weather warms up and turtle activity increases, we will be closely tracking the levels in illegal trade. With social distancing regulations in place, some of the Aquariums conservation programs have been paused, including its effort for more than two decades to restore the Lake Sturgeon to its native waters, including the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. Since releases began in 2000, the Aquarium and its partners have released more than 220,000 juvenile Lake Sturgeon. Thanks to the onset of COVID-19 and the accompanying interruption of operations at many facilities, including fish hatcheries, the Aquarium will not have access this year to a new class of juvenile sturgeon. Were sad at the thought of not having baby Lake Sturgeon in our facility for the first time in 20 years, Dr. George says. However, we know that the program will be able to pick up again when it is safe for us to do so. The interruption of Lake Sturgeon propagation at the Aquariums freshwater science center doesnt mean this year wont see any new sturgeon returned to their native waters. One hundred individuals held from the 2019 release class will be introduced into the Cumberland River near Nashville later this year. In the meantime, biologists at the institute are taking advantage of these holdovers to conduct genetic testing that will help to better manage these river giants in the future. On the other hand, propagation efforts for several different species at the Conservation Institute, including the Longhead Darter and Common Logperch, are continuing uninterrupted. The Aquariums conservation efforts to restore the Southern Appalachian Brook Trout to native streams in Northeast Tennessee are not only unimpeded by the pandemic but are poised to turn the page on an all-new chapter. Last year, Aquarium biologists and their partners celebrated a significant milestone when they discovered that this species Tennessees only native trout was spawning on its own in the Appalachian stream where restocking efforts had been focused. A new class of juvenile Brook Trout has been growing steadily under expert care at the freshwater science center, where eggs were spawned and fertilized last October. In late May, this newest batch of juveniles will be released at a new location, furthering the restoration of this beautiful trout to even more of its historic range. Since 1999, the Aquarium and its partners have been working to prevent the extinction of the Barrens Topminnow, a small, colorful species found in only a handful of streams in Middle Tennessee. Last year, this native fish was listed as an endangered species, a move that reflected the dramatic decline in its wild numbers while simultaneously providing access to more significant resources to fuel conservation efforts. Even in the midst of the pandemic and just in time for Earth Day, news broke of another important step in the fight to conserve the Barrens Topminnow. Earlier this month, Chicagos Shedd Aquarium announced that it had successfully spawned six Barrens Topminnows sent there from the Tennessee Aquarium to create a new population whose offspring will be used to restore native creeks in Tennessee. While social distancing protocols have curtailed field activities, the quarantine has also provided an opportunity for Aquarium biologists to work through previously collected data. Scientists always have plenty of data from previous years that we havent had time to finish analyzing and writing up, Dr. George says. I think were going to see a lot of scientific publications coming out of the Conservation Institute this year." In addition to a pioneering effort to study the origins and impact of microplastic pollution on freshwater fish, Conservation Institute scientists working from home are wrapping up a wide range of projects. In recent months and even during the coronavirus-spurred quarantine Aquarium scientists celebrated the peer-reviewed publication of their papers covering a variety of topics, including: How the presence of fish impacts salamander distribution in streams The significant influence turtles have on food webs in freshwater ponds How living in resource-poor caves affects the reproductive potential of crayfish Analyzing how the generation of wind and solar energy impacts terrestrial wildlife, such as desert tortoises Pioneering observations of breeding behavior of the federally endangered Laurel Dace Every day, the Aquarium seeks to forge meaningful connections between people and nature. Since the onset of the health crisis, the Aquarium has ramped up efforts to make these connections online for homebound digital visitors from all over the world. This effort has resulted in the production of a wealth of fun, interactive content, including Weekday Wonders a curated series of science-at-home activities and daily Facebook Live streams that provide a sense of connection to Aquarium animals and experts. Fittingly, Earth Day marks the launch of the latest addition to its Aquarium At Home content library. Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute Freshwater Biologist Dr. Josh Ennen and Geographic Information Systems Analyst Sarah Sweat have been hard at work creating an interactive story map. This fun online resource serves as a kind of virtual guide to the Aquariums collection of freshwater turtles, the largest of its kind in North America. This multimedia-rich platform offers fun facts, images, videos and more on turtles from all over the world who live at the Aquarium. More species will regularly be added to this still-developing resource. The widespread impact of COVID-19 has forced Aquarium scientists and experts to adapt, sometime dramatically, to pursue their mission of caring for, studying and protecting wildlife. On Earth Day and every day since its doors were shut, that important work continues, but the closure has resulted in significant financial hardship. Legislature should toughen laws related to sexual exploitation crimes A South Korean man convicted of creating and running the world's largest child pornography website site called "Welcome to Video" will likely be extradited to the United States instead of being released. The Seoul High Court issued a warrant for the extradition of the man surnamed Son, Monday. The Ministry of Justice has had the matter under consideration since receiving a criminal extradition request for Son, 24, from the U.S. Department of Justice in April last year. Son received an 18-month prison sentence for producing and distributing child pornography through Welcome to Video, a site on the dark web that contained more than 250,000 child porn videos. His release date is April 27. But he could instead be extradited to the U.S. once the ministry makes a decision after a court review. The Welcome to Video incident was uncovered through an international operation coordinated by 32 countries. Over 300 people, including Son, were arrested and charged, and 223 of them were South Korean. This is not surprising. Similar incidents involving the sexual exploitation of children have resulted in a slap on the wrist for the perpetrators. Most of the users of Welcome to Video were either fined or given suspended prison sentences. If sent to the U.S., Son will likely face a far more severe punishment than he received in South Korea. A man in the U.S. was given a 10-year prison sentence for merely possessing illegal videos downloaded from Welcome to Video. This is a far cry from Korea's lax response to this depraved criminal behavior. It's fair to say that the country has been a safe haven for the perpetrators of sexual exploitation crimes because of its lenient penalties and faulty sentencing guidelines. Son's extradition to the U.S. will surely serve as an occasion to reveal our pathetic failure to punish child predators. The National Assembly should toughen laws related to sexual exploitation crimes before its current four-year term ends in late May. 21.04.2020 LISTEN Angola has received a herd of more than 1,000 cattle from Chad, a government official said Monday, the latest shipment of an unusual debt repayment deal. The landlocked central African country, impoverished despite its oil revenues, contracted a $100 million (92-million-euro) debt with Angola in 2017. As repayment, Angola agreed to take 75,000 cattle, for delivery over five years from 2020, to help it develop its beef industry. "This consignment comprises 1,176 herd of cattle. They have been placed in quarantine in the town of Quiminha, from where they will be transported to their final destination after inspection," Ditutala Lucas Simao, veterinary services chief in the agriculture ministry, told AFP. Since the first batch arrived a month ago, Angola has taken delivery of 4,500 cattle, said Simao. After oil, livestock is Chad's second-largest source of export earnings. The deal works well for Angola, which is keen to revive its livestock farming sector as part of efforts to diversify the oil-dependent economy. The second-largest crude producer in sub-Saharan Africa spends $350 million each year to import meat for its 30 million people. "The Angolan government has launched a programme to turn the Camabatela plateau (straddling three provinces in the north of the country) into a cattle-breeding and meat-production belt," said Simao. Angola is in the throes of a deep economic crisis since the 2014 drop in oil prices. The coronavirus has only added to its woes. The economy is expected to contract by 1.4 per cent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Source: gulfnews.com Congress offered a lifeline to college students facing financial insecurity in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic, but the Trump administration is restricting who can receive help. Guidance issued Tuesday by the Education Department narrows student eligibility for the nearly $7 billion in emergency grant aid set aside in the stimulus package. Only students who can participate in federal student aid programs can receive money, a stipulation that effectively shuts out undocumented and international students. Collectively, that's at least 1.5 million college students, according to the latest available data. And that's not accounting for the scores of others who could be left in the lurch because of the way the guidance is written. The department said students who have not submitted the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, can still receive grants, but it is requiring colleges to confirm details, such as registration with selective service, that are most readily found on the form. "I don't know what school would ever use anything but a FAFSA to be able to say that students meet all of the eligibility requirements outlined in the FAQ," said Justin Draeger, president of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. "There are a significant number of people who don't fill out the FAFSA, and those people certainly accrued expenses related to covid disruptions. I don't see how they'll qualify." Asked about the new eligibility parameters, Angela Morabito, a spokeswoman for the Education Department, said, "Congress set Title IV eligibility under the Higher Education Act, and we are using that criteria." Critics of the department's guidance say the agency is being inconsistent. The funding agreement colleges have been asked to sign says the department "does not consider the emergency financial aid grants to constitute federal financial aid under Title IV of the Higher Education Act." If that is the case, it makes no sense to use the statute to determine eligibility, said Sara Goldrick-Rab, a professor of higher education policy and sociology at Temple University. "The authorizing legislation and the certification agreement clarify that this is not Title IV aid," Goldrick-Rab said. "But that didn't stop [Education Secretary Betsy DeVos] from waiting until the last minute and then unnecessarily excluding . . . some of the most vulnerable individuals from this support. It is nothing short of cruel and unnecessary." The Cares Act directs schools to give students money to cover expenses such as food, housing, technology, child care and health care, but the legislation left it to the Education Department to flesh out the terms. And the department initially passed the responsibility onto schools. But the lack of clear guidance from the agency about who was eligible for the money and how it could be disbursed gave colleges and universities pause. Many were concerned about the legal ramifications for their institutions and students if any missteps were made. Higher education groups urged the department to develop a Frequently Asked Questions document to clear up the confusion. Higher education leaders and advocacy groups had hoped the broad language of the Cares Act provision left open a window for colleges to help undocumented students receiving immigration benefits under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the Obama-era program for immigrants brought to the United States as children. Despite a 1996 welfare law barring such students from getting federal assistance, some thought the provision in the stimulus law could supersede the prohibition. "It's unfortunate that institutions won't be able to directly support DACA and international students with this aid," said Luis Maldonado, vice president for government relations at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. "They are members of the academic community and contribute to the important work of learning on campus." Nearly 5,000 colleges and universities will benefit from the stimulus funding. Public institutions will receive the most, $4.5 billion, while private, nonprofit schools will get about $1.2 billion. For-profit schools will receive more than $500 million, according to the Education Department. The department reported Tuesday that nearly 50% of schools that are slated to receive aid have applied, nearly double the amount the agency reported last week. The program was off to a rocky start. The website where colleges had to submit documents was down for hours at a time, and some schools that had never used the portal had trouble registering. Even schools that successfully completed the process said they were still waiting for the money. The Trump administration announced a plan Wednesday to start paying hospitals and doctors who care for uninsured patients with COVID-19, but Democratic lawmakers and health industry groups are likely to press for more. Under the approach detailed by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, hospitals and doctors would submit their bills directly to the government and they would get paid at Medicare rates. Uninsured people would not be liable for costs, and health care providers would not have to ask any questions about a patient's immigration status, an issue that's been cited as a barrier to care in communities with many foreign-born residents. This says if you don't have insurance, go get taken care of we have you covered, Azar said in an interview. The money will come from a pot of $100 billion that Congress has approved to provide relief for the health care system, which is trying to cope with the high cost of coronavirus care while facing a cash crunch because elective surgeries and procedures have been put on hold. For COVID-19 patients who are covered by health insurance, hospitals and doctors accepting money from the relief fund would have to agree to not to send surprise bills for out-of-network services. COVID-19 treatment for the uninsured could cost from $14 billion to $48 billion, according to a recent estimate from the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. Azar said the administration is not providing an estimate on what its plan will cost, but he is confident it will fit within the $100 billion allocated by Congress. Lawmakers are finalizing another coronavirus relief bill, expected to add $75 billion more for the health care system. Democrats and some health industry groups say the relief money approved by Congress should go directly to health care facilities, and the administration should cover the uninsured by expanding programs such as Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. An HHS press release describing the plan for the uninsured says payments for their care would be made subject to available funding. About 28 million people were uninsured before the pandemic hit, and that number is expected to rise sharply. Consultants at Health Management Associates estimate that 12 million to 35 million people could lose workplace coverage in the economic shutdown aimed at containing the spread of the coronavirus. The plan for the uninsured was part of a broader announcement by the government detailing a second round of economic relief payments to hospitals, doctors and other health care service providers. Before Wednesday's announcement, $30 billion had been distributed. Additional funds now being released include: $20 billion in payments across a range of health care facilities. $10 billion targeted to coronavirus hot spots; New York will receive $4.4 billion. $10 billion for rural health clinics and hospitals $400 million for Indian Health Service facilities. Azar said additional allocations will be announced for nursing homes, for hospitals and doctors that rely on Medicaid, and for dentists. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Relatives accompanying the remains will be subjected to 21 days mandatory quarantine at the designated points before proceeding to the funeral. (The same applies in cases where the body is transiting through Zimbabwe.) Only the driver of the hearse is allowed to proceed to the final place of burial in Zimbabwe and is required to return to South Africa immediately after burial, said Ms Chaurura. Talkspace co-founders Roni and Oren Frank Talkspace Oren Frank's business is exploding. But he's not celebrating. Frank is the CEO of Talkspace, a company he co-founded eight years ago with his wife, Roni, to provide therapy over the internet for people in remote areas and those who can't afford traditional psychotherapy. Traffic has doubled since mid-March, and thousands of people are registering daily, Frank said, as isolation and economic stress cause increased anxiety and depression. "It's not just growing because people can't access face-to-face therapy but because people are unbelievably anxious and stressed and are locked in their homes and having horrible relationship issues," Frank said, in an interview late last week from his home in New Jersey. "There's a lot of pain." Talkspace is one of many mental health apps and services seeing a flood of new patients seeking help while social distancing. It's also one of the companies potential investors are inundating with calls, as they look for rare growth opportunities in a suddenly contracting economy. Telehealth providers, developers of remote work tools, app-based fitness services and on-demand delivery businesses are surging amid the Covid-19 crisis. Now they face a dilemma: should they take cash from venture investors hungry for returns, or wait and see how the economy shakes out? CEOs can't meet investors in person, making it harder to know if they'll get along personally an important consideration if big backers are going to be involved, perhaps on the board, for years to come. They also have to gauge how much of the growth they're seeing is temporary and how much reflects a more enduring change in the way we work and live, while also considering if capital will still be available in the future, and on what terms. And even if they take the money now, they might not be able to put it to work hiring and expanding right away, as they deal with unusual crisis situations with current customers and employees. "The question becomes, is this a step function change or a peak that reverts back, and how far does it revert back?" said Jeff Crowe, a partner at Norwest Venture Partners, an early Talkspace backer. "How much do you expand capacity and do you raise more capital to take advantage of that? All those companies are thinking about those kinds of questions." Talkspace, which has 120 employees and works with thousands of therapists across the country on a contract basis, last raised money almost a year ago, a $50 million round led by Revolution Growth. But the company still isn't profitable. Like most venture-backed start-ups, it will need additional capital for future expansion. Frank said he's been hearing from a lot of investors, including some who passed earlier and now want to reengage. His message to them: Now is not a good time. The company is focused on dealing with the current health crisis and is rolling out increased resources for people who are suffering, including those who can't pay the starting subscription of $260 a month for text, video and audio messaging with therapists. Even with the growth, Frank said he's more cost-conscious than ever and wants to avoid fueling growth with large amounts of outside capital. He's seen what happened to companies like Uber and WeWork, which raised billions of dollars with little to no consideration for their burn rate. "I don't think you want to raise money only because it's being offered by people who see opportunities in the market," Frank said. "You want to raise funds from people who would be a good fit. There's no rush." VCs have money to put to work Big venture firms are in triage mode, helping troubled companies navigate layoffs and cost cuts. But they're also sitting on a ton of cash from funds raised at the tail end of the decade-long bull market. U.S. venture funds raised $46.3 billion last year, the second highest amount in the past 10 years, behind only 2018. Just this month, Index Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners each announced new multibillion-dollar funds. Partners at Accel, which raised $2.5 billion last year for new funds, are busy sourcing deals from the comfort of their homes. The firm just led a $30 million investment in Guru, a cloud software company that helps workers in distributed environments collect and share information. Founded in 2014, Guru had close to 1,000 customers coming into the year and has tripled that number since, said co-founder and CEO Rick Nucci. The Philadelphia-based company introduced a free version of its collaboration software in January, but much of the acceleration has come since office workers across the country were sent home. Instead of being surrounded by colleagues, employees were suddenly forced to manage homeschooling and full-time parenting during the work day. Guru co-founders Mitchell Stewart (left) and Rick Nucci Guru "You can't just walk down the hall and shoulder-tap the expert who knew the answer," said Nucci. Nucci said the financing round was mostly lined up before the coronavirus struck the U.S., and that the company was going to raise roughly that amount anyway. Two people familiar with the deal said the financing came together more quickly as demand for the product soared. In a blog post on Monday, Accel's Miles Clements and Ben Fletcher put Guru in the basket of essential work-from-home technologies. "As I write this post from my kitchen table in a makeshift remote office during a period of forced quarantine, I toggle back and forth between Gmail, Slack, Dropbox, Zoom and a half dozen other productivity apps," the post said. "Guru ties these services all neatly together." The unexpected work-from-home boom The trend towards remote work was happening well before the current pandemic. It wasn't the norm, though. Now, enterprises with tens of thousands of employees who typically work out of large offices are in an unfamiliar position of trying to give their entire staff access to all necessary apps from home. Productivity software start-up Notion raised a $50 million round in a deal that the New York Times said came together over the course of 36 hours in late March. Forbes reported last week that Figma, which sells cloud-based design software, is raising a round of at least $50 million and is doing so sooner than previously expected. More such deals are likely in the pipeline. In a tweet last week, Jeff Richards of venture firm GGV Capital wrote, "In the midst of chaos, seeing a lot of quiet success we'll all be reading about in the not too distant future." tweet Andrew Miller, the CEO of Cameyo, hasn't raised money yet for his two-year-old start-up but had been in talks about a first round of financing before the coronavirus hit the U.S. and put everything on pause. He now finds himself in a more favorable situation, though with what he calls a sense of "survivor's guilt." Cameyo's remote access technology allows companies to get employees set up to work from home without needing virtual private networks and the corresponding software on every laptop or desktop. Rather than relying on VPNs, Cameyo delivers the technology through a browser-based tool that can be installed in hours for hundreds of employees. Miller said that the number of users signing up for free trials jumped 750% in the past two months and revenue is poised to more than triple in April from March. The company is profitable and "is still planning to raise a round, but we are now able to be much more selective and strategic about who we partner with for that funding," Miller said, adding that he can now focus on "more strategic, less-dilutive options." Miller also knows that while he can try to forecast what his business will look like when people start returning to the office, it's just an educated guess. 'The best financing is non-dilutive financing called revenue' Jeff Yasuda is making a similar calculation as he considers funding for his music start-up Feed.fm. Yasuda started the product in 2013 to create a back-end service so apps that wanted to include music in a shopping or gaming experience could do so without worrying about all the complex licensing issues. With gyms and workout facilities all closed, fitness apps are now more dependent on Feed's technology so they can serve customers at home. The number of streams doubled in March over February, Yasuda said, and San Francisco-based Feed has picked up increased business from FightCamp, Mayo Clinic, Tonal, and Life Fitness. Yasuda said he's getting calls from all sorts of private equity and venture capital firms, who see the growth in at-home fitness subscriptions and are looking to invest in the "arms dealers" for those companies. It's ironic, says Yasuda he's been working on music start-ups for 15 years, and investors have always run the other way because of the litigiousness of the music industry, which has made it almost impossible to make money. Feed.fm CEO Jeff Yasuda Eva Blue A highly promising new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in April 2020 reports an efficient new method to conduct high-throughput testing of blood samples for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) which is causing the rapidly spreading pandemic of COVID-19 disease throughout the world. The method could revolutionize the diagnosis of new cases before they become symptomatic. Why was the new test developed? The spread of SARS-CoV-2 appears to have resisted efforts in most democratic countries to contain it. Recent studies report that up to a third of infected people remain asymptomatic, and many more shed large amounts of the virus before the onset of symptoms. In view of the transmission of the virus from both asymptomatic and presymptomatic individuals, it is necessary to routinely identify all infected individuals to stop the march of the pandemic. However, there are significant bottlenecks inhibiting the ability to carry out such diagnostic testing. These include not only inadequate laboratory facilities but the limited availability of the reagents needed to carry out the real-time polymerase chain reaction (rtPCR) tests that directly detect the virus. How does the new test work? The principle of the new testing method, called P-BEST - a method for Pooling-Based Efficient SARS-CoV-2 Testing, is based on a low percentage of carriers in the tested population, below 1%. In such a case, the pooled sample can yield a correct identification of all positive individuals with a much lower requirement of diagnostic tests compared to individual sample testing. The group-testing method is based on pooling samples into groups, each of which is tested separately for the virus by the rtPCR assay that is the current standard of diagnostic testing. Using a combinatorial pooling strategy maximizes the odds of identifying all positives within a large pool. The current study The present study was a proof-of-concept study where 384 patient samples were pooled into 48 pools of 48 unique samples each. Each pool was designed on the basis of a Reed-Solomon error-correcting code. Liquid consisting of samples diluted in a lysis buffer was added to each pool by an automated robot. After carrying out PCR on each of the 48 pools within each set of 384 samples, the results were broken down by a special decoding algorithm to identify the carriers. Each such carrier was then identified separately. The pooling time took less than 5 hours, and a standard biosafety level 2 laboratory was used in view of the inactivation of all viral particles by the lysis buffer used to dilute the individual samples. The samples were from already tested patients. The testing set consisted of four sets of 384 samples each. Each of these had an increased number of positive carriers, from 2 in the first to 5 in the fourth. What did the study find? The investigators found that using P-BEST, they could correctly pick up all the positive carriers from the four sets of 384 samples, pooled into 48-sample pools. The significant advantage was that only 48 PCR tests needed to be carried out for each set. In other words, the use of reagents jumped eight-fold in efficiency. When they simulated the method, it was found that P-BEST can be used to rightly identify all the carriers, even up to 5/384 samples in the final set, which comes to only 1.3% of the whole set. The number of false positives is less than 2.75, with less than 0.33 negatives. What does the study show? The study shows that inactivated virus samples can be used, with the samples diluted in lysis buffer. This allows automated pooling techniques to be carried out in laboratories conforming to lower levels of biosafety (BSL-2) due to the non-infectious nature of the pooled samples. The only additional equipment needed is a basic and readily available automated dispensing robot for laboratory use. The increase in efficiency of reagent use by a factor of 8 is not the maximum that can be achieved; by increasing the number of samples pooled within a set, even greater savings of reagent can be accomplished with the same equipment. This can boost the number of tests that can be done with the same resources in terms of not just reagent, but staff and laboratory equipment. Early follow-up experiments show that a single positive sample can be picked out even from a pool of 128 subjects, allowing for more than 1000 tests to be done. Thus the present pooling technique, P-BEST, is optimally designed for the fast and efficient screening of low-risk asymptomatic populations with a low carrier frequency. It should not be used to test people who are at high risk of being infected, for instance, those who came into contact with COVID-19 patients. With a carrier frequency above 1.3%, the P-BEST method is less efficient. This has a side benefit: it can help to identify hotspots for viral transmission. The scientists conclude, P-BEST provides an efficient and easy-to-implement solution for increasing testing capacity that will work with any clinically approved genome-extraction and PCR-based diagnostic methodologies. Important Notice medRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information. ALBANY On the second floor of the state Capitol Wednesday, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo delivered his daily coronavirus briefing. New York is past the peak, he said, but reopening the economy too soon could be "reckless." Outside, as he spoke, hundreds of demonstrators stood in the streets or drove past the ornate building, protesting New York's stay-at-home order that intends to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. The demonstration, which lasted more than an hour, was part of a nationwide movement in which those frustrated with the continued closures of businesses, schools and social gatherings have flooded state capitals to demand their economies reopen immediately. "We get the economic anxiety," Cuomo said at Wednesday's briefing, responding to a reporter's question about the protest. "The question is: How do you respond to it, and do you respond to it in a way that jeopardizes public health and possibly causes more people to die?" Some of the protesters wore face masks or stayed six feet from other attendees; many did not. They held up signs: "Facts Not Fear FREE NY," "Stop tyranny," "End the status Cuomo," "Poverty is more dangerous than a virus." There were people of all ages, all with different reasons for demonstrating. Some cited their own economic hardship, while others contrasted the coronavirus spread in New York City with that of the rest of the state. A man in a "Make America Great Again" hat held up a sign saying, "My small business is essential." Nearby, a young woman implored Cuomo to "stop ruining my senior year." Hear more from the protest on an episode of The Eagle: A Times Union Podcast Hundreds of cars filled the streets outside the Capitol, at times causing traffic to grind to a halt. Many protesters hung signs out of their vehicles or drove trucks with American flags and Trump 2020 signs. "We have a maximum of maybe 50 deaths in the whole 518 area," said protester Serena Rizzo of Cohoes. "Why are we treated the exact same as New York City? We're not the same at all." As of Tuesday, 54 residents of the four central Capital Region counties had died of the virus, and 80 have died in all 11 counties, according to the state Department of Health. Rizzo added that she "can't breathe with a mask on." A protester named Michael, who declined to give his last name, said the governor has "way overstepped his reach," and the continued lockdown order is "destroying family businesses." "I want the governor to stand up, take notice, quickly start opening up businesses upstate especially," he said. "There's very minimal cases in different parts of upstate New York. There's not one reason why businesses are still closed. There's no excuse whatsoever." For others, it is a matter of personal liberty. Demonstrator Richard DeVito, who drove to Albany from New York City, said he owns a small business that has seen "no work" since officials enacted the "on PAUSE" order at the end of March. He walked up and down Washington Avenue yelling, "Freedom!" and held two signs one saying "Live free or die," while the other featured a collage of America-themed photos, including the U.S. Constitution and an American flag. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. "[The government] is saying we can't go to work, you have to wear a mask, you have to do this, you have to do that," DeVito said. "This is America." Members of Cuomo's administration have called the protesters a "death cult." Cuomo's "on PAUSE" order is scheduled to last at least until May 15, as he warned on Wednesday that, even as the state pursues a regional reopening plan, the shutdown is "not going to be over anytime soon." A Siena College Research Institute poll earlier this month showed that 95 percent of New Yorkers are quarantining themselves or social distancing as the state endures the highest number of COVID-19 cases across the country. "Both our PAUSE and reopening initiatives are based on facts, science and metrics that a vast majority of New Yorkers have followed and because of that, the curve was bent and lives were saved in this pandemic," Cuomo spokesman Richard Azzopardi said. "Horn honking is not a factor." The protest, coined online as "Operation Gridlock," was co-hosted by the Facebook group "ReOpen New York State," which listed nearly 3,000 members as of Wednesday. More than 300 people had marked themselves as interested in the demonstration ahead of time. At an Albany County coronavirus briefing earlier Wednesday, county Health Commissioner Elizabeth Whalen pressed demonstrators to "consider the evidence" and think of those families who may be severely impacted by the disease. "Were doing our best with the evidence at hand," Whalen said. "Were learning rapidly about a disease we knew nothing about three months ago, and it takes time to be able to do that. And this time is needed. These people are unfortunately tempting fate. Theyre not listening to the science. And Id urge them to reconsider." Steve Hughes contributed reporting. Chief Medical Officer for the Department of Health Dr Tony Holohan during the launch of a public information booklet on coronavirus at Government Buildings in Dublin (PA) Irelands chief medical officer has said he is very concerned people may start disregarding social distancing rules in the expectation that changes are imminent. Dr Tony Holohan urged the public to stay the course during the current lockdown period and warned against assuming a relaxation of the measures would come on May 5. That date is when the current restrictions are due to expire. While the Government has expressed hope some the rules may be gradually eased after May 5, Dr Holohan made clear that was not a given. Irelands toll of deaths with a confirmed Covid-19 link rose to 769 on Wednesday, after another 49 were notified to the Department of Health. The department said 10 deaths previously linked to coronavirus had since been de-notified as Covid-19 related. The department is aware of an additional 113 deaths, which took place in community residential settings such as nursing homes, where Covid-19 was suspected, but not confirmed. Department of Health Covid 19 press briefing https://t.co/fljRNucqH3 Department of Health (@roinnslainte) April 22, 2020 A further 631 confirmed cases of coronavirus were reported on Wednesday, taking the total since the outbreak began to 16,671. The department also outlined a breakdown of the death toll in respect of age brackets. Of the 769 fatalities, 667 were among people aged 70 and over; there were 53 in the 60-69 bracket; 29 among those aged 50-59; 12 in the 40-49 bracket; and in both the 30-39 and 20-29 brackets there were five or fewer deaths in each. No one aged under 20 has died with coronavirus in Ireland. When it comes to the restrictions on movement, the Government acts on the advice given by the National Public Health Emergency Team, which Dr Holohan leads. Addressing the daily Covid-19 briefing, Dr Holohan said he was not currently in a position to recommend any easing of the restrictions. Asked if he was concerned people may start to move around more freely ahead of the May 5, Dr Holohan replied: Very concerned and we cant stress highly enough the importance of staying the course in what were doing at the moment and for continuing the high levels of compliance we see across the population to get us in a strong position as we can be as soon as possible and certainly by May 5. If the decision was today, we have not reached a point where we think we could be recommending a change in the restrictions, so there should be no assumption that this is something automatic, there should be no assumption that this is something that were definitely going to get to. And there certainly should be no anticipatory slacking off, if I can put it in those terms, in advance of May 5 we have a way to go. Expand Close The current lock down period is due to expire on May 5 (Brian Lawless/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The current lock down period is due to expire on May 5 (Brian Lawless/PA) The Government is currently drawing up a plan that will outline how it will gradually reopen the country when the medical advice permits. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has pledged to make the plan public before May 5. Dr Holohan has said restrictions can only be eased if three key criteria are met the current reproductive rate of the virus is kept below one; hospital capacity is not under significant pressure; and a ramped-up testing, contract tracing and monitoring regime is operational. He said the success of social distancing measures to date meant Ireland had effectively not experienced a first wave of the virus, as the diseases transmission had been suppressed. But he said any sudden deterioration of social distancing compliance could undermine all that progress. We could lose all of the ground that weve made, he said. Capetown or Melbourne. But just sitting in a train to another Dutch city sounds amazing right now as well. Reply Thread Link i really wanted to go visit the place with massive tulip camps (forgot the name, i was banking on my dutch friends to take me) altho i don't think i ever will now.. who knows Reply Parent Thread Link Keukenhof? They've got fields and fields of flowers in spring. Reply Parent Thread Link I was meant to be going back to Melbourne in June. :( Reply Parent Thread Link Ever been to Deventer? I haven't and for some reason I want to go there once... Reply Parent Thread Expand Link awww its been a few years since i watched this but my bff sat me down and showed it to me and we binged at least the first two series i think? can't remember how many there are. but richard is so hilarious/deadpan and adorable and the eps were really good. i remember enjoying the paris ep and the one in seville. oh and fave trip was the scottish highlands and i'd like to go to morocco (had a trip planned and booked to Marrakech but got sick and couldn't go so i need to redeem myself.) also i def need to drink some more water so thanks op! Edited at 2020-04-22 08:04 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link uw, dear! funny enough i also reminded myself as i wrote it :D Reply Parent Thread Link i'd love to go to london to visit my good friend i met when he was on vacation out here years ago who comes to visit me routinely. i like visiting big cities with a lot of culture and things to do typically. i'd also love to travel to my local dive bar and have conversation with the bartender but that's a distant dream at the moment lol Reply Thread Link Bora Bora or bust Reply Thread Link I.love.this.show it further cemented my love for Richard Ayoade but I agree with op Ill also pretend it has ended. Reply Thread Link If I had the money and it were safe, Id go to Italy in a heartbeat, mostly for Rome. Its such a magical city to me. Ive been twice and Im obsessed. Domestically, Id love to visit Washington, D.C. I havent been in almost ten years and I love it. Id also love to visit my friend in San Diego and finally meet her baby. Reply Thread Link as a roman, thank you for loving my city! also, let me suggest something for the future, if you can you should visit rome during its (alleged) birthday (aka natale romano -roman Christmas) 21st of April. the city has so many fun activities on that day! Reply Parent Thread Link That sounds awesome, Ill keep it in mind for my next trip! Edited at 2020-04-22 08:31 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link No travel but if I could I'd head to Singapore or Bangkok/Phuket for the weekend, I miss the food and would kill to be able to go in the sea rn :/ I was in London when the pandemic was declared, it was a bitch getting out before borders closed... but I don't regret it at all, it saved my sanity because I was seriously starting to lose it after having no proper me time for almost a year but just appreciated being able to hang around and be anonymous and do shit on my own. And lockdown would feel 10xworse and more trapped if I hadn't had the trip before. Reply Thread Link Just googled and I agree! Reply Parent Thread Link #LetmecometoBrazil aftercorona I want to visit Brazil Reply Thread Link Where is everyone watching/streaming their shows? I'm in the UK so can't get Hulu/HBO Go etc and Popcorn Time stopped working for me. Thank God for Yardie4Life but it doesn't have Good Girls. Edited at 2020-04-22 09:07 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link I've seen a couple of eps and they were fun. Reply Thread Link Yes im gonna watch this. As someone obesessed with travel and who was planning to quit my job end of summer for a ~sabbatical around the world, this is my shit! Reply Thread Link I was to be going to Ethopia and South Africa end of next week (bday trip) but that aint happening. My favorite trip was Jordan! Everyone should go. My favorite destination remains Mexico City! Reply Thread Link Oh I have bowel movement issues so I try to drink a lot of water, like 3 litres a day Reply Thread Link The CEO, who is a member of the COVID-19 pandemic insurance taskforce of the Insurance Council of Australia, made it known that the taskforce meets three times a week to stay connected and understand what is going on across the country and with governments. Booth added: NIBA has been compiling a list of all the government programmes of support for businesses, and thats intended to get you to help your clients who might be struggling. It may well be that theres some broker firms who might need access to some of those programmes as well, and we certainly urge you to look at that. NIBA itself is reviewing these programmes. Meanwhile, the association is exploring alternatives now that it has deferred all of its events, including the NIBA Convention, until October. We are looking at options for video conferencing, for virtual seminars, for continuing to deliver messages and deliver learning opportunities / CPD to people across the country, noted the chief executive. Were working very hard to investigate options. Booth, who thinks 2021 will present a different side of business, told brokers: Best wishes in the meantime. Alicia Parker knew she had to get her 74-year-old father out of the Southeast Portland nursing home and into a hospital fast. He had been diagnosed with the coronavirus and when Parker called to check on him in early April, she found that nurses at Healthcare at Foster Creek were no longer giving him life-sustaining fluids. It was obvious the home was outmatched by the outbreak limited supplies, few staff and no containment protocols, she said. They were going down fast, Parker said she realized. Two days later, her dad was dead. She had seen him earlier in the day via cellphone that a caregiver held up to him. Richard Parkers eyes were closed. He didnt respond when she tried to talk to him. His chest lifted with short, labored breaths. At that point, his daughter said, it just seemed like it was too late. Parker and the members of two other families with loved ones at Foster Creek described their pain and helplessness watching coronavirus race through the site of Oregons largest outbreak. The nursing home now has at least 14 deaths and 71 infections identified among residents and workers. One of the family members witnessed caregivers who werent always wearing gloves even as the virus had sickened dozens at the nursing home. Another said her parent told her that workers were going from infected residents to those who werent infected. The families said the nursing home kept them in the dark about the extent of the chaotic response. State inspectors discovered many of the same problems when they went into the nursing home to see for themselves and announced sanctions last week. The day after the inspection began, the state sent an ambulance team to Foster Creek to evaluate every resident. Over two days, paramedics evaluated all of the residents and took 20 of them to local hospitals. The state also ordered Foster Creek to meet staffing minimums, appoint a consultant to monitor the home and report back to the state by 5 p.m. every day. The orders will stay in place until not a single resident at the home has the coronavirus, according to the document ordering the measures. A state Department of Human Services official signed the order April 15, 12 days after Richard Parker died. I dont know why it took them so long to get involved, Alicia Parker said. Especially in Oregon, where there arent so many cases. A spokeswoman for the nursing homes managing company, Benicia Senior Living, said many of the Foster Creek residents have dementia and multiple chronic underlying health conditions that make their care challenging. The nursing home will challenge the states findings and order in administrative court, said spokeswoman Nicole Francois. Foster Creek had prepared for the coronavirus with an infection control plan and a supply of protective equipment, Francois said in an email. When the masks and other gear dwindled, the company reached out to the state. We made every effort to provide our staff with more, Francois said. Our efforts included reaching to the state of Oregon and the state did not help. ARE YOU AWARE OF THIS? Richard Parker was the first resident at Foster Creek to test positive for the new coronavirus, a nurse told his daughter. Alicia Parker, who lives in Concord, California, regularly called to check on him before the virus started sweeping through the U.S. Now, she was particularly concerned when nursing homes in other states reported dozens of deaths among their residents at high risk for becoming sick because of their ages and medical conditions. Her father had bipolar disorder, she said, and had lived on the streets and done odd jobs. At one point, he was under the supervision of the state psychiatric review board in a misdemeanor sex abuse case. He was in the home because he had severe dementia, she said. Richard Parker is one of 14 people from the Portland nursing home Healthcare at Foster Creek to die after contracting the coronavirus. He lived in the Sandy unit of the nursing home, the one with the bulk of the infections. Foster Creek had 96 residents at the time the virus spread over four units. When Parker was told over the phone in late March that her father had become infected, she asked if the nursing home was going to isolate him from his roommates. She asked if the nursing home had a protocol in place for handling an outbreak. She said she was told no on both counts. I didnt know what to say, said Parker, 40. I was kind of speechless. She didnt understand why the Foster Creek outbreak wasnt in the news and why state officials werent disclosing it online. When she called the nursing home on April 1 and learned that her father wasnt getting fluids, she had the staff start them again. On the night of April 3, when her father died about 10 p.m., a caregiver called Parker to report his death and tell her that the nursing home planned to contact a funeral home. Do you have any questions? the caregiver asked. Parker had plenty. In the next few days, she called the Oregon Health Authoritys main phone line to report the outbreak, only to get an automated message. She searched online for somewhere to report the dire circumstances at Foster Creek and said she found nothing. She turned to social media five days after Richard Parkers death. Healthcare at Foster Creek has an outbreak, she wrote to the state health authority on Twitter. Are you aware of this? My 74 year old father tested positive for Covid and has since died on April 3rd in Multnomah County after getting sick at his nursing home. Healthcare at Foster Creek has an outbreak. Are you aware of this? Miss Alicia Parker (@cessibaby) April 8, 2020 The state launched the full-fledged inspection two days later on April 10 the same day The Oregonian/OregonLive reported that the death toll among residents was then up to 10 residents. A nurse and a nursing assistant had tracked the deaths with growing alarm and confirmed them for the newsroom. State officials are now ramping up efforts to help nursing homes across the state. Gov. Kate Brown on Monday announced an emergency shipment of masks, face shields, gloves and gowns to long-term care facilities. The Oregon Health Authority has started publicly releasing death and case counts for all senior care homes in the state that have at least one death or three or more coronavirus cases. The state also is renting a nursing home building to serve as a recovery place for people with the coronavirus. Parker said she didnt understand why it seemed that neither the nursing home nor state authorities were ready to act quickly. They knew this was a risk at least a month ahead of time, Parker said, referring to the nursing home near Seattle that reported the deaths of dozens of people associated with the facility in March. The grim toll immediately became a national story. You have to assume that it will hit you, she said. IS HE GOING TO LIVE? Zach Kuzens said he didnt know why his father wasnt returning his calls. Maybe the morphine pills had knocked him out. Maybe the tense conversation the two had the week before had upset him. Or maybe 74-year-old Al Kuzens had given up on his fight to survive, overwhelmed by the pain from his stage four cancer and fear of the coronavirus that he knew was infecting one after another of his fellow Foster Creek residents. After five days without a word from the nursing home, a nurse at Adventist Health Portland called the younger Kuzens on April 11. His father had tested positive for the virus, the nurse said, and he was refusing to eat, drink or take his medications. It just kind of hit me all at once, Zach Kuzens said. Is he going to live? A few days later, Zach Kuzens reached town from Newberg and stepped into the hospital room. When he saw his dad with an oxygen mask covering his face and an IV tube snaking out of his arm, the 31-year-old said he broke down and cried. It was hard to see his dad like that. Al Kuzens had been locally famous in the 1970s as the bassist for the Portland band Brown Sugar. Zach Kuzens was there to convince his dad to start eating and drinking again and had gotten permission from the Southeast Portland hospital to visit because Al Kuzens was in such bad shape. Al Kuzens smiled when his son, wearing goggles, a mask, gloves and a gown, quickly twirled his arm up and down a hip-hop dance move called Pop and Lock. Zach Kuzens soon had his dad taking small sips from a juice bottle he picked up from the hospital tray in the room. Before Al Kuzens was diagnosed with the virus, he told his daughter, Nicole Kuzens, that he saw caregivers going from one resident to another without washing their hands. Caregivers werent wearing protective equipment when they went from rooms with coronavirus patients to rooms of residents without the virus, he told her. I actually didnt believe my dad when he said that, Nicole Kuzens said. Al Kuzens girlfriend, Brenda Michel, said he would repeatedly tell her that he had to wait hours for a caregiver to come after he rang his bell and that waiting for medications took far too long. They just wouldnt respond, said Michel, 63. Brenda Michel has been in a relationship with Al Kuzens for the past ten years. He contracted the coronavirus while staying at Healthcare at Foster Creek. Michel was by his side April 21 when he died. Beth Nakamura/Staff Even before the outbreak, the nursing home had repeatedly failed to have enough staff, state and federal records show. Residents got about 20 minutes a day with a nurse, federal data show, compared to 50 minutes a day in the average Oregon nursing home. State regulators cited the home three times in 2019 for repeatedly failing to meet minimum staffing standards. While Oregon has so far been spared some of the worst-case scenarios of coronavirus outbreaks that have played out in New York City, New Orleans and other cities, senior care homes in the state continue to face a particular threat. About half of all coronavirus deaths in Oregon 43 are people from nursing homes, assisted living centers and a retirement community. As of last Friday, 33 homes had at least one confirmed case. Zach Kuzens said he was heartened by his dads response when he visited him. Al Kuzens wondered how his son was allowed into the hospital. Zach Kuzens raised his right arm and flexed his bicep. I fought my way in, he said as he slapped his arm. Al Kuzens responded by raising his own arm. Good job, son, Zach Kuzens remembers his dad saying. He grabbed his fathers hand and squeezed it. On Tuesday, Al Kuzens died. Brenda Michel was with him at the hospital. IM FINE. KINDA. Last Friday, April Anderson, 29, FaceTimed her father at Foster Creek. Her mom held her phone to the window outside his room at the nursing home in what had become a regular cybervisit. Anderson saw her dad lying in bed, barely responsive. Hi, boo, John Anderson, 56, said when he realized his daughter was there, digitally transported from her home in Los Angeles. Crying, Anderson waved at her dad, told him she loved him and tried to smile. She and her mother, Theresa Anderson, had also FaceTimed him a week earlier. He was happy to see his wife and his only daughter, even more because his early-onset dementia had made him especially emotional. He came to the window, rolling up in his wheelchair, and smiled. He looked good then, Anderson said. But it was only a matter of time, she feared, before he would get sick, too. On the blurry screen, she said she saw a caregiver push her fathers wheelchair closer to the window with bare hands. No way my dad would not have been infected, Anderson said. And I knew." Last week during the call, her father couldnt come to the window. He had always been tough, she said never a complainer. But this time, he let something slip one word showed he was hurting. Im fine, he said when asked how he was doing. Then he added: Kinda. John Anderson fell into a deep sleep five minutes into the conversation. Hours later, a nurse called and told April Anderson that her father had the coronavirus. April Anderson FaceTimed her father again Tuesday. A nurse told her he was on comfort care. That, Anderson said, means her father likely wont make it. Please email me with any comments, corrections, or tips. -- Fedor Zarkhin fzarkhin@oregonian.com desk: 503-294-7674|cell: 971-373-2905|@fedorzarkhin Stories: cutt.ly/fzarkhin Lt. Col. ML Cavanaugh, PhD, is a nonresident fellow with the Modern War Institute at West Point. This essay is an unofficial expression of opinion; the views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of West Point, the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense, or any agency of the U.S. government. Nib managing director Mark Fitzgibbon has signalled rebates for private health insurance members will be prioritised if the shutdown of elective surgery due to the coronavirus leads to a temporary profit boost. "In the course of the sharp reduction of treatment of all types, well see a sharp reduction in claims and likely an increase in profitability. And if we are going to experience abnormal profitability, how do we compensate our members?" he said. "The consensus at this stage is that a rebate mechanism may be appropriate, though I need to emphasise we haven't made any decisions." Nib boss Mark Fitzgibbon said it would be 18 months before the true impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on the private healthcare sector would be known. Credit:Louie Douvis The Morrison government said this week that elective surgery restrictions put in place last month to boost capacity for coronavirus cases will be relaxed from April 27, meaning claims could ramp up again in coming weeks. But Mr Fitzgibbon said he did not believe that relaxing restrictions would necessarily lead to a surge in treatments. "When we pop out of the other end of this, Im not sure theres sufficient capacity [for a big surge]. There could also be ongoing reluctance to have treatment in hospitals if it is really elective." The $2.1 billion private health fund withdrew its market guidance for the 2020 financial year at the end of March. Nib said it was impossible to predict the impact of the coronavirus given elective procedures, which account for the majority of private health insurance claims, could decline. Earlier in January Nib downgraded its outlook for full year profits by $30 million off the back of higher than expected growth in medical claims. Health insurers have been revising offers and freezing premium increases over the past few weeks as members face unemployment and financial hardship related to the pandemic. The sector is also working together to change policies to include treatment of coronavirus, access to telehealth and fee relief for members. The chief executive of private health fund peak body Private Healthcare Australia, Rachel David, said rebates were likely from a number of funds in coming months. "Paradoxically this situation has meant funds have had to be more competitive. They've gone out and dropped premiums. A number of funds will end up paying cash rebates, though at the moment, it's very hard to forecast this," she said. When asked about possible rebates, head of the healthcare and strategy team at $7 billion insurer Medibank, Dr Andrew Wilson, said the business was considering all options. "We continue to look at what more we can do for our customers, with all options on the table, as we ensure any COVID-19 related claims reductions benefit our customers," Dr Wilson said. For years, researchers have been trying to bring improved haptics to virtual reality (VR) experiences. Weve seen haptic suits from bHaptics and TeslaSuit, as well as VR boots, gloves and other handheld devices. Now, a team of researchers from Carnegie Mellon University is ready to introduce a new approach. Their wearable device connects users hands to their shoulders via spring-loaded cables. The researchers claim that the product, Wireality, can better simulate objects in VR. The device sits on users shoulders, and the spring-loaded cables attach to each fingertip and a few points on the hand. Gears inside Wireality lock to create resistance, and the design takes advantage of the users upper body mass to simulate heavy and fixed objects. Wireality could make flat and curved VR surfaces, like walls and railings, more lifelike. It could also allow users to interact with touchscreens and buttons in ways that haptic systems with only vibrational motors dont allow. In a paper, the research team explains their design and how they kept Wireality lightweight, low-power and low-cost. They believe that it could cost less than $50 in volume production, and while the prototype is 273 grams in total, only 11 grams are worn on the hands -- making it lighter than, for instance, an HTC Vive controller, which weighs 203 grams. " " The Aeron chair was first built for the elderly. Courtesy Herman Miller To make it rain dollar bills, you have to work. Although some jobs are more active than others, many of us while away the workday with a chair and computer as our closest companions. So, a comfortable chair is a must. But, how much is the ultimate workplace comfort worth? For those who prefer the Aeron chair, made by furniture company Herman Miller, the answer is somewhere north of a thousand bucks. But many people think it's worth it. Antonella Pisani first encountered an Aeron while working as an executive at Yahoo in 2004. "Everyone had them there, and Yahoo was very focused on setting up each work station to be optimal for the ergonomics of their workers," she says via email. Nowadays, she's spending even more time behind a desk getting startup Official Coupon Code off the ground and relies on her beloved Aeron to prevent some of the aches that threaten to accompany sedentary workdays. "The most important thing is that it doesn't put any pressure on the back of my legs, which many regular chairs do," she says. "That was happening with my last chair, and it would often lead to pain down to my calves." Advertisement The Aeron dates way back to the early 1990s, when Herman Miller tasked a couple of seasoned furniture designers, Bill Stumpf and Don Chadwick, with creating a great chair for the elderly. The two men developed their "wish list" of chair features via input from seniors, since they spend significant amounts of time in chairs. The retirees reported the need for a cool (temperature-wise) chair that is friendly to the joints and easy to get in and out of. The end result was a futuristic-looking (for the time) piece, trademarked by a woven suspension membrane that became known as the "Pellicle" seat and back. This breathable material flew in the face of the typical foam-padded seat cushions, and was specially developed to reduce heat buildup. A patented mechanism called the "Kinemat tilt" was created to help the chair move seamlessly with the user's natural body movements. And the chair was made almost entirely with recycled materials, well before being "green" was a widespread thing. " " The Aeron chair was first built for the elderly. Courtesy Herman Miller But there wasn't a market for high-end furniture for the elderly, and eventually Herman Miller pivoted to sell the chair to businesses. Following its mid-1990s launch, the Aeron became a staple of well-to-do offices looking to practice top-notch ergonomics. The Aeron chair thrived, even in the middle of the dot-com bust of the early 2000s. While word-of-mouth satisfaction helped to spread the chair's reputation, a little PR didn't hurt, either. "Herman Miller has done a masterful job marketing to businesses and government entities alike, giving the Aeron chair a name recognition like no other chair in the industry," explains Kent Anderson, president of National Business Furniture. But why does it cost so much (apart from the fact that it's a prestige product)? Ergonomic chairs in general are expensive, and experts attribute that to all the research needed to create them; their plethora of adjustables (seat height, back seat tension, arm rest height); and the fact that they are built to last. The Aeron chair has a 12-year warranty. Of course, it's not the only ergonomic chair on the market. "I personally sit in the Nightingale CXO chair, which is priced similarly to the Aeron, but with a memory foam seat and mesh back," says Anderson. "I think it a much better chair for the money and as well made as anything on the market today." And if you're dying for Aeron but need a lower price, consider the refurbished route. "The Aeron chair is well made and holds its integrity over time," says Donnie Reilly with Atlanta Office Liquidators, a commercial office furniture company. "If it does get damaged or malfunctions there are so many Aerons on the market that it's very easy to get replacement parts." Indeed, a quick internet search found many "pre-owned" Aeron chairs selling for under $500. Now That's Cool Not sure if your workspace is hot or not? The WorkPose app helps users assess the overall harmony of their office furniture, tech and bodies. It also teaches people the nuances of proper workplace seating, which is less intuitive than it seems. When Sunday Orji, an officer of the Nigerian Army, tied the nuptial knot with his heart throb, Emilia, in 2010, the vow was to live forever. He was already in service for six years, having joined the army in 2004. The couple had it all planned like many others; make some money, make some babies and live together till death do them part. Indeed, Mr Orji made enough to cater for the family, he had two children with Emilia but the third promise was never fulfilled. The sun set on the soldiers life in 2015. That marked the beginning of horror for his family. When I got there (Nigerian Armys office), I was told they got a signal that my husband was missing but asked me to give them time to confirm his status. After a year of ignorance, I was later told hes dead, Mrs Orji said in a March interview with PREMIUM TIMES, crying profusely. The incident described by her was in 2015. Before then, Mr Orji was in the habit of calling to check on his family everyday but around August that year, the calls stopped coming. An apprehensive Mrs Orji decided to visit the Bonny Camp army cantonment in Victoria Island to express her concern about the sudden halt of her husbands call. Days later, she was told that her husband died at the battle front. Unending war For over 10 years, the Nigerian government has engaged in war with the Islamic insurgent group, Boko Haram, seeking to establish an Islamic state in northeast Nigeria. Since 2009 when it broke out, at least 47,000 people have been killed in the Boko Haram war, according to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). Also, over two million have been displaced . One often neglected statistics, however, is the estimated 10,000 plus soldiers who have died in the war. Mr Orji with the army number 04/55/1726 is one of the fallen soldiers. Soon after she was told about the death, Mrs Orji was advised by the Nigerian Army authorities to start processing her husbands gratuity being the next of kin. She told PREMIUM TIMES she was able to perfect the process in due time but four years later, shes yet to receive any entitlement Sunday Orji and Emelia I was the one with his ATM (card) and we got salaries for three months before the salary was blocked, she narrated. Life became hard for Mrs Orji and her two children after her husbands salary of N55,000 as lance corporal was stopped. Although the army allowed them to still occupy their accommodation in the Ojo Barracks, Lagos, putting food on their table and accessing other basic life needs became increasingly difficult. Mrs Orji used the cumulative salary to start a petty trade in groceries in 2015 but was forced to close down in 2019 due to unbearable credit purchases. Now, the family only survives on gifts from church members and can not afford basic medications. When an illness came calling in 2019, their first child, Chukwuka, died. Last year, I lost Chukwuka, my eight-year-old first child in the midst of the struggle. He had convulsions which led to memory loss. Chukwuka eventually died after I could not raise money to take him to hospital. Since then, my pastor took the responsibility of paying my second childs school fees, she said weeping. Mrs Orji, though battered, is still hopeful that her husbands gratuity will be paid so she can cater for the only remaining child. Sunday Orji at his first rank ceremony Sometimes they ask us to go to Abuja, but when we get there, they wont even attend to us. The Nigeria Army are not trying for the widows at all. They will tell us check back, anytime we go to Abuja, without considering the expenses weve made. She continues to live in a dingy, dampened room in a block of 10 flats reserved for widows in the Ojo Barracks. Nigerian Army left my father to die, neglected us Mrs Orji is not alone in this hopeless state. The pain of losing a beneficiary was evident in the voice of Janet Samuel, 19. Her dream is to become a journalist but this seems far reaching since her fathers death. Sunday Samuel with the army number 01/NA/50/725 was attacked in Maiduguri in 2017. Following official advice, he returned to Odogbo barracks in Ibadan for treatment. After receiving treatment for a while, he was transferred to Kastina to join the military in combating armed herders. His travel to Kastina was a journey of no return, PREMIUM TIMES learnt. He was under medical (care) here but when he got to Kastina in 2018, he joined soldiers combating herdsmen in the bush. When they had an encounter with the herdsmen and in the process, the explosion of the bad guys entered his chest and he was taken to the military hospital in Zaria, Kaduna State. Following the situation of the incident, he was returned to FMC in Katsina for operation. All that happened in August 2018. He came home in December to celebrate 2018 Christmas with us before he returned (to Katsina) on December 28 that same year. Sunday Samuel after surgery That was the last time Ms Samuel saw her father. The operation carried out on him started affecting him. He spent six months in the hospital before he eventually died, she said. Rather than take care of the soldier, she alleged that her father was dumped in the hospital and army authorities never paid for his treatment. They called my mum to come stay with her husband. The Nigerian Army neglected my father until he died on June 21, 2019. My father was attacked on duty but no one cared for him. I was left with my siblings, six in number, and could not continue my education. I had already written UTME before he died but since then, Ive remained in the same spot. The dream of returning to school is dying already. While her husband was alive and even after his death, Sarah Samuel (Janets mother) had no job and depended entirely on the salary that comes, until the pay stopped coming Advertisements When PREMIUM TIMES visited Odogbo barracks in March, Mrs Samuel was said to have travelled to Abuja to get an update on when her husbands gratuity will be ready. Emilia sitting in her one room apartment at Ojo barracks Corroborating her daughters account when she finally spoke to this reporter, she said the family only received three months salary and nothing else. PREMIUM TIMES asked how much the gratuity would be. She said: not up to N2 million. Ineffective guidelines The guidelines on administration of military pensions for personnel of the armed forces of Nigeria provides that death benefits should be paid to Next of Kins (NOKs) of deceased military personnel that died in active service. When officers die in active service, form 9B, a death certificate, letter of introduction of their NOKs, condolence letter from their last units, sworn affidavit deposed to by the NOKs authenticating them as NOKs, the ID card of the deceased personnel, passport photographs of the NOKs and any form of identification of the NOKs are expected to be sent to military pension board at Dutse-Alhaji, Abuja, by their respective offices. These documents are used to process the deceased personnels death benefits which would be paid to rightful NOKs after conducting interviews. There is an NOK Standing Committee that usually invites and conducts interviews for NOKs with a view to verifying genuineness or otherwise of the NOKs and ensuring correctness of documents. When satisfied, the committee usually sends the NOKs with their files to computer section for capturing of their biometric data preparatory for processing the final payments. However, the rule did not stipulate how long it should take for the final payment of entitlements to be ready. It rather states that entitlements will be paid into the bank account which NOKs provided during the interview. This loophole makes it difficult to hold the Nigerian Army to account. Janet Samuels apartment at Ogbodo barracks 1 The rule says the Military Pensioners Board pays death benefits in batches as they are processed subject to availability of funds. While the board assured of prompt, accurate and efficient payment of these benefits to families of deceased, those who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES are yet to access these funds, in some cases, many years after completing the processes. This has further exposed the families to suffering. Forlorn, yet mute Same was the story for the family of Captain I.S. Suleiman with the army number (N/14368 58RC). He was last seen at his place of primary assignment in Maiduguri Banki Junction, 81 division TF on July 13, 2018. After six months of not hearing from him, his wife, Hadiza visited Borno to know his fate. I wasnt contacted nor told anything until after six months that I went to check on him. I saw the CO who told me they forgot to reach out to me. I was, thereafter, given a letter declaring him missing. I was again called in August last year for another letter saying hes dead. Since then, weve been battling for his entitlement which is not forthcoming, Hadiza said with all sense of hopelessness. Hadiza will give no further details of her ordeal despite prodding by this reporter. PREMIUM TIMES visits to Ogbodo barracks in Ibadan and Ojo barracks in Lagos reveal that many widows are afraid to speak about their difficulties in accessing their late husbands entitlements for fear of being kicked out of their residences and other forms of victimisation. Janet Samuels room @ Ogbodo barracks These widows in Ogbodo barracks now engage in production of garri, a staple food made from cassava, for survival. They produce this for their consumption and sale. Their counterparts in Ojo engage mostly in farming for survival. Asked about their ordeals, many of the widows declined comments and frankly told PREMIUM TIMES they are unauthorised to narrate their sufferings to the public. What happens in the military stops in the military. If you want us to speak with you, bring a note from authorities, one of them at Ogbodo barracks said. No comment PREMIUM TIMES reached out to the military pension board for enquiries but could not get response. Calls and emails sent to the board were not responded to. Also, the Defense Headquarters spokesperson, Onyema Nwachukwu, did not respond to calls and text messages, same encounter we had with army spokesperson, Sagir Musa. Similarly, Ali Ndume, the Chairman Senate Committee on Army, did not respond to calls and text messages. Sunday Samuel during his days in service Meanwhile, the Chairman of House of Representatives Committee on Defence, Babajimi Benson, could not also speak on how long it takes for families of fallen soldiers to get their entitlement. I had this discussion with the chairman of the military pension, they said that before they pay (next of kin), they meet the specific agency concerned to be able to send the file and evidence of death to them, once they get that, they pay as soon as possible or immediately. But it is that bureaucratic process that at times stall prompt payments. When PREMIUM TIMES told him that many families still dont get paid despite completing all the processes, he responded saying: Are you sure they submitted to the appropriate channel? What we do is that if it is brought to our attention by way of a petition, we will go to the appropriate channel to find out why there is a delay, it could be a process delay. But they should not be delay the payments due to the deceased family. Sunday Samuel while in hospital Concerned activists Speaking on the findings of this newspaper, Amnesty Internationals Country Director, Osai Ojigho, berated the Nigeria Army while urging for more transparency. These people are vulnerable because their loved ones passed on in the line of duty, she said. This is because theres no accountability and transparency in the army. Necessary authorities must as a matter of urgency see this report as a call to encourage families of those who died serving the nation. She called for an open processing of entitlement and retribution for saboteurs. Meanwhile, Odebode Karimat, a gender equality activist charged authorities to pay cognisance to the families of fallen heroes. It is quite unfortunate that the government did not pay cognisance to the families of fallen soldiers. It is sad even the ones with petty trades are also not encouraged. This is not so good. It is a great dis-service them. We cannot deny the fact that they died while fighting for this nation. The government must cater for the economy of these families and must all hold authorities accountable. Widows of slain soldiers and their kids making garri at Ogbodo barracks in Ibadan Also, public affairs analyst, Jide Ojo, blamed the military for its hypocrisy. There are lots of propaganda in the military. They keep saying the privileges of deceased soldiers are properly taken care of but your findings proved otherwise. You will agree that justice delayed is justice denied. It is sad that the military is not recognising the service of those who lay their lives for the security of the nation, he said. Support for this report was provided by the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism with funding from Free Press Unlimited. Today, as the pandemic reshapes the ways we understand our work life and its meaning, Terkels supermarket workers would be classified essential to the smooth continuity of society. Yet they would also receive modest wages (at best) and come to work knowing that they will be exposed daily to COVID-19. Its doubtful being essential would leave them feeling any more valued. Or as Working described it nearly a half century ago, many of the workers who keep this country humming are the same people we regard as social wallpaper and take for granted. A CTA bus driver, at 57, notes how his job once held some prestige with black residents; then he describes what sounds like hypertension and how, day in and day out, hes become like a machine, thats about the only way I feel. If he were working today, facing riders every day, its no stretch to picture him testing positive for coronavirus. "CBS This Morning" co-host Gayle King is launching a new coronavirus-themed radio show. (Jordan Strauss / Invision / Associated Press) Another day, another new show inviting listeners to share their stories about the coronavirus and way the crisis has upended our lives. Gayle King and SiriusXM announced Wednesday that the "CBS This Morning" co-host will launch a new radio show Thursday featuring phone conversations with "Americans affected by lockdowns and social distancing measures following the coronavirus outbreak." The hourlong show, titled "Gayle King in the House," will air live each Thursday on SiriusXM at 2 p.m. Pacific for the next six weeks. "These are such surreal times. I look forward to hearing how everybodys feeling and thinking how do we navigate the uncertainty of this moment?" King wrote in a statement. As unsettling as this is, I believe well make it through. While its crucial to be socially distant its just as important for us to be emotionally connected and engaged with each other. ... Call me! Listeners can ring the veteran broadcast journalist at (888) 947-8277 to discuss "how they're coping with this new reality," from their experiences self-quarantining at home to the impact of the public health crisis on their mental health. King is one of several celebrities finding new ways to connect with the public during the pandemic. Other recently launched homegrown content includes John Krasinski's "Some Good News" YouTube show, Oprah Winfrey's COVID-19 Apple TV+ series and Bob Saget's "Here for You" podcast, which similarly encourages fans to call in with their thoughts on life under quarantine. Gayle connects with her audience in a manner few can, said Scott Greenstein, SiriusXMs president and chief content officer. It speaks volumes about her intelligence and warmth that people trust her to speak about their personal struggles and triumphs, and Im especially thrilled that our listeners will have the opportunity to hear from Gayle in these troubling times. For the record: 12:36 PM, Apr. 22, 2020: An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to Kings new radio show as a podcast. The previous administration of the Harrisburg School District allowed 82 former employees to stay on the districts health plan at a cost of more than $820,000, according to Auditor General Eugene DePasquale. But all of those former employees now have been removed from the plan and the districts new leadership hired a new insurance broker and benefits coordinator to ensure only current employees remain on the plan. Thats (the cost of) eight or nine teachers, DePasquale said of the wasted money. That is a significant chunk of change that could go to improving education for kids. DePasquale provided the update Wednesday during a call with reporters as part of his ongoing audit of the district to ensure problems identified in prior audits are corrected by the new state-appointed leaders of the district. Wednesdays update concerned the work of the human resources department. DePasquale said his offices real-time audit of the district would continue throughout his tenure as Auditor General through the end of this year and could be continued by his successor. The teachers union originally discovered in 2018 that former employees were being retained on the districts self-insured health plans. At that time, the union found 54 former employees who were getting health insurance but not paying premiums because they had never been removed from the rolls. An audit last year by the Pennsylvania Department of Education determined there were actually 82 former employees receiving benefits to which they were not entitled. There were clearly additional employees despite what the previous administration said, DePasquale said. The ineligible employees had been getting benefits for at least a year beyond their separation from the district, DePasquale said. The districts new management team, which took over operations last June, discovered that the prior administrations insurance broker did not provide itemized benefits statements each month. Without such statements, the district was unable to readily identify who was receiving benefits. The district in October hired a new broker after soliciting bids from eight different brokers. DePasquales team looked at employees who had left the district under the districts new leadership between July 1, 2019 and November, 2019 and found all had been properly removed from insurance rosters. The auditor generals office also reviewed personnel files to ensure the district had properly vetted all new employees. Under the prior administration, many personnel files were missing certifications and necessary documentations. In fact, files for 40 employees were missing entirely, according to the audit. When the districts new leaders took over, they reviewed each employees background and found employees who were not cleared to work in schools based on criminal convictions and other employees who were not certified for their positions. Consequently, a significant number of terminations, retirements and resignations occurred between August and November 2019, DePasquales audit report said. This in turn led to a significant number of employees being hired by the new administration. The auditor generals office reviewed files for the new hires and found proper documentation and certifications. But the audit found that some files were missing tuberculosis test records and 20 out of 22 new hires files were missing sexual misconduct/abuse disclosures as required by Act 168 of 2014. The law requires people applying for jobs that involve working with children to disclose any past allegations of abuse or sexual misconduct against them. Fortunately, no one was hired who should not have been and all other required background clearances were performed, DePasquale said. Im glad that the district saw the need to correct this issue and is making necessary policy and procedural changes based on my audit. The latest audit report offered eight recommendations for the district to better manage its record-keeping and comply with state laws and regulations. The district approved the recommended updated policies at a remote school board meeting this week. The recent audit update by DePasquale represented his third such update. Overall, the district has taken a number of corrective actions to improve its internal controls, the audit report said. The district has also demonstrated, however, that more work must be done to ensure all district employees are properly cleared and qualified to work in the district and all personnel files are complete. READ: How to get curbside booze in Pa.? One man called 214 times using 2 phones to break through READ: Harrisburg police officer tests positive for COVID-19 Trump Says Will Sign Executive Order Temporarily Suspending Immigration Into US Sputnik News 02:10 GMT 21.04.2020(updated 03:23 GMT 21.04.2020) The US president's announcement takes place amid the continuing spreading of the COVID-19 virus in the US and throughout the world, with nearly 2,500,000 cases confirmed globally, and at least 170,000 deaths registered. US President Donald Trump on Monday stated that, considering "the attack from the Invisible Enemy" that is apparently COVID-19, and "the need to protect the jobs" of American citizens, he had decided to sign an executive order to temporarily suspend immigration into the US. The order, if signed, would become yet another move in a series aimed at slowing down the COVID-19 outbreak in the US. The measures against COVID-19 are intensified as the coronavirus death toll in the country surpassed 42,000. The overall number of people infected is 786,968, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Earlier, the emergency public health order issued by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) banned the entry of foreigners to the country to curb the spread the coronavirus. Borders with Canada and Mexico were closed for non-essential travelling while immigration courts were closed amid pandemic, postponing hearings. On 12 March, Trump announced that he suspended travelling from Europe to the United States, following the travel ban for China and Iran. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address A Coronation Street star has warned that a the iconic soap may be in danger of going off air for the first time in 60 years. Coronation Street star Andy Whyment told The Sun that the shows bosses are running out of pre-recorded episodes. Whyment, who plays Kirk Sutherland, told the publication that cast and crew worked up until the Friday when Boris closed all the pubs and clubs. He continued: We had a schedule to work until the following Thursday then on the Sunday we got an email saying they were standing everyone down. Andy with his wife Nicola Willis / Getty It was the right thing to do. Weve got until July in the can, so we need to get back mid-June otherwise its going to go off air. This week on Good Morning Britain, Whyment's co-star Bill Roache said he was confident the show would not come off air: "weve got 60 years to draw on so I dont think well be going of air even when they run out". ITV reportedly has enough new episodes to last until June. While production on the show is currently suspended, yesterday it was revealed that plans were underway in Australia to resume filming of Neighbours with social distancing rules in place. Filming on the Australian soap halted last month as the coronavirus pandemic took hold worldwide, but as daily case numbers decrease in the country, plans are underway to restart production. ABC reported that the Neighbours cast and crew would split into three groups for the resumption of filming next week. By Akbar Mammadov Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign Ministers, Elmar Mammadyarov and Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, discussed the next steps in the settlement process of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between the two countries in a video-conference held on April 21. During the meeting, lasting more than one hour and a half, the sides discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict according to the joint statement adopted in Geneva on 30 January of this year. It was noted during the meeting that, because of the extraordinary situation resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak, the implementation of previously agreed humanitarian measures, as well as the Ministerial meetings and the visits of the Co-Chairs to the region have been postponed. Nevertheless, it was underlined that the necessary work to prepare these activities continues. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in a statement published in its official website after the meeting that Azerbaijans position on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains unchanged. It is based on the norms and principles of international law, as enshrined in the UN Charter and OSCE Helsinki Final Act and the implementation of the related UN Security Council resolutions. Azerbaijan is insisting that substantive talks must be intensified as there is no way to move out from the situation which region is facing now. The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are considering the opportunities to move forward the peace process without military consequences, the ministrys report reads. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group that negotiates the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Igor Popov (Russia), Stephane Visconti (France), Andrew Schofer (USA) and Andrzej Kasprzyk, the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, also participated in the online meeting of the two countries foreign ministers. The OSCE Minsk Group published a joint statement in its website on the outcome of the meeting. Considering the great challenges now confronting all populations without regard to political boundaries, and which serve as stark reminders of the preciousness of every human life, the Foreign Ministers and the Co-Chairs expressed the hope that the resolve seen in the global pandemic response will bring a creative and constructive impetus to the peace process. The Co-Chairs drew attention to the 23 March appeal by the Secretary General of the United Nations for global ceasefire measures during the current health crisis and to the Co-Chairs' 19 March statement, the joint statement reads. On March 19, the OSCE Minsk Group appealed to the sides, saying that despite the heavy restrictions on international travel due to COVID-19 outbreak, the Co-Chairs will continue their mediation efforts without interruption, remaining in close contact with each other and with the sides. During the meeting, the sides also touched on the importance of observing the ceasefire regime strictly and refraining from provocative actions in the current situation. It should be noted that earlier Armenia undermined the peace negotiations by holding illegal elections in occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region on May 31. The international organizations, including the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs rejected the so-called elections. The OSCE Minsk Group issued a statement, saying "Nagorno-Karabakh is not recognized as an independent and sovereign state by any of the Co-Chair countries or any other country. Accordingly, the Co-Chairs do not accept the results of these elections as affecting the legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh and stress that the results in no way prejudge the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh or the outcome of the ongoing negotiations to bring a lasting and peaceful settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict". It should be noted that this year the first meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign Ministers with the participation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the Personal Representative Andrzej Kasprzyk took place in Geneva on 28- 30 January. Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in a conflict over Azerbaijans Nagorno-Karabakh breakaway region, which along with seven adjacent regions was occupied by Armenian forces in a war in the early 1990s. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and around one million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France has been mediating the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict since the signing of the volatile cease-fire agreement in 1994. The Minsk Groups efforts have resulted in no progress and to this date, Armenia has failed to abide by the UN Security Council resolutions (822, 853, 874 and 884) that demand the withdrawal of Armenian military forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. --- Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz The president of the Council of Minorca, Susana Mora, views as positive the apparent shift in the Spanish government's stance on lifting confinement measures, Pedro Sanchez having suggested that it may not be standard and Dr. Fernando Simon having acknowledged that there are parts of Spain - such as the islands - where there are low levels of contagion. Mora says that there isn't just the factor of Balearics insularity. There are differences between the islands. "We do not have the same situation as Majorca, in the same way as the situation in Palma differs to that of the 'part forana'." The president believes that the government's blanket approach to confinement was a mistake. "We should consider the specific health situation as well as demographics and urbanisation. We do not have large cities." There should be greater flexibility, she believes, while still being clear that "we have to be rigorous with the guidelines that are set". Minorcan epidemiologist Ildefonso Hernandez was director-general of public health at the national ministry of health between 2008 and 2011. He is knowledgeable about how coronavirus has developed in Minorca and is of the view that it is "essential" there is an asymmetric approach to lifting confinement, concluding that Minorca is an ideal place to have a more advanced approach than other parts of Spain. The social, economic and epidemiological situation is different. "The capacity for control is much greater in a closed territory such as an island. For example, use of public transport is much lower compared to other places." He doesn't suggest that Minorca should be a pilot test for lifting confinement, as "all territories will be", but a lifting would nevertheless "allow us to see if going out onto the streets works". While there have been rumours that there may be a different approach for Minorca after 26 April, Mora says it is too early to know if there will be. She insists, though, that Minorca can confront a lifting of confinement in a good condition. "The sooner there is a lifting, the better." Hernandez believes that "Minorca is ready to do it soon". President Donald Trump has said that he will halt issuing of new Green Cards or legal permanent residency for the next 60 days as part of his executive order to temporarily suspend immigration into the US. However, the move will not have any impact on those entering the country on a temporary basis, Trump said on Tuesday. Many have interpreted that those on non-immigrant work visas like H-1B issued mainly to foreign technology professionals will not be impacted. Seasonal immigrant workers for agricultural purposes too will not be impacted. In any case, the executive order to be signed by Trump on Wednesday will impact a large number of tens and thousands of Indian Americans, who are waiting to get a green card. This is expected to further delay the process. "We must first take care of the American worker... This pause will be in effect for 60 days, after which need for any extension or modification will be evaluated by myself and a group of people based on economic conditions at the time," Trump told reporters at his daily White House conference on coronavirus. This order will only apply to individuals seeking a permanent residency, in other words, those receiving green cards, big factor, will not apply to those entering on a temporary basis, he asserted. Without elaborating, he said that there will be exemptions. Some people will be able to get in. We have to do that, obviously, even from a humane standpoint, he said. We have a solemn duty to ensure these unemployed Americans regain their jobs and their livelihoods. Therefore, in order to protect American workers, I will be issuing a temporary suspension of immigration into the United States." "You heard about that last night. By pausing immigration, we'll help put unemployed Americans first in line for jobs as America reopens, he said. It would be wrong and unjust for Americans laid off by the virus to be replaced with new immigrant labour flown in from abroad, he asserted. Trump said, moving forward, his administration will examine what additional immigration related measures should be put in place to protect US workers. We want to protect our US workers, and I think as we move forward, we will become more and more protective of them, he said indicating that more such measures are being prepared. As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, more than 22 million American workers have applied for unemployment benefits, which is a record in itself. In the coming weeks, several more millions are expected to being laid off as the US economy is in tatters. Trump said that this pause on new immigration will also help to conserve vital medical resources for American citizens. A short break from new immigration, depending on the time we're talking about, will protect the solvency of our healthcare system and provide relief to jobless Americans, he said. Responding to questions, Trump explained that he has to take this unprecedented measure because of the massive impact that coronavirus is having on the US economy. The last thing we want to do is take American workers' jobs. It's one thing when we were at essentially--they used to call it full employment and it's another thing right now, he said. Right now, we have people that have lost their jobs and we hope they're going to come back and come back fast and then we can have an even deeper discussion. But right now, we have to have jobs for Americans, he asserted. According to a recent report by Congressional Research Service, currently there are almost 1 million lawfully present foreign workers and their family members waiting to receive a green card. This employment-based backlog is projected to double by financial year 2030. Under current law, and owing to a limited number of green card issuances, the current backlog of 568,414 Indian nationals would require an estimated 195 years to disappear, CRS said. As per the existing law, the US can issue a maximum of 1,40,000 employment-based Green Cards every year with a per country cap of seven per cent. Accordingly, in fiscal year 2019, Indian nationals received 9,008 category 1 (EB1), 2,908 category 2 (EB2), and 5,083 category 3 (EB3) green cards. EB1-3 are different categories of employment-based Green Cards. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Guerrilla Mask Movement (GMM) provides critical masks directly to healthcare workers in dire need of protection as they deal with Covid-19 patients. It all started when, Henry Park, CEO of 3GC Group, was seeking masks for his wife, a pediatrician working with limited access to protective equipment. Gene Chuang, CTO of p.volve and founder of LA CTO Slackers, joined shortly there after, a fellow tech guy whos wife is also a pediatrician. After procuring a number of KN95 masks and contacting other frontline workers to deliver excess masks, a second effort to procure more masks began, continuing a cycle of fulfilling orders, and ordering more supplies. As more friends and partner companies heard of and volunteered to help with the expanding effort, from supply procurement to logistics, delivery, platform assistance, and vetting requests, a movement was born. As of today, the Guerrilla Mask Movement (GMM) has 70 volunteers and 3 companies helping to coordinate a massive effort to continue providing life saving masks to the ever increasing number of frontline healthcare professionals in need. The Guerrilla Mask Movement (GMM) is partnering up with other organizations who share the similar goals during this time of crisis, including Count On Me Family Foundation and SoCal Tech for SoCal Hospitals. The Guerrilla Mask Movements is collaborating with SoCal Tech for SoCal Hospitals to expand our reach and streamline operations. SoCal Tech for SoCal Hospitals is a partnership of tech leaders in southern California with a goal to supply 100k+ masks for the local hospital and healthcare worker community. Count On Me Family Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit organization focused on empowering and inspiring children through community partnerships, which has joined the fight against COVID-19 in these extraordinary times. Today we have 70+ agent volunteers, with more every day 50+ healthcare professionals ordering on behalf of teams of frontline workers Delivering to 41 unique healthcare facilities. Delivered over 15,850 masks to date, with continuous shipments coming in (between socal tech and gmm) 90k more masks to be donated in the next 4 weeks While the movement began in Southern California, the Guerrilla Mask Movement (GMM) is working with volunteers and critical healthcare workers across the country, including well over 50 healthcare facilities represented by doctors, nurses, administrators, and anesthesiologists. To volunteer, get involved, or partner, contact Robert Kabasa at rkabasa@3gcgroup.com To donate to this effort, see https://www.gofundme.com/f/guerrilla-mask-movement. If youre a frontline healthcare professional in need of masks, contact ppe@3gcgroup.com About 3GC Group 3GC Group is an IT consulting firm with a unique approach to IT planning and implementation. 3GC Group looks at IT as a CIO would, understanding it is not myopic departments or platforms, but hyperopic ecosystems that live and thrive together. Technology services solve unique challenges and capitalize on new opportunities. From roadmaps and adoption to project deployment and lifecycle management, 3GC brings years of experience to help companies design, orchestrate, and manage technology environments today and into the future. About Guerrilla Mask Movement (GMM) The Guerrilla Mask Movement is a non-profit network of companies an volunteers brought together to create a supply of masks delivered directly into the hands of frontline healthcare workers during this unprecedented time of crisis. Press Contact: Tetsu Noguchi, 3GC Group, 510-455-3100 tnoguchi@3gcgroup.com AIMIM Lok Sabha MP Imtiaz Jaleel has said if liquor shops are opened in Maharashtra's Aurangabad district, he would strongly oppose it. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) will not allow liquor shops to open even under police protection and force their closure, he said on Tuesday. His remarks came after Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Monday said there should not be any ban on liquor shops in the state if social distancing measures, in place to curb the COVID-19 spread, are strictly followed. Tope was replying to a question on the state government not clarifying, in its April 17 notification, whether liquor shops will be allowed to remain open after it permitted resumption of industrial and business activities in non-coronavirus hotspots. Liquor shops are closed in the state since last month when the coronavirus-enforced lockdown was implemented. Jaleel, who is the Lok Sabha member from Aurangabad and president of the Maharashtra AIMIM unit, expressed his views on this in a Facebook post along with an image of Tope's tweet on rules for liquor shops. "If the government is planning to open liquor shops in the state, then it should not consider Aurangabad in this. We will not allow the shops to open even if police security is provided to these shops," Jaleel said. The government has fairly handled the situation, but if liquor shops are opened, it will be a "stupid" decision, the parliamentarian said. He said women are already facing so many problems in this lockdown period and if liquor shops are opened and men take to drinking, it will add to their troubles. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) LOBAMBA Cabinet may find itself faced with a vote of no confidence if it does not properly account for how the money allocated towards the fight against COVID-19 is utilised. Motshane MP Robert Magongo stated that the money included the E100 million which was passed by Parliament from the Supplementary Budget and that which was currently being raised by the Resource Mobilisation Committee. MP Magongo said he had noted that there was a trend with government appointing CEOs into these resource mobililisation committees because the CEOs were believed to have money. He mentioned that one liSwati had donated E1 million and wondered how that money was being utilised. He said in South Africa, businesspeople donated food yet in the kingdom it seemed to be the opposite. Where is that money going and how is it allocated besides giving other politicians business? I would propose that the people who are currently being kept at the Ezulwini hotel be taken out of there, said Magongo. He was making reference to the Bethel Court, which is owned by Senate President Lindiwe Dlamini, after it was revealed that some of the suspected cases were being accommodated in hotels including Dlaminis. Qualms He said they had no qualms in passing a vote of no confidence in Cabinet or some ministers because they had nothing to lose. We do not want positions in Cabinet, but accountability for the money and in the same vein that money must be used to purchase masks, said MP Magongo. Meanwhile, Maseyisini MP Mduduzi Small Joe Dlamini reminded the MPs that they could not just pass a vote of no confidence, but needed to consult. Matsanjeni South MP Bomber Mamba said there was a clear division between MPs and Cabinet and therefore they needed to close the gap for the good of the country. Nkilongo MP Timothy Myeni said it was clear that parliamentarians were just scarecrows who were not recognised by government. Sitilaylay nje, he said in vernacular. Meanwhile, Shiselweni II MP Strydom Mpanza asked if the truck drivers who transported logs were quarantined because they went about as normal when crossing the Mahamba Border Post. Mpanza said he was also concerned about the lack of personal protective equipment for people like paramedics as they were highly exposed. Madlangempisi MP Sibusiso Scorpion Nxumalo said in as much as government advocated that 977 should be called there was hardly any response from that line and if one was lucky to find them they did not always have vehicles. He also encouraged that government should go for an all-out testing drive in every Inkhundla. In the loft above the pickle factory, dozens of women sat each day at looms or hovered around copper-lined tanks filled with dye, weaving drapes and rugs for the government. It was San Francisco, in the early 1940s, and Margery Magnani, a 20-something French literature major, somehow found herself the forewoman, supervising as many as 95 workers. Most of them were old enough to be her mother or grandmother. Some sewed cut-up old military uniforms together by hand. Others hung the finished fabrics over large poles so they would become crisp and presentable. The younger women worked the 75-gallon tanks, dyeing about 25 pounds of yarn a day into shades of deep red or green. The material would end up as rugs, or drapes for an Army club, or decorations for the venereal disease clinic. BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 22 By Orkhan Juvarli - Trend: Tax incentives stipulate the use of a new economic model in Azerbaijan in the post-pandemic period, Azerbaijani MP Vugar Bayramov told Trend on April 22. The economic package approved by the Azerbaijani government envisages the support of entrepreneurs both during the pandemic and after it, the MP said. Therefore, the entrepreneurs will be provided with the opportunity to minimize costs in the pandemic and post-pandemic periods, as well as quickly restore the economic activity thanks to the tax incentives. The benefits cover almost all business entities, including microenterprises. A 50 percent discount on simplified tax is offered to the micro-entrepreneurs within the package, the MP added. The benefits are provided in the amount of 75 percent on income tax for taxpayers working in the regime of profit taxation." Bayramov emphasized that the main goal is to achieve the speedy recovery of economic activity. "Tax benefits can be regarded as indirect financial state support because the entrepreneur will pay less, the MP added. This will also contribute to the expansion of the activity, the MP said. The entrepreneurs will receive even more state support in the post-pandemic period upon the presidents instructions. A more liberal economy will be legalized and formed thanks to the new tax incentives. The steps which are taken and the benefits which are applied stipulate the introduction of a new economic model in Azerbaijan in the post-pandemic period." Global MediXchange for Combating COVID-19 (GMCC) launches Alibabas Online Platform for medical personnel's to share their experience and knowledge on combating COVID-19 Amid the global spread of COVID-19, it has become more important for medical personnel with firsthand experience treating patients with the virus to share their knowledge with colleagues the world over. Thats where the Global MediXchange for Combating COVID-19 (GMCC) comes in, with doctors and other healthcare workers from China and around the world gathering virtually to share medical insights, firsthand experience and best practices for treating coronavirus. The brainchild of the Jack Ma Foundation, the Alibaba Foundation with Alibaba Health and Alibaba Cloud, the GMCC platform was launched last month to combat COVID-19 with open knowledge and online communication. Early signs are that its working both attracting a growing number of healthcare workers and the value of information thats being exchanged. Already, nearly 3,000 have joined the platform and hundreds of medical staff are participating in key live-sharing sessions. Last week, Dr. Sunil De Alwis, Deputy Director-General of the Ministry of Health in Sri Lanka,led a team of doctors in a video conference with Dr. Jinnong Zhang, director of the emergency department at Chinas Wuhan Union Hospital. During the call, Dr. Zhang who himself had recovered from the coronavirus infection shared his personal uphill battles with the disease, his views on testing and his suggested treatment plans for COVID-19. And hundreds of medical staff from hospitals across Rwanda, Ethiopia, South Africa and Sri Lanka have participated in live exchange sessions organized by the GMCC in an urgent effort to understand the best ways to cope with a completely new and deadly virus. "The experiences that were shared in this exchange were very valuable, and what I took away was the importance of preparation, prevention, and monitoring at all times," said Dr. S M Zungu from the South Africa National Department of Health. On April 10, Ethiopia's health minister, Lia Tadessemore, and staff from more than 20 hospitals from the African nation tuned in to a two-hour online medical exchange session with the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, to discuss best practices in treating and containing the spread of COVID-19. Another session was held on April 15 for hospitals in Rwanda. "We have gained a lot, especially on how [SAHZU] coordinated and responded across the hospital, efficiently examined and leveraged limited resources, and managed their workers to protect them from getting infected when combating COVID-19," said Dr Sisay Betizazu from St. Paul's Hospital Millennium Medical College in Rwanda. Upcoming sessions are also planned between China and Nepal, Ghana, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Egypt. In addition, to live streaming sessions, the platform offers digital access to handbooks on epidemic prevention and treatment, videos on best practices for COVID-19 prevention, including videos by medical experts on specific topics and webinars between global healthcare professionals and industry experts sharing their knowledge and experience on COVID-19. The live discussions with medical experts and hospitals worldwide are held through the International Medical Expert Communication Center on DingTalk, Alibabas enterprise communications and collaboration app. New to the platform are sections where medical personnel can ask questions and write their own articles about their experience in preventing the spread of COVID-19. The platform has also recently published a third COVID-19-related handbook. Called Construction and Operation Manual of Fangcang Shelter Hospitals for COVID-19 Summary, it encompasses knowledge and experience distilled from the running of the Fangcang Shelter Hospitals in China. Global healthcare workers are doing their best to fight this pandemic. GMCC is our way of showing support and commitment to the medical community. It is designed as an exchange platform, we will continue to share different COVID-19 related manuals and videos and organize online meetings between China and overseas medical experts, said Li Ma, Alibaba Health senior vice president, We welcome more medical staff from China and all over the world to participate and to join forces in the fight against this pandemic. In an opinion piece in the Nevada Independent, Wynn Resorts chief executive Matt Maddox called to reopen Nevada and the famed Las Vegas Strip over the next couple of weeks in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak. In the 23-page health and sanitation plan posted on the company's website as well as the news site, Maddox proposes adding thermal cameras to monitor guests' temperatures, updated layouts to promote social distancing and personal protective equipment requirements for employees based on their role. (Wynn Resorts employs 15,000 people.) "Our economy is in a freefall," Maddox wrote. "Nevada will likely be one of the hardest hit states in the nation and suffer very high unemployment. It is imperative to flatten this curve so we can re-emerge in a safe, sustainable way." The company's plans lays out steps that businesses and government can take as the reopening of the state plays out, on an indefinite timeline, though Maddox ambitiously wishes to reopen in May. A large portion is focused on practical things the Wynn casinos, specifically, will do as guests begin to return, whenever that is. Upon entering at a checkpoint, guests at the Wynn Las Vegas would be screened by security teams for high temperatures using thermal cameras. If someone records a temperature of 100 degrees, they would be taken for secondary screening, and if a fever were recorded - using a temporal thermometer - that guest can't enter. Guests who pass the screening would be given a mask to wear at all times and asked to use hand sanitizer. According to the proposed plan, the resorts would cut down on limousine and taxi use to and from the properties. When guests do arrive via transportation provided by the resort, the number of riders would be limited. Employees would be asked not to touch cars or door handles, which means no valet service. The resort, which includes the Wynn and Encore casinos, would give guests a package of sanitation amenities upon arrival, "containing masks, hand sanitizer and a COVID-19 awareness card," with information about cleaning protocols and rules for public spaces. Inside the casinos, restaurant tables, slot machines and other fixtures would be rearranged to allow at least six feet of distance between people. Signs would encourage guests to do the same when standing in lines, using the elevators and moving around. Restaurants and bars would have reduced seating, table games would have chairs removed, and certain slot machines would be turned off to allow for physical separation. Areas such as pools would be sectioned off so groups could swim while keeping their distance from other parties. In addition to recommending that all Nevadans wear masks in public and at Wynn resorts, Maddox's plan calls on the local economy to reopen at reduced capacity "with extensive safety measures" in place to fit state guidelines. The plan asks the governor's coronavirus task force to focus on testing capabilities and "marginally pull back or move forward" on lockdown efforts to keep hospitalizations from spiking and overwhelming health care facilities. Maddox writes that employees should be trained in how to respond to cases of covid-19, the disease the novel coronavirus causes, and the plan he's put forth relies "on the best available science on sanitization methods in consultation with professional infectious disease experts." He suggests that Nevada hospitals resume elective surgeries while keeping the current capacity for covid-19 patients to avoid the "significant layoffs" that are expected to come as the sector loses money. "Otherwise our healthcare system that is meant to save lives will be badly damaged," he writes. The main focus for the state, according to Maddox, should be to enhance testing for citizens and make the test more widespread and accessible, a change he expects to occur "over the coming weeks." "If we incrementally reopen, we might have to pull back if a spike in cases occurs that jeopardizes our healthcare system capacity," Maddox writes. "However, the only way to cross this river is one stone at a time, and we need to put our feet in the water before it is too late." The headquarters of the biotechnology company BioNTech in Rhineland-Palatinate, Mainz, Germany. (Andreas Arnold/picture alliance via Getty Images) The Paul Ehrlich Institute, Germanys regulatory authority for vaccines, has given its approval to start trials of a potential coronavirus vaccine on healthy human volunteers. The vaccine has been developed by Mainz-based BioNtech (BNTX) in cooperation with US pharma giant Pfizer (PFE). The Institute said that granting approval came after a careful assessment of the potential risk/benefit profile of the vaccine candidate, and noted that the drug is only the fourth vaccine trial in the world to get testing approval so far. Testing, it said, could take up to five months, before larger, clinical trials could begin. The speed with which we were able to move from the start of the program to trial initiation speaks to the high level of engagement from everyone involved, said Ugur Sahin, BioNTech CEO and co-founder. The vaccine will be tested first on 200 healthy adults aged between 18 and 55. The following phase would see it tested on a coronavirus risk group people over 55 and those with pre-existing health conditions of around 500 people. Read more: Merkel warns 'we mustnt think for one second that we are safe' as restrictions are eased Albert Bourla, Pfizer chairman and CEO, said in a statement that they are looking forward to and actively preparing for the potential start of this unique and robust clinical study program in the United States in the near future. The UK will also begin its first human trials of a vaccine developed at Oxford University this week. Health secretary Matt Hancock said that the government was allocating 20m ($25m) to help fund the research, and another 20m to vaccine research taking place at Imperial College London. Governments and health experts agree that while curfews and lockdowns are helping to tackle the rampant spread of COVID-19, there is no way to ensure that infections wont surge again without a vaccine. The race to develop a vaccine caused tension between Berlin and Washington last month, after the US government was accused of trying to acquire German medical company CureVac, with the goal of ensuring its vaccine in development would be developed exclusively for the US. Story continues Read more: Munich cancels Oktoberfest as risks too high Germanys health minister Jens Spahn responded that a US takeover of CureVac was off the table, and that if CureVac made a vaccine it should be available for the world, not for individual countries. Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche (RHHBY), said this week that it is unlikely to have a vaccine available before the end of next year. It plans to launch an antibody test in May, that will indicate if someone has already had coronavirus. Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK Poh Cher Wee was charged in court for breaching circuit breaker measures. (PHOTO: Dhany Osman / Yahoo News Singapore) SINGAPORE Three Singaporean men in their 50s were charged in court on Wednesday (22 April) for breaching circuit breaker measures. Their offences include eating in public, failing to wear their masks properly, hanging out in public with others not from their household, and for abusing police and safe-distancing enforcement officers. The trio are Christopher Amurutham, 56, Poh Cher Wee, 58, and Ravi Sinathamby Subramaniam, 52. All face more than one charge. They are believed to be the first few cases under the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act 2020, passed by Parliament on 7 April and effective from 8 April. Christopher Amurutham Christopher faces four charges, two of which relate to abusing a female police officer on 18 April between 1pm and 1.10pm. He is said to have hurled vulgarities at her at Block 20 Lorong 7 Toa Payoh before allegedly using criminal force on her by using his hand to push her hand away while she was arresting him. The 56-year-old is also accused of failing to wear his mask properly at a public bench at the same location at 12.50pm on the same day. He is said to have worn his mask only over his chin, failing to cover his nose and mouth. His last charge involves Christopher allegedly drinking and eating at the same location and public bench at around 1pm that day. He told the court he intends to plead guilty and not seek a lawyer. He will return to court on 6 May. Poh Cher Wee Poh is said to have sat outside the ground floor lift lobby landing at a block in Bedok North Street 3 from 9 to 11.30pm on 14 April. He allegedly had a casual chat with two others who were not from his household, without permission and with no reasonable excuse. When a police officer issued a notice of composition to him for breaching safe distancing measures, he allegedly tried to flee. He was later allegedly drunk and annoyed a police officer by twice shining his mobile phone flashlight onto the officers face. Poh faces two charges, and told the court that he did not wish to plead guilty yet, as he intends to engage a lawyer under the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme. Story continues He said through a Mandarin interpreter that he was a cancer patient under daily medication and could not have people talk to him loudly as it would put fear in him. His case has been fixed for a pre-trial conference on 8 May. Ravi Sinathamby Subramaniam Ravi is said to have verbally abused and criminally intimidated safe-distancing enforcement officers and police officers on 14 April and 18 April at Whampoa Drive. On 14 April, between 7pm and 7.30pm, in front of Blk 74 Whampoa Drive, he allegedly met another individual not living in the same place of residence for a social purpose, breaching the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act 2020. A short while later, while outside Hao Mart Minimart, Ravi allegedly verbally abused a police officer and caused him annoyance by behaving in a disorderly manner while drunk. On 18 April, at about 12.50 pm, at a coffeeshop at Blk 81 Whampoa Drive, Ravi used vulgarities on a female safe-distancing enforcement officer. At about 1.10 pm, he allegedly threatened the same woman and another male enforcement officer by saying, Dont let me see you again if not I will break your face. He had also threatened the same male officer and uttered a vulgarity at him 10 minutes earlier. Ravi is also accused of failing to wear a mask over his nose and mouth, but wore it covering his chin, on the same occasion. Facing eight charges, he told the court through a video-link appearance that he intends to plead guilty and has no money to engage a lawyer. In tears, he told District Judge Lorraine Ho that he would try to call his friend to bail him out. His plead guilty mention has been fixed on 29 April. Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore Related stories: Charged: Man who hurled racist remarks, another who slapped petrol station attendant Woman who sneezed on another during COVID-19 circuit breaker period charged in court COVID-19: Out-of-home exercises should be done 'alone, in immediate neighbourhoods', says SportSG Workers' Party NCMP Daniel Goh will not take part in next GE due to ill health And contrary to conventional wisdom, most politicians attempt to keep their campaign promises. Writing in The Washington Monthly in 2012, political scientist Jonathan Bernstein surveyed the research on campaign pledges. Presidents, he wrote, usually try to enact the policies they advocate during the campaign. So if you want to know what Mitt Romney or the rest of the Republican crowd would do in 2013 if elected, the best way to find out is to listen to what they are saying right now. The Central Municipal Clinical Hospital in Almaty, Kazakhstans largest city, was shut down last week after 182 staff members tested positive for the SARS-Cov-2 virus, the coronavirus which causes COVID-19. Many patients also have tested positive. Dr. Ernar Pirimkhan told the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Liberty outlet: Ninety-eight percent of the employees in the surgery department, where I work, have tested positive for the virus. Shortly after the interview, Pirimkhan also tested positive. The hospital had been staffed by approximately 1,000 workers. Of the infected workers, some were transferred to a Ministry of Internal Affairs convalescent facility, while others have remained within the hospital itself, which has been placed under quarantine. The head physician was fired on April 14. The hospital shutdown was accompanied by intense conflict between state officials and health care workers. Almatys chief public health officer, Aizat Moldagasimova, had told a television news station on April 12 that medical workers themselves were at fault for the spread of the infection. She was recorded as saying, One of the causes is medical workers own lack of compliance with safety measures. They havent had the vigilance that theyre supposed to have. Perhaps they thought that this is a clinic for non-infectious diseases. Perhaps they hoped that there wouldnt actually be so many patients. The video clip containing Moldagasimovas statement was subsequently removed from the television stations website, but many Internet users saved it and disseminated it on social media. In response, hospital doctors and other staff demanded that Moldagasimova be removed from office. In an announcement posted on Facebook on April 13, gynecology department head Gaukhar Amireyeva declared that she and 32 other doctors plan to sue Moldagasimova for defamation. The medical workers insist that the confusing information and lack of supplies from the city Health Department led to the situation: Initially, the hospital was not designated as a facility that would receive coronavirus patients. Health care workers were therefore neither given the necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) nor expecting to receive COVID-19 patients. However, ambulances were ordered by the city health department to take people suspected of being positive to the hospital, which had been left unprepared to deal with them. One doctor told RFE/RL: Ambulance workers clad in [personal protective equipment (PPE)] brought the patients with fever and symptoms of pneumonia to our hospitals internal-diseases department...transporting them through a common corridor. Its an airborne infection [and] many employees in the department got infected. We tried to isolate the department as much as we could. [Eventually,] we got protective clothing. In a blatant attempt to suppress criticism and opposition by the workers, authorities hospitalized Amireyeva on April 14, one day after the letter demanding Moldagasimovas resignation was issued, despite the fact that she had tested negative for the virus the previous day and was in good health. These efforts backfired as Amireyevas supporters video recorded her attempted hospitalization and then spread those videos on social media as well. The city government quickly released her and issued a public apology, claiming that her name had accidentally been confused with the name of another worker at the hospital who happens to bear the same initials. The confrontation between health care workers and the government comes as the country, whose first COVID-19 case appeared on March 13, has been in a national state of emergency since March 15. Severe lockdown and social distancing measures have been enacted in the countrys major cities, including Almaty, Nur-Sultan, and Shymkent. While the official total number of cases in the country as of April 21 was 1,995, with 19 deaths, the governments response to the crisis has been characterized by extreme inconsistency, disarray, and repressive control over news sources and any travel by citizens outside their homes. Among other measures, video surveillance systems have been activated in the cities to ensure that people leaving their homes do so only within the strict boundaries of shelter-in-place orders. As of April 17, 423, or approximately one-quarter, of the countrys coronavirus cases were among medical personnel, with over half of those cases in Almaty. Almatys Childrens Municipal Clinical Hospital for Infectious Diseases also reported 30 positive tests among hospital staff. Conditions similar to those confronting health care workers at the Central Municipal Clinical Hospital in Almaty prevail across the country and internationally. Tolkynay Ordabayeva, an infectious disease specialist from Jambyl Region told RFE/RL that she came to work on April 2 and 3 with a high fever from COVID-19 because she was the only such specialist available in the Merki District, which is home to nearly 85,000 people. She went on to explain that nurses had been compelled to make their own masks as hospital supplies ran low; she had received dirty PPE from hospital administration; and that she had been compelled to release coronavirus patients without testing due to a deficit of tests. Similar horrifying reports about conditions in hospitals have emerged from the US, which has the highest number of recorded cases of any country in the world; Great Britain, where over 100 health care workers have died from COVID-19; and Russia, where nurses and doctors have walked out of their jobs for lack of PPE. Mass protests by health care workers have also taken place in Latin America . The Kazakh government is acutely aware of these rising class tensions internationally and is exercising strict control over information on the conditions of the coronavirus pandemic. A government website on the pandemic, www.coronavirus2020.kz , contains a Fake News and Fact-checking section that, among other matters, reported on April 5 that a health care worker was arrested for allegedly spreading false information. The Kazakhstan economy is expected to shrink precipitously, not only as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, but also due to the drop in oil prices. The government has promised a 42,500 tenge (about US$99) monthly subsidy during the state of emergency to all workers and self-employed individuals who have either lost their jobs or been forced into temporary leave. According to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, as of April 17, 6.7 million people had applied for the meager payment (i.e., more than one third of the countrys total population) and 3.5 million had already received it. The total amount of emergency government subsidies paid to individuals will be many times exceeded by emergency government subsidies to businesses, which are expected to run in several trillions of tenge. As many as 146 Indian crew members stranded on board a cruise ship due to the coronavirus pandemic, will disembark in Mumbai on Thursday, over a month after the vessel set off from Thailand, the Maharashtra Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said on Wednesday. Image only for representation. Photograph: Kim Kyung-hoon/Reuters The ship- Marila Discovery- had reached Mumbai coast on April 14. None of them have tested positive for the infection, the CMO said in a statement. 'The ship was to travel to Kochi, New Mangalore, Goa and Mumbai between April 2 and 6. When the pandemic started, the cruise let off all the passengers in Thailand on March 14. But when it reached Kochi, permission was not given for the cruise staff and employees to disembark there. The ship reached Mumbai on April 14,' it said. 'The (ship's) company said despite leaving Thailand 37 days ago and although no employee was found coronavirus infected, it was not getting permission for the ship to enter the (Mumbai) harbour,' the statement said. The Ministry of Shipping allowed the cruise to come to the Mumbai harbour after the matter was pursued by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray with the Centre. The ship reached Mumbai on April 14, it added. Accordingly, these 146 crew members will disembark in Mumbai on Thursday. They will undergo a medical checkup and a separate building has been readied in case there is a need to quarantine them, the statement said. "These employees will have to provide the details of their 28-day of travel history, undergo COVID-19 test and get themselves quarantined if there is a need. They will be provided transit pass and vehicles till their home," it said. The cruise ship will leave for Norway from Mumbai, the CMO said in the statement. The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued an order to enable the employees of commercial and professional ships to land on Indian harbours and move out. The central government's decision will help 35,000 to 40,000 Indian sailors and employees of such ships stranded in the seas, it said. Engineers perform mass properties testing on NASAs Mars Perseverance rover inside Kennedy Space Centers Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility on April 7, 2020. The rover was rotated clockwise and counterclockwise on a spin table to determine the center of gravity, or the point at which weight is evenly dispersed on all sides. Establishing the rovers center of gravity will help ensure the spacecraft will land on Mars as calculated. Perseverance will touch down on the Red Planet on Feb. 18, 2021. Liftoff aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket is targeted between July 17 and Aug. 5 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. NASAs Launch Services Program based at Kennedy is managing the launch. Photo credit: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory The mission team performed a crucial weight-balancing test on the rover in preparation for this summer's history-making launch to the Red Planet. With 13 weeks to go before the launch period of NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover opens, final preparations of the spacecraft continue at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. On April 8, the assembly, test and launch operations team completed a crucial mass properties test of the rover. Precision mass properties measurements are essential to a safe landing on Mars because they help ensure that the spacecraft travels accurately throughout its trip to the Red Planet -- from launch through its entry, descent and landing. On April 6, the meticulous three-day process began with Perseverance being lifted onto the rover turnover fixture. The team then slowly rotated the rover around its x-axis -- an imaginary line that extends through the rover from its tail to its front -- to determine its center of gravity (the point at which weight is evenly dispersed on all sides) relative to that axis. The team then moved the rover to a spin table. To minimize friction that could affect the accuracy of the results, the table's surface sits on a spherical air bearing that essentially levitates on a thin layer of nitrogen gas. To determine center of gravity relative to the rover's z-axis (which extends from the bottom of the rover through the top) and y-axis (from the rover's left to right side), the team slowly rotated the vehicle back and forth, calculating the imbalance in its mass distribution. Just as an auto mechanic places small weights on a car tire's rim to bring it into balance, the Perseverance team analyzed the data and then added 13.8 pounds (6.27 kilograms) to the rover's chassis. Now the rover's center of gravity is within 0.001 inch (0.025 millimeters) of the exact spot mission designers intended. The Perseverance rover is a robotic scientist weighing about 2,260 pounds (1,025 kilograms). It will search for signs of past microbial life, characterize the planet's climate and geology, collect samples for future return to Earth, and pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet. No matter what day Perseverance launches during its July 17-Aug. 5 launch period, it will land on Mars' Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021. The Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission is part of a larger program that includes missions to the Moon as a way to prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. Charged with returning astronauts to the Moon by 2024, NASA will establish a sustained human presence on and around the Moon by 2028 through NASA's Artemis lunar exploration plans. Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. BRIDGEPORT A teenager charged in the death of a 12-year-old boy in a drive-by shooting in the city was one of four people accused of felonies who were rejected for release from prison Wednesday because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Citing the seriousness of the allegations and the possibility of flight risks, Superior Court Judge Joan Alexander refused to reduce bonds so that Tajay Chambers, Michele Freeman, Jahson Lausell and Joel Martinez, all of Bridgeport, could go free. The jails have been hit hard by the outbreak. Hundreds of correctional officers and inmates have been infected. It isnt safe for anyone. I am doing what I can to get my clients out of there, said Bridgeport lawyer Michael Riley, who argued during the hearing that the four should be freed. Chambers, 19, is accused of killing 12-year-old Clinton Howell in a drive-by shooting on Dec. 18, 2019. Chambers is charged with murder with special circumstances, murder, use of a firearm during the commission of a felony, illegal carrying or possession of a pistol or revolver without a permit, three counts of risk of injury to a child, first-degree reckless endangerment and second-degree larceny. He is being held in lieu of $1 million bond. If convicted of murder with special circumstances, Chambers could be sentenced to life without the possibility of release. I understand Mr. Chambers is facing serious charges. However, in light of the pandemic, Ive filed a motion for his release, Riley told the judge. Its not clear at this time that DOC (state Department of Corrections) can keep him safe. But Supervisory Assistant States Attorney C. Robert Satti Jr., who opposed the release of the four defendants, argued that Chambers is a Jamaican citizen and a flight risk. He has a history of violent activity in high school and during the pendency of this case, he has been sending threatening letters to witnesses, the prosecutor said. There is no claim he has a physical disability that would make him a higher risk (from the virus) than any other inmate. Freeman, 32, is charged with conspiracy to commit second-degree robbery and second-degree larceny. She is accused of participating with a Bridgeport man in robbing a Fairfield man who had agreed to sell them a pair of sneakers. Riley told the judge that Freeman suffers from seizures and is not a risk of flight if released but the judge pointed out that the defendant had violated her probation three time in the past. Lausell, 25, is charged with first-degree robbery, first-degree reckless endangerment, fifth-degree larceny and breach of peace for the May 15, 2019, armed robbery of the Subway restaurant on Quality Street in Trumbull. Riley argued that his client is asthmatic and the father of four who just wants to take care of his family. But Satti said he found it troubling that Lausell allegedly robbed a business where he used to work. Martinez, 26, is accused of shooting his older cousin in the groin after seeing him sitting on a couch in the dark with Martinezs two young children. Boobi, Boobi, why are you next to my (expletive) kids, police said Joel Martinez yelled before getting a gun. Martinez is charged with first-degree assault, two counts of risk of injury to children and one count of criminal possession of a pistol. Russia's previous attempt to this end was blocked in the UNGA on April 3. Ukraine has blocked at the United Nations platform another resolution which would lead to the lifting of sanctions imposed on Russia over its aggression in Ukraine. "Russia does not abandon attempts to adopt manipulative resolutions in the UN General Assembly. Under the pretext of combating the COVID-19 pandemic, they aim to erode the sanctions regime. On April 22, the Russian Federation submitted a new draft for approval. The text was corrected, but its manipulative nature has not changed," MFA Ukraine's press service reported. Russia drafted another #UNGA Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) April 22, 2020 Ukraine's top diplomat noted that Ukraine "broke the silence procedure" to block the initiative. "Russia drafted another UNGA resolution aimed less at defeating COVID-19, but more at defeating sanctions. We couldn't support it and broke the silence procedure. Ukraine has cosponsored already two UNGA resolutions to fight COVID-19. Let's keep focused on the real response," Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba tweeted on Wednesday. .@RussiaUN failed to accommodate the substantive objections expressed by a number of delegations to its initial #UNGA draft resolution on #COVID19, and therefore Ukraine breaks the silence procedure on the revised text. Read more pic.twitter.com/opUKwJMKfZ UKR Mission to UN (@UKRinUN) April 22, 2020 As UNIAN reported earlier, on April 3, Ukraine already blocked Russia's previous attempt to promote a resolution of the UN General Assembly that would create conditions for easing sanctions. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) has launched a Lockdown Learners series of online dialogues with students and educators in India on COVID-19 and its impact on Sustainable Development Goals, peace and rule of law. The dialogues have been launched by the United Nations body under its flagship Education for Justice initiative. Through these dialogues, the aim is to sensitise students on concerns of vulnerable groups and emerging issues such as cybercrime, misinformation, gender-based violence, discrimination, corruption among others, the UNODC said in a statement. The Lockdown Learners series also provides a platform for students to receive mentorship and knowledge support through activity-based learning, and use their talent and skills to promote awareness and share their ideas and solutions to address some of these problems, it said. Over the last week, educational resources have been shared with partner schools in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, and focused interactions convened with hundreds of students and educators, Samarth Pathak, UNODCs Communications Officer for South Asia, said. UNODC welcomes schools to join these efforts in creating a positive framework for students to be productive and engaged during this period of lockdown, reduce stress through positive messaging, and empower young people to become champions of tomorrow, he said. What makes UNODCs educational products particularly noteworthy is their emphasis on values, teaching children to think, and helping them build special empowering skills, the statement said. These products include free-to-use educational material, comics, board and online games, The Zorbs cartoon series and other modules and videos that may be used by teachers and students at home to develop an understanding on peace and the rule of law, it added. A diagnosis of breast cancer is devastating for any woman, but for Cath Kidston it must have been doubly painful. Not only was the entrepreneur just 37, but her own mother had died from the disease. Yet were it not for her illness, it is unlikely Kidston would have gone on to head an empire with annual sales of 129 million, selling everything from curtains to wellies and dog baskets. By her own admission, the disease gave her the guts to abandon the interior design business that helped to pay her bills and focus on the fledgling company she had founded two years earlier. It made me think, OK, Im just going to concentrate on the stores. If I go broke, then I go broke, she later said. And the risk paid off, leading to a global empire straddling 14 countries. Cath Kidston (pictured) is set to close all 60 of her UK stores, including the Piccadilly flagship But today her fears have come true and the company is broke. More than 900 staff face redundancy and the brand will be put into administration before reopening as a smaller business, trading only online and abroad. You will still be able to buy its products online but all 60 UK stores, including the Piccadilly flagship, will close their doors for good. Its a sad decline for a company that was once the ultimate must-have for Britains middle class. A printed ironing board cover was her first success, making her realise the value of producing beautiful but functional products evocative of a more domesticated Fifties era but in a glossy, aspirational way. Her faded floral prints and cheery patterns encapsulated the mood of the Nineties and Noughties boom years when, as she recalled, people were moving from formal dining-room life into their kitchens and her irreverent chintz felt right for the moment. City career women longing for a little rural chic outfitted whole kitchens in Cath Kidston, with each new addition to the range in hot demand. Her shops started opening around Britain, with the first overseas store in Tokyo in 2006. By the late Noughties her brand was offering tea towels, umbrellas, biscuit tins, baby clothes and more. Her beloved canine Stanley was company mascot. Kidston admitted her retro style elicited a Marmite reaction. Yet she insisted the brand was not about high fashion. Cath, 61, (pictured) who grew up in Hampshire, started an interior-design business at age 25, before opening her Cath Kidston shop in 1993 So how did this softly spoken 61-year-old capture a middle-class Zeitgeist for nearly 30 years and what went wrong? The daughter of a shipping company chairman and a cousin of TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp, Kidston grew up in a Georgian house in Hampshire with a swimming pool and was educated at the prestigious West Heath school in Kent, the year above Princess Diana but it was tragedy, rather than privilege, that fuelled her ambition. When she was 18, her father died suddenly. The loss had a marked effect on Kidston, who was dyslexic and, by her own admission, not academic. My dad admired people with imagination, so I wanted to please him I wanted to be able to think he would have been proud of me. She was also keen to avoid the housewife trap her mother had fallen into. She was entirely dependent, says Kidston. Soon afterwards, she was hired by interior designer Nicky Haslam. He allowed me lots of responsibility, which I thought was pretty cool considering I was totally untried and untested and probably an airhead, said Kidston. It was through this job that she met her husband, record producer Hugh Padgham, while measuring his curtains. At 25, she started an interior-design business with a friend, after which she opened her first Cath Kidston shop in Holland Park, West London, in 1993, with 15,000. Cath revealed her aim was to sell items that were inspired by her childhood home. Pictured: Cath Kidston wellington boots The idea was to sell items inspired by her childhood home. The reality, Kidston described as a glorified junk shop. Then, in 1995, came the breast cancer diagnosis and another crushing setback: she was unable to have children. She channelled the shock into her work. I do think that out of most painful things, good things can come. And I dont know if Id have achieved the focus of the business, and the commitment, if Id had children. The brand went from strength to strength, and in 2010 she sold a majority stake to U.S. private equity group TA Associated, pocketing an estimated 25 million and retaining a minority stake which it is thought she still holds. By 2013 annual turnover exceeded 100 million and there were 33 stores in Japan, where Kidston had become so famous that she travelled under the alias Barbara Windsor. A further shift in focus to Asia came as the brand was sold to Baring Private Equity Asia in 2016. By then, two thirds of the stores were outside Britain and Cath stepped down as creative director. In 2018 the brand reported its first major losses, with experts pointing to high rents and the rise of online shopping. Brexit uncertainty was said to have played a role. But it may also be that the niche appeal of its spotty tea towels had started to feel dated. Cath Kidston (pictured) is said to be working on a secretive new design project And this week Cath Kidston joined Laura Ashley and Debenhams as a casualty of the Covid-19 crisis. For Cath herself, the news must be distressing. Today her life is very different from when she ran a global brand. She and Padgham finally married in 2012 at Hounslow Register Office, near their Chiswick home their nuptials long delayed because of Kidstons fear of everyone staring. Resolutely uninterested in many of the trappings of wealth, she later said: We spent 187 on the wedding. It was great. I wore an old cotton dress with embroidery and a Cath Kidston bag for luck. She has also been dismissive about the domesticity her brand evokes. In 2013 she said shed never wanted to be that housewife and had a modern, white Skandium kitchen with sliding glass doors. She played down the resulting fuss: Im a career person but Im also a homemaker. Perhaps the companys collapse will finally give its founder, said to be working on a secretive new design project, the normality she craves. Im very much just Cath, she once said. Im not Cath Kidston. My life hasnt changed. Fire departments around the country are urging people not to sanitize their face masks in the microwave because it can start blazes. People have been buying and making their own reusable and cloth face coverings to protect themselves from respiratory droplets that can transfer from one person to another and spread coronavirus. But when it comes to cleaning the items, Americans have made the crucial mistake of microwaving ones with metal wiring, causing sparks to fly in their homes during a time when emergency services are busier than ever responding to those affected by COVID-19. 'There are reports of masks being sanitized in microwaves, this is a major fire hazard, please DO NOT place masks in the microwave for any period of time,' Arlington Fire Department tweeted Monday. People have shared images of their ruined face masks after following advice to sterilize them in the microwave 'DO NOT place masks in the microwave for any period of time,' Arlington Fire Department tweeted Monday They posted the tweet alongside a snap of a mask burned black in places after flames had been extinguished with water. 'There is a troubling trend in which people are microwaving masks in an effort to kill the germs. A lot of people don't know that there is metal inside the mask to help you shape it to your nose. Microwaving a mask could cause your microwave to catch fire!' Reading Fire Department in Massachusetts warned. The NH State Fire Marshal's Office (NHFMO) shared similar information, reminding 'everyone that "microwaving their masks to kill germs" is a fire hazard and an extremely bad idea'. 'Cloth masks can overheat quickly and catch fire,' they warned. 'Disposable masks also have a metal nose wire and can cause sparks, a fire, and/or break your microwave.' German scientists found in a study that temperatures of 5660 C were enough to inactivate polio and parainfluenza viruses on cloth, using a home microwave of 2.45gHz for just three minutes. Parainfluenzas are similar to coronavirus. They recommended microwaving at 600 watts for two minutes or more to kill HIV and Hepatitis C on cigarette filters and syringes. But some people with the incorrect wattage or leaving masks that do not have metal pieces inside in the microwave too long have run into trouble. Some messaging boards online have recommended microwaving the masks inside a plastic bag for three minutes 'I tried it. This is after 2 minutes.....' one woman wrote on the My Hobby Is Quilting Facebook group page, showing her burned item New Hampshire State Fire Marshal's Office warned that even purely cloth homemade masks can overheat quickly and catch fire Fire departments have shared that some people do not realize metal is inside to help fit to the nose snugly Pictured, pairs of face masks have been burned in places after attempts to sterilize in the microwave This image shows a pair of cloth masks that were ruined after being placed in the microwave 'I read on one of my quilting boards to place your mask in the microwave in a plastic bag for three minutes to sterilize. I thought, hmmm, that doesn't seem right so before I recommended it to my family, I tried it. This is after 2 minutes.....' one woman wrote on the My Hobby Is Quilting Facebook group page, showing her burned item. 'Please don't try it. It smells awful. And if I hadn't been standing right there watching.... Well, you all know what it would have been like after three minutes....a kitchen fire! Yikes! 'Really, the worst part is, I have to make yet another one of these! I was hoping to be done.' The CDC recommends properly sterilizing masks with detergent in the washing machine. They advise to clean depending on the frequency of use. Masks are becoming a way of life for so many around the US. However the government has asked for N95 respiratory masked to be reserved for frontline hospital workers who need the utmost protection and spend long hours wearing them. Disposable surgical masks are usually recommended for one-time use however some have been cleaning them for reuse. Making bandanas and t-shirt masks are also alternatives recommended by the CDC. The nose clip area inside many masks are made of metal In the United States, 55% of adults reported wearing masks out in public, according to an ABC/Ipsos survey released on April 10. They are now mandatory in many US grocery stores, doctors' offices and wine shops, and many are following official orders to wear a mask when they leave home and cannot maintain social distancing to avoid disease spread. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has issued an executive order that all New Yorkers must wear masks or face coverings in public whenever staying six feet apart isn't possible. Governor Murphy of New Jersey signed his own executive order, ordering all customers and employees in grocery stores to wear face masks. Similar rules have been rolled out across California, in Maryland and Illinois, and in other cities and counties across the country. Even the NBA and Women's National Basketball Association have officially begun selling cloth face coverings sporting logos from all 30 men's teams and all 12 women's teams for $15, promising proceeds will benefit Feeding America in the United States and Second Harvest in Canada. But for people ordering their cloth mask from small companies, they may not be aware of the wiring inside. While the CDC has said wearing a face covering can help protect against the virus, the World Health Organization has said there's no evidence to show this. However officials have adopted a better safe than sorry approach when responding to the new coronavirus. Not all masks are created equal: Single-use masks and surgical masks have larger pores which the coronavirus can easily slip through. A more expensive N95 mask is the gold standard for healthcare workers fighting infectious diseases To combat misinformation on novel coronavirus, students of the Jadavpur University here are in the process of developing a mobile application to disseminate genuine data related to COVID-19, an educator of the institute said on Wednesday. The 'infobank' will contain all verifiable and accurate information on the disease, the teacher associated with the university's Innovation Council said. "A lot of misinformation on novel coronavirus is being spread, ranging from its origin to symptoms and means of transmission. This unnecessarily creates panic and confusion among the people. The infobank will dispel all wrong information," the educator told PTI. The process of creating the infobank began at an all- India hackathon organised by the computer science department of the university wherein students had presented the concept at a time when the disease had just marked its footprint in India, he said. "As the concept generated enthusiasm among the organisers and participants of the event, we asked the students to work on it and later make a prototype," the teacher said. However, work on the prototype got delayed as classes were suspended and hostels vacated in the wake of the lockdown, he said. Eight final year post-graduate students of the computer science department are currently working on the project from their homes under the supervision of teachers, the teacher said. "Once the classes resume and the laboratory reopens, we will be able to get more real-time data for the application from hospitals treating COVID-19 patients and laboratories testing samples of people suspected to be infected with the disease," he said. Though the application will not detect fake on COVID-19, it will help the user distinguish authentic information from misinformation as it will contain only genuine data, the educator said. "We will keep updating the application as there will be more research on the disease in future," he said. The teacher said the application, in future, will also contain information on ways to cope with outbreaks of infectious diseases as well as natural calamities or man-made disasters. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A n RAF plane believed to be carrying a delayed consignment of personal protective equipment (PPE) for NHS staff has landed in the UK. Flight tracker RadarBox showed the Airbus A400-M registered ZM416 depart Istanbul and land just after 3.30am on Wednesday at RAF Brize Norton. The plane had been dispatched from the Oxfordshire base, where two other planes are on stand-by to pick up further kit from Turkey, late on Monday. It is not known if the consignment, which was ordered on Thursday and originally due to arrive on Sunday, includes 400,000 badly-needed surgical gowns. The Government has come in for mounting criticism over its failure to ensure NHS staff treating coronavirus patients have the protective equipment they need. Ministers insisted they were pursuing "every possible option" to secure additional kit but said that, with unprecedented worldwide demand, the situation is "very challenging". Local Government Minister Simon Clarke could not give a timescale on when the full supplies would arrive earlier this week, saying only that it would be in the "next few days". The aircraft landed early on Wednesday Separately, the Government said that 140,000 gowns had arrived from Burma - but with the NHS using 150,000 a day, the demand on resources remains intense. With fears that staff in hospitals and care homes are risking their lives, the TUC called for an independent inquiry into the Government's handling of the issue to be mounted before the end of the year. Hospitals have sought other ways of obtaining PPE, with the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust buying 6,000 sets of coveralls due to a very low stock of gowns, although it admitted this was "not ideal". Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, has said trusts are being forced into "hand-to-mouth" workarounds, including washing single-use gowns and restricting stocks to key areas. Chancellor Rishi Sunak told reporters at the Number 10 press briefing on Monday that work was ongoing to find more PPE. Listen to The Leader: Coronavirus Daily podcast He said: "We're improving our sourcing internationally and domestically to make sure we can get the PPE we need in what is a very challenging international context. The latest generation of Lenovo Legion PCs has arrived, equipping gamers with a smarter class of gear with our unique blend of uncompromised engineering and industrial design. Stylish on the outside, savage on the inside, the new Lenovo Legion generation comes with: Lenovo Legion Coldfront 2.0 thermal management Lenovo Legion TrueStrike keyboard Dual Burn to optimize CPU and GPU performance together NVIDIA Advanced Optimus, Hybrid Mode, and Rapid Charge Pro for improved battery life World-class immersive displays optimized by Dolby Vision and OverDrive Support with optional 240Hz refresh rates and response rates of under 1ms. Powering this exciting new suite of advancements is the latest 10th Gen Intel Core H-Series or AMD Ryzen 4000 Series mobile processors, and up to the recently announced NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti and RTX 2080 SUPER GPUs with Max-Q Design. Cooler thermals, TrueStrike keyboard, immersive displays and improved battery life supercharge performance across the latest Lenovo Legion lineup The 2020 lineup features the following: What Gamers Want Among the thousands of global players surveyed by Lenovo, nearly half responded that they used their gaming PCs for everyday computing as well as gaming. Better graphics, processors and memory options are tops on their must-have list. A key conclusion was that how people game, with whom, on how many devices, and for how long, all factored heavily when choosing a PC. When they do manage to squeeze in some hardcore gaming time with friends, it is crucial that the experience in those precious hours blows them away. "Gamers today seek the perfect balance of work and play in their lives. Lenovo Legion's latest lineup was developed to meet their demands for stylish machines that have great performance for every scenario. Our innovations such as Lenovo Legion Coldfront 2.0 and TrueStrike keyboards offer superior thermals and typing comfort, further elevating the gaming experience for everyone," said Ian Tan, Asia-Pacific Gaming Lead at Lenovo. In addition to providing what gamers want, Lenovo also aims to develop the PH gaming scene through the new Legion lineup. When we started Legion in the market in 2017, we also took it upon ourselves to bolster the local gaming community. There are so many competitive titles out there where our players can shine but dont simply because they lack the necessary gear to handle them. Thats where our new Legion lineup and services come in to arm Filipino gamers with the devices they need to play the latest and greatest games in order to flourish as eSports professionals both locally and abroad, said Michael Ngan, Lenovo Philippines General Manager and President. Lenovo Legion has gamers covered with powerful Windows 10 PCs packed with the following innovations: I. Lenovo Legion Coldfront 2.0 Gamers can extract maximum performance from their rigs through the next-generation thermal efficiencies of Lenovo Legion Coldfront 2.0. This is the synergy of hardware and software that promotes better airflow, lower system temperatures to keep your Lenovo Legion laptop cool and quiet. Lenovo Legion Coldfront 2.0 features Dual Burn, which pushes the CPU and GPU to their in-game limits so that gamers can experience more predictable FPS (frames per second) without thermal throttling. In the past, gaming laptop processors would slow down (thermal throttling) as temperatures rose and framerates would be unpredictable. Meanwhile, the Lenovo Legion devices stay cool to the touch via an optimized cooling system of heat sinks that dissipate more heat away from the motherboard. Also integrated into the Lenovo Legion 7i and Lenovo Legion Y740Si are Vapor Chamber Cooling Systems to dispel heat as dual liquid crystal polymer fan systems cycle air with chilling efficiency. Finally, a multipoint sensor array works to cool down key components in anticipation of intense gameplay. II. Lenovo Legion TrueStrike Keyboard Inspired by Lenovos heritage in innovative keyboard technologies, the Lenovo Legion TrueStrike keyboard is precision-crafted to deliver 100 percent anti-ghosting, sub-millisecond response times, and soft-landing switches resulting in hair-trigger accuracy. You can feel a more tactile gaming experience due to its superior key travel via its second transition curve design. The keyboard layout is ideal for gaming with full-sized keys and number pad, larger one-piece trackpad, arrow keys plus dedicated media keys that will illuminate in over 16 million colors with Corsair iCUE support on the Lenovo Legion 7i, and optional 4-zone RGB lighting on the other new Lenovo Legion laptop models. Built to withstand heavy long-term use, Lenovo Legion TrueStrike keyboards feature an anti-oil coating to resist abrasion. III. Improved Battery Life Lenovo Legion gaming PCs will be first to feature the new Advanced Optimus designed in collaboration with NVIDIA to boost battery life. Advanced Optimus dynamically switches between the use of the Integrated Graphic Processing Unit (found on the CPU) for more battery life, to the discrete NVIDIA GPU for higher frames per second. All this happens without a need to reboot the machine. If gamers want to manually disable their discrete GPU for a longer battery life, they can do so using Lenovo Vantage softwares Hybrid Mode. Lenovo Q-Control 3.0 also lets users switch between three settings for system voltage and fan speeds - Performance, Quiet, and Balanced. Upshift to Performance Mode to turbo-charge past the competition with higher CPU voltage and higher FPS. When streaming esports, downshift into Quiet Mode to lower battery drain and fan noise. Or enable Balanced Mode for automatic adjustments based on which apps are open. Other power-enhancing features include Rapid Charge Pro (from 0 to 50 percent battery in 30 minutes) and battery sip feature (instinctively releases power in small doses for more battery life consistency). IV. Brilliant Displays Lenovo Legion makes the most of your display panels capabilities through Dolby Vision which offers deeper blacks and brighter whites without washing out color or contrast. Lenovo Legion laptops offer panels of up to 240hz refresh rates at under 1ms response times for ultra-smooth cinematics without screen tearing. The new Lenovo Legion laptops offer High Dynamic Range (HDR) on select panels with at least 300nits of brightness, so that dramatic shadowed scenes with high levels of black tones are reproduced vividly with more depth; 100 percent sRGB color accurate panels also offer life-like visuals. V. The Industrys PC Leader With innovations such as Lenovo Legion Coldfront 2.0 and Lenovo Legion TrueStrike keyboards, Lenovo delivers a level of performance that keeps it the industrys PC leader. These new Lenovo Legion laptops plus the refreshed Lenovo Legion Y740Si laptop offer up to the latest 10th Gen Intel Core H-Series mobile processors for powerful performance. And for the first time in our gaming lineup, players can also opt for premium, high-performance AMD Ryzen 4000 H-Series Mobile Processors in the Lenovo Legion 5. BEIJING, April 21 (Xinhua) -- UFC Champion Zhang Weili is in a 14-day mandatory isolation at a hotel in Tianjin, China, after being stranded in U. S. more than 40 days ago. "Everything was fine on our way back home. Temperature was normal. Though it's really a little bit boring here in a hotel, I feel safe now," said Zhang during her online broadcast on Tuesday. The 29-year-old was crowned China's first ever UFC champion in August 2019, and defeated Joanna Jedrzejczyk in Las Vegas last month to retain her strawweight belt. Zhang could hardly sleep because of the excitement for going back home. Her team got up at four o'clock and drove five hours to travel to Los Angeles, United States. During the 13-hour flight, the whole team were protected from head to toe. "I didn't drink or eat anything before arrive at hotel on Monday evening. Everyone on the plane and in the airport were very nice and said 'welcome back home' to us. I can tell that everything was well prepared and arranged to protect us. I was so moved." She wrote down her appreciation on her protective suit with a red marker. "I felt more like a challenger rather than a defender this time. It was a bumpy road. I felt like riding a most crazy roller coaster that I've never experienced before," commented Zhang. Before her glory time inside the cage, with worldwide COVID-19 containment measures currently restricting international travel, Zhang had to endure a lengthy journey in order to travel to the U.S. and defend her crown. UFC made a morning call to Zhang on February 1 that if she wasn't able to catch a flight to Thailand, she wouldn't be able to go to America later. "UFC also told me that the match can be canceled. But I don't want to give up my game. I never will," said Zhang, "What doesn't kill you make you stronger, right?" But jet log did almost kill her. It took weeks for Zhang to travel from China to Thailand, then to Abu Dhabi, and finally to America. "I couldn't sleep tight for two weeks. Every morning when I woke up, I need to tell myself again and again: you trained really hard for this fight. You can do it! You must do it!" Until the moment she stood in the cage, her mind was dizzy and blank. "All my training was gone. Skills were gone. Strategies were gone. Only instincts left." Though she defended her crown, Zhang felt lost and guilty not only for failing herself, but also for failing those who expected more from her. "Next time, I want to present a brand new me to my opponent and my fans," said Zhang, who added that she can't wait to add more traditional Chinese martial arts to her arsenal once her isolation ends. Delhi violence: Delhi police slap charges under UAPA against Umar Khalid, Jamia activists India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Apr 22: The Special Cell of the Delhi police has booked JNU student leader, Umar Khalid under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The police have also booked Jamia student member, Meeran Haider and media coordinator of the Jamia Coordination Committee, Safoora Zargar under the same provisions in connection with the Northeast Delhi riots that took place in February. Akram Khan, Haider's counsel said that the police have added UAPA against his client and others named in the FIR. Initially, they were booked under Sections 147, 148 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code. Later the police had added charges under Sections 124A (sedition), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion). JNU violence: 2 FIRs filed against Umar Khalid for 'unlawful activities at Gateway of India Zargar, it may be recalled was arrested on April 13. The police said that she was among those who organised the anti-Citizenship law protest and road blockage. The protest, it may be recalled had turned violent. A Delhi police source told OneIndia that the reason for them adding UAPA was due to the links with the Popular Front of India. The first FIR was registered in March based on the information provided by sub-inspector, Arvind Kumar. He had said that the violence was a pre-meditated conspiracy alleged hatched by Khalid, Danish and two others. Khalid is alleged to have given provocative speeches at two different places. He had appealed to the citizens to come out on the streets and block roads, at a time when US President, Donald Trump was visiting India. The intent was to spread propaganda at an international level, the police also said. The FIR says that Danish was given the responsibility of gathering the people from different places to take part in the violence. Women and children were made to block the roads to create tension. "While investigating Jamia and NE riot cases, Delhi Police has done its job sincerely and impartially. All arrests have been made based on scientific and forensic evidence," the Delhi police had tweeted on April 20. The logo of Las Vegas Sands Corp is pictured at the Japan IR EXPO in Yokohama By Sanjana Shivdas (Reuters) - Las Vegas Sands Corp on Wednesday posted a first-quarter loss as the coronavirus kept consumers at bay, but the casino operator struck an optimistic note as pent-up demand for gambling pointed to a speedy recovery in Asia. Shares of the company were up nearly 7% in after-hours trading as the company signaled a quick recovery in Macau, Singapore and China as coronavirus-induced curbs are eased. The company expects gambling and visitation to pick up by late summer or early fall in Asia, given its past experience in dealing with the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic and Swine Flu. "We hear anecdotally that people are really frustrated and want to go back to gambling in casinos," a company executive said on a post earnings call. "The idea of a mask or social distancing or thermometer checks will not be difficult for local Singaporeans or Chinese. They will accept it, they will deal with it." However, Las Vegas Sands said a U.S. recovery would be more "drastic and slower" but added it was seeing demand for group business in August and into the fall. The gambling industry, which thrives on air travel and large groups of people in close proximity, is one of the hardest hit as the world goes into lockdowns in its battle against the pandemic. Liquidity during the coronavirus crisis remained a bright spot for Las Vegas Sands, with the company pointing to a strong balance sheet that would allow it to tap growth opportunities in new markets. Revenue from the company's main casino business plunged 55.8% to $1.18 billion in the first quarter. The Nevada governor has ordered all casinos and other nonessential businesses in the state to close for 30 days beginning March 18. He extended that order until April 30, and last week said he has no specific date for when nonessential businesses might be allowed to reopen. In March, gambling revenue fell 80% in Macau, the world's biggest casino hub that accounts for more than 60% of the company's revenue. Story continues The S&P 500 casinos and gaming index <.SPLRCCCGL> has lost 49% this year, compared to the 13.4% dip in the S&P 500 <.SPX>. Net loss attributable to Las Vegas Sands was $1 million in the quarter ended March 31, compared to a profit of $582 million a year ago. Net revenue plunged 51.1% to $1.78 billion. (Reporting by Sanjana Shivdas in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel) business Reliance Jio-Facebook deal: Mukesh Ambanis RIL one step closer to zero-debt plan The Facebook deal is now the centrepiece of the ambitions of Indias biggest private company to cut net debt to zero by March 2021 Kartik Aaryan has been entertaining his fans on social media by posting funny TikTok videos with his sister Kritika amid the coronavirus lockdown. Recently, the actor had shared a video which seemingly did not go down well with a section of social media users who dubbed him as misogynistic for uploading the clip. In the video, Kartik is seen eating a roti, which is made by his sister. On not liking the taste of it, Kartik punishes her by throwing her out of the house. Netizens found the particular video to be in bad taste and claimed that it is promoting domestic violence. Many even pointed out how Kartik has earlier featured in women-bashing films like Pyaar Ka Punchnama and Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety. Read: Serial Misogynist Kartik Aaryan Thinks Women Should be Punished For Making Bad Rotis Now, after facing backlash over the TikTok video on social media, Kartik has seemingly deleted it. On the movies front, Kartik will be next seen in Dostana 2 and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2. He will also feature in a 3D action film by Tanhaji director Om Raut. In the battle against the coronavirus crisis, the actor had earlier donated Rs 1 crore to the PM CARES fund and has also launched a talk show Koki Poochega on his YouTube channel in which he interacts with corona warriors and survivors. Follow @News18Movies for more The world's biggest and most famous tomato fight in Spain has been cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic, in yet another blow to the country's tourism industry. La Tomatina, in which 20,000 revellers pelt each other with ripe tomatoes, is held each summer in the town of Bunol, Valencia. It attracts competitors and spectators from all over the globe and is considered one of the biggest street fiestas in Spain. This year's Tomatina fiesta was meant to have been held in August for its 75th anniversary but Bunol council today confirmed it has been cancelled. Mayor Juncal Carrascosa confirmed the news and said they were adhering to their responsibilities during the pandemic. It is the first time the tomato-throwing party has been axed since 1957 and that was due to political reasons. Above, revellers take part in the annual tomato fight which Bunol authorities have cancelled this year amid the coronavirus pandemic. Usually more than 30,000 pounds of tomatoes are thrown in the fiesta 'There is no escaping how difficult it would be to organise our most international party under these conditions, where the optimal conditions of sanitary control for the participants could not be guaranteed,' she said. Juncal Carrascosa said deputy mayor, Maria Valles, in charge of the fiesta organisation, had raised the issue of cancelling La Tomatina with the local council and it had been unanimously agreed to do so. An announcement was not due to be made until April 27th but as the decision had been leaked, it was decided to make a formal announcement. Above, a reveller covered in tomato pulp participates in the annual 'Tomatina' festival in 2019. The iconic fiesta is a major draw for tourists, many who travel from as far as the United States to participate Maria Valles said they were already working on ways to keep the festival alive and current and assured that the 2021 edition would be held as normal. 'We have to look to the future at all times, with the certainty that all this will happen. We have had to live a complex situation that had not been produced so far and we are facing it, with the spirit implicit in Tomatina herself, fighting peacefully to beat the virus, ' she said. Likewise, the 2021 event would celebrate the belated 75th anniversary under the slogan 75 plus one. 'Such an outstanding anniversary must be celebrated as a milestone of this importance requires and not be tarnished by a negative situation,' said Maria Valles. 'Extending the 75th anniversary to 2021 is not a postponement but an extension, thus offering more content and more milestones that further enhance the Tomatina festival.' Deputy mayor Maria Valles said they were already working on ways to keep the festival alive and current and assured that the 2021 edition would be held as normal Mayor Juncal Carrascosa said she hoped news of the cancellation would be greeted with calm and in the spirit in which it was taken - to preserve people's health and not to put them at risk, despite its vast tourism appeal and income. 'All the decisions that have been made during this Covid-19 crisis have always been made with the common good in mind and with the certainty that we will recover normality and Tomatina will return to dye the streets of Buno,' she pledged. The news is yet another blow to Spain's tourism industry and comes just a day after the famous Pamplona bull run was called off because of the pandemic. Hotels and attractions have already been thrown into turmoil by the shutdown in one of the world's top tourist destinations. The San Fermin celebration is centuries old and typically attended by hundreds of thousands of people. During the celebration half-tonne fighting bulls chase hundreds of daredevils, many of whom wear traditional white shirts and scarves, through the narrow streets of the city each morning. The annual Fiesta de San Fermin (pictured above) was made famous by Ernest Hemmingway's 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises. It involves the daily running of the bulls through the historic heart of Pamplona to the bull ring - but this year's event has been suspended The municipal council agreed to suspend the event, which is held each year between July 6 and 14. Yesterday the acting mayor of Pamplona Ana Elizalde told a news conference: As expected as it was, it still leaves us deeply sad. Acting mayor of Pamplona Ana Elizalde told a news conference: As expected as it was, it still leaves us deeply sad. In this context there is no place for fireworks, bullfights or bull runs. We are supposed to wear masks, keep a social distance measures that are incompatible with what San Fermin is. The news of the cancelled tomato festival comes as Spain today saw a rise in new coronavirus cases and deaths as prime minister Pedro Sanchez said the country is aiming to lift the lockdown within weeks. Sanchez said the state of emergency will be eased in the second half of May while children will be allowed outside from this weekend after a backlash against a ban on outdoor exercise. Spanish health officials recorded 4,211 new cases today, more than yesterday's 3,968, bringing the total from 204,178 to 208,389. There were also 435 more deaths, a marginal increase from yesterday's 430, taking the Spanish death toll from 21,282 to 21,717. This graph shows the number of coronavirus cases added to the Spanish government's tally every day. Today's figure of 4,211 was slightly higher than yesterday's 3,968 This chart shows the daily number of deaths, which has fallen from its peak of 950 on April 2 and has remained around 400 for the last few days The latest 4,211 cases include 1,202 in the Madrid region and 690 in Catalonia, which are the two worst-affected parts of Spain. Today's increase in cases of 2.1 per cent is very similar to that in the last five days. The 435 new deaths are the highest figure since Saturday, including 117 new fatalities in Madrid and 96 in Catalonia. The death toll is feared to be far higher in reality because the Spanish government's figures do not include thousands more deaths registered in Catalonia. Catalonia has taken a tally from funeral homes which suggests the death toll there could be more than 7,000, well above the Spanish government's figure of 4,247. The government's count only includes people who were tested for Covid-19 before their deaths, meaning that many are likely to have been missed. Spain's emergency response chief, Fernando Simon, has acknowledged that the 'real number of deaths is hard to know'. Member's of Madrid's emergency services wearing protective gear take a coronavirus patient from an ambulance to a hospital in the Spanish capital on Monday Two health workers help a third person with his protective gear in Madrid yesterday, in the region which has been hardest-hit by the crisis in Spain More than a thousand Spanish healthcare workers are isolated after using faulty masks from batch of up to 400,000 bought from Chinese firm A batch of defected face masks bought from China has forced more than a thousand Spanish health workers into isolation. The Spanish government purchased around 400,000 masks and had been dispatching them for 10 days before they were eventually pulled from circulation. Provincial authorities are now scrambling to identify workers who used the faulty masks. Hard-line measures enforced by the Murcia region has seen 1,110 healthcare staff quarantined, according to El Pais. Some nurses reportedly defied orders to cease using the defective protective equipment because they were the only ones available. The batch of masks were manufactured by Chinese firm Garry Galaxy and bought by Spain to plug a shortage of protective gear. Advertisement Nonetheless, prime minister Pedro Sanchez said today that Spain is hoping to begin winding down the lockdown within weeks. Spain's lockdown is one of the toughest in Europe because people are not allowed outside for exercise, keeping children virtually imprisoned in their homes. On Tuesday night, the government bowed to public pressure and said children under 14 would be able to take short walks outside under supervision. The cabinet had initially said children would only be allowed to accompany parents to buy food or medicine, prompting anger. 'This is a government that listens,' said health minister Salvador Illa. Earlier, government spokeswoman Maria Jesus Montero said after a cabinet meeting that the measure marked a 'slight easing' of the lockdown. 'We are asking fathers and mothers to be responsible,' she said. The wider state of emergency is set to be extended until May 9, but the PM says measures will be eased slowly and gradually from the second half of May. 'We will be going back-and-forth depending on how the pandemic evolves,' Sanchez said. Carmaker SEAT, a subsidiary of Germany's Volkswagen, says it plans to resume production on April 27. The company employs around 15,000 people and plans to carry out 3,000 tests a week on its workforce to reduce the risk of contagion. Heres some good news for all you stoners out there. Another country has been added to the list of nations where smoking weed wouldn't get you penalised. Tis the month of 4/20 and what more good news can we expect, right? In Lebanon, the parliament has approved the legalisation of cannabis cultivation. On Tuesday, i.e., April 21, the parliament approved a draft law that legalises cannabis cultivation in Lebanon for medical and industrial use, as the countrys hard-hit economy teeters on the brink of collapse. Yup, you can now go get high there as well amongst other countries. Unsplash Although it sucks to be locked up inside our homes, due to stringent coronavirus lockdown measures, but still, to know that we have so many countries we can fly to, as and when the lockdown ends, to get that prevailing sense of freedom of lighting up one out in the open, without any inhibitions is high-ly amazing. There are, in fact, loads of countries where marijuana has been legalised, decriminalised or just socially mainstreamed enough that even if you are technically breaking the law a bit, no one will bother you about it. Take our word for that Apart from Lebanon, lets take a look at 5 other countries where smoking weed wouldnt land you behind bars: 1. Canada Unsplash As a matter of fact, Canada legalised recreational marijuana in 2018. Growers can get licensed by the federal government, and then individual provinces determine how the product gets distributed and sold. However, the government doesnt heavily advertise or promote it. So, Canada should be on your list, next. 2. Jamaica Jamaica is another super chill place to light up one. They have decriminalised weed since 2015, and if you happen to be a Rastafarian, you can use unlimited quantities with no repercussions. Well, their public image of consuming ganja, internationally, is usually culturally tied to Rastafari and reggae music. Unsplash 3. Ecuador A fun fact about Ecuador is that it is one of the 'chiller' countries when it comes to marijuana/weed policy. While its still illegal to cultivate and sell it, when it comes to personal use, youre cool so long as you dont exceed 10 grams. Isnt that cool? 4. Uruguay Hands down, this is the first woke country to legalise marijuana for people belonging to the 18 years of age group and above. However, it is the peoples responsibility to make sure they officially register with the government before they engage in any buying, selling, or growing. As of 2017, you can buy commercial grass in Uruguay from regular old pharmacies. Well, I wouldnt be wrong in saying this is the future that liberals want. 29-year-old Vaibhav, who works in a call centre in Gurgaon, feels that this should be the way of life here in India too. Even though it isnt legalised in India, people still enjoy grass at home or socially, so long as theyre cool with it. Unsplash As a country, we are progressing in many fields, and this is one particular area where I feel our country should take a liberal approach, seriously! In fact, that would bring us a lot of tourists too. Speaking about coping up with lockdown, he said, I couldnt even stack up this time because of the sudden lockdown and even if I had, it wouldnt have been possible to smoke up at home because of conservative home rules, Vaibhav says. 5. The Netherlands While weed has been legal to smoke in coffee shops in The Netherlands for several years now, its illegal to grow it. However in 2017, a bill to partially legalise marijuana cultivation showed that the country may hopefully be headed for full legalisation, which is excellent news for the many, many citizens who enjoy getting a little high. Unsplash Another 20-year-old college student based in Noida, said, As I live alone, I have the freedom to smoke up whenever I want to. I just make sure that neighbours dont get to know about it, as you know how conservative our society is. It would be real fun if they legalise it here for recreational purposes. Meanwhile, Im hoping the lockdown ends soon as Im running out of my stash. An avid smoker-turned-mother, based in Delhi, said, I used to be a hardcore stoner during my early years of college and work life to an extent where I got addicted. Marijuana is addictive. The world always seemed better with the bag of grass. However I went clean after I became a mother. There was no way I was going to continue that. My opinion has changed over the years and I think it shouldnt be legalised in India as then the situation will spiral out of control. Well, let us know your thoughts in the comments section on whether or not marijuana should be legalised in India. Kathmandu, April 22 The Nepal Army is set to bring medicines worth Rs 24 million, required for the treatment of Covid-19 patients in Nepal. The Nepal Army Headquarters is writing to the Ministry of Defence on Wednesday to pay the amount. A headquarters source says that a letter would be sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to pay the amount to India through the Ministry of Defence. India will deposit 53 types of medicines at the Nepali Embassy in Delhi after receiving the amount, from which Nepal will bring the necessary medicine. The army on Sunday had signed an agreement worth Rs 2.25 billion to import medical supplies from China. Earlier in late March, India had offered to assist Nepal for the prevention and control of Covid-19 in late March. Lt Gen Anup Banerjee, Director General of the Armed Forces Medical Services (FMS) of India, had said he was ready to send a rapid response team (RRT) to Nepal for assistance. However, Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali had replied that medical equipment was needed more than treatment. The government had given the responsibility of purchasing health items to the Nepal Army on April 3 after the agreement with Omni Business Corporation International came into dispute. Human space exploration has shown us that we live on a beautiful swirl of green and blue and white even when life on Earth is riddled with sorrows, sickness and challenges knotted beyond measure. Today (April 22) marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, an annual celebration inspired by spaceflight and an apt moment to look back on a planet that humans can albeit occasionally, briefly and in very small numbers leave, and to consider how we are treating it. The milestone comes amid a sweeping pandemic that has already killed tens of thousands of people, sprawling wildfire seasons , evaporating biodiversity, weather patterns that have unraveled to the point of becoming utterly unrecognizable and profoundly different versions of the human experience for those with riches than those without. Related: Earth science is more important than ever (op-ed) It's a lot to handle, and dealing with the host of global challenges we face will likely require help from the fleet of sensors that orbit Earth, looking down on our planet and giving us a broader yet more detailed perspective than we can glean on the ground. That's nothing new for NASA, of course. "NASA's got a long history of monitoring Earth from space," Annmarie Eldering, an environmental scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, told Space.com, pointing to early weather satellites and the transition over the decades to more advanced research missions. Currently, NASA runs a total of 28 space-based Earth-observing missions. Eldering works with two such missions right now: Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 and -3 (OCO-2 and OCO-3), which measure atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. The projects were dreamed up in the 1990s, she said, but the necessary observations are so finicky that scientists only felt confident designing a mission in the 2000s. Back and forth budgets But OCO-3 hit a snag on its road to launch when, in March 2017, its funding went missing in the newly inaugurated President Donald Trump's budget request. Congress reinstated the money and Eldering said the politics didn't particularly interfere with the mission's development and is unremarkable, if inconvenient, for Earth-observing missions. "That just feels like business as usual: money comes and money goes. Almost every project I've been on goes through some period of uncertainty or limbo, it's just been the nature of the way our work gets funded," Eldering said. "You talk to anybody who's been in this business for the last 50 years, if you have a brilliant idea, it's guaranteed it will take you many, many years to go from great idea to something actually happening." OCO-3 happened; it flew to the International Space Station last year and began work in August. It's making observations smoothly and the team expects to release the instrument's first batch of science data later this month. Eldering said she's particularly pleased because, although the new mission was designed as a successor, OCO-2 is still going strong so scientists can use data from the two missions in tandem. The Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO-3), seen before its launch to the International Space Station in 2019. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech) As OCO-3 proves, a budget request can't singlehandedly end a mission. The president's budget request is just a request, and Congress determines NASA's final budget. But that sort of limbo still a less-than-ideal way of doing business if your core priority is Earth, Rachel Licker, a climate scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit science advocacy group, told Space.com. "It creates hiccups and it creates delays in important research and insights that people need to be safer and to be making better-informed decisions," Licker said. "So it affects scientists, but it also affects society in terms of the information we have at our disposal." Two missions yet to launch have endured the budget will-they-won't-they more than OCO-3. Each year in office thus far, Trump's budget requests have canceled two specific Earth-observing missions. (Congress has not yet finished the current budget negotiations, so while these missions were eliminated for 2021 , their funding remains uncertain.) The Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem mission, or PACE, is one of those projects. For Licker, it's a good example of the way that new missions can provide data that matters in people's lives, even if they never know the project responsible. That's because PACE can catch big growths of tiny aquatic plants that can have dangerous side effects. Harmful algae blooms can close beaches and reduce air quality, and PACE would help scientists better understand how these blooms impact public health. (NASA declined interview requests for PACE project scientist Paula Bontempi, who is also an acting deputy director in NASA's Earth Science Division, and Sandra Cauffman, acting director of the division. In a town hall about the budget request held on March 20, Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science, elided over potential mission cancelations, including the two Earth-observing missions. "We recognize that discussion is ongoing," he said. Read his thoughts on Earth Day here .) An artist's depiction of The Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) Pathfinder studying light reflecting off Earth. (Image credit: NASA) The other Earth science mission that has been repeatedly canceled in requests and revived by Congress is the Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) Pathfinder. Like OCO-3, CLARREO Pathfinder is destined for the International Space Station. There, it would calculate how much sunlight Earth reflects in specific wavelengths of visible and near-infrared light. It would also provide data for scientists to confirm that other Earth-observing instruments are gathering accurate measurements. Those tasks mean CLARREO Pathfinder would represent a step forward for scientists studying a wide range of climate-relevant phenomena, including clouds and land use patterns, Yolanda Shea, a project scientist for the mission and an atmospheric scientist at NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia, told Space.com. "Those are the types of measurements we need to monitor Earth's climate at the level that will give us more certainty about any decisions we may need to make in the future," she said. CLARREO Pathfinder, which is facing a late 2022 launch to the space station, will last only a year, which perhaps complicates understanding its role in climate science as a whole. "It's a one-year mission, we're not observing decadal-scale changes," Shea said, "but the data that will be taken can all be used to conduct science." Assuming, of course, the budget comes through, and so far it has despite the proclaimed cuts. "In our day-to-day, we try to move forward with our work: as long as there's funding appropriated for the mission we'll work on the mission," Shea said. "There have always been tugs of war over funding and priorities, and I think NASA has a great history of doing a lot with whatever we're given. We think about the work that we can do and impact we can have and we figure out how to use those resources to support the public." Beyond any one agency The CLARREO Pathfinder mission would be far from alone in focusing on light reflecting off our planet, Earth scientist and former NASA astronaut Kathy Sullivan told Space.com. Whether a satellite is billed as measuring wind speed or ocean color or anything else, it is actually measuring reflected or emitted light. Then, scientists need to use their skills to convert such data to the parameter of interest, and to convey that information to people making decisions that affect lives and livelihoods. That translation relies on the entire institution of science, she said. "I care about that whole span of knowledge creation , not just about the next gadget that goes into orbit," Sullivan said. "People are so unaware of how much they rely on insight and information about the planet to go about their daily lives. We just presume it will be there, but it won't be there without continuing to monitor, without continuing to measure, and without continuing to advance the fundamental underlying knowledge." That burden doesn't just rest on NASA, of course, although NASA is a leader and its partnerships, like those with the European Space Agency (ESA), are vital scientific endeavors. "A strong NASA is good for a strong ESA and a strong Earth-observation program worldwide," Josef Aschbacher, head of ESA's Earth Observation Programs, told Space.com. He said he hopes PACE and CLARREO Pathfinder fly, especially because he believes they align nicely with ESA programs. But he isn't worried about their fates yet. "This is the beginning of a debate and the real budget decisions will be made later on," he said. He also said he takes confidence from how closely NASA's programs have matched the priorities of the so-called decadal survey meant to guide Earth science through 2027 based on input from the scientific community. (PACE and CLARREO Pathfinder both ranked highly in that report.) A comparison of nitrogen dioxide levels in Europe during an average spring, above, and with 2020's coronavirus containment measures enacted, below. (Image credit: ESA/Copernicus Sentinel data (2019-20), processed by KNMI/ESA) Pandemic planet In Aschbacher's portfolio, ESA is currently overseeing 15 operational Earth-observation missions, with 34 more in development. Perhaps the pride of its fleet is the Copernicus program's series of Sentinel satellites, each tailored to a different type of measurement. The next installment in the series, due to launch later this year, is a partnership with NASA that will measure sea levels, one of the most vital types of data about climate change impacts. Others in the series study the atmosphere. Sentinel-5P , for example, has found the spotlight recently for its measurements of falling nitrogen dioxide levels over cities shut down as a public health measure to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. About that pandemic: even as counties scramble to reassess their budget in the wake of the economic upheaval and emergency costs that the pandemic has provoked, Earth science missions shouldn't be cut, Aschbacher emphasized, noting that satellites like Sentinel-5P will help experts track countries rebounding from the pandemic . And environmental science will still be vital, no matter how the public health situation changes. "Especially after COVID, we cannot forget that we have to make investments in line with creating a sustainable planet," he said. "There may be a danger that pollution may be increasing because pollution thresholds may be a bit more relaxed, but I think the opposite should take place." Other Earth-observing satellites will be vital in helping scientists understand how the disease could interact with other disasters. "Floods ain't gonna stop because there's a global pandemic," Beth Tellman, a geographer at Columbia University's International Research Institute for Climate and Society who focuses on using satellite data to understand flooding, told Space.com, adding that scientists predict the Midwestern U.S. will see bad floods this year. That said, she, like the other scientists I spoke with for this story, isn't pessimistic about Earth's future. "What coronavirus has shown me is we can do a lot when we have the will to," Tellman said. "Transformation is possible. It gives me hope in a really weird way: what is the opportunity for response to climate change and disasters in the future? We clearly have more power in collaboration than we think." Her colleague, Andrew Kruczkiewicz, who focuses on the remote sensing of disasters, hopes that the jarring alignment of celebration and pandemic sparks new conversations about the inequities involved in observing Earth from space. "Only some people have the privilege to observe the Earth," he said. "We have a responsibility, I believe, to communicate the constraints and the opportunities to the people that we're observing and potentially helping, but also interacting with in ways that may not be fully understood." The pandemic has also perhaps laid bare the ways in which even the best satellite data cannot foist good outcomes on humans. "The arc of the last 50 years we've seen this growing capability and understanding of our earth system and new techniques and technologies to learn about it and gather data, that's a big plus," OCO-3's Eldering said from her background in climate science. "Have we advanced in our ability to make good policy decisions around that? It's kicks and starts." Email Meghan Bartels at mbartels@space.com or follow her @meghanbartels . Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook . DUBLIN, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Technologies Enabling Smart Ships of the Future" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. In brief, this research service covers the following points: Technologies Enabling Smart Ships Country-Wise Technology Initiatives Drivers and Challenges Growth Opportunities As the pace of digitization accelerates the shipping industry globally is also adopting technologies such as AI to make their processes more efficient and reduce costs. Governments across the world have also made efforts to support the development and deployment of innovative technologies and have launched multiple initiatives to promote cross border collaboration in the industry. In addition to industry incumbents implementing digital technologies in their fleet, startups in the industry have also managed to gather traction owing to the eased entry barriers and the willingness of large private corporations and public sector to collaborate with new and small industry players. Key Topics Covered 1. Executive Summary 1.1 Research Scope 1.2 Research Methodology 2. Overview 2.1 Countries across the World Have Made Efforts to Modernize their Shipping Infrastructure through Public-Private Partnerships 3. Technologies Enabling Smart Ships 3.1 AI Will Enable Ships to Attain a Greater Level of Autonomy and Sailors to Have a Better Understanding of their Vessels 3.2 Besides Enabling Autonomy, AI-based Solutions Will also be able to Assist Sailors in Operating and Navigating their Ships 3.3 Usage of AI Applications in Ships Helps in Eliminating Human Errors and Avoids Accidents 3.4 Blockchain will Enable Companies to Eliminate Paperwork and Reduce Processing Times 3.5 Smart Contracts Enable Transparent Tracking of Shipments throughout the Entire Shipping Value Chain 3.6 Blockchain Adoption Would Enable a More Automated and Efficient Transaction Process with Higher Tractability and Collaboration 3.7 AR Solutions Have Helped Ship Crews in Attaining Better Visibility of their Surroundings in Unfavorable Climatic Conditions 3.8 VR Has Empowered Fleet Owners to Impart Realistic Training to their Crew on-Shore to Train them Better for their Jobs 3.9 Augmented Reality along with Big Data Analytics will Provide an Immersive and Complete User Experience for Ship Navigation 3.10 Sensors and Connected Systems will Result in the Generation of Vast Amounts of Data to Help Optimize Vessel Operation 3.11 Centralized Storage of Data Can Help the Shipping Industry in Maintaining a Globally Coordinated Workflow 3.12 Insights Generated from Big Data Enable Better Decision Making across Functions on Ships as well as Ports 3.13 Adoption of Cloud Makes Operations, Communications, and Collaborations Easier for the Workforce off and on Shore 3.14 Cloud Enables Shipping Companies to Maintain Centralized Data Management Systems and Apply Data Policies between Global Locations 3.15 Cloud Computing is Facilitating Remote Data Access and Operations, Enabling Cost Savings for Shipping Companies 4. Country-wise Technology Initiatives 4.1 Singapore is Emerging as a Hub of Maritime Technology Innovation Owing to a Strong Tech Ecosystem and the Mature Shipping Industry 4.2 Testing Emerging Technologies in the Form of Pilot Projects Has Given Singapore-based Companies an Edge Over Competitors 4.3 Japan is Favorably Placed Geographically to Facilitate the Growth of Trade Between Asia Pacific and North America 4.4 Japan's Maritime Ecosystem is a Mix of Private and Public Players Who Have Showcased Multiple Concepts and Conducted Pilots 4.5 Norway Has a Full Maritime Cluster Including Ship Building and Has also Established a Number of Test Beds for Autonomous Ships 4.6 Cloud Computing and Big Data are Helping the Norwegian Maritime Industry to Improve Efficiency and Reduce Costs 4.7 Holland Has Been a Pioneer in Marine Sector and With the Impact of Digital Technologies, the Country is Ready to Maintain its Position 4.8 Port of Rotterdam in Holland is the Busiest Port in Europe and Handles About 466.4 Million Tonnes of Cargo Per Year 4.9 Finland, Leveraging its Geographic Location Has Emerged as a Leader in Designing Icebreakers and Polar Ships 4.10 Finland is a Conducive Ecosystem for Digitization Initiatives Due to the Presence of a Wide Range of Players in the Local Ecosystem 4.11 The Maritime Industry in Germany is Highly Competitive due to its Strong Interest in Research and Innovation 4.12 Germany is the Biggest Exporter of Europe and Has Connectivity with Ports Across the World 4.13 The US Navy is Leading the Front for Adoption of Emerging Technologies in Maritime Space 4.14 The US Tech Giants and Shipping Companies Have Contributed to the Development of Emerging Technology Through Global Partnerships 5. Drivers and Challenges 5.1 The Crucial Nature of the Shipping Industry is Driving More Funds From Governments Toward Innovation in the Area 5.2 The Maritime industry Lacks Modern Skills Hampering it from Realizing the Full Potential of Digital Technologies 6. Conclusion and Growth Opportunities 6.1 Smarter and More Environment-friendly Technologies are Enabling New Business Models in the Shipping Industry 7. Industry Contacts For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/ixo7th Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1904 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com New York, April 22 : US President Donald Trump has said that his immigration ban will be for only 60 days and indicated that workers on temporary visas like H1-B for professionals could continue to come in. "This order will apply only to individuals seeking a permanent residency, in other words, those receiving green cards; big factor, will not apply to those entering on a temporary basis," Trump said on Tuesday while clarifying that it is for only 60 days. He said that there would also be some exemptions to the temporary ban on immigrants. "Some people will have to come in; obviously we have to do that, obviously even from a humane standpoint," he said. Trump had tweeted the immigration ban on Monday night. He said that the executive order was being drafted and will probably be issued on Wednesday. Trump said that after 60 days he and a group will evaluate the need for any extension or modification "based on economic conditions at that time." An immigration lawyer, Mark Davies, said that based upon the president's comments H1-B visas for professionals, and temporary visas known as E-2 for a category of investors and L-1 visas for employees of foreign companies transferred to work in the US are not affected. But he added, "This may change as more information emerges." These categories of visas are temporary and do not of themselves confer permanent residence or path to citizenship. But Davies said that the immigration ban would affect another category of visas for investors known as EB-5 because it "is a fast route to a Green Card for families and individuals able to invest $900,000." Trump said that he was solely motivated by the plight of American workers rendered jobless by the COVID-19 epidemic. He said, "By pausing immigration we will help put unemployed Americans first in line for jobs as America re-opens -- so important. Would wrong and unjust for Americans laid off by the virus to be replaced by new immigrant about flown in from abroad." Another reason he said was to help "conserve vital medical resources for American citizens" and "protect the solvency of our health care system." Although he denied a reporter's suggestion that he was using the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to push his agenda of limiting immigration, that appeared to be what the ban was set to accomplish to a degree. Trump has said that he wanted to end the immigration of extended family members and has imposed a requirement for immigrants to get health insurance and prove that they won't utilise public benefits. Many of those in the pipeline to receive green cards, especially Indians, are already legally in the US on other visas waiting their turn. So the ban will have a greater impact on potential immigrants in categories like relatives of citizens, especially if exemptions are carved out for those coming in on the basis of some employment categories. His mention of conserving health resources is in line with the earlier mandate he had issued for immigrants to have health insurance. He has said that he wanted to change the existing immigration system to give preference based on merit to immigrants coming for jobs at the expense of other categories like relatives, which he wants to end. While he said that he was suspending immigration in order to protect American workers, the ban does not extend to non-immigrant workers who would be taking up jobs. He specifically said that the tens of thousands of agricultural workers who are the backbone of US farming will continue to be allowed to come in. There is a category of visas known as H2-A to enable workers to come in every year for agricultural and similar work which Americans won't take up in sufficient numbers. "If anything we are going to make it easier and we are doing a process that will make it better for those worker to come into the farm," Trump said. Especially at this time there is a demand for healthcare workers and Ian Brownlee, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs, has said that where routine visa services were suspended visas would be processed for medical personnel already accepted in US programmes. The immigration ban appears to be more of a sop to a section of Trump's base rather than making a big material difference in terms of limiting workers coming in as Democrat Representative Don Beyer pointed out in a tweet: "Immigration has nearly stopped and the US has far more (coronavirus) cases than any other country." While workers on non-immigrant visas can in theory come in, in reality there is a ban on travellers from 28 European countries, China and Iran, and air services have been severely curtailed from most parts of the world under a clampdown. At the same time, farm workers would be allowed in through Mexico. The US diplomatic missions in several countries have stopped holding immigrant visa interviews, although according to the New Delhi embassy website it appeared that interviews were continuing while for some categories it was done only at the Mumbai consulate. The immigration service has also temporarily stopped immigration interviews within the US because of the social distancing rules. Trump had already barred asylum-seekers from coming through the Mexican border and the immigration authorities have been returning to Mexico anyone caught crossing over illegally. (Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal The holiest time of the year on the Muslim calendar, Ramadan, which starts Thursday and goes through May 23, generally ends each evening with communal break-the-fast snacks and prayer at Albuquerques mosques. Like churches and synagogues throughout New Mexico, safety precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have forced the closure of mosques, which will rely to some extent on livestreaming of services for their congregants, as do many houses of worship. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims do not eat or drink from sunrise to sunset, said Abbas Akhil, vice president of the Islamic Center of New Mexico, and a Democratic member of the state House of Representatives from Albuquerque. At sundown, we break the fast with a slight snack and prayer, then a full meal, followed again by prayer. We repeat the same routine for the entire month, he said. Muslims also pray five times each day prayers that require us to bow down (from a kneeling position) and touch our foreheads to the ground, Akhil said. God forbid someone is carrying the virus and they cough on the carpet in the mosque; it would really expose our congregants to the possibility of picking up the infection. The only way to avoid that scenario was to shut down daily services, as well as the gathering of the faithful at the mosque during Ramadan, he said. In the interest of public health, that same decision has been made at mosques worldwide, according to recent news reports. Because the holy month of Ramadan is about allowing time for people to reflect on their own spirituality, they are certainly capable of reflecting, even while isolating at home, Akhil said. During the rest of the year, we are busy with work and going about our daily worldly routines. We eat regular meals throughout the day and dont think about where the food comes from and the blessings that come with having that food. The month of Ramadan allows us to focus on our inner selves, he said. The ancillary benefit is, since so many people are fasting, it allows your body to ramp down and you go through a purging process. When you fast and give up a meal and dont drink water, you appreciate what you have. It makes you more deliberate and allows you to appreciate what God has given you. Its also a time to think about the hungry and needy living in our own community, he said, as well as to consider with compassion all the hunger in the world and the people who cant even get a clean glass of water for drinking. What Ramadan is not, it is not intended as a hardship or to punish yourself, and it is not a penance or absolution for your sins. Rather, it is an opportunity to better get in touch with the things that are important in your life and to thank God for those things, Akhil said. And, as widely attributed to the classical Greek philosopher, Socrates, an opportunity to know thyself. Photo credit: Alexei Yereshko - Getty Images From Popular Mechanics Russias new T-14 Armata tank was shipped to Syria for testing purposes. Its not clear if the tank saw combat. Moscow is supposed to have 2,300 of the tanks by now, but delays have meant that only a handful are operational. The Russian government has revealed that its new T-14 Armata main battle tank was shipped to Syria for use under field conditions. Armata, a brand new tank design, was apparently shipped to Russian forces in Syria but it is not clear if the tank actually saw combat. Moscow originally boasted it would have thousands of Armatas by 2020, but a half decade of production delays means it has at best a handful of the new fighting vehicles. Russian state media site TASS reports that Armata tanks were sent to Syria by the Russian government. Denis Manturov, Minister for Industry and Trade told a state news show, Yes, thats right. They [Armata tanks] were used in Syria. They were used in field conditions, in Syria, so, we took into account all the nuances." Russia is currently backing the Syrian government in a nearly 10-year-long war against separatist forces. Russia, which views Damascus as a client state and warm water port for the Russian Navy, has supported Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with weapons and Russian military forces. The Russian military has also taken the opportunity to use Syria as a testing ground for a variety of brand new weapons, including the Su-57 Felon fifth generation fighter and the Uran-9 robotic weapons carrier . Its not clear if Armata ever saw combat in Syria. It probably did not, as the embarrassment of losing one of the brand new tanks would outweigh any of the lessons learned. More likely the Russian Army was interested in how the new tanks electronics, power pack, and other systems would perform in hot, dry desert conditions. Many of Russias military customers would potentially operate the Armata under similar conditions, countries such as India, Algeria, and even possibly Iran. Story continues Armata is Russias first clean-sheet tank design since World War II. Until now, Russian tank designs have followed an evolutionary path, starting with the T-44 tank introduced at the end of World War II. This later led to the T-55, then T-62, T-72, T-80, and T-90. A straight line evolutionary path can be traced from the T-44 to the Russian tanks of today. Armata largely breaks with that path. Armata is armed with a 2A82-1M smoothbore gun, 57-millimeter grenade launcher, and 12.7-millimeter machine gun, all mounted in an unmanned turret. The three-man crew sits in an armored capsule inside the already heavily armored tank, providing increased protection over past tanks. Armata is equipped with the Afghanit active protection system, which detects incoming rockets and missiles and shoots them down before they can hit the tank. Russia revealed Armata to the world in 2015, and the Russian government boasted that it would have 2,300 of the new tanks by 2020. Thats enough to arm at least seven tank divisions. In reality, the tank has still not entered mass production, with Moscow probably only having a handful of pre-production models at this time. Manturov says that serial production for the Russian Army will finally begin in 2021, and that Moscow is already talking to potential foreign customers. Source: TASS (state-sponsored) You Might Also Like The new coronavirus already has wreaked havoc on school districts closing campuses for the remainder of the school year, shifting learning online and exposing a wide digital divide between students who have ready access to the internet and those who do not. And that is only this year. Next year, even if the restrictions are lifted, the coronavirus still could spark a budget crisis for traditional and charter school districts across Texas. School finance officials and state leaders already are warning that the economic disruption caused by the pandemic, coupled with the ongoing oil slump, could result in a plunge in state revenues as sales taxes drop and commercial property values slip. Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar already has said the state is in a recession. As districts work to finish their 2020-2021 budgets for approval this summer, state Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Humble, said it would be prudent for them to squirrel away some money, even if it is too early to tell how much of an impact the pandemic will have on funding next year. Talking to superintendents, my message to everybody is, lets get though this year, lets get to summer time, and next session well need to watch things very closely, Huberty said. The state comptrollers office is slated to give an updated economic forecast in June, but districts must approve their budgets in June or August, depending on when their fiscal years begin. Districts across Texas already were working through seismic changes before schools and much of the country shut down last month, thanks to changes ushered in by a school finance overhaul passed by the Legislature in 2019. The reform, House Bill 3, requires districts to base their upcoming budget on current year property values, instead of the previous years values. Districts receive a larger infusion of state money, too, but the rate at which they can tax local property owners effectively will be capped by the state, said Catherine Knepp, an associate at the Moak, Casey & Associates school finance consulting group. How much local tax rates have to be lowered depends on the rate local property values rise and several other factors. Districts were still figuring out how to do that, Knepp said. Then enter coronavirus. For local revenues, Knepp said, districts most likely to be impacted by the coronavirus closures will be those in which a larger share of their tax base is commercial or industrial property rather than residential. About 60 percent of Deer Park ISDs tax base, for example, comes from industrial properties that could suffer if the oil slump continues or if businesses there shut down entirely. Pete Pape, assistant superintendent for business services in Deer Park ISD, said he already was concerned about the sustainability of the changes made in HB 3 before the new coronavirus spread to the United States. Those concerns have been compounded with the current economic situation. When the Legislature meets, they all have what they want to get done. In a good year or biennium, you never have enough money, Pape said. This next one is going to be even less, so you wonder what the priorities are going to be. Huberty said the Legislature plans to save $1 billion of federal stimulus money for the next session to help fund schools and other parts of the states budget. Although it is too early to tell how much damage could be done as businesses and much of public life remain closed, he said money could be tight next session and said superintendents should begin looking where they could trim their budgets. The bones of what we put together with HB 3 remain intact, and we got some stimulus money from the feds to help us out with next year, Huberty said. But were going to have to look at everything. Conroe ISD officials are being cautiously optimistic. At a workshop last week, Chief Financial Officer Darrin Rice said the district still plans to give teachers and support staff cost-of-living adjustments ranging from 2.5 percent for administrators to 5 percent for the districts police officers. Rice said those wage increases are possible because the district did not spend all of the cash infusion HB 3 brought last year, and enrollments are expected to rise by about 1,500 students, an increase that will bring more state funding. Trustee Skeeter Hubert asked what would happen if growth slows or stops altogether during the recession and the estimated 1,500 new students do not materialize. Keeping the estimated $4 million those new students would have brought in the budget would give the district some wiggle room if state funding becomes scarce, Superintendent Curtis Null said. The reason we want to carry $4 million forward is we know whats going to happen next time the Legislature meets, Null said. Its going to be ugly, their budget is going to be really tight. When we can carry any money forward, it can soften any blow in changes to the funding formula. Glenn Reed, interim chief financial officer in Houston ISD, said there are myriad issues and questions his team is working through now, with little data or precedent to guide them. What if more people are delinquent in paying their property taxes? What if commercial property values plummet as some businesses close for good? Will enrollments decline, just as they did after big storms and previous recessions? When I sit and think about these things, I could have 25 to 30 different things that might happen, Reed said. Which one do you pick? Now Playing: 'COVID-19 in 60': Houston coronavirus news in a minute Video: Houston Chronicle shelby.webb@chron.com The coronavirus pandemic has forced the closing of schools across America some for the rest of the school year. Public school leaders are scrambling to come up with ways to keep learning on track during this education shutdown. Like thousands of parents across Texas, Ted and I have been thrust into the role of part-time teacher. Unfortunately, some states have the ability to provide more resources to hardworking K-12 educators and parents than Texas does right now. In Texas, we are hampered by a law enacted in 2013 greatly restricting full-time online education to just six of the states 1,254 school districts and charter schools. Correctly, in response to the current pandemic, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath quickly issued a waiver overriding the 2013 moratorium. However, the state begins this battle with a small infrastructure of providers and courses. The state of Texas created the Texas Virtual School Network, TXVSN, in 2007 and robustly funded its early development to spur the review and approval of providers and courses. In the 2010-11 biennium, the state of Texas funded the TXVSN at $10.5 million a year so they could review and approve new courses. However, in 2013, the state effectively banned new providers of full-time virtual education, including almost all of the states public school districts. CORONAVIRUS UPDATES: Stay informed with accurate reporting you can trust on HoustonChronicle.com This year, the state provided only $400,000 for the TXVSN, a number the Texas Education Agency says is not enough for them to review and approve new courses. As a result, the course offerings by online providers in Texas are much more limited than in other states. Not surprisingly, course enrollments have dramatically fallen from their 2010 peak. Unfortunately, despite all of the technological improvements of the last decade, Texas is less prepared to offer online education during this crisis than we were 10 years ago. The public universities of Texas have provided a model for K-12. Over the last six years, public universities in Texas have developed their online capacity for educating students. When the coronavirus hit Texas, and students were sent home, the states public universities already had a robust set of classes available online and quickly shifted the rest of their classes online to help students stay on track. Meanwhile, the states K-12 schools are still scrambling to make this happen and the TXVSN is of little help because there is very little existing infrastructure to build upon and quickly ramp up. In contrast, a state like Florida is outpacing Texas. The state is rapidly ramping up virtual school training for teachers. The Florida Department of Education is working with the Florida Virtual School to offer all school districts student support and teacher professional development tailored to the online learning environment. The state is offering $200 stipends to teachers who complete the training with an immediate goal of training an additional 10,000 teachers statewide. In addition to teacher training, FLVS is increasing its server capacity to educate 470,000 full-time students by April 17 and 2.7 million students by May 4. LIVE UPDATES: Stay on top of the latest coronavirus news, analysis and more with our daily live blog Now Playing: 'COVID-19 in 60': Houston coronavirus news in a minute Video: Houston Chronicle When the Texas Legislature returns, one of its priorities should be the elimination of the 2013 moratorium on new online education providers. The Legislature should look to provide more funding for the approval of providers and courses as well as training for teachers across the state in how to educate students online and make sure there is accountability in all virtual providers. Texas is the best state in the Union, and there is no reason we cannot be on the cutting edge of virtual learning. Its the right thing to do for our kids, our educators and hardworking parents across the state. Cruz is chairwoman of the Texas Federation for Children, a project of American Federation for Children, a 501(c)(4) organization, which is the nations leading organization seeking to empower families, especially lower-income families, with the freedom to choose the best K-12 education for their children. BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 21 By Tamilla Mammadova Trend: Turkey exported 12,675 tons of petroleum and petroleum oils totaling $8.1 million to Georgia from January through March 2020, Trend reports referring to Georgian National Statistics Office (Geostat). Over the same period last year, 5,865 tons of petroleum and petroleum oils were imported by Georgia from Turkey for a total amount of $4.7 million. Turkey ranks first in Georgias commodity circulation. From January through March 2020, total imports from Turkey to Georgia amounted to $348.2 million. In turn, Georgia exported goods worth $53.9 million to Turkey. The foreign trade turnover of Georgia with Turkey in the reporting period exceeded $402.2 million, which is 14.5 percent of Georgia's total trade turnover. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Mila61979356 On the occasion of International Earth Day, Prime Minister Narendra has requested all countrymen to work towards a cleaner and healthier planet. International Earth Day is celebrated annually on April 22, the purpose behind celebrating Earth Day is to rally support for environmental protection. PM Modi on Twitter wrote, "On International Day of Mother Earth, we all express gratitude to our planet for the abundance of care & compassion. Let us pledge to work towards a cleaner, healthier & more prosperous planet". The PM also took this opportunity to give a shout out to all those working at the forefront of India's fight to defeat the coronavirus. On International Day of Mother Earth, we all express gratitude to our planet for the abundance of care & compassion. Let us pledge to work towards a cleaner, healthier & more prosperous planet. A shout out to all those working at the forefront to defeat COVID-19. #EarthDay2020 - Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 22, 2020 The first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970 as a response to the oil spill off the coast of California. Millions of Americans had paraded in the streets to support environmental protection reforms following the spill. Fifty years later, the Earth Day Network has called for people to unite against the coronavirus pandemic. "Amid the recent outbreak, we encourage people to rise up but to do so safely and responsibly - in many cases, that means using our voices to drive action online rather than in person," said Kathleen Rogers, President of Earth Day Network. Meanwhile, India has reported 15,474 active cases of coronavirus (as of 8 am, April 22), according to the Health Ministry. Total deaths stood at 640. As many as 3,869 patients have been cured or discharged and 1 migrated. Also Read: Coronavirus India Lockdown Live Updates: Maharashtra reports 552 new cases, UP-153; Country's tally at 19,984 Also Read: Coronavirus impact: Swiggy to lay off 1,000 employees as demand slumps 60% The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 will soon get a blood pressure monitoring feature. The South Korean company has announced that its Samsung Health Monitor app has been approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) as a Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) to measure blood pressure, making it a government-certified cuffless blood pressure monitoring application. However, you still need to calibrate the initial measurement with a traditional blood pressure monitor. You can then measure your blood pressure anytime, anywhere directly through the watch. The advanced heart rate sensors on Samsung smartwatches measure blood pressure through pulse wave analysis. The app measures the relationship between the calibrated value and the blood pressure change to determine your blood pressure. Advertisement The accompanying smartphone app further lets users track and compare blood pressure values for longer time periods. Samsung recommends repeating the calibration process once a month to ensure accuracy. Samsung Health Monitor a blood pressure monitoring app for smartwatches The Galaxy Watch Active 2 is the most feature-packed Samsung smartwatch yet. It offers tons of health-related features such as ECG, female health-tracking, heart rate monitoring, and sleep tracking. The company is now adding one more critical feature to its repertoire. High blood pressure significantly increases the risk of brain, kidney, and heart diseases. If not managed properly, high blood pressure can lead to stroke and coronary heart disease. Advertisement Samsung is now giving its smartwatch users the ability to track their blood pressure directly from their watch, giving them greater insight into their health. The Samsung Health Monitor app has the potential to help millions of people around the world who are affected by high blood pressure, said Taejong Jay Yang, SVP at Samsung. This is one of many examples of how Samsung is integrating its best-in-class hardware with the latest software innovations to innovate mobile experiences. The new Samsung Health Monitor app is still in development. Samsung expects to make it available for the Galaxy Watch Active 2 by the end of the third quarter this year. Advertisement It will also be available for the upcoming crop Galaxy Watch devices. Its unclear if any of Samsungs older Galaxy smartwatches will get this feature. Also, this app has only got approval from the South Korean health ministry so far. It will need approval from local government health authorities in other countries as well before Samsung can rollout this feature elsewhere. So it could take several months for the Samsung Health Monitor app to be available globally. Even as states move ahead with plans to reopen their economies, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Tuesday that a second wave of the novel coronavirus will be far more deadly because it is likely to coincide with the start of flu season. "There's a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through," CDC Director Robert Redfield said in an interview with The Washington Post. "And when I've said this to others, they kind of put their head back, they don't understand what I mean." Having two simultaneous respiratory outbreaks would put unimaginable strain on the health-care system, he said. The first wave of covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has already killed more than 42,000 people across the country. It has already overwhelmed hospitals and revealed gaping shortages in test kits, ventilators and protective equipment for health-care workers. In a wide-ranging interview, Redfield said federal and state officials need to use the coming months to prepare for what lies ahead. As stay-at-home orders are lifted, officials need to stress the continued importance of social distancing. Officials also need to need to massively scale up their ability to identify the infected through testing and find everyone they interact with through contact tracing. Doing so prevents new cases from becoming larger outbreaks. Asked about the appropriateness of protests against stay-at-home orders and calls on states to be "liberated" from restrictions, Redfield said: "It's not helpful." He said he, along with members of the White House coronavirus task force, have been clear about the importance of social distancing "and the enormous impact that it's had on this outbreak in our nation." As part of the White House guidelines released last week for a gradual reopening of the country, testing by CDC teams is already underway in nursing homes in four states for asymptomatic cases. The four states are Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota and Tennessee, according to a federal health official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the plan has not yet been released. The CDC has also drafted detailed guidance for state and local governments on how they can ease mitigation efforts, moving from drastic restrictions such as stay-at-home orders in a phased way to support a safe reopening. Redfield said that guidance will be "in the public domain shortly." CDC has about 500 staff in the states working on a variety of public health issues, and most of them will be pivoting to the covid-19 response, Redfield said. CDC also plans to hire at least another 650 personnel as experts to "substantially augment" public health personnel in the states and assist with contact tracing, among other tasks, he said. But he acknowledged a much larger workforce is needed. Redfield said the agency is talking with state officials about the possibility of using Census Bureau workers, Peace Corps and AmeriCorps volunteers to build "an alternative workforce." The Census Bureau had earlier suspended field operations because of the pandemic and census personnel are already located in every jurisdiction, Redfield said. If there is an agreement to use census workers, they could be trained "to be part of a comprehensive contact tracing effort," he said. "These are all discussions that are going on to try to determine what is the optimal strategy to be used," he said. "And it may be some combination of all three." Former CDC Director Tom Frieden has estimated that as many as 300,000 contact tracers would be needed in the United States. The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials - which represents state health departments - estimate 100,000 additional contact tracers are needed and call for $3.6 billion in emergency funding from Congress. In the coming summer months, U.S. health officials need to persuade Americans to think ahead to the fall and the importance of getting flu shots. That way, public health officials can minimize the number of people hospitalized from flu. Getting a flu vaccination, Redfield said, "may allow there to be a hospital bed available for your mother or grandmother that may get coronavirus." Luckily, the arrival of the coronavirus in the United States came as the regular flu season was already waning, he said. By itself, a severe influenza season can strain hospitals and clinics. If the first wave of the coronavirus and flu season had peaked at the same time, he said, "it could have been really, really, really, really difficult in terms of health capacity." During the 2009 H1N1 swine flu pandemic, the United States experienced its first wave in the spring, followed by a second, larger wave in the fall and winter, during typical "flu season" time for the country. Sinn Fein's national chairperson Declan Kearney has accused "some unionists" in Northern Ireland of putting the economy ahead of public health. UUP leader Steve Aiken rejected the comments describing them as "ideological waffle" saying it was vitally important all in the Executive pulled together as one. He said the virus "should not be politicised". He questioned if Sinn Fein was a "party of protest or a party of government". "We can't have four parties pulling together and one party on the outside," he said. Read More Junior Minister Kearney claimed some in unionism wanted coronavirus lockdown measures relaxed in order to help the economy. A proposal he said was also supported by "ring-wing elements" in the UK Government. "Disturbingly, the extension of lockdown in the short term masks an argument which is being encouraged by some right-wing elements in the British Cabinet, and also by some unionists in the north of Ireland, that the lockdown measures should be relaxed, and that economic activity and productivity should be resumed," the South Antrim MLA wrote in An Phoblacht. "It is the typical capitalist reflex which puts the market economy first. "Corporate greed over public welfare. "The elevation of neo-liberal values and priorities above whats actually needed at this time." Read More Mr Kearney said that "talk of getting back to normal is completely misplaced" "There will of course need to be preparations for economic reconstruction, but that must not take place separate to, or in isolation from a strategic debate about the future of public health," he said. "Free market economic interests must not be allowed to take primacy over the health priorities and wellbeing of wider society. "This is one of the big ideological challenges which faces Irish society beyond Covid-19." Sinn Fein party president Mary Lou McDonald told BBC Talkback public health measures had to trump the economy. She said she agreed with the points made and it was important to "do the right thing" and there was a conversation to be had about how the lockdown ended. She rejected a suggestion Mr Kearney had made the matter a political green and orange issue. "Tory austerity, that unionism unfortunately backed up, that type of mentality and austerity cannot feature again on our horizon, that's what Declan is saying, Declan is right to say that. I absolutely agree with him," Mrs McDonald said. "That austerity formula, that hurt so many people in the aftermath of the banking crash, is not the answer this time. It would make what is already a very, very difficult situation much worse." UUP leader Steve Aiken said focus should be on saving lives and not "political point scoring". He added: "As the Health Minister, Robin Swann has spelt out, at the end of this the only thing dividing us will be those who are still alive and those who are dead. When we are through this, there will be plenty of time for analysis, but for now we need to make sure as many people as possible survive. ALEPPO, Syria On April 19, minor clashes broke out in the town of Armanaz in the northwestern countryside of Idlib between Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and al-Qaedas Guardians of Religion Organization (GRO). The dispute arose between the two after HTS members tried to close the GRO headquarters in the town and expel its members from it. The GRO accuses HTS of attempting to push its members out of the towns and cities of Idlibs western and northern countryside, which is an area close to the Syrian-Turkish border. Tensions remain between the two sides, and may at any moment evolve into a broader military clash, despite calls by Abu Mohammed al-Sudani, a senior GRO leader, to negotiate and resolve the dispute peacefully. It seems that what HTS fears in the event of a clash with the GRO is defections in its ranks, particularly from the more hard-line groups within HTS that do not see an interest in any confrontation with the GRO or any other jihadist organization in Idlib. HTS was designated a terror organization by the United States and the UN Security Council in 2018. International sanctions have been imposed on the organization. On April 7, Jamal Zainiyah, known as Abu Malik al-Telli, a senior HTS leader and a member of its Shura Council, defected from HTS and issued a statement on Telegram, explaining his actions. I have decided to leave HTS due to my lack of knowledge of some of the groups policies or my lack of conviction in them, his statement read. Zainiyah is considered one of the most hard-line HTS leaders, and he was the prince of Jabhat al-Nusra in the western Qalamoun area near the Lebanese border in Damascus countryside, before moving with his members to Idlib after he signed the Arsal Agreement with the Lebanese Hezbollah in August 2017. Jabhat al-Nusra was established in 2012 as an affiliate to al-Qaeda in Syria. In 2016, it rebranded as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham before changing its name to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in January 2017, as part of attempts to avoid being designated as a terror organization. HTS, however, maintains that it does not have links to al-Qaeda, and has tried to recast its image as a more mainstream Islamist opposition group in order to keep its hold on areas it controls in Idlib, were it imposes Islamic law. The direct reason for Zainiyahs defection is believed to be due to his objection to the decision of the HTS-affiliated so-called Syrian Salvation Government in Idlib, which was issued on April 3, to suspend the Friday prayer in Idlib in order to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. Zainiyah said in an April 4 statement, The Islamic nation was afflicted today by suspending the Friday [prayer] without controlling the markets [other gatherings] on the pretext of preventing the spread of the pandemic. Only when streets and markets are controlled and gatherings and sit-ins prevented, and fatwa jurists agree on the need to close mosques for a certain period for the sake of legitimacy, there is nothing wrong with [suspending Friday prayer]. Mahmoud Talha, a journalist from the western countryside of Aleppo who works with Thiqa News Agency, told Al-Monitor, "[Zainiyah has] a large number of supporters in the HTS ranks, a large part of whom came with him from the western Qalamoun area in 2017, and they followed suit by defecting as well. No one knows their actual numbers. Talha added, These defections are expected to increase in the coming period and include more radical figures. It seems that the reasons for Zainiyahs defection are many, the most important of which are the differences within HTS, particularly in its leadership, and the main dispute is on the cease-fire agreement signed between Russia and Turkey on March 5. The hard-line current inside HTS, which includes Zainiyah, is dissatisfied with the agreement and wants the battles to resume. The Syrian regime forces had stepped up their attacks against HTS and Turkish-backed rebels in Iblib in recent months, before the cease-fire was reached. Talha added, Zainiyah had previously threatened to defect on several occasions after the leadership ignored his demands, the most important of which was to have an active role in the leaderships general and internal policy and to join the close circle of HTS commander-in-chief Abu Mohammad al-Julani, i.e., be in direct knowledge of the various directions and supposed shifts pursued by HTS. He also demanded that he leads the security apparatus and solve the critical financial issue. Mohamad Rasheed, a journalist based in Idlib and working with local media outlets, told Al-Monitor, Zainiyah has threatened to defect from HTS more than once during the past two years, and wanted to pledge allegiance to the GRO due to his differences with the HTS leadership, which has ignored Zainiyah since his arrival in Idlib in 2017 from the Qalamoun area. He was not given high-ranking positions, which bothered him and those close to him. Rasheed noted, Zainiyah is one of the jihadist figures who are not satisfied with the pragmatic shifts HTS has taken. He opposes its attempt to turn from an extremist jihadist organization into a moderate Islamic organization, and naturally opposes making room for the Turkish army to expand its deployment in Idlib. Zainiyahs positions are consistent with the GRO in terms of refusing to stop the fighting and obey the cease-fire. The differences within the HTS ranks seem serious and disputes revolve around the international Aleppo-Latakia M4 highway, the terms of the cease-fire agreement, the role of the Turkish army in Idlib and the future of armed opposition areas in Idlib in general if the cease-fire is long term. As per said agreement, radical organizations must withdraw from the safe zone between Tronba village in Saraqib and Tall Hawr in Jisr al-Shughurs countryside. On April 15, a video showed HTS members on the M4 highway threatening to behead Turkish soldiers, forcing the HTS leadership to issue a statement in Turkish on April 16 condemning the threats. Defections also affected the HTS-affiliated administrative institutions in Idlib. On April 7, the head of the General Shura Council in Idlib, Bassam Sahyouni, announced his resignation for reasons that he did not specify. He played a major role in promoting the HTS administrative and political project in Idlib during 2018 and 2019. Sahyouni also attracted a large number of Syrian opposition figures, including academics and tribal elders and sheikhs, to participate in the local councils, the General Shura Council and the Syrian Salvation Government, which are all under the HTS umbrella in Idlib. One of the hottest spots on Earth during all of 2018 may have owed its fiery, eruptive activity to a cool source that fell from the skywater. Hawaiis Kilauea volcano erupted two years ago on May 3, shooting an ash plume more than 5 1/2 miles into the sky, higher than the cruising altitude of some commercial aircraft. But unlike most volcanoes that erupt when the pressure in an underground magma chamber increases and fractures the rock around it, allowing lava to escape, Kilauea exploded in a much different fashion, according to a pair of University of Miami researchers. Prolonged and extreme rainfall quite probably reduced the strength of the rock around the magma chamber, giving the molten material a pathway to the surface. We knew that changes in the water content in Earths crust can trigger earthquakes and landslides, and now we know that it can also trigger volcanic eruptions, said Falk Amelung, a professor of geophysics at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and co-author of a recent Nature-published and NASA-funded study on how extreme rainfall may have triggered the Kilauea eruption. Under pressure from magma, wet rock breaks easier than dry rock. It is as simple as that. Using data from NASA and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) satellites, as well as measurements from ground-based rainfall gauges, Amelung and lead investigator Jamie Farquharson modeled fluid pressure deep within Kilaueas structure over time, finding that the pressure was at its highest point in almost half a century immediately prior to the volcanos eruption. And, it is that fluid pressure that most likely resulted in magma escaping to the surface, the researchers believe. Interestingly, when we investigate Kilaueas historical eruption record, we see that magmatic intrusions and recorded eruptions are almost twice as likely to occur during the wettest parts of the year, said Farquharson, an experimental volcanologist and postdoctoral researcher at the Rosenstiel School. Farquharson has been fascinated by and studying the dynamics of volcanoes since his academic career began at the University of Stirling in Scotland 13 years ago. After he graduated from that institution, he served as an assistant researcher at a volcano observatory in Mexico, analyzing thermal data and taking soil, water, and gas measurements of Colima, that countrys most active volcano. Along with a group of 12 other researchers, he hiked the flanks of Mount Etna in Sicily for eight days in 2014, exploring its outcrops and deposits even as volcanic activity ramped up at the powerful volcano on each day of their fieldwork. We had to change plans on the fly, he recalled, and every day offered something new. He has been to White Island volcano in New Zealand, explored the summit of Colima during one of its less active periods, and surveyed Mount Evermann on the volcanic island of Socorro off the coast of Mexico. Volcanology, according to Farquharson, is a study unlike any othersafe at times, perilous at others. It can be dangerous work, and people who do fieldwork around volcanoes are acutely aware of the risks, he explained. These are really mountains with deep slopes where rock falls can occur, and thats not even taking into account that the volcanic activity that can erupt with little to no warning. Hes aware of many tragedies in which volcanologists have perished while doing what they lovedsimply because they may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. But, even though it may mean putting himself at risk at times, it is vital that he studies one of natures most powerful forces because getting a better understanding of volcanoes can actually help save lives, because many people, Farquharson pointed out, live in close proximity to volcanoes. Kilauea, which the U.S. Geological Survey says may top the list of the worlds most active volcanoes, erupted over a four-month period in 2018, spewing enough lava to fill 320,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools, destroying 700 homes and damaging miles of roads. As climate change continues to affect precipitation patterns around the world, rainfall-induced volcanic activity could become more common, Farquharson noted. Most global climate models dont tend to agree on how much more global precipitation there will be, but they are remarkably consistent in predicting areas where well experience more extreme rainfall, he said. This could possibly tell us something. If we can identify regions of the globe where this kind of coupling between rainfall and volcanism exists, it could go a long way towards advanced warning of associated volcanic hazards. BEIJING, April 21 (Xinhua) -- The State Council's executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday decided to give greater weight to inclusive financing in evaluating the performance of financial institutions, and lower the provision coverage ratio of small and medium-sized banks so as to boost financial services for micro and small firms. The Chinese government puts great emphasis on the economic development amid the global spread of COVID-19. Li has repeatedly urged upgrading financial services in support of the real economy. Since the start of the COVID-19 situation, the People's Bank of China, China's central bank, has cut the required reserve ratio three times this year, releasing 1.75 trillion yuan (about 246.7 billion U.S. dollars) in liquidity to better support smaller businesses. "We must scale up financial support for the real economy, especially the micro, small and medium-sized companies, to help them overcome the difficulties," Li said. It was decided on Tuesday that the regulatory requirement for the provision coverage ratio of small and medium-sized banks will be lowered by 20 percentage points, to free up more credit resources and boost the capacity for serving micro and small companies. To encourage financial institutions to better serve micro and small businesses, the meeting decided to raise the weight of inclusive finance to no less than 10 percent in the integrated performance evaluation of the branches and subsidiaries of financial institutions in the banking sector, to incentivize more lending to micro and small firms. "Financial departments must adjust and adapt the support polices in light of the changing COVID-19 situation and economic conditions. The policies introduced need to be targeted and robust," Li said. To ease the rent burden on micro, small and self-employed businesses, the meeting called for a three-month rent exemption in the first half of this year for such firms in the services sector renting state-owned properties. The meeting urged state-owned enterprises, especially those directly under central management, and public institutions such as colleges, universities and research institutes, to take the lead in offering such rent relief. State-owned banks will be encouraged to extend pledge loan at concessional rates to such lessors according to their needs. Yolanda Peterson says she had prepared a room in her Michigan home for her brother, eagerly anticipating his release from prison after serving 44 years for a murder that initially got him a sentence of life without parole when he was barely old enough to drive. On April 12, she said a parole agent inspected her suburban Detroit residence and deemed it a suitable place for 60-year-old William Garrison to live. "He was looking forward to getting out," Peterson told ABC News of her older brother. "He wanted to work as an advocate for people in jail. He was a very knowledgable person. He had a lot going on. He helped a lot of prisoners, reviewing their cases. He got people out of jail." MORE: Federal prisons facing shortages of resources amid coronavirus outbreak But a day after the parole agent visited Peterson's home, Garrison died at the Macomb Correctional Facility in Lenox Township, Michigan, and a postmortem test confirmed he had contracted the novel coronavirus, prison officials said. His death came just 24 days before he likely would have been released. "I'm grieving right now," Peterson said on Tuesday while adhering to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's statewide coronavirus stay-at-home orders. "I'm the only person who closely stood with my brother for 44 years and walked this road with him. We're heartbroken because he was coming home. Justice should be served because my brother shouldn't have died." At the age of 16, Garrison was convicted of murder for gunning down a 50-year-old man during a 1976 home-invasion robbery, a mistake his sister said "he repented for over and over again." However, her brother, she said, had felt the courts had done him an injustice by making him a juvenile lifer. After the U.S. Supreme Court banned life-without-parole sentences for juveniles in 2018, Garrison was resentenced in January to a term of 40 to 90 years. By then he had already served more than his minimum sentence. Story continues Garrison rejects offer of early parole Chris Gautz, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Corrections, said the case is even more heartbreaking because the state parole board had granted Garrison early parole back in February before the first cases of coronavirus appeared in Michigan, but he refused to accept it. He decided to wait out the remainder of his sentence, which, at that time, would have ended on Sept. 4, Gautz said, noting that Garrison had been awarded more than 7,000 days of "good time" credits. "What he told the board was, 'I would rather stay in here until September and walk out a completely free man rather than walk out right now and be on parole and have to report to a parole agent and have to go through all that,'" Gautz told ABC News. PHOTO: A photo shows William Garrison, May 22, 2018. Garrison, who declined to be paroled earlier in 2020 after decades behind bars, died on Monday, April 13, 2020 from COVID-19 complications, officials said. (MDOC via AP) But when the first presumptive cases of COVID-19 were announced in Michigan in early March, corrections officials began scrambling to reduced the state prison population, anticipating that social distancing would be tough to accomplish in packed prison cellblocks. "We started proactively looking for individuals who were elderly, who might be more prone to contracting the virus. So, he popped up on our list," Gautz said. "We went to him again and said, 'Hey look, we tried to parole you before and you didn't want to go, but now that this virus is here and you're over the age of 60, and the experts say that you're more prone to get it, we'd like to consider you for parole again.'" This time, Garrison accepted the offer. But before he could be paroled, corrections officials were obligated to send a letter to prosecutors in the county where Garrison was convicted of murder advising them of his impending release. The letter was sent on April 8, giving the Wayne County prosecutor 28 days to appeal, Gautz said. "Obviously they're our most populous county and we've sent them more than 100 letters," Gautz said of the county that encompasses Detroit. "We haven't heard back on any of them, but we know that they have many other things that they're doing." Barring an appeal from the Wayne County prosecutor, Garrison was set to be released on May 6, Gautz said. 'Gasping for air' On April 13, Garrison's cellmate cried out for help when he noticed Garrison appeared to be in medical distress, Gautz said. "His bunkmate said that he was gasping for air and he called out for help, and our officers rushed in, performed life-saving measures, got the ambulance in there, got him to the hospital," Gautz said. "Once he was at the hospital and died, the doctors there decided to test him postmortem for COVID-19." MORE: State prisons prepare for coronavirus but federal prisons not providing significant guidance, sources say Peterson claims she was contacted by her brother's cellmate, who she says told her that he had symptoms of coronavirus prior to Garrison's death. She said other prisoners who witnessed her brother's fatal episode told her that prison staff was slow in responding to repeated calls for help from Garrison's bunkmate and that corrections officers handcuffed her brother when he fell unconscious onto the cell floor. "He caught it from his roommate, being locked down in there since February. He hadn't been outside since February," said Peterson, adding that she has contacted an attorney about taking legal action. "He's not going to die in vain because he did ask for help. His roommate asked them for help. Then they put him in shackles after he died on the floor. Gautz said Peterson has apparently been misinformed. He said Garrison nor his cellmate exhibited symptoms or complained of being ill before to the fatal episode. He said that the prison's nursing staff had even gone cell-to-cell examining inmates prior to Garrison's death. Gautz said that Garrison's cellmate was immediately placed in quarantine and was tested for the virus. He said the test on the cellmate came back negative. "It speaks to the insidious nature of this virus that some people can have no symptoms at all and all of a sudden, just like that, they're having these issues," Gautz said. "It's just very unfortunate." Hundreds of prisoners test positive in Michigan He said that 81 prisoners at the Macomb Correctional Facility, which houses about 1,300 inmates, had tested positive for the virus as of Monday night. He said no other coronavirus-linked deaths have occurred at the prison. Gautz said that of the 38,000 inmates in the entire state prison system, 574 had tested positive and 21 had died. Overall, Michigan had recorded more than 32,000 positive cases of the virus as of Tuesday and at least 2,700 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University's Coronavirus Resource Center. Gautz said the Department of Corrections is continuing to work to reduce the prison population, adding that 200 inmates are scheduled to be paroled this week and 700 to 900 others by the end of this month. "That's just a little bit higher than average. We parole about 9,000 prisoners every year in general," Gautz said. MORE: Fearing outbreaks and riots, nation's prison and jail wardens scramble to respond to coronavirus threat He said only about 5,000 prisoners are eligible for early parole. "Certainly every prisoner that we release, the parole board is first and foremost looking at whether or not they are going to be a harm to society if they're released," Gautz said. "[Garrison] certainly was not one that we were worried about committing new crimes and that's why the board was happy to vote him out twice." What to know about the coronavirus: How it started and how to protect yourself: Coronavirus explained What to do if you have symptoms: Coronavirus symptoms Tracking the spread in the U.S. and worldwide: Coronavirus map Tune into ABC at 1 p.m. ET and ABC News Live at 4 p.m. ET every weekday for special coverage of the novel coronavirus with the full ABC News team, including the latest news, context and analysis. 'He was coming home': Michigan prisoner who served 44 years died from coronavirus days before release originally appeared on abcnews.go.com On March 11, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. Five days later, the White House issued a guideline that required citizens to work and study from home, avoid gatherings of more than 10 people and discretionary travel. It seems that we have become involved in a war against the pandemic before we are even ready. People cancel traveling plans and stay at home I had planned to travel to California during the Spring break. However, as California became a severely-hit state in America amid the epidemic, I was forced to cancel the trip, as were many people around me. Public places such as restaurants and bars were shut down and recreational and religious activities and weddings were required to be held online. Many states have asked citizens to participate in the presidential primary elections via e-mail. During the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C. held from the end of March to the beginning of April, people usually take part in the parade, enjoy the blossoms and have picnics with family and friends. This year, however, the festive mood was nowhere to be found. Foreign students store up food and try to keep themselves amused In order to avoid physical contact with other people, we would order our daily necessities from supermarkets and have them delivered to our homes. American supermarkets were open as usual, but occasionally suffered from a shortage of goods. Our orders were often replaced or cancelled due to lack of stock. Luckily, the food could basically meet daily living needs. Due to too many orders and deliveries, some supermarkets are only open for a certain period, and not all day. Amazon has hired twice as many deliverymen as usual to meet the increasing demand. Hygiene products are scarce amide the pneumonia outbreak. Articles like toilet paper, liquid hand soap and disinfectant wipes are still in short supply. We have already stored rice, noodles, eggs, milk, vegetables, fruits and other food and daily necessities to prepare for a protracted war against the epidemic. While staying at home, many Chinese students in America have taken up hobbies to pass the time. The Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) of the university has also organized online activities such as singing contests to enrich our lives. Students take online courses amid the pneumonia outbreak Many universities in the U.S. have rolled out online courses, including the Johns Hopkins University. The university has closed its libraries and study rooms and required staff members at the offices related to student affairs to work through the online platform. A number of events have either been cancelled or held online instead, including academic lectures, themed forums and even the graduation ceremony for the spring semester. The hospital and welfare center at the university will provide assistance for the students, with the cost of treatment to be reimbursed through medical insurance. Motherland gives out medical supplies to students overseas The overseas students are not alone in the fight against the novel coronavirus. On March 18, Cui Tiankai, Chinese ambassador to the U.S., spoke with student representatives in America online, giving advice on whether they need to come back to China amid the epidemic and giving them a boost of confidence. At the beginning of April, China put together 500,000 packages of medical supplies for students abroad. My Chinese classmates and I have all received these kind parcels from the motherland. China is a pillar of support behind all of us overseas students, and we hope the epidemic will be defeated soon and the world will return to normal. Xie Xiaofan is a postgraduate student at the Johns Hopkins University After the Wadhawan brothers and 21 others, including their family members, reached Mahabaleshwar hill town, they were quarantined there by the Satara district administration. DHFL promoters Wadhawans may be taken into CBI custody soon. Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Wednesday said the state government has requested the CBI to take the custody of DHFL promoters Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan, who allegedly violated the lockdown norms and travelled to Mahabaleshwar earlier this month, according to PTI. After the Wadhawan brothers and 21 others, including their family members, reached Mahabaleshwar hill town, they were quarantined there by the Satara district administration. In a Facebook address, Deshmukh said he has requested the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take the custody of Wadhawans after their quarantine period ends at 2 pm on Wednesday. Kapil Wadhawan, the 46-year-old chairman and managing director of Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL), was arrested on January 27 this year by the Enforcement Directorate for his dubious dealings with gangster Iqbal, who died in 2013, and was booked under provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). He was granted bail on 21 February1 by a special PMLA court in Mumbai. Earlier, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on 15 April moved the Bombay High Court seeking cancellation of bail of Wadhawan, who is an accused in a money laundering case, for violating his bail conditions and travelling during the coronavirus lockdown. Advocate Purnima Kantharia of the ED mentioned the application before high court Justice P D Naik. The court then issued notice to Wadhawan and posted the matter for further hearing on 23 April. Wadhawan, the 46-year-old chairman and managing director of DHFL, was arrested on 27 January this year by the ED for his dubious dealings with gangster Iqbal, who died in 2013, and was booked under provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). He was granted bail on 21 February by a special PMLA court in Mumbai. Wadhawan, his brother Dheeraj and other family members travelled to their farmhouse at Mahabaleshwar hill station in Maharashtra's Satara district last week, in alleged breach of the lockdown imposed to check the spread of coronavirus. Subsequently, the ED issued orders for seizure of five luxury vehicles in which they travelled to Mahabaleshwar from Khandala. Kantharia said the ED sought an urgent hearing of its application after it came to light that Kapil violated the conditions imposed upon him by the special PMLA court while granting him bail. "The accused (Kapil Wadhawan) was directed to appear regularly before the ED to ensure he does not leave the city. However, it was recently learnt that he travelled outside the city and thus, violated the bail conditions, Kantharia said. She said this was an added ground for the prosecution to seek urgent hearing into its application requesting cancellation of bail granted to Wadhawan. According to the ED, Kapil Wadhawan laundered money from DHFL as part of an illegal property deal with Mirchi. It alleged that Rs 12,773 crore was siphoned off from DHFL on the pretext of providing loans to one lakh fictitious customers. A part of this loan was used to make payments to Mirchi, who died in 2013 in London, the agency claimed. As per the ED's case, Mirchi's properties in Mumbai were sold to Sunblink Real Estate Private Limited, a company linked to Wadhawan and his brother Dheeraj Wadhawan. --With PTI inputs Telekom Malaysia (TM) will be offering free unifi Air to customers who are waiting for their new unifi fibre broadband to be installed at home. Applicable to new customers who sign up for any unifi Home plans, the service will be yours to use until your unifi Home is successfully installed. TMs announcement also clarified that the unifi Air service will be delivered to your doorstep, allowing customers with immediate wireless internet access for the home if there are delays with the unifi Home installation due to the ongoing Movement Control Order. unifi Air, which was introduced in August last year, is a wireless home broadband service that provides instant connectivity without requiring installation. It is designed for those who are not located within unifis fibre network coverage, and instead relies on TMs 4G LTE/TDD coverage. The service also allows you to connect up to 64 devices with unlimited internet quota at an average speed of 20Mbps. The unifi Air service is actually a standalone option from TM, which is currently priced at RM79 per month. Its a plug-and-play solution, making it ideal not just for those outside the unifi fibre network, but also for those in rented homes or seeking temporary home internet solutions. TMs free unifi Air offer is likely the telcos attempt to assist their customers despite the current restrictions put in place due to the ongoing movement control order (MCO). The Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) had announced that internet service installations and maintenance works are now permitted, but only in green zones. For more information, you can head on over to TMs Facebook page. (Source: Lowyat.NET) 0 0 votes Article Rating SHARE The spiritual head of the Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti shrine in Ajmer has appealed to the Muslims to offer prayers at homes instead of visiting mosques during the holy month of Ramzan. He also exhorted them to maintain social distancing while offering 'namaz' at homes to combat the coronavirus threat. "The Muslims of the country should stay at homes and offer namaz there instead of going to mosques. They should maintain social distancing. Parents should make sure that after 'Roza iftar' (breaking of fast), their children should continue to stay at homes," the shrine's spiritual head or 'Dargah Deewan', Zainul Abedin Ali Khan, said. He said people should strictly follow the advisories and guidelines of the central as well as the state governments and also cooperate with the district administration during the ongoing lockdown period. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nothing in the law requires the Montana Consumer Counsel to clear its work with the politicians on the committee. Members of the Consumer Committee are told at the first meeting they attend not to meddle in the Montana Consumer Counsels work. Sen. Jeff Welborn, of Dillon, and Mike Hopkins, of Missoula, authored the letter. Commissioner Roger Koopman, a Bozeman Republican, didnt join the rest of the PSC in rescinding the order. He said the public deserved a more thorough application from NorthWestern and emphasized a point raised by ODonnell, that preapproving the Colstrip purchase shifted the risk of the sale onto consumers. We need to be extremely careful with the preapproval process. It is a process available to public utilities in Montana. It essentially puts an acquisition on more of a fast track. And any way you look at it theres going to be somewhat less information on the record in a faster process, and as Commissioner ODonnell pointed out, that indeed shifts the risk to the ratepayer more, Koopman said. And it also shifts the burden, if you will, the responsibility more to the commission, the Public Service Commission, because were saying go ahead. We cant deny you later when you come to us with a rate case because weve approved this thing.' The sharp and unexpected fall in WTI crude prices, slumping to a negative territory for May 20 contract can have significant bearing on the Indian economy. Let us analyse its implications and what can be done to utilise this windfall. Indian crude price is not directly related to US WTI crude price, but price is benchmarked to international benchmark like Brent and prices of other oil producing countries. However, crude oil prices in general have been on sharp decline, as given in the paragraph below, both due to demand destruction following projected negative growth in most parts of the globe and a supply glut. Also read: 'Cheaper than water' crude oil wasted on India - storage is to blame For the year 2020-21, India had budgeted a $105 billion crude import bill at an estimated average price of $66 per barrel. The estimated price at the time of budget in February 2020 was based on prevailing price then. For example, Brent prices for December 2019 was $69, and for January 2020 was $64. But when coronavirus broke out in China and was quickly followed in the rest of the world, crude prices started sliding. For February 2020, it stood at $56, March 2020 at $32 and April so far at $21. Even if the average price of crude starts bouncing back upwards, triggered through supply cuts and improvement in economy after a few months, the average price for the year will remain around $40 per barrel, and our import bill will be around $64 billion. In other words, reduction in our import bill would translate to at least $40 billion, without factoring our demand reduction. This is almost twice the fiscal stimulus of $23 billion announced by the Finance Minister to fight COVID-19. Or to put it differently, this year we have a health budget of Rs 69,000 crore, approximately $9 billion. So, thanks to the sharp fall in crude price, we will have savings of more than 4 times our health annual budget. Also read: WTI crude oil price drop effect: MCX settles April crude oil contract in negative So, this is a windfall for the Indian government. I have three suggestions, which I believe can be met from approximate Rs 3 lakh crore savings due to reduced crude import bill. We have a poor health infrastructure, and spend less than 1 per cent of our GDP on health. That is precisely one of the reasons why we stand at 129th in terms of Human Development Index, with 364 million poor people out of the total 1.3 billion poor people in the world. As pointed out by a McKinsey book, Reimagining India, one of the reasons why poor people cannot come up above the poverty line is unexpected illness or hospitalisation, which takes away all their savings. As per India 2020 handbook, in-patient hospitalisation cost has increased 300 per cent during the last 10 years and more than 80 per cent of expenditure are met from out of pocket (OOP) in absence of any meaningful health care. However, there has been a beginning now with Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. My suggestions to step up health infrastructure in the background of current health pandemic would be: 1. Let us try to have one Primary Health Centre (PHC), a mini hospital, in every Panchayat, to be managed by the Gram Panchayats. We may have to step up personnel requirements in terms of the number of medical and para medical staff in a phased manner in, say, the next 5-6 years. 2. Let all Indians be covered under a medical insurance scheme for an amount that is sufficient to cover even expensive treatment like heart operation, cancer etc which take away lives or life-long savings. Things are not encouraging now, because we cannot even afford to make COVID-19 tests free for all, let alone treatment. 3. Let us step up expenses in research, innovation and facilities to meet mass pandemic like COVID-19 at each state and may be district level. Health is wealth. If we want to become wealthy, a $5 trillion economy, we need to have healthy people to contribute to the health of the economy. We need to seriously bridge this great divide -- 5th in terms of GDP and an abysmal world ranking of 129 in terms of Human Development Index. Also read: Coronavirus impact: Oil industry cuts 51,000 jobs globally in March; more layoffs to follow INDIA CORONAVIRUS TRACKER: BusinessToday.In brings you a daily tracker as coronavirus cases continue to spread. Here is the state-wise data on total cases, fatalities and recoveries in one comprehensive graphic. Special Advisor to the President on Health, Dr. Anthony Nsiah Asare has refuted media reports that about three million Ghanaians will contract the novel coronavirus. According to him, such claims attributed to him is false. I want to just make it very short that its not true that Ghana will have three million people infected before well reach the peak. Its not true. Well never see that. Because as we speak now, the number of deaths in the country is nine. If you calculate it according to the percentage of the number of people who are infected, its 0.7%. So its nowhere near 5%. If you look at the number of tests we have done so far, we have 1,154 positives which is about 1.5% positivity of people that have been tested. And even if you look at the negative range, its about 98.5%. So we will never get near the WHO hypothesis, he insisted. Dr. Nsiah Asare, former Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, has been quoted as saying a model generated for coronavirus infections in Ghana projects that 10% of the population is likely to test positive. Speaking to Accra based Joy News, Dr. Asare reportedly said out of the 10% projected infections, majority of the cases are likely to be asymptomatic. We expect that about 10% of the population may be infected and out of the 10% of the population 80% may not show signs or symptoms at all and 5% of them will be very ill, that is the projection, he said. But speaking at the Special COVID-19 press briefing in Accra today, Wednesday, April 22, Dr. Asare said his assertion was taken out of context. I gave a hypothesis that WHO put out which is based on the population of the country. And I said that if Ghana stays without doing anything at all, that is what will happen to us as a country; 10% of the population being infected and 20% getting sick and about 5% getting very seriously ill. But I said that that is not the case in Africa. Based on the facts and data that we have, we have realized that our actual figures are far below what WHO has quoted. And its because weve put a lot of things in place to prevent the spread, he noted. ---citinewsroom With a focus on earning payment processing business from small and midsize merchants by offering the latest technologies, transparent pricing, interchange education and above-and-beyond service, Gateway Payments is a natural addition to our business. - Jim Oberman, CEO, Payroc Payroc, LLC, a high-growth merchant acquirer, processor and payment facilitation powerhouse, today announced it has acquired the assets and operations of independent sales organization Gateway Payments, LLC. Gateway Payments, with its principal sales office in Destin, Fla., serves merchants in Destin, Pensacola, New Orleans and other high-growth gulf coast markets. The companys customers and sales personnel are welcome additions to Payrocs rapidly growing merchant portfolio and sales organization. The transaction closed Feb. 28. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Payroc is growing quickly, both organically and through acquisitions, said James Oberman, chief executive officer for Payroc. With a focus on earning payment processing business from small and midsize merchants by offering the latest technologies, transparent pricing, interchange education and above-and-beyond service, Gateway Payments is a natural addition to our business, added Oberman. We are pleased to welcome Gateway Payments highly productive and customer-focused sales representatives and its healthy and growing portfolio of merchant customers into the Payroc family. Payroc is building a unique and special business in the world of payment processing, said Josh Foster, sales manager for Gateway Payments who will continue to lead the Destin office. We are excited to join forces to offer an expanded suite of products and services to our merchants and be a part of Payrocs fast-paced growth and success. About Payroc Payroc is a high-growth merchant acquirer, processor and payment facilitation powerhouse operating in 46 countries, processing $23 billion in annual charge volume for more than 55,000 merchants. The company offers best-in-class sales enablement and merchant processing technology on a global basis, delivering proprietary, innovative and full-service merchant acquiring solutions together with key card brand network payment sponsorship registrations. Payroc is a registered Visa third party processor (TPP), Mastercard third party servicer (TPSV) and a registered independent sales organization and merchant services provider (ISO/MSP), payment facilitator and encryption support organization for Fifth Third Bank, an Ohio-chartered bank, Cincinnati, Ohio. The company is also a registered ISO/MSP for Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (Wells), Concord, Calif., and is an Elavon payments partner and registered as an ISO/MSP of Elavon, Inc., Ga., a wholly owned subsidiary of US Bank Minneapolis. The companys Canadian business unit is a registered ISO/MSP of Wells and Peoples Trust Company, Vancouver, Canada. For more information, please visit payroc.com or telephone 844-PAYROC-4. Campus News UB launches new Climate Action Plan to achieve climate neutrality by 2030 By DAVID J. HILL We have to act on climate change before its too late. Our generation doesnt have the luxury to sit back and let other people solve the problem. We have to see the solutions through. It has been about 10 years since UB put out its first Climate Action Plan (CAP), laying the framework for the universitys climate neutrality and overall sustainability goals that build upon five decades of environmental leadership. Ten is a key number: Its the number of years UB scientists and others say the planet has to rein in greenhouse gas emissions before we see catastrophic damage due to a changing climate. So, to do its part, UBs updated and enhanced Climate Action Plan set to be unveiled on April 22 in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day features 10 in 10. UBs 10 in 10 is a roadmap of innovative, engaging and digestible strategies the university is taking to increase climate action throughout the university, putting UB on a path to achieve net zero emissions by 2030. These 10 initiatives represent a synthesis of ideas expressed by a diverse array of stakeholders through a robust two-year campus engagement process, which included students, faculty, staff and the community. They also form a framework for UBs implementation efforts, with each of the 10 categories corresponding to a working group that will advance action within the area. There is also a large focus on visualizing the data, which allows the campus community to take complex information and view it in a clearer, more simplified manner. The dashboards and other tools also demonstrate how the university is holding itself accountable toward achieving its goals. A new website further outlines the 10 in 10 and includes an informational video. The enhanced action plan comes at a crucial moment. We have to act on climate change before its too late. Our generation doesnt have the luxury to sit back and let other people solve the problem. We have to see the solutions through, says Sadie Kratt, director of environmental affairs for the UB Student Association. By implementing this climate action plan, we as students can see real goals and how were going to reach them, Kratt adds. It shows that we are not alone in caring for our earth and that a real paradigm shift in thinking is happening right before us. Change is beginning to happen because of sustainability-minded students like Kratt, who are demanding that universities like UB become part of the solution. Toward that end, UB is ranked among the top universities in the world in climate action, according to the Times Higher Education (THE) University Impact Rankings. Moreover, businesses are seeing the economic value in reducing emissions, and numerous states are moving strong climate policies forward. Nowhere is this more evident than here in New York, where the Climate Leadership Community Protection Act recently went into effect and represents the most aggressive climate change law in the country. Through these impactful strategies, UB is building on not only our original Climate Plan of a decade ago, but our universitys longstanding environmental stewardship and leadership in climate action mitigation, said UB President Satish K. Tripathi. Indeed, our efforts in this regard date back to the environmental movement at Love Canal and continue through today, with our UB researchers exploring solutions to rising sea levels, soil erosion, suburban sprawl and a host of other issues adversely affecting our planet," Tripathi added. "UBs enhanced Climate Action Plan is another powerful demonstration of the clear, measurable steps we are taking to respond to the increasing pace and intensity of global climate change. Photo: The Canadian Press A South Korean army truck passes by a military post guard in Paju, near the border with North Korea, South Korea, Tuesday, April 21, 2020. The South Korean government said Tuesday no unusual activity has been detected in North Korea after unconfirmed reports described leader Kim Jong Un as in fragile condition after heart surgery. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) South Korean officials reported no unusual activity in North Korea on Tuesday following unconfirmed media reports that leader Kim Jong Un was in fragile health after surgery. But the possibly of high-level instability raised troubling questions about the future of a nuclear-armed state that has been steadily building an arsenal meant to threaten the U.S. mainland while diplomacy between Kim and President Donald Trump is stalled. South Koreas presidential office said Kim appeared to be handling state affairs as usual and that it had no information about rumours regarding his health. But many will be watching closely for any signs of trouble in North Korea, and whether it will address the reports something it has not yet done. The United States and North Korea appeared to be barrelling toward war in 2017, with the countries trading insults and threats of destruction. The next two years saw a surprising series of summits, including three between Kim and Trump, as Kim pursued diplomacy in hopes of ending crippling economic sanctions and obtaining security guarantees. But through it all he maintained his right to a nuclear arsenal, and most diplomacy has stalemated since. Speculation often surfaces about North Koreas leadership based on attendance at important state events. Kim, who is in his mid-30s, missed the celebration of the birthday of his late grandfather and state founder Kim Il Sung on April 15, the countrys most important holiday. But he presided over a meeting on April 11, discussing coronavirus prevention and electing his sister as an alternate member of the political bureau of the ruling Workers Party, according to the Norths official Korean Central News Agency. And state media have since reported he sent greetings to Syrian President Bashar Assad and Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel as well as arranging special birthday meals for two North Korean officials and a new centenarian. We have no information to confirm regarding rumours about Chairman Kim Jong Uns health issue that have been reported by some media outlets, South Korean presidential spokesman Kang Min-seok said. Also, no unusual developments have been detected inside North Korea. The presidential office later said Kim is believed to be staying at an unspecified location outside of Pyongyang, North Koreas capital, with some close confidants. It said Kim appeared to be normally engaged with state affairs and there wasnt any unusual movement or emergency reaction from North Koreas ruling party, military or Cabinet. I just hope hes doing fine, President Donald Trump said. Id like to see him be well and well see how he does. He cautioned during a White House briefing that he doesnt know if the reports are true. A U.S. official said the White House was aware before the reports appeared late Monday that Kims health might be precarious. The official said the U.S. had information that Kim may have undergone surgery and that complications may have rendered him incapacitated or worse. But, the official stressed that the U.S. had nothing to confirm the surgery had taken place or that any complications had occurred. The U.S. official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, would not elaborate on where the information came from or when it had been received. Conservative South Korean lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun, chairman of the National Assemblys foreign affairs and unification committee, said he was told by unspecified non-government sources that Kim had surgery for cardiovascular problems. But an official from Seouls National Intelligence Service, who didnt want to be named, citing office rules, said the spy agency couldnt confirm whether Kim had surgery. Its unclear what would happen if Kim is sidelined by health problems or dies. Still less than a decade into Kims rule, North Korea has yet to give any meaningful indication of who would succeed him as leader. Cheong Seong-Chang, an analyst at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea, said political upheaval would be unlikely as Kims sister, Kim Yo Jong, is already exercising significant influence within the government, and most members of North Koreas leadership share an interest with the Kim family in maintaining the Norths system. Altech - Share Purchase Agreement Perth, April 22, 2020 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Altech Chemicals Limited ( ASX:ATC ) ( FRA:A3Y ) is pleased to announce that it has executed a share purchase subscription agreement (the Agreement) with Specialty Materials Investments LLC (SMI), a U.S.-based institutional specialist investor.The Agreement provides for SMI to subscribe for up to $2 million in Altech shares (Initial Investment), and subject to shareholder approval, up to an additional $981,000.Highlights- Share placement to Specialty Materials Investments LLC, a specialist U.S. institutional investor- Initial investment of up to $2 million- Additional investment of up to $0.9 million, subject to shareholder approval- Funding certainty for Altech's European initiatives o Focus on the "new economy", post COVID-19A $200,000 initial payment and subscription will be made by SMI in the coming days, which will represent a prepayment for Altech shares (for shares with a subscription value of $218,000) that will be issued to SMI, at SMI's request, within 12 months of the date of the payment. Up to eight additional payments/subscriptions of $200,000 each (for shares with a subscription value of $218,000 each) are then scheduled to be made by SMI, approximately monthly. Any of these subsequent tranches may be increased to up to $300,000 (for shares with a subscription value of $327,000), but only with the consent of the Company. The aggregate amount of the Initial Investment will not exceed $2,000,000, and as per the first $200,000, each subsequent payment made by SMI will represent a prepayment for Altech shares, to be issued at SMI's request within 12 months following the date of each subsequent tranche.Additionally, following the investments referenced above, SMI will make a further three (3) payments/subscriptions approximately monthly on the same terms (for up to an additional $981,000 of Altech shares), but only subject to shareholders' approval for such investment.The number of Altech shares to be issued to SMI for each tranche will be determined by dividing each subscription value (or that part thereof in relation to which the shares are being issued) by, at SMI's election: (i) $0.0628, being 140% of the average of the daily volume-weighted average price for the 20 trading days prior to the date of execution of the Agreement (which may only be utilised in respect of tranches with an aggregate subscription value of $400,000); or (ii) 90% of the prevailing Altech share price, being the average of the five daily volume-weighted average price during a specified period immediately prior to the date of issue of the shares.Altech has the right to terminate the Agreement at any time following receipt of the second subscription.SMI will receive a fee in connection with its investment in the Company, to be satisfied by way of issuance of 4,219,409 Altech shares. The Company's obligations under the Agreement will be secured against 4.8 million shares.Funds received under the Agreement will be primarily used for Altech's ongoing corporate activities, which are intended to position the Company's high purity alumina (HPA) project for more stable financial markets and anticipated economic stimulus measures post the current COVID-19 situation (refer ASX announcement of 25 March 2020).Early indications as to possible European fiscal stimulus post COVID-19 is that manufacturing stimulus could be weighted more towards the evolving "new economy", and may likely preference "carbon light" technology such as electric vehicles, green energy storage and renewables, as opposed to twilight "carbon heavy" technology such as internal combustion engine vehicle manufacture and like or associated sectors. Altech's HPA project is strongly aligned to the new, green economy due to HPA's use as a coating material within lithium-ion batteries and as the non-substitutable raw material for the manufacture of synthetic sapphire, a substrate material for the production of energy efficient light emitting diodes (LED's).In relation to the funding agreement with SMI, Altech managing director Iggy Tan said "the support of SMI for the Company and our HPA project during this challenging funding environment is a tremendous endorsement of our project and the potential opportunity for us post COVID-19.Altech alternate director Uwe Ahrens and Altech Advanced Materials AG director Hanjoerg Plaggemars continue to promote Altech and our HPA project in Germany and provide us with the most up to date information about the very fluid business environment both in Germany and across Europe generally. Despite various COVID-19 restrictions that are in place, Uwe and Hansjoerg have been able to continue with important meetings and maintain and build their respective networks of various potential investors, battery materials and automotive industry participants."About Altech Chemicals Ltd Altech Chemicals Limited (ASX:ATC) (FRA:A3Y) is aiming to become one of the world's leading suppliers of 99.99% (4N) high purity alumina (Al2O3) through the construction and operation of a 4,500tpa high purity alumina (HPA) processing plant at Johor, Malaysia. Feedstock for the plant will be sourced from the Company's 100%-owned kaolin deposit at Meckering, Western Australia and shipped to Malaysia. HPA is a high-value, high margin and highly demanded product as it is the critical ingredient required for the production of synthetic sapphire. Synthetic sapphire is used in the manufacture of substrates for LED lights, semiconductor wafers used in the electronics industry, and scratch-resistant sapphire glass used for wristwatch faces, optical windows and smartphone components. Increasingly HPA is used by lithium-ion battery manufacturers as the coating on the battery's separator, which improves performance, longevity and safety of the battery. With global HPA demand approximately 19,000t (2018), it is estimated that this demand will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30% (2018-2028); by 2028 HPA market demand will be approximately 272,000t, driven by the increasing adoption of LEDs worldwide as well as the demand for HPA by lithium-ion battery manufacturers to serve the surging electric vehicle market. Woolworths has doubled its online capacity with thousands of new delivery options to help people stay at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Australian supermarket giant's delivery services were slowed in mid-March as the nation went into lockdown to curb the spread of the virus. But store bosses announced on Wednesday that a 7,000 sq/m warehouse in Melbourne had been set up to service an extra 5,000 online orders per week. More than 5,000 new drivers were also hired to add tens of thousands of home delivery windows to meet a soaring demand for online groceries across the country. Woolworths has increased its online capacity to meet the growing demand for online orders. Pictured: People shop at a Woolworths supermarket in Sydney on March 17 While the warehouse is strictly for online orders only and won't be open to shoppers, it will provide jobs for 400 locals. 'We're seeing a big increase in demand for home delivery as more and more customers seek to limit their outings in the community,' WooliesX managing director Amanda Bardwell said. 'We now have a highly flexible and scalable way to meet the needs of many more of our online customers in the weeks and months ahead.' Despite the additional services, Woolworths said product limits including one pack of toilet paper and two canned food items per person will still apply. To limit the risk of COVID-19 exposure, delivery workers will leave groceries at the door rather than to the customers' kitchen bench. Community pick-up - where customers can place a puck-up order online for themselves or on behalf of someone else - will still be available at more than 850 stores across the country. Coles also reopened its home delivery 'click and collect' to all customers on Tuesday Coles also reopened its home delivery 'click and collect' to all customers on Tuesday. The service was temporarily shut down on March 16 so the retailer could divert all resources to restocking shelves amid the pandemic. 'We are pleased to announce the re-opening of our home delivery service. This means that both our Click and Collect and home delivery services are available to all customers,' Coles said in a message to customers. Shoppers can use their existing Coles Online login details and choose which service they want to use. As with Woolworths drivers, Coles employees will not carry groceries to shoppers' kitchen benches for safety reasons. Srinagar, April 22 : Four terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces at Shopian in South Kashmir on Wednesday, officials said. "All four terrorists killed in the ongoing operation at Melhura, Shopian," police said in a statement. Sources said the identity of the killed terrorists was being ascertained. On Tuesday night a Cordon And Search Operation (CASO) was launched by the police and the Army in Shopian on a specific input about the presence of terrorists. During the searches the hiding terrorists fired at the security forces which triggered the gunfight. On early Wednesday morning, two terrorists were killed initially and later two more terrorists were killed. The operation was still going on. When it came time to vote on the first bill, Fitch proposed adding the $1.85 million for protective equipment, and the Democrats voted it down 4-3. The Democrats then voted 4-3 over the Republicans to advance the original version of the bill, appropriating $7.05 million. But the Republicans would not join the Democrats to fast-track the bill to final approval, meaning it will take until next week to be finally passed. Both Councilman Mark Harder, R-7th District, and Clancy said after the respective votes that they hoped the public was watching. On the second bill, the Democrats rejected Trakas compromise bill, 4-3, and put up Clancys substitute, which added the $1.85 million for protective equipment. That bill passed 4-3, but without seven votes, it could not be fast-tracked for final approval. Councilwoman Kelli Dunaway, D-2nd District, said after the vote that she thought the social distance between the council members, who have met via video conference, has added to the rancor. We just dont have the time or opportunity, or were not making it, to spend more time debating legislation and talking amongst each other, and I think thats important. Iraq has been hit by a wave of Islamic State (IS) attacks during the countrys coronavirus lockdown. Numerous operations by IS and unknown groups have occurred in Iraqs disputed territories in April. Iraqi security forces and the US-led anti-IS coalition have also attacked the group several times this month. One journalist in the disputed city of Kirkuk said the uptick began after the government imposed a curfew March 17 to fight the spread of the virus. The state of emergency consisted of a long-term curfew in the city and outskirts. That led to an increase of IS activities, journalist Dana Mahmoud told Al-Monitor. Authorities implemented a lockdown in March to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. The lockdown has remained in effect through April, when the string of attacks occurred. The Iraqi government has now eased some aspects of the lockdown. The following is a list of IS attacks and operations against Iraqi security forces and the international coalition in April, as well as the latter's attacks against IS: An IS sniper shot and killed an Iraqi federal policeman at a checkpoint in Hawija April 12. IS ambushed Iraqi army soldiers, federal police and Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) April 13 in Kirkuk province, killing four. The Iraqi forces were looking for captives of theirs taken by IS. The US-led anti-IS coalition said that its airpower and Iraqi ground operations led to 20 IS fighters being killed near Kirkuk April 13. Iraqs Security Media Cell, part of the state security forces, announced April 20 that it destroyed IS bombs in hideouts in Samarra. The Iraqi air force bombed IS targets near Tikrit April 20. The Security Media Cell announced April 20 that an unknown group killed three Iraqi soldiers in Diyala. It also said that IS injured federal police in an attack in Dibis and killed federal police in an attack in Rashad. Some Iraqi media outlets reported that the attack took place April 19. The Security Media Cell announced April 21 that Iraqi soldiers were injured in Diyala by an unknown group. IS activity is mostly taking place in the disputed territories of northern Iraq, of which oil-rich Kirkuk is the most populous city. Both the Kurdistan Regional Government and the federal government in Baghdad claim the territories. Kurdish forces took control in 2014 when IS swept through northern Iraq, but Iraq retook the territories in 2017, following the Kurdistan independence referendum. Many of the IS attacks that have occurred since its territorial defeat in 2017 have been in these areas. Mahmoud attributed the attacks to IS sleeper cells that are active in Hawija, southwest of Kirkuk. IS is infamous in Hawija for a video that showed the beheadings of Kurdish soldiers in 2015. As the Iraqi Security Media Cell pointed out, it is possible that not all of the recent attacks are from IS. One analyst said that anger in the Sunni community against Shiites, who dominate the government and the PMU, and Kurds in the disputed territories could be launching attacks independent of IS. The disputed regions of Iraq have witnessed significant sectarian and ethnic turmoil, Nicholas Heras, the Middle East security program manager at the Institute for the Study of War, told Al-Monitor. There are many disaffected Sunni communities there and no shortage of potential gunmen from local tribes who want revenge against Kurds and Shia. Heras said that IS has reconstituted itself in northern Iraq, having kept enough soldiers alive during its war against Iraqi and international forces. IS has gained confidence recently and maintains capabilities in Iraq, according to him. What has changed recently is that ISIS has felt strong enough to carry out more complex attacks closer to major urban areas in the disputed Iraqi zone, which should worry Iraqi security officials, Heras said, using an alternative acronym for IS. This means that ISIS has enough local community and a large enough network in these disputed areas of Iraq that it can strike when it wants, increasingly where it wants, and with more force. Lawk Ghafuri, a journalist at the Kurdish Iraqi news outlet Rudaw, said that the attacks definitely constitute an increase. Whereas before IS attacked small villages, they are now attacking Iraqi security forces, according to him. "We have always heard about ISIS attacking villages and civilians in those areas," Ghafuri told Al-Monitor, using another acronym for IS. "It's not quite often that we hear like now that they're attacking security forces convoys and members." Ghafuri said IS is benefitting from security forces being busy enforcing coronavirus-related lockdowns in the disputed territories, where IS has long remained active. "One of the reasons ISIS started to attack the security members directly is because the security members are mostly now trying to get people to follow the coronavirus lockdown rules," said Ghafuri. "ISIS is taking advantage of those measures." These incidents come at an inopportune time in Iraq. The country is still struggling to form a government as Prime Minister-designate Mustafa al-Kadhimi works to build a Cabinet. Anti-government protests have continued from October, even with the curfews, and the global drop in oil prices threatens Iraqs federal budget. There are also tensions between Kurdish parties in the Kurdistan Region over Turkeys airstrikes against Kurdistan Workers Party fighters in the mountains. US military forces have also left many bases in the country since March amid tensions with Iran and its allies in the PMU. Easter Island is often described as mysterious and mystical. That outsider perspective is reflected in archival TV segments included in Eating Up Easter, a documentary about the very real, terrestrial, socio-economic concerns of the island locally known as Rapa Nui, which sits in the Pacific Ocean, more than 2,000 miles from mainland Chile. While its megalithic moai statues have made Rapa Nui a vacation attraction, this film (now streaming via Music Box) provides a more microcosmic insight from residents, who talk about how tourism and modernization are ruining their ancestral land. G reat British Menu is heading to the South West of England this week, testing the culinary mettle of chefs hailing from Jersey, Cornwall and Devon. They are, however, enlisting the help of a London-based, Irish-born chef to put the hopefuls through their paces. Acclaimed chef and Great British Menu veteran Richard Corrigan will be running the kitchen this week, tasting and judging dishes that the hopefuls are looking to cook for the shows prestigious banquet. So, who is the chef ruling the pass this week? Heres everything you need to know about Chef Corrigan. Who is Richard Corrigan? County Meath-born Corrigan owns and runs London restaurants Corrigans Mayfair, Bentleys Oyster Bar and Daffodil Mulligan. Born the son of a farmer, Corrigan has cooked in professional kitchens since he was a teenager, spending a number of his early years learning his trade in the Netherlands. He went on to gain a Michelin star as head chef at Stephen Bull in Fulham in 1994, and another at Lindsay House in Soho in 1997, before buying and reviving Bentley's in 2005 (he had worked there for more than a decade previously). He opened his eponymous Mayfair site three years later, when it promptly was named the Standard's restaurant of the year. Though at Bull he flirted with Italian inflections, his food focuses on British and Irish produce and cooking, serving native meats, wild game and wild sustainable fish. In 2019, Corrigan opened Daffodil Mulligan in Shoreditch. Irish in essence, the jovial dining room has received critical acclaim from the likes of the Standard's Fay Maschler. Irish-influenced dishes on the menu include crubeen boiled pigs trotter croquettes with swede and mustard and a selection of beef cuts from the Emerald Isle. Downstairs, the restaurant is home to the first international location for Gibney's of Malahide, the well known Dublin pub. Well-liked on the London food scene, Corrigan is one of the capital's most established chefs and restaurateurs. He has also cooked for the Queen twice. Elsewhere, Corrigan looks after Virginia Park Lodge, a 100-acre private estate in County Cavan, Ireland he bought in 2013; rather sweetly, it's the same place he held his wedding reception in 1985. Why is Richard Corrigan on Great British Menu? BBC/Optomen Television Ltd/Ashleigh Brown Corrigan is acting as a guest chef on the South West round of Great British Menu, testing dishes cooked up by Joe Baker, Guy Owen, Harriet Mansell and Thomas Carr. Corrigan will choose two chefs to go through to cook for the judges meaning hell have to select two to go home. Not only has Corrigan appeared on the show as a guest chef before, but he has also won Great British Menu three times. Where is Bentleys Oyster Bar in London? Though Corrigan may have only acquired Bentleys Oyster Bar in 2005, the legendary seafood restaurant has stood on the same site in Piccadilly since 1916, and once welcomed the likes of Oscar Wilde and Charlie Chaplin. Still one of the very finest restaurants in the capital, the famous spot is sometimes known as the Grand Dame of Swallow Street, where it lives at numbers 11-15 (W1B 4DG). Whats on the Bentleys Oyster Bar menu? Funnily enough, there are quite a few oysters during peak season, up to 1000 oysters are shucked at the restaurant every day. Wild native oysters are sourced from all around the British Isles, with varieties on offer including Carlingford, West Mersea No.2, Jersey, Menai, Loch Ryan No.2, Galway No.2 and Dorset. You can either have your oysters on their own or have them served in a range of styles, from garlic-baked to Vietnamese. Order with a glass of Champagne. - The Bank of Ghana has directed all banks and Special Deposit Institutions to refrain from paying dividends for the 2019/2020 financial year - It explained that the move is to ensure the financial institutions have enough resources to operate as the coronavirus continues to spread - It added that it would continue to monitor the situation and give further directives in due time Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has suspended the payment of dividends by banks and Special Deposit Institutions for the 2019/2020 financial year. The instruction comes at a time when Ghana is combating the coronavirus which has adversely affected the financial sector. Shareholders of the stated institutions are therefore not expected to receive dividends for the period in question. READ ALSO: COVID-19: BoG cancels charges on MoMo transactions GHc100 and below A press statement released by the BoG to that effect also indicated that banks and SDIs are not expected to make any irrevocable commitments regarding dividends until further instructions are given. The Central Bank went on to state that the decision is in line with a plan to ensure that such institutions are well-positioned to withstands the economic effects of the coronavirus. The core aim, it said, was to to absorb any potential operational losses for banks and SDIs from the COVID-19 pandemic. It is also hoped that the banks and SDIs are able to provide support for their customers for as long as the pandemic lasts. The BoG explained that for the avoidance of doubt, the shareholders in this context refers to holders of Common Equity Shares (CET1) and Additional Tier I (AT1) capital instruments of banks and SDIs. It stressed that exceptions would only be granted to financial institutions that satisfy the regular prudential requirements and are not relying on additional liquidity released by regulatory reliefs provided by the BoG. The Central Bank gave the assurance that it would continue to observe the evolving impact of the pandemic on financial institutions and their clients and would provide guidelines as and when needed. YEN.com.gh earlier reported that the BoG has released a statement in relation to the coronavirus which has infected people and led to the loss of lives all over the world. The statement, released on Monday, March 16, 2020, gave the assurance that measures have been implemented to assess the effect of the coronavirus on the economy. It added that a three-day Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting has been fixed in order to examine the situation and introduce directives on the way forward. READ ALSO: COVID-19: BoG's Monetary Policy Committee reduces policy rate to 14.5% Read the best news on Ghana #1 news app. Install our latest app for Android and read the best news about Ghana Nana Addo shouldn't share the food to the kayayo's only - Market women cry out | #Yencomgh Want to be featured on YEN.com.gh? Send us a message on our Facebook page or on Instagram with your stories, photos or videos Source: YEN.com.gh A top commander of the so-called Khorasan wing of the Islamic State in Afghanistan who acted as the ISKPs bridge with Pakistani intelligence agency and terror groups such as the Lashkar-e-Tayyiba has been arrested, Afghanistans National Directorate of Security said on Wednesday. Counter-terror operatives in Delhi and Kabul told Hindustan Times that Munib Mohammad had, in his interrogation that has continued for more than a fortnight, has extensively spoken of the close links between Pakistans Inter Services Intelligence and the Islamic State of Khorasan Province. Munib Mohammad aka Abu Bilal is a Pakistani national. He had first joined Al Qaeda before moving to Daesh (the Arabic acronym for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) in Afghanistan as a fighter. Then, he moved up the ladder. By the time he was arrested by the National Directorate of Security along with his boss ISKP chief Aslam Farooqui on April 4, Munib Mohammad had become a member of the Central Council of Khurasan branch of Daesh. When the ISKP set up its coordination centre, Munib Mohammed was put as the man in charge of coordinating with terrorist groups and intelligence agencies of the region, a NDS statement said. The pointed reference to intelligence agencies of the region in the official statement is an euphemistic reference to Pakistans ISI. Besides, the statement said Munibs job description at the ISKP also involved coordinating with other terrorist groups such as Lashkar-e-Taib, Haqqani network, Sipah-e-Sahaba, Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Islam related to Maulvi Fazal-ul-Rehman and Taliban Peshawar Shura. This is the first time that the NDS, after its spectacular operation on April 4 that netted the ISKP chief Aslam Farooqui aka Mawlawi Abudullah, has spoken about Munib Mohammads arrest. The massive security operation, backed with pin-pointed intelligence, is believed to have decimated the top leadership of the Pakistan-sponsored module of the ISKP. Also Read: Pakistan proxies in fight to the finish in Afghanistan, but India too needs to prep The arrests came days after Farooqis ISKP claimed responsibility for the March 25 attack on a Sikh place of worship in Kabul that killed 27 people, including an Indian national. Among those arrested was also a Kashmiri, Aijaz Ahmad Ahangar, who had disappeared 25 years ago and was the chief recruiter for the IS in Jammu and Kashmir. Aslam Farooqui on the instructions of Haqqani Network and LeT used Kerala resident Muhsin Tikaripur along with three other Urdu-Punjabi speaking attackers to massacre 27 innocent Sikh men and women in Shor Bazaar, Kabul, a counter-terror operative in Delhi said. Aslam Farooqui, a Pakistani national with long-standing ties to the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, had also detailed some aspects of his groups collusion with the ISI. It was a development that had been anticipated in Islamabad, which promptly called in Afghan ambassador Atif Mashal to seek custody of Aslam Farooqui. An official statement by Pakistans Foreign Office later insisted that Farooqui was involved in anti-Pakistan activities in Afghanistan. The request was firmly rejected by Afghanistan in less than 24 hours. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In cities around the world, what was unthinkable just a couple months ago has become an everyday reality. Once-bustling streets are eerily quiet. Businesses are closed, many with their windows boarded up. The few people who can be seen walking around do so hurriedly, wearing masks. Its almost as if humanity has vanished into thin air. Weve never seen anything like this before, outside of Hollywood disaster movies. Aerial shot of Hong Kong by Andy Yeung. And in the midst of all of it, as places with high population densities suffer the most COVID-19 infections and deaths, some people are asking whether the novel coronavirus will be the death of the city, driving people out into suburban and rural areas. On the surface, it seems like urban density would be the main cause of devastating outbreaks of contagious disease. New York City, with about 28,000 people packed into each square mile, has the most cases in the United States by far. And when a lot of people are crammed together in small spaces, an errant cough has the potential to infect many. But Asia also has some of the densest cities on the planet, and many of them have actually managed to avoid major outbreaks thus far. Editorials at Bloomberg, The New York Times, and other publications point out that the real risk factor isnt density itself, but rather how cities are designed. While infectious disease spreads faster where people are clustered, suburban and rural areas arent necessarily safer, especially when they lack sufficient high quality healthcare facilities. Plus, highly walkable cities where almost everything a resident needs on a daily basis is located within a few blocks can actually make outbreaks easier to track and control because people arent traveling as far. Coronavirus infections have tended to show up first on the outskirts of cities, not in city centers, says columnist Noah Smith. Californias outbreak started in suburban Santa Clara county rather than San Francisco and is still more severe in the former. New Yorks outbreak started in Westchester County, north of New York City. These epicenters are suburban areas that we dont normally think of as being very dense. This suggests that social and professional networks, rather than random interactions on streets or in trains, are the main vectors by which diseases such as the coronavirus spread. Story continues Where a city like New York might differ from a city like Montreal, which has neighborhoods that are just as dense but comparatively low COVID-19 cases, is in the type of housing it contains. Treehuggers Lloyd Alter points out the missing middle with mid-rise or high-rise housing on one end and detached single-family homes on the other. More live/work housing, townhouses, bungalow courts, courtyard apartments, duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes help meet the demand for walkable urban living, accommodate a lot of people, and most importantly, leave more open space in between units. Urban housing with space helps curb the spread of disease greatly. Pandemics and epidemics in the 19th and early 20th centuries were devastating to cities partially because they were overcrowded, full of substandard housing that lacked ventilation and proper sanitation. London responded to a cholera outbreak in the early 1850s by developing a new modern sewage system, a feat of civil engineering that carried waste water away from drinking water sources. Similarly, we could see some new standards of cleanliness in urban environments in response to COVID-19, like built-in automatic disinfectant processes in subway cars and other spaces. With so many companies now allowing employees to work from home, a new culture of remote work could emerge, reducing the need for dormitory suburbs that exist only to house commuters. That might encourage suburbs to transform into their own self-contained cities with their own main streets and flourishing local cultures. Renderings for an ultra-sustainable bike path running through the city of Berlin. Unfortunately, public transit ridership may experience a lasting dip in the years to come, but that could also encourage more people to walk or bike more often. The cooped-up feeling of quarantine may influence an expansion of urban green spaces, especially in the immediate vicinity of dense housing. Urban density is still the most sustainable way for most people to live. Dense environments are more resource and energy-efficient, allowing people to live close enough to each other to walk where they need to go, which is healthier for their bodies and for the planet than a sedentary, car-dependent lifestyle. Sprawl, on the other hand, introduces a lot more vehicular pollution, reduces natural spaces, and infringes on wildlife habitat. A spacious, walkable Dubai park full of lush greenery. If theres one upside to COVID-19, its the opportunity to pause and imagine what it could be like to emerge into a better world. This pandemic has revealed the cracks in our social and governmental support systems, including how people are housed. As we seek recovery, we could stimulate the economy through the creation of new green jobs, transitioning from fossil fuels to renewables and building a lot more affordable, livable, and enjoyable housing. Senate Intel Releases New Report on Intel Community Assessment of Russian Interference Press Contact: Caitlin Carroll (Burr) (202) 228-1616 Rachel Cohen (Warner) (202) 228-6884 Tuesday, April 21, 2020 WASHINGTON Today, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) and Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA) released a new report, titled Review of the Intelligence Community Assessment, the fourth and penultimate volume in the Committees bipartisan Russia investigation. The latest installment examines the sources, tradecraft, and analytic work behind the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) that determined Russia conducted an unprecedented, multi-faceted campaign to interfere with the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The installment builds upon the Committees unclassified summary findings on the ICA issued in July 2018. The ICA is informed by highly sensitive sources. In its review of that information, the Committee sought to protect the methods and means by which the U.S. Intelligence Community secured this information. In order to protect sources and methods, the vast majority of this chapter is redacted. To date, the Committee has released four out of a total of five volumes in its comprehensive report on Russias 2016 election interference. The previously released volumes examined U.S. election security, Russias use of social media, and the Obama Administrations response to Russian interference. The fifth and final volume will examine the Committees counterintelligence findings. Statement from Chairman Burr: In reviewing the ICA, the Senate Intelligence Committee looked at two key questions: first, did the final product meet the initial task given by the President, and second, was the analysis supported by the intelligence presented? We found the ICA met both criteria. The ICA reflects strong tradecraft, sound analytical reasoning, and proper justification of disagreement in the one analytical line where it occurred. The Committee found no reason to dispute the Intelligence Communitys conclusions. One of the ICAs most important conclusions was that Russias aggressive interference efforts should be considered the new normal. That warning has been borne out by the events of the last three years, as Russia and its imitators increasingly use information warfare to sow societal chaos and discord. With the 2020 presidential election approaching, its more important than ever that we remain vigilant against the threat of interference from hostile foreign actors. Statement from Vice Chairman Warner: The ICA summarizing intelligence concerning the 2016 election represented the kind of unbiased and professional work we expect and require from the Intelligence Community. The ICA correctly found the Russians interfered in our 2016 election to hurt Secretary Clinton and help the candidacy of Donald Trump. Our review of the highly classified ICA and underlying intelligence found that this and other conclusions were well-supported. There is certainly no reason to doubt that the Russians success in 2016 is leading them to try again in 2020, and we must not be caught unprepared. You can read, Volume IV: Review of Intelligence Community Assessment here. Key Findings: The Committee finds the Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) presents a coherent and well-constructed intelligence basis for the case that Russia engaged in an attempt to interfere with the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The Committee concludes that all analytic lines are supported with all-source intelligence, that the ICA reflects proper analytic tradecraft, and that differing levels of confidence on one analytic judgment are justified and properly represented. Additionally, interviews with those who drafted and prepared the ICA affirmed that analysts were under no political pressure to reach specific conclusions. The Committee finds that the ICA reflects a proper representation of the intelligence collected and that this body of evidence supports the substance and body of the ICA. While the Intelligence Community did not include information provided by Christopher Steele in the body of the ICA or to support any of its analytical judgments, it did include a summary of this material in an annex largely at the insistence of FBIs senior leadership. A broader discussion of the Steele dossier will be included in the final volume of the Committees report. The Committee finds that the ICA makes a clear argument that the manner and aggressiveness of Russias election interference was unprecedented. However, the ICA does not include substantial representation of Russias interference attempts in 2008 and 2012. The Committee finds that the ICA did not include a set of policy recommendations for responding to Russias interference attempts. This omission was deliberate, reflecting the well-established norm that the role of the Intelligence Community is to provide insight and warning to policy makers, not to make policy itself. The Committee finds the ICA would have benefited from a more comprehensive look at the role of Russian propaganda generated by state-owned platforms in the multi-pronged interference campaign. Open source reporting on RTs and Sputniks coverage of Wikileaks release of information from the Democratic National Committee would have strengthened the ICAs examination of Russias use of propaganda. Read the Senate Intelligence Committees previous reports: Volume I: Russian Efforts Against Election Infrastructure Volume II: Russias Use of Social Media Volume III: U.S. Government Response to Russian Activities Volume IV: Review of the Intelligence Community Assessment ### NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Help India! Ambedkarite community celebrates Cyber Jayanti on his 129th birthday By TCN News Support TwoCircles As Covid19 pandemic has strictly prohibited physical gatherings and events, people are finding innovative ways to carry on with special occasions worldwide. The latest is global Ambedkarite community that came together online on the occasion of 193rd birthday of Mahatma Phule and 129th birth anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar. The Cyber Jayanti was planned by a 29 different Ambedkarite organizations via multiple social media platform like Skype, Google hangout, Facebook, YouTube, Zoom, WebEx, Free-conference call, Webinar jam and GoToMeeting. Simultaneously, there was huge promotion and advertisement of the online birthday celebration on Twitter with Dr Ambedkar emoji and hashtags #AmbedkarJayanti, #JaiBhim, #,#. Other than Indians, this event marked huge presence of online communities in the USA, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Switzerland, Japan, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Brunei, Oman, Qatar, Dubai, Bahrain, and Kuwait. These cyber celebrations were also telecasted live on Bahujan media networks like AwaazTV, Maitri TV, Kanshi TV, Samyak India TV, Bahujan TV, MNT News Network, MN Live and Dalit Dastak. One of the organizers say this kind of a global gathering at a time of distress is a symbol of remembrance of the humanistic thought and sacrifice by these leaders and at such an hour it is a source of motivation and inspiration to all Bahujan community. The celebration has got an overwhelming response online with multiple activities for all levels, especially for children and women. The participants can also be seen cheering slogans like Jai Bhim, Jai Phule, Dr Ambedkar amar rahe, Mahatma Phule amar rahe all from their homes. Some popular activities for participants are recitation of treesharan panchasheel, garlanding the statues, lighting candles, online quizzes, speeches, songs, drawings and paintings. This unique form of Cyber Jayanti is continuing from April 10 till May 2020 at several locations across the globe, helping the worldwide community of Ambedkarites to unite in paying respect and tribute to the beloved leaders like Mahatma Jyotirao Phule and Babasaheb Ambedkar. Listed organizations with their scheduled celebrations and transmissions are given below: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved an ordinance making acts of violence and harassment against healthcare personnel deployed in combating COVID-19 a non-bailable offence with maximum punishment of seven years imprisonment and Rs 5 lakh fine, meeting a key demand of health professionals in the wake of recent attacks on them. Asserting that the government has "zero tolerance" for violence and harassment against doctors, nurses, paramedics and other healthcare personnel, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said a person can be sentenced to anywhere between three months and five years in jail, besides a fine between Rs 50,000 and two lakh, for such crimes under the new provision. In cases where injuries are serious, the punishment will range from six months to seven years, and carry fine between Rs 1-5 lakhs, the minister told reporters. The ordinance will amend the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, and the amended law will also be invoked if healthcare personnel face harassment from their landlords or neighbours over suspicion that they may carry the coronavirus infection due to the nature of their work, he said. An offence under the amended law will be cognizable and non-bailable, Javadekar said. Cognizable and non-bailable offence means that police can arrest the accused, and only courts can release them on bail. "Our government has zero tolerance against violence and harassment targeting doctors, nurses, paramedics and ASHA workers when they are doing their best to fight the pandemic," he said. People responsible for violence will also be liable to pay damages, which will be double the market value of the property vandalised, the Information and Broadcasting minister said. "The government is ensuring that our health professionals can work without any tension," he added. Healthcare professionals have faced violent attacks in some areas during their drive to test people for suspected infection or quarantine them. There have also been reports that their landlords or neighbours in some cases opposed their presence claiming they may be carriers of the infection. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had often condemned such cases of attacks and harassment, while lauding the role of healthcare professionals in combating the deadly disease. Asked whether the changes in the law will be applicable even after the threat of COVID-19 is over, Javadekar told reporters that the ordinance has been approved to amend the Epidemic Act. "But it is a good beginning," he said, without elaborating. Javadekar noted that Home Minister Amit Shah and Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had a meeting through video conference with with a group of doctors and representatives of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) earlier on Wednesday. The government assured them that they will be protected, he said. The IMA, which had been demanding a law to protect healthcare professionals, called off its proposed 'White alert' and 'Black day' protests scheduled on April 22 and 23 following the meeting. The I and B minister underlined the government's commitment to helping health professionals involved in fighting COVID-19 by noting that it had earlier brought them under an insurance cover of Rs 50 lakh. As of now, over 723 COVID-19 hospitals, 1.86 lakh beds and over 24,000 beds with ICU facilities have been created to deal with the pandemic, he said. The amended law will come into effect after the President promulgates it and the government notifies it. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Perth man accused of being the ninth member of the 'Evil 8' paedophile ring has been found not guilty of raping a girl who was pimped out by her father in one of the state's most horrific cases of child abuse. Mitchell Baldwin was on Wednesday acquitted of the charge of sexual penetration without consent following a judge-alone trial in the District Court of Western Australia. Mitchell Baldwin was found not guilty of raping a girl who was pimped out by her father to men. During the trial the state had alleged the girl, who was aged 12 or 13 at the time, was taken to Mr Baldwin's Clarkson house by her father and, after a brief introduction, was raped by Mr Baldwin while her father watched on. During evidence given by the girl remotely, she said she was crying and trying to get the man off her, and was "a mess" afterwards. Retail havoc American department stores, once all-powerful shopping meccas that anchored malls and Main Streets across the country, have been dealt blow after blow in the past decade. J.C. Penney and Sears were upended by hedge funds. Macys has been closing stores and cutting corporate staff. Barneys New York filed for bankruptcy last year. But nothing compares to the shock the weakened industry has taken from the coronavirus pandemic. At a time when retailers should be putting in orders for the all-important holiday shopping season, stores are furloughing tens of thousands of corporate and store employees, hoarding cash and desperately planning how to survive this crisis. The specter of mass default is being discussed not just behind closed doors but in analysts future models. Whether or not that happens, no one doubts that the upheaval caused by the pandemic will permanently alter both the retail landscape and the relationships of brands with the stores that sell them. (New York Times) Featured stories Trump to suspend immigration to U.S. for 60 days, citing coronavirus crisis and jobs shortage, but will allow some workers (Washington Post) Senate passes coronavirus relief bill, which Trump is expected to sign (NBC News) Coronavirus updates: 1st known U.S. death occurred earlier than initially thought, autopsy says (ABC News) U.S. could see a higher summer death toll and CDC warns of a possibly worse coronavirus outbreak in winter (CNN) National news Plans to reopen Georgia get backlash from mayors, mixed support from businesses (USA Today) New York Gov. Cuomo says he had a productive White House meeting with Trump on coronavirus (CNN) Fact Check: Trump claims coronavirus tests are widely available but governors say there are far too few (USA Today) Illinois governor: Trump encouraging coronavirus protests is fomenting some violence (The Hill) More deaths, no benefit from malaria drug in VA virus study (Associated Press) Coronavirus: Missouri becomes first state to sue China over an appalling campaign of deceit (USA Today) A Louisiana pastor who defied orders and held services has been arrested (CNN) World news Canada shooting: Death toll in Nova Scotia rises to 22 (BBC) Coronavirus pandemic will cause famine of biblical proportions (The Guardian) New Zealands lockdown contained coronavirus. Now comes the hard part (Reuters) Recovered, almost: Chinas early patients unable to shed coronavirus (Reuters) Australia joins U.S. ships in South China Sea amid rising tension (Reuters) Coronavirus: Government facing fresh questions over EU equipment scheme (BBC) Hong Kong reshuffles govt. as debate rages over Beijings role (Reuters) Driver killed in attack on WHO vehicle carrying coronavirus samples in Myanmar (CNN) New Study Recommends Less Reliance on Ventilators in Some COVID-19 Treatment Scenarios The death rate of COVID-19 patients could be reduced through new guidance, including using ventilators more sparingly in some cases, a team of physician-researchers said in a new study published on Tuesday in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. In the study (pdf), researchers said some oxygen-deficient COVID-19 patients may not need to be put on ventilators because they can cope remarkably well with hypoxemia, or a low level of oxygen. The presence of only hypoxemia should in general not trigger intubation because hypoxemia is often remarkably well tolerated, the team wrote, with the caveat that the most appropriate timing for intubation of oxygen-deficient COVID-19 patients is not well known at the moment. Still, findings suggest the criteria for intubation and mechanical ventilation should be based less on the level of oxygen in the blood and more on how much difficulty breathing a patient is having. With the current experience, the trigger for intubation should, within certain limits, probably not be based on hypoxemia alone but more on respiratory distress and fatigue, the researchers wrote. Putting someone on a ventilator is an invasive process that involves intubation, which while it can save lives in patients with severe respiratory distress, it also increases the risk of damage to the lungs. In patients that need to be put on a ventilator, steps should be taken to prevent lung damage, which can include lowering the pressure at which the oxygen is supplied to the patient, known as driving pressure, the team said. A high driving pressure is associated with poor patient outcome, they wrote. Our current experience is that COVID-19 patients can be ventilated with a low driving pressure less than 15 cm H2O, often as low as 5-7 cm H20. A limitation identified by the team is that, to date, no randomized studies have been conducted specifically targeting the driving pressure in interventions of COVID-19. A further key message of the new recommended strategy is that supplemental oxygen should be treated as an essential first step in the treatment of severe COVID-19 patients with hypoxemia. It should also be a primary focus in resource-limited settings where the capacity for invasive ventilation is limited. The researchers noted that oxygen delivery can be enhanced by using a non-rebreathing mask and prone positioning of patients. This ventilation strategy might reduce the currently very high case fatality rate of more than 50% in invasively ventilated COVID-19 patients, the team noted. The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus, has spread aggressively across the world. The April 20 editorial Wheres your check? Ask GOP lawmakers correctly faulted the GOP for repeatedly cutting the budget of the Internal Revenue Service. There are two additional points you could have made about smart governance. First, this is the same GOP that frequently argues government should be run like a business. But no company would deliberately underfund its accounts receivable department; you have to keep the revenue coming in. Second, theres an adage that Democrats believe government can provide society with useful services and Republicans do not. Why do we elect Republicans, if they believe government cannot work? When they get in office, they have an incentive to prove their point. In any large organization, human beings will make mistakes. But shouldnt we vote for people who believe in the job theyve been hired to do? KAMPALA Uganda has discharged three more COVID-19 patients from Mulago Hospital in Kampala after they tested negative for the disease. Malago Hospital alone has discharged a total of 20 patients out of the 41 total recoveries registered in Uganda. The Ministry of Health said only 3 COVID-19 patients are undergoing treatment at the facility. Those discharged were handed certificates of recovery by Health Minister Joyce Moriku Kaducu at the Mulago Hospital where they had been admitted. They will now undergo psychosocial support before being reintegrated back into the community, the Ministry said. The minister said that none of the 61 patients has exhibited severe symptoms of the disease. All first patients who fully recovered from the deadly coronavirus were treated using the controversial hydroxychloroquine drug that is yet to be approved by the World Health Organisation. The patients we are discharging today were on hydroxychloroquine and erythromycin actually, director general of Health Services in the Ministry of Health Dr Henry Mwebesa tweeted when the country discharged the first three Covid-19 patients on April 11. Uganda is going all out to deploy the treatment regime, President Yoweri Museveni said on Tuesday, despite caution from the WHO, scientists and top epidemiologists that hydroxychloroquine has fatal side effects. Related Photo: (Photo : Screenshot from video posted by today.com) The coronavirus took the lives of thousands all over the world. But alongside the deaths are the new beginnings for the families whose babies are born during this pandemic. Just like for the family of Drew and Britanny Wolfe, who welcomed their first child last Friday. The baby came six weeks earlier than they expected. Britanny went into labor and was rushed to Northwestern Medicine's Prentice Women's Hospital. So because of that, the first-time dad, Drew, had to improvise with their announcement on the baby's gender and baby's name. The Initial Plan Since Britanny's pregnancy, the couple did not know the gender of their baby, although they have a name for a boy or a girl prepared. They wanted to reveal the baby's name and gender in the waiting room after Britanny's delivery. But as Drew would describe it in his interview with NBC, the coronavirus changed everything. Their baby is also the first grandchild on both sides of Britanny and Drew. That is why both families are very excited to meet their grandchild. Although the Wolfe baby was more excited, coming to their world six weeks earlier. The Reveal While Britanny was in labor, Drew phoned their families, who had to wait outside the hospital for the big reveal. Because of the strict measures hospital put up during the pandemic, they were not able to come inside the waiting room. Drew rushed to a Walgreens store and bought paper and pen as his props for the reveal. Hospital staff and the couple's relatives took a video of the heart-warming event in the lives of the families. After Britanny gave birth at around 8 p.m. last Friday, Drew started with the reveal. In the video, Drew first shared their baby's weight, 4-pound, 13-ounce. Even with just this piece of information, the relatives were already clapping, knowing that the baby is healthy. Then Drew later shows the paper saying, "In honor of... Grammy and Poppy (Arleen and William)." Later on, he revealed that they are welcoming a baby boy. All of the family members who were looking out from the hospital window became ecstatic about the news. They were all cheering and were waiting for the next important piece of news, the name of the baby! They named him Asher Wyatt Wolfe. The Origin of the Name As mentioned by Drew during the reveal, their baby's name was part of giving honor to "Grammy and Poppy (Arleen and William)." The A of Asher was from Arleen while the W of Wyatt was from William. Arlene is Drew's late grandmother and William is Brittany's late grandfather. Both Britanny and Drew gives so much importance to their families. That is why they still chose to have them during the reveal of their baby's name and gender. After the witty reveal that the new dad did, he went back upstairs to FaceTime with his family. Despite being born during the pandemic and his early arrival to the world, Asher is healthy and has passed all tests. He is still staying in the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital as of last Tuesday. MEDFORD, Ore. -- Local public health officials began announcing new confirmed cases of the coronavirus in southern Oregon and northern California as of Wednesday, April 22. Numbers from each individual county will be updated below as soon as NewsWatch 12 receives their latest figures. JACKSON: On Wednesday, Jackson County Public Health said that it had received no new positive test results for COVID-19, leaving the countywide total at 48 cases. The last confirmed case was announced last Thursday. For the first time, the County has now reported the number of cases that have fully recovered. Of the 48 cases in the area, 33 have recovered while 15 are still being monitored by public health staff. "The Oregon Health Authority and Jackson County Public Health began assessing the recovery of COVID-19 cases by calling each case to determine if they have recovered and the date of recovery," the County said in a statement. "A person is considered to be recovered once they are free of fever (without the use of fever-reducing medications), cough, and shortness of breath for 72 hours. COVID-19 cases without symptoms are considered recovered seven days after the last positive test." Health officials' demographic data shows that seven of the County's 48 cases had been hospitalized from the virus. Though some cases were found in people as young as 0-19, the vast majority occurred in people age 40 or older. "Staying home as much as possible during this time and practicing physical distancing remains an important strategy. It is also important to continue washing your hands frequently, use hand sanitizer if you do not have access to soap and water, stay home if you are sick, and wear an alternative mask when in public and accessing essential services," Jackson County said on Tuesday. KLAMATH: Klamath County Public Health last reported three new confirmed cases in the county on Monday, bringing the countywide total number of confirmed cases to 33. Importantly, County officials also reported that 19 of those cases have recovered and are no longer active. "It is important that community members continue to stay home, practice social or physical distancing of six feet, disinfect surfaces, and frequently wash their hands," the agency said. "Now that COVID-19 is in the community, these actions are urgent to prevent further spread." Klamath County Public Health says that at this time 1,382 tests have been completed for COVID-19 in the county. Based on the County's demographic data, 20 of the confirmed cases are women, and 13 are men. Five of the 29 cases have been hospitalized for the virus. Five cases have been between the ages of 20-29, nine in the 30-39 age group, five in 40-49, seven 50-59, six 60-69, and one 70-79. JOSEPHINE: Josephine County Public Health officials last announced two new cases of coronavirus in the county on April 12, bringing the countywide total number of cases to 19, and has not seen a new case since. The county marked the first death attributed to the virus in southern Oregon on April 11, an 81-year-old man. According to Josephine County officials last weekend, at least four of the area's cases have completely recovered. At least one person has been hospitalized. As of Friday morning, a total of 942 COVID-19 tests from Josephine County have returned negative results which the County says was calculated using "internal data" and will likely appear higher than the Oregon Health Authority's records. The County's demographic data shows four cases in the 20-29 age range, three cases in 30-39, four cases 40-49, three cases 50-59, one case 60-69, two cases 70-79, and two cases 80 or older. Eight cases were in men and 11 in women. CURRY: On Saturday, Curry County announced its fourth confirmed cases of COVID-19. 114 tests for the virus have returned negative. The new case was confirmed at a hospital lab in Coos Bay, similar to several of the earlier cases. "Curry County Public Health has reached out to the individual who tested positive and is now working on contact investigation and tracing for those who possibly have been in prolonged close contact with the individual," the agency said. "The three previous cases reported in Curry County have all been under monitoring and self-isolating and will be considered recovered from the virus as of Monday April 20, 2020." SISKIYOU: As Wednesday morning, Siskiyou County officials say that there remain five confirmed COVID-19 cases in the county. All five of those people have since recovered from the illness. There have been a total of 221 negative test results, and two tests remain pending. Total number of confirmed cases by county for the southern Oregon and Siskiyou County region: Jackson: 48 Klamath: 33 Josephine: 19 Lake: 0 Curry: 4 Siskiyou: 5 Tune into NewsWatch 12 at 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. tonight for the most up to date Coronavirus numbers and information. COPENHAGEN, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Solidarity and cooperation are the urgent needs of the world in the combat against COVID-19, Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Feng Tie said. "What the world needs most right now is solidarity and cooperation," said Feng during an interview with Denmark's TV2 News on Monday night. "We are in the same boat, and instead of rocking the boat, we have to row it together," Feng said. He questioned the balance and objectivity of some Western media's coverage about China. The ambassador was forthright about Chinese willingness to provide information to international partners during the COVID-19 pandemic. "The Chinese government finds transparency very important. China shares information with the World Health Organization (WHO) and many other countries and also shared information at the end of December," he said. "China is doing its best to help other countries. We have donated 20 million U.S. dollars to the WHO, and we have provided assistance to over 150 countries," he noted. The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Denmark has risen to 7,695, with 370 deaths, according to figures released by the Danish Statens Serum Institut on Tuesday. Seoul: Kim Jong-un has reportedly thanked Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for his good wishes on the birthday anniversary of the country's founder Kim Il-sung, challenging rumours that the North Korean leader might be dead. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signs a guestbook next to his sister Kim Yo Jong, right, inside the Peace House at the border village of Panmunjom in Demilitarized Zone in 2018. Credit:AP North Korea's state media channel, the Korean Central News Agency, published the text of reply that Kim allegedly sent on Wednesday. "Kim Jong-un, in his message, expressed his deep thanks to the president of the Syrian Arab Republic for sending his heartfelt message of greeting, reflecting the warm respect for president Kim Il-sung, who is always alive in the hearts of the Korean people and the world progressives, on the occasion of his 108th birth anniversary," the state agency reported in an English-language article. But the report did not address the questions raised on Tuesday about Kim's health - which flared after he skipped an April 15 commemoration of his grandfather's birthday. The authorities are asking the public for help finding a teenager who has been missing for three weeks from her home in Somerville, a north Alabama town in Morgan County. Shauntel Marie McPherson, 16, left her home on April 1 and hasnt returned, according to the Morgan County sheriffs office. She is described by the authorities as 5 feet 6 inches tall and about 167 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. McPherson is believed to be a runaway, said Mike Swafford, a sheriffs office spokesman. While shes not believed to be in immediate danger, Swafford said the sheriffs office wants to bring her home and make sure shes safe. Its unclear where McPherson might be staying or traveling. [MISSING CHILD] Shauntel Marie McPherson, 16 of Somerville left her residence on April 1, 2020 and has not returned. If... Posted by Morgan County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday, April 22, 2020 Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriffs office at 256-560-6192. Rail and bus commuters with annual tickets are in line for refunds. The National Transport Authority (NTA) said it is working on solutions to refund those who have paid for tickets but are not using them due to the lockdown. Refunds are likely to be issued to annual commuter ticket holders due to the fact these people have paid in advance for travel on train, tram, bus and rail services, but the current travel restrictions mean they are not using the tickets. Talks between the NTA and the companies it regulates, which include Irish Rail, Bus Eireann and Dublin Bus, are ongoing on the issue. A spokesperson for the NTA said it was trying to come up with a solution that works for the greatest number of commuters. "Along with the operators and other stakeholders, we're teasing out the issues, and hope to be in a position to announce something very soon," the spokesperson from the NTA said. Monthly ticket holders who had paid to travel in either March or April may also get refunds. Annual and monthly tickets can be bought using gross salary, saving on income tax and USC. Consumers have been advised to retain any monthly tickets that they have bought in case they are needed to claim a rebate. Fianna Fail TD for Dun Laoghaire Cormac Devlin called on the Government to relax the rules surrounding the Taxsaver Commuter Scheme during the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. Mr Devlin said the Government should "introduce practical solutions like allowing commuters pause their contributions until the Covid-19 crisis passes, or adding two or three free months at the end of this year's contract". So far, refunds have been announced for those with health insurance, with some gyms suspending payments as they have been forced to close. Motor insurers are now under pressure from Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe to refund some of the cost of premiums due to lower traffic volumes and a collapse in injury claims. However, airlines have come under criticism for their failure to pay refunds despite this being a legislative requirement when flights are cancelled. Consumers are up in arms over Ryanair and Aer Lingus offering them vouchers to use on flights at a later date, instead of refunds that they have requested. The airlines are insisting that people can still get refunds, despite reports of consumers finding this difficult. Kinda proud of Russia. They got her done and just in time Moscows brand-new infectious diseases hospital has admitted its first patients, despite construction having begun in mid-March. It comes as Russia recorded over 5,600 Covid-19 cases in a day, with the peak still approaching.The 800-bed facilitys completion is a much-needed antidote to the countrys ever-worsening coronavirus crisis. As of Tuesday afternoon, Russia has 52,763 confirmed cases of Covid-19, and more than half of infections are in Moscow and the Moscow Region. With 5,642 cases nationwide confirmed in the last 24 hours, the opening of the hospital could not have been more timely and, according to data mentioned by President Vladimir Putin on Monday, the worst is still to come.The new hospital is capable of conducting more than 10,000 tests a day and includes a 1,300-capacity hostel to accommodate staff, according to Moscows government website. Source: Moscow opens new coronavirus hospital built in just a month, as Russia braces for Covid-19 PEAK RT Russia News Not as fast as China did it, but a much needed hospital and it has been built for permanency, unlike the Chinese ones that have been dismantled already. This hospital will stay put WtR STOCKHOLM - Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg on Wednesday urged world leaders to act together, based on scientists advice, in addressing major crises from the COVID-19 pandemic to global warming. The climate crisis may not be as immediate as the corona crisis but we need to tackle this now otherwise it will be irreversible, she said from Stockholm during an Earth Day event. The 17-year-old Swede pressed governments worldwide to put your differences aside ... go out into the unknown and take decisions that may not make much sense at the moment but in the long run may be necessary. It is even more important that we listen to science, to the experts. That goes for all crises, whether ... the corona crisis or the climate crisis, Thunberg said. She spoke during an online conversation with Johan Rockstrom, co-director of Germanys Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, in a live event organized by the Nobel Prize Museum in Stockholm. We will rise from this, but we will not bounce back to the old world, the Swedish professor said, speaking from Germany. Thunberg said the climate crisis is not slowing down even in times like these and that a recent drop in pollution linked with widespread lockdown measures to address the pandemic shouldnt leave us optimistic. Many of the worlds large cities have seen great reductions in smog, with concentrations of potentially deadly particulate matter down by as much as 60% over last year. The improvement in air quality is particularly noticeable in India, which has the worlds most pollution-related deaths with more than 2 million people every year, according to a December 2019 report by the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution advocacy group. Thunberg has encouraged students to skip school to join protests demanding faster action on climate change, a movement that has spread from Sweden to other European nations and around the world. ___ Follow APs full coverage of climate issues at https://apnews.com/Climate ___ Follow AP coverage of the pandemic at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak ___ Olsen reported from Copenhagen, Denmark. SPRINGDALE, Ark., April 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tyson Fresh Meats, the beef and pork subsidiary of Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE: TSN), plans to indefinitely suspend operations at its Waterloo, Iowa, pork plant this week. The facility, the companys largest pork plant, has been running at reduced levels of production due to worker absenteeism, and will stop production mid-week until further notice. The facilitys 2,800 team members will be invited to come to the plant later this week for COVID-19 testing. Protecting our team members is our top priority and the reason weve implemented numerous safety measures during this challenging and unprecedented time, said Steve Stouffer, group president of Tyson Fresh Meats. Despite our continued efforts to keep our people safe while fulfilling our critical role of feeding American families, the combination of worker absenteeism, COVID-19 cases and community concerns has resulted in our decision to stop production. The closure has significant ramifications beyond our company, since the plant is part of a larger supply chain that includes hundreds of independent farmers, truckers, distributors and customers, including grocers, Stouffer said. It means the loss of a vital market outlet for farmers and further contributes to the disruption of the nations pork supply. Affected Waterloo team members will continue to be compensated while the plant is closed. The timing of resumption of operations will depend on a variety of factors, including the outcome of team member testing for COVID-19. Tyson Foods has been focused on COVID-19 since January when it formed a company coronavirus task force. It has since implemented numerous measures to protect workers. It was one of the first food companies to start taking worker temperatures. The company started efforts to secure a supply of protective face coverings before the CDC recommended them and now requires their use in all facilities. In an effort to promote social distancing, plants like Waterloo have installed workstation dividers and are providing more breakroom space. Tyson Foods other meat and poultry plants currently continue to operate, but some are running at reduced levels of production either due to the planned implementation of additional worker safety precautions or worker absenteeism. About Tyson Foods Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE: TSN) is one of the worlds largest food companies and a recognized leader in protein. Founded in 1935 by John W. Tyson and grown under three generations of family leadership, the company has a broad portfolio of products and brands like Tyson, Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm, Ball Park, Wright, Aidells, ibp, and State Fair. Tyson Foods innovates continually to make protein more sustainable, tailor food for everywhere its available and raise the worlds expectations for how much good food can do. Headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas, the company has 141,000 team members. Through its Core Values, Tyson Foods strives to operate with integrity, create value for its shareholders, customers, communities and team members and serve as a steward of the animals, land and environment entrusted to it. Visit TYSONFOODS.COM to learn more. Category: IR, Newsroom Hotels, luxury resorts and management companies that funnel money back to a single company have secured about $53 million in federal virus aid, the largest known amount to benefit one firm and the latest example of how the governments small business relief program is also helping big companies. Ashford Inc., an asset management firm based in Dallas, makes money partly by advising two real estate investment trusts: Ashford Hospitality Trust and Braemar Hotels & Resorts, which together own more than 100 properties. Those companies reported in public filings that their hotels had received millions in forgivable loans through a government program meant to help small businesses. The so-called Paycheck Protection Program ran out of its initial $349 billion on April 16, leaving many small companies with no assistance. Congress is expected to add another $310 billion to the program, but there are growing concerns that the Treasury Department and the Small Business Administration have not done enough to prevent big companies from getting funds ahead of smaller, often independent businesses with no other financing options. Several other big, publicly traded companies have received forgivable loans, including J. Alexanders, whose restaurants received $15 million; Ruths Hospitality Group, parent to Ruths Chris Steakhouse; and Shake Shack, which has since returned the loan. That has prompted an outcry from lawmakers and small-business owners, who say this goes against the intent of the program. Northern Governors Forum have approved the ban of almajiri system in all the nineteen states in the region. The governors reportedly gave the approval during a meeting yesterday which was done via teleconferencing. Also Read: Deportation Of Almajiri Is Unreasonable: Shehu Sani The meeting was presided by the Northern States Governors Forum Chairman, Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau state. In a statement, Governor Lalong said they agreed to take a cue from Kano, Kaduna and Nasarawa States who have begun returning Almajiri children to families and states of origin, while those within their States who do not have parents are taken care of by the Government. They vowed never to allow the system to persist any longer because of the social challenges associated with it including the perpetuation of poverty, illiteracy, insecurity and social disorder. The Governor also called for more COVID-19 testing centers in the north from the federal government and the Nigerian Center Disease and Control Lalong and the northern governor stated that all States in the region should have at least one center in order to make the detection of the disease and its management easier and faster. An application by a probationary Garda for a temporary injunction preventing the Garda Commissioner from dispensing with her services has been dismissed by the High Court. The action has been brought by Emma Roche, who claims the decision to end her time as a member of An Garda Siochana arises out of her failure to pass a component of a physical examination known as a beep test. The test comprises of two shuttle runs 20 meters apart before a beep sound is given. She says that she failed to pass this particular test on a number of occasions between late 2017 and 2019. She claimed the Commissioner's decision was unfair, and in proceedings against the Commissioner, she sought various orders, including an injunction allowing her to continue to work as a garda, pending the outcome of the full hearing of the dispute. Represented by John Temple Bl, Ms Roche had previously secured permission from the High Court to serve short notice of the injunction proceedings on the Commissioner. The application for the injunction was opposed by the Commissioner, represented by Martin Fitzgerald Bl. In a ruling today, Mr Justice Michael Toomey said he was not satisfied to grant the injunction. He said the key issue in the injunction application was the fact that Ms Roche had been informed that her services were to be dispensed of on April 10 last. This was prior to her lawyers coming to court seeking various orders including the temporary injunction over the Easter weekend. While the court was not saying the points raised by Ms Roche in her case would not succeed at a full hearing of the matter, the Judge said the Commissioner's decision had already come into effect. At this stage the Commissioner could not be injuncted, he added. The application arose after the Commissioner notified Ms Roche last October that a decision had been taken to dispense with her services as a member of An Garda Siochana. She appealed that decision through the Garda Representative Association. Her probationary period was extended on occasions. However earlier this year she was informed the Commissioner intended to proceed with the decision to dispense with her services. The court heard that she passed all other requirements and says she was sworn as a fully attested member of the gardai following a ceremony at Templemore in 2017. Ms Roche had been stationed at Mountjoy Garda Station in Dublin. Mr Temple told the court she had an exemplary record in the area she had served and had received references from other members of An Garda Siochana, including her superiors. She had previously been a member of the Garda reserve, and all she wanted to do was serve as a member of the organisation - something her father had done for many years, the court heard. On the front lines: A physicians view of the pandemic Keeping calm: During this time of heightened anxiety and fear, Dr. Jennifer Primeggia 02 says her role requires her to remain calm and rational under pressure. Courtesy photo Photo - of - Hide Caption This story is part of a series recognizing members of the W&M community who are on the front lines fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. -Ed. Dr. Jennifer Primeggia 02 was in elementary school when she learned about Ryan White, an Indiana teen with hemophilia who faced discrimination because of his AIDS diagnosis and died just before he would have graduated from high school. Thats when Primeggia decided she wanted to be a doctor specializing in infectious diseases. The idea that a 13-year-old could be infected with the AIDS virus through a blood transfusion astonished her, and she wanted to learn more. Today, she is among the vanguard of medical professionals battling a different pandemic. In early February, while most Americans were still going about their usual daily routines, she and her fellow physicians working in infectious diseases at Virginia Hospital Center near Washington, D.C., were preparing for an influx of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). They watched what was happening as the novel coronavirus took hold in China, then Italy, then Washington state, New York and California. My partners and I were reading constantly, trying to learn about the virus, Primeggia says. A lot of people are driven by fear, so its important for us to stay calm and rational in our decision making. They considered the logistics: who would receive diagnostic tests and how they would be conducted, how much personal protective equipment was available, how many respirators might be needed, what treatments could be used and the level of staffing required. Soon, the number of patients with the respiratory illness increased. Most of them came in with similar issues: a dry, severe cough and flu-like symptom. With limited tests available initially, guidelines on testing for the coronavirus meant calling the local health department to discuss the case, obtaining state approval, then collecting a sample and sending it by courier to Richmond and waiting two or three days for results. Its been very frustrating, Primeggia says. When she was on call the weekend of March 14-15, there were 26 patients who came to the Northern Virginia hospitals emergency room with possible COVID-19 symptoms, but the hospital was unable to test them. Most were sent home, but some later returned when their conditions worsened. On March 18, Virginia Hospital Center partnered with Arlington Countys health, police and fire departments to open one of the regions first drive-through testing sites for patients showing symptoms of the virus. By that time, coronavirus cases had spread to all 50 states and the District of Columbia. As of April 13, there were 77 patients in the hospital with confirmed cases of COVID-19 and another 14 who were being evaluated for the illness. About 100 people each day are being tested at the drive-through site, Primeggia says. The hospital is also able to complete rapid tests in-house now. Fifteen of the hospitals patients have died since the outbreak began. Some were elderly; others had been in good health before contracting the virus. People can become short of breath and get sick so fast, Primeggia says. A biology and Spanish major at William & Mary, she applied to Eastern Virginia Medical School after her freshman year, securing her path toward medical practice. As a physician, she frequently draws on the Spanish language skills she developed as an undergraduate, while spending two summers working with now-retired Hispanic Studies professor Jonathan Arries as a medical interpreter for migrant farm workers on Virginias Eastern Shore. One of her recent patients was a 48-year-old auto mechanic. She spoke with him in Spanish on March 27, and he told her that he had vacationed at home with his family before becoming ill, visiting local parks where he was around crowds of people. He was coughing a lot when we were talking and told me that his lungs hurt, she says. Every time he tried to take a deep breath, he had uncontrollable, painful coughing fits. I told him that we would watch him closely and support him. A few hours after they spoke, his condition worsened and he was placed on a ventilator in the intensive care unit. Sadly, the man did not survive, Primeggia says. In an effort to improve patients prospects for recovery, Virginia Hospital Center enrolled in a clinical trial for the experimental antiviral drug remdesivir, produced by California biotech company Gilead Sciences. A shipment of the drug arrived on April 8. As a co-investigator of the study at the hospital, Primeggia will identify moderately and severely ill patients who qualify for the study, obtain their consent and assess them for adverse reactions and side effects. Wed like to enroll as many patients as we can, she says. We are very excited about the trial. Developed as a possible treatment for Ebola, the new drug is considered promising for COVID-19 patients because of its success in treating related viruses SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome) during laboratory tests. The drug is designed to work by disrupting the viruss ability to replicate itself. Gilead CEO Daniel ODay wrote in a message posted April 4 that the company is making 1.5 million doses available for clinical trials, compassionate use for children and pregnant women, and expanded access for severely ill patients who cant take part in clinical trials. Other Virginia sites participating in remdesivir trials include the medical centers at Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Virginia. Primeggia says another treatment with potential is plasma infusion from people who have recovered from COVID-19, because their blood contains antibodies that can fight the virus. Virginia Hospital Center has partnered with the Mayo Clinic and the American Red Cross to make this available to patients. We enrolled our first patient this week and are waiting to receive plasma, she says. While waiting to begin those treatments, Primeggia and her colleagues have been treating COVID-19 patients with Plaquenil, also known by the generic name hydroxychloroquine. Its mostly been used for people with malaria or lupus, but the Food and Drug Administration recently approved it as a treatment for the coronavirus. Although small studies in France and China reported benefits, she says theres not enough data to confirm its effectiveness. Weve been using it for a couple of weeks, she says. Were doing that mostly because we havent had have anything else. Theres not much treatment out there. As Primeggia and the rest of the infectious diseases team fights to save lives, the pandemic is putting a strain on the hospitals supplies and health care workers. The number of COVID-19 patients now exceeds the 55 ventilators on site, although she notes that its possible for one machine to be used with multiple people. The hospital also has been receiving donations of personal protective equipment to augment its supply. The biggest issue is with staff, she says. Only so many people are trained in intensive care. Dr. Rohit Modak, one of Primeggias colleagues in the hospitals infectious diseases group, describes her as collaborative, bright, calm under pressure and mindful of the effects of a decision on all stakeholders. During this pandemic, were all stretched thin, Modak says. Its not just patient care, its taking care of hospital staff. Weve had to lean on each other more. If I was busy in a meeting, shed step up and take care of my patients. We really worked as a team to say what needs to be done and who has to do each role on each given day. Twelve-hour days are typical for Primeggia, and those can stretch to 18 hours on weekends when shes on call. Health care providers at the hospital so far have avoided contracting the illness, she says, but many are scared and anxious. Her husband and two daughters, ages 2 and 4 , are adjusting to the new demands on her time. My family tries to stay very supportive, she says. The last thing they want to do is talk about how worried they are about me. Primeggia remains hopeful that the spread of the virus will slow and that the new treatments will bring relief to patients. Its going to be a couple more weeks before we see if the social distancing is really working, she says. Hopefully in the next few weeks, well see an improvement. You are the owner of this article. SAN FRANCISCO, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The global smart kettle market size is expected to reach USD 968.5 million by 2025, expanding at a CAGR of 19.2% in the forecast period, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The market is driven by increasing penetration of IoT (Internet of Things) and voice-enabled devices. With the rapid technological upgradation, rise in the emergence of smart technologies, and launch of voice assistance devices like Amazon Echo and Google home appliances are considered to be the major factors fueling the market growth. In addition, these appliances are equipped with high intelligence sensors and can be operated remotely from android or iOS systems of smartphones or tablets. Growing trend of connected devices in small kitchen appliances is also expected to propel the market in the forecast period. Key suggestions from the report: In terms of revenue, voice-enabled based as a technology is projected to ascend at a CAGR of 19.9% over the forecast years 1200-1800 W range in power rating segment is expected to grow fastest with CAGR of 19.8% over the forecast period Europe is one of the fastest growing regions and it is growing at a significant rate of 19.7% CAGR due to growing number of the smart homes and advanced lifestyle standards especially in U.K. and Germany Some of the major companies in the smart kettle market areBreville Group Limited; Smarter Applications Ltd.; AEG, Fellow Industries, Inc.; Xiaomi; Brewista, Inc.; Sage Appliances; and AppKettle. Read 80 page research report with ToC on "Smart Kettle Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Technology (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Voice-enabled), By Power Rating (Upto 1200 W, 1200-1800 W, 1800-3000 W), By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2020 - 2027" at: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/smart-kettles-market The Bluetooth technology segment accounted for more than 30.0% of the market share in 2019 and is expected to witness a significant growth over the forecast period. With new innovations in smart mers to look for high quality and multi-functioned smart kettles. It is typically available in power ratings ranging from 1200 W to 3000 W. High energy saving efficiency and remote controlling access via IoT environment are some of the prominent factors contributing to the growth of smart kettles. Asia Pacific dominated the smart kettle market in 2019 and accounted for more than 36.0% of the total market share owing to rapid lifestyle changes, improving disposable income, and healthy economic growth. India and China are expected to be the fastest growing countries in the regional market. Increasing proliferation of smart technologies such as IoT solutions, AI, and voice-enabled services is expected to further drive the market in the region. Europe and North America are also expected to witness significant growth over the forecast period owing to the presence of matured economies. Grand View Research has segmented the global smart kettle market on the basis of technology, power rating, and region: Smart Kettles Technology Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2027) Wi-Fi Bluetooth Voice-enabled Others Smart Kettles Power Rating Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2027) Up to 1200 W 1200-1800 W 1800-3000 W Smart Kettles Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2027) North America U.S. Europe U.K. Germany Asia Pacific China India Central & South America Brazil Middle East & Africa & South Africa Find more research reports on Electronic & Electrical Industry, by Grand View Research: Water Flosser Market Water flosser can be used to effectively clean dental implants, crowns, bridges, and veneers. Rising awareness about oral care will boost the product demand in the market. Coffee Machine Market Increased consumption of coffee in Asian countries is one of the key factors driving the coffee machine market growth. Robotic Wheelchairs Market Rising instances of temporary and permanent mobility impairment, growing geriatric population, and obese individuals who cannot participate in activities that demand smooth movement are driving the demand for robotic wheelchairs. Gain access to Grand View Compass, our BI enabled intuitive market research database of 10,000+ reports About Grand View Research Grand View Research, U.S.-based market research and consulting company, provides syndicated as well as customized research reports and consulting services. Registered in California and headquartered in San Francisco, the company comprises over 425 analysts and consultants, adding more than 1200 market research reports to its vast database each year. These reports offer in-depth analysis on 46 industries across 25 major countries worldwide. With the help of an interactive market intelligence platform, Grand View Research helps Fortune 500 companies and renowned academic institutes understand the global and regional business environment and gauge the opportunities that lie ahead. Contact: Sherry James Corporate Sales Specialist, USA Grand View Research, Inc. Phone: 1-415-349-0058 Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519 Email: [email protected] Web: https://www.grandviewresearch.com Follow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter SOURCE Grand View Research, Inc. [April 22, 2020] Moelis & Company Reports First Quarter 2020 Financial Results; Quarterly Dividend of $0.255 Per Share Moelis & Company (NYSE: MC) today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2020. The Firm's revenues of $153.7 million increased 12% over the prior year period. The Firm reported first quarter 2020 GAAP net income of $30.1 million, or $0.44 per share (diluted) compared with $16.2 million or $0.25 per share (diluted) in the prior year period. On an Adjusted basis, the Firm reported net income of $31.3 million or $0.45 per share (diluted) for the first quarter of 2020, which compares with $18.2 million of net income or $0.27 per share (diluted) in the prior year period. GAAP and Adjusted net income in the first quarter of 2020 both include tax benefits of $0.23 per share, and $0.18 per share, respectively, related to the settlement of share based awards and tax relief pursuant to the CARES Act. "In the current unprecedented environment, the emphasis on balance sheets and business models are now at the forefront of conversations across all companies. However, for Moelis & Company, building and maintaining a fortress balance sheet has been at the core of our business since inception. As a result, I believe that we will emerge from this period of prolonged uncertainty even stronger than when we went into it," said Ken Moelis Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "In addition to our strong financial position, we have built a resilient advisory business that is designed to perform in all economic cycles. We are currently seeing the benefits of our model in action, as we quickly pivot the platform and organize around our leading restructuring and recapitalization team. This has led to a significant increase in activity recently, and I feel confident about the contributions from this franchise over the longer term." The Firm's revenues and net income can fluctuate materially depending on the number, size and timing of completed transactions on which it advised as well as other factors. Accordingly, financial results in any particular quarter may not be representative of future results over a longer period of time. Currently 80% of the operating partnership (Moelis & Company Group LP) is owned by the corporate partner (Moelis & Company) and is subject to corporate U.S. federal and state income tax. The remaining 20% is owned by other partners of Moelis & Company Group LP and is primarily subject to U.S. federal tax at the partner level (certain state and local and foreign income taxes are incurred at the company level). The Adjusted results included herein apply certain adjustments from our GAAP results, including the assumption that 100% of the Firm's first quarter income was taxed at our corporate effective tax rate. We believe the Adjusted results, when presented together with comparable GAAP results, are useful to investors to compare our performance across periods and to better understand our operating results. A reconciliation between our GAAP results and our Adjusted results is presented in the Appendix to this press release. GAAP and Adjusted (non-GAAP) Selected Financial Data (Unaudited) US. GAAP Adjusted (non-GAAP)* Three Months Ended March 31, ($ in thousands except per share data) 2020 2019 2020 vs. 2019 Variance 2020 2019 2020 vs. 2019 Variance Revenues $ 153,706 $ 137,783 12 % $ 153,706 $ 137,783 12 % Income (loss) before income taxes 22,782 11,719 94 % 25,667 12,615 103 % Provision for income taxes (7,344 ) (4,458 ) 65 % (5,585 ) (5,557 ) 1 % Net income (loss) 30,126 16,177 86 % 31,252 18,172 72 % Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests 4,996 2,607 92 % - - N/M Net income (loss) attributable to Moelis & Company $ 25,130 $ 13,570 85 % $ 31,252 $ 18,172 72 % Diluted earnings per share $ 0.44 $ 0.25 76 % $ 0.45 $ 0.27 67 % N/M = not meaningful * See Appendix for a reconciliation of GAAP to Adjusted (non-GAAP) Revenues We earned revenues of $153.7 million in the first quarter of 2020, as compared with $137.8 million in the prior year period, representing an increase of 12%. This compares favorably with a 23% decrease in the number of global completed M&A transactions in the same period1. The increase in quarterly revenues was driven by an increase in the number of transaction completions, as well as an increase in average fees earned per completed transaction as compared with the prior year period. Toward the end of the quarter, we saw many M&A transactions being put on hold due to the uncertainty and market volatility caused by COVID-19. COVID-19 has adversely impacted our business and is expected to continue to have a significant and adverse effect on our business, revenues and operating results in the short term. We continued to execute on our strategy of organic growth. In the year-to-date 2020 period, we promoted five of our advisory professionals to Managing Director and added four external Managing Directors to enhance our expertise in important sectors, products and regions. Since our last earnings release, we added four veteran Managing Directors in the U.S. to provide financial and strategic advice to consumer goods clients, augment our global oil & gas franchise, expand our ability to provide seamless industry, product and execution capabilities to financial sponsors and their portfolio companies, and add to our coverage in advising corporates on activist strategies. 1 Source: Thomson Financial as of April 4, 2020; includes all transactions greater than $100 million in value Expenses The following tables set forth information relating to the Firm's operating expenses. US. GAAP Adjusted (non-GAAP)* Three Months Ended March 31, ($ in thousands) 2020 2019 2020 vs. 2019 Variance 2020 2019 2020 vs. 2019 Variance Expenses: Compensation and benefits $ 95,120 $ 90,161 6 % $ 95,025 $ 89,265 6 % % of revenues 61.9 % 65.4 % 61.8 % 64.8 % Non-compensation expenses $ 34,144 $ 37,993 -10 % $ 34,144 $ 37,993 -10 % % of revenues 22.2 % 27.6 % 22.2 % 27.6 % Total operating expenses $ 129,264 $ 128,154 1 % $ 129,169 $ 127,258 2 % % of revenues 84.1 % 93.0 % 84.0 % 92.4 % * See Appendix for a reconciliation of GAAP to Adjusted (non-GAAP) Total operating expenses on a GAAP basis were $129.3 million for the first quarter of 2020. On an Adjusted basis, operating expenses were $129.2 million for the first quarter of 2020 as compared with $127.3 million in the prior year period. The increase in operating expenses was driven by increased compensation and benefits expenses. Compensation and benefits expenses on a GAAP basis were $95.1 million in the first quarter of 2020. Adjusted compensation and benefits expenses (which exclude the amortization of IPO awards for the prior year reported period) were $95.0 million for the first quarter of 2020, as compared with $89.3 million in the prior year period. The Adjusted compensation and benefits ratio for the current quarter was 62% versus 65% in the prior year period. Non-compensation expenses on a GAAP and Adjusted basis were $34.1 million for the first quarter of 2020 as compared with $38.0 million for the prior year quarter. The decrease in non-compensation expenses were primarily related to decreased travel and other business development expenses related to social distancing restrictions due to the COVID-19 virus, in addition to our continued and focused expense discipline. Our non-compensation expense ratio was 22% in the current period versus 28% in the prior year period. Provision for Income Taxes The corporate partner (Moelis & Company) currently owns 80% of the operating partnership (Moelis & Company Group LP) and is subject to corporate U.S. federal and state income tax. Income on the remaining 20% continues to be subject to New York City unincorporated business tax and certain foreign income taxes and is accounted for at the partner level through the non-controlling interests line item. For Adjusted purposes, we have assumed that 100% of the Firm's first quarter 2020 income was taxed at our corporate effective tax rate of 25.2%, together with a tax benefit of approximately $9.1 million from the delivery of equity-based compensation at a price above the grant date price and a $2.9 million benefit from the tax relief provisions under the CARES Act, we have a net tax benefit of approximately $5.6 million as compared with modest pre-tax income. Capital Management and Balance Sheet On April 20, 2020, the Board of Directors of Moelis & Company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.255 per share. The $0.255 per share will be paid on June 30, 2020 to common stockholders of record on May 4, 2020. We believe that modifying our quarterly dividend is the prudent approach in this uncertain environment. By retaining capital we will enhance our financial flexibility and maintain a position of strength for the post-COVID-19 recovery. We remain committed to returning all of our excess capital when normal business activity resumes. Moelis & Company continues to maintain a strong financial position, and as of March 31, 2020, we held cash and liquid investments of $145.4 million and had no debt or goodwill on our balance sheet. During the first quarter of 2020, we repurchased 869,779 shares of our common stock for a total cost of $31.6 million. Earnings Call We will host a conference call beginning at 5:00pm ET on Wednesday, April 22, 2020, accessible via telephone and the internet. Ken Moelis, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Joe Simon, Chief Financial Officer, will review our first quarter 2020 financial results. Following the review, there will be a question and answer session. Investors and analysts may participate in the live conference call by dialing 1-877-510-3938 (domestic) or 1-412-902-4137 (international) and referencing the Moelis & Company First Quarter 2020 Earnings Call. Please dial in 15 minutes before the conference call begins. The conference call will also be accessible as a listen-only audio webcast through the Investor Relations section of the Moelis & Company website at www.moelis.com. For those unable to listen to the live broadcast, a replay of the call will be available for one month via telephone starting approximately one hour after the live call ends. The replay can be accessed at 1-877-344-7529 (domestic) or 1-412-317-0088 (international); the conference number is 10142177. About Moelis & Company Moelis & Company is a leading global independent investment bank that provides innovative strategic advice and solutions to a diverse client base, including corporations, governments and financial sponsors. The Firm assists its clients in achieving their strategic goals by offering comprehensive integrated financial advisory services across all major industry sectors. Moelis & Company's experienced professionals advise clients on their most critical decisions, including mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations and restructurings, capital markets transactions, and other corporate finance matters. The Firm serves its clients from 20 geographic locations in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. For further information, please visit: www.moelis.com or follow us on Twitter @Moelis. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements, which reflect the Firm's current views with respect to, among other things, its operations and financial performance. You can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "outlook," "believes," "expects," "potential," "continues," "may," "will," "should," "seeks," "target," "approximately," "predicts," "intends," "plans," "estimates," "anticipates" or the negative version of these words or other comparable words. Such forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and estimates and subject to various risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause actual outcomes or results to differ materially from those indicated in these statements. We believe these factors include, but are not limited to, those described under "Risk Factors" discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, subsequent reports filed on Form 10-Q and our other filings with the SEC. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included in this release including those statements herein with respect to the negative effect that the COVID-19 pandemic has had and the significant and adverse effect it is expected to continue to have on our business in the short term. The scale, scope and duration of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business, revenues and operating results is unpredictable and depends on many factors outside of our control. Statements herein about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the firm's business, results, financial position and liquidity may constitute forward-looking statements and are subject to the risk that the actual impact may differ, possibly materially, from what is currently estimated. In addition, new risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all risks and uncertainties, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Accordingly, you should not rely upon forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. The Firm undertakes no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. Non-GAAP Financial Measures Adjusted results are a non-GAAP measure which better reflect management's view of operating results. We believe that the disclosed Adjusted measures and any adjustments thereto, when presented in conjunction with comparable GAAP measures, are useful to investors to understand the Firm's operating results by adjusting the accounting impact of certain items and assuming all Class A partnership units have been exchanged into Class A common stock. These measures should not be considered a substitute for, or superior to, measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. A reconciliation of GAAP results to Adjusted results is presented in the Appendix. Appendix GAAP Consolidated Statement of Operations (Unaudited) Reconciliation of GAAP to Adjusted (non-GAAP) Financial Information (Unaudited) Moelis & Company GAAP Consolidated Statement of Operations Unaudited (dollars in thousands, except for share and per share data) Three Months Ended March 31, 2020 2019 Revenues $ 153,706 $ 137,783 Expenses Compensation and benefits 95,120 90,161 Occupancy 7,231 4,819 Professional fees 4,236 5,179 Communication, technology and information services 8,392 7,962 Travel and related expenses 7,944 11,497 Depreciation and amortization 1,199 1,155 Other expenses 5,142 7,381 Total Expenses 129,264 128,154 Operating income (loss) 24,442 9,629 Other income (expenses) (1,660 ) 2,090 Income (loss) before income taxes 22,782 11,719 Provision (benefit) for income taxes (7,344 ) (4,458 ) Net income (loss) 30,126 16,177 Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests 4,996 2,607 Net income (loss) attributable to Moelis & Company $ 25,130 $ 13,570 Weighted-average shares of Class A common stock outstanding Basic 52,666,457 48,309,358 Diluted 57,092,982 55,108,335 Net income (loss) attributable to holders of shares of Class A common stock per share Basic $ 0.48 $ 0.28 Diluted $ 0.44 $ 0.25 Moelis & Company Reconciliation of GAAP to Adjusted (non-GAAP) Financial Information Unaudited (dollars in thousands, except share and per share data) Three Months Ended March 31, 2020 Adjusted items GAAP Adjustments Adjusted (non-GAAP) Compensation and benefits $ 95,120 $ (95 ) (a) $ 95,025 Other income (expenses) (1,660 ) 2,790 (a)(b) 1,130 Income (loss) before income taxes 22,782 2,885 25,667 Provision for income taxes (7,344 ) 1,759 (b)(c) (5,585 ) Net income (loss) 30,126 1,126 31,252 Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests 4,996 (4,996 ) (d) - Net income (loss) attributable to Moelis & Company $ 25,130 $ 6,122 $ 31,252 Weighted-average shares of Class A common stock outstanding Basic 52,666,457 12,958,022 (d) 65,624,479 Diluted 57,092,982 12,958,022 (d) 70,051,004 Net income (loss) attributable to holders of shares of Class A common stock per share Basic $ 0.48 $ 0.48 Diluted $ 0.44 $ 0.45 (a) Reflects a reclassification of $0.1 million of other income to compensation and benefits expense associated with the forfeiture of fully vested awards from the enforcement of non-compete provisions. (b) Tax Receivable Agreement liability adjustments are made to Other income (expenses) for GAAP purposes. These adjustments are reclassified to provision for income taxes to reflect the net economic impact in the tax line. (c) An adjustment has been made to illustrate the result as if 100% of the Firm's income is being taxed at our corporate effective tax rate for the period stated. Our tax provision includes a tax benefit related to the settlement of share-based awards of $9.1 million and a $2.9 million benefit from the tax relief provisions under the CARES Act; excluding such discrete benefits, our effective tax rate for the period presented would have been 25.2%. (d) Assumes all outstanding Class A partnership units have been exchanged into Class A common stock. Three Months Ended March 31, 2019 Adjusted items GAAP Adjustments Adjusted (non-GAAP) Compensation and benefits $ 90,161 $ (896 ) (a) $ 89,265 Income (loss) before income taxes 11,719 896 12,615 Provision for income taxes (4,458 ) (1,099 ) (b) (5,557 ) Net income (loss) 16,177 1,995 18,172 Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests 2,607 (2,607 ) (c) - Net income (loss) attributable to Moelis & Company $ 13,570 $ 4,602 $ 18,172 Weighted-average shares of Class A common stock outstanding Basic 48,309,358 13,053,465 (c) 61,362,823 Diluted 55,108,335 13,053,465 (c) 68,161,800 Net income (loss) attributable to holders of shares of Class A common stock per share Basic $ 0.28 $ 0.30 Diluted $ 0.25 $ 0.27 (a) Expense associated with the amortization of Restricted Stock Units ("RSUs") and stock options granted in connection with the IPO. In accordance with GAAP, amortization expense of RSUs and stock options granted in connection with the IPO will be recognized over the five year vesting period. (b) An adjustment has been made to illustrate the result as if 100% of the Firm's income is being taxed at our corporate effective tax rate for the period stated. Our tax provision includes an excess tax benefit related to the settlement of share-based awards of $8.7 million; excluding such discrete benefit, our effective tax rate for the period presented would have been 25.3%. (c) Assumes all outstanding Class A partnership units have been exchanged into Class A common stock. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005978/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Syracuse, N.Y. Volunteers and farmers distributed 7,700 gallons of milk to area families, seniors and schools in need on Wednesday. Volunteers from Dairy Farmers of America, American Dairy Association North East and Dean Foods organized the drive-thru distribution in a Destiny USA parking lot to respond to record numbers of people filing unemployment during the coronavirus shutdown. The event ran from 2 to 6 p.m. Wednesday in the East Side lot off Solar Street. Drivers were prompted to open their trunk or window to receive the milk. Some drivers beeped and passengers waved flags and yelled thank-yous as they cruised by. Are you taking donations? asked one driver, after receiving her milk. The volunteers declined. Before the public drive began, Syracuse City School District picked up 1,998 gallons of milk and City Senior Apartments picked up 1,098 gallons, said Kate Grosso of the American Dairy Association North East. Several hundred cars passed through the giveaway in the first hour, and each car received two gallons. Some drivers arrived at the parking lots as early as 12:30 p.m, Grosso said. The line of cars grew extra long around 2 p.m. and snaked around nearby parking lots, but distribution went quickly. Drivers reported wait times of about 20-30 minutes. By 4:30 p.m., 1,809 cars had passed through (receiving two gallons each) and there were about 800 gallons left to give away, Grosso said. The drive-thru was an effort to support families and farmers who may be experiencing unemployment and food insecurity due to the coronavirus shutdown. Similar drive-thru distributions at SUNY Morrisville over the past two weeks drew hundreds of families. Volunteers from United Way of Central New York and the Office of the Onondaga County Executive helped at the event. Destiny USA, United Rental, OnSite Facility Services and the Syracuse Police Department also volunteered services. We are seeing people who have never before sought help come to food pantries, community organizations, and churches because they cannot provide for their families, said Nancy Kern Eaton, president of the United Way of CNY. We are grateful for the incredible generosity of the dairy farmers." (Video includes drone footage from Aiden McGuire/Aiden Media.) MORE ON CORONAVIRUS Coronavirus sends Upstate NY dairy industry into free fall as milk dumping soars Farmers try to cope with milk glut, lower prices as restaurants, schools stop buying dairy. Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources Reopening NYS schools this academic year will be very difficult due to coronavirus, Cuomo says As coronavirus spread, a Fayetteville retirement community became a hotbed McMahon: No more shelter-in-place, but urges people to travel even less; hospitals can reopen Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com The man behind the masks: Syracuse repairman keeps sewing machines humming Convalescent plasma therapy, or passive antibody therapy, involves taking the blood plasma of a recovered patient and transferring it to an infected person. A 49-year-old patient was admitted to Max Super Speciality Hospital, Saket on the 4th of April exhibiting moderate symptoms of COVID-19. By the 8th of April, he was in respiratory failure and required ventilator support. The hospital was following procedures laid down by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; he was being treated for symptoms and was on the hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin combination as well. Still, he wasnt getting better. This is when the family stepped in and requested the hospital to try convalescent plasma therapy on compassionate grounds since it is still an experimental technique in the context of COVID-19. They managed to find a donor, and on the 14th of April, the transfusion took place. Both of the patient's parents had also contracted the novel coronavirus. While, unfortunately, his father passed earlier this month, his mother has recovered. MyUpchar spoke with Dr Sandeep Budhiraja, Group Medical Director, Max Healthcare and Senior Director, Institute of Internal Medicine, who oversaw the blood plasma treatment, to find out more about the procedure. The promise and limits of plasma therapy Plasma therapy can be attempted in cases that are moderate to severe. The patient, in this case, was experiencing respiratory distress, had developed acute pneumonia, and was not responding to other medication. It is not a therapy that will work if the patient is on the brink, though, Dr Budhiraja explained. When asked if plasma therapy can be used preventively or prophylactically, the doctor said that this was not the purpose of its application. Plasma therapy can be thought of as an added support to the body when it is overpowered by an acute infection. Antibodies from an external source may strengthen the bodys attack on the pathogen and help the patient overcome a difficult situation, he said. Who can donate blood plasma? Convalescent plasma therapy, or passive antibody therapy, involves taking the blood plasma of a recovered patient and transferring it to an infected person. The antibodies produced by the survivor persist in the body for a period of time (depending on the infection) and provide varying degrees of immunity by mounting a swift attack should the body encounter the pathogen again. In this case, the donor had previously been infected with COVID-19 and subsequently tested negative twice. A healthy and suitable donor is one with no underlying conditions and who has been declared negative for at least two weeks. We also checked for Hepatitis B, C and HIV, all of which were clear, he said. He added that serological (or antibody) tests could not be performed, but it was reasonable to assume that the donor had sufficient antibodies since they had cleared the disease. The recovery The patient seemed to respond well to the treatment and was gradually weaned off the ventilator on the 18th of April. As of Sunday, April 19, he was able to eat and has since tested negative. However, it is important that we also understand that plasma therapy is no magic bullet. During the patients treatment, other standard treatment protocols were followed. Plasma therapy could have worked as a catalyst in speeding up his recovery. We cannot attribute the recovery to plasma therapy completely, as there are multiple factors which carved that path, the doctor added. This is where clinical trials come in - controlled studies assign causality and will help us to understand to what extent plasma therapy can work. Trials are ongoing in India and abroad. Plasma therapy could be promising until a vaccine is produced. Cases such as these may spur scalability initiatives; blood banks could identify and take plasma from COVID-19 survivors to provide for compassionate cases and clinical trials. For more information, read our article on Passive Antibody Therapy. Health articles in Firstpost are written by myUpchar.com, Indias first and biggest resource for verified medical information. At myUpchar, researchers and journalists work with doctors to bring you information on all things health. The American Heart Association (AHA) is investing nearly $17 million in scientific research to be led by scientists from Boston University, the Ohio State University and Yale University to study the health impacts of e-cigarettes and other nicotine delivery systems on youth and young adults. The ENACT: End Nicotine Addiction in Children and Teens Research Initiative is funding ground-breaking research to fill a critical need for clear scientific knowledge in this area. This is the latest in a multipronged, ongoing commitment announced last fall by the American Heart Association -- the world's leading voluntary organization dedicated to a world of longer, healthier lives -- to fight the growing epidemic of youth vaping. E-cigarettes are being marketed as a healthy option to traditional cigarettes, but no one knows if vaping is safe in the long run because e-cigarettes haven't been around long enough to be studied deeply. Some diseases can take years and even decades to develop, so there is more work needed to fully understand all the dangers." There's certainly plenty of indication they're harmful for growing minds and bodies because we know e-cigarettes contain nicotine and we know the harmful effects of nicotine, but it's important we grow that overall body of scientific evidence." Robert A. Harrington, M.D., FAHA, American Heart Association Volunteer President, Arthur L. Bloomfield Professor of Medicine, and Chair of the Department of Medicine, Stanford University Harrington said there's a sense of urgency because, at a time when regular cigarette smoking has reached an all-time low, young people are turning to e-cigarettes at epidemic proportions with nearly one in four high school students reportedly vaping. That's why these research projects will be high-impact and fast tracked, only two years in length and funded at levels among the highest individual grants awarded in the Association's history. The initiative is designed to produce turnkey programs to support youth as well as provide clear evidence to inform policy decisions. Research teams from Boston University, the Ohio State University and Yale University will be working over the next two years to identify the biological impacts of vaping on multiple organ systems (heart, brain, lungs, vascular, etc.), behavioral factors and specific social influencers of health to reverse these trends. The projects, funded for two years, include: VAPERACE -- Led by Naomi Hamburg, M.D., the Joseph A. Vita, MD Professor at the Boston University School of Medicine, this team will establish the Rapidly Advancing Discovery to Arrest the Outbreak of Youth Vaping Center and will include four intersecting projects at Boston University, Johns Hopkins University, Stanford University and the University of Louisville. These projects include: basic research using human induced pluripotent stem cell samples to test the toxicity of the components of e-cigarettes; mobile health technology to measure the physiological cardiovascular impacts of e-cigarettes on youth in real-world settings and a virtual reality and text messaging delivered e-cigarette cessation program for youth developed by combining social media methods with focus groups. VERIFY: A Comprehensive Approach to Understanding and Ending Youth E-cigarette Addiction -- Led by Peter Mohler, Ph.D., the vice dean for research and director of the Davis Heart & Lung Research Institute at the Ohio State College of Medicine and Wexner Medical Center, this team comprised of investigators in the Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Public Health and Engineering and the Comprehensive Cancer Center will work to provide answers about the short- and long-term health effects of e-cigarettes, including their impact on the brain, lungs, and heart; the most effective regulations to reduce the appeal and addictiveness of e-cigarettes for youth; and the best methods to help youth addicted to e-cigarettes quit. Team VERIFY: Vaping's End through Research and Innovation For Youth will recruit youth for a year-long study to look at the relationship between nicotine form, concentration and flavorings on youth e-cig use, addiction, neurocognitive outcomes and pulmonary health compared to healthy peers. They will also study the influence of nicotine form, concentration and flavor on youth puffing behavior, nicotine delivery, abuse liability, toxicant exposure and acute cardiovascular and pulmonary effects; and they will develop and test a multi-point, scalable vaping cessation program to include quit-line-delivered phone counseling, text-based cessation, nicotine replacement therapy and online cessation support. Understanding and Treating E-cigarette Use Among Youth -- Led by Suchitra Krishnan-Sarin, Ph.D., a professor of psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine, this team will develop and test several youth-based programs and conduct clinical and behavioral research to learn more about the effect of youth e-cigarette use. They plan to develop a high school-based intervention to educate youth about e-cigarettes, prevent initiation of vaping, promote quitting among those who already use e-cigarettes and change attitudes and perceptions toward e-cigarettes school-wide. They will also develop a cessation program that will use smartphone-based contingency management for nicotine abstinence in combination with individualized, cognitive behavioral therapy. Further, they plan to develop and pilot a computerized cognitive behavioral therapy intervention for youth e-cigarette users. Finally, the team will develop a measure of e-cigarette withdrawal in youth and assess the relationship between withdrawal, dependence, treatment outcomes and e-cigarette characteristics such as flavors and devices. "The rapid pace of e-cigarette products entering the market and targeting our youth requires an ambitious, aggressive approach beyond the incremental pace achieved through traditional research mechanisms. Policymakers, regulators, medical professionals and schools are looking to enact strategies, policies and solutions but there's inadequate evidence to inform these efforts," Harrington said. "The American Heart Association is proud to be on the forefront of bringing together some of the best minds in their fields to conduct the research, development and testing to bring bold and innovative results to address the growing epidemic of youth vaping in our commitment of longer, healthier lives for all." A new father has opened up about the experience of watching the birth of his first child on Zoom, due to social distancing guidelines that kept him from his wifes hospital bed. On 27 March, Marty Gandelman, 34, from New Jersey, watched from his couch at home as his wife Stephanie gave birth to the couples son, Jake. According to the couple, who spoke to Metro, Stephanie was scheduled to be induced on 27 March, a week before her initial due date of 3 April. However, four days before, on 23 March, Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City banned spouses from being present in delivery rooms in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus. After learning of the hospitals decision, Marty says he was very, very upset at first, but he and Stephanie knew as soon as the option of a virtual delivery was presented that they wanted to do it. And, although Marty said it was tough not being with his wife in person and not being able to kiss his son, watching the birth via Zoom did make it feel like I was in the room with them. What made the experience easier, according to Marty, was being able to see how many doctors were helping his wife through her labour. When I saw how many doctors were there on Zoom I knew she was safe, which helped, he said. When I saw that mum and baby were both ok I was over the moon and to be honest, being able to watch did make it feel like I was in the room with them. It was a shame I couldnt be there to hold Stephs hand but under the circumstances it worked out perfectly well, the new dad continued, adding that it was such a great feeling when he picked Jake and Stephanie up from the hospital the day after the birth. According to Marty, once hed picked up his family, they immediately drove home to isolate away from everything. Stephanie also says that although it wasnt the perfect labour, they made it work. As for how she felt during the delivery without her husband by her side, the jewellery boutique owner says she just thought of the camera as Marty, rather than a camera. It didnt really change anything for me and it was comforting to know he was there. According to Mount Sinai, the decision to keep spouses and other visitors from delivery rooms in an effort to minimise the risk of spreading coronavirus was one that was not made lightly. We do not take this decision lightly, but these are unprecedented times that require unprecedented steps to protect our patients, their families and their new babies, Lucia Lee, a spokeswoman for the hospital said in a statement to The New York Times. In addition to barring visitors, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has also suggested that hospitals temporarily separate newborns from mothers who are positive for Covid-19. According to the latest figures, there have been 92,387 confirmed cases of coronavirus in New Jersey, while New York has had 139,385 cases. By Michelle Fay Cortez and Robert Langreth | Bloomberg News A panel of medical experts convened by the U.S. National Institutes of Health recommended against the use of a drug combination touted by President Donald Trump for COVID-19 patients. The NIH panel made up of 50 doctors, pharmacy experts and government researchers and officials specifically recommended against the use of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine in combination with the antibiotic azithromycin. The malaria pill can cause heart issues, and the NIH panel warned of the potential for harm from the combination. Trump has repeatedly backed the use of the malaria pill or the combination of drugs on Twitter and at numerous briefings of the Coronavirus Task Force, though some medical experts in his administration have cautioned about the lack of evidence. In a press briefing on April 5th, he said: What do you have to lose? Take it. Although reports have appeared in the medical literature and the lay press claiming successful treatment of patients with COVID-19 with a variety of agents, definitive clinical trial data are needed to identify optimal treatments for this disease, the NIH panel said in its report, giving broad recommendations for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. The panel was lead by Roy Gulick, chief of infectious diseases at Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York City, and two scientists from the NIH. More than two dozen academics, pharmacy experts and doctors from around the U.S. were part of the group, as were representatives from the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One of Gulicks co-chairs on the panel is Clifford Lane, a top official at the NIHs National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases. That division of the NIH is led by Anthony Fauci, a member of Trumps task force on the virus. Trumps championing of the drug has led to an enormous focus on hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment, amid dozens of therapies that are being explored. A few small, early studies suggested positive outcomes from the drug and gained wide attention. But the picture has grown far murkier as more data has emerged. A recent analysis of 368 patients from the Veterans Administration looked at how people with COVID-19 fared after getting the standard of care, hydroxychloroquine alone, or the combination. In the study, patients who received both hydroxychloroquine alone and the combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin were more likely to have severe COVID-19 disease, compared to people who didnt get the drugs. But even after statistically adjusting for those differences, patients getting hydroxychloroquine alone still had a higher death rate than those not getting it. There was no clear difference in death rates among those getting the combination compared to those getting no drug. Results from the unpublished study were first reported by The Associated Press. In Brazil, part of another clinical trial was suspended because patients getting higher doses of chloroquine, a related drug, appeared to be more likely to die, according to a preprint of the study that had not yet been published in a scientific journal. Other studies of the drugs in thousand of patients are ongoing around the world to try and determine whether the drug might work as a treatment or a preventive measure. If hydroxychloroquine or the closely related drug chloroquine is given alone, patients should be monitored for side effects, including the heart rhythm disturbances that can lead to sudden death, the NIH panel said. The panel said that no drug has been proven effective for use in patients with the diseases caused by the new coronavirus, and didnt endorse the use of any other therapies outside of clinical trials. The panels recommendations for now focus on supportive care, such as oxygen. The group also said medicines commonly used to treat HIV, including AbbVie Inc.s Kaletra, should be avoided because of negative clinical trial data and potential harm to patients. (John Lauerman and Anna Edney contributed to this report.) The new daily limit for withdrawals is EGP 20,000 from ATMs and EGP 50,000 from banks The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced on Wednesday it is raising the limit of daily cash withdrawals from ATMs to EGP 20,000, up from EGP 5,000, and from banks to EGP 50,000, up from EGP 10,000. The decision comes on the heels of an agreement with the Federation of Egyptian Banks, chaired by the President of Banque Misr Mohamed El-Itreby. The increase in cash withdrawals is effective starting Friday, the first day of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan. On 29 March, the CBE approved new limits for cash deposits and withdrawals for individuals and enterprises as part of its preventive procedures against the COVID-19 outbreak and to avoid overcrowding, particularly during payroll and pension disbursement. The new limits are provisional, the CBE stated. Search Keywords: Short link: Report also reveals how captive tigers in private ownership, zoos and circuses in Europe are traded, bred and exploited. The number of tigers held in captivity is more than double the number left in the wild, a new report by a wildlife campaign group has highlighted, echoing the horrific stories portrayed in the Netflix documentary, Tiger King. The report published on Tuesday, Europes Second-Class Tigers, revealed that there are just 3,900 tigers left in the wild compared with 7,000 captive tigers in the United States and an estimated 1,600 in Europe. It also documents the abuse and exploitation of captive tigers in Europe and the US. The trade in captive tigers dead and alive is a very serious problem, Kieran Harkin, the head of Wildlife Animals in Trade at Four Paws International, the organisation that published the report, told Al Jazeera. Our investigations reveal how captive tigers in private ownership, zoos, circuses and self-proclaimed sanctuaries in Europe, are traded, bred and exploited. Theyre used as playthings, for selfies and as circus performers. And when the animal becomes too big, they are worth more dead than alive. The trade in tigers and tiger parts for the production of traditional medicine in countries like Vietnam and China is very lucrative. In Europe, the Czech Republic tops the list for numbers of tigers in captivity with 180, followed by Germany (164) and the United Kingdom (123), where the private keeping of captive tigers is legal. Four Paws investigations discovered that a tiger captive-bred in Europe can attract up to $24,000 to export. It added that one kilogramme of tiger bones are worth nearly $2,000. The report also documents the shadowy network of traders and breeders operating in Europe who trade in the open using social media and public websites. It highlights European Joe Exotics (a main character in the Netflix series) who operate facilities in Spain, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, France and Malta. Not only do captive tigers stand no chance of being rehabilitated into the wild, their trade also fuels the poaching of the few remaining wild tigers in the world, Harkin said. Wild tigers are listed as Appendix 1 animals under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, which means international commercial trade is generally prohibited. But captive tigers come under Appendix 2, which means that commercial trade is legal and only loosely monitored. by Vladimir Rozanskij Aleksandr Agejkin was 49 years old. He lost consciousness suddenly on April 20 around midnight, and on the morning of April 21 he passed away. His illness and death increase the health concerns for the patriarch himself, a friend of Fr. Alexandr. In Moscow, 31 priests test positive. In the country, cases of infection have risen to 50 thousand. The population is panicking. Moscow (AsiaNews) - The pastor of the Cathedral of the Epiphany in Elokhovo, Aleksandr Agejkin has died of the coronavirus in the capital. Aleksandr was 49 years old. His death was communicated by the same patriarchate commission on the coronavirus: the parish priest lost consciousness suddenly on April 20 around midnight, and on the morning of April 21 he passed away. The Epiphany church is actually the true patriarchal cathedral, which remained open even during the Soviet period, the official seat of the patriarch until 1991. The reconstruction of the cathedral of Christ the Savior, the large church next to the Kremlin spectacularly destroyed by Stalin in 1931, was rebuilt in 1994 and then resurrected as a symbol of the new Russia of post-communism. Most solemn liturgies are held here as well as the synodal assemblies and the great manifestations of the Orthodox Church. But in collective consciousness, the Epiphany church, in the ancient Basmannoe district, remains the true patriarchal church. Aleksandr started serving as pastor in Elokhovo in 2013, wanted directly by the patriarch Kirill (Gundjaev), to whom he was very close. In 2017 he became the vice-administrator of the secretariat of the patriarchate of Moscow, and at the same time he was the president of the ecclesiastical-civil council with the patriarch for the development of Russian ecclesiastical chant. His illness and death increase the health concerns for the patriarch himself and many senior officials of the patriarchate. Already in early April the priests of the Epiphany had all been quarantined, according to communications from the patriarchal commission. In 15 churches in Moscow and two monasteries cases of infection were detected, in all 31 priests tested positive. Another historic church in central Moscow, that of the Annunciation of the Resurrection on the River of the Assumption, is also without priests because of the coronavirus. The was reported by parish priest Nikolaj Balashov, also very close to the patriarch, and deputy head of the external affairs department of the patriarchate. The cases of coronavirus in Russia have exceeded 50 thousand, and there is a palpable growing panic in the country. The statistics of previous epidemics reveal that in similar cases the birth rate in the country falls by 15-20%, accentuating the deep demographic crisis in Russia, which already loses over 300 thousand people per year in overall numbers. The Russian population, currently around 144 million, is in danger of falling rapidly below 140 million. The most pessimistic forecasts are mitigated by a relative drop in the number of abortions in recent years, although it is still among the highest in the world. In recent days, the Russian population has also shown increasingly marked signs of impatience with isolation measures, accompanied by fears of the consequent economic crisis. On-line protests are taking place in the main cities of Russia, asking the authorities for effective directives and assistance to the most needy sections of the population, and greater freedom of movement and work. The protests take place through posts on the virtual maps of the major websites, containing requests to the authorities. Major companies such as Yandex have warned that they will be forced to remove the reporting features on their sites. Similar protests are taking place in many Russian-speaking countries of Central Asia, to contest the measures decided by the authorities, or the lack of necessary measures. A non-virtual protest took place on the night of April 20 in a mining village in Kazakhstan, in the Atyrau region, where some coronavirus-positive workers were sent to work with everyone else. About 500 workers refused to go to the mine for fear of the virus. Israelis have not yet seen an increase in coronavirus testing in any significant way despite repeated promises from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the heads of Israel's health care system. Testing certainly hasnt reached the numbers that the prime minister spoke about only three weeks ago, when he aimed for 20,000 and as many as 30,000 tests a day. Apparently, Netanyahu was basing his numbers on the expectation that Israel would begin cooperating with the Chinese firm BGI by early April. BGI and its subsidiaries together comprise the largest DNA and genetics company in the world. The problem is that the road to real cooperation with the Chinese behemoth was strewn with obstacles. Chief among them was sharp criticism from senior figures in the defense establishment and specialists in Israel and around the world, who expressed concerns that cooperation of this kind would require exposing sensitive Israeli databases to the Chinese corporation. Such security considerations existed long before any deal with BGI, and there was nothing new about US pressure on Israel to roll back its budding relationship with Beijing. This time, however, there were other considerations, in particular concerning the countrys image and depending exclusively on Chinese supply lines. Will the age of the coronavirus affect the close relationship that Israel and China have developed over the past decade the way it appears to have affected Chinas relations with Europe? Indeed, Israel confronts tough choices. The government had been in talks with BGI and its partners since late March to build a huge lab to conduct coronavirus testing and to acquire the equipment needed to run thousands of tests a day. Participants in the talks included the Mossad director, Yossi Cohen, as well as representatives from the Defense, Foreign Affairs and Health Ministries. The Health Ministry had initially signed an informal memorandum of understanding with My Heritage, a genealogy company that does DNA testing and helps develop family trees. The plan was to have it create a large laboratory that would focus on coronavirus testing in conjunction with BGI. Many in the defense establishment, however, expressed deep consternation, arguing that it would infringe on Israeli citizens' privacy rights and provide sensitive personal information to the Chinese firm, which has close ties to the Beijing government. As a result, the understandings reached with My Heritage were put on hold. Negotiations then began with BGIs Israeli partner, Aid Genomics, instead. Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Yohanan Locker (res.), general manager of the Klalit Health Insurance Company, one of Israel's three largest insurers, announced that he would not work with BGI, objecting to BGI gaining access to his firm's databases and other sensitive information about its clients. Regardless, the Health Ministry continued to be criticized for failing to conduct adequate testing, and because of the pressure, it eventually signed a contract with Aid Genomics and BGI. On April 19, Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz announced that the first shipment of coronavirus test kits would be arriving in Israel the following week. The chain of events is fascinating given all the twists and turns and genuine concerns about cooperating with an enormous Chinese corporation. Not only does it reveal a lack of consensus within the Israeli leadership, it also offers a glimpse into the future. In this case, public health considerations outweighed privacy concerns, but lively debate and sharp criticism of Israeli collaboration with China now and in the future are more intense than ever, accompanied by US pressure, privacy issues and fear of developing dependencies on Chinese industry. Tommy Steiner, a senior research associate at the Institute for Policy and Strategy at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, told Al-Monitor that many in Israel are nervous about sensitive information getting into the hands of Chinese companies, regardless of whether the firms are private or government owned. Our relationship with China is likely to cool off in the mid- and long term, Steiner said. This is mostly because of the US, but not only. I dont foresee any easing of the relationship between the US and China in the future. Actually, the coronavirus provides the rationale for this. You cant rely on manufacturing lines in a single place. Countries are worried about depending on a geographically long supply line. That is the trend. Julia Schulman, senior director of special projects at the American Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Al-Monitor that Israel has a real opportunity to recognize just how vulnerable it has become and how reliant it is on Chinese companies. It is only with that kind of information that it can change course. The coronavirus outbreak should be a wake-up call to Israel, Schulman remarked. The virus revealed how Israel and the international community are dependent on China as a global exporter. According to some sources, China controls some 15% of the Israeli economy. Today, Israel lacks medical equipment, but it also has a shortage of eggs and butter. The Bright Food Group, which is owned by the Chinese government, owns 56% of Tnuva, once Israels largest food processing cooperatives, specializing in eggs and dairy products. The pandemic should encourage Israel to diversify its trade partnerships and open up to countries like India and Singapore. This is an ideal time for Israel to bolster its own version of the American Committee on Foreign Investment. Israeli-Chinese relations involve technology, infrastructure and universities. Bilateral economic ties have been increasing steadily over the last few years. China has invested vast amounts in Israeli infrastructure projects and has been a partner in important national initiatives, such as construction of the Red Line (the first stretch of a light rail line going from Petah Tikvah to Tel Aviv), operations in the Haifa Bay port, construction of the port in Ashdod, excavation of the Carmel Tunnels and dozens of other projects. Meanwhile, China imports so much technology from Israel to the extent that the level of cooperation upsets the Americans. In 2019, for instance, the United States demanded, with accompanying threats, that Israel place tighter controls on its technology sales to China. It was only then that the government formed a committee to restrict Chinese investments in Israel. Opposition Knesset members and cybertechnology experts had been recommending such a step for years. Nonetheless, China continues its vigorous policy of promoting cooperation with Israel. In May 2019, it signed an agreement with the city of Ashdod to participate in Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative. As part of the project, China made a commitment to construct two trade towers in Ashdod, a large logistics center in the rear section of the port, a light rail system and an academic institute through which Israeli and Chinese universities would cooperate. Many Israeli experts have been critical of the privatization of Israels ports, including at Ashdod, arguing that it poses an existential threat to Israels security. Others have attempted to dismiss these concerns, going so far as to hurl accusations of Sinophobia. In the age of the coronavirus, even the most enthusiastic proponents of economic cooperation with China will need to weigh the opportunities against the risks as exposed during the current crisis. Given the growing tensions between the United States and China, Israel should be expected to align with Washington and show greater caution in its dealings with Chinese firms, especially when strategic national infrastructure and sensitive technologies are at stake. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 21, 2020) - Mark Jarvis, CEO of Shoal Point Energy (CSE: SHP), today provided an update of corporate operations. "Our operations have been severely impacted by the coronavirus, the consequent demand destruction in oil products, and the oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia," said Mr. Jarvis. "The pandemic could continue to have a negative impact on the stock market, including the trading price of our shares, our Company's ability to raise fresh capital and our liquidity." At the Mount Evans project in Kansas, the company continues to pump the lower, secondary zone in its first well. The goal is to ascertain whether the reservoir is a water drive or a solution gas drive, and this would also provide valuable information about the upper, primary zone prior to completing it. "The jury is still out on that question," said Mr. Jarvis. "We are pumping very slowly in case it is a water drive, and at current oil prices, there is little incentive to take the risk of increasing production. Consequently, it may be another two months or more before we have the information necessary to increase the pumping rate. When on production, the oil cut has ranged between 7 and 35 barrels per day. There is no incentive to move up the hole and complete our primary zone or to drill any more wells until oil prices improve." The well's break even oil price on an operating basis from the secondary zone is approximately $20 per barrel. Storage facilities in the United States are filling up and there is a possibility that the Mount Evans production could be shut in for lack of storage space. Reports are that the U.S. government is debating whether to buy up to 75 million barrels for the Strategic Reserve, which would solve the storage issue and probably have a positive impact on the price, but there can be no assurance that this will happen. Sustained pricing below $20 per barrel could also lead to a decision to shut the well in until prices improve. Story continues "Long term we remain optimistic about the Mount Evans play," said Mr. Jarvis. "In contrast to conventional plays such as Mount Evans, shale oil production, the source of most new U.S. production the last few years, had challenging economics when oil was at $55 per barrel. We think shale production will decline significantly at current pricing. As I write this, spot prices for WTI are negative $35 per barrel, while the June contract is at (positive) $21 per barrel." About Shoal Point Energy Ltd. Shoal Point Energy Ltd. is a public company listed on the CSE exchange under the symbol "SHP". The company is focused on its Mount Evans project in Kansas and retains its oil and gas interests in the Humber Arm Allochthon play in western Newfoundland. For further information, please contact: Mr. Mark Jarvis, Chief Executive Officer, Tel: 416-637-2181 extension 310 The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. #203-700 West Pender Street, Vancouver, BC V6C 1G8 Tel: 416 637 2181 To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/54692 SAN FRANCISCO, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- DataGrail, a leading privacy management firm, announced today its patent-pending "Smart Verification": the industry's first verification solution that does not require an individual to disclose additional personally identifiable information (PII) when submitting a CCPA privacy request. With Smart Verification, organizations can verify an individual's identity by using known data already collected by an organization's business operations and multi-factor authentication. This validates an identity without requiring further personal information, reducing friction with consumers and reducing fraud and data breach risks. "At California Closets, we want to ensure our customers have an inspiring and seamless product experience," said Kenny Martin the director of information technology at California Closets. "Using DataGrail's Smart Verification allows us to provide this for our customers without taking on the additional risk of asking for highly personal information to verify their identity." Paradoxically, people attempting to exercise their CCPA privacy rights are required to submit additional sensitive personal information, such as a passport picture or government ID, to validate their identity before their request is allowed to proceed. The existing process is needlessly frustrating, intrusive, and often degrades a brand. Forrester analyst, Fatemeh Khatibloo , shared her experience of exercising data rights on Twitter: "If this isn't a 'barrier' to exercising my #CCPA rights, I don't know what is." For a business, retrieving and storing additional PII introduces a higher risk of a data breach because an organization often holds on to sensitive data to verify the fulfillment. And in some cases, businesses aren't equipped or don't want the responsibility to securely manage storing, handling, and disposing of sensitive information and documents. DataGrail's Smart Verification allows businesses to provide a crucial privacy-centric experience for individuals. Instead of requiring a requester to submit additional personal data, Smart Verification verifies an identity by using existing data associated with the individuals' record, such as purchase history or user behaviors like games played or products viewed. For added security, DataGrail uses multi-factor authentication. Smart Verification ensures the individual has access to the email address and a phone number on file, and then it prompts a user to answer personalized questions as additional verification. Daniel Barber, CEO and co-founder of DataGrail, stated, "Requiring a user to disclose more personal information, particularly ID documents, when they request to delete their data goes against the spirit of what CCPA set out to achieve. We knew there had to be a better way to verify a person's identity that would benefit both the business and individual." Barber further explained, "We listen to consumers and understand that they want control over their personal information. According to our recent research, 83 percent of consumers expect control over how a business uses their information. Smart Verification is our answer to this consumer demand for a more intuitive and less invasive way of verifying their identity when exercising their rights." Smart Verification benefits: Minimizes the risk of fraud by verifying that the phone number on file is associated with the requestor. by verifying that the phone number on file is associated with the requestor. Creates a better brand experience by streamlining and automating the verification process. by streamlining and automating the verification process. Reduces risk by limiting the amount of PII held by an organization, making them less of a target for data breach. by limiting the amount of PII held by an organization, making them less of a target for data breach. Reduces frustration of individuals attempting to perform privacy requests. DataGrail was designed from the ground up to automate data discovery and streamline privacy programs to create less work for customers, while also ensuring a higher level of accuracy and reduced risk. Knowing where data lives within an organization is foundational to any privacy program, DataGrail built its solution to directly integrate with an organization's internal databases and developed 200+ pre-built connectors with companies such as Salesforce, Shopify, Adobe, AWS, Oracle, Okta, and many others. These integrations and connectors provide organizations with an accurate, real-time view of the internal systems and third-party applications used and all the personal data that maps onto each of those systems. The platform can automate privacy requests, conducts real-time data mapping, and helps organizations with preference management. With DataGrail, companies can confidently reduce inefficiencies and eliminate error-prone processes to comply with data privacy regulations. Companies interested in learning more about DataGrail and how they can help with its privacy program can find out more on the DataGrail Platform page. About DataGrail DataGrail helps companies comply effortlessly with existing and emerging privacy laws, such as GDPR and CCPA. With more than 200+ enterprise pre-built connectors currently in place, the DataGrail platform provides a 360-degree, real-time view of the applications used and maps the personal data associated with each of those systems. DataGrail also allows customers to manage their privacy request workflows and email preferences across applications. To learn more about DataGrail, please visit datagrail.io or follow DataGrail on Twitter and LinkedIn. SOURCE DataGrail Related Links https://datagrail.io Emotions run high at the Olin College of Engineering "Fauxmencement" for senior students on March 12, 2020, two months early, held because of coronavirus fears in Needham, MA. John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images Internships for college students are among the job opportunities hard hit as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, with many offers abruptly rescinded and no offer of compensation. That's according to a new survey from employment platform Yello that finds 64% of student internships that have been canceled did not provide any form of alternative offer. Eleven percent of students said that they have been offered a postponed internship; 7% said they were guaranteed a final round interview next year; and 6% a full-time offer next year, according to the survey conducted by Yello using the SurveyMonkey platform among 913 students across the country conducted April 10April 15. Overall, a little over one-third of students taking the survey and who indicated they had a summer internship offer said it has since been canceled. Zoie Henry, a junior at the University of Missouri, is one of the students who had an internship canceled. Henry had landed a coveted internship for the ABC 7 Chicago investigative unit news team, but all ABC internships were canceled due to coronavirus. Henry remains undeterred. "Honestly, I'm not disappointed. I'm just honored that I was chosen for the internship," the journalism major said. "I'm staying positive about it because if I got it once, then I can definitely do it again." Henry is applying to other internships for the upcoming summer. "I'm speaking to a few companies, and I'm hopeful something will work out," Henry said. Many students are feeling a bit lost and defeated. Seventy percent of the students said they were disappointed but understood the situation, while 26% said they were upset, according to the Yello survey. More from Invest in You: Community colleges could see a surge in popularity amid Covid-19 As college classes move online, don't expect a tuition discount Here's what to do if you suddenly can't pay for college next year Colleges extend decision deadline due to coronavirus Jason Weingarten, Yello CEO and co-founder, said the largest group of students saying they were upset came from computer science programs this doubled the number of business school students who said they were disappointed. Weingarten said this may be explained by the fact that software engineering internships are usually much more lucrative relative to other internships (as much as $10,000 a month) and candidates often have multiple offers to choose from, making them feel like they may have chosen poorly. But Weingarten said tech majors should consider themselves fortunate, as they are still likely to receive internships for the upcoming summer. "Tech companies usually have remote developers in another city or country ... which makes it possible to have a remote internship," he said. He said based on conversations with employers, the trends revealed by the survey are likely to persist even in a fluid situation, adding that other employers with whom his company works have indicated that they may still need to cancel internships or shift to remote but are holding off for now. Interning remotely Ivana Alardin, a junior studying computer science, data science and economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was elated when she received the email stating her internship would not be canceled but instead be moved to a remote basis. She will be working as an engineering intern at Unity, a video game software company. Gaming has been one of the economy bright spots during the pandemic, with usage surging as more people are isolated at home across the globe. "I'm very fortunate to have an internship at a company stable enough that they're not losing income and don't have to cancel their internships" Alardin said. Of students who had internships changed to remote, a little more than half (51%) said they were just happy it was not canceled, according to the Yello survey. Although Alardin is happy to still have an internship, she is worried about making the right decision on any eventual job offer: for computer science majors, the internship before senior year is the one students aim to get a full-time offer from, she said. The decision to take the job, if offered, will be more difficult now, since she will never have been to the office or resided in San Francisco, where the company is based. "Last summer I lived in San Jose, California, and it was okay, but not my favorite place," she said. "So I wanted to take this opportunity to give California another chance. I was going to try out San Francisco as a city I could potentially live in." Alardin, a Chicago native, is already reconsidering the idea of living far from home for long periods of time since the outbreak. "I couldn't imagine how I would feel if I wasn't in Chicago if another pandemic happened," she said. University career centers and career-driven organizations are striving to give students confidence. Jeffrey Moss, CEO and founder of Parker Dewey, which helps connect employers and students, said this should not be a hopeless situation. "Employers don't want to cancel these internships. So we are doing our best to help companies take their internships remote instead of completely canceling," Moss said. He said many hiring managers have worked with freelancers remotely, and although it isn't exactly the same thing, remote internships are on the same playing field. The Yello survey finds that a majority of interns who are working remotely (67%) favor daily 5- to 10-minute video check-ins, while 30% favored a weekly one-on-one as the method for communication with their managers. Seventy-two percent of students overall preferred the communication to include video. "We understand that not every company may be in the position to have remote internships, but the ones that can, we want to make sure it happens, especially for the students," Moss said. "This is how many students start their careers." He said that to make remote internships work, some companies have focused on "unbundling" the role of interns into a series of discrete projects. That can give the interns more clarity on their responsibilities and specific tasks that need to be completed. "Happy hours" and lunches with other co-workers and interns are also being implemented, so they get to know colleagues. Leveraging the canceled internship Weingarten was surprised that 85% of students polled whose internships have been canceled said they wouldn't list the internship on their resume, citing the lack of experience gained as the reason. "Students should put their canceled internship on their resume or in a cover letter," he said, referring to the period between now and the fall internship and hiring season. "I suggest they put what they were going to do and just say they didn't get the chance because of Covid-19." He said these students need to be reminded that they did everything right: They networked, went to career fairs and corporate presentations and aced the interview. Weingarten said it is better to be transparent about the Covid-19 experience than to leave an internship gap on their resume, which may result in hiring managers wondering why students are applying so late. "This kind of explains it for them. And it could be used as leverage," he said. Even though no work was completed, canceled internships show that an employer was interested in the candidate and that the candidate stood out from other candidates. But it should not stay on the resume or in a cover letter permanently, Weingarten said. Stuck in limbo Some graduating students remain in limbo. Allison Cho, a journalism major at the University of Missouri who is set to graduate next month, doesn't know where she will be this summer. She received an internship offer from The Washington Post as a multiplatform editing intern but hasn't received confirmation that the internship will still be available now. She says the paper has expressed concern that so much of the value in the internship results from being in the newsroom and may need to be canceled. "Not knowing if I have an internship right now is really stressful," Cho said. "As a graduating senior, there's added stress because if I don't have this internship, I'll have to start job applications instead." Companies will look at what you did during this time period. How did you better yourself? How did you take advantage of this situation? Jeffrey Moss CEO and founder of Parker Dewey, a company that helps connect employers and students Bri Dinwiddie, a senior majoring in sociology at the University of Missouri, Columbia, secured an internship designed to transition into a full-time position in the fall. Her plan was to work the full-time position while studying for the LSAT and saving for law school during her gap year. When she found out her internship was canceled, she was devastated. "I'm just a little stuck. I had everything planned, and now I'm not sure," she said. Dinwiddie said she started considering other graduate school programs in the fall so she can gain professional skills, but she is worried about just acquiring more debt. According to the Council of Graduate Schools, enrollment was up after the financial crisis of 2008, up 5.5% from 2008 to 2009. A time to be resourceful Christine Cruzvergara, vice president of higher education and student success at careers platform Handshake, suggests that students consider graduate school at this time, but only if it makes sense. Otherwise, she says, they are just going to build up debt. "What companies will want in one to two years is to see that you added to your skill set," she said. Moss at Parker Dewey said this is a time to be resourceful. "Companies will look at what you did during this time period. How did you better yourself? How did you take advantage of this situation?" Moss said one of his students is looking into micro-internships short-term paid assignment and projects that are more like gig work than a classic internship. "That is the perfect outlook," he said. "He is going to use this chance to figure out what career he wants to lock into by doing micro-internships in all the fields he's been considering." Promising news on companies still hiring Social distancing measures could remain in place until the end of the year without a vaccine for coronavirus, Englands chief medical officer has said. Professor Chris Whitty told the daily Downing Street press conference that some restrictions would need to remain as the probability of having a vaccine or effective drugs to treat the virus within the next calendar year was incredibly small. A sudden easing of restrictions would be a wholly unreasonable expectation, Prof Whitty warned, saying the path out of the lockdown must be carefully plotted to prevent the virus from spreading again and overwhelming the NHS. He also said the public should not expect to see the number of deaths from coronavirus fall away suddenly. His comments came after Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said the UK had reached the peak of the coronavirus outbreak and said people with non-Covid-19 related health conditions should feel safe to seek medical care. In other developments: Mr Hancock said the government could not commit to providing free masks for everyone if scientific guidance changes on widespread use Sir Keir Starmer accused ministers of being way behind other countries in responding to the crisis in the first hybrid PMQs session Brussels said the UK was still not part of any EU medical equipment purchasing scheme despite claims from health secretary The government admitted deaths in Englands care homes could be double the number that has been reported Human trials for a potential coronavirus vaccine were due to begin on Thursday at Oxford University As attention in government turns to the lockdown exit strategy, Prof Whitty told the public that some forms of social distancing will need to be in place for a long time. He said: In the long run, the exit from this is going to be one of two things, ideally. A vaccine, and there are a variety of ways they can be deployed... or, and or, highly effective drugs so that people stop dying of this disease even if they catch it, or which can prevent this disease in vulnerable people. High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world Show all 18 1 /18 High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world Najaf, Iraq A man holds a pocket watch at noon, at an almost empty market near the Imam Ali shrine Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world Bangkok, Thailand Wat Phra Si Rattana Satsadaram (The Temple of the Emerald Buddha, part of The Grand Palace) Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world Prague, Czech Republic An empty street leading to the historic Old Town Square Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world Washington DC, US Lawn stretching towards the Capitol, home of Congress Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world Jerusalem's Old City A watch showing the time in front of Damascus Gate Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world London, UK The Houses of Parliament seen from Westminster Bridge Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world Wuhan, China Empty lanes in the city that saw the first outbreak of disease Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world Havana, Cuba The Malecon road and esplanade winds along the city's seafront Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world Cairo, Egypt A little busier than elsewhere: midday traffic in Tahrir Square Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world Berlin, Germany The Brandenburg Gate, the only surviving city gate in the capital Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world Caracas, Venezuela Bolivar Avenue, opened in 1949 and the site of many demonstrations and rallies Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world Moscow, Russia Spasskaya Tower (left) on the eastern wall of the Kremlin, and St Basil's Cathedral Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world Istanbul,Turkey The harbourside Eminonu district is usually buzzing with activity Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world New Delhi, India Rajpath, a ceremonial boulevard that runs through the capital Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world Amman, Jordan The Roman amphitheatre that dates back to the 2nd century AD Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world New York City, US The main concourse of Grand Central station in Manhattan Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world Kiev, Ukraine Maidan Nezalezhnosti, the site of many political protests since the end of the Soviet era Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world Accra, Ghana The odd walker out in the midday sun on Ring Road Central Reuters Until we have those, and the probability of having those any time in the next calendar year is incredibly small, and I think we should be realistic about that. Were going to have to rely on other social measures, which of course are very socially disruptive as everyone is finding at the moment. But until that point, that is what we will have to do. However, Prof Whitty said he was very hopeful that we will have vaccines which have proof of concept much earlier than a year. But there is a long path between having a vaccine thats proof of concept, and until we have either a vaccine or a drug ... what we will have available to us are social measures. After weeks of lockdown, ministers are trying to find a way to ease restrictions such as reopening schools or allowing small social gatherings without triggering a second spike in coronavirus cases. The average number of cases spread by an infected person known as the R value must remain below one otherwise the NHS will be overwhelmed, the governments scientific advisers believe. Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Show all 15 1 /15 Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A rose is delivered by drone to a woman on Mother's Day in Jounieh, Lebanon AFP/Getty Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Women dance on their balcony as a radio station plays music for a flash mob to raise spirits in Rome Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A skeleton stands on a balcony in Frankfurt, Germany AP Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies The film Le ragazze di Piazza di Spagna is projected on a building in Rome AP Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A woman uses a basket tied to a rope to pull a delivery of groceries up to her balcony in Naples, Italy EPA Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies DJ Francesco Cellini plays for his neighbours from the rooftop terrace of his flat block in Rome Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A woman gestures from her balcony in Barcelona EPA Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Cellist Karina Nunez performs for her neighbours at the balcony of her flat in Panama City Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies DJ Nash Petrovic live streams a set from his roof in Brooklyn Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies People applaud medical workers from their balconies in Modiin, Israel Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A Brooklyn resident relaxes in a hammock hung on their balcony Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Residents toast during a "safe distance" aperitif time between neighbours in Anderlecht, Belgium Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies Musician Adam Moser plays for neighbours from his balcony in Budapest, Hungary Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A man and his son on their balcony in Brooklyn Reuters Coronavirus culture from rooftops, windows and balconies A man sits alone on a roof terrace in Rome Reuters Prof Whitty said the public had to be very realistic, adding: If people are hoping its suddenly going to move from where we are in lockdown to where suddenly into everything is gone, that is a wholly unrealistic expectation. Dominic Raab, the first secretary of state, said the UK was not out of the woods yet and warned that a second spike would lead to economic pain as well as risks to public health. Earlier, Mr Hancock said there would be large scale contact tracing to keep the spread of the virus under control once the lockdown was lifted. This would mean widespread public testing and isolation of sick people and all their contacts, in an attempt to control localised outbreaks of coronavirus. Mr Hancock also confirmed that the outbreak had hit its high point, telling MPs: We have high confidence that we are at a peak in this disease, but obviously we need to see that come down. He said the NHS would resume treating patients with conditions such as cancer soon and urged anyone with symptoms to come forward now. The Department of Health said 18,100 patients had died in hospital after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK, as of 5pm on Tuesday, up by 763 from 17,337 the day before. The State Council's executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday decided to give greater weight to inclusive financing in evaluating the performance of financial institutions, and lower the provision coverage ratio of small and medium-sized banks so as to boost financial services for micro and small firms. The Chinese government puts great emphasis on the economic development amid the global spread of COVID-19. Li has repeatedly urged upgrading financial services in support of the real economy. Since the start of the COVID-19 situation, the People's Bank of China, China's central bank, has cut the required reserve ratio three times this year, releasing 1.75 trillion yuan (about 246.7 billion U.S. dollars) in liquidity to better support smaller businesses. "We must scale up financial support for the real economy, especially the micro, small and medium-sized companies, to help them overcome the difficulties," Li said. It was decided on Tuesday that the regulatory requirement for the provision coverage ratio of small and medium-sized banks will be lowered by 20 percentage points, to free up more credit resources and boost the capacity for serving micro and small companies. To encourage financial institutions to better serve micro and small businesses, the meeting decided to raise the weight of inclusive finance to no less than 10 percent in the integrated performance evaluation of the branches and subsidiaries of financial institutions in the banking sector, to incentivize more lending to micro and small firms. "Financial departments must adjust and adapt the support polices in light of the changing COVID-19 situation and economic conditions. The policies introduced need to be targeted and robust," Li said. To ease the rent burden on micro, small and self-employed businesses, the meeting called for a three-month rent exemption in the first half of this year for such firms in the services sector renting state-owned properties. The meeting urged state-owned enterprises, especially those directly under central management, and public institutions such as colleges, universities and research institutes, to take the lead in offering such rent relief. State-owned banks will be encouraged to extend pledge loan at concessional rates to such lessors according to their needs. A Polish national deliberately drove her car into the path of a truck to end her life after being bashed and raped while walking in a Brisbane park. The 24-year-old nanny died three months after being violently attacked by Travis Alexander Manwarring, 31, in November 2016, prosecutor Steve Kissick says. 'The (crash investigator) does not draw the ultimate conclusion that it was suicide,' he told the Brisbane District Court on Wednesday. 'It is my submission that this court can find that her death was a result of suicide.' A Polish national deliberately drove her car into the path of a truck to end her life after being bashed and raped while walking in a Brisbane park (pictured) Mr Kissick said the woman died instantly after her Toyota Yaris collided with the truck on a straight section of road in good driving conditions. She did not leave a suicide note but the court heard she had entered a 'dark' space following the attack. During sentencing submissions, Mr Kissick said Manwarring violently assaulted the woman while she was out for an evening walk in Petrie. Police found a bloody scene after the attack, along with Manwarring's belt and the woman's shoes. 'He beat her and ... simply had his sexual urges satisfied while she was unconscious,' he said. 'It's a horrendous physical act of violence.' 'After the attack, he thought she was dead, she was in such a state,' he said. Photos submitted to the court showed the woman's blackened and bruised face. She also suffered a broken nose and defensive wounds to her hand. She required surgery for head and facial injuries before returning to Poland suffering memory loss in relation to the attack. Manwarring was convicted after a four-day trial but says it was consensual sex gone wrong. Defence lawyer Damian Walsh said the pair had spoken numerous times before coming together at the park but the court heard the woman barely spoke English. Mr Walsh said it was an 'unusual' incident in which Manwarring struck the woman in the head three times after some of his sexual advances were rejected. But he rejected Mr Kissick's assertion that Manwarring had raped the woman while she was unconscious after violently assaulting her. Mr Kissick said this was a 'self-serving invented' account to 'rid himself of the offences he had committed against the young woman'. He argued Manwarring should be imprisoned for 16 years. The sentence will be imposed at a date to be fixed. Lifeline 13 11 14 beyondblue 1300 22 4636 EVART -- The Evart City Council approved a resolution authorizing the city manager to make decisions under a declared state of emergency at its meeting April 6. The resolution states that it is appropriate for the city manager to "temporarily make decisions" in the best interest of the city, when the state and county have both declared a state of emergency. It allows temporary authority to the city manager to provide essential public services, including, but not limited to, police, water, sewer, utilities services and other essential government services that must continue during a pandemic, "without regard to time consuming procedures and formalities." City manager, Sarah Dvoracek, told the council that the resolution pertains specifically to the current COVID-19 pandemic. "Many communities are creating resolutions in this regard for the COVID-19 pandemic, as best practices to ensure decisions can be made, if necessary," Dvoracek said. "City administration is currently working on a revised disaster recovery plan to include a pandemic. "The resolution will authorize the city manager to make decisions as far as meeting with the Osceola County emergency management director and anything that needs to happen during the pandemic," she added. The resolution references Public Act 390, in which the state of Michigan provides authority of a municipality to authorize an emergency management coordinator, and clarifies the authority of the city manager, Dvoracek said. Councilman Dan Elliott told the council that it was his understanding that, under Public Act 390, the resolution would stand for any situation where the city manager had to act in an emergency. Assistant city manager Mark Wilson said, "FEMA (The Federal Emergency Management Agency) is now requiring an emergency operations plan that would act as a standing order, so that if, and when, FEMA should designate an emergency, the resolution would kick in at that time." The motion was approved unanimously. In other action, the council approved a resolution to waive penalties and late fees for utility bills during the coronavirus pandemic. Dvoracek said she made the decision to waive penalty and late fees under an abundance of caution. "I made the decision based on us not wanting people to make a special trip to city hall and risk contamination to themselves or others," she said. "We would like the council's approval to extend the waiver until the stay at home order is lifted." The resolution states that the city council, in order to accommodate the citizenry, waives the interest/penalities fees that may accumulate during the executive order to "Stay Home Stay Safe," and may be extended as the governor so orders. The council also approved a resolution establishing rules for attendance at virtual meetings. The resolution is intended to establish rules for and authorize participation by remote access by members of the City of Evart public bodies, and attendance by remote access by members of the public in the interest of public health, safety and welfare during the COVID-19 outbreak. "Again, this is just best practices," Dvoracek said. "The resolution notes that the governor is allowing us to meet this way and documenting that council gives their approval to move forward with virtual meetings and sets the groundwork for being in compliance with the executive order that allows us to do this." The resolution states that the telephone or other electronic technology can be utilized for remote meetings and shall permit those in attendance to hear and be heard by others in attendance and permits members of the general public in attendance to hear and be heard during the public comment period. According to the established rules, remote attendance is considered attendance for the purpose of establishing a quorum, and any vote by a member participating remotely is counted. All votes will be taken by a roll call. Emails, texts, or other forms of communication between members during the meeting is not allowed. Each member of the public that is attending remotely will be provided an opportunity to provide public comment during the public comment portion of the meeting. Any meeting that will be held remotely will be posted on the city's website, and on the door of the Evart City Hall, 5814 100th Avenue, with information on how the public can access the meeting. The next city council meeting will be at 7:30 p.m., April 20. For information on how to access the virtual meetings, visit evart.org. Two senators - one Republican and one Democrat - are urging Education Secretary Betsy DeVos not to gut federal special-education law during the coronavirus crisis but instead to grant "narrow and targeted" flexibility to school districts that are operating remotely. Congress, in its recent $2 trillion economic stimulus package known as the Cares Act, included a requirement that DeVos report back by late April on whether she needs congressional approval to provide school districts with waivers to the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) during the pandemic. DeVos has not said publicly whether she will ask Congress for new authority to provide waivers from IDEA to school districts. Some advocates for students with disabilities have written to DeVos, opposing providing any flexibility to IDEA, which requires that schools provide a fair and appropriate education for every student. They say it would be an unacceptable weakening of the law. But special-education administrators have asked Congress to allow some waivers because, they say, it is impossible to meet all requirements when school buildings are not open. Some districts have chosen not to provide remote education to any students, because they fear they will violate IDEA. Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Bill Cassidy, R-La., sent to DeVos a set of five principles that they argue should govern any decisions DeVos makes in terms of IDEA flexibility. They also said they would push for billions of dollars in targeted funding for special-education students in Congress' next coronavirus relief measure. "We believe any potential flexibilities included in the report concerning the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) must be narrow, targeted, temporary, and dedicated to the full provision of educational services for every student with a disability that is reasonably possible," Cassidy and Murphy said in the letter. "While some extension and flexibility in timelines is warranted, requirements to provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE), to engage parents in the process, and to ensure due process rights to parents must remain," the senators said. "We do not believe this requires broad flexibilities that would temporarily roll back rights for these students and their families. No matter the circumstance, we believe these core rights of IDEA must be upheld and reinforced." Cassidy said in an interview that it is clear that schools cannot now provide all of the services in the amount of time IDEA requires while students are doing remote learning from home. Noting that some schools are not educating any students out of fear of violating IDEA, he said: "You can't do that. You want to give them a waiver" on some things. "We are calling for the intent of the law to be adhered to, which as much as possible meets the needs of each student," he said. "There has to be some sense of reality. But if you give a blanket waiver on everything, things that could be done will not be done." Murphy, in an interview, said flexibility around timelines for meeting IDEA goals would be appropriate but not any relief from the responsibility of providing the academic and other services that special-education students receive. The senators want Congress to appropriate $10 billion to help schools meet IDEA requirements during and immediately following the period of school closures, which Murphy called a "significant down payment" that schools will need. He also said he and Cassidy "are not interested in backtracking on the basic commitments to students in IDEA." "There are some people on the prowl that want to use the crisis to roll back the requirements, the mandate in IDEA," he said. "We are two senators from different sides of the aisle saying that while we acknowledge the need for flexibility, we do not think Congress or the administration should entertain broad rollbacks of the educational protections in IDEA." The Council of Administrators of Special Education and the National Association of State Directors of Special Education, in a recent letter to Congress, asked for flexibility on a number of IDEA timelines. They include when districts must provide an initial evaluation for a student's Individualized Education Program (IEP) - a plan for academic and special services that each special-education student receives under IDEA - as well as when the IEPs should be reviewed. They also asked for flexibility with when they have to respond to legal complaints, with collecting required data and with a number of other things. New Mexico lawmakers are gearing up for another busy interim session, with several energy-related initiatives already signed into law by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. While these are great bills for New Mexicans, there has been proposed legislation in the past, which could resurface, likely resulting in increased costs for families and businesses across the state. One particularly concerning trend is a push by some state officials to emulate proposals similar to Germanys as their energy transition strategy. Energywiende as the Germans call it, is the inspiration behind many initiatives being rolled out in several states, which has been dubbed by The Wall Street Journals editorial page as the worlds dumbest energy policy. If New Mexico families and businesses want ineffective energy policies that dont reduce emissions as promised and spectacularly raise energy costs, with the added potential of rolling blackouts as a bonus, then Germany is the model to follow. But if they want affordable prices, reliable energy and lower emissions, then they need to contemplate a more sensible transition that learns from the mistakes Germany made in its rush to change its energy mix. Heres a short primer on how Germany failed: It shut down its emissions-free, baseload nuclear power plants in an overreaction to Japans tragic earthquake and tsunami in 2011. Germany sought to increase the use of natural gas, relying heavily on Russia for import. It then tried to abandon natural gas in an effort to ramp up renewable power output without regard to technological feasibility. After all this, the country was then forced to increase coal imports when it couldnt maintain the reliability of its electricity grid because of the lost nuclear generation. The upshot: German electricity prices are 45% above the European average, with Germans paying the equivalent of about 33 cents a kilowatt-hour for electricity. For comparison, New Mexicos current residential electric rate is 10.31 cents, or 31% of Germanys. Meanwhile, carbon emissions are not declining as promised in Germany, but they are happening right here in the United States. Last June, Germany came close to experiencing rolling blackouts due to the lack of backup generation for renewables when capacity decreased each day. Despite Germanys massive public spending and mandates renewables are only meeting 35 percent of the countrys power needs. How had the country expected to meet the other 65 percent? Top it all off with the fact that upgrades to Germanys transmission system have ballooned to $59 billion, more than 50 percent higher than originally forecast and budgeted, and much of the progress on building new power lines has been delayed and new installations of wind are slowing down. This kind of bad policy harms renewable energy growth and fails consumers because it doesnt provide the kind of uninterrupted, affordable energy that only a balanced mix of power supplies can create right now. Any new policies should reflect the fact that energy demand will only keep growing, and that we need all energy resources renewables as well as traditional fuels to meet our needs in a sustainable, environmentally responsible way. New Mexico must avoid the rushed, reckless transition that many across the country are offering, with the German model as inspiration. The German model should be a cautionary tale of what happens when good intentions greater renewable deployment go wrong. Lets opt for a more sensible shift toward greater renewable energy use, which will protect our economy and environmental stewardship. That means developing renewables, traditional fuels and the accompanying infrastructure in a complementary manner to meet the additional capacity needs of our grid, and the energy demanded by our families and businesses. We encourage New Mexicans to give their input to lawmakers and persuade them to avoid the German model while opting for a common-sense approach to developing an energy framework that protects the environment, economic growth and family expenses at the same time. The Consumer Energy Alliance is a U.S. consumer advocate supporting affordable, reliable energy for working families, seniors and businesses across the country. The UK is still not taking part in an EU medical equipment purchasing scheme despite the health secretary claiming that it had now signed up, Brussels has said. At a Downing Street press briefing on Tuesday, Matt Hancock said there was no political decision not to join the procurement scheme and we joined so we are now members of that scheme. However EU officials confirmed on Wednesday that the UK was not involved, despite the deadline for four rounds of purchasing being extended to 12 April to allow for more orders of gowns, ventilators and other medical equipment well after the UK claimed it had missed the deadline to participate. They are not participating in any of the existing schemes but they have indicated that they would be open to participating in any future schemes, an EU official told The Independent. The UK is a member of the EUs longstanding joint procurement agreement, the legal basis on which such orders have been conducted but it has been so since 2014 when the agreement was created and Britain was a member state, a status it inherited in the Brexit transition period. Recommended Top official withdraws claim over UK failure to join EU medical scheme A European Commission spokesperson told reporters at a daily press briefing that the UK had ample opportunity to take part in the scheme given its officials were present at four meetings in Brussels where it was discussed. A timeline reconstructed by The Independent at the bottom of this article illustrates the way events played out. Over a period of weeks ministers, civil servants, and spokespeople for the government have oscillated between claiming they did not want to take part in the scheme and claiming that they did not do so because of a miscommunication. The UK was also still able to place orders under the scheme well after Downing Street claimed to have missed the deadline. The EU has placed four different tenders for medical equipment since the start of the crisis, three for personal protective equipment (PPE) and one for ventilators. No equipment has yet been delivered under the scheme, but the quantities and timelines for delivery are agreed individually by member states when they place orders. The programme uses the purchasing power of the 500 million person single market to secure priority orders during a time of a global shortage. The UK is allowed to participate by virtue of being in the Brexit transition period. The UKs lack of participation comes at a time when NHS workers and care staff are warning of shortages of equipment, with dozens of clinicians on the frontline now dead from coronavirus. Most recently the top civil servant at the Foreign Office Sir Simon McDonald told MPs at a hearing in Westminster on Tuesday that it had been a political decision not to join the scheme, recounting how he had spelled out the options to ministers. Mr Hancock denied the claim soon after at the daily Downing Street briefing, which led to Sir Simon withdrawing his comments, explaining that he had made them due to a misunderstanding. Asked whether anyone had leant on the civil servant to retract his story, the prime ministers official spokesman said: It is important that select committees are given accurate information and thats why he corrected what he had said. He took the opportunity to correct the record very quickly and in a very clear way. A European Commission spokesperson said on Wednesday that it had announced as early as 31 January that help for member states with the organisation of joint procurement schemes was forthcoming. This idea of joint procurement and reporting on the states of the medical supplies of member states was a recurring topic on the agenda of the health security meetings. So the UK was, as all other members of the health security committee meetings, aware of the work that was ongoing and had ample opportunity to express its wish to participate in a joint procurement if it wanted to do so. Why it did not participate this is obviously something on which we cannot comment. The timeline of the episode shows how the government handled the situation: 4 February British officials attended a meeting in Brussels during which the European Commission said it was ready to help organise the bulk-buying medical equipment using the power of the single market. 2 March British officials attended another EU meeting where the commissions health department said 20 EU countries were ready to join such a scheme for personal protective equipment. 13 March British officials attended another meeting where EU officials discussed the addition of ventilators to the procurement scheme. 17 March A spokesperson for the commission confirms in public when asked by journalists whether the UK is able to take part in the procurement scheme. 19 March The prime minister Boris Johnson is urged by British politicians to join the scheme. In Brussels, the UK takes part in another meeting on joint procurement 24 March Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, announces publicly that the commissions joint procurement initiative had generated concrete offers of considerable scale at short notice to supply surgical masks, overalls, goggles, and face shields. 26 March Asked in the morning why the UK isnt taking part in the scheme, a Downing Street spokesperson says: We are no longer members of the EU. Boris Johnson is accused off being ideological for not taking part. Later in the evening the prime ministers spokesperson tells Westminster journalists that in fact, a communication error meant the UK had missed the invitation to participate in the scheme 29 March Asked why the government did not join the scheme, cabinet minister Michael Gove tells The Andrew Marr Show there is nothing that we cant do as an independent nation that being part of that scheme would have allowed us to do adding that there was communication confusion. 10 April Matt Hancock tells a Downing Street briefing the UK is working hard opening new supply lines for protective equipment around the world to fill a shortage. 12 April The extended deadline for putting orders in the latest round of the EUs equipment procurement scheme. The UK has placed no orders. 14 April Cabinet minister Therese Coffey seems to suggest not going the scheme was a deliberate decision, telling LBC radio: The government has made an assessment that by joining the schemes, it wasnt going to make any particular difference. 21 April The Foreign Offices top civil servant Sir Simon McDonald tells MPs he briefed ministers about the options and that they made a political decision not to join the scheme. Later in the afternoon, Matt Hancock tells a daily press briefing as far as Im aware there was no political decision not to participate in that scheme ... we are now members of that scheme. Following the briefing by the health secretary, Sir Simon writes to MPs to retract what he told them. 22 April Contrary to what Matt Hancock said the day before, EU officials tell The Independent: They are not participating in any of the existing schemes but they have indicated that they would be open to participating in any future schemes. In Brussels, a Commission spokesperson refers to the meetings the EU attended and says there was ample opportunity to join. At a briefing in Westminster, a Downing Street spokesperson says nobody leant on Sir Simon to get him to retract his report to MPs. Google's data centers run 24/7 and suck up a ton of energy so it's in both the company's and the planet's interest to make them do so as efficiently as possible. One new method has the facilities keeping an eye on the weather so they know when the best times are to switch to solar and wind energy. The trouble with renewables is that they're not consistent, like the output of a power plant. Of course it isn't simply that when the wind dies down, wind energy is suddenly 10 times as expensive or not available but there are all kinds of exchanges and energy economies that fluctuate depending on what's being put onto the grid and from where. Google's latest bid to make its data centers greener and more efficient is to predict those energy economies and schedule its endless data-crunching tasks around them. It's not that someone at Google looks up the actual weather for the next day and calculates how much solar energy will be contributed in a given region and when. Turns out there are people who can do that for you! In this case a Danish greentech firm called Tomorrow. "Organizations are realizing that using electricity at the right time and the right place allows them to reduce both their costs and their carbon footprint," said Tomorrow CEO in a press release. Weather patterns affect those energy economies, leading to times when the grid is mostly powered by carbon sources like coal, and other times when renewables are contributing their maximum. This helpful visualization shows how it might work - shift peak loads to match times when green energy is most abundant. What Google is doing is watching this schedule of carbon-heavy and renewable-heavy periods on the grid and shuffling things around on its end to take advantage of them. By stacking all its heavy compute tasks into time slots where the extra power they will draw is taken from mostly renewable energy sources, they can reduce their reliance on carbon-heavy power. Story continues It only works if you have the kind of fluid and predictable digital work that Google has nurtured. When energy is expensive or dirty, the bare minimum of sending emails and serving YouTube videos is more than enough to keep its data centers busy. But when it's cheap and green, compute-heavy tasks like training machine learning models or video transcoding can run wild. This informed time-shifting is a smart and intuitive idea, though from Google's post it's not clear how effective it really is. Usually when the company announces some effort like this, it's accompanied by estimates of how much energy is saved or efficiency gained. In the case of this time-shifting experiment, the company is uncharacteristically conservative: "Results from our pilot suggest that by shifting compute jobs we can increase the amount of lower-carbon energy we consume." That's a lot of hedging for something that sounds like a home run on paper. A full research paper is forthcoming, but I asked Google for more information. Shortly after posting this I received the following response from Ana Radovanovic, technical lead for the project: Early results for the new system are promising, however, as you note, we are not sharing specific metrics at this time. Our team plans to publish a scientific paper later in the year which will contain a detailed overview of the load shifting methodology and the observed results from our roll out. How much a single data center facility or an entire fleet can increase its use of renewable energy is dependent on a number of variables. As such, we are taking time to conduct additional analysis before we share specific numbers. It seems they are holding off in order to better estimate the effect, but today being Earth Day it makes sense to publish the news early and augment it with more data later. The West Bengal government has said "it is not a fact" that there was no cooperation with the central team deputed to assess the COVID-19 situation in the state and gave an assurance that it will abide by all Union government orders on lockdown. IMAGE: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee interacts with sweepers during her visit to various areas of Kolkata to review the situation of coronavirus prevention. Photograph: PTI Photo The assurance came hours after the Centre accused the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government of obstructing a central team deputed to assess the coronavirus ground situation. In a letter to Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla, West Bengal chief secretary Rajiva Sinha said it was not a fact that the two Inter Ministerial Central Teams have not been provided with any cooperation by the state government since he had two meetings with one team and also was in touch with the other. "This is to convey my highest assurances for the implementation of the orders of central government issued under the Disaster Management Act as well as the directions of the Honb'le Supreme Court," the state chief secretary told the union home secretary. A home ministry spokesperson welcomed the West Bengal government's assurance of cooperation to the two visiting teams. The West Bengal chief secretary sent the letter Tuesday night, hours after the central government had directed the state government not to obstruct working of the two central teams. The Centre had also accused the West Bengal government of not cooperating with the central teams and also said that the state government was specifically restraining the teams from interacting with health workers and touring the affected areas. The West Bengal chief secretary wrote: "It is not a fact that the IMCT has not been provided with any cooperation by the state government". "In fact the teams had arrived without any prior consultation with us and, therefore, there was neither such opportunity to provide any logistic support as envisaged in the order dated April 19 nor the team asked for any help," he said. The chief secretary said the team, visiting Kolkata and nearby districts, went to the BSF guest house in Kolkata and the team, which is visiting Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling and Kalimpong, went to the SSB guest house in Siliguri on their own. "In this connection, this is to inform that the IMCT in Kolkata led by Apurva Chandra met me in my office on April 20 and had an interaction about the implementation of lockdown measures and other efforts of the state government to contain and combat COVID-19. "I am also in touch with Vineet Joshi of IMCT at Siliguri and have apprised him about the steps taken by the state government along with sharing of our reports on mail," Sinha said. He also said that he had another meeting with the team in Kolkata on April 21 at their place of stay at the BSF mess, Kolkata and shared the up to date reports. "They are visiting different parts of the city to make an on the spot assessment of the implementation of the lockdown measures" the chief secretary said. Sinha also referred to his telephonic discussions with Bhalla on April 21 and highlighted "the pro-active steps taken by the state government for effective implementation of lockdown measures to contain the spread of COVID-19". A total of six IMCTs have been deputed to Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and West Bengal to review the implementation of the lockdown measures after making on-spot assessment of the situation prevailing in identified select districts. Two of these teams have been sent to West Bengal -- one team to Kolkata, Howrah, North 24 Parganas and East Medinipur and the other team to Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling and Kalimpong. The first team was led by Chandra while the second team was led by Joshi, both additional secretary rank officers in the central government. The teams comprise public health specialists and officers of the National Disaster Management Authority, whose expertise can be leveraged by the state government for management of COVID-19 pandemic. The teams were deputed under the authority conferred on the Central Government under Section 35 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 which states that "..the central government shall take all such measures as it deems necessary or expedient for the purpose of Disaster Management". Bhalla, in his Tuesday's letter, also quoted a recent Supreme Court observation that the state governments will faithfully comply with the directives and orders issued by the Union of India in letter and spirit in the interest of public safety. The said observations of the Apex Court, the home secretary said, must be treated as directions and faithfully complied with. The home ministry had on Monday said COVID-19 situation is "especially serious" in Mumbai, Pune, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata and a few other places in West Bengal, and violation of lockdown measures risk the spread of the novel Coronavirus. West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress, however, dubbed the visit of the central teams as "adventure tourism" and asked why such delegations were not sent to states with much higher numbers of infections and hotspots. Trinamool Congress MPs Derek O'Brien and Sudip Bandyopadhyay Tuesday claimed that chief minister Mamata Banerjee was informed about the teams' visit three hours after their arrival in the state, which they said was unacceptable. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 20:42:10|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities on Wednesday called for efforts to enhance the capability and widen the range of COVID-19 infection testing. Measures should also be taken to further resume the economic and social order under the conditions of normalized epidemic prevention and control, they said. The instructions were given at a meeting of the leading group of China's COVID-19 epidemic response, which was chaired by Premier Li Keqiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee. As infections caused by gatherings and cross infections reoccurred lately in some places, it must be ensured that all confirmed and suspected cases, asymptomatic cases and close contacts are traced, to block the channels of the spread of the virus and fill the loopholes in COVID-19 prevention and control, according to the meeting. The group called for large-scale nucleic acid and antibody tests, which should cover key groups and units and venues where people gather amid work and production resumption. Such large-scale testing helps with targeted prevention and control, the reasonable mobility of the population and comprehensive work and production resumption, they said. More support should be in place for border cities in terms of the personnel, facility and goods for epidemic control, and convenience in customs should be provided for epidemic control goods bound for foreign aid or export, according to the leading group. Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and deputy head of the leading group, attended the meeting. Enditem Gov. Gretchen Whitmers administration will be announcing a plan for loosening restrictions on business, activities and travel in Michigan later this week. But she warned some form of a stay-at-home order will likely have to remain in effect past the end of the month as the state continues to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. As of Wednesday, Michigan has had 33,966 total COVID-19 cases and 2,813 total deaths. While Michigan had the third-most cases in the country earlier in the month, it has dropped to seventh-most as of Wednesday morning, behind New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, California, Pennsylvania and Illinois. During a Wednesday news briefing, Whitmer said the latest data on COVID-19 in Michigan has led her to believe "its time to reevaluate the stay-at-home order Michigan currently remains under, through April 30. But loosening certain restrictions too fast could lead to a second peak in cases, similar to whats happening in other countries dealing with COVID-19 and during the 1918 flu pandemic, she said. I want to be clear: We will likely need another short-term extension of the Stay Home, Stay Safe order, Whitmer said. When we do start to reengage, it will have to be very thoughtful and precise ... but we will start to reengage, we will have a plan. Related: With 999 new confirmed coronavirus cases, Michigan nears 34,000 Marisa Eisenberg, an epidemiologist at the University of Michigan, presented hypothetical models at the news briefing of what could happen if the state lifts social distancing measures immediately. She said models arent crystal balls," but said they can help with planning and noted they will improve as testing is increased throughout the state. Whitmer noted people who are the most vulnerable to COVID-19 will likely still need to stay home even after the number of cases stabilizes, and said the economy will have to reopen in waves as the immediate crisis passes. As hard as this is right now, a second wave would be devastating, so when I say Im hoping to loosen some restrictions, I mean that Ill only loosen them based on what the facts and data are telling us when it is safe and how it is safe to do so, Whitmer said. Whitmers administration hasnt yet laid out a specific plan as to what Michigan residents and businesses should expect past April 30, although Whitmer said shell be providing more information about how she intends to reopen the economy on Friday. Her current stay-at-home order has drawn heavy criticism from Republican lawmakers, and thousands of people showed up in downtown Lansing last week to protest the order with a traffic jam and rally on the Michigan Capitol lawn. A proposal from Senate Republicans released last week calls for a five-phase process for reopening the economy based on trends in the number of cases and hospital capacity, and allowing businesses with a low risk of spreading the disease to resume operations. On Monday, House Republicans endorsed a plan that would set restrictions on gatherings, business and travel at the county level based on three tiers of risk for COVID-19 spread. Earlier this week, Whitmer said strict adherence to the stay-at-home order increases the odds of loosening social distancing restrictions sooner. To those of you who want to get back to work as soon as possible, stay home, she said Monday. To those of you who made plans for June, July or August and want to see them through, stay home. What happens next depends on every single one of us. Whitmer spokesperson Tiffany Brown said the stay-at-home order does not require legislative authorization. CORONAVIRUS PREVENTION TIPS In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus. Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible. Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and when you go into places like stores. Read more Michigan coronavirus coverage here State of Michigan will temporarily lay off 2,900 employees during coronavirus pandemic Michigan is ramping up coronavirus testing. Thats easier said than done. Michigan company maps data to analyze, predict spread of coronavirus Wednesday, April 22: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan Coronavirus antibody tests offer big promise, but can they deliver? Nurse who spoke out about coronavirus concerns fired by Mercy Health Which surfaces does the coronavirus stay on longest? 18 expert disinfecting tips Second coronavirus outbreak this winter could be worse than this one, CDC chief warns Designing Michigan coronavirus field hospital was like combat engineering, architect says Jackson County wont tell businesses to reopen early, but formally blasts Whitmers stay-at-home order Michiganders will still need to stay home unless theyre doing things that are explicitly permitted by the order. Weve got to get this right. Thats the most important thing. epidemiologists in Southeast Michigan for example in places that have seen more cases, you know we have more data, it lets us do a little bit better at sort of restricting the range of what could happen. But in areas that have not seen as many cases so far, where the epidemic started later, and may still even be increasing. We have less data and because of that it ends up meaning that the range of potential second peaks, you know, is, is wider. And so, thats just something to be aware of and it just means that those those regions may need more careful more monitoring, you know, because theres a lot of uncertainty in terms of what could happen. The other piece to note is that, you know, of course, as we move forward and get more data, and as testing continues to ramp up you know well well have more information, and well be better able to see what scenario were in. UM Epidemiologist Marisa Eisenberg, who is behind some of the modeling the governors office has relied on, is presenting certain hypotheticals if social distancing is lifted. Models are very good tools for reasoning and planning, but they are not crystal balls, she said. House Republicans demonstrated on Tuesday they are not willing to wait for May 8, when Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf plans to gradually reopen the economy. They want businesses to reopen now. The state House of Representatives passed bills primarily along party-lines that would allow construction, auto sales, and retail stores to begin reopening, provided they practice social distancing and adhere to other COVID-19 mitigation measures. Those bills now go to the Senate for consideration. One day after hundreds protested outside the Capitol demanding the reopening of Pennsylvania, the GOP-controlled House responded. House Republicans demonstrated they are running out of patience with the governors measured approach to begin to open up the economy. Wolf, a Democrat, said on Monday he was tentatively looking to allow limited construction activity to begin in three weeks in regions of the state where the data and science indicate the surge of COVID-19 cases is on the decline. Hours later, it was announced the governor signed legislation allowing online auto sales to occur as well as letting the states liquor stores offer curbside pickup of wine and spirits. He also vetoed a GOP-backed bill that would have allowed businesses to reopen; the measure would have used federal guidelines established by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to determine if businesses could open their doors. But Republicans said during the House debate they saw Wolfs actions as inconsistent with his closure order that picked big businesses as winners, while leaving smaller retail stores shuttered for over a month now. Rep. Brad Roae, R-Crawford County, touted his bill that would allow retail stores to open but limit them to one employee and one customer inside at a time and also allowed for contactless curbside pickup. Roae said it would be easier to maintain social distancing than big-box stores which allow 200 to 300 people in at a time. Pointing to the governors decision to allow liquor stores to offer curbside pickup, House Majority Leader Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster County, said, If curbside pick is good enough for the government, it should be good enough for all the other businesses that wish to employ it safely. The construction bill, sponsored by House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny County, would allow public and private construction activity to resume, provided workers adhere to CDC mitigation measures. Another measure offered by Rep. Natalie Mihalek, R-Allegheny County, would allow auto dealers to go back to allowing in-person auto sales, provided worker protections were taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Much of the arguments for and against each measure hit on the same themes. Republicans argued that Pennsylvanians cant afford to wait any longer to get back to work, to buy a car, or to complete construction on an unfinished house. Democrats countered the measures were reckless and short-sighted and could led to a resurgence in cases of the coronavirus. A section of a letter from Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine was read, cautioning against supporting the bill allowing retail stores to open, saying it would dilute mitigation efforts. There is much unfair right now in this world, said Rep. Matt Bradford, D-Montgomery County. Not the least of which is the amount of death that is going on because of this pandemic. But I realize in this building we have decided to follow our own path and ignore the data and science and experts and we have chosen a path that says the bottom line above all else. Wolf has also argued reopening businesses too quickly would endanger public health and potentially do more damage to the states economy, especially if new outbreaks only force businesses to shut down again. Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy. More from PennLive Telemedicine bill heads to Gov. Tom Wolf; he intends to veto it over limits on access to abortion drug UPMC says feared coronavirus surge simply hasnt happened, will resume elective surgeries 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. Amarnath Yatra 2021: Registration of pilgrims to start from April 1, How to do online? We will soon take decision on conducting Amarnath Yatra: Jammu and Kashmir LG Manoj Sinha Jammu and Kashmir govt cancels Amarnath Yatra, then withdraws note India oi-Deepika S Jammu, Apr 22: The Jammu and Kashmir government has withdrawn a press release that said the annual yatra to the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas has been suspended this year due to the coronavirus outbreak. A press note released earlier today said the pilgrimage scheduled from June 23 to August 3 was cancelled by the Amarnath shrine board during a video conference meeting. Such an order was passed probably for the first time that pilgrimage started. Even during the peak of terrorism in Kashmir, Amarnath Yatra continued. The decision to this effect was taken at the 38th board meeting of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) which met under the chairmanship of Lt Governor G C Murmu at Raj Bhavan here, the spokesman said. However, the board decided that 'Pratham Pooja' and 'Sampann Pooja' would be done with traditional fervour. The 42-day-long annual pilgrimage to the holy cave shrine was scheduled to commence on June 23. COEUR D'ALENE, ID / ACCESSWIRE / April 22, 2020 / New Jersey Mining Company (OTCQB:NJMC) ("NJMC" or the "Company") is pleased to discuss an expanded exploration focus and update on its Central Idaho properties. NJMC President and CEO, John Swallow stated, "While we await the 'next normal', the events of the last few months have brought to the forefront widespread awareness that 'just-in-time' inventory management will need to evolve and the fragility from reliance on foreign sources (of everything) are now in the public domain. And as a result, it is our belief that a number of long-standing domestic commodity concerns have moved up in importance by at least a decade. This brief update is to inform our stakeholders that we are adding a strategic area of interest and approaching it with the same low-cost/high-potential business philosophy we used in the assembly of our existing gold holdings." In addition to our country's much needed infrastructure improvements and hopefully more logical view toward a greener future - both of which will result a tremendous amount of mineral demand - we believe the security and creation of other national inventories will also garner attention. And since the best time to plant a tree was yesterday (and the next best time is today), this year we plan to advance our existing gold portfolio in addition to some of the critical elements outlined in Executive Order 13817 and other related agency reports. It is well documented that the United States currently imports 100% of many critical minerals from countries such as China. As American citizens we are sensitive to the fact that the sources and prices of these strategic commodities are largely controlled by those who do not have our national interests in mind. We believe that the next wave of domestic realization will relate to defensive readiness and possibly support for public/private partnerships with regard to strategic mineral use in future technologies, national stockpiles and mineral processing/milling. Notwithstanding the discussion above, as gold passed through $1,500/oz we noticed increased interest by those pursuing "exposure to Idaho", including information about our non-core assets. Our Central Idaho holdings (the Eastern Star and McKinley project) have been held as low-cost/high-potential staples within our portfolio and individual stores of value on our balance sheet. These base-building assets were added with the belief that quality gold holdings will provide upside leverage to sustainable higher gold prices and/or future activity in each of their respective locations. We now anticipate boots on the ground by Company geologists in preparation for potential joint ventures and/or other methods of advancement. To help with our increased exploration activity, the Company is pleased to welcome Rebecca Goddard to the team. Ms. Goddard has over 30 years of experience in exploration, development, and mining geology - specializing in diverse geological settings for a variety of commodities such as gold, silver, lead, zinc, platinum, rare earth elements and uranium. Becky has worked as a senior exploration geologist for Echo Bay Exploration in Nevada, Mexico, and Honduras; a development geologist at Stillwater's platinum operations; was a member of Placer Dome's discovery team at Cortez Hills in Nevada; explored for uranium deposits in Canada, Australia, Wyoming and Texas for Cameco; and served as Hecla's Exploration Superintendent at the Greens Creek Mine in Alaska. In keeping with our modest approach, the Company is also announcing that it has closed on subscriptions of $200,000 to its non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement"). Proceeds from the private placement will be used for exploration and general working capital, including the possibility of additional strategic minerals exposure. The Private Placement consisted of units (the "Units") issued at $0.135per Unit, with each Unit comprised of one common share (a "Common Share") and common share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each whole Warrant is exercisable into a Common Share (a "Warrant Share") at an exercise price of $0.18 per Warrant Share for a period of 2 years. A total of 1,481,370 restricted Common Shares and 740,685 whole Warrants were issued pursuant to the Private Placement. Mr. Swallow concluded, "Our Idaho jurisdiction and the diligence of our workforce have allowed us to plan for tomorrow with a clarity we haven't enjoyed since Grant and I originally decided to advance the Golden Chest. The critical minerals area is something I have personally followed for decades and our team has discussed for years. Furthermore, while no one enjoys the luxury to schedule adversity, it is evident that our focus on "stores of value regardless of the medium of exchange' has worked when preparing/planning for adversity. Additionally, our participation in an essential Idaho industry has provided us the good fortune to help our families, communities and other stakeholders during this critical time. Since "America 2.0" has yet to be defined, we see no reason to master fighting the last war or manage to metrics designed for something other than the opportunities provided by unprecedented fiat currency debasement, domestic distribution channels, and the effects of a seemingly unlimited flood of liquidity into the global economy." Qualified person NJMC's Vice President of Exploration, Robert John Morgan, PG, PLS is a qualified person as such term is defined in National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information and data included in this press release. About New Jersey Mining Company New Jersey Mining Company is headquartered in North Idaho, where it is producing gold at its Golden Chest Mine. Gold was first discovered in the Murray Gold Belt in 1882, but by 1888 mining declined as the center of activity and demand for labor shifted to the Silver Valley following the discovery of the Bunker Hill, Sunshine, Lucky Friday, and other iconic regional mines. The rebirth of the long-forgotten Murray Gold Belt has been led by NJMC, as evidenced by production from open-pit and underground operations at the Golden Chest Mine, its extensive land package and superior knowledge of the district gained from current development and production, and ongoing exploration activities. NJMC has established a high-quality, early to advanced-stage asset base in three historic mining districts of Idaho and Montana, which includes the currently producing Golden Chest Mine. The Company's objective is to use its considerable in-house skill sets to build a portfolio of mining and milling operations, with a longer-term vision of becoming a mid-tier producer. Management is shareholder focused and owns more than 15-percent of NJMC stock. The Company's common stock trades on the OTC-QB and the CSE Market under the symbol "NJMC." For more information on New Jersey Mining Company go to www.newjerseymining.com or call: Monique Hayes, Corporate Secretary/Investor Relations Email: monique@newjerseymining.com (208) 625-9001 Forward Looking Statements This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended that are intended to be covered by the safe harbor created by such sections. Such statements are based on good faith assumptions that New Jersey Mining Company believes are reasonable, but which are subject to a wide range of uncertainties and business risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed, projected or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the Company's ability to identify additional resource or construct a mill near the Golden Chest Mine, the risk that the mine plan changes due to rising costs or other operational details, an increased risk associated with production activities occurring without completion of a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability, the risks and hazards inherent in the mining business (including risks inherent in developing mining projects, environmental hazards, industrial accidents, weather or geologically related conditions), changes in the market prices of gold and silver and the potential impact on revenues from changes in the market price of gold and cash costs, a sustained lower price environment, as well as other uncertainties and risk factors. Actual results, developments and timetables could vary significantly from the estimates presented. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. NJMC disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. SOURCE: New Jersey Mining Company View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/586330/New-Jersey-Mining-Company-Provides-Expanded-Exploration-Focus-and-Central-Idaho-Update Exclusive: India foreign investment rules aimed at China to include Hong Kong - sources FILE PHOTO: Students wear masks of China's President Xi Jinping as other waves national flags of India and China, ahead of the informal summit with Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at a school in Chennai By Aftab Ahmed and Aditya Kalra NEW DELHI (Reuters) - New Indian rules to ensure scrutiny of investments from companies based in neighbouring countries, especially during the coronavirus outbreak, will also apply to Hong Kong, two senior government sources told Reuters on Monday. India said on Saturday that foreign direct investments from countries with which it shares a land border would require prior government approval to deter "opportunistic" takeovers and acquisitions during the pandemic, but it gave few other details. While the move was seen aimed at Chinese firms, it caused confusion among lawyers, investors and business executives on whether it would apply to Hong Kong, a special administrative region in South China that enjoys a measure of autonomy under a "one country, two systems" policy agreed at the time of its 1997 handover from Britain. A substantial part of Chinese investments is routed through the Asian financial centre given its market expertise and deep pool of liquidity. India's industries ministry, which drafted the policy, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Two Indian government officials told Reuters the policy will be interpreted in a broad manner and will not make any distinction between China and Hong Kong investments, saying inflows from both will be scrutinised in the same manner. "It's common sense how Hong Kong investment should be taken. Investment from there is no different to China," said one of the officials. The officials have been involved in the framing of India's investment policies. Indian government data showed that between April 2000 and December 2019, foreign direct investments from China stood at $2.3 billion and $4.2 billion from Hong Kong. The Chinese Embassy in New Delhi said on Monday the rules were against free and fair trade and "Chinese investment has driven the development of India's industries". It said Chinas cumulative investment in India exceeds $8 billion. Some experts believe the total investment coming through Chinese entities is far higher as it is routed through multiple jurisdictions. Story continues The new rules govern entities located in a country that shares a land border with India and will be applicable even if the "beneficial owner" of an investment is from those nations. Such investments will require a government approval, the rules said, meaning they can't go through a so-called automatic route. The rules did not name China or Hong Kong. India has land borders with China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan. Three government officials, including the first two, also clarified the new rules of scrutiny would apply to foreign direct investments in greenfield projects. "There is no sunset clause for the rules," the first government official said about the timeframe of the policy, adding that it would be used "in the widest possible way". POLICY CONCERNS The new rules are seen slowing down investment timelines and straining Indian startups that get regular funding from major Chinese companies, especially when the coronavirus outbreak has already hit them hard. Indian digital payments firm Paytm, online grocer BigBasket and e-commerce company Snapdeal all have been funded by China's Alibaba. China's Bytedance has plans to invest $1 billion in India, while automakers including Great Wall Motor Co Ltd and MG Motor, a unit of China's SAIC, have said they intend to invest millions. India took the decision after several local industry groups flagged concerns around Chinese inflows during the spread of coronavirus that had made some Indian businesses more vulnerable to takeovers, a fourth person familiar with the thinking said. Several ministries, including India's foreign affairs department, then pitched for changes and studied similar restrictions that had been imposed by countries such as Germany and Australia, the source added. A lawyer who advises Chinese investors told Reuters on Monday that his clients were concerned by the rules and there was a plan this week to seek clarifications on the policy. "A lot of companies who had finalised their investments are shocked; this injects a lot of uncertainty," said the lawyer. (Reporting by Aftab Ahmed and Aditya Kalra; Additional reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee in Hong Kong, Sankalp Phartiyal, Aditi Shah and Nivedita Bhattacharjee; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani, Kim Coghill and Nick Macfie) Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal Amanda, the unwitting crime-fighting Chihuahua who helped U.S. marshals in the capture of her fugitive owners, Susan and William Harris, is herself behind bars. Her captivity at the Shawnee, Oklahoma, animal shelter is predicted to be short. The Harris couple, meanwhile, are expected to be locked up for years after failing to appear for sentencing March 2 for their roles in the $11 million embezzlement at the now-closed Ayudando Guardians Inc. of New Mexico. The couple fled New Mexico, with 10-year-old Amanda in tow, and were on the run for six weeks before their arrest by a Marshals task force April 15 in Shawnee, a small city 40 miles east of Oklahoma City. Their dogs ID and whereabouts were confirmed Tuesday after the Chihuahuas microchip was traced to the now-closed Quixote Humane of Bosque Farms, founded by Judy Babcock, a prominent Valencia County animal advocate who died in October. Babcocks husband, Rick, told the Journal on Tuesday that he received a call from the microchip company and searched his wifes old spreadsheets from the rescue organization. He discovered the chip number belonged to a Chihuahua named Amanda, who was adopted in 2012 by a Bill and Susan Harris. I said, Thats interesting. Well, it didnt click right away, so I just searched on Bill and Susan Harris (online) and, of course, what came up was all the news articles about our notorious embezzlers. Babcock also had read last weeks Journal story about the Chihuahua, which led law enforcement agents to the apartment where Harris was staying with her husband. Agents who had tracked the couple to the vicinity happened to see the Chihuahua coming out the front door of an apartment, unaccompanied, to do her business. Dutifully, the little 5-pound dog headed back inside. A Marshals Service spokesman told the Journal that seeing the dog, which turned out to be Amanda, persuaded them to approach the apartment where the Harris couple was later arrested. Investigators wondered whether they took their dog with them after finding photos of a Chihuahua during a search of the Harris home after the couple left town. Federal court records show that 73-year-old Susan Harris, former Ayudando president, is facing a minimum sentence of 30 years to life in prison. Her husband, 58, was expected to be sentenced to seven years under his plea deal but may end up with a longer sentence for absconding. Both had been released pending sentencing. They and two others who worked at the company, which handled finances and investments for more than 1,000 vulnerable clients, were accused of stealing client money to support a lavish lifestyle dating back to at least 2010. Babcock said his wife, who served on the New Mexico Animal Sheltering Board and the Valencia County Animal Control Advisory Board, was conscientious about vetting prospective owners and making sure those animals she adopted out were kept safe. Her philosophy was that she didnt know what would happen with the owners because they might give the dog away or move away, or whatever. At least her organizations name was always listed with the chip so she could track down the owners. Shawnee shelter officials confirmed Amanda was in good shape after being dropped off by U.S. marshals, Babcock told the Journal. They said small dogs typically get adopted out fairly quickly in Shawnee, Babcock said. Before her adoption, Quixote Humane described Amanda as a delightful little angel who would probably be happiest in a home that is not highly active, but has a lap or two for snuggling. We do have the pup, said a Shawnee Police Department spokeswoman who fielded media calls for the shelter on Tuesday. But before putting her up for adoption, the shelter will wait to see if any family members would want to come get her. After conducting 350 tests, the Ludhiana administration has suspended the much-hyped Rapid Testing Kits (RTKs) project following the government directions. The government had recently ordered to stop the tests after efficacy of RTKs brought from China came under scanner for showing variation in results. The health department in Ludhiana went in a tizzy on Tuesday night after three persons tested positive during the rapid test. Chief principal secretary KBS Sidhu stated in one of his tweets that confirmation could only be made after receiving the reports of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Sharing details, civil surgeon Dr Rajesh Bagga said that the swabs of three persons found positive during the rapid test, were collected and sent testing. They will be kept in isolation till the arrival of results, said Dr Bagga. As many as 1,000 RTKs had arrived in Ludhiana recently and the administration was using these to conduct tests at the sazbi mandi, which is currently the epicentre of most of the citys positive cases. According to deputy commissioner Pradeep Agrawal, the kits were procured by the headquarters in Chandigarh. The Federal Council Bern, 22.04.2020 - On 24 April 2020 the Federal Council approved a loan of CHF 95.6 million to the Foundation for Buildings for International Organisations (FIPOI) to finance the demolition and reconstruction of one of the headquarters buildings of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva. The works are scheduled over the five-year period from 2022 to 2026. Founded in 1865, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the specialised United Nations agency for information and communications technologies. The ITU allocates satellite orbits and parts of the global radio spectrum, develops the technical standards that ensure networks and technologies interconnect seamlessly, and strives to improve access to information and communications technologies to underserved communities worldwide. First established in Bern in 1868, the ITU moved its headquarters to Geneva in 1948, where it currently comprises three buildings Varembe (built between 1959 and 1962), the Tower (inaugurated in 1973) and the Montbrillant building (inaugurated in 1999). The oldest of these buildings, Varembe, is outdated and no longer meets today's fire, earthquake and thermal insulation standards, nor does it comply with accessibility standards for people with reduced mobility. The Varembe building project will make it possible to regroup the ITU's activities in two buildings instead of three to allow more efficient use of the site. In addition to allowing the ITU to meet its long term needs, the project will enable more efficient running of the buildings and provide modern, sustainable and environmentally-friendly facilities, reducing maintenance costs. The demolition and building works will start in January 2022 with the furnishing of temporary office space and are scheduled for completion in late 2026. As host state, Switzerland is committed to the proper maintenance of the buildings of International Geneva. It is in Switzerland's interests to support the project of the ITU in order to ensure that it can operate in optimum working conditions and allow it to continue its activities in a building which is functional, safe and adapted to current standards. By hosting international actors based in International Geneva and providing them with optimal conditions, Switzerland contributes significantly to the smooth functioning of international relations. Subject to approval by Parliament, the CHF 95.6 million interest-free loan which is repayable over 50 years will allow the demolition/reconstruction work to begin in 2022. In December 2016, Parliament approved a loan of CHF 12 million to finance the survey costs of the construction project. The Canton of Geneva will contribute CHF 42.4 million to the project. Strengthening International Geneva is one of the priorities of the Federal Council's foreign policy strategy for 202023. One of the key thematic pillars of Switzerland's policy for International Geneva is to maintain and strengthen the city as a digital hub. This support is also essential to strengthen the image of International Geneva as the principal centre of global governance, in particular with respect to issues related to global internet governance. Address for enquiries FDFA Communication Tel. +41 58 462 31 53 kommunikation@eda.admin.ch Publisher The Federal Council https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start.html Federal Department of Foreign Affairs https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home.html The latest news on the COVID-19 global pandemic (all times Eastern): Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 22/4/2020 (630 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A medical worker performs a mouth swab on a patient to test for Covid-19 coronavirus, in tent extension of the Rigshospitalet Hospital, in Copenhagen, Denmark, Thursday, April 2, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Niels Christian Vilmann/Ritzau Scanpix via AP The latest news on the COVID-19 global pandemic (all times Eastern): 8:15 p.m. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says some businesses that were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic could reopen next month. Moe announced in a televised address that his government has a five-phase plan to allow some businesses and services to open their doors. Moe says the province has managed to keep its infection rate low, which means it can look at relaxing some of the restrictions it introduced last month. He says there are risks on both sides, and if they move too quickly it could increase the spread of COVID-19, but moving too slowly risks permanent damage to the livelihoods of thousands. --- 6:45 p.m. The number of COVID-19 cases diagnosed in B.C. has jumped by 71, a surge that Health Minister Adrian Dix says reflects the outbreak in workers at the United Poultry Co. Ltd. Twenty eight workers at the Vancouver plant have tested positive for COVID-19. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says employers are expected to pay attention to the health of their staff, without penalizing them for calling in sick. Three more people have died in the province, all from long-term care homes, for a total death toll of 90. There have been 1,795 cases in the province, while 1,079 people have fully recovered. --- 6:20 p.m. Yukon's chief medical officer Dr. Brendan Hanley says the COVID-19 case count in Yukon remains at 11. He says eight of the 11 people have recovered and all others are doing well at home. He says there has been no known community transmission in the territory so far. --- 5:55 p.m. Alberta is reporting 306 new cases of COVID-19 and five more deaths linked to the illness. That brings the total number of cases to 3,401 and 66 fatalities in the province. So far, 1,310 people have recovered. Premier Jason Kenney has also announced that Alberta is loaning 25 ventilators to help Quebec during the crisis. --- 5 p.m. B.C. Premier John Horgan says he wants to be cautious about reopening the province after COVID-19. He says two recent outbreaks at the Mission prison and at a Vancouver poultry processing plant are warnings that the public can't be complacent about the virus. Horgan says he'll follow the science for advice in lifting of restrictions in the weeks ahead. He says B.C. residents don't want to give up the progress they've made by easing restrictions too quickly. --- 3:47 p.m. Saskatchewan is reporting six new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases in the province up to 326. Health officials say 261 people have recovered so far. Premier Scott Moe is to give a televised address tonight about how the province has responded to the pandemic. He will also present a plan tomorrow about reopening the economy. --- 3:20 p.m. The Manitoba government says it will release a plan next week to gradually loosen some of the restrictions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. Chief public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin says the plan is to let more businesses open, and to raise the 10-person limit on public gatherings. But he says any large crowds will not be permitted for months and physical distancing to contain the spread of the virus will continue for the foreseeable future. --- 2:20 p.m Manitoba is reporting two new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total up to 257 (246 confirmed, 11 probable). Health officials say 154 people have recovered so the number of active cases has dropped by two from yesterday to 97. The number of deaths in Manitoba remains unchanged at six. --- 1:45 p.m. For the fourth day in a row, New Brunswick is reporting no new cases of COVID-19. The provincial total remains at 118 cases. Chief medical officer of health, Dr. Jennifer Russell says 104 cases are considered recovered. She encourages people to continue to stay home as much as possible and to practice social distancing. --- 1:35 p.m. Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling in military assistance as the province battles COVID-19 in long-term care homes. Ford says he will formally request extra resources from the federal government today, including from the Public Health Agency of Canada and Canadian Forces personnel. He says the additional personnel will be deployed to five priority homes. Ford says they will provide operational and logistical assistance so long-term care staff can focus on the care of residents. --- 1:30 p.m. Quebec Premier Francois Legault says he will present a plan next week to slowly reopen the province's schools. Legault says the return to class will be done gradually and will begin in regions where the COVID-19 situation is most stable. He says attendance won't be mandatory, and parents who don't want to send their children before September won't have to. --- 1:25 p.m. Premier Francois Legault is asking the federal government for 1,000 Canadian Armed Forces members to help in the province's struggling long-term care homes. Despite extensive recruitment efforts, Legault says he was only able to fill half the 2,000 positions needed to overcome a staffing shortfall rendered critical by COVID-19. The Canadian Armed Forces have already committed about 130 medically-trained staff and personnel members to help in care homes, but Legault said the additional people he's requesting won't necessarily have medical qualifications but can help with general tasks. The province reported 93 new deaths and 839 new cases today, for a total of 1,134, and 839 more cases, for a total of 20,965. --- 12:50 p.m. Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting no new cases of COVID-19. Dr Janice Fitzgerald, the province's chief medical officer of health, says the total number of confirmed cases declined by one to 256 after one negative test result was incorrectly reported as positive. Six people are in hospital and two are in intensive care, and 199 people have recovered. Fitzgerald says the province will be able to relax some distancing measures in the near future, but warns that the province's citizens shouldn't expect a full return to normal any time soon. --- 12:50 p.m. The country's medical officers of health are at work setting criteria that from a health perspective could provide guidance on when physical distancing restrictions can ease up. Several provinces are now considering loosening their lockdowns. Chief Public Health Officer Teresa Tam says criteria that might be included are the rate of hospitalizations, new cases being reported daily and how the virus appears to be reproducing. She says the special advisory committee on COVID-19 is actively at work on the details of that guidance now. --- 12:50 p.m. Prince Edward Island is reporting no new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, and the provincial total remains at 26. Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Heather Morrison, says 24 people are considered recovered. The province hopes to begin easing some of the public health restrictions next month, but Morrison says the ease-back plan will have to be done carefully. She says people should only be travelling to Prince Edward Island for essential reasons. --- 12:45 p.m. The Manitoba government is offering some financial aid to small and medium-sized businesses hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic. Premier Brian Pallister says interest-free loans of $6,000 will be available to businesses that have had to scale back operations. The loans will be forgiven at the end of the year for businesses that have not qualified for federal programs. Pallister says the money is not enough to make up for all the revenue being lost by businesses, but should help employers make it through the coming months. --- 12:20 p.m. Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam says over 576,000 people have now been tested for COVID-19 in Canada. She says 6.5 per cent of those tests were positive. Tam says as Canada continues to make progress in slowing the spread, there are bumps in the road that mean the country can't let down its guard. She says a focus must be placed on stopping outbreaks in places like seniors homes and other places where vulnerable populations live together in close quarters. --- 12:10 p.m. Ontario is expanding COVID-19 testing to every resident and worker in the province's long-term care homes, as nearly 450 residents have died amid growing outbreaks in the facilities. Provincial health officials have previously resisted calls for such widespread testing of asymptomatic people. But a new memo from the deputy ministers of health and long-term care, as well as Ontario's chief medical officer of health, tells public health units to immediately develop plans for the broad testing. As of today, there have been at least 448 deaths in long-term care in Ontario, amid outbreaks at 127 facilities. --- 11:50 a.m. Trudeau says that over the past month about 20,000 Canadians have returned to the country on repatriation flights. He says he knows there are still Canadians all around the world who still want to come back, and the government continues to work with other countries to make that happen. All returning Canadians are required to quarantine for 14 days. --- 11:30 a.m. Nova Scotia is reporting two more deaths related to COVID-19, bringing the province's total to 12. The deaths occurred at the Northwood long-term care home in Halifax. The province is also reporting 35 new cases of the virus bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 772. It says 10 licensed long-term care homes and unlicensed seniors' facilities in Nova Scotia are dealing with cases of COVID-19, involving 148 residents and 65 staff. --- 11:25 a.m. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is unveiling a $9 billion emergency program aimed at students. It includes a Canada Emergency Student Benefit worth at least $1250 a month from May to August. The benefit can be accessed by those in post-secondary school now, headed to post secondary school in September or anyone who graduated after December 2019. The government is also creating 76,000 job placements for young people in sectors currently dealing with labour shortages. --- 10:35 a.m. Ontario is reporting 510 new cases of COVID-19 today and 37 more deaths. That brings the total number of cases in the province to 12,245 a 4.3 per cent increase over Tuesday, which is the lowest growth rate in weeks. The total also includes 659 deaths and 6,221 cases that have been resolved, which puts the percentage of resolved cases over 50 per cent for the first time. --- 8:50 a.m. The chief of a First Nation in northeastern Alberta says a local curfew has been imposed between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., affecting all members of the Fort Chipewyan, Allison Bay and Doghead reserves. Chief Archie Waquan of the Mikisew Cree First Nation says he remembers his father's stories about the influenza pandemic of 1918 and he is not going to let COVID-19 devastate his people in the same way. Waquan says he recognizes there may be opposition to the curfew but he doesn't want a repeat of the Spanish flu outbreak when his father told him the First Nation could not bury its dead fast enough. The First Nation has no cases of COVID-19 but proactively declared a state of local emergency last month and took other steps to ensure members have access to food and cleaning supplies. The country has now been in lockdown for a month and the Government has tabled an unprecedented support package for businesses, worth hundreds of billions of pounds. But some workers are still worried they will lose their jobs and business owners are still fearing collapse. Today, Money Mail shines a spotlight on the cracks where the Government's money isn't going. We can reveal that: Judith Richards, 64, and husband Jason, 57, who offer trike tours around rural beauty spots, cannot get grants worth up to 25,000 because they do not pay business rates Firms are still unable to get vital government loans. One company that vets workers for the NHS now has a backlog of 5,000 staff because it doesn't meet the criteria. Self-employed business owners are not qualifying for help because they do not have the paperwork or pay themselves in dividends. Workers in new jobs have been left with no income because they do not qualify for furlough cash. New businesses have been denied support because they do not have enough money in the bank. It comes as the Treasury opened its Job Retention Scheme fund on Monday morning and more than 144,000 employers submitted claims for more than one million staff in the first day. Last week figures released by UK Finance revealed that less than a quarter of applications for the Government's Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) had been successful. The banking trade body figures showed that just 6,020 loans had been agreed last Tuesday, from 300,000 initial enquiries and 28,460 submitted applications. Andrew Goodacre, chief executive of the British Independent Retailers Association, says around 30 per cent of his trade body's 4,000 members may not be able to reopen after the outbreak. He adds: 'There is a concern that coronavirus will accelerate the perceived decline of the High Street.' I started my new job too late Natalie Greenway started a new job after the cut-off date for the fund of March 19 Natalie Greenway will be without any income for at least three months because she is not eligible for the Government's furlough scheme. She is among tens of thousands of workers who started a new job after the cut-off date for the fund of March 19. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme allows firms to furlough staff while the Government pays 80 per cent of their salary, up to 2,500 per month. Natalie, 24, from Burbage, Leicestershire, started a new job as a customer services manager on March 16 but her company did not notify HMRC of her first payment until March 31. She had been in her job for two weeks before she was put on unpaid leave. She was saving for a deposit on a house, so is not eligible for Universal Credit. Anyone with savings of more than 16,000 is not eligible. She says: 'The Government has written us off as collateral damage.' But the Government has closed some of the cracks. A total of 1.25billion was put aside at the weekend to support start-up businesses which were not eligible for existing coronavirus support schemes. And 10,000 and 25,000 grants for small retail, leisure and hospital businesses are beginning to land in bank accounts. But some companies and individuals are still set to miss out because they do not quite fit the criteria for financial help. NHS STAFF CONFUSION The NHS is being starved of front-line staff because a firm that checks workers' qualifications is not getting the support it needs from the Government. Medic Check runs background checks on everyone from volunteers to surgeons starting work for the NHS, as well as providing a similar service for nursing homes. John Burke, 63, who helps run the business, says it has a backlog of around 5,000 applications because the company can't get a loan, which in turn is delaying getting front-line staff to vital health services. Medic Check is one of thousands of companies struggling to claim state aid under the government-backed Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS). The loans are provided by High Street banks and the Government will take on 80 per cent of any losses. But because banks still have to bear 20 per cent of the risk, they have been asking for detailed financial information and forecasts which firms are unable to provide at speed. John says Medic Check first contacted Barclays about getting a loan about a month ago. After a brief phone call, the company received an email on April 11 stating that the bank did not believe it was eligible. The firm has been asked to provide a full year's accounts, which John says he can't do because it was only set up in September last year. It has also been asked to provide a forecast for the next 12 months, which John says is impossible because he cannot know how the business will be affected by the pandemic. Nor does he think the business is eligible for new support measures for start-ups because it has not raised 250,000 privately in the past five years. He says the firm desperately needs the cash to buy high-tech scanners for staff who are working from home. 'If we can't check the staff, then people aren't going to take them on,' he adds. Barclays says it has yet to receive an official loan application from Medic Check but is 'happy to review and assist' their request. A spokesman adds: 'We are processing very significant volumes of CBILS loans and we are doing everything we can to get money to thousands of businesses as quickly as possible under the scheme.' BANKS' BRUSH-OFF New-business owners also believe they may be at a disadvantage when applying for CBILS loans. Amy Bracher, 31, applied for a 50,000 loan with Lloyds Bank to keep her company, Phoenix Raven Recruitment, afloat. But she was rejected because she had gone into her overdraft in the past. Amy, from Shepshed, Leicestershire, set up the firm in May last year and has so far made a profit of 75,000. But her takings began to dwindle in early March as companies started to let her agency workers go and put recruitment on hold. However, when she applied to Lloyds for a loan last month, she was rejected. The reasons given by her bank included the fact that she had gone into her overdraft several times between November and February. Amy says: 'I feel I am being penalised for having a young business and most people would say I am doing well to make a profit in my first year. This loan scheme was my only contingency plan, and without help from Lloyds I doubt I'll have a business by 2021.' A Lloyds Bank spokesman declined to comment on Amy's case but says: 'To qualify for CBILS or our own support, among a number of criteria, businesses needed to be healthy and viable before the outbreak of Covid-19 and be able to afford to repay the additional borrowing based on their financial performance before the outbreak.' TOO SMALL FOR AID A couple who run a small tourism business in the Yorkshire Dales say they have been 'left to fend for themselves'. Judith Richards, 64, and husband Jason, 57, offer trike tours around rural beauty spots and have seen their company grow steadily since it was set up six years ago. The coronavirus outbreak put a halt to business and their whole household income. But because it is a husband-and-wife business run from home, it is not eligible for relief available to larger companies. They cannot get grants worth up to 25,000 because they do not pay business rates and her husband is not eligible for the Job Retention Scheme because he is not on the payroll. Judith says they have applied for Universal Credit but won't know if they are going to get anything until May 2. The firm has been granted a loan through the government-backed Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme but the money has yet to arrive in their accounts. Judith adds: 'If you're furloughed, your employees can claim money back which doesn't have to be repaid. 'If you pay business rates, you can get a grant but if you're one of thousands of small businesses like ours, the chances are you're going to get a big loan that you'll have to pay back. That will make life difficult. We've been hung out to dry.' NOT ENOUGH CASH Start-up founder Marie Farmer fears she won't have raised enough money to be eligible for help. This week HM Treasury announced a 1.25 billion package to support new companies that are not eligible for other rescue schemes. A new 500 million investment fund, the Future Fund, is designed to help high-growth companies. Start-up founder Marie Farmer fears she won't have raised enough money to be eligible for help And a further 750 million of grants and loans will be given to small and medium businesses that focus on research and development. Marie, 30, wants to apply for the Future Fund, made up of funding from the public and private sector. But to qualify a company must have raised 250,000 privately in the past five years. Marie is the founder of Mini Mealtimes a family nutrition app. She and her team began building the app in 2018 and it was launched in January this year. She has previously raised 60,000 for the company and is now trying to raise 350,000 before the end of May. But while she has raised just under 200,000 so far, if she does not reach her total she will not receive any of the investment cash. Marie, who lives with her son August, four, and husband James, 35, in North London, says: 'The coronavirus outbreak has scared a lot of potential investors off.' SLIM PICKINGS Hannah Murphy has seen her fitness business grind to a halt but will not know whether she is entitled to support until June. The Government has said it will offer cash grants worth up to 2,500 a month to self-employed workers. But anyone with profits of more than 50,000 a year will not be eligible. Hannah, 35, from Fareham, Hampshire, started Globe Fit with husband Tom, 36, seven years ago and works with 40 freelance instructors. Her overall income is above this threshold but includes dividends from her husband's company. She has been told by her accountant that the dividend income should not be counted and her self-employed income will be below 50,000. Meanwhile, she is not eligible for small business grants of up to 25,000 because she does not pay business tax, nor is she eligible for Universal Credit because her husband is still working as a project manager. 'I'm not able to claim at the moment,' she says. 'If my husband suddenly finds himself out of work, there's nothing we can do, other than apply for Universal Credit.' Other business owners could lose out because their dividend income is not counted. Those who pay themselves in mostly dividends will not receive 80 per cent of their full income. Freelance journalist and RAF veteran Andy Wasley, 37, only registered as a sole trader in April last year, so will not have his average earnings partly met by the government bailout scheme because he does not possess a full year of accounts. He says: 'I won't qualify for any help. I feel completely dispirited.' Andy, from Sutton, South London, spent 17 years in the RAF, including tours of Afghanistan, before leaving in 2018. He was expecting to earn around 27,000 this year but has now seen all his future writing commissions dry up. A Treasury spokesman says: 'We're taking unprecedented action to support public services, businesses and individuals through this economic emergency. 'All our support is targeted to make sure we use public funds responsibly, helping those who need it most, while minimising fraud risk.' moneymail@dailymail.co.uk Head of the Moroccan government said it was too early for accurate figures on the repercussions of the coronavirus on the Moroccan economy noting that a review of the appropriation bill is not possible in the absence of precise indicators. The IMF however has said the Moroccan GDP will contract by 3.7% while the high commission for planning issued only forecasts for the second quarter of this year predicting a contraction of 1.7%. We have to wait for better visibility, said government chief Saad Dine El Otmani, noting that the measures taken to contain the virus has prevented a surge of cases to 60,000 and deaths to 4000. So far, total coronavirus cases stood at 3209 including 393 recoveries and 145 deaths with the emergence of clusters in industrial plants, families and a prison in Ouarzazate where some 60 prison employees and at least 6 inmates were infected. Authorities closed 10 factories for failing to comply with safety standards as tight control of such plants continues, he said. He reassured as to the availability of intensive care beds recalling that some 80 patients are currently receiving intensive care while total capacity exceeds 1800. Morocco has 985 intensive care doctors currently working in 47 hospitals, he said. (CNN) Billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk can be a controversial figure. Not surprisingly, one of his projects has managed to frustrate stargazers. Hundreds of satellites owned by Musk's company, SpaceX, have been launched as part of Starlink, a project to increase global internet coverage, but their presence is disrupting observations of the night sky. Irish comedian and amateur astronomer Dara O Briain was one of many people to post on social media, complaining after a number of the satellites were seen moving across the sky on Sunday. "Yep, just saw them too. It's the Starlink satellite network, and Elon Musk wants to put a 1000 of them up," wrote O Briain in response to another stargazer on Twitter. "There goes the night sky." However Robert Massey from the UK's Royal Astronomical Society told CNN that the satellites' long-term impact on the sky depends on their final positioning. "There's a lot of variability," he said, adding that the Starlink satellites are more visible now than they will be in the future because the latest batch was only launched on March 18. Musk eventually plans to launch more than 40,000 satellites that will blanket the planet in cheap, high-speed connectivity. The aim is to reach billions of people around the world without internet access and compete with traditional ground-based service providers. Satellites can be visible from Earth, although they are usually quite faint. But when their panels reflect a "burst" of sunlight back to Earth, they can appear brighter for a brief period, according to National Geographic. Those streaks of bright light can obstruct the astronomical objects just underneath them and could trigger false signals in telescopes, Nature reported. Other companies such as Amazon and Canada's Telesat are planning their own constellations, raising concerns not just about Starlink satellites' impact on visibility of the night sky but worries about space debris and the risk of in-orbit collisions. Amateur stargazers are not the only ones worried. In November, Clara Martinez-Vazquez, an astronomer at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Coquimbo, Chile, tweeted that the bright lights reflected by the satellites interfered with a high-powered camera used to observe other galaxies. "Rather depressing... This is not cool!" she wrote. Musk has repeatedly attempted to assure the public that Starlink will not contribute to either such problems. SpaceX says it has been taking steps to mitigate the impacts of its satellites. In November, a spokesperson told CNN the company is speaking with leading astronomy groups to find ways that the satellites won't disrupt their work. SpaceX is also testing whether a black coating on its satellites can reduce visibility, and the company said it will can adjust some of the satellites' orbits if necessary. Massey said the Royal Astronomical Society had been in touch with SpaceX to discuss the company's plans. "To their credit we've had good conversations," he said, underlining that it is in the society's interest to enter into talks with every company that plans to launch satellites. "There isn't a regulatory framework that protects us," said Massey. This means stargazers are reliant on the goodwill of these companies and have to appeal to a sense of shared human heritage. "To some extent we all have a right to a view of the sky," said Massey. CNN has contacted SpaceX about the most recent criticisms. This story was first published on CNN.com "Why Elon Musk's Starlink satellites are upsetting stargazers again" Families that have waited years to be reunited, businesses that rely on foreign workers, universities that recruit international students with the promise of high-paying American jobs all of their plans faced new uncertainty on Tuesday as the Trump administration announced new temporary restrictions on permanent residency in the United States. President Trump signaled that a 60-day ban on most green cards, which could be imposed as early as Wednesday, was intended to protect work opportunities for the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs in the coronavirus pandemic. But, if it is extended, its impact on businesses and families could be much broader. The new policy would close the doors to thousands of people hoping to enter the United States or lay down permanent roots in the country through long-term work or family connections at least temporarily. Its really worrying news, said Elsa Ramos, whose 22-year-old son, Eder, is in Honduras, waiting for a green card that would allow him to join his parents and sister in the United States. They are among many families and employers who have spent thousands of dollars on years of legal work and are now on hold. [April 22, 2020] COVID-19 Losses Should be Credits to EBITDA for Companies Recapitalizing or Being Acquired, 1stWest M&A States in a New White Paper 1stWest M&A, a leading investment banking and M&A advisory, just announced its bold position on how to treat reduced (or outright lost) EBITDA for its clients whose performance is negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. "We are simply stating the obvious: Companies should demand a 'COVID-19 EBITDA adjustment' when negotiating their business' value," said Ted Rieple, 1stWest M&A's Managing Partner. The statement was published in a white paper the Rieple co-authored with 1stWst M&A's, John D. Wagner. Link. "The pandemic is temporary, and a relatively brief period of suppressed EBITDA should not reduce a company's long-term value," Wagner added. "Potential acquirers must recognize that EBITDA suppressed by COVID-19 is an anomaly, and not a permanent debilitation," Rieple explained. "COVID-19 losses can, and should, be positive credits to EBITDA for the purposes of company valuation. We are fiercely arguing for our clients to receive this COVID-19 Adjustment to EBITDA." The white paper's premise is simple: Most companies seeking acquisition or recapitalization during or soon after the COVID-19 pandemic will show reduced revenues and EBITDA. Yet it's widely acknowledged that after a period of time - probably a matter of months - the effects of COVID-19 will diminish, and eventually vanish. Accordingly, if a company seeks acquisition or recapitalization using negative performance caused by COVID-19, that company's value should not be tied to this temporary period of stress. Instead, those losses should be credits to EBITDA. About 1stWest Mergers & Acquisitions 1stWest Mergers & Acquisitions is a full-service, international investment banking and advisory firm that is focused on the underserved lower middle-market. The firm has built a unique business solutions platform of assisting owners and shareholders in selling their companies, acquiring other businesses or raising growth capital. With Managing Directors in the US, Europe, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Brazil, Argentina and Chile, 1stWest M&A is uniquely positioned to serve its clients around the globe. More info: www.1stWestMA.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005170/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Nemaha County is expected to reimburse Gage County more than $20,000 for a murder trial that took place in Beatrice earlier this year. Joshua Keadles murder trial for the 2010 killing of a Peru State College student began on Jan. 27. The trial was moved to Gage County from Auburn last August because of logistical issues with their facilities, including access to restrooms and private meeting rooms in Auburn for counsel to talk with Keadle and prosecutors to meet with witnesses. On Wednesday the Gage County Board of Supervisors discussed the trial, and the $20,685 cost to hold it in Beatrice. The largest single cost associated with the trial was $12,750 to Frye Frazey and Associates Security for additional staffing. County Board chairman Erich Tiemann said the process of working with Nemaha County went smoothly. "They would have needed a massive remodel over at their courthouse to make this work," he said. "Weve already done that remodel and didnt charge them for the courtrooms of course, but what we did charge for was our additional labor for security, some extra cleaning and things like that. It is good that counties can work back and forth." The courtroom in Beatrice is large enough for jury selection, whereas in Auburn, it would have had to be done in a hall or meeting room elsewhere in town. Holding the three-week trial in Auburn, where county and district court share a single courtroom, also would have prevented county court cases from going forward during the trial. Gage County tracked the expenses associated with the trial to be reimbursed by Nemaha County. Tiemann said the reimbursement came with little debate, and discussions largely focused on if Nemaha County would gain possession of signs, totes and other items purchased for the security checkpoint at the courthouse. Tiemann said since the cost of those items were included on the invoice to be reimbursed for, Nemaha Could should get to keep those items. There were inconveniences with having the trial here, but our facilities are much better, Tiemann said. Everything went pretty smooth. We came down to negotiating over the last $1,200 and between our sheriff and their sheriff, they came to an arrangement that the majority of the board agreed to. Gage County Sheriff Millard Gus Gustafson said Nemaha County also asked to be reimbursed half of the $626 for electrical improvements the next time the equipment is used for another countys trial. In anticipation of the trial, the Gage County Sheriffs Office brought in additional staff and implemented a new screening station on the first floor of the building. During the trial only the first floor entrance on the east side of the building was accessible. A baggage screening station was installed on the first floor lobby and everyone was screened before advancing in the courthouse. The station functioned similarly to an airport security checkpoint during the three-week trial. Keadle was found guilty of second-degree murder following the trial for the killing of a 19-year-old Peru State student who disappeared early Dec. 3, 2010. Keadle, who was nearing the end of a 15-20 year sentence on a sexual assault case out of Dodge County, now will face 20 years to life in prison when Gage County District Judge Rick Schreiner sentences him next month. Tiemann added there will likely be additional expenses to Nemaha County following the sentencing hearing. The victim, Tyler "Ty Thomas, disappeared early Dec. 3, 2010, while walking back to campus from a party. Her body never was found. Keadle, 37, quickly was named as a person of interest and was said to have been the last person to see her alive. But prosecutors didnt charge him until 2017. Love 0 Funny 3 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 0 BEARDSTOWN A drive-up outpatient respiratory screening clinic will open Wednesday at Taylor Clinic to test people for COVID-19. Cases of the coronavirus in Cass County tripled from Monday to Tuesday, going from two to six. The clinic will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. Anyone with a respiratory problem that could be COVID-19 can be screened a test at the clinic. Services are available regardless of ability to pay. Translation services will also be provided. Healthcare providers will be stationed outside the clinic to screen patients and determine the level of care. The clinic will provide testing for those who meet guidelines set by the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The clinic is a joint initiative involving Memorial Health System, Sarah D. Culbertson Memorial Hospital in Rushville and the Cass County Health Department. Before going to the clinic, a person should call 217-322-5218. If a patient who has not set up an appointment comes to the clinic, they will be directed to a designated space to register by phone. Marco Cartolano Independent TDs want new roads, hospital wards and extra State payments for farmers in return for entering into government with Fianna Fail and Fine Gael. A document drafted by one group of Independents sets out a detailed list of demands for their constituencies along with new economic and housing policies. The group - Roscommon-Galway's Michael Fitzmaurice, Sligo-Leitrim's Marian Harkin and Clare's Michael McNamara - gave the parties their demands this week. In their document the TDs say the General Election showed voters "lost trust and faith" in the government and politicians. "In our opinion this erosion of trust has been mainly caused by the decoupling of trust from national economic growth," they added. They said the next programme for government must have "balanced regional development at its core". They also insisted individual road and hospital projects in their constituencies should be ring-fenced in return for their support. This includes a demand for the Mullingar to Sligo road to be developed into a dual-carriageway. They also want the Mullingar to Castlebar road to be a dual-carriageway and said the Galway outer ring road should be fast-tracked. They want a funding for a road between Letterkenny in Donegal and Tuam in Galway. They are also insisting plans for a new hospital on the Merlin Park site in Galway should be advanced along with the construction of a 46-bed unit at Sligo University Hospital. They are also seeking more wards for the Sacred Heart Home in Roscommon, Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe and the Rehab Centre at Roscommon Hospital. They also want a number of greenway projects in their constituencies extended. The rural TDs have also sought commitments on agriculture and farming payments. They are seeking a rise in payments for cattle and sheep owners. They want the maximum amount a farmer can claim from the state grants to be capped at 50,000. They also want a 20m community sewerage scheme for small villages and State loans of up to 30,000 to allow people to renovate houses they own but are not living in. They are looking for government loans to allow communities to buy buses to assist people living in rural areas. They are also proposing a one-off payment for landowners who cut down trees near telecoms or electricity cables. The group is also insisting that all contractors who secure major government contracts ensure at least 5pc of their staff on site are apprentices. And they want hedgerows, grass and crops taken into account when calculating the country's carbon emissions. Separately, the Regional Technical Group is drafting a policy document which it will present to Fianna Fail and Fine Gael in the coming days. Yesterday, another group of rural Independents held talks with the two parties. The smaller parties have yet to begin formal negotiations with Fianna Fail and Fine Gael. The Green Party, Social Democrats and Labour Party have yet to respond to the policy framework document published last week. The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved significant investments to the tune of Rs 15,000 crore for 'India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package', to combat the coronavirus COVID-19. Chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Cabinet sanctioned the funds which will be utilized in three phases. For immediate COVID-19 Emergency Response, Rs 7,774 Crore, has been provisioned and rest for medium-term support (1-4 years) to be provided under mission mode approach. The key objectives of the package include mounting emergency response to slow and limit COVID-19 in India through the development of diagnostics and COV1D-dedicated treatment facilities, centralized procurement of essential medical equipment and drugs required for treatment of infected patients. It also aims to strengthen and build resilient national and state health systems to support prevention and preparedness for future disease outbreaks, setting up of laboratories and bolster surveillance activities, bio-security preparedness, pandemic research and proactively engage communities and conduct risk communication activities. These interventions and initiatives would be implemented under the overall umbrella of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. In Phase 1, the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare with the support of all the other line ministries has already undertaken several activities like: Additional funds to the tune of Rs 3,000 Cr have been released under the Package to State/UTs, for the strengthening of existing health facilities as COVID-19 Dedicated Hospitals, Dedicated COVID-19 Health Center and Dedicated COVID-19 Care Centers. Detailed guidelines, protocols and advisory for quarantine, isolation, testing, treatment, disease containment, decontamination, social distancing and surveillance. Hotspots have been identified and appropriate containment strategies are being implemented. Diagnostics laboratories network has been expanded and our testing capacity increasing every day. In fact, leveraging on the existing multi-disease testing platforms under the National TB Elimination Programme, orders for procurement of 13 lakhs diagnostic kits have been placed to augment COVID-19 testing. All health workers including Community Health Volunteers (ASHAs) have been covered with insurance under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package: Insurance Scheme for Health Workers lighting COVID-19". Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), N95 masks and ventilators, testing kits and drugs for treatment are being procured centrally. The major share of the expenditure will be used for mounting robust emergency response, strengthening National and State health systems followed by strengthening pandemic research and multi-sector national institutions and platforms for One-Health, community engagement and risk communications and implementation, management, capacity building, monitoring and evaluation component. An optometrist has revealed what really happens to our eyes after staring at a screen for hours on end - as Australians increasingly spend more time in front of computers and TVs during coronavirus isolation. Daniel Cornelius, a member of the Optometrists Board of Australia, detailed the alarming eye-health dangers of staring at the computer, laptop, smartphone and television - and why we should always take regular breaks using the '20-20-20' rule. The partner optometrist of Clearly.com.au said staring at your screen for multiple hours can lead to eye strain, dry and irritated eyes, headaches and blurry vision. 'This will cause an increased level of eyestrain to every human eye, even for eyes with perfect vision and no focus problems,' he explained. 'The eyestrain can also lead to headaches and blurry vision in the short term.' For permanent long-term cases, he said you could potentially develop myopia, also known as short-sightedness. An optometrist has revealed what really happens to our eyes after staring at a screen for hours on end - as Australians increasingly spend more time indoors during the coronavirus isolation Optometrist Daniel Cornelius (pictured) staring at your screen for extended periods of time can lead to eye strain, dry and irritated eyes, headaches and blurry vision He said the most common warning sign associated with eyestrain would be a 'sense of blurry distance vision when we change from near focus to longer distance focus'. 'When you focus on "close-up" objects such as reading materials for extended periods of time without taking breaks, your eye's muscles begin to "adapt" to that range of vision,' Mr Cornelius said. 'This stresses the muscles to the point that the muscles go into a spasm and then have difficulty relaxing. When you look away, objects at longer distances may appear as a brief blurred image as you change from near-to-far or vice versa. That is often the first indication that your focus mechanism is not coping with the level of eyestrain.' Mr Cornelius said explained that when we read a book, we naturally look away from the print far more often than when we stare at a screen. 'The often-dynamic nature of content on screen tends to "capture" our vision more and this often results in us "staring" at a screen for extended periods of time without looking away and changing focus,' Mr Cornelius said. 'Although we are able to do this, it is certainly not a "natural" action for the human eye.' To prevent getting eyestrain from the blue light in devices, Mr Cornelius advised the best thing do to is take regular breaks using the '20-20-20' rule Mr Cornelius said you should sit at a distance of about one arm's length from the screen as this will provide the most comfortable viewing distance. 'Extended periods of focusing at closer distances (less than 40 cm) creates significantly more eyestrain and associated symptoms compared to maintaining focus at intermediate distances (more than 70cm),' he said. To prevent getting eyestrain from the blue light in devices, Mr Cornelius advised taking regular breaks using the '20-20-20' rule. 'Every 20 minutes, shift your eyes to look at an object at least 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds,' he said. He said staring at screens for too long can also interfere with our 'natural blinking action'. 'Regular blinking is an essential component of tear production and tear distribution in the eye. If we do not blink normally, our tear film will become unstable and this may cause a feeling of dryness and discomfort,' he said. He recommended using eye drops to refresh your eyes when they feel dry and limit your screen time in the two to three hours before you go to bed. A Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon was on lockdown Wednesday after the UN announced the first confirmed case of coronavirus in one of the country's numerous and crowded camps. The patient, a Palestinian refugee from Syria, has been taken to the state-run Rafic Hariri hospital in Beirut, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said in a statement late Tuesday. Medical experts visited the Wavel camp in the eastern Bekaa Valley on Wednesday to carry out tests, Lebanon's official National News Agency said. The testing was to focus on the woman's relatives and people she has interacted with, as well as 50 others chosen arbitrarily "inside the camp and its surroundings", it said. Inside a clinic, a nurse in blue and white personal protection gear took a nasal swab from a man who winced as he lay in a consultation chair, an AFP journalist said. Workers in blue hazmat suits sprayed disinfectant at an entrance to the camp, also called Al-Jalil. In coordination with Lebanese security forces, Palestinian factions in charge of security have imposed a lockdown on the camp, preventing anyone from entering or leaving, the NNA report said. It said cars drove around the camp's densely-populated neighbourhood as messages blared from loudspeakers urged residents to stay indoors. A member of a popular committee living inside the camp told AFP all shops had closed. Lebanon has officially announced 682 infections including 22 deaths across the country. Palestinian factions, in coordination with Lebanese security forces, impose a lockdown on the Wavel camp for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley / AFP The United Nations and aid groups have repeatedly warned that refugees and migrants in crowded camps worldwide are at special risk of the new coronavirus. More than 70 million people globally have been forced by conflict, persecution, violence and abuses to flee their homes, including more than 20 million living as refugees, according to UN data. - Weak sanitation, cramped conditions - More than 2,000 people live in Wavel, according to statistics released by Lebanon's government after a 2017 census, but the UN agency says the population of those registered in the camp are much higher. Aid groups have warned that hundreds of thousands of Palestinian and Syrian refugees living in Lebanon's overcrowded camps are the most vulnerable and that self-isolating patients in the camps where sanitation is weak would be one of the top challenges. "The main concern remains... the spread of coronavirus in the overcrowded Palestine refugee camps where there are very limited possibilities for home isolation," an UNRWA spokeswoman said earlier this month. Workers disinfect the Wavel camp for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley, on April 22, 2020, after the UN announced the first confirmed case of coronavirus there / AFP More than 174,000 Palestinians live in Lebanon, according to official figures, with most residing in camps ruled by Palestinian factions beyond the reach of Lebanese security forces. But unofficial estimates say the Palestinians, whose forefathers fled the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, could number as many as 500,000. They face work restrictions and many live hand to mouth from daily wages. Lebanon says it also hosts 1.5 million Syrians since civil war broke out in the neighbouring country nine years ago, nearly one million of whom are registered with the United Nations as refugees. One other Palestinian, who does not live in a camp, and three Syrians had previously tested positive in Lebanon for COVID-19. West Bengal reported 32 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total number of active cases in the state to 300, Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha said on Wednesday. The death toll, however, remained at 15, and six patients were discharged since Tuesday evening, he said. The active cases were reported from Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) areas, Howrah, Asansol and Siliguri, the chief secretary said. The number of people discharged from different hospitals is 79 so far, he said adding that a total of 855 samples have been tested in West Bengal since Tuesday. Most of these cases have happened because of family contact, Sinha said. A total of 394 people have been infected by coronavirus in West Bengal, while the Union Home and Family Welfare website put the figure at 423. The state government has banned the use of mobile phones inside CCUs and ICUs by both doctors and patients, the chief secretary said, adding that there will be landline phones. "One of the most infectious devices is the mobile we are using. Go to any sophisticated hospital these days and they will say mobile phones carry more germs than even shoes. We cannot take that risk. We have arranged for landlines and mobile phones should be kept outside the CCUs and ICUs. This is applicable to doctors, patients and everybody," Sinha said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) According to a new study, the endangered ring-tailed lemurs (scientific name: Lemur catta) from Madagascar engage in stink flirting to attract mates during the breeding season. In order to impress female lemurs, the males wipe the smelly chemicals that they secrete from their wrist glands onto their fluffy tails, which they then waft to the potential mates they are wooing. (Photo : Wikimedia Commons) According to a new study, the endangered ring-tailed lemurs (scientific name: Lemur catta) from Madagascar engage in "stink flirting" to attract mates during the breeding season. To impress female lemurs, the males wipe the smelly chemicals that they secrete from their wrist glands onto their fluffy tails, which they then waft to the potential mates they are wooing. Elizabeth Pennisi reports that researchers have identified three chemicals secreted by the male lemurs that they use to stir the females' interest. When it is not breeding season, the male's wrist secretions are leathery and bitter. They use these secretions mainly to repel other males. When breeding season comes, however, the secretions become sweet, tropical, and fruity. The researchers painstakingly collected this "cologne" for laboratory chemical analysis with the use of tiny pipettes that gather minuscule amounts of the secretions before they evaporate. From the chemical analysis, the scientists identified three molecules responsible for attracting females. They published their findings in Current Biology journal this week. The chemicals they found are 12-methyltridecanal, tetradecanal, and dodecanal, which are odorants known as aldehydes; one of these is said to be the sex pheromone in insects, while the other smells like a pear. On every object that the researchers sprayed these chemicals, the female lemurs were prompted to spend more time sniffing and licking the sprayed objects. They only did this, however, when it is breeding season, and they only did so when all the three chemicals were sprayed. The research team also noted that the production of the perfume mixture was correlated with levels of testosterone in males. According to the research team, the response of the females to the cocktail suggests that it could help males find mates. These are chemicals are candidates for the first primate pheromones to be known to science. The scientists add, however, that the term "pheromone" cannot be officially used yet without more evidence. University of Tokyo biochemist and lead author Kazushige Touhara says that beyond demonstrating how the female becomes interested in the odor, they don't know what other effects may be. They still have to definitively show how the perfume enhances mating before they can say that these chemicals indeed qualify as a pheromone. Lemurs have scent glands on their genitals, shoulders, and wrists, deploying them to improve their social status, start and resolve a fight, and attract females. Complementary to this, they have a vomeronasal organ known as Jacobson's organ, which helps in discerning scents. According to the University of Oxford pheromone expert Tristram Wyatt, he is optimistic that the findings of Touhara's team could be the first primate pheromones discovered by science. He says that they are promising candidates, but also added that scientists currently do not know if these chemicals affect lemurs' breeding. Touhara discloses that the responses they got from the female lemurs after they sprayed the breeding musk from the males are a topic for future research that his team wants to explore. Touhara notes that that the lemur's fruity, floral love potion smelled "pretty good." A woman holds a sign as she attends a rally outside the Missouri Capitol to protest stay-at-home orders put into place due to the Covid-19 outbreak - AP The state of Missouri filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the Chinese government over the coronavirus, alleging that nations officials are to blame for the global pandemic. The lawsuit, filed in federal court by the states top lawyer, alleges Chinese officials are responsible for the enormous death, suffering, and economic losses they inflicted on the world, including Missourians. Republican Attorney General Eric Schmitt in a written statement said the Chinese government lied about the dangers of the virus and didnt do enough to slow its spread. The Chinese government lied to the world about the danger and contagious nature of Covid-19, silenced whistleblowers, and did little to stop the spread of the disease, he said. "They must be held accountable for their actions. Its unclear whether the lawsuit will have much, if any, impact. US law generally prohibits lawsuits against other countries with few exceptions, said Chimene Keitner, an international law professor at University of California, Hastings College of the Law. The legal problem is, its just not possible, said Keitner, who recently wrote a blog titled Dont Bother Suing China for Coronavirus. Missouri Democratic Party Executive Director Lauren Gepford called the lawsuit a stunt by a Republican attorney general who is up for re-election this year. The number of Missouri deaths statewide rose by 16 on Tuesday to 215, according to Johns Hopkins Universitys Centre for Systems Science and Engineering. The number of cases rose by 156 to 5,963. A 57-year-old police head constable attached with the Kurla traffic division was allegedly refused treatment by four civic hospitals after he developed coronavirus symptoms. When HT contacted Dr Daksha Shah, deputy heath officer, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporations (BMC), she said, I am not aware of this case. I will inquire with the hospitals before I comment on it. Shivaji Sonawane had developed fever on Monday and after consulting a private doctor, his son Sharad rushed him to Rajawadi Hospital on Tuesday around 2pm. My father had developed fever and cough and had difficulty in breathing. The doctors at Rajawadi Hospital checked his temperature and conducted preliminary analysis, after which they recommended to keep him in isolation at home. But when I asked the authorities to admit him to the hospitals isolation centre, they claimed there was no bed available and asked us to take him to Kasturba Hospital, 25-year-old Sharad told HT. He then rushed Sonawane on his motorcycle to Kasturba Hospital. Doctors there checked his temperature and gave him some oxygen. They said they do not have enough beds available and asked me to take him to Nair Hospital. They did not even bother to take my fathers swab for testing, Sharad alleged. When the authorities at Nair Hospital also refused to admit Sonawane, Sharad rushed his father to KEM Hospital. At Nair Hospital, too, they said there was no bed available and that they do not test patients. On their recommendation, I took my father to KEM Hospital, where doctors initially refused to admit him. Then I contacted the police, following which some officers requested civic officials to admit him. My father was finally admitted to the hospitals intensive care unit (ICU) around 11pm on Tuesday night, Sharad said. Sonawanes swab samples have been collected and the reports are awaited. My father has given 28 years to the service. If anything goes wrong, the doctors are responsible, an emotional Sharad said. Despite repeated calls, Dr Hemant Deshmukh, dean of KEM Hospital, did not respond. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 17:51:11|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KHARTOUM, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Non-abidance of the community by the health guidelines prompted real concerns in Sudan amid the COVID-19 spread. Despite a full curfew declared by the authorities on April 18, social media have published photos of big crowds of people in front of fuel and gas stations as well as bakeries in the Sudanese capital Khartoum. On Wednesday, Sudan's Health Ministry reported 33 new coronavirus infections including one death, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 140 and the death toll to 13. "Out of the new cases, 31 were recorded in Khartoum State, while two in Gezira State. One of them died," the ministry said in a statement. Abduallatif Abdul-Rahman, member of the Resistance Committees tasked with organizing the distribution of basic services inside Khartoum State's neighbourhoods, expressed concerns that "the indifference among the population will lead to a catastrophe amid the increase of confirmed cases." "There is clear non-abidance by the health instructions and crowds of people continue to look for fuel, bread and gas," he noted. The Sudanese health authorities, meanwhile, are concerned that the country's health system may collapse because of a lack of the necessary equipment to confront the coronavirus spread. Sudan's Health Minister Akram Ali Al-Tom said in a statement that the health cadres are working under difficult conditions due to the scarcity of medicines and equipment. Additionally, unofficial statistics indicate that there are less than 200 operating respirators at all government hospitals. The Sudanese Health Ministry, in cooperation with the civil society organizations, are exerting great efforts to fill in the gap in the medical equipment and devices. A number of youth initiatives were launched during the past days to manufacture and distribute sanitizers, protective costumes, respirators and other necessary medical equipment to combat the coronavirus. Khartoum State's authorities decided to tighten the measures to stop the phenomenon of breaking the full curfew and shut down all fuel stations, specifying certain stations to provide fuel for the bread flour transport vehicles, garbage trucks and health emergency cars. It also decided to ban the work of tea vendors and intensify the work to close all non-excluded stores. As part of the precautionary measures, the Central Bank of Sudan decided to stop direct transactions with the public at all branches of the banks in Khartoum and other states where a full curfew is imposed. Enditem Barr: Election Not a Deadline for Potential Durham Indictments, No Candidates Are Under Review Attorney General William Barr said there is nothing stopping the Justice Department from announcing indictments from U.S. Attorney John Durhams investigation during the election season, as none of the presidential candidates are under review. Barr made the comments during a radio interview on The Hugh Hewitt show on Tuesday, where he was asked about potential guidelines affecting Durhams investigation that required the U.S. attorney to announce indictments or close his investigation prior to the 2020 presidential election. As far as Im aware, none of the key people that, whose actions are being reviewed at this point by Durham, are running for president, Barr said. Barr said the guidelines were a concern in 2016 when then-FBI Director James Comey was considering whether to charge then-candidate Hillary Clinton because she was the Democratic nominee for president. I think in its core, the idea is you dont go after candidates, Barr said. You dont indict candidates or perhaps someone thats sufficiently close to a candidate, that its essentially the same, you know, within a certain number of days before an election. But you know, as I say, I dont think any of the people whose actions are under review by Durham fall into that category, he added. Barr assigned Durham early in 2019 to investigate the origins of the FBIs counterintelligence investigation of the Trump campaign and to assess whether the surveillance of Trump campaign associate Carter Page was free of improper motive. The probe was designated a formal criminal investigation later in 2019. That designation gave Durhams team the ability to issue subpoenas, impanel a grand jury, compel witnesses to give testimony, and bring federal criminal charges. Durham can scrutinize the conduct of several current and former senior FBI officials during his investigation, including former Director James Comey, former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, and former Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok. Those officials were involved in obtaining a warrant for surveillance on Page and deployed at least two spies to target Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos. Barr also reiterated in the same interview that he was very troubled by some of the information briefed by Durham, adding that the investigation was launched in order to uncover answers for things that are unexplained. I think were getting deeply into the situation, and well be able to sort out exactly what happened, Barr said. During an interview with Fox News earlier this month, Barr said the FBI investigation into the Trump campaign in 2016 was one of the greatest travesties in American history. My own view is that the evidence shows that were not dealing with just the mistakes or sloppiness, Barr told Fox News Laura Ingraham. There was something far more troubling here. Were going to get to the bottom of it. And if people broke the law and we can establish that with the evidence, they will be prosecuted. Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to this report. NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Mark Atalla, Founder and Managing Partner of Irvine-based private lending firm Carlyle Capital, has released his first co-authored book titled, "Money Matters: World's Leading Entrepreneurs Reveal Their Top Tips to Success." The book, co-authored with Adam Torres and 12 other top industry professionals, covers everything the real estate investor needs to know from getting started to taking their profession to the next level. Atalla's chapter focuses on why using a private lender for bridge loans is particularly beneficial. He brings his many years of industry expertise to express why working private lenders can be the smartest and quickest option for real estate investors. Other chapters in the book include how to get more properties through syndication; how to implement servant leadership to have a more successful business; why investing in real estate is not just for rich people; how important insurance is in real estate transactions and what to look for; why using a private lender can help you in real estate transactions; what legal options you have to protect your assets; and many more. Mr. Atalla is the Founder & Managing Partner of Carlyle Capital. With over 18 years of experience in the private lending space, he prides himself on finding unique strategies that have given him a reputation for underwriting and understanding even the most complex transactions. He began his financial career at Newport Lending Group during college and worked his way into the mortgage industry from the age of 19. With success in lending that exceeded his more tenured peers, this gave him the confidence to start his own company at the young age of 23. Carlyle Capital has grown into a top Southern California private lending firm which has funded numerous unique projects across the country. Mr. Atalla manages a large book of affluent clients, brokers, and investors who turn to Carlyle Capital first for their lending needs. Book is available for purchase via Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1949680258 Carlyle Capital 877.700.1914 3 Park Plaza, Suite 780 Irvine, CA 92614 SOURCE Carlyle Capital Related Links http://carlylecapitalinc.com Edge Learning Media is proud to announce a brand update that will reflect our evolution to becoming a specialist academic edtech company, meeting our clients' needs for digital courseware. With our genesis in academic publishing and our reputation and experience as experts in education, Edge has become a holistic education company that leads in the edtech industry by creating tailor-made learning experiences for higher learning in a way that no one else can. We have made the decision to change our name in order to reflect our holistic educational approach and our digital DNA. Since our genesis, we have been creating digital courseware powered by a deep understanding of teaching and learning. This rebranding will help us continue to develop innovative academic edtech solutions that meet our clients' needs for digital courseware and allow us to take a step forward in designing the future of learning. Education is trying to keep up with a digitally accelerated rate of change, and we are in the midst of a learning revolution. We partner and collaborate with our clients to help them navigate the complexity of this digital transformation. We cater to our clients' needs by focusing on empowering them as educators and enriching the learning experience for their students. As such, we have made the decision to rebrand the company and have changed our name fromtoThis exciting rebranding was a long time in the making and took effect as of 15 April 2020. It includes updates to the Edge logo, slogan, stationery and communication channels, as well as a top-to-bottom redesign of the Edge website - which has now moved to the domain www.edgeeducation.com - Andrew Hibling, CEO of Edge Education Post-school textbooks Edge Digital CourseBooks The Edge Learning Ecosystem (ELE) Academic edtech services Our flagship product is the Edge Digital CourseBook - a fusion of the traditional textbook and the online course. These recently launched Digital CourseBooks include all the traditional textbook features such as exercises/activities and solutions, integrated with multimedia elements such as videos, PDFs, library resources, open educational resources (OERs), and HTML5 e-learning interactions and quizzes. The Digital CourseBook is delivered through the Edge Learning Ecosystem (ELE).Edge is an academic edtech company that understands the academic and training landscapes holistically. Thus, we lead in the edtech industry through our reputation and experience as experts in education. With our roots in education and wings in technology, we create tailor-made learning experiences for higher learning in a way that no one else can.Edge offers a range of academic edtech solutions that cater to the needs of both local and international higher education institutions, professional bodies, technical and vocational institutions, schools, companies and government agencies in digital learning experience (Lx) design. These solutions include:For more information, visit www.edgeeducation.com or contact moc.noitacudeegde@ofni This content is from: People & Culture Former general counsel Rob Webb tells all about the investigation that resulted in the largest ever foreign bribery fine from a UK regulator Press Release April 22, 2020 Bong Go reassures Malasakit Centers remain operational to help Filipino patients; reminds hospitals not to refuse patients needing treatment Senator Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go reiterated his assurance that Malasakit Centers remain operational to serve Filipinos, particularly poor and indigent patients seeking medical treatment. There are 71 Malasakit Centers currently operating nationwide. In a radio interview over DZMM on Tuesday, April 21, the Senator said that aside from the assistance provided by the state-insurer Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), the Malasakit Center hosts three more government agencies that can further help patients cover their hospitals bills. "Kung sakaling 'di kayaning bayaran ng PhilHealth ay bukas po ang Malasakit Center. Meron tayong 71 Malasakit Centers all over the country," Go said. "Andyan po ang apat na ahensya na handang tumulong- PCSO, DSWD, DOH at PhilHealth," he added, emphasizing that the Malasakit Center is only a one-stop shop that houses the four government agencies that have programs to provide medical and financial assistance to sick Filipinos. Go said that other than the patients who have been hospitalized due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the Malasakit Centers continue to assist patients suffering from other diseases, such as pneumonia and tuberculosis, among others. In previous interviews, Go explained that PhilHealth has a modified package for different cases of pneumonia. For mild pneumonia, the package rate that can be provided is P43,997, while P143,267 can be given for moderate pneumonia; P333,519 for severe pneumonia; and P786,384 for critical pneumonia. Go added that if the patient is an indigent admitted in a government hospital and he or she does not have the capacity to pay for the hospital bill in excess of the amount already shouldered by PhilHealth using new case rates, he or she may request for additional assistance from PhilHealth subject to its evaluation. "Bukas po ang Malasakit Center. Ang PCSO lapitan ninyo lang rin po sila sa bill na 'di kayang bayaran at kung kailangan, pwede kayo lumapit kay Pangulong Duterte at pwede kayo lumapit sa akin," Go added. Meanwhile, Go also reminded and appealed to hospitals nationwide to uphold their mandate to treat anyone needing medical attention. He also said that a lot of hospitals are already under investigation because of reports concerning alleged non-admission of patients requiring emergency medical treatment. "Nakikiusap po ako sa mga ospital, bawal pong hindi tanggapin ang pasyente, dapat ma-stabilize muna ang pasyente. Naiintindihan ko naman na takot kayo but you have to make a system na i-stabilize ninyo muna bago ninyo i-refer sa iba," Go said. "Batas po ito at maaari kayong makasuhan. Marami nang ospital na iniimbestigahan base sa mga reports tulad nung sa Nueva Ecija, Caloocan at Laguna," he added. Go already gave a stern warning to hospitals in previous statements after six hospitals in Cabanatuan City in Nueva Ecija reportedly turned down a critically ill patient while another patient was also allegedly turned away by nine hospitals in Caloocan City without receiving any form of treatment from any of the hospitals they went to. The Senator cited Republic Act (RA) No. 10932 or the "Anti-Hospital Deposit Law" where it states that it is unlawful for a hospital or medical clinic to refuse to administer medical treatment and support to any patient. "Ayon sa batas, kung hindi sapat ang kapasidad ng ospital, maaaring i-transfer ang pasyente sa ospital na may kakayahang magbigay ng tamang lunas," Go also said. Transfers can only be done after necessary emergency treatment and support have been given to stabilize a patient's condition and that there is less risk posed to the patient by the transfer. Violators, according to Go, will be dealt with and penalized according to the law. The violation will lead to four to six years in jail and a fine of P500,000 to P1,000,000 for hospital officials involved. A pregnant woman from Covid-19 hotspot Hindpiri in Jharkhands Ranchi has alleged that she had to deliver her baby at home after the police barred her from going to the hospital on Sunday. The baby died in absence of medical care, her husband has further alleged. The police, however, denied the allegation saying the husband was asked to take her wife through a dedicated exit point. But he went back to home instead of going to the hospital through the exit point, police claimed. The womans husband Md Imtiyaz said that his wife felt labour pain around 11 pm on Sunday night. In hurry, I took my wife in a vehicle to go to the hospital. One of my friends was also with me. The policemen stationed near Chhota Talab stopped the car. We pleaded the policemen but they did not let us go, he claimed. Imtiyaz said they then went back home. Some women of the locality were called and they helped her with home delivery. The child was born but it died after sometimes due to lack of immediate medical facility, he claimed. Some Hindpiri residents lodged complaint with the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Ranchi, Anish Gupta, who entrusted Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) with the responsibility of investigating into the matter. Kotwali DSP Ajit Kumar Vimal said, They examined the CCTV footage and inquired the policemen deputed there. Actually, the husband of the woman was told that exit point was made near Guru Nanak School for Hindpiri residents. The family was asked to go through the exit point. However, instead of going through exit point, they went back home. Meanwhile, Ranchi Police provided transportation facility to a pregnant woman from Hindpiri on intervening night of Monday and Tuesday. She was taken to hospital in police van. The mother successfully delivered her baby on Tuesday morning in the hospital. One Md Saddam from Hindpiri called me around 2 am on Tuesday saying that her wife is in labour pain but he was not getting ambulance. Then, I told one of my officers to take my vehicle and take the woman to the hospital, Vimal said. Saddam said timely intervention of police saved his wife and baby. A private Spanish security firm apparently contracted by the US government spied on WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange's baby son and the mother of his fiancee, court documents reportedly show MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st April, 2020) A private Spanish security firm apparently contracted by the US government spied on WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange's baby son and the mother of his fiancee, court documents reportedly show. The Spanish National Court is looking into a criminal complaint filed by Assange's lawyers against UC Global, who its former employees say went to great lengths to prove the whistleblower's paternity, according to the Australian Associated Press. Assange is in a UK jail awaiting a ruling on the US extradition request. He faces up to 175 years in prison if found guilty of breaking US spying laws and computer intrusion for publishing secret files that exposed US war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq. Assange's fiancee, Stella Moris, revealed her identity earlier this month before a UK court could do this, the APP reported. She also confirmed they had two children while the Australian was living in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London from 2012-2019. The company was illegally recording Assange's meetings with his family, the legal team and other visitors and even stole the infant's used diaper to run a DNA test on it. It also shot hours of footage of the child and trailed Moris' mother who lives in Catalonia. Alarmed by the legal and moral side of this surveillance, a witness in the legal case alerted Moris to it. UC Global's former employees also handed over to the court the footage of the baby that was stored on the company's computers. The Spanish firm was officially employed by the Ecuadorean diplomatic mission but tried to blackmail it with explicit photos of a diplomat stolen from her computer once it became concerned that Ecuador might end the contract, the lawyers said, which points to its true intentions. Moris reacted to the media reports, echoing them in a Twitter post on Tuesday. This article is part of Privacy in the Pandemic, a Future Tense series. As we move past the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments have started to make plans for what the next phase of containment will look like. A crucial element of these plans is likely to be the ability to automatically track down contacts of those found to be infected, using the radio technology built into smartphones. Unfortunately, plans to deploy these systems hit an unexpected snag this week, as the major European contact-tracing technical coalition found itself at odds with both smartphone manufacturers and privacy advocates. In the words of one scientist: This has gone beyond a joke and descended into farce. How did we get here? Advertisement Contact tracing is a process thats designed to notify close contacts of patients who have been diagnosed with an infectious disease like COVID-19. Historically this was done by health care professionals who interviewed patients about each person they had had contact with. The problem with this approach is that it consumes precious time and resources, and worse, it may not capture every stranger the patient was in proximity to. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To streamline the process, governments have begun experimenting with automated tracing systems based on smartphone apps. These apps use Bluetooth, a short-range radio transmitter built into most phones. Once the appropriate software is installed, your phone can repeatedly transmit an identifying signal that will be picked up by any other phone that happens to be nearby. By transmitting a unique identifying number, phones can make a list of each person they came within several feet of. This data is more efficient than a pencil-and-paper contact log because its built automatically. If any user later receives a positive diagnosis, they can use this list to notify everyoneeven strangers. Advertisement Advertisement The power of this solution is also its risk. Privacy advocates worry that advertising corporations and hackers might use our Bluetooth signals to track us. And this isnt theoretical: Several advertising companies already use existing Bluetooth data to track shoppers as they walk around stores. If a contact-tracing app uploads its data to a centralized server, that would create an even greater risk: The governmentor any hacker who gets access to that servercould work out the movements and personal interactions of an entire population. Advertisement Fortunately there are ways to reduce these risks. A number of scientists along with Apple and Google have proposed a decentralized approach to contact tracing that protects users privacy. This technique relies on replacing your phones fixed identifier with a series of pseudonyms: random identifiers that change every 10 minutes. Your phone then becomes like someone at a costume party who changes his costume as he walks from room to room. Each pseudonym is just a long, random serial number and should reveal nothing about your identity. Advertisement Your own phone will make a list of every pseudonym it sees as you go about your day and store them locally in its memory. These numbers are normally meaningless. Only when participants are actually diagnosed with COVID-19 will they unmask themselves. This requires the infected patient to voluntarily publish a list of the pseudonyms they used on the specific days they were infectious. This list of infected pseudonyms will be distributed automatically to the public; your app can periodically download it and compare with the list of pseudonyms that it encountered as you walked around. If theres a match, youve potentially been exposed. Advertisement Advertisement Thus, the fundamental privacy guarantee of these decentralized systems hangs on two simple facts: Unless youre positively diagnosed, your own pseudonyms will never leave the phone. Moreover, the pseudonyms of people you encounter in your daily business will also always stay on your own phone. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This design might seem complicated, but by the standards of modern privacy software, its very straightforward. Because of this, Apple and Google are on schedule to deliver the necessary software updates straight into their operating systems by the middle of May. This wont activate every phone for contact tracingyoull still need to download an appbut it ensures all the infrastructure for privacy will be in place. Given the speed of this response, you might ask what remains to be done. And that brings us to the new controversy in Europe. There are several European projects underway to develop contact-tracing apps. One of these, called the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing system, or PEPP-PT, is supported by German authorities and French institutions. At first glance, the PEPP-PT plan seems similar to the decentralized approach favored by Apple and Google. However, on closer examination, the concrete proposals for PEPP-PT so far differ fundamentally from the decentralized approach. For one thing, where the decentralized approaches propose to generate pseudonyms on your phone, the PEPP-PT protocols generate your pseudonyms on a centralized server. This server will be able to link each pseudonym back to your real identity. Worse: If youre diagnosed positive, your phone will not simply upload the list of its own pseudonyms; it will also upload the identifiers of every person youve come into contact with so the authorities can track them down and notify them directly. Advertisement Advertisement These changes might seem small, but the privacy impact is huge. If adopted, a single government-run server will store a list that maps every pseudonym to its real users identity. If anyone were to get hold of this listperhaps a spy agency or a hackerthey could use it to track you out in the real world. And for anyone unfortunate enough to be diagnosed with COVID-19, the hacker will also gain a complete list of all their social contacts. Advertisement As if this isnt concerning enough, PEPP-PTs approach puts Europe in conflict with preexisting software rules for Apple iOS apps, rules that prevent third-party apps from running in the background and broadcasting Bluetooth signals. Those rules were developed for a very specific reason: to prevent abuse by advertising companies, which have tried to embed tracking code into various apps in order to track users in the real world. Apples own contact-tracing code is granted an exception to these rules because its designed to prevent this sort of tracking. Had PEPP-PT simply used Apple and Googles system, it would be able to take advantage of this. By going it alone, and using a riskier centralized approach, the European authorities must now demand a special exception from Apple, something that could introduce further delays. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This might seem like an academic debate about privacy, but its more than that. Epidemiologists tell us that in order for contact-tracing apps to stop COVID-19, they may need to be installed by as much as 60 percent of the population. In a world where many already distrust technology, there is no room for doubt. Users must be absolutely assured that their privacy will be protected. The fact that even experts are skeptical of the PEPP-PT proposal bodes poorly for this trust. It also seems remarkable that European countries, long known for their embrace of privacy regulation, would propose a system with so many privacy risks. At the end of the day, contact-tracing apps are a stopgap measure to be implemented alongside testing, social distancing, and (hopefully) a vaccine. But the risks are still the same: If were not careful, government agencies, operating through malice or carelessness, could easily build systems that massively undermine our privacy. And we might even cheer them on. Disclosure: From 2014 to 2015, Matthew Green received a grant from Googles Advanced Technology & Projects division. Green is also a signer on a joint letter signed by more than 300 scientists laying out principles for a privacy-preserving contact-tracing system. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. Haiti - FLASH : The country faces a triple threat Justin Colvard, National Director of Mercy Corps in Haiti, an international NGO operating in Haiti since 2010 explains "Haiti faces the worsening of an already urgent humanitarian situation with a looming triple threat: increasing hunger compounded by COVID-19 and the unpredictability of the upcoming hurricane season. [...] In this lean season period, ending in June with the first spring harvest, many Haitians are already going hungry with less food available. Families and neighbors traditionally work their lands together to plant their crops. Social distancing and staying at home is not a luxury many Haitians can afford as they scramble to get seeds in the ground, buy and sell food at crowded urban markets and look for short-term work opportunities, biding time for their harvests to arrive. Vulnerable Haitian families will have to make the choice in the weeks ahead between respecting government containment efforts or feeding their families. [...] To contain the spread of the coronavirus, were already seeing limits on people getting agricultural inputs like seeds at markets and challenges transporting and getting food and hygiene products at affordable costs in urban markets. Halting agricultural production in an effort to contain the spread of coronavirus could increase hunger through June and may prove more deadly than the virus [Covid-19] itself" Recall that more than 3.67 million Haitians are already facing levels of emergency or crisis of food insecurity after the socio-political crisis and blockades of the country for several months, a number which should reach more than 4,1 million between March and June 2020 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29849-haiti-flash-41-million-haitians-will-be-food-insecure-between-march-and-june-2020.html Learn more about Mercy Corps : Mercy Corps is an American international NGO operating in transitional contexts which claims to have helped more than 220 million people to survive humanitarian conflicts and improve their living conditions by ensuring sustainable development for their communities. Mercy Corps has worked in Haiti since 2010 and is leading a group of international and local organizations to launch a mass public campaign to raise awareness of the coronavirus and help prevent its spread, reaching more than 1.5 million Haitians via SMS, voice message, and community campaigns with messages providing accurate information about the virus and dispelling rumors, tips on hygiene promotion and how to prevent spread, and reducing stigma associated with the virus. See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30574-haiti-agriculture-fao-support-to-mitigate-the-impact-of-food-insecurity.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29972-haiti-agriculture-$76m-in-emergency-agricultural-assistance-from-fao.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-29874-icihaiti-social-food-insecurity-persists-throughout-the-country.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29849-haiti-flash-41-million-haitians-will-be-food-insecure-between-march-and-june-2020.html HL/ HaitiLibre WTI prices went negative - meaning that anyone trying to sell a barrel would have to pay a buyer $39 (as the WTI May contract went on to as low as $39). Blame the Coronavirus related slowdown and Saudi Arabia flooding the markets with over production as those Bahri-chartered VLCCs are heading for the US Gulf Coast producing yet another 'perfect storm' for US oil in about 10 days' time as 50.54Mbpd are arriving in May. Traders were keen to offload those holdings to avoid having to take delivery of the oil and incur storage costs. OPEC+ ministers also held a conference call, given the pressure we are seeing The Texas Railroad Commission also met, but there was no decision n the market at the moment. Group has not decided on any new policy moves, although pressure to something will likely build in the coming days and weeks. The issue for OPEC+ is that there is a limit to how much they can do. They are already set to implement record cuts, and it will be a struggle for them to stomach further reductions. Instead, the group should have agreed that cuts start as soon as possible after the deal was struck earlier this month. It is a bit late for that now. The Texas Railroad Commission also met, but there was no decision made on mandated production cuts in the state. This means that the market will likely have to wait until May 5 for any further news from Texas, as this is when the commission meets next. Refineries are unwilling to turn oil into gasoline, diesel and other products because so few people are commuting or taking airplane flights, and international trade has slowed sharply. Lockdowns across the world and not least in the US had led to record levels of gasoline stocks and record low gasoline consumption in the US. Cushing in Oklahoma is the storage and delivery hub for WTI crude oil. Oil is already being stored on barges and in any nook and cranny companies can find. Giant oil tankers are being used to hold record amounts of crude at sea due to a global oversupply that threatens to overwhelm the worlds storage facilities. Negative Prices: -37.63 /bbl WTI crude collapsed to minus 40 dollars per barrel was another stark reminder of the impact the Covid-19 pandemic is having on global fuel consumption and supply chains as storage capacity on land has filled up quickly. The pricing point for WTI is Cushing, Oklahoma. With a capacity to hold 80 Mbpd, Crushing there was 55 Mbpd oil already stored near Cushing and inventories are rising currently at rate of 6-7 Mbpd per week and it will be filled to the brim in May. Outside the US, many oil-importing countries have stored large quantities of oil, taking advantage of cheap prices that may not last. Storage is almost completely filled in the Caribbean and South Africa, and Angola, Brazil and Nigeria may run out of warehousing capacity within days. Commodity traders are hunting for extra space to store their crude as demand for oil collapses by 35 Mbpd in April, falling to lows not seen since 1995 as storage capacity on land has filled up quickly as oil storage levels across the worlds storage facilities have climbed to about three-quarters full on average since January shutdown of major refineries in Chinas industrial heartlands to stem the outbreak of coronavirus as a record 160M barrels of oil has been stored in supergiant oil tankers. Many oil-importing countries have stored large quantities of oil, taking advantage of cheap prices that may not last. Oil producers, hoping to maintain their market share, have taken to storing their excess oil at sea, leasing tankers at high costs and are believed to be paying in excess of US$100,000-3,350,00 per day for each tanker. The last time floating storage reached levels close to this was in 2009, when traders stored more than 100m barrels at sea before offloading stocks when the economy began to recover. WTI price is now lower than the cost of production, transport and storage as producers, in the short term, are accepting prices below their variable cost as long as they are able to pay some of the costs they will incur even if oil production shuts down. This could trigger an oil market collapse to an average price of between $10 to $20 a barrel in the second quarter of the year from about $65 a barrel at the start of the year and force oil producers to shut their wells. For Shale players, the next logical step will be shut-ins and bankruptcies, if these materialize in next month, then we can begin discussing optimism in June but shutting down oil wells and then restarting them when demand returns can require expensive manpower and equipment. Fields do not always recover their former production. Forced cut repackaged as deal? The COVID pandemic reduced global demand for oil by about 35% with OPEC+ and other producers agreeing to cut production by 9.7 Mbpd, far less than the decrease in demand, leaving a huge surplus of oil on the market and no buyers. This whole OPEC+ cut enterprise looked hugely political. America wants to preserve jobs during an election year, Russia wants the US to lift sanctions particularly those placed on Rosneft Trading for its activity in Venezuela and Saudi Arabia does not want to fall out with U.S. OPEC+ doesnt have appetite to go for further cut to stabilize markets and may let the markets work on fundamental factors. Outlook: Screaming sell for H1 2020 Even after a face-saving deal cobbled together, markets are cautious as it cannot see how such a disparate group of producers maintains these sorts of cuts beyond a few months. Capacity is filling fast on land and at sea. Even if demand were to return to pre-virus levels, it would take a long time to burn off all that stored crude and the energy market is depicting that demand isnt coming back any time soon, and theres a supply glut. One big problem for US traders now is how to price their crude if they cannot rely on prompt Cushing prices as a stable benchmark. Do they move to a further-forward Calendar Month Average basis such as that used in Canada? Or perhaps, switch to a different benchmark altogether like Brent? Or ride out the storm until the May trade rolls into June and hope that the extreme volatility is not repeated next month? With the oil market reeling from the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, perhaps the last thing US traders wanted was a fundamental doubt to emerge over their preferred pricing benchmark. WTI prices can touch levels of $5 for June contract if flooding by Saudi Arabia is not regulated or even lower. Brent prices arent safer anymore, While Brent storage is more commonly on floating tankers and can move around the world, in contrast to much of the WTI crude thats stuck in landlocked pipelines in the heart of the U.S., other producer countries need to look over their shoulder because Brent is not far behind, other crude benchmarks, and the world is running out of storage. Can we see a repeat? The short answer is YES. If markets wont see an improvement over the coming four weeks the June contract, expiry on May 19, could suffer the same fate. There will be undoubtedly production cuts and bankruptcies across the US oil patch over the coming weeks. That combined with a potential small pickup in fuel demand may avert another collapse, but the risk remains very elevated. (The author is Vice President, Commodity & Currency Research, Motilal Oswal) The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. A young boy who survived a horror car crash that killed four of his cousins only learnt of their tragic deaths on Google after waking from his coma. Charbel Kassas, 11, is talking and walking despite spending more than two months unconscious in Westmead Children's Hospital following the shocking Oatlands crash on February 1. His relatives Antony, 13, Angelina, 12, and Sienna Abdallah, 9, and Veronique Sakr, 11 died instantly when alleged drug and drink driver Samuel William Davidson, 29, lost control of his ute on Bettington Road, in Sydney's north-west. It was feared Charbel would never recover from serious brain injury, but in early April he woke from his coma and has now taken the first steps on the way to full health. Before his parents had a chance to tell him about the deaths of his cousins, Charbel found out the horror news for himself - picking up a stray mobile phone and searching their names. Charbel Kassas, 11, who survived the horror car crash at Oatlands that killed four of his cousins is talking and walking, after waking from his coma after two months in hospital. (He is pictured with his father Assaad and mother Rania) Before his father Assaad (left) had a chance to tell him about the deaths of his cousins, Charbel (right) found out for himself - picking up a mobile phone and searching their names on Google Antony, 13, Angelina, 12, and Sienna Abdallah, 9, (all left) and their cousin Veronique Sakr, 11, (right) were killed on February 1 after allegedly being mowed down by a drunk driver as they walked to get ice cream. Charbel and two other relatives who were in the group survived David Mannah, a relative of Charbel's, told Daily Mail Australia how his family wanted the youngster's focus to be on his recovery, but he found out the heartbreaking news himself. 'When he woke up he didn't know that Antony, Angelina, Sienna and Veronique were dead, and the family hadn't had a chance to tell him yet,' Mr Mannah said. 'They wanted him to focus on his recovery but he picked up a phone that was next to his bed and Googled their names. 'He was heartbroken, but he is doing OK now though and the good thing is that he is going to recover. He is really lucky.' When Charbel was first taken to hospital his parents Assad and Rania Kassas were told he would be in a coma for at least six months - and may not ever recover. But the youngster was woken up after just two months, with his father Assad posting a photo to Facebook showing his son smiling and giving thumbs up as they put their arms around him. His father also shared another photo of Charbel with a breathing tube coming from his nose, which was captioned: 'My best friend Charbel Kassas, heal you hero'. His uncle Danny Abdallah said that COVID-19 restrictions mean his family have been unable to visit him in the hospital, but they are in regular contact with the 'walking miracle'. 'They said he wasn't going to be OK, and then they gave us a timeline of six months... the doctors said: "Expect to be in the hospital for six months",' Mr Abdallah said. Charbel's uncle Danny Abdallah (pictured), who lost three of his children in the crash, said his nephew was a 'walking miracle' Samuel William Davidson (pictured), 29, was allegedly high on a cocktail of MDMA, cocaine and alcohol when he hit and killed four kids at Oatlands, in Sydney's north, on February 1 In the days and weeks that followed the accident, thousands of floral tributes were left at the scene on Bettington Road 'A lot of people started praying, there were rosaries, novenas and everyone coming to the hospital and praying out the front. 'At the moment he's awake, he's speaking, he's alert and he can see. His brain's a little bit under developed which is going to improve with time, but he's walking. 'This is all to do with these prayers, because his situation is a miracle. He's a walking miracle.' Samuel William Davidson, 29, was last month hit with a range of new charges, having allegedly been on drugs at the time of the crash. The truck driver was allegedly high on a cocktail of MDMA and cocaine when he got behind the wheel of his vehicle after a day of drinking on Saturday, Ferbuary 1. With a mate in the passenger seat, Davidson drove to a nearby petrol station where he took cash out from an ATM. Mr Abdallah (pictured with his wife Leila) said doctors had initially warned Charbel's family he would be in a coma for up to six months, and may never recover Mr and Mrs Abdallah lost three of their children in the tragedy, but vowed to forgive the man charged with killing their kids On his way back home he allegedly reached speeds of close to 100km/h in a 50km/h zone while driving down the steep hill on Bettington Road, Oatlands. Just moments later as he rounded a bend he allegedly lost control of his vehicle and ploughed into the group of seven children - killing four of them instantly. The young relatives had been given money by their parents to go and get ice cream at a nearby shop after a scorching 38C day. Davidson, who is facing 34 charges over the crash, will return to court on June 11. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 22) - The newly-appointed socioeconomic planning chief seeks to double the number of registrants under the national ID system this year if funds are available. National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Acting Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua told CNN Philippines that they will try to double the minimum target of five million registrants under the national ID system this year. "We were given a budget for five million and I am requesting if PSA (Philippine Statistics Authority) can register double or 10 million, they say yes but they need more money so Im going to ask DBM (Department of Budget and Management) if we can give PSA some money," Chua said in an interview on Wednesday. Chua said the national ID system is a vital project for this year, saying it was among the top priorities given to him by President Rodrigo Duterte when he assumed the NEDA post. "If we can register 10 million household heads, we will have a much easier time next year to provide subsidies and more targeted support to the poor so thats in the works now," Chua said. READ: NEDA eyes 5 million registrants in national ID system this year Chua earlier said the NEDA and PSA will use the next two months for the remaining procurement and preparation so that registration can be quickly rolled out in June or July when the enhanced community quarantine is relaxed or modified. "If we are allowed to go out in May, we will start immediately," Chua said. A rescued Rohingya waits outside the Bangladesh-Myanmar transit center in Teknaf, in southeastern Bangladeshs Coxs Bazar district, before boarding a truck to be taken to a refugee camp, April 16, 2020. Fishing boats carrying hundreds of Rohingya refugees were spotted off southeastern Bangladesh and sailing toward its coast, a local border-police commander said Wednesday, as Amnesty International called on the South Asian nation to take them in. Fishermen told Bangladesh Border Guard (BGB) and coast guard authorities that they saw two trawlers filled with Rohingya south of Teknaf, a sub-district of Coxs Bazar, which sits on Bangladeshs border with Myanmar. Trawlers carrying Rohingya are coming toward Bangladesh. Patrols at the border and along the coast have been stepped up after receiving the reports, Lt. Col. Mohammad Faisal Hassan Khan, commander of the BGBs Teknaf-2 Battalion, told BenarNews. Locals have been asked to be vigilant so no new Rohingya can enter. Earlier in the day, global rights watchdog Amnesty International urged Bangladesh to allow the approximately 500 Rohingya on the boats to come ashore. In a statement, AI said the two trawlers were turned away from Malaysia over concerns about the coronavirus. In contrast to the cruel indifference demonstrated by other governments, who have actively pushed away boats, Bangladesh has maintained its positive record of giving sanctuary to people who have lost their homes and suffered horrific crimes, said Biraj Patnaik, the groups South Asia director. We hope that Bangladesh will continue to welcome Rohingya refugees in these difficult times. The international community has an obligation to help the Bangladeshi authorities in this task, including in supporting efforts to set up quarantine centers and provide refugees the immediate medical assistance they require to recover from the journey and to protect them against the spread of the COVID-19 virus, he added. Despite the reports from fishermen, the commander in charge of Teknafs coast guard station said no trawlers had been located. Some people have said that they can see it near Shahpari Island, Lt. Cmdr. M. Sohel Rana told BenarNews, referring to an island on the southern tip of Teknaf. Bangladesh Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mahbub Alam Talukder also said he did not know about the trawlers. My role is to ensure humanitarian assistance if anyone comes to Bangladesh or to our refugee camps. In the end, if anyone gets here, we will take care of them, he told BenarNews. Asif Munir, an immigration and refugee affairs analyst, blamed an international human trafficking group for the plight of the refugees. Not being able to identify or eradicate them is not a failure of any single country, it is a failure of the international policing forces, including Interpol, he told BenarNews. Human trafficking is a multinational problem that requires combined and long-term action. Hundreds rescued The report about the sighting of the boats came a week after Bangladesh authorities on April 15 rescued nearly 400 Rohingya, who told horror stories of being at sea on a fishing trawler for almost two months and being refused entry to Malaysia. They were starving. They were floating for 58 days and over the last seven days [the boat] was moving in our territorial waters, Sohel Rana, the coast guard commander, told BenarNews at the time. Survivors said dozens died and their bodies were thrown into the sea after the Namaz-e-Janaza [Muslim funeral prayer] was said. The next day, the Royal Malaysian Air Force announced it had stopped an attempt by another trawler carrying about 200 Rohingya to enter the country. It said air force spotters notified the navy, which sent ships to escort the trawler from Malaysian waters but not before delivering food on a humanitarian basis. Previously, Malaysian officials said they arrested 202 Rohingya on April 5 after their boat was found adrift near the northern island of Langkawi, according to media reports. The refugees were turned over to the immigration department. On March 31, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) intercepted a boat carrying nearly five dozen Rohingya near the same island. MMEA officials at that time said the Rohingya were to be handed over to the state immigration department because they were found within Malaysian waters and without valid documents. They also said they were showing leniency on the principle of humanity. AI said nations should not use the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext for governments to abandon their efforts toward refugees. All countries in the region have a responsibility to ensure the seas do not become graveyards for people seeking safety. Bangladesh cannot be left to address this situation alone, AIs Patnaik said. The fact that it is upholding its own obligations is not an excuse for others to abandon theirs. Cox's Bazar district is home to 1.1 million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. About 740,000 Rohingya fled to camps in and around Coxs Bazar from Myanmars Rakhine state beginning in August 2017, after its military launched a brutal offensive in response to deadly attacks by a rebel group on government security posts. They joined thousands of other Rohingya who had previously fled the majority-Buddhist country, where they are stateless. Agra: The number of Covid-19 cases has crossed the 300-mark in Uttar Pradeshs Agra and called into question the containment model followed in the city that the Centre lauded this month and asked other states to learn from it. The model was praised for its proactive approach in identifying cases, intensive testing, door-to-door surveys and strict quarantine measures that helped Agra halt the spread of Covid-19. Agra is the worst-hit city by the pandemic in Uttar Pradesh, which had 324 Covid-19 cases as of Wednesday. SP Singh Baghel of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, who represents Agra in Parliament, called for finding the leakage in the model. The initial stress was on the supply of essential items and people had faith in the model which also earned applause from... Union ministry of health. But no one had guessed there would be such a rise in the number of cases in Agra, which has crossed the 300-mark and now stands at 313, said Baghel. Baghel said the paramedical staff was justifiably asking for gloves, masks and other personal protection equipment as two dozen health workers have tested positive for the disease in Agra. If front-line corona warriors like the medical staff and police personnel test positive, then who would look after the preventive measures? he said. Vivek Sarabhoi, the convenor of the voluntary Covid-19 Agra Support initiative, said, There is a huge gap between what needs to be done and what actually is being done. District magistrate Prabhu N Singh defended the model and insisted the administration was on the right track. He said the stress was on testing more people as the source of the infection spread was known in all cases. Singh maintained there was no community spread of the disease so far. He added they were holding a series of meetings with the stakeholders and new guidelines were being issued in consultations with experts. We have decided to keep suspected patients in institutional quarantine after having their samples tested so that they can be moved into isolation once they test positive, he said. A dedicated five-member team of the Indian Medical Association will ensure compliance with the Covid-19 protocol at private hospitals. The model was implemented as six patients tested positive for Covid-19 in Agra on March 3 when India had only 30-odd cases. It involved door-to-door surveys, identification of suspected cases, and quarantining. A list of people with foreign travel was drawn up and their families and other close contacts were identified. A three-km area around Covid-19 hotspots was declared containment zones with five-km area as the buffer. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The largest known coronavirus outbreak in Oregon has killed at least 14 residents of a single Portland nursing home. By the time state officials stepped in to stem the virus from spreading, their efforts came too late for many residents. Relatives of three residents described their experiences with The Oregonian/OregonLive. One of the family members witnessed caregivers who werent always wearing gloves even as the virus had sickened dozens at the nursing home. Another said her parent told her that workers were going from infected residents to those who werent infected. The families said the nursing home kept them in the dark about the extent of the chaotic response. Here are more developments to know Wednesday: RESPONSE: More than a dozen local government and business leaders outlined the economic impacts of the pandemic and said they need additional resources from the state and federal governments to respond to the crisis. The city of Portland got $114 million in federal coronavirus aid money, but is waiting for rules about how to spend it. JOBS: Thousands of Oregonians are out of work, without benefits checks and unable to get answers from the state about their claims status. Millions of dollars in benefits remain unpaid. TESTING: The state of Oregon posted new, expanded guidelines for who should be considered for coronavirus testing. CASES: The Oregon Health Authority reported three more deaths from COVID-19, bringing the total number of deaths statewide to 78. State officials say more than 2,000 Oregonians have been sickened by the coronavirus. EARTH DAY: Environmental advocates are preparing for a very different Earth Day, 50 years after inaugural event. Rallies have been canceled, climate strikes have been relegated to living rooms, and protests have moved online. And as people across the globe stay home to stop the spread of the virus, the air has cleaned up albeit temporarily. STAY HOME: Deputies cited two Oregon surfers for defying coronavirus closure orders. The pair was cited Monday for criminal trespassing after climbing over a chain-link fence to access a beach thats closed to the public. FOOD: As Portland-area grocery stores continue to adapt to the coronavirus crisis, some stores are encouraging customers to shop less often. CARE: Oregon clinics that treat patients with substance abuse issues have pivoted their services to remote treatment. NONPROFITS: The Portland Art Museum, Oregon Historical Society and OMSI are all trying to adapt to coronavirus closures that have kept visitors home. SPORTS: USA Track & Field has set a new date for the postponed Olympic trials in Eugene. The meet will be in June 2021. #TEAMOREGON: Latest news | Live map tracker |Text alerts | Newsletter -- The Oregonian/OregonLive Get the latest Oregon coronavirus updates via text With oil prices crashing to more than a two-decade low as the coronavirus pandemic hits global demand for the commodity, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) is cutting costs to remain efficient and financially sound. One of the measures the corporation has adopted is to focus more on its core activities as related to its overall expenditure pattern with prices drop to US$27. For instance, the corporation has reduced its Corporate Social Investment (CSI) budget from US$55 million for the year under review to US$35 million. The Chief Executive Officer of GNPC, Dr K.K. Sarpong, disclosed this in an interview with the Graphic Business on April 15 in Accra. Dr Sarpong said crude oil prices on the international market had dropped sharply, which would lead to a resultant drop in the corporations revenue for this year. We have to take some prudent measures to ensure that we do not run into any debt. We have carefully analysed our operations and managed to cut a few things so we keep within budget, he added. He noted that even within the reduced budget for CSI, certain critical projects would be undertaken and that included building of schools and healthcare centres in selected deprived areas to enable the people to also benefit from the countrys oil resources. GNPC core functions The corporation has among its functions to promote petroleum exploration activities, to appraise existing petroleum discoveries and to ensure that Ghana benefits the most from the development of the country's petroleum resources. The corporation promotes the training of Ghanaians in petroleum-related activities and ensures environmental protection in all petroleum-related activities. Hedging concerns In the last couple of weeks, there have been calls for the government to hedge oil prices to guarantee the revenues to accrue to the State at the end of the year. Dr Sarpong said much as hedging brought certainty, the timing now was not the best because the prices had fallen too low. He was optimistic that with Russia and Saudi Arabia, as well as the intervention proposed by President Trump to get prices lifted, the price of the black gold would rebound. Dr Sarpong said while at that, there was the need for the government to take a firm stance on the way forward as to which direction was best for now. Staffing Dr Sarpong said critical staff were still working on a daily basis from the offices while the remaining were working from home. When necessary, we call them to come in to support but ideally, they are also working from home, he said. He explained that the corporations core activities were not being affected because those performing essential services to get its operations on track were working under strict social distancing rules while other safety measures meant to protect them from the COVID-19 were also in place. Global blues Demand for crude has dropped by a third, forcing global producers to make unprecedented output cuts that have left markets awash with so much crude that even the Middle Easts main oil trading hub has run out of room to store unwanted barrels. Bloomberg reported that terminal operators at Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates say theyre turning down requests from traders and refiners to store crude and refined products, whereas a year ago they had ample space. The ports 14 million barrels of commercial crude storage capacity is just a fraction of what Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi provide for their state oil companies. Without tanks to lease, traders face costly constraints on their role as matchmakers who link a specific supply here with a willing buyer there. The global oil glut is making it harder for traders to even put imbalances in the market, and the plunge in crude, down about half this year, is making matters worse. A historic multilateral deal to lower global oil production and stabilise prices, led by record cuts from Saudi Arabia and Russia, is at risk of collapse after Mexico refused to sign up. The impasse, according to a Bloomberg report, casts doubt on efforts to revive the market from a debilitating coronavirus-induced slump. The deal by the coalition of nations known as OPEC+, which dwarves previous interventions and has been sponsored by U.S. President Donald Trump, would end the price war between Riyadh and Moscow that helped pushed oil down to the lowest in almost two decades. At a press conference on April 9, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he had talked to President Trump and had reached a deal with OPEC+, but it wasnt immediately clear if his position had shifted. Saudi Arabia made the whole deal dependent on Mexicos participation, pinning an accord to remove more than 10 per cent of global production from the market on an argument about a few hundreds of thousands of barrels. But Riyadhs Energy Minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, is determined the burden of cuts must be shared as widely as possible. Source: Daily Graphic Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Presidential candidate Joe Biden is seen on March 10, 2020. Matt Rourke/AP Former Vice President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party are lagging far behind President Donald Trump and the GOP in 2020 fundraising. Biden began April with $57.2 million cash on hand, while Trump had $244 million on hand a nearly $187 million difference. But Democratic strategists told Insider they're not overly concerned about the money gap, as they think Democratic donors will step up their giving in coming months and Biden won't need massive sums to make a strong general election case amid the pandemic and economic crisis. "Trump's bungling of the coronavirus preparation and response is a fundamental problem for his re-election that even his current financial advantage can't paper over," Ian Russell, a former deputy executive director of the DCCC, told Insider. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Former Vice President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party are lagging far behind President Donald Trump and the GOP in 2020 fundraising. Biden began April with $57.2 million cash on hand, while Trump started the month with $244 million on hand. And that's after Biden's biggest fundraising month ever in March, during which he raked in $46.7 million as he consolidated support in the primary and won key endorsements. Meanwhile, Trump and the Republican National Committee brought in $63 million last month. This puts Biden almost $187 million behind Trump with about 7 months until the general election. But Democratic strategists say money will matter less this cycle as Trump struggles to handle a national public health and economic crisis. "Trump's bungling of the coronavirus preparation and response is a fundamental problem for his re-election that even his current financial advantage can't paper over," Ian Russell, a Democratic strategist and a former deputy executive director of the DCCC, told Insider. Story continues Even in more normal times, money isn't necessarily the greatest indicator of electoral success. Biden managed to easily win the Democratic nomination while being significantly outraised by several of his primary opponents, most notably Sen. Bernie Sanders. And Hillary Clinton lost her 2016 presidential bid while outspending Trump. The president and his advisers have long believed a relatively healthy economy, including historically low unemployment, would be his most powerful argument in November. During perhaps the biggest recession since the Great Depression, the president will have a hard time making an economic case for his reelection. Russell also argued that Biden's March fundraising proves he'll draw significantly more money in the coming months as the party unites behind him. Sean McElwee, a progressive pollster and co-founder of Data for Progress, agreed. "Democratic donors hate Trump. Now that there is a nominee, they're going to open their wallets and we'll see that gap close," McElwee told Insider. The Democratic party has time to rally around Biden since he emerged as the presumptive nominee relatively early with Sanders' exit on April 8. But the former veep's donations dropped off drastically in the second half of March when the economy began to shut down amid the pandemic. While Biden raised about $27 million during the first two weeks of the month, he took in just $8.5 million in the latter half of March, according to the campaign's FEC report. The presumptive Democratic nominee said that 70% of his March donations came from online donors and the average gift was $40. Some of his supporters are beginning to urge Biden to focus on expanding his grassroots donor base. Sanders dominated grassroots fundraising during the primary, but while the Vermont lawmaker gave Biden a strong endorsement last week, he hasn't yet committed to fundraising for him. (Sanders is using his extensive email list to fundraise for progressive allies in Congress, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar.) President Donald Trump with Vice President Mike Pence, speaks during a coronavirus briefing with Airline CEOs in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Wednesday, March 4, 2020, in Washington. Associated Press/Manuel Balce Ceneta While Biden is transitioning to a fully digital campaign operation and has held more than a dozen online fundraising events in recent weeks, the Trump campaign recently announced the president would go back to holding live campaign rallies before the election. This comes as experts warn large gatherings might not be possible until next year. Both Biden and Trump are backed by a host of billionaire donors who send their money to Super PACs that are able to spend as much money as they'd like on behalf of their chosen candidates. The candidates have both found support on Wall Street and among ultra-rich real estate developers. Biden has also received significant financial support from several major labor unions. Biden has alliances with at least three major Super PACs Priorities USA, American Bridge 21st Century, and Unite the Country, while Trump gets significant support from America First Action. Jesse Ferguson, a Democratic strategist and former spokesman for Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign, argued that Trump's strong alliance with corporate America, including donations from executives who benefited from his 2017 tax cuts, could hurt his appeal among swing voters. "Whether it was from corporate CEOs who got tax breaks and contracts from Trump or outside support from foreign dictators who are his allies, no Democrat should expect to match the resources Trump will have in this campaign," Ferguson said. He added, "The problem for Trump is that his big money just proves to people that he's being rewarded for doing the wrong things. If there wasn't enough money to sell people on buying New Coke, there's definitely not enough to sell people on buying arsenic." Intelligence officials warned Congress earlier this year that the Russian government is again interfering in the presidential election to help Trump win re-election. And on Tuesday, the Republican-controlled Senate Intelligence Committee released the fourth portion of their report confirming US intelligence agencies' determination that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election to help Trump and hurt Clinton. Read the original article on Business Insider The country witnessed 11 provinces and cities reporting over US$1 billion worth of export revenue in the first quarter of this year including Bac Giang, Bac Ninh, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Hanoi, Hai Duong, Hai Phong, Long An, Tay Ninh, Thai Nguyen and Ho Chi Minh City. Meanwhile, the same period last year saw 10 provinces and cities with export revenues of over US$1 billion except for Tay Ninh. The 11 localities recorded a combined export revenue of nearly US$49.35 billion, accounting for 78% of Vietnams total export revenue in the first three months of this year. Ho Chi Minh City has remained the leading export locality with export revenue of US$10.5 billion, up 14.6% over the same period last year, contributing 16.6% to the nations total export revenue in the first quarter of the year. Bac Ninh is the runner-up with export revenue of US$8.06 billion, an increase of over US$450 million compared to the same period in 2019. Hai Phong posted an impressive increase in export revenue during the period with a rise of nearly US$1.05 billion compared to the same period in 2019. Meanwhile, Hanoi and Thai Nguyen reported declines in export revenue compared to the corresponding period last year. Hanois export revenue fell to US$3.15 billion from US$3.35 billion in the first quarter of 2019 and Thai Nguyens export revenue fell to US$6.95 billion from US$7.36 billion. The foreign ministers of Iran, Russia and Turkey the three guarantors of the Astana format- held a trilateral meeting via video conference to discuss Syria peace efforts, Tasnim agency reports. The top diplomats of the three guarantors of the Astana peace process held the trilateral meeting via tele-conference on Wednesday, April 22. In the meeting, held to discuss the latest developments in Syria and the region, Mohammad Javad Zarif, Mevlut Cavusoglu, and Sergei Lavrov talked about the latest developments, including the most recent situation in Idlib, Syrias Constitutional Committee, the necessity for the removal of the unilateral sanctions, particularly given the outbreak of the coronavirus, humanitarian conditions, and return of the displaced persons. The Iranian, Turkish and Russian foreign ministers emphasized the need to continue holding consultations and coordination at the highest level among the three guarantors of the Astana format as the most important and effective process for the settlement of the crisis in Syria. The participants also agreed on the need to respect Syrias independence, national sovereignty and territorial integrity, resolve the Syrian crisis politically, delineate between the terrorists and the opposition, and keep up the fight against terrorism. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) in the Senate subway area of the Capitol before President Donald Trumps State of the Union address in Washington on Feb. 4, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) Ernst Gives Squeal Award to USDA Unit That Bought Kittens, Puppy Parts in China Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) named the U.S. Agricultural Research Servicewhich spent tax dollars buying kittens and dog parts in Chinas wet marketsas the latest recipient of her monthly Squeal Award to expose wasteful federal spending. The unit of the U.S. Department of Agriculture spent taxpayer dollars shopping for kittens and puppy parts in China at slaughterhouses and wet markets, where living animals are bought, sold, and butchered for human consumption in unsanitary conditions, Ernst said in a statement released to The Epoch Times on April 22. The cats and dogs purchased in China were used for experiments, which were discontinued last year. While the total amount spent at the meat markets in China is unknown, the project was costing $650,000 a year in taxpayer funds, the statement said. Instead of wasting your hard-earned tax dollars in Chinas wet marketsor the Wuhan lab franklythe federal government should have been pushing China to shut down these dangerous, disease-prone places, the statement continued. Ernst was referring to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which is near the wet market from which the CCP virus, also known as the novel coronavirus, is thought to have spread to the world. Nearly two decades ago, SARS was believed to have made the leap from animals to humans at a wet market in China. And ever since, scientists have been warning that another, far more virulent virus could be transmitted from wildlife to humans if these wet markets were not shut down, Ernst said. The communist nations rules for these repulsive markets, of course, are lax and often unenforced or ignored. Live rats, snakes, and other wildlife, including the animals that were the source of SARS, and even recycled lab animals that had been used as test subjects by Chinese researchers, have been reported as being bought and sold for food at these markets, Ernst added. Ernst also announced April 22 that shes joining with Sens. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) as co-sponsors of a bill that would permanently ban all such spending by federal departments and agencies. While the proposal hasnt yet been named, a draft text was made available to The Epoch Times. As a businessman who created hundreds of American jobs, I specifically limited my business with China because you cant trust the Communist Party of China, Braun said, in the statement with Ernst. Thats why I believe that we should not be using American taxpayer dollars to fund Chinese wet markets, the Wuhan biolab, or anything that helps the Communist Party of China, he said. The bipartisan legislation is needed to ensure that government employees dont ever go on another taxpayer-funded shopping spree for cats, dogs or any other animals at Chinas filthy, dangerous wet markets, White Coat Waste Project Vice President Justin Goodman said in the statement. Goodmans group is a Washington-based foundation that seeks to end tax-funded animal experimentation. Last year, we exposed how for years federal employees flew to China, purchased cats and puppies from wet markets, had them slaughtered, and brought their body parts back to the United States in carry-on luggage to feed to kittens in bizarre and wasteful multimillion-dollar experiments that have since been shut down by the Trump Administration, Goodman said. This kind of reckless research involving disgusting wet marketswhich even are known to sell experimental lab animals for consumptionputs animal, human, and global health in grave danger. The government never should have spent taxpayer dollars at Chinas wet markets, and this bill will make sure it never does again, he said. Ernsts previous Squeal Award winners have included a lengthy list of federal departments, commissions, and agencies, including, for example: $1.4 billion spent by federal officials on advertising and public relations campaigns of doubtful value to the governments major purposes, as well as swag keychains, mascots, koozies, and similar items. Department of Defense officials spent more than $30 million buying computers from Chinese suppliers that military and intelligence experts have warned for years could compromise U.S. national security. Hundreds of millions spent by federal officials awarding bogus performance bonuses to poorly performing federal contractors, such as the $500 million NASA has given to date to multiple firms working on the new manned moon mission. End perks that lawmakers have awarded themselves, such as a $3,000 tax deduction for their living expenses in Washington. Contact Mark Tapscott at Mark.Tapscott@epochtimes.nyc. You came like an angel in our life. Guwahati's Rinku Singh posted this on Twitter for an Indian Railway probationer who ensured his mother's cancer medicines are delivered to her at Silchar in time. The officer Singh addressed is part of a team of around 30 Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) probationers that has launched a helpline - 8448848477 and Twitter handle @IRTS_SETU -- to assist delivery of essentials from any station to any station during the lockdown, when movement of people is almost completely restricted, using the vast railway network. In the first five days since its launch, the helpline has received over 1,000 SOSes for assistance during the lockdown - panic calls, requests for ration, medicines, milk, help for stranded family members, among others. The team has managed to drop essential goods at over 100 locations through parcel trains, using their own cellphones and the Twitter account, and working in close coordination with district officials. The probationary officers, who are currently undergoing training at Udaipur and Vadodara, are being assisted by a handful of their seniors. The team is facilitating the movement of not just large consignments of raw material for making Personal Protective Equipment and masks, but also grocery, milk and other essentials at peoples' doorstep as they remain restricted at home due to the lockdown. "It started as a platform to facilitate movement of goods during the lockdown," says Mallela Srikant, one of the brains behind this initiative. But its role evolved. Now, we take calls (from people in distress) and use the railway network to ensure that the goods (they critically need) reaches them. We are responding to critical calls and informing the local authorities about the situation. The young IRTS officer, who is currently posted as Area Officer in Ramagumdum in Secunderabad Division, said the Setu Express' team liaisons with railways zones, divisions and district officials to deliver these items of critical need. In certain cities, he said, they have tied up with startups who provide the last-mile connectivity so that the goods are delivered at the doorstep of the consumer in emergency cases. The initiative has also helped industries and factories kickstart their businesses after the April 20 relaxations in the lockdown norms. It carried PPEs made in Tiruppur to a hospital in Salem, which reported a shortage of the critical item, drugs from Himachal Pradesh to Delhi, and coordinated with the National Pharmaceutical Association to carry ventilators and masks. When Guwahati's Rinku Singh called in asking for urgent delivery of cancer medicines for his mother in Silchar, an officer sent his staff out to buy the required prescriptions. And it was delivered in time. "Dear @UmsiNFR sir, an overwhelmed Singh wrote back on Twitter, you came like an angel in our life. I really don't have any words to show my gratitude for what you have done. From buying the meds in Ghy to delivering the same to my mother in Silchar. I salute you and your team for this excellent job. There have been instances where the Setu Express team tied up with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to ensure doorstep delivery of goods. The medicine for a mental health patient was picked up from a hospital in Agra by the local administration and handed over to the station master. It was then moved to Mathura in a goods train where an NDRF team received up and delivered at the home of the patient. The team is going beyond their call of duty to help people in these extraordinary times. They prevented a migrant labourer from being evicted from his rented residence in Hyderabad and ran errands to provide ration at six places -- Jalandhar, Pimpri, Gorakhpur, Gurgaon, Srinagar and Varanasi -- all, because someone rang them in distress. "It could be a new business model for railways and we are preparing a document suggesting ways in which our parcel business can be revived, says Srikant. We want to make booking parcels easier, simpler and basically just like 'ease of business', we want to ensure 'ease of movement." But the focus of the team now is to ensure relief for people under lockdown, he said. The Twitter handle, @IRTS_SETU, is flooded with notes of thank you from people from across the country for swift delivery of life-saving medicines, ferrying farm harvests to cities, and for making sure a caller's daughters stranded alone in another city have food and other essentials. Srikant says this initiative couldn't have been successful without the help of senior IRTS officials spread across the railway network who are cooperating with the team. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By Trend Azerbaijani Health Minister Ogtay Shiraliyev signed an order to hold "Immunization Week" in the country, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Health told Trend. The ministers order is aimed at organizing the Immunization Week at the highest level which has been held in the Europe upon the initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO) since 2006. In accordance with the document, health facilities of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Health have been charged with organizing "Immunization Week" in all cities and districts of the country from April 20 through April 26, 2020. The document also includes such important issues as gradual vaccination of children during the Immunization Week to avoid a mass flow taking into account the epidemiological situation in connection with COVID-19, monitoring in the countrys districts to control the large-scale events, as well as public enlightenment as part of the campaign. The extraordinary spectacle of one of Britains most senior civil servants being forced to retract evidence he had given to MPs just hours earlier is an illustration of the simmering discord within Whitehall over the handling of the coronavirus crisis. The letter from Sir Simon McDonald to the Foreign Affairs Committee completely backtracked on what he had stated was one of the main reasons behind the government not joining a EU programme on medical equipment, and led to the immediate charge that he had been subjected to political pressure. Sir Simon, permanent under-secretary at the Foreign Office, had told the MPs, about the programme: All I can say is that it is a matter of fact that we have not taken part. It was a political decision . And the decision was no. Five hours later this had changed to: Due to a misunderstanding, I inadvertently and wrongly told the committee that ministers were briefed on the joint EU procurement scheme and took a political decision not to take part in it. That is incorrect. Ministers were not briefed by our mission in Brussels about the scheme and a political decision was not taken on whether or not to participate. The letter had come after frantic calls in the Foreign Office, the Department of Health, and Downing Street: Dominic Raab, Matt Hancock, and Boris Johnsons advisors, with the foreign secretary and acting prime minister said to have been angry that he had not been made aware of what Sir Simon was going to say to the committee. Recommended Top official withdraws claim over UK failure to join EU medical scheme The retraction was an incredible volte-face. At a very basic level, the clear inference, if one took the retraction at face value, was that Sir Simon, the head of the diplomatic service, and a former foreign policy advisor at No 10, a highly respected official who had served in the US, Germany and Saudi Arabia, had got a crucial fact on an important issue totally wrong. There seems to be a sort of Ministry of Truth now, and only they have the right to give out information, this has been a pattern for a while now with [government] departments across the affected, said a civil servant. But what happened with Simon McDonald was simply wrong on many levels. Sir Simon seemed to be unaware of this Orwellian diktat or of the controversy about to erupt over his evidence. His first tweet after appearing at the session was a sunny just gave evidence to @CommonsForeign 1st time via video link. Breaking new ground remote-working during Covid 19 #Lockdown. But Parliament still requires participants to be smartly dressed. Downing Streets position is that the UK was making its own arrangements on the equipment because it was no longer part of the EU: Brexit sentiments had played no part in the decision. It later admitted that the UK had been invited to take part in the programme, but officials missed the email because of a communications confusion. Chris Bryant, a Labour member of the committee who was among those who questioned Sir Simon, was clear in his opinion of what happened. Its all nonsense, he had been leant on. The whole thing stinks of people trying to cover their tracks It seems that not content with refusing to take part in a mass EU purchase of desperately needed vital equipment out of a fit of Eurosceptic pique, the government has repeatedly told fibs in a sad attempt to cover its tracks, he told Sky News. It is not just the Foreign Office which is finding itself under tremendous pressure not to stray in any way from the government hymn sheet on Covid-19. Officials in other government departments say they are in the same position. Officials from the Ministry of Defence and the British military dealing with the pandemic find themselves in the firing line if they are deemed to be off message over the crisis. They have also found that Downing Street wants to be in control of disseminating information at almost every level. Sir Simon is the most senior Whitehall figure who has fallen out of line so far and there is disquiet among many of his colleagues about what has unfolded. A former British ambassador who later worked for another government service said: Lets accept that maybe there really was a misunderstanding. Maybe this was a ministerial decision on the EU scheme rather than a purely political one, that can be possible. But what the letter says, what he had to write, does put Simon in a difficult position. The crux of the matter is whether ministers were told by officials about the EU programme. The BBC says that sources present at Cobra meetings have revealed that there were discussions on whether to work with the EU at the start of the pandemic. One minister present, according to the BBC, said no decisions were made during the meetings, but it was clear that there was an added dilemma because of the politics of Brexit. Sources close to Matt Hancock, the health secretary, strongly dispute there was any discussion about specific EU schemes. A senior Whitehall official maintained to The Independent that information about the EU programme was passed on to ministers. I am told that there was material provided about the Joint Procurement Agreement, this was in some detail because we are talking about four separate procurement schemes for different things in the programme, he said. I do not know if it was discussed in Cobra, I would be very surprised if it wasnt. Asked who had lent on Sir Simon to change his evidence, a Downing Street spokesperson insisted: Nobody, it is important that select committees are given accurate information and thats why he corrected what he had said. He took the opportunity to correct the record very quickly and in a very clear way. Asked whether the prime minister still had confidence in Sir Simon, the spokesperson responded: Yes, holding that the only EU-related discussions in Cobra at the time in question related to the repatriation of nationals from China. While recriminations mounted in London, in Brussels the European Commission wanted to stress that the UK chose not to join the programme. A spokesperson said: Supplies of the member states was a recurring topic of the agenda of the health and security committee meetings. The UK was, as all other members of the health security committee meetings, aware of the work that was ongoing and had ample opportunity to express its wish to participate in a joint procurement if it wanted to do so. As to why it did not participate, this is obviously something on which we cannot comment. UK's failure to join EU ventilator scheme was 'political decision', not communication error, says senior civil servant One of Sir Simons previous appearances before the Foreign Affairs Committee was in July last year when he answered questions about Sir Kim Darroch, the British ambassador to Washington who resigned after his diplomatic emails critical of Donald Trump were leaked. One key factor behind Sir Kims resignation was that Boris Johnson, then running for the Tory party leadership and to take over from Theresa May as prime minister failed repeatedly to give his backing to the ambassador, facing a barrage of insults from Mr Trump in a TV interview. Sir Simon told the Committee that he had recently spoken to Sir Kim: He had a difficult night, considering what to do. He thought about the pressure on his family. He considered that for as long as he was in Washington, he would remain a target. Now as he faces his own tribulations, Sir Simon may wonder whether he too has become a target. He may also wonder how much he can rely on Downing Streets assurance that Boris Johnson will stand by him. What just happened? Fortnite has just hit the Google Play store despite being available on Android for the last 18 months. Developer Epic Games begrudgingly allowed its title onto the storefront, complaining that Google puts software downloadable outside of Google Play at a disadvantage. Back in August 2018, Epic Games decided to circumvent Googles 30 percent Play Store revenue cut by distributing the Android version of Fortnite via its mobile website. CEO Tim Sweeney said Googles take was a high cost in the industry, especially as Android is an open platform where Google does not distribute or manage all the hardware. Now, Epic has given in to Google, explaining that the decision is in the gaming companys best interests. "After 18 months of operating Fortnite on Android outside of the Google Play Store, weve come to a basic realisation: Google puts software downloadable outside of Google Play at a disadvantage, through technical and business measures such as scary, repetitive security pop-ups for downloaded and updated software, restrictive manufacturer and carrier agreements and dealings, Google public relations characterizing third party software sources as malware, and new efforts such as Google Play Protect to outright block software obtained outside the Google Play Store, Epic said in a statement. Because of this, weve launched Fortnite for Android on the Google Play Store. We hope that Google will revise its policies and business dealings in the near future, so that all developers are free to reach and engage in commerce with customers on Android and in the Play Store through open services, including payment services, that can compete on a level playing field. One of Epic's biggest complaints is that apps sold on the Play Store must use Googles payment service for microtransactionssomething Sweeney doesnt agree with. "Tying of a mandatory payment service with a 30 percent fee is illegal in the case of a distribution platform with over 50 percent market share," he said, noting that games sold on Epics store arent forced into using the companys own payment tech. Epic Games likes to point out that it only takes around a 12 percent cut from titles sold on its store, whereas Steam takes 30 percentuntil a games sales reach certain milestones. (Bloomberg Opinion) -- It was easy to miss in the middle of our Covid-19 madness but this week, the Supreme Court issued its most interesting decision of its current term so far. At issue was whether its constitutional for a state to allow for criminal conviction on a 10-2 jury verdict instead of requiring unanimity. But that wasnt what made the case interesting. Rather, the case, Ramos v. Louisiana, featured heated disputes that, for once, split the court not along squarely ideological lines but across them. One argument was about whether a laws racist historical origins are relevant to its constitutionality when there are modern, nonracist reasons for it. The other was about when the principle of judicial precedent should lead the court to uphold a prior decision even if it considers the decision weak or wrong. Both disputes will have long-term consequences and the latter sheds some light on the perennial question of whether and when the court might overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that recognized a legal right to abortion. Two states, Louisiana and Oregon, have allowed for split-verdict criminal convictions. (Louisiana recently abolished the practice, but Ramos v. Lousiana arose before that happened.) Writing for the majority of the court, Justice Neil Gorsuch held that those laws are unconstitutional, because the Sixth Amendment jury trial right includes an implicit guarantee of jury unanimity. In his opinion, Gorsuch emphasized that both states demonstrated a history of racism in enacting their laws. Louisiana did so in 1898 as part of a state constitutional convention that was convened to establish the supremacy of the white race by suppressing African-Americans rights. The 10-2 rule was designed to make sure that one or two African-Americans on a jury couldnt block the conviction of an African-American defendant. Oregons law was adopted in 1930s, apparently under the influence of the Ku Klux Klans efforts to dilute the influence of racial, ethnic, and religious minorities on Oregon juries. Story continues The racist origin of these laws was not the only reason Gorsuch gave for rejecting split verdicts. But he argued that their racism provided a reason to discount a prior court decision, issued in 1972, that upheld the use of split-jury verdicts. Important parts of Gorsuchs opinion were joined by a striking mix of justices: liberals Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, and Sonia Sotomayor; but also, conservative Brett Kavanaugh. Archconservative Justice Clarence Thomas joined the result, although he wrote a separate opinion for obscure technical reasons having to do with his interpretation of how the 14th amendment applies the Bill of Rights to the states. Justice Samuel Alito, another staunch conservative who often votes with Gorsuch, dissented sharply. Alito harshly rejected the idea that the racist origin of the split verdict rules should matter given that there are good contemporary, nonracist reasons for it and that both states reenacted their rules in the modern era. The British Parliament adopted a similar rule in 1967, he pointed out, asking rhetorically, Was Parliament under the sway of the Klan? Alito also condemned Gorsuchs reliance on the racist history as an instance of the ad hominem fallacy, which discredits an argument based not on its content but on the identity of its author. For good measure, he basically accused Gorsuch of political correctness, saying that the court should set an example of rational and civil discourse instead of contributing to the worst current trends. Then there was the precedent problem. Gorsuch rejected the 1972 case on several grounds, including claiming that it didnt really form a precedent at all. Yet he also took pains to argue that the court shouldnt take precedent too seriously when the justices think its wrong as a matter of constitutional law. Kavanaugh went even further. He wrote a separate, 18-page concurrence the most significant piece of writing hes done since joining the court setting out what he considered his roadmap for when the court should overturn precedent. He boiled it down to three principles: Is the precedent not just wrong but egregiously wrong? Has it caused significant negative consequences for the world or the law? And would overruling the precedent upset settled reliance interests e.g., existing laws and settled ways of doing things that rely on that precedent? Its hard not to see Kavanaughs opinion as a trial balloon for overturning Roe. That interpretation would explain why Justice Elena Kagan, a pragmatist and coalition-builder, joined Alitos dissent alongside Chief Justice John Roberts. Its not that Kagan thinks Alito would rely on precedent to uphold Roe. She knows he wouldnt. Rather, its that Roberts, the justice who cares most about precedent right now, might be the swing vote who could save Roe not because he thinks its correct, but because its been settled law for nearly half a century. By sticking to Robertss side, Kagan made sure the current decision didnt feature all the liberals on the same side while the conservatives split. More importantly, she made sure that at least one liberal was standing up for precedent even in a case where liberals would ordinarily favor the opposite result. Thats exactly the stance that she and other liberals will want Roberts to take when the courts other conservatives make their increasingly inevitable push to overturn Roe. Kavanaughs concurring opinion strongly suggests that hes got Roe on the brain. Its still not utterly inconceivable that he might stand with Roberts if the chief justice refuses to overturn Roe. But the odds of Kavanaugh doing so are definitely lower now than they were before. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Noah Feldman is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist and host of the podcast Deep Background. He is a professor of law at Harvard University and was a clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter. His books include The Three Lives of James Madison: Genius, Partisan, President. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. Valerie Jarrett is seen sitting to the left of former President Barack Obama in a file photo. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo) Valerie Jarrett: No Chance Michelle Obama Will Be Bidens Vice President Valerie Jarrett, a former adviser under the Obama administration, said there is no chance former First Lady Michelle Obama would be presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Bidens running mate. Biden, a former vice president, has insisted that he would choose a woman as his running mate. Jarrett, however, said any recent speculation that Obama would be Bidens vice president is not based on reality. The reason why Im being so unequivocal is that there just simply has never been a time when shes expressed an interest in running for office, Jarrett told The Hill. Shes not demurring here. Shes not being hard to get. She doesnt want the job. There have been reports suggesting that former 2020 candidates such as Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) could be tapped to be Bidens running mate. Other prospective candidates include Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, who has been especially vocal about getting the job in recent weeks. But should the former first lady, who is still considered a popular figure among Democrats, express an interest in the job, Biden would jump at the opportunity. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and his wife Michelle stand on stage with running mate Joe Biden and his wife Jill during their election night victory rally at Grant Park. (Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images) Id take her in a heartbeat, Biden told Pittsburghs KDKA this week. Shes brilliant. She knows the way around. She is a really fine woman. The Obamas are great friends. Jarrett said that its not a likely scenario. Of course he would take her. Thats not the question, she said in the interview. The question is, is this the way in which she wants to continue her life of service? Jarrett said that Obama has no interest in being a political figure and wants to be a public servant. Shes only interested in the service component, she explained. Former President Barack Obama, meanwhile, recently endorsed Biden for president, although Michelle Obama hasnt made any public comments. The former president made the announcement on Twitter earlier this month, writing, Im proud to endorse my friend [Joe Biden] for President of the United States. In an accompanying video, Obama, who didnt mention President Donald Trump by name, said that Biden has the most progressive platform of any major-party candidate in U.S. history. President Obama understands, as I do, that we will come through this crisis stronger. And then well not only rebuild this nationwe will transform it, Biden said about Obama. By Akbar Mammadov Armenia took advantage of the novel coronavirus pandemic to hold illegal elections in Azerbaijans occupied Nagorno-Karabkah region recently, expert from Bosnia and Herzegovina Sabahudin Hadzialich said in an interview with Day.az on 22 April. "The crisis that the world is faced with due to the [coronavirus] pandemic, has enabled Armenia to use political manipulation with the help of the lie about the elections in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, which is a member of the UN", Hadzialich, Doctor of Science in Media and Communication in Bosnia and Herzegovina, said. He stressed that Armenia seeks to legalize the impossible, even with the help of illegitimate "elections" held on March 31st and on second round on April 14th, 2020 in Azerbaijans occupied lands. He further condemned the international communitys lack of response to the Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan that has been going on for 30 years now. Armenia continues its evil intentions, realizing that there is no pressure... Inaction is complicity in a crime, no matter how much we keep silent about it Today I want to warn world forces - your irresponsibility gives rise to doubts, doubts give rise to anger, and anger causes a reaction to your laziness and ignorance, Hadzialich said. The expert showed the example from the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992 to 1995) that was not stopped by world powers that never opened their eyes to what was happening. Hadzialich also touched upon the resolutions of the international organizations, especially the UN Security Council. The UN Security Council, like many other organizations, has repeatedly called on Armenia to reason, but the appeals of the world community were ignored by Armenia. In turn, Azerbaijan seeks to build good neighborly and international relations with the help of a reasonable and well-grounded policy, the expert said. The methodology of scientific research, which can geopolitically explain the desire to steal and control other people's things, is nothing more than an inferiority complex, which manifests itself in the international context in Armenia, he went on saying. He added that the only way to solve the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the recognition of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in a conflict over Azerbaijans Nagorno-Karabakh breakaway region, which along with seven adjacent regions was occupied by Armenian forces in a war in the early 1990s. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and around one million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France has been mediating the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict since the signing of the volatile cease-fire agreement in 1994. The Minsk Groups efforts have resulted in no progress and to this date, Armenia has failed to abide by the UN Security Council resolutions (822, 853, 874 and 884) that demand the withdrawal of Armenian military forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. --- Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz New Delhi: The Kapoor star kids - Janhvi and Khushi give major sibling goals to fans. They are amongst the popular young celebs on social media and have a huge fanbase already. Janhvi recently turned chef and baked a carrot cake for sister Khushi. However, looks like Khushi didn't like the cake that much and her expression after eating one scoop of it is epic. Janhvi had posted the video on her Instagram story which has been shared by various fan clubs. Watch it here: The quarantine time seems to be bringing the loved ones closer, if not anything else. The 'stay home, stay safe' policy is important to stop the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus outbreak which has claimed thousands of lives worldwide. Khushi Kapoor is currently studying at New York Film Academy. On the work front, Janhvi has 'Gunjan SaxenaThe Kargil Girl', Takht, Dostana and 'Roohi Afzana' in her kitty. 'Gunjan SaxenaThe Kargil Girl' happens to be a Dharma Production. It is a biopic which tells the story of our country's first Air Force woman officer who went to war. While the audience is lapping up the sense of nostalgia that comes with re-runs of old and popular shows amid this nationwide lockdown, actors of those shows have all the reasons to be emotional about it. Shashank Vyas, who essayed the pivotal character of grown-up Jagya in Balika Vadhu, his debut show, says the entire team of the show, was very moved on the first day of the re-run. We have a Whatsapp group and the first day was very emotional for us We talk on the group everyday and share old photos from the sets, adds Vyas, who is happy with the response the show is garnering once again. Naturally, he delves upon memories associated with the show, as he shares, This was my first show. I got paid to learn what good acting is all about. I wasnt a trained actor when I joined Balika Vadhu. So initially, I would fail to deliver and would often get scolded badly. At one point, I even decided to quit the show. But soon, Vyas decided to make things work out for the best. I realised I was trying to prove myself initially, but then I started to relax and focused on the job. I would rehearse my line, learn them by heart and also learn from other actors. From Kya kar raha hai yeh ladka to Shashank, dekh le yeh scene tujhe sahi lag raha hai was difficult, but fruitful, he recounts. The other connect that he has with Balika Vadhu is that his mother was very fond of the show. I came to Mumbai in January 2009 to become an actor and she left us in February. Balika Vadhu happened (to me) in 2010. She must have recommended God my name or else how could some like me get this opportunity? he adds. Vyas, 33, and his father are watching the show daily. My father says its a milestone show on Indian television, he says. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Only nine players make up the O'Neill St. Mary's girls basketball roster in 2021-22 and three of those nine are sophomores. All three started last year as freshmen, all three are averaging in double figures this year and all three have led the Cardinals to an 8-2 start. Lone Star Beer not only rolled out its first-ever seasonal beer this week, but the iconic Texas beer brand also launched an initiative to help Texas restaurant and bar workers in need. The San Antonio-based companys new Mexican-style lager, deemed Rio Jade, is now available at select Houston-area Kroger stores. Rio Jade will hit the shelves at Costo on May 11 and H-E-B will begin carrying it on May 13. To find a location near you, you can use Lone Star's online beer finder. It is also available for delivery via Drizly. Chef-inspired meals: H-E-B is now selling meals from Hugo's and Backstreet Cafe, thanks to Hugo Ortega Brewed at Lone Star's partner brewery, Oasis Texas Brewing Company in Austin, Rio Jade was inspired by the Texas landscape and bodies of water in Texas and Mexico, according to the release. The lager, which has an alcohol by volume (ABV) of 4.5 percent, is presented in a turquoise can designed by artist Cruz Ortiz of Burnt Nopal creative studio in Houston. Lone Star characterizes the beers flavor profile as crisp and refreshing, with the sweetness of flaked maize balanced by spicy, floral and citrus notes from the hops. Rio Jade is priced at $7.99 per six-pack. The beer perfectly represents what we value at Lone Star connecting to the land and people of Texas, providing new and refreshing ways to enjoy our great state, and above all else, making delicious tasting beer for Texans everywhere, Lone Star brand director Emily Hoyle said in the release. DIY tacos, pizza: Houston restaurants help you make meals at home amid coronavirus pandemic. Lone Star also announced on Tuesday that is has launched a goodwill initiative. Keep The Lights On Yall was created to help support members of the bar and restaurant community during the coronavirus pandemic. The fundraising campaign includes the sale of an exclusive T-shirt designed by Texas Humor. The shirt, available online for $25, features a design that pays homage to classic restaurant neon lights. All proceeds benefit Southern Smoke, a nonprofit organization championed by Houston chef Chris Shepherd that supports the food and beverage community and their suppliers. "The independent service industry members affected by this crisis are near and dear to our hearts," Lone Star brand manager Daniel Crawford said in the release. "They are a huge pillar of our community and the backbone of our brand. They spend their days providing amazing hospitality to us, and we wanted to share that back during these wild times. We are incredibly grateful for Texas Humors' support in this and excited to share this message to support such a great cause. To help states grapple with the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak, the centre had announced that certain industries would be allowed to function starting April 20. Uttar Pradesh allowed 11 types of industries, including paper, sugar mills, cement, fertilisers, among others to start operations. The carpet industry was another. India exports carpets worth about Rs 12,000 crore annually. Eastern UPs Bhadohi district alone accounts for Rs 7,000 crore of the exports, according to Carpet Export Promotion Council India (CEPC) data. However, carpet manufacturers in the district are disgruntled because the relaxation of the curbs has come with conditions which they said were not feasible. At least 40 carpet manufacturers and factory owners, who attended a meeting with district authorities on April 20 have unanimously decided not to begin operations despite the financial losses they are incurring during the lockdown, as the authorities have asked them to provide accommodation to workers inside factory premises. This is not possible, they said, as factories have not been designed for residential purposes and they would not be able to guarantee that the coronavirus would not spread in such makeshift accommodations. The Bhadohi district administration on Monday held a meeting with the members of All India Carpet Manufacturers Association (AICMA) and CEPC to give them permission to open the factories starting April 21 as long as certain conditions were fulfilled. The administration asked factory owners to screen workers, make sure they wore masks and maintained social distance, and significantly only employ those workers who didnt live near Covid-19 hotspots. The authorities also asked factory owners to ensure that the workers are provided accommodation within factories. In a meeting on Monday, the carpet manufacturers and owners of carpet factories were apprised of the guidelines and instructions required to be followed by them. They have been allowed to operate the factories with certain conditions as per instructions from the government, Deputy commissioner industries, Bhadohi, Harendra Pratap Singh confirmed. According to AICMA executive member and former honorary secretary Piyush Barnwal, not all conditions are practical, which is why the owners have decided not to reopen the factories as long as the lockdown continues. The administration has imposed many conditions and it is not possible for us to implement them practically. Therefore, we have decided to not run our factories and start production till the lockdown is over, he said. According to some owners, factories cannot be converted into proper residential facilities due to a lack of space and the existing design. Barnwal said that in most factories, it would not be possible to keep even 50% of the workers together on the premises, and the possibility of spread of Sars-Cov-2 could not be ruled out. Bhadohi district has one case of a Covid-19 patient: an 18-year-old migrant worker in a makeshift shelter home at a college tested positive on April 12. He was later shifted to an isolation ward where he is under treatment. Imtiyaz Ahmad, owner of Textico, a carpet manufacturing and export unit based in Bhadohi said he would not open his factory for the same reason. The government should ease the conditions, he said. Another factory owner, who doesnt wish to be named said that while it is possible to screen workers, it is difficult to find out which area they have visited or whom they met in the past 15 days. Rajkumar (who goes by his first name), a carpet weaver who lives in the outskirts of Bhadohi said that it would be difficult for weavers like him to live in factories at this time, as this was the harvesting season. The carpet industry provides employment to 2 million persons nationwide. A majority of them, like Rajkumar, belong to the unorganized sector. In UP, for instance, the industry provided employment to the people largely in rural pockets of Mirzapur, Bhadohi and Varanasi. After the carpets are woven usually at home, women comprise a large section of the weavers they are carried to factories, where they are washed, stretched, bound and made ready for shipment. The Indian floor coverings industry, which includes the carpet manufacturing hub in and around Bhadohi is already staring at heavy losses as at least 40% international orders have been cancelled in past three months due to uncertainty in the international market caused by the pandemic, said CEPC chairman Siddh Nath Singh. With the lockdown in place, existing orders have been on hold for the past month. Around 60% orders are on hold. Of these around 2/5th are at the ports awaiting shipment and one fifth is held up in godowns due to lack of transportation. Uncertainty looms large over these orders too, Singh said. Even if the manufacturers begin production of the carpets, Singh feared that it would be difficult to get export orders from the United States of America and the European market comprising Italy, Germany, France and Spain both of which form the bulk of our export market at 55% and 25% respectively. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON NEW YORK - Esther Roman wasnt even in the room when she witnessed what she describes as probably the holiest thing Ive ever seen. A doctor whose patient was suffering from COVID-19 had used an iPad to connect with Roman, a 38-year-old staff chaplain at Manhattans Mount Sinai Morningside hospital, and members of the patients family. As the patients family told him that if they could, they would be in the room to comfort him, Roman saw in the digital frame the doctor reach out and stroke his hair. I dont think that image will ever leave me, Roman said. During the pandemic, she added, the sense of purpose and the solidarity, and bearing witness to each other, are things that help us to fill our tank. As the coronavirus claims tens of thousands of American lives, spiritual counsellors like Roman are facing an already daunting job, rendered life-altering by the pandemic: bringing faith and connection to the sick and bereaved and honouring the dead. Younger religious leaders have stepped into bigger leadership roles, assuming more risk or wielding more technological know-how, but the virus has taken a toll on the pastoral care of clergy, rabbis and imams of all ages. Depending on the area, religious leaders are limited in or restricted from giving any in-person care to those battling COVID-19. Father Matthew ODonnell, a pastor at Chicagos St. Columbanus Church, is one of 24 younger Catholic priests who have volunteered to safely administer sacraments and provide other care to those in the region suffering from the virus. ODonnell, 33, said he feels completely fine taking on a higher degree of risk. He described following safety precautions beyond donning the N95 mask, gloves, and other personal protective equipment he was given as part of his participation. The oil he uses to anoint the sick is sterilized after each individual use, for instance and he cleans himself and his clothes after every hospital visit. Another New York hospital chaplain who helps families cope with the pandemic, Mount Sinais Silvia Mejia, is largely barred from entering patients rooms while she watches some of her own loved ones battle the virus. This crisis affects us all so personally, she said. It feels like you just need to take care of yourself a lot better, otherwise the risk of burning out and risk of overextending yourself is a lot greater. The struggle to bring spiritual comfort is especially acute in the hotspot that is New York City, where 14,427 people have died from probable or confirmed cases as of Tuesday, and it extends far beyond the hospital. Amid the suffering and loss, social distancing has made communal prayers complicated at a time when many are craving connection and community warmth. Even so, dozens joined a recent virtual dua, or supplication, session led by Imam Khalid Latif, chaplain for the Islamic Center at New York University. Latif, his eyes closed and his hands raised, prayed for those battling the virus one person was on a ventilator, he said; another is suffering from both coronavirus and cancer. He then somberly read the names of some of those who have died. We ask, ya Allah, that you grant them all peace and entrance into your Jannah (paradise) without any judgment, he said. Held over Zoom, the prayer was also streamed on Facebook and Instagram. Were all praying together in a way that still works functionally within the religious parameters and offers people an opportunity to find healing and solace, the 37-year-old imam said by phone. There is kind of that sense of physical separation not necessitating spiritual disconnectedness. Still, laying the dead to rest offers its own challenges, as inundated funeral homes restrict in-person spiritual presences. Clerics of all faiths grapple with doing right by the dead while protecting the living. Rev. Roger Jackson, senior pastor at St. Pauls United Methodist Church in Brooklyn, said he would only be permitted to spend 15 minutes at the graveside service for one of his churchs two members who recently died. Theres really very little answers we have as pastors on how to help (family members) through that process, because its so unusual and so different than what were used to, Jackson said. Rabbi Joshua Stanton of Manhattans East End Temple, steered his congregation through the difficult choice to suspend all in-person care, including funerals, to help protect collective health during the peak of the pandemic. Even so, Stanton recalled, he prayed digitally with a dying worshipper and it was not the same as holding their hand but at the same time profoundly meaningful. And a recent funeral conducted on Zoom left him absolutely emotionally drained, its impact as deep as in person. In Georgia, Imam Bilal Ali, of the Gainesville Islamic Cultural Center, recently slipped into a protective suit and wore gloves and a mask as he headed to a hospital to perform janazah, or funeral, prayers. It was his first for someone who had died after contracting the virus. The body was already bagged. Ali, who has been volunteering at a funeral home, helped put it into a second bag and a wooden box. Ordinarily, Ali would have washed the body three times with water and soap before dabbing a fragrance on the skin and wrapping it with a shroud. Instead, he wiped soil over areas of the bag. Known as tayammum, the ritual may replace the washing in dire circumstances. You have to be spiritually, mentally prepared, Ali said. When I leave my home ... I never know if Im going to return home in the same condition. The hardest part? Not seeing the face of the person he made prayers for, he said. Grief-stricken families struggling with virus restrictions are left almost in a daze or puzzled. Its surreal, he said. You cant kiss them and hug them anymore? Theres no closure. - Fam reported from Winter Park, Florida. Associated Press photojournalist Bebeto Matthews contributed to this report from New York. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support from the Lilly Endowment through the Religion News Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for this content. ___ India stands in solidarity with the people of Nepal in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday, after his Nepalese counterpart thanked him for supply of essential medicines. Modi also said India-Nepal relationship is special. "Our bonds are not only strong but also deep-rooted," Modi wrote on twitter. "India stands in solidarity with people and the Government of Nepal to fight COVID-19 pandemic. He was responding to a tweet by Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, who thanked India for supplies of medicine to fight the pandemic. "I thank Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji for India's generous support of 23 tonnes of essential medicines to Nepal, to fight COVID-19 Pandemic. The medicines were handedover to the Minister for Health and Population today by the Ambassador of India," the Nepal PM wrote. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) New Delhi, April 22 : Full service carrier Vistara has deployed its newly-inducted Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft to transport relief material, medical supplies and essential commercial goods during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The airline said the move will support Centre's 'Mission Lifeline UDAN' initiative. "Vistara started operating the cargo flights on Sunday, 19 April 2020 between Delhi and Mumbai, and will operate more such flights over the next two weeks, carrying vital supplies and commercial cargo to and from various parts of India, including but not limited to Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai," the airline said in a statement. "Each of the cargo flights on Vistara's Dreamliner have a capacity of 20 tonnes, ensuring continuous supply and replenishment of medicines, equipment and other necessary goods where necessary." Vistara added that it will ensure that operating and assisting staff on al cargo flights, including tech crew, engineers, security personnel and carg o loaders, take all necessary precautions for their health and safety while on duty. "The airline will continue to explore more opportunities of cargo operations in the following weeks," the statement said. PR-Inside.com: 2020-04-22 06:16:22 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 938 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 SEOUL, REPUBLIC OF KOREA / ACCESSWIRE / April 22, 2020 / The COVID19 virus, also known as the coronavirus, is an epidemic that is causing many deaths and spreading rapidly across Asia, including China, Korea, Japan, and the United States, Europe, and Africa.China and South Korea are the regions that quickly started the war against the coronavirus.The two countries once faced a massive increase in the number of infections and uncontrollable situations. However, high virus screening rates and a decreased number of confirmed cases show that they are effectively responding to the virus.In the case of Korea, the government prevented social anxiety and systematically managed the spread of the infectious disease through systematic communication and leadership between the public officials of the Central and Local Governments, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the police, and doctors, nurses, and volunteers. This includes drive-through inspections and the development of test kits exclusive for coronavirus. Furthermore, they were able to effectively reduce the virus infection by delivering preventive measures and post-infection measures to the people.And in April, Korea has become a country that receives official requests from various countries for help in dealing with the coronavirus. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), which is in a fierce battle with the coronavirus, has disclosed details on how the Korean government responded to coronavirus and what information was delivered to educational institutions, administrative agencies, hospitals, police, public institutions, business people, and the public.However, these materials are currently in Korean, making it difficult to verify in various countries.Blockchain expert Xsodion's representative Hoyeol Shin, Director Kwangpyo Ko, and 15 other volunteers joined forces to translate the data released by KCDC into English and Portuguese. They also made it into a website, mobile web, and android application for easy access to information on how the Korean government responded to corona. In addition to this, the service also introduces WHO's response to the coronavirus.The volunteer team operates under the name Xby45. It is currently building a system to disclose information in diverse languages on viruses that threaten people, record them in a blockchain, and provide accurate information to organizations that want them. Moreover, the team is composed of active professionals in various sectors, including IT developers, doctors, nurses, businessmen, and celebrities, and is from diverse countries, including Korea, the USA, Brazil, Thailand, and China.The Xby45 team's projects can be found on the WHOREPORT APP and www.whoreport.com WHOREPORT consists of national situations, local information, preventive measures, post-infection measures, and Korean government manuals. The language is primarily in English, and currently, English, Korean, and Portuguese manuals are available. We would like to support various languages but lack competent personnel. If there are any volunteers by country, please apply via email.Prevention is important for coronavirus, but post-infection response is much more vital. Although post-infection policies vary by country, the one thing to remember is to call the coronavirus center before going to the hospital, notify the symptoms, and follow the directions of the center to protect the medical institution, surroundings, and yourself. If you go to the hospital directly, all doctors and nurses who accessed the medical center will be exposed to the infection of the coronavirus. This has been highlighted as the most critical problem in Korea and China, which experienced early coronavirus.Both the nation and citizens need to pay attention and work together to fight the virus in the long run.The coronavirus is causing many deaths in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. "Now is the time for all nations and people to join forces to fight the virus and overcome it. Please request if there is a need for any information from us. We will cooperate for whatever it might be to save one life." said the Xby45 team.If you look into the data from KCDC, documents such as event management guidelines, collective facility and multi-use facility response guidelines, standards for Business Continuity Plan (BCP), recommendations and precautions for minimizing travel, guidelines for collective event disinfection management, disinfection of multi-use facilities, and workplace response guidelines are provided. Other guidelines for neonatal intensive care unit management and medical-related preventive management will be added. If there are any other necessary documents, you can apply for them through separate inquiry. The Xby45 will forward the inquiry to KCDC to request for cooperation.Furthermore, the representative of Xsodion, Hoyeol Shin said coronavirus has caused much racial discrimination in several countries. He hoped we recognized once again that Asia is only the place where the virus appeared, and Asians are not the cause of the disease. He also wished that everyone could wisely overcome the virus situation with a caring mind, not racism.The Xby45 team's project is the first global team to respond to the coronavirus, which is causing much death. As the interview says, now is the time for everyone in the world to join forces to win the virus, and no anger should be expressed against any person or country in particular.Xby45 Volunteer ListDirector: Hoyeol Shin(xsodion), Kwangpyo Ko(xsodion)Planning: Kwangpyo Ko, Sungbok Han(xsodion)Development: Jincheol Lee(Freelancer), Kiho Ko(Smilegate)Medical Advice: Evellyn Lorena(mario ribeiro hospital), Clara Lee(north shore university hospital), Dain Kim (Busan Paik Hospital)Translation: Cindy Leann(xsodion), Chanhyeok Myeong(Handong University), Evellyn Lorena(mario ribeiro hospital)Gathering and consulting information: Malik Yusef(universal Music Group), Moley CHUNG(innosonian), Hanji Kim(xsodion), Junhee Jo(Chung-Ang University), Jeongeun Shin(bcnanumhouse), Yumin Myeong(Grace International School), Burundi Partlow(Universal Music Publishing Group)Participant Companies: XSODION, COLT8, INNOSONIANMedia contactName: Hoyeol ShinTelephone Researchers from Michigan State University released a study on "sextortion" - a lesser-known internet crime that poses a threat to adults and minors - that sheds light on the importance of protecting the public from online criminals. Sextortion is the use of intimate images or videos that have been captured to then extort compliance from a victim. What makes it different from any other crime is the threat to release. A perpetrator could say, 'I have these images of you and will publish them unless you...' to get more images or even in exchange for money." Roberta Liggett O'Malley, MSU criminal justice doctoral student and co-author of the study In many cases of sextortion, perpetrators don't actually possess the images or videos they're using as leverage. Instead, offenders manipulate victim behavior by tapping into the fear of not knowing whether the threat is real. The research -- published in Journal of Interpersonal Violence -- suggests the current focus on dissemination of images online may overshadow the issue of threat-based harassment online, like sextortion. While most U.S. states have laws against revenge porn, the study makes a case for increasing awareness and changing legislation to include other forms of internet-based sexual abuse crimes. "Much of the fear comes from the belief that hackers can do anything involving technology, from the ability to see someone's web browser history to hacking into a webcam or Nest device," said Karen Holt, assistant professor of criminal justice and co-author. "That's why sextortion is so effective -- it creates a huge amount of uncertainty and fear that victims end up complying versus saying, 'I think you're bluffing, and if I ignore you, then I'm fine.'" Liggett O'Malley and Holt said men are less likely to report these crimes to police out of embarrassment or shame, but also don't experience the longevity of harassment experienced by minors. "The victims are overwhelmingly minors and females, but if the objective is to get money, they're almost always targeting men," Liggett O'Malley said. "These two groups of people experience a similar crime in very different ways." Analysis of 152 cyber sextortion offenders uncovered four distinct types: minor-focused, targeting victims under 18 years of age; cybercrime, targeting victims using computer-based tactics like hacking; intimately violent, targeting former or current romantic partners; and transnational, targeting strangers strictly for financial reasons. Holt explained that the four themes reflect different motivations for what offenders want from their victims. A survey of 1,631 cyber sextortion victims found 46% were minors, making crimes against minors a focus for law enforcement and in research literature. "The disproportionate focus on minor victims has led to new laws that protect minors from adult sexual solicitation online, but there are few legal protections for adult male and female victims," Liggett O'Malley said. Researchers are starting to see sextortion being used by a lot of other perpetrators. Within a domestic violence context, partners may share images consensually, only to have those images later used as leverage in the relationship. In other instances, transnational organizations employ scams in which individuals pretend to be a man or women on the internet, engaging in webcam sessions with victims and immediately threatening to release a recording unless money is provided. Awareness and reporting of sextortion crimes, while acting responsibly online, are key in protecting adults and children. "As digital citizens, we have to start advocating for more accountability on behalf of platforms to take these images down, or to report harassment," Holt said. "A lot of offline crimes have an online component, and oftentimes law enforcement and our behavior don't catch up. We need to think about our own personal safety, both offline and online." Researchers like Liggett O'Malley and Holt also advocate for federal laws to address the legal loopholes of sextortion. "We can't only be focused on revenge porn," Liggett O'Malley said. "We need to stop and think about all the ways in which images are used against people and to think about the way we construct these laws to ensure there are pathways for prosecution and arrest." A man opened fire in Mahim in central Mumbai on Wednesday evening, the police said. Nobody was injured in the incident which took place on Cadle Road near Mahim Police Station, an official said. The accused allegedly fired one round at a man who was standing in the gallery of his building, he said, adding further details were awaited. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Last year was the hottest in history across Europe as temperature records were shattered by a series of extreme heatwaves across the continent, the European Union's satellite monitoring surface said on Wednesday. In its annual report on the state of the climate, the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said that 11 of the continent's 12 warmest years on record have been since 2000 as greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. Warm conditions and summer heatwaves contributed to widespread drought across southern Europe, while areas of the Arctic were close to one degree Celsius hotter than a typical year, it said. Overall, temperatures across Europe have been 2C hotter during the last five years than they were in the latter half of the 19th century, C3S's data showed. The year 2019 globally was second-hottest only to 2016, a year that experienced an exceptionally strong El Nino warming event. C3S director Carlo Buontempo said that while 2019 was Europe's hottest year on record, it was important to focus on the continent's long-term heating. "One exceptional warm year does not constitute a warming trend, but to have detailed information from our operational service, that covers many different aspects of our climate, we are able to connect the dots to learn more about how it is changing," he said. Some parts of Europe experienced periods up to 4C hotter than the historic baseline last year, and heatwaves -- notably in June and July -- saw temperature records shattered in France, Germany and Britain. The Paris climate deal commits nations to limit global temperature rises to "well below" 2C above pre-industrial levels. To do so, and to stand any hope of meeting the accord's more ambitious cap of 1.5C of warming, the UN says emissions from fossil fuel use must fall 7.6 per cent annually by 2030. While carbon pollution levels are expected to drop significantly in 2020 due to the economic slowdown from the COVID-19 pandemic, there are fears that emissions will surge back once a vaccine is found. "The response to the COVID-19 crisis could exacerbate the climate crisis if bailouts of the fossil fuel industry and fossil-intensive sectors are not conditional on a transition to clean technologies," said Cameron Hepburn, director of the University of Oxford's Smith School of Enterprise and the Andrew Shepherd, director of the University of Leeds' Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling, said C3S's data was all the more worrying as it foreshadowed accelerated melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet. "We can't avoid the rapid changes in climate that are happening around our planet, even if they occur miles away in the polar regions, because they affect our weather today and will affect our coastlines in the future," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) (Newser) Both Politico and the New York Times frame it as an "abrupt" tweet from the president: "I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea," wrote President Trump on Wednesday morning. It comes a week after 11 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy vessels came very close to six US Navy and Coast Guard ships in the Persian Gulf and zipped around at high speeds. The Times notes Trump said nothing at the time. Politico spoke with a former defense official who said that if such an order was made, it would be a major shake-up to the current rules of engagement, which stipulate that commanders respond only to direct threats; it gives the example of an Iranian ship firing at an American one. story continues below Harassment doesn't fall under the umbrella of "direct threat," says Michael Mulroy, who was recently the Pentagon's Middle East policy chief. "The US Navy has clear rules of engagement ... [that] are consistent with all applicable laws of the sea and armed conflict," and escalate from audible warnings to flares to maneuvers; firing shots generally come as a last resort. A tweet likely isn't sufficient to change those rules of engagement, explains former Navy Secretary Ray Mabus. The Times spoke with a Defense Department official who says no formal policy directive from the president has been received. Another source says there have been no repeats of last week's incident. (Read more Iran stories.) 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 Research by KPMG discovered a strong correlation between leaders who actively communicate purpose and their team engagement and morale. They found people are three times more likely to consider leaving a company when leaders dont discuss purpose, with double the turnover rate. These results were consistent across all generations. Unsurprisingly, increased engagement also goes hand-in-hand with better business performance. Professor of Global Business Raj Sisodia found purpose-led companies outperformed the S&P 500 by ten times the financial returns between 1996 and 2011. For leaders, purpose is fundamental to a great employee experience building the crucial connections between people, their work, and the organisation. But to define and articulate it effectively requires an understanding of how humans experience meaning. Throughout history there have been numerous theories, typically seeking a single, collective purpose, and highly influenced by the social themes of the time. Today, the post-postmodern understanding of meaning is comfortably ambiguous. Its widely accepted that purpose is a narrative humans are inherently compelled to derive and embody. Simply: our purpose in life is whatever we make it. Family; religion; conservation; exploration; creativity; work whatever it is, we hold an unwavering belief we exist on earth to do this one thing. Its a reason to live; our enduring legacy making it a fundamental part of our identity. Wherever we individually find meaning, it tends to be bigger than ourselves. We talk about existing to serve the greater or higher purpose, serving the community, providing for our family, standing up for the under-represented, or saving the world. We share information, but we evangelise purpose. And the more we feel our contribution matters in the wider context, the more fervent our belief. Its no surprise then, that purpose plays such a critical role in the performance of individuals, teams, and organisations. Not big necessarily, but meaningful Purpose doesnt need to be monumental, it just needs to be meaningful. What are we working together to achieve? Does it make a difference? Is it worthy work for a worthwhile cause? These are the considerations that motivate people over the pursuit of profit. And when comparing two jobs with similar wages, the one with greater purpose will have greater appeal. Research also shows were more inherently motivated when were aware our work helps others. Psychologist Adam Grant conducted a study in which university students whod received scholarships spoke to operators from the call centre which had raised the funds. A month later, operators were spending 142 per cent more time on the phone with a revenue increase of 171 per cent. Simply hearing the impact of their work was enough to make a massive difference. Never shy from challenging The common fear when articulating purpose is that it will seem unachievable or unrealistic. As a result, it tends to be watered down until comfortably tepid. But this isnt the time to be realistic its an opportunity to be idealistic. A study by psychologist Dan Ariely found the more effort we invest, the more pride we feel. He had participants follow origami instructions, and on completion, the builders, as well as a group of observers, were asked how much theyd pay for it. He then repeated the process, this time without instructions. Congruent with the ownership effect, the builders valued their initial work at five times the amount as the objective observers. However, in the instance without instructions, the difference was even more exaggerated. Despite a worse result, people valued their work more when it was challenging. There is no one-size-fits-all So how do we get everyone to adopt our purpose? Quite simply: we cant. Just as we all have our own individual purpose in life, not everyone seeks the same meaning in their work. And thats ok. All that matters is our purpose resonates with the people who matter, and inspires them to strive towards it. Everything drives the narrative Like any good narrative, everything should exist to support the story. Purpose should be singular and coherent, filtering from vision statement, mission, values and behaviours, to strategy, structures and the way things work. If the vision describes a certain outcome, but leaders actions contradict it belief wavers. If the mission involves innovation and people are hampered by clunky technology conviction falters. It isnt about perfection, its about congruence in the things that matter. Emotions also play a significant role. Purpose isnt driven by logic, otherwise we wouldnt see people chain themselves in front of bulldozers or pass up six-figure executive wages to work with people they like doing jobs they love. Reason only takes us so far, its emotion that compels us to commit everything. Support purpose with structure While purpose provides the evocation, we need to support it with structure to help people work towards it. Communication is a crucial component. KPMGs findings on team engagement and morale didnt relate to organisations that had purpose, it related to organisations where leaders communicated purpose. People need to know the purpose the vision and mission understand it, and be able to easily articulate it to others. However, its just as important they know the behaviours required to get there, what it looks like to achieve it, and the individual and collective reward. Numerous studies on motivation show the value of making peoples efforts visible. We dont necessarily need massive advances to stay motivated, but tracking progress against our objective and sharing it regularly helps people feel their work is making a difference. Jen Jackson is founder and CEO of award-winning employee experience company Everyday Massive, speaker, and author of How to Speak Human (Wiley, 2018). She works with forward-thinking leaders to transform the employee experience increasing connection, improving communication, and building capability in leaders and teams. Find out more at www.everydaymassive.com New Jersey just got 200,000 medical masks from Taiwan, the latest overseas donation to one of the states hardest hit by the coronavirus. Taiwan earlier donated 100,000 masks to the state. CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage Rep. Chris Smith, a senior member of the House Foreign Relations Committee and a critic of China who has held several hearings on human rights in that country, helped arrange the donation. We are happy to accept this life-saving gift from partners who respect human rights and share our values and aspirations, said Smith, R-4th Dist. Smith earlier obtained 4,000 masks from Hong Kong democracy activists for CentraState Medical Center in Freehold, which is in his district. He led the fight in Congress to support protests against a Chinese government crackdown in the former British territory, and was the lead House sponsor of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act signed into law last November. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription. Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Your tax-deductible gift today powers our reporters and keeps us independent. We rely on you, our reader, not paywalls to stay funded because we believe important news and information should be freely accessible to all. Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe Our news is free on LAist. To make sure you get our coverage: Sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter. To support our non-profit public service journalism: Donate Now. By Philip Ewing | NPR The White House's coronavirus task force convened its daily news conference on Tuesday as political wars continue over how the U.S. will try to move into reconstruction after the disaster. Elsewhere in Washington, members of Congress reached an agreement on about $484 billion more in relief funding to help small businesses and others hurt by the mitigation measures aimed at slowing the spread of the virus. The Senate passed the measure on Tuesday and the House could vote as soon as Wednesday. President Trump is expected to sign it into law. Trump also said he'd agreed with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo that the Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort -- which had deployed to New York City to provide surge treatment capacity for the pandemic -- could return to its berth in Norfolk, Virginia at the earliest opportunity. icon DON'T MISS ANY L.A. CORONAVIRUS NEWS Get our daily newsletters for the latest on COVID-19 and other top local headlines. Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Cuomo and Trump also said they've established New York has enough ventilators to meet its needs and some of them can be sent to Massachusetts or elsewhere as needed, Trump said. Trump and his top lieutenants, meanwhile, are still fighting a number of skirmishes over federalism and the dividing line between the power of the president and the powers of the states. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo gives a press briefing about the coronavirus crisis on April 17, 2020 in Albany, New York. (Matthew Cavanaugh/Getty Images) Trump's latest gambits and subplots include: A pending executive order that would "temporarily suspend" immigration into the United States for 60 days, putting a stop to the issuance of green cards. The policy will not apply to temporary workers, Trump said. The order follows years of hard-line policy by Trump on immigration and what he calls the importance of borders. The president said on Tuesday that his goal was to keep immigrants from becoming citizens and applying for jobs that had been vacated by Americans laid off during the pandemic. "We must first take care of the American worker," Trump said. It wasn't immediately clear how many newcomers might have contended for the posts from which Americans have been laid off, especially given the nudge from the government for employers not to terminate workers. Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin speaks as U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during the daily coronavirus task force briefing at the White House on April 21, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Congress and the Treasury Department have tried to create incentives for employers to keep workers on payrolls with forgivable loans and other support in the trillions of dollars of relief authorized by Washington. Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Tuesday that he estimated 30 million American jobs have been saved thanks to paycheck support, small business loan and other programs. More outflows of cash are pending from Washington. There's the legislation passed on Tuesday by the Senate. Trump and Mnuchin said they're also looking at another round of aid that focuses on infrastructure, especially rural broadband network capacity. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan talks to reporters during a news briefing in front of the Maryland State House April 17, 2020 in Annapolis, Maryland. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) An ongoing political duel with governors over power and responsibility in the pandemic and its aftermath. Cuomo has been a leading example, although he and Trump both said separately on Tuesday their meeting was productive. Trump's newer antagonists include Maryland's Republican governor, Larry Hogan, who ordered 500,000 coronavirus tests from South Korea after concluding there was insufficient testing capacity in the U.S. or the Free State. Trump maintains there is ample testing capacity in the United States if governors could only activate unused resources within their own states. Several governors and members of Congress, including Hogan, call this a fantasy and have faulted Trump or taken matters into their own hands or both. This article originally appeared on NPR.org. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 21, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GoldQuest Mining Corporation (TSXV:GQC, GoldQuest or the Company) The Dominican Republics Minister of Energy and Mines, Minister Isa Conde, emphasised the importance of gold mining for the Dominican economy in an interview on April 16, 2020 with a major Dominican newspaper, Diario Libre, in response to the Covid-19 crisis. Minister Isa Conde argued that gold producing countries (like Dominican Republic) have an important advantage. He also stated that gold mining is an ally which will contribute to the rebuilding of the economy after the passage of the pandemic. Before the Covid-19 crisis, gold mining represented a large amount of the national exports, a contribution likely to rise in importance as virtually all other economic sectors are in decline. In response to the crisis, the Dominican Republic (DR) government has moved swiftly to protect its population, cancelling all European and most North American flights, and closing most hotels, effectively halting tourism in the country, a major plank of the nations economy as well as halting other economic sectors. GoldQuest has been in the DR since 2002 and hopes to assist the DR in its economic efforts to re-ignite the nations economy, commented David Massola, CEO of GoldQuest. If developed, we expect that our flagship project at Romero would produce gold with copper and silver by-products, expected to be 100% exported, and create up to 1,000 direct jobs in the construction phase in the DRs interior. The independently produced Pre-Feasibility Study for the Romero project (PFS) dated November 10, 2016 (see release of September 27, 2016) provides that at a gold price of $1,300 and copper price $2.50 the project returns a Net Present Value (NPV5%) of US$203 million after tax and an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 28%. The Company is well funded with $17.1 million at the end of Q3 2019. GoldQuest has demonstrated to Minister Isa Conde and other government officials the positive economic impact the Romero Project would bring to both the local community and Federal Government. Using this study, the Company estimates tax payments to the Dominican Republic in excess of US$250 million. Story continues Minister Isa Conde has approved the Romero project, and the Company has been awaiting the approval of the President of the Republic to allow the Company to move forward to environmental studies and full feasibility study, leading to the potential development of the Romero mine. The mine has been planned to global environmental standards. The project does not have an open pit and is fully underground. The mines product is a gold and copper rich concentrate which has been physically separated from the ore so deleterious chemicals like cyanide are not used. The project uses seasonal rainfall storage and will not extract water from, or discharge water into the San Juan River, a plan developed by Golder Associates, the worlds largest environmental consultancy. The Company expects that following receipt of all required approvals, the Company would make further exploration expenditures in the DR, including expenditures focused on the Companys 2017 Cachimbo discovery. David Massola, CEO, concluded, We are pleased that the Minister of Energy and Mines continues to understand the economic impact of gold mining projects. We believe that our Romero project fits perfectly into the goals and objectives of Minister Isa Condes statement. With gold prices at their current level, the Company expects that the benefit to the Dominican economy identified in the Romero PFS would be significantly higher, in addition to potential exploration potential along the whole 50 km Tireo belt. GoldQuest is well positioned to re-activate its exploration activities with the recent purchase, with fellow explorer Precipitate Gold, of 5 Dominican domiciled drill rigs (see the Companys press release dated January 17, 2020). About GoldQuest: GoldQuest is a Canadian based mineral exploration and development company with projects in the Dominican Republic. GoldQuest is traded on the TSXV under the symbol GQC and in Frankfurt/Berlin with symbol M1W. The Company is well funded to carry out exploration programs and to advance the development of its Romero gold/copper discovery, also located in the Tireo Formation of the Dominican Republic. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. The information in this press release has been reviewed and approved by William Fisher, P. Geo., Chairman of GoldQuest and a Qualified Person for the technical information in this press release under NI 43101 standards. Forwardlooking statements: Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are forwardlooking information that involves known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Forwardlooking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to potential development and production from the Company Romero project, the economy of the Dominican Republic, the benefits of development and production from the Romero project on the economy of the Dominican Republic, the NPV and IRR included in the PFS, future tax payments and exploration expenditures by the Company in the Dominican Republic, the merits of the Company's mineral properties, future programs and studies, and the Company's plans and exploration programs for its mineral properties, including the timing of such plans and programs. In certain cases, forwardlooking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", looks forward, "has proven", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "potential", "likelihood", "appears", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "at least", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "should", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forwardlooking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forwardlooking statements. Such risks and other factors include, among others, risks related to economic conditions globally and in the Dominican Republic; the COVID-19 pandemic, including measures taken and that may be taked to attempt to reduce the spread of COVID-19, employee and contractor health, safety and availability, availability of materials and equipment, travel restrictions, and other risks and uncertainties related to the pandemic; uncertainties inherent in drill results and the estimation of mineral resources; commodity prices; changes in general economic conditions; market sentiment; currency exchange rates; the Company's ability to continue as a going concern; the Company's ability to raise funds through equity financings; risks inherent in mineral exploration; risks related to operations in foreign countries; future prices of metals; failure of equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; accidents, labor disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals; government regulation of mining operations; environmental risks; title disputes or claims; limitations on insurance coverage and the timing and possible outcome of litigation. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could affect the Company and may cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forwardlooking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forwardlooking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, do not place undue reliance on forwardlooking statements. All statements are made as of the date of this news release and the Company is under no obligation to update or alter any forwardlooking statements except as required under applicable securities laws. Forwardlooking statements are based on assumptions that the Company believes to be reasonable, including expectations regarding mineral exploration and development costs; expected trends in mineral prices and currency exchange rates; the accuracy of the Company's current mineral resource estimates; that the Company's activities will be in accordance with the Company's public statements and stated goals; that there will be no material adverse change affecting the Company or its properties; that all required approvals will be obtained and that there will be no significant disruptions affecting the Company or its properties. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. CONTACT INFORMATION GoldQuest Corp Dave Massola Chief Executive Officer - Toronto +1416-583-5606 dmassola@GoldQuestCorp.com David Penepent walked into the back chapel of a funeral home in Queens on Thursday and surveyed a scene unthinkable before the coronavirus epidemic. Thirty people had been laid out in the chilled room, the bodies held in boxes made of cardboard and wood with handle with extreme care printed on the sides in bold, green letters. One by one, Mr. Penepent, an associate professor of mortuary science, and two of his students wheeled the bodies out on church trucks, first lining them up in the hallway, then bringing them to two vans parked out front. With the help of the homes staff, they gently laid the boxes in the back of one of the vehicles, the first step in a long journey to a crematory outside the state. This is not just moving remains this is handling peoples loved ones, Professor Penepent said. And you have to do it with care and compassion, respect and dignity. Since early April, Professor Penepent, 57, and his students have been transporting decedents from overwhelmed funeral homes around New York City to crematories in places as far as Pennsylvania and Vermont, helping grieving families and taking some of the pressure off a system strained by the epidemic. Advertisement Naomi Campbell fondly reminisced on her longtime friendship with the late music icon Prince on the fourth anniversary of his passing. 'I knew Prince since I was 17, I met him in Paris, and we had some fun all over the world,' the supermodel told the Recording Academy backstage of CBS' Let's Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute To Prince tribute, airing Tuesday night. In addition to gushing that he was a 'great friend' and that she 'loved and adored him,' the 49-year-old South London native sported Prince's signature shade on her eyelids and paid homage with a special ensemble. Thoughtful reflection: Naomi Campbell fondly reminisced about her longtime friendship with the late music icon Prince in honor of the fourth anniversary of his passing on CBS's Tuesday night special While presenting on stage, the beauty wore a long white jacket and layered a number of gold necklaces, which was reminiscent of one of Prince's iconic looks in a similar over-sized jacket and undone bodysuit in 1985. 'The initial shock [of Prince's death] is over, but we still miss him. I really wanted him to have the celebration he deserved, so I'm really happy they did this,' she said, before presenting at the star-studded show, in her own plunging lace bodysuit and form-fitting leather trousers. 'Prince must have been dreaming when he wrote this masterpiece,' she said in a teaser clip, which didn't reveal which song or performer would follow. Special tribute: While presenting on stage, the beauty wore a long white jacket and layered a number of gold necklaces, which was reminiscent of an iconic look he wore with a similar jacket and undone bodysuit 'I knew Prince since I was 17, I met him in Paris, and we had some fun all over the world,' the supermodel told the Recording Academy backstage of CBS' Let's Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute To Prince tribute Never forgotten: Slated to perform at the celebration of life are The Time, Gary Clark Jr., Miguel, Juanes, H.E.R. and more, who will be accompanied by a band led by Prince's protege Sheila E Good friend: Campbell added the groups will help everyone 'party like it's 1999' Slated to perform at the celebration of life are The Time, Gary Clark Jr., Miguel, Juanes, H.E.R. and more, who will be accompanied by a band led by Prince's protege Sheila E. Campbell added the groups will help everyone 'party like it's 1999.' While presenting on stage, she flawlessly paid her visual homage. Timeless beatuy: She paired the structured look with a plunging lace bodysuit, which displayed her amble cleavage and form-fitting leather trousers Campbell's daring look showed off her ageless physique and youthful glow, as she rocked a chic, layered bob, and put on a busty display. She and the Purple Rain hitmaker first met in Paris, while she was with Azzedine Alaia and Jean-Baptiste Mondino. 'I remember Prince said to me not to wear high heels, and I wore the highest heels I could find,' she recalled to the New York Times in 2016. Eventually, the pair formed a solid friendship and she added, 'He used to call me every time he came to London or Paris.' 'I remember Prince said to me not to wear high heels, and I wore the highest heels I could find,' she recalled to the New York Times in 2016 She became a regular fixture at his concerts around the world and the model enjoyed his impromptu performances at '2 oclock in the morning' in her pajamas. 'He was impromptu. The last time I saw Amy Winehouse was when she performed with Prince,' she reflected. 'They sang one of her songs and one of his. They were a powerhouse, the two of them. He loved talent.' 'You felt like [he was] the biggest, tallest guy even though he wore high heels, because he was so short,' she joked, before adding that she loved how he was smaller than other musicians, but 'always got the girl.' Party time: The show will pay tribute to the seven-time Grammy winner with an energetic concert and be hosted by comedian Maya Rudolph Sweet friendship: She became a regular fixture at his concerts around the world and the model enjoyed his impromptu performances at '2 oclock in the morning' in her pajamas The show will pay tribute to the seven-time Grammy winner, who was found dead at 57 of an accidental overdose in Minneapolis, with a concert hosted by comedian Maya Rudolph. The post-corona event was shot pre-social-distancing, at the Los Angeles Convention Center on January 28. Fans can watch on CBS (or streaming on CBS All Access) Tuesday, April 21 from 9-11 p.m. ET/PT. CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Ohio Department of Health on Wednesday published a list of dozens of nursing homes across the state with details on the number of coronavirus cases for patients and staff. This listed included 18 long-term care facilities in Cuyahoga County. The totals do not include patients or staff who have recovered or passed away, the health department said. The list is to be updated weekly. Facilities in the Greater Cleveland/Akron area with at least 10 total cases reported Wednesday by the state were: * Cuyahoga County: Westpark Neurology and Rehab Center (45 patients, 12 staff); Seven Hills Health and Rehab (13 patients, 2 staff); and Eliza Bryant Village (9 patients, 2 staff). * Geauga County: Ohman Family Living at Briar (44 patients, 14 staff). * Lorain County: Main Street Care Center in Lorain County (29 patients, 10 staff); ONeill Healthcare in North Ridgeville (66 patients, 20 staff). * Portage County: Anna Maria of Aurora (15 patients, 1 staff); Arbors of Streetsboro (19 patients, 3 staff); and Woodlands (13 patients, 1 staff). * Summit County: Arbors at Stow (12 patients, 3 staff); Canal Pointe Nursing and Rehabilitation Center (6 patients, 6 staff); Ohio Living Rockynol (24 patients, 14 staff); and Pebble Creek Healthcare (14 patients, 7 staff). Note: This list has been updated to include Portage County. The state first released nursing home data a week ago, on April 15, but removed the information from its website without an announcement less than 48 hours later. The health department, in response to questions, said on Monday it took down the information because of inaccuracies. After cleveland.com published a story last week following the original listing, representatives from three Northeast Ohio nursing homes contacted cleveland.com to question the accuracy of the data for their facilities. In one case, a number was reported at 63 instead of 36. This was later corrected by the state. Another nursing home showing up on the list with one case said it had no cases, just a negative test. And a multi-location facility said all of its eight cases appeared to be reported for one location. If you are having trouble viewing the list below, use this link instead. Rich Exner, data analysis editor for cleveland.com, writes about numbers on a variety of topics. Follow on Twitter @RichExner. See other data-related stories at cleveland.com/datacentral. Read related coverage Hospitalization counts show flat, encouraging trend for coronavirus in Ohio in face of murky overall case data See coronavirus cases by day for each Ohio county Mapping 13,725 Ohios coronavirus cases, updates and trends Why Ohio widened criteria for counting coronavirus cases, what other states are doing, and the difference in numbers Vehicle accidents down sharply in Ohio during coronavirus restrictions Europeans want more transparency from Beijing, but remain cautious about the claim that the virus spread from a Chinese lab. For the Bild newspaper, the Chinese are trying to save face. Missouri and an Italian hotelier are suing China. Hong Kong (AsiaNews) The number of countries criticising China for its handling of the pandemic crisis is growing. Germany, France and the United Kingdom have started to press China for more transparency on what happened in Wuhan, the epicentre of the epidemic. So far, the toughest attacks against Beijing, accused of not telling the truth about the origin and spread of the disease, have come from the United States. However, backed by the World Health Organisation, China continues to repeat that the pandemic is a scientific problem and should not be "politicised". Europeans want more cooperation from China, but remain cautious about the claim that the virus spread from a virology lab in Wuhan, something the US government has not dismissed. On Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel asked China to share more information on COVID-19. A few days earlier, Germanys Development Minister, Gerd Muller, had questioned Beijing's sincerity about the origin of the pandemic. In Germany, the hardest attack came from Bild. On 15 April, Germanys best-selling newspaper wrote that China should pay 150 billion for damages caused by its slow response to the pandemic. Reacting to criticism from the Chinese embassy against this article, the newspapers editor, Julian Reichelt, slammed Chinese authorities and scientists, whom he believes are guilty of hiding the situation to save face before domestic and international public opinion. Reichelt excoriates Chinas Communist regime, which he says systematically monitors the population and closes newspapers critical of its leaders, but then refuses to control and close the animal markets from where viruses like COVID-19 and SARS can spread. It is thought that the COVID-19 infection could have started from an outdoor market in Wuhan. Chinas response to the outbreak has grey areas, said French President Emmanuel Macron. Things happened [in Wuhan] that we dont know about, he said. For British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab, relations with Beijing will no longer be the same once the emergency is over. Well have to ask the hard questions about how it came about, and how it could have been stopped earlier, he said. William Hague, a former Tory leader and foreign secretary who now sits in the House of Lords, said that China has shown that it does not play by our rules and is not a reliable partner. The British parliaments Foreign Affairs Committee has warned that an orchestrated disinformation campaign by China is costing British lives in the fight against coronavirus. According to official data, Europe and the United States are the areas most affected by the coronavirus. In addition to the shock of losing thousands of lives, European countries and the United States are now facing the economic fallout from the crisis. The Attorney General of the US State of Missouri is suing China for the human and material losses caused by COVID-19. The US Congress is debating a legislation that would allow US citizens and state governments to sue China. Meanwhile, in Italy, where part of the government majority has so far preferred to praise China rather than criticise its management of the fight against coronavirus, there is action in the courts. A hotelier in Cortina d'Ampezzo is suing the Chinese Ministry of Health in a court in Belluno (Veneto) on charges of delaying the release of information about the infection, seriously damaging his business. This is an opinion column. Contrary to popular opinion in some circles and to recent evidence to the contrary Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill is not an idiot. Hell, the guys shown flashes of being a political savant, like when he turned the break-in of his office at the University of Alabama into an SGA presidential win against the specter of The Machine back in the 80s. Or when he was accused of having an affair with the wife of a friend from church. He addressed it head on, acknowledging in uncomfortable detail how he tried to help a Christian brother by giving counsel to the mans wife, but wound up instead with his pants unzipped and his family values on display. He told the story so openly, so Opie and awkwardly, that all the expected outrage just seemed to slip away. The People decided that if there was something to see there, they didnt want to have to visualize it. John Merrill is not an idiot. No matter how he plays the bumpkin. Which makes it all worse. Alabama Twitter blew up Tuesday. If you didnt hear about it, its because you have a real life to attend to, and not one dictated by the snark and vitriol of the political web. But it was ugly, for a while. It started out when Stephen Stetson, a rep for the Sierra Clubs Beyond Coal Campaign, tagged Merrill and the Secretary of States office in a tweet, saying I am attempting to apply for an absentee ballot for Alabamas July 14 runoff. I have found the PDF of the application and am fortunate enough to have a printer. But it also requires a copy of my drivers license. Do I have to go find a photocopier? The SOS office twitter account responded by saying photo ID is required and an absentee ballot application can be downloaded on request. Stetson said that didnt answer the question, and asked if he needed a camera and scanner to make that happen. Merrill, whose twitter bio reads Representing the People of Alabama as their 53rd Secretary of State, answered this way: People that have a hard time figuring out the answer to that question probably need to vote in person. It was on. Alabama Political Reporters Eddie Burkhalter retweeted the exchange, and Merrill was on him, too, as his supporters cheered. Alabama Sec. of State tweets this in response to a man's concern that to vote in the July 14 by absentee voters must have either a photocopier or smart phone/printer to mail in copy of photo ID with application. https://t.co/CLY6E1St0o Eddie Burkhalter (@BurkhalterEddie) April 21, 2020 When I come to your house and show you how to use your printer I can also teach you how to tie your shoes and tie your tie, Merrill tweeted. I could also go with you to Walmart or Kinkos and make sure that you know how to get a copy of your ID made while youre buying cigarettes or alcohol. Keep your pants on, now. It seems so absurd, so ridiculous, so callous and undignified. It seems so idiotic for a politician who tries so hard in person to appear gracious and hospitable and helpful. It seems so unbelievable that a secretary of state, whose responsibility is helping people to vote, would push a trip to Walmart during a pandemic to talk about the ease of voting. For that matter it seems farcical to focus on a Twitter squabble when the reality is that parts of rural Alabama have no reliable internet at all, much less a Kinkos, and many libraries are closed across the state. It is ridiculous, but certainly no joke, that it has been made harder in rural Alabama, particularly in majority black areas, to meet the Alabama standard for absentee voting. It is even harder now. Which is why it is so much worse that Merrill knows exactly what he is doing. Hes a student of politics. He knows how George Wallace played to the mobs to get what he wanted. He sees the president do it, too. Merrill knows it is smart politics now to attack those who question you, to belittle rather than acknowledge the reality of questions, to insult and scorn those who dare ask their public officials to represent all people. He knows too that if people like me call him out on it, it will only help him. And yet I do. Because Im not just angry at Merrills asshattery. Im disappointed, far more than that, that it works. Merrills supporters reveled in the outrage his comments generated. They believe he showed the trolls who dared question him. He put them in their place. He showed them, and the world, who Alabama really is. No. John Merrill is no idiot. But he sure makes the rest of us look like fools. John Archibald, a Pulitzer Prize winner, is a columnist for AL.com. His column appears in The Birmingham News, the Huntsville Times, the Mobile Register, Birmingham Magazine and AL.com. Write him at jarchibald@al.com. I was very disappointed to read in the April 19 Metro article How Fairfaxs online learning flopped the quote from Fairfax County School Board member Megan McLaughlin with regard to Fairfax County Public Schools failure to perform its job, albeit via online access: What happened this week it just never should have happened. Theres going to be a great deal more of extensive review by this board of why and how it did happen. James Parker, executive director of the Oregon Native American Chamber, put it starkly on Tuesday: the states Native American business community is facing an extinction level crisis as past inequities that have been allowed to flourish deepen the pain of the coronavirus crisis. Parker, whose chamber represents 250 Oregon businesses, was one of more than a dozen local government and business leaders who spoke in a digital press conference convened by Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler to outline some of the economic impacts of the pandemic and the steps they are taking to help households and small businesses. Local governments have responded quickly, they said, but additional resources are needed from the state and federal governments to respond to a crisis in which severe economic impacts are likely to be felt for years to come. Wheeler reviewed the citys own emergency actions, which have included $2.2 million in support to small businesses, which was matched by $1 million in donations from the private sector. The Portland Housing Bureau has established a $1 million Emergency Household Stabilization Fund that will provide cash assistance to at least 2,000 households to help cover urgent needs like groceries, rent, utilities, and medical expenses. The bureau says $200,000 will be available to the public next week through an open application process. Households can apply for $250 in emergency assistance beginning Monday at 10am by contacting 2-1-1 or going to https://www.211info.org/phb-eng. Another $800,000 will be distributed through service agencies and homeless service providers. As for whats coming up, I promise more help is on the way, he said. Most significantly, that will come from $114 million in aid the city received from the federal governments $2.2 trillion CARES Act, short for the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, which was signed into law at the end of March. Rules have yet to be finalized regarding how those funds can be spent, but Wheeler said he would like to prioritize spending in two areas: household rent support and small business operations. As with its small business grant program, Wheeler said the city would continue to emphasize support for communities of color that have been disproportionately impacted by the crisis, both from a health and financial perspective. Multnomah County also received $28 million in federal funding, money that will be used to fund expanded public health and safety net services for the homeless, the elderly, the disabled and victims of domestic violence. From our department leaders to our front line staff, we are working daily to ensure those who are vulnerable in our community are not left behind by our response, said Deborah Kafoury, chair of the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners. Gresham Mayor Shane Bemis said his city had closed out a $1 million program that provided one-time grants of up to $10,000 to 277 restaurants and other small business being impacted by the crisis. He said the city had banned commercial tenant evictions, convened an economic impact team to develop a recovery plan, as well as a technical advisory group to help small business access the Small Business Administrations emergency loan programs. But he said the city would need its own aid moving forward, as it is being squeezed for resources at a time when the demand for front line services has never been higher. The mayors of Beaverton and Eugene described similar local efforts, including offering small business relief grants, opening shelters, banning evictions and providing rent relief. Beaverton Mayor Denny Doyle said the city still had a strong financial position, but that support from the states allocation from (the federal stimulus grant) is going to be critical in what we can and cant do for our citizens. Oregon expects to receive around $2.45 billion from the federal coronavirus relief package. The money should be available by Friday. The maximum amount the state can pass to local jurisdictions is $1.6 billion. The rest of the $2.45 billion will be spread across nearly four dozen other recovery programs, including child care and development block grants, which will receive around $38 million, and airports around the state, which are set to receive more than $140 million. Schools and colleges, hospitals, transit systems, and large and small businesses are also among areas designated to receive support from the federal relief package. -- Ted Sickinger; tsickinger@oregonian.com; 503-221-8505; @tedsickinger Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. (Bloomberg Opinion) -- The Covid-19 pandemic has brought out some ugly truths about modern-day ageism. A combination of the viruss properties, an overwhelmed health-care system and systematic neglect have taken a brutal toll on the elderly. Unfortunately, it could get worse if countries effectively automate ageism by allowing what has happened so far to dictate future decisions about care. This crisis has highlighted a shocking lack of concern about older people. As one journalist at the UKs Daily Telegraph opined: Covid-19 might even prove mildly beneficial in the long term by disproportionately culling elderly dependents." In the U.S., nursing homes are particularly vulnerable because the people who work there are so poorly paid that they must hold down multiple jobs, increasing the risk that they will spread the virus. The death count at such facilities is at least 7,000, but more are certainly coming from states such as Florida that have been slow to respond and report. Older people also lose out the medical personnel, inundated by coronavirus patients, must make difficult decisions on rationing care. In Italy, for example, hospitals had to refuse care to older patients a practice that undoubtedly increased the mortality rate in that age group. In short, its fair to say that the death rate among the elderly is probably higher than it would be if only physiology were at play. Now consider what will happen if data scientists try to take this experience, bake it into predictive algorithms and apply them in places where the pandemic is still on the rise, or where it flares up as countries attempt to reopen. Its possible theyll recognize that they lack the information needed to build reliable algorithms. The data available are too deeply flawed to calculate overall mortality rates, let alone rates by age. Its hard to even use other proxy data, such as internet searches for fever, to get a sense of the overall infection rate, because lockdowns have so radically changed peoples behavior that we're all staying home, drinking tea, watching Netflix and googling symptoms. Basically, we're acting sick. Story continues But I wouldnt count on humility. Researchers have become far too accustomed to imagining that if they collect enough data even if its incomplete or biased the sheer volume will provide a more or less comprehensive view. Its something that theyve gotten pretty good at for example, inferring your political party by looking at which articles you repost on Facebook. The flawed data we have will be seen as better than nothing. The resulting models will lack critical context and nuance. They wont account for the likelihood of the patient surviving if theyd been given better treatment. Causation will be lost, creating a denuded description of the past which, in turn, will skew against treating old people in the future. Suppose such a model were used to decide where to send ventilators. The scarce life-saving equipment would go to places where it saw high percentages of people likely to benefit. This might improperly tip the balance away from hospitals that serve large elderly populations, for example near The Villages in Florida, on the grounds that theyll just die anyway. Although Im focusing on older people, the same could apply to any number of disadvantaged groups, such as African Americans, fat people, prisoners. And it wouldnt be new. A recent study, for example, found that a widely used health-care algorithm allocated inadequate resources to black Americans, because it relied on data from a history of discrimination, in which less money was spent on black patients than on white patients with the same level of need. In the scramble to model Covid-19 spread and fatalities, data scientists and the officials who use their models would do better to recognize and admit what they cannot do, rather than jury-rig something that could end up doing more harm than good. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Cathy ONeil is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. She is a mathematician who has worked as a professor, hedge-fund analyst and data scientist. She founded ORCAA, an algorithmic auditing company, and is the author of Weapons of Math Destruction. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. Happy Earth Day, everybody! Today we celebrate the Pale Blue Marble herself, the only home in this solar system weve got (so far). And even though the COVID-19 quarantine has shrunken our individual worlds to roughly the size of our apartments, we can still get out (virtually, at least) and commune with the natural world around us -- even if that nature is happening on the other side of the planet. All you need is an internet connection. Livestreaming has been around since the early days of the internet. In 1993, the band Severe Tire Damage became the first music act in history to perform live on the web. Since then streaming has spread across the internet, filling niches wherever the need for live video arises, such as sports, entertainment (including the adult variety) and politics. Since the dawn of the social media era, livestreaming has come into its own, a ubiquitous and wildly-popular feature on the industrys biggest platforms. These live feeds have also proven a boon to scientific outreach efforts, enabling people from around the globe to virtually visit world-famous zoos, aquariums, national parks and monuments (even low earth orbit!) from the comfort of their homes and classrooms. The first name in nature livestreams, however, is Explore.org. Touted as the worlds largest live nature network, this multimedia company hosts more than 160 feeds, as well as hundreds of films and thousands of photographs. Launched in 2011, the site streamed more than 11.2 million hours of video in 2019, Courtney Johnson, Explores social-media director, told Outside in March. This web portal has all the animals from african elephants to bald eagles, bobcats to penguins. Heck, I just spent 15 relaxing minutes watching sheep butt heads at a sanctuary in Watkins Glen, New York. But for the most part, unless its feeding time or theyre feeling particularly frisky, the animals tend to just lay about and snooze. Though, lets be honest here, thats exactly what most of us humans are doing during the lockdown too. Zoos, both around the country and abroad, have also jumped onto the livestreaming bandwagon. The Smithsonians National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, for example, carries five feeds from its most popular enclosures: lions and elephants and giant panda bears, oh my! The zoo also features live looks into the baby cheetah pen and, my personal favorite, a feed of the naked mole rat exhibit. Did you know that theyre practically impervious to pain, as well as cancer, and live in colonies with queen-led social hierarchies resembling those of ants and bees? Similarly, the San Diego Zoo offers a number of livestreams including for its great apes, a troop of baboons, koalas and burrowing owls. Theres also a stream of the California Condor Breeding Facility ( california condors had nearly gone extinct 40 years ago). In 1987, the final 27 remaining wild individuals were captured and transferred to San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Los Angeles Zoo. In the years since, the population has rebounded to more than 440 birds, 160 of which have been successfully reintroduced into the wild. If the heavyweights of the animal kingdom are more your speed, head over to the Memphis Zoo for a live look at its hippo pool and elephant paddock or check out the rhino yard at the Houston Zoo. Or, if you prefer the view from down under, the Melbourne Zoo offers feeds of its koalas, echidnas, parrots, and snow leopard cubs. And should you feel that the world is getting to be just too much and need to find a moment of zen, take a peek at Chewy and Mo, the resident Hoffmans two-toed sloths at the Hattiesburg Zoo. In fact, a 2017 study out of UC Berkeley (which was funded by the BBC) noted that after watching clips from Planet Earth II, viewers had increases in feelings of awe, contentedness, joy, amusement, and curiosity, but that it also acted to reduce feelings of tiredness, anger, and stress, so it deinitely cant hurt. The Cincinnati Zoo is also offering a helpful service to overwhelmed parents during this quarantine. Every day at 3pm ET, the zoo will take viewers on a home safari, highlighting one of the resident animals and giving kids a related assignment. Even if you cant tune in live, a copy of the video is subsequently archived on the zoos YouTube page for easy bingeing. Next, lets head under the sea. Like their above-water counterparts, aquariums have embraced livestreaming in recent years, though perhaps none more so than the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. The facility hosts myriad feeds featuring penguins, otters (with narrated daily feedings, squee!), sharks, moon jellies, and the bays natural kelp forest. The aquarium is even offering free virtual tours for Animal Crossing players. The Georgia aquarium also offers a variety of feeds including those for beluga whales, california sea lions, piranhas, and puffins. Similarly, the National Aquarium streams its Blacktip and Pacific Coral reefs, as well as a live jellies cam. Bill Watterson Not everybody enjoys seeing animals housed in artificial habitats, so for those looking for a bit more nature in your natural settings, why not visit a national park? It is National Park Week, after all. Virtually wander around Crater Lake or tour Virgin Islands National Park, watch the trees blossom on the National Mall or take in the quiet solitude of Patersons Great Falls. And if those arent tall enough for you, theres always Yellowstone Falls -- not to mention the Old Faithful live cam. Explore offers an especially gorgeous feed of the Northern Lights. You might even spot a polar bear or two. Later this fall the site will launch its annual Fat Bear Week which, after this quarantine lifts, well all be able to appreciate just a little bit more. Its still too early to know if well see a Covid-related baby boom, but the outbreak certainly hasnt hampered our national symbols from getting busy. Lady Independence and Sir Hatcher II of the American Eagle Foundations Smoky Mountain division recently hatched a pair of eaglets. The AEF operates five such nest cameras around the country -- theres even one in Dollywood. Similarly, a pair of peregrine falcons who have made UC Berkeley their home have just laid a pair of eggs and are currently incubating them. Fingers crossed! Of course, the only thing better than witnessing the miracle of birth is, without a doubt, puppies. Even better than puppies? Puppies training to be service dogs. Even better than service pups? Retired service pups lounging around their communal gathering room. Theres also a rescue kitten live feed but we all know their cuteness is a lie. Then again, if somehow, between all of these feeds and channels, you still cant find the connection to nature that youre craving, theres always Zooms with alpacas: Burma Villager Killed, Nine Hurt as Myanmar Military, AA Clash in Rakhine State Residents of Myit Nar Village in Minbya Township carry the body of a villager killed during clashes on April 20. / Tun Tun Aung / Facebook SITTWE, Rakhine StateA civilian was killed and at least nine villagers were injured in fierce clashes between the Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw) and the Arakan Army (AA) in Rakhine States Minbya Township on Monday. Artillery shells reportedly struck Min, Htaunt Chay and Myit Nar among other villages in Ah Wa Village-tract during fighting between the Tatmadaw and the AA near Yar Maung Bridge, killing a 30-year-old woman in Myit Nar and wounding all three members of a family and two other residents in Htaunt Chay. Four residents of Min Village suffered minor injuries, according to local residents. The residents also claimed the Tatmadaw carried out air strikes in the mountains near Hparpyaw Village in Minbya. There was fighting yesterday and today. The Tatmadaw came and fought with jets in the mountains near Hparpyaw Village. It was as if the world were collapsing. The sounds [of the explosions] were unbearable, Hparpyaw Village administrator U Mya Tun told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday. Last month, clashes forced residents of Hparpyaw to flee to nearby villages. Some were left homeless as their houses burned down after being hit by artillery shells. On Tuesday morning, three military jets fired into villages east of downtown Minbya, according to U Hla Thein Aung, a regional lawmaker from the township. He said the number of casualties was not yet known, but on Monday civilians were wounded in villages in Ah Wa Village-tract, east of downtown Minbya. On Tuesday afternoon, a CPS (Competitive Pest Service) Company vehicle transporting disinfectant from Ann Township to a bank in Sittwe was fired upon near Phar Pyo Village in Minbya Township. The driver of the vehicle, U Nwe Nwe Maung, 30, died after being shot in the head and another CPS employee who was in the vehicle, Maung Hein Htet Oo, was wounded. The Tatmadaw blamed the AA for the shooting, in a press release issued by the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services. On Monday, a World Health Organization (WHO) vehicle transporting swabs from suspected COVID-19 patients came under attack near Yar Maung Bridge in Minbya Township. Two men were injured when the vehicle was fired upon and one of them, driver U Pyae Sone Win Maung, later died at Minbya Hospital. Another man, U Aung Myo Oo, a health care worker with the Ministry of Health and Sports, suffered wounds to his right hand and is being treated at Sittwe Hospital. The Tatmadaw and the AA traded blame for the fatal attack. The Myanmar government has promised to investigate the attack on the vehicle, which was clearly marked with a WHO logo. You may also like these stories: Two Civilians Killed in Myanmars Rakhine State During Alleged Military Airstrike Rakhine Civilian in Sittwe Hospital After Alleged Beating by Myanmars Military It is no revelation that central banks are actively engaged in both the research and piloting of central bank digital currencies. But the mechanics of how they are conducting their programmes is not as widely recognised. This is largely because the information is buried within the pages of mundane reports, speeches and discussion papers. A few headlines might be glossed over in the financial press, but the technical aspects are usually not considered. In January 2019 the Bank for International Settlements published a paper called, Proceeding with caution a survey on central bank digital currency. I briefly covered the survey in an article published back in September last year. Back then the BIS reported that a majority of banks were engaged in active research on CBDCs, but none were yet in a position to launch a digital variant of physical money. The BIS followed this survey up in January 2020 with some new research Impending arrival a sequel to the survey on central bank digital currency. We learn that the 70% of central banks that were researching CBDCs has now risen to 80%, with many of them reliant on research conducted by international organisations (in particular the BIS and the IMF) or regional networks. The BISs Innovation Hub initiative, established in the summer of 2019, has been key in coordinating the advancement of CBDCs projects worldwide. This is one of the reasons why banks are operating in step with one another. As the survey points out, collaboration through international vehicles such as the BIS Innovation Hub will be necessary to avoid any unforeseen international consequences. General manager of the BIS, Agustin Carstens, expanded on this in the institutions quarterly review: The Hub will catalyse collaborative efforts among central banks, and cooperate, when appropriate, with academia, financial service providers and the broader private sector to develop public goods for the benefit of the global financial system. As the Hub gathers experience, a home-grown agenda will quickly be developed. A key question informing the BIS Innovation Hubs work is whether money itself needs to be reinvented for a changing environment, or whether the emphasis should be on improving the way it is provided and used. In regards to CBDC, there are two variants. The first is a wholesale offering, which would be used to facilitate payments exclusively between financial sector firms. The second, known as a retail or general purpose CBDC, would be for use by the public. It is the latter which is of increasing concern to central banks. According to the survey, a general purpose CBDC could prove as either a substitute or a complement to banknotes. A similar position was taken within a discussion paper on CBDC published by the Bank of England in March. In the foreword to the paper, former governor Mark Carney stated that any CBDC would act as a complement to physical banknotes. However, in March 2019 Agustin Carstens was adamant that the introduction of CBDCs would mean an end to cash: Like cash, a CBDC could and would be available 24/7, 365 days a year. At first glance, not much changes for someone, say, stopping off at the supermarket on the way home from work. He or she would no longer have the option of paying cash. All purchases would be electronic. Who is right? I believe that allowing cash to co-exist with a CBDC long term is not what global planners have in mind. For a period of time this may prove the case, but eventually when cash usage drops to perhaps less than a tenth of all transactions is when we would see the beginning of a process to eliminate cash from circulation. All remaining banknotes in your possession would be converted into CBDCs. As the survey outlines, just under 50% of the worlds central banks are investigating the publics use of cash and a third are concerned that access to cash could decline in the medium term. Cash use has been gradually declining over the last ten years, but since the outbreak of the Covid-19 coronavirus it has collapsed to new lows. One thing the survey is clear on is that cash use is the key to driving many central banks plans. Whether Covid-19 will result in the time frame for introducing CBDCs being brought forward is so far unknown. If the BIS paper is an accurate indicator, then around 70% of central banks see it as unlikely that they would issue any form of CBDC in the foreseeable future. But then again banks have apparently moved away from classifying the implementation of a CBDC as possible, which the survey suggests may be a sign that research and experiments are helping to clarify a firmer stance on issuing a CBDC in the near term. For clarity, the BIS considers near term as anywhere from one to three years, and the medium term anywhere from one to six years. Two countries that are piloting CBDC technology are Sweden and Uruguay. The survey reveals that both nations are looking to trial non-interest bearing, non-anonymous CBDCs that are available 24/7 with restrictions on the values that can be held and distributed through intermediaries. Staying with the BIS, as part of their quarterly review released in March they published a paper called, The technology of retail central bank digital currency. The primary question in the paper is whether a CBDC should be a direct claim on the corresponding central bank, or an indirect claim that is managed via payment intermediaries. This is an area that former IMF managing director Christine Lagarde addressed in 2018 at the Singapore Fintech Festival. She raised the prospect of central banks going into partnership with commercial banks and financial institutions, with the idea being that the private sector would interface with customers, store their wealth and offer a range of services. But when it comes time to transact, we take over, Lagarde said. Banks and other financial firms, including startups, could manage the digital currency. Much like banks which currently distribute cash. Or, individuals could hold regular deposits with financial firms, but transactions would ultimately get settled in digital currency between firms. Similar to what happens today, but in a split second. All nearly for free. And anytime. Related to this is how the BIS and its members regularly talk about the architecture of CBDCs in essence, how they could be modelled and whether the infrastructure underpinning them should utilise a centrally controlled database or distributed ledger technology (DLT). The BIS indicate here that most likely central banks would consider only permissioned DLT. In practice a permissioned DLT would mean access to the network must be granted by participants in that network participants who would be controlled through regulation devised at the central bank level. As looked at in previous articles, DLT is not the decentralised panacea that many of its advocates claim. The narrative on CBDCs has advanced significantly from early 2018 when the BIS began focusing on money in the digital age and what role central banks will play. We have now moved beyond CBDCs just being a concept. Global planners are getting into specifics about how CBDCs could be designed. First, lets look at what is termed a direct CBDC. This would be a claim on the central bank and would also see the bank itself handling retail payments. In this scenario the central bank would keep sole record of all retail holdings, and would mean that they alone would be responsible not just for issuing the CBDC, but delivering it to customers. It would require central banks to expand their operations enormously and in effect have a presence on the high street. Judging from the BIS paper, a direct CBDC is not being considered as the most viable. Next comes the hybrid CBDC. Again, this would be a claim on the central bank but the difference is that the bank would periodically record retail holdings. This means the holdings in question could be transferred from one payment service provider to another the intermediaries Christine Lagarde talked about resulting in no single point of failure. The BIS deem this advantageous in the event of a major system outage. To quote the paper directly: As the central bank does not directly interact with retail users, it can concentrate on a limited number of core processes, while intermediaries handle other services including instant payment confirmation. The hybrid CBDC architecture could be implemented at scale using todays technology and with a relatively modest infrastructure even in the worlds largest currency areas. If we were to assume that the hybrid CBDC was the preferred choice, the next stage is how customers would access it. The two options mooted by the BIS are a token or account based CBDC. A token CBDC would allow universal access requiring no bank account. Instead, customers would take possession of an online digital signature, which would be exclusive to them and used as the vehicle to authorise payment. The argument goes that by deploying this sort of CBDC it would offer a stronger level of privacy than an account based CBDC. One of the downsides, as the BIS detail, is an elevated risk of losing funds if end users fail to keep their private key secret. More importantly though, at first glance a token based system would afford people too much anonymity for the establishments liking. As the paper mentions: Law enforcement authorities would run into difficulties when seeking to identify claim owners or follow money flows, just as with cash or bearer securities. Retail CBDCs would thus need additional safeguards if they followed this route. An account based CBDC would be very different. This would tie ownership to an identity, replicating a traditional bank account in that claims would be held on a database that records the value of payments along with reference to the identity. Whilst the BIS visualises some drawbacks in terms of global universal access, in particular rolling it out in all jurisdictions, the benefits for the banking elite are obvious when it comes to tracking user activity at every turn. The next consideration after a CBDC configuration is established is cross border payments. Regularly in speeches central bankers will lament that payments of this nature are too slow for modern commerce. Payments can take days to clear and be costly. A global CBDC network is being touted as a solution, with payments sent from one side of the world to the other being accessible immediately. According to the BIS, a coordinated design effort would represent a unique opportunity to facilitate easier cross-border payments. Coordination is imperative to the whole CBDC agenda. Currently, every major central bank in the world is advancing their CBDC programmes. For my next article I will be looking at a Bank of England discussion paper on central bank digital currencies that was released just prior to the Covid-19 lockdown in the UK, and expands on the CBDC models outlined by the BIS. BASEL (dpa-AFX) - Novartis (NVS) has released data that shows showing Jakavi is more effective than best available therapy in acute graft-versus-host disease. Data from the Phase III REACH2 study published in The New England Journal of Medicine shows Jakavi (ruxolitinib) improves outcomes across a range of efficacy measures in patients with steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) compared to best available therapy. The results of REACH2, the first Phase III study in acute GvHD to have met its primary endpoint, reinforce findings of the previously reported Phase II REACH1 study. In REACH2, patients treated with Jakavi experienced significantly greater overall response rate vs. available therapy. 'Patients with acute graft-versus-host disease face life-threatening challenges with limited treatment options, particularly for the nearly half of individuals who do not respond to initial steroid therapy,' said Robert Zeiser, University Hospital Freiburg, Department of Haematology, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation, Freiburg, Germany. 'These new data from REACH2 showing superiority of Jakavi over current standard-of-care therapies add to a growing body of evidence on how targeting the JAK pathway can be an effective strategy in this difficult-to-treat condition.' Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. A man who had symptoms of the deadly coronavirus ultimately spread the disease to at least four people after allegedly holding a birthday party for his wife at their home in Argentina. Juan Jose Mussi, the mayor of the Buenos Aires town of Berazategui, told Argentine news outlet Telefe Noticias on Monday that Alberto Galeano spent four days at home with a fever without seeking medical attention. 'During four days he disobeyed the quarantine, he ignored everything and went to different homes in Berazategui, and we were told he even organized a party,' Mussi said. Alberto Galeano reportedly spread the coronavirus to four people, including his son-in-law, after holding a birthday party for his wife Monica Sosa, according to Juan Jose Mussi, the mayor of the Buenos Aires town of Berazategui. However, the allegations were denied by Sosa, who said no party was held Monica Sosa told Argentina's Telefe Noticias that the family did not host a birthday party as alleged by the town mayor Mussi wrote on his Twitter account that the 54-year-old man passed the ravaging virus off to his son-in-law, whom he lives with, two boys, aged 17 and 18, and a 10-month-old baby after hosting 65 people at the birthday bash for his wife, Monica Sosa. However, Sosa refuted Mussi's allegations that the family had held a party April 14. But she did confirm that the family gathered for a dinner on April 9 and only those who live in the house took part in it. 'I don't know where the mayor Mussi would have gotten [information] that we were partying. Because it is true that my house holds 65 people,' Sosa told Telefe Noticias. Sosa said that her husband had abandoned the home following an argument with her before he called one of his daughters April 5 and asked her to pick him up because he was not feeling well. Alberto Galeano (top center) pictured with his wife Monica Sosa (top right) and his family Alberto Galeano is currently under observation for the coronavirus at Evita Pueblo Hospital in the Buenos Aires town of Berazategui Sosa said she sought medical care for Galeano and called two emergency hotlines but that she was left on hold each time. She then took her husband to Evita Pueblo Hospital on April 10 after he experienced bouts of back pain, difficulty breathing, coughing and fever. Sosa added that Galeano was discharged at the hospital and was told to take acetaminophen and check his temperature every four hours. However, Galeano's condition worsened overnight and he had to be rushed to the hospital, where he been held under observation in the intensive care unit and connected to a ventilator. His son-in-law is also hospitalized but remains in stable condition. Mussi said that as soon as Galeano is medically cleared to return home and recuperates from the virus, he will ask prosecutors to charge him with spreading the coronavirus. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the deaths of 152 people and infected 3,144 others in Argentina. Emergex Vaccines Holding Limited ('Emergex'), a biotechnology company developing CD8+ priming set-point vaccines to prevent serious infectious diseases, today announced that it has entered into an agreement with the George Mason University, based in Virginia, in the United States. The agreement specifies that George Mason University's National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases will provide their unique expertise and resources as a partner in the development of Emergex's vaccines against highly pathogenic RNA viruses. In particular, George Mason University's Biosafety 3 capabilities, coupled with their experience in dealing with RNA viruses, means that they are a well-suited collaborator on the vaccine validation studies, as well as the optimization of vaccine design. Everyone in the world today has or will be affected by highly pathogenic RNA viruses such as bird flu, Ebola, COVID-19, etc. These viruses have caused significant morbidity and mortality, especially in high-risk groups such as the immunocompromised or elderly. We are therefore very excited to announce today this agreement with George Mason University, which adds an important capability to Emergex's vaccine program." Professor Thomas Rademacher, CEO and co-founder of Emergex Dr. Aarthi Narayanan, Associate Professor of Systems Biology in George Mason University's College of Science, added, "My colleagues and I are looking forward to partnering with Emergex and we are especially pleased to be lending our expertise to efforts to create a vaccine during these challenging times. As members of the faculty of a premier research university, we work with other thought leaders to address global threats. This is how we make progress, and collaboration is the top priority for the College of Science, the Institute for Biohealth Innovation, and the University as a whole." Emergex's set-point vaccines have been designed to offer advantages compared to traditional vaccines. These vaccines modify the initial immune status of the recipients in a way that 'primes' their immune systems to recognize subsequent infectious agents much like a natural infection would do, and thus preventing an acute or severe manifestation of the disease. They do this by providing a cell-mediated immune response (a T-cell response) rather than a humoral immune response (an antibody based immune response) which should stimulate longer lasting immunity. They are self-adjuvanted and limit or eliminate the allergic, autoimmune or antibody mediated side effects associated with the traditional vaccines. They are also 100% synthetic and do not contain any RNA or DNA - do not use inactivated or live-attenuated pathogens - and therefore should be inherently safer to develop and use. DES MOINES Iowas share of the 1998 landmark settlement with U.S. tobacco companies has now topped $1.3 billion. Officials in Iowa Attorney General Tom Millers office said Wednesday the Iowa treasury has received an annual transfer payment of about $49.4 million from tobacco companies involved in the multistate Master Settlement Agreement the largest such settlement in U.S. history. Iowa will continue to receive yearly settlement payments in perpetuity, based on the number of cigarettes sold in the United States. In the last 22 years, Iowa has received more than $1.3 billion from the agreement, in which Miller played a key role. Our office carefully monitors and aggressively enforces this agreement so Iowa gets its fair share of the settlement, Miller said in a statement. About $10.9 million of this years payment or 22 percent will go to the state, according to the AGs office. The remaining 78 percent will be used principally to pay people who bought the bonds issued by the Tobacco Settlement Authority. In 1998, Miller and attorneys general of 45 states signed the MSA with the nations four largest tobacco companies to settle lawsuits to recover billions of dollars in state health care costs associated with treating smoking-related illnesses. Since then, several other tobacco companies have signed onto the agreement. The 2020 payment came from 29 companies, including Philip Morris USA, R.J. Reynolds, Santa Fe Natural Tobacco, Vector and Commonwealth Brands. The settlement created restrictions on the advertising, marketing and promotion of cigarettes, including a ban on targeting children through advertising. It also includes prohibitions on outdoor advertising of cigarettes, advertising of cigarettes in public transit facilities, the use of cigarette brand names on merchandise, and a host of other restrictions. The central purpose of the master agreement was to reduce smoking, particularly among youth. Since it was announced, cigarette sales in the United States have fallen substantially. Adult smoking rates have fallen from 24 percent of the U.S. population in 1999 to 13.7 percent in 2018, according to the U.S. Centers on Disease Control and Prevention. Only 5.7 percent of high school seniors reported smoking a cigarette in the past 30 days in 2019, though vaping increased dramatically, according to the Monitoring the Future survey. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- While nothing can fill the void left by the loss of a loved one, the MTA is making sure that the families of employees who lost their life to the coronavirus are taken care of financially. On Wednesday, the MTA Board unanimously approved the countrys first COVID-19 Family Benefits Agreement, offering a $500,000 payment and three years of health insurance to the families of fallen agency employees. Our own heroic workers have sacrificed an immense amount to ensure that other heroes can do their job during this unprecedented crisis, said MTA Chairman and CEO Pat Foye. We will never be able to fully honor their sacrifice, but today marks an important step in recognizing all that they have given to the region in one of its most challenging moments. The approval of the benefits package came shortly after the MTA announced updated death totals, holding a moment of silence during the monthly Board Meeting for the 83 agency employees who have lost their life to the coronavirus thus far. We remain forever indebted for their service and our thoughts and prayers remain with the families of those who have tragically passed as a result of the virus, Foye said. *** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK *** The $500,000 payment will be provided to the spouse, beneficiary or estate of any MTA employee who died as a result of COVID-19, with the health insurance provided for three years for spouses and dependent children up to the age of 26. So far, the MTA has reached 41 agreements on the benefits package with 26 different unions. The agency is continuing negotiations to ensure coverage for all MTA employees, including non-union members. SAFETY MEASURES During the meeting, the MTA discussed new measures that are being taken to protect frontline transit workers, in addition to the regularly-scheduled facility cleanings and millions of masks and gloves being distributed on an ongoing basis. Since day one, the health and safety of our employees and customers has been our number one priority, said MTA Chief Safety Officer Pat Warren. The MTA has installed plexiglass barriers to various work sites to promote a safe environment for employees. So far, 123 barriers have been installed across 54 subway work stations, with additional installations ongoing. For bus operators, 93 barriers have been installed at all 28 bus depots and three central maintenance facilities. The agency has launched a pilot program to install vinyl shields on buses to physically separate drivers from the riding public. The MTAs Temperature Brigade -- a team of medically-trained personnel that checks employees temperatures before they report to work -- has expanded from 22 locations to over 55 throughout the system. The MTA has partnered with Northwell Health-GoHealth Urgent Care to provide priority testing for symptomatic transit workers at urgent care clinics throughout the region. Employees are also working in rotations, and in some cases being reassigned, in order to promote social distancing in the workplace. REPEATED CALLS FOR FEDERAL AID During Wednesdays meeting, Foye reiterated calls for additional federal funding as low ridership and increased costs continue to place the agency in dire straits financially. The pandemic has driven ridership down precipitously, decimating fare and toll revenue and the dedicated revenue sources that support our agency are also in free fall. These are extraordinary times that call for extraordinary measures, Foye said. Last week, the MTA penned a letter to the New York State Congressional Delegation asking that an additional $3.9 billion in federal funding be earmarked for the MTA in the next coronavirus relief package. This request came after the transit agency already received $3.8 billion in federal funding last month through the CARES Act. What the MTA needs now is significant additional emergency aid from Washington in the amount of $3.9 billion. There is no time to wait. The present and future of the MTA are in serious jeopardy, said Foye. The agencys request came alongside the release of a new third-party economic analysis by McKinsey & Company that estimates the impact that the coronavirus will have on the agencys operating budget. The analysis projects the MTAs total economic loss in 2020 to fall between $7 billion and $8.5 billion, with drops in fare and toll revenue expected to be between $4.7 billion and $5.9 billion, drops in state and local tax revenue expected to total $1.6 billion to $1.8 billion, and additional costs associated with public safety expected to reach up to $800 million. The reductions in expected fare and toll revenue are being driven by a massive drop in mass transit ridership and bridge and tunnel crossings, with subway ridership down 93%, Metro-North ridership down 95%, Long Island Railroad ridership down 97% and traffic at bridge and tunnel crossings down 62%. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un / Korea Times file South Korea has seen no unusual signs with regard to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's health, government officials said Tuesday, after CNN reported that Kim is "in grave danger after a surgery." CNN cited an unidentified "U.S. official with direct knowledge" but offered no further details. "There are no unusual signs in North Korea," a government official told Yonhap News Agency on condition of anonymity. "It is not a fact." Another official said there have been no signs detected with regard to Kim's health, emphasizing that Kim had continued to be seen in public until recently. A spokesperson of Cheong Wa Dae also said that no unusual signs have been detected about Kim's health. The CNN report came after the Daily NK, a South Korean internet news outlet specializing in North Korea news, reported that Kim has been receiving medical treatment at a villa in the resort county of Hyangsan, outside of Pyongyang, following a cardiovascular procedure. 3 1 of 3 JJ Trevino Show More Show Less 2 of 3 JJ Trevino Show More Show Less 3 of 3 Police are searching for the person responsible for a stabbing on the River Walk on Tuesday. Just before 11 p.m., witnesses found a man sitting at a bus stop near East Commerce and Navarro streets with multiple stab wounds to his abdomen. He told police he was stabbed by someone next to the river but managed to get away and walk up to the street level where he was found, officials at the scene said. Eminent academicians from across the country have suggested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to recruit unemployed science graduates in the fight against COVID-19 and use biology laboratories to test the samples of persons suspected to be infected with the disease. A letter to this regard was sent to the prime minister on April 20. It was signed by more than 600 scientists, professors and research scholars from institutes across the country under the platform 'India March for Science', a release issued on Tuesday by the group's Kolkata organising committee said. A major chunk of the signatories is either from institutes in West Bengal or people from the state who are at present in different establishments across the country, a member of the organisation said. In the letter, they suggested that the unemployed science graduates be recruited and trained in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak and biology laboratories in the institutes be used to increase the testing of samples, the release said. The scientists also called for increasing the production of ventilators. "Many relatively inexpensive designs of ventilators, including mechanised Ambubags, may be arranged and Indian pharmaceutical companies and other manufacturers should be requisitioned to mass-produce such ventilators to meet the nation's requirement," the letter said. Faculty members and students of several institutions also expressed their willingness to offer their services during the ongoing crisis, the release said. Professors Soumitro Banerjee of IISER-Kolkata, Alladi Sitaram of the Indian Statistical Institute, Debashis Mukherjee of the S N Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences- Kolkata, Parongama Sen of the University of Calcutta, Anupam Basu of the IIT-Kharagpur and Debabrata Bera of the Jadavpur University are some of the signatories, it added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As nations stare at a crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, a group of economic experts from Europe has argued hundreds of thousands of people who were infected and are immune are a key resource from a social perspective and for restarting economic activity. The researchers have advocated this vital resource of corona immune people must be looked for, employed effectively or reinstated in all activities, including societal activities such as caring for the elderly and sick, issued immunity certificates by governments and even sent to countries with peak healthcare demand. The research paper titled Certified corona immunity as a resource and strategy to cope with pandemic costs, published by Switzerland-based Centre for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA), states people who have survived the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) are largely immune and the probability of them contracting the same virus a second time within a few years and passing on the disease is small, and hence they should be treated as a resource. The researchers David Stadelmann (University of Bayreuth, Germany), Reiner Eichenberger (University of Fribourg, Switzerland), Rainer Hegselmann (Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, Germany), David Savage (University of Newcastle, Australia) and Benno Torgler (Queensland University of Technology), have predicted those countries which treat their corona-immune people as a resource are expected to perform comparatively better than others, and engagement of corona-immune people is necessary for a controlled exit from lockdowns. There are now potentially millions of people (worldwide) who have been infected with the Coronavirus and who are now immune. Their immunity makes each of them individually a valuable resource in the fight against the virus, a resource that grows as the number of people infected increases, the research paper states. Antibodies from immune people might even be used to produce blood serum as a potential treatment. Moreover, from a societal perspective, the larger the stock of persons with immunity, the lower the risk of infection for the elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions. The paper further states: As the number of immune people grows, restrictions on all but the most vulnerable can be gradually relaxed. Those who are already immune could go back to their economic and social activity immediately and could even provide active support to the healthcare system. Their engagement and contribution to society and the economy would reduce the risk of overburdening the healthcare system and would reduce the potential for social breakdown. One non-profit organisation, the The Corona Immunity Initiative has been started in Switzerland. It enables targeted at home testing of the population for SARS-COV-2 immunity and will allow the organisation to gather information on the spread of the virus and level of immunity in the general population. An email sent to the Corona Immunity Initiative remained unanswered. CREMA researchers have concluded that due to complete lockdowns and self-isolation, the world is on the brink of a second very real crisis, and this hasnt been caused by the Coronavirus but by decision-makers and societal reaction to the pandemic. Quoting one of the hypotheses from the research, David Stadelmann told HT: The side effects of societal infections could be vast. Unfortunately, it will be difficult to distinguish whether the cure may have been worse than the disease. However, there are sectors where the negative side effects of government measures against the crisis can be easily investigated. For instance, we expect online gambling, alcoholism, domestic violence, divorces, obesity and suicides of noninfected people to increase. We also expect shadow market activities to increase. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON NEW YORK, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM), operator of financial markets for 10,000 U.S. and global securities, is pleased to announce that Canadian companies traded on OTCQX and OTCQB are now providing reliable current share data through their registered transfer agents directly to OTC Markets. Nine transfer agents serving Canadian companies recently joined the Transfer Agents Verified Shares Program bringing the total number of participating transfer agents to 45, representing over 1,200 U.S. and Canadian securities traded on OTCQX and OTCQB markets. "This innovative process allows OTCQX and OTCQB companies to provide their shareholders with more trusted and timely information in an efficient manner," said R. Cromwell Coulson, President and CEO of OTC Markets Group. "By automating the process with regulated transfer agents, investor interests are better served without creating duplicative compliance burdens on management teams." Recent updates to OTCQX Rules and OTCQB Standards require Canadian companies, and those with a primary listing on a Canadian exchange, to retain a transfer agent that participates in this program. All U.S. and Canadian OTCQX and OTCQB companies must authorize their Transfer Agent to provide to OTC Markets Group information related to the Company's securities, including authorized and outstanding shares. Newly Participating Transfer Agents serving Canadian issuers include: Alliance Trust Company AST Trust Company Canada Capital Transfer Agency, Inc. Computershare Canada National Securities Administrators Ltd. Odyssey Trust Company Olympia Trust Company Reliable Stock Transfer TSX Trust "We are excited to extend our Transfer Agent Verified Shares Program to include Canadian Transfer Agents," said Liz Heese, Executive Vice President of Issuer and Information Services at OTC Markets Group. "This has been a three-year project targeted at improving the quality and timeliness of share data for investors in OTCQX and OTCQB companies." Share data provided by transfer agents is displayed on www.otcmarkets.com alongside a "Verified" logo, indicating the information is reliable and trustworthy. This data is also disseminated through OTC Markets Group's market data feeds and is widely available to investors and broker dealers. About OTC Markets Group Inc. OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM) operates the OTCQX Best Market, the OTCQB Venture Market and the Pink Open Market for 10,000 U.S. and global securities. Through OTC Link ATS and OTC Link ECN, we connect a diverse network of broker-dealers that provide liquidity and execution services. We enable investors to easily trade through the broker of their choice and empower companies to improve the quality of information available for investors. To learn more about how we create better informed and more efficient markets, visit www.otcmarkets.com. OTC Link ATS and OTC Link ECN are SEC regulated ATSs, operated by OTC Link LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Subscribe to the OTC Markets RSS Feed Media Contact: OTC Markets Group Inc., +1 (212) 896-4428, [email protected] SOURCE OTC Markets Group Inc. Related Links http://www.otcmarkets.com TikTok logo is displayed on the screen of an iPhone in Arlington, Virginia, on April 13, 2020. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images) US Lawmaker Introduces Bill Warning Consumers About Apps Developed in Adversary Countries U.S. Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) introduced a new bill aimed at warning Americans about national security threats posed by certain mobile apps, including Chinese video-sharing app TikTok. The lawmaker explained in a press release on April 21 that many people, including celebrities and teens, are turning to TikTok as they are stuck at home due to social distancing rules for preventing the spread of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus. Some phone apps are fun and useful, others are counterintelligence threats. Americans should know which is which before they hit the download button, Banks said. He added: Parents and consumers have a right to a warning that by downloading some apps like Russias FaceApp or Chinas TikTok, their data may be used against the United States by an adversarial or enemy regime. Countries that are considered a threat to U.S. national security include China, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Sudan, Syria, and Venezuela, according to the press release. Banks pointed out that Chinas national intelligence law, which went into effect in 2017, allows Beijing access to all data stored within its national borders, including data harvested from TikTok hosted on Chinese servers. The proposed bill (H.R.6570) would require software marketplace operators and developers of specific foreign apps to provide consumers a warning prior to their download. The warning will read: Warning: [Name of Covered Foreign Software] is developed by [Name of Developer of Covered Foreign Software], which [is controlled by a company that] [is organized under the laws of]/[conducts its principal operations in]/[is organized under the laws of and conducts its principal operations in] [Name of Covered Country]. Please acknowledge by selecting the accept or decline button below if you wish to proceed, according to the press release. To make the warning stand out, it will be separate from any other embedded terms and conditions and have its own acknowledgment notification. TikTok, known as Douyin in China, was launched by Chinese tech company ByteDance in 2016. In February 2019, TikTok agreed to pay a $5.7 million fine to settle U.S. government charges that it illegally collected personal information from underage users. In a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin last year, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) warned that China was using apps like TikTok to advance their foreign policy and globally suppress freedom of speech, expression, and other freedoms that we as Americans so deeply cherish. In January, the U.S. military banned its soldiers from using the Chinese video-sharing app on government-issued phones due to cybersecurity threats. There have been other legislation aimed at addressing TikToks threats. Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) introduced the No TikTok on Government Devices Act (S.3455) in March, which would ban federal employees from using TikTok on their government-issued phones. TikTok is owned by a Chinese company that includes Chinese Communist Party members on its board, and it is required by law to share user data with Beijing, said Hawley according to a press release about his bill. The cast and crew members of Star Bharat's popular show, RadhaKrishn have been stuck at shoot venue in Umargaon for almost a month due to the Coronavirus lockdown. Apparently, the mythological show was being shot at Umargaon film city, situated on the border of Maharashtra-Gujarat. The show's lead actress Mallika Singh told Mumbai Mirror that when the lockdown was announced, they thought it will be a matter of few days and they can return to Mumbai soon. But now it has been a month that they are staying at the shoot location. She also added that the crew is away from their families and everyone is being looked after well by the show's makers. The actress also added that a doctor visits the sets regularly to check on them and the location is regularly sanitised. Mallika said that her mother is also with her at the location. She was quoted by the leading daily as saying, "She tries to be with me most of the time while shooting. When the lockdown was announced, other people from my family in Mumbai advised us to stay where we are as any kind of travel was not safe at the time. We all thought it will be a matter of few days before we return to Mumbai, but now we have been staying here for the last one month." Sumedh said, "The most important thing at this time is to be safe, which we all are. I am from Pune. Due to the shooting schedule, I get to meet my parents very less. Now, even when there is no work, we all are still away from our families." The other workers associated with the show, who are stuck at the location due to lockdown, said that they had their tickets confirmed to return home, but it got cancelled as the trains stopped working. They said that the entire country is facing a crisis right now and they understand that the safety of the citizens is the priority. Also Read: Revealed! Why Is Beyhadh 2 Ending Abruptly? Shivin Narang & Ashish React To The Show's Sudden End! Want this in your inbox each morning? Sign up here. New loans for small business, and new scrutiny Congress moved closer to shoring up the federal small-business rescue fund. But expect a closer eye on who gets money, after public outrage that big companies tapped the first round. The Senate approved a $484 billion coronavirus rescue package, with $320 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program that ran dry last week. It also includes $60 billion for other small business rescue programs and $75 billion for hospitals. The House is expected to pass it tomorrow, and President Trump to sign it soon after. There will be a closer eye on where this round of money goes, after data showed that over 80 public companies borrowed from a fund for needy small firms: Mr. Trump said yesterday that he would ask bigger companies to return money. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin warned of severe consequences for inappropriate borrowers. Some venture capitalists are urging their portfolio companies to think twice about applying, citing ethical and P.R. concerns. NEW YORK, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The cold plasma equipment market in Europe is anticipated to reach US$ 72.57 million by 2027 from US$ 23.73 million in 2019; it is projected to grow at a CAGR of 15.1% during 20202027. The growth of the market in Europe is primarily ascribed to the increasing employment of cold plasma technique in medical treatments and growing cases of hospital-acquired infections (HAI). However, the adverse effects of cold plasma and lack of reimbursement policies are likely to continue to hamper the growth of the market in the coming years. Further, the growing R&D expenditure in the healthcare sector is expected to have a positive impact on the growth of the European cold plasma equipment market in the coming years. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05887352/?utm_source=PRN Cold plasma is also called as nonthermal plasma and is used in a wide range of applications in various industries, including medical and biomedical.It is a powerful technique that is used to confer antimicrobial treatment for wounds and injuries. The cold plasma equipment offers nonthermal treatment option in cancer therapy, dentistry, dermatology, etc. Atmospheric plasma is used to treat diabetes-induced enzyme glycation, oxidative stress, inflammation, disinfection, and scars.The ability of cold plasma to kill drug-resistant bacteria, to avoid further infection, helps in healing chronic wounds, followed by enabling protection against further complications and related discomforts. Plasma sources used in therapeutics are typically "low-temperature" sources that are operated at atmospheric pressure. In this context, low temperature refers to temperatures similar to room temperature, usually slightly above. The atmospheric cold plasma equipment accounted 15.41% which for the largest share with of the European cold plasma equipment market in 2019.Atmospheric cold plasma gives the possibly highest plasma density. It is a unique, nonthermal glow discharge plasma operating system at atmospheric pressure. It can also be used for treating viable tissues and thus has become a focus of medical research over the past years. Atmospheric cold plasma devices have been differently developed and tested for medical research purposes. The segment is further estimated to mark the highest CAGR in the market during the forecast period. In 2019, the wound healing segment held the largest share of the European cold plasma equipment market, by application.This segment is also anticipated to hold the largest portion of the market by 2027 owing to the need for improved treatment options for patients suffering from chronic, non-healing wounds. The segment is also anticipated to witness a significant CAGR in the market during the forecast period. A few of the significant secondary sources referred to while preparing the cold plasma equipment market report are World Health Organization (WHO), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05887352/?utm_source=PRN About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. __________________________ Contact Clare: [email protected] US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 SOURCE Reportlinker Related Links www.reportlinker.com Wisconsin and other US states have seen a string of protests against measures aimed at containing the coronavirus. Wisconsins Republican-controlled state legislature on Tuesday took to the courts in an attempt to force health officials in that state to rescind an extended stay-at-home order intended to curb the coronavirus pandemic. Republican leaders filed a lawsuit in the state Supreme Court seeking to block officials with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services from extending a safer-at-home emergency order through May 26. In a written statement, Wisconsin State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald argued that the order is an abuse of power and exceeds the statutory powers of Democratic Governor Tony Everss executive branch. The public outcry over the Safer at Home order continues to increase as positive COVID cases decrease or remain flat, the pair said. Other Midwestern states with more confirmed cases, like Ohio, have set firm dates to begin a phased reopening far earlier than the Evers administration. The lawsuit came as Vice President Mike Pence said during a tour of a Madison ventilator manufacturer on Tuesday that social distancing and other mitigation efforts are slowing the spread of COVID-19. To date, 242 people have died in Wisconsin and more than 4,600 have tested positive for coronavirus. Jim Carpenter protests against a primary election amid the coronavirus pandemic in early April in downtown Milwaukee. At least seven people who voted in the election have now been confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 after voting in the election. [File: Morry Gash/AP Photo] Evers ordered state health officials to issue a stay-at-home order for state residents in late March that shuttered many businesses across the state until April 24. Last week, the order was extended but some of its restrictions of non-essential businesses were lifted. These steps will help us reduce the risk of a second wave of the virus, the secretary-designee of the state Department of Health Services, Andrea Palm, said when announcing the extension. If we open up too soon, we risk overwhelming our hospitals and requiring more drastic physical distancing measures again. Taking to Twitter on Tuesday, Governor Evers said the Republican lawsuit was a blatant power grab that would cripple the states efforts to deal with the pandemic. This isnt a game, Evers said. This isnt funny. People die every day because of this virus often times painful and lonely deaths and the more we delay or play political games the more people die. Apparently, instead of having us act quickly and decisively to respond to a crisis, Republicans would rather have us jump through hoop after hoop and ask for their permission to save lives. Folks, we dont have time. COVID-19 will not wait. Governor Tony Evers (@GovEvers) April 21, 2020 Wisconsin and several other states across the US have seen a string of protests many backed by conservative groups allied with President Donald Trump and organised on Facebook and other social media platforms against measures aimed at containing the coronavirus. Organisers of the latest rally in Wisconsin, planned for Friday on the grounds of the state capitol in Madison, were informed that their request for a permit was denied by the state Department of Administration because the gathering would violate current orders barring public gatherings of any size. An organiser of the event, Madison Elmer, said on Wednesday it would go ahead despite the possibility that participants could be cited by law enforcement officers. More than 3,300 people said on the groups Facebook page that they planned to go and another 12,000 said they were interested in attending. I think our message is bigger than that to be worried about it, Elmer told the Associated Press news agency. Im willing to risk citation for everybody else thats speaking to be able to be heard. WASHINGTON The United Auto Workers union announced on Tuesday that it is endorsing Democrat Joe Biden for president in the 2020 election. U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican, has heavily courted auto workers in key states like Michigan and Ohio, while Biden has touted his support for autoworkers when he served as vice president and his support of policies championed by unions. "In these dangerous and difficult times, the country needs a president who will demonstrate clear, stable leadership, less partisan acrimony and more balance to the rights and protections of working Americans," UAW President Rory Gamble said in a statement. On Monday, the UAW endorsed Biden's plan to reopen the U.S. economy closed to try to curb the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. The union, which represents about 400,000 U.S. workers, has been in talks with General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles about when to reopen U.S. auto plants. "This issue demonstrates the need for presidential leadership to follow the guidance of science and give workers a seat in discussions over their safety and well-being. Now it is time for workers to take their place at the table," Gamble said. Trump last week named top executives at the Detroit Three automakers and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka to advise the administration on reopening the economy, but did not include the UAW. Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in Michigan in 2016 by just over 10,000 votes, or 0.23% points. Democrats in the state hope Biden will attract more blue-collar support in 2020. The endorsement comes at an opportune time for Biden, who has struggled to maintain a high profile during the COVID-19 pandemic and sustain the momentum he had built up in his lightning-quick run toward becoming the Democratic nominee. But the UAW also endorsed Clinton in 2016, proving that getting the nod from the union leadership doesn't automatically translate into support from the rank-and-file. Story continues Many union members, in the UAW and elsewhere, broke with their leaders and voted for Trump four years ago, drawn to his protectionist message on trade. The Trump campaign had no immediate comment on the UAW endorsement. (Reporting by David Shepardson; additional reporting by James Oliphant; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Sonya Hepinstall) Click here to See Video >> People are a lot smarter than some of these folks are giving them credit for," Murphy said during an interview with MSNBCs Chris Hayes. He made similar comments during an appearance on CNN later in the evening with Chris Cuomo. We havent plateaued yet, Murphy said on CNN. We still have to get to the top and get down the other side. And the only way we do that if we keep the social distancing were still doing. The primetime television appearances came just hours after New Jersey officials reported another 3,643 positive coronavirus tests and 379 deaths a one-day high. That brings the statewide total to at least 92,387 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 4,753 deaths. Only New York has more cases and fatalities among U.S. states. Thousands across New Jersey have recovered but that number is not known. During his afternoon briefing Murphy said New Jersey cannot rush to reopen schools amid coronavirus outbreak, but made no commitment about the rest of the school year. Schools are closed at least through May 15. Murphy also promised a broad blueprint to reopen the state later this week and a key component would be testing. New Jersey could need to administer 20,000 to 30,000 coronavirus tests a day to appropriately get a handle on the outbreak and reopen the state, state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said Tuesday. The figure dwarfs the 7,000 to 9,000 currently being administered in the state, and the turnaround time on results would need to drop significantly, the commissioner said. I hate to be Dr. No, says NJ Gov. Phil Murphy. Weve got to continue to stay home and stay away from each other. We havent plateaued yet, he adds. We still have to get to the top and come down and the only way we do that is if we keep the social distancing. pic.twitter.com/toUDZC9fCI Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) April 22, 2020 CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage A look at coronavirus news: Lakewood axes venues arrangement for small weddings during coronavirus shutdown: One day after Lakewood community and religious officials announced an arrangement to hold small weddings at a local venue, the township voided it due to orders surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. Even with restrictions made to adhere to social distancing and gathering guidelines, Mayor Raymond Coles said those ceremonies have been put on hold. State and county officials rebuked the arrangement on Monday, pointing out wedding venues are considered nonessential businesses under Murphys executive order. U.S. Senate approves $483B coronavirus aid deal, sends it to House: A $483 billion coronavirus aid package flew through the Senate on Tuesday after Congress and the White House reached a deal to replenish a small-business payroll fund and provided new money for hospitals and testing. Passage was swift and unanimous, despite opposition from conservative Republicans. President Donald Trump tweeted his support, pledging to sign it into law. It now goes to the House, with votes set for Thursday. Over 150 McDonalds in N.J. giving free meals to thank coronavirus healthcare workers, first responders: If youre a healthcare worker or first responder looking for something to eat in the next two weeks, let the golden arches get you a free meal, McDonalds restaurants say. The national fast food chain is starting Thank You Meals Wednesday, for medical professionals, and police, fire and EMS personnel to show their appreciation for their work during the coronavirus pandemic. 34 nurses from Colorado arrive to help fight N.J. coronavirus cases: Dozens of nurses from Colorado landed in New Jersey on Tuesday in an effort to assist with coronavirus patients at Catholic hospitals in the state. The nurses will work at Catholic Healthcare Partnership of New Jersey hospitals which include St. Josephs Health in Paterson, Trinitas Regional Medical Center in Elizabeth, and Saint Peters Healthcare System in New Brunswick. Nursing home opens space to assist hospitals struggling with coronavirus: A Rochelle Park nursing home has turned part of its facility into a dedicated COVID-19 unit aimed at assisting hospitals overwhelmed with coronavirus patients. The facility, which officials said was developed at the request of the state, will provide 54 additional beds able to isolate patients recovering from COVID-19. N.J. patients who got experimental plasma treatment making remarkable recovery, hospital says: New Jerseys first two coronavirus patients to receive an experimental plasma treatment are both making remarkable recoveries, according to Virtua Health, which is treating them. Worldwide coronavirus cases: More than 178,000 have died of the coronavirus as of 7 a.m. Wednesday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. At least 692,000 of the approximately 2.6 million to test positive have recovered. U.S. cases: More than 45,00 have died of the coronavirus. About 825,000 have tested positive with at least 75,600 recovered as of early Wednesday. The Associated Press and NJ Advance Media staff writers Brent Johnson, Matt Arco, Chris Ryan, Chris Franklin, Katie Kausch, Ted Sherman and Noah Cohen contributed to this report. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. 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. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Sausan Atika (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, April 23 2020 Not too close: A police officer ensures passengers are obeying the physical distancing policy on an intercity bus at Lebak Bulus bus terminal in South Jakarta on Wednesday. The government has prohibited the Idul Fitri mudik (exodus) to contain the spread of COVID-19. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan) Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, the nations largest Islamic organizations, have called on Indonesian Muslims to observe the fasting month of Ramadan at home to contain the spread of the COVID-19, which has shown no sign of abating. During Ramadan, which begins on Friday, Muslims refrain from eating, drinking and partaking in other corporeal pleasures from dawn till dusk. But Ramadan represents much more than just fasting for Muslims worldwide, including in Indonesia. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login BANGALORE, India, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Bioinformatics is a science of processing, retrieving, and analysing vast quantities of biological information. It is an interdisciplinary field involving several different categories of experts, including biologists, molecular life scientists, computer scientists and mathematicians. It includes collecting biological data, preparation of a computational model, solving computational modeling problems, and evaluation of computational algorithms. Bioinformatics uses computation to extract knowledge from biological data, which can be used in drug discovery and developments. The global bioinformatics market size was estimated at USD 6.38 billion in 2017 and is projected to reach USD 18.23 billion in 2025, at a CAGR of 13.8% between 2018 and 2025. Inquire For Sample: https://reports.valuates.com/request/sample/ALLI-Auto-0B326/Bioinformatics_Market With the advent of new technologies such as nanopore sequencing (third-generation sequencing technique) and cloud computing, the market is expected to deliver substantial opportunities for bioinformatics manufacturers. However, factors such as the lack of trained personnel to ensure the proper use of bioinformatics tools and the lack of integration of a wide range of data produced by various bioinformatics platforms are hindering market growth. TRENDS INFLUENCING THE BIOINFORMATICS MARKET SIZE The global bioinformatics market is expected to develop significantly in the near future due to an increase in the need for integrated data, growth in demand for nucleic acid & protein sequencing due to lower sequencing costs, and increase in proteomics & genomics applications. Bioinformatics approaches to discovery and testing are more effective than conventional methods. With the aid of bioinformatics software, much of the information on drug candidates is validated at a molecular level, which tends to minimize drug resistance at the later stage of drug development. This ensures better results in clinical trials and makes the drug development process more cost-efficient. This cost-efficient feature of bioinformatics is expected to increase the bioinformatics market size. Bioinformatics in the clinical diagnostics field involves an examination of the human genome in regard to the diagnosis of the disease. This includes the study of various omics technologies such as proteomics, metabolomics, metagenomics, epigenetics, and transcriptomics. Data produced by various omics technologies have helped to establish bioinformatics methodologies for clinical research and the creation of human databases. Such analytical methods are also used to explain knowledge on the origin, evolution, progression and treatment of diseases, leading to the advancement of personalized medicine. Thus, the growing use of bioinformatics software by clinicians is leading to the growth of the bioinformatics market size. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/ALLI-Auto-0B326/bioinformatics-market-by-technology BIOINFORMATICS MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS North America dominated the market in 2017, accounting for the largest share, and is anticipated to continue this trend during the forecast period. This is due to upsurge in adoption of advanced technologies and increase in demand for better bioinformatics tools, which are needed in the drug discovery and development process. dominated the market in 2017, accounting for the largest share, and is anticipated to continue this trend during the forecast period. This is due to upsurge in adoption of advanced technologies and increase in demand for better bioinformatics tools, which are needed in the drug discovery and development process. The market in LAMEA is expected to expand at the highest level of CAGR during the forecast period, due to advances in genomics and proteomics, generating a vast amount of data to be interpreted and controlled. In addition, the bioinformatics field is still at an early stage in the area where research activities are slowly increasing. Bioinformatics Market segment by Regions/Countries, this report covers North America Europe China Japan Southeast Asia India Central and South America etc. Inquire For Regional Report: https://reports.valuates.com/request/regional/ALLI-Auto-0B326/Bioinformatics_Market The key players covered in this study Illumina Thermo Fisher Scientific Eurofins Scientific BGI NeoGenomics PerkinElmer CD Genomics Macrogen QIAGEN GENEWIZ Source BioScience Microsynth MedGenome Fios Genomics BaseClear Others Bioinformatics Market segment by Type, the product can be split into Sequencing Services Data Analysis Drug Discovery Services Differential Others Bioinformatics Market segment by Application, split into Genomics Chemoinformatics and Drug Design Proteomics Transcriptomics Metabolomics Others Buy Now @ https://reports.valuates.com/api/directpaytoken?rcode=ALLI-Auto-0B326 SIMILAR REPORTS ?Bioinformatics Services Market Report The global Bioinformatics Services market size was USD 1.36 billion in 2019 and is predicted to hit USD 2.69 billion by the end of 2026, with a CAGR of 10.1 percent by 2021-2026. Factors such as the public-private sector funding for bioinformatics services, the lack of qualified bioinformatics professionals leading to increased outsourcing of bioinformatics projects and the use of bioinformatics in various industries are expected to drive the growth of the bioinformatics services market. Depending on the type, the market for bioinformatics services is divided into sequencing services, data analysis services, drug discovery services, differential gene expression analysis, database management services, and other services. The sequencing services segment is projected to account for the largest share of the bioinformatics services market in 2018, due to increased government and private funding for next-generation sequencing related initiatives, technical advances in next-generation sequencing coupled with decreasing sequencing costs, and the need for a high-performance study of large quantities. In terms of region, North America is expected to remain dominant in the global bioinformatics services market due to substantial R&D expenditure, increased acceptance of technological advances, and rising investment in bioinformatics technological innovations. Increasing drug discovery and growth, coupled with increased government initiatives to support start-up companies in the biotechnology and life sciences industries, is a key factor expected to drive the demand for bioinformatics services in North America during the forecast period. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Othe-4F223/global-bioinformatics-services ?Bioinformatics Cloud Platform Market Report The regions of Europe and North America are predicted to show upward growth in the years to come. The Bioinformatics Cloud Platform Market in Asia-Pacific regions is expected to show remarkable growth during the forecast period. Cutting edge technology and innovation are the most important features of the North American region, which is why the US dominates global markets most of the time. Bioinformatics Cloud Platform Market is also expected to grow in the region of South America in the future. This study focuses on the global status of Bioinformatics Cloud Platform Market future projections, growth prospects, key markets and key players. The objectives of the study are to present the development of Bioinformatics Services in North America, Europe, China, Japan, South East Asia, India and Central and South America. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Othe-3E240/global-bioinformatics-cloud-platform ?Biomarkers Market Report The Biomarker Market size for Diagnostic Applications is projected to collect USD 30.6 Billion globally by 2020, accounting for a CAGR of 16 % over the 2013 to 2020 forecast period. A biomarker is an observable measure of the extent or occurrence of a disease. More commonly, a biomarker is something that can be used as an indication of a disease or other physiological condition of the organism. Diagnostic biomarkers are minimal or non-invasive devices. Biomarkers, combined with main imaging and data processing technologies, are meeting consumer expectations; however, they have also been set back. Biomarkers are used in imaging technology to provide clear imaging of oncology tumors and other problems and also eliminate the chance of radiation exposure during imaging through CT scan and MRI scan. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/ALLI-Manu-1H4/biomarkers-market ?Biosimilars Market Report The global biosimilars / follow-on-biologics market size accounted for total revenue of USD 2.55 Billion in 2014 and is expected to produce an approximate revenue of USD 26.55 Billion by 2020 at a CAGR of 49.1% from 2015 to 2020. A biosimilar is a biologic medical product that is very similar to another already licensed biomedicine. Biosimilars are licensed in compliance with the same pharmaceutical quality, protection and efficacy requirements as all biomedicines. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/ALLI-Auto-3M37/biosimilars ?Neurological Biomarkers Market Report The global neurological biomarkers market size is estimated at USD 4.71 Billion in 2018 and will hit USD 8.95 Billion by the end of 2025, rising at a CAGR of 9.6 % between 2019 and 2025. This research report categorizes the global market for Neurological Biomarkers by top players / brands, country, size and end users. The study also explores the global market position of Neurological Biomarkers, the competitive environment, market size, growth rate, future trends, market factors, opportunities and challenges, distribution channels and distributors. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-515/global-neurological-biomarkers-market ?Global Cancer Biomarkers Market The Global Cancer Biomarkers Market size is projected to rise from USD 12.63 Billion in 2018 to USD 26.83 Billion at a CAGR of 11.36% by the end of 2025. Increased use of cancer biomarkers in drug discovery and development, technological advancement coupled with cancer biomarker research, increased incidence of cancer worldwide and increased acceptance for treatment in developing economies, and Paradigm Shift in Healthcare from Disease Diagnosis to Risk Assessment or Early Diagnosis are factors attributing to market growth. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/360I-Auto-2X22/global-cancer-biomarkers-market ABOUT US: Valuates offers in-depth market insights into various industries. Our extensive report repository is constantly updated to meet your changing industry analysis needs. Our team of market analysts can help you select the best report covering your industry. We understand your niche region-specific requirements and that's why we offer customization of reports. With our customization in place, you can request for any particular information from a report that meets your market analysis needs. Valuates is curating premium Market Research Reports from the leading publishers around the globe. We will help you map your information needs to our report repository of Market research reports and guide you through your purchasing decision. We are based out of Silicon Valley of India (Bengaluru) and provide 24/6 online and offline support to all our customers and just a phone call away. CONTACT US: Pigeons are much maligned as the rats of the air but to Ivan Fonti, they're envoys of peace. The 58-year-old singer is out of work: he lost 28 bookings $45,000 worth, many of them at Croatian weddings due to the COVID-19 outbreak restrictions. But he's OK, because he has his beloved birds in his Melton backyard. "When I go out to my birds, it calms me down," he said. "Even if I'm stressed out, I just go out to my birds and I feel better." Nine out of the 12 personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) who tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in Mumbai have been cured of the infection caused by the Sars-Cov-2 virus and discharged. The personnel were posted at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) before the contracted the disease. MA Ganapathy, special director general, CISF, said, In all 12 personnel had tested positive in first test but nine have been discharged having tested negative in subsequent tests. The three hospitalised have been also tested negative in the last test but they will have to undergo another test. The CISF personnel who had tested positive are from the ranks of constable to assistant sub inspector (ASI); the eldest being 52 years of age and the youngest 27 years. All the cured and discharged personnel have been advised to observe mandatory home quarantine for 14 days from the date of discharge. On March 27, a CISF head constable (HC) tested positive for Covid-19 after reporting a mild fever. After the first positive case, CISF decided to test 11 of his close contacts, four of whom tested positive on March 29. As all lived in the same camp,152 personnel were quarantined at the CISF residential camp at Kalamboli in Navi Mumbai even as more tested positive. CISF officials stated that active contact tracing was done to avoid any further spread of the disease. It was a pro-active action as aggressive testing was done. The contacts were traced and all were timely quarantined, said KN Tripathy, deputy inspector general, CISF, Mumbai airport. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON (Photo : Pixabay) Careful! Common Ragweed Can Be Growing In Your Backyard That Can Cause Severe Allergy! (Photo : Pixabay) Careful! Common Ragweed Can Be Growing In Your Backyard That Can Cause Severe Allergy! A dangerous allergy can be acquired from common ragweed that can grow in your backyard. Allergies scientifically known as ambrosia artemisiifolia affect 13.5 million people across Europe, according to the study conducted by Urs Schaffner, a researcher from the CABI Delemont located in Switzerland. According to BBC News' report, the severe allergies created by the ragweed cost 7.4 billion Euros or $8 billion to treat every year. However, the authors of the study said that the plant invasion can be controlled by a beetle that is non-native to Europe. The leaf beetle, also known as Ophelia communa, accidentally arrived in Europe in 2013. These leaf beetles can reduce the common ragweed pollen by 82% by attacking the plant's foliage, as explained by different studies in Italy. The ragweed also came from North America and is now invading 30 countries across Europe, including Iberia and the Balkans, the British Isles in the north, and Scandanavia. The pollen scattered from this invasive plant causes a wide range of symptoms from sneezing to itchy eyes, which can aggravate conditions that may cause asthma and eczema. Careful! Common ragweed can be growing in your backyard that can cause severe allergy! According to the report of BBC News, Urs Schaffner quantified the economic benefits of controlling the common ragweed using the leaf beetle. "Our study provides evidence that the impacts of common ragweed on human health and the economy are so far highly underestimated, but that biological control by Ophraella communa might mitigate these impacts in parts of Europe," Schaffner said in the report. According to the BBC, Schaffner and his colleagues identified the total seasonal ragweed pollen in Europe way back in 2004 until 2012, before the discovery of the leaf beetle, by using data acquired from the European pollen monitoring program. To have the correct number of patients suffering from the severe allergies caused by the common ragweed pollen, the researchers compared their European-wide assessment with the detailed healthcare data from southeastern France. Schaffner and his team of researchers were able to determine the overall economic costs of healthcare needed to cure the symptoms and other effects of the common ragweed. On the other hand, they also discovered that the leaf beetle can control the invasion, and reduce the number of people with an allergy from 13.5 million to approximately 11.2 million. This includes reducing the health costs from $8 billion to 6.4 billion Euros or $6.9 billion. "At this point in time, biological control of ragweed is already happening in Italy," he said. Urs Schaffner also clarified that if other countries want to use the Ophraella communa or the leaf beetle to control the ragweed invasion, they would need to go through a risk-benefit assessment and it must be approved the national authorities so they can use the exotic insect for biological control in their country. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Technavio has been monitoring the IT market in Germany and it is poised to grow by USD 13.92 billion during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of almost 3% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200421005736/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled IT Market in Germany 2019-2023 (Graphic: Business Wire) Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please Request Latest Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impact The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. Accenture, IBM, Microsoft, SAP SE, and T-Systems International GmbH are some of the major market participants. The adoption of IT by German SMEs will offer immense growth opportunities. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments. Adoption of IT by German SMEs has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. IT Market 2019-2023 in Germany: Segmentation IT Market in Germany is segmented as below: End-user Manufacturing Government BFSI ICT Business Services Other Sectors To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download latest free sample report of 2020-224: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR31177 IT Market 2019-2023: Scope Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our IT market in Germany report covers the following areas: IT Market in Germany Size IT Market in Germany Trends IT Market in Germany Industry Analysis This study identifies growing government support for IT solutions such as artificial intelligence (AI) as one of the prime reasons driving the IT market growth in Germany during the next few years. IT Market 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis We provide a detailed analysis of vendors operating in the IT market in Germany, including some of the vendors such as Accenture, IBM, Microsoft, SAP SE, and T-Systems International GmbH. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the IT market in Germany are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform IT Market in Germany 2019-2023: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023 Detailed information on factors that will assist IT market growth in Germany during the next five years Estimation of the IT market size and its contribution to the parent market in Germany Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the IT market in Germany Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of IT market vendors in Germany Table Of Contents: PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT 2.1 Preface 2.2 Preface 2.3 Currency conversion rates for US$ PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE Market ecosystem Market characteristics Market segmentation analysis PART 04: MARKET SIZING Market definition Market sizing 2018 Market size and forecast 2018-2023 PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS Bargaining power of buyers Bargaining power of suppliers Threat of new entrants Threat of substitutes Threat of rivalry Market condition PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY END-USER Market segmentation by end-user Comparison by end-user Manufacturing Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Government Market size and forecast 2018-2023 BFSI Market size and forecast 2018-2023 ICT Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Business services Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Other sectors Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Market opportunity by end-user PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE PART 08: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY CATEGORY Market segmentation by category Comparison by category IT services Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Software Market size and forecast 2018-2023 IT hardware Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Market opportunity by category PART 09: DECISION FRAMEWORK PART 10: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES Market drivers Market challenges PART 11: MARKET TRENDS Increasing adoption of Big Data solutions Government support for AI The Industry 4.0 initiative PART 12: VENDOR LANDSCAPE Overview Landscape disruption PART 13: VENDOR ANALYSIS Vendors covered Vendor classification Market positioning of vendors Accenture IBM Microsoft SAP SE T-Systems International GmbH PART 14: APPENDIX Research methodology List of abbreviations PART 15: EXPLORE TECHNAVIO About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200421005736/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: media@technavio.com Website: www.technavio.com/ President Donald Trump marked Earth Day at the White House on Wednesday by planting a tree with Melania Trump on the South Lawn. 'We're doing something I love doing: planting trees,' he told the guests. 'I've always loved it.' 'This tree will grow, also, and it'll stand tall and beautiful, and the future generations will be looking at it, and they'll say, 'I wonder who planted that tree?'' the president noted. President Donald Trump marked Earth Day at the White House by planting a maple tree with Melania Trump on the South Lawn After the tree was planted the Trumps ignored social distancing guidelines to chat with Mike and Karen Pence and several Cabinet officials Interior Secretary David Bernhardt puts his arm around EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler Vice President Mike Pence patted Interior Secretary David Bernhardt on the shoulder Before the planting, President Trump talked about how much he loves trees It was Melania Trump's first public appearance since March 10, when she joined the president at a presidential medal of freedom ceremony. The first lady has been active on social media during the coronavirus pandemic, posting video tips on how to cope and retweeting advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Melania Trump wore an olive green Victoria Beckham coat in honor of Earth Day paired with Manolo Blahnik heels. She didn't speak but did help with the planting. The first couple used gold shovels to plant a maple tree near a linden tree planted by President Bill Clinton just a few feet from the Oval Office. Vice President Mike Pence and second lady Karen Pence joined the Trumps in the planting, as did House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, and EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. 'We have plenty of dirt left,' Trump said, inviting them to toss a shovel full around the maple sapling. After the deed was done, the group ignored social distancing guidelines to gather in a circle to chat. Pence patted Bernhardt on the shoulder at one point. And Bernhardt put his arm around Wheeler. Guests at the tree planting ceremony, which took place a few feet from the Oval Office, sat apart from one another in accordance with social distancing guidelines Karen Pence and Melania Trump shared a shovel to plant the tree; as did President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence; the shovel was not wiped down between sharings President Trump lingered on the South Lawn chatting after the ceremony, talking with Melania Trump, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence Melania Trump wore an olive green Victoria Beckham coat in honor of Earth Day paired with Manolo Blahnik heels Melania Trump was last seen in public on March 10, when she joined President Trump when he gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to General Jack Keane Additionally, Trump and Pence shared a shovel to plant the tree, as did Melania and Karen. The shovel was not wiped down between being passed around. It was a sunny but cool day in Washington. President Trump, who's been showing signs he's restless, appeared in no hurry to go back inside the White House. He, Melania Trump, Pence, Karen Pence and McCarthy lingered on the South Lawn, chatting in the sunshine, before finally going into the Oval Office. During the ceremony, guests sat on chairs several feet apart from one another. 'Everyone is very far away from each other, thats good,' the president praised them. He also announced the Interior Department would be reopening U.S. national parks soon but offered no further information or dates when that would happen. Decisions will likely be based upon individual states and the coronavirus outbreaks in them. And, during the tree planting, Karen Pence wished Melania Trump a happy birthday in a nod to the first lady's upcoming 50th birthday, which is on Sunday. 'Happy birthday by the way,' Karen Pence told her as she took the shovel from her to take her turn at planting. 'Thank you,' Melania Trump responded. Melania Trump has been active behind-the-scenes during the coronavirus pandemic. She has spoken with the significant others of several world leaders, including Carrie Symonds, the fiancee of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson; Spanish Queen Letizia; Akie Abe of Japan; Sophie Gregoire Trudeau of Canada; Brigitte Macron of France; Laura Mattarella of Italy and Elke Budenbender of Germany. The first lady also has taken to social media during the coronavirus crisis, encouraging people to wear face masks and follow social distancing guidelines. She's also tweeted out information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and links to fun activities for children Additionally, Trump has taped video messages that offer tips for parents, activities for children, and well wishes for grandparents. Melania Trump said Sunday morning that she still wanted to 'honor' her annual tradition of reading an Easter book to children after having to cancel the White House Easter Egg Roll in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak With the annual White House Easter Egg Roll canceled due to concerns about large gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic, first lady Melania Trump gave 25,000 commemorative Easter eggs to area children's hospitals, federal agencies, aid groups and grocery store chains First lady Melania Trump took to twitter to encourage people to wear surgical masks Melania Trump also recorded several public service announcements She had to cancel the annual White House Easter Egg roll because of the pandemic but she posted a video of herself reading on of her favorite Easter books - 'The Little Rabbit' - on Twitter on Easter Sunday. 'Since we are not able to celebrate the traditional Easter Egg Roll on the grounds of the White House this year, I want to take a moment to wish everyone a Happy Easter, and read one of my favorite children's books,' Trump said in the four-minute video where she read the book. She gave the 25,000 commemorative wooden eggs - which would have gone to children at the Easter Egg Roll - to area childrens hospitals, federal agencies, aid groups and grocery store chains. Melania Trump tested negative for the coronavirus. Around 25,000 accounts from the National Institute of Health (NIH), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Gates Foundation and other organisations working towards containing the coronavirus pandemic were hacked. The database also seems to carry several IDs from a virology lab in Wuhan, giving rise to fresh speculations and conspiracy theories. Also Read: Coronavirus India Live Updates: President approves ordinance against attacks on health workers; tally-21,393 The Washington Post reported that unknown activists posted 25,000 email addresses and passwords online. This was found out by the SITE Intelligence Group, which looks after online extremism and terrorist organisations. An Australian independent cybersecurity expert Robert Potter said he could verify some of the IDs and passwords from WHO, but added that it could be from an older attack. The WHO list is genuine but it appears to be from an earlier attack. Healthcare agencies in particular are traditionally quite bad at cyber security.https://t.co/KwDIzfTbTj Robert Potter (@rpotter_9) April 22, 2020 The list initially appeared on the message board website 4chan and then on Pastebin. They were then shared on Telegram groups. According to the SITE report, 9,938 IDs from NIH, 5,120 IDs from World Bank and 2,732 IDs from WHO were leaked. Email IDs from Gates Foundation, which recently donated USD 150 million to Wuhan Institute of Virology, were also leaked. Wuhan was the epicentre of the pandemic. WHO has seen a rise in cybercrime attacks since mid-March, Bloomberg quoted chief information officer, Bernardo Mariano as saying. He added that the organisation hasn't been attacked but employees' passwords were leaked through other websites. The WHO used to have one security alert a month, but thus far in April the organisation has received eight from national cybersecurity authorities notifying "of nation-state actor attacks that we are facing," he said. The targets of these attacks are top WHO officials like Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Israel, European Union, UK, Switzerland, Interpol and even Microsoft had warned WHO of a possible attack, Mariano said. RIP Photo: Ian Dickson/Redferns The Whitney Houston estate has given the green light to a Whitney Houston biopic, tentatively titled I Wanna Dance With Somebody. In a statement, producers describe the film as a joyous, emotional and heart-breaking celebration of the life and music of the greatest female R&B pop vocalist of all time, tracking her journey from obscurity to musical superstardom. Sounds a little by the book, but okay, were listening. The Photograph director Stella Meghie is in talks to direct. Cool choice; now were talking. Gee, this project is shaping up to be pretty good wait, whats this? The announcement also states that screenwriter and producer Anthony McCarten after earning the support of the Houston family, financed a life-rights option and is writing the screenplay on spec. McCarten previously wrote The Theory of Everything, Darkest Hour, and Bohemian Rhapsody. In a statement, McCarten said, We are incredibly lucky to have the support and input of many of the key people who knew Whitney the best and who were there at the time, in the making of this film. I am working closely with all of them, to authentically tell the extraordinary story of a peerless talent, taken from us too soon. The aforementioned biopics written by McCarten all led to Oscars for their stars, although Bohemian Rhapsody received some critical backlash, particularly in the LGBTQ community, being called homophobic for its vilifying treatment of Freddie Mercurys sexuality. This is notable for any fans invested in how sensitively this film will address Whitney Houstons own censored queer relationships, or if it will at all. Houstons sister-in-law Pat Houston spoke on behalf of the estate, saying: Whitneys legacy deserves only the best that can be given. I stand with the hearts of these partners being the chosen ones to produce a film thats uplifting and inspiring to all that loved her. And as proved before in films like The Bodyguard and The Prince of Egypt, the power of a good Whitney Houston soundtrack can carry a movie a long way. If the prospect of I Wanna Dance with Somebody starring Rami Malek lip-syncing in a wig doesnt appeal to you (okay, a star has not been announced yet, but hey, who knows?) there are plenty of other Whitney Houston projects in development Shes going on a hologram tour, which considering the coronavirus may be the only types of tours there are in the future, anyway. Her posthumous induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is scheduled for November. And the documentary Whitney is available to stream on Hulu. Speaking of Whitney projects streaming on Hulu, this is also your daily reminder to watch Waiting to Exhale. The new biopic is being independently financed and is not currently set at a studio. Again, not that anything is, nowadays. By Express News Service CHENNAI: The Health Department constituted State and district level technical committees for conducting a audit of deaths due to Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) including confirmed and suspected COVID-19 deaths. In the Government Order dated April 20, the Health Department said that the committees are formed as proposed by the Directorate of Public Health (DPH) to assess medical and non-medical cause of death. It will also help to understand the circumstances that lead to death and lapses, if any, and helps in prevention and case management. The District level Technical Committee will meet within two days of a SARI death and complete the audit. The committee will recommend appropriate measures to prevent future occurrence of such deaths. Meanwhile, the State level technical committee will analyse the overall trend and factors that lead to COVID-19 related deaths and suggest measures to be implemented in preventing SARI and COVID-19 related deaths. It will also frame the guidelines for audit of COVID-19 related deaths and necessary formats for death audits like verbal autospy formats. The committee will scrutinise all the reports received from the Deputy Director, Joint Director of Health Services and also the deans of all medical colleges to review the cases of COVID-19 deaths to take necessary action. In State level committee, Director of Public Health will be the Chairperson and in the District level committee, Deputy Director of Health Services will be member secretary and Convener. Demonstrators Demand Santa Cruz Provide Hotel Vouchers for the Homeless alex [at] alexdarocy.com) Monday Apr 20th, 2020 4:04 PM by Alex Darocy Community members in Santa Cruz organized a "physical distancing" protest today to demand the City and County of Santa Cruz provide hotel vouchers for the homeless during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The demonstration was organized following California Governor Gavin Newsom's statements made during a press conference on April 18 that cities and municipalities that are blocking the State's effort to provide hotels for the homeless will be "judged" by history. Newsom declined to name the specific cities that were not accepting funds, but he had strong words for them. I just want to encourage those cities that are blocking efforts like this to consider themselves in the context of othersto consider their actions in the context and annals of history," Newsom said. Theyll judge themselves, not just be judged by others, by the extent they help the least among us. Demonstrators in Santa Cruz, some with fixed housing and some without, spaced themselves out along Ocean Street at the "Welcome to Santa Cruz" sign. They held signs that read: "Newsom, Look at Santa Cruz," "Our City is is refusing to give motel rooms to the homeless," "Santa Cruz Supervisors, City Council, Stop Blocking Project Roomkey," "Motel Rooms Now to Stop Covid-19," "San Jose is Doing it," "Renters & Homeless Unite for Justice," "Everyone Needs Housing No Matter What," "Provide Motel Rooms Not Just for the Sick," "Where Did the Money Go?" "I Need A Safe Place, Where are the Motel Vouchers?" and "Where are Governor Newsom's Promised Buildings and Camps?" Organizers of the demonstration included members of Santa Cruz Food Not Bombs, the Santa Cruz Chapter of the California Homeless Union, and Homeless United for Friendship and Freedom (HUFF). All photos are Copyright 2020 by Alex Darocy, and are available for non-commercial use by permission. PR-Inside.com: 2020-04-22 10:01:02 22 April 2020 Acron Groups Commercial Output Up 1% in Q1 2020 Groups consolidated output (including operating results for Acron, Dorogobuzh and North-Western Phosphorous Company) Product, 000 t Q1 2020 Q1 2019 YOY, % MINERAL FERTILISERS Ammonia 677 681 -0.6 Incl. in-house consumption* 634 592 Nitrogen fertilisers, including 1,114 1,242 -10.3 Incl. in-house consumption 170 286 AN 604 501 20.7 Incl. in-house consumption 53 108 Urea 245 315 -22.3 Incl. in-house consumption 117 178 UAN 265 426 -37.7 Complex fertilisers, including 618 610 1.3 Incl. in-house consumption 9 10 NPK 590 574 2.9 Incl. in-house consumption 9 10 Bulk blends 28 37 -23.8 Total commercial output for Mineral Fertilisers 1,596 1,645 -3.0 INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS Organic compounds, including 112 124 -9.3 Incl. in-house consumption 55 63 Methanol 27 27 1.1 Incl. in-house consumption 20 23 Formalin 40 45 -11.7 Incl. in-house consumption 35 40 Urea-formaldehyde resins 45 52 -12.6 Incl. in-house consumption 1 0 Non-organic compounds, including: 249 196 27.2 Low-density and technical-grade AN 78 49 59.3 Industrial urea 45 29 56.1 Calcium carbonate 113 106 6.8 Liquid carbon dioxide 12 10 11.8 Argon 2 2 -13.4 Total commercial output for Industrial Products 306 256 19.3 PHOSPHATE INPUTS Apatite concentrate 256 258 -1.0 Incl. in-house consumption 209 223 Total commercial output for Apatite Concentrate 47 35 33.9 TOTAL COMMERCIAL OUTPUT 1,948 1,936 0.6 Note: Commercial output is output less in-house consumption. Comments from Chairman of Acrons Board of Directors Alexander Popov: In the first quarter of 2020, Acron Group increased output of its main commercial products to a record high of 1,948,000 tonnes, up 1% year-on-year. Ammonia output decreased 1% to 677,000 tonnes, while its processing into finished products increased 7% and set a new record of 634,000 tonnes. Because our operations are flexible, we adjusted the final product structure to increase our output of premium products. In the reporting quarter, prices for UAN liquid fertiliser were the weakest among all nitrogen fertilisers, so we focused on manufacturing technical-grade AN, NPK, and industrial-purpose urea. As a result, mineral fertiliser output decreased 3%, while output of commercial products surged 19%. Market Trends In Q1 2020, global urea prices recovered after a setback in the second half of 2019. Baltic prices, which sank to USD 210 in late 2019, rose to USD 230 towards the end of Q1, driven by strong demand from countries in the northern hemisphere, in particular the United States, in advance of the sowing season, as well as by decreased Chinese exports due to logistics issues caused by the Covid-19 outbreak. In April, India renewed active purchases of urea, and the United States is maintaining strong demand. However, between May and October, the nitrogen fertiliser market usually faces low-season demand which prevents prices from growing further. In addition, such factors as lower global gas prices and weaker currencies in developing countries also put pressure on the nitrogen fertiliser market. Supported by recovering urea prices and a strong Russian market, AN prices also regained momentum in Q1 2020, while UAN prices continued to spiral down. NPK prices remained relatively stable amid higher prices for nitrogen and phosphate fertilisers and lower prices for potash fertilisers. However, since NPK prices declined in the previous quarter, average prices in Q1 2020 were lower compared to Q4 2019. Currently, the Covid-19 pandemic has had a minor impact on the mineral fertiliser industry in terms of demand and supply, since food security is among the top priorities of governments worldwide. At the same time, the industry is facing certain logistics challenges due to new restrictions, but these issues can be dealt with because of the sectors priority status. Due to lockdown measures in some countries, consumers of our industrial products are facing a shortage of manpower and production interruption or curtailment. For instance, demand for industrial-purpose urea and AN has fallen noticeably, but at this point it is not significant and does not affect the Groups capacity utilisation. The slump in oil prices this March and April could have a detrimental effect on fertiliser consumption in the biofuel segment. Average Indicative Prices, USD/t, FOB Baltic/Black Sea Q1 2020 Q4 2019 Q1 2019 Q1 2020 / Q4 2019 change Q1 2020 / Q1 2019 change NPK 16-16-16 252 270 312 -6.7% -19.2% AN 187 179 182 4.9% 3.0% UAN 123 137 178 -10.4% -30.8% Urea 217 216 243 0.5% -10.4% Ammonia 222 225 276 -1.4% -19.4% Media Contacts: Sergey Dorofeev Anastasia Gromova Tatiana Smirnova Public Relations Phone: +7 (495) 777-08-65 (ext. 5196) Investor Contacts: Ilya Popov Investor Relations Phone: +7 (495) 745-77-45 (ext. 5252) Background Information Acron Group is a leading vertically integrated mineral fertiliser producer in Russia and globally, with chemical production facilities in Veliky Novgorod (Acron) and the Smolensk region (Dorogobuzh). The Group owns and operates a phosphate mine in Murmansk region (North-Western Phosphorous Company, NWPC) and is implementing a potash development project in Perm Krai (Verkhnekamsk Potash Company, VPC). It owns transportation and logistics infrastructure, including three Baltic port terminals and distribution networks in Russia and China. Acrons subsidiary, North Atlantic Potash Inc. (NAP), holds mining licences for 11 parcels of the potassium salt deposit at Prairie Evaporite, Saskatchewan, Canada. Acron also holds a minority stake (19.8%) in Polish Grupa Azoty, one of the largest chemical producers in Europe. In 2019, the Group sold 7.6 million tonnes of various products to 78 countries, with Russia, Brazil, Europe and the United States as key markets. In 2019, the Group posted consolidated IFRS revenue of RUB 114,835 million (USD 1,774 million) and net profit of RUB 24,786 million (USD 383 million). Acrons shares are on the Level 1 quotation list of the Moscow Exchange and its global depositary receipts are traded at the London Stock Exchange (ticker AKRN). Acron employs over 11,000 people. For more information about Acron Group, please visit www.acron.ru/en. WASHINGTON Tensions between Washington and Tehran flared anew Wednesday as Irans Revolutionary Guard conducted a space launch that could advance the countrys long-range missile program and President Donald Trump threatened to shoot down and destroy any Iranian gunboats that harass Navy ships. The launch was a first for the Guard, revealing what experts described as a secret military space program that could accelerate Irans ballistic missile development, which is a major source of U.S. and international criticism. American officials said it was too early to know whether an operational Iranian satellite was successfully placed into orbit. Trumps top diplomat accused Iran of violating U.N. resolutions. After Irans announcement, Trump wrote on Twitter, without citing any specific incident: I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea. Last Wednesday, the U.S. Navy reported that 11 Guard naval gunboats had carried out dangerous and harassing approaches to American Navy and Coast Guard vessels in the Persian Gulf. The Americans used a variety of nonlethal means to warn off the Iranian boats, and they eventually left. Such encounters were relatively common several years ago, but have been rare recently. Iran said the U.S. was to blame for the incident. Conflict between Iran and the U.S. escalated after the Trump administration withdrew from the international nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions. Last May, the U.S. sent thousands more troops, including long-range bombers and an aircraft carrier, to the Middle East in response to what it called a growing threat of Iranian attacks on U.S. interests in the region. The tensions spiked when U.S. forces killed Irans most powerful general, Qassem Soleimani, in January. Iran responded with a ballistic missile attack on a base in western Iraq where U.S. troops were present. No Americans were killed but more than 100 suffered mild traumatic brain injuries from the blasts. At the Pentagon on Wednesday, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. John Hyten, a former commander of American nuclear and space forces, welcomed Trumps tweet as a useful warning to Iran. He drew a parallel between last weeks naval encounter in the Gulf and Wednesdays space launch, which said was just another example of Iranian malign behavior. And it goes right along with the harassment from the fastboats. You put those two things together and its just more examples of Iranian malign behavior and misbehavior, Hyten said. Iran considers the heavy U.S. military presence in the Middle East a threat to its security. Trump did not cite a specific Iranian provocation in his tweet or provide details. Senior Pentagon officials gave no indication that Trump had directed a fundamental change in military policy on Iran. The president issued an important warning to the Iranians, David Norquist, the deputy secretary of defense, said at a Pentagon news conference when asked about the tweet. What he was emphasizing is, all of our ships retain the right of self defense. Norquist called the tweet a very useful thing. Rep. Elaine Luria, a Virginia Democrat and Navy veteran, said Trumps tweeting could lead to war. The presidents continued issuing of orders to our military via tweet is a threat to our national security and, if followed without clear guidance and rules of engagement, will unnecessarily escalate tensions with Iran and possibly lead to all-out-conflict, she said. Hyten said he thinks the Iranians understand what Trump meant. Asked whether the tweet means a repeat of last weeks incident in the Gulf would require a lethal U.S. response, Hyten said, I would have to be the captain of the ship in order to make that determination. The nature of the response, he said, depends on the situation and what the captain sees. Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi, a spokesman for Irans armed forces, accused Trump of bullying and said the American president should focus on caring for U.S. service members infected with the coronavirus. The U.S. military has more than 3,500 confirmed cases of coronavirus, and at least two service members have succumbed to COVID-19, the disease the virus causes. The space launch has potentially bigger implications for conflict with Iran. U.S. officials believe it is intended to advance Irans development of intercontinental-range ballistic missiles that could threaten the U.S. Using a mobile launcher at a new site, the Guard said it put a Noor, or Light, satellite into a low orbit circling the Earth. Iranian state TV late Wednesday showed footage of what it said was the satellite, and said it had orbited the earth within 90 minutes. State TV said the satellites signals were being received. Hyten said it was too soon to know whether the launch had successfully placed a satellite in orbit. He said U.S. tracking technology showed that the launch vehicle had traveled a very long way, which means it has the ability once again to threaten their neighbors, their allies, and we want to make sure they can never threaten the United States. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United Nations needs to evaluate whether the space launch was consistent with Security Council resolutions. I dont think it remotely is, and I think Iran needs to be held accountable for what its done, Pompeo said. __ Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writer Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-23 00:57:20|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MALE, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The Maldives needs 27 million U.S. dollars to cover state expenses during the COVID-19 pandemic, local media cited Finance Minister Ibrahim Ameer as reporting on Wednesday. During an online parliamentary session held on Wednesday morning, Finance Minister Ameer said that the country was facing a cash flow shortage due to the halting of economic activities amid precautionary measures against the COVID-19 pandemic. Noting the country needs an immediate 27 million dollars to finance state expenses, Ameer requested MPs to vote for a one year stay on fiscal limits so that the state could access long-term borrowing from the Central Bank to fund public services. The finance minister also said that the government was approaching bilateral lenders and international financial institutions to procure loans and financial aid. Recently, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) pledged to give the Maldives a grant of 20 million dollars. The Maldives reported two more COVID-19 cases in capital Male on Wednesday, raising the city's tally to 66 since the first infection there was reported last week, raising concerns of community transmission. Enditem As the world reels from the impact of coronavirus and draconian social lockdown, and as governments face the near-impossible task of how and when to lift the restrictions, Northern Ireland's political parties are divided once more. This time, they can't agree over whether people should be permitted to visit graveyards. Currently, cemeteries are closed as part of the lockdown measures. The DUP and UUP want to change this, saying cemetery visits could be allowed on a controlled basis. Sinn Fein and Alliance are opposed, although Alliance deputy leader Stephen Farry, says the party is "prepared to reconsider" the issue, but only if the scientific evidence changes. The SDLP wants further advice from health officials before it takes a position. Sinn Fein junior minister Declan Kearney told the Assembly that keeping cemeteries closed was necessary. "I and Executive colleagues understand how difficult it is that members of our families, friends and community are being denied solace, which moments of reflection at gravesides can provide, but that is the price we must pay," he said. "No other interest can take primacy over our public health." Certainly. But does anybody seriously believe that allowing bereaved people to visit their loved ones' graves is a threat to public health? Mr Farry speaks of reconsidering the closures if the scientific evidence changes, but where is the scientific evidence which proves - or even suggests - that keeping cemeteries open presents any kind of additional risk? Show me a single credible scientist who believes that graveyards must remain shut to protect people from contracting Covid-19. As many bereaved relatives have very reasonably asked, why does the law permit people to queue up outside supermarkets and off-licenses but refuses them access to the graves of their family? The churches are listening, even if some politicians are not. The Church of Ireland Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, Rev Andrew Forster, said the decision should "be looked at again". Dr Donal McKeown, the Catholic Bishop of Derry, has asked the Executive to give "some sense of logic" for the motivation behind this particular piece of legislation. The absence of logic is, indeed, striking. I would like Sinn Fein and Alliance to explain, in detailed terms, what exactly they think the difference is between people entering a park and people entering a graveyard. Both are open public spaces. If social distancing measures are in place, then why is it permissible to visit one and not the other? There's an overwhelmingly strong case for keeping parks open during this time of dreadful stress, so that people - particularly those who have no outside space at home - can exercise, breathe fresh air and help keep themselves as fit and sane as possible. Kudos to Belfast City Council for keeping their parks open right from the start of the lockdown, when many other councils slammed the gates shut immediately, though some are starting to open them again now, belatedly realising how important they are for public health. The emotional need for people to visit family graves is different but no less compelling. For many newly bereaved relatives, spending time at a graveside is an essential part of their ability to cope. Even when the loss was some years ago, the need to return to the resting place of the beloved person remains. Such visits are likely to be quiet or perhaps solitary occurrences. For the most part, graveyards stand virtually empty. The stories we have been hearing are heartbreaking: parents who have lost children, children who have lost parents, partners who have lost their lifelong mate. They deal with their grief by going to the grave. It helps them find a measure of peace. But now they have been denied that comfort, left shut out on the other side of a locked gate. Not surprisingly, people are getting angry. They're getting desperate. Some say that no rule on earth will prevent them from going to their loved ones' place of rest. There's talk on social media of bereaved relatives vowing to climb over gates, fences and walls - whatever it takes - in order to get in to cemeteries. If you are going to subject people to this level of emotional distress, you'd better have sound scientific evidence to demonstrate that it is necessary in the fight against coronavirus. I ask again, where is this evidence? What we are seeing here, I believe, is the victory of process over purpose. The extraordinary restrictions were enacted in an attempt to save lives and prevent the NHS from becoming overwhelmed: that was, and is, the declared purpose. But when process - the authoritarian implementation of the rules - becomes the point, public trust is damaged. To be effective and to retain the trust and cooperation of the public, rules must be seen to be tempered with common sense and sound scientific evidence. If you treat the public like children, imposing rules that are manifestly unfair and disproportionate, they will rebel. I suspect that some politicians are reluctant to reopen cemeteries because they fear that any perceived dilution of the lockdown laws and guidelines will result in increased flouting of all the special measures. In the same way, the UK Government is reluctant to discuss its exit strategy from lockdown, on the grounds that it would distract focus from the 'stay at home, save lives' message. This is not just patronising and insulting. It's also a big mistake. The people of Northern Ireland have shown themselves to be remarkably willing to sacrifice their liberty in the fight against coronavirus. They are much more likely to continue complying if they are treated with respect. Open the cemeteries and let people grieve. It's in the interests of everyone. The legendary Sachin Tendulkar, who will turn 47 on Friday, has decided not to celebrate his birthday this year as a mark of respect to the frontline workers leading India's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. "Sachin has decided that this is not the time for celebrations. He feels that this is the best tribute he can pay to all the doctors, nurses, para-medics, policemen, defence personnel, who are at the frontline," a source close to the player told PTI on Wednesday. Tendulkar has already contributed a total of Rs 50 lakh to the and CM Relief fund. He is also involved with several other relief work initiatives. "He has always been very uncomfortable talking about this aspect," the source said. Numerous fan clubs are coming up with innovative tributes on social media for the iconic batsman. One fan club will be releasing 40 rare photographs of the maestro and another will be highlighting all the social work and initiatives that the legend has undertaken in all these years. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The state and federal governments devised a plan to address New York's COVID-19 testing bottleneck during a White House meeting between Gov. Andrew Cuomo and President Donald Trump on Tuesday afternoon. Cuomo discussed his meeting with the president and White House officials during a briefing in the state Capitol on Tuesday night. FARMINGTON, CT All around Farmington, messages of thanks and togetherness have been springing up in front of homes and businesses as feelings of isolation continue during the new coronavirus pandemic. Patch took a quick jaunt through town Wednesday morning and shows a representative sampling of signs in the gallery below. We know there are many more inspirational messages out there, and would like to include them in this showcase. Please email your original photo, with a description and location, to tim.jensen@patch.com. To register for free Farmington news alerts and more, click here. Garden St. My familys display to honor our medical community and first responders. The lights remain on 24/7! (Photo: Kim Green) Cedar Lane. We wanted to make a sign to thank just a handful of the essential workers who are working hard during this time. (Photo: Michelle Bafumi) Walnut Farms Dr. Bob OConnor, retired Farmington teacher, shows his support for the front line." (Photo: Christine O'Connor) Plainville Ave. New Britain Ave. Farmington Ave. Mill St. Litchfield Rd. New Britain Ave. Cross Creek Lane. Farmington Ave. Farmington Ave. (Photos: Tim Jensen/Patch) This article originally appeared on the Farmington Patch Dixon Technologies, a contract manufacturer in electronic goods, expects slow resumption of production due to the lockdown, a top company official on Tuesday. The company, which has two manufacturing units in Noida and Tirupati, is yet to commence production as both the facilities fall into the red zone, where the government has prohibited manufacturing till the lockdown is over. The company also expects an impact on its financial performance as manufacturing activities have been stalled in April and the sector is is expected to come back on its feet only by the second quarter (July-September). Definitely, there would be an impact because the entire April is gone and in May, by the time, we will start and get ready, it is going to be slow, Dixon Technologies Chairman Sunil Vachani told PTI. According to him, revival of the demand in the appliance and consumer electronics sector would only be possible at the end of the second quarter, when the festive season sale would start. To come back to the normal position (for the sector), it would be only by the second quarter. It will be slow to start definitely, he added. He, however, pointed out that some clients and customers have said there might be a pick-up in demand for low value ticket items, so in such items "we are hoping to recover much sooner than others. When asked whether the company has started its manufacturing operations, he said approvals are awaited as the units in Noida and Tirupati fall under the red zone. Once we start manufacturing, the supply chain also has to be smooth. So we are working on it, said Vachani. Besides, he has asked the government to extend the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for the electronics sector to other sectors as well. We are requesting that the scheme be extended to some other sectors, so that we could look at the global markets in the time to come, said Vachani. Last month, the government had announced PLI worth Rs 40,995 crore for electronics manufacturing companies. Under the scheme, electronic manufacturing firms will get an incentive of 4-6 per cent on incremental sales (over base year) of goods manufactured in India and covered under target segments, to eligible companies over a period of next 5 years. Dixon Technologies, a home grown electronic manufacturing company, is a third party OEM manufacturer for consumer durables, home appliances, lighting, mobile phones and security devices. It had a revenue of Rs 2,525.77 crore for the 2017-18. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Flash Naomi Birbeck [Photo provided to China.org.cn] Thinking back to the beginning of the year when news broke of a highly infectious virus that was spreading rapidly across Wuhan and China seems like many lifetimes ago. I recall worrying for my brother who lives in Beijing and his girlfriend, frantically exchanging messages making sure they were okay. I had visited Beijing last summer and was mesmerized by the synchronized chaos of city life and the bustling streets filled with the aromas of restaurants and food carts. The images I received from my brother of empty streets and closed businesses were a stark contrast to the exciting city in my memory. As I went about my daily life in the UK, going to university, visiting the library, and going out to eat with friends, the lockdown situation in China seemed worlds away. However, following the news and seeing how the virus was beginning to sweep across the globe, it became very apparent that I would probably be contending with the same reality someday soon. On March 23, thatday came. Our prime minister, Boris Johnson, announced the immediate closures of all school institutions, public spaces and restaurants and banned all public gatherings. Despite watching the pandemic play out in other parts of the world, it still felt very surreal. People rushed to supermarkets to stock up on food and essentials, which led to nationwide panic and, strangely, a shortage of toilet paper. I gathered some belongings and the houseplants from my flat and went to my family home to wait out the pandemic in the company of my parents and pet dog. Seeing other countries in lockdown assured me of one thing being with family would be a lot easier than being alone. Now, as the country enters its fourth week of lockdown, the frantic panic from the constant news cycles has subsided as people resign themselves to quarantine measures. I feel as though I have adjusted to this new way of life and started to make the most of all this free time by introducing little changes into my daily routine. I have always loved reading, so I took the time to organize my bookcase and start working through the untouched novels. I recently read "Girl, Woman, Other" by Bernadine Evaristo, which follows the lives of different women throughout decades of British history. This has provided me with some much-needed escapism. I have even started a little reading circle with friends so we can all keep in touch and feel connected. I have started taking part in online workout groups and found that my fitness has really improved. One celebrity in the UK, Joe Wicks, has branded himself the country's "PE teacher" and posts online videos everyday in a bid to keep the nation sane and healthy. I have started practicing yoga and meditation for the first time in years, which is something I would never normally have the time or patience for. As we are allowed outside for one hour a day, I take the dog on a nice long walk around the local area. I have found this is a nice time to self-reflect and appreciate the beauty in the nature that surrounds me. Watching the different stages of the trees coming into bloom is a wonderful experience that normally passes me by unnoticed. On weekends, I organize different activities with friends and families that we can all do over video call. So far, we have had quiz night and a competition to see who can make the perfect rainbow cake. it is safe to say that I shall not be coming out of quarantine as "baker of the year" I have worryingly settled into my new life under lockdown quite easily. I enjoy the new routine and trying out different skills, and I have every intention of continuing this when normality returns (apart from the cake-making). But that is all on a personal scale. My main concerns are on a much larger scale: "What will the state of the nation be? How will the economy recover? What will happen in other parts of the world?" But for now, all I can do is help stop the spread of the virus by staying at home. One thing this pandemic has confirmed is that an international community does exist. We may have once felt as though we could not see the commonalities between a butcher from rural Italy, an English builder and a banker from Beijing, but now we all have this visceral experience in common. Nations across the globe have suffered together at the hands of this virus, and my hope is that we will recover together. Naomi is studying for her master's degree in International Relations at the University of Liverpool. WASHINGTON, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- String Real Estate Information Services ("String" or "String Real Estate") the leading provider of title search, production and curative solutions, announced today that the firm has promoted Gokul Krishnan to Director of Operations, Prakash Rajagopalan to Senior Vice President of Finance, Kris Gurumoorthy to Vice President of Title Operations, and Bhaskar Reddy to Vice President of Training and Quality. Mr. Krishnan brings over 25 years of experience in operations and IT security, with over 16 years of focused title industry experience with String. In his new role as Director of Operations, Mr. Krishnan will be expanding the String India centers to increase productivity, scalability, and employee engagement throughout the firm. Mr. Krishnan has been with the String since its founding in 2004. Mr. Rajagopalan, a Chartered Accountant, has over 30 years of global experience guiding and streamlining corporate accounting, financial planning, sales and acquisitions, and statutory compliance across various industries. In his new role as Senior Vice President of Finance, Mr. Rajagopalan will continue oversight of String's finance and administration to ensure appropriate valuation and research of future acquisitions. Mr. Rajagopalan has been with the firm since 2013. Mr. Gurumoorthy brings a wealth of knowledge to the firm, having over 23 years of experience across various sectors and 16 years of title industry experience with String. In his new role as Vice President of Title Operations, Mr. Gurumoorthy will continue overseeing legacy title operations and managing process service delivery with a specific focus on seamless execution and client satisfaction. Mr. Gurumoorthy has been with the String since its founding in 2004. Mr. Reddy brings over 17 years of experience in the mortgage, title, and settlement sectors, with the majority focused on migration and client process transition to his new role. In his new position as Vice President of Training and Quality, Mr. Reddy will be heading the training and quality departments across all three of String's offshore locations. He will also support function teams in the title secondary operations and coordinate String's automation initiatives. Mr. Reddy has also been with the String since its founding in 2004. "Gokul, Prakash, Kris and Bhaskar are core members of the String team and have been vital to their success," said Prashant Kothari, Managing Director of String. "These promotions highlight String's success in building an industry leading operations team, with an unparalleled work ethic and dedication. Our strong foundation has enabled us to weather dislocations like the Covid-19 lockdown better than any of our peers. We continue to find ways to help our clients in the title industry achieve success." Mr. Krishnan, Mr. Rajagopalan Mr. Gurumoorthy, and Mr. Reddy, all based in India, assumed their roles on April 1st. Mr. Krishnan and Mr. Rajagopalan will continue reporting to Prashant Kothari, and Mr. Gurumoorthy and Mr. Reddy will continue reporting to Mr. Krishnan. ___________ About String Real Estate Information Services String (www.stringinfo.com) is the leading solutions provider to the title industry with 16 years' of specialized experience. String's mission is to help title agents build better, more efficient and cost-effective businesses by helping them lower costs, increase margins and improve operational efficiencies. String offers title search, production and curative services for a variety of secondary market players. String has won several accolades including the Smart CEO Future 50 Award, the Inc. 5000 list of Fastest Growing Private Companies in the US & the MAP Vital factors Solutions Award. Contact For more information, please visit www.StringInfo.com or contact Andy Garrett (Managing Director, Global Head of Marketing) at [email protected]. SOURCE String Real Estate Related Links http://www.stringinfo.com The national lockdown imposed to check the spread of Covid-19 has left thousands of workers jobless, and forced many of them to leave big cities for their homes. Union minister of state for labour and employment (independent charge) Santosh Kumar Gangwar tells Smriti Kak Ramachandran in an interview about how the states and the Centre are coordinating to ensure the workers are paid and their interests are looked after. Edited excerpts: How is the ministry ensuring that workers demands and concerns are addressed by the states since labour is on the concurrent list? The ministry has set up a workers helpline and 20 control rooms across India. Seventy-five senior officers from the office of the chief labour commissioner (central) are addressing various wage and employment-related grievances under the central sphere, and also the issues of migrant workers. The coordinated efforts of central and state governments are required to resolve these grievances; so we have asked all states and Union Territories to sensitise officers of their labour departments about these control rooms, and designate nodal officers to coordinate with them. This will allow greater synergy between the Centre and the states, and a quicker resolution of complaints. Will you consider demands from states and industry bodies to use Employees State Insurance funds for payment of wages during the lockdown? The finance ministry has released a relief package. Presently, we are listening to the stakeholders and seeking suggestions. All of this will be shared with the finance ministry and all the ministries concerned. As for questions about a financial package, that should be dealt with and responded to by the finance ministry. We wrote to states and Union Territories on March 24 that they can use appropriate money from their portion of the Rs 31,000 crore accumulated from the building and construction cesses. We have informed the states that if they wish to, they can use a portion of this fund for eligible beneficiaries. A reasonable amount of money from the fund can also be transferred into the accounts of an estimated 35 million registered building and other construction workers. There are concerns that if workers are not paid, they may not enough money to survive. We have about 400 million people in the unorganised sector. The states will have to come up with ways to ensure they are also looked after. This is a battle between life and livelihood, but with the comprehensive efforts of citizens and the government, India will win the battle soon. We have to come out of this situation with practical solutions that benefit both the workers as well as the employers. The government has also made it possible for people to withdraw EPF (Employees Provident Fund). There has been a good response to that scheme because it has helped improve liquidity and put money into the hands of the workers. Further, support to a big section of employees and employers has also been extended. The expenditure of Rs 4,860 crore will be taken care of by the government through the 24% EPF contribution. What has are the kinds of complaints you have received on the helpline? In three days, we received over 300 complaints and about 60% of these pertain to states. We closely monitor these helpline numbers to assess the rate and quality of disposal of grievances/complaints/distress calls - whether they have been addressed in time or if there is an issue that needs to be dealt by any state government. A majority of the complaints have been about non-payment or delays in payment of wages, and action has been taken. We get real-time testimonies from people whose complaints are being resolved. Some of the other requests were for faster resolution of EPFO (Employees Provident Fund Organisation) claims. Several industry bodies have raised the issue of a shortage of manpower across sectors because of a large scale movement of the migrant workforce... The agriculture sector has largely been exempted from the lockdown, and there is no shortage there. I have been told that labour for agriculture is actually now available at a little competitive daily wage basis than before. But the situation will be better in future and the labour will eventually move where the job opportunities are available. People should not hesitate to lodge complaints with the helpline numbers. We are here to solve their problems; the numbers are provided on the website of the ministry. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra on Wednesday urged the Muslim community to pray at home during the month of Ramzan to fight the coronavirus pandemic, a statement said. The governor held a video conference with Khadims of Ajmer Dargah and discussed ways to spread the message to the people, it said. The governor said he was heartened to learn that Khadims were guiding people to not visit mosques during Ramzan, the statement said. The governor appealed to people to stay home and maintain social distancing and celebrate the festival with simplicity, it said. The Khadims assured the governor that they will share his message among the community members, the statement said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Centre on Wednesday set the wheat procurement target at 40.7 million tonnes for the 2020-21 marketing year (April-March) as the country is expected to harvest a record 106.21 million tonnes of the grain this year. Harvesting of wheat, the main rabi crop, is underway amid COVID-19 lockdown situation. Already, farmers have harvested the crop in around 67 per cent of the total area under cultivation so far. Although the wheat marketing year runs from April-March, the bulk of procurement is done in the first three months. State-run Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state agencies undertake purchase at the MSP. Wheat procurement stood at 34.13 million tonnes during the 2019-20 marketing year. "The central government has given approval for procurement of 40.7 million tonnes of wheat and 11.29 million tonnes of rice in the 2020-21 rabi season," Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said in his tweet. The target has been finalised after assessing the crop estimate submitted by the wheat-growing states, a senior Food Ministry official said. For the ongoing marketing year, the wheat procurement target for Punjab has been set at 13.5 million tonness, Madhya Pradesh at 10 million tonne, Haryana at 9.5 million tonnes, Uttar Pradesh at 5.5 million tonnes and Rajasthan at 1.7 million tonnes, the official said. A procurement target of 2 million tonnes each has been set for Uttarakhand and Bihar, while 50,000 tonnes each for Gujarat and other states like Himachal Pradesh for this year, he added. The Union Agriculture Ministry in its second estimate has pegged wheat output at a record 106.21 million tonnes for the current year, but wheat growing states are expecting much higher production at 118.41 million tonnes. Besides, the central government has fixed a target of 11.29 million tonnes procurement of rice grown during the rabi season of this year. The target for Telangana has been fixed at 6.19 million tonnes and for Andhra Pradesh 2.19 million tonnes. The target is set at 9,50,000 tonnes for Odisha, 8,00,000 tonnes for West Bengal, 5,44,000 tonnes for Tamil Nadu, 3,35,000 tonnes for Maharashtra, 2,00,000 tonnes for Kerala, 67,000 tonnes for Assam and 12,000 tonnes for Karnataka during the 2020-21 marketing year. It may be noted that rice grown during the kharif season is procured in huge quantities by the FCI. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic) Ashot Ghulyan on Monday addressed a letter to President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (PA) George Tsereteli and members of the PA Bureau, responding to the call to maintain the global ceasefire and to the statements on the nationwide elections held in the Republic of Artsakh. The letter particularly reads as follows: Your Excellency, Dear colleagues, On behalf of the National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh, I welcome the support of the administration of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly to the call of the United Nations Secretary-General to maintain the global ceasefire. The National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh is certain that, during the fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic, it is necessary to relieve ourselves of the stereotypes and dividing lines of the past. The Republic of Artsakh immediately responded to the call of the UN Secretary-General by reaffirming its commitment to strictly maintain the ceasefire regime in the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict zone on March 24. These days, any attempt to serve the situation created by the pandemic for own political agenda may lead to extremely dangerous consequences for the international community, and this is strictly condemnable. The Republic of Artsakh is of the opinion that the crisis due to the novel coronavirus must not be used to restrict human rights, including the exercise of the right to vote and establish authorities through democratic elections. In this context, the observations of the members of the Bureau of the OSCE PA regarding the recent elections held in Artsakh are deeply disappointing. Moreover, those observations radically differ from the position and evaluations of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs who, in their statement issued on March 31, 2020, recognize the role of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh in deciding its future. Such observations also contradict the several statements made by the administration of the OSCE PA according to which the OSCE PA supports the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs for a peaceful settlement of the Azerbajian-Karabakh conflict. Dear members of the Bureau of the OSCE PA, Elections are not new for the Republic of Artsakh and have been an integral part of the political life in the country since independence in 1991. Even the 1992 Helsinki Decision clearly states the fact that the selected representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh are party to the negotiations. International mediators, as well as Baku, have maintained direct ties with the authorities of Artsakh established through elections. It is also necessary to mention that the Bishkek Protocol, which paved the way for the establishment of a ceasefire in May 1994, was signed by the selected representatives of all three parties, including the heads of parliaments of Artsakh, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Taking the opportunity, I would like to inform that the nationwide elections in the Republic of Armenia were competitive and free and in accordance with international standards. All necessary preventive actions were taken to prevent the spread of the coronavirus during the elections. As a result, the elections were competitive and free and saw a high voter turnout. Based on the data provided by the Central Electoral Commission, five political parties are represented in the National Assembly. Since none of the presidential candidates garnered the required number of votes, the second round of presidential elections was designated and was held on April 14. It is also necessary to mention that, since 1991, several elections and referenda in Artsakh have been extremely difficult to hold, including amid bombardment by Azerbaijan. Allow me to assure you that, as in the past, even today, the people and authorities of Artsakh stay true to their path to build a free, independent and democratic state and are ready to overcome any obstacle and challenge on that path. Four members of a family -- a 55 -year old woman and her two sons and a daughter -- allegedly committed suicide here on Wednesday over suspected prolonged health issues and financial problems, police said. The bodies of the woman, her two sons aged between 25 to 30 and her 20-year old daughter were found hanging in different rooms in their house in Meerpet area, they said. Based on preliminary investigation, a senior police official told PTI that the four family members were suspected to have ended their lives due to financial and health problems and other issues. All the three siblings had health problems. A suicide note found in the house also mentioned that they had spent a lot on treatment cost and were committing suicide due to health and financial problems and no one was responsible for their deaths, the official said. Some neighbours after noticing a sheet of paper on the main door of the house with the words please open the door alerted the police, police said. The deceased are natives of Vikarabad district, they said adding further investigation was on. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) London Wed, April 22, 2020 09:52 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd372c7f 2 People Queen-Elizabeth-II,birthday,royals,coronavirus,COVID-19 Free Britain's Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her 94th birthday on Tuesday, but the traditional gun salute was called off this year because of the coronavirus crisis. The monarch was said to be marking the occasion with her 98-year-old husband, Prince Philip, at Windsor Castle, west of London. The couple, whose age puts them in a high-risk category for COVID-19, have been following the government's lockdown orders and maintaining social distancing rules during the pandemic. Other senior royals have been housebound at their residences around Britain, so publicly wished the queen a happy birthday on social media instead. "Wishing Her Majesty The Queen a very Happy 94th Birthday," her son and heir to the throne Prince Charles and his wife Camilla posted on Twitter alongside a selection of photographs of his mother through the decades. Buckingham Palace said on Saturday that the queen would not celebrate her birthday with a traditional gun salute given Britain's struggles to contain COVID-19. The country is among the worst-hit in the world by the virus, registering nearly 17,000 deaths in hospitals and almost 125,000 cases to date. "Her Majesty was keen that no special measures were put in place to allow gun salutes as she did not feel it appropriate in the current circumstances," the palace said. The monarch made a rare national address at Easter, urging a collective response to the outbreak. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, April 22, 2020 15:51 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd39145a 1 Food Ramadan2020,ramadan,iftar,Hotel,delivery-service,food-delivery Free As the holy month of Ramadan is just around the corner, hotels in Jakarta are preparing various programs for their customers amid the large-scale physical distancing (PSBB) policy, including stay experiences, hampers and delivery services. Below are some of the Ramadan programs provided by hotels across the capital city that you may find interesting: JW Marriott Jakarta The hotel's Sailendra restaurant will be serving delicacies from different provinces in Indonesia to be enjoyed by customers at home. The so-called Iftar to You package offers five set menus, namely Mandalika Rijstaffel, Tobas Arsik & Cipera, Nasi Kebuli Komplit, Nasi Gudeg Komplit and Peduli Set Menu. Each package, which prices starting from Rp 150,000 (US$9.62) for a single portion and Rp 700,000 for up to four portions, consists of takjil (light snacks to break the fast), appetizers, main course, rice, soup, vegetables, homemade sambal (chili sauce), crackers and desserts. Additionally, each set menu also includes a bottle of immune-booster jamu empon-empon (traditional herbal drink consisting of mixed medicinal spices). One of the dishes that Id like to highlight is gecok babat [traditional dish made from beef tripe] a menu from my hometown in Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara. It reminds me of my childhood, said executive sous chef Heri Purnama in a statement, adding that the dish could be found on the Mandalika Rijstaffel set menu. The South Jakarta hotel also sells various cookies such as nastar (cookies filled with pineapple jam), kaastengel (cheese cookies), sagu keju (sago-cheese cookies) and oatmeal dates in hamper packages, with prices starting from Rp 700,000. In this time of crisis, JW Mariott Jakarta has also launched a social initiative where 10 percent of the total sales of its Iftar to You will go to those in need. It is also providing complimentary food boxes for all drivers delivering the set menu and hampers. Contact: +6221-5798-8888 or +62811-5886-111 (WhatsApp). Sari Pacific Jakarta Located in the heart of the capital, Sari Pacific Jakarta celebrates this years holy month by offering a stay experience and food-delivery service. Available between April 23 and June 1, the hotel's Ramadan Stay experience, which starts at Rp 910,000 per night, boasts complimentary breaking of the fast or sahur (predawn meal) for two adults and two children, daily laundry of up to five sets of clothes, and 20 percent discount on food and beverages. Four choices of hampers are also on offer with prices starting from Rp 398,000. For those at home, the hotel provides a delivery service of Japanese bento boxes or Indonesian traditional delicacies with prices starting from Rp 60,500 per box. Contact: +6221-2993-2888 or +62878-8700-6107 (WhatsApp) Fairmont Jakarta Fairmont Jakartas all-day-dining restaurant Spectrum is set to offer the Ramadan Iftar At Home program for customers who want to savor its delicacies in the comfort of their homes. A wide array of dishes is available: from kolak (bananas, sweet potatoes stewed in coconut milk) and bubur sumsum (rice porridge with palm sugar sauce) as takjil, to lamb kofta and beef rendang as main course. Available from April 24 to May 23, the package is on offer for either delivery or takeaway from Rp 350,000 per person. Contact: +6221-2970-33333 or +62815-915-9247 (WhatsApp). Holiday Inn & Suites Jakarta Gajah Mada Holiday Inn & Suites Jakarta Gajah Mada is also providing Ramadan menus and hampers that will be delivered to their customers homes through the Iftar to Go program. The hotels Duta Cafe & Restaurant is offering both Indonesian and Arab cuisine that are available as a set menu or a la carte with prices starting from Rp 60,000; both include complimentary takjil such as fried snacks, kolak, biji salak (dessert made from sweet potatoes) and es cendol (iced beverage with rice flour jelly, palm sugar and coconut milk). The eatery also provides two types of Ramadan hampers, which consist of various cookies like nastar, kaastengel, putri salju (sugar-coated cookies) and chocolate chip cookies; available from Rp 620,000 and can be delivered for free to locations within a radius of 5 kilometers. Contact: +6221-2977-6803 or +62811-9761-1827 (WhatsApp). Hotel Indonesia Kempinski Jakarta For this year's Ramadan, Hotel Indonesia Kempinski Jakarta is also offering a delivery service, staying experience and hampers. Chefs at the hotel's all-day-dining Signature restaurant have prepared Indonesian and international delicacies for your breaking-of-the-fast moment at home. Among the dishes are tongseng kambing kurma (lamb stew with dates), rendang daging (beef rendang) and salmon en croute with prices starting from Rp 150,000. Each menu includes takjil (light snacks to break the fast) and dessert. Japanese restaurant OKU is providing OKU Iftar Bento with food selections ranging from teriyaki chicken to grilled short ribs. OKU Iftar Bento starts from Rp 150,000 with takjil and dessert. Fine food and delicatessen shop Kempi Deli and German restaurant Paulaner Brauhaus are still serving takeaway and delivery orders from breakfast to dinner. At Kempi Deli, more than 30 food selections are available for order, including their best-selling sandwiches, salads, breads and juices. Similarly, Paulaner Brauhaus also provides their customers' favorite dishes to be enjoyed at home, such as the Paulaner Platter, crispy pork knuckle and Bavarian sausages. Kempi Deli is also offering Ramadan hampers to be delivered to your loved ones. The hampers consist of cakes, cookies and sweet tidbits with prices starting from Rp 600,000. Nestled near the city's historical Selamat Datang (Welcome) Monument, Hotel Indonesia Kempinski Jakarta is welcoming guests to stay in their luxurious rooms. Two options are available, namely Day Use and One Night Stay packages with prices starting from Rp 1.29 million. Contacts: Signature Restaurant: +6221-2358-3898 or +62877-7503-7507 OKU: +6221-2358-3896 or +6281-700-700-59 Kempi Deli: +6221-2358-3985 or +6281-700-500-79 Rooms: +6221-2358-3800 Grand Hyatt Jakarta Grand Hyatt Jakarta hotel is offering an iftar package, hampers and donation meal boxes to make this year's Ramadan memorable. The iftar package comprises Indonesian foods alongside international and traditional desserts. Starting from Rp 700,000 per set, which can serve two to four people, the package contains two takjil, four appetizers, one soup, six main dishes, six desserts and fruit cuts. The package is available for takeaway and delivery in the Jakarta area. Grand Hyatt Jakarta is also offering Ramadan gift packages with prices starting from Rp 650,000. Delivery service is available in the greater Jakarta area. The packages can be ordered via an online form. Furthermore, the hotel is providing donation meal boxes dubbed Give the Gift of Food for those who want to share with others who are struggling amid the COVID-19 pandemic. A meal box is priced from Rp 50,000 with a minimum of 50 boxes for each order. Food selections on the meal box include fried rice, fried noodles or Indonesian vegetarian dish. Those who wish to order the meal boxes should inform the hotel staff at least three days in advance. Deliveries will be done on Fridays by 6 p.m. at the latest. Complimentary delivery is said to apply within the Jakarta area. Contacts: Iftar Package: +6221-2992-1430 or +62815-913-1234 (WhatsApp or call) Give the Gift of Food: +6221-2992-1430 or +62815-913-1234 (WhatsApp or call) (wir/kes) Public and private patients anxiously waiting for elective surgeries in Victoria will be treated equally for the next six months and placed on the same waiting list that prioritises urgent procedures. National cabinet on Tuesday agreed to allow Category 2 and Category 3 surgeries to resume from Monday until May 11 - when the decision will be reviewed - as a result of Australia's success in suppressing the spread of COVID-19. At a 40-minute press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Health Minister Jenny Mikakos repeated multiple times public patients would be prioritised over private patients as a consequence of the Andrews government's decision to merge the private health system with the public in order to better deal with the coronavirus pandemic. "Public patients have gotten priority in terms of access to private hospital beds," Ms Mikakos said. A detective spoke with a Portage taxi driver who said she was supposed to pick up two men at the Best Western at 4:45 a.m. and take them to the Portage airport. The driver said that when she picked them up, they handed her a $100 bill and asked her to drive them to Madison. She told them that she had to stay within a 10-mile radius of Portage and the furthest she could go was the Piggly Wiggly in Poynette. She said the men accepted that and told her to keep the change from the $100 bill. The driver said that one of the men was on the phone and seemed to be making arrangements to be picked up from the Piggly Wiggly. A South Australian MP will face court later this year after he was charged with assaulting a fellow politician by lightly slapping her bottom during a parliamentary Christmas party. Sam Duluk has been accused of the act by SA-BEST Legislative Council member Connie Bonaros at last year's Christmas function. He will face Adelaide Magistrates Court on October 6 to answer the allegations against him, according to The Advertiser. Sam Duluk is accused of slapping SA-BEST upper house member Connie Bonaros on the backside at a pre-Christmas party in 2019 He will be represented by high-profile barrister Marie Shaw QC. Mr Duluk allegedly wrapped an arm around Ms Bonaros' waist before slapping her bottom, according to court documents. In January Mr Duluk apologised for the alleged conduct and quit his role on the Economic and Finance Committee, out of respect for the parliament. 'In seeking forgiveness and in proactively receiving professional help, I believe that I have begun a journey of recovery,' he told parliament. 'I have sought, and I am receiving, professional help in both combating alcohol use and dealing with the disappointment and distress that I have caused to those that have supported me and continue to support me.' Premier Marshall described Mr Duluk's alleged actions as 'completely and utterly unacceptable', but stood by the former member for Waite. Parliamentary Speaker Vincent Tarzia oversaw an investigation but Labor's government accountability spokesman Tom Koutsantonis said having Mr Duluk investigated by a fellow Liberal was 'farcical'. Ms Bonaros is believed to have filed a legal complaint after a lack of action from Premier Steven Marshall regarding the allegations He called for a full independent investigation into the allegations and for the Liberal MP to be suspended from parliament while the inquiry was underway. 'This cannot simply be ignored. Steven Marshall must take this matter seriously,' Mr Koutsantonis said. 'That's why we need a thorough, independent investigation.' Mr Duluk is now serving as an independent MP after he resigned from the Liberal Party the day he was reported by police. He will still be allowed to sit in state parliament if he is convicted. Daily Mail Australia had contacted Mr Duluk's office for comment. Dublin, April 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Air Purifier - Global Market Outlook (2018-2027)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Global Air Purifier market accounted for $7.15 billion in 2018 and is expected to reach $20.63 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 12.5% during the forecast period. Some of the key factors propelling the market growth include the improved standard of living, increasing disposable income, rising prevalence of airborne diseases along with rising pollution levels in urban areas, and rising need for the adoption of air pollution control equipment. However, high adoption and maintenance costs are the restraining factors for the growth of the market. By technology, high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) segment is projected to grow substantially over the forecast period. HEPA filters are extremely efficient in trapping airborne particles such as dust, pollen, smoke, and bio-contaminants. Due to increasing air toxins from industries, air quality control regulations have increased, worldwide. Automotive, chemical, coal, cement and thermal industries are the primary sources of deteriorating air quality. On the basis of geography, Asia-Pacific is expected to have considerable market growth during the forecast period, due to rapid urbanization and rising industrialization coupled with a growing population with increased disposable income. The air purifier market in South Korea is expanding rapidly, largely due to surging demand, as consumers are becoming more concerned about fine dust. Hence, South Korea's President's move to reduce the air pollution in the country, along with the regional cooperation with China, is expected to support the demand for the air purifiers market in the coming years. What the report offers: Market share assessments for the regional and country-level segments Strategic recommendations for the new entrants Covers Market data for the years 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023 and 2027 Market Trends (Drivers, Constraints, Opportunities, Threats, Challenges, Investment Opportunities, and recommendations) Strategic analysis: Drivers and Constraints, Product/Technology Analysis, Porter's five forces analysis, SWOT analysis, etc. Strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations Competitive landscaping mapping the key common trends Company profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent developments Supply chain trends mapping the latest technological advancements Story continues Key Topics Covered 1 Executive Summary 2 Preface 3 Market Trend Analysis 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Drivers 3.3 Restraints 3.4 Opportunities 3.5 Threats 3.6 Technology Analysis 3.7 Application Analysis 3.8 Product Analysis 3.9 Emerging Markets 3.10 Impact of COVID-19 4 Porters Five Force Analysis 5 Global Air Purifier Market, By Technology 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Ionic Filters 5.3 High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) 5.4 Activated Carbon 5.5 Electrostatic Precipitators (ESPs) 5.6 Stimulated Carbon Air Purifiers 5.7 Ozone Generators 5.8 Other Technologies 5.8.1 Negative Ion Air Purifier 5.8.2 Ozone Air Purifier 5.8.3 UV Technology-Based Air Purifier 6 Global Air Purifier Market, By Application 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Residential 6.3 Industrial 6.4 Commercial 6.5 Healthcare & Medical 6.6 Automotive 6.7 Energy & Utility 6.8 Construction 6.9 Manufacturing 7 Global Air Purifier Market, By Coverage Area 7.1 Introduction 7.2 >400 Sq. Ft 7.3 Above 200-400 Sq. Ft 7.4 100-200 Sq. Ft 8 Global Air Purifier Market, By Product Type 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Whole-House Air Purifiers and Cleaners 8.3 Portable Air Purifiers 8.4 Smart Air Purifier 8.5 Stand-alone Air Purifiers 8.6 In-duct Air Purifiers 8.7 Dust Collectors 8.8 Fume and Smoke Collectors 8.9 Vehicle Exhaust 8.10 Mist Eliminators 8.11 Fire/Emergency Exhaust 9 Global Air Purifier Market, By Distribution Channel 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Offline Distribution Channel 9.3 Online Distribution Channel 10 Global Air Purifier Market, By Geography 10.1 Introduction 10.2 North America 10.3 Europe 10.4 Asia-Pacific 10.5 South America 10.6 Middle East & Africa 11 Key Developments 11.1 Agreements, Partnerships, Collaborations and Joint Ventures 11.2 Acquisitions & Mergers 11.3 New Product Launch 11.4 Expansions 11.5 Other Key Strategies 12 Company Profiling 12.1 LG Electronics Inc. 12.2 Daikin Industries Ltd. 12.3 Whirlpool Corp. 12.4 3M Co. 12.5 Koninklijke Philips N.V. 12.6 Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. 12.7 Unilever Group 12.8 Honeywell International Inc. 12.9 Sharp Corporation 12.10 COWAY Co. Ltd. 12.11 Panasonic Corp. 12.12 Blueair AB 12.13 IQAir AG 12.14 Camfil AB 12.15 Hamilton Beach Brands, Inc. 12.16 Atlanta Healthcare 12.17 Blue Star Ltd. 12.18 Crusaders India Pvt. Ltd. 12.19 HSIL Ltd. 12.20 Xiaomi Inc. For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/uqg8cj Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 COVID-19 signage at the employee entrance of a meat plant in Worthington, Minnesota, on April 18, 2020. (Aaron Lavinsky/Star Tribune via AP) Iowa Pork Plant Grinds to a Halt Due to COVID-19 A Tyson Foods pork processing plant in Iowa has ceased operations due to COVID-19 concerns and because too many workers have been absent amid the outbreak, the company said in a release. The Waterloo facility will stop production mid-week until further notice, the company said. The plant, which is the companys biggest pork processing facility, has been running at reduced capacity due to worker absenteeism. Tyson Foods said that all 2,800 employees at the plant will be asked to undergo COVID-19 testing later in the week and that they would continue to be paid while furloughed. Meat processing workers are particularly susceptible to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, because they typically stand shoulder-to-shoulder on the line and congregate in crowded locker rooms and cafeterias. The company said the plant would be closing despite new safety measures introduced in response to the outbreak. Protecting our team members is our top priority and the reason weve implemented numerous safety measures during this challenging and unprecedented time, said Steve Stouffer, group president of Tyson Fresh Meats. Despite our continued efforts to keep our people safe while fulfilling our critical role of feeding American families, the combination of worker absenteeism, COVID-19 cases and community concerns has resulted in our decision to stop production. Stouffer said the plant closure would have a detrimental knock-on effect on the pork supply chain. The closure has significant ramifications beyond our company, since the plant is part of a larger supply chain that includes hundreds of independent farmers, truckers, distributors and customers, including grocers, Stouffer said. It means the loss of a vital market outlet for farmers and further contributes to the disruption of the nations pork supply. Prior to the CCP virus outbreak, U.S. hog farmers were poised for a good year with expectations of climbing prices amid soaring domestic and foreign demand. Instead, virus-driven restaurant closures have contributed to an estimated $5 billion in losses for the industry. Some farmers have resorted to killing piglets because plunging sales mean there is no room to hold additional animals in increasingly cramped conditions. We are in crisis and need immediate government intervention to sustain a farm sector essential to the nations food supply, said Howard Roth, a pig farmer from Wauzeka, Wisconsin, and president of the National Pork Producers Council, an industry trade group. Sadly its true that euthanizing is a question thats going to come up on farms, Roth said. In a bid to help farmers, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on Friday it would spend $3 billion to buy fresh produce, dairy, and meat that will be sent to food banks. The Waterloo plant closure follows reports of four Tyson Foods employees linked to a poultry facility in Georgia dying after becoming infected with COVID-19. Spokesman Gary Mickelson told The Associated Press that three of the employees worked at the companys chicken processing plant in Camilla, while the fourth person worked in a supporting job outside the plant. Two other Tyson Foods workers died from the virus at its plant in Columbus Junction, Iowa. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The partners of healthcare workers will be provided with paid leave to help with childcare, the Taoiseach has said. Leo Varadkar said that while providing childcare to health workers was an ongoing issue, a proposal was considered by the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) yesterday which has two aspects. One of these is to provide paid leave to the partners of people who work in the healthcare sector. This would allow people who work in the public sector to stay at home and provide childcare. The Taoiseach @LeoVaradkar and Minister @MurphyEoghan were briefed on the work carried out by the Dublin Homeless #COVID19 response team. pic.twitter.com/5pKSrhAXU3 MerrionStreet.ie (@merrionstreet) April 22, 2020 That has been approved by NPHET so we can try and action that now over the next couple of weeks, Mr Varadkar said. The difficulty is though that really only works where its a public sector household. It isnt an adequate answer for those who either are public healthcare workers or one is in the private sector and one is in the public sector. So the second piece which NPHET still has reservations about is using child minders to go into peoples homes. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) But thats now going to be considered as something that perhaps could kick in on May 5 as part of a general easing of restrictions. But theyre not happy for us to do right now. Mr Varadkar made the comments as he visited a homeless Covid-19 response hub in Granegorman with Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy and Minister for Health Simon Harris. Mr Varadkar also said that a road map to easing restrictions is not yet completed. Expand Close Leo Varadkar and Ministers during a visit to a homeless Covid 19 response hub in Dublin (Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Leo Varadkar and Ministers during a visit to a homeless Covid 19 response hub in Dublin (Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland) It will be completed and agreed and shared with the Irish public before May 5, he added. I dont want to say that theres X number of steps now and then tell you its a different thing in a few weeks time. But I think it would be fair to say that among the last things that will be returned to normal are major gatherings where you have a lot of people gathering together in a way thats hard to social distance, in a way thats hard to keep people apart by two metres. I suppose there are things that are most likely to come last. Thats not particular to alcohol, it could be any mass gatherings. Meanwhile, the Finance Minister said it is very likely he will taper and change the Covid-19 welfare subsidies when they expire after 12 weeks. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) Paschal Donohoe said the decision will depend on the state of the economy and how Ireland is tackling Covid-19. He said many of the financial aid packages introduced last month are not sustainable, with more than 40,000 companies now relying on the wage subsidy scheme. Speaking to RTEs Morning Ireland, Mr Donohoe said: Many of the measures that we have in place at the moment from an economic point of view, we cannot sustain them indefinitely, but we will be able to sustain them for long enough to allow incomes to continue to be protected, where possible, and to give over 40,000 companies that are currently on our income subsidy scheme a fighting chance of returning to economic and business health. Mr Donohoe said Irelands peak unemployment figure is likely to reach 22%, and then fall to around 14% by the end of the year. However, if the coronavirus crisis worsens, the countrys deficit could go up by the end of the year. The minister added: It could go up because it takes longer for our unemployment rate to go down, and because we need to make further economic decisions. The second thing that would mean, if the reduction in unemployment that I believe we will achieve, that could take longer to happen if things turn out differently with our public health. But what I would say in relation to that scenario is the foundation of where we want to get to with our economy is confidence in public health in the first place. If things do change in relation to the virus and our ability to combat it, because of many of the strengths that we still do have in our economy we will still be able to get to a place of employment and income growing again. But if the virus takes longer to contain, it could take longer to get there. Mr Donohoe described the 22% unemployment figure as horrific, but added that he is not applying any pressure to restart the economy. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) The Department of Health confirmed a further 49 Covid-19-related deaths on Wednesday, taking the total since the outbreak began to 769. An additional 113 deaths are suspected to have links to coronavirus, the Department of Health has said. Some 47,400 employers are taking up the Governments Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme. At a Government press briefing on Tuesday, senior civil servant Liz Canavan said the total payments so far amounted to 370 million euro. Ms Canavan said another 21 million euro in payments would be in accounts on Thursday. Alexandra Serio stares directly into the camera, a ring light reflected in her eyes and a microphone resting on the desk in front of her. She smiles like shes just seen an old friend and whispers into the metal mesh, welcoming viewers as they join her live stream. She brushes her hands in front of the lens, teasing the audience with soothing motions. The chat begins to bubble with comments. Behind her, a closet door is propped open, filled with bulky jackets. A long hallway extends beyond her left shoulder, open to an empty house. Her tone remains calm and quiet as she strokes the microphone with a makeup brush, wave-like sounds rolling through the speakers. Its impossible to ignore the empty house beyond her smiling face, especially as the comments become more and more hostile. Despite her tranquil movements, dread sets in. This is the opening vignette from Tingle Monsters, a short horror film written by, directed by and starring Alexandra Serio. In it, Serio plays an ASMR practitioner named Dee, and the entire 11-minute film feels like a genuine at-home live stream -- blown-out lighting, misspelled comments and all. ASMR stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, and its a relatively new field of self-care spawned by the YouTube generation. In the bulk of these videos and live streams, women with fantastic manicures tap, scratch and trace everyday objects right next to powerful microphones, amplifying their comforting sounds. Or, an ASMR practitioner will whisper kind phrases and affirmations with their mouths extremely close to the mic, catching every pleasant pop and tsk. People who experience ASMR find these videos calming, describing the feeling as tingles that flow from the crown of the head, down the neck, shoulders and spine. Alexandra Serio Its not sexual. However, ASMR videos are intimate and largely feature women, and for many viewers, the closest parallel for this combination is pornography. Serio calls it pore-level intimacy, a kind of closeness that isnt often shown in videos outside of porn. An overwhelming majority of ASMRtists are female, so that type of altruistic nurturing felt like fertile ground to build a narrative on top of, examining how violence against women begins with words and how this affects women's real-life treatment, Serio said. "Violence against women begins with words." Serio is Chief Content Officer at Nameless Network, the company behind the Webby-nominated Everything Explained video series and the Museum of Pizza, an infinitely Instagrammable pop-up that appeared in New York City in 2018. Shes monitored the responses to Nameless Networks YouTube videos and social media posts over the past six years, and during that time, she noticed a trend. As a content producer, I have always been struck by the difference in the comment section on videos hosted by women, which usually focus on the female host's appearance, the way her voice sounds or what she chose to wear, Serio said. On male-hosted videos the comments section typically focuses on what is being presented in the video. Misogyny is nothing new, but YouTube comments sections offer a fresh outlet for these deeply ingrained, harmful perceptions to shine. Written out in all-caps or all-lowercase lettering, spelled correctly or grammatically unhinged, finished with an lol or a bitch, people who present as women on the internet encounter hate and disrespect regardless of the content theyre producing, based solely on their perceived gender. Its inescapable and well-documented. Combine this truth with the intimacy of ASMR videos, and its a recipe for hypersexualization. Alexandra Serio Serio discovered ASMR four years ago and immediately recognized the healing power these videos can have. I was struck by how these practitioners, or ASMRtists, view what they are doing as a healing service, a sort of digital cure in the age of digital maladies like generalized anxiety and insomnia, Serio said. They use the medium of ASMR to simulate a digital form of intimacy. Serio wanted to capture this tension between the friendly tranquility of ASMR videos and the constant threat of harassment that women face online, which is why Tingle Monsters is a straight-up horror film. With a runtime of just under 11 minutes, Tingle Monsters builds tension beautifully, with subtle framing choices and a live chat scrolling down the side, packed with authentic-sounding comments. Throughout the film, its clear that something is going to happen, but viewers are left guessing until the terrifying reveal. Horror is such a rich, comprehensive genre that really pushes the medium of filmmaking forward, Serio said. I think my favorite thing about horror is its capacity for allegory, social commentary, titillation, comedy and mass appeal to exist within the same narrative. In this day and age it's a privilege to have people watch your work, and horror's built-in audience helps amplify the message. Alexandra Serio Serio sees Tingle Monsters as a conversation-starter. Its a clever and memorable film that encapsulates the real-world fear that many women feel when interacting with trolls and abusers online. Tingle Monsters says, clearly and with heart-pounding imagery, This is the situation. Now what are we going to do about it? Too often we think of misogyny as something that men do to women, when actually it's something people do to women, Serio said. We're all complicit if we accept the harassment of women in digital spaces as something that cannot be changed or affected. Tingle Monsters invites its audience to acknowledge where we are in the hopes someday we can change. Tingle Monsters will debut online on May 20th, on the films homepage. Its already been selected for a handful of festivals, including the Cleveland International Film Festival 2020 and Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival 2020, both of which are Oscar-qualifying events. Serio hopes Tingle Monsters will strike a chord with people who have never experienced gender-based harassment, driving home the all-consuming, physical unease that accompanies hateful online commentary. Many women understand this feeling all too well, but its difficult to communicate. Tingle Monsters gets the message through loud and clear. Well, quiet and clear. The name and logo of China's first Mars exploration mission will be made public on the Space Day of China, which will fall on April 24, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA). China plans to launch the Mars probe in 2020, aiming to complete orbiting, landing and roving in one mission. Since 2016, China has set April 24 as the country's Space Day to mark the launch of its first satellite "Dongfanghong-1" into space on April 24, 1970. This year will be the 50th anniversary of the start of China's entry into space. The various activities on Space Day have become a window for the Chinese public and the world to get a better understanding of China's aerospace progress. Over the past year, China has made efforts to push forward the development of space science. China's Chang'e-4 probe, which landed on the far side of the moon at the beginning of last year, has survived for more than 16 lunar days on the virgin territory, and Yutu-2 has become the longest-working lunar rover on the moon. The probe is in good condition, and has made a large number of scientific discoveries, said Ge Xiaochun, chief engineer of the CNSA. China promotes aerospace technological innovation, and its largest carrier rocket Long March-5 made a new flight at the end of 2019. China has successfully launched a carrier rocket at sea, and also pushes forward the development of lunar exploration and the construction of a high-resolution Earth-observation system, Ge said. Space technology has benefited China's economic and social development. During the COVID-19 epidemic, China's Gaofen Earth-observation satellites and BeiDou Navigation Satellite System provided services for the construction of makeshift hospitals and fight against the epidemic, Ge said. China is deepening international cooperation and exchanges in aerospace development. China promotes international space cooperation to contribute to achieving the sustainable development goals set by the United Nations, Ge said. China shared the data of its Gaofen Earth-observation satellites with other countries and provided services for countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative. The CNSA invited scientists around the world to participate in the Chang'e-6 lunar exploration mission and asteroid exploration mission. The China-Brazil Earth Resource Satellite-4A was launched at the end of 2019, setting a good example for space cooperation among developing countries. The China-France Oceanography Satellite, sent into space in 2018, has been put into use, Ge said. Although confronted with more risks of space exploration, China will not cease its development and innovation in space science, technology and application, Ge added. New Delhi, April 22 : The equity stake acquisition by Facebook in Reliance Jio will entail leveraging the messenger platform to facilitate new commerce transactions between a consumer and a kirana store. According to a report by Credit Suisse, the transaction includes leveraging WhatsApp for New Commerce initiative. The announcement includes commencement of a partnership among JioMart (platform of RIL's New Commerce initiative), Reliance Retail and WhatsApp. Currently, New Commerce is under purview of Reliance Retail and outside of Jio Platforms. The partnership will entail leveraging the messenger platform to facilitate New Commerce transactions between a consumer and a kirana store. Credit Suisse said the deal will aid in achieving net debt free by March-2021. As of December 31, 2019, net debt for the group stands at Rs 1,531 billion and with Facebook's investment, this should put RIL on course to be net debt free by March-2021. CS said the Facebook investment will accelerate Jio's digital monetization drive. RIL had restructured its digital business into one consolidated wholly owned subsidiary - Jio Platforms - which would host all the digital initiatives of the firm, including (a) Jio digital services (mobile, broadband), (b) apps, (c) tech capabilities (AI, Big Data, IoT, etc.) and (d) investments (like Den, Hathway, etc.). Facebook's investment into this entity will further RIL's digital initiatives. In a report, Bersntein said that Reliance and Facebook plans to integrate JioMart with WhatsApp. FB has already launched WhatsApp as customer service/social commerce tool in India allowing brands and retails to talk directly to customers/prospects, this can strengthen that offering both for 60M small merchants on JioMart but also for Reliance Jio itself. The report said the partnership is strategic for both companies. The investment in Jio is one of the biggest investments FB can make. The transaction fits with their recent push to build themselves and experiment more and provides a closed network of 388 million users to test on, proof point around the already announced partnership to build and test a WeChat like app. Reliance Industries has signed a binding agreement to sell 9.99 per cent of Jio to Facebook. Reliance will receive proceeds of $5.7 billion in cash from the transaction. Following the deal, FB will become the largest minority shareholder in Jio. A closing date has not yet been announced. Bernstein said the transaction is based on a gross value of $65.95 billion which is in line. "We estimate Reliance Jio at $64 billion based on our DCF analysis," it said. Bernstein said the downstream sell down (20 per cent) to Aramco for $15 billion remains under review. "With the collapse in oil prices, the risk is rising that the deal will not go has increased although we now value downstream at $55 billion gross which is a 20 per cent discount to Aramco valuation," it added. It estimates that the balance sheet improves with the deal. "We estimate FY22 net gearing falls from 21 per cent to 15 per cent", it said. In a research note, Citi said that the new commerce in retail could come into play. Concurrent with the investment, Jio Platforms, Reliance Retail, and WhatsApp have also entered into a commercial agreement to further Reliance Retail's new commerce venture JioMart (still at pilot stage) using WhatsApp and to support small businesses on WhatsApp. As has been previously communicated, a key element of RIL's new commerce plans is to drive digitisation of mom-and-pop retailers (link). While it is still early days, the broad reach that WhatsApp enjoys in India could help towards scaling up of this business, Citi said. The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the AAP government to create a dedicated helpline for senior citizens to address their problems and provide them assistance during the coronavirus lockdown. The direction was issued by a bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad on a plea, heard via video conferencing, seeking that banking, health, groceries and other basic facilities be provided to senior citizens at their doorsteps during the lockdown. The bench directed the Delhi government, represented by its additional standing counsel Anuj Aggarwal, to create the helpline number on an urgent basis and to give it wide publicity. With the direction, the bench disposed of the petition by Ajit Kumar, a senior lawyer and also a senior citizen, who had also sought that elderly persons be relocated away from general public to protect them from being infected by COVID-19. Kumar had said that senior citizens often live alone and therefore, have to go out on their own to buy groceries or medicines or avail banking services. He had also said that with age the immune system weakens and thus, the elderly become more vulnerable to coronavirus infection when they venture out. Aggarwal, during the hearing, told the court that the government machinery at all levels is already doing its best to contain the spread of COVID-19. He also told the court that "reverse quarantine or isolation of senior citizens at dedicated areas in green zones", as sought by Kumar, was required in countries/ places where lockdown is not being observed and not in India which has been pro-active in declaring a lockdown. He also argued that displacing senior citizens without there being any symptoms poses a greater risk of exposure during the mass relocation process and would cause panic and anxiety among the elderly. The government lawyer further said that senior citizens all requests, including for groceries and medical supplies, are being addressed through the helpline no. 1291 provided by Delhi Police. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Have Sheriff Offices in North Carolina, possibly even Beaufort County's Sheriff Office, become too political in the discharging of their sworn constitutional duties? No, the sheriff is a constitutional officer. Yes, the Sheriff Office, on strong occasion, often reverts back to political patronage in the dispensation of their sworn constitutional duties. Reliance Industries on April 22 announced the signing of a binding agreement for an investment of Rs 43,574 crore by Facebook into Jio Platforms. This investment by Facebook values Jio Platforms at Rs 4.62 lakh crore pre-money enterprise value ($65.95 billion, assuming a conversion rate of Rs 70 to a US Dollar). Facebooks investment will translate into a 9.99% equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis. In the Indian telecom space, this investment valuation in Jio of Rs 4.62 crore is nearly Rs 2 lakh crore higher than the listed telecom entity, Bharti Airtels, whose market-cap is Rs 2.73 lakh crore, as on April 21. Read all Facebook-Jio deal-related news here. The investment values Jio Platforms amongst the top 5 listed companies in India by market capitalization. The top four companies in the market-cap are Reliance Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, Hindustan Unilever and HDFC Bank. : Reliance Industries Ltd., which also owns Jio, is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd. To further limit the spread of COVID-19, the federal government has directed that all confirmed cases of the virus in a state must be treated in such state. This was one of the resolutions adopted at the end of a virtual Emergency National Council of Health (NCH) meeting convened by the Federal Ministry of Health with state commissioners of health and the acting FCT secretary for health in attendance. With 117 new cases, the highest recorded since the first COVID-19 case in February, Nigeria as of April 22 has recorded 25 deaths and 782 confirmed cases of the infection. Speaking at the daily Presidential Task Force briefing on Wednesday, the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, said the ban on movement of infected persons was necessary to contain exposure to the virus. All persons diagnosed with COVID-19 be henceforth treated in the state where the diagnosis was made, rather than be referred to their states of origin except there is a medical indication to the contrary. This is to avoid the high risk of exposure of other persons in the course of transfer, he said. There has been a number of cases where infected persons travelled to or where transferred to other states for treatment. One of such cases occurred when the Kano government transferred a positive patient to Jigawa, his state of origin. Also, the late chief of staff to President Muhammadu Buhari travelled to Lagos for treatment after he tested positive for the virus in Abuja. Mr Kyari later died at the Lagos private hospital. Mr Ehanire noted that a Patient Transport System has been developed for Abuja and will be set up in all states of the federation. This, he said, will ensure best treatment options for Nigerians. To ensure best treatment options for Nigerians, a protocol for a Patient Transport System has been developed for FCT and to be set up in all states of the Federation, meant to smoothly convey patients to specialized treatment centers or between treatment centers, he said. He noted that the Nigeria Air Force and National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) have aircraft on standby to convey patients with critical conditions to locations with more advanced treatment centres. Treating COVID-19 Mr Ehanire also said private hospitals desiring to manage COVID-19 patients should apply to their state ministries of health for a permit. He said any pharmacist caught treating persons diagnosed with COVID-19 would have their licenses withdrawn. Patent and Proprietary Medicine Vendors (PPMVs) and Pharmacists be forthwith prohibited from attempting to treat persons diagnosed as, or suspected to be COVID-19 patients, or else have their operating licenses cancelled. Private hospitals desiring to manage COVID-19 patients apply to their State Ministries of Health for permit, meet standard IPC standards and be accredited by a FMoH certified State team after compliance with Protocols, before being granted, he said. Increasing cases Mr Ehanire also explained that the increase in the number of confirmed cases is an indication of more efficient testing and increased community transmission. He said more tests were being conducted for residents of selected communities with a view to curb the spread of the virus. Active case finding is ongoing in communities with evidence of person-to-person transmission. This strategy requires more testing and diagnostics, and we are working to increase the capacity and activate additional laboratories, both public and private for COVID-19 testing, with the final purpose of having one or more public health laboratory with PCR capability in every state, he said. He urged Nigerians to report early for testing and treatment if they show symptoms of the virus. Citizens are reminded that COVID-19 has a cure rate of over 90 per cent of those with the typical symptoms report early for testing and treatment or quarantine. Advertisements It can save you from the severe complications of the infection, or also help to reduce spread and save your loved ones from getting infected by you, he said. APRIL 22, 2020 UTSA is responding to the COVID-19 outbreak with a commitment to supporting the safety of the university community while enabling the academic progress of students. Here is your digest of university news and tips. VIRTUAL EVENTS EXPERTS TALK RECOVERY: This weeks virtual town hall meeting takes a look at prospects for financial recovery of our region. And stay on top of Training, Webinars and Town Halls and watch previous broadcasts by UTSA experts. The Pandemics Economic Impact on San Antonio: Part of the Community Conversations Series, this event will give particular focus to San Antonios recovery and implications for our citys future. Q&A session with panel experts will be included. Wednesday, April 22, noon1 p.m. ITS AWARDS WEEK: Get ready to honor faculty, staff and students who are being recognized for contributions to other Roadrunners and the university community. Whos Who Awards: Celebrate and honor the 2020 Whos Who at UTSA winners. Two hundred freshmen through doctoral students will be recognized at the 17th annual ceremony via recorded video. Wednesday, April 22, 4 p.m. 44th Annual University Life Awards: UTSAs oldest tradition recognizes efforts of students, organizations, faculty and staff for contributions to the quality of student life. Categories include Registered Student Organization of the Year, Outstanding Student Organization President, Outstanding Students by College and the prestigious Golden Feather Award. Highest honors will go to recipients of the Jane Findling Award, recognizing individual achievement over the academic year, and the Golden Feather Award, recognizing students who have crafted a powerful legacy at UTSA. Livestreamed ceremony: Thursday, April 23, 45 p.m. SHOW OF SUPPORT: On April 29 millions of people across the world will wear denim with a purpose, and the PEACE Center at UTSA will host the Denim Day campaign on social media to virtually support survivors ofand educate the community about all forms ofsexual violence. Wear denim with a purpose to help raise awareness during Sexual Assault Awareness Month. HEALTH STAYING ACTIVE: Campus Recs virtual group exercise classes let you join your favorite instructors on Zoom as they deliver the workout directly to your home. No equipment required. Arrive promptly to reserve your spot. For a full list of classes and Zoom meeting codes, visit Stay Well with Campus Rec. RUNNERS CARE: Roadrunners are always ready to show that they care about each other. The multidisciplinary Behavioral Intervention Team will respond to reports of distressed and concerning behavior from students, faculty and staff. UTSAs Behavioral Concerns Assistance page has more info and will allow you to submit a report online. Both the EOS/Title IX Office and Student Conduct and Community Standards are available for consultation if you have questions or concerns prior to submitting a report. To reach SCCS during remote operations, email them. McMenamins pubs are poised to reopen for takeout orders, the landmark Northwest hotel and brewpub chain announced Tuesday. McMenamins said its pubs will be back in business beginning Friday morning. Takeout menus will include McMenamins signature tater tots, as well as family meals for four. Beer and wine also will be available. The Portland-based chain laid off almost everyone about 3,000 employees from its bars, restaurants and hotels last month after Oregon and Washingtons governors ordered bars and restaurants to close amid the coronavirus outbreak. Renee Rank Ignacio, a McMenamins spokeswoman, didnt immediately know how many employees will be staffing the pubs that will soon open for takeout, which is allowed under Oregon and Washington orders. She said the employees who will be working at the pubs were among those who were temporarily laid off amid the outbreak. The majority of those who were laid off will return to work at some point, she said, and only a small minority of the layoffs are permanent. Coronavirus in Oregon: Latest news | Live map tracker |Text alerts | Newsletter Patrons will be able to call in their orders, and many pubs will be set to deliver through Postmates and DoorDash, according to McMenamins. We will be practicing social distancing and following other safety and sanitization guidelines while we transition into reopening, McMenamins said in a Facebook post. The Edgefield Golf Course will also open Friday. -- Jim Ryan; jryan@oregonian.com; 503-221-8005; @Jimryan015 Subscribe to our Oregon coronavirus newsletter: Jacom Stephens/Getty Images A woman and a dog died and two other people were injured when their vehicle plunged 200 feet down a cliff on Tuesday night in San Franciscos Potrero Hill neighborhood, officials said. A silver Nissan SUV drove through a fence at 25th and Dakota streets, went down a hill and landed in a parking lot below, according to San Francisco police. Officers responded to the crash around 7:20 p.m. DETROIT The 5-year-old daughter of two Detroit first responders has died of complications from coronavirus. Skylar Herbert died Sunday at Beaumont Royal Oak Hospital after being on a ventilator for two weeks, CNN affiliate WXYZ reported. She tested positive for coronavirus last month and developed a rare form of meningitis and swelling on the brain, according to WXYZ. "The loss of a child, at any time, under any circumstances, is a tragedy," Beaumont Hospital said in a statement obtained by WXYZ. "We are heartbroken that COVID-19 has taken the life of a child. We extend our deepest sympathy to Skylar's family and all others who have lost a loved one to this virus." Skylar's mother has been a Detroit Police officer for 25 years, and her father has worked as a firefighter with the Detroit Fire Department for 18 years, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said during a Monday news conference. "They've been on the frontline and they've served with honor and integrity and they did not deserve to lose their child to this virus," Whitmer said. "Nobody does." Detroit has been hit hard by the virus, with at least 7,736 people testing positive and 641 deaths, according to the Michigan Health Department website. Those who have died have ranged in age from 5 to 107 years old, according to the website. Last week, Mayor Mike Duggan told CNN's Poppy Harlow that the city is working to expand testing among its fire and police departments after at least 600 officers had to be quarantined due to possible exposure to the virus. Skylar's mother LaVondria Herbert told WXYZ that her daughter was beautiful, happy and full of life before falling ill. "She was a beautiful spirit, she was friendly, she was loving, she was caring, she was funny. Just a happy 5-year-old," Herbert said. "She was a beautiful little girl. She lived her life, she lived her 5 years. You knew she lived a great life in those 5 years." Although Herbert and her husband Ebbie Herbert are grieving, they say Skylar's battle with the deadly virus should serve as a warning to others. "This is a hurtful feeling that I don't want any other family to have to experience," Ebbie Herbert told WXYZ. "This virus doesn't care what age you are what nationality you are, what political preference you have. It's serious and it will devastate you," Ebbie Herbert told the news station. "Skylar is shining her light to tell the world this can happen to any family." The-CNN-Wire & 2020 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved. In a horrific rampage across rural northern Nova Scotia, Canada, 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman shot and killed at least 22 people over the course of Saturday night and Sunday morning. Police officers investigating the deadliest mass shooting in Canadian history say the owner of a small denturist business in Halifax opened fire at 16 separate crime scenes before he was caught and fatally shot by RCMP officers in Enfield, approximately 100 kilometres from the start of his killing spree. Indicating that the massacre was planned in advance, Wortman wore a mock-up RCMP uniform and drove a decommissioned police car outfitted to look as if it were still in service. Information on his background indicates that he had been a wannabe RCMP officer since his teens. One neighbour told the Canadian Press that Wortman purchased several old police cars over the years. He also reportedly collected RCMP memorabilia. Investigators say most of Wortmans victims appear to have been chosen at random, but he began by targeting several people known to him. According to a police source cited by the Toronto Sun, Wortman first shot his ex-partner and her new boyfriend at around 10 p.m. Saturday, before getting in his car and targeting neighbours. In the small community of Portapique, where Wortman began his rampage, several victims were found slain in their homes, and five buildings were set on fire. Although some victims have yet to be identified, the gunman killed a police officer, two frontline health care workers, an elementary school teacher, two correctional officers, a retired firefighter, and a family of three. The authorities warn that the death toll may rise when all the burnt-out buildings are examined. Wortman owned two denturist clinics in Halifax and nearby Dartmouth. He also owned several properties, including a large home in Portapique, which lies around 130 kilometres northwest of Halifax. It cannot be said whether the coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout played a role in triggering Wortmans outburst of violence, but it is known that his businesses were closed under the provinces lockdown. Although he has been described as a millionaire, it is possible that Wortman was under financial stress given the stock market crash and other recent economic shocks. Because Wortmans bloody rampage was spread over a wide area, many Nova Scotians know someone directly impacted by the massacre. A Halifax anti-violence activist held an online candlelit vigil to allow friends and relatives to pay their respects without breaching the social distancing regulations in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Whatever the immediate trigger may have been for Wortmans bloody rampage, the Nova Scotia mass shooting is an expression of an increasingly dysfunctional society. Riven by social inequality and mass poverty and led by a ruling elite mired in foreign aggression and war, Canadian capitalism is a brutal social order that regularly engenders outbursts of homicidal violence. Since 2014 Canada has witnessed a rash of mass killings, including several with links to right-wing extremism. These include: June 4, 2014: Justin Bourque opened fire on RCMP officers with an assault rifle in Moncton, New Brunswick, killing three and injuring two. December 29, 2014: An Edmonton man suspected of domestic violence killed six adults and two children in two homes in the city. January 29, 2017: Alexandre Bissonette, a student with far-right views, assaulted the Quebec City mosque. He killed six worshippers and injured another eight. April 23, 2018: Alek Minassian drove a white van along a Toronto sidewalk, killing 10 passers-by and injuring 16 more. July 23, 2018: A gunman opened fire in the Greektown area of Toronto, killing a 10-year-old girl and an 18-year-old woman. Thirteen people aged between 10 and 59 were injured, including a teenager who was left paraplegic. August 10, 2018: A gunman opened fire in Fredericton, New Brunswick, fatally wounding two police officers and two civilians. July 28, 2019: A 23-year-old man in Markham, Ontario, killed four members of his family by slitting their throats with a knife. During 2019, Toronto, Canadas largest city, saw its worst year of gun violence ever, with 760 people being shot, 43 of whom died. During one August weekend, there were 17 separate shootings. The rate of gun violence has tripled since 2014. In 2017, Canada-wide firearm homicides reached a 25-year high. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered, much like the Democrats do in the United States, empty platitudes in response to last weekends events, and asserted that the surge in gun violence can be combatted by imposing stricter gun controls. In regards to gun control, we took very serious commitments in the election campaign and have moved forwardand are moving forward on themto ensure that were strengthening gun control in this country, said Trudeau on Monday. Aside from the obvious cynicism of such pronouncements, given that the Liberals have failed to impose any tougher gun laws despite being in power for well over four years, Trudeaus remarks are a deliberate evasion. The Prime Minister does not want to, and cannot, honestly discuss the underlying social and political causes for the surge in gun violence in Canada over recent years, because to do so is to indict the right-wing, pro-austerity, pro-war policies embraced by the entire political establishment. The precipitous rise of social inequality and spread of absolute poverty and homelessness, particularly in Canadas urban centres, are one driving force of the increased violence. Since the Liberal federal government imposed the largest social spending cuts in Canadian history during the 1990s, all political parties have operated on a consensus of offering ultra-low tax rates for corporations and the super-rich and starving social services and the public sector with austerity budgets. In January, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives annual report revealed that the countrys top 100 CEOs earned 227 times more than the average worker in 2018, which was a record high. A report from the Toronto Foundation noted last year that the typical person in the poorest 50 percent of the citys population made $6,000 less in 2016 than they had in 1982, using 2016 dollar values as a measure. By contrast, the average person in the top 1 percent makes $99,400 more than in 1982. Remarking on the sharp rise in gun violence in Toronto over recent years, Wendy Cukier, head of the Coalition for Gun Control, told NPR in August 2019, Absolute poverty is not necessarily a driver of violence, disparity is, so inequality in terms of opportunities. And were seeing the divisions in Toronto increasing in recent years. And theres no question that thats driving it. The glaring levels of social inequality are being ratcheted up still further by the federal governments response to the coronavirus. Trudeaus Liberals, with the support of all opposition parties, have bailed out the banks and big business to the tune of at least $650 billion, all of which will be recouped by stepped-up exploitation of the working class and intensified austerity measures. Meanwhile, workers laid off due to the crisis are being placed on rations in the form of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, which pays out a mere $2,000 per month for a maximum of four months. Canadian society is also pervaded by militarism and war. Canada has been at war virtually uninterruptedly since the Canadian Air Force joined NATOs bombardment of Serbia in 1999. From Afghanistan to Haiti, Libya to Syria, and Iraq, Canadian imperialism has been implicated in a long series of bloody US-led wars of aggression and regime-change operations that have collectively killed millions and destroyed entire societies. Politicians regularly declare that the great global problems confronting the Canadian ruling elite can be resolved through the force of arms. In 2017, for example, then Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland stated in presenting the Liberal governments new national defence policy that hard power, i.e. war, was a key part of Canadas past and would remain central to its future. The explosion of militarism and war has gone hand in hand with a glorification of the police and intelligence services in the name of the so-called war on terror. Wortmans infatuation with the police was undoubetdly nourished by this general reactionary climate. Thousands of students are to get free laptops in a move to help bridge the digital divide while schools are closed. Education Minister Joe McHugh has announced a 10m fund targeted at disadvantaged pupils in both primary and post primary schools . Most of the focus is on Leaving Cert students, with 7m of the money going to post-primary schools with a view to supporting the 6th year exam candidates. One estimate suggests that up to 10,000 of the 61,000 Leaving Cert students nationwide may be in need of a device to support their learning at home. Students may have mobile phones, but they do not lend themselves to teaching and learning in the same way as laptop or tablet. Schools in the Department of Educations DEIS scheme for disadvantaged communities will get additional funding. A typical big post-primary school, with a minimum of 750 pupils, will receive a grant of 17,000, while a DIES school of the same size will receive 19,000. Fee-charging schools will not receive funding. It will be up to schools to identify students in need and the device will be on loan to students and will remain he property of the school. Schools may source their own devices, with advice from the Department of Education, if necessary, and, if the demand is there, the Department will get involved in a bulk order A technology gap has emerged as one of the biggest challenges in ensuring equity between students as the school shutdown continues. It is particularly critical for leaving Cert candidates, facing into a high stakes exam, which brings on its own stresses without the additional worry of lacking tools to complete their studies that more advantaged students enjoy. The nationwide closure of schools has seen a widespread move to virtual classrooms but there are wide variations in schools capacity to deliver online teaching and learning. The problem ranges from lack of broadband connectivity, a particular issue for student and teachers in rural areas, lack of digital devices and teachers own digital skills. After the schools shutdown, Michelle OKelly, principal of the Mercy Secondary School, Inchicore, Dublin, a DEIS school discovered that none of her 26 Leaving Cert candidates had a laptop at home. As ready as we were for that challenge , I also knew that that our students were not only on an unequal playing field now because of their DEIS status but also because the digital divide would become compounded and concentrated as we tried to connect with our students in their homes. Very quickly into our first week using Google classroom we witnessed this divide, Leaving Cert students were not logging on as we rang each home the reason was very clear, our students homes do not have laptops , WiFi or space to study, she said. Up until todays announcement, school like Mercy Secondary were in a race against time relying on ad-hoc initiatives by charitable and voluntary organisations to secure laptops. The 10m is being diverted from a find announced in January, under the Digital Strategy in Schools, to support investment in ICT infrastructure . Some 40m of that is already committed and the 10m was originally earmarked to support the embedding of excellent practice in digital teaching and learning. After the success of its first installment in 2018 featuring Tom Hardy as the titular superhero, Venom is going to return to the big screens with a sequel come June 25, 2021, Sony Pictures has announced. The forthcoming film's official title, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, has also been revealed in a new teaser promo. The sequel will pit Hardy against serial killer Carnage, played by Woody Harrelson. A glimpse of Carnage was also given in the post credits sequence of Venom, where Hardy's character, journalist Eddie Brock, goes and visits him inside a prison facility. Check out the official title reveal of Venom 2 in the teaser promo below: Venom 2 is directed by Andy Serkis. Earlier, Hardy had teased Venom vs Carnage storyline in Venom 2 in an Instagram post. Venom is said to have an iconic rivalry with Carnage in comic books and the former is known to be assisted by Spider-Man in all Carnage related storylines. Will Tom Holland as Spider-Man also appear in Venom: Let There Be Carnage? Follow @News18Movies for more Watertown, NY (13601) Today Variable clouds with snow showers. Temps nearly steady in the low to mid 30s. Winds WSW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of snow 50%.. Tonight Variable clouds with snow showers. Low 27F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 40%. Snow accumulations less than one inch. (Photo : Reuters ) Zoom 5.0 Now Forces You to Put Password by Default and Has 'Report User' Button for Zoombombers (Photo : Dado Ruvic on Reuters ) Zoom 5.0 Now Forces You to Put Password by Default and Has 'Report User' Button for Zoombombers Zoom has experienced massive backlash for the past weeks after millions of users accuse the teleconferencing app with various security flaws. Today, this might change with Zoom 5.0. You can't enter a Zoom without a password now! Here's Zoom 5.0 If you're familiar with how Zoom works, you would know that the app does not require passwords on each private meeting. As long as you got the Zoom link, you're all settled to join the meeting. Unfortunately, this will not happen anymore with the latest Zoom version 5.0. According to the recent blog post of Zoom company, the 90-day security plan of the company has now born into an updated version. Zoom 5.0 was said to feature "robust security enhancements that proactively identify, address, and enhance the security and privacy capabilities of the Zoom platform." As we all know, Zoom went to a terrible roller coaster ride when they first experienced success in reaching 200 million users in March. The success, however, did not lasts after millions of users accuse the app of security failures like 'zoombombing'-- pranksters joining calls to say, racist, sexual, and other immoral acts to strangers. Today, however, zoombombers might have a hard time joining other calls with the latest security protocols that Zoom installed. New security features expected to see on Zoom 5.0 Since this will be the latest updated version of the Zoom app, a lot of changes and additional features are recently added to the app. First, Zoom is said to upgrade its AES 256-bit GCM encryption standard, which now offers increased protection of your meeting data in transit and resistance against tampering. Secondly, there will be a new feature on Zoom called 'Security Icon.' This icon will be the center of all security features recently and originally added to the app. Another feature that was recently added is the button called 'Report User.' By the name itself, hosts of meetings are now able to 'report a user' that is not originally invited to the meeting or called Zoombombers. Also, aside from the past, meeting passwords are now on default mode. It means that on Zoom 5.0, most Zoom users are required to input passwords on each of their meetings. For administered users, the app will define your password complexity, such as length, alphanumeric, and special character requirements to protect you from any Zoombombers out there. Is it safe to use Zoom now? Eric Yuan, CEO of Zoom, said that these latest updates will not be their last security enhancements for this year. The company also clarifies that every complaint against the app was thoroughly studied by its engineers to help advance the security systems that Zoom has. "I am proud to reach this step in our 90-day plan, but this is just the beginning. We built our business by delivering happiness to our customers. We will earn our customers' trust and deliver them happiness with our unwavering focus on providing the most secure platform," Yuan said. As of now, Zoom 5.0 is not yet being released but expected to be available within this week. ALSO READ: China Uses Zoom To Spy on Americans, US Officials Say 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. At the time, Donahue said the crackdown was aimed at a relatively small number of repeat violent offenders, namely those who not only have been convicted of carrying out serious gun violence, but continue to carry it out. Newsham has said that nearly half of charged murder suspects in the city have a prior gun arrest, and that firearms offenders generally commit new crimes sooner, at higher rates, and at later ages than others. Telangana Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, DGP M Mahendar Reddy and other senior officials on Wednesday visited Suryapet district to assess the situation following a surge in COVID-19 cases. The officials, who flew to Suryapet, about 135 km from Hyderabad, visited the containment zone at vegetable market, and later held a meeting with officers of various departments at the district collector's office. Somesh Kumar said they have come to discuss further course of action in the district where 83 cases had been reported. He said the administration has been strengthened in the district with the appointment of an IAS officer as special officer and an officer from the municipal administration department being deployed to join the containment measures, besides strengthening the healthdepartment. He suggested strict implementation of guidelines in 'containment zones' (where positive cases are reported) and tracing the contacts of positive cases to check the spread of the virus. "Because of all these, we are confident that we can control the situation and there will be no further growth (in cases). As things look, there will be stability in a couple of days.There is no need to fear," Kumar said. Most of the people among the 83 cases are asymptomatic, he said. The DGP said all government departments should work as a team to contain the virus in the district. According to official sources,with one person being discharged, the number of active cases in the district stood at 82. The sources said 12 containment zones have been put in place in the region. Suryapet district saw a sudden spike in cases yesterday, with 26 cases being reported. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday asked the Chief Secretary, DGP and other senior officials to visit different districts in the state to monitor how the measures initiated to contain the spread of COVID-19 are being implemented. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) For many years, the much discussed topic in Indian aviation was income from Sale and Leaseback, popularly known as SLB. In 2010, when Kingfisher was on a downward spiral and faced engine issues, two things were talked about the Power By the Hour (PBH) agreement of IndiGo which operated the same type of engines and the income from SLB aiding IndiGo with profitability, in addition to the single fleet model of the airline. Years later, as the lockdown gets extended and airlines are finding ways to cut costs amidst the grounding, the SLB model is coming back into focus this time for its disadvantages. All major airlines in India, except national carrier Air India have placed large orders with Airbus and Boeing and going forward could see a change in the way business is done. How do airlines induct planes? Buying an airplane is one of the most complex negotiations. Nothing comes on a platter, costs change based on what the airline opts for and one cannot buy it off the shelf. Airlines are known to get heavy discounts over the list prices and there could be more freebies involved if an airline decides to switch aircraft type from Airbus to Boeing or vice versa. However, buying as many aircraft is a huge financial undertaking for the airlines and the nature of the business at world level in general and India in particular being run on wafer thin margins, no airline has millions of cash lying around to go plane shopping! Airlines can buy, lease or have a sale and leaseback. When it comes to buying, airlines have to pay a certain percentage of the order as Pre-Delivery Payment (PDP) with the money being paid in tranches, giving the airline enough time to arrange for funds. An outright purchase would mean the aircraft sits as an asset on the balance sheet for the airline. When it comes to leasing, an airline can lease a plane from either the leasing company which has placed an order or have a sale and leaseback arrangement with a leasing company. This involves the airline negotiating and placing an order for planes with the manufacturer and initiating an SLB transaction closer to delivery. This is known as a dry lease which includes the aircraft minus the ownership of the aircraft. Sometimes, airlines opt for wet lease or Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance (ACMI). A dry lease or operating lease gives an airline the right to use the aircraft for the lease period and return the plane to the lessor when the lease expires. In simple terms, this is like having the aircraft on a monthly rental for a pre-agreed period of time. The decision on lease v/s buy is typically taken based on the financial position of the airline, ability to make money from SLB and duration for which the airline intends to keep the aircraft in its fleet. The cost today and impact on airlines due to grounding Pre COVID-19, an airline was typically earning between $2-8 million for SLB transactions for a brand new A320neo aircraft. The A320neo would have a lease rental between $325,000-400,000 per month, according to industry veterans. As demand drops worldwide, airlines will look to reduce capacity across the board. This would mean saying no to renewal of leases, early termination of some leases, deferring deliveries amongst others. With the mismatch between supply and demand, lease rentals would crash and so would the earnings from sale and leaseback. On the other hand, since the majority of the fleet is leased for airlines in India, they are paying a monthly rental irrespective of the aircraft being grounded. While there could be options for force majeure in the contract and airlines and lessors would discuss lowering the rentals of a waiver for a certain period, had the airline owned the aircraft, the outgo would have been zero. At the end of December, which IndiGo closed with 257 aircraft in its fleet, the airline had 29 Owned/Finance leased aircraft while 228 were operating leases. The number of owned/operating leases was the same in December 2018 as well. Compare that to RyanAir which has less than 40 aircraft leased while the rest of its 400+ fleet is being owned or under finance lease mode. Lufthansa, which operates most types of wide body aircraft (B747-400, B747-8i, A380, A340, A350), has 93 percent of its wide body fleet as owned. Ao when the airline grounded most of its aircraft in early April, it was not going to pay a monthly rental for this period. How does owning an aircraft help? There are two examples from India which support this argument. Jet Airways started raising cash with the help of SLB for the planes which it owned. An older plane commands lesser premium in the market, but it does give an airline some cash in times of need. In 2013-14, when Etihad invested in Jet Airways, 10 B737s and 2 A330s underwent SLB transactions. The previous year, the airline conducted this type of transaction for four planes. Jet raised Rs 263 crore in 2017 and Rs 123 crore in 2015 from these transactions. Air India conducted SLB transactions for some of its aircraft in the last few years. This helped the airline raise much needed cash. If either of the LCCs would have owned their aircraft, in current times these aircraft would not have attracted any monthly rentals and in addition to that these planes could have been sold and leased back in future to raise cash which will help in future. What does the future hold? Koushik J, a partner at AT-TV and former leasing head of a low cost carrier, expects the business model of many carriers to evolve after COVID-19. The cost of both lease rentals and maintenance reserved for an Indian carrier would be between 12% to 18% and could vary as it is paid in dollars and could change substantially with the weakening rupee. The SLB model will be suppressed and the profit of 3 to 10 million from SLB has to be forgone, he says. Will the airlines re-look at the business model and move away from SLB? They probably will as the SLB gains have also diminished in the last five years. Buying still seems to be an issue due to ever fluctuating and devaluing rupee. It would be best for Indian Carries to just take Aircraft on simple operating leases from the lessor order adds Koushik. The immediate aftermath will be ways to survive, while teams will quietly work in the background to see what best they can and divide the eggs in multiple baskets. [Ameya Joshi runs the aviation analysis website Network Thoughts.] CHICAGO, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The growth of osteopathic medicine continues to be robust and sustained, according to the 2019 Osteopathic Medical Profession Report. Today, the total number of Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine (DOs) and osteopathic medical students is over 150,000 for the first timean increase of over 6,000 from 2018. "The growth in our profession is critically important when the nation is facing a pandemic as well as a growing physician shortage," says AOA President Ronald Burns, DO, FACOFP. "Physicians tend to practice near where they complete their education and training, so the location of many DO schools in underserved regions leads thousands of osteopathic physicians to practice in communities where they are desperately needed." For the past several years, one in four American medical students has attended an osteopathic medical school. Today, over 30,300 osteopathic medical students are learning at 38 colleges of osteopathic medicine in 33 states, while over 22,800 new DOs are participating in postdoctoral training programs. Some fourth-year osteopathic medical students have graduated early to join the physician workforce fighting COVID-19. More trainees, young DOs Across the country, more than 121,000 DOs practice in a wide variety of communities, practice settings and specialties. Two-thirds of actively practicing DOs are under age 45. While the majority of DOsnearly 57%practice in the primary care specialties of family medicine, internal medicine and pediatrics, nearly 44% have chosen non-primary care specialties. The top five non-primary care specialties for DOs are emergency medicine, anesthesiology, OB-GYN, general surgery and psychiatry. The number of female DOs has grown dramatically in recent yearstoday, 42% of actively practicing DOs are women, and nearly three-quarters of actively practicing female DOs are under age 45. "Now more than ever, the health care system needs compassionate physicians, and DOs are answering the call," says Dr. Burns. "We're proud of each and every DO and osteopathic medical student and the sacrifices they are making to take care of patients and support the nation during this difficult time." The American Osteopathic Association: The American Osteopathic Association (AOA) represents more than 151,370 osteopathic physicians (DOs) and osteopathic medical students; promotes public health; encourages scientific research; serves as the primary certifying body for DOs; and is the accrediting agency for osteopathic medical schools. To learn more about DOs and the osteopathic philosophy of medicine, visit www.DoctorsThatDO.org. SOURCE American Osteopathic Association Related Links https://osteopathic.org Unity is essential if the global community is to continue ensuring supplies of food during the current coronavirus crisis, said Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, UAE Minister of State for Food Security. She was speaking at an extraordinary virtual meeting for the forthcoming G20 summit, which is scheduled to take place in Riyadh in November. The meeting of agriculture and food ministers of the Group of 20 major economies was organised to ensure the continuing flow of critical agricultural products including foods in order to mitigate the risk on global food security during the current COVID-19 outbreak and to call for global cooperation at this time. Initially set to be held on March 21, the event had to be delayed because of fallout from the effects of the pandemic. Because of the need for social distancing and restricted travel, the ministers participated remotely for the teleconferenced meeting, which was hosted in the Saudi Arabian capital. During the activity she discussed an array of issues related to food security, chief among them was the need for countries to act in unison to maintain the supply of food and ensure that groceries and supermarket shelves remain fully stocked. My message today is clear and simple. Unity is vital if we are to successfully navigate the now and plan for the next. The coronavirus crisis is a wake-up call for the whole world - joint action and solidarity are what is needed at this time, she said. The international food supply, which is too often taken for granted, is witnessing serious disruptions caused by various precautionary measures that threaten food production and food supply. These measures are also negatively impacting the lives of the people involved in the food and agriculture industry, so it is vital we work together in an active and committed way, she added. Referencing the UAEs National Food Security strategy, which the Food Security Office launched in November 2018 and which has strengthened the countrys resilience to food crises and emergencies, she stressed that despite imposed travel restrictions and social distancing measures creating challenges for cooperation, it was imperative that countries worked together and followed the recommendations of international organisations. She also warned about unscrupulous actors taking advantage of the crisis by raising prices of essential foodstuffs. It is our duty to work closely and cooperate with all actors that facilitate the export of food and agriculture products. It is also incumbent upon us to follow the recommendations of specialised international bodies, including the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation as much as possible, who recommend avoiding restricting food exports as this could intensify the risk of food insecurity. Additionally, It is our duty to ensure food affordability and to take measures that prevent unjustified food price hikes and profiteering across the food supply chain during this time, she said. Stressing the need for food safety during the crisis, Almheiri added: While COVID-19 is not transmitted directly through the consumption of food, food can be a vector for the virus if it comes into contact with it. It is therefore vital to remind people of good hygiene and standard food safety practices. These practices are quite simple and effective to combat the spread of COVID-19, especially as people are relying on food delivery during periods of lockdown. She extended the UAEs gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, for calling for the virtual meeting to discuss and enhance international efforts to combat Covid-19, as well for Saudi Arabias sterling leadership of the G20 response to the crisis. She also reiterated the sentiments of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, who released a statement for the Extraordinary G20 Leaders Summit last month, reiterating that international cooperation and solidarity is needed now more than ever. Finally, the minister praised the efforts of global medical staff, carers, and other key workers leading the fight against the virus. Thank you to our front liners... The brave and dedicated men and women across the world who are working tirelessly day and night to keep us safe and to ensure food supplies are well maintained. We are eternally grateful for your devotion, hard work and sacrifices, she said. The 2020 G20 Riyadh summit will take place in Riyadh from November 21 to 22 in the Saudi Arabian capital. It will be the fifteenth meeting of Group of Twenty (G20), with the kingdom having assumed the G20 Presidency in December 2019. -- Tradearabia News Service Chinas Supply Chain Domination: CCP Directed, US Assisted Narration: Does the supply chain dependence pose a national security threat? Simone Gao: Can you give us a time estimate [as to] if China cuts its supply today in how long the American people wouldnt be able to buy generic drugs from its stores? Rosemary Gibson: I think in a matter of a couple of months wed be really seeing some problems. Narration: Rare earth is another vulnerability. Ms. Gao: Is it easy for China to weaponize such monopoly? David Wilcox: I dont think it was easy. This is decades in the making. You cant flip it overnight. Narration: And how did the rest of the manufacturing move to China? Curtis Ellis: Its this concentration where you had one buyer in America that could dictate to a thousand different businesses in America what they should be producing and selling for. And that one buyer in America could then move production for a thousand companies over to China. Title: Chinas Supply Chain Domination: CCP Directed, U.S. Assisted. Host: Welcome to Zooming In, Im Simone Gao. Before the CCP virus pandemic, the global supply chain discussion was purely about economics. Four months into the pandemic, the same discussion now points to only one thing: national security. The pandemic exposed our vulnerabilities, and only now are we starting to realize what a dangerous situation we are in. The massive supply chain migration has gone on for the past few decades. What critical parts of the supply chain have moved away? How did it happen, and most important of all, what does the mastermind behind all this intend to achieve? In this episode of Zooming In, we explore these questions. Part One, American Medical Dependence Narration: Since the end of March the amount of infections and deaths turned upward sharply in the U.S.; Naturally, so did the fear of running out of medical equipment. According to recent documents released by the House Oversight Committee, the Strategic National Stockpile said its medical supplies are nearly depleted. About 90% of its protective gears in the federal stockpile were shipped out to states grappling with the CCP virus. The medical supplies shortages have a significant background to keep in mind: First, protective gear was bought off the shelves of pharmacies and retail stores long before the country became an epicenter. According to a recent survey from the National Community Pharmacists Association, 96% of pharmacists in the country were selling face masks, N95 respirators, and sanitizers faster than they could restock. Much of the demand in the beginning, though, came from people who wanted to send them to China, either to give to their families or donate them to their home cities. The Chinese social media platform Douyin, who has the same Chinese parent company as Tiktok, published countless videos about such stories. Some Chinese Cambodians donated 1.14 million masks to China. On February 16th, ZTO Express (a delivery company from China) rented a passenger aircraft to send those masks to Yunnan, China. This batch of PPE will arrive in Hubei province, Zhejiang province, and other areas with serious outbreaks. Just recently, a young Chinese Dubainese anonymously donated 20 tons worth of medical supplies back to China. Those supplies were donated to the First Hospital of Zhejiang province, as well as two other medical institutions. While these bulk purchases started off well-intentioned, some of them went too far. A viral video recently posted to Twitter shows a Chinese woman who lives in America gloating about buying up all the masks across several U.S. stores, while loading them onto her pickup truck. She named her video post: I leave nothing for the Americans. The woman named Hexin Jiang is a purchasing agent who buys products in bulk for resale abroad in Asia. Hexin Jiang: It feels so awesome to buy all the masks! I didnt leave a single mask for the Americans! She later went onto boast that what she had done was a historical moment. Host: The video has stoked social medias wrath, drawing an overwhelming amount of negative comments within the Chinese community over the womans selfish actions. But in order to understand this type of behavior, we ought to put it into context: Since January, the Chinese regime has mobilized overseas Chinese to take advantage of the system. Narration: The Epoch Times reported about the Chinese Communist Partys United Front Work Departments encouragement of this behavior. The official website posted a comment, reading Keep on buying while sending back to China, and try your best to buy as much as possible. The United Front Work department functions to push the Chinese diaspora to do the partys bidding. But simply galvanizing individuals actions can and will not satiate the regimes voracious appetite. Both Chinese state-run enterprises and private firms joined in on global sourcing. According to Chinese customs data, China vacuumed up two billion masks in a five-week period starting in January. That is roughly equivalent to two and a half months of global production. China also imported 400 million pieces of other protective gear, from medical goggles to biohazard coveralls. Another example of medical equipment hoarding was exposed in Australia, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. Throughout January and February, the and Risland Australia, two Chinese government-backed property companies based in Sydney, hoarded millions of personal protective equipment, or PPE items. The stash included 3 million face masks , more than a million pairs of gloves, 800,000 hazmat suits, thermometers, hand sanitizer, and other medical items for shipment to China throughout January and February. Host: That was well before the coronavirus permeated through the United States. The United States was oblivious about Chinas hoarding of medical supplies partially because falsified data coming out of China made the outbreak seem less serious than it truly is. When the United States and the rest of the world started to see the true scale of this pandemic, another shocking realization followed in the wake of the disease. Not only were there not enough PPE in stock, but no one had the ability to produce them either. Narration: Before the CCP virus first broke out, China made half the worlds masks. That production has since expanded nearly 12-fold, with the nation now producing 116 million masks a day, according to the New York Times. Since the outbreak, the Chinese Communist Party has directed pharmaceutical manufacturers to prioritize domestic needs by selling masks straight to the government for distribution. The CCP similarly coerced foreign companies inside China. A New York post report detailed one instance relayed by a senior White House official. Executives from 3M recently revealed that, in January, the Chinese government began blocking exports of medical supplies produced by their factories in China. (NY post) Things took an even darker turn after Chinese industries resumed production. In early March, Chinas state news agency Xinhua threatened the Trump administration to tread lightly, else China could ban pharmaceutical exports and plunge the U.S. into the hell of a new coronavirus epidemic. In response to the threat, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) introduced a bill on March 18, the Protecting our Pharmaceutical Supply Chain from China Act. The bill aims to end U.S. dependence on China for pharmaceutical products. And just how reliant are we on China for medicines? At a Senate Committee hearing in February, former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb explained in detail the extent of Chinas dominance: According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. hospitals and pharmaceutical firms rely on Chinese manufacturers. The products range from the active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) to finished drugs. As of last year, 97% of antibiotics sold in the U.S. came from China. Much of the actual formulation of finished drugs is done outside China and often in India. However, the starting and intermediate chemicals are often sourced in China. According to a report from the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, Chinas chemical industry accounts for 40 percent of global chemical industry revenue. These chemicals create choke points in the global supply chain for medicines. To date, America has virtually lost the ability to produce critical medicines such as penicillin and doxycycline without these chemicals. Thats because the last penicillin fermentation plant in the U.S. closed in 2004. Host: Before China became the dominant supplier for medicines, the world was in a much different place. In the 1990s, the U.S., Europe, and Japan manufactured 90% of the global supply of the key ingredients for medicines and vitamins. However, the CCP changed this global picture dramatically. How did it come about? I interviewed Rosemary Gibson, Senior Advisor of the Hastings Center and author of China Rx: Exposing the Risks of Americas Dependence on China for Medicine. Ms. Gibson: It happened for a couple of reasons. One, the United States had a law allowing generic drugs, which means that drugs that have been off on patent with patent protection, theyre no longer on patent protection to make them cheaper for people. So manufacturers wanted a cheaper way to make them and so they moved East. That began in the 80s, late eighties early nineties. The other very important event was when the United States opened up free trade with China in 2000 and China, joined WTO in 2001 its remarkable in China RX, thats I noticed a pattern that when we opened up free trade with China and they joined the WTO within a year or two, thats when we lost the last aspirin plant in the United States. Its when our last penicillin plant closed. Its when our last vitamin C plant closed. Its when a very important blood thinner called heparin when us companies began to source the raw material from China. So the trade policy who knew its trade policy has such a profound impact and our medicine supply, but its not just trade. What we saw, and theres a chapter in China RX about the penicillin and vitamin C, cartels, China was cheating it dumped product, sold it to the United States and other countries at below market prices and drove out the other producers. Ms. Gao: Right. And after that, what did they do? Ms. Gibson: Then they raised, then they raised prices and they have global dominance. Okay. This was a consistent pattern that when it was Propent a Ceylon, the last US plant shut down in 2004 and that was the year that wed have data to show in China RX. Thats the year when China began dumping it on the global market. And that even drove out producers in India. So India depends on China for very important antibiotics as well because of these unfair trade practices. And of course China subsidizes its domestic companies making it very difficult for companies and other countries to compete. Narration: Over the years, the CCP has weaponized pharmaceutical manufacturing. What does it mean to the American public and why is Chinas dominance extremely dangerous? Ms. Gibson had this to say. Ms. Gibson: What were seeing with regard to the masks is that companies that were producing masks for the US and other countries, those company manufacturers were ordered not to export masks because they were needed in China. And thats understandable. But this is a consequence of the global supply chain being concentrated in a single country. If there is an outbreak in other countries, where are the masks going to come from? This is why one of the recommendations in China RX is that we diversify our manufacturing base, that we get supplies from multiple countries and in some cases were going to have to each develop our own manufacturing capability. Because if theres an outbreak in Europe or Canada or Australia, now were in the future. Each country is going to want to keep products for their own people and thats perfectly understandable, but it leaves everybody else vulnerable. Ms. Gao: Can you give us a time estimate [as in] if China cuts its supply today, in how long the American people wouldnt be able to buy generic drugs from its stores? Ms. Gibson: Thats hard to tell. It might vary and it depends on inventory and were not hearing transparency from companies. They may not want to raise concern among the public, but I think in a matter of a couple of months wed be really seeing some problems if it persists and if demand persists in China. Bumper: Coming up, apart from medicines, China has another lethal dominance. Stay tuned. Part Two, Chinas Crucial Mineral Monopoly Narration: Along with pharmaceuticals, there is another supply which China controls, which is integral to our modern life. That supply is rare earths. There are two things you need to know about rare earth. First, Rare earths are needed in making advanced electronics, from cell phones to high-tech weaponry. Two, China produces most of the rare earth in the world today. Again, this was not the case three decades ago. Back in the 80s, the U.S. was the largest producer of rare earths. The nation was self-reliant and produced rare earth oxides as well as the magnets essential to both civilian and military electronics. Since 2000, however, China has cornered the market on rare earths production along with the high-tech components that depend on it. From 2014 to 2017, China supplied 80% of the rare earths imported by the U.S. The U.S. Geological Survey reports that as of 2018, China provided 80% of worldwide production. However, many of these imports are now on hold because of the CCP virus outbreak. Host: Theres no doubt the China-centric global supply chain poses a major strategic problem for the U.S. How did we get here? I asked David Wilcox, President and CEO of Evolution Metals Corp Mr. Wilcox: Well, if we look at how we got here, the Chinese have subsidized a significant portion of what we call in the United States critical minerals. So as identified by the United States government, theres 35 of these critical minerals. Around half of these are 100%, mined and/or refined by China. So when we look at how we got here as a whole, to your question, Simone, the Chinese were very specific in a strategy where they knew without these little metals, minerals, we couldnt fully manufacture a complete product, which puts a bottleneck on the supply chain. And so by allowing these industries not to work, by allowing the Chinese to subsidize a product that we werent actually subsidizing, we end up in the situation that were in today. Narration: The U.S. disadvantage today owes especially to Chinas monopolizing the processing capacity of rare earths. According to the Wyoming Mining Association, rare earths are notoriously difficult to process and refine, because they arent found in large quantities or veins like other minerals such as gold. These critical minerals need to be separated from one another using a variety of mining and processing techniques. Extracting the rare earths also adds environmental complications, which further increases the costs. The Chinese regime identified these problems years ago and gradually turned that to its own advantage. Heres how they do it: Illegal and undocumented production is commonplace in China and accounts for 20 to 40% of Chinese production, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Chinas lax environmental standards combined with low labor costs and a raft of government subsidies have allowed it to slash rare earths production costs. In this way, it has undercut many processors in the West to the point of bankruptcy. The California Mountain Pass Mine closure is an exclamation mark in that takeover. In 2015, Molycorp, an American mining corporation, shut down its production at Californias Mountain Pass Mine. It was the last remaining rare earth mine in the U.S. Once China became a monopoly in rare earth production, it is not surprising that it started to weaponize it. Chinas threat to cut off rare earth exports to the U.S. became evident at the height of the US-China trade war: In May, 2019, a Chinese official warned that products made from Chinas rare earths should not be used against the countrys development. The comment came after Chinese communist leader Xi Jinping visited a major rare earth mining and processing facility in Jiangxi Province in May. The two instances were taken as a veiled threat aimed at both the U.S. and its technology sector that are dependent on the materials. In fact, the Chinese Communist Party historically took pleasure at reminding geopolitical rivals of its monopoly. During their 2010 standoff over the disputed Senkaku Islands, China cut off rare earth exports to Japan. Chinese officials maintained it was merely introducing export quotas to protect the environment. Host: Is it easy for China to weaponize such monopoly? Mr. Wilcox: I dont think it was easy. If you look at the historical fact patterns of what theyve done, this is decades in the making. And as I was saying in your previous question, Simone, you cant flip it overnight. You cant reverse, this is a strategy that Beijing has pursued for a very, very long time. And as weve overlooked certain things, within many different sectors, or you said that, you know, it makes sense for us to bring mining assets away from the United States, away from North America. We have allowed this situation to happen. And I think its very important to point out right now with, you know, whats going on in the world and the outsourcing that weve done within, you know, China as a whole. You know, we look at whats happening with coronavirus right now. We look at the medicines that the Chinese control and what could happen if they were to cut us off. And this is, you know, its blanket across a lot of industries. And its a very scary thing to realize how much time it takes to turn this around. Bumper: Coming up, how the consolidation of Mass Merchandising Drove the US to China Part Three, China and Mass-Merchandising Victimization Narration: If theres one image that captures the coronavirus panic seeping through America, it would be the empty store shelves where household staples usually sit. Every day, retail workers are struggling to restock toilet paper, eggs, produce, and canned goods as fast as the items fly off the shelves. In an age of instant shopping, these empty shelves mean that the basic supply chain at large is under stress. According to the New York Times, Walmart is adjusting its supply routes to keep up. About 10% of the giant rolls of paper that are used to make the toilet paper sold in U.S. stores come from China and India. Those imports have now been delayed because of the broader bottleneck of shipments from Asia. Other products such as seafood, apple juice, and garlic are heavily sourced from China, and are likely to take a hit as well. According to the Global Port Tracker report released on March 10, these supply challenges may have a longer and larger impact on U.S. imports than expected. Even with Chinese producers now back online, it doesnt mean the crisis has passed. Thats because the crisis is a fundamental one of business relations and ethics. As the worlds biggest retailer, Walmarts huge reliance on Chinese imports goes way back. In 1996, Walmart began its retail operation in China through a joint venture agreement. With the help of cheap labor costs and government subsidies in China, Walmart began competing directly, on its own shelves, with its national, household brand suppliers. Host: How did this happen? At CPAC 2020, Curtis Ellis, chair of America First Policies, told me this. Mr. Ellis: Walmart was one company, one retailer that controlled such a huge part of the American retail market, mass merchandising that they could go to any producer, somebody producing padlocks, gym lockers, notebooks for schools, clothing, whatever, whatever people buy and wear. And they say, okay, sell to us. If you sell to us, well be able to sell to the entire nation of America and you wont need any other customers and you dont have to worry about anything else. And everybody thought, what a great idea. I want to sell to Walmart, my homework is done, Im home free. But then Walmart would say, okay, well this is the price well pay. We want to sell it at X price retail. So were going to pay you one half X price. And if you cant produce it at that price in your little factory in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, I know somebody in Shenzhen, China, which will. And so Walmart helped outsource American industries to China. So its this concentration where you had one buyer in America that could dictate to a thousand different businesses in America what they should be producing and selling for. And that one buyer in America could then move production for a thousand companies over to China. So we had a concentration and consolidation in America, which then on a global level led to the consolidation and concentration in China. And thats the danger. So to unwind this, we now see that Walmart and the big retailers in America see the danger of being dependent on China. But were going to have to now allow a thousand companies in America to flourish. And were going to have to think about [whether it is] good to have just one mass merchandise retailer in America or three. Narration: According to an EPI report, Walmart was responsible for eliminating 200,000 U.S. jobs in total from 2001 to 2006. The process is virtually the final step in Americas surrender to a China-centric business model. Host: In light of the coronavirus pandemic, more and more people are now saying the time has come for the U.S. to distance itself from China economically, industrially, and strategically. Will this happen, and if so, in how long? We cannot be sure, except for one thing: If the nation continues to finance the Chinese communist regimes unfair trading systems, our economy and health security will be in peril. Thanks for watching Zooming In, Im Simone Gao. See you next time. Subscribe for updates on YouTube and follow us on Facebook. Official website: https://www.ntd.com/zooming-in Follow Simone on Twitter: @ZoomingIn_NTD. Download our new podcast, now available on iTunes, Spotify, and Google. As a preventive measure to fight the coronavirus pandemic, the border between Delhi and Noida has been sealed completely with certain exceptions Noida: As a preventive measure to fight the coronavirus pandemic, the border between Delhi and Noida has been sealed completely with certain exceptions till further orders, said Gautam Buddh Nagar administration on Tuesday. "As a preventive measure to fight COVID-19, we are closing Delhi-Gautam Buddh Nagar/Noida border completely with specified exceptions. The directive has been put into effect immediately," said Suhas LY, District Magistrate Gautam Buddh Nagar. As per the order issued in Hindi, the decision has been taken as several people in Gautam Buddh Nagar have been detected positive for coronavirus and they have a connect with Delhi. The order cites the medical department's report which indicates that there is a possibility of spread of infection by the people travelling between Delhi and Gautam Buddha Nagar. The violators of the order will face punitive action under sections 51 and 60 of the National Disaster Management Act and Section 188 of Indian Penal Code. Taking to Twitter, the DM wrote, "Dear residents, as per the medical department advice, in the larger public interest, as a preventive measure to fight COVID-19, we are closing Delhi-GB Nagar/Noida border completely, with following specified exceptions. You are kindly requested to cooperate." The administration has given some exceptions to the ban, including vehicles carrying essential items, officials/workers who are directly involved in the fight against the pandemic will have to get passes issued from the Uttar Pradesh or the Delhi government, transport carrying essential items, ambulance services, media persons with issued pass and doctors enrolled in emergency services. Moreover, Under Secretaries in the Centre who have identity cards issued by the Home Ministry have been also excluded from the order. As per the Union Health Ministry, while Delhi has confirmed 2081 COVID-19 positive cases, Uttar Pradesh has detected 1294 cases till Tuesday. In the history of Ghana's 4th Republic, there has not been so much debate on corruption and corrupt State leadership than the era of Mr. John Mahama as President. The rank and file of his government had one distinguishing feature, a view many of Ghanaians, even the international community shared up until today. It was nothing but corruption if not incompetence and the 'babies with sharp teeth' epidemic. Freelance journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni in his book The Fourth John describes the John Mahama administration as an opaque and unaccountable government. Most definitely, an opaque leadership equally built on unaccountability breeds corruption, and such was the outcome of Mr. Mahama's government. Having been extremely choked with the rot of Mr. Mahama's administration, the leading founder of the NDC which formed government at the time, Fmr. President Flt. Lt. J.J Rawlings confessed, "there have been times in the past when I felt like booting this party (NDC) and moving on; the only things that have however prevented me from doing so is the plight the remaining good people would face". He (Mr. Rawlings) further confessed, "such a departure (from the NDC) will allow the agents of greed, and avarice and dishonesty to further deepen their claws on you and the party. We squandered many opportunities to clean up and to restore the June 4th principles at the party. I want to remind people that we could not have possibly forgotten that generals were executed". As though that was not enough, the founder and leading figure of the party on whose ticket Mr. Mahama contested and won the legally battled election 2012 highlighted that "the greed, corruption, and injustice of today is a thousand times more than what these generals were executed for, and if we are unable to restore a firm measure of integrity into our dealings, then the blood of many would have been shed in vain". Concerning the accountability of the NDC's Green Book, Manasseh Azure Awuni identified that, though it was titled Accounting To The People, it lacked the most important feature of accountability. In short, there was no room given for accountability in the exercise of accounting to the people. Everything related to accountability was opaque as far as "The Green Book" mattered. From the Ins and Outs of the Mahama led NDC government, all arrows point to the reality that given charge over the affairs of the nation in these very difficult times of the COVID-19 pandemic vis-a-vis the Airbus Scandal and others, the Ghanaian people could never have had the honour of a greatly transparent and accountable fund management as we see every day on our televisions. Management of the National COVID-19 Trust Fund as created by President Akufo-Addo has shown exemplary leadership. They have proven to be trustworthy citizens, a character that was always missing in the John Mahama administration. It is thus conclusive why discerning Ghanaians are applauding President Akufo-Addo for his outstanding leadership shown so far and the transparency at which donations into the fund are openly received. At a go, the world has been granted the open opportunity to tally donations received so far to hold the government accountable at the end of the fight against COVID-19. Could Mr. John Mahama had been this transparent? Reindolf Amankwa Member, CTI-Middle Belt Singapore tightens list of essential services which can remain open amid extension of circuit breaker The list of F&B and retail establishments that are allowed to remain open has been tightened amid new measures. File photo courtesy: Facebook/Lawrence Wong With Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announcing an extension of the circuit breaker and the Multi-Ministry Taskforce announcing that fewer businesses will be permitted to operate, Singapore is making a major push to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. In keeping with this aim, the Ministry of Trade and Industry has released a tightened list of essential services that will be allowed to function in the island nation: Food and Beverage Establishments With effect from April 21, 2359 hrs standalone outlets (excluding those in hawker centres, food courts and coffee shops) that sell only beverages, packaged snacks, confectioneries or desserts will be required to close their outlets. F&B outlets (including food vending machines) in parks will be suspended. Hawker centres located in parks can continue operations. Online retail of these products is allowed, only if they are fulfilled from the licensed central kitchen, manufacturing facility or warehouse of the F&B establishment All other F&B establishments (including outlets that sell hot/cooked snacks or breads) are allowed to continue operations. These can operate for takeaway and/or delivery only during the Circuit Breaker period. Dining-in is not permitted. Those that do not currently offer takeaway and/or delivery can start to do so. While patrons and delivery personnel are allowed to enter the premises of the F&B establishments for takeaway or delivery, they must leave the premises once they have picked up their orders. Safe distancing measures to be followed by F&B establishments : Clearly demarcate queue lines and put up signage for patrons queuing to order food, and a waiting area for patrons and delivery personnel to pick up their food. Ensure that patrons and delivery personnel observe at least one metre spacing at all times and do not cluster together Implement pre-ordering and payment solutions where possible to minimise physical clustering of patrons waiting to place or pick up their orders Implement contactless pick-up of food where possible to minimise interactions. Ensure all staff, patrons and delivery personnel on their premises have their masks on Conduct temperature screening and health declaration by staff each time they report for work; ensure cleanliness and hygiene practices recommended under the SG Clean campaign; and comply with MOH health advisories Provide hand sanitisers to frontline staff who handle cash and other devices, and who are unable to wash their hands frequently with soap and water Place hand sanitisers in close proximity to high touch surfaces like door handles so that staff and patrons can sanitise their hands after touching these surfaces Frequently disinfect common spaces, and increase frequency of cleaning for high touch surfaces and interactive components within the establishment (e.g. smart kiosks) Service staff must provide clear communication on safe distancing measures to patrons. Put up simple signage to clearly communicate these practices to patrons. The suspension includes operations of individual food carts selling such items. Only hawker centres, coffeeshops and food courts are excluded. Retail Establishments Only retail establishments engaged in essential services can remain open. All other retail establishments must remain close, and may only continue with online retail operations. Retail establishments that do not provide essential services cannot open their stores to customers, but staff can access the retail premises when necessary to fulfil delivery of online orders. Fulfilment of online orders must only be done through delivery (e.g. mailboxes, POPStations). No collection of order at the retail stores is allowed. Retail establishments must limit the number of staff within its premises (e.g. warehouses, stores) to the minimum number required for order fulfilment. No other activities should take place within the premises. Staff must ensure safe distancing at all times. All retail establishments allowed to remain open must ensure safe distancing, including floor markers to clearly demarcate queue lines for customers, at least one-metre spacing between customers, encourage the use of self-checkouts, cashless or contactless payment. All malls, standalone stores and supermarkets should conduct temperature screening for customers at entrances, ensure all staff, customers and other personnel on their premises have their masks on at all times. Supermarkets to provide dedicated shopping hours for vulnerable groups, use mall atriums or outdoor areas for temporary sale of goods to disperse crowds from their stores, remind customers to limit entry to 1 per family when shopping at their stores. Under the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act passed in Parliament on 7 April 2020, first-time offenders will face a fine of up to SGD 10,000, imprisonment of up to six months, or both. Subsequent offences may face a fine of up to SGD 20,000, imprisonment of up to twelve months, or both. Businesses that do not implement or comply with the governments safe distancing advisories may also be ineligible for government grants, loans, tax rebates and other assistance. A low-cost, easy-to-build non-invasive ventilator aimed at supporting the breathing of patients with respiratory failure performs similarly to conventional commercial devices, according to new research published in the European Respiratory Journal. Non-invasive ventilators are used to treat patients with breathing difficulty and respiratory failure, a common symptom of more severe coronavirus disease. Non-invasive ventilation is delivered using facemasks or nasal masks, which push a set amount of pressurised air into the lungs. This supports the natural breathing process when disease has caused the lungs to fail, enabling the body to fight infection and get better. The research paper provides a free to replicate, open source description for how to build the ventilator. The researchers say the prototype ventilator could support treatment of coronavirus and other severe respiratory diseases in low income regions or where ventilator supplies are limited. The study was led by Ramon Farre, Professor of Physiology in the Unit of Biophysics and Bioengineering at the School of Medicine of the University of Barcelona, Spain. He said: "In light of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the escalating need for respiratory support devices around the world, we designed a ventilator that can be built at a low cost using off-the-shelf components. The ventilator is intended to support hospitals and health systems that are struggling to meet the demand for ventilatory support due to coronavirus and other severe lung diseases." The research team designed, built and tested the low-cost non-invasive ventilator with a small high-pressure blower, two pressure transducers and a controller with a digital display, which are available at a retail cost of less than $75 USD (equivalent to 60 GBP / 67 EUR). To assess the effectiveness of the ventilator prototype compared with a commercial ventilator, the research team tested the device using 12 healthy volunteers. The participants' breathing was partially hindered by having them wear bands around the chest, mimicking obstruction at the upper airways to simulate different levels of chest tightness and breathing difficulty caused by disease. advertisement The participants wore face masks fitted over the nose to facilitate breathing and were asked to score the level of comfort or discomfort they experienced both with and without ventilatory support. The researchers observed no faulty triggering of changes to the levels of air pushed from the ventilator during use, and the team says it effectively supported spontaneous breathing rhythm, suggesting that the prototype assists natural breathing well. Further, they found that the feeling of breathing relief provided by the prototype was virtually the same as what was reported using the commercial ventilator. The team also carried out respiratory "bench testing," where lung modelling is used to assess how well the ventilator supports the breathing of patients with different levels of airflow obstruction or restriction. The ventilator prototype was tested under 16 different simulated conditions, covering real life settings where non-invasive ventilation is used in clinical practice. The bench test showed that, across all simulated conditions, the prototype ventilator worked effectively to support the lungs to operate efficiently and there was no faulty triggering. Professor Farre said: "Our tests showed that the prototype would perform similarly to a conventional, high-quality device when providing breathing support for patients who, although with great difficulty, can try to breathe by themselves. This low-cost device could be used to treat patients if commercial devices are not available, and it provides clinicians with a therapeutic tool for treating patients who otherwise would remain untreated." The researchers highlight that the prototype is a non-invasive ventilator; it is not intended for the most severely diseased patients in intensive care units, who are intubated and require a mechanical ventilator to take full control of the patients' breathing, as the prototype only provides breathing support. Professor Leo Heunks is an expert in intensive care medicine from the European Respiratory Society and was not involved in the study. He said: "World Health Organization data suggests that around 80% of people who get coronavirus recover without needing hospital treatment, but those who do develop severe symptoms can experience breathing difficulties, which is distressing and puts health systems under additional pressure. Low-cost solutions like the ventilator described in this paper could provide treatment for those patients, potentially improving outcomes and helping to alleviate pressure on health systems by reducing the need for more invasive types of ventilatory support." An open source description with full technical details on how to build the non-invasive ventilator is included in the research paper. The authors say that to build the device no prior knowledge of ventilation is required, and only basic engineering skills are needed. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-23 01:04:25|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close DAR ES SALAAM, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian President John Magufuli on Wednesday ruled out a lockdown of business capital Dar es Salaam amid the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the move was aimed at saving people from difficulties and saving the country from an economic meltdown. A statement by the Directorate of Presidential Communication at State House said Magufuli made the remarks when he addressed heads of defense and security organs over the COVID-19 crisis from his native home of Chato in Geita region. Instead, Magufuli urged people to stop panicking but observing preventive and protective guidelines on the virus and at the same time participating in national building activities. "Let's give people facts about the viral disease. We should stop giving information that creates panic among members of the public," said the head of state. He urged the heads of defense and security organs to take punitive actions against people, including politicians, who were spreading false information on COVID-19. In another development, Magufuli appointed his personal advisor for health issues, Mabula Daudi Mchembe, the new permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health. The appointment in the health docket was termed as reinforcing the government's resolve to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Magufuli also appointed Abel Makubi the country's new chief medical officer, replacing Mohamed Bakari Kambi who has retired. At the same time, confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Tanzania climbed from 254 to 284 after 30 new cases were announced on Wednesday. Ummy Mwalimu, the Minister of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, said in her official twitter that 10 of the 30 new cases were from Dar es Salaam. Enditem New Delhi, April 22 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to grant bail to Christian Michel, accused in the Agustawestland chopper scam. A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and B.R. Gavai upheld the Delhi High Court decision, which rejected Michel's interim bail. Michel moved the plea citing his vulnerability to the coronavirus outbreak due to overcrowding in prison. The bench, which took up the plea through video conferencing, said according to the criteria fixed by the High Powered Committee constituted by the government on the direction issued by the top court, Michel cannot be granted bail. Advocate Aljo K. Joseph, appearing for Michel, submitted before the top court that the Delhi High Court was not correct in declining to grant him bail citing the apprehension was unfounded. Joseph contended that due to his age and overcrowding in jail, Michel is more susceptible to contract the deadly viral infection. On April 7, the High Court declined to entertain Michel's bail plea stating his apprehensions, the viral infection is extremely dangerous to his health, were baseless. The High Court had said that the apprehension of the petitioner (Michel) being infected by COVID-19 pandemic, "it may be noted that the petitioner is lodged in a separate cell with only two other prisoners and thus, is not in a barrack or dormitory where there are a number of prisons. It is not the case of the petitioner that any of the two inmates residing with him are suffering from COVID-19." Michel, who is 59 years old, said age and a pre-existing bad state of health will make the applicant more susceptible to infection than any other prisoner with normal health. He had said that he is in judicial custody since the date of his arrest and his further incarceration, it is submitted, would amount to violation of human rights, more particularly in view of the foregoing facts, when his presence can be ensured during the trial before this court by imposing other reasonable conditions. As such, it would be far-fetched to say that he is likely to jump bail. Michel was extradited from Dubai last year and is currently lodged in Tihar Jail in connection with alleged irregularities in the chopper deal. While the CBI is probing his alleged role in the deal as a "middleman", the Enforcement Directorate is investigating money laundering charges against him. Hong Kong, April 22 : Hong Kong's chief executive replaced five of her ministers on Wednesday and denied that the cabinet reshuffle had anything to do with the recent controversies over Beijing's growing influence in the special administrative region. Civil Service head Joshua Law, Home Affairs Secretary Lau Kong-wah, Innovation and Technology secretary Nicholas Yang and Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury James Lau had all "served with dedication," Carrie Lam said, according to state broadcaster RTHK. Lau Kong-wah will be replaced by Labour and Welfare Undersecretary Caspar Tsui, Yang by Electrical and Mechanical Services Director Alfred Sit, and James Lau by Christopher Hui, Financial Services Development Council executive director, Efe news reported. Also replaced is Patrick Nip, who until Tuesday was secretary for constitutional and mainland affairs, and will now occupy Law's position of civil service head, while Immigration director Erick Tsang will replace him in his original role. The news of Nip's dismissal broke out on Tuesday and came after he contradicted the official position on the status of the Chinese government's liaison office in Hong Kong, although Lam ruled out that his replacement was linked to that controversy. Ahead of the media briefing, the mainland's state news agency Xinhua said the State Council had approved appointments following nominations by Lam. Lam said that the new appointees will help Hong Kong emerge faster from the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. In recent days, there have been a growing number of voices critical of the Hong Kong and Chinese governments amid what is being seen as Beijing's rising influence in the affairs of the semi-autonomous city. Last week, China's liaison office in Hong Kong criticized several lawmakers for allegedly violating their oaths by opposing some of Beijing's directives, among other things. There were also reports last week of alleged interference by Beijing in Hong Kong's judicial system and new heavy-handed requests in the face of what China has interpreted as "foreign interference" in Hong Kong. While Lam's government failed to provide a firm response to this, the Hong Kong Bar Association did so in a statement. On Monday, the organization issued a statement stating that both China's liaison office in Hong Kong (LOCPG) and the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) - which is also under the Chinese government - were subject to the local laws and thereby prohibited from interfering in the internal affairs of the special administrative region. "In any event, there is no provision in the Basic Law (Hong Kong's constitution) which confers on the HKMAO and LOCPG the power of 'supervision' over affairs which the HKSAR administers on its own," the statement added. Recent days have also seen fresh arrests of protesters in the city: on Saturday alone, 15 prominent activists and supporters of the demonstrations were arrested for allegedly organizing and taking part in unauthorized march protests while at least five other arrests were made on Tuesday night. The protests in Hong Kong began in June last year over a now-withdrawn extradition bill that would have seen Hong Kongers eligible to be extradited to the mainland for prosecution. But they subsequently morphed into a wider movement calling for increased freedoms and more autonomy from Beijing. During the months that followed, some protesters opted for more radical tactics than peaceful protests and violent clashes with the police were common, which also had an impact on the local economy that fell into a recession for the first time in a decade. It was announced today that in its first month of operation, 1,470 customers have accessed Bank of Irelands new dedicated Covid-19 support services for over 65s, carers and healthcare workers. The cocooning support service is designed to help customers self-isolating during Covid-19 (including older customers and those in vulnerable situations) conduct some banking services and access cash for day-to-day expenses. Customers who are already self-isolating and those who may be required to in the future can nominate another person to make in-branch cash withdrawals and lodgements on their behalf. The new facility has built-in safeguards such as limits on withdrawals and daily monitoring by the Banks dedicated Vulnerable Customer Unit. Bank of Ireland say 140 customers availed of the new cocooning service which provides customers access to cash without having to leave their homes. A further 1,330 customers have received help with their personal finances through the banks dedicated customer support line. The Bank has also launched a new Covid-19 service for customers over 65 who require a printed bank statement, where they can call 1800 946 146 and a statement will be sent to them by e-mail or post. Discussing the service, Ross Moore, who manages Bank of Irelands Vulnerable Customer Unit said, "A significant number of customers have already reached out for support in the past few weeks and we would urge those over 65, carers or healthcare workers in need of financial wellbeing assistance to get in touch. This is an unsettling time for everyone, but customers financial wellbeing is our priority and we hope that our Cocooning Support provides one less thing to worry about for those who are most vulnerable." Source: www.businessworld.ie A medical professional conducts tests for COVID-19 in Bolinas, where all residents are being tested for the CCP virus and its antibodies, in Bolinas, Calif., on April 20, 2020. (Kate Munsch/Reuters) California Researchers Test Everybody in One Town for CCP Virus BOLINAS, Calif.Researchers began testing an entire town in northern California for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus, and its antibodies on April 20, one of the first such efforts since the pandemic hit the United States. Medical professionals conduct tests for COVID-19 in Bolinas, where all residents are being tested for the CCP virus and its antibodies, in Bolinas, Calif., on April 20, 2020. (Kate Munsch/Reuters) Bolinas, a wealthy beach town in Marin County, near Silicon Valley, raised funds to test all 1,680 of its residents, in partnership with University of California-San Francisco (UCSF). Dr. Aenor Sawyer, an assistant professor at UCSF and a Bovinas resident, said the town is uniquely situated to teach the medical community about how the disease spreads because it lies two miles from a highway with no through road. Dr. Aenor Sawyer, a physician at UCSF and resident of Bolinas, wears a face mask as she takes part in the testing of all village residents for the CCP virus and its antibodies, in Bolinas, California, on April 20, 2020. (Kate Munsch/Reuters) So were fairly isolated, rural, and (with) stable ecosystems right now for the last several weeks. So it will be very interesting to see the footprint of the virus in this arena, Sawyer said. Dr. Aenor Sawyer, a physician at UCSF and resident of Bolinas, wears a face mask as she takes part in the testing of all village residents for the CCP virus and its antibodies, in Bolinas, California, on April 20, 2020. (Kate Munsch/Reuters) The tests are being offered for free. Volunteers direct the towns residents to drive into four testing bays set up for nasal swabs and finger pricks. The swabs are used to test for the CCP virus, while the finger prick is used to collect blood samples that will be tested for antibodies which can help show who has been infected and recovered. Volunteers direct traffic in Bolinas, where all residents are being tested for the CCP virus and its antibodies, in Bolinas, Calif., on April 20, 2020. (Kate Munsch/Reuters) Medical professionals conduct tests for COVID-19 in Bolinas, where all residents are being tested for the CCP virus and its antibodies, in Bolinas, Calif., on April 20, 2020. (Kate Munsch/Reuters) There have been no confirmed CCP virus cases in Bolinas, but many residents are older than 60 and at higher risk from contracting COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus. Telluride, Colorado, and Fisher Island, Florida, are two other wealthy towns providing free diagnostic tests for all their residents. Mission District, Too The testing in Bolinas is the first of a two-part study in which UCSF researchers will examine the spread of the disease in both rural and urban areas. Medical professionals conduct tests for COVID-19 in Bolinas, where all residents are being tested for the CCP virus and its antibodies, in Bolinas, Calif., on April 20, 2020. (Kate Munsch/Reuters) Researchers have chosen the Mission District, a vibrant inner city neighborhood with Latino roots in San Francisco, for the second location. Testing will start there on Saturday. Tents used to established a site on a road for medical professionals to conduct tests for COVID-19 are seen in Bolinas, where all residents are being tested for the CCP virus and its antibodies, in Bolinas, Calif., on April 20, 2020. (Kate Munsch/Reuters) There are two paired sites that are going on right now: One here in Bolinas, which is very rural and people are quite separated and its isolated. And another, less than an hours drive away, in the Mission District of San Francisco, where its very densely populated, people live very close to each other, and its very connected, said Dr. Bryan Greenhouse, an assistant professor at UCSF and one of the studys researchers. By sort of book-ending the different types of communities that were evaluating within a short period of time, we hope to be able to extrapolate much more to different places throughout northern California. By Nathan Frandino Epoch Times staff contributed to this report WASHINGTON When Vice President Mike Pence descended onto the tarmac in Colorado Springs in mid-April, his first appearance outside the White House grounds in over a month, he was greeted by the Democratic governor of Colorado, Jared Polis, who was wearing a face mask emblazoned with images from his state flag. Mr. Pence tapped elbows with Mr. Polis, rather than offering a hand, but he kept his face uncovered, a decision in line with President Trumps position: Mr. Trump said this month that he would not follow guidelines from his own Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and wear a face mask. The tarmac photo opportunity between two elected officials in various states of facial undress underscored how politicians are, or arent, modeling the precautions they have recommended to their constituents. Mr. Pences decision to forgo masks drew criticism on Tuesday after he flouted the Mayo Clinics policy that asks all visitors to wear protective face masks, when he toured the facility in Minnesota with nothing covering his face. The F.D.A. commissioner, Stephen Hahn, and other administration officials wore masks, and all employees around Mr. Pence were wearing face masks. After the visit, the Mayo Clinic tweeted that it had informed @VP of the masking policy prior to his arrival today. The clinic then deleted the tweet. Loading The series makes great use of the familiar mockumentary format in this case, the documentary is being made by Barris's super-smart 17-year-old daughter Drea (Iman Benson) as part of her application for film school. Drea doesn't hesitate to call out Barris and her mother, Joya (Jones), for sanctimony, lack of self-awareness, dodgy parenting and so on, but they quickly become a hugely endearing couple. Sure, they bicker, compete and taunt and blame each other but they are, as Drea puts it "on the same page about all the wrong shit". Such as trying to recapture their youth by taking drugs at a music festival where everyone else is young enough to be their children or in fact are their children. But while #blackAF excels as a parents-behaving-badly sitcom, with Jones in particular marvellous in every scene, race consciousness is always to the fore. The title of each episode is some variant of "It's Because of Slavery", and Barris and Drea make a point of explaining, for instance, why so many black Americans are obsessed with flashy, expensive clothes, and why black girls are sexually adultified in a way that other girls aren't. But Barris, the real-life one, doesn't pretend to know everything, and he makes the TV Barris both highly fallible and importantly open to changing his mind. While spending most of one episode railing against the broad black comedies so beloved of black moviegoers, TV Barris makes a point of taking Drea to meet Tyler Perry so they can both hear a different perspective. Quite the hoot. Tiger King: The Tiger King and I, Netflix Netflix has a Tiger King special, The Tiger King and I, about working with Joe Exotic. Credit:Netflix Joel McHale, that long-time connoisseur of weird TV, is just the man for hosting the Tiger King after-show episode via smartphone from isolation. Everyone is even more blunt-talking and entertaining than they were in the docuseries, and it's only Saff, who lost a hand to one of the tigers at "Tiger King" Joe Exotic's zoo, who has a kind word to say about him. Tiger King completists must also check out the 2011 documentary Louis Theroux: America's Most Dangerous Pets (Stan*), of which Exotic is a big part. Maggie Simpson in Playdate with Destiny, Disney+ Matt Groening himself is among the veteran Simpsons writers behind this charming little short, which fills in a piece of the Maggie Simpson story that you might never have realised you were missing. And it all plays out without a word of dialogue. On one enchanted trip to the playground Maggie falls for a toddler named Hudson, and they embark upon a fantastical whirlwind romance worthy of old Hollywood. Then complications arise. It's a reminder that Disney+ is also streaming the first 29 seasons of The Simpsons. Judith Lucy vs Men, Amazon Prime Video, from Friday Judith Lucy is at the peak of her powers in this unflinching new stand-up special looking back at her history with men. Her mastery of the form is clear from the start within moments she succeeds in some idiosyncratic crowd work that sets up the whole show, and she demonstrates how brilliant she is at getting laughs out of the kind of real-life indignities you don't even get to keep your pants on for. The whole thing is tragically funny, and even manages to end on a note of triumph. After Life, Netflix, new season from Friday Health staff in nursing homes have been told routine symptoms of the coronavirus may not be present in older residents amidst fears infections are being missed. Instead of fever, cough and shortness of breath, some elderly residents can suffer lethargy, confusion, loss of appetite or a deterioration in condition between checks. The differing symptoms may have been linked to missed diagnoses which contributed to the dangerous spread of the virus in so many homes across the country. Issued by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, the new advice states doctors should be alert to these atypical signs of the virus. It comes as the watchdog Hiqa has issued nursing homes with a checklist of measures to manage the coronavirus. They will self-assess themselves on compliance before a visit from an inspector from next Wednesday. The rules include taking the temperatures of staff, ensuring continuity of care if workers are off, having enough protective wear and seeing if alternative accommodation is needed for employees who are sharing houses. Unite union regional officer Willie Quigley said there has been a failure to appreciate health and social care workers in the homes. He said it had received reports of cases where a service user would be attended by a nurse or doctor wearing appropriate protective wear, yet the care worker who would be attending the same service user was left without any. There is also growing concern about the impact of the virus on HSE residential centres for people with an intellectual disability, said Inclusion Ireland chief executive Enda Egan. "We are gravely concerned at the number of outbreaks in disability services across Ireland," he said. Figures report 32 outbreaks in settings for people with disabilities. He said they are seeking a meeting with Health Minister Simon Harris about the welfare of this vulnerable group. Meanwhile, GPs said yesterday they are continuing to care for patients in nursing homes, but it is important that on-site consultations are only done where necessary. The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) and the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) were responding to concerns by Nursing Homes Ireland that GPs were not visiting private facilities as often as they should during the crisis. Dr Denis McCauley of the IMO said GPs continue to care for nursing home patients. "In some cases that may be through on site consultations where that is appropriate, telephone or video consultations, advice to nursing home staff and ongoing monitoring of patients," he said. Phone-based consultations had to be seen "in the context of nursing homes which have nurses working on site and follow the advice of the relevant public health authorities. "It is important to note that on-site consultations can bring an infection risk for staff and patients within the nursing home and it is important that such consultations are only carried out where necessary." Dr Mary Favier of the ICGP said GPs had stepped up to the mark across the country in dealing with the crisis. She said talks are under way with the HSE to work out how GPs could enhance their support for patients in particularly challenging nursing homes which have clusters of Covid-19 positive residents. Iran claimed on Wednesday that it had successfully launched its first-ever military satellite into orbit in a move that experts described as a significant but not game-changing achievement. Irans Revolutionary Guard claimed it had launched the Nur satellite, which experts suggest could serve as a surveillance tool, into orbit 425 kilometres above the earths surface early this morning by firing the two-stage Qassed rocket into space. "The successful launch of this satellite has brought a new dimension to the defence [capabilities] of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Maj Gen Hassan Salami, chief of Irans Revolutionary Guard, was quoted as saying by official media. By the grace of God, the Revolutionary Guard became a space power today." Video broadcast on Irans state television showed a single white rocket slowly lifting off from a barren location described as somewhere in the countrys vast Central Desert. Glory be to God who made this available to us, otherwise we could not have done it, said a Koranic inscription on the side of the rocket. None of the claims about the satellite launch have yet been independently verified or refuted. The satellites functions remain unclear. Experts say its relatively low orbit suggests it will serve as a surveillance beacon. But any imagery it captures will likely be inferior to those provided by numerous private-sector firms. Its a low earth-orbit satellite, said Markus Schiller, a military and space analyst at ST Analytics, a Munich firm. Its not in a position to get better imagery than commercial satellites. The Vienna-based United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, which tracks objects orbiting the earth, has yet to record the launch. In the past, Iran has admitted unsuccessful attempts to fire satellites into orbit. But Iranian hardliners and the Revolutionary Guard have also repeatedly fabricated accomplishments, including by doctoring photos. The Revolutionary Guard this month presented an apparent toy it claimed could detect infections of the novel coronavirus within five seconds. Iran and the United States are locked in an escalating confrontation, with the administration of President Donald Trump pursuing a policy of maximum pressure against Tehran over its nuclear programme, support for armed allies throughout the Middle East and refinement of its missile technology. Irans communications minister on Twitter emphasised the peaceful and defensive nature of Irans space programme. While few Western defence specialists worry about Irans satellite surveillance and communications technology, such satellite launches are seen by the US and nonproliferation experts as potential attempts to refine intercontinental ballistic missile technology, including for possible delivery of nuclear warheads. Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander Brig Gen Amir-Ali Hajizadeh hailed the launch of the solid-fueled rocket as different from previous ones, using non-metallic composite materials suitable for space. Only superpowers have such capability and the rest are just users of such technology, he claimed. But Mr Schiller said the two-stage rocket he saw used in Wednesdays launch - utilising a modified Safir rocket Iran has long had - showed little in the way of new Iranian capabilities. The stack is way too weak to reach the United States or even Europe, he said. The Iranians can learn some lessons from the launch, but its not a new danger. US warships have sailed into disputed waters in the South China Sea, according to military analysts, heightening a standoff in the waterway and sharpening the rivalry between the United States and China, even as much of the world is in lockdown because of the coronavirus US warships have sailed into disputed waters in the South China Sea, according to military analysts, heightening a standoff in the waterway and sharpening the rivalry between the United States and China, even as much of the world is in lockdown because of the coronavirus. The USS America, an amphibious assault ship, and the USS Bunker Hill, a guided missile cruiser, entered contested waters off Malaysia. At the same time, a Chinese government ship in the area has for days been tailing a Malaysian state oil company ship carrying out exploratory drilling. Chinese and Australian warships have also powered into nearby waters, according to the defence experts. Despite working to control a pandemic that spread from China late last year, Beijing has not reduced its activities in the South China Sea, a strategic waterway through which one-third of global shipping flows. Instead, the Chinese governments years-long pattern of assertiveness has only intensified, military analysts said. Its a quite deliberate Chinese strategy to try to maximise what they perceive as being a moment of distraction and the reduced capability of the United States to pressure neighbours, said Peter Jennings, a former Australian defence official who is the executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. Since January, when the coronavirus epidemic began to surge, the Chinese government and coast guard ships, along with maritime militias, have been plying contested waters in the South China Sea, tangling with regional maritime enforcement agencies and harassing fishermen. Earlier this month, the Vietnamese accused a Chinese patrol ship of ramming and sinking a Vietnamese fishing boat. Last month, China opened two new research stations on artificial reefs it has built on maritime turf claimed by the Philippines and others. The reefs are also equipped with defence silos and military-grade runways. Over the weekend, the Chinese government announced that it had formally established two new districts in the South China Sea that include dozens of contested islets and reefs. Many are submerged bits of atoll that do not confer territorial rights, according to international law. It seems that even as China was fighting a disease outbreak, it was also thinking in terms of its long-term strategic goals, said Alexander Vuving, a professor at the Daniel K Inouye Asia-Pacific Centre for Security Studies in Honolulu. The Chinese want to create a new normal in the South China Sea, where they are in charge, and to do that theyve become more and more aggressive. After the sinking of the Vietnamese boat, the State Department urged China in a statement to remain focused on supporting international efforts to combat the global pandemic, and to stop exploiting the distraction or vulnerability of other states to expand its unlawful claims in the South China Sea. The Chinese government has made vast claims to the South China Sea that conflict with demarcations made by five other governments. An international tribunal has dismissed most of Chinas claims to the waterway, but Beijing does not recognise the ruling and has instead built naval bases on reefs it now controls. While the United States has no territorial claims in the South China Sea, the US Navy says it has kept the peace in these waters for decades. US military officials have chastised China for its increased militarisation of the waterway. Through our continued operational presence in the South China Sea, we are working with our allies and partners to promote freedom of navigation and overflight, and the international principles that underpin security and prosperity for the Indo-Pacific, said Lieutenant-Commander Nicole Schwegman, a spokeswoman for the US Indo-Pacific Command. The US supports the efforts of our allies and partners to determine their own economic interests. The Chinese government has countered that the United States is the country destabilising the region. The appearance of the America and the Bunker Hill may do little to dispel that narrative. And regional governments have worried that the United States has a habit of briefly showing up in hot spots only to depart, leaving them to contend with an increasingly muscular Beijing. What is the intention of the US here? said Ian Storey, a South China Sea expert at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, a think-tank in Singapore. Is it just to say, Were here? Or are they going to shadow the Chinese survey ship to try to stop it from operating? The Indo-Pacific Command did not specify the exact location of the two US warships, citing operational restrictions, but it confirmed that the warships were in the South China Sea. On Tuesday, the Navy posted pictures of the warships on Twitter, accompanied by a third vessel, a destroyer called the USS Barry, saying that the expeditionary strike group was operating in support of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. The area where the American warships have been sailing is around 200 nautical miles off the coast of Malaysia, defense experts said. Malaysia, China and Vietnam all claim rights to the natural resources in this part of the contested waterway. Last week, a Chinese government survey ship began shadowing the West Capella, a drill ship conducting exploration activities off the Malaysian coast and operated by Petronas, the Malaysian State oil company. The Chinese survey ship, called the Haiyang Dizhi 8, had previously tracked similar oil operations off Vietnam. An Australian frigate, the HMAS Parramatta, is accompanying the American naval ships, as part of a previously planned operation, according to defence experts. Jennings, the former Australian defence official, said that the Parramattas deployment would have been arranged at least a year ago. At that time, it probably didnt know it was sailing into a heightened military environment, Jennings said. Its been made that way really since March, with the greater pattern of offensive operations that China is engaging in all the way from Japan to the South China Sea. Defence experts who have reviewed information about military movements in the area but are not authorised to share them publicly, said that a Chinese warship has been operating off the coast of Malaysia. The destroyer is called the Wuhan, named after the city where the coronavirus outbreak began. At a time when China has been sending doctors and personal protective equipment to Malaysia to combat the viral epidemic there, the Malaysian government has not publicly protested the Chinese survey ships activities or its security cordon of armed Chinese coast guard vessels. The prolonged presence of Chinese maritime militia and coast guard ships in another oil-rich area off Malaysia has not prompted an official protest either. Beijing has been dispatching medical supplies and expertise across the region and has boasted in a military publication that not a single member of the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army has come down with the coronavirus, an eyebrow-raising contention given the epidemics rapid spread. An American aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, which had been sailing in the South China Sea earlier this year, was struck by an outbreak of the coronavirus that killed one sailor and sickened hundreds of others. Other ships in the U.S. Pacific fleet have been infected by the coronavirus as well. The optics for the US Navy in the region dont look so good, even as the Donald Trump administration is trying to reassure its allies, said Storey, of the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. China can say, Look at our superior governance system, which has beaten back the epidemic. And then look at the US. Hannah Beech c.2020 The New York Times Company Thirteen people tested positive for coronavirus disease Covid-19 in Bihar on Tuesday, taking the total number of such cases to 126 in the state, news agency PTI reported. Of the fresh cases, seven were reported from Munger district, four from Buxar and one each from Patna and Rohtas, PTI quoted principal secretary, health, Sanjay Kumar as saying. All the fresh cases in Munger are from Jamalpur block where the contagion has been traced to a 60-year-old man, who had travelled to Nalanda district last month to attend a Tablighi Jamaat congregation and tested positive last week. The number of samples tested in the state till date is 11,999, Kumar said. Bihar had reported its first couple of coronavirus cases on March 22. However, nearly a quarter of the total number of cases so far in the state has been reported in the last 24 hours. Siwan (29), Nalanda (28) and Munger (27) account for two-third of the coronavirus cases in Bihar. On Monday, as many as 17 people from Bihar Sharif, the headquarters of Nalanda district, had tested positive. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, meanwhile, said on Tuesday that an assistance of Rs 1,000 will be provided to all families that do not have ration cards but were identified by self-help groups of Jeevika in the state. Kumar directed Chief Secretary Deepak Kumar to inform all the district magistrates and sub-divisional magistrates to provide the assistance of Rs 1,000 to each of the family which does not have ration card but has been identified by the Jeevika groups, according to an official release. Bill Walker was told it was impossible to get an entire virtual health care system up and running in less than a year. The sheer amount of logistical considerations to coordinate a functional virtual care system for a provider the size of Harris Health System would have to address seemed to support the naysayers. But these arent normal times. In the face of COVID-19, Bill Walker and his staff did the impossible. Harris Healths virtual care system was functioning within 6 days. It was like flying the plane while building it, recalls Bill Walker, who is the Associate Administrator for Business Operations and Strategic Initiatives and the Coordinator for Harris Healths Virtual Care Program. I am impressed with the team and the organization of Harris Health that were able to divert resources to make sure this happened in record time. Time is more valuable than ever as the ramifications of the current pandemic continue to be uncovered on a daily, if not hourly, basis. Stay-At-Home orders and social distancing guidelines are actively saving lives and preventing hospitals from being overrun, but a serious challenge remains. How do we continue to provide the effective and necessary health care Americans need at a time when going to the doctor for routine care is a potentially dangerous proposition? Technology has an answer. Virtual health caresometimes referred to as telemedicine or telehealthis emerging as the best way for patients to receive the care they need without endangering themselves or others by going to a hospital or doctors office. Patients who engage with their physician virtually can refill prescriptions, consult their doctor about test results, attend mental or behavioral health appointments right from the comfort and safety of their own homes. The challenge, from a health care providers perspective, is to balance the populations existing health needs while also effectively attending to COVID-19 patients, without overloading the health care system at large. Walker and Harris Health knew virtual care would be vital toward achieving this objective. For patients suspected of having coronavirus, virtual care allows nurses to safely monitor the patients symptoms while the patient is at home through daily virtual checkups. The vast majority of COVID patients will not need hospitalization and being in the hospital just heightens risk. Should a patients symptoms intensify, the nurse will advise the patient when the appropriate time is to come to the hospital. For non-COVID patients, Harris Healths virtual care program provides traditionally under-served communities and those with underlying conditions like high blood pressure or diabetes the opportunity to get the care they need quickly, safely and effectively. We built this option because we dont want our patients to be at risk, we dont want them to have to go to the emergency room when its overcrowded, says Walker. The good thing was everyone jumped on board. All the doctors wanted to transition to virtual care as fast as possible. Dr. LaResa Annette Ridge, a family care practitioner for Harris Health Systems, was the first doctor to make the transition to seeing patients virtually. Virtual health is beneficial for two reasons, says Dr. Ridge. Not only does it improve the safety of both patients and health care providers, it also helps solve transportation and access issues a patient may have. Using your smartphone or tablet, a patient can connect directly with providers like Dr. Ridge. Since seeing her first patient at home 5 weeks ago, the virtual care has been rolled out to all the ambulatory clinics, allowing doctors to virtually care for patients from home and their clinic as well. Per Dr. Ridge, Harris Healths virtual program utilizes four different modalities to connect with patients: the MyHealth app, video calls, telephone calls and e-Visits conducted over email. Each modality has its strengths and weaknesses, says Ridge, but the preferred method to conduct virtual care is through Harris Healths MyHealth app, available on smartphones. MyHealth is the Harris Health interconnection for patients mobile electronic medical records (or MEMRs). Both Walker and Dr. Ridge are quick to point out the app is HIPPA compliant; your medical records remain private between you and your care provider. Patients can download the app, request refills, adjust their appointment schedule, even arrange their medication to be delivered to them directly. No more pharmacies, no more waiting room; for the vast majority of medical appointments, virtual care can replace in-person visits. Walker notes that even if patients dont have the app, they can still call the Patient Appointment Center at 713-526-4243 from 6 a.m.-6 p.m. and schedule the type of virtual care appointment that works best for them. Patients can choose to use video chat, which enables providers like Dr. Ridge the best opportunity to examine the patient. This is ideal for diagnosing conditions like strep throat or skin rash. Telephonic or e-Visits by email are great for patients that have simple questions for their primary care physician like a recurring urinary tract infection (UTI) or are in need of a prescription refill for blood pressure medication or insulin. Harris Healths virtual care system has seen immediate results, with more than 20,000 virtual visits conducted since mid-March with an average of 2,000 daily visits at 40 locations involving 750 physicians and growing. This is most likely due to the ease in which patients can utilize this important, life-saving technology. According to Walker, the MyHealth app makes the transition to virtual care as seamless as possible. When possible, says Walker, patients are encouraged to use MyHealth. Both Dr. Ridge and Walker acknowledge there are limitations to virtual care, from lack of steady internet service to the health events that arise requiring a doctor and patient to be in the same room. But the biggest challenge is to just get the word out that virtual care is now available to everyone in Harris Health System and is not going away anytime soon. This is the new normal, says Dr. Ridge. When used appropriately, virtual care can work for everyone. Walker concurs, noting that the benefits of virtual care far outweigh any shortcomings. For many in Harris County, transportation can be an issue. Virtual care eliminates this problem while enabling safe social distancing between doctor, patient and medical staff. Dr. Ridge and the entire staff at Harris Health acknowledge these are unprecedented times, but that virtual care is one of the positive things to come out of them. Most importantly, we need to remember maintaining hope and positivity is as vital as technological innovation in these uncertain times. Be cautious and careful, but recognize this too will pass, assures Dr. Ridge. We just need to follow the mandates as they come out and do the best we can to take care of each other and maintain hope. This too will pass. [April 22, 2020] National Bank of Canada Signs an Agreement with the Nature Conservancy of Canada to Purchase Carbon Credits from the Darkwoods Project VANCOUVER, April 22, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ - To mark Earth Day, National Bank of Canada is proud to announce that it has signed an agreement to purchase carbon credits from the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) as part of the Darkwoods Forest Carbon Project, one of the largest carbon projects in North America. Located in British Columbia, the Darkwoods Conservation Area is a 63,000-hectare property that was acquired by NCC in 2008 to preserve its ecologically important features, including the fact that it is a significant source of fresh water. The purchase of carbon credits is an additional step the Bank has taken to achieve its goal of carbon neutrality. Quotes "It's a true honour and a privilege for the Bank to contribute actively to preserving Darkwoods Forest, an invaluable ecological reserve in British Columbia. This agreement clearly demonstrates our commitment to protecting natural habitats and biodiversity," said Benjamin West, Vice President and Regional Manager span >British Columbia at National Bank Financial Wealth Management. "We are pleased to work with National Bank of Canada in their efforts towards achieving carbon neutrality. By purchasing Darkwoods Forest Carbon offsets, National Bank of Canada is demonstrating their commitment to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions and taking responsibility for the impact of their energy use on the planet. This purchase directly supports meaningful and tangible conservation of inland temperate rainforest in British Columbia," said Robert P. Wilson, Director, Conservation Finance, New Conservation Strategies at Nature Conservancy of Canada. About National Bank of Canada With $289 billion in assets as at January 31, 2020, National Bank of Canada, together with its subsidiaries, forms one of Canada's leading integrated financial groups. It has more than 26,000 employees in knowledge-intensive positions and has been recognized numerous times as a top employer and for its commitment to diversity. Its securities are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: NA). Follow the Bank's activities at nbc.ca or via social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. About Nature Conservancy of Canada The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is the nation's leading not-for-profit, private land conservation organization, working to protect our most important natural areas and the species they sustain. Since 1962, NCC and its partners have helped to conserve 14 million hectares (35 million acres), coast to coast to coast. To learn more, visit natureconservancy.ca. SOURCE National Bank of Canada [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Among them was an incident at Buffalo Wild Wings in a group of diners, some of whom were African American, were asked to move because a racist patron didnt want to be seated by them; a gas station clerk who told a group of Latina girls and women that they should return to their home country; and a Naperville high school student who posted a social media ad with the photo of a black student and the words Slave for Sale. 'Don't panic. Believe in yourself.' 'This is a preventable illness. Only you can prevent it.' IMAGE: A health department official takes a sample for a rapid antibody test for COVID-19 in Vijayawada, April 21, 2020. Photograph: PTI Photo "The level of panic the disease could create eventually reduced social interactions to a very large degree. And that has made the difference," Dr Raman Gangakhedkar, Head Scientist of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases at the Indian Council of Medical Research, tells Rediff.com Senior Contributor Sheela Bhatt in the concluding segment of an exclusive three-part interview. Is there any insurance that we will not see the death rate as high as Italy or America? I would refrain from making judgments. Mainly because we have to wait for figures to emerge. Wait for how the outbreak evolves from here. Do we see that happening in the near future? We don't see that happening. But if you talk of some long period, where I don't know what is happening in the intervening period, it becomes very difficult to speculate. That I can't speculate. But as of now, we are fairly comfortable in terms of ensuring that we will have a smaller number compared to what other have. I'll ask another question. You compare two-and-a-half months into the outbreak and you have 10,0000 odd cases. Compare the same numbers to the US, you compare it with Spain, compare it with France. People claim that it may be because of the Indian weather, our immunity and BCG vaccines that we take. What do you think? None of the three! Then, what is it? Because we don't believe that our population learnt the fastest! Social distancing! We are following the lockdown. It was largely followed which we don't trust that way. The reality of life is that the level of panic the disease could create eventually reduced social interactions to a very large degree. And that has made the difference. So when will the curve flatten? The flattening curve you should perhaps be able to see pretty early because of the lockdown effect. Now in the course of time how much can we maintain that curve at a low level is up to all citizens. They have to follow the lockdown sincerely. IMAGE: Policemen stop a vendor for flouting the lockdown in Mathura, April 20, 2020. Photograph: PTI Photo Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has said this situaiton can persist up to September. I wouldn't say so. As I said, it's like telling somebody if I was to speculate if I was a young boy how much wealth I would earn when I retire. I have no clue. No one has at a young age. So much has been written about hydroxychloroquine. Now even the Americans doubt its effectiveness. Was the ICMR protocol to administer it correct or not? We said we would like to study the drug to see whether it has protective effective elements because that was the only study that came out at that point in time. And, we thought that this anti-malarial drug may not work on viral enzymes, perhaps it may have an immuno-modulate reaction rather than anything else. We never prescribed it for common use of individuals. We prescribed it only for doctors and medical staff because that was a captive population you could study what is actually happening. And their exposure could have been far more stronger than other people. But it didn't mean that everybody should take that particular medicine. So exports should have been allowed? That decision is beyond me. I wouldn't understand commerce. Where do you stand vis-a-vis the usefulness of HCQ? We should wait. See, there is one dictum in science. You accept or reject based on evidence. If there is no evidence, you have no reason to reject it. If you don't have evidence, you have no reason to recommend it to people. How hopeful is ICMR as an institution of finding a vaccine? India getting it first? India getting it first is perhaps difficult to happen. Because others moved rapidly in the course of the outbreak. They had access to the virus. Our cases occurred late. And naturally our efforts to isolate the virus took its own time. So in India we have started late. Starting late doesn't necessarily mean that we will achieve it later. Because even if people have started earlier, not every effort is going to be successful. If we are lucky, we will still be in a position to get a vaccine earlier. But if we start assuming that India is going to give it first, then these healthy practices we are adopting we may not adopt them well. So it is essential that we should go ahead and believe in change that we need to have in our life. IMAGE: Medical staff at a slum in Mumbai, April 20, 2020. Photograph: ANI Photo ICMR is about to allow protocols for trials of plasma therapy -- antibodies from the blood of cured patients. How reliable is it? It is only for trial. We have already put it up on DCGI (Drug Controller General of India). But we don't recommend it unless you have evidence to support it. Trial protocols are established, DCGI has cleared it, it will start slowly. Is it reliable? As I said, unless there is evidence to say it is not reliable. Is India collaborating on the research for a vaccine? Those questions should be answered by the department of bio-technology. The department of bio-technology has taken the lead for vaccine development because that is their strength. For drug trials we have said yes to WHO, for a solidarity trial. Beyond that, are we looking at other foreign collaborations? Perhaps, they are far too less. You have seen it all. SARS, HIV. How do you look at this event at a personal level? I came to headquarters only two-and-a-half years back. Earlier, all my life has been in HIV disease. I know only one thing. This disease is not far too different. There was nothing we knew about HIV when we started our career in 1989. It used to be frustrating to begin with. But then I also know that when everybody focuses on a fatal disease, discovery comes by very quickly. Essentially, this happened for HIV. Today when you talk about HIV, all my patients, they are not worried anymore. The only worry is am I taking tablets at the right time, and that's about it! Though you don't have a vaccine against it, you don't have a curative drug against it, we have managed to overcome it. We don't see any reason why we should become pessimists in this scenario. I still believe things may happen. We have to keep working hard. You will see the results. If we give up, then there is nothing good that can happen for people. How do you look at America, Italy, Iran, China? What happened there could have been handled better? So much went wrong. Dying of one lakh people in such a short period is shocking. I know it is. But I would say, they are the best judges. See, for anybody who is a third party, we would perhaps blame others. We would point out these things are bad, but when it comes to ourselves, we may be very protective in describing, or even we may blame others. Let them judge their situations. Doctor, your advice to those who has read the interview thus far. Don't panic. Believe in yourself. This is a preventable illness. Only you can prevent it. The government is fully supportive that your preventive behaviour has an environment where the virus cannot be fostered. Don't lose hope. Things can happen because you are the master of your own destiny. Thank you very much. This virus is a very stubborn virus. No? Every virus is, every virus is stubborn. What is the most unique character of the novel coronavirus? High transmissibility. Chinas response to the virus has its own sharp-eyed critics at home, and they have found a vastly different reception. One resident of the virus-struck city of Wuhan who writes under the name Fang Fang documented despair, misery and everyday life in an online diary and has endured withering attacks on social media. Three citizen journalists who posted videos from Wuhan in the first weeks of the outbreak disappeared and are widely believed to be in government custody. Faryal Makhdoom has hit back at 'disgusting' trolls who told her to cover up ahead of Ramadam. The new mother, 28, looked incredible in a khaki crop top and leather trousers in an Instagram post on Tuesday, but was subject to vile comments. Amir Khan's wife was quick to fire back, however, sharing a lengthy post in which she reasoned, 'I'm old enough to dress myself'. Stunning: Faryal Makhdoom has hit back at 'disgusting' trolls who told her to cover up ahead of Ramadam after the new mother, 28, looked incredible in a khaki crop top and leather trousers Faryal, who welcomed her third child in February, was a vision of beauty in her snap, clad in a crop top, high waisted pants, an oversized blazer and heeled sandals. She captioned the image: 'Raise your hand if you cant wait for your kids to go back to school. The American-Pakistani star was flooded with warm responses, as fans gushed: 'Caption should be "Raise your hand if you've popped out 3 kids and look as hot as me"'; 'You look amazing, ignore the haters'; 'Beaut'. Hitting back: Faryal (pictured with husband Amir during Umrah in 2018) hit back at trolls who claimed she should be 'ashamed' of her ensemble However one follower commented: 'The most stupid girl I've ever seen in my life', to which Faryal sarcastically responded: 'geee thanks'. Another vile troll penned a lengthy comment, claiming that Faryal should be 'ashamed' as 'in Islam a women needs hide her private area'. They went on to state, 'Ramadan is this week youll see she will come back with her dupatta (traditional clothing) on'. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting, prayer, reflection and community. This year it will begin on Thursday and last until Saturday May 23. Shocking: One follower commented: 'The most stupid girl I've ever seen in my life', to which Faryal sarcastically responded: 'geee thanks' Hitting back: Although Faryal did not respond directly to their comment, she took to her Stories to share a lengthy statement Although Faryal did not respond directly to their comment, she took to her Stories to share a lengthy statement. She penned: 'I'm old enough to dress myself.. fine to leave opinions under my picture but to be using foul language and wishing ill upon me is simply disgusting. 'Telling me Ramadam is around the corner then cursing the s**t out of me shows your character. 'If you don't like my feed simply click unfollow and find someone else to bug, because I'm just going to BLOCK. 'Leave me alone... there's worse things going on in the world than commenting on my dressing. Go make use of your energy elsewhere - maybe in something positive.' She added: 'And those of you always having my back... I loveeee u. I'm not perfect... but Hey let me live. Just chill out x' Sweet: Faryal also received some lovely words from her followers, who she went on to thank Faryal, who has Lamaisah, five, Alayna, 23 months, and eight-week-old son Muhammad with husband Amir, has never been afraid to hit back at trolls. The model was previously called a 'bad muslim' by vile commenters, who weren't pleased with her glamorous display days after she completed Umrah - a holy Islamic pilgrimage. Firing back at a critic's usage of Drake lyrics, Faryal noted that his music was 'haram (sinful) too', before going on to call out another commenter for 'judging her'. Hitting back: Faryal, who has Lamaisah, five, Alayna, 23 months, and eight-week-old son Muhammad with husband Amir, has never been afraid to hit back at trolls What pains the people who treat, take care of the patients besides fetching food for patients, clean up their rooms and dispose of the waste is the treatment they are meted outside the hospital. Editor's note: This series will focus on the difficulties faced by the medical fraternity at COVID-19 hospitals, their duty hours, access to protective gear, facilities they get during quarantine, how are their families coping with this new reality across different states in the country. This is the second part of the series. After working for over a month with spells in quarantine at the Kalamassery Medical College Hospital, Ernakulam which has been turned into a COVID-19 speciality hospital, 32-year-old Ravi Chandran undertook a three hour journey home Palghat district. He was looking forward to seeing his wife and children who had moved to his in-laws home before the Janata Curfew was announced in March 2020. Chandran works in the administration department of the hospital. After reaching Palakkad, Chandran was stopped at the gates of the house by neighbours. A few people gathered and asked me to leave. They argued that since I work in a hospital, I was in danger of carrying the virus. I tried to explain, but could not reason with the crowd that was gradually increasing. I finally decided to leave, Chandran said. His regret is that he could not hug his children or talk to his wife. Medical staff risk their lives and expose themselves to the dangers of the COVID-19. Though hailed publicly for their service, they are socially unwelcome once they step out of the hospital premises. The threats posed by coronavirus creates fear and panic and the until-then warm neighbourhood treats medical and other hospital staff as pariahs. Firstpost spoke to medical and support staff at the Kalamassery Medical College Hospital to understand the stress and the conditions under which they work. They agreed to speak on conditions of anonymity. All names mentioned in this article are changed, as per their request. COVID-19 in Kerala On 30 January, the countrys first COVID-19 case was reported in Kerala and the State reported its first coronavirus death after a 69-year-old man being treated for the virus died at the Kalamassery Medical College Hospital. The man-from Chullikkal in Ernakulam, was admitted to the isolation ward on 22 March after his return from Dubai. His death was also due to other complications -- heart disease and high blood pressure. He had a bypass surgery earlier, doctors at the hospital said. Click here to read the complete series As early as mid-January, the Government Medical College Hospital in Ernakulam was geared up for the epidemic. A control room was set up. Kerala has many students studying at Wuhan in China, the epicentre of the coronavirus and there was a fear of them returning and being possible carriers of the virus. It has a well-oiled machinery which has dealt swiftly and effectively against the deadly Nipah virus earlier, which hit the State in 2018. The hospital has 30 isolation beds and 10 beds have been set aside for suspected cases of COVID-19. It is prepared for 500 beds, in case of an emergency, said Kala Menon, a specialist in infectious diseases. PPE gear and suffocation The hospital has charted a four hour long duty time for staff working in the COVID-19 wards instead of the mandatory 8 hour shifts they worked earlier. The reason for the change in duty hours is not due to the dangers posed by the virus, but due to the heavy personal protection equipment (PPE) gear the staff has to wear. Once the doctors and staff get dressed in the PPE gear, no one can work beyond four hours. Covering the entire body from head to toe, it restricts movement and is uncomfortable as the body temperature rises once it is worn. While staff have devised their own ways to work with it, the heat generated after wearing the gear is terrible, they said. Once the gear is worn, the doctors and staff cannot drink or eat or even visit the washroom. To wear the PPE gear, the staff has to reach the premises at least an hour before the shift begins. There are specially demarcated entry and exit ways for medical staff treating COVID-19 patients. The PPE gear can be worn only with another persons help. There is an order to be followed while wearing it. Each item of wear is first sprayed with a disinfectant. We wear the shoes first, said staff nurse Grace Sebastian. Then the PPE overalls are worn. Most staff wear one or more masks to cover their mouth and nose after which the head is covered. The goggles are worn next and then two pairs of gloves are pulled over the hands. All parts of the PPE gear is securely pinned so that no part of the persons body is exposed. Since the identity of the person wearing the gear is not known, identification labels are affixed or written on them. There is also a procedure to be followed for removing the PPE gear. The assistant who helps the staff has to spray disinfectants on the PPE before removing it. Each part of the PPE has to be disposed off in different bins. The cleaning staff does not come in contact with it as they pick up the bins in which the used gear is thrown into and leave it at the waste disposal area. Life after days work The hospital has set up accommodation within its premises for its staff. After duty, the staff cannot interact with others. Some like senior nurse Ragini Shankaran go home in vehicles arranged by the hospital. I have two children aged four and six. They have now understood that they cannot come near me once I am home. Earlier, it was difficult for family members to hold them away from me. But it has been over two months now and they stand away at a little distance and talk to me, said Shankaran, who said she was happy to be able to go home and see her family. Others are not so lucky. 30-year-old Molly Jose, a staff nurse at the hospital said she felt terrible at not being able to meet her children a two-year-old son and four-year-old daughter now living with her mother. I havent seen them for over a month now, she said, her voice shaking. At first, Jose would talk to her children daily through video calls. But after the few instances when the children started crying on seeing her, she decided to just make voice calls and talk to them. They dont cry any more but ask me when I am coming home, she said. Click here for Coronavirus Outbreak LIVE Updates Haritha Sukumaran, a cardiac surgeon, said that nurses mention these instances when they help doctors to wear the gear. It is painful for a parent to be away from their children, but no nurse or even support staff is forced to work and can opt out of this duty everyone understands the gravity of this illness, she said. When Molly Jose was asked if she wanted to opt out of the COVID-19 care, she was quick to reply that though she was afraid of catching the virus, just like any other medical staff, she believes that is not a reason to opt out of duty. We have seen the deadly Nipah cases at this hospital earlier. It causes acute respiratory illness and fatal encephalitis and we were successful in treating it, she said. What pains the medical support staff who take care of the patients needs -- bringing food, cleaning rooms and disposing off the waste - is the treatment they are meted outside the hospital. For 46-year-old Susheela Venugopalan, who lives with her family a short distance away from the hospital, the memory of the evening she was shooed off at a grocery store evokes pain and sadness. I had gone after duty-hours to the grocer-who I know for years, and maintained social distance as well. But other customers in the shop asked me to leave. Many of them are known to me, she said. When these incidents are brought to the notice of the hospital, the administration lodges a police complaint, as in the case of its staff nurse, Radhika Murali. The 22-year-old decided to live with her sister to make it easier to travel to the hospital with the lockdown in force. When the neighbours saw her in the apartment, they not only asked her to leave but also called the police. Murali called up the hospital for help. The hospital filed a complaint and police were sent to the apartment to speak to the neighbours. However, Murali decided against going to her sister' house until the virus cases dwindle, she said to Firstpost. The medical staff work for five days and are then quarantined or live in isolation for 14 days. They spend their time reading or watching films. The cleaning staff is not so lucky though. They follow the same rules of work and quarantine periods, but they are often called back for duty from quarantine if the hospital falls short of staff, said one of the health inspectors at the hospital. Not a single person has refused to come to work, he said. Most of the support staff are temporary workers and earn Rs 600 per day. The health inspector said what makes him proud to work in the hospital is the dedication he sees in everyone tending to the virus cases. That is commendable, he said. One of the health inspectors at the hospital has to be content with seeing his family from far as he cruises off on his bike near his in-laws' house. I have shifted my wife and children to my in-law's house since the Janata Curfew. My younger daughter was born premature and there were some complications after that. The baby is fine now but yet just a year-old. So, most days I go on my bike and call them on the phone when I am near the house. My wife and children then come out and stand in the verandah. I am able to see them for a few minutes and then I return to my house, he said. The health inspector shared his angst of returning to an empty home without his family. On most days the work at the hospital makes it impossible to go home, which is a god-send, he said. "I miss the children and their laughter at home," he said. Joys of working in Kerala When Veronica finished her MBBS degree and then specialised in the treatment of infectious diseases, she felt most of her batchmates were lucky as they chose to go to the United States of America (USA). I always felt they lived better lives than me. I had chosen to work in Kerala, said Veronica. Veronicas oft-held belief was decimated completely last week. My batchmates and I talk regularly on the phone. Last week when I spoke to some of them, they mentioned that they did not have adequate PPE gear. They spoke of their struggling healthcare system. For the first time in my life, I felt very proud of the choice I had made to work here in Kerala. "The Kalamassery Government Medical College Hospital has more than adequate PPE gear for all of us who treat and care for the COVID-19 patients. We dont have to worry about these things. We are prepared with a backup of 600 beds if there are more cases. The government has always been very proactive about healthcare in Kerala. There is nothing to be envious about working and living in the US, she said, laughing. Another reinforcement came in the form of praise that the hospital and its staff received from a British national who was treated as a virus suspect. Veronica recalls how the Englishman was initially alarmed to stay in the isolated ward. "On the first day when I went to his room, I found him writing something," says Veronica. "When I asked him what he was doing, he said he was writing his will. He was afraid of the medical treatment at a government hospital in India, he told me. I tried to comfort him, but he had a terrified expression on his face. A day or two later he started laughing and chatting with medical and support staff who entered his room. When he was discharged, he told me he would not have got such excellent care back home in Britain," said Veronica. Indian medical care, particularly Kerala's has come in for much praise globally. Veronica did indeed make the right choice to be a doctor in Kerala. "Of course, I did," she said amid much laughter. Wuhan sticks to defense after reopening from lockdown Global Times By GT staff reporters Source:Global Times Published: 2020/4/21 20:03:40 Wuhan is recovering from its 76-day lockdown after the city was severely hit by the novel coronavirus epidemic, but the city still keeps strict measures to defend its efforts and sacrifices in the past months. Two weeks have passed since Wuhan, the capital city of Central China's Hubei Province, reopened. Fences are still present in every corner in the city, dividing blocks and communities, as well as reminding residents that virus prevention is still necessary. Rows of fences have blended in with the background along with residents wearing masks, walking, riding bicycles or doing exercises. Some peddlers cut holes through the board fences so they could sell products to consumers, even though business is not booming yet. Public locations are still under strict administration. To enter a supermarket in Guanggu of Wuhan, consumers must have a green health code to prove that they have a low risk of infection. They are also required to have a temperature under 37.3 C, to wear masks and sterilize their hands. Communities are not opened to all outsiders, the Global Times learned. Wuhan cannot lower its guard or apply a "one size fits all" measures on preventing the virus, a People's Daily editorial reads. "People must get in the habit of actively confronting the epidemic." Wuhan has seen no new confirmed COVID-19 case for 17 consecutive days; the city is now capable of conducting nucleic tests for more than 40,000 on a daily basis. However, it is still under pressure to prevent imported and local cases of COVID-19, like other cities in China. On Monday, China had 11 newly-confirmed COVID-19 cases, with four of them being imported. Six of the cases detected were in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, reports said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Fayetteville, N.Y. More than one-third of all the known coronavirus cases in Manlius come from a retirement center just outside the village of Fayetteville. Fourteen residents have tested positive for COVID-19 at the Towne Center Retirement Community, according to the facilitys owners. Most of them have already recovered from the virus. Four employees have also tested positive. Onondaga County health officials visited Towne Center over the weekend to test residents and staff at the 128-unit complex. It was the start of the county health departments plan to do proactive testing to root out the virus. It was one of the first places the county did on-site testing en masse. Towne Centers coronavirus experience reveals the continuing risk to pockets of the elderly, the erratic ways in which the virus crushes some and spares others, and the value of a quick response from decision-makers and public health officials. The Towne Center is a luxury retirement center for people over 55. Its owned and operated by Resort Lifestyle Communities, a Nebraska company. RLC operates more than 40 retirement communities across 25 states. In Fayetteville, all the apartments are housed in a three-story building, equipped with a gym, a dining hall, a theater and other amenities. Its designed for independent seniors people who can come and go as they please. It costs up to $5,000 a month to live there. Its not a nursing home, and therefore isnt regulated as such. The virus first appeared at the Towne Center in late March when one employee and one resident tested positive. Management sent a letter to residents to alert them. Since then, 13 more residents have tested positive, including one this week. Of those infections, 10 people have recovered and are no longer considered active cases. That means their quarantine period is over. Two people are still hospitalized. One person is in a recovery facility and another is recovering off-site with family. No one from Towne Center has died. Sunday, the Health Department tested 114 people at Towne Center, according to Steve Mueller, director of special projects for RLC. As of Tuesday afternoon, 50 test results had come back. There was one positive case and 49 negatives. We wish we were 50 for 50 but thats very encouraging, Mueller said. Tracy Ruhl, the manager at Towne Center, said the infection doesnt appear to be spreading any longer. Paul Stobnicke, 95, lives at the Towne Center. Hes a retired doctor who went into family practice on Syracuses West Side after serving as a fighter pilot in the South Pacific during World War II. Hes maintained his medical license and gives occasional talks in the theater at the Towne Center. Stobnicke said he knows several of his neighbors who have tested positive. The virus has had varying impacts, he said. There are two couples on his floor where the husband became very sick but the wife showed hardly any symptoms. Its remarkable, he said. Stobnicke lauded the staff at the Towne Center for drastic steps theyve taken to slow the spread of the infection once it became obvious it was there. Management closed the gym, the theater and the dining room. They barred visitors and put out hand sanitizer for anyone coming or going. They asked residents to limit their trips to common areas like the mailboxes. I have nothing but the highest praise for what the people here have done to limit the exposure of this particular bug, he said. The facility hired a company to seal the doors of sick people with negative pressure plastic seals, similar to what youd find in a hospital intensive care unit. Theres a zipper down the middle of those plastic sheets. Mueller said transportation provided by the facility was also canceled. To a large degree, we have brought the lifestyle theyre accustomed to to a halt, he said. Stobnicke said food and medication are delivered to his room several times a day. Staffers leave supplies on a small shelf in the hallway. Hes not behind plastic since he isnt sick. He got tested Sunday and is awaiting results, though he feels fine. Marie DeSantis lives at Towne Center. She hasnt left her apartment for three weeks, not even to get the mail, she said. Thats been a difficult adjustment. DeSantis also praised the staff there. The activities director, for example, found a way to stream a bingo game live on residents televisions. DeSantis was in the middle of a game Tuesday afternoon when a reporter called her. If you win, you can call the front desk and theyll drop a prize off outside your door. Sharon Cook works in food service at Towne Center. She is one of the four staffers who tested positive. She is coming up on her final days in quarantine at home. She hasnt been at work since April 4. After the facility closed the dining room in March, she began delivering meals door-to-door. She would unzip the plastic and leave food inside for the people who had tested positive. Cook got tested on April 4 after delivering a meal to a resident who told her he had the virus. That was also the last day she went to work. That initial test came back negative, but she had begun to feel sick. She got tested again on April 9. That test came back positive, she said. Shes been out of work more than two weeks now and under quarantine. The retirement community is located at 3900 Medical Center Drive. It opened in 2017. We want to hear from you if you live or work in a place where seniors reside and there have been multiple COVID-19 cases. Call or email Chris Baker at 315-766-8329 or cbaker@syracuse.com. MORE ON CORONAVIRUS Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources McMahon: No more shelter-in-place, but urges people to travel even less; hospitals can reopen Syracuse, Onondaga County miss out on $90 million in coronavirus relief bill New York to consider region by region reopening after coronavirus shutdowns, Cuomo says Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com (Newser) From the ages of 16 to 60, William Garrison spent his day inside a Michigan prison. It was all leading up to May 6, when the convicted murderer who repented "over and over again" for the crime of killing a 50-year-old man during a 1976 robbery was set to walk out a changed man, his sister Yolanda Peterson tells ABC News. But on April 13 Garrison was pronounced dead at Lenox Township's Macomb Correctional Facility; a postmortem test verified he had COVID-19. "His bunkmate said that he was gasping for air and he called out for help," Chris Gautz of the Michigan Department of Corrections tells ABC. The death is even more tragic considering Garrison was granted early parole in February, before the current pandemic took hold. story continues below But Garrison refused to leave then, saying he wanted to finish his sentence, which was to wrap up in September, so he could "walk out a completely free man," says Gautz, rather than have to report to a parole officer. Garrison did agree to be released in May amid concerns about the spread of the virus in prisons. The Detroit Free Press reports the tuberculosis he suffered as an infant led to him having a lung removed, which put him at greater risk. But it was too late. "We're heartbroken because he was coming home" and "wanted to work as an advocate for people in jail," says Peterson. Garrison is the first of Macomb Correctional Facility's 1,300 inmates to die after contracting COVID-19. Some 81 had tested positive as of Monday. (Read more coronavirus stories.) Until recently iPhones have known to be virtually unhackable. Things changed in 2016 when researchers unearthed in the wild attack on an iPhone. Now a San Francisco based security company named ZecOps has found two Zero-Day exploits for iOS. Apple has been informed of the same and the patch has already appeared on the latest iOS 13.4.5 Beta. The Zero-Day vulnerability is a flaw already known to the company, but it doesnt have a patch to fix the flaw. Cybercriminals can potentially exploit this vulnerability. It is called Zero-Day since the company or software vendor has Zero-Days left to fix the patch. These vulnerabilities are widely exploited in the wild in targeted attacks by an advanced threat operator(s) to target VIPs, executive management across multiple industries, individuals from Fortune 2000 companies, as well as smaller organizations such as MSSPs- ZecOps According to ZecOps a few of its customers have already fallen victim to the new Zero-Day exploits. One of the vulnerabilities falls under the category of remote zero-click. Apparently this attack is more dangerous as it can be initiated remotely by anyone connected to the internet. The worst part is that the target gets infected without interacting. Meanwhile, the second vulnerability piggybacks on another vulnerability. The vulnerability is exploited by sending an email that gobbles up large storage space while the other vulnerability can be triggered remotely. It is said to affect all software versions between iOS 6 and iOS 13.4.1. Thankfully Apple has already patched the vulnerability in the latest iOS 13.4.5 Beta, and the same will soon be released publicly. Fret not, you can protect yourself from the vulnerability by using third-party email apps like Gmail and Outlook. Update: Apple has issued a statement downplaying the importance of this exploit: Apple takes all reports of security threats seriously. We have thoroughly investigated the researchers report and, based on the information provided, have concluded these issues do not pose an immediate risk to our users. The researcher identified three issues in Mail, but alone they are insufficient to bypass iPhone and iPad security protections, and we have found no evidence they were used against customers. These potential issues will be addressed in a software update soon. We value our collaboration with security researchers to help keep our users safe and will be crediting the researcher for their assistance. [via Motherboard Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy, head of the Vietnamese Permanent Mission to the UN, on April 21 called on the UN Security Council and other UN agencies to make greater efforts to handle the vicious cycle of conflict and food insecurity, especially amidst higher risks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Quy made the appeal at the UNSCs online meeting regarding the protection of civilians from conflict-induced hunger. Apart from maintaining commitments to humanitarian aid, the UN and international community need to cooperate and support countries in post-conflict restoration, improving peoples livelihoods and maintaining food supplies, while taking comprehensive measures to build peace and ensure food security, he said. Quy also proposed promoting womens full participation in building peace and ensuring food security. In his remarks, FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu cited the Global Report on Food Crises in 2020 as saying that 135 million people in 55 countries were trapped in a food crisis in 2019. This is the highest number in the last four years. Almost 60 percent of all those people came from countries with conflict or instability, especially South Sudan, Yemen and Sahel. Executive Director of the World Food Programme David Beasley pointed to a grim picture of 135 million people facing crisis levels of hunger or worse, coupled with an additional 130 million on the edge of starvation prompted by the coronavirus. Miguel Vargas Maldonado, Foreign Minister of the Dominican Republic that holds the UNSC Presidency in April, suggested coordinating the UNs pillars of peace, security, development, environment and humanitarian aid. Other delegates shared the view that armed conflicts have resulted in stagnant food production, destroyed infrastructure, and caused homelessness, humanitarian consequences and severe starvation. They called on all sides to observe international humanitarian law and relevant resolutions of the UNSC, and proposed the council step up efforts to prevent and address conflicts and build peace sustainably./.VNA Something was wrong with a tiger in central Indias Pench Tiger Reserve earlier this month. For several days, wildlife managers had observed the 10-year-old male making frequent visits to a nearby pond, possibly, they speculated, because it was running a high fever. Though staff administered antibiotics, the tiger didnt improve and eventually died by the water hole. A mysterious respiratory illness was at first the suspected cause of death. Two days later before authorities determined that an impacted intestine arising from a giant hairball had likely killed the cat Indian officials put the countrys 50 wild tiger reserves on high alert. The country is home to 2,967 wild tigers, roughly three-quarters of the worlds total remaining non-captive population. And the cats are known to suffer from respiratory ailments, such as rhinotracheitis. But the announcement that a captive 4-year-old tiger at New Yorks Bronx Zoo had tested positive for the coronavirus the first confirmed case of the virus in a big cat intensified concerns. This coronavirus could turn out to be very dangerous, said Anup Kumar Nayak of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, the government agency charged with protecting Indias big cats. We do not know what will happen in the future, but we are taking every precautionary measure. We have to take care of them. Dr. Nayaks agency and Indias Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change have advised wildlife wardens in all states with tigers to restrict the movement of people into national parks, sanctuaries and reserves. Tigers must also be observed for respiratory symptoms, such as nasal discharge, coughing or labored breathing, the authority said. Personnel relocating tigers that have been in conflict with people or handling sick cats would also need to be tested for the virus before any interactions with the animals. Boris Johnsons most senior aide is facing fresh allegations he flouted lockdown rules by taking a sightseeing trip on Easter Sunday. The prime minister is facing mounting calls to sack Dominic Cummings amid claims he made several trips to see his family in County Durham, while the country was being told to stay at home. Ministers vociferously defended Mr Cummings after it emerged he had made the 260-mile journey, insisting he had obeyed the rules by staying in one place while there. However, an eyewitness told The Observer and the Sunday Mirror he had seen Mr Cummings on 12 April, 30 miles from Durham in Barnard Castle. Another eyewitness said they saw the prime ministers most trusted aide in Durham on 19 April, days after he had been photographed returning to Downing Street. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 30 December 2021 Sunrise at Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland PA UK news in pictures 29 December 2021 The Very Revd Dr Robert Willis, Dean of Canterbury Cathedral, looks at Becket, a six month old red-billed chough as he visits Wildwood Wildlife Park in Kent on the anniversary of the murder of Thomas Becket PA UK news in pictures 28 December 2021 Troops of the Household Cavalry are seen reflected in a puddle during the changing of the Queens Life Guard, on Horse Guards Parade, in central London PA UK news in pictures 27 December 2021 A pedestrian walks past a winter sale sign outside a John Lewis store on Oxford street in London Getty UK news in pictures 26 December 2021 Riders take their bikes through the snow near Castleside, County Durham PA UK news in pictures 25 December 2021 Patrick Corkery wears a santa hat and beard as waves crash over him at Forty Foot near Dublin during a Christmas Day dip PA UK news in pictures 24 December 2021 People stand inside Kings Cross Station on Christmas Eve in London Reuters UK news in pictures 23 December 2021 Christmas shoppers fill the car park at Fosse Shopping Park in Leicester PA UK news in pictures 22 December 2021 The sun rises behind the stones as people gather for the winter solstice at Stonehenge. Getty UK news in pictures 21 December 2021 People take part in a winter solstice swim at Portobello Beach in Edinburgh to mark the solstice and to witness the dawn after the longest night of the year PA UK news in pictures 20 December 2021 An auction employee displays poultry to buyers and sellers attending the Christmas Poultry Sale at York Auction Centre in Murton PA UK news in pictures 19 December 2021 Joao Moutinho of Wolverhampton Wanderers looks on during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Chelsea at Molineux Getty Images UK news in pictures 18 December 2021 Freight lorries queuing at the port of Dover in Kent PA UK news in pictures 17 December 2021 Newly elected Liberal Democrat MP Helen Morgan, bursts 'Boris' bubble' held by colleague Tim Farron, as she celebrates following her victory in the North Shropshire by-election PA UK news in pictures 16 December 2021 Brussels sprouts are harvested by workers as they prepare for the busy Christmas period near Boston in Lincolnshire PA UK news in pictures 15 December 2021 Lewis Hamilton is made a Knight Bachelor by the Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 14 December 2021 The Royal Liver Buildings surrounded by early morning fog in Liverpool PA UK news in pictures 13 December 2021 People queue outside a walk-in Covid-19 vaccination centre at St Thomas's Hospital in Westminster Getty Images UK news in pictures 12 December 2021 People take part in the Big Leeds Santa Dash in Roundhay Park, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 11 December 2021 People arrive at a Covid-19 vaccination centre at Elland Road in Leeds, PA UK news in pictures 10 December 2021 Stella Moris speaks to the media after the US Government won its High Court bid to overturn a judges decision not to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange PA UK news in pictures 9 December 2021 Camels are lead around Salisbury Cathedral during a rehearsal for the Christmas Eve Service PA UK news in pictures 8 December 2021 Margaret Keenan and Nurse May Parsons, a year after Margaret was the first person in the UK to receive the Pfizer vaccine PA UK news in pictures 7 December 2021 Snowfall in Leadhills, South Lanarkshire as Storm Barra hits the UK with disruptive winds, heavy rain and snow PA UK news in pictures 6 December 2021 A person tries to avoid sea spray on New Brighton promenade in Wallasey as the UK readies for the arrival of Storm Barra Getty UK news in pictures 5 December 2021 People release balloons during a tribute to six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes outside Emma Tustin's former address in Solihull, West Midlands, where he was murdered by his stepmother PA UK news in pictures 4 December 2021 People walk through a Christmas market in Trafalgar Square Reuters UK news in pictures 3 December 2021 A pedestrian carries a dog as they dodge shoppers on Oxford Street in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 2 December 2021 Duchess of Cambridge inspects a Faberge egg at the Victoria and Albert Museum Getty UK news in pictures 1 December 2021 Meerkats at London Zoo with an advent calendar PA UK news in pictures 30 November 2021 Workers put the finishing touches to the Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree ahead of the lighting ceremony later in the week PA UK news in pictures 29 November 2021 Home Secretary Priti Patel is greeted by a police dog at a special memorial service for Met Police Sergeant Matiu Ratana Getty UK news in pictures 28 November 2021 Riyad Mahrez of Manchester City battles for possession with Aaron Cresswell of West Ham United during a match at the Etihad during snow Manchester City/Getty UK news in pictures 27 November 2021 Residents clear branches from a fallen tree in Birkenhead, north west England as Storm Arwen triggered a rare red weather warning AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 December 2021 An aerial picture shows a worker using a quad bike and trailer to transport freshly harvested trees at Pimms Christmas Tree farm in Matfield, southeast England AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 26 November 2021 A shopper browses Christmas trees for sale at Pines and Needles in Dulwich, London Reuters UK news in pictures 25 November 2021 A murmuration of hundreds of thousands of starlings fly over a field at dusk in Cumbria, close to the Scottish border PA UK news in pictures 3 December 2021 A pedestrian carries a dog as they dodge shoppers on Oxford Street in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 24 November 2021 Migrants are helped ashore from a RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) lifeboat at a beach in Dungeness, on the south-east coast of England, on November 24, 2021, after being rescued while crossing the English Channel. AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 23 November 2021 The coffin of Sir David Amess is carried past politicians, including former Prime Ministers Sir John Major, David Cameron and Theresa May, Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Home Secretary Priti Patel and Prime Minister Boris Johnson during the requiem mass for the MP at Westminster Cathedral, central London PA UK news in pictures 22 November 2021 The scene in Dragon Rise, Norton Fitzwarren, Somerset where police have launched a murder probe after two people were found dead Tom Wren/SWNS UK news in pictures 21 November 2021 London-based midwife Sarah Muggleton, 27, takes part in a 'March with Midwives' in central London to highlight the crisis in maternity services PA UK news in pictures 20 November 2021 Police officers monitor as climate change activists sit down and block traffic during a protest action in solidarity with activists from the Insulate Britain group who received prison terms for blocking roads, on Lambeth Bridge in central London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 19 November 2021 A giant installation of Prime Minister Boris Johnson made from recycled clothing goes on display at Manchester Central, as part of Manchester Art Fair, in a 'wake-up call for the Prime Minister to tackle textile waste' PA UK news in pictures 18 November 2021 The scene at a recycling centre in Stert, near Devizes in Wiltshire after a large blaze was brought under control. The fire broke out on Wednesday night the fire service has said and local residents were advised to keep windows and doors shut due to large amounts of smoke PA UK news in pictures 17 November 2021 The sun rises over South Shields Lighthouse, on the North East coast of England PA UK news in pictures 16 November 2021 ancer Maithili Vijayakumar at the launch of 2021 Diwali celebrations at St Andrew Square in Edinburgh PA UK news in pictures 15 November 2021 Forensic officers work outside Liverpool Women's Hospital, following a car blast, in Liverpool Reuters UK news in pictures 14 November 2021 Wreaths by the Cenotaph after the Remembrance Sunday service in Whitehall, London PA UK news in pictures 13 November 2021 Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of detainee Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, is ending his hunger strike in central London after almost three weeks. Ratcliffe has spent 21 days camped outside the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London without food. He began his demonstration on 24 October after his wife lost her latest appeal in Iran, saying his family was caught in a dispute between two states PA Earlier, Downing Street had described the first trip as essential, saying Mr Cummings needed his familys help to care for his young son because his wife was sick with coronavirus and he feared he was next. Cabinet ministers lined up to defend Mr Cummings, saying he had put his family first and accused critics of trying to politicise the issue. Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, used the daily Downing Street press conference to suggest that Mr Cummings had not broken lockdown rules because he had stayed put upon arrival in Durham. But Robin Lees, 70, a retired chemistry teacher, told the papers he had seen Mr Cummings in Barnard Castle on Easter Sunday. Mr Lees compared him to Catherine Calderwood, Scotlands former chief medical officer, who stood down after visiting her second home twice during lockdown. Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP have written to Sir Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary, calling for an inquiry into Mr Cummingss decision to travel from London to Durham. They want the probe to include when the prime minister was made aware Mr Cummings had left the capital. Senior Tories also expressed concern that Mr Cummings's behaviour could encourage others to flout the rules, jeopardising the governments plans to gradually lift the lockdown. The Independent can reveal that senior MPs are set to question Mr Johnson over Mr Cummings later this week, as pressure grows on the prime minister to explain what he knew about the trip under lockdown. Parliament is in recess until June, meaning Mr Johnson will not have to face MPs at Prime Ministers Questions. But members of the Commons Liaison Committee, which is made up of the chairs of other select committees, said they expected Mr Johnson to be questioned about Mr Cummings when he makes his first appearance before them later this week. Pete Wishart, an SNP MP who sits on the committee and is a member of the "quad" which organises its business, said: If nothing has changed and Dominic Cummings is still in post by Wednesday, it would be very surprising if this was an issue that was not raised. Another member of the committee said: Im sure one of my colleagues will crowbar the Cummings question in. In a statement defending Mr Cummings, Downing Street said his trip had been essential to ensure his young son was properly cared for. After an offer of help from his sister and nieces, he travelled to a house near to but separate from his extended family. A spokesperson for No 10, said: "Yesterday [Friday] the Mirror and Guardian wrote inaccurate stories about Mr Cummings. Today [Saturday] they are writing more inaccurate stories including claims that Mr Cummings returned to Durham after returning to work in Downing Street on 14 April. We will not waste our time answering a stream of false allegations about Mr Cummings from campaigning newspapers." There was confusion about the involvement of police, however. No 10 also said that at no stage was Mr Cummings or his family spoken to by the police. On Saturday night Durham Police took the unusual step of confirming they had spoken to Mr Cummingss father. Steve White, the police and crime commissioner for Durham Police, a former head of the Police Federation in England and Wales, said it was "most unwise" for Mr Cummings to have travelled when "known to be infected". The SNP accused No 10 of a "cover up" after reports some in Downing Street knew Mr Cummings had made the 260-mile journey during lockdown. Former Tory cabinet minister David Lidington, Theresa Mays de facto deputy prime minister, told Newsnight: "There's clearly serious questions that No 10 are going to have to address, not least because the readiness of members of the public to follow government guidance more generally is going to be affected by this sort of story." Professor Neil Ferguson, the epidemiologist whose modelling prompted the lockdown, quit as a government adviser for flouting the rules when he was visited at this home by his lover. At the time Mr Hancock, the health secretary, said he was "speechless" and that he backed any police action against Mr Ferguson. Sir Ed Davey, acting leader of the Liberal Democrats, called for Mr Cummings to quit over the allegations, while a spokesperson for Labour said: "The British people do not expect there to be one rule for them and another rule for Dominic Cummings." Asked by reporters on Saturday if he had considered his position, Mr Cummings said "obviously not". Egypts manpower minister has announced that 25 April will be a paid day off for all private sector employees in celebration of Sinai Liberation Day. If employees are required to work on that day, then their employers should pay them double the normal wage, the minister said in a statement on Wednesday. On 25 April, Egypt celebrates the completion of the withdrawal of Israels military from the Sinai Peninsula in 1982, following the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty signed by the late President Anwar El-Sadat. Search Keywords: Short link: Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 20:44:12|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LUSAKA, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Zambia on Wednesday reported four more COVID-19 cases, raising serious concerns on the continued rise. The four new cases were picked after 322 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, according to health minister Chitalu Chilufya. The cumulative figures now stand at 74, three deaths while 35 have been discharged after recovery. Enditem For days last week I was swamped with vicious emails and personal attacks on social media after writing a column about long lineups at gun stores in Canada and the U.S. formed by people stocking up on bullets and suggesting we need stricter gun controls. Each day I received hundreds of emails and social media attacks from pro-gun supporters. I was called an idiot, a Liberal apparatchik and utterly uniformed. Many of the attacks were obscenity-laced rants. But the attacks stopped abruptly early Sunday when news emerged of the mass shooting in Nova Scotia. Since then I havent received a single hateful email or social media reference from gun enthusiasts. It seems the worst mass shooting in Canadian history has finally prompted even some diehard pro-gun advocates to pause and take stock of what Canada should do to control the spread of these dangerous weapons. Sadly, if history is any measure, nothing will change. The official response so far to the shooting spree last weekend in Nova Scotia in which Gabriel Wortman, a 51-year-old denturist, killed 22 people, including an RCMP officer has been about thoughts and prayers, the same as in previous mass shootings in Canada. This tragedy, however, should be proof enough for politicians and all Canadians that its time to get serious about bringing in stricter gun controls across the country. While we dont know the full circumstances of this particular horror, we do know with stricter gun laws we reduce the risk that tragedies like this will happen. For too long the pro-gun crowd has claimed nothing can be done to stem gun violence. While its true no single law would end gun violence, there are reasonable, obvious steps that would help. For example, Ottawa can immediately implement all the regulations in the last, albeit weak, gun control legislation. The law gives expansive powers to remove guns from people who are a potential public risk. But the public seems to have been lulled into complacency and the authorities dont have the resources needed to enforce the law. Indeed, you are more likely to get a call as a passport reference than as a reference on a gun license. Also, Ottawa should ban the sale of military-like assault weapons. No civilian needs one of these killing weapons. Banning them would save lives. Countries around the world have moved quickly in the wake of mass shootings to enact tough gun laws. Take a look at New Zealand, which last spring moved within days to ban semi-automatic assault weapons after a gunman shot and killed 51 people and wounded 49 others at two mosques in Christchurch. Take a look at Great Britain, where the government acted quickly to introduce sweeping gun control when a man shot and killed 17 people, most of them young children, at an elementary school in Dunblane, Scotland, in 1996. On Monday, Prime Minister Trudeau said his government was on the verge of introducing legislation to ban assault-style weapons across this country when the COVID-19 pandemic caused Parliament to be suspended. He vowed to act on the legislation soon. Trudeau is right to act now. Thats because Canadas record on gun-related violence isnt great. In fact, we rank fifth in rates of firearm deaths among the 23 largest industrialized countries. Also, we rank fifth highest in the world in civilian gun ownership. And the public would support him. Polls indicate some 83 per cent of Canadians support a ban on possession of military-style assault weapons by civilians and 67 per cent favour a ban on handguns. It will take some guts on the part of our federal leaders to take on the loud and often abusive gun lobby. Do they have it in them? Regrettably, Canadians likely cant count on either Tory leader Andrew Scheer or his presumed successor Peter MacKay. Both are solidly linked with the pro-gun crowd. But NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, who seems terrified by threats of losing some western MPs if he backs stronger gun controls, needs to step up. If he does, it will be sign of strength, not cowardice. Together, federal politicians need to act swiftly because if they dont move now with the worst mass shooting in Canadian history fresh in our minds then they likely never will. Bob Hepburn is a politics columnist and based in Toronto. Twitter: @BobHepburn is a politics columnist and based in Toronto. Twitter: @BobHepburn Read more about: Disposal workers have started the difficult process of cleaning out a hotel which was being used to self-isolate returned travellers with the coronavirus. Dozens of garbage bins marked for hazardous waste were seen being loaded onto a truck outside The Merchant Hotel in Sydney's inner-west on Wednesday morning. The hotel in Summer Hill has accommodated overseas arrivals who either have COVID-19, have symptoms of the virus or cannot isolate at home. Disposal workers have begun the task of cleaning out a hotel in Sydney which used as quarantine for returned travellers suffering from the coronavirus A masked worker wearing gloves oversaw the operation at the The Merchant Hotel in Sydney's inner-west on Wednesday morning The hotel - which has looked after overseas arrivals who either have COVID-19, have symptoms of the virus or cannot isolate at home - has been under police guard to ensure those isolated there do not leave. Pictured: Police van outside hotel The hotel has been staffed by registered nurses who can refer those in isolation to more intensive care in hospital if their condition worsens A NSW Police van was also pictured outside the front door of the hotel - which has been under police guard to ensure those isolated there do not leave. It is one of five hotels turned into a makeshift hospitals in New South Wales to isolate coronavirus sufferers without burdening emergency departments. Dozens of garbage bins marked for hazardous waste were seen being loaded onto a truck outside Guests are provided with three meals each day and must stay in their rooms - as with the standard required 14-day hotel quarantine for international travellers in Australia. The hotels are staffed by nurses from the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, who can refer those in isolation to more intensive care if their condition worsens. NSW Health chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said the hospitals were ideal for coronavirus patients needing minimal care. 'We recognise that sometimes if you've been a contact of a case, you then are required to self-isolate at home,' she said. 'We know not everyone lives in a circumstance where they've got a separate bathroom and separate bedroom so, in those cases, the options are the other person in the household goes out and stays with someone else or that person is put in a hotel.' A spokesperson for Suez, who handled the clean-up at The Merchant Hotel, declined to give details on Wednesday's operation. Daily Mail Australia has contacted NSW Health for comment. Pictured: Returned travellers at the Travelodge in central Sydney on April 12. Overseas arrivals must quarantine for two weeks to stop the spread of the coronavirus The Australian Government introduced strict quarantine laws on March 30 mandating that all international arrivals enter isolation hotels for two weeks to ensure anyone with the virus does not infect the community. The new rules came into force after it was discovered two-thirds of the national infections at the time came from overseas. More than 7,000 international travellers have undergone 14 days of quarantine in Sydney hotels. New York Governor Heads to Washington to Seek COVID-19 Testing Assistance By Margaret Besheer April 21, 2020 New York's governor is heading to Washington Tuesday, where he said he will "tell the truth" to President Donald Trump about the need for the federal government to help states carry out large-scale coronavirus testing. "You tell the truth," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said about how he will approach the president, with whom he has sometimes had a difficult relationship. "I said that to the president from Day One. And by the way, he has done the same vis-a-vis me. He has no problem telling me when he disagrees, and he tells me when he agrees." Cuomo wants Washington to step up and assist U.S. states with both diagnostic testing to know if an individual has COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus and to do antibody testing to learn whether a person has some immunity to the virus. Specifically, the governor wants help procuring the pieces to the test kits nasal swabs, test tubes, chemical reagents and solutions. These are needed in vast quantities to make large-scale testing possible, and Cuomo has said it is too big a job for individual states to handle. He has also repeatedly complained that the purchasing process pits individual states against each other in shopping and bidding wars, especially when purchasing overseas. "I think the federal government has to take that national manufacturers' supply chain issue," he said, of the domestic firms that cannot meet demand. "You shouldn't expect all these governors to go run around and do an international supply chain while they are trying to put together their testing protocol, in their state." New York has been the hardest hit U.S. state by the pandemic. The state crossed the 250,000-case mark on Tuesday, and while new case numbers are stabilizing, and new deaths dropped below 500 for the second day in a row, the crisis is far from over. The southern part of New York has been hardest hit by the outbreak than the upstate region. Ninety-three percent of all confirmed virus cases have been in the southern region; only 7% have been upstate. The governor spoke to reporters in the town of Buffalo in the far western part of the state. He said he would consider reopening upstate businesses first, once the infection rate has stabilized. "It's more the 'when' and the 'how'," he said of reopening the western part of the state. "When do you reopen it? Look at the data. Look at the hospital rate. Look at the infection rate and tell me where you are." He said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines also say a region must be stable or declining in coronavirus infections for at least two weeks before loosening restrictions. Cuomo also emphasized that reopening should be data-driven, not based on political pressure. "If you don't want to take the political heat, you shouldn't be in the political kitchen, which is called being an elected official," he said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address National is calling for clarity on the legality of community checkpoints despite them being credited as key in keeping COVID-19 out of isolated communities. Iwi and hapu in regions such as Te Tai Tokerau and Te Tai Rawhiti have been running checkpoints to restrict access to their rohe - and keep COVID-19 out of vulnerable communities. Police have been working alongside them But National Party's police spokesperson Brett Hudson says the government must clarify the lawfulness of checkpoints. "The challenge we really have is in two areas: first if the government wishes to condone these sorts of community checkpoints then really they need to set out for the public how they are lawful, and to publish guidelines so that communities across New Zealand that may be wishing to protect their vulnerable, to protect their communities, can know if, when and how they can operate such things. "Certainly it is not clear under legislation such as the Land Transport Act, that community groups have the lawful authority to do these things." Brett says there have been complaints about intimidation at these checkpoints. "There was a report yesterday of a gentleman in his 70s going out to get a bottle of milk who was stopped by a gang member and forced to turn around." There is confusion in the community about the lawfulness of checkpoints, he says. "It is not at all clear, particularly under the Land Transport Act, that even with police condoning it, that it's actually lawful for general members of the public to detain people, to stop vehicles, to direct them, or indeed to even request their personal details which we know has been happening." Tina Ngata, who has been leading the charge of checkpoints on State Highway 35 in her rohe on the East Coast told Morning Report, that there is a precedent for such activities. "Sensible community traffic management is not a new thing, and if you are looking for some lawful or legislative background I would direct them to the Maori Community Development Act 1962." This act covers the way in which Maori wardens engage in traffic management, she says. "I think it's really interesting that some people, particularly in a crisis of life and death, are looking to hold these kinds of political discussions, when this sort of activity has been happening for a long time." Traffic management already happens for large scale events, she says. "It's good to be consistent so I would hope that the national police spokesperson would also be having the same discussion when it comes to traffic management for a school gala, when it comes to traffic management for large-scale events near highways, when it comes to traffic management for Tangihanga or anything like that." There has been generally positive feedback from the public, Tina says. "And the proof of the pudding, at a time like this, is not really about the political points people are trying to score it's about the lives that you're trying to save, and the lives that have been saved through the efficacy of this kind of work is innumerable - we've had over 12,000 interactions with vehicles just within Ngati Porou in the last two weeks." She has also been calling for more support from the defence force and the police with the checkpoints. Meanwhile in Te Tai Tokerau in the north, Hone Harawira, assures the checkpoints will stay in place as long as the communities want them. He says the role of them is to protect all people in the north. "If what we are hearing from the checkpoints is anything to go by, it might be a while before we can say our people are truly safe. "The checkpoints engage with the public right across the north and they are talking to hundreds of people every day, getting feedback on how COVID-19 impacts their lives. And the word they are getting from whanau is almost universal - thank you for keeping our communities protected, and for keeping our kaumatua and kuia safe. Can you please keep the checkpoints going until it's all over?" Earlier this week Te Tai Tokerau Iwi Chairs forum, Te Kahu o Taonui spokesperson Harry Burkhardt said the local response is firm - they believe it is critical to stay where they are now, in level 4, as they do not believe they are safe yet. -RNZ. New Delhi, April 22 : The Union Home Ministry has extended relaxation to several agriculture and commercial industries from the lockdown restrictions. In the commercial sector, shops selling textbooks and establishments selling electric fans can also operate. In the agricultural sector, the relaxation has been extended to facilities for export or import such as pack houses, inspection and treatment facilities for seeds and horticulture produce. It also includes relaxation to research establishments dealing with the agriculture and horticulture activities and the inter- and intra-state movement of planting materials and honey bee colonies, honey and other beehive products. The Union Home Ministry also also ordered Standard Operating Procedure for the sign-on and sign-off of Indian seafarers (crew members) at Indian ports and their movement. According to the SOP laid down for sign-in of a Indian crew member, the ministry said that the seafarer will have to intimate their travel and contact history for the last 28 days to the ship owner or the recruitment and placement service. The SOP can be followed through email, as per procedure laid down by the Director General of Shipping. In a late development, the Home Ministry released a detailed SOP for disembarking and subsequent repatriation of seafarers stranded in ships and different ports-of-call across the world in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. The development, which was welcomed by Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant late on Tuesday, comes on a day when more than 60 Goan crew-members onboard cruiseship Marella Discovery, anchored off Mumbai, had released a video urging Sawant to allow them to disembark urgently, with the ship scheduled to sail for Europe on Wednesday. "I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for permitting the disembarking of seafarers at Indian ports. Goans stranded on the high seas will now soon be back home. I would request all the seafarers and their families to support the government in safe return of all our stranded brothers and sisters," Sawant said in a social media post on Tuesday. According to government sources, the cruiseship currently has more than 100 Indian sailors, out of which more than sixty are from Goa. Earlier on Tuesday, after the video by the ship's Goan crew members went viral, the Opposition MLAs urged Sawant as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's urgent intervention in the issue. "The crew member however will be tested for COVID-19 before boarding the ship and will be allowed to sign-in only if he is tested negative," the ministry said. "For sign-off purposes, the Indian seafarer arriving on the vessel would undergo the COVID-19 test for confirmation that he/she is negative for COVID-19," it added. The crew member will be kept in a quarantine centre until the report arrives. According to Goa CM Sawant, more than 8,000 seafarers of Goan origin, are stranded in various anchored ships and ports-of-call across the world. Sawant had said that the process for repatriation would only begin after the SOP was released by the MHA. The SOP mandates testing of all sailors disembarking on Indian ports for Covid-19, followed by quarantine at a facility operated either by the port or by the respective state government where the port is located, until the test reports are received. "If the seafarer is tested as positive for COVID-19, he/she will be dealt as per the procedures laid down by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare," the SOP states. "For the seafarers tested negative and signed off, the local authority in the area where the seafarer disembarks will be intimated about his/her clearance for sign-off and for issue of a transit pass from the place of disembarkation to the place of his/her residence," it also states. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Anonymous activists have posted nearly 25,000 email addresses and passwords allegedly belonging to the National Institutes of Health, the World Health Organization, the Gates Foundation and other groups working to combat the coronavirus pandemic, according to SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors online extremism and terrorist groups. While SITE was unable to verify whether the email addresses and passwords were authentic, the group said the information was released on Sunday and Monday and almost immediately used to foment attempts at hacking and harassment by far-right extremists. An Australian cybersecurity expert, Robert Potter, said he was able to verify that the WHO email addresses and passwords were real. The lists, whose origins are unclear, first appear to have been posted to 4chan, a message board notorious for its hateful and extreme political commentary, and later to Pastebin, a text storage site, Twitter and to far-right extremist channels on Telegram, a messaging app. "Neo-Nazis and white supremacists capitalized on the lists and published them aggressively across their venues," said Rita Katz, SITE's executive director. "Using the data, far-right extremists were calling for a harassment campaign while sharing conspiracy theories about the coronavirus pandemic. The distribution of these alleged email credentials were just another part of a months-long initiative across the far right to weaponize the covid-19 pandemic." The report by SITE, based in Bethesda, Maryland, said the largest group of alleged emails and passwords was from the NIH, with 9,938 found on lists posted online. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had the second-highest number, with 6,857. The World Bank had 5,120. The list of WHO addresses and passwords totaled 2,732. Smaller numbers of entries were listed for the Gates Foundation, a private philanthropic group whose co-founder, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, last week announced $150 million in new funding to combat the pandemic. Also targeted was the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a Chinese research center in the city where the pandemic began that has been accused of a role in triggering the outbreak. The NIH, CDC, WHO and World Bank did not immediately reply to requests for comment Tuesday evening. The Gates Foundation said in a statement: "We are monitoring the situation in line with our data security practices. We don't currently have an indication of a data breach at the foundation." The FBI declined to comment. Twitter spokeswoman Katie Rosborough said, "We're aware of this account activity and are taking widespread enforcement action under our rules, specifically our policy on private information. We're also taking bulk removal action on the URL that links to the site in question." Potter, chief executive of Australian company Internet 2.0, said he was able to gain access into WHO computer systems using email addresses and passwords posted on the Internet. The WHO has come under heavy criticism, including from President Donald Trump, who suspended funding to it because of its response to the coronavirus and for allegedly being too deferential to China. "Their password security is appalling," Potter said of the WHO. "Forty-eight people have 'password' as their password." Others, he said, had used their own first names or "changeme." Potter said the alleged email addresses and passwords may have been purchased from vendors on the dark web, a portion of the Internet that is not indexed by most search engines and where hacked information often is posted for sale. He said the WHO credentials appear to have come from a hack in 2016. SITE's Katz said that while material from old hacks does appear on the dark web occasionally, "we have not yet found any rock-solid proof of that for this specific case." References to the hacked information already are being deployed online to fuel disinformation, including erroneous posting linking HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, to the coronavirus. Among the most prominent Telegram venues to share the information was the neo-Nazi channel "Terrorwave Refined," a prominent recruiting and support channel for neo-Nazi groups such as Azov Battalion, The Base, and Nordic Resistance Movement. In the past four months, the number of users subscribed to Terrorwave Refined has increased by 30%, with the channel now hosting over 5,300 followers. Terrorwave Refined shared Tweets and a thread on 9chan, another message board popular with extremists, containing the addresses and passwords. Terrorwave Refined posted a meme that implied that information seized through the email addresses and passwords "confirmed that SARS-Co-V-2 was in fact artificially spliced with HIV. . ." A Twitter post with links to the data said, "Anons know what to do . . . make this go viral" - a likely reference to anonymous followers. - - - The Washington Post's Matt Zapotosky contributed to this report. COLUMBUS, OhioThe largest-known coronavirus hotspot in the country isnt in New York or California: its the Marion Correctional Institution, an Ohio state prison about 50 miles north of Columbus. As of Tuesday, 2,011 inmates -- more than 80 percent of the population at the minimum- and medium-security facility have tested positive for COVID-19, according to state data. Combined, that means almost 16 percent of Ohios 13,725 total coronavirus cases come from the Marion prison. One inmate and one staffer have died. One reason for the large number of positive tests at the prison is that there has been so much testing there about two weeks ago, Gov. Mike DeWine ordered that every inmate at Marion and two other prisons be tested. Many of those who tested positive showed no symptoms. But how did the situation at Marion get so bad? Interviews with inmates and activists reveal a number of reasons they say are to blame, including lags in getting test results, inadequate cleaning, no social-distancing measures, and intense strains on their mental health. Prisons, by their very nature, are some of the most vulnerable places to infectious outbreaks, as they contain a large group of people forced to remain in close quarters, with limited access to medical care. At Marion, some inmates are assigned to cells, while others are assigned to a dorm -- a large room filled with bunk beds for dozens of people. There is no social distancing, said Jonathan White, a 44-year-old Marion inmate from Cincinnati serving 15 years to life for murder. You cant get away from it. A number of Ohio inmates, including White, told cleveland.com that they believed one major reason for the virus spreading is that when the prison population was tested for coronavirus, they had to wait several days to get test results. During that time, they said, everyone was returned to their cell blocks or dorms, giving inmates with the virus a lot more time to transmit it to other people. White said Monday he has a lingering cough, fatigue, and no sense of taste, but that he has been waiting four days to receive his test results. In recent days, prison authorities have moved inmates identified as not having the coronavirus to the prison gym. Inmate Emrie Smith said Wednesday he has been in the gym for four days. There continues to be no social distancing, he said, and after 8 p.m. there is only one toilet available for about 200 men. The situation is getting extreme, said Smith, a 46-year-old Youngstown resident who has been serving a murder sentence since 1998. This has been the most terrible situation that I've ever experienced so far throughout my entire incarceration. White said prison officials didnt start moving to isolate sick inmates until the disease spread throughout the population. At this point, I understand that you want to try to separate (people), he said. But its almost a too late type of thing. Its just too late. Another issue, multiple inmates said, is that they have little to no access to sanitary products like hand sanitizer. And as inmates arent allowed access to products like bleach, they dont trust that the way their living spaces are being cleaned is doing enough to protect them. They do have some cleaning products, but you know the difference between one thats really doing something and one thats not, White said. Even for those inmates who arent physically sick, the situation is taking a mental toll. White said when some inmates in his cell block were ordered to the gym without being told why, one inmate replied Well, Im just going to go into the shower and hang myself. There is so much anxiety about what is going on here with peoples health, White added. We view ourselves as an expendable population. ...So, when you see these type of numbers that are happening to us in prison, its almost expected like, they (the authorities) dont care. Asked Monday about the testing lags, Gov. Mike DeWine said he was not aware of that problem being reported. Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton said she would look into the situation. When asked why Marion in particular has so many COVID-19 cases -- more than the rest of Ohios prison system combined -- state prisons spokeswoman JoEllen Smith gave this answer: The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction has taken an aggressive and unique approach to testing, which includes mass testing of all staff and inmates at the Marion Correctional Institution, the Pickaway Correctional Institution, and the Franklin Medical Center (which is Ohios medical facility for inmates), Smith stated in an email. Because we are testing everyone including those who are not showing symptoms - we are getting positive test results on individuals who otherwise would have never been tested because they were asymptomatic. At Marion, only 105 of the individuals who were tested were showing symptoms at the time of testing as of Sunday, Smith stated. Approximately 95 percent of the positive cases are asymptomatic. In a follow-up email Wednesday, Smith stated that after testing, inmates who show symptoms are immediately placed into isolation. Because the prisons physical layout does not lend itself to isolating every inmate at all times, those who are tested and are not showing symptoms return to their cohorts and do not interact with any other groups, Smith continued, noting that inmates are housed in closed networks and dont intermingle outside of their network. Smith added that inmates have masks and maintain social distancing to the extent that its possible, while awaiting results. The results of the mass testing will be evaluated and used to help inform our housing structure moving forward, she stated. As for cleaning supplies, Smith stated that chemical boxes are delivered daily to each prison area, and the amount of disinfectant has been increased during the coronavirus crisis. Smith stated there are currently 102 inmates stationed in the prison gym. During the day, inmates have access to two restrooms in the gym itself and 12 directly outside of the gym in a heated trailer. At night, she stated, inmates can access the outside restrooms with an escort. As for mental-health services, Smith stated that the states prisons agency offers a full continuum of mental-health care within our facilities using social distancing guidelines and proper personal protective equipment. State prison officials are also developing plans to increase the use of tele-services for mental-health care if necessary, she stated. An Ohio Department of Health spokeswoman didnt immediately reply to an email Wednesday asking for an update on the testing lag. Read more Ohio coronavirus coverage: Ohio coronavirus deaths surpass 600: Gov. Mike DeWine Wednesday, April 22 briefing Ohio releases new details for coronavirus cases at nursing homes Hospitalization counts show flat, encouraging trend for coronavirus in Ohio in face of murky overall case data Senate approves deal on extra coronavirus funding for small businesses and hospitals Gov. Mike DeWines daily briefings bring record viewers, inevitable glitches for The Ohio Channel Jason Yates, CEO of My Faith Votes, will host a live, online town hall conversation with Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas, Tuesday, April 21 at 9 p.m. EST (6 p.m. PT). Yates and Gov. Huckabee will discuss the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, its impact on the American economy and its possible implications for the November elections. Gov. Huckabee serves as the Honorary National Chairman for My Faith Votes. "It really is a privilege to have Gov. Huckabee serving with us." Yates said. "As a former governor, he understands what is at stake in November, and we're drawing on his experience to give us a unique biblical perspective on these critical elections." My Faith Votes is offering viewers the opportunity to submit questions for Gov. Huckabee that may be selected for an answer during the town hall event. Viewers can sign up to watch the conversation and send in their questions for Gov. Huckabee using this link: https://www.myfaithvotes.org/event-sign-up. The town hall will be live streamed on My Faith Votes' YouTube channel and Facebook page. Tags : Gov. Mike Huckabee Gov. Mike Huckabee interview my faith votes jason yates Co Down mum Sara Johnston never thought she would be grateful for lockdown until she was forced to give birth at the side of the road during what would normally have been early morning rush hour. Instead there was relative quiet when Sara's alarmed husband Chris had to stop the car en route to the hospital because their new daughter Quinn was on her way. The couple had just left their home in Maralin at 7.15am last Tuesday for Craigavon Hospital when Sara realised her baby was coming. Chris pulled in to the side of the road and dialled for an ambulance and was grateful when the operator stayed on the line and talked him through the delivery of his new daughter. Sara (32), a part-time barmaid, and Chris (33), an engineer, also have two-year-old daughter Erin. Describing her shock at how quickly the new arrival came into the world, Sara said: "I was 38 weeks and four days and I started to have pains around 11pm on the Monday night. "There was no pattern to the pain so I waited until 3am and rang the hospital, who said they thought I was okay for another while. "We have a two-year-old at home and had planned that when I went into labour my mum, who had been in isolation for four weeks, would come and look after her while we went to the hospital. "By 6am I realised it was time to ring mum and she lives in Ardglass, so it took her a while to get here." "My waters broke shortly after mum arrived at 7.15am and we left immediately for the hospital. "We were just two minutes up the road when I needed to push. "Chris pulled the car in and phoned 999 and a lady on the phone talked him through what to do." With her legs outside of the car and sitting on the passenger seat, a distressed Sara gave birth to her daughter in the middle of Dollingstown village. Chris helped bring their little girl into the world and then carefully tied the umbilical cord with his shoe laces as advised by the emergency services operator. The stunned couple nursed their little girl for seven minutes until an ambulance arrived. Sara said: "I was half in and half out of the car and my husband had to take my trousers off. "If it hadn't been for lockdown there would have been quite an audience at that time of the morning. We parked the car at 7.20am and the baby was born at 8.40am. "We were both shaken and the lady on the phone did try and keep Chris calm and talked him throughout everything. "She was quite a big baby at 8lb 2.5oz and when the head and the shoulders came out I was screaming at him to pull her out. "She came out and he threw her up on my stomach and it was such a relief. I never wanted to be in hospital as much in my life. "I was in shock and shaking a lot. The lady on the phone then told Chris to tie the umbilical cord with his shoe laces." When the ambulance arrived a still stunned Chris followed his wife and new baby to nearby Craigavon Hospital. Mother and baby were both checked but, while Chris had to leave and go home because of current Covid-19 regulations; it wasn't long before his wife and daughter followed. Sara added: "I only stayed in hospital until 4pm that day. If they can keep people out of hospital at the moment they will. "I wouldn't recommend giving birth in a car. "I know it is a pandemic and people are freaking out, but strangely when I did give birth all that went out the window and I had this lovely sense of bliss, even though I was half-naked sitting on the side of the road." Even if the U.S. government will install an outright ban on Saudi oil, it wont make much of a difference considering the huge demand destruction and filling storage tanks Desperate times call for desperate measures. After helping broker a new OPEC+ production cut deal which the oil market shrugged off, the Trump Administration is looking into various ways to help struggling U.S. oil producers and lift plunging WTI Crude prices. One of the ideas that has been circulating for weeks, including via proposals from Republican Senators, is to have the U.S. Admiration stop the flow of crude oil from Saudi Arabia. The highest number of Saudi oil shipments in years are making their way to the United States this month, threatening to make an already dire situation in the U.S. oil industry even worse. Asked if he would consider stopping Saudi oil shipments currently en route to the United States, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday, well look at it. Even if President Trump were to make a politically sensitive decision to defer, slap import tariffs on, or outright ban Saudi oil shipments, he will not save the U.S. oil industry and oil prices, considering the huge demand destruction and the fast-depleting available storage capacity. The Saudi oil flows en route to the U.S. Gulf and West Coasts are not an insignificant amounta total of 40 million barrels of Saudi oil on 20 supertankers are making their way to America with arrivals scheduled in May--according to Bloomberg tanker tracking estimates. While its not immediately clear who owns the oil on these very large crude carriers (VLCCs), more than half of those vessels, as per Bloomberg data, are either owned or chartered by the Saudi state oil shipping firm Bahri, which was understood in March to have hired multiple supertankers to carry all the extra oil that the Kingdom planned on exporting in April. Related: Oil Jumps After Trump Orders Navy To Shoot And Destroy Iranian Gunboats According to Bloombergs oil strategist Julian Lee, the fact that most of those tankers are currently operated by Bahri could suggest that at least some of the 40 million barrels of oil traveling to America may not have been sold at loading at Saudi oil terminals as per the Kingdoms usual export process. If no American company owns the oil yet, it could be easier for the Administration to slap tariffs or ban its import, should President Trump decide to do so, Lee says. According to data from Lloyds List Intelligence, at least 18 supertankers mostly chartered by Bahri are carrying Saudi crude and are traveling to the U.S. Gulf Coast. But even in the unlikely event of the U.S. banning entry to all those 40 million barrels of crude oil, such a measure would be a drop in the ocean of unwanted crude in which the U.S. oil producers are drowning. While a Saudi fleet of 40 million barrels is traveling to the U.S., more than 20 million barrels of oil are idling on tankers offshore California, and most of them are serving as storage, according to Kpler data cited by Bloomberg. At least one in ten VLCCs around the world is being used as floating storage, Saudi oil officials told the Wall Street Journal this week. Many of those supertankers are loaded with unsold Saudi crudea sign that the Saudi pledge from early March to flood the world with oil is backfiring in a spectacular way as no one in America needs more oil right now. Related: Saudi Supertankers Stranded As Oil Price War Backfires Demand for gasoline remained anemic at 5.08 million barrels per day, while GasBuddy demand figures put the loss around 55-70% by state as millions are staying at home and some now without work. Refineries also pulled back, utilizing just 69.1% of their capacity at a time of year theyre typically north of 90-95%, according to GasBuddy. Its possible that if current conditions continue, Cushing storage tanks could reach capacity by mid-May, Wood Mackenzie analysts said on Tuesday, commenting on Mondays crash in WTI Crude May futures which slipped into negative territory for the first time. The April pain in the oil market could continue in May as storage will continue to shrink while voluntary cuts from OPEC+ (starting on May 1) and forced shut-ins across the U.S. shale patch cant come fast enough to offset the massive demand losses. The glut could, however, force the hand of oil producers in free markets, such as the U.S. and Canada, to curtail more production, faster. Production cuts and shut-ins could remove as much as 17 MMb/d of supply from the market this spring, said Jim Burkhard, vice president and head of oil markets at IHS Markit. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The online ceremonies will ensure we are able to honor our seniors in some form or fashion should the stay at home order or limit on mass gatherings remain in effect during the summer months, District 86 Superintendent Tammy Prentiss said in a statement announcing decisions district officials are making about end-of-year activities now that Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced schools statewide will not reopen this school year. The governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi, on Wednesday continued his war on the media by banning for life, the state correspondents of The Sun newspaper, Chijioke Agwu, and the Vanguard newspaper, Peter Okutu, from entering the Government House or any government facility in the state. Mr Umahi, who made the declaration in a statewide live broadcast aired on the States broadcast stations, said he was displeased with the leadership of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), for failing to discipline their members. The governor, had, last week Saturday, ordered the arrest of Mr Agwu over a report he did on the Lassa Fever outbreak in the state. Three days later, Mr Okutu was arrested on the orders of Ohaukwu LGA Chairman, Clement Odah, over a report he did on the alleged military invasion of Umuogodoakpu-Ngbo community in the council area. Both Journalists were later released. Mr Umahi, who said the safety of journalists in the state could no longer be guaranteed by him, noted that the people were angry with the journalists and might begin to unleash mayhem on them if they continue to cause panic in the state. The governor said, If you think you have the pen, we have the koboko. He added, I want to say that I am very displeased with the president and leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists and I am going to seize their allowances for two months because they have failed to discipline their members. Ebonyi State is no longer a dumping ground. Only the other day, Chijioke Agwu (referring to The Sun Correspondent) wrote that Lassa Fever is killing Ebonyi people in droves and (a) few days back, Mr Peter Okutu of Vanguard did his own. Okutu is fond of degrading Ebonyi State, and I dont know why my officials have allowed him to continue to do that, because he is not from Ebonyi State. I want to ban him for life with Chijioke Agwu. I dont want to see them anywhere in any Government facility. We are not begging you to give us good report, because the only person that gives good or bad report is God. We are all accountable to him. If you think that Ebonyi State is a dumping ground, try it again. If you think you have the pen, we have the koboko. Lets leave the court alone. Ebonyi people are very angry with the press and let me warn that I wont be able to control them or know when they unleash mayhem on you, if you continue to write to create panic in the state. I want you to write it that way, that I said, press in Ebonyi is trying to create another COVID that is more dangerous and that is to create panic in our people. The other one wrote that cholera has killed 20 people in Ohaukwu. If you try it again, I may not know when Ebonyians may react. This is important for the NUJ to know. If you are an Ebonyi man or live in Ebonyi and you dont feel our pains, it is a shame on you. Maybe, the press people claim they are untouchable. I have reported to the National President of NUJ, I have reported to (the) State leadership of NUJ and I have reported to the public. Now, the die is cast. May God save us, in this time, he said. Meanwhile, the International Press Centre has condemned the arrests of Mr Okutu by the Police. The organisation, in a statement, described the arrest of the journalist reportedly on the orders of a local government Chairman in the state, as another unbecoming act of executive lawlessness. It said that by ordering security operatives to arrest the journalist, the concerned Chairman of Ohaukwu Local Government Council of the state, Mr Odah, violated the right of Mr Okutu to self-dignity and violently assaulted press freedom in the process. The IPC, according to the statement which was signed by its Executive Director, Lanre Arogundade, reiterated that anybody or institution that feels aggrieved about a story should either exercise the right of reply or seek redress legally and not embark on extrajudicial self-help. Arresting a journalist and getting him detained over a story is not an acceptable means of seeking such redress and the act of Mr Odah is unacceptable. Coming after a similar arrest and detention of The Sun newspaper reporter, Agwu Chijioke, on the orders of the State Governor, David Umahi, who also featured prominently in the ordeal of Mr Okutu, IPC is worried that the state government is fast becoming notorious for its serial violation of the rights of journalists. The IPC reminded the state government that such attacks on journalists over the performance of their legitimate duty is antithetical to democratic norms and values. Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide financial assistance of Rs 30,000 crore to the state in the next three months for relief and welfare schemes. In his letter, the chief minister has requested an immediate release Rs 10,000 crore so that financial assistance can be given to the industrial, business, service and agricultural sectors. Due to the long period of lockdown, revenue collections have come down to almost zero. In the current economic scenario, there is also a big reduction in the amount that the state receives from central taxes, Baghel said in the letter. On the other hand, the state government needs additional resources for the livelihood of the 56 lakh poor and needy families of the state, who have no means of income left, he said. Also read: Rs 1L aid for kin of Chhattisgarh girl who died during walk back home from Telangana Baghel has also requested an immediate exemption to the state for economic activities related to partial revenue generation in view of the controlled situation of the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in the state. The chief minister has said construction work in cities and purchase of properties should be allowed, vehicle showrooms, including an exemption of registration and air conditioner, cooler and refrigerator shops, in view of the summer season, should be allowed to reopen. It would be appropriate to allow repair workshops and all retail works to open in all green zone districts. Baghel said an exemption should be also given to sweetshops so that dairy owners can sell milk. Also read: How a Chhattisgarh ministers tweet could save Andhra govt millions of rupees He said the lockdown was implemented in Chhattisgarh from March 21 and due to which all economic activities have come to a standstill. The main source of the states income from mining activities, excise, GST, registration properties and vehicles and forest wealth etc have dried up. The chief minister said the rate of Covid-19 outbreak in Chhattisgarh is comparatively lower than other states. As of 21 April, 36 people were found to be infected in the state, out of which 25 have been discharged and the remaining 11 are being treated and their condition is normal. Around 400 people are being tested every day in the state, he said. No new person has been found to be infected with Covid-19 in the last five days. Out of the 28 districts in the state, not a single person has been found infected in 23 districts. While four districts where eight were infected, no cases have been reported in the last three weeks..., Baghel said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON An international rights watchdog is calling for accountability in Burkina Faso after 31 unarmed men were killed earlier this month in Djibo, a town in the northern part of the country, allegedly by government forces. "The Burkinabe security forces apparently executed 31 men in a brutal mockery of a counterterrorism operation that may amount to a war crime and could fuel further atrocities, said Corinne Dufka, Sahel director at Human Rights Watch. According to statements taken by the US-based human rights group, the men were rounded up various parts of town after Burkinabe armed forces asked for their identification during a significant government counterterrorism operation. Eyewitness said they were carried off in a convoy of about 10 vehicles, and not seen alive again. The residents said they heard gunfire, then searched for the men a few hours later, finding the bodies of the detainees. None were armed, and some were bound, according to the eyewitnesses. There was no gunfire before the arrests. If there had been tension, or an attack wed not have gone to the well, clinic, or to our fields, an elder told HRW, pointing out that residents were going about their day normally. The government should immediately and impartially investigate the killings and hold to account all those responsible, regardless of rank, said HRWs Dufka. If someone links you to terrorists, you are dead Yes, there are Fulani who are terrorists, but not everyone, says Hassan, a former resident of Djibo who is following the situation. He asked not use his real name due to the tense security conditions. The security services go to the villages where these people grew up and look for their relatives. The relatives dont support terrorism, they are living in their villages. But they detain these people who they see as complicit in terrorism, he tells RFI. Story continues Residents who spoke to HRW believe that the village was targeted because a number of armed Islamists were seen in the area. If someone accuses you of having a link or being involved with terrorists, you will be killed. You are dead, adds Hassan. No judicial process HRW has documented the killing of more than 300 civilians by armed Islamist groups and several hundred men by government security forces since 2017. The presence of Islamist groups in the region and their ongoing attacks has displaced 775,000 people. Although the security services are tasked with capturing terrorists, there is no regard as to proper judicial process, according to Hassan, likening the area to the wild west. The whole region is inaccessible from the outside due to insecurity, so lawyers cannot conduct an investigation, he says. There are three camps for different security forces in Djibo, including a police station, a gendarme base, and barracks that house the mixed counter-terrorism force, Groupement des Forces Anti-Terroristes (GFAT).Witnesses tell HRW that they believe it was GFAT that carried out the killings of the 31 men on 9 April. A state of permanent fear Hassan was willing to speak to RFI, but noted that others are too scared. People live in permanent fear here, he says. It is hard enough to live as a herder or a farmer in the area, but many who do not support the Islamists feel that they are already targeted because of family ties to those who have chosen to go fight with them, says Hassan. Sometimes people dont have a choice-- the terrorists promise that they will be protected, so they go there, he adds. For Hassan, one way forward would be with the government voluntary initiative that deals in mediation. But the government needs to involve all the ethnic groups in the organization, not just a few, he says. Human Rights Watch calls for accountability to stop abuses against residents and to commit to a rights-respecting counterterrorism strategy. President Donald Trump announced Wednesday he plans to reopen the country's national parks and public lands in line with coronavirus guidelines. 'We're starting to open our country again,' Trump victoriously announced during a White House tree planting ceremony for Earth Day and Arbor Day. 'Thanks to our significant progress against the invisible enemy, I'm pleased to announce that in line with my administration's guidelines for opening up America again, we will begin to reopen our national parks and public lands for the American people to enjoy.' However, details on how this plan will roll out have not been announced yet. President Donald Trump announced Wednesday he plans to reopen the country's national parks and public lands in line with coronavirus guidelines Interior Secretary David Bernhardt tweeted following the announcement that the administration is 'committed to working with governors and local public health officials to gradually reopen our National Parks in a safe manner for the American people to once again enjoy' Vice President Mike Pence said during the Wednesday ceremony the administration will 'work closely with governors' to reopen the parks and lands, 'so that the American people can enjoy the blessings of those extraordinary places.' Representatives for the White House referred questions to the Department of Interior, which oversees public lands, including federal parks. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt tweeted following the announcement that the administration is 'committed to working with governors and local public health officials to gradually reopen our National Parks in a safe manner for the American people to once again enjoy.' 'More details will be provided in the coming days on plans for the reopening of specific parks following guidance from OMB (Office of Management and Budget) and the Presidents plan for Opening Up America Again,' representatives for the department said in a statement. Trump's announcement comes as he has rallied to reopen the economy and as starts slowly start to lift lockdown measures and allow select businesses to open. Vice President Mike Pence said during the Wednesday ceremony the administration will 'work closely with governors' to reopen the parks and lands, 'so that the American people can enjoy the blessings of those extraordinary places.' President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania, VP Mike Pence and his wife Karen Pence pictured at a tree planting ceremony outside the Oval Office on Wednesday for Earth Day The Grand Canyon National Park closed its facilities on April 1 after multiple pleas from local politicians to do so and after a COVID-19 case was reported in an employee who worked at a cabin at the park. Finally, following a request from the health and human services director and chief health officer for Coconino County, the park was shuttered When the coronavirus pandemic first hit, Trump allowed national parks to remain open as a place for the public to escape their homes and enjoy the outdoors while practicing social distancing. However, some parks ended up closing due to crowded conditions and the inability to enforce social distancing among hikers and park visitors. The issue of keeping parks open is a contentious issue in several states including at the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and Zion National Park in Utah. The Grand Canyon National Park closed its facilities on April 1 after multiple pleas from local politicians to do so and after a COVID-19 case was reported in an employee who worked at a cabin at the park. Finally, following a request from the health and human services director and chief health officer for Coconino County, the park was shuttered. The Interior Department on Wednesday pointed to an effort in Arizona this week to allow some limited use at a lake for local boaters Cranes are more common in the UK than they have been since the early 1600s. More than 200 of the elegant birds are currently residing in Britain, according to the latest figures from RSPB. Common cranes went extinct in the UK centuries ago but have made a return in recent years. A natural return of the 4ft tall bird has been helped along by conservation programmes reintroducing the bird to the UK. Scroll down for video The latest common crane survey from the RSPB has revealed a record 56 breeding pairs in 2019, with 47 attempting to breed and successfully rearing 26 chicks (file photo) Common cranes went extinct in the UK centuries ago but have made a return in recent years. A natural return of the 4ft tall bird has been helped along by conservation programmes trying to reintroduce the bird to the UK The latest common crane survey has revealed a record 56 breeding pairs in 2019, with 47 attempting to breed and successfully rearing 26 chicks. Once a stalwart of the British countryside, they were even offered as a delicacy in medieval banquets. But hunting and the loss of their wetland habitat drove them to extinction in the 1600s. A small number of wild cranes returned to Norfolk in 1979, and work by conservation groups to improve wetland habitat for them has seen them spread to other areas of the country. The Great Crane Project by the RSPB, Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) and the Pensthorpe Conservation Trust, and funded by Viridor Credits Environmental Company, was started in 2010. Pictured, a three-week-old common crane chick at Slimbridge Wetland Centre in Gloucestershire. A small number of wild cranes returned to Norfolk in 1979, and work by conservation groups to improve wetland habitat for them has seen them spread across the UK Pictured, animage from the RSPB of 18-month-old common cranes that were released by the Great Crane Project onto the Somerset Levels and Moors Cranes were once served at medieval banquets The crane was lost from the UK for nearly 400 years, but thanks to conservation efforts their population numbers have once again hit record levels. These birds, the tallest in the UK at 4ft, used to be quite common. They were even frequent fixtures at medieval feasts Henry IIs chefs cooked up 115 of them at his Christmas feast in 1251. But a combination of hunting and wetland decline led to their extinction in the 1600s. Advertisement It is intended to create and improve the crane's natural habitat as well as helping to hand-rear young birds for release on the Somerset Levels and Moors. Damon Bridge, chairman of the UK Crane Working Group said: 'The increase of cranes over the last few years shows just how resilient nature can be when given the chance. 'With the support of our wonderful partners we've been able to recreate more and more of the cranes' natural habitat, giving them a place to recuperate after the winter and raise their chicks. 'They are not yet out of the woods, but their continued population climb year after year is a very positive sign.' Andrew Stanbury, RSPB Conservation Scientist said nature reserves played a vital role in supporting the growing crane population, with at least 85% of the breeding birds found on protected sites. And Dr Geoff Hilton, from WWT, said the reintroduction of lost species had to be supported with good habitat management and protection, and thanked land managers and farmers for supporting crane conservation in Somerset. He added: 'The success of the crane project to date demonstrates what can be achieved in a short space of time by giving nature a helping hand.' As the coronavirus quarantine stretches into its second month, some people are pushing the boundaries of the lockdown restrictions. Many of them are just going for a drive or trying to play Frisbee in a park. But in a number of cases, groups of protesters have gathered at town halls and other government buildings, or stopped traffic on the streets of cities across the US, holding up signs questioning the need for a continued quarantine with slogans like land of the free! and fake crisis! Are these genuine protests, organized by concerned citizens with strong opinions about the lengths to which the quarantine effort has gone, or is there more going on here? If its the latter, then shouldnt the press think long and hard before playing into the hands of the organizers of those protests by giving them free publicity? According to a number of media reports, anti-lockdown rallies have been seen in a number of states over the past week, including Colorado, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin, Ohio, California, and Minnesota. President Trump even appeared to encourage protesters to take to the streets in a series of tweets, advising residents to LIBERATE VIRGINIA! and LIBERATE MICHIGAN! Not surprisingly, Fox News has given these rallies a lot of airtime, complete with maps that make it look as though a grassroots movement has taken over and is growing larger by the daysomething the network also did during the early days of the Tea Party in 2009. Fox has even used the term that organizers came up with for the protestsFreedom Ralliesin an attempt to portray them as democracy in action. And the footage used often gives the impression that there are large throngs of demonstrators, even though in at least one case, a video from an alternate vantage point told a different story. Over the past several days, evidence has emerged that these might not be grassroots protests, but Astroturfin other words, a simulation of grassroots action. According to a report in the Washington Post, some of the largest Facebook groups used to organize many of these protests are run by a family of far-right, progun activists: Ben Dorr, political director of a gun-rights group in Minnesota, and his brothers Christopher and Aaron. The Facebook groups have become sources of the same kinds of misinformation about the coronavirus that have been seen at a number of the proteststhat the virus is no worse than the flu, that the scientists working on a vaccine have ulterior motives, and so on. By Sunday, the groups had more than two hundred thousand members. According to the Post, other demonstrations have been promoted by the Michigan Freedom Fund, which is headed by a longtime adviser to Dick DeVos, husband of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos (the family denies organizational or financial involvement). ICYMI: China, conspiracy theories, and the murky coronavirus origin story As Renee DiResta, the research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory, told NBC News, the kind of Facebook activism the Dorr family appears to be engaging in is quite common in political circles, and allows for a small group with money and media manipulation skills to simulate the appearance of a much larger movement. Unfortunately, news outlets that run photos and video clips of the protests are playing into this desire to make the movement appear larger than it is. And the more articles and news reports do this, the more attention the protests get, and the more likely they are to appeal to others and to continue to grow. As Chris Murphy, a US senator from Connecticut, put it on Twitter: Gun toting protesters make a good visual, but it doesnt mean theyre news. But the endless coverage of these protests suggests they arent fringe, and viewers start to believe a controversy exists which really doesnt. Therefore the media coverage creates a new reality. Obviously, if hundreds or even thousands of sign-wielding (and gun-wielding) protesters show up and block traffic in a major city, shouting about government regulations, thats worth a news report. And there are undoubtedly people who attend these rallies who arent agents of a far-right organization, but are just upset with being forced to remain in their homes, or losing their jobs. Still, any reporting on these events should mention the machinations of the various political organizations that have been fanning the flames, and should be careful to portray them as accurately as possible, rather than suggesting that they are larger or more broadly supported than they really are. Sign up for CJR 's daily email Heres more on the protests: No Facebook for You : Facebook is blocking anti-quarantine protesters from using the site to organize in-person gatherings that violate states stay-at-home orders, a move that has brought an immediate backlash from conservatives including Trumps son Donald Jr. The social network has removed protest messages in California, New Jersey, and Nebraska from its site, a company spokesperson said Monday. The spokesperson said Facebook had been instructed by those state governments that the events are prohibited under lockdown and social distancing orders. Why is @Facebook colluding with state governments to quash peoples free speech? tweeted Trump Jr. Tea Party, Part Two : According to a report in the New York Times , members of a number of Tea Party groups are involved in pushing protests against state lockdown orders. Among those fighting are FreedomWorks and Tea Party Patriots, which played pivotal roles in the beginning of Tea Party protests starting more than a decade ago. Also involved are a law firm led partly by former Trump White House officials, a network of state-based conservative policy groups, and an ad hoc coalition of conservative leaders known as Save Our Country that has advised the White House on strategies for a tiered reopening of the economy. The Justice League : The Justice Department will consider taking legal action against governors who continue to impose stringent rules for dealing with the coronavirus that infringe on constitutional rights even after the crisis subsides in their states, Attorney General William Barr said in an interview on Tuesday on The Hugh Hewitt Show. Barr said that stay-at-home orders and other directives are justified up to a point, but eventually the states have to move to more targeted measures and relax those restrictions. We have to give businesses more freedom to operate in a way thats reasonably safe, Barr said. To the extent that governors dont and impinge on either civil rights or on the national commercewell have to address that. Other notable stories: Protocol, a new technology news site owned by the same group that runs Politico, announced on Tuesday that it is laying off thirteen staff members due to the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus. The site launched on February 5 with much fanfare, and a note from management said the coronavirus has done nothing to shake our faith in Protocols mission or our long-term opportunity but added that the virus and its spin-off effects have profoundly changed the economic realities of the present. Owner Robert Allbritton said that the current crisis has elements of the fear that we felt after 9/11, the financial worry that we experienced in 2008, and the unknown that surrounds a natural disaster like a hurricane or tornado all rolled into one. An internal document at Vice Media Group lays out a plan for substantial layoffs at the new-media companys websites, as Vice considers a variety of options to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. The planning document, which was reviewed by the Wall Street Journal , calls for layoffs of more than three hundred people in digital operations, including major cuts at both Vice News and Refinery29, the women-focused digital publisher Vice acquired last year. A Vice Media Group spokeswoman said the planning document represented one of several scenarios being developed inside the company for potential consideration and hadnt been endorsed by management. Reporters Without Borders has come out with the latest version of its Press Freedom Index , which evaluates the situation for journalists each year in 180 countries and territories. The group says that the report suggests the next decade will be a crucial one for press freedom, and will involve a series of converging crises that will affect journalism, including: a geopolitical crisis due to the aggressiveness of authoritarian regimes; a technological crisis due to a lack of democratic guarantees; a democratic crisis due to polarization and repressive policies; a crisis of trust due to suspicion and even hatred of the media; and an economic crisis. Thanassis Cambanis writes for CJR about what life was like as a foreign correspondent for the Boston Globe in Baghdad during the Iraq War, and how he is trying to use some of that experience to survive quarantine in New York City during the covid-19 crisis. How did we do our jobs? The same way that everybody gingerly got on with the necessities of life: calculated risks and extreme logistics. In practice that meant learning how to manage the ambient fear and anxiety of possible death. In order to minimize the threat for everyone on our team, we planned obsessively and rationed the risk. The Compass Experiment, a project started by the McClatchy newspaper chain aimed at starting a series of hyperlocal news outlets in small towns, has announced its next experiment: a local news site in Longmont, Colorado, called t he Longmont Reader . A global pandemic probably seems like a bad time to be building a new local news website, writes Compass Experiment general manager Mandy Jenkins in a blog post announcing the new site . And yet, the need and demand for local news and information has never been greater. If now isnt the time to show up for our communities, then when? National Public Radio is cutting executives pay to combat the effects of the economic collapse brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report in the New York Times . The radio and podcasting giant doesnt run traditional ads, but about one-third of its revenue comes from corporate sponsors like Angies List, General Motors, State Farm, and Trader Joes. In an email to the staff on Friday, CEO John Lansing (who joined the nonprofit in September) projected that NPR would fall $12 million to $15 million short of the amount it had expected to receive from sponsors this year. He described the pay cuts as a way for NPR to avoid layoffs. The Jewish News in the UK is back to business as usual despite bidding farewell to readers with last weeks paper, the Press Gazette reports . The paper had planned to merge with the 180-year-old Jewish Chronicle , but those plans were torpedoed by the coronavirus downturn, and both titles announced earlier this month that they would shut down and liquidate their assets. The Kessler Foundation, which owns the Chronicle , submitted a bid to the liquidators to buy the assets of both and merge them into one title. But then an acquisition bid emerged for the Chronicle , which in turn spurred the owner of the Jewish News to take it out of liquidation. NewsGuard, the news-ranking service founded by Steven Brill and former Wall Street Journal publisher Gordon Crovitz, has released a data set made up of what it calls covid-19 misinformation super-spreaders on Facebookpages and accounts that repeat, share, and amplify myths, from false cures to conspiracy theories about the virus. The company says it plans to release similar data for other platforms, such as Twitter and YouTube, in the coming weeks. The Facebook data set identifies pages that have a combined reach of more than eighteen million users. ICYMI: Chinas expulsion of American journalists also affects Chinese staffand the future of reporting in China Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Mathew Ingram is CJRs chief digital writer. Previously, he was a senior writer with Fortune magazine. He has written about the intersection between media and technology since the earliest days of the commercial internet. His writing has been published in the Washington Post and the Financial Times as well as by Reuters and Bloomberg. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Now that we have settled into a normal routine from the COVID-19 quarantine, many churches have been forced into the virtual church realm while some have been offering online options for some time. Given the COVID-19 crisis, churches have seen historic online church attendance. I can imagine the chat during the post-Easter online staff meeting. Easter weekend online audience was huge, wow! The biggest weekend we have ever had. Over the last week, I have heard churches who normally have 280 people attending their weekend services now have an online audience of 750 people. A large online church audience can be intoxicating. I understand how easy it is to get drunk on the numbers. Having served as the executive pastor at Mars Hill Church in Seattle from 2011 to 2014, we hosted an average of 300,000 podcasters per week. That weekly online audience was 20 times the number of attendees in all the weekly services at our multisite campuses. At Mars Hill, we kept our eyes on the numbers the numbers of people in seats Sunday and the numbers online via the podcast. And over time, the focus of the church shifted. We poured more energy into reaching the larger number, the online audience, through slick production. We produced resources (books, blogs, worship albums) to serve the online audience better. And in the end, we took our eyes off the folks that mattered most, our members in physical services the people who did life together, who were in community groups. Huge numbers can make a church staff feel like they are fulfilling the Great Commission. A bigger audience can trick a church into thinking its doing bigger things for Jesus. In this instance, the saying Go Big, or Go Home doesnt apply. God builds his church one soul at a time, and according to Jesus in the Parable of the Lost Sheep (Luke 15:3-7), the ones matter. In ministry, trade-offs exist. There are never enough resources (staff, volunteers, energy, time and money) to meet all the needs and realize all the opportunities for ministry. Many times, as an executive pastor, you oversee making these stewardship decisions. After a huge Easter weekend, you will think through the next steps. How will you best steward resources in response to your online church attendance? 1. The church grows from fellowship and community. As we see the early church in Acts 2:23-27, They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. and day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes. Even in the current COVID-19 environment, we can connect people to Zoom or online community groups. It is so important to get people connected to other believers. To help you navigate how to integrate new online members into your church and small groups, Vanderbloemen is hosting a Facebook Live event this Thursday with pastors from churches of all sizes to discuss how they plan to connect new viewers to their church body once churches open again. 2. Evangelism is important, but discipleship is key. We all want to see Jesus save new people. We all want to have the Good News of Jesus preached, and witness people respond to hearing the word of God with belief in Jesus. However, as pastors and leaders, this cannot be the end goal. Our end goal should be creating disciples of Jesus. As Jesus commanded us, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. Matthew 29:19-20 ESV 3. An audience is not the church. An audience will not go through hard times, but a church of brothers and sisters will. I learned from Mars Hill that an online audience is just that, an audience. They do not have relationships within a community of believers where we see sin repented of and forgiveness granted. The opportunity for people to participate in loving one another (Romans 13:8), honoring one another (Romans 12:10), and serving one another (Gal 5:13), is difficult, if not impossible, to create online. So when trials and tribulations happen in the life of the believer or the activity of the church, people who do not have a vested love in one another will scatter. I must admit that while I was at Mars Hill Church, we were so drunk on building online numbers at the expense of local church needs that we once had a goal of becoming the #1 Christian podcast in Australia. Yeah, I know. What does a podcast audience in Australia have to do with 15 churches across five states in the western United States? Nothing. It can distract a church staff away from the actual people who want to call the church their home. Online church helps the body of Christ stay connected when crisis keeps it physically apart, but the real work of ministry is in developing a community of disciples face to face. As we lead through this crisis, lets not get drunk on the numbers of online church attendance, but instead cultivate discipleship programs to steward the new believers God brings us through this and to deepen the faith and community of those who will soon walk through the doors of our church they call home. To participate in Thursdays free Facebook Live webinar on connecting new online attendees to virtual small groups on Thursday, April 23 at 1 PM Central, click here. Not surprisingly, President Trump paused immigration to the U.S. It is actually a pause, not a permanent decision. Nevertheless, the widely expected Democrat response came swiftly: "Trump Slammed For 'Xenonophic Scapegoating' After Proposing U.S. Immigration Ban." And I'm sure there are other headlines out there. President Trump's decision is not totally about Mexico, but the situation south of the border is uncertain, to say the least. Our family friend Therese Margolis is the editor of Pulse News Mexico, a digital newspaper. This is a post from yesterday: As of Saturday, April 18, more than 100 people had died from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours in Mexico, bringing the country's death toll to 650, Public Health Undersecretary Hugo Lopez-Gatell said. With 622 new confirmed cases, the number of the total infected in the country had risen to nearly 7,500 on Saturday, Lopez-Gatell said, although many medical experts are warning that the incidence of the disease is grossly unreported in Mexico. To better contain the spread of the disease, on Thursday, April 16, the Mexican government announced an extension of a nationwide lockdown until May 30. Again, read the line "grossly unreported." My personal and business contacts are saying the same thing. In other words, they don't feel that we actually know the extent of the virus in Mexico. A friend told me this on the phone a few hours ago: "Somos Italia o Dakota del Norte?" He is saying, "Are we Italy or North Dakota"? So President Trump's instincts are right as they were when he banned flights from China in January. Speaker Nancy Pelosi should call for an emergency vote and stop President Trump. My good guess is that she won't, because a lot of Democrats understand the insanity of open borders in the middle of a pandemic. Where is former V.P. Biden? I have not heard. PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter. The Irish Farmers Association (IFA) has welcomed the reopening of a number of Supermac's outlets. Supermac's closed all 116 of its branches on March 26 due to Covid-19 restrictions and social distancing concerns. The fast-food chain announced this morning that it would be opening a number of outlets on a phased basis. Three are opening today in Galway with a further 12 around the country on Friday. President of the IFA Tim Cullinan says it is great news for the industry. It [the virus] has been absolutely devastating on the Irish beef industry," he said. We welcome whats happening with Supermacs today. Hopefully we can see more outlets opening up as the weeks go by. The branches that are opening will be operating drive-thru, delivery and drive & collect services. No lobbies or seating areas will be open to comply with social distancing measures. Supermacs says that it will be full implementing government guidelines for staff and customers. A number of procedures are being implemented including contactless payment, gloves and masks for staff and temperature monitoring of workers. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-21 18:14:04|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Aerial photo taken on April 20, 2020 shows a makeshift hospital for COVID-19 patients in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan has built a makeshift hospital to treat COVID-19 patients in 13 days in Nur-Sultan, the developer BI Group announced on Tuesday. (BI Group/Handout via Xinhua) NUR-SULTAN, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Kazakhstan has built a makeshift hospital to treat COVID-19 patients in 13 days in Nur-Sultan, the developer BI Group announced on Tuesday. "The hospital was built in 13 days with a modest budget. It's a great victory for Kazakh specialists and the entire construction industry," Aydin Rakhimbayev, chairman of the board of directors of the BI group wrote on Facebook. The government has allocated 12.8 million U.S. dollars to build the hospital, said Rakhimbayev, adding that the hospital will remain in operation after the pandemic. The hospital is built with prefabrication units, with a capacity of 200 beds. It has negative pressure wards so that medical staff would not breathe contaminated air. It is divided into "clean" and "polluted" areas as well. The hospital is equipped with ventilation devices, X-ray equipment, and round-the-clock patient support system, as well as a lab. Meanwhile, two more infectious diseases hospitals in Kazakhstan are being built in Almaty and Shymkent. Kazakhstan reported 1,967 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 19 deaths as of Tuesday. Enditem Surreal. Mind-boggling. Eerily reminiscent of the 1980s, but somehow even worse. Houstonians, largely cooped up under the stay-at-home order issued last month as part of the citys response to the COVID-19 pandemic, were mesmerized by U.S. oil prices on Monday as West Texas Intermediate the nations benchmark plunged over the course of several hours to historically unprecedented depths. At one point, oil traded as low as negative $40 a barrel, before closing at a gruesome negative $37.63 a 300% drop from Monday mornings WTI price. These eye-popping statistics were the result of unprecedented circumstances. The pandemic has deeply depressed demand for oil around the world over the past two months. Meanwhile, production has continued apace, fueled by geopolitical jousting by Russia and Saudi Arabia. As a result, the United States is awash with oil and running out of space to store it. And on Monday, traders were running out of time to sign futures contracts on oil for delivery on May 20, though the price for June deliveries remained in positive territory throughout the day. READ MORE: U.S. oil price collapses below zero as storage fills up That was little consolation, however, to industry experts and workers, and Texans more generally. You asked, is it time to freak out? And the answer is yes, said Ryan Sitton, a member of the Texas Railroad Commission, as he was leaving his office Monday evening. Sitton, a Republican who was denied a chance for re-election after being upset in the March primary by an obscure but fortuitously named challenger, Jim Wright, has been sounding the alarm about the abnormal supply-and-demand situation for weeks. A surplus of oil as high as 1.5 billion barrels could be hitting the market in the coming months, Sitton wrote in an op-ed piece for Bloomberg Opinion on March 20. This would far exceed available storage, which may drive oil prices to their lowest ever and force companies to shut down production and cut off necessary cash flow to remain in operation. He likened the situation to the one facing many restaurant owners as a result of the pandemic: If its possible to remain in operation during the course of the crisis, it will be easier to ramp things back up once the economy reopens. But if youve shuttered entirely disbanded your workforce, given up your lease the process could take months, at best. For some on the left, the havoc in the oil industry was something to celebrate a turning point, perhaps, en route to a more climate-friendly future for the United States. But there was no such sense of optimism in Texas. This really is a devastating blow to our oil industry, said state Rep. Jon Rosenthal, a Democrat who represents part of northwest Harris County and an engineer by background. Weve never ever seen a negative price on a barrel of oil. He continued: What it means: Many producers will shut down wells. Workers will be let go, from roughnecks to retailers. This could massively impact the Houston (and Texas) economy just from a potential rise in unemployment alone. The crash comes as the Houston economy is already being battered by the pandemic. Mayor Sylvester Turner on Monday warned of impacts to every aspect of city services, as well as furloughs of city employees, in the coming budget proposal. Im not trying to hide it, Turner said. These are the realities. This will be the worst budget that the city will deal with in its history. ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Turner: Coronavirus-battered 2021 city budget will be worst in history The same may well be true of the state budget that will be produced during the next regular session of the Texas Legislature, in 2021. The state is already almost certainly in a recession, according to Comptroller Glenn Hegar, partly because of the slump in oil prices and sales tax receipts that preceded Mondays collapse. The oil price slump will also take a toll on the states colleges and universities; the company that oversees oil leases on state-owned land expects to send $700 million to the Permanent University Fund this fiscal year, down from $1 billion in 2019. Hegar has predicted that lawmakers will want to tap the states Rainy Day Fund, which is projected to have roughly $8.5 billion in it at the beginning of next year, to shore up the next biennial budget. To do so prior to that would require Gov. Greg Abbott to call a special session of the Legislature. The National Governors Association has also called on Congress to appropriate $500 billion in relief funds to the states, most of which are now cash-strapped. You just dont know how bad its going to be, Hegar told the Texas Tribune this month. Bad enough to consider drastic measures, apparently. Sitton, for his part, wants his colleagues on the Railroad Commission to institute prorationing across the state that is, to limit the amount of oil produced in order to bend the supply curve back a bit. The way to do it in the oil and gas industry is to control the market and no, I dont like that idea, but lets face it, there is not a single industry in the United States today that the government is not controlling, Sitton said Monday evening. Its a reasonable idea, under the circumstances. But Tuesday morning, the other two members of the Railroad Commission, Republicans Wayne Christian and Christi Craddick, tabled Sittons motion to vote on such a proposal. Theyll revisit the proposal at their next meeting, on May 5 just two weeks from now, according to the calendar, but it will no doubt feel much longer for workers in this battered industry. erica.grieder@chron.com It is inevitable for an individual to go through trials and tribulations. In Africa, Islam is known to be the top religion of the Continent. Christians who are suffering in Africa are calling out for help due to lack of support. It is stated that Between the end of March and Easter, Christian communities in Africa have been suffering from numerous attacks by extremists that killed 31 people and left homes destroyed. Meanwhile, Yohannes, who betrayed his home in Africa to leave his religion, has been expelled to be a Christian. Christians have denied access to community resources as ostracized from society, effectively cutting them off with help and support. As people like Yohannes are struggling to find enough food. Christians are known to be living a difficult life. "While the coronavirus pandemic has hit Asia, Europe and North America with full force, sub-Saharan Africa, home to 1.1 billion people, is only the beginning of the crisis. By Tuesday, April 14, there were 9,100 reported cases, with a death toll of 195-a death rate of just over two percent of reported cases." Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, violent persecution continues to attack many Christians in Africa. Open doors, known to be a website that supports persecuted Christians worldwide, reached out and shared: "Recently, Open Doors met with Rev. John Joseph Hayab in northern Nigeria, who shared how the pandemic is doubling vulnerability for believers: "We are facing persecution because of our faith and we are also facing a global pandemic," he says. "We run away from our persecution or we run away from the global sickness that we are facing. We have a double problem." "According to Open Doors World Watch Research, data indicates a direct correlation between the countries in sub-Saharan Africa that are most vulnerable to the virus and the countries where Christians face the most pressure for following Jesus." Days of the coronavirus pandemic continued to persecute Christians like Yohannes and gave way to even more ways believers can be discriminated against, exploited and attacked for their faith. Yet, there is positivity spread among online sites such as open doors that keep them safe and updated. "But in all this, we still come back to remember the Word of Jesus: 'Be ye of good cheers, for I have overcome the world.' But He didn't start with that; He says: 'In this world you will have many troubles.' This is another additional trouble we are facing." One pastor in the area shared: "We lie down at night, not knowing if we'll wake." Christians who are living in a dangerous area don't know if they will be alive tomorrow. They are desperate for love, hope, support, prayer, and help from brothers and sisters all around the world. "In the midst of this coronavirus challenge and situation, the attacks on Christians have not stopped," Suleiman says. "Therefore, we want to ask you to stand with us in prayer and support that we can continue to serve the persecuted Body of Christ, even in these very difficult times we are all passing through." "If this continues, it is hard for Christians to stay strong. For new believers, like Yohannes, who have left the religion of their larger family to become Christians and are struggling to eat, critical support means the difference between reverting back to Islam and even basic survival. When we strengthen believers in crisis, we equip and empower them to share their story of faith with others. Essentially, we help build the Kingdom." By sharing an important message among Christian families, people located in Africa (Yasin) sends out prayer requests to the WORLD: "I would like to encourage you to keep up your fervent prayer. The Word of God in James 5:6 says: 'Therefore, pray for each other, so that you may be healed.' The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Therefore, I would really like to encourage you with this word, to do that more and more." People ride the subway on April 17, 2020, in Mexico City. (Cristopher Rogel Blanquet / Getty Images) Mexican officials warned Tuesday that the country is about to experience a major surge in coronavirus infections and deaths, as health professionals worried about overwhelmed hospitals, a prospective shortfall of doctors and a lack of medical equipment. We are prepared to confront the most difficult moment, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told reporters in an attempt to reassure the public. We have the [hospital] beds, we have the equipment, we have the doctors. But others have questioned whether a long-neglected public healthcare system is ready for a rapid rise in demand. I dont trust the capacity of the hospitals, said Alejandro Macias, an infectious diseases specialist at the University of Guanajuato who served as the national flu commissioner during the 2009 swine flu pandemic, which originated in Mexico. Were not going to have enough intensive care beds. We have a fraction of what we need. Mexico has 1.4 hospital beds for every 1,000 citizens, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The United States has twice as many. The Social Security system, the major health provider for much of Mexico, is undergoing terrible stress, said its director, Zoe Robledo Aburto. For years, he noted, the massive public medical bureaucracy has suffered from a lack of investment and an institutional failure to recruit doctors, purchase equipment and add beds and treatment sites. But we have to rise above this situation, he said. The crisis is expected to be most severe in the densely populated Mexico City metropolitan area that is home to more than 20 million people. As of Tuesday, the area accounted for about 42% of the nation's 8,772 confirmed cases and 35% of the 712 deaths. Top health officials said that large numbers of infections have gone undetected because of a lack of testing and that the true total could top 70,000. Hospitals and clinics in and around the capital have been nearing capacity. The military has been enlisted to provide additional beds if needed. Story continues Meanwhile, Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said Tuesday that demand for ventilators was rising rapidly. From April 12 to April 20, Sheinbaum said in a video statement, the number of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients breathing with the aid of ventilators in Mexico City hospitals almost doubled, from 265 to 529. That means 35% of the citys ventilators are now in use, the mayor said. Mexico reported its first case of infection in late February, putting the country about a month behind the United States. The early cases were part of "phase one," the start of preparations for an uptick in cases. "Phase two," the imposition of safety measures, including a ban on nonessential activities, began in late March. Tuesday was the official declaration of phase three, a period of quickly accelerating contagion throughout the nation of more than 120 million. At least four hospitals in various parts of the country have experienced coronavirus outbreaks, which some doctors and nurses have attributed to a shortage of masks and other safety gear. Health workers have staged street protests demanding more protective equipment, while some have also suffered attacks and abuse at the hands of people who accuse them of spreading the virus. Mexican authorities have reported more than 500 coronavirus cases among medical professionals, including nine deaths. Mexicos population is younger than that of the United States, an advantage in combating a virus that disproportionately kills older people. But high rates of diabetes, hypertension and obesity increase the country's vulnerability. This represents an additional adversary that Mexico has to confront, said Dr. Hugo Lopez-Gatell, the undersecretary of health who is directing the countrys coronavirus response. A state of deteriorated health. In recent weeks, officials have been scrambling to increase stocks of ventilators, masks, gowns and other items. The president and other officials have extolled the arrival of test kits and other medical supplies from China and announced plans to purchase 1,000 ventilators from the United States. But experts cautioned that equipment alone is not enough. You may get the ventilators, but you still need to have doctors and nurses trained to operate the equipment and the protocols in place to make sure it is effective, said Eduardo Gonzalez-Plier, a former government health official. Thousands of additional doctors are being trained throughout the country to deal with the anticipated increase in cases, officials said. In addition to Mexico City, officials are also especially concerned about the northern states along the 2,000-mile border with the United States. By late Tuesday, the U.S. death toll was more than 45,000. The state of Baja California, which includes the border cities of Tijuana and Mexicali, reported 741 cases and 75 deaths as of Tuesday, amid fears that cross-border traffic and the continued operation of some border factories, known as maquiladoras, may be contributing to the virus spread. In Ciudad Juarez, across the Rio Grande from El Paso, a coronavirus outbreak struck an automotive-seating plant, leaving some workers dead and others hospitalized. Throughout the border zone, tens of thousands of migrants hoping to reach the United States are crammed into homes, shelters and camps, raising fears of more outbreaks like the one reported this week at a shelter in Nuevo Laredo. From the outset of the crisis, Mexico has opted for a graduated increase in safety measures, balancing health concerns with potential damage to the economy. Authorities rejected an outright lockdown as unfeasible in a country where half of the population lives in poverty and up to 60% depends on street sales and other unregistered business in the informal economy. One has to find the correct balance between doing good with an intervention and minimizing secondary effects, said Lopez-Gatell, the coronavirus response chief. In late March, Mexico finally ordered a shutdown of nonessential businesses, a ban on large gatherings and mandatory social distancing. But public markets and other establishments remained open. Schools were shut in mid-March and are expected to remain closed until at least June 1. For weeks, Lopez Obrado was harshly criticized as he continued to travel around the country, kissing and hugging admirers and seeming to downplay the danger. But he eventually embraced social distancing and other measures. Economists at Moodys Analytics predict that Mexicos economy will contract 6.5% in 2020 and the country will enter into a recession. Driving the downturn: losses in remittances, a decline in tourism, plummeting oil revenue and a major contraction of the export market. Amid the gloom, the president has sought to put a positive spin on matters as the country enters the most severe phase of the pandemic. I want to give a guarantee ... that we Mexicans are going to be able to overcome this crisis, the president said Tuesday. We are going to win together. Special correspondent Cecilia Sanchez contributed to this report. By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 21, 2020 | 04:02 PM | WESTERN KENTUCKY West Kentucky Star spoke with Attorney at Law, Jeff Alford, about questions he has been receiving regarding legal issues that have been created by Beshear's COVID-19 response. One of the questions Alford has received is related to custody orders. If during a visitation, one of the parents decides to ignore CDC guidelines, what should be done? Alford said you should contact an attorney immediately. He said there are certain protections that can be put in place, if the visitation schedule is endangering the child. A motion can also be filed without an attorney. Alford said many circuits can mail the appropriate forms to those in need, however an attorney would have the ability to immediately file a motion electronically. He said, "I get asked, do I really need an attorney to do that? My answer to that is, well, no, but you also don't need a surgeon to amputate your leg. It just usually works out a little bit better if you do." There have also been many questions regarding visitation schedules. Do Non-Traditional Instruction days count towards school days for people with a court order that says mom or dad can pick up a child at the end of a school day? Alford said that NTI days are considered school days. One of the biggest concerns he has heard is that with courthouses closed, how does one file for domestic violence protection? According to Alford, most of the counties in our region have a 24-hour domestic violence protocol, which allows law enforcement officers access to the forms required for a domestic violence order. Judges will then review those orders electronically. If you need to file for a domestic violence order, Alford's advice is to first contact your local district clerk's office and ask what steps to take. According to Alford, some clerk's offices are leaving the forms at the front security desk for people to come by and grab when needed. Other offices are emailing them out. If you can't get information through the clerk's office, contact 911. Governor Andy Beshear's COVID-19 executive orders have created many questions, some of which might require legal advice. It has been over 15 years since Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt called it quits, yet their relationship continues to draw interest from fans around the world. Although things did not work out, their romance in the late 1990s and early 2000s was the talk of Hollywood. With Aniston and Pitt rekindling their friendship, here is a look back at the moment Aniston knew she and Pitt were meant to be together. Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston | Kevin Winter/Getty Images How did Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt meet? Aniston and Pitts romance started in 1998 after their respective agents played matchmaker and set them up. At the time, Pitt had just ended his engagement with Gwyneth Paltrow and the two were both rising stars in Hollywood. A few months after their first date, Pitt and Aniston made their first public appearance at the 1999 Emmy Awards in Los Angeles. The two appeared on the red carpet and looked completely head over heels. A month later, Pitt popped the big question, and Aniston showed off her engagement ring backstage at a Sting concert. The couple tied the knot in the summer of 2000. The gorgeous ceremony was held in Malibu, though Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston decided against making it a public affair. The two seemed destined for a long marriage, and Aniston later revealed that she knew Pitt was the real deal on their very first date. How did Paltrow feel about Pitt and Anistons romance? In the summer of 1997, Pitt and Paltrow parted ways amid a messy and public breakup. At the time, the two had been engaged for two-and-a-half years, and it took Paltrow several years to get over the split. According to Mirror, Paltrows friends claim that Pitts romance with Jennifer Aniston did not help her situation. Watching the reports of Pitts new romance made it difficult for Paltrow to move on with her own life, though she and Pitt eventually made amends. Brad Pitt Once Literally Threatened To Kill Harvey Weinstein For Creeping On Gwyneth Paltrow BroBible https://t.co/Xv2oaBKwb9 Brad Pitt Share (@BradPittShare) April 16, 2020 I was very upset for a long, long time, Paltrow revealed in a 2006 interview with Diane Sawyer. Aniston and Paltrow eventually became good friends. In fact, Aniston invited Paltrow to her 50th birthday bash last year, an event that Pitt also attended. Jennifer Aniston opens up about her first date with Pitt During an interview with Diane Sawyer in 2004, Aniston opened up about her first date with Pitt. In the clip, which is currently on YouTube, Aniston told Sawyer that she had a lot of fun on their first date and immediately liked Pitt. We both knew [we liked each other] on the first date, Aniston recalled. It was weird I thought, Thats weird. That was a really easy evening. That was really fun. Aniston also opened up about the chances of her and Pitt having children. The actress seemed very eager to start a family with the Hollywood heartthrob and was confident she could balance work and motherhood. Sadly, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston did not have any children together. Their marriage fell apart in early 2005 and by the fall they had finalized their divorce. Pitt went on to marry Angelina Jolie, with whom he shares six children. Pitt and Jolie ended their marriage in 2016. Aniston, meanwhile, tied the knot with Justin Theroux in 2015. The two ended their marriage in 2017. This is how Pitt won back Anistons trust When Pitt and Aniston parted ways in 2005, everyone in Hollywood seemingly took sides. While their romance did not end on good terms, they have developed a strong friendship in recent years but it took a bit of effort for Pitt to earn Anistons trust back. According to The Blast, Pitt mended his friendship with Jennifer Aniston shortly after his split from Jolie in 2016. Sources claim that Pitt reached out to Aniston and apologized for what he thought were his faults in their marriage. Brad is in such a different place than he was when they were together. Brad is truly an introspective guy who has worked hard on himself, an insider revealed in 2016. Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston#BradPitt Radiohead Concert One of my favorite photos of them. So sweet and cute. pic.twitter.com/GuHXPEZX7k ning (@ning_spycat) April 17, 2020 The insider added that nothing romantic has happened between Aniston and Pitt, despite how much fans are rooting for them. Instead, they have both become great friends and are closer now than they have been since their divorce. Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston have not commented on the most recent reports surrounding their friendship. Although they are both single, they have not confirmed any new romances. The UKs non-involvement in an EU ventilator bulk-buy plan was not Brexit before breathing, UK officials insist. London, United Kingdom The head of the United Kingdoms diplomatic service was on Tuesday forced into a U-turn after admitting the government had made a political decision not to join a European Union-wide scheme to buy medical ventilators in bulk as the scale of the coronavirus outbreak was becoming known. Simon McDonald, the top-ranking civil servant at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, had testified after being repeatedly pressed by members of Parliaments foreign affairs committee that it was a political decision. The UK mission in Brussels briefed ministers about what was available, what was on offer, and the decision is known. His admission sparked fury on the day it was announced a further 852 people had died in hospital, pushing the UKs total coronavirus deaths in hospital to 17,366 a number thought likely to be undercounting the true toll by thousands. The government, under fire for seemingly prioritising the politics of Brexit above the immediate needs of the health service and its citizens, had previously said the UK had not joined the ventilator procurement scheme because of an email error. When first asked on Tuesday afternoon why the UK had not signed up to the huge EU ventilator procurement programme, McDonald said it was indeed due to Brexit the country had left the EU at the end of January, he said. Here is the exchange on this issue at this afternoon's Foreign Affairs Committee. pic.twitter.com/7nBrtmjWzR Nick Gutteridge (@nick_gutteridge) April 21, 2020 Opposition Labour MP Chris Bryant replied: No, we had every right to take part, we were invited to take part, apparently, we missed the emails or forgot the emails or didnt ask for emails. Five of the meetings we didnt attend, but lots of the other meetings we did attend. Its not about leaving the European Union. Tom Tugendhat, the Conservative MP who chairs the committee, pressed further: Maybe I could ask, Sir Simon, what was your policy advice on it? Or was it a political decision? 200316140019534 At that point, McDonald made his damning remarks that ministers had been briefed and a political decision made. The UK government instead opted to ask British engineering firms such as Rolls-Royce to reorientate their operations towards designing and building new ventilator models. But few of the 22,000 ventilators needed including 10,000 offered by longtime Conservative Party associate James Dyson, the founder of vacuum cleaner manufacturer Dyson had arrived in hospitals as the UK approached the peak week for pressure on the health service. The head of a consortium of businesses tasked with producing ventilators insisted the government had been correct to approach leading companies with large operative capacities rather than relying on small producers. Were keeping our heads down, building to a schedule set by the Cabinet Office, and if we build more than required, thats a good thing, VentilatorChallengeUK chairman Dick Elsy told The Guardian. His projects work involves thousands of staff, dozens of companies, and distribution logistics managed by the military. VentilatorChallengeUK has so far delivered 250 ventilators, with hundreds more expected this week. Clarification McDonalds remarks overshadowed the daily government press briefing on Tuesday, with Health Secretary Matt Hancock stumbling to explain the governments position. He rejected the veteran civil servants comments, saying as far as I am aware, there was no political decision not to participate in that scheme. He added that he had subsequently taken the decision to join the scheme when the offer came in, so we are now members. Late on Tuesday evening, McDonald issued a clarification, in which he said that everything he had told the committee that afternoon had in fact been incorrect. Ministers were not briefed by our mission in Brussels about the scheme and a political decision was not taken on whether or not to participate, he wrote. The facts of the situation are as previously set out. Owing to an initial communication problem, the UK did not receive an invitation in time to join in four EU COVID procurement schemes. Hancock had been prepared at the daily press conference to tout two new government announcements that the UK was working with 159 UK manufacturers to produce more personal protective equipment (PPE) another area in which the government has been fiercely criticised and that of two teams who had received 50 million pounds ($61m) in funding to work on a coronavirus vaccine, one was due to start human testing on Thursday. 200421070641302 It seems to me that the UK government originally decided not to join the EU scheme for Brexit-related reasons, but may have subsequently changed course to join because of the seriousness of the crisis, Brexit and trade expert David Henig told Al Jazeera. The messaging has tried to avoid all of this, in particular any suggestion of a Brexit before breathing, and has ended up a mess, added Henig, the UK director of the European Centre for International Political Economy. It isnt a good sign for our future EU relationship that the government cant untangle themselves. A Downing Street spokesperson offered to email a statement on the issue to Al Jazeera, but it had not arrived by the time of publication, several hours later. Doubly damning Simon McDonalds statement that the government made a political decision not to join the EU ventilator procurement scheme last month is doubly damning, Scott Lucas, professor of international politics at the University of Birmingham, told Al Jazeera. It is damning because it confirms that [Prime Minister] Boris Johnsons government, likely because of a priority over Brexit arrangements, refused to make vital preparations for the coronavirus surge. But it is also damning because it establishes that the government covered up this lack of preparation. 200418084810485 [Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster] Michael Gove was at the least economical with the truth some might say lying when he said on March 29 that the issue was a misdirected email, and not politics. It is vital in this crisis for the government to be honest and transparent; otherwise, there is no trust in the steps being taken to deal with this virus. And right now, rather than acknowledging past mistakes and current difficulties, the government appears neither honest nor transparent. David Allen Green, a lawyer who writes on matters of law and policy, and himself a former UK civil servant, said Sir Simons statement was curiously and painfully worded. To take one example, why write Ministers were not briefed by our mission in Brussels about the scheme instead of Ministers were not briefed about the scheme, or even Ministers were not aware of the scheme? Longer sentences do not happen by accident in such formal documents. He went on to say the writing suggested an [illusionist] Derren Brown-like misdirection. 200408162946348 Will McDonalds remarks or his retraction make a difference when it comes to holding the Johnson administration to account over its handling of the crisis? The UK is already one of the European nations hardest hit by the coronavirus, and the daily death toll has yet to show any sign of a decreasing trend. Given the outcome here, one might expect some public outcry, said Mark Shanahan, head of the politics and international relations department at the University of Reading. But every day the government has a free pass in terms of communication; half an hour to get their messages across in the live daily briefings, while dissembling to their chosen journalists and not having to defend their decisions in Parliament, he told Al Jazeera. Todays Hancock denial seemed quite Trumpish the spinning of an alternative truth. But while the government is riding high in the polls and retains the trust of the majority of the general public, their choices which may be seen to put ideology over national interest are rather too feebly challenged. [April 22, 2020] Forefront Telecare Extends #RuralHealthSTRONG COVID-19 Response to Aid Healthcare Providers NASHVILLE, Tenn., April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Forefront Telecare, Inc. (Forefront), the leader in providing behavioral telehealth to seniors and other vulnerable adults in rural communities across the United States, announced today the third phase of its #RuralHealthSTRONG COVID-19 Response Program. Volunteers within Forefront's own clinical network - among them psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, psychologists and licensed clinical social workers (LCSWs) - will now offer free peer-to-peer counseling sessions to thousands of front-line healthcare workers across hundreds of rural health facilities. These volunteers understand the harsh realities faced by front-line health care workers in skilled nursing facilities, rural hospitals and psychiatric units, making them uniquely able to provide support in this unprecedented situation. A recent article by STAT News described the struggle and mental anguish brought upon the medical community by COVID-19. With this phase of their response, Forefront finds itself leveraging the unique clinical expertise of its versatile network to offer help to more than 25,000 individuals. "Our volunteer providers bring with them the experience, compassion, and expertise needed for such an undertaking as counseling our front-line healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic," said Andrew Rosenzweig, MD, MPH, Chief Medical Officer, Forefront Telecare. "Anyone who cares about supporting the mental health needs of halthcare providers must know what it's like to walk a mile in their shoes - to know the fear of becoming infected and infecting a loved one at home, and the uncertainty of having the necessary PPE during a shift." "The challenges facing medical facilities across the country, particularly in rural areas where a single hospital is a hub for all medical needs, are well-documented," said Rob Rebak, CEO, Forefront Telecare. "What needs much more attention now is the mental health of those heroic providers." Forefront rolled out its #RuralHealthSTRONG response to COVID-19 in early March, which includes: - Expanding its secure, HIPAA-compliant video platform capabilities to enable residents of rural facilities to continue to receive care from their local providers who may need to self-quarantine, as well as to provide a way for residents and family members to remain in contact in lieu of in-person visits. - Partnering with psychiatric units to set up telehealth options for staffing to supplement current shortages and to establish back-up capacity in the event that current staff becomes incapacitated due to the impact of the coronavirus emergency. - Offering proven behavioral telehealth carts with secure, HIPAA-compliant video conferencing at no-cost to hundreds of rural hospitals nationwide. Rural hospitals, skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) and other healthcare facilities are encouraged to contact [email protected] to find out more about this offer of support. Virtual Models of Care: Behavioral Health in a Time of Social Isolation Today (April 22), Forefront CEO Rob Rebak, Patrick Kennedy and other behavioral health leaders will be speaking at a Nashville Healthcare Council virtual webinar about social isolation and its effects on both mental and physical health in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. To register or learn more, please click here. About Forefront Telecare, Inc. Since its inception in 2010, Forefront Telecare has been a leader in integrating high-quality clinical care, secure, HIPAA-compliant technology, scheduling, high-touch service, and back-end logistics needed to deliver outstanding behavioral telehealth solutions for seniors and other vulnerable adults in healthcare facilities across rural America. Media Contact: Phil Knudsen [email protected] (415) 710.5533 View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/forefront-telecare-extends-ruralhealthstrong-covid-19-response-to-aid-healthcare-providers-301045332.html SOURCE Forefront Telecare [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Tanzanian hitmaker Mbosso has attempted to explain why he and Diamond skipped Tanasha Donnas EP launch earlier this year. The Wasafi artistes were set to perform during the event but pulled out in the last minute under unclear and suspicious circumstances. Speaking in an interview with Sam Misago recently, Mbosso said Wasafi management asked them to return to Tanzania with immediate effect. Apparently, some things were not right. I remember we went to Nairobi, there was a show we were supposed to do and it didnt happen. We came back, he said. I was told I had to go back to Dar es Salaam with immediate effect. There were things that were not right. Who am I to argue with manager Babu Tale, Sallam and Mkubwa Fella? I went back home with my brother, Diamond. We were even seated next to each other. Thats when I started writing the script to my Tamba song. There were reports that Diamond bailed on Tanashas launch before it started after realizing it would flop, something he did not want to associate with his superstar brand. These reports, however, remain unverified but Tanasha recently rubbished a remark made by Diamond on women empowerment. It makes me cringe to see wastemen preach women empowerment. Fake always gets exposed eventually. Like fake bags, fake jewelry, it will last a couple of days, maybe weeks or months but eventually, everyone can see it is fake, Tanasha wrote on social media. I waited in line at CT with many other patients who were coughing, and we were all together there. And many of them had X-rays proving that they had pneumonia, she said. There were doctors next to me, for example doctors from hospital number 4, and they had been diagnosed with pneumonia. China News on Women Sorry, the page you requested was not found. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Womenofchina.cn, try visiting the Womenofchina Home page Gardai announced that there had been a high level of compliance with the public health guidelines, but there had been some breaches. Photo: Collins The first person to be charged with offences under new emergency powers enacted to enforce public compliance with Covid-19 travel restrictions has been jailed for three months. Denis Constantin (24), of Shingaun, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, admitted two charges after he was stopped twice at checkpoints in Co Wexford by gardai over the Easter bank holiday weekend, more than 2km from his home and without a valid reason. The two offences that the Romanian was convicted of are contrary to Section 31A(6)(a) and (12) of the Health Act 1947 (as amended by Section 10 of the Health (Preservation and Protection and other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest) Act 2020). The charge read that he contravened a regulation made under Section 31A(1) of the Health Act 1947 as amended, to prevent, limit, minimise or slow the spread of Covid-19. He was given two three-month jail sentences for each breach of the emergency powers, but they are to run concurrently, meaning a total of three months' imprisonment for the coronavirus breaches. Mr Constantin also pleaded guilty to four charges of driving without insurance and four charges of driving while disqualified. Combined He was given a three-month jail sentence for the driving offences and was disqualified from driving for 28 years, as well as another three-month concurrent sentence for these offences. In total, he was jailed for six months for the combined offences. Judge Brian O'Shea said the offences were at the top end of the scale, considering he was also driving without insurance. Mr Constantin was stopped at a Garda Covid checkpoint in Co Wexford on Good Friday driving a car while disqualified and while being more than 2km from his home without a valid reason at Bunclody. He was not arrested on this occasion, but was arrested on Easter Monday after encountering another Garda Covid checkpoint near New Ross, which was located more than 2km from his home. Gardai then consulted with the DPP on the case and Mr Constantin became the first person in Ireland to be charged under the tough new temporary laws. Inspector Syl Hipwell, from Enniscorthy garda station, outlined the facts of the case in Gorey District Court, sitting in Wexford. Separately, gardai yesterday announced that there had been a high level of compliance with the public health guidelines, but there had been some breaches. BH Macro Limited (the "Company") (a closed-ended collective investment scheme established as a company with limited liability under the laws of Guernsey with registered number 46235) LEI: 549300ZOFF0Z2CM87C29 Potential Treasury Share Sales 22 April 2020 Further to publication on 21 April 2020 of the estimated net asset value per share of each class of the Company's shares as at 17 April 2020, the Company confirms that it may sell Sterling shares at a price of 3302 pence per share and US Dollar shares at a price of $34.30 per share, reflecting a 2% premium to the estimated net asset value per share of each class as at 17 April 2020. All sales will be of shares currently held by the Company in treasury. Unless otherwise announced by the Company, the Company may sell shares at this price until 27 April 2020. Investors wishing to participate in any sale should contact the Company's brokers, J.P. Morgan Cazenove. Company website: www.bhmacro.com Enquiries: J.P. Morgan Cazenove Tel: +44 (0)207 742 8805 Email: charlotte.r.crowe@jpmorgan.com Northern Trust International Fund Administration Services (Guernsey) Limited Tel: +44 (0) 1481 745001 A man who jumped the Canadian border while fleeing from police in the United States has been sentenced to a little more than two months of time served. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 22/4/2020 (630 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Advertisement Advertise With Us A man who jumped the Canadian border while fleeing from police in the United States has been sentenced to a little more than two months of time served. Karmen Redshirt, 36, pleaded guilty in Brandon provincial court earlier this month to failing to present himself at the customs border contrary to the Customs Act, as well as failing to report goods. Redshirt will be deported back to the United States, where he is also facing outstanding warrants in multiple states. On Feb. 28, Canadian Border Services at the Boissevain point of entry were notified by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection that police were in pursuit of a vehicle heading northbound from Dunseith, N.D., according to a statement of facts. Police tried to pull the truck over for a broken headlight and tail light, but the driver failed to stop and continued for more than 160 kilometres, despite two tires being destroyed after officers deployed a spike belt. Border Services officers repositioned the port of entry across the primary lane, creating a barrier in an effort to direct the truck to stop under the primary inspection canopy, the statement of facts said. However, the truck drove up at full highway speed, hitting a stop sign before blowing through the U.S. port of entry without slowing down. Two left-side tires on the truck were missing, and the truck continued into Canada in a cloud of smoke and sparks. RCMP were notified and found the truck pulled to the shoulder of the highway several kilometres away with two suspects in the backseat. Redshirt was identified as the driver, and a search of the vehicle turned up a set of brass knuckles. Redshirt and a woman who was in the passenger seat told officers they were held at gunpoint by a third person in the truck, who had taken off on foot. RCMP called in the K9 unit, but it was determined that a third suspect did not exist. Redshirt told police he didnt know where he was going and didnt know he had entered Canada, according to the statement. When officers asked him how he didnt know he entered Canada when he drove by the Canadian flag, Redshirt told them he "didnt know Canada had its own flag." The passenger, however, told police when she saw the stop sign and the Canadian border she yelled at Redshirt to stop as she did not want to go into Canada, but Redshirt told her to "shut up." The woman had asked Redshirt for a ride home when the police pursuit occurred, she said, and Redshirt refused to stop despite her pleas for him to let her out. She told police she considered jumping and rolling out of the moving vehicle, but was afraid she would be run over by the numerous police cars that were chasing them. Redshirt has been in custody ever since, totalling 63 days after a credit for pre-sentence custody. Crown attorney Matthew Sinclair told the court deterrence and denunciation was paramount in the circumstances of the case, which were extremely aggravating. "To protect Canadians, those who cross our borders must be screened Mr. Redshirt disregarded this process," Sinclair said, recommending a sentence of six months in jail. Defence lawyer Andrew Synyshyn argued a sentence of time served would be more appropriate, given the extreme circumstances of COVID-19 and the fact a longer sentence would mean a longer deportation hold. "With all due respect, we appreciate Mr. Redshirt visiting us, but I think I speak for everyone when I say it would be time for Mr. Redshirt to return home as quickly as possible," Synyshyn said. "He entered this country illegally and he should be removed." Synyshyn also noted Redshirt wasnt smuggling goods or people over the border and that it was a fairly unsophisticated and spontaneous offence. "Sorry about everything I did, I didnt plan it," Redshirt told the court through video. "Im facing prosecution in multiple states thats why I was trying to get away. I wasnt trying to hurt nobody." Judge John Combs said a sentence of time served 63 days was appropriate in the circumstances, noting Redshirt will be facing further charges when he returns to the United States. "The most serious and egregious part of your conduct occurred in the United States. You just ended up in this country. So I assume the most significant penalty for your behaviour that night is going to occur in the United States," Combs said. "The aspect of the Canadian incident that causes concern is that you fabricated a story that resulted in the police spending a lot of time looking for someone who didnt exist. Thats unfortunate that you decided to do that, Mr. Redshirt." edebooy@brandonsun.com Twitter: @erindebooy Sir Richard Branson issued a message to Virgin Australia staff on Instagram Sir Richard Branson's message to Virgin Australia staff has been slammed after the embattled airline collapsed. The airline, which was struggling before the COVID-19 pandemic restricted cashflows, went into voluntary administration on Tuesday with $5.3billion debts. Sir Richard sent a message of encouragement to the airline's 10,000 workers on Instagram. Sir Richard, who is worth AU$6.8 billion and co-founded Virgin Australia in 2000, said he was proud of all of his staff who had worked with the airline for 20 years 'to make people's lives better'. 'Virgin Australia has captured the hearts of all Australians. That is down to all of you past and present. You made it the best airline to fly within Australia,' he said. While many were uplifted by Sir Richard's words of praise, others were not impressed when he took aim at the Australian government for failing to use taxpayer money to bail the airline out of debt. The empty Virgin Australia boarding gates at Sydney Domestic Airport, in Sydney, Tuesday, April 21 after the company announced it would go into voluntary administration 'In most countries, federal governments have stepped in, in this unprecedented crisis for aviation, to help their airlines. Sadly, that has not happened in Australia,' he said. Viewers were quick to respond. 'So a billionaire would like the Australian government (the Australian taxpayer) to financially support this company?' one person asked. 'It's not the taxpayers of Australia's concern to pay your bills. How come you didn't have insurance?' another user wrote. 'Seriously? Criticising a government for not supporting your airline when you have the personal wealth to fund it ten times over?' Viewers were not impressed when he took aim at the Australian government for failing to use taxpayer money to bail the airline out of debt Despite Sir Richard's claims, the Australian government provided a $715million support package for Qantas, Virgin Australia and regional airlines hit by the COVID-19 crisis in March. Two weeks after the cash injection, Virgin Australia CEO Paul Scurrah asked the government for a $1.4billion loan. The request was quickly refused as government officials said it was not their job to bail out specific businesses. In the Instagram video, Sir Richard went on to warn major competitor Qantas that Virgin Australia would somehow crawl out of administration. Virgin Australia employees are seen at Sydney Airport, in Sydney, Tuesday, April 21 after the company announced it would go into administration Virgin Australia employee Tony Smith (centre) speaks to reporters at Melbourne Airport on Monday as the company battles to stay afloat 'I want to assure all of you, and our competitor, that we are determined to see Virgin Australia back up and running soon,' he said. 'We will work with Virgin Australia's administrators and management team with investors and with government to make this happen and create a stronger business.' It was believed in March that the airline only had enough cash reserves to last three months during the pandemic. Qantas had enough for 11 months. Virgin Australia could be allowed to crash out of the market and replaced by Air New Zealand Tom Youl, an aviation analyst from IBISWorld, previously told Daily Mail Australia the government wants two strong airlines running in the country. But if Virgin doesn't climb out of administration, the government would ensure another quickly took its place. 'Air New Zealand would be a good choice,' he said. 'They're struggling at the moment like all airlines so the Australian government would have to entice them with money, but it could be that or start a new airline.' The New Zealand government previously said up to NZ$900 million (AU$890 million) could be loaned to the airline over the next two years as a result of the global pandemic. British budget carrier Ryanair would be a strong contender, according to the The Australian Financial Review. Mr Youl agreed, but said introducing another budget airline into the Australian market would give Qantas control over the corporate market as the nation's only full-service airline. 'Virgin and Qantas were in competition with each other which kept costs lower. 'Budget carriers offer a service to people who don't care about all the extras full-service airlines like Qantas provide. If another budget carrier came in, there wouldn't be much competition.' Advertisement Sir Richard Branson also tweeted: 'This is not the end of Virgin Australia. I believe in a new beginning' Sir Richard, who is battling to save his UK business Virgin Atlantic, owns ten per cent of Virgin Australia. He has asked for a $500million (AUD$1 billion) loan from the UK government and offered his his own private Caribbean island of Necker - estimated by Forbes to be worth 80m (AUD$160m) - as collateral. Virgin Australia will be managed by Deloitte accountants while it restructures and looks for a buyer. Administrator Vaughan Strawbridge said there were no plans for redundancies and that workers will still be paid their wages, including those on the government's JobKeeper scheme. Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson is a 10 per cent owner of Virgin Australia. He has offered to mortgage an island he owns to help save the company Virgin Australia employees watch on as Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese addresses media at Sydney Airport, in Sydney, Tuesday, April 21 Raising hopes that the airline will be bought quickly, he said there were 'in excess of ten companies with a keen interest in being part of the restructuring'. Private equity firm BGH Capital is thought to be among them. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said today that voluntary administration represented an 'opportunity' for Virgin to strengthen. Other Australian companies such as Network Ten have successfully navigated administration, he added. Referring to the 2002 collapse of Aussie airline group Ansett, he said: 'This is not liquidation. This is not Ansett. This is not the end of the airline.' He said a bail-out was never on the cards, adding: 'The Government was not going to bail out five large foreign shareholders with deep pockets who, together, own 90 per cent of this airline.' Singapore Airlines, Etihad Airways and Chinese conglomerates HNA Group and Hanshan own 20 per cent each of Virgin Australia. Business organizations are urging governments to quickly come up with a plan to ensure businesses can make their next rent payments on May 1. Advocates say a welcome first step came last week when the federal government announced the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance program for small businesses struggling to pay the rent due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the government of Canadas website, the program will provide loans and/or forgivable loans to commercial property owners who in turn lower or agree to forgo the rent for April (retroactively), May and June. But the program will require provincial co-operation and the details will need to be made available very soon, business organizations say. People are making some of the toughest decisions of their lives and they need clarity, said Rocco Rossi, president and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. There have also been calls from groups including the OCC to provide grants to businesses to help with their rental obligations. Some have called on the provincial government to adopt a plan similar to what the Ontario NDP has proposed: a 75 per cent rent subsidy (up to $10,000) for three months to small- and medium-sized businesses, as well as charities and non-profits. The calls come amid a new survey showing 61 per cent of Toronto small businesses will close within three months unless further rent relief programs are implemented. Five hundred and sixty-one businesses and 137 landlords took part in the survey, which was developed by the Broadview Danforth Business Improvement Area. Its overwhelming that rent is a really big part of expenses, said BIA board member Philip Kocev. The ultimate test for any rent relief program will be whether it helps hard-hit businesses survive, said Laura Jones, executive vice-president and chief strategic officer of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. Its got to be simple and deliver. And its got to be relief. It cant be more deferrals, she said. If theres nothing in place by May 1 it will be a nightmare on Main Street. A CFIB survey of its members across the country found strong support this week for the federal governments announcement, with 91 per cent saying that for rent assistance to be meaningful it must include grants or rent forgiveness, and not just loans and deferrals. The survey also found 58 per cent of businesses said they would not be able to pay May rent in full without further assistance, up from 25 per cent for April. Some commercial property owners recognize that their long-term economic interests are tied to their tenants survival and they would likely be open to lowering the rent in exchange for federal assistance, said Karl Littler, senior vice-president of public affairs at the Retail Council of Canada. There would also have to be a commitment from the landlord not to try to recoup the forgone portion of the rent later, he said. And while commercial tenants could still technically be evicted for failing to pay their rent, Littler said that isnt too much of a concern at the moment. What is the landlord going to do? Rent to a new tenant? Which is who? he said. I think a lot of the threats are more bluster than reality right now. With files from Rosa Saba Federal Judge says Kansas Churches can hold worship services despite 10 person gathering Limit. People are known to be following social distancing protocol during quarantine. Yet, a federal judge decided this week that Kansas churches may hold worship services despite an executive order prohibiting gatherings of more than 10 people. Christians try to prove out that church gatherings are more important than other activities that are going around in the world such as shopping malls in Kansas. The States' ban didn't provide an exemption for religious groups, even though it explicitly allowed bars and restaurants to stay open if they take social distancing measures. Shopping malls and libraries were also allowed to remain open. The social distancing policy was overly broad and treated the churches differently than secular activity. Broomes said in his ruling that churches were likely to prevail on the claim that prohibiting in person services violated their religious freedom. "Plaintiffs have made a substantial showing that development of the current restriction on religious activities shows religious activities were specifically targeted for more onerous restrictions than comparable secular activities," he said. A hearing is scheduled for Thursday as the churches are now hoping to request an injunction to the order. Kansas Governor, Laura Kelly approved an executive order banning gatherings of over 10 people, including religious services. With the temporary restraining order in place, churches are held together upon their request. "The decision came after Pastor Stephen Ormord of First Baptist Church of Dodge City and Pastor Aaron Harris of Calvary Baptist Church of Junction City filed a complaint against the executive order." [April 22, 2020] Artificial Intelligence from Epic Triggers Fast, Lifesaving Care for COVID-19 Patients VERONA, Wis., April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- One of the most challenging things about COVID-19 for healthcare providers is how quickly some cases of the disease become life-threatening. A predictive model from Epic, the company that supports the comprehensive health records of 250 million people, is helping doctors intervene with life-saving care before hospitalized patients deteriorate. "This is helping save lives. The model predicts which patients are getting worse and will need more care. It shows us if things are changing rapidly," said Dr. Daniel David, Clinical Professor of Medicine at Confluence Health, an integrated healthcare organization serving North Central Washington. Hundreds of hospitals are using the predictive model. It evaluates patients' risk of getting sicker in real time by tracking thousands of pieces of data generated by heart rate, blood pressure, teperature, and other monitors. The model helps clinicians by rapidly analyzing data from these sources and notifying staff if things are getting worse. Notifications are displayed on screen, included in reporting dashboards, or pushed out to clinicians' smartphones. "Frontline healthcare workers are busy caring for patients. By keeping a watchful eye, the system helps clinicians direct their attention to patients who need it most," said Seth Hain, Epic data scientist and Senior Vice President of Research and Development. Epic has enlisted research organizations like Stanford Health Care to validate the model for COVID-19. Many organizations, such as Confluence Health, have completed validation and are already using it for these patients. The predictive model is one of many analytics tools Epic and its customers are bringing to the fight against COVID-19. Another tool, SlicerDicer allows doctors to combine and sort through data in different ways. For example, if a doctor suspects that there is a COVID-19 hotspot in her community, she can verify it by using the system to cross-reference positive tests with patient ZIP Codes. She can then alert public health officials. Epic is also working with its customers to find an easy way to get the right data to public health officials in order to help them understand and limit the spread of the pandemic. Epic puts patients at the heart of everything we do by helping people get well and stay well. Visit www.epic.com/about. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/artificial-intelligence-from-epic-triggers-fast-lifesaving-care-for-covid-19-patients-301044986.html SOURCE APCO Worldwide/Epic [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] ANN ARBOR, MI His family knew Ray Gullett was healthy for his age he was 89 the first time he ever had an IV put in. Thats why they were shocked to learn Gullett, now 90, had come down with COVID-19 in late March. He wasnt a frequent flyer in the hospital, his daughter, Shawn Gullett-Naylor, said. It all started when the nonagenarian fell in his Ann Arbor home three weeks ago and paramedics took Gullett to University of Michigan Hospital when they realized his blood-oxygen level was low, Gullett-Naylor said. He later tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. It was a huge surprise because, beyond Gullett being generally healthy, the family was following public health guidelines, including wearing masks and keeping a distance when checking on Gullett, who lives independently, she said. Were a very close family, but we also thought we were doing everything right, Gullett-Naylor said. Were a pretty health family but, man, this hit us out of nowhere. Gullett spent two weeks in the hospitals special ICU dedicated to COVID-19 patients where he was treated with oxygen while he waited out the disease. The last week of his hospital stay was in a step-down unit with physical and respiratory therapy, before finally being released on Sunday, April 19, Gullett-Naylor said. Gullett never went on a ventilator. The worst part of the infection, he said, was the fatigue -- and the loneliness. Visitors arent allowed in hospitals, and healthcare workers cant linger to talk to patients. Instead they come in the room in personal protection equipment to give a patient medical attention and to drop off meals before exiting the room to avoid prolonged exposure to the viral disease, Gullett said. Its not a good feeling, he said. You feel bad anyway, and then they put you in a bed laying back for 15 days or so. (You) never take a step, gotta learn to walk again and everything. Its a bad feeling. Gullett didnt know five other people in his family tested positive for the virus during his hospital stay. Gullett-Naylor said they kept it a secret while he was healing, but she and her sister-in-law were also hospitalized and discharged for the disease during that time. Wednesday, April 22: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan Gullett was a pipefitter, welder and member of the UA Local 190, a local union of plumbers, pipefitters, gas distributors and HVAC professionals, before his retirement. He was in the U.S. Army during the Korean War and worked on the Alaskan Pipeline, his daughter said. Still, Gullett thought the illness was one of the toughest things hes experienced because of how much energy it takes to fight it. As an elderly person with a chronic health condition that affects his lungs, his family was worried about how badly COVID-19 could affect Gullett. But he tried not to worry too much, he said. Its just the best thing you can do, Gullett said. You cant try to let things stick in your mind that you know you cant do something about. There were some positive moments that helped turn Gulletts mood. One of his nurses knew how much he loves pineapple juice and brought in two eight-pack cans to the floors fridge on her day off. Things like that get you through, Gullett-Naylor said. His family thinks his recovery is a testament to his overall health, CBD oil use and a strongly positive attitude. Now, they look forward to the day when the whole family can be together again either driving his 2002 Ford Thunderbird convertible or sitting on his sun porch, drinking a $5 bottle of red wine. This is my dad, Gullett-Naylor said. Everybody that knows him knows that he says this, that you can do anything if you put your mind to it. And we all think -- even Dad -- his will just kicked in at some point and said, Im getting out of here no matter what. MORE FROM THE ANN ARBOR NEWS: I thought that was gonna be the end. Man with transplanted lungs among Michigans first coronavirus patients How to treat COVID-19? Michigan doctors say protocols change day by day, week by week MLives Vice President of Content, John Hiner, comes to you with an important message Ann Arbors recovery from coronavirus will be a marathon, city predicts huge revenue losses Sukhina Marina Protests against social distancing and stay-at-home guidelines in states across the country have become fertile ground for anti-vaccine activists, foreshadowing future showdowns over government-led efforts to help bring an end to the coronavirus pandemic. Del Bigtree, a notorious anti-vaccination activist before the emergence of COVID-19, attended a reopening rally in Austin last weekend to find out why the protesters were showing up. Bigtree told The Daily Beast that he saw a lot of overlap between anti-vaccine activists who distrust vaccines and the rally-goers, who were complaining that the public health policies put in place by state governments are unconstitutional and draconian relative to the health crisis at hand. I think the science is falling apart, Bigtree said, citing models he called a disaster. On April 17, Bigtree featured Wendy Darling, founder of anti-stay-at-home-order group Michigan United for Liberty and an attendee of one of the Michigan protests, on his online show The High Wire, which usually dedicates programming to questioning health professionals and settled science. Asked by Bigtree whether the demonstrations showed that at least some Michiganders are not afraid of dying from the coronavirus, Darling said: In our group, in particular, we've got thousands of people in Michigan United for Liberty and the consensus there is, you know, we are not. We're more afraid of the government than we are of the virus at this point. Trump Calls Rule-Breaking Coronavirus Protesters Very Responsible People Bigtree isnt the only drawing connections between the anti-vaccine movementwhich advocates for the fallacious notion that vaccines cause autism or other ailmentsand the movements against the stay-at-home orders. Anti-vaccine activists have pushed a hashtag calling for President Donald Trump to fire the governments top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Faucia message that evolved into a Fire Fauci chant at the Texas rally Bigtree attended. Some participants in the reopening rallies have also adopted I Do Not Consent as their go-to sign formulation, which is the same language thats become a popular phrase for anti-vaccination activists. Story continues Thats one of their biggest slogans, said Amy Pisani, the executive director of pro-vaccine group Vaccinate Your Family. The predominantly right-wing activists calling for states to reopen businesses amid the pandemic have also criticized vaccines in their online communities. On Michiganders Against Excessive Quarantine, a Facebook group with more than 350,000 members that has become a hotbed for anti-social distancing protests in the state, thousands of members said they wouldnt take any future vaccine. Some posters pushed conspiracy theories that the vaccine would be the mark of the Beast or a tracking device used by billionaire Bill Gates. A user in Reopen Missouri, another Facebook group devoted to rapidly reopening businesses, made a popular post that included a vow to never take any future coronavirus vaccine. I refuse to receive said vaccine to make others feel more safe, it read. I wont set myselfor my childrenon fire to keep you warm. Facebook Axed Pro-Vaccine Ads, Let Anti-Vaxxer Conspiracies Slip Through The possibility of anti-vaccine advocates gaining a foothold in the protests against public safety laws could portend even dicier problems for government agencies ahead. Health officials have said that a vaccine for coronavirus is one of, if not the, surest ways to emerge through the crisis and return to a semblance of social normalcy. But that depends on wide-scale cultural acceptance of the vaccinationwhich optimistically could be 18 months away from productionand the coronavirus pandemic has drawn more online interest to anti-vaccine causes. Jackie Schlegal, the founder of well-funded anti-vaccine group Texans for Vaccine Choice, claims that her group has received an overwhelming influx of support and a load of traffic from people concerned about coronavirus vaccine exemptions. The anti-vaccine language used by the reopening activists marks the latest confluence between anti-vaccine activists and anti-government groups, who have teamed up in the past to fight vaccine mandates, according to Pisani. Its not new that these libertarians and ultra-anti-government individuals have been working together with anti-vaccine activists in recent years, she said. Much of the rhetoric at the reopening rallies mirrors the language of anti-vaccine activists, according to Professor Jennifer Reich, a University of Colorado Denver sociologist who has studied why parents dont vaccinate their children. According to Reichs research, the rise in non-vaccinations among children has come as a result of two trends: pressure on parents to research every detail of the choices available to their children; and the idea that individuals, not public health experts or doctors, are best positioned to handle their own health decisions. Weve perfectly set the stage for parents not to trust vaccines, Reich said. Now those same trends are coming into focus during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Reich. Just as anti-vaccine parents claim they can best handle the decision to vaccinate their children, anti-social distancing protesters have vowed to judge the risks of walking around in public, not wearing masks, or not taking any vaccine themselves. A lot of their rhetoric is really about individual self management, and that they want to be in control of mitigating their own risk, Reich said of the rally goers. Reich fears that the demands for public health officials to move expeditiously in finding a solution to coronavirus could only feed skepticism of vaccines, as the skeptics will point to shortened clinical trials to cast doubt about its safety or efficacy. Already anti-vaccine activists like Bigtree are questioning the coronavirus vaccine process. Its going to affirm the worst fears of those who already distrust the vaccine system, Reich said. For Pisani, the head of the pro-vaccine group, the coronavirus pandemic represents a crucial point for the ongoing fight pitting pro-vaccine forces and health experts against anti-vaccine groups. The pandemic could ramp up skepticism about government health advice, giving anti-vaccine activists a broader platform. But at the same time, the general public has never been so interested in vaccines and virology in recent memory, or more desperate for a vaccine. I just cant understand if they had an elderly family member and there was a vaccine they wouldnt want to give the vaccine to that person? Pisani said. Its unbelievable. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Slate is making its coronavirus coverage free for all readers. Subscribe to support our journalism. Start your free trial. Of all the great number of things that we want right now and cannot have, Id wager that perhaps the tip top of the list is: information. There is an enormous gap between what we want to know about the coronavirushow long will it last, how do we best treat it, how do we avoid getting it, what do we do if we start to feel sick, when do you know to go to the hospitaland what we actually know. That lack of information, coupled with a big dollop of fear, makes anything that seems to tell you how to survive the virus extremely tantalizing. Advertisement On Monday, the New York Times published an opinion piece from a lung specialist about what makes the virus so dangerous and what could be done to make it less so. Its author, Richard Levitan, left the relative safety of New Hampshire to spend 10 days treating patients at the epicenter of the outbreak in New York City and learning what he could about fighting the virus. During that time, his lung-expert brain noticed something odd: Many of the patients who had serious cases did not seem as visibly distressed as doctors would expect, even as their lungs were being compromised and their oxygen levels decimated. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As Levitan writes: A vast majority of Covid pneumonia patients I met had remarkably low oxygen saturations at triageseemingly incompatible with lifebut they were using their cellphones as we put them on monitors. Although breathing fast, they had relatively minimal apparent distress, despite dangerously low oxygen levels and terrible pneumonia on chest X-rays. Advertisement Advertisement Levitans piece outlines the scary consequences of the body being low on oxygen but not feeling like it is low on oxygen. He writes that because these patients often feel relatively OK, they arent getting treated soon enough. As a result, their lungs experience greater damage, and patients require more invasive and intensive care, often paired with lower likelihood of survival. This is a scary thing to learn during a pandemic in which the common wisdom has become that anyone who can should stay home for as long as they are able, so as to not overwhelm hospitals. Luckily, Levitan also has a potential remedy to this problem: There is a way we could identify more patients who have Covid pneumonia sooner and treat them more effectivelyand it would not require waiting for a coronavirus test at a hospital or doctors office. It requires detecting silent hypoxia early through a common medical device that can be purchased without a prescription at most pharmacies: a pulse oximeter. Advertisement Advertisement A pulse oximeter is a little device that, when clipped to your finger, can give you a read out of your oxygen level. (For most healthy people, oxygen levels are between 94 and 100 percent when awake, with doctors getting concerned when they drop below 90 percent. Levitan writes that in his NYC hospital, he treated COVID patients with oxygen levels as low as 50 percent.) Perhaps pulse oximeters were available for purchase without a prescription at most pharmacies when Levitan was drafting his piece. But since its publication, theyve become mighty hard to findthey were sold out at most pharmacies when I checked on Tuesday afternoon, and on Amazon, the ones that are actually well-reviewed were sold out, too. (The ones that are not well-reviewed are likely not approved by the Food and Drug Administration and, according to this study, are not worth your time.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Getting the word out about how useful these devices might be means that for now, they have disappeared from most peoples grasp. Levitans piece was not the first time pulse oximeters have been brought up as being useful for people dealing with COVID-19. Jessica Lustig, a deputy editor at the New York Times Magazine, mentioned the device in her viral March essay about nursing her husband through the illness at home. (Hers was brought by a friend from the drugstore on the doctors advice.) After recovering from COVID-19, Bravos Andy Cohen also recommended them in March, as an essential tool for anyone worried about the virus. And as Quartz reported in early April, interest in oximeters has been high ever since the first case of the coronavirus was reported in the U.S. way back in Januarydemand spiked by more than 500 percent that week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Levitans piece is more direct about their utility. He concludes by arguing that everyone who has a cough and feverwhether theyve tested positive, negative, or not at allshould monitor themselves with these devices for two weeks. The recommendation has added allure by virtue of coming from a doctor and, even more than that, from a lung expert. It feels almost nuts, after finishing the piece, not to think about procuring a pulse oximeter as quickly as possiblehe makes it sound like these tools might be a short cut in helping us figure out a better way to triage our overwhelmed hospitals. And yet, in a cruel twist, Levitan getting the word out about how useful these devices might be means that for now, they have disappeared from most peoples grasp. Advertisement As someone who has not yet purchased a pulse oximeter myself, I was curious about how hard I should work to try to acquire one. I was also curious about what the rush on them might mean. Is this another N95 mask situation, where the public wising up to the supposed utility of something ends up shuffling them away from the people who need them most? I emailed Levitan to ask, and his reply was reassuring: Theres no competition between hospitals and home devices; we use different ones that are a lot more expensive, plug into cardiac monitors, etc., he wrote me. His further comments make clear that his advice is a long-term suggestion, not an immediate one: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This pandemic is likely not going away this winter maybe something we are battling for several yearspulse oximeters should be like a thermometer in your house; valuable information you contact your physician about to make a decision about need for evaluation and treatment. This makes sense to me. In Levitans Times piece, he doesnt purport to offer specific advice on what to do with the information your oximeter tells youtheres no percentage reading he offers as the number at which you should register your alarm, or decide to call your doctor when you otherwise wouldnt have. Thats because doctors still need to figure that out. Which means that even if you have COVID-19 and a pulse oximeter, youll still need to talk to your doctor about how to use it. In other words, its still the doctor, not the pulse oximeter, thats going to get you through this. Advertisement I also asked Jeremy Faust, an emergency doctor and Slate contributor, what he thought of the piece and the run on pulse oximeters. He said: All medical devices provide information that is not so easy to interpret. I see this every time someone in my family wants me to look at the results of their routine blood work. They see all of these alert and abnormal values, and theyre worried. But theyre mostly meaningless. The same can be said about devices that measure our physiology. For every questionable story of some smartwatch catching some abnormal heart rhythm, there are untold numbers of false alarms, leading to unnecessary doctors office and ER visits. Pulse oximeters might be a great tool for COVID-19. But only if youve been diagnosed, or really think you have it. Even then, a low oxygen reading might be meaningful or meaningless. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In other words, like so much else, the possible role of pulse oximeters is still unclearincluding how exactly doctors can use them to better serve patients, and then how doctors can help individuals at home use them. Which meansif you have a pulse oximeter, great. If you dont right now, thats also finecalling your doctor if youre sick will still be your first line of defense. It seems likely that over the next few years, theyll become household items. But that doesnt mean its the essential tool that will ensure you get through this. It just means that like everything else, were still figuring it out. For more coverage of COVID-19, listen to Wednesdays What Next. Phoenix Crawford does school work on a laptop while his mum Donna Eddy, a massage therapist and acupuncturist, replies to client emails in Sydney, Australia on April 09, 2020. (Brendon Thorne/Getty Images) Survey: Remote Working Could Become Norm for Many Australians As Australians adapt to the new reality of the CCP virus pandemic, more and more businesses and organisations are directing or encouraging their staff to work from home. While the shift started as a contingent response, a new survey suggests that remote working is likely to become norm for most Australian workers in a post-pandemic era. Yet, there are challenges to overcome for both employers and employees. The new Workforce Confidence Index, the first of its kind released by professional networking platform LinkedIn, reveals changing sentiments to finances, workplaces, and job opportunities among Australian professionals in the pandemic context, induced by CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus. The biweekly snapshot, based on a poll of 1,099 members across Australia during the period from April 1 to 7, shows that the Australian workplace is moving into a remote work era. Among those polled, 66 percent say they are provided with the opportunity to work from home, and a similar number, 63 percent are confident this will continue. However, fewer than half of respondents believe they are being offered support for their emotional wellbeing, and, just 15 percent of those say they are taking advantage of the support on offer. According to the survey, the transformation is taking place amidst an unfolding economic downturn, coupled with low confidence in job securities, and the reluctance to spend among professional workers. Matt Tindale, managing director of LinkedIn Australia, urges employers to lend their staff more support in a time of uncertainty with a lot of job displacement. Everyone is going through this situation slightly differently, and so employers need to be empathetic to that and conscious of it, he told the Epoch Times in an email. A Trend in its Fledging Stage Robin Price, a lecturer in employment relations and human resources at Central Queensland University, embraces the trend, saying remote working will continue for those who can make it. She said the unexpected move prompted by the pandemic had taught employers that working from home is feasible and desirable. On top of cost-saving benefits, it has addressed a significant concern holding them back. From an employers perspective, you also realise that it is possible to monitor how much employees do and how they perform. Employers had not done it previously because they didnt trust their workforce to perform, she told Epoch Times. For employees, remote working not only saves transport expenses, time, and stress, it also offers the flexibility valued by most. However, it can be difficult for those with care responsibilities, no separate working space, or without decent internet. Staff health and safety, including emotional wellbeing, can also become significant issues. Price said that employers are obliged to take proactive steps to ensure a safe work environment even at home for their staff. Employers retain the same legal responsibilities for their workers health and safety regardless of where their workers work, so they need to develop systems to ensure they are safe, she said. She added that doing so also serves the interest of employers since it will help protect the employer from claims for work-related injuries. For employees, the challenges of working from home mostly relate to emotional wellness and financial compensation. Price encourages remote workers to be more aware of maintaining motivation and social networks as it is essential to their sanity and career development. In the meantime, she advises: [Make] sure you are paid for all the work you do and reimbursed for expenses. Industries Leading the Way Looking forward, Price said governments need to do more to ensure a solid and speedy internet infrastructure nationwide, especially for regional areas. On the business level, the way businesses deliver their services will be one of the key factors driving the transition. Industries that do not require face-to-face contact to serve their customers, and those that can use technology to serve their customers upon request, will be major beneficiaries of remote working. Online retail, media, education, financial services, and administration services are cited as good examples. The economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which is expected to stretch beyond a single quarter (April-June 2020), has forced about 29% of over 3,550 companies surveyed to defer or cancel their investment plans, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) said. More than half of the respondents found governments measures not much effective for the industry, the survey, jointly conducted by Assocham and consultancy firm Primus Partners, said. While 11.5% companies found governments measures very effective for the industry, 34% found them somewhat effective. For 27.5% of respondent there was no effect of governments measures, while other respondents clubbed them in the ineffective category, according to the survey. Commenting on the survey, Nilaya Varma, co-founder of Primus Partners said there is need for the government to spell out a clear message and a plan that is focused on the industry, not just small but large as well. Large industries in some sense suffering even more not just have to pay for the employees with no production but also disruption of supply chain and most importantly lack of demand across the world, he said. What we really need is an economic stimulus package that is focussed on sector, sector reforms and direct working capital support to the companies that is immediate. This will provide the confidence to the Indian Industry to continue with its capital investment and expansion plans which in turn will aid a sharp recovery, Varma said. Industry associations have been demanding an economic stimulus package ranging between Rs 10 lakh crore and Rs 16 lakh crore. Since the lockdown, the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have announced several measures to provide relief to the poor and infuse liquidity in the system. On March 26, the Union finance minister announced a welfare package of Rs 1.7 lakh crore providing food and cash to the poor. The RBI has so far announced two sets of measures, reducing the policy rate to 4.4%, pushing banks to lend more, providing Rs 4.74 lakh crore of liquidity, and easing bad loan norms to ensure the books of banks arent awash in red. The survey said that restrictions on the movement of people and goods have impacted workforce capacity and disrupted supply chain, bringing economic activity almost to a standstill. While most respondents dont expect their industry to recover soon, they are also not confident of the effectiveness of measures to support their industry-specific challenges at the state level, it said. The survey covered companies across different sectors, including manufacturing, infrastructure and services encompassing all segments -- small, medium and large firms. It found that the lack of working capital is the biggest worry of the industry (33%), while payment of salaries with output loss was the second biggest pressure point for the 27% of the respondents. When it comes to business revenue, over 78% of the respondents said the impact in the April-June quarter would be the maximum, while it would stretch to the subsequent quarter as well, the survey said. As many as 79% of the respondents said the economic impact of the Covid-19 will extend beyond a single quarter and the biggest challenge would be the supply chain, from raw material to intermediates to finished goods and transportation to the consumer destination. On the manpower issue, the survey found that 36% of the respondents would not change the existing headcounts as they would like to retain the human resource to restart the venture when the economy reopens. However, 26% respondents felt the need to reduce the manpower more than 20% of the payroll because of the current crisis. Assocham secretary general Deepak Sood expects lockdown to ease after May 3, but the industry will face a long haul of challenges till the world finds a medical solution to the coronavirus pandemic. It goes to the credit of both employers and employees that we have so far avoided displacement of workforce. Companies are resorting to pragmatic solutions like reducing manpower costs and retaining the head count, while employees are responding well to the fast developing situation being among the most important business stakeholders, he said. By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 22, 2020 | 03:04 PM | MCCRACKEN COUNTY Troopers with the Kentucky State Police are currently searching for 30-year-old Demario T. Daniels of Paducah. Daniels escaped from the McCracken County Jail, and was last seen on Sunday, April 19. Daniels is believed to still be in the Paducah area. He is black, five feet nine inches tall, and weighs approximately 165 pounds. Anyone with information on Daniels' whereabouts is asked to contact the Kentucky State Police Post 1 at 270-856-3721, or anonymously 1-800-222-5555. Tips can also be reported anonymously through the KSP app. The Kentucky State Police are asking for the public's assistance with locating an escaped inmate. PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc chaired the ASEAN Special High-level Video Conference on Responding to COVID-19 The current global health crisis is preventing people from travelling anywhere and meeting others. However, fortunately it cannot prevent them from discussing ideas and even making deals via online meetings. On April 14, for the first time, the online Special ASEAN Summit on COVID-19 and the online Special ASEAN+3 Summit on COVID-19 were held, with the participation of all leaders of the member countries. During the ASEANs development, there has never been such high-level online meetings, even in 2003, when the region faced the SARS pandemic. This makes the meetings meaningful, said Vu Ho, director of the ASEAN Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to Ho, although each country has its own technological background, regulations on cybersecurity, and different time zones, both meetings were greatly successful. This is an immense advance of Vietnams technology. All infrastructure and applications used for the video meeting are made in Vietnam by Viettel. The international IT experts participating in this organisation highly appreciated the quality of the online meetings as well as the technical infrastructure and capacity of the Vietnamese, Ho added. For many years, the digital transformation has been discussed among ASEAN countries. In 2018, the area established the ASEAN Smart Cities Network, and last year, under the chairmanship of Thailand, the Fourth Industrial Revolution became one of the priorities of the ASEAN. The success of online meetings has been a great test for the policies and decisions of the bloc so far on both communication technology and digital life. It is also an impetus for the ASEAN to completely advance into a digital world, Ho said. One day after the ASEAN meetings, an important agreement between Vietnams Ministry of Planning and Investment and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) was signed virtually. Accordingly, the USAID will provide a $42 million budget to advance Vietnams economic competitiveness through strengthening the private sector, innovation, the startup ecosystem, and human capital. The agreement will also foster greater entrepreneurship, enable deeper links between Vietnamese startups and global corporations, and lure in investment capital, as well as strengthen high-quality human capital needed for a robust knowledge-based economy. Meanwhile, FPT Group, one of Vietnams leading tech companies, also impressed the business community by holding its annual general shareholder meeting online thanks to applying AI and an online conferencing system. This effort of FPT ensures the rights and safety of shareholders, depicting its determination to overcome all challenges during this war-like time, said Truong Gia Binh, CEO of FPT. According to Binh, the meeting has passed the business plan for the remainder of this year, in which further investments and project implementations are two of the three major targets. The pandemic is also a driver for the digital revolution. The application of technological achievements to organise meetings such as the shareholders general meeting in the context of the epidemic is a testament to FPTs efforts to ensure our activities, he added. According to him, amid the crisis, FPT is seeking new opportunities and has earned valuable contracts from the global market to further boost local digital transformation. We have just become a service provider for one of the largest car makers in the United States, and signed many contracts with medical equipment manufacturers in Japan, and co-operations with US and Italian companies enable us to foster the digital transformation of one of Vietnams biggest motorbike manufacturers, Binh said. International Data Corporation predicts that next year will be the year of a surge in cloud services, considering that the COVID-19 pandemic represents an important impetus for business flexibility. By 2022, more than 90 per cent of businesses around the world will rely on cloud platforms to have a strong, scalable, and cost-effective IT infrastructure. The demand for digital transformation in recent years has grown rapidly and is likely to rise increasingly after the epidemic ends. A police sub-inspector posted in Agra district died on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway here when his car collided with a neelgai, police said. Vijay Singh (50), a resident of Nandpur village, was going to Kannauj, when the accident took place on Wednesday night, city Superintendent of Police Prabal Pratap Singh said. He was posted at police outpost Nagla Pai under Kotwali police station in Agra. Police reached the spot after getting information of the accident and sent the body for post-mortem, police said. The official's family members were informed of the accident, they said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) This site is not available in your country The Trump administration on Tuesday claimed COVID-19 aid was not meant for large institutions with hefty endowments, with President Donald Trump pressing Harvard University to pay back about $8.6 million in coronavirus stimulus funds. Harvards going to pay back the money, Trump insisted during a White House coronavirus task force news briefing. Trumps push for the Cambridge, Massachusetts, university to refund the federal government came amid questions over the depleted Paycheck Protection Program, which was geared toward helping small businesses stay afloat but wound up dishing out more than $350 million to publicly traded firms and large companies, The Associated Press found. But the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Recovery and Economic Security (CARES) Act also created a $30.7 billion Education Stabilization Fund," nearly half of which was dedicated to public and private colleges. All of the funds issued to Harvard were expected to be given to students for assistance during the COVID-19 public health crisis, a university spokesperson told MassLive. But Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said a number of companies and institutions would be paying back some of the COVID-19 aid. Im not going to mention any others, Trump said. Mnuchin noted he was pleased that Shake Shack, a $1.6 billion burger chain that received a $10 million loan as part of the CARES Acts Paycheck Protection Program, announced Sunday they would return the money. Mnuchin emphasized that the small business program had very broad participation among really small businesses. He said Treasury would issue a Frequently Asked Questions form to clarify the qualifications to receive COVID-19 relief. The intent of this was for businesses that need the money, he said. For people whove invested their entire life savings. He added that companies that received loans they shouldnt have wont face any liability if you pay back the loan right away, but otherwise businesses could face severe consequences. He noted the Paycheck Protection Program has helped 30 million workers keep their jobs amid a pandemic thats shuttered business across the country. Were pleased with the success of this program and how quickly it got up operationally, Mnuchin said, adding that many small and medium-sized banks participated in processing the loans to small businesses. The popular program ran out of funds in just a couple weeks. The Senate on Tuesday evening approved a $484 billion package that included a $310 billion boost to the small business loans. Mnuchin said he anticipated it would be the last influx of cash for the program. Related Content: Clever Leaves Colombia to supply extracted products to Canopy LATAM, Canopy Growths Latin American Subsidiary BOGOTA, Colombia and SMITHS FALLS, Ontario, April 21, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Clever Leaves, a leading multinational operator (MNO) and licensed producer of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis and hemp extracts, and Canopy LATAM Corporation ("Canopy LATAM"), a wholly owned and controlled subsidiary of Canopy Growth Corporation ("Canopy Growth") (TSX:WEED, NYSE:CGC), announce that both parties have entered into a regional supply agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, Clever Leaves will supply Canopy LATAM with extracted products from its GMP-certified, licensed cannabis processing system and cultivation sites in Colombia. Clever Leaves has delivered the first of these products to Canopy Growth under the terms of the one-year agreement, which includes an option to renew for two additional years. With Canopy Growths large-scale capacity and network in Latin America, we expect this agreement to provide Clever Leaves with significant near-term revenue, said Kyle Detwiler, CEO of Clever Leaves. It also validates Colombia as a key source for the future of the cannabinoid supply chain, an important milestone for both Canopy Growth and Clever Leaves. Certified with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) to produce medical cannabis, Clever Leaves is well positioned to supply companies such as Canopy Growth, enhancing their returns on capital invested and enabling greater focus on downstream commercial activities. Clever Leaves has proven its capabilities in Colombia and through this supply agreement, Canopy LATAM is furthering the implementation of its asset-light model and accelerating time to market with regionally produced GMP-certified medical cannabis products, said Antonio Droghetti, Managing Director, Canopy LATAM. This agreement strengthens Canopy LATAMs regional supply chain and demonstrates our continued commitment to working with industry partners to further the growth of Colombia and the LATAM regions medical cannabis industry. Story continues Clever Leaves also recently received in Colombia the quotas to cultivate, extract, and commercialize through exporting high-THC medical cannabis. With this approval, Clever Leaves is permitted to provide psychoactive products to global customers subject to the required import permits being granted, positioning the company to become one of the largest suppliers of medical cannabis globally. About Clever Leaves Clever Leaves is a multi-national cannabis company with a mission to operate in compliance with federal and state laws and with an emphasis on ecologically sustainable, large-scale cultivation and processing as the cornerstones of its global cannabis business. Clever Leaves is a leading vertically integrated producer of medical cannabis and hemp extracts and is currently cultivating over 1.8 million square feet of greenhouses under Good Agricultural and Collection Practices (GACP) in Colombia. Clever Leaves Colombian operation obtained its Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) certification from INVIMA, Colombias food and drug regulatory agency, after inspection of its top-of-the-line extraction facility and is being evaluated for certification under European Good Manufacturing Practices (EU GMP). Clever Leaves first extraction facility is currently capable of extracting 2,400 kilograms of dried flower per month, with expansion underway to increase expected extraction capacity to 9,000 kilograms of dried flower per month by mid-2020. In November 2019, Clever Leaves received authorization from INFARMED I.P., the Portuguese regulatory authority, to start cultivation operations in Portugal. Based on the pre-license received in Portugal, Clever Leaves Portugal is currently cultivating its first medicinal cannabis crop on its 90-hectare farm. Clever Leaves is one of the worlds largest hemp and medical cannabis producers, with a global footprint encompassing brands, extraction facilities, cultivation operations and other investments across Canada, Colombia, Germany, Portugal, and the United States. About Canopy Growth Canopy Growth (TSX:WEED, NYSE:CGC) is a world-leading diversified cannabis, hemp and cannabis device company, offering distinct brands and curated cannabis varieties in dried, oil and Softgel capsule forms, as well as medical devices through Canopy Growths subsidiary, Storz & Bickel GMbH & Co. KG. From product and process innovation to market execution, Canopy Growth is driven by a passion for leadership and a commitment to building a world-class cannabis company one product, site and country at a time. Canopy Growth has operations in over a dozen countries across five continents. Canopy Growths medical division, Spectrum Therapeutics is proudly dedicated to educating healthcare practitioners, conducting robust clinical research, and furthering the publics understanding of cannabis, and has devoted millions of dollars toward cutting edge, commercializable research and IP development. Spectrum Therapeutics sells a range of full-spectrum products using its colour-coded classification Spectrum system as well as single cannabinoid Dronabinol under the brand Bionorica Ethics. Canopy Growth operates retail stores across Canada under its award-winning Tweed and Tokyo Smoke banners. Tweed is a globally recognized cannabis brand which has built a large and loyal following by focusing on quality products and meaningful customer relationships. From our historic public listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange to our continued international expansion, pride in advancing shareholder value through leadership is engrained in all we do at Canopy Growth. Canopy Growth has established partnerships with leading sector names including cannabis icons Snoop Dogg and Seth Rogen, breeding legends DNA Genetics and Green House Seeds, and Fortune 500 alcohol leader Constellation Brands, to name but a few. Canopy Growth operates eleven licensed cannabis production sites with over 10.5 million square feet of production capacity, including over one million square feet of GMP certified production space. For more information visit www.canopygrowth.com Notice Regarding Forward Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of words such as plans, expects or does not expect, is expected, estimates, intends, anticipates or does not anticipate, or believes, or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements or information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Canopy Growth or its subsidiaries to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements or information contained in this news release. Risks, uncertainties and other factors involved with forward-looking information could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including the Companys ability to satisfy provincial sales contracts or provinces purchasing all cannabis allocated to them, and such risks contained in the Companys annual information form dated June 25, 2019 and filed with Canadian securities regulators available on the Companys issuer profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information or forward-looking statements in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake an obligation to publicly update such forward-looking information or forward-looking information to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise unless required by applicable securities laws. Press contacts: McKenna Miller KCSA Strategic Communications +1347-487-6197 mmiller@kcsa.com Diana Siguenza Strategic Communication Director +573102368830 Diana.siguenza@cleverleaves.com As part of the efforts to combat the hunger that has befallen Deltans due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the Sensitization Team of Olorogun David Edevbie has taken food items to the needy living in the nooks and crannies of Ughelli north local government area of the state. The Team delivered palliative items to the door-steps of beneficiaries with a message of hope and solidarity from Olorogun David Edevbie, saying that "Covid-19 would soon be a thing of the past", stressing that beneficiaries should be prayerful and adopt all preventive measures to avoid the spread of the virus as advised by health professionals. He appealed that the measures adopted by government to contain the COVID-19 pandemic should be adhered to in good faith. The Chief of Staff to Delta State Governor, Olorugun Edevbie through his COVID-19 sensitization team has reached out to Deltans via various awareness programs aimed at sensitizing the people on measures to avoid further spread of the virus, to protect their lives & livelihoods. It would be recalled that the Edevbie COVID-19 Sensitization Team has been working in collaboration with the Delta State Smart Agenda policy of His Excellency, Governor Ifeayin Okowa to ensure that Delta State and Nigeria overcome the deadly CoronaVirus disease. Places visited by the Team yesterday 20/4/20 include: Agbarho, Ophori, Ughrughelli, UvwiamaAgbarho, Uvwiamuge Agbarho, Otor-Igwhreko, Ofuoma Ughelli, Egor Street Ughelli, Arho street Ughelli, Igwhenene, Ekuigbo Ughelli, etc The team thanked members of the public who contacted them via the help hotlines to enable the team reach out to the vulnerable. Other members of the public residing within the Ughelli North LGA are advised to reach out to the team via our help lines. From left, senior presidential secretary for policy Kim Sang-jo, Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol and senior presidential secretary for economic affairs Lee Ho-seung speak before an emergency meeting on economic matters at Cheong Wa Dae, Wednesday. Yonhap Gov't urges Samsung, Hyundai, LG, SK, Lotte to retain jobs By Nam Hyun-woo Leaders of Korea's top five conglomerates asked Cheong Wa Dae and the government to assist them with more supportive measures for businesses. Senior presidential secretary for policy Kim Sang-jo on Wednesday had a breakfast meeting with senior executives of Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor, SK, LG and Lotte to discuss what the presidential office and the government could do for industries hit heavily by the COVID-19 pandemic. Samsung Electronics President Lee In-yong, Hyundai Motor President Kong Young-woon, SK Holdings CEO Jang Dong-hyun, LG Group Vice Chairman Kwon Young-soo and Lotte Group Vice Chairman Hwang Kag-gyu attended the meeting in the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Seoul. "The meeting was held to listen to businesses' difficulties and share government policies" regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, a Cheong Wa Dae official said, stressing that listening to businesses' opinions is "routine work for Kim." According to sources, the attendees asked for Cheong Wa Dae and the government to provide comprehensive support across industries, including those related to businesses' liquidity management. "Attendees at the meeting shared their ideas and thoughts on businesses' desperate efforts to secure liquidity," a high-ranking industry official said. "Specifically, they expressed that it was necessary for the government to purchase corporate bonds and to extend other types of short-term financial relief. Also, there have been requests for corporate tax cuts and other indirect support." Their demands are in sync with businesses' calls for the government to act swiftly to offer "sufficient liquidity" on the aviation, automotive, steel, refining, petrochemical and other industries, all of which are considered to be the country's economic backbone in terms of employment and investments. Along with the financial relief, businesses have been requesting the government to possibly loosen restrictions on overseas business travel and ease labor regulations enabling companies to manage their workforce more efficiently through the Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry and respective industry lobby groups. "With China showing some signs of recovery, the attendees expressed their hopes the government could help to normalize logistics and air travel between Korea and China, so businesses can resume operations at their plants in China," another ranking industry official said. According to Samsung Electronics, Wednesday, it sent approximately 200 semiconductor engineers to China in a bid to assist the expansion of the company's semiconductor plant in Xi'an. The Chinese government has barred almost all foreigners' entry into the country, but Samsung Electronics was granted "special" admission through negotiation with local authorities. During the meeting, presidential secretary Kim also explained a planned government relief package, including a 40 trillion won ($32.4 billion) fund for key industries and other policies on helping firms to retain employees. Especially, Kim put emphasis on the top conglomerates' role in overcoming the current economic crisis, such as maintaining job security, according to the sources. Hours after their meeting, President Moon Jae-in held an emergency meeting on economic matters and announced a 40 trillion won relief packae for a job protection scheme worth 10 trillion won to cushion the COVID-19 impact on the country's job market. "The country's backbone industries are under threat, and a growing number of companies are finding it difficult to overcome difficulties with temporary aid," Moon said during the meeting. Italy has been one of the countries hardest hit by the coronavirus outbreak. Thousands of people died because of the pandemic and the health care system could not handle the influx of patients. However, now the country is reportedly seeing a drop in the number of COVID-19 positive cases. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte confirmed lockdown restrictions in the country might be eased starting May 4. Police authorities, meanwhile, continue to ensure citizens do not defy lockdown norms and follow social distancing guidelines, even if it means deploying drones as you will soon see in the following story. Comune di Rimini/Facebook Recently, the Italian police shared a video in which they had to 'hunt down' a man sunbathing alone on a beach. They used drones to spot him, before slapping him with a fine. The police officers reportedly used the flying drone to survey the beach when they found the sunbather lying on the beach alone. The authorities roared into action and closed in on him while quad-bikes. As officers approached him, the man sat on his sunbed, visibly surprised at the officers standing right over him. The video of incident is viral and looks like something right out of a Bond movie. This particular video was reportedly shot in Rimini in Italys Emilia-Romagna region on the east cost. It is one of the most famous seaside resorts in the country and has around 15 kilometers of beaches.The video was shared by City's public relations office, to demonstrate how the police are enforcing the nationwide lockdown rules and even keeping an eye out on covering large areas like parks and beaches using drones and all-terrain vehicles. Comune di Rimini/Facebook According to the Italian Interior Ministry, 17,500 people were reported over the weekend for not complying with social distancing measures that are in place to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. Even though the country is on its way to flatten the curve citizens should not take this time for granted and step out of their houses needlessly. It is important to maintain social distancing protocols even after the lockdown lifts to avoid a second wave of surge in COVID-19 cases. Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE After steadily increasing for more than a month, the number of confirmed new coronavirus cases announced daily across New Mexico has leveled off over the past week or so, based on a rolling average of new infections. And in some counties, including Bernalillo County, the number of new cases has dropped from earlier this month. But state officials say its too early to say whether that means the COVID-19 outbreak might be plateauing and insist social distancing measures cant be relaxed yet. The key fact here is that a flatter curve doesnt mean the state or any specific county is out of the woods it means what people are doing is working and must keep it up, state Human Services Department spokeswoman Jodi McGinnis-Porter told the Journal. She also said the point of a slower infection rate is to make sure hospitals are not overwhelmed by a massive influx of serious COVID-19 cases. But some state lawmakers say the recent case trends show the efforts of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishams administration to slow the spread of the coronavirus have been effective and that its time to start looking ahead. Either the models were wrong, or we did an even better job than we thought we could in minimizing COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations, said Sen. Mark Moores, R-Albuquerque. This is the time for the governor to show leadership about how we slowly reopen the economy, Moores added. Some states have, in recent days, begun announcing plans to gradually lift state-ordered closures if certain criteria are met. For example, in Colorado, Gov. Jared Polis on Monday said that states stay-at-home order will be allowed to expire next week, allowing a gradual reopening of nonessential businesses and permitting elective surgical procedures. Lujan Grisham has not unveiled any such blueprint for New Mexico, though details could be rolled out in the coming days. To date, 65 people have died due to COVID-19 across New Mexico. That figure includes seven additional deaths that were reported Tuesday, including four more elderly residents of an Albuquerque senior living facility that has been a hot spot for infection rates among both residents and staffers alike. In all, at least 15 residents at La Vida Llena have died of complications from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. Meanwhile, as of Tuesday, there were 119 people hospitalized around the state due to serious coronavirus symptoms. There were also 529 individuals designated by the state Department of Health as having recovered from the disease, meaning more than 25% of the 2,072 people who tested positive for the coronavirus have made a full recovery. Encouraging trends New Mexicos seven-day rolling average of new cases was 95.7 cases per day on Tuesday, according to a Journal analysis of data released by the state Department of Health. Confirmed cases of coronavirus around the state had been steadily increasing since the states first case was announced March 11. But since April 13, the rolling average bounced from the mid-90s to the mid-80s and back. And those rates would be declining if McKinley and San Juan counties numbers were not included. Infection clusters on the Navajo Nation have caused case numbers to surge in several northwestern New Mexico counties in recent days and weeks. On Tuesday, 66 of the 103 new confirmed cases announced by state health officials were from McKinley and San Juan counties. Those two counties make up less than 11% of the states overall population, according to 2019 U.S. Census Bureau estimates. Meanwhile, the number of new cases in some of the states larger counties has gone down. In Bernalillo County, there were an average of 18 new coronavirus cases announced per day for a seven-day time period that ended Tuesday. During the previous week, the average number of new cases in the states most populous county had been 23.1 cases per day. Human Services Secretary David Scrase has cited encouraging trends in several counties, including Bernalillo and Santa Fe,with regard to flattening the infection curve. But he and other state officials also say the state has to stay the course largely by staying at home to remain on that trajectory. Its important to note that, in general, what we are seeing in our current numbers reflects peoples behavior from 10 to 14 days ago, the period in which people may be infected and then show symptoms, McGinnis-Porter told the Journal. Higher risk for elderly The coronavirus has been most deadly for older New Mexicans matching the broader trend throughout the world. In New Mexico, more than two-thirds of the coronavirus deaths are adults older than 70, according to a Journal analysis of data released through Tuesday. The remaining one-third are people in their 30s through 60s. Geographically, the fatality rate is highest in the northwestern New Mexico, where an outbreak has hit the Navajo Nation. San Juan County, in the far northwestern part of the state, has endured nearly 14 deaths per 100,000 people a rate well over four times higher than the state overall. The rate in neighboring McKinley County is 8 deaths, and the state average is about three deaths for every 100,000 people. In a recent virtual town hall, Scrase said that any death is devastating but that COVID-19 is particularly tough on families. Its even more devastating when its more sudden or after an illness like this that can proceed so rapidly, he said this week in a town hall aired by New Mexico PBS. KEY HIGHLIGHTS RIL's net debt stands at Rs 1.53 lakh crore RIL has invested nearly Rs 4 lakh crore since 2010 in Jio Final realisation from Facebook-Jio deal will be around Rs 38,000 crore, say experts In the last financial year, RIL's finance costs doubled to Rs 16,495 crore Facebook's Rs 43,574 crore investment is not a giant deal, considering the money spent to create Reliance Jio, but is an important one at a time when coronavirus has destroyed economies and businesses. Reliance Industries (RIL) has invested nearly Rs 4 lakh crore since 2010 to create the Jio digital ecosystem. However, the deal will help chairman Mukesh Ambani to execute his plan to make RIL a net debt free company. After the capital gains and income tax, the final realisation from the deal will be roughly Rs 38,000 crore, according to experts. "It will be almost the same as the investment that RIL made to create the asset, without any premium," a tax expert said. Also read: Facebook-Jio deal: FB investment values Jio Platforms at record Rs 4.6 lakh crore; 5th largest in m-cap RIL's share price jumped by nearly 6 per cent to Rs 1,306 at 10am, post the announcement of Facebook deal. The deal with Facebook is not RIL's biggest. In 2011, the UK petroleum company BP Plc bought a 30 per cent stake in oil and gas exploration blocks operated by RIL for $7.2 billion in cash. But BP had to write off a part of its investments later because of the heavy losses from exploration and production business. On August 11, RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani told shareholders at the annual general meeting (AGM) that the company had invested Rs 5.4 lakh crore in the last five years. Of this, Rs 3.5 lakh crore (until then) went into building Jio. Another Rs 1 lakh crore was invested for petrochemical expansion. Also read: Facebook-Reliance Jio deal: Social media giant pumps in Rs 43,574 crore in Mukesh Ambani's telco; 10 points Ambani said that the investment cycle for telecom was complete and the company was adding over 10 million new customers every month. Jio added 370 million customers in just three years of operations until December. But the massive investment has meant that the company's gross debt has risen dramatically in the last decade: it shot up six times to Rs 3.06 lakh crore. After deducting the Rs 1.53 lakh crore cash in hand in December, the net debt stood at Rs 1.53 lakh crore. It was when the debt touched inflection point, Ambani presented the debt reduction plan at the AGM, saying he wants to make RIL "a zero net debt company" by March 2021. These massive investments have increased RIL's total finance cost, a major part of which is interest payments. In the last financial year, finance costs doubled to Rs 16,495 crore compared to the previous year. According to analysts, interest payments are going to be higher in the forthcoming years and this can affect the company's profitability in turbulent economic conditions. Also read: Facebook-Jio deal: Reliance Industries stock gains over 8% after Facebook buys 10% stake in telco arm The first step to reduce debt was taken by RIL in early 2019, when it formed two Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) - Digital Fibre Infrastructure Trust and Tower Infrastructure Trust. RIL transferred Reliance Jio Infratel's fibre and tower businesses into these trusts along with a gross debt of Rs 1.07 lakh crore. An affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management invested Rs 25,215 crore in the Tower Infrastructure Trust, which has 51 per cent stake in Reliance Jio Infratel. Ambani said, "We transferred our telecom infrastructure assets to two separate infrastructure trusts for a consideration of Rs 1.25 lakh crore... Post this, we ended last year with net debt of Rs 1,54,478 crore". The second deal is to sell 20 per cent stake in RIL's oil and petrochemicals business - which has two refineries and a petchem complex in Jamnagar, Gujarat to Saudi Aramco for Rs 1.1 lakh crore. But the deal is likely to get delayed because of coronavirus and the crude price crash--the American crude is trading at negative value, while Indian Basket and Brent hover around $20 a barrel. Also read: Facebook buys 10% stake in Reliance Jio: Here's what Mark Zuckerberg, Mukesh Ambani have to say Ambani also wants to sell the stake in optical fiber trust. But he has not zeroed in on the buyer. Three dozen more women have stepped forward to publicly accuse embattled fashion mogul Peter Nygard of drugging, assaulting and raping them over the course of five decades, including 18 Canadians and multiple Winnipeggers. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 21/4/2020 (630 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Three dozen more women have stepped forward to publicly accuse embattled fashion mogul Peter Nygard of drugging, assaulting and raping them over the course of five decades, including 18 Canadians and multiple Winnipeggers. The accusations are part of a class-action lawsuit originally filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on Feb. 13. Late Monday night, the lawsuit was amended, expanding the number of accusers to 46 from 10. Twelve of the women say they were minors when Nygard allegedly raped them. Peter Nygard in 2018. (Phil Hossack / Winnipeg Free Press files) Nygard, 78, speaking through his attorneys, has repeatedly maintained his innocence, claiming hes at the centre of an elaborate conspiracy by people with a personal vendetta against him intent on ruining his reputation. The allegations have not been proven in court. On top of the 36 new claims of sexual misconduct, the earliest of which dates to the 1970s, the amended lawsuit names 12 Nygard employees who reportedly played a role in helping the Winnipeg fashion tycoon allegedly operate a decades-long sex-trafficking ring with impunity. "The Nygard Companies, through Nygard and a close ring of upper-level executives and employees, knowingly and continuously conspired with Nygard to enable, act as a front, and conceal Nygards criminal activity," the lawsuit states. "Defendants knew that Nygard would use means of alcohol, drugs, force, fraud, and/or other forms of coercion to rape, sexually assault, sexually batter, molest, and/or sex traffic these children and women and, in many cases, with knowledge that they were younger than 18 years old." The lawsuit alleges Nygard and associates used "violence, intimidation, bribery, payoffs, and evidence destruction" to silence victims. In many cases, its alleged Nygard made use of non-disclosure agreements to keep women from speaking out. Jay Prober, one of Nygards lawyers, characterized the lawsuit as a fantasy during an interview Tuesday with the Free Press. "I describe this as a work of fiction, quite frankly. The allegations from the women are fiction. The alleged participation of Nygard employees are fiction. The allegations of conspiracy are fiction. Its really quite preposterous," Prober said. One woman, who is referred to only as "Jane Doe No. 37," claims Peter Nygard raped her in the bathroom of a Winnipeg restaurant in 1977, when she was 14 or 15 years old. According to the lawsuit, the womans father was in the fur business and often sold materials to Nygard for his fashion line. As a result, she had frequently encountered Nygard while working at her fathers store. I describe this as a work of fiction, quite frankly. The allegations from the women are fiction. The alleged participation of Nygard employees are fiction. The allegations of conspiracy are fiction. Its really quite preposterous. Jay Prober, one of Peter Nygards lawyers According to the court documents, the woman says she was in a Winnipeg restaurant where Nygard also happened to be eating; she went to use the bathroom, but since it was occupied, waited outside. "She noticed Nygard behind her in line. When (she) went to enter the bathroom, Nygard pushed her in and closed the door. Nygard raped (her) in the bathroom," the lawsuit states. "(She) was a virgin at the time (and) did not tell anyone because she was afraid, ashamed and embarrassed." The woman further claims in the lawsuit she was drugged and raped by Nygard a second time several years later. Another plaintiff says she was a 14-year-old in a child-welfare program in Winnipeg when she first met Nygard. She was in a public space frequented by low-income children when Nygard first approached her in a luxury vehicle and enticed her to come with him, dangling promises of modeling opportunities and paid trips to California, the lawsuit says. Instead, the court documents say Nygard coerced her to perform oral sex on him in his car. Over the next two years, the woman claims Nygard repeatedly picked her up and paid her for sex acts in U.S. currency. (The woman) begged Nygard to let her go, but he stated that he could not trust her to not tell anyone. (She) was afraid that Nygard would kill her. Another woman says Nygard held her prisoner and repeatedly raped her in Winnipeg in 1993, when she was 20 years old. The woman claims she was flown to Winnipeg from her home in Vancouver under the guise of a modelling opportunity. Upon arrival, she was taken to Nygards apartment, which was attached to the company warehouse on Notre Dame Avenue, the documents say. The lawsuit alleges Nygard locked her in the apartment for three days, where she was drugged, raped and assaulted. "(The woman) begged Nygard to let her go, but he stated that he could not trust her to not tell anyone. (She) was afraid that Nygard would kill her," the lawsuit alleges. The woman was able to get the key to the apartment while Nygard slept, fleeing naked except for a coat, the lawsuit says. The lawsuit alleges the woman wanted to contact law enforcement, but was instructed by a Nygard associate not to, because Nygard "owns" the Winnipeg Police Service. The WPS declined comment Tuesday, citing the fact the lawsuit remains before the courts. The WPS would also not reveal if an investigation has been launched into the sex-crimes allegations against Nygard, but noted he has not been charged with a crime. Federal authorities raided Peter Nygard's Times Square headquarters in New York in February amid claims that he sexually assaulted and trafficked dozens of teenage girls and young women. (John Minchillo / The Associated Press files) On Feb. 25, special agents with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and detectives with the New York Police Department raided Nygards international headquarters in New York City. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. For at least five months before the raid, Nygard was under investigation by a joint child-exploitation task force run out of the U.S. attorneys office in Manhattan, officials said. Prober has said law enforcement will find no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of his client. He also said the women accusing Nygard of wrongdoing are motivated by money. "The amended class-action lawsuit comes as a result of the American lawyers going out and beating the bushes to try to bolster their class-action and find more women, in terms of the result of the advertising that was done by the lawyers," Prober said. "And as I predicted before, more women are in fact jumping on what they perceive to be the money train, the gravy train. They see this as a cash cow. I believe that explains the rather ludicrous number of additional plaintiffs." ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @rk_thorpe WASHINGTONA distressing followup has emerged from this months Wisconsin presidential primary and local elections. After Republican party efforts forced the election to go ahead as scheduled, it appears that fears about in-person voting during the pandemic were justified: health officials there have drawn a possible connection between 19 confirmed cases of the virus and voting day. The election-pandemic connection ought to draw nationwide attention. After all, theres a presidential election taking place in November, and while everyone hopes the worst of the pandemic will have passed by then, the chances a second wave of infection could be underway mean officials may want to prepare by planning for widespread mail voting. Thats certainly the lesson Milwaukee officials took from their primary experience: the city council there has announced it will mail absentee ballot applications to all 300,000 registered voters in the city as part of SafeVote pandemic provisions approved in the wake of what one elected official called the horrific election day last week. Most Americans agree with that course: a poll released this week by NBC and the Wall Street Journal showed two-thirds want every voter to be able to mail in their ballot this year. At least 32 states are preparing to do so, having indicated theyll use federal funds to increase mail voting efforts, according to ABC News. This just seems prudent, though President Donald Trump and Republicans have remained opposed to voting by mail. Though he cast an absentee ballot himself this year in Florida, Trump has baselessly suggested such voting is an invitation for fraud. Republicans in general with exceptions in Florida and a few other sunshine retirement states where the party has long relied on absentee ballots are thought to oppose it based on the logic that making voting easier for more people hurts their chances. Its a position Trump seemed to frame earlier this year when he said of proposed absentee voter initiatives: They had things, levels of voting that if youd ever agreed to it, youd never have a Republican elected in this country again. (The results from Wisconsin, in which a liberal judge defeated a conservative for a supreme court seat based in part on a great advantage in mail-in votes, may harden this suspicion.) The stage seems set for Republicans to continue to oppose popular efforts to allow mail voting. However, there could be another wrinkle in the dynamic. Older voters those most at risk from coronavirus are most likely to vote Republican but if a second wave of the illness is underway by November, or fear of one is prevalent, they could be more likely to want to vote by mail, or to stay home from the polls. Republican officials in Georgia and Nevada have made moves to mail all voters absentee ballots for primaries and state elections this spring. The decisions on how broadly to allow mail-in voting is set to define the election. Its possible that allowing more absentee ballots could affect who decides to vote and alter the results. But its also possible that insisting on in-person voting could lead to a widespread resurgence of coronavirus infections. Were just concerned about the transmission of COVID-19, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, told ABC News, saying his efforts to mail everyone a ballot was just a means of putting voters first. That, strategic considerations notwithstanding, is what you would hope everyone in a democracy would want to do. Read more about: Photo: A24 This is how we win! To raise money for New York Citys essential workers, A24 is releasing some of their most precious gems. The studio is auctioning off props and costumes from their movies, with proceeds going to the FDNY Foundation, Food Bank for NYC, NYC Health + Hospitals, and the Queens Community House. Vulture has its eye on Midsommars 33-pound May Queen dress, described thusly: The Harga have an infamously rich cultural history, full of tradition, symbolism, and ritual sacrifice. Simply put, they never miss the chance to dress for an occasion. For the first time outside Halsingland, you, too, can own a piece of Hargan history including the original 10,000-silk-flower May Queen gown from Midsommars fiery finale. Also on offer: Dinahs hot-pink bat mitzvah dress and KGs jersey from Uncut Gems, the carved wooden mermaid from The Lighthouse, a Euphoria hoodie, a hand-stitched Hereditary doormat, and more. Might we suggest Moonlights chefs special, Good Times marked bank-robbery money, or anything literally anything from 20th Century Women? Thatd be hella tight. Spend your doll-hairs here. BOSTON, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Boston Beer Company, Inc. (NYSE: SAM) reported first quarter 2020 net revenue of $330.6 million, an increase of $78.9 million or 31.4% from the same period last year, mainly due to an increase in shipments of 32.2%. Net income for the first quarter was $18.2 million, or $1.49 per diluted share, a decrease of $5.5 million or $0.53 per diluted share from the first quarter of 2019. The decrease in net income reflects that the Company's higher net revenue was more than offset by increases in operating expenses and lower gross margins. The Company began seeing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its business in early March. Prior to then, the Company was on track to maintain its financial guidance for full-year fiscal 2020. Depletions through the 9-week period ended February 29, 2020 are estimated by the Company to have increased approximately 32% from the comparable period in 2019. Excluding the Dogfish Head impact, depletions increased 26%. Given the many rapidly changing variables related to the pandemic, the Company is currently not in a position to accurately forecast the future impacts of the pandemic and is withdrawing its full-year fiscal 2020 financial guidance. To date, the direct impact of the pandemic has primarily shown in significantly reduced keg demand from the on-premise channel and higher labor and safety related costs at the Company's breweries. In the first quarter of 2020, the Company has recorded COVID-19 pre-tax related reductions in net revenue and increases in other costs that total $10.0 million. This amount consists of a $5.8 million reduction in net revenue for estimated keg returns from distributors and retailers and $4.2 million of other COVID-19 related direct costs, of which $3.6 million are recorded in cost of goods sold and $0.6 million are recorded in operating expenses. In addition to these direct financial impacts, COVID-19 related safety measures resulted in a reduction of internal capacity. This has shifted more volume to third-party breweries, which increased production costs and negatively impacted gross margins. The Company will continue to assess and manage this situation and will provide further updates in its second quarter earnings release, to the extent that the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are then known more clearly. In the first quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2019, the Company recorded a tax benefit of $0.17 per diluted share and $0.15 per diluted share, respectively, resulting from the Accounting Standard "Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting" ("ASU 2016-09"). Highlights of this release include: Reported depletions increased 36% from the comparable 13-week period in 2019. Excluding the addition of the Dogfish Head brands beginning July 3, 2019 , depletions increased 30% from the 13-week comparable period in 2019. , depletions increased 30% from the 13-week comparable period in 2019. Reported shipments increased 32.2% from the 13-week period in 2019. Excluding the addition of the Dogfish Head brands beginning July 3, 2019 , shipments increased 27.5% from the 13-week period in 2019. , shipments increased 27.5% from the 13-week period in 2019. First quarter gross margin of 44.8% was 4.7 percentage points below the 2019 first quarter margin of 49.5%. Excluding the Company's current assessment of the impact of estimated COVID-19 returns and other related direct costs, first quarter gross margin was 46.8%. Advertising, promotional and selling expenses in the first quarter increased $26.2 million or 36.5%, compared to the first quarter of 2019, primarily due to increased investments in media, production and local marketing, the addition of Dogfish Head brand-related expenses beginning July 3, 2019 , higher salaries and benefits costs and increased freight to distributors due to higher volumes. Jim Koch, Chairman and Founder of the Company, commented, "As the world is grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, our primary focus is on operating our breweries and our business safely and supporting our partners in the beer industry. We have a strong cash position and balance sheet and feel very fortunate to be in a position where we can help. Supporting the communities in which we work and live is one of our core values. Our business got its start in bars and restaurants and we recognize the role we can play right now in giving back. We're proud to share some of the initiatives we've gotten off the ground in a short period of time that we hope will help make a difference. We have established the Samuel Adams Restaurant Strong Fund and donated over $2.1 million to support bar and restaurant workers that have been impacted by pandemic-related closures in 20 states. In addition, we are a founding partner of Restaurant Relief America which is committed to helping restaurant industry workers experiencing hardship in the wake of COVID-19. Both funds will distribute 100% of the proceeds through grants to bar and restaurant workers. Also, to support our internal needs as well as local hospitals, we have begun production of hand sanitizer at our Dogfish Head distillery in Milton, Delaware. We are thankful to our outstanding coworkers, distributors and retailers for their focus during COVID-19 and diligence to continue to operate and help grow our business. The Company's depletions increased 36% in the first quarter of which 30% is from Boston Beer legacy brands and 6% is from the addition of Dogfish Head brands. Our business in the first quarter was strong but there remains significant uncertainty due to COVID-19. These uncertainties include our continued ability to operate our breweries at a level of safety that meets our standards, the continued ability to distribute to the off-premise retail locations, the duration of the current on-premise shutdown, and how long consumer pantry loading will continue in the weeks ahead. We will continue to work hard throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and prioritize safety above all else. I am very proud of the passion, creativity and commitment to community that our company has demonstrated during this pandemic." Dave Burwick, the Company's President and CEO stated, "Consistent with the first quarter of last year, our first quarter shipments volume was significantly higher than depletions volume as we took active steps to ensure that our distributor inventory levels are adequate to support drinker demand. Our depletions growth in the first quarter was the result of increases in our Truly Hard Seltzer and Twisted Tea brands and the addition of the Dogfish Head brands that were only partially offset by decreases in our Angry Orchard and Samuel Adams brands. The growth of the Truly brand and the recently launched Truly Hard Lemonade have accelerated and continue to grow beyond our expectations. Since early January, Truly has continued to grow its velocity and has maintained its market share while other national hard seltzer brands have ceded share. We will continue to invest heavily in the Truly brand and evolve our brand communications and work to improve our position in the hard seltzer category, even as more competitors enter. We are ready to launch an exciting new Truly advertising campaign, but have postponed the launch due to the uncertainties surrounding COVID-19. Twisted Tea continues to generate double-digit volume growth rates that are above full year 2019 trends. We see significant distribution and volume growth opportunities for our Truly and Twisted Tea brands and are looking to continue to expand distribution of our Dogfish Head brand. Pursuing these opportunities in 2020 remains a top priority. Samuel Adams and Angry Orchard's volumes continue to decline, as they are more deeply impacted by the on-premise shutdown. We continue to work hard on returning these brands to growth, but do not expect them to grow during 2020." Mr. Burwick went on to say, "We have reacted quickly to COVID-19 and continue to work to control what we can control, with our primary focus being the safety of our coworkers, distributors, retailers and drinkers. We have worked aggressively to put in place many protocols at our breweries, including entrance screening and temperature checks, face mask requirements, reorganizing work to increase social distancing between and among shifts, and adding cleaning time to each shift. Additionally, we closed all of our hospitality locations beginning on March 13, 2020. We are working hard to rebalance our supply chain to address additional demand in can and bottle packages at off-premise retailers against very low demand for kegs given the shutdown of on-premise venues. This shift in volume mix is likely to come at a higher incremental cost due to the increased usage of third-party breweries, which negatively impacts our gross margin. We have deferred some of our new marketing campaigns, as we closely assess and manage this situation. Drinker demand for our brands continues to be very strong, particularly our Truly and Twisted Tea brands. Our depletions growth through the 9-week period ended February 29, 2020 was approximately 32% from the comparable period in 2019 and we saw a further acceleration in demand for our brands beginning in the second half of March. It is not possible for us to estimate the amount of the new demand that is a temporary reaction to COVID-19. We're in a very competitive business and we are optimistic for continued growth of our current brand portfolio and we remain prepared to forsake short-term earnings as we invest to sustain long-term profitable growth, in line with the opportunities that we see." 1st Quarter 2020 Summary of Results Depletions increased 36% from the comparable 13-week period in the prior year. Shipment volume was approximately 1.4 million barrels, a 32.2% increase from the comparable 13-week period in the prior year. Shipment volume for the quarter was significantly higher than depletions volume and resulted in significantly higher distributor inventory as of March 28, 2020 when compared to March 30, 2019. The Company believes distributor inventory as of March 28, 2020 averaged approximately 6 weeks on hand and was at an appropriate level based on the supply chain capacity constraints and inventory requirements to support the forecasted growth of Truly and Twisted Tea brands over the summer. The Company expects wholesaler inventory levels in terms of weeks on hand to return to more normal levels of approximately 4 weeks on hand later in the year. Gross margin at 44.8% decreased from the 49.5% margin realized in the first quarter of 2019, primarily as a result of higher processing costs due to increased production at third party breweries and higher processing costs and finished goods keg inventory write-offs at Company-owned breweries of which $3.6 million was direct costs related to COVID-19, partially offset by price increases and cost saving initiatives at Company-owned breweries. Advertising, promotional and selling expenses increased $26.2 million compared to the first quarter of 2019, primarily due to increased investments in media, production and local marketing, the addition of Dogfish Head brand-related expenses beginning July 3, 2019, higher salaries and benefits costs and increased freight to distributors due to higher volumes. General and administrative expenses increased by $3.7 million from the first quarter of 2019, primarily due to increases in salaries and benefits costs and the addition of Dogfish Head general and administrative expenses beginning July 3, 2019. Impairment of long-lived assets increased $1.5 million from the first quarter of 2019, primarily due write-downs of brewery equipment at the Company's Cincinnati brewery. During the first quarter, the Company recorded a net income tax expense of $3.0 million or 14.1%, which consists of income tax expenses of $5.0 million partially offset by a $2.0 million tax benefit related to stock option exercises in accordance with ASU 2016-09. The Company's effective tax rate for the first quarter, excluding the impact of ASU 2016-09, decreased to 23.6% from 26.5% in the first quarter of 2019 primarily due to one-time state tax benefits related to capital investments. The Company expects that its March 28, 2020 cash balance of $129.5 million, together with its future operating cash flows and its available remaining $50.0 million line of credit, will be sufficient to fund future cash requirements. The Company drew down $100.0 million from its line of credit in March 2020 to enhance its cash position and ability to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the first quarter and the period from March 30, 2020 through April 21, 2020, the Company did not repurchase any shares. As of April 21, 2020, the Company had approximately $90.3 million remaining on the $931.0 million share buyback expenditure limit set by the Board of Directors. Depletion estimates Year-to-date depletions through the fifteen weeks ended April 11, 2020 are estimated by the Company to have increased approximately 32% from the comparable period in 2019. Excluding the Dogfish Head impact, depletions increased 27%. About the Company The Boston Beer Company, Inc. (NYSE: SAM) began in 1984 brewing Samuel Adams beer and the Samuel Adams brand is currently recognized as one of the largest and most respected craft beer brands. Our portfolio of brands also includes Angry Orchard Hard Cider, Twisted Tea, Truly Hard Seltzer, Wild Leaf Hard Tea and Tura Alcoholic Kombucha as well as other craft beer brands such as Angel City Brewery, Coney Island Brewing, and Concrete Beach Brewery. On July 3, 2019, the Company completed its previously reported Dogfish Head Brewery transaction. Dogfish Head has a proud history as a craft beer pioneer with a brand that is beloved by American consumers and highly respected by the industry. For more information, please visit our investor relations website at www.bostonbeer.com, which includes links to all of our respective brand websites. Forward-Looking Statements Statements made in this press release that state the Company's or management's intentions, hopes, beliefs, expectations or predictions of the future are forward-looking statements. It is important to note that the Company's actual results could differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements is contained from time to time in the Company's SEC filings, including, but not limited to, the Company's report on Form 10-K for the years ended December 28, 2019 and December 29, 2018. Copies of these documents may be found on the Company's website, www.bostonbeer.com, or obtained by contacting the Company or the SEC. Wednesday, April 22, 2020 THE BOSTON BEER COMPANY, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (in thousands, except per share data) (unaudited) Thirteen weeks ended March 28, March 30, 2020 2019 Barrels sold 1,423 1,076 Revenue $ 352,225 $ 267,559 Less excise taxes 21,660 15,908 Net revenue 330,565 251,651 Cost of goods sold 182,592 127,111 Gross profit 147,973 124,540 Operating expenses: Advertising, promotional and selling expenses 97,891 71,723 General and administrative expenses 27,029 23,374 Impairment of assets 1,521 - Total operating expenses 126,441 95,097 Operating income 21,532 29,443 Other (expense) income, net: Interest income, net 63 637 Other (expense) income, net (360) (252) Total other (expense) income, net (297) 385 Income before income tax provision 21,235 29,828 Income tax provision 3,001 6,134 Net income $ 18,234 $ 23,694 Net income per common share - basic $ 1.50 $ 2.04 Net income per common share - diluted $ 1.49 $ 2.02 Weighted-average number of common shares - Class A basic 9,425 8,606 Weighted-average number of common shares - Class B basic 2,645 2,918 Weighted-average number of common shares - diluted 12,186 11,636 Net income $ 18,234 $ 23,694 Other comprehensive income: Foreign currency translation adjustment (58) 37 Comprehensive income $ 18,176 $ 23,731 THE BOSTON BEER COMPANY, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (in thousands, except share data) (unaudited) March 28, December 28, 2020 2019 Assets Current Assets: Cash and cash equivalents $ 129,504 $ 36,670 Accounts receivable 58,253 54,404 Inventories 124,529 106,038 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 14,894 12,077 Income tax receivable 8,823 9,459 Total current assets 336,003 218,648 Property, plant and equipment, net 550,030 541,068 Operating right-of-use assets 63,039 53,758 Goodwill 112,529 112,529 Intangible assets 104,209 104,272 Other assets 27,754 23,782 Total assets $ 1,193,564 $ 1,054,057 Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity Current Liabilities: Accounts payable $ 92,247 $ 76,374 Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 89,078 99,107 Current operating lease liabilities 5,459 5,168 Total current liabilities 186,784 180,649 Deferred income taxes, net 77,389 75,010 Line of credit 100,000 - Non-current operating lease liabilities 63,248 53,940 Other liabilities 7,907 8,822 Total liabilities 435,328 318,421 Commitments and Contingencies Stockholders' Equity: Class A Common Stock, $.01 par value; 22,700,000 shares authorized; 9,559,200 and 9,370,526 issued and outstanding as of March 28, 2020 and December 28, 2019, respectively 96 94 Class B Common Stock, $.01 par value; 4,200,000 shares authorized; 2,522,983 and 2,672,983 issued and outstanding as of March 28, 2020 25 27 and December 28, 2019, respectively Additional paid-in capital 576,208 571,784 Accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of tax (1,727) (1,669) Retained earnings 183,634 165,400 Total stockholders' equity 758,236 735,636 Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $ 1,193,564 $ 1,054,057 THE BOSTON BEER COMPANY, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASHFLOWS (in thousands) (unaudited) Thirteen weeks ended March 28, March 30, 2020 2019 Cash flows provided by operating activities: Net income $ 18,234 $ 23,694 Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities: Depreciation and amortization 15,945 12,863 Impairment of assets 1,521 - Loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment - 271 Change in ROU assets 1,807 859 Credit loss expense 552 - Stock-based compensation expense 2,566 2,066 Deferred income taxes 2,379 1,029 Changes in operating assets and liabilities: Accounts receivable (4,436) (20,452) Inventories (23,856) (15,353) Prepaid expenses, income tax receivable and other assets (884) 1,336 Accounts payable 14,264 14,400 Accrued expenses and other current liabilities (7,579) (6,465) Change in operating lease liability (1,489) (624) Other liabilities (100) 19 Net cash provided by operating activities 18,924 13,643 Cash flows used in investing activities: Purchases of property, plant and equipment (27,394) (22,080) Proceeds from disposal of property, plant and equipment 35 1 Other investing activities 96 28 Net cash used in investing activities (27,263) (22,051) Cash flows provided by financing activities: Proceeds from exercise of stock options and sale of investment shares 2,941 2,968 Net cash paid on note payable and finance leases (209) (72) Cash borrowed on line of credit 100,000 - Payment of tax withholdings on stock-based payment awards and investment shares (1,559) - Net cash provided by financing activities 101,173 2,896 Change in cash and cash equivalents 92,834 (5,512) Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year 36,670 108,399 Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $ 129,504 $ 102,887 Copies of The Boston Beer Company's press releases, including quarterly financial results, are available on the Internet at www.bostonbeer.com SOURCE The Boston Beer Company, Inc. Related Links http://www.bostonbeer.com Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 22) - A police officer shot a retired military for allegedly attempting to pull a gun on the cops at checkpoint in Quezon City. The victims mother, however, claimed her son was suffering from post-traumatic disorder following his tour of duty during the Marawi siege in 2017. The Quezon City Police District identified the victim as Winston Ragos, 34. The suspect was identified as Police Master Sergeant Daniel Florendo, Jr. who was assigned with Fairview Police Station 5. A police report said that at about 2:30 pm of April 21, Florendo and four police trainees from the Highway Patrol Group were manning the checkpoint along Maligaya Drive in Brgy. Pasong Putik, when Ragos approached the policemen and started shouting and intimidating them. The police officers asked Ramos to go home as he was violating the enhanced community quarantine, but the victim allegedly attempted to pull out a .38 caliber hand gun from his sling bag which prompted the suspect to shoot Ragos, the report said. In a CCTV footage, nearby residents can be seen trying to stop the police from shooting the victim. Sabi ko, Sir, may tama na yan, wag niyo patulan. So sabi ng isang pulisWag kayo makialam, wala akong pakialam. Papatayin namin yan, a witness told CNN Philippines, who asked not to be named. [Translation: I said, Sir, he is not in his right mind, just let him go. One cop repliedDont bother us, mind your own business. We have to shoot him dead.] However, another witness said the victim did not have a gun inside his bag, after the police checked it and found that it only carried his quarantine pass. The victim was rushed to the Commonwealth Hospital, where he was declared dead. Merlyn, the victims mother, said her son was a member of the Armed Force of the Philippines who retired early due to his post-traumatic stress disorder following his assignment in Marawi City. Continuous po ang gamot nya," the mother told CNN Philippines. "Sometimes, di siya nakakainom dahil ayaw niya. Kapag successive na hindi nakakainom, doon nati-trigger." [Translation: His medication was continuous. Sometimes, he didn't want to take medicines. When he wouldn't take his medicines for successive days, thats when his disorder got triggered.] But the mother noted that her son never dared to hurt anyone despite his disorder. QCPD said Florendo will face criminal and administrative investigation after he voluntarily surrendered himself to higher authorities. On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, an annual event for people to show their support for protecting the Earth, we are also faced with a pandemic unprecedented in our lifetimes, and which requires a global response. COVID-19 spread in a matter of months across the world and has had devastating impacts, particularly on vulnerable communities. In an increasingly connected world, we feel a sense of responsibility to care for each other. The indiscriminate nature of the pandemic has resulted not only in a shared sense of suffering, but in a shared sense of caring too, regardless of where in the world you live. A better future Where does climate change fit in this context? It may not seem as urgent as the pandemic, and some may find cause for celebration in news and pictures of cities with car-free streets and clear skies. Tackling the pandemic is a critical priority for sure, but we should also consider how we can lay the building blocks for a better future for all. The science is clear; countries must take action now to transition to resilient, low-carbon pathways in order to limit global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. There is no going back, and failure to do so will result in not a new normal but a no normal. At UNDP, we are committing significant resources from our climate and sustainable development portfolio to prepare, respond, and recover, and to protect all people, especially the most vulnerable, from pandemic and disaster. How do we tackle climate change and the pandemic? One way is through UNDPs Climate Promise; our commitment to support over 100 countries to enhance their pledges under the Paris Agreement. These can provide helpful roadmaps to inform the COVID-19 recovery and support long-term change that makes economies more equitable, resilient, and driven by green growth. This Earth Day, stay home and play People everywhere are working together, and governments are taking strong and decisive action. This is a chance for us to raise our voice. There is no better time to stay home and play our mobile game Mission 1.5, to learn about the solutions to climate change and start a conversation about a sustainable future. The web-based game, available in six UN languages, was launched in February by UNDP as part of the Climate Promise, in partnership with several environmental and science NGOs, and technology partners. It is a tool for anyone to vote on climate action. UNDP will collect the votes and deliver them to world leaders. This Earth Day, we will see young climate activists fill the digital landscape with online strikes for climate action, while also calling for people to stay home and play Mission 1.5. We are seeing in the global response to the pandemic just how effectively people around the world can come together to tackle a crisis. Mission 1.5 In China, one of the largest game streaming platforms Huya, has joined the force of Mission 1.5. With 150 million unique users per month, Huya will help the mobile game reach millions of new players and educate them on ways to tackle climate change. In Turkey, a well-known gamer Ege Arseven has also joined, promoting and streaming on his Twitch platform for Earth Day. In addition to Mission 1.5, Samsung Galaxy users can easily support climate action, learn about the SDGs, and even donate to UNDP by downloading the Samsung Global Goals app from Google Play. The most exciting part of these partnerships are that these mobile game and app technology is reaching millions of people that can now make their voices heard. If there is one thing the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us, it is that we are all capable of adapting. There is so much hope and evidence that working together in international solidarity in the service of the most vulnerable will meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. The Belarusian government has temporarily banned the export of respiratory equipment, including oxygen therapy machines and mechanical ventilators. The decision was formalized by Council of Ministers' Resolution No. 243 as of 21 April 2020. The document was officially posted on the National Legal Internet Portal on 22 April. This ban does not extend to products used exclusively for ozone or aerosol therapy, BelTA reported. The document comes into force after its official publication and will also cover deals struck on 20-21 April. At least 2,000 people have viewed the Socialist Equality Party (UK) Facebook meeting on the coronavirus pandemic, held last Sunday. This cannot factor in the dozens of shares of the Zoom video stream. Around 500 viewers took part in the event, but this included several watch parties. Participants from Britain were joined by others tuning in from Australia, Sri Lanka, Germany, France, Canada and the US, underscoring the international interest in the meeting. In opening, WSWS writer Tom Scripps pointed to the truly unprecedented events associated with the pandemic, with over 160,000 killed globally and 15,000 deaths in Britain at that time. Socialist Equality Party (UK) National Secretary Chris Marsden said the official figures of deaths and the numbers sick with the virus were a massive underestimation. He noted that the most remarkable feature of the world situation is that there is absolutely no collaboration between any of the major states in dealing with this global pandemic. Every capitalist government was pursuing a beggar thy neighbour policy, with one state undercutting another in the desperate search for personal protective equipment (PPE) and ventilators. Governments had funnelled trillions into the pockets of their corporations and banks, as they all prepare for trade and military war. When it comes to the working class, the situation with coronavirus is life-threatening, and their very livelihoods are on the line in a way that has not been seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s. When the pandemic finishes, there would be no return to the conditions existing before, but rather a massive drive to hike up the exploitation of the working class many workers would not be called back into the workforce. There would be a massive campaign by the capitalist powers to secure market share a very vicious trade war in which all sorts of tensions will emerge. And the demand everywhere will be for the working class to pay for it by accepting national sacrifices, cutting their wages, jobs, and conditions. Turning to the situation in Britain and the role of Boris Johnsons Conservative government, Marsden said the situation is horrific. The death rate is extraordinary. At least a million people have applied for welfare benefits because they cant get by. There are workers forced to manage on 80 percent of their wage, but they are the fortunate ones, as many on zero-hours contracts are receiving nothing. There were reports of 1.5 million people only having one meal a day because they could not afford to eat. How did we get here? Marsden asked. The publicly declared strategy of the British government was for herd immunity and despite mounting public outrage and opposition within the scientific community, the government maintained this position for weeks. This was allowed even after Exercise Cygnus in 2016, a war-gaming exercise for a coronavirus-type pandemic. From that point on, their working hypothesis was that the National Health Service (NHS) would collapse, they wouldnt have enough PPE or intensive care beds and ventilators, and that people would die. According to the Telegraph, it was assumed it would kill up to 750,000 people. Boris Johnson has committed high crimes and misdemeanours against the British working class and the working class all over the world. Scripps said the same policy was still operating, now in the guise of the back-to-work campaign. Marsden stressed that this was an international phenomenon, epitomised by Donald Trump in the US, as we point out, capitalism means death and the working class in a struggle against this is for life. Scripps said some in political circles in Britain were reaching the conclusion that to implement the back-to-work policy what was necessary was a government of national unity. And that the new leader of the Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer, was the man for the job. Marsden said the Daily Mail had written that there was effectively a grand coalition emerging in Britain, of senior figures in the Tory party, business, and with the most prominent role being played by Starmer. He had met with Conservative politicians such as Ian Duncan Smith and David Davis, regarded as the most bellicose in the get back-to-work strategy. None of this is meeting a shred of opposition from the Labour left. Previous party leader Jeremy Corbyn had now pledged his loyalty to Starmer, even as it had been revealed there had been a systematic campaign to purge him and tens of thousands of Labour Party members on trumped-up charges of anti-Semitism. What Corbyn has done is fashion a vehicle, led by Sir Keir Starmer, that is now getting ready to take its place alongside the Tories, in political, social, and economic warfare against the British working class. None of this would have unfolded in the way that it has, outside the role of the Labour and trade union bureaucracy and their lackeys in the pseudo-left groups. It was laid down by their suppression of the class struggle, Marsden said. The claim was made by the pseudo-left that under Corbyn, the Labour Party could be transformed into a vehicle for fighting militarism, austerity, and war. The net result is Boris Johnson, his criminal policy and the deaths of thousands of working people. Scripps drew attention to questions that had been posted referring to the developing campaign against China. It was perhaps one of the greatest abominations, Marsden said, that the coronavirus pandemic was being used to step up trade and military war. At the very time when the common fate of humanity, the fact that we all rely on each other, is burning itself into the consciousness of broad social layers, you have political criminals like Trump and the Johnson government, who are now saying that it is time to step up an international campaign targeting China. Another viewer raised the draconian powers that many governments had taken in dealing with the pandemic and asked if this posed a danger in the future as they could be used to prevent demonstrations and strikes. Marsden agreed that these dangers were very real. However, we base ourselves on an historical understanding of the role of the working class within capitalist society, which, given political leadership becomes the most powerful social force. The fundamental problem identified by Leon Trotsky confronting the working class, and thereby humanity, was the crisis of revolutionary leadership; it is a crisis of perspective in the working class. He added that all the indications are that as this crisis develops, a growing audience develops for the programme and perspective associated with the Trotskyist movement and defended by the International Committee of the Fourth International and embodied in the World Socialist Web Site, the Socialist Equality Parties and our cadre. A viewer asked about the demands being advanced by the Socialist Equality Party. Marsden explained that all our demands had one overarching aim, which is to develop the independent political activity and initiative of the working class. We dont do that by ignoring the present state of social relations; we live under capitalism. We dont limit ourselves to local initiatives, which are necessary under certain circumstances. We say there is an absolute conflict between the interests of the broad mass of the population and the existing social and political system. The money and resources are available to combat COVID-19, safeguard jobs, develop and extend health provisions, care for the elderly and pensions. But these resources are all monopolised by the ruling class. Our demands direct the attention of the working class to challenging and changing that situation. Our demands lead inexorably to the conclusion that the working class must take state power and implement a socialist system, in which it is an independent social and political factor. This all centres on the task of building a new leadership in the working class; a revolutionary party of the international working class. Here are todays top news, analysis and opinion. Know all about the latest news and other news updates from Hindustan Times. South Korean firm begins making rapid testing kits at Manesar facility A South Korean company has launched the production of Covid-19 rapid antibody testing kits at its subsidiary at Manesar in Haryana, with a capacity of making 500,000 kits per week, to meet the needs of the Indian market. Read more. How India turned Covid-19 crisis into outsized global outreach exercise PM Modi had made the point that if you help someone when they need it to face a crisis, the gesture wont be forgotten easily. It is this advice that has driven much of the response of Indian diplomats. Read more. Bill Gates writes to PM Modi, lauds leadership in fighting Covid-19 in India Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates on Wednesday lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modis efforts to combat the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic. Read more. What does it cost to treat a coronavirus patient? Heres a break up At least 80 per cent of the Covid-19 patients are being treated in government hospitals across the country. Though, leading private hospitals do have treatment facilities, people who can afford or in special cases as directed by the health department or government turn to them. Read more. Facebooks Messenger service for kids launched in over 70 new countries Facebook has launched the Messenger Kids app in more than 70 countries including Brazil, India, Japan and New Zealand.This is essentially Messenger Kids second launch, it was launched in the US in 2017 and expanded to Canada and Peru in 2018. Read more. Alia Bhatts wardrobe is a go-to for millennial style inspiration. Throwback to her best looks Alia Bhatt is one of the most sought-after style inspirations in Bollywood. The Kalank actors style evolution is as interesting as her choice of films she has done since her debut, Student of the Year in 2012 till her last release so far. Read more. Pokhriyal launches VidyaDaan 2.0, a national program to develop and contribute e-learning content In view of the growing need of good quality digital content for school education amid the coronavirus lockdown, Minister of Human Resource Development on Wednesday launched a national programme VidyaDaan 2.0 and invited academicians and organizations from across the country to contribute and develop fun and engaging e-learning content aligned to the curriculum. Read more. How to say papdi chaat like Maya from Sarabhai vs Sarabhai? Zomato has an answer Years ago Sarabhai v/s Sarabhai first appeared on television and introduced such epic characters who made people laugh out loud and still do so. Just like the saas-bahu jodi of Maya and Monisha. Read more. Govt hospitals risking a lot: Nagpurs first recovered Covid-19 patient applauds staff Nagpurs first recovered covid-19 patient recounted his experience while undergoing treatment. Rajendra Jodhpurkar was the first patient at the hospital. Rajendra applauded the doctors and the staff for their relentless efforts in fighting the virus. He said that the hospital staff was extremely supportive and they even provided him mental health support. Watch here. Nine people have been arrested in suburbs around Paris during a fourth night of clashes between youths and police. The unrest was sparked after a motorcyclist was injured in a collision with an unmarked police car that was enforcing strict lockdown rules to tackle the coronavirus. Skirmishes broke out in the early hours of Wednesday in several neighborhoods of Hauts-de-Seine, west of the capital. In nearby Gennevilliers, a primary school was partially damaged after being deliberately set on fire, according to the prefecture of the department. The fire began at around 23h35 local time in the head teacher's office before spreading to other classrooms. "One or more individuals entered the establishment before the fire started," a police source told AFP, adding that the incident had occurred "outside the zones of urban violence." Unrest was also reported in six neighbouring districts, including Seine-Saint-Denis and Villeneuve-La-Garenne, north of Paris, where the trouble first erupted last weekend. Projectiles were hurled at officers, who have been targeted by fireworks and torched rubbish bins by crowds of youths, which led the police department on Tuesday to ban the sale of pyrotechnics in Paris and its outskirts until 27 April. In the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, police carried out nine arrests and reported that no person had been harmed. "The situation in Paris' suburbs is globally under control and is less tense than previous nights," the same police source said. Fraught relations French police are facing fresh allegations of using heavy-handed tactics after a motorcyclist was injured last Saturday after colliding with the open door of an unmarked police car during a pursuit. Witnesses said the officers had deliberately opened the door into the path of the motorcyclist, who required surgery to his leg. A claim denied by police. Security forces, who have launched an enquiry into the incident, said they had wanted to question the rider who had been seen speeding the wrong way down a street without a helmet. On Tuesday night, the 30-year-old motorcyclist released a video from his hospital bed calling for calm and urging angry youths to "return to their homes." Covid-Lockdown The incident, right during France's strict lockdown to tackle Covid-19, has exacerbated long-simmering tensions in the banlieues high-rise, low-income neighbourhoods that encircle many of the country's cities. On Saturday, youths aimed volleys of fireworks down streets towards police lines, who responded with tear gas and controversial rubber-launchers or LBDs. Several people have taken to social media to denounce the heavy lockdown policing. However, politicians such as right-wing leader Marine Le Pen have gone on Twitter to blast the laxity of the French government after it freed hundreds of prisoners to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Le Pen tweeted "this is no longer time for charitable sentiments, excuses or disastrous policies: the time has come to disarm and neutralise the scum." The wave of unrest in the banlieues has revived memories of the 2005 riots. Fifteen years ago, two youths were electrocuted as they tried to flee police in a northern suburb, which triggered three weeks of nationwide riots and a state of emergency. PR-Inside.com: 2020-04-22 09:30:27 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 928 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Empower is utilizing clinics, physicians, technology and direct access to 165,000 patients to launch dedicated division and resources for psilocybin research.VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 22, 2020 / EMPOWER CLINICS INC. (CSE: CBDT)(OTC: EPWCF)(Frankfurt 8EC) ("Empower" or the "Company"), a vertically integrated and growth-oriented life sciences company is pleased to announce, it is has created a subsidiary company dedicated to the advancement of psilocybin research and patient care, addressing the significant mental health issues of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and addiction.The Company is leveraging its assets that include the existing clinic network, the developing franchise brand, tele-medicine, access to its 165,000 patients and large physician team, to make advancements in psilocybin research and psychedelics therapy in general."Mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, addiction and PTSD appear to be on the rise with the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic." said Steven McAuley, Chairman & CEO of Empower. "Clinical trials continue to show that psilocybin therapies may provide tremendous help with these conditions, that we see every day in our clinics. As a Company, we must endeavour to utilize our assets and capabilities to positively impact patients' lives." The mental health crisis could cost the world $16 trillion by 2030 according to Future Market Insights and further, the global behavioral health (non-pharmacological) market is expected to be valued at US$156 billion by 2028.According to the World Health Organization (WHO), depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, and it is a major contributor to the overall global burden of disease.The United States Food and Drug Administration has determined that preliminary clinical evidence indicates psilocybin may demonstrate substantial improvement over other available therapies for treatment-resistant depression; and granted a Breakthrough Therapy designation for a treatment that uses psilocybin as a therapy for such depression.ABOUT EMPOWEREmpower is a vertically integrated health & wellness brand with a network of corporate and franchised health & wellness clinics in the U.S. The Company is building its first hemp-derived CBD extraction facility and produces its proprietary line of cannabidiol (CBD) based products. The company is a leading multi-state operator of a network of physician-staffed wellness clinics, focused on helping patients improve and protect their health, through innovative physician recommended treatment options. The Company has commenced activity on how to connect its significant data, to the potential of the efficacy of alternative treatment options related to hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) therapies, psilocybin and other psychedelic plant-based treatment options.ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS:Steven McAuleyChief Executive OfficerCONTACTS:Investors: Steven McAuleyCEOs.mcauley@ empowerclinics.com 604-789-2146Investors: Dustin KleinSVP, Business Developmentdustin@ svmmjcc.com 720-352-1398For French inquiries: Remy Scalabrini, Maricom Inc., E: rs@ maricom.ca , T: (888) 585-MARIDISCLAIMER FOR FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTSThis news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" (collectively "forward looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Forward-looking statements can frequently be identified by words such as "plans", "continues", "expects", "projects", "intends", "believes", "anticipates", "estimates", "may", "will", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or information that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements regarding; the Company's intention to create psilocybin and psychedelics divisions, that market research on advancements in psilocybin and psychedelics in North America and globally will create greater shareholder value, the Company's intention to open a hemp-based CBD extraction facility, the expected benefits to the Company and its shareholders as a result of the proposed acquisitions and partnerships; the effectiveness of the extraction technology; the expected benefits for Empower's patient base and customers; the benefits of CBD based products; the effect of the approval of the Farm Bill; the growth of the Company's patient list and that the Company will be positioned to be a market-leading service provider for complex patient requirements in 2019 and beyond. Psychedelic substances remain illegal in most countries, so please reference your local laws in relation to medical or recreational use. Such statements are only projections, are based on assumptions known to management at this time, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, including; that the Company may not open a hemp-based CBD extraction facility; that legislative changes may have an adverse effect on the Company's business and product development; that the Company may not be able to obtain adequate financing to pursue its business plan; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; failure to obtain any necessary approvals in connection with the proposed acquisitions and partnerships; and other factors beyond the Company's control. No assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will occur or, if they do occur, what benefits the Company will obtain from them. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements in this release, which are qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. The Company is under no obligation, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements in this release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable laws. How robots and bubbles could soon help clean up underwater litter Technologies are now being developed to tackle garbage that ends up in seas, rivers and oceans. Angry Australia Post customers claim couriers are leaving collection cards without attempting to make adequate contact. The postal service's Facebook page has been inundated with complaints that posties are not knocking or buzzing before leaving cards or are failing to wait a reasonable amount of time for doors to be answered. This situation was particularly frustrating for affected customers as many have been home throughout the coronavirus lockdown. Many claimed they were being forced to leave their homes for a non-essential reasons amid social distancing measures to pick up their packages from Australia Post branches. Australia Post customers have slammed the organisation online, claiming couriers are failing to deliver packages properly. A postman is seen delivering mail on April 14 as the coronavirus lockdown continues 'Absolutely disgraceful Australia Post. Your driver rang the doorbell and immediately left today. The height of laziness. Not good enough, I want action taken,' one person wrote. Another added: 'I received a delivery notice to pick a parcel up from the post office as no one was home. Im not sure if your couriers realise, Australia Post, but all of Australia is home!!! I know all six of us are! No knock or doorbell was heard. Is this just laziness???' 'Exactly what Im experiencing again and again. Im literally sat next to the buzzer too,' a third comment read. Someone else questioned 'So why was I carded when I was home all day? Now I have to make a non-essential trip to pick up a package from the post office. Deliverless, not contactless!' 'I was home ALL DAY and I have a dog who hears any knock at the door. Our useless delivery driver didnt knock at all, just left a card,' another posted. One man accused couriers of preparing collections cards before reaching homes. 'Your drivers fill in failed delivery cards before they attempt a delivery. I caught a courier sliding one under my door, no knock, no wait. Disgraceful. I work full time Monday to Friday, which adds up to 5 days before I can collect my parcel myself on Saturday morning,' he wrote. Some complainants said the situation left them unable to receive goods because they are in quarantine or can not venture outside because they are vulnerable to the virus. Customers claim they are being forced to collect parcels from post office branches. People are pictured in a social distancing queue outside a Melbourne branch after the Easter weekend 'I've been in isolation with my 11 year old asthmatic son and relied on your delivery service to knock on my front door to deliver my parcel,' one woman wrote. Another added: 'I am in quarantine - therefore I have been home ALL DAY! And now I can not leave to pick my parcel up. I am so disappointed right now.' Meanwhile, many others complained of long delays on deliveries. An Australia Post spokesman told Daily Mail Australia 'significant reductions' in airfreight capacity meant there would be 'severe delays on the letters and parcels network that Australia Post operates around the country', particularly for regional and rural communities. 'Our people are working harder than ever to deliver mail and parcels safely. Our posties and drivers are instructed to knock at the door three times and call out before leaving a card or safe-dropping the parcel,' the spokesman said. One man accused couriers of preparing collection cards before attempting to make a delivery 'Sometimes they will leave a card without knocking because of access or safety issues this could happen even when a customer is home. 'We are observing social distancing in all our outlets and facilities and have implemented extra safety measures to protect anyone who may need to go in-store. However, these measures also mean that we are unable to simply put on more people, like we would do during peak Christmas periods.' It comes a day after Australia Post announced letter deliveries would be reduced in the face of unprecedented demand amid the coronavirus pandemic. Couriers will now only deliver every second day in metropolitan areas and priority letter services will be suspended until June 30, 2021. The organisation's parcel volumes have doubled in the last four weeks, up 80 per cent from last year. It will also retrain 2000 motorbike posties to help deliver parcels across the country with more people at home and shopping online. Mr. Grenell would not say whether the administration was considering withholding additional cooperation, or ratcheting back current intelligence sharing with countries that criminalize homosexuality. His office is forming a group to review the issue and develop ideas, intelligence officials said. If a country that we worked in as the United States intelligence community was arresting women because of their gender, we would absolutely do something about it, Mr. Grenell said. Ultimately, the United States is safer when our partners respect basic human rights. Mr. Grenell has also suggested in meetings that foreign aid be used as an incentive to prod countries with bans on homosexuality to remove them, said Hadi Damien, the founder of Lebanons Beirut Pride group, who participated in the discussions Mr. Grenell held as ambassador to Germany. But Mr. Grenell has been careful to try to use aid as an incentive to alter laws, not a sanction against countries. While the U.S., or any other country, cannot influence how other countries process their domestic affairs, the U.S. can push toward change through the voice of its officials and through the implementation of its programs, Mr. Damien said. While Mr. Grenell is serving only in an acting capacity, and his appointment will likely end in September or when the Senate confirms a replacement, he has begun work on some controversial changes, including a review aimed at shrinking the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and sending some officers detailed to that office back to their home intelligence agencies. He has also rebuffed calls by Democrats for him to hold off on those changes. I am not a seat warmer, Mr. Grenell said. The president asked me to do a job and I am going to do the job to the best of my ability. In a letter sent last week to the agencies he oversees, Mr. Grenell said the intelligence community needed to do better to detect, and respond to, discrimination and harassment of gay, lesbian and transgender people. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. It was true in Ancient Rome, and it's true on Cheapest wow classic gold YouTube: sex sells. Until they changed the algorithm, if you browsed the most popular YouTube videos for a given week or month, you could see an ocean of chesty, scantily clad women in the thumbnail previews. Do you think Obama Girl would have taken off the way she did if she'd been a pudgy septuagenarian? Why do you think PETA's online presence is so replete with fur free foxes? I can't imagine that pole vaulting champion Romain Mesnil would have garnered as much interest for his naked run through Paris (in pursuit of sponsor dollars) if he hadn't been built like an Adonis.. When he on thehorse, he can be having a very bad week, but something about that horse walking calms him down and he good to go. Managing the family schedule, Mrs. Gallucci works at an office involved in land purchases forshale gasdevelopment. In the 1993 edition of the 1992 US Code (50 titles), I found only ONE reference to American nationals. Title 8, USC Sec. 1502. 2058KbAbstractThis study examines the nature and extent of various forms of anti Catholicism which existed on Tyneside and in County Durham between 1845 and 1870. Previous studies that have touched upon anti Catholicism in the North East of England have tended to argue that local cultural factors reduced the anti Catholic feeling which was more evident in other areas of the country during this period. However, in applying and expanding upon previous theories of anti Catholicism, the study will take a multi faceted and broader perspective, rather than simply a manifestation of one specific type, to argue that local cultural conditions actively encouraged different forms of anti Catholicism in different areas within Tyneside and in County Durham. No it makes no logical sense. It the same reason why people are anti abortion but get one themselves because their case is "different" and they continue to judge everyone else. It the same reason why nazi concentration camp guards could go home every day and be loving parents to their families and not think they did anything wrong. There are some more differences. WhiteKnightTwo has an extra crew cabin; a recreation of the one inside SpaceShipTwo. This will give passengers a chance to experience a little taste of what the complete trip will be like. GPU RoundupsNvidia GeForce GTX 1060Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080AMD Radeon RX 560AMD Radeon RX 570AMD Radeon RX 580AMD Radeon RX 480Amazon Prime Day 2019Raspberry Pi 4Pi 4 Review and TestsOverclocking the Pi 4Where to Buy Pi 4Upgrade to Raspbian BusterGetting StartedSetting Up for First TimeHeadless InstallWhy You Should Buy a Pi25+ Linux CommandsHow Windows 10 Runs on a Pi10 Pi Facts You Didn KnowTutorials / ProjectsMake a News Ticker ShirtRun Windows 10 on a PiPi GPIO PinoutMake a VPN GatewayWhen shopping for a new gaming desktop, it's important to have a goal in mind. If you need your system to provide excellent framerates in AAA games at 1920 x 1080, you won't need the absolute best (and most expensive)GPUand/or processor on the market. But if you want to play at 2560 x 1440 or 4K, then you need to start think about saving more for your rig. With Spring coming to an end, Welcome to Join Late Spring Special Sales on WOWClassicgp for Up to $10 off WOW Classic gold US/EU and other products Apr.27-May.6 !More https://www.wowclassicgp.com Code SPL3 to Save $3 Off for Order $40+! Code SPL3 to Save $7 Off for Order $80+! Code SPL3 to Save $10 Off for Order $110+! The number of people who died of the coronavirus in care homes England doubled in just five days this month, according to regulators. In a bombshell statement issued today the Care Quality Commission said it expects a 'significant increase' in the official number of care home deaths next week. Only 975 nursing home fatalities were recorded by the Office for National Statistics up to April 10 - 10 per cent of the total deaths up to that point. But the CQC, which now urges homes to record suspected COVID-19 victims as well those confirmed with lab tests, said about the same amount were recorded in just a five-day window between April 11 and 15, suddenly doubling the total to around 2,000. The surge chimes with a report published in Scotland today which revealed one in three coronavirus deaths in the country are happening in nursing homes and aren't being counted in the government's daily hospital figures. National Records of Scotland's report pushed the total number of victims there to 1,616 for the period up to April 19, with 537 of them happening in homes. A shocking report from the National Records of Scotland has revealed that 44 per cent of COVID-19 deaths are happening outside of hospitals and a third of them are taking place in hospitals The numbers of people dying with the coronavirus in care homes have soared since the Office for National Statistics (ONS) started recording them in mid-March. In the week ending March 20, two residents died; this rose to 20 the week after that, 187 the following week and 768 between April 4 and April 10. The Department of Health and CQC warned in a joint statement today that this number will spike even higher next week. The total number of those four weeks is expected to double to 1,950, and rise even higher, when the next week's data is published next Tuesday. A joint statement read: 'Issues with the completeness and consistency of this data meant that the number of COVID-19 deaths being reported did not match what CQC was hearing anecdotally from providers... 'The ONS data published yesterday covers the period until 10 April. CQCs current preliminary analysis is up to 15 April. 'It is anticipated that the number of deaths in care homes relating to COVID-19 reported by providers between 11 April and 15 April could be double the number of care home deaths reported yesterday [975]. 'In common with the ONS, CQC's preliminary analysis also indicates there may be a significant rise in non-COVID-19 deaths. 'This is of particular concern and we will be exploring the factors that may be driving this with local authorities, adult social care trade associations, Public Health England, NHS England to ensure timely action is taken to safeguard people.' The warning statement came after devastating statistics in Scotland showed that care home deaths have increased the country's fatality count by 79 per cent. Figures compiled by the National Records of Scotland (NRS) show 1,616 COVID-19 fatalities were recorded by April 19. Of these, 537 (33 per cent) were in care homes. The majority - 910 (56 per cent) had occurred in hospitals, the report said, and those were the ones reported publicly. It meant that around 44 per cent of deaths occur outside of hospitals, raising more questions about the UK's true death toll. The daily numbers announced by the Department of Health and devolved governments only include hospital deaths, so show only a fraction of the true crisis. If the same percentage - 44 per cent outside of hospitals - was applied to the UK's overall toll it would suggest the true number of deaths is around 25,000. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon today said elderly people in care should get the same 'if not more' support during the pandemic. Addressing the figures, Ms Sturgeon said: 'It's not unusual for people to become sick in care homes, residents are often frail and nearing the end of their lives. 'But that does not mean that we consider any of these cases to be inevitable or that we don't do everything we possibly can to prevent them. Ms Sturgeon also claimed that 35 per cent of Scotland's care homes - 384 homes - currently have an outbreak of coronavirus - down from 40 per cent last week. The NRS figures also showed a 76 per cent gap between the true number of deaths and those recorded in hospital. Separate figures published by officials in Northern Ireland today showed around 300 cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in care homes there. The British Government has been accused of leaving nursing homes 'badly in the lurch' by former Labour minister, Lord Peter Hain. The Office for National Statistics, which releases data once per week and counts deaths that happen outside of hospitals, already outstrip NHS statistics by at least 41 per cent Lord Hain criticised the Government's lack of testing during a virtual House of Lords question time session. The 70-year-old peer said: 'How on earth is the Government going to lift restrictions without universal testing, especially in care homes where there is virtually no such capacity at all?' He said there was not enough personal protective equipment (PPE) in care homes and charity providers are being forced to spend their own money on it. 'The Government needs urgently to give billions more to care homes instead of leaving them so badly in the lurch during this crisis,' he said. Baroness Margaret Wheeler, also a member of the Labour Party, said there had been reports of an 'alarming increase' in care home deaths, with estimates of more than 6,000 fatalities above official figures. New Delhi, April 22 : The first person in the national capital, who defeated killer coronavirus, has planned to donate his plasma for the treatment of other COVID-19 patients. The Delhi based businessman Rohit Datta (45) told IANS that he had asked the concerned authorities for donating his plasma, but they said he was not eligible for doing so as of now. "I had donated blood before going to Italy. The doctors have said I can donate blood only after three months. As soon as the government allows me, the first thing I will do is to donate my plasma," he said, adding "I have also donated in PM CARES fund." New Delhi, April 22 (IANS) The first person in the national capital, who defeated killer coronavirus, has planned to donate his plasma for the treatment of other COVID-19 patients. The Delhi based businessman Rohit Datta (45) told IANS that he had asked the concerned authorities for donating his plasma, but they said he was not eligible for doing so as of now. "I had donated blood before going to Italy. The doctors have said I can donate blood only after three months. As soon as the government allows me, the first thing I will do is to donate my plasma," he said, adding "I have also donated in PM CARES fund." Sharing his experience he told IANS how it was to be the first ever patient in Delhi and to have defeated the virus. "I can never even forget those datelines," he recalled his whirlwind business tour from Italy to Delhi via Vienna. "On February 25, I came back to Delhi via Vienna. When I landed in India I was fine," he said. When asked by IANS, why did he not quarantine after returning from abroad, Datta said, "I am not sure there was any advisory for people coming from Italy or any country other than China. I was not screened at the airport. I knew that a travel advisory was issued for people coming from China but not from Austria. When I was in Italy there was no case at all there, otherwise I would have stayed there only and not have come back to India. Why would I risk the life of my own family? I am a responsible person." The brave COVID survivor recalled the beginning of his ordeal as a COVID patient. "On February 25 when I came back to my residence from the airport around 9 p.m., I had fever and sore throat. I thought it was flu so I visited a nearby doctor who gave me some medicine. On February 28 it was my son's twelfth birthday. I was feeling alright, therefore, I went for a small get together at the Hayat hotel. There were only a few people, including five of us (wife, two children and mother) and two of my friends," he told IANS on reported accusation of throwing a party and spreading the infection. "When I came back home I was down with fever again," he added. "The next day on February 29, my wife and I went straight to Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) hospital and requested test for coronavirus. By the time Italy also came under travel restrictions and I had fever and travel history, therefore they isolated me immediately in the hospital. On March 1, my report said I was positive for the disease, and was shifted to the Safdarjang Hospital. I was very scared but my doctor told me that I will be fine." Datta, however, blanched with fear when the doctor asked for contact history as he lived with his wife, two children and elderly mother. "My Family members also had to go for tests but with God's grace every single person in my contact, including my own family, friends and employees tested negative. I was relieved and was feeling less guilty," Datta said, holding tears in his eyes. Talking about the physical suffering, Datta described, "I suffered from a severe cough and body ache. The facility at the Safdarjang hospital was beyond my expectations. It was clean and doctors visited timely, food and other facilities were also good. I got video calls from the Health Minister. He told me that the Prime Minister asked about my health. I was touched by this gesture," he said. Datta said his wife and mother literally cried when he returned from the hospital fit and fine after a long battle on March 14. "I wanted to hug my children but could not do so. I was advised for home isolation for the next 14 days," said he. He shared some of his bitter post corona experience too with IANS. He said he was stigmatised by the society and had to go through mental harassment besides fighting for his life. "I had to go through a lot of mental trauma that no one can imagine. I did not throw any party at all; my son had distributed candies in all sections of class 6 on his birthday, that's all. People spread rumours that I went to Agra and infected others but I didn't even cross Delhi border. "Life was not easy after I was diagnosed with COVID-19. Because of rumours, there were scuffles in two Noida housing societies due to misinformation and two Noida schools were closed. I received phone calls in the middle of the night on which I was abused and harassed. People should not do such things without knowing the reality," Datta told IANS. Datta has fully recovered from the disease and is living a normal life. "I would suggest that people must take precautions. They should maintain a positive attitude that it gets cured. People should do some breathing exercises and Yoga. It helped me recover faster. After this pandemic gets over, I think people will find more reasons for being grateful to God," Datta told IANS. (Sfoorti Mishra can be contacted at sfoorti.m@ians.in) Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) In the 1970s, environmentalism was overwhelmingly bipartisan. Democrats and Republicans worked together to create the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act and the E.P.A. Today that kind of teamwork seems all but unthinkable. While research by Pew shows that voters interest in climate and environmental issues is soaring, it also reveals an astonishing split: More than 75 percent of Democrats called climate change a top policy priority, while less than 25 percent of Republicans did. Fossil fuel companies and political donors have funded denial of the overwhelming evidence for climate change, and the message has been successful with conservative politicians and voters. The Trump administration is trying to roll back regulations around climate change as well as broader environmental measures. Still, there are some signs the split isnt as intractable as it seems. Renewable energy sources like wind and solar have been embraced in red states as well. Disasters fueled by climate change, such as flooding and wildfires, are forcing politicians to confront the reality of global warming. And voters are noticing: According to the Yale Program on Climate Change Communications, majorities of people surveyed in every congressional district in the country say that climate change is occurring. But perhaps the simplest reason to think the partisan divide could soften may be the younger generation. Some 52 percent of Republicans between 18 and 38 feel the government is doing too little on climate, Pew said last year, making the issue an electoral time bomb for the party. Whether that leads to a revival of bipartisan environmentalism is yet to be seen. For now, the coronavirus pandemic could well reshape national priorities for a time. But when that disaster has passed, the fact remains: Were warming the world and without forceful action, the crisis will get worse. A Virginia man who allegedly abducted his three young children has turned himself in while the kids, who are in 'extreme danger,' remain missing with their mother, police said. John Allison turned himself into a lawyer Wednesday while the children remained abducted by their mother, Ruby Marie Allison, according to authorities in Roanoke County who issued an Amber Alert. Cameron and Emma Allison, both 6, and 21-month-old Colin Allison have been missing since they were taken by their parents Tuesday about 3:30 p.m., says the Virginia State Police. All three children are described as white with brown eyes. Cameron and Emma both have brown hair. Colin has blond hair and brown eyes. Police say in a Facebook post that the children 'are believed to be in extreme danger.' John Allison (left), who allegedly abducted his three young children, has turned himself in as the kids remain missing with their mother, Ruby Marie Allison (right) Pictured from right to left are Cameron and Emma Allison, both 6, and 21-month-old Colin Allison. All three were taken Tuesday about 3:30 p.m., says the Virginia State Police Their mom is described as white with brown hair and brown eyes, 5-foot, 3-inches tall and weighing 160 pounds. She is believed to be operating a maroon 1999 Chevrolet Suburban SUV with Virginia license plate VVU-3796. A second suspect vehicle, described as a maroon 2006 Cadillac with Virginia license plate VMN-8238, was recovered. Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or contact the Roanoke County Police Department at 540-777-8798, 540-777-8799 or the Virginia State Police at #77. Information is also available at www.vaamberalert.com. Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex sent a clear message to a number of UK tabloids with a letter about their new media policy. The Sussexes said they would no longer engage with The Sun, Daily Mail, Daily Express, and the Daily Mirror, but one expert shares how, despite cutting off these tabloids, Prince Harry and Meghan continue to use the press to their advantage. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle | DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP via Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan sent letters to boycott the tabloids On April 19, the couple sent letters to the tabloids to share the details of their new zero engagement policy. As The Duke and Duchess of Sussex now settle into the next chapter of their lives and no longer receive any publicly funded support, we are writing to set a new media relations policy, specifically as it pertains to your organization, the letter starts. While the Sussexes call free press the cornerstone to any democracy, they point to truth as journalisms first obligation and share the damage that false reporting can have. There is a real human cost to this way of doing business and it affects every corner of society, they share in the letter. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have watched people they know as well as complete strangers have their lives completely pulled apart for no good reason, other than the fact that salacious gossip boosts advertising revenue. Further, the letter states, With that said, please note that The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will not be engaging with your outlet. There will be no corroboration and zero engagement. The couple assures that their policy is not about avoiding criticism, adding, its not about shutting down public conversation or censoring accurate reporting. While they believe the media has the right to report on and indeed have an opinion on The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, good or bad, they note that it cant be based on a lie. The Sussexes further share how they will work with journalists and outlets, but make it crystal clear: What they wont do is offer themselves up as currency for an economy of clickbait and distortion. Expert finds the timing of their policy suspect One of the Sussexes biggest fans, legal expert Judge Rinder, shared his perspective on the couples new media policy, admitting that its getting harder for him to defend the couple. Ive been for a long time one of the last die-hard defenders of Meghan and Harry and certainly Meghan, Rinder shared on This Morning, adding, Just to be clear, the timing of this is no coincidence. He continued, explaining, They are, for anybody who are court geeks as I am, they will know they are about to have a hearing in a case theyre bringing against the newspapers. This stuff would have emerged so they are strategically putting their evidence into the public sphere. Are the Sussexes using the press? Despite Prince Harry and Meghans decision to cut off these media outlets, Rinder thinks that the Sussexes are using the press to their advantage and controlling coverage. Im afraid to say its harder to think of a more clear articulation, a split, between a generation that is me me, enough about me what you do think of me? where you accidentally use the press when you want them, but get rid of them when you dont, he noted. Specifically, Rinder pointed out how photographs captured the Sussexes delivering food to residents in Los Angeles amid the coronavirus pandemic for Project Angel Food. Rinder noted, You find yourself photographed delivering food to the poor one wonders how that happened? vis a vis the service and the sacrifice of our queen, whose birthday it is today, and other royals. Its becoming increasingly difficult to defend their position, he added. As the coronavirus continues to creep its way into prisons and jails, only one of the Philadelphia regions large-scale detention facilities has yet to report a single case. None of the roughly 1,000 inmates in the Federal Detention Center in Center City had tested positive for the virus as of Wednesday, nor had any of its 229 corrections officers or support staff. But whether that infection-free status is the result of sheer luck, a combination of preparation and vigilance, or something else entirely remains a matter of debate. Sean Marler, the facilitys warden, acknowledged in court filings this week that none of the inmates under his care had been tested. None have exhibited symptoms to warrant it, he said. This cannot and did not happen by accident, Justice Department lawyers argued in a brief accompanying Marlers declaration. All of this is the product of a sustained, all-hands-on-deck campaign to prevent disease in the most challenging time prison officials have faced in our lifetime. Attorneys representing three of the facilitys inmates balked at that optimistic view. With the lack of testing, they said, they could just as easily argue that "nobody at FDC has tested negative for COVID-19, which is scarcely cause for celebration. The dispute over what lessons to draw from the prisons lack of an outbreak of coronavirus echoes discussions happening in prisons and jails across Southeastern Pennsylvania, where inmate infection rates in some facilities have risen to more than 13 times that of the regional population. FAQ: Your coronavirus questions, answered Last week, the Public Interest Law Center, a nonprofit legal firm, and attorneys with law firm Dilworth Paxson sought class-action status for a suit on behalf of FDC inmates, asking the court to order the potential release of prisoners with health conditions that would make them more medically vulnerable to the virus. As in similar lawsuits filed against the Philadelphia jails and Pennsylvania immigration detention centers, the lawyers argued that implementing social distancing recommendations and effective hygiene behind bars is impossible and keeping older or ailing inmates confined under such conditions amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. READ MORE: Philly jails still arent doing enough to stop coronavirus spread, ACLU says in new suit But the lack of a single confirmed coronavirus case at the FDC could work against them. Compare the federal prisons numbers nearly two months into the epidemics reach into the United States with those of other adult detention facilities in the region: Philadelphias jails, home to the areas largest outbreak behind bars had counted 137 confirmed inmate cases as of Wednesday. A union official said 71 corrections officers had also fallen ill. In Bucks County, 33 county jail inmates and 19 guards have tested positive. Delaware Countys George W. Hill Correctional Facility has seen 22 inmate cases and 42 among corrections officers. And at SCI Phoenix in Montgomery County, home to nearly 90% of the inmate infections in the states prison system, 24 inmates and 19 staff have contracted the disease. READ MORE: Its terrifying: Corrections officers say jails arent doing enough to protect them as coronavirus spreads Those numbers may seem small compared with the thousands of cases Philadelphia and its suburbs have reported in the population at large. But the 4% infection rate among inmates and guards at Delaware Countys jail, for example, is 10 times that of the countys wider population. Lawyers with the U.S. Attorneys Office in Philadelphia say there are reasons to believe that the lack of a single case in the federal prison is more than just a fluke. We are not Pollyannas. We know the situation can change, they wrote. But if that happens, it will be despite the dedication of tens of thousands of BOP employees who are fighting this battle. The Federal Detention Center suspended all personal and most legal visits, began screening all staff for symptoms, and staggering meal and recreation times for inmates in mid-March, days before other regional jails and prisons. Since then, guards have quarantined newly arriving inmates for 14 days and provided prisoners with masks and cleaning supplies for their cells, Marler said. Similar measures adopted at roughly the same time did not stop outbreaks from developing at other federal prisons across the country. Still, Justice Department lawyers said, the apparent success at FDC-Philadelphia may make it one of the safest places in the region to be at the moment. It may be that well-run prisons, with the ability to take extraordinary measures and isolate from the outside world, provide a firmer barrier against this horrible disease, they wrote. Thus far, their argument has proved convincing to judges. Dozens of cases filed by individual FDC inmates seeking temporary release have been denied with judges consistently citing the lack of confirmed cases in their reasoning. READ MORE: Racing against a coronavirus clock, Philly courts release 200+ jail inmates in the first week of fast-track emergency hearings There are other possible explanations for that lack of movement by the federal courts. The Federal Detention Center, unlike most federal prisons, houses mostly pretrial and presentencing inmates. As a result, most who pose no danger to the community or risk of flight are already out on bail. Those who remain tend to have more serious records of violence. Judges have also cited an ongoing U.S. Bureau of Prisons administrative process that is screening inmates for suitability for release into home confinement as a reason to avoid court interference. Only one FDC inmate has been approved through that process from the FDC, though four additional referrals are pending. HELP US REPORT: Are you a health care worker, medical provider, government worker, patient, frontline worker or other expert? We want to hear from you. With those measures in mind, U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain said there is no legal basis for the type of broad, court-managed review that the class-action suit is seeking. The petitioners implore us to think outside the box, which is just a euphemism for ignoring the law, he said. I can assure the public that that will never happen on my watch. Still, the Public Interest Law Center and its clients may have reason for hope. U.S. District Judge Anita Brody, has ordered both sides to nominate inspectors who could observe conditions at the Federal Detention Center firsthand and report back to the court. The government has strenuously objected, arguing that the plaintiffs nominee the director for infection prevention at Jefferson Health System might actually bring the virus into the prison as a result of her work at the hospital. As attorneys for both sides note: All it takes is a single case to start an outbreak. The Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) has explained how the country has been able to increase its testing capacity of samples for the novel coronavirus. The Head of Virology at Noguchi, Professor William Ampofo, speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday, April 22, 2020, said testing labs had resorted to pooling samples to become more efficient. Questions have been raised about Noguchi, the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR), and the Public Health Reference Laboratorys abilities to test about 80,000 samples so far. We simply pool the samples, meaning that, if you have 1,000 samples, you put them in groups of 10 and you test 100 pools at a time. So in a short time, instead of testing 1,000 samples, you actually test 10,000 samples. This method we are using now was derived in 1945 and this very efficient way we have proceeded, Prof. Ampofo explained. If there is a positive result in a mini-pool, individual testing is then carried out on the reserved samples that were put in the pool. Prof. Ampofo added that the rate of testing could even increase further in the next few days. Actually, since he [President Nana Akufo-Addo] addressed us [last Sunday], we have tested close to 30,000 samples using the same method. So please do not be surprised if you hear in the next couple of days that we have tested 100,000 samples in Ghana. It is just a matter of multiplication and addition. Concerns of data credibility A former Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa, demanded an explanation after he raised concerns over the accuracy of data provided by the government since the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus in Ghana. He also alleged that Ghana's a stated case count of 1,042, which has since increased, had already been published on the government's dedicated website for COVID-19 cases days earlier but was deleted and changed minutes after thereby raising suspicion of data manipulation. But a Deputy Information Minister, Pius Enam Hadzide, expressed shock at the allegations levelled against the government. I am particularly scandalised hearing that a man of the standing of Prof. Akosa will allegedly make those statements. I am scandalised, and to accuse the government of managing the figures without providing any iota of evidence. ---citinewsroom Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Riska Rahman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, April 22, 2020 17:04 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd396a2a 1 Business Astra-International,coronavirus,standard-chartered,Bank-Permata,Bangkok-Bank,acquisition,share-sale,financial-industry,COVID-19 Free Publicly listed diversified conglomerate PT Astra International and British lender Standard Chartered Bank have agreed to lower the sale price of Bank Permata as the COVID-19 pandemic poses risks to the financial industry. Both companies agreed to amend the conditional sale and purchase agreement on April 20 with Thailand-based Bangkok Bank as the buyer. According to the amendment letter, the purchasing price has been changed to 1.63 times Bank Permatas book value from 1.77 times its book value, Astra International said in an information disclosure posted on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) website on April 20. The change stated in the amendment letter is conditional upon the transaction being completed on or prior to June 30. Read also: Hopes high for Bank Permata after acquisition by Bangkok Bank Astras investor relations head Tira Ardianti told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday that the decision to lower the purchase price was made in light of the unfavorable economic conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Both the seller [Astra and SCB] and the buyer [Bangkok Bank] agreed to the incentive to complete the transaction as well as to provide a sense of certainty to the market during this uncertain time, she said via text message. Astras parent company Jardine Cycle and Carriage Ltd estimated the sale price to be about Rp 17.46 trillion (US$ 1.12 billion) for Astra, based on it being 1.63 times book value as of Dec. 31, 2019, according to a filing on the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX). [RA::Bangkok Bank to acquire another Indonesian bank after Permata deal: OJK ::https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/03/05/bangkok-bank-to-acquire-another-indonesian-bank-after-permata-deal-ojk.html] Bank Permata announced in December 2019 that Astra and Standard Chartered Bank, each holding a 44.56 percent stake in the bank, agreed to sell their stakes totaling 89.12 percent to Bangkok Bank. The deal valued Bank Permata at 1.77 times its book value per September and indicated a purchase price of Rp 1,498 per share, meaning that Bangkok Bank would buy the two companies stakes for a total of Rp 37.44 trillion. A riddle from my childhood goes like this: A father and son are injured in a serious car accident, and each is taken to a different hospital. As the boy is being prepped for surgery, the surgeon rushes in and exclaims in horror: I cant operate! Hes my son. How is this possible? That the ludicrously obvious answer the surgeon is a woman eluded every member of my family except me, a 12-year-old girl, in 1975, makes the subject and the chronology of Wendy Moores new book all the more thrilling. No Mans Land tells the story of the Endell Street Military Hospital, which treated the casualties of war pouring into London during World War I and which, except for the occasional male orderly, was staffed entirely by women. From the physician who assessed the condition of the patients to the surgeon who inspected their wounds, from the radiologist who ordered X-rays to the pathologist who took swabs, from the dentist who checked their teeth to the ophthalmologist who tested their sight, every one of the doctors was female, Moore writes. This was as shocking as it was revolutionary. Female doctors were almost unheard-of. Barred from studying at most institutions except for the London School of Medicine for Women, they were relegated to low-status, low-paying jobs in schools, prisons and asylums; most treated only other women and children. None of the men who would come to the Endell Street hospital had ever been treated by a woman before. In a grave dug 6,000 years ago on an island off the coast of France, two women were laid to rest together under a roof made of antlers. They wore necklaces made of seashells. There is some evidence that Neanderthals buried their dead, too, 100,000 years ago or more. What these burials may have looked like were there songs? is an unanswerable question. The point, though, is this: The act of dying, and the act of saying goodbye, are millennia-old rituals. Some painted the dead with ocher, some placed the dead in pyramids, some set the dead on pyres and set them aflame. These rituals have changed again and again and now they are changing, suddenly, once more. Most everything has been halted or, at least, deferred. But not death. A couple weeks ago, a woman called Marvin K. White, the minister of celebrations at Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco. She sought pastoral counseling and some ministerial care. Her mom had died, she told him, on her couch, with a magazine and her TV remote in her hand. The level of detail was so amazing to me, White said. She still needed somebody to listen to her, somebody to affirm her fears, and someone to relieve her from the daughterly responsibilities of not being able to be there. And not being able to handle the affairs. And not being able to send her off The grief is the same, even though everything else about death is different. White knows how this feels. He remembers how hard it was to find churches to hold funerals for friends who had died from AIDS. He remembers their services in Golden Gate Park and planting trees in their honor a life to remember a life. This isnt the first time where weve had relationships with the dead where we couldnt access the bodies. Rituals change to fit the moment. I dont know if its about finding closure in this moment, White said. Extend your grief and live in the question and dont worry if its right or wrong. Theres something that you can learn about who you are in moments like this. Courtesy Darrell Carr The priest drove a Porsche to the graveyard. Susan Toler Carr noticed; somehow it didnt seem to fit the occasion. She and her husband, Darrell Carr, were in a blue Kia cerulean blue, the closest they could find to the color turquoise, which was their sons favorite color. When he passed away years ago, they held a funeral for anybody who wanted to come and there were hugs and flowers and hot dishes. Now they watched from behind the windshield as Peaches thats what everybody called Darrells sister was lowered into the earth. A drive-in funeral, Susan called it. Only 10 people could be at the grave, under Californias physical-distancing rules. Susan asked them to call her as she sat in the car and she put the service on speaker. She could only make out every other word. The cemetery, in Monrovia (Los Angeles County), was empty except for the eight cars that had come. Nothing felt right. It was surreal, Susan said. It was like youre walking in a daze. Like youre not even there. And so there was no emotion because were like were not even there. No goosebumps, she said. No shivers. I just watched, and it made me nauseous. Afterward, Susan and Darrell drove straight home. There was no wake. Thats what this virus is doing to our human traditions. Susan wrote a long poem about the funeral when she got home. This was her way of making sense of how everything has changed. We cant even hug, she said. We cant even hug anymore. So she wrote about her husband and his suit, about how she wore black and some turquoise. We got dressed up for no one to see. She wrote about the golden casket. And she wrote about Peaches famous potato salad. Then she sent the poem to her family. Most said it held more meaning than the funeral itself. It was 3 a.m. when her mothers funeral began. Satu Sharmon had emptied her living room and filled it with flowers and candles and pictures of her mom. There were lots of red roses; red was her favorite color. Shed also placed three chairs in front of the television. Sharmon had always planned to attend her mothers funeral. In normal times it wouldnt be a problem. Shed get on a plane and make her way to the Finnish town where her mother lived, just two hours away from the Arctic Circle. But as the days passed, she came to realize these werent normal times. Finland closed its borders, and though the consulate would authorize her travel, they could not promise shed be able to return to San Jose. It all began to feel too risky. Im going through several airports. What if Im a carrier and I take it to them? These kinds of thoughts started to go through my mind, she said. And then I thought What if something happens to me? I have a family, my husband and boys here in America. I got very upset. This was never my plan to miss my moms funeral. And so she made her living room into a memorial and made plans with her nephew to stream the funeral live. You have to do something. You have to feel like you did some effort. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. The service began at 1 p.m. Finland time it was still dark in San Jose. There was already an atmosphere Her husband got up, her two sons, too. They wore ties. We were dressed up for a funeral. The grave had been dug. The priest said a few words, then they all sang a couple hymns. She watched from thousands of miles away as her family lowered the casket into the earth. Afterward, she, her husband and her two boys took a family photograph in the living room. Courtesy Darrell Carr The news out of Washington state was grim. Death had found its way into an assisted nursing facility in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland, and it was spreading quickly. Katie Jacobs Stanton was following the story. I remember thinking this is my worst-case scenario for my dad, she said. Her father, Herb Jacobs, lived in a similar facility in Aurora, Colo. He was physically fit but had struggled with Alzheimers for many years. My biggest fear was that he would suffer, and he would die alone. She called the facility often to check in, to ask about her fathers health and their plans for how to deal with an outbreak. They were pretty on top of things, she said. In the meantime, Stanton, a tech executive, was working with colleagues in Texas and New York and the Bay Area to get tablets to people in hospitals. At the very least they might help the dying say goodbye. Then, three weeks ago the call came. Her father had a fever. His temperature would rise and fall, but he wasnt in distress, they told her. I thought OK, well, you know, maybe hell get through this. He got worse. Soon he was having trouble swallowing. A dose of hydroxychloroquine did nothing to help. He was put on oxygen. One of the caregivers had brought in his iPad, and a Catholic priest delivered his last rites from miles away. That meant a lot to her dad; he was very religious. Later that day, her fathers friend sat outside her dads window so Stanton could talk to him over FaceTime from her home in Los Altos. These were his last hours. Stanton told her father stories, and she told him she loved him. I know he heard us. I think a lot of people hold on to things they want to believe, but I really do believe it. Two weekends back, there was a virtual wake for Herb Jacobs. One friend offered an Irish blessing from New York City. Her friend sang Rainbow Connection from Sonoma; songs came from Kenya, too. Stantons children read poems and there was a slideshow. It ended up being really beautiful, she said. But it was still not the ending she imagined. The grim details of death, they get on this weird fast track, but your heart cant possibly keep up. Death is disorienting, and death during the time of coronavirus is just another level of disorientation. How do you process grief when youre quarantined at home, and you cant be with your loved ones? Stanton said. Theres a reason we have these rituals after death. Ryan Kost is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rkost@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @RyanKost Albany, N.Y. New York needs to build an unprecedented testing and contact tracing operation in a matter of weeks to restart the states economy, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said today. "This entire operation has never been done before. So it's intimidating," he said during a press briefing in Albany. "So what? It's really irrelevant. It's what we have to do now." The goal is to test as many people as possible, trace their contacts and isolate them all to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Cuomo has said for weeks that any effort to reopen schools or businesses in the state must involve extensive testing. Reopening NYS schools this academic year will be very difficult,' Cuomo says Coronavirus in NY: Total deaths pass 15,000, but were in a better place, Cuomo says Cuomo on reopening: Cant be stupid; more people will die if were not smart Cuomo to coronavirus lockdown protesters: Want to work? Get essential job After meeting with President Donald Trump on Tuesday, Cuomo said he wants to double testing in New York from 20,000 a day to 40,000. That will include both testing for the virus itself and antibody testing. Trump agreed to help the state secure enough supplies to perform the tests. The state will get help on the tracing effort from former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and over 30,000 students from the State University of New York and City University of New York, Cuomo said today. There's no timeline for when the new testing capacity will be in place. It's also uncertain how soon the state can implement its tracing plan, but it needs to happen fast, Cuomo said. "You don't have months to plan and do this," he said. "You have weeks to get this up and running." The entire testing and tracing operation will be coordinated statewide and with neighboring states including New Jersey and Connecticut, Cuomo said. Contact tracing doesn't work on a county-by-county basis, he added. Someone who lives in Westchester but works in New York City would need to have contacts traced in both places. The same is true for many residents of Connecticut and New Jersey. The operation will include Upstate New York. It will be concentrated in places with the most cases, such as New York City, Cuomo said. But if local clusters of the virus occur anywhere in the state, testers and tracers will deploy there. Cuomo said the state will draw from 35,000 SUNY and CUNY students in medical fields for tracing help. The state currently has 225 tracers and counties also employ them. New York City has 200. Bloomberg will help the state develop and oversee the entire plan, including operations, technology, recruiting, training and applicant screening for new tracers. Hell also contribute at least $10 million to the effort. Other partners include Johns Hopkins University and Vital Strategies, a global public health organization. Cuomo said the federal government has $1.3 billion available for New York to help fund the tracing effort. MORE ON CORONAVIRUS Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources As coronavirus spread, a Fayetteville retirement community became a hotbed McMahon: No more shelter-in-place, but urges people to travel even less; hospitals can reopen Syracuse, Onondaga County miss out on $90 million in coronavirus relief bill Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com Contact Kevin Tampone anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-282-8598 Bengaluru: The transfer of over 50 miscreants who are accused of attacking the health workers in Bengaluru to neighbouring Ramanagara district prison, has snowballed into a full blown political war in Karnataka. Former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy has attacked the BJP government, claiming that transfer of accused persons will spread coronavirus and endanger the lives of people in his stronghold. In a series of tweets and statements, HDK slammed the decision as criminal. Three days ago, the health workers tasked with identifying Covid-19 suspects had gone to a Muslim dominated Padarayanapura in Bengaluru in the night. The locals attacked the health workers and it led to a huge furore, forcing Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa to take strict action against the alleged culprits. The police have so far rounded up about 52 people and sent them to the Ramanagara district prison about 50 kilometers away from the state capital. To make space for them, some inmates at the prison were shifted to Central Prison in Bengaluru, thus creating a new controversy. HD Kumaraswamy and his wife Anitha are MLAs from Ramanagara district. While HDK represents Chennapatna, Anitha represents Ramanagara in the state Assembly. HDK immediately took to Twitter and questioned the rationale behind the decision. He also blamed an Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Alok Mohan for this transfer of prisoners. HDK has already discussed the issue with Yediyurappa and state Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai and asked them to shift all Padarayanapura accused to a government-run hostel or some other building. He has also warned the state government that people of Ramanagara are angry over the decision and he has requested them not to launch any protest. Speaking to News18, he said, This is a criminal act. How could they transfer coronavirus suspects to a green zone? It may spread the infection in Ramanagara. And some local prisoners have been shifted to Central Prison in Bengaluru, which is a Covid-19 hotspot. People of my district are scared. I suspect a conspiracy behind it. The state government is yet to respond to the matter. Media personalities in radio and TV haven't missed a step as they share their unique work from home setups to keep you up-to-date with the latest news and music. "Who thought broadcasting from inside your home was possible?" said Haley Hernandez, Health Reporter for KPRC. ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Coronavirus expert Peter Hotez: Social distancing saved Houston. Dont get complacent. "Working from home has its challenges but I'm most thankful to work in an industry that believes so strongly in its mission to keep the public informed," said Hernandez. Many have a history of camaraderie. "Working from home has brought us closer together as a team, we communicate via text, email, video calls all day everyday," said Eli Escobar from Mix 96.5. There are perks, though, said Chrisdyann Uribe from FOX 26. "Ive been enjoying the breakfast breaks, secretly wearing yoga pants and no shoes while on air. MEDIA UPDATES: Former KHOU news anchor Lisa Hernandez joins KPRC 2 Others have enjoyed the extra time with family. "It's definitely been amazing to have such a short commute up the steps to the closet!" said Roula Christie from 104.1 KRBE. "My kids are at ease knowing mama is in the closet upstairs versus having left in the dark of night." Check out the makeshift work setups radio and TV personalities have at home. STAY INFORMED: Sign up to receive breaking news alerts delivered to your email here. Septage from pit latrines in the national capital is being collected on a daily basis and the ongoing lockdown has not impacted the operation, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has told a panel appointed by the National Green Tribunal to monitor pollution in the Yamuna. The Yamuna monitoring committee, comprising retired NGT expert member Bikram Singh Sajwan and former Delhi chief secretary Shailaja Chandra, had sought a report from the DJB on septage collection during the lockdown imposed to contain the spread of coronavirus. "During the lockdown, it was apprehended that septage evacuation may be abandoned altogether and after the lockdown was lifted it may be collected and dumped into the Yamuna, water bodies and forest areas," the panel said. According to the DJB, "Septage collection is unhindered and the quantum being collected is more or less the same. Sharing weekly data with the panel, the DJB said it collected 47.50 lakh liters of septage from March 16 to March 22 (before the lockdown); 49.12 lakh liters from March 23 to March 29 and 55.35 lakh liters from March 30 to April 5. "Since septage collection through licensed vendors is unhindered, there was no need for issuance of curfew passes. Licenses issued by the DJB are being allowed by police authorities," the DJB told the panel. Septage from houses in unauthorised colonies with no sewer connections or where a conveyance system is still to be laid is required to be collected by registered vendors and deposited in designated sewage pumping stations. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After temporarily shutting down their manufacturing plants, Volvo Cars has recently restarted production at its Torslanda plant in Sweden last Monday, April 20, following a few weeks of downtime due to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. The company has started to welcome back office workers to its Swedish offices starting this Monday. In the past few weeks, both the plant and offices have been prepared to be as safe as possible for people to return in a way that wont be an issue to their health. Volvo Cars has also taken the decision to reopen following a dialogue with relevant labor unions. volvo factory Following a constant, close dialogue with all the companys partners and suppliers, Volvo aims to secure continued production amid ongoing yet reducing disruptions in the supply chain. Production volumes in the Torslanda plant have also been adjusted to meet the current demand in the market as well as to fulfill existing orders before the shutdown began. We have a responsibility towards our employees and our suppliers to restart operations now that the situation allows it, said Hakan Samuelsson, Chief Executive Officer of Volvo Cars. The best thing we can do to help society is to find ways to restart the company in a safe way, thereby safeguarding peoples health and their jobs. Before the return of staff last Monday, Volvo has assured that all facilities have been cleaned extensively, while sanitation and cleaning routines have been intensified and voluntary temperature and pulse oximeter checks are being offered at main entrances. In recent weeks, Volvo said, company officials have reviewed every single working station in the Torslanda plant from a health and safety perspective, and where social distancing is not possible, other protective measures have been put in place. volvo factory In Swedish office buildings the layout in all meeting rooms, office spaces and restaurants has been adjusted where necessary to allow for social distancing, for example by ensuring that desks are placed appropriately and limiting the number of people allowed in meeting rooms and restaurants, the company said. Story continues As for the other sites and manufacturing plants in Volvo Cars global manufacturing network, the Ghent, Belgium plant has also reopened this Monday but at reduced production output. The company currently plans to reopen its South Carolina plant in the United States on May 11th. "The engine plant in Skovde, Sweden and the body component manufacturing site in Olofstrom, Sweden will continue to plan their production on a weekly basis and adapt according to needs in the other plants," Volvo says in an official statement. "Office workers in other markets will continue to follow local guidelines, but Volvo Cars health and safety officials hope that learnings from the Swedish facilities can be implemented elsewhere as well." Also Read: You can eat one with carne asada and corn tortillas in East Los Angeles, or one with flour and pit-grilled pork known as al pastor in Dallas. Travelers can pick a few up outside of Berlin's Schonefeld Airport before boarding a flight, or grab one with albondigas and collard greens in Memphis, Tenn. In each place, you can taste the social and global evolution of the taco, according to Jose R. Ralat. Some tacos incorporate the influence of Asian or Jewish cuisine. Others do their best to stay true to traditional taco orthodoxy although no one can agree on what that is. Ralat, the new taco editor at Texas Monthly (yes, that's his title), has written a new book exploring how this simple dish with Mexican origins has spread and been transformed, from San Antonio to Tokyo, gaining fans and sparking some outrage among purists. A lifelong project, "American Tacos: A History and Guide" (University of Texas Press) comes from Ralat's travels throughout the United States and examines a dish that has come to transcend borders. "No one owns the taco," Ralat said in an interview with The Associated Press. "It's a living food, and I wanted to see how it is changing as we change." Born in what is now Mexico, the taco is a creation of "the encounter" the meeting of Spanish and indigenous peoples in the Americas. That meeting eventually led to the corn tortilla coming together with meats, beans and greens. After the U.S-Mexico War of 1848, the United States grabbed nearly a third of Mexico's northern territory, turning some ethnic Mexicans into Mexican-Americans and creating a new southwestern border. The taco north of the line evolved for generations based on the resources available to its makers. As Los Angeles Times writer Gustavo Arellano outlined in his 2012 book, "Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America," Mexican-Americans in Texas were forced to use yellow cheese, giving birth to what we call Tex-Mex. Cooks in isolated New Mexico used red and green chiles in their tacos. California's ever-changing diverse population added its own flavors. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. That history is what fascinated Ralat when he began to explore how demographic upheaval and mass migration have changed the taco. He found Indo-Mex, or Desi-Tex, tacos in Houston, with restaurants using aloo tikki, saag paneer and curries. In Oregon and Florida, he stumbled upon K-Mex tacos, which use Asian fusion to introduce Korean fried chicken or bigeye tuna sashimi. Ralat found kosher tacos in Los Angeles and Brooklyn made with peppery barbecue brisket pastrami charred with green salsa. "Deli-Mex" is what some called it, Ralat writes. Ralat found the heart of Mexican-America holding true to and defending taco orthodoxy. "San Antonio does its best to remain what it calls authentic," Ralat said. "And one could argue, that's also needed." China has specified punishments on manhole cover-related cases in light of frequent incidents in recent years caused by uncovered manholes, according to a guideline. The guideline, jointly issued by the Supreme People's Court, Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security, stipulates a set of regulations when dealing with such criminal cases. The guideline comprises 12 articles, mainly including punishments of ordinary criminal crimes such as theft and destruction of manhole covers as well as crimes of dereliction of duty related to manhole covers, said the guideline. Specifically, based on the locations and behaviors, those stealing or destroying manhole covers may be punished as the crime of sabotaging traffic facility, the crime of endangering public safety by dangerous means, the crime of intentionally inflicting injuries, the crime of intentionally committing homicide, the crime of stealing, or the crime of intentionally destroying or damaging money or property, said the guideline. Meanwhile, those working in state organs who fail to do their job or abuse their power when engaged in manhole cover procurement, construction, acceptance checks, use and inspection, causing heavy losses to public money or property or the interests of the state and the people, will be punished in accordance with the standards for the crimes of dereliction of duty and abuse of power, said the guideline. The staff of companies, enterprises and public institutions responsible for managing manhole covers who are seriously irresponsible and cause accidents, resulting in serious injury or death, shall be convicted of negligently causing severe injury or death in accordance with the law, it said. The Covid-19 pandemic has broken the supply chain of the Alphonso mango trade of the coastal Konkan region, which is now facing losses worth crores of rupees. The trade has been severely hit due to unavailability of labour and export via aircraft called off due to the global lockdown. An estimate, drawn by mango farmers, wholesale and retail traders, pegs the losses of the industry at 50 to 60% of the normal annual income. Income from exports has also been reduced to 10 to 15% of the income every year, said traders. The Alphonso mango is cultivated along coastal Maharashtra and is most popular in Ratnagiri district, from where it is supplied to the rest of the country and also exported abroad. It grows only during the summer months between mid-April and June. It is sold, not only as a fruit, but also in a variety of packaged forms such as pickles, juices, ice-cream flavours, syrup, and forms an ingredient in many Maharashtrian sweets. All of this is manufactured during these few months, as mango is an easily perishable fruit. Moreover, as the mango industry is seasonal, the income received during these two and a half summer months is used by traders in this business all year round, for their sustenance, to grow the fruit for its next cycle, hire farm-hands to facilitate the cycle, and packaging and transport, until orders for the next year are made. Rajesh Pednekar who is a wholesaler and retailer at Suyog Mangoes in Ratnagiri city, said, There are a lot of losses as rates have halved. We used to earn Rs 2,500 to Rs 4,000 per box, containing five to nine dozen mangoes, now we get barely Rs 1,700. There is a shortage due to unpredictable rains last year. Moreover, due to the lockdown, we are not supplying to the APMC market at Navi Mumbai. Mangoes are still being supplied to Mumbai and Pune with help of our supply chains and contacts with individual traders, but we do not have as many customers. My family has been in this business for over 60 to 70 years, but we have not seen this kind of uncertainty or losses before. Another trader, Madhav Lele, of Lele Agro Exports said, We are not sending mangoes to APMC markets agents and are selling directly to customers if there is a bulk order of 100 boxes. However, this is no match to the routine business every year. Exports are happening to Dubai and London by sea. Air exports have completely been suspended. Only 10 to 15% of exports are presently happening, and income from exports has also been reduced to 10 to 15% of the income every year. To tackle the current trade slump, farmers and traders have come up with innovative ways to ensure continued supply and demand. Aditi Desai, of Desai Bandhu Ambewale traders in Pawas,said, We have adapted to the situation and are directly delivering to the housing societies we receive bulk orders from. When people find out the supply is there, they order more. In cities like Mumbai and Pune, the demand never stops. Desai, who also has a business of packaging durable mango products said, Mangoes need to be immediately sent to the market every day as they are easily perishable. For packaging, the main problem is the availability of labour and their payment. Our income has reduced this year, but we are paying our staff the same amount of money. Ganesh Khandilkar, who is a Sindhudurg-based mango cultivator, and a retailer for Mumbai, Pune, Sangli, Kolhapur and other cities in Maharashtra said, Mumbai always has a demand. When you send mangoes to Mumbai APMC, it gets sold right away but that has now stopped. We have to rely now on other supply chains and our contacts with customers. This is resulting in unpredictable losses. Farmers are getting less than 40% of the money they get every year. On the other hand, customers are unable to get their annual supply of mangoes. Suyash Dighe, a resident of Dadar said, Every year I travel to Navi Mumbai and buy mangoes. However, this year I do not know where to source the mangoes from. I do not live in a housing society, where I can convince 100 other families to order boxes so we can get a direct bulk order from a supplier in Ratnagiri. Jane Fonda turned TikTok's 9 To 5 trend into a way to talk about her activism on Tuesday. The actress, 82, showed how fighting against climate change is part of her daily routine in a post dedicated to Earth Day. Jane embraced the viral moment by walking people through her daily quarantine routine and encouraging viewers to join in her Fire Drill Friday protests. Fight the power: Jane Fonda turned TikTok's 9 To 5 trend into a way to talk about her activism on Tuesday, encouraging followers to join in her Fire Drill Fridays protests To start her day in the Dolly Parton-backed video, the Hollywood veteran hopped out of bed with her little white dog. Then Jane - who starred in the 9 To 5 film opposite Parton - fixed herself a cup of hot coffee in a very special mug bearing her own 1970 mug shot. 'Mug shot makes a good mug shot,' Jane winked while bundled up in a hoodie and sweats. It was time for exercises next, so the star did some wall squats she said she did while in jail. Work hard, play hard: After a long day of work, Jane relaxed with a supersized martini To start her day in the Dolly Parton-backed video, the Hollywood veteran hopped out of bed with her little white dog. Then Jane - who starred in the 9 To 5 film opposite Parton - fixed herself a cup of hot coffee in a very special mug bearing her own 1970 mug shot. Jane read the newspaper, noticing 'Wow, climate is a s***show! Let's get to work!' It was time for business so the movie star settled down at her computer for a Zoom meeting with Greenpeace and the Fire Drill Fridays team. She gave it a quarantine twist though, keeping a very full martini on hand. 'Teamwork makes the dream work,' Jane wrote while showing all the people collaborating. It was time for exercises next, so the star did some wall squats she said she did while in jail. Time for action! Jane read the newspaper, noticing 'Wow, climate is a s***show! Let's get to work!' By 5:01, it looked like Fonda had exhausted herself, seen napping on her computer with an empty glass besides her. 'Work hard, play hard,' she explained before zooming in on her computer screen which displayed the slogan: 'Our house is on fire. Join us in the streets.' 'Lots of amazing young people working beyond 9-5 to save the climate. I joined them & so can you!' Jane captioned the TikTok, also tagging '#earthday,' '#9to5,' and '#FireDrillFriday.' Jane is continuing to hold her Fire Drill Friday protests online during the ongoing pandemic, which she called a 'teachable moment.' Meet up: It was time for business so the movie star settled down at her computer for a Zoom meeting with Greenpeace and the Fire Drill Fridays team Working together: 'Teamwork makes the dream work,' Jane wrote while showing all the people collaborating Cheers! By 5:01, it looked like Fonda had exhausted herself, seen napping on her computer with an empty glass besides her 'Now this pandemic is causing terrible suffering and changing what we can do in this time of social distancing,' she wrote in a recent issue of People. 'But its also an important teachable moment for the other pandemic that confronts us: the climate crisis.' 'COVID-19 is teaching us how dangerous denial is and how important science and preparedness is. Its also proving that we are able to take massive collective action when the stakes are high. 'Clearly we are capable of fundamentally changing our behavior to protect the health and safety of our families. Were also seeing how nature can heal when we take action. Up to 800 Vietnamese frontline healthcare workers have agreed to take part in a clinical trial designed to test the effectiveness of a tuberculosis vaccine against COVID-19. Blood samples collected from workers and traders at Nga Tu So wholesale market in Hanoi on Sunday as part of the city's efforts to widen COVID-19 testing in the community. VNA/VNS Photo The participants will be given at random a dose of Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine developed a hundred years ago to combat tuberculosis to confirm reports suggesting the vaccine might provide protection against the worst effects of the novel strain of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), as the entire world is desperate for treatment method against the unprecedented pandemic. The plan by Vietnamese health authorities was put in motion after a US study proposed there might be a meaningful correlation between a countrys COVID-19 caseload and death rate and whether that country has conducted universal BCG childhood vaccination. We found that countries without universal policies of BCG vaccination, such as Italy, the Netherlands, and the United States have been more severely affected compared to countries with universal and long-standing BCG policies, the researchers state. Vietnam's Ministry of Health has commissioned the National Lung Hospital and the National Institute Of Hygiene And Epidemiology to carry out the research into the alleged correlation, within the context of Vietnam, where the vaccine is universally available and mandatory. Professor Nguyen Viet Nhung, Director of Vietnam National Lung Hospital, said that the hospital has submitted an outline of the plan to the Ministry of Health, pending approval. The hypothesis is that BCG vaccine "is not working specifically to prevent infections of tuberculosis, flu or COVID-19," but it has a "harmonising effect" that can direct the immune system to respond "at the right level" to SARS-CoV-2, Professor Nhung told Vietnam News Agency. He cited the acute case of the 43-year-old British pilot currently undergoing treatment in Viet Nam for COVID-19, saying that while the patient was a perfectly healthy male, his condition had deteriorated dangerously and unpredictably due to his own body's defence mechanism's overreaction to the coronavirus. He was referring to earlier reports in which the country's leading doctors in the field, who have been watching over his health condition via telehealth format, confirmed that the amount of cytokine that the patient's immune system secreted to combat the virus was too much, causing damage to his own internal organs and functions, in a phenomenon known as a "cytokine storm." The professor emphasised that the hypothesis remains purely "observational", and confirmation can be obtained via clinical trials. He said that the plan might be undertaken in two directions. First, it could be a clinical trial with the involvement of Vietnam, Cambodia and France, designed to see whether the BCG vaccine could help protect high-risk health workers against COVID-19. 800 Vietnamese health workers together with 400 from Cambodia and 1,000 from France will be participating in this plan if it goes through. The participating doctors and nurses are mostly from the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi and the HCM City Hospital for Tropical Diseases where many of the COVID-19 patients recorded in Vietnam have been or are being treated. Second, health experts could just conduct an evaluation on the pool of COVID-19 patients recorded in Vietnam and compare the conditions between those who have been vaccinated with BCG and those who haven't. The immunised group is supposed to have quicker recoveries and fewer critical cases than the non-immunised group. Caution urged Nguyen Ngo Quang, Vice Director of the Administration of Science, Technology and Training under the Ministry of Health, stressed that all medical studies involving humans must be reviewed and approved by the ministry's ethics committee. The BCG vaccine has been included in Vietnams national expanded programme of immunisation since 1985. Vietnam is currently capable of producing the vaccine domestically and is providing it for free under the immunisation programme for all one-year-olds. Six countries in the world are reportedly conducting the trial, including Australia and the Netherlands. Professor Nhung however cautioned the public not to act unwisely on the fear and inject BCG on their own without professional supervision. "Even if the study is underway, the vaccines must not be given indiscriminately to adults. Japan has seen cases of adolescents suffering from complications after being given a dose of BCG vaccine in an attempt to ward off COVID-19," he warned, adding that in Vietnam, BCG vaccine is recommended only for one-month-old to one-year-old babies. Repeat shots are actually recommended against, especially in adults, he said. Total reliance on the vaccine while failing to observe social distancing and proper hygiene measures like wearing masks and frequently washing hands would lead to a worsening outbreak situation, Professor Nhung said. The World Health Organisation at the moment is saying that there has not been sufficient evidence proving that BCG vaccine can lower novel coronavirus infections, morbidity or the severity of the disease. VNS Vietnam in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic With the spirit of fighting against the pandemic like fighting against an enemy, the whole Vietnamese Party, armed forces and people have made an all-out effort to implement synchronous measures to prevent and combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Bezos has been incredibly focused on this and is participating in, and driving, our leadership meetings for the response, Jay Carney, the companys senior vice president for corporate affairs, said in a March 31 interview. As the coronavirus gripped the country, cases appeared among workers in Amazons warehouses. By mid-March, Amazons vaunted logistics operations were breaking; customers wanted more products just as fewer warehouse workers showed up for their shifts, afraid to risk getting the virus or left to care for children whose schools had closed. Mr. Bezos and the other executives soon approved plans to stop accepting low-priority items into warehouses and to delay customer shipments of other items that Amazon considered low demand, according to three people briefed on the changes. Mr. Bezos helped decide which features to remove from the Amazon website to reduce customer demand, such as burying its popular page promoting daily deals, one of the people said. He also approved delaying Prime Day, the companys summer shopping extravaganza. Still, workers and lawmakers increasingly called for more precautions at the warehouses. On March 21, Mr. Bezos sent a rare letter to all of Amazons employees, which the company immediately posted on its blog. He said the company had ordered millions of face masks for workers, though few of those orders had been filled. My list of worries right now like yours Im sure is long, he wrote. Waiting weeks to address his employees was a mistake, particularly when Seattle had an early outbreak of the virus, Mr. George said. You need to be out there early, every day, and talking to your people, he said. If the people are risking themselves, you need to be there with them. Governments around the world are battling to respond to the crippling effects of the coronavirus pandemic. But there are some countries that remain entirely untouched by COVID-19 and have yet to report a single case, the Daily Telegraph reported. In total 15 countries and 11 permanently occupied territories, such as American Samoa and Australia's Christmas Island, have had no confirmed cases of the virus. The figures were correct as of 19 April. In total 15 countries and 11 permanently occupied territories, such as American Samoa and Australia's Christmas Island, have had no confirmed cases of the virus. A remote location helps to account for the lack of cases for some, including Comoros, off the east of Africa (pictured) However the figures reported by other countries should be taken with a 'wheelbarrow of salt'. Tajikistan, pictured, has yet to report a case despite sharing a border with China Revealed: The 26 Places with no reported cases of COVID-19 Countries with no reported cases of coronavirus Comoros Kiribati Lesotho Marshall Islands Federated States of Micronesia Nauru Palau Samoa Solomon Islands Tajikistan Tonga Turkmenistan Tuvalu Vanuatu North Korea Permanently inhabited territories with no confirmed cases Pitcairn Islands, UK Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, UK American Samoa, US Wallis and Futuna, France Svalbard, Norway Christmas Island, Australia Norfolk Island, Australia Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Australia Niue, New Zealand Tokelau, New Zealand Cook Islands, New Zealand Advertisement A remote location helps to account for the lack of cases for some, including Comoros, the island nation off the east coast of Africa, and Tuvalu, in the Pacific. Others took swift and drastic measures to stop any potential spread of the virus. Tonga, for example, has closed its borders to all international arrivals as well as declaring a state of emergency and instating a strict nighttime curfew. However the figures reported by other countries should be taken with a 'wheelbarrow of salt', according to the Daily Telegraph, given their records and proximity to affected nations. Palau, part of the Micronesia region in the western Pacific ocean, has no reported cases. The country, made up of some 500 islands, has a population of roughly 17,900 The nation of Samoa, in the South Pacific, pictured, also has no reported cases of COVID-19. The country declared a state of emergency on 20 March and banned international flights North Korea, for example, continues to insist that it has been unaffected by COVID-19, despite 10,694 cases being confirmed in South Korea. Turkmenistan, which shares a border with four countries, including Iran, has been similarly defiant and has reported no cases among its population of 5.8million. Similarly obtuse is Tajikistan, which has a population of 9.1million and shares a border with China. Authoritarian President Emomali Rahmon has reported no cases. In Africa, Lesotho is one of only two countries with no cases - Comoros being the other - but its border with South Africa, which has reported thousands of cases, means it is unlikely the country has escaped the virus completely. The South Pacific nation of Vanuatu, pictured, has no official cases but has still put strict measures in place. International travel is banned and there are restrictions on large gatherings The report comes as the UK announced 759 more hospital deaths from the coronavirus today, taking Britain's total number of victims to 18,094. And Health Secretary Matt Hancock says the country is in the 'peak' of the virus outbreak and authorities are watching with bated breath for the statistics to fall. He claimed capacity for testing and contact-tracing - tracking down people close to infected patients - is being 'ramped up' for the UK to start to move out of lockdown when the time is right. A further 665 people have died in England's NHS hospitals and 98 more deaths were recorded in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland overnight. The nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) is certain to bring enormous social and economic costs to the country. The lockdown has, however, afforded us a look into how our skies and trees could look if Indian cities had cleaner air. It highlights the fact that even though the government must prioritise the economy in the coming months, the other public health crisis air pollution cant be overlooked. This brings into focus the Centres Rs 4,400-crore grant to municipal corporations (MCs) of bigger cities for 2020-21 to tackle air pollution. Covid-19 has re-emphasised the need to proactively invest in public health systems. This includes mitigating risk factors that increase the incidence of illnesses. Air pollution is the second largest risk factor behind malnutrition contributing to Indias disease burden. Commonly known impacts of air pollution include cardio-respiratory diseases, lung cancer in adults, and acute lower respiratory infections in children. Besides, emerging research suggests that it impacts early childhood development, including birth weight and growth. Early evidence also suggests that air pollution increases the risk of Covid-19 infection. In what now seems a lifetime ago, last winter witnessed one of the most severe smog episodes around Delhi in recent memory, accompanied by unprecedented attention on air quality, with the issues being raised in Parliament, discussed in the media, and included in the Delhi assembly election manifesto. The Union finance minister accepted the interim recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission (FC) that provides additional fiscal support in 2020-21, incentivising MCs to tackle air pollution in cities with one million or more population. To put the quantum of outlay in perspective, in 2019-20, the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) budget under the ministry of environment, forests and climate change (MoEFCC) was merely Rs 300 crore, distributed among 102 polluted cities, with grants ranging between Rs 10 crore and Rs 10 lakhs. The outlay also dwarfs MoEFCCs total budget of Rs 3,100 crore for 2020-21, signalling a shift in the air quality management approach, with additional resources and increased devolution towards MCs. While the MoEFCC is still developing the performance framework to determine exactly how the grant will be distributed across cities, the 15th FC report outlines the broad contours. It has recommended that the grants be allocated to cities based on their population. Thus, the total possible grant size for Mumbai would be Rs 488 crore, and for a smaller city, such as Tiruchirappalli, it would be Rs 21 crore. This grant is to be released in two instalments: Half of it upfront for air quality improvement measures including capacity building of local bodies, and the rest is subject to the citys performance against its targets. This is the first time that an FC has given grants specifically to tackle air pollution. Air pollution has multiple sources in Indian cities, and many of these such as waste burning, and road and construction dust fall directly under the ambit of MCs. Tackling air pollution involves not only regulating emissions from vehicles and industries but also improving urban governance and public services. Institutionally, too, the approach marks a recognition of urbanisations changing needs by earmarking a larger share of grants to urban local bodies (ULBs): From 30% in the previous year to 37.5% in 2020-21, and making a distinction between million-plus urban agglomerates and smaller towns. Finally, by setting aside funds upfront for capacity-building, the FC acknowledges that if MCs are expected to deal with air quality-related issues, their human and fiscal resources must be strengthened. A review of 23 cities by Janagraaha in 2017 had found that most cities lack urban planners, and more than half of the cities did not generate enough revenue to meet even their salary costs. To be sure, while these grants are necessary, they are not enough to improve air quality. Much depends on the final design of the performance framework. City-level measures by the MCs need to be complemented with actions on sources of air pollution outside their jurisdiction be it within or outside the city, in the larger regional airshed. To do this, the grants framework should be integrated with NCAP action plans and institutions, with aggressive but achievable timelines for implementing prioritised measures, and a comprehensive cross-agency strategy for resource allocation. Further, it needs a sustained effort to improve the air quality, necessitating, at a minimum, the continuation of the grants for the next five years. The emergence of different city models of Covid-19 response from Bhilwara to Agra shows why having a decentralised form of governance, capable of responding to city-specific needs, matters. While the budget priority in the immediate term is rightly given to health and social protection, we must not lose momentum on the strides made in tackling air pollution. Proactively channelling resources to mitigate a critical risk factor today is a crucial investment for tomorrows public health. Avani Kapur is director of the Accountability Initiative, and fellow at the Centre for Policy Research (CPR). Santosh Harish is a fellow at CPR The views expressed are personal SEOUL, REPUBLIC OF KOREA / ACCESSWIRE / April 22, 2020 / The COVID19 virus, also known as the coronavirus, is an epidemic that is causing many deaths and spreading rapidly across Asia, including China, Korea, Japan, and the United States, Europe, and Africa. China and South Korea are the regions that quickly started the war against the coronavirus. The two countries once faced a massive increase in the number of infections and uncontrollable situations. However, high virus screening rates and a decreased number of confirmed cases show that they are effectively responding to the virus. In the case of Korea, the government prevented social anxiety and systematically managed the spread of the infectious disease through systematic communication and leadership between the public officials of the Central and Local Governments, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the police, and doctors, nurses, and volunteers. This includes drive-through inspections and the development of test kits exclusive for coronavirus. Furthermore, they were able to effectively reduce the virus infection by delivering preventive measures and post-infection measures to the people. And in April, Korea has become a country that receives official requests from various countries for help in dealing with the coronavirus. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), which is in a fierce battle with the coronavirus, has disclosed details on how the Korean government responded to coronavirus and what information was delivered to educational institutions, administrative agencies, hospitals, police, public institutions, business people, and the public. However, these materials are currently in Korean, making it difficult to verify in various countries. Blockchain expert Xsodion's representative Hoyeol Shin, Director Kwangpyo Ko, and 15 other volunteers joined forces to translate the data released by KCDC into English and Portuguese. They also made it into a website, mobile web, and android application for easy access to information on how the Korean government responded to corona. In addition to this, the service also introduces WHO's response to the coronavirus. Story continues The volunteer team operates under the name Xby45. It is currently building a system to disclose information in diverse languages on viruses that threaten people, record them in a blockchain, and provide accurate information to organizations that want them. Moreover, the team is composed of active professionals in various sectors, including IT developers, doctors, nurses, businessmen, and celebrities, and is from diverse countries, including Korea, the USA, Brazil, Thailand, and China. The Xby45 team's projects can be found on the WHOREPORT APP and www.whoreport.com . WHOREPORT consists of national situations, local information, preventive measures, post-infection measures, and Korean government manuals. The language is primarily in English, and currently, English, Korean, and Portuguese manuals are available. We would like to support various languages but lack competent personnel. If there are any volunteers by country, please apply via email. Prevention is important for coronavirus, but post-infection response is much more vital. Although post-infection policies vary by country, the one thing to remember is to call the coronavirus center before going to the hospital, notify the symptoms, and follow the directions of the center to protect the medical institution, surroundings, and yourself. If you go to the hospital directly, all doctors and nurses who accessed the medical center will be exposed to the infection of the coronavirus. This has been highlighted as the most critical problem in Korea and China, which experienced early coronavirus. Both the nation and citizens need to pay attention and work together to fight the virus in the long run. The coronavirus is causing many deaths in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. "Now is the time for all nations and people to join forces to fight the virus and overcome it. Please request if there is a need for any information from us. We will cooperate for whatever it might be to save one life." said the Xby45 team. If you look into the data from KCDC, documents such as event management guidelines, collective facility and multi-use facility response guidelines, standards for Business Continuity Plan (BCP), recommendations and precautions for minimizing travel, guidelines for collective event disinfection management, disinfection of multi-use facilities, and workplace response guidelines are provided. Other guidelines for neonatal intensive care unit management and medical-related preventive management will be added. If there are any other necessary documents, you can apply for them through separate inquiry. The Xby45 will forward the inquiry to KCDC to request for cooperation. Furthermore, the representative of Xsodion, Hoyeol Shin said coronavirus has caused much racial discrimination in several countries. He hoped we recognized once again that Asia is only the place where the virus appeared, and Asians are not the cause of the disease. He also wished that everyone could wisely overcome the virus situation with a caring mind, not racism. The Xby45 team's project is the first global team to respond to the coronavirus, which is causing much death. As the interview says, now is the time for everyone in the world to join forces to win the virus, and no anger should be expressed against any person or country in particular. Xby45 Volunteer List Director: Hoyeol Shin(xsodion), Kwangpyo Ko(xsodion) Planning: Kwangpyo Ko, Sungbok Han(xsodion) Development: Jincheol Lee(Freelancer), Kiho Ko(Smilegate) Medical Advice: Evellyn Lorena(mario ribeiro hospital), Clara Lee(north shore university hospital), Dain Kim (Busan Paik Hospital) Translation: Cindy Leann(xsodion), Chanhyeok Myeong(Handong University), Evellyn Lorena(mario ribeiro hospital) Gathering and consulting information: Malik Yusef(universal Music Group), Moley CHUNG(innosonian), Hanji Kim(xsodion), Junhee Jo(Chung-Ang University), Jeongeun Shin(bcnanumhouse), Yumin Myeong(Grace International School), Burundi Partlow(Universal Music Publishing Group) Participant Companies: XSODION, COLT8, INNOSONIAN Media contact Name: Hoyeol Shin Telephone : + 82-10-8742-2522 Email: xsodion.mrshin@gmail.com Address: 7F, 441, Yeoksam-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea Website: https://www.xsodion.com/ SOURCE: Xsodion View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/586305/The-Launch-of-a-Service-that-Shares-Korean-Governments-Countermeasures-Against-the-Corona-Virus-for-Free - The malaria drug had been widely touted by US President Donald Trump for treating the new coronavirus - The medication, however, showed no benefit in a large analysis of its use in United State's veterans' hospitals - There were more deaths among those given hydroxychloroquine versus standard care, researchers reported - Experts analysed medical records of 368 male veterans hospitalised with confirmed coronavirus infection who died or were discharged by April 11, 2020 - About 28% who were given hydroxychloroquine plus usual care died versus 11% of those who got routine care alone - About 22% of those who got the drug plus azithromycin died too - But the difference between that group and those receiving usual care was not considered large enough to rule out other factors that could have affected survival Coronavirus patients taking hydroxychloroquine, a treatment touted by United States President Trump, had higher deaths rates compared to those who did not take the drug. A new study of hundreds of patients at US Veterans Health Administration medical centers showed the patients were no less likely to need mechanical ventilation. READ ALSO: COVID-19: Sonko's newly launched sanitisation booths vandalized in Kibera In the study of 368 patients, 97 patients who took hydroxychloroquine had a 27.8% death rate while the 158 patients who did not take the drug had an 11.4% death rate. Photo: CNN. Source: UGC READ ALSO: Restaurant owner sells car to pay jobless employees after shutting down eatery due to coronavirus The study which reviewed veterans' medical charts was posted Tuesday, April 21, on medrxiv.org, a pre-print server, meaning it was not peer-reviewed or published in a medical journal. The findings were published by the authors who work at the Columbia VA Health Care System in South Carolina, the University of South Carolina and the University of Virginia. "An association of increased overall mortality was identified in patients treated with hydroxychloroquine alone," wrote the researchers. READ ALSO: Queen Elizabeth cancels 94th birthday celebrations over pandemic "These findings highlight the importance of awaiting the results of ongoing prospective, randomised, controlled studies before widespread adoption of these drugs,"they added. The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the University of Virginia. In the study of 368 patients, 97 patients who took hydroxychloroquine had a 27.8% death rate while the 158 patients who did not take the drug had an 11.4% death rate. READ ALSO: Majengo slums brothers modify motorcycle to supply free water, facemasks to street families The malaria drug had been widely touted by US President Donald Trump for treating the new coronavirus. Photo: CNN. Source: UGC Researchers also looked at whether taking hydroxychloroquine or a combination of it and the azithromycin antibiotic had an effect on whether a patient needed to go on a ventilator. "In this study, we found no evidence that use of hydroxychloroquine, either with or without azithromycin, reduced the risk of mechanical ventilation in patients," the authors wrote. There are currently no products approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to prevent or treat COVID-19 though research is underway on many drugs. READ ALSO: Kenya destroys 761 bags of dried fish smuggled from Somalia Hydroxychloroquine has been used for decades to treat patients with diseases such as malaria, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. Trump had touted the drug as a game-changer for COVID-19 and said it showed "tremendous promise." Physicians warned that while Trump was enthusiastic about the drug, it still needed to be studied to see if it worked and if was safe. READ ALSO: God has a lot of work to do, he isn't here to look after idiots - President Museveni In another recent study, researchers in France examined medical records for 181 COVID-19 patients who had pneumonia and required supplemental oxygen. About half had taken hydroxychloroquine within 48 hours of being admitted to the hospital, and the other half had not. It found there was no statistically significant difference in the death rates of the two groups or their chances of being admitted to the intensive care unit. READ ALSO: DCI detectives declare Ruth Matete's house a crime scene after 6 hour grilling over husband's death However, it found eight patients who took the drug developed abnormal heart rhythms and had to stop taking it. This research was also yet to be peer-reviewed or published in a medical journal. Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly Source: TUKO.co.ke The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) has launched a Lockdown Learners' series of online dialogues with students and educators in India on COVID-19 and its impact on Sustainable Development Goals, peace and rule of law. The dialogues have been launched by the United Nations body under its flagship for Justice initiative. Through these dialogues, the aim is to sensitise students on concerns of vulnerable groups and emerging issues such as cybercrime, misinformation, gender-based violence, discrimination, corruption among others, the UNODC said in a statement. The Lockdown Learners series also provides a platform for students to receive mentorship and knowledge support through activity-based learning, and use their talent and skills to promote awareness and share their ideas and solutions to address some of these problems, it said. Over the last week, educational resources have been shared with partner schools in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, and focused interactions convened with hundreds of students and educators, Samarth Pathak, UNODC's Communications Officer for South Asia, said. UNODC welcomes schools to join these efforts in creating a positive framework for students to be productive and engaged during this period of lockdown, reduce stress through positive messaging, and empower young people to become champions of tomorrow, he said. What makes UNODC's educational products particularly noteworthy is their emphasis on values, teaching children to think, and helping them build special empowering skills, the statement said. "These products include free-to-use educational material, comics, board and online games, The Zorbs cartoon series and other modules and videos that may be used by teachers and students at home to develop an understanding on peace and the rule of law," it added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) (Photo : REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage/File Photo) FILE PHOTO: Employees at Forza Storico attach prepare meals for Emory healthcare workers days before the phased reopening of businesses and restaurants from coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. April 21, 2020 New autopsy results show that several individuals who died in their houses in February later examined positive for the new coronavirus. Experts suggested that the first COVID-19 demise in the United States passed off weeks earlier than previously thought. In a statement Tuesday, officials said the medical personnel examined a few folks that died in their homes for coronavirus. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed on Tuesday, Apr. 21 that the said patients tested positive for coronavirus, basing on the autopsy results. These deaths now stand as the country's earliest people related to the new coronavirus. The said development could change the perception of how early the virus was spreading in the country, health professionals told CNN Wednesday. Two deaths in Northern California's Santa Clara County passed away February 6 and 17, the county said Tuesday in a news release. The U.S. recorded its first known death from COVID-19 on Feb. 28 - a man in his 50s in Washington state. The new information indicates the country's early demise occurred at least three weeks prior. ALSO READ: New Coronavirus Mutation Strain Found Which Could Potentially Hinder COVID-19 Vaccine Development No travel history Dr. Sara Cody, the county's chief medical officer, told The New York Times the two in California had no known travel histories to China or anywhere else that exposed them to the virus. Cody said the patients are presumed to have caught the virus through community spread, she told the Times. California confirmed its first coronavirus death on Mar. 4 - an elderly patient in Placer County, near Sacramento. Santa Clara County, which includes San Jose in the Bay Area, recorded its first death case on Mar. 9 - a woman in her 60s. "[The result] is a very significant finding," Dr. Ashish K. Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, told CNN's "New Day" on Wednesday. Jha said the patient who died on Feb. 6 was probably contracted that virus early to mid-January. If the patients did not contract coronavirus through travel abroad, Jha said there was a community spread happening in California since mid-January or earlier than that. "We really need to now go back, look at a lot more cases from January -- even December -- and try to sort out when did we first really encounter this virus in the United States," Jha said. ALSO READ: Coronavirus Spreads Whenever You Do This Everyday Routine-- It Gets Worse if You're Inside Men's Bathroom Tissue samples were positive, CDC says The Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner obtained autopsies on two of those who died in their houses Feb. 6 and 17. CDC, who examined the tissue samples, confirmed that the specimens tested positive for coronavirus. The third death in early March also showed to be virus-related, officials said. Further information on the patients was not provided. At the time of the deaths, the county stated, mass testing was very limited at that time. The tests were then limited to most people with known travel records and seeking a cure for positive symptoms, and available only through the CDC. The county stated that as more deaths in the state are investigated, officials said more virus-related mortality is likely. Dr. Colleen Kraft, associate chief medical officer of Atlanta's Emory University Hospital, agreed with Jha's statement. "[Jha's pronouncement] also means that a lot more people have had this, probably asymptomatically or with mild illness, than we thought before," Kraft said on Tuesday. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A Delhi Police head constable attached with the Special Cell has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, prompting the authorities to order quarantine for 71 personnel, the force said on Wednesday. He was tested positive for the virus on Monday, they said. As a precautionary measure, 71 Special Cell personnel who came in contact with the Head Constable before April 10 have been directed to be in quarantine for 15 days, a senior police official said. So far, more than 13 Delhi Police personnel have tested positive for COVID-19. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) EP Global Opportunities Trust Plc - Result of AGM EP GLOBAL OPPORTUNITIES TRUST PLC (the "Company") Result of Annual General Meeting The Company is pleased to announce that at the Annual General Meeting ("AGM") held today, all resolutions, as set out in the Notice of AGM, were passed by the requisite majority. Each of the resolutions put to the AGM were voted on by way of a poll. Resolutions 1 to 10 related to Ordinary Business. Resolutions 11 to 15 related to Special Business, as set out below: Resolution 11: To make market purchases of the Company's shares. Resolution 12: To allot shares in accordance with statutory pre-emption rights. Resolution 13: To allot shares otherwise than in accordance with statutory pre-emption rights. Resolution 14: To sell ordinary shares held in treasury at a discount to the prevailing net asset value per ordinary share. Resolution 15: To hold general meetings (other than annual general meetings) on 14 clear days' notice. The results of the poll for each resolution were as follows: Resolution (No. as noted on proxy form) Shares For % Shares Against % Shares Marked As Votes Withheld / Abstentions Resolution 1 10,481,235 100.00 0 0.00 0 Resolution 2 10,446,448 99.93 6,806 0.07 27,981 Resolution 3 10,481,235 100.00 0 0.00 0 Resolution 4 10,481,235 100.00 0 0.00 0 Resolution 5 10,481,235 100.00 0 0.00 0 Resolution 6 10,479,715 99.99 1,520 0.01 0 Resolution 7 10,308,786 98.37 170,789 1.63 1,660 Resolution 8 10,475,779 99.95 5,455 0.05 0 Resolution 9 8,612,970 82.50 1,827,255 17.50 41,010 Resolution 10 10,479,715 99.99 1,520 0.01 0 Resolution 11 10,473,513 99.94 5,969 0.06 1,753 Resolution 12 10,401,531 99.35 68,438 0.65 11,266 Resolution 13 10,457,795 99.88 12,174 0.12 11,266 Resolution 14 9,342,920 89.31 1,118,070 10.69 20,244 Resolution 15 10,268,218 97.97 213,017 2.03 0 Under Listing Rule 9.6.2, the resolutions passed as Special Business will be submitted to the Financial Conduct Authority, and will shortly be available via the National Storage Mechanism, which is located at: www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/NSM . The complete poll results will be available shortly on the Company's website at www.epgot.com . 22 April 2020 Legal Entity Identifier: 2138005T5CT5ITZ7ZX58 Enquiries: Kenneth J Greig Edinburgh Partners AIFM Limited Tel: 0131 270 3800 The Company's registered office address is: 27-31 Melville Street Edinburgh EH3 7JF Macy's is taking extreme measures to avoid dire outcomes like bankruptcy, and will try to raise billions in debt to weather the pandemic crisis, according to people familiar with the matter. The country's largest department store is looking at raising as much as $5 billion in debt, the people said. It will seek to use its inventory as collateral to raise $3 billion and real estate to raise $1 billion to $2 billion, they said. It is not planning to pledge its prime Herald Square location in New York as part of the deal, one of the people said. The retailer earlier this year retained investment bank Lazard to help shore up its balance sheet. The people stressed that bankruptcy is not a focus for Macy's at this time. But the decision to take on billions in debt for the historically financially conservative company is a sign of the pressure it is facing as its stores have been forced shut and revenue has run dry. The people requested anonymity because the information is confidential. In a statement provided to CNBC, a spokesperson for Macy's said: "As we have previously communicated, the coronavirus pandemic continues to take a toll on Macy's business. While the digital business remains open, we have lost the majority of our sales due to our store closures." "Macy's has taken multiple actions to improve our position and improve financial flexibility, including suspending our quarterly dividend, deferring capital spend, drawing on our credit facility, reducing pay at most levels of management and furloughing the majority of our colleagues," she added. The statement said "the company is also exploring numerous options to strengthen our capital structure." Macy's, which also owns Bluemercury and Bloomingdales, has roughly 775 stores. As of January, it had sales of roughly $25 billion and net debt of $3.5 billion. Its nearest debt maturity is for roughly $530 million in January 2021. Its shares have fallen nearly 70% year-to-date, giving it a market capitalization of $1.6 billion. Macy's has for years resisted pressure to monetize its real estate en-masse, including from activist investor Starboard Value when it had a stake in the retailer a few years ago. Retail is a fickle industry, and retailers often prefer a cash cushion for a rainy day fund. Macy's trip through bankruptcy in the 1990's made clear the value of conservative management for the retailer. But the coronavirus pandemic has been a firestorm for retail, forcing the industry to battle large fixed costs and evaporating sales. Macy's was already seeking to cull costs prior to the pandemic, amid changing shopping habits and an expansive store base. It has said it plans to shut roughly a quarter of its stores over the next three years. All of Macy's stores have been closed since March 18 in what the company has called an "unprecedented crisis." Even when stores can reopen, unemployment is making consumers mindful of their paycheck, while the virus has made them wary of crowds. Macy's peers are facing similar challenges, though to differing degrees of alarm. Nordstrom last week said it had issued $600 million in secured debt financing, in addition to drawing down $800 million on its revolving line of credit. J.C Penney and Neiman Marcus have both missed interest payments, and Neiman Marcus could file for bankruptcy as soon as this week, people familiar with the matter have told CNBC. Macy's is in a stronger financial position than J.C. Penney and Neiman Marcus. It still has relationships with apparel brands that depend on the retailer to sell their clothes. Its brand name continues to resonate with many Americans. Still, its financially conservative past may, ironically, add an extra difficulty as it looks to quickly pool together funds. Because Macy's debt was once investment grade, some of it is hamstrung in stricter indentures and restrictions underwritten at a time no one envisioned all retail doors would be shut, the people said. Meantime, the value of its long sought-after real estate is also unclear, with no one shopping in stores right now and uncertainty as to when they will return. CNBC's Lauren Thomas contributed to this report Like everybody, I want it to be back to normal as fast as possible, Pritzker said at his daily news briefing. I think were all recognizing that normal is going to look a little bit different going forward until theres a vaccine, until we can literally rid our state and our country and our planet of this scourge of COVID-19. North Korea's state-run TV in a rare admission on Thursday showed footage of leader Kim Jong-un limping and admitted he is ill. It was the first time that the North's tightly-controlled media admitted a leader has health problems. The report hailed "Our marshal, who lights the path of leadership for the people like a flame, although he was not feeling well" over footage of a limping Kim taken sometime in July. A government official here said Friday, "We are closely monitoring Kim Jong-un's health," adding that a team of foreign doctors recently went to North Korea and are treating the leader. A source said Kim is believed to be suffering from gout, high cholesterol, obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure. The U.S. Treasury Department said on Monday it had disbursed $2.9 billion in initial payroll assistance to 54 smaller passenger carrier and two major passenger airlines, while it finalized grant agreements with six major airlines. The Treasury is initially giving major airlines 50% of funds awarded and releasing the rest in a series of payments. In total, Treasury is awarding U.S. passenger airlines $25 billion in funds earmarked for payroll costs. Major airlines must repay 30% of the funds in low-interest loans and grant Treasury warrants equal to 10% of the loan amount, while airlines receiving $100 million or less do not need to repay any funds or issue warrants to the government. Treasury said on Monday it had finalized grant agreements with Allegiant Air, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines, and United Airlines. Air carriers have been devastated by the coronavirus pandemic and seen U.S. travel demand fall by 95%. Southwest said it would receive half of the $3.2 billion payroll award immediately and the remainder in installments during May, June, and July. Separately, Treasury said Alaska Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue Airways, and SkyWest Airlines had also indicated that they planned to participate. The 12 major airlines represent nearly 95% of U.S. airline capacity. Airlines receiving funds cannot lay off employees before Sept. 30 or change collective bargaining agreements and must agree to restrictions on buybacks, executive compensation, and dividends. Treasury is now considering separate requests for additional assistance from another $25 billion loan fund for passenger airlines. United said on Monday it was seeking $4.5 billion in loans from the program, while American said last week it was applying for a $4.75 billion loan under that program, and Alaska and Horizon said they were applying for $1.1 billion in loans. United said on Monday it expected to cut passenger capacity by 90% in June. Treasury is still considering how to award $4 billion in payroll assistance to cargo carriers and $3 billion to airport contractors like airplane caterers. Estimated global airline losses from the coronavirus pandemic have climbed to $314 billion, 25% more than previously forecast, the International Air Transport Association said last week. Michigans effort to trace the contacts of people whove tested positive for COVID-19 is being delayed after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer canceled a pair of contracts following political backlash. Great Lakes Community Engagement and Every Action VAN were hired to oversee the contact tracing work, but the firms ties to Democratic campaigns prompted criticism. Whitmer canceled the contracts to take out any speculation, she said during a Wednesday, April 22 news briefing. With 999 new confirmed coronavirus cases, Michigan nears 34,000 The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services awarded the contracts, but Whitmer said the contracting process should have gone through the State Emergency Operations Center. The mistake wont happen again, she said. "The department thought that that vendor was the best one, for some reason. I don't know what that reason was," Whitmer said. "But I do know the (MDHHS) does not have a political bone in their theoretical body." Michigan Republican Party Chairman Laura Cox is calling for Whitmer to release all internal emails regarding the contact trace program. The people of Michigan have a right to know how the governor and her staff are handling this crisis," Cox said in a news release. If the governor wont answer these questions for us, maybe her administrations emails will. The goal of contact tracing with coronavirus is to notify people if they've been exposed so they can self-isolate in hopes of avoiding further spread of the virus. The state trained more than 2,200 volunteers to speed up and expand the states contact tracing capacity. Whitmer said she'll have to follow up to see how much data was available to the groups before she canceled their contracts. "I don't believe that much had even gotten started at all, frankly," Whitmer said. "I'm glad that it came to my attention as early as it did." The SEOC will determine who gets the new contract for contact tracing, Whitmer said. The correct process was not followed. We are fixing it, because its important that we get this right, Whitmer said. This is an essential part of how were going to save lives and start to reboot our economy. PREVENTION TIPS In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus. Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible. Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and when you go into places like stores. Read more Michigan coronavirus coverage here Wednesday, April 22: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan Coronavirus antibody tests offer big promise, but can they deliver? Short-term extension of Michigans stay-at-home order likely necessary to limit coronavirus spread, Whitmer says Novi coronavirus field hospital set to open Friday Michigan to lay off 2,900 state employees amid budget woes caused by coronavirus outbreak Nurse who spoke out about coronavirus concerns fired by Mercy Health Which surfaces does the coronavirus stay on longest? 18 expert disinfecting tips Second coronavirus outbreak this winter could be worse than this one, CDC chief warns Boris Johnsons coronavirus strategy faces its first major political test since the U.K. was put on lockdown a month ago when members of Parliament question ministers in a sitting conducted via video-conference. The prime minister remains out of action recovering from his own severe case of Covid-19, and will not be in the House of Commons to answer questions when Parliament resumes its scrutiny of the governments plans Wednesday. Click here for the complete coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic In his place will be Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, facing opposition Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer. While both Raab and Starmer will be in the chamber, in a historic first, most of the members of Parliament taking part will be doing so via Zoom videoconferencing technology. That session, and the statement after it from Health Secretary Matt Hancock, will give ministers a sense of how much pressure theyre under from MPs to start easing the lockdown that Johnson imposed March 23. For nearly a month, most shops and all restaurants and bars have been closed, in an effort to slow the spread of the virus. Thats due to continue for another three weeks. The virtual Parliament will lack the drama of normal sessions, with only 50 MPs allowed in the chamber, meaning its likely to be a more subdued affair. The limits of videoconferencing will also restrict the ability of members to interrupt or challenge ministers, at a time when the government has placed restrictions of peoples liberties unprecedented in peacetime. The Long Run The government faces criticism over shortages of protective medical equipment, and on Tuesday the Office for National Statistics released data showing the dramatic toll of the virus. It said that in the week ending April 10, 18,516 deaths had been registered, the highest weekly number in more than two decades and 76% more than the average for that week. Click here for the latest updates from the coronavirus outbreak Hancock tried to get onto the front foot that evening, announcing that Britain will begin human trials of a vaccine this week. In the long run, the best way to defeat coronavirus is through a vaccine, Hancock told the governments daily news conference. The U.K. is at the front of the global effort. We have put more money than any other country into a global search for a vaccine and, for all the efforts around the world, two of the leading vaccine developments are taking place here at home. The trials will be of a drug developed at Oxford University. Hancock said the government would give 20 million pounds ($25 million) to support the research. In normal times, reaching this stage would take years, he said. Another 20.5 million pounds will go to a separate project at Londons Imperial College. Complaints from health workers about the availability of personal protective equipment continue, but Hancock was keen to emphasize the governments achievements. He said that with the number of people hospitalized with the virus declining, the ministers had achieved their goal of protecting the National Health Service from being overwhelmed. At no point in this crisis has anyone who could benefit from critical care been denied that care because there werent enough staff, or beds, or ventilators to treat them, Hancock said. His announcement came as: The health secretary said the process for finding a vaccine would take trial and error, but he has told U.K. scientists leading the search he would back them to the hilt and give them every resource they need in order to succeed. After all, the upside of being the first country in the world to develop a successful vaccine is so huge that I am throwing everything at it, he said. Van-Tam said the number of new cases being diagnosed in the U.K. remained high. It isnt clear there is an enormous downturn at this point, he said. The numbers are varying day to day, but they remain high and we remain in a situation of danger that we must take very seriously indeed. He also set out the difficulty facing governments in deciding how to ease restrictions on public activities. We do at some point hope that we turn this curve down, he said. The difficulty then, he said, was easing some of the restrictions we are under without letting this virus just chase off again. Thats a really difficult balancing act. Compiled by Savitha Hira Photography: Suryan & Dang Read Time: 2 mins Torani Flagship store (inset) Designers Navneet Kaur & Udaai Batra Designers at Bora Da Designs perpetuate a shift in modern, conventional retail design as the Torani garments store in Delhi follows the architectural language of Sindh Led by a unique client brief that did not seek the luxe and gloss of modern store design; instead, aspired for Sindhi Architecture in resonance with their products, designers Udaai Batra and Navneet Kaur weave old-world minimalism into a chic ambience that spells homely warmth for its customers. Torani is one of the first stores located near the entrance of the posh Khan Market in Central Delhi. Surprisingly unhampered by neighbouring storefronts, a footpath leads one to the main entrance of the store, while a secondary entrance at the far end of its rectilinear layout draws customers from the internal walkway. Starting out with a thematic that spells the strong doctrine of Sufism and borrowing from Persian architecture both considerably rampant influences seen in Sindhi architecture of yore the design language draws from 16th century medieval times in the province of Sindh, Pakistan to celebrate raw minimalism. The whole store resonates the idea of simple clean design with earthy colours and raw materiality, the drama called upon by the clothes. With the walls playing an expansive canvas for the earthy and grainy textured grey paint that covers every inch - up and down over the beams and ceiling to bind the store in a monochrome envelope, the rugged feel, bare metal display stands, clothes pegs monogrammed with the Torani logo, looking mirrors set inside arch-shaped frames, hints of brushed brass accessories typical of Sindhi culture The flooring, however, ceases to match and flow with the walls, its grey micro topping enhancing the aura of antiquity and minimalism - further augmented by the 14ft. high ceiling that adds verticality to the 400 sq. ft. space, making it appear roomy and open. The showstopper comes guised as a centrally placed bare tree trunk from which are hung brass bells of various styles. Each bell is suspended using saffron threads (compelling cultural element) that also spiral around the tree to remind one of the rituals that are deeply rooted in the Indian culture. This central attraction is the first thing one sees when one approaches the face of the store. The design combats the inherent challenges of an engaging display in a narrow spatial distribution; approx. six-inch thick shared walls with neighbouring stores that could not be perforated; and the ultimate challenge, which was to execute the project within a fortnight, given the economics involved. Fact File: Client: Karan Torani Typology: Retail Design Firm: Bora Da Designs Principal Designers: Udaai Batra & Navneet Kaur Design Team: Udaai Batra, Navneet Kaur, Mohommad Faisal, Ritu Kumar Built-up Area: 400 sq. ft. Carpet Area: 400 sq. ft. Location: Khan Market, New Delhi Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Moch. Fiqih Prawira Adjie and Yulia Savitri (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta/Palembang Wed, April 22, 2020 18:03 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd39b006 1 National agrarian-conflicts,land-conflicts,land-dispute,farmer,police Free Activists have accused police of dragging their feet in an investigation into the murder of two farmers linked to a land dispute in Pagar Batu village, Lahat regency, South Sumatra. The two farmers, 32-year-old Putra Bakti and 38-year old Aman Suryadi, were stabbed to death, allegedly by security guards employed by oil palm plantation company PT Artha Prigel on March 21. The incident occurred when the company tried to evict villagers from the area, with company security guards and armed police officers arriving to enforce the eviction. The villagers resisted and violence broke out, resulting in the death of the two farmers. The company and the residents have been in conflict for nearly three decades, starting in 1993, when the residents gave up their land in exchange for what they consider paltry compensation. Pagar Batu residents advocacy team member Mualimin Pardi Dahlan said the local police should have identified all the perpetrators and the mastermind behind the murders by now. So far, the Lahat Police have only arrested one suspect, a 38-year-old security guard identified by the initials UB. The local police are sluggish in investigating the case, Mualimin said at a virtual press conference on Tuesday. He said UB had turned himself in to police and urged the police to develop the case further, saying there were suspicions that the violence had been planned. He also claimed the police had been negligent during the incident, as officers on the scene had only fired warning shots after victims had fallen, adding that one of the three police officers had even pointed his gun at one of the local residents. We want to send a letter to the National Police chief, not only to ask for this case to be thoroughly investigated, but also to question the institutional responsibility of the National Police, Mualimin said, urging the National Human Rights Commission to probe the case. https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/04/04/tensions-high-after-two-farmers-killed-in-south-sumatra-land-conflict.html Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) advocacy division deputy head Era Purnama Sari, who also attended the press conference, urged the government to stop "commercializing" the police as a security service in agrarian conflicts. Lahat Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Irwansyah told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that the investigation was ongoing and would be developed, adding that the police had sent the case file to the Lahat Prosecutors Office. He also defended the presence of police officers during the incident. "Our presence actually caused the company's security guards to withdraw from confrontation three times," he said. Aside from watching over the investigation, Mulaimin said the advocacy team would protect witnesses and provide medical and psychological rehabilitation for them and other victims, as two were left injured after the incident. The injured victims are still being treated and still cannot provide for their families. One of the killed farmers also has a wife and small children that need certainty regarding their livelihood moving forward, he said. Editor's note: This article has been updated to correct the names of the killed farmers. Radio producer Jana Hocking (pictured) A single radio producer who writes a monthly column on her dating escapades has hosted a Q&A session online so Australian men can ask her about their relationships. Jana Hocking, who works at Sydney's Triple M radio station, has been receiving a number of direct messages on Instagram from concerned would-be boyfriends who aren't sure why they're receiving mixed signals from a potential love interest. 'They've read the articles I've shared on insta, or watched the odd TV appearance I've made to chat about said articles, and felt the need to reach out with their own questions,' the 34-year-old wrote on Whimn. So in a bid to share her knowledge Miss Hocking poured herself a glass of wine on April 14 and opened her direct message inbox to the public, asking 'what do you blokes want to know about women?' She had between 80 and 100 messages from confused men looking for answers. Do women watch porn? This was an easy answer for Miss Hocking to answer, and she simply replied: 'Yes, yes they do. Even the quiet ones.' She attached a graph that explained which categories of porn women engage with the most to provide more of an insight. Lesbian videos, 'romantic' options and 'threesomes' were the top choices across the board. She had between 80 and 100 messages from confused men looking for answers Should we go big on the first date or keep it more low-key? Miss Hocking argued that fancy gestures on round one weren't the best idea, given you might work out 'in the first five minutes that you've been catfished'. Instead she recommended taking your date to a restaurant or bar you like so she can get a taste for what you enjoy, which provides an insight into your personality. Once the feelings are mutual between the two of you it's okay to plan something more romantic. Why do so many cancel before the first date or without warning? 'Honestly because they're not that invested,' Miss Hocking said to the annoyed suitor. 'If you're really excited for a date you would never cancel. You may have a million wines beforehand to calm the nerves but you go on the date.' She said this kind of behaviour should ultimately be considered a blessing because the date clearly would have been a waste of your time. 'If you're really excited for a date you would never cancel. You may have a million wines beforehand to calm the nerves but you go on the date,' she said Would you be put off by advances from an older guy? Or is age just a number? Miss Hocking said she wasn't personally affronted by the idea of dating an older man, although she once got together with someone 20 years older than her and it was a 'snore-fest'. She answered the question by saying she doesn't understand why older men set their Tinder preferences to only match with women in their 20s and 30s when ladies in their own demographic would be just as interesting. Women who don't reply generally aren't interested, she said So while age can be just a number, it's also important to date 'within reason' so you have things in common. Why does the girl I'm getting to know go from hot to cold? This could mean that she's not 100 per cent convinced you're the right one, Miss Hocking said. She might be enjoying the attention she's getting but also want to keep her options open. Girls who behave in this way might also be 'playing games', which is a sign of insecurity. They might not want to commit for fear they will eventually get rejected. Would you prefer being ghosted or should he just say he's not that into you? Miss Hocking firmly disagreed that ghosting was ever the answer to ending a courtship. 'Always tell a girl. If you don't it looks like you have no balls and imagine if your mates found out you ghosted someone? It's just embarrassing,' she said. 'Be better. We're fine and we can handle it.' Why do women match with you on dating apps and then unmatch when you send a message? Miss Hocking believes most women would only unmatch a date if a man's opening line was either cheesy or sleazy in nature. If it was just a simple question then you're more likely going to get a response. However, if it looks like your copying and pasting a response to all your connections this will come across fairly quickly, and should be avoided. CHICO, Calif. - Chico State faculty, staff, students, and community members are using 3D printers to make face shields to donate to places like Enloe Medical Center. Action News Now spoke with Greg Watkins chair of CSU, Chicos Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering and Sustainable Manufacturing. The idea is that these are now reusable, these shields can be disconnected and disinfected," Watkins said. "Or once they're used, they can just be replaced." Watkin said CSU modified design was based on an original design made by Georgia Tech. Idea Fab Labs is producing the plastic face shields that snap onto the frames. RELATED: Chico company creating masks and shields for workers on the front lines Eric Ayars, Professor and Chair of Physics of CSU said they are 3D printing the molded frame that supports the plastic shield. When we got booted off campus for the isolation, I suspected the 3D printer that we had in our lab would come in handy and so I borrowed that one, it's currently at my desk at home, Ayars said. The face shield comes with two parts, the mold and the film. Watkin says they are looking into another manufacturing processing called plastic injection molding to help produce up to 600 face shield molds a day. With the volunteers that we have, with students and community, we are able to produce 100 a week," Watkins said. "Enloe wants an initial 2,000, we been in touch with the North Valley Community Foundation who wants to support this effort and they feel that the community demand may be closer to 10,000." Ayars said one piece takes about an hour to make so volunteers are needed. In the next phase, they are seeking approval from the university to allow students to come on campus to make the mold and run production on the plastic injection mold machine. Amazon is maintaining the closure of distribution hubs in France today, in retaliation against a court ruling last week requiring that it restrict deliveries to essential items and take measures to protect employees from the coronavirus pandemic. On April 14, a court in Nanterre ruled in favor of the SUD trade union in its case against Amazon. It ordered the company to continue to distribute only essential items, including foods and medical products, and to complete formal policy guidelines together with SUD in conformity with social distancing and other protective requirements for the pandemic. Amazon employs just over 10,000 employees across France, including 3,700 temporary workers. There has been a growing wave of opposition among Amazon workers in France, as internationally, in the past two months, against the maintenance of unsafe working conditions by the global logistics giant and its exposure of employees and their families to the deadly virus. Rejecting any restriction on its operations, Amazon published an announcement on Thursday that it remained perplexed by the ruling from the tribunal, and that we must temporarily suspend our activities in distribution centers in France. Despite having previously pledged to restrict its operations to the provision of essential items, Amazon claimed that such a requirement was impossible to meet due to the inherent complexity of our operations. In a barely veiled threat, Amazon added that the court ruling will probably have consequences for many people in our country, notably our thousands of collaborators and clients who depend on us now more than ever, and many small businesses who depend on Amazon to grow. Amazon has already appealed the ruling, and its appeal was heard yesterday in the appeals court of Versailles. The nationwide shutdown, which was initially to last until Monday, was extended until after the hearing to today, but Amazon announced that it could be extended indefinitely. Approximately 8,000 employees have been told to remain at home. The company claims that it is continuing to pay them their full wages at least until today and has not yet required that they apply for state unemployment payments available for workers confined by the pandemic. At least some deliveries are continuing into France via Amazons international distribution network. Amazons announcement is a naked act of economic blackmail, threatening to use its monopoly control over critical logistics infrastructure to sabotage distribution of goods in the midst of a deadly global pandemic. The corporation and its shareholders will accept no restriction on their right to generate billions of dollars in profits by exploiting its employees and placing their lives in grave danger. The media and the Macron government have made no criticism of Amazons actions. When reports emerged last month that sanitary and other public administration workers may strike in protest at the lack of gloves and other essential sanitary equipment necessary to protect their lives, the government and media expressed their moral outrage that this would selfishly sabotaging the fight against the pandemic. Countless statements by Amazon workers have been reported over the past month about the absence of basic protective measures. Le Parisien cited an unnamed employee in the northern city of Lille on March 18: We are stuck. There are no masks. The gel is not available everywhere and we receive only two pairs of gloves per month. On Thursday, we received an email that times for lunch at the canteen, which normally holds 700 people, would be split up, but the boxes, carts and scanners continue to pass between hands without being disinfected. Another Amazon worker told France3, Even if they say we are spread out, we are forced to cross each other, especially in the cloakrooms, and there is not a meter of separation. Everyone touches the lockers, without gloves, without anything. So theres the possibility of propagating the virus and to already have caught it. And then when we go home, because we have crossed many people, we are at risk of infecting our families. Last weeks court ruling in Nanterre noted that there is no system in place to alert employees if they have come into contact with another employee who has contracted COVID-19. Because of the Macron administrations policy of not testing anyone except the most at-risk groups, even when presenting clear symptoms of coronavirus, it is impossible for workers to know how many of their co-workers have been infected. The ruling noted that between 150 and 450 employees have continued to arrive at the center at the same time, entering at the same turnstiles, where employees are forced to touch the door with their bare hands or to use their clothes to avoid direct contact. After Amazon placed restrictions on the locker rooms, employees were forced to leave their coats in piles, touching one another, and creating further risks of contamination. The decision by SUD to launch a legal action was a rearguard response to avoid being completely overwhelmed by the already developing wildcat actions by Amazon employees. Its claims that the Nanterre ruling represents a major victory for the working class are cynical, however, as they aim to cover over the unions close collaboration with Macron to create conditions for a return to work on May 11 across numerous industries, including auto and aerospace, in the middle of the pandemic. Strikes by Amazon workers have already spread at multiple logistics hubs across Italy, Spain, and in the United States. In France, more than 300 workers had already refused to turn up at work in Lille in late March, with similar actions at other hubs. Two temporary workers at Lille were tested positive for coronavirus two weeks ago and told the media they had caught the virus at work. An unknown number of Amazon employees are already carrying the virus. While Amazon workers and their families are being placed in grave danger, Amazon and its shareholders are profiting handsomely from the coronavirus pandemic that has already killed more than 170,000 people around the world, and over 20,200 in France. With other stores closed due to confinement orders and Amazon able to tighten its grip on sales, the company has seen its share prices surge. CEO Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world, who owns an 11 percent stake in the company, has seen his wealth jump by $24 billion since the beginning of the year due to the increase in share prices. Every day this year, on average, amid the greatest global pandemic in a century, has gifted Bezos another $195 million. Amazons response to the Nanterre ruling is just one expression of the capitalist class sabotage of the fight against the pandemic. For decades, social spending on healthcare infrastructure has served to funnel wealth to the pockets of the financial aristocracy, while critical medical equipment has been neglected. The ruling class has responded to the pandemic, not as a health crisis, but as a financial event requiring a massive infusion of wealth to the share markets. Now the Macron administration, and other governments across Europe are moving to push workers back to work in unsafe conditions. As a direct and vital necessity for the fight against the pandemic, Amazon and other gigantic corporations must be taken out of private hands and taken under the direct control of the working class, and the critical infrastructure used to organize a rational and scientific response. The wealth of the financial oligarchy epitomized by Bezos must be confiscated and used to provide decent living conditions for the entire population. EUR to GBP exchange rates rally from last weeks low of 0.868 and reached 0.886 on Tuesday. Optimism on a resolution to the EUs debt problem steadied the Euro while Brexit woes continue for GBP. These two drivers are likely to dominate for the rest of Q2. Its been an up and down week so far as Wednesdays session is reclaiming most of Tuesdays stock losses and even oil is climbing higher. It appears as if the markets are at a crossroads as focus has shifted away from the numbers associated with the coronavirus spread and death rate onto the economic impact and length of the lockdown measures. Risk sentiment has improved and the relief rally has been significant, but the next moves now depend on whether fundamentals can bounce back. Currencies have been a lot steadier since March and many pairs are where they were before the coronavirus crisis dominated. EURGBP is stuck between 0.87 and 0.88 and seems unlikely to shift from this area sustainably until a new driver comes along. What this will be exactly is unclear at the moment but two factors look likely to dominate for the remainder of the first half of this year; Brexit and Eurozone debt. A Tsunami of Debt Debt is an issue for most countries, especially in the wake of the coronavirus. However, debt issuance in the EU is a particular problem due to the many differences between nations. There may be a single currency, but credit ratings, yields and debt to GDP vary drastically from nation to nation. Southern states such as Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal require more debt and have to pay more to finance it. This has long been a problem but is flaring up again as many EU nations require what ING call a tsunami of debt to deal with the lockdowns. Mutualization of debt was suggested but has once more rejected by northern countries such as Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. The problem is, the southern countries do not like the alternatives and this causing friction. A compromise is still being sought and as ING report, a deal could be made this week. Ahead of the Eurogroup virtual meeting tomorrow, some advances towards a compromise seem to have already been made. In a Senate testimony yesterday, Italian PM Giuseppe Conte sounded more open to the ESM credit line and to an alternative fund in place of the (now hardly realisable) Eurobonds. This should bode well for tomorrows meeting, and possibly reduce the chances of a market-adverse outcome, thereby allowing some upside room for the euro. The Euro was relatively strong on Tuesday, perhaps reflecting some of the renewed optimism for agreement. Brexit Back on the Agenda The UK have just over two months to either request an extension to the transition period or to forge ahead and hope that it can agree a workable trade deal by the end of the year. This is making Sterling traders jittery and the governments recent insistence that it will not request an extension is adding to the unease. GBP was noticeably weaker on Tuesday and combined with a solid Euro performance, EURGBP managed a rally of over 1% to break above 0.88. This has since faded but looks like these kind of spikes could become more frequent ahead of the June deadline. Many analysts and Brexit commentators think the government will have to eventually cave to pressure and request a deadline, especially given the coronavirus situation, but they are unlikely to do so before the scheduled June meeting which means EURGBP could be stuck in a volatile range for at least another month. Saudi Arabia has made good on its early-March promise to flood the world with oil, but with demand collapsing and storage filling fast, the worlds top oil exporter must now keep its unsold crude on supertankers at sea as no one is rushing to take delivery of oil they cant process or store. Around the world, at least one in every ten very large crude carriers (VLCCs)--each capable of holding 2 million barrels of oil--currently acts as a floating storage, oil officials from Saudi Arabia told The Wall Street Journal this week. Many of the supertankers carry Saudi crude, and some of it is not sold yet. As buying interest in the oil industry is currently only focused on available storage capacity, not on crude oil, the early Saudi plan to go after its rivals market shares with aggressive price discounts and a fleet of more oil is backfiring while a large part of the world is under lockdown, refiners slash run rates, and storage fills up. At the same time, the highest number of Saudi oil shipments in years are making their way to the United States this month, threatening to make an already dire situation in the U.S. oil industry even worse. The tankers were loaded before OPEC+ struck a new agreement to take 9.7 million bpd off the market in May and June when Saudi Arabia had embarked on an aggressive price war for market share after the previous OPEC+ deal collapsed in early March. However, three weeks later, the world demands anything but more oildemand is crashing by 30 million barrels per day (bpd), and even the new production reduction agreement cant do anything to erase the glut in April and the coming weeks. The fact is buyers dont have storage so regardless of whatever level of output you want, there wont be storage for it, a senior Saudi Aramco executive told the Journal, adding that the Kingdom may have to shut part of its own production because there simply isnt demand for crude oil. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The World Bank says remittances sent home by migrants from low- and middle-income countries are projected to drop nearly 20 percent to $445 billion this year due to the global economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic. In a report released on April 22, the Washington-based lender said job losses, as well as lost hours and wages were expected to leave migrants in wealthier nations unable to send as much money home to poorer countries. Remittance flows to states in Europe and Central Asia are expected to drop 27.5 percent, representing a loss of crucial financing for many vulnerable households, it said. The decrease is expected to be 22.1 percent in South Asia and 19.6 percent in the Middle East and North Africa. The report also cautioned that migrants are being left out of programs that governments have implemented to ease the economic and health effects of the coronavirus and are unable to return to their countries due to transportation shutdowns. The World Bank said remittances reached a record $554 billion last year, becoming a larger source of funds for poorer nations than foreign direct investment. Ukraine in 2019 remained the largest recipient of remittances in the Europe and Central Asia region, receiving a record high of nearly $16 billion, while Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan benefited from a rebound of economic activity in Russia. With reporting by AFP and AP BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 22 By Eldar Janashvili - Trend: Mutual-processing seismic-acoustic stations will be built in Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, Trend reports on Apr. 22. In this regard, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the Institute of Control Systems of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS) and the Institute of Seismology and Atmospheric Physics of the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan. Director of the Institute of Control Systems, Academician Telman Aliyev noted that on the basis of this document, the implementation of an appropriate project related to seismic-acoustic monitoring of the onset of earthquakes and a warning system about the epicenter zone is envisaged. In accordance with the project, several seismic-acoustic stations should be built in both Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. Aliyev noted that they should be coordinated with each other through a radio channel and satellite communications, adding that the stations of both countries should have a monitoring center and a decision-making system. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @eldarjanashvili President Muhammadu Buhari has commiserated with the government and people of Oyo State over the death of a former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Richard Akinjide. Mr Buhari condoled with family members, friends, professional and political associates of the legal icon, who made remarkable impact on the country as Minister of Education in the First Republic, Minister of Justice and Attorney General in the Second Republic, and member of Judicial Systems Sub-committee of the Constitutional Drafting Committee of 1975-1977. The president joins the Olubadan of Ibadan Court, Nigerian Bar Association and entire judiciary in mourning the legal luminary, affirming that he used his rich experience and knowledge in serving the country and humanity, Mr Buharis spokesperson, Femi Adesina, said. Mr Buhari prayed that the almighty God will grant the departed eternal rest, and comfort his family. In his condolence message, a former Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu, said: I commiserate with the family of Second Republic Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the federation, Chief Richard Osuolale Akinjide, over his passing early on Tuesday. Chief Akinjide was an extra-ordinarily brilliant lawyer and an undisputable giant in the legal profession. Whichever side of the political spectrum anyone belonged to in that 1979-83 era, it was never in doubt that Chief Akinjide served the country and the government of late President Shehu Shagari with dedication, commitment and with all his deep legal knowledge and immense skills. He had a passion for service and even deeper obsession with matters of the law. Chief Akinjide will not be forgotten in a hurry for his was a powerful voice not only in matters of law and jurisprudence but also in national affairs, wherein he made many important interventions at critical periods. My condolences also go to the government and people of Oyo State over the loss of their outstanding son. May God Almighty grant his soul eternal rest and comfort his family and all those he left behind, Mr Tinubu said in a statement by his spokesperson, Tunde Rahman. Also, the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Saliu Adetunji, described the death of Mr Akinjide as a monumental loss to Nigeria. Mr Adetunji noted that Mr Akinjide was an accomplished lawyer and politician who gave a very good account of himself as First Republic Minister of State, Education and Second Republic Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation with his robust exchange of ideas. Mr Akinjide, a native of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, died in the early hours of Tuesday at the age of 88. Mr Adetunji said Mr Akinjide, who served as a chieftain in the Olubadan of Ibadans court, was a patriot who displayed great love for his fatherland and people. The monarch in a statement made available by his personal assistant, Adeola Oloko, said Mr Akinjide used to be a reference point and mentor to generations of youths who imbibed hard work, diligence and dedication to duty. Mr Adetunji stated that he was not surprised when on Sunday March 8 this year, the Yemi Soladoye-led Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes, CCII put the late Chief Akinjides picture among those etched in Ibadans Hall of Fame at Ibadan House, Oke Aremo in an impressive ceremony. Also, a former governor of the state, Abiola Ajimobi, described Mr Akinjide as a pride of Ibadan and the Nigerian society. I received with great sadness the transition of a legal luminary and an illustrious son of Ibadanland, Chief Richard Osuolale Akinjide. Though he died at an advanced age of 88 years, his death still came as a rude shock to me and many other Nigerians who heard about it. As a legal icon, he was the pride of Ibadan and the Nigerian society, proving his worth at different legal fora. As a nationalist, he gave his best to the world of legal practice and the best came back to him in terms of recognition. He was indisputably recognized as a brilliant jurist and was deservedly accorded the honour. He was Queens Counsel (QC), a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and a life bencher who brought his wealth of experience to the Nigerian Bar. As a statesman, he served his country diligently being Minister of Education in the first Republic and in the second republic, he was the Chief Legal Officer. Chief Akinjide would forever be remembered for his contribution to the body of knowledge in the legal profession with some prominent lawyers of today taking tutelage by his feet, he said. PDP, APC Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state has also mourned the former justice minister. PDP in a statement by its publicity secretary, Akeem Olatunji, described Mr Akinjide as a staunch party faithful and one of the founding fathers of PDP in Nigeria adding that he was a great pillar of the party in Oyo State. The party stated that the death of the former attorney general of the federation was a big blow to the entire PDP family in Oyo and Nigeria at large. PDP described the death of Mr Akinjide as an irreplaceable loss and prayed that God grant his family the fortitude to bear the irredeemable loss. Similarly, the major opposition political party in the state, All Progressives Congress (APC), said Ibadan and Oyo State in general had lost another political titan. APC publicity secretary, AbdulAzeez Olatunde, said Mr Akinjide was one of the few illustrious sons of Ibadan whose brilliance was missed as Governor of Old Oyo State when political competition was issue based as he unarguably met his match in eventual winner of 1979 Governorship contest, Late Chief Bola Ige (SAN). The demise of Chief Richard Akinjide has robbed Ibadan, Oyo State and Nigeria of another Political titan. This was a man who served Nigeria as Minister of Education in the First Republic in his twenties, just as he graduated in law. Advertisements Chief Akinjide was one of the few illustrious sons of Ibadan whose brilliance was missed as Governor of Old Oyo State when political competition was issue based as he unarguably met his match in eventual winner of 1979 Governorship contest, Late Chief Bola Ige (SAN). There is no denying the Brilliance of someone who made Grade One Distinction with Aggregate 6 in passing out of Oduduwa College Ile Ife in late 40s before jetting out to United Kingdom in 1951 for his Law Degree. Chief Akinjide participated in a lot Constitutional Conferences and Judicial Reforms which evolved into what Nigerias development is today, the party added. In a sudden twist, US President Donald Trump has announced that he was shutting the country to legal immigration temporarily through an executive order. "In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our great American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States," he tweeted on Monday night. Trump refers to COVID-19 as the "Invisible Enemy". He made a campaign against illegal immigrants a key part of his election platform, but so has been receptive to those coming in legally, although he has tried to change the qualifications. Trump has said that he wanted to change the existing immigration system to give preference based on merit to immigrants coming for jobs at the expense of other categories like relatives, which he wants to end. He said that he was working to replace the current "immigration system with one based on merit, welcoming those who follow the rules, contribute to our economy, support themselves financially, and uphold our values". It would appear that by saying that the temporary ban was "to protect the jobs of our great American Citizens", Trump was trying to appeal to 22 million people who have lost their jobs so far due the COVID-19 pandemic. The announcement made through, Twitter, his favourite vehicle for important decisions, was as terse as it was muddled leaving hanging when he would enact it, how long it would be in effect and how it will square with the immigration laws and quotas enacted by Congress. Democrat Representative Don Beyer pointed out in a tweet that "immigration has nearly stopped and the US has far more (coronavirus) cases than any other country". "This is just xenophobic scapegoating," he said. Trump has already banned non-citizens, who are not already permanent residents (or green card-holders) from 28 European countries, China and Iran from travelling to the US and air connections from several countries are not operating making it difficult for immigrant visa-holders from many others to come in. The announcement also drew a swift rebuke from Democrat Senator Kamala Harris, who accused him of "shamelessly politicising this pandemic to double down on his anti-immigrant agenda" having failed to take the COVID-19 crisis seriously. "The American people are fed up," Harris, who is of Indian and Jamaican descent, tweeted. The US diplomatic missions in several countries have stopped holding immigrant visa interviews, although according to the New Delhi embassy website it appeared that interviews were continuing with interviews for some categories done only at the Mumbai consulate. The immigration service has also temporarily stopped immigration interviews within the US because of the social distancing rules. Trump had already barred asylum-seekers from coming through the Mexican border and the immigration authorities have been returning to Mexico anyone caught crossing over illegally. Illustrating the dilemma over the availability of jobs and citizens ready for back-breaking work, US agriculture relies heavily on foreign workers and gives temporary visas to tens of thousands of them every year because few here will do them. Trump has been under pressure from US farmers, who are one of the pillars of his base, to allow in the temporary farm labour. He had said earlier this month: "I've given the commitment to the farmers: They're going to continue to come. Or we're not going to have any farmers." MORRIS PLAINS, N.J., April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CherryRoad Technologies Inc., a leading integrator of public sector software and digital technology solutions, has today announced, that the City of Middletown, NY, is the first in the United States to utilize a unique, digital communications enablement solution - CherryRoad's Digital Town Hall. CherryRoad's Digital Town Hall provides real-time interaction at government town halls, keeping citizens informed, involved, and safe. Today, many local governments face challenges related to restrictions with in-person meetings. More than ever before, citizens desire communication from their leaders related to key local decisions and an opportunity to participate in their local government in real-time. Stakeholders equally desire a means to provide important information and virtually interact with constituents. With Digital Town Hall, developed in partnership with LogMeIn, the City of Middletown, NY, has a central place to share event content and collaborate on important topics. It further enables the City to hold virtual, interactive meetings, giving citizens the ability to: Communicate and become involved remotely, in real-time. Become involved in the community, virtually with live questions and answers. Access information that is pertinent to the business of local government, centralized and stored in a private cloud environment for easy, secure access. "Our City values the views and opinions of its citizens and wishes them to remain fully engaged in their government," stated Mayor Joseph M. DeStafano, City of Middletown, NY. "As a tech-forward City, we're proud to utilize a digital tool which enhances our resident's ability to be wholly involved. Whether it be to indicate budgetary priorities, share ideas, or to hear what fellow citizens want to share with their government, Digital Town Hall provides us a secure, easy-to-use, and digital forum to transact City business." CherryRoad is currently offering its Digital Town Hall technology to all public sector and education agencies for 90 days free of charge. Contact [email protected] About CherryRoad Technologies Inc. At CherryRoad, our clients entrust us with the success of their IT solutions, whether we're delivering on-premise ERP, cloud-based application management, business intelligence, process optimization, strategic staffing, or change management consulting. Throughout our 30-year history, we've successfully partnered with hundreds of public sector and commercial clients to modernize, optimize, and manage their back-office functions. Headquartered in Morris Plains, NJ with offices across the U.S., we've earned a solid reputation for combining technology, organizational, functional, and vertical market expertise into practical solutions that deliver results on-time and on-budget. For more information, visit www.cherryroad.com About Middletown, NY: Middletown, NY, a city in Orange County, New York, United States, lies in New York's Hudson Valley region, near the Wallkill River and the foothills of the Shawangunk Mountains. Middletown is situated between Port Jervis and Newburgh, New York. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 28,086, reflecting an increase of 2,698 from the 25,388 counted in the 2000 Census. The zip code is 10940. Middletown falls within the PoughkeepsieNewburghMiddletown Metropolitan Statistical Area, which belongs to the larger New YorkNewarkBridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area. About LogMeIn, Inc. LogMeIn, Inc. simplifies how people connect with each other and the world around them to drive meaningful interactions, deepen relationships, and create better outcomes for individuals and businesses. One of the world's top 10 public SaaS companies, and a market leader in unified communications and collaboration, identity and access management, and customer engagement and support solutions, LogMeIn has millions of customers spanning virtually every country across the globe. LogMeIn is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts with additional locations in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. SOURCE CherryRoad Technologies Inc. Related Links http://www.cherryroad.com Inside Hook Autopsy results have revealed two February deaths in California predate what was previously thought to be the first known coronavirus death in the United States, CNN reported. The deaths occurred in Santa Clara County on February 6 and 17, predating the previously understood first coronavirus death which happened on February 29 in Kirkland, Washington by over three weeks. The county announced the findings in a news release on Tuesday after the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner performed autopsies and sent samples to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which the CDC confirmed tested positive for coronavirus. You are here: World Flash Mongolia is willing to further strengthen economic cooperation with China amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the country's deputy prime minister Ulziisaikhan Enkhtuvshin said Tuesday. Enkhtuvshin made the remarks when meeting with Chinese ambassador to Mongolia Chai Wenrui, according to the Mongolian government press office. The deputy PM said the two countries need to further strengthen bilateral economic cooperation while COVID-19 is wreaking economic havoc across the world. Mongolia is willing to increase its exports of mining products to China, said Enkhtuvshin, who also heads the State Emergency Commission. Chai hailed Mongolia's efforts and measures taken to curb the COVID-19 pandemic and promised to consider the above-mentioned matters. As of Tuesday, Mongolia has confirmed 34 COVID-19 infections, including four non-nationals. Among all patients, eight people, including two foreign nationals, have recovered, according to Mongolia's National Center for Communicable Disease. A French national tested positive on March 10, becoming the first confirmed case in the country. Coronavirus: What you need to read Coronavirus maps: Cases and deaths in the U.S. | Cases and deaths worldwide Vaccines: Tracker by state | Booster shots | For kids 5 to 11 | Guidance for vaccinated people | How long does immunity last? | County-level vaccine data What you need to know: Omicron variant | Breakthrough infections | Symptoms guide | Masks FAQ | Delta variant | Other variants | Follow all of our coverage and sign up for our free newsletter Impact of the pandemic: Supply chain | Education | Housing Got a pandemic question? We answer one every day in our coronavirus newsletter Actor John Boyega has defended his film "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker", saying that it was far from being an "embarrassment". The JJ Abrams-directed film, which opened worldwide on December 20 last year, has been blasted by critics for its story and some of the plot twists. The criticism was particularly directed at Abrams for trying to undo the creative decisions made by Rian Johnson in the franchise's previous entry, "The Last Jedi". Responding to a Twitter user who called the film an embarrassment, Boyega said though there were "some disappointments" with the movie, he had a "fulfilling" experience of working on it. "Embarrassing? LOL you wish. Very fulfilling, some disappointments but yet not that big of a deal. Everyone has moved on," the actor wrote. Recently, Boyega's co-star Daisy Ridley had said that it was upsetting to see the film getting criticised by people. "It's changed film by film honestly. Like, 98% it's so amazing, this last film it was really tricky. January was not that nice. It was weird, I felt like all of this love that we'd sort of been shown the first time around, I was like, Where's the love gone?'" Ridley had said in an interview with DragCast podcast. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 23:55:37|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HELSINKI, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The 150th anniversary of the birth of Russian revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin was observed in Finland on Wednesday. Bouquets of flowers were laid at a statue of Lenin in Turku, a city on the southwest coast of Finland. Timo Soikkanen, emeritus professor of political history at Turku University and the official historian of the Finnish Foreign Ministry, told Xinhua that before the Russian Revolution, Lenin received help in Finland beyond ideological frontiers. Lenin was one of the first foreign leaders to recognize the independence of Finland at the end of 1917, Soikkanen added. The 150th anniversary of Lenin's birth was also commemorated by the Finnish Communist Party. In a statement released on Wednesday, the party paid tribute to Lenin, noting that Lenin devoted his life to the fight against exploitation and oppression. The party said Lenin's works are milestones in the spread and development of Marxism and in the revolutionary struggle, mentioning that it has been inspired by Lenin's thoughts and efforts. Enditem April 22, 2020 Based on the telephone conference agreement held on April 17 (Friday) between Mr. Kajiyama Hiroshi, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry and H.E. Mr. Tran Tuan Anh, Minister of Industry and Trade, the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, the 2020 ASEAN chair, the ASEAN - Japan Economic Ministers Joint Statement on Initiatives on Economic Resilience in Response to the Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) Outbreak was released. Through the release of the initiative, Japan and ASEAN will prepare an ASEAN-Japan Economic Resilience Action Plan by mobilizing the collective wisdom of ASEAN and Japan, affirming the three objectives: (i) sustaining the close economic ties developed by ASEAN and Japan; (ii) mitigating the adverse impact of COVID- 19 on the economy; and (iii) strengthening economic resilience. Overview On April 17 (Fri.), 2020, the ASEAN-Japan Economic Ministers Joint statement on Initiatives on Economic Resilience was released, agreed to by telephone conference between Mr. Kajiyama Hiroshi, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry and H.E. Mr. Tran Tuan Anh, Minister of Industry and Trade, the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, the 2020 ASEAN chair. In response to the unprecedented challenge of the outbreak of COVID-19, Japan-ASEAN affirm the following through the release of the initiative: Noting that they enhanced economic relations for almost a half-century and worked very closely on various crises from natural disasters and the Asian financial crisis, ASEAN and Japan believe that they will overcome the economic challenges brought about by the COVID-19 outbreak through continued and close collaboration. While prioritizing outbreak prevention, they express their commitment to make utmost efforts to prevent stagnation of economic activities by ensuring the smooth flow of goods, encouraging the use of digital technology to overcome constraints caused by recent travel restrictions, and to make their best efforts to provide essential goods to the global market as pivotal suppliers in global supply chains. Aiming to build resilient supply chains that will enable businesses to achieve a better balance between both risk management and cost competitiveness, ASEAN and Japan will promote upgrading and diversification of production bases using digital technology. While affirming the abovementioned three objectives, ASEAN and Japan will prepare, in a timely manner, the "ASEAN-Japan Economic Resilience Action Plan" that includes concrete measures. Related document Division in Charge Asia and Pacific Division, Trade Policy Bureau Charlie Brooker is set to make a return to the BBC to present a coronavirus special, called Charlie Brooker's Antibacterial Wipe. The half-hour show will focus on how people are occupying themselves during their spare time amid the COVID-19 lockdown, as well as what they're watching. Announcing the special, Brooker, 49, said in a tongue-in-cheek statement: 'The BBC asked me to supply a quote for the press release, which is what youre reading now.' Coronavirus special: Charlie Brooker is set to make a return to the BBC to present a coronavirus special, called Charlie Brooker's Antibacterial Wipe In keeping with his other Screenwipe episodes, Diane Morgan and Al Campbell will return in their roles as reporters Philomena Cunk and Barry S**tpeas, respectively. An air date for the new special has yet to be announced. The award-winning writer first aired TV review programme Screenwipe in 2006 with a three-part series that aired in that format up until 2008. He then transitioned into making one-specials of the show, the most recent of which - The Best of 20102015 Wipe With Charlie Brooker - aired in December 2019. Statement: Announcing the special, Brooker, 49, said in a tongue-in-cheek statement, 'The BBC asked me to supply a quote for the press release, which is what youre reading now' With The 11 O'Clock Show and Brass Eye among his extensive CV, Brooker's biggest success to date has been his creation of dystopian sci-fi series Black Mirror, for which he has won a plethora of awards both in the US and UK. Back in 2018, Brooker paid tribute to his wife Konnie Huq and their two sons, revealing his whirlwind romance with the former Blue Presenter and becoming a parent changed him for the better. The talented writer told BBC 4's Desert Island Discs that marrying Konnie in a Las Vegas ceremony after just nine months together in 2010 and deciding to become a dad was 'the best decision' he had ever made. Of the loved-up pair's marriage he said: 'That was absolutely the right time. Focus: The show will focus on how people are occupying themselves during their spare time amid the COVID-19 lockdown, as well as what they're watching. Pictured in April 2019 'It was weird because, for years, I'd not known if I'd wanted kids or a family, that seemed like something that other people did, I couldn't perceive of that as a future. 'And then Konnie came along and quite early on she said "I want kids and a family" and this sort of thing, and I heard myself going "OK", and sort of thought, "oh, right, why have I said that?" It was the best decision I ever made.' Konnie, 44, who previously dated fellow presenter Richard Bacon for six years, met Charlie nine years ago when she appeared in an episode of his show Screenwipe on BBC One in 2008. The star said that he has a 'romantic fluttering heart' underneath his sarcastic exterior. The couple now share two sons Covey, seven and Huxley, five. Love and marriage: Brooker tied the knot with Konnie Huq in a Las Vegas ceremony in 2010, after just nine months of dating. Pictured together in April 2019 Charlie said it was a 'cliche' to say that becoming a father changed him, as the star had written columns in the past in which he expressed his dislike for children and said he didn't want any. He also admitted to fearing that he wouldn't bond with his baby and spoke about Konnie's 'horrific' emergency Caesarean section while giving birth to eldest son Covey He said: 'I remember when Konnie was pregnant with our first son Covey, this was like in 2012 when he was born, and it was a thing I could worry about, the pregnancy. 'But my biggest fear was that I'd heard about dads who, the baby is born and they just don't connect, or for whatever reason, they don't emotionally connect, and I didn't really get babies and kids. 'I was like, 'that's going to be me, what if I feel nothing?' The pair raised eyebrows when they first got together due to their very different personalities, with Charlie described as a satirical pessimist while Konnie has a clean-cut happy-go-lucky image. In an interview with the Guardian in 2011, Konnie was asked, 'What or who is the greatest love of your life?' to which she replied, 'My husband.' President Donald Trump warned on Wednesday that the United States would destroy Iranian gunboats that harass American ships at sea. The threat, which contributed to a recovery in oil prices, came days after the Pentagon claimed that ships from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy took "dangerous and provocative" actions near U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships in the Persian Gulf. "I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea," the president wrote in a post on Twitter. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, rose more than than 30% on Wednesday after slumping to historic lows this year as the coronavirus pandemic crushed demand. Iran produced 3% of the world's oil last year. Six U.S. military vessels were conducting training operations in international waters last week when 11 Iranian ships "crossed the bows and sterns of the U.S. vessels at extremely close range and high speeds," according to the April 15 U.S. Navy statement. At one point, the Iranian ships came within 10 yards of the Coast Guard cutter Maui's bow. Trump tweet The U.S. crews issued multiple warnings via bridge-to-bridge radio, five short blasts from the ships' horns and long-range acoustic noise devices to the Iranian ships. 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Now an MLA in Telangana, the coronavirus pandemic has brought Danasari Anasuya, aka "Seethakka" back on those same routes. Only difference? This time she isn't carrying a gun but stocks of vegetables and grains. Akka to the rescue In Telugu, "Seethakka" means "Sister Sita". And that is just what two-time congress MLA Dansari Anasuya is to local Adivasis in her constituency of Mulug in Telangana. She's no ordinary leader though. The two-time MLA has been a Maoist for over fifteen years before joining politics. Since being elected as a people's representative to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly first in 2009 and then again in 2018 (then Telangana), Seethakka has been at the beck and call of the residents of her constituency, a majority of which is made up of Adivasis or Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes. As the coronavirus pandemic threatens to spread across the country and the lockdown cripples the economy, Seethakka has been overtaking long and arduous journeys since March 26, often on bullock carts and even on foot, to reach villages in the forested swatches of Mulug with essential supplies. Rising early at dawn, every day, she and her team cover nearly seven villages where they deliver rice, wheat, pulses, and other essentials. So far, the 48-year-old MLA has managed to cover over 150 villages and hamlets. "Many of the people in Mulug have no idea what is happening or why we are in lockdown. But due to restrictions on roads and supply lines, some villages have been completely cut off. And no one, not even the Telangana state government, is trying to help these villages." Seethakka told News18 over the phone. Being a former Naxal, Seethakka is well aware of inside roads and secret routes that cut through dense forests. Using a network of local municipal liaisons, Seethakka has managed to keep abreast of the needs of her constituency, even amid the lockdown. In case of a food or medicine shortage, or in case of medical emergencies such as pregnancy, Seethakka has been trying to provide instant relief. 'No government aid' Nearly 72 of the 650-odd villages that make up the constituency have no road connectivity. Having served as a former comrade in the Naxal movement for years, however, Seethakka knew her way. For the past 28 days, the MLA has been touring through her constituency in cars, buses, tractors, bullock carts and on foot to take food and medicine supplies to Adivasi villages. "I raised the issue of coronavirus during the last Telangana Assembly session earlier in March. But the ruling party (TRS) laughed me out at the time," Seethakka said. "Today, when governments across the world are taking measures to safeguard its citizens, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government seems totally unsympathetic of Telanagana's Adivasi population," she said. Seethakka also claimed that the state's announcement to pay Rs 1500 along with 12 kg grain to those with ration cards and Rs 500 to those without as compensation was impractical in a constituency like hers where large swathes of land were covered by forests. "Firstly, Rs 1500 is not enough for a family to survive. Secondly, the money is supposed to come directly to the beneficiary's bank account. But many Adivasis don't have one, neither do they have access to internet banking or even ATM. What good is the money then?" Seethakka fumed. Additionally, Seethakka pointed out that Mulug also faced a migrant crisis that remained unaddressed by the state. Migrants belonging to the Gutti Koya tribe seasonally migrated to Mulug to cultivate red chillies. Owing to the lockdown, these workers now found themselves stuck without work. As per the MLA, the government response toward issues faced by members of the community were often dismissed. "The TRS government considers these migrants outsiders and refuses to acknowledge their needs," she said. In the past week, the Telangana government has provided food, shelter, and supplies to crisis-struck migrants fleeing cities such as Hyderabad amid lockdown. However, Seethakka alleged that none of the aid had reached migrants or locals living in the forested interiors of Mulug. The MLA also pointed out that while coronavirus awareness messaging from Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as the central government had been apt and timely, much of it failed to reach the inner reaches of the forest, thus making it her job to educate members of her constituency about coronavirus and its prevention. She and her team have been raising awareness for the plight of the Adivasi community in these remote areas through social media. The expenses for the relief work are being borne by Seethakka herself and through donations of benefactors residing locally as well as from abroad. A history of mistrust Anger and mistrust for the government, the police and other agents of the state is common among Adivasis of Mulug and other parts of Telangana, which was once a hotbed for Naxal activity. In 2017, a group of Adivasi men and women were allegedly tied to poles and stripped by forest officials in Jalagalancha, a village in Tadvai district under the Mulug constituency. The Telangana government under KCR did nothing to redress the issue. According to Seethakka, bitterness has festered since. But in reality, Adivasis of the area have for years favoured and continue to favour Naxal leaders over politicians and elected leaders. Seethakka herself was a 16-year-old student of class 10 when she joined the Naxal party in 1988. Inspired by the writings of Phoolan Devi and angry with the economic exploitation and casteist discrimination Adivasis faced at the hands of feudal landlords and Zamindars in the state, Seethakka took up arms against the system and the state. At the time, Telangana, which was then part of AP, was ruled by Congress, a party that continues to exercise a high deree of influence in parts of rural Telangana. A Congress MLA herself now, Seethakka clarified that even in her Maoist days, she was never against the government or those in power. Her struggle was instead against the systemic corruption and exploitation of the underprivileged by those in power, even as governments looked the other way. "We were not fighting any particular regime but the system," she said. From guns to governance Seethakka spent nearly two decades as a comrade during which she married an influential Naxal leader and birthed a son. At the time, she had surrendered herself to the police but after the birth of her son, Seethakka went back to join the party. It was only in 2004, following certain ideological disputes and personal disagreements within party members that Seethakka gave up the Naxal movement for good and surrendered to security forces. "When all the legal proceedings were over, I studied to become a lawyer in Hyderabad," she said, adding that it was only after studying law that she got interested in public policy and governance. Since Seethakka was active in social work and locally loved as a leader, then AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu decided to give her a ticket. "The idea is to make a difference. People in my constituency love me, they trust me and listen to me," Seethakka said. "This kind of faith in public representatives is important in an area where insurgents can easily take advantage of vacuums created due to the government's inadequacy in addressing the needs of the Adivasi population". Seethakka, who is also also the All India Mahila Congress General Secretary, claimed that though Mulug was free of active insurgency now, many locals still revered Naxal leaders as heroes as opposed to the government and security forces. Forest officials are often in tenterhooks with locals who claim corrupt officials often discriminate against Adivasi families in the name of environmental conservation or anti-insurgency. An avid reader, Seethakka, who is currently pursuing her PhD from Osmania University, said that at a time of crisis, it was important for the government buckled down and take responsibility of its citizens, even the ones hidden away in forests and away from mainstream media. "It is easy to pass off zones as prone to insurgency but that much harder to get on ground and work for the benefit of the people to prevent them from turning to insurgency," Seethakka, who sais she funds the education of about 1500 students in Mulug through a network of about 42 teachers, concluded. Seethakka said that the current public health emergency is an excellent opportunity for the Telangana government to undo past wrongs against the Adivasi community and include their safety as part of the national agenda. The CCTV footage from a Dutch business park shows a man in a black cap pouring the contents of a white container at the base of a cellular radio tower. Flames burst out as the man jogs back to his Toyota to flee into the evening. Its a scene thats been repeated dozens of times in recent weeks in Europe, where officials are pushing back against conspiracy theories linking new 5G mobile networks and the coronavirus pandemic are fueling arson attacks on cell towers. Popular beliefs and conspiracy theories that wireless communications pose a threat have long been around, but the global spread of the virus at the same time that countries were rolling out fifth generation wireless technology has seen some of those false narratives amplified. Officials in Europe and the U.S. are watching the situation closely, concerned that attacks will undermine vital telecommunications links at a time theyre most needed to deal with the pandemic. Im absolutely outraged, absolutely disgusted, that people would be taking action against the very infrastructure that we need to respond to this health emergency, Stephen Powis, medical director of the National Health Service in England, said in early April. Some 50 fires targeting cell towers and other equipment have been reported in Britain this month, leading to three arrests. Telecom engineers have been abused on the job 80 times, according to trade group Mobile UK, making the U.K. the nucleus of the attacks. Photos and videos documenting the attacks are often overlaid with false commentary about COVID-19. Some 16 have been torched in the Netherlands, with attacks also reported in Ireland, Cyprus, and Belgium. Posts threatening to attack phone masts were receiving likes on Facebook. One post in an anti-vaccine group on April 12 shared a photo of a burned phone mast with the quote, Nobody wants cancer & covid19. Stop trying to make it happen or every pole and mobile store will end up like this one. The trend received extra attention in Britain when a tower supplying voice and data traffic to a Birmingham field hospital treating coronavirus patients was among those targeted. Its heart-rending enough that families cannot be there at the bedside of loved ones who are critically ill, Nick Jeffery, CEO of wireless carrier Vodafone UK, said on LinkedIn. Its even more upsetting that even the small solace of a phone or video call may now be denied them because of the selfish actions of a few deluded conspiracy theorists. False narratives around 5G and the coronavirus have been shared hundreds of thousands of times on social media. They vary widely from claims that the coronavirus is a coverup for 5G deployment to those that say new 5G installations have created the virus. To be concerned that 5G is somehow driving the COVID-19 epidemic is just wrong, Dr. Jonathan Samet, dean of the Colorado School of Public Health who chaired a World Health Organization committee that researched cell phone radiation and cancer. I just dont find any plausible way to link them. Anti-5G activists are undeterred. Susan Brinchman, director of the Center for Electrosmog Prevention, a non-profit campaigning against environmental electromagnetic pollution, says that people have a right to be concerned about 5G and links to COVID-19. The entire 5G infrastructure should be dismantled and turned off, she said by email. But theres no evidence that wireless communications whether 5G or earlier versions harm the immune system, said Myrtill Simko, scientific director of SciProof International in Sweden, who has spent decades researching the matter. The current wave of 5G theories dates back to January, when a Belgian doctor suggested a link to COVID-19. Older variations were circulating before that, mostly revolving around cellphone radiation causing cancer, spreading on Reddit forums, Facebook pages and YouTube channels. Even with daily wireless use among vast majority of adults, the National Cancer Institute has not seen an increase in brain tumors. The theories gained momentum in 2019 from Russian state media outlets, which helped push them into U.S. domestic conversation, disinformation experts say. Ryan Fox, who tracks disinformation as chief innovation officer at AI company Yonder, said he noticed an abnormal spike last year in mentions around 5G across Russian state media, with most of the narratives playing off peoples fears around 5G and whether it could cause cancer. Were they the loudest voice at that time and did they amplify this conspiracy enough that it helped fuel its long-term success? Yes, he said. The conspiracy theories have also been elevated by celebrities including actor Woody Harrelson who shared a video claiming people in China were taking down a 5G tower. It was actually a Hong Kong smart lamppost cut down by pro-democracy protesters in August over China surveillance fears. British TV host Eamonn Holmes gave credence to the theories on a talk show, drawing a rebuke from regulators. I want to be very clear here, European Commission spokesman Johannes Bahrke said Friday, as the arson toll rose daily. There is no geographic or any other correlation between the deployment of 5G and the outbreak of the virus. Dupuy and Lajka reported from New York. Menelaos Hadjicostis contributed to this report from Nicosia, Cyprus. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics COVID-19 Europe Uk Karnataka Chief Minister B. S. Yediyurappa in Bengaluru launched Apthamitra, a toll free helpline, 14410, and a mobile app to answer all Covid related queries. Image Source: IANS News Karnataka Chief Minister B. S. Yediyurappa in Bengaluru launched Apthamitra, a toll free helpline, 14410, and a mobile app to answer all Covid related queries. Image Source: IANS News Bengaluru, April 22 : Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa launched Apthamitra, a toll-free helpline, 14410, and mobile app to answer all Covid queries, said an official on Wednesday. "The Apthamitra helpline, 14410, is meant exclusively for Corona-related queries, telemedicine, counseling and facilitating testing and treatment for those in need," said an official in a statement. The aim of Apthamitra is to reach out to all Karnataka residents, especially those living in Covid hotspots and also identify patients with Influenza Like Illness (ILI), Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) and Coronavirus like symptoms. Operating from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., the helpline will be run from six centres, four locations in Bengaluru and one each at Mysuru and Mangaluru. "It's a two-tier system where the first tier is manned by AYUSH, nursing or pharma final year volunteer students and the second tier is manned by MBBS, Integrated Medicine or AYUSH volunteer doctors," said the official. People who have downloaded the app can seek advice from doctors directly via telemedicine. Apthamitra is run by the Health and Family Welfare Department and Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) with support from other entities. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Eric Trump Donald Trump is the captain of a rapidly sinking ship. The only lifeline: He must move beyond viewing the COVID-19 virus as a golden platform to achieve political and personal gains. It won't be easy. The latest greatest hit in the Trump-First hit parade: Eric Trump begging for a federal bailout of the Trump International Hotel, which usually feasts on room tabs and dinner/bar charges from influence-peddlers and Republican toadies. The Trumps were reportedly trying to unload the property before the COVID-19 crisis hit. They've now shifted into bailout mode. These grifters have no shame. It seems the now-empty Trump hotel can't afford the $250K monthly rent due to the General Services Administration. Am I missing something here? Isn't Eric's pitch for cash from the same federal government run by dad a conflict of interest? On second thought: It's back to the future and the battle over the emoluments clause. For what it's worth, young Trump whined to the New York Times that the Trump Organization just wants to be treated fairly. Since dad is forever complaining about being treated unfairly, the kid is a chip off the old block. Watch out, Don Jr. and Ivanka! Eric has potential. The public is on to the president's botched handling of the coronavirus outbreak. Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of Americans say Trump was too slow to take major steps to address the virus after the disease was reported in China and elsewhere, according to Pew Research. That's why he's blaming China, WHO, Bill Clinton and Yosemite Sam for COVID-19. Though he may fight it tooth and nail, Trump needs to take a page from the book of the last great presidential communicator, Bill Clinton. He needs to stop talking about reopening the economy (66 percent of Pew respondents fear the country will reopen prematurely) and focus on people. Trump should talk about the suffering of millions of Americans who have lost loved ones, jobs and hope of a better future. He must repeat over and over Clinton's trademark, "I feel your pain" and appear to mean it. Governor Clinton debuted the "I feel your pain" mantra after an AIDS activist heckled him during a 1992 campaign stop in New York. Michael McKean as Bill Clinton on SNL The Clinton/pain remark became somewhat of a cliche over the years and was a juicy and frequent target for "Saturday Night Live." But the fact of the matter: it worked. Clinton was the empathizer-in-chief with an uncanny ability to connect one-on-one with people and assure them that he understood and cared about their plights. Trump should give it a whirl. As he has said about his quack COVID-19 treatments, it couldn't hurt to try. Vote as if you life depends on it because it does. Fear the second wave of COVID-19 is what Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Robert Redfield told the Washington Post on April 21. "There's a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through," said Redfield. He warned of a simultaneous flu epidemic and COVID-19 pandemic. Trump doesn't do science. He would rather listen to his gut than the counsel of scientists like Redfield. The Trump game book has always called for denying inconvenient science such as the data that supported the threat posed by global warming. The former gambling casino owner would rather spin the wheel on public health and reopen the country because that is the linchpin of his re-election hopes. That's why science-supporter Joe Biden is the only hope for the nation to fend off or combat COVID-19 II. After all, Trump's gambling casinos all went belly-up. And no need to thank me, Joe. You can use, "Vote as if you life depends on it because it does" as a campaign slogan. Lady Gaga has called him a superstar. Conservatives say he's a shill for China. Meet Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, an Ethiopian microbiologist and the first African director of the World Health Organization. He is the world's pointman on the Coronavirus pandemic, charged with rallying a unified global response across a politically fractured planet. But in Washington, the 55-year-old Tedros has become the Trump administration's latest punching bag, with Republicans reviving his past controversies and demanding his ouster. President Donald Trump has blasted the WHO's handling of the pandemic as "China-centric" and halted U.S. funding for the global health organization. On Wednesday, John Barsa, Trumps acting administrator for the US Agency for International Development (USAID), said the State Department was reviewing the WHOs actions during the current pause in funding, which could last 90 days. But he also said USAID is looking for different health programs and organizations the US could fund in lieu of sending money to the WHO. So during this pause we're looking for alternate partners to carry out the important work of developing vaccines, combating diseases and other global health challenges, Barsa said during a briefing at the State Department. We're going with existing programs outside of the World Health Organization, and we're looking for different partners. At that same briefing, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo did not directly mention Tedros but he sharply criticized WHO's leadership and suggested the organization failed to enforce its own rules dictating quick and transparent reporting from member countries on disease outbreaks. Trump's GOP allies have gone even further, casting Tedros as propagandist for the Chinese Communist Party who bungled the WHO's coronavirus response and needs to step down. Director General Tedros is a puppet of the Chinese Communist Party," Rep. Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement to USA TODAY. "Tedros was the CCPs chosen candidate for the role, and their support for him has paid off ... He used the WHO to trumpet their lies about the virus." Story continues McCaul and 16 other House GOP lawmakers have urged Trump to condition future U.S. funding for the WHO on Tedros' resignation, arguing that he delayed declaring the novel coronavirus a public health emergency, ignored warnings about human-to-human transmission, and "heaped praise" on the Chinese government despite evidence it was hiding the scope and severity of its outbreak. Tedros' supporters say the accusations an unfounded and outrageous effort to deflect from the Trump administration's own missteps. They say Tedros is a visionary public health leader and savvy diplomat who has navigated the deadly pandemic and its accompanying political challenges as well as he possibly could. "He's in a very difficult spot," said J. Stephen Morrison, a global health expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies who has known Tedros for 30 years. As he confronts a "once-in-a-century public health calamity," Morrison said, "hes getting slammed by President Trump ... and WHO is being singled out and scapegoated." Morrison and others credited Tedros with acting quickly to facilitate the development and distribution of tests for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel virus, and negotiating with China for information and access. "He coaxed China into letting a small team of WHO (experts) on the ground in China, which was no easy task," said Lawrence Gostin, director of Georgetown University's O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law. Gostin has been sharply critical of Tedros in the past, but said he deserves "high marks" for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. From left, World Health Organization director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and US President Donald J. Trump. Tedros a father of five whose interest in public health was sparked by a personal tragedy is no stranger to controversy. When he first ran to be WHO's director-general in 2017, Gostin charged that while Tedros was Ethiopia's health minister, the government covered up three cholera outbreaks in the country. Dr. Tedros is a compassionate and highly competent public health official, Gostin told the New York Times in May 2017. But he had a duty to speak truth to power and to honestly identify and report verified cholera outbreaks over an extended period. Tedros denied the charges, and his allies noted that Gostin was advising another WHO candidate at the time. But the Times' story said WHO officials had privately complained that Ethiopian officials were mislabeling the outbreaks and that cholera bacteria was found in stool samples taken by outside experts. Tedros won the WHO post handily, the controversy eclipsed by his record of success in combating malaria, guinea worm, and trachoma, among other initiatives, when he served as Ethiopia's health minister. "He's relentless in his pursuit of his objectives," said Morrison. "When he was minister of health in Ethiopia, he launched a program that put over 30,000 health care workers ... into villages all over Ethiopia as a key element of transforming the delivery of services to the most impoverished" pockets of the country. If Tedros is passionate about public health, it's perhaps no wonder. When he was 7, his younger brother, then 3 or 4 years old, died of an undiagnosed disease possibly measles. I didnt accept it. I dont accept it even now, Tedros told Time magazine in a 2019 interview. In a rich country, his brother would have survived, he has said in explaining his push for universal health coverage. That lofty goal has now been pushed to the sidelines as he tries to coordinate a worldwide response to COVID-19. Tedros has said he regrets Trump's decision to cut funding for the WHO but he has refrained from directly responding to the president's attacks, saying his focus is on "saving lives." When we are divided, the coronavirus exploits the cracks between us, Tedros said during the WHO's April 15 briefing on the pandemic. World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks during a press briefing on COVID-19 in Geneva on March 09, 2020. US President Donald Trump announced on April 14, 2020, a suspension of US funding to the World Health Organization. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus: WHO chief Tedros finds himself in Trump crosshairs LOS ANGELES, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Healthfully, a healthcare solutions company, announced today the availability of its telehealth software for hospital-based and independent medical groups and other physicians who need a convenient, secure tool to conduct virtual patient visits. Subscription fees are waived through July 31, 2020 or the end of significant social distancing, whichever is later. This free offer addresses the urgent demand for telemedicine solutions as caregivers limit face-to-face encounters. More than a generic teleconferencing app, Healthfully's solution is part of the company's integrated consumer health experience platform that provides patient communication, support, and engagement. The free TeleVideo+ package has all the essential features to conduct physician-based virtual care: Works on all platforms: Web desktop and mobile Built-in video consult capability End-to-end encryption and HIPAA compliance Appointment scheduling & reminders Automated consent & pre-visit forms Secure messaging between patients, caregivers, and circle of care Integrated online payments Patient experience surveys Moderated health communities for patient information and engagement Healthfully's telehealth offering is currently being used by Flagler Health+, a healthcare system serving North East Florida. Flagler Health+ includes a 335-bed hospital, an employed physician group, more than 250 physicians, as well as a broad community alliance to address social determinants of health. "Our focus throughout COVID-19 has been to provide the highest level of care to our patients in the safest manner possible," said Dr. Todd Batenhorst, a practicing primary care physician and Vice President of Physician Enterprise. "Healthfully helped us quickly and easily conduct virtual visits with our patients and also leverage innovative communications tools. We anticipate continued use of this platform even after the pandemic is over." Paul Viskovich, CEO of Healthfully, added, "We are pleased that we were able to respond rapidly to meet the urgent need for a telehealth platform that both physicians and their patients find useful and convenient." Further information and enrollment forms can be found at www.healthfully.io/covid-19 About Healthfully Healthfully unifies access, support, and rewards to optimize consumer health. We provide enterprise organizations with a white-label, digital health experience platform to engage and empower consumers on their health and wellness journey. The platform blends compelling and valuable functions, intelligence, and content for patients, consumers, and communities, creating a great patient experience and helping achieve the goals of value-based care and population health management. For more information, please visit www.healthfully.io Media Contact: Don Fallati Healthfully [email protected] Related Images healthfully.png Healthfully Company Logo SOURCE Healthfully Inc. Related Links http://www.healthfully.io Abeke*, 17, struggles to concentrate on the algebra in her A-level maths book because her stomach keeps rumbling. She would get a snack but theres nothing to eat. Since the lockdown started, food has been limited. Were having smaller portions, and sometimes there is nothing. Sometimes we just have toast and butter for dinner, the sixth former tells The Independent. She lives at her aunts house in Hackney with her father and 13-year-old sister with whom she shares a small bed and they have all gone hungry on numerous occasions since the coronavirus pandemic started. The Nigerian family has been in the UK for 13 years, so the two girls know nothing other than this country. But Ismail, their father, has a leave to remain application pending, and due to his current lack of status they have no recourse to public funds (NRPF) meaning they cannot access state benefits, not even free school meals. While this was just about manageable before, coronavirus has meant a lot of the support networks they previously relied on have fallen away, leaving them unable to afford the basics. Ismail, 47, who has not been able to work legally since being in the UK, underwent surgery on 2 March for gallstones and a hernia, and despite not having fully recovered he has to sleep on the sofa every night. Since Ive been here Ive been struggling, but since the pandemic started, its been unbearable, he says. Before, some people were able to support me, but now everyone has their own problems. They are struggling as well. We cant afford to buy food. Sometimes I go without meals so that my daughters can eat. If they need sanitary products, I struggle to get it. They are not happy. I just want to work. I feel bad relying on everyone else. If I was able to work I could provide for myself. I could pay my tax, be a good citizen, contribute to the economy. But I need my papers, and I need a place for me and my daughters. One ray of hope might have been the governments decision on 6 April, following a legal challenge, to extend free school meals to thousands of families who have NRPF during the pandemic. This should have meant Abeke and her sister receive supermarket vouchers to pay for meals during the pandemic, but no guidance was published by the government until Monday and when it was, it revealed that they didnt qualify. The Department for Education (DfE) said it would apply only to children receiving section 17 support a form of local authority provision which charities say is notoriously difficult for families to access or section 4 asylum support, meaning Abeke and her sister, along with thousands of other children, will not benefit. A new report by Hackney Migrant Centre, seen exclusively by The Independent, warns that for people who were already made destitute by NRPF, their situation is likely to become even worse during the pandemic. It states that, as communities and charities are impacted, many with NRPF will have lost support they had been surviving on, leading to more people going hungry. It also warns that many people with NRPF are losing their jobs or working shorter hours because of the lockdown, with those who work informally or on zero hours contracts unable to benefit from governments support measures to protect incomes, often making rent and basic necessities unaffordable. Amina, 35, arrived in the UK from Algeria with her husband Mohamed, also 35, in 2012. They currently live with their three children, aged nine, six and one, in Leighton, east London where they rent in two rooms a bedroom and a living room that belong to a friend of theirs at a reduced cost. But they have been given notice to leave by the end of May. The Algerian nationals were granted leave to remain in October last year, after paying 14,000 to apply, but it has a NRPF condition attached to it. Mohamed had worked in a butchers shop, but it closed two weeks ago due to the pandemic, so they currently have no income, and they cant claim any form of state benefit. They now rely on the local food bank where they pick up a package of food once a week to survive off. Recommended The people left with nothing because of coronavirus lockdown Im worried. Im trying my best to find somewhere to go. If you go to an agency they wont let you have two bedrooms for five people. But then you go to the council and they say youre lucky you have one bedroom and a sitting room for five people youre fine, Amina tells The Independent. Her primary school-aged daughters have not been offered free school meal vouchers despite the government announcement two weeks ago. Amina says she hopes this does come to fruition, as the family is currently reliant on what the food bank is able to give them. The Hackney Migrant Centre report concludes that free school meals are essential to protect some of the most vulnerable children from hunger when there may not be enough to eat at home, and calls on ministers to ensure that all pupils from low income families, regardless of immigration status, are able to rely on them during the Covid-19 pandemic and after it. Stephanie*, a Nigerian asylum seeker, lives in east London with her 13-year-old British-born twins. She says their school gave her children free school meal vouchers last week, but could not guarantee that they would give anymore due to their status. Now she is having to ration their food. When they were in school it was okay, because by the time they come home its getting dark. You just give them food and everyone goes to bed. But now they want to snack. Its not easy, but they dont understand. If they say Mum, Im hungry, you cant just say no, she says. I try to feed them well, but I cant give them a full plate. I have to ration it. Its unfair on them because as they get older, they eat more. You cant tell a child not to grow. They are suffering. The 43-year-old, who is appealing a refused asylum claim, explains that as well as struggling to pay for enough food for the family on the 116 she gets a week from the Home Office, she feels guilty that she cant afford better facilities to enable her children to do their homework. Stephanie adds: We have no laptop, no internet at home. They have to take it in turns to borrow my phone to do their homework, and before you know it the data is gone. They are frustrated. I dont know who to turn to. The school isnt helping. Nadia Chalabi, school meals advocate at Hackney Migrant Centre, says the new guidance on children with NRPF is shockingly discriminatory, adding: This extension has not been designed to reach all children in need, instead it feels like the smallest and most temporary concession that the DfE could come up with. Thousands of undocumented children who are not receiving section 4 or section 17 support continue to be excluded from free school meals despite being vulnerable to total destitution as they are cared for by adults who are denied the right to work and denied access to welfare support. She also raised concern that the DfE guidance states that families with NRPF on their leave to remain on the private life or family route can receive free school meal vouchers during the pandemic, but only if their whole household income is below 616 per month. Ms Chalabi says it came as welcome news that some families with NRPF will now be able to access free school meals during the pandemic, but highlighted that many have continued to struggle in the two weeks it took for the guidance to be published. Low income families with NRPF faced financial, food and housing insecurity before the pandemic. Now families face eviction as hosts take measures to protect their household from the spread of the virus, and financial support is stopping as support networks face financial insecurity themselves, she adds. Free school meals are essential for every child in need regardless of immigration status, there will never be equal access to education without them. It is shameful that the DfE continues to deny the support of free school meals from some of the poorest children in society because of where they or their parents were born. A Department for Education spokesperson said: We have temporarily extended the eligibility criteria for free school meals to support families with no recourse to public funds, in recognition of the difficulties they may be facing during these unique circumstances. *Some names have been changed T he Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have pledged to make supporting the mental health of frontline workers battling coronavirus their "top priority" in the months ahead. William and Kate's Royal Foundation is formally backing a new initiative from leading charities and organisations to provide support to everyone from teachers and nurses to bus drivers. The project, which is called Our Frontline, will be a combination of one-to-one support and online resources for any NHS workers, carers, emergency services personnel and key workers whose psychological wellbeing comes under pressure. The duke said: "Over the past few weeks, millions of frontline workers across the UK have put their physical and mental health on the line to protect us all during the coronavirus pandemic." He added: "Every day, they confront traumatic situations at the same time as having to contend with their own worries about the risks to themselves and their families. "That takes a real toll, and as I've seen for myself through my work with the air ambulance, without the right support at the right time, the challenges they face will only be greater. "Catherine and I, together with the Royal Foundation, will do all we can to support Our Frontline. This work will be our top priority for the months ahead." William and Kate's Royal Foundation is formally backing a new initiative from leading charities and organisations to provide round-the-clock mental health support to workers on the frontline of the fight against coronavirus / PA Mind, Samaritans, Shout - a text messaging helpline supporting people in crisis - Hospice UK and the Royal Foundation are launching Our Frontline, with William and Kate's charitable body helping to raise awareness about the new resource. Frontline staff and key workers can call or text a trained volunteer and access specially developed online resources, tool kits and advice to support their mental health. Prince William and Kate Middleton support mental health campaign The duke has experience of being in the same environment as doctors, nurses and other health workers as he was a pilot with the East Anglian Air Ambulance and has spoken in the past about the mental pressures that came with the job. In a 2018 interview, William said the experience of attending several traumatic emergencies involving children and having his own children "tipped me over the edge", but speaking to his crew helped him cope with the "enormous sadness" that he had witnessed. Later on Wednesday, the duke will chair a roundtable call with representatives from the emergency services sector and the NHS to learn more about the mental health challenges key workers face and how Our Frontline can support them. Those on the call will include NHS England and NHS Improvement, Faculty of Pre Hospital Care - Royal College of Surgeons, Mind, Lifelines Scotland, Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, National Police Chiefs' Council, the Fire Fighters Charity, Police Care UK and the Ambulance Staff Charity. Paul Farmer, chief executive of Mind, said: "Every day, those working in health and social care, 999 services and other vital roles - staff working in supermarkets, pharmacies, transport, catering and cleaning to name a few - face huge challenges to their physical and mental health. The union cabinet on Wednesday approved Rs 15,000 crore for 'India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package'. The cabinet meeting which was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi sanctioned funds to limit the spread of coronavirus in the country through diagnostics and other treatment facilities. "The funds sanctioned will be utilised in 3 Phases and for immediate COVID-19 Emergency Response (an amount of Rs. 7,774 Crore) has been provisioned and rest for medium-term support (1-4 years)to be provided under mission mode approach," the government said in a statement. A major share of the funds would be used to mount robust emergency response, strengthen national and state health systems followed by boosting pandemic research, it added. The government has already undertaken several activities in Phase 1 including strengthening health facilities as coronavirus dedicated hospitals, health centers and care centers. "All health workers including Community Health Volunteers (ASHAs) have been covered with insurance under the "Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package: Insurance Scheme for Health Workers lighting COVID-19". Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), N95 masks and ventilators, testing kits and drugs for treatment are being procured centrally," it said. Meanwhile, India recorded 1,383 fresh coronavirus cases and 50 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the country's tally near 20,000-mark. The total number of confirmed cases now stand at 19,984 as of date, according to the Health Ministry. These include, 15,474 activecases, 3,869 cured/discharged, 1 migrated and 640 deaths. Maharashtra is at the top with 5,218 coronavirus cases, the highest in India so far, while the state's death toll is at 251. The state recorded 552 fresh cases and 19 deaths on Tuesday out of which 419 were from Mumbai. Delhi has slipped on third spot with 2,156 v Also read: Coronavirus India Live Updates: Gujarat second worst-hit state with 2,178 cases; Maharashtra tally at 5,218 Also read: Facebook-Jio deal: JioMart, WhatsApp to empower 3 crore kirana shops, says Mukesh Ambani 1. The timeline of the coronaviruss arrival in the U.S. is being rewritten. Officials didnt identify a case of community transmission until Feb. 26 or a virus-linked death until Feb. 29. But a medical examiner revealed this week that a woman who died Feb. 6 at her home in Santa Clara County, Calif., was infected with the coronavirus, and probably caught it sometime in January. Since the woman had no known exposure from travel, that means the virus must already have been spreading in the San Francisco Bay Area long before the federal government began restricting travel from China. Experts say that if the U.S. had known earlier of the viruss spread, there would have been more urgency to expand testing and to prepare hospitals. A sharp plunge in oil prices due to the coronavirus pandemic creating a supply glut has created major problems for oil-producing countries especially the US where the oil prices plummeted to a negative on Monday. The analysis was done by Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary in DNA, the world's most-watched news show. It was earlier said that the future of the country which has sufficient reserves of oil will be bright but the COVID-19 pandemic has proved these claims as hollow and most big countries of the world including America are struggling to sell their crude oil supply. For America the last few years has all been about oil. In 1945, a controversy related to oil was the reason that nuclear weapons were used against a country for the first and the last time. The reason was that in 1940, America was angry with Japan's aggressive policies and stopped supplying oil to it. Japan wanted to conquer the whole of Asia but it did not have enough oil to continue the war. At that time, America was one of the largest producers of oil. After this, in order to take revenge from America, Japan carried out an aerial attack on Pearl Harbor in America. More than 2,000 US naval soldiers were killed in this attack, and only after that the US formally joined the second World War. In order to teach Japan a lesson, the US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in July 1945. Even Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1991 was related to oil and oil prices. Iraq had accused Kuwait of tampering with oil prices and producing more oil than the stipulated quantity. In the invasion, about 605 oil wells were set on fire by the Iraqi forces. America and its allies also joined this war because America did not want Iraq's share in oil production to increase. If Iraq had won this war, Iraq would have captured 65 per cent of the world's oil production, and the US was not in favour of this shift. It is believed that America had spent about Rs 4.5 lakh crores on this war. Oil the reason that the world was forced to bear the onslaught of nuclear war and several other wars has now become cheaper than water. The oil-thirsty world has been shown the mirror by a virus. Toward a risk-based strategy for managing the COVID-19 epidemic: A modelling analysis Given the protracted nature of the risk posed by the COVID-19, this paper seeks to address the need to match health prevention and a viable economy. The central premise of this paper is that there are no zero-sum options. By this it is meant that the health prevention strategy most compatible with the maintenance of continued economic activity is an unavoidable policy imperative for South Africa. This paper addresses this discussion in three stages. First, it examines the factors that should influence the main strategic choices. Second, it examines the consequences of two alternative pathways leading to a preferred approach. Third, it offers an overview of the key features of a preferred approach. The paper engages with the above through the use of a model (van den Heever, 2020) which attempts to compare alternative health prevention strategies. As a consequence, part of this paper involves a brief write-up of the methodology used. Introduction As yet, there are no proven formula to balancing the effort to fight the Covid-19 pandemic with the simultaneous and equally important need to sustain livelihoods and keep open pathways to economic participation. Whereas these objectives are sometimes argued to be in opposition save lives versus save the economy crude distinctions are not helpful when facing the complex set of risks implied by the prospect of a protracted struggle to contain the epidemic. In the absence of a cure or a vaccine, disease prevention approaches need to find ways to separate the infected from the uninfected members of the population. When interventions occur late, the intervention options narrow considerably to cruder forms of social separation, such as lockdowns. If caught early, however, mass testing coupled with rapid contact tracing offer surgical approaches to separating the infected from the uninfected. As a preventive strategy for COVID-19, according to emerging experience, mass testing and contact tracing should occur together with social distancing measures, border closures and the observance of health protocols (such as the requirement to wear masks when outside the home) where people cannot avoid some form of social contact. The distinction between the lockdown approach and mass testing and contract tracing is that the former shuts down a substantial part of the economy while the latter is compatible with continued economic activity. This distinction is an important consideration where the direct effects of a lockdown disproportionately harm vulnerable workers and businesses. While Government can attempt to support the vulnerable, the extent to which this is possible depends on whether the institutional mechanisms exist to identify compromised individuals and businesses sufficiently for them to be supported. It also depends on the length of time for which support is required. The longer the period, the harder it is to keep businesses open, and the harder it is to raise the tax revenues and the debt required to finance support for vulnerable individuals. In the early phases of the COVID-19 outbreak, it is clear that Government lacked the capabilities to introduce the most effective strategy. The need for urgent action left no opportunity to scale up the measures required to prevent an exponential increase in infections. South Africa was just not geared for an epidemic of this nature. Consequently, the 21-day lockdown implemented on 27 March 2020 was appropriately timed and self-evidently essential. The extension of the lockdown for a further two weeks however raises important concerns. Two implications can be drawn. First, the extension suggests that the lockdown period has not been adequately exploited to ramp up the testing and contact-tracing regime. Second, it indicates that the narrow testing regime adopted to date (designed to merely identify imported infections rather than community-based outbreaks) cannot be relied upon to confirm whether the lockdown has succeeded outside of the affluent communities where the epidemic started. While the two-week extension could be argued to provide some breathing space for the implementation of the preferred strategy of mass testing and contact tracing, any continued failure to put in place the required machinery will result in incremental extensions to the lockdown with all the economic and social consequences that will go with it. An obvious further concern with this trajectory is the high likelihood that a successful lockdown within the South African context is essentially a leaky bucket. While it may prove effective in the more affluent suburbs, it may fail in the townships and informal settlements. The current lockdown may have therefore only reduced, but not prevented, the spread of the disease into the general population. Although these infection levels may be relatively low at present, it wont take long for them to become uncontrollable. Background The pandemic resulting from the SARS-COV-2 virus has elicited an emergency response from virtually all countries around the world. The high levels of transmission, taken in this analysis at 2.5 (over a period of four days)[1] for every infected person, would not be a serious concern if the disease (COVID-19) did not also result in sufficient severity for a proportion of the infected population to require hospitalisation, and, more importantly, access to ventilators that are typically only located in intensive care units (ICUs). Where ventilators are not available for those who need them, the health outcome will be death. For those that require access to ventilators and obtain treatment, over 70% will in any case die. Patients who develop severe symptoms appear to be associated with weaknesses in the immune system, either due to age or co-morbidities typically correlated with age (hypertension, diabetes, and various cardiac conditions). People with co-morbidities associated with the respiratory system are also at risk regardless of age. Given this context, to avoid significant preventable levels of morbidity and mortality, the most efficient approach to reduce the spread of the disease is to reduce the reproduction rate of the disease (referred to as R) from 2.5 to below 1 (the rate at which the disease will ultimately be eliminated). This is achieved through various interventions, the most effective being the introduction of a vaccine to a sufficient number of the population such that herd immunity is achieved.[2] Where a vaccine is not available, and the mortality would be too high to permit herd immunity to occur naturally, the only option is to actively interrupt the spread of the disease from person to person such that R is held below 1 for a long enough period to eliminate the disease. Quite simply, such strategies involve keeping infected people away from uninfected people. There are two broad options. Either infected people are identified quickly and isolated; or, where infected people have not been identified quickly enough, everyone is separated from everyone else for a sufficient time for the disease to self-eliminate. In practice strategies involve a mix of associated interventions. Internationally, two distinct approaches have emerged. The first is to test, trace and quarantine at scale. The second, involves a generalised lockdown on the movement of people. The first option tends to be exercised by countries that are well-prepared and intervene at scale at early stages of the epidemic. The second, tends to be applied where countries are poorly prepared to react, and a runaway community-based epidemic is well underway before interventions are considered. South Africas response to the emerging pandemic was slow at first, with no border closures considered, and only very basic forms of border screening applied at airports. Given that we knew early on that many infectious persons are also asymptomatic, this approach was ill-advised and exposed the country to the inevitability of imported infections. This (arguably) casual response to the emerging pandemic changed when the first cases were diagnosed in South Africa in early March 2020 and also where it had become evident that many other countries were experiencing full-blown epidemics arising from imported infections. Evidently informed by standard epidemiological modelling of the emerging epidemic, aided by a wealth of information collated by international researchers and the World Health Organisation (WHO), the South African government acted immediately to implement social distancing, followed on 27 March 2020 by a generalised lockdown. However, as the modelling has never been made public, it is unclear what scenarios were presented. Needless to say the analysis was clearly compelling at the time. The lockdown was however implemented at an early stage of the epidemic, as there was very limited evidence at the time of a generalised community-based outbreak.[3] This differs from some other countries where lockdown approaches were introduced only when they had lost control of the epidemic and they were all out of options. However, the countries that avoided lockdowns and managed their epidemics did this through rapid border closures, the rapid development of tests for the disease, generalised testing with rapid turnover (12 to 24 hours), contact tracing and quarantining of infected individuals.[4] Broadly speaking their approach can be characterised as getting ahead of the disease rather than chasing it. Consistent with countries that have not been able to manage their epidemics, South Africa also adopted the testing regime characterised as chasing the epidemic. It did not test the general population, or even those with mild symptoms. Instead it tested only people who had travelled internationally (when they came forward voluntarily), had contact with a traveller or had contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19. This effectively blinded the testing regime to community-based outbreaks. In addition, the testing programme was so constrained that the public sector had only performed 3% of the total tests, with the remainder performed by the private sector. This has apparently changed, with more generalised testing on the increase, although still low. So what does this mean for South Africas strategy going forward? First , we are left without a clear measure of the success or failure of the lockdown. On the one hand we cannot fully trust the incidence reports. On the other hand, the mortality levels appear consistent with a contained or low-level epidemic. , we are left without a clear measure of the success or failure of the lockdown. On the one hand we cannot fully trust the incidence reports. On the other hand, the mortality levels appear consistent with a contained or low-level epidemic. Second , the economic consequences of a lockdown are so large, that it cannot be relied upon as the principle prevention strategy if the epidemic is protracted. This requires that a health strategy compatible with reopening the economy is imperative. , the economic consequences of a lockdown are so large, that it cannot be relied upon as the principle prevention strategy if the epidemic is protracted. This requires that a health strategy compatible with reopening the economy is imperative. Third, the public reports on readiness by the public health team to implement a benchmark strategy are unclear at best, and suggest undisclosed challenges regarding readiness. The question is whether the bottlenecks to a more nuanced strategy can be rapidly addressed. How effective is a generalised lockdown? Of considerable concern is the possibility that a generalised lockdown approach applied within the South African context will only be successful in relatively affluent communities, with townships unlockdownable. As mentioned above, the testing protocol applied to date has been biased toward (implicitly) measuring the (imported) outbreak in affluent communities. The publicly reported new infections would therefore accurately reflect the lockdown impact on the relatively affluent population, but not on outbreaks in the general population. The apparent containment of the epidemic in affluent communities is therefore potentially misleading. It can create the impression that the lockdown is working (false evidence of success), but it may equally fail to offer the required evidence that a generalised lockdown cannot work successfully in South Africa (false evidence of failure). As the outbreak in South Africa derived from the affluent population, as they tend to travel internationally, the initial lockdown was probably the best available strategy to block transmission from the affluent communities to the population at large. However, to the extent that the population at large has been infected, a general lockdown may prove equivalent to no intervention. As a form of contingency planning for the South African context, therefore, the following should be noted: A lockdown may be a viable prevention strategy, but different approaches would be required for different contexts (i.e. what works in relatively affluent areas may not work in townships or informal settlements); and An undetected outbreak may have already occurred in the general population which is invisible to the current testing regime (noting that there are significant moves to expand the testing protocol and programme). Given the need for a must not fail health prevention strategy, it makes sense to prepare for what will work in all scenarios, rather than an approach which will only work if we are very lucky. Strategic options Important considerations There remains considerable uncertainty as to whether the pandemic can be completely eliminated during 2020. Strategies that are successful in bringing country-level epidemics under control therefore face the realistic prospect of a resurgence for an extended period of time. Within the South African context this requires that effective containment of the epidemic will require public health interventions of one form or another throughout 2020. The need to maintain public health interventions for such an extended period of time therefore has important implications for the design of the 2020 strategy. A brief public health crisis addressed through emergency interventions can be expected to have a different design to a protracted affair. However, if the state of readiness is not adapted to reflect the protracted nature of the crisis, the strategy may unwittingly default into treating the protracted crisis as a series of brief crises. Two clear strategic options emerge. The first defaults back to generalised lockdowns when surprised by a resurgence, and the second actively manages all the risks associated with a protracted epidemic. Option 1 Lockdown dependent approach , where the lockdown is extended on some basis after the 35-days as the central pillar of any response to contain the epidemic; and , where the lockdown is extended on some basis after the 35-days as the central pillar of any response to contain the epidemic; and Option 2 Risk-based strategy, where a prevention strategy compatible with the local domestic social context and a safe re-opening of the domestic economy is pursued. A brief description of the methodology required to model the above two options is outlined below. Method Approach The options are examined using a model, the COVID intervention model (van den Heever, 2020), to determine the length of time a particular public health intervention package needs to be in place to keep the local epidemic controlled for the entire 2020 period. Generating parameters from international contexts This section examines the trajectories of various country epidemics following the introduction of major prevention strategies and uses them to calibrate the model. First, a range of countries are reviewed to identify those that may exemplify particular interventions. Second, from those countries two are selected, that best reflect a lockdown intervention and a mass testing and contact-tracing intervention. The selection criteria for the group of countries was based on: those with significant epidemics (United Kingdom, Italy, Spain)[5] that are engaging in lockdowns; countries that have experienced significant epidemics and have successfully contained them using lockdowns (China); and countries that avoided lockdowns through early interventions that made substantial use of mass testing and contact tracing (South Korea).[6] Data on new infections is examined in each country after the first 100 cases.[7] An attempt is made in Figure 1 to compare all five countries. The patterns for the three European countries are strikingly similar on the upward trajectory. As the countries are at different stages in their epidemics, only two of them, Italy and Spain, show a downward trajectory after the introduction of the lockdown. The United Kingdom is yet to reach a turning point (at the time of writing this brief). The post-lockdown downward trajectory for China is however a lot steeper than Italy and Spain, and is as steep as that achieved by South Korea using mass testing and contact tracing. The lockdown trajectories for Spain and Italy are consistent with a relatively high R, although still less than one. The implied intervention Rs for South Korea and China are however more pronounced. It should however be noted that the both Spain and Italy intervened at a very late stage in their epidemics, which may have complicated their outcomes in ways that are not yet understood. With China, there is a question concerning the reliability of their reporting.[8] As a consequence, for the purposes of parametrising the model, it makes more sense to use the more conservative trajectory consistent with either Italy or France. As Italy effectively has a longer time series, it is therefore preferred over France for this purpose. Figure 2 illustrates the Rs that best match the Italian epidemic, both before and after the lockdown intervention. Here different values of R are used to drive a model result that is close to the actual trajectory of all phases of the epidemic. This suggests that a lockdown in cold weather is broadly consistent with an average R of 0,96. The early stages of the epidemic are consistent with an R of 1.98, dropping to 1,58 as a consequence of initial, but inadequate, interventions. The lockdown R is however quite close to 1, suggesting a fairly tenuous impact. An estimate of the R consistent with the South Korean mass testing and contact tracing intervention is provided in Figure 3. The period prior to the main public health intervention is consistent with an R of 1.6, while the mass testing and tracing intervention results in an R of 0.7 in cold weather. This is a superior result relative to protracted lockdowns in Italy and France. This could be the result of many factors, such as, inter alia, the early stage of the intervention and the efficiency of a well-prepared country response. It is therefore possible that other countries may not implement the same response with the same efficiency. This is however not taken into account in the parametrisation for this exercise. The intervention packages used by both Italy and South Korea however extend beyond lockdowns and mass testing and contact tracing. For instance, all include border closures, social distancing requirements (including requirements to wear masks when outside the house) and targeted lockdowns (to address disease clusters). The intervention packages generated through the parameterisation exercise take this into account. This is discussed further in the next section. Model parameters This section provides an indication of the model parameters used, guided by the analysis of Italy and South Korea discussed above. The model parameters are specified at three levels. First there are individual interventions, each with an associated reduction in R (Table 1).[9] Second, there are combinations of interventions, or packages, each resulting in an aggregate R (Table 2). Third, there are scenarios over the 2020 period, where different packages are applied by day of the year, depending on the seriousness of the epidemic. It is important to note that the Rs for the individual interventions do not have a strong empirical basis. The true test of their usefulness is therefore how well they match the South African epidemic thus far when combined within packages of responses (i.e. no intervention occurs in isolation of some others). To the extent that they do, they can be used to estimate the trajectories resulting from different packages over the full 2020 period. As indicated in Table 2 there are five overall response levels provided for, from level 0 (L0) (do nothing) to level 4 (L4) (lockdown). There are two versions of each response level depending upon whether or not it occurs in warm or cold weather conditions. For the purposes of this analysis the package configurations associated with a general lockdown (L4) and mass screening and contact tracing (L3) reflect the outcomes in Italy and South Korea respectively discussed above. Mass screening and contact tracing is treated as a level 3 (L3) intervention as this is naturally prior to the full lockdown at least for countries with well-prepared public health response systems. South Africas adoption of a level 4 (L4) response before level 3 is assumed to have occurred because it was not prepared for the epidemic and was therefore not in a position to implement mass testing and contact tracing in the natural sequence of escalating responses. The application of the parameters to the South African epidemic This section discusses whether the parameters developed for the model are able to predict the known part of the South African epidemic. Figure 4 illustrates how interventions associated with assumed reproduction rates (R) generate estimates of new infections for the periods where we have reported information on new infections. Three intervention packages are applied to specified periods broadly in accordance with actual events. First, there is the limited intervention from the early period of March 2020 to around 22 March 2020, which has an R of 2.2.[10] Here it is assumed that no meaningful public health prevention intervention is in place. The value of R is reduced to account for the warmer climate. Here it is assumed that no meaningful public health prevention intervention is in place. The value of R is reduced to account for the warmer climate. Second, there is stepped up social distancing (referred to above as a level 2 (L2), or intermediate), which occurs from 23 March 2020 to 26 March 2020, with an associated R of 1.6.[11] This period includes the closure of international borders, schools and universities. This period includes the closure of international borders, schools and universities. Third, is the 27 March 2020 lockdown intervention package, which has an associated R of 0.7 (which is lower than that for Italy to account for the warmer weather). The lockdown period includes the social distancing interventions and border closures. It therefore has the deepest overall impact. Figure 5 shows that the warm weather and social distancing interventions on their own do not bring R below 1.0 (the rate at which the disease will dissipate). The R of 1.3 for this period therefore appears justified. The lockdown intervention does however appear bring R to below 1.0, apart from the most recent reported infection data. There is therefore some uncertainty about the trajectory of the lockdown. Whereas during the initial period of the lockdown the reported new infections went into decline as expected, the trend from 29 March onward could be regarded as ambiguous. While the model suggests a more pronounced decline, the actual trend could be consistent with a range of Rs from 1.0 to 0.6. One possible interpretation is that the lockdown, in context, is not sufficient to eliminate the disease. Consistent with this possibility, this trend (i.e. relatively flat after the initial decline) could reflect a transition from the imported outbreak in the affluent community to a domestic community-based outbreak in the general population. While the former may be sensitive to a lockdown, the latter may not, with an R greater than 1.0 even with the lockdown. This period could therefore reflect a simultaneous decline of one outbreak with an increase in another. Nevertheless, based on information to date, and using the data from the Italian epidemic, an assumed R of 0.7 for a lockdown with warmer weather appears (for now) consistent with the reported information. Using the model to estimate the effectiveness of the Italian lockdown produced an R of 0.96 for winter. The 0.7 assumption used for South Africa includes an adjustment for warm weather and is therefore only applied to the remaining days of summer. The cold weather assumption is applied during winter. Scenario results options for 2020 Overview Two scenario options for 2020 are examined here. Option 1 involves a lockdown-dependent strategy, where any surge in the epidemic involves the package associated with a general lockdown (L4). Option 2 however limits the use of a lockdown to the period already designated for lockdown in South Africa. Thereafter, it reverts to periods of mass testing and tracing (L3), with periodic reversions to L2 (intermediate interventions). Both options are required to eliminate the risk of a serious epidemic during 2020. It is important to note that the model results are stylised reflections of the trajectory of the epidemic and unknown real world factors would also be expected to play a role. Option 1 Lockdown-dependent strategy In this scenario option the lockdown is permitted to end from 1 May, with a reversion back to an intermediate intervention package. However, according to the model, the disease resurges and requires a further lockdown toward the end of May, extending all the way to October (Figure 6). During October an intermediate package is implemented. A further lockdown of 16 days is required in November/December to prevent a further resurgence. The required overall number of days for lockdowns is 193 days. The headline results, reflected in Table 3, are consistent with an overall strategy that keeps the epidemic in check for 2020. In total 29,046 people test positive with mortality of 439. The demand peak for ICU beds (used as a proxy for ventilators) is 175, which would be well within the capability of the overall health system. There would only be a slight risk of insufficient High Care (HC) beds in the public sector. When seen together with the private sector capacity and the timely reorganisation of public sector beds, there are sufficient beds. Option 2 Risk-based strategy The risk-based strategy looks to minimise the use of lockdowns as the primary measure required to bring the epidemic under control. Although it retains the lockdown as implemented to date from 27 March to 30 April, it moves to an aggressive mass testing and contact-tracing regime thereafter. This lasts until the epidemic is brought under control. In total there are 35 days of lockdown, 184 days of mass testing and contact tracing and 61 days of the intermediate package. (Figure 7) The headline results shown in Table 2 reflect the total containment of the epidemic, with only 2,595 people infected and total mortality of 39. It should be noted that the actual trajectory of the disease could take the overall totals over these numbers by the end of April. These estimates should therefore be treated as indicative of a direction rather than offering a predicted outcome with a high level of specificity. This scenario indicates that bed demand is kept low, and no crisis of access to critical care beds would materialise. The demand for ICU beds peaks at the relatively low value of 43, with High Care at only 63. Discussion of results Both options modelled contain the epidemic, and, to that extent, reflect equivalent levels of success in the management of the health crisis. The differences in headline results (reported in Tables 3 and 4) should be disregarded, as they reflect an artificial structuring of option 1 to fit a pattern of reverting to lockdowns when the disease resurges. Option 1 could also be structured without significant resurgence. This would however require a slight increase to the number of lockdown days. The main result from this exercise is the number of days required to control the epidemic in 2020 using lockdowns as the primary intervention package. In total, the requirement for 193 days in 2020 is significant, and raises serious questions about the sustainability of this approach as the default strategy. While an economic analysis would provide concrete information on the implications for South Africas gross domestic product (GDP) of option 1, it is self-evident that this option would be ruinous. The model indicates that the epidemic will resurge after a lag when the most effective interventions are withdrawn. In the real world, a resurgence would occur if merely one asymptomatic positive case was left in the community, or where a failure to eliminate the pandemic internationally resulted in a single undetected imported infection. In the former instance, the resurgence would be expected to be faster than the model suggests (as the model trajectory escalates based on fraction of a residual single person). Given the protracted nature of the public health risk, the analysis suggests that an economically viable health prevention strategy will be required for most of 2020. As the implications of option 1 cannot be shouldered by the South African economy, the selected health strategy should be designed to be compatible with as broad an opening of the economy as is possible. Under these circumstance, a strategy broadly consistent with option 2 appears necessary. The specific features of such a strategy are broadly outlined in the next section. Features of a risk-adjusted strategy Overview The COVID-19 epidemic poses a complex set of risks for South Africa over-and-above the morbidity and mortality associated with the disease itself. The knock-on effects of border closures, restricted movement and closed businesses, if not well addressed, will have long-term consequences for the economy. While it could be argued that economic considerations should not be given precedence over health risks, in reality economic failure on the envisaged scale will have serious short- and medium-term implications for society at large, well before we get to the long-term. Shocks to employment levels will shift many into poverty, including many who were on a pathway out of poverty. While Government could provide an economic bridge for some (but not all) where the periods of economic closure are limited, protracted lockdowns and business closures will result in a fiscal death spiral, with tax revenues falling precipitously while expenditure commitments rise precipitously. The only viable pathway out of the COVID-19 crisis is therefore to integrate the health and economic strategies into a single all-of-government approach. This requires a total strategy of Government one that is weighted proportionately to address the principal risks facing the country at this time. There are five strategic considerations to such an all-of-government risk-adjusted approach. First, the health prevention strategy must be organised with two objectives in mind: first, it must be compatible with an opening of the economy; and second, it should be designed to have positive economic spinoffs. Second, social programmes aimed at income protection, such as social grants and unemployment insurance, should be implemented at scale to simultaneously address social protection needs and the need for domestic economic demand stimulation. Third, non-health-related economic strategies need to address the shocks to both the demand and supply sides of the domestic economy. Fourth, those parts of the strategy that require ongoing rapid decisions and the deployment of resources need to be supported by an all-of-government command structure that is fit-for-purpose. Fifth, all parts of the strategy require rapid feedback on performance and constant useful public communication. Once the only viable strategic approach has been determined by Government, it has to adopt it together with all the associated interventions with a high degree of urgency, commitment and adaptability. An indicative approach to the health prevention strategy This section provides a brief overview of a strategic approach to the risk-adjusted health prevention strategy. This involves a five-level response framework, a post-lockdown approach, transparency requirements and the achievement of operational integrity. Five-level response-framework: Consideration should be given to a formalised five-level response framework for this epidemic and all future epidemics. The lowest level would be activated when an epidemic risk is identified. A set of pre-prepared responses would then be triggered. Each subsequent (triggered) level would involve increases in risk and urgency. A lockdown would only be considered as a last resort (last level) if the interventions in the previous levels fails to cope. South Africa should have had a level 3 option, mass testing and contact tracing, but was not adequately prepared. As a consequence, arguably two levels were skipped, at great cost to the economy. While this may be seen as a long-term issue, it is relatively easy[12] to implement in the current crisis, and would prove to be a useful tool for decision-making in 2020. This is because there may be a need to move up and down levels all through the year depending on the success or failure of a response level. These movements up or down could also be area or cluster-specific, rather than seen purely at a national level. Level 0 : Routine surveillance of risks. When there are no threats, redundant capacity in infectious disease responses needs to be readied. This can involve: the identification of quarantine sites; the maintenance of contact-tracing machinery; and the preparation of a legislative framework for infectious disease outbreaks. This legislation should, inter alia, cater for emergency test development, requisitioning of equipment, rapid contact-tracing frameworks and preparations for mandatory quarantining of suspected and confirmed cases. Both public and private hospitals should be required to maintain a minimum number of isolation wards. : Routine surveillance of risks. When there are no threats, redundant capacity in infectious disease responses needs to be readied. This can involve: the identification of quarantine sites; the maintenance of contact-tracing machinery; and the preparation of a legislative framework for infectious disease outbreaks. This legislation should, inter alia, cater for emergency test development, requisitioning of equipment, rapid contact-tracing frameworks and preparations for mandatory quarantining of suspected and confirmed cases. Both public and private hospitals should be required to maintain a minimum number of isolation wards. Level 1 : Trigger identification of a threat, by which is meant a highly infectious disease with significant morbidity and mortality. This may involve: the implementation of a central response platform for Government; the development of tests; the identification of possible shortfalls in testing equipment; the preparation of treatment facilities; the maintenance of basic border surveillance; the identification of high risk transport routes; mandatory testing and quarantining for people from high risk zones; the establishment of testing machinery for all persons presenting with symptoms; and where no test has yet been developed, suspected cases should be quarantined for appropriate periods. In all this, it would be important to coordinate with the private health system to agree on aspects that require a joint response. : Trigger identification of a threat, by which is meant a highly infectious disease with significant morbidity and mortality. This may involve: the implementation of a central response platform for Government; the development of tests; the identification of possible shortfalls in testing equipment; the preparation of treatment facilities; the maintenance of basic border surveillance; the identification of high risk transport routes; mandatory testing and quarantining for people from high risk zones; the establishment of testing machinery for all persons presenting with symptoms; and where no test has yet been developed, suspected cases should be quarantined for appropriate periods. In all this, it would be important to coordinate with the private health system to agree on aspects that require a joint response. Level 2 : Trigger imported infections identified together with first community-based infections. This would involve: border closures, together with mandatory across-the board testing and quarantining of travellers entering the country; the mandatory wearing of masks (if the disease has an airborne elements; mandatory social distancing; and mandatory (pre-prepared) health protocols implemented at workplaces, transport hubs and bulk transport; the temporary closure of schools and universities; the prohibition of mass meetings of any form (funerals, church gatherings, etc.); and an expansion of the testing framework to be able to detect community-based infections. : Trigger imported infections identified together with first community-based infections. This would involve: border closures, together with mandatory across-the board testing and quarantining of travellers entering the country; the mandatory wearing of masks (if the disease has an airborne elements; mandatory social distancing; and mandatory (pre-prepared) health protocols implemented at workplaces, transport hubs and bulk transport; the temporary closure of schools and universities; the prohibition of mass meetings of any form (funerals, church gatherings, etc.); and an expansion of the testing framework to be able to detect community-based infections. Level 3 : Trigger significant increase in community-based infections, but below 100. In addition to the level 1 and 2 interventions, implement mass testing and contact tracing, together with the quarantining of suspected cases and those identified as positive. This testing regime supplements the testing of suspected cases introduced from level 1. : Trigger significant increase in community-based infections, but below 100. In addition to the level 1 and 2 interventions, implement mass testing and contact tracing, together with the quarantining of suspected cases and those identified as positive. This testing regime supplements the testing of suspected cases introduced from level 1. Level 4: Trigger community-based infections continue to increase exponentially. This would involve: general lockdowns initiated in areas with identified disease clusters; the closure of all non-essential businesses; and the closure of all bulk transport systems. Post-lockdown health strategy: It is imperative that from 1 May 2020 South Africa is ready to implement a health prevention strategy that allows for a measured and safe movement from a level 4 response framework to level 3. The key elements of this approach could be expected to include: Mass testing and contact tracing. This needs to be complemented with the rapid identification and follow-up of outbreak clusters. All laboratory results must be available within 12 to 24 hours after the test. Ambulances need to be in place for the transportation of confirmed cases. At all times doctors, nurses and paramedics working in clinical areas should wear three layered surgical masks as well as gloves. Where close contact with patients are anticipated, full PPE is required, including N95 masks. Health protocols must be developed for all organisations. A compliance framework to ensure adherence is also required. Health protocols are required for all transport hubs and all forms of mass transport. Health protocols are required for all places of education. A distance learning framework needs to be developed for scholars without appropriate access to the internet and online teaching platforms. Health protocols are required for social grant collection sites. This includes sites for food parcel distribution. These are also appropriate sites for mass testing and the distribution of masks. The general public requires access to basic methods of personal protection. This includes hand sanitisers, masks (reusable) and gloves. During the entire period of the emergency, it should be mandatory for all to wear a mask outside of their homes. Transparency The successful pursuit of a public health strategy relies on a high degree of voluntary consent to comply with appropriate public health measures as well as personal preventive conduct. In addition, researchers and businesses constantly need to make sense of the epidemic. This requires that detailed information on the trajectory of every aspect of the epidemic needs to be made public. Furthermore, the actions taken by Government need to be justified through the disclosure of the information upon which major decisions are made. Operational integrity An epidemic is a moving target which requires a whole-of-government response. However, the platform established to make rapid decisions needs to be fit-for-purpose and regularly reviewed. It is presently unclear how effective the current command structure is. In particular, whether it is able to constantly adjust to changing circumstances and configurations of risk and priorities. Conclusion This brief has provided an overview of the possible trajectory of the COVID-19 disease in South Africa under different intervention scenarios using an intervention model. The purpose of the modelling approach is to support decision-making in the face of the complex set of risks facing the country in 2020, and possibly beyond. The modelling analysis suggests that it is unlikely that the disease will be eliminated as a risk in 2020. Given the protracted nature of the emergency, the public health strategies need to be designed to be compatible with continued economic activity. Were South Africa to rely exclusively on lockdowns to contain the epidemic, a total lockdown period of 193 days may be required. This assumes, however, that lockdowns actually work in the South African context. At this stage it cannot be confirmed that the lockdown approach works in the densely populated informal settlements and townships. A total lockdown period of 193 days is however inconceivable from an economic perspective, and an alternative risk-based approach is therefore appropriate. A risk-based approach seeks to manage all the risks associated with the epidemic, and not only the disease itself. The current health strategy places the economic welfare of more than 70% of the population in jeopardy, with Government only in a position to provide remedial support to only a subset of the group at risk of destitution. The sustainability of the programmes of support also ultimately depend on the sustainability of government finances, which in turn depend on the existence of a working economy. A lockdown-dependent strategy substantially erodes the ability of Government to bridge the social and economic impacts.[13] Given this, strategic decisions are required at this point in the emergency which favour a risk-based approach rather than a lockdown dependent approach. However, a risk-based approach requires that the groundwork is properly laid. It is far from clear, however, that this necessary work has been done. But there is still time. But much depends on what use is made of the limited time. References European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. (2020). Geographic ditribution of COVID-19 cases worldwide. Retrieved from: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/download-todays-data-geographic-distribution-covid-19-cases-worldwide Kim, H. J. (2020, 4 February 2020). South Korea learned its successful Covid-19 strategy from a previous coronavirus outbreak: MERS, Online article. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Retrieved from https://thebulletin.org/2020/03/south-korea-learned-its-successful-covid-19-strategy-from-a-previous-coronavirus-outbreak-mers/ Liu, Y., Gayle, A. A., Wilder-Smith, A., & Rocklov, J. (2020). The reproductive number of COVID-19 is higher compared to SARS coronavirus. Journal of Travel Medicine, 27(2). doi:10.1093/jtm/taaa021 van den Heever, A. (2020). COVID-19 Intervention Model for South Africa. Zhang, S., Diao, M., Yu, W., Pei, L., Lin, Z., & Chen, D. (2020). Estimation of the reproductive number of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and the probable outbreak size on the Diamond Princess cruise ship: A data-driven analysis. International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases, 93, 201-204. doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2020.02.033 [1] There are numerous attempts to estimate R for COVID-1 (Liu, Gayle, Wilder-Smith, & Rocklov, 2020; Zhang et al., 2020), Estimates do range from below 2 to around 3. The baseline assumption used in the report is merely used as the point-of-departure for assumed reductions in R due to interventions. [2] This is where immunity levels are sufficiently high that R is always significantly below 1. [3] The number of infected individuals totalled only 1,170 on 27 March 2020 when the lockdown began. [4] See for instance (Kim, 2020) [5] The United States was excluded as the lockdown is incomplete (or partial) and the peak of the epidemic has not been reached. It therefore cannot assist in the development of parameters for the model. [6] Note that the South Korean data in Figure 1 is presented on a different scale to that for the other countries. This is because the size of the epidemic in Korea was far less than for the other countries, making it difficult to compare them side-by-side. [7] The data source for international trends was from (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, 2020). [8] The new infection data from China reflected so many inconsistencies however that it was necessary to smooth its upward trajectory. The new infection data from China has also been adjusted to iron out clear timing errors in reporting. This involved developing a linear equation for a period of apparent consistent reporting and extrapolating for the period of inconsistent reporting. The total number of infections was however retained. Only the trajectories were smoothed. [9] These reductions in R effectively work back from the overall R totals developed using the Italian and South Korean epidemics. [10] The 2.2 assumption is lower than the assumed average in cold climates of 2.43. The reduction from this baseline of approximately 0.3 is to account for the warmer climate at this time in South Africa. [11] While this is shorter than the official intervention period, it is assumed that actual social distancing occurred with a lag of a few days. [12] This is however subject to the release of public information indicating whether there are any fatal bottlenecks to the timeous expansion of testing to the scale required to manage the epidemic. [13] It is worth noting that conventional views of deficit-financing rescue packages dont fully apply to the current economic situation. The indefinite closure of businesses raises the uncomfortable prospect that the sale of government treasury bills could dry up leaving the Government in a state of default. Virtually every revenue source for Government is compromised by a lockdown. Maintaining a posture of uncertainty regarding future lockdowns clearly places government finances in an untenable position. It should also be noted that industrialised countries can withstand these circumstances for a far longer period than South Africa. Professor Alex van den Heever holds the Chair in the field of Social Security Systems Administration and Management Studies at the Wits School of Governance. This paper has been published in full on Maverick Citizen/Daily Maverick. An unplanned grand experiment is changing Earth. As people across the globe stay home to stop the spread of the new coronavirus, the air has cleaned up, albeit temporarily. Smog stopped choking New Delhi, one of the most polluted cities in the world, and Indias getting views of sights not visible in decades. Nitrogen dioxide pollution in the northeastern United States is down 30%. Rome air pollution levels from mid-March to mid-April were down 49% from a year ago. Stars seem more visible at night. People are also noticing animals in places and at times they don't usually. Coyotes have meandered along downtown Chicagos Michigan Avenue and near San Franciscos Golden Gate Bridge. A puma roamed the streets of Santiago, Chile. Goats took over a town in Wales. In India, already daring wildlife has become bolder with hungry monkeys entering homes and opening refrigerators to look for food. When people stay home, Earth becomes cleaner and wilder. It is giving us this quite extraordinary insight into just how much of a mess we humans are making of our beautiful planet, says conservation scientist Stuart Pimm of Duke University. This is giving us an opportunity to magically see how much better it can be. HOUSTON'S RECOVERY CZARS: Meet the two men who will help Houston recover from COVID-19 Chris Field, director of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, assembled scientists to assess the ecological changes happening with so much of humanity housebound. Scientists, stuck at home like the rest of us, say they are eager to explore unexpected changes in weeds, insects, weather patterns, noise and light pollution. Italy's government is working on an ocean expedition to explore sea changes from the lack of people. In many ways we kind of whacked the Earth system with a sledgehammer and now we see what Earths response is, Field says. Researchers are tracking dramatic drops in traditional air pollutants, such as nitrogen dioxide, smog and tiny particles. These types of pollution kill up to 7 million people a year worldwide, according to Health Effects Institute president Dan Greenbaum. The air from Boston to Washington is its cleanest since a NASA satellite started measuring nitrogen dioxide,in 2005, says NASA atmospheric scientist Barry Lefer. Largely caused by burning of fossil fuels, this pollution is short-lived, so the air gets cleaner quickly. Compared to the previous five years, March air pollution is down 46% in Paris, 35% in Bengaluru, India, 38% in Sydney, 29% in Los Angeles, 26% in Rio de Janeiro and 9% in Durban, South Africa, NASA measurements show. Were getting a glimpse of what might happen if we start switching to non-polluting cars, Lefer says. Cleaner air has been most noticeable in India and China. On April 3, residents of Jalandhar, a city in north Indias Punjab, woke up to a view not seen for decades: snow-capped Himalayan peaks more than 100 miles away. Cleaner air means stronger lungs for asthmatics, especially children, says Dr. Mary Prunicki, director of air pollution and health research at the Stanford University School of Medicine. And she notes early studies also link coronavirus severity to people with bad lungs and those in more polluted areas, though its too early to tell which factor is stronger. What Can Be Saved Series Owl vs. owl: Should humans intervene to save a species? The greenhouse gases that trap heat and cause climate change stay in the atmosphere for 100 years or more, so the pandemic shutdown is unlikely to affect global warming, says Breakthrough Institute climate scientist Zeke Hausfather. Carbon dioxide levels are still rising, but not as fast as last year. Aerosol pollution, which doesnt stay airborne long, is also dropping. But aerosols cool the planet so NASA climate scientist Gavin Schmidt is investigating whether their falling levels may be warming local temperatures for now. Stanfords Field says hes most intrigued by increased urban sightings of coyotes, pumas and other wildlife that are becoming video social media staples. Boar-like javelinas congregated outside of a Arizona shopping center. Even New York City birds seem hungrier and bolder. In Adelaide, Australia, police shared a video of a kangaroo hoping around a mostly empty downtown, and a pack of jackals occupied an urban park in Tel Aviv, Israel. Were not being invaded. The wildlife has always been there, but many animals are shy, Dukes Pimm says. They come out when humans stay home. For sea turtles across the globe, humans have made it difficult to nest on sandy beaches. The turtles need to be undisturbed and emerging hatchlings get confused by beachfront lights, says David Godfrey, executive director of the Sea Turtle Conservancy. But with lights and people away, this years sea turtle nesting so far seems much better from India to Costa Rica to Florida, Godfrey says. Theres some silver lining for wildlife in what otherwise is a fairly catastrophic time for humans, he says. ___ Associated Press writer Aniruddha Ghosal in New Delhi contributed to this report. ___ Follow Seth Borenstein on Twitter at @borenbears . ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has made repeated reference to the 96 percent support he received from shareholders at the companys annual general meeting on October 28the day before he and the Qantas board grounded the airlines entire global fleet. He did not mention that the biggest 20 shareholders control 80.3 percent of total voting shares, and that just the top four, a group of major global financial conglomerates, hold over 70 percent. Qantas is an example of how the most powerful financial interests exert sway over the commanding heights of the economy. Just 240 of the companys 133,392 shareholders own 82.49 percent of the stock. Contrary to claims that some type of shareholders democracy exists, small investors have no say in the companys direction or conduct. The largest Qantas shareholderwith 22.72 percent of the companyis J. P. Morgan Nominees Australia, a division of the global J. P. Morgan investment house. The second largest is HSBC Custody Nominees with 18.91 percent. Next is National Nominees with an 18.26 percent stake. The fourth largest is Citicorp Nominees. These four investment funds are also among the largest shareholders of Australias four major banks, the Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, Westpac Bank and ANZ Bank, which in turn are large shareholders of the investment funds. J. P. Morgan, HSBC, National Nominees and Citicorp are also the top four shareholders of Australias two largest resource companies, BHP-Billiton and Rio Tinto. They appear prominently in the top 20 list of shareholders of numerous companies, ranging from oil corporation Caltex to construction and property giants Leighton Holdings and Lend Lease. This web of interconnections guarantees that the executives of any company serve as the direct representatives of finance and carry out their dictates. They move seamlessly between different companies, serving the same essential masters. Qantas chairman Leigh Clifford, for example, was previously the CEO of Rio Tinto. The other board members include former executives of the banks, mining conglomerates, industrial companies and global equity funds, as well as retired military chief General Peter Cosgrove, who commanded the neo-colonial Australian intervention into East Timor in 1999. It was the kind of sunset that only happens once every few years, drawing Nova Scotians outside or to their windows as great blooms of pink and orange and gold heralded the end of one of the most emotional days in provincial history. At the time, many people were getting ready to light candles, in small, private vigils to the people killed in a violent weekend shooting rampage through the countryside. Then the sky changed. As were getting ready to do that, the sky just became brilliant, says photographer Len Wagg, one of many who captured images of the sky to post online. I think nature has a way of telling us that there is hope. Different viewpoints of that brilliant spring sky flooded social media as a province of people, united in mourning but stuck at home as the coronavirus pandemic rages, struggle to comfort each other. With a population of just under a million, the small province is famous for its coastline and its close-knit community. The refrain heard frequently in recent days is that while most people might be connected by six degrees of separation, in Nova Scotia its just one. But the challenge they face now is unprecedented. How does a community begin to heal when everyone is alone? There are now 22 confirmed victims in the weekends shooting rampage, including a police officer, a beloved teacher, a retired firefighter and multiple members of several families. Police continue to investigate 16 crime scenes related to the attacks in several small towns throughout northern and central Nova Scotia. But like most places around the world, Nova Scotia remains under public health guidance to stay home and away from others. The small Maritime province announced its 10th death related to COVID-19 on Tuesday, as the total number of confirmed cases rose to 737. I mean, were used to going to a home, walking in and giving a hug. Sitting down with them, holding their hand. Asking if theres anything that can be done. All thats gone now, said MLA Larry Harrison. Even funerals and services are banned, and while plans are underway for virtual vigils, to him, its just not the same. Theres nothing like the human touch. When it comes to grieving during coronavirus, theres no playbook, says Nova Scotia Sen. Stan Kutcher, who is also a psychiatrist. It will be invented as we go, because people are inventive and we will figure out ways to do this differently. Dr. Robert Strang, the provinces chief medical officer of health, acknowledged during his daily COVID-19 news conference Monday that it would be hard for people to hear reminders about the need for physical distancing in the aftermath of the killings. COVID-19 is not going to pause because of our pain we cannot let our guard down, Strang said. But mourners are finding a way. Quentrel Provo, an anti-violence and gun control activist in Halifax who founded Stop the Violence, Spread the Love, led a virtual candlelight vigil Monday night, opening with a prayer, a moment of silence and a reading of victims names during a Facebook livestream. Provo said it was emotionally tough to lead the event, which he set up to offer some hope as Nova Scotians feel overwhelmed by the pandemic and the weekends shocking violence. A lot of tears have been shed. I know myself, Ive cried a lot in the last few days, he said in a telephone interview Tuesday. Another virtual vigil is planned for Friday evening, which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he would attend. A memorial with flowers and tributes sprung up outside RCMP headquarters in Dartmouth this week to honour Const. Heidi Stevenson, who was killed in the line of duty. But Stevensons funeral will look different from those held for slain officers at other points in Canadian history like the regimental funeral for Fredericton police constables Robb Costello and Sara Burns in August 2018 that was attended by hundreds of police officers and first responders from across the continent. Its going to require some out-of-the-box thinking. I really dont know where theyre even going to begin, said Brian Sauve, president of the union representing RCMP officers. He said such events are always uniquely tragic and challenging, but there are possibilities available during the pandemic, such as livestreaming and inviting guests to park along roadways. There are ways in todays day and age to honour the fallen, he said. Its just in a different format. In Portapique, the small town where police first responded late Saturday to reports of shots fired, Cees van den Hoek is hoping to revive a traditional place of solace. The owner of a local antiques store, he bought the towns old church building when it was decommissioned over a decade ago, but recently had been using it mostly for storage. Van den Hoek, who knew many of the victims or bumped into them on occasion in the tight-knit community, has spent the last day placing flowers outside the church and building racks for condolence cards. Hes inviting people to mail cards or notes for the victims and their families and hell post them at the church, where people driving by will be able to see the cards, too. The challenge is in making sure it doesnt become an excuse to gather. Van den Hoek said at one point a few vehicles stopped by the church and he felt uneasy until they moved on. It cant become a meeting place. As much as everyone would like to, we just cant, he said. I dont want to have an outbreak because of this. But Van den Hoek hopes it will be a small way for people to feel like they can still show their support publicly, and begin to grieve. It just seemed like the right thing to do. he said. Sen. Kutcher, who is also a psychiatrist and professor emeritus at Dalhousie University, says the most important part of dealing with tragedy is the support of family or community, however that community is defined. But theres no question that there is a hard road ahead, in a world where you cant reach out to hug a grieving neighbour. For millennia, the capacity for human communication has included face to face and physical contact. It starts when were born and is reinforced all through our lives, he said. He recommended that people take advantage of their digital spaces to find new versions of community, and to get creative about reaching out to others. People are incredibly inventive in times of misfortune, he said. My guess is that the long standing tradition of dropping off a pot of chili or a fresh pie will continue. But when you do that please make sure you keep your distance. With files from The Canadian Press and Steve McKinley Read more about: P olice in New York broke up a "4/20" marijuana party in Manhattan after receiving a tip that nearly 40 people were not practising social distancing during the coronavirus outbreak. On April 20, known as the unofficial marijuana holiday, officers from New York City Police Department found a group of people in an empty commercial building at around 4.20pm. They were reportedly smoking marijuana in the empty Flatiron neighbourhood building and not maintaining the required six feet distance from each other. According to police, 38 people - 31 men and five women - were issued summonses for criminal trespassing and five of them for drug charges. None were given orders regarding the breaking of social distancing regulations, which Mayor Bill de Blasio said could involve a fine of up to $1,000. People in New York have been told to maintain a six-foot distance from each other to curb the spread of Covid-19. In addition to marijuana, police said they discovered pills, edibles, money and bottles of bootleg alcohol at the scene. 420 Day 2018 1 /26 420 Day 2018 Revellers enjoy the sun at 420 Day in Hyde Park. Evening Standard Revellers enjoy the sun at 420 Day in Hyde Park. Evening Standard Revellers enjoy the sun at 420 Day in Hyde Park. Evening Standard Revellers enjoy the sun at 420 Day in Hyde Park. Evening Standard Revellers enjoy the sun at 420 Day in Hyde Park. Evening Standard Revellers enjoy the sun at 420 Day in Hyde Park. Evening Standard Revellers enjoy the sun at 420 Day in Hyde Park. Evening Standard Revellers enjoy the sun at 420 Day in Hyde Park. Evening Standard Evening Standard Revellers enjoy the sun at 420 Day in Hyde Park. Evening Standard Revellers enjoy the sun at 420 Day in Hyde Park. Evening Standard Revellers enjoy the sun at 420 Day in Hyde Park. Evening Standard Revellers enjoy the sun at 420 Day in Hyde Park. Evening Standard Revellers enjoy the sun at 420 Day in Hyde Park. Evening Standard Revellers enjoy the sun at 420 Day in Hyde Park. Evening Standard A man poses with a sign reading: 'Medical cannabis for medical needs" Evening Standard Police patrolled around Hyde Park for 420 Day. Evening Standard Police patrolled around Hyde Park for 420 Day. Evening Standard Revellers enjoy the sun at 420 Day in Hyde Park. Evening Standard Revellers enjoy the sun at 420 Day in Hyde Park. Evening Standard The party was dubbed "Animal House Party 5" on Instagram and promoted throughout social media, said police. According to John Hopkins University, data at least 14,604 people have died in New York City and there are at least 247,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19. Londons marijuana lovers were expected to descend on Hyde Park on Monday for 4/20 day. However pictures online showed a relatively empty Hyde Park as people appeared to follow the Government's coronavirus lockdown measures. Diane Abbotts diplomat son threatened her with scissors and attacked nine emergency workers when hooked on the drug crystal meth. The terrified MP called police begging for help when James Abbott-Thompson began chasing her round her house with the scissors while claiming he had a gun in his dressing gown. He bit one officer as he was sectioned under the Mental Health Act with drug-induced psychosis. And he went on to carry out eight further attacks beating up two nurses, a doctor, a therapist and four police officers. Three of his victims were female. James Abbott-Thompson, pictured, pleaded guilty to 16 offences including spitting and exposure over a six-month period Details of the shocking case can be revealed for the first time after Abbott-Thompson pleaded guilty to 16 offences including spitting and exposure over a six-month period. The Cambridge University graduate, 28, was once tipped for the top in the Foreign Office. But when stat-ioned in the British embassy in Rome, he is said to have become hooked on highly addictive stimulant crystal meth. Police were first called to then shadow home secretary Miss Abbotts 1.2million home in Hackney, East London, on July 26 last year. The allegations made by his mother were not part of the case as she did not pursue charges. But on the day when police took Abbott-Thompson from the Labour MPs home to nearby Homerton Hospital he attacked a second police officer and another man. A few days later he beat up a doctor at Mile End Hospital, assaulted a female nurse at the Royal Free Hospital and hit out at another man. He went on in October to expose himself at Homerton Hospital. And on November 7, he racially abused a nurse, assaulted her and smashed her glasses. The next day he set upon another policeman. And on November 29 he assaulted two officers outside the Foreign Office, where he was employed until leaving that summer to do consultancy work. Abbott-Thompson turned up unannounced and asked to see a member of staff he knew. The terrified MP, pictured, called police begging for help when James Abbott-Thompson began chasing her round her house with the scissors while claiming he had a gun in his dressing gown But when told they were not present, he flew into a rage with workers who called the police when he refused to leave. Abbott-Thompson punched and spat in the face of one officer and tried to hit a second, biting his left thumb. He also made a number of threats, wrecked a glass plaque and assaulted a third man. The final attack was on December 23 when he hit a therapist in a hospital canteen with a tray. Some of his attacks caused significant injuries including one on a security guard who had to have six months off work after Abbott-Thompson claimed to be HIV positive. He pleaded guilty in a remote hearing at Londons Wood Green Crown Court to carrying out 12 assaults as well as racially aggravated criminal damage, making threats and exposing himself. Judge Aaronberg QC made an interim hospital order while psychiatric reports are prepared. In an earlier hearing George Gross, defending, said his client could be suffering from a personality disorder or psychotic illness and that drug use has contributed to the problem. Abbott-Thompson, whose Left-wing mother came under fierce criticism for sending her only child to the private City of London School, joined the Foreign Office in 2014. He went on to help advise Britons living in Italy about their rights after Brexit. He will be sentenced in July. By Mely Caballero-Anthony Four months after its outbreak, the COVID-19 pandemic has infected more than 2.5 million people and already killed over 177,000 globally. The new coronavirus has been described as an "once in a lifetime" health threat of global proportions. Against apocalyptic scenarios of millions more deaths to come and grim socioeconomic consequences, scientists from many parts of the world have been in a feverish race to find a vaccine to stop the virus and win the battle against this extraordinary threat to humanity. Paradoxically, there is another race that has been going on for the last eight decades the nuclear arms race. But unlike the race for a vaccine whose success is extremely consequential to the security and well-being of the 7.8 billion people on this planet, the nuclear arms race is exclusive to competing great and major powers. In Asia, we have China, India, Pakistan and North Korea the latter coming up as the new "kid" in this exclusive bloc of nuclear weapons states. The benefits of a nuclear arms race to international peace and security is also contentious given the astronomical cost involved in this unending quest for nuclear arms supremacy, which on one hand heightens major power competition and distrust and raises the risk of more violent conflicts and wars, on the other. But more importantly, the unthinkable humanitarian consequences of any nuclear events either triggered by human action or accident negate the very logic of embarking on any nuclear weapons program other than deterrence and prestige. Given the kinds of threats posed by this nuclear arms race and the cost involved, it often defies logic why North Korea remains singularly focused on building its nuclear weapons capability. While data on its nuclear program is hard to get, an NBC report noted South Korea's estimate of North Korea's nuclear weapons program to cost an average of $1-3 billion. So far, there has yet to be any significant progress made in several multilateral efforts to halt its nuclear weapons program. And despite the much-touted U.S.-North Korea summitries held in Singapore and Hanoi in 2018 and 2019 respectively, North Korea continues to conduct its nuclear missiles tests. Missiles test amid COVID-19 outbreak: wagging the dog On April 14, in the middle of the global pandemic that has been ravaging parts of the world, a barrage of North Korean missiles tests were reportedly launched from land and air. These tests were deemed to be Pyongyang's most-high profile weapons tests that the regime had recently conducted. The intent to show off could not be missed. Until the race to find a vaccine for COVID-19 yields positive results, much of the fight against this virulent disease depends on the strength and capacity of national health systems. We have already seen how even the most developed and richest states in North America and Europe have grappled with managing the daunting challenges of COVID-19 overwhelmed health systems, lack of testing kits, and shortage in medical equipment including masks and physical protection equipment (PPEs) for their medical personnel. Note that despite its close proximity to China which was the first epicenter of the outbreak, Pyongyang has yet to report any coronavirus case. With 210 countries already affected, it seems implausible that the country remains free of the virus. As one of the poorest countries in the world, it is not hard to imagine the severe challenges it currently faces in dealing with this highly-infectious disease. While it boasts of an accelerating nuclear weapons program, the country's health system is chronically weak and under-resourced. Statistics from WHO reveal a population that suffers from lack of access to basic health care and funding problems for tuberculosis treatments. The World Food Program noted that more than 40 percent of its population are undernourished, and 19 percent of its children are stunted. Rethinking security: freedom from want and from fear Ironically, while the rest of the world are working hard to avert a humanitarian catastrophe, the North Korean leadership remains laser-focused on preparing for a nuclear "black swan" and showing off its growing strength. Sadly though, it is clearly poorly equipped to mount a strong defense against the massive onslaught of an unseen enemy. There are already reports that the regime had secretly asked for international help in testing for coronavirus cases and have reached out via back channels for medical supplies and equipment. If there is anything that the COVID crisis is teaching us about security is that health security is critical to national security. It would indeed do well for the North Korean regime to heed the call of U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres who made the urgent appeal to the international community to "end the sickness of war and [instead] fight the disease that is ravaging our world [the] time to put armed conflict on lockdown and focus together on the true fight of our lives." To this end, the state of the global health crisis facing world today presents a unique opportunity to put forth a persuasive argument to Kim Jong-un to rethink its priorities, and to more effort in testing for COVID-19 instead of testing nuclear missiles. This unprecedented health crisis should remind Kim that the rhetoric of "people's struggle" should in fact be the struggle to combat deadly pandemics from viruses that respects no borders. Mely Caballero-Anthony is professor of international relations and head of the Centre of Non-Traditional Security (NTS) Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. She is also a member of the Asia-Pacific Leadership for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (APLN). Her article was published in cooperation with the APLN (www.apln.network). Dr. Deborah Birx, one of the leading medical experts on President Trumps coronavirus task force, tried to reconcile the controversial order by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp reopening some businesses across the state with the task force recommendations that call for continued social distancing. Among the businesses that Kemp, a Republican and a strong supporter of President Trump, plans to allow to reopen on Friday are hair and nail salons and tattoo parlors. I believe people in Atlanta would understand that if their cases are not going down that they need to continue to do everything that we said social distancing, washing your hands, wearing a mask in public so if theres a way that people can social distance and do those things, then they can do those things. I dont know how, but people are very creative, Birx said. The standard for social distancing calls for staying a minimum of 6 feet from anyone who doesnt live under the same roof. Kemp on Monday announced that, effective Friday, his state would would end the closing order for nail salons, massage therapists, bowling alleys and gyms. Church services can resume on Sunday and restaurants and movie theaters will be allowed to resume business next Monday. The closing orders went into effect on April 2. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Atlantas Democratic Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said they thought the move to end the lockdown was premature. As of Tuesday evening, Georgia had nearly 19,000 residents who tested positive for coronavirus. I worry that our friends and neighbors in Georgia are going too fast, too soon, Graham wrote on Twitter. Bottoms was also caught off guard by the decision. I have a great working relationship with our governor but I did not speak with him before he made this announcement, Bottoms said in a Monday interview with CNN. So we really are at a loss and I am concerned as a mother and as the mayor of our capital city." Trump gave his support to Kemps decision. Story continues Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. (Ron Harris, AP, pool) Hes a very capable man. He knows what hes doing. Hes done a very good job as governor, Trump said of Kemp at the Tuesday White House briefing. Kemp was one of the last governors in the U.S. to issue a stay-at-home order and one of the first to test whether lifting it would result in a spike of new cases of COVID-19. Birx, who helped write the federal governments guidelines for easing stay-at-home orders that could restart the nations crippled economy, said Tuesday that the ultimate decision will be left to individual governors and mayors. I think what Ive been trying to communicate over the last several days is that its really important that the governors and mayors communicate critical information to their communities and show very clearly the data, Birx said, adding that she was not going to second judge anyone about their decision making. Citing the lack of adequate testing for COVID-19 in Georgia, however, the editorial board of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution was willing to judge Kemps decision. We all look forward to the day we can put this pandemic behind us, but given Georgias performance so far, Gov. Brian Kemp is moving too soon and confusing citizens. He is risking a resurgence of the coronavirus in our state, the papers editorial board wrote Monday. _____ Click here for the latest coronavirus news and updates. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please refer to the CDCs and WHOs resource guides. Read more: The Punjab government stares at the revenue loss of Rs 20,000 crore in 2020-21, with Rs 7,000 crore in the first quarter of the current financial year itself due to the lockdown imposed in the state amid coronavirus outbreak. Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal told Business Today that the state had imposed the lockdown much before other states because of a large immigrant population, most of whom hail from first world countries in North America and Europe, currently the coronavirus hotspot. Punjab had announced statewide curfew on March 22 to contain the spread of coronavirus. "In more than 30 days of curfew, not a single rupee has come from taxes on petroleum, registration of properties, lotteries or GST. In April, we see a revenue loss of Rs 5,000 crore and Rs 1,000 crore each in the subsequent two months," he says. The immediate fallout of this loss of revenue is the capital expenditure worth Rs 10,000 crore in the current financial year, which he says will have to be deferred to next financial year. Punjab has budgeted for Rs 88,000 crore revenues in the current financial year, of which Rs 35,824 crore was supposed to be generated through different taxes. It has also estimated capital expenditure of Rs 59,000 crore of which Rs 10,820 crore was the capital outlay. Capital outlay denotes the expenditure that leads to creation of assets. On whether the Punjab government will ask for a special financial assistance package from the Centre, Badal said: "We can prepare a report and send it to the Centre asking for financial support, but it is also a fact that even Centre does not have enough resources to offer financial assistance to all the states. While it is easy for an opposition state to criticice the Centre and put pressure on it over financial assistance, it will not be prudent on our part to do so because we know even the Centre does not have enough resources." He says the Centre cannot go about printing money because it will have adverse impact on the rupee -- which he says might fall from Rs 77 a dollar to Rs 100 a dollar - and on the credit ratings of the country. "We are just one step away from junk rating and once our rating is downgraded to junk status, companies will not invest in our country," says the Punjab finance minister, who clearly hinted that a large stimulus package from the Centre looks difficult. Also read: Coronavirus: Punjab to declare more goods as essential items from today; here are details Also read: Coronavirus India Live Updates: Attacks on doctors, healthcare staff to be non-bailable offense, jail up to 7 years United States President Richard Nixon was in the central Pacific recovery area to welcome the Apollo 11 astronauts aboard the USS Hornet, prime recovery ship for the historic Apollo 11 lunar landing mission, on July 24, 1969. The Apollo 11 astronauts are, from left, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin. They were quarantined after splashdown to ensure they did not bring back any contamination from the moon. Moonwalker Buzz Aldrin is leveraging his famous Apollo 11 quarantine experience of five decades ago to help society deal with the coronavirus pandemic, which has much of the world under a stay-at-home order. Aldrin and Apollo 11 crewmates Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins endured a three-week quarantine inside a modified Airstream trailer after their historic moon mission ended in July 1969, to ensure that they didn't spread any potential "space germs" to the rest of us here on Earth. There's a famous photo of President Richard Nixon visiting the trailer-trapped trio aboard the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, which fished the astronauts out of the Pacific Ocean after their mission-ending splashdown. And now, Aldrin is selling 100 autographed prints of that picture for $599 apiece, with proceeds going to the Salvation Army to help communities around the United States deal with the novel coronavirus and the disease it causes, COVID-19. Related: NASA's historic Apollo 11 moon landing in pictures "Like many of you, I want to avoid catching and spreading COVID-19 and have been self-quarantining for a while now," the 90-year-old Aldrin said in a statement . "Being quarantined is never easy I know! but it's something we can all do for the safety of ourselves, our loved ones and our country. Call it one small step for each of us, one giant leap for mankind!" You can buy one of the autographed photos via Aldrin's Apollo Space Shop . The Apollo 11 quarantine may seem silly to us now, but it was a prudent measure at the time, given how little scientists knew about the lunar surface. Better safe than sorry, after all. Nobody has set foot on the moon since December 1972, when Apollo 17 departed on its way back to Earth. But that will change relatively soon, if all goes according to NASA's plan. The space agency is working, via its Artemis program , to land two astronauts near the lunar south pole in 2024 and establish a long-term, sustainable presence on and around the moon by 2028. Mike Wall is the author of " Out There " (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate ), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall . Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook . JUNO BEACH, Fla., April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE: NEP) has posted its first-quarter 2020 financial results in a news release available on the partnership's website by accessing the following link: www.NextEraEnergyPartners.com/FinancialResults. Jim Robo, chairman and chief executive officer of NextEra Energy Partners, Rebecca Kujawa, chief financial officer of NextEra Energy Partners, and other members of the senior management team will discuss the first-quarter 2020 financial results during an investor presentation to be webcast live, beginning at 9 a.m. ET today. The listen-only webcast will be available on NextEra Energy Partners' website by accessing the following link: www.NextEraEnergyPartners.com/FinancialResults. Results for NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) also will be discussed during the same investor presentation. A replay will be available for 90 days by accessing the same link as listed above. NextEra Energy Partners, LP NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE: NEP) is a growth-oriented limited partnership formed by NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE). NextEra Energy Partners acquires, manages and owns contracted clean energy projects with stable, long-term cash flows. Headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida, NextEra Energy Partners owns interests in geographically diverse wind and solar projects in the U.S. as well as natural gas infrastructure assets in Texas and Pennsylvania. For more information about NextEra Energy Partners, please visit: www.NextEraEnergyPartners.com. SOURCE NextEra Energy Partners, LP Related Links http://www.nexteraenergypartners.com BUNKER HILL After holding the Macoupin County Democrats biyearly reorganization meeting by teleconference due to the CORONA-19 pandemic, Pamela S. Monetti of Bunker Hill was unanimously voted chairman of the Macoupin County Democrat Central Committee, succeeding long-time chairman Mike Mathis of Gillespie. Im excited to continue the work started by Chair Mathis and look forward to keeping the legacy of service embraced by former Chair Mathis and his predecessor, the late great Illinois state Sen. Vince Demuzio, Monetti said. Cinemas in Singapore have been temporarily closed since 27 March 2020. 22 Apr Singapore's government announced yesterday that the COVID-19 circuit breaker (CCB) period will be extended until this 1 June. In line with the announcement, cinemas in Singapore have also extended their temporary closure up until the same date. Golden Village, Filmgarde Cineplexes and WE Cinemas have posted on their respective Facebook pages regarding the extension. At the time of writing, Carnival Cinemas, Cathay Cineplexes, Shaw Theatres, and The Projector have yet to do the same, but undoubtedly, they will also comply with the extended CCB. Cinemas in Singapore started the temporary shutdown since last month, 27 March. Operations were expected to resume on 30 April but it was later extended to 4 May earlier this month. If local cases caused by the global pandemic do not decrease by next month, everyone will have to brace themselves as most likely the 1 June date might get extended further. Neighbouring country Malaysia is also practicing its own social distancing measure, the Movement Control Order (MCO), that has been extended twice and is currently slated to end this 28 April. Cinemas in the country are also temporarily closed during the MCO. (Photo source: Marina Bay Sands | Tourism Information & Services Hub) Lebanons parliament reconvened for the first time in more than a month today, but the lawmakers were not above the law when it came to anti-coronavirus measures. The members of parliament met in a Beirut theater where they observed social distancing and were sprayed with disinfectant by medics, according to The Associated Press. Laws on corruption and public funds are on the agenda, and the parliament voted to allow the planting of cannabis for medical use, AP reported. Parliament stopped meeting in March as the country instituted measures to curb the transmission of COVID-19. Massive protests in Lebanon began in October against sectarianism, corruption and the countrys dire economic situation. The country defaulted on its more than $1 billion debt in March for the first time. The protests have dwindled since a curfew was put in place in March to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. Security forces destroyed protest tents in Beirut at the time. The demonstrators stayed active, however, holding virtual meetings. The protesters returned to the streets of the capital as parliament convened today, protesting in cars and waving Lebanese flags some demonstrators wore protective gear, according to Lebanese media. The country hopes that the cultivation of cannabis will help improve its dire economic situation. The minister of agriculture told Al-Monitor last month that the government would study how best to cultivate the plant after the passing of the bill. Cannabis produces the drug marijuana, which has both medical and recreational uses; the Lebanese government wants to produce the drug for the former. As of today, Lebanon had 677 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 21 deaths, according to Health Ministry statistics. Actor Katrina Kaif on Wednesday pledged her contribution towards providing food and sanitary needs to the daily wage earners in Bhandara district of Maharashtra. The actor, through her brand Kay Beauty, has partnered with De'Haat Foundation in their work to aid these workers hit by the nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak. In an Instagram Story, Katrina wrote that it has been a "tough month for all of us" but it's amazing to see the efforts people are making across to overcome this pandemic. "As we all know, there are those who are suffering greatly during this time and there are some that have suffered more than others. That is why it is very important for us at Kay Beauty to step in and show our support with another #Kare Initiative. "We are very proud to partner with the De'Haat Foundation once again to support daily-wage earners in the Bhandara district of Maharashtra. Our contribution will go towards providing food and basic sanitary needs to families of daily-wage earners in the district," the "Bharat" actor said. "Stay safe everyone, remember we are in this together," she added. On Wednesday, death toll due to COVID-19 touched 640 in the country, with the number of cases rising to 19,984. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser expressed alarm Wednesday about the harsh impact of the novel coronavirus on the poor, sick and elderly in the nation's capital, as officials reported 15 new fatalities - including several people who died without being hospitalized. Ten of the dead were from wards 5, 7 and 8, the poorest and most heavily African-American parts of the city, mirroring a national trend where blacks have been disproportionately affected. There was a 100-year-old woman and a 98-year-old woman. Nine of the dead were older than 80. The District's tally of covid-19 deaths is 127, a per capita rate of 18.6 per 100,000 residents that is the highest in the region, according to a Washington Post analysis. Bowser, a Democrat, is urging older residents and those who live in long-term care facilities or group homes to get tested if they feel ill, particularly if they already have underlying health problems. Although tests are in short supply nationally, the District currently has more available than people requesting them. "We are concerned about people who have underlying conditions who could possibly not have very good outcomes with this virus, so people who have high blood pressure and asthma and diabetes, and everybody especially who falls in those categories who is over the age of 65," the mayor said. "And that is why you see us asking those people to be very aware of how they feel, to reach out to their providers and to get tested." The overall tally of known coronavirus infections in the District, Maryland and Virginia climbed to 28,295 on Wednesday. There were a total of 1,185 known deaths. Nearly a month into a general shutdown of schools, business and normal life, officials are still watching for signs that the pandemic is slowing down. The restrictions have led to tens of thousands of layoffs in the region. Among them are 427 workers inside the Inova Hospital System in Northern Virginia, officials there said Wednesday. The workers are all "nonclinical" employees, many of them in management positions, who will be let go over the next two weeks, a spokeswoman said. She said the move will not affect Inova's ability to treat covid-19 patients. ""Every decision will be made toward us being able to provide care to the patients," Stephen Jones, president and chief executive officer of the Inova Health System, said in a statement. "So no one should be worried about us not having the people there to take care of you." The covid-19 fatalities in the District underscore the city's long-standing geographic health disparities, with 29 deaths in Southeast Washington and only one in an affluent area that includes Georgetown. The District has also had a host of deaths at institutions serving the vulnerable, including 14 at nursing homes and long-term care facilities, eight homeless residents, eight disabled people, six patients at St. Elizabeths psychiatric hospital and one inmate at the D.C. jail. Some of the dead could fall into multiple categories. Bowser said the city is trying to address the disparities by reaching out to Medicaid patients who are older or have underlying conditions that place them at greater risk of infection. Officials are also expanding the criteria for testing to include people without symptoms who are in high-risk groups and likely to have been exposed. The District is adding a walk-through, drive-through testing site at the University of the District of Columbia Community College's Bertie Backus campus, officials said Wednesday. The site will be appointment-only and open on Tuesdays and Thursdays. About a dozen newly acquired rapid-testing machines will be used at homeless shelters, corrections facilities and care center starting later this week, officials said. And the city plans to begin antibody testing next month to detect people who have already been exposed and have some level of immunity - a key factor in knowing how far the virus has spread. Both Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, and Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, have announced similar plans to ramp up testing as part of what they say will be a collective decision in the region on when to lift the closures and stay-at-home restrictions that have crippledthe local economy. As part of that goal, a Hampton Roads, Virginia, hospital system has joined the federal effort to use the blood plasma of people who have recovered from a coronavirus infection to treat other covid-19 patients. Bon Secours, which has several hospitals in Virginia's eastern peninsula and the Richmond area, announced that it is collecting samples from recovered patients that will be sent to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, where scientists will extract the plasma and antibodies that developed to fight the virus during the patient's illness. A single plasma donation has the potential to help as many as four covid-19 patients recover from the disease more rapidly, the hospital system said in a news release. Officials are under growing pressure to find a way to control the virus and ease restrictions. The frustration some feel about the pandemic was on display again Wednesday in Richmond, where protesters in honking cars and trucks circled the streets around Capitol Square calling for the economy to reopen. The demonstration was aimed at Northam and the Virginia General Assembly, which was meeting for its annual a veto session with extraordinary social distancing measures in place. Among other things, the Senate and House of Delegates were working to pare down the state budget in response to handle the loss of revenue resulting from the pandemic. Earlier in the day, two Virginia Republican lawmakers filed a lawsuit on behalf of a group of Gold's Gym franchises seeking to force Northam to allow those businesses to open. A judge in southwest Virginia earlier this month rejected a lawsuit arguing the order's ban on religious gatherings was discriminatory. Maryland reported 46 new covid-19 fatalities on Wednesday, bringing its total to 705. Prince George's County, which has the most cases in Maryland, accounted for 14 of the deaths, its highest one-day tally so far. Neighboring Montgomery County reported 10 new fatalities. At a news conference at the Laurel Medical Center in Prince George's, which has been reopened as a full-service hospital for covid-19 patients, Hogan said that the state signed a contract to hire about 750 contact tracing workers to identify and potentially isolate new patients before they can spread the virus. The contract is with the National Opinion Research Center. It was not immediately clear when the workers would be able to start, but their hiring will meet a state goal of having 1,000 such workers, officials. Hogan also said he will announce on Friday his plan to begin lifting social distancing restrictions in the state. - - - The Washington Post's Rachel Chason, Gregory S. Schneider, Steve Thompson and Rachel Weiner contributed to this report. Posted by Jeremy on at 10:13 PM CST Every year when the annualDay retailapalooza event rolls round LEGO finds itself to be a triple threat: licensee, retailer and stupendously popular - and 2020 is no different.This year's high-end set is 75275 A-wing Starfighter , which sees its debut as an Ultimate Collector Series set.This highly detailed 1,673-piece set model is being marketed to the 18+ audience due to its challenging nature also includes pivoting laser cannons, a brand new canopy element, a display stand, information plaque and an A-wing Pilot minifigure. Priced at $199.99 it can only be bought through the LEGO online shop while their bricks and mortat locations remain closed during the COVID-19 situation.Shoppers will definitely want to time their LEGO purchases for May 1st/2nd/3rd and - of course - 4th because LEGO will be doubling the VIP reward points offered on allpurchases.If you aren't already a member then you should sign up today because it's completely free and could save you some money in the long-run. In the normal course of events each $10 earns a point, which can be used for shopping in LEGO Brand Retail Stores and at LEGO.com and to unlock members-only discounts and experiences. Members of the VIP Rewards programme also get early access to new sets, enjoy members-only gifts and get advance notice of upcoming releases and offers.In the short term, however, those who already have a stock of VIP reward points and nowehere to spend them will be pleased to learn that LEGO are adding two exclusive offers to the VIP rewards programme.Following on from the Maz Kanata minifig sweepstakes , which ended yesterday, LEGO is providing a chance for one collector to add a rare Boba Fett minifigure to their collection.The entry conditions for the sweepstakes, which runs from May 1st to the 17th, only include VIPs from Canada (excluding Quebec), Estonia, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Netherland, Austria, Switzerland, Slovakia, Sweden, United Kingdom and USA.Graded 95% by UK Graders, this limited-edition collectible minifigure marked the 30th Anniversary ofand was originally distrubuted in 2010 as a promotional exclusive at International Toy Fair in New York, via Smyths Toys in the UK, at LEGOLAND California's annualDays and Celebration V and Toy World in Australia. Also included with this minifgiure is a rare uncut and numbered sticker sheet.Exclusive to LEGO is the 20th Anniversary edition of the most recent LEGOVisual Dictionary, and copies by lead LEGOdesigner and beard model Jens Kronvold Frederiksen will be made available through the VIP Rewards centre.At this time there are no details on how many VIP points this will cost nor how many copies there will be, though it can be shared that the book will only be made available to customers registered in the Europe-Middle East-Africa (EMEA) region.Following the epic fail of the Mini Droid Commander polybag that was recently made available through the VIP Rewards portal, LEGO says it is "working as hard as possible to ensure we have a wider variety of rewards that are available within all global regions" and point the finger at the current COVID-19 climate which, they say, has made it difficult to ensure they are able to provide global distribution of popular exclusives. (This excuse doesn't explain why the Mini Droid Commander polybag wasn't made available in the Autralia-Pacific region the first time round though.)New to the LEGOlandscape are three buildable model helmets - 75274 TIE Fighter Pilot 75276 Stormtrooper and 75277 Boba Fett - aimed at adult fans who want to display their LEGO. While the Stormtrooper and Boba Fett helmets can be bought at Walmart.com and Amazon.com , the TIE Fighter Pilot helmet in a LEGO exclusive. Each of the sets in this new subtheme retail for $59.99.Joining the three buildable model helmets is 75278 D-O , a scale replica of the monowheeled droid thatintroduced us to. With a price point of $69.99, this 519 piece set will appeal to youngsters with more advanced building skills.The piece of resistance in thepromotions is this year's gift with purchase (GWP): 40407 Death Star II Battle. This 235-piece vignette depicts the surface of the second Death Star II as an A-wing Starfighter tries to evade a TIE Interceptor and dodges turbolaser fire.This set will automatically be added to baskets that cross the US$75/75/75 threshold of LEGOproduct purchases between May 1st and 4th. With the release of the UCS A-wing Starfighter, the three buildable model helmets and D-0 - plus a sale on selected LEGOsets it's going to be remarkably easy to get this gift with purchase. Albany, N.Y. New deaths in New York due to the coronavirus were below 500 for the third day in a row on Tuesday even as the overall death toll climbed past 15,000. A total of 474 people died in the state on Tuesday, down from 481 on Monday. The virus has now killed 15,302 people in New York. The number of lives lost is still breathtakingly painful and the worst news that I have to deliver every day, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said today during a press briefing in Albany. But at least its not going up anymore and it seems to be on a gentle decline. Cuomo on reopening: Cant be stupid, more people will die if were not smart Reopening NYS schools this academic year will be very difficult, Cuomo says Cuomo lays out NY testing, tracing plan: Help from Bloomberg, 35K students Cuomo to coronavirus lockdown protesters: Want to work? Get essential job When you look at the reality of the situation, we are actually in a much better place. Were not home yet, but were in a better place. While the overall death toll is still rising, the pace has slowed since reaching a peak of 799 new deaths on April 8. Sunday was the first time since April 1 new deaths fell below 500. Just three weeks ago, single-day coronavirus deaths totaled 253 and just a month ago, the statewide death toll was 157. New York now has 257,216 confirmed cases of the virus, including 5,526 new cases. The state has been seeing hopeful trends in hospitalization statistics since early April. The total number of hospitalizations has been steadily falling and dipped below 16,000 for the first time in weeks on Tuesday. Net intubations declined by 41 people on Tuesday. It was the 10th day in a row the net change in intubations was negative. The raw number of new people entering hospitals with coronavirus has dropped as well, although it remains high, Cuomo said. The total on Tuesday was 1,366. The number hasnt been that low since late March. Cuomo has said the more positive trends show the states efforts to slow the virus are working. He previously extended the closure of schools and nonessential businesses until at least May 15. All New Yorkers should stay home as much as possible and should only go out for exercise or needed errands like grocery shopping or medical care. Social, religious and other gatherings must be canceled or postponed. The really bad news would have been if we concluded that we couldnt control the spread of the virus, Cuomo said. That was a possibility. He said again New York must move cautiously with any plan to reopen businesses or schools. What we do today, you will see the result in three, four or five days, he said. It is that simple. Its that pressing that every decision we make is going to affect how we come out of this, how fast we come out of this. MORE ON CORONAVIRUS Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources As coronavirus spread, a Fayetteville retirement community became a hotbed McMahon: No more shelter-in-place, but urges people to travel even less; hospitals can reopen Syracuse, Onondaga County miss out on $90 million in coronavirus relief bill Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com Contact Kevin Tampone anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-282-8598 KOLKATA: In a shocking incident, a large number of local residents clashed with police alleging improper distribution of ration material in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district on Wednesday. The clash broke out after the police objected to the road being blocked by the locals during the ration distribution. The locals alleged improper distribution of ration material by the government officials amid coronavirus lockdown in Baduria, North 24 Parganas. The police, however, alleged that the locals blocked a road and when they objected, locals attacked them. In a video posted by news agency ANI, a woman is seen holding a stick and beating a policeman. #WATCH: Locals clash with Police personnel after they (locals) had blocked the road alleging improper distribution of ration material amid #CoronavirusLockdown in Baduria, North 24 Parganas. #WestBengal pic.twitter.com/ceuxq6mcEl ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 There were several others visible in the video who clashed with Police. In yet another video, locals are seen throwing stones at policemen, while cops wearing helmets are also seen beating people. West Bengal has reported 423 coronavirus cases, 335 are active cases as of Wednesday, 73 have recovered and 15 have died. Meanwhile, after much back and forth, the West Bengal government permitted the Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCT) sent by MHA to conduct a field visit of the COVID-19 hotspot districts of Kolkata and Jalpaiguri with the state police and pilot cars of the Border Security Force. Washington: US President Donald Trump says he has instructed the US Navy to fire on any Iranian ships that harass it at sea, a week after 11 vessels from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy came dangerously close to US ships in the Gulf. Close interactions with Iranian military vessels were not uncommon in 2016 and 2017. On several occasions, US Navy ships fired warning shots at Iranian vessels when they got too close. While the Navy has the authority to act in self-defence, Trump's comments appeared to go further and are likely to stoke tensions between Iran and the US. Trump's tweet came hours after Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps said it had launched the country's first military satellite into orbit. Continue Reading Below Advertisement The pair claimed the bonds had been sent by the American government to Chinese nationalist leader Chiang Kai-Shek during World War II, but that the plane carrying them had crashed in a Filipino jungle and the bonds were lost until Slamaj stumbled upon the crash site in 2001. Now, there were a few holes in this story. For starters, "Load all the money in the world onto a single plane and fly it over enemy territory" seems like a risky financial transaction, even by 1940s standards. The Lend-Lease program didn't see the US shove the complete contents of Fort Knox into a rickety van and try to drive it to Moscow by way of Berlin. Also, we're pretty sure the government is allowed to disregard a bond certificate if it's soaked in pilot blood and 60 years of tarsier urine. Continue Reading Below Advertisement But no one needed to ponder those issues, because the forgers made a simpler mistake -- they forgot to spellcheck. When the pair tried to cash $25 million in Toronto, officers noticed the bonds read "dollar" instead of "dollars." They also contained zip codes, despite supposedly being printed decades before those were introduced. Oh, and further testing revealed they had been printed on an inkjet printer, which isn't exactly period accurate. They couldn't have been less convincing if they were scrawled in crayon on the back of old GameStop receipts. Meanwhile, a lawyer independently called the police after the men told him they had $2.5 trillion in bonds because, again, that's obviously insane. As a bit of bonus idiocy, Slamaj tried to bluff his way into Halksworth's safety deposit box, presumably to destroy evidence. But the cops had already beaten him to the vault and were actually in the next room, listening to the whole thing play out. Both trillionaires were quickly sentenced to prison, proving that there's justice for the super-rich after all. Denise Van Outen has opened up about her life in lockdown with her nine-year-old daughter Betsy and her boyfriend Eddie Boxshall. The 45-year-old TV personality made an appearance on ITV's Lorraine on Wednesday, where she spoke about the challenges of homeschooling her offspring. And the Loose Women panellist also took the opportunity to heap praise on her beau of almost six years, commending him for doing a 'brilliant job' of dying her hair as the COVID-19 pandemic prevented her from making trips to the salon. Life in lowdown: Denise Van Outen opened up about her life in lockdown with her nine-year-old daughter Betsy and her boyfriend Eddie Boxshall on Wednesday's Lorraine Speaking from her home in Chelmsford, Essex, the star said of homeschooling her daughter, who she shares with ex-husband Lee Mead: 'Its not too bad. Betsys school is lovely and her teacher has been doing an online session everyday. I try to listen in. 'Its all new to the kids and its a little overwhelming at first. Its nice because as a parent you get to see how your child learns and also, Im learning too. 'Ive also realised I have zero patience, Im always trying to jump to the next thing and shes like, "I havent finished yet!"' To dye for: The Loose Women panellist took the opportunity to heap praise on Eddie Boxshall, her beau of almost six years, commending him for doing a 'brilliant job' of dying her hair Maybe she's born with it: The actress proudly showed off the results on Instagram last week She also gushed about Eddie's efforts in helping her brighten her locks, telling her interviewers: 'He did my roots! My lockdown roots. Im quite lucky. I was going quite grey in the front but at the back you could see Im not a natural blonde. 'He said, "I can do your roots for you", and I thought, "Oh, its a bit of a gamble". But he did a brilliant job. He shaved his head as well.' Elsewhere in the interview, she also spoke about volunteering to make scrubs for NHS staffers, who have been caring for patients amid a shortage. She explained: 'A week and a half ago, one of my really good friends got me into a design company. Teresa [Manton] has made the curtains in my house. With time on her hands she thought, what can I do. She has a family member in the NHS. Opening up: The TV personality spoke with Lorraine Kelly from her home in Chelmsford, Essex Challenging: The star she spoke about the challenges of homeschooling her daughter Betsy 'So she started to make some scrubs and made a fundraising page. She wanted to make 1,000, but the donations have been flooding in. 'When I got the link for their donation page, I donated and then thought, Ive got time on my hands, Id love to help. So Im one of their voluntary cutters. 'Weve got scrubs out to South End Hospital, Haven Hospice and also GP surgeries. Its expanding. It started with 10 volunteers, now we have 40. We have a mix of men and women. 'Teresa messaged me saying she had a call from South End Hospital and they desperately need 50 gowns. There is a real need for them. Homeschooling: She said of homeschooling her offspring, 'Its not too bad. Betsys school is lovely and her teacher has been doing an online session everyday. I try to listen in' Helping hand: Elsewhere in the interview, she also spoke about volunteering to make scrubs for NHS staffers, who have been caring for patients amid a shortage 'If youre at home sitting around like I was, I do it in the evening. I spend maybe three hours in total [volunteering]. A lot of my friends' husbands and partners have been doing the deliveries.' On Monday, Denise took to Instagram to reveal she was still making scrubs for NHS staff as part of a friend's charity fundraiser while in her pyjamas. Th TV personality, has been volunteering to make the approved medical clothing by cutting the fabric to be made into outfits supplied to hospitals. Denise shared some pictures of herself working hard on social media and looked focused while she cut fabric to match the stencils she uses to make the scrubs. Focusing on a good cause: The star took to Instagram on Monday to share pictures of herself making medical scrubs for frontline NHS workers amid the coronavirus pandemic Staying focused: In snaps posted to her Instagram, Denise looked focused while she cut fabric to match the stencils she uses to make the scrubs The fundraising campaign, set up by Bespoke Interiors, has already raised 9,577 since it was created two weeks ago and has far-surpassed its goal of 1,000. The actress posted the pictures alongside the caption: 'Another evening (in my pjs) cutting out patterns to make scrubs for our NHS & health workers . Please donate to the Go Fund Me page. 'All donations go towards buying the material approved by the NHS to make the scrubs. Im part of a team of volunteers cutting & machining the fabric.' Denise has shown support for the fundraiser for the past week, when she initially donated 200 to the cause and encouraged her Twitter followers to do the same. Surpassing expectations: The fundraising campaign, set up by Bespoke Interiors, has already raised 9,577 since it was created two weeks ago and has far-surpassed its goal of 1,000 Doing her part: The star was also seen hard at work on behalf of the campaign on Tuesday She tweeted: 'Please support my friend who is working her bits off making scrubs & masks for our NHS.' In their first update, which explained their aim, they wrote: 'Teresa and Lynne have mobilised a small army of volunteers to make and distribute gowns to an already under equipped NHS front line. 'While her workroom has temporarily closed, Teresa has been focusing her time and skills transforming her operations and organising colleagues, family and friends. 'The time to make all of this will be donated by the many skilled volunteers, however the materials come at a cost. 'Having researched this and sourced a supplier of the specialist fabrics we are initially looking to supply upwards of 1,600 gowns. Please donate where you can. Bespoke Interiors.' Delighted: Denise showed an example of a finished scrub outfit from the material she cut After distributing 280,000 pounds of food to 4,256 cars and 450 families on foot last weekend, Houston Independent School District and the Houston Food Bank will hold another massive food event at NRG Stadium on Saturday, April 25. This weekend, even more food will be available - 5,000 bags weighing from 80 to 100 pounds, for a total of about 500,000 pounds of food, HISD said in a press release. MORE TIME TO SHOP: H-E-B to expand its hours beginning April 27 The site will be open from 4 to 7 p.m., at no cost to the district or the food bank, thanks to a partnership with the Houston Texans. Distribution will be held in the NRG yellow lot, and attendees must enter via the yellow lot main entrance off S. Main Street. Many of our families were already food insecure, and this pandemic has done nothing but intensify that issue, said HISD Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan, who attended the first massive food distribution. These are unprecedented times, but one thing is clear our families need help, and were going to be there for them. Unlike HISDs weekday sites, the Saturday distribution is specifically created to accommodate Houstons working families, many of whom are unable to visit HISD-sponsored distribution sites during the week. Nutrition Services will use its standard food distribution model to ensure the health and safety of volunteers, employees, and the public. Workers will minimize contact with families by placing food in their trunks. Those who walk to the site must adhere to strict social distancing guidelines. There are no forms to fill out. A little over a year ago, Mary Lopresti took a gamble on her dream and launched a pop-up vegan restaurant inside Southside Bethlehems Roasted. Loprestis amazing ability to turn plant-based ingredients into cheesesteaks and wings -- indistinguishable from the real thing -- earned her a loyal following. She parlayed that into her own eatery VegOut Bethlehem, which opened Dec. 1, 2019, inside a tiny cafe at 1 E. Church St., steps from City Hall and the librarys main branch. It turned into this grand little community, Lopresti said of her staff and customers. The coronavirus pandemics thrown the U.S. economy into a fast downward spiral thats jeopardizing small businesses across America like Loprestis eatery. The first federal small business relief package was tapped in record time and entrepreneurs nationwide report struggles to access funding, leaving local governments to get creative. I started a little over a year ago with nothing, Lopresti, who was a server at Roasteds predecessor for eight years, said. I didnt have investors. I didnt have a loan... I knew a bunch of people that kind of helped me on my way. Loprestis love of her staff and worries for all of their health led her to close temporarily. It is a choice the single mother questions daily, sometimes by the hour, as she grapples with how to make her lease payments and stay afloat. VegOut Bethlehem owner Mary Lopresti.Courtesy photo Its a complex calculation playing out in small businesses across America in the age of COVID-19 as they are strapped for cash and trying to stay afloat. Both phases of the Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerces coronavirus relief fund maxed out with more 150 applications in under an hour. Loprestis applied for any loan or grant she can -- including the $10,000 federal small business loan program thats run out of money-- but she hasnt been awarded anything yet. Shes hoping to get a slice of a $300,000 small business relief fund that the city of Bethlehem is launching Wednesday morning. The city plans to tap unallocated Community Development Block Grant money to provide 150 one-time grants of $2,000 each. The grants can be used to pay for operational costs, including rent, utilities and payroll. Bethlehem City Council livestreamed its first council meeting with the majority of elected officials calling in. A skeleton city staff and two council members attended the meeting on April 21, 2020.Sara K. Satullo | For lehighvalleylive.com Bethlehem City Council took several votes Tuesday night aimed at mitigating the COVID-19 epidemics economic, social and emotional toll on the Christmas City, including the relief fund. (The city live streamed its meeting for the first time with the majority of council members calling in to the session.) Gov. Tom Wolfs stay-at-home order allows bars and restaurants to continue operating for take out and delivery, with the state even promoting a CarryoutPa.com website. But staying open can be a financial risk for restaurants that operate on slim margins, not to mention that it can feel like gambling with your health. It was a really tough and hard decision, Lopresti said of closing, But I had to make it because I didnt want to put any of us on the frontlines of this pandemic. The U.S. Senate on Tuesday swiftly passed another coronavirus aid package totaling $483 billion, with the majority of funding going to boost a small-business payroll loan program that ran out of money last week. It includes $60 billion of small-business loans and grants through the disaster aid program Lopresti applied for. Ten billion of that would come in the form of direct grants. An additional $75 billion would be given to hospitals, and $25 billion would be spent to boost testing for the virus, a key step in building the confidence required to reopen state economies. Back in Bethlehem, the council also took action to accept another $800,000 of federal funding from the $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill. The city is awaiting federal guidance on how the money can be used while weighing the best uses, such as rental or mortgage assistance, said Alicia Miller Karner, city director of economic development. The citys small business relief fund application program will not be on a first come, first served basis, Karner said. City officials want all businesses to apply so the city can assess the need and what resources small business owners are already tapping, she said. It is launching on the citys website here Wednesday morning. It is just a waiting game and you do hope if you qualify you get it before all that money runs out, Lopresti said of the programs shes applied to. Shes managed to negotiate a reduced lease payment with her landlord where she pays half of the $2,500 monthly payment now. The back payments are due when she reopens. Its very discouraging because it took a lot for me to get where I was and now it is just like all that money could be lost and it all could be for nothing, Lopresti said. The only thing I can do is try to stay positive. She still finds herself questioning her choice to close as she whips up recipes in her home kitchen with her toddler daughter, Isla, by her side. She keeps in close touch with her staff, who agree with the decision. Cinnamon bun pancakes! Pancake batter: 1 cup flour 2 tablespoons baking powder 1 tablespoon sugar 1/8 teaspoon salt... Posted by VegOut Bethlehem on Saturday, April 11, 2020 Reopening the restaurant even in a limited fashion means exposing herself, and possibly her staff, to infected customers and shopping in crowded restaurant supply stores to stock her shelves. Lopresti did offer some carryout to clear out her inventory, but found it a fraught experience. What if I did a limited menu? But how often does someone want to eat a vegan burger? At every angle, what if I do this? What if I go in by myself? It is a crazy internal struggle, Lopresti said. I have to make the right decisions for me and my staff. Shes been sharing her recipes across VegOuts social media accounts. Still cooking for her customers, even if she cant do it in person. Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share. 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. As Canadians agonize about their loved ones in nursing homes dying of COVID-19 alone and in pain, we must act now to prevent further undignified deaths. With hundreds of Canadian homes under outbreak, and resident deaths accounting for more than half of all Canadian COVID-19 deaths, international news headlines have gone so far as to label nursing homes death pits. Nursing homes are in desperate need of palliative medications and guidance on the delivery of comfort-based care and terminal sedation. They also need increased COVID-19 testing capacity and a mandate to communicate to families and the public the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths within their home. Emerging mobile specialty teams with expertise in palliative care need to be rapidly upscaled and marshalled across the country. With our acute care system still well below capacity, we need our hospitals to look after residents when nursing homes become overwhelmed and their personal protective equipment supply depleted. Finally, we must consider handing operational control to the government for nursing homes unable to provide adequate care to their residents as has been done in provinces like British Columbia. Tragically, many dying nursing home residents are not receiving any end-of-life care, and most are dying alone as a result of restrictive visitation policies. In Spain, the army found 19 abandoned nursing home residents dead in their beds. Some countries are so overwhelmed they are having difficulty keeping track of the number of nursing home deaths. Makeshift morgues are being created to warehouse the dead. In Canada, 31 nursing home residents in Dorval were left to die when authorities arrived, residents were either found dead in their beds or on their last breaths strewn across the floor, severely dehydrated and covered in days-old feces and urine. The situation is dire, especially since one-in-three COVID-19 infections among nursing home residents is fatal. There is a critical shortage of health care workers in nursing homes, with many workers having fallen ill or being appropriately restricted to working at one home, which has further reduced capacity. Low staffing ratios are so extreme that even basic care is an impossibility, let alone the provision of intense end of life care. There are also shortages in medications like opioids used to relieve pain and breathlessness at the end-of-life as the critically low supply is being shunted to acute care hospitals for patients on mechanical ventilators who require sedation. For months, health care systems have intentionally focused efforts on building capacity in the acute care sector to prepare for the potential surge of critically ill COVID-19 patients seen in countries like China and Italy. At the same time, little to no attention was given to expanding and allocating scarce palliative care resources for those individuals who wouldnt have access to critical care, including the majority of Canadas nearly 200,000 nursing home residents. As the second wave of the COVID-19 epidemic rips through Canadas nursing homes, we must take immediate action to ensure we support dying residents when they need it most. Dr. Kieran Quinn is a general internist and palliative care doctor at Sinai Health System and a research fellow at the Institutes of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. Dr. Nathan Stall is a geriatrician at Sinai Health System and a research fellow at U of Ts Institutes of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation. The author of His Dark Materials has called for the government to face 'conspiracy to murder' charges if it is revealed the UK rejected an EU scheme to buy huge quantities of personal protective equipment (PPE) for 'Brexit-related reasons'. Philip Pullman, 73, said, if true, the 'entire front bench ought to resign' but predicted they will not, adding: 'They have not a single grain of shame.' The EU has ordered 1.5billion (1.3billion) worth of protective masks, gowns and gloves for doctors and nurses but Britain did not take part in talks about the purchases. Philip Pullman, pictured, 73, called for the government to face 'conspiracy to murder' charges if it is revealed the UK rejected an EU scheme for PPE due to 'Brexit-related reasons' Writing in an essay for Penguin, Pullman argued: 'If it turns out to be true that the government for Brexit-related reasons refused to take part in the procurement advantage offered by EU governments, thus making it harder for the NHS to deal with the Covid-19 and placing thousands of people at risk, the entire front bench ought to resign. 'But of course they wont: they have not a single grain of shame. So they should be arraigned on charges of conspiracy to murder. Nothing less will do. They knew the risks, and thought theyd rather appease the foaming zealots of Brexit.' The novelist also urged for the UK to take a step back from Brexit itself amid the coronavirus crisis. He wrote: 'There are so many clear advantages to being in the EU, and the benefits of leaving are so tenuous and fanciful, that we must revisit the referendum and hope that this time the Labour Party under a new leader will play a proper part in the argument; and that the lies, the cheating, the flagrant and shameless mendacity will be fully exposed by a strong, passionate, and focused campaign to remain.' Pullman made the arguments as part of a series from Penguin, named Perspectives, in which writers share their views on the coronavirus pandemic. According to the publishing company, 10,000 has been donated towards booksellers affected by the virus outbreak on behalf of the essayists. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson pictured as he speaks from 10 Downing Street praising NHS staff for saving his life in a video message after he was discharged from hospital Some 25 European countries and eight companies are involved in the joint PPE procurement scheme and the first deliveries could have been received within days, The Guardian reported. A spokesman for the commission previously said the joint scheme led to offers of protective gear in excess of the amount requested. But the UK will miss out on the PPE because it did not take part in any of the three rounds of bulk-buying which were first launched by the EU in February. The Government has said it was unable to join the EU's procurement schemes as it had not received an email of invitation. Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey said the Government is confident that joining the EU's ventilator schemes 'wouldn't have made any difference to the supply of PPE'. Speaking to LBC, Ms Coffey previously claimed the UK 'is in a better place now than necessarily we would have been under the EU scheme'. She said: 'The important point is that we have over 700 million pieces of PPE that are being delivered.' On ventilators, Ms Coffey added: 'I think it is fair to say ventilators are being designed at a rapid speed by industry. 'We also have the situation where they have to be tested. The last thing your listeners would want is ventilators that do not work in our wards.' As a leading provider of news, information and advertising in Elko County, today we are proud to announce the launch of our Local Marketing Grant program. This program offers matching marketing funds to local businesses whose livelihood has been impacted by the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. Since our inception, the Elko Daily Free Press has partnered with local businesses across our region to deliver their message to customers in both times of prosperity and in times of great challenge. While the COVID-19 virus has created change and difficulties for us all, the ability of our local business community to market to their customers remains essential to their, and all of our, sustainability and recovery. Our companys greatest assets, by far, are the local communities we serve, and were firmly committed to supporting them through this grant program. This program will be available to locally owned and operated businesses impacted by the COVID-19 virus, and will provide matching advertising grants for use in the Elko Daily Free Press print and digital publications and services. This builds upon our existing commitment to our local business community through such successful initiatives as our Buy Local gift card program, and our programs to highlight local restaurants offering carry-out and delivery. Through our Local Marketing Grant program, we are enabling small business owners to access a much broader portfolio of marketing products. This program will allow us to take a far more comprehensive approach to overcoming the unique challenges our local business partners face as a result of this pandemic. Grants will range from $250 to $15,000 each month, and will be awarded in April, May and June. Applicants may apply online at https://elkodaily.com/pages/local-marketing-grant.html. As a trusted source of news and information for the communities that we serve, we feel that we are uniquely positioned to assist our local business community during these trying times. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen record-setting trends in both page views, and users who are accessing our content both in our printed newspaper, and at elkodaily.com. These audiences present a tremendous opportunity for our local business community to get their messaging out to local residents each and every day. During these uncertain times, we believe each of us can do our part to help our community come through the other side of this pandemic, stronger and more united to tackle the challenges that lay ahead. We ask that you join us in supporting our local business community in the weeks and months to follow. Matt Sandberg is publisher of the Elko Daily Free Press. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Washington: A doctor says he was removed from his federal post after pressing for rigorous vetting of treatments embraced by President Donald Trump. The doctor, who led the US federal agency involved in developing a coronavirus vaccine, said on Wednesday that he was removed from his post after he pressed for a rigorous vetting of a coronavirus treatment embraced by Trump. US President Donald Trump has urged the use of hydroxychloroquine pills. Credit:AP Dr Rick Bright was abruptly dismissed this week as director of the Department of Health and Human Services' Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA, and as deputy assistant secretary for preparedness and response. Instead, he was given a narrower job at the National Institutes of Health. Pope Francis and the French President engage in a telephone conversation focussed on the EUs response to the coronavirus pandemic and the need for debt reduction in poor countries. By Linda Bordoni Pope Francis has taken the opportunity to express his closeness and support to France, where Covid-19 has claimed more than 20,000 lives during a telephone conversation with the French President. The Presidents office said the Pope and President Emmanuel Macron spoke for about 45 minutes on Tuesday afternoon by telephone. It also said the Pope positively acknowledged the constructive responses taken by France at the international level after the health crisis caused by the pandemic. The Holy See Press Office has not released a statement about the event, as is normal practice regarding private conversations with the Pope, but Macrons communications office said the two leaders also agreed on the need for a global ceasefire in all conflicts. Global ceasefire and debt relief This reflects the appeal made by Pope Francis during his Easter Sunday Urbi et Orbi message in which he said: "May Christ our peace enlighten all who have responsibility in conflicts, that they may have the courage to support the appeal for an immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world." In that message, Pope Francis also reminded the world that this is not the time for indifference, self-centeredness or division and said: May all nations be put in a position to meet the greatest needs of the moment through the reduction, if not the forgiveness, of the debt burdening the balance sheets of the poorest nations. This appeal was immediately echoed by President Macron who announced the possibility of cancelling the debt of African countries to assist them in their fight against the Covid-19 virus and its far-reaching consequences. And, in line with the Pope, Macron has also called for unity in the fight against the virus. With over 20,000 deaths, France has been the third country most affected by the coronavirus in Europe, after Italy and Spain. The Presidents Office said the two leaders stressed their convergence of views on these issues and revealed that Macron wanted to explain how France was committed to going forward. At the beginning of the telephone conversation, Emmanuel Macron reportedly also renewed his invitation to the Pope to visit France. EU member states to hold crucial meeting on pandemic response The exchange of views between the Pope and the French President comes on the eve of a meeting of the heads of the 27 member states of the European Union, scheduled to be held by video conference on April 23. That meeting is expected to result in crucial decisions regarding the financial instruments the union will adopt to assist states response to the Covid-19 pandemic, especially those nations worst hit by the virus - Italy, Spain and France. Macron in dialogue with faith leaders Following Emanuel Macrons telephone conversation with Pope Francis, the President also reportedly engaged in dialogue with religious leaders and secular associations in France. According to a statement released by the Elysee, it was an opportunity to maintain dialogue between public authorities and faith-based organizations within the context of confinement measures taken due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Bishop de Moulins-Beaufort represented the Catholic Church. It becomes second district after Ghaziabad to curtail movement to and from the capital. As a preventive measure against coronavirus, District Magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar has ordered to seal Delhi-Gautam Budh Nagar/Noida border till further orders. The border between Noida and Delhi has now been sealed as a preventive measure against coronavirus. Considering that Delhi is the second most affected state at 2,156 positive COVID-19 cases with 47 deaths and Gautam Buddh Nagar, which is the worst affected district that falls in Uttar Pradesh with more than 100 cases, the District Magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar decided to seal the border with some exemptions. Magistrate added that the health department has also found that the number of people traveling between Delhi and Noida is also high, of them many have tested COVID-19 positive in Noida who have direct connects in Delhi so this decision of sealing the border is quite important. The exemptions from this ban include media people (the DM tweeted late last night that the old ID card system will be allowed on Wednesday) with proper passes, secretaries in the Central government, who have ID cards, doctors, if they are handling any emergency in Gautam Budh Nagar, small or large vehicles helping in transportation of essential commodities and finally, workers and officials, who are involved in the fight against coronavirus. These officials will only be permitted if they have passes issued by the Delhi government or UP government. Also Read: N Chandrababu Naidu suggests CM Jagan Mohan Reddy to call all party meet on covid-19, stop attributing motives to parties Heres the District Magistrate Gautam Budh Nagars tweet: Dear residents, As per the medical department advice, in the larger public interest, as a preventive measure to fight Covid 19, we are closing Delhi-GB nagar/Noida border completely, with following specified exceptions. You are kindly requested to cooperate. StayHome StaySafe pic.twitter.com/es4ap51XVW DM G.B. Nagar (@dmgbnagar) April 21, 2020 Delhi-Gautam Budh Nagar/Noida border has been completely closed by Gautam Budh Nagar admn as a preventive measure against #COVID19. SI Gurmukh Singh says "Only those with passes, media personnel, doctors, sanitation workers & vehicles carrying fruits/vegetables are being allowed" pic.twitter.com/kGeE0WUBCV ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) April 22, 2020 In fresh cases in the capital, 74 more cases have been reported in the past 24 hours with no deaths due to coronavirus. Currently, 611 people have won the battle against the coronavirus and have been discharged and 47 have lost their lives in Delhi. In Uttar Pradesh, 1,294 cases have been reported with 140 cured and 20 deaths. For all the latest National News, download NewsX App It should now be self-evident for anyone with common sense that the Democrats, liberals, and their convenient Republican allies like "Republicans for the Rule of Law" are using the coronavirus as a cover to advance their deconstruction of America without opposition behind the veil of "saving lives" and "saving democracy." This has been the dream of liberals for over a century. Now they will not relent until they deliver the coup de grace to their enemies: Christianity, small businesses, and civil society as a whole. The importance of civil liberties in the Anglo-American tradition, as venerable writers like Alexis de Tocqueville, Michael Oakeshott, and Robert Nisbet have written, is that civil liberties constitute the pulsating heart of the first order of our existence. The purpose of civil liberties is to create a wall of separation between the people and overreaching political tyranny. Civil liberties ensure the independence and sovereignty of houses of worship, intermediate associations, and free enterprise from the collectivizing and totalizing iron rod of centralized government. In his insightful, and now seemingly prophetic, essay "The Political Economy of Freedom," Michael Oakeshott reminds us that the prerequisites for a free society are "freedom of association" and the "freedom enjoyed in the right to own private property." These two pillars that support a free society and free people are enshrined in the American Constitution, and for good reason. Free association (exemplified in the First Amendment) and the right to property and the enjoyment of private property (exemplified in the Fourth Amendment) are under siege by the totalitarian impulses of petty governors and mayors who wish for nothing more than to burn what is left of an already mostly shredded Constitution. The assault against the American Constitution is nothing new. Frankly, the Constitution hasn't been enforced over American political order since at least the Franklin Roosevelt administration. But the origins of the offensive against the Constitution are irrelevant for us. What matters, in the here and now, is being aware of how the last vestiges of constitutional independence are being threatened by Democrats and their convenient media Republican stooges, who like to shame other Republicans while selling out the Constitution behind their veil of high-minded principles. Collectivists of all stripes, whether they be liberals, social democrats, democratic socialists, or communists, have always despised the Constitution and the diminutive political order the Constitution promotes because the genuine constitutional order is the true safeguard of diversity and plurality, which prevents homogenized social planning and social engineering. Beneath our noses, the "guidelines" and "recommendations" alongside the actual mandated orders by our political officials serve as the first stage of widespread social engineering. The intent is to break the spirit of independent Americans and shape them into a herd of conformity, which permits bureaucratic control over every facet of our lives. While some governors and local officials look to "reopen" their states and towns, Democratic governors and mayors have doubled down on more draconian and tyrannical measures while their masochistic Republican media allies cheer them on as "responsible" leaders. Oakeshott tells us why: "[t]he believer in collectivism naturally looks upon war as an opportunity not to be missed, and the demobilization of society is no part of his programme." Over the last month, we have heard about how we are "at war" with the coronavirus. "The real spring of collectivism," Oakeshott says, "is not a love of liberty, but war[.] ... And large scale collectivism is, moreover, inherently warlike." Under the guise of confronting the coronavirus, collectivists have unleashed their war against civil society, civil liberty, and the Constitution. Stopping the coronavirus is not their goal, even though they claim that it is. Killing the spirit of liberty is their primary goal. Why else are protests against government overreach guaranteed by our First Amendment banned and deemed "non-essential"? Why else is our right to free association, especially in matters of religious worship also guaranteed by our First Amendment targeted by the anti-Christ enforcers and their pawns? Why else are businesses, which constitute "life, liberty, [and] property" for so many Americans guaranteed by our Fourth Amendment deemed "non-essential" and forced to close without due process or restitution? The heart of civil society has been ripped out and thrown away with gleeful and malevolent intent by our neo-Bolshevik ruling class. The ending of lockdowns, which has been part of the mass orchestrated mobilization of war, has no part in the collectivist war to enslave everything independent of the central planning by experts. People across the United States are being "deprived of life, liberty, [and] property, without due process of law." People across the United States are being denied the "free exercise" of religion. People across the United States are being denied "the freedom of speech." People across the United States are being denied peaceable assembly and the right "to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Our civil liberties are the surest safeguard against collectivized totalitarianism. The true face of tyranny has shown itself in the midst of the virus outbreak. While other nations ease their restrictions and begin reopening schools and sectors of their economy, collectivist Democrats and their servile allies in the media and the Republican Party increase their restrictions. The collectivist war to destroy the last vestiges of liberty, private property, religious worship the last vestiges of the civil society that makes America truly unique and great is not yet complete. We might add to Oakeshott and say the restoration of civil liberty is not part of the collectivist program, either. The "new normal" these tyrants speak of is nothing short of a collectivist dystopia where the government has total control of everything. 22.04.2020 LISTEN The Caucus for Democratic Governance, Ghana (CDG-Gh) has registered with concern the lifting of the partial lockdown ( 20th April 2020) by the President. Reports on public reactions to the lifting of the lockdown is diverse. A neurosurgeon, Dr Mohammed Abdullah, has responded to the lifting of the partial lockdown in Accra, Tema, Kasoa and Kumasi by the President ; describing it as unfortunate and not backed by Science. Others suggest that the Government approach will keep the virus in Ghana for a longer period. The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has always insisted on a total nationwide lockdown, suggesting it is the way to drive the corona virus out of Ghana in the shortest possible time. Much earlier it was recorded that the President was too slow in reacting to the potential dangers of novel corona virus. When things were getting out of control, he responded with partial lockdown. SPANISH FLU History repeats itself; so one of the surest way forward, is to learn from history. The history of viruses with pandemic definitions first registered its presence on our planet in 1918. It was the Spanish Flu. In September, 1918, Philadelphia prematurely ended its quarantine from the Spanish Flu to organize a parade. Some 200,000 people lined the streets. Within 72 hours, every bed in Philadelphia`s 31 hospitals was filled. The city ended up with 4,500 people dying from the Spanish Flu with in matter of days. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS The lesson we learn lead to the consensus that, any attempt to put economic and political considerations above that of COVID-19, will bring us back to square one. The President before his 7th appearance, certainly had many worrying issues on his mind including the COVID-19. How long can he continue to feed the homeless and those taken out of the street and out of their jobs? The COVID-19 expenditure is seeking to deplete the Government coffers. The badly organized distribution of food by all standard is helping the spread of corona virus. The question is Sika no wo he meaning : where is the money? Where is the budgetary allocations granted by Parliament?. Where are the monitory allocations from IMF? where is the $100 million ?, Where is the contributions from the COVID-19 Fund ?. Who is accounting for these monies? POLITICAL ARM For reasons, best known to Government, the NIA is badly in a hurry to complete its registration How long can NIA be stopped from registration? How long will it take EC to complete training the registration officers, and the new register? How long can he (President Akufo Addo) continue to remain a flag-bearer candidate without confirmation? When will the NPP primaries take place? We are in a process where we run the risk of running in circles instead of moving forward in consensus. In situations where the personal and political interest of the ruling elite overshadows the interest of Ghanaians (sinking in the shadow of coronavirus death) we stand to fail as a Nation. Dr E.K.Hayford Managing Director CDG-GH The new trend for pairing smart tops with comfortable jogging bottoms is proving lucrative for retailer Boohoo. The online fashion company has seen a rise in sales of smart tops as people working from home update their wardrobes and seek to look presentable on video conference calls like Zoom. Sales have also risen in hoodies and jogging wear as workers dress from the waist up. Sales of smart tops are on the up along with hoodies and jogging wear at online fashion retailer Boohoo The Manchester-based firm owns brands including PrettyLittleThing and NastyGal reported sales falling sharply year-on-year last month amid the coronavirus outbreak. The rise in particular clothing goods has come as people seek to look presentable on video conference calls like zoom However, the firm has announced a bounce back and has reported year-on-year growth of group sales during April, although it hasn't published specific figures. In the year to the end of February, the group, made pre-tax profits of 92.2m, up 54% on the previous 12 months. Boohoo shares rose 5.5% in morning trading on today's news of increased performance. A Boohoo spokesperson told the BBC: 'People aren't really buying going-out items, but they are buying homewear - hoodies, joggers, tracksuit bottoms. 'Sales of tops have gone up in particular, with everyone wanting to look smart on Zoom calls.' On Monday the firm apologised after it was heavily criticised for selling fashion face masks during the coronavirus pandemic. The 5 masks were emblazoned with slogans like 'Eat, sleep, isolate, repeat' or 'If you can read this, you are too close'. On Monday the firm apologised after it was heavily criticised for selling fashion face masks during the coronavirus pandemic (pictured) Following criticism from nurses and The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) which called them 'scandalous,' the masks were removed from sale. Boohoo insisted they were not designed for protection. The rise and fall in the popularity of specific online products has also been reported by other outlets like John Lewis. The retailer said demand has particularly spiked in some of its 'less profitable lines', with people 'buying more Scrabble but fewer sofas' The department store chain saw total sales tumble 17% in the weeks since March 15, after it closed all its sites on March 23 and warned that a worst-case scenario would see the chain's annual sales plunge 35%. Nevertheless, John Lewis said online sales have jumped 84% as shoppers purchased more technology and food preparation products. John Lewis sales have plunged after it was forced to shut stores in face of coronavirus despite a surge in online orders The owner of budget fashion firm Primark has also revealed a 248 million hit for unsold stock as all its stores remain shut and it has no online presence Meanwhile the UK's high street woes continue to grow amid the coronavirus lockdown as 68,000 Primark staff are furloughed across Europe. The owner of budget fashion firm Primark has also revealed a 248 million hit for unsold stock as all its stores remain shut. Associated British Foods boss George Weston said the group had been 'squarely in the path of this pandemic' but would not reopen Primark stores until the disease is under control. Mr Weston said the company would have 'had no option but to fire staff' were it not for the furlough scheme. A survey from the British Chambers of Commerce suggested around one in three British businesses has furloughed between 75% and 100% of its workforce. Primark has seen sales plunge from 650 million a month to zero as coronavirus has caused the 376-strong chain to shut completely, with no online business to fall back on. It was announced yesterday that Cath Kidston is to permanently to shut its 60 UK stores with the loss of more than 900 jobs while its online operation will continue. The fashion retailer confirmed its stores will not reopen once the coronavirus lockdown is over after the company's owners secured a deal to buy back its brand and online operations following its fall into administration. Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA), which has held a stake in the retailer since 2014, said it will buy the online business, brand and wholesale arm from administrators Alvarez & Marsal. It said the move will result in the 'cessation of the retail store network'. Taking a day off might not seem like a priority in the midst of a global pandemic, particularly when widespread lockdown measures have limited downtime to the confines of our own home, but experts say not taking any time out could actually be detrimental to productivity. "While Sir Isaac Newton came up with the theory of gravity working remotely during the Great Plague of London (no pressure there), he also didn't have people accessing him 24/7 on Zoom, WhatsApp and email," said Anna Whitehouse, founder of Flex Appeal, a campaign pushing for flexible working for all. No one can work non-stop and be productive, particularly in the context of a global pandemic, she said. "You need to take a break before you break," she added, saying that while it may not be the vacation abroad that you hoped for, downtime regardless is not just a "nice to have," it's essential. Fear over job security might also be stopping some from taking time off. The coronavirus, which latest figures show has now infected nearly 2.5 million people worldwide, has forced many businesses to close temporarily in line with lockdown measures. The financial strain of closures has resulted in wage cuts and job losses for a number of workers. Asking for a day off could therefore seem like a huge ask, when the stakes feel higher to perform professionally and taking a break doesn't seem like a priority. People found the task of booking vacations stressful even before the pandemic hit, with Totaljobs finding that nearly a quarter of workers have struggled to book time off, believing work comes first. This was according to its poll of 7,135 U.K. workers in 2017, which also found that just over half of people said they had to take time off at specific times to suit their employer. Ellie Green, jobs expert at Totaljobs, said that dealing with new stresses in these exceptional times means taking care of your mental wellbeing matters more than ever. "If that means using up some of your holiday allowance and doing what you can to relax or do something you enjoy at home you can," she said. NEW YORK, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) market worldwide is projected to grow by US$2.9 Billion, driven by a compounded growth of 19.9%. Organic PCM, one of the segments analyzed and sized in this study, displays the potential to grow at over 19.4%. The shifting dynamics supporting this growth makes it critical for businesses in this space to keep abreast of the changing pulse of the market. Poised to reach over US$1.9 Billion by the year 2025, Organic PCM will bring in healthy gains adding significant momentum to global growth. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p03283195/?utm_source=PRN - Representing the developed world, the United States will maintain a 17.7% growth momentum. Within Europe, which continues to remain an important element in the world economy, Germany will add over US$111.3 Million to the region's size and clout in the next 5 to 6 years. Over US$92.1 Million worth of projected demand in the region will come from Rest of Europe markets. In Japan, Organic PCM will reach a market size of US$91.6 Million by the close of the analysis period. As the world's second largest economy and the new game changer in global markets, China exhibits the potential to grow at 25.3% over the next couple of years and add approximately US$744.1 Million in terms of addressable opportunity for the picking by aspiring businesses and their astute leaders. Presented in visually rich graphics are these and many more need-to-know quantitative data important in ensuring quality of strategy decisions, be it entry into new markets or allocation of resources within a portfolio. Several macroeconomic factors and internal market forces will shape growth and development of demand patterns in emerging countries in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East. All research viewpoints presented are based on validated engagements from influencers in the market, whose opinions supersede all other research methodologies. - Competitors identified in this market include, among others, Advansa Cryopak Inc. E. I. du Pont De Nemours and Company Microtek Laboratories Inc. Microtek Laboratories Inc. Outlast Technologies LLC Phase Change Energy Solutions Pluss Polymers Pvt., Ltd. Sonoco Packaging Company Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p03283195/?utm_source=PRN I. INTRODUCTION, METHODOLOGY & REPORT SCOPE II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. MARKET OVERVIEW A Prelude to Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM): An Introduction Global Competitor Market Shares Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Competitor Market Share Scenario Worldwide (in %): 2019 & 2028 2. FOCUS ON SELECT PLAYERS 3. MARKET TRENDS & DRIVERS Research Study on Phase Change Materials Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Innovations and Advancements Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Infographics Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) 4. GLOBAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE Table 1: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Global Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025 Table 2: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Global Retrospective Market Scenario in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2009-2017 Table 3: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Shift across Key Geographies Worldwide: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 4: Organic PCM (Type) World Market by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2018 to 2025 Table 5: Organic PCM (Type) Historic Market Analysis by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2009 to 2017 Table 6: Organic PCM (Type) Market Share Breakdown of Worldwide Sales by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 7: Inorganic PCM (Type) Potential Growth Markets Worldwide in US$ Thousand: 2018 to 2025 Table 8: Inorganic PCM (Type) Historic Market Perspective by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2009 to 2017 Table 9: Inorganic PCM (Type) Market Sales Breakdown by Region/Country in Percentage: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 10: Bio-based PCM (Type) Geographic Market Spread Worldwide in US$ Thousand: 2018 to 2025 Table 11: Bio-based PCM (Type) Region Wise Breakdown of Global Historic Demand in US$ Thousand: 2009 to 2017 Table 12: Bio-based PCM (Type) Market Share Distribution in Percentage by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 13: Building & Construction (Application) Demand Potential Worldwide in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025 Table 14: Building & Construction (Application) Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2009-2017 Table 15: Building & Construction (Application) Share Breakdown Review by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 16: Energy Storage (Application) Worldwide Latent Demand Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025 Table 17: Energy Storage (Application) Global Historic Analysis in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2009-2017 Table 18: Energy Storage (Application) Distribution of Global Sales by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 19: HVAC (Application) Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country for the Years 2018 through 2025 Table 20: HVAC (Application) Analysis of Historic Sales in US$ Thousand by Region/Country for the Years 2009 to 2017 Table 21: HVAC (Application) Global Market Share Distribution by Region/Country for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 22: Shipping & Transportation (Application) Global Opportunity Assessment in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025 Table 23: Shipping & Transportation (Application) Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2009-2017 Table 24: Shipping & Transportation (Application) Percentage Share Breakdown of Global Sales by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 25: Electronics (Application) Worldwide Sales in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025 Table 26: Electronics (Application) Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2009-2017 Table 27: Electronics (Application) Market Share Shift across Key Geographies: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 28: Textiles (Application) Global Market Estimates & Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025 Table 29: Textiles (Application) Retrospective Demand Analysis in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2009-2017 Table 30: Textiles (Application) Market Share Breakdown by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 31: Other Applications (Application) Demand Potential Worldwide in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025 Table 32: Other Applications (Application) Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2009-2017 Table 33: Other Applications (Application) Share Breakdown Review by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 III. MARKET ANALYSIS GEOGRAPHIC MARKET ANALYSIS UNITED STATES Market Facts & Figures US Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share (in %) by Company: 2019 & 2025 Market Analytics Table 34: United States Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Type: 2018 to 2025 Table 35: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in the United States by Type: A Historic Review in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017 Table 36: United States Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Breakdown by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 37: United States Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Latent Demand Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025 Table 38: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Historic Demand Patterns in the United States by Application in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017 Table 39: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Breakdown in the United States by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 CANADA Table 40: Canadian Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Type: 2018 to 2025 Table 41: Canadian Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Historic Market Review by Type in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 Table 42: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Canada: Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Type for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 43: Canadian Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Quantitative Demand Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025 Table 44: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Canada: Summarization of Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Thousand by Application for 2009-2017 Table 45: Canadian Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 JAPAN Table 46: Japanese Market for Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM): Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Type for the Period 2018-2025 Table 47: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Japan: Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type for the Period 2009-2017 Table 48: Japanese Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Analysis by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 49: Japanese Demand Estimates and Forecasts for Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025 Table 50: Japanese Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 51: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Shift in Japan by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 CHINA Table 52: Chinese Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Growth Prospects in US$ Thousand by Type for the Period 2018-2025 Table 53: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Historic Market Analysis in China in US$ Thousand by Type: 2009-2017 Table 54: Chinese Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market by Type: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 55: Chinese Demand for Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025 Table 56: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Review in China in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 57: Chinese Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Breakdown by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 EUROPE Market Facts & Figures European Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market: Competitor Market Share Scenario (in %) for 2019 & 2025 Market Analytics Table 58: European Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Demand Scenario in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025 Table 59: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Europe: A Historic Market Perspective in US$ Thousand by Region/Country for the Period 2009-2017 Table 60: European Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Shift by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 61: European Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Type: 2018-2025 Table 62: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Europe in US$ Thousand by Type: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017 Table 63: European Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Breakdown by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 64: European Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Addressable Market Opportunity in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018-2025 Table 65: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Europe: Summarization of Historic Demand in US$ Thousand by Application for the Period 2009-2017 Table 66: European Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 FRANCE Table 67: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in France by Type: Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand for the Period 2018-2025 Table 68: French Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Historic Market Scenario in US$ Thousand by Type: 2009-2017 Table 69: French Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Analysis by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 70: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Quantitative Demand Analysis in France in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018-2025 Table 71: French Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Historic Market Review in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 72: French Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Analysis: A 17-Year Perspective by Application for 2009, 2019, and 2025 GERMANY Table 73: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Germany: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type for the Period 2018-2025 Table 74: German Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type: 2009-2017 Table 75: German Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Breakdown by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 76: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Germany: Annual Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Application for the Period 2018-2025 Table 77: German Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Retrospect in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 78: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Distribution in Germany by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 ITALY Table 79: Italian Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Growth Prospects in US$ Thousand by Type for the Period 2018-2025 Table 80: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Historic Market Analysis in Italy in US$ Thousand by Type: 2009-2017 Table 81: Italian Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market by Type: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 82: Italian Demand for Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025 Table 83: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Review in Italy in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 84: Italian Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Breakdown by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 UNITED KINGDOM Table 85: United Kingdom Market for Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM): Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Type for the Period 2018-2025 Table 86: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in the United Kingdom: Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type for the Period 2009-2017 Table 87: United Kingdom Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Analysis by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 88: United Kingdom Demand Estimates and Forecasts for Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025 Table 89: United Kingdom Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 90: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Shift in the United Kingdom by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 SPAIN Table 91: Spanish Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Type: 2018 to 2025 Table 92: Spanish Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Historic Market Review by Type in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 Table 93: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Spain: Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Type for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 94: Spanish Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Quantitative Demand Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025 Table 95: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Spain: Summarization of Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Thousand by Application for 2009-2017 Table 96: Spanish Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 RUSSIA Table 97: Russian Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Type: 2018 to 2025 Table 98: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Russia by Type: A Historic Review in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017 Table 99: Russian Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Breakdown by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 100: Russian Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Latent Demand Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025 Table 101: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Historic Demand Patterns in Russia by Application in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017 Table 102: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Breakdown in Russia by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 REST OF EUROPE Table 103: Rest of Europe Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Type: 2018-2025 Table 104: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Rest of Europe in US$ Thousand by Type: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017 Table 105: Rest of Europe Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Breakdown by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 106: Rest of Europe Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Addressable Market Opportunity in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018-2025 Table 107: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Rest of Europe: Summarization of Historic Demand in US$ Thousand by Application for the Period 2009-2017 Table 108: Rest of Europe Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 ASIA-PACIFIC Table 109: Asia-Pacific Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025 Table 110: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Asia-Pacific: Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Region/Country for the Period 2009-2017 Table 111: Asia-Pacific Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Analysis by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 112: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Asia-Pacific by Type: Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand for the Period 2018-2025 Table 113: Asia-Pacific Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Historic Market Scenario in US$ Thousand by Type: 2009-2017 Table 114: Asia-Pacific Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Analysis by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 115: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Quantitative Demand Analysis in Asia-Pacific in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018-2025 Table 116: Asia-Pacific Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Historic Market Review in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 117: Asia-Pacific Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Analysis: A 17-Year Perspective by Application for 2009, 2019, and 2025 AUSTRALIA Table 118: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Australia: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type for the Period 2018-2025 Table 119: Australian Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type: 2009-2017 Table 120: Australian Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Breakdown by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 121: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Australia: Annual Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Application for the Period 2018-2025 Table 122: Australian Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Retrospect in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 123: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Distribution in Australia by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 INDIA Table 124: Indian Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Type: 2018 to 2025 Table 125: Indian Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Historic Market Review by Type in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 Table 126: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in India: Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Type for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 127: Indian Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Quantitative Demand Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025 Table 128: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in India: Summarization of Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Thousand by Application for 2009-2017 Table 129: Indian Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 SOUTH KOREA Table 130: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in South Korea: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type for the Period 2018-2025 Table 131: South Korean Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type: 2009-2017 Table 132: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Distribution in South Korea by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 133: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in South Korea: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application for the Period 2018-2025 Table 134: South Korean Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 135: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Distribution in South Korea by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 REST OF ASIA-PACIFIC Table 136: Rest of Asia-Pacific Market for Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM): Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Type for the Period 2018-2025 Table 137: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Rest of Asia-Pacific: Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type for the Period 2009-2017 Table 138: Rest of Asia-Pacific Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Analysis by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 139: Rest of Asia-Pacific Demand Estimates and Forecasts for Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025 Table 140: Rest of Asia-Pacific Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 141: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Shift in Rest of Asia-Pacific by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 LATIN AMERICA Table 142: Latin American Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Trends by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2018-2025 Table 143: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Latin America in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: A Historic Perspective for the Period 2009-2017 Table 144: Latin American Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Percentage Breakdown of Sales by Region/Country: 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 145: Latin American Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Growth Prospects in US$ Thousand by Type for the Period 2018-2025 Table 146: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Historic Market Analysis in Latin America in US$ Thousand by Type: 2009-2017 Table 147: Latin American Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market by Type: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 148: Latin American Demand for Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025 Table 149: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Review in Latin America in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 150: Latin American Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Breakdown by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 ARGENTINA Table 151: Argentinean Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Type: 2018-2025 Table 152: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Argentina in US$ Thousand by Type: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017 Table 153: Argentinean Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Breakdown by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 154: Argentinean Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Addressable Market Opportunity in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018-2025 Table 155: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Argentina: Summarization of Historic Demand in US$ Thousand by Application for the Period 2009-2017 Table 156: Argentinean Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 BRAZIL Table 157: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Brazil by Type: Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand for the Period 2018-2025 Table 158: Brazilian Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Historic Market Scenario in US$ Thousand by Type: 2009-2017 Table 159: Brazilian Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Analysis by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 160: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Quantitative Demand Analysis in Brazil in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018-2025 Table 161: Brazilian Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Historic Market Review in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 162: Brazilian Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Analysis: A 17-Year Perspective by Application for 2009, 2019, and 2025 MEXICO Table 163: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Mexico: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type for the Period 2018-2025 Table 164: Mexican Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type: 2009-2017 Table 165: Mexican Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Breakdown by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 166: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Mexico: Annual Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Application for the Period 2018-2025 Table 167: Mexican Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Retrospect in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 168: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Distribution in Mexico by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 REST OF LATIN AMERICA Table 169: Rest of Latin America Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Type: 2018 to 2025 Table 170: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Rest of Latin America by Type: A Historic Review in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017 Table 171: Rest of Latin America Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Breakdown by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 172: Rest of Latin America Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Latent Demand Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025 Table 173: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Historic Demand Patterns in Rest of Latin America by Application in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017 Table 174: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Breakdown in Rest of Latin America by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 MIDDLE EAST Table 175: The Middle East Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025 Table 176: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in the Middle East by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 Table 177: The Middle East Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Breakdown by Region/Country: 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 178: The Middle East Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Type: 2018 to 2025 Table 179: The Middle East Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Historic Market by Type in US$ Thousand: 2009-2017 Table 180: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in the Middle East: Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Type for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 181: The Middle East Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Quantitative Demand Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025 Table 182: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in the Middle East: Summarization of Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Thousand by Application for 2009-2017 Table 183: The Middle East Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 IRAN Table 184: Iranian Market for Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM): Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Type for the Period 2018-2025 Table 185: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Iran: Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type for the Period 2009-2017 Table 186: Iranian Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Analysis by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 187: Iranian Demand Estimates and Forecasts for Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025 Table 188: Iranian Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 189: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Shift in Iran by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 ISRAEL Table 190: Israeli Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Type: 2018-2025 Table 191: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Israel in US$ Thousand by Type: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017 Table 192: Israeli Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Breakdown by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 193: Israeli Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Addressable Market Opportunity in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018-2025 Table 194: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Israel: Summarization of Historic Demand in US$ Thousand by Application for the Period 2009-2017 Table 195: Israeli Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Analysis by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 SAUDI ARABIA Table 196: Saudi Arabian Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Growth Prospects in US$ Thousand by Type for the Period 2018-2025 Table 197: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Historic Market Analysis in Saudi Arabia in US$ Thousand by Type: 2009-2017 Table 198: Saudi Arabian Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market by Type: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025 Table 199: Saudi Arabian Demand for Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025 Table 200: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Review in Saudi Arabia in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 201: Saudi Arabian Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Breakdown by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Table 202: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in the United Arab Emirates: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type for the Period 2018-2025 Table 203: United Arab Emirates Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type: 2009-2017 Table 204: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Distribution in United Arab Emirates by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 205: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in the United Arab Emirates: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application for the Period 2018-2025 Table 206: United Arab Emirates Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 207: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Distribution in United Arab Emirates by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 REST OF MIDDLE EAST Table 208: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Rest of Middle East: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type for the Period 2018-2025 Table 209: Rest of Middle East Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Historic Market Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type: 2009-2017 Table 210: Rest of Middle East Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Breakdown by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 211: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Rest of Middle East: Annual Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Application for the Period 2018-2025 Table 212: Rest of Middle East Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Retrospect in US$ Thousand by Application: 2009-2017 Table 213: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Distribution in Rest of Middle East by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 AFRICA Table 214: African Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Type: 2018 to 2025 Table 215: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market in Africa by Type: A Historic Review in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017 Table 216: African Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Breakdown by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 Table 217: African Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Latent Demand Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Application: 2018 to 2025 Table 218: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Historic Demand Patterns in Africa by Application in US$ Thousand for 2009-2017 Table 219: Advanced Phase Change Materials (PCM) Market Share Breakdown in Africa by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025 IV. COMPETITION ADVANSA CRYOPAK E. I. DU PONT DE NEMOURS AND COMPANY MICROTEK LABORATORIES INC. OUTLAST TECHNOLOGIES LLC. PHASE CHANGE ENERGY SOLUTIONS INC. PLUSS POLYMERS PVT., LTD. SONOCO PACKAGING COMPANY V. CURATED RESEARCH Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p03283195/?utm_source=PRN About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. __________________________ Contact Clare: [email protected] US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 SOURCE Reportlinker Related Links www.reportlinker.com The authorities have come up with standard operating procedures (SOPs) for pregnant women in the COVID-19 red zone areas across Kashmir, even as restrictions to combat the coronavirus threat continued in the Valley on Wednesday. As per the laid down procedures, the pregnant women in red zones will be enlisted and their check-up will be managed at the recently established health centres in red and buffer zones, officials said. The proper birth plan will be executed by ANM and ASHA workers under the supervision of concerned block medical officers as per the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), they said. The pregnant ladies have been strictly advised to attend anti-natal check-ups at the recently established health centres by ASHAs and their cadres both in red and buffer zones, they added. The officials said according to such SOPs, all the asymptomatic pregnant women will be tested one week before the expected date of delivery (EDD) using rapid antibody tests. If any pregnant women is found having symptoms of Influenza like Illness (ILI) or Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI), she will be tested using RT-PCR, they said. Depending upon the test results, such pregnant ladies will be taken to a designated COVI9-19 hospital or non-COVID-19 hospital where their deliveries will be conducted, they added. Besides, the round the clock ambulance services will be available for pregnant women at phone numbers 102 or 108, the officials said. Meanwhile, the restrictions on the movement and assembly of people in Kashmir continued for the 35th day on Wednesday. The officials said the security forces have sealed off main roads in most places in the valley and erected barriers at several other places to check the unwanted movement of the people and to enforce the lockdown. Only persons with valid movement passes were allowed passage, they added. The declared containment or red zones across the valley have been sealed off to ensure strict adherence to the standard operating procedure. The markets across the valley were shut and public transport was off the roads with only pharmacies and groceries allowed to open, the officials said. Educational institutions across Kashmir are closed, while all public places including gymnasiums, parks, clubs and restaurants were shut down more than a week before the nationwide lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While the Prime Minister announced the country-wide lockdown on the evening of March 24, the union territory administration here had on March 22 announced a total shutdown across Jammu and Kashmir till 31 March as part of its efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The administration said the essential services including healthcare personnel have been exempted from the restrictions. Restrictions were first imposed in many parts of the valley on March 19 to contain the spread of the virus. The measures were taken after the detection of the first positive case of coronavirus in the valley. The officials said the total number of positive cases in Jammu and Kashmir has now risen to 380. Five patients have died and 81 have recovered. More than 62,000 people have been kept under surveillance including those who are either in government established quarantine facilities or in home isolation. "Till date 62,493 travellers and persons in contact with suspected cases have been enlisted for surveillance which include 6,032 persons in home quarantine including facilities operated by government, 248 in hospital quarantine, 294 in hospital isolation and 17,421 under home surveillance. Besides, 38,493 persons have completed their surveillance period," the officials said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Alhaji Isa Funtua, a close ally of President Muhammadu Buhari, has given reason he cannot replace the late Abba Kyari as the president... Alhaji Isa Funtua, a close ally of President Muhammadu Buhari, has given reason he cannot replace the late Abba Kyari as the presidents Chief of Staff. Funtua, while reacting to reports that he was likely a replacement for the Office of the Chief of Staff, said it is an insult to his personality. Speaking to BBC Hausa, the elder statesman said he should be employing people and not struggling for government appointments. The politician maintained that appointments like Chief of Staff should be for young people not his age mates, adding that Nigerians should stop making caricature of public offices He was quoted as saying, I heard people mentioning my name to replace Abba Kyari but I take the story as an insult instead. I have once worked with the government in the 80s, worked with white men and also was once a Minister of the Federal republic. For someone to mention my name for that position is an insult especially for a man who served as a minister nearly 40 years ago and out of government. I should be employing people now, not trying to struggle for government appointments. At my level and age, people should first see if I am fit to serve and see if I am strong enough and if I am up-to-date with current realities of governance. Even if they approach the president with my name, he knows he cannot ask me to serve at this age. For Gods sake, you mean at my age, I should be waking up at 8am to go to work? Haba, I am way passed that lifestyle. Its for people like you (referring to the BBC journalist) and other much younger persons. We should stop making caricatures of public offices simply because of the sake of getting appointments, he said. Meanwhile, a former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, on Monday, listed Isa Funtua as a member of President Muhammadu Buharis cabal. In his piece, Fani-Kayode hinted that there were powerful people around the president. Some say he was the leader of the cabal. This is a cabal in which seasoned and skillful old war horses, ancient northern political veterans and warriors like Mamman Daura, Zangon Daura, Mahmoud Tukur, Ismaila Isa Funtua, Lawal Daura, Baba Gana Kingibe and many others. by Melani Manel Perera The bombings left some 280 people dead and nearly 600 wounded. Card Ranjith thanks all those helping victims families, urges the government to find the culprits. The commemoration took place amid the pandemic crisis. Colombo (AsiaNews) One year after the tragedy, Sri Lanka came to stop today to remember the victims of the bomb attacks against three churches two Catholic and one Protestant and three hotels on Easter Sunday 2019. The explosions left some 280 people dead, including 45 foreigners, and nearly 600 wounded. In a video message carried on Verbum Catholic TV, Archbishop Card Malcom Ranjith of Colombo thanked all those who showed respect to the victims and expressed solidarity with them and their families. The cardinal also called for those in office a year ago to pay for their mistakes. Bishop Asiri Perera, head of the countrys Methodist Church, told AsiaNews that members and prelates of his Church marked the anniversary by observing two minutes of silence. The country's Muslim and Buddhist leaders did the same. Everyone is demanding justice for the victims and the conviction of the guilty. No political leader can be allowed to play with people's lives, said Card Ranjith. For this reason, he is urging President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to step up the investigation, which has so far not achieved any results. It is still unclear who was behind the attacks. The then president initially Maithripala Sirisena blamed Islamic extremists, then international drug traffickers claiming that the attacks were retaliation against his work fighting the drug trade. The only thing that is certain is that the authorities had intelligence about the planned attacks before they occurred, and ignored it. The anniversary comes as the country tackles the coronavirus pandemic, which has prevented all public celebration. So far, the authorities have reported 310 cases and seven deaths. Students from the Philadelphia School District's first solar training program during the summer of 2017. Read more Philadelphia has reopened its Solarize Philly program, designed to help finance solar installations by residents and businesses. The Philadelphia Energy Authority (PEA), which administers Solarize Philly, says it is the largest program of its kind in the nation, with 654 homeowners having signed solar contracts since the program started in 2017. Those enrolled benefit from group-buying discounts and consumer protections. Solarize Philly vets installers, who are now offering free remote assessments through online conferences. Installations, however, will only resume when Gov. Tom Wolf lifts restrictions on construction due to the coronavirus, according to a statement issued from the office of Emily Schapira, PEAs executive director. Now more than ever its clear that our health is impacted by our behavior and our environment, Mayor Jim Kenney said in a statement. Going solar is one way that you can take action to support the health of the Philadelphia community for the long run. Added Council President Darrell L. Clarke: Job creation is going to be key to the recovery of our economy. Of all energy projects, rooftop solar creates the most jobs per dollar invested, and the Philadelphia Energy Authority is training young Philadelphians to fill those positions. Solarize Philly participants are helping put people to work who need it the most. The PEAs Solar Savings Grant Program provides grants paired with financing available for low- and moderate-income households looking to go solar with no upfront costs. Grants can cover up to half of the cost of solar for eligible households. However, spots are limited. Signups are handled at solarizephilly.org, where prospective participants can see if they qualify for the program, funded by program fees generated by Solarize Philly. Separately, the city offers a Philadelphia Solar Rebate in which property owners are eligible for a one-time incentive payment. Officials estimate the average rowhouse solar project will receive nearly $1,000. The rebate provides 20 cents per watt to residential projects. It provides 10 cents per watt to commercial projects. For businesses, the city offers financing through the Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE program), as well as a reduction in permit fees. The PEA was created in 2010 by the city to develop long-term energy projects and policies, and support clean energy. The Solarize Philly program closed in October because it is run on limited time frames where discounted pricing is made available. This is the fourth round of the program since 2017. On January 23, a family of four from Wuhan in China, where the COVID-19 pandemic began, flew down to Guangzhou near Hong Kong and the next day, had lunch in a local restaurant. Two other families sat at neighboring tables in the restaurant. Later that day, one of the Wuhan family experienced a cough and fever and went to hospital. Within a week, nine other people (including the other members of the Wuhan family) from those three tables became sick with the coronavirus despite not engaging at all with the other groups. The United States has more coronavirus deaths than anywhere in the world, yet despite this, thousands of protestors have begun marching out all over the country in fury at the lockdown measures, from North Carolina and Missouri to Alabama and Oregon Hundreds of protestors gathered in North Carolina on Tuesday to protest against the lockdown measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus On Sunday, healthcare workers stood in the streets in counter-protest to hundreds of people who gathered in their cars at the State Capitol in Denver Experts who investigated the incident have now concluded that the virus was transmitted in less than an hour via the restaurant's air conditioning system. (None of the restaurant's eight staff became infected, and nor did 73 other diners.) But what this investigation shows is just how virulent COVID-19 is, and how easy it is to catch it in mass gatherings. That is why most of the world's top scientists and doctors around the world have advised draconian lockdown measures to try to combat the virus. And that is why, so far, the countries that moved fastest to lock down appear to be doing better than those who hesitated. The United States, which despite all President Trump's claims to the contrary was shamefully slow to respond to the threat, has had more coronavirus deaths than anywhere else in the world, and the rate of American infections and deaths continues to soar to horrific heights. Yesterday, it was revealed the US now has 827,093 confirmed cases and more than 45,000 deaths. Yet despite this, thousands of protestors have begun marching out all over the country in fury at the lockdown measures, from North Carolina and Missouri to Alabama and Oregon. They're blocking streets, honking horns, and angrily demanding their right to 'freedom'. Protestors have been blocking streets, honking horns, and angrily demanding their right to 'freedom' Many protestors are largely, though not exclusively, conservative and pro-Trump as can be seen from their banners, T-shirts and rhetoric Many are armed with guns, the preferred instrument of protecting liberty for many Americans. And they are largely, though not exclusively, conservative and pro-Trump as can be seen from their banners, T-shirts and rhetoric. In one particularly unedifying incident outside the state capitol in Austin, Texas, conspiracy theory whackjob Alex Jones fuelled chants of 'You can't close America!', Let us work!' and even 'Fire Fauci' in reference to Dr Fauci, America's most brilliant and impressive medical expert. The protestors have been actively encouraged by President Trump who in a tweet storm several days ago blasted 'LIBERATE MINNESOTA!', 'LIBERATE MICHIGAN!' and 'LIBERATE VIRGINIA!' all states, and this was not a coincidence, run by Democrat governors. The protestors have been actively encouraged by President Trump who in a tweet storm several days ago blasted 'LIBERATE MINNESOTA!', 'LIBERATE MICHIGAN!' and 'LIBERATE VIRGINIA!' all states, and this was not a coincidence, run by Democrat governors By doing this, Trump fermented the idea that coronavirus lockdowns are the enemy of liberty, even as his own experts were advising people to stay at home and obey them. And even as his own government advice remains that no state should reopen until they see 14 days of declining infections. It would be easy to dismiss all the protestors as a bunch of Neanderthal idiots, but I will resist that temptation because it wouldn't be accurate or fair. Some definitely are, judging by their inflammatory nonsensical ramblings when they've been interviewed. But others I've seen speaking out have seemed genuinely fearful and concerned for what the lockdowns mean for the crashing US economy, for jobs, and for public health from the inevitable poverty and homelessness that will escalate the longer this crisis goes on. And there is a perfectly legitimate, indeed essential debate to be had about the merits of how strict a lockdown should be and how long it should last. One of the best things about America and its open democratic society is that this debate is being had publicly and loudly, in a way that shames countries like my own, Britain, where the Government is behaving during this crisis like a soviet style regime intent on suppressing the truth. However, when I see protestors squaring up angrily to health workers, as has begun happening more frequently in recent days, my heart sinks at the abysmal lack of respect for people on the frontline of this coronavirus war, who know they will soon be treating many of those protesting, and for the lack of basic common sense being applied by those demanding their 'liberty'. My question for the protestors is this: what kind of 'freedom' do you think ignoring lockdowns will bring? More than 45,000 people have died from coronavirus in the United States as of Tuesday More than 827,000 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the United States as of Tuesday I imagine it is the kind that would allow you, like the family from Wuhan, to go to a nice restaurant with your family today and have a meal? I'd love to do that too, but I understand that to do so would be to put my life at risk, and the lives of others. Why don't the protestors understand this? I suspect the main reason is that they don't believe or trust the 'experts' telling them not to. So, they see lockdowns as some kind of tyrannical threat being driven by politically motivated opponents who want to control their lives, a belief that has been disgracefully fuelled by their President. I once had a very friendly conversation with a Texan oil tycoon about guns, at a time when I was engaged in a series of very unfriendly gun-related conversations on air at CNN following the Sandy Hook massacre. He explained to me that the reason so many Americans believe so passionately in the right to bear arms is that they genuinely fear the government may turn tyrannical on them and they need to be armed to defend their liberty for when that time comes. I didn't agree with that argument not least because the US government has 5000 nuclear warheads at its disposal - but I understood it. I think this mindset explains why so many Americans are taking to the streets to protest against being locked down. They see it as an assault on their liberty, which is the very cornerstone of every American's constitutional rights. But it's not. In fact, it's the opposite: the lockdowns are designed to protect life and preserve liberty. Until there is a successful vaccine for COVID-19, or enough mass testing to work out who has had it, and whether they have developed an immunity, the lockdowns are going to be an absolutely vital tool in fighting the virus. Yet impatient leaders like Georgia governor Brian Kemp have announced plans to imminently reopen their state's economy, including hair salons, fitness centres, movie theaters and restaurants, at a time when Georgia which has some of the highest asthma rates in the US - is seeing rising death and infection numbers. This is premature, reckless and will cost lives. Just as it is particularly stupid and dangerous for the protestors to ignore social distancing rules as they protest, as we see so many doing. This will also cost lives. John McDaniel, from Ohio, was so enraged by Governor Mike DeWine's lockdown measures he posted on Facebook in March that 'this madness has to stop'. He died from COVID-19 on April 15 And if they don't believe me, I urge them all to consider the story of a man named John McDaniel, 60, from Marion County in Ohio. On March 15, he was so enraged by Governor Mike DeWine's lockdown measures that he posted the following on Facebook: 'If what I'm hearing is true, that DeWine has ordered the bars and restaurants to be closed, I say bullsh*t! He doesn't have the authority. If you are paranoid about getting sick just don't go out. It shouldn't keep those of us from living our lives. This madness has to stop.' Two days earlier, McDaniel, married with two children and boss of an industrial equipment supply company, suggested the dangers posed by the coronavirus had been massively exaggerated. 'Does anybody have the guts to say this COVID-19 is a political ploy? Asking for a friend. Prove me wrong.' John McDaniel died from COVID-19 on April 15. BRANFORD The town stepped-up its efforts to take care of its higher-risk residents this week, teaming with the local Carons Corner food market and Big Y to initiate a free delivery program to help senior citizens and immunosupressed residents with their grocery shopping needs. Under the new program, which also teams Branford Counseling & Community Services staff with staff and volunteers from the Dan Cosgrove Animal Shelter which already had been delivering pet supplies and occasional groceries to residents who couldnt get out the town will provide grocery deliveries, free of charge. Residents still will pay for the groceries. Currently, payment must be cash or a check but that may change at some point, said Branford Counseling & Community Services Executive Director Peter Cimino. Branford Counseling & Community Services staff will process the food order via telephone or email, Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and noon. To place an order, complete a Grocery Order Form (as well as a prepared meals list from Carons Corner, if needed) and call 203-481-4248 or email to Hollye Lane at hlane@branford-ct.gov. First Selectman Jamie Cosgrove called the program another example of how the staff has adapted to meet the current challenges. According to Cimino, the program grew out of consideration along the lines of, What can we do to help our residents who are compromised in some way. Its not just the seniors, he said. Branford is not the only area community that has created such programs, Cimino said. Guilfords doing it, and some of the stuff that we looked at, we got from Guilford, he said. While there also are private companies that deliver groceries, we dont charge because were a town department, Cimino said. In addition, our accountability is a little different than a lot of these groups that are doing it. Under the system the town has created, people can either call and talk to the case manager, who can write a shopping list for them, or they can email their list , he said. We want something thats workable and thats going to be safe, Cimino said. Were working with the staff at the animal shelter, Cimino said. Theyre kind of the ones that are testing this for us, because they done it with the animal food. But we expect to add more people in there, and we already have people calling to volunteer, Cimino said. When people call up, the first thing the staff will do is ask people which they want between Carons Corner and Big Y, he said. The town will fill the orders and whenever possible provide no-contact delivery of the groceries, Cimino said. Residents will tell staff where to leave the groceries and if possible leave the payment. The stores will invoice us about once a week, and the town will pay the stores, he said. The town is working on a possible credit card solution, but for now payment will be in the form of a check or cash, he said. The town first announced the program Monday, and by midday Tuesday, Cimino said, weve had about 30 calls. The people who deliver the groceries will wear masks and gloves and will leave the groceries where people want us to leave it, he said. Hopefully they will have the money waiting for us. So far, its worked, he said. This is really the first full day that weve been getting calls. Hopefully, this is going to work out and were not going to have a lot of kinks in it. Linda Birbarie, who co-owns Carons Corner with her siblings, said the one thing she wonders is whether the town is prepared for the demand. Ill be brutally honest: I dont think they realize what theyre getting into, Birbarie said. If theyre thinking that theyre going to have about 50 people who will be interested, Im telling you that you can multiply that by 500. We wish that we had an automated answering service that could answer the calls. ... My concern is that they wont have enough volunteers to fulfill the needs, she said. ... Since the pandemic has started, we have fielded about 3,000 calls asking if we can do curbside delivery, Birbarie said. Unfortunately, thats one thing Carons Corner has been unable to do until now because since the pandemic began, the place has been slammed, while at the same time, weve lost two-thirds of our staff. The towns program essentially makes it possible for Carons Corner to do deliveries. In return, we are allowing them a place to do that and were going to allow them to open a charge account, Birbarie said. Ive been saying straight away that if there were some high school kids who could grab hold of this ... they could make a fortune. Theres a huge, huge demand for it right now, so I really hope that theres enough staff to fulfill it. Carons Corner is located at 147 Montowese St. The Branford Big Y World Class Market is at 1060 West Main St. mark.zaretsky@hearstmediact.com This latter concern is also at the center of the broad probe Attorney General William P. Barr has ordered into the origins of the Russia investigation. There are a lot of things that are unexplained, Mr. Barr has said. And well be able to sort out exactly what happened. Yet the senators have pursued the same avenues of inquiry and come up with a clear answer: The differing levels of confidence among agencies were justified and properly represented, and the ultimate wording was reached openly and with sufficient exchanges of views. Many Vietnamese netizens have been cheated after paying online Netflix account sellers a fraction of the original price only to find their access blocked. Ha Phi Long from the southern province of Dong Nai paid VND60,000 ($2.55) for a monthly Netflix subscription, but the very next day the access password was changed. Long had paid the money, a third of the lowest fee that Netflix charges, to an unknown account seller after seeing an ad on Facebook. When he tried to contact the person, his calls were blocked. "The seller might have sold this account to several users and one of them could have changed the password. Or maybe the seller changed the password himself to trick another user," Long said. Hanoi resident Hoang Anh is another victim. He paid VND360,000 ($15.3) for a 12-month subscription, which is one-sixth of what Netflix charges, to an online seller who had a lot of positive feedback from users. Anh transferred the money to the bank account of the seller, who had shown him his ID to establish credibility. But Anh later found out that the password he received was wrong, and the seller was unreachable. He took to a Facebook group to report the fraud and found hundreds of others whod been tricked the same way. "We were able to contact the person in the ID, but it turns out this was another victim who was also tricked. The seller used his information to create a bank account under his name," Anh said. Anh now realizes that all the positive feedback on the page was probably fake too. Netflix was launched in Vietnam in 2016. It offers subscriptions at VND180,000-260,000 ($7.6-11) per month, which some consider high. Netflix accounts scams have existed for years, but more fraud has been reported recently due to rising interest in the service during social distancing campaign. Searches for the keyword "Netflix" was at an all-time high in Vietnam in the first two weeks this month when the government called on citizens to stay at home to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, according to Google Trends. Thanh Hai, an account seller, said that the most expensive subscription allows people to watch on five devices at the same time. But because there is a low chance that happens, sellers take advantage of the policy and sell the account to dozens of users. Netflix has not commented or issued any warning on the dirt-cheap accounts being sold publicly in Vietnam, but starting February, it stopped the one-month free trial policy in the country. If waves of coronavirus infections ebb and flow until a vaccine arrives and if as some have posited we're all likely to get it at some point, should we be preparing for a possible infection? The coronavirus is fatal for some, while others between 25% to 50% according to the latest estimates have no symptoms at all. Everyone else falls somewhere in between. As the medical community seeks possible explanations for that variability viral load (how much of the virus you have in your body) and genetic susceptibility are both being studied we are left to wonder what amount of influence, if any, we have over how our bodies will react to being infected. Age, gender and underlying health conditions can affect outcomes, but there may be many simple things people can do to boost their immunity and some of the world's most prominent resorts, hotels and restaurants were encouraging them even before the pandemic struck. The single easiest way to boost your immunity The internet is replete with supposed immune-boosting supplements and recipes a situation that long predated the arrival of Covid-19 but the answer to an improved immune system may be far less complicated. "In my experience, the single best way people can improve their immune system is through adequate sleep," said Dr. Steven Tucker, an American oncologist and medical director of Tucker Medical, a multi-specialty medical practice that focuses on the prevention and reversal of chronic diseases. Sleep is not a pillar of health but the bedrock foundation upon which all health, including immunity, is built. Dr. Steven Tucker "I used to say that health was based on fitness, nutrition, mindfulness and sleep. I would tell patients that these are the four pillars of health. I no longer do that," he said. "I can't emphasize it enough if you want to improve your immunity, sleep is not a pillar of health but the bedrock foundation upon which all health, including immunity, is built." It's believed people who experience a quick, sudden decline in health from a coronavirus infection do so as a result of the immune system suddenly kicking into overdrive in a process known as a cytokine storm. The focus then turns to controlling one's immune system as well as the infection. Cytokines can rise by a single night of bad sleep. Sleeping in a silver lining to the shutdown From overnight flights and peering into hand-held screens past midnight, to massive coffee intake, the modern-day lifestyle is no friend of sleep. "Whether your sleep is disrupted from jet lag or from too much training or from anxiety stress, getting more sleep and better sleep improves your resilience, lowers your adrenal and stress hormones and thus improves your immunity," said Dr. Tucker. Drs. Steven Tucker and Brian Schwender of Tucker Medical, an integrated care health facility that focuses on disease prevention and reversal. Courtesy of Tucker Medical Sensing a void among a sleep-deprived customer base, luxury hotel brands created a new form of customer experience. An industry that once wanted to wow you with services and activities started putting you straight to bed. Sleep programs marketed as Rest & Renewal or Deep Sleep packages started in hotels like the Four Seasons and Swissotel. As far back as 2016, Six Senses partnered with "sleep doctor" Michael J. Breus to develop sleep programs at select hotels that include a two-night sleep tracking analyzer, nutritional advice, yoga nidra (yogic sleep), linen that regulates body temperature, special lighting, sound therapy machines and sleep-inducing snacks. Six Senses' sleep programs includes sleep tracking consultations, yoga nidra and nutritional advice. Courtesy of Six Senses While you may not be able to book a sleep program at the nearest luxury hotel right now, you can set a sleep schedule, avoid blue screen devices within one hour of bedtime and exercise in the morning all from the comfort of home. One shutdown silver lining could be longer sleeping hours. With no business travel, after-hour parties to attend, kids to get ready for school and early office hours to adhere to, going to bed early and sleeping in late has never been easier. What to know about coffee and home cocktails Dr. Tucker said to focus on sleep you need to consume less caffeine and "ideally, no alcohol as it really destroys sleep quantity and quality. One or two cups of coffee in the morning before 12 noon is probably OK." In an interview with NPR, bestselling food author Michael Pollan said caffeine causes problems people often miss as it undermines the quality but not necessarily the quantity of sleep, especially "slow wave" or deep sleep. "This isn't REM sleep, where you're having dreams, or light sleep. This is a really deep place you go for not that long a part of the night, but it's really important to your mental and physical health," Pollan said. "It's like cleaning up the desktop on your computer at the end of the day." Eighty percent of the world's population, including children, use caffeine every day. RyanJLane When sleep is disrupted from work, exercise or emotional stress the hormones adrenaline and cortisol are activated. This initially stimulates the immune system but when it continuously occurs, the immune system is weakened. "This will ultimately induce daytime fatigue and nighttime insomnia creating a vicious cycle between the pituitary gland, the adrenal glands and the immune system," said Dr. Tucker. "Compounding the situation today, disrupted sleep will also increase the risk and intensity of anxiety and depression." 'Immune-boosting' drinks and supplements Generally speaking, immune-boosting foods and drinks are not going to provide a significant effect if you are not focusing on sleep nutrition and physical activity, said Dr. Tucker. Dr. Tucker recommends nutrient-rich food over immune-boosting supplements, but doesn't rule out supplements to improve sleep, such as magnesium, melatonin, 5-HTP, L-theanine and serotonin. There's no organic bee pollen smoothie that is going to improve your immunity compared with a good night's rest. Dr. Steven Tucker Dr. Brian Schwender, a Singapore-based gastroenterologist at Tucker Medical, said there is a misconception around taking vitamin C to prevent the coronavirus. "There is no evidence at present to support taking vitamin C, especially in high or super doses, to prevent or treat this infection," he said. "Most of this misinformation is probably from extrapolating the use of vitamin C to reduce the risk of getting the common cold, which is modest at best." A large review by Cochrane, a U.K.-based independent medical research organization, of 29 medical trials published in 2013 did not show any benefit to routine vitamin C consumption among the general public for reducing the rate or severity of the common cold. Furthermore, high doses of vitamin C (greater than 2 grams) can have gastrointestinal side effects and are not advisable for people with kidney stones. Turmeric, ginger and honey are popular immune-boosting foods, but they are no substitute for sleep. Seksak Kerdkanno / EyeEm Turmeric and ginger are compounds that have been found to boost one's immune system and reduce inflammation, however there is no data to support the use of any of these supplements in the prevention or treatment of Covid-19 at this time, said Dr. Schwender. "Most of these 'immune-boosting drinks' are anecdotal at best with respect to preventing or treating Covid-19," he said. Dr. Tucker agrees. "There's no organic bee pollen smoothie that is going to improve your immunity compared with a good night's rest," he said. Other coronavirus tips to improve immunity When it comes to eating healthy, consuming whole foods may not sound as sexy as a hot new superfood, but they're sound advice when it comes to your immune system. Dr. Tucker recommends eating whole foods and particularly vegetables to boost immunity, especially those that grow above ground that are less starchy. Processed foods should be avoided. Geert Jan Vaarjes, the executive chef at Anantara's resort in Hoi An, Vietnam, recommends sticking to freshly-cooked food. The turmeric tea at the Al Baleed Resort Salalah. Courtesy of Anantara (Newser) After reporting quarterly profits for more than five years and annual profits for more than a decade, Delta Air Lines' balance sheet has nosedived into the red. The company has reported a $534 million loss for the first quarter of 2020. That's Delta's first loss since the final quarter of 2014, and with passenger numbers down more than 90%, the next quarter is likely to be far worse, reports CNN; Delta is among the first airlines to report on its coronavirus-related loss. Delta, which had previously been doing so well that it paid a record $1.6 billion to employees in profit-sharing for 2019, says it was burning through $100 million in cash a day in late March but hopes to get that down to $50 million a day by June. Some 650 of its aircraft have been parked. story continues below At least 37,000 of 90,000 Delta employees have agreed to take unpaid leave during the pandemic, the company says. Other airlines have been hit just as hard, but Delta's shares actually rose 2.2% after it reported the loss, the Wall Street Journal reports. The company says it has raised $5.4 billion with measures including loans and a deal to sell some planes and lease them back. It has also received $2.7 billion of an eventual $5.4 billion from the Treasury. Delta Chief Executive Ed Bastian says the recovery could take up to three years. "We do know that Delta will be a smaller airline for some time, and we should be prepared for a choppy, sluggish recovery even after the virus is contained, he told employees. "I hope it's sooner, but we need to be realistic in our planning." (Read more Delta Air Lines stories.) As Xiaomi Malaysia will host their #ShopOnlineWithMi later on in the afternoon (2PM, 22 April), the company decided to let their fans and customers know the official price of the Mi 10 series. According to their Facebook post, the starting price costs RM2799 and the pre-order begins today. In total, there will be 3 Mi 10 variants based on memory. The RM2799 price belongs to the Mi 10 (8GB+128GB) model, whereas the Mi 10 (8GB+256GB) model is RM2999. If you're looking at the pro variant, the Mi 10 Pro (8GB+256GB) is RM3899. Customers who plan to buy the Mi 10 will get a Mi Band 4 (worth RM149) for free, while those planning to get the Mi 10 Pro will receive a complimentary Mi True Wireless Earphone worth RM329. As aforementioned, the pre-order starts today and will end on 30 April 2020. If you can wait it out, the official Mi 10 series sales will start on 1 May 2020 (Labour Day!). The pre-order page for all the 3 variants are now live, which you can check them out at the links below: Stay tuned for more trending tech news at TechNave.com. HACKENSACK, N.J., April 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Tang PC investigates GNC's Board of Directors and Management for Possible Fraud and Breach of Fiduciary Duty Tang PC, a laws firm based in New York and New Jersey announces the investigation of the Board of Directors ("Board") and the senior management ("Management") of GNC Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: GNC) for allegations including, but not limited to fraud and breach of fiduciary duty. John Tang, Esq., the principal of Tang PC, is a long-term investor with a significant holding of 7.88% of outstanding GNC Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: GNC) class A common stock. John Tang, in concert with a group of individual GNC shareholders across the world, has recently established the GNC Shareholder Advocacy Group ("SAG") to protect and promote the shareholder's interest. The SAG and Tang PC have received material information and extremely disturbing allegations from multiple credible sources that warrants the aforementioned investigation. Tang PC will investigate the allegations including, but not limited to: GNC's Board and Management are not pursuing any readily available options to address the short-term liquidity issue due in May 2020 caused by the coronavirus pandemic as claimed by the Management, and instead are actively working with the lenders on the avoidable bankruptcy filing. caused by the coronavirus pandemic as claimed by the Management, and instead are actively working with the lenders on the avoidable bankruptcy filing. GNC's Board and Management colludes with the GNC creditors to defraud the shareholders for the purposes of self-enrichment by orderly and gradually sinking GNC into bankruptcy and into the hands of GNC creditors at the minimum cost. GNC's Board and Management deliberately rejected several tender offers in the past few years to serve towards the GNC creditors' ultimate goal of stealing the company at the expenses of the shareholders. GNC's Management has purposefully not restructured the long-term debt in the best interest of the Company and engineered several default risks in the past few years to facilitate the seemingly inevitable bankruptcy filing in the interest of GNC creditors GNC's Management conspires with the GNC creditors to drive down the stock price so that crumbles, if any, to the shareholders from the bankruptcy proceeding constitutes a premium. GNC's Board and Management's clear Breach of fiduciary duty owed to the shareholders on the grounds of their numerous actions on record. GNC's Board and Management are not responsive to Tang PC's letter dated April 19, 2020 that sought their response to those allegations. Tang PC is compelled to instigate the investigation immediately and may expand the scope of the investigation to include other related parties. Due to the imminent nature of the alleged bankruptcy filing and foreseeable irreparable damages to the shareholders, the shareholders have authorized Tang PC to promptly initiate the lawsuit against the Board, Management and other parties, seeking injunctive and other reliefs. Tang PC Proposes the Public Sale of GNC Tang PC, on behalf of the shareholders, proposes the sale of GNC on the grounds as follows: GNC's true and fair value can only be determined and unlocked by the public sale. GNC is a leading global powerhouse of health and nutritional products with revenue of $2.07 billion, EBITDA of $191.8 million and net cash flow of $96.5 million in 2019. GNC has approximately $100 million in cash, $45 million receivable from IVC and $871.2 million in debt as of today. In the United States, the average value of enterprise value to EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) in the retail and trade sector as of 2020 was a multiple of approximately 13.4x, 22.8x for online retail. A more conservative multiple of 10 would still give GNC an enterprise value of $1.918 billion and a net value of $1.19 billion after cash and debt, not counting China joint venture. By contrast GNC's current market capitalization is less than $35 million. GNC has never been offered for sale but nevertheless has seen several attempts of acquisition in the past. A public sale of GNC could attract companies like P&G (PG), Nestle (NSRGY), Hershey's (HSY), Amazon (AMZN) and other health/nutritional products companies domestic or international. The right buyer has the opportunity to acquire GNC at a low price, financing through the issuance of low yield bond or low interest loan. The public sale is the only way to protect the shareholders from the possible collusion of the insiders, including the Board and Management, the creditors and CITIC/Harbin Pharmaceutical. CITIC/Harbin completed the $300 million investment for preferred stock to be converted to 40% of GNC common stock at $5.35/share. Currently CITIC/Harbin has 5 directors. A backroom deal will embolden the Board and Management to push for the unnecessary bankruptcy. The insiders will reap all the benefits of the bankruptcy, wiping out or greatly diluting the shareholders' stake. As the result, the insiders would own the debt-free GNC for less than $1 billion. The public sale is warranted by the complete loss of confidence in the Board and Management. There shall be no doubt that this Board and Management do not serve the best interest of the shareholders. GNC's stock performance may not reflect the true value of GNC but it does indicate the ineptness of the Board and Management. Despite the mismanagement of GNC and constant injection of uncertainty and confusion in the market by the surprising, misleading and conflicting press releases one after another, the Board and Management rewarded themselves with $250K compensation to the directors and multiple million compensation to the Management when the GNC stock becomes penny stock and the employees earn minimum wages. Tang PC (www.gettang.com) is a law firm committed to providing premium legal services to clients across the world. GNC SAG is a shareholder advocacy group organized by John Tang, Esq. SOURCE Tang PC Related Links http://www.gettang.com How do I even start an article with so much anger in my heart? Where do I begin? The highly anticipated $349 billion Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding has, of course, gone largely to profitable large-scale companies and not the small business owners in emergent need. Most notable recipients of large sums of money include Ruths Chriswho received a whopping $20 million on April 7thand Shake Shack, who are now giving back their humble award of $10 million. I dont know how many of you have worked for an actual small business. Ive had the opportunity to do so for over 10 years of my life so far with various companies, and I get to see the nitty gritty details that business owners dont talk about to their friends. Profit margins are almost nonexistent, and its a constant struggle to stay open and keep employees on payroll. Workers make willing sacrifices regularly to stay with companies and jobs that they love. How can we sit by idly while businesses who have more than $100 million in cash available receive $10 million dollars in immediate aid, but businesses who could keep themselves afloat with only $5,000 are denied? Why did you even apply for the money in the first place? asks CNN reporter Alicia Wallace to Shake Shack CEO Randy Garutti. For the very reason, I think, as it was intended, right? To take care of our team and employ as many peoplelook, our team members have as much value as any other team member in the world, Garutti spits out. Garutti continues to stumble over justifying why a company as profitable as Shake Shack would even apply at all, when so many businesses stand to shut their doors this month without help, but he clearly seems to think giving the money back will make everything ok. It wont. When businesses with fewer than 10 employees are denied crucial funding, "It's a reminder to small businesses that our voices are dampened," April Richardson, owner of D.C. bakery DC Sweet Potato Cake, told CNN Business. "What are we doing this for? Why are we in business just to be told we're not good enough because we're not big enough?" Other publicly traded companies with over 500 employees that received large amounts of funding include Potbelly restaurants, Fiesta Restaurant Group, J Alexanders Holdings, Hallador Energy Company, New Age Beverages and DMC Global. New Mexico alone has 154,257 actual small businesses, and those businesses are already being crushed under the weight of COVID-19. Even worse, local restaurants are being preyed upon by national food delivery services who take 30 percent of their miniscule earnings to deliver food to self-isolated customers. Our local businesses urgently need help, and the funding has already run out. The Senate has approved another $484 billion to aid small businesses and hospitals doing coronavirus testing, so maybe some of that money can actually make it to small businesses this time. I wont hold my breath. Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Wednesday it has launched its first military satellite into orbit, becoming one of only a few countries with this technology in the region at a time of heightened US-Iran tensions. IRGC commander Hossein Salami said that the corps became a space force with the launching of the satellite. The satellites successful launch enhanced new aspects of the Islamic Republics defensive might, Salami said, according to the Iranian state-run Press TV. By Gods grace, the corps turned into a space force today. The satellite is named Noor, which means light in Persian and Arabic. It launched Wednesday morning from a desert in central Iran via a fuel-powered satellite carrier, according to Reuters. Images on the Iranian states Arabic-language news service Alalam showed a Quranic verse inscribed on its side. The launch means Iran joins a few other countries in the Middle East with military satellite capabilities, including Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey. Military satellites have a range of functions, including intelligence gathering. The news comes at a time of severely heightened US-Iran tensions. The United States has long suspected Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies. In December, pro-Iran militia supporters in Baghdad stormed the US Embassy there. The United States killed longtime IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani during a visit to Baghdad days later. Iran retaliated by bombing US military installations in Iraq that January. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed the launch violated a UN Security Council resolution, adding, I think Iran needs to be held accountable for what they have done." The United States recently accused Irans naval fleet of maneuvering too close to US Navy ships in a provocative move in the Persian Gulf. On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said the US forces should fire on any Iranian ships that harass them. Iran called the order bullying. The IRGC was formed after the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and is controlled by Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini. The IRGC has a strong ideological component, more so than the countrys regular armed forces, and has ground, sea and air divisions. The IRGC plays a prominent role in Iranian society, most recently working to stop the spread of the coronavirus in the country. Matt Hancock yesterday urged seriously ill patients to contact their GP amid fears that thousands of cancers are going undetected. The Health Secretary stressed that the NHS was still open for anyone with non-coronavirus symptoms, especially those with suspected tumours, heart attacks and strokes. His statement in the Commons came after the Daily Mail yesterday reported a warning by Cancer Research UK that 2,700 cancers a week are being undiagnosed. The charity said patients were delaying seeing their GP with symptoms or missing out on screening programmes for early detection which have been suspended. The Health Secretary Matt Hancock stressed that the NHS was still open for anyone with non-coronavirus symptoms, especially those with suspected tumours, heart attacks and strokes Officials fear the NHS will face a huge backlog in cases when the Covid-19 outbreak is over, which will lead to some facing even longer waits for treatment. Mr Hancock said: I want to reinforce the message that non-Covid NHS services are open for patients. The NHS is there for you if you need advice and treatment. I want to address very clearly this message to those who might be vulnerable to heart attacks or stroke, to parents of young children, to pregnant women and to people with concerns that they may have cancer. People with non-coronavirus symptoms must still contact their GP. If you need urgent medical advice, use NHS 111 online or if you cant get online, call 111. Of course, if its serious or life-threatening, call 999. If you are told to go to hospital, the place you need to be is in hospital. The NHS is there for you and can provide the very best care if you need it. If you think you have a lump that might be cancer then you should come forward now and you will be safely and properly treated in the NHS. Cancer Research UK figures showed the numbers of patients being referred urgently to hospital with suspicious symptoms has dropped by 75 per cent since the start of the outbreak. Sarah Woolnough, from Cancer Research UK, said cancer treatment was in a precarious position At the same time screening programmes to detect breast, cervical and bowel tumours early have mostly been paused. Separately, an organisation representing hospitals revealed that one unnamed trust which usually diagnosed 20 bowel cancers a month had so far confirmed none. Sarah Woolnough, from Cancer Research UK, said cancer treatment was in a precarious position. She added: The anticipated backlog of patients needing to be diagnosed and treated will have a lasting impact on the NHSs ability to get all people through the system swiftly and on cancer deaths. We could be looking at thousands and thousands of patients who need to be diagnosed and treated, and millions who need catching up on screening, depending on how long services are disrupted. Steven McIntosh, from Macmillan Cancer Support, added: Theres really worrying evidence that fewer people are coming forward and getting cancer symptoms diagnosed. If youve experienced signs of cancer you must urgently contact your GP. Saffron Cordery, the deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents hospitals, said: In the last day, one chief executive told us that their trust would normally diagnose 20 colorectal (bowel) cancers a month but so far this month had none. Another trust pointed to a significant decline in the number of cancer patients getting in touch, raising concerns that they may not be seeking the help they need. Professor Karol Sikora, a cancer specialist, has previously warned that the impact of the coronavirus outbreak could result in 50,000 cancer deaths. Crucial tumour op cancelled with just a weeks warning By Kamal Sultan Beth Purvis, a 40-year-old mother of two, has stage-four bowel cancer that has spread to her lungs. But an operation to remove a tumour from her right lung scheduled for March 25 at the Royal Brompton Hospital in Chelsea, London was cancelled with only a weeks notice amid the coronavirus crisis. Mrs Purvis said: I was devastated, I just burst into tears. It is a critical operation because it can help buy me time and there is a small chance it might be cured. Pictured: Beth Purvis, whose operation to remove a tumour in her right lung was cancelled with a week's notice If you leave the cancer, it has the opportunity to grow and spread further, I just do not know what it is going to do or how long it is safe to leave it for. The operation had offered her and her family some much-needed relief, said Mrs Purvis, from Bishops Stortford, Essex. When you have stage four cancer, every time something pops up you just hope that you can treat it. Each treatment just gives you hope and all that hope had been wiped away. Mrs Purvis has now been offered stereotactic body radiotherapy which she was not eligible for before due to the number of tumours in her lungs. Her doctors feel it is a safer option than surgery because of the risk of catching coronavirus in hospital. She said: It may actually turn out to be a better option in the long run. Mrs Purvis said she understood why the decision to cancel her surgery was made, adding: It is a really difficult situation because those of us waiting for operations will probably last a few weeks or months without our operations. Logically and rationally, I understand the decision but emotionally I am completely drained. Mrs Purvis said she and husband Richard, a painter and decorator, were up front with their children, Joseph 11, and Abigail, ten. She added: Their worlds have been turned upside down. A Ugandan court in Kampala has convicted six Chinese nationals for escaping from a hotel in the countrys capital where they had been quarantined over the deadly Coronavirus. According to the Daily Monitor, the group last month escaped from a hotel in Kibuli and were later arrested together with their Ugandan driver and his wife in Zombo district on their way to the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Chinese nationals, Mr. Huang Haiguiang, Mr. Li Chaochyan, Mr. Lin Xiaofang, Mr. Qin Shening, Mr. Liang Xinging, and Mr. Huang Wei on Tuesday, April 21 appeared before Chief Magistrate Ruth Nabaasa before they pleaded guilty of disobeying lawful orders, an act likely to spread infection of disease contrary to Section 171 of the Penal Code Act before Nakawa Chief Ruth Nabaasa. Prosecution led by Ms. Annette Namatovu states that on the 19th day of March 2020 at Kibuli Hotel Africa in Kampala that six Chinese nationals unlawfully or negligently escaped from self quarantined at the said hotel without completing their fourteen mandatory days against COVID-19 to Zombo district. According to the court records, the six Chinese arrived at Entebbe international airport aboard Ethiopian Airlines on March 10, 2020, and had been subjected to 14 days of self-quarantine at Kibuli Hotel Africa but decided to defy the orders of the Ministry of Health. The groups Ugandan driver, Abdu Matovu, 35 and his wife, Swabu Nassuuna, 27 denied the charges. The magistrate remanded the Chinese nationals until May 4 when they will appear for sentencing. Skip Ad ADVERTISEMENT According to the court records, the six Chinese arrived at Entebbe international airport aboard Ethiopian Airlines on March 10, 2020, and had been subjected to 14 days of self-quarantine at Kibuli Hotel Africa but decided to defy the orders of the Ministry of Health. The groups Ugandan driver, Abdu Matovu, 35 and his wife, Swabu Nassuuna, 27 denied the charges. The magistrate remanded the Chinese nationals until May 4 when they will appear for sentencing. INTERLOCHEN -- COVID-19 may have seemingly turned the education world upside down over the past month and a half, but New Covenant Christian Academy's 42 students and the staff members who educate them have risen to the challenge this spring. According to school administrator Sue Frost-Mayse, New Covenant Christian Academy was well prepared for the move to virtual learning thanks to plans developed long before the COVID-19 pandemic began to significantly impact the United States. "We had just heard about it in China, and for some reason it was put into my head to wake up that morning and write a policy for COVID-19," Frost-Mayse said. "I don't know why, but I felt like something was coming. In that policy I put out to staff and parents, I said that we would do virtual teaching and we would have packets available, so I had a plan in place well before it happened." Gov. Gretchen Whitmer officially ordered school buildings to temporarily close their doors on beginning March 16, but thanks to the plans New Covenant had in place, education hardly missed a beat that week. "When the governor said that we needed to close schools, I put that plan into place. We were actually teaching immediately that next week after she closed schools," Frost-Mayse said. Frost-Mayse said that they utilized a combination of FaceTime, Zoom and lesson packets in the days following the governor's order and leading into spring break. During spring break, she said New Covenant adjusted its plans slightly when Whitmer announced school buildings would remain closed for the rest of the school year. "The first week doing (it) after spring break was kind of crazy, but now that we are doing it, it's leveling off and people are really getting into a schedule," Frost-Mayse said. Since spring break, Frost-Mayse said they have been using the educator program on Microsoft Teams to make videos for students to watch any time as well as holding virtual live classes. Thanks to the efforts of staff and programs they have in place, Frost-Mayse said she expects all students to finish the school year at or above grade level. "We really aren't going to lose much ground. Many of the students are going to be ahead of schedule if that makes sense. There really won't be anyone who will be behind schedule," she said. "We were scheduled to finish a lot of our curriculum before the end of school, which is May 28." While the end result looks promising from an educational perspective, Frost-Mayse said much of that credit belongs to the staff for all of the hard work they are putting into making virtual learning a success. "We are very busy. We are working harder than we do when we are at school, honestly. We are doing all that we can to have personal contact," Frost-Mayse said. "I'm reading a bedtime story every night and sending it to the kids and I'm doing a devotion every morning. It's just so important for kids to see us and know that we are still here." Frost-Mayse said that she plans to do two weeks of review when students return in the fall to gauge where they are at. Afterward, she expects classrooms to pick right back up into the flow of things. The Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has recovered from COVID-19 having tested negative to the disease twice. This comes almost four weeks after the governor tested positive to the virus. Mr El-Rufai made the announcement in a statement and on his official Twitter handle on Wednesday. I am delighted to report today, that after nearly four weeks of observing a strict medical regime, I have now received the all-clear after two consecutive negative test results. I thank Almighty Allah for His grace and mercy. I also acknowledge with gratitude the massive outpouring of sympathy, prayers and public support that followed the disclosure of the infection, he said. The governor added that his family went through the trauma of potentially losing a family member and being infected, but remained supportive. My family not only went through the trauma of potentially losing a member, but also the risk of being infected as well. The entire family has been supportive as usual, while my many friends and colleagues from all over the world have sent their prayers and best wishes. While he commended the medical personnel of Ministry of Health and the Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital who managed his case with professional care, the governor expressed happiness at the recovery of four other COVID-19 patients. I am delighted by the recovery of four other COVID-19 cases who were discharged last week which was followed yesterday with the discharge of a fifth patient. On Monday, we received the sad news of three more positive cases in Kaduna State. They will receive the best care that our dedicated health professionals can muster and we wish them speedy recovery from COVID-19, he said. The governor noted that the state has a lower infection rate than expected due to stringent measures imposed by the state government. But we cannot let our guards down. We are in dangerous times. This disease is a threat to our humanity, our lives and livelihoods. As someone that has experienced it, I will not wish it on my worst enemy. We must reiterate that an infected person can show no symptoms as I did, for up to two weeks, while unknowingly infecting others close to him or even through casual contact. He further admonished residents of the state to adhere to the health advisory issued by the Ministry of Health. Compulsory use of face masks Mr El-Rufai also announced the compulsory use of fave masks for everyone going out. READ ALSO: This is even as he said the state government would make the masks available for free to the poor. I have issued another amendment to the Quarantine Regulations requiring everyone in the State to wear a face mask when going out of the home or workplace for any reason. The State Government is going to make these masks available free to the poor and vulnerable groups, and encourage everyone that can afford it to get their neighbourhood tailor to sew cloth masks for their use. This will help protect them, their loved ones and everyone else from the spread of this disease, he said. The number of COVID-19 cases has been on the increase across the country. As at Tuesday, the NCDC announced a total of 782 cases including 25 deaths. A plane with thousands of surgical gowns and other personal protective equipment (PPE) has landed in the UK from Turkey, after several days of delay. The British Royal Air Force (RAF) military craft arrived the RAF Brize Norton airbase in Oxfordshire, about 75 miles from London, early on Wednesday. Cargo was seen being offloaded and transferred into a truck. The shipment, which contained at least 400,000 surgical gowns and other equipment, was supposed to have arrived on Sunday but was unexpectedly delayed, according to local media. The Turkish ambassador to the UK Umut Yalcin told Sky News: As far as I understand there have been problems with the private [Turkish] supplier company. Now Turkey is cooperating with the UK authorities to find a quick solution for the UKs urgent needs. Turkey helped the UK by donating 250,000 pieces of personal protective equipment last week and this time again Turkey is trying to help the UK authorities to resolve this commercial issue. He said the UK officially asked for support on Sunday. By then, criticism was mounting against the government that it was failing to provide healthcare workers with an adequate supply of PPE. Britains overall response to the coronavirus outbreak has seen PM Johnson heavily criticised over indecisive action on a lockdown at the start of the crisis and later, PPE shortages. The trade union Unite has told its members they could lawfully refuse to work to avoid risk of injury, describing the PPE situation as a national scandal. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is leading the government while Prime Minister Boris Johnson recovers from a severe case of COVID-19, said on Wednesday that at least 69 medical workers had died on the front lines of the epidemic. There was also further controversy after Simon McDonald, the head of the UKs diplomatic service, said the government had made a political decision in failing to join a European Union-wide scheme to buy medical ventilators in bulk. He has since withdrawn the comment. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the true extent of Britains COVID-19 death toll was reported to be more than 40 percent higher than the governments daily figures indicated as of April 10, according to official data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) that put the country on track to become among the worst-hit in Europe. The ONS said it recorded 13,121 deaths by April 10 in England and Wales, which account for the vast majority of Britains population, compared with 9,288 in the governments daily toll for those who died in hospital. On Wednesday, analysis by the Financial Times of the latest ONS data suggested the novel coronavirus outbreak has caused as many as 41,000 deaths in the United Kingdom. China-linked Winnti cyberespionage group targets South Korean video gaming company Gravity, QuoIntelligence (QuoINT) firm reported. Security experts from QuoIntelligence (QuoINT) firm reported that China-linked Winnti cyberespionage group targets South Korean video gaming company Gravity. The Winnti group was first spotted by Kaspersky in 2013, but according to the researchers the gang has been active since 2007. The experts believe that under the Winnti umbrella there are several APT groups, including Winnti, Gref, PlayfullDragon, APT17, DeputyDog, Axiom, BARIUM, LEAD, PassCV, Wicked Panda, Group 72, Blackfly, and APT41, and ShadowPad. The APT group targeted organizations in various industries, including the aviation, gaming, pharmaceuticals, technology, telecoms, and software development industries. Now Winnti cyberspies have targeted South Korean video gaming company Gravity, which is known for the development of the popular multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Ragnarok Online. Based on previous knowledge and targeting of the Winnti Group, we assess that this sample was likely used to target Gravity Co., Ltd., a South Korean video game company. reads the report published by QuoIntelligence. The company is known for its Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) Ragnarok Online, which is also offered as a mobile application. As we have also reported in the past, the video game industry is one of the preferred targets of the Winnti Group, especially for those companies operating in South Korea and Taiwan. The malware sample employed in the attack resembled a Winnti dropper previously analyzed by ESET researcher that was submitted to a public online malware scanning service. The analysis of the configuration file of malware allowed the identification of the intended target. ESET researchers reported multiple Winnti Group campaigns targeting the gaming industry, one of the C2 servers involved in a campaign tracked as ID GRA KR 0629 was also involved in the attack uncovered by QuoINT. Anyway the report published by QuoINT doesnt include further evidence to support the link between the two campaigns. QuoINT also reported another attack carried out by the Winnti Group against a chemical company in Germany in January 2020. The piece of malware employed in the attack was developed in 2015, it was the same used in the attack against Gravity that had the targets name embedded in the code. Although the malware was likely used years ago, further analysis revealed a previously unreported C2 technique never attributed to any Winnti Groups toolkits. continues the report. The technique relies on a DNS Tunneling communication channel through a custom implementation of the iodine source code, an open-source software that enables the tunneling of IPv4 data through a DNS server. Additionally, we uncovered a previously unknown stolen digital certificate being used to digitally sign Winnti-related attack components, and the targeting of a previously-unreported South Korean video game company. In the attack on the German company, the malware run the dsefix.exe executable to bypass driver verification and install its own drivers. a vulnerable VirtualBox driver, and rootkit drivers. Experts pointed out that this technique doesnt work on modern Windows (e.g. Windows 10), a circumstance that suggests that the malicious code was developed and used several years ago. Experts also highlighted the use of DNS tunneling for C2 communication. The Winnti Group has exhibited their ability to breach different organizations and conduct sophisticated attack operations, typically motivated by espionage and financial gain, with various TTPs and malware toolkits. QuoINT concludes. While attribution is not concrete due to the complexity of the group, there are links that can be drawn between operations which suggest the threat actors purporting the attacks are likely operating within the Winnti Group, or at least sharing resources, Pierluigi Paganini (SecurityAffairs Winnti, hacking) Share this... Linkedin Share this: Twitter Print LinkedIn Facebook More Tumblr Pocket Share On The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented challenge for Qatar Airways and the aviation industry as a whole. While the airline continues to maintain operations where possible to take people home and to transport essential supplies, overall demand for air transport has declined significantly. Passenger Operations Since mid-February, Qatar Airways has helped reunite over one million passengers with their loved ones, operating a mix of scheduled and charter services plus extra sectors. In the past several weeks, the airline has helped repatriate over 45,000 passengers back home to France, 70,000 home to Germany and over 100,000 customers back to the United Kingdom. Working with governments and group travel companies around the world, the airline operated over 90 charters and extra sector flights taking home over 26,000 stranded travellers. The demand to help get stranded travellers home has also seen Qatar Airways operate flights to new destinations such as Brisbane, Christchurch and Toronto. The national carrier of the State of Qatar continues to operate approximately 60 scheduled flights a day to around 40 destinations and is working closely with embassies across the globe to arrange charters to repatriate stranded citizens. Cargo Operations With global air freight capacity declining, Qatar Airways Cargo has increased operations to ensure the continuity of global trade and movement of essential medical and aid supplies. We continue to operate a significant cargo schedule with almost 100 flights per day, during the past month the cargo operator has worked closely with governments and NGOs to transport over 70,000 tonnes of medical and aid supplies to impacted regions around the world on both scheduled and charter services, the equivalent of roughly 500 fully loaded Boeing 777 freighters. To continue to fulfil demand the Groups cargo division is also utilising passenger aircraft to carry freight-only to destinations in China, Europe, India and the Middle East. Staff Solidarity Programme The airline has been working diligently to reduce or defer costs where possible. The airline recently worked with staff to implement a Solidarity Programme that would see mid-level and above Doha based staff defer a portion of their basic salary. For mid-level employees and above, the basic monthly salary will be subject to a 50% deferral. This temporary measure is expected to last for three months, starting from April 2020, the position will be kept under review depending on the economic situation. Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: The entire team at Qatar Airways has worked incredibly hard to take people home over the past few weeks. We have built a strong level of trust with our passengers, governments, travel trade and cargo businesses as a reliable partner when we were needed the most and we continue to offer a schedule where possible and allowed by governments." We also introduced an employee pay deferral scheme which the Company will credit salary back as soon as possible when circumstances allow. Many other work groups overseas and across all job levels have also offered to take voluntary salary deferrals in solidarity with their colleagues, reinforcing the fact that the Qatar Airways Group family is one who has the best interests of each other and the airline at heart. I know many of our Qatar Airways employees have left family and friends at home to commit to building this airline with me and we will always do what is in the best interest of both the business and our committed and hard-working staff, I could not be more proud of our team who have worked incredibly hard to build even greater trust with the travelling public. Safeguarding our passengers and staff As an airline, Qatar Airways maintains the highest possible hygiene standards, which include the regular disinfection of aircraft, the use of cleaning products recommended by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the World Health Organization (WHO), and thermal screening of crew. In addition, Qatar Airways aircraft feature the most advanced air filtration systems, equipped with industrial-size HEPA filters that remove 99.97% of viral and bacterial contaminants from re-circulated air, providing the most effective protection against infection. All the airlines onboard linen and blankets are washed, dried and pressed at microbial lethal temperatures, while its headsets are removed of ear foams and rigorously sanitized after each flight. These items are then sealed into individual packaging by staff wearing hygienic disposable gloves. Qatar Aircraft Catering Company (QACC) was the first organisation in the world last year to achieve ISO22000:2018 certification from Bureau Veritas with UKAS accreditation, confirming its Food Safety Management System meets the highest standards. All meal service utensils and cutlery are washed with detergents and rinsed with demineralized fresh water at temperatures that kill pathogenic bacteria. All sanitized equipment is handled by staff wearing hygienic disposable gloves. Hamad International Airport (HIA) is also robustly minimising any risks to the health and safety of passengers and staff. As a vital pillar to Qatars national economy, HIAs doors remain open as it continues its operations to take people home to their family through Doha, and to ensure food security of Qatar through cargo. HIA has implemented stringent cleaning procedures and closed most of the non-essential passenger facilities. All passenger touchpoints are sanitized every 10-15 minutes. All boarding gates and bus gate counters are cleaned after each flight. PRIZREN, Kosovo, April 21 (Reuters) - Scotsman Mike Elm and his partner Rosie Watson, who are travelling from Europe to Asia to raise awareness of climate change, have been trapped in Kosovo for more than a month due to border closures caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Elm and Watson are allowed to go out for 90 minutes each day to get essential items in the western town of Prizren and even their interview with Reuters TV had to be approved by Kosovo authorities. "I am extremely fortunate in the place I ended up, it is a beautiful city," Elm told Reuters. "I can imagine it would be much more challenging if I was just here on my own twiddling my thumbs and having no one to debate with and laugh with. Elm, a 32-year old from Edinburgh, had planned to pedal his bicycle 10,000 kilometres from Austria to Mongolia in two years, but he had covered only 3,000km before reaching Kosovo. Watson begun her journey last year from her home in the Lake District, northern England. "Eastern Europe has more natural resources and more to hold on to and not let go, down that root of destroying, Watson said. (Reporting by Bardh Krasniqi; Editing by Ivana Sekularac and Ed Osmond) Dont panic. Mothers Day isnt until Sunday, May 10. Theres plenty of time to make something for Mom or order a gift to pamper her or support her interests. We have tons of ideas. Here are five Mothers Day gift ideas that will surprise: Sew wonderful: Bolt Fabric Boutique in Portland offers private lessons and classes as well as a blog with sewing tips and tutorials. Sewing Machines Plus will ship for free to Oregon on orders over $49. The family-owned company has been involved in the sewing, embroidery, quilting and vacuum business for more than a half century. If Mom hasnt revealed her dream stitching machine, sewing consultants will advise you and if anyone needs a troubleshooter, master mechanics can lend technical support. Kendra Scott's Everlyne BraceletsKendra Scott Generous bracelet: Kendra Scott donates half of all proceeds from its Everlyne Bracelets to support the Feeding America network of food banks, which are working harder to help children who face hunger while schools are closed during the coronavirus pandemic. No more stinky sheets: Miracle Brand by Aloft are premium bed sheets and plush towels made of cotton and natural silver fiber, which kills 99.9% of bacteria and eliminates odor. Read the reviews. Swanwick SleepSwanwick Sleep A massage for the eyes: Swanwick Sleep, the company founded by Australian brothers James and Tristan Swanwick, has Swannies blue light blocking glasses that protect eyes at night from electronics light, which suppresses melatonin production, the bodys natural process to prepare for sleep. Other sleep products (like a sleeping mask and reusable sound-blocking ear plugs) are also designed to extend sleep comfort. The Bouqs Co.'s Showstopper Bouqs Co. Farm-fresh flowers: A bouquet is more than pretty. The scent can transport us to nature and, if were lucky, to memories of special times spent with loved ones. The Bouqs Co.'s customizable deliveries of blossoms, grown on sustainable, eco-friendly farms, lets you pick the look, from traditional to tropical. The Showstopper (seen here) has spray roses and alstroemeria plus succulents that can be planted. Bonus: Subscribers receive a 30 percent discount each time plus free shipping. --Janet Eastman | 503-294-4072 jeastman@oregonian.com | @janeteastman Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories An Ohio man is dead from COVID-19 weeks after claiming the coronavirus pandemic was a political ploy. John W. McDaniel died at age 60 on Wednesday, April 15, in Columbus, Ohio, according to an obituary in the Marion Star. The newspaper said Johnny McDaniel was the first coronavirus death in Marion County; the obit said he died with his loving family by his side from complications from Covid-19. The New York Post reports social media posts show McDaniel angrily dismissed coronavirus concerns last month and said Ohio Gov. Mike DeWines stay-at-home order was political. Does anybody have the guts to say this COVID-19 is a political ploy? Asking for a friend. Prove me wrong, he wrote March 13 on Facebook. Days later, the Republican governor announced a stay-at-home order, closing all non-essential businesses and telling residents to stay home with few exceptions, such as grocery stores, pharmacies, and takeout food from restaurants. He doesnt have that authority. If you are paranoid about getting sick just dont go out. It shouldnt keep those of us from living our lives, McDaniel wrote. The madness has to stop. According to the Post, McDaniels Facebook comments have since been deleted but screenshots have been circulating online. Ohio man, 60, who blasted COVID-19 lockdown as 'political ploy' dies after contracting #coronavirus. https://t.co/QU5gmcwh5H Bruce Bourgoine (@BruceBourgoine) April 21, 2020 Others have similarly dismissed the coronavirus as hype or a hoax, staging protests in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio and other states to demand reopening businesses. Health officials have continued to encourage social distancing, sheltering in place, and other precautions to slow the spread of coronavirus. McDaniel is survived by a wife and two sons. In his obituary, the family pleaded for everyone to continue practicing social distancing to keep each other safe. More than 2.5 million cases of coronavirus and 171,000 deaths have been confirmed worldwide, including more than 788,000 cases and 42,000 deaths in the U.S. More: Coronavirus testing creates a dangerous world thats dirty or clean, UPMC Pinnacle nurses say Coroner accuses Pa. Health Dept. of Monday morning quarterbacking coronavirus deaths Ga.s governor is reopening the state, but many business owners are hesitant to follow his lead The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv has denied reports about U.S. military laboratories in Ukraine and added that they repeat Russian disinformation, according to a statement posted on the embassy's website. "The U.S. Embassy would like to set the record straight regarding disinformation spreading in some circles in Ukraine that mirrors Russian disinformation regarding the strong U.S.-Ukrainian partnership to reduce biological threats," the statement said. The Embassy stressed that in Ukraine, the U.S. Department of Defense's Biological Threat Reduction Program works with the Ukrainian Government to consolidate and secure pathogens and toxins of security concern in Ukrainian government facilities, while allowing for peaceful research and vaccine development. "We also work with our Ukrainian partners to ensure Ukraine can detect and report outbreaks caused by dangerous pathogens before they pose security or stability threats. Our joint efforts help to ensure that dangerous pathogens do not fall into the wrong hands," the statement said. The diplomatic mission said the United States is "proud to partner with the Ministry of Health, the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences, and the Ministry of Defense to make us all safer." Commenting on accusations against the Science and Technology Center in Ukraine (STCU) regarding the alleged creation of weapons of mass destruction, the Embassy recalled that this intergovernmental organization was established by international agreement in October 1993. The current Parties to the STCU are Azerbaijan, the European Union, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, the United States, and Uzbekistan. "The STCU seeks to advance global peace and prosperity through cooperative Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) risk mitigation by supporting civilian science and technology partnerships and collaboration that address global security threats and advance non-proliferation," the Embassy said. On April 15, the Opposition Platform For Life party posted on its website a statement by the chairman of the party's political council, Victor Medvedchuk, in which he said that he, together with MP Renat Kuzmin, submitted a deputy appeal to President Volodymyr Zelensky, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov and SBU Chief Ivan Bakanov "with the demand that the authorities publish the facts of unlawful 'cooperation' between Ukraine and the U.S. in the sphere of the functioning of American biological laboratories in our country 'cooperation' that started began back during the presidency of Yushchenko, lasted under President Poroshenko and is maintained under the current government." op UK council drops X-rated sex ed program for kids after Christian group intervenes Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A controversial sex-ed curriculum that included lessons on masturbation, pornography and gender spectrum was dropped by a county council in England after parents and Christian activists protested. Parents in Birmingham said the curriculum, called The All About Me, was too sexually explicit and inappropriate for children, the Birmingham Live reported. The content "encouraged masturbation," an unhealthy view of porn, and "experimental transgender ideas in schools," the parents said. Before the The Christian Institute intervened in behalf of parents and threatened to take legal action, the Warwickshire County Council backed the program and said it would help children cultivate "healthy relationships and to enable them to build positive and safe relationships as they grow and develop into adults, the council said before dropping the program, Birmingham Live added. The Christian Institute said the program materials "made no reference to marriage, contrary to national requirements." It also taught children that there are multiple genders and encouraged schools to allow students to enter bathrooms designated for the opposite sex. "It also encouraged schools not to inform parents if their children would be sharing overnight accommodation with pupils of the opposite sex while on residential trips, and to conceal a childs transgender status from their own parents contrary to parental rights protected under the Human Rights Act 1998," The Christian Institute added. One mother from Leamington Spa who did not want to be named told Birmingham Live that when the council's plans were made public she looked at the accompanying content online on a website called Respect Yourself and was "horrified." "At first I thought it looked fine. Then I started to read it and some of it is really quite disturbing," she said. "I thought 'is this what the council is telling my kids, that porn is fine and there's no such thing as porn addiction?'" Hundreds of people then signed a petition calling for the website to be taken down, an effort that proved successful. The Warwickshire County Council ultimately took the site offline and an independent review was launched. Council documents show that the school's program is now being replaced with an information and signposting offer to schools, which will adopt the Department for Educations new national materials and resources on sex education, which are still being developed. Warwickshires climbdown will come as welcome news to hundreds of concerned parents. The highly explicit imagery and one-sided ideology of All About Me has no place in Primary Relationships Education," said The Christian Institute's education officer John Denning, in response to the move. Schools are obviously facing a challenging time at the moment. But as soon as they can, they must consult with parents on a different approach to teaching RSE which complies with the law." He added, As with other teaching in state schools, it must be balanced, objective and critical, not pushing particular controversial views such as transgender ideology. Around the world what is known as "comprehensive sex education" has raised the ire of parents who do not want their children introduced and exposed to graphic imagery and transgender ideology. Particularly the idea that sex exists on a spectrum and is not binary, and that it's possible for children to self-select their gender apart from their actual biological sex, and that some people might be born in the wrong body. In Washington state last month, parents and conservative legislators attempted to add dozens of amendments, all of which were voted down, to a sex-ed bill containing materials that many saw as inappropriate and a usurpation of parental rights. Russian state media claimed that baking soda, lemon, vitamin C, and zinc killed coronavirus, but that washing hands was ineffective. Russia and China are still carpet-bombing Europeans with coronavirus lies, the EU foreign service has warned. Some Russian content on "fake cures" was "particularly concerning and malicious" due to its "potential to inflict tangible harm on people's health", the EU diplomats said in a new report on Monday, seen by EUObserver. "Kremlin-backed disinformation ... contradicts official WHO [World Health Organisation] guidance", they said. This included "news" by Russian state media that baking soda, lemon, vitamin C, and zinc killed coronavirus, but that washing hands was ineffective. It included anti-vaccination conspiracy theories, for instance that U.S. billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates "will impose forced mass vaccination and nano-chip implantation" to control people. Russian media said 5G networks caused the pandemic, but also that coronavirus was a hoax that did not exist. And they kept hammering on, as usual, about how EU states were "ineffective, divided, and cynical in their response" to each other's needs. At the same time, China ran "a global disinformation campaign to deflect blame for the outbreak of the pandemic and improve its international image". There was a "high level of coordination between different parts of the Chinese system in messaging and amplification of messages across different languages and communication channels," the EU report, which is to be published this week, said. Russia and China used "overt and covert tactics". Overt ones included displays of fulminating outrage by Russian and Chinese diplomats, as well as state propaganda. Hidden ones included fake blogs, trolls, and bot armies. Read alsoItalians offered EUR 200 for praising Putin's help on camera media Bogus content, such as Russian fake cures, had a long half-life, the EU report noted. Some material was shared 1.7 million times on Facebook and seen by more than 117 million people, research indicated. "In all languages, false or highly misleading content continues to go viral, even when it has been flagged by local fact-checkers," the EU report said. And viral lies created dangerous delusions: one-third of British people thought vodka was an effective hand sanitizer and one-fifth thought coronavirus was man-made, according to a recent survey by British pollster YouGov. Trust in China shot up, while approval of the EU plummeted in Italy in March, another pollster noted. "We're engaged in a battle of narratives about which is the best political system ... this will shape the geopolitical landscape after the crisis," EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said on Monday. Read alsoRussian COVID-19 numbers as dangerous propaganda think tank China and Russia were trying to "further their own agenda and cast doubt on the reliability of the European Union, sometimes using half-truths, sometimes pure fakes," he said. "We need to promote a positive narrative of EU solidarity and engagement," Borrell added. REGINAThe number COVID-19 tests being done in Saskatchewan has dropped off as the provinces premier prepares to release a plan for how to reopen parts of the economy. The CEO of the Saskatchewan Health Authority says it has the capacity to do more than the 1,500 tests per day that Premier Scott Moe has set as a target. But Scott Livingstone says testing numbers have dropped because the health authority is not seeing people presenting with symptoms of the virus. There has also been a decrease in the volume of calls to the 811 health line, which does referrals. Heath officials say reasons for the drop include lower rates of transmission and the end of the influenza season. To date, the province has performed more than 24,000 tests for COVID-19 and on Tuesday announced four new cases bringing the total number of confirmed infections to 320. The health authority says its working on a strategy to expand testing beyond people with symptoms and those who have been in contact with the virus. On Wednesday night, Moe is to deliver a televised address to the province, a first for a Saskatchewan Party premier. Hes expected highlight how residents have managed to slow the spread of the virus so far, while also emphasizing the need to show continued vigilance. On Thursday, the premier is to release the provinces plan for how some businesses and services can start operating again during the pandemic. The families of a married man and his female friend who went missing while on a camping trip have spoken out about their mysterious disappearance. Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73, went camping in the rugged and remote Wonnangatta Valley in Victoria's Gippsland region on March 19. An experienced bushman, Mr Hill contacted his wife Robyn via radio the next day but neither he or his female friend have not been seen or heard from since. Mr Hill's car and the charred remains of a campsite were found near Dry River Creek track at Billabong a week later on March 27. Police are now refusing to rule out foul play after discovering a number of items were stolen from the campsite, including an expensive drone. Mrs Hill has already revealed she thought her husband was camping alone. 'At this stage, we're at a loss to say exactly what has happened to Russell and Carol we don't know if their disappearance is suspicious or not,' Detective Inspector Andrew Stamper said on Wednesday. 'The area is incredibly remote and there is a possibility that they have suffered some misadventure in the bush, but we also need to rule out any possibility of foul play.' Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73, (pictured) went camping in the rugged and remote Wonnangatta Valley in Victoria's Gippsland region on March 19 An experienced bushman, Mr Hill (pictured) contacted his wife Robyn via radio the next day but neither he or his female friend have not been seen or heard from since Police suspect a number of items may have been taken from the campsite (pictured, including a drone which is now missing - and have refused to rule out foul play The Hill and Clay families issued a desperate plea on Wednesday for anyone with information about their disappearance to come forward. 'We are deeply saddened that Russell and Carol have been missing for one month now,' the Hill family said. 'It is devastating for our family that we don't know what has happened to them both. We are pleading for anyone who has any information to please come forward.' Ms Clay's family said they are 'very shocked' and worried and asked for anyone with any knowledge at all of their whereabouts. 'Their disappearance is very out of character as they were well prepared and travelling in country which was well known to Russell Hill,' their statement read. 'This is a very difficult time for our family. We are living with uncertainty, loss and the continual stress of not knowing where they are and what has happened. The search for the missing campers is continuing, police are now appealing to the community help to find them. Detective Inspector Andrew Stamper said they were at a loss to say exactly what has happened to the pair. He said they may have had a misadventure in the bush or they may have been met with 'foul play'. Friends of devoted grandmother Carol Clay (pictured right) were surprised to learn she had gone camping with one close friend describing her as a glamour queen Investigators suspect a number of items may have been taken from the campsite, including a drone that belonged to Mr Hill. Another possibly police are considering that Mr Hill crashed the drone, worth about $2,000, and left his camp to look for it. Despite the new leads of inquiry, Mr Hill's shattered wife of 50 years has lost hope that he will return home and has started packing up his belongings. 'I don't think that he will still be alive,' Robyn Hill told Daily Mail Australia from the couple's Drouin home on Monday. She had no idea her husband had gone camping with another woman. Ms Clay's closest friends were also surprised to learn out she had gone camping. Mr Hill (above) had recently retired and was an experienced outdoorsman who reportedly knew the remote Alpine region of the Gippsland well 'She was a glamour queen really,' friend of 15 years Dorothy Coombe told A Current Affair on Tuesday night. 'She always looks gorgeous and well-dressed. 'For many people, they couldn't imagine her out in the bush, let alone anything befalling her.' Ms Coombe is baffled by the disappearance of the devoted grandmother and former Victorian President of the Country Women's Association. 'She was a tremendous friend,' Ms Coombe said. 'She was one of those people who would cook you dinner and drop it around.' Police are examining the possibility the pair disappeared of their own free will, while the scenario they met with foul play has not been ruled out. A burnt out campsite was found in remote bushland in Victoria's Wonnangatta Valley The pair went missing in the Wonnangatta Valley, more than 200km north east of Melbourne 'Something clearly has gone awry. We know that something has gone awry,' Ms Coombe said. There is also a possibility the pair's disappearance may never be solved. 'It's now the role of the police to try and give the families in particular, answers. But at the end of the day, there might not be any,' former homicide detective Charlie Bezzina said. Local cattleman Bruce McCormack, who has been involved in countless searches said the abandoned campsite was near dense bushland where you would 'never find them'. 'It's sort of a great open area in the middle of the Alpine National Park,' he said. The pair's burnt out campsite with Mr Hill's car parked beside it (pictured) was found in a remote area of bushland in Victoria's Wonnangatta Valley on March 27 Ms Clay (above) was Victorian President of the Country Women's Association and known for beautiful, elegant clothing As detectives prepare to take another look at the Toyota 4WD Mr Hill left abandoned at the scene, Mrs Hill insists her husband had never gone missing before this trip. 'He's always been on the radio. He didn't call for quite a few days and then I started to get worried and thought 'I've got to do something now', 'she told Daily Mail Australia. Mrs Hill said her husband would routinely broadcast at the same time every night when his other radio chums were on the air. 'They all get on at the same time and once I heard Russell I knew, on the Friday, that he was fine. But then I didn't hear him again.' Throughout history, speakers have used their public appeal and influence to unite and inspire people and spread their ideas. Their speeches helped motivate people during times of struggle and these speakers had a combination of intellect and charisma that allowed them to speak with such eloquence and passion. They managed to fight adversity using words and gave voice to entire generations of people. The goal of their speeches was not just to entertain, but also to inspire people and unite them, even if they come from different backgrounds and do not share the same ideals. Our list goes through some of the most influential speakers in human history. 10. Fidel Castro Cuba, February, 1989: Fidel Castro, President of Cuba, during news conference. Image credit: Rob Crandall/Shutterstock.com Born in 1926 in Cuba, Fidel Castro is well known for his communist revolution. He served as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and was the president of the country from 1976 to 2008. Many consider him to be one of the greatest speakers in history, who managed to inspire extreme loyalty among all of his followers. 9. Leon Trotsky Headshot of Russian Revolutionary political leader and author Leon Trotsky (1879 - 1940), 1930s. Leon Trotsky was a well known Marxist revolutionary who founded the Red Army. He became extremely famous during the Communist revolution in Russia. People loved him for his intellect and extremely passionate speeches. He sincerely believed everything he advocated, which is a quality that will be forever remembered as a part of his persona. He truly believed the ideas of Marxist communism, and people respected that. He was exiled in Mexico and assassinated by the orders of Stalin. 8. Nelson Mandela 6th April 2000 Visit of Nelson Mandela to give a lecture at LSE on 'Africa and Its Position in the World.' Held at the Peacock Theatre. Image credit: LSE Library/Flickr.com The beloved political activist from South Africa was well known for his ability to deliver powerful speeches. He fought the apartheid and racial discrimination his entire life. He was imprisoned for his beliefs in 1962 after being charged for sabotage. He spent 27 years of his life as a political prisoner, but he never abandoned his beliefs and showed incredible strength of his spirit. He served as the president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. 7. Ronald Reagan President Ronald Reagan salutes during a ceremony commemorating the 40th anniversary of D-day, the invasion of Europe. Image credit: SPC 5 Vincent R. Kritts, US Military/Public domain The man who was a Hollywood actor and an American politician, serving as the Governor of California and then as the 40th President of the United States. His nickname was actually the Great Communicator because of his ability to connect the people. The speech he is most remembered for is called Tear down this wall, and it was delivered at the Brandenburg Gate of Berlin in 1987. In the speech, he challenged the Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev to destroy the Berlin Wall. 6. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. [Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking], 08/28/1963. Image credit: The U.S. National Archives/Flickr.com It comes as no surprise that our list opens up with this man. He was able to bring together all races in the United States and wanted to create a country where everyone was equal. Martin Luther King Jr. was a man that had incredible conviction, who was willing to risk it all for his beliefs, even going so far as to get imprisoned and assaulted because of them. He lost his life because of his beliefs in the end, but his legacy lives on. Of course, everyone is aware of his famous I Have a Dream speech, delivered in front of 200,000 people. 5. Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln. Image credit: Alexander Gardner/Public domain Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States and is considered to have been one of the greatest speakers the country has ever seen. During the Civil War, a time when the country was divided and its fate was insecure, Abraham Lincoln delivered speeches that managed to unite the people together. His most famous speech was delivered on November 19th, 1863. It was, of course, "The Gettysburg Address, and even though the speech was short, it had a great impact. 4. John F. Kennedy President John F. Kennedy delivering a historic message to a joint session of the Congress, on May 25, 1961. Image credit: NASA/Public domain The 35th president of the United States was a man of great charisma. He was actually the first Roman catholic president and also the youngest man to be elected for the president of the United States. He was able to inspire the citizens of the country during times of uncertainty and it is a shame that his life was tragically cut short. His death marks an important point in American history when many things began to change. 3. Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight D. Eisenhower. Image credit: White House/Public domain Eisenhower was a general in World War II but was also a beloved and successful president. His most famous speech was actually a warning. He was well aware of the meaning and impact of war and his speeches were filled with his wisdom about it. He was a man who had seen the costs and consequences of war firsthand, which is why his speeches seemed more impactful than those of many other politicians. He predicted many problems the United States would face, some of which still exist today. 2. Winston Churchill Winston Churchill "Iron Curtain" speech at Westminster College (MSA). Image credit: Missouri State Archives/Flickr.com Winston Churchill is known for his fiery speeches and strong determination. He was a British politician and former Prime Minister most well known for the way he led the UK during World War II. Some of his most famous speeches are Iron Curtain and Their Finest Hour. There are entire websites dedicated to his legendary speeches, which were able to motivate and inspire men when they were faced with incredible threats to their lives and their freedom. 1. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Image credit: Unknown author/Wikimedia.org Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was the president of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973 and prime minister for four years after that. He is considered to be one of the most influential Pakistani politicians, who managed to use his incredibly charismatic speeches to make people vote for him. He is a controversial figure, but his impact cant be denied. His legacy still lives on in Pakistan. BEIJING/SHANGHAI: A northwestern province on the frontline of China's coronavirus battle reported its first cases in nearly three weeks on Tuesday, all Chinese nationals returning from overseas, as imported infections started to level off elsewhere. Like other countries hit by the pandemic, China has ordered tough curbs for arriving travellers, such as mandatory quarantine, besides cutting back on international flights and limiting arrivals of foreigners, including business visitors. At the same time, with about 2.5 million coronavirus cases reported worldwide, China is warning its citizens against travelling abroad. The consular department of China's foreign ministry said that Chinese citizens should fully assess the "serious" risk of getting infected and not being able to return. "Those who are in China should refrain from travelling abroad, while those already overseas should avoid cross-border travel," the ministry said. The northwestern province of Shaanxi reported 21 new infections from abroad, as well as seven cases with no clinical symptoms, all travellers on a commercial flight from Moscow bound for Beijing. As the result of a ban on international flights arriving in Beijing, the Air China jet landed on Monday in the provincial capital of Xian, where the virus was detected by staff running tests at the airport, and confirmed on Tuesday. All those infected were Chinese nationals. New imported infections in mainland China fell to four on Monday, the National Health Commission said, the lowest since March 12. Despite the curbs, the arrival of imported cases has proved difficult to predict, although in the last 14 days, Chinese citizens returning home from, or through, neighbouring Russia have constituted the majority. With links by both air and land to Russia, the northeastern province of Heilongjiang has so far taken the brunt of such infections. Fearing infections from Heilongjiang, authorities in neighbouring Jilin province have ordered quarantine and three rounds of testing for people who have lived in, or travelled to, Heilongjiang's cities of Harbin or Mudanjiang this month. Shenyang, capital of the northeastern province of Liaoning, issued similar rules on Monday for people from either city. Last week, a case in the province's city of Fushun was linked to a locally transmitted case at a hospital in Harbin, spurring fears of a widening outbreak. In the fight on cross-border infection, the southeastern coastal city of Xiamen offered a reward of 15,000 yuan ($2,120) for key information on illegal international arrivals, including those by sea. Even remote international crossings face scrutiny. Hekou, an isolated estuary town near the border of Yunnan province with Vietnam, will bar foreigners lacking certificates of negative tests for the virus. As the virus has spread worldwide, businesses have been paralysed in the past two months by lockdowns that hit demand and disrupted manufacturing and supply chains. Now Beijing is in talks with some countries, including Singapore, for fast-track channels to speed entry by business and technical visitors on urgent tasks, a foreign ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang, said on Tuesday. "The purpose is to stabilise important economic and trade cooperation between China and relevant countries," Geng added, while keeping up virus prevention and control and ensuring safe and smooth operation of the international industrial chain. China and South Korea have reached consensus on a similar arrangement, but details are still being worked out, he said. Mainland China's tally of confirmed cases stood at 82,758, with 4,632 deaths, including 11 new cases on Monday, six of them local infections in Heilongjiang and one in the southern province of Guangdong. People under observation for symptoms following contact with sufferers numbered 8,791 on Monday. This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!! HOLYOKE Faced with four investigations and a lawsuit filed by its own superintendent, the Board of Trustees for the Holyoke Soldiers Home voted to hire a private lawyer to represent members in court. The Trustees met Tuesday over a telephone conference call that was open to the public and voted unanimously to hire John G. Bagley, a partner in Morrison Mahoney law firm of Springfield and Boston, to represent the board. After about a half-hour of discussion, the seven trustees then moved into closed session to talk about pending litigation, which is permitted under the state Open Meeting Law. The members did not receive any updates on the condition of the Soldiers Home, which is currently being run under the direction of the state Executive Office of Health and Human Services. After hearing the coronavirus was rapidly spreading through the home, Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary Daniel Tsai and a team of others visited the home on March 30 and almost immediately placed Superintendent Bennett Walsh on paid administrative leave. At the same time Val Liptak, a registered nurse and CEO of Western Massachusetts Hospital, was tapped to take over as director. Last week Liptak and Lisa Colombo, a registered nurse the executive vice chancellor for Commonwealth Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, who is leading the clinical command team that was put in place at the home, told the trustees the entire staff was focused on stabilizing the home but said they had not been successful yet and the coronavirus continues to spread. For the first time in weeks, the state reported on Tuesday there had been no new deaths from COVID-19. Currently, 52 of the residents of the home have died of the disease, results are pending on one and one is unknown. Nine other veterans who have died, including one resident who died in the past day, tested negative for COVID-19, state officials said. The number of residents who have tested positive has increased by six to 94 in the last day, meaning nearly 70% of the 210 veterans who had been living in the Soldiers Home when the first resident was confirmed to have tested positive for COVID-19, have contracted the disease. Tests are pending for nine other residents at the Soldiers Home, state officials said. There are 81 employees who have tested positive as well, state officials said. During the meeting, Trustees Chairman Kevin Jourdain reminded members there are four investigations being conducted into how COVID-19 spread so quickly through the Soldiers Home. They were ordered by Gov. Charlie Baker, state Attorney General Maura Healey, U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling and the state House and Senate plan to have a hearing once they return to session. In addition, Walsh has filed for an injunction in Hampden Superior Court to stop the Board of Trustees from holding an immediate hearing to discuss firing him. Judge Francis Flannery granted Walsh a temporary restraining order on April 10 that forced the hearing scheduled the next day to be canceled. A full court hearing on the issue is scheduled for April 30. Walsh has denied any mismanagement or wrong-doing and said the home followed federal Center for Disease Control guidelines to try to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. He offered his sympathies to families in written statements. John (Bagley) is extremely experienced, he comes highly recommended and Im excited that he has agreed to represent us, Jourdain said. Typically the state Attorney Generals office would represent the Board of Trustees but in this case it cannot because of the ongoing investigation into the Soldiers Home. Bagley has 30 years of experience mainly in civil law and has specialized in nursing homes and long-care facilities, medical malpractice, employment law and other topics, Jourdain said. Most recently he has conducted a number of presentations about COVID-19, he said. I want to say it is an honor to be considered for the position. I have great respect for veterans and I have many family members who are veterans, Bagley said. He promised to give everything he has for the board collectively and for individual members. Related Content: A second wave of coronavirus cases could put an "unimaginable strain" on the US healthcare system this winter, the country's top health official has warned. Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said a second outbreak of Covid-19 could be even worse than the first. He told the Washington Post: "There's a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through. "And when I've said this to others, they kind of put their head back; they don't understand what I mean." Mr Redfield said that, if the virus had hit the US a few months earlier at the height of flu season, "it could have been really, really, really difficult in terms of health capacity." For this reason he urged people to get the flu jab to reduce their risk of illness and help lessen the burden on the healthcare system. The CDC director said that, if more people are able to vaccinate themselves against the flu, it "may allow there to be a hospital bed available for your mother or grandmother that may get coronavirus." Loading.... The US is the worst-hit country in the world for coronavirus cases, with more than 800,000 cases of Covid-19. According to John Hopkins data, more than 45,000 people have died of the disease. Clinical trials for coronavirus treatments have started for the coronavirus, however the US is still 12 to 18 months away from a deployable vaccine. New York's Coronavirus outbreak - In pictures 1 /34 New York's Coronavirus outbreak - In pictures The Supermoon rises behind the Empire State Building while it glows red in solidarity with those infected with coronavirus as the outbreak of the disease (COVID-19) continues in the Manhattan borough of New York City Reuters A nearly empty Times Square AFP via Getty Images Riders, some wearing masks and gloves as a protective measure over coronavirus concerns, enter a New York City subway train AP People try to keep a social distance while they enjoy a sunny day at Central Park Reuters Nadia, a 4-year-old female Malayan tiger at the Bronx Zoo, that the zoo said on April 5, 2020 has tested positive for coronavirus disease WCS/Handout via Reuters People wear face masks AFP via Getty Images A man crosses a nearly empty 5th Avenue in midtown Manhattan Reuters US President Donald Trump looks on during the daily briefing on the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House on March 31, 2020, in Washington, DC AFP via Getty Images Felix Hassebroek waves to his classmates, who he has not seen in 2 weeks through a livestream video meet up during the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Brooklyn, New York Reuters Friends and neighbors, Sarah and Elizabeth, talk about their weekends from opposite sides of the road as they maintain social distance in a neighborhood in Syracuse, New York Reuters Light morning traffic seen on the FDR drive on March 24, 2020 in New York City AFP via Getty Images A subway customer uses a tissue to protect her hand while holding onto a pole AP Workers construct what is believed to be a makeshift morgue behind a hospital during the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in the Manhattan borough of New York City Reuters Beds separated by black fabric are set up as a temporary field hospital for Covid-19 patients in Queens, New York AFP via Getty Images New York's Hart Island where the department of corrections is dealing with more burials Reuters Medical workers wait for patients at a special coronavirus intake area in New York Getty Images Patients wear personal protective equipment while maintaining social distancing as they wait in line for a COVID-19 test at Elmhurst Hospital Center AP The One World Trade Center tower in Manhattan is seen illuminated in blue light Reuters Pictures drawn by children as part of the Quarantine Rainbow Project in Brooklyn, New York Reuters U.S. Army National Guard personnel load boxes of free food provided by multiple New York City agencies into a taxi for distribution to local residents in the Harlem neighbourhood of Manhattan during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID19) in New York Reuters Traders work during the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on March 17, 2020 at Wall Street in New York City AFP via Getty Images A man in a wheelchair crosses a nearly empty 7th Avenue in Times Square in Manhattan Reuters Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images REUTERS Mr Redfield said it was extremely important people continued to practise social distancing despite protests for lockdown restrictions to be eased in some states. Done watching every single episode of Sex and the City and want to see more from Emmy and Golden Globe winner Sarah Jessica Parker? While playing Carrie Bradshaw is her most well-known role, the actress has plenty of other acting credits to her name. Ahead, check out some of her movie roles that are currently streaming. Sarah Jessica Parker | Mike Coppola/Getty Images 1. Failure to Launch Watch Parker star opposite Matthew McConaughey in the 2006 romantic comedy Failure to Launch. Parker plays Paula, a woman who specializes in getting men to move out of their parents homes. Shes hired by the parents of 35-year-old Tripp (McConaughey) to do just that but things get complicated when she falls for him. The cast includes not only Parker and McConaughey but New Girls Zooey Deschanel, Justin Bartha, Bradley Cooper, Terry Bradshaw, and Kathy Bates. Failure to Launch is available on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video with an IMDb TV subscription. 2. The First Wives Club Although she only had a supporting role in The First Wives Club, its fun to see Parker in her pre-Sex and the City days. She played the character of Shelly Stewart, a young woman who gets engaged to Morty (Dan Hedaya), Brendas (Bette Midler) ex. The First Wives Club is available to watch for free on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. 3. I Dont Know How She Does It Based on the book of the same name by author Allison Pearson, Parker plays Kate, a finance executive who is struggling to manage her career and her home life with two kids and a husband (Greg Kinnear). She stars in the PG-13 comedy alongside Pierce Brosnan, Kelsey Grammer, Christina Hendricks, Seth Meyers, and Olivia Munn. I Dont Know How She Does It is on Netflix to stream for free. Its also available on Amazon Prime Video to rent for $3.99. 4. Girls Just Want to Have Fun This one is a major throwback. Parker played the role of Janey, a teen obsessed with the fictional dance competition series, Dance TV, in 1985s Girls Just Want to Have Fun. After moving to a new town, Janey meets Lynne (Helen Hunt) who also loves Dance TV. Together they audition for the show even though Janeys father doesnt approve. Watch Girls Just Want to Have Fun on Amazon Prime Video. 5. Sex and the City 2 Still need more Carrie Bradshaw? Watch Parker reprise her famous role in Sex and the City 2 where she and her best friends Samantha (Kim Cattrall), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) travel to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Despite not getting good reviews from critics, fans of Sex and the City will appreciate the sequel to the 2008 film. 6. Smart People In this 2008 film, Parker plays a doctor who starts dating Lawrence Wetherhold (Dennis Quaid) after they meet in the emergency room. Parker and Quaid star in the film alongside Ellen Page (Juno and Inception) and Thomas Haden Church, according to IMDb. Based on scores from Rotten Tomatoes, critics liked Smart People more than audiences. We are on the brink of a global war. It's not just a battle against a mysterious and deadly germ but an old-fashioned contest for supremacy like the one the United States and the Soviet Union waged for decades. US president Donald Trumps threat that China must face up to the consequences if it was knowingly responsible for the outbreak of Covid-19 is a reminder that an India that is neither pragmatic nor principled might be caught uneasily in the middle of the next Cold War. It all began with the Sino-American trade war, developed into an unseemly slanging match over the coronavirus pandemic, and is now reflected in Chinas bid to tighten its grip over the South China Sea. Its difficult not to see Indias latest restrictions on foreign investment in the light of this confrontation. Although the new regulations apply to all foreign direct investment from countries with which India shares a land border, they are obviously not aimed at either Bhutan or Afghanistan. Moreover, New Delhi suddenly imposed the condition of prior government approval for such investments only when the Peoples Bank of China raised its stake in Indias Housing Development Finance Corporation from 0.8 per cent to 1.01 per cent. Chinas net investment in India was only $1.6 billion until 2014, most of it in infrastructure and involving major Chinese state-owned enterprises. But total investment increased five-fold to at least $8 billion in the next three years, according to the Ministry of Commerce in Beijing, with a noticeable shift from state-driven to market-driven private sector firms. Even this figure doesnt take into account all Chinese corporate acquisitions in the technology sector, nor investments routed through third countries. For instance, a $504 million (Rs 3,500-crore) investment by the Singapore subsidiary of the Chinese mobile and telecom firm Xiaomi would not figure in official statistics because of how investments are measured. It will be interesting now to see how the Narendra Modi government responds to American pressure over Huawei, the multinational technology company with a presence in more than 170 countries and earning $122 billion annually. Trump wants a total ban on Huaweis 5G technology, but like the British, French and German leaders, Modi has so far held his own. However, seeing how proud Indias prime minister is of his so-called friendship with the US president, and also how quickly he buckled under when Trump threatened retaliation if he didnt lift his own ban on exporting hydroxychloroquine, no one is sure how long New Delhi will dare to remain defiant. Indias own problems with China are not to be minimised. Apart from the long-standing territorial dispute, unequal trade saddles this country with a $53.57 billion deficit. Chinese smartphones like Oppo and Xiaomi lead the Indian market with an estimated 72 per cent market share, leaving Samsung and Apple behind. TikTok, the controversial video app, has 200 million subscribers in India, where it has overtaken YouTube. Alibaba, Tencent and ByteDance rival the US penetration of Facebook, Amazon and Google. Chinese investors have also put an estimated $4 billion into Indian start-ups which rely on overseas venture capital and are called unicorns when they are worth more than $1 billion and are funded from abroad. In the past five years, 18 of Indias 30 unicorns have been Chinese-funded. There are additional concerns that since Covid-19 has taken a huge toll of equity prices, the Chinese might be able to acquire some of Indias most valued companies in hostile takeovers. Clearly, neither the dreadful coronavirus explosion in Wuhan nor the trade war with the United States has weakened Chinas international bargaining position. The trade war has raged since 2018 when Trump began setting tariffs and other trade barriers on China to force it to make changes to what he called unfair trade practices, a growing trade deficit, theft of intellectual property, and the forced transfer of American technology. Meanwhile, Chinas efforts to extend its control over the Spratly Islands where there are multiple competing claims by setting up new administrative structures have also incurred American displeasure. The two new districts will be under the authority of the local government in Sansha, a city in the southern island of Hainan, and will govern the Paracels (seized from Vietnam in 1974) and Macclesfield Bank -- an area claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan -- as well as the Spratly Islands and their adjacent waters, where there are multiple overlapping claims. China is accused of expanding its control over the South China Sea by building artificial islands and facilities that can be used for military purposes. Beijing claims almost all of the area but has conflicting claims with Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. The conflict has remained unresolved for decades despite talks between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on a code of conduct governing governmental behaviour in disputed waters. The two sides are committed to finalising the code by next year, but progress has been slow since a draft agreement was presented in August 2018. Beijings persistent refusal to make the code legally binding prompts the suspicion that its strategy is to complete the infrastructure it wants and enhance and establish its military presence in the area so that its hegemonic authority cannot ever be questioned. Neither singly nor collectively can Asean challenge such bullying. The United States, with which several Asean governments have defensive treaties, can, but is unlikely to go to war with China unless its own interests are directly threatened. But the US Navy will probably continue its provocative patrols near the disputed features that Beijing claims in the South China Sea, and Trump will no doubt continue to make contentious and accusatory statements about Beijing while haggling over taxes and duties. Its the Cold War all over again. Dermott Jewell, of the Consumers Association lobby group, has accused banks of charging exorbitant rates on personal loans, as well as fleecing those on variable-rate mortgages. Photo: Steve Humphreys THE Government has been called on to resist lobbying to have the rules changed on refunds for passengers whose flights have been cancelled. And it has emerged that the Government may change the rules to allow airlines issue credit notes instead of refunds. Ryanair and Aer Lingus have been trying to get customers to accept vouchers in lieu of refunds. This is despite large numbers of passengers seeking refunds. On Monday Ryanair customers expressed frustration after being sent vouchers despite applying for refunds weeks ago. Among those impacted is the presenter of The Last Word on TodayFM Matt Cooper. Airlines have been accused by passengers and travel agents of withholding the refunds and instead offering vouchers or the opportunity to rebook flights for a later date without incurring booking fees, which runs contrary to the Europe-wide EU261/2004 regulation. Dermott Jewell of the Consumers Association accused the two Irish airlines of lobbying to have the rules changed to allow them to offer vouchers instead of refunds. Already seven European countries, including Germany and France, are seeking to change the rules to allow vouchers instead of refunds, as they fear airlines based in their countries will collapse if they are forced to pay out refunds. He said: I do think it is shocking that airlines are trying to get the law changed on this. It has taken years to put in place these rules, and to change at short notice when we are hopefully suffering a short-term economic shock is wrong. He said businesses often have strong lobbying powers. I would call on the Government not to change the laws and ask the airlines to engage with their customers and come to some arrangement. He said both Ryanair and Aer Lingus/IAG were financially strong, unlike other European airline. The Department of Transport said airlines are required to refund their customers in circumstances where flights have been cancelled. But it said the sheer scale and breadth of the impact of Covid-19 are having a very serious impact on the financial position of all companies in the travel sector, from large airlines right through to small, local travel agents. Other EU member states have introduced credit notes as a means of resolving this dilemma. The Minister for Transport is considering the credit note as an option in his determination to strike a fair balance between protecting jobs and consumers in these unprecedented circumstances. Asked if it was lobbying to have the rules on refunds changed, Ryanair did not comment. But Ryanair insisted that when flights are cancelled it is giving customers all of the options set out under EU regulations, including free moves and refunds in the form of cash or vouchers. It said the processing time for cash refunds is taking longer due to the fact that it has received 10 times the usual volume of requests for refunds and it has fewer staff available due to social distancing measures. The airline said customers who choose not to accept a free move or voucher will be refunded in due course, once the crisis is over. Aer Lingus said it was declining to comment on changes to EU Regulation 261. The deaths, weeks earlier than previously reported, may shift the timeline of when the virus spread across the US. Health officials in California now say two people in that state died with the coronavirus weeks earlier than has previously been reported. Officials in Santa Clara County said late on Tuesday that the people died in their homes on February 6 and February 17. Previously, the first death in the United States from the virus had been reported on February 29 in Kirkland, Washington. The Medical Examiner-Coroner received confirmation on Tuesday that tissue samples sent to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tested positive for the virus, officials said. Dr Sara Cody, the countys chief medical officer, told the New York Times that the two victims did not have any known travel history that would have exposed them to the virus, suggesting that they contracted the disease in the community. Officials said the deaths indicated that the coronavirus may have been spreading in California much earlier than was previously known, and could dramatically shift the timeline of when and how the virus spread across the US. Each one of those deaths is probably the tip of an iceberg of unknown size, Cody told the Times. It feels quite significant. The announcement came after California Governor Gavin Newsom promised a deep dive update on Wednesday of the states ability to test for the coronavirus and to track and isolate people who have it, one of the six indicators he says is key to lifting a stay-at-home order that has slowed the spread of the disease but forced millions of people to file for unemployment benefits. This will go to the obvious questions and queries that all of us are asking: When? When do you see a little bit of a release in the valve so that we can let out a little of this pressure, Newsom said on Tuesday, in what he says will be the first of regular weekly updates on the states progress towards reopening. Newsom says the state is testing an average of 14,500 people per day, up from just 2,000 tests per day at the beginning of April. Still, in a state of nearly 40 million people, that is not enough for public health officials to know for sure the reach of the highly contagious virus that is still causing outbreaks across the state in nursing homes and homeless shelters. Newsom said he wants the state to test at least 25,000 people per day by the end of April. Over the weekend, the California Department of Public Health issued new testing guidance that, for the first time, recommends testing for people in high-risk settings even if they do not have symptoms. The new advice is aimed at hospitals, jails and homeless shelters three places where physical distancing is difficult. California has more than 35,600 confirmed coronavirus cases and 1,300 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. California has been under a mandatory, statewide stay-at-home order for more than a month. Last week, Newsom said he will not consider loosening that order until hospitalisations, particularly those in intensive care units, flatten and start to decline for at least two weeks. On Tuesday, Newsom announced intensive care hospitalisations rose 3.8 percent. Other indicators Newsom says he is monitoring include whether the state has adequate protective gear for healthcare workers, better treatment for the disease and expanded testing. Newsoms news conference, scheduled for noon on Wednesday, will be watched closely by business groups who are clamouring to reopen so they can start paying their workers again. We just hope (on Wednesday) we might hear of some additional steps from the governor that small businesses will be able to take towards opening their doors and turning their lights on, said John Kabateck, state director of the National Federation of Independent Business. Ireland, Europe and the world are living through an unprecedented crisis. We are facing an invisible enemy and a daunting common challenge. If there is one clear lesson from the past weeks, it is that the more closely and effectively we work together in Europe, the quicker we will defeat coronavirus. Joint action saves lives, limits the economic damage and prepares us for as rapid a recovery as possible. The European Commission is pulling out all the stops to achieve this. While national governments are in the driving seat in taking immediate action within their own countries to address the pandemic, the EU has a big role to play in helping governments to coordinate their policies. For example, when some Member States closed their borders in mid-March in their initial response to the crisis, the European Commission stepped in to establish green lanes to keep goods flowing, supermarket shelves stocked and vital components reaching factories. The EU has done a lot more to address the wide-ranging challenges posed by COVID-19. Just before Easter, EU finance ministers agreed a 540 billion package to support member states, companies and workers hit by the crisis. The Commission made the state aid rules more flexible than ever before so that businesses big and small can get the support they need. The budgetary rules were relaxed to allow national and EU spending to go quickly to those that need it. This has enabled EU institutions and Member States put up 2.8 trillion to fight the crisis the strongest response anywhere in the world. Through an initiative called SURE, the EU is working to ensure that people can keep their jobs and their incomes and businesses stay afloat while we are in lockdown. The scheme will provide 100 billion to help governments make up the difference if a company, especially SMEs, has had to reduce hours for its employees. Since the early days of the crisis, the Commission is deeply concerned with ensuring food security and an effective food supply chain across the continent. The Commission adopted quick measures in support of the agri-food sector increasing the level of advance payments under the CAP and the admissible support for individual farms and providing new lines for financing of food producing and food processing companies. Ultimately, the development, production and deployment of a vaccine is vital in the COVID-19 battle. The Commission has therefore reoriented existing research priorities and is making new funding available to this end. It has mobilised 140 million to finance vaccine research, making 80 million available to Cure Vac, a global leader in this field. Seventeen other vaccine-related projects are being supported, including Dublin-based Hibergene Diagnostics. The Commission prepared a common tender for EU Member States to help secure equipment to protect frontline health care workers and provide their patients with the best possible care under the circumstances. As we all know, frontline workers sacrifice the most in our fight against the coronavirus, including healthcare workers caring for patients, and all workers who contribute to combating the spread of the virus and keeping essential services running. We owe them all our most sincere thanks. (Bloomberg) -- Huawei Technologies Co. is emerging as the runaway winner in Chinas $170 billion effort to build out its fifth-generation wireless networks, part of a concerted effort by Beijing to seize the lead in a key technology from the U.S. while rebooting a virus-stricken economy. Since the beginning of the year, Huawei has secured 28.4 billion yuan ($4 billion) worth of 5G equipment orders from the countrys largest carrier, China Mobile Ltd., beating out competitors like Ericsson AB and ZTE Corp. to win more than half of the 5G contracts awarded by the operator during the period, according to an analysis of procurement data by Bloomberg News. Huawei is relying on its home market more than ever, at a time its growth has all but evaporated. The 5G contract haul shows Huawei is benefiting from the domestic market and building its telecommunications expertise despite the Trump administrations blacklisting last year. Beijing has forcefully defended Huawei, and the countrys three wireless operators -- all state-backed -- have added support through network contracts. While China has spent years striving for leadership in 5G, the effort took on greater urgency after the coronavirus led to the nations first economic contraction in decades. In a meeting with senior officials in March, Chinese President Xi Jinping singled out the technologys importance for rebooting the economy. Weeks later, the countrys telecom regulator said China will make every effort to hasten the expansion of 5G coverage. The focus on buildouts, handsets, and other metrics misses the fact that 5G will be a platform where innovative Chinese companies such as Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, and a host of new tech unicorns will be able to build new applications and use cases, said Paul Triolo, head of global technology policy at Eurasia Group. Beijing wants Chinese companies to lead in this race to innovate on top of 5G. China is entrusting Huawei to galvanize 5G tech, a cornerstone of a national new infrastructure blueprint that covers nascent technologies from the Internet of Things and autonomous driving to surveillance and factory automation. An early and successful rollout could help solidify Huaweis position as a world leader in 5G. Story continues More deals are on the horizon. China has earmarked 1.2 trillion yuan to build 5G networks in the next five years, directly creating more than 3 million jobs in related sectors, according to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, a government think tank. IDC telecom analyst Cui Kai said 5G investment will continue to climb and peak in 2022 or 2023. This year, Chinas three state-owned telecom carriers will spend a total of 180 billion yuan on 5G-related projects, including base stations and smartphones. China Telecom and China Unicom still have to announce bidding results. The 5G contracts give Huawei a much-needed boost as some projects in Europe grind to a halt because of Covid-19. Huawei this week reported revenue growth slowed to 1.4% in the first three months -- down from 19% over all of 2019 -- following pressure from the U.S. and dampening demand brought about by the outbreak. The Shenzhen-based company clinched deals to build more than 132,000 base stations for China Mobile across the country worth 21.4 billion yuan. The telecom carrier awarded rival ZTE Corp. 5G base station contracts worth 10 billion yuan, while Ericssons haul was around half of that. Nokia Oyj, which runs its China business via a joint venture with a local partner, didnt get any of the business. Huawei won 56% of total orders by China Mobile for slicing packet network construction, or SPN, responsible for 5G data transmission between base stations and the core network. This brought in another 5.6 billion yuan in revenue. Huawei and ZTE also split 5G data management orders worth 1 billion yuan, leaving a fraction of the order to Ericsson, according to two separate procurement documents from China Mobile. In addition to 5G infrastructure, China Mobile placed orders with Huaweis consumer electronics unit from the beginning of the year, including for about 70,000 units of the latest 5G smartphones and 140,000 5G portable Wi-Fi devices, without providing the procurement price. Most 5G phones in China cost around 4,000 yuan retail but carriers usually buy popular smartphone models from vendors at a discount. China Mobile had 31.7 million 5G package subscriptions nationwide as of March, more than doubling the subscription number in February, according to its website. 5G smartphone sales are expected to increase as more telecom carrier branches around the country place orders. Not all will be Huawei sales. So far this year, the carriers purchased more than 130,000 units of 5G smartphones from rivals Oppo and Vivo, the data show. Huaweis 5G boost has benefited its suppliers. Shares of printed circuits board maker Shennan Circuits Co. Ltd. jumped more than 60% since the beginning of the year. Wuhan Fingu Electronic, a maker of radio frequency components used in base stations, increased by about 25%. Still, some doubt that 5G will be the savior that China is seeking. Gavekal Dragonomics analyst Dan Wang said that 5G doesnt look like a big factor in moving the economy. Its a build-first-and-ask-questions later approach led by the state, he said. Theres not yet a killer app. Huawei has put up a fierce fight since Washington banned the Chinese company from getting key American technologies last year. In the latest development, the Trump administration was said to consider imposing restrictions on the sale of semiconductors to Huawei by chipmakers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung Electronics Co., a move that would effectively deprive the Chinese giant of using the most advanced chips. Theres no question that Chinas state-owned telecom operators can direct a lot of business to Huawei, said Wang. The companys problem, however, is on the supply side. Escalating U.S. sanctions might be highly disruptive. (Updates with Huaweis latest quarterly results in the third paragraph) For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. In the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, New York City college students are currently confronting a multitude of dire issues affecting their education, employment, living conditions and ultimately, their future. Their conditions are part of a larger crisis facing all workers and youth. The closure of college campuses around the country last month due to social distancing protocols upended students lives, including those of international students. In cases where dorms were shut, students had just days to find new accommodations. This was exacerbated in New York City, where housing costs are some of the highest in the United States. Many students in the New York metropolitan area, in what has been a global phenomenon for workers, also lost their incomes when on- and off-campus jobs were terminated. Thousands now struggle to pay tuition in addition to confronting high costs of living. As university systems now attempt to transition to online learning, students and faculty must navigate curricula without access to essential campus facilities, such as libraries. On top of this, students are working under the psychological pressure of extreme uncertainty as well as the health dangers of the pandemic itself. The World Socialist Web Site recently spoke with several undergraduates in New York City about the conditions they now face. Annmarie, a senior studying pre-law at The City University of New Yorks (CUNY) Macaulay Honors College at Baruch College, was the recipient of an overseas fellowship and had accepted a job offer in the United Kingdom for this summer, but both have been suspended due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Unfortunately, cancelled opportunities have become the norm for most college students, she said. Annmarie explained the stress of transitioning to online learning: Uncertainty about the future and about the fate of elderly relatives has made it extremely difficult to focus on coursework. Professors have been forced to increase students workloads in order to make up for the time lost as a result of recalibration periods. In addition, some classes, such as her experiment-based biology labs, are virtually impossible to teach in an online platform. She expressed her disappointment with the too-little-too late response by the government and criticized the recently passed stimulus package for cutting most college students out of a much-needed stimulus check. Due to campus-wide shutdowns, nonessential CUNY students that were employed by schools lost their jobs and are not receiving aid. Annmarie underlined the emotional impact of being a graduating senior. The COVID-19 outbreak has been exceptionally heartbreaking for college seniors, who are dealing with the stress of relocating back home, cancelled or postponed commencement activities, and the uncertainty of the job market as a result of the pandemic. We are stressed, confused and scared about what the future brings. Ellie, a senior studying health science at CUNYs Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), is an international student from Iran. She stated that distance learning has been an issue for many students, especially for nursing classes. Their clinicals have been cancelled so theyre basically learning nothing this semester and they dont know how theyre going to catch up. How are they going to be prepared for when they start working? Being an international student at CUNY, Ellie said she pays twice as much for out-of-state tuition. She signed a petition currently circulating demanding that all out-of-state CUNY tuition costs become equal to in-state tuition amounts. This would help me be able to remain past this pandemic and continue with my life. Ellie spoke about other complications facing international students. A lot of international students cannot go back to their countries [if they want to continue studying in the US]. You have to get a visa again, and with the borders being closed, you dont know if youll ever be allowed to come back if you leaveespecially for me, being from Iran, she said, noting the US travel ban against Iran in place before the pandemic. Im stuck, Im truly stuck. Ellie wasnt employed before the pandemic and stated that student visas dont permit students to work unless its a campus job thats twenty hours a week or less. Even those that had a job on campus probably lost it because campus is closed. So you dont have any type of income coming in. Ellie, who is graduating this year and wants to continue her education to become a nurse, spoke about the necessity of Optional Practical Training (OPT), a US immigration policy that permits graduates with student visas to remain in the US for one year if they secure work in their field of study in order to afford continuing education. I was really counting on OPT, she said, because I wanted to earn some money and go back to school. With everything closed, I dont know how its going to work. If I cannot find a job in a timely manner, my visa expires, and I have to go back to my country. This is my biggest concern right now. Yu, a junior studying nursing at CUNYs Hunter College, said that Hunter gave students only three days notice to pack up and move completely out of campus dorms. She spoke of the health risk posed with so many students packing up all at once in confined dormitories due to the strict time constraints placed on them by the administration. Yu also mentioned how this abrupt decision by the college created housing insecurity for students. When I went in to move my belongings, I knew people who were living there as their only home. Yu was a medical assistant at a pediatric clinic but was unable to continue working because of the pandemic. She doesnt qualify for unemployment benefits because she was a part-time worker and is not eligible for a stimulus check because she is a dependent. She is currently living with her parents and has applied for Hunters emergency funding because, I still have bills to pay and have no source of income for the foreseeable future. It is hard for Yu to focus on academics at home and transition to online classes. Im pursuing a degree that involves a very rigorous course load and online learning, which she says is a less effective way for her to learn. It has made things so difficult for me. About the pandemic, Yu said that we shouldve seen how this was escalating in China and started planning for the worst because it was inevitable that it would travel. Proposing that workers go back to work in a few weeks is a joke, and only emphasizes the governments disregard for their citizens health. Lylia, a junior studying journalism at CUNYs Baruch College, is an international student from France. I think Baruch was too slow to take action, she said. The whole CUNY system has responded to the crisis later than the rest of the major colleges in the city, putting at risk thousands of students. The CUNY shutdown happened in the middle of midterms period, which is a very busy time for students. Going online at that time has been even more stressful since many of us had to take exams that will play a big part in our final grade. Lylia pays $18,600 a year for out-of-state tuition. She also signed the petition demanding lower tuition for international students. I dont think online classes are worth this amount of money, she said. The tuition we pay is twice as much as in-state students and right now for those of us who dont have any income, refunding our tuition for the semester might help many of us not to drown financially. Karen is a senior studying product design at Parsons, the art and design school at The New School. She said that the Parsons administration has been acting as if nothing has changed except for the fact that we no longer meet in person. Theyre saying, We must push through and persevere as a community, when there seems to be no real action taken by our school to address real problems of housing insecurity, unemployment, and physical and mental health. She added, our [The New Schools] president makes a million dollars a year. Karen stated that Parsons isnt issuing refunds for students living off-campus, even though art and design students specifically rely on studio spaces and facilities. Its ridiculous. She pointed out that access to these resources is a primary reason for going to art school and justifying expensive tuition. A student can easily spend hundreds of hours a semester in the studio. Karens conclusion is that, the school is trying to keep the community rather divided. She supported a recent student academic strike, which is trying to initiate a conversation which is currently nonexistent about the needs of students. If we stand together, Karen said, our voice is much louder and stronger. Referring to the future, after social distancing measures are lifted, Karen said, I do believe there is going to be a lot of strikes, a lot of rallies and a lot of protests about the current system and structure of society. A long, thin object moving through our solar system may be the remains of a planet that was pulled apart, scientists say. Researchers say the planet was likely destroyed long ago when it moved either too far from or too close to the star it once orbited. The object is called Oumuamua, which means messenger from afar in the native Hawaiian language. A report on the recent findings appears in the journal Nature Astronomy. Scientists have been trying to understand more about Oumuamua since its discovery in 2017. Some have even proposed it may be an alien spacecraft. In the recently published research, astronomers Yun Zhang and Douglas Lin said computer predictions suggest the object was a piece of a planet or planetary building block. The planet might have been torn apart by its stars tidal forces. Oumuamua is the first object from another star system found passing through our solar system. It is about 400 meters long. Its shape, strange way of moving and lack of dust and gases suggest it is not a normal comet or asteroid. When a smaller body passes near a much bigger one, tidal forces created by the larger body can destroy the smaller one. This is what happened when comet ShoemakerLevy 9 came too close to the planet Jupiter in 1992. Zhang told the Reuters news agency that most planetary bodies are made of groups of rocks joined under the influence of gravity. In a way, they are similar to the sandcastles that children make at the beach, except that they are floating through space, Zhang said. Their structure can be disrupted when the force acting on the individual sand particle is larger than their mutual gravity, he added. Zhang noted that ocean tides on Earth are affected in this way. Tides result from the gravitational pulls of the sun and moon. In space, a planetary body that comes close enough to a star falls victim to its strong gravitational pull. Lin is an astrophysicist at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He said the star that destroyed Oumuamuas home world probably was one-tenth to eight-tenths of the mass of our sun. Or it might have been a rare kind of cool and dense star called a white dwarf, Lin added. The study suggests the existence of many objects formed this way. We show the possibility of panspermia carried by these objects, Zhang said. Panspermia is the hypothesized spread of microorganisms or chemicals that support life on objects moving through space. Oumuamua is continuing on its path out of our solar system. Im Pete Musto. Will Dunham reported on this story for the Reuters news agency. Pete Musto adapted it for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story solar system n. our sun and the planets that move around it journal n. a magazine that reports on things of special interest to a particular group of people alien adj. from somewhere other than the planet Earth tidal adj. of or relating to the regular upward and downward movement of the level of the ocean that is caused by the pull of the Sun and the Moon on the Earth comet n. an object in outer space that develops a long, bright tail when it passes near the sun asteroid n. any one of thousands of small planets that circle around the sun disrupte(d) v. to cause (something) to be unable to continue in the normal way mutual adj. shared between two or more people or groups hypothesize(d) v. to suggest an idea or theory [April 22, 2020] Incapsulate Announces New Client Advisory Board WASHINGTON, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On April 15, Incapsulate had the pleasure of hosting the first Client Advisory Board (CAB) meeting. The new advisory team brings together citizen engagement leaders to discuss current challenges and shape the direction of the Incapsulate 311/CRM Capsule. The Client Advisory Board (CAB) will serve as a strategic advisor for Incapsulate, as the company continues to bring innovative citizen engagement services to market. Our objective with this initiative is to ensure our innovation and product roadmap is in line with our client needs. The Board is designed to provide a unique experience during which industry leaders from diverse organizations, facing similar challenges, come together to share best practices and find solutions to their most pressing initiatives. Engagement was productive as all of us are navigating through the ever evolving state of COVID-19. Former CIO of Dallas, William Finch shared in his keynote; "There is no playbook for this crisis. The IT strategy you are following will be impacted. At times you will accelerate parts of that strategy and in other parts you will put them on the shelf for a later time. But I know having technology in use like Salesforce, that suports low code/no code type solutions is just invaluable in making rapid adjustments in support of the ever changing barrage of business demands that you are all experiencing." "Recently we have actually incorporated the use of the product to support our positive cases, our COVID cases. In Suffolk County we have about 25,000 positive cases that we are managing right now and it's all being handled through the Salesforce and Incapsulate program. All initial contacts with patients and various investigative activities in supporting our health department, are all being managed through the product. It has quickly evolved and been leveraged to support our COVID operations here. Which has been an absolute immense help within the organization." - Scott Mastellon Commissioner of IT and CIO of Suffolk County, NY. "The Client Advisory Board will help Incapsulate align our product and service strategy directly with our clients. We want to stay closely aligned with our client's needs and challenges, particularly in the current climate. We are excited about learning new ideas, getting inspired and making a positive impact." - Ajay Batish, CEO, Incapsulate About Incapsulate Since 2008, Incapsulate has helped organizations realize true digital transformation and achieve lasting results. With expertise including cloud-based technologies, agile methodologies, digital analytics, and mobile solutions, we serve clients ranging from the Fortune 500 to state & local governments across the United States. We specialize in industry-focused solutions in areas such as Citizen Services Delivery and Financial Services. At present, more than 8 million individuals across North America can access our Citizen Engagement product suite (known as the 311 Capsule). Headquartered in Washington DC, Incapsulate has additional offices in Boston, Toronto, Ahmedabad, and Hyderabad. For more information please contact Incapsulate at [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/incapsulate-announces-new-client-advisory-board-301044754.html SOURCE Incapsulate [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] DENVER, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SolarReviews.com is proud to announce a unique effort to reward its 50+ employees for making climate-minded decisions. Effective immediately, and in recognition of Earth Day, team members who have been with the company for two years or longer are eligible for financial incentives when purchasing or leasing an electric vehicle or home energy storage. "As someone who experienced the impact of the Australian brush fires, I have seen firsthand the devastating effects of climate change," said SolarReviews Owner Andrew Sendy. "We recognized that, as a company, we could jumpstart our team's ability to combat climate change and make a greater difference for our planetaffecting meaningful change in organizational benefits." In this program, SolarReviews employees who have completed two years of service are eligible, upon purchase of an electric vehicle, to receive a $6,000 bonus, and an additional $1,000 for each subsequent year of tenure (with a $10,000 cap). In the event they choose to lease an electric vehicle, the incentive will be paid over 5 years at a rate of $2,000 per year. Recognizing that personal vehicles make an enormous contribution to air pollution, we have chosen to incentivize our employees while electric vehicle technology is still new and relatively expensive. If an eligible employee purchases a Nissan Leaf and has worked at SolarReviews for 4 years, they will receive an $8,000 bonus from the company. Incentives are offered for home energy storage. "We believe we are the first company in the U.S. to offer this large of an incentive for our employees to invest in electric vehicle use," said Sendy. "While several of our employees utilize solar power themselves, that's not always an option for team members who rent or have housing restrictions. This program offers them more opportunities to fight climate change." SolarReviews will continue championing causes that affect families and communities around the world due to climate change. This step on Earth Day is just one in a series of changes that are needed to continue transforming our climate future. For press and media inquiries, contact Evan Nicoles at [email protected] or (732) 455-9516. About SolarReviews SolarReviews has been the leading American consumer reviews website for reviews and ratings of residential solar panels and solar panel installation companies since 2012. It has grown to become the leading consumer education website for homeowners considering installing solar panels on their rooftop and to offer consumers solar price comparison functionality. SOURCE SolarReviews.com Related Links http://www.solarreviews.com TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / April 22, 2020 / Electrovaya Inc., (TSX:EFL) (OTCQB:EFLVF) today announced that it has closed an agreement with a Canadian financial institution for an additional secured Cdn $4.5 million working capital credit facility. The facility will support fulfilment of Electrovaya's recently announced purchase orders. The Cdn $4.5 million purchase order facility is in addition to the previously announced bridge facility of Cdn $1.5 million, and a specific purchase order facility of Cdn $5.5 million, from the same lender. Accordingly, the total credit facility limit is Cdn $11.5 million. This additional capital enables Electrovaya to accelerate deliveries to its customers. For more information, please contact: Investor Contact: Jason Roy Director, Investor Relations & Communications Electrovaya Inc. 905-855-4618 jroy@electrovaya.com Media Contact: Peter Koven Bay Street Communications 647-496-7857 peterkoven@baystreetcommunications.com About Electrovaya Inc. Electrovaya Inc. (TSX:EFL) (OTCQB:EFLVF) designs, develops and manufactures proprietary lithium ion batteries, battery systems, and battery-related products for energy storage, clean electric transportation and other specialized applications. Electrovaya is a technology focused company with extensive IP. Headquartered in Ontario, Canada, Electrovaya has production facilities in Canada with customers around the globe. To learn more about how Electrovaya is powering mobility and energy storage, please explore www.electrovaya.com. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements that relate to, among other things, the expected use of proceeds of the credit facility, whether this will accelerate Electrovaya's deliveries to its customers, whether this will expand Electrovaya's market reach, anticipated increased collaboration with OEMs in fiscal 2020, anticipated continued increase in sales momentum in fiscal 2020 through OEMs and directly to large global companies, including Fortune 500 companies, the Company's ability to source supply to satisfy demand for its products and satisfy current order volume, the Company's markets, objectives, goals, strategies, intentions, beliefs, expectations and estimates, and can generally be identified by the use of words such as "may", "will", "could", "should", "would", "likely", "possible", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "objective" and "continue" (or the negative thereof) and words and expressions of similar import. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. Certain material factors or assumptions are applied in making forward-looking statements, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. . Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include but are not limited to: that current customers will continue to make and increase orders for the Company's products, and that the Company's alternate supply chain will be adequate to replace material supply and manufacturing, general business and economic conditions (including but not limited to currency rates and creditworthiness of customers), Company liquidity and capital resources, including the availability of additional capital resources to fund its activities, level of competition, changes in laws and regulations, legal and regulatory proceedings, the ability to adapt products and services to the changing market, the ability to attract and retain key executives, and the ability to execute strategic plans. Additional information about material factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations and about material factors or assumptions applied in making forward-looking statements may be found in the Company's Annual Information Form for the year ended September 30, 2018 under "Risk Factors", and in the Company's most recent annual and interim Management's Discussion and Analysis under "Qualitative and Quantitative Disclosures about Risk and Uncertainties" as well as in other public disclosure documents filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the forward-looking statements contained in this document, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. SOURCE: Electrovaya, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/586359/Electrovaya-Announces-an-Increased-Credit-Facility-Agreement-to-Finance-Purchase-Orders A couple have been fined after getting stranded on a rock on the Scottish coast during the coronavirus lockdown. A 26-year-old woman and 32-year-old man were recovered by a "challenging" multi-agency rescue operation in the Cowal Peninsula on Monday night. The pair had called emergency services to report they were stranded on a rock after going for a walk on the Argyll coastline. The rescue team finally found them safely at 11pm, Police Scotland said. The couple were then fined for breaching Covid-19 legislation. It comes as emergency services face unprecedented levels of demand as the nation battles the pandemic. Police Scotland said that local officers, traffic officers and air police were deployed in order to locate the couple stranded on a rock. Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures 1 /81 Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures A deserted Westminster Bridge PA A man wearing a face mask or covering due to the COVID-19 pandemic, walks past customers sat outside a restaurant AFP via Getty Images Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Runners pass cardboard cutouts of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince William during the London Marathon in London AP An empty escalator at Charing Coss London Underground tube station Jeremy Selwyn Electronic bilboards displays a message warning people to stay home in Sheffield PA A sign is displayed in the window of a student accommodation building following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Mancheste Reuters People take part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions, in Londo AP People sing and dance in Leicester Square on the eve on the 10PM curfew Reuters Hearts painted by a team of artists from Upfest are seen in the grass at Queen Square, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Bristol Reuters Graffiti reads 'good luck and stay safe', as the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases grow around the world, under a bridge in London Reuters A sign is pictured in Soho, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London Reuters Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures, during a coronavirus briefing in Downing Street, London AP A person runs past posters with a message of hope, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Manchester REUTERS Riot police face protesters who took part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions in London AP An image of The Queen eith quotes from her broadcast to the UK and the Commonwealth in relation to the Coronavirus epidemic are displayed on lights in London's Piccadilly Circus PA Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge after members of the 101 Logistic Brigade delivered a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' hospital Getty Images Durdle Door in Dorset Reuters Captain Tom Moore via 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 Coronavirus outbreak PA An NHS worker reacts at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital during the Clap for our Carers campaign in support of the NHS Reuters Goats which have taken over the deserted streets of Llandudno @AndrewStuart via PA Tobias Weller PA Novikov restaurant in London with its shutters pulled down while the restaurant is closed London Landscapes: Hyde Park and the Serpentine, central London. Matt Writtle A newspaper vendor in Manchester city centre giving away free toilet rolls with every paper bought as shops run low on supplies due to fears over the spread of the coronavirus PA Theo Clay looks out of his window next to his hand-drawn picture of a rainbow in Liverpool, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continue Reuters A young man cuts another man's hair on top of a closed hairdresser in Oxford Reuters General view of the new NHS Nightingale Hospital, built to fight against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London via Reuters Jason Baird is seen dressed as Spiderman during his daily exercise to cheer up local children in Stockport, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters A woman wearing a face mask walks past Buckingham Palace Getty Images A man holds mobile phone displaying a text message alert sent by the government warning that new rules are in force across the UK and people must stay at home PA Medical staff on the Covid-19 ward at the Neath Port Talbot Hospital, in Wales, as the health services continue their response to the coronavirus outbreak. PA Prime Minister Boris Johnson taking part in a virtual Cabinet meeting with his top team of ministers PA A shopper walks past empty shelves in a Lidl store on in Wallington. After spates of "panic buying" cleared supermarket shelves of items like toilet paper and cleaning products, stores across the UK have introduced limits on purchases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have also created special time slots for the elderly and other shoppers vulnerable to the new coronavirus. Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour PA Mia, aged 8 and her brother Jack, aged 5 from Essex, continue their school work at home, after being sent home due to the coronavirus PA Children are painting 'Chase the rainbows' artwork and springing up in windows across the country Reuters Social distancing in Primrose Hill Jeremy Selwyn A general view of a locked gate at Anfield, Liverpool as The Premier League has been suspended PA Homeless people in London AFP via Getty Images A piece of art by the artist, known as the Rebel Bear has appeared on a wall on Bank Street in Glasgow. The new addition to Glasgow's street art is capturing the global Coronavirus crisis. The piece features a woman and a man pulling back to give each other a kiss PA The Queen leaves Buckingham Palace, London, for Windsor Castle to socially distance herself amid the coronavirus pandemic PA A general view on Grey street, Newcastle as coronavirus cases grow around the world Reuters 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 Britain's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty (L) and Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance look on as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he speaks during a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) news conference inside 10 Downing Street Reuters The ticket-validation terminals at the tram stop on Edinburgh's Princes Street are cleaned following the coronavirus outbreak. PA Locked school gates at Rockcliffe First School in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear PA A sign at a Sainsbury's supermarket informs customers that limits have been set on a small number of products as the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases grow around the world Reuters Jawad Javed delivers coronavirus protection kits that he and his wife have put together to the vulnerable people of their community of Stenhousemuir, between Glasgow and Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" Getty Images A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A pedestrian walks past graffiti that reads "Diseases are in the City" in Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images Staff from The Lyric Theatre, London inform patrons, as it shuts its doors PA A quiet looking George IV Bridge in Edinburgh PA A quieter than usual British Museum Getty Images A racegoer attends Cheltenham in a fashionable face mask SplashNews.com A commuter wears a face mask at London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn A empty restaurant in the Bull Ring Shopping Centre Getty Images A deserted Trafalgar Square in London PA Passengers determined to avoid the coronavirus before leaving the UK arrive at Gatwick Airport Getty Images In a statement, the force said: "This was a challenging incident for police who requested the assistance of coastguard rescue teams in order to trace the pair." Sergeant David Hardie also said: "This was a large scale rescue operation which consisted of various police resources including the Air Support Unit and Roads Policing Officers. "We also had support from Coastguard rescue teams based in Dunoon, Kames and Greenock. "The Coastguard Helicopter from Prestwick was deployed along with RNLI Lifeboats from Largs, Helensburgh and Tighnabruaich. CHARLOTTETOWNResidents of Prince Edward Island can expect to see a return of a few signs of normal life in the coming weeks, officials said Wednesday, as the province plans to ease some public health measures imposed amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Canadas smallest province again reported no new cases of COVID-19, leaving the provincial total at just 26, with 24 of those patients recovered. The provinces chief public health officer, Dr. Heather Morrison, said easing the province back open set to begin in early May will be a delicate balance, starting with some outdoor activities and some elective surgeries. Although we relax in one sense, were also making sure we have ongoing, really tight measures at our entry points into Prince Edward Island, and of course long-term care facilities, really wanting to protect our vulnerable populations and not wanting to overwhelm our health system, she said. Currently, mass gatherings on the Island cant be any larger than five people who are not members of the same household. Morrison said that will be reviewed on an ongoing basis. Premier Dennis King said his province is in the fortunate position of considering an ease-back because residents are doing such a good job of observing public health guidelines. Meanwhile, Fisheries and Oceans Canada announced Wednesday the lobster fishery in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence will open on May 15 about two weeks later than usual. Morrison said there will be rules in place to allow staff to safely work on the boats and in processing plants. She said those guidelines should be ready by the end of this week. The situation in P.E.I. is in stark contrast to neighbouring Nova Scotia, which reported two more deaths from COVID-19 on Wednesday, raising the total fatalities in the province to 12. Both deaths were at the Northwood long-term care facility in Halifax. My heart goes out to everyone at Northwood at this time and we are working very closely with our partners to continue to implement an emergency plan to help bring this virus under control at the facility, said Premier Stephen McNeil. The Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union (NSGEU) issued a release Wednesday describing conditions at Northwood as horrible and claiming a lack of basic infection control protocols. Dr. Robert Strang, the provinces chief medical officer of health, disputed the unions claims but admitted there are significant challenges at Northwood. They needed help and help was brought in, said Strang. He said legitimate concerns around staffing are being addressed, but said there was no validity to the unions concerns around infection control. They are using frankly, fear-mongering and hyperbole in terms of the way they are describing this situation, he said. I challenge the NSGEU to not scare people unnecessarily. They are creating fear and anxiety where its not necessary, and thats inappropriate. Strang urged the union to settle its concerns at the table with the rest of the health-care system. He again said that Northwood is driving the rise in numbers of confirmed cases in the province. There are a significant proportion of our cases right now that are coming from the Northwood outbreak, Strang said. Nova Scotia reported 35 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the provincial total to 772. New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador each reported no new cases. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A person charged with sexual abuse cannot bring up past instances where the accuser suffered sexual abuse to discredit the accusations, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday. A unanimous court upheld the 8th District Court of Appeals' holding that the state's rape shield law that bars the sexual histories of victims and defendants in sexual assault cases from being admitted during trial applies to both prior acts of consensual and non-consensual sexual activity. "To say that the purpose of the rape-shield law is not furthered by excluding evidence of an accuser's past sexual abuse is to vastly underestimate the insidiousness of victim blaming," Justice Michael Donnelly wrote in the court's opinion. The justices stressed that the law does not apply to cases where an accuser has made past sexual abuse allegations that were proven false. The ruling stems from the 2016 conviction in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court of Cedric Jefferies on multiple counts of child rape. Jefferies was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison after a jury found he sexually abused a girl twice, once when she was 12 years old and again four years later. Jefferies' lawyer, an assistant public defender, sought to cross-examine the girl during the trial about her about the sexual abuse she endured when she was four or five years old and in foster care. The girl and her family reported the abuse to the Department of Child and Family Services at the time, but the opinion does not say what came of the accusations. The attorney argued that she needed to question the girl to establish that girl had "knowledge of the system" and that some of the behavioral issues she showed were not necessarily the result of abuse at the hands of Jefferies, according to court records. Judge Janet Burnside held a closed-hearing where the girl testified about the incident. She barred the request after finding that the evidence fell under the rape shield law that prohibited the admission of evidence of a victim's or defendant's prior instances of "sexual activity." Jefferies appealed after his conviction and sentence. His lawyers, also in the county public defender's office, argued that the law only applies to someone's prior consensual sexual activity, and is meant to protect victims and defendants from "impermissible attacks on some Victorian-minded theory of promiscuity." Barring evidence of prior sexual assaults does not advance that purpose, the lawyers argued. The justices rejected the argument. They determined that the definition of sexual activity includes both consensual and non-consensual acts and that barring both from being admitted as evidence at trial furthers the law's intent to prohibit putting a victim's or defendant's sexual history on trial. Donnelly cited the court's previous rulings in cases involving the state's rape shield law that found it was meant to prevent victims from being harassed and coerced out of reporting sexual assaults for fear of being embarrassed, as well as from the introduction of irrelevant and inflammatory evidence to sway the jury. "The ability to use evidence of prior sexual activity to harass and traumatize the victim and mislead a jury does not stop at the line between consensual and non-consensual sexual activity," Donnelly wrote. "Unnecessary and invasive questioning into past sexual experiences could be just as embarrassing and traumatic when one is asked about prior sexual assaults as it is when one is asked about his or her past consensual sexual activity." Read more stories Cuyahoga County jail officers gave secret beating to handcuffed inmate, lawsuit says Northern Ohio's chief federal judge extends courthouse closures, suspension of trials due to coronavirus Parma Heights consignment shop must remain closed during coronavirus stay-at-home order, judge rules Mentor bridal shop among businesses suing insurance companies for not covering losses during coronavirus pandemic Federal judge rules against bridal shops challenge to Ohio health order closing nonessential businesses Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is set to undergo a test for the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, days after meeting a well-known philanthropist who has been detected positive for the COVID-19 infection, an official has said. A total of 17 more people have died in Pakistan from the COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 209. The number of coronavirus cases has risen to 9,749 with 533 new infections reported as of Wednesday, the Ministry of National Health Services has said. Advisor on Information Firdous Ashiq Awan said that the family of the Prime Minister has already tested negative. Khan will get tested on Wednesday, Awan said. Khan's personal physician and CEO of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital, Faisal Sultan, told the media on Tuesday that Khan would undergo a COVID-19 test. "Prime Minister Khan will undergo test of the coronavirus to show that he is a responsible citizen of this county.We will follow all protocols in place and make recommendations accordingly, he said. Khan agreed for the test after Faisal Edhi, the son of late philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi and chairman of the Edhi Foundation, met him last week, and has now tested positive for the coronavirus. Saad, the son of Faisal Edhi, told the Dawn newspaper on Tuesday that his father started showing symptoms last week, soon after meeting Khan in Islamabad on April 15. "The symptoms lasted for four days before subsiding," Saad said. Faisal Edhi had met Prime Minister Khan to hand over a Rs 10 million cheque for the premier's coronavirus relief fund. The Edhi Foundation was founded by the late Abdul Sattar Edhi and is the leading charity organisation in Pakistan. Khan will participate in an event on Thursday organised to collect donations to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. Pakistan's Punjab province has reported 4,328 cases, Sindh has 3,053, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 1,345, Balochistan 495, Gilgit-Baltistan 284, Islamabad 194 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 51 patients. So far, 118,020 tests have been done nationwide, including 5,647 in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, at least 492 Pakistanis, including 92 women, stranded in Afghanistan due to coronavirus pandemic have returned to their country from the Torkham border. Officials said another 111 children, not registered with them as stranded persons but travelling with their parents, mostly mothers, were also allowed to enter Pakistan, the Dawn newspaper reported. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie speaks at the National Press Club in Washington, on Feb. 5, 2020. (Samira Bouaou/Epoch Times) VA Chief: Hydroxychloroquine Has Been Working Against COVID-19 The anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine has been working in COVID-19 patients, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie said on Wednesday. Wilkies comments come after a study looking at the effects of the drug in 368 patients in Veterans Health Administration hospitals found no evidence the drug is effective against COVID-19, a new disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. Responding to the results during an appearance on MSNBC, Wilkie said, Thats an observational study. Its not a clinical study. It was done on a small number of veterans; sadly, those of whom were in the last stages of life, and the drug was given to them. The drug has been working on middle-age and younger veterans, Wilkie added. By that, he meant that it was stopping the progression of COVID-19. The study in question can help inform doctors who are caring for veterans who have the CCP virus, Wilkie said. An arrangement of hydroxychloroquine pills in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 6, 2020. (John Locher/AP Photo) Doctors across the nation have been prescribing hydroxychloroquine but there are a number of concerns about its effectiveness and, if it proves effective, medical workers want to pinpoint the correct dosage information and other matters regarding how and when to prescribe it. Clinical trials of hydroxychloroquine are underway in Minnesota, Tennessee, and New York. Andrew Cuomo, the governor of the Empire State, asked for more doses of the drug to be delivered to New York City during a April 21 White House meeting with President Donald Trump, according to Wilkie. Also this week, doctors and experts on a panel created by the National Institutes of Health said they were recommending against using hydroxychloroquine in combination with azithromycin, an antibiotic also known as Z-Pak. The panel said there is not yet enough information for recommending for or against the use of hydroxychloroquine, the closely related chloroquine, or remdesivir, an experimental drug thats also being trialed for safety and efficacy against COVID-19. Stocks were taken for a wild ride on Thursday that showed just how important finding a treatment for the coronavirus is for Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed just 39.44 points higher, or 0.2%, at 23,515.26. Earlier in the day, the Dow rallied more than 400 points. The S&P 500 dipped 0.1% to 2,797.80 while the Nasdaq Composite closed just below breakeven at 8,494.75. Both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 were up more than 1% at their session highs. The Financial Times said citing documents accidentally published by the World Health Organization that Gilead Sciences' drug remdesivir did not improve patients' condition or reduce the coronavirus pathogen in their bloodstream. Those findings, according to the report, came from a clinical trial in China. Gilead took issue with the report, saying: "Because this study was terminated early due to low enrollment, it was underpowered to enable statistically meaningful conclusions. As such, the study results are inconclusive, though trends in the data suggest a potential benefit for remdesivir, particularly among patients treated early in disease." Equities attempted a rebound on the back of Gilead's statement before closing along the flatline. Gilead Sciences shares closed 4.3% lower. The report and Gilead's subsequent statement came a week after STAT News reported that Chicago patients taking remdesivir to treat coronavirus were recovering rapidly from severe virus symptoms. That report lifted market sentiment, sending stocks sharply higher. "Any sort of treatment is key for people to getting people back out into the world," said Kim Forrest, founder of Bokeh Capital, on CNBC's "The Exchange." "When the results were announced of the trial last week, you could see the market react and it was a sigh of relief that, if I get this, I may not die." In a bid to increase testing of the deadly Coronavirus globally, a Belgian biotech firm has reportedly started producing tests to rapidly detect antibodies against the infection. According to an international news agency, a Liege-based company, ZenTech, started making tens of thousands of the government certified tests. The company reportedly said that it plans ramp up output further to eventually make up to three million per month so the world could overcome the pandemic. While speaking to the media agency, founder and CEO of the company, Jean-Claude Havaux, said that the diagnosis takes just 10-15 minutes and sensitivity is 100 per cent, which means that all patients who have COVID-19 antibodies, can be detected via the test. Havaux also said that the test kits, however, are only for medical professionals and they will be distributed in Belgium first and then in other countries. Furthermore, he also said that the kits are not meant for the public to use at home as they are complicated. READ: German Firms Turn To Making Masks As Demand Grows Amid Coronavirus Pandemic Havaux reportedly said that the company does not intend the test to be used by just anybody as it is pretty complicated and not like a pregnancy test. He added that the test is complicated to carry out and to interpret the results. The test is also very crucial tool right now in determining who has had COVID-19 and therefore could be immune to it. READ: Foreigners Repatriated From Dhaka Amid Coronavirus WHO warns against antibodies The company also said that the tests could also possible pave the way to allowing people to return to work while the countries are grappling to contain the virus. These tests are also important for healthcare workers on the frontline of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has, however, warned that the presence of Coronavirus antibodies is not proof that an individual is immune. The WHO said that even if there is immunity, it is still unknown how long it might last. Meanwhile, Coronavirus, which originated in China in December 2019, has now claimed over 177,000 lives worldwide as of April 22. According to the tally by an international news agency, the pandemic has now spread to 210 countries and territories and has infected more than 2.5 million people. Out of the total infections, more than 688,000 have recovered but the easily spread virus is continuing to disrupt many lives. Major cities have been put under lockdown in almost all countries including Spain, and the economy is struggling. (Image source: AP) READ: Coronavirus Pandemic: Hundreds Protest NC Stay-at-home Order In Raleigh READ: Missouri Sues China Over Coronavirus Pandemic It's not uncommon for a bride to have a glass of champagne on her wedding day. But did Bindi Irwin observe this time-honoured tradition when she married her husband, Chandler Powell, last month? The 21-year-old conservationist is a well-known teetotaller and it's believed that Chandler, 23, also doesn't touch alcohol. Mystery: It's not uncommon for a bride to have a glass of champagne on her wedding day... but did Bindi Irwin observe this tradition when she married Chandler Powell last month? The couple's wedding was featured in an episode of Crikey! It's the Irwins, but they weren't shown celebrating their union with a tipple. While they may have toasted to their marriage off camera, it's also possible their wedding was an alcohol-free affair. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Australia Zoo for comment. A toast to the bride and groom? The couple's wedding was featured in an episode of Crikey! It's the Irwins, but they weren't shown celebrating their union with a tipple The daughter of Steve 'The Crocodile Hunter' Irwin has previously said she doesn't drink, which is unsurprising given her family's squeaky clean image. She told The Kyle and Jackie O Show in 2016 that she hadn't touched alcohol before, and was unlikely to try champagne on her 18th birthday. 'I haven't [tried alcohol]. I am so wild that I haven't even had Coca-Cola before. Can you believe that? I wanted to see how long I can go without it,' she said. 'I might have some Coca-Cola on my 18th but I'm gonna see. I'm going to see if I'm that crazy! 'My mum [Terri Irwin] always says, "I look at you and it's like I've trapped this 86-year-old inside a 17-year-old's body."' Teetotaller: The daughter of Steve 'The Crocodile Hunter' Irwin has previously said she doesn't drink alcohol. Pictured: Steve, Terri and Bindi Irwin in Sydney on July 7, 2002 She told WHO magazine in 2014 that the closest she had ever come to an act of rebellion was drinking coffee at a music festival aged 16. Bindi explained that she had called her mother, Terri, to confess she'd 'drank a mocha' at Splendour in the Grass in Byron Bay. 'Mum always said try to avoid too much caffeine,' she said. 'I called mum up and I go, "I'm so sorry!" I felt so bad.' A dry wedding? While the newlyweds may have toasted to their marriage off camera, it's also possible their wedding was an alcohol-free affair Bindi and Chandler, a professional wakeboarder from Florida, married at Australia Zoo, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, on March 25. They made the 'difficult decision' to have no guests present to keep the community safe during the coronavirus pandemic. However, there was a small crew from Animal Planet present to film the ceremony, which later aired in the U.S. on April 18. A man (21) has been arrested after the body of a woman (39) was found this morning in an apartment in south Belfast. PSNI officers were called to the scene in Haywood Avenue at 1.45am this morning, where her body was discovered inside. Her death is being currently treated as suspicious and a post mortem examination is due to take place. The man was arrested and taken to Musgrave Police Station for questioning. Police have appealed for witnesses. "I am appealing for anyone who was in the Haywood Avenue area late last night or early this morning and who seen or heard anything to contact detectives from the Major Investigation Team at Ladas Police Station on 101 quoting reference 106 22/04/2020," said Detective Chief Inspector Darren McCartney. "Alternatively, information can be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers which is 100pc anonymous and gives people the power to speak up and stop crime," he added. An obsessed brute who subjected his pregnant girlfriend to a violent hate campaign as she agonised over whether to keep their unborn baby was jailed today. Father-of-one Jayden Knight, 27, from Greater Manchester, repeatedly beat 25-year old Sophie Whitby after she suggested she might not keep the child. During the spate of attacks, Knight stamped on Miss Whitby punched and grabbed her by the throat, poured drinks over her head and forced her to drink from the floor. In the first attack in October he wrote on Facebook 'someone is going to get it today' before turning up at the victim's home whilst she was in the bath to attack her. Jayden Knight, 27, from Middleton, Greater Manchester, was jailed for 22 months and given a restraining order of five years after repeatedly assaulting his pregnant girlfriend He shouted 'you think you can get away with ignoring me?' and said 'if you do not get out of the bath I will drag you out'. Knight, from Middleton, near Rochdale, pinned her against the bathroom wall and punched her. He assaulted her five times in total, forcing her to drink from a puddle outside 'like a dog' on New Year's Eve. He later blamed the assaults on mental health issues after Miss Whitby, who has two children from a previous relationship, decided to terminate the birth. Miss Whitby said: 'My relationship with him was bad for my mental and emotional health. 'I always felt like I was walking on coals, he put me down and called me names which affected my confidence. I ended up blaming myself for what he said to me. Knight pleaded guilty to occasioning actual bodily harm, common assault and criminal damage 'The night after I called police I woke up in the middle of the night following a nightmare in which he "came for me" like he threatened to do. 'I didn't return home until after I found out he had been arrested and remanded in custody. I am upset and angry.' At Manchester Crown Court, Knight admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm, common assault and criminal damage and was jailed for 22 months. He was also banned from contacting Miss Whitby for five years under the terms of a restraining order. The pair moved in together shortly after they started dating in August last year but the relationship soured in October when Miss Whitby discovered she was pregnant. Prosecutor David Lees said: 'She did not want to keep the child and he was upset by this and started becoming aggressive and abusive. Knight first began abusing Sophie Whitby, 25, in October after she became pregnant three months into their relationship 'They had had an argument that day which began face-to-face but continued over text when he was at work. 'He then wrote on Facebook "someone is going to get it today". 'When he returned home she was in the bath and he began shouting at her and said "you think you can get away with ignoring me?". 'He carried on "if you do not get out of the bath I will drag you out" and asks "how do you think you can speak to other guys?". 'He then spat at her and grabbed her in the bathroom. She began running another bath and he asked her where her phone was and searched for it. 'He then pinned her against the back of the bath and said "I am going to kill you". Judge Elizabeth Nicholls told Knight his behaviour was 'humiliating, degrading, frightening and painful and your attitude to women is concerning' 'He poured water over her head and said he was 'just getting started' and punched her in the bathroom.' On October 20 the pair were out shopping when he made threats to assault her child's father, calling her a 'slag' and pouring lager over her head. When they returned home he pushed her into the washing machine and she suffered bruising on her arms and banged her head on the cupboard. On New Year's Eve, Knight saw her text a male friend and called her a slag and a rat before throwing her to the ground and pushing her face into a puddle outside. He told her to 'lick it up like a dog' after he said it would be the 'worst New Year's ever' while he drank beer and went to McDonalds. Mr Lees said: 'On 4 January they began arguing after she accidentally shut him out. 'He became abusive and later grabbed the defendant by the throat and slammed her on the kitchen worktop. 'He then punched her body, ribs and kidney. She then asked him to leave and he refused.' His final attack came on January 8, when Miss Whitby rang police after being stamped on, injuring her head and leg. She realised she would be unable to pick her child up from school after the assault and Knight was arrested after he refused to let her ring a friend to pick up her child. Knight has nine previous offences including a conviction for harassment and in August 2015 he was convicted of domestic violence against a previous partner. Defence barrister Paul Bryning said: 'The offences are appalling and he is ashamed of himself. 'He is remorseful but he disputes stamping on the complainant's head. Knight was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court today and was told not to let his daughter become another victim of domestic violence 'He told me his partner fell pregnant with a child and decided to abort it which affected his mental health issues and has suffered with that for some time. 'He also stopped taking his medication around this time. 'He has a child from a previous partner and maintains a good relationship with her and plays an active part in that child's life.' You cannot allow your daughter to become another victim. Speaking to Knight, Judge Elizabeth Nicholls said: 'Fortunately, her injuries were not serious or permanent however, your conduct on each occasion was humiliating, degrading, frightening and painful and your attitude to women is concerning. 'On at least two occasions you assaulted her in the presence of your child, exposing them to the concerns that domestic violence causes. 'I have seen that you have had a dysfunctional upbringing which has impacted your life and mental health and has led to you abusing alcohol and drugs. 'That past is now repeating itself in the way you conducted yourself in front of your partner and her daughters. 'You must address those issues and you are going to have to address them in custody. You cannot allow your daughter to become another victim.' Power management company Eaton (NYSE:ETN) today announced that Lori J. Ryerkerk has been elected to the company's Board of Directors effective April 22, 2020. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005500/en/ Lori Ryerkerk (Photo: Business Wire) Ryerkerk is the chairman, president and chief executive officer of Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE), a global chemical and specialty materials company. "Lori's extensive experience in the energy industry makes her a valuable addition to our board," said Craig Arnold, Eaton chairman and chief executive officer. "She brings with her a wealth of both technical and commercial expertise and a passion for manufacturing. We are pleased to welcome Lori to the Board." Prior to joining Celanese Corporation in 2019, Ryerkerk served as executive vice president of global manufacturing of Shell Downstream Inc., a business of Royal Dutch Shell plc. She served as senior vice president, refining, supply and terminals at Hess Corporation. Prior to that, she spent 24 years with ExxonMobil and served in a variety of operational and senior leadership roles. Ryerkerk succeeds Todd M. Bluedorn who decided not to stand for re-election due to other board obligations. "We'd like to thank Todd for his 10 years of service on the Board and for serving as chair of Eaton's compensation and organization committee during this time," said Arnold. "Todd's leadership throughout his tenure on our board has made a meaningful and lasting impact on the organization." Eaton's mission is to improve the quality of life and the environment through the use of power management technologies and services. We provide sustainable solutions that help our customers effectively manage electrical, hydraulic, and mechanical power more safely, more efficiently, and more reliably. Eaton's 2019 revenues were $21.4 billion, and we sell products to customers in more than 175 countries. We have approximately 95,000 employees. For more information, visit Eaton.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005500/en/ Contacts: Margaret Hagan, +1 (440) 523-4343 margarethagan@eaton.com 22.04.2020 LISTEN "Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence." - Vince Lombardi Thirty-one years ago, at the premises of the Tribune Group of Newspapers, Imalefalafia, Ibadan, I was privileged to listen to a seminal lecture on and about Journalism as well as the business of newspapering. It was a very captivating lecture that was blissful. Equally instructive and illuminating. Detailed, scholarly, rich in research and intellectually ornamenting. The kernel of the lecture was why newspapers failed in Nigeria and the isolated answer given by the lecturer was that every newspaper in Nigeria wanted to be a "national newspaper", especially when they did not have the resources. As a result of this, they were often stretched thin and thus stressed out of viability. In this lecture, he posited that it was better for newspapers to have catchment areas. It was important for a newspaper to have a base. This catchment area could be consolidated and dominated. In addition, such a newspaper would cultivate loyal and dedicated readers and customers that would consistently look forward to seeing it on the street every blessed day. This would create a sustainable relationship, a sustainable economic base and a priced longevity as well as the survival of the newspaper. To elucidate his theory, he reeled out the names of newspapers in the United States for example and noted that the most influential of them and globally acclaimed ones like the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal among many others were and are still regional papers. He mentioned USA Today newspaper as the only national newspaper in the United States. This was in 1989 at the 40th Anniversary of the founding of the Nigeria Tribune by the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. The celebration was christened "Voice of The Voiceless" to denote, define and describe as well as celebrate, consecrate and commemorate the roles of the Tribune Group of Newspapers in the annals of economic, social and political emancipation of the people. The lecturer was none other person than the one and only authentic General Officer Commanding (GOC) in the profession of Journalism in Nigeria, Prince, he has always insisted on being referred to as Mr., Felix Adedapo Adenaike. Before that time, Mr Peter Ajayi, (may his blessed soul continue to rest in peace) had adopted me as a protege. He had me under his wings, teaching, guiding and encouraging me. He made me to read and read, and he provided some of the books. Through him, I had encountered the intimidating brilliance of Mr. Adenaike and the exhilarating excellence of Chief Olusegun Osoba, who later became the Governor of Ogun State, at close quarters. The three of them were the Three Musketeers. It was Chief Obafemi Awolowo who gave the trio that cognomen, and it fitted and still fits excellently. During their time, they were the powerhouse of Journalism in Nigeria. Without let or hindrance, they bestrode the journalistic firmament like comets. They were brilliant, courageous, principled, adventurous with permeation of integrity and dignity. Deeply educated in the real sense of it, they were thorough professionals. They were genial but very firm and tough. It is indeed difficult to write about one of them without touching on the other two. But this is a celebration of our own GOC, the one and only Felix Adenaike. He was an efficaciously efficient administrator. A no - nonsense executive. He was congenitally driven and compulsively motivated. A go - getter. He drove others the way he drove himself. He did not take excuses, because he would never give one. He abhored incompetence and laziness, both Intellectual and physical. He suffered fools very gladly. All he wanted at all times was result: concrete, measurable and identifiable result. If you ccouldn't get result, you didn't have too many chances before you're sidelined or let go. When he gave instruction, it always ended with "with immediate effect." One would be in great peril not to execute such instructions immediately. The peril could include demotion or sack after a couple of chances. No excuses. He celebrated excellence in younger ones. He cultivated excellence, at all times. He was helplessly attracted to excellence. He looked for it relentlessly, tirelessly, everywhere in everyone. He was and is still hooked on it. Excellence is his opium. It makes him delirious. Excellence is his passion. It makes him ecstatic. When he recognizes excellence in others, he acts as if forcefully propelled by a special angel as he dissects in celebration, adulation, validation and edification. Adenaike is a Lombardian. He belongs to the Vince Lombardi School of Thought. A School of Thought that believes intrinsically that excellence must be pursued, that it must be wooed with all of ones might and every bit of effort. The Lombardians believe that you don't do things right once in a while, you do them right all of the time. Excellence is not a "sometime thing." It is an "all of the time thing." A professional journalist of highest order that is uncompromisingly thorough and meticulous, through and through. Having gone through the mill, mastered the moxie, he would insist on compliance with the basic journalistic tenets in all the branches for a complete, wholesome, beautiful, alluring and pulsating package. He is one of a kind. Born 22 April 1940, at Osi Arawa, in Ijebu Ode Local Government of Ogun State (then Western Region), Felix Adedapo Adenaike was educated at St Marks Teachers College, Iperu, and St Leos Teachers College, Abeokuta; the University of Lagos, Lagos, bagging a Diploma with didctinction and an honours degree both in Mass Communication. Felix Adenaike started out as a teacher, rising to become a headmaster before crossing over to the civil service as an information officer at the Western Region Ministry of Information and Home Affairs. But he would rather like to be referred to as a "News Reporter" as opposed to "Information Officer." From here, he crossed to the Daily Times as a journalist. He made his mark there as a compelling features and Leader writer. His "clearheaded analyses" soon earned him posting to West Africa magazine in London as senior correspondent. He was also Europe Correspondent of the Daily Times, with operational base in London. From London he came home to be the Chief Executive Officer and Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Sketch Group, Ibadan. He became the District Manager, Daily Times, for Oyo, Ondo, Ogun and Kwara States from thence and operated from Ibadan. He moved to African Newspapers of Nigeria, publisher of the Tribune Titles as the Editor-in-Chief and Executive Director at Imalefalafia, Ibadan. That was where he was invested with the GOC cognomen. His journalistic skill set continues to be in high demand locally and across the oceans. He has been a member of many editorial boards of national and international media such as The Guardian; The Comet, The Nation; Leader writer for West Africa, The Times of London; commentator/analyst, BBC African Service. He was conferred with the fellowship of the Nigerian Guild of Editors in 2003 and has received numerous honours from the Nigeria Union of Journalists. For his "lifelong devotion to advancing the frontiers of knowledge and strengthening the media as a pillar of democracy and prodigious contributions to nation building", Mr. Adenaike was conferred with the FAME Lifetime Achievement Award. After his retirement he became book publisher/editorial consultant and has served on federal, state and private boards of corporations. A surprisingly very religious person. A man of deep faith who believes that God has the ultimate say in the destiny of any man. This is an aspect of him that is not widely known. A practicing Catholic, he does not joke or toy with mass sessions. A quiet philanthropist who operates under the radar to lift others up and out of poverty. Unknown to many, Mr. Adenaike is an angel of hope and consolation to several indigent souls. He has given and is still giving his shoulders to those who needed them to lean on. To the dark existence of some, he has brought klieg lights of joy and happiness. He doesn't talk about it. He doesn't make a show of it. In the words of that great African American poet, Maya Angelou, Felix Adenaike has not just lived and survived, he has thrived. He has done so, so far, with some passion, some compassion, some humour and some style. A very consummate family man, Mr. Adenaike, is married with six children - three boys and three girls, all professionals. On behalf of many of his foot soldiers, this is wishing our General Officer Commanding (GOC), Felix Adedapo Adenaike, a very happy birthday and many happy returns of this beautiful day. Remi Oyeyemi Farming industry groups have welcomed confirmation by Northern Ireland's devolved government that farmers are eligible to apply for the self-employed scheme. Economy minister Dianne Dodds confirmed that there was no restriction on farmers applying to the Self Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) as long as they met qualifying conditions. Those entitled to the payment would qualify for a taxable grant worth 80% of their trading profits for three months and it would be capped at 2,500 a month. HMRC will be contacting those who are eligible for the scheme in May to apply online. However, details regarding qualifying conditions and other areas of the scheme remain scarce. The Ulster Farmers Union (UFU) welcomed the news, saying it had explored the issue since the coronavirus outbreak began in a bid to get farmers 'essential support'. Union president Ivor Ferguson said there was an initial confusion as to whether farmers were able to apply for the self-employed scheme. "Many of our members will be relieved at this news as Covid-19 has created a lot of challenges for farm businesses and all support is welcome. "However, the self-employed scheme is not the be all and end all as it is a short-term fix and there are qualifying conditions that farmers must meet. The union said it would be monitoring the scheme closely over the coming weeks as full details have yet to be released. The UFU added it would continue to press for support for a specific agriculture package primarily for the grass based livestock sectors where the impact of the market downturn is 'most acute'. The Central government on Wednesday asked media persons to exercise due caution while reporting on the coronavirus outbreak following reports that many newsmen had themselves contracted the disease. Some other states including Delhi have decided to test journalists for the virus. In an advisory, the ministry said that recently media-persons in various parts of the country have contracted COVID-19 in their line of work. The ministry advised media persons including reporters, cameramen, photographers etc, who are covering incidents related to Covid-19 outbreak in various parts of the country and are involved in travel to, among other places, containment zones, hotspots and other Covid affected areas, to take due health and related precautions while performing their duties. The Ministry also requested the management of media houses to take necessary care of their field staff as well as the office staff. Earlier, following reports of over 50 journalists being found coronavirus positive in Mumbai, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar had said that precautions should be taken by all. It is shocking that more than 50 journalists of electronic media, particularly camera persons, have been found to be corona positive in Mumbai. Every journalist should take proper care, said Javadekar in a post on social media platform Twitter on Monday. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had announced on Monday that 53 journalists in Mumbai had tested positive for COVID-19. The HT Guide to Coronavirus COVID-19 Some journalists from a Tamil news TV channel in Chennai have tested positive for the infection in a fresh incident involving scribes, reported ANI. Another report said that in Telangana, four media persons working for vernacular news channels have been quarantined after coming in contact with another person under home quarantine. The advisory follows a decision by Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Delhi and Rajasthan governments to arrange COVID-19 tests for media persons. While Rajasthan has decided to set up a two day special camp for the purpose, Delhi health minister Satyendra Jain didnt specify any details. He, however, said that any media person could come forward to get himself tested. For Coronavirus Live Updates BOSTON, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Automated bookkeeping leader, Botkeeper , announced Monday that in an effort to help CPA firms fight the economic impact of COVID-19, it will be offering 2 months of free bookkeeping services. Named the "Botkeeper CPA Love" initiative, new clients signing on for standard Botkeeper agreements, along with any renewals, are eligible for an additional 2 months of service, completely free of charge, or 14 months of bookkeeping service for the price of 12. With the launch of the "Botkeeper CPA Love" plan, the company noted the importance of making "virtual bookkeeping" more accessible during these trying times during this era of uncertainty in saying "The Covid19 crisis has already taken a toll; Botkeeper intends to partner with CPA firms to drive more efficiencies for their clients in a time of uncertainty. We are privileged with our scale and technology to be able to provide CPA firms with a vitally needed enhancement during this era," said President and Chief Revenue Officer of Botkeeper Chris Mahl. "Our CPA Partners are innovators, and we are committed to making them evermore stronger, doing all we can to support them. We are working across our different teams to provide technology, insights, services, and best practices for CPA firms in scaling efficiently and rapidly utilizing botkeeper." Piloting technology to help CPA firms scale even faster- drive more client acquisitions. "While more and more professionals are working from home and quarantining with their families, they will be relying on their trusted financial partners and advisors even more than they did pre-COVID 19," said Vice President of Marketing at Botkeeper, Jessica King. "Botkeeper and our amazing Accounting Partners can offer up our resources to provide better financial value, a little more certainty during uncertain times, and more peace of mind for the future of businesses, when the leadership teams need it most." As part of the new initiative, Botkeeper is teaming up with key CPA firms in their Partner Ecosystem, combining forces and bringing bundled solutions to provide COVID-19 solution sets to their mutual client bases to help them navigate the new business landscape. "One of our biggest initiatives for 2020 has been the planning and release of a new and improved CPA Partner experience with Botkeeper," said Byron Patrick, Vice President of Growth, and Success. "With our upcoming release, Botkeeper is going to enable CPAs to promote and accelerate their bookkeeping client acquisition, at unprecedented rates, allowing them to onboard new clients onto their service, and ultimately, remove traditional barriers to scaling your firm". CPA Love during, and beyond COVID-19 "CPAs and Accounting Professionals are in an era of unprecedented times," said Jody Padar, Botkeeper's Vice President of Strategy and The Radical CPA. "The challenges they're facing as business owners and business advisors, create emotional strain and unfamiliar stress. Information aimed to help them is coming from many different directionsand the many emails being sent by non-clients are getting ignored. We're going to change this! We are on a mission to help CPAs through this crisis by providing them with information that will help them manage their own business and better advise their clients- something we're coining as the #CPALove movement." Jody's video sessions will be airing on Linkedinlive to more than 700,000 followers, consisting of accountants and financial professionals around the world. About Botkeeper: Botkeeper provides automated bookkeeping support to Accounting firms and businesses by using a powerful combination of skilled accountants, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. Clients receive 24/7 accounting and support as well as incredible insight into their financials with interactive dashboards and unlimited reporting. Botkeeper's Accounting Partners are able to grow their book of business and provide high-quality services to their clients, increasing their ability to take on new clients, all while getting crystal clean financials at tax time- all while reducing overhead. Botkeeper is the only solution of its kind, acting as a force multiplier for business owners and Accounting firms. The company is headquartered in Boston, MA. Learn more at botkeeper.com CONTACT: Jessica King, [email protected] SOURCE Botkeeper Related Links http://www.botkeeper.com New Delhi: Every year, Earth Day is celebrated worldwide on April 22. It is marked to show solidarity towards environmental issues and protection. The annual event sees a number of countries taking multiple initiatives to battle environment problems and what better than Earth Day to talk about it. Bollywood actress Sara Ali Khan decided to thank Mother Nature and expressed her gratitude towards her with a beautiful picture collage taking into account her sojourn to the snow-capped mountains, beaches, jungles and deserts. Her Instagram post caption reads: Happy Earth Day About Mother Nature what to say Snowflakes in December, Jungles in May On the beach, where the hair can sway In the mountains, on my sleigh In the desert, the camel leads the way But for now at home we must stay And with gratitude and appreciation thank Mother Earth everyday #stayhome #staysafe #staypositive Sara made her debut into movies in 2018 with Abhishek Kapoor's 'Kedarnath'. On the work front, she has David Dhawan's 'Coolie No. 1' remake up for release this year. It stars Varun Dhawan in the lead role. And thus have the kings of the earth stood up, and the Rulers have taken counsel together, against the Lord, and against his Anointed, as it is written. Therefore now the Lord that sitteth in heaven . . . poureth contempt upon Princes, by casting down and destroying of them, even by men that have been and are base and contemptible in their eyes. And thus the Lord is vexing of them, and will vex them in his sore displeasure, until he have destroyed them from off the earth: because they have vexed, persecuted, and shed the blood of his Saints, therefore he will give them blood to drink: for they are worthy. Henry Haggar, No King But Jesus, 1652 People think of Texas as the land of wide open spaces, but being home to four metropolitan areas with populations each exceeding 2 million, it is one of the most urban states, with five of the 15 largest cities in the country. The politics and social character of Houston and San Antonio have much more in common with Chicago and Los Angeles than they do with Alpine, Texas, which is even more remote from Houston than the 571 miles on the map would indicate. Alpine is the seat of Brewster County, the gateway to the backcountry wilderness of West Texas. It is under an emergency COVID-19 order. But as of Tuesday afternoon, the latest New York Times data showed that Brewster County was home to not one of Texass 20,286 coronavirus cases. That is not surprising. A big part of the county is in Big Bend National Park, where you can spend days wandering around without seeing another living soul. With population density at 1.5 human beings per square mile, social distancing is the traditional way of life. The South Bronx it isnt. New Yorkers are burning up the police hotlines to inform on their neighbors for violating social-distancing protocols more than 14,000 calls already have been made to the NYPD, who have found it necessary to take no action in the majority of these cases. But it isnt just New York. In Dallas, the police are dutifully trolling through old urban neighborhoods with on-street parking, putting abandoned vehicle tickets on the windshields of cars that are parked in front of their owners houses but havent been moved for a couple of weeks theres not much reason to drive. Story continues Why? Because somebody complained. The coronavirus epidemic has brought out the best in many Americans and the worst in others. It also has intensified one of the tribal fissures that run through practically every state and a great many counties in this country: Ratfink America vs. Youre Not the Boss of Me! America. Ratfink America mostly lives in the urban metros, mostly has a progressive-secular cultural orientation, and mostly votes Democratic. Did you see that Harvard Magazine essay about Elizabeth Bartholet of Harvard Law, who argued that we should prohibit homeschooling because it makes it harder for authorities to keep an eye on the domestic lives of unruly proles? Thats pure Ratfink America. Michael Bloomberg shoving his vain little snout into your soda? Ratfink America. The people who call CPS on mothers who smoke in front of their children? Ratfink Americans, one and all. And the people who leave eleven-month-old babies locked up in the Nissan all night while theyre gambling in a New Jersey casino? Theyre the other kind. Youre Not the Boss of Me! America is, in its raw and concentrated form, The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia. Its Ammon Bundy and David Koresh. But its also Andrew Jackson and Thomas Jefferson, Civil Disobedience, and the Declaration of Independence. In the coronavirus context, it is Pentecostals in Florida and Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn defying social-distancing mandates. You might think the blue-nosed busybodies who are always up in everybody elses business would be found in the churches, but that is not the case in America Anno Domini 2020. Traditional religious believers of many different faiths are at the center of the collective soul of Youre Not the Boss of Me! America. These are our modern Levellers, determined to have No King But Jesus. Youre Not the Boss of Me! America is forever hearing footsteps in the night, expecting the jackboot on the front door at any minute. That mentality used to be a more natural fit for the Left, which in the days of the Sixties counterculture understood itself to be the target of the homogenizing and disciplining forces of institutions from church to state to college to corporation. They may have been listening to the Who, but they were the Whom. After the Lefts Long March through the institutions, the tables have turned. Progressives enjoy power in the bureaucracies, in the universities, in the corporations, etc. There is a slight complication at the moment owing to the fact that the cultural mascot of Youre Not the Boss of Me! America happens to be president, and believes that he is indeed the boss of us all. (He is not.) As Charles C. W. Cooke has noted, the Left has criticized Trump for acting like a dictator and then complained that in the response to the epidemic he has not acted in a sufficiently dictatorial fashion. You can be confident that the partisans and theorists of Ratfink America will give up Resistance! just as soon as the next Democrat is elected president, and then well go back to having media Democrats explain to us that opposing the president is sedition and demanding we put Rush Limbaugh on trial. Or that we arrest people with naughty views on climate change. The divide in our culture is Left and Right. But it is also town and country, farm and pharma, institutionalist and dissident, who and whom, Prius and F-150, kale and Mountain Dew. It is Ratfink America and Youre Not the Boss of Me! America. Like professional wrestling, it is the same fight over and over again in a hundred different arenas and no less hokey and fake. More from National Review Reuters Donald Trump has announced he is suspending all immigration to the US because of the coronavirus crisis, a move to protect jobs with 22m people already out of work, his executive order denounced by critics as both an act of partisan opportunism and an attempt to distract from his blundering response to the pandemic. This action is not only an attempt to divert attention away from Trumps failure to stop the spread of the coronavirus and save lives, but an authoritarian-like move to take advantage of a crisis and advance his anti-immigrant agenda, responded congressman Joaquin Castro. With the US death toll from Covid-19 at 42,300 the highest in the world and the country on nearly 787,000 confirmed infections, according to Johns Hopkins, Georgia, Texas and Colorado are among the states preparing to end lockdown measures and reopen, to the consternation of many. Please allow a moment for our live blog to load (Photo : STEPHANE MAHE/Reuters) Hydroxychloroquine was initially believed as a potential coronavirus cure. (Photo : TOM BRENNER/Reuters) Abbott's 5-minutes COVID-19 test kit is 15% inaccurate, study claims. The United States President Donald J. Trump touted hydroxychloroquine and Abbott's 5-minute COVID-19 as useful products to combat coronavirus. However, some health experts do not agree, and found both of them inconsistent and had no benefits. Hydroxychloroquine Causes Higher Death Rate in COVID-19 Patients According to CNN, the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine did not benefit patients at the U.S. Veterans Health Administration medical centers, unlike what was initially perceived by experts. Based on a study that was published at medrxiv.org, which means it's not yet peer-reviewed, it showed that COVID-19 patients that received the anti-malaria drug were no less likely to require ventilators. Worse, the study showed that patients who were on the treatment had higher death rates compared to those who did not take it. There were 368 coronavirus patients who took part in the study, with 97 people taking hydroxychloroquine and had a death rate of 27.8%, while the other 158 patients only had 11.4% death rate. No Evidence Linked to Reduced Need of Ventilators In addition, the researchers concluded that severely ill COVID-19 patients who were under the combination of the anti-malaria drug with or without antibacterial drug azithromycin still had to use ventilators to help them breathe. "In this study, we found no evidence that uses of hydroxychloroquine, either with or without azithromycin, reduced the risk of mechanical ventilation in patients hospitalized with COVID-19," the authors wrote, who worked at the University of South Carolina, University of Virginia, and the Columbia VA Health Care System located in South Carolina. Additionally, the researchers emphasized the importance of awaiting the results of ongoing studies about potential coronavirus treatments before widespread use. The research was funded by the University of Virginia and the National Institutes of Health. Read Also: Coronavirus Vaccine: MMR Vaccine Eyed as Protection Against COVID-19 Complications Is Abbott's Test-Kit Inaccurate? In other news, the Abbott 5-minute COVID-19 rapid testing kit, which was also touted by the POTUS, is said to be producing false test results, according to a study. In a report by the NPR, researchers from the Cleveland Clinic discovered that the Abbott testing kit produced false negatives 15% of the time when the group used it to confirm the coronavirus. The study gathered 239 specimens of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that caused COVID-19, and they used five commonly used testing kits, including the rapid test kit from Abbott, which was supposed to show positive results in as fast as five minutes, and negative results within 13 minutes. The study's lead author, Dr. Gary Procop of the Department of Laboratory Medicine of Cleveland Clinic, said that test kits should be 95% accurate most of the time. The inaccuracy could be dangerous, since people who are actually positive of the coronavirus infection will be told they don't have and can freely get in touch with their families and the public, further spreading the disease. However, Abbott assured their test kit is accurate and reliable. "When the direct swab method is used, the test is performing as expected, and we are confident in its performance," the Illinois-based company told Daily Mail. Procop did admit that the samples were stored in a viral transport media, which Abbott believes dilutes the sample, but the doctor found no evidence that it affected the coronavirus samples and test's accuracy. Read Also: BREAKING NEWS: COVID-19 Has Now Mutated to Over 30 Strains, Says China 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Employees of Health Tele Helpline center wearing face masks are seen working during a nationwide lockdown in the wake of coronavirus pandemic, at IMA house Ernakulam District in Kochi. (PTI) Thiruvananthapuram: Amid opposition charges, the Kerala government on Tuesday constituted a two-member committee to examine whether the privacy of personal and sensitive data of COVID-19 patients has been protected under the agreement entered by it with US-based IT firm Sprinklr. The committee, headed by former Special IT Sscretary M Madhavan Nambiar and former health secretary Rajeev Sadanandan, will also ascertain whether adequate procedures were followed while finalising the arrangements with the private company. The Opposition Congress has been levelling charges that the collection of data by the US firm violated the fundamental rights of the patients. In its order, state government said it had initiated steps to set up a Data Analytics platform to integrate data from various sources available in the government to meet the "exigency of a massive and unprecedented surge of epidemic". The committee will also examine whether deviations, if any, are fair, justified and reasonable considering the extraordinary and critical situation faced by the state, it said. Meanwhile, the Kerala High Court on Tuesday asked the state government to file its reply by April 24 on a plea seeking to quash its contract with the US-based firm. Expressing concern over the confidentiality of the citizen's data processed by a third party, the court sought to know why the sanction of the law department was not taken before finalising the agreement. The court hailed the state government's fight against COVID-19, but said it is concerned about data confidentiality. The government informed the court that the agreement with Sprinklr has safeguards for data protection "as per standard practices of software as a service model." The ward-level committees, set up by the government for the anti-coronavirus fight, collect information of those under home isolation, the elderly and those at the risk of the disease, using a questionnaire and later uploads it on the server of the private agency. Ms. Lurie and her clients are part of a generation of professional women who had arranged their domestic lives, however precariously, to enable full-time careers and parenthood. They are facing this crisis in the midst of high-intensity parenting years, and a crucial moment for growing and establishing their work. Now, able to set up shop remotely, but with schools closed and child care gone, the pandemic is forcing them to confront the bruising reality of gender dynamics as the country is trapped at home. Even before the coronavirus crisis, women spent about four hours a day on unpaid work, like laundry, grocery shopping and cleaning, compared with about 2.5 hours for men, according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. That labor has expanded exponentially in recent weeks, as Americans home-school their children and help older family members and friends more vulnerable to the virus. In interviews with more than a dozen women who work as lawyers, writers, architects, teachers, nurses and nonprofit administrators, many said that they were grateful to have some child care help pre-quarantine, and that they could work from home. But they have been slightly stunned to learn that they are expected to organize and manage every domestic need for their family, while maintaining a full-time professional career as part of a dual career couple. It was feminism of earlier generations, after all, that declared the personal is political. So the fact that the crisis hit after stinging political defeats for female presidential candidates adds to the uncomfortable reckoning for many Democratic women even if they had decided themselves that the most viable way to defeat President Trump was to support a male candidate. When Elizabeth Warren dropped out of the presidential race, Gretchen Newsom sat in her car and burst into tears. Six weeks later, Ms. Warren backed her onetime political rival Joseph R. Biden Jr., and Ms. Newsom is working, parenting and teaching as a single mother. And, as the political director for the San Diego chapter of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, she is struggling around the clock to answer fearful questions from union members. For the past few days, there have been news reports and claims that Germany sent a bill of $ 162 billion (or 130 billion pounds) to China for damages caused due to the coronavirus outbreak. However, such reports are misleading. It began when Express UK wrote an article with a headline that insinuated that Germany, meaning the Angela Merkel-led German government, had sent the invoice. The news report went viral and several media organisations including a few Indian news agencies also picked it up. The headline of the original Express UK article has now been changed, although the URL still mentions Angela Merkel. But here's the catch. The German government never sent such an invoice to China. On the contrary, a German newspaper named Bild did. The newspaper came up with a report stating the damages incurred by the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the country's economy. The report was headlined "What China Owes Us". A report by Moneycontrol shows that the Chinese Embassy reacted to the article by Bild and called it xenophobic. The Chinese Embassy also felt that it was wrong to blame one particular country for a pandemic that was affecting the whole world. Bild joins the long list of people and organisations, including US President Donald Trump, who blame China for spreading the pandemic. Trump had gone so far as to say that China had knowingly spread the virus and should have been more cautious of the way the country handled the pandemic before it spread to the rest of the world. In short, the claim made by Express UK and other reports who picked up the same, were misleading and false. Germany or the German government has sent no such bill to China although German Chancellor Angela Merkel had earlier said the more transparent China is about how the virus originated, "the better it is for everyone in the world in order to learn from it". Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, a Democrat, has faced criticism from police and Senate Republicans for releasing criminals during the coronavirus pandemic. In a letter sent on Friday, the Illinois Coalition for Public Safety (COPS), said, Our job is is very difficult and dangerous under normal circumstances. The level of risk has been increased exponentially as a result of the current pandemic. Unfortunately, officers now also fear that violent convicted felons are being released back into the communities we have sworn to protect and serve. The letter came in response to the governor commuting 17 sentences between 11 March and 9 April, the Chicago Tribune reported. Another two prisoners sentences were commuted on 13 April, according to the Prisoner Review Board. Police and lawmakers expressed concerns over those who experienced a commuted sentence, as some were convicted murders. We have learned through the media that you have reduced the sentences of some violent criminals, including seven or more convicted murderers, eight Senate Republicans wrote in a letter to the governor on 16 April. We are concerned that you have done so without informing the victims, their families, witnesses who testified against them, local law enforcement leaders, the judges who decided their sentences, or members of the General Assembly. Are all of these commutations because of the COVID-19 crisis? We believe that the public deserves to know. The governor said the decision to commute any prisoners sentence first went through the Prisoner Review Board process. So I just want to be clear that those go through the PRB, he said. So they actually have a presentation of each case at the PRB, they vote on those cases before they ever get to my desk. The board was an independent body made up of members appointed by the governor. But Senate Republicans have accused Mr Pritzker of lacking transparency over his reasoning for releasing specific prisoners. It was not revealed if the governor offered commuted sentences to prisoners because of the Covid-19 pandemic or for other reasons. Civil rights and prison reform groups have praised the release of specific inmates from the prisons amid the pandemic, specifically when it related to medical furloughs and commutations. Releasing prisoners from these settings improves safety for other detainees, people who work in the corrections system as guards and administrators and also helps protect the communities where Illinois prisons are located, Colleen Connell, executive director of the ACLU of Illinois, said in a statement. She said calls to release the names of the prisoners whose sentences were commuted was a ploy to spark faux outrage. Illinois, like other states, has put into place new guidelines to help the prison population during the coronavirus. Mr Pritzker signed an executive order to give state prison authorities more discretion on granting medical furloughs to inmates. The Illinois Department of Corrections has reduced the prison population by more than 1,345 inmates since 2 March, the Chicago Tribune reported. London, April 22 : London-based sarod player Soumik Datta has released a new single, "Tiger Tiger", in response to deforestation and the climate change crisis. "'Tiger Tiger' is the finale to my previous EP 'Jangal'. Responding to the critical loss of biodiversity, my music uses the sarod woven in with instruments and musical styles from Brazil, India, Malaysia - where forests are being cleared at alarming rates. Drums from the Amazon region blended with tribal woodwinds from North East India, tabla, sarod and electronics create a protest of sound," Soumik said. "Wildlife all over the world, is under stress. What we face today is the consequence of that - locked down and under threat from COVID-19. The more we disturb forests and natural habitats, the more danger we are in," added the musician, who has collaborated with international artistes like Beyonce, Jay-Z and Anoushka Shankar in the past. Soumik, whose single came out on the occasion of Earth Day via Soumik Datta Arts, has been made #ArtistForTheEarth by Earth Day Network to widen greater awareness for the environment through music. "The green message within Soumik Datta's new music draws us back to our planet as it hurtles towards tipping point. In 2020, we at Earth Day Network mark 50 years and welcome Soumik as an - Artist For the Earth," said Kathleen Rogers, President, Earth Day Network. Former lawmaker and pro-democracy activist Martin Lee (C) leaves the Central District police station, after being arrested and accused of organising and taking part in an unlawful assembly in August last year, in Hong Kong on April 18, 2020. (ISAAC LAWRENCE/AFP via Getty Images) Australians Support Arrested Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Activists Australian groups have joined a chorus of global condemnation at the Hong Kong polices arrest of 15 high profile pro-democracy activists on April 18. The arrests were in response to charges of illegal assembly during the 2019 protests, which attracted millions of participants and continued for several months. The recent arrests have reignited discussion and garnered interest from Australian based organisations. Pauline Wright, president of the Australian Law Council told The Epoch Times via email that there was significant concern among the international legal community that the rights to peaceful protest, freedom of assembly and freedom of expression have been eroded in Hong Kong. She said the arrests followed comments last week by Luo Huining, a senior Chinese Community Party member and representative in Hong Kong, calling urgently for the reintroduction of the National Security Bill from 2003. The National Security Bill sparked protests numbering over 500,000 when it was introduced, particularly Article 23. There were fears the bill compromised civil liberties in Hong Kong, similar to the recent extradition treaty from 2019. Wright is concerned that the recent arrests of activists are symptoms of an escalating crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. Despite the focus of the international community on the COVID-19 pandemic, developments such as these must not go unnoticed, she said. Lin Bin, a Sydney-based Chinese-language community radio commentator, told The Epoch Times via email he was very concerned about the arrests, saying such actions never occurred when Hong Kong was under British control. He believed mainland Chinese authorities are actively pursuing different means to expand control over Hong Kong. Hong Kong may be [turned into] a city of mainland China. No one has the right to say something different from the authorities, he said. Locally, Bin said he also believed the Chinese regime was active in Australia saying, We can tell there is interference in Australia. For example, the Hong Kong students who studied in Queensland faced attack, suppression, and intimidation from the other side. Bin is referring to an incident at the University of Queensland in August 2019 where pro-Beijing supporters disrupted a peaceful student gathering to support Hong Kongs anti-extradition bill. Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne released a statement April 19 condemning the arrests. Actions that undermine stability are never acceptable, but to do so during a crisis (COVID-19) of this magnitude erodes goodwill and trust, she said. The rights to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly are enshrined in the Basic Law for all people of Hong Kong. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a statement on April 18 saying, Beijing and its representatives in Hong Kong continue to take actions inconsistent with commitments made under the Sino-British Joint Declaration that include transparency. The Hong Kong rallies received global media attention and were sparked by the attempted passage of an extradition bill by the Hong Kong legislature. The extradition bill would have allowed criminals arrested in Hong Kong to be extradited and face trial in Mainland China. There were concerns the law would be exploited to extradite human rights activists or political dissidents to China. I am so excited to be able to bring HomeSmarts brokerage model to these agents and give them the opportunity to truly prosper by getting to keep 100 percent of their hard-earned commission. Successful brokerage team Jeff Smart and Dave Shinabarger have partnered up to bring HomeSmart Internationals 100-percent-commission model to Washington State. HomeSmart Elite Brokers will service agents in the southeastern portion of the state, primarily the Tri-Cities and their surrounding communities. We wanted to present a new brokerage option for both the new and veteran REALTORS in our area, stated Smart. I am so excited to be able to bring HomeSmarts brokerage model to these agents and give them the opportunity to truly prosper by getting to keep 100 percent of their hard-earned commission. Smarts previous brokerage, Smart Realtors, was founded in 1968 and had been supporting the real estate needs of the Tri-Cities and southeastern portions of Washington State ever since. Smart and Shinabarger have joined forces to merge Smart Realtors into HomeSmart Elite Brokers. Agents will be able to access HomeSmart Internationals groundbreaking high-value, low-fee model, allowing them to take home the entirety of their commission all while gaining access to revolutionary technology, personalized agent support, comprehensive training and customizable marketing materials at no additional cost. With the move to HomeSmart, our brokerage will be able to grow larger and support more agents in our area to increase their business, their income and the number of reinvestments into our local economy, promised Shinabarger. With the increase of agents in our company, we will be able to help more homeowners and homebuyers than ever before. Smart and Shinabarger have big goals for HomeSmart Elite Brokers. They plan on opening a new office within the next six months and recruiting 100 agents to their team after a year of being in business. They also plan to open their doors for both HomeSmart and non-HomeSmart agents to be able to access exclusive classes and training opportunities. The HomeSmart Elite Brokers office is located at 7411 W Clearwater Ste A, Kennewick, WA 99336, and can be reached via phone at 509.371.9085 or via email at contact@homesmartelitebrokers.com. About HomeSmart International: Founded in 2000, HomeSmart International offers franchisees efficiency and innovation coupled with the systems and technologies necessary to succeed in todays evolving real estate industry. Today, the brand has 190 offices in 35 states and over 18,000 agents nationwide. For more information on HomeSmart International and its franchise opportunities, visit https://www.homesmart.com. Photo credit: Getty/FX From Esquire No woman gets an orgasm from shining the kitchen floor, Betty Friedan famously wrote in The Feminine Mystique, her landmark 1963 treatise on the plight of modern women confined to traditional roles. Friedan, often credited as the mother of second wave feminism, unmasked the problem that has no name with her cornerstone book, earning her a vaunted place in the history of the womens movement. But as depicted in Mrs. America, FXs new limited series about feminist activism in the 1970s, Friedans life on the frontlines of social change wasnt without conflictfrom within and without the womens movement. In 1921, Friedan was born Bettye Naomi Goldstein in Peoria, Illinois, where her father worked as a jeweler and her mother worked as a journalist before becoming a homemaker. After completing a summa cum laude degree in psychology at Smith College in 1942, Friedan began her training as a psychologist at Berkeley, but as World War II raged on, she became increasingly politically engaged, befriending a number of Marxists who were later investigated by the FBI. After a year in the graduate program, Friedan decamped to New York, where she spent three years as a reporter for the Federated Press. When she then took a position as a labor reporter for the union newspaper UE News, her politics drifted leftward, leading her to write pamphlets advocating for the union rights of working women. In 1947, Friedan married theater producer Carl Friedan; in 1952, she was dismissed from her post at UE News when her employers learned that she was pregnant with her second child. In the years to follow, she worked as a freelance writer for various womens magazines, including Cosmopolitan, while she and her husband raised their children in suburban Rockland County, New York. In the late 1950s, she began the research for what would later become The Feminine Mystique when she circulated a survey among her Smith College classmates, finding that most of them were as dissatisfied as she was with their lives as suburban housewives. In the five years to follow, she conducted extensive interviews with women across the country while also consulting with psychologists about the general malaise of American women. Story continues Friedan organized her findings into The Feminine Mystique, an immediate and controversial bestseller that remains widely regarded as one of the most influential works of twentieth century nonfiction. In it, Friedan explored the problem that has no name, meaning the spiritual dissatisfaction that resulted from womens forced subservience to men. Friedan argued that women as a class not only suffered from discrimination, but that they were victimized by a false system in which they were compelled to derive fulfillment, identity, and a sense of personal completion from their roles as wives and mothers. Friedan wrote of this quandary, She was afraid to ask even of herself the silent questionis this all? The Feminine Mystique propelled Friedan to a leadership role within the womens movement. In 1966, she co-founded the National Organization for Women (NOW), writing this mission statement for the civil rights group: to bring women into full participation in the mainstream of American society now, exercising all the privileges and responsibilities thereof in truly equal partnership with men. As president of NOW, she championed initiatives for greater representation of women in government, legalized abortion, and childcare for working mothers, among other issues. In 1971, along with Congresswoman Bella Abzug, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, and feminist activist Gloria Steinem, Friedan founded the National Womens Political Caucus, which was influential in striking down outdated laws surrounding pregnancy discrimination, gendered hiring practices, and pay inequality. Photo credit: Goode As the 1970s wore on, Friedan, whom The New York Times called famously abrasive, was often at odds with the increasingly diverse voices emerging within the womens movement, coming under fire for focusing on issues that primarily targeted white, educated, middle-class, heterosexual women. Meanwhile, lesbian women largely disavowed Friedan when she referred to lesbian women in the movement as the lavender menace. Within the movement, Friedan and Steinem often butted heads, as alluded to in Mrs. America when Friedan grouses, Is that what everyone thinks? That Im the Wicked Witch of the West and Gloria is Glinda? Friedan had a fraught relationship with Steinem, as she felt her authority as the mother of the movement was threatened by Steinems growing influence and celebrity. In 1972, Friedan criticized Steinem in the press, accusing her of dismissing marriage as tantamount to prostitution. Steinem responded with a short release: Having been falsely accused by the male Establishment journalists of liking men too much, I am now being falsely accused by a woman Establishment journalist of not liking them enough. Mrs. America alludes to this dust-up when Friedan, seated next to Steinem on an airplane, makes an awkward apology and claims to have been misquoted. Treat yourself to 85+ years of history-making journalism. Subscribe to Esquire Magazine In the same article, Friedan took an oblique swipe at Abzug, writing, Only a female chauvinist would say that no matter how good a man's recordon peace, on womenwomen must support a female opponent just because she is a woman. Abzug fired back, saying, Once again Betty Friedan has exercised her right to be wrong. I've never asked anyone to vote for me only because I am a woman. Such conflict was emblematic of the growing ideological divide within the womens movement, which was riven by differing ideas about the best path forward. Yet despite the conflict, Friedans influence on American feminism and American society is titanic, with her writing and activism spanning the bulk of her lifetime. Throughout the remainder of the twentieth century, Friedan wrote five additional books on gender and feminism, while also serving as a guest lecturer at various universities. In 2006, Friedan died of congestive heart failure on her 85th birthday, but her influence continues to be felt in all corners of American society. As Friedans neighbor on Mrs. America puts it, We get to do what we do because she risked everything. You Might Also Like PR-Inside.com: 2020-04-22 16:59:02 Boston, MA, April 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gordon Brothers, the global advisory, restructuring, and investment firm, announced today that it has acquired the global Laura Ashley brand, archives, and related intellectual property from the Laura Ashley groups U.K. Administrators. Founded in 1953 by husband and wife team Bernard and Laura Ashley, the business grew into a globally recognized retail, wholesale, licensing, and franchising business selling both home furnishings and fashion products. With an eye for delivering quintessentially British goods with a modern flair, the brand developed a passionate following which has allowed it to maintain its relevance regardless of the way the winds of fashion have blown. More recently, the brand expanded globally with outposts in markets as varied as South Korea, the Ukraine, the United States, and Japan. Laura Ashley is a true giant among British lifestyle brands, possessing a unique ability to span geographies, product categories, and price points, commented Ramez Toubassy, President of Brands for Gordon Brothers. He added, We feel humbled and inspired by the responsibility to reignite Mrs. Ashleys original vision while delivering unique and contemporary products to both long-time followers and new customers from around the world. As new owners of the brand, Gordon Brothers will partner with management to evaluate several go-to-market strategies for the business, some of which could include retaining a streamlined portfolio of retail stores in key markets within the U.K. and Ireland. Gordon Brothers intends to place a strong emphasis on building e-commerce, developing more strategic wholesale relationships, and expanding the portfolio of licensees and franchisees globally. Throughout this process, Gordon Brothers has shown a passion for the Laura Ashley brand and I am delighted that, under their ownership, there will be a real opportunity to grow its profile worldwide, said Rob Lewis, Joint Administrator of several of the Laura Ashley group companies in the UK. He continued, Whilst we have taken an important step forward in securing the sale of the brand, we continue to explore opportunities to reshape the UK store based retail and manufacturing businesses and are very grateful for the efforts of the entire team at Laura Ashley in helping us with those discussions. Robert Russell, UK Head of Restructuring at DLA Piper UK LLP, advised Gordon Brothers on the Laura Ashley brand acquisition transaction. Gordon Brothers Brands division values, acquires, restructures, and invests globally in underleveraged, distressed, or dormant intellectual property to help revive and reimagine some of the worlds most iconic brands. Since 1903, Gordon Brothers (www.gordonbrothers.com) has helped lenders, operating executives, advisors, and investors move forward through change. The firm brings a powerful combination of expertise and capital to clients, developing customized solutions on an integrated or standalone basis across four service areas: valuations, dispositions, operations, and investments. Whether to fuel growth or facilitate strategic consolidation, Gordon Brothers partners with companies in the retail, commercial, and industrial sectors to put assets to their highest and best use. Gordon Brothers conducts more than $70 billion worth of dispositions and appraisals annually. Gordon Brothers is headquartered in Boston, with 25 offices across five continents. A Walmart customer has been detained by security after she pepper sprayed a fellow shopper in the face because they weren't maintaining an 'adequate social distance'. The incident occurred Monday afternoon at the franchise's supercenter in downtown Washington, D.C. According to an eyewitness, the trouble began when a group of shoppers gathered outside an elevator while waiting to get down to the parking garage. When the elevator opened, the perpetrator - who was not wearing a mask - quickly entered and attempted to close the doors behind her. However, other shoppers pushed to get inside, at which point the woman pulled out the pepper spray from her purse. A Walmart customer has been detained by security after she pepper sprayed a fellow shopper in the face because they weren't maintaining an 'adequate social distance'. Shoppers are seen lining up with their carts to enter an elevator (left), before the victim was pepper sprayed in the face (right) Video subsequently recorded by one onlooker shows the victim screaming in pain as she rushes out of the elevator after being sprayed in the face. Other customers rushed to douse her in water and security was called in to detain the perpetrator. She was held at the store until police arrived, but no charges were laid. It's the latest in a long line of altercations that have occurred over social distancing in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. On April 6, a Florida man was accused of assaulting a Dollar Tree employee after she criticized him for failing to observe social distancing guidelines. The incident occurred at a Walmart in downtown Washington, DC on Monday afternoon On April 2, a fight broke out inside a pawn shop in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina after a manager told a customer to keep six feet away from him. And on March 19, a Brooklyn man rammed a neighbor with his car because he continued to congregate with member of his synagogue. On medical expert told WJLA that these incidents are a response to the flight-or-fight syndrome many are feeling in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak. 'All of us, whether you have coronavirus or not, are feeling loss and vulnerability and fear,' Dr. Lucy McBride told the news network. This is a crisis not only of our physical health but of our mental health and its a collective trauma'. By Sangmi Cha SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has never publicised who would follow leader Kim Jong Un in the event he is incapacitated, and with no details known about his young children, analysts say his sister and loyalists could form a regency until a successor is old enough to take over. South Korean and Chinese officials on Tuesday cast doubt on reports that Kim was gravely ill following a cardiovascular procedure, after his absence from a key state anniversary event triggered speculation about his health. But the media reports sparked questions about who would be in place to take over if the 36-year-old Kim, a third-generation hereditary leader, fell seriously ill or died. He became leader when his father Kim Jong Il died in 2011 from a heart attack. Each change of leadership in North Korea has raised the prospect of a leadership vacuum or collapse of the Kim dynasty, which has ruled the country since its founding in 1948. So far, each of the three Kims to rule North Korea has defied expectations, holding on to power with an iron grip. But under Kim Jong Un, North Korea's arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles has grown substantially, raising concerns over who would control those weapons. The following are key figures in the North Korean leadership circle and what role they may play in any future transition. KIM YO JONG Kim's younger sister has been the most visible presence around the leader in the past two years, while serving formally as a vice director of the ruling Workers' Party's powerful Central Committee but unofficially as her brother's chief of staff. She was named an alternate member of the ruling Workers' Party's powerful Central Committee Politburo earlier this month, continuing her climb through the leadership hierarchy. Kim, who is believed to be 31, has a firm control of key party functions, setting herself to be the main source of power behind a collective leadership. Story continues "Kim Yo Jong will be for the time being the main power base with control of the organisation and guidance department, the judiciary and public security," Cho Han-bum of the Korea Institute for National Unification said. THE PARTY ELDERS Choe Ryong Hae rose to be the North's nominal head of state last year becoming the president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly. It capped decades of service with the party for the ruling Kim family, previously serving as the influential political head of the North's military under the young leader. He and Pak Pong Ju, a fellow politburo member and former state premier who oversaw the North's push to introduce more free market functions to revive its economy, are likely to be the figureheads leading a collective leadership. Kim Yong Chol, a party vice chairman and former top nuclear envoy, and Foreign Minister Ri Son Gwon could be tasked with handling diplomatic issues including stalled denuclearisation talks with North Korea as they played a key role in summits with U.S. President Donald Trump. ESTRANGED BROTHERS, AUNT Kim Jong Chol is the leader's older brother but has not been part of the North's leadership, instead leading a quiet life playing music, according to Thae Yong Ho, North Korea's former deputy ambassador in London who defected to the South. He is believed to be disinterested in public life and is unlikely to emerge as a major presence, though some analysts say he maintains ties with siblings and could play a more public role in a contingency. Kim Kyong Hui was once a powerful figure in the leadership circle when her brother Kim Jong Il ruled the country. She had not been seen since her husband, Jang Song Thaek, once regarded as the second most powerful man in the country, was executed in 2013 by Kim Jong Un. She has long been ill but briefly appeared early this year at a gala performance alongside her nephew. FOURTH GENERATION Kim Jong Un is believed to have three children with Ri Sol Ju, the youngest born in 2017, according to the South's National Intelligence Service. The oldest is a 10-year-old son, meaning any of the three would need the assistance of their relatives or political guardians if they were to become a fourth-generation hereditary leader. Kim Jong Il had been groomed for 20 years to lead the country, while Kim Jong Un only had just over a year due to his father's sudden death from a stroke. "Kim Yo Jong is unlikely to take over the helm but could help build a caretaker regime as a power broker until the kids grow up, and Kim Jong Chol might return to help for a while," said Go Myong-hyun, a research fellow at the Asian Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul. (This story corrects paragraph 22 to say Kim Jong Un - not Kim Jong Nam - is reported to have three children with Ri Sol Ju) (Additional reporting by Hyonhee Shin, Writing by Jack Kim and Josh Smith; Editing by Michael Perry) North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, speaks while inspecting a newly built submarine to be deployed soon, at an unknown location in North Korea. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service/File Photo via AP) Top General Says Kim Jong Un Likely In Full Control of North Korea A top U.S. general said North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un is likely in full control of the reclusive, communist state following unconfirmed reports he is in failing health. This week, several news outlets, citing anonymous sources, claimed Kim, 36, was in grave condition after he underwent heart surgery weeks ago. But Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. John Hyten, said he has no reason not to assume that Kim is in control. I assume Kim Jong Un is still in full control of the Korean nuclear force and the Korean military forces, Hyten told reporters on Wednesday. The Department of Defense (DOD) has not received any new intelligence to suggest that he is incapacitated or compromised in some way, he said. The Daily NK, an online news outlet run mainly by North Korean defectors, said that Kim is recovering from surgery on April 12 at his villa. Kim was reportedly in poor health due to heavy smoking, obesity, and overwork. Other news outlets, including NBC News and CNN, also said he was in bad shape. South Korean officials, however, pushed back against the reports. We confirm that Chairman Kim Jong Un is currently touring provincial areas with his close aides and we do not detect evidences to support speculation about his ill health, South Koreas presidential office told news outlets on Tuesday. Even North Koreas Workers Party, military or cabinet arent showing any special movements such as emergency decree. We believe that Chairman Kim is active as normal as he has been, the office said. And Presidential spokesman Kang Min-seok told South Koreas official Yonhap News Agency there is nothing unusual occurring in North Korea. No unusual signs have been identified inside North Korea, Kang told the outlet. There is nothing we can confirm with regard to Chairman Kims alleged health problem. Kim Jong Un and Ri Sol Ju in a file photo (KCNA) North Koreas state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) claimed the leader sent birthday greetings to persons of merit on Tuesday. And on Wednesday, it said Kim sent a reply message to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, expressing his deep thanks to the president of the Syrian Arab Republic for sending his heartfelt message of greeting reflecting the warm respect for President Kim Il Sung, who is always alive in the hearts of the Korean people and the world progressives, on the occasion of his 108th birth anniversary. KCNA and other state-backed news outlets have not issued any public statements to confirm or deny the reports about Kims condition. President Donald Trump, who has personally met Kim several times, told reporters on Tuesday that we dont know his health condition. Ive had a very good relationship with him. You know, I can only say thisI wish him well. Because if he is in the kind of condition that the reports say thats a very serious condition, the president said. The CCTV footage from a Dutch business park shows a man in a black cap pouring the contents of a white container at the base of a cellular radio tower. Flames burst out as the man jogs back to his Toyota to flee into the evening. Its a scene thats been repeated dozens of times in recent weeks in Europe, where conspiracy theories linking new 5G mobile networks and the coronavirus pandemic are fueling arson attacks on cell towers. Popular beliefs and conspiracy theories that wireless communications pose a threat have long been around, but the global spread of the virus at the same time that countries were rolling out fifth generation wireless technology has seen some of those false narratives amplified. Officials in Europe and the U.S. are watching the situation closely and pushing back, concerned that attacks will undermine vital telecommunications links at a time theyre most needed to deal with the pandemic. Im absolutely outraged, absolutely disgusted, that people would be taking action against the very infrastructure that we need to respond to this health emergency, Stephen Powis, medical director of the National Health Service in England, said in early April. 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 Some 50 fires targeting cell towers and other equipment have been reported in Britain this month, leading to three arrests. Telecom engineers have been abused on the job 80 times, according to trade group Mobile UK, making the U.K. the nucleus of the attacks. Photos and videos documenting the attacks are often overlaid with false commentary about COVID-19. Some 16 have been torched in the Netherlands, with attacks also reported in Ireland, Cyprus, and Belgium. Posts threatening to attack phone masts were receiving likes on Facebook. One post in an anti-vaccine group on April 12 shared a photo of a burned phone mast with the quote, Nobody wants cancer & covid19. Stop trying to make it happen or every pole and mobile store will end up like this one. The trend received extra attention in Britain when a tower supplying voice and data traffic to a Birmingham field hospital treating coronavirus patients was among those targeted. Its heart-rending enough that families cannot be there at the bedside of loved ones who are critically ill, Nick Jeffery, CEO of wireless carrier Vodafone UK, said on LinkedIn. Its even more upsetting that even the small solace of a phone or video call may now be denied them because of the selfish actions of a few deluded conspiracy theorists. False narratives around 5G and the coronavirus have been shared hundreds of thousands of times on social media. They vary widely from claims that the coronavirus is a coverup for 5G deployment to those that say new 5G installations have created the virus. To be concerned that 5G is somehow driving the COVID-19 epidemic is just wrong, Dr. Jonathan Samet, dean of the Colorado School of Public Health who chaired a World Health Organization committee that researched cell phone radiation and cancer. I just dont find any plausible way to link them. Anti-5G activists are undeterred. Susan Brinchman, director of the Center for Electrosmog Prevention, a nonprofit campaigning against environmental electromagnetic pollution, says that people have a right to be concerned about 5G and links to COVID-19. The entire 5G infrastructure should be dismantled and turned off, she said by email. But theres no evidence that wireless communications - whether 5G or earlier versions - harm the immune system, said Myrtill Simko, scientific director of SciProof International in Sweden, who has spent decades researching the matter. The current wave of 5G theories dates back to January, when a Belgian doctor suggested a link to COVID-19. Older variations were circulating before that, mostly revolving around cellphone radiation causing cancer, spreading on Reddit forums, Facebook pages and YouTube channels. Even with daily wireless use among vast majority of adults, the National Cancer Institute has not seen an increase in brain tumors. The theories gained momentum in 2019 from Russian state media outlets, which helped push them into U.S. domestic conversation, disinformation experts say. Ryan Fox, who tracks disinformation as chief innovation officer at AI company Yonder, said he noticed an abnormal spike last year in mentions around 5G across Russian state media, with most of the narratives playing off peoples fears around 5G and whether it could cause cancer. Were they the loudest voice at that time and did they amplify this conspiracy enough that it helped fuel its long-term success? Yes, he said. The conspiracy theories have also been elevated by celebrities including actor Woody Harrelson who shared a video claiming people in China were taking down a 5G tower. It was actually a Hong Kong smart lamppost cut down by pro-democracy protesters in August over China surveillance fears. British TV host Eamonn Holmes gave credence to the theories on a talk show, drawing a rebuke from regulators. I want to be very clear here, European Commission spokesman Johannes Bahrke said Friday, as the arson toll rose daily. There is no geographic or any other correlation between the deployment of 5G and the outbreak of the virus. On Tuesday, the US Senate passed another bipartisan bailout bill, whose benefits will once again go disproportionately to wealthy employers. The centerpiece of the bill is a new infusion of $310 billion of taxpayer money into the so-called Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a provision of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act enacted at the end of March. The PPP is supposedly aimed at aiding small businesses and preserving the jobs of their employees. In reality, the program is designed to make it difficult for mom-and-pop businesses to obtain relief, while funneling a substantial portion of the allotted funds to large enterprises with thousands of employees, and enriching Wall Street banks that make millions in processing fees and interest payments. The new bill was passed by unanimous consent, with no Democratic senators rising to oppose it. It takes only one dissenting senator to block a unanimous consent vote and force a roll call vote. That would have disrupted the rush by the White House and both parties to enact the measure this week, since senators, currently dispersed around the country due to the pandemic, would have had to assemble in the Capitol. Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had previously announced that she would hold a vote in the lower chamber either Wednesday or Thursday. President Trump tweeted his support for the bill on the eve of the Senate action and urged Republicans to vote for it. The program extends low-interest loans backed by the federal Small Business Administration (SBA) and allows the loans to be forgiven if the recipients rehire furloughed or laid-off employees and devote 75 percent of the loans to payroll, utility or rental costs for a period of eight weeks. It was presented to the public as being open only to businesses with fewer than 500 workers and less than $2 billion in revenue. However, after lobbying by restaurant and hotel chains, Congress agreed to the insertion of a provision making larger companies eligible for PPP money, as long as none of their individual locations employed 500 people. As a result, multimillion- and billion-dollar chains such as Ruths Chris steakhouses, Shake Shack, Potbelly and J. Alexander were given priority by Wall Street banks, including JPMorgan, Bank of America and Wells Fargo. They approved loans for large companies ranging from $15 to $20 million each, while hundreds of thousands of family-owned restaurants, beauty and barber shops, gas stations and small retail outlets were shut out. The PPP was allotted $349 billion under the CARES Act, a small fraction of the trillions allocated by the Treasury and the Federal Reserve to bail out major corporations and banks and prop up the stock market. The program is administered by the SBA but conducted through major banks, which actually approve and administer the loans. These financial institutions are seeking to maximize their profits and minimize their risk by extending larger loans to bigger companies. Such was the demand that the program ran out of funds last Thursday, less than two weeks after it was launched. More than 25 percent of the value of the loans that had been approved went to fewer than 2 percent of the firms that got relief. There are 30 million small businesses in the US, employing tens of millions of workers. Many are being bankrupted by the shutdown of much of the economy caused by the pandemic and the governments failure to contain it. Eleven percent of restaurant owners surveyed by the National Restaurant Association say they expect to close permanently by the end of this month. UBS Bank said 200,000 US restaurants, one in five, could go out of business. Nationally, 8 million restaurant workers have already been laid off. For the vast majority, the government program will do nothing to save their jobs. The bill passed by the Senate on Tuesday includes, in addition to the $310 billion in new money for the PPP, $60 billion for a separate rescue program nominally for small businesses that also ran out of funds last week. The Economic Injury Disaster Loan program includes $50 billion in loans and $10 billion in grants. Sixty billion dollars of the new PPP funding is to be handled by smaller community banks, with the intention of ensuring that minority-owned businesses get a share of the money. The Democrats had made a show of pushing for additional money for hospitals and coronavirus testing, as well as for aid to state and city governments that are facing massive deficits due to collapsing tax revenues, and for more funding for the food stamp program. There is nothing in the series of corporate bailout bills enacted since the eruption of the coronavirus crisis to address the staggering growth of hunger in America. The consequences of repeated cuts in the food stamp program and social programs more broadly under Obama as well as Trump are now seen in massive food lines spreading across the country. In the end, the Democrats settled for a completely inadequate $75 billion for hospitals and a derisory $25 billion for testing in the bill, whose total cost is pegged at $484 billion. They abjectly dropped their demand for relief to state and local governments and additional funding for food stamps. The failure to secure aid to the states and localities is particularly significant. Depression levels of unemployment and negative economic growth are bankrupting state and local governments across the country. While there is universal acceptance within both parties that unlimited amounts of public funding must be supplied to the corporate-financial elite to offset the impact of the economic collapse triggered by the pandemic, when it comes to the jobs, pensions, wages, schools and health care of the working class, the opposite principle applies. The only possible response, the ruling class declares in one voice, is the most brutal austerity. Trump, for his part, is deliberately withholding aid from states and cities in order to pressure them to reopen their economies more quickly. He and Republican congressional leaders have held out the possibility of discussing such aid in a new round of bailout legislation. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, state tax revenues may fall by $500 billion over the next three years. Moodys Analytics warns that states may face combined deficits of $158 billion to $203 billion through the 2021 fiscal year. More than 2,100 cities across the country expect budget deficits this year. Governors and mayors, Democrats no less than Republicans, are already imposing spending freezes and cuts. New Jerseys Democratic governor, Phil Murphy, has frozen more than $1 billion in spending and cut property tax rebates for homeowners. Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, a Democrat, is seeking to freeze $2.3 billion in new spending that had been approved by lawmakers, scuttling a program for free tuition at community colleges and canceling an increase in the state minimum wage. Washington State Governor Jay Inslee, also a Democrat, this month vetoed budget items projected to cost $445 million over three years, including a plan to hire 370 school guidance counselors. Michigan may have a deficit as high as $7 billion over the next 18 months. New Yorks Democratic mayor, Bill de Blasio, announced last week that he would slash over $2 billion in city services over the next year. He plans to close public pools, reduce sanitation pickups, suspend the summer youth employment program and impose a hiring freeze. Detroits Democratic mayor, Mike Duggan, has threatened to throw the city back into bankruptcy and bring in an emergency financial manager to impose new cuts in social services, pensions and jobs. A top legislator involved in helping the US avoid economic calamity due to the coronavirus outbreak is urging state governments to declare bankruptcy, saying Republicans wont take on more debt to bail them out. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told radio host Hugh Hewitt: I said yesterday were going to push the pause button here, because I think this whole business of additional assistance for state and local governments needs to be thoroughly evaluated. You raised yourself the important issue of what states have done, many of them have done to themselves with their pension programmes. Theres not going to be any desire on the Republican side to bail out state pensions by borrowing money from future generations. Some states are starting to open up their economies, but others remain hard hit by the pandemic. Two of those suffering are California and Illinois, with Deborah Birx, one of Donald Trumps top federal public health officials, saying on Tuesday evening that federal authorities are closely monitoring the Chicago area as a potential next hotspot. Mr McConnell noted California and Illinois, along with Connecticut, have spent ample amounts on their pension programmes. That could add up to major financial shortfalls for state capitals. The Kentucky Republican offered some financial advice. My guess is their first choice would be for the federal government to borrow money from future generations to send it down to them now so they dont have to do that, Mr McConnell said. Thats not something Im going to be in favour of. But he nudged governors worried about fiscal failure in another direction. I would certainly be in favour of allowing states to use the bankruptcy route, Mr McConnell said Wednesday. Its saved some cities, and theres no good reason for it not to be available. All three states mentioned by the Republican leader mentioned are overseen by Democratic governors. LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Boris Johnson will speak to U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday and meet Queen Elizabeth later this week, his spokesman said, adding that the British leader is still not "formally doing government work". Johnson is recovering at his country residence after he was hospitalised with COVID-19. His foreign minister, Dominic Raab, is standing in for him while he recovers. "Yesterday he sent a message of condolence to (Canadian Prime Minister) Justin Trudeau after the very sad loss of life in the shooting in Canada. Later today ... he will be speaking to President Trump," the spokesman told reporters. Later this week, the prime minister is also expected to have an audience with Queen Elizabeth, the spokesman said, adding that it would be the first such meeting for three weeks. (Reporting by Elizabeth Piper; editing by Stephen Addison) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram In 2018, a group of conservative journalists opposed to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his right-wing government launched Magyar Hang, an independent weekly magazine. Since then, government officials and their supporters have repeatedly harassed employees of the magazine, calling them traitors for opposing Orban, accusing them of spreading fake news, and threatening them with legal retaliation for their reporting, according to local reports. On March 30, 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hungarian Parliament approved a set of emergency laws enabling Orban to rule by decree. The government also introduced new legislation that threatens journalists with prison sentences for spreading false information about the virus. The World Health Organization has confirmed 2,098 cases of COVID-19 in Hungary as of April 21. The head of Magyar Hang, Csaba Lukacs, spoke with CPJ in a phone interview last week about the challenges of covering the coronavirus crisis in an increasingly repressive environment. His responses were translated from Hungarian and have been lightly edited for length and clarity. How has the coronavirus crisis affected your coverage? We have become even more isolated. As of today nonenot oneof our COVID-19 related questions have been answered by the government, although there are daily press conferences and we ask several questions every day. These press conferences are online and the officials decide arbitrarily whose question will be answered. We regularly send questions to various authorities, ministries, hospitals, schools, and local municipalities in the hand of the governing party, but 99 percent of them are never answered. Reporting has become increasingly dangerous for us in general, and this new legislation is a clear threat. As we have no official confirmation for most anything we publish, the risk of error is bigger and now a simple error can easily end you up in prison as you can be charged with spreading false information. I expect that the government will show force and will use the legislation at least once against independent outlets like us, but, of course, we do not know who the first victim will be Have you received any threats due to your reporting? Yes. Even before the new legislation came into effect, we received answers from officials warning us to be careful with our reporting and that we would be soon sent to prison. After the legislation was introduced, it happened that a hospital, instead of answering our questions, sent us back the text of the law highlighting the prison sentence we can get for spreading false information. Government supporters send us emails and comments on social media often saying that we should be in prison as traitors or for spreading rumors. Pro-government and state media regularly accuse us of spreading fake news, saying that we are not credible, or we are liars, even if our reporting is solid and well-substantiated. How does the new legislation affect your ability to do your work? Sources have become more careful and they are afraid. In the climate of fear which the current government created, it is increasingly challenging to gather information from sources. They do not go on the record, and it has already become difficult to even talk to local officials, like hospital and school directors, as they are saying that they need permission to talk to us from the capital. We have also had sources who had previously provided us with information withdraw later, as they were intimidated. Our biggest concern is logistical, but it is also related to the climate of fear. As no Hungarian print house accepted to print our publication out of fear of falling out with the government, our weekly is printed in neighboring Slovakia. Now, when the [coronavirus] crisis started, we asked Hungarian print houses again for a price quote, but the answer was the same as two years ago, at the time of our launch: they do not have capacity for us, a magazine of around 11 thousand copies. It is strange because several Hungarian publications decided to stop their print runs, so in theory there should be free capacity in the countrys print houses. Because of the lockdown and the tighter controls at the border, resulting in longer queues for the lorries transporting our newspaper, it has become a nightmare to be able to deliver our copies on time. How have your readers responded to these obstacles? Hundreds of newsstands have closed, and newsstand sales have collapsed in the country due to the lockdown, which is a challenge for us as our newspaper relies heavily on this revenue source. More than 70 percent of our copies are sold at the newsstands. The reason for that is that a lot of our supporters were afraid to subscribe out of fear that their names would eventually leak and the authorities would know that they support a critical-minded newspaper. As a positive development, however, some of them in this current situation decided to support us by subscribing, and a lot of people are sending encouraging comments saying that they need our newspaper, more than ever before. Another round of bloodbath appears on the offing following indicators suggesting the Fulani militia have begun assembling weapons and militiamen in the Southern Kaduna/Northern Plateau regions of the North Central area of the Nation. It is feared the level of preparedness by the assailants is above the level ever witnessed before. This is according to community leaders who claim firsthand knowledge of the impending danger. Information available to 247ureports.com obtained from competent sources within the affected rural communities in Plateau and Kaduna States reveal Fulani militia has taken control of 50villages [about 25% of the entire land mass] in the Northern regions of Plateau State near the area bordered by Kaduna and Nasarawa States where Kura Falls is located about 77kilometers from Jos. The space of land also covering parts of Bukuru is vast with rich savannah vegetation and mountainous ranges and lakes suitable for grazing. Kura Falls The water flow Against intelligence from the sensitive echelons of the security structure of the federal government, the military launched aerial surveillance of the aforementioned area to combat Fulani militia who are regrouping in the forests for possible attacks against the villages inside southern Kaduna and Northern Plateau State. Within the last two weeks five villages were hazed down. Fulani has taken over most of the villages in Riyom LGA, Barki Ladi LGA, Bokkos LGA and Miango LGA cried an Anglican Reverend based in Jos. This is while indigenes of the mentioned regions claim foulplay. According to them, there exist a consorted effort by elements within the military to aid the Fulani militia. Most major attacks by the militia are preceded by a major surveillance operation by the military. The type currently being undertaken by the military. They usually use helicopters to fly around in the cities and urban areas where they know the militias are not residing. The militias are residing in the forests and mountains. It is public knowledge but they will come to town harassing people with low flying helicopters while the killers are staged in the forests. The villagers claim the next major attack is just around the corner especially since the military commenced operation three days ago. Military patrol in Plateau They build big offices in town, a former vigilante officer notes, they know exactly what they are doing. The military erect big offices in town and drive around in intimidating vehicles inside the cities away from where the enemies are. No presence at the area where the enemies are believed to be staging. When the militia strikes, they wait to be alerted and for the signal to come from Abuja to clear the way for action. After receiving the signal to strike, the military operators will then take off towards the area hit by the militia. By then, its late arrival. One of the community leaders who lamented to 247ureports.com of an instance where a community was attacked almost within sight of a military post added that Hura was attacked on Tuesday about half a mile away from an army post. The army post made no move. The attack occurred deep in the night erratic release of heavy gun fire from sophisticated machine guns which should and/or must have caught the attention of the Army post. But the attackers were allowed to have their way. Just two days ago, near the 3rd Army Division Maxwell Kobe Cantonment, nine people were killed. And nothing resulted from the deaths. The Plateau State government stayed mute. The GOC has not said anything. Only the police spoke. They said they were investigating the killings. The findings from investigation remain unknown. The helicopters are only ceremonial. Recently in Ganawuri village, a youth was kidnapped and was later found dead. Three gallant and patriotic soldiers who dared to push the envelope, were shot while on patrol. Within two weeks alone, weve had 30 casualties. But in talking with the secretary to the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association in Plateau State, Abdullahi Ardo, he differs in his take on the increasing rate of attack. He told 247ureports.com, There are people working against the interests of both groups [the Fulani and the indigenes]. In his take, the Fulani has also been on the receiving end of the killings. The military has been killing us too. Ardo points to the ugly effects of propaganda as one of the drawbacks to conflict resolution. Social media is not helping matters. According to the Secretary, each time there is an attack, old photograph will be posted on social media to strike tribal sentiments against the Fulani tribe. Each tribe has good and bad eggs. Ardo has been involved with non-governmental organizations working towards conflict resolution in the supposed conflict. He revealed that they have caught people who were not Fulani by tribe but who wore Fulani clothing to attack villages. In his take, the driving force behind the attacks arent ethnicity but criminality. To the claim Fulani militias are hiding inside nearby forests, Ardo added, why not fish them out if they see the Fulani militia in the bush. They should organize themselves and fish them out. To which, a local cleric who wishes for his name to be withheld, countered that the villagers and the youths had tried their best to fish them out but failed. According to the Cleric, the youth failed because of connivance between the military and the Fulani. Each time the youths mobilize to engage the militia inside the forest the Fulani cattle herders who acts as spies will give the militias a heads up. Then, the military will be alerted. What follows is the army coming to the villages to arrest and disarm the youths. After which, a major attack by the militia will descend upon the villages. President Buhari shaking hands with the Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong Worsening matters is the Governors disposition towards the conflict. He sees the conflict as a Birom/Fulani affair. He has a vendetta against the Birom people. The Governor, Simon Lalong, who hails from Shendam in the southern region of the State where the said Fulani militia attacks are nonexistent does not view the conflict as a priority item. Our survival is solely on Gods mercy. Our Governor is mere ceremonial. laments a prominent political leader in Jos. Cabinet gives nod to slash power bills THAILAND: The cabinet has agreed with the Energy Ministrys decision to temporarily waive or lower electricity bills for households to help cut peoples expenses during the coronavirus pandemic. CoronavirusCOVID-19 By Bangkok Post Wednesday 22 April 2020, 11:28AM The relief measure, agreed by the Energy Regulatory Commission, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, the Provincial Electricity Authority and the Metropolitan Electricity Authority at an urgent meeting chaired by Mr Sontirat on Monday, is expected to alleviate the immediate hardship of at least 22 million consumers, according to the minister. Photo: Bangkok Post Energy Minister Sontirat Sontijirawong said the cabinet formally accepted the measure effective from March through to May, which applies to households across the country. The measure, estimated to cost 23.6 billion baht, will ease the publics financial burden. Many people were taken aback to find their electricity bills had doubled or even tripled last month after they went into quarantine or self-isolation, worked from home or simply avoided going out, which lessened the transmission of Covid-19. (See story here). Mr Sontirat, also secretary-general of the ruling Palang Pracharath Party, said electricity forms one of the basic and most substantial expenses for people who have cooperated in the governments efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The relief measure, agreed by the Energy Regulatory Commission, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, the Provincial Electricity Authority and the Metropolitan Electricity Authority at an urgent meeting chaired by Mr Sontirat on Monday, is expected to alleviate the immediate hardship of at least 22 million consumers, according to the minister. Mr Sontirat said the ministry has more homework to do as it considers rolling out similar electricity cost reductions for businesses and industries. Some have made their voices heard through the media or the ministry. We are studying the issue, he said. According to the relief proposal for households, free electricity will be extended to households whose consumption does not exceed 150 units (kilowatts/hour), up from 90 units previously. The relief measure will only apply to houses with a power meter size of no more than 5 amps. Up to 10 million households are expected to benefit. For households with a power meter size over 5 amps, if their consumption does not exceed 800 units, they will pay as much as they did in their February bill. The amount exceeding 800 units will be subject to a 50% discount. Large houses that consume over 3,000 units will get a 30% discount. Yesterday, the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) called on the government to suspend electricity payments for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and households for four months, charging at cost for power. FTI chairman Supant Mongkolsuthree said the government should also reduce electricity bills by 5% in the country, while the fuel tariff should be calculated based on plunging global oil prices. The cost of energy is very high for businesses, while the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a tremendous financial toll. Many companies cannot pay their electricity bills without risking shutting down, he said. Sri Lanka is sending special flights to bring back hundreds of students stranded in India, Pakistan and Nepal. SriLankan Airlines will operate special flights from Amristar and Coimbatore in India, Karachi and Lahore in Pakistan and Kathmandu in Nepal. The flights will bring back 433 students stranded in those cities. The returnees will be sent to the military-run quarantine centers where they'll stay for 14 days. The airline earlier operated similar flights to bring home pilgrims and students stranded in countries such as China and India. SriLankan Airline has suspended passenger flights until April 30 while operating cargo and special flights. Last month, Sri Lanka closed its international airport for inbound international commercial passenger flights. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) EDWARDSVILLE Madison County States Attorney Tom Gibbons filed first-degree murder charges Tuesday against a Tilden man after a shooting that left the victim staggering into a Collinsville hotel Sunday. Caleb D. E. Smith, 20, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder, one count of armed robbery and one count of unlawful possession of weapons by a felon. The victim, Devin Judd of Marissa, 25, was found with gunshot wounds to his body. A previous police report listed Judd as from Lenzburg. Judd was transported to Saint Louis University Hospital in St. Louis, where he was pronounced dead. On Sunday, officers from the Collinsville Police Department were dispatched to the Hampton Inn, 7 Commerce Drive in Collinsville, regarding a male subject who had gunshot wounds. Investigators from the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis were activated and arrived at the scene to question witnesses and secure surveillance footage. Their investigation also led to charges of a female suspect, Dakota L. Winters, 25, of Granite City. She was charged with one count of armed robbery for her involvement with Judd in the case. Smith is being held on $500,000 bail while Winters is being held on $200,000 bail, both set by Circuit Court Judge Kyle Napp. The defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. I want to praise the swift action taken by the detectives of the Major Case Squad on their investigation in this case, said First Assistant States Attorney Crystal Uhe. Despite everything that is going on in the world right now, these men and women carried out their duties admirably and skillfully so that justices can be brought to the family of Devin Judd. Police are searching for the suspect who fired several shots into North Portlands Cathedral Park Monday afternoon, then took off in a vehicle. Around 4 p.m., more than a dozen police officers responded to North Crawford Street and North Alta Avenue for a report that shots had been fired in the area. Officers found that an empty vehicle had been struck, but no one appeared to have been injured in the shooting. Portland Police Officer Carlos Ibarra said on Tuesday that after looking at video surveillance, detectives believe there was a specific person in the park that was a target of the shooting. Ibarra said police are continuing to investigate, and that anyone with information about the shooting should contact Detective Meghan Burkeen at 503-823-2092 or meghan.burkeen@portlandoregon.gov. Several people who live near the park or were there on Monday afternoon reported on various social media sites that they had heard multiple gunshots, or seen people running for cover from the scene. Several people also reported seeing a dark-colored truck drive away from the scene after firing. Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. By PTI NEW DELHI/KATHMANDU: India on Wednesday sent 23 tonnes of essential medicines to Nepal to help it fight the coronavirus pandemic which has infected 45 people in the country. Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli thanked his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for the "generous support". "I thank Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji for India's generous support of 23 tonnes of essential medicines to Nepal, to fight COVID-19 Pandemic. The medicines were handed over to the Minister for Health and Population today by the Ambassador of India," Oli said in a tweet. I thank Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji for India's generous support of 23 tonnes of essential medicines to Nepal, to fight COVID-19 Pandemic. The medicines were handedover to the Minister for Health and Population today by the Ambassador of India. K P Sharma Oli (@kpsharmaoli) April 22, 2020 As part of the ongoing bilateral cooperation to fight the coronavirus, India's ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra handed over the consignment to Minister for Health and Population Bhanubhakta Dhakal, the Indian mission here said in a statement. "The consignment, as a gift from the people of India to people of Nepal, includes 8.25 lakh doses of essential medicines, 3.2 lakh doses of Paracetamol and 2.5 lakh doses of Hydroxychloroquine," it said. The initiative manifests the continuing cooperation between India and Nepal in all situations and circumstances, the statement said. "Indian and Nepali health professionals are collaborating their efforts on ground to contain and stop this pandemic. India is committed to prepare, act and succeed together in partnership with Nepal and other South Asian partner countries in this hour of challenge," the Indian embassy added. Meanwhile, the total number of coronavirus cases in Nepal has reached 45, a Health Ministry spokesperson said. Three patients were discharged from hospital. So far, seven persons have been cured while 38 people undergoing treatment in different hospitals. Last month, Prime Minister Modi held a video conference of SAARC leaders and offered all possible assistance to the neighbouring countries, pledging USD 10 million to SAARC COVID-19 Emergency Fund. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday sought to assure the industry owners that no FIR will be registered against any unit owner, who has been given permission to restart unit during lockdown, if any of their worker contracts coronavirus. From April 20 onwards, the government has decided to give conditional relaxations to the industries in select sectors outside the coronavirus containment zones to kickstart the economic activities amid the lockdown as per the Centre's guidelines. Updating people about the Covid situation in the state and steps taken to control it, Khattar, in a televised address, touched upon the permission given to the industries while following conditions like ensuring social distancing and the number of people who can work in units at a given time etc. The chief minister informed that 1,800 units involved in production of items of essential need had earlier been given permission but now 106 more units have been given permission, which would employ nearly 18,000 workforce. Khattar assured that all those units which restart functioning with due permission and following all laid down guidelines of the Centre and the state government need not worry. I want to make it clear that if any industry seeks permission to start their unit and if any employee working there tests Covid positive, no action or FIR will be registered against the owner. A rumour was spread that FIR will be registered against those unit owners if an employee working there tests positive, he said. Meanwhile, Khattar said Muslims should offer Namaz during Ramzan from their homes and not in mosques in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. The current lockdown, imposed to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus, will be in force till May 3. With Ramzan beginning later this week, Khattar said, I appeal to all Muslim community members to follow social distancing norms by staying indoors... I request them to offer prayers from their home itself.. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Riyadh (AFP) - OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia said Tuesday it was closely monitoring oil markets and stood ready to take further measures after crude prices plunged to historic lows. "The kingdom continues to closely monitor the situation in the oil markets and is prepared to take any additional measures in cooperation with OPEC+ and other producers," the cabinet said in a statement cited by the official Saudi Press Agency. It said cabinet reiterated that the kingdom is constantly working to achieve stability in the oil market, reaffirming a commitment along with Russia to implement agreed output cuts over the next two years. Under the deal, which ended a bitter price war amid a supply glut with the coronavirus pandemic battering global demand, Riyadh and Moscow will cut 2.5 million barrels per day each. The OPEC+ group of major producers last week agreed record production cuts of 9.7 million bpd to prop up prices that had shed more than 60 percent as the COVID-19 illness shut down businesses worldwide. Producers outside the alliance pledged to cut an additional 3.7 million bpd. But that was not enough to prevent crude prices plunging into negative territory for the first time on Monday. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crashed to close in New York at minus $37.63 per barrel amid a perfect storm of low demand, an output gult and a lack of storage. The OPEC+ agreement calls for full-scale cuts over the months of May and June, with limited increases for the rest of the year. Algeria, another large producer and highly dependent on crude export revenues, said it had taken the necessary measures to deal with falling prices, according to the official news agency APS. "We foresaw this crisis, and we took precautions," said spokesman Belaid Mohand Oussaid, according to the report. "We still have the crisis under control, and we hope the global oil market will catch its breath soon and prices will level." Oil prices continued to slide on Tuesday with the international benchmark Brent crude dropping briefly below $19 a barrel for the first time in two decades. US West Texas Intermediate crude rebounded but still was trading at - $2.39 a barrel. Back on March 1, when life was still normal and COVID-19 was just a cloud on the horizon in the eyes of the public, researchers at the travel industry data firm Phocuswright were expecting that San Franciscos April hotel occupancy rate (percentage of rooms occupied) would be a healthy 81.7 percent. Their latest forecast, out this week, drives that down to just 4.5 percent. But the researchers also say their statistical model projects that San Francisco will hit bottom this month, see a slight improvement in May and considerable (relative) rebound in June, if selling less than one in three rooms can be considered a recovery. Phocuswrights new report sees the citys May occupancy level rising a few percentage points to 7.8 percent, followed by a more substantial 32.6 percent in June. Where will this renewed business come from? Some forecasters maintain that business travel always starts to come back first after a travel recession, but Phocuswright doesnt see that happening for San Francisco. A significant rebound of group travel like meetings and conventions isnt likely before 2021, the company said. And the individual business travel market, having largely shut down and furloughed vast resources, and now compounded with the familiarity of virtual meetings, may attempt to preserve scarce cash by deferring all but essential travel. In other words, widespread teleconferencing may finally be here to stay as a preferred alternative to business trips. "Right now there is no real 'right' answer to questions about the future of the hotel business in San Francisco," said Joe D'Alessandro, President and CEO of San Francisco Travel, the city's convention and visitor's bureau. "In the near term, everything depends on governmental protocols such as when shelter-in-place orders are lifted, when we can assemble in groups larger that 10-15, what social distancing is going to look like. Longer term, it's going to be a tough road where we likely won't see 2019's numbers come back until 2024, as some studies have suggested. We'll need to see the airlines and events industry come back before we'll see hotels come back in a significant way," he said. That leaves leisure and tourist travel and not from foreign countries. Prospects for significant international travel are uncertain until a vaccine is broadly distributed, Phocuswright said. Domestic leisure travelers are likely to be at the forefront of a comeback, but the volume will depend on how long coronavirus lockdowns remain in place and what happens with unemployment and borrowing rates, which will dictate the availability of discretionary income for leisure travel. Don't miss a shred of important travel news! Sign up for our FREE weekly email alerts. San Francisco, like many other markets, may need to look for local business to bridge the gap. Staycations and potentially sourcing travelers from California and Pacific Coast states which are now coordinating economic recovery plans, may provide some welcome relief, while other parts of the U.S. may continue to struggle, the company said. (For drive-in business, maybe downtown San Francisco Hotels would deeply discount on-site parking, which reached a high of $85 per night, pre-COVID-19. Plunging gasoline prices and pent up demand to get out of the house will also likely help a surge in road trips.) LISTEN: 5 pm Weds April 22: What the Lack of Travel to SF is Doing to the Economy with Joe D'Alessandro The study also noted that the hotel industrys traditional response to a falloff in business i.e. cutting room rates has not caught on in San Francisco. There is fortunately little evidence of irrational discount pricing from desperate hoteliers who may have learned that such moves do not influence demand under these conditions (i.e., a pandemic), Phocuswright observed. San Francisco could be in a relatively good place compared to other cities, according to SF Travel's D'Alessandro. "Because of the high cost of construction downtown, San Francisco hotels did not get overbuilt like many other cities did in recent years, so there won't be too much oversupply. Most hotels that have suspended operations will come back, but new projects may stay on the drawing board." Nationwide, the hotel data firm STR is projecting an occupancy rate of 37.9 percent for the full year, a drop of more than 42 percent from 2019. Our historical database extends back to 1987, and the worst we have ever seen for absolute occupancy was 54.6 percent during the financial crisis in 2009, said Jan Freitag, STRs senior vp of lodging insights. For 2021, STR forecasts that nationwide hotel occupancy will bounce back to 59.7 percent good, but still below its historic averages. As we reported last month, San Francisco tourism officials were expecting up to half the citys hotels to close down in April due to the collapse of business. "San Francisco was on the leading edge of COVID-19 mitigation efforts, well ahead of most other cities, and I expect that the city will lead the way out of this toward recovery, ensuring that visitors see our city's hotels, attractions and convention center as clean and safe." said SF Travel's D'Alessandro. Read all recent TravelSkills posts here Chris McGinnis is SFGATE's senior travel correspondent. You can reach him via email or follow him on Twitter or Facebook. Don't miss a shred of important travel news by signing up for his FREE weekly email updates! SFGATE participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. Prime Minister Narendra Modis sudden announcement of a three-week national lockdown, beginning on March 24, to combat COVID-19 has abruptly halted industries across the country. Hundreds of thousands of workers have been left jobless without any economic support. Gnana Seruukku The lockdown, which does not include any serious plan to assist millions of low-paid workers, has drastically impacted on the Indian film industry and its workforce, which largely subsists on daily wages. Those hit by the crisis include assistant directors, artists, designers, location assistants, script supervisors, camera assistants, and lighting- and motion-control technicians. Daily wage workers in the film industry generally receive between 300 to 700 rupees ($US9) per day, depending on their experience, and have no real possibility of accruing savings. Thousands of these workers are now unemployed. The Indian film industry is one of the largest in the world in terms of the number of films released. It produces approximately 2,000 films every year across a range of languages and, according to the most recent statistics, employs over 248,000 people. Although its gross earnings are dwarfed by the US film industry, Indian studios earned over $2.1 billion in 2017 with predictions that this would climb to $3.7 billion by 2020. Millions of workers and young people patronise the countrys tens of thousands of cinemas. While Bollywoodthe Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbaidominates, South Indian studios make a major contribution to the countrys annual cinematic output. Dharani Rajendran Tamil Nadu, the countrys southernmost state, produces about 200 Tamil-language features annually which are distributed in numerous countries and regions, including Singapore, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Japan, the Middle East, Europe and North America. The state has 1,213 screens and 900 theatres and a total cinema seating capacity of over 636,000. WSWS reporter Yuvan Darwin interviewed three Tamil Nadu directors about the impact of the coronavirus on film making and the Modi governments sudden, and ill-planned, lockdown. Dharani Rajendran, director of the award winning Gnana Serukku (2018), is an independent film maker. He has received several international awards for his work and has won recognition at film festivals in Venezuela, Miami, the UK and in Kolkata, India. YD: Could you explain how the lockdown is affecting low-paid film industry workers? DR: Many daily-wage film workers are sleeping with hungry stomachs and waking up with empty pockets. Those who have been able to return to their home towns may at least get food to eat and a place to sleep but we will only know whether theyre alive or dead after the lockdown ends. Many say that nature is teaching humanity a lesson but in reality this pandemic's greatest impact is on the poor and the oppressed. The rich can escape every disaster with the help of their money. YD: Can you speak about what the lockdown has done to your latest film? DR: Id planned to release my latest film on March 20, 2020, but because of the lockdown it failed. My film is an independent and crowd-funded work and was produced with the help of friends and well-wishers. Weve suffered a great loss because of the lockdown. When the lockdown eventually ends and the theatres are reopened, the big producers with big capital backing will bring their films into the theatres and we will be crushed. SPP Bhaskaran S.P.P. Bhaskaran is the founder of the Kovai Film Society (KFS) and director of Insha Allah (2019), a Tamil-language film. The 84-minute movie is a straightforward story about the life of blue collar working class Muslims. It attempts to undermine the stereotypes created by Indian cinema which often demonises the Muslim community as violent and supporters of terrorism. Insha Allah has been nominated for several awards and screened at many film festivals, including the Paraguay Independent Film Festival, the Accolade Global Film Competition, the 3rd Chambal International Film Festival and the Indian World Film Festival. YD: Whats been the economic impact of the coronavirus and the government response on filmmakers? Insha Allah SB: All the small producers who borrowed from the big money lenders now face a suicidal situation. The big money lenders will start threatening the small producers and demand that they pay back these loans, and with high rate interests. Wed planned to complete and release our film this month [April 2020] but that has all failed because of the lockdown. Now my producer and I dont have any income. YD: Whats been the artistic and cultural impact? SB: Because the media does not have any new television content during this lockdown, it is broadcasting repeats, that is, old material with feudal ideas. For example, Doordarshan, the central government channel, is screening serials about Hindu epic stories, like Ramayana and Mahabharatha, to indirectly promote the communalist agenda of Hindutva and the RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a Hindu extremist organisation and the ideological mentor of the ruling Bharatiya Janatha Party]. I was inspired by Soviet Russia and studied the history of the October Revolution, but in 1991, I saw it dissolve in front of my eyes. Similarly, I now see the USA, which proclaims itself as the world police, crumbling down. Its foundations are totally broken. Director Steven Soderberghs film Contagion [2011] contains scenes of food riots and other social explosions caused by hunger, death and peoples uprisings. A similar situation will surely happen in India. Lenin Bharathi Lenin Bharathi is the director of Merkku Thodarchi Malai (2018), a Tamil-language movie about the harsh lives of landless plantation workers in the foothills of Indias Western Ghats. Bharathis widely-praised film has a raw narrative and unique and convincing characters. It was screened at the 21st International Film Festival of Kerala, Singapores South Asian International Film Festival, the Chicago South Asian Film Festival and the Indian Film Festival in Toulouse, France. YD: Whats your opinion of the trade unions that claim to represent film workers? LB: The trade unions in the film industry, who proclaim themselves as left wingers, are consciously betraying workers. These unions receive monthly dues payments from these workers but only organise various namesake conferences and, under the banner of bargaining, receive various privileges from the big producers. Film industry car drivers are in the drivers union but it does nothing for them. These drivers are being forced by the private banks to keep paying their loans even though theyre in lockdown and cannot earn any money. Merku Thodarchi Malai YD: Could you comment on the cultural impact of coronavirus and the lockdown? LB: After the end of the Second World War, we had international films depicting the horrors of war and destruction. Genuine art always gives expression to the objective crises facing humanity and through its various aesthetic forms helps to develop a critical attitude towards these events. YD: What do you think about the response of the Indian government and other governments to the pandemic? LB: Capitalist governments are spending trillions of dollars to safeguard their borders but are completely neglecting public healthcare and welfare. The US, which was once seen as the world superpower, is now nakedly exposed. It doesnt even have ways to store or transport the dead COVID-19 victims to graveyards. Yet, the US has been waging wars for a quarter century and killing millions of people, all in the name of freedom and democracy. A huge eruption of working-class struggles will surely emerge around the world and left-wing ideas will come to dominate the minds of millions. North Korea leader's sister Kim Yo-jong, center, smiles at U.S. President Donald Trump during the second U.S.-North Korea summit in February 2019 in Vietnam. Yonhap By Do Je-hae The state of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's health is triggering speculation although Seoul said earlier that there was nothing untoward going on with him. Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun and other news outlets reported Wednesday on the possibility of Kim's sister Kim Yo-jong taking over as supreme leader in the case of an emergency regarding his health. Citing sources from South Korea, U.S. and Japan, the Yomiuri reported that North Korea's ruling Workers' Party had made a decision late last year during a general assembly of the party's central committee to focus "all authority" on Kim Yo-jong if her brother became unable to rule due to unforeseen circumstances or his death. The Japanese report added that since then, many instructions and statements have been issued in her name. Some news outlets in the United States and U.K. are also highlighting the possible transfer of power to Kim Yo-jong as part of the North Korea's contingency plan regarding a possible leadership vacuum. But Cheong Wa Dae and the government were reluctant to comment on such reports. "We are not in a position to speak about his whereabouts or whether he underwent surgery. We have already said that we have not detected anything out of the ordinary," a senior presidential aide said Wednesday. Kim's sister, who is known as one of the North Korean leader's closest aides, was recently promoted and last month started to make official statements. On March 3, she issued a statement targeting Cheong Wa Dae to express disappointment about Seoul's protest of a live-fire exercise by the North. The hostile tone of the statement was considered surprising given that she has often acted as the North Korean leader's envoy to the South. North Korean state media has been silent about the reports on its leader's health, which some experts find unusual. In the past, it actively reported on Kim's activities to prove that such reports were wrong. "The unification ministry said that it did not find anything out of the ordinary, but the fact that Kim missed the celebration for his grandfather itself is out of the ordinary," said Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun of the main opposition United Future Party (UFP), who chairs the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, during an emergency meeting at the Assembly, Wednesday. "The lack of a reaction from North Korea should also be noted." Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and Unification Minister Kim Yeon-cheol were supposed to attend the meeting but later cancelled their participation. Tae Ku-min, a former high-level diplomat from the North who recently won a National Assembly seat on the UFP's ticket, also questioned the silence from the North Korean media. "Due to the nature of the regime, North Korea has always taken steps to show that its leader is alive and well whenever controversies about his health emerged," Tae said in a statement Tuesday. "It is very unusual that North Korea has not responded even a week after the abnormal circumstances regarding Kim were first reported." Earlier, some international news outlets including CNN reported that Kim was "gravely ill" after undergoing an unspecified medical procedure. The reports came after he was noticeably missing in the April 15 annual commemoration of the birth of Kim Il-sung, his grandfather and state founder. U.S. President Donald Trump said that he doesn't put "too much credence" in the report by CNN. "I'd like to see him be well, and we'll see how he does. Again, I don't know that the reports are true," Trump said in a news briefing. The U.S. administration is closely looking into intelligence that Kim may be seriously ill. "We are watching the reports closely and we will have to see," U.S. National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien told reporters at the White House. "As everyone here knows, the North Koreans are parsimonious with the information that they put out about many things, especially when it comes to their leaders and so we will keep a close eye on it." Amid fears over the spread of COVID-19, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife delayed Saturdays opening day to the trout season in the eastern Sierra to May 31. Fish and Wildlife Department Director Chuck Bonham said his decision for Alpine, Inyo and Mono counties does not affect the trout season in any other county. Bonham said he ordered the delay late Tuesday after a meeting with Eric Sklar, president of the California Fish and Game Commission. Last week, the commission voted 5-0 to authorize Bonham to order emergency fishing closures to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. At that meeting, the commissions first virtual meeting, with 500 participating by phone, a series of health officials and supervisors from Alpine, Mono and Inyo counties asked that the trout opener be delayed. They feared a huge influx of anglers from Southern California, the Bay Area and Sacramento could bring the coronavirus with them. This situation raises a legitimate concern of the transmission of COVID-19 from outside areas, Bonham said during the meeting. On Tuesday, he added, These counties asked for our help and we responded. In most years, a forecast of clear weather, cold but moderate stream flows and many ice-free lakes would draw large crowds for opening day of the trout season. The prize area for anglers is the eastern Sierra, where more than 1 million have taken part in past openers. Minor adjustments to bag and possession limits would be made to protect and conserve the existing fisheries that may be affected as anglers may opt to head beyond the eastern Sierra, according to Jordan Traverso, deputy director of communications for the Fish and Wildlife Department These modifications will also expire May 31, she said. The department will provide information on closures on a new hotline at 916-445-7600 and at https://wildlife.ca.gov. 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. Officials in rural counties warned that closed campgrounds and lodging would leave out-of-town visitors with no place to stay for the upcoming weekend, and that travel from urban areas would violate Gov. Newsoms stay-at-home order. In El Dorado County, which includes stretches of the high Sierra along U.S. 50 and South Lake Tahoe, officials said they would enforce the stay-at-home order with $1,000 fines. Officials in Mono County, which includes Mammoth, Crowley and Convict lakes and the June Lakes Loop, asked people to stay away. We cant handle people coming into our system when theres nowhere to sleep or eat, and no boats to rent, said Mono County Sheriff Ingrid Braun. Tom Stienstra is The Chronicles outdoors writer. Email: tstienstra@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @StienstraTom By Express News Service BENGALURU: A five-year-old girl in Belagavi who desperately required critical medicines from Pune got the same thanks to the office of Minister of State (MoS) Railways, Suresh C Angadi. According to an official release, the girl was taking treatment from a doctor in Pune and her relatives there were not given permission by the government to drive down to Pune with them. So, on April 11, the family approached Angadi's office, who is an MP from Belgavi. The Minister directed railway officials in Pune to facilitate. "The medicine was brought to Pune Railway Station, and thereby it was transported through a Goods Train which was due to pass through Belagavi and further. The staff of the train ensured that the medicine reached Belagavi safely the very next day," the release said. Since Belagavi was also in lockdown due to the COVID-19 situation and all approach roads to railway station were locked, South Western Railway staff took the initiative to take the medicine close to the home of the girl, the release added. KOKOMO, Ind. (WLFI) Vice President Mike Pence will be back home in Indiana on April 30 for a visit to the General Motors plant in Kokomo. According to a news release, the vice president will visit the plant to "highlight the production of ventilators during the coronavirus pandemic." Pence, who previously served as Indiana's governor, will return to Washington, D.C that evening. As we previously reported, General Motors is now manufacturing critical care ventilators that will be added to the national stockpile and distributed to hospitals in need. This story will be updated. After Mumbai Bandra incident, Bihar was trending at No.1 position on Twitter. Most twitterati expressed concern about the abysmal low number of positive COVID-19 cases amid lack of testing in the state. A detailed analysis of the facts highlights the irony of social media wherein net citizens unknowingly become a part of larger fake news propaganda. To begin with, let's analyze the Bandra incident and its relationship with Bihar. The fact is that trains for Bihar dont ply from Bandra. The main station for trains to Bihar being Lokmanya Tilak Terminal (LTT). Secondly, Bandra is a posh colony with ghettos of Bangladeshi migrants who hail from Bengal. Thirdly, it is Uttar Pradesh and not Bihar which has a very high number of migrant populations at Mumbai. Bihars population at Mumbai is significantly lower as compared to migrants from Karnataka, Kerala, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Bengal, Punjab, Haryana, North East and Uttar Pradesh. Since people from Bihar migrated late, most stay at Thane and Kalyan which are very far off places from Bandra. Coming back to COVID-19 crisis and looking at Bihars response, it is important to laud the work of the state. The state has conducted 6703 tests which is almost equal to the combined number of tests at West Bengal (2523), Orrisa (3862) and Jharkhand (2117). It is by far the highest among the East Indian states. Nationally, in number of tests conducted Bihar ranks at 9th place. In terms of active cases, it ranks at 18th position which is lowest among states with population of more than 5 crore. Bihar with 6703 tests has 64 positive cases while Andhra Pradesh with 6958 tests has 420 cases. So, the truth is, Bihars positive cases are not low because it has done lesser tests. Such reports are baseless fake news propaganda as exposed by the above data. This also highlights that Bihar has lowest infection rate among people tested when compared to all states with more than 50 positive cases. At 0.95%, it is one of the lowest globally. Indias average is 5%. With 29 successfully treated patients returning to their homes, Bihar has successfully treated 40% of its patients thus flattening the curve like Singapore and Japan. Total active cases in the state is around 40 for past 2 weeks. It is likely to be in single digits by the time lockdown is lifted on 3rd May, thus becoming the first state to defeat the Corona virus. As of today (April 16, 2020), Bihar has only one district in red hot spot zone. This is again lowest among large states with more than 5 crore population in the country. More than 80% of the state districts are in green zone and likely to be on track from 20th May. A medical hub like Darbhanga with its own ICMR approved government COVID-19 testing facility which is one among the 179 such approved labs pan India is a green district with no positive cases. This highlights that in terms of infection rate, Bihar figures are the best. In terms of successful treatment, it is again the best state. A lot of credit goes to the local population that has been vigilant; state government which set up isolation wards in remotest of villages and the state police which was the first force to catch foreign nationals from Masjids and send them back from the state. Jharkhand and Telangana later followed Bihar. The police have candidly but effectively implemented the lockdown unlike bustle of the neighboring states. By depositing Rs 1000 into bank accounts of 13.75 registered migrant work force and providing them with medical Insurance cover, Bihar is the only state to take care of her residents outside of her state in this time of crisis. Bihar is doing good, chill netizens!!! The article is written by Mr. Abhishek Kumar Mishra. He works as South Asia Director with a multinational. He has authored articles in leading publications like India Today, The Times of India, The Hindustan Time, The Statesman etc. Georgie Lane's fiance Elvis Harte was supposedly killed off in Our Girl's third season, leaving her struggling with her grief ever since. But fans are now convinced that the Captain is actually alive, as the show delivered another gripping twist on Tuesday night. During the penultimate episode of the fourth season, Michelle Keegan's Georgie confronted Aatan Omar, the man who orchestrated the attack that led to Elvis' death. Could it be? Our Girl's shocking Omar twist had fans convinced that Georgie's fiance Elvis is ALIVE as they heaped praise on lead star Michelle Keegan after Tuesday night's episode Set to be transferred to Pakistan the following morning, Georgie was desperate to know why he lured her late fiance to his death and showed him a photo of her beloved with tears in her eyes. But rather than hit back and reveal his master plan, the suspected criminal just looked at her with a confused expression, making her believe something wasn't right about him. Speaking to Prof outside the cell, Georgie admitted: 'There was nothing. Not even a flicker. You'll think I'm mad. 'There was just something about him. I don't know. Warlords aren't exactly shy in coming forward, are they? He was just lying there, confused.' In mourning: Georgie Lane's fiance Elvis Harte was supposedly killed off in Our Girl's third season, leaving her struggling with her grief ever since Prof wasn't so sure, as he told her that her 'head's all over the place', and added that 'things aren't as you imagine them to be.' To which she said: 'I thought I'd feel better but I've just got this gnawing feeling, inside my gut. Something's ain't right here.' And int he final moments of the episode, viewers glimpsed a secret meeting between a trio of Afghan soldiers who claimed that 'no-one suspects a thing.' This unexpected turn of events drove fans wild as it led them to believe that Elvis was alive, and had either been kidnapped by the group or was the real Omar. Confrontation: During the penultimate episode of the fourth season, Michelle Keegan's Georgie confronted Aatan Omar, the man who orchestrated the attack that led to Elvis' death Something's amiss: But rather than reveal his master plan, the suspected criminal just looked at her confused, which made Georgie feel that 'something ain't right' One fan wrote: 'Another great episode! It's the finale next week! Let's see who is the real Omar and whether Elvis is alive or not. There's been way too much focus on Elvis if he is dead. While another theorised: 'Imagine all this time Elvis was alive and undercover. This will be the biggest returns fromt he dead since Dirty Den in Eastenders. [sic]' Suggesting their theory, one fan wrote: 'My theory is: Georgie will kill Omar only to find out Elvis was still alive and his 'death' was part of special operation meaning only the select few knew about it with fingers being one of them. That's why when he was dying he kept saying "I'm sorry" to Georgie' Turning the idea on its head, one fan questioned: 'What if Elvis is Omar and he faked his death so he could get away and throw the Army off.' And another viewer added: 'IF ELVIS IS ALIVE AND ACTUALLY OMAR... I'M GOING TO HAVE A BRITNEY SPEARS MOMENT [sic]' Is he alive? This unexpected turn of events drove fans wild as it led them to believe that Elvis was alive, and had either been kidnapped by the group or was the real Omar And fans also went on to heap praise on Michelle for her incredible acting during the tough scenes, particularly when she broke down crying while talking about Elvis. One viewer gushed: 'okay but Michelle Keegan is one of the most talented actresses. i broke down at this scene, the writing of this show and the actors are outstanding.' While another praised: 'i just feel like michelle keegan deserves so much recognition. shes gone from a show like corrie where actually not emotion is shown, to playing georgie lane for four years showing so many different difficult emotions. shes an absolute amazing woman.' Another said: 'Incredible performances every time from Michelle Keegan as Georgie in #OurGirl i just want to give her the biggest hug!' Lalitha Ranjani By Express News Service MADURAI: Most providers of essential services risk being exposed to the coronavirus when they venture outdoors. For the seven-member team at the Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL) at Madurai Medical College, however, the risk lies indoors. This team suits up daily to handle and test swab samples of patients suspected to have COVID-19. The number of tests to run is so high that most of the team members have stopped going home since the lab was authorised to test for SARS-CoV-2 on March 25. The VRDL was the eighth lab in Tamil Nadu to receive permission from the National Institute of Virology to conduct the one-step real-time Reverse Transcription - Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) tests for COVID-19. A wing of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the VRDL is normally engaged in research of communicable viral diseases like dengue, malaria and works from 10am to 4.30pm. Since it became a COVID-19 diagnostic lab, it functions round the clock, the team working in three shifts running screening and confirmatory tests of oropharyngeal swab samples collected in Madurai, Sivaganga, Virudhunagar and Ramanathapuram districts. "Presently, three batches of screening tests and one batch of confirmatory tests are being performed one after another. So far, over 5,000 screening tests and over 2,000 confirmatory tests for COVID-19 have been performed at the VRDL," an official at the Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) said. Lab is now their home Comprising experienced microbiologists, the VRDL team includes the principal investigator, who is administrative head of the COVID-19 diagnostic lab, co-principal investigator who is technical in-charge of the COVID-19 lab, another technical in-charge of the lab, a research scientist, a research assistant and two laboratory technicians. While the project staff and the laboratory technicians stay at a guest house inside the medical college premises, the administrative and technical heads take turns to go home for short breaks. The laboratory has become their home now, said another GRH official. READ| Test all cases of pneumonia to bring down COVID-19 deaths, says top virologist Jacob John "Since the test report is the first and most critical step in effective management of the pandemic and as it puts the laboratory personnel first in line, delivering quality test reports becomes their prime responsibility. The strenuous work hours take a back seat. Interestingly, the laboratory is busier at night as nearly two-thirds of the samples are sent for testing in the evening," the official added. On the risks the laboratory staff face, a retired microbiologist said they face sample risk which is the risk of exposure to virus from the samples they test. "Thus, all samples are considered infectious since the time of receipt," the scientist said. For this reason, laboratory personnel are required to wear Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) kits throughout the two-hour extraction process and N95 masks and gloves while loading and unloading samples from the thermal cycler. The laboratory premises are also disinfected three times a day, GRH sources pointed. "For experts at this VRDL, no special training is required to test for COVID-19. This is because Chinese scientists shared the genetic sequence of the coronavirus with all countries after they isolated the strain of the virus and the genetic sequence can be replicated globally in any laboratory. Generally, it is based on the genetic sequence that a few steps adopted during any RT-PCR technique are altered," explained the retired microbiologist. At a newly-established VRDL, the technicians would require hands-on training in Coronavirus testing for a month at least, he said. . How are the swabs tested? The swabs are collected by otorhinolaryngologists (ear, nose and throat specialists) and placed in a Viral Transport Medium (VTM). The VTM is placed in an ice box. That box is brought to the labs entrance where lab staff, wearing PPE, remove the VTM from the box and take it into a biosafety cabinet. The swab is then transferred to a test tube to begin the real-time RT-PCR test which involves extraction of the viral RNA. The first stage involves removing impurities. Once that is done, the swab is transferred to a PCR tube and more reagents are added. This entire process is carried out manually and takes about two hours. Later, chemical reagents are added to the PCR tube containing the extracted RNA and the tube is loaded into an automated thermal cycler that carries out an amplification process for two hours. It also performs a documentation process (using pre-programmed software) for about 30 minutes. Manual data entry takes another 30-45 minutes. Each time a result comes, the test reports are compiled in specific formats and are sent to the office of the GRH Dean, the COVID-19 control room at GRH, office of the Deputy Director of Health Services, office of the Joint Director of Epidemics (Chennai), the ICMR-NIE (Chennai) and the National Institute of Virology in Pune. According to the retired microbiologist, as many as 12 reagents are used per COVID-19 test and the thermal cyclers require a break of at least an hour everyday for smooth operation. The VRDL has two functional thermal cyclers (usually imported from countries like Germany and Japan, costing about Rs. 15-20 lakh each) and 144 samples can be tested at one go, an official at GRH said. While it takes about six hours for the results of the screening tests to be known, it takes another six hours to derive the results of confirmatory tests. Only samples that test positive in the screening test are subjected to a confirmatory test. "If the result of a screening test is negative, the patient is declared to be free from Coronavirus infection. But, if the result is positive, the samples are again subjected to confirmatory tests. A patient is declared to be COVID-19 positive only if the result of the confirmatory test is also positive," the microbiologist explained. After the tests, the sample vials, viral transport mediums and the test tubes are disinfected by soaking in sodium hypochlorite solution for three hours and autoclaved before disposal. Similarly, the suits are also disinfected separately in the same solution for three hours before being disposed of in yellow bins. Wrapped in bags, the disinfected bio-medical waste is collected in a box, sealed and then handed over to the operator of the common bio-medical waste treatment and disposal facility (CBMWTDF). Notably, the operator of CBMWTDF, who handles all the biomedical waste generated at Madurai Medical College and at Government Rajaji Hospital, collects the bio-medical waste from COVID-19 wards and from the COVID-19 testing laboratory separately. Since poor dumping methods may become a source of infection, incineration of the bio-medical waste is recommended, say experts. Dip in infection rate While testing at VRDL has increased, the infection rate has shown a dip, sources said. "In the initial days, the infection rate of samples tested stood at 10 per cent. Now, the infection rate observed is less than 2 per cent," said an official at GRH. The VRDL is currently engaged in training laboratory personnel from government hospitals in Sivaganga, Ramanathapuram and Virudhunagar districts where COVID-19 diagnostic labs are to be set up soon. Sources in the Department of Health and Family Welfare said that the laboratories at the three southern districts can begin COVID-19 testing only after validation from VRDL at Madurai and NIV at Pune. How does RT-PCR work in COVID-19 testing? Armenian News - NEWS.am presents a daily digest of top news as of 22.04.2020: The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has reached 1,473 in Armenia. A total of 14,966 tests have come back negative so far, and 816 people are currently being treated. According to the latest data, 633 COVID-19 patients have recovered thus far, whereas 24 others have died in Armenia from the disease. As health minister Arsen Torosyan noted, the oldest person who has recovered from COVID-19 in Armenia is a 93-year-old woman. Over 2.5 million COVID-19 cases have been reported globally as of Wednesday. The death toll nears 180 thousand. And over 705 thousand people have already recovered. US is the first in terms of COVID-19 cases and the death toll. It has confirmed over 819,000 COVID-19 cases, while the death toll has exceeded 45,000 leaving behind Spain with over 21,000 deaths and more than 208,000 confirmed cases. Besides, the WHO has once again warned that the rush to ease restrictions amid COVID-19 could lead to a new surge in infections. The videoconference of the Armenian and Azerbaijani FMs Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Elmar Mammadyarov was held on Tuesday with the participation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs and the personal representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk. The participants discussed the situation created in the region amid the coronavirus pandemic. Amid global fight against COVID-19, they highlighted the need to take steps for unconditional maintenance and strengthening of the ceasefire regime. The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs attached importance to their commitment and the call of the UN Secretary-General regarding the global ceasefire. The participants adopted the joint statement, according to which, the sides considered the next steps in the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement process in line with their joint statement issued in Geneva on 30 January 2020. Thus, amid the pandemic, the implementation of previously agreed humanitarian measures was postponed. The face-to-face ministerial meetings and the visits of the co-chairs to the region agreed upon in Geneva have also been postponed. Nevertheless, the necessary work to prepare these activities continues. Armenia government has presented a program of events for the Armenian Genocide commemoration. On April 23 at 9 p.m., church bells will ring and the lights at squares and street lights of Yerevan and the provinces of Armenia will be switched off for three minutes. On April 24, starting from 8 a.m., citizens and Armenians abroad can send an SMS. The names of citizens who send SMSs will be shown on the columns of the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial, the government noted. Starting from 10 a.m., Armenian president, PM and parliaments speaker will visit the Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex in Yerevan. The tribute will begin with a concert featuring performances at 10 p.m that will be broadcast live until dawn. Besides, to prevent the COVID-19 spread, all the roads leading to the Armenian Genocide Memorial will be closed from April 21 to April 25 at 10 pm. Violation of the order will have legal consequences, the statement also said. The trial in the case of Armenian third president Serzh Sargsyan and others has again been postponed, Sargsyans attorneys noted. According to them, they petitioned to postpone the meeting scheduled for 3 pm on April 23. The application is granted. The date and time of the next meeting will be announced later. A sign alerting customers about SNAP food stamps benefits is displayed at a Brooklyn grocery store in New York City on Dec. 5, 2019. (Scott Heins/Getty Images) USDA: Food Stamp Benefits Up 40 Percent Food stamp benefits are up 40 percent, the Department of Agriculture announced, as families across the nation grapple with lost jobs and struggle to get meals on the table. The increase will ensure that low-income individuals have enough food to feed themselves and their families during this national emergency, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said in a statement. President Trump is taking care of Americas working-class families who have been hit hard with economic distress due to the coronavirus. Ensuring all households receive the maximum allowable SNAP benefit is an important part of President Trumps whole of America response to the coronavirus. The increase in SNAP benefits came as unemployment hit a record high, with over five million more workers filing claims during the week ending April 11. In a bid to stem the spread of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, a novel coronavirus that emerged from mainland China last year, most states in the nation implemented harsh restrictions on travel, work, and life. That has led to a severe economic downturn. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue speaks while flanked by President Donald Trump during the daily briefing of the White House Coronavirus Task Force in Washington on April 17, 2020. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) Families of five receiving food stamps can typically get a maximum benefit of $768. Through the increase in emergency benefits, households of any size can get additional funds to take them to the maximum allotment. Families already at the maximum wont get additional benefits. SNAP normally costs the U.S. government approximately $4.5 billion each month. The allotments made under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which President Donald Trump signed, is adding nearly $2 billion per month to that total. The emergency funds are made available through waivers the Department of Agriculture makes for each state. The departments announcement came after a group of 22 attorneys general and the attorneys general of New York City and the District of Columbia sent a letter (pdf) to Perdue, urging the Trump administration not to enact proposed rules for tightening qualifications for getting food stamps. Protecting access to food stamp benefits is crucial at a time when millions of people are suffering from job losses and hundreds of thousands are battling coronavirus. Thats why our coalition of State Attorneys General is calling on the Trump administration to immediately suspend the rulemaking, Karl Racine, the attorney general of DC, said in a statement. The proposed changes to the federal program were announced last year. A federal judge blocked the rules from going into effect. The Trump administration planned to appeal. Correction: A previous version of this article misstated details about the maximum benefit and increase in benefits under the emergency. The Epoch Times regrets the error. Most lawmakers wore face coverings, some wore gloves and hand sanitizer was everywhere. Sen. George L. Barker (D-Fairfax), who had open-heart surgery and pneumonia last year, was seated behind a three-sided plexiglass box. Just in case delegates somehow forgot what was going on, a caravan of protesters drove in circles around the capitol for about two hours after the noon session began, honking their horns to register dismay at the states efforts to shut down businesses and mandate social distancing. The noise formed a distant but distracting backdrop, though one delegate noted that the sound was just like working in New York City. T he family of a London bus driver who died with Covid-19 said today a lack of protective equipment for public transport workers and delays to improving safety had cost lives. Mervyn Mally Kennedy is one of 29 transport staff including 23 bus drivers and workers to have died with the virus amid claims they have not been adequately shielded. The 67-year-old, a proud and loving father of three and grandfather of seven who had no underlying health conditions, was taken to hospital on April 6 when he started struggling to breathe. His three daughters had to make the heartbreaking decision to turn off his ventilator just a day later when doctors told them that he would not survive. Penny Palmer, a paediatric nurse at Lewisham hospital, said she believed her father would still be alive if he had been given personal protective equipment at work. Ms Palmer, 33, said: My dad was a proud, noble, loving family man. We lost my mother to pneumonia in 2004 and her dying words were look after the girls. "Thats exactly what he always did. It was so difficult not being able to see him in those final moments. 29 transport staff have died with the virus / PA Mr Kennedy had worked as a London bus driver for 16 years, having moved to Croydon from Zimbabwe in 1999. His family have set up an online fundraising page to pay for his funeral and to fund PPE for bus drivers. Lockdown London 1 /18 Lockdown London Ms Palmer added: It is people like my dad who are driving the NHS staff and carers to work. The changes that have been brought in should have happened much quicker. The lack of equipment and delays has cost lives. The announcement of Mr Kennedys death follows the confirmation of two more fatalities of bus drivers with coronavirus over the weekend. Camberwell-based Errol Gordon and Edward John, who worked in Putney, both drove for the GoAhead bus company. Loading.... Claire Mann, Transport for Londons director of bus operations, said she and colleagues were utterly devastated that Mervyn Kennedy has died as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. But she said the very latest scientific advice was that PPE was not required in non-care settings and could be counter-productive. She added: The safety of Londons bus drivers, who are all helping other critical workers tackle coronavirus, is our absolute priority. "We have already delivered enhanced cleaning of all buses, improved social distancing for drivers and have made their cabs better protected. She said they were protecting staff in welfare facilities with stricter procedures, and providing enhanced sick pay. Listen to The Leader: Coronavirus Daily podcast Meanwhile, tributes were paid to gifted, pure-hearted teacher Dr Louisa Rajakumari, who taught English at Kingsford Community school, who died in hospital on Friday. A memorial service will be held at the school in Newham when the gates reopen. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 10:20:41|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspects the local poverty alleviation work in Jinping Community of Laoxian Township, Pingli County of the city of Ankang, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 21, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan) XI'AN, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, on Tuesday stressed the importance of employment in followup measures to help people shake off poverty during an inspection tour in northwest China's Shaanxi Province. Xi made the remarks while visiting a community in Laoxian Town, Pingli County of the city of Ankang. The community is now home to 1,346 households that have been relocated from hilly, geological disaster-prone or poverty-stricken areas across the town. At the home of resident Wang Xianping, Xi sat and had a chat with Wang's family about their daily life. Relocated people can only live in peace and contentment when they have a stable life, which depends on employment, Xi said. He stressed down-to-earth efforts facilitating employment, warning against any practice of formalities for formalities' sake. Enditem . . This summer Hotstar Specials has teamed up with R.A.T. Films to launch HUNDRED a story that chronicles the many misadventures of two contrasting women, set in the backdrop of Mumbai, its chawls and crime gangs. A masala entertainer, HUNDRED marks the digital debut of Bollywoods Lara Dutta and Marathi cinemas Rinku Rajguru as they come together to form the most dysfunctional duo of 2020! A terminally ill girl looking for thrills is hired to be an undercover agent by an ambitious female cop looking for a promotion. As they both unite to accomplish their own goal in 100 days, chaos ensues. Based in the by-lanes of Mumbai, the show has been shot across real locations of the city adding a certain level of realism to the narrative. Directors Ruchi Narain, Ashutosh Shah and Taher Shabbir have maintained a crisp balance between action, drama and humor that make HUNDRED a fun family entertainer. The cast includes power house talent in prominent roles including Karan Wahi, Sudhanshu Pandey, Parmeet Sethi, Rohini Hattangidi, Arun Nalawde and Makarand Deshpande. The 8-episode series will launch on 25th April 2020 only on Disney+ Hotstar VIP. Actor Lara Dutta who portrays the character of ACP Saumya Shukla said, Hotstar Specials presents HUNDRED is a fun and entertaining story of a dysfunctional jodi and the chaos that ensues in their lives. The makers have carefully scripted the show to bring alive action and humor in a very entertaining way. One of the many reasons I chose to do the show is because I have never played a cop on screen and my character is trying hard to survive in a mans world. She has very interesting dynamics with the people in her life and the more complex a situation, the more she thrives. She is nothing like me in real life! Rinku Rajguru who marks her digital debut said, Its been a roller-coaster ride making my digital debut with Hotstar Specials presents HUNDRED a show that has equal measures of comedy and crime. I portray the character of Netra Patil - a bindaas Marathi mulgi who is trying to live her life to the fullest. What drew me towards the show is the way this character has been molded people will see a different side of her in each episode. Actor Karan Wahi added, Hotstar Specials presents HUNDRED is a fantastic story that perfectly combines chaos, crime and comedy; making it a fun watch. It will hopefully give people a hundred reasons to smile and uplift their mood in these unprecedented times - it's just what the doctor ordered! Director Ruchi Narain added, Hotstar Specials has created some groundbreaking content and we are super thrilled to team up with them for a show of this calibre! HUNDRED has all the elements of a family entertainer action, drama, comedy, thrill and more! Its a story where desperation leads two unlikely women one bindass and the other badass - to team up as they chase their own personal goals. Directors Ashutosh Shah and Taher Shabbir concluded, HUNDRED is fantastical crime and comedy fully based on whacky city of Bombay. Its a story of a bindaas girl who meets a badass cop who together embark on a twisty yet fun filled road. Its a full on family entertainer and what better platform for it to be on than Disney+ Hotstar VIP. Let the fun begin! Two persons were on Tuesday confirmed dead in an accident involving a Mazda bus and a motorcycle around the new Kara Market on the Lagos -Ibadan Expressway. The Public Relations Officer, Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE), Babatunde Akinbiyi, confirmed the development to journalists in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. Mr Akinbiyi said the accident which occurred around 9:30 a.m., was caused by reckless driving and wrongful overtaking on the part of the driver of the bus. Due to reckless driving, the bus marked AME-805 XA hit the moving Bajaj motorcycle marked SGM-149 V; after that, the bus lost control and rammed into a moving trailer from the rear. The trailer did not stop. The bus was transiting from Berger to Ibadan. Eighteen passengers consisting of 13 males and five females were on board the bus when the accident occurred. Unfortunately, six people were injured while two male adults, one from the bus and another from the motorcycle died in the accident, he said. The TRACE spokesman said the injured victims were taken to Victory Hospital, Ogere, Remo, while the deceased were deposited at the State Hospitals mortuary in Isara Remo. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates New Yorkers seeking a weekend respite have long gravitated toward historic Stonington Borough, which served as a summer destination for city dwellers during the steamship era (as did Watch Hill, R.I., to the east). The well-protected harbor, a haven for boating enthusiasts, is home to a yacht club and a commercial fishing fleet. In the heart of the borough, the narrow streets are lined with colorfully painted 18th- and 19th-century homes that hug the sidewalks. While there are no historic district protections in the borough, you would get a lot of pushback if you wanted to knock down a historic home and redo it, said James H. Michalove, president and founder of Seaboard Properties. (Other sections of town have not fared as well at protecting historic buildings from demolition.) During the high season, the shops and restaurants on and around Water Street normally attract day-trippers, many of whom come by boat. The street ends at the peninsulas point, where a small beach and parking area provide visitors with panoramic views. Howard Taylor, a yacht broker who has lived in town for about 25 years, said he has noticed more New York families moving to Stonington year-round, as professionals have become increasingly able to work from home. What were going through now is going to exaggerate that, he said. Courtesy photo There are 153 employees at Mercedes-Benz of Sugar Land. While it remains open as an essential business, owner Ken Enders understands that during stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on families and employees. With that in mind, Enders authorized bonuses of $1,000 each for all 153 employees. The bonuses were paid to employees from technicians to executive management. JUNCTION CITY, Ore.-- Gas prices around Oregon continue to fall with one Junction City gas station selling a gallon of gas for less than $2. The Mobil Gas station on W. 12th Avenue is selling a gallon of regular for $1.85 for cash payments and $1.93 for credit. According to AAA, the average price for a gallon of regular gas in Oregon is $2.47. The last time gas prices were this low was in 2005. Karen Crockett drives through Junction City every day on her way to work in Eugene and loves having low prices at the pump. "I commute to Eugene every day for work, so it makes it nice to save a little money, but Im sure its helping a lot of people who have been without work and everything," Crockett said. "Every little bit helps." These low gas prices are because of a variety of factors. One of these is the drop in demand because people are staying at home. Oil tanks across the country are becoming full, creating extra supply. Another factor is the uncertainty in demand. A barrel of oil dropped below $0 on Monday, the first time. This is because investors are worried about prices when it comes to May futures. However, gas prices will eventually hit a floor because of state and federal taxes. There are many people who couldn't return to their homes as the nationwide lockdown has been imposed in India. Actor Arjun Rampal is no different. He was shooting in Karjat when the lockdown was announced due to the outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in India. However, the actor is not losing his calm while being stuck in Karjat, as he is not away from his family. Arjun is accompanied by his partner Gabriella Demetriades and his son, Arik to Karjat. Speaking of staying back in Karjat, Arjun told Mid-day, "I thought it would be better to operate from here instead of travel at this point. I have a house here, so it worked out well." "We decided to stay back for my son's safety. While he is too young now, this will be a story to tell him when he grows older. Besides, Mumbai is just a few hours away, and hence, easily accessible in case of an emergency." For the uninitiated, Karjat has no COVID-19 positive case and that worked as a bonus for Rampal and his family. Arjun Rampal Wishes Girlfriend Gabriella Demtriades A Happy Birthday With A Cute Picture! In the same interview, Rampal also asserted that he is happy to be in nature's lap and the actor even joked about becoming a farmer. He further said, "Since there are no cases here, we are secure. We have an open space and [are enjoying] being amid nature instead of confined to an apartment." The Paltan actor asserted that he is keeping a constant tab on his daughter, Mahikaa and Myra, who are with his ex-wife, Mehr in Mumbai. "They are doing their work online, and I am constantly chatting with them," concluded Arjun. The mayor of Atlanta is urging residents to continue to stay at home amidst the coronavirus pandemic, flying in the face of the states governors plans to begin relaxing isolation measures. In an interview on MSNBC mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms encouraged people to use common sense and continue to stay at home amidst the coronavirus pandemic. Her recommendations go against Georgia's governor's plans to begin re-opening some of the state's businesses at the end of the week. She noted that while her powers as mayor do not supersede Kemps as governor, she intended to use the power of [her] voice to urge people to continue isolating themselves where possible. I am using my voice to encourage people: Follow the data, look at the science, listen to the health care professionals and use your common sense. This virus has not gone away." I am asking people to please stay home, the Atlanta mayor said. Governor Brian Kemps recently announced plans to allow some businesses to reopen as soon as Friday, 24 April. Businesses that will be granted permission to re-open, after being previously ordered to close to prevent the spread of coronavirus, include gyms, bowling alleys, barbers and salons. Theres nothing essential about going to a bowling alley during a pandemic, mayor Bottoms argued. Simply because we have hospital beds available, doesnt mean that we should work to fill them up, she added. Georgia governor announces easing of lockdown The businesses will be only be allowed to resume operations as long as they adhere to strict social distancing requirements. On Twitter, the governor said: Due to favourable data & more testing, gyms, fitness centres, bowling alleys, body art studios, barbers, cosmetologists, hair designers, nail care artists, aestheticians, their respective schools & massage therapists can reopen Friday, April 24 with Minimum Basic Operations. Georgia is the first state to announce the reopening of whole business sectors during the outbreak, which has claimed the lives of more than 820,000 Americans. The state currently has more than 20,000 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus causing the deaths of over 800 residents as of Wednesday. Reliance Industries (RIL) surged 5.74% to Rs 1307 after the company said US-based Facebook will invest Rs 43,574 crore in Jio Platforms for a 9.99% stake. RIL, Jio Platforms and Facebook Inc. on 22 April 2020 announced the signing of binding agreements for an investment of Rs 43,574 crore by Facebook into Jio Platforms. This investment by Facebook values Jio Platforms at Rs 4.62 lakh crore pre-money enterprise value. Facebook's investment will translate into a 9.99% equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis. Jio Platforms, a wholly-owned subsidiary of RIL, is a next-generation technology company building a digital society for Indiaby bringing together Jio's leading digital apps, digital ecosystems and India's #1 high speed connectivity platform under one umbrella. Reliance Jio Infocomm, which provides connectivity platform to over 388 million subscribers, will continue to be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jio Platforms. RIL said that Jio aims to enable a digital India for 1.3 billion Indians and Indian businesses, especially small merchants, micro-businesses and farmers. The partnership between Facebook and Jio will focus on India's 60 million micro, small and medium businesses, 120 million farmers, 30 million small merchants and millions of small and medium enterprises in the informal sector, in addition to empowering people seeking various digital services. Concurrent with the investment, Jio Platforms, Reliance Retail and WhatsApp have also entered into a commercial partnership agreement to further accelerate Reliance Retail's new commerce business on the JioMart platform using WhatsApp and to support small businesses on WhatsApp. Reliance Retail's new commerce platform, JioMart, is being built in partnership with millions of small merchants and kirana shops to empower themto better serve the needs of Indian consumers. The companies will work closely to ensure that consumers are able to access the nearest kiranas who can provide products and services to their homes by transacting seamlessly with JioMart using WhatsApp. The transaction is subject to regulatory and other customary approvals. Jio Platforms, a wholly-owned subsidiary of RIL, has built an all-IP data strong future proof network with latest 4G LTE technology (through its wholly owned subsidiary, Reliance Jio Infocomm). It is future ready and can be easily upgraded to support even more data, as technologies advance on to 5G, 6G and beyond. RIL is India's largest private sector company. RIL's activities span hydrocarbon exploration and production, petroleum refining and marketing, petrochemicals, retail and digital services. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Iranian women, members of a paramilitary organization, make masks and other protective items at a mosque in the capital, Tehran. (Atta Kenare / AFP/Getty Images) When it killed Iran's top military figure, Qassem Suleimani, in January, the Trump administration declared it was "reestablishing deterrence" of what it called Tehran's "malign behavior." But with Iran's launch of a military satellite late Tuesday and reported harassment of U.S. naval ships in the Persian Gulf, neither deterrence nor diplomacy appears to have had much long-term success in reining in the Islamic Republic. Now as both the U.S. and Iran struggle against the coronavirus pandemic, tensions are soaring again and could trigger new conflict. On Wednesday, President Trump declared he had ordered the navy to "destroy" Iranian vessels that confront the United States. "I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea," Trump tweeted. (Gunboats are boats and technically can't be shot down. Gunships, on the other hand, are armed helicopters that could be shot down.) Trump sent the tweet in the morning as newscasts were airing the first reports of Iran's claims to have launched a military satellite. Footage showed the sleek white cylinder emblazoned with the Iranian flag shooting into orbit and out of sight, and noted the launch was the work of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a military branch that the U.S. recently designated as a terrorist organization the first time that part of a sitting government was so labeled. Iran claimed the launch was successful and will more than double its firing range to 3,100 miles a major escalation, if true, of Tehran's potential to attack other countries with ballistic missiles. It also revealed a heretofore secret weapons development program under direction of the guard corps. "Today, we are looking at the Earth from the sky, and it is the beginning of the formation of a world power," the semiofficial Iranian news agency Fars quoted Revolutionary Guard chief Hossein Salami as saying. Story continues Last week, the Pentagon accused Iran of sending11 gunboats into international waters in the northern Persian Gulf that repeatedly approached several U.S. Navy vessels at high speed. The Navy said the forays were potentially dangerous and meant to harass. Trump was possibly responding to those incidents, although it was unclear. This is just another example of Iranian malign behavior, Air Force Gen. John Hyten, vice chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a briefing Wednesday with reporters at the Pentagon. The president issued an important warning to the Iranians, David Norquist, deputy secretary of Defense, said at the same news conference, calling Trump's tweet a "very useful thing." What he was emphasizing is: All of our ships retain the right of self-defense, Norquist said. It was unclear whether Trump's tweet would translate into any action on the high seas, or how quickly, and neither Hyten nor Norquist would shed light on that. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo said in a briefing that the Revolutionary Guard's missile launch "proves what we have been saying all along" about what he claims are Tehran's nefarious designs. He did not directly address a question about whether U.S. power of deterrence was slipping. "Every nation has an obligation to go to the United Nations and evaluate whether this missile launch was consistent" with Security Council resolutions that restrict Iranian weapons development, Pompeo said. "I don't think it remotely is." Since withdrawing from the landmark international Iran nuclear deal in 2018, the Trump administration has steadily turned up pressure on the Islamic Republic with sanctions, travel bans and other punishments intended to isolate the government politically and diplomatically while crippling its economy. Trump rejected the accord because he said it didn't go far enough in stopping Iranian support for militant groups throughout the Middle East, including some, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, which the U.S. considers to be terrorist groups. The sanctions, Iranian mismanagement and corruption and the plunge in oil prices have helped to destroy the country's economy, and the abysmal response by Tehran to the coronavirus outbreak has further eroded leaders' credibility. Iran may now welcome a distraction from domestic woes by provoking the United States. Trump at the same time is facing public disapproval of his uneven handling of the pandemic. Trump said in January that he ordered the killing of Suleimani after Iranian-backed Shiite militias in Iraq fired rockets at an Iraqi base where American troops were stationed, killing one U.S. contractor. Initially he and others cited an "imminent attack" but later backed away from that motivation. "President Trump and those of us in his national security team are reestablishing deterrence real deterrence against the Islamic Republic," Pompeo said at the time. The attacks in Iraq, however, have not let up. Two more American soldiers and a British service member were killed last month in one such barrage of rocket fire. "U.S. options are limited," said Daniel Byman, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution's Center for Middle East Policy in Washington. "Iran has done such harassment in the past, and the U.S. Navy has a set of procedures to handle it so making a big issue of it may be a surprise to Tehran.... The United States could sink some ships or take a similar military response, but this would achieve little." After the Suleimani killing, when many predicted Iranian retaliation might be fierce, the two countries instead quietly exchanged messages through third parties. While those back-channel communications appeared to stave off major escalation Iran responded by firing more rockets at Americans at an Iraqi base, injuring many but killing no one the indirect contacts did not lead to more substantive talks and appear to have fallen apart. Separately, while Trump disparaged and dismissed the nuclear deal, Iran with European support initially attempted to stay within its requirements. After Suleimani's killing, however, Iran said it would no longer abide by caps on uranium enrichment and stockpiling. Ariane Tabatabai, an expert on Iran and security at Georgetown University's foreign service school, said tensions between Washington and Tehran, far from easing, have been brewing. The pandemic, she said, will only make things worse. "COVID-19 hasn't slowed down the tensions between the two sides, it's exacerbated them," she said Wednesday on Twitter. "Neither side has showed a willingness to back down from its policy. The Trump [administration] introduced new sanctions even as Iran was grappling with the outbreak. Iran has resumed provoking actions." Jamal Abdi, president of the National Iranian American Council, an advocacy group that opposes war with Iran, said Trump was spoiling for a fight to further his troubled reelection campaign. "There is no worse time for a disastrous war than in the middle of a pandemic," Abdi said in a statement in response to Trump's tweet. "It is self-evident that the maximum pressure strategy against Iran has backfired." Updates: 3:12 PM, Apr. 22, 2020: What will it take to reopen the U.S. economy and civil society? One obstacle that may stand in the way is the fear of lawsuits. State legislatures and Congress should act now to limit the threat of lawsuits so as to encourage economically and socially necessary activities that are bound to carry some risks. Doing so is a legitimate exercise of the power to make laws that allocate liability and decide what kinds of commerce, schooling, and public gatherings can proceed without government interference. Defensive Lawyering The chief reason to act in advance to head off civil lawsuits is to avoid the danger that businesses, schools, and other institutions will be excessively cautious and risk-averse in reopening when it is in societys interests for them to do so. Right now, many institutions are shut down by direct order of the government; others closed voluntarily before government orders were issued, or have closed without being required to do so. Eventually, government restrictions will relax, and that will leave business leaders, school administrators, church leaders, sports-team owners, and others with decisions about when it is safe to open up again. Most of them, however, will be told by the government what they can do, not what they should do. In making that decision, they are almost certainly going to talk to their lawyers and worry about legal risk. They will be told that they have some defenses, particularly if they can claim they were relying on the guidance of government leaders and public-health experts. Public schools may have additional defenses based on their status as government entities. Cruise ships are protected by federal laws limiting certain liabilities for deaths on the high seas. Still, uncertainty will linger. Small businesses such as barber shops and nail salons are less likely to have lawyers handy for consultation. Consider the colleges. Cal State Fullerton has announced that it plans to go to online-only classes for the Fall 2020 semester. Harvard is still publicly mulling the same step. When Harvard sneezes, the university system catches a cold; it was Harvards closure that triggered the domino effect that closed most of Massachusettss colleges and universities within days. If youre a lawyer for a California or Massachusetts college, do you want to be defending a lawsuit over reopening the colleges campus when there are other schools in your area saying they dont think it is safe to reopen? Decisions should be based on the circumstances: A small, isolated, rural campus such as Williams College, in western Massachusetts, presents a very different calculus than an urban campus such as Boston-based Northeastern, which is heavily integrated into the surrounding business community. But in a lawsuit, plaintiffs lawyers would argue that the standard of care is set by peer institutions. Story continues What about factories? The outbreaks at Smithfield meat-packing plants led to charges that the company had not provided adequately for employee safety from the virus, and the plants have lately been shutting down despite being classified as essential food-producing businesses under state laws. For factories, plants, or shipping hubs, it is not unreasonable for the state to require some enhanced safety procedures during a pandemic. But social distancing will be impossible for a lot of factories without huge, expensive renovations or massive reductions in the workforce on duty. The Lawsuits Have Already Started The plaintiffs bar is already circling workplaces and schools; two class-action firms have announced that they are forming a 30-lawyer Coronavirus Litigation Task Force. Some suits have focused narrowly on businesses and schools that closed without providing refunds to customers. Drexel and the University of Miami have been sued for providing allegedly inadequate remote instruction. Uber and Lfyt have been sued in California by workers claiming entitlement to sick pay. Producers of protective gear have faced lawsuits for alleged product defects. Target has been sued by people claiming that hand sanitizer does not kill the virus. Some of these types of suits may be justified, while others are frivolous. None of them deters the reopening of the economy. Others, however, do. Cruise ships have faced suits for failing to adequately disclose whether previous passengers got sick, or for claims that they contributed to outbreaks by sailing. Nurses have sued hospitals for not providing adequate gear. A wrongful-death suit brought against Walmart by the family of an overnight stock and warehouse employee alleges that the company failed to clean and sterilize the store [where the employee worked] properly, failed to promote and enforce social distancing guidelines, failed to provide personal protective equipment (PPE), and failed to address the health concerns of employees with COVID-19 symptoms and warn other workers. Safe Harbors There is precedent for a legislative response to this problem. The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act protects vaccine manufacturers from liability in order to encourage vaccine research, while providing a compensation system for people injured by vaccines. Gun manufacturers are protected from liability for shootings, on the basis of a legislative judgment that the blame for misuse of guns lies with the shooter. A variety of other laws offer safe harbors to protect businesses that comply with certain requirements or receive federal regulatory approvals. Some would object that this is government interference, but any lawsuit is government action; the only question is whether the rule of law being applied is made by a legislature or by a court. A more serious structural concern is federalism. A congressional response would be best limited to interstate operations or businesses of national scale. Most lawsuits would be filed under state laws in state courts, so the first line of defense for most of the economy should be state legislatures. Lawsuit protection need not completely abolish lawsuits or legal safeguards. There are five ways to provide protection and guidance for decisions to reopen. The strongest protection would be an absolute bar of the sort given to vaccine makers, possibly coupled (as in that case) with a public fund for compensating those who get sick as a result. The second approach would be a rule-based safe harbor protecting any institution that follows a specific, measurable list of safety precautions from being sued. The third approach would create a permission-based safe harbor that protects any workplace that gets a green light to reopen from government authorities, perhaps after an inspection. The fourth, narrowest approach would be the creation of rules limiting the evidence that could be used against defendants (e.g. preventing the use of evidence that a neighboring school made a different choice). The fifth approach would be to eliminate certain categories of damages (e.g. barring people from suing over fear of infection or infections that did not lead to serious illness). Whatever path is taken, the key will be making the protection afforded clear enough that it can be planned around, and ensuring that it does not require extensive litigation before it kicks in. There is no one, perfect answer; any approach to limiting lawsuits will involve a balance of interests. More lawsuit protection means more and faster reopenings, but also reduces incentives for workplaces to protect workers and customers from infection. Given the enormous economic and social importance of getting America back to work, however, the rules for filing such lawsuits should not be left to the courts to work out after the fact, with businesses stuck guessing what will happen and possibly overcompensating by staying closed. Lawmakers should lead the way. More from National Review Iran's Judiciary Dismisses UN Experts' Demand To Furlough Political Prisoners Radio Farda April 21, 2020 The Islamic Republic's Judiciary spokesman has dismissed as "politically motivated" a United Nations human rights report that all political prisoners must be granted furloughs during the coronavirus outbreak. Iran's performance in dealing with the issue compared with that of the West has been "exemplary", Gholam Hossein Esmaili told reporters on Tuesday, April 21. Giving the local Judiciary a 20 grade out of 20, Esmaili said, "Those marked zero, are not in a position to question the who got a 20." Iran's move to ensure the safety and health of prisoners and granting them leave was "exemplary among all systems of government", Esmaili reiterated. Announcing that "more than a thousand foreign nationals" behind bars in Iran had gone on leave in recent days, Esmaili once again noted that the Islamic Republic Judiciary "does not recognize dual citizenship". There are several Iranians sentenced to prison who hold Western citizenship but Iran says if someone had Iranian citizenship, he is judged as an Iranian. Earlier, the UN human rights experts had called for the immediate release of all foreigners and dual nationals imprisoned in Iran. Furthermore, amid the deadly novel coronavirus outbreak, United Nations human rights experts had also called for the immediate release of thousands of political activists. In a report released on Friday, April 20, the experts asserted that while Iran's Ministry of Health has officially stated that one person falls victim to COVID-19 every ten minutes in Iran, the Islamic Republic still holds many people in prisons. The experts, including the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Situation in Iran, Javaid Rehman, and the UN Special Rapporteur on Arbitrary and Unjust Executions, Agnes Callamard, asserted that the Islamic Republic should expand its temporary release of detainees to include prisoners of conscience, dual and foreign nationals who are still behind bars despite the serious risk of being infected with COVID-19. According to UN experts, Iran's prisons have long been plagued by health problems. Earlier, the head of the Judiciary, mid-ranking cleric, Ebrahim Raeesi, had ordered a temporary release of 100,000 inmates, including some prisoners of conscience. Nonetheless, many political prisoners, as well as foreigners are still behind bars across Iran. Source: https://en.radiofarda.com/a/iran-s-judiciary- dismisses-un-experts-demand-to-furlough- political-prisoners/30568736.html Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address LUXEMBOURG and TEL AVIV, Israel, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sweetwood Ventures, the venture capital arm of Sweetwood Capital, announced the final closing of its first venture capital Fund of Funds, with commitments of $70 million, which took place earlier this year. The fund provides investors with access to the most promising Israeli technology startups, through a combination of primary and secondary investments in top-tier Israel-focused venture capital funds and direct co-investments into promising technology startups. The Luxembourg incorporated fund is backed by several institutional, family office and high-net-worth investors, located predominantly in Europe, including a top-tier private Belgian bank and leading family offices in Belgium and Luxembourg. "Many of our European investors recognize the potential for building world-class technology companies out of Israel and we are proud to be recognized as one of the leading access points to the Israeli venture capital ecosystem," said Manuel Sussholz, Managing Partner of Sweetwood Ventures. Amit Kurz, Partner at Sweetwood Ventures added that "We have been investing out of our inaugural fund over the past 18 months and have completed commitments to five new VC funds, one secondary position and a direct co-investment. We are looking forward to continue the growth of our portfolio in the coming years." According to IVC, Israel's leading tech research company, in 2019 Israeli startups raised a remarkable amount of $8.2 billion, while 'exits' by Israeli startup companies accounted for $21.7 billion. During Q12020 Israeli startups raised a record $2.7 billion, despite the slowdown which occurred in March. "Our fund commits capital to and alongside best-in-class Israeli VC managers over a 3-year investment period. The underlying funds themselves generally invest over an initial 3-year period. This multi-cycle investment approach will allow us to benefit from the likely wave of lower valuations due to the COVID-19 crisis and from attractive opportunities arising in the secondary markets," said Samuel Cohen Solal, Managing Partner of Sweetwood Ventures. About Sweetwood Ventures Sweetwood Ventures is a Luxembourg-incorporated, $70 million Fund of Funds, focused on Israel Venture Capital. Sweetwood Ventures acts as the venture capital arm of Sweetwood Capital, an Israel-based financial firm founded in 2011. Sweetwood Ventures is managed by three partners: Manuel Sussholz, Samuel Cohen Solal and Amit Kurz. Media Contact: Ortal Eliav +972 50 885 42 55 [email protected] Related Links: https://www.sweetwoodcapital.com SOURCE Sweetwood Ventures Related Links https://www.sweetwoodcapital.com On May 11, 1838, the Vicksburg Register in Mississippi carried an ad for a miracle drug to fight a disease that was ravaging the country. The potion worked safely without purging the bowels or upsetting the stomach. And it would break a fever within 48 hours. The ad didn't say that the tonic contained a medicine that had been around for centuries, that it came from what the Peruvians called the "arbol de calenturas," the fever tree, nor that it had been used to save King Charles II of England. It was simply "Sappington's Anti-Fever" pill, for the Maryland-born John S. Sappington, a physician who marketed its use for the symptoms of malaria. Once known as the "Jesuits' Powder" and "the English remedy," after its early promoters, the drug's key ingredient was quinine. Now President Donald Trump is promoting a synthetic form of quinine - hydroxychloroquine - as a treatment for covid-19. The drug still is used to combat malaria, and has been found to work on other ailments. But there's scant evidence that it can fight covid-19, and a new report suggests it might be linked to higher death rates for some hospitalized patients. Quinine, too, was thought to cure many things: typhoid fever, yellow fever, measles, gout, toothaches and sore feet. It was also used by Nazi doctors in human malaria experiments in the Dachau concentration camp during World War II. German scientist Claus Schilling, an expert in tropical diseases, infected hundreds of patients with malaria by exposing them to parasite-carrying mosquitoes. He then treated them with quinine and other drugs to see how they reacted. "Thirty or forty died from the malaria itself," Franz Blaha, a Czech doctor who was an inmate at Dachau, testified after the war. "Three hundred to four hundred died later . . . because of the physical condition resulting from the malaria attacks. In addition there were deaths resulting from poisoning due to overdoses." Schilling was hanged as a war criminal in 1946. Quinine, or the lack of it, has played a critical role in warfare for generations as doctors tried to fight off the impact of malaria, which could decimate an army with fevers and chills. (The term, "malaria," literally, "bad air," goes back to the Italian physician Francesco Torti who first used it in 1711, according to Maria Louise Duran-Reynals' 1946 book, "The Fever Bark Tree.") During World War II, an American hospital official wrote during the battle for the Philippines, "If we do not secure a sufficient supply of quinine . . . all other supplies we may get, with the exception of rations, will be of little or no value," said historian Karen Masterson. "The early battles in the Pacific boiled down to which side had the means to replace fever-stricken troops," she wrote in her 2014 book, "The Malaria Project." Lieut. Gen. Robert Eichelberger recalled: "Disease was . . . more deadly peril to us than enemy marksmanship. We had to whip the Japanese before the malarial mosquito whipped us." At that time, malaria was mostly treated with the quinine-like synthetic, Atabrine, a medicine designed by German chemists in the early 1930s. But Atabrine, like quinine, had side effects, including gastritis, hallucinations, and psychosis, Masterson wrote. Plus, it turned the skin of GIs and Marines yellow. "The most hair-raising [side effects] were rashes that . . . progressed grotesquely, with skin falling off in sheets, creating open sores that attracted flies," Masterson wrote. Other side effects included "erratic mood swings, violent anger, and deep depression . . . [along with] the standard diarrhea, vomiting, and cramps." Then came the rumor that the drug caused impotence. During the fight for the Pacific island of Guadalcanal, Marines rejected Atabrine. Their officers had to watch them take the pills and make sure the pills were swallowed. But the Marines would later spit them out. Thousands got sick. "For every battle casualty, ten men lay sick with malaria," Masterson wrote. The Defense Department ordered everyone to take the pills or risk court-martial. (Atabrine was succeeded by less toxic chloroquine in 1943, and then hydroxychloroquine in 1955, according to the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine.) In days of old - when the sick were bled, purged, blistered and poisoned by their doctors - people were not so resistant to an effective substance that would stave off malaria. Other bizarre remedies hadn't worked, Duran-Reynals, the quinine historian, reported. One ancient cure went: "Take the urine of the patient and mix it with some flour to make . . . seventy-seven small cakes . . . Proceed before sunrise to an anthill and throw the cakes therein. As soon as the insects have devoured the cakes the fever vanishes." Another approach was to cut the ear of a cat, "let three drops of the blood fall in some brandy, [add] a little pepper . . . and gave it to the patient to drink." Thus, when quinine was finally accepted, it was hailed as a miracle. What came to be called quinine had been found in remote sections of what was then Peru, in the bark of a leafy evergreen tree. The first mention of it came from an Augustinian monk and anthropologist, Antonio de la Calancha, in 1639, according to Duran-Reynals. "A tree grows which they call 'the fever tree' . . . whose bark, of the color of cinnamon, made into powder . . . and given as a beverage, cures the fevers . . . it has produced miraculous results," he reported. "Thus . . . did Father Calancha announce to the world that a cure had been found for the most widespread disease of the time," Duran-Reynals wrote. Over the next few centuries, the wondrous essence of cinchona bark was caught up in the religious, political and scientific turmoil of the times. (The tree was named for the Countess of Chinchon, wife of the Viceroy of Peru, who was erroneously said to have been cured by the bark.) It was praised by those it helped, and condemned by the blood-letters and stomach-purgers of the medical establishment. Protestants saw it as Catholic medicine. To the French it was an English cure. But those who figured out how to use it knew they were on to something. In the 1670s, despite the hidebound medical establishment, a young English pharmacist, Robert Talbor, became an expert in treating fevers. He had moved to the southeast coast of England, where fevers were "epidemical." And by trial and error, he came up with a secret formula - "my particular . . . medicine," he called it. He would reveal only that it was "a preparation of four vegetables," and he warned people about using the "Jesuits' Powder." In unskilled hands, "I have seen most dangerous effects," he wrote. Yet it was the key ingredient in his remedy, and in his hands it worked. One patient was a high-ranking French army officer, who remembered the medicine many years later. "It was a powder steeped in a large glass of white wine, the whole of which [Talbor] ordered me to drink three times in 24 hours," the unnamed officer wrote, according to a 1961 account by medical historians Rudolph E. Siegel and F.N.L. Poynter. The officer got better, and took Talbor to see the English King Charles II, then visiting the port city of Sheerness. The king was impressed, made Talbor a knight, and was later cured of a fever by Talbor's mysterious remedy. It was only after Talbor's death in 1681 that his secret was revealed. "It was very surprising to find that it was nothing but [quinine] well disguised," the French officer recalled. A century and a half later, malaria - or ague, as it was called - was rampant in the U.S., especially on the frontier. In 1819, in Arrow Rock, Missouri, a village overlooking a bend in the Missouri River, Maryland's Sappington set up a practice in a region called the Booneslick. Experimenting with quinine from imported cinchona tree bark, he came up with is famous "fever pill" in 1832, according to the Missouri State Historical Society. Sappington thought it acted by "correcting the bile, giving tone and energy to the stomach and bowels." (It actually attacked the mosquito-borne parasites that cause malaria.) At any rate, it worked. Demand skyrocketed. He became wealthy. And like Talbor, he kept is formula secret. In 1844, he wrote a book in which he finally revealed the ingredients: licorice, myrrh, sassafras oil, and quinine. He admitted: "The whole virtue of the pills consisted in the quinine alone." The Lagos State Police Command has arrested the General Overseer of Resurrection Praise Ministries for Africa alias Jehovah Sharp Sharp, Archbishop Samson Benjamin, for defying the lockdown order to protest at the Chinese Embassy in Lagos. Benjamin, the police alleged, led about 100 persons to the Chinese Embassy in Victoria Island to protest the maltreatment of Nigerians in China. According to the cleric, the Chinese were operating freely in Nigeria despite that COVID-19 started in their country but have chosen to maltreat Nigerians and other blacks in China. It was gathered that officials of the embassy sent a video clip of the alleged invasion to the police which prompted operatives from Victoria Island Division to move to the scene to effect the arrest. A police source who spoke on anonymity said the cleric was being detained at the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, (SCIID), Yaba and may be arraigned in court on Wednesday. In the video, the bishop denied going to the embassy with 100 persons, insisting that he was there by himself to register his displeasure over the ill-treatment of Nigerians in China. Watch The Video Here: Health board launches TV ad to encourage workers to return to NHS to aid coronavirus fight This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Apr 22nd, 2020 Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has created a TV advert to encourage workers to return to the NHS and aid the fight against the coronavirus. The north Wales health board is behind the recruitment commercial, which has started appearing on Sky channels this week. Officials said they have already received a large number of offers of help but registered nurses, doctors and therapists are urgently needed. Workers are particularly required at the three temporary hospitals being set up in North Wales as part of the COVID-19 response in Deeside, Llandudno and Bangor. The health boards website states: The virus has the potential to put huge additional demand on our NHS and our fellow citizens. Your support will make more of a difference than ever before, not just to patients, but to colleagues and the wider community. We have a range of full time, temporary, flexible and bank worker roles available with immediate starts. To further increase our bed capacity Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board are opening three temporary hospitals across the region. Roles are needed within these temporary hospitals and at the 3 acute hospitals of Ysbyty Gwynedd, Ysbyty Glan Clwyd and Wrexham Maelor, also within community services. More information can be found on the health boards website by clicking here. You can view the full 30 second advert below. Getty Images Donald Trump said he instructed the Navy to shoot down and destroy" Iranian gunboats if they harass US ships at sea following a tense encounter between US warships and Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in the Persian Gulf. In a tweet posted on Wednesday morning, the president wrote: "I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea." The apparent orders follow reports last week that Iranian fast boats were coming into close proximity with the US warships while conducting a drill near Kuwait. The Navy later released video of the incident, which showed the Iranian boats nearing US vessels, with at least one pointing a deck-mounted machine gun towards the American boats. Irans Revolutionary Guard seemed to blame the US, saying the close encounter was caused by the unprofessional and provocative actions of the United States and their indifference to warnings. I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 22, 2020 The Revolutionary Guard has not released any evidence that supports such a claim. Tensions have continued mounting between Washington and Tehran in recent weeks, with the Revolutionary Guard also alleging US vessels blocked Iranian warships earlier in the month. Still, the Navy said in a statement to the Associated Press that US forces continue to remain vigilant in regards to their interactions with other ships and are trained to act in a professional manner during such incidents. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif meanwhile attacked Mr Trump in a tweet during the weekend, writing: All you need to do is stop interfering in the affairs of other nations; mine especially. He added: And believe me, we do not take advice from ANY American politician. This is a breaking news story. More follows live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on April 22 refused to stay the execution of the resolution plan submitted by NBCC to take over embattled firm Jaypee Infratech and complete 20,000 stuck housing units. It also allowed the interim resolution professional to proceed with constituting the interim monitoring committee for execution of the plan. IRP Anuj Jain has been directed to constitute an interim monitoring committee, comprising representatives of the NBCC and its three main lenders - IDBI Bank, IIFCL and LIC. "Meanwhile, till further orders, the approved resolution plan may be implemented subject to outcome of this appealThe IRP may constitute an interim monitoring committee comprising the successful resolution applicant, i.e., the appellant and the three major institutional financial creditors, who were Members of the 'committee of creditors," NCLATs direction came over an urgent petition moved by the NBCC. The appellate tribunal issued notices to ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank and others, directing them to file reply in two weeks and listed the matter for next hearing on May 15 . A five-member interim monitoring committee has been constituted to oversee the implementation of the resolution plan and ensure that the transition plan gets underway. 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 Sources said that while no construction can begin immediately due to the COVID-19 situation, there will now at least be an interim arrangement in place to start the ball rolling. The process of transition can now begin. There will finally be some movement going forward. The interim monitoring committee may now decide to draw up a strategy for seeking approvals required under the resolution plan from various authorities, it may decide to renegotiate certain contracts and even revisit some of the timelines, legal experts said. The NCLAT order said that the implementation of the Successful Resolution Plan would involve participation of the Successful Resolution Applicant, i.e. NBCC (India) Ltd. as also the three major Institutional Financial Creditors, who are Members of the Committee of Creditors i.e., IDBI Bank Ltd., IIFCL and LIC, the order said. Meanwhile, till further orders, the approved Resolution Plan may be implemented subject to outcome of this Appeal. The Interim Resolution Professional may constitute Interim Monitoring Committee comprising of the Successful Resolution Applicant, i.e., the Appellant and the three major Institutional Financial Creditors, who were Members of the Committee of Creditors as named above, it said. As per the Resolution Plan submitted by NBCC in December 2019: "On and from the approval date, the Company (Jaypee Infratech) will be managed and controlled by the Monitoring Agency/any other person appointed by the NBCC in consultation with the Steering Committee comprising of representatives of three Institutional Financial Creditors having the largest voting share in the admitted financial debt, on the basis of a letter of appointment/agreement. On March 3, NCLT had approved NBCC's bid to acquire JIL through an insolvency process. NCLT had also ordered that the Rs 750 crore deposited by Jaypee Infratech's parent firm Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL) with the registry of the Supreme Court would be part of the resolution plan. The same month, NBCC had moved the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) seeking reliefs on certain conditions related to farmers' compensation for land acquisition in Noida and Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh. It had also sought relief on payments to be made to some dissenting financial creditors like ICICI Bank. In its resolution plan, NBCC had proposed to complete over 20,000 pending flats in the next three-and-a-half years. NBCC had offered 1,526 acres of land to lenders under a land-debt swap deal. Apart from this, the state-owned firm has proposed to transfer the road asset to lenders. More than 10,000 homebuyers and major lenders of Jaypee Infratech, including IDBI Bank and State Bank of India, had voted in favour of the resolution plan submitted by the government's construction arm NBCC to acquire the embattled real estate firm. NBCC has proposed to complete over 20,000 pending flats in the next three-and-a-half years. In its bid in December, NBCC had offered 1,526 acres of land to lenders under a land-debt swap deal. On Yamuna Expressway, NBCC has proposed to transfer the road asset to lenders but before that it would take a loan of around Rs 2,500 crore against toll revenue to fund construction spend. The December round of voting was the third round of bidding process to find a buyer for Jaypee Infratech, which went into Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) in August 2017. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Wening Gitomartoyo (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, April 22, 2020 16:32 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd393c59 1 People Jane-Goodall,National-Geographic,documentary,Earth-Day,environment,conservation,activist,primates,Jane-Goodall-The-Hope Free On Wednesday, international television network National Geographic is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Earth Day by presenting a range of documentaries on the environment. One notable film is Before the Flood (2016), produced and presented by Leonardo DiCaprio, which features the actor-cum-activist meeting scientists, activists and world leaders to discuss the grave effects of climate change. Another special show is a new documentary Jane Goodall: The Hope, a 90-minute exploration of one of the worlds most renowned activists. Briton Jane Goodall has long been known as a primatologist who has championed environmental conservation for decades. Since going to the Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania in 1960 to study chimpanzees in their natural habitat, she has been regarded as a pioneer in primate science for attaching emotions and personality to great apes. Jane Goodall in the 1965 film 'Miss Goodall and the Wild Chimpanzees', National Geographic Societys first documentary. (Courtesy of /CBS via Getty) National Geographic reports that Goodall has a Ph.D. from Cambridge University, she has authored dozens of books, mentored new generations of scientists, promoted conservation in the developing world and established several sanctuaries for chimps. She has also worked with young people all over the world through Roots & Shoots, a youth-empowering initiative founded in Tanzania in 1991. Jane Goodall: The Hope offers eye-opening glimpses of the beloved activists life. With her dry humor and upfront demeanor, still very much intact in the 86-year-old, Goodall has persevered through decades of changes. At a time when most activists prefer to hold protests, at Jane's behest the oil company Conoco built the Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Centre in Congo. Goodall talks with world leaders, representatives of youth and communities for the sake of all species on the planet, including humans. For a conservation project in Tanzanias Kigalye Village, she worked with local communities, science and technology partners to create sustainable land-use plans to great success. The message of the documentary is loud and clear: do not let hope die. In a recent conference call with several Southeast Asian journalists ahead of the broadcast, including The Jakarta Post, Goodall shared her reasoning. Read also: Humans to blame for spread of coronavirus and other 'zoonosis' How do you view this pandemic? Goodall: The sad thing about this pandemic is that we have brought it on ourselves. It has been predicted for years and years. Weve had our epidemics, it all started from viruses crossing species, from an animal to us, and we havent learned from it. And the reason is were destroying their habitat. Some of them are coming into conflict and getting into contact with people because theyre moving out and were hunting them, eating their meat, trafficking them, selling them around the world as pets or to wet markets. So, its our fault that were getting this. We havent learned from previous epidemics and we go on disrespecting the environment and animals. What are your views on some people viewing the pandemic as the extinction of our species? Well, we are facing the sixth great extinction of life on the planet, and if we carry on with business as usual, if we carry on with this materialistic, greedy, money- and power-worshiping [attitude], then there is not much hope for us. However, what we can learn from this pandemic is many people have woken up. I heard again and again that its a wake-up call. Perhaps itll help us realize that we could do what weve been begging for, for years and years: respect the natural world, dont put economic development ahead of protection of the environment, think about future generations and make ethical decisions in our choices. If we all get together and start making little changes in the way we think about things, we can turn it around. Unfortunately, we have many political leaders around the world and I fear as soon as this pandemic is over, they will want to get back to business as usual as quickly as possible and the pollution will come back, the destruction of the natural world will come back. If we go on destroying the natural world without realizing that we are actually a part of it, that our lives depend on itthe food, clean water, clean airand we go on damaging it, it will come to extinction in the end. So, we must change. Thats the hope, that people are beginning to wake up everywhere. What would you say to people that might be feeling hopeless amid all of this? One of my hopes is the power of youth. Its growing all the time, in China, Tanzania, North America, Southern America, Europe and the Middle East. They are growing up with different values, and some of them are already in leadership positions. Im sure they all retain those values and with amazing intellect they can start using it to put more effort into renewable energy and other ways that can go in harmony with the planet. Then we can find ways of doing better. Another thing is the resilience of nature. We see how quickly the air has cleared and the pollution has gone away because theyre closing down industry due to the pandemic. And I think all around the world, given time and some help places that were totally destroyed are being restored and can support wildlife and nature again. And finally, the indomitable human spirit. In the face of the impossible, we wont give up. There is hope and weve got to do something about it. We cant leave it to our political leaders. What do you hope to emerge when the pandemic is over? I hope weve learned a lesson and that we start treating nature more respectfully and stop eating animals, stop treating them as medicine and start treating them as intelligent, emotional creatures who feel pain and fear and distress and despair, just like us. We need to start treating animals differently. And I hope that this pandemic, which more and more people realize has come from contact with animals, will urge people to respect them more and realize that were not alone in having these emotions. They feel just like we do. Jane Goodall: The Hope will have its world premiere on National Geographic (MNC Vision: CH 202 SD, CH 450 HD, First Media: CH 110 SD, CH 361 HD, Trans Vision: CH 250 HD, Indihome: CH 201 SD, CH 920 HD) on April 22 at 8 p.m. An unplanned grand experiment is changing Earth. As people across the globe stay home to stop the spread of the new coronavirus, the air has cleaned up, albeit temporarily. Smog stopped choking New Delhi, one of the most polluted cities in the world, and Indias getting views of sights not visible in decades. Nitrogen dioxide pollution in the northeastern United States is down 30%. Rome air pollution levels from mid-March to mid-April were down 49% from a year ago. Stars seem more visible at night. People are also noticing animals in places and at times they don't usually. Coyotes have meandered along downtown Chicagos Michigan Avenue and near San Franciscos Golden Gate Bridge. A puma roamed the streets of Santiago, Chile. Goats took over a town in Wales. In India, already daring wildlife has become bolder with hungry monkeys entering homes and opening refrigerators to look for food. Now Playing: As people around the world stay home to stop the spread of the coronavirus, air pollution is down and urban wildlife sightings are up. Scientists say it's an opportunity to study man's impact on the environment. (April 22) Video: Associated Press When people stay home, Earth becomes cleaner and wilder. It is giving us this quite extraordinary insight into just how much of a mess we humans are making of our beautiful planet, says conservation scientist Stuart Pimm of Duke University. This is giving us an opportunity to magically see how much better it can be. HOUSTON'S RECOVERY CZARS: Meet the two men who will help Houston recover from COVID-19 Chris Field, director of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, assembled scientists to assess the ecological changes happening with so much of humanity housebound. Scientists, stuck at home like the rest of us, say they are eager to explore unexpected changes in weeds, insects, weather patterns, noise and light pollution. Italy's government is working on an ocean expedition to explore sea changes from the lack of people. In many ways we kind of whacked the Earth system with a sledgehammer and now we see what Earths response is, Field says. Researchers are tracking dramatic drops in traditional air pollutants, such as nitrogen dioxide, smog and tiny particles. These types of pollution kill up to 7 million people a year worldwide, according to Health Effects Institute president Dan Greenbaum. The air from Boston to Washington is its cleanest since a NASA satellite started measuring nitrogen dioxide,in 2005, says NASA atmospheric scientist Barry Lefer. Largely caused by burning of fossil fuels, this pollution is short-lived, so the air gets cleaner quickly. Compared to the previous five years, March air pollution is down 46% in Paris, 35% in Bengaluru, India, 38% in Sydney, 29% in Los Angeles, 26% in Rio de Janeiro and 9% in Durban, South Africa, NASA measurements show. Were getting a glimpse of what might happen if we start switching to non-polluting cars, Lefer says. Cleaner air has been most noticeable in India and China. On April 3, residents of Jalandhar, a city in north Indias Punjab, woke up to a view not seen for decades: snow-capped Himalayan peaks more than 100 miles away. Cleaner air means stronger lungs for asthmatics, especially children, says Dr. Mary Prunicki, director of air pollution and health research at the Stanford University School of Medicine. And she notes early studies also link coronavirus severity to people with bad lungs and those in more polluted areas, though its too early to tell which factor is stronger. What Can Be Saved Series To save Everglades, guardians fight time -- and climate The greenhouse gases that trap heat and cause climate change stay in the atmosphere for 100 years or more, so the pandemic shutdown is unlikely to affect global warming, says Breakthrough Institute climate scientist Zeke Hausfather. Carbon dioxide levels are still rising, but not as fast as last year. Aerosol pollution, which doesnt stay airborne long, is also dropping. But aerosols cool the planet so NASA climate scientist Gavin Schmidt is investigating whether their falling levels may be warming local temperatures for now. Stanfords Field says hes most intrigued by increased urban sightings of coyotes, pumas and other wildlife that are becoming video social media staples. Boar-like javelinas congregated outside of a Arizona shopping center. Even New York City birds seem hungrier and bolder. In Adelaide, Australia, police shared a video of a kangaroo hoping around a mostly empty downtown, and a pack of jackals occupied an urban park in Tel Aviv, Israel. Were not being invaded. The wildlife has always been there, but many animals are shy, Dukes Pimm says. They come out when humans stay home. For sea turtles across the globe, humans have made it difficult to nest on sandy beaches. The turtles need to be undisturbed and emerging hatchlings get confused by beachfront lights, says David Godfrey, executive director of the Sea Turtle Conservancy. But with lights and people away, this years sea turtle nesting so far seems much better from India to Costa Rica to Florida, Godfrey says. Theres some silver lining for wildlife in what otherwise is a fairly catastrophic time for humans, he says. ___ Associated Press writer Aniruddha Ghosal in New Delhi contributed to this report. ___ Follow Seth Borenstein on Twitter at @borenbears . ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a telephonic conversation on April 22 with his Irish counterpart Leo Varadkar to discuss the challenges of coronavirus pandemic. Taking to Twitter, Prime Minister Modi said that both countries share similar approaches on several international issues and will further strengthen the partnership to jointly address the challenges. Discussed COVID-19 pandemic with Irelands PM, Mr. @LeoVaradkar. India and Ireland share similar approaches on many global issues. We will work together to further strengthen our partnership in health, science & technology, to jointly address challenges of the post-COVID world. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 22, 2020 Read: PM Modi Dials Bhutanese Counterpart, Assures All Support To Minimise COVID-19 Impact 'Enormous contribution' PM Modi has been holding a series of discussion with world leaders over phone calls to exchange views over the ongoing crisis and way to tackle the situation. Following the call between the two leaders, Varadkar said that they have agreed for deeper cooperation in pharma and medicine sectors. The Irish Prime Minister also said that he has thanked PM Modi for Indias contribution to the countrys health service through its staff. Spoke to PM of India Narendra Modi this morning on impact of Covid19 on India & Ireland. We agreed efforts for deeper cooperation given our strong pharma & medicine sectors. I also thanked PM Modi for enormous contribution of Indian staff to Irish health service #FlattenTheCurve pic.twitter.com/5O6BZUBYOh Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) April 22, 2020 Read: Mauritius Prime Minister Thanks PM Modi For 'generous Donation' Of Medical Supplies India has assured its friendly neighbours and allies of cooperation and has continued assisting foreign nations in a show of solidarity. Recently, India contributed towards medical supplies for Mauritius which reached the island nation on April 15. It also sent a rapid response team to Kuwait comprising 15 Indian doctors and health care professionals to provide medical assistance in testing. Read: PM Modi Discusses COVID-19 Situation With Palestinian President Over Phone Call Read: PM Modi Discusses COVID-19 Challenges With Uganda President Over Phone, Assures Support A paramedic was struck off after telling colleagues 'I don't like Muslims' and accusing another of 'dressing like a bomber'. London Ambulance Service medic Deena Best told a colleague his long beard made him look like Osama Bin Laden, a disciplinary hearing was told. Mrs Best was struck off after being found guilty of misconduct and suspended in July last year. She had claimed the remarks in May 2017 were 'banter'. London Ambulance Service medic Deena Best told a colleague his long beard made him look like Osama Bin Laden, a disciplinary hearing was told (file photo) Mrs Best was having a conversation with two colleagues, one of whom was a Muslim paramedic, the Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service (HCPTS) heard. She was judged to have said: 'I don't differentiate between people, I don't like Muslims' and 'Mosques are bloody popping up everywhere'. The panel heard that Mrs Best later claimed that she didn't want to talk to her colleague anymore 'as he is a Muslim' and that he 'looks like a bomber because of the way he dresses'. She told another colleague: 'You should be careful running with your Paramedic bag as you could be mistaken for a bomber', called him 'Osama' and told him to shave his beard. During the disciplinary process Mrs Best had argued that the remarks were meant to be light-hearted. She was this month struck off from the register after initially being suspended for nine months. The panel, sitting in Kennington, London, said she had shown 'no insight' into the 'discriminatory and inappropriate' comments. It said there was a 'high risk of repetition' if she returned to the profession. The HCPTS said in its judgment: 'The nature of each comment was that of an inherent derogatory stereotype based on race and/or religion. 'They portrayed a stereotypical, negative view that all Muslims are extremists or terrorists. 'They also suggested a dislike of an individual based on their race or religion. 'The panel did not consider that the assertion that such comments were "banter" amongst colleagues made them any less discriminatory or inappropriate. A spokesman for London Ambulance Service said Mrs Best was dismissed and hasn't worked for them since (file photo) 'The panel noted that paramedics, in a frontline emergency service, encounter all manner of individuals, and are expected to be professional and considerate to everyone, regardless of race, religion, or any other personal characteristic.' Mrs Best, who was not present at the remote hearing, denied making discriminatory comments. She had told the hearing in an earlier email: 'If my registration is taken from me I will obviously be devastated as I am always hopeful that one day I can return to do the job I love. 'If there is anything I can do to keep my registration please let me know.' A spokesman for London Ambulance Service said: 'A member of staff attended a discipline board in November 2017 to face allegations of gross misconduct. 'She was subsequently dismissed from London Ambulance Service and has not worked for us since. 'We take racially abusive behaviour extremely seriously and there is no place for it in our organisation which prides itself on values of respect, inclusivity and professionalism at all times.' Mrs Best has 28 days to appeal. Many small towns did not wait for a surge in coronavirus cases to put in strict measures to prevent the viruss spread. Jonesboro, Arkansas As parts of the United States begin looking towards what business as usual could look like, many mayors are still bracing for the worst. In a news conference late last week, West Memphis Mayor Marco McClendon pleaded with residents to keep taking this seriously. Stay your a** at home, McClendon said. McClendon told Al Jazeera that while some in his community still think theyre invincible, most people in his town in eastern Arkansas were taking the threat of coronavirus seriously. Right now Im not having a major pushback [to reopen], McClendon said, adding that there is still a curfew, but some business owners like barbers and beauticians have approached him with ways to reopen and still follow the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines. Crittenden County, where West Memphis is located, has the highest per capita number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in all of Arkansass counties. The town neighbours Memphis, Tennessee, a metropolis of around one million residents, whose county of Shelby has over 1,800 confirmed cases more than in the entire state of Arkansas. Being that close to Memphis brings me worry, McClendon said. People who lost their jobs wait in line to file for unemployment benefits, following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at Arkansas Workforce Center in Fort Smith, Arkansas [Nick Oxford/Reuters] Even before there was a confirmed case in West Memphis earlier this month, McClendon said he put together a task force that included members of the police department and emergency medical service responders. Among other things, they set up some checkpoints to limit access for out-of-towners, many of whom travel cross country by way of one of two major interstate highways that run through the town. The task force has continued to make sure that individuals who test positive are taken care of. They are given two weeks worth of food, so they would have no need to get outside, McClendon said, adding that the task force is also delivering additional necessities, upon request. For weeks, mayors across the South have been following the guidelines set by the CDC and their respective governors, which oftentimes do not mirror neighbouring states. As social distancing has contributed to a lower number of projected confirmed cases and fatalities across the US, as well as the region, states have begun to consider reopening local economies. Large southern cities such as New Orleans, Louisiana and Atlanta, Georgia have been slammed, with reports that it could still get worse, and many parts of the South still have not peaked. Broadly speaking, however, smaller towns have not seen the overwhelming numbers of coronavirus cases that so many have feared, which has led many mayors to weigh whether its time to start loosening some regulations. Weighing options The town of Lake Providence, Louisiana has only seen two confirmed cases against 200 negative tests in a community of around 5,000 people. Mayor Jerry Bell said he was encouraged by these numbers, something he attributed in part to being fairly rural and insulated, but he is still telling people to continue wearing masks. We dont have many cases, however, we are taking all the precautions necessary not to have any more than we do have, he said. In Mississippi, which like Louisiana has a statewide shelter-in-place policy, Mayersville has yet to see a confirmed case. I think now the peak has been reached, and we are at the curve, said Mayor Linda Williams-Short. Our government [of Mississippi] says to give us at least another week, so were looking at another week before we can start opening our businesses, and that nature. A Mound Bayou resident braces for a nasal swab by one of the Delta Health Center staff at a free drive-though COVID-19 testing facility at the centers Dr H Jack Geiger Medical Center in Mound Bayou, Mississippi [Rogelio V Solis/AP Photo] Kevin Smith, mayor of Helena-West Helena in Arkansas, isnt ready to let up. The entire county of Phillips, where his town is located, only has four confirmed cases something Smith said is not representative of what is happening. Without more testing, especially in a community where he says people are culturally hesitant to visit doctors, partly due to finances, it is difficult to ascertain the exact reality of the problem. The [Mississippi] Delta is at the bottom of every good statistic, and at the top of every bad statistic in healthcare and several other things, Smith said, referring to the region of the US where his part of Arkansas is located. In addition to encouraging Helena-West Helena residents to show up for drive-through testing sites, he is still pushing the state to provide more personal protective equipment to his community. At the moment, Smith said equipment is being prioritised for counties that demonstrate a more immediate need through a higher number of confirmed cases, which he argued is a result of more testing not necessarily a higher need. He pointed to other factors that needed to be considered, such as vulnerable populations, including his own, which has a higher percentage of elderly people and those with a higher incidence of underlying health conditions. If youre a duck hunter, when you go duck hunting, and you aim your gun, you dont aim at the duck. You aim where the duck is headed, Smith said. And thats what a lot of this has been about, is trying to get there before it happens in order to prevent it from being so bad, he added. Clearly the duck is headed for us. Joyce Harrington, 93, was healed from COVID-19 despite the hospice doctor's warning and gave glory to God. When Joyce was admitted with COVID-19 symptoms on March 25, she and her three daughters heard doctor's warnings over the phone, "Hope for the best; plan for the worst." Yet Harrington's chances of survival were slim, her daughters and Harrington were not terrified. They believed their mother's faith and body are strong. Harrington was peace in faith toward God's will. Kelley said her mother had prayed for God's will, whatever it was, but pledged, "If God wants me to live, I'll give Him the glory.", according to Bpnews. "Really, the doctor told me I wasn't going to make it," Harrington said to the media. "So, I just talked to the Lord. I said, 'Lord, I'm ready right now. I'm ready to see the angels come after me.'" "I felt at peace from the beginning but now that I am recovering, and I am committed to tell others that God healed me." she added. Harrington's daughters, Rhonda Harrington Kelley, wife of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary President Emeritus Chuck Kelley, and Mitzi Woodson, whose husband is a medical doctor in Oklahoma, met every evening over the phone with their mother. They judged her condition through her voice and cared for her needs. They were concerned as the quarantine didn't allow them to be with her, but the "sweetest blessing" was made possible by cell phone. Kelley said they shared prayer and devotional time together by conference call each evening. "Mother was prepared to meet Jesus," Woodson told Bpnews. "She was not fearful, not ever." "There were so many emotions that came up, so I had lots of different prayers," Harrington reflected. "I prayed for my family every day and prayed for other very important things, things that were going on now," the 93-year-old mother told the news. Harrington is now recovering in a skilled nursing center, breathing on her own and gaining strength and want to keep her pledge to glorify God with her re-gained life. She recorded her one-minute testimony, like many other Southern Baptists posted for Easter, and with Kelley's help, posted it on social media. As hundreds around the world followed Harrington's progress on social media, they posted comments about the impact "Ms. Joyce" had made on their lives, praising her good deeds toward others, the newspaper reported. "Mother touched lives because she loves people," Woodson said. The timing of her illness made Easter more real. "Knowing that I will be resurrected as He was, that made it just so real," Harrington said. The family also mentioned about others who are grieving in the time of crisis. "We do not, as human beings, understand it," Kelley emphasized. "We just have to trust His will and His perfect plan. As believers, we must practice our faith. God is sovereign and He's in control. He is with us. We can know that He will give us peace and comfort, no matter what." Kelley expressed the family's gratitude to those who prayed faithfully. "God was very faithful to us," Kelley said. "We are so grateful for the prayers of people, for everybody going on this journey with us. To God be the glory." The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Wednesday asked state-owned-NBCC to implement its proposal to acquire debt ridden Jaypee Infratech and complete over 20,000 pending flats, but said the direction is subject to its final order. The NCLAT's direction came over an urgent petition moved by the NBCC, which won the bid to acquire Jaypee Infratech. The NBCC's resolution plan has already been approved by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), but appeals have been filed by the Jaypee Group as well as the NBCC. The appellate tribunal also directed Jaypee Infratech's Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) Anuj Jain to constitute an interim monitoring committee, comprising representatives of the NBCC and its three main lenders IDBI Bank, IIFCL and LIC. While hearing petition during the extended lockdown period, a two-member bench headed by NCLAT Acting Chairperson Justice B L Bhat said the IRP would be part of the interim monitoring committee and continue to be paid. Meanwhile, till further orders, the approved resolution plan may be implemented subject to outcome of this appeal, said the NCLAT. The IRP may constitute an interim monitoring committee comprising the successful resolution applicant, i.e., the appellant and the three major institutional financial creditors, who were Members of the 'committee of creditors," it said. The appellate tribunal issued notices to ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank and others directing them to file reply in two weeks and listed the matter on May 15 for the next hearing. List the matter for admission after notice' on May 15, 2020, said the NCLAT. During the proceedings, counsel representing the IRP said that he also intends to file an appeal in regard to some observations made in paragraph 103 of the impugned order. The NBCC has challenged the modifications made by the NCLT in the original resolution plan submitted by it and as approved by the committee of creditors (CoC) of Jaypee Infratech Ltd (JIL). While approving the resolution plan of NBCC, the principal bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had allowed objections of ICICI Bank and Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority and directed payment to unclaimed Fixed Deposit Holders. According to NBCC, NCLT could not intercede the business decision of the CoC taken by the prescribed voting shares and has exceeded its jurisdiction in making such modifications. On March 3, NCLT had approved NBCC's bid to acquire JIL through an insolvency process and complete around 20,000 pending flats over the next three and half years. In a surprise move, NCLT had also ordered that the Rs 750 crore deposited by Jaypee Infratech's parent firm Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL) with the registry of the Supreme Court would be part of the resolution plan saying that itwill help NBCC in faster completion of stuck projects of Jaypee Group. Jaypee Infratech went into the insolvency process in August 2017 after the NCLT admitted an application by an IDBI Bank-led consortium. In December last year, a committee of creditors (CoC) comprising 13 banks and around 21,000 homebuyers approved the resolution plan of NBCC with 97.36 per cent vote in favour. NBCC's proposal was approved by the lenders in the third round of bidding process to find a buyer for Jaypee Infratech. In its bid, the NBCC had proposed to complete over 20,000 pending flats in housing projects launched by Jaypee Infratech in Noida and Greater Noida (Uttar Pradesh). Homebuyers' claim amounting to Rs 13,364 crore and lenders' claim worth Rs 9,783 crore were admitted. The NBCC offered 1,526 acres of land to lenders under a land-debt swap deal. On Yamuna Expressway, the NBCC proposed to transfer the road asset to lenders but before that it would take a loan of around Rs 2,500 crore against toll revenue to fund construction spend. After the CoC rejected the bids of Suraksha Realty and NBCC in the the second round held in May-June 2019, the matter reached to the NCLAT and then to the apex court. On November 6, 2019, the Supreme Court directed completion of Jaypee Infratech's insolvency process within 90 days and the revised resolution plan to be invited only from the NBCC and Suraksha Realty. On December 7, 2019, the CoC decided to put on vote the bids of both the NBCC and Suraksha Realty to acquire the bankrupt realty firm. The voting process started on December 10 and ended on December 16. As many as 13 banks and over 21,000 homebuyers had voting rights in the CoC. Buyers had 57.66 per cent voting rights, fixed deposit holders 0.13 per cent and lenders 42.21 per cent. For a bid to be approved, 66 per cent votes were required. In the voting result, the NBCC got the entire 57.66 per cent vote of homebuyers and 0.13 per cent of fixed deposit holders. The public sector firm got 39.57 per cent votes of lenders out of the total 42.21 per cent votes. Suraksha managed to get only 2.12 per cent votes as only fixed deposit holders and two lenders -- Axis Bank and Jammu and Kashmir Bank -- favoured it. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Technavio has been monitoring the adult diapers market in MEA and it is poised to grow by USD 334.99 mn during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of over 12% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005528/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Adult Diapers Market in MEA 2019-2023 (Graphic: Business Wire) Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please Request Latest Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impact The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. Essity Aktiebolag (publ), Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Ontex International, PAUL HARTMANN AG, Procter Gamble, and Unicharm are some of the major market participants. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments. Rise in innovative product offerings has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. Adult Diapers Market in MEA 2019-2023: Segmentation Adult diapers market in MEA is segmented as below: Product Pad Type Diapers Flat Type Diapers Pant Type Diapers Geographic Landscape The Middle East Africa To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR31242 Adult Diapers Market in MEA 2019-2023: Scope Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our adult diapers market in MEA report covers the following areas: Adult Diapers Market in MEA Size Adult Diapers Market in MEA Trends Adult Diapers Market in MEA Industry Analysis This study identifies introduction of eco-friendly diapers as one of the prime reasons driving the adult diapers market growth in MEA during the next few years. Adult Diapers Market in MEA 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the adult diapers market in MEA, including some of the vendors such as Essity Aktiebolag (publ), Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Ontex International, PAUL HARTMANN AG, Procter Gamble, and Unicharm. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the adult diapers market in MEA are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Adult Diapers Market in MEA 2019-2023: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023 Detailed information on factors that will assist adult diapers market growth in MEA during the next five years Estimation of the adult diapers market size and its contribution to the parent market in MEA Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the adult diapers market in MEA Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of vendors in adult diapers market in MEA Table Of Contents : PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT 2.1 Preface 2.2 Preface 2.3 Currency conversion rates for US$ PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE Market ecosystem Incontinence Market characteristics Market segmentation analysis PART 04: MARKET SIZING Market definition Market sizing 2018 Market size and forecast 2018-2023 PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS Bargaining power of buyers Bargaining power of suppliers Threat of new entrants Threat of substitutes Threat of rivalry Market condition PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY PRODUCT Market segmentation by product Comparison by product Pad type Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Flat type Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Pant type Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Market opportunity by product PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE Geographic segmentation Geographic comparison Middle East Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Africa Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Key leading countries Market opportunity PART 09: DECISION FRAMEWORK PART 10: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES Market drivers Market challenges PART 11: MARKET TRENDS Rise in online sales of personal hygiene products Increased M&A activities Introduction of eco-friendly diapers Other trends PART 12: VENDOR LANDSCAPE Overview Landscape disruption Competitive scenario Comparative analysis of key vendors PART 13: VENDOR ANALYSIS Vendors covered Vendor classification Market positioning of vendors Essity Aktiebolag (publ) Kimberly-Clark Corporation Ontex International PAUL HARTMANN AG Procter Gamble Unicharm PART 14: APPENDIX Research methodology List of abbreviations Definition of vendors positioning PART 15: EXPLORE TECHNAVIO About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005528/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: media@technavio.com Website: www.technavio.com/ Library goers in the Lake Geneva region can soon begin "visiting" libraries through curbside pickups during the coronavirus pandemic. The Lake Geneva Public Library has announced that patrons can check out library materials and pick them curbside at the library starting at 9 a.m. Friday. Patrons must call the library at 262-249-5299 or email lakegene@lakegeneva.lib.wi.us in advance to place an order for books or other materials. Staff will then notify patrons when their materials will be available for pickup on a cart outside the library. The library in Williams Bay has also announced plans to begin offering curbside pickups, although details there have not been announced. All major libraries in the region are closed to the public during the coronavirus outbreak. Officials at the Lake Geneva library plan to offer curbside pickups from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, then from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and then continuing 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily going forward. Patrons are asked to limit curbside pickups to a maximum of 50 items per family, and to maintain safe distancing at all times from anyone else picking up materials. Patrons are also asked to not place any library returns on the pickup cart. The library is not accepting donated books at this time, and asks patrons to continue to hold their checked out materials until the building reopens. In Williams Bay, officials at Barrett Memorial Library announced on Facebook that they plan soon to begin offering curbside pickups and returns of borrowed materials. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. (RNS) Whitney Tilson and his wife, Susan, were out walking their dog early one Sunday morning when they noticed workers unloading trucks and stacks of blue tarps in the East Meadow of Central Park, right outside their Fifth Avenue apartment building. Later that afternoon, Tilson saw some white tents rising up out of the ground bearing a name he had never heard of: Samaritans Purse. After learning the group was setting up a series of tents for a 68-bed field hospital to treat overflow coronavirus patients from Mount Sinai Hospital, Tilson agreed to lend a hand. He hasnt stopped since. In the course of the past four weeks, Tilson, who is not religious and had never heard of Franklin Graham, the conservative Christian leader of Samaritans Purse, has become one of the field hospitals most dedicated volunteers and champions. Hes befriended many of the staff, donated shovels and sleds to help spread 2 tons of mulch across the muddy lawn in between the tents, and gifted thousands of dollars worth of bananas, apples, Starbucks Frappuccinos, soda, potato chips and other snacks to those looking after the sick. Its an incredibly impressive organization, said Tilson, 53, a retired hedge fund manager who writes an investment newsletter. I have no doubt they are delivering world-class critical care to my fellow New Yorkers stricken with COVID-19. Every single person Ive met has been a genuinely nice person and very competent and good at their job. New Yorkers havent quite known whether to embrace or rebuff the evangelical humanitarian relief organization from North Carolina. As soon as it became clear that New York City was becoming the epicenter of the pandemic, Samaritans Purse struck an agreement with the overstretched Mount Sinai Hospital to treat a surge of patients needing immediate medical help. But even before the field hospital accepted its first patient, old culture war issues, with no connection to the coronavirus, broke open. For one, New Yorks mayor, its council speaker, even the states attorney general, were immediately pressed to assure New Yorkers the field hospital would not discriminate against Muslims or LGBTQ people in offering care. All contracted staff at the evangelical field hospital nurses, doctors, pharmacists and lab technicians must sign a statement of faith that includes a clause opposing same-sex marriage. The organizations 11-point statement of faith declares, we believe that marriage is exclusively the union of one genetic male and one genetic female. (Graham has also made controversial statements about Islam in the past and is staunchly anti-abortion.) Thats an anathema to many liberal New Yorkers who pride themselves on living in one of most gay-friendly cities in the world as well as one of the most culturally diverse. Last week, activists with the Reclaim Pride Coalition held a protest just yards from the field hospital bearing signs saying, help, not hate. Plans to turn the Cathedral of St. John the Divine into a field hospital were abruptly shelved, in part because the cathedral, the seat of the liberal Episcopal Church in New York City, did not want to partner with Samaritans Purse on the project. The citys Commission on Human Rights has demanded that Samaritans Purse explain in writing how it offers aid to ensure it does not violate the citys nondiscrimination laws. Samaritans Purse, which has treated 153 patients since it opened April 1, says it does not discriminate in who it treats, and says it has never done so in its 50-year history. In this time of growing polarization and identity politics, Tilson has stood his ground, even as it has cost him some friendships. He and his wife, who is Jewish, have been members of Central Synagogue, one of the citys oldest Jewish congregations, for 20 years rearing their three daughters in the faith. When his synagogue put a notice online that Tilson was collecting boots and socks for the medical teams and Bluetooth speakers for patients, some congregants were incensed. The values harbored by this group and its founder just completely fly in the face of what Central stands for, one congregant told The Forward, an online Jewish publication. But Tilson, who said his views about same-sex marriage (as well as his views on Muslims and abortion) are polar opposite those of Graham, has continued to defend his volunteer work. Im supporting a hospital that is saving peoples lives, he said. Im not endorsing the ideology of the founder of the organization. In recent weeks, Tilson has offered the use of his address for any of the field hospital crew who would like to receive mail while theyre working at the hospital. Hes also made available four bicycles for their use and emailed them some trails they might like to use around the park. Last week he took a call from Graham, who wanted to thank him for his volunteer efforts. Hes a great human being, Graham said of Tilson. He might disagree with me, and I might disagree with him, but thats not going to stop us from working together to help people. Graham even invited Tilson to come down to North Carolina to tour the organizations headquarters. Tilson said he plans to take him up on the offer. Hes a businessman and he likes to study what he called high-performing organizations. On Sunday (April 19), Tilson and two of his daughters took a break from New York City to hike up Breakneck Ridge, a mountain along the Hudson River. A fitness buff, he said his goal this year is to rope climb to the nose of El Capitan, a 3,000-foot rock formation in Yosemite National Park. Tilson said he has tried to teach his daughters, aged 23, 21 and 17, how to keep active and fit, but even more to do good in the world. The coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 10,000 people in the city alone (about 20,000 have died in the Tri-State region of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut), has moved him deeply. In a video he posted to YouTube explaining his unflagging support for the field hospital, he chokes up talking about the toll the virus has taken on his fellow New Yorkers. On Sunday, just before heading to Costco to fill up his Volvo hatchback with more snacks for the medical workers this was his fifth trip he reiterated why he thinks New Yorkers ought to be grateful to Samaritans Purse, given the selfless work they are doing to help save lives. Their primary mission in life is not to go out and have hatred toward gays, he said. They believe what the Bible says, that homosexuality is a sin yes. But it is not what drives them. What drives them is, How can I do Gods work by healing people and saving lives? READ THIS STORY AT RELIGIONNEWS.COM. Article originally published by Religion News Service. Used with permission. Photo courtesy: RNS/Whitney Tilson D onald Trump has said his new US immigration ban would last for 60 days and apply to those seeking "green cards" for permanent residency. The US President described the proposals as an effort to protect Americans trying to regain jobs lost because of the coronavirus pandemic. Mr Trump plans to institute the ban through an executive order, which he said he was likely to sign on Wednesday. He said it would not apply to individuals entering the US on a temporary basis and would be re-evaluated once the 60-day period had passed. "It would be wrong and unjust for Americans laid off by the virus to be replaced with new immigrant labour flown in from abroad. We must first take care of the American worker," Trump said. The president said there would be some exemptions in the order and he could renew it for another 60 days or even longer. He won the White House in 2016 in part on a promise to crack down on immigration. Critics saw his announcement as a move to take advantage of a crisis to implement a long-sought policy goal. The order could spark legal action. A senior administration official said the administration was looking at a separate action to cover others affected by US immigration policy, including those on so-called H-1B visas. Loading.... The order would include exemptions for people involved in responding to the coronavirus outbreak, including farm workers and those helping to secure U.S. food supplies, he said. The official said as the country begins to open up its economy, immigration flows were expected to increase, and the administration wanted to ensure that employers hire back fired workers rather than giving jobs to immigrants at lower wages. Mr Trump confirmed that a secondary order was under consideration for a separate time. Trump unveils phased approach to reopening US economy The US Department of State issued roughly 462,000 immigrant visas in fiscal year 2019, which began on Oct. 1, 2018. The visas allow an immigrant to obtain lawful permanent resident status, informally known as a green card. The status allows a person to live and work in the United States and apply for citizenship after a five-year period. Critics viewed Mr Trump's new policy as an effort to distract from his response to the pandemic. "I think this is a malevolent distraction," said Neera Tanden, president of the Centre for American Progress, a left-leaning policy institute in Washington. Giovanni Peri, an economics professor at the University of California, Davis, said researchers generally agree that immigration into the United States has stimulated economic growth, increased the size of the economy and created jobs. A man wearing a protective face mask passes a row of posters in Shoreditch, east London, as the UK continues in lockdown to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. (PA) As Britain continues in lockdown to control its coronavirus outbreak, a health chief has warned that a second wave could be even worse than the first. The government is hopeful that the peak of new cases and deaths from COVID-19 has already been reached and that the UK could start to come out of lockdown in the next few weeks. But if the disease were to spike again in winter it could create additional burdens on the NHS, which would also need to deal with other winter ailments like the flu. Dr David A Matthews, reader in virology at the University of Bristol, told Yahoo News: If there is a second wave of infections from the virus that coincides with the normal influenza/common cold season here in the UK that would be a problem as it would place additional burdens on the healthcare system. A Thank you sign supporting the NHS displayed in a pub window during the coronavirus pandemic in Central London. (PA) This would come in two forms. Firstly, people presenting at hospital fearful of COVID infection who are actually infected with common colds, as well as people genuinely seriously ill from influenza infections, for example. Secondly, it may cause additional problems because individuals could be infected with two or more respiratory viruses simultaneously, and we dont know how that will affect outcomes, but it may make disease severity worse. 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 6 charts and maps that explain how COVID-19 is spreading Matthews comments echoed those of top US health official Robert Redfield, who also warned of the risks of a second wave. He said: Theres a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through. There have been 18,001 deaths from coronavirus in the UK to date, out of 133,495 confirmed cases in the country, according to Johns Hopkins. The government introduced lockdown restrictions to flatten the curve and reduce the strain on the NHS during the pandemic. Story continues Experts have previously warned that there would be an increase of coronavirus in winter following a summer drop that coincides with warmer temperatures. Prince William speaks via videolink as he officially opens the NHS Nightingale Hospital Birmingham, to provide extra beds for patients with coronavirus symptoms. (AP) Professor Paul Hunter, from the University of East Anglia, said: Droplets spread infections more in winter in the northern hemisphere. The number of cases may reduce in summer and re-emerge in winter. Professor John Edmunds, from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said school term times also play a factor in higher cases of respiratory viruses in winter. Tests that determine whether someone has already had coronavirus and are therefore at far less risk from catching it again are hoped to be the key to loosening lockdown restrictions. However, an infectious disease specialist has said scientists do not yet know if there is long-lasting immunity from the illness. Asked whether it was possible that people in Britain could be immune for a few weeks or a month before being able to get or spread the virus again, Professor David Heymann said "that is the question that everyone is trying to answer right now. Prof Heymann, who led the global shutdown of Sars in the early 2000s, told a press briefing for the Chatham House think-tank: "The answer is that it is not known. It is not known how long antibody protection lasts. It is not known if all of the people can be detected under current testing. "This is a new virus, so that question cannot be answered." Coronavirus: what happened today Click here to sign up to the latest news, advice and information with our daily Catch-up newsletter Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK UTICA, N.Y. After announcing they will be furloughing 20% of employees for four months, Mohawk Valley Health System has released its recovery plan for that time period. The MVHS COVID-19 Recovery Plan was created to address financial losses incurred during the coronavirus pandemic, and outline actions to reopen services and restore patient volume. According to MVHS, they are losing around $5 million each week by stopping elective surgeries and making preparations for a projected surge in coronavirus patients. MVHS has planned three phases to move forward: fist seeking federal aid, then recovery and finally, rebuilding. MVHS received funding in the federal stimulus, but officials say they will need far more to offset their losses. The Four-Month COVID-19 Recovery Plan is part of the second phase. See the plan details below: Cost Saving Initiatives implemented on Friday, April 17 Salary reductions for MVHS leadership and employed providers Centralized control of overtime, with all overtime needing approval by MVHS chief operating officer or chief financial officer Hiring freeze in place Freeze on new tuition reimbursement. MVHS will pay for the semester tuition that had already been committed Examining every expense and cost center to determine areas of opportunity (e.g., contracts, potential discounts, memberships, travel, events) Freeze on merit increases for the duration of the furlough. Four-month employee furlough implemented as of Wednesday, April 22 NOTE: MVHS is negotiating with CWA and UFCW and hopefully we will reach an agreement to adopt our furlough proposal. Unfortunately, NYSNA has rejected our furlough proposal, so we are forced to implement the layoff provisions in the collective bargaining agreement. A furlough means: MVHS employees remain employees of the organization and are not terminated. As volumes increase we anticipate calling our furloughed employees back to work as the need arises. Furlough begins on Wednesday, April 22 and ends Thursday, August 13, 2020. But, as noted, employees may be called back sooner based on patient demand. Employees who are furloughed can apply for unemployment insurance and the enhanced unemployment funds from the federal government. Employees will retain the employer contribution to their health insurance coverage. The number of full time employees (FTE) to be furloughed in each department is based on current volume in that area and overall volumes at MVHS. We are planning to suspend employer contributions to the 401(k)/403(b) for both furloughed employees and those still working. Employees may call the MVHS HR Hotline for questions in regard to filing for Unemployment and using healthcare benefits. Also financial counseling, planning and assistance are available through the MVHS Employee Assistance Program. Other actions being taken: As Emory Colleges labs shut down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, hundreds of undergraduates in biology classes 120 (Concepts in Biology) and 142 (Foundations of Modern Biology II) scattered around the globe without completing the hands-on research required in the courses. That didnt stop the science. For their final lab, students in Biology 120 are logging into SimBio to conduct epidemiological modeling, studying the variables that can affect contagion spread. Students in the Biology 142 class for pre-health majors submitted their own proposals for a final lab, voting to study how the shift to remote learning has affected students sleep patterns. Other proposals considered included a study of how the shift to remote learning affected screen time, differences in bird calls between high and low noise pollution areas and an observational study examining how often people touch their faces. Its definitely a theme in biolab, that things dont always go as planned, says Sabina Iqbal, a first-year student from Atlanta who recently declared a neuroscience and behavioral biology major. In that way, it really reflects what is going on in the world right now. It still feels productive. Emory College has spent years overhauling its biology labs to modules that focus on active, authentic research. Oxford College, Emorys original campus that focuses on first- and second-year students, has been on the forefront of such hands-on learning in the sciences for more than a decade. That overhaul ties undergraduate coursework to real-world research, which often is unpredictable and more apt to be marked by incremental findings and outright failures than scientific breakthroughs. It also has allowed for a shift to focus on the analytical and communications skills that research requires, says Megan Cole, the senior lecturer who also serves as director of the biology departments undergraduate laboratories. For instance, students in the lab for majors had already grown colonies of cellulose-bacteria harvested from bean beetles microbiome prior to Emorys shift to remote learning. Because of that, the students were able to perform the computational work needed to analyze the sequencing results and finish the experiment. I have honestly been amazed with the emails from students, thanking me and being grateful for how weve transitioned our experiments, Cole says. The department surveys students each year to determine whether the lab set-up helps improve students perceptions of research and confidence in their scientific skills. No doubt the survey this spring will show how more students talk with others about their work, given that many are living with inquiring family members. It also may reveal the importance of faculty staying connected with students, not only because of the current upheaval. If there is a silver lining to this, I think people are developing a heightened appreciation of the in-person dimension we excel at, says Steven LHernault, chair of the biology department. Using changes to students advantage Knowing that remote learning cannot fully replicate the lab experience has helped shape what is feasible. To mimic the feeling of small working groups most labs have no more than 15 students biology instructors are hosting around-the-clock Zoom hours. Students can get the same one-on-one feedback theyve come to expect or just ask a quick question if they are stuck. The circumstances have jolted us all into realizing we have to be supportive of each other, says Rachelle Spell, the departments director of undergraduate studies. Many of our students are having very difficult personal situations, so its more important than ever that we check in with them and empower them to see that what theyre learning now could make a real impact in the world. First-year student Siri Peddineni counts herself lucky to be safely ensconced with family in Florida, although the move to remote learning kept her from joining Cassandra Quaves ethnobotany lab as an undergraduate researcher. Her perspective on sorting out her future such as whether her medical school plans will include a joint PhD or shift entirely to research and the scientific process itself without being in a physical lab has been shaped in part by her 97-year-old neighbor. She can remember people still talking about the 1918 flu pandemic, growing up in the Depression and living through World War II. She says shes never seen anything like this but that you learn from it every time, Peddineni says. My freshman year didnt go the way I wanted, but I am learning from it anyway. New Delhi: The countrywide COVID-19 death toll rose to 652 and the number of cases to 20,471 on Wednesday, an increase of 49 fatalities and 1,486 cases since Tuesday evening, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 15,859, while 3,959 people have been cured and discharged, the ministry said, adding one patient has migrated. This means over 19% of the cases have recovered so far, said a ministry official. The total number of cases includes 77 foreign nationals who were tested positive in India. Of the 49 deaths reported since Tuesday evening, 19 were from Maharashtra, 18 from Gujarat, four from Madhya Pradesh, three from West Bengal, two from Andhra Pradesh, and one each from Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. Of the 652 deaths, Maharashtra tops the tally with 251, followed by Gujarat at 95, MP at 80, Delhi at 47, Rajasthan at 25, Andhra Pradesh at 24 and Telangana at 23. The toll touched 21 in Uttar Pradesh, 18 in Tamil Nadu and 17 in Karnataka. Punjab has registered 16 deaths, while West Bengal has reported 15 fatalities due to coronavirus infection so far. The disease has claimed five lives in Jammu and Kashmir, while Kerala, Jharkhand and Haryana have recorded three deaths each. Bihar has reported two deaths, while Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Assam have reported one each. However, a PTI tally of the figures reported by various states as on Wednesday showed 20,564 cases and 654 deaths in the country. There has been a lag in the ministry figures compared to the number of deaths announced by different states, which officials attribute to procedural delays in assigning the cases to individual states. According to the ministry's data updated on Wednesday evening, the highest number of confirmed cases are from Maharashtra at 5,221, followed by Gujarat at 2,272, Delhi at 2,156, Rajasthan at 1,801, Tamil Nadu at 1,596 and MP at 1,592. The number of cases has gone up to 1,412 in UP, 945 in Telangana and 813 in Andhra Pradesh. It has risen to 427 in Kerala, 425 in Karnataka, 423 in West Bengal, 380 in Jammu and Kashmir, 254 in Haryana and 251 in Punjab. Bihar has reported 126 coronavirus cases, while Odisha has 82. Forty-six people have been infected with the virus in Uttarakhand while Jharkhand has 45 cases. Himachal Pradesh has 39 cases, Chhattisgarh 36, and Assam 35. Chandigarh has 27 COVID-19 cases, Ladakh 18, while 17 cases have been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Meghalaya has reported 12 cases, while Goa and Puducherry have seven COVID-19 patients each. Manipur and Tripura have two cases each, while Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh have reported one case each. (With inputs from PTI) People gather around the California State Capitol in Sacramento on April 20, 2020, to protest against the statewide lockdown. (Laurie Gorham/The Epoch Times) People Protest State Lockdown at California Capitol SACRAMENTO, Calif.Hundreds of individuals, families, and children gathered on the sidewalk around the California State Capitol in Sacramento on April 20 to protest the statewide lockdown. Vehicles honked and displayed messages showing support as they drove around the block at walking pace. With signs and American flags, the protesters expressed their desire to return to work and school. The signs read: End the shutdown. Let people work. #reopen California, All businesses matter, and Dont tread on my civil liberty. Children stood with their parents and held signs such as Open CA! I miss my gym class. I miss my school. People hold signs in Sacramento on April 20, 2020, to protest against the statewide lockdown. (Laurie Gorham/The Epoch Times) Children hold signs in Sacramento on April 20, 2020, to protest against the statewide lockdown. (Laurie Gorham/The Epoch Times) A vehicle displays messages near the California State Capitol in Sacramento on April 20, 2020, to protest against the statewide lockdown. (Laurie Gorham/The Epoch Times) One retired military officer in Solano County said he joined the rally because he is a realist and looks at facts. He believes the way the government is handling the COVID-19 pandemic is going overboard. People like to have control over their own lives and make their own decisions and not be told by authoritarians, he told The Epoch Times. Government really has no business telling anyone that they can or cant open their business. Another issue he mentioned is that many people dont have an income now that nonessential businesses are closed. Norman Reese, head of the California Republican Assembly in Solano County, drove with his wife around the Capitol building several times, honking his horn. Vehicles circle around the California State Capitol in Sacramento on April 20, 2020, to protest against the statewide lockdown. (Laurie Gorham/The Epoch Times) I think its being overly done, Reese told The Epoch Times. They think its essential for marijuana shops and abortion still taking place and liquor stores to be open, but then theyre saying churches cant meet. Even if they take precautions and that kind of stuff. On April 13, Dhillon Law Group filed a lawsuit against the governor for depriving people of their First Amendment rights of free exercise of religion. The lockdown is unlawful, unconstitutional, infringes on our rights. Its unnecessary, its collapsing the economy, making people lose their jobs and businesses, and its just government overreach, Winston Chin, who is from the San Francisco Bay Area, told The Epoch Times. He said he normally had good sanitary habits before the virus, and he doesnt need the government to enforce them. People gather around the California State Capitol in Sacramento on April 20, 2020, to protest against the statewide lockdown. (Laurie Gorham/The Epoch Times) People hold signs at the California State Capitol in Sacramento on April 20, 2020, to protest against the statewide lockdown. (Laurie Gorham/The Epoch Times) Police at the California State Capitol in Sacramento on April 20, 2020, during the protest against the statewide lockdown. (Laurie Gorham/The Epoch Times) They can just remind people its a bad virus. We still have flu season, and we have this new virus, and were reminding everybody, Please voluntarily be considerate of others. You know, Keep clean, watch it when you sneeze or cough, make sure you cover your mouth. You know, just basic common sense, said Chin. And thats all. You dont need a lockdown. Reese believes theres no one-size-fits-all solution. Certain areas are structured differently or are more populated, so it would make more sense to quarantine selected areas, like San Francisco or Los Angeles, he said. On April 21, the City of Placerville announced its plan to send a letter to the governor requesting that he allow the city to reopen. The area has fewer COVID-19 cases than others, said the city officials, who asked for a balance between safety and economic recovery. Most who attended the rally didnt wear face coverings or stay six feet from one another. Police were there to regulate traffic and make sure everything was orderly. Some of them patrolled on horseback. The police didnt issue citations or make any arrests. MBABANE COVID-19 cases have jumped to 31 from a total of 24 that were confirmed on Monday. For the first time since the first case was recorded, the country pronounced an additional seven cases yesterday in 24 hours. This was announced by the Minister of Health, Lizzie Nkosi, during a press conference on the COVID-19 update at the Cabinet Offices. Nkosi said this was out of a total of 72 results received. Making a run down of the latest results, Nkosi said the 25th case was a 51-year-old male residing in the Manzini Region. He presented with mild illness and has been undergoing treatment in one of the private hospitals in the country. The patient has no history of travel or contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19. Further, Nkosi said the 26th case was that of a 29-year-old male residing in the Hhohho Region, who presented with mild symptoms of the disease. He has no history of travel but was a contact to confirmed COVID-19 case number 17. She added that the 27th case was that of a 28-year-old male residing in the Hhohho Region, who presented with no symptoms but tested as a contact with case number 17 and had no history of travel. Meanwhile, she noted that the 28th case was a 27-year-old female who resides in the Hhohho Region. She presented with a mild disease with no history of travel but was a contact to COVID-19 case number 21. Nkosi added that case number 29 was a 39-year old male who was a clinician, residing in the Manzini Region. He presented with mild symptoms which had subsequently improved while isolated. He was a contact to COVID-19 case number 30. The minister also noted that case number 30 was a 38-year-old female residing in the Manzini Region who presented with mild disease and was a contact to COVID-19 case number 29. Lastly, she mentioned that case number 31 was that of a 34-year-old male who lived in the Manzini Region. He presented with a mild disease. Nkosi also noted that contact tracing for all the confirmed cases had begun. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-23 00:06:16|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BERLIN, April 22 (Xinhua) -- A batch of medical supplies from China has been delivered to Germany's southwestern city of Heidelberg to help combat the coronavirus pandemic, according to a statement issued by the Chinese Embassy in Germany on Wednesday. The supplies, including 30,000 masks and 200 protective suits, were sent by Nanjing municipal government through a chartered plane, after Thomas Rabe, a doctor of the Heidelberg University School of Medicine in Germany, sought China's help. Rabe's family has an indissoluble bond with China. More than 80 years ago, during the Nanjing Massacre, his grandfather John Rabe, known as the "Oskar Schindler of China," formed the Nanjing Safety Zone with many international comrades, taking in and saving more than 200,000 Chinese lives. In a call to the Chinese embassy, Rabe said his family and the local hospitals were short of protective supplies. The Chinese embassy promptly took care of the customs clearance procedure and a working team delivered the supplies within one day on Tuesday after a 700-kilometer drive from Berlin, said a statement from the embassy. Rabe said the help from China during the raging pandemic made him realize that "China will never forget to give friends a helping hand." A representative for the mayor of Heidelberg said the city government will distribute the supplies to the medical staff fighting the epidemic as soon as possible to make the best use of them. Chinese Ambassador to Germany Wu Ken wrote Rabe a letter, expressing the hope that the medical supplies with the friendly feelings of the Chinese people can make a positive contribution to the city's fight against COVID-19. Enditem Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has slammed the Chinese Embassy after it claimed Peter Dutton was 'serving orders' from the US by criticising Beijing. Last week US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo demanded China 'come clean' after unsubstantiated reports that coronavirus may have originated in a lab in Wuhan. Home affairs minister Mr Dutton on Friday said China should 'answer those questions' before foreign affairs minister Marise Payne called for an inquiry. Chinese President Xi Jinping wears a mask in Shangluo City, northwest China's Shannxi Province, on April 20 A person wearing a face mask as a preventive measure against the spread of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus carries groceries in Wuhan on April 20 The Chinese Embassy in Canberra responded by accusing Mr Dutton of blindly following US orders to join a 'propaganda war' against China. A spokesman said Australian politicians were 'pitiful' and lacked independence. Mr Frydenberg today hit back. 'I think they're unwanted and unjustified comments,' he told ABC News on Wednesday Morning. But he was careful not to anger China, which is Australia's largest trading partner. 'We maintain a good relationship at the commercial level with China. They're our largest trading partner and we want that to continue,' he said. 'Many Australian livelihoods and many Australian jobs rely on those strong trading relationships with China. We don't want to move away from that.' 'We obviously have some differences from time to time on the political and strategic levels. But, like with many countries, we make those points clear. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg (left) has slammed the Chinese Embassy after it claimed Peter Dutton (right) was 'serving orders' from the US by criticising Beijing A Chinese academic has accused Australia of joining the US on a 'crusade' against China. Pictured: An employee spraying disinfectant at a factory in Wuhan on 25 March 'But ultimately Peter Dutton's role, the Prime Minister's role, my role, and all our colleagues' roles, is to defend the Australian national interest, and that's what we'll continue to do, and we'll speak up about it as required.' Despite praising Australia's trading relationship with China, Mr Frydenberg was unwilling to say that he trusted Beijing. 'I happily engage with China constructively... it's not a question of trusting them,' he said. On Tuesday Scott Morrison repeated calls for in independent inquiry into the origins of coronavirus. 'I think such an inquiry is important and we can respectively have a difference of view from the one that has been put forward by China,' he said. People crowd to buy meat and fish at Khlong Toei wet market in Thailand. The virus is thought to have begun in Wuhan's wet market and there are calls for wet markets to be banned Major air routes across the country could be grounded indefinitely as thousands of airport workers are set to be stood down following Virgin Australia's collapse. Australia's biggest aviation ground operation company Swissport is considering liquidating its assets and cutting staff - a move that could massively delay the restart of the industry after COVID-19. Executive vice-president Asia-Pacific Glenn Rutherford says the plight of Virgin Australia has had a knock-on effect on his company with the airline owing several million dollars in unpaid bills. Swissport is now looking at cutting up to 80 per cent of its workers, leaving 2,000 without a job. Swissport looks after ground services and cargo handling for domestic and international airlines at airports across the country meaning its shut down could massively impact the restart of the airline industry Virgin Australia on Tuesday announced it was going into voluntary administration to restructure after being hit by coronavirus crisis 'This will have a material impact when (the government) eventually turns the (aviation) industry back on,' Mr Rutherford told The Australian on Wednesday. 'As soon as they open the borders and gates, it may take months ... and all those skills and equipment will be gone. There will be a crisis in getting it back into operation.' Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Michael McCormack will consider a $125million bailout request from Swissport. 'I will seriously look at what they put in front of me ...I'm happy to talk to the company ...I understand what role they play,' he told The Australian. Swissport, which has more than 850 clients worldwide, looks after ground services and cargo handling for domestic and international airlines at airports across the country. Airlines such as Qantas, Virgin, Jetstar and Tigerair rely on the company for baggage loading, aircraft towing, as well as equipment such as stairs and container loaders. Major airlines such as Qantas, Virgin, Jetstar and Tigerair rely on the company for baggage loading, aircraft towing, as well as equipment such as stairs and container loaders Executive vice-president Asia-Pacific Glenn Rutherford says the plight of Virgin Australia has had a knock-on effect on his company Even if Australian airlines begin to resume operations after the coronavirus crisis is over, they will not be able to operate at a large scale because ground operations would be extremely limited. 'To start up again at small scale, one or two flights a day, is doable, but to do them in large scale of 20 to 30 a day, with a brand new group of people, is a hard task it would be an unacceptable risk,' Mr Rutherford said. 'We will still exist but we won't have the capacity to turn it back on any time quickly.' Mr Rutherford said it would likely take months or even years for the company to bounce back as it relies on highly skilled workers and specialised equipment. New Delhi, April 22 : The Indian Railways, which has been providing meals to people at over 300 locations across the country, here on Wednesday offered to provide 2.6 lakh meals to the district administrations, willing to pick cooked food, from its kitchens for Rs 15 per meal. A Railway Ministry spokesperson said it was important to take care and provide food to the vulnerable sections during the nationwide lockdown, extended till May 3. "The Railway Ministry has offered to supply 2.6 lakh meals daily from various railway kitchens, wherever the district administration is willing and able to pick up cooked meals and distribute among the needy," he said. The offer had been communicated to district authorities, he said and added, details of zone-wise kitchen in-charges had also been shared with the states. "The offer of 2.6 lakh meals per day is based on kitchen capacities of the earmarked initial locations. If the need arises, more such locations can be ramped up to boost the supply," he said. These meals would be available at the just cost basis at Rs 15 per meal, the payment settlement could be done by the state governments at later stage, he said. The railways' catering arm -- Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) -- has agreed to raise the number of cooked meals as per demand. "Nearly 100,000 free hot meals are already being distributed by the Indian Railways daily," he said, adding railway staff from a number of railway organisations have worked tirelessly since March 28, to provide meals to the needy during the lockdown. Railways has been providing bulk cooked food with paper plates for lunch and food packets for dinner through IRCTC base kitchens, RPF resources, commercial and other railway departments, and contribution of NGOs. Till date railways has provided over 20.5 lakh meals to the vulnerable, like stranded persons, daily wagers, migrants, children, coolies, homeless, the poor and many who form the floating population. Page Content Prime Minister and Chair of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Silveria Jacobs hereby updates the general public for today, Monday, April 21, 2020, as part of the process to keep the community of St. Maarten informed about the latest developments and the Governments COVID-19 containment, mitigation and response measures. COVID-19 Cases Based on the latest available data, as updated by CPS Epidemiologist Eva Lista-de Weever, the counts for April 21, 2020 as of 5:00 PM are as follows: Self-Quarantine: 130 Self-Isolation: 95 Number Hospitalized: 7 SMMC and 2 in the Mobile Medical Pavilion Number Tested: 258 o Number Positive: 71 Male: 49 Female: 21 o Number Negative: 141 o Number Pending: 45 o Inconclusive: 1 Deceased: 11 (1 person passed away at SMMC, sadly, during last night after a long battle in ICU) Recovered: 22 Active Cases: 38 As of today, April 21, 2020, SMMC currently has 9 COVID-19 suspected or confirmed patients admitted. Of the 9 patients, 2 are currently in the ICU and 2 are in care level 3/4 and in the Mobile Medical Pavilion. Today, SMMC also received a shipment of five ventilators from the Dutch Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Sports. The Government of St. Maarten is thankful for the grant of the ventilators provided for St. Maarten. Prime Minister Jacobs will update during the Council of Ministers press briefing on the details hereof. This morning, Prime Minister Jacobs had an opportunity to express her gratitude for the assistance provided during the weekly ministerial consultation with the Ministers of Health within the Dutch Kingdom. The Ministers gave updates on the current epidemiological and announced their intentions to look into de-escalating measures to return to some sort of normalcy and restart their economies. The meeting ended on a rather positive note as St. Maarten got confirmation that the 600 COVID-19 test kits that were delayed for a week due to logistical issues would be arriving this week, ensuring that CPS can continue to conduct their community outreach campaign for COVID-19 testing. This afternoon, Prime Minister Jacobs also held a strategic meeting with ESFs 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 and the Ministers of Justice, TEATT and VROMI in his capacity as Deputy Prime Minister. The Minister of VSA was unable to attend due to a scheduled Parliamentary meeting. ESF 6 coordinator for Public Health Fenna Arnell, gave updates in regard to Collective Prevention Services (CPS) community outreach campaign for COVID-19 testing. Reportedly, over 600 persons in more than 200 households were contacted in 3 districts, of which 9 were confirmed as showing symptoms and 6 were tested. CPS is however, concerned after evaluation of the numbers, that there may be a stigma in the community preventing persons from signaling if they have symptoms. Prime Minister Jacobs reminds all that there is absolutely no shame in knowing your status, as this is the only way to mitigate the spread of the virus. Knowledge is power, proper hygiene and isolation once identified as positive, and properly medicated to avoid severe symptoms that may be life threatening could save your own life, Jacobs stated. Prime Minister Jacobs further stated, Proposals will be made to the EOC in the upcoming meetings this week as we continue to assess the effect of measures taken as well as CPSs ability to carry out the necessary community outreach, testing, and mitigation of the spread of the virus on the ground. ESF 7 coordinator for Social Services and Community Development, Joy Arnell, reported that she had a fruitful meeting with the six organizations and NGOs that are out in the community delivering food as well as with the seven community councils and leaders. The delivery list was streamed lined by the organization, and the number of persons needing assistance with food has been brought down to about 3000. The food packages are also currently being packed and will be ready for distribution by Thursday, and will continue through Saturday, Sunday in collaboration with the Community Leaders. ESF 5 coordinator Police Chief Carl John reported that compliance by the general public is still going well and commends the public for their behavior. The Chief also reported that 177 fines were issued for non-compliance with measures implemented to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Some challenges did occur with the controls of the 2 zones, however as the days progress and people become accustomed, this will improve. ESF 10 coordinator and Secretary General of TEATT, Miguel de Weever reported that on Monday, despite the fact that the banks in Zone A were not open, causing more work for Police at control points, everything else went smoothly with the businesses that were open and delivery services continued. Additionally, discussions are being had with the Harbour and Airport regarding the plan to re-open St. Maarten for returning residents and visitors, and how this can be facilitated while safeguarding the safety of residents of St. Maarten as well as future returning and visiting tourists. Discussions also started related to the public holidays scheduled for next week, however, the decision will be made after further legal advice has been sought as to how to resolve it within the constraints of the current State of Emergency and its scheduled business openings, so that the employees still have an opportunity to rest and recover during the holidays. I urge and encourage the people of Soualiga to remain faithful. Continue to show that we are a strong, resilient, united and powerful people. This challenge will be overcome. This war will be won. Thank you to the people of St. Maarten. Thank you to all our front-liners. St. Maarten is blessed, concluded Prime Minister Jacobs. Nessel Files Lawsuit Challenging Trump Administration over New Energy Efficiency Obstacles Nessel Files Lawsuit Challenging Trump Administration over New Energy Efficiency Obstacles April 22, 2020 LANSING Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel recently joined a coalition of 14 attorneys general and the City of New York in filing a lawsuit in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals challenging the Department of Energys (DOE) revisions to its process rule, parts of which will ultimately reduce energy savings and increase pollutant emissions. Adopted in 1996, the rule ensures the DOE meets an Energy Policy Conservation Act (EPCA) mandate to create energy conservation standards that benefit the public in a timely manner. The DOE's recent revisions, however, create a number of roadblocks to the adoption of new standards and the review of existing standards. For example, the DOE imposes an unreasonably high threshold for energy efficiency savings effectively prohibiting the adoption of any standard that does not result in energy savings equivalent to powering eight million homes for an entire year. In the lawsuit, the coalition will argue that this threshold is impermissibly high and would result in the unnecessary loss of significant energy savings. Revisions to this process rule would make it much more difficult for the Department of Energy to create and impose energy efficiency standards, said Nessel. Establishing energy efficiency savings standards that encourage steady growth and investment in the environmental arena is working. The revisions to the DOEs process rule will eliminate the progress thats been made over the past several years. DOEs long-standing energy efficiency program has resulted in substantial economic and environmental benefits, with more than $2 trillion in projected consumer savings and 2.6 billion tons of avoided carbon dioxide emissions. DOE has achieved many of these benefits through rulemaking under the Process Rule. DOEs revisions now threaten that progress. DOE itself acknowledges that the higher threshold will reduce energy savings and increase GHG and pollutant emissions. Despite this, DOE unlawfully exempted its action from the environmental review required under the National Environmental Policy Act. In filing the lawsuit, Attorney General Nessel joined the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and the District of Columbia, as well as the City of New York. ### Ryan Jarvi 517-335-7666 Attorney General A certain Belgian F-16 fighter jet that was patrolling the Baltic region during Friday morning has just intercepted two different Russian Air Force fighter jets that were all flying over the US destroyer located off of the Lithuanian coast. A certain video was released by no other than NATO's Allied Air Command that was able to capture the Russian jets "maneuvering in international airspace" that was located over the USS Donald Cook, which is a United States destroyer that was deployed to the Baltic Sea ever since last April 11. The two fighter jets According to the air command's brief statement, the seen Belgian F-16 had been conducting a professional intercept and also left the scene, demonstrating that NATO still remains ready, vigilant, and also prepared to respond to any other potential threats. The USS Donald Cook has been deployed to the specific region with a certain focus on the regional stability as well as honing certain anti-submarine warfare capabilities located in the Atlantic, according to NATO. In addition to the USS Donald Cook itself, the USS porter has also been deployed back in April 13 for a sort of joint-exercise with the known Regina Maria, which is a Romanian frigate. According to Oana Lungescu who is a NATO spokesperson in his statement last April 17, these specific deployments actually show that NATO allies are all working closely with one another in order to ensure that the potential adversaries all do not exploit the situation to even further their interests. NATO on the move The members of NATO routinely rotate their own patrols located in the Baltic airspace. The United States military has also made note of the very recent provocations that were made by these Russian fighter jets. Back in April 8, the United States F-22 fighters had previously intercepted two different Russian IL-38, a specific maritime patrolling aircraft, which was seen entering the Bering Sea itself in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone. About a week later, an identified Russian Su-35 jet was seen buzzing a United States Navy P-8A Poseidon, which is an anti-submarine as well as anti-surface warfare aircraft, which was flying over the Mediterranean Sea. These Russian jets then flew an "inverted maneuver" just about 25 feet in front of the United States aircraft, these reports were given by the United States Naval Forces Europe-Africa. Read Also: [Breaking News] Poultry and Farm Products Fire Breaks in Licking County Ohio LIVE Now!! The crew aboard the P-8A The crew aboard the P-8A Poseidon had experienced some sort of "wake turbulence" during this specific encounter that even lasted 42 minutes long according to the Navy. On Sunday, there was another Su-35 fighter jet that had intercepted the United States Navy P-8A Poseidon that was positioned over the Mediterranean Sea in a quite similar fashion. Belgian jets have been able to intercept Russian aircrafts in the past. Back in 2019, some Belgian F-16s were suddenly scrambled to intercept two different Russian Tu-160 bombers that were actually accompanied by two different Sukhoi Su-27 located over the Baltic Sea. Read Also: Huawei's Founder Ren Zhengfei Says "I'm A Pupper Leader" Asking to Keep a Low Profile Despite Raging Popularity None of the accused arrested in connection with the incident is a Muslim Mumbai: Maharashtra Minister Anil Deshmukh on Wednesday said none of the 101 people arrested in connection with the Palghar lynching case is a Muslim, and accused the opposition of giving a communal colour over the incident. "None of the accused arrested in connection with the incident is a Muslim. It is unfortunate that communal politics is being played following the incident, Deshmukh said in his address via Facebook. Without naming anyone, he said, "Some people are seeing 'Mungerilal ke haseen sapne' (pipedream)...it is not the time to play politics, but fight coronavirus collectively." The incident took place on the night of April 16 when three men two seers and their driver were going from Mumbai in a car towards Surat in Gujarat to attend a funeral. Their vehicle was stopped near a village in Palghar district where the three were dragged out of the car and beaten to death with sticks by a mob on suspicion that they were child-lifters. The deceased were identified as Chikne Maharaj Kalpavrukshagiri (70), Sushilgiri Maharaj (35), and driver Nilesh Telgade (30). The Maharashtra government earlier ordered a high- level probe into the incident, and two policemen from Palghar were suspended on Monday for alleged dereliction of duty. The COVID-19 pandemic has left Vietnams textile and garment sector in deep trouble because of rising order cancellations and delays, but some producers have found a way around and been able to weather the storm. The pandemic has been a blow for domestic garment makers who had already been struggling to source materials elsewhere outside of China after Vietnams northern neighbour went into lockdown in late January. And now, just as things are beginning to return to normal in China, bigger problems have emerged as the disease has spread globally, hitting orders from key markets for Vietnam such as the US and Europe. The latest data revealed some unpleasant truths for the sector. It saw exports slide 9.07 percent year-on-year in the first quarter and imports, 16.59 percent. US and European buyers have suspended or cancelled orders since mid-March, according to the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex), one of the countrys biggest apparel makers. Falling exports slashed its Q1 revenue by 7 percent year-on-year. Demand has plunged in the US and Europe, where travel restrictions and social distancing orders have been put in place to stem the spread of the pandemic. Retail outlets are unlikely to reopen until early May at best, causing extended delays to existing orders while few new orders have been placed, Vinatexs Managing Director Cao Huu Hieu said. Most orders put on hold are for Spring and Summer clothing lines, he went on, while the pandemic is expected to be brought under control by Autumn at the earliest, making it highly likely these lines will be cancelled anyway. The Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) has forecast that Vietnams textile and garment exports may shrink 15 percent to 33 billion USD in 2020. Globally, orders are predicted to fall 29 percent over the course of the year. Despite its many and varied negative impacts, the pandemic is also presenting opportunities as local producers benefit from rising demand for medical masks both at home and abroad. Export orders are in the millions of USD, with the Garment 10 Corporation JSC being an example of an enterprise doing well in the current environment. It has received an order for 400 million medical masks worth 52 million USD, together with orders for 20 million cloth masks from a US partner and 2 million cloth masks and 6 million medical masks from a German partner. Capable of producing 90-100 million masks a month, Vinatex has been processing orders from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Canada, and the US for anti-droplet and anti-bacterial three-layer masks. Shifting from garments to masks allows the company to keep production going and pay its workers, Hieu said. He added that in order to export masks to the US and the EU, producers must obtain FDA and CE certification, respectively, which indicate that a product meets their safety, health, and environmental protection requirements. This can generate extra costs and take time to obtain, he warned./. VN textile and garment shares lose appeal Textile and garment companies are facing double problem: they find it difficult to import input materials and cannot export their goods. A group of Bay Area middle and high school students released a song Wednesday to call attention to the importance of combating climate change, even during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Students with the climate advocacy group Youth vs. Apocalypse released the song, titled "No One is Disposable," as a way to take action on Earth Day despite being stuck inside due to local and state shelter-in-place orders. The group also plans to hold an online climate strike and train activists how to express their opposition to the East Bay Community Energy Board of Directors' consideration of adding nuclear power to its energy portfolio. The EBCE board is expected to vote on the proposal when it meets at 5 p.m. Wednesday. "We're taking action online for Earth Day because having to be home doesn't mean that the fight for a livable future has ended," 15-year-old activist Lizbeth Ibarra said. "Especially now, it's important to emphasize that #NoOneIsDisposable because during this pandemic, it's become more clear how flawed and unjust our society is." The group plans to hold Earth Day-centric events through Friday to promote climate activism and discuss the ways in which the pandemic, climate change and issues of environmental justice are linked. "On this Earth Day I challenge you to stand up to those corrupt, money hungry, and exploitive corporations and ask your politicians to call upon a Green New Deal and use your voice to advocate for those that are labeled as 'disposable' because no one is disposable and neither is the place we call home," 14-year-old activist Elsis Saravia said. Information on Youth vs. Apocalypse can be found at youthvsapocalypse.org. 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. MOSCOW -- The U.S. ambassador to Russia has criticized what he calls the Russian governments lack of action to protect journalists who have received threats of retaliation from Russian officials or face criminal charges considered trumped up by their supporters. In an online briefing on April 22, Ambassador John J. Sullivan slammed extremism charges launched against Svetlana Prokopyeva, an RFE/RL contributor in Pskov, and threats issued by Chechnyas leader Ramzan Kadyrov against the broadcasters North Caucasus bureau chief, Aslan Doukaev, for an article challenging the Chechen authorities policies. He also denounced Kadyrovs threats against Elena Milashina, a journalist working for Novaya Gazeta who has written extensively and critically about the human rights situation in Chechnya. Both myself and our embassy team are following these cases very closely. Freedom of the press is the pillar of any democracy, said Sullivan, a former deputy secretary of state who took up his post in Moscow in January. Unfortunately freedom of the press is under pressure today in Russia, he added. The cases of the three journalists has highlighted issues around independent coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and its spread within Russia and its constituent republics, first and foremost the Republic of Chechnya. An article by Milashina was taken down last week following a request by Russia's media regulator, Roskomnadzor. The move came after Kadyrov labeled as "absurd" the article about measures introduced to tackle the coronavirus in Chechnya, and threatened to harm Milashina. Germany and France echoed the United States concern over reported death threats against Milishina, who won the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law in 2017 for her important and courageous work. Threats made by state officials are entirely unacceptable and contravene all forms of the rule of law, French Human Rights Ambassador Francois Croquette and German Commissioner for Human Rights Policy Barbel Kofler said in a joint statement. Sullivan cited a disturbing trend in Russia's media environment, singling out the charges against Prokopyeva as egregious and arguing that she deserves the dignity and respect that a member of the press serving in difficult circumstances has earned. Prokopyeva is awaiting trial on extremism charges for remarks she made about a November 2018 bomb attack on the offices of Russias Federal Security Services in Arkhangelsk. Last month, RFE/RL President Jamie Fly called Prokopyeva's indictment "a cynical effort to silence an independent journalist." Weve raised these issues with the Russian government and unfortunately, to date, Russian federal authorities have taken no action to address them, Sullivan said. So its appropriate for us to continue to do so, and we will, he added. U.S. Citizen Accused Of Espionage Sullivan also commented on the ongoing trial against Paul Whelan, a U.S. citizen accused by Russia of espionage. The ambassador said he was denied entry to a closed-door hearing on Whelans case held on April 20, despite being able in the past to engage the judge overseeing the case and speak with Whelan himself on at least one previous occasion. Whelan, a former U.S. marine who also holds Canadian, Irish, and British citizenships, was charged with spying after security agents arrested him in a December 2018 sting operation, claiming that a flash drive they seized contained state secrets. He denies the charges calling them political in nature and has alleged being mistreated by guards. He is foremost in my thoughts every day as I continue my services as ambassador, Sullivan said of Whelan, who faces up to 20 years in prison. Along with other Americans who have been detained, he added. Addressing the business climate for American citizens in Russia, Sullivan cited the case of U.S. investor Michael Calvey, who was detained in Moscow last February along with several other executives and employees of his Russia-based private-equity group, Baring Vostok, on charges of financial fraud. Sullivan said he will continue to engage the U.S. business community, but cases like Calvey's will have to be resolved before bilateral trade can significantly increase. Its become clear to me in my engagement with U.S. businesses active here in Russia that its going to be difficult to continue that type of dialogue as long as someone as prominent in the U.S. business community as Michael Calvey remains under house arrest in Russia, Sullivan said. The criminalization of business disputes casts a serious pall over the investment and business climate in Russia, he added. With the coronavirus pandemic only deepening in both countries, Sullivan estimated that several hundred American citizens currently in Russia are being assisted in their efforts to return to the United States. But a dearth of commercial flights in Russia makes it difficult for Americans outside Moscow to reach the Russian capital at short notice ahead of outbound flights from Sheremetyevo Airport. Commenting on aid packages supplied by Russia to the U.S., and U.S. President Donald Trumps suggestion that the United States could reciprocate with its own shipment to Russia, Sullivan said plans are ongoing for further medical assistance between the two countries. Both countries have provided assistance to each other in times of crisis, and are committed to doing so again in the future, he said. SAN ANTONIO, Texas, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Coviant Software, an award-winning provider of Managed File Transfer software that provides an easy way to manage, automate, integrate and audit file transfers whilst maintaining the highest levels of security and compliance, will provide free software to healthcare, government, and manufacturing organizations. "When we saw that our healthcare customers were using Diplomat MFT for file transfer processes that help in our shared fight against COVID-19, we knew that we wanted to help other such organizations," says Greg Hoffer, CEO of Coviant Software. "We are delighted to offer a free 6-month license to any such organization, which includes full product support to assist in setting up and operating the solution." Coviant Diplomat MFT easily automates secure file transfer processes with monitoring, auditing, and alerting to ensure security and compliance. A Diplomat MFT customer in the healthcare field, a Boston-based non-profit hospital and physician's network, recently solved a file transfer problem related to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Their IT team turned to Diplomat MFT to automate the download and ingestion of COVID-19 daily reports provided by Johns Hopkins CSSE and hosted on GitHub. This important data process took just a few minutes to set up as a regularly scheduled file transfer, and now enjoys all the benefits afforded by Diplomat MFT. Many other organizations on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19 may have similar requirements or could benefit from the automation of file transfers to increase operational efficiency. Coviant Diplomat MFT is a cross-platform software solution that runs on-premises, in the cloud, or in a hybrid deployment. It takes less than an hour for customers to install and configure the solution for their first automated file transfer. If you are interested in obtaining a free license of Diplomat MFT, you can visit us at https://www.coviantsoftware.com/contact, send an email to [email protected], or call us at 781-210-3310 x100. About Coviant Software Coviant Software has been delivering secure file transfer automation solutions since 2004, used by hundreds of businesses in Healthcare, Financial Services, Manufacturing, and more. In January 2019, the prominent MFT executive, Greg Hoffer, became CEO and has led the solution to meet the business and technology needs of an increasingly interconnected global marketplace. Coviant is the winner of multiple industry awards for the effectiveness and value of its Diplomat MFT product. For more information, visit https://www.coviantsoftware.com Contact: Gregory Hoffer Coviant Software LLC 781-210-3310 x720 [email protected] SOURCE Coviant Software Related Links https://www.coviantsoftware.com The Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, Rt Rev Andrew Forster, and the Bishop of Derry, Most Rev Dr Donal McKeown, have urged the Northern Ireland Executive to reconsider the decision to close all cemeteries during the COVID-19 emergency. Bishop Forster has pointed to what he called the mixed signals in the emergency legislation passed last month which allows public parks to remain open but forces cemeteries to close. Were literally standing on holy ground when were talking about this issue, Bishop Forster said, because cemeteries are a place of memory, theyre a place of grief, theyre also a place of hope and resolution as well. Cemeteries were places where people tended to go in their ones and twos, the Bishop said yesterday. Weve seen a lot of wisdom in how citizens have responded to the COVID-19 crisis and Id love the Executive to look at it again. Bishop McKeown said cemeteries were still open in the Republic and in Britain, and hes hoping for a change of heart by the Northern Ireland Executive. I think its a very difficult area, he said. I appreciate the politicians are struggling to get things right here, but we really would like to get some sense of logic from them as to their motivation for having this particular legislation. Bishop McKeown said the governments had worked very hard to cover the whole area of the economy and health, but huge weight had also to be given to the emotional and spiritual needs of people, particularly at a time of bereavement, and especially in the current circumstances Motorola will be announcing the Motorola Edge and Motorola Edge+ flagship smartphones at an online event on April 22, 12PM ET. Motorola is gearing up for an online event to launch its new flagship smartphone on Wednesday, April 22. Motorola sent out invites to an online-only event that is scheduled at 12PM ET (9:30 PM IST) where the Lenovo-owned phone maker is expected to unveil the Motorola Edge and Motorola Edge Plus, which have been doing the rumour rounds for quite some time now. The launch comes hot on the heels of Motorola launching two budget smartphones - The Moto G Stylus and Moto G Power in the US. When is the Motorola Edge online event? The Motorola Edge and Motorola Edge+ are expected to launch via an online-only event scheduled for 12PM ET which means in India, you can watch the stream from 9:30 PM IST onward. Where can I watch the Motorola Edge launch event? Motorola will be streaming the event on its social channels across YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Theres also a link to the Motorola blog which will also host the live stream. You can get a calendar notification for the event by clicking here. Motorola Edge, Motorola Edge+ rumoured specs, features and price Motorola was supposed to launch its flagship smartphone at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year. The company had sent out invites to publications heading to Spain to attend the conference but the COVID-19 outbreak led MWC to be scrapped. Since then, there has been a flood of leaks including hands-on photos and videos that gave us a good idea about what the flagships may offer. The latest report states the Motorola Edge Plus will feature the Snapdragon 865 (that ticks off 5G support), a 5,000mAh battery with up to 12GB RAM. You can expect sharply curved edges going by the teaser video released by Motorola. The display itself is expected to be quite big at 6.7-inches. On the back, the Edge Plus is rumoured to pack a 108MP main camera along with wide-angle and telephoto lenses in tow. Leakster Evan Blass also came out with leaked renders of the flagship smartphone that showed a punch-hole selfie camera and a headphone jack. The base variant named Motorola Edge is expected to be powered by the Snapdragon 765, the mid-range 5G SoC Qualcomm launched last year and could be offered in a 6GB RAM variant. While all this is certainly exciting, it remains to be seen when these smartphones will be coming to India. After the Moto Z Force, the company stopped launching flagships in India. The Moto Razr that costs above a lakh can be an outlier. An apartment building in Hanoi is festooned with red national flags on April 19, 2020. Photo courtesy of Prabu Mohan. A photo capturing a Hanoi apartment block festooned in red flags to support Vietnams Covid-19 fight and those on the frontline, has gone viral. The image, shot by Indian lecturer Prabu Mohan last Sunday, was posted on the Facebook community Hanoi Massive, frequented by 136,000 expat and local netizens living in the capital. Over a hundred Vietnamese flags were hung from the balconies of an apartment building on Tam Trinh Street in Hoang Mai District, garnering thousands of Facebook likes and shares. "One of the ways to show your support in difficult times," Mohan wrote in the caption. The photographer said he took the photo when he went out for groceries last week. "It was quite beautiful to see, though I did not understand the meaning," Mohan said, who has been in Vietnam for nine years. "One of my Vietnamese friends told me Hanoians hung up flags to support the Covid-19 fight as well as frontline personnel," he added. Thousands of Vietnamese doctors and medics have been working day and night to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. Nguyen Van Hoan, a resident living in the apartment building, said they have hung Vietnamese national flags for days as a way to show support and solidarity with the country in the Covid-19 battle. Vietnam has gone six days straight without recording any new Covid-19 infection, keeping its tally at 268 since Thursday morning. Of these, 223, including the latest discharge, have made full recoveries. A police officer was allegedly attacked in Madhya Pradesh's Sheopur district on Wednesday when he asked members of a family to produce a man so that he could be checked up for coronavirus symptoms. Sub-inspector Shreeram Awasthi (52) sustained a head injury when a stone hit him, the police said. Sub Divisional Officer of Police Virendra Kushwaha said a medical team went to examine Gopal Shivhare (21) after it learnt that he had returned from Indore, one of the major pandemic hotspots in the country. Gopal's father Gangaram told the team that his son was not at home and he was fine. He refused to summon his son. Team leader Dr Pawan Upadhyaya then rang up Daswami police station for help, Kushwaha said. SI Shreeram Awasthi reached the spot with three policemen and asked Gangaram to bring his son for examination to Daswani, 140 km from the district headquarters, the SDOP said. There was an altercation, and Gangaram, his wife Geeta and their elder son Ashish allegedly hurled stones at the police. Awasthi was hit in the head leaving him profusely bleeding, the officer said. He was rushed to a hospital while four people including Gopal were booked under relevant sections of the IPC, Kushwaha said, adding that further probe was on. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) WASHINGTON - Damon West was hoping the government's coronavirus rescue package for small business owners would help replace the income he's lost now that he can't travel the country as a keynote speaker. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 21/4/2020 (630 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Shown is a portion of a Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program Borrower Application Form, Tuesday, April 21, 2020 in Washington. The Paycheck Protection was supposed to be a lifeline for small businesses, helping them stay afloat and keep their employees on the payroll during the coronavirus pandemic. But guidelines from the Small Business Administration say that businesses are ineligible if someone who owns at least 20 percent of the company is incarcerated, under indictment, on probation or parole or had been convicted of a felony within the last five years. Ineligible would-be applicants and advocates say the restrictions are a slap in the face for those who have served their time, especially from an administration that has trumpeted second chances. (AP Photo/Wayne Partlow) WASHINGTON - Damon West was hoping the government's coronavirus rescue package for small business owners would help replace the income he's lost now that he can't travel the country as a keynote speaker. But then he got a call from his accountant. A question on the application form asked whether, within the last 5 years, he had been convicted of or pleaded guilty or no contest to a felony or been placed on any form of parole or probation." Another asked whether anyone who owns at least 20% of the company was incarcerated, under indictment, on probation or parole. If so, they are ineligible. It was a gut punch for West. In 2009, he was sentenced to life in prison but made parole in 2015 and now works as an author, teacher and speaker, visiting schools and correctional facilities to talk about how he turned his life around. You go and you pay your debt and youre still paying your bill, he said. The Paycheck Protection Program, which already doled out $350 billion and is now awaiting another cash infusion, is supposed to be a lifeline for businesses teetering on the edge, helping them stay afloat and keep their employees on the payroll during the pandemic. Independent contractors and those who are self-employed also qualify. But not, it turns out, if they have had certain run-ins with the law. The Small Business Administration, which oversees the program, did not respond to questions about why the exclusions had been added. But ineligible would-be applicants and their advocates say the restrictions are a slap in the face for those who have served their time, especially from an administration that has trumpeted second chances. They note many businesses run by formerly incarcerated people employ other people with criminal records who could be driven back to crime if they lose jobs. Robert Rooks, co-founder of the Alliance for Safety and Justice, a national criminal justice reform organization, said he'd heard from multiple small business owners frustrated by the provision. I'm hearing that people have worked their entire life to get to this place where they have something they can call their own. Theyve paid their debt to society, clawed their way to this point, and should be able to get what everybody else is able to get to keep their business afloat," he said. Many people with felony convictions, he noted, have been forced to start their own businesses and become entrepreneurs because it's so hard to get hired with a record. For West, who lives in southeast Texas and describes himself as the poster child of someone who reformed their life after years in prison for organizing dozens of burglaries, the restriction felt kind of like a kick in the gut, a punch in the gut," especially given the administration's talk of second chances. If this administration truly feels like those that have done their time should have a second chance, those that have paid their debt should get a second chance," then the rule doesn't make sense, he said. President Donald Trump achieved a rare bipartisan victory in 2018 when he signed criminal justice reform legislation called the First Step Act. He has since highlighted efforts to help formerly incarcerated people find jobs and talked about helping the forgotten" men and women. His campaign spent millions on a Super Bowl ad that featured the story of Alice Marie Johnson, a nonviolent drug offender whose life sentence Trump commuted after reality TV star Kim Kardashian West championed her case. The ad showed footage of the emotional moment when Johnson was released from prison and reunited with her family. Thanks to President Trump, people like Alice are getting a second chance, the ad said. Johnson said in an interview Monday that she was aware of the small business rule and and that she and others had succeeded in getting the administration to exempt those with misdemeanour records and to shorten the time frame for convictions from seven to five years. I'm so sorry for the small business owners," she said, blaming the speed with which the program had been pulled together. Its really heartbreaking that this couldnt have been fixed. ... We are ringing this bell of what is going on. I want you to know that we are not being silent on this. Trump appeared unaware of the provision when he was asked about it during his daily briefing on Monday. Id like to look into that, he told a reporter. Advocates like Mark Holden from the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity have also been making calls and sending letters to the president, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and the Small Business Administration urging them to amend the policy as they finalize a package to give the program another cash infusion. Stay informed The latest updates on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 delivered to your inbox every weeknight. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Holly Harris, executive director of the Justice Action Network, said her group had been reaching out to Republicans on Capitol Hill to try to get their support. It's just absurd to cripple people who have done everything youve asked of them," she said, adding that the issue was also a matter of public safety. When people can't work, what do these geniuses who wrote this language think they're going to do? They're going to return to crime, return to addiction, all the things they've done the hard work to get away from." That thought is seconded by Shon Hopwood, a professor at Georgetown law school who began his legal career in federal prison writing briefs for other prisoners. The federal government has made a decision that they're unworthy of assistance," he said. If they get out and feel, Im never gong to get a shot at real life again,' thats usually when they get back to the things they know." ___ Associated Press writer Michael Balsamo contributed to this report. In a bid to cross the interstate border between Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, guarded heavily due to the lockdown provisions, stranded people are using ambulances to dodge the police, said state officials. Four such cases have been reported in the Kumaon region so far. Police have not only lodged cases against the accused but also put them under quarantine in Udham Singh Nagar district. These stranded people are hiring ambulances while crossing the border in a bid to dodge the police. Four such incidents have been reported in US Nagar since the lockdown was imposed in the state on March 23, an official said. The latest incident was reported in Kashipur on Tuesday, where six persons including three women were found to have entered the state in an ambulance, intercepted later by the police. When the police asked the commuters for relevant permission, the driver failed to produce the document. Police took them to LD Bhatt hospital in Kashipur for quarantining, an official said. The HT Guide to Coronavirus COVID-19 One of the members of the family said they had gone to Delhi for the delivery of a child but were stuck there due to the lockdown. Since there was no public transport available along with a ban on traveling, the family hired an ambulance to dodge the police in a bid to return to their home in Uttarakhand, police said. Kashipur police also came across a similar case on Monday, when a person from Bansphodan Colony travelled to Delhi in an ambulance and also used it to bring back his wife and a child, who were stuck in Delhi. Police have lodged an FIR against him and the ambulance driver. For Coronavirus Live Updates We have booked the accused and the driver of the ambulance for violating the lockdown. The family of the accused has been isolated in the nearby hospital and a case has been registered against the accused and the driver, said Rajesh Bhatt, additional superintendent of police (ASP), Kashipur A month ago, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston was in trouble. The Italian supplier of swabs for coronavirus tests had been forced to halt shipments. The hospital was unable to reach a deal with another supplier, Puritan Medical Products in Maine, that was struggling with surging demand. Doctors had barely a week's worth of supply left of the crucial swabs. So Ramy Arnaout, a 43-year-old pathologist, put out calls for help. Among others, he contacted old classmates from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Twenty-two frantic days later, four prototypes were clinically validated. Now hundreds of thousands of these swabs - called nasopharyngeal swabs because they reach deep into nasal passages - are being churned out each day with the help of 3-D printers. By next week, production should be up to more than a million swabs every day, Arnaout said. The scarcity of swabs has helped to hobble coronavirus testing in the United States. But that gap in the supply chain is starting to be filled by private ad hoc efforts, 3-D printing and do-it-yourself ingenuity. Tech executives, start-up founders, factory owners and engineers have applied a hacker mentality to get testing and other vital parts of the national response working more smoothly. More than 100 brewers and distillers began manufacturing alcohol-based hand sanitizer after consumers and businesses plowed through inventories. Tech workers have built online platforms to help hospitals vet the new gray market of Chinese test suppliers. And teenagers started turning out face shields for medical workers on 3-D printers. But few efforts have moved more swiftly, more collaboratively and - so far, it seems - more successfully than the quest to produce the nasopharyngeal swab, a sterile disposable medical device sometimes mistaken for its low-tech, cotton-topped cousin, the Q-Tip. "The big thing was, we were able to get from the identification of swab shortages to the first clinically validated high-quality 3-D manufacturing in 22 days," Arnaout said. "That wasn't an accident." In some cases, each swab prototype underwent 20 design iterations - and all of them were posted online. "We ran a radically open and transparent process," he said. The Food and Drug Administration does not require specific approval for swabs, but Beth Israel Deaconess and manufacturers have asked the FDA to grant their designs emergency use authorizations in order to qualify for federal contracts. The breakthrough on the mundane-sounding swabs is critical. Three months into the covid-19 crisis, bottlenecks in the supply chain have been slowing down testing, limiting the identification of carriers of the disease and hampering the public health response. Perhaps no item has been in shorter supply than the specialized swabs - a 15-centimeter (nearly six-inch) nylon-based stick, three millimeters wide and a little narrower at the flexible neck, coated with material called flock and a glue that work together to effectively collect the virus from far up in the upper respiratory passage. "A nasopharyngeal swab not a joke. It goes about four inches into your head," Arnaout said. "It has to be thin, long and flexible enough to get around the nasal anatomy but it has to be stiff enough that you can twirl it to pick up nasal secretions you're going to do testing on. They tell us in medical school that if the patient isn't complaining, then you're not doing it right." Now individual hospitals and companies, having given up on a coordinated national strategy, are pursuing their own solutions and winning regulatory approvals needed to manufacture and use on a massive scale. And many of them - using 3-D printing - are finding ways around the traditional swabs made mostly by Puritan and Copan, the Italian manufacturer. EnvisionTEC, a maker of 3-D printers in Dearborn, Michigan, since 2002, is one of the four new manufacturers working with Beth Israel Deaconess. It began producing nasopharyngeal swabs for covid-19 testing last week, after making 17 changes to its initial design. The company is teaming up with a network of 500 affiliated medical labs that already use EnvisionTEC printers to make medical devices such as dentures and mouth guards. They are now making 200,000 testing swabs a day and have the capacity to make 1 million a day, said chief executive Al Siblani. Siblani said those labs had largely sent home their employees during the pandemic because their work had been deemed "nonessential." They are gradually returning, he said, to make testing swabs on 3-D printers already designed to make safe, medical-grade products. "All these dental labs, we are turning back on and bringing people back to work," Siblani said. Siblani, 50, who immigrated to Michigan from Lebanon as a teenager, has worked on the swab project while recovering from covid-19. He believes he contracted the coronavirus in March, while installing equipment at a nearby hospital. His fever peaked at 102, with a persistent dry cough, but he kept working from an apartment he rented to avoid infecting his family. Siblani called the illness harrowing because of the anxiety caused by the lack of a known cure for covid-19. The swab project kept him focused as he recovered after about a week. "It was a personal mission as much as it was a business decision," he said. Siblani has been in contact with Vice President Mike Pence's office in hopes of getting federal funding through the Defense Production Act to produce more swabs faster. In addition to the network of labs with EnvisionTEC printers, the company has more than 100 printers at its facility in Dearborn and can produce five more printers each day, with each machine capable of producing 100 swabs per hour, 24 hours a day. If the funding comes through, Siblani predicts his company and its affiliated labs could make 1.5 million testing swabs a day. He said the swab consortium already is poised to make 4 million to 5 million a day. The White House already has said it will use the Defense Production Act to help Puritan Medical Products, one of the few traditional manufacturers of testing swabs in the United States, substantially expand its capacity and open a second manufacturing facility near its headquarters in Guilford, Maine. Puritan, a century-old family business that has its roots in making toothpicks and Popsicle sticks, has long been a leading source of medical testing products, much of the wood coming from the abundant timber sources in central Maine. The new facility, which could open next month, will be designed to make 20 million testing swabs a month with the potential to add more. "We're proud to be in the fight to produce the products to help defeat this crisis," said Timothy Templet, executive vice president of global sales, whose grandfather founded the business that now employs 550. Money provided through the Defense Production Act - Templet declined to disclose how much - is making possible the new facility, including the manufacturing equipment. Puritan shipped 1.5 million swabs for covid-19 testing this week, including 450,000 to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for distribution to various states. Although Puritan is the leading U.S.-based maker of diagnostic swabs, Templet said he was not surprised that other companies are getting into the business at a time of global crisis. "This isn't going away," he said. "We make diagnostic swabs. That's what we do." In the Beth Israel consortium, Carbon, a maker of 3-D printers, has teamed up with Resolution Medical, a Minneapolis-based maker of medical devices, to produce nasopharyngeal swabs. Medical experts, including members of a Stanford Health Care task force, helped develop that swab model using material ordinarily used for dental implants. "The idea captured our imagination," so Stanford fast-tracked its own study of the swab prototype, said Sridhar Seshadri, vice president of cancer, cardiovascular, radiology and transplant for Stanford Health Care. "This is going into somebody's nostrils, so you have to be super safe." When the task force tried to sterilize the first batch of swabs from Resolution Medical, disaster struck. The sample swabs came out of the autoclave, a machine that sterilizes medical equipment with heat, visibly bent. The task force sent a photo of the results and soon learned that 3-D-printed swabs have to be inserted into autoclaves horizontally or they can melt. "Then it was nail-biting for a few hours to see if the swabs came out right the next round, and they did," Seshadri said. Resolution Medical is now producing 100,000 this week using Carbon's 3-D printers and is planning to expand capacity to more than 1 million in future weeks. Arnaout said that one advantage of having an array of swab makers is that if one has a supply problem, the entire chain is less likely to break down. HP, formerly known as Hewlett-Packard, learned of Beth Israel Deaconess's plight because Annette Friskopp, global head and general manager of HP Specialty Printing Systems, had worked with hospital leaders. She and Lihua Zhao, head of the 3-D lab at HP Labs, coordinated the push for a new swab. A research and development lab in San Diego, one of three that HP has worldwide, was redirected to solve the problem. "Within 48 hours, we had designed, printed, and shipped the prototypes for testing," Zhao said in an email. Unlike the other prototype makers, though, HP isn't going to manufacture them itself. It is in late-stage talks with its partners and customers for them to start making the swabs. Arnaout at Beth Israel said the hospital has been working to iron out other supply shortages. At one point, it looked as though the hospital would run out of 15 milliliter vials used to put samples into chemical solutions. The fluid recipe was online. And when the hospital ran out of the vials, it found other tubes the same size. Hospital volunteers began making them "to the tune of thousands of tubes a week," Arnaout said. "We turned into a little factory here at Beth Israel." Another of the new swab producers is Origin, a San Francisco-based company providing software engineering to users of 3-D printers, among other things. But when city residents were ordered to stay home, Origin's 40 employees, deemed nonessential, turned to solving supply problems, in one case adapting snorkeling masks and filters to protect health workers. When it learned about the Boston hospital's quest, the firm jumped in. Now, a month later, it has become a medical device manufacturer that has passed a clinical trial test and is regulated by the FDA. Instead of delivering some 3-D printers to customers, Origin is using them to make swabs. Soon it will be producing more than a million a week. "If you told me a month ago that this is what our company would be doing and this is where we'd be, I'd have thought you were crazy," said Chris Prucha, the Michigan-born chief executive of Origin. "But here we are." (Natural News) The Switzerland-based International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has warned on Thursday that outbreaks of COVID-19 across conflict zones in the Middle East could cause massive upheaval in the already unstable region. Millions of people in the Middle East live across multiple conflict zones; millions more are refugees or internally displaced persons fleeing from war. They are all destitute and living under uncertain conditions. If a massive COVID-19 outbreak were to come to Syria, Iraq or Yemen, for example, it could fuel dangerous socioeconomic upheaval. The Red Cross has called for authorities all over the Middle East to prepare for the socioeconomic earthquake that will come once coronavirus starts spreading like wildfire across the more unstable parts of the Middle East. The Middle East is today facing the twin threats of potential mass virus outbreaks in conflict zones and looming socioeconomic upheaval, said Fabrizio Carboni, Near and Middle East Director for the ICRC, in a statement. Both crises could have severe humanitarian consequences. In an interview, Carboni told reporters that the aftermath of COVID-19 wreaking havoc upon the Middle East could be worse than the pandemic itself because countries in the region will have to deal with the socioeconomic fallout. And its really scary, said Carboni. Middle Easts coronavirus curve unlikely to flatten anytime soon As of press time, the most affected country in the Middle East is Iran, with over 82,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and over 5,000 deaths. This is followed by Saudi Arabia, with 9,362 cases, the United Arab Emirates with 6,781 and Qatar with 5,448. The most unstable countries in the Middle East are still lagging behind, but this may be due to lack of testing capabilities. The number of laboratory-confirmed cases might be far less than the actual number of cases due to limited testing capacities in some countries, said Ahmed Al-Mandhari, the World Health Organizations regional director for the eastern Mediterranean. Taking all these points into account, it is still too early to expect the case curve to flatten. We must be ready for all scenarios, and member states should always plan for the worst-case scenario. Are Iraqs coronavirus fatality figures accurate? Reuters reported they were much higher, then had its licence suspended. President @BarhamSalih says there was no falsification of records, but that "Im working together with our legal team in order to revoke [the suspension]. pic.twitter.com/ibBUtJwZlw Christiane Amanpour (@camanpour) April 14, 2020 In Iraq, which currently has 1,513 confirmed cases and 82 deaths, authorities have suspended the license of news agency Reuters due to clashes over a story they published, which states that the number of COVID-19 cases in the country is much higher than what is being officially reported, despite the fact that the news agencys report cited three doctors working in or involved with the countrys testing facilities. Government officials have suspended Reuters for three months and ordered them to issue a formal apology. Red Cross aid to the Middle East hampered by active conflicts Yemen's misery seems endless. The country is already being ravaged by foreign forces. And now, the threat of #coronavirus looms large. It's an existential threat that no one truly cares about! @OSE_Yemen pic.twitter.com/a4J9rgOI1p Yemen Matters (@YemenMatters_) April 11, 2020 Yemen, which is also going through a civil war, confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on April 10. The six-year long civil war has all but decimated the countrys healthcare system, and experts have stated that the virus will further complicate an already disastrous humanitarian crisis in the country. The ICRC said that half of the countrys health facilities are out of order, and the constantly shifting frontlines of the conflict are making it difficult for nonprofits to provide aid for the country. Carboni noted that despite the fact that they were trying to support many of the countrys hospitals, the very active violence and conflict has made it impossible to supply ventilators or intensive care units for critical patients. Fortunately, Saudi Arabia and its allies have called for a unilateral ceasefire, which will last for two weeks, to help the Saudis combat their COVID-19 crisis. Thousands of tents, millions of displaced people, and #coronavirus looms at their doors. This is the horrific reality of the northern #Syria after months of regime and Russian military campaigns against the Syrian people. pic.twitter.com/Hr3NUt45WZ The White Helmets (@SyriaCivilDef) April 16, 2020 When news broke of Syrias first case of COVID-19 on March 14, the government initially denied it despite taking broad steps to prevent the spread of the virus, such as delaying elections, shutting down schools and canceling most public events in the country. Syria has millions of internally displaced persons living in crowded and unsanitary conditions in refugee camps all over the country. Experts rightly believe that an outbreak of COVID-19 in the area would make things exponentially worse for the people living there, especially since the countrys healthcare system is already in ruins and the country has an ongoing conflict with Turkish-backed rebels in its northwest and northeast regions. Carboni said that the ICRC has been able to provide Syria with hygiene kits and protective equipment, mostly for its 10 central prisons where overcrowding and unsanitary conditions make the possibility of an outbreak extremely likely. Carboni has said that the 10-year long conflict in the country has weakened its collective response to COVID-19, despite the fact that over a third of the ICRCs regional budget for the Middle East is geared toward providing even more aid to the war-torn nation. Carboni has said that millions of people in Syria are dependent on aid from nonprofits like the ICRC. It is true in Syria but its true in many countries affected by conflict, you need to work on both sides the COVID emergency and the humanitarian crisis. Sources include: News.Trust.org Coronavirus.JHU.edu AlJazeera.com 1 TheGuardian.com BBC.com 1 AlJazeera.com 2 BBC.com 2 Reuters.com 1 Reuters.com 2 Former Vice President Joe Biden, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, speaks during a virtual press briefing on a smartphone in this arranged photograph in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., on Wednesday, March 25, 2020. Joe Biden's campaign has signaled to allies that a tech company founded by billionaire former presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg is one of the firms it is considering hiring as it ramps up for the general election against President Donald Trump. Biden's team has been in touch with multiple firms that specialize in crafting digital ads and online messaging campaigns, according to people familiar with the matter. Bloomberg's company Hawkfish, however, is one of at least three firms that are at the top of the campaign's list to work as its main digital ad agency, these people added. Hawkfish played the same role for Bloomberg's presidential campaign. The people declined to be named as these discussions were conducted in private. Bully Pulpit Interactive, founded by Obama inaugural digital director Andrew Bleeker, and Precision Strategies, a firm that was co-founded by Biden campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon, are the other firms holding talks with Biden's organization, one of the people added. Records show that Biden's campaign has worked with two other digital teams: Civis Analytics and Blue State Digital. The effort by Biden's campaign to start beefing up its digital team comes after its operations were forced to go virtual as the coronavirus spreads. Trump's team, meanwhile, has been preparing to fight the eventual Democratic nominee on the digital front for years. The short list could indicate that Biden's team may be considering hiring various groups instead of signing a contract with one organization. Bully Pulpit is a communications and digital advertising firm that helped President Barack Obama's reelection bid in 2012. The firm also worked with Hillary Clinton's team during her campaign against Trump. Precision Strategies helped Obama's campaign with data and analytics when he was fighting for reelection, and it also assisted Priorities USA, the Democratic Party's biggest super PAC, with digital advertising during the buildup to the 2018 congressional midterms. Democrats won back the majority in the House that year. O'Malley Dillon, Precision's co-founder, was a deputy campaign manager for Obama's reelection bid. A spokesman for Biden and representatives for all the firms mentioned in this story who have recently been in touch with the campaign did not return requests for comment. The developments come after Politico reported that there is a battle going on within the Biden campaign about whether or not to hire Bloomberg's tech firm and instead focus on building out the digital team from within. Progressives have publicly ripped the idea of Hawkfish joining Biden's ranks. Tim Tagaris, an advisor to Sen. Bernie Sanders, tweeted his displeasure with the idea on Wednesday. "Hiring Hawkfish to run its digital efforts would be a huge mistake by the Biden campaign. Lot of talented people coming off well-run digital operations: fundraising, video, social media, ads, organizing, data and more that are far better than Bloomberg's crew was. Hire them," he said. The Intercept has reported that Biden's campaign is holding contract negotiations with Hawkfish. Hawkfish was created by Bloomberg in 2019 and later became the primary digital ad agency and technology services provider for his presidential run. It was responsible for the campaign's content creation, a Bloomberg aide previously told CNBC. The campaign, however, did not generate as much electoral success as it did online buzz. Bloomberg, who has a net worth of just over $54 billion, invested nearly $1 billion of his own money into his run, but he only amassed 55 delegates, including a victory in the American Samoa caucuses on Super Tuesday. His campaign spent $45 million on Hawkfish's services and, weeks after he dropped out, he spent over $20 million on the company for "digital consulting." Bloomberg's digital strategy included the crafting of Facebook, YouTube and Twitter ads that mainly targeted Trump. The campaign has previously said they spent $49.6 million on anti-Trump digital ads. Hawkfish's leadership ranks include longtime Facebook Chief Marketing Officer Gary Briggs, and Jeff Glueck, former CEO of location-tracking firm Foursquare. South Korea reported fewer than 15 new cases of the novel coronavirus for the fourth day in a row on Wednesday, but health authorities still remain wary of an increase in new infections amid the eased social distancing campaign. Yonhap South Korea reported fewer than 15 new cases of the novel coronavirus for the fourth day in a row on Wednesday, but health authorities still remain wary of an increase in new infections amid the eased social distancing campaign. The country detected 11 new COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, bringing the nation's total infections to 10,694, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). The total number came to 10,694. Six of the newly added cases were imported, the data showed. The country announced a single-digit increase in cases Sunday for the first time in two months at eight, followed by 13 cases the following day and nine on Tuesday. The plateauing figures mark a drastic drop from the Feb. 29 peak of 909 new cases. The country confirmed its first COVID-19 infection on Jan. 20. Seoul said it has formed a task force composed of various government agencies to systemically deal with requests from other countries asking for quarantine tips. "The task force will unify a single channel in sharing our quarantine experience and supporting demands from the international community," Yoon Tae-ho, a senior health ministry official, told reporters. A total of some 40 countries have recently sought help from local health authorities on quarantine measures, the government said. Seoul has already shipped test kits to more than 60 countries, including some of the most hard-hit countries such as Italy. The nation's death toll from the coronavirus, which emerged in China late last year, rose by one to 237, the health authorities said. In total, 8,277 patients in South Korea have recovered from the virus, up from 8,213 a day earlier. The number of new infections continued to slow in the southeastern city of Daegu, the nation's worst virus-hit region that accounts for around 64 percent of the total cases, adding just one additional case. Seoul, the most populous city of South Korea, reported two new cases, with the surrounding Gyeonggi Province reporting no COVID-19 infections. In regards to possible infection cases connected to general elections held last week, the health authorities said there has not yet been a single reported case. On April 15, South Korea became the first major country to successfully hold nationwide polls since the COVID-19 crisis began sweeping the globe. Starting Monday, South Korea applied a relaxed social distancing advisory to some facilities, including gyms and cram schools, as the number of new COVID-19 infections here showed clear signs of slowing down. South Korea announced it will maintain the social distancing drive until May 5, but it will ease some rules under the condition that such facilities comply with safety measures. "Individuals must still follow social distancing rules during their everyday life," Yoon said, urging people to stay at home for at least three days without going to work when they are feeling sick. (Yonhap) Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 16:56:00|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close YAOUNDE, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Cameroon customs on Tuesday seized 210 cartons of fake anti-malaria medication chloroquine in Ngaoundere, chief town of the mountainous region of Adamawa. Thousands of fake tablets were almost smuggled into the country through neighbouring Nigeria. Cameroon customs was alerted by the World Customs Organisation when the cargo vehicle carrying the fake medication was returning from Nigeria. The driver was stopped for identity and document checks but failed to provide marketing authorisation and a technical visa for the tablets, said Epoh Mbappe, a senior customs official, adding that those transporting the drugs have been remanded in custody. Officials said Cameroon has seen a rise in the production and proliferation of fake chloroquine, as people rush to obtain the anti-malaria drug in the unproven belief it can prevent the infection of COVID-19. Last week, health authorities in the country announced they had shut down six pharmaceutical companies that were producing and selling counterfeit drugs. Enditem Tullamore woman Fiona OMalley, who is the Director of Communications and Fundraising for World Vision Ireland, has warned that the coronavirus will completely overwhelm the health system in Syria. OMalley said that the aftermath of Covid-19 could lead to the death of 30 million children in the developing world. Thousands of people in the Syrian camps are living in tents or sleeping outside in the freezing cold. Nine children froze to death in the camps in February. If coronavirus hits the camps in Syria, it will spread like wildfire, Fiona said. These camps are overcrowded, lack hygiene facilities, food supplies, and clean, running water. A lot of these camps are rife with poor health - many families are already battling tuberculosis, pneumonia, hypothermia, cardiovascular disease and hypertension, malaria, anemia, HIV and AIDS. World Vision is a child-focused international aid charity which plans to reach 22.5 million people, 11 million of which are children, across 17 priority countries, with their Covid-19 response. People who have so little are exposed to so much danger, in this crisis, Fiona explained. Whilst every country is experiencing difficulties and tragedies in their response to the coronavirus, these issues are heightened and more dangerous for people in the Syrian camps. World Vision Ireland has stated that as many as 30 million childrens lives are in danger from secondary health impacts: - 26 million+ children at greater risk of being exposed to other deadly diseases because of lack of immunisation - 5 million+ children could suffer from increasing malnutrition, which is an increase of almost 40% from the current levels - 100,000+ children could die from malaria, which is a 50% increase from current levels The countries World Vision is issuing programme responses to Covid-19 include Syria, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brazil, DR Congo, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Kenya, Lebanon, Mainland China, Mongolia, Philippines, Senegal, South Africa, and Thailand. Globally, World Vision has experience and expertise helping communities prepare and respond to virus outbreaks. The charity has previously worked to combat the spread of Ebola in Africa and Zika in Latin American; and has educated thousands of communities in the developing world about the importance of hand hygiene, basic health care, and disease control. World Vision Ireland is calling on the Irish public to donate whatever they can to help the worlds most vulnerable children by going to www.worldvision.ie High-end seafood products, including tuna, crayfish and premium Shark Bay scallops will soon be available on supermarket shelves - for a fraction of the price. Coles stores in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland will be offering highly sought after premium yellow fin tuna for $35 per kilogram from Wednesday. The retail giant struck a deal with Heidi and Pavo Walker, whose 50 employees catch the sought-after produce off the coast of Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast. The husband and wife duo usually sell 80 per cent of their fish to the United States and Japan, and the remainder is auctioned off to some of the most well renowned chefs in Australia. Heidi Walker (pictured) - the owner of Walkers Seafoods - struck a deal with Coles to sell her premium tuna in stores amid the coronavirus crisis The business normally supplies the high quality produce internationally and to some of Australia's top restaurants - including Rockpool Bar and Grill (Pictured: A dish from Rockpool) Rockpool Bar and Grill, Stokehouse and MoVida are all regular customers. But the coronavirus had left their export-focussed business model in tatters. The couple was unable to deliver the fresh produce internationally, and many of their local customers were forced to close their doors to comply with the lockdown. The deal with Coles benefits customers, who are now able to snap up premium tuna for half the usual price. The tuna is priced at $35 per kilogram - down from $70 prior to the COVID-19 crisis - and will be available in 150 stores in the eastern states. Supermarket shelves were stripped bare at the peak of the coronavirus panic buying hysteria, but are slowly returning to normal The couple who own Walkers Seafoods (pictured) will continue to supply the product to Coles beyond the coronavirus crisis They catch the premium quality fish off the coast of Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast HOW TO MAKE RESTAURANT-GRADE MEALS FROM TUNA Rockpool Bar and Grill's head chef Corey Costelloe told GoodFood the key to cooking Walker's tuna is to only grill one side. He said to first bring the tuna steak to room temperature, season with salt and warm the serving plate. When the pan is hot enough, sear one side, then place it on the warmed plate to heat further. The tuna can also be served raw, and partners well with wasabi, olives, tumeric and ginger. Advertisement Coles general manager Charlotte Gilbert said the supermarket chain was 'delighted to partner with Walker Seafoods to support them during this time.' 'We've also recently begun stocking Western Australian crayfish into selected Coles delis during Easter and partnered with Far West Scallops for the supply of premium quality Shark Bay scallops. We will continue to partner with Australia's fishermen to bring the best quality sustainable seafood to Coles.' The Walker's said they had no intention to end their relationship with Coles when borders finally do re-open. 'We want the tuna to be accessible to all Australians, while also being ready to support chefs when restaurants reopen. It's likely we'll export less,' Ms Walker told GoodFood. She said the couple were desperate to keep their boats fishing and their 50 staff employed following the collapse of businesses all around them. 'Two weeks ago, I contacted Coles to see if they could help put our tuna in their supermarkets, and they jumped at the chance,' she said. James Marinopoulos, the sales manager of Melbourne Based wholesaler Red Coral, said the seafood now available to customers in stores was mind-boggling. 'A sashimi platter of scarlet prawns, Mooloolaba yellowfin and Ora King salmon is for all time. Only a month ago it would have been almost impossible to create at home. Now people can have all that premium seafood delivered to their door,' he said. The product is currently worth $35 per kilogram - half the price it was prior to coronavirus The couple reached out to Coles in order to keep their boats on the water and retain 50 employees Police will be barred from accessing metadata from the proposed coronavirus contact tracing app, after Attorney-General Christian Porter vowed regulatory action to stop access under controversial telecommunications laws. National security and technology law experts have said the app, which will be able to identify when users have been within 1.5 metres of other users for more than 15 minutes, is attractive to law enforcement agencies looking to prove two people had been in contact with each other. Attorney-General Christian Porter has vowed to bar police from accessing the coronavirus app metadata. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Government Services Minister Stuart Robert has said the app's metadata would not be available to police, and Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Tuesday only state health "detectives" will access the data. But experts say existing legislation potentially allows law enforcement agencies to access the app's metadata anyway. Lyria Bennett Moses, director of the Allens Hub for Technology and law professor at UNSW, said authorities could forcibly access the app's metadata under controversial telecommunications laws passed in 2018. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 06:58:52|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close JOHANNESBURG, April 21 (Xinhua) -- South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday night revealed that 500 billion rand (26.3 billion U.S. dollars) would be devoted to relief and economic stimulus measures to deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. "We are announcing this evening a massive social relief and economic support package of R500 billion, which amounts to around 10% of GDP," Ramaphosa said in his TV address. He said 20 billion rand (1.05 billion U.S. dollars) would go to the health sector, 100 billion rand (5.27 billion U.S. dollars) will be set aside for the protection of jobs and to create jobs, and 2 billion rand (105.3 million U.S. dollars) will be made available to assist SMEs and spaza shop owners and other small businesses. The president added that "we will therefore be introducing a R200 billion (10.5 billion U.S. dollars) loan guarantee scheme in partnership with the major banks, the National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank. This will assist enterprises with operational costs, such as salaries, rent and the payment of suppliers." The government is also working on additional support measures for vulnerable and affected sectors like the taxi industry. Measures such as VAT refunds and tax deferrals should provide at least 70 billion rand (3.7 billion U.S. dollars) in cash flow relief or direct payments to businesses and individuals. With levels of hunger increasing since the lockdown was imposed, aid would be made available to vulnerable groups, Ramaphosa said. He also announced a temporary six-month coronavirus grant. "We will direct R50 billion (2.6 billion U.S. dollars) towards relieving the plight of those who are most desperately affected by the coronavirus," he said. This means that child support grant beneficiaries will receive an extra 300 rand (15.8 U.S. dollars) in May and from June to October they will receive an additional 500 rand (26.4 U.S. dollars) each month. All other grant beneficiaries will receive an extra 250 rand (13.2 U.S. dollars) per month for the next six months. Ramaphosa also announced that the government had approached financial institutions including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the New Development Bank for various funding. The novel coronavirus has killed 58 people and infected 3,465 in South Africa. Enditem A nurse in Detroit claims she was fired for speaking out about the lack of protective equipment and difficult staffing conditions at her hospital. Kenisa Barkai was working at the Detroit Medical Center's Sinai-Grace Hospital treating coronavirus patients when she began speaking out about conditions at the hospital. Speaking with WDIV Local 4 News in Detroit, Ms Barkai expressed fears that the hospital might run out of protective gear. Though she had her own protective equipment for visiting patients, she was afraid she might carry the virus out of the hospital with her. "It is scary," she said. "We don't know if we are doing enough to keep ourselves protected." On 27 March, Ms Barkai posted a video showing the equipment she was wearing before treating a patient with Covid-19. During the video, she is wearing a hair covering, a mask, gloves and a gown, and does not appear to offer any overt criticism of the conditions. She says she's "ready to rock and roll" before going to treat a patient. Then, she was fired. Speaking with Buzzfeed News, Ms Barkai said she broke no rules and that the video contained no confidential patient information. The hospital's social media policy banned posts that interfered with the staff's work or that "create potential harm to others," but her video did not appear to violate either of those rules either. Ms Barkai claims the true reason she was fired was because she'd been speaking out about conditions at the hospital, threatening to blow the whistle to state authorities and attempting to unionise the nurses. Ms Barkai's lawyer, Jim Rasor, claimed the hospital fired her to protect its public image. "You're dealing with a systemic problem from a Texas healthcare, for-profit corporation that is literally killing Michigan residents and putting nurses like Kenisa at huge risk, as well as making preposterous, egregious decisions to get rid of nurses like Kenisa during a pandemic just because they're more concerned about their reputation than they are about patient care," Mr Rasor said. The hospital has had a spate of bad press recently; CNN reported that the emergency room's night shift nursing staff staged a sit-in, demanding more nurses be sent in to help. They also reported that patients were dying in the halls before health staff could respond. Brian Taylor, a spokesman for the Detroit Medical Center, said the hospital was facing struggles that other hospitals across the country were facing. "It's important to understand that everyday emergency rooms all over the country face dynamic situational challenges and even more so now in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis," he said. "Like many hospital systems, the demand to care for the ever-increasing number of patients is putting a strain on our resources and staff." Regarding Ms Barkai, Mr Taylor said his employers "don't discuss matters related to personnel." "As for staffing at the DMC, we continue to bring in additional resources to help us care for patients as volumes have increased as a result of Covid-19." Ms Barkai said the Sinai-Grace hospital - which is located in a poorer neighbourhood - has always been the "step-child" of the Detroit Medical Center family of hospitals. "There's always been equipment that's been outdated or old, or just not working, that you kind of just have to rig per se to try to get it to work," she said. "The environment itself has always been paint chipping, or dirty rooms, old bathrooms, no hot running water." Ms Bakrai said on the day she was fired, she was accused of providing local news stations with footage of deplorable conditions inside the hospital, a claim which she denies. She claimed the hospital wanted to "make an example" out of her and she was fired. "It really broke my heart and was devastating," she said. "I have like a nurse's guilt basically for being off the front lines." Your tax-deductible gift today powers our reporters and keeps us independent. We rely on you, our reader, not paywalls to stay funded because we believe important news and information should be freely accessible to all. Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe As more and more people lose their jobs, immigrants are faced with the challenge of paying their rent and buying food here in the U.S., or sending money back to their home countries. That's the problem that 50-year old Rosalia Olaya from Santa Monica is dealing with right now. She is originally from Oaxaca, Mexico, where her siblings live. Every month, she sends about $1,500 to $2,000 to help them out. But this month, Olaya had to stop. Her income has taken a hit since the pandemic swept through the L.A. area. NO WORK, NO MONEY Before COVID-19, Olaya worked three jobs: as a property manager, notary public and an income tax preparer. But now, work -- especially notaries and tax preparation -- has slowed down because she can't meet people in person. "At this point last year I would have already completed all my clients' [taxes]," Olaya said. "Right now, I have only completed half." She now only has $2,000 a month to support herself and the elderly mother who lives with her. That's the same amount she usually sends to Mexico to her brother, who has a medical problem, and her sister, a single mom with four kids. "I have to really, really hold off because I don't know how long this is going to be like this," Olaya said. THE IMPACT ACROSS BORDERS Olaya is not the only one who sends money back home to her family. Last year, immigrant workers sent back $36 billion from the U.S. to Mexico, according to Manuel Orozco, Director of the Migration, Remittances and Development Program at the Inter-American Dialogue, a D.C.-based think tank. He expects remittances to drop by $6 billion by the end of this year. "We are talking about 1 million households in Mexico that will not receive money in 2020." The global nature of the coronavirus only increases the economic pressure immigrant workers like Olaya find themselves under. She worries that without the money she normally sends, her siblings will be unable to make ends meet in Oaxaca, a city that depends heavily on tourism. Ever since the pandemic hit, tourism to Oaxaca has virtually stopped, and work has all but dried up. FORT WORTH, Texas As part of Americans ongoing relief efforts in support of the COVID-19 response, the airline is donating $460,000 to support UNICEFs relief work in Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Guatemala, helping address the needs of children and families by: Critical supplies and relief will be provided to children and families in Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica and Guatemala. FORT WORTH, Texas As part of Americans ongoing relief efforts in support of the coronavirus (COVID-19) response, the airline is allocating $460,000 to support UNICEFs relief work in Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Guatemala, helping address the needs of children and families by: Providing supplies to at-risk and affected communities, including water, sanitation & hygiene items, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and basic health kits. Supporting interventions for infection prevention and control in health facilities, schools and communities. Promoting hygiene education to limit transmission and protect individuals from exposure. Donations collected through UNICEFs Change for Good program in 2019 will be allocated toward this effort. American Airlines flight attendants, also known as Champions for Children, participate in the Change for Good program by collecting international and domestic currency on select international flights. Last year the program raised more than $1.2 million dollars. Since 1994, American has been the participating U.S. airline in the UNICEF campaign. Serving the communities we call home is at the heart of everything we do at American, said Jill Surdek, Senior Vice President Flight Service. American has a long and proud history in Latin America, and we are thankful that because of the great work that our Champions do every year, were able to provide relief to communities that are battling this pandemic. American Airlines and their passengers have been true advocates for children through their support of UNICEF for over 25 years, and in these unprecedented times, their commitment to helping children and families is vitally important," said Gabriella Morris, Interim Chief Development Officer at UNICEF USA. Working together will allow us to support families, equip front-line health workers and help keep children and communities healthy and safe. Although American has significantly reduced their flying schedule worldwide, people can still donate to the Change for Good program in this time of need at www.unicefusa.org/aa. Let Good Take Flight American Airlines is committed to caring for people on lifes journey and remains dedicated to addressing the needs of different communities affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In cooperation with its generous customers, American has raised more than $2.5 million to support the American Red Cross and its volunteers who are on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic. Supply kits have been provided to The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City; Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston; and St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital in Memphis to support medical professionals on the frontlines. American provided care packages to military bases to be shared with troops who are quarantined after returning from deployment. As a result of excess inventory due to a reduced flying schedule, American is donating many tons of food to food banks across the country. American team members at multiple locations, including Miami International Airport (MIA), Frankfurt am Main Airport (FRA) and Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW) are sewing masks for their coworkers and members of the community to wear. The airline also worked with the U.S. Department of State to operate repatriation flights to bring U.S. citizens home from abroad. American continues to operate cargo-only flights, transporting necessary supplies, including personal protective equipment, to the frontlines of the COVID-19 effort. About American Airlines Group American Airlines offers customers 6,800 daily flights to more than 365 destinations in 61 countries from its hubs in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Washington, D.C. With a shared purpose of caring for people on life's journey, American's 130,000 global team members serve more than 200 million customers annually. Since 2013, American has invested more than $28 billion in its product and people and now flies the youngest fleet among U.S. network carriers, equipped with industry-leading high-speed Wi-Fi, lie-flat seats, and more inflight entertainment and access to power. American also has enhanced food and beverage options in the air and on the ground in its world-class Admirals Club and Flagship lounges. American was recently named a Five Star Global Airline by the Airline Passenger Experience Association and Airline of the Year by Air Transport World. American is a founding member of oneworld, whose members serve 1,100 destinations in 180 countries and territories. Shares of American Airlines Group Inc. trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol AAL and the company's stock is included in the S&P 500. Learn more about what's happening at American by visiting news.aa.com and connect with American on Twitter @AmericanAir and at Facebook.com/AmericanAirlines. About UNICEF The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) works in more than 190 countries and territories to put children first. UNICEF has helped save more children's lives than any other humanitarian organization, by providing health care and immunizations, clean water and sanitation, nutrition, education, emergency relief and more. UNICEF USA supports UNICEF's work through fundraising, advocacy and education in the United States. Together, we are working toward the day when no children die from preventable causes and every child has a safe and healthy childhood. For more information, visit www.unicefusa.org and for more details about UNICEFs response to COVID-19, visit www.unicefusa.org/covid-19. A hard man strides through a harsh landscape, his face caked in sweat, his calloused hands raw under his drillers gloves. Behind him, outlined against the desert sky, is an oil derrick, the ungainly steel contraption into which hes sunk his fortune and his dreams. Its been a huge risk he will either end up bankrupt or wildly rich, his face and body drenched black in the sudden upgush. From James Dean in the film Giant to Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood, and even the more pristine JR in Dallas, the image of the buccaneering oilman on the gritty trail for black gold has provided Hollywood and popular culture with one of its most powerful images of the quest for wealth. Of course, these characters were not plucked purely from Tinseltown fantasy. The real U.S. oilmen, the so-called Wildcatters who drilled in areas not known to be oil fields, were hard-living, whisky-swilling, cigar-chomping, fist-fighting Texans who, almost overnight, became some of Americas richest men in the late 1940s. Actor Daniel Day-Lewis pictured in 2007 film There Will Be Blood. The characters spend the movie searching for oil in California in 1892 Few were as colourful as the famously hot-tempered Glenn McCarthy, king of the wildcatters and supposedly the inspiration for Deans character in Giant, who went from petrol station attendant to multi-millionaire with his own 1,100-room hotel in Houston. What men like McCarthy would have made of Tuesdays stunning events is anyones guess but its safe to say the cigar would have dropped out of his mouth in disbelief. U.S. oil prices went into the negative for the first time on record. The price of the main U.S. oil benchmark price fell more than $50 a barrel to end the day about $30 below zero. And yesterday, the collapse continued as the price plunge spread to other parts of the oil market. True, the price of Brent crude, the UK and international benchmark for oil, is still higher than zero but it slipped 18 per cent to below $20 a barrel, its lowest price since 2002. Lets be clear about whats happening: There is so much unwanted oil around that its owners are having to pay people to take it off their hands. The US oil price slipped into negatives for the first time during the coronavirus crisis The oil industry pumps out around 100 million barrels of oil a day. At the start of the year, it sold for more than $60 a barrel, but demand has disappeared in a cloud of acrid, black smoke, chiefly because of the coronavirus pandemics butchery of the global economy. Nothing has taken the glister off black gold so effectively as a world of closed factories, grounded planes and garaged cars. Refineries dont want to turn crude oil into petrol and other refined products because international travel and trade have been cut so sharply. Although analysts insist the market will recover eventually and that negative prices are not the new normal, nothing has so dramatically brought home the catastrophic state of our economic fortunes as that minus symbol alongside the price of oil. It seems utterly inconceivable that owning oil the lubricant of industry and commerce, the prize which countless hardened prospectors have chased across the globe ever since the U.S. oil rushes of the 19th century could now actually be a drain on ones finances. After all, weaning the U.S. off its energy dependence on the Middle East has long been a prized goal of generations of presidents, and Donald Trump proudly announced to fanfare in 2018 that for the first time in more than 70 years, America had exported more oil than it had imported. But right now, such exultation seems ludicrous. Coronavirus isnt the sole culprit for the oil crisis. Despite seeing the evidence, in countries such as Italy, of the scale of the downturn the virus would bring, Saudi Arabia and Russia the worlds two biggest oil producers foolishly launched an oil price war that flooded the market with supplies at just the wrong time. Oil companies, however, will not close wells as they know the fuel will be needed to bring the world's economies back to life. (Pictured: Refinery in Detroit, US) Although OPEC (led by the Saudis), Russia and the U.S. eventually cut production to boost the price earlier this month, their ten million barrels-a-day reduction wasnt enough for the markets, which dont believe theres the political will out there to cut output as much as is needed. The oil price was further driven down by a quirk in the oil futures market, in which traders bet on price movements over set periods of time. These traders contracts were all due to be settled yesterday, and they were so desperate to offload oil, for which there was no demand, that they were forced to sell at a huge loss causing an even heavier slide in its price. Agonising What is so agonising for producers is that they know we will one day be dependent on the black gooey stuff to crank up our economies again whatever the environmentalists say, there is not enough efficient green energy to run the world. So why arent the producers shutting down wells, instead of paying people to take away their surplus oil? The truth is, the options arent quite as simple as they appear. Turning off the tap and simply bringing less oil out of the ground can cause permanent problems. Wells that are stopped also tend to produce much less oil when they are returned to service Past experience has shown that when wells are re-opened, its not only vastly expensive in equipment and manpower, but they dont produce oil at nearly the same rate, making them uneconomical for oil companies that spent many millions to develop them. Storing the oil has similarly become immensely difficult as the growing glut has filled up facilities almost to capacity and ramped up the price their owners can charge. The world is estimated to have room to store just under seven billion barrels of oil, and demand for space increases by the day. Questions Oil companies are now storing it on tanker ships and barges, and considering doing the same with tanks on trains. At this rate, swimming pools and bathtubs could be next. Dairy farmers in this coronavirus crisis can dump unwanted milk in the ground if they cannot sell it, but, for obvious environmental reasons, oil companies cant. For those wondering why the price of petrol hasnt correspondingly tumbled, it takes time for price falls to work through the system and, anyway, much of the pump price is made up of tax. And if theyre also questioning what an international oil glut has to do with them, they need only look at yesterdays falling share prices for both BP and Royal Dutch Shell two blue-chip giants whose fortunes weigh heavily in so many of our investment and pension funds. Many companies have opted to start storing excess oil, including on boats. The Texas Voyager, above, is pictured as she offloads crude oil at Port Everglades, Florida, on April 21 Nor is the problem going away, according to market analysts, who warn that demand for oil is not coming back any time soon. We could get a repeat performance next month, said one bleakly. It is a stunning reversal of the oilmens and the worlds fortunes. The dismal fate of the substance revered for decades as the lifeblood of the world, the stuff grizzled adventurers have risked their lives for, is that you now cant even give it away. The cyber crime division of the Kashmir Police has registered nine case regarding misuse of social media since the outbreak of coronavirus. Srinagar: In the second week of April, a fake document claiming to be a Supreme Court "order" directing the government to restore 4G internet in Jammu and Kashmir within 24 hours was widely shared on social media. The police had to issue a statement stating that the order, and subsequently, the cyber crime division registered a case and began investigations. Similarly, a morphed image was shared on social media showing the flag of Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir at the Lal Chowk Ghantaghar in Srinagar. The police registered a case and arrested the accused. Fake news was also circulated recently with regard to diagnosis of COVID-19 in Khandipora, Beerwah. These are some examples of how social media was misused in recent days and became a breeding ground for rumour-mongering. Many of these rumours have been spread by anonymous accounts. This is happening at a time when the entire world is fighting to contain the novel coronavirus, and many people rely on social media to get updates about the disease. Senior officials in the administration, doctors and journalists also use social media to communicate and stay updated with the latest information. Even some media organisations have fallen prey to fake news. For instance, several news portals had carried the false claim about the Supreme Court's order on 4G internet. However, they later issues apologies. The cyber crime division of the Kashmir Police has registered nine case regarding misuse of social media since the outbreak of coronavirus. At least 178 people have been arrested in the Valley for sharing fake news, videos, and pictures. Cases related to obscene publications, transmission of unauthorised content, cyber stalking, and obscene messages have also been reported recently. Suhail Naik, the head of Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) has said that there have been several instances of people defaming doctors on social media due to personal animosity. Naik has demanded stringent action in such cases. Naik said, "Recently, a patient defamed a pediatrician on social media and even made his contact number public. This compromised the safetyy of the doctor, as he received many threats after the incident." In another instance of misuse of social media, several fake accounts Jammu and Kashmir government spokesperson Rohit Kansal were created recently. Subsequently, screenshots from these fake accounts were also shared widely. Subsequently, Kansal tweeted #FakeAlert#Imitationnotflattery Am told that a number of FAKE ACCOUNTS of mine are being created. This can create confusion. PLEASE NOTE THAT I HAVE NO OTHER TWITTER ACCOUNT. These are difficult times. NO FAKES PLEASE . @diprjk Rohit Kansal (@kansalrohit69) April 3, 2020 In another tweet, he said, I am told that some Twitter handles impersonating my account are carrying some fake news regarding internet. I have not made any statement. Fake handles have been reported for action. We will also be taking action under cyber laws. Kansal further said, Some people want to disturb law and order by misusing social media. They create fake accounts, share fake videos and news. Security agencies are working to take action against such people, he said. Tahir Ashraf, SP, Cyber Police Kashmir, said containing misuse of social media in the Valley is a challenging task. There are about 1,000 social media accounts which are under our radar. Some may be operating from across the border. We are monitoring what content they are sharing and will take action accordingly, he said. Ashraf claimed, Some posts are aimed at destabilising the social fabric and creating law and order issues. Attempts are also being made to promote militancy via social media. We have also found certain users who misuse social media but are quite young. There is nothing against them in police records. We have contacted their parents and counseled them in this regard. We recently counseled over 25 youth and then allowed them to go home, the SP said. The official appealed to people to abide by ethics and rules. It is very important we should make proper use of social media. People should refrain from disseminating fake information," he said. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. A detailed analysis report of the Global Ceramic Filters Market has been covered in the report coupled with a thorough description of each company profile with information on the H.Q, future capabilities, key mergers & acquisitions, financial outline, partnerships and new product launches and developments. Ceramic filters are materials made from ceramic to operate filtration process for multiple purposes. It is mostly used for water filtration. This is cost effective and filters dirt, debris, and bacteria out of water. Ceramic filters if coupled with activated carbon can help to reduce the contamination of water which is caused by chemicals. It has been observed that ceramic filters help to reduce bacterial contamination by 60-70%. As wastewater treatment gained more importance worldwide, the use of ceramic filters is going to increase. Ceramic filters are proving to be a better option than their polymeric counterparts. Ceramic filters can be used for both domestic as well as industrial use. Asia Pacific and Middle East & Africa are the emerging market for potential growth of ceramic filters. Rapid industrialization in these emerging markets can be seen as major driver for ceramic filters. The growth experienced by global water treatment industry is going to drive ceramic filters product. Nowadays, it can also be observed that wastewater norms are getting stringent. Hence, ceramic filters can provide a good solution to wastewater problem. Asia Pacific and Middle East & Africa are going to drive ceramic filters product as these regions are experiencing rapid industrialization. The domestic need of potable drinking water is driving the need of ceramic filters in Middle East and Africa. Some parts of North America and Europe are also contributing to the total sales of ceramic filters worldwide. Browse the complete Global Ceramic Filters Market Research Report Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast Till 2026 @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/ip/292-ceramic-filters-market-report Key market players are: Doulton Ceramics Glosfume Ltd. Unifrax I LLC Ceramic Filters Company Inc. 3M Veolia Tri-Mer Corporation Global Water Ceramic Filters Manufacture Corporation Pall Corporation Anguil Environmental Systems Inc. SEGMENTATIONS IN REPORT: Ceramic Filters By Products: Ceramic Water Filters Ceramic Air Filters Ceramic Filters By Applications: Residential Commercial Industrial Ceramic Filters By Geography: Asia Pacific North America Europe Latin America Middle East And Africa Download Free Sample Report of Global Ceramic Filters Market @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/download-sample-292 The Global Ceramic Filters Market has been exhibited in detail in the following some chapters Chapter 1 Ceramic Filters Market Preface Chapter 2 Executive Summary Chapter 3 Ceramic Filters Industry Analysis Chapter 4 Ceramic Filters Market Value Chain Analysis Chapter 5 Ceramic Filters Market Analysis By Products Chapter 6 Ceramic Filters Market Analysis By Applications Chapter 7 Ceramic Filters Market Analysis By Geography Chapter 8 Competitive Landscape Of Ceramic Filters Companies Chapter 9 Company Profiles Of Ceramic Filters Industry Purchase the complete Global Ceramic Filters Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/buy-now-292 Other Reports by DecisionDatabases.com: Global Self-Cleaning Filters Market Research Report Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast Till 2026 Global Automotive Air Filters Market Research Report Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast Till 2026 Global Filters Market Research Report Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends And Forecast About-Us: DecisionDatabases.com is a global business research reports provider, enriching decision makers and strategists with qualitative statistics. DecisionDatabases.com is proficient in providing syndicated research report, customized research reports, company profiles and industry databases across multiple domains. Our expert research analysts have been trained to map clients research requirements to the correct research resource leading to a distinctive edge over its competitors. We provide intellectual, precise and meaningful data at a lightning speed. For more details: DecisionDatabases.com E-Mail: sales@decisiondatabases.com Phone: +91 9028057900 Web: https://www.decisiondatabases.com/ Press Release 21 April 2020 HENDERSONVILLE, Tennessee - In its first month with a visible impact from the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. hotel industry reported double-digit declines in the three key performance metrics during March 2020, according to data from STR. Advertisements In a year-over-year comparison with March 2019, the industry posted the following: Occupancy: -42.3% to 39.4% Average daily rate (ADR): -16.5% to US$110.66 Revenue per available room (RevPAR): -51.9% to US$43.54 Among the Top 25 Markets, San Francisco/San Mateo, California, experienced the steepest drop in occupancy (-62.2% to 30.2%), which resulted in the largest decrease in RevPAR (-72.3% to US$55.42). The market also posted one of the largest declines in ADR (-26.6% to US$183.68). New Orleans, Louisiana, matched for the other steepest decrease in ADR (-26.6% to US$134.98). STR continues to monitor the COVID-19 impact on global hotel performance. Weekly U.S. press releases, including the most recent for 5-11 April, can be found here along with full analysis pieces and webinars. The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) has published the quarterly Rent Index for the October-December period (Q4) of 2019. The national standardised average rent was 1,226 per month, up by 6.4% (74) from Q4 2018, but quarter-on-quarter rents decreased nationally by -1.2% (15) in Q4 2019. Following referral from the Housing Agency and the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Eoghan Murphy T.D., the RTB, using the Q4 2019 Rent Index, has confirmed to Minister Murphy that five Local Electoral Areas (LEAs), Mallow LEA, Killarney LEA, Athy LEA, Tullamore LEA and Mullingar LEA, meet the Rent Pressure Zone (RPZ) designation criteria. As a result, these LEAs are designated RPZs as of today, April 22, 2020. Padraig McGoldrick, Interim Director of the RTB, reflected on the reports latest findings and the current climate the rental sector faces; We are encouraged to see that Q4 2019 recorded the lowest annual rent increase in six years, showing signals of stabilisation in urban areas. The designation today of a further five LEAs as RPZs provides further protection for renters in these areas. "However, I am aware that the period reflected in the latest Rent Index represents a very different world to the one we are living in today, and that the COVID-19 crisis presents new challenges for both landlords and tenants across the country. "These temporary measures help to ensure a balanced and fair market in the current circumstances and while rent must still be paid, no rent increases can take effect. The RTB Rent Index, which is compiled in conjunction with the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), is the authoritative report on the Irish rental market. It is based on actual rents paid on 17,269 tenancies registered with the RTB in the quarter, which is made up of housing stock new to the rental sector, new tenancies in existing housing stock and renewals of existing tenancies. In Dublin, the standardised average rent is now 1,716 per month, up 5% (82) year-on-year, the lowest annual increase in Dublin since Q2 2013. On a quarterly basis, the standardised average rent decreased by 33 (-1.9%) in comparison to Q3 2019. Outside of Dublin, the standardised average rent is considerably less, standing at 922 in Q4 2019. This represents an annual increase of 7.6% (65). As of Q4 2019, there were seven counties where the standardised average rent exceeds (or equals) 1,000 per month. They are; Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kildare, Louth, Meath and Wicklow. Three counties (Kilkenny, Laois, and Limerick) all have a standardised average rent between 900 and 999. The high rental levels in these areas relative to other counties reflect the concentration of demand close to the countrys largest employment hubs. Nationally, the annual growth in standardised average rents for apartments has stood at under 6% in three consecutive quarters (5.7% in Q2 2019, 5.4% in Q3 2019 and 5.9% in Q4 2019), showing signs of stabilisation particularly in urban markets. Concluding, Padraig McGoldrick outlined the need for tenants and landlords to continue to fulfil their obligations throughout the COVID-19 crisis: There are some simple rules that should be reiterated at this time. Rent must still be paid by tenants as it falls due. Where a tenant is genuinely struggling to pay the rent, they may be entitled to support measures including income support and rent supplement, which we would encourage tenants to seek promptly. "This difficult period has borne witness to a lot of goodwill and support between landlords and tenants, and the RTB would encourage everyone to continue to communicate and support each other so that any challenges faced can be resolved through working together. "We are encouraging those who are experiencing issues in their tenancies during this time, to visit our website for information on how to resolve issues and, if necessary, use the RTBs telephone mediation service, which is a free service to help landlords and tenants resolve a dispute in a mutually beneficial manner, and does not require people to leave their home. All the latest information on the emergency legislation and Q4 2019 Rent Index can also be found on our website at www.rtb.ie. [April 22, 2020] Interim Report For The First Quarter 2020 New Wave Group AB KUNGALV, Sweden, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- PERIOD 1 JANUARY - 31 MARCH 2020 Net sales amounted to SEK 1,440.9 million , which was 4 % (7 % in local currencies) lower than last year ( SEK 1,504.9 million ). , which was 4 % (7 % in local currencies) lower than last year ( ). Operating result amounted to SEK -24.1 (46.0) million. (46.0) million. Result for the period amounted to SEK -36.9 (26.0) million. (26.0) million. Earnings per share amounted to SEK -0.54 (0.41). (0.41). Cash flow from operating activities amounted to SEK 114.6 (-65.1) million. (-65.1) million. Equity ratio amounted to 46.8 (45.9) %. Net debt to equity ratio amounted to 74.6 (73.7) %. CEO COMMENTS The year started strongly with good earnings growth in January and February. The joy of it was short-lived when the corona crisis hit with full force in March. Several of our companies were hit very hard, not only by reduced demand, but also by having to close some warehouses. The worst hit was Italy, where our company is located in Codogno and also where the corona outbreak started in Italy. The warehouse there was basically closed throughout March. March was arguably the most dramatic month I've experienced since New Wave was founded. SALES Sales ended at minus 4% (minus 7% in local currencies), which was completely impossible to plan for or anticipate. In addition to a rapidly reduced demand, several of our warehouses were also closed for all or part of March. Sales for our retail customers fell dramatically and in some countries stores have not even been allowed to open, which gave us an extreme decline in orders received, that not only affected the retail sector but also promo. RESULT Operating result ended with a loss of SEK -24.1 million compared to a profit for the previous year of SEK 46.0 million - a decrease of SEK 70.1 million. Result for the period decreased by SEK 62.9 million to a loss of SEK 36.9 million. In addition to sales, earnings were negatively affected by a lower gross margin that fell from 47.1% to 43.8%. We also made provisions of SEK 10 million more than the previous year regarding customer losses. BALANCE SHEET We continue to have a very strong balance sheet with an equity ratio of 46.8%, which feels good in this painful barrier. The balance sheet is likely to grow over the next six months, especially in terms of stock, just as during the financial crisis it takes about six months to redirect purchases. The impact that we are now exposed to has negative effects on our cash flow and thus on the company's liquidity situation. We have an ongoing dialogue with our creditors to manage liquidity risk and secure our funding. CASH FLOW Cash flow improved by SEK 187.4 million compared with the previous year and amounted to SEK 84.0 million after investments. OUR CRISIS MANAGEMENT I am very pleased with our organization and how it acted in the beginning of the corona crisis. We were one of the first companies to introduce meeting and travel restrictions, which in retrospect feels very good. We have already made significant savings and cost reductions going forward and this work will, of course, continue. Many in management were involved in the recent financial crisis and although this crisis looks to be getting far worse, it is still noticeable that many within management have long experience and I feel as CEO that this is a great support. THE FUTURE It is, of course, extremely difficult to say anything about the future - at least in the shorter term. No one knows for certain how long this will last, nor how hard different countries and regions will be affected or what action different countries will take. I had really been looking forward to 2020 as the year that would be the best ever for New Wave Group. Instead, I now look forward to lead New Wave through yet another crisis. This crisis is similar to any other we have gone through, but if you think back, it is in part similar to, for example, SARS, mad cow disease, bird influenza, the IT crash of the early 2000s and the financial crisis of 2008/2009. So in a way, from the experience of these crises, my goal is that New Wave will be strengthened even from this crisis, but it will be both tough and difficult. In the end, I can at least say that we are entering this crisis with strong brands, a good organization, a strong balance sheet and hopefully we will come out of this crisis even more competitive. Torsten Jansson, CEO FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: CEO and Group CEO Torsten Jansson Phone: +46 31-712 89 01 E-mail: [email protected] CFO Lars Jonsson Phone: +46 31-712 89 12 E-mail: [email protected] This information is information that New Wave Group AB is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons detailed above, at 7.00 a.m. CET on April 22, 2020. If you want to sign up for, or unregister from, future messages from New Wave Group, please send an email to [email protected]. This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/new-wave-group/r/interim-report-for-the-first-quarter-2020-new-wave-group-ab,c3093623 The following files are available for download: https://mb.cision.com/Main/932/3093623/1233308.pdf Interim Report for New Wave Group AB January - March 2020 (PDF) View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/interim-report-for-the-first-quarter-2020-new-wave-group-ab-301044967.html SOURCE New Wave Group [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Snow showers and below-freezing temperatures in late April symbolize the chaos and complications we now face. Rather than taking the lead in combating the current pandemic, Mr. Only-I-can-fix-it abrogated responsibility for leadership, making him irresponsible. As a consequence his supporters, as well as we all face additional contamination and death, loss of jobs and little chance of federal government support. Nearly three dozen executives from banking and finance last week advised Prez Trump to increase COVID-19 testing before even considering opening the economy (WSJ, April 16, 2020, pg. A1& A7). Some indicated they were attempting to secure their own tests for employees and possibly customers. They indicated opening the economy prematurely could lead to additional outbreaks and deaths. DonnyT has pooh-poohed much of the concerns about reopening soon in order to help his reelection chances. While the U.S. has conducted three million tests, this is less than one percent of the population. Compare this to South Korea, where a much higher percent has been tested. The government there is developing a database that should decrease the time to get test results down to minutes. They have been aggressive in controlling the pandemic since its start there and were able to keep many businesses open as a consequence. The voters there have shown their approval by reelecting President Moon Jae-ins ruling coalition with the largest parliamentary election victory since the end of military-backed rule more than three decades ago. In a similar approach, Germany has begun to reopen its economy after tightly testing and controlling activities. Chancellor Angela Merkel announced Germanys leading car manufacturers will reopen soon, with other businesses to follow slowly. Germany is Europes biggest economy and its recovery will be steady because of the strict enforcement by government, while regions have had some discretion in determining how to implement the measures. Merkel indicated, What we have achieved is a temporary success, but it is a fragile success. Because the Trump Administration failed to take direct action in January, the crisis in the United States now stands at nearly 33 thousand deaths out of 668 thousand cases reported. Even its halt of traffic from China in January was flawed: Tens of thousands of U.S. citizens returned, many without examinations, carrying the virus. The millions of required tests, ventilators, garb, and other equipment could now be available, but DonnyT has not required industry to do so. States now compete against each-other and other countries for limited output. The National Stockpile is depleted and many of the units were faulty. Here in Michigan, Governor Gretchen Whitmer has joined governors from Ohio, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky forming a regional coordinated body to open local economy. She said, We Are doing everything we can to protect the people of our states and slow the speed of COVID-19, and we are eager to work together to mitigate the economic crisis this virus has caused in our region. So what do our glorious Republicans in Lansing do to help the effort? They are trying to pass a law restricting the governors abilities in an emergency! This rather than compromise and cooperate in doing best for everyone. Then there are the protesters in Lansing. Those who oppose Governor Whitmers stay-at-home order blocked traffic last Wednesday near the states Capitol. Protesters in cars decorated their vehicles with flags in support of President Trump, made brackish noises and waved signs reading let us work. The order has been extended through April 30. The state has had more than 28 thousand confirmed COVID-19 cases and about two thousand deaths so far. The governor is trying to do what is best using science and truth. The protesters must be made to realize how counterproductive their ruckus is. Ed Fisher writes a weekly column for the Morning Sun. Leading figures in the publishing, film and television industries have backed a call for a major rethink of, and increase to, federal government support for the creative arts as the sector grapples with the collapse of its business and funding models and a coronavirus-induced shutdown. Author Christos Tsiolkas, filmmaker Jocelyn Moorhouse and Offspring creator Debra Oswald are among those who have supported calls by former News Limited and Foxtel chief Kim Williams, who is now head of the Copyright Agency, for a 40 per cent funding increase for the Australia Council and Screen Australia, and a doubling of funding for writers. Jocelyn Moorhouse, director of movies including Proof and The Dressmaker, says she would not have had a career without government support of the arts. Credit:Nick Moir "The most important thing about the arts is that they tell stories about ourselves to ourselves, and that art can ask questions, art can move, art can confront and art can offer solace," says Christos Tsiolkas, author of The Slap and Barracuda. "I doubt there is a person in Australia who isn't experiencing that aspect of the arts at this very moment, even if they're not necessarily aware of it. It might be a book they are reading, a CD or a YouTube video they are watching, it might be watching Home & Away or MasterChef or Mystery Road on TV or streaming." Officials in Russia's North Caucasus region of Chechnya have shaved their heads after the region's authoritarian leader Ramzan Kadyrov did so, touting it as a way to deal with the closure of services such as hairdressers and barber shops because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Kremlin-backed Kadyrov, 43, has ruled the volatile region with an iron fist since 2007, cracking down on public freedoms and civil rights while hounding opponents of his regime both at home and abroad. The officials made the move after Kadyrov, who for years has fostered a cult of personality to solidify his power, placed a video on Instagram on April 21 showing his head completely shaven. "I recommend that all shave their heads as beauty salons are closed and households do not have barbers... Our ancestors did so and, most importantly, that is what the Prophet [Muhammad] did in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday," Kadyrov said in the video. A day earlier, at a session of coronavirus prevention group, a local resident asked Kadyrov to open hairdressers and the Chechen leader responded that the best solution was to shave heads. After Kadyrov's video appeared on Instagram, many government officials, law enforcement officers, and other representatives of local authorities followed suit, placing their photos with shaved heads on the Internet. Mimicking Kadyrov, who is often called "patsha" (king) in Chechen, is not new in Chechnya. Many officials in the region have taken to wearing similar clothing to Kadyrov and followed suit several years ago when he began growing his now trademark lengthy beard. Kremlin critics say Russian President Vladimir Putin has turned a blind eye to the alleged abuses and violations of the country's constitution by Kadyrov because he relies on the former rebel commander to control separatist sentiment and violence in Chechnya, the site of two devastating post-Soviet wars and an Islamist insurgency that spread to other mostly Muslim regions in the North Caucasus. Rights groups say Kadyrov uses repressive measures and has created a climate of impunity for security forces in the region. They allege he is ultimately responsible for the violence and intimidation of political opponents by Chechen authorities, including kidnappings, forced disappearances, torture, and extrajudicial killings. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 15:54:29|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close XI'AN, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The China-Europe freight train service that links China, Central Asia and Europe is more needed as ever after flights reduced and sea transport suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Early in April, a freight train loaded with 50 cars of solar panels departed Xi'an in northwest China for Barcelona some 12,000 km away. It was the first time for a chartered freight train to run between the two cities. Xi'an has been an important gateway in China's opening-up since ancient times. Its political and economic communications with foreign countries dates back to over 3,000 years ago. As the capital of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and the starting point of the ancient Silk Road, Xi'an was the world's first city with a population of over 1 million and hosted over 100,000 resident foreign merchants and students at the time. The implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative and the ever-expanding network of the trans-Eurasian rail lines have once again injected vitality into the landlocked city. The opening of the Xi'an-Barcelona service is another example of the robust growth momentum of China-Europe freight trains. Volvo Cars, a regular user of the service, has delivered over 4,000 vehicles in the first quarter by China-Europe freight trains. Besides, new customers using air freighters and ships as main transport channels before the pandemic -- milk cartons from Sweden, food additives from Belgium, plastic tracks from Italy -- have begun to board the freight trains to enter China market. "Over 40 percent of new cargoes on our freight trains were from sea and air transportation," said Sun Yimin, director of the administrative committee of Xi'an International Trade & Logistics Park. Freight train service adopts segmented transport, which does not require quarantine of personnel involved. The "non-contact" feature stands out, especially during a pandemic. "We have seen 656 freight trains in Q1, 2.3 times the number over the same period of last year," Sun said. Xi'an has opened 15 freight train lines to 44 cities in 14 Asian and European countries since 2013. In the meantime, cities across China sent a total of 1,941 China-Europe freight trains and transported 174,000 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) in Q1, a year-on-year increase of 15 percent and 18 percent, respectively. On March 30, a train loaded with ceramic tiles, air conditioners and freezers pulled out of the Xinzhu Station of Xi'an and headed for Uzbekistan. Xi'an sent a record of 13 China-Europe trains on the day. "We used to look for freight sources all over China. Now we have endless goods to be transported. Thanks to the freight train service, more and more Chinese goods are able to be sent abroad while quality foreign goods have entered Chinese homes," said Huang Xin, Party secretary of the station. Huang said at least 15 of the 17 rail lines the station operates daily were fully loaded. According to the city government, Xi'an has established sister-city relations with 36 cities in 30 countries and international friendship cities with 72 peers in 40 countries. The city's actual use of foreign capital exceeded 7 billion U.S. dollars in 2019, an increase of 11.1 percent. Enditem Hugo, a San Francisco, CA-based connected meeting notes platform, raised 6.1m in seed funding. The round was led by Gradient Ventures, Googles AI-focused investment fund, with participation from Slack Fund, Founder Collective and Entree Capital. The company intends to use the funds to continue to expand operations. Led by Josh Lowy, CEO, Hugo connected meeting notes software platform brings calendar, chat and productivity apps into the note-taking experience for a team, transforming meeting insights into action through integrations with more than 20 apps including Asana, Jira, Salesforce, Slack and Zoom. Since founding, the company has powered hundreds of thousands of meetings for some of the worlds best-known companies, including Adobe, Dropbox, Netflix, Shopify, Spotify and Twitter. FinSMEs 22/04/2020 He won hearts as a loveable larrikin on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! Australia earlier this year. But on Wednesday, Ryan Gallagher, 31, paid tribute to his mother Vickie. 'My mums a nurse and Im bloody proud of her,' he captioned a photo of the two of them on Instagram, right before his mother headed off to night shift. How sweet! On Wednesday, Ryan Gallagher (left) posted a loving tribute to his mother Vickie (right) to Instagram just before she headed off to night shift as a nurse In the photo, Ryan is seen shirtless, with his arm lovingly around his mother. Meanwhile, Vickie looks pleased as punch as she beams from ear to ear in her navy blue nursing scrubs. However, it wasn't too long before the joker was back to his regular tricks. Ryan went onto share a video to his Instagram Stories which showed him pulling freshly baked cupcakes out of the oven. Whoops! Ryan later revealed he'd made Vickie cupcakes which she refused to take to work after he covered them in a lumpy yellow icing which didn't quite work out 'Mums on night shift tonight and I made some cupcakes and said take some to work,' he said. 'She just came out and said there's not a f**king chance she's taking these to work,' before panning to the baking disasters covered in a lumpy, yellow icing. Ryan's close relationship with his mother was evident when he spoke candidly about her battle with breast cancer while on I'm A Celebrity. Best friends! Ryan's close relationship with his mother was evident when he spoke candidly about her battle with breast cancer while on I'm A Celebrity 'My mum first got diagnosed when I was five, with breast cancer. She beat it, smashed it,' Ryan told his campmates. 'When I was 15, it came back. Beat it again. Then, she lost both her breasts. Then it came back when I was 25. Beat it again. And then it came back when I was 30. 'Breast cancer means a lot because I could lose my best friend from it,' Ryan said. Ryan selected the National Breast Cancer Foundation as his charity of choice on the reality show. Around three-quarters of local tourism businesses who have lost out during the coronavirus pandemic fear they will not be covered by insurers. The stark impact of Covid-19 on the sector is outlined in a survey by Tourism NI. An industry leader said businesses had been hit "hard and fast" by the crisis. The online survey ran from April 2 to April 7, around three weeks into the lockdown, and canvassed the views of 1,300 businesses and organisations from the tourism and hospitality sectors. Some 79% of organisations stated that Covid-19 would have a severe impact on their business in the short-term, the first three months. According to the survey, 63% stated the impact would be severe in the longer term (four months or more). Some 73% of companies who have had any loss of business said that "none" of it will be covered by their current insurance policy. Meanwhile, half of all businesses that responded to the survey had reduced their staff numbers - 427 businesses indicated that they had furloughed, laid off with pay or made temporarily redundant nearly 9,000 staff, including full-time, part-time and seasonal. Another 418 businesses stated that they had permanently laid off nearly 1,300 staff, whether full-time, part-time or seasonal. This equates to approximately 50% of the job growth achieved across the sector in the last 10 years. Tourism NI chief executive, John McGrillen, said the coronavirus pandemic had caused an "unprecedented economic crisis" and that the tourism and hospitality sector had been "hit hard and hit fast". "The results of our survey confirm very clearly that Covid-19 is having a major impact on the tourism and hospitality sector, with significant challenges facing businesses relating to cash flow and working capital," he said. "The recent announcements on extensions to the Job Retention Scheme, Coronavirus Interruption Business Loan Scheme, 40m of further NI Executive support for those businesses not currently supported by existing schemes and the opening of the Hospitality, Tourism and Retail Business Support Scheme are all welcome. "It is clear, however, that further, ongoing support and guidance will be required to allow many businesses to survive," he said. Childcare providers have asked to meet the National Public Health Emergency Team, to work out how healthcare workers' children could be minded amid the crisis, and the measures necessary to negate it. The NPHET considered proposals on the issue yesterday - but there has been no clearance on a plan yet, with providers saying they are not any clearer on how it can be resolved. 7,000 healthcare workers have said they need support with their children throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Regina Bushall, Chairperson of Seas Suas - a representative body for childcare providers - said decisions need to be made. "We have no idea how they envisage that happening, at this stage, and if they engage with us, of course we can discuss it, and see what solutions might be there," she said. "Childcare professionals themselves, who are out of work at the moment, of course, have their own challenges." Bushall also addressed the need for specific childcare approaches in the country's regions, calling for a considered approach. "(Government) do need now to sit down around the table with us, and discuss how it might be rolled out in different places around the country. "Dublin, the Midlands, the South, will all have different challenges and requirements, depending on where the hospitals are, and how this all rolls out over the next few days and weeks." Speaking on Monday, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the Government has money to provide childcare, but is seeking public health clearance from the NPHET, continuing the ongoing conversation on frontline workers' childcare. This morning, Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan spoke on the issue, says he's given his advice to government: "It's going back to the senior officials' group, who had asked us to consider the question again, because further work has been done across various Government departments to put them in a position to seek further advice", he said. "The Ministers will give consideration to that and maybe make it public in the near future". The University of Arizonas National Institute for Civil Discourse is broadcasting a virtual discussion with former government leaders who speak on the importance of bipartisan response to COVID-19. The hour-long discussion, Healthy Bipartisanship in the Time of COVID-19, will be streamed at 5:30 p.m. Thursday and will include former secretaries of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt and Sylvia Burwell, former U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.) and U.S. Senator Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D) and former Governor and EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman (R). The former leaders will discuss lessons they learned while serving in government that are relevant to the current governments response to the coronavirus, the institute said in a news release. Daschle and Whitman will reflect on their time in government when September 11 happened, and talk about the importance of bipartisanship as the country recovered from the terrorist attacks, said Keith Allred, the institutes executive director and host of Thursdays discussion. Leavitt and Burwell will provide advice to the general public and to elected officials on how they should be responding in order to overcome the current pandemic, Allred said. As Spain battles epidemic, volunteers who usually save people at sea now helping on countrys coronavirus front lines. Madrid, Spain They are used to saving refugees from the seas, but now, Spanish rescuers are using their expertise to help in the coronavirus pandemic. Volunteers from Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms are taking patients who have tested positive with the novel coronavirus to hospitals and helping staff in care homes, where thousands of frail elderly residents have died. The NGO is also working with homeless refugees and migrants to try to find them accommodation. They say that this virus is blind and it will affect everyone equally but that is not true, Mar Sabe, a volunteer, told Al Jazeera. When you are living rough and you have nowhere to live in secure confinement, then you have a much higher chance of catching this virus. Sabe works to find teenage refugees and migrants places to stay, which are provided by the local authorities. She also helps staff in care homes to test elderly residents for the virus. You see people in some care homes where the staff have hardly any protective equipment and others where they are well protected, she said. Some of the residents have lived through the Spanish Civil War and the dictatorship of General Franco so they have been through tough times. Volunteers from the NGO Proactiva Open Arms prepare to carry out emergency tests to determine if there is a possible outbreak of COVID-19 among patients in a nursing home in Barcelona, northeast Spain, April 2020 [Jose Colon/Al Jazeera] Proactiva Open Arms launched in 2015 at the height of what was Europes biggest refugee crisis since World War II. Tens of thousands of refugees tried to escape the horrors of the Syrian civil war by fleeing to Europe across the Mediterranean. Helped by the gift of a yacht from Livio Lo Monaco, a philanthropic Italian businessman who made his fortune selling mattresses, the charity started picking up people who were crossing in flimsy boats from Turkey to Greece and from Libya to Italy. However, after the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the rescue organisation has focused on the crisis closer to home and started working with health authorities in Barcelona, where it is based. We are accustomed to dealing with a problem on the sea, helping migrants who are in difficulties, Gerard Canals, Proactiva Open Arms director of operations, told Al Jazeera. It is different, but at the same these are both emergencies where peoples lives are at risk. We wanted to help. The organisation is also taking part in a testing programme for hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug believed by some experts to help patients recover from the coronavirus. Doctors in China said earlier this month it helped patients recover faster from pneumonia, coughs and fever. Meanwhile, despite Spain imposing one of the most drastic lockdowns in the world last month, refugees and migrants are still trying to reach Spain by sea from Africa. Since the state of emergency was imposed on March 14, the coastguard has picked up 745 people, including 551 in the Canary Islands, according to figures released by the Spanish interior ministry on Monday. That represented a 34 percent fall compared with the same period in 2019. Paloma Favieres, director of policy for the Spanish Commission for Refugees (CEAR), said people trying to reach Spain by sea were now in a kind of limbo. After the start of the state of emergency, our government has not tried to return migrants who it wants to expel because their countries have closed their borders, she told Al Jazeera. Most of the holding centres for migrants have been closed to avoid infections but not all. So the condition for these people varies. Favieres said in Melilla, a Spanish territory in North Africa bordering Morocco, about 1,600 migrants were held in a centre which was made for 782 people. However, she said the centre was expected to close shortly. CEAR, Oxfam and almost 200 organisations representing refugees and migrants have asked the Spanish government to speed up the legal process which would deal with 40,000 outstanding claims for asylum. Moscow entrepreneur Anastasia Mesheryakova is scathing about the assistance from President Vladimir Putins government as she fights to prevent the collapse of her family-owned chain of cafes. All the measures theyve announced are just a joke, said the 43-year-old. Ive only got myself to rely on. The crisis, which could wipe more than 5% off the Russian economy this year thanks to the twin blow of coronavirus and the plunge in oil prices, may prove even more devastating for hundreds of thousands of small businesses. Long squeezed by high levels of corruption and bureaucratic harassment, the sector could shrink by as much as half, potentially costing millions of jobs, according to one forecast. Click here for the complete coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic The authorities failure to stop the meltdown of businesses that account for a fifth of economic output could pose a political problem for the Kremlin as Putin moves to extend his 20-year rule. While the entrepreneurial class is tiny compared to the Russian leaders core support base of state workers and pensioners, businesspeople are often more politically active, especially in Moscow. Putin is losing the entrepreneurial class, said Andrei Kolesnikov, an analyst at the Moscow Carnegie Center. The gradual erosion of the economy and the political systems legitimacy will cause huge problems for him. Putins New $14 Billion Stimulus Plan Seen Falling Short While wealthier European countries like Germany are paying up to 80% of workers salaries in firms hit by the economic turmoil triggered by the virus, Russia is covering only a fraction of wage costs while offering only delays in paying tax and rent bills. Putin promised a big increase in government economic support last week, but business groups say the measures still fall short of whats needed. Most aid is going to big companies, many state controlled. Click here for the latest updates from the coronavirus outbreak Kremlin officials concede their assistance efforts arent enough. They say the programs will pick up in the coming weeks as the authorities have substantially increased the money available after taking a cautious approach in the early days of the epidemic. But the plunge in prices for oil, Russias main export, has the Kremlin leery about spending too much of its reserves now in case things get worse. Were not members of the European Union and we dont issue our own reserve currency, so there are limits to our economic policy, Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said on state television last week. The governments latest steps will help about half a million businesses, with more than 3 million workers, he said, and theres more to come. The authorities also say theyre suspending audits and other checks that bureaucrats often used to pressure businesses. The latest measures are a step forward, but not a big one, said Alexander Khurudzhi, head of a business-support group that works closely with the government. The new monthly grants to help pay salaries, though modest at only 12,130 rubles ($164) per worker, are the first efforts that could be more or less effective, he said. Those payments, which start only next month, could come too late for many companies. More than one in seven small businesses say theyre already at risk of imminent bankruptcy, according to a survey by the Center for Strategic Research in Moscow. The group forecasts the share of small businesses could drop to 18% this year from 20% last. Oleg Vyugin, a former senior official at the central bank and Finance Ministry, says that share could drop as low as 10%. The government is willing to let small businesses go bust because it takes the cynical view that others will eventually take their place, he said. The deferrals on tax and rental payments offered by authorities are useless for Vyacheslav Mukhin, who runs cosmetics stores in 14 shopping centers -- all currently closed. Youll still end up having to pay this sooner or later, Mukhin said. Officials live on a different planet. This crisis is far worse than the two previous downturns, in 2008-2009 and in 2014-2015, according to Putins business ombudsman, Boris Titov. The governments latest aid is better than no support at all but these measures arent enough to allow companies to survive, he said. Nonexistent thirty years ago when the Soviet Union collapsed, the sector was once as much as a quarter of the economy but has shrunk in recent years as behemoths in commodities and other industries have grown. Mesheryakova started her Coffee Piu chain of seven cafes with her husband, opening the first outlet seven years ago, and reached an annual revenue of 200 million rubles. If things dont start to get back to normal by end of May, she says shell have to lay off her 100 staff and liquidate the business.They dont want us, she said. Were a nuisance, there are too many of us and we all have our own opinion. Big companies are easier to control. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A new father revealed he watched the the birth of his first baby on Zoom after hospitals banned spouses from being in delivery rooms due to the coronavirus pandemic. Marty Gandelman, 34, from New Jersey, was sitting on a sofa watching on his laptop screen as his wife, Stephanie, also 34, who fell pregnant on her fourth round of IVF, delivered their son Jake, now three weeks, at Mount Sinai Hospital, Manhattan, New York. Speaking to Metro, Stephanie, who was induced on March 27, said: 'He was more upset than I was to be honest because Jake is our first child together and he was sad that he could not be there to see his son born.' She added: 'When I was in labor I just thought of the camera as Marty, rather than a camera. It didn't really change anything for me and it was comforting to know he was there.' Marty Gandelman, 34, from New Jersey, has revealed how he watched the birth of his son Jake, now three weeks, on Zoom, after social distancing rules prevented him from being in the delivery room. Pictured, wife Stephanie, 34, giving birth The proud father (pictured) said being able to watch the birth at home made him feel like he was in the room with his wife and newborn son While Marty admits he was upset at first, he soon felt reassured after seeing the number of doctors who were in the room with his wife on Zoom. 'Not being there to hug and kiss Jake right away was tough, of course,' he said. 'When I saw that mom and baby were both OK I was over the moon and to be honest, being able to watch did make it feel like I was in the room with them.' The couple had been trying for a baby for three years when Steph fell pregnant in July 2019 - following a fourth round of IVF. Devastatingly, she had previously suffered three miscarriages within the first week of gestation, and with both of them suffering from fertility issues, the chance of conceiving naturally was unlikely. However, they managed to conceive a child using fertility treatment, and were overjoyed at the prospect of welcoming a child together. Then, the coronavirus pandemic hit the world just two weeks before Stephanie was due to deliver her first baby in New York - which quickly became the global epicenter for the COVID-19 outbreak. Marty said he was nervous about not being there for his wife, until he saw the amount of doctors she was with in the delivery room The midwives said Jake was 'perfect' when he was born. Pictured, being placed in mother Stephanie's arms Midwives booked in her labor for March 27 - a week before her initial due date of April 3. However, just four days before, the hospital banned all partners from being present in the delivery room in a bid to prevent the spread of the deadly disease. The new parents explained that they received an email from the hospital saying that they could set up a virtual delivery that would allow Marty to have a part in the birth, while still following social distancing rules, and they jumped at the opportunity for him to be present - from the safety of his own home. And thankfully, it wasn't long before he got the chance to meet his child in person. Marty picked up his son Jake, who weighed 7lb 5oz, and wife, Stephanie, from the hospital the day after he was born. 'When I finally met Jake it was such a great feeling,' said Marty. 'I gave him and kiss and a cuddle and then drove home to isolate away from everything.' JERUSALEM, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Established under "The Kitchen" FoodTech Hub, owned by the Strauss Group in collaboration with Israel Innovation Authority, Bio-Fence has developed coatings designed to prevent infection by pathogenic bacteria, such as Listeria and Salmonella in food production environments. The effectiveness of these coatings has been proven in laboratories under International Standard ISO 22196 and in food sites in Israel and worldwide. With the outbreak of COVID-19, the company decided to test the effectiveness of its coatings against viruses as well. The test was carried out in the laboratory of Professor Mahmoud Huleihel, a renowned virologist from Ben-Gurion University. The test results show that the company's coating products completely destroy the herpes virus, which is significantly more durable than the coronavirus. It is well established that surfaces in areas inhabited by carriers of Sars-CoV-2 can be infected by the virus for many days, and therefore, frequent disinfection is required to prevent the risk cross-infection. Based on the recommendations of health and environmental organizations, chlorine-based materials are used as an effective disinfectant for surfaces from the Coronavirus. The anti-microbial, coating developed by Bio-Fence, is based on this effective chlorine killing mechanism, and is unique in providing long-lasting protection, and by that significantly reducing the required frequency of disinfection. The company's products can be used for coating walls, floors, partitions, and surfaces in institutions, hotels, offices, factories, train stations, airports, airplanes and more. The technology is based on an innovative polymer, which can be combined within paints and coatings, providing them the ability to bind and stabilize chlorine. This, in turn, protects the coated surfaces for extended periods of time. The coatings are transparent and can be sprayed or painted quickly without damaging coated surfaces. This immediately creates an active, stable protection layer against the virus in case of infection. Bio-Fence is currently developing a kit for testing the levels of active chlorine on the surfaces, to notify users when it should be reapplied (a simple action carried out by spraying or smearing a chlorine solution provided by Bio-Fence). Ofer Shoham, Bio-Fence CEO: "For the past two years, Bio-Fence has developed technology that eradicates bacteria and viruses leaving a clean environment. We focused on disease-causing bacteria such as Salmonella and Listeria, reaching significant achievements and proven feasibility in field conditions. The world's population is currently experiencing a significant change in lifestyle as a result of the Coronavirus. We identified the need for an immediate and viable mechanism to allow a safe return to the working environment and routine we are all accustomed to. We were delighted to have this opportunity to join the global battle against the spread of the coronavirus. In recent weeks, the company's development team, led by Dr. Maria Hitrik, has been working day and night while remaining in line with Israel's Ministry of Health's guidelines, to make sure our technology is effective against the virus. I believe that with Bio-Fence's technology we will be able to help society regain some normalcy by maintaining spaces safe from bacteria's and viruses." BIO FENCE Bio-Fence was established in early 2018 through a collaboration between Strauss's FoodTech incubator, and experts in the field based on a core technology developed at the Israeli Institute of Biological Research (IIBR). The company has developed an innovative polymer which, when added to paints and coatings, provides them with the property of bonding and stabilizing chlorine on the coated surfaces. The company's initial goal was to meet the growing need to create a safe food production environment due to the frequent infections in pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella, Listeria and E. coli. The company presents an innovative and unique solution in the growing market of antimicrobial coating. More recently, the technology was proven to be effective against viruses as well and the company has shifted its efforts to join the global effort against the coronavirus. The company's development lab is located in the Bio-Gav complex of Hadassah, Jerusalem, and enjoys the support of the Jerusalem Development Corporation. The company received development grants from the Israeli Innovation Authority and has raised additional capital from strategic investors. Bio-Fence is currently in advanced stages of transition from development to production (Scale-Up) in collaboration with leading Israeli chemicals and paint manufacturers and aims to launch its first coating products within months. For further details: Business inquiries can be emailed: [email protected] For coordinating interviews please contact: Gali Fried Strauss Group's PR Manager [email protected], +(972)-506403105 SOURCE Bio-Fence ATLANTA - President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he disagreed strongly with the decision by Georgias Republican governor to reopen salons, gyms and other nonessential businesses that had been shuttered to contain the coronavirus, saying, Its just too soon. During the daily White House briefing, the president indicated that while he is in favour of states reopening their economies, Gov. Brian Kemp is moving a little too fast. Kemp announced earlier this week that as of Friday, elective medical procedures could resume in Georgia, and that barbershops, nail salons and gyms could reopen with restrictions. Limited in-restaurant dining is scheduled to resume on Monday. The announcement immediately prompted pushback by Atlantas Democratic mayor, other political opponents and health experts who warned that the state has not yet taken the steps recommended under federal guidelines the Trump administration issued for reopening the economy safely. Georgia ranks in the bottom 10 U.S. states in per capita testing for the coronavirus. Officials are struggling to increase testing for new infections and boost tracking of those in contact with infected people. If that isnt done, health officials said, the state risks a quick rebound of COVID-19. The virus moves faster than government does, said Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. So if I had to bet on who would come out of the gate faster, it would be the virus. Trump has been stressing the importance of reopening states sooner rather than later to get the U.S. economy back on track. Just last week, the president urged his supporters on Twitter to LIBERATE MICHIGAN! and other Democratic-led states from stay-at-home orders at the same time that mostly Republican governors like Kemp were taking steps to lift those restrictions. But on Wednesday, Trump indicated that Kemps aggressive reopening strategy went beyond the recommendations of a three-phase plan the administration unveiled last week. The plan advises 14 days of declining new infections and robust testing of health care workers before proceeding to a phased opening of the economy. I want him to do what he thinks is right, Trump said. But ... I think (opening) spas and beauty salons and tattoo parlours and barbershops in Phase One ... its just too soon. The president added that theres a lot of good feeling between myself and Brian Kemp. I like him a lot. ... I know the people from spas and beauty parlours, tattoo parlours. Bikers for Trump a lot of tattoos. I love them. I love these people. And barbershops, these are great people. But you know what? Maybe wait a little bit longer until you get into a Phase Two. Not long after Trumps remarks, Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of neighbouring South Carolina issued a statement saying he agreed with the president and that while he has great respect for Governor Kemp ... the best path forward is to follow the guidelines set by President Trump and his team. Kemp responded in a tweet Wednesday night that he appreciated Trumps guidance but would move forward with his plan. Our next measured step is driven by data and guided by state public health officials, the governor said. I am confident that business owners who decide to reopen will adhere to minimum basic operations, which prioritize the health and well-being of employees and customers. In pushing his plans to jump-start the states economy, Kemp stressed that the state was ramping up its virus testing. The number of tests administered in Georgia had plateaued between 3,500 to 4,000 a day. However, on Wednesday, the state reported almost 6,000 tests over 24 hours. State Public Health Commissioner Kathleen Toomey said the state will expand its ability to aggressively trace the contacts of infected people. This is the way were going to keep spread from occurring, even as we begin to gradually open up the state, Toomey said. The state hasnt said how many people are tracing contacts now, how many it seeks, or how quickly the states 18 public health districts can ramp up. As of Wednesday, more than 21,000 people in Georgia had been infected with the virus and more than 840 had died, according to the state Department of Public Health. Toomey and Kemp said the state will use a cellphone app to track infected people, and ask those people to voluntarily share cellphone data so that the state can find other contacts. Many businesses and workers have expressed reservations about Kemps plan. I understand everybody wants to get back to normal, said Dewond Brown, a 42-year-old line cook who was laid off last month. But you hear the medical people say every day its not time yet. State Sen. Nikema Williams, chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Georgia, weighed in on the situation Wednesday after the presidents briefing, remarking, You know its a serious failure when Donald Trump, whose failed leadership is responsible for how badly this crisis is hitting America, distances himself from his crony Brian Kemp, who is endlessly determined to make this crisis as painful as possible for Georgians. Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. Associated Press reporters Sudhin Thanawala and Ben Nadler in Atlanta; and Kimberly Kruesi in Nashville, Tennessee, contributed to this report. President Trump on Wednesday said he instructed the U.S. Navy to fire at any Iranian gunboats that "harass" American ships at sea. "I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea," Trump said in a tweet. Trump's statement comes a week after 11 Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Navy vessels operated dangerously close to U.S. ships in the Gulf. A U.S. Navy release video of the incident last week shows small Iranian fast boats coming close to American warships as they operated in the northern Persian Gulf near Kuwait, with U.S. Army Apache helicopters. On Sunday, the Guard acknowledged it had a tense encounter with U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf, but alleged without offering evidence that American forces sparked the incident. Meanwhile, Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it put the Islamic Republic's first military satellite into orbit, dramatically unveiling what experts described as a secret space program with a surprise launch Wednesday that came amid wider tensions with the United States. US NAVY CLAIMS IRAN'S NAVY TAUNTS SHIPS IN PERSIAN GULF There was no immediate independent confirmation of the launch of the satellite, which the Guard called Noor, or light. The U.S. State Department and Israeli officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment while the Pentagon said it will continue to closely monitor Irans pursuit of viable space launch technology. However, such a launch immediately raised concerns among experts on whether the technology used could help Iran develop intercontinental ballistic missiles. Already, Iran has abandoned all the limitation of its tattered nuclear deal with world powers that President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from in 2018. Trump's decision set off a monthslong series of escalating attacks that culminated in a U.S. drone strike in January that killed a top Iranian general in Iraq, followed by Tehran launching ballistic missiles at American soldiers in Iraq. Story continues CORONAVIRUS STIMULUS CASH: WHY SOME MILITARY MEMBERS HAD PAYMENTS SNATCHED, REDUCED As the world grapples with the coronavirus pandemic and historically low oil prices, the missile launch may signal a new willingness to take risks by Iran. This raises a lot of red flags, said Fabian Hinz, a researcher at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California. Now that you have the maximum pressure campaign, Iran doesnt have that much to lose anymore. On its official website, the Guard said the satellite successfully reached an orbit of 425 kilometers (264 miles) above the Earth's surface. The Guard called it the first military satellite ever launched by Tehran. The three-stage satellite launch took off from Irans Central Desert, the Guard said, without elaborating. Hinz said based on state media images, the launch appeared to have happened at a previously unnamed Guard base near Shahroud, Iran, some 330 kilometers (205 miles) northeast of Tehran. The base is in Semnan province, which hosts the Imam Khomeini Spaceport from which Iran's civilian space program operates. The paramilitary force said it used a Ghased, or Messenger, satellite carrier to put the device into space, a previously unheard-of system. It described the system as using both liquid and solid fuel. Today, the worlds powerful armies do not have a comprehensive defense plan without being in space, and achieving this superior technology that takes us into space and expands the realm of our abilities is a strategic achievement, said Gen. Hossein Salami, the head of the Guard. He described the satellite as multifunctional. GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE Wednesday marks the 41st anniversary of the founding of the Guard by Irans late leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. An image of the rocket that carried the satellite showed it bore a Quranic verse typically recited when going on a journey, as well as a drawing of the Earth with the word Allah in Farsi wrapped around it. The Guard, which operates its own military infrastructure in parallel to Iran's regular armed forces, is a hard-line force answerable only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It wasn't immediately clear if Iran's civilian government knew the launch was coming. President Hassan Rouhani gave nearly a 40-minute speech Wednesday before his Cabinet that included no mention of the launch. Responding to a query from The Associated Press, Iranian Information and Communications Technology Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi wrote on Twitter that the Guard's space program was defensive" in nature, while the overall program was peaceful, without elaborating. U.S. Army Maj. Rob Lodewick, a Pentagon spokesman, told the AP that American officials continue to monitor Iran's program. While Tehran does not currently have intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), its desire to have a strategic counter to the United States could drive it to develop an ICBM, Lodewick said. Iran has suffered several failed satellite launches in recent months. The latest came in February, when Iran failed to put its Zafar 1 communications satellite into orbit. That failure came after two failed launches of the Payam and Doosti satellites last year, as well as a launchpad rocket explosion in August. A separate fire at the Imam Khomeini Space Center in February 2019 also killed three researchers, authorities said at the time. The rocket explosion in August drew even the attention of Trump, who later tweeted what appeared to be a classified surveillance image of the launch failure. The successive failures raised suspicion of outside interference in Irans program, something Trump himself hinted at by tweeting at the time that the U.S. was not involved in the catastrophic accident. The U.S. alleges such satellite launches defy a U.N. Security Council resolution calling on Iran to undertake no activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. Iran, which long has said it does not seek nuclear weapons, previously maintained its satellite launches and rocket tests do not have a military component. The Guard launching its own satellite now calls that into question. Tehran also says it hasnt violated a U.N. resolution on its ballistic missile program as it only called upon Iran not to conduct such tests. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS Wednesday's launch, however, raised new questions. While Iran isn't known to have the know-how to miniaturize a nuclear weapon for a ballistic missile, any advances toward an intercontinental ballistic missile would put Europe and potentially the U.S. in range. Over the past decade, Iran has sent several short-lived satellites into orbit and in 2013 launched a monkey into space. Even as both face the same invisible enemy in the coronavirus pandemic, Iran and the United States remain locked in retaliatory pressure campaigns that now view the outbreak as just the latest battleground. Initially overwhelmed, Tehran now seeks to sway international opinion on U.S. sanctions by highlighting its struggles with COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. In Iran, the regional epicenter of the outbreak, the virus has killed more than 5,290 people, from among over 84,800 reported cases. ___ Jon Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press journalists Nasser Karimi and Mehdi Fattahi in Tehran, Iran, and Aron Heller and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report. Related Articles Two Ulster University professors have been appointed to help the government develop a coronavirus antibody test. Officials are working to produce a reliable test which can be used in the community and help to end lockdown safely. Professors Tara Moore and Jim McLaughlin have now joined the UK Rapid Test Consortium (UK-RTC) via local company CIGA Healthcare. It is hoped a successful test will determine whether people have developed immunity after contracting the virus. Along with three other companies and the University of Oxford, a six-month memorandum of understanding has been agreed to develop and manufacture the test. If successful, manufacturing can take place with each company, including at a site in Northern Ireland. Professor Cathy Gormley-Heenan, deputy vice-chancellor of Ulster University, said: "We are delighted to be involved in this consortium and to support the UK Government's efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic. "As a university, we have always pioneered research that improves the lives of our communities and societies and addresses global challenges. "We are committed to using our knowledge, expertise and resources to fight back against Covid-19." She added: "Professors Moore and McLaughlin bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to this consortium, which will aid the manufacture of important diagnostics in Northern Ireland." Earlier this week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said there was still no evidence that antibody tests offered a guarantee of immunity. Expand Close Prof Jim McLaughlin / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Prof Jim McLaughlin Professor John Newton, national coordinator of the UK coronavirus testing programme, also warned the public against purchasing unapproved tests. "We are breaking new ground with this work every day and I am confident this major research effort will make a breakthrough," the BBC reported. He said that unproven tests could give false readings and put more people at risk. "As soon as we have found a test that works for this purpose, we will be in a position to roll them out across the country as a back-to-work test." Dr Maria van Kerkhove, from the WHO, warned that any new product must be properly validated. Mumbai: Mumbai Police have taken to Twitter to express gratitude to filmmaker Rohit Shetty for helping out on-duty police officials who are working relentlessly to ensure a smooth lockdown as the nation battles the deadly COVID 19 pandemic. The filmmaker has arranged for rest, shower and clothes changing facility along with breakfast and dinner in eight hotels across the city for on-duty police officials. Informing about the same and expressing gratitude, Mumbai Police tweeted on Tuesday: "#RohitShetty has facilitated eight hotels across the city for our on-duty #CovidWarriors to rest, shower & change with arrangements for breakfast & dinner. We thank him for this kind gesture and for helping us in #TakingOnCorona and keeping Mumbai safe." This initiative by the filmmaker comes after he recently donated Rs 51 lakh to the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) to aid daily wage film workers, who have been left jobless due to the lockdown amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. On the film front, Rohit Shetty is all set with the next film in his cop drama universe, titled "Sooryavanshi". The forthcoming movie features Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif in the lead. Two terrorists have been killed in an ongoing encounter between security forces and terrorists in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday (April 22). Sources told Zee Media that two terrorists are still hiding in the area and operation is on to either kill or arrest them. The encounter started on Tuesday night in Melhora area of Zainapora village after terrorists opened fire on a joint team of Jammu and Kashmir Police, 55 Rashtriya Rifles and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). (This is a developing story. More details will be added). What Oregon couldnt do for itself, the U.S. Supreme Court did. In a 6-3 decision, the nations highest court invalidated Oregons 85-year-old law that allows defendants to be convicted by a nonunanimous jury of any felony short of murder. Despite widespread agreement among Oregons leaders that the states law was rooted in racism and undermined justice they decided to wait for the court to act first. And thankfully, the court did. Authoring the opinion for the majority, Justice Neil Gorsuch took aim at a 1972 Supreme Court decision that blessed Oregons split-jury law and blasted the notion that a jury in which two of 12 jurors object to guilt could pass constitutional muster. Wherever we might look to determine what the term trial by an impartial jury trial meant at the time of the Sixth Amendments adoptionwhether its the common law, state practices in the founding era, or opinions and treatises written soon afterwardthe answer is unmistakable, Gorsuch wrote. A jury must reach a unanimous verdict in order to convict. Its a plain and simple sentence to convey what for every other state and the federal system has been a plain and simple truth. Voters in Louisiana, the one other state that had embraced a nonunanimous jury law born during the Jim Crow era, repealed that provision in 2018. Oregon stood alone. Fortunately for Oregon, Louisianas transition had its own hurdles namely, that the new law only affected cases going forward. This weeks Supreme Court decision comes in a case brought by a Louisiana inmate who had been sent to prison on a 10-2 verdict but affects Oregons law all the same. That Oregons leaders would rely on a court ruling rather than ask voters to rid the constitution of a racist and blatantly unjust law is more than disappointing. While amending the constitution is never an easy task, leading is about articulating a goal and persuading voters to take the path to get there. Oregonians appalled that our state would accept a lower standard for conviction than every other state should thank the unexpected coalition of conservative and liberal justices on the Supreme Court for forcing a change. They should also thank the work of Lewis & Clark Law Professor Aliza Kaplan who heads the schools Criminal Justice Reform Clinic. Kaplan researched the history of Oregons nonunanimous jury law, showing its passage in 1934 amid xenophobic and anti-Semitic sentiment after a high-profile trial of a Jewish defendant who was convicted of manslaughter after the jury deadlocked on murder. Kaplan found editorials from The Morning Oregonian at the time that complained of mixed-blood jurors and immigrants untrained in the jury system that compromised the current system. Oregonian editorials Editorials reflect the collective opinion of The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial board, which operates independently of the newsroom. Members of the editorial board are Therese Bottomly, Laura Gunderson, Helen Jung, John Maher and Amy Wang. Members of the board meet regularly to determine our institutional stance on issues of the day. We publish editorials when we believe our unique perspective can lend clarity and influence an upcoming decision of great public interest. Editorials are opinion pieces and therefore different from news articles. To respond to this editorial, submit an OpEd or a letter to the editor If you have questions about the opinion section, email Helen Jung , opinion editor, or call 503-294-7621. For many who have limited or no involvement in the court system, the fact that defendants could be sentenced to long prison terms even when one-sixth of the jury doubted their guilt was not well known. And many in the system, particularly prosecutors who benefited from having an easier path to conviction, didnt ponder the inconsistencies of a system that mandates unanimity for juries in misdemeanor crimes, allows split verdicts for more serious ones yet requires jury unanimity for murder. This decision rights a structural wrong in our system, and the consequences of that fix wont always be welcome. The state justice department, which had opposed overturning the 1972 law, is already embarking on a plan to evaluate cases affected by the change a potentially costly process for Oregon and potentially devastating one for victims who believed their cases were resolved. Moving forward, there may be more hung juries as a result of this change, with either retrials or defendants going free due to holdout jurors. But thats a feature, not a bug, of a trustworthy judicial system that always puts the burden of proof on the prosecution, where it belongs. Beyond a reasonable doubt must be more than just a cliche. And with that in mind, the judicial system should aim to fast-track appeals of pending cases involving defendants who now in prison as a result of nonunanimous jury verdicts. In his opinion, Gorsuch wrote of the reluctance of some justices to overturn precedent, fearing the turmoil of undoing such a long-standing law. Every judge must learn to live with the fact he or she will make some mistakes; it comes with the territory, he wrote. But it is something else entirely to perpetuate something we all know to be wrong only because we fear the consequences of being right. It took 85 years and action by the Supreme Court, but Oregon will get to see what being right is all about. - The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board Tunis Tunisia (PANA) - Tunisian security units in the northern city of Bizerte arrested two people on Tuesday on suspicion of belonging to a terrorist organization, a security source in the city said A gunman acted alone in waging a weekend rampage that killed at least 22 people across northern and central Nova Scotia, Canadian police said as they faced mounting criticism over not issuing a public emergency alert for the province. Chief Supt. Chris Leather of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said investigators were still trying to determine whether anyone assisted the gunman leading up to the incident, but had determined he carried out the attack himself while disguised as a police officer in a vehicle marked to seem like a patrol car. Authorities said the suspect, identified as 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman, was shot to death at a gas station at 11.26 am on Sunday about 13 hours after the first 911 call came in late Saturday. Leather said that as the initial attack was underway in the rural town of Portapique, police warned residents to lock their doors and stay in their basements. The town, like all of Canada, had been adhering to government advice to remain at home because of the coronavirus pandemic, and most of the victims were inside homes when attacked. But no wider warning was issued, and questions emerged about why a public emergency alert was not sent province-wide through a system recently used to advise people to maintain social distancing. Police provided Twitter updates, but no alert that would have automatically popped up on cellphones. There are now 16 crime scenes in five different rural communities throughout northern and central Nova Scotia. Officials have not given a motive for the killings. Leather said it wasn't until about about 8 am on Sunday that authorities learned that the shooter was wearing a police uniform and driving a vehicle that looked like a patrol car. Leather said they are investigating whether he pulled drivers over and executed them after his initial attack in his home community of Portapique where he set fires to homes and shot a number of people. Leather said Nova Scotia's Emergency Management Office contacted the RCMP at 10.15 am on Sunday to ask about sending an emergency message to cellphones and televisions in the province. He said police were crafting a message when the suspect was killed almost two hours later. The US consulate in Halifax e-mailed alerts to its citizens warning of the danger at a time when the RCMP was using Twitter to communicate the I'm very satisfied with the messaging, Leather said. Residents of some of the five communities where the killer struck have said they would have changed their behavior had an alert been sent. Several bodies were found inside and outside one house on Portapique Beach Road, police said. Bodies were also found in four other communities, and authorities believe the shooter may have targeted his first victims but then began attacking randomly as he drove around. Clinton Ellison was visiting his father's home in Portapique with his brother when the gunshots and fires began on late Saturday. He said his brother, Corrie, went to help with one of the homes on fire. After a while he went to look for his brother with a flashlight. I could see a body laying up the side the road. As I got closer I could see it was my brother. I got one more step closer and I could see blood and he wasn't moving. I shut my flashlight off and turned around and ran and I ran for my life in the dark, Ellison told Canadian Broadcasting Corp. He said at one point he spotted a flashlight and fearing it was the shooter he ran into the woods and hid for hours, all the while hearing gunshots and explosions from the fires in the community. I was hiding in the woods for about for four hours staring up into the sky, freezing to death, looking for red flashing lights that never came, Ellison told CBC. It took hours. People were in there burning to death and dying and it took hours for a response. That's not right." He said a police armored car finally picked him up and he saw lots of officers as he left the community. But he feels they failed to do their job. They were all standing around when people were dying, Ellison said. You shouldn't be wearing the uniform if you don't have the guts to go in there and save peoples lives." Leather said police were in the community contrary to what Ellison said. While that fellow may not have thought police were in the vicinity, there were a large number in Portapique, Leather said. Ellison said he can barely function and is scarred for life. He returned to the community Wednesday to pick up his vehicle and said it's a trail of destruction with numerous burned out homes and cars. It's horrible. It's something right out of a horror movie, worse than a horror movie. This is real life and it took our friends and family, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Health Check out our new Website libertyhome.co.za! 22.04.2020 16:57:48 - Liberty Home is not like any other recovery clinic. We go beyond the clinical approach, offering a safe and nurturing family environment in a home in Lakesidean upmarket and tranquil neighborhood in Cape Town. You are supported by a team of experienced professionals at all times. Our goal is as simple as it is complex: preparing you for a clean and serene life with sustainable results in the long term. 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We offer various activities and treatments aimed at making your stay and recovery as comfortable as possible.Addiction comes in many forms, Liberty Home offer support in:AlcoholNarcoticsEating disordersPrescription medication abuseSex and love addictionIntimacy disorderCo-dependencyGambling addictionOver-exerciseCompulsive shoppingThe intake criteria for both the programs are being clean from all alter mood substances as well as having completed a primary care program for rehabilitation from addiction.In our Reintegration Care program we will focus on the clients being healthy and productive to themselves and society. We will give tools and opportunities to develop a volunteer job, a hobby or a vocation. This is strictly supervised and approved by the therapeutic team. We still offer a therapeutic programme during the week (one therapeutic group a day), which focuses on relapse prevention as well as effective means on conquering triggers and cravings. One-to-one sessions will still be done on a weekly basis in order to have a good follow up of the clients reintegration back into society.For more information, visit www.libertyhome.co.za , or contact us via WhatsApp on +27 72 0877628.Liberty Home in Cape Town South Africa is proud to announce the launch of our brand new website! Check out www.libertyhome.co.za and start recovery today! Liberty Home is a Secondary Care Facility that assists guests who have attended rehabilitation for narcotic, sex and alcohol addiction. Liberty Home offer 2 programmes namely Social Reintegration and Sober Living. Each programme provides you with new and exciting opportunity to a sober and clean lifestyle. Seeking help for addiction is the first step to recovery. overcoming addiction is not easy. Our programmes are designed to provide you with optimal guidance and support through your recovery. We specialize in various forms of psychological treatment, namely Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (BDT) and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). Liberty Home is host to a team of trained professionals and counsellors to assist you on your road to recovery. Our home in stills family values by creating a free atmosphere where we can teach, learn and socialise in a clean sober living environment. We offer various activities and treatments aimed at making your stay and recovery as comfortable as possible. Addiction comes in many forms, Liberty Home offer support in: Alcohol Narcotics Eating disorders Prescription medication abuse Sex and love addiction Intimacy disorder Co-dependency Gambling addiction Over-exercise Compulsive shopping The intake criteria for both the programs are being clean from all alter mood substances as well as having completed a primary care program for rehabilitation from addiction. In our Reintegration Care program we will focus on the clients being healthy and productive to themselves and society. We will give tools and opportunities to develop a volunteer job, a hobby or a vocation. This is strictly supervised and approved by the therapeutic team. We still offer a therapeutic programme during the week (one therapeutic group a day), which focuses on relapse prevention as well as effective means on conquering triggers and cravings. One-to-one sessions will still be done on a weekly basis in order to have a good follow up of the clients reintegration back into society. For more information, visit you with new and exciting opportunity to a sober and clean lifestyle. Seeking help for addiction is the first step to recovery. overcoming addiction is not easy. Our programmes are designed to provide you with optimal guidance and support through your recovery. We specialize in various forms of psychological treatment, namely Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (BDT) and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).Liberty Home is host to a team of trained professionals and counsellors to assist you on your road to recovery. Our home in stills family values by creating a free atmosphere where we can teach, learn and socialise in a clean sober living environment. We offer various activities and treatments aimed at making your stay and recovery as comfortable as possible.Addiction comes in many forms, Liberty Home offer support in:AlcoholNarcoticsEating disordersPrescription medication abuseSex and love addictionIntimacy disorderCo-dependencyGambling addictionOver-exerciseCompulsive shoppingThe intake criteria for both the programs are being clean from all alter mood substances as well as having completed a primary care program for rehabilitation from addiction.In our Reintegration Care program we will focus on the clients being healthy and productive to themselves and society. We will give tools and opportunities to develop a volunteer job, a hobby or a vocation. This is strictly supervised and approved by the therapeutic team. We still offer a therapeutic programme during the week (one therapeutic group a day), which focuses on relapse prevention as well as effective means on conquering triggers and cravings. One-to-one sessions will still be done on a weekly basis in order to have a good follow up of the clients reintegration back into society.For more information, visit www.libertyhome.co.za , or contact us via WhatsApp on +27 72 0877628. Press Information: Liberty Home 5 Boulder Rd, Marina Da Gama Contact Person: Morgane Owner Phone: 0720877628 eMail: eMail Web: http://www.libertyhome.co.za 22.04.2020 16:57:48 - Disclaimer: If you have any questions regarding information in this article please contact the author. Please do not contact Live-PR.com. We are not able to assist you. Live-PR.com disclaims content contained in this article. Live-PR.com is not authorized to give any information about content and not responsible for content posted by third party. The coronavirus pandemic has caused a lot of hardship across New York state. Its also presenting society with an opportunity to rethink how we value certain types of work. Doctors, nurses and other health care workers have received daily cheers for the work they do to save lives. There are also many other people doing all sorts of work outside the home, endangering themselves in the process. This includes selling groceries, delivering food and making sure online orders get filled. Much of this is low-paid work with minimal benefits. But that could change in the months ahead according to state Senate Labor Committee Chairwoman Jessica Ramos, if and when state lawmakers get back to legislating. With the economic toll continuing to mount during the pandemic, there remains much that the state can do to help essential workers get through it. The Queens lawmaker is looking to expand the definition of essential worker to include delivery workers and child care providers, establish a bailout fund for workers (including undocumented immigrants) by taxing capital gains and require employers to notify employees if a worker tests positive for the coronavirus. City & State spoke with Ramos on Monday evening to hear the latest on the labor front in the war against the coronavirus. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. How has the pandemic affected how society values much of the work that is now deemed essential and the people that do it? There are workers who would have never thought to be essential workers before, but have been essential workers during the pandemic, for example, our food delivery workers. The way we have treated the people who are firmly the backbone of so many businesses is truly ungrateful. And I want to utilize this time to correct those wrongs and ensure that they have the opportunity to thrive just like anybody else. What does this mean from a legislative point of view? Assemblywoman Carmen De La Rosa and I announced a worker bailout fund, which would be created through legislation. The purpose would be to impose a tax on the capital gains of billionaires assets, and we estimate that would generate around $5.5 billion in its first year and would allow us to provide $3,300 per worker who does not qualify for unemployment insurance or Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (a program included in a recent federal stimulus bill) or any other wage assistance program. And, yes, that does include undocumented workers and should not discriminate against what the person does for a living. Now that e-bikes are legal, how would you like to see New York City regulate them? We allowed municipalities to determine the parameters under which people would utilize e-bikes and e-scooters. It was impossible from the states perspective to legislate with a one-size-fits-all approach. So I think youre trusting the New York City Council to do their job to work with the mayor and be able to keep protecting these delivery workersand also to update our public infrastructure, hopefully working with the Department of Transportation to provide for a street design or redesign where applicable in order to keep all street users safe. Is there a specific place that illustrates the changes you are talking about whether in the short or long term? Thats a softball. I have been asking the city to invert a bike lane and a parking lane so that we have a protected bike lane along 34th Avenue here in Jackson Heights, (Queens). On the other extreme of my district, the DOT has shut down Shore Boulevard in Astoria to vehicular traffic. Its so beautiful how New Yorkers are utilizing that space and respecting social distancing. Its really a wonder to see what it actually means when public policy like that reflects the needs of people and not cars because streets are for people. What about worker protections at the time of pandemic? Some construction, for example, is still allowed. What do you think? Isnt it a wonder the power of real estate in this town? Theres virtually no other reason why these workers shouldnt be able to stay home, not have to worry about their income. We saw that at the Amazon warehouse in my district where the workers had to find out from other departments that somebody had gotten sick and possibly contaminated an area. We want to make sure employers notify workers in writing in their native language when somebody has fallen ill. All of that depends on the state Legislature meeting again this year. Are you confident that will happen? I really hope so. Look, theres an urgency, since we passed that resolution before the budget allowing us to vote remotely. Im ready to spring into action right now. An employee in the civil aviation ministry has tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), officials aware of the developments said on Wednesday, in the first confirmed case of the infection in a central government ministry. The ministry headquarters at the Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan in New Delhis Jor Bagh will be sealed as per the prescribed protocol, Union civil aviation minister Hardeep Puri said. Officials who have had contact with the staffer will be tested. An employee of the ministry who had attended office on April 15 has tested positive for COVID19 on April 21. All necessary protocols are being stringently followed on the premises. All colleagues who came in contact are being asked to go into self-isolation as a precaution, the ministry of civil aviation said in a statement. Government of Delhi is seized of the matter. They are taking appropriate steps as per the laid protocol for contact tracing and risk profiling, it added. The staffer who tested positive complained of throat pain a few days back and he got tested on Tuesday, a government official said. The development came a day after a housekeeper in the Lok Sabha secretariat and the daughter-in-law of a Rashtrapati Bhavan sanitation worker tested positive for Covid-19. A cluster of 125 residential houses in the Rashtrapati Bhavan estate was sealed while the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) turned a large number of residential houses near Kali Bari Marg, where the Parliament employee lived, into a containment zone. The latter was not working in Parliament complex but in one of the establishments of the Lok Sabha secretariat at 36 GRG Road. The government has directed a phased return to office of central government ministry officers. The new guidelines --- issued after the extension of the lockdown till May 3 --- call for 100% attendance from officers above the deputy secretary level with junior staff attendance of 33%. Some junior staffers have expressed concerns over commuting to work under the lockdown. Social distancing is not maintained when you have to carpool with others. The entire point gets negated, a government staffer said on the condition of anonymity. Another employee, who too did not want to be named, said: Commuting has been tough as there arent enough vehicles for junior staff. We are supposed to carpool with others...They have asked to try getting private cars for whoever can manage. Flores Concepts on Tuesday launched its latest community outreach effort to help Tucson hospital workers get through the strain of working the front lines of the deadly coronavirus pandemic. Tamales For Heroes (tamalesforheroes.com), the unofficial launch of the Flores familys latest business venture Tamaleofthemonth.com, is asking people to sponsor tamales at $4 apiece. The tamales will be distributed in bunches of 25 to hospitals including Banner University Medical Center, Banner Kino, St. Josephs, St. Marys, Tucson Medical Center, El Rio Congress, Northwest Medical Center, Northwest Oro Valley Hospital and Green Valley Hospital. We had started working on Tamaleofthemonth.com way back, but like everything that wasnt part of our traditional business, we put it on the back burner, said Flores Concepts President Ray Flores. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Sydney, Australia Wed, April 22, 2020 14:02 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd38739f 2 Destinations Australia,Bondi-beach,Surfing,coronavirus,reopening,COVID-19,COVID-19-lockdown,COVID-19-quarantine Free Swimmers and surfers will return to Sydney's famed Bondi Beach next week, almost six weeks after it was closed amid a spike in coronavirus cases, officials announced Wednesday. But the white sands will remain off-limits to sunbathers, joggers and families in an effort to maintain Australia's strict social distancing requirements. Paula Masselos, mayor of Waverley, which takes in Bondi and surrounds, said locals could return to the ocean starting 28 April via two access points only. "What these corridors will do is provide a safe access into the water for swim-and-go and surf-and-go only. So that is for exercise in the water," she told reporters in Sydney. "The sand is closed: which means no running, no walking, no gathering, no bringing your kids down to play in the sand and have a paddle in the water." Bondi and nearby beaches were closed in late March after photos circulated online showing mostly young beachgoers packed together on the sands in defiance of a ban on large outdoor gatherings. The area was also designated a COVID-19 "hotspot" after more than 180 cases were detected among backpackers and residents, prompting health authorities to establish a pop-up testing clinic. Masselos urged non-residents not to visit Bondi, saying the beach corridors would close if demand was too high. "We want to make sure it operates within the social distancing and public health order rules," she said. "And if people are not going to respect that and if the numbers are too great, regrettably we will have to close those." Other Sydney beaches, including Coogee and Maroubra, reopened Monday to the sound of loudspeaker announcements warning swimmers to abide by social distancing rules. Australia has recorded more than 6,600 cases of COVID-19, and 74 deaths from the virus. The protective suits and face masks, originating in Vietnam, are expected to arrive in the UK next week. Earlier, the VAUK also presented 50 boxes of gloves and face masks donated by the Vietnamese community in the UK to the NHS. Amid the complicated development of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK is working closely with the VAUK to update information related to the disease, consular procedures and citizen protection. At the same time, the VAUK launched a hotline to assist overseas Vietnamese in the UK if they need to contact the NHS, irrespective of personal documentation. It is also providing free meals for medical staff at Lewisham and Kings hospitals in London every Tuesday and Saturday, beginning on April 18. Vietnamese in Australia helping one another during COVID-19 In Australia, Vietnamese communities have helped their compatriots during the COVID-19 pandemic in the spirit of the haves helping the have-nots. Businessman Diem Kieu Fuggersberger and his partners at Berger Ingredients and Coco & Lucas Kitchen in Sydney have distributed five tonnes of rice, 1,550 eggs, and 2,000 packets of instant noodles to over 300 Vietnamese Australians. Likewise, the Facebook page Vietnamese Students in Melbourne (VMS) raised nearly AUD10,000 (US$6,000) to help Vietnamese people in need in the city. The campaign is being run by Facebook administrator Nguyen Duc Quyet and other group members who bought meat for those registered in the Rice with Meat programme. Each beneficiary will have 3 kg of meat delivered to their door. Meanwhile, the group Vietnamese Mummy in Aus has mobilised nearly AUD25,000 as well as food and other supplies to help Vietnamese people in Australia grappling with the pandemic. The campaign, launched on March 26, has helped nearly 300 people in need in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, and South Australia. The group is one of the biggest social media-based campaigns in Australia, with nearly 13,000 members. In the five years since its debut, it has provided support to disadvantaged people in Australia, particularly abused women. The order closes the U.S. off to tens of thousands of people hoping to work, lay down roots or even reunite with loved ones. Mr. Trump backed away from suspending guest worker programs after business groups were angered at the threat of losing foreign labor. Justice Department lawyers are still studying the legality of the presidents order. Context: Mr. Trumps denigration of immigrants was the centerpiece of his 2016 presidential campaign. As he seeks re-election, the president has continued to stoke anti-immigrant sentiment to energize supporters. Markets: Futures markets suggested moderately higher openings in the United States and Europe. Follow our live briefing. Here are the latest updates about the pandemic as well as maps of the outbreak. The Times is providing free access to much of our coronavirus coverage, and our Coronavirus Briefing newsletter like all of our newsletters is free. Please consider supporting our journalism with a subscription. The administrator for Virgin Australia has acknowledged it has provided ongoing advisory and restructuring work for the collapsed airline in disclosures that may open the door to challenges from a rival insolvency firm. Virgins board of directors appointed Deloitte its voluntary administrator on Tuesday after failing to secure emergency assistance from the federal government as the COVID-19 crisis grounds planes and bleeds the groups cash. Those administrators include four of Deloitte's partners Vaughan Strawbridge, Richard Hughes, John Greig and Sal Algeri. But there is intense industry speculation the appointment could be challenged by KordaMentha, a rival firm. Industry sources made it clear on Wednesday that KordaMentha would like to be the administrator to Virgin. In the past, KordaMentha successfully leveraged its relationship with unions to replace Grant Thornton as administrator of steel maker Arrium in 2016. It also took over the administration of Ansett in 2002, but in the years later faced criticism over how long that work took. Global Climate Strike Rally held in Center City Philadelphia outside of Philadelphia City Hall on Friday, September 20, 2019. The coronavirus has exposed that leaders can mobilize to fight an existential threat, and should do the same with climate change, writes environmental researcher Lucas Isakowitz. Read more Earth Day is different this year. Its been exactly a month since the Philadelphia government ordered the city to stay home. But it feels as if we have now lived years in a new in many ways ravaged reality. It took the imminent threat of mass deaths at home and the reality of mass deaths in other countries, like Italy and Spain for the United States to take an existential threat like the coronavirus seriously. Because we waited, tens of thousands of Americans have died, with many more at risk. The coronavirus has shown us the staggering cost of government inaction when faced with an evolving crisis. Intelligence reports and memos warning of the pandemic circulated in Washington as early as January, with top-level advisers warning President Donald Trump of the massive consequences associated with inaction. By mid-February, the virus had permeated more than a dozen countries, with Italy providing stark evidence that a top-tier health system could be overwhelmed. But it was not until mid-March that the White House issued social distancing recommendations for the nation by then too little, too late to stop the United States from becoming the center of the pandemic. Our city, state, and national leaders need to apply the lessons from the coronavirus to the other existential threat unfolding right now. That means communicating to constituents the urgency of the climate crisis, the consequences of not acting, and the availability of solutions. Climate change may be a more slowly evolving crisis, but left unchecked it stands to be more devastating. Costs of inaction The coronavirus has put millions of lives at risk and plunged the global economy into a nosedive. Climate projections for the world and region are grimmer. Storms, floods, and fires will cause trillions in damage to infrastructure and properties. Heat waves and unpredictable precipitation patterns will destroy food supplies, shrinking revenues for farmers and straining consumers. As many as two billion people could become climate refugees by the end the century, fleeing rising seas. A recent analysis from the International Panel on Climate Change puts the global price tag of floods, fires, heat waves, droughts, and storms by 2100 at about $70 trillion. Philadelphia itself is set to experience significantly more dangerously hot days (above 100 degrees), increased risk of flooding meaning a large hurricane would put our airport underwater, and an influx of climate refugees. We will lose lives too. Air pollution from black carbon, methane, and nitrogen oxides drivers of global warming already cause an estimated seven million deaths each year. By 2100, the annual death toll could reach the tens of millions, with some dying from simply overheating (the human body starts to shut down at 104 degrees). Amid these apocalyptic predictions, however, a crucial point often gets lost: We know how to avoid this catastrophe. We need to heed advice from experts as weve been listening to public health experts during the coronavirus and shift our economic and energy systems to balance growth with long-term sustainability. FAQ: Your coronavirus questions, answered. We dont need a technological miracle to solve this problem, Mark Jacobson, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford, told the New Yorker. The bottom line is we just need to deploy, deploy, deploy. A clear path forward A good first step is to shift public and private capital away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy. Cities and states can embrace programs like Phillys Solar Rebate Program that make it easier to purchase and install renewable energy. They can also join carbon markets, like the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Pennsylvania is slated to join. At the national level, we need to price carbon charging polluters a fee for the greenhouse gas they emit, as the European Union and Australia have done and reinvest those dollars into climate and socioeconomic initiatives. Then we start to electrify everything we can, from transportation (more quickly adopting zero-emission vehicles) to industry (replacing fossil-fueled processes with electric substitutes) to buildings (ensuring new construction is built with energy-efficient, all-electric appliances). We still have some time to mitigate climate change with fewer sacrifices than those required to beat coronavirus. Is there an upfront cost to this transition? Of course, but as with COVID-19, it makes economic sense to combat climate change preemptively. And we still have some time to mitigate climate change with fewer sacrifices than those required to beat the coronavirus. We do not need to tank the global economy. We do not even need to enter another recession. In fact, upfront investment in renewable energy is likely to generate growth, creating tens of millions of new jobs; some research suggests green investments could create two to three times more jobs than similar investments in fossil fuels. The coronavirus demonstrates that the world is capable even if with missteps of rapid collective action. Nations have gone into lockdown. Nonessential businesses have shuttered, airlines have grounded fleets, and governments have injected trillions into the global economy to keep businesses and people from drowning. As the economy stutters, leaving more than 20 million Americans without jobs, almost 85% of the country still agrees that halting the virus is more important than restarting the economy. Far from this being over, governments around the world are digging deep to win this war. Treating the coronavirus like a war, with matching rhetoric, is part of what has made efforts successful. In the United States, governors and mayors have stepped into the vacuum of federal leadership, explaining both the magnitude of the problem and pathways to safety. Were not fighting a battle here, were fighting a war Gov. Tom Wolf said last month, before outlining how social distancing can save thousands of Pennsylvanians. The logic here is simple: Many people will die if we do not change behaviors and follow the rules. We need our leaders to employ a similar rhetoric of urgency and solutions when it comes to climate change. READ MORE: Whats lost since Phillys amazing 1970 Earth Week | Will Bunch Newsletter The biggest reason for non-action in the climate space is complacency we leave it to future generations to solve the problem. But the coronavirus demonstrates that fear and truth can motivate action against a threat even one that is abstract to those lucky enough to not yet have been touched by it. If we want to beat climate change, we have about a decade to jump-start an economic transformation with no documented historic precedent, per the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes warning in 2018. The coronavirus offers useful signposts: It shows the cost of stuttering, but also provides precedent for massive collective action. We will get through this crisis. When we do, we''ll confront another one. What are we going to do then? Lucas Isakowitz is a masters student at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. He is a native Philadelphian, and a graduate of Central High School and the University of Pennsylvania. READ MORE: How to celebrate Earth Days 50th anniversary while following stay-at-home orders A blood sample is collected for Covid-19 testing at a wholesale market in Hanoi, April 18, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh. Vietnamese Covid-19 test kits have received CE certification and a Certificate of Free Sale from the U.K., which allows them to be sold in Europe. The kits, developed by the Vietnam Military Medical University and the Viet A Technologies with research funding from the Ministry of Science and Technology, have been ordered by a partner of the latter for distribution in certain countries and territories, including India, Mexico, the U.K. and the U.S., according to Phan Quoc Viet, director of Viet A. But they cannot be bought by individuals since they require specific tools and skills, he said. Last month around 20 countries and territories were negotiating the purchase of the kits. Viet A would export kits to Iran, Finland, Malaysia and Ukraine first, Viet said at the time. No further updates on the negotiations have been revealed. Viet A said it is currently capable of producing around 10,000 kits a day, but could increase it to 30,000 if required. A kit is good for 50 tests. The kits, which use reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), can detect the new coronavirus in droplets obtained from the respiratory tract and blood. They provide results faster and are easier to use than those used by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization, according to the science ministry. Vietnam has had 268 confirmed Covid-19 cases, 52 of them active, but no new infections in the last six days. The pandemic, now in 210 countries and territories, has claimed more than 177,600 lives. According to Iran's own paramilitary Revolutionary Guard on Wednesday, the country had just launched a certain military satellite into orbit despite several months of previous failures. There was still no immediate independent confirmation pertaining to the official launch of this satellite, which the Guard had called "Noor", or light. On its own official website, the Guard had mentioned that the satellite had successfully reached a particular orbit of 264 miles way above the Earth's surface. The Guard had even called it the "first military satellite" to have ever been launched in Tehran. The satellite's launch The two-stage process of the satellite launch started off from Iran's Central Desert, according to the Guard, without further elaborating or saying when this exact launch took place. The paramilitary force has been saying that they have used a Ghased, or "Messenger", satellite carrier in order to put the device way into space, this is a previously unheard-of system. Iran has already suffered numerous failed satellite launches in the past months. The most recent satellite launch failure was back in February, when the country was unable to put its Zafar 1 communications satellite out into orbit. There was also a separate fire that happened at the Imam Khomeini Space Center back in February 2019 that resulted in three dead researchers, according to authorities that time. Read Also: Watch! Two Russian Air Force Fighters Spotted Flying Over a US Destroyer were Intercepted by a Belgian F-16 Fighter Jet Another incident was a rocket explosion that happened in August that drew quite a lot of attention from countries all around the world as this sight was blatantly visible for all. Iran has long declared that it does not want any part in nuclear weapons, previously maintained its satellite launches as well as rocket tests do not have any existing military component. The Guard launching its very own satellite now puts hits statement into question according to an article by SCMP. Were there any violations? Tehran has also noted that there were no existing UN resolution violations on its own ballistic missile programs as it was only "called upon" Iran not to start conducting such tests. Some western missile experts have started to question the contention that Iran's programs could indeed have a dual use for possible nuclear weapons. Over the previous decade, Iran has already sent several short-live satellites way into orbit and back in 2013, Iran was even able to launch a monkey into space! Although the intensions of Iran's new military satellite launch are unclear, it is still pretty impressive that they were able to successfully pull off the launch after multiple failures. Iran has already had a few attempts on sending a military satellite into space but none of them have prevailed until now. Iran has given a huge amount of attention on launching their military satellite and what makes it even more impressive is that they were able to successfully launch despite the ongoing pandemic. Iran is not exempted from the ongoing pandemic but despite the situation, they have still somehow managed to launch a military satellite into space! Read Also: [Breaking News] Poultry and Farm Products Fire Breaks in Licking County Ohio LIVE Now!! Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh witnessed some unruly scenes on Wednesday after people clashed with police who were trying to shut down a market after the 10am deadline during lockdown. A policeman was injured when vegetable vendors allegedly pelted stones at the police personnel in the old city area, officials told news agency PTI. ANI According to report in PTI, Additional District Magistrate RK Maalpani said that the incident took place in Bhojpura locality of Aligarh, when policemen were imposing lockdown measures after the four-hour-long break period from 6 am to 10 am had ended. It was also said that the locals started attacking the police with stones after resisting the lockdown orders - after which more police reinforcements were sent to the area. The shops in the area have been allowed a four-hour window to open their shops. ANI Instead of complying with the directives, the vegetable vendors continued to sell their wares and started pelting stones on the police party which was outnumbered. One policeman suffered injuries in the incident, Maalpani said. Security has been beefed up and the situation in the locality is now under control, he said. A similar incident was earlier reported from Muzaffarnagar district where police officials were attacked by residents in Morna village with sticks when they objected to a social gathering during the lockdown. PTI The incidents of people defying lockdown rules and clashing with the police have been reported from other parts of the country as well. Earlier in Kolkata, a clash broke out between Police and locals after they (Police) objected to the road being blocked by the locals. According to news agency ANI, the locals were alleging improper distribution of ration material amid the coronavirus lockdown in Baduria, North 24 Parganas in West Bengal. The first-of-a-kind state lawsuit comes amid calls in Congress to punish China, prompting an angry rebuke from Beijing. The US state of Missouri has sued Chinas leadership over its handling of the coronavirus, prompting an angry rebuke from Beijing on Wednesday over the absurd claim. Missouri is seeking damages over what it described as deliberate deception and insufficient action to stop the pandemic. The first-of-a-kind state lawsuit comes amid calls in the US Congress to punish China and a campaign by President Donald Trump to focus on Beijings role as he faces criticism over his own handling of the crisis. Missouri led by Trumps Republican Party filed a lawsuit in a federal court seeking an unspecified amount in damages and an injunction on continuing actions by China that are alleged to include hoarding of protective equipment. The Chinese government lied to the world about the danger and contagious nature of COVID-19, silenced whistleblowers and did little to stop the spread of the disease, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said. They must be held accountable for their actions, he said. The lawsuit says Missouri and its residents suffered possibly tens of billions of dollars in economic damages, and seeks cash compensation. It also accuses the Chinese government of making the pandemic worse by hoarding masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE). Missouri addressed the issue by suing the governing Communist Party, arguing that it is not formally an organ of the Chinese state. Citing an estimate that Missouri may lose tens of billions of dollars due to the virus and action to prevent it, the lawsuit accused the Chinese Communist Party of being in knowing, willful and in reckless disregard of the rights of the state and its residents. The lawsuit pointed to Chinese authorities early suppression of news of the virus when it broke out in Wuhan, including the silencing of whistleblowers. It also noted that China initially said there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission. China is already facing similar lawsuits filed in US courts on behalf of US business owners. Lawsuit likely to fail The lawsuits chances of success are far from certain as US law, under the principle of sovereign immunity, generally forbids court action against foreign governments. A legal doctrine called sovereign immunity offers foreign governments broad protection from being sued in US courts, said Tom Ginsburg, a professor of international law at the University of Chicago. Ginsburg said he thought the recent flurry of lawsuits against China serves a political end for Republican leaders facing an election in November. We are seeing a lot of people on the political right focus on the China issue to cover up for the US governments own errors, Ginsburg told Reuters news agency. The virus first emerged late last year in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, and Chinas foreign ministry said on Wednesday it had been sharing information with the US government since January 3. This so-called accusation, which has no factual and legal basis, is absurd, foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular press briefing. Since the outbreak began, the Chinese government has always acted in an open, transparent and responsible way, he said. Despite Trumps heavy criticism of China, his administration has been lukewarm about efforts to take action against Beijing, mindful that the Asian power is a significant source of masks and other medical supplies desperately needed by the US. Under its conservative leadership, Missouri has imposed fewer COVID-19 restrictions than most US states, including allowing businesses to remain open as long as they limit the number of people present and ensure space between them. Missouri as of Tuesday had reported 189 COVID-19 deaths, half of them in St Louis. In March, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service allowed the killing of endangered Mexican gray wolves in New Mexico for a week. Four Mexican gray wolves were killed. According to conservation groups, that kind of move holds a relevant setback to wolf recovery. Based on the statement given by a representative of the agency, lethal and non-lethal methods were allowed by the agency to control the wolf population. It was the last resort for the increasing number of dead livestock for months, says an article. Heartbreaking Killings According to the Wolf Conservation Center's executive director Maggie Howell, the wolf killings are "heartbreaking," and it came during the 'Lobo week.' Lobo week is the celebration of the reintroduction of the Mexican gray wolves in New Mexico and Arizona. The killings came after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced a 24 percent increase in the population of the wolves in the region from 2019 to the earlier parts of 2020. There were 163 animals counted. According to Howell, as people are celebrating wolves, speaking about the good results of the population survey, and getting excited for the wolf population's ability to grow in the wild, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the USDA Wildlife Service are allowing the killings of the wolves. The Four Wolves Killed The four wolves killed were three males and one female wolf that belonged to two different packs. One of them was killed on March 23, while the remaining three were killed on March 28. Great and Majestic Animals According to the New Mexico Cattle Growers' Association's president Randell Major, he knows why a lot of people see wolves as great and majestic animals. However, ranchers see a different side of the wolves. Major believes that any way to remove the wolves is important. He said that they never wanted the wolves in the first place and that the wolves were forced into the region. Ranchers feel helpless after seeing their livestock getting killed by the wolves, as Major stated. They just sit and watch as their livestock get taken away by the wolves. Check these out: Carcasses Lead Wolves to Livestock Center for Biological Diversity senior conservation advocate Michael Robinson, are pointing out that the agency failed to advise scientists by not implementing several measures to keep the wolves from killing livestock such as carcass removal. Wolves are drawn to the smell of the leftover meals and other foul-smelling stuff. According to Robinson, the wolves will get attracted to placed where there are dead cows that did not die without the intervention of any wolf. This leads the wolves to live cattle. Wolves are Endangered Wolves are endangered special under Section 10 of the Endangered Species Acts. However, there are exceptions to the rule. People are allowed to trap, hunt, or kill experimental populations such as the Mexican gray wolves if the federal agency believes it is necessary. A man has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for setting off an explosion at a tax office in the southern Vietnamese province of Binh Duong last year. The Binh Duong Peoples Court on Tuesday imposed the jail term upon Truong Duong, 40, for commiting acts of terrorism to oppose the peoples government. Duong was also required to pay VND800 million (US$34,000) in compensation for the damage he had caused. His two accessories are Lisa Pham, who lives in the United States and is a member of the so-called Provisional National Government of Vietnam, a U.S.-based group which has been labeled as a 'terrorist organization' by the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security, and Ha Xuan Nghiem, a 57-year-old resident of southern Tay Ninh Province. Nghiem remains at large and is being hunted by police officers. According to the indictment, Duong worked as a driver for a foreign company in Thu Dau Mot City, the capital of Binh Duong Province. Due to financial difficulties, he decided to contact Pham for help. After reviewing Duongs background, Pham told him to follow her directions and she would pay him in return. On September 27, 2019, Pham informed Duong that the target of their attack was the headquarters of the Binh Duong Department of Taxation. Duong was then told to meet Nghiem at a local grocery store to receive four explosive devices made from around 1.2 kilograms of gunpowder. On the morning of September 30, Duong planted the explosives in the mens restroom on the first floor of the tax office. The bombs later went off and caused a large wall to collapse and shattered the building's glass windows, but there were no human casualties. Duong was arrested four days later. The indictment also highlighted that Pham had masterminded previous terrorist acts at Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, the parking lot of the police department in Bien Hoa City, located in southern Dong Nai Province, and the Thai Thuy thermal power plant in the northern province of Thai Binh. Pham has been wanted by the Ministry of Public Security since 2017. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 12:14:33|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close FRANKFURT, April 21 (Xinhua) -- To find solutions to worldwide crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, attention should be given to international cooperation, not the blame gaming, said financial experts from Germany and China on Tuesday. "We are confronted with a worldwide crisis, but for the first time, we don't see worldwide and global answers to it," said Thorsten Giehler, country director at German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ). Giehler made the remarks during an online seminar Tuesday organized by Sino-German Center of Finance and Economics of the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, in which panelists from China and Germany discussed exit strategies from the coronavirus pandemic with a focus on the economic perspective. Giehler said China has been a responsible player and investor in stabilizing the world economy since the 2008 financial crisis. In the current crisis, there is some blame-gaming targeting China inside the European Union (EU), he said. Giehler hoped that Germany, after assuming the presidency in the EU Council in July, can play an important role in creating incentives to harmonizing European policies that can turn away from the blame game and enter a situation "where we can face a global crisis with global answers," he said. Niels Tomm, Co-CEO of China Europe International Exchange (CEINEX) in Frankfurt, a signature project of the German and Shanghai stock exchanges, also stressed the importance of international cooperation. He said it is not only the duty of the government, but also the duty of companies to develop new ideas and visions for how to achieve stronger cooperation together. "Blame game is not the answer but cooperation is," he added. One of global challenges that the pandemic has caused is volatility on the financial markets. Tomm pointed out that the Chinese benchmark index did not see a drop as steep as other similar benchmarks in Europe and the United States during the crisis, and it is further stabilizing. "The reforms in the last years have really paid off," he said. Tomm also noted that the cautious approach by the Chinese government to open up the financial markets might have acted as a "safety cushion", and at the same time, it is promising to see that the progress of opening up the market is still continuing in China despite the challenge from the crisis. For European banks that have been threatened by low profitability even before the onset of the pandemic, the crisis might be an opportunity to accelerate the trend of digitalization that is very much needed in the sector, according to Liang Jian, executive board member and head of China desk from Hauck & Aufhaeuser, a German private bank. European banks could learn from their Chinese peers in embracing digitalization, both at the front-end in dealing with customers and at the back-end in upgrading the core bank systems, Liang said. Enditem The Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), an agency under the countrys ministry of communications, has selected OpenRAN provider Parallel Wireless to provide mobile telephony connectivity to underserved and unserved communities in Ghana. There are about 1,020 communities in Ghana without mobile signals. Traditional 2G, 3G or 4G networks require expensive and bulky equipment to deploy and operate in these communities. These hardware-based networks are difficult and pricey to upgrade. Parallel Wireless says it enables a shift to open, software-based, and virtualized OpenRAN network architectures to deliver scalable 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G software-based networks. These are, the company says, cost-effective to deploy and maintain and can deliver coverage and capacity to end users and businesses across the country. GIFEC is set to enable the deployment of some 2,000 OpenRAN sites. The Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) is a special fund set up by the government of Ghana under the countrys Electronic Communications Act 2008, designed to provide telecommunications and ICT services to unserved, underserved and deprived groups and communities in the country. GIFEC is a Universal Access Service Fund. The UASF is an institutional and funding instrument designed to achieve universal access through monies collected from identified communications service providers. Parallel Wireless claims the industrys only unified 5G/4G/3G/2G software-enabled OpenRAN solution. The company is engaged with more than 50 leading operators worldwide. The ongoing nationwide lockdown has been particularly harsh on the millions of migrant workers across the country who have been left with no jobs and income and an uncertain future. While many thousands managed to reach home waking for days, others continue to be left stranded far away from their homes. In most such cases they have nothing to eat and are surviving on handouts by the government or NGOs. BCCL A lot of them have been accommodated in temporary quarantine facilities to prevent the spread of coronavirus. A group of migrant labourers who were quarantined in two schools in Rajasthans Sikar district has added colour to their temporary abode by painting the chipped walls of the institutions. About 54 workers from Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh quarantined in the Shaheed Sitaram Kumawat and Seth KL Tambi Government Higher Secondary schools in Palsana town wanted to express their gratitude for the arrangements made for them in quarantine. Ramandeep Singh Mann/ Twitter Palsana Sarpanch Roop Singh Shekhawat said that in response to the good care taken of them at the quarantine centres migrant workers wanted to express their gratitude. Wall paint and other necessary items were made available to them, which they used to give a makeover to the schools. The entire village is overwhelmed by their behaviour. All these people are perfectly healthy and their quarantine time is also over. It is joyful to see the constructive work done by the workers who have used the quarantine period beautifully, Shekhawat was quoted as saying by PTI. Jagat Singh Panwar, secretary of district legal services authority who had visited the centre and met the workers, praised the workers for taking the initiative. Principal of Government Higher Secondary School, Palsana, Rajendra Meena said the school premises were not white-washed from the last nine years. All the teachers agreed to the offer funds from their salaries, which was used to purchase paint and other necessary items and migrant workers staying here happily took the task without taking any money. Rajasthan is one of the worst COVID-19 hit states in India and ha recorded 1868 cases so far. With a total of 279 cases, state capital Jaipur has the highest number of cases, followed by Kota which has seen 114 cases so far. BCCL Rajasthan had won much praise for its 'Bhilwara Model' where aggressive testing and strict lockdown helped reduce the COVID-19 spread. However, Rajasthan failed to replicate the same in other parts of the state including Jaipur which has now become a hotspot. (Newser) An Idaho mom of six has been hit with a misdemeanor charge that carries up to 6 months behind bars and a $1,000 fine after police say she held a weeklong yard sale amidst the coronavirus pandemic. Per Fox News, a Facebook post by Rathdrum Police Chief Tomi McLean lays out the timeline of what allegedly happened at Christa and Peter Thompson's home. Cops say they showed up during a yard sale on April 9 and "admonished" the homeowner, whom they provided with a copy of Gov. Brad Little's stay-at-home order. The family was confronted again on the 10th and said they would take down all signage, the post notes. Three days later, an ad for the yard sale on Craigslist spurred a written warning. Cops say the sale was still happening on April 17 "and sales transactions were occurring while police were present." The citation was then issued. story continues below "This was a large non-essential yard sale that filled the entire front yard and spilled into the back yard as well," McLean wrote on Facebook. "These yard sale items could be seen from Highway 41." Christa Thompson, however, tells the Coeur d'Alene Press she called the police before she held the yard sale, explaining that her husband's father had died, leaving his belongings in storage that they couldn't keep paying for. She says the police told her they could sell the items, as long as they made sure people adhered to social distancingand she says the sale is still going on. The Press observed people browsing in her front yard on Monday. Christa Thompson is due in court on May 8, and her husband tells the libertarian Idaho Freedom Foundation that they plan on fighting the citation. (Read more coronavirus stories.) [The stream is slated to start at 3:00 p.m. ET. Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above at that time.] New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is holding his daily press conference on the Covid-19 outbreak, which has infected more than 92,300 people in the state as of Wednesday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Earlier on Wednesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo held his daily briefing and announced that Mike Bloomberg, the billionaire philanthropist and former mayor of New York City, will help the state develop and implement an aggressive program to test for Covid-19 and trace people who have had contact with infected individuals. New Jersey will help coordinate with Bloomberg's team, who will implement an online curriculum to recruit and train contact tracers, Melissa DeRosa, secretary to the governor, said at the press conference. CNBC's Kevin Breuninger, Will Feuer and Dan Mangan contributed to this report. Read CNBC's live updates to see the latest news on the Covid-19 outbreak. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 22) 2Go Group chairman Dennis Uy said Wednesday that the company will be waiving the 35-million fee for the use of its two ships as quarantine facilities. The Davao-based businessman said while the Transportation Department has offered to pay the company 35-million for the use of the two vessels, 2Go intended to offer the utilization of the ships as a donation to the government. 2GO is providing two vessels to serve as quarantine facilities free of charge to the Filipino people. Even if the government offers to pay the 35 million, we in 2Go, in good conscience, have no intentions of accepting their offer, Uy said. He added that if necessary he will even shell out from his own pocket to fund the operation of the two ships, which he said costs around 260 million. Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said Thursday that the government is paying 2Go 35-million for the use of the two ships as quarantine facilities for returning overseas workers and seafarers. Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, who serves as the spokesperson for the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Infectious Diseases, earlier thanked 2Go for working with the Transportation Department for setting up the floating quarantine facilities. Most of our kababayans stand ready to help in our time of need. Isa po dito ang 2Go who the DOTr is working with to set up a floating hospital that will be able to serve 1,500 patients, as well as a smaller ship that can handle 300 more, Nograles said on April 4. ROME, Ga., April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Southeastern Mills, a fourth-generation family business and a valued supplier to the food industry, is donating nearly $100,000 to local food banks and organizations that are supporting communities and retail and food service workers across the country. "At Southeastern Mills, showing real, tangible support for our customers and the communities where we do business has always been in our DNA," said Steve Goodyear, senior vice president of sales and marketing. "It is our C.A.R.E. philosophy that guides our teams during these times of uncertainty and ensures we put our customers and the entire community first." C.A.R.E., which stands for Creative, Approachable, Responsive and Expert, is at the core of everything the company commits to, including this charitable effort. In total, company is donating $10,000 each to six local food banks, including: Goodr in Atlanta, Georgia Feeding America of Metrolina in Harrisburg, North Carolina Heart for Iberia in New Iberia, Louisiana in New HOPE Alliance in Rome, Georgia Utah Food Bank in Salt Lake City, Utah Feeding Tampa Bay in Tampa, Florida In addition to the donations being made to local food banks and organizations throughout the country, Southeastern Mills employees, in partnership with local eatery Duffy's Deli, have delivered more than 300 meals to local hospitals including nurses, respiratory therapists and other staff. Southeastern Mills is committed to supporting food service operators, trade partners, suppliers and employees. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the company has experienced no interruption in supply, and continues to build and maintain its inventory of safe, reliable products as an essential business. The company has also made other significant contributions including cash, product and service donations across the industry including: All freight costs for Feeding America orders over $20,000 to-date to-date $10,000 to the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation's Restaurant Employee Relief Fund to support restaurant industry workers who are experiencing hardship to the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation's Restaurant Employee Relief Fund to support restaurant industry workers who are experiencing hardship $10,000 to Giving Kitchen in Atlanta to provide financial assistance to foodservice workers to Giving Kitchen in to provide financial assistance to foodservice workers Products and goods to local retailers and front-line retail workers $1,000 worth of Louisiana Hot Sauce as part of an Easter meal for more than 5,000 restaurant workers in downtown Atlanta "We hope it's not long until families and friends can gather together again for great food and good times. Until then, Southeastern Mills is committed to doing our part to help support people and communities across the country," said Jason Marion, vice president of human resources. "We are working to help create food experiences that satisfy appetites during these challenging times." To join the effort, consumers are encouraged to donate directly to a local food bank in need. As part of its commitment to the health and safety of its employees, Southeastern Mills has limited visitation at its facilities to essential personnel who support manufacturing and distribution activities. Field and corporate staff who are able to perform their job functions remotely are working from home. About Southeastern Mills Southeastern Mills is a fourth-generation, family-owned food company headquartered in Rome, Georgia. Founded in 1941, the company's core strength is the development and manufacture of ingredient systems used to deliver texture and superior flavor. Southeastern Mills is an ingredient supplier to food service manufacturers and restaurants. The company also markets nationally distributed brands including Better Than Bouillon, Louisiana Brand Hot Sauce, Southeastern Mills, Shore Lunch and Better Than Gravy. Southeastern Mills operates four manufacturing facilities located in Rome, Georgia; New Iberia, Louisiana; and Salt Lake City, Utah. To learn more, visit www.semillsfoods.com. SOURCE Southeastern Mills Related Links http://www.semills.com The coronavirus could linger in the testicles, making men prone to longer, more severe cases of the illness, according to a new study. Researchers tracked the recovery of 68 patients in Mumbai, India, to study the gender disparity of the virus, which has taken a worse toll on men, according to a preliminary report posted on MedRxix, which hosts unpublished medical research papers that have not been peer-reviewed. Dr Aditi Shastri, an oncologist at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, and her mother, Dr Jayanthi Shastri, a microbiologist at the Kasturba Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Mumbai, said the virus attaches itself to a protein that occurs in high levels in the testicles. This protein, known as angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, or ACE2, is present in the lungs, the gastrointestinal tract and the heart in addition to large quantities in the testicles. But since testicles are walled off from the immune system, the virus could harbour there for longer periods than the rest of the body, according to the study. The mother-daughter researchers said these findings may explain why women bounce back from the virus more quickly than men. They determined that the average amount of time for female patients to be cleared of the virus was four days, while men saw recoveries that on average were two days longer, the report said. These observations demonstrate that male subjects have delayed viral clearance, the authors wrote, adding that the testicles may be serving as reservoirs for the virus. The study may offer an explanation for reports out of Italy, South Korea and New York City that men are dying at higher rates from the virus. Others have suggested that men are more vulnerable because they are more likely to smoke, have high blood pressure or suffer coronary artery disease. ---nypost.com Almost a month after San Antonio, Bexar County and other area municipalities enacted stay-at-home orders to stop the spread of the coronavirus, officials have noted a side effect of the pandemic: a drop in some types of crime. While San Antonio has seen a 12.7 increase in burglaries 3,019 cases from Jan. 1 to March 27 compared to last year, vehicle burglaries decreased by 8 percent for the same period, to 4,164 incidents. The Bexar County Sheriffs Office and San Antonio Police Department also have reported a decrease in DWI arrests. Officer Douglas Greene, an SAPD spokesman, said the agency made 318 DWI-related arrests from Feb. 21 to March 17. Between March 18 and April 13, there were 147 DWI arrests. During that period, Mayor Ron Nirenberg ordered bars and restaurants to close and stay-at-home orders took effect for San Antonio and Bexar County. Forcing people to close up business and stay home has had an impact on alcohol consumption and driving. But, 147 is still a significant total, Greene said. On ExpressNews.com: As coronavirus cases surge to 25, mayor orders San Antonio bars, restaurants to close Last week, a suspected DWI collision resulted in a fatality. On April 15, Hector J. Osorio, 60, was allegedly drunk when he drove the wrong way in the 10700 block of Interstate 37. At about 10 p.m., his Mercedes-Benz GLE 43 AMG collided head-on with a Ford F-150, killing 21-year-old Christopher Michael Farias, investigators said. Osorio was arrested at the scene and charged with intoxication manslaughter. He was released April 16 on a $150,000 bond. The dangers are very much still out there but the DWI unit is still out and keeping highways and roadways as safe as possible, Greene said. The fluctuations in crime also were noticeable in other cities that enacted similar orders. The New York Police Department said this month that from March 1-11, the citys crime index increased by 27.8 percent, from 2,296 to 2,934 crimes compared to the same period in 2019. Between March 12-31, the index decreased by 19.9 percent, from 4,670 in 2019 to 3,740 this year. Los Angeles Police Department statistics show all property crimes fell 15.5 percent, from 6,447 between Feb. 23 and March 21, to 5,446 between March 22 and April 18. Other police agencies in Bexar County also have reported fewer crime-related calls. Officer Matt Schima, a spokesman for the Cibolo Police Department, said there have been fewer calls from residents. He said most burglaries occur while people are out at work. With more people at home, less burglaries are likely to happen during the day. People are staying at home and more people are on alert, Schima said. Criminals are aware of that, as well. In Leon Valley, Police Chief Joseph Salvaggio said overall crime has decreased in the Northwest Side suburb but noted an upward trend in vehicle burglaries and criminal mischief. The city saw 36 vehicle burglaries in the first three months of this year, a 21 percent increase from the same period in 2019, which saw a quarter average of almost 30 cases. On ExpressNews.com: Get the latest update on coronavirus and a tracking map of U.S. cases Thieves seeking an easy grab walk down streets or through apartment complexes and try door handles until they find an open vehicle. People have a mindset that if I leave my vehicle unlocked they won't break anything, Salvaggio said. The reality is a vast majority of burglaries, if not all of them, occur because people leave their vehicle unlocked. The city has posted signs reminding people to lock their doors, take their keys and hide any objects from view. Criminal mischief was up 50 percent, with 24 cases reported in the first quarter of 2019, and 36 reported in 2020. Salvaggio said its to be expected when there are empty buildings and kids out of school with little to keep them occupied. In Balcones Heights, Chief John Jahanara said overall crime was down, including domestic violence. Cases dropped from 120 calls in the first quarter of last year, to 54 calls this year. Elmendorf Police Chief Marco Pena said crime initially slowed there as well, but complaints have increased in the last week. DWI and drug arrests were down, but Pena said that was because officers were making stops only if absolutely necessary to avoid potential exposure to the coronavirus. Last weekend, police there fielded a few calls for alleged domestic violence, including one sexual assault and one child abuse case. The trend is already happening where disturbances are starting to increase, Pena said. Shots fired calls are increasing. Some people are just shooting because they are bored and they want to shoot. By Express News Service BENGALURU: After Delhis first successful plasma therapy on Monday, Karnataka has been added to the list of states which can conduct plasma therapy on COVID-19 patients. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Tuesday allowed a private hospital in Bengaluru to conduct convalescent plasma therapy trials on COVID-19 patients under the provisions of the New Drugs and Clinical Trial Rules, 2019. The ICMR has granted permission to Dr Vishal Rao, HCG Bangalore Institute of Oncology, for conducting plasma therapy. Sharing the letter by Dr V G Somani, Directorate General of Health Services, which stated, Grant of permission is given to conduct a clinical study in India entitled Open-label, parallel arm, Phase I/II Clinical Trial to evaluate safety and efficacy of Convalescent plasma as therapy for COVID-19 Severe SARS-Cov-2 Disease, on Twitter, Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar wrote, Plasma therapy holds great promise in treating COVID-19 patients and I am happy to inform ICMR agreed to our request and has given permission for plasma treatment to Dr Vishal Rao, HCG Bangalore Inst of Oncology. Speaking to Express, Dr Vishal Rao said, This is a small step. Now, its a long way to go but needs hurried action too. We will be sitting with the government for a detailed protocol plan. We will need to identify patients, take ethical consent, etc. There are several protocols involved. We are happy our hospital has got this and we will do our best.In this form of treatment, blood plasma from a recovered COVID patient is transfused into another patient. President Donald Trump said hes ordered the U.S. Navy to destroy any Iranian gun boats that harass American ships at sea. Trump issued the warning to shoot down and destroy the ships in a tweet sent from his iPhone Wednesday morning. It comes after 11 gunboats from Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps crossed the bows and sterns of American ships at close range last week. U.S. Central Command called the Iranian maneuvers dangerous and provocative actions in a statement, and said at the time that that American commanders on the scene retain the inherent right to act in self-defense. The U.S. military vessels were conducting joint integration operations in the international waters of the Persian Gulf when the Iranian ships harassed them, Central Command said in the statement. The Iranian ships came within a 50-yard point of approach with the USS Lewis B. Puller and within 10 yards of the bow of the Coast Guard cutter Maui, according to the statement. Iran has disrupted shipping routes in the Gulf and used asymmetrical warfare to undermine American interests across the Middle East, though rarely does it target U.S. ships directly. Trumps comments could mark another flare up of tensions between the U.S. and Tehran. Going back to the Obama administration, Revolutionary Guard members in small but agile speedboats have harassed U.S. ships, but the encounters usually have ended with warnings from the Americans to back off. In 2017, a U.S. Navy guided-missile naval destroyer fired warning shots at four Iranian rapid-attack craft in the Strait of Hormuz. An Iranian surface-to-air missile system shot down a U.S. Navy surveillance drone last June while it was operating in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran said the drone was over its territory. The attack escalated regional tensions. Early this year, the U.S. killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. An Iranian counter attack on a U.S. base in Iraq didnt kill anyone, but left American soldiers with head injuries, which Trump downplayed the severity of. Following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in the country, President Akufo-Addo says he will continue to take tough and difficult decisions that will protect Ghanaians until the deadly bug is kicked out completely. The President noted that although some of the decisions may be unbearable to many, there will be joy in the end. Its not been easy. You can imagine the decisions we have to take to disrupt the lives of our people. They are very difficult decisions to take. When youre put in a position of leadership and youre confronted with a situation, you have a choice. Either to fall back and look up and say Oh God, what can I do?, or you stand up and act like a man and try to protect the people who have been out in your care. And I chose the latter, that I would do what I felt was right to protect the people of Ghana, he said. Akufo-Addo noted that he is unhappy that the holy month of Ramadan which begins this week cannot be observed including that of Easter which passed uncelebrated. For instance, today is the eve of Ramadan and mosques are not operating. It is the first time in my lifetime that Ramadan is going to be celebrated without mosques being open. These are very difficult times and they require difficult decisions to be taken. President said this at a meeting with Muslim leaders at the Jubilee House today, Wednesday. Nancy Koenig was tasked at a young age with caring for her brother, a quadriplegic, and her mother, who developed Alzheimers disease. Koenig reveals a life of constantly putting her life on hold to care for loved ones in her book, Full Immersion: A Memoir About Caregiving, Unconditional Love, and Finding a Life of My Own. It wasnt until she was in her 40s that Koenig was able to find her path and create a life of her own. Born in 1957, Koenig grew up in Grand Rapids, Mich. to a father who suffered from schizophrenia and a mother emotionally drained from the stress of meeting his needs. Koenig was 12 when her brother David, 23, had a diving accident that left him unable to move from his chest down. After being hospitalized for weeks, David came home to a hospital bed in the living room and Koenigs mom often sleeping on the couch to care for him. With the all-consuming nature of my brothers needs, I became the invisible child, Koenig writes. Because he could move his arms and use his right hand to hold a stethoscope or a pen, David was able to maintain a career as a physician. Koenig moved from her hometown to Pennsylvania and Oklahoma providing care for her brother while he worked, putting her career on hold for three decades. Koenig says the silver lining to being a caregiver is that she was able to there for her family. She felt as though God is enabling do these things for her loved ones and so she thought it was best to do them. I also cared for my mother during her struggle with Alzheimers and dementia in the later years of her life, several of those for both my brother and my mom simultaneously. My father, overtaken by schizophrenia, was of no support to us and passed away at the age of 56, Koenig said. After teaching K-12 for almost 40 years, she brought this book to fruition. My primary goal was to get the story out so I could start the healing process, Koenig says. About the book "Full Immersion: A Memoir about Caregiving, Unconditional Love, and Finding a Life of My Own," by Nancy Koenig Published by Illumify Media Global in October 2019 Paperback, 204 pages Koenig titled the book Full Immersion because thats what she calls her own motivations for everything she does. Her intensity, focus and resiliency make her go the extra mile and contribute above and beyond expectations, hopefully crafting amazing outcomes in the process. However, she also admits this self-protective strategy covers vulnerabilities noting a fully immersed overachiever hedges ones bets that some level of acceptance will be achieved. Koenig says her faith helped her get through tough times. Each chapter of the book includes scripture. She uses each passage as a way to help readers understand her lifes journey at a different level. She says the unpredictability of caregiving is the most difficult part. The other downfall is just losing yourself, Koenig said. Providing care, especially in the home, can be isolating. Koenig encourages others in the situation to find resources in their area. According to the Family Caregiver Alliance, about 44 million Americans provide 37 billion hours of unpaid, informal care each year for adult family members and friends with chronic illnesses. Many find themselves in this position with little to no formal training. Locally, the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments Area Agency on Aging, provides caregiver support to El Paso, Teller and Park counties. Agency Case Manager Kent Mathews, who holds a masters in social work, says, my client is the caregiver. During the current shelter in place, the agency offers over-the-phone and virtual consultations. Mathews said they cover a variety of issues that affect caregivers including medical, legal, and financial challenges. Perhaps most importantly, they offer numerous ways to support a caregiver emotionally. Mathews said the agency typically gets a call for assistance after someone has gone down the rabbit hole of providing care to a loved one. The agency is working on a way to conduct classes virtually, or in person, once the pandemic has passed. Mathews noted there are several support groups in the area for those providing in-home care. Call the agency at 471-2096. A personal note: caring for a mother with dementia My own mother suffered for six years with dementia before succumbing to the disease April 25, 2018. Dr. Magdalene Lim, clinic director of the UCCS Aging Center says, for the caregiver, self-compassion is important for optimism and resiliency. It can also improve the care you provide once youve been able to support yourself mindfully. She suggests taking small breaks if possible, be aware of the challenges, try to find a relaxing moment and reframe unhelpful self-talk. Self-compassion can buffer anxiety and improve psychological health, Lim says. Although the UCCS Aging Center is closed until May 15 due to COVID-19 pandemic, resources can be accessed at uccs.edu/healthcircle/aging-center. Koenig says she hopes her book will be a benefit to others who are providing at-home care and a blessing to others in similar life experiences as her own. After the death of her mother, Koenig decided to begin a life of her own. Shortly after, she met and married Denny Koenig and they moved to Colorado Springs. I started to say yes to life, she reveals. Koenig is working on her next book about the strong women in her life to be titled Not as Planned. Her current book is available online and in local bookstores including Covered Treasures in Monument. Learn more about Koenig on her Facebook author page, facebook.com/AuthorNancyKoenig. General Secretary of the ASCL, Geoff Barton said it is likely schools would reintroduce certain year groups in the first instance A headteachers' union is calling for pupils in the middle of exam courses, and in the final year of primary school, to return to the classroom first as part of a phased reopening of UK schools. The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) said students with the most to gain would be those in years 10 and 12, who are in the middle of GCSE and A-level courses, and those in year 6 who will move on to secondary school in September. This would not apply to pupils in Year 11 who are sitting their GCSEs this year, or those Year 9 and younger who are yet to start their exam courses. GCSE grades will be decided without students taking public exams this year. It comes as figures show that the vast majority of children entitled to be at school have stayed away during the lockdown with attendances as low as 1 per cent. Schools, which are only open to teach the children of key workers and pupils in vulnerable situations, have reported rates of between just 1 and 3 per cent. As of April 17, only 24,000 vulnerable children were attending just 5 per cent of the 480,000 eligible. However, the Government is under pressure to reopen schools to prevent damage to childrens education and to allow more parents to go back to work. General Secretary of the ASCL, Geoff Barton, said June, after half term, would be the earliest realistic entrance point and maintaining social distancing in schools will be necessary, 'as much as possible.' 'It is likely that we will need to reintroduce certain year groups in the first instance rather than fully reopening schools to all pupils. Schools teaching children of key workers and vulnerable pupils reported rates of attendance between 1 and 3 per cent 'This could be particularly beneficial for pupils in year 10 and year 12 because they are studying GCSE and A-level courses respectively, and for pupils in year 6, who are due to go to secondary school in September,' Mr Barton told The Guardian. Yesterday Mr Barton raised concern about vulnerable students who aren't accessing the emergency provision provided by schools. 'There is a particular worry about young people who are at risk of abuse or neglect when they are out of school. 'We are all working on ways of reaching out to these families to encourage these pupils to attend the emergency provision,' he added. Denmark, became the first country in Europe to reopen its schools last week, but just younger children, the under-12s returned. Whitehall sources told the Daily Mail that ministers want a partial reopening of schools after the summer half-term at the end of May and would focus on key groups such as those taking exams next year or bringing back children part time. The Government is under pressure to reopen schools to prevent damage to childrens education and to allow more parents to go back to work But a Whitehall source said official analysis produced for ministers found that a full opening of schools now would immediately drive up the so-called R rate which measures how quickly the virus is spreading. This would undo much of the progress achieved by the lockdown and will risk a second wave of infection. The analysis is that opening schools now would be enough to drive the R rate above one, even if you left the rest of the lockdown in place, the source said. Then you have the virus spreading exponentially again. So its a non-starter now but the hope is things will look better by [May] half-term. Nothing is fixed but thats the earliest you could look at. The revelation came as No 10 confirmed ministers are adopting a cautious approach to easing the lockdown because of the risk of a deadly second peak of infections. Only 62,000 children of key workers 2 per cent were in school, according to the Department for Education, as of April 17. Schools reported overall attendance rates in late March at more than 3 per cent, falling to just 1 per cent by the middle of April while nurseries saw 4 per cent of their usual numbers. Kevin Courtney, of the National Education Union, said: 'We think it's clear that some parents aren't sending their children to school because they think it is unsafe. 'This makes the point that the Government will have to present evidence that a return to schools will be safe.' Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has previously said he wants local authorities 'to ensure every vulnerable child knows that their school is there to support them'. A former boss of education watchdog Ofsted told the BBC that schools should be reopened 'as soon as it is safe to do so'. But Sir Michael Wilshaw also warned that some children may need to repeat a year. He said: 'Those who are preparing for examinations next year... I think [they] possibly need to repeat the year and perhaps others as well. NEW MILFORD Candlewood Solar has filed a new document with the state saying it has addressed the towns concerns about the controversial solar project, but the town says the plan is still lacking. Both Candlewood Solars comments and the towns reply were filed with the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection earlier this month as part of the stormwater management plan permit, which is the last hurdle before the solar project can begin. DEEP rejected the last stormwater management plan in March 2019, and Candlewood Solar filed a new one last month. The Connecticut Siting Council has already given all of its approvals for the project. We are extremely proud of the stormwater management design represented by this plan, and we are confident that the plan will be found sufficient to protect the waters of the state, Robert Jackson, Candlewood Solars director for solar development said in a statement. Company officials added the 44-page filing is a detailed response about how the new plan addresses the concerns previously expressed by the town and its engineers and should be a model for future similar projects. But Daniel Casagrande, the attorney representing the town, disagreed. He said the reply only underscores the need for the DEEP commissioner to review the permit under the stricter individual permit application instead of the general application process. He said a public hearing is also needed. The project proposed destruction of core forestland and associated environmental impacts on a scale unheard of for any prior solar project in this state, Casagrande wrote in the towns filed response. Under the project, Candlewood Solars parent company, Ameresco, would operate and install about 60,000 solar panels on Candlewood Mountain to generate 20 megawatts of power. Critics oppose the project because it would destroy about 80 acres of forest and they worry this could cause erosion, as well as destroy habitats. Its also a popular recreation site with the blue hiking trail, and some residents are concerned the project could hurt property values. Proponents of the project say it will provide a needed clean energy, as well as tax revenue and jobs for the area. They say its a good alternative to high-density housing. Some of the changes outlined in Candlewood Solars new plan, which was filed in March, are adding cedar fencing and native plants to better hide the solar arrays, and pulling them back at least 50 feet from adjacent property lines. It also proposes using a phased construction program and enhancing the stormwater management quality control measures to reduce or eliminate the risk of soil erosion. There are also protections added to help some of the wildlife at the project site. This includes funding a 10-year monitoring program for species of concern at the project site and preserving 120 acres of land nearby that has been identified as habitat for these species. We worked diligently over the last year to ensure this vital clean energy project complies with all applicable regulatory requirements, Jackson said. We are hopeful that the DEEP will swiftly and thoroughly review and accept our stormwater management plan so that we can begin construction. Casagrande said Candlewood Solar said the last plan also met DEEP guidelines, but it was rejected by department. He refers to Candlewood Solars latest filing as a condescending, trust us position and glib. The credibility of Candlewoods expert has already been called into serious question as demonstrated by DEEPs rejection of its first two applications under the general permit and the commissioners emphatic criticism of the second application in her March 14, 2019 decision, he wrote. He said this further illustrated the need for a public hearing so the Milone and MacBroom experts, who have been reviewing the project for the town, can share their conclusions. A project involving this level of environmental damage should not be decided by staff in internal reviews that the town, Rescue Candlewood Mountain, and other interested people are excluded from, Mayor Pete Bass said. Casagrande also expressed concern about a series of closed-door meetings between DEEP staff and Candlewood over the past year that town or other interested people werent invited to attend. Candlewood Solar said theyve reached out to the town about addressing its concerns. We welcomed the town to allow its consultants to meet and confer with our engineers on several occasions during the design process, Jackson said. This is an important renewable energy project that will provide environmental and economic benefits to the community and should not be further delayed. kkoerting@newstimes.com A nursing home in Buenos AIres was evacuated overnight Tuesday after 20 people, 16 patients and 3 caregivers, tested positive for the coronavirus. First responders were seen in hazmat suits outside the home as ambulance crews moved the infected residents out of the facility. The sick were taken directly to hospitals. The city's prosecutor has opened an investigation into the possible failure in preventive measures against the deadly virus and will look into whether or not abandonment and other alleged irregularities in elderly care occurred. The government signaled in a communique that it proceeded in the evacuation given the owners of the establishment "did not inform nor collaborate with the critical situation of the residents" after the positive diagnosis was given last Friday and the situation inside the home deteriorated. Local media reported that family members told them that there were only two employees caring for the residents of the home and that one of them was an electrician. After a month in lockdown, Argentina has entered a new quarantine phase until April 26, during which more activities will open to the public, albeit in a limited way, such as auto and tire repair workshops as well as businesses that sell parts and pieces for automobiles, motorcycles, and bicycles. According to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center there are to date 3,144 people infected and 152 dead of the new coronavirus in Argentina. For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and could lead to death. April 21, 2020 POCATELLO Coronavirus be darned Idaho State University is celebrating Arbor Day in style with the release of a new online ISU Campus Tree Tour, following the recognition that University was designated a Tree Campus USA by the Arbor Day Foundation earlier this spring. Starting Friday, April 24, anyone with a smartphone, tablet or personal computer can take an interactive online tour of 40 different trees on lower campus. To participate in the tour, visit bit.ly/IdahoStateTreeTour, and it will pull up a map showing trees on lower campus. By clicking on individual links on the map, users can see a photo of the tree and various information about the tree including its species name and age. This new virtual ISU Campus Tree Tour goes really well on Arbor Day with ISUs recent recognition by the Arbor Day Foundation as a 2019 Tree Campus USA, said Chris Wagner, ISU landscape manager. This tour showcases some of the amazing trees we have on campus. In the virtual tree walk, users will be able to click on individual trees on the map and read historical information on the tree. The tree histories will include interesting facts, such as two trees were planted in honor of the Twin Towers that fell during 9/11 and another tree on campus was hit by lightning and survived. Also in the future, trees on the tour will have small signage on them that will include a quick response, or QR, code the users will be able to scan that will take them to the description of that tree on the virtual tour. The tour begins and ends near the Idaho Museum of Natural History. This new virtual tour builds on an original tree walk that was created in 1991 by a doctoral student and updated in the early 2000s. The paper tour included a total of 32 trees, some that have since been removed. The new online tour has updated information on each of the remaining trees and on new trees that have been planted on campus. The new ISU Campus Tree Tour comes courtesy of the kind of collaboration that seems to be in ISUs DNA and included participation by Facilities Services landscaping personnel including Wagner, the ISU GIS Training and Research Center and its director Keith Weber, a biological sciences doctoral student Sophie Hill and the efforts of undergraduate geosciences Career Path Intern Shannon Brailsford who works in the GIS center. Keith, Sophie and Shannon turned a wish of mine into a reality, Wagner said. I also have to thank my wonderful staff that has continually gone out and worked on the trees and collected the data on them that is used by the virtual tour. Weber, director of the ISU GIS and Research Center, said that he was pleased to team up to help honor ISUs designation by the Arbor Day Foundation as a Tree Campus USA. The center and Facilities Services landscaping has worked together for years creating a database with information about thousands of the trees on the ISU campus. Weve been using GIS web maps to do maintenance and record-keeping on about 3,000 trees on campus and set them (Facilities Services) up with a mobile app, Weber said. They use that app to update information for each tree --- when it was planted, when it has been pruned, when herbicide has been used --- and that information is stored in a geodatabase that is queried at a later time. Now, some of that information in the tree maintenance app is now being pulled and used in the new virtual ISU Campus Tree Tour. At the center weve been doing a variety of GIS studies, some that are gigantic in scope, but with this project it takes us right back home doing a GIS project on campus, Weber said. Its great to give back to the campus community. Weber said the project couldnt have been completed without the contribution of one of his GIS technicians, Brailsford, who has a Career Path Internship with the center. Brailsford noted that because of all the data available in GIS databases, the virtual ISU Campus Tree Tour can potentially be expanded to include upper campus and trees at other facilities because of all the data about thousands of campus trees in the GIS database. The other thing we can do is constantly update and change the tour because of all the information we have available, Brailsford said. The project dovetailed nicely with Doctor of Arts degree student Hill, who is completing her doctoral research on urban, biogeochemistry and how trees around Pocatello impact water quality. I am personally thrilled to be involved with this project because for part of my research I was trying to identify trees around Pocatello and I didnt know them, Hill said. So being able to get this product back up and running and available for people to help them learn about Pocatello and ISUs trees is wonderful. Earlier this spring, ISU announced that it had earned the Tree Campus USA designation from the Arbor Day Foundation. The Tree Campus USA program honors colleges and universities for effective campus forest management and for engaging staff and students in conservation goals. ISU achieved the title by meeting Tree Campus USAs five standards, which include maintaining a tree advisory committee, a campus tree-care plan, dedicated annual expenditures for its campus tree program, an Arbor Day observance and student service-learning project. Currently there are 385 campuses across the United States with this recognition. DAVENPORT, Iowa Lee Enterprises, parent company of The Journal Times and newspapers and websites in 76 other markets, announced that it has launched a local marketing grant program that offers matching funds to businesses impacted by the COVID-19 virus. For 130 years, our company has partnered with local businesses to deliver their message to the people they serve, both in times of great prosperity and in times of great challenge, said Ray Farris, Lee operating vice president and vice president of advertising. While COVID-19 has created obvious difficulties for all of us, the ability of businesses to market to their customers remains essential to their sustainability and recovery. Our companys greatest assets, by far, are the local communities we serve, and were firmly committed to supporting them through this grant program. Joe Battistoni, Lee vice president of local advertising, said the program will be available to locally owned and operated businesses impacted by COVID-19, and will provide matching advertising credits for use in Lee print and digital publications. While our companys scale is national, our primary focus has been and always will be on our local business communities in the markets we serve, Battistoni said. Our initial, more targeted efforts to support local businesses during these challenging times have been very well received. Through this local grant program, we are making a much broader portfolio of marketing products available, which allows us to take a far more comprehensive approach to overcoming the unique challenges our local business partners face as a result of this pandemic. Grants will range from $250 to $15,000 worth of matching advertising credits each month, Battistoni added, and will be awarded in April, May and June. Businesses may apply online at: https://journaltimes.com/pages/local-marketing-grant.html. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 MUMBAI: Following the lead of hospitals in the United States of America, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is in the process of converting anaesthesia machines into oxygen supply aids for Covid-19 patients. This is expected to help address the shortage of isolation beds with ventilators in the city. Anaesthesia machines will only be used for short durations on suspected or infected patients who have minor breathing problems. With 3,683 cases and a mortality rate of 4.37%reported in Mumbai so far, the most vulnerable to Covid-19 are in the age group of 61-90 years as well as people with pre-existing health issues, like respiratory illnesses and diabetes. These patients often require ventilators and oxygen therapy to aid breathing. However, there is a shortage of ventilators and isolation beds that can provide oxygen therapy. To address this issue, BMC has procured 50 ventilators and is in the process of converting anaesthesia machines into oxygen outlets since these devices have inbuilt ventilators. We have sought expertise from the heads of anaesthesia departments. They will submit the report today [Wednesday] along with their recommendations before we approach our technical team for the conversion, said Suresh Kakani, additional commissioner (health), BMC. These converted machines will be used for minor, suspected or confirmed asymptomatic patients, not for serious patients with collapsed breathing systems, he added. The Indian Society of Anaesthesiologist (IAS) approved of the BMCs plan, but said the converted machines should be a last resort. Many anaesthesia machines are lying useless which can be converted into oxygen supplying outlets. Bio-technicians can switch off the anaesthesia chamber and help with the minor changes required, said Dr Naveen Malhotra, secretary, IAS. However, he emphasised that it was important to ensure only anaesthesiologists operated the machines. Doctors from other specialities will not be able to monitor it, so it needs the expertise of anaesthesiologists, said Dr Malhotra. In March, hospitals in New York City started repurposing anaesthesia machines when faced with a shortage of medical equipment to treat Covid-19 patients. Anaesthesia machines have an inbuilt oxygen providing system which can be modified to provide oxygen to patients. However, some doctors have advised caution, pointing out that the machines arent designed for this purpose. Anaesthesia machines are used to give relaxants, which are in our hands to control. But in Covid patients, their respiration will be active and we will not have the feature to change the mode of ventilation. These machines arent meant to regulate the patient with respiratory problems, said Dr Manjula Sarkar, anaesthesiologist at King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital. Topping the list of assaults on our Constitutional freedoms is the war on our right to speak freely and peacefully assemble as governors warn their citizens to stay safe, stay home, and shut up. Joining them is the social media giant Facebook which, in its general censorship of conservative thought and opinion, has now decreed that using their platform to communicate complaints about government overreach during the Wuhan virus crisis and to organize protests against said overreach violates Facebooks Alice-In-Wonderland community standards In the age before cable, there was an iconic sci-fi program called The Outer Limits whose opening featured a series of test patterns, flickering screens and a narrator known as the control voice who solemnly intoned, Do not attempt to adjust your television set. We will control all that you see and hear. Today that is a chilling reality as social media giants like Facebook routinely censor what people can see and hear on their sites. Today Big Brothers like Mark Zuckerberg conspire nor only to control what we see and hear, but what we can say to each other and what Constitutional rights we can enjoy and when: Facebook is working with state governments across the U.S. to tamp down organized protests that violate stay-at-home orders during the coronavirus pandemic, according to new reporting. CNNs Donie OSullivan reported Monday that the social media website has removed promotion of anti-quarantine events in California, New Jersey, and Nebraska after consultation with state governments. The CNN report cited a spokesman from Facebook who said the protests were in violation of states guidelines. The spokesman, OSullivan reported, said Facebook would take down posts created through the Facebook Events feature that promote events in California, New Jersey and Nebraska. Other Facebook posts, including Facebook groups about the protests, might not be removed. ABCs George Stephanopoulos spoke to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg on Monday about how the platform is addressing the pandemic, and Zuckerberg said the website is tackling content that promotes harmful misinformation. If somebodys trying to organize something like [a protest], does that qualify as harmful information? Stephanopoulos asked. We do classify that as harmful misinformation and we take that down, Zuckerberg said. Its important that people can debate policies, so theres a line on this, but more than normal political discourse, I think a lot of the stuff that people are saying that is false around a health emergency like this can be classified as harmful misinformation. What about the harmful misinformation about death rates and viral spread from experts and politicians whose computer models have been spewing projections that have been wrong from day one and proposed mitigation strategies that change repeatedly? Only the sick should wear a mask, leaving the majority of them to the health care workers, we were told. Then were told everybody should wear a mask Millions will die, oh wait. Were running out of ventilators and will never have enough, oh, wait. Their harmful misinformation has helped tank a booming economy, possibly causing more deaths due to suicide, alcohol and drug abuse, and postponing so-called elective surgeries and treatments. People postpone or cant get doctor appointments that might diagnose a serious ailment. The experts push telemedicine in situations when only a doctors stethoscope listening to your heart or lungs will do. Yet Facebook censors none of the experts or bloviating politicians like Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and Andrew Cuomo. The information these protestors convey is that the experts and the politicians havent always been right or informed, and that a lot of the stuff these people have been saying has been false about this health emergency. Some misguided experts before the pandemic outbreak were actually helping to fund Chinas Wuhan research. What gives Zuckerberg the right to decide what normal political discourse is? These protestors are protesting a lockdown that has turned their country into a police state. They have become the tired huddled masses yearning to breathe free but are informed that if they leave their homes lives are endangered. Many would respond that their lives are effectively over. For many their retirements have been eaten up in market panic. For others, their businesses and their futures will never come back. They sit at home listening to reporters, experts, and politicians who arent locked in their homes, have jobs to go to, and get a regular paychecks tell them what to do. They dont have the stock options of a Mark Zuckerberg. And for giggles listen to this: Zuckerbergs Facebook, for accurate information, refers people to Chinas sock puppet, the World Health Organization. The Facebook app displays the message: Help Friends and Family Avoid False Information About COVID-19. Share a link to the World Health Organizations (WHO) website where theyve put together a list of common rumors about the virus. Yeah, Im sure they have. Youve probably heard the rumor about the coronavirus leaking from a lab in Wuhan, except that it is not considered a tin-foil hat conspiracy theory anymore as foreign government like Britain give it serious considering the possibility and even the U.S. government is investigating WHOs trail of lies and harmful misinfornation, one would think, would make Zuckerberg blush: The World Health Organization, an entity people everywhere can supposedly rely on for accuracy, gave provably false information to countries around the globe about human-to-human spread of Wuhan coronavirus in January. To recap, at the end of December the WHO was warned by Taiwan officials that the Wuhan coronavirus was spreading through human-to-human contact. The WHO, an ally first to China said two weeks later there was "no evidence" this was the case. They did this by citing unreliable, dishonest, official Chinese government sources. Nearly two weeks after that, the WHO argued against restrictions on international air travel. This of course ultimately led to the devastating pandemic we are in now. China destroyed samples of the virus, shut down labs, arrested doctors and welded shut buildings where victims of the disease lived. WHO overlooked Chinas perfidy, praising it for is transparency and later success in controlling the contagion it unleashed on the world The WHO aided and abetted the indifference and silence that doomed the worlds people and the global economy. Wasnt the WHO a little bit suspicious when China banned air travel in and out of Wuhan but allowed international flights so that the contagion would spread outside of China? A recent study reveals most of the Wuhan virus victim would have been spared bit for the harmful misinformation coming out of China and the World Health Organization: A study published last week by the University of Southamptons WorldPop population mapping group suggested that China could have prevented 95 percent of the coronavirus infections running wild across the world if the government had listened to the whistleblowing doctors of Wuhan instead of silencing and punishing them for daring to speak out. The study, titled, Effects of Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions for Containing the COVID-19 Outbreak in China, reviewed the effects of quarantines, lockdowns, travel restrictions, and the techniques the world has come to know as social distancing over the past few months. The analysis concluded that identifying cases of infection and quickly implementing restrictions on human contact dramatically slows the spread of diseases such as the Wuhan coronavirus. So now Zuckerberg is going to help liberal and progressive governors impose their coronavirus police state. According to the Constitution, we have the rights to speak freely, to peacefully assemble, and to petition the government for redress of grievances. But Rev. James Hamilton of the King James Baptist Church in Greenville, Mississippi was told otherwise by a police officer after organizing a church drive-thru service. In a video of the confrontation, a police officer actually approaches pastor Hamilton and asserts this astounding line: "We got an order from the governor, your rights are suspended." Our rights are what? And lest you think this was just one overzealous cop, consider the words of the Democrat Governor of New Jersey Phil Murphy in an interview with Tucker Carlson of Fox News: Carlson asked Murphy about the arrests in Ocean County, N.J., of 15 men who were congregating for a rabbi's funeral at a Lakewood synagogue in early April. " The Bill of Rights, as you well know, protects Americans' rights -- enshrines their right to practice their religion as they see fit and to congregate together to assemble peacefully," Carlson said. "By what authority did you nullify the Bill of Rights in issuing this order? How do you have the power to do that?" "That's above my pay grade, Tucker," Murphy replied. "I wasn't thinking of the Bill of Rights when we did this... We looked at all the data and the science and it says people have to stay away from each other Many governors are surveilling protestors and threatening them with arrest, even in their homes. They are not thinking of the Bill of Rights either. Now Zuckerbergs Facebook is coming to their aid, working with such governors to suspend our rights. Daniel John Sobieski is a former editorial writer for Investors Business Daily and freelance writer whose pieces have appeared in Human Events, Reason Magazine, and the Chicago Sun-Times among other publications. By Nathan Frandino BOLINAS, Calif., April 20 (Reuters) - Researchers began testing an entire town in northern California for the novel coronavirus and its antibodies on Monday, one of the first such efforts since the pandemic hit the United States. Bolinas, a wealthy beach town in Marin County, near Silicon Valley, raised funds to test all 1,680 of its residents, in partnership with University of California-San Francisco (UCSF). Dr. Aenor Sawyer, an assistant professor at UCSF and a Bovinas resident, said the town is uniquely situated to teach the medical community about how the disease spreads because it lies two miles (3 km) from a highway with no through road. "So we're fairly isolated, rural, and (with) stable ecosystems right now for the last several weeks. So it will be very interesting to see the footprint of the virus in this arena," Sawyer said. The tests are being offered for free. Volunteers direct the town's residents to drive into four testing bays set up for nasal swabs and finger pricks. The swabs are used to test for the coronavirus, while the finger prick is used to collect blood samples that will be tested for antibodies which can help show who has been infected and recovered. There have been no confirmed coronavirus cases in Bolinas, but many residents are older than 60 and at higher risk from contracting COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus. Telluride, Colorado, and Fisher Island, Florida, are two other wealthy towns providing free diagnostic tests for all their residents. MISSION DISTRICT, TOO The testing in Bolinas is the first of a two-part study in which UCSF researchers will examine the spread of the disease in both rural and urban areas. Researchers have chosen the Mission District, a vibrant inner city neighborhood with Latino roots in San Francisco, for the second location. Testing will start there on Saturday. "There are two paired sites that are going on right now: One here in Bolinas, which is very rural and people are quite separated and it's isolated. And another, less than an hour's drive away, in the Mission District of San Francisco, where it's very densely populated, people live very close to each other, and it's very connected," said Dr. Bryan Greenhouse, an assistant professor at UCSF and one of the study's researchers. "By sort of bookending the different types of communities that we're evaluating within a short period of time, we hope to be able to extrapolate much more to different places throughout northern California." (Reporting by Nathan Frandino; writing by Bill Tarrant; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien) Livingston, LA As TFTP reported late last year, a high level Livingston Parish Sheriffs Office deputy who commanded the SWAT team and his wife, were indicted on more than 150 felonies for unspeakable crimes against children and animals. Dennis Perkins, 44, and and his wife Cynthia Perkins, 34, are accused of multiple counts of child rape and the production of child pornography, among other disturbing charges. As if this cop/teacher child rape case couldnt get any worse, new documents filed on Monday lay out, in graphic detail, even more heinous acts by these disgusting individuals. WARNING: The details in the story below are exceedingly disturbing and contain extremely graphic descriptions of the alleged crimes. The new filing, known as a 404(B), was filed Monday, April 20th with the Livingston Parish Clerk of Court. It describes incidents in which Dennis Perkins used his position as a cop to film up the skirts and down the shirts of women he would pull over. It also details over five terabytes of encrypted data containing videos of horrifying acts with children including Cynthia holding down a small child while Dennis raped her. Whats more, according to the court filings, Dennis Perkins should have never been hired to be a cop because he admitted to heinous crimes before getting the job. As WAFB reports, the new court filing includes a job application from 1998 to the Baton Rouge Police Department where Dennis allegedly admitted to several crimes including prostitution, sex with a minor and drug use. The BRPD hiring board at that time voted unanimously not to hire Dennis. He was a reserve deputy with LPSO when he applied for that job. However, he would later go on to be hired to a full time position and rise up through the ranks of the LPSO where he would eventually command the entire SWAT division. As TFTP reported in October, the Perkins were arrested after a months-long criminal probe headed up by the Louisiana Attorney Generals Office. Then in December, a grand jury indicted Dennis Perkins on 78 felonies and his wife, Cynthia Perkins, on 72 felonies involving sex acts against children under the age of 13, two non-consenting adults, various unsuspecting victims by means of ingesting harmful substances and an animal, according to court filings. The indictment also includes 61 counts of producing child pornography. Also, according to the Advocate, the pair both face a count of mingling harmful substances, which involves putting harmful substances in food, drink or medicine with intent to hurt someone. According to the indictment, Perkins is accused of ejaculating on various pastries and into bottles of energy drinks that were then ingested by unsuspecting victims. Cynthia is accused of giving them to her students. The couple now faces dozens of other charges after the documents were released on Monday. As WAFB reported, the filed document attempts to prove other crimes, wrongs and bad acts by the couple. Here is a summary of new allegations outline in the new court filings: Role-playing with both Dennis and Cynthia taking part and acting out a fantasy of having sex with a child A note found on Cynthias cell phone detailing a sex act that an adult male and female would do, or did, with a child under the age of 13. Allegations of domestic abuse by Cynthia Perkins upon a child: the filing details that a child told investigators Cynthia Perkins pulled a child by her hair into a bathroom, slammed her head against the wall, and threw her to the ground. It went on to say she then began hitting and slapping her. Hundreds of sexual keywords and search terms Dennis Perkins allegedly entered into search engines such as Google, many included sexual acts involving children Photoshopped images of children in sexually suggestive positions with Dennis Perkins Investigators claim Cynthia Perkins took pictures of children acting in normal, everyday activities and then sent them to her husband. Dennis then allegedly photoshopped the childrens pictures with his private parts superimposed onto them in various positions. Evidence of a spy watch left in a bathroom to record when a child would take a shower A video of a naked child in a bathroom that was allegedly found on an external hard drive in his office at the Livingston Parish Sheriffs Office Three videos allegedly showing Dennis masturbating and a child either asleep or forced to take commands by Dennis A video from 2012 while Dennis was on duty as a patrol officer making a traffic stop: Investigators claim Perkins recorded an adult woman without her knowledge with a pin camera. The filing details how Dennis allegedly moved the camera around to shoot down her shirt and under her shorts. Six videos from late 2018 titled The Mile High Club to attempt to prove his interest in filming and/or photographing his sexual activities. In those videos, Cynthia is allegedly seen performing oral sex on Dennis on a public airplane among unsuspecting passengers seen in the background. Several medications whose side effects are drowsiness, sleepiness, muscle relaxation and/or pain relief. Investigators added that they found text messages between Cynthia and Dennis discussing a scenario where an intoxicant was placed in the drink for an adult female. Statements from a female adult victim alleging Cynthias alleged role in her rape and possible drugging The Attorney Generals filing aims to show a pattern of conduct, system or plan, as well as motive, intent to commit all of the crimes for which Dennis & Cynthia Perkins were indicted. As we previously reported, Perkins was a lieutenant with the Livingston Parish Sheriffs Office Special Operations Unit (SWAT) before being terminated the week of Oct. 21. He was hired in 2002 from the Walker Police Department. This alleged child rapist commanded an entire SWAT division and was considered a hero by the community. After her arrest, his wife, Cynthia Perkins resigned from her teaching position at Westside Junior High School in Walker. It is currently unknown if the victims in the images were students of Cynthias though the parents of some of here students announced a lawsuit last year. The investigation found so much disturbing evidence against the Perkins that this top cop and his wife are facing a sentence of more than 6,000 years in prison. The investigation started after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a tip that the couple was raping children, filming it it, and then distributing it to their network. The evidence in the case is reportedly so overwhelming that Denny Perkins attorney has requested to be removed from the case and no longer wishes to represent him. Even more disturbing is the fact that Dennis Perkins was caught in bed by his former wife, not Cynthia with a child in 2013. However, due to state and federal laws that largely limit law enforcement from acting on allegations of grooming, nothing ever happened to Perkins. Instead, the child was sent to counseling and this hero remained a cop. The counselor also told (the State Police) that he believed Perkins had done this before and would do it again, the report reads. Adding to the incredibly corrupt circus is the fact that in February, another former cop, Melanie Barnett Curtin, 41, of Denham Springs, was arrested as she returned from a cruise in New Orleans. Curtin worked for the Livingston Parish Sheriffs Office starting in 2011the same department as Perkins. Her ex-husband is also a former LPSO deputy. Curtin was arrested on two charges: first degree rape and video voyeurism in connection to crimes committed with the Perkins. She was booked into the Livingston Parish Detention Center Feb. 1. Judge Jeff Johnson set a bond of $250,000 for Curtins first degree rape charge and $100,000 for the video voyeurism charge on Feb. 3, according to WAFB. ARRESTED ON THE DOCK This woman, who is the third person charged in the Dennis Perkins case, was handcuffed as soon as Posted by WAFB Channel 9 on Saturday, February 1, 2020 After news of her former employment with the LPSO broke, the department issued a statement distancing themselves from the accused rapist. Melanie Curtin has not been employed with the Sheriffs office since August 13, 2012. She worked for the Sheriffs Office for roughly 18 months in the tax department. She terminated her employment with this office on August 13, 2012. At the time of the alleged crime for which she was arrested she was not an employee of this office, the statement read. WAFB reports that the Perkins indictment in December stated that on Nov. 8, 2014, Dennis raped an adult victim. It went on to say that sex was with the assistance of a yet unidentified adult female perpetrator. It is from this claim that the first degree rape charge stemmed. Sources confirm to WAFB Investigators that unidentified adult female perpetrator was Curtin. It is a sad day when police officers the ones who claim to protect us are caught preying on societys most vulnerable. However, there are a lot of sad days in America as this situation plays out like a broken record, over and over again. "We are thrilled to have won this chance to continue our support to the Navy and Marine Corps on KRACEn. The Navy and Marine Corps know Erickson for the exceptional depot level work we have done on their H-53 fleet. We hope to build on that reputation and expand our service offerings to other platforms." 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FOR MORE INFORMATION ON OUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES, VISIT ERICKSONINC.COM SOURCE Erickson Incorporated Related Links ERICKSONINC.COM 'The rate of transmission of COVID-19 in Hong Kong was 0.7 -- anything below 1 suggests the epidemic is receding.' 'The city-State achieved this without the de facto police-State curfew that India has resorted to,' says Rahul Jacob. IMAGE: A woman walks alongside a beach on Cheung Chau island during the Easter weekend in Hong Kong. Photograph: Joyce Zhou/Reuters Half an hour into a virtual UK parliamentary committee meeting, Jeremy Hunt, the former UK foreign secretary, asked a question that sounded like a drowning man seeking a lifeline. Hunt was responding to a summation of Hong Kong's relative success in dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak by Professor Gabriel Leung, chair of the medicine department at the University of Hong Kong and one of the two international invitees to the committee meeting. Professor Leung had argued that the foundation of Hong Kong's success in containing the epidemic to less than 1,000 cases of infections and four deaths in the city of more than 7 million was aggressive testing backed up by quarantining and tech-enabled contact tracing since January. Hunt asked what Professor Leung would say to scientists in the UK, which has lagged well behind its Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development peers in levels of testing, who argued that the UK's epidemic was now akin to a 'ship (that hadM.em>) sailed. We are beyond that point.' Professor Leung, a global expert in infectious diseases, said epidemiologists had well-established sampling methods to use tests to determine the transmission patterns of a virus even after an epidemic had spread widely across a country. It was critical to continue testing to prevent second and third waves of outbreaks, which the world is anticipating. IMAGE: Paramedics evacuate residents from a building in Hong Kong. Photograph: Tyrone Siu/Reuters The exchange would not merit headlines, but deserves a chapter in the annals of postcolonial history. Less than 25 years after Britain's handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997, the city stands as a global role model in combating COVID-19 -- and its former sovereign as one of the laggards. Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea and Taiwan (and outliers such as Germany) have been at the vanguard of the battle with COVID-19, but Hong Kong's success in many ways is the most remarkable. As an entrepot of trade and finance for China, it is a revolving door for travel to and from the mainland. In 2018, before widespread protests for universal suffrage prompted a tourism downturn, 78 per cent of the 65 million visitors to the city came from China. The city has weathered three waves of transmission from outside -- initially from China, then from returnees from the Diamond Princess cruise ship and most recently from Hong Kong residents returning from Europe and the US ahead -- and still has succeeded in keeping transmission within the community tiny. Professor Leung reported that . The US, by contrast, has seen its rate of transmission drop from above 4 to currently above 2. The city-State has achieved this without the de facto police-State curfew that India has resorted to. Restaurants remain open, people continue to go to parks and favourite hiking routes but nearly everyone wears a mask. This is in part because of the legacy of the outbreak of SARS, which started in China but killed 286 and infected more than 1,500 in 2003 in Hong Kong. SARS is still a vivid memory that allows the city's superb public healthcare system and the population to respond to health crises such as COVID-19. For thethe rate of transmission was 0.7 -- anything below 1 suggests the epidemic is receding past decade-and-a-half, it has been common etiquette in Hong Kong to wear a mask outside the home when a person has a cough or cold. Door handles and elevator buttons are sanitised every couple of hours in office buildings for the past decade and a half. Critically, Hong Kong has one of the world's best public healthcare systems, experienced at dealing with challenges such as the avian flu in 1997 to the H1N1 in 2009. IMAGE: Tables and chairs are taped up to keep social distancing at a Starbucks coffee shop in Hong Kong. Photograph: Tyrone Siu/Reuters Two long-time Pakistani residents in the city, who were on holiday in northeastern America as the epidemic unfolded there, are recent beneficiaries. They had woken up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on March 7 with the same thought: That they needed to cancel the rest of their holiday and return to Hong Kong. Days later, they tested positive for the virus, likely picked up either in Cambridge or on the flight back. Separated into two control groups to determine the efficacy of treatments, the husband's recovery route involved a hepatitis injection while the wife was given retro-virals usually used in treating HIV+ patients. I caught up by phone with the wife, a lawyer and a loyal friend who sent me tubs of haleem when I had bronchitis last year, after she had been discharged from the city's Ruttonjee hospital. Named after a Parsi businessman from the British era, who founded it after losing his daughter in 1943 to tuberculosis during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, the government hospital has isolation wards to treat COVID-19 patients. My friend contrasted the thoroughness with which the city has tackled the epidemic with the US government's and public's erratic responses. Returning early from the US "was the best decision of our lives". IMAGE: Tourist and school buses at a parking lot near the Kwai Chung container terminal in Hong Kong. Photograph: Tyrone Siu/Reuters An Australian friend in the city, released from two weeks of self-quarantine under the watch of a StayHomeSafe app installed on her phone at the airport after she returned from Australia, also praised the government's efficiency. Similar technology has been used for geo tracing in recent weeks by many states in India but many experts believe that the Modi government compounded doing too little, too late by imposing the world's most stringent controls, an emergency licence raj that has seen farmers struggle to get their produce to markets and hire migrant labour to harvest the rabi crop. In an interview with The Week, Partho Sarothi Ray, a molecular virologist teaching at Kolkata's Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, said that if India had isolated and tested travellers from overseas early on as WHO advised, social distancing would have sufficed without the drastic lockdown that looks set to be extended. Ray warns, 'Lockdown makes infected people remain at home. As a result, families are infected. In 65 per cent of the cases, the symptom is missing. When the lockdown ends these people would come out and infect old and vulnerable people, leading to resurgence of virus.' In the 1918 Spanish influenza, peak mortality came during a surge of cases in a second wave of infections. Hong Kong and Singapore have had to tighten rather than loosen their restrictions after a new increase in infections, warning that a calibrated approach to physical distancing looks set for the long haul. By contrast to Professor Leung's experience speaking to a UK parliamentary body and playing a prominent role in Hong Kong, however, Ray reports that he has not been consulted by New Delhi or by state governments. All former colonies are not equal; some have governments more pragmatic and more responsive than others. Rahul Jacob lived in Hong Kong for more than a decade and covered the SARS epidemic for the Financial Times. President Donald Trump has released general guidelines for how to lift coronavirus restrictions and reopen parts of the U.S. economy including schools. But most state education leaders say their buildings will have to remain closed until at least late summer or fall. As of Tuesday afternoon, 35 states and Washington, D.C., had ordered or recommended school buildings remain closed through the rest of the school year to contain the spread of the coronavirus, according to a tally from Education Week magazine. Schools in coronavirus hot spots may not even be able to hit a fall deadline for reopening. But a couple of rural states are holding out hope for opening some schools in May. The problem, some state leaders say: Neither Education Secretary Betsy DeVos nor the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have said much on how schools should be planning for the future. Left to figure out a plan on their own, state and local education leaders are banding together. Others say America's schools have long been designed to be locally governed and a national pandemic doesn't change that. Sheledia Kelly hands food to kids as the Vicksburg Warren School District delivers meals to school aged children in Warren County, Miss., Wednesday, March 18, 2020. U.S. reopening:What states are relaxing social distancing and moving away from lockdowns? DeVos spokeswoman Angela Morabito said schools controlled by local leaders are positioned to make reopening decisions in consultation with local health officials. DeVos is not a member of the White House coronavirus task force or the task force debating how to reopen the economy. But Morabito said the secretary is part of the administration-wide response. "Just because someone isn't named on the task force doesn't mean they aren't fully engaged in the work," she said. 'A disregard for the safety of kids' The head of a professional group for district superintendents blasted the federal administration over the weekend for its lack of a national plan for reopening schools. Dan Domenech, executive director for the American Association of School Administrators, criticized the CDC and the Federal Emergency Management Agency for "inconsistent and incongruous guidance" about how and when schools should reopen. Story continues That's because the second part of Trump's three-phase plan for restarting the economy calls for reopening schools while also barring group gatherings of 50 or more and continuing physical distancing, Domenech said. He said that's nearly impossible for schools to implement. "If you think youre going to keep kids 6 feet apart during the course of a school day, youre dreaming," Domenech said. "It almost shows a disregard for the safety of kids, because what seems to be the most important element here is that schools be open to serve their childcare function, so that parents can get back to work." 'Historic academic regression': What could happen to kids who are learning from home State education leaders are scrambling In the absence of more specific national guidance, schools leaders are reaching across state lines to confer about how to reopen schools. The question of when is harder; most say they'll have to leave that up to health officials. For states to relax restrictions, the federal guidelines call for a 14-day downward trajectory of COVID-19 cases. The biggest challenge is the "fear factor of getting too many people back together too quickly and seeing a rebound of COVID-19," said Carey Wright, state superintendent of Mississippi. While children who contract the virus appear less likely than adults to become sick, scientists believe they can pass the infection along to other people which could lead to widespread breakouts among staff and families connected to a school. Wright said she's hoping Mississippi's schools may be able to reopen in late July after summer break, but slightly earlier than their usual restart date in early August. But for now, she said, infections are still rising and the state is still under stay-at-home orders from the governor. Wright said she's in contact with many other state superintendents around the country, and nobody she's talking to thinks they'll open schools before late summer or fall. But education leaders in two rural states Idaho and Wyoming didn't rule out the possibility of students returning to class before summer. "It is possible some schools could reopen at the very end of the academic year, depending on circumstances at the end of April," said Mike Keckler, spokesman for the Idaho State Board of Education. "Wyoming has over 90,000 square miles, so it is conceivable that some schools open fully, some schools open partially, and some remain closed," said Michelle Panos, spokeswoman for the Wyoming Department of Education. Many school closures will be longer: Parents fear for their children's mental health Southern states: 'We hope this works' Sixteen southern states are teaming up to work out the intricacies of what the school day will look like come fall. All the member states belong to the Southern Regional Education Board, a school improvement group led by Stephen Pruitt, the former education commissioner of Kentucky. Two members from each state, ranging from state schools chiefs to individual teachers, will meet virtually for the first time Thursday. Pruitt said the new group will wrestle with how to plan for budgetary impacts of the crisis, how to address student achievement concerns, how to manage the emotional well-being of students and staff and how to help instructors teach differently whether that's in a virtual space or within buildings on some kind of altered schedule. The idea is to create a playbook for states, districts and schools, Pruitt said. "Anyone who thinks were going to come back and have the same start we always have is fooling themselves," he added. "We hope this works." 'Confusing at best and absent at worst' Another road map for how to reopen schools is coming from a nonprofit group co-led by a former top official in New York City schools and a former pandemic expert in President Barack Obama's administration. "The guidance and support from federal officials for schools has been confusing at best and absent at worst," said Andrew Buher, the former chief operating officer of New York's schools and founder of the nonprofit Opportunity Labs. Buher said his group tried to think about everything from back-up staffing plans to new types of school schedules to accommodate physical distancing. Mario Ramirez The U.S. has lagged three months behind on many pandemic issues, said Mario Ramirez, an emergency room physician and former acting director of the Office of Pandemic and Emerging Threats under Obama. "If we want to get kids back in the fall," Ramirez said, "we need to talk about what that's going to look like today." Education coverage at USA TODAY is made possible in part by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Gates Foundation does not provide editorial input. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus: When will schools reopen from closures? Not until fall Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. According to Stratistics MRC, the Global Electromagnetic Flowmeter Market is growing at a CAGR of 6.5% during the forecast period. Growing Population and Rising need for consistent measurement and monitoring of industrial fluids are the key factors influence market growth. Moreover, advances in flowmeter technology will provide ample opportunities for market growth. However, the inability to measure non-conductive fluids is limiting the market growth. Electromagnetic flowmeters are devices employed to measure the flow of conductive fluids inside a pipe. Electromagnetic flow meters, by contrast, work best with grimy fluids. They are easy to install, cost-effective and low maintenance. Electromagnetic flowmeters work on Faradays law of Induction, thus, they consume electrodes to measure process flow. By Application, Water and Wastewater segment is going to have a lucrative growth during the forecast period owing to the growing investments in water infrastructure. Electromagnetic flow meters are used to measure treated and untreated sewage, processed water, water, and chemicals. By geography, Asia Pacific is estimated to have a lucrative growth due to the growth in this region is attributed to the surge in industrial growth and higher requirement of wastewater management. Request for Report sample :https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/12124 Some of the key players profiled in the Electromagnetic Flowmeter Market are Invensys plc, Endress+Hauser AG, Hitachi Ltd, Flow Technology , Yokogawa Electric Corp, ABB Ltd., Omega, Bronkhorst, Fine Tek, Magnetrol, Riels, Greyline Instruments, Spirax Sarco,Mass Flow, Isoil, and Sika. Products Covered: Low Flow Magnetic Flowmeters In-line Magnetic Flowmeters Insertion Magnetic Flowmeters Components Covered: Transmitters Non-magnetic Flow Tubes Magnetic Coils Sensing Electrodes Excitation Types Covered: Direct Current (DC) Alternating Current (AC) Request for Report Discount:https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/discount/12124 Types Covered: Ultrasonic Differential Pressure Coriolis Magnetic Positive Displacement Turbine Vortex Other Types Applications Covered: Power Generation Pulp and Paper Metals and Mining Pharmaceuticals Water and Wastewater Oil and Gas Chemicals and Petrochemicals Food and Beverages Municipal Applications Agricultural Automotive Precision and Optics Industry Electrical and Electronics Sensors Regions Covered: North America o US o Canada o Mexico Europe o Germany o UK o Italy o France o Spain o Rest of Europe Asia Pacific o Japan o China o India o Australia o New Zealand o South Korea o Rest of Asia Pacific South America o Argentina o Brazil o Chile o Rest of South America Middle East & Africa o Saudi Arabia o UAE o Qatar o South Africa o Rest of Middle East & Africa Make an Inquiry before Buying@:https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/checkout/12124/Single What our report offers: - Market share assessments for the regional and country level segments - Strategic recommendations for the new entrants - Market forecasts for a minimum of 9 years of all the mentioned segments, sub segments and the regional markets - Market Trends (Drivers, Constraints, Opportunities, Threats, Challenges, Investment Opportunities, and recommendations) - Strategic analysis: Drivers and Constraints, Product/Technology Analysis, Porters five forces analysis, SWOT analysis etc. - Strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations - Competitive landscaping mapping the key common trends - Company profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent developments - Supply chain trends mapping the latest technological advancements Free Customization Offerings: All the customers of this report will be entitled to receive one of the following free customization options: Company Profiling o Comprehensive profiling of additional market players (up to 3) o SWOT Analysis of key players (up to 3) Regional Segmentation o Market estimations, Forecasts and CAGR of any prominent country as per the clients interest (Note: Depends of feasibility check) Competitive Benchmarking o Benchmarking of key players based on product portfolio, geographical presence, and strategic alliances Britons are turning to tea to keep calm during the coronavirus crisis with business booming for the nation's only tea grower. Tregothnan Estate says it is struggling to keep up with demand as online tea orders skyrocketed - with 12 times as much business as usual. The company said there was 'nothing more British then a cup of tea' especially in a time of crisis. Jonathon Jones, Managing Director of Britain's only tea grower at Tregothnan Estate says business is booming with Britons stuck inside and consoling themselves with the drink The British people may not be allowed out at the moment but they are still savouring their tea Jonathon Jones, 48, managing director of trading at the estate in Cornwall, said that another reason for the surge in demand is people have even been enjoying tea with their friends and family digitally through video chats. He said: 'Tea orders are going up because people are staying at home, everyone is a tea drinker these days. 'I think people are consoling themselves with a cup of tea. People are video talking to each other and having a cup of tea online. 'In the last four weeks we have seen our web sales multiply by a factor of 12, it's a huge spike. 'Certain types of tea orders have multiplied by a factor of 20 online.' While sales to restaurants and airlines have dramatically reduced, online sales are strong Jonathon said that some aspects of the business have been affected by the ongoing lockdown, and said that orders from restaurants and airlines had almost completely dropped off. He said: 'Normally we were selling to restaurants and airlines and that's dropped off, but we've seen a much bigger increase in web sales so we're ok. 'In a sense it's not bad, but the situation is very nerve wracking for everyone involved. 'We don't know what's going to happen in life, we hope that people will get back to drinking tea together but we don't know when that will be. The company are experiencing 12 times more business than usual with people on lockdown 'Tea is the world's favourite drink, not just here in the UK but around the globe. 'We see a lot of orders going to the US and we're making a British and American blend at the minute, it will be made with tea from Alabama and here in Cornwall - it will be the first time it's been done.' Tregothnan Estate's new British and American blend is expected to be ready in the next few weeks. The first 'English tea' was then sold in November 2005 to Fortnum & Mason in London Tregothnan is believed to be the first place to grow ornamental Camellias outdoors in Britain over 200 years ago and is now the only place growing tea in England. It currently produces both loose leaf and tea sachets to sell and serve, with four black teas and ten herbal infusions. Tea was first developed commercially at the site in Cornwall from Camellia sinensis, the 'Chinese tea plant', in 2001. The first 'English tea' was then sold in November 2005 to Fortnum & Mason of Piccadilly. Shaheed El-Hafed, 19 April 2020 (SPS) - President of the Sahrawi Republic, Brahim Ghali, called on the United Nations to protect Sahrawi political prisoners in Moroccan prisons facing the danger of the Covid-19 pandemic. In a speech to the nation, the Saharawi president, secretary general of the Polisario Front alerted the United Nations that Saharawi political prisoners live in deplorable conditions in Moroccan prisons at a time when the world is fighting against the Covid-19 pandemic. He called on the UN organization to act to protect the Saharawi people in the occupied territories of Western Sahara, especially the Saharawi political prisoners in the jails of the Moroccan occupation, adding that Morocco assumes full responsibility for the circumstances of the current situation. The Saharawi president had already called on the United Nations to intervene urgently for the release of Saharawi political prisoners from Moroccan prisons with the escalation of the new coronavirus, in a letter addressed to the Secretary General of the organization, Antonio Guterres, last March. Brahim Ghali, in his speech to the nation, welcomed the positive response of the Saharawi people to the measures implemented by the Saharawi government to deal with the pandemic, recalling that the international situation due to the Covid-19 pandemic requires strict compliance with prevention measures. President Ghali also praised the enormous work done by health personnel and administrative and security authorities to cope with and prevent this pandemic that is shaking the world. On 19 March 2020, the Sahrawi government put in place a series of measures to deal with the pandemic. The National Coronavirus Surveillance and Prevention Mechanism (COVID-19) was also established to control and monitor the pandemic. (SPS) 062/SPS/APS India has purchased 72,400 German designed, American built SIG716 7.62/61mm rifles for snipers, or designated marksmen in Infantry units. These rifles cost $1, 270 each, weigh 3.85 kg (8.5 pounds), are 940mm (37 inches) long and have a 406mm (16 inch) barrel. There is a ten-round magazine as well as an accessory rail for mounting scopes. The first 10,000 of these arrived in late 2019 and the rest are arriving in 10,000 rifle lots. The SIG716 is effective without a scope but extremely accurate with one. It as a free-floating handguard that leaves the barrel untouched by the shooter. There is a two-stage trigger, which is preferred by snipers. The SIG716 is based on the AR-10 design. This was a 7.62mm version of the AR-15 5.56mm weapon that becomes the M-16/M-4. The AR-10 served as the basis for a growing number of similar sniper rifles. India is also buying 700,000 locally (licensed) made, Russian designed AK-203 7.62/39mm rifles to replace the many AK-47s still used by Indian troops and paramilitary police. The AK203 and SIG716 are also replacing the locally designed and built INSAS (Indian Small Arms System) rifles that proved to be a disaster in combat. The INSAS was an embarrassment from the start and got worse. By 2015, responding to the growing combat losses because of flaws in the INSAS 5.56mm assault rifle, the Indian government capitulated and allowed the military to get rifles that worked. Unfortunately for nationalist politicians, this usually means a foreign supplier. India provided its Tavor assault rifle to replace most of the INSAS 5.56mm assault rifles used by commands and infantry. American and Russian designs were selected to replace other needs. That left a few other problems, like a modern sniper rifle and a new LMG (Light Machinegun). SIG got the sniper sale and another Israeli firm provided the new LMG. This all began in the 1980s when there was growing clamor for India to design and build its own weapons. This included something as basic as the standard infantry rifle. At that time soldiers and paramilitary-police units were equipped with a mixture of old British Lee-Enfield bolt action (but still quite effective) 7.62mm rifles and newer Belgian FALs (sort of a semi-automatic Lee-Enfield) plus a growing number of Russian AK-47s. The rugged and reliable Russian assault rifle was most popular with its users. In the late 1980s, India began developing a family of 5.56mm infantry weapons (rifle, light machine-gun and carbine). Called the INSAS, the state-owned factories were unable to produce the quantities required (and agreed to). Worse, the rifles proved fragile and unreliable. The design was poorly thought out and it is believed corruption played a part because the INSAS had more parts than it needed and cost over twice as much to produce as the AK-47. The original plan was to equip all troops with INSAS weapons by 1998. That never happened, although troops began to receive the rifle in 1998. By 2000 half the required weapons ordered were still not manufactured. Moreover, in 1999 the INSAS weapons got their first real combat workout in the Kargil campaign against Pakistan. While not a complete failure, the nasty weather that characterized that battle zone high in the frigid mountains saw many failures as metal parts sometimes cracked from the extreme cold. Troops complained that they were at a disadvantage because their Pakistani foes could fire on full automatic with their AK-47s while the INSAS rifles had only three bullet burst mode which, fortunately, sometimes failed and fired more than three bullets for each trigger pull. What was most irksome about this was that the INSAS rifles were the same weight, size and shape as the AK-47 but cost about $300 each, while AK-47s could be had for less than half that. The INSAS looked like the AK-47 because its design was based on that weapon. The Indians persevered, tweaking the design and improving the manufacturing process. Then, after nearly two decades the INSAS weapons were gaining acceptance. By 2015 nearly 400,000 had been delivered. Compared to most 5.56mm rifles on the market, INSAS had a price advantage and India was looking for export customers. No one was really interested. Only three small nations showed interest, and that was more for political reasons than for military ones. The major export customer (Nepal) got them at a huge discount and quickly found Nepalese troops demanding a replacement rifle because the INSAS was fatally unreliable. In the decade following the Kargil debacle, INSAS rifles also malfunctioned in several highly publicized incidents involving the leftist (Maoist) rebels increasingly active in eastern India. Responding to the continuing performance and reliability problems some changes were made but most Indian users want a better rifle. The military had been conducting a competition since 2013 and the winners were the Israeli Tavor and ACE assault rifles. The Tavor and ACE were similar to INSAS models but lighter and easier to use and maintain. The Israelis had an edge in combat experience with their weapons and have been selling more weapons to India than just about anyone else and was a major reason the Tavor prevailed. WOOD RIVER One new death was reported Tuesday by the Madison County Health Department, bringing the total of coronavirus related deaths to nine. According to the department, the latest victim was a man in his 70s. The county also reported a total of 216 cases, 124 women and 92 men, up 28 from Monday. The county figures include 64 people hospitalized and 72 recovered, meaning they have completed isolation. The Illinois Department of Public Health on Tuesday reported 190 cases and 10 deaths in Madison County, but health officials have said there will be some discrepancies on a day-to-day basis as the number of cases increase. Statewide, IDPH Director Ngozi Ezike reported 1,551 new coronavirus cases and 119 deaths, bringing the state totals to 33,059 cases and 1,468 deaths Tuesday. IDPH information by ZIP codes on Tuesday showed additional cases in the Alton, Jerseyville, Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Collinsville and Highland areas. Also, for the first time, the 62010 ZIP code (Bethalto) was listed. Both 62002 (Alton) and 62040 (Granite City/Pontoon Beach) had 33 cases Tuesday, according to the IDPH, while 62025 (Edwardsville) had 32. Twenty cases were reported in 62234 (Collinsville), while 62034 (Glen Carbon) and 62294 (Troy) each had 10. Nine cases were reported in 62249 (Highland), while eight cases were reported in 62035 (Godfrey), 62052 (Jerseyville) and 62095 (Wood River). Seven cases were reported in 62024 (East Alton) and 62060 (Madison). Six cases were reported in 62010 (Bethalto) and 62069 (Mt. Olive). The IDPH is releasing case numbers by ZIP code for areas with more than five cases. Numbers are not released in ZIP codes with fewer cases to protect the privacy of patients. More Information Area COVID-19 cases by county St. Clair - 289 (18 deaths) Madison - 190 (9-10 deaths) Monroe County- 55 (7 deaths) Montgomery - 17 (1 death) Bond County - 4 (1 death) Clinton -46 Macoupin -22 Jersey - 10 Washington - 7 Greene - 1 Calhoun - 1 Sources: Illinois Department of Public Health and Madison County Health Department See More Collapse The information is available on the IDPH website www.dph.illinois.gov. Click on the coronavirus banner, then COVID-19 statistics in the drop-down menu on the left side. The IDPH on Tuesday also reported additional cases in Jersey, Montgomery, St. Clair, Clinton and Monroe counties in the Metro East, according to the IDPH website. During his comments Tuesday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced a new multi-state agreement designed to offer relief for residents with student loan debt and additional benefits for families with children receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits. He also briefly discussed statements he made earlier Tuesday that the virus may peak in Illinois in mid-May, rather than the earlier forecast of mid-April. Were working hard to make changes in the stay-at-home order, he said. Ive given enough information to people so they know the peak is still to come. Pritzker said the state may tweak the stay-at-home order. He also talked about what would happen after and spent most of his briefing Tuesday discussing economic issues, specifically the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Pritzker said that, while the federal CARES Act includes relief for people facing student loan debt including delaying interest, payments and collections it does not extend all student loans. Under Tuesdays agreement, those same protections were extended to some debts held by private companies. He said it would impact about 140,000 people with existing debt and said people should contact their loan providers, adding there may be some delays. This is new, so even the lenders are getting up to speed to this, he said. Pritzker also said Illinois is providing $112 million more for families with children who qualify for SNAP benefits. The distribution began Monday, with those already in the system receiving the money through existing LINK cards. He said information will be available soon for those not in the system. No child should ever have to worry where their next meal is coming from, he said. This change will make a big difference for 300,000 households. For the latest information on COVID-19 or coronavirus resources, visit the Madison County Health Department online at www.madisonchd.org or on Facebook @MadisonCHD. Also visit www.co.madison.il.us or on Facebook @MadisonCountyIL. FLINT, MI -- Genesee Health System will launch a mobile testing unit to help increase COVID-19 testing availability, with a goal to focus on providing access to Flint neighborhoods. Details are still in the works, according to a Wednesday, April 22 news release, but mobile testing could be available as soon as Friday, April 24. The testing sites will be operated by the staff of Genesee Health System, a public mental health provider, and Genesee Community Health Center, a federally qualified health center operated by GHS, the release states. Access and location information will be distributed once plans are finalized. Genesee Health System staff includes providers who can communicate in Spanish and American Sign Language. The focus of the mobile testing unit will be to target outreach into populations identified through the Flint Water Crisis as areas where traditional community outreach wasnt effective, according to the release. The mobile testing unit aims to increase the opportunity for education about COVID-19 as well as increase accessibility to testing. Heroes are like teas, you never know how strong they are until they are placed in hot water, Mayor Sheldon Neeley said in the news release. No one could reasonably expect our community mental health providers to be frontline fighters against coronavirus, but here they are. They are heroes. Genesee Health System is one of two additional testing sites expected to open in the next week. Hamilton Community Health Network also plans to open drive-through testing soon, according to the release. Additional details will be released when they are available. Genesee Health System has been serving Genesee County for more than 50 years, said Danis Russell, CEO of the network. "While this type of testing isnt our typical service, we have the necessary expertise on staff and understand just how important testing is in our fight against this deadly disease, Russell said. A partnership between the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Genesee County Health Department, the Genesee County Emergency Operations Center, medical providers and the city of Flint is working to increase testing locally. Hurley Medical Center began offering the areas first drive-thru testing option on April 15. Hurley provides drive-through testing by appointment on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at Atwood Stadium. Those looking to get tested can call 810-262-3685. More on MLive: Michigans coronavirus survivors describe battles to stay alive Unions demand McLaren hospital executives take pay cuts rather than enact layoffs First drive-thru coronavirus testing site opens in Flint Michigan is ramping up coronavirus testing. Thats easier said than done. Grand Blanc native shares words of hope after surviving coronavirus UAW tells local GM unions to get ready to work in the near future Flint pantry distributing food every Wednesday during coronavirus pandemic New testing turns up six cases of COVID-19 at Owosso assisted living home Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 22) The Department of Health is looking to hire more frontline personnel amid concern the coronavirus disease is starting to place a strain on existing workforce due to the daily rise in new infections, President Rodrigo Duterte has said. Duterte said in his fourth report to Congress that the Health Department on April 15 submitted to the Department of Budget and Management the P5.2 billion budget proposal for the hiring of additional 17,757 personnel for COVID-19 response. He said in his report Monday that these frontline workers will be deployed on priority health facilities such as quarantine sites, and COVID-19 referral hospitals such as Philippine General Hospital. As of last week, there are almost 700 COVID-19 treatment facilities across the country - 72 DOH hospitals, 232 government hospitals, 381 private hospitals and eight quarantine sites, Duterte itemized. Bayanihan Act also empowers the President to realign or reallocate savings from the 2019 and 2020 national budget. Initial simulations of experts from University of the Philippines have showed the country may not have enough doctors and nurses to assist critically ill COVID-19 cases. This is based on a scenario where the country has hit its peak, meaning a COVID-positive person can infect two others. The Philippines now has 6,599 infections, with 654 recoveries and 437 deaths. The DOH on April 17 said at least 766 healthcare workers in the country, including doctors and nurses, have contracted COVID-19 -- a three-fold increase from its report a week earlier. The World Health Organization's Western Pacific regional office also said Tuesday that the high percentage of around 13 percent infection among healthcare workers in the country is "worrisome." It is higher than the 2-3 percent average infection among WHO's Western Pacific regional members of 37 countries, including China. Under the almost month-old Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, Duterte should deliver a weekly report to Congress every Monday, where he would detail what the government has done to address the COVID-19 crisis in the past week. Bayanihan Act also empowers the President to realign or reallocate savings from the 2019 and 2020 national budget. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Chairs Cabinet's Virtual Session Saudi Press Agency Tuesday 1441/8/28 - 2020/04/21 Riyadh, April 21, 2020, SPA -- The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud chaired today a Cabinet's virtual session. At the outset of the session, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques thanked and praised Allah Almighty for His blessings bestowed on all Muslims on the advent of the blessed holy month of Ramadan, the month of mercy, forgiveness, and emancipation from Hell, praying to Allah Almighty to help all in fasting, praying, and performing good deeds in this holy month and to eliminate all harms being caused by the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus pandemic from the nation and the world. The Cabinet praised the royal order to support the private sector and individuals and raise the health sector's readiness, including allocating SR 50 billion to expedite the payment of dues of the private sector, providing 30% discount on electricity bills for commercial, industrial and agricultural sectors, and allowing the payment of 50% of their value for industrial and commercial sectors. The royal order also included paying the minimum salaries of individuals working in passenger transport activities and rapid activation of the Cabinet's decision, which requires that companies in which the State owns more than (51%) of their capital, to take into account the general principles and rules for offering business and purchases and give preference to local content and small and medium enterprises. The Cabinet also commended allocating additional funds to the health sector, where the total amount of support reached SR 47 billion to raise its readiness, securing medicines and additional beds, and providing necessary medical supplies, as this comes as an extension of continuous efforts in dealing with effects and repercussions of the novel Coronavirus pandemic and maintaining the stability of the national economy and enhancing confidence in its strength. Acting Minister of Media Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi pointed out in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency that after reviewing all reports and latest developments related to the Coronavirus pandemic at local and international levels and registered cases in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Cabinet was reassured about exerted efforts by relevant authorities to achieve highest levels of safety and early containment and protect the health of citizens and residents in implementation of the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and HRH Crown Prince. The Cabinet was also reassured on following procedures and facilitating the return of citizens abroad and ensuring the safety of their arrival in the Kingdom in accordance with highest standards. The Cabinet expressed appreciation to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and HRH Crown Prince for their support for all sectors, close follow-up and unlimited support to preserve humans, and providing all necessary reasons for welfare. The Cabinet praised the Kingdom's contribution of US $500 million to support global efforts in combatting the novel COVID-19 pandemic, enhancing emergency and preparedness response, developing and deploying new diagnostic tools, therapeutics and vaccines, fulfilling unmet needs for international surveillance and coordination, and ensuring sufficient supplies of protective equipment for health workers. The Cabinet renewed the Kingdom's call on all countries, non-governmental organizations, charitable foundations, and the private sector to take part in global efforts to close the required financing gap in order to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, which is estimated to be over US $8 billion Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi pointed out that the Cabinet discussed the Kingdom's keenness to achieve stability in the oil market, its affirmation with the Russian Federation of a firm commitment to implement agreed targeted cuts over the next two years, their continuing monitoring of oil market situations closely, and being prepared to take further measures jointly with OPEC+ and other producers. The Cabinet reviewed topics on its agenda, including some being co-studied by the Shura Council; and was briefed on the outcomes reached by the Economic and Development Affairs Council, the Political and Security Affairs Council, the General Committee of the Cabinet, and the Cabinet's Bureau of Experts in this regard. The Cabinet decided the following: First : Approval of a framework agreement for cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy between the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the government of the United Arab Emirates. Second : Approval of a guiding form for a cooperation agreement in the field of arrival of pilgrims and Umrah performers between the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and targeted countries benefiting from (Makkah Road Service) and authorizing Minister of Interior - or his deputy - to negotiate with competent authorities in the targeted countries regarding a draft agreement referred to, sign it, and submit the final copy to complete legal procedures. Third: Approval of a headquarters agreement between the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Arab Investment & Export Credit Guarantee Corporation regarding the Corporation's branch office. Fourth: Approval of authorizing the Minister of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance - or his representative - to discuss with the Nigerian side, a draft memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs in the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the field of Islamic affairs, sign it and submit the final signed version to complete the formalities. Fifth: Approval of authorizing the Minister of Media who is also the Acting Chairman of the Board of Trustees of King Fahd National Library - or his representative - to discuss with the Kyrgyz side a draft memorandum of understanding for cooperation between King Fahd National Library and Kyrgyz National Library in the Kyrgyz Republic, sign it and submit the final signed version to complete the formalities. Sixth: Approval of the Articles of Association of the Arab Environment Facility (AEF). Seven: Approval of a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the field of environmental protection and management of water resources between the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources in the Republic of Singapore. Eighth: Approval of a memorandum of understanding between Saudi Arabia Financial Investigation Unit (SAFIU) of the Presidency of State Security in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the National Unit for Processing Financial Information in the Republic of Cote d'ivoire on cooperation in the exchange of investigations related to money laundering, financing of terrorism and relevant crimes. Ninth: Approval of the exception of the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) from the provisions stipulated in paragraph (3) of Article (76), and paragraph (1) of Article (133) of the corporate regulation, by allowing its extraordinary general assembly to include a number of provisions that stipulated in details by the decision, into the SABIC's Articles of Association. Tenth: Article (74) of the Enforcement Law issued by Royal Decree No. (M/53) dated 13/08/1433H shall be amended as stated in the decision. The provisions of Article (75) of the same Law shall be cancelled. Eleventh: A technical committee shall be formed in the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development to provide a suitable mechanism to transfer the internal media sector from the Ministry of Media to the General Commission for Audiovisual Media. Twelfth: Item (2) of the Cabinet Decision No. (106) dated 18/02/1439H shall be amended as follows: "The Ministry of Economy and Planning shall be responsible for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's participation in the World Economic Forum in Davos annually, in coordination with the Saudi Center for International Strategic Partnerships and other relevant entities, taking into account the provisions of the Regulation of Official Delegations' Participation in Meetings issued by Cabinet Decision No. (42) dated 16/01/1438H". Thirteenth: The Cabinet approved a number of promotions and a transfer as follows: - Mohammad bin Sultan bin Mohammad bin Jurais transferred from the Ministry of Sport and appointed to the post of Undersecretary of the Principality (Rank 15) at the Principality of the Northern Borders Region. - Dr. Musalm bin Shabab bin Musnad Al-Mutairi promoted to the post of Advisor for Cases Affairs (Rank 15) at the Agency of Civil Affairs, Ministry of Interior. - Faisal bin Saad bin Nasser Al-Sudairy promoted to the post of Assistant Undersecretary of the Principality for Rights Affairs (Rank 14) at the Principality of Riyadh Region. - Nasser bin Abdulaziz bin Nasser Al Dawood promoted to the post of Director General of the Region Governor's Office (Rank 14) at the Principality of Riyadh Region. --SPA 17:48 LOCAL TIME 14:48 GMT 0014 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address South Africa's wine export ban could lead to "astronomical" damage to its future The five-week lockdown ban on wine exports could cost the South African wine industry one billion Rand (43 million), while the damage to reputation and consistent supply, as well as future market opportunities could be astronomical, according to Wines of South Africa (WOSA). In a government briefing on April 16, exports were brought to a halt for the South African wine industry, which on average exports wine to the value of R175 million (7.5 million) each week. It is also the biggest supplier of Fairtrade-certified wine in the world. In a statement, the Stellenbosch arm of WOSA said: Whilst we have the highest regard for the magnitude of the Covid-19 crisis we are dealing with and fully subscribe to the measures needed to ensure containment, we also need to position that the ban on the export of bulk and packaged wine, raises a significant risk towards the economic sustainability of this industry and, more importantly, the social-economic stability of the rural communities where more than 40,000 workers and their dependants are employed on grape farms and wineries. Through extensive lobbying the wine industry has continuously engaged with various government entities to urgently request that wine for export be classified as an essential food product, which will allow producers to ship finished goods (packaged and bulk wine) during the lockdown period. The industry body said the effect of the ban compounded with the fact that all local sales and distribution of wine is also strictly prohibited could see an industry which has been struggling financially for years, finally brought to its knees. It said: As an industry, our contribution to the GDP for the SA economy exceeds R49 billion annually and creates roughly 290,000 jobs directly and indirectly. As South Africas second biggest agricultural export product, wine earns more than R9 billion worth of foreign revenue each year through exports of roughly 50% of total production, with the other 50% sold locally. South Africa is the only wine producing country to experience such a stringent ban on exports in this time. The statement said: "It is estimated that the five-week ban during the lockdown period could conservatively have a direct export revenue loss of more than R1 billion (FOB value), however the damage to reputation and consistent supply as well as future market opportunities could in fact be astronomical in the longer term with the loss of listings for many South African wines within the retail environment. Despite the industry clearly appreciating and embracing government regulations that have been implemented to flatten the curve of the Covid-19 virus, the South African wine industrys pleas are seemingly falling on deaf ears with the government. The ban placed on wine exports is counter-productive, as it raises a significant risk to the economic, and more importantly, socio-economic stability of South Africa, along with risking the livelihoods of rural communities who will be directly affected due to the financial implications from an industry that could quite likely see devastation. An Export Task team has been assembled, which is made up of industry including WOSA, Vinpro and SALBA, as well as some local exporters and international importers. This combined group have been continuously lobbying with various government entities, such as the Department of Agriculture, the Deptartment of Transport and the Department of Trade and Industyry, to engage and consider the industry's position. They have also engaged with local government (Western Cape) and Wesgro. The President will address the nation tomorrow (April 23) in which he is believed to be set to outline economic measures and may announce some relaxation of the current measures, but there is currently no indication that this will impact rules about exports. Related articles: Jadestone Energy Announces Further Capex Reductions, Australia Infill Wells Deferred SINGAPORE / ACCESSWIRE / April 22, 2020 / Jadestone Energy Inc. (JSE.L) ("Jadestone" or the "Company"), an independent oil and gas production company focused on the Asia Pacific region, notes the collapse of global crude oil benchmarks, with oil demand significantly impacted by the extended COVID-19 pandemic and the potential for prolonged oversupply. Against this backdrop, the Company believes it is prudent to implement stringent capital reductions across its portfolio and is therefore further reducing its 2020 capital expenditure guidance. Jadestone's 2020 capital programme is almost entirely discretionary, and on March 19, 2020 the Company announced that it would defer the Nam Du and U Minh development project. Further, the Company today announces that is has opted to defer its Australia infill drilling campaign into 2021. This delay aims to best align capital spending with a strengthening oil price environment, maximising potential future returns, while preserving the Company's balance sheet and net cash position. Collectively, these measures represent a reduction of 80% of the Company's originally planned 2020 spending, resulting in anticipated total capex of US$30-35 million in 2020, of which approximately US$15.5 million has already been spent in Q1 2020, including completing the Montara seismic campaign. These measures further add to Jadestone's resiliency in the current environment, with a total cash balance of US$109.4 million (excluding restricted cash of US$10.0 million) as at March 31, 2020, or a net cash position of US$72.1 million, and about a third of the Company's production hedged at US$68.45/bbl through to September 30, 2020, and excluding incremental oil price premia. Notwithstanding these changes, production is still expected to grow by circa 25% in 2021 with the addition of the Maari project, offshore New Zealand, which remains accretive to the portfolio and which continues through the transition process. With the delay in the Australian infill wells, the Company is now targeting a 2020 average production range of 12,000-14,000 bbls/d. Story continues The Company also remains committed to returning capital to shareholders and, even in this extreme environment, is on track to deliver its maiden dividend in 2020. Paul Blakeley, President and CEO commented: "Five weeks ago, we announced a 50% reduction in capital spending by delaying the Nam Du and U Minh project in Vietnam, a relatively easy decision in today's unprecedented environment, particularly amidst delays in the Vietnam Government approvals. With the potential for significant longer-term demand destruction for crude oil due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as over-supply following a lack of cohesion around OPEC+ production quotas, we have elected to take the most conservative measures possible by eliminating almost all of our discretionary capital spending for the remainder of the year. "We are fortunate to have this flexibility, and will therefore defer the Stag and Montara infill wells until next year, rather than investing into new wells which will deliver a high volume of production into a low oil price world. Whilst we remain operating cash flow positive, we see no point in eroding value in these investments and prefer to protect our balance sheet throughout this market turmoil, and come out the other side as one of the strongest survivors. "Deferring the two infill wells not only sets us up to remain more resilient during this uncertain time, but also allows us to potentially lock-in lower service costs next year, ahead of what we anticipate will be a recovering oil price environment, and achieve a better return for investors. "By protecting the balance sheet, we not only protect the integrity of the business and shareholders' capital, but we also create additional financial flexibility to pursue opportunities, in addition to Maari, for further accretive, inorganic growth, that this oil price environment will undoubtedly present." - Ends - Enquiries Jadestone Energy Inc. +65 6324 0359 (Singapore) Paul Blakeley, President and CEO +1 403 975 6752 (Canada) Dan Young, CFO +44 7392 940 495 Robin Martin, Investor Relations Manager ir@jadestone-energy.com Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (Nomad, Joint Broker) +44 (0) 20 7710 7600 (UK) Callum Stewart Simon Mensley Ashton Clanfield BMO Capital Markets Limited (Joint Broker) +44 (0) 20 7236 1010 (UK) Thomas Rider Jeremy Low Thomas Hughes Camarco (Public Relations Advisor) +44 (0) 203 757 4980 (UK) Billy Clegg jadestone@camarco.co.uk James Crothers About Jadestone Energy Inc. Jadestone Energy Inc. is an independent oil and gas company focused on the Asia Pacific region. It has a balanced, low risk, full cycle portfolio of development, production and exploration assets in Australia, Vietnam and the Philippines. The Company has a 100% operated working interest in the Stag oilfield and the Montara project, both offshore Australia. Both the Stag and Montara assets include oil producing fields, with further development and exploration potential. The Company has a 100% operated working interest in two gas development blocks in Southwest Vietnam and is partnered with Total in the Philippines where it holds a 25% working interest in the SC56 exploration block. In addition, the Company has executed a sale and purchase agreement to acquire an operated 69% interest in the Maari Project, shallow water offshore New Zealand, and anticipates completing the transaction in H2 2020, upon receipt of customary approvals. Led by an experienced management team with a track record of delivery, who were core to the successful growth of Talisman's business in Asia, the Company is pursuing an acquisition strategy focused on growth and creating value through identifying, acquiring, developing and operating assets in the Asia Pacific region. Jadestone Energy Inc. is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange. The Company is headquartered in Singapore. For further information on Jadestone please visit www.jadestone-energy.com. Cautionary statements Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements and information (collectively "forward-looking statements"), within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation, as well as other applicable international securities laws. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are forward-looking and not historical facts. Some of the forward-looking statements may be identified by statements that express, or involve discussions as to expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, through the use of phrases such as "will likely result", "are expected to", "will continue", "is anticipated", "is targeting", "estimated", "intend", "plan", "guidance", "objective", "projection", "aim", "goals", "target", "schedules", and "outlook"). In particular, forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to statements regarding the Company's intent to defer its Australia infill drilling campaign into 2021, expected reductions to capital spending, 2020 average production, 2021 production growth and the timing and payment of a dividend. Because actual results or outcomes could differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements, investors should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, which contribute to the possibility that the predicted outcomes will not occur. Some of these risks, uncertainties and other factors are similar to those faced by other oil and gas companies and some are unique to Jadestone. The forward-looking information contained in this news release speaks only as of the date hereof. The Company does not assume any obligation to publicly update the information, except as may be required pursuant to applicable laws. Henning Hoeyland of Jadestone Energy Inc., a Subsurface Manager with a Masters degree in Petroleum Engineering who has been involved in the energy industry for more than 19 years, has read and approved the technical disclosure in this regulatory announcement. The information contained within this announcement is considered to be inside information prior to its release, as defined in Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation No. 596/2014, and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of those Regulations. Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain. This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com. SOURCE: Jadestone Energy Inc. View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/586315/Jadestone-Energy-Inc--Australia-Infill-Wells-Deferred Bakery Paul UK has reopened more of its shops in London and, for the first time ever, is selling its own branded fresh yeast and flour. This week, stores in Holland Park, South Kensington and Hammersmith reopened, following Canary Wharf, Hampstead, Marble Arch and Wimbledon, which reopened earlier this month. Sites in Chelsea, Earls Court and Islington are also scheduled to open on 27 April. NHS workers, care workers, the elderly and disabled customers will be prioritised, according to the company, which said safety was of paramount importance and social distancing would be maintained. Staff at the shops will wear PPE at all times with handwashing and surface sanitising stepped up to take place every 10 minutes. In addition, all seating has been removed, transactions are cashless, and the use of reusable cups has been paused. We took the careful decision to responsibly open some of our stores to extend our delivery miles and give access to those who cant get to the supermarkets easily. Weve put new processes in place and stepped up our already stringent hygiene measures. Our team members have returned on an opt-in volunteer basis nobody feeling uncomfortable needs to come back and the free coffees for NHS workers is a small token of our huge appreciation, said Mark Hilton, CEO of Paul UK. The shops are open daily from 8am until 2pm for take-away, serving freshly baked loaves, baguettes, pastries, Viennoiserie and hot drinks. Baked goods are available for delivery via Deliveroo and Uber Eats. Paul Strong White Bread Flour is also being sold in 1kg bags for 2.00 and Paul Fresh Yeast is available at 50p for 50g. The move comes amid a shortage of retail-sized bags of flour, which has resulted in some shoppers being unable to buy in the supermarkets. The National Association of British and Irish Millers (Nabim) has created an online map showing the public where they can get hold of flour. Raipur, April 22 : The Chhattisgarh government has decided to extend the closure of hotels, restaurants and liquor shops till April 28 to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Earlier, these services were set to restart on April 21. An official said that the closure of all liquor shops including countrymade and foreign liquor, and warehouses of the Chhattisgarh State Beverages Corporation located in Raipur and Bilaspur will be closed till April 28. Also, liquor shops in all districts will remain shut till the above date. Besides, all restaurants-hotel bars and clubs in the state have been ordered to remain closed till April 28. Earlier, orders for closure were issued till April 21. This order has been issued by the Commercial Tax (Excise) Department. The state government has instructed all District Collectors to strictly follow the orders. What do you do when you have no major accomplishment to celebrate, you beat your chests on the achievement of other individuals. There are so many individual celebrations in Nigeria, you would think poverty has been conquered. The further down we dig into abject poverty, the more people you see thanking God for success as millionaires and billionaires. The cognitive dissonance is so obvious, a blind man can feel it. Social Media has created many celebrities including, real and fake attention seekers harping to increase their profiles in order to sell themselves. This is not particular to Nigeria alone but for a country that had very high prospects only to stumble from the verge of becoming the Regional Power after Independence: it is pathetic. We no longer celebrate big accomplishments since there are none. They have been dwarfed by personal individual aggrandizement and obsession, worshiping hard currencies we do not print. There are many projects to fund in our colleges that lack private and business sponsorships. They are all competing for the same Government grants and patronages while businessmen and Government ministers that should be encouraging and patronizing them go shopping abroad. From mask production in Aba as primary prevention to portable ventilators in Ilaro and Abuja at the terminal stage with about 70% success. Oh no, fake philanthropists would rather donate money into the hands of crony looters for recirculation back into their pockets. Celebrations that we used to keep within the family have been turned into national and international projects. Nigerians beat their chests celebrating others' accomplishments because they come from our Country or villages while we are satisfied with no personal individual achievements of our own. Nigerians claim they are the most "book" educated while ignoring the cooperative achievements of Asians everywhere including those inside their own Country. Look at each country in Africa, we can name individual achievements for Independence, not for personal gain or aggrandizement but to lift up the masses in education, industrial estates to provide jobs and mass housing. These individuals activists across Africa were assassinated for their efforts in Congo like Lumumba, impoverished in Tanzania like Nyerere or Mugabe's Zimbabwe, overthrown in Ghana like Nkrumah and indoctrination in Nigeria with oil income that has lost not only lts world lustre but gone into negative value. An ominous warning to all countries that depend solely on oil income has not and will never save you. Individual accomplishments have never lifted people up only when we all rise up en mass. Nigeria is a good example of that self-centered behavior leading us one way into notoriety. All the advancement and contributions made as a people had been wiped out by individual greed. Two steps forward, three or more steps backwards. There is nothing wrong with individual incentive to accumulate wealth and respect within our communities but rewards and wealth are not limited to money alone. Deeds that create reputation live and remain with us dead or alive. The Nigeria/Biafra War created an indelible Psychological disorientation from which the Country is still struggling to recover since the early 1970s. There is so much acrimony in the Country right now, only dreamers believe we can survive intact without some distance. One of the reasons for creating states and more states is that each would be able to control its internal political and economic affairs. Instead, it has created more hostile ethnicities never anticipated as "my people are killing my people". There are more politicians gulping, looting and mismanaging each area than ever with little money left for infrastructure. The national pie has dwindled since the major source of income is oil from the Niger Delta. Instead of developing and diversifying that source of income, the area has been polluted and turned into an environmental disaster for the poor farmers and fishermen destroying their livelihood. Each sector or interest agitate for more salaries out of the dwindling pie as the powerful grabbed more. Oil wealth or natural resources without turning them into final products were wasted. The income from natural resources is not to line individual pockets or a replacement for internal generated revenue to trade, provide needs and infrastructure. If anything natural resources enhance our tax base to increase international generated revenue. Nigerians would claim they pay a great deal of taxes but in fact, they pay very little and less than most African countries since we turn oil into free manna from heaven. Therefore, the same oil income that built cities and countries all over the world has denied Africa its Regional Power. It also gave Nigerians false sense of security where prodigal children cornered money printed outside the Country in Europe, America and Asia. So there were few reasons to grow food and manufacture products when these could be easily imported from overseas with the same income they dictated to us. Unfortunately, this is the same Country that excelled on cocoa, groundnut, coal and palm oil income. The progress made in one of the Regions alone raised the expectation of a Regional Power where Black people all over the world were proud to point to. It was an Era when big accomplishments were celebrated and Africans welcomed. But when Nigeria had no big accomplishment anymore, they started worshiping tiny little individual achievements, not only at home but as foreign refugees. Children started pointing left fingers to their homes echoing denigration by tormentors in words only used during the time of slavery with pseudoscience and religions as justification. How can anyone blame others for calling them names they themselves internalize. Foreign visas are dangled to attract the best and highly talented that claim they were appreciated and in hot demand only to be turned into surplus available workers when their temporary visas expire. Foreign money they lack control over, do not know the dominating reason they are printed became gods to worship, demolishing the value of local currencies. Indeed, Nigeria basked so much in foreign income at one point, they wanted salaries paid in US dollars. Even one Head of State claimed his problem was not money but now to spend it. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee meets Vice Presidents handshake with an elbow bump during a March news conference at Camp Murray, Wash. (C-Span Video) In a strongly worded letter, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee told Vice President Mike Pence today that the state has nowhere near the coronavirus testing capability needed to begin initiating pandemic recovery plans. Inslee requested federal assistance to boost that capability through a robust national testing system. The governor said state officials have been trying to procure the supplies for 2.5 million sample collection kits including swabs, viral transport media and reagents. We are nowhere near that today, he wrote. Charissa Fotinos, deputy chief medical officer at the Washington State Health Care Authority, told journalists during a follow-up teleconference that we should have, by early next week, 30,000 kits that can be deployed across the state. Read the letter: Gov. Jay Inslee asks VP Mike Pence for federal assistance on coronavirus testing With the supplies at hand, Fotinos said the states labs have been able to run up to 5,000 tests per day. But Kathy Lofy, state health officer and chief science officer at the Washington State Department of Health, said that number should be two to three times higher. At least thats where Id like to be, Lofy said. During a White House briefing on Monday, Pence said every state had enough testing capability to move into the first phase of a plan for lifting restrictions on social and economic activity, and he said state governors were provided with lists of in-state laboratories that could do the testing. But without enough supplies, the labs cant address the need, Inslee said. Just as a driver cannot travel their full distance on a quarter-tank of gas, we cannot unlock the full capacity of our labs without additional testing supplies and infrastructure from the federal government, he wrote. Inslee laid out a nine-point plan to fill the gap, including: Emergency funding to support a nationwide testing system, support small laboratories and create at-home testing programs. Measures to ensure adequate supplies of swabs and other materials, through the use of the Defense Production Act where necessary. A system to ensure that the supply chain of high-throughput testing platforms and reagents is running at full capacity. Standardization of lab analysis processes, including a standard price list for tests and a universal requisition form. Systems to support secure closed-loop information exchange between patients, their providers, labs and public health agencies. A backstop capacity to ensure fair access to testing for vulnerable communities that experience barriers to testing. Validation, authorization and guidance for the expansion of safe and accurate self-swab home testing and other rapid-result tests. Consideration of additional surveillance testing nationally to probe for regional hotspots. Validation and assessment of serological tests, which determine who has developed antibodies to the virus. Story continues I want to thank you for the opportunity to discuss these and other matters, but I thought it important to communicate the dire need we are facing in the state of Washington, Inslee told Pence in the letter. During todays teleconference, Lofy said the coronavirus outbreak peaked statewide toward the end of March, based on day-by-day case statistics. However, she cautioned that some areas of the state arent yet seeing a clear decline. Lofy said an argument could be made that the state has experienced a 14-day decline in new daily cases, which the White House considers a gating requirement for starting to loosen shelter-at-home orders. But that loosening is predicated on having adequate resources for widespread virus testing, contact tracing and isolation of people infected with the virus. Coronavirus Live Updates: The latest COVID-19 developments in Seattle and the world of tech If people start coming in close contact with each other, its going to start spreading again, and spreading again rapidly, Lofy said. We are seeing lots of outbreaks right now. We initially talked a lot about the outbreaks we were seeing in long-term care facilities. Now we are learning about more outbreaks, actually, in business settings among essential workers that are working. On the contact tracing front, Lofy said about 600 trained people could be enlisted at the states public health agencies and districts to interview patients and track down the people they might have infected in turn. Another 800 volunteers should be ready to join the effort soon. We do hope to scale up even further than that number, she said. Inslees chief of staff, David Postman, was asked about the cost of training and employing all those contact tracers, potentially for a year or more. We really cant let that be a concern, Postman replied. We will find the money. And if we dont have it in the state, we will go to the feds and ask for more help there. It is absolutely essential to get out of this, and I think its recognized by the federal government as well, so I dont think therell be a fight over that. Our orders from the Gov were, Go big, be aggressive, and find people where you can get em. More from GeekWire: Spanish Health Ministry is now seeking a refund for entire order of 640,000 kits Comes after they sent back 58,000 kits due to inaccuracy concerns last month Spain forced to return second batch of 'faulty' coronavirus testing kits to China Spain has returned coronavirus testing kits ordered from China for the second time, after claiming that the second batch is also faulty. They had been sent by Chinese company Shenzhen Bioeasy to replace the first batch of 58,000 kits, which the Spanish government had deemed too inaccurate to be used to diagnose patients. Spain's Health Ministry confirmed on Wednesday that they are now seeking a refund from Bioeasy for the entire order of 640,000 testing kits. Spain's Health Ministry confirmed on Wednesday that they are now seeking a refund from Bioeasy for the new tests (File image) The tests were found to be problematic as they were not sensitive enough, meaning there was a chance they would not detect Covid-19 in a person who already had the infection, the El Pais newspaper reported. According to the publication, Bioeasy sent a sample of the new kits which were analysed at the Carlos III Health Institute in Madrid and found to be faulty, prompting Spain to cancel the entire order. It is not clear how much the order cost. From the total of 640,000 testing kits sent by Bioeasy, the Spanish Health Ministry was forced to return 58,000 of them at the end of March. From the total of 640,000 testing kits sent by Bioeasy, the Spanish Health Ministry was forced to return 58,000 of them at the end of March (File image of coronavirus testing kit) Spanish Health Minister Salvador Illa (pictured) announced late last month that the country had bought $467 million in medical supplies from China, including 950 ventilators, 5.5 million testing kits, 11 million gloves and more than half a billion protective face masks Spain's Ministry of Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Welfare said in a statement that test kits supplied by Bioeasy were defective and had failed to correctly diagnose people when tested at hospitals. Spanish Health Minister Salvador Illa announced late last month that the country had bought $467 million in medical supplies from China, including 950 ventilators, 5.5 million testing kits, 11 million gloves and more than half a billion protective face masks. Shenzhen Bioeasy said in a statement that the initial incorrect results may be a result of a failure to collect samples or use the kits correctly. The firm said it had not adequately communicated with clients how to use the kits. Spain's prime minister said today that confinement rules for the coronavirus outbreak will be relaxed gradually but according to scientific targets and not calendar dates. Spain's prime minister said today that confinement rules for the coronavirus outbreak will be relaxed gradually but according to scientific targets and not calendar dates Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told parliament the government has been working on the plan for the past three weeks. Sanchez foresees restrictions lifted at different speeds in different places, such as urban or rural areas, because the pandemic is 'asymmetrical.' Epidemiologists will help determine the pace, based on how the pandemic ebbs. Sanchez says the criteria include the capacity of the public health system in the area and the local number of infections and deaths. Spain has recorded more than 208,000 infection cases and 21,700 deaths. The coronavirus has infected 2,594,724 people globally and has caused the deaths of an estimated 179,778 people as of Wednesday. The Willis-Moore family has both delighted and confused fans after it was revealed that exes Demi Moore and Bruce Willis were self-isolating together in Idaho, alongside their three children. After their daughter Tallulah posted a picture of their 'quaranteam' - all dressed in matching striped pyjamas - there were a few notable absences: Willis wife Emma Heming Willis and his daughters. Willis and Moores daughter Scout recently explained on a podcast how the really funny situation had come to pass. Speaking on the podcast Dopey, she explained that Heming Willis was actually meant to join them but her younger stepsister derailed the plan. Scout said, My stepmom was supposed to come up here with my little sisters but my younger sister, who is now about to be [6] years old, at a park, had never gotten the talk about not f***ing with hypothermic needles that she found so she actually tried to poke her shoe with it and poked her foot. LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 07: Bruce Willis with wife Emma Heming attends the UK Premiere of 'A Good Day To Die Hard' at Empire Leicester Square on February 7, 2013 in London, England. / Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images So my stepmom had to be in LA waiting to get the results from taking her to the doctor so my dad came up here and then travel got crazy so my stepmom stayed in LA with my little sisters, Scout continued. Though Heming Willis may not be with them, she appears to be following along on social media as she has left a number of comments on the Willis familys Instagram updates. Heming Willis, who is with her and Willis two daughters, wrote on one post love and miss you and commented on the group pyjama shot, Not many can pull that colour off! Lookin good squad. Scout said that self-isolating with her divorced parents had actually been really cool and she, her mother and sisters have all been sharing glimpses into their unconventional quarantine. Other than the matching striped pyjamas, Willis also helped shave Scouts head, and the family has been going through old photos and painting together. Scout also revealed the house they are self-isolating in is the home that she and her two sisters, Tallulah and Rumer, grew up in. Bruce Willis and Demi Moore in the 90s / Getty Images Its been really funny to have both of my parents in the house where they raised us, which has been really cute. Theyre both such nerdy, adorable, 90s parents in a small town where they chose to have their kids and not be in LA. Its been pretty cute, she said. Willis and Moore were married for 13 years and had three daughters - Rumer, Tallulah and Scout - before eventually divorcing in 2000. Following the marriage, Willis married Heming Willis in 2009, who he has two daughters with, while Moore went on to marry then divorce Ashton Kutcher. On March 31, Jim Swanson had been EVP and Group CIO at Johnson & Johnson for six months. In any other year, he would be executing on a transformational business technology strategy designed for efficiency, innovation, and growth. This year, however, Swanson faced a challenge that eclipsed all of that: Manage a global pandemic that impacted every one of the $82 billion companys 132,000 employees, most of its 60 countries, and each of its major divisions, from consumer packaged goods, to medical devices, to pharmaceuticals. For Swanson, the pivot from transformational leadership to crisis management occurred earlier than it has for most. For us, the crisis started at least three months ago when it first hit China, says Swanson. China is a very important market for us, so we were concerned about two things: the safety of our employees living there, and continuing the flow of life-saving medicines into and out of the country. The J&J executive team formed a crisis management team led by Joaquin Duato, vice chairman of the executive committee, that pulled in leadership from China, supply chain, global services, commercial leadership, and IT. The questions the team faced were daunting: How do we keep our employees safe? How do we safeguard our facilities and keep them operating so we can serve our patients and consumers? And, as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis spreads across the globe, how do we get raw materials in and out of those markets? Leading IT through a pandemic To tackle ITs involvement in the crisis mitigation efforts, Swanson formed an IT crisis management group that included first- and second-level IT leadership from major functions and business areas. The group met daily to address a tough list of questions of their own: How do we ensure connectivity and remote access for the majority of our workforce who will now suddenly be working at home? Are our business continuity plans sufficient to address the current situation? How do we ensure a high level of communication with our global IT groups? How do we handle an increasing array of cyber security threats? Swanson and this team conducted scenario planning, beginning with the China market, and developed an emergency IT operations strategy. In anticipation of the rapid spread of the virus, we very quickly bought excess capacity in our cloud environment so we would have the compute we needed, he says. We bought extra laptops in the event that more people would have to work from home and assessed our network resiliency, our help desk readiness, and critical systems support. For the first six weeks, we just focused on China, and then applied what we learned there to new global markets as the virus spread. By pulling together a small senior team, and then integrating our region and country IT leaders as the virus spread, Swanson ensured that the team can learn as it goes, and that the rest of his 5,000-person IT organization can focus on operations. We have one core group that activates each team, whether help desk, business continuity planning, or collaboration services, he says. That approach is really working for us. Swanson uses a red, yellow, green model to keep his teams focused on their most important work and to update the business crisis management team. We might let business continuity planning [BCP] stay yellow, because network connectivity is more important at the moment, he says. But once network connectivity is green, we turn our attention back to BCP. The IT teams crisis management model was put to the test in late March, when India locked down the country on March 21. Despite the lockdown, we were able to keep all of our India-based employees connected and our distribution centers and supply chain systems running, says Swanson. We were able to dynamically switch from on-prem to remote work without any risk or disruption. Leveraging existing capabilities Swanson finds that J&Js analytics capabilities are playing a critical role during the crisis. As countries are holding onto raw materials that we need for our products, we are using product flow visualization and risk analysis tools to get those supplies to our manufacturing plants through alternative paths, he says. J&J teams are also using simulation tools to increase manufacturing capacity without introducing risk, smart glass technology so that quality experts can work remotely, global collaboration tools that give relevant real-time data to researchers working on a vaccine, and digital interactions with health care professionals around the world. In addition to leveraging data capabilities, the team is making good use of the cloud and collaboration strategies they had started before Swanson joined the company. We already had a nucleus of cloud and collaboration technologies when the virus first hit, says Swanson, but the demand is now so high that we are accelerating both of those programs. Lesson learned so far It is hard to have hindsight from the middle of a crisis, but Swanson can identify several lessons that he has already learned from navigating this pandemic: Review disaster recovery policies regularly. How robust are your workforce technology policies when the majority of your workforce and those of your vendors and suppliers must suddenly work remotely? Do you have that extra layer of monitoring and hyper care around critical systems and processes at manufacturing plants, in the event that on-site resources may be limited? While Swanson and his team were able to work with business partners across the company to make decisions when they needed to, we learned how important it is to be current, but also agile, with our policies, he says. Think like an employee. Swanson has been impressed by how J&Js employees have risen to the challenges presented by the crisis. It is absolutely critical that you get your head in the mind of your employees, he says. If Im an hourly worker, will I still get paid? If Im a single parent, can I take two weeks off? If my role requires me to be on site, will I be safe? If you understand your employees concerns, you can find solutions and communicate effectively, and empower and activate them around our purpose of serving those in need around the world. They will amaze you every day. Show humility and gratitude. At J&Js all-hands meetings, CEO Alex Gorsky gives public praise for the work being done at all levels of the company. In addition to acknowledging the work of his own organization, Swanson wrote a personal note of thanks to the CEOs of each of J&Js technology partners. You can never show enough gratitude to your employees and partners in times like these, he says. The silver lining When Swanson came to J&J six months ago, he faced what many CIOs of large global companies face: an organization that had evolved, over time, to working in silos. This pandemic has underscored the need for IT to work as one team, he says. We now see clearly that no one group is big enough, smart enough, or has all of the resources to be on their own. This pandemic is showing how powerful we can be when we work together on a single mission. In addition to bringing the team together, one of Swansons goals upon joining J&J was to raise the digital acumen of the company. Well, guess what? he says. Almost overnight, the whole company is ten times more digital than they were. They are relying much more heavily on remote systems, data, and collaboration tools. There is no going back now. Increased digital literacy will very likely extend far beyond the corporate walls of J&J. A few weeks ago, Swanson said to J&Js CEO, Technology was critical to us before this crisis, but it has taken a quantum leap in criticality for the future. Once this pandemic is over and it will end we will see much greater use of technology in healthcare than weve ever seen before. When global crises hit, we all have to rise to a new level of work and leadership, and it is difficult to think beyond the day, the hour, or even the minute. But as Jim Swanson says, this pandemic will end, and when it does, we will all find ourselves with better technology, closer teams, and a clearer understanding of what it means to be a leader. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has gone into isolation after he met a person last week, who was diagnosed with COVID-19. Faisal Sultan, Prime Ministers personal physician and CEO of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital said they will follow all the protocols and recommendations and he has also been tested and the results are expected today. Faisal Edhi, son of philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi and chairman of Eidhi Foundation, starting showing coronavirus symptoms last week just after meeting Imran Khan in Islamabad on April 15. The symptoms lasted for four days and immediately after getting tested for coronavirus, his results were positive, Reports reveal that Faisal met Imran to hand him over Rs 10 million cheque for the coronavirus relief fund. Further, there is no clarity on how Imran Khan will be running the government if he is asked to go under quarantine after his results. Considering the number of cases in Pakistan, 533 fresh cases have been reported in Pakistan in the last 24 hours with the confirmed cases over 9000. Further, the death toll of Pakistan is at 209. Also Read: US President Donald Trump says immigration suspension to last 60 days, wishes North Korea leader Kim Jong Un well after reports of serious illness Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has gone into isolation over Corona as he met a philanthropist last week who has tested positive for the virus. Imran Khan to be tested. @ThePrintIndia Snehesh Alex Philip (@sneheshphilip) April 22, 2020 As per reports, 2,156 people have recovered in Pakistan and 17 deaths have been recorded in the last few hours. Currently, 7,384 patients are undergoing through COVID-19 treatment in various hospitals and quarantine facilities across the country. State-wise status records Punjab with 4,328 cases along with 3,053 in Sindh, 1345 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan reports 495, Gilgit-Baltistan with 283 and 194 in Islamabad. For all the latest World News, download NewsX App D ominic Raab says a total of 69 NHS workers have died during the coronavirus pandemic amid claims the true toll is much higher. The Foreign Secretary also said 15 social care workers have died after contracting coronavirus, putting the total death toll of frontline workers at 84. It came just hours after Care Minister Helen Whately told BBC Breakfast that 61 NHS staff and 15 care workers had died after testing positive for Covid-19. The Government has been criticised throughout the pandemic for allegedly underestimating the death toll, with reports that the figure could be as high as 100. Ms Whately told BBC Breakfast: "We know that 61 NHS workers have died and for care workers I have a figure of 15, but we are working to get more comprehensive data on that because it is important for us to know the number of people in health and care who are dying of this. "We have got to do everything we can to protect their lives." Care Minister Helen Whately: 61 NHS workers have died from Covid-19 As of 9am this morning, NursingNotes claimed the death toll among health and social care workers was at 111. The organisation tweeted: "At least 111 health and social care workers are now believed to have died of Covid-19. "Our team works tirelessly to ensure their names are never forgotten." Those figures have not been verified. Last week the Health Secretary Matt Hancock promised to try and provide daily updates on the death toll rather than sharing updates three times a week. Mr Hancock had faced criticism for previously stating the death toll for NHS workers was just 19. Among those who have died are Michael Allieu, a staff nurse at Homerton University Hospital and a 68-year-old Marie Curie nurse from South London. Tributes were paid to Barbara Sage from Bromley as friends and family grieved the "tragic loss of a members of the Marie Curie family". Barbara Sage is among the NHS workers who have died after testing positive for coronavirus / PA Grant Maganga died on April 20 at Tameside Hospital after 11 years of nursing, most recently at Hurst Place in Ashton-under-Lyne, Manchester, a rehabilitation unit for men with severe mental illness and complex needs. Grant was an exceptional nurse who cared deeply for his patients and lit up the room with his infectious smile and positive personality, said Clare Parker, director of nursing at Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Mr Magangas unit. Healthcare nurse Kirsty Jones is also among those who had died after testing positive for Covid-19. The mother-of-two died on Monday after working for 24 years with NHS Lanarkshire, where she was described as a selfless and bright employee. In an earlier interview with Sky News, Care Minister Ms Whately acknowledged that some NHS workers have received letters asking them to be retested for Covid-19 following concerns previous tests were faulty. She said that early tests were evaluated and found to be "not effective enough". The revelation means that some NHS workers could have returned to work while still being infected with the virus. The Department of Health said 17,337 patients have died in hospital after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 5pm on Monday, up by 828 from 16,509 the day before. Coronavirus Lockdown Latest News: The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases now stand at 20,471 as of date, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. These include, 15,474 active cases, 3,959 cured/discharged, 1 migrated and 652 deaths. India recorded 1,486 fresh COVID-19 cases and 49 deaths it the last 24 hours, taking the country's tally beyond 20,000-mark. Maharashtra is worst-hit state with 5,649 coronavirus cases, the highest in India so far, while the state's death toll is at 257. The state recorded 431 fresh COVID-19 cases and 18 deaths on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Gujarat has pipped Delhi to emerge as the second worst-affected state with 2,178 confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to the Health Ministry. The death toll in the state stands at 90. Delhi has slipped on third spot with 2,156 virus cases, according to the Health Ministry. The national capital has registered 75 fresh COVID-19 deaths in 24 hours, including 6 policemen from Jahangirpuri police station were tested positive for the virus. Meanwhile, no new deaths have been reported in the national capital in the past 24 hours. Against the backdrop of attacks on healthcare personnel fighting coronavirus, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved an ordinance making acts of violence against them as cognisable and non-bailable offences, Union minister Prakash Javadekar said. The proposed ordinance will amend the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897. Also Read: Gujarat coronavirus hotspots: Check complete list of containment zones as cases reach 2,178 Also Read:Coronavirus in India: COVID-19 cases cross 18,000; check state-wise tally, deaths, list of testing facilities Follow BusinessToday.in for live updates on coronavirus in India and world: 11.27 pm: Imran Khan tests negative for COVID-19 Pakitan Prime Miniter Imran Khan was tested for novel coronavirus today and his test results came negative. "Prime Minister Imran Khan was tested today for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus strain that causes coronavirus disease 2019 [COVID-19]. The test used was a polymerase chain reaction (PCR). I am happy to report that his test is NEGATIVE," informes State Minister for Health Zafar Mirza in a tweet. 11.00 pm: WATCH: A COVID-19 positive patient alleges that Delhi's LNJP Hospital is admitting him for immediate treatment Prime Minister Imran Khan was tested today for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus strain that causes coronavirus disease 2019 [COVID-19]. The test used was a polymerase chain reaction (PCR). I am happy to report that his test is NEGATIVE. <289> a Zafar Mirza (@zfrmrza) April 22, 2020 10.37 pm: Coronavirus cases in Maharashtra: Doubling rates comes down to 7 days The doubling rate for coronavirus infection in Maharashtra has come down to 7.01 days, informed State Health Minister Rajesh Tope. This means that present figures will double after 7 days, but we will not allow that to happen, Tope said. 9.22 pm: Corona cases in Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh reported 112 new coronavirus cases, taking the total tally to 1,449. Pratapgarh district in UP has become COVID-19 free, the State Health Department stated. 9.10 pm: Number of corona cases in Delhi Delhi reported 92 new coronavirus cases and 1 death today, taking the total tally of cases to 2,248 and death toll to 48 8.56 pm: Coronavirus crisis: PM Modi talks to Irish PM In a telephonic conversation with Ireland Prime Minister Dr Leo Varadkar, PM Narendra Modi discussed the state of coronavirus pandemic and the steps being taken by India and Ireland to mitigate the health and economic impact of the crisis. Modi thanked Varadkar for care and support extended to Indian citizens in Ireland, and promised to do the same for Irish citizens in India. 8.53 pm: Coronavirus in India: PM Modi to talk to Gram Panchayats on Panchayati Raj Day PM Narendra Modi will address Gram Panchayats across the country April 24 on the occasion of National Panchayati Raj Day via video link. He will also launch the unified e-GramSwaraj Portal and Mobile App on the occasion. The Prime Minister will also roll out the Swamitva Scheme. 8.44 pm: Number of hotspots in Delhi Delhi government has added Lado Sarai area to the list of containment zones, taking the number of COVID-19 hotspots in the national capital to 89. #WATCH A COVID19 positive patient alleges that Delhi's LNJP hospital is not admitting him for immediate treatment. He also says that he and 3 other patients walked to the hospital today while there are 7 more COVID19 patients at his home. pic.twitter.com/mun0IvsIex a ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 8.35 Coronavirus in Ranchi One more coronavirus case has been detected in Ranhci's Hindpiri area, which has been designated a hotspot. This takes the total number of cases in Jharkhand to 46. 8.33 pm: Total corona cases in Patiala Patiala registered 18 new COVID-19 cases today, all related to a single case in Rajpura area. Special Chief Secretary KBS Singh stated that the area has been secured. 8.29 pm: Coronavirus in Haryana No liquor shops will open in Haryana tll May 3, Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala told ANI. Smugglers will be face strict action. 8.22 pm: COVID-19 pandemic: Health Ministry directs states to help ASHA workers Health Ministry has written to all states, directing them to provide financial incentives to ASHA workers for undertaking COVID-19 management activities. The Ministry has also asked states to ensure that adequate protective gears are provided to ASHA workers. Pratapgarh district has become #COVID19 free. Pool testing has been started at RIMS in Saifai. 3500 RT-PCR tests are being conducted daily in Uttar Pradesh: State Health Department https://t.co/5trMA0LSbu a ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) April 22, 2020 7.53 pm: No new corona cases in Uttarakhand List of COVID19 'containment zones' in #Delhi rise to 89 after two areas in the Lado Sarai area added to the list. pic.twitter.com/mtOpwpMzZj a ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 7.45 pm: Coronavirus in Delhi: 71 cops quarantined 71 Delhi Police officials have been directed to be in quarantine, reported news agency ANI. They came in contact with a head constable posted at Delhi Police Special Cell who has tested positive for COVID-19. 7.35 pm: Maharashtra corona cases till now Total number of coronavirus cases in Maharashtra has reached 5,649, as 431 new cases were registered in the state today. Maharashtra saw 18 deaths today, taking the death toll to 269. Of the new deaths, 10 were reported in Mumbai. 7.34 pm: Punjab coronavirus cases Total number of coronavirus cases in Punjab increased to 257, after six more people tested positive in Jalandhar and Kapurthala, informed the State Health Department. So far, 53 patients have been cured in the state, whereas 16 have lost their lives to the virus. 7.28 pm: Bill Gates commends PM Modi for fight against COVID-19 Bill Gates has written to PM Narendra Modi, commending on the efforts being made in India to flatten the COVID-19 infection curve. He also appreciated the use of technology in measures like Arogya Setu app in the fight against coronavirus. 7.18 pm: Pune coroanvirus cases Pune reported 2 COVID-19 deaths today, taking the total death toll in the district to 57, informed health officials. 7.15 pm: Bihar coronaviruscases Bihar reported 5 more COVID-19 positive cases today, informed State Principal Secretary-Health. This has taken the total number of positive cases in the state to 141. 7.11 pm: Dharavi coronavirus cases Total number of coronavirus positive cases in Mumbai's Dharavi has increased to 189, with 12 deaths, BMC reported. Nine new cases were reported today. 6.42 pm: Tamil Nadu Coronavirus cases Tamil Nadu has reported 33 new coronavirus cases today, taking the tally in the state to 1,629, informed the State Health Department. 27 patients today, and 662 patients in total have recovered in the state so far, whereas 18 others have lost their lives. 6.37 pm: Coronavirus pandemic: Air India, SpiceJet, Blue Dart to airlift 220 tonnes medical cargo Air India, along with SpiceJet and Blue Dart will airlift 220 tonnes of essential medical cargo in the next three days, informed Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri. The national carrier has already lifted about 300 tonnes of essential medical cargo so far this month through China-India aerobridge, he said. 6.30 pm: Coronavirus in India "The Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 manifests our commitment to protect each and every healthcare worker who is bravely battling COVID-19 on the frontline," tweeted PM Narendra Modi. "It will ensure safety of our professionals. There can be no compromise on their safety!" 6.26 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi to interact with chief ministers via video conferencing on April 27. 6.19 pm: Coronavirus outbreak: MP Bhagwant Mann seeks PM intervention for bringing stranded Indians home Sangrur MP Bhagwat Mann has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, appealing him to bring back Indians who are stranded in foreign countries amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Health Ministry has directed all States to provide financial incentives to ASHA workers for undertaking COVID19 related activities. The Ministry has also asked States to ensure that ASHA workers are supplied with adequate protective gear. pic.twitter.com/PWK1gFAggn a ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 6.12 pm: Coronavirus in India: Cases in India reach 20,471; death toll rises to 652 According to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of coronavirus cases in India has reached 20,471, inluding 15,859 active cases, 652 dead, 3,959 cured patients and 1 migrated patient. 5.51 pm: Wadhawan brothers out of quarantine DHFL promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan have been released from quarantine at their home in Mahabaleshwar after 14 days. Maharashtra government has reportedly informed CBI and ED that the Wadhawan crothers will be released from quarantine on April 22 and promised to provide assistance if the agencies decide to take any action against the DHFL promoters. 5.39 pm: Haryana coronavirus cases There have been 260 coronavirus cases in Haryana, out of which 153 people have recovered, informed CM Manohar Lal Khattar. Three districts have shown no cases of infection, he added. 5.24 pm: Karnataka coronavirus cases Karnataka reported 9 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours till 5PM today, taking the total tally of cases to 427. Of the new cases, 5 were came from Kalaburagi, and 2 each from Bengalruru and Mysore. The state has reported 17 COVID-19 deaths and 131 cured patients. 5:17 pm: 1 COVID-19 case reported from Odisha's Jajpur One new COVID-19 positive case reported from Jajpur; the total number of positive cases is now 83 (including 50 active cases, 32 recovered, and 1 death): Information and Public Relations Dept, Odisha. 5:15 pm: 'Flying Sikh' Milkha Singh's daughter treating COVID-19 patients in New York "My daughter Mona Milkha Singh is a doctor in New York. We are very proud of her. She speaks to us daily and asks us to take care ourselves. We are concerned about her but she has to perform her duty," says former Olympian Milkha Singh. My daughter Mona Milkha Singh is a doctor in New York. We are very proud of her. She speaks to us daily&asks us to take care ourselves. We are concerned about her but she has to perform her duty: Former Olympian Milkha Singh on daughter treating COVID-19 patients at a US hospital pic.twitter.com/KLDKef0MYe - ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 5:10 pm: 3 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Nepal As many as 3 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Nepal, taking total number of positive cases to 45. They were kept in Army's Quarantine in Tandi, says Health Ministry. 5:05 pm: Ensure security to healthcare professionals: MHA to States The home ministry has asked states to ensure adequate security to healthcare professionals, medical staff and frontline workers to prevent violence against them. Strict action to be taken against those who obstruct the performance of last rites of coronawarriors succumbing to COVID-19, it said. State Govts/ UTs requested to appoint Nodal Officers at State/UT level&at Dist level, who would be available 24*7 to redress any safety issue on the functioning of medical professionals.They should also take immediate&strict action in case any incident of violence takes place:MHA https://t.co/Ii3SxsTrfU - ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 5:00 pm: Nepal thanks Indian govt for providing 23 tonnes of essential medicines Prime Minister of Nepal KP Sharma Oli has thanked PM Narendra Modi for India's generous support of 23 tonnes of essential medicines to Nepal, to fight COVID-19 Pandemic. I thank Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji for India's generous support of 23 tonnes of essential medicines to Nepal, to fight COVID-19 Pandemic. The medicines were handedover to the Minister for Health and Population today by the Ambassador of India. - K P Sharma Oli (@kpsharmaoli) April 22, 2020 4:56 pm:27 new COVID-19 cases reported in J&K today As many as 27 new COVID19 cases reported today, all from the Kashmir division, says Rohit Kansal, Principal Secretary- Planning, Jammu & Kashmir. Total number of positive cases is now 407 (Jammu-56 and Kashmir-35). 4:52 pm: Doctors welcome ordinance to curb violence against health workers "I welcome this ordinance. Such an ordinance was needed. This will instill fear in the minds of people," said Dr DS Rana, Chairman, Sir Ganga Ram hospital, Delhi on ordinance to curb violence against health workers. The central government on Wednesday brought an ordinance to end violence against health workers by amending the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, which will allow imprisonment from 6 months to 7 years for those found guilty. 4:45 pm: 7,037 samples tested in West Bengal till now Refuting Centre's claim that West Bengal has conducted lesser number of tests, state Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha said, "It is not true that we are doing less number of tests." A total of 7037 samples have been tested till now. There is a notice to withdraw testing kits, whose fault is it, he said. 4:35 pm: Rajasthan govt starts process to recruit 2,000 doctors Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma on Wednesday said the state government has started process for recruitment of 2,000 doctors, as per the announcement of Chief Minister in the last Budget. "We will complete the process in the next one and half months," he said. Sharma said that 735 doctors have recently been recruited and posted in hospitals. "Recruitment process of 12,500 general nursing and midwife and auxiliary nurse midwife had been completed but posting couldn't be done due to some litigations. After consultation with Advocate General, the CM has now given orders for posting of 9000 such staff," he added. 4.20pm: Mumbai coronavirus news update Central committee has recommended an increase in the capacity of quarantine facility in Mumbai from 1,200 beds to 2,000, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Wednesday. An inter-ministerial central team (IMCT) arrived in Mumbai yesterday to assess the state's preparedness to fight the coronavirus outbreak. In keeping with the committee's directives, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been asked to arrange for more beds and increase testing across Mumbai. 4.15pm: 146 Indian crew members stranded on a cruise ship due to coronavirus pandemic will disembark in Mumbai on April 22, Maharashtra CM said. 4.10pm: Union cabinet approves Rs 15,000 crore to combat coronavirus The cabinet, chaired by PM Narendra Modi, on Wednesday, approved Rs 15,000 crore for 'India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package'. 4.00pm: Bihar coronavirus news update Atleast ten people tested positive for COVID-19 in Bihar today, raising the total number of cases to 136. Out of the 136 cases, 42 have recovered while two one each from Munger and Vaishali districts have died. Nalanda has reported a total of 29 cases . Munger has also reported 27 cases, including a death and six recovered patients. Patna, with 16 cases, is the third worst affected district in Bihar. Out of 38 districts, only 16 have reported COVID-19 cases so far. Altogether 12,978 samples have so far been tested in the state. 3.50 pm: Employee tests positive for coronavirus; civil avaiation's office sealed Ministry of Civil Aviation (B) wng at Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan have been sealed after an employee tested positive for coronavirus. An employee of the ministry, who had attended office on April 15, was infected with coronavirus. 3.40pm: 400 OPD mobile vans deployed in Rajasthan to treat other diseases The Rajasthan government has deployed 400 OPD mobile vans across the state to provide treatent to people, suffering from other diseases. "These mobile vans will be available at the subdivision headquarters as well as other important places and will reach the villages-towns to provide treatment of common diseases to patients," Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said. 3.30pm: Gujarat coronavirus news update: Coronavirus cases in Gujarat rose to 2,272 after 94 more people tested positive for the disease in the state today. The death toll in the state went up to 95, as five more patients succumbed to coronavirus, principal secretary (health) Jayanti Ravi said. So far, 144 patients have been discharged after recovery. There are 2,033 active cases in Gujarat, and so far total 38,059 samples have been tested in the state. 3.20pm: Pak PM Imran Khan tests for COVID-19 Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan underwent a test for the novel coronavirus today, days after meeting a philanthropist who was diagnosed positive for the COVID-19 infection. A team of doctors from the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital kas collected samples. The result is expected on Wednesday. 3.15pm: P Javadekar added that amendment to be made to Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 and Ordinance will be implemented. Such crime will now be cognizable and non-bailable. Investigation will be done within 30 days. Accused can be sentenced from 3 months-5 years and penalised from Rs 50,000 upto Rs 2 lakh. 3.10 pm: Cabinet clears ordinance on protecting health workers from attacks Central Government has brought an ordinance to end violence against health workers, carries imprisonment from 6 months to 7 years if anyone found guilty.Union minister Prakash Javadekar, on Wednesday said, "Health workers who are trying to save the country from this epidemic are unfortunately facing attacks. No incident of violence or harrasamemnt, against them will be tolerated. An ordinance has been brought in, it'll be implemented after President's sanction". 3.03 pm: Rajasthan coronavirus cases: 69 more people infected Rajasthan reported 69 fresh COVID-19 cases on Wednesday with 62 in Jaipur, 4 in Nagaur and 1 each in Tonk, Dausa and Sawai Madhopur. The total number of confirmed cases in the state have risen to 1,868. 2.58 pm: Coronavirus in Assam live updates: Free tests to be conducted on journalists Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday that the state government will conduct free COVID-19 tests for news reporters at Guwahati Medical College on April 25. State govt has decided to conduct free #COVID19 tests for news reporters at Guwahati Medical College on April 25: Assam Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma pic.twitter.com/kRohk6VdEA - ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 2.54 pm: Kerala coronavirus cases: COVID-19 patient recovers after 45 days A 62-year-old coronavirus woman, who testes positive for the infection, was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday after being in the hospital for 45 days. 2.49 pm: India coronavirus live updates: Health Ministry urges people to take part in COVID-19 telephonic survey The Health ministry on Wednesday appealed to people to take part in the coronavirus survey undertaken to get feedback from citizens. "A telephonic survey on COVID-19 is being undertaken where you shall receive calls on your mobile from 1921 number. Please participate in this survey with your information," the ministry tweeted. #CoronaUpdate A Telephonic Survey on #COVID19 is being undertaken where you shall receive calls on your mobile from 1921 number. Please participate in this survey with your information.#SwasthaBharat#IndiaFightsCoronapic.twitter.com/EEJqX9MPyi - Ministry of Health YY #StayHome #StaySafe (@MoHFW_INDIA) April 22, 2020 2.43 pm: Assam coronavirus latest updates: No new cases in last 7 days Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday that no new COVID-19 cases have been recorded in the state since last 7 days. 2.39 pm: Mumbai coronavirus live updates: 47 COVID-19 patients referred by fever clinics Out of the 3,451 novel coronavirus cases detected so far in Mumbai, 47 cases have been referred by fever clinics of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), an official told PTI on Wednesday. Mumbai is the worst-hit city in Maharashtra. "A close analysis of the total cases from Mumbai revealed that most of the patients were already quarantined, while some 47 patients referred by the fever clinics later tested positive for coronavirus," a senior BMC official said. 2.29 pm: Gurugram corona news: Maruti Suzuki's Manesar plant opened for maintenance work Gurugram District Magistrate, Amit Khatri said on Wednesday that the Manesar plant of Maruti Suzuki has been opened for maintenance and basic work, however, production will not resume. Manesar plant of Maruti Suzuki has been opened for maintenance and basic work, however, production will not resume now: Amit Khatri, District Magistrate, Gurugram #Haryanapic.twitter.com/Y0jDboIcVE - ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 2.23 pm: Delhi lockdown updates Watch: Delhi Police surveillance by drone in Dakshinpuri & Madangir areas, amid coronavirus lockdown (Source: Delhi Police). #WATCH: Delhi Police surveillance by drone in Dakshinpuri & Madangir areas, amid #CoronavirusLockdown (Source: Delhi Police) pic.twitter.com/ILLMdowQTG - ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 2.15 pm: Corona cases live updates: Rahul Gandhi seeks public suggestions for MSME stimulus package Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter on Wednesday seeking suggestions from the public on what a MSME economic stimulus package should cover. "COVID19 has devastated our micro, small & medium businesses (MSME). The Congress party needs your help. Send us suggestions & ideas for what a MSME economic stimulus package should cover," he tweeted. #COVID19 has devastated our micro, small & medium businesses (MSME). The Congress party needs your help. Send us suggestions & ideas for what a MSME economic stimulus package should cover on: https://t.co/kP2NZ6TNUK or our social media platforms. #HelpSaveSmallBusinessespic.twitter.com/UwLEPrnWdB - Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) April 22, 2020 2.06 pm: Rajasthan coronavirus news: State to start testing journalist, media personnel Following Maharashtra and Delhi, the Rajasthan government will also test journalists and media personnel for COVID-19, said state health minister Raghu Sharma. 1.59 pm: Gujarat second-worst affected state with 2,178 COVID-19 cases Gujarat has pipped Delhi to emerge as the second worst-affected state with 2,178 confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to the Health Ministry. The death toll in the state stands at 90. Maharashtra is at the top with 5,218 coronavirus cases, the highest in India so far, while the state's death toll is at 251. Delhi has slipped on third spot with 2,156 virus cases, according to the Health Ministry. 1.54 pm: West Bengal corona cases live updates A clash broke out between police and locals in Baduria in North 24 Parganas after the cops objected to the road being blocked by people there. The locals were alleging improper distribution of ration material amid coronavirus lockdown. #WATCH: Clash broke between Police and locals after they (Police) objected to the road being blocked by the locals. The locals were alleging improper distribution of ration material amid #CoronavirusLockdown in Baduria, North 24 Parganas. #WestBengalhttps://t.co/TnzIOM0Qhppic.twitter.com/ffJRXKknr4 - ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 1.49 pm: Live updates on coronavirus: Govt may announce Rs. 20,000 crore relief fund for MSMEs The Centre is expected to announce a relief fund worth Rs 20,000 crore for MSMEs in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic in the country. 1.39 pm: Gujarat coronavirus hotspots: Here is the complete list of red zones in the state Gujarat is second worst-hit state in India after Maharashtra with 2,178 COVID-19 cases, according to Health Ministry. As per the state's health department website, 27 districts have been declared as hotspots (red zones or containment areas) by the Gujarat government. Here is the complete list of 37 districts in Gujarat identified as COVID-19 hotspots:- 1 Ahmedabad 2 Surat 3 Vadodara 4 Rajkot 5 Bhavnagar 6 Anand 7 Bharuch 8 Gandhinagar 9 Patan 10 Narmada 11 Panchmahal 12 Banaskantha 13 Aravalli 14 Chhota Udaipur 15 Kutch 16 Mehsana 17 Botad 18 Dahod 19 Gir Somnath 20 Kheda 21 Mahisagar 22 Porbandar 23 Sabarkantha 24 Valsad 25 Jamnagar 26 Morbi 27 Tapi 1.26 pm: Bihar coronavirus cases: 5 more tested COVID-19 positive 5 more people tested positive for novel coronavirus infection in Bihar on Wednesday. Out of these, 3 cases have been reported in Patna, 1 in Bihar Sharif and 1 in East Champaran. The authorities are doing the contact tracing of the infected people. The total number of COVID-19 cases in the state stands at 131, said Sanjay Kumar, Principal Secretary, Health Dept, Bihar.(ANI report) 1.17 pm: Coronavirus latest news: Civil Aviation Ministry wing sealed The Ministry of Civil Aviation (B) wing at Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan was sealed on Wednesday. The NDMC has been directed to sanitise the whole wing. Ministry of Civil Aviation (B) wing at Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan has been sealed and NDMC has been asked to sanitise the whole wing: Ministry of Civil Aviation Sources https://t.co/vh5eU001U0pic.twitter.com/IYWP4IXsFs - ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 1.09 pm: Latest news on coronavirus: Jump in asymptomatic COVID-19 cases sparks new worries The government has already voiced its concern over the sharp jump in asymptomatic cases in the country. Many states in India are now registering a large number of asymptomatic cases. According to medical experts, there are 3 kinds of asymptomatic patients, 1. Generic asymptomatic cases 2. Pre-symptomatic patients 3. Mildly symptomatic. 12.58 pm: Coronavirus cases worldwide The COVID-19 cases have exceeded 25 lakh globally, while the death toll has surpassed 1,77,000. 12.43 pm: Kanpur coronavirus latest news Police perform 'aarti' of people who violated coronavirus lockdown rules at Kidwai Nagar in Kanpur. #WATCH: Police perform 'aarti' of people who violated #CoronavirusLockdown norms at Kidwai Nagar in Kanpur. pic.twitter.com/crm5w3s9JZ - ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) April 22, 2020 12.35 pm: Uttar Pradesh coronavirus latest news: Clash between police and people in Aligharh A clash broke out between Police & a group of people in the city today. Circle Officer says, "Vegetable sellers were quarrelling among themselves when shops were being closed. When Police intervened, people started pelting stones at them." #WATCH Aligarh: A clash broke out between Police & a group of people in the city today. Circle Officer says, "Vegetable sellers were quarreling among themselves when shops were being closed. When Police intervened, people started pelting stones at them." (Note: abusive language) pic.twitter.com/Dw9pTWeScH - ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) April 22, 2020 12.29 pm: Coronavirus updates Union Health Ministry daily media briefing at 4 pm has been cancelled for Wednesday. The daily Health Ministry briefing was cancelled because there is a cabinet meeting and the subsequent briefing this evening which will carry the health ministry related information. Additional information will be given in press releases today: Government Sources https://t.co/jROu6ElMTV - ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 12.23 pm: Karnataka coronavirus cases: 7 fresh COVID-19 cases reported Karnataka reported 7 fresh coronavirus cases on Wednesday. The total count of such cases now stands at 425 in the state including 17 deaths and 129 discharges, said the state government. (ANI report). 12.19 pm: Maharashtra lockdown updates: State Health Minister and ICMT members visit quarantine facility at Dharavi Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope and the Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) visited a quarantine facility at Dharavi transit camp on Wednesday. A total of 180 COVID-19 positive cases have been reported till now in Dharavi area of Mumbai, with several people under quarantine. Mumbai: Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope and the Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) visit quarantine facility at Dharavi transit camp. A total of 180 #COVID19 positive cases have been reported till now in Dharavi area of Mumbai, with several people under quarantine. pic.twitter.com/G7wxg1hz1u - ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 12.14 pm: Coronavirus news: Doctors calls off nationwide protest after assurance from Amit Shah The Indian Medical Association (IMA) withdrew its nationwide candlelight protest after Union Home Minister assured the safety of docotrs and healthcare workers. Shah interacted with doctors & IMA through video conferencing on Wednesday. He lauded their good work and assured them security and urged them to not to do even symbolic protest as proposed by them. He said that the government is with them. 12.07 pm: Andhra Pradesh lockdown news: 56 fresh coronavirus cases reported Andhra Pradesh reported 56 fresh COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, taking the total tally to 813 in the state. Death toll also went up to 24, according to a government bulletin. (PTI report). 12.03 pm: COVID-19 in India: Civil Aviation Ministry employee tests positive Civil Aviation Ministry said on Wednesday that an employee of the ministry who had attended office on April 15, 2020 has been tested positive for novel coronavirus on April 21. "All necessary protocols are being stringently followed on the Premises. All colleagues who came in contact are being asked to go into self-isolation as a precaution," the ministry tweeted. An employee of the ministry who had attended office on 15 April 2020 has tested positive for COVID19 on 21st April. All necessary protocols are being stringently followed on the Premises. All colleagues who came in contact are being asked to go into self isolation as a precaution - MoCA_GoI (@MoCA_GoI) April 22, 2020 11.57 am: Uttarakhand coronavirus updates: IIT Roorke researchers develop COVID-19 screening booth A team of researchers led by Professor Soumitra Satapathi of IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) Roorkee has developed a portable COVID-19 screening booth in collaboration with the Roorkee Nagar Nigam for sample collection of the suspects: IIT Roorkee in Uttarakhand. A team of researchers led by Professor Soumitra Satapathi of IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) Roorkee has developed a portable #COVID19 screening booth in collaboration with the Roorkee Nagar Nigam for sample collection of the suspects: IIT Roorkee #Uttarakhandpic.twitter.com/bPoD9p1JO2 - ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 11.51 am: Delhi Corona lockdown updates: Vehicles queue up on DND Flyway Long queue of vehicles seen on DND Flyway as Police personnel check passes of people commuting through the route. Delhi-Gautam Budh Nagar/Noida border has been completely closed, with certain exceptions, by Gautam Budh Nagar admn as a preventive measure against COVID-19. Delhi: Long queue of vehicles seen on DND Flyway as Police personnel check passes of people commuting through the route. Delhi-Gautam Budh Nagar/Noida border has been completely closed, with certain exceptions, by Gautam Budh Nagar admn as a preventive measure against #COVID19. pic.twitter.com/Wx0qv7l6UR - ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 11.44 am: Delhi coronavirus news Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Wednesday that there are a total of 2186 positive cases in Delhi as of date, 75 of these were found yesterday. A total of 611 people - 28% of the patients, have recovered. 27 patients are in ICU and 5 on ventilator." As of today, there are a total of 2186 positive cases in Delhi, 75 of these were found yesterday. A total of 611 people - 28% of the patients, have recovered. 27 patients are in ICU and 5 on ventilator: Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain #coronaviruspic.twitter.com/xutkGlVu44 - ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 11.39 am: Tamil Nadu lockdown news: Congress workers distribute ration, relief material Congress workers distributed ration and other relief material among the needy people in Anna Nagar area of Chennai, at the residence of party leader Peter Alphonse today amid novel coronavirus lockdown. Tamil Nadu: Congress workers distributed ration and other relief material among the needy people in Anna Nagar area of Chennai, at the residence of party leader Peter Alphonse today amid #Coronavirus lockdown. pic.twitter.com/yDx0ZCtpcn - ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 11.27 am: Coronavirus India updates: IB ministry issued advisory for media reporters covering COVID-19 outbreak in hotspots The Information and Broadcasting Ministry issued an advisory for media personnel who are covering incidents related to novel coronavirus in the country especially in the hotspots (red zones). The advisory was issued on Wednesday. 11.19 am: Corona lockdown updates: Maximise LPG cylinders' free delivery under PMUY: Dharmendra Pradhan to LPG distributors Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Steel Dharmendra Pradhan talked to LPG distributors across the country via video conferencing. According to an ANI report, Pradhan urged them to maximise the delivery of free LPG cylinders to PMUY beneficiaries under the Pradhan Manti Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMUY), which was announced in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak in India. 11.12 am: Coronavirus in India: Check BusinessToday.In tracker to check state-wise tally of COVID-19 cases INDIA CORONAVIRUS TRACKER: BusinessToday.In brings you a daily tracker as coronavirus cases continue to spread. Here is the state-wise data on total cases, fatalities and recoveries in one comprehensive graphic 11.05 am: Coronavirus live updates: India on top among SAARC nations India has the highest number of COVID-19 cases among all SAARC nations. Here is the list of countries, information is sourced from news reports and Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, as of 10.50 am IST on April 22. India: 19,984 confirmed cases Afghanistan: 1,092 cases Bangladesh: 3,382 cases Bhutan: 6 cases The Maldives: 86 cases Nepal: 42 cases Pakistan: 9,738 cases Sri Lanka: 310 cases 10.58 am: Lockdown in Lucknow: Islamic Centre of India urges Muslims to observe Ramzan rituals from home The Islamic Centre of India is making announcements in Lucknow, urging Muslims to perform Ramzan rituals from their homes while maintaining social distancing, ANI reported. The holy month of Ramzan begins from April 24. 10.54 am: Coronavirus in Odisha live updates: 3 people test COVID-19 positive 3 persons from Bhadrak district of Odisha tested positive for novel coronavirus on Wednesday, taking the total count of such cases to 82 in the state, officials told PTI. The 3 new cases include males aged 40, 55 and 35, all from Basudevpur block of the district and have travel history to Kolkata, said the district administration. 10.48 am: Uttar Pradesh latest news on coronavirus A worker and his family in UP's Aligarh harvests wheat crop at an agricultural field in Gabhana town. Raju, the worker, says, "We are unable to meet our expenses but we are surviving. I am doing this with my entire family of 4 members." Aligarh: A worker and his family harvests wheat crop at an agricultural field in Gabhana town. Raju, the worker, says, "We are unable to meet our expenses but we are surviving. I am doing this with my entire family of 4 members." pic.twitter.com/p501DVQzaD - ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) April 22, 2020 10.45 am: Kerala coronavirus cases latest updates: 19 people test COVID-19 positive in a day Kerala which boasted of bending the coronavirus curve in the state, registered 19 fresh cases on Tuesday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters. With this, the total number of COVID-19 cases has jumped to 427 in the state along with the death toll at 3, according to Health Ministry. 10.39 am: Coronavirus in Pakistan live updates: COVID-19 infections near 10,000-mark The total number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases have reached 9,738 in Pakistan, according to Dawn. These cases include 209 deaths and 2,073 recoveries so far. Punjab province is the worst-affected in the country with over 4,300 cases. Meanwhile, Sindh province has registered around 3,050 coronavirus cases so far. 10.34 am: Cabinet meet on coronavirus at 11 am The Union Cabinet is expected to meet at 11 am on Wednesday to assed the current COVID-19 situation in the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold the meet at his residence to take stock of the ongoing situation in the wake of novel coronavirus outbreak. 10.30 am: Coronavirus latest news: Donald Trump suspends immigration into US for 2 months US President Donald Trump announced has announced a temporary suspension of immigration into the United States for 2 months. The executive order on this would only bas those seeking permanent residency, but will not affect temporary workers. "By pausing immigration we'll help put unemployed Americans first in line for jobs as America reopens, so important," Trump said. 10.26 am: Corona lockdown updates: Amit Shah interacts with doctors via video-conferencing Union Home Minister Amit Shah interacted with doctors & Indian Medical Association (IMA) through video conferencing on Wednesday. He lauded their good work. He also assured them security and urged them to not to do even symbolic protest as proposed by them, government is with them. Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah interacted with doctors & Indian Medical Association (IMA) through video conferencing. He appreciated their good work. He also assured them security & appealed to them to not to do even symbolic protest as proposed by them, govt is with them. pic.twitter.com/Z88Woh8obr - ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 10.19 am: Madhya Pradesh coronavirus news Watch: Police punishes the lockdown violators in Indore.The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Madhya Pradesh stand at 1,552 and death toll at 76. 10.13 am: Coronavirus cases in Dharavi, Mumbai Central teams of 5 members each have been sent to Mumbai and Pune. The teams will visit the hotspot areas in the regions. In Mumbai the team will visit Dharavi, Worli, Koliwada along with state health minister Rajesh Tope. 10.07 am: Pune coronavirus latest news A 53-year-old man who had tested positive for COVID-19 died on Tuesday night. This has taken the death toll in Pune to 55: Health Officials, Pune. (ANI report) 9.57 am: Lockdown live updates: More deaths reported among COVID-19 patients given HCQ tablets, says study A new study has found that more deaths have been recorded among those novel coronavirus patients who were administered hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) tablets. This has come as a big blow for US President Donald Trump who had earlier said that the anti-malaria drug will significantly help in treating COVID-19 patients. 9.52 am: Mumbai coronavirus latest update: Cop at Uddhav Thackeray residence tests COVID-19 positive An assistant police inspector posted at Varsha bungalow, which is the official residents of Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, has been tested positive for novel coronavirus infection. 6 of the cop's close contacts have been isolated, Mumbai Police said. 9.47 am: Uttar Pradesh coronavirus cases: 156 more people test COVID-19 positive Uttar Pradesh recorded 153 fresh coronavirus cases in 24 hours, taking the total tally of confirmed cases in the state to 1,294 and death toll to 20, according to latest data by Health Ministry. 9.37 am: Rajasthan coronavirus cases: 76 more people infected Rajasthan recorded 76 fresh COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the total count of confirmed coronavirus cases to 1,659 and death toll at 25 in the state. 9.29 am: China coronavirus news: Will provide all assistance to India, says Chinese Embassy spokesperson Responding to the reports of faulty test kits, China has said that it is ready to provide assistance. Ji Rong, a spokesperson of the Chines Embassy in India said the country "will keep close communication with #Indian concerned agency and provide the necessary assistance. Noticed reports concerning rapid testing kits. #China attaches great importance to the quality of exported medical products. Will keep close communication with #Indian concerned agency and provide necessary assistance. - Ji Rong (@ChinaSpox_India) April 21, 2020 9.23 am: Delhi coronavirus count: 75 new cases in 24 hours Delhi has registered 75 fresh COVID-19 deaths in 24 hours, including 6 policemen from Jahangirpuri police station were tested positive for the virus. Meanwhile, no new deaths have been reported in the national capital in the past 24 hours. 9.17 am: Maharashtra coronavirus cases: 552 more people infected, 19 deaths in 24 hours Maharashtra recorded 552 fresh COVID-19 cases and 19 deaths on Tuesday out of which 419 were from Mumbai. With this the total number of coronavirus cases top 5,000 in the state. 9.12 am: West Bengal coronavirus news The West Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha has written to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and assured full cooperation to the central teams visiting the state to assess the ongoing situation in the state's hotspots. 9.07 am: Coronavirus updates: Pakistan PM to get tested for COVID-19 Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan will be tested for novel coronavirus days after meeting a the son of a well-known Pakistani philanthropist who was tested positive for COVID-19. 9.00 pm: Odisha coronavirus cases: 3 new cases reported 3 fresh COVID-19 cases have been recorded in Odisha, taking the state's count to 82. Meanwhile, 30 people have been discharged from Odisha after recovering from the disease. 8.45 am: Coronavirus live updates: Doctors across India to light candles in protest against attack on medical workers The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has asked the doctors across India to light candles as a mark of protest against the incidents of attacks on medical workers fighting novel coronavirus pandemic. There have been instances where people have targeted or discriminated against medical and health workers across the country fearing they are already infected with the virus. Such attacks continue despite stiff warnings by the central as well as state governments. The IMA has also demanded a special law that protects doctors and also announced that it is issuing a "White Alert" and will observe a "black day" on Wednesday. 8.30 am: India's coronavirus tally near 20,000-mark, death toll cross 600 The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases stand at 19,984 as of date, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. These include, 15,474 active cases, 3,869 cured/discharged, 1 migrated and 640 deaths. Over 1,383 cases have been registered in the last 24 hours. 8.15 am: Coronavirus in Delhi latest news: Noida-Delhi border closed The Delhi-Noida border has been shut as a precautionary step amid the COVID-19 crisis, the Noida District Magistrate said on Tuesday. The border is closed till further orders. Meanwhile, the vehicles carrying essential goods and ambulances as well as people involved in fighting the virus would be allowed to cross the border. The decision to seal the Delhi-Noida border was taken after the health department found that several people who have been tested COVID-19 positive in Noida in the past few days have had a connection with Delhi where the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases have crossed the 2,000-mark. Union home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday appreciated doctors for their contribution in Indias fight against the coronavirus pandemic and assured them of their safety as reports about attacks on health workers have trickled in from across the country. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) had said on Monday it will observe a Black Day on April 23 if the government does not enact a central law on violence against healthcare workers. Follow latest updates on coronavirus here It had said it is sounding a White Alert under which all doctors and hospitals will light a candle at 9 pm on April 22 to mark the protest against incidents of violence. Amit Shah and Union health minister Harsh Vardhan interacted with doctors and IMA through video conferencing. Watch l Amit Shah assures safety of doctors, IMA calls off scheduled protest The Union home minister also appealed to them to not to hold even symbolic protest as proposed by them, saying the government is with them. Also read: Harassed Meerut doctor appeals to IMA for help The association withdrew its protest after the meeting with Amit Shah and Harsh Vardhan. IMA had said that doctors across the country will work with black badges on April 23. Our legitimate needs for safe workplaces have to be met. Abuse and violence should stop immediately. White Alert to the nation - All doctors and hospitals to light a candle at 9pm on 22 April, as protest and vigil, the association had said in a statement. The Resident Doctors Association (RDA) of Delhis All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has already written a letter to Amit Shah, requesting him to implement the Health Services Personnel and Clinical Establishments (Prohibition of Violence and Damage to Property), Bill. Click here for complete coronavirus coverage The Federation of Resident Doctors Association has also written to the Union home minister, expressing concern over the attacks on doctors and medical staff. There have been several incidents of attacks on healthcare workers and the police in different parts of the country, including Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, leading to injuries to doctors, paramedics and police personnel. Iran sentences Christian woman to 3 months in prison, 10 lashes for protesting regime Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Iranian Christian convert and human rights activist Mary Mohammadi has been sentenced to three months in prison and torture for protesting the governments downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane in January. The 21-year-old took to social media on Tuesday to provide a case update for her followers. After suffering many types of torture and 46 days in jail in the terrible conditions of Vozara detention and Qarchak [womens] Prison, I have been sentenced to 3 months and 1 day in prison and 10 lashes, Mohammadi wrote on Instagram. Mohammadi was arrested in January during an anti-government protest over the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps downing of Ukrainian Airline Flight 752 in which 176 people were killed. She had already served over one month in prison before being released on bail in February and charged with disrupting public order by participating in an illegal rally. In her Instagram post, Mohammadi said she was sentenced because she had protested "against the slaughter of human beings and because she showed "sympathy for the families of those who perished on the Ukraine airline crash. Mohammadis added that her sentence was suspended for one year depending on her conduct. However, Mohammadi contends that there was never any evidence against. So I ought to have been acquitted, but instead I was sentenced not only to imprisonment but also flogging, she wrote. And of course, even before the verdict was handed down, I was forced to endure all kinds of torture, none of which is sanctioned by law, and which ought to be considered crimes in themselves. Mohammadi explained in her post that she and her legal team have refrained from appealing the verdict because the appeal courts have turned into affirmative tribunals. I'm proud of attending and sympathizing with human beings in the real harsh environment of streets, this is my conviction and the costs, Mohammadi assured. According to the United States-based persecution watchdog group International Christian Concern, the Iranian regime has attempted to quash all criticisms of its actions after its forces launched two missiles at the passenger jet, killing everyone on board. After her arrest in January, ICC reports that Mohammadi disappeared for almost one month before she was discovered at Qarchak Prison. ICC notes that the prison has developed a reputation for various types of gender abuse. Mohammadi said she was beaten and suffered various kinds of mistreatment in prison. ICC notes that a judge questioned Mohammadi during her hearing on April 17 about her conversion to Christianity even though the charges she faced did not relate to her faith. According to ICC, Iran has not publicly sentenced a Christian to be flogged in over two years. The sentencing of Mary Mohammadi is alarming, but unfortunately, not surprising, ICC regional manager Claire Evans said in a statement. Irans government does not want human rights activism, and they do not want Christians exercising their voice publicly. Mary Mohammadi is an example of courage and bravery to us all. We must continue calling on Iran to respect human rights and allow its citizens to voice their convictions of conscience. Mohammadi is no stranger to the Iranian prison system. She spent over six months in the womens ward of Evin Prison after she was arrested in 2017 during a raid on an underground house church meeting. Open Doors USAs 2020 World Watch List ranks Iran as the ninth-worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution. As Iranian society is governed by Islamic law, Christian converts face severe persecution from the government. Meanwhile, Christians are forbidden from sharing their faith with non-Christians. Christian converts who attend underground house churches risk arrest and torture and many converts are forced to keep their faith a secret. Despite the persecution, the underground church in Iran continues to grow. Open Doors estimates that there are more than 800,000 Christians in the Shia-dominated country. Iran has for years been labeled by the U.S. State Department as a country of particular concern for engaging in egregious religious freedom abuses. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 22) Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray reminded everyone to stay connected and be of service to each other in these trying times. Thats the beauty of being a human being," she said. "It is being of service to your fellow human being." Gray emphasized the importance of staying community-driven during the COVID-19 pandemic. She said hope unites people in times like these. It can be very overwhelming for many of us," she told CNN Philippines in an interview Wednesday night. "We are not all in the same boat unfortunately, but we are all facing the same storm. Theres a unity in hope that we can all come together, The beauty queen added that she turns to her social media platforms as channels of right information, as well as a source of positivity and inspiration. You dont need a title, you dont need a crown but you can be of service to your fellow human being, she declared. Meanwhile, Gray said she was deeply saddened by the fire that rummaged a community in Happyland, Tondo, Manila, which she has been helping out. I was really saddened considering what the state of the nation were going through where everyone is implored to stay in their homes," she said. "Unfortunately, the are 500 people recently displaced from their homes due to a fire that occurred this Tuesday in Happyland, Tondo." She added that a number of personalities and non-government organizations have been helping the affected families by donating basic needs like food and clothing. It really implored me to see what I can do even from home," she said. "Its a bit of a different circumstance of not being able to go out there personally to be hands-on. Gray said she remains hopeful despite the uncertain times that the country and the entire world is facing. Srinagar, April 22 : Dilbag Singh, J&K Director General of Police (DGP) said on Wednesday that Pakistan is now pushing militants suffering with the coronavirus infection into the union territory. Singh visited quarantine centres in north Kashmir Ganderbal district earlier in the day, especially the one set up inside the Police Training School (PTS) Manigam in the district. In addition to reviewing the required facilities at the quarantine centre, the police chief also took a review meeting of the security situation in the area. Interacting with some media persons during his visit, the police chief said till now Pakistan had been sending militants with arms and ammunition into J&K, now the neighbouring country is pushing in militants who are infected with COVID-19. Singh cautioned people to watch out for these infected militants who could spread the virus in areas they hide in or visit during their subversive activities. During the recent days there has been a spurt in militant violence in Kashmir. Four militants were killed earlier in the day in a gunfight with the security forces in Shopian district of Kashmir. -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed The Elysium in the hill bed Moc Chau is blessed with many destinations that visitors admire when they arrive and are loathed to part with when they have to leave. Surprisingly, tourists are familiar with names such as the pine forest in Ang Hamlet, Dai Yem Waterfall, Doi Cave, Pha Luong mountain peak, the Heart tea hill, Pa Phach and Na Ka Hamlets; however, Ngu dong Ban On is unfamiliar for many people. A tourist said that: It is worth the effort to come here. If only I knew earlier, this destination would have been my first choice in Moc Chau. It is known that the complex was found in 2006. The historic flood at that time helped the local ethnic minority people discover a wonderful landscape that was created thousands of years ago. The caves are often located in deep in the mountain peaks; however, five Ban On Caves are in a hill bed on the path to the Heart Tea Hill and only about 5 kilometres from this destination. Therefore, after immersing themselves in the poetic beauty of the layered tea hills like gentle green waves, tourists will be surprised, disappointed and even shocked with the rugged path to the system of five Ban On Caves. To go there, visitors have to park their vehicles at the foot of the hill and walk about 1 kilometre. The distance is probably not far but it is worth mentioning that the path is quite arduous and narrow, just enough for a motorbike to pass. The higher it goes, the steeper it becomes. There is absolutely no houses on the long road to the caves, except for a suspended hut on the hill where the locals rest when they come here to cultivate. The path gets more and more zigzagged as it gets higher with many rocky slopes. soil and vegetations shattering into the tourists faces. In return, they will feel ecstatic with the sweet scent of grapefruit flowers on the hillsides. And then, all tiredness due to the arduous journey will immediately disappear as visitors see the masterpieces of mother nature. Despite not being as imposing as Thien Duong Cave in Quang Binh Province, as large as Nguom Ngao Cave in Cao Bang and Thien Cung Cave in Quang Ninh, the complex of five Ban On Caves in Son La has its own attraction that brings a special passion for visitors. Normally, there is only one direction to the caves; however, people can come to the five Ban On Caves in two ways. Accordingly, cave no.3 is on the right and cave no.4 is on the left. The three remaining caves are very beautiful but the paths there are too dangerous, so they are not exploited. The five caves represent the five elements of the nature: Kim (metal), Thuy (water), Moc (wood), Hoa (fire) and Tho (earth). Hong, the owner of a garage at the foot of the hill said that ancient people worshipped their ancestors in the caves, so there was an altar for Mother Au Co (the legendary mother of Vietnam). Visitors will be constantly surprised with mother natures interesting designs deep inside the cave complex. It can be said that each stalactite is a talented sculpture of nature that humans cannot recreate. For example, the stalactites created the shape of a pigs head right at the mouth of the cave no.3 and then the terraced field in the heart of the cave. Visitors can also recognise a giant phat thu (Buddha hand-shaped fruit) from stalactites at the far side of the cave. The deeper explorers go, the more shapes of animals (such as dragons, lions and seals) they can see. More interestingly, after passing over many wet and slippery paths, visitors will be surprised by the shape of a turtle carrying a baby cradle pick-a-back. Nguyen Van Tit, the manager of the caves, said that in the rainy season in July, when the water flows into the cave, the stalactites really resemble the image of a turtle carrying a baby cradle across the river. Another speciality of the cave no.3 is a dan da (lithophone) made from stalagmites like Thien Duong cave in Quang Binh Province. When a stone or stick knocks on it, melodious sounds will echo throughout the cave. Cave no.4 of the complex of five Ban On Caves is also very attractive. When the electric lights are switched on, a giant stalactite fir appears imposingly. The images of two people standing side by side under the fir as well as the system of pillars and a blind made of stalactites deep inside are very impressive. Behind the blind, visitors can see countless shapes of creatures such as geckos, camels, toads, snails, two lions and fairy peaches. In fact, the stalactites in Ban On Caves are more spectacular than those in Doi Cave (also in Moc Chau town), but the terrain of Doi Cave is more convenient for visitors. If not in good health, visitors can hardly conquer this cave complex. The path to the caves is very arduous. The princess sleeps in the forest Despite their pristine and spectacular beauty, the complex of five Ban On Caves has not been exploited for tourism in line with its potential. On the long path to the caves, there is only an introductory sign and a walkway from the hills foot to the caves was opened by the locals. The electric system in the caves is very limited so it is very difficult for visitors to admire the sights. In addition, the facilities for the caves are very rudimentary, simple wooden moldy ladders that make visitors worry when exploring them. Moreover, the caves are quite humid because they are located deep inside the wilderness. According to manager Tit, Son La provincial authorities have set plans to invest in the five caves, including the construction of a glass bridge connecting them. Le Do Luan, a representative from Moc Chau District Peoples Committee said that Son La will focus on investing and promoting the five Ban On Caves in the near future. The complex can be considered a bright pearl of Moc Chau Town in particular and the province in general as the destination converges all elements to attract visitors, especially those who like experiencing adventurous feelings. In addition, Moc Chau Town is no more than 200 kilometres from Hanoi, so it takes only three or four hours for visitors to enjoy the pure and fresh atmosphere in the mountainous region. If the complex of Ban On Caves is invested in more methodically, Moc Chau will be always the first choice of many visitors. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr. 22 Trend: Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov had a telephone conversation on April 22, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. During the conversation, the sides discussed a number of topical issues related to the further strengthening of traditionally friendly relations between the two countries. First of all, the need for the implementation of bilateral agreements reached between President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov during the Turkmen presidents official visit to Baku on March 11, 2020 was stressed. At the same time, the sides emphasized the special importance of bilateral cooperation in the transport and communications sector. The foreign ministers stressed that the direct ferry services in the Caspian Sea between the seaports of Alat and Turkmenbashi are an essential element in the development of trade and economic ties on the Eurasian continent. Stressing the high efficiency of cooperation in the field of transport, the foreign ministers focused on the search and implementation of new forms of partnership aimed at ensuring the highly effective operation of transport corridors along the East-West transport corridor. In this context, the ministers agreed to maintain close regular contacts between the Azerbaijani and Turkmen foreign ministries. Tigo Tanzania has enabled interoperability between mobile wallet services, allowing customers to send and receive funds from M-Pesa in Kenya, MTN in Uganda and Rwanda, and Airtel in Rwanda. The service now ensures that Tigo Pesa customers are connected to all major mobile money services across the East African region, a move that will increase transactions for cross-border remittance users. Tigo Tanzanias Acting Chief Officer for Mobile Financial Services (MFS) Angelica Pesha said: This new service between four countries further cements how Tigo adapts to its customers needs with digital solutions, and it also means that the benefits of mobile money can be extended to cross-border trade, allowing businesses and families to transfer money quickly and securely in East Africa. MTN Uganda has been at the forefront of financial innovation pioneering in the delivery of a wide range of financial services such as micro savings, loans, insurance and merchant payments through MoMoPay. To be able to make our wide network available to customers across the East African regionis testimony to our continued drive to extend affordable, reliable, secure financial services to not only our customers in Uganda, but to all people in the region, said Stephen Mutana, MTN Uganda General Manager, Mobile Financial Services. As Mobile Money is becoming borderless, this partnership with Tigo Tanzania is part of our commitment to offer our customers within the East African Community - an option to transfer funds to their friends, families and business partners using their Airtel Money Wallets, said Jidia Gasana from Airtel Rwanda. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-23 01:11:40|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KATHMANDU, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Nepal on Wednesday received a batch of medical supplies donated by the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nepali government and the Chinese Embassy to Nepal confirmed. The donation included 10,000 N95 masks, 10,000 personal protective equipment (PPEs), 1,000 infrared thermometers, two PCR machines, 20,000 testing kits and 50 boxes of disinfectant wet wipes, the Chinese Embassy said in a statement on Wednesday. The Chinese Embassy said these items were handed over to the Nepali side at the China-Nepal Friendship Bridge at Zhangmu-Tatopani port. Nepali Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli wrote on Tweeter, confirming the arrival of the medical supply. "Nepal received today the essential medical items to fight the COVID-19 pandemic from the Tibet Autonomous Region. I thank the government of the Tibet Autonomous region for this generous support." Lal Bahadur Khatri, chief customs officer at Tatopani customs office told Xinhua that the medical supplies from China were transported to capital Kathmandu on Wednesday evening. Last month, Nepal received the first batch of medical supplies from the Chinese government such as phosphate tablets, protective clothing and portable ventilators, among others, which also included items donated by China's Sichuan Province. Nepal has also received medical supplies donated by the Jack Ma Foundation and the Alibaba Foundation as well. The statement from the Chinese Embassy said that China and Nepal have always maintained solidarity and helped each other in fighting the COVID-19. Enditem President Nana Akufo-Addo's Health Advisor, Dr. Anthony Nsiah-Asare has replied the World Health Organization on its projection of a worst case of Coronavirus in Africa in the coming months. World Health Organization (WHO) have told African countries to prepare for the worst in this Coronavirus pandemic. Though Africa is the least affected continent, the WHO fears the public health systems could become quickly overwhelmed by increasing numbers of the virus infected persons. They have projected millions of people to die of the pandemic in Africa. According to the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Africa could see anywhere between 300,000 and 3.3 million deaths. Africa's COVID-19 Case The first confirmed COVID-19 case in Africa was reported in Egypt on February 14 and since then there have been more than 18,000 confirmed cases. Algeria has recorded the most COVID-19 deaths in Africa with 392 according to Johns Hopkins University, with Egypt, Morocco and South Africa being the next hardest hit countries. There are now more than over 24,600 confirmed cases of coronavirus across the continent, with a number of African countries imposing a range of prevention and containment measures against the spread of the pandemic. According to the latest data by the John Hopkins University and Africa Center for Disease Control on COVID-19 in Africa, the breakdown remains fluid as countries confirm cases as and when. The whole of Africa has rising cases with only two countries holding out as of April 18. Ghana's COVID-19 Case Ghana's coronavirus case count is 1,154 with 120 recoveries and 9 deaths. This number has been recorded following government and the health sector enhanced measures to go full-scale on detecting the infection of the virus in persons, particularly travelers and people who come into physical contact with transmissions. The Director General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Patrick Aboagye disclosed that ''under the general surveillance, we have 401 cases that have reported positive. We still have the 115 travellers quarantined and tested positive and enhanced contact tracing in the last three weeks, we have 638 positives, bringing the number 1,154 cases as at today (April 22, 2020)''. Addressing the issue in a press briefing on Wednesday, April 22, 2020, the President's Health Advisor, Dr. Nsiah-Asare dismissed the WHO claims saying Ghana will not reach their projected figures. He noted that though Ghana has recorded thousands of positive cases of Coronavirus, the reality is that the nation has recorded a lower rate of the infection. He stated emphatically that there will not be three million deaths in the country and so declared as false the WHO hypothesis. ''It's not true that Ghana will have 3 million people infected . . . It's not true. We will never see that. Because as we speak now; as Dr. Aboagye said the number of deaths in the country is 9. Nine deaths, in fact, if you calculate according to the percentage of the people who have been infected; it's not 0.7%. So, it's nowhere near the 5%. If you look at the number of tests that we have done so far, we have 1,154 positivity which comes about 1.5% positivity of people that have been tested. And if you look at even the negative rate, it's about 98.5%. So, we're not getting near or we will never get near the WHO hypothesis," he stated. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The last three weeks have brought severe hardship, pain, and stress on many Ghanaians following the lockdown in Accra, Tema, Kumasi, and Kasoa as a measure to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country. - Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in President Nana Akufo-Addo was forced to lock down these cities because the initial numbers of COVID-19 cases came from these areas. The restriction on movement and closure of Ghanas borders meant peoples livelihood had been halted and the economy which is largely informal, suffered. READ ALSO: Akufo-Addo should have extended lockdown to all regions; not lift it - Prof Badu Akosa The pandemic which the world is experiencing continues to bring unbearable hardship to many people, especially the poor and vulnerable. But in Ghana, some good individuals and organizations provided for the poor and needy in the last three weeks and onwards. YEN.comgh presents a list of eight (8) Ghanaians who have supported the vulnerable and affected in these difficult moments. 1. Former president Mahama donates food items to 20,000 households Former president Mahama presented some food items to the National Democratic Congress COVID-19 Team for onward distribution to vulnerable and deprived communities in the affected cities and regions. The food would finally be distributed to 20, 000 households in deprived communities under the Greater Accra Region, Greater Ashanti Region, Tema and Kasoa. 2. MP Lydia Alhassan donates to churches in her constituency The New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP, Lydia Seyram Alhassan on Saturday, April 18 donated 3000 bags of 5kg Rice, among others to the churches in the 11 electoral areas in the constituency. The relief items to the faith-based organizations also included 500 crates of eggs, 1,500 nose masks and 2,000 pieces of hand sanitizers. READ ALSO: Food and Drugs Authority recalls COA FS supplement 3. Ibrahim Mahama donates to feed 10,000 households in Muslim and Christian communities The Chief Executive Officer of Engineers & Planners, Mr. Ibrahim Mahama, over the weekend donated food items and undisclosed amounts of cash to feed the poor in Muslim and Christian communities. 4. Korle Bu Teaching Hospital receives water, food and protective gears from Twellium Foundation The Twellium Foundation and Verna Changing Lives donation train made a stop at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital to extend support to the front line health workers at the facility and also to assure them of the support of the public. 5. John Dumelo donates gloves, soap and other items to Ayawaso West Wuogon police John Dumelo has donated detergents, soaps, gloves, and other items to five police stations in the Ayawaso West Wuogon constituency as he champions the fight against the spread of the deadly coronavirus. Dumelo who is the NDCs parliamentary candidate for the constituency said it was important for citizens to play their part and support the government in the fight. READ ALSO: John Dumelo donates provisions to people of Ayawaso during lockdown 6. Duncan-Williams feeds farmers and over 400 members in his vicinity (Photos) Action Chapel International led by its founder, Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams, reached out to over four hundred (400 ) of its members who needed food for the lockdown period and subsequently donated some food items to them. The gesture was undertaken by a team of dedicated Cell leaders who visited members in their homes. 7. Generosity Club donates GH10,000 to doctors to support COVID-19 fight The Generosity Club, in support of national efforts to fight COVID-19, has donated a sum of GH10,000 to the Ghana Association of Doctors in Residency. According to the Club, this donation is to enable you to effectively play your role in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. 8. The MTN Ghana Foundation has donated $909,090 (about GHC5 million) to support the fight against the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Ghana. YEN.com.gh earlier reported that U.S oil prices have plunged, falling below $0 on Monday, April 20 to $-37.63 a barrel. It is the lowest level since oil futures trading began in 1983 as the economic crisis set off by the coronavirus pandemic continues to take a toll on the energy sector Al Jazeera reports that oil prices were under pressure as the measures to curb the spread of the virus saw fuel demand evaporate. "I can't give out free water to Ghanaians" - Private water tanker driver fumes | #Yencomgh READ ALSO: COVID-19 updates in Ghana as of Saturday, April 18, 2020 Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page. Source: YEN.com.gh (TNS) The city of Madison, Wis., will again consider whether its police force should be equipped with body-worn cameras.On Tuesday, the City Council voted unanimously to establish a committee to study whether the Madison Police Department should implement a body-worn camera program. It is the third such committee since 2015 to be created to review the merits of the technology.To prevent spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, the council has been meeting via Zoom video conferences. Tuesdays second-ever fully virtual meeting yielded more hiccups than the first digital meeting a few weeks ago.Some council members were muted at times when they tried to talk, one council member was delayed in joining the Zoom conference for a few minutes and one vote had to be redone because another alder was unable to vote due to poor internet connectivity. But overall, the interruptions were minor or got resolved by city staff.The new committee to study body cameras will be called the Body-Worn Camera Feasibility Review Committee. It is required to submit its recommendations to the council by January.Sponsors of the resolution to create the committee Alds. Shiva Bidar, 5th District, and Marsha Rummel, 6th District have been skeptical of body cameras in the past. Ald. Paul Skidmore, 9th District, a longtime supporter of piloting body cameras, has said he fears the new committee might be an attempt to kill a body-worn camera pilot.Council members approved the creation of the committee without discussion. They had a lengthy argument about whether to expand the scope of the committee, but that amendment failed.One of the previous committees that had studied body cameras opposed the technology out of fears it would be abused or seen as a false panacea to improve public trust in law enforcement.But the Madison Police Department Policy and Procedure Review Ad Hoc Committee, which studied MPDs policies for four years and recommended 177 changes to the department in a years-in-the-making report , suggested that body-worn cameras get a second look. That group was the one to recommend body cameras be studied again.A 2014 police department report on body cameras found that the cameras can increase transparency and lead to fewer complaints from citizens, but it also questioned whether cameras would deliver on the promise of improving community relations and estimated a high cost about $955,000 to implement a camera program citywide.Of the 24 police agencies active in Dane County, 13 equip patrol officers with body-worn cameras, including Sun Prairie, Middleton and Fitchburg. In Madison, only SWAT team members have them.Among Wisconsins 10 largest cities, five use the cameras: Milwaukee, Racine, Appleton, Oshkosh and Janesville.New leadershipAlso Tuesday, the council elected new leadership for a year-long term. Ald. Sheri Carter, 14th District, was elected council president and Ald. Syed Abbas, 12th District, was elected vice president.Ballots for the positions were cast secretly via SurveyMonkey, an online survey company. The vote for Abbas needed to be redone because one council member was unable to cast a ballot due to poor internet connectivity. Abbas would have won even if the ballots were not recast.Alds. Avrina Martin, 11th District, and Keith Furman, 19th District, also ran for president and vice president, respectively, but did not garner enough votes from the council.Ald. Max Prestigiacomo, who was elected April 7, was also sworn in as the council member representing the 8th District, which includes a large chunk of UW-Madisons campus. Prestigiacomo is a freshman at UW-Madison.The 8th District seat was vacated by outgoing Ald. Sally Rohrer, a graduate student at UW-Madison. She was serving a shortened term after the former alder for the district, Avra Reddy, resigned because of an illness in her family.Bidar and Ald. Barbara Harrington-Mckinney formerly served as president and vice president, respectively.A proposal that would have delayed the election of new council leadership for three months failed on a 9-10 vote. Ald. Keith Furman, who proposed the measure, wanted the three-month delay so the council wouldnt have to worry about a transition during the already uncertain time of the COVID-19 outbreak.But Ald. Zachary Henak said the term for president is already short and shouldnt be shortened more. He said he was confident in the applicants ability to lead the council.The council also affirmed around 20 emergency decisions that Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and city staff made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, including suspending late fees for parking tickets, waiving other late fees and extending some deadlines.A few council members had originally taken issue with the emergency powers that the council voted to give Rhodes-Conway to respond to the crisis, arguing that she had too much power. But the council on Tuesday unanimously approved the emergency decisions shes made so far without discussion. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Smart Inhalers Market Size, Growth and Trends Analysis By Type (Dry Powder Inhaler and Metered Dose Inhaler), Application (Asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and others), Key Players and Region (Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Middle East and Africa), Forecast to 2025 Smart Inhalers Market size and share is anticipated to reach USD 4.72 billion at a CAGR of 45% throughout the forecast period (2019-2025). Smart Inhalers are respiratory inhalers equipped with a digital sensor that tracks the data, such as the dosage timing, and monitors the use of the inhaler while scheduling the next dosage as well. Smart Inhalers Market is expected to witness significant growth due to rising prevalence of asthma & COPD worldwide. Increasing population becoming susceptible to indoor air pollutants worldwide and Moreover, improved adherence rate driven by increasing patients preference to use digitalized medical devices for monitoring daily medication doses fosters the growth of the Smart Inhalers Market. Also, increased collaboration deeds between pharmaceutical companies and smart inhaler manufacturers to promote technological advancements are contributing to market growth. Increased focus on advancement in treatment methods, R&D programs, online marketing strategies incorporated by key players in pharmaceutical and biotechnological industries are some of the major trends observed in the market. It is a new-age digital technology designed to empower patients, care contributors, researchers, and physicians related to respiratory diseases through objective and accurate medication monitoring and reminders. Alerts for the daily dosage are generated via Bluetooth. Smart inhalers have been successfully improving patient outcomes while reducing the significant financial costs associated with suboptimal medication adherence. This makes smart inhalers the next big thing in the respiratory care segment. On the other hand, high costs associated with the smart inhalers and COPD & asthma treatments, limited availability of smart inhalers, and misinterpretation of information are some of the major factors obstructing the growth of the market. Key pharmaceutical companies are adopting digital technology for improved disease management for asthma and COPD and for improved effectivity of medicines. Wide range of benefits, including reducing financial costs associated with suboptimal medication adherence to enhanced efficacy of medicines, makes smart inhalers most preferred and popular in the respiratory care segment. leading players include AstraZeneca (UK), Adherium (New Zealand), Cohero Health (US), Gecko Health Innovations, Inc (US), GlaxoSmithKline (UK), Propeller Health (US), and Inspiro Medical (Israel), among others. Highly competitive by nature, the smart inhalers market appears to be fragmented due to the presence of market titans in the market. To maintain their market positions. Key companies are venturing into new regions and countries with rapid expansion plans. Top players are substantially investing in R&D and clinical trials to accelerate product development and innovations and to cut down production costs. Global Smart Inhalers Market Segmentation: Smart Inhalers Market is segmented by Type Application End User Region By Type, the Smart Inhalers Market is segmented into Dry Powder Inhaler Metered-dose Inhaler By Application, the Smart Inhalers Market is segmented into Asthma Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) others By End-user, the Smart Inhalers Market is segmented into Hospitals & Clinics Research Institute Respiratory Care Centers others Regional Insights: By Regions Global Smart Inhalers Market is segmented into Asia Pacific North America Europe Rest-of-the-World North America leads the global smart inhalers market, accounting for the largest market share. Increased awareness about asthma and COPD treatment and the increased adoption of smart inhalers help the region to cut the largest revenue share, globally. Moreover, large asthma and COPD patient population in the region foster the regional market growth. The smart inhalers market in the European region took the second-largest position holding 31.89% market share, in 2018. The presence of a number of noteworthy players such as Novartis, AstraZeneca, and Boehringer Ingelheim drive the regional market growth. Moreover, the high adoption of smart inhalers in hospitals and patients in European countries is expected to boost the growth in the regional market throughout the assessment period. The Asia pacific smart inhalers market is emerging as a promising market, globally. Factors, such as the spreading awareness about the benefits that smart inhalers can provide in managing asthma and COPD, influence the market growth in the region. Besides, improvement in healthcare infrastructure with an increased budget for healthcare expenses would fuel the APAC smart inhalers market. The region is expected to grow rapidly throughout the forecast duration, with China being the major revenue contributor. Browse Complete Report https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/smart-inhalers-market-2117 About Market Research Future: At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), & Consulting Services. * China advisers call for faster fiscal stimulus rollout * Delayed parliament overshadows response to pandemic * Fiscal package may reach 5-6% of GDP -govt economist * 2020 GDP target likely to lowered, not scrapped -cabinet adviser By Kevin Yao BEIJING, April 22 (Reuters) - The collapse in China's economic activity caused by the coronavirus has loudened calls from top policy advisers for the government to hasten the rollout of fiscal stimulus, as ballooning unemployment threatens social stability. Adding to the sense of urgency are growing concerns a prolonged delay in the annual meeting of parliament, originally scheduled for March 5 but postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak, is holding up key policy measures. Policy insiders say Beijing is preparing pro-growth steps, as worries about a long and deep economic contraction trump concerns about rising debt. Such policies would ordinarily need legislative approval, but many argue they could be implemented ahead of the largely rubber-stamp parliament. "We should roll out stronger fiscal policy (measures) as soon as possible," Yu Yongding, an influential economist who previously advised the People's Bank of China, told Reuters. "A big package needs approval from the parliament, but we can do it through some flexible means," Yu said. He says central bank easing is unlikely to be of much use if there is no private or public spending in the economy. Parliament's delay has raised concerns that China lags other major economies in rolling out a sizeable stimulus package. No new date for parliament, known as the National People's Congress, has been announced, though some sources say it could be held next month. Economic targets, the budget deficit and bond issuance quotas for the year ordinarily require parliamentary approval. China's finance ministry and the National Development and Reform Commission, the top state planner, did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment on potential stimulus. Story continues Measures implemented so far this year include special bond issuance, virus control spending, subsidies and reduced employers' social insurance contributions and amount to just over 2% of gross domestic product (GDP), according to Reuters analysis. "This pales in comparison to the package the Chinese government deployed in 2009 or the packages that other countries (the U.S., Europe, etc) currently implement," said Stefan Legge, an economist at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland. "Furthermore, the monetary stimulus in China is much more limited than in other parts of the world. The result is weak GDP growth in the near-term in China." BIG BANG? Sources say China is set to unleash trillions of yuan in fiscal stimulus to revive the world's second-largest economy, which could drive the budget deficit to a record high. Senior policymakers last month said they were considering raising the budget deficit ratio. They have long kept a 3% ceiling on deficit relative to GDP. They are also looking at issuing more local government special bonds, used largely for infrastructure projects, and what would be the first special treasury bonds since 2007, used to support firms and regions hit hard by the outbreak or for subsidies to spur consumption. Zhang Ming, an economist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences - a top state think tank - expects total fiscal stimulus spending this year to be around 5 trillion yuan ($705 billion), or about 5-6% of GDP. Liu Yuanchun, vice president of Renmin University, said a rise in the budget deficit to 3.5% of GDP from last year's 2.8% could unleash some 1 trillion yuan. Ting Lu, chief China economist at Nomura, said in a note that he expected Beijing to soon deliver a stimulus package worth about 10 trillion yuan, or about 10% of GDP. MOVING TARGETS Beijing is likely to set a GDP growth target lower than the initially planned goal of around 6%, ahead of the annual parliament meeting, policy sources have said. But the massive economic uncertainty caused by COVID-19 has raised questions about whether China should even set a 2020 growth target at all. China's economy shrank 6.8% in the first quarter from a year earlier - the first such contraction on record - as tough virus containment measures halted activity. "I think we should still set a target, although we should make an adjustment to the (original) target based on the reality," Yao Jingyuan, an adviser to the cabinet, told Reuters. China would need economic growth of around 5% this year to help create some 11 million new jobs, Yao said. Zhang at the CASS said the target should be lower, at 2-3%, while Ma Jun, a central bank adviser, has called for an abolition of the target this year. ($1 = 7.0875 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Kevin Yao Editing by Tony Munroe and Sam Holmes) SADDLE RIVER, NJ Bergen County native David Lat says a ventilator saved his life when he was hospitalized with the new coronavirus earlier this month. Lat took to the Washington Post to share his experience, writing "I would not be here today without a ventilator." Patch caught up with Lat via email to learn more about his experience. Here's what he had to say: Can you briefly describe some of the symptoms you had when you were sick? "My first symptom was fatigue, followed by a brief loss of my ability to taste. A few days later, I had flu-like symptoms of fever, chills, and aches. About a week into my illness, I got a bad cough and shortness of breath -- which is what eventually forced me to go to the emergency room." Why is the availability of ventilators important from your perspective? "Ventilators are life-saving devices, as I know from firsthand experience. When patients can't breathe, ventilators step in and breathe for them. Although many patients do not survive being on ventilators, the death toll from COVID-19 would be much higher without them. Ventilators are therefore critical in our fight against this disease." What is actually happening in hospitals? What should people know about ventilators and the coronavirus response that they don't know. Doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals are working around the clock to fight COVID-19 and to give their patients the best care possible. Some hospitals are overwhelmed, but doctors and nurses are figuring out ways to adjust to the difficult circumstances. Ventilators are amazing, but people should be aware of both the survival rate -- perhaps 50 percent or less -- and the side effects. Some people catch pneumonia from ventilators. Ventilators can damage the vocal cords -- which is why I have a hoarse voice, about a month after coming off the ventilator. David Lat wears an oxygen mask while hospitalized with COVID-19. (Photo courtesy of David Lat, used with permission) When and how did you decide to share your story with the Washington Post? Story continues Around the time I left the hospital, Karen Attiah, an editor at the Washington Post, reached out to me about possibly writing for them. Karen -- whose father is a retired pulmonologist -- suggested the topic of ventilators, and I was happy to oblige. How has your op-ed been received? What response have you seen? The op-ed was widely read -- at one point, it was the most-read article on the Washington Post website, and for days it was in the top five -- and I felt it was well received. I got a lot of positive feedback on it, and I also heard from many people who either were on ventilators themselves or have loved ones on ventilators. It has been nice to compare notes and connect with people who have this shared experience >>> Visit the Washington Post to read Lat's survival story. This article originally appeared on the Mahwah Patch TEHRAN, Iran, April 22 Trend: While coronavirus spread has caused a decline in global demand for crude oil, some oil producers increased production, which has led to unprecedented collapse of oil prices, Iran's Oil Minister said. "The crisis due to coronavirus has sharply reduced oil products' consumption in the aviation and road transportation industries; therefore, the gasoline consumption also declined and refineries have reduced their production, too," said Bijan Zangeneh, Trend reports citing ILNA. "The OPEC estimated that crude oil supply would increase by 3 million barrels per day in the first three months of the year; in the meantime, because of coronavirus spread, there was a drop by 11 million barrels in demand for oil during the past three months," the minister said. OPEC and the other oil producing countries agreed to cut production by 10 million barrels a day, which is about 23 percent of their production levels, in May and June. "Unfortunately, amid the coronavirus outbreak, there was a conflict over the price of oil. Some countries started to increase output, and this caused a severe crisis over oil prices in the market," the minister said. "An agreement was reached to reduce oil output by 10 million barrels per day from May, but instead, some oil producers have increased output and supply thus, creating more tension in the market." "If the output cut of 10 million barrel per day is completely implemented in May, the supply in the market will decline, and this eventually will have its effect. The important thing is that the market should react considering the current situation," Zangeneh added. "However, the market players did not consider this volume sufficient due to uncertainty of the reserves and since the end of coronavirus crisis is unknown," the minister said. The price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) benchmark crashed at -$37, and the panic had spread through markets, with Brent crude oil prices plummeting by over 20 percent to $18 per barrel. It was not a labored process, he said. I did not think much about it. I just let it go and went with the flow. I didnt do a lot of editing. When I went to sleep, I had an idea for what the video could look like. A day after the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) advised the state governments to not use new rapid antibody test for coronavirus COVID-19 testing for two days, a spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in India, Ji Rong, on Wednesday (April 22) said that Beijing attaches great importance to the quality of exported medical products and Chinese official will remain in touch with ICMR and provide the necessary assistance in this regard. "Noticed reports concerning rapid testing kits. China attaches great importance to the quality of exported medical products. Will keep close communication with #Indian concerned agency and provide the necessary assistance," tweeted Ji Rong. Noticed reports concerning rapid testing kits. #China attaches great importance to the quality of exported medical products. Will keep close communication with #Indian concerned agency and provide necessary assistance. Ji Rong (@ChinaSpox_India) April 21, 2020 On Tuesday, ICMR had said that it will investigate the issue of faulty kits. "Too much variations have been reported in results of rapid test kits and RT-PCR kits. We advise states not to use them for the next two days," R Gangakhedkar, head scientist of ICMR said during the daily press briefing. Gangakhedkar added that ICMR has received a complaint from a state on April 20 and has so far discussed with three other states. "These kits will be tested and validated in the field by our teams. We will issue a clear-cut advisory in two days. If problems are detected in batches, we will tell the companies for replacement," he noted. Earlier on Tuesday, the Rajasthan government had said that it will not use Chinese rapid testing kits for COVID-19 after they failed to deliver accurate results. Talking to the media, Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma had said the kits gave only 5.4 per cent accurate results against the expectation of 90% accuracy and therefore the kits were useless. The Cameroonian presidency admitted on Tuesday that 13 civilians had been killed by three soldiers and auxiliaries in a village in the north-western English-speaking separatist area in mid-February. The United Nations had revealed that dring the night of 13 to 14 February, 13 civilians, including 10 children (nine under the age of five) and two pregnant women, were killed in the Nargbuh neighborhood of the village of Ntumbo, a killing that sparked an international outcry. Yaounde had so far denied any responsibility on the part of its army. Two months after the massacre of the 13 civilians, Yaounde finally acknowledged the involvement of its army, after an investigation was opened following international pressure on President Paul Biya. Three soldiers and a self-defense group stormed a separatist rebel base and, after exchanges of fire, they discovered that three women and ten children had died as a result of their action, the Cameroonian presidency announced in a statement read on national radio. Panicked, the three soldiers, assisted by auxiliaries, tried to cover up the facts with fires, the statement said. Exactions and crimes committed on both sides are frequent, according to international NGOs, in the two regions populated by the Cameroonian Anglophone minority in the north-west, where for the past three years, separatist rebel groups and security forces have been fighting each other. (Natural News) As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rear its ugly head, the once-ordinary face mask has become a divisive symbol for many Americans. For Pete Saenz, the Mayor of the city of Laredo in Texas, wearing face masks is a necessary sacrifice in the continued fight against the coronavirus, which, as of this writing, has claimed over 45,013 lives and infected 813,000 in the United States. Saenz said the city government has opted to follow what medical experts have recommended, noting that Laredo is a small border city that could be overwhelmed quickly if ever the disease was to take root in it. I told them I had to go with what the doctors are telling us. We are a small city, and we can be overwhelmed quickly, Saenz said. Others, such as Marilyn Singleton, dont share his opinion. Singleton, a physician based in Los Angeles, has opted to not wear one because she says its un-American for the government to force people to cover their faces. Having people wear masks while theyre walking down a road by themselves doesnt do anything for anybody. Were not a police state, and this should be a personal choice, Singleton said. The epidemic is being used as an excuse to put restrictions on people. Singletons statements, as well as that of others, echo the objection put forth by many Americans after the governors of several states, namely Connecticut, Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania, have issued orders requiring residents to wear face masks once they emerge from isolation in the coming weeks. If you are going to be in public and you cannot maintain social distancing, then have a mask, and put that mask on, urged New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. According to Cuomo, New Yorkers must wear face masks whenever they are unable to keep six feet away from others in public settings, such as on public transportation, on crowded sidewalks or inside grocery stores and similar establishments. Stopping the spread is everything, Cuomo said during a meeting with the press. How can you not wear a mask when youre going to come close to a person? Similar orders have been imposed by Kansas Governor Laura Kelly, as well as California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has said residents across the nations most populous state would likely be wearing masks in public for the foreseeable future. Most of these orders came after the said states imposed stay-at-home measures in an effort to curtail the spread of coronavirus. Resentment over the orders, however, seemed to have reached a tipping point in recent days, the evidence of which are a string of protests launched across the country, with protesters demanding that state governments lift their imposed bans on business operations, which they said have battered the countrys economy. (Related: Model shows ending coronavirus lockdown prematurely could cause a devastating explosion of cases.) Mass layoffs and business closures triggered by the pandemic have left 22 million Americans unemployed. Shutting down businesses by picking winners and losers in which there are essential and non-essential are violations of the state and federal constitution, said Tyler Miller, 39, an engineer from Bremerton, Washington. He and others picketed at the Washington state capitol in Olympia to protest Democratic Governor Jay Inslees stay-at-home order. Their protest gathered over 2,500 protesters, defying a state ban on gatherings of 50 or more people. Many of them, despite pleas from the rally organizers, did not wear masks. A similar protest, held in Denver, saw hundreds of people gather at the state capitol to demand an end to Colorados shutdown. People should be able to make up their own minds. If you dont want to go out, if youre still worried, stay at home. I think you should have the option, Scott Johnson, a protester from southeast Denver, said in an interview with CBS. A lot of these small business owners are getting crushed. They should have the option of being open if the public can make their own decision, Johnson said, mirroring a statement made by President Donald Trump, who has started to tell states to relax their stay-home orders and reopen the economy despite warnings from experts that doing so before adequate testing is in place could lead to a devastating resurgence of COVID-19. President Trump, a staunch Republican, also appeared to endorse protests against strict lockdown measures, noting on Friday that the orders in place in Minnesota, Michigan and Virginia were too tough. Similar demonstrations demanding an end to the lockdowns have previously erupted in Texas and Wisconsin, as well as in Ohio, Minnesota, Michigan and Virginia. More protests are allegedly scheduled to be held within the coming weeks. For the latest updates on COVID-19, head over to Pandemic.news. Sources include: Chron.com Reuters.com WashingtonPost.com NationalPost.com Denver.CBSLocal.com TheGuardian.com BBC.com [April 22, 2020] AArete Leaders Recognized In Consulting Through Professional Awards CHICAGO, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- AArete, a global consulting firm specializing in data-informed profitability improvement, is pleased to announce honors for two well-respected leaders at the firm, Maria Turner and Erica Nelson, by Consulting Magazine. Maria Turner, Managing Director, was recognized for her excellence in leadership and Erica Nelson, Director, was recognized for her excellence in healthcare. Both are Payment Intelligence? experts at AArete, working with insurance payers and healthcare providers to improve reimbursement accuracy and operational efficiency by utilizing client-tailored advanced data analytics and AArete's proprietary methodology. Maria's Excellence in Leadership was recognized as part of Consulting Magazine's 2020 list of Women Leaders in Technology. As the leader of AArete's Payment Intelligence practice, Maria has delivered excellence at AArete for nearly 10 years, working closely with clients to design and implement comprehensive, customized solutions that result in the early detection, recovery and prevention of inaccurate claim payments. Maria serves as an Executive Sponsor of AArete's Women's Initiative Network (WIN), which is an internal affinity group dedicated to the acquisition, development and retention of female talent. "As an Executive Sponsor of WIN, empowering women in the workplace and enabling them with the resources to become successful leaders is very important to me. I want to thank Consulting Magazine for this recognition and hope this achievement inspires more female professionals to propel themselves forward in their career," said Turner. Erica was recognized for her Excellence in Healthcare within Consulting Magazine's 2020 Rising Stars of the Profession. Erica has progressed in her career at AArete over 6 years, advancing three levels while also expanding the Payment Intelligence? solution for healhcare. "I would like to thank Consulting Magazine for the recognition in Healthcare. Working with Maria on exciting client engagements has made a meaningful impact on my development at AArete," Nelson said. "AArete's culture of support has provided me with leadership opportunities, resources and mentorship to accelerate my progression. I look forward to driving results for our healthcare clients." These awards exemplify the unparalleled leadership Maria and Erica contribute to AArete, driving Payment Intelligence? solutions for healthcare clients. AArete's Women's Initiative Network is proud to see these accolades awarded to such strong leaders, and strives to continue aiding the advancement of women across the firm. "It is impossible to quantify Erica and Maria's overall contribution to the AArete team and our clients," said Loren Trimble, CEO of AArete. "But, being recognized for these awards is certainly a start. We are proud to have Maria and Erica among our numerous leaders across the firm and know they will continue to foster growth in other leaders at AArete." About AArete AArete is a management consulting firm that specializes in profit improvement through operational performance improvement, strategic cost reduction and revenue enhancements. We work with our clients across all industries and business functions to optimize their profits in a compressed timeframe and without reducing people. AArete identifies and implements significant bottom line improvements through sourcing methodologies, Big Data analytics, proprietary revenue optimization techniques, and the Knowledge Management Center, an internal intellectual property repository with benchmarking data and industry focused studies. AArete is proud to have won many awards including most recently, Top Workplaces and Fastest Growing Firms. For more information visit www.aarete.com. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aarete-leaders-recognized-in-consulting-through-professional-awards-301045474.html SOURCE AArete [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Navy Hospital Ship USNS Comfort docks at Pier 90 on the Hudson River as the coronavirus pandemic continues to overwhelm medical infrastructure seen from West New York, New Jersey on March 30, 2020. (Michael Loccisano/Getty Images) Trump Says USNS Comfort to Return to Virginia After Gov. Cuomo Says NY No Longer Needs It President Donald Trump has announced that naval hospital ship the USNS Comfort, which was sent to New York City to assist with a surge in CCP virus patients, will return to Virginia soon so it can be routed elsewhere. Speaking at a White House press briefing on April 21, Trump said he had met with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the two had discussed testing and funding for states. Trump said he also asked Cuomo about reallocating the USNS Comfort to another area where its needed. Ive asked Andrew if we could bring the Comfort back to its base in Virginia so that we could have it for other locations, and he said we would be able to do that, Trump said. The ship, which has 1,000 beds, two operating rooms, a medical laboratory, a pharmacy, and a helicopter deck, was sent to help offset the number of patients in city hospitals amid the CCP virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, pandemic, and has treated 178 patients to date, according to Northwell Health which is assisting in clinical operations. There are 58 patients still aboard the Comfort, ABC News reported. The president said converting the Javits Center convention space into a temporary hospital had made the ship less necessary, telling reporters, The Javits Center has been a great help to them, but well be bringing the ship back at the earliest time, and well get it ready for its next mission, which Im sure will be a very important one also. He didnt provide further details about the ships next destination. Following his meeting with Trump, Cuomo told MSNBC that they had also spoken about what the federal government did do during what we call phase one when we were ramping up to try to develop hospital capacity, and that while he appreciated having the Comfort to handle an overflow of patients, the state no longer needed it due to a decline in hospitalizations due to the virus. We took our state convention center, the so-called Javits Center, and the Army Corps of Engineers did a fantastic job putting in 2,500 beds, Cuomo told MSNBCs Nicolle Wallace. The president sent up a Navy ship, the Comfort, which is a hospital ship, which by the way was very good to have in case we had overflow. But I said we dont really need the Comfort anymore. It did give us comfort, but we dont need it anymore. So if they need to deploy it somewhere else, they should take it. The USNS Comfort arrived in New York on March 30 as part of the military effort to respond to the ongoing CCP virus pandemic, which has had a catastrophic effect on the state. However, on April 17, the president said the lack of patients on the ship appeared to indicate that New York is healing. They didnt need it; that was a good thing. Thats such a good thing. I mean, Im not complaining about that. I think its a greatthat means New York is making progress, Trump said. As of April 22, New York has 256,555 confirmed cases of the CCP virus while 19,693 deaths have been attributed to the disease, which originated in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Australia sought support for an international probe into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic in calls with U.S. President Donald Trump and major powers, but France and Britain said now was the time to fight the virus and not apportion blame. Australia's push for an independent review of the origins and spread of the pandemic, including the response of the World Health Organization (WHO), has drawn sharp criticism from China, which has accused Australian lawmakers of taking instructions from the United States. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Twitter he had "a very constructive discussion" with Trump on the two nation's responses to COVID-19 and the need to get economies up and running. "We also talked about the WHO & working together to improve the transparency & effectiveness of the international responses to pandemics," he tweeted. The White House has been fiercely critical of China and the WHO, and has withdrawn U.S. funding from the U.N. agency. Morrison also spoke to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron by phone about the role of the WHO, his office said. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has repeatedly said that the U.N. agency will evaluate its handling of the pandemic after it ends and draw the appropriate lessons, as it does after all emergencies. Macron told Morrison now was not the time for an investigation, a French official said. "He says he agrees that there have been some issues at the start, but that the urgency is for cohesion, that it is no time to talk about this, while reaffirming the need for transparency for all players, not only the WHO," an Elysee official told Reuters. A spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said there would be a time when Britain will have to look at the lessons to be learned from the crisis, but for now ministers were focused on fighting the pandemic. Britain has been criticised by the opposition Labour Party for its slow response and its failure to provide enough tests and protective gear for front liners. In Berlin, the government confirmed that Merkel had spoken with Morrison on Tuesday. Last Friday, her spokesman said: "The coronavirus appeared first in China. China has suffered a lot from the virus and did a lot to fight against spreading. The coronavirus, believed to have emerged in a market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, was first reported by China to the WHO on Dec. 31. WHO informed member states of the outbreak on Jan 5 and warned publicly a week later that there was "limited" human-to-human transmission. WHO officials arrived in Wuhan on Jan. 20, after the virus had spread to three other countries. It went on to declare a global emergency on Jan. 30. The virus has since infected some 2.3 million people globally and killed nearly 160,000, according to Reuters calculations. Australia is examining whether the WHO should be given powers, similar to international weapons inspectors, to enter a country to investigate an outbreak without having to wait for consent, a government source told Reuters. Senior Australian lawmakers have also questioned Beijing's transparency over the pandemic. China's embassy in Canberra said in a statement late on Tuesday that Australian lawmakers were acting as the mouthpiece of Trump and "certain Australian politicians are keen to parrot what those Americans have asserted and simply follow them in staging political attacks on China". Australia has recorded just over 6,600 cases of the virus nationally, with four new cases on Wednesday. Infection rates have slowed from 25% in mid-March to less than 1% a day. Lawmakers plan to ease some curbs, with Australia's iconic Bondi Beach to partially reopen next week. Hard Rock International Chairman Jim Allen told CNBC on Wednesday he does not see a quick return to robust business after its coronavirus-closed casinos, hotels and restaurants reopen. "There's going to be a real challenge, especially here in the United States, as far as ramping the business back up. We're planning on that taking a year," said Allen, CEO of the Seminole Tribe of Florida's gaming company, which bought the Hard Rock brand in 2007. Allen said that since Hard Rock has properties all over the world, including China, the company has had visibility from the beginning on the arc of the coronavirus, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year. The curve of reported infections in China started to flatten in March, and many businesses there have reopened, including one of Hard Rock's premier mainland locations. "We reopened the Shenzhen Hotel, obviously [in] a global city in China. Beautiful property. Occupancy is right now at 12%. We've been reopen for a good 3, almost four weeks," he said, citing the Shenzhen property as an example of the tough road ahead that other parts of the world may face in restarting their businesses. Allen said that tourism, which has been decimated by the Covid-19 pandemic, supports the Hard Rock Hotel Shenzhen as well as other international properties. "If you look at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square [in New York City], a restaurant that does $50 million in actual sales, that's all tourism. ... London is tourism." While Atlantic City in New Jersey is largely a regional clientele, Allen points out that it's in the New York area, which is the epicenter of the outbreak in the U.S. "We're very concerned about that business as we try to navigate through the summer, which is traditionally the time of year when they have their most profitable months." However, Allen said the most profitable part of his business comes from casinos in Florida, which is "more of a regional business" that people can get to by car instead of hopping on a plane. "While we see a ramp up, when we see the beaches in Jacksonville as crowded as they were, that seems like that's kind of exciting," he said. "But I think that's just the initial get-out-of-the-house [push]," he added, stressing that generating sustained business activity is not going to happen quickly. Florida is among the states run by Republican governors that are starting to ease coronavirus mitigation orders as the new daily infection rate in the U.S. trends lower. However, many health experts and business leaders are warning that such moves may be premature in the absence of widespread testing. President Donald Trump has been lending his voice to protests in states run by Democratic governors who have been reluctant to start reopening their economies. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Peyton is now home with her mother Tracy and father AJ. (PA) A three-week-old baby thought to have been the youngest person in Scotland to catch the coronavirus has recovered. Peyton was born eight weeks premature on 26 March after her mother Tracy Maguire, 27, was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia. While being cared for in an incubator, the 3lb 11oz baby girl tested positive for the virus on 15 April after developing a sniffle. Maguire a digital marketing student self-isolated with her newborn for 14 days until two tests revealed Peyton had beaten the infection. The newborn is not thought to have developed the respiratory disease COVID-19, which can be triggered by the coronavirus. The family are now together at their home in Bellshill, North Lanarkshire. Shed had a sniffle Peyton was born via C-section at University Hospital Wishaw, near Glasgow. Pre-eclampsia, which causes high blood pressure during pregnancy, can only be cured by delivering the baby. 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 Shed had a sniffle, which is why theyd tested her for a range of viruses including [the coronavirus], said Maguire. The infection does not generally cause a runny nose. A fever and cough are the tell-tale symptoms. When I heard Peyton had coronavirus I was sobbing and really worried about how it could affect her respiratory system, her lungs and if it was life-threatening, said Maguire. Maguire and her partner AJ, 28, were told to stay home while Peyton was in isolation. I pleaded not to be apart from my baby for that long, said Maguire. The staff kindly agreed I could to isolate with her in the hospital while AJ stayed at home. Family reunited With Peyton given the all-clear, Maguire has paid tribute to the healthcare workers. Watching the staff at work was incredible, she said. They put their lives at risk to make sure my baby was getting fed and cuddled. Story continues Even wearing their PPE [personal protective equipment], they were determined to hold her. Maguire is also speaking out to reassure pregnant women who may be anxious about giving birth during this turbulent time. My message to any mums-to-be is they shouldnt be worried about going into hospital to give birth because the staff know exactly what they need to do to protect everyone from the virus, she said. If people have symptoms of a serious health problem, like I did, they shouldnt be scared to go to hospital and get checked out, because just leaving it could make their condition worse. NHS Lanarkshires chief midwife Cheryl Clark said: Were delighted the fantastic care Peyton has received from our staff has meant she is well enough to go home, allowing AJ to be reunited with his wife and daughter. What is the coronavirus? The coronavirus is one of seven strains of a virus class that are known to infect humans. Others trigger everything from the common cold to severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars), which killed 774 people during its 2002/3 outbreak. Since the coronavirus outbreak was identified, more than 2.5 million cases have been confirmed worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. Of these cases, over 687,400 are known to have recovered. Globally, the death toll has exceeded 177,500. The coronavirus mainly spreads face-to-face via infected droplets expelled in a cough or sneeze. There is also evidence it may be transmitted in faeces and survive on surfaces. Although most cases are mild, pneumonia can come about if the coronavirus spreads to the air sacs in the lungs. This causes them to become inflamed and filled with fluid or pus. The lungs then struggle to draw in air, resulting in reduced oxygen in the bloodstream and a build-up of carbon dioxide. The coronavirus has no set treatment, with most patients naturally fighting off the infection. Those requiring hospitalisation are given supportive care, like ventilation, while their immune system gets to work. Officials urge people to ward off the coronavirus by washing their hands regularly and maintaining social distancing. Politicians are despised in many countries and the salaries they receive from the taxpayers is often a subject of controversy. Here, the Korea Employment Information Service revealed Tuesday that lawmakers' earnings ranked second only after corporate bigwigs and even higher than what cosmetic surgeons and their ilk make. "What have they done other than fight each other?" wrote one incensed netizen. The US$174,000 annual salary of U.S. lawmakers has been unchanged for over a decade. Wages are supposed to increase to reflect rising consumer prices, but the annual wage in Congress has remained flat since 2009, right after the global financial crisis as part of efforts by lawmakers to share the burden. Last year, the Democratic Party took a lot of flak after attempting to increase it by 2.6 percent. Democrats in highly contested districts feared they would lose votes if the measure was approved, and pundits warned that a self-initiated pay raise would be a suicidal move. In 1949, lawmakers earned W30,000 a month. Even then one lawmaker said, "Low-ranking government workers make only W3,000 a month and we're getting paid too much." That shows that the rot set in early. Now each lawmaker costs the taxpayer W732 million in annual allowances, including wages for aides, and office and other costs. Lawmakers also enjoy more than 200 perks. Lawmakers earn about 4.4 times more than Korea's per-capita GDP, which is much higher than the U.S. (2.9 times), the U.K. (2.61 times), France (2.53 times), the Netherlands (2.15 times) and Sweden (1.76 times) and similar to Japan and Italy. One thing is clear: Korean lawmakers are paid handsomely. If they are paid according to the amount of work they really do, fine. But in a study on whether the job performance of lawmakers is commensurate with their salaries, Korea ranked 26th among 27 countries. The position of lawmaker in Korea is unfortunately not to serve the public but to work as a footsoldier in a bigger power struggle. Yet the pay is high and the perks are very good. One official with experience of working in the government, at university and in parliament said, "My best job was being a lawmaker." Now lawmakers are proposing cuts in their allowances and perks, but can we trust them? The Jharkhand government on Wednesday imposed a complete ban on all types of tobacco products to prevent spitting in public places that could increase the spread of coronavirus infection. A notification issued during the day prohibited cigarette, e-cigarette, bidi, paan-masala, hookah, gutka besides jarda and khaini consumption in public places. The offence will be punishable under section 188 IPC (disobedience to an order lawfully promulgated by a public servent) that would attract imprisonment of six months or fine of Rs 1,000, an official release said quoting Principal Secretary (Health) Nitin Madan Kulkarni. Consumption of tobacco is one of the health hazards and reasons for the spread of infectious diseases like coronavirus, TB, encephalitis and swine flu, Kulkarni said. All the deputy commissioners and superintendents of police of the 24 districts have been instructed to implement the ban strictly and take action against those flouting the orders. The notification also asks officials to put up display boards about the imposition of bans in government and non-government offices. A total of 45 coronavirus positive cases have been reported in Jharkhand so far with two deaths due to the pandemic. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) My childhood was, by most definitions, pretty strange. I grew up a Russian Jewish immigrant in Midland, Texas, in a region whose biggest claims to fame are being the onetime home of George W. Bush and the inspiration for Friday Night Lights. In preschool, I got in trouble for not praying before eating my snack; later, I didnt know what this Super Bowl everyone kept talking about was. I felt hopelessly different from everyone else in our town. Even after we moved to a Dallas suburb, I never encountered another Russian immigrant kid like me. I rode the bus alone. I spent almost every evening alone. I began talking to myselfa habit that has unfortunately stuck. Once, someone toilet-papered our house, and I had to explain to my parents that this is what American kids do to losers. Undeterred, my dad eagerly raked the toilet paper into a garbage bag and put it in my parents bathroom for future use. Free toilet paper! he said happily over dinner All I wanted to be was normal. I wanted to be as American as my classmates; I wanted a past that, when I explained it to people, compelled no one to ask Why? about any part of it. But with time, Ive come to realize that theres an upside to being different from everyone around you. In fact, a body of social-science research suggests that being an oddball or a social reject can spark remarkable creativity. An unusual childhood is not the only thing that can make you more creative. Being considered weird in your culture can also enhance an element of creativity called integrative complexity. People who are strong in integrative complexity tend to handle uncertainty well and excel at reconciling conflicting information. Theyre often able to see problems from multiple perspectives. Chris Crandall, a psychology professor at the University of Kansas, told me that people who are on the periphery of society tend to be freer to innovate and change social norms. Fashion norms come from the bottom up, he said. Outsiders are less concerned with what the in-crowd thinks of them, so they have more leeway to experiment. In fact, people who dont fit neatly into a particular group have been found, over and over, to perform better at outside-the-box thinking. Foreigners are often considered strange, but there are psychological advantages to feeling like a stranger. Children who are exposed to multiple languagesperhaps because, like me, they were raised in a country far from where they were bornare better able to understand an adults perspective, and they may go on to become better communicators overall. In one experiment, people who had lived abroad were especially good at finding hidden solutions to word and conceptual problems. That might help explain why Pablo Picasso began experimenting with Cubism in Paris, and George Frideric Handel composed his Messiah while living in England. In fact, people who dont fit neatly into a particular group have been found, over and over, to perform better at outside-the-box thinking. Foreigners are often considered strange, but there are psychological advantages to feeling like a stranger. Children who are exposed to multiple languagesperhaps because, like me, they were raised in a country far from where they were bornare better able to understand an adults perspective, and they may go on to become better communicators overall. In one experiment, people who had lived abroad were especially good at finding hidden solutions to word and conceptual problems. That might help explain why Pablo Picasso began experimenting with Cubism in Paris, and George Frideric Handel composed his Messiah while living in England. Happily for those who have never lived abroad, this creativity boost can also happen for people who live in unusual frames of mind, rather than exotic locales. In a small study, Rodica Damian, an assistant psychology professor at the University of Houston, and her colleagues had college students engage in a virtual-reality exercise in which the laws of physics didnt apply. In this virtual world, things fell up instead of down. When compared with another group that performed an exercise in which the laws of physics functioned normally, those who had the physics-warping experience were able to come up with more creative answers to the question What makes sound? Damian has a theory shes researching: that all kinds of unusual experiences can boost creativity. For example, people often report having breakthroughs after magic-mushroom trips or extreme adventures. The idea behind this is that once youve experienced things that violate norms and rules and expectations, youre more open to more things like that, Damian told me. You experienced that the world doesnt have to work by your rules, so you can break the rules. Read the whole story: The Atlantic By Sanjeev Miglani and Syed Raza Hassan NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - About 500 people entered self-isolation in staff quarters of India's presidential palace on Tuesday, and Pakistan's prime minister was due to be tested, as the coronavirus spreading through South Asia hit the heart of the region's governments. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his wife tested negative for the coronavirus, his spokesman said, after at least 20 palace officials were infected last week. In Pakistan, Prime Minister Imran Khan will undergo testing after it was confirmed that the head of the country's biggest charity organisation, Faisal Edhi, whom he met last week, had contracted COVID-19. In India, the alarm was raised at President Ram Nath Kovind's residence in Delhi after the daughter-in-law of a sanitation worker living in employee quarters tested positive. Neither Kovind, 74, nor his aides would self-isolate as they would not have come into contact with lower-level workers, officials said. The president has a mostly ceremonial role. The families of palace workers living in 114 apartments on the grounds were ordered to stay inside, and seven members of the sanitation worker's family were moved to quarantine. India's 1.3 billion people have been ordered to remain indoors for 40 days under a nationwide lockdown to slow the spread of the virus. Indian authorities have confirmed 18,984 cases of COVID-19, including 603 deaths, a low toll compared with Western countries with much smaller populations, though officials say a lack of testing may mean many more cases have not been reported. An employee of India's parliament has also tested positive, but did not come to work, an official said. The administrative wing of the legislature reopened on Monday as part of a staggered exit from the lockdown. MOB ATTACKS AMBULANCE Police in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu arrested 21 people for attacking an ambulance carrying the corpse of a doctor who succumbed to the coronavirus, officials said. Story continues The mob attacked the ambulance early on Monday as they thought it was unsafe for the neighbourhood and would result in locals contracting the virus, they said. The state's Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy assured citizens that the state was carrying out necessary safety precautions before burying the deceased and that incidents like these were worrying. "I assure doctors and health workers that the government will prioritize the safety of doctors and health workers," he said in a statement on Tuesday. While the total number of confirmed infections is rising, Indian health officials said the speed of transmission was slowing thanks to the lockdown, in place until May 3. The "doubling rate" - the number of days it takes infections to multiply by two - had increased to 7.5 days, up from 3.4 days before the lockdown, health ministry joint secretary Lav Agarwal said. "This is an extremely positive trend," he said. CORONVIRUS SCARES CLOSE TO POWER IN AFGHANISTAN, PAKISTAN In Pakistan, Edhi, the charity group leader diagnosed with COVID-19, said he had met Prime Minister Khan last week to hand him a cheque to help fund the nation's fight against the coronavirus. Neither was wearing a mask in the picture the government released after the meeting in Islamabad. During a televised briefing on Tuesday, Dr. Faisal Sultan, the prime minister's personal physician, who is also the country's focal person for COVID-19, said Khan would heed advice to undergo testing. Khan was present at the briefing too. The prime minister has held a number of meetings over the last few days, including chairing a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. He met the president and intelligence chief a day earlier. Pakistan has relaxed its lockdown to allow essential industries and services to resume operations. It also lifted restrictions on mosque congregations as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan starts later this week. In Afghanistan, Ghani, 70, had limited most of his contact with staff to digital communication after some came down with COVID-19. The president is healthy and is leading government efforts on all fronts. All precautions are in place to make sure his work environment is safe and healthy, his spokesman, Sediq Sediqqi, said on Twitter. Here are official government figures on the spread of the coronavirus in South Asia: * India has reported 18,984 cases, including 603 deaths * Pakistan has reported 9,216 cases, including 192 deaths * Afghanistan has reported 1,092 cases, including 35 deaths * Sri Lanka has reported 310 cases, including seven deaths * Bangladesh has reported 2,948 cases, including 101 deaths * Maldives has reported 34 cases and no deaths * Nepal has reported 32 cases and no deaths * Bhutan has reported six cases and no deaths (Additional reporting by Nigam Prusty, C.K.Nayak in New Delhi, Gibran Peshimam and Asif Shahzad in Islamabad, Ruma Paul in Dhaka, Gopal Sharma in Kathmandu; Writing by Sanjev Miglani; Editing by Mark Heinrich) A doctor adjusts his visor before performing a mouth swab on a patient to test for for Coronavirus Covid-19 in a new tent extension of Danish National Hospital Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, Denmark, on April 2, 2020. (Niels Christian Vilmann/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images) Skin Rashes a Possible Symptom of CCP Virus, Researchers Say Skin rashes could be another surprising symptom of COVID-19, according to doctors. Dr. Joanna Harp, a dermatologist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, told ABC News that she has spotted a number of CCP virus patients who have red rashes on their legs, arms, and buttocks. It is not yet known what causes the clotting tendency in these patients, but there is some suggestion that the virus may overstimulate the immune system in certain patients, Harp said. And this overzealous immune response could somehow trigger a downstream clotting tendency. She said that the skin rashes might be associated with a heightened tendency for COVID-19 patients to suffer from blood clotting. Dr. Rajeev Fernando, an infectious disease expert in Southampton, New York, noted that hes seen a number of patients with rashes. Its often an erythematous [red] rash, he told Prevention.com, adding that the rash is diffused, or spread out, and other times its localized to one area. Medical personnel move a deceased patient to a refrigerated truck serving as a makeshift morgue at Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York City on April 9, 2020. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images) Another report published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology found that one patient in Thailand with a confirmed case of COVID-19 developed a skin rash called petechiae, which are tiny, circular patches that arent raised. The patient was originally misdiagnosed with dengue fever, which commonly causes petechiae, only to later be diagnosed with COVID-19, according to the Prevention report. According to the ABC News report, one in five COVID-19 patients had a skin problem, including hives or a red rash, said Italian researchers in a case study. The American Academy of Dermatology, meanwhile, set up a registry for doctors and dermatologists who are treating CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus patients as well as patients who have a rash. Our hope is that information you and others provide will help us understand dermatologic manifestations of the COVID-19 virus, the website says. Another unusual symptom that might be associated with the virus are lesions on the feet, said the Spanish General Council of Official Podiatrist Colleges. A Los Angeles woman, who contracted the virus, had told KABC-TV her toe was turning blue, and it just was so painful. The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Partys coverup and mismanagement allowed the virus to spread throughout China before it was transmitted worldwide. LONDON (Reuters) - The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 has started to decline in London but not elsewhere in the United Kingdom, England's Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van-Tam said on Tuesday. "It shows that we are not out of danger at this point, and that the curve is flat, but not very clearly going down in many parts of the country," he said. "I'm sure it will go down in the days and weeks that follow, but we must keep pushing on this, and we must bend that curve, through our actions," Van-Tam added during the government's daily coronavirus news conference. (Reporting by Costas Pitas and Paul Sandle, writing by Estelle Shirbon; editing by Stephen Addison) Researchers at the University of Louisville believe they have developed a method that blocks the coronavirus from infecting human cells. In an announcement Wednesday, researches said the methodology involves synthetic DNA, which targets and binds to human protein. Early tests, the university said, show the DNA may stop the virus from replicating inside the human body. Louisville has already filed an application with the Food and Drug Administration seeking approval to begin treating patients with severe cases of COVID-19. The synthetic DNA, or aptamer, was discovered by Louisvilles Paula Bates, John Trent and Don Miller. They previously have applied it in a variety of ways, including as a potential therapeutic drug against multiple types of cancer, the university said. Like many scientists, as soon as I heard about the new coronavirus, I wanted to help and started to think about how my area of research might intersect with coronavirus research efforts, Bates, a professor of medicine, said in a statement. I am fortunate to be at UofL, which is one of the few places in the country where we have the facilities to do experiments using the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Researchers continue to try to find methods to combat the coronavirus as it continues to spread across the United States. More than 45,000 people have died as a result of the virus. On Tuesday, the Massachusetts Department of Health said the state has experienced more than 41,000 cases of the coronavirus with 1,961 deaths. On Tuesday, researchers said hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug that President Donald Trump has said is a game-changer in the fight against the coronavirus, showed no benefits to patients suffering from the virus. Many experts believe a COVID-19 vaccine wont be widely available until the spring of 2021. Johnson and Johnson are scheduled to begin clinical testing on a potential vaccine in the fall. The company said it hopes to have an affordable vaccine available globally in early 2021. Related Content: Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 12:26:07|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, April 21 (Xinhua) -- An overwhelming majority of Americans are in favor of the current stay-at-home orders to stem the spread of COVID-19, despite the White House persistent push to ease social distancing restrictions and reopen its country, a new poll has suggested. The Reuters-Ipsos survey released on Tuesday found that 72 percent of Americans, including 55 percent of Republicans, 88 percent of Democrats and 70 percent of independents, support quarantine measures remaining in effect until "doctors and public health officials say it is safe." The findings came as several U.S. states move to reopen their communities in response to the protests in various state capitals against social-distancing requirements. As of 8:00 p.m. EST on Tuesday (0000 GMT Wednesday), there have been more than 823,786 cases of coronavirus in the United States and at least 44,999 people have died from the disease, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. On Thursday, the Trump administration unveiled guidelines for a phased reopening of the U.S. economy amid the pandemic that has grounded the nation to a halt. "My administration is issuing new federal guidelines that will allow governors to take a phased and deliberate approach to reopening their individual states," Trump said at a White House press conference. "Governors will be empowered to tailor an approach that meets the diverse circumstances they have in their own states," he said. The guidelines have raised concerns among public health experts. Many have insisted that the country needs significant testing capacity and a comprehensive contact-tracing program in place to safely reopen, with some warning reopening too quickly could cause the disease to spread further. Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Robert Redfield warned Tuesday that a second wave of the novel coronavirus will be far more dire because it is likely to coincide with the start of flu season, according to a report by The Washington Post. "There's a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through," Redfield was quoted as saying. "When I've said this to others, they kind of put their head back, they don't understand what I mean." In order to heal the severe wounds the coronavirus has inflicted on the national economy, the U.S. Senate on Tuesday passed a relief package that would increase funding for small businesses, hospitals and coronavirus testing. The swift passage by a voice vote came after congressional Democrats reached an agreement with the Trump administration on the 484-billion-U.S.-dollar relief package earlier in the day. The package will provide more than 310 billion dollars in additional funding for the Paycheck Protection Program to boost small business lending, as well as 75 billion dollars for hospitals, and 25 billion dollars for coronavirus testing, according to Democratic leaders. New York state, the hardest-hit in the country, said it cannot reopen for business until a testing regime has been established to determine who is safe to return to work, and will reopen at a different rate on a regional basis, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday at a news briefing. Meanwhile, several other U.S. states, such as Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Illinois and Louisiana, have recently announced plans intended to restart economy and public life in their states. Enditem - The Department of Health (DOH) reported that there are 111 new cases of COVID-19 in the Philippines on Wednesday - The total number of confirmed cases in the country is now at 6,710 - Meanwhile, 39 additional patients recovered from COVID-19, the total of survivors is now 693 - However, there are 9 more fatalities recorded, raising the death toll to 446 PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed The Department of Health (DOH) announced on its website that there are 111 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the Philippines. KAMI learned that the total number of cases is now at 6,710, as of April 22 (Wednesday). As posted by the Philippine Star on Facebook, 39 more patients survived COVID-19. The total number of recoveries is now at 693. However, there were 9 more deaths reported, making a total of 446 fatalities. As of April 21 (Tuesday), the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported that there are 1,084 confirmed COVID-19 cases among Filipinos living abroad. Meanwhile, 269 of the patients were able to recover, but the death toll has risen to 153. The health department also reiterated that as of posting time, there is still no proven cure or treatment for COVID-19. The DOH also observed that the local transmission of COVID-19 in the country is slowing down. PAY ATTENTION: Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news! In a previous report by KAMI, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that President Rodrigo Duterte will give a P10 million reward for any Filipino who can develop a vaccine against COVID-19. The coronavirus disease or COVID-19 was first reported in Wuhan, China. As of now, there are over 2.5 million cases of COVID-19 globally. Please like and share our amazing Facebook posts to support the KAMI team! Dont hesitate to comment and share your opinions about our stories either. We love reading about your thoughts and views on different matters! In our new episode, we show you all of the essential rules to follow amid the COVID-19 crisis in our country! Check out all of the exciting videos and celebrity interviews on our KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel! Source: KAMI.com.gh As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to create struggles and hardships for Nebraskans, people across our state are rising to the myriad of challenges. We are adjusting in ways many of us never imagined would be necessary, be it the way we communicate with one another, the way we work, the way we shop, the way we eat or the way we exercise our civic duties. We are living up to our states reputation of being resourceful and remarkably adaptive to change. One of the easier adjustments that thousands of Nebraskans are making during this time is simple but vitally important voting by mail (VBM). As state senators representing Lincoln and Lancaster County, we ask you to join us in voting by mail for this primary election. Although the polls will still be open on May 12, voting by mail is the safest and easiest way to make your voices heard during this pandemic. This year, our Secretary of State has made the process even easier by sending every Nebraska voter a vote-by-mail request card. Vote by mail process * If you have not sent your VBM request card to the election commission yet, simply fill it out, put a stamp on it and place it in the mailbox. Award-winning conservationists and filmmakers Dereck and Beverly Joubert said lockdowns around the world due to COVID-19 have created a chance to reimagine relations with the natural world and for young people to continue pushing for change. The husband and wife team were filmed with lions in the Mara Plains in Kenya in a section of a National Geographic film to mark 50 years of Earth Day. Born Wild: The Next Generation highlights how species are faring and the chances for their survival. The film also sees actor Chris Hemsworth head to southern Queensland's Currumbin Wildlife Hospital and NSW charity organisation Friends of the Koala to spotlight their rehabilitation efforts following the devastating summer bushfires. Dereck Joubert insists that we must seize on the coronavirus pandemic to push for a healthier environment. Social media giant Facebook has invested Rs 43,574 crore ($5.7 Billion) in Reliance Jio Platforms for a 9.99% equity stake Social media giant Facebook has invested Rs 43,574 crores ($5.7 Billion) in Reliance Jio Platforms for a 9.99% equity stake, making it the largest investment in the Indian technology sector. Reliance Jio Platforms is a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd that brings together Jios telecom prowess, its bouquet of app services and the companys Jio Fiber FTTH service under one roof. This particular entity makes up Jio Platforms which is expected to be valued at Rs 4.62 lakh crore (pre-money enterprise value). With this investment by Facebook into Jio Platforms, India inches one step closer in making its own WeChat-like super app by leveraging Facebooks popular instant messaging platform, WhatsApp. As has been reported previously, Reliance and Facebook are in talks to create a multi-purpose app built off the back of WhatsApp that caters to over 400 million users and considers India as its the biggest market worldwide. To this effect, Reliance Retail, Jio Platforms and WhatsApp are collaborating to build the companys new commercial arm, JioMart. JioMart platform will use WhatsApp as a bridge to support small and medium businesses in India. While the app is still in development, Reliance has revealed that its partnering with millions of small businesses and Kirana store owners to help them reach a wider populace by providing them with products and services from JioMart. The company also says that the service will be used for a seamless transaction using WhatsApp. For instance, by bringing together JioMart, Jios small business initiative, with the power of WhatsApp, we can enable people to connect with businesses, shop and ultimately purchase products in a seamless mobile experience, said David Fischer, Chief Revenue Officer, and Ajit Mohan, VP and Managing Director, India in a statement to the press. As per our earlier report, Facebook and WhatsApp could be creating Indias super app that will let users shop for essential goods such as groceries and apparels, and pay the businesses via JioMoney, the companys payments app thats hinted to be integrated with the service in some form or the other. The partnership between Facebook and Jio Platforms aims to empower over 60 million micro and SMBs, 120 million farmers and 30 million small merchants to help them reach more customers and in turn boost their businesses. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook said, We're making a financial investment, and more than that, we're committing to work together on some major projects that will open up commerce opportunities for people across India. Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries Ltd, said, All of us at Reliance are therefore humbled by the opportunity to welcome Facebook as our long-term partner in continuing to grow and transform the digital ecosystem of India for the benefit of all Indians. The synergy between Jio and Facebook will help realise Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modis Digital India Mission with its two ambitious goals Ease of Living and Ease of Doing Business for every single category of Indian people without exception. The concept of an Indian super app is similar to Chinas WeChat that has become a very important service, ingrained into the lifestyle of its citizens. Much like how WhatsApp is excessively popular in India. Having said that, WeChat fell prey to Chinas totalitarian regime and its mass surveillance system as its now monitored by the government. In stark contrast, India being the worlds largest democracy is seeing its biggest conglomerate and the government play with an idea of a multi-purpose app thats backed by the worlds most popular social media company, Facebook. And while this could have far-reaching implications on the economy, lifestyle and society in general, well have to wait to find out just how this super app takes shape. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The city will begin contact tracing individuals who test positive for COVID-19 next month when widespread testing becomes readily available. Mayor Bill de Blasio said the citys new plan, Test and Trace, will be the only way to move from widespread transmission to low-level transmission of the coronavirus. Its what you deserved all along and would have done if we had the testing from day one, de Blasio said. The plan to test and trace will not be able to begin until the city has access to more tests, de Blasio said. He said New York City has made some progress on testing but the federal government still has not done all it could to provide tests to the city. Next month the city will be able to produce 50,000 test kits per week with the help of local companies and universities and will purchase an additional 50,000 per week from Aria Diagnostics, a private company in Carmel, Indiana. This does not let the federal government off the hook, de Blasio said. The city is scouting public buildings throughout the city where residents can get tested once the testing kits have been produced which will help ease the burden on hospitals and testing sites that are already established. CITY WILL PROVIDE RESOURCES TO POSITIVE PATIENTS De Blasio said if you test positive, the city will provide resources to help with every step going forward: transportation, isolation, medical, and re-testing. An interview through a call center will take place to determine who the positive person has come in contact with so they can be tested as well. If those people have tested positive, they will be isolated and go through the same process. *** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK *** Tracing is literally hunting down each and every individual who contracts this disease, following up with them and all of the people theyve been in contact with. Thats where we have to go; to the maximum extent humanly possible, he said. If a person cant be isolated at home, transportation to and from a hotel will be provided where a person can isolate for the 14-day period, he said. De Blasio said its unfortunate what has happened to the hostel industry and its employees, however, it has opened up thousands of rooms for people to isolate. When in isolation, food, laundry, and medication refills will be provided for those residents, as well as frequent tele-medicine check-ins with clinicians. We will be in constant contact with people in isolation, he said. Additionally, people will need to be re-tested after their isolation and symptoms are gone to see if they are still positive for COVID-19. The mayor acknowledged that this is a huge undertaking, saying it will take thousands and thousands of people to do this the right away. Were going to build an apparatus to keep expanding, he said. Its going to be an intense fight. FOLLOW KRISTIN F. DALTON ON TWITTER. The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on Wednesday said it settled 10.02 lakh claims, including 6.06 lakh coronavirus cases, in just over two weeks. The claims were settled under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) in 15 working days, the EPFO said in a statement. The settlement includes disbursal of Rs 3,601 crore which included Rs 1,954 crore coronavirus claims, it added. "Despite only one-third staff being able to work due to lockdown, 90% of COVID-19 claims have been settled in three working days, setting new standards of service delivery," the EPFO said. The government launched the PMGKY to help economically-weaker sections cope with the coronavirus pandemic. A provision for withdrawal from the EPF scheme to fight the pandemic was announced by the government in March. The provision provides for non-refundable withdrawal to the extent of basic wages and dearness allowance for three months or up to 75 per cent of the amount standing to member's credit in the EPF account, whichever is less. The top three exempted establishments in terms of the amount disbursed for coronavirus claims are Neyveli Lignite Corporation (Rs 84.4 crore), Tata Consultancy Services (Rs 43.3 crore) and Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (Rs 40.9 crore). Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a press conference on March 26 said that EPFO subscribers could withdraw 75 per cent of balance or three month wages as non-refundable advance, whichever is lower. The scheme would benefit 80 lakh employees of nearly 4 lakh establishments, she said. EPFO recently said that Rs 481.63 crore have been disbursed to 40,826 provident fund members for their needs arising out of the coronavirus pandemic. Also read: Facebook-Jio deal: JioMart, WhatsApp to empower 3 crore kirana shops, says Mukesh Ambani A jellyfish was filmed gliding in a Venetian canal after the city's emblematic waterways became their clearest in living memory because of the coronavirus lockdown. Zoologist Andrea Mangoni filmed the creature swimming in 'exceptionally calm' waters near the city's Bareteri Bridge last week. The barrel jellyfish was visible through the water of the canals, which are usually murky but now clear enough to see schools of fish. With boats and gondolas coming to a standstill because of Italy's nationwide shutdown, the dirty sediment in the canals has been able to settle at the bottom without being churned about - making the surface clearer, it is believed. A barrel jellyfish swims in a Venetian canal last week, after the city's famous waterways became their clearest in living memory because of the coronavirus lockdown White swans have also roaming been the canals in a city where the usually overloaded piazzas and alleyways have become almost deserted, while air pollution has declined across northern Italy. The city is usually one of the world's most popular tourist destinations, attracting more than a million visitors from China alone last year. But the Venice tourist industry had already suffered a blow last year when 'apocalyptic' floods ravaged the lagoon city. A spokesman for the Venice mayor's office told CNN last month that 'the water now looks clearer because there is less traffic on the canals, allowing the sediment to stay at the bottom'. 'It's because there is less boat traffic that usually brings sediment to the top of the water's surface,' they said. 'The air, however, is less polluted since there are less vaporetti and boat traffic than usual because of the restricted movement of residents.' One Venetian local, Marco Capovilla, said he 'had never seen' the water so clear after filming some of the fish under the surface. Local resident Capovilla, 40, described the 'striking' clarity of the water in contrast to the usually dirty canals. 'The city doesn't have sewers, so normally everything goes into the canals, including detergents and cosmetics,' the estate agent said. 'Thanks to the quarantine, we are experiencing a cleaner environment.' Fish swimming in the canals in Venice last month with the Italian economy grinding to a halt because of coronavirus, sparking a drop in pollution Clearer than ever: Schools of fish are visible under the usually murky water of Venetian canals in the wake of Italy's coronavirus lockdown. Sediment is no longer being brought to the surface since boat rides have effectively stopped The usual picture: Tourists enjoy gondola rides through the murky canals in May 2019, with a nearby bridge also packed What they usually look like: A murky canal is pictured on February 28, before most of northern Italy had been locked down Images from a European Space Agency-backed programme have already shown pollution in sharp decline over northern Italy. They include significant reductions in NO2 levels in Venice and other major Italian cities such as Milan, Turin and Bologna. The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service said nitrogen oxide levels appeared to have fallen by around 10 per cent in the early weeks of the lockdown. 'Most of its emissions sources are located at the surface and are generated by human activities such as traffic, production of energy, residential heating, industries,' the group said. However, they warned that some sources of pollution could increase. For example, people may use private cars more often to avoid public transport. Venice landmarks such as St Mark's Square have become almost deserted with gondolas empty in a reversal of the city's usual overcrowding problem. This year's Carnival was cancelled, flights have been scrapped and international travel has ground to a halt. Health workers have been seen spraying streets, swimming pools, plazas, pavements and bridges in what the local council describes as 'exceptional measures'. Schools of fish (left) and white swans (right) on the Venetian canals after pollution levels dropped in northern Italy as the country grinds to a halt Nitrogen dioxide dropped in northern Italy over a three-week period - February 14 (top left), February 24 (top right), March 4 (bottom left) and March 8 (bottom right) - following a month of coronavirus restrictions. The orange shading shows a heavy concentration of air pollution. These images were taken by a European Space Agency-backed satellite An empty Venice after the Italian government locked the country down over coronavirus, with flights scrapped and borders shut White swans near a bridge (pictured left) clear water in the canals (right) and in Venice where the usually overcrowded streets and piazzas have been left deserted because of the coronavirus outbreak [April 20, 2020] Live IP Broadcast Equipment Market - Statistics, Share, Key Country and Regional Forecast 2025 Market Highlights The global live IP broadcast equipment market spans across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the rest of the world. The transition of hardware-oriented products to software-based architecture and the growing demand for over-the-top content are expected to drive the live IP broadcast equipment market during the forecast period. With the increasing speed of mobile networks, the consumer demand for richer content at high resolution such as 4K and 8K is also increasing. As a result, there is a need to switch to a distributed production model that has flexible, on-demand resources and efficient workflows. However, the evolution of broadcasting technology is limiting the growth of the global live IP broadcast equipment market. However, the adoption of 5G connectivity is expected to act as an opportunity for players in the global live IP broadcast equipment market during the forecast period. The geographic analysis of live IP broadcast equipment market has been conducted for North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific), and the rest of the world. North America is expected to dominate the live IP broadcast equipment market during the forecast period. The population in North American spends approximately 4.5 hours every day watching live broadcasts and videos. The region also dominates the overall live IP broadcast market since the broadcast service providers in this region are among the earliest adopters of broadcasting media over IP. Among the major countries in North America, the US exhibited steady growth in the global live IP broadcast equipment market over the last decade as a large number of viewers opt for over-the-top (OTT) content services and live video streaming. Asia-Pacific was the second-largest market in 2018. Japan accounted for the largest market share in 2018; China was the second-largest market in 2018. However, the market in India is expected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The growth of the market in Asia-Pacific is attributed to the presence of two major marketsJapan and China. These countries have registered high adoption of OTT content along with other media on-demand and multicast streaming services. The advent of broadcasting techniques, that is, the transition of traditional point-to-point serial digital interface (SDI)-based infrastructure to an IP infrastructure has encouraged the adoption of IP-based transmission of media across the Asia-Pacific region. In 2018, the rest of Europe segment accounted for the largest market share in 2018; the market in the UK is expected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Germany was the second-largest market in 2018. Europe has adopted IP live broadcasting owing to the increasing demand for high-speed streaming at a specific bandwidth with maximum security. The region also exhibits significant adoption of IP-based broadcasting in several indoor and outdoor premises to enable uninterrupted streaming of conferences, seminars, and other events. Global Live IP Broadcast Equipment Market: Segmentation The global live IP broadcast equipment market has been segmented based on the product, application, and region. Based on product, the market has been classified as encoders and convertor, transmitter and gap fillers, routers & switches, amplifiers, antennas, modulators & repeaters, signal processing unit, video servers, and others. Based on application, the market has been classified as broadcast production centers, broadcast stadium, and outside broadcast vans. The key players of global live IP broadcast equipment market are Cisco Systems Inc. (US), Evertz Microsystems Ltd (Canada), Belden Inc. (US), Sony Corporation (Japan), Eletec Broadcast Telecom SARL (France), Euro Media Group (France), Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Sweden), EVS Broadcast Equipmentt SA (Belgium), Harmonic Inc. (US), ETL Systems Ltd (UK), TAMURA Corporation (Japan) and Ikegami Tsushinki Co., Ltd (Japan). 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[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] North Korean state media has been "unusually silent" on the health or whereabouts of its leader Kim Jong-un after a day of intense international speculation sparked by media reports claiming he was gravely ill. Daily NK, a website based in Seoul, South Korea, reported late on Monday that Mr Kim was hospitalised on 12 April, hours before a cardiovascular procedure. However, the English-language version of the report, which has not been confirmed, said the story was based on a single unnamed source in North Korea. State media has presented a business as usual image, with routine reporting on Mr Kims supposed achievements and some of his older, or undated, comments on issues. Mr Kims name was plastered all over the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper as usual, but there were no reports on his whereabouts. Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un rides a horse during snowfall in Mount Paektu in this image released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency on 16 October 2019 Reuters Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un visits the newly built Pyongyang Orphans' Primary School on 2 February 2017 AFP/Getty Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un inspects a women's company under Unit 5492 of the Korean People's Army in November 2019 AFP/Getty Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un inspects the test-fire of intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-14 at an undisclosed location in July 2017 AFP/Getty Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un celebrates the successful test-fire of the intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-14 at an undisclosed location in July 2017 AFP/Getty Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un inspects a potato at the Samjiyon Potato Factory in North Korea in October 2018 AFP/Getty Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un rides a horse through a forest in this image released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency on 16 October 2019 EPA Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un inspects a block of frozen fish at a processing facility in North Korea in November 2018 Reuters Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un celebrates the succeful launch of a strategic submarine-launched ballistic missile in August 2016 AFP/Getty Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un shakes hands with Donald Trump as they meet for the first time at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore in June 2018 Reuters Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump share a glance as they meet in the Demilitarised Zone in Panmunjon, Korea in June 2019 AFP/Getty Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un inspects mushrooms at Pyongyang Mushroom Farm AFP/Getty Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un inspects a super-large multiple rocket launcher ahead of a test in September 2019 Reuters Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un inspects an apple farm in South Hwanghae Province in September 2017 AFP/Getty Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un inspects an apple farm in South Hwanghae Province in September 2017 AFP/Getty Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un inspects dental wares at a newly built factory in June 2017 AFP/Getty Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un visits Farm No 1116 in September 2017 AFP/Getty Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un visits a motor factory in November 2017 AFP/Getty Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un rides a horse during snowfall in Mount Paektu in this image released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency on 16 October 2019 AFP/Getty Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un inspects the Command of the Strategic Force of the Korean People's Army at an undisclosed location in August 2017 AFP/Getty Meanwhile, South Korean and Chinese officials, along with sources familiar with US intelligence, have cast doubt on media reports claiming Mr Kim is seriously ill. Donald Trump, who held summits with the North Korean leader in 2018 and 2019, said he did not put much credence in the reports. Well see how he does, Mr Trump told a White House news conference on Tuesday. We don't know if the reports are true. A spokesperson for South Korea's presidential Blue House said they could not confirm Mr Kim's whereabouts, or whether he had undergone surgery, and added South Korea had detected no unusual activity in its neighbouring country. Speculation about the North Korean leaders health was first sparked by his absence from the anniversary of the birthday of the countrys founding father and Mr Kims grandfather, Kim II Sung, on 15 April. The Daily NK report claimed Mr Kims health had deteriorated since August due to heavy smoking, obesity and overwork, and said he was now receiving treatment at a villa in the Mount Myohyang resort north of the capital of Pyongyang. It does look like something is going on, based on the repeated absences of last week, Chad OCarroll, CEO of the Korea Risk Group, said. A health issue seems to be the most logical explanation for all this, but whether or not it's cardiac-related seems to be too early to tell. Other North Korea experts have cautioned that it is difficult to find hard facts on Mr Kims condition, but noted that his absence at major celebrations for his grandfathers birthday signalled something was wrong. Thae Yong-ho, a former North Korean deputy ambassador to the UK who defected to South Korea in 2016, said the state media's extended silence was unusual because it had been quick to dispel questions about the status of its leadership in the past. Every time there is controversy about [Mr Kim], North Korea would take action within days to show he is alive and well, he said in a statement. His absence from the 15 April anniversary ceremony, in particular, was unprecedented, Mr Thae said. Additional reporting by Reuters A group calling itself 'Ghana Youth Confederacy' has backed the Electoral Commission (EC) decision to go ahead to compile a new voters' register for this year's general election considering the fact that government agencies are still functional across the country. The EC was expected to commence the compilation of a new voters' register on April 18, 2020 for the December 7 general elections, but because of the outbreak of the coronavirus (Covid-19) disease, it became necessary for the exercise to be postponed. A convener of the group, David Mark-Robertson, said members of the group believed that the EC could put in place precautionary measures including, social distancing protocol, to help contain the spread of the virus during the registration exercise. It will be very suicidal for anyone to advocate for the usage of the existing register to conduct this years general elections, particularly as the EC itself has described the current register as not credible. We are of the strong conviction that if EC fails to compile a new register and uses the existing one for the 2020 general elections, the political parties who are advocating for its usage might turn around to blame it on the EC, in the event that they lose the elections, he said. Mark-Robertson said the EC could consider creating new polling stations to help fast-track the registration process, while adding adhering to the measures to contain the Covid-19. Each polling station must not register more than 550 people. The EC must also ensure that registration days are enough to help discourage panic at registration centres, he suggested. He indicated that the Ghana Youth Confederacy believed the Covid-19 should not be used as an excuse to take away the powers of the EC, and added that the group disagreed with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) that were arguing for the existing register to be used for the impending elections. We believe that it is possible for the EC to embark on this all-important exercise, and so we call on all well-meaning Ghanaians to support the EC to execute its constitutional mandate for the betterment of the nation, he stressed. ---Daily Guide Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 21:02:45|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close GUANGZHOU, April 22 (Xinhua) -- South China's Guangdong Province has conducted nucleic acid tests on 2,100 teachers and students in their final year of junior and senior high schools, local authorities said. No abnormality was found in their nucleic acid tests, according to a press briefing by the Guangdong provincial government Wednesday. Students in graduating classes in junior and senior high schools in Guangdong are scheduled to return to school on April 27. Statistics show that there are nearly 500,000 teachers and staff in the province's 4,853 ordinary high schools, and the number of grade three students back to school is over 1.87 million. All local governments in Guangdong are demanded to purchase and prepare masks for teachers and students to use for 14 days. Temperature measuring equipment, disinfectant, wash-free hand sanitizer, and other epidemic prevention materials must be provided to schools. Guangdong will invite medical staff to instruct all schools to conduct epidemic prevention and control, with each school having at least one medical worker on campus. Enditem BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 22 Trend: AzerEnergy has ambitious plans, and I believe that as a result of a consistent policy, all of them will be implemented, said Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev during the opening of the newly-reconstructed main control, scientific, training and laboratory complex of AzerEnergy Open Joint Stock Company in Baku, Trend reports. Restoration work is also underway at other power plants. I am sure that we will achieve our goals in this direction. All this work, as well as stability, calm, economic development of our country, growth of the industrial potential and, at the same time the construction of energy lines with neighboring countries contribute to the fact that foreign investors are already showing great interest in this area. We always wanted that. But seeing that foreign investors do not show interest in this area, we carry out all the work ourselves. A certain part of this work was covered by a loan but the main part was resolved at the expense of our own funds, and today Azerbaijan has one of the most efficient energy systems on a global scale. This is also confirmed by a report of the Davos World Economic Forum. I am saying this for a reason. In particular, the report of the Forum ranks Azerbaijan second in the world in terms of the accessibility of electricity. Just imagine in second place. Only one country is ahead of us. So we are ahead of many developed countries. And we have done that in a short time, said the head of state. President Ilham Aliyev noted that our independence is not even 30 years old. When we became an independent country, our energy economy was in a terrible state. It came into an even more terrible state afterwards. We remember those years. A certain company called Barmek appeared here, which, on the basis of shady dealings and conspiracy with former officials, took possession of the entire energy sector of the city of Baku and, instead of investing money, brought this system to a deplorable state and took millions outside of Azerbaijan. As if this wasnt enough, it even wanted to sue us. On my instruction, an end was put to that dirty conspiracy, this fraudulent company was expelled from Azerbaijan and the AzerIshig Joint Stock Company was set up on my order. It was me who called it AzerIshig. We returned all our energy facilities into state ownership. If we hadnt done this, we would have lived in darkness today, the entire property of AzerEnergy would have been plundered, including this building. Imagine, they put up a 13,000-square-meter building for privatization and tried to sell it for nothing. If I hadnt found that out, if they hadnt informed me, if I hadnt given the order, they would have sold it. And look at what a beautiful building you are located in now. This is practically the main center to regulate our energy system. SCADA system, dispatch system, control system everything is here. Where else could these be placed? They wanted to destroy our energy system, said President Ilham Aliyev. The head of state pointed out that therefore, our citizens should know and remember this, remember where we started and where we are now we are in second place in the world. At present, our energy potential underpins the growing economy. In the first three months of this year although oil prices fell and the coronavirus pandemic seriously affected our country non-oil industry growth was 23 percent. All these growing industrial enterprises require energy. Generation, transmission, uninterrupted supply all this is provided today. Therefore, I believe that the opening of this building today has a huge symbolic meaning. Naturally, the Institute, the Main Control Center, the Training and Laboratory Center, and the Dispatch Center are located here. At the same time, this reflects the new face of our energy system. This building was removed from auction and returned to power engineers, to its actual owners. Therefore, citizens working in this building must honor their duty. They must make sure that our energy supply is always at a high level. At the same time, a lot still remains to be done. AzerEnergy has ambitious plans, and I believe that as a result of a consistent policy, all of them will be implemented, said President Ilham Aliyev. Veteran actor Mithun Chakraborty's father, Basantakumar Chakraborty, has passed away due to kidney failure. He was 95. Basantakumar Chakraborty was battling age-related health issues and breathed his last on Tuesday evening, according to Mithun Chakraborty's younger son, Namashi Chakraborty. "Yes, my grandfather passed away last evening due to kidney failure," Namashi Chakraborty told PTI. Namashi Chakraborty said his actor-father is stuck in Bengaluru due to the coronavirus-led nationwide lockdown. Mithun Chakraborty is trying to come to Mumbai for the last rites, his son added. Bengali actor Rituparna Sengupta took to Twitter to offer condolences to the actor and his family. "My deep condolences on the sudden demise of your father, Mithun Da. Stay strong may his soul rest in peace forever," Sengupta tweeted on Wednesday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) 22.04.2020 LISTEN The Communications Director of the opposition NDC, Sammy Gyamfi has accused government of being economical with information regarding its update of confirmed Covid-19 cases on its dedicated website. He said the move by government is to suppress data on our true COVID-19 situation. According to the NDC firebrand, Government reported a total of 1,042 COVID-19 positive cases on the Ghana Health Service website on the 13th of April (9 days ago) and subsequently changed it to 834. His comment follows a similar concern raised by a former Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa, who has been demanding an explanation regarding the accuracy of data provided by the government since the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus in Ghana. He also alleged that Ghanas current case count of 1,042 had already been published on the governments dedicated website for COVID-19 cases but was deleted and changed minutes after thereby raising suspicion of data manipulation. "There is no gainsaying the fact that, the timely dissemination of information is critical to our collective fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. In line with international best practice, we need daily updates directly from Testing Institutions and not government-controlled institutions on our COVID-19 situation as it pertains currently," Sammy Gyamfi posited. Read full statement below: COMRADE SAMMY GYAMFI WRITES: Folks, Government reported a total of 1,042 COVID-19 positive cases on the Ghana Health Service website on the 13th of April (9 days ago) and subsequently changed it to 834, all in an effort to suppress data on our true COVID-19 situation, an incident which has been condemned by no less a person than the renowned Pathologist, Professor Agyemang Badu Akosa. It is interesting to note, that the 1,042 figure has remained unchanged despite the fact that media stations like Joy FM, Class FM among others, reported newly recorded positive cases in the northern, Eastern and Ashanti regions, in their evening news bulletins yesterday. Dr. Nsiah Asare (Presidential Advisor on Health) assured the nation on PM Express that the Ghana Health Service was going to update their website to reflect the new recorded positive cases by close day yesterday. Yet, that has not been done as we speak. This undue delay in updating our positive cases, is part of a deliberate attempt by government to suppress data on our true COVID-19 situation. There is no gainsaying the fact that, the timely dissemination of information is critical to our collective fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. In line with international best practice, we need daily updates directly from Testing Institutions and not government-controlled institutions on our COVID-19 situation as it pertains currently. Ghanaians deserve better. People's lives matter more than political gains. SAMMY GYAMFI Esq. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott painted a positive picture of the states battle against COVID-19 on Tuesday, but said its not yet time to fully reopen the economy. Abbott said Tuesday the number of people testing positive for the coronavirus is leveling off and has remained mostly under 1,000 new cases a day even as testing has accelerated. He said that on April 9, Texas had more than 1,000 people test positive for COVID-19, but hasnt hit that number in 12 straight days. Its not because COVID-19 is suddenly dispersed from the geography of the state of Texas, Abbott said. The reason why it is leveling off is because our fellow Texans have done such a great job of reducing their interactions with others. TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox The state continues to see about a 10 percent infection rate for those tested, and the death toll has now surpassed 500 people. The time for total cases to double has grown to 15 days, another good sign. Those hospitalized for the infection remain level at around 1,400 per day. The governor said he is in touch with private sector employers and health professionals and is hoping to have an announcement soon on reopening more parts of the economy that have been closed since he issued his initial stay-at-home order on March 31. Last week, he announced a team of more than four dozen advisers many of them wealthy campaign donors to help guide a phased reopening. The governor plans to unveil their first round of recommendations on Monday, including a decision on whether to roll back the stay-at-home order. Abbott continued to highlight the states improved testing capabilities, though Texas has been among the lowest in testing per capita.. Texas has now tested over 205,000 people about 15,000 more than were reported on Monday. The testing rate fluctuates by day, and in the past has typically been higher earlier in the week. We continue this ongoing increase in the number of people who are tested, Abbott said. But he noted that some of the drive-thru testing sites have been empty at times, according to satellite images. "I don't know if it's because people aren't feeling like they have any symptoms, or if inadequate information is being given," Abbott said. Companies including Walgreens have recently opened new sites in Harris and Dallas counties, but are taking patients by appointment only. Prime Minister Sanchez, seeking ratification of the latest extension to the state of alarm, told Congress on Wednesday that there is a "de-escalation horizon" in the second half of May. The extension until 11 May, Sanchez said, was "essential". But he stressed that in asking for a further extension, he was able, for the first time, to "envisage what life could be like once the acute phase has passed". There is a "prudently optimistic scenario", but he insisted that "false steps" must be avoided. Spain will at all times follow World Health Organization criteria for the new phase that the country will face. In the second half of May, he added, the conditions of the state of alarm will be changing. Decisions on freedom of movement will depend on the evolution of the disease. Emphasising that there must be utmost caution and prudence, he said that as the risk "progressively" decreases, the state of alarm can be modified. Sanchez explained that the health minister, Salvador Illa, is to be given powers to issue instructions that may differ according to location. These will apply to the movement of people, to commercial activity, such as the reopening of bars and restaurants, and to places for leisure and culture. Over the period of the new extension, the fortnight starting on Monday, the prime minister indicated that rules on limiting travel and commercial activity may vary. A Michigan man who served 44 years in prison for murder and was 24 days away from his release has died from the coronavirus. William Garrison, 60, passed away unexpectedly after his bunk mate found him gasping for air in their two-person cell at the Macomb Correctional Facility in Lenox Township, Michigan, on April 13, a prison spokesman says. Garrison was given CPR by prison staff and rushed to a hospital where he passed away. A post-mortem examination confirmed that he was postive for COVID-19. William Garrison, 60, passed away unexpectedly after an inmate found him gasping at the Macomb Correctional Facility, in Lenox Township, Michigan, on April 13 Garrison was given CPR by prison staff at the Macomb Correctional Facility (pictured) and rushed to a hospital where he passed away. A post-mortem examination confirmed that he was postive for COVID-19, say prison officials Garrison's passing comes after he turned down parole earlier this year so he could finish his sentence and walk out a 'completely free man', but was given a second chance to regain his freedom by May 13th, as officials worked on reducing the prison population in light of COVID-19, reports the Detroit Free Press. He was one of 17 state prisoners who have died from the virus. So far, there have been 32,967 confirmed cases in Michigan of the coronavirus, which has been blamed for 2,700 deaths. Across the US there have been 837,633 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 46,720 deaths. Across the US there have been 837,633 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 46,720 deaths A look at the number of new coronavirus cases in the US over time A look at the number of new coronavirus infections in the US over time A day-to-day look at the number of deaths in the US resulting from the coronavirus Garrison had repented for the murder of a man he shot at age 16 during a home invasion robbery, says his sister Yolanda Peterson, reports WEWS. Her brother had been sentenced to life, but was re-sentenced in January after the US Supreme Court banned life-without-parole sentences for juveniles two years ago. Instead of life, Garrison was given in January 40 to 90 years in prison, and by then had already served his minimum for time served. He was granted parole in February, before the first cases related to COVID-19 appeared in Michigan. But Garrison wanted to delay his freedom. He said he wanted to wait out the remainder of his sentence, which, at that time, would have ended on Sept. 4, said a spokesman for the Michigan Department of Corrections. Garrison had even been awarded more than 7,000 days of 'good time' credits, said the spokesman. 'What he told the board was, 'I would rather stay in here until September and walk out a completely free man rather than walk out right now and be on parole and have to report to a parole agent and have to go through all that,''' the spokesman Chris Gautz told ABC News. When the pandemic began impacting Michigan, prison officials, pressure began mounting on officials to reduce the state's prison population. 'We started proactively looking for individuals who were elderly, who might be more prone to contracting the virus. So, he popped up on our list,' Gautz said. 'We went to him again and said, 'Hey look, we tried to parole you before and you didn't want to go, but now that this virus is here and you're over the age of 60, and the experts say that you're more prone to get it, we'd like to consider you for parole again.'' Garrison accepted the offer the second time and his release was eagerly awaited by his sister. 'I'm grieving right now,' Peterson said Tuesday while practicing statewide coronavirus stay-at-home orders issued by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. 'I'm the only person who closely stood with my brother for 44 years and walked this road with him. We're heartbroken because he was coming home. Justice should be served because my brother shouldn't have died.' Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-23 01:11:10|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BANGKOK, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Wednesday on its website that the Thai government had approved another round of automatic visa extension for foreigners residing in the country. Foreigners whose visas had expired since March 26 will be permitted to stay until July 31 without having to apply for an extension, said in the ministry's website. The first round of visa extension was granted until April 30. The Thai Immigration Bureau earlier proposed to the Thai Cabinet meeting for the second round of visa extension so as to prevent crowding and long queues at immigration offices. The Thai government said earlier that the current COVID-19 outbreak remains unresolved and the government does not want to see foreigners crowding at immigration offices which may lead to risk of infections. Enditem Devan Hromcik traveled from her home in Boise, Idaho, where she works for Saint Alphonsus Regional Hospital, to Metro Detroit where she is serving on the front line at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland. We are grateful for all these nurses for volunteering to join colleagues in other places to meet the needs of this public health crisis and provide the most personal of services caring for our members in body, mind and spirit. With COVID-19 cases surging at different times in different regions of the country, nearly 200 Trinity Health nurses are answering the call by temporarily leaving their homes and families to work alongside nurses in some of the hardest-hit communities. Throughout Trinity Health, registered nurses specializing in critical care and other crucial areas are voluntarily being reassigned to work in hospitals and senior living centers at the nations COVID-19 hot spots. Through the systems FirstChoice program, nurses transfer on a temporary basis to quickly fill gaps from one health care organization to another, wherever the need may arise due to patient surges. We are all here to serve together as a compassionate and healing presence within our communities, Michael A. Slubowski, FACHE, FACMPE, president and chief executive officer, Trinity Health. We are grateful for all these nurses for volunteering to join colleagues in other places to meet the needs of this public health crisis and provide the most personal of services caring for our members in body, mind and spirit. They have many choices of where to share their gifts and talents, and we are fortunate that they choose to serve as a member of the Trinity Health family. Over the past few weeks, registered nurses have been redeployed to Trinity Health hospitals in Southeast Michigan; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Silver Spring, Maryland and the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area. The nurses hail from Trinity Health regions that have yet to see patient surges, such as St. Josephs Health in Syracuse, New York; St. Marys Health Care System, Athens, Georgia and Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, in Boise, Idaho. They work alongside fellow Trinity Health registered nurses and clinicians within their ICUs and COVID units. Boise registered nurse Devan Hromcik, who is now working nights at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland, Michigan, feels called to perform this work: It was definitely a vocational calling for me to help out. The surge of patients hasnt hit Boise, so I thought it would be helpful to utilize the gifts I have to come and help here, because I could. Even nurses who work in administrative roles are once again donning scrubs and protective gear to help patients across Trinity Health, like husband and wife, Kyle and Scotti McDaniel. Working as a director of System Care Management for Trinity Health, Kyle volunteered to be redeployed within acute care settings without being prompted. Scotti, who works in clinical documentation at St. Joseph Mercy, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, answered the call to serve alongside the frontline staff of her hospital when asked by leadership. Scotti now serves on a COVID unit at St. Joes. Our direct care givers are critical to the successful outcomes of our patients, communities and ministries, said Kyle, who since early April has been redeployed within two different hospitals in Southeast Michigan. It is truly my pleasure and blessing to have the ability to serve alongside them and to support these great team members however I can. To further support the colleagues who are voluntarily serving around the countrys COVID-19 hot spots, Trinity Health is providing for all the nurses travel, lodging and food expenses through the its FirstChoice program. Although FirstChoice Travel Program typically only deploys registered nurses who serve specifically as traveling nurses throughout Trinity Health, the program has stepped up to help facilitate the redeployment of any Trinity Health nurse who works at a local hospital who feels called to serve during this pandemic. By handling the travel plans and expenses at the administrative level, we can relieve the nurses from a few extra worries and ensure that they are safe when they stay in hotels, use rental car companies and whatever else they may need, said Nicole Roberson, director, FirstChoice, Trinity Health. FirstChoice also assists Trinity Health nurses with the required paperwork for licensure across state lines, should they be redeployed out-of-state. Local hospitals in the hardest hit communities are expressing their gratitude to these nurses who are called to serve. As we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic here in Michigan, we have received an outpouring of support from across our Trinity Health family, said Nickolas Nickolopoulos, vice president, Patient Care Services and chief nursing officer, St. Mary Mercy Livonia, Michigan. Our staff welcomes the arrival of Trinity Health colleagues, and we look forward to the contributions they will make to the health and wellbeing of our community. For more information on how Trinity Health is helping our communities through COVID-19, please visit http://www.trinity-health.org/coronavirus. For any nurse interested in learning more about FirstChoice, please text Choice to 40458 or visit http://www.trinity-health.org/firstchoice. About Trinity Health Trinity Health is one of the largest multi-institutional Catholic health care delivery systems in the nation, serving diverse communities that include more than 30 million people across 22 states. Trinity Health includes 92 hospitals, as well as 106 continuing care locations that include PACE programs, senior living facilities and home care and hospice services. Its continuing care programs provide nearly 2.5 million visits annually. Based in Livonia, Michigan, and with annual operating revenues of $19.3 billion and assets of $27 billion, the organization returns $1.2 billion to its communities annually in the form of charity care and other community benefit programs. Trinity Health employs about 125,000 colleagues, including about 7,500 employed physicians and clinicians. For more information, visit http://www.trinity-health.org. You can also follow us on Facebook or Twitter. Eight more NHS workers fighting coronavirus on the frontlines have lost their lives to the disease. Julie Penfold, 53, who fostered more than 20 children, died from Covid-19 at Arrowe Park Hospital, Merseyside, it was announced today. She leaves behind two daughters, a son, an adopted daughter, two step-daughters, 11 grandchildren and her husband. Josephine Manini Peter, 55, who survived apartheid in her native South Africa and had plans to return to care for her new granddaughter, died at Southport Hospital, Merseyside. She was sent to work there during the pandemic from her home in Hayes, west London. And Grant Maganga, 56, a father-of-four and mental health nurse at Tameside Hospital, Greater Manchester, has died after catching the disease. More than 100 doctors and nurses have died from Covid-19 so far amid ongoing disputes about the availability of personal protective equipment. Josephine Manini Peter, 55, (left) died at Southport Hospital, Merseyside. She had been sent to work there from her home in Hayes, London. Julie Penfold, 53, (right) died at Arrowe Park Hospital, Merseyside. She had been on leave for 18 months A minute's silence will be held in memory of Ms Penfold at Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Trust where she worked Ms Penfold, known affectionately as Jules, was a staff member at Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Trust but had been on leave for the last 18 months due to health issues, a spokesman for the trust said. Her husband, Nick, said in a heartbreaking statement that when she was at school 'all she ever talked about was being a nurse'. 'She was lovely and never had a bad word to say about anybody and nothing was too much trouble for her,' he said. 'She was always checking on other people and looked after everyone. 'As a mentor she loved training the younger ones and supported a lot of doctors. She was really well-loved. I was really proud of her. She was an exceptional woman.' A minute's silence will be held in her memory at Wirral University Teaching Hospital and a book of condolence is being set up in the hospital's chapel. The trust's chief executive, Janelle Holmes, said: 'Words cannot express how saddened we all are to lose a member of our own team to Covid-19. 'This is truly devastating and my thoughts and sympathy are with Julie's family at this time. She was a valued member of staff who cared so much about others.' Ms Peter was admitted to Southport Hospital and then discharged on April 14. But, when her symptoms worsened, she was taken back in an ambulance. She died on April 18 Ms Peter leaves behind her husband Thabo, her two children Bongani and Buhle and a granddaughter Ms Peter, a mother-of-two who had served the NHS for more than 20 years, has been described as a 'heroine' by her husband. She was admitted to Southport Hospital and then discharged on April 14. An ambulance was then called as her condition worsened, and she was re-admitted. She died on April 18. Long-term friend and fellow nurse Cynthia Charles paid tribute to Ms Peter saying, despite the challenges growing up in Johannesburg during the 1980s, her friend had striven to maintain her education and gain a nursing degree. 'Very kind. Very outgoing, bubbly, you would have her on your guest list if you had a party,' said Ms Charles. 'Her kids had gone back to South Africa and she was planning to go back as well, she just had a granddaughter and wanted to go back to support her family really. 'Everybody is devastated. I've not been able to work for two days. I leave the house and turn around at the gate. 'We are just shocked, we are so worried about ourselves, like, "should I go to work?" I'm going to go home in a coffin. It makes you numb.' A fundraiser has been set up in her memory and has so far raised more than 3,000. It says she was 'whipped and humiliated by the then white ruling party' there but she 'never let it break her spirit'. It said she graduated as a professional nurse at University of Fort Hare and Cecilia Makiwane Hospital, South Africa, in 1998 before moving to the UK in 2002. James Lock, chief executive of Altrix, the nursing agency that employed her, said: 'Josephine was a diligent nurse who was highly regarded and liked by the team. 'She would always go that extra mile and was a pleasure to work with. My team and I send our very best wishes and deepest condolences to Josephine's family.' Grant Maganga worked in rehabilitation at Tameside Hospital, Greater Manchester Mr Maganga has been paid tribute to as a 'true gentleman, a great role model and a wonderful human being', by his employers. He worked in the rehabilitation unit at Tameside Hospital, Pennine Care NHS Trust, which cares for men with severe mental illness. Trust chief executive, Claire Molloy, said: 'We are absolutely devastated by the news and our hearts truly go out to Grants family and everyone who knew him. 'Grant was an incredibly popular, greatly respected and dedicated nurse who was clearly so very caring with all his patients. 'The nature of Hurst Place means that staff spend a lot of time with patients, sometimes over many years, and the patients spoke about the countless times where Grant went above and beyond to care for them. 'His colleagues have also described his great kindness and friendliness, and say that he never had a bad word to say about anyone. They loved his infectious laugh and positivity. A true gentleman, a great role model and a wonderful human being. 'Grant was also a big family man and we are doing everything we can to support them, as well as our colleagues on the unit and patients. 'Thank you to everyone at Tameside Hospital who cared for him with such kindness and compassion. 'This is an awful loss and a terrible and poignant reminder of the incredibly difficult situation that we are facing every day to help others. 'The courage and commitment of our staff, and the NHS workforce across the land, is an inspiration in these difficult times.' Mr Maganga moved to the UK from Malawi, and qualified as a nurse in 2009. He has worked at Hurst Place since it opened. Sadeq Elhowsh, 58, an orthopaedic surgeon who worked at St Helens and Knowley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, died from coronavirus. Pictured with his sons The father-of-four, who died in the hospital he worked at, was described as a 'wonderful husband as well as a devoted father' Sadeq Elhowsh, 58, a 'dedicated and always happy' orthapaedic surgeon described by his colleagues as 'a much-loved member of the team', worked at St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in Merseyside for 17 years before he died at Whiston Hospital. In a tribute to the surgeon, who died in the hospital he worked at, the father-of-four's family said: 'Sadeq was a wonderful husband as well as a devoted father and he dearly loved his family. 'We cannot put into words the depth of our loss. He loved his work and was dedicated to supporting his patients and his colleagues.' Ravi Gudena, Mr Elhowsh's colleague and a consultant orthopaedic surgeon, said: 'Nothing was ever too much trouble for Sadeq, he was always there to help anyone and was happy to do whatever was needed to help his colleagues and patients.' Hospital chief executive Ann Marr OBE added: 'Sadeq will be sadly missed by all who knew and worked with him. He was without doubt a much-loved member of the team.' Juliet Alder, who worked at the Hammersmith and Fulham Mental Health Unit, died from coronavirus aged 58 on Tuesday, April 14 Kirsty Jones, 41, was working at an assessment centre helping in the frontline response. She leaves behind her husband Nigel and two sons, Sam age 14 and Finlay, four Liz Shale, a 61-year-old NHS administration worker from Leeds, died just two days after being rushed to hospital on Tuesday, April 7. Her family, who described her as 'loving and crazy' have pleaded with people to 'take this virus seriously' after they were unable to visit and say goodbye to her before she died at St James's University Hospital and will have to watch her funeral via video link due to new restrictions. Liz Shale, 61, an NHS administration worker from Leeds died two days after she was rushed to hospital The grandmother-of-eight worked for the NHS for more than 20 years and spent the last decade working in palliative care in Bradford. Her son, Danny, said: 'She was funny, loving and crazy, she would do owt for a laugh. She was definitely a character. 'She was always cracking jokes to make them all laugh and keep them motivated. 'She knew she had to keep going to work when this started and started working from home the week before everyone was told to but even though she had been staying at home, she still got it.' He added: 'Our life will never be the same again. My mum wont get to see my children grow up all because of this virus. How people dont realise the impact this has? 'Basically, shes now just seen as another number - a statistic - and it shouldnt be that way. People should know who she was, not see her as another person who died.' Another victim, Kirsty Jones, 41, had been working as a healthcare assistant and recently taken up a position in one of Lanarkshire's Assessment Centres, based in Airdrie Health Centre, to help in the frontline response against the pandemic. Her death sees her leave behind her husband Nigel, and two sons, Sam aged 14 and Finlay, four. Mr Jones said: 'Kirsty devoted her life to caring for others. She was larger than life itself and was a constant source of happiness for all who were around her. 'Kirsty will be greatly missed by all who knew her. A void has opened in our hearts that will never be filled.' Tributes have also been paid to Khulisani Nkala, a mental health nurse who died on Friday. Khulisani Nkala, 46, worked as a mental health nurse for the Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and died from the virus on Friday The 46-year-old was the first staff member at Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust to died from the virus. Dr Sara Munro, chief executive of the trust, said: 'Khuli was a well-respected and selfless professional nurse who always put the patient first and will be greatly missed by his colleagues.' Juliet Alder, who died from coronavirus aged 58 on Tuesday, April 14, worked at the Hammersmith and Fulham Mental Health Unit supporting older people in the last weeks of their life. She is the first member of the team to die from Covid-19, leaving behind her husband and daughter, and was described by her colleagues as 'kind, caring and thoughtful.' Her coworkers said: 'She was compassionate to patients, colleagues and carers and maternal towards those who came in contact with her. 'Juliet had a beaming smile and an infectious laughter and took great pride in looking after others. Shell be missed by all.' Yesterday it was announced Manjeet Riyat, a 'widely respected' doctor, who became the first Sikh to work as an A&E consultant in Britain, was one of the latest NHS victims of the pandemic. The 52-year-old was described by colleagues at the Royal Derby Hospital as the 'father of the emergency department.' Manjeet Riyat died at the Royal Derby Hospital on Monday (University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Trust/PA) The married father-of-two, who previously worked at Leicester Royal Infirmary and Lincoln County Hospital, has been described as 'instrumental' in building the emergency medicine service in Derbyshire over the past 20 years. He died on Monday at Royal Derby Hospital, the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Trust said. Married father-of-two Craig Wakeham, a doctor at the Cerne Abbas surgery in Dorset for three decades, died from coronavirus at the weekend, it emerged yesterday. Married father-of-two Craig Wakeham, a doctor at the Cerne Abbas surgery in Dorset for three decades, died from coronavirus at the weekend, it emerged today His colleagues at the surgery said: 'His industry and innovation led our practice for 30 years. 'He was also a leading light in both the Clinical Commissioning Group and Local Medical Committee, as well as a devoted husband a father to his two boys. 'His legacy lives on in our patients who he cared for diligently, and in the good name he built for our surgery.' Mr Riyat also acted as an emergency medicine tutor at Derby College where he oversaw the education of junior doctors. His death marks the second at the trust, after Dr Amged El-Hawrani, an ear, nose and throat consultant at Queen's Hospital Burton, became the first frontline hospital doctor to die in the pandemic. Dr Amged El-Hawrani became the UK's first front-line hospital doctor to die from coronavirus following warnings that a lack of protective equipment would cost medical staff lives The number of health and social care workers to have died of coronavirus is believed to have surpassed 100 in the UK. Doctors, nurses, care home workers and allied healthcare professionals have all been lost in Britain's fight against COVID-19. The Government has only confirmed the death of 27 NHS workers, but nursing platform NursingNotes says the number now stands at 106 this morning. Its records show Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people accounted for 75 per cent of healthcare workers deaths, despite them only being 20 per cent of the workforce. Speaking to Sky News, the cousin of Mr Riyat said: 'He was a mountain of a man. He was my brother basically, if there's one man I'm going to miss the most it's him. 'He was the most generous man you could meet - the kindest man you could meet, with a great sense of humour.' Also paying tribute to Mr Riyat, trust chief executive Gavin Boyle said: 'Mr Riyat, known to his colleagues as Manjeet, was a widely respected consultant in emergency medicine nationally. 'Manjeet was the first A&E consultant from the Sikh community in the country and was instrumental in building the emergency medicine service in Derbyshire over the past two decades. 'He was an incredibly charming person and well-loved. Manjeet knew so many people here across the hospital; we will all miss him immensely. 'On behalf of everyone here at UHDB, including our patients and the communities we serve, I would like to offer our sincere condolences to his family.' In a tribute on behalf of the hospital's emergency department team, emergency medicine consultant Susie Hewitt said: 'Manjeet was one of the first clinical research fellows in the UK and contributed to the birth of academic emergency medicine. 'Despite his many achievements, Manjeet was most at home as a highly visible 'shop floor' emergency medicine consultant. 'He was consistently generous with his remarkable clinical knowledge to everyone in the team. Gerallt Davies, 51, is the first paramedic in Wales to die after suffering COVID-19 'He had that rare gift of maintaining constant joy in the intellectual challenge of clinical medicine, combined with gentle kindness and compassion for his patients. 'He was a powerful advocate for the sickest patients and was well known for his fair, no-nonsense approach. 'By contrast, Manjeet could be relied upon to lift the mood with his dry humour and sense of fun. 'Manjeet was enormously valued and much loved as a colleague, supervisor and mentor, as well as for his wise council and discreet support in tough times. 'For many, Manjeet was considered the father of the current emergency department in Derby and many more will reflect on how his inspiration has shaped their own careers. 'Finally, Manjeet was fiercely proud of his wife and two sons and often shared the achievements and exploits of the boys with equal good humour. He always kept sight of what is really important in life and set an example by living life in keeping with his high standards and strong values. He will be hugely missed.' Mr Riyat qualified from the University of Leicester in 1992 and went on to train in Emergency Medicine at Leicester Royal Infirmary and Lincoln County Hospital. During this time he acted as team leader for the Accident Flying Squads at both hospitals. Manjeet was also one of the first Clinical Research Fellows in the UK and contributed to the birth of academic Emergency Medicine. In 2003, Manjeet became one of four Consultants in Emergency Medicine at the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary and was the first person from the Sikh community to be appointed as an Emergency Medicine Consultant in the UK. The first consultants in A&E medicine were introduced in the late 70s, and throughout the 80s and 90s their numbers increased significantly. Mr Riyat became Head of Service for the Emergency Department in 2006 and made particular contributions to clinical governance and patient safety. Trust chairwoman Dr Kathy McLean said: 'Mr Manjeet Riyat made a huge contribution to the NHS in Derbyshire and across the field of emergency medicine nationally. 'I had known Manjeet from when he first joined the trust in the early 2000s and he very quickly made an impact with his focus on patient care and high standards. 'It was clear that he was an outstanding emergency medicine doctor and generations of families in this region have benefited from the care he provided. 'I met him again shortly after returning to the trust as chair and was greeted with a big hug. This is a terribly sad day for all of those who had the pleasure to have known him and to have worked alongside him.' Ms Tapley's heartbroken granddaughter said her grandmother was like 'an additional parent' As of Monday, a total of 16,509 people diagnosed with Covid-19 have died in the UK. Meanwhile, Gerallt Davies, 51, is the first paramedic in Wales to die after suffering COVID-19. He had been awarded an MBE in 2009 for his work as a national operations officer for St John Cymru Wales. He was based at Cwmbwrla Station in Swansea and had worked for the ambulance service for 26 years. Mr Davies' death was described as 'a devastating blow' for his colleagues. Yesterday it emerged two older health workers still caring for patients into their 70s and 80s have both died on the same day of coronavirus. Ms Tapley's granddaughter Hannah Tapley, a champion high jumper who has competed for team GB, said her grandmother would text and call her everyday Great-grandmother Margaret Tapley was working as an auxiliary nurse at the age of 84 and hailed as 'a legend on the ward'. Sophie Fagan, 78, had served the NHS for more than five decades, starting as a nurse before becoming a hospital care co-ordinator. Both were helping patients well past retirement age before passing away on Sunday. Mrs Tapley had continued her night shifts at Witney Community Hospital in Oxfordshire and worked the last one of her 40-year career on April 10. Mrs Fagan began nursing in 1966 and had been working since 2000 as a care co-ordinator at Homerton Hospital in East London Her family said she had been suffering symptoms before being admitted to the Great Western Hospital in Swindon three days before her death. Her grandson Tom Wood, a senior A&E nurse, said she inspired him to go into healthcare. 'She took huge pride in her work but was so humble,' he added. 'She embodied the nursing spirit. I struggle with one or two night shifts but grandma routinely did three a week.' Mrs Tapley's granddaughter Hannah Tapley said: 'She was the most hard-working, caring and perfect woman. Devoting her life to others and working for the NHS doing night shifts at her age.' Sophie Fagan, front row second left, arrived from India in 1961 to begin her nurse training. She has died aged 78 after contracting coronavirus. Picture: Homerton Hospital Stuart Bell, chief executive at Oxford Health trust, said: 'She was a legend on the ward and throughout the whole hospital.' Mrs Fagan began nursing in 1966 and had been working since 2000 as a care co-ordinator at Homerton Hospital in East London, where she died. Tracey Fletcher, trust chief executive, said: 'Sophie wanted to make a difference and caring for the elderly was her passion. Homerton Hospital nurse Michael Allieu, who has died after contracting coronavirus Other healthcare workers to have died from coronavirus include Joanna Klenczon (left) a 34-year-old domestic supervisor who worked at the Northampton General Hospital (NGH) for 10 years and occupational therapist Vivek Sharma who died on Friday 'Her taste for the brightest and most colourful jumpers, her elegance and her ability to talk to anyone made her stand out.' Daughter-in-law Deni Fagan said she was dedicated to her son John and grandson Jack, 16. She described Mrs Fagan as 'a fit and healthy lady who just loved life, nothing would have stopped her from working. 'She just refused to give up her job....despite her age. It goes to show what kind of lady she was. We are really very proud of her.' Acute care nurse Michael Allieu, 53, became the second worker at the Homerton to die from the virus over the weekend. US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that a naval hospital ship that was deployed to New York City to deal with hospital overflow will return to Virginia. The Navy ship USNS Comfort arrived March 30 as state and city officials scrambled to add hospital beds to prepare for a potentially catastrophic surge in COVID-19 cases. But hospitalization levels appeared to have peaked recently amid strict stay-at home restrictions. Total statewide hospitalizations have slowly dropped to about 16,000, more than 2,000 below a week ago. The Comfort has treated 178 patients, with 56 on board Tuesday. Meanwhile, the nation's coronavirus response coordinator says she is seeing "improvement" in infection rates in many U.S. metropolitan areas, including Rhode Island and Connecticut, Chicago and Boston. "That has been a great concern for us over the last several weeks, but they appear now to be flattening," she said. She warned, however, that outbreaks persist in nursing homes, and advised states to continue communicating information about infections to spread public awareness. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- New York state will also plan to test, isolate, and trace COVID-19 positive patients, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Wednesday shortly after Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the city would also begin tracing positive patients next month. Cuomo said the tracing will be a tri-state effort, as well as downstate, to ensure every person is traced. The citys effort will be coordinated with the state, he said. The state will work with former-Mayor Michael Bloomberg, as well as John Hopkins University. Bloomberg will contribute approximately $10 million to develop the tracing program. You have weeks to get this up and running. Its a super-ambitious undertaking," Cuomo said. "And Mayor Bloomberg will help coordinate the entire effort. There are currently hundreds of tracers across the state that will increase to the thousands and tens of thousands through Bloombergs help. The states plan will be to test, trace, and isolate. The announcement comes a day after his meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington D.C.; Cuomo called the meeting productive. Theres $1.3 billion in federal funding for testing and tracing, Cuomo said, which New York will have access to. This entire operation has never been done before; its a massive undertaking, he said. The governor said the states goal is to double the amount of testing that is done throughout the state, raising the number from 20,000 to 40,000, which could only be done if all 300 labs statewide are running 24/7. It might be a little unrealistic but Id like to set the bar high and try to get there, Cuomo said. He said he suspects approximately 10% of the city has been infected. *** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK *** DECISION TO OPEN NEEDS TO BE MADE ON FACTS, NOT POLITICAL PRESSURE Cuomo said hes been told from localities across the state that its politicians are under political pressure to reopen. The decision to reopen must be made on facts and not political pressure, he said, adding that reopening too soon will set the state back. We make a bad move and its going to set us back; we cant make a bad decision. This is no time to act stupidly. If youre not ready for the second wave it will knock you down, Cuomo said. He said hes willing to accept the blame for the decision to stay shuttered since the laws come from the state and not the city or individual localities. The proof that what were doing is working, the governor said, is in the numbers. Although the number of new patients at hospitals across the state is still troublingly high, the number of fatalities and ICU admissions continues to lower slightly. There were 474 deaths statewide in the last 24 hours, he said, down from 481 the previous day. There have been 257,216 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state. If we move too quickly, the numbers will reflect. What people do today will show in hospitalizations in three to five days; its that simple, he said. The cost of the virus is death, which is worse, Cuomo said. Economic pain, bad. Death, worse. Anxiety and stress from being stuck inside the house, bad. Death, worse. FEMA WILL PAY FOR NEW YORKS EMERGENCY EXPENSES During his meeting on Tuesday, Cuomo said President Donald Trump agreed to have the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) pay the full amount of the states emergency expenses under the Major Disaster Declaration. Previously, Sen. Charles Schumer wrote Trump with the same request. A Major Disaster Declaration typically allows for $40 billion to be used to pay for Public Assistance at a 75% federal to 25% cost share. Cuomo was thankful, saying it would be unfair for the state to pay the 25% because its not at fault for the number of COVID-19 cases it has and is suffering immense economic loss due to the virus. FOLLOW KRISTIN F. DALTON ON TWITTER. With the COVID-19 death toll mounting in the United States, President Trump in recent weeks has defended his administrations response to the virus while criticizing China, where the coronavirus pandemic originated, for misleading global health officials about the scope of the outbreak. But as COVID-19 first began spreading across the globe, Trump praised Chinese President Xi Jinpings management of the disease. In an interview with CNBC conducted at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 22, Trump was asked if he trusted the communist government to be transparent about the virus. I do, I do, Trump said. I have a great relationship with President Xi. At the time, the United States had confirmed just one case of the coronavirus. I had a great conversation last night with President Xi, Trump told reporters on Feb. 7, when there were just 11 confirmed U.S. cases of COVID-19. Its a tough situation. I think theyre doing a very good job. At a reelection rally in New Hampshire on Feb. 10, Trump told his supporters, I spoke with President Xi and theyre working very, very hard. And I think its going to all work out fine. I really believe they are going to have it under control, Trump said in an interview with Fox Business that same day. On Feb. 23, Trump again praised Xis efforts. President Xi loves his country, Trump said. Hes working very hard to solve the problem. And he will solve the problem. Chinese President Xi Jinping talks by video with patients and medical workers at a hospital in Wuhan, China, on March 10. (Xie Huanchi/Xinhua via AP) As far as President Xi, hes a friend of mine, Trump said on March 13, when there were more than 2,000 confirmed U.S. cases of COVID-19. I believe we are dealing in good faith. Nine days later, Trump began to change his tune. Im a little upset with China, Ill be honest with you, the president said during a March 22 press briefing on the coronavirus. At that point, 33,000 Americans had tested positive for COVID-19, and 421 people had died from it in the U.S. They should have told us about this. We didnt know about it, Trump continued. They knew about it and they should have told us. We could have saved a lot of lives. Story continues By April 17, the United States had become the epicenter of the pandemic and Trump vented his anger at China. Let me just put it this way: Im not happy, OK? Im not happy, the president said. They didnt report what was happening inside of China, he continued. No, Im not happy with China. Certainly we didnt get an early run on it, Trump said the following day. It wouldve been helpful if we knew about it earlier. Trumps shift in tone on China comes as his administration faces blistering criticism over its response to the coronavirus, which has now killed more than 46,000 Americans and infected nearly 840,000. The president has repeatedly pointed to a ban on any foreign national who had been in China from traveling to the United States in defending his response to the virus. But the measure, which took effect Feb. 2, did not bar American citizens and legal residents or foreign nationals with close family ties to U.S. citizens. According to the New York Times, at least 40,000 people traveled to the United States from China after the limited ban was in place. And Trumps coronavirus task force did not announce social distancing guidelines until March 16. At Fridays coronavirus task force briefing, Trump raised the speculation so far unproven that the virus was accidentally released from a laboratory in Wuhan conducting research on the pathogen. (Most epidemiologists believe that the virus originated from bats before jumping to humans.) The next day, Trump seemed to suggest that he wont seek to punish China if it turns out the virus was released by mistake. A mistake is a mistake, the president said. But if China was knowingly responsible, there will be consequences. Video produced by Emmi Velez. _____ Click here for the latest coronavirus news and updates. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please refer to the CDCs and WHOs resource guides. Read more from Yahoo News: The city and county budget crisis is deepening. Driving the news: Local governments were left out of the latest coronavirus relief package passed by Senate on Tuesday, despite mayors from across the country asking for $250 billion in direct aid to help cities continue to function as tax revenue plummets and coronavirus-mitigation costs skyrocket. The latest: A bipartisan Senate bill proposes $500 billion in aid for state and local governments as part of the next comprehensive package. Sens. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) want the money to be distributed according to a formula taking into account population, coronavirus case numbers and revenue shortfalls. During a Senate Democratic caucus conference call Tuesday afternoon, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said there will be a phase 4 bill and that providing more funding for state and local governments is their top priority, a person on the call told Axios' Alayna Treene. But Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in an interview Wednesday that he'd prefer to allow states to declare bankruptcy over giving them a federal bailout. The big picture: Local governments are required to balance their budgets and can't carry deficits, with a few exceptions. "We're incredibly disappointed that we're left behind and that we're asked to wait until the next package," said National Association of Counties executive director Matthew Chase, who noted counties face a budget impact of $144 billion. "What we're being told is, go ahead and cut your budgets, the federal government isn't going to help you," he said on a call with reporters Wednesday morning. Only municipalities with more than 500,000 residents can receive direct funding through last month's CARES Act package, which set aside $150 billion for local governments. That represents less than 1% of all municipalities and only 14% of the country's total population. Nearly all cities with more than 50,000 residents expect a revenue shortfall this year, per a survey by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and National League of Cities. The majority of cities with populations above 50,000 said they will have to furlough employees and anticipate having to cut public services, including police forces. Zooming in: Ohio's major cities rely on earnings or income taxes, which have dropped precipitously in a matter of weeks. In Cincinnati, a quarter of the city's workforce (about 1,700 employees) has been put on emergency furlough, writes assistant city manager John Juech, who was also furloughed, in CityLab. Akron laid off 400 city staff and expects to cut the budget by up to 20%. "If cities do not receive direct funding, it will be an enormous drag on the recovery because we will not have the revenue to keep people working," said Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, who noted that a large number of city staffers not directly related to the coronavirus response have been furloughed. Elsewhere, the financial strain is growing. In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio has proposed $827 million in education cuts, per Chalkbeat. Miami-Dade County faces a $278 million shortfall, per the Miami Herald, and that's assuming recovery begins by midsummer. In Minneapolis, budget officials predict a $200 million revenue drop (12%), depending on how long the pandemic lasts. St. Paul officials anticipate revenue losses of up to 70%, the StarTribute reports. What's next: The financial strain comes as city budget officials are trying to set budgets for the next fiscal year, which begins in July for most municipalities. Go deeper: Cuomo says Trump agreed to push for state funding in next coronavirus bill Editors note: This story has been updated to correct the sponsors of the Senate proposal. The Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) has decided to postpone the preliminary and mains examinations of the Combined Competitive Examination which were scheduled for May and October. An APPSC statement said that the examinations have been postponed until further notice. The decision was taken as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, the statement from APPSC secretary A R Talwade said here. While the preliminary examination was scheduled for May 17, the mains were to be held between October 9 and October 17. The commission has also decided to provide the candidates one more opportunity for filling the online application forms who are interested in applying for the posts of junior engineer (civil) under the Rural Works Department and senior personal assistant under the civil secretariat and APPSC. The commission in a statement said the date for filling the forms would be notified in due course of time. Meanwhile, Arunachal Pradesh State Election Commissioner Hage Kojeen has volunteered to contribute 30 per cent of his gross monthly salary to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund to help the government in combating the novel coronavirus. Kojeen also appealed to all like-minded people to come forward and contribute as per one's capacity to strengthen the hands of the state government during this crisis. Lauding the efforts of the state government and frontline warriors like the police and other security personnel, healthcare workers and those of other essential services, the commissioner urged the people to adhere to the guidelines issued by the government during the lockdown period. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Music producer, Don Jazzy has penned a heart-warming message to the movie star, Funke Akindele following her return to social media. The Mavin Records boss shared a photo of the actress via Instagram with the words; #WCW I have always admired your talent and hard work but I have more respect for you now as a person. You made a mistake and you owned it. This takes courage and you have shown all of us that you are courageous. As humans, we must make mistakes. Only God is perfect. My prayer everyday is that I dont make a mistake that will cost me my life or reputation. You have made yours and the whole world has seen. Thankfully, it didnt cost you your life or anyone elses. Just a tiny reputational damage that in my opinion you have already restored because you have paid the price with jara on top. If you dey shame, stop am o, because as TuBaba talk, nobody holy pass. I pray that henceforth, you continue to be the good example that you have always been to us all. Amen. One more thing, I don dey act now o. Tenks! #IDJA cc @funkejenifaakindele Read Also: Gods Plan Is Bigger Than Your Mistakes, Funke Akindele Tells Fans See the full post below: Colorado woman Michaela Dawn Harman, 25, was charged with child abuse resulting in death after her 7-year-old son accidentally shot his 3-year-old sister with a loaded and unsecured shotgun allegedly found in the family's home: City of Westminster A seven-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed his three-year-old sister with a loaded and allegedly unsecured shotgun found in the familys home. Police said the boy fired the weapon while the siblings were playing in their house on the outskirts of Denver, Colorado, on Tuesday morning. The girl was rushed to a trauma centre by firefighters but her injuries were too severe to survive. Their mother was arrested and has been charged with child abuse resulting in death. The investigation is in the preliminary stages, but it appears that two siblings were playing when the older sibling found an unsecured and loaded shotgun, police said in a statement. While playing, the older brother tragically shot his three-year-old sister. Their mother, Michaela Dawn Harman and another younger sibling were at the home when the accident happened. Ms Harman, 25, was charged with the felony offence and taken to Jefferson County jail, while the children were placed in the temporary care of human services. Tragic examples like this remind us of the importance to separate guns and ammunition kept in the home and to secure firearms in a locked safe or utilise other childproof safety devices, police said. Parents have a responsibility to keep children from being able to access firearms, even inside the home. 'Tiger King' tips: Financial lessons from the hit Netflix series Dont tattoo someones name below the waist. Dont try to steal your competitors brand. Dont sign over your zoo for safekeeping. The Netflix hit documentary Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness is not just a trashy tragicomedy. You can learn a lot from watching Joe Exotic and the crew self-destruct, whether its how not to run a zoo, how not to run for office or how not to run your personal finances. Just about everyone who comes into contact with Oklahomas GW Zoo makes a trainwreck of bad decisions that decimates their bank accounts. You can do better. So listen up, cool cats and kittens, and take these lessons to heart. 1. Dont destroy your finances for family Netflix Joe's mother spent all of her money on him. A lot of misery may have been avoided if Joe Exotics mother, Shirley Schreibvogel, hadn't used her money to pay for her sons mistakes. Restraint is a foreign concept on Tiger King. Schreibvogel, who died in 2019, was far from the worst offender but did indulge her son to the point of financial ruin. She used up her life savings and even sold her home to help him keep the lights on at the GW Zoo and fight his numerous legal battles with his arch-nemesis, Carole Baskin. The lesson you can learn from their relationship is that its important to establish firm financial boundaries, even with family. Only lend money if youre OK never seeing it again. And dont be quick to co-sign a loan for a relative; if your family member defaults, youll be responsible for the payment. Thats a recipe for resentment, and youll see your relationship go up in smoke faster than Joe Exotics recording studio. 2. Moderate your financial risk Netflix Big cats are an expensive undertaking. Anyone who walks with a cane and cuddles fully grown tigers has way too much tolerance for risk. Joe Exotic treated his finances as delicately as he did his health and safety. At one point, he had a total of 187 big cats on his property, to say nothing of the other animals. Even if he did get his annual expenses down to $3,000 per cat by feeding them roadkill and expired meats from Walmart, thats a lot of overhead. Story continues If youve watched Tiger King, you know things can go from bad to worse in an instant. Always have a back-up plan. Choose safe and slow investments, maintain a solid cache of emergency savings and buy insurance to protect yourself and those you love. 3. Understand your long-term financial plan Looper / Netflix Joe didn't have much of a financial plan. Joe Exotic spent tons of money that didnt end up serving his long-term goals: He fought a yearslong legal battle that ended in a $1 million judgment against him. He spent nearly $100,00 on a third-party presidential campaign despite apparently not knowing what a Libertarian is. He built an intricate recording studio on the zoo compound, even though it has since come to light that Exotic never wrote his own lyrics or even sang any of those songs. (Which is a shame, because Here Kitty Kitty is a banger.) Dont spend like Joe. When you buy something, whether its a car or some shares in the stock market, make sure it serves your long-term goals. A financial adviser can show you how to use your income wisely. By sorting out your savings and investments, you can ensure youre ready for retirement and whatever else comes your way in the years ahead. 4. Do your homework before doing business with anyone Netflix Jeff Lowe became Joe's business partner. Can you trust the contractor you hired for your home improvement project? How about your financial adviser? The guy who manages your mutual funds? Tiger King is a bottomless pit of cautionary tales, but one of the most important lessons is to do your homework before shaking hands with someone. Do they have a long list of satisfied clients? Are they licensed and insured? Is that actually their mansion? In the case of a financial adviser, find out if theyre a fiduciary meaning theyre bound by law to put your interests above all others. 5. Dont let hobbies become expensive distractions Canote Films / YouTube Joe got sidetracked with politics. Weve all heard about the hobbyists who spend every spare dollar on limited-edition sneakers, collector cars or fancy wines. Joe made a business out of his hobby of collecting big cats. But he later found a new interest politics that would pull his money and attention away from his zoo. He ran for president in 2016 and for Oklahoma governor in 2018. (Uh no, he didnt win.) If youve got a hobby that you love, dont let it get out of hand. Always stick within your budget and avoid the temptation to splurge on a shiny object that catches your eye. When you feel a spending urge coming on thats in conflict with your financial goals, find something more worthwhile to buy, like life insurance if you dont already have it. Its affordable and easy to purchase online. 6. Be passionate about what you do Netflix Rick Kirkham documented how Joe treated his staff. Its incredible that Joe Exotic managed to keep anyone on his staff. The pay and working conditions at the GW Zoo were deplorable. Rick Kirkham, Exotics personal documentarian for 10 years, claimed that Joe would fire people without warning for the smallest perceived slight. And when a tiger tears off a workers arm, Joe is heard bemoaning that he would never financially recover from the gruesome workplace accident. Its clear the zoos employees cared deeply about their work. If you dont have any passion for your job, even if it does provide more than $150 per week, it may be time to build up some savings and move on to something better. 7. Stay focused Netflix Carole Baskin was Joe's archrival. Having a game plan is key if you want to achieve a financial goal, whether its maintaining a successful tiger park or just saving up for a big purchase, like a car or a house. Joe obviously got a bit sidetracked along the way the music career, the political campaign, his obsession with Big Cat Rescue owner Carole Baskin. OK, maybe a bit sidetracked is an understatement. If youre saving up for something important, have a strategy. Set aside a regular amount each month and park it in a high-yield savings account. That way itll accumulate interest and youll meet your goal even faster. 8. Keep legal documents up to date Netflix / YouTube Carole with her current husband, Howard Baskin. Carole is now married to her third husband, Howard Baskin, but theories continue to spin over what happened to her second husband, Don Lewis. The show features a lot of speculation, but heres what we know for certain: Don left only one copy of his will, and that's led to all kinds of confusion and suspicion, especially since his executor was Carole. Some of the controversy could have been avoided if he had kept his will up to date and had made multiple copies. Every time theres a major change in your life like buying a house and taking out a mortgage, having kids or getting married you should review your beneficiaries, update your will and insurance policies, and give new copies to your executor for safekeeping. You can even have more than one executor. 9. Never stop marketing yourself Looper / YouTube Joe Exotic was always selling himself. Say what you will about Joe Exotics fashion sense and professional ethics, and general way of life but you cant deny the man knew how to market himself. Joe and his arch-nemesis Carole both maintained a daily presence online that allowed them to promote their respective brands, interact directly with their fans and take shots at each other. They used different strategies, sure. Carole had her classic opening, Hey, all you cool cats and kittens, while Joe took a more strident tone. But if youre trying to promote a small business or even just a blog consistency is key. You need to put out regularly scheduled content that fits your brand and gives people a reason to keep coming back to see what youll do next. 10. Build multiple income streams Netflix / YouTube Joe was very creative when it came to making money. Joe was able to keep his zoo afloat through all the legal battles by adapting the business and starting numerous side ventures including the breeding and selling of tiger cubs. The only problem with Joes strategy? Almost all of his plans relied on his primary source of income: the zoo. Diversification isnt just for investments. Taking on a side hustle will help boost your income and act as a cushion if something happens with your day job. 11. Dont be afraid to start small Looper / YouTube The GW Zoo had a modest start. The man we know as Joe Exotic was not always the Tiger King. Once upon a time, Joseph Schreibvogel developed his skills with animals as a regular employee at a Texas pet store. He later bought and ran the place, along with his brother Garold. When his brother died in a trucking accident, Joe used the $150,000 settlement plus a $250,000 trust fund from his grandfather to build the GW Zoo. Going from a pet store employee to king of the tigers sounds like a Disney plot, but many great stories have humble beginnings. To grow your skills, you have to start with the basics. If youre just investing for the first time, feel free to start small while learning everything you can. The important thing is to get started. 12. Be safe at work even when working from home Netflix / YouTube The big cats were a danger to the zoo's workers. Lets be honest: Joe Exotic did not maintain a safe working environment. Not only is an employees arm torn off in the course of the docuseries, but Joe himself nearly loses a foot as a big big cat drags him around by his shoe. Adding hazard on top of hazard, Joe fires off a gun to scare away that cat and others. Employers are supposed to follow government safety standards to protect workers from injuries, including potentially fatal ones. If you spot dangerous conditions where you work, report them. And if youre working from home because of the coronavirus, maintain a safe workspace. Tape down power cords youre likely to trip over, and keep liquids away from your computer and other electronics. If youre accident-prone at home, consider buying disability insurance that would pay your bills if a mishap leaves you unable to work. 13. Dont mix work and personal relationships Looper / YouTube Joe had two husbands, and they both worked with him. Things can get messy when you dont keep personal relationships separate from work. Just ask Joe Exotic, who was in a three-way marriage to two men who were working for him. He had to keep jealousies from developing in the midst of juggling all the other drama swirling around him. In work situations, its best not to get too friendly with co-workers and especially not with the boss, because it all can become very complicated when things go badly. If you work with your spouse or significant other, its important to draw boundaries between home and work and for each of you to maintain your own individuality and identity. If your partner is now your at-home officemate thanks to the coronavirus, keep your workspaces separate and be respectful of one another. 14. Trying to get even can be costly Netflix / YouTube Joe ended up in prison. When you feel that a member or your family or someone at work has done you wrong, avoid the temptation to get revenge. Youre likely to do something youll end up regretting. Joe Exotic became consumed with trying to get even with Carole Baskin after she won an expensive judgment against him in a copyright case. Hes now serving a 22-year prison sentence, partly stemming from an alleged plot to kill his adversary. Next time you get furious with a relative, a business rival or a co-worker, take a deep breath and try to channel your rage into something productive, like getting in a rigorous workout at the gym. It's better for your health and less expensive than having to pay for the new paint job after you key someone's car. From left, WHO officials Dr. Maria D Van Kerkhove, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Professor Didier Houssin, and Dr. Michael Ryan on January 23, after an emergency committee meeting over the novel coronavirus. Photo: Pierre Albouy/AFP via Getty Images Were committed to keeping our readers informed. Weve removed our paywall from essential coronavirus news stories. Become a subscriber to support our journalists. Subscribe now. The United States now claims nearly one-third of the worlds COVID-19 cases, making it the center of the coronavirus pandemic. Instead of leaning on the World Health Organization for support, last week President Trump announced that he would be halting the U.N. agencys funding, accusing it of bungling its early response to the coronavirus. This is lunacy. Truly, responded Jeremy Konyndyk, a policy fellow at the Center for Global Development who previously served as the director of USAIDs Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, where he coordinated the countrys humanitarian responses to the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, and the war in Syria. He also served on a WHO advisory group to rethink the agencys responses to outbreaks and emergencies. Over the past few months, he has emerged as a leading critic of the Trump administrations handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Intelligencer spoke to Konyndyk about Trumps WHO announcement, the reemergence of a theory that the virus may have leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan, and what he thinks is the biggest global health concern on the horizon. Can you outline your frustrations with the Trump administrations pause on WHO funding? First off, the decision to pause funding to the organization that is coordinating the global fight against a pandemic in the middle of a pandemic is hugely damaging. If they do move forward with fully cutting off funding, that doesnt just disrupt COVID response; it disrupts a lot of different things the U.S. government relies on WHO to do, like polio eradication, or cholera in Yemen, or extinguishing the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo. The fact that the U.S. didnt need to deploy a massive Ebola response effort in eastern Congo, like we did to West Africa in 2014, is a direct outflow of our investment in WHOs emergency capacity. If we undermine those investments, then that just puts more work on our plate. My second big frustration with halting funding is that the stated reasons for it are wrong. I broke this down in an op-ed last week with Thomas Bollynky. The administration has accused WHO of a few things. Its accused them of being too close to China; its accused them of being complicit in a Chinese cover-up of the initial information on the virus, and in so doing, delaying the worlds ability to respond; and its accused them of making the wrong call on travel bans. To the extent that there is a rhyme or reason to the accusations, those are them. Secretary Pompeo went on Fox News a few days ago and said that the WHO should have been investigating China and investigating the origins of this. That just fundamentally misunderstands the WHOs role and fundamentally mischaracterizes what WHO actually did. Okay, describe WHOs actions as you see them. Lets start with what they actually did. WHO received initial notice from China on December 31. By the 5th of January, WHO put out a notice about a reported pneumonia of unknown cause and a cluster of cases requiring hospitalization. At that point, they didnt have much more to go on than what the affected country gave them. That is by design. What people dont understand, and what the U.S. government is willfully ignoring, is what WHO can and cannot do is governed by something called the International Health Regulations. That is a binding international agreement amongst WHO member states that lays out the requirements for providing notice to WHO and the authorities that WHO has when there is a novel outbreak like this. When WHO gets a report from the Chinese government, WHO doesnt really have the latitude to say, We dont believe you. Thats how member states want it, and you can imagine why. If the U.S. were providing outbreak information to WHO, the U.S. would not take kindly if WHO said, We dont believe you. The information WHO received from China, we now know, was somewhat misleading and incomplete. The thing that has gotten WHO in hot water the most seems to be a tweet from January 14, where they said, Preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission. Right there, youve got that hedged in two ways. Its characterized as preliminary investigations its not drawing a final conclusion; its sharing an initial impression. And its saying no clear evidence, which does not mean its not happening. It means theres an absence of evidence, rather than evidence of absence. There was a press conference later that same day about the discovery of a case in Thailand, and WHO was more forward-leaning in that press conference and noted that there was the potential for human-to-human transmission. Bear in mind, this is all within about two weeks of the world even coming to understand that this virus even existed. On the 20th and 21st of January, China agreed to let WHO personnel go to Wuhan to assess the situation there. That mission came back and confirmed that there was human-to-human transmission occurring. To go from based on preliminary information we dont have evidence to It is happening, we do have evidence in a week is not unreasonable. On the 23rd of January, they convened the emergency WHO committee, and the report that came out of that meeting laid out a picture of the virus that holds up pretty well even now: a virus that was transmitting from human to human, that had a basic reproduction number of somewhere between 1.4 to 2.5, which would make it more transmissible than the flu, and that had a case fatality rate of about 4 percent, which is similar to what weve seen in other countries. That right there is enough to be scary. That is the four-alarm fire. So you believe the organizations actions hold up well? On the merits, did the WHO warn the world at the time? I think you have to say they did. Whatever the initial garbles that they got from China, by the 23rd of January, they had put out a pretty accurate picture of this virus to the world. At a point when this really had not hit the rest of the world, the world knew the basic picture of this virus and they knew it via the WHO. The notion that WHO failed to tell the world that it was transmitting human to human, or failed to tell the world how dangerous it was, is just absurd. It totally ignores what they were actually saying in January. Another thing that the administration gets wrong is the accusation by the president and Secretary Pompeo that WHO should have somehow investigated China. WHO has no power to investigate a member state! Zero. There is no authority or mechanism that WHO member states have given them to unilaterally launch an investigation. Its crazy. Then theres the fourth point. Fundamentally, this is not about what WHO did or did not do. Its not about what WHO did or did not say. What its about is turning WHO into a political scapegoat to distract from this administrations failures to prepare. WHOs own information, WHOs level of alarm, WHOs characterization of the risk, were always well out ahead of the Trump administration. At a time when the U.S. government was still saying the risk to the American public was low, WHO was saying that this absolutely had pandemic potential. Trumps motives aside, is there legitimacy to the core complaint that WHO has been uncritical, at least publicly, of China? WHO is not critical of any of its member states in public. Ever. Has WHO been deferential to China? Yes. Is that unique to China? Not at all. The U.S. is the epicenter of the global epidemic now on an enormous scale, we have screwed up our domestic response badly. Has WHO publicly criticized us for that? Of course not. During the Ebola epidemic in eastern Congo, the Congolese government made huge missteps. It politicized that outbreak. The president used it as a pretense to cancel elections in several opposition held areas with no public health basis whatsoever. WHO did not support that decision, but they didnt criticize it publicly. If they are not going to criticize the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is hardly a powerful member state on the order of China or the United States, I think that tells you this is not unique to China. Its just absurd. I think what the administration also gets wrong is if youre afraid that China is instrumentalizing an international organization, you dont respond by abandoning that organization. Youre just conceding the playing field to China. You respond by engaging further. The point of the multilateral system is a place for all states to engage regardless of politics. If youre worried that China has too much influence, the solution is not to abandon your own influence. Do you see the reemergence of the origin question as part of this same scapegoat offense? Absolutely. Its an attempt to change the subject. The administration is clearly grasping for anything it can to distract from its own poor performance. If they can blame this on WHO, or if they can blame this on a lab accident in China, that somehow alleviates them of their responsibility. That is very clearly the play. The lab thing is a useful target for them because it cant be disproven. We will probably never know with 100 percent certainty whether this was a natural spillover or a lab spillover. But what we can say is, the fact that you cant disprove one or the other doesnt mean that they are equally plausible. The natural spillover is drastically more plausible than a lab spillover scenario. If you look at the ledger on each side, what you have on the ledger of the natural spillover scenario, is basically every significant global outbreak has been a natural spillover. Natural spillovers happen all of the time. Biology points to a natural event. It points to though we dont know for sure the virus probably jumped from bats to another intermediate animal before jumping to humans. What do you make of the actual hypothesis that the virus escaped from a lab? On the lab side of the scenario, you basically have no affirmative evidence linking it to a lab origin. What you have is a lot of speculation based on the proximity of the lab to the market and based on a few incomplete allegations of poor safety practices at one of the labs in Wuhan. That is not a lot to go on. There is no indication that this virus was in that lab, which was working on other bat coronaviruses. There is no indication that this one was there. The fact that we knew that they had other coronaviruses and we didnt know that they had this one feels notable. There was an interview with an American scientist who had done work with the Wuhan lab where she said if they had this virus, they probably would have published about it pretty rapidly. If you find this kind of a novel coronavirus, you would want the world to know about it. The fact that they did not do that raises questions about the viability of the lab spillover scenario. You can look at this through a biology lens and you can look at this through a political lens. If you look at the biology, basically everything about the biology says that the likelier scenario is that this was a natural origin, not a lab spillover. If you look at this through the politics, yes, the Chinese government is being opaque about what was going on in that lab, and they have not wanted to share that with the outside world. But at the same time, the U.S. government is obviously doing everything it can to spin this up as a story. The National Security Council is reportedly pushing the intelligence community very hard to try and find anything that would suggest that the lab was the origin. We have the administration trying to put the story out into the ecosystem, pushing it through favorable media outlets and personalities on the basis of very little. If they had something stronger, we would see it. They wouldnt be sitting on it. I do think one sign of how precarious the theory is, is the fact that Trump is not pushing it publicly. If anybody would be pushing a theory on thin evidence, it would be Trump. Totally. Its very reminiscent of how the Bush administration handled the WMD intel prior to the Iraq War. The evidence was not definitive in either direction. The Iraqi government was acting suspiciously, not being transparent, not sharing everything that they had. But we didnt have affirmative evidence to say they were still running their weapons programs. You had an administration that was very motivated to make the case that Iraq was doing so and pushing the intelligence community to cherry-pick whatever information they could to make that case on the thinnest of grounds. You see a very parallel dynamic here. You have an administration, or at least figures in the administration, who really want the intelligence to give them a particular outcome and they disregard any evidence that runs against that outcome. They capitalize on the opacity of the Chinese government, just as the Bush administration capitalized on the opacity of the Iraqi government and used it to spin that as indicative of a cover-up. We know from Iraq, the lack of transparency was not because they were covering up a weapons program. I dont think we should make the same mistake here that we did there. Iraq having weapons is very different from proof of an accident in China. Were not going to war over it. So what purpose does it serve? Again, theres the biological layer and a political layer. The political layer here is that the U.S. would really, really like to be able to blame China for its own problems. The end point is different. Its not like were going to launch a war with China over this like we did with Iraq. From the administrations point of view, they know theyve got a disaster at home. They dont want to own that disaster. They want to be able to shift that responsibility from them to someone else. If they can say, Look, this whole global crisis flowed from poor safety practices in a lab in China, then thats a way for them to escape their own responsibility for their own failure to prepare. If they can create enough confusion, it will buy them some political breathing room. Thats the play. Shifting away from China, what parts of the world are you particularly worried about that arent getting coverage right now? The biggest outstanding question mark is how this disease is going to behave in the developing world. In one sense, the vulnerability in the developing world is huge. If a country like the U.S. is struggling to get tests, ventilators, and PPE, its going to be 100 times harder in the developing world. They cant compete with the U.S. Of course, hospital capacity is much weaker in the developing world. They have very few intensive-care beds, very few ventilators, and underlying health conditions tend to be pretty poor as well. The other side of the ledger, this is what creates some uncertainty, is the demographic profile in much of the developing world is very different. The highest-risk portion of the population is people 65 and above. In Italy, thats about 20 percent of the population. In sub-Saharan Africa, thats about 3 percent. What we dont know is how that dramatic difference in demographics will affect the risk. It could be offset by other underlying health problems, it could mean that hospitals, as weak as they are, may not be overwhelmed simply because the demographic profile of people overwhelming hospitals in wealthier countries is a much smaller share of the population in the developing world. There are a lot of questions. If it spreads far and wide there, it does have the ability to be quite devastating. What about developed countries that have taken a more relaxed approach to distancing, like Sweden or Japan? At this point, neither of those gambles seem to be paying off all that well. No one knows with full certainty what the best game plan is. We know that if this disease gets out of hand, it can overrun hospitals. Sweden is gambling that they can keep it from getting out of hand. Thats certainly not the gamble I would take. Youve been concerned about Russia. Whats happening there? What concerns me about Russia is that you have a population that skews older, a lot of underlying chronic health vulnerabilities, and a government that is opaque and puts a premium on control. Thats concerning. The government of Russia is going to want to project that they are in control of this situation whether or not they, in fact, are. Theyre going to want to project that to their own people and theyre going to want to project that to the world. What we know from China, Italy, and the U.S., is that if you do let it get out of control, at a certain point, that becomes impossible to hide. Thats what to watch for in Russia. If we dont see that happening, it would suggest that Russia is somehow keeping it under control. What else are you concerned about globally? One of my biggest fears is the global competition were going to see when a vaccine is available. The competition scrum that were seeing right now on PPE availability, test kit supplies, things like that, is a fraction of the competition were going to see for those first doses of vaccine. When and if a vaccine is proven effective, it then needs to be manufactured at scale, and its not like 7 billion doses are immediately going to drop from the sky. The competition over those first tens of millions or hundreds of millions of doses is going to be intense. Im really nervous that if there is not more work put in now to prenegotiate and prearrange how those vaccines will be distributed, were going to see an ugly global competition happen. This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity. Sign Up for the Intelligencer Newsletter Daily news about the politics, business, and technology shaping our world. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Terms & Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us. BEIJING, April 21 (Xinhua) -- The State Council on Tuesday decided to beef up targeted assistance to those in need and small businesses amid efforts to address challenges facing the Chinese economy. More will be done to enhance support to those living in poverty, living on minimum subsistence allowances or unemployed, and the country will ramp up financial services for micro and small firms, according to a statement released after a State Council's executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang. The meeting decided that the construction of major national projects will prioritize employing those living in poverty, and the policy of using employment as a form of relief will be implemented in more areas with salary accounting for a higher percentage of the funding for the projects. As the COVID-19 epidemic could lead to people being stricken or re-stricken by poverty, the State Council called for adopting supportive measures, including providing micro-loans with discounted interest and skill training to vulnerable labor forces. The meeting decided to expand the access of both minimum subsistence allowances and unemployment insurance, to cover all those eligible. To enhance financial support to micro and small companies, the meeting called on banks to offer more loans and decided to temporarily lower the provision coverage ratio of small and medium-sized banks by 20 percentage points to free up more credit. For micro and small firms as well as individually-owned businesses in the service industry who are tenants of state-owned properties, the State Council urged waiving their rent for three months in the first half of the year, calling on state-owned enterprises and public institutions to take the lead. Tax relief and loans with discounted interest can be made available to both state and non-state properties that introduce rent reduction or exemption, according to the meeting. Phuket taxi drivers start catching crabs to make a living PHUKET: Four former Phuket taxi drivers now out of work due to the COVID-19 crisis have turned to catching crabs to make a living. COVID-19Coronaviruseconomicstourismviolence By Eakkapop Thongtub Wednesday 22 April 2020, 10:00AM The four taxi drivers, out of work due to teh COVID-19 crisis, have turned their hands to crab fishing just to get by. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Former Phuket taxi driver Thanathorn Thepkaew sets crab traps in the Tha Jeen Cnala every day in the hope of a good catch. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Former Phuket taxi driver Thanathorn Thepkaew is now catching crabs with his friends just to make ends meet. phot: Eakkapop Thongtub One of the four, Thanathorn Thepkaew, 38, originally from Trang, found himself out of work two months ago when the tourists stopped flying in. Where he used to earn about B20,000 a month, enough to support himself, his wife and child, Thanathorn found himself without any income, but still with rent, motorcycle payments and car payments to pay, and needing to send money back home to Trang. Stressed and with no idea what to do, Mr Thanathorn spoke to taxi driver friends in the same situation. I couldnt think of what to do, so I spoke with my friends and we came up with this idea, Mr Thanathorn said. The four pooled together B600 to buy 10 crab traps. Now, every day, the four set traps among the mangroves along the banks of the Tha Jeen Canal on the east side of Phuket Town, separating Koh Siray from Phuket. None of the four have any experience in catching crabs, Mr Thanthorn explained. If we catch enough crabs we can sell them for B300 a kilo, but we dont catch enough to sell, at least we can take them home to cook and eat, and share with our neighbours he said. The only outlay now is B45 a day for chicken ribs to use as bait, Mr Thanathorn explained. Of the four taxi-driver-cum-crab-trappers, three have received the B5,000 emergency support from the government. The one who did not receive it was the only one who did not report himself now as a farmer, Mr Thanathon explained. What money that was received was spent on food with a little left over for emergencies, he added. I understand that everyone is in trouble. I would like to see all of us get through the COVID-19 situation together, but not by sitting around waiting and hoping for help to fall from the sky or be handed out by the government. I would like everyone to help themselves first and do what they can for their families. There are many ways to help prevent others from suffering, people must believe that every problem has a solution, he said. Mr Thanathorn said he looked forward to when tourists return he can start driving a taxi again. I would like to see tourists come back to Thailand, and back to Phuket like they used to, especially now that the beaches are more beautiful than ever. Nature has restored their beauty, he said. When that happens, I can go back to work like everyone else and make a living to support my family, he said. The wearable patch market is expected to grow by USD 5.96 billion during 2020-2024. The report also provides the market impact and new opportunities created due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact can be expected to be significant in the first quarter but gradually lessen in subsequent quarters with a limited impact on the full-year economic growth according to the latest market research report by Technavio. Request a free sample report This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200421005706/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Wearable Patch Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire) The growing prevalence of chronic diseases and incurable conditions, such as cancer, cardiovascular conditions, diabetes, and asthma, is driving the demand for wearable patches. The burden of these chronic diseases is rapidly increasing worldwide and they are associated with high mortality rates. Wearable patches are gaining popularity as they are convenient for physicians as well as patients. With the aim of making healthcare services accessible to people in remote areas, healthcare providers are increasingly using wearable patches to remotely monitor the health of patients. Thus, the growing prevalence of chronic diseases is expected to drive the growth of the market during the forecast period. To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR43181 As per Technavio, the increasing demand for cloud-based solutions will have a positive impact on the market and contribute to its growth significantly over the forecast period. This research report also analyzes other significant trends and market drivers that will influence market growth over 2020-2024. Wearable Patch Market: Increasing Demand for Cloud-based Solutions Technological advances in IT have made processes more efficient and quicker. Hence, the healthcare industry is adopting such technologies. With growing focus in patient information privacy and safety, the pressure to manage data has increased the demand for economic solutions such as cloud computing. Adoption of cloud computing, healthcare organizations will be able to remotely access data through wearable patches. The storage of data from wearable patches on the cloud will eliminate the need for backups and the effects of system issues. Thus, the increasing demand for cloud-based solutions is expected to drive the growth of the market. "Factors such as the growing interest in transdermal medicines, and the increasing use of emerging technologies will have a significant impact on the growth of the wearable patch market value during the forecast period," says a senior analyst at Technavio. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Wearable Patch Market: Segmentation Analysis This market research report segments the wearable patch market by application (clinical and non-clinical) technology (regular and connected), and geographic landscape (North America, Europe, APAC, MEA, and South America). The North American region led the wearable patch market in 2020, followed by Europe, APAC, MEA, and South America respectively. During the forecast period, the North American region is expected to register the highest incremental growth due to the rising number of health-conscious individuals in the region. Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report, such as the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more. Request a free sample report Some of the key topics covered in the report include: Market Drivers Market Challenges Market Trends Vendor Landscape Vendors covered Vendor classification Market positioning of vendors Competitive scenario About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200421005706/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: media@technavio.com Website: www.technavio.com/ Thousands of residents in Massachusetts who have struggled to get internet in their communities may soon have the option to use a local hot spot. As of Wednesday, local service providers set up six hot spots in four towns through a partnership involving the Massachusetts Broadband Institute at the MassTech Collaborative, the state-owned MassBroadband 123 fiber-optic network and local internet service providers. Some communities put up their own hot spots, separate from the partnership. Communities with independently established hot spots are still eligible to receive a hot spot under this program, said Gov. Lt. Karyn Polito, who announced the partnership during a news conference on Wednesday. Fiber Connect, a Berkshire-based provider, set up hotspots in Egremont and Monterey. The Egremont hot spot is at Town Hall, located at 171 Egremont Plain Road. The Monterey hot spot is at the fire station at 411 Main Road. WiValley, based in New Hampshire, set up a hot spot at the Hawley Highway Department, located at 247 West Hawley Road. Greenfield-based Crocker Communications Inc. set up three hotspots in New Marlborough. One is at the library at 1 Mill River Gt. Barrington Road. Another is at Town Hall on 807 Mill River Southfield Road. The third is at the fire station at 205 Norfolk Road. Residents in those communities will have access to a temporary free internet connection that provides up to 250 megabytes per second. Those residents will be expected to follow the social distancing guidelines set forth by the state Department of Public Health, including staying at least 6 feet apart and wearing face coverings. The stay-at-home advisories and school closures resulting from the coronavirus pandemic raised questions about how K-12 students and remote workers would be able to access materials that are typically shared through email or video chat. Those concerns grew this week after Gov. Charlie Baker announced students would not return to class for the rest of the school year. To solve this digital equity problem, with equipment and devices, with connectivity and even with necessary technical support that students and families need and teachers need to make this work, were committed first and foremost, to try to help the state and the districts fill these gaps," said Ed Lambert, executive director of the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education. Westfield Gas & Electric agreed to set up hotspots in 14 more communities over the next several weeks. The expansion in access comes at a time when Gov. Charlie Baker urges residents to stay home. More than 41,000 people in Massachusetts have tested positive for the coronavirus, and nearly 2,000 people have died, as of Wednesday. If we move too quickly, we risk losing the progress that weve made so far, Baker said Wednesday. The Westfield companys crews plan to set up hot spots in Ashfield, Blandford, Becket, Charlemont, Chesterfield, Colrain, Cummington, Goshen, Heath, Leyden, New Salem, Washington, Wendell and Windsor, according to MBI. The hot spots may offer relief for some students and remote employees who have shifted to remote work over the past month. An estimated 15.3% of households in Massachusetts did not have a broadband Internet subscription, according to the 2018 American Community Survey. That figure is lower than the national average of households who lack broadband internet connections, but it means thousands in the Bay State still dont have access. For 2020, the states Last Mile program planned to complete installing broadband in 18 of the 36 remaining unserved or underserved communities, according to a recent statement from the MassTech Collaborative. That phase alone would expand access to an estimated 16,000 residents How far the signal goes depends on the type of WiFi router installed and whether its installed indoors or outdoors, among other factors, according to MBI. Still, residents should be able to catch a signal from a car outside of the building. The Westfield companys hot spots, for example, could theoretically provide a signal of up to 300 feet away if a router is installed outside, according to MBI. If a router is installed indoors, that signal might only be accessible within 100 feet of the router. Related Content: Sharpening the "First to Fight" Force: 3rd MAW Delivers Pristine, Combat-Ready F-35Bs to 1st MAW US Marine Corps News 21 Apr 2020 | 1st Lt. Fredrick Walker Marine Corps Air Station Miramar MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. -- The U.S. Marine Corps prides itself in its reputation as the "First to Fight" in any clime and place. While 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing is a significant part of America's force in readiness, it does not fly or fight alone. In an effort to ensure fellow pilots are trained and equipped with the latest in 5th Generation stealth technology, 3rd MAW's Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 122 and VMFA-211 recently delivered eight F-35B Lightning IIs to 1st MAW's VMFA-121 in Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan. VMFA-121 permanently relocated from MCAS Yuma, Arizona, to MCAS Iwakuni in 2017 after becoming the Corps' first operational F-35B squadron in 2012. As a forward-deployed squadron in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command area of operations, it is imperative that the "Green Knights" have access to the most modern aviation weapon systems available. To that end, the aircraft delivered to Japan range from only a few weeks to several months in age as each was delivered to MCAS Yuma shortly after its production. In order to maximize training value for 3rd MAW's pilots and ground crews while simultaneously reducing operating costs, the aircraft were flown and maintained at MCAS Yuma under the custody of the "Flying Leathernecks" and "Wake Island Avengers," as VMFA-122 and 211 are known. In a final training evolution, the "Flying Leathernecks" and "Wake Island Avengers," in concert with pilots from the "Green Knights," conducted a trans-Pacific flight with air-to-air refueling support provided by pilots from U.S. Transportation Command. The hand-off of the Lightning IIs from 3rd MAW to 1st MAW with external support epitomizes the rallying cry of "one team, one fight" that Marines and service members around the globe hold dear. As a former 3rd MAW squadron, it was fitting that pilots from the Corps' largest aircraft wing should deliver the platforms to their brothers and sisters in the Pacific. As the Fleet Marine Force continues to shape itself into a more lethal force capable of winning in contested maritime environments, the F-35B plays a key role in both deterring and defeating peer adversaries. With its supersonic speed, radar-evading stealth, fighter agility, short takeoff/vertical landing capabilities and its comprehensive integrated sensor package, the Lighting II represents the future of close air support and air superiority. Through its ability to operate nearly anywhere in the world from expeditionary airfields to amphibious assault ships at sea the versatility of the aircraft provides the Corps with the capacity to operate successfully in a broad range of scenarios. "With these new aircraft 1st MAW will be prepared to support Marine Air-Ground Task Force and Joint tasking in contested environments throughout the USINDOPACOM area of operations," said Dirk. "Actions of mutual support between Marine Aircraft Wings like these ensure readiness and lethality across Marine aviation and guarantee that we live up to our charter as the nation's Force-in-Readiness." 3rd MAW continues to "Fix, Fly and Fight" as a multifaceted force, capable of conducing missions across the range of military operations in the defense of America and its interests. No matter the foe, no matter the place, the Marines and Sailors of 3rd MAW stand ready with 1st MAW and the Joint Force when others are not. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address THE Department of Trade and Industry-Export Marketing Bureau (DTI-EMB) urged all Philippine exporters to the European Union (EU) to register to the EU Registered Exporter System (EU Rex) before the June 30, 2020 deadline to avail themselves of the preferential tariffs under the European Unions Generalized System of Preferences Plus (EU GSP+). The EU Rex is a system of self-certification, with a Statement on Origin replacing the Certificates of Origin (CO) Form A. After the set deadline has passed, the EU will no longer accept the CO Form A. Our exporters to Europe should now register with the EU Rex so that they can avail themselves of the preferential tariffs under the EU GSP+. This one-time registration simplifies the process of exporting to the EU because exporters no longer need to get a Certificate of Origin (CO) Form A from the Bureau of Customs every time they ship to the EU, said DTI-Trade Promotions Group (TPG) Undersecretary Abdulgani Macatoman. The Philippines is one of the beneficiary countries of the EU GSP+ that grants zero tariffs to 6,274 product lines. These products are fish, dairy, fruits, vegetables, coconut oil, coffee, cocoa, tobacco, chemicals, fertilizer, essential oil, soap, articles of plastic and rubber. Also included are articles of wood and leather, apparel, footwear and headgear, ceramic product, glass and glassware, pearl, fine and costume jewelry, furniture, auto and aero parts, ships and boats, electronics and semi-conductors, watch and other manufactured articles. Some two billion euros (P113 billion) worth of Philippine products entered the EU market tariff-free under the EU GSP+ last year. Philippine exports to the EU from January to November 2019 went up by two percent to 7.5 billion euros, while imports from the bloc grew faster at eight percent. Application Producers, manufacturers or traders may apply by filling out the application available at https://customs.ec.europa.eu/rex-pa-ui/#/create-preapplication/. Once application has been filled out and submitted electronically, the producer, manufacturer or trader shall submit the application form to the concerned export division/unit with the unique reference number as Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) locators, client profile registration system for non-Peza locators or other equivalent document and a product evaluation report, if applicable. However, during this time of the expanded community quarantine, applicants may submit their applications together with the other required documents online directly to gina.german@customs.gov.ph and ecd@customs.gov.ph or through the BOC portal client.customs.gov.ph. (PR) A woman's life was likely saved by her silicone breast implants after she was shot in the chest at close range while walking down a street in Toronto, doctors have said. The 30-year-old's left breast implant deflected the bullet away from her vital organs into the other breast, according to a case study published last week in the SAGE medical journal. The incident, which occurred in 2018, is one of only a handful of cases where a woman was saved by her breast implants and is believed to be the first involving silicone ones, the study said. The patient, who was not named, went to the local emergency department in the Canadian city after feeling pain in her chest and seeing blood. Surgeons found a single entry wound and retrieved a bullet from below her right breast, which police forensics later determined was a copper jacketed 0.40 caliber, the study said. They removed her implants and photographs with the study and CT scans show the bullet passed through her left implant and hit her right one. "Based on trajectory of bullet entry clinically and evaluation radiologically, the only source of bullet deflection of the bullet is the left breast implant," it said. "This implant overlies the heart and intrathoracic cavity and therefore likely saved the woman's life." Surgeon Giancarlo McEvenue, who wrote the case study, told CNN the bullet entered the woman's left side and ricocheted across her sternum into the right breast. "The implant caused the change in the trajectory of the bullet," he said. "On the left hand side is the heart and lungs -- if the bullet would have gone into the chest, she would have had a much more serious, possibly life-threatening injury." Despite being shot in the chest at close range, the woman escaped relatively unscathed with a fractured rib and damaged implants. The shooting was under investigation, the study said. "The firearm was never recovered, and the shooter remains unknown. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Getty Commercial The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a significant surge in sales for Metro Inc. (MRU.TO), as customers engaged in panic-buying in the early days of the outbreak and continue purchasing more food over fewer trips. The Montreal-based grocery chain said Wednesday that shoppers in Ontario began panic-buying and stockpiling items the week of February 28. Quebec shoppers followed suit a week later, leading to a sales spike in the final week of the second quarter. Same store sales, a key metric in the retail industry, were up 9.7 per cent in the second quarter. Metro said that figure would have been up a more moderate 5.2 per cent if it hadnt been for the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. A significant surge in sales, especially in the last week of the quarter, was unprecedented and required the mobilization of all our resources to ensure the safety of our employees and customers, the resiliency of our supply chain and the operations of our food stores and pharmacy, the companys chief executive Eric La Fleche told analysts on a conference call Wednesday. Sales have since levelled off, but we are still experiencing significant increases in revenues due to the pandemic. Sales in the second quarter hit $3.99 billion, up from $3.7 billion during the same time last year, representing an increase of 7.8 per cent. The company estimated that COVID-19 contributed to a $125 million increase in sales in the quarter. Same-store sales in the first four weeks of the third quarter beginning March 15 the period when governments began enforcing strict social distancing measures and shutting down non-essential services were up 25 per cent when compared to 2019. While foot traffic at Metro stores has declined since the coronavirus outbreak began, customers are buying significantly more with each trip, particularly in the grocery and meat departments. La Fleche expects that trend to continue for the foreseeable future. As long as were in confinement, as long as many sectors of the economy are not re-opening, as long as restaurants are, for the most part, closed, we expect that pattern to be sustained, he said. Story continues There will be a transition period as the economy reopens, and then we'll see a bit of the return to the former pattern of more trips and a smaller basket, but I think we have some time ahead of us. At the same time customers are flocking to Metros online grocery service in unprecedented numbers. The company has now partnered with CornerShop, a third-party online grocery delivery service, to provide delivery in Toronto and Montreal as it grapples with the increasing online demand. We more than doubled our online volume overnight and the current demand is hard to meet as time slots are filling up as soon as they become available, La Fleche said. Were doing what we can to meet that demand as best we can. As shoppers buy more items, they should expect to see fewer promotions in store, in part to reduce putting further pressure on already-strained supply chains. While that may help boost margins for the Metro, the company is seeing operating expenses increase, as it spends more on labour, transportation and safety measures, including cleaning supplies, masks, and shields. Metro employees are being paid an additional $2 an hour through to May 30. The grocery chain will review the pay raise in the coming weeks, but expects sales will be strong enough to justify higher expenses. At this time, it is impossible to determine how long the situation will persist, how gradual the return to normalcy will be and what this new normalcy will even look like, La Fleche said. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, left, and Woori Bank CEO Kwon Kwang-seok / Courtesy of each company By Park Jae-hyuk Conflict has intensified between Binance and Woori Bank, after the China-based cryptocurrency exchange's Korean operation started using a corporate account issued by the commercial bank for cryptocurrency trading here, according to industry officials, Tuesday. Binance has used the BxB's corporate account issued by Woori for virtual assets trading, as it launched the Korean operation in April after taking over BxB, a local fintech firm developing the Korean won-based stablecoins. In response, Woori decided to suspend Binance's bank account on April 9, and Binance immediately filed an injunction against the measure. Although the Seoul Central District Court ruled against Woori's recent suspension of Binance's bank account, the litigation is expected to be prolonged as the bank is considering filing an appeal against the decision. The bank claimed it had suspended Binance's bank account to comply with the financial regulator's guidelines that bar corporate accounts from being used for virtual assets trading. According to the guidelines, banks could also face sanctions from financial authorities if corporate accounts they issued are used for money laundering via cryptocurrency exchanges. Given that Woori has already been punished heavily by financial regulators over its previous mis-selling of high-risk financial products, the bank will likely make more efforts to cut its link with the cryptocurrency exchange. "We are considering filing an appeal against the recent decision, and we will tighten our monitoring of Binance," a Woori Bank spokesman said. Binance said Woori had suddenly disabled its bank account, although the cryptocurrency exchange had informed Woori on March 30 of its plan to use the bank account for cryptocurrency trading. "BxB agreed not to use the account for virtual assets businesses when opening the bank account in January 2019," Binance wrote on its official website. "The agreement, however, also provides that we should inform the bank if we want to use the bank account for virtual assets businesses." The company said it will discuss this issue with Woori, so as not to cause further inconvenience to its customers. Australia is successfully flattening the curve, recording four new cases of coronavirus, marking the first time the numbers have run in the single digits since March 8. The Prime Minister's Office said in the 24 hours to 4pm on Wednesday afternoon, four new cases had been recorded - two in NSW and one each in South Australia and Tasmania. Despite this, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly said social distancing measures would remain in place until that downward trend continued. "There may be more [cases] later, but we certainly appear to be flattening that curve very successfully at the moment," he said. Deputy chief medical officer Paul Kelly said Australia is flattening the curve, but restrictions will remain in place for the next four weeks. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen There have now been 6649 COVID-19 cases recorded across Australia, of which 2971 are in NSW. The call is from Erastus Mwencha, the former Secretary-General of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and Tony Pengelly, the Director of the Secretariat for the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group for Trade Out of Poverty. Writing in The Daily Telegraph newspaper this week, they said: Trade has been the heartbeat of Africa's success, with the UK alone importing 12.7 billion in goods and services from Africa in 2016, much of which from the agriculture sector. But this vital economic activity, and the millions of livelihoods it sustains, is under threat. We must act now to keep trade with Africa flowing. The writers noted that trade in the Eastern African Community had fallen by 25 per cent since the beginning of this year and warned of the danger of protectionist policies that were being advocated in the UK. Policymakers must understand the full consequences if stringent new production standards are imposed on imports, as some in the UK are calling for. Exports from much of Africa would be effectively locked out from the UK and their other major markets around the world, leading to countless jobs being lost on the continent, where unemployment rates are already as high as 70 per cent. At the same time, British consumers would be denied goods such as Kenyan tea and green beans, or Ghanaian cocoa and fruit. There are no winners in this situation, write Mr Mwencha, who is also a former Deputy Chairman of the African Union Commission, and Mr Pengelly. The writers urged the UK government to leverage its world-class aid infrastructure and long-standing partnership with African countries to rapidly put in place schemes to ensure African supply chains are safe and kept open. Ten years ago, the UK established TradeMark East Africa (TMEA), which is now a major player in the areas of trade and development. It has just launched a 16 million Safe Trade Emergency Facility, which is providing short- and medium-term financing that is assisting trade during the COVID-19 pandemic. But Mr Mwencha and Mr Pengelly called on the UK to intensify its dialogue with Africa to plan for returning to a prosperous, more resilient future. They added: This can be done by establishing a UK-Africa Prosperity Commission to chart out the future direction for a new economic partnership covering safe trade, green investment and technology, and aid for trade. Bringing together UK government ministers with African governments and the African Union, as well as those at the forefront of existing initiatives working to boost economic activity on the continent, the Commission would examine how the UK and Africa can 'build-back-better' after the COVID-19 epidemic. ---GNA Promotional materials from the global campaign to achieve Universal Health Coverage by the year 2030. Copyright UHC2030 reproduced here under fair use for academic purposes. Health for All? critically explores global moves towards Universal Health Coverage and its language of rights to health, equity, social justice and the public good. Highlighting emerging ethnographic and historical research by both young and established scholars, the series explores the translations and frictions surrounding aspirations for health for all as they move across the globe. The series is edited by Ruth Prince. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, Community Health Workers (CHWs) a diverse group of workers who receive different forms of training and remuneration remain the frontline providers of care and advice in many parts of the world and are being called upon to implement new government interventions. This piece contextualises the work of these CHWs by examining the return of large-scale CHW programmes within the broader Universal Health Coverage agenda of the last decade. By focusing on the introduction of a large-scale CHW programme in rural Zambia, I consider what kind of coverage these programmes offer in practice and how they might change state accountability and citizenship. Zambias new Community Health Workers It is a hot morning in early November 2019 and Mutinta and John are travelling by motorbike along the dry footpaths and uneven roads of rural southern Zambia.[i] They are visiting different households as part of their routine health promotion activities and, on this morning, I am accompanying them with my friend and research assistant, Passwell. Mutinta and John know the route intimately because they both grew up in this area and, as we follow behind on our own motorbike, Passwell and I often find ourselves struggling to keep up. When we arrive at our first stop, around 15 kilometres away from the rural health centre where we began, we greet the residents of the household and are invited to sit down on small wooden stools under the shade of a tree. This large household is home to a middle-aged man and his six wives, along with several other relatives. As with other household visits, John and Mutinta stick to their routine: John asks various questions to the assembled group, while Mutinta records their answers in a large register she carries in her rucksack. The records of their household visits and the details they collect are supposed to be sent to the district medical office once a month. This interaction is friendly and relaxed. John asks where they are drawing their water from and if they are boiling it or treating it with chlorine. He wants to know if there is a rubbish pit, a dish rack, and a pit latrine in the household. John then asks the group range of questions about how to prevent common illnesses and diseases. He begins by asking if they know what causes malaria, what the symptoms are, and how can it be prevented. John tries to encourage family members to answer these questions for themselves in these meetings and he or Mutinta offer corrections and additional comments along the way. These interactions are conversational and Mutinta and John are engaged and attentive throughout. On this particular morning, as the conversation about malaria unfolds, one of the women, Sarah, says she thinks she might be experiencing some of the symptoms they are discussing. After asking a few further questions, John produces a rapid diagnostic test from his bag. He gently rubs one of Sarahs fingers with an antibacterial wipe and she winces slightly as he pierces her fingertip with a lancet. John then squeezes a small droplet of blood onto the testing strip. Several minutes later, the test shows a negative result. John writes a referral form for Sarah and instructs her to travel to the clinic as soon as possible so that one of the health workers can try to identify the cause of her symptoms. As John later explains, Sarah is fortunate to live only 15 kilometres away from the nearest health centre; there are other households they visit which are 75 kilometres away. Mutinta and John are at the forefront of a new large-scale Community Health Worker (CHW) programme that began in 2012 as part of Zambias broader efforts to achieve Universal Health Coverage. In partnership with various global health organisations including the Clinton Foundation the Zambian Ministry of Health introduced this programme to train and deploy a new cadre of government CHWs to work in some of the most remote areas of the country. Mutinta and John were part of the first cohort of these new CHWs to graduate and begin working. I have recently been conducting ethnographic research exploring the introduction of this programme from the multiple perspectives of government officials, global health partners, CHWs, and rural citizens. The architects of Zambias new CHW programme have been influenced by the emergence of the Universal Health Coverage agenda. Many proponents of Universal Health Coverage argue that large-scale, government-sponsored CHW programmes are a cost-effective way of dramatically improving health coverage in countries that suffer from a shortage of health workers and in which many citizens struggle to access basic healthcare. There are a number of advocates of these programmes today, including the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Clinton Foundation, and the campaign group One Million Community Health Workers, who wish to accelerate the attainment of universal health coverage in rural sub-Saharan Africa by helping governments to scale-up nationally recognised CHW programmes.[ii] These advocates argue that CHWs should be recruited through community selection or participation; they should be trained and paid a salary by the government; and they should be posted to remote and rural areas where they can provide basic forms of healthcare and engage in health promotion activities. The return of these kind of large-scale CHW programmes to the policy agenda is a striking development because the last time they were being advocated seriously was during the Alma Ata era in the 1970s, when the ambition to achieve health for all was first articulated. From Alma Ata to Universal Health Coverage The vision of primary health care that was articulated in the 1978 Alma Ata Declaration gave a prominent place to large-scale CHW programmes and to CHWs themselves, who were regularly depicted as heroic actors who both represented, and cared for, their communities (see Metcalf and Nunes 2018). This idea of primary health care was also based on a critique of top-down interventions in favour of a vision of increased community participation (Basilico et al. 2013: 79). At this time, a joint report by the WHO and UNICEF suggested the following: For many developing countries, the most realistic solution for attaining total population coverage with essential health care is to employ community health workers who can be trained in a short time to perform specific tasks In many societies, it is advantageous if these health workers come from the community in which they live and are chosen by it, so that they have its support. (1978: 32) CHW programmes at this time were ambitious and idealistic state-led initiatives that were intended to offer all citizens the possibility of accessing comprehensive healthcare. Many countries implemented large-scale CHW programmes during this period, including India, Uganda and Mozambique. However, by the 1980s and 1990s, cuts to healthcare spending and structural adjustment programmes many of these programmes had fallen into disrepair or been abandoned due to cuts to healthcare spending and structural adjustment programmes. These CHW programmes became difficult to coordinate and fund while at the same time, donors and NGOs increasingly preferred to implement selective disease programmes, especially in response to the HIV/AIDS crisis. With the rise of neoliberal economics and selective primary healthcare, national CHW programmes became unpopular, although CHWs continued to be recruited as valuable volunteers who could help NGOs to implement their programmes (Maes 2014; Nading 2013). A certain vision of CHWs as selfless and dedicated (and therefore capable of working without payment) persisted during this period, even if the idea of large-scale government-coordinated CHW programmes fell out of favour. When set against the history of these health reforms, it seems that the return of these CHW programmes to the policy agenda might represent a genuine change of direction in several respects. Firstly, these CHW programmes are intended to offer comprehensive healthcare to people in rural areas; this is a move away from the kind of selective treatment associated with so many NGO health interventions, such as TB or HIV/AIDS programmes. Secondly, advocates of these programmes seem to recognise that the state, rather than NGOs or the market, has a vital role to play in extending health coverage. In the context of the broader Universal Health Coverage agenda, the return of these large-scale CHW programmes raises a number of interesting questions for anthropologists. At the present moment, when state resources and capacities are limited, how are governments attempting to implement such ambitious, large-scale programmes? What role are global health partner organisations continuing to play in these supposedly state-led programmes? And might we see a move away from the kind of therapeutic or biological citizenship that accompanies selective health interventions (in which claims-making is tied to a particular disease category) towards something that comes to resemble a more comprehensive (or universal) form of citizenship and claim-making? The past few decades of global health partner and NGO involvement in Zambia has profoundly shaped the landscape of rural healthcare, including the attitudes and expectations of government health officials, health professionals, and rural citizens. And this has made it incredibly difficult for the government to introduce a new cadre of health workers in partnership with outside global health organisations. In rural Zambia, many new government CHWs are often seen as simply another group of short-term, donor-funded volunteers. Partnerships, Resources, and Citizenship After their graduation, Mutinta and John were posted back to their home area. They were sent home with certain resources and supplies (such as bicycles and umbrellas) given to them by the Clinton Foundation. At first, when these items broke or needed to be repaired, Clinton Foundation officials often delivered new items (in particular, bicycles) directly to CHWs like Mutinta and John in their home areas therefore bypassing district-level government health officials. During the first few years of the programme, newly qualified CHWs also had their salaries partially funded by the Clinton Foundation and had to sign employment contracts with both the Ministry of Health and the Clinton Foundation. At the same time, the Clinton Foundation was heavily involved in the supervision and monitoring of these newly qualified CHWs, in order to demonstrate to their directors and donors that the programme was improving health outcomes. Therefore, in the early years of the programme, CHWs like Mutinta and John often felt that they were accountable to both the government and the Clinton Foundation. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this kind of partnership produced certain difficulties. These new CHWs seemed to be affiliated with the Clinton Foundation and yet they were simultaneously government employees. In a context where parallel implementation and supervision was taking place, many government health workers (from nurses to clinical officers to district medical officials) had great difficulty in understanding the position and role of people like Mutinta and John. Many formal government health workers believed that these new government CHWs were simply volunteer CHWs who were sponsored by an NGO or partner organisation. Many new CHWs were therefore excluded from the meetings, training workshops, health campaigns, and other activities. A number of the CHWs told me that, even today, they do not feel they have been accepted by many of their government colleagues. Consequently, these CHWs have faced great difficulty in accessing resources, particularly as the Clinton Foundation is now phasing out its initial financial support for the programme; indeed, it is formally a government programme so they are handing over to the Ministry of Health. If we reconsider the encounter I described above, when Mutinta and John arrived at Sarahs homestead, this was in many ways a textbook household visit. John and Mutinta engaged in their health promotion meeting and then referred Sarah to the clinic for further treatment. But although John and Mutinta (and many CHWs like them) are doing this kind of day-to-day work, they are doing so with extremely limited resources. The motorbike that John and Mutinta were using that morning was borrowed from one of Johns friends and they paid for the fuel from their own salaries. On the morning when we met Sarah, John was able to find a rapid diagnostic test in the clinics supplies but, as Mutinta and John later explained, it has been many years since they last received the supply of equipment and basic medicines that they were trained to use. They have to improvise by borrowing equipment and medications from the clinics already under-stocked pharmacy. These circumstances have further political implications when it comes to thinking about claims-making and citizenship. Initially, I wondered if the presence of a new kind of government health worker who was able to move beyond the selective models of health coverage that have been central to NGO interventions might alter rural citizens relations to the state and even potentially enable more expansive forms of claim-making. In practice, I have found that many people in the area who were visited by Mutinta and John did not know that they were government employees. A few days after the encounter with Sarah at her homestead, I returned with Passwell to visit and interview the family members. Although the middle-aged man, Mr Nyamba, told us that he knew that Mutinta and John must be government workers, his response was not typical. On other occasions, people told us that Mutinta and John must be NGO workers or volunteers. But despite the common confusion about whether Mutinta and John were government or NGO workers, the most widespread attitude among people in the area was that it did not matter, as long as Mutinta and John were able to help them. Ramah McKay (2018) has shown in her work in Mozambique that the boundaries between NGO and state agencies in healthcare provision are often unclear (or relatively unimportant to people) because individual health workers themselves regularly mediate access to both government and NGO health programmes. Similarly, in rural Zambia, CHWs like Mutinta and John are often not seen, first and foremost, as NGO workers or government workers, but rather as individuals who for the time being are able to provide certain forms of assistance in a landscape of healthcare that is shifting and unreliable. When it comes to understanding the effects of the Universal Health Coverage agenda, it is important to situate the implementation of recent programmes in relation to the past thirty years of health reforms. The proliferation of NGOs and global health partners who dominate the landscape of rural healthcare makes it difficult for rural residents to recognise the presence of the state in the provision of healthcare. The kind of large-scale CHW programmes that we might see in the future will not resemble the vision of primary health care that was first developed during the time of Alma Ata even if the current proponents of Universal Health Coverage draw so heavily on the ambitious rhetoric of the era of health for all. At the present moment, in the context of the COVID-19 response, it is possible that CHWs will acquire new forms of governmental authority and the difference between NGOs and governmental health workers may become more significant and visible, particularly in places where new large-scale CHW programmes are being implemented. Mutinta and John and other CHWs in Zambia may have to take on new roles that differentiate them from other local actors and this may have a more profound effect on the relations between rural citizens and the state than the introduction of the new CHW programme has had so far. Notes [i] All of the names used here are pseudonyms. [ii] See http://1millionhealthworkers.org/ (accessed October 12 2018). Works Cited Hannah Brown. 2015. Global health partnerships, governance and sovereign responsibility in western Kenya. American Ethnologist. 42 (2): 340355. Ramah McKay, 2018. Medicine in the meantime: the work of care in Mozambique. Durham: Duke University Press. Alexander Metcalf and Joao Nunes, 2018. Visualising Primary Health Care: World Health Organisation Representations of Community Health Workers, 1970-89. Medical History 62 (4): 401-424. Kenneth Maes. 2014. Volunteers are not paid because they are priceless: Community Health Worker capacities and values in an AIDS treatment intervention in urban Ethiopia. Medical Anthropology Quarterly 29 (1): 97-115. International Conference on Primary Health Care (1978: Alma Ata, USSR), World Health Organization & United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF). (1978). Primary health care : a joint report / by the Director-General of the World Health Organization and the Executive Director of the United Nations Childrens Fund. World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/39225 Alex M. Nading. 2013. Love isnt there in your stomach: a moral economy of medical citizenship among Nicaraguan Community Health Workers. Medical Anthropology Quarterly 27 (1): 84102 James Wintrup received his PhD in anthropology from the University of Cambridge in 2017 and is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Oslo. His research explores the social and political effects of health interventions in rural Zambia. He has conducted research on Christian medical humanitarianism and its afterlives in rural Zambia. As part of the ERC-funded project Universal Health Coverage and the Public Good in Africa, he is currently carrying out research on a new government programme that aims to extend health coverage to rural populations in Zambia by training and deploying a new cohort of Community Health Workers (CHWs). Share this: Share Email Facebook Twitter Reddit Tumblr LinkedIn [view academic citations] [hide academic citations] MassMEDIC Women in MedTech Networking and Leadership Forum MassMEDIC continues its popular Women in MedTech Leadership and Networking Forum through a series of virtual gatherings aimed at bringing its community together, while raising money for survivors of sexual and domestic violence. The Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council (MassMEDIC) announced a new series of events aimed at bringing its community together, while raising money for survivors of sexual abuse and domestic assault. MassMEDIC will continue its popular Women in MedTech Networking and Leadership Forum through a new series of virtual events, designed specifically to bring us together for learning, laughter, and community. The COVID-19 crisis has disrupted every aspect of work, home, and family life. These events are intended to provide a platform to come togethervirtually of courseto talk, exchange ideas and feel connected. In lieu of paid registrations, The MassMEDIC Women in MedTech Forum encourages attendees to make a donation to New Hope, a non-profit organization that works throughout South-Central and Southeastern Massachusetts to assist those affected by domestic and sexual violence. New Hope has seen an uptick in the need for its services and continues to serve the community virtually. Registration for all events is now open. This event will feature a founder story and advice from two women who pursued their dreams and succeeded. Hear from Maureen Boyce and Amy Salzhauer, co-founders of Good Growth Capital, a majority women- and minority-owned early stage venture capital firm. How has social distancing, home schooling, working from home, financial pressure, routine disruption impacted us? Dr. Daphne Holt, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School will lead a discussion on self-care, giving ourselves the space to "not be okay and strategies to support our mental wellbeing. When the path isn't quite clear, how can we utilize the time to reach the next level of our or professional development. Join Holly Scott, Vice President & Senior Partner at The Mullings Group for a conversation around how to be your own career advocate and put yourself in a position to advance. Join us as we honor inspirational figures in our community. All individuals or organizations who donate $100 or more will be entered in a raffle to win a "MassMEDIC event season pass". This season pass, worth over $1,000, will include one ticket to four upcoming signature events in 2020/21. One winner will be selected at the end of the May 19th event, you do not have to be present at that event to win. Donations may be made through Eventbrite during event registration or here. About New Hope: New Hope works throughout South-Central and Southeastern Massachusetts with those affected by domes-tic and sexual violence. By building an anti-violence movement, we seek to create communities free from violence, where individuals and families are able to achieve their full human potential. As an organization dedicated to social justice, New Hope encompasses a way of seeing, naming, understanding, and acting aimed at addressing inequality and oppression across society. Our vision is a simple one, Every person has the right to live a life free of violence and exploitation. New Hope is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization serving those affected by domestic and sexual violence. Since domestic and sexual violence are often intertwined, our clients benefit from the full spectrum of pro-grams we offer, allowing them to receive domestic and sexual violence services in one place. We offer a wide range of services which combine crisis intervention, violence prevention, life transition, and self-sufficiency opportunities, while promoting behavioral and systemic changes to reduce violence at the individual and community levels. Visit the website for more information: https://www.new-hope.org/. About MassMEDIC: The Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council (MassMEDIC), an organization of more than 300 manufacturers, suppliers, research institutions, and academic health centers, promotes the unique interests of the Bay States growing and vibrant medical device sector. Through a variety of programs, informational seminars, advocacy campaigns and other projects, MassMEDIC provides medical device manufacturers and suppliers with information on industry trends and regulatory policies and creates forums that allow members to exchange ideas and information on issues affecting the industry. For more information on MassMEDIC, visit http://www.massmedic.com. Prakash Javadekar said that the Modi government has decided stringent punishment- jail for 6 months to 7 years and a fine of Rs 1 lakh to 5 lakh- for people attacking doctors, police and other essential workers. Union Minister Prakash Javadekar in a presser said that the Centrebhas decided to take stringent actions against people attacking the health workers and police. He said that in the cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, a decision for zero tolerance on attacks on front line workers has been made. Now any kind of violence against the health workers, police and essential workers will be made cognisable, non-bailable offences. Javadekar added that Health workers who have been putting their health and lives in stake to save other live and the country from this epidemic are unfortunately facing attacks. No incident of violence or harassment, against them will be tolerated. An ordinance has been passed and will come to act after President Ramnath Kovinds approval. In this ordinance, jail for 6 months to 7 years and a fine of Rs 1 lakh to 5 lakh will be slapped on the people attacking the front line saviors. The amended Epidemic Act a 120-year-old law will protect doctors, nurses, health workers, attendants and also Aasha workers, Prakash Javadekar said. A special insurance cover will also be provided the healthcare professionals who been risking their lives. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has also called off their protest which was planned for April 23 after Home Minister Amit Shah assured security to doctors, nurses and other medical staff. IMA secretary, Dr Ravi Malik told the media that the Indian Medical Association has been assured that the government will do everything possible to protect them. For all the latest National News, download NewsX App Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 22) Iloilo City on Wednesday reimposed its strict liquor ban less than a day after the local government eased rules under its enhanced community quarantine. Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Trenas on Tuesday amended the city's drinking rules, allowing the selling of liquor and alcoholic drinks as long as social distancing is observed in stores. He also prohibited drinking in public and mass gathering. He also warned that the liquor ban will be automatically reimposed if there are violations. After a few hours, the city brought back the liquor ban after several reported violations. "There were several reported incidents and complaints related to the abuse in consumption of alcohol and violations of physical distancing measures, hence there is a need to reimpose the prohibition on the same and consumption of liquor within Iloilo City," he wrote in the revised Executive Order No. 066-A posted on the city's official Facebook page. The mayor warned of administrative and/or criminal charges against those who will violate the order. Iloilo City has 25 confirmed COVID-19 cases with five deaths. Maulana Saad Kandhalvi, the chief of Nizamuddin Markaz, has asked his followers to donate their plasma for the treatment of Covid-19 patients. In an exclusive interview with IANS, Saad said, "I am informed that in some cases, if cured Covid-19 patients donate their plasma for the treatment of other patients, the same shall be very helpful in the latter's early recovery." He appealed to his followers, saying, "My friends from Tablighi Jamaat, who have been successfully treated by doctors and have now tested negative, come forward and donate your plasma so that other patients, of any caste or religion, who are still fighting this disease, may benefit from us." However, he said that health experts would be best suited to assess the viability of this procedure. Maulana Saad said the only message which is ever propounded by the Markaz Nizamuddin is of love, peace and brotherhood, as "we are all the children of Adam". When asked about talks doing the rounds that Tablighi Jamaatis were responsible for the spread of the virus following the religious congregation of the sect held at Delhi's Nizamuddin area last month, Maulana Saad said: "I am not sure whether this can be called a conspiracy. There has been more than one instance in the past where a person has been put to trial and proclaimed guilty by the media, only to be exonerated later by the courts after appreciating the correct and relevant facts." The Markaz chief said that they believed in the judicial system of the country and the truth shall prevail. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison during an official visit ceremony at the South Lawn of the White House September 20, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Zach Gibson/Getty Images) PM and Trump Discuss Virus, China and WHO Australian prime minister Scott Morrison has spoken to Donald Trump about the economic impacts of COVID-19 and the performance of the World Health Organisation. Scott Morrison and the US president on April 22 discussed the need for transparency, in a clear reference to China, and the need to improve global institutions like the WHO in their response to pandemics. Morrison raised Australias focus on supporting countries in the Pacific and South East Asia, where the United States also holds a keen strategic interest. He also spoke about the role of the WHO with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron. Morrison has been scathing of the United Nations agency for its handling of COVID-19 after it criticised Australia for closing its borders to Chinese tourists and took two weeks longer to declare a pandemic. He has also challenged its decision to support China reopening wet markets, which were the likely cause of the deadly disease. The prime minister discussed co-operation on repatriating stranded citizens with Ms Merkel and the pair also talked about negotiations on a free-trade deal between Australia and the European Union. He and Macron discussed the need for greater international co-operation in response to pandemics, including on developing a COVID-19 vaccine. By Daniel McCulloch Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald has said she will never again take her health for granted after battling Covid-19. She told BBC Radio Ulster's Talkback programme that she was "doing fine" describing her experience as like an invasion on her body. She said she felt strong but also "extremely lucky". Ms McDonald was sidelined for weeks when she contracted the virus, although she did not need hospital treatment. She first self-isolated at the beginning of March when a case was confirmed at the school of one of her children before her condition deteriorated. "This is a horrible virus and believe you me nobody wants to catch it," she told BBC Talkback. "I'm very glad that I came out the far end of it." She added: "While I was sick with it, I had a rough couple of weeks with it, fortunately I was not hospitalised and I count myself very lucky on that score. Mrs McDonald said her experience of the virus would be regarded as "mild" as she didn't become acutely sick, "but at the same time it's a horrible experience, it's like your whole system is being invaded. "I was upset that it had come into my house, it had come under my roof." Mrs McDonald said she was concerned for her teenage children. "My overall feeling is that I am very, very lucky, I am now well, I am off all medication," the Sinn Fein leader said. Mrs McDonald said she developed a pleurisy in her right lung while waiting for her Covid-19 test results. "All of that is over now, I feel very well, I feel strong and I feel extremely, extremely lucky. "It changes your perspective." The coronavirus has taken the shine out of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day on Wednesday, a huge setback in the battle against climate change, but environmentalists are hoping the pandemic will provide a valuable lesson that will help people build a more sustainable future. The Earth Day events that were expected to draw a billion people worldwide have mostly been canceled, including numerous events in the Bay Area, and forced environmental leaders to focus instead on what can be learned from the response to COVID-19. The most obvious lesson may be in how clean the air and water have become while the world shelters in place. But while those changes have been dramatic, there is little chance theyll continue once the threat of disease is gone and the economy ramps up again. Nobody knows what will happen next, but environmental leaders believe Americas response to the pandemic is a trial run for the battle against climate change. What weve seen with coronavirus response is how important planning in advance for environmental shock is, said Christopher Field, director of the Carnegie Institution for Science at Stanford University. The evidence that guidance from science is crucial to deal with the coronavirus threat is overwhelming and the evidence that there is a great need for preparedness in society is overwhelming. The question is whether those lessons can be adapted to the fight against global warming. Judging from the repeated attacks by President Trump on Democrats who have questioned his response to the pandemic, politics will undoubtedly play a part. Now Earth Day 2020 is going to be election day, said Denis Hayes, the chief executive officer of the environmentally focused Bullitt Foundation, in Seattle, and the organizer of the first Earth Day in 1970. Earth Day has always been political. The first one on April 22, 1970, was an attempt to push Congress into controlling rampant pollution in the air, rivers, streams and oceans. The public awareness spurred by Earth Day appears to have worked. Many of the nations landmark environmental laws were passed between 1970 and 1980, including major provisions of the Clean Air Act. In 1970, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was created. Agricultural use of DDT was banned in 1972, and in 1973 President Richard Nixon created the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The Endangered Species Act was passed in 1973. Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle The movement was, perhaps, strongest in the Bay Area, where regulators began protecting land and water, and a public movement helped establish the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in 1972, forever protecting as open space a collection of U.S. Army posts, beaches, bluffs and vacant rolling hills. Those laws are all under assault right now, said Abigail Dillen, president of the San Francisco-based Earthjustice, a nonprofit that litigates environmental causes. Dillen sees similarities between the federal governments response to the pandemic and its attitude toward climate change. The president, for instance, disbanded the governments pandemic response team and initially discounted the coronavirus as a threat, at one point calling it a hoax. He has also rolled back environmental regulations and long called climate change a hoax. The pandemic, like pollution and climate change, has disproportionate impacts on low-income, urban communities because they often lack access to health care or the resources necessary to shelter in place, she said. It is why most of the sickness and death is occurring in minority communities, she said I think it is laying bare systemic inequalities, Dillen said. One industry being laid bare by the coronavirus is Big Oil, which has seen prices plummet as industrial and economic activity has been shut down across the globe. Oil prices are at their lowest level since 1946, forcing 13% of the American crude drilling business to shut down. Trump has vowed to prop up the oil and gas industries, but the collapse will likely have long-term repercussions on the economy. But good things sometimes come out of, or are inspired by, the bad. The clearing of redwood trees inspired naturalist John Muir and led President Teddy Roosevelt to protect wildlife and public lands, including the establishment of 150 national forests and five national parks. Pollution and litter prompted a nationwide Keep America Beautiful campaign that started in 1953. Silent Spring, the 1962 book by biologist Rachel Carson, awakened people to the harmful effects of DDT, which was later banned. Now, environmental leaders say the collapse of the oil industry may be just the opportunity the world needs to pivot away from fossil fuels and invest in a clean energy economy. This is a moment of reckoning, said Dillen, who pointed out that the oil industry was already struggling before the pandemic. My hope across the board is that we can use this moment of crisis not to reinvest in the industries that are hurling us over the edge into a climate emergency. Hayes, the Earth Day organizer, spent the past two years fundraising for events he thought would make a difference, including a demonstration involving 750,000 people on the National Mall, in Washington D.C. 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. Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle To learn that everything wed planned for two years is now illegal is certainly a blow, said Hayes, who hopes the coronavirus will inspire more funding for science, including for climate change research. One thing thats come out of the coronavirus is that there are such things as facts, said Hayes, who claims the facts about climate change have been skewed by a multibillion-dollar disinformation campaign funded by the fossil fuel industry. Environmental experts say the climate-friendly practices weve embraced during the shutdown working remotely being just one could become more common if federal stimulus money is steered toward green infrastructure. More online shopping and a bigger focus on local recreation could help reduce automobile travel and greenhouse gas emissions. The production of goods closer to home would also shorten supply chains and cut emissions. Environmental scientists believe the world is now facing its greatest peril as the climate warms, vegetation dries out, drought-caused fires break out, the ocean ecosystem changes and sea levels rise. The strides made so far provide some hope that we can overcome both the pandemic and climate change. We have come so far in so many areas in environmental protection, so even though it feels like were in a daunting, difficult time and that it feels like we are facing a difficult challenge, Earth Day should encourage us to do the next difficult thing, said David Lewis, the executive director of Save the Bay, which has been protecting San Francisco Bay for decades. Earth Day is a reminder that we can do amazing things to protect our planet and people. Hayes was crushed when the coronavirus pandemic forced cancellation of events, but hopes people learn from it. Theres no way to put a good face on losing gigantic crowd events, but the climate activists of today are digital natives, people who grew up on social networks, he said. So whereas COVID-19 in 1970 would have just been horrible, there are all kinds of things going on online at zoos, museums, libraries, universities, on Facebook. The stuff will happen, it just wont have the same political impact. Peter Fimrite is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: pfimrite@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @pfimrite A farewell to the woman who sabotaged Communism by knitting sweaters. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled My grandmother died at the beginning of April. She was 91 years old. I could not attend her funeral in Romania as I would have landed in a quarantine facility for two weeks when entering the country. So I had to say good-bye from a distance. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement I used to call her Mama Mia, trying to find a shortcut when as a young child it got too complicated to remember who was who in a family full of aunts, uncles, cousins and their own cousins. My grandma was born in a relatively well-to-do family in a village in a famous vineyard region in Romania, at a time when the country was entering a period of modernisation and prosperity. The only girl among two boys in the family of the general manager of a vast vineyard owned by a rich minister, she was not interested in the modernisation of the country orin art. I remember how she told me quite amused that as a child she thought that there must be something wrong with the daughter of the rich landowner - Bianca - who spent her time painting the vineyards on the hills and a few portraits of people. At the end of last week, the Financial Times published a lengthy interview with French president Emmanuel Macron in which Macron referred no fewer than nine times to humility and may, occasionally, have meant it: I dont know if we are at the beginning or the middle of this crisis no one knows. . . . There is lots of uncertainty and that should make us very humble. Macrons humility only goes so far, and will not have been encouraged by his starstruck interviewers, who write that he is overtly intellectual [and] always brimming with ideas. They are right, but unfortunately, Macrons ideas are old ideas, if sometimes repackaged. In his view, the interviewers report, COVID-19 represents an opportunity to put an end to the hyper-financialized world, a phantom that exists mainly in the fevered imaginations of communitarians, academics who refer to late capitalism, and European politicians. (Recall that, shortly after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, an earlier French president, Nicolas Sarkozy seemingly oblivious to the political and economic developments of the previous hundred years announced that laissez-faire capitalism was finished.) Macron is also not the first eco-warrior to have noticed that the measures taken to contain COVID-19 might make a useful precedent for the struggle against climate change. People, he reckons, have come to understand that no one hesitates to make very profound, brutal choices when its a matter of saving lives. Its the same for climate risk. The parallel is nonsense, but typical of that strand of environmentalism in which coercion is a feature, not a bug. Under the circumstances, then, it is no surprise that, when it comes to Brusselss embattled union, Macron, like many EU leaders, has learnt little from the debacles of the last couple of decades: [He is] especially concerned about the EU and the euro. Banging the desk repeatedly with his hands to emphasize his points, he says both the union and the single currency will be threatened if the richer members, such as Germany and the Netherlands, do not show more solidarity with the pandemic-stricken nations of southern Europe. Story continues If Macron gets his way, those hands will soon be rifling through the wallets of the euro zones Frugal Four (Austria, Finland, Germany, and the Netherlands), who are currently holding out against the sort of solidarity that he has in mind namely, financial aid funded by mutualized debt. Hes talking about euro bonds, which would be issued using the credit of the euro zone as a whole. This idea has been resisted by the Frugal Four for a variety of reasons. For one thing, they fear being stuck with part of the bill for debts run up by their less responsible partners. For another, they object on principle that theyd be acquiescing to something that violated the original spirit of the euro zone itself. And finally, they worry about the precedent that might be set, which could have implications well beyond questions of bond issuance. To the Frugal Four, mutualized debt would be a major step along the path to a fiscal union, something they dont want unless they can dictate its terms, which they will never be able to do. Establishing a currency union without the backing of some sort of fiscal union was always asking for trouble. If, say, Tennessee falls on hard times, it will pay less to, and receive more from, the Feds. There is no need to devalue a Tennessee dollar to maintain the states ability to compete, because the American currency union is supported by a fiscal union. But trapped in the euro, Italy cannot devalue itself back into competitiveness, and there is no federal euro-zone authority presiding over taxing and spending to ease its pain. It is not difficult to understand this absence. Tennesseans, Texans, and even New Yorkers feel a national affinity and thus have a degree of willingness to help each other out that Finns, Greeks, and Portuguese do not. The Frugal Four know that a fiscal union will send a flow of cash from the euro zones north to some of its poorer nations in perpetuity. The idea that a monetary union would bring about economic convergence between its members is a myth; indeed such a union might well have the opposite effect. Even with the handouts that a fiscal union would deliver, that will not change. Athens will not be Munich in any foreseeable future; Italy has been bound together in political, monetary, and fiscal union for more than a century and a half, yet Naples is not Milan. None of this appears to worry Macron, possibly because he hopes that France would not fare too badly in any fiscal union, and certainly because of his anxiety over what might lie ahead for the EU: We are at a moment of truth, which is to decide whether the European Union is a political project or just a market project. I think its a political project. . . . We need financial transfers and solidarity, if only so that Europe holds on. The first part of that passage is characteristically disingenuous. The institutions that evolved into the EU were conceived as part of a grand political project from the very beginning. The economic was always subordinate to the political. It was a motor of integration, a means rather than an end, the cheese on the mousetrap. There are few better examples of that subordination than the creation of the euro, which risked economic disaster for no obvious economic advantage but, politically, looked like a gamble worth taking. Such was the brutality of that perverse logic, it still does: If the only way to save the single currency from the flaws built into its design were even deeper EU integration, the euro zones trauma would, to use the entertainingly cynical language of European construction, have constituted a beneficial crisis. Whenever the EU finds itself in a mess, its more excitable leaders like to warn that its implosion would signal a return to some of the worst of the continents past. Some conjure up the trenches, others turn to still-darker horrors. Outraged that voters might veto a proposed EU constitution (they did), EU commissioner Margot Wallstrom took the chance presented by a visit to the former Nazi concentration camp at Theresienstadt (Terezin) in 2005 to observe: There are those today who want to scrap the supranational idea. They want the European Union to go back to the old purely intergovernmental way of doing things. . . . Those people should come to Terezin and see where that old road leads. The Euro allegedly has a part to play in keeping the demons of the past at bay. In 2018, Angela Merkel, a symbol, to the easily fooled, of rational politics, told an audience in Lisbon that Europe by which she meant the EU is a promise of peace and that the euro, which is often discussed in very technical terms, is the best guarantee that we can continue with that. By contrast, Macron was relatively restrained when he explained to his FT interviewers that we need financial transfers and solidarity, if only so that Europe holds on. Neither he nor Merkel were the first to claim that a euro crisis threatened the existence of the EU itself, but Macrons words were intended to play on fears within the Frugal Four that the stakes were too high for them not to cave in. They will be unlikely to yield to the pressure to agree to the issuance of euro bonds in the near future, as is evident from the way that the importance of Thursdays EU leadership teleconference has been downgraded, but there is every reason to think that they will eventually succumb to Macrons dodgy logic. After all, here is what Merkel, the leader of the most powerful of the quartet, was saying almost exactly ten years ago: If the euro fails . . . Europe fails too, [and so does] the idea of European unification. We have a common currency, but no common political and economic union. And this is exactly what we must change. To achieve this, therein lies the opportunity of this crisis. Oh. More from National Review Lockdowns around the world to slow the spread of coronavirus have had an unintended consequence creating a global experiment in reducing pollution in some of the worlds busiest cities. From New Delhi to Milan, the air has become cleaner, albeit temporarily, in many of the worlds most polluted areas as people stay at home and travel rates have reduced significantly. In the northeastern US, nitrogen dioxide pollution is down by 30 per cent, while in Rome, air pollution levels from mid-March to mid-April were down 49 per cent from a year ago. Residents in some cities have also begun to notice animals turning up in strange places and at unusual times, with coyotes seen along downtown Chicagos Michigan Avenue and near San Franciscos Golden Gate Bridge, goats spotted in a town in Wales and a puma found roaming the streets of Santiago, Chile. In India, a lockdown that has shut down schools, workplaces and transport has led to significant drops in air pollution in six out of the 10 most polluted cities in the world. On the first day of the lockdown, the average PM 2.5 pollution levels decreased by 22 per cent and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) dropped by 15 per cent, according to air pollution data analysed by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. Those figures are especially important for public health, because India accounts for the highest pollution-related deaths in the world with more than 2 million people every year, according to a December 2019 report by the Global Alliance of Health and Pollution. It is giving us this quite extraordinary insight into just how much of a mess we humans are making of our beautiful planet, Stuart Pimm, a conservation scientist at Duke University, North Carolina, said. This is giving us an opportunity to magically see how much better it can be. Researchers have been tracking the drops in traditional air pollutants, such as nitrogen dioxide, smog and tiny particles, which kill up to 7 million people a year worldwide, according to Health Effects Institute president Dan Greenbaum. Barry Lefer, an atmospheric scientist at Nasa, has said air from Boston to Washington in the US is at its cleanest level since 2005, when a Nasa satellite started measuring nitrogen dioxide levels. Measurements show March air pollution was also down 46 per cent in Paris, 35 per cent in Bengaluru, India, 38 per cent in Sydney, 29 per cent in Los Angeles, 26 per cent in Rio de Janeiro and 9 per cent in Durban, South Africa, compared to the previous five years. Were getting a glimpse of what might happen if we start switching to non-polluting cars, Mr Lefer said. Although the changes may be short-lived in many cities, some officials are already considering how to use the pandemic as an opportunity to rethink their attitude to pollution and the environment. Milan, which had some of the worst pollution in Europe, is preparing to reallocate 35km of street for new cycle paths when it reopens from lockdown after years of attempts to reduce car use in the city. Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general, has urged the world to use the recovery from Covid-19 to move towards a greener future and prevent the planets unfolding environment crisis. Biodiversity is in steep decline. Climate disruption is approaching a point of no return, Mr Guterres said. We must act decisively to protect our planet from both the coronavirus and existential threat of climate disruption. The secretary-general has called for governments to ensure the recovery delivers new jobs and businesses through a clean, green transition to a more sustainable economy. Mr Gutteres said taxpayers money should be tied to achieving green jobs and should flow to sustainable sectors rather than spent rescuing businesses who contribute heavily to pollution. Additional reporting by agencies Italy to introduce app to speed up tracking coronavirus contagion during post-lockdown phase. Italian premier Giuseppe Conte has said that social distancing measures and the wearing of face masks will be required in Italy's Phase Two of the coronavirus emergency "until a vaccine is available", reports Italian news agency ANSA. The prime minister, who was addressing the Italian senate on 21 April, also stated that the new coronavirus-tracking app would be voluntary, confirming that there would be no penalties for those who fail to sign up to the scheme. The mobile contact-tracing app, whose development by Milan-based startup Bending Spoons is in the final stages, will be used to track the contacts of people who have tested positive for coronavirus. The Immuni app will respect security and privacy, according to Domenico Arcuri, the government's special commissioner for the coronavirus emergency, who told ANSA that the alternative was "more deprivation of liberty." Read also: Each smartphone with the app installed will emit regularly an anonymous ID code that can be detected within a few metres by other smartphone users with the same app. If one of the app-users reports that they have tested positive for the coronavirus, the system makes it possible to inform the people with whom they have been in close contact over previous days. Authorities say that the app meets the criteria set by the EU: it is voluntary, anonymous and uses bluetooth technology. However, for the app to be effective - Arcuri says - it will need to be used by at least 60 per cent of the Italian population. Chinese police officers wear protective masks as they observe three minutes of silence to mark the country's national day of mourning for COVID-19 at Beijing Railway Station in Beijing, China, on April 4, 2020. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images) Officially Disbanded, Gestapo-like Chinese Regime Organizations Mission Continues Internal documents obtained by The Epoch Times indicate that the functions of the 610 Office, a high-level commission that once played a key role in the Chinese Communist Partys campaigns against faith and religion, are still being actively pursued by successor organizations. Formally known as the Central Leading Group on Preventing and Dealing with Heretical Religions, the 610 Office was established on June 10, 1999, in preparation for the CCPs persecution of the Falun Gong spiritual practice. The repression, ordered by then-Party leader Jiang Zemin, commenced that July and was the biggest mass campaign the regime had mounted since the Cultural Revolution. Between 2018 and 2019, structural reforms under current Chinese leader Xi Jinping led to the nominal disbandment of the 610 Office and two related security organizations. But the reform also called for the 610 Offices functions to be merged into the Chinese police force, as well as a powerful Communist Party organ, the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission (PLAC). The recently acquired documents are reports from 2019 and 2018 concerning the domestic and overseas activities of organizations tasked with anti-heretical religion work in Beijings Fangshan District. The 2018 report, Status of [policy] implementation in the Party and government, and among the masses, contains details about the Fangshan district-level 610 Offices foreign affairs workpropaganda against heretical religions in Canada. Heretical religions, or xie jiao in Chinese, is a term used by the CCP to smear faiths in China not controlled by the Partys officially sanctioned religious organizations. The term is often mis-translated into English as cult. The 2019 report is an assessment issued by the Fangshan PLACs Anti-Heretical Religion Guidance Branch. Titled Status of work in preventing and handling heretical religions, the document evaluates the performance of 93 Communist Party and government institutions throughout the district in upholding the CCPs anti-religious policies. While the 2018 document makes direct reference to the district-level 610 Office as being responsible for the foreign affairs work, the term is not seen in the 2019 report, reflecting the Offices dismantling. However, the assessment suggests that the Guidance Branch is empowered with extralegal authority to enforce those policies across broad sections of Chinese societyin other words, the same powers that the 610 Office once wielded. The Fangshan district PLACs assessment of multiple communities for their efficacy in cooperating with the CCPs anti-religious policies in 2019. (provided to The Epoch Times) Coordinating Persecution First taught in 1992 in northeastern China, Falun Gong is a meditative discipline based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. By the end of the decade, Chinese state bodies estimated that there were tens of millions of practitioners, many of whom credited Falun Gong with bringing them spiritual and physical improvement. The CCP has a long history of violently suppressing faith as feudal superstition. Given the number of Falun Gong practitioners in the country, the CCPs persecution was a massive undertaking. The 610 Office facilitated effective management of police and propaganda units in apprehending practitioners and demonizing Falun Gong across China. Its influence was also felt throughout daily life, as work units, schools, and other institutions taking orders from the Office hounded adherents to either give up their faith or suffer consequences. Incidents like the Tiananmen self-immolation hoax provided Party-run media fuel to brew hatred of Falun Gong among the general public. As seen in the Fangshan district PLAC Anti-Heretical Religion Guidance Branchs assessment, the Partys all-of-society approach to persecuting Falun Gong and other faiths remains in place. The Guidance Branch granted or deducted points to various institutions based on their performance; for example, if adherents successfully held a protest against the persecution, the institution deemed responsible for not preventing the incident would lose points. Similarly, if a corrective facility did not make progress in transforming a Falun Gong practitionerthat is, making him or her give up the practice, it would also be penalized. Human rights reports estimate that in China, more than 1 million people have been imprisoned for practicing Falun Gong, a large number of whom have been subjected to forced labor, torture, brainwashing, and other forms of harrowing abuse. A diverse body of evidence shows that since the early 2000s, the CCP regime murdered tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners and other prisoners of conscience for their organs. Struggle Overseas and at Home The 2018 report mentioning the Fangshan 610 Office highlights the continuity between the Office and the PLACs Guidance Branch, as well as the global reach of the anti-Falun Gong campaign. According to the report, the 610 Offices foreign affairs work in Canada involved overseas struggle and was funded by Fangshan district authorities. In accordance with the requirements of the [CCP] Central Committee and the municipal Party Committee, the 610 Office of the Fangshan District Committee made visits to Canadas Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa to carry out a campaign against heretical religions, the report said. The district 610 Offices overseas struggle activities in Canada were focused on promoting hatred of Falun Gong, including holding anti-cult symposiums and paying local Chinese-language media to run propaganda against the practice. For instance, the 610 Office operatives teamed up with the Beijing-linked China Press, known in Mandarin as Qiaobao, to run anti-Falun Gong content every week, and produce 400,000 propaganda leaflets. The information in the 2018 document fits with a long string of incidents over the course of the persecution, in which pro-CCP groups have smeared, harassed, and sometimes assaulted Falun Gong practitioners overseas. Individuals promoting anti-Falun Gong propaganda in Flushing have been linked to the 610 Office in Tianjin, a city near Beijing. Other documents recently leaked to The Epoch Times further demonstrate the institutional continuity in the CCPs persecution of Falun Gong and other faiths. The documents contain details of other anti-heretical religion organizations in different parts of China, such as a brainwashing center in northeastern Chinas Harbin city. Meanwhile, authorities in the provinces of Guangdong and Inner Mongolia vowed to keep up the fight against heretical religions even as the CCP virus epidemic continues to spread throughout China. According to the Fangshan Anti-Heretical Religion Guidance Branchs report, between August and October 2019, the local PLAC gathered more than 70,000 people in the areas and institutions under its jurisdiction to take part in a new scientific life quiz. The PLAC also organized propaganda activities to reinforce the CCPs atheist ideology, such as square dance for popular science. The Party Line and Factional Legacy According to analysts, scrapping the Office represented a move by Xi to further consolidate his power over the Chinese regime security forces, which had been dominated by the former Communist Party leader Jiang and his allies throughout the 2000s. Since coming to power in 2012, the Xi leadership has grappled with the Jiang factions influence, launching an extensive anti-corruption campaign to root out the latter. Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping (L) and his predecessors Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin (R) in the Great Hall Of The People on Sept. 30, 2014 in Beijing, China. Since being installed in office in November 2012, Xi has led a campaign that is uprooting Jiang Zemins influence in the Party. (Feng Li/Getty Images) The persecution of Falun Gong, while a matter of Party policy, is strongly tied to the political legacy of the Jiang faction. Many top officials associated with Jiang played key roles in planning and carrying out the brutal campaign, such as former head of the 610 Office and central PLAC, Zhou Yongkang. In 2013, then-director of the 610 Office, Li Dongsheng, was investigated for corruption, and sentenced in 2016. Other Jiang faction members, such as Bo Xilai, the former Party secretary in southeastern Chinas metropolis of Chongqing, and the late Gen. Xu Caihou are primary suspect in the mass murder of Falun Gong practitioners for their organs. Zhou, Bo, and Xu were purged in the early years of Xis leadership. Even as tightening Communist Party rule vests more authority in the Xi leadership, the struggle between Xi and his factional rivals continues unabated. On April 19, 2020, senior Chinese public security official Sun Lijun was placed under investigation. In addition to playing a leadership role in the regimes efforts to combat the CCP virus in Beijing, and his oversight of the Partys suppression of the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests last year, Sun had a long history of association with the Jiang faction, and was the 610 Offices last listed deputy director. Tuesday, April 21, saw Fu Zhenghua, a Jiang faction official who reportedly defected to Xis side by aiding Beijing in the purge of Zhou Yongkang, retire from his role as deputy CCP secretary of the Chinese regimes justice ministry. Fu, 65, currently serves as justice minister. In 2015, the year of Zhous sentencing, he became head of the 610 Office, a position he held until being replaced the next year. At the time of his investigation, Sun was also head of the Ministry of Public Securitys 26th Bureau, the police branch in charge of persecuting Falun Gong and other faiths. No replacement director has been announced. US tech titan Facebook announces investment of Rs 43,574 crore ($5.7 billion) in Reliance Jio, the telecom unit of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) for a 9.99 percent stake. Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), which signed a mega Rs 43,574 crore deal with Facebook giving the US-based social media giant a 9.99 per cent equity stake in homegrown mobile network Jio, said the partnership will prove to be a catalyst to make India into one of the worlds leading digital societies. All of us at Reliance and Jio are delighted to welcome Facebook Inc. as our long-term and esteemed partner. At the core of our partnership is the commitment that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and I share for the all-round digital transformation of India and for serving all Indians, Ambani said in a video statement. Ambani said the two companies will together accelerate Indias digital economy to empower, enable and enrich people. Providing more details on the partnership, the Reliance Chairman said that Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram have become household names in India over the past few years. The combined power of Jios world-class digital connectivity platform and Facebooks intimate relationship with the Indian people will offer innovative new solutions to each one of you, he said. He said that in the very near future, JioMart, Jios new commerce platform, and WhatsApp will empower nearly 3 crores small Indian Kirana shops to digitally transact with every customer in their neighbourhood. This means all of you can order and get faster delivery of day-to-day items from nearby local shops. At the same time, small Kiranas can grow their businesses and create new employment opportunities using digital technologies, Ambani said. In days to come, he said this winning recipe will be extended to serve other key stakeholders of Indian society. Our farmers, small and medium enterprises, students and teachers healthcare providers and above all women and youth, who form the foundation of a new India, he said. The Reliance Chairman said that the synergy between Jio and Facebook will help realise the two goals Ease of Living and Ease of Doing Business- set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Ambani also wished good health to people amid coronavirus outbreak and said that India will surely emerge stronger, healthier and better. I wish good health, safety in the current extraordinary situation in India and around the world. We are in this together, we will overcome this pandemic. Corona Harega, India Jitega. With our collective efforts India will surely emerge stronger, healthier and better, he said. Facebook Invests $5.7 billion in Indias Jio Platforms https://t.co/cvhpfy7JPc pic.twitter.com/mrzk9oKA0M Facebook Newsroom (@fbnewsroom) April 22, 2020 Facebook has announced investing Rs 43,574 crore into Jio Platforms, the investment will translate into a 9.99 per cent equity stake in Jio Platforms, the largest FDI in the Indian tech sector. Facebooks investment will translate into a 9.99 per cent equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis, a statement issued by the Reliance Industries Limited read. This investment by Facebook values Jio Platforms at Rs 4.62 lakh crore pre-money enterprise value ($65.95 billion, assuming a conversion rate of Rs 70 to a US Dollar). For all the latest Business News, download NewsX App (Natural News) President Donald Trump introduced a $19 billion relief program for farmers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, which has currently infected 759,786 people in the U.S., causing 40,683 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally late Sunday. The program will also include an out of the box approach from the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to send billions of dollars in agricultural products to food banks across the country. Our farmers, ranchers, we have, these are great people. Great Americans. Never complain. They never complain. They just do what they have to do. The program will include direct payments to farmers as well as mass purchases of dairy, meat and agricultural produce, to get that food to the people in need, Trump said at Friday nights briefing. A two-pronged approach According to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, the aid package includes $16 billion in direct payments to farmers and ranchers who have experienced losses during the pandemic and $3 billion in mass government purchases for dairy, produce and meat products. The program will roll out by buying $100 million a month in agricultural products. The program will also tap commercial distributors in handling and transporting these products in a bid to address some of the disruptions caused by the outbreak in the supply chain. Purdue said the approach would help food banks keep up with demand, as they have been short on volunteers. If you dont mind the pun, this is an out of the box example of what were trying to do. It is new and different. Weve never done this before but in realigning the supply, he added. The program, which will account for 85 percent of losses between Jan. 1 and April 15, 2020, is slated to be rolled out by the end of May. Aid package praised by farmers, food banks The move was praised by both farmers and food banks across the nation. This $16 billion in aid will help keep food on Americans tables by providing a lifeline to farm families that were already hit by trade wars and severe weather, said Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation and a member of the White House economic advisory board. Were grateful to President Trump and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue for working together to come to the aid of Americas farmers and ranchers. Feeding America, the largest operator of food banks in the U.S., also lauded the announcement. Together with the Farm Bureau, the groups have called on the USDA to look into ways to expedite the movement of agricultural products from farmers to food banks. This program is designed to ensure nutritious food from growers and producers makes it on to the tables of our neighbors now when they need it most, said Feeding America CEO Claire Babineaux-Fontenot. We are still examining the details, but this effort has the potential to be a significant food resource for people facing hunger. Coronavirus disrupts food supply chains Its worth noting that America doesnt have a shortage of food, despite reports of people lining up for hours at food banks and images of empty grocery shelves. However, the COVID-19 outbreak has created a perfect storm of adverse conditions. While farmers foresee no major short-term shortages, they still risk being affected by a shortage of workers who have been infected with the coronavirus. Another major challenge that the local agriculture sector faces is the supply chain. The pandemic not only caused a shift in the way people buy and consume food, but it has also disrupted the farm-to-table process of distributing these goods. With stay-at-home measures in place, huge food consumers restaurants, schools and hotels, to name some are also closed. With no one to take the surplus of food and no way to move these to the next stage of the supply chain, the situation creates a gap between farmer and consumer. (Related: Florida farmers left with mountains of unsold food as coronavirus scrambles supply chain.) Theres a lot of things that happen to the food before it gets to the consumer, whether it be in processing or transportation. If this thing was to get worse, what problems come along with that? None of us really know. said Duvall. Sources include: ABCNews.go.com Coronavirus.JHU.edu USAToday.com Bloomberg.com (CNN) -- Theoni Bosman Quarshie has been cramped into a two-bedroom London public housing apartment with her mother and younger sister since the UK went into coronavirus lockdown in mid-March. Like many 16-year-olds around the world, Bosman Quarshie's education has moved online. But the drive she once had to study fizzled out when her upcoming high school exams were canceled due to the Covid-19 outbreak. "It's really stressful," she told CNN of the year she spent revising for now what seems like nothing. "I wanted to prove to myself and to others that I could push my grades up." The inequality gap between rich and poor, present in education systems at the best of times, is being exacerbated by school closures worldwide, experts say. Poorer students are facing increased obstacles to achieving good grades as they contend with a lack of space to work, problems reaching online resources and psychological challenges. In England, teachers and exam boards will now predict grades for the GCSE exams by taking "performance on mock exams and non-exam assessment" into account as well as "other relevant data, including prior attainment," the UK Department of Education wrote in a statement. Bosman Quarshie's mother, Valerie, says the economic conditions during lockdown have put the family on the poverty line. On top of that, research shows that disadvantaged children have a greater chance of their grades being under-assessed compared to their richer peers. A 2017 study by education charity the Sutton Trust found that "high attaining disadvantaged students are more likely to have their grades under-predicted than their richer counterparts." "When I go to bed, I'm in tears, sobbing, because it's all been taken away from her," Valerie told CNN, "because let's be honest, the system doesn't work in our favor as black minority ethnics." CNN has contacted the UK's Department of Education for comment on how predictive grading will affect students from disadvantaged backgrounds. 'Stress test a system of structural inequalities' Across the globe more than 1.5 billion students, or more than 90% of the world's learners, are stuck at home due to school closures in about 190 countries, according to UNESCO estimates. As educators scramble to put out online learning courses in a bid to teach young people remotely, experts CNN talked to from Asia, Africa, Europe and the US fear the coronavirus crisis is amplifying educational inequality -- putting low-income students at a greater disadvantage than their wealthier peers. "The pandemic is going to cause the greatest disruption to education opportunity that the world has experienced in at least a century," said Fernando M. Reimers, a professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education. "The combined effects of them [school closures] is going to basically stress test a system of structural inequalities that was already bad to begin." Educators wonder if the period out of school will lead to a variation of the phenomenon known as summer learning loss, where students -- especially from disadvantaged backgrounds -- lose months of learning, particularly in mathematics, during the holidays. Studies suggest that these students may not be able to afford summer school or activities enjoyed by higher-income students, therefore exacerbating the achievement gap between both groups. "So the big concern now is if we have an extended period out of education, are we going to see children from disadvantaged families doing even worse in school than they already do?" Stephen Tierney, chairman of the UK think tank Headteachers' Roundtable, told CNN. The digital divide In many countries, vast segments of society lack the tools needed for connectivity -- be it a working device or reliable internet connection. This so-called digital divide is particularly apparent in China, where more than 540 million people -- or nearly 40% of the population -- are not online, according to a government agency report from 2019. Many children, who once had to walk for miles to the nearest school, now have to contend with a lack of digital access in the lockdown. A stark situation reportedly emerged in February for a ninth grader in a small village in Henan province, central China. According to state-backed newspaper Beijing News, the student apparently attempted suicide after struggling to access a smartphone in order to take part in online classes. Her story then went viral on Chinese social media. On March 2, the Henan provincial education department issued a directive, ordering city and county governments to find and help disadvantaged students who lacked the technology needed to learn online. In the US, the Federal Communications Commission estimated that 21 million Americans lacked access to broadband in 2019. The lack of a reliable internet connection to do homework was more pronounced among black, Hispanic and lower-income families, according to a Pew survey in 2015. Another Pew survey in 2018 found that even before the pandemic, about 17% of teens between the ages of 13 and 17 said they were often -- or sometimes -- unable to finish homework assignments because of the lack of a connection or a computer. Earl Martin Phalen runs a network of 22 tuition-free public and charter schools across the US -- where 93% of his students come from low-income communities. He told CNN that he has been scrambling to secure 6,500 devices for his students, many of whom do not own a laptop or tablet. "I believe that the government should be stepping up to support device access and connectivity for all students, but this is not happening," he said. Many school districts have struggled to obtain enough devices for students learning at home, which has yet to be addressed by the federal government. The Federal Communications Commission Chairman, Ajit Pai, announced in March that more than 650 broadband and telephone service providers agreed to take his "Keep Americans Connected Pledge," promising not to cut off customers whose lives have been disrupted by the pandemic while opening their WiFi hotspots to anyone who needs them. One of Phalen's students, Kyiah Minor, 16, cannot wait to get her hands on a device as it has been a struggle to see her teacher's slides while using her smartphone to attend Zoom learning sessions. "I think it [the lockdown] sucks because some kids at our school are having trouble understanding the work, and it is hard for them to understand this work without someone teaching them," Minor, who lives in Indianapolis, told CNN. While her school has provided learning packets, she worries that the loss of whole schooldays could set many people back in the next academic year. A safe and quiet space to work Beyond a loss of learning, lockdown measures can result in children lacking a quiet place to work -- or being unsafe at home. It is situation made worse by rising economic uncertainty, says Eric Hazard, African policy director at Save the Children. Online learning is not an option for many children in sub-Saharan Africa, and Save the Children is concerned about the lack of mechanisms for young people to study at home. Agencies found that during the 2015 Ebola epidemic, child exploitation and violence against girls in Sierra Leone had increased during school closures. Hazard worries that Covid-19 lockdowns could see those sort of problems return. "Children who are out of school are also at greater risk of being recruited into labor, abuse and exploitation, and for girls, they are more likely to never return to school once lessons recommence," Hazard told CNN. "As pressures mount on low-income families, children may need to work to bolster family incomes or be victim of child marriage, and girls especially may also face a disproportionate burden of caring for family members who contract the virus or taking care of younger children." In an opinion piece for CNN, Joe Torre, former manager of the New York Yankees and chairman of the Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation, wrote that "stay at home" will not always translate to "safe at home" in many households across the US. Mental health Schools help instil routine and coping mechanisms for students, and educators worry about the psychological toll the lockdown is inflicting on young learners. Children are aware of the growing health emergency and have been seeking support. Childline, a 24-hour emergency phone helpline for children in India, reported a 50% increase in calls since the lockdown was implemented there. "The current pandemic has resulted in a loss of predictability, loss of routine, loss of classroom learning and loss of exposure to space," a spokesperson from Childline told CNN. The Indian government extended its nationwide lockdown earlier this week until May 3, and the country's most vulnerable children are experiencing bearing the brunt of the unprecedented outbreak, said experts working in the field. "It is affecting their mental well-being. They are experiencing arguments between the parents, there is domestic violence at times," Chetan Gupta, director of Chetna, an NGO which works with street children, told CNN. According to Gupta, there are about 200,000 street kids living in New Delhi, many of whom are now sequestered in small temporary huts, with sometimes no electricity or ventilation. Children with special education needs are also struggling in the crisis, Professor Catherine So Wing-chee, an educational psychologist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, told CNN. So, who helps students with autism, said school closures are disrupting children's schedules and affecting their ability to socialize. "Right now, they go to bed around 11 p.m. or midnight... As long as the daily routines are messed up, the cognitive, social and language developments of these kids are also messed up," So said. Educators are reporting similar challenges in the UK. Joanne Kelly, headteacher of The Pavilion school in London, which caters to students who have been excluded from mainstream institutions, says the shutdown could reset the good work achieved among her students suffering from anxiety. "I don't want them to go backwards," she said. "These are young people who refused to leave their bedrooms, who are taught with a teacher outside the bedroom, and then we get them to the kitchen to be taught at home, and then get them to into school," she said of the months of work required to get some students to gain their trust. "I'm worried, this [shutdown] is really going to set them back." This story was first published on CNN.com, "90% of the world's students are in lockdown. It's going to hit poor kids much harder than rich ones" The only thing intact is foreign direct investment and a requirement to form a government, writes Gerard Howlin Talks on government formation will continue on a Fianna Fail/Fine Gael axis until refined by success or failure. Success means the status quo, but at much slower speeds. This is an outcome of the country being broke again. Regardless of what it signed up for in the framework document with Fianna Fail, Fine Gael especially has not jettisoned what it stands for. That document is a honey trap, but it might be sufficient to get a government together. Thats up to the Greens and Labour for now. A programme for government can agree a change of emphasis. It cannot deliver a fundamental change in direction without resources. Paschal Donohoes report to cabinet yesterday admitted as much. There is only one issue for an incoming government; economic survival. Survival in the context of Covid-19 is one thing, and Brexit looms large again. A decision on an extension to existing negotiations must be agreed by the next EU summit in June, to be actioned by July 1. If not, there must be a deal, or no-deal by December 31. Either way, it is a pressing reality. Realignment of how multinationals are taxed, and where, will be agreed later this year too. The status quo is the sweetest spot for Ireland but is unsustainable. When the wreckage is cleared, the only thing intact, for now, is foreign direct investment and a requirement to form a government eventually. If economic reality blackens by the day, every cloud has a silver lining. There is some sunshine for Fianna Fail as the relative position of Fine Gael weakens a little. Leo Varadkars star was ascendant after the Covid-19 crisis broke, as it was on the back of Brexit. But the Taoiseach is not a lucky general. Brexit ebbed away in the public mind before February 8. Kudos for Covid-19 will be over before Fine Gael get to the polls again. However, hypothetical as it was, the threat of a second election was deeply feared by Fianna Fail, Greens, and Independents. Sinn Fein and Fine Gael might have profited but now its impossible for months, and probably until next year. That leaves only two certainties. Assuming Fine Gael will not go into coalition with Sinn Fein, no government is possible without Fianna Fail, and a general election is impossible for now. Those are the boundaries of the cliff edges on either side of a narrow path forward. It will take only one of the Greens, Labour, or Social Democrats to agree, to facilitate government formation. I mention the Social Democrats because while apparently the least likely to go in, Roisin Shortall has to decide whether she wants to be known for leaving the Department of Health or leading it. The last big move of long-serving politicians can sometimes be surprising. Labours new leader, Alan Kelly, is unusually reticent. He will wait on events for as long as possible and make a judgment on what, in the circumstances then, he can leverage, and whether he can bring his party with him. The argument for Labour going in, is that with six seats, they have as much chance of holding their own in government as out of it. Its trade union friends desperately want Labour in, to replay their old relevance. Kelly is the first non-lovey leader of Labour since Frank Cluskey. Unlike Cluskey in 1982, his instinct is for government. But he wont split his party and, for now at least, Labour is not going in. The Greens have most to lose with 12 TDs and two senators. Abroad they see Greens elsewhere, especially in Germany making electoral strides. That translates into more Green influence in Brussels, especially if their German colleagues enter the Federal Government next year. Going into government here, however, without resources to deliver on climate change, while leaving themselves exposed to Sinn Fein in opposition, is a high price for modest returns and a short shelf life politically. The first to turn on them mercilessly will be the opinionated, who excoriate their caution now. On the ground Sinn Fein and the rural independents not in government will finish off the job. Green supporters are middle-class people who believe in their own agency. One Sinn Fein correspondent on social media mischievously called them green-fingered blue-shirts. That is naughty. But the underlying point is that they werent voted in to sit it out. The Greens have excelled at policy-making, but fared poorly at political management. The choice now is now between: A government that doesnt share their values, in an economy that can at best only partly deliver on their objectives, in circumstances where their opponents are positioned for the kill from the get-go; Or: To hold their nerve, allow these talks to fail, and in circumstances where there cannot be an election but there must be a government, Sinn Fein is finally brought into play on government formation. On this, either the Greens crack first and Micheal Martin gets his preferred option of a Sinn Fein-free government, or they hold and Fianna Fail then does what it must, which is make the only deal which remains possible. That move-on would be transformative not just for the Greens, it would be more appealing for the Social Democrats and Labour. Having left incriminating evidence of its willingness to agree to anything, regardless of its actual intentions, Fine Gael could go into opposition, regroup, and explain what it really meant all along. Ironically this apparently least appealing option for Martin, takes a rotating Taoiseach off the table. He can stay in office as long as his party allows. On that, he has survived the worst. Muttered expletives aside, barely a handful of his colleagues stood up to him. The lock-down and the possibility of gravy with dinner for some pacified the Fianna Fail parliamentary party. The U-turn required on Sinn Fein is simply explained by the fact that this least wanted of all outcomes is necessitated by the failure of all other options. If, like Martin, you are deeply concerned by the prospect of Sinn Fein in government, then who better to lead it than the man whose concerns surpass your own? A government including Sinn Fein would be transformative, and practical. It allows Fianna Fail and the Greens the chance of an afterlife. That dinner need not be a last meal on death row. It would permanently normalise Sinn Fein in circumstances where few of its promises are deliverable. That nationalist party will go into government, and jettison whatever baggage is required, to embed eventual unity as a core part of government planning in Dublin now. Do I think this will be the eventual outcome of government formation? For now no. But if what is planned now fails, it will materialise as a final option if Fine Gael doesnt buckle again and go in without a third party anyway. She's been having fun self-isolating at home with her husband Norman Reedus. And Diane Kruger took a break from her home life to run some errands in Los Angeles. The 43-year-old actress flashed a rare smile before putting on her surgical mask for protection against COVID-19. Happy days: Diane Kruger was seen flashing a smile when she stepped out into the sunshine in Los Angeles on Wednesday ahead of an errands run Diane kept things casual in a cream colored sweater top for the outing. She teamed the look with animal print trousers and high-top Converse sneakers. The National Treasure star styled her blonde hair out naturally and accessorised with a pair of white shades. Casual: Diane kept things casual in a cream colored sweater top for the outing Keeping safe: The German actress wore a blue surgical mask over her face She appeared to be wearing very little to no makeup for the walk around her neighborhood. Diane's appearance comes after she shared a hilarious photo of her head in a shark's mouth alongside her husband. 'That shark is NOT social distancing but I DO like getting nibbled at from my @bigbaldhead,' she captioned. Diane and Norman, 51, met back in 2015 while on set of the film, Sky. They welcomed their daughter in 2018. They have not yet revealed her name. Stylish: The National Treasure star styled her blonde hair out naturally and accessorised with a pair of white shades Fun at home: Diane's appearance comes after she shared a hilarious photo of her head in a shark's mouth alongside her husband The Walking Dead actor also has a son Mingus, 20, from his relationship with supermodel Helena Christensen. In March 2019, Kruger told French magazine Madame Figaro that she had always thought she would not be a mother. But that changed when she met Norman. 'For a long time, the desire for a child didnt preoccupy me,' she said. 'I had my ways. I was fine without one. In short, I didnt feel absolutely ready.' 'Life ensured my daughter arrived at the right time. It was a surprise, and she is beautiful.' (Removes reference in paragraph 11 that the bookshop was shut by authorities in Hong Kong) TAIPEI, April 21 (Reuters) - A Hong Kong bookseller who fled to Taiwan amid fears of Chinese persecution was attacked on Tuesday by a man who threw red paint at him, just days before he was set to open a new bookshop in Taipei. Lam Wing-kee, who sought refuge in Taiwan last year after he was detained by Chinese agents in 2015 while working at a bookshop in Hong Kong that sold books critical of the Chinese leadership, had red paint poured over him in a Taipei cafe. The attack came days after Hong Kong police launched a surprise crackdown on pro-democracy activists. A growing number of protesters have been fleeing Chinese-ruled Hong Kong to democratic Taiwan, which has repeatedly rejected Beijing's proposals to rule the island with the "one country, two systems" model it uses for Hong Kong. Taiwan has also voiced its strong support for the Hong Kong protesters. "I was attacked with red paint in the cafe," Lam told Reuters by telephone while assisting the police with their investigation. "Some people don't want me to open the bookshop in Taiwan," Lam said, describing the attack as a threat by supporters of Beijing. Police are hunting for the assailant, reviewing security camera footage from the scene, the official Central News Agency reported. Lam's incarceration was part of a coordinated operation by Chinas security apparatus that led to five booksellers disappearing from locations in China, Hong Kong and Thailand in late 2015, and later showing up in Chinese detention where they were forced to make confessions on public television. The case generated huge controversy, and undermined public confidence in Chinas commitment to preserving Hong Kongs freedoms. Before its closure in Hong Kong after the booksellers' arrests, Lam's "Causeway Bay Books", had become a symbol of resistance to perceived Chinese encroachments on Hong Kong's liberties. Lam's new shop in Taipei will bear the same name. Story continues Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, which oversees the island's policy towards China, condemned the attack and said anyone who sought to challenge the law would be "severely punished". Lam last year decided to move to Taiwan months before a controversial law was expected to be passed in Hong Kong that would allow individuals to be sent to China for trial. The incident on Tuesday was the latest attack on Hong Kong pro-democracy activists in Taiwan. Activists told Reuters last year they were coming under increased surveillance and harassment from pro-China media outlets and unofficial "operatives". Hong Kong singer and activist Denise Ho was attacked in September by a masked man who threw red paint at her at a pro-Hong Kong democracy rally in Taipei. In July 2018, two Taiwanese were convicted of assaulting Hong Kong activists meeting with independence advocates in Taipei. (Reporting By Yimou Lee; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore) 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: At least 2,561,044. Global deaths: At least 176,984. Most cases reported: United States (823,786), Spain (204,178), Italy (183,957), France (159,297), and Germany (148,291). The data above was compiled by Johns Hopkins University as of 8:30 a.m. Beijing time. All times below are in Beijing time. 7:13 pm: Ukraine extends lockdown until May 11 Kiev has said it will extend quarantine measures until May 11, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. It will then see if there has been a sufficient reduction in the number of new cases for it to consider lifting restrictions. Ukraine has reported 6,592 confirmed cases, as of Wednesday, including 174 deaths. Holly Ellyatt 6:30 pm: Sweden resisted a lockdown, now, its capital Stockholm is expected to reach 'herd immunity' Its neighbors closed borders, schools, bars and businesses as the coronavirus pandemic swept through Europe, but Sweden went against the grain by keeping public life as unrestricted as possible. The strategy basically, one that aimed to slow the spread of the virus while allowing some exposure to it, aiming to build immunity among the general population while protecting high-risk groups like the elderly has been controversial, with some health experts likening it to playing "Russian roulette" with public health. But now, the country's chief epidemiologist has said that the strategy appears to be working and that "herd immunity" could be reached in the capital Stockholm in a matter of weeks. Holly Ellyatt Remember what this felt like? People enjoy the warm spring weather at Hornstull in Stockholm on April 21, 2020, during the new coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. JONATHAN NACKSTRAND 5:52 pm: Coronavirus cases exceed 10,000 in Poland The number of confirmed coronavirus infections has passed the 10,000-mark in Poland on Wednesday. The somber milestone comes as the country prepares for a presidential election on May 10. Poland was among the first countries in Europe to impose lockdown measures to try to contain the virus. A deputy health minister said on Wednesday the rise of new infections "had been contained to a degree," Reuters reported. "We are still seeing increases," Wojciech Andrusiewicz, the ministry's spokesman told reporters. "What we can achieve is to level them off. If it wasn't for the restrictions, we could be seeing 30,000-40,000 people infected." Holly Ellyatt 5:15 pm: Spain's daily death rate remains stable Spain's death toll from the coronavirus has risen to 21,717 on Wednesday from 21,282 the previous day, a rise of 435 deaths, the country's health ministry said. Spain reported 430 deaths on Tuesday, higher than the 399 deaths reported Monday. The total number of cases has reached 208,389, up 4,211 from the day before. Holly Ellyatt Tweet 4:50 pm: India halts coronavirus antibody tests as reliability questioned India has ordered a pause in testing for antibodies to the coronavirus because of concerns over the accuracy of the results, health officials said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Earlier in April, India's health authorities approved blood tests for coronavirus antibodies as a faster way to bolster the screening effort and they ordered more than a half-billion testing kits from China. But the chief of epidemiology at the Indian Council of Medical Research said he had asked health authorities to temporarily stop the tests for antibodies because of conflicting results. India has almost 20,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19. Holly Ellyatt 4:31 pm: Coronavirus is a 'huge challenge' for Russia and the world, Putin's spokesman says Russia and its leader President Vladimir Putin are facing an unprecedented challenge as the coronavirus outbreak accelerates in the country, the Kremlin's spokesman told CNBC. "It's a huge challenge and a huge danger for every nation in the world. It's not only about Putin or about Russia, every country is facing this challenge and it's quite unprecedented, we have never faced it before," Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman, told CNBC Tuesday. He noted that it was the first major international pandemic situation that anyone including Putin had faced. Russia confirmed 5,236 new cases on Wednesday, bringing the country's official tally to 57,999. Nonetheless, the death toll remains strikingly low, with 513 people having died so far. Holly Ellyatt 3:40 pm: Singapore's coronavirus cases cross 10,000 mark Singapore's Ministry of Health said it has preliminarily confirmed another 1,016 cases of the coronavirus disease, taking the country's total to 10,141 since the outbreak. That's the third consecutive day that Singapore has reported more than 1,000 new cases. The country now has the highest number of confirmed cases in Southeast Asia. The ministry said the vast majority of the new cases involved migrant workers living in dormitories. Singapore relies on foreign migrant workers in its construction sector, which is made up largely of men from other Asian countries who carry out labor-intensive jobs. On Tuesday, it said that partial lockdown measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus in the country will be extended by four weeks to June 1. Huileng Tan 2:45 pm: Taiwan reports 28th case of infection among navy sailors Taiwan on Wednesday reported its 28th case of infection among navy personnel who returned from a goodwill mission to the Pacific island state of Palauone of Taipei's few diplomatic allies. Cases have spiked since Saturday after the Taiwanese government reported zero new cases for three days last week. The uptick has spurred concerns over lapses in how the situation has been handled. About 700 sailors on the Palau mission disembarked in Taiwan and authorities are now trying to trace thousands of Taiwanese who may have been in contract with these navy personnel before the coronavirus cases were detected. Taiwan's Centres for Disease Control has reportedly sent some 200,000 mobile phone text alerts to those who might have been in contact with the sailors. Taiwan has recorded 426 cases of Covid-19 since the outbreak despite its proximity to mainland China and has been praised internationally for its virus containment strategy. On Tuesday, Taiwan's defence minister apologized and said he was willing to resign to take responsibility for the incident. Huileng Tan 2.05 pm: Beijing city shuts down gyms on fears of a second wave of coronavirus Gyms in China's capital city of Beijing were forced to close again over the weekend. That was after some fitness centers which have essentially shut down since late January re-opened in the last few weeks. But a new case of Covid-19 in Beijing last week increased concerns about a resurgence of the virus, turning a major business and residential district into the highest-risk region in the country. Already, more than 200 fitness businesses shuttered in Beijing in the first quarter, according to analysis from Qichacha, which runs a Chinese business information database. Evelyn Cheng 12:51 pm: California's Santa Clara county reports early coronavirus deaths Two people in Santa Clara County, California died of coronavirus before what had previously been thought to be the United States' first death associated with Covid-19. The county's Medical Examiner-Coroner conducted autopsies on two people who died at home on Feb. 6 and 17. Their samples were sent to the CDC, which confirmed they tested positive for the disease. The first U.S. death from coronavirus was originally believed to be a man in his 50s in Washington state who died on Feb. 29. The Santa Clara Medical Examiner-Coroner also identified another early Covid-19 death from March 6, days before what had initially been thought to be the county's first death. It explained that all three people "died at home during a time when very limited testing was available only through the CDC." Santa Clara added it expects to identify additional deaths related to the pandemic. Christine Wang 12:30 pm: New cases in Germany jump by 2,237 Germany reported 2,237 new confirmed cases, bringing the total to 145,694, according to the Robert Koch Institute, a federal government agency responsible for disease monitoring and prevention. It also said there were 281 more deaths, with its total fatalities now at 4,879. Weizhen Tan 11:35 am: Member of Tokyo 2020 Olympics committee member tests positive A member of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics organizing committee has tested positive, according to a Reuters report. He is now under quarantine at home. The games, which were scheduled to start July 24 in Tokyo, has been delayed for about a year, after Japan insisted for months that the Olympics would go ahead as planned. Weizhen Tan 11:00 am: US-China relations at a low as 'blame-shifting' sets back war against virus U.S.-China relations are at their "worst point in living memory," according to a professor, who said both countries engaged in a "grand exercise in blame-shifting" over the coronavirus pandemic. U.S. President Donald Trump has blamed Beijing for a lack of transparency over the true extent of the Covid-19 outbreak in China where cases were first reported. In response, Beijing has suggested that the U.S. might be the real source of the global pandemic. "Neither side wants to be blamed for their own response, so the Chinese and Americans are blaming each other," said James Crabtree, an associate professor at Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Weizhen Tan 10:10 am: 33 cases on Italian cruise ship docked in Japan for repairs Japan reported 33 infections among crew members on an Italian cruise ship docked in the country for repairs, according to Reuters. The Costa Atlantica has 623 crew members and no passengers. Further testing on the other crew members will be carried out, the report said. Those who tested positive with no symptoms will remain on board the ship, while others will be taken to medical institutions, it said. Weizhen Tan The Costa Atlantica which docked at the Marina Bay Cruise Centre Singapore on May 3, 2013 in Singapore. Suhaimi Abdullah | Getty Images 9:45 am: Singapore extends partial lockdown measures by another 4 weeks, as it reports 1,111 cases Singapore reported more than 1,000 cases for a second day running, as of Tuesday. That takes its total to 9,125, making it the country with the highest number of confirmed cases in Southeast Asia. The vast majority of the new cases involved migrant workers living in dormitories, said its health ministry. Singapore relies on foreign migrant workers in its construction sector, which is made up largely of men from other Asian countries who carry out labor-intensive jobs. It said on Tuesday that partial lockdown measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus in the country will be extended by four weeks to June 1. Weizhen Tan, Yen Nee Lee 9:00 am: China reports 30 new cases, no deaths China's National Health Commission (NHC) said there were 30 new confirmed cases as of April 21, of which 23 were attributed to travelers coming from overseas. That brings the country's total to 82,788 cases, the NHC said. No new deaths were reported for the seventh straight day, keeping the total number of fatalities at 4,632, according to the NHC. Separately, there were 42 new asymptomatic cases, where people tested positive for the virus but did not show any symptoms. That brings its number of asymptomatic cases currently under medical observation to 991, the NHC said. Weizhen Tan 8:40 am: New cases in Mexico jump by more than 700 Mexico reported a jump of more than 700 new cases, reaching a total of 9,501 cases, according to a Reuters report citing health ministry officials. It had 145 more deaths, bringing the country's death toll to 857 fatalities, the report said. Weizhen Tan All times below are in Eastern time. 7:02 pm: White House health advisor says Americans need to prepare for more deaths as outbreak moves past peak Americans should prepare to see more deaths from the coronavirus pandemic, particularly in cities, as the outbreak in the United States moves past its peak and infection rates decline, White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Deborah Birx warned. Deaths generally lag behind other aspects of the outbreak, she said at a White House press conference. "We really need to continue to unite and really, really support our health-care providers who are still on the frontline." The coronavirus, which emerged in Wuhan, China almost 4 months ago, has sickened more than 820,000 people in the U.S. and killed at least 44,228 as of Tuesday night, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. U.S. officials and infectious disease experts have previously said that deaths fall behind new cases and hospitalization. Birx said Tuesday that U.S. health officials are seeing improvements in several parts of the country, including in Rhode Island, Connecticut, Detroit, New Orleans, Chicago, Boston and Atlanta. "That was a great concern for us over the past several weeks. They appear to be flattening," she said. Berkeley Lovelace Jr. 6:49 pm: Quest Diagnostics rolls out antibody testing for Covid-19 New Jersey-based Quest Diagnostics announced they are now conducting antibody testing for Covid-19 using blood samples, a practice known as serology testing. Quest Diagnostics can conduct about 70,000 tests per day, and is looking to expand that capacity to 150,000 tests daily by early next month. The company is using serology testing platforms that were originally developed by Abbott and PerkinElmer's Euroimmun diagnostics division but independently validated by Quest. Antibody testing has the potential to help healthcare professionals identify people who were infected with, but then developed an immune response, to the novel coronavirus. Quest Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer Jay G. Wohlgemuth said in a statement that antibody testing can also help doctors identify people who could contribute plasma to help treat those who are seriously ill from the coronavirus. Lora Kolodny 3:38 pm: How your company office could change in the post-coronavirus era The battle between the states and the federal government is heating up about when to open the economy and start letting people go back to work due to the coronavirus. Exactly when employees will be heading back to work is still an unknown, but what is certain is that when it does happen, things at the office will almost certainly be very different. Just as the pandemic is likely to have a lasting impact on our personal habits, it will also change the way we work. Among the key changes companies are already considering: more space, sanitation and flexibility, with more employees working from home on a semi-regular basis. According to a number of office designers, companies will be installing more sensors to reduce touch points, such as on light and power switches and door handles, antimicrobial materials, more and better air filtration, temperature monitoring at entry points, desks that are spaced farther apart, plus subtle design features that remind people to keep their distance. Ellen Sheng 3:04 pm: FDA greenlights first coronavirus test with at-home sample collection A journalist of an Odia newspaper in mineral-rich Keonjhar district was on Wednesday allegedly beaten up by a police sub-inspector while he was taking his ailing child to a hospital. Subrat Kumar Swain, correspondent with Odia daily Sambad, was heading towards the Keonjhar district headquarters hospital in his car with his 4-year-old son when sub-inspector Ashutosh Mohanty stopped him and allegedly hit him with his baton. Swain said he told the sub-inspector that he was going to hospital to consult a doctor as his son was feverish since the previous night. Although I had the necessary lockdown pass and showed my identity card, the police officer misbehaved with me and beat me, alleged Swain. Following this, the journalists in Keonjhar surrounded the police station demanding action against the cop. Keonjhar SP Mitrabhanu Mahapatra said he has asked the additional SP to inquire into the matter. Till the probe into the matter is over, the sub-inspector will not be deployed on road patrolling duty, he said. Shops selling electric fans have been allowed to stay open by the government after the government issued new relaxations on April 21. India is under a lockdown till May 3 to restrict the spread of the deadly coronavirus. The ministry of home affairs had on April 15 issued a set of guidelines that allowed manufacturing firms to resume in non-containment zones subject to safety protocols being followed from April 20 onwards. To this, shops of educational books for children and electric fan shops have been added by MHA on April 21. Self-employed persons like plumbers and electricians as well as certain agriculture-linked activities were also allowed in non-hotspots on the condition that standard protocols of hygiene and social distancing are followed. Electrical goods firms had sought permission from the government to sell essential products like wires and fans. Fans are an essential commodity across India which faces extreme heat from mid-March to June. While a nod has been given, it is not clear that for how long can the stores can operate and terms/conditions to open stores. In India, about 6.5 crore fans are sold every year. The size of the fan industry in India is around Rs 11,000 crore. 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 Track this blog for latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak "We don't know what are the operating protocols. Most of our channel partners sell an array of products, including fans. So, if the store is open, will they only sell electric fans?" the Vice-President of an electrical goods firm told Moneycontrol whed asked about his firm's plans. Stores are also finding it a challenge to open up without having necessary staff force. Since fans are an essential product during summer, it is a possibility that there could be crowding in stores in a rush to buy products. How will we handle the demand? In our shop-floor strength of eight people, six people have gone back home. The store cannot operate without people, said a pan-India fan distributor. Another large West-India based distributor said that if the government has relaxed rules, transport facilities should also be made available for store owners. "We don't own cars to get workers to the store. How will the fan shops open then?" he asked. The MHA directive only mentions 'shops of electric fans' but has not clarified whether large electronic retailers will also be allowed to sell fans. The other worry is that how will the fan makers transport the inventory to the stores. Special passes are required across states for movement of transport vehicles. "If shops selling electric fans are allowed to sell, then manufacturers would also need to be active for spare parts of products and service requests. Unless the entire ecosystem is facilitated, what is the use? said the head of a mid-size white goods firm. As on April 22, shops selling electric fans have not yet resumed widespread operations. These stores are awaiting further clarity from both the central and state governments on transport and goods sale. Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak We are delighted to announce the winners of the Think Global Awards, an initiative brought to you via the Think Global Forum, a community that hosts events, conferences, and thought leadership sessions across the World. The Awards are proudly sponsored and supported by Vistatec, VistaTalks, and VTQ Magazine. Earlier this year the Think Global Forum made the difficult decision to cancel the Think Global Awards events ceremonies due to take place in Dublin, Ireland, and in Cupertino, California, USA. With the awards ceremonies not taking place this year at either location, we stated that we would be announcing the winners online as planned, on April 22, 2020. We would like to thank everyone who had submitted an entry for the awards, the judges, and to the wider Think Global Forum community. Well done to everyone who has been shortlisted for the awards this year and congratulations to all of the Think Global Awards 2020 winners. Think Global Awards 2020 Winners: Brand of the Year Award Winner: MONAT Global Community Award Winner: Alen Juginovic Advertising Award Winner: National Geographic Language Industry Person of the Year Award Winner: Swati Narwal Going Global Award Winner: MyKidsTime.com Start-Up Award Winner: ApisProtect Technology Award Winner: SoapBox Labs Travel Award Winner: The Convention Centre Dublin (The CCD) Life Sciences Award Winner: Pale Blue Dot Recruitment Retail & eCommerce Award Winner: Reload Digital & ZOEVA Cosmetics Manufacturing Award Winner: Nippon Steel Professional Services Award Winner: Rantmedia Limited Media Award Winner: Diversity Designs (By Busy Life Ltd) Indigenous Languages Award Winner: Jetpack Learning Digital Transformation Award Winner: SaltDNA Non-Profit Award Winner: Globalization and Localization Association (GALA) About Think Global Forum The Think Global Forum is a community of global individuals including forum participants, industry experts, speakers, and Forum Executives. The Think Global Forum is designed to provide insights and thought leadership in the context of Technology, Travel, Manufacturing, Life Sciences, Retail, eCommerce, and a growing number of sectors around the world. The forum offers keen insights into the here and now and, most importantly, the future. For more information please visit: https://www.thinkglobalforum.org Media Contact Priscillia Charles Communications Director, Think Global Forum priscillia@thinkglobalforum.org http://www.thinkglobalforum.org State Road Transport Undertakings of Karnataka (SRTUK) have incurred Rs 816.23 crore revenue loss from March 1 till April 20 following restrictions on movement due to COVID-19, a senior official said on Wednesday. "We stopped our inter-state premium services from March 1, 2020 and observed total lockdown from March 23. From March 1 to April 20 we have incurred a revenue loss of Rs 816.23 crore," the Chief Traffic Manager of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation B T Prabhakar Reddy told PTI. He said they started receiving reports from February about prevalence of coronavirus cases and later decided to stop inter-state AC bus services from March 1. The State Road Transport Undertakings of Karnataka has four wings -- the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation, North East Karnataka Road Transport Corporation and Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation. KSRTC incurred a revenue loss of Rs 314.89 crore, NWKRTC Rs 172 crore, NEKRTC Rs 180 crore and BMTC Rs 149.34 crore, he said. Reddy said that despite the massive revenue loss, SRTUK managed to pay the salaries of the employees. "Salary is not an issue. It has been paid to all," Reddy added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) For the second time in less than a year, Jesus Pena is on the run. The first time, he was fleeing poverty in his native Venezuela. Now, he's heading back to his crisis-stricken home to escape the death spread by the novel coronavirus. "We want to go back so we don't die," the 49-year-old explained during a stop in Cali, Colombia. He arrived after 12 days of traveling, mostly on foot, from neighboring Ecuador -- one of the Latin American countries worst hit by the pandemic. The blisters dotting his feet are the least of his worries. He is relieved because he, his wife, their son and his sister-in-law will soon board a bus chartered by the city to ferry Venezuelan migrants the 595 miles (957 kilometers) to the border. Dozens of others wait along with them. They fled Ecuador and other countries in the region, carefully sneaking through closed borders or taking advantage of opened humanitarian corridors. Many attempted to rebuild their lives in Colombia but have since given up. They decided to go home after finding themselves without jobs or income during government-imposed COVID-19 lockdowns -- or out of fear of epidemic-fueled xenophobia. Pena lived only nine months in Loja, in the south of Ecuador. But he quickly grew afraid: "People are dying, no one pays attention or wears a mask, everyone is out in the streets." - 35,000 migrants returned - He also worried about what would happen if he or one of his family members fell ill. At the hospital, "they would never move an Ecuadoran to make room for a Venezuelan," he said. "It's better to go back to our country," he added. More than 35,000 Venezuelans have already crossed the region, coming from Colombia and elsewhere, according to Felipe Munoz, an official at the border between the two countries. Colombia is home to about 1.8 million of the 4.9 million Venezuelan migrants who fled their country in recent as the former oil power's economy crumbled. Bogota, which like the US does not recognize Nicolas Maduro as Venezuela's president, has appealed for international aid to manage a migrant crisis made more acute by the pandemic's attendant health and economic emergencies. Colombia has recorded more than 3,700 cases of the coronavirus, versus some 250 reported in Venezuela. Ecuador, at 10,000 cases, is the region's worst-hit country after Brazil. Pena is aware that the low number of Venezuelan cases has been doubted by Maduro's opposition and he is bracing himself for the worst. "There's no food, no water nor gas. But what can we do?" he said. Colombia said the migrants are leaving of their own accord and is checking their temperatures as they leave. Luis Plazas, 24, considers himself one of the lucky ones. The street fruit vendor, his wife and their children -- eight years and eight months old -- were able to board one of the buses going from Cali to Cucuta, a city on the Venezuelan border. - 'There's nothing' - After two years away, one spent in Bogota and the other in Cali, he decided to leave to escape growing hunger. Since the start of the lockdown -- March 20 in the major Colombian cities -- his family has only had one meal a day. "If an adult only eats once a day, he can handle it. But how do you tell a child that there's nothing. It's really hard!" he told AFP by phone, during his trip. Plazas found himself in the same boat as 47 percent of Colombia's working population, who work informally and often on the street. The lockdown has left them penniless. Soon he was unable to pay his rent. "It was getting very difficult, and we had already been thrown out on the street," he said. The Colombian government has since outlawed evictions during the lockdown, which was extended to the whole country on March 25 until April 26. At the border, Plazas had to wait several hours for the Venezuelan curfew to lift. He hopes his mother's small business selling arepas (stuffed corn cakes) will at least ward off their hunger. Vlassy was born Dec. 25, 1934, in Gura Corinth, Greece, the son of Gus and Angela Patsios. He grew up in and around Athens, Greece, until he was 15 and at that time he came over to the United States by himself. After spending a short time in the United States, he was feeling homesick and enlisted in the United States Army in hopes of being stationed in Italy, closer to home. Things did not turn out as he had hoped, and he was sent to the front lines to fight in the Korean War. Before being able to fight, they realized he was not a United States citizen, so at that time they gave him his citizenship and sent him to fight. He was honorably discharged in 1959, after serving for four years. After his discharge, he found himself in Kearney, where he had relatives. It was at this time that he earned his GED and he was so proud of that accomplishment. Georgia Democrat Who Endorsed Trump Resigns From Seat in State Legislature Georgia Democratic state Rep. Vernon Jones said he is resigning from his seat in the state legislature after he endorsed President Donald Trumps reelection. Jones told The Rashad Richey Morning Show that he wont leave the Democratic Party because somebodys got to be in there to hold them accountable to how they are treating black people [and] root out the bigotry, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper. Im sick and tired of me and my family being attacked and harassed by the Democrat Party for putting my country before my party. I take pride in being an independent thinker. My first amendment right to freedom of speech is under siege, Jones, who is African American, said in a statement Wednesday in confirming his resignation, reported CBS46 in Atlanta. He said that hell now help the Democrat Party get rid of its bigotry against Black people that are independent and conservative. Turn the lights off, I have left the plantation. Someone else can occupy that suite. Therefore, I intend not to complete my term effective April 22, 2020. However, I will remain woke and vigilant in educating and fighting for my people, he added in the statement. Jones explained why hes endorsing Trump over presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden, who had served under former President Barack Obama as his vice president I endorsed the White guy (Donald J. Trump) that let Blacks out of jail, and they endorsed the White guy (Joe Biden) that put Blacks in jail, Jones said. The results speak for themselves. With his hand on the wheel, the stock market broke record after record, wages and job growth exploded and unemployment dropped down to record lows. Given his track record, President Trump is best prepared to lead our economy back to record highs after we beat the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. Earlier today, I made the decision to not seek re-election to the Georgia House of Representatives. I look forward, however, to continuing to serve my community in other ways and doing all I can to re-elect @realDonaldTrump. We will Make America Great Again Vernon Jones (@RepVernonJones) April 22, 2020 State Sen. Nikema Williams, the head of the state Democratic Party, said that Joness endorsement of Trump is an embarrassment and added that he does not stand for our values, reported the Journal-Constitution. When he endorsed Trump earlier this month, Jones became the first elected Democratic official in the state to back the presidents reelection campaign. Jones faced a primary challenge from Rhonda Taylor, who serves as a community activist. The Gwinnett County Republican Party shared Joness endorsement last week, asking people to donate to his campaign before his resignation. Like a movie ticket stub, like a hotel key at a Las Vegas resort, the latest wave of candidate FEC filings comes from a world that no longer exists. From Jan. 1 to March 30, the period covered in the new report, candidates had about 2 1/2 months to raise money before the pandemic shut much of the economy down. The new numbers tell us where the campaign for the presidency and Congress was going, but not necessarily what will happen next. The new numbers for House and Senate races cover the entire period, while new filings from presidential candidates and party committees cover only the month of March. Here are the biggest lessons we've learned from some of the most exciting paperwork in politics. As the Democratic primary ended, Biden finally outraised Sanders. The presumptive Democratic nominee for president was trailing his top rivals in every fundraising period of the campaign, until Super Tuesday. Through March, a period that began with Biden's South Carolina victory and ended with big primaries being delayed, Biden raised $46.7 million. That was more than half as much as he'd raised for the entire period from his campaign launch through the end of February. It was also more than Sen. Bernie Sanders raised, as Biden's wins showed the limits of Sanders' enormous campaign infrastructure. Sanders, I-Vt., raised a bit less than $33 million, still phenomenal for a candidate whose chances essentially vanished after March 3. Post-Super Tuesday, Sanders won just three contests: the North Dakota caucuses, Democrats Abroad and the Northern Mariana Islands. But his fundraising dropped just 27% from February, while Biden's surged by 250%. Biden ran well ahead of Hillary Clinton's fundraising from the same period four years ago - just $29.5 million, the one time she was outraised by Sanders. Still, that Sanders was able to drum up so much as his campaign bottomed out is a testament to the small-dollar machine he built. Sanders did not issue a single fundraising request after March 17, when defeats in Arizona, Florida and Illinois ended his threat to Biden. Democrats are ahead in Senate fundraising. There will be 33 Senate elections in November, with both parties most focused on nine states: Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Montana and North Carolina. In just two of those states, Iowa and Michigan, Republicans have outraised the likely Democratic nominee. In the rest, Democrats had quickly become competitive with, or actually outpaced, incumbent Republicans. Michigan, though seen as a tougher challenge for Republicans than Alabama, stands out on this list. First-term Sen. Gary Peters, who raised just $10 million for his 2014 race, has raised $15.7 million for this one. But in the final quarter of 2019 and the first quarter of 2020, he was outraised by John James, a black veteran and businessman who has been repeatedly touted by the president and national Republicans. (Tellingly, the president himself did not campaign with James in his 2018 Senate race, though the vice president did.) James has cracked a code, exciting big national donors and generating interest with grass-roots activists who have built a small-dollar fundraising base. That got him $4.8 million over three months, compared with $4 million for Peters. The Republican dilemma is that so few of their candidates have figured out how to copy this - including many incumbents. James raised more than Republican senators in Colorado, Iowa, Maine, Montana and North Carolina, which partly explains why the chamber is in play. The big new entry on the board is Montana, where Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock opted to run after months of pressure from his party. Bullock raised $3.3 million despite launching his campaign days before the pandemic began closing down most in-person activity; Republican Sen. Steve Daines, who is personally wealthy, raised $1.3 million. In North Carolina, former state senator Cal Cunningham raised $4.4 million in the same period, when he won a primary despite an ad campaign from Republicans, that boosted one of his rivals. His opponent, GOP Sen. Thom Tillis, raised $1.3 million. Neither Cunningham nor Bullock had a record or approach designed to fire up ideological donors, but they found a way to the Democratic money funnel that opened after 2016. Democrats are ahead in House fundraising, too. The Democrats' majority is, on paper, the sort of thing that could be lost in 2020. Thirty incumbents are in Trump-friendly districts, and several more won their 2018 elections with 1% of the vote. Republicans could well go into November with two more seats than they ended 2018 with: Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey has switched to the GOP, and veteran Mike Garcia has a decent shot in the upcoming special election for California's 25th District. But the combination of new incumbency and old grass-roots donor appeal has been helping Democrats build cash leads almost everywhere. Some of their best-known freshmen, such as Rep. Katie Porter of California and Rep. Haley Stevens of Michigan, have piled up funds while drawing weak opponents; Porter has 30 times as much money as the Republican she'll face in November, while Stevens has 157 times as much as the Trump campaign veteran who is challenging her. While there are 30 Democrats in districts carried by Trump in 2016, just one of them - Rep. Collin Peterson of Minnesota - has been outraised by challengers. The 42 Democrats who flipped districts in 2020 raised about three times as much as their Republican opponents. There were bright spots for Republicans, district by district and nationally. Their WinRed fundraising portal announced that it had moved $129 million from January through March, a fast start for an effort that started later than many Republicans liked. Star recruits such as Texas' Wesley Hunt, who is challenging first-term Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, kept pace with Democratic incumbents. (The Congressional Leadership Fund, an early booster of Hunt, has reserved $3 million in ads there.) But Democratic donors are still more active than Republicans in these down-ballot races. In March, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee raised $14.3 million, $2.8 million more than its Republican counterpart; the Democrats' Senate campaign committee outraised the GOP's committee by $1.9 million. Long-shot right-wing challenges are raising more than similar left-wing challenges. New York's 14th District is not the sort of place where Republicans usually spend their money. It covers parts of the Bronx and Queens, it gave Hillary Clinton 78% of the 2016 vote, and the local GOP is a non-factor in municipal races. But the congresswoman from New York's 14th District is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. That has helped the district's Republican candidates raise a combined $2.9 million, while Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, a former TV host running as a pro-business Democrat, has raised $1.1 million. All of it against a Democrat with $3.5 million in the bank. The flood of money into Ocasio-Cortez's district is an example of how active Republican donors still are more enticed by high-profile candidacies than unglamorous but promising candidacies. Ocasio-Cortez's top challenger, John Cummings, has raised more than Jason Lewis, the GOP's U.S. Senate candidate in Minnesota - $1.7 million, compared with $1.3 million. Challenging Ocasio-Cortez is a golden ticket to TV and online name recognition. Challenging Rep. Antonio Delgado, who flipped a Trump-friendly district north of the city, is not. Yet Delgado's opponents have raised a combined $300,000, less than 10% of the freshman Democrat's haul so far. It's the same in Minnesota, where the leading Republican challenger to Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar has raised $1.1 million. That's twice as much as the GOP candidate in Iowa's 2nd District, an open seat just a few hours away from Minneapolis, has raised. Iowa's 2nd District backed Trump by four points; Omar's district backed Clinton by 55 points. While the four members of the Democratic "Squad" have starred in Republican messaging, none is vulnerable in November, and only Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan has a tough primary, largely because she is one of two nonblack Democrats representing a majority-black district. Two Senate candidates with long odds, Kentucky's Amy McGrath and South Carolina's Jaime Harrison, have outraised Republican incumbents despite the party's focus on other states. But there's not the same evidence of Democratic donors investing in pure long shots. In Maine, Republicans have crossed their fingers that Betsy Sweet, a liberal activist endorsed by some national left-wing groups, can bring down state House Speaker Sara Gideon to take on Sen. Susan Collins. But Sweet has struggled to raise money and now has $37,494 on hand compared with $4.7 million for Gideon. In Iowa, Republicans have actually bought billboards to promote Kimberly Graham, a liberal they hope can weaken party favorite Theresa Greenfield in her bid to compete against GOP Sen. Joni Ernst. Graham has just $41,907 on hand, 9% as much as Greenfield, and less than two other lesser-known candidates who haven't appealed to national liberal donors. Mike Bloomberg spent a billion dollars (and bailed out the DNC). The multibillionaire's short-lived campaign was always proud of its spending, telling reporters just how fast it had hired 1,000 people and how big its ad buys were. But we did not know until Monday just how much Bloomberg spent before winding down: $1,033,391,453.32. That's about $10 million for every day Bloomberg was in the race, and around $18 million for each delegate he won before suspending his campaign. He may never be president, but he'll always have American Samoa. Republicans still blame Bloomberg's 2018 investments, from a PAC that sprinkled $100 million in ads across the country, for making the difference in close House races. Bloomberg, angering former employees, has already opted against continuing his campaign as an independent, pro-Biden organization. Instead, he transferred $18 million to the DNC, which raised $33 million. His money helped the beleaguered committee surpass the RNC (which raised $24 million) for the first time in any quarter since 2016. The RNC remains on stronger footing than its Democratic counterpart. It has $77.1 million on hand and no debt after spending tens of millions of dollars on technology and volunteer training. The DNC has just $35.8 million on hand and may be destined to run behind the RNC for the rest of this cycle. The X-factor, not visible in these reports, is how the pandemic and recession conditions affect donations. We won't know that for a month. CALDWELL, OH David Watkins, 57, was sentenced to eight years in prison not death, his daughter said. As the new coronavirus continues to spread rapidly through Ohio's prisons, Watkins and his family now fear for his life. Watkins is an insulin-dependent diabetic, a kidney recipient and has high blood pressure, his daughter, Kwanza Maxwell, tells Patch. He was sentenced to prison after he was found guilty of trafficking drugs in 2019. Within a month of his entering Noble Correctional Institution, a facility about 90 minutes east of Columbus, Watkins contracted pneumonia and had to be hospitalized. He's particularly susceptible to illness because he takes immune system suppressing medications to ensure his donated kidney is not rejected by his body, Maxwell said. With a suppressed immune system and other underlying medical conditions, Watkins now finds himself particularly at risk should he contract COVID-19. And he fears the virus may soon enter his prison. Nearly 3,800 Ohio prisoners have tested positive for COVID-19 since the outbreak began. Both Marion Correctional Institution and Pickaway Correctional Institution have been named hotspots for the virus. Nine inmates have died due to complications from COVID-19. At least one prisoner at Noble is currently in isolation with COVID-19 like symptoms, according to data from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections. With crowded living spaces, Watkins is sure that if the virus enters the prison, it will spread like wildfire. "Beds are two and a half to three feet apart. You're in constant contact with 240 inmates," Watkins said in a video obtained by Patch. "They try to keep you from other units, but there are 240 inmates in a unit." Inmates are still eating elbow-to-elbow on cafeteria benches, they're still using the same phones to make calls, and utilizing the same restrooms, Maxwell said. Watkins told his family he is considering not taking his immune system repressing medication, despite the risks that would pose for his kidney. Story continues Knowing her father is effectively defenseless against COVID-19 has left Maxwell and her siblings terrified for their father's life. The 33-year-old Maxwell, who works in health care, said she has been battling insomnia. Her mind rattles through all the threats posed to her father at night, leaving her restless. "If he was to contract the virus, he has no fighting chance. He would probably fall victim to the virus," she told Patch while fighting back tears. Maxwell and her family have written pleading letters to any official with a semblance of clout, including Gov. Mike DeWine's office, prison officials, attorneys and judges. They have gotten few responses. "People are saying that inmates are using this as a get-out-of-free jail card," Maxwell said. "By no means are we looking for a free ride. We would be fine with him coming home and then completing his sentence when the virus stops. Our No. 1 priority is his safety and health." Maxwell shared a wealth of images and videos of Watkins playing with his grandchildren before his incarceration. She described him as the epitome of a family man and the cornerstone of their get-togethers. All holidays were held at his house. He hosted a weekly family meal on Sundays. Maxwell wants her father to be able to finish his sentence, healthy and whole, and return to his family. "This COVID-19 situation has been stressful for everyone...but for us, knowing our father is in a situation where he cannot protect himself from the virus...its a hopeless feeling. Its feeling like we had a release date, but this has come into play and we have no idea if hes going to make it home at all," Maxwell said. The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections did not immediately respond to Patch's request for comment. More reading: This article originally appeared on the Cleveland Patch Iraqi air force kills 14 Daesh terrorists in north-central province Iran Press TV Tuesday, 21 April 2020 2:53 PM Iraqi fighter jets have pounded the positions of the remnants of the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group in Iraq's north-central province of Salahuddin, killing more than a dozen extremists there. The media bureau of Iraq's Joint Operations Command, in a statement released on Monday, announced that Iraqi F-16 fighter jets had targeted three militant hideouts on Abdul Aziz Island in the middle of the Tigris River, located in the west of al-Dour district in Salahuddin Province, leaving 14 Daesh terrorists dead. The statement, cited by Arabic-language al-Forat news agency, added that the hideouts were used by terrorist elements to target security forces and citizens. In a related development on Tuesday, a security source in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala announced the start of a large-scale military operation in the northeast of the province, saying that Iraqi government forces, backed by the air force, launched the operation 23 kilometers northeast of the provincial capital, Baquba. The source said the operation was being carried out with the participation of Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), better known by the Arabic word Hashd al-Sha'abi, and on two main axes in the area that included seven villages and surrounding farms. The source also stressed the difficulty of the operation due to the geographical complexity of the area. Sleeper cells of Daesh are active in an area between the Iraqi provinces of Salahuddin and Diyala, launching attacks on government forces and civilians. Hashd al-Sha'abi forces have played a major role in the liberation of Daesh-held areas to the south, northeast, and north of the Iraqi capital, ever since the terrorists launched an offensive in the country. In November 2016, the Iraqi parliament voted to integrate Hashd al-Sha'abi, which was formed shortly after the emergence of Daesh in Iraq in 2014, into the military. Former Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared the end of military operations against Daesh in the Arab country on December 9, 2017. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Unusual things happening in North cannot be taken lightly Rumors are rampant about North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's health after CNN first reported, Tuesday, that the U.S. was looking into intelligence that he is "gravely ill" after surgery. Government officials in China, South Korea as well as the United States have cast doubt on the credibility of the reports, but it is also true that there are enough reasons to believe that something unusual is happening concerning him. If Kim is indeed in a serious condition, we are certainly in the state of a national emergency. Fortunately, the South Korean military said it has not detected any unusual activities by the North Korean military, and hasn't raised its alert level. Even if the reports are false, they are at least a good reminder that anything can happen in North Korea at any time. What is important is that we should be fully prepared for any contingencies in the North, maintaining a strong military readiness and security posture. There should also be a thorough check to ensure that our response system is working properly. In fact, there had been unusual signs pointing to possible health problem with the obese North Korean leader. He reportedly skipped an annual visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun on the occasion of the 108th anniversary of the birth of his grandfather and North Korea founder Kim Il-sung, April 15. Last week, the North's rubber-stamp parliament delayed a crucial meeting for two days without providing any tangible reason for this, and then the meeting went ahead anyway without Kim's participation. There were also no state media reports of him attending his country's latest weapons tests last week. These are enough to raise speculation about what is going on in North Korea. In addition, Kim's younger sister Kim Yo-jong, who serves as the first vice department director of the Workers' Party Central Committee, has issued the North's official statements and messages to South Korea and the U.S. since last month. On Wednesday, Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun, quoting an unnamed source, reported that North Korea has been preparing a contingency plan centered on transferring power from Kim to the sister since late last year. The report said the Workers' Party has made an internal decision that the sister would succeed her brother in the case of Kim's absence due to unforeseen circumstances or his death. Amid the mystery about the dictator's health, U.S. President Donald Trump said he didn't know anything about Kim's condition, but wished him well during a White House press briefing. The government here said it has heard nothing unusual about Kim Jong-un. North Korea has remained silent about all the speculative media reports, but in a way this only suggests something bad may have occurred. Nothing is certain for now, but one thing for sure is that rumors will continue about the heavy-smoking, overweight leader's health until he dies. WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) -- Purdue President Mitch Daniels is discussing some of the big changes he promised for the fall semester at Purdue. Students will return in person, but Daniels says the school will be handling potential coronavirus challenges "aggressively and creatively." He prefaced the ideas by saying they are preliminary, adding, "View them as examples, likely to be replaced by better ideas as we identify and validate them." The possibilities included testing for students before they return to campus - both for active infections and antibodies that could prove immunity. He also said the school could designate special housing for students who do become infected, allowing them to recover in isolation. The school could also move more coursework online, and cut the number of in-person meetings per course, even for on-campus classes. It will work with vulnerable staff and students to move as much of the work online as possible. You can read Daniels' full statement here. By Express News Service CHENNAI: BJP State unit spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy on Tuesday welcomed the wish of Muslims who have recovered from Coronavirus infection, in donating their plasma for other COVID-19 patients in treating them. Many Muslims including those who had attended the Tablighi Jamaats event in Delhi last month had expressed their willingness to donate their plasma now. Duty bound to thank Muslims donating plasma We know many who have attended the Tablighi event have contracted this infection. But do we know the great help now they offer to other patients by donating their plasma? At a time when the government is taking all efforts to cure this infection, we are duty bound to hail and thank the Muslims who have come forward to donate their plasma, Thirupathy said in a series of tweets. Technavio has been monitoring the watermelon seeds market and it is poised to grow by USD 1.02 billion during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of almost 14% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005550/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Watermelon Seeds Market 2019-2023 (Graphic: Business Wire) Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please Request Latest Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impact The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. BASF SE, Bayer AG, Groupe Limagrain Holding, Sakata Seed Corp., and Syngenta Crop Protection AG are some of the major market participants. The use of watermelon seeds in beauty care will offer immense growth opportunities. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments. Use of watermelon seeds in beauty care has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. Watermelon Seeds Market 2019-2023: Segmentation Watermelon seeds market is segmented as below: Application Edible Seeds Non-edible Seeds Agricultural Seeds Geographic Landscape APAC Europe MEA North America South America To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download latest free sample report of 2020-2024: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR31289 Watermelon Seeds Market 2019-2023: Scope Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our watermelon seeds market report covers the following areas: Watermelon Seeds Market Size Watermelon Seeds Market Trends Watermelon Seeds Market Industry analysis This study identifies increasing popularity of veganism as one of the prime reasons driving the watermelon seeds market growth during the next few years. Watermelon Seeds Market 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis We provide a detailed analysis of vendors operating in the watermelon seeds market, including some of the vendors such as BASF SE, Bayer AG, Groupe Limagrain Holding, Sakata Seed Corp., Syngenta Crop Protection AG. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the watermelon seeds market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Watermelon Seeds Market 2019-2023: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023 Detailed information on factors that will assist watermelon seeds market growth during the next five years Estimation of the watermelon seeds market size and its contribution to the parent market Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the watermelon seeds market Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of watermelon seeds market vendors Table Of Contents: PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT 2.1 Preface 2.2 Preface 2.3 Currency conversion rates for US$ PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE Market ecosystem Market characteristics Market segmentation analysis PART 04: MARKET SIZING Market definition Market sizing 2018 Market size and forecast 2018-2023 PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS Bargaining power of buyers Bargaining power of suppliers Threat of new entrants Threat of substitutes Threat of rivalry Market condition PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY APPLICATION Market segmentation by application Comparison by application Edible seeds Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Non-edible seeds Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Agricultural seeds Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Market opportunity by application PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE Geographic segmentation Geographic comparison APAC Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Europe Market size and forecast 2018-2023 North America Market size and forecast 2018-2023 MEA Market size and forecast 2018-2023 South America Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Key leading countries Market opportunity PART 09: DECISION FRAMEWORK PART 10: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES Market drivers Market challenges PART 11: MARKET TRENDS Watermelon seed-infusion in food and cosmetics Growing popularity of veganism Rising popularity of urban farming PART 12: VENDOR LANDSCAPE Overview Landscape disruption Competitive scenario PART 13: VENDOR ANALYSIS Vendors covered Vendor classification Market positioning of vendors BASF SE Bayer AG Groupe Limagrain Holding Sakata Seed Corp. Syngenta Crop Protection AG PART 14: APPENDIX Research methodology List of abbreviations Definition of vendor positioning PART 15: EXPLORE TECHNAVIO About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005550/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: media@technavio.com Website: www.technavio.com/ As part of his 'Earth Day' message, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on China to close its wildlife wet markets in order to spare the world from future coronavirus-like pandemics. 'On this Earth Day, we call on the People's Republic of China and other countries to close wildlife wet markets permanently, a move that would reduce risks to human health inside and outside of China and discourage the consumption of trafficked wildlife and wildlife products,' Pompeo wrote. A wet market in Wuhan, China has been blamed as the place where the coronavirus first spread. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on China to close the country's wildlife 'wet' markets to prevent future coronavirus-like pandemics 'Wildlife "wet markets," in which live species are sold for human consumption, are hotspots for wildlife trafficking, create risks for the generation and spread of diseases,' Pompeo said. Here a pile of bats are being sold to wet market customers Puppies are seen for sale at the Wuhan market where the coronavirus pandemic likely got its start A beaver (above) and a deer (below) are held in cages at the food market in Wuhan, China. Animals at these markets are slaughtered on-site for human consumption, often in unsanitary conditions A pile of frogs is photographed at a wet market. Pompeo wants wet markets closed to prevent future outbreaks Animals are slaughtered on-site at Chinese wet markets, which 'may have played a critical role in the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic,' Pompeo said Wednesday 'Wildlife "wet markets," in which live species are sold for human consumption, are hotspots for wildlife trafficking, create risks for the generation and spread of diseases, and may have played a critical role in the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic,' Pompeo observed. Wet markets in China sell all kinds of animals including dogs, deer, beavers, bats and traditional meat like pork. Pompeo asked for 'all governments to join our efforts to combat and put an end to the scourge that is wildlife trafficking.' Pompeo's message to China comes as a handful of lawmakers - and one prominent reality TV star - have spoken out about the issue, lobbying the Trump administration to pressure Chinese President Xi Jinping into action. In early April, Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and one of the president's top allies on Capitol Hill, advised Trump to tell Xi to end the wet market practice. 'What I would tell President Trump is to call President Xi and say "Listen, you just reopened the wet markets in Wuhan where we believe this all came from. Crack down on exotic animals in these wet markets where they contaminate the food supply and human beings,' Graham said. 'Bats carry [contagions], stop eating bats,' the GOP senator added. Earlier this month, Sen. Lindsey Graham, a top GOP ally of President Trump, said the president should pressure China's President Xi Jinping to close wet markets for good Rep. Alcee Hastings (left), a Democrat from Florida and Rep. Vern Buchanan (right), a Republican also from Florida, wrote President Trump a letter on Saturday requesting he push China to end its wet markets The two lawmakers are working alongside reality television star Lisa Vanderpump, whose Vanderpump Dog Foundation has pushed for China to end the annual Yulin Dog Meat Festival On Saturday, Reps. Alcee Hastings, a Florida Democrat, and Vern Buchanan, a Florida Republican, sent a letter to Trump asking him to have this conversation with Xi. 'It is important to encourage President Xi Jinping to end these dangerous practices that spread diseases such as coronavirus,' the lawmakers wrote. 'We urge you to discuss these concerns with President Xi and encourage him to ban the unsanitary and inhumane practice of purchasing live animals and butchering them in contaminated conditions on-site in these markets, to avoid future deadly viral outbreaks.' Hastings and Buchanan were joined by Bravo star Lisa Vanderpump in this effort. She and Hastings wrote a separate op-ed asking that Trump 'begin discussions immediately with President Xi Jinping to put an end to dangerous "wet markets," before the next pandemic.' Vanderpump, who launched the Vanderpump Dog Foundation in 2016, has made it a mission to end the Yulin Dog Meat Festival - a festival that sprung up in Yulin, China in the last decade where dogs are eaten to mark the summer solstice. For Vanderpump, advocating for wet market closures is an extension of the work she's already been doing to save dogs. 'I do think that China ... I tread lightly with the way I'm composing my sentences because I'm a public figure - but I believe they're indebted to us for the catastrophic events that have transpired after the careless situation these markets have created,' Vanderpump told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview earlier this week. The Vanderpump Dog Foundation has put out a Change.org petition to get the United Nations and the World Health Organization to put pressure on China as well. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday said their government will allow other states if they want to take home their residents stranded in Uttar Pradesh due to the coronavirus lockdown. If the governments of other states wish to recall their citizens stranded in Uttar Pradesh because of the lockdown, our government will give permission and cooperate, the CM said during a review meeting on coronavirus with senior officials. He also said the students brought from Rajasthan's Kota should be told to stay quarantined in their homes through the CM helpline 1076. The CM said he will personally contact them and enquire about their well being. Taking stock of the situation, he also told officials to take strict action against those violating the lockdown and not adhering to the social distancing norms. "A lockdown means total lockdown, he said. The CM told officials to take all necessary precautions for the holy month of Ramzan, beginning next week. He said it should be ensured that there is no gathering at the time of "sehri" and "iftar" (early morning and late evening meals), an official press release said. The chief minister was informed by officials that 10 districts, earlier affected by the disease, have no active case now. As of now, 32 districts of the total 75 are free from coronavirus, the CM was told. Adityanath, however, directed officials to remain extra vigilant and reiterated the need to test all those involved in the supply of essentials. Aligarh, Saharanpur and Moradabad districts are sensitive and so testing labs should be set up there, he said. The CM also directed to seal the private hospitals that do not follow safety norms and guidelines. The chief minister said industrial units in the districts not affected by the virus should be allowed to function as per the guidelines of the Centre. Permission should be granted for the transportation of the construction material, he said. He asked officials to ensure that no one faced a shortage of foodgrain. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A further 763 hospital deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported in the UK, bringing the nations total to 18,100. There are now also 133,495 confirmed coronavirus cases, up 4,451. Earlier today, NHS England reported that 665 deaths related to coronavirus have been recorded in English hospitals, bringing the total for that country to 16,272. Most of those deaths took place between 19 April and 21 April, though 175 happened 1 April and 18 April, and nine occurred in March. The rise comes as Scotland announced another 77 deaths for a total of 985 and Wales has recorded a further 15 for a total of 624. Northern Ireland is yet to release its figures. The combined figure for all four nations varies from the UK-wide number from the Department of Health because of differences in accounting. Around the world, 2.5 million cases have been confirmed and more than 177,000 deaths have been reported, alongside 687,000 recoveries, data from Johns Hopkins University shows. Medical staff practice loading and unloading a stretcher at the NHS Nightingale hospital in London, ahead of the new death toll. (Photo by Kirsty O'Connor/PA Images via Getty Images) 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 6 charts and maps that explain how COVID-19 is spreading Human trials on a coronavirus vaccine are due to start this week, with details for volunteers now online. People willing to help with the project can help if they live in postcodes in the Bristol, Thames Valley, Southampton and Greater London areas. Health secretary Matt Hancock said on Tuesday: In the long run, the best way to defeat coronavirus is through a vaccine. After all, this is a new disease, this is uncertain science, but I'm certain we will throw everything we've got at developing a vaccine. He admitted the process will be subject to trial and error, but said the government would back scientists to the hilt and give them every resource they need to develop a working vaccine. Matt Hancock pledged full government backing for the development of a coronavirus vaccine. (PA Images) The vaccine has been developed at the University of Oxford's Jenner Institute and Oxford Vaccine Group. Work began in January. Story continues It means the UK joins the US and China in progressing to human trials. Professor Robin Shattock, from Imperial College Londons Department of Infectious Disease, said the coronavirus is not as tough to target for a vaccine as HIV or influenza. He told the Today programme on BBC Radio 4: I think we are very confident that some vaccines will come through and work. There are so many groups working on different approaches and the virus is not as difficult a target as some of the things we have seen before. The main issue is that it doesnt seem to be changing very much. So it is a target we have in our sights and it is very different from influenza, which changes every year. As long as this virus stays relatively stable it will be very easy to lock our sights on it in terms of targeting a vaccine. Meanwhile, a government minister has admitted that NHS staff will need to be tested for coronavirus again after initial results proved to be inaccurate. Care minister Helen Whately told Sky News that staff who received an inaccurate test were being notified. My understanding from the clinical advisers is that some of the early tests were evaluated and the evaluation is that they weren't effective enough, she said on Wednesday morning. This is a normal process when you are using a test for an illness when this is a new illness. Those that were tested with the test that wasn't up to scratch have been written to and offered another test. Coronavirus: what happened today Some 70 phone numbers involved in sending scam coronavirus texts impersonating the Government and taxman have been blocked as part of a crackdown on number spoofing scams. Banks and police have revealed 172 legitimate phone numbers from 50 banks and government brands had been added to a white list, in a bid to make them harder for criminals to impersonate. It comes as Britons have been bombarded with thousands of phishing emails and texts relating to the coronavirus since the outbreak began in Britain. Britons have been bombarded by phishing emails and text messages claiming to be from legitimate sources including the government, HMRC and supermarkets Fraud reporting service Action Fraud said it had received 3,621 reports of coronavirus-related phishing emails as of last Friday. These included 30 reports of fake emails offering Tesco vouchers, while it received 131 reports of phishing emails offering non-existent council tax refunds in just eight days earlier this month. Phishing emails and texts often come with links to webpages designed to capture victim's personal and payment details and were used to help commit 509.9million of fraud in 2019, according to trade body UK Finance. People have reported scam text messages appearing to come from official government phone numbers, offering goodwill payments from the taxman, emergency stay at home payments and telling recipients they have been fined for leaving the house too often. Police have warned people against clicking on links in text messages claiming to be from the taxman The message telling one recipient they owed 35 after being caught leaving their home three times in a day appeared to come from the government's official coronavirus alert line, underneath a legitimate message telling people to stay at home. Fraudsters have hijacked official Government communications to try and scam people. The first text is legitimate, the second is not Text messages like these are known as 'smishing', or number spoofing scams, with fraudsters able to create accounts which mimic real texts from banks, the government or the taxman. Jake Moroe, a cybersecurity specialist at anti-virus provider ESET, previously told This is Money: 'The technique works by creating an SMS account which matches a genuine sender ID. 'SMS sender IDs don't have to be numerical, so once it matches a genuine sender as alphanumerical text, it can sometimes populate further messages in earlier threads.' Banks and police announced this morning they had sought to crack down on the scams by launching 'white' and 'black' lists for legitimate numbers and those used by fraudsters. The white list has allowed 50 banks and government brands to register 172 phone numbers and is designed to limit the ability of criminals to mimic legitimate numbers by checking first whether the sender is genuine. Meanwhile the blacklist has been used to block 400 numbers, including 70 involved in coronavirus scam texts, which have been used to impersonate legitimate phone numbers. Paul Davis, fraud director at Lloyds Banking Group, said: 'We have already seen some benefit as a result of fewer of these types of texts being sent, and right now when fraudsters are trying as hard as they can to trick people into handing over their cash, it's more important than ever to do everything we can to stay safe from scammers.' Some of the scam text messages which have now been blocked after a crackdown on spoofing Last Sunday UK Finance announced police from the City of London and Metropolitan police forces had seized phones and other devices used by criminals in Dorset, Leicester and south east London to send coronavirus-related scam emails and texts. The 15 April seizure in Leicester turned up over 20 Sim cards used to send texts linked to fake HMRC websites offering money, which would likely to be used to capture recipient's details had they followed those links. The links in phishing emails and texts often send you to a web page designed to capture your personal or payment details. Details stolen this way are used to commit hundreds of millions of pounds in fraud Katy Worobec, managing director of economic crime at UK Finance, said: 'We would urge consumers to be on their guard against criminals exploiting the coronavirus outbreak to commit fraud. 'Always follow the advice of the Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign and avoid clicking on links in any unsolicited text messages in case it's a scam.' Suspicious texts can be reported by forwarding the message to 7726, while fake HMRC emails can be emailed to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 09:22:25|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TRIPOLI, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Libyan National Center for Disease Control on Tuesday announced eight new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total count in the country to 59, with 15 recoveries and one death. The center said in a statement later Tuesday that it tested 83 suspected samples, of which 75 were negative and eight positive. The UN-backed government of Libya on Wednesday declared a 24-hour curfew in the country to fight COVID-19 starting on Friday and lasting for 10 days. Libyan authorities have taken a series of measures against COVID-19, including closing airports, border crossings, mosques and educational institutions, and banning mass gatherings and movements among cities. Libya announced its first COVID-19 case on March 24. Enditem Maya Rudolph, Gretchen Lieberum, and the Revolution during Lets Go Crazy: The Grammy Tribute to Prince. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS When bad things happen, concerts usually follow. After 9/11, there was America: A Tribute to Heroes and the Concert for New York. After Hurricane Katrina, the major TV networks broadcast A Concert for Hurricane Relief, an event famous for Kanye Wests declaration that, George W. Bush doesnt care about black people, and Shelter for the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast. Funds were raised for both Haiti earthquake aid in 2010 and Hurricane Sandy relief in 2012 via broadcast concerts featuring all-star talent. During difficult times, its human nature to want to help, and to seek catharsis in a shared experience. Concerts are the perfect vessel for that shared experience. Theyre the equivalent of a visit to secular church. The instinct to replicate that mix of the musical and the spiritual has fully kicked in during the coronavirus pandemic. Artists across genres have been regularly streaming performances on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and other platforms. During the past month, various concert specials have aired on broadcast TV and streamed online, culminating with Saturdays massive One World: Together at Home event, a collection of performances recorded by artists from around the globe. All of these efforts have provided comfort and joy at a time when both are in short supply. But, for obvious reasons, they cant quite fill the musical void in the same way that previous benefit and crisis-time concerts have. So far, the closest thing I have found is one concert special that airs Tuesday night on CBS: Lets Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute to Prince. This Prince tribute, airing on the fourth anniversary of his death, is more compelling than a lot of post-corona concerts for a simple reason: it was shot pre-social-distancing, on January 28 in L.A., two days after the first two cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in the state of California. That means multiple musicians were able to be onstage together at the Los Angeles Convention Center. It also means an audience was present. In other words, its a concert TV audiences havent seen, broadcast to us from the Before Time. There is no COVID-19 talk during the show, hosted by Prince super-fan Maya Rudolph. (Or if there was on the actual night it was filmed, its been edited out of the special.) But there is a palpable sense of grief and loss that mirrors the feelings of this moment, channeled through the still-glaring absence of Prince. The performances also generate a level of joy and electricity that cant be matched by one person singing a ballad from behind a piano in their living room, or even the Rolling Stones video conferencing a socially distanced version of You Cant Always Get What You Want, featuring quality air drumming by Charlie Watts. I wrote earlier that a concert is a secular church visit, so its appropriate that this one opens with the sound of Princes voice saying, Dearly beloved, we have gathered here today to get through this thing called life, a statement that could easily double as a mantra for hobbling through this pandemic. H.E.R. and Gary Clark, Jr. take over from there, with a blistering, guitar-heavy cover of Lets Go Crazy that does the Purple One absolute justice. Like any tribute concert, the nostalgic factor runs high. Sometimes it runs high on multiple levels. Watching Beck, dressed in a ruffled, Prince-style blouse, singing Raspberry Beret made me wistful for the 80s, when the song was originally released, and also the 90s, when Beck first emerged as a Gen X, alt-rock poet looking well, honestly, looking exactly the same as he does now, in 2020. Watching Foo Fighters perform their cover of Darling Nikki exciting news: it appears that Dave Grohl is able to say masturbating with a magazine on television, a thing that was not possible on the radio in the mid-80s made me re-appreciate the Purple Rain original as well as this cover, which I had not heard in at least a decade. And then there are the more direct hits of nostalgia mixed with they still got it awe that come with seeing The Time doing a medley of their hits, complete with Morris Day checking out his hair in the mirror multiple times; or Maya Rudolph and her counterpart in the Prince cover duo Princess, Gretchen Lieberum, having the time of their lives singing Delirious with Princes signature band, The Revolution; or Sheila E., who played a key role in organizing the event, reaffirming that shes still a percussion beast whos also capable of sliding across a stage like shes trying to steal third base. In short, the Prince tribute is just fun, celebratory in a way that things used to be when people were allowed to stand much closer than six feet from each other and dance their hearts out to Baby Im a Star. As much as Ive been moved by some of the musical performances Ive streamed or viewed in recent weeks, I dont think Ive had as much fun watching a concert as I had previewing this one. Leave it to Prince. Jack Nilles, a NASA engineer, coined the term Telecommuting in the year 1973 using electronics to work remotely. At the time, he estimated this style of work to become the norm in about 20 years. His evaluation was right and remote working did pick up in many parts of the world and today the pandemic situation COVID19 outbreak has, however, made remote working a necessity overnight. It has changed the habits and work routines of millions. Thanks to the tech developments and improved connectivity employees can work remotely from almost any part of the world. However, these tech developments are like a double-edged sword and come with cyber risks. The current pandemic situation has created a perfect storm for Cybercriminals to capitalize on the latest trends to try and boost the success rates of attacks. The malware and cybersecurity attacks have been hitting all over, like NASA sees an exponential jump in Malware attacks as personnel war from home (source: ars TECHNICA) and the more popular Zoom conferencing is hit by fake Zoom installer downloading malware (source: Bleeping Computer). Everyone has to understand that no data is safely stored digitally. Information stored in data banks is often protected by some form of security solutions, but each of these data banks is subject to breach, whether due to human error or cybercriminal attacks. As the innovations are adding to the technology, hackers are getting even more advanced. With each user or a device accessing a network remotely it presents a potential entry point for hackers, it is important to ensure that all user access and devices are protected to the highest possible level to avoid damaging fallout from a cyber breach. In this pandemic situation to ensure the business continuity organizations must need to protect themselves with a holistic, end-to-end security architecture. said Mr. Prashanth G J CEO at TechnoBind New technologies have made a common life simpler at the same time it has also brought a rise in cybercrime and the fact that cybercrime now permeates every facet of society showing why Cybersecurity is crucially important. It is very important to educate employees on how to secure the company data from cybersecurity attacks, some tips to address would be: NAIROBI Kenyas Health minister Mutahi Kagwe has announced that confirmed coronavirus cases of had risen to 303. Seven more cases were confirmed, with 707 samples tested in the last 24 hours. He said all the seven cases were Kenyans. Mr Mutahi also disclosed that nine more patients were discharged after recovering from infections, raising the total number of recoveries to 83 He noted that the World Health Organisation (WHO) projections of millions of infections in Africa was probable considering how the cases multiplied in Somalia and Tanzania. The World Health Organisation warned that despite the seemingly slow pace of infections in Africa, the number of Coronavirus cases could surge from thousands to 10 million within three or six months. While this is a projection, it might as well be a reality in the coming days, stated Kagwe. As a government, our planning and actions are informed by global trend and our own analysis. A slight lapse in behaviour could roll back the gains we have made this far. This disease is calling for our total undivided commitment and unity, he added. He further announced that the country had acquired 25,000 mass testing kits and the state was targeting to test 250,000 people by end of June. Regarding mass testing, the exercise is ongoing, targeting mass areas which include healthcare workers. We currently have 25,00 testing kits which shall be deployed for this activity. The government has today directed restriction of movement inside and out of Mandera County, announced Kagwe after the total cases in the county rose to 8. A statement from the Ministry of Health also appealed to Kenyans to treat all patients who are discharged from the hospital with love and care and should not discriminate against them. Treat all those who got out of hospital or quarantine with love and care. Protect those who are vulnerable and provide support when required, read the statement in part. Related "Providing free and meaningful career development workshops is the least we can do to thank the OC community for its generosity these past three decades, as well as its overwhelming support of our own rebuilding efforts after a fire destroyed our Irvine headquarters in February." Jerri Rosen CEO Working Wardrobes, Orange County's foremost career development nonprofit, announced the launch of its Rebuilding Careers initiative to help people hone their skills so they're workforce ready in these challenging times. Rebuilding Careers is a series of video workshops covering a wide range of informative career development topics, including important job search strategies, helpful resources to develop a winning resume and skillset, techniques to nail that job interview, tips to create a personal brand, professional networking instruction, employer panels, and more. Rebuilding Careers workshops are free to the public, and are conducted online each Tuesday and Thursday to help jobseekers land their next opportunity and get back on their feet. "In my 30 years as CEO of Working Wardrobes, I have never witnessed a more difficult time to find a job than right now," said Jerri Rosen. "Providing free and meaningful career development workshops is the least we can do to thank the Orange County community for its generosity these past three decades, as well as its overwhelming support of our own rebuilding efforts after a fire destroyed our Irvine headquarters in February." According to Rosen, Rebuilding Careers is available to the men, women, young adults, and veterans Working Wardrobes currently serves, as well as anyone in the public who has been laid off, furloughed, or those who simply want to fine tune their job skills while they shelter in place. She says the response has been excellent. "Each of our initial workshops were attended by more than 40 people, with engaging discussions and Q&A," she said. "It's very apparent that people are concerned about the current job market, and are committed to doing whatever they can to tap into helpful resources, expand their skills, and gain a competitive edge." Mary Ann Profeta, Chief Program Officer at Working Wardrobes, offered additional details about the program's facilitators and expansion plans. "Our instructors are hardworking volunteers who bring longstanding expertise in roles such as HR, sales, marketing, business communication, and emotional and physical health and wellness," said Profeta. "We're so thankful for their help! We plan to expand the program to meet increased demand, particularly with the addition of VetNet services and workshops designed to address the specific needs of veterans on their journeys to jobs and the Power of a Paycheck." For more information about Rebuilding Careers, or to register for an online workshop, visit https://workingwardrobes.org/rebuilding-careers/. About Working Wardrobes Working Wardrobes is Orange Countys foremost career development nonprofit, championing on behalf of at-risk men, women, young adults, and veterans to help them achieve the dignity of work. Founded in 1990 by CEO/Founder Jerri Rosen, Working Wardrobes has been serving the Southern California region for over 30 years, providing job training, career placement, and wardrobe services to more than 105,000 clients to overcome barriers to employment and achieve the Power of a Paycheck. For more information please visit, http://www.workingwardrobes.org. Please direct media inquiries to Jerri Rosen, Working Wardrobes CEO/Founder at JerriR@workingwardrobes.org or (714)-210-2460. T he global search for a coronavirus vaccine has a very high chance of success, the London scientist leading one of two UK bids said today. Professor Robin Shattock, of Imperial College London, said the scientific community was very confident that a jab able to prevent people contracting the virus could be developed. His assessment is the most upbeat yet and comes after fears that a vaccine the key to ending the death toll from Covid-19 could take 12 to 18 months to discover and mass produce. The Imperial team today appealed for healthy volunteers to enrol in its trials that will begin in June. Londoners are also being sought with the offer of up to 625 in compensation to enrol from today in a separate Oxford University trial, which is recruiting more than 1,100 people via Hammersmith Hospital. Professor Shattock told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: I think we are very confident that some vaccines will come through and work. "There are so many groups [worldwide] working on different approaches and this virus is not as difficult a target as some of the things we have seen before. I think scientifically there is a very high chance of success of getting a vaccine, and we hope one of these might be one of the two approaches developed in the UK. The main issue is that it doesnt seem to be changing very much. Its a target that we have in our sights. Its very different to influenza, which changes every year. Loading.... He said coronavirus was also likely to be easier to target than HIV. As long as this virus stays relatively stable it will be very easy to lock our sights on it, in terms of targeting a vaccine," he added. The Imperial trial is being fast-tracked with 22.5 million of government money. Oxford is getting 20 million. Announcing the funding yesterday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: In the long run, the best way to defeat coronavirus is through a vaccine. Matt Hancock / 10 Downing Street/AFP via Getty Professor Shattocks team has been testing a vaccine candidate in animals since early February. Early findings have shown that animals given the RNA vaccine were able to produce neutralising antibodies against Covid. The team will now test whether it can produce the same response in humans and provoke an immune response. The first results are expected in September. Professor Shattock said the vaccine could be quickly scaled up. One million doses can be made from a litre of material. Loading.... UK patients would be likely to benefit first before supplies were increased to make it available globally. He said the Oxford and Imperial vaccines could be combined if there was a need to have a prime vaccine and a booster. Professor Shattock said: There are many risks of failure along the way. By having two approaches we increase the chances of having an effective vaccine in the UK. "We are very conscious of timelines and the clock ticking and are trying to move as fast as we can. The comments come after Sir Patrick Vallance, the Governments chief scientific adviser, warned in an article last weekend that all new vaccines were long shots, took time and only some ended up being successful. Hammersmith Hospital is one of four sites for the Oxford trial. It is seeking people aged 18 to 55 who have not tested positive for Covid and who live in north-west, west, or south-west London. Listen to The Leader: Coronavirus Daily podcast The co-founder of cryptocurrency news website Cointelegraph acknowledged as the Joan of Arc of blockchain, Toni Lane Casserly, has died at the age of 29. Ms Casserlys father announced on Tuesday that the cryptocurrency entrepreneur had died last week. The Cointelegraph co-founder was a prominent public speaker and a staunch advocate of the blockchain technology that backs the bitcoin market. Toni saw how technologies was a device to unleash human consciousness, said Lucian Tarnowski, an ambassador and founder at technological innovation company Civana. In a tribute on Thursday, Mr Tarnowski added that She was a good pioneer in the role blockchains would give in the return to local community. According to the cryptocurrency blog Coinfomania, Ms Casserly had not been well for some time before passing away in Texas last week. Her father, Nick Casserly, announced with profound sadness and grief that she had died writing in a Facebook post on April 14. He added that she had not been well since returning from a trip to California in August. He said: [I] remember her fondly as I know a lot of you had been reaching out to her with little success. Ms Casserly founded Cointelegraph in 2013 as a media platform dedicated to blockchain technology, crypto assets, and emerging fintech trends. According to the blockchain encyclopaedia Everipedia, she later founded a bitcoin-based charity in 2015 that provided on-the-ground aid in Sierra Leone during the Ebola outbreak in Africa. She also served as an advisor to several notable companies, funds and family offices, such as The United Nations, HSBC, Bosch, Cicso, P&G and the Institute for the Future. Ms Casserly believed that blockchain technologies - as a decentralised economic tool - could improve lives and the work of governments. (@FahadShabbir) LA PAZ (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd April, 2020) The lower house of the Bolivian parliament has drafted and passed a law to the Senate that would prohibit criminal punishment for virus-free quarantine violators, Sergio Choque, head of the lower Chamber of Deputies, said on Tuesday. "From today on, the Senate has the law that we passed on Monday on its hands, which will protect citizens from the criminalization of quarantine violations and which also warns that the police and the armed forces should monitor human rights," Choque told reporters. He also expressed hope that the measure initiated by the Movement for Socialism (MAS) political party would be immediately adopted by the Senate so that it could be effectively applied during the quarantine before April 30. The law can be blocked by one of the Interim President Jeanine Anez's government decrees against the coronavirus pandemic, which made quarantine non-compliance a criminal offense against public health. According to the latest data, Bolivia has confirmed 598 COVID-19 cases and 34 fatalities. A doctor says he was removed from his federal post after pressing for rigorous vetting of treatments embraced by President Donald Trump. The doctor, who led the federal agency involved in developing a coronavirus vaccine, said Wednesday that he was removed from his post after he pressed for a rigorous vetting of a coronavirus treatment embraced by Trump. The doctor said that science, not politics and cronyism, must lead the way. Dr. Rick Bright was abruptly dismissed this week as director of the Department of Health and Human Services Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA, and as deputy assistant secretary for preparedness and response. Instead, he was given a narrower job at the National Institutes of Health. I believe this transfer was in response to my insistence that the government invest the billions of dollars allocated by Congress to address the COVID-19 pandemic into safe and scientifically vetted solutions and not in drugs, vaccines and other technologies that lack scientific merit, he said in a statement to The New York Times Maggie Haberman. I am speaking out because to combat this deadly virus, science not politics or cronyism has to lead the way, he said. The White House declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Alex Azar, the health and human services secretary, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The medical publication Stat reported Tuesday that Bright had clashed with Bob Kadlec, assistant health secretary for preparedness and response. Bright, who noted that his entire career had been spent in vaccine development both in and outside of government, has led BARDA since 2016. In the statement, he said, My professional background has prepared me for a moment like this to confront and defeat a deadly virus that threatens Americans and people around the globe. To this point, I have led the governments efforts to invest in the best science available to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, this resulted in clashes with HHS political leadership, including criticism for my proactive efforts to invest early into vaccines and supplies critical to saving American lives. I also resisted efforts to fund potentially dangerous drugs promoted by those with political connections, he said. Bright, who is a career official and not a political appointee, pointed specifically to the initial efforts to make chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine widely available before it was scientifically tested for efficacy with the coronavirus. Specifically, and contrary to misguided directives, I limited the broad use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, promoted by the administration as a panacea but which clearly lack scientific merit, he said. While I am prepared to look at all options and to think outside the box for effective treatments, I rightly resisted efforts to provide an unproven drug on demand to the American public, Bright said, describing what ultimately happened: I insisted that these drugs be provided only to hospitalized patients with confirmed COVID-19 while under the supervision of a physician. These drugs have potentially serious risks associated with them, including increased mortality observed in some recent studies in patients with COVID-19. Sidelining me in the middle of this pandemic and placing politics and cronyism ahead of science puts lives at risk and stunts national efforts to safely and effectively address this urgent public health crisis, Bright said. I will request that the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services investigate the manner in which this administration has politicized the work of BARDA and has pressured me and other conscientious scientists to fund companies with political connections and efforts that lack scientific merit, he said. Rushing blindly towards unproven drugs can be disastrous and result in countless more deaths. Science, in service to the health and safety of the American people, must always trump politics. Bright has hired lawyers Debra Katz and Lisa Banks, who have a whistleblower practice and are known in part for representing Christine Blasey Ford, who, during the nomination process of Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, accused him of engaging in sexual misconduct decades earlier, a claim he denied. In a statement, the lawyers called Brights change in position retaliation, plain and simple, and said that they planned to ask the Office of Special Counsel to seek a stay of his termination from the position and that he eventually be restored to it after investigations. On Tuesday a panel of experts convened by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the federal agency led by Dr. Anthony Fauci, issued guidelines stating that experts had collected insufficient data to recommend either for or against the use of any antiviral drug or medication that affects the immune system in patients with COVID-19. The panel did specifically advise against several treatments unless they were given in clinical trials. One was the combination of hydroxychloroquine plus the antibiotic azithromycin, which Trump has repeatedly promoted despite the lack of evidence that they work. Those drugs should be used only in clinical trials because of the potential for toxicities, the experts said. The panel also had cautionary advice about hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, even when given without azithromycin, saying that patients receiving them should be monitored for adverse effects, particularly an abnormality in heart rhythm. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Austin writes: The unexpected scale of the pandemic in Detroit and Chicago, and its pronounced impact on African-American communities in cities across the Midwest, lays bare a longstanding reality: The older industrial cities of the Midwest are home to Americas sharpest Black-white divides. More specifically, Austin documents the disproportionate percentage of urban African-Americans suffering from the pandemic: In Milwaukee County, black residents account for 27 percent of the local population, but 51 percent of confirmed Covid-19 cases and 57 percent of Covid-19 deaths. The same pattern emerges in Illinois and Michigan, Austin writes: In the city of Chicago and suburban Cook County, Ill., the rate of Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people is nearly 470 for Black residents more than twice that for white and Latino or Hispanic residents. Covid-19 death rates for Chicagos Black residents are more than four times as high as for other race groups. In the city of Detroit, Black residents account for 79 percent of the local population, but 88 percent of confirmed Covid-19 cases and deaths. In fact, Hispanics are also disproportionately stricken by Covid-19. USA Today reports, for example, that In New York, a grim tally tells the tale: Latinos make up 29 percent of the population but are 39 percent of those who have succumbed to Covid-19. The racial divisions in the Midwest, Austin writes, were crucial to the outcome of the 2016 election: Racially divided regions such as Detroit, Cleveland, and Milwaukee fed the rise of Donald Trump, with his scapegoating of people of color and nostalgic appeals to white working-class voters yearning for a return to the good old days. Bringing the issue back to the present election, Austin pointed out: In our state capital of Lansing, an April 15 rally ostensibly protesting social distancing measures was notable for its participants use of Trump and Confederate iconography. The pandemic has, in turn, inspired a renewed Christian right critique of Americas cities. Erick-Woods Erickson, the conservative evangelical American blogger and radio host, posted on his website A Theology of Cities and The Pandemic on April 19. It is a diatribe against urban America: It is no coincidence in scripture that the first city came from Cain, filled with the inbred product of his and his sisters relations. Time and time again, Gods people are poorer and in less urban areas. Bad things happen everywhere, but a lot of bad things are magnified in urban areas. Jesus died at the hands of an urban mob. Babels residents decided they could rival God. Now, however, the unbelievers whom Erickson contends populate American cities are getting their comeuppance: Those whove had a good life now outside the presence of God will find nothing good while those who believe will live in splendor. Trump and his allies are not only supporting the anti-lockdown movement but providing their own variant of moral justification for it. Stephen Moore, a White House economics adviser, described the protesters in such states as Michigan and Minnesota as following in the footsteps of Rosa Parks, a heroine of the civil rights movement. I call these people modern-day Rosa Parks. They are protesting against injustice and a loss of liberties, Moore said, according to a report in The Washington Post. Trump, in turn, joined the chorus. On April 19 he declared: I have never seen so many American flags at a rally as I have at these rallies. These people love our country. They want to get back to work. I asked Ashley Jardina, a political scientist at Duke and author of the book White Identity Politics, about the likelihood of Trump succeeding in capitalizing on the differing percentages of whites and African-Americans suffering from the virus. She replied: It does not surprise me that Trump tries to shift blame for the pandemic onto communities of color in urban areas. The urban-rural divide is also a racial one, and many of Trumps core supporters are white people from rural areas that have thus far been somewhat insulated from the disease but not from the economic fallout. In addition, Jardina continued, it is unsurprising that most of the people protesting the stay-at-home orders appear to be white. The depressing reality, however, is that its likely to be Black and Latino Americans who suffer the most economically from the pandemic. Black unemployment is already at least twice as high as white unemployment, and that gap is likely to grow. Trump is egging on lockdown protesters in order to generate enthusiasm and drive turnout on Election Day, but Ron Brownstein, writing in The Atlantic, warns that this gambit could backfire. The Coronavirus pandemic appears destined to widen the political divide between the nations big cities and the smaller places beyond them. And that could narrow Donald Trumps possible pathways to re-election. The concentration of the virus in cities, Brownstein writes, threatens to exacerbate one of Trumps most conspicuous political vulnerabilities: his historical weakness in big metropolitan areas that are full of the minority and white-collar white voters most skeptical of him. Brownstein cites data illustrating the urban- rural split: The counties in New York State that fall under the largest metro category New York City and its environs have 12,454 cases per million residents. That compares with 915 per million in the nonmetro counties. In Michigan, the caseload drops from 4,787 per million residents in the largest counties to just 346 in the nonmetro counties. If the economic recovery in the aftermath of the pandemic follows the same pattern as the pandemic itself, Brownstein writes, it will force Trump to generate even bigger margins in small communities to offset a potentially weaker performance than last time in the largest ones. That, in fact, is Trumps current strategy. Will Bunch, a columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer, is more outspoken in his critique of Trump and the coronavirus liberation movement, arguing that the protesters are unknowingly fronting for the wealthiest Americans: Right-wing special interests, like the billionaire family of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, are terrified that the 22 million unemployed will demand a social welfare state. Their goal? To shift blame away from Trumps multiple failures on the coronavirus and instead onto public-health-minded governors. These billionaires and millionaires, Bunch continued, have zero moral qualms about working with some of the worst white-supremacists or neo-fascists in order to make sure a crowd turns out. Vice Adm. Phillip G. Sawyer, a deputy chief of naval operations and a former commander of the Seventh Fleet in Japan, told The Times that the Navy was following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Protection on handwashing, face coverings and other preventive measures, as well as adding additional procedures to limit the potential for the coronavirus to enter its ships, submarines and aircrews. We learn more everyday, Sawyer said. We will continue to evolve our measures to conform to the best practices that we know. We have to be able to protect our force, and we have to be able to conduct the missions that the nation requires of us. The Navy is still contending with a major cluster of coronavirus infections aboard the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt, the aircraft carrier that has been moored in Guam since late March after an outbreak of the virus while it was at sea. As of Wednesday, a total of 777 sailors from the carrier had tested positive for the virus. A Navy spokesman said that 120 of those sailors had tested positive after leaving quarantine, which led military leaders to re-evaluate the criteria they used for quarantining those suspected of coming in contact with an infected person and for sequestering sailors preparing to deploy. It is unclear whether the public will be informed of any outbreak of the coronavirus aboard the Ronald Reagan, or any of the Navys other ships, while it is at sea. On March 30, the Pentagon announced that it would not make public any information about coronavirus outbreaks in specific units, but in practice it has continued to provide data about cases aboard the Theodore Roosevelt and the hospital ship U.S.N.S. Comfort, which is docked in New York City. According to the documents obtained by The Times, the Navys Pacific Fleet commander in Hawaii declared that all information about coronavirus cases aboard Navy ships, aircraft and submarines was now classified at the confidential level. A Navy spokesman would not confirm that specific classification directive, but said that sick crew members were allowed to tell their families if they had contracted the virus. Two Navy officials who were not authorized to speak to The Times raised concerns about how the Ronald Reagans commanders would handle the exceptional levels of stress being put on the nearly 5,000-person crew by confining everyone to the ship for up to eight months. A Navy spokesman said that the ship would depart with three chaplains, a clinical psychologist and a counselor, but that it still did not have an assistant for the clinical psychologist on board. The spokesman did not elaborate on specific measures that the ships commanders planned to take to keep up morale, but Adm. Michael M. Gilday, the services top officer, gave a statement to The Times addressing the issue. Our sailors and their families are resilient, he said. I know they will set an example for their friends, their neighbors and in their local communities on how to make personal sacrifices in the service of the collective good. The Navy officials also raised concerns that the indefinite extension of the two-week sequester period already in effect for all aircrew members would further harm the aircrews ability to safely fly planes and helicopters, especially after some of the crews predeployment training on Guam was cut short last month. The aircrews typically need to fly at least once every two weeks to stay current in their qualifications, but they require even more flight time in the critical run-up to deployment, when they practice landing on an aircraft carrier at sea. Staying Connected, Staying TR Strong Navy News Service Story Number: NNS200421-04 Release Date: 4/21/2020 10:55:00 AM By Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Kaylianna Genier, APRA HARBOR, Guam (NNS) -- If you were told you would be spending two weeks in Guam, images of the beach might come to mind. You'd probably picture yourself relaxing in the sand, soaking up the sun, and then eventually, heading back to your cozy beach-front hotel room to rest and recharge for another day of the same. However, when Sailors stationed on board the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) found out they'd be arriving in Guam, a previously scheduled port call, they knew it wasn't the visit they'd anticipated. Days before the port call, Theodore Roosevelt's commanding officer announced to the crew that Sailors aboard the ship had tested positive for COVID-19. As Sailors departed the ship for either isolation or quarantine, they were moved to various locations on Naval Base Guam and select hotels on the island. Theodore Roosevelt Sailors were evaluated medically and those not assigned to stand vital watches were systematically sent off first. For the Sailors still aboard, leadership still had the ability to communicate through normal channels. The requirement to socially distance made 1MC announcements, electronic flyers, distanced face-to-face interactions the main source of daily communication. The flow of information on ship between departmental leading chief petty officers and their Sailors remained relatively unabated. But for Sailors ashore, new techniques were employed to maintain communication with the majority of the 5,000 Sailors dispersed in many hotels and military lodging across Guam. Theodore Roosevelt's crew, also known as the Rough Riders, needed an innovative plan to share information, stay connected emotionally and socially, and most importantly to remain a team. "It was an idea that came up rather quickly," said Capt. Dan Keeler, executive officer of the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71). "We have Sailors on base, in hotels, and on the ship. During my conversations with our public affairs team onboard, we thought of ways to solve both the communication and potential community problems. We needed a surrogate communication environment which was safe, informative, supportive and effective at establishing two way communication in both a military hierarchical structure but also a flat collaborative we-are-all-in-this-together manner. For us the first step was a closed Facebook page." USS Theodore Roosevelt Commanding Officer Capt. Carlos Sardiello and Keeler created the "TR Alone Together" Facebook page in April as a way to keep the Rough Riders off the ship informed and connected virtually while quarantined alone in individual rooms across the island. "In order to keep people on and off the ship up-to-date and on the same page with the latest happenings and for the command to receive real time feedback from all our Sailors," Sardiello said. "We needed a creative way of communicating with everyone. It is also just lonely in a hotel room by yourself. I wanted our Sailors to feel connected to their fellow shipmates during their quarantine. Being a late arrival to this mission, I took inspiration from my kids sequestered at home connecting with their friends and school classrooms leveraging similar online collaborative technologies. Sardiello added, "The unprecedented complexity and scope of communication barriers that have become a harsh reality in this crisis demand innovative solutions. Effective communication is key to any operation or a team's professional and social cohesion, and 'TR Alone Together' gave us an immediate avenue to maintain the connection not only with our most vital asset, our Sailors, but also expand the scope of the USS Theodore Roosevelt community to selected role models, senior leaders including many of the ship's former commanding officers and command master chiefs. With all that information exchange and feedback on our communication, we have now layered in supportive comments from our friends and family. All of these voices in a collaborative virtual portal reinforce positive connections across our team no matter where they were laying their head." Although Theodore Roosevelt has actively used Facebook as a way of creating a sense of community within the ship, it's never used Facebook as an official way to relay information with its crew before. "TR Alone Together" allowed the ship to combine official unclassified communication with fun crew engagement. "The initial goal was to make sure everyone has the most current and relevant information," Keeler said. "As a parallel benefit, all our Sailors feel connected to their friends that are going through the same experience. Although they are alone in a room, they are together virtually. 'TR Alone Together' gives them a renewed sense of community and engagement." The Facebook page allows them to interact with their fellow shipmates who, like them, are experiencing the same process and who can relate to each other's stories. "Seeing other people's experiences has helped pass the time," said Aviation Ordnanceman 1st Class Vincent Crow, a Theodore Roosevelt Sailor who is currently off the ship in quarantine. "I feel like it's a good way to connect and share common experiences with people you wouldn't normally make contact with on the ship." The Facebook page has been used in a variety of ways; from sharing dad jokes to statements from the ship's commanding officer. Sailors have been very active and have taken full advantage of this new page and all it has to offer. "I'm really impressed by everyone's continued contributions to the page," Keeler said. "Our Sailors have been really positive, respectful, and demonstrate on a daily basis what it is to be 'TR Strong'." Theodore Roosevelt's leadership has been especially active on the page. On April 14, the ship's Command Master Chief, Michael Mashburn posted a light-hearted and respectable spoof of MTV's show "MTV Cribs", from the room in which he is currently quarantined. "It's nice seeing posts from senior leaders ensuring our wellbeing, motivating us and even posting things to make us smile," said Chief Boatswain Mate Nicholas Broders, leading chief petty officer of Theodore Roosevelt's deck department. "Hopefully it helps others in the same way it helps me." The Commanding Officer also commented, "The carrier is a floating city and when we can speed communication and solutions to its citizens it is a significant win." Keeler hopes this new connection between Theodore Roosevelt Sailors and their leadership continues to boost morale and looks forward to the future of "TR Alone Together." "I hope we can continue this page long past the current pandemic we're dealing with," Keeler said. "It's another way to share information outside of ship-based means, and I along with Sailors actively engaged within our community, can see its continued importance for the long term." Although it has not been easy, Theodore Roosevelt Sailors found a way to stay connected despite the physical distance between them. They've used "TR Alone Together" to take comfort in knowing they're not alone, they are always a team and as such, can persevere through any challenging times. "These times are unprecedented but our Sailors are up to the task. Sailors are tough and resilient problem solvers. Disperse the crew, ok not ideal, let's find ways reach out to everyone and ensure they feel that continued sense of belonging to our team, remain informed on the way ahead and return the vital feedback we need to succeed. The Rough Rider team has added virtual connectedness to our repertoire in our fight against the global pandemic," said Sardiello. "We shall get through this alone together because we are TR Strong." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Last week, a 96-year-old Texas woman died of coronavirus. One hundred two years ago, her sister died from the Spanish flu. On Tuesday, Selma Esther Ryan died from COVID-19 in a nursing home in Austin, Texas. On April 11, she celebrated her 96th birthday. Her sister Esther died in 1918 at the age of five due to the Spanish flu pandemic. They never met each other in this lifetime. Selma Esther Ryan Tested Positive to COVID-19 Vicki, Ryan's daughter, told Austin's KXAN-TV that she got a call from the assisted living facility on April 3, She was told that her mother is among the five residents that were having a fever. She said that she watched her mother through the window over the next five days, as she got weaker each day. She felt so bad not to be able to be with her during the tough times. Every one of their family members gathered outside her window, and they knew that something terrible happened. According to the Travis County Medical Examiner's Office, Vicki's mother had tested positive with the coronavirus before she died, as reported by the TV station. Selma Esther Ryan was born on April 11, 1924, five years after her sister died from the Spanish flu pandemic. She married Robert M. Ryan Jr., an Air Force fighter pilot, on September 23, 1945. Her husband piloted F-86 Sabre jets during the Korean War. They had two children, Mike Ryan and Vicki Spencer. The Spanish Flu Pandemic in 1918 According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Spanish flu has infected approximately 500 million people or one-third of the world's population. Worldwide, at least 50 million people died from the virus, and it is estimated that there were 675,000 fatalities from the US. The Spanish flu was caused by an H1N1 virus from the avian origin and had spread from 1918 to 1919. It was first identified in spring 1918 in military personnel. Mortality was high because vaccines against influenza viruses were not yet invented, and there were no antibiotics to treat secondary bacterial infections. Apart from that, they did not have preventive measures, unlike how the people are advised today. The coronavirus, described as the worst pandemic since the Spanish flu, has infected more than 2.4 million people and globally, has killed at least 165,200 people. John Hopkins reports that one-fourth of all coronavirus infections were seen by the US, and at least 40,600 died from the virus. While the immunosuppressed people have more risk of contracting the coronavirus, the Spanish flu attacked young people aged five and below. It also infected middle-aged people from ages 20 to 40, according to CDC. The streets are empty, theatres look more like a horror set in a movie, and film shootings have been stalled. To help capture this national mood, MensXP came up with the quarantine edition of our digital cover featuring director Kabir Khan. His next movie, the Ranveer Singh-starrer, 83 was due to release in the month of April, but it has been pushed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing countrywide lockdown. In a candid chat for the cover story, he opened up on a number of things: from the dying age of movie theatres to Bollywood not speaking up enough on social issues. On the latter, Kabir said, I never agree when theres a generalised statement about Bollywood. He added, Bollywood is not a club; its not a place where we all meet, and belong to the same ideology. Its made of thousands of people with different ideologies and viewpoints and ways of living life. So, there are certain people in the industry who will never speak up; they remain quiet on every issue. But there are also people who speak up and, as and when they will it will make a difference, he added. However, he did agree with the fact that Bollywood celebs are not as bold as American celebs when it comes to voicing their opinions. We dont look at, say, doctors or lawyers as one industry and expect them to speak up on things. But its also not a fair example. I do understand why people keep bringing up this [question]. It is a very high-profile industry. We are in the public eye and people expect us to be more voluble on certain issues than other professions. But I do accept that maybe we dont speak up as much as the American industry, where we see bolder voices, added the Forgotten Army director. MensXP Many film and TV crew members are out of work but not many Bollywood celebs have spoken about these issues. On this Kabir said, There are certain initiatives that have started from within the industry, to make sure that they are helped. Im very happy that people have stood up. A lot of us are looking after members of our own film units. There are also associations that are taking care of the daily wage workers of the industry. Its worth highlighting that this conversation isnt popping up for the first time. Some Bollywood celebs have had a notorious record of staying mum when asked about their opinions on social issues. Kabir, however, has been among the more outspoken ones. Even earlier this year, he invited a lot of chatter after his comments about the anti-CAA-NRC protests. After all, he does come from a distinguished and politically aware background, being the grandnephew of Indias former President Dr Zakir Hussain and also the son of one of the founding professors of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). MensXP His lead actress from 83, Deepika Padukone is also recognised among the more vocal voices in the industry. She was in the eye of a very distinct storm stirred up by her appearance at the JNU in solidarity with a group of students allegedly attacked by a rival group. On the other hand, Kabirs most frequent lead actor Salman Khan is often found distancing himself from such conversations. He does however contribute via charity initiatives etc, but the jury is still out on his statements. Wed love to know if you agree with the fact Bollywood does keep quiet on a lot of issues. Let us know your thoughts in the comments section San Antonios Homeless Connections Hotline has received more than 180 calls since it opened this month, with many of them seeking help with shelter and food during the coronavirus pandemic. While the hotline is helping the citys Department of Human Services build rapport with people experiencing homelessness and providing a better understanding of their immediate needs, one problem remains the same a lack of resources. Unfortunately, available resources have been affected during the pandemic, which has limited quick problem-solving, said Roland Martinez, a department spokesman. The virus and its economic disruption have pushed homeless shelters to capacity. Smaller homeless service providers also have suspended or slowed operations due to a shortage of supplies and volunteers or because they found it too difficult to practice social distancing amid higher numbers of clients. On ExpressNews.com: Get the latest update on coronavirus and a tracking map of U.S. cases The sudden closures left many unsure where to go for help. The city launched the hotline on April 9, a collaboration among the Department of Human Services, South Alamo Regional Alliance for the Homeless (SARAH) and other service providers. Callers discuss their current situation, receive counseling, learn about available resources and services and if available get connected to them. Sometimes (calls) can be as simple as talking through their issue, said Patrick Steck, the city departments interim assistant director. Currently the hotline is staffed by 18 people from the city, SARAH, Youth Thrive Program and SAMMinistries. Call takers are trained to support callers by actively listening, providing support and empathy, which is crucial with vulnerable clients, especially with the added uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Martinez said. When an individual calls, staff listen, establish rapport, validate the individuals feeling, then problem-solve, provide resources and help them take steps toward stability. But the main thing people are calling about is a place to stay. Steck said most are living week to week in a hotel, their car, or with family or friends and being kicked out. The folks that have been living on the street, well before the pandemic, are not the ones seeking shelter, Steck said. Shelters remain closed to new clients, with some exceptions, such as families with children. The phone number for the Homeless Connections Hotline is 210-207-1799. People can also email HomelessOutreach @sanantonio.gov. The city has set aside funds to create an overflow shelter, which officials say will house 200 newly homeless or unsheltered people. Officials are still evaluating several options for the facility. Steck said the reason for the delay is so to assess the need and research all their options using a vacant facility, hotel vouchers and rental assistance but some sort of shelter solution is expected within the next few weeks. This situation, the cause and how it has affected everything, throws different wrinkles for us to work through, he said. We want to make sure we get it right. When the city and county ordered people to stay home, ongoing visits by outreach workers to homeless encampments and individuals on the street decreased. The hotline has allowed it to continue from a safe distance, Steck said. Homeless individuals who call are added to a list, so that outreach workers can continue to check on them and reach out when services are available, Steck said. These people were already in a vulnerable spot, Steck said. And, with everything going on, they are being affected the most right now. sara.cline@express-news.net Operations and Corporate Update - 64North Project Alaska Adelaide, April 22, 2020 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Resolution Minerals Ltd ( ASX:RML ) provide the operations and corporate update for the 64North Project in Alaska.- Resolution expects to resume drilling operations in the second half of May, following Spring thaw.- First assay results from the maiden drill program at the Aurora Prospect are expected next week; laboratories have not been impacted by COVID-19 and the timeline remains on track per previous announcements.- Assays plan to be released in two batches:o Hole: surface to 323m next week; ando Hole: 323m-462m (TD) and Hole 2 surface to 194m (incomplete) ~2 weeks later.- Updated Aurora drill targets will be the focus for the resumption of drilling, with number of holes and locations to be announced after consideration of drilling results.- Appropriate safety precautions are in place to minimise impacts from COVID-19 on planned drilling.- Resolution is fully funded for the next drill program.Spring thaw: Spring thaw has commenced at the 64North Project site and Resolution Minerals (RML or Company) plans to resume drilling in the second half of May after the drill access road dries up to the Aurora Prospect. As the drill access road is new, it has exposed frozen ground which makes the first thaw after new road construction very muddy and impassable for a few weeks (weather dependant). This road will then provide access all year round and avoids helicopter supported drilling and to help maximise the use of exploration funds on the Aurora Prospect, 64North Project.Corporate Update - change of addressThe Company also advises of a change to its corporate office. In accordance with Listing Rule 3.14, the Company's office details have changed as of 22 April 2020. The Company's new contact details are listed below:Registered office and principal administrative officeLevel 4, 29-31 King William Street, Adelaide SA 5000 AustraliaManaging Director Duncan Chessell commented:"We are very pleased that we have achieved the aim of our maiden drilling program, which was to successfully identify a Pogo-style mineral system on our side of the fence, pending assay results for final confirmation."As well as assays next week, we also look forward to the next drill program when we can hit our highest priority holes, for logistics reasons associated with COVID-19 we did not get a chance in March to drill test these holes at the Aurora Prospect."To view tables and figures, please visit:About Resolution Minerals Ltd Resolution Minerals Ltd (ASX:RML) is a mining company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of precious and battery metals - such as gold, copper, cobalt, and vanadium. The company is led by Managing Director Duncan Chessell and an experienced team with proven success in corporate finance, marketing, metallurgy and geoscience. This equips Resolution Minerals with the tools to meet the changing demands of the mining markets. Resolution Minerals Ltd Listed on the ASX in 2017 with a focus on the exploration of the Wollogorang Copper Cobalt Project. It has since aquired the Snettisham Vanadium Project and more entered into a binding agreement witth Millrock Resources to earn up to 80% of the highly prospective 64North Gold Project. Gretchen Whitmer tried to pull a fast one on voters by using taxpayers' money to hire a hard-left political consulting firm to operate a public health project that would generate valuable political data. Unfortunately for her, she got caught, and when the operation was exposed to sunlight, she hastily canceled the contract. Collin Anderson and Brent Scher explain in the Free Beacon: Democratic governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan announced late Tuesday that the state was rescinding a contract to track the spread of the coronavirus that she had awarded to a Democratic consulting firm, according to Crain's Detroit. The organization, Great Lakes Community Engagement, is run by Democratic political consultant Mike Kolehouse, who planned to use a software vendor affiliated with a Democratic data firm that is working for the governor's reelection campaign. Whitmer's decision to hire Democratic political operatives to run a public health project sparked immediate backlash, the Washington Free Beacon reported just hours before Whitmer's office said she had terminated the contract. Kolehouse is the owner of K2K Consulting, an umbrella organization tied to both Great Lakes Community Engagement and Kolehouse Strategies. Both have done extensive field work for Democratic causes. Kolehouse in turn retained as a partner in the contract-tracing operation an arm of the Democratic consulting firm NGP VAN, which is currently working with Whitmer's reelection campaign. NGP VAN said it had not been contracted by the state but declined further comment. Unfortunately, although the contract was announced only on Monday, the political operatives have been collecting data since April 1, almost three weeks. Their database contains priceless information on individuals, families, and everyone they are in contact with. Shades of Mark Zuckerberg! Tucker Carlson last night laid out Whitmer's shameful performance in office, exploiting the crisis to grab power, help her supporters and hurt her enemies, and enrich her allies. Photo credit: YouTube screen grab. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Facebook Inc to be buying 9.99 percent stake in Jio Platforms is a win-win game for Reliance Industries, especially at a time when the global economy is facing a hard time due to lockdown forced by novel coronavirus or COVID-19, experts feel. Reliance Industries, Jio Platforms and Facebook Inc on April 22 announced the signing of binding agreements for an investment of Rs 43,574 crore by Facebook into Jio Platforms. "This investment by Facebook values Jio Platforms at Rs 4.62 lakh crore pre-money enterprise value ($65.95 billion, assuming a conversion rate of Rs 70 to a US Dollar). Facebooks investment will translate into a 9.99 percent equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis," said Reliance Industries in its BSE filing. Sanjiv Bhasin of IIFL, who is extremely bullish on digitalisation, said Rs 1,800 is the fair value for Reliance Industries given the Facebook deal and robust Reliance Jio business model. "I am extremely positive on Reliance Industries. In such kind of crisis, the deal shows that money never be a problem. I think it is the biggest deal in technology business. Corporates know the value of digital media business in current COVID-19 led crisis and India is the big place for such business," he told Moneycontrol. There would definitely be rerating of the stock, though Saudi Aramco deal may get delayed due to current sharp fall in oil prices, he said. Reliance Industries share price jumped 11 percent intraday after the deal announcement. "The rally in share price of Reliance is clearly indicating that markets have given a thumbs up to this business decision, as it paves the eventual listing of Jio which is in the process to transform itself into a digital services company," Aamar Deo Singh said. On the other hand, Facebook would also gain as it gives it access to huge digital business opportunities in India, he added. Facebook deal is part of a plan to deleverage balance sheet by Reliance Industries, experts feel. CMD, Mukesh Ambani in the last AGM said Reliance had a very clear roadmap to becoming a zero net debt company within the next 18 months. Opportune Time for Deal Experts feel the deal has come at an opportune time when the people or corporates really feel the need for digitalisation as the economy is stalled due to COVID-19. "With the current global scenario, it opens up huge business opportunities for both of the giants. It couldn't have come at a more opportune time. And with India slated to have 900 million internet users in a few years, as per a CISCO report, limitless potential opens up," Aamar Deo Singh said. Sanjiv Bhasin also feels considering the current telecom and digital environment, data is the biggest essential commodity for people. As a result, the average revenue per user will increase for Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel and both will increase tariffs going ahead, he said. "Jio is firing on all guns. If we see the Netflix data which said viewers increased to 15 million against their expectations of 8 million, the data is going to be a key factor for telecom companies and digitalisation is a big game," he added. Shailendra Kumar, CIO at Narnolia Financial Services also feels as the economy is in jolt, Jio is doing good and there is no dent in telecom business, it is a growing business. RIL brought telecom business in a big way as it captured 34-35 percent market share in few years and has been trying to reach the market share to 44 percent by FY22, he said. Shailendra feels RIL will increase market share to 40 percent by FY22, followed by Bharti Airtel with 32 percent share, BSNL 10 percent and rest with Vodafone Idea. "It has some room to gain market share. RIL and Bharti Airtel will see their average revenue per user rising." Sumit Bilgaiyan, Founder of Equity99 also said by this partnership company can drive improved market share gain for Jio compared to peers. "This opportunity is to monetize customers through non-telco revenue stream. There should be strong synergy benefits for RIL's Jio business and Facebook. Deal will allay investor worries on Reliance large debt," he added. Saudi Aramco Deal Shailendra Kumar believes Saudi Aramco would change the valuation of RIL if it is done in coming quarters. Aramco deal in oil & gas is still yet to come in which Petrochemicals and refining business is taking major role. "The Aramco deal is supposed to be near to Rs 1.1 lakh crore for around 25 percent stake. If this happens then it would be as per the statement given by Mukesh Ambani and management in last AGM about making the company debt free," Sumit Bilgaiyan said. RIL at this position is top in many sectors like Telecom, Media, Retail, so the market cap is likely to go 2-3 times from now in coming 18-24 months, he added. Narnolia has not changed the target of Rs 1,470 in terms of earnings as the deal will not make material difference to numbers on the immediate part but will help in the longer run. Reliance Industries said Reliance Jio Infocomm, which provides connectivity platform to over 388 million subscribers, would continue to be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jio Platforms. Catch our entire coverage on the Facebook-Jio Deal here. Disclaimer: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd. The views and investment tips expressed by investment expert on Moneycontrol.com are his own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Aerial photo taken on April 19, 2020 shows a reservoir for reclaimed water in Altay, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Ding Lei) URUMQI, April 21 (Xinhua) -- As the weather gets warmer in the city of Altay in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, forest ranger Song Shaojian leads his workmates into the woods to clean up ditches blocked by fallen leaves and weeds, preparing for the upcoming spring irrigation. Located on the outskirts of Altay, the forest was a desert eight years ago. "Grass was scarce, let alone trees, because there was no water," said Song, who lives in a town about 5 km away from the forest. To combat water shortage for desert afforestation, Altay, with a population of 100,000, turned its eyes to urban domestic sewage. In 2012, the local government built a reservoir with a storage capacity of 5.19 million cubic meters of reclaimed water, which is processed from urban wastewater. After an efficient sewage treatment process, reclaimed water that meets the irrigation standard will flow into the reservoir through pipes before helping irrigate trees and restore the ecology. "We store reclaimed water in winter for irrigation in spring and summer. We reuse urban wastewater for desert greening in a sustainable way," said Liu Zhiqiang, head of Altay's environmental management demonstration park for reclaimed water reuse. Thanks to the reclaimed water irrigation project, over 330 hectares of poplars were planted in the area between 2012 and 2015. Song also embarked on his desert greening career there. To help trees grow better, forest rangers like Song need to go into the forest every day to clear ditches and open pipes for irrigation. At the same time, they also need to observe the growth of trees so that they can be treated early in case of pests and diseases. The ecology in the desert sees a noticeable change. "It was scorching in the summer. With trees gradually growing up, we now feel that the wind is weaker and it is not that hot during the daytime," said Song. In 2016, the local government built a tree seedling cultivation base to go full steam ahead with its desert greening projects. So far, over 860 hectares of trees have been planted in the desert. "Now the most pleasant thing every day is to take a walk on the edge of the forest, enjoy the fresh air and appreciate the trees that I planted," Song said. Enditem KOLKATA: Two central teams who were sent to West Bengal for conducting an on-the-spot assessment of the measures which have been implemented by the state government to fight the coronavirus, got a rude shock after their request for a few representatives to be sent alongside was declined. The team left the BSF headquarters around 10 am but had to return shortly after travelling only a kilometre, and sat idle at a guest house of BSF's South Bengal frontier headquarters in South Kolkata according to a report in the New Indian Express. The five-member team was led by additional secretary, Department of Defence, Apurva Chandra with a meeting scheduled to meet Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiv Sinha around 11 am on Tuesday. Yes, they were scheduled to meet me at my office. But I got to go for an emergency meeting and so could not give them time, said Sinha as quoted by the New Indian Express. The meeting eventually took place around 2.20 pm, with sources stating that the state government eventually agreed to cooperate and allow the team to visit a few places in Kolkata, after a letter from the Ministry of Home Affairs requesting their assistance. The central team visited some pockets in South Kolkata around 4.10 pm, with Debashmita Roy, deputy commissioner of police, south-east division reportedly informing the team of the city police's inability to escort them. US President Donald Trump has spoken with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and the two leaders agreed to work together on a coordinated response to defeat the coronavirus and minimize its economic impact, the White House said Wednesday. This was the first call between the two leaders during the coronavirus pandemic. Trump and Khan had a bilateral meeting in Davos in January on the sidelines of the Davos Economic Summit. "The leaders discussed developments in the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and agreed to continue working together on a coordinated response to defeat the virus and minimize its economic impact, the White House said in a readout of the call. "The two leaders also discussed regional security and other bilateral issues, it said. In Pakistan, the virus has killed 209 people and infected 10,072 others. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) SEOUL, South Korea, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Dr. Kim, the Academic Vice President of aSSIST Business School, in his article (link below), South Koreans have adopted the word "non-face-to-face" to describe the digital lifestyle, and this word is sweeping society as the invisible virus spreads and disables many daily activities throughout the country. In banks, there are non-face-to-face account authentications, companies are using digital marketing strategies, while schools have transitioned to online lectures; there are even non-face-to-face shareholders meetings inside corporations. When this word is deciphered, "non-face-to-face" can be replaced with "digital-face-to-face". What's truly happening in today's world is carrying on usual activities in cooperative ways under masks while still facing each other. Most colleges across South Korea are now conducting non-face-to-face lectures, but in fact, inside schools, digital face-to-face lectures are being held through software such as Zoom. In offline classrooms, students could not see other students' faces and expressions because students would usually sit in rows facing a single direction - the front screen or the blackboard - while paying attention only to the professor. When students meet in online classrooms, students can see the expressions of not only the professors but also all of the students in a single screen. Professors can improve the quality of education by looking at real-time facial expressions and reactions of all students with a single glance. In offline classrooms, students who sit in the far back have poor sight of the professor and the whiteboard, and the opposite is even worse, where the professor is barely able to see the students or have good communication. In a digital class, everyone can communicate at the same level. In technical courses, such as coding, professors and teaching assistants would have to walk up to where the student is to help, and this would take a long time with larger classes and cause inconvenience in operating the course overall. In a digital coding class, with the appropriate software, the student's screen can be corrected directly through the remote-control system, where all students also see how the software program is being solved and run. Digital face-to-face doesn't simply stop at talking among participants in real-time. In the virtual digital space, it goes beyond time and space. Students can connect to the Learning Management System (LMS) to continue with questions and discussions to review. The quality of education can be downgraded if offline classes are switched to online systems without good management, but there are ways to create further synergy and advantages offline courses could not offer. By effectively utilizing the characteristics of the digital environment, education can be greatly improved and shared. Most of all, the educators need to be more elaborate craftsmen and designers with the learning tools that are available in the digital space. In a digital education environment, educators should not stop at relying on their oral delivery but select and provide the best and most suitable materials among the pool of academic research, video, animations, and learning platforms that are ready-made for access. Rather than just handing out the selected materials, learning outcomes will become much more effective if the educators plan the details of learning material delivery sequence, timing, and process by considering the students' cognitive processes and learning mechanisms. In the digital face-to-face era, countries must make bold investments in digital education to avoid generational and regional disparities in digital knowledge. Older people who are not familiar with computers or mobile apps feel life-threatened beyond discomfort, and the disparities in purchasing masks revealed this reality. Just as the curriculum in elementary and middle schools is compulsory education, digital survival methods must be educated to protect our seniors, the elderly, and the vulnerable. The general election of South Korea occurred in very unusually quiet campaign activities on April 15. This is mostly because offline face-to-face campaigns were not seen as appropriate and effective due to COVID-19. What should be learned from the pandemic is that the victors should not spend time in the city's wedding halls or funeral houses as before but spend time in solving the current problems with higher productivity by facing and analyzing the big data accumulated in the district community with data scientists, analysts, and developers. There needs to be a new paradigm shift toward discerning and strengthening digital competency. The world has changed. We now need digital experts who can proactively address the new world of digital face-to-face, the new normal in the post-COVID19 era to direct the society beyond emergency responses and finding new opportunities, particularly in the education sector. Modified from the original article in Korean by Moon Soo Alan Kim, Ph.D., Academic Vice President, aSSIST Business School Related Links aSSIST Business School [Kim Moon Soo] It's not "Non-Face-to-Face" but "Digital Face-to-Face" SOURCE aSSIST Business School San Francisco, April 22 : Snap, the parent company of popular social media platform Snapchat, saw its stock up nearly 20 per cent after its first quarter revenue increased 44 per cent (year-over-year) to $462 million, along with Snapchat's daily active user base reaching 229 million, which is up 20 per cent from last year. DAUs increased sequentially and year-over-year in each of North America, Europe, and rest of the world on both iOS and Android platforms. On average, more than 4 billion Snaps were created each day in Q1 2020. "We are grateful for the opportunity to serve our community and partners during this difficult time," Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel said in a statement. "Snapchat is helping people stay close to their friends and family while they are separated physically, and I am proud of our team for overcoming the many challenges of working from home during this time while we continue to grow our business and support those who are impacted by COVID-19,' he added. Total daily time spent by Snapchatters watching Discover content increased by over 35 per cent year-over-year in Q1 2020. "Total daily time spent by Snapchatters watching Shows more than doubled compared to Q1 2019. In Q1 2020, over 60 Shows reached a monthly audience of over 10 million viewers, up from 50 Shows in Q4 2019," the company informed. The company said it will continue to invest in its camera and augmented reality platforms. "Over 75 per cent of our daily active users engage with augmented reality every day on average. At the end of Q1 2020, over 900,000 Lenses had been created by our community through Lens Studio, up from over 700,000 at the end of Q4 2019," informed Snap. As people turn to videoconferencing and livestreaming to connect with friends and family, Snap have seen more than a 30 times increase in the daily downloads of Snap Camera, a desktop app which allows people to add our entire suite of Lenses to whichever video service they use. Snap also launched App Stories, which brings its popular Stories feature to apps created by third-party software developers. It launched five new games globally, the most in any quarter since launch. "Communication with friends increased by over 30 per cent in the last week of March compared to the last week of January, with more than a 50 per cent increase in some of the geographies that were most impacted," with COVID-19 pandemic. The company said that given the uncertainties related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the rapidly shifting macro conditions, it will not provide expectations for revenue for the second quarter of 2020. Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 21 April 2020 The Annual General Meeting of Koninklijke Vopak N.V. (Royal Vopak) held on 21 April 2020 passed the following resolutions: Approval implementation remuneration policy for the 2019 financial year. Adoption of the financial statements for the 2019 financial year. Approval of the proposed dividend. A dividend of EUR 1.15 per ordinary share with a nominal value of EUR 0.50 will be distributed wholly in cash on 29 April 2020. As from 23 April 2020, the shares of Vopak will be listed ex-dividend on Euronext Amsterdam. Discharge from liability of the Executive Board members conduct of the companys affairs for the 2019 financial year. Discharge from liability of the Supervisory Board members supervision exercised for the 2019 financial year. Appointment of Mr. B.J. Noteboom (Ben) as a member of the Supervisory Board for a term of 4 years until the AGM in 2024. Approval of the Remuneration policy for the Supervisory Board. Approval of the Remuneration policy for the Executive Board including the proposed amendments to the KPI Cost measurement from Meet/Not Meet to a sliding scale with a minimum target level and an increase of the LTIP opportunity. Authorization of the Executive Board for a period of 18 months, up till and including 20 October 2021, to acquire, subject to the approval of the Supervisory Board, for valuable consideration, fully paid-up ordinary shares in Royal Vopak, on the stock exchange or otherwise, up to the maximum number that may be held by the company in accordance with the law and the Articles of Association in force at the date of acquisition. Approval to cancel the ordinary shares acquired by the company. Appointment of Deloitte Accountants B.V. as the external auditor of Royal Vopak and their engagement to examine the companys financial statements for the 2021 financial year. Profile Vopak Royal Vopak is the worlds leading independent tank storage company. We store vital products with care. With over 400 years of history and a focus on sustainability, we ensure safe, clean and efficient storage and handling of bulk liquid products and gases for our customers. By doing so, we enable the delivery of products that are vital to our economy and daily lives, ranging from chemicals, oils, gases and LNG to biofuels and vegoils. We are determined to develop key infrastructure solutions for the worlds changing energy systems, while simultaneously investing in digitalization and innovation. Vopak is listed on the Euronext Amsterdam and is headquartered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. For more information, please visit www.vopak.com Story continues This press release contains inside information as meant in clause 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation. For further information please contact: Vopak Press Liesbeth Lans, Manager External Communication, Telephone : +31 (0)10 4002777, e-mail: global.communication@vopak.com Vopak analysts and investors Laurens de Graaf, Head of Investor Relations Telephone : +31 (0)10 4002776, e-mail: investor.relations@vopak.com Attachment The Rocky Mountain ADA Center (RMADAC), a member of the National Network of ADA Centers, is pleased to announce it has launched the first customized virtual training on all elements of the ADA for those living the Rocky Mountain region, RMADACs area of coverage. For those interested in hiring RMADAC to create a customized training on any part of the Americans with Disabilities Act, please contact the organization by filling out its training request form. RMADAC is offering 50% off its facilitation fee for all customized virtual trainings. 100% of all revenue paid to RMADAC for its customized virtual training will go back into program development. We created this new format of training to provide those living in the Rocky Mountain region with a simple way to create and coordinate trainings remotely during a time when a great deal of activity across the nation is on hiatus, said Emily Shuman, Deputy Director of the Rocky Mountain ADA Center. We are excited to launch our program this week with a large advocacy group in Denver. Our team has the capability to customize training under every title and nuance within the ADA and we are busy scheduling new virtual trainings each day. Virtual trainings will be conducted within Zoom or any alternative format customers request. RMADAC can quickly customize a training within any part of the ADA and is currently finalizing virtual group trainings for: 1. Service Animals Guidelines 2. How to Request Work Accommodations under the ADA 3. Disability Etiquette 4. Title I Employment 5. Title II State and Local Governments 6. Title III Public Accommodations 7. Title IV Telecommunications 8. Title V Miscellaneous Provisions 9. More For those with questions about virtual training, please contact Jenny DeVries, RMADACs training facilitator by email: JDeVries@mtc-inc.com In addition to offering customized virtual training options, the RMADAC also provides free online classes covering many elements of the ADA. With many people working remotely, both categories of training options could be of interest to leadership as they are conducted remotely and we offer easy access for employees to work on their professional development, added Shuman. About the Rocky Mountain ADA Center: The Rocky Mountain ADA Center provides information on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to individuals and organizations throughout Colorado, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The Rocky Mountain ADA Center is a member of the National Network of ADA Centers and is funded by National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR grant number 90DP0094-01-00). Our center is powered by and is a project of Meeting the Challenge, Inc., a CP&Y company located in Colorado Springs, CO. The centers staff members represent a diverse and dynamic group of individuals who are dedicated to the driving spirit of the ADA as well as the complex standards behind the law. To connect with the Rocky Mountain ADA Center on social media, click here. The Rocky Mountain ADA Center is available to assist with any of the following areas: Material Dissemination, Technical Assistance on the ADA, Training, Referrals and Research. If the Rockies are to come anywhere near meeting the expectations of ownership, theyre going to need a lot of things to break right in the near term. More than anything, the club requires a few high-quality supplemental players to emerge (or, in the case of some expensive veterans, re-emerge) to supplement an enviable set of stars. We reflexively think about concerns with pitching when it comes to the Colorado organization, but the teams bats have been an even greater problem in recent years. The recent Rox outfield has consisted of Charlie Blackmon and a revolving cast of mostly replacement-level bandmates. As Blackmon ages gracefully hes a continuing threat at the plate but has faded badly in the field and on the bases theres a glaring need for new talent. Actually, hold that: there has been some talent. The club paid big for Ian Desmond. It gave more chances to Carlos Gonzalez and even got one final ride with Matt Holliday. Some well-regarded prospects such as Garrett Hampson and Raimel Tapia have filtered up. And of course weve seen what David Dahl can do when healthy. What this team needs is honest-to-goodness, consistent, real-live production from someone other than Blackmon. The Rockies have allocated all their available payroll. They let Mike Tauchman go to the Yankees (not that it wasnt plenty understandable at the time). Theyre badly in need of an emergence from within. Thats just what the team got late in 2019 from unheralded newcomer Sam Hilliard. His emergence largely flew under the radar as the Rockies limped to the end of a brutally disappointing campaign. While its always worth caution when it comes to a 27-game sample, Hilliard was a legitimately exciting performer down the stretch. Could the Rockies have something here? Hilliard was known as a two-way player for most of his amateur career. He emerged as an interesting position-player target in advance of the 2015 draft, but the Rockies were able to wait until the 15th round to nab him. Hilliard is big, strong, and swift. The results have been mixed since Hilliard hit the pro ranks. He put up strong homer and steal tallies on his way up the farm system, but always did a fair bit of swinging and missing. Hilliard hit a bit of a wall in 2018 at Double-A. And though his Triple-A output in the ensuing season looked big on paper 35 long balls, 22 steals, .262/.335/.558 slash it translated to a fairly modest 107 wRC+ since it occurred in an exceedingly offensive-friendly environment. When he took to the majors late in the year, there wasnt much cause for over-excitement. But the 26-year-old delivered well beyond expectations, sending seven balls over the fence in 87 plate appearances while turning in a .273/.356/.649 output. That, too, took place in an explosive setting for bats, but it worked out to a healthy 138 wRC+ output at the dish. Heres the thing about Hilliard: prospect watchers still have tempered expectations, despite the big debut. But there are some reasons to believe he could keep producing at an above-average rate in the majors, all while providing value in the field and on the bases. It seems promising that Hilliard actually reduced his upper-minors strikeout rate upon reaching the majors (to a palatable 26.4%) while walking in over ten percent of his MLB plate appearances (above league average). The most recent Fangraphs assessment of Hilliards outlook notes that his ability to identify pitches he can drive is impressive in context, but well-executed pitches can get him out. Indeed, he took Noah Syndergaard deep twice in one game then launched against high-grade lefties Hyun-Jin Ryu and Josh Hader. Perhaps Hilliards demonstrated capacity can be expanded more consistently. Given his former focus on pitching, its said hes still maturing as a hitter. The Rockies sure could use a pleasant surprise from Hilliard. They could also stand to see Dahl on the field for the entire season. That might give the team an all-lefty group of regulars, along with Blackmon, with Hampson and Desmond supplementing from the right side. Theres at least one other near-term player with potential, too. Yonathan Daza is already on the 40-man and is seen as a prospect of some note. His 2019 debut went in the opposite direction of Hilliards, with Daza turning in a .206/.257/.237 slash over 105 plate appearances. But Daza had a big showing at Triple-A and has hit well this spring. It probably wouldnt be wise for the Rockies or their fans to expect too much from Hilliard and the rest of the outfield unit in 2020 and beyond. But it seems they can at least hope for something more. Actor Chris Hemsworth has shared a new video of a fan chasing his car during the India shoot of his upcoming film, Extraction. The Netflix action movie was filmed in Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Hemsworth took to Instagram on Tuesday and captioned the post, Persistence pays off - not only did this guy get an autograph, he also does all my motorbike stunts from now on. The video shows Hemsworth riding in the back of a car, while a man on a motorcycle chases the actors vehicle. The man keeps showing Hemsworth a printed picture of the actor, gesturing for him to autograph it. Hemsworth, visibly uncomfortable, tells the man to drive carefully (the fan isnt even wearing a helmet). Once the actors car stops, he makes it a point to autograph the fans picture, and pose for photos. India is a beautiful country. It is also rarely seen in a modern international action film. Some beautiful cultural aspects of the story would be enriched by setting in India and it does really pay off beautifully in the film, writer and co-producer Joe Russo said in a recent statement. Also read: Extraction interview: Chris Hemsworth, director Sam Hargrave rave about genuinely great person Randeep Hooda Produced by the Russo Brothers and directed by Sam Hargrave, Extraction also stars Indian actors Randeep Hooda, Pankaj Tripathi, Priyanshu Painyulli, and Rudraksh Jaiswal. The film is slated for release on Netflix on April 24. Follow @htshowbiz for more WASHINGTON - Governments around the globe are scrambling to figure out what, if anything, they can do to arrest the collapse of oil prices after they turned negative in Monday's unprecedented collapse. With up to a third of global oil demand gone because of stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of the coronavirus, the usual methods of small production cuts or filling the nation's oil reserves are unlikely to do much to move markets, raising question about governments ablities to manage the panic. The government has a lot of options, but not a lot of good options, said Glenn Schwartz, director of energy policy at the Rapidan Energy Group, a consulting firm in Washington. None of it is going to put (oil) back to $30 or $40 barrel, besides a vaccine maybe. If people arent driving anwyhere, thats what needs to happen. Theres just too much crude out there. CRISIS: U.S. oil price collapses below zero as storage fills up President Donald Trump has asked Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette to make funds available to oil companies to help get them through the panic, tweeting Tuesday, "We will never let the great U.S. Oil & Gas Industry down." That might help individual oil companies delay bankruptcy and maintain their workforces, but it isnt expected to do much to help oil prices, which continued to fall Tuesday. The price of West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark settled at $10 a barrel a day after closing at negative $37 a barrel. But WTI contracts for delivery in June dropped by more than 30 percent to $13 a barrel, and Brent, the European benchmark, fell more than 20 percent to $20 a barrel. The longer rock-bottom oil prices persist, the larger the threat they pose to the Houston economy, which is inextricably tied to oil and gas. The industry employs some 265,000 people in the region, and companies have already cut or placed on furlough several thousand workers locally. Some estimates put potential industry job losses at no less than 10 percent. Those job cuts will ripple through manufacturing, real estate, retail and almost every sector of the local economy. At a press conference Monday night, Trump said he is considering cutting off imports of crude, as some Republican lawmakers have suggested. At the same time, he has again called for filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to provide some relief to domestic oil companies. The U.S. emergency stockpile has a capacity of 713 million barrels, according to the Energy Department. Well, Ill look at it, Trump said when asked about using his executive power to block imports. Nobody's ever heard of negative oil before. But the administration also is reportedly considering more extreme action, inclulding paying oil companies to shut down wells, something that would likely require congressional approval. More: Read the latest oil and gas news from HoustonChronicle.com A day after the worst market crash in oil history, no one is ruling anything out. State regulators in Texas, Oklahoma and North Dakota are considering putting limits on oil production, with the Texas Railroad Commision electing Tuesday to put the decision off another two weeks. More words and action are likely to come from major oil-producing governments, said Jim Burkhard, vice president at the research firm IHS Markit. It remains to be seen what those actions could be. But governments do things they would not normally consider when conditions become intolerable. The oil sector is divided on whether government intervention is desirable, with most larger companies wary of opening a door to government oversight that might come back to haunt them in the future. "Proposals for government interventions - imposing tariffs on imports and quotas on domestic production and/or paying companies not to produce oil - ultimately do more harm than good," Mark Green, a writer with the American Petroleum Institute, wrote on the trade group's website Tuesday. "Government should focus instead on flattening the curve and getting a better handle on the spread of the virus so that economies can safely start back up again." For now government officials are largely sticking to a familiar playbook. Saudi Arabia and other members of OPEC are considering moving ahead immediately instead of waiting until next month to begin production cuts that the cartel, its allies and other oil-producing nations agreed to set at 10 million barrels a day, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. The head of the International Energy Agency, the Paris-based orgaization that represents oil importing countries, tweeted Tuesday that countries with oil reserves should make extra storage available to get some excess crude off the market. And there is again movement in Congress to fund Trumps request to fill the U.S. petroleum reserve, requiring the purchase of about 77 million barrels of crude. GASOLINE: Refineries face shutdowns as fuel demand drops Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, D-Houston, introduced bipartisan legislation Tuesday to request that the U.S. government begin to buy up oil. We must recognize that this price drop is a direct result of decreased demand because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we must do all we can to combat this virus at home and around the world, she said. While this is a smart and important effort, it will not solve the underlying demand problem. But she and her allies are likely to face opposition in the Democrat-controlled House, with many Democrats rejecting the idea of filling the strategic reserve as a handout to the oil industry. In a letter last month, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, R-N.Y., rejected the funding as a bailout for big oil. The Department of Energy earlier estimated the cost of filling the reserve at $3 billion. But with West Texas Intermediate for delivery in June trading at $13 a barrel, that same amount of crude could be had for about $1 billion. james.osborne@chron.com Twitter.com/@osborneja The number of people showing up to Wyoming Medical Centers emergency room has dropped by half since the coronavirus began its spread across Wyoming. Those that walk through the ERs doors, many with minor maladies sprained ankles, cuts and burns are down by 50 percent compared to previous months, WMC chief clinical officer Dr. James Bleicher said Wednesday. People being checked into the hospital from ER visits is down by as much as 40 percent. Bleicher said the patients who werent showing up anymore were likely a mix of medical problems, including emergencies such as heart attacks and strokes. Those problems havent just disappeared because theres a new health concern in town, he said, and time and research will tell if deaths from heart attacks have gone up because people are putting off care. Fewer people may be turning up because of concerns about contracting the virus within the hospitals walls. This is just conjecture, but it may be that people were afraid and didnt want to go out, he said. WMCs two outpatient primary care clinics, Sage and Mesa, have also seen significant drops in patient totals, Bleicher said. Both of those groups, along with other WMC-subsidiary clinics, have moved much of their appointments to virtual formats, but even still, patient volume has dropped. Even foot traffic to WMCs respiratory and coronavirus clinic has dropped off. In its first days last month, it saw hundreds of patients. Now, Bleicher said, its seeing about 30 patients a day. That doesnt necessarily mean their clinic is testing fewer people or seeing less disease, though. Earlier this week, the Wyoming Tribune Eagle reported that Cheyenne Regional, the states second-largest hospital behind WMC, had also seen a 50 percent drop in overall patient volume in their ER. A CNBC article from earlier this month reported a similar trend among hospitals in New York and Washington: Patients presenting with heart attacks and strokes are way down as resources focus on the virus and people stay home more. Even with coronavirus, we still have healthy people who get an illness and need to go to the emergency room, a New Jersey ER doctor told CNBC. Heart attacks dont stop. The drop mirrors an overall plummeting of hospital services amid the age of coronavirus. Hospitals across the country, and especially in Wyoming, have seen their revenues crater as they suspend elective procedures. Supplies are being preserved to treat potential coronavirus patients, causing revenue to drop precipitously in a matter of weeks. 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. Oh the irony! Imagine Prince Harry and Meghan Markle slamming the media for invading their privacy and yet doing this. The two shared with their favorite media something they were explicitly told to keep discreet, allegedly disrespecting Queen Elizabeth's call for privacy in the process. It has been months since the Queen and Baby Archie were able to sight each other. Queen Elizabeth is reportedly missing the little tot that it was truly a treat for her when she was finally able to catch a glimpse of his great-grandson. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex did not forget the monarch on her birthday even though they are miles away from the United Kingdom. Calling from their new home in California, they greeted the Queen over a video call a happy 94th birthday, with Baby Archie in the frame. However, it was not a private, intimate affair that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle would have loved. Whose fault is it though? Theirs too! According to Daily Mail Online, the two, who were supposedly obsessed with privacy, were the ones who immediately instructed their spokesman to email a chosen few publications to share the news. Naturally, the handpicked publications do not include the four UK publications they decided to have a zero engagement policy with, Daily Mail included. It is now considered quite hypocritical after the long letter they sent the four publications about how intrusive they are being. What makes it more appalling for some is that it has expressly been told to them that the palace would rather have the birthday events to be kept private. The Buckingham Palace reportedly told them that any calls between the Queen and her family on this special occasion, no matter how low-key it is this year, should be kept somehow a secret. Just ironic of them. After they decided to boycott the four UK tabloids, the reactions they got over the decision were mostly negative. Piers Morgan claimed that he is personally banning them from his television, Good Morning Britain, while other analysts claimed that the act was simply ill-timed. The world is already dealing with a pandemic that has no end yet, and the two are starting a war against media for privacy issues. They are called petty and pathetic by some, who subsequently asked them to please just focus on life and death issues. An analyst from The Sun added that publicity is what the two are made of. If not for publicity- bad or good, they are not even anything. According to Jane Moore, the two just created drama when there was none but at the same time, nearly screaming they want to live a quiet life. It is also further aggravating that they are being so insensitive when they had been hailing themselves as "King and Queen of mental health issues." With the world's attention on the deathly virus, their actions are perceived as striving to pull focus back to them. As Dan Wootton said, the Brits might not forgive them for it. READ MORE: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle Deemed 'Petty' and 'Unforgivable' WASHINGTON President Trump and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, two New Yorkers who have alternately praised and quarreled with each other during the coronavirus pandemic that has ravaged their mutual home state, met in person on Tuesday to try to resolve differences over testing and financial relief. After weeks of talking by telephone and through the news media, Mr. Cuomo traveled to Washington to sit down with the president at the White House and press for more federal assistance to expand testing for the virus and to help financially devastated state and local governments. Mr. Cuomo afterward called it a very good conversation, playing down the sporadic disputes between the two men. The president is communicative about his feelings, and Im communicative about what I think, Mr. Cuomo said on MSNBC. But look, I think for the president and for myself, this is not about this is not about anyones emotions, about anyone else. I mean, who cares, right? What I feel, what he feels. We have a tremendous job that we have to get done and put everything else aside and do the job. And that was the tone of the conversation, was very functional and effective. SAN DIEGO The Navy is preparing to announce the findings of its investigation into how a letter from the captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt describing a COVID-19 outbreak on the ship was leaked to the news media. Adm. Mike Gilday, chief of naval operations and the services top officer, will announce investigation results as early as Wednesday at the Pentagon, according to a Navy official. The fate of the Roosevelts former commanding officer, Capt. Brett Crozier, hinges on whether Gilday agrees with an assessment by former acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modley that Crozier isnt fit for command because he did not take proper steps to ensure his letter did not leak. The letter, which warned of dire consequences if the Navy did not evacuate thousands of Roosevelt sailors, was first published by the San Francisco Chronicle. It touched off a series of events that led to national news coverage and controversy. The San Diego-based Theodore Roosevelt left home port at Naval Air Station North Island in January for a routine deployment. The Navy announced the first known cases of COVID-19 on board March 24, two weeks after the ship visited Vietnam. Two days later, the number of affected sailors on board had increased exponentially and the ship pulled into Guam. Four days later, Crozier sent a letter, attached to an email, to Pacific Fleet commanders, predicting that unless the Navy moved the majority of its crew off the ship that sailors would needlessly die. A copy of the email obtained by The Washington Post shows it was sent to 10 people three admirals and seven Navy captains. The letter leaked and was published March 31. On April 1, Navy leaders said they were investigating how the letter leaked. The next day Modly fired Crozier, saying inaccurately that Crozier had sent the email to up to 30 people. It was copied to 20 or 30 other people, Modly said during a Pentagon press briefing. Thats just not acceptable. He sent it out pretty broadly and in sending it out pretty broadly he did not take care to ensure that it couldnt be leaked. More: Fired Navy carrier captain tests positive for coronavirus According to Modly, the dissemination of the letter showed extremely poor judgment on Croziers part in the midst of a crisis. Days later, Modly flew to the western Pacific island and, in a profanity-laced speech over the Roosevelts public address system, said Crozier was naive and stupid if he believed his letter wouldnt be leaked. FILE - In this Dec. 3, 2019, file photo, acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly. He has since resigned. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)AP Modly resigned April 7, a day after audio of that speech also leaked and was broadly publicized. On Thursday, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on NBCs Today show that the department had not ruled out reinstating Crozier, depending on the results of the Navys investigation. Crozier was widely supported by his crew. As he left the ship on April 3, hundreds of the crew cheered him and chanted his name, videos posted to social media show. The Roosevelt has a total crew of roughly 4,845 service members, including its embarked air wing and command staff. On Tuesday the Navy announced that 710 of them almost 15% have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, with 43 recovered. Eight are in the hospital on Naval Base Guam, including one who moved out of the intensive care unit. One Roosevelt sailor San Diego-based Chief Aviation Ordnanceman Charles Thacker died of COVID-19 on Guam April 13. By Andrew Dyer, The San Diego Union-Tribune (TNS) More: First documented U.S. coronavirus death happened Feb. 6, weeks earlier than thought: medical examiner Ohio man dies of coronavirus after calling it a political ploy Migrant workers on Pa. farms at high risk for coronavirus due to tight housing, lack of health care Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Wed, April 22, 2020 10:33 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd374d4c 2 Entertainment Mila-Kunis,Ashton-Kutcher,wine,quarantine,coronavirus,COVID-19 Free Actor couple Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher have partnered with a Washington-based winery to release a quarantine-themed wine, with proceeds going to a handful of COVID-19 relief response effort charities. In a casual video message uploaded to YouTube -- both are in sweats, Kunis make-up free -- the couple spoke about how the idea to launch a charitable wine came to be. "One of the things we've been doing in the evenings while hanging out in our homes, locked up...is to do virtual dates, virtual hangouts with friends and one of the things we like to do is drink...share a glass of wine and reconnect," Kutcher said. Since the pandemic broke out, the couple said they've also been researching ways they can help charities and relief efforts. "And Mila came up with the brilliant idea of combining the two things," Kutcher said. Read also: Actor Idris Elba launches UN coronavirus fund for poor farmers Together with Nocking Point, a winery based in Walla Walla, Washington, the couple are launching Quarantine, a Pinot Noir chosen by the couple during a virtual blind wine-tasting session over FaceTime. One hundred percent of the profits will be distributed among four charities that provide financial aid to families hit hardest by COVID-19; provide medical equipment to frontline workers; and provide food to low-income families and households in need. They include GiveDirectly, Direct Relief, Frontline Responders Fund and America's Food Fund. Two bottles go for US$50 and will be available early next month. (Natural News) According to new projections, New York as well as the neighboring states of New Jersey and Connecticut may be able to begin safely lifting coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions as early as June. This prediction is based on a model by Washington Universitys Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) that shows the beginnings of a downward trend in COVID-19 fatalities in the tri-state area. Ending the lockdowns safely is possible Based on the model from the IHME, easing the restrictions could be possible with the implementation of containment strategies that include testing, isolation, contact tracing and limiting gathering size. Such necessary containment efforts include extensive testing, robust contact tracing and isolation of new cases, and maintaining restrictions on mass gatherings of people, stated experts at the IHME. The prospect of relaxing stay-at-home orders ahead of the summer months continues as New Yorks daily death toll continues to slide. On Sunday, 478 people died from the virus, the lowest that the figure has been in nearly three weeks. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo stated that people can view the projections as good news. However, he clarified that nobody knows how long and how quickly itll take for infection rates to decline. The projections are nice, but I wouldnt bet the farm on them, said Cuomo. If youre looking for the optimists view: Its better than it was. About a quarter of a million people had tested positive for the coronavirus in New York as of Monday. Of these, about 14,300 have died since the outbreak started. Daily rate of infection as a key metric One of the key metrics for loosening stay-at-home orders is the daily rate of infection. According to the IHME, this needs to fall below one new case per 1 million people each day before restrictions can relax. Additionally, the IHME feels that one infection per 1 million is still a conservative estimate of how many cases a state can reasonably trace and contain to prevent an outbreak from resurging. New York, the epicenter of the pandemic in America, is expected to hit that infection rate milestone later than many other states. According to state health department data, there were more than 240 new reported cases per 1 million New Yorkers as of Sunday. According to IHME projections, Alaska, Hawaii and even nearby states such as New Hampshire and Vermont may be able to loosen their social distancing in a few weeks as long as the proper testing and other containment measures remain in place. Based on our initial estimates, the earliest that some states may be able to ease presently implemented distancing policiesconditional on strong containment measuresappears to be in early to mid-May, the institute said in its latest report. Large-scale gatherings still present a risk Even should the rate of new infections plummet close to zero by June, large-scale gatherings will still present a major risk. Already, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday that all public events through the month of June were canceled. Included in this announcement were all concerts and festivals, as well as public events including the 50th anniversary Pride Parade, the Puerto Rican Day Parade as well as the annual Salute to Israel parade. De Blasio said that he was working with organizers to reschedule some of these events when its the right time. Other models are less optimistic The model from the IHME is just one of the five models that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relies on for its own forecasts. Of the five, this one predicts the least severe outcome for the state. Another model, this time by the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, predicted that New York would still have about 10 new cases of coronavirus per day by the end of May. Meanwhile, the best-case scenario charted by the Northeastern University in Boston showed that it could take even longer for New York to hit a one in 1 million infection rate, though their online model only goes through the end of the month. Columbia Universitys model, on the other hand, shows that the state may come close to reaching no new infections by the end of May, similar to that of the IMHE. However, Dr. Andrew Runbdle, professor of epidemiology at Columbia, states that this is potentially not enough to relax social distancing. As a nation, we really didnt have a plan as the pandemic hit the U.S. and my fear is that if the transition from an emergency mitigation phase to an ongoing containment phase occurs with similar poor planning, we will see another massive surge in cases, said Rundle. Meanwhile, Dr. Jeffrey Shaman, also from Columbia, has stated that its too soon to tell whether transmission, testing and tracing will get to the levels needed to allow any easing of social distancing in June. Nobody has that crystal ball because the situation is so fluid, stated Shaman. We dont know what people are going to do. Sources include: NYPost.com COVID19.HealthData.org Marketwatch.com Thousands of NHS doctors and nurses may have been given inaccurate coronavirus tests, it has emerged. A leaked Public Health England document revealed testing centres had been told to stop using the kits because of 'quality assurance difficulties'. The memo warned the results were less reliable than initially thought - sparking fears for the near-100,000 NHS and social care workers who have been tested. It means thousands of them could have returned to work with vulnerable patients while still contagious. The document from April 11, seen by The Daily Telegraph, said the tests run by PHE and NHS laboratories had produced a few 'discordant results'. Scientists have been told to stop using them by tomorrow and switch to commercial kits. They must double-check all ambiguous results. A Government official told the Telegraph the PHE test was a 'home brew' and had been relied on 'for too long'. But health officials said it found the test produced different results to alternative commercial tests in only 2 per cent of samples from one of the labs. Professor Sharon Peacock, of PHE's national infection service, said: 'No diagnostic test is 100 per cent sensitive. It is standard practice to move to commercial test kits once available.' The Government pledged to carry out 100,000 swab tests a day by the end of April - but ministers only carried out 18,000 tests on Monday. A woman is swabbed at a testing facility for NHS staff at Ashton Gate Stadium in Bristol on Tuesday Coronavirus testing was taking place today in the car park of Chessington World of Adventures in Surrey. But it remained empty for large parts of the day The UK was revealed to have one of the lowest coronavirus testing rates in the world All of PHE's 12 testing centres have been told to stop using the current kits by Thursday and switch to tests supplied by commercial firms. NHS labs will continue to use the method but must double check all uncertain results until they can switch to commercial tests. Health officials at PHE insist the tests were not faulty and say the problem was that there were 'quality assurance difficulties' caused by shortages of swabs and transport. Experts said that PHE's approach - outsourcing all the different pieces of kit - leaves margin for error in the results, whereas tests used by commercial firms are more ready-made. PHE had previously boasted that it was one of the first in the world to produce a sensitive test and roll it out nationwide. UK sets hopes on its first human trials of vaccine Volunteers will tomorrow become the first Britons to receive a coronavirus vaccine, the Health Secretary announced last night. Matt Hancock said the first of 510 healthy volunteers will get the jab to help experts find a route out of the crisis. Work on the vaccine began at Oxford Universitys Jenner Institute and its Oxford Vaccine Group in January. Health secretary Matt Hancock, pictured, says volunteers will be the first to receive a coronavirus vaccine The volunteers, aged 18 to 55, will start receiving it in Oxford and Southampton, with three further testing centres to be added later. Results could be available in September, with one million doses already in production. It is the first UK vaccine trial to begin testing humans and only the fourth globally. The US has started two studies and China has one. Mr Hancock said: This is a new disease, this is uncertain science. The UK is at the front of the global effort. We have put more money than any other country into a search for a vaccine. A second vaccine project at Imperial College London will receive 22.5million for clinical trials, while Oxford will be granted 20million. Advertisement Doris-Ann Williams, the chief executive of the British In Vitro Diagnostic Association, which represents the UK's commercial testing sector, said if private companies had been embraced earlier 'perhaps we wouldn't have been so reliant on the initial PHE test'. A senior Whitehall official told The Telegraph that PHE 'want to be in control of everything'. They added: 'That's a problem. They've taken too long to involve the academic and private sector, and so we've relied on the home brew test for too long... they waited for too long to open their arms to universities and private companies, and now we're scrambling to catch up.' It is the latest misstep in a series of coronavirus testing blunders that has seen the UK fall way behind its European partners. Health Minister Matt Hancock has promised the country will carry out 100,000 tests a day by the end of this month, but figures show only around 20,000 are being done. By comparison, Germany has been carrying out half a million tests per week since the beginning of April. Plans to roll out remote coronavirus testing and get Britain closer to six-digit daily tests are being held up by red tape, a senior Government advisor has warned. A scheme to post swabs to care homes and private addresses was ready to start this week in a bid to quickly increase test numbers. But it has been delayed by bureaucrats who insist anyone who conducts tests must be 'accredited'. With the Government unlikely to hit its 100,000-tests-a-day target by the end of the month, remote testing is seen as the key to get things moving. Professor John Newton, who leads the Government's testing drive, last night told the daily No 10 briefing it was important that test swabs were sent to people 'rather than expecting people to come to the swabs'. But Dr Nick Summerton, a special clinical advisor to Downing Street, says he is frustrated with the hurdles that are being put up by agencies such as the Care Quality Commission and Public Health England. Doctors have made an online video telling care staff and patients how to do tests but officials insist proper training is needed. A scheme to use Amazon drivers to send 5,000 self-test kits to care homes has barely begun because of official insistence that care staff are trained and assessed. And the pilot of a scheme to send test kits to patients who call NHS 111 is facing similar resistance. Dr Summerton, who also works as a Covid-19 specialist on the 111 phone line, said: 'Virtually every patient I speak to could benefit from testing.' With just eight days to go until the end-of-April 100,000 target, only 18,206 tests took place on Monday. There is now capacity to process nearly 40,000 tests a day but only half is being used. Dr Summerton also wants to use occupational health therapists and private firms to conduct tests in GP car parks or patient homes. 'The public and the economy are crying out for testing. But Public Health England and the Care Quality Commission are coming up with hurdles,' he said. In a comparison of 17 countries with the largest coronavirus outbreaks, Britain ranks 15th above only Peru and India Cars head towards the pilot coronavirus drive-through testing site in Milton Keynes on Tuesday Of 5,000 kits sitting in an Amazon warehouse ready to be sent to care homes only 200 have been sent out so far. 'CQC has decided that care homes cannot do that if staff are not trained and accredited to stick a swab up someone's nose,' said Dr Summerton. 'That's going to take weeks. If we don't get the testing done we will end up locked in our homes and the economy will go down the tube.' Dr Rosie Benneyworth of the Care Quality Commission said: 'Care home residents are some of the most vulnerable people in society and it is essential that these tests are carried out accurately and effectively, and that residents understand the purpose of the test and have the opportunity to fully consent. 'It's crucial that those undertaking the testing are appropriately trained and competent. Where a test is incorrectly undertaken there is a greater risk that it will produce a false negative result.' A spokesman for Public Health England said: 'The Department of Health and Social Care is currently carrying out pilot schemes at pace to decide the best way of delivering this testing nationwide and PHE is fully supportive of this approach.' It comes after the UK was revealed to have one of the lowest coronavirus testing rates in the world. In a comparison of 17 countries with the largest coronavirus outbreaks, Britain ranks 15th above only Peru and India. Testing just 5.54 people per every thousand in its population, the UK sits miles below similar nations including Italy, Germany and Spain which are all testing more than 20 people per thousand, according to statistics compiled by Oxford-led researchers. Iceland, included in the comparison because of it's world-beating testing capacity, is testing 124.47 people per thousand - one in every eight people in the country. Testing people for COVID-19, and isolating them and others they have been in contact with, is seen by the World Health Organization as absolutely crucial to bringing the pandemic under control. The British Government, currently only testing medical workers and people in hospitals, has set a target of carrying out 100,000 tests per day by May 1. But the scale-up, inspired by Germany's massive testing capacity and now due in 10 days' time, looks like a tall order at the UK's current pace - just 19,316 were done yesterday, an increase of only 9,000 in almost three weeks from 10,215 on April 2. Statistics from the Our World in Data project, which is run by experts at the University of Oxford, shows testing data for countries around the world. Figures for 17 of the 20 countries with the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in the world - no data was available for Brazil, Iran or China - shows that the UK ranks poorly alongside similar nations. Britain, with 125,000 confirmed cases of the disease, is testing 5.54 people per 1,000 - 0.5 per cent of its population - according to the stats. Meanwhile, Switzerland (28,000 cases) is testing 25.52 people per thousand - 2.5 per cent. Other top performers also battling outbreaks affecting dozens of thousands of people include Italy (180,000 cases and 22.08 tests per 1,000); Germany (146,000 cases and 20.94 tests per 1,000) and Spain (200,000 cases and 20.02 tests). Iceland was included in the comparison not because of the size of its outbreak (1,771 patients) but because of its high testing rate - 124.47 people per thousand. The 17 countries with the largest epidemics and data available were the USA, Spain, Italy, Germany, the UK, France, Turkey, Russia, Belgium, Canada, Netherlands, Switzerland, Portugal, India, Peru, Ireland and Sweden. Ranking at the bottom of the table for testing was India, which has managed to test only 0.17 people per 1,000 - approximately one in every 6,000 - and Peru, with 4.08 per thousand. Above those came the UK and then France, with the slightly higher 7.05 tests per thousand. Testing does not appear directly linked to death rate, however. Italy, which has a death rate of 13.3 per cent, has a higher testing rate than Germany, where only 3.2 per cent of patients have died. France, meanwhile has a similar testing rate to Turkey - around seven per cent - but its death rate is 17.8 per cent compared to Turkey's 2.3 per cent. Nobody likes stale cereal that instantly goes soggy as soon as it hits the milk, but now TikTok users have shared a clever hack for ensuring it stays fresh. British TikTok user Katy Bee left followers amazed when she revealed that you've probably been closing cereal boxes all wrong, and shared her trick for doing it the right way. Rather than slotting the tab on the flap into the perforated slot, a clever folding trick will keep air out of the packet and make sure the contents stay fresher for longer. Maqsood Hus, from the UK, revealed you can do the simple hack in mere seconds, which will keep food fresher for longer - she starts by folding down the back of the packet (right) The hack has been tried out by various TikTok users, including Maqsood Hus who shared a video demonstrating how to nail it, which has racked up more than 2,000 likes. To do the hack, Masqood starts by folding down the back of the packet. Next, she pushes in the sides to make a V-shape in the cardboard. Finally, she pushes the front of the box in, and pinches both sides together creating a seal. Maqsood used the audio from Katie's original video in her clip, where she exclaims: 'That is how you close your cereal, look at that f****** technique!'. Next, she pushes in the sides to make a V-shape in the cardboard (left) Finally, she pushes the front of the box in, and pinches both sides together creating a seal (right) She was shocked that the technique worked, as many users thanked her for sharing the hack People were quick to share their amazement, saying it had changed their life. 'Whaaaaa... whaaaa... I never knew that' said one 'Omg' wrote another People were quick to share their amazement, saying it had changed their life 'I was thinking naa Ive been doing it right till I saw the end' commented a third. 'My life is permanently changed' one TikTok user added 'Ive been living a lie' said one 'TikTok is like free college' added another. The United Nations General Assembly has rejected two resolutions on the coronavirus pandemic, one from Russia and the other from Saudi Arabia. It was the second defeat for a Russian resolution on COVID-19 by the 193-member world body. Under new voting rules instituted because the assembly isn't holding meetings during the pandemic, a draft resolution is circulated to member nations. If a single country objects before the deadline in this case noon EDT on Wednesday the resolution is defeated. Normally, assembly resolutions are adopted by majority votes or by consensus. General Assembly spokeswoman Reem Abaza confirmed objections had been raised against the Russian and Saudi draft resolutions. The original Russian resolution, which failed to win approval on April 2, called for abandoning trade wars and protectionist measures and said no unilateral sanctions should be applied without approval from the U.N. Security Council. The revised resolution, which was defeated Wednesday, kept the reference to ending protectionist practices and dropped the reference to unilateral sanctions. But it welcomed an April 3 statement by the main group of developing countries at the United Nations which includes a call on the international community to adopt urgent and effective measures to eliminate the use of unilateral coercive economic measures against developing countries. Saudi Arabia currently chairs the Group of 20 major global economies and its draft would have welcomed their March 26 summit call for effective and coordinated action to fight COVID-19, and their statement on injecting 5 trillion United States dollars into the global economy, as part of targeted fiscal policy, economic measures and guarantee schemes to counteract the social, economic and financial impacts of the pandemic. The General Assembly previously approved two resolutions on COVID-19, but the more powerful Security Council has not taken any action so far. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The U.S. Department of Defense is to award Northrop Grumman a sole-source contract to supply the Royal Australian Air Force with two more MQ-4C Triton high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The U.S. Department of Defense is to award Northrop Grumman a sole-source contract to supply the Royal Australian Air Force with two more MQ-4C Triton high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Royal Australian Air Force Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton HALE UAV (Picture source: RAAF) A notification posted on the US government's beta.sam.gov website on 14 April noted that Australia is to add to the one Triton UAV for which a contract has already been placed by exercising its options for two more as part of a wider US Navy procurement plan. The Royal Australian Air Force plans to field a total of six such UAVs. The first MQ-4C is expected to enter service in mid-2023, with all six scheduled to be fully operational by late 2025. They will be based at RAAF Base Edinburgh, in South Australia. The total value of the programme is expected to be about $5 billion. "This contract modification establishes two unfunded option lines for five additional MQ-4C unmanned aircraft [three for the USN and two for the RAAF] and two additional main operating bases [one for the USN and one for the RAAF] and related production support, to include but not limited to: the procurement of long-lead material and associated effort; systems engineering; production management; integrated logistics support; and associated technical, administrative, and financial data," the notification stated. Supporting missions for up to 24 hours, the Triton is equipped with a sensor suite that provides a 360-degree view of its surroundings for over 2,000 nautical miles. The MQ-4Cs primary long-range maritime search radar is the belly-mounted X-band AN/ZPY-3 Multi-Function Active Sensor (MFAS) active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, which enables the air vehicle to cover more than 2.7 million square miles in a single sortie. Other equipment includes the Raytheon AN/DAS-3 MTS-B EO/IR sensor turret and a Sierra Nevada Corporation AN/ZLQ-1 electronics support measures suite. Seven Tritons will be based at RAAF Base Edinburgh and will operate alongside the Boeing P-8A Poseidon multi-mission maritime patrol aircraft (MPA). The endurance of the Triton means that it can stay airborne for longer than a traditional aircraft. The Triton builds on elements of the Global Hawk UAS, with reinforcements to the airframe and wing. It also has de-icing and lightning protection systems, which allow it to descend through cloud layers and gain a closer view of ships and other targets at sea, which complements the Boeing P-8A Poseidon. The Triton platform has been under development by the United States Navy since 2008. The Triton will be flown by qualified Air Force pilots from a ground station, supported by a co-pilot. Information gathered by the Triton will be analysed and communicated by operational staff such as aircrew, intelligence, operations and administration officers, engineers, and logisticians (depending on the training or mission requirements). Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Sri Wahyuni (The Jakarta Post) Yogyakarta Wed, April 22, 2020 16:57 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd3958e6 1 Health UGM,lecturer,swab-chamber,COVID-19,coronavirus,innovation,Yogyakarta Free A lecturer at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) has created a swab chamber to address the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) faced by medical staff when testing COVID-19 patients. Developed by Jaka Widada, a lecturer in the universitys agriculture microbiology department, the chamber allows medical workers to take samples from a patients nose and throat using disposable gloves that protrude outward from the chamber, which is equipped with a high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter. With this chamber, medical staff will only need to wear a face mask when conducting swab tests, said Jaka, who is also an environmental biotechnologist. He added that the chamber would not only help address the PPE shortage, but would also help reduce medical waste. Physically, the chamber measures 90 cm by 90 cm with a height of two meters. The body is made of 3 mm thick aluminum panel composite (APC) and comes with a door on the back and a 6 mm thick glass wall on the front with two holes where the long medical standard gloves are installed Jaka said stainless steel was a more ideal material for the chamber, but the production costs would be higher. However, he stated that the aluminum chamber was acceptable in terms of quality and medical standards. Read also: COVID-19: Popular disinfection chambers not safe, cause irritation, expert says Jaka said the chamber would not only help address the PPE shortage, but would also help reduce medical waste. (Courtesy of UGM/File) The chamber also comes with a lamp for illumination, a speaker to communicate with the patients and four wheels at the bottom for easy mobility. Each time a test is completed, the chamber will be cleaned using disinfectant and the gloves will be changed with new ones. So, when a new patient comes, it is ready to use, said Jaka, who received his doctoral degree from the University of Tokyo. Jaka was inspired to create the chamber after watching a video of a South Korean medical worker working from a chamber while conducting a swab test. Following a discussion with his wife who is an ear nose and throat (ENT) specialist familiar with swab tests, he came up with the idea. As a microbiologist who studies bacteria, viruses and other things, I am familiar with the characteristics of viruses and how to make a bacteria-free chamber, Jaka said. He added that the funds to build the chamber came from crowdfunding, including from WhatsApp group Sambatan Jogja (Sonjo) that was initiated by his colleague Rimawan Pradiptyo of UGMs School of Economy and Business. Each chamber costs Rp 8 million (US$513) to manufacture. For production purposes, he collaborated with two small and medium-sized businesses in Yogyakarta, which are reportedly able to produce up to 15 chambers per week. Hopefully, this swab chamber will inspire young people to innovate to help this fight against COVID-19, he said. (kes) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 22) As President Rodrigo Duterte mulls over the fate of the Luzon-wide lockdown, the World Health Organization on Tuesday advised the gradual lifting of lockdown rules to continue curbing the spread of the coronavirus disease. "This lifting cannot go all at once but should be gradual, in a phased manner," WHO Western Pacific Region Director Dr. Takeshi Kasai said in a virtual press briefing. He said that while there is no one-size-fits-all solution to stop the spread of COVID-19, there are key principles that need to be assessed before considering completely lifting community quarantine rules. "We need to address this issue as a risk management. Individual interventions need to be assessed from the technical perspective, its negative consequence, then the perceptions of the people, public, political, and then also in the market," he said. The WHO regional chief said the lockdowns imposed by several countries have "proved to be effective in slowing down and reducing the transmission," warning relaxing the rules too soon can lead to a resurgence of the viral disease which killed nearly 177,000 people globally. Kasai added there no concrete solution as to which approach is effective, but what is clear is that the goal of implementing lockdowns is to keep the number of cases below the healthcare capacity. "We must also remember why we are doing this. We are doing this because we want to protect the people," he said. To date, the country has recorded 6,599 cases of COVID-19, with the number of those surviving from the disease reaching 654, outnumbering the 437 reported deaths. Health experts in a meeting with Duterte on Monday recommended a modified enhanced community quarantine, which will allow the easing of the Luzon lockdown in areas with few or no COVID-19 infections. The majority of them, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said, suggested that lockdown rules be enforced in areas with a high number of COVID-19 cases. Still, officials are wary of a potential second wave of infections if the lockdown is lifted too hastily. Over 57 million Filipinos in Luzon await Duterte's decision as the enhanced community quarantine is set to end on April 30. The President is slated to announce his decision on Thursday, April 23. Because of coronavirus restrictions, many of the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of Earth Day have been forced indoors and online. To help offset the isolation of worldwide social-distancing measures, the Travel desk has collected a series of stories to help recall the spirit of the annual event. Some of these stories will force you to grapple with the many threats posed by climate change and travel: carbon offsets, frequent flier miles, the moral dilemmas posed by international travel. Others will simply transport you to a distant corner of the earth. But all of them, we hope, will remind you of the natural worlds many splendors and why environmental protections will be of crucial importance for the future of our planet. Turkey continues evacuating expats from Europe Expats from UK, Germany, Czechia, Romania, Hungary and Belgium were evacuated on Wednesday ahead of Ramadan. Turkey on Tuesday evacuated 1,748 citizens from Europe amid the coronavirus pandemic. At the instruction of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and in coordination with the Foreign Ministry, Turkey decided to bring back nearly 25,000 citizens before the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. CITIZENS UNDER QUARANTINE IN STUDENT DORMITORIES A specially arranged Turkish Airlines flight left London and arrived in Istanbul in the evening. Following health checks, 349 citizens were sent to the northwestern Kocaeli province to be quarantined in a student dormitory. Meanwhile, Turkey also brought home some 750 Turkish citizens from Germany. After a flight arrived in central Kayseri province, 232 citizens were transferred to Nigde -- another central province -- to be quarantined in a student dormitory. Another 285 expats were brought back to the capital Ankara and sent a student dormitory in the central province of Yozgat for quarantine. As part of the same measures, the country also brought back 107 Turkish students from the Czechia. A Turkish Airlines flight carrying them arrived in Ankara. Students were transferred to northern Karabuk province for quarantine. Moreover, 89 Turkish citizens in Romania were brought to the capital Ankara. After health checks, they were sent to the northwestern Duzce province for quarantine. Tehran: Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard says it has launched a military satellite into orbit amid wider tensions with the United States, describing it as a successful launch after months of failures. This satellite image from Maxar Technologies shows activity at the Imam Khomeini Space Centre in Iran's Semnan province in February. Credit:AP On its official website, the Guard said the satellite successfully reached orbit at 425 kilometres above the Earth's surface. It called it the first military satellite ever launched by Tehran. The two-stage launch took off from the Central Desert, the Guard said, without elaborating or saying when exactly. The paramilitary force said it used a Ghased, or "messenger" satellite carrier to put the device into space, a previously unheard-of system. There was no immediate independent confirmation of the launch of the satellite, which the Guard called Noor, or light. The US State and Defence departments, which contend that such launches advance Iran's ballistic missile program, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The first US fatalities from the novel coronavirus took place weeks before previously known, according to autopsy results released Tuesday of two individuals in Santa Clara, California who had died on February 6 and February 17, way ahead of the February 29 death in Washington state considered the first . Each one of those deaths is probably the tip of an iceberg of unknown size, Sara Cody, the chief medical officer of Santa Clara county, told the New York Times. It feels quite significant. These new fatalities change the US timeline by a quite a bit, specially as President Donald Trump has come under mounting for not doing enough in the month of February after restricting the entry of travelers from China, which he has tended to portray as the high-point of his administrations response. The deadly pathogen would tear through the United States shortly and catapult it to the top of the casualty list for infections and fatalities. The toll went up by 2,751 in the last 24 hours to 45,075 and by 39,460 is to 825,306 confirmed cases. Deaths in New York state, the American epicenter of the epidemic, were up to 19,118 and 14,887 in New York city. These number may not reflect it, but the country is past the peak in terms of new cases, and some states have begun spooling back the restrictions alarming critics, but not the White House which has looked on indulgently, in line with the presidents backing of lockdown protestors. The president has also stoked anger against China with increasing attack on its role, alleging it may have misled the world on the origins of the epidemic, which Americans are saying could have started from a virology lab in Wuhan, the city that became the epicenter of the Chinese outbreak; and the then the exact magnitude of its crisis. Missouri state on Tuesday filed a lawsuit in a federal court alleged gross mismanagement of the crisis by China and sought damages. Chinese authorities deceived the public, suppressed crucial information, arrested whistleblowers, denied human-to-human transmission in the face of mounting evidence, destroyed critical medical research, permitted millions of people to be exposed to the virus, and even hoarded personal protective equipmentthus causing a global pandemic that was unnecessary and preventable, said the first of its kind lawsuit filed by the states Republican attorney general Eric Schmitt. Beijing dismissed the lawsuit as malicious. Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters., These so-called lawsuits are purely malicious abuses. Such abuses are not conducive to epidemic prevention and control in the United States, and also run counter to the current international anti-epidemic cooperation, he added. The United States will reopen some of its national parks under the condition that staff and visitors adhere to social distancing guidelines, said President Donald Trump on Wednesday. I am pleased to announce that in line with my administrations guidelines for opening up America again we will begin to reopen our national parks and public lands for the American people to enjoy, Trump said during a tree-planting ceremony at the White House that noted Earth Day. Trump said the reopening plan comes in light of our significant progress against the invisible enemy, referring to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, a novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. A number of parks, including popular ones like Yosemite and Yellowstone, have been shut down across the country to adhere to governors orders for people to stay at home in a bid to reduce the number of COVID-19 infections and reduce the strain on hospitals. Trump did not give any other details about the plan to reopen the parks. He gestured to Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt about a timetable on the reopening plan. Bernhardt said the decisions will be made in accordance with governors plans on reopening their economies. You have a lot of land to open up, too. People are going to be very happy, the president said Wednesday. Other than Yellowstone and Yosemite, the Grand Canyon in Arizona, Utahs Zion National Park, Sequoia National Park in California, and many more parks are totally shut down. However, not all parks and facilities are closed due to the threat of the CCP virus, and the National Park Service says on its website that while most facilities and events are closed or canceled, outdoor spaces in some parks remain accessible to the public. Before visiting, please check with individual parks regarding changes to park operations. If you choose to visit a national park, please ensure that you follow CDC and state and local guidelines to prevent the spread of infectious diseases and practice Leave No Trace principles, the agency says. Last week, on April 17, Trump released guidelines for states looking to open their economies again as unemployment numbers have skyrocketed and as protesters have gathered in front of some states capitol buildings. Some states will open sooner than others, the president said. Some states are not in the kind of trouble that others are in. Now that we have passed the peak in new cases, were starting our life again. Were starting rejuvenation of our economy again in a safe and structured and very responsible fashion. From The Epoch Times Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 20:46:46|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LAGOS, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian government on Wednesday said it has deployed its rapid response teams to 23 states affected by COVID-19 after the country saw the biggest single-day increase in cases. Minister of State for Health Olorunnimbe Mamora, who disclosed this in a statement reaching Xinhua in Lagos, Nigeria's economic hub, said there had also been active case search in communities due to community transmission. The strategy of case searching in communities, according to the minister, required more testing kits and diagnostics, hinting also that additional laboratories for accreditation had been assessed. He added that efforts in risk communication at grassroots level had been intensified. He emphasized the need to avoid mass gatherings and that the use of face masks or face barrier that covers the mouth and nose can reduce the spread of infection. "The improvised cloth mask will suffice at community level. Please, always wash, iron and ensure the improvised cloth is not dirty," Mamora said. Nigeria confirmed on Tuesday night 117 new cases of the novel coronavirus, the biggest increase in a single-day since the most populous African country recorded the first case on February 27. The latest update of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control showed that as of 11:25 p.m. of Tuesday local time, there were 782 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria. A total of 25 deaths were recorded. Enditem Texas Medical Center hospital systems Wednesday will begin phasing back more care of people with ailments not involving the coronavirus, a tacit acknowledgment they now feel equipped to handle COVID-19 and cant overlook the communitys other health needs. The resumption of some such care follows Gov. Greg Abbotts order Friday relaxing restrictions hed placed on non-urgent elective surgeries a month ago and that medical center hospitals, among others, had imposed on themselves a few days earlier. What weve learned in the past few weeks is we can bifurcate care that is, were confident that we can safely treat both COVID and non-COVID patients, said Roberta Schwartz, president of Houston Methodist Hospital in the medical center. We are concerned that other health care issues cancer, heart disease, other problems that need treatment may be being neglected. Therell be long-term negative consequences for the community if theyre not treated. Methodist, Memorial Hermann and CHI St. Lukes health systems all said Tuesday they will gradually start bringing back some services they had put on hold in March in anticipation of a projected surge of COVID-19 patients. Thus far, the number of cases has not overwhelmed Houston-area hospitals. Spokespeople for the three systems said that they would start with non-invasive diagnostic appointments, such as CAT scans and MRI exams. Some non-urgent surgeries will follow at some point in the near future, they said. Non-urgent elective procedures are those in which there is no anticipated short-term or long-term negative impact due to a delay. Examples include non-emergency appendectomies and surgeries to reduce weight, replace joints and repair muscle or ligament tears. Hospital officials said they would prioritize those procedures most needed, such as those for cancer patients and those for people in pain and those longest delayed. They said they would slowly resume procedures, not quickly turn up the faucet. The exceptions to the resumption of elective procedures are the Harris Health System and MD Anderson Cancer Center. A Harris Health spokesman said it would be premature for its hospitals given they continue to see an increase in coronavirus-related patient care and an occupancy rate consistently between 70 and 90 percent. MD Anderson is continuing to perform those procedures that meet current standards related to medical necessity and deferring those that do not while it reviews Abbotts order, said an institutional statement. The order was one of a number Abbott announced Friday, all aimed at gradually restarting the Texas economy. The one concerning hospitals allows a limited amount of nonessential procedures at hospitals, as long as such surgeries dont deplete the hospitals supplies of personal protective equipment and capacity remains available in case the COVID-19 patient population surges. Abbotts original order prohibiting non-urgent elective surgeries, issued March 22, was part of a national trend of such actions, driven by a desire to be proactive in the face of COVID-19s spread across the nation. Earlier in the month, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams called for the stoppage, arguing in a tweet that each elective surgery 1) brings possible #coronavirus to your facilities; 2) pulls from personal protective equipment stores; and 3) taxes personnel who may be needed for #COVID-19 response. But except for Harris Healths Ben Taub Hospital, Houston hospitals havent been that strained by the COVID-19 outbreak, their patient volumes and occupancy remaining flat or even declining in the last week, the period during which the number of people with the disease began closing in on peak levels. The Texas Medical Center dashboard currently shows a 63 percent occupancy rate in its hospital systems ICU beds. COVID-19 patients account for 19 percent of such beds. The rates have not risen much above those levels since the pandemic hit the Houston area. At the same time, the prioritization of COVID-19 care has hurt many people with chronic conditions, both because some doctors offices and procedures have been shut down and because some are afraid to come for care. A Gallup poll taken March 28 to April 2 found 86 percent of people with heart disease said they would be either very concerned or moderately concerned about the coronavirus if they needed treatment. When you look at whats happening in the Houston community, you see the impact, said Dr. Angela Shippy, chief medical officer of the Memorial Hermann Health System. Chronic disease is not getting the care that it should be. We want to resume that, pivot back to helping all the community needs. Houston-area hospitals are continuing to emphasize precautions aimed at keeping people safe from COVID-19. Memorial Hermann, for instance, has instituted a Safe Wait program that enforces social distancing in waiting areas, staggers scheduled appointments and, when necessary, asks patients to wait in their vehicles before appointments. Memorial Hermann is also screening all employees, doctors and patients entering its facilities and providing those who clear it with a surgical mask; minimizing the number of people in facilities; and testing patients for COVID-19 prior to surgery. Most all Houston-area hospitals currently have no visitor policies. Texas Childrens Hospital said that, in light of Abbotts loosening of restrictions, it is prioritizing cases that initially may not have been urgent, but are now more important due to the several weeks delay. Through a phased approach, officials said, its surgical team is working through a large number of pressing cases, most outpatient. MD Andersons decision to continue its policy of not performing non-urgent elective surgeries stood in contrast to that of Texas Oncology. That group called Abbotts loosening of restrictions critical and said its nearly 100 surgeons look forward to resuming our collaborative relationships with hospital surgery units and centers in Texas. Its president, Dr. R. Steven Paulson, said, Cancer treatment cannot be paused during COVID-19. Carrie Williams, spokeswoman for the Austin-based Texas Hospital Association, said its key that hospitals remain careful not to deplete personal protective equipment as non-essential services ramp up. Protecting our front lines is critical to this response, she said, and that doesnt change as we move toward opening up certain procedures. But Williams also signaled that Abbotts order marks a new stage in the fight against COVID-19. Our hospitals are ready to safely move in the direction of giving people the care they have had to put off, said Williams. todd.ackerman@chron.com Life And Birth Rating: I'll Get This Rating: The sisters of Nonnatus House had the right idea. Fathers have no place in the delivery room. Our role is in the corridor outside, pacing and chain-smoking. It's true that two of the most extraordinary moments of my life came when a midwife placed each of my newborn sons in my arms. But that experience would have been just as special if it had happened a few minutes later, with a nun beckoning me to see a newly washed, neatly swaddled infant. Life And Birth will watch parents and staff at three of Birmingham's maternity hospitals welcome the next generation. Pictured: Jenna and Luke leave Birmingham Women's Hospital with their daughters Nothing makes a man feel more useless than to see his wife in agony and be able to do nothing except hold her hand and get in the way of the nurses. That frustration was written all over the face of 22-year-old Luke, in the first of the six-part documentary Life And Birth (BBC1). He looked like he'd rather be anywhere than a Birmingham maternity unit while his girlfriend Ashleigh howled and begged for pain relief. Giving birth, once a closely guarded rite of passage, is now practically a public spectacle. Ashleigh's best mate was there, too, wearing the look of a vegetarian confronted with a plate of tripe. Down the corridor, musician Chanelle had brought her mum, who had not only filled the birthing suite with scented candles, but was playing a CD of soothing tropical bird calls. Both mums-to-be did need all the support they could get. Pictured: Musician Chanelle with her mother Barbara and daughter Elari-Keziah at Birmingham Women's Hospital Chanelle's little girl was a whopper. After ten hours of labour, she still wasn't making an appearance, tropical birds or not Their stories were highlighted in this graphic but gripping programme because the births were not expected to be easy. Luke and Ashleigh already had one son, who developed sepsis after a difficult birth. Ashleigh was dreading the second time around: 'Pregnancy is not a big bubble of rainbows, glitter and magic,' she said fervently. When baby Athena arrived, she was as purple as a bruise all over and not breathing. To watch the midwives rub and massage her limp body was almost unbearable: I had to keep telling myself that surely the BBC wouldn't show a stillbirth at half past eight. Thankfully, she heaved and wailed, and then began to cry healthily. Millions must have cried along with her. Chanelle's little girl was a whopper. After ten hours of labour, she still wasn't making an appearance, tropical birds or not. Time seemed to pass more quickly on I'll Get This (BBC2) as the celebs got more sloshed And then, finally, with the aid of a suction cup, she arrived as though blasted out by compressed air. Motherhood left Chanelle reeling with happiness. 'It's like I've got this whole future to live and see what comes,' she marvelled. 'I'm going to be someone's great-grandmother one day!' Steady on, Chanelle. They grow up fast enough without wishing the years away. Time seemed to pass more quickly on I'll Get This (BBC2) as the celebs got more sloshed. At the beginning of this panel game played around a restaurant table, the talk was stilted and the mood was stiff. A couple of glasses of beer or vino seemed to sort that out, especially for actor Ade Edmondson, who went from being reserved and avuncular to downright raucous. The parlour games started to look more fun, too. A couple of glasses of beer or vino seemed to sort that out, especially for actor Ade Edmondson (pictured left with Jermaine Jenas and Nicola Coughlan), who went from being reserved and avuncular to downright raucous He narrowly avoided defeat and the forfeit paying the 412 bill for all five players. Instead, comedienne Sara Pascoe had to pick up the tab. She looked terrified all evening, and it turned out she had 412 reasons to be. Most of the celebs played it safe, ordering cheap dishes, in case they ended up paying. But Ade went for the 50 steak. That's the right idea. If you lose, the night will cost you a fortune anyway, so you might as well get a decent meal out of it. And if you win . . . the steak was free. (Natural News) The global coronavirus pandemic and the measures being implemented to stop its spread are rewiring peoples sensitivities about digital surveillance and data privacy. Governments around the world are now rolling out surveillance schemes even some that are particularly invasive all in the name of stopping the pandemic. Privacy advocates, however, warn that these governments will not want to let go of these technologies, even after the crisis is over. Big Brother is watching and wants you to stay at home In both South Korea and Israel, authorities use telecom data to track potential COVID-19 patients. Investigators in South Korea can scan smartphone data to find people who might have caught the coronavirus from someone they met within the space of 10 minutes. Israel, on the other hand, has tapped its anti-terrorist Shin Bet intelligence unit to track down potential COVID-19 patients using phone data. In the United Kingdom, at least one police force has started using drones to monitor public areas, shaming any residents caught going out for a stroll. Tunisia has taken similar steps, deploying security robots equipped with thermal cameras to enforce the lockdown in the capital city of Tunis. These measures are just some examples of how governments have turned to digital surveillance tools to track and monitor individuals in the name of slowing the spread of the pandemic. Many citizens in these countries have even welcomed the tracking technology intended to bolster defenses against the coronavirus. (Related: Coronavirus being used as justification to implement a total surveillance society.) Governments in Asia are setting a dangerous precedent, as most of them do not seek permission from individuals to track their cellphones, all in the name of identifying COVID-19 patients. After the initial outbreaks, the governments of China, South Korea and Taiwan have chalked up their early successes in flattening infection curves, in part, due to their use of surveillance programs. China, in particular, used smartphone data to track people who had left Wuhan, where the pandemic began, to go on holiday over the Lunar New Year. This information was then used by local officials who contacted the targeted individuals, asking them to quarantine themselves even if they hadnt shown any symptoms. The country also used security cameras and travel records to identify people who had been in contact with COVID-19 patients on trains, airplanes and even street corners, putting these people in forced isolation. Europe and America trying to follow suit Privacy laws and expectations tend to be more stringent in the West. However, that hasnt stopped governments in Europe and the U.S. from trying out different methods of digital surveillance. Some European nations plan to monitor their citizens movement using the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing (PEPP-PT) project. Those involved in the project claim that the technology used respects the privacy of those it monitors. We embrace a fully privacy-preserving approach. We build on well-tested, fully implemented proximity measurement and scalable backend service, states the project on its website. Meanwhile, U.S. officials are drawing cellphone location data from mobile advertising firms to track the presence of crowds but not individuals. In addition to this, Apple and Google recently announced plans to release a voluntary app that health officials can use to track a patients recent whereabouts, provided the patient agrees to share that information. A watershed moment According to security professionals, the coronavirus pandemic could become a watershed moment similar to 9/11. In the aftermath of the attack, governments around the world ushered in new surveillance powers in the name of protecting public safety. Jim Harper, an original member of the Department of Homeland Securitys (DHS) Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee, warned that once such surveillance powers are in place, they are rarely ever removed and often become repurposed as a political tool. This time, however, surveillance efforts have a new ally in the form of public-health experts who say that some form of digital tracking will be necessary for the months ahead, even after lockdowns are relaxed and people return to more normal lives. The need to track the spread of the outbreak and the movements of people infected with the virus has seemingly made Americans more open to the idea of anonymized surveillance. According to a Harris Poll survey of about 2,000 people conducted between March 28 and 30, over half of Americans now back anonymized government smartphone tracking. This is a huge shift compared to a similar Harris survey from last year, where Americans indicated that data privacy was the biggest issue facing companies. While peoples perceived invasiveness of such technologies varies, the tentpoles are shifting, says Joseph Cannataci, the United Nations special rapporteur on privacy rights. Things are going too fast, and not enough scrutiny is being applied, he states. Cannatacis next report to the U.N. General Assembly in October will address coronavirus surveillance and privacy. Sources include: WSJ.com 1 WSJ.com 2 InsidePrivacy.com PEPP-PT.org It doesnt matter if the cause of the claim relates to fires, floods, storms, cyclones or any other everyday event, we all know that all insurance claims must be appropriately investigated to facilitate them being resolved in a cost effective, timely and accurate manner for both the insured and the insurer. According to Morse, investigating, gathering information and evidence both on and off site is also critical when reporting on claims. Being thorough and accurate, he says, around the basics of what, where, when, how and who ensures the company can provide detailed reports for their clients. Reports require a level of detail that can not only provide the information required to determine an outcome and stand up if disputed, but also aid in the reduction of additional loss, damage and/or costs caused by delays in being able to get a decision on a claim, he said. Morse is adamant that the benefits of working with independent building and engineering consultants shouldnt be underestimated as it not only ensures all reports and scope of works are being undertaken without bias or a predetermined outcome, but also eliminates the insured and AFCA questioning the impartiality of the decision. Morse says that this factor is vital when it comes to the reputation management of any insurance company because of the increasing presence of online reviews and social media commentary that leaves companies vulnerable to aggrieved claimants to unleash on their insurer due to a lack of understanding of the process. He also says that claimants could question the impartiality of the loss adjustor handling their claim. While there are industry standards and practices to follow when investigating an incident, length of time in the industry is also a critical factor of getting the detail right as nothing can compensate for experience, Morse continued. A personable approach is also important as our role requires clear communication with the client to explain what our role is, throughout the process. The use of technology, Morse says, is becoming an increasingly important part of site investigations in the industry especially drones. While drones are being touted as a cost saving measure in some areas, there is no substitute for industry knowledge and being on the ground to potentially save costly mistakes further down the track. When there is a need for a drone at an inspection, we can provide this service, with the benefit of it being piloted by a licenced builder with extensive experience in the building industry, he said. Morse continued by saying Morse Building Consultancy provides unbiased, independent, qualified and experienced licenced building and registered engineering consultants to assist with any kind of claim from the everyday to CAT events. Our scope of works are detailed enough to nearly be, a bill of quantity, providing insurers with detailed information for tendering which in turn allows the claims staff or assessor to obtain a reserve which is realistic, he said. By having a thoroughly detailed scope of works it also reduces the likelihood of cost overruns and/or builder variations ensuring the reserve set by the claims staff is maintained. Morse says the company has expanded into Queensland, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, South Australia, Northern Territory and Tasmania to better support their clients with local services. The Mariel boatlift changed the face of Miami. More than 125,000 refugees arrived from the Port of Mariel in Cuba after Fidel Castro opened the gates. Most of the refugees settled in South Florida. Unlike other Cuban migrations, this one brought a wide cross-section of Cuban society, including Afro-Cubans, artists, and members of the LGBTQ community. The Cuban Heritage Collection (CHC) of the University of Miami Libraries possesses many holdings about the boatlift that can help students, scholars, and members of the community gain insight into this unprecedented event. Mariel is one of the most important and consequential historical events in the context of late Cold War relations between Cuba and the U.S., said Elizabeth Liz Cerejido, director of CHC and Esperanza Bravo de Varona chair. I see it as a tangled knot around which many strands of historical, social, economic, and racial facts become intertwined. In order to understand the exodus of Mariel, many perspectives must be taken into account, Cerejido explained. Beyond the stories of those who made that perilous journey, there are countless narratives from a myriad of perspectives that also tell the Mariel story, she added. Many of those perspectives can be found in the various holdings that the CHC possesses on the flotilla and its impact. They include the following. The Fort Chaffee Collection (1980-1996) was probably one of the most important holdings on Mariel because of the ways that it brings together the various aspects that defined this historical moment. In this case, it does so through the specific lens of life in a detention center in Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, where 19,000 refugees were detained. It comprises two donations. One is from Barbara Lawson, who was then the director of the Cuban-Haitian Task Force, and the other from Gaston A. Fernandez, author of The Mariel Exodus, Twenty Years Later: A Study on the Politics of Stigma and a Research Bibliography. The collection is made up of photographs, correspondence, government documents, and more, which provide insight into many aspects of what life was like at the detention center. It also includes a series of beautiful and poignant black and white portraits of individual detaineestaken by photographer Jim Calettawhich depict the human side of the crisis. Researchers also have access to all the editions of two newsletters that were published within the detention center: La vida nueva, created by the detainees themselves, and Crossroads, published by personnel from Fort Chaffee. The Alberto Muller Collection contains materials that include documents and letters related to the Mariel Boatlift that were collected by Muller, a Cuban-American writer and journalist. The Mirta Ojito Collection is a popular holding that is often accessed by researchers who are working on Mariel. Ojito, a Cuban-born author and journalist wrote a book, Finding Manana: A Memoir of a Cuban Exodus, that details her journey in the Mariel boatlift when she was a teenager. The collection contains her papers and documents. Ojito has promised to add to her collection. The Luis J. Botifill Oral History Project is an accumulation of taped sessions with prominent Cuban-born personalities, four interviews with Cuban exiles who played a pivotal role in the Mariel exodus. They are banker Bernardo Benes; post-modernist visual artist Laura Luna; anthropologist Mercedes Sandoval; and Siro del Castillo, a human rights advocate and community leader on immigrant issues. During the Mariel crisis, del Castillo managed a variety of responsibilities with the county and federal government, which made efforts to manage the crisis and provide services for refugees. The CHC also holds the full run of the magazine Mariel: Revista de literature y arte founded in New York by writers Reinaldo Arenas and Rene Cifuentes, among many other writers and intellectuals who came through Mariel. The CHC also has the papers of the magazine, which include correspondence and information about its founding. These materials are important for understanding the challenges that this generation faced in trying to publish their work and those of their peers. Issues of a Miami version of the Mariel Magazine, published in 1986, are also part of the CHC collection. Palante, a Cuban periodical, was created in 1961 with a focus on humor and political cartoons. It is important for the ways in which the periodical relied on political satire to illustrate the rhetoric propagated by the Cuban government about those who decided to leave the country. Castro labeled them as escoria, or scum. Patria is a periodical that focused on politics. Researchers working on Mariel will gain insight into the politics of the exile community in South Florida. Researchers also have access to numerous photographs related to Mariel that are part of the broader Cuban Photograph Collection. These include color and black and white photographs of protests by members of the Cuban exile community in support of the events that took place at the Peruvian embassy in Havana and the tent city in Miami. In addition, the pictures show refugees being processed. Many of the photos were donated by Diana Gonzalez Kirby. Visit https://www.library.miami.edu/chc/ to explore the Cuban Heritage Collections digital collections and oral histories. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 22) The Department of Health said more than 1,000 healthcare workers in the country were positive for the coronavirus disease, most of whom are doctors. The agency broke down on Wednesday the 1,062 infected healthcare workers, namely, 422 doctors, 386 nurses, 30 medical technologists, 21 radiological technologists, 51 nursing assistants and 152 other medical personnel such as administrative staff and barangay health workers. Of the number, 26 are dead, including 19 doctors. The World Health Organization expressed concern over the number of healthcare workers with COVID-19 in the Philippines. Dr. Abdi Mahamud, WHO-Western Pacific Region COVID-19 Incident Manager, said he is working with the DOH to find out if there is a possible shortage of personal protective equipment causing this trend. The DOH maintained that it is following WHO-guided protocols on the use of PPEs for medical frontliners. The agency is also working with local manufacturers on producing more sets. On Wednesday, Health Secretary Francisco Duque attended the turnover of 10,000 locally-made PPEs to the Philippine General Hospital, the first batch from 300,000 sets that will be delivered to the hospital and other facilities. This comes on top of its earlier purchase of one million sets which have been arriving in batches in the country since April 1. The agency also assured that there are negative pressure isolation rooms in hospitals that prevent the spread of the virus. The DOH on Tuesday also confirmed that 62 employees and 13 patients from the National Center for Mental Health were also infected while at least 40 people from its primary testing facility, the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, also got the disease. However, DOH clarified that the RITM staff did not contract the disease from processing test samples. A 69-storey skyscraper set to be the tallest tower in Sydney's western suburbs is one step closer to being built. Plans are underway for the tower to be developed on 2 O'Connell Street in Parramatta, along with a separate 11-story development next door. The project was approved on Tuesday by the Parramatta Local Planning Panel who is pushing for the maximum building height for the site to be changed from 35 metres to 217 metres. The tower still needs to be approved by the Parramatta Council and the NSW Department of Planning, and airports across Sydney are concerned with the height. A mock up photo of what the 69-storey could look like if it's approved to go ahead. It will become the tallest tower in Parramatta, in Sydney's west The skyscraper will comprise of both residential and commercial floor space and will tower over the Meriton's 67-storey twin towers currently under development. Sydney Metro Airports - which runs Bankstown Airport - are concerned the building and the use of cranes may interfere with airspace. 'It is recommended that the proponent of this development continue to advise Bankstown and Sydney Airports of the planned final height of any buildings as well as any associated crane activities to ensure that any approvals that may be required under the Airports (Protection of Airspace) Regulations 1996 are obtained prior to construction commencing,' a report for the development said. 'Sydney Metro Airports advised that a full aeronautical assessment is to be carried out before they can make comment and this would also need to be forwarded to Air Services and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.' The site will also sit across from heritage listed St John's cemetery that was built in 1790. The planning report states there should be no 'significant impact' on the cemetery. (Photo : Screenshot from Twitter of @appleinsider) Logitech's new touchpad case turns your iPad into a mini laptop with no compromise whatsoever, and it is even cheaper than Apple's Magic Keyboard! Read More: Hackers Invited To Hack United States Satellite With The Air Force's Consent, Why? Having a trackpad for your iPad feels so good, transforming your iPad into a mini-laptop. Thanks to iOS 13.4 for adding trackpad support opens up a new way to use your iPad and make it into a powerhouse laptop that you never thought could be possible. Why Logitech's Touchpad? Why Not? Let's start with pricing, Apple's iPad Pro comes with a hefty price tag, starting around $800 which costs a lot already and add their Magic Trackpad for about $300 to $350 depending on your retailers. That would bring you over the $1,000 price range, which at that price can get you one of the high-end tier computers or laptops already. Logitech's case, however, comes cheap in comparison with a $150 price tag on it and already has trackpad functions ready for your disposal. The Combo Touch, which is the name of Logitech's touchpad case, is a well-rounded case that provides support, security, and comfort for your iPad Pr, with just minor issues that can be remedied. The backlit keyboard is a welcome addition to the mundane ones. The keyboard feels dependable and responsive enough to garner praise. A row of extra function keys at the top of the keyboard feels and looks beautiful. It adds a home button, brightness controls. Volume, search keyboard backlight adjustments and play/pause monitoring, which adds to everything that is missing in Apple's Smart Keyboard and Magic Keyboard, mind you. Read More: Mount Everest Now Offers 5G For All Who Visit; 3 Chinese Telecom Companies Push For County-Wide 5G What Else Is There To Know? It looks bulky but offers just the right protection for your costly gadget. This is great if you are clumsy or you have kids. The kickstand also on the back is helpful to make it feel like a laptop; you can also choose to adjust it as well. There is a pencil loop that holds your Pencil if you have one of those. The keyboard itself is detachable, so the iPad can be used on its own with the keyboard base that can be used as a screen cover. You can also access the Lightning and headphone jacks; you need to loosen case indents to do so. The case itself is made to fit on a desk and not really for your lap. So it might be better called a mini PC rather than a laptop since it doesn't feel comfortable on your lap, but still, it's something you can quickly address. It may be the cheaper alternative for a keyboard for your iPad, but take note, it still is quite pricey, and it's up to you the reader to see if it indeed is worth transforming your iPad into your workhorse. Read More: Swish and Flick: Apple's Smart Ring Will Allow Users to Control Other Devices Just by Pointing at Them 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. J.K Rowling has given fans a glimpse into her impressive library after reorganising her book collection by colour amid the UK's COVID-19 lockdown. The Harry Potter author, 54, took to Twitter yesterday afternoon to reveal how she's passing the time by rearranging her books. She shared a short video of her home library, which features teal, wooden panelled walls packed full with neatly placed volumes, a stylish sofa and a large, picturesque window. The author, whose real name is Joanne, captioned the clip: 'Rearranging books is a very soothing lockdown activity.' J.K Rowling has given fans a glimpse into her impressive library (pictured) after reorganising her book collection by colour amid the UK's COVID-19 lockdown The Harry Potter author (pictured in April 2018), 54, took to Twitter yesterday afternoon to reveal how she's passing the time by rearranging her books The author, whose real name is Joanne, captioned the clip (pictured): 'Rearranging books is a very soothing lockdown activity.' Mrs Rowling also revealed the quote by 14th-century poet Edmund Spenser embellished at the top of her shelves in gold paint. 'It is the mind that maketh good of ill, that maketh wretch or happy, rich or poor,' the quote read. The quote is from the London-born writer's poem The Faerie Queene, celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Queen Elizabeth I. Reaction: Fans were quick to comment on the incredible reading space, with one writing: 'This is actually calming to watch' And for those that wondered if the collection included any Harry Potter pieces, Mrs Rowling was quick to reassure her fans that she did have some of her own books Fans were quick to comment on the incredible reading space, with one writing: 'This is actually calming to watch.' Another said: 'Your home library is exactly what I would want to cultivate if any of my work ever sold well enough to allow for it. Good on you!' while a third added: 'That's so perfect! But I could never put saga apart from each ' And for those that wondered if the collection included any Harry Potter pieces, Mrs Rowling was quick to reassure her fans that she did have some of her own books. 'To the people asking,' she wrote on Twitter. 'Yes, of course I've got Harry Potter books! These aren't my only bookshelves, they're simply the ones I decided to rearrange by colour during tea breaks.' It comes after reports that the author has purchased the Grade II listed cottage where she spent almost a decade of her childhood. Church Cottage at Tutshill (pictured above) was the multi-millionaire writers home from the ages of 9 to 18 The property has unique features and is even home to cheeky note the author scrawled into the wall when she was 17-years-old that read: Joanne Rowling slept here, circa 1982 Rowling, 54, along with her husband Dr Neil Murray (pictured together above), have even commissioned major renovation work for the property It comes after reports that the author has purchased the Grade II listed cottage where she spent almost a decade of her childhood. The property has unique features and is even home to a cheeky note the Harry Potter author scrawled into the wall when she was 17-years-old that read: Joanne Rowling slept here, circa 1982. Mrs Rowling, along with her husband Dr Neil Murray, have even commissioned major renovation works for the property in Wye Valley near Chepstow, it was revealed today. Church Cottage at Tutshill was the multi-millionaire writers home from the ages of 9 to 18, the property had previously gone on the market for 400,000. Sources said the property was purchased by Rowling some years ago in order to protect and preserve the building. Edinburgh based Caernarfon Lettings Ltd, the property company Rowling runs with her husband, has now purchased the property with Rowling listed at the person in significant control of the firm. A father-of-three has been jailed for stealing over 10,000 from a woman living in a care home who is now deceased. Gareth Levins (33) stole the money over a three week period using a bank card procured by a relation of his who had worked as a carer for the victim. None of the money has been recovered. Levins of Edenmore Crescent, Raheny, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to the theft of a total of 10,549 at various locations in Dublin on dates between January 30, 2017 and February 21, 2017. Detective Garda Andrew Fox told John Byrne BL, prosecuting, that the victim had moved into a care home in December 2016 and her daughter was keeping an eye on transactions in their joint bank account. In February 2017, the victim's daughter noticed a number of transactions she knew nothing about and contacted the bank. She was informed that someone had contacted the bank in January 2017 claiming to be her mother and requested a new card. In interview with gardai, Levins took responsibility for the thefts and said he was under threat to pay off a debt. He said he was related to a former care worker of the victim. Det Gda Fox said that the care worker pretended to be the victim and picked up the bank card when it was delivered to the woman's vacant address. The court heard that the victim died in November 2017. Levins has previous convictions for drug offences and is currently serving a sentence for assault causing harm which is due to expire in April 2021. He was on bail for this assault when he committed the thefts. Det Gda Fox agreed with Keith Spencer BL, defending, that the debt his client owed related to a car he had purchased from a garage run by nefarious characters. He agreed Levins said he was sorry in interview and that he would rather face a bullet than commit the offences again. Mr Spencer said his client was the father of three children. He said his client had a long standing difficulty with cocaine abuse, but was clean of drugs in custody. Judge Martin Nolan said this was a pretty cunning offence that might not have been detected but for the vigilance of the victim's daughter. He said Levins was not the only party involved in the crime and that he had what might be termed inside help. Judge Nolan sentenced Levins to two-and-half years imprisonment, but suspended the final 14 months on strict conditions. He ordered that the sentence run consecutive to the three year sentence Levins is currently serving. Casualties at a veterans hospital in western Massachusetts, previously reported by the WSWS here, continue to rise. On Friday, local news outlets reported 56 deaths caused by COVID-19 at Soldiers Home in Holyoke, with an additional 92 veteran residents testing positive for the virus and 5 cases pending. Employees have also been heavily affected at the hospital, with 81 confirmed infections. This is a staggering number of deaths and infections at a single facility. On April 14, only three days before the latest casualty numbers were released, the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reported on its website that there had been 241 patient deaths caused by COVID-19 in its facilities nationwide. Seen in this context, the scale of the disaster at the Soldiers Home is even more stunning; roughly 1-in-4 COVID-19 fatalities in the entire VA care system have taken place at a single facility in Massachusetts. The mass casualties reported at the Holyoke veterans hospital lend credence to accounts given by multiple nurses about the reckless disregard for safety procedures on the part of the hospital administration, whose superintendent was recently suspended by the Massachusetts Department of Health and Human Services. Nurses, speaking to the media as casualties were first reported, said management at the facility refused to provide them with personal protective equipment and instructed them to crowd patients together from multiple wards into a single ward as a solution to staffing shortages, due to infections. Nurses further claimed they were bullied or ignored when they raised concerns with administration about the lack of safety measures. All evidence points to an attempt by management to hide the outbreak from local authorities, who were only alerted by staff themselves after finding no remediation with their superiors. The recklessness and subsequent coverup that took place at the Holyoke hospital are part of a broader pattern of secrecy and mismanagement at elder care facilities. At many such placesboth public and for-profitinformation about outbreaks of COVID-19 is being withheld in an attempt to prevent a public outcry over the grave dangers seniors face at these woefully unprepared facilities. Even in normal times, chronic neglect and abuse taking place at nursing homes as well as the dreadful working conditions and low pay for employees are regularly featured in news stories. At the for-profit Life Care Center of Nashoba Valley nursing home in Littleton, Massachusetts, a large-scale outbreak of COVID-19 only came to the attention of local health authorities after the fire department was called to the facility 18 times in the span of four days. Maria Kreir, a nurse who denounced the lack of containment measures at the home to a local news outlet before authorities acted, died three weeks later. One facility in Brewster on Cape Cod reported two-thirds of residents had contracted the virus, while a nursing home in Belmont reported that nearly every resident was infected and that 30 residents had died. It is a sad fact that a significant percentage of the elderly residents who are infected with the disease will not recover. Considering that many facilities, counties and states were refusing to provide complete information on deaths at elder care facilities, the official toll of 3,800 reported by the New York Times on April 14 must be seen as significant underestimation. On April 19, the Department of Health and Human Services finally released a new policy requiring that nursing homes notify residents and staff of infections as they are discovered. As is the case with COVID-19 and many other illnesses, it is the elderly who are most vulnerable to succumbing. This makes preparation and planning for such an outbreak among this segment of the population even more urgent. In the coronavirus outbreak, facilities that should be places of care and treatment have become deathtraps, as has been demonstrated in Massachusetts, where nearly half of all deaths due to COVID-19 have occurred at homes dedicated to caring for the elderly. Pennsylvania casinos have been closed for about five weeks, and experts have begun to wonder what the gaming industry could look like when theyre able to reopen. Gaming revenues across the state in March were down more than 50 percent from the same month in 2019. And a much steeper decline in earnings is expected for April, as casino leaders remain uncertain of when theyll be able to open the doors of their physical locations. Publicly available figures show that cost-cutting measures and an increase in online gaming do not come close to making up for the loss of sales at brick-and-mortar casinos. Looking to the future, widespread economic struggles and health concerns stemming from the coronavirus pandemic lead to further questions. And they leave some skeptical that casinos can regain a semblance of business-as-usual whenever Gov. Tom Wolf greenlights a return to in-person gaming. The threat of the coronavirus could deter customers from traveling, gathering in crowds or touching public surfaces even in the absence of government restrictions, according to Bill Pascrell III, a gaming lobbyist with Princeton Public Affairs Group and a trustee of the GVC Foundation US. In past years, more than 90 percent of casino revenue in Pennsylvania came from in-person activities, such as slot machines and table games. So Pascrell said casinos must prepare plans to make customers and employees feel safe at their properties and find new ways to promote virtual gambling options to rebound in the wake of the coronavirus. Most of the properties throughout the country will be fine when this is over, Pascrell said. There will be some that wont be fine, because they wont be able to spring back into action because they either dont have the resources and the bandwidth to do so, or theyre not going to be innovative and creative. The gaming industry also must cope with morphing economic realities. More than 1.5 million people in Pennsylvania have filed for unemployment claims since the coronavirus outbreak began to upend American life last month, and leisure industries like gaming and other tourism activities could face challenges in attracting new customers this summer and beyond, Pascrell said. Its a question in front of many business leaders: After job losses and pay cuts piled up in recent weeks, will people be willing to spend money when businesses can reopen? Pascrell and Doug Harbach, the director of communications for the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, both said it was premature to project how an economic downturn could affect casinos. That question, for now, is difficult to answer because of the many factors in play. Whats not up for debate is the significant blow gaming revenues absorbed when Wolf ordered casinos to close last month. Casinos in the state amassed $153.5 million in revenue in March, which marks a 51 percent decrease from the same month last year, according to a revenue report the Pa. Gaming Control Board released Thursday. In March 2019, Pennsylvania casinos topped $316 million in revenue. The sharp decline in earnings came while casinos were open for about half of the month. The Gaming Control Board ordered all casinos in Pennsylvania to close their facilities March 16. Harbach said the drop in earnings was expected because the largest portion of revenues is typically generated by land-based casinos. With Wolfs stay-at-home order in effect through May 8, next months revenue report is likely to display a much more drastic decline in revenue. Harbach said he was unsure when casinos would be able to reopen, and reports suggest any restart of the economy will come in phases, leaving a murky path toward a return to in-person gaming. Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course in Grantville and Rivers Casinos in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh announced they had furloughed most of their employees in an effort to trim expenditures. Penn National Gaming, which owns Hollywood Casino and 41 other properties in 19 states, announced in March it would indefinitely furlough about 26,000 employees across the company because it expected to see no meaningful revenue for the foreseeable future. And Penn National halted construction on casinos it planned to open in York and Morgantown. Despite the setbacks, online gaming provides a small layer of cushion for casinos in Pennsylvania, according to Harbach and Pascrell. In March, properties in the state combined to pull in $24.3 million in revenue through casino-type online gaming, like virtual slot machines and card games, according to the revenue report. That marks a 25 percent increase from February, and online gaming alone generated $8.5 million in tax revenue for the state. It is fortuitous that in Pennsylvania we have the option of online gaming for people that want to partake in it, Harbach said. Revenue online will not reach in-person totals, but itll at least give the state some needed tax revenue. In-person slot and table games generated $115.5 million in revenue in February, so the closures of brick-and-mortar stores still sap Pennsylvania of significant cash flow. Even so, Pascrell said the $8.5 million in online gaming is better than nothing as some neighbor states have learned. Pascrell said lawmakers in states like New York might soon rethink laws prohibiting online gambling in the state. The online ramp-up as a result of the COVID-19, I think, is going to be of tremendous value to the online gaming industry, because many state governments and governors in particular and state legislators are now seeing the value, Pascrell said. States that have it are gaining revenue from it, and states that dont have it arent. New York has no online gaming at all; Pennsylvania and New Jersey are eating their lunch. Still, places like Hollywood Casino at Penn National cant rely on online gaming to lift revenues to near normal standards. In February, Hollywood casino raked in about $21 million in revenue from in-person table games and slots. Internet gaming pulled in just $2.3 million, according to the gaming board. And Pascrell said casinos cant expect for in-person earnings to return to normal levels as soon as they reopen without inventive thinking and great preparation. Its one thing for the government to open you back up, Pascrell said. But then you gotta bring your employees back and get them comfortable with operating in this new post-COVID world, but just like the airline industry are customers going to want to go into a casino in a crowded venue and risk getting sick? Pascrell said far-reaching policies to promote safety in establishments and concerted investments in virtual gaming can help casinos climb to their feet. Waiting and hoping for an eventual return to normalcy might send them spiraling. There are going to be a lot of folks that arent going to be able to survive because they cannot sustain their existing operations to be able to take advantage of the new ramp-up activity, Pascrell said. You have to be nimble; you have to be creative. 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. More from PennLive Where is my coronavirus stimulus payment? Why does the IRS portal not work? More updates New site helps track Pennsylvania restaurants open for carryout Face masks become mandatory in Pennsylvania: Heres what you need to know Pa. distillers selling unreal amounts of booze during coronavirus pandemic Which states besides Pennsylvania require masks in public because of the coronavirus? MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines has protested Chinas declaration that a Manila-claimed region in the disputed South China Sea is Chinese territory, and its aiming of weapons control radar at a Philippine navy ship, the countrys top diplomat said Wednesday. Chinas recent assertive moves in the disputed waterway as the world battles the coronavirus pandemic have been criticized by rival Southeast Asian claimant nations and the United States. Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said on Twitter that two diplomatic protests were received by the Chinese Embassy in Manila late Wednesday. China has declared a section of Philippine-claimed territory to be part of its southernmost province of Hainan, Locsin said, adding that a radar gun was pointed at a Philippine navy ship in Philippine waters. The actions were both violations of international law and Philippine sovereignty, Locsin said. China recently announced the establishment of two districts to administer two disputed groups of islands and reefs in the South China Sea to fortify its claim to virtually the entire waterway, among the worlds busiest. One district reportedly covers the Paracel islands and the other has jurisdiction over the Spratlys, the most hotly contested territory in the strategic waters. The Philippines has a presence on at least nine islands and islets in the Spratlys, an offshore region where China has turned seven disputed reefs into military-fortified islands, including three with runways. Several governments led by the U.S. have condemned the island-building in recent years as dangerously provocative, but Beijing insists it has a right to build on what it claims as its territory since ancient times. A Philippine government official told The Associated Press that a Chinese navy ship pointed its fire control radar at a Philippine navy ship off Commodore Reef in the Spratlys in mid-February. The radar locks weapons on a target prior to an actual attack, the official said. Another official said that although the Chinese ship did not fire at the Philippine ship, its action was very hostile and unprovoked. The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the delicate incident publicly. There was no immediate comment from Chinese officials. In addition to China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have been locked in long-simmering territorial disputes in the South China Sea. Two weeks ago, the Philippines expressed solidarity with Vietnam after Hanoi protested what it said was the ramming and sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat carrying eight fishermen by a Chinese coast guard ship in disputed waters near the Paracels. The Philippine foreign office recalled that a Chinese vessel rammed and sank a Philippine fishing boat last June, leaving 22 Filipino fishermen floating in the high seas. They were rescued by a Vietnamese fishing vessel. Washington also expressed serious concern over the Vietnamese vessels sinking and called on China to remain focused on supporting efforts to combat the pandemic and stop exploiting the distraction or vulnerability of other states to expand its unlawful claims in the South China Sea. I ts the genre that everyones heard of, few know a great deal about and lets be honest many of us are a little bit scared by: death metal. Its a type of music defined by lyrics obsessed with gory fatalities, a dark aesthetic that isnt averse to a bit of Satanism, and a sound that seems to have been taken directly from a particularly wretched corner of hell. As such, death metal has had to contend with a fair bit of controversy Cannibal Corpse, one of the genres most popular acts with a penchant for gruesome album covers and song titles such as Post Mortal Ejaculation, has had its music variously banned in Germany, Australia and Russia. Theres been no small amount of ridicule to accompany the disgust, either. There cant be a death metal fan out there who hasnt had to endure a parodied impression of the genre from a non-believer. Similarly, there's hardly a lack of stereotyping: most people would say this is music made by angry men, listened to by frustrated teenagers. But despite all that, death metal has clung onto a fervid fanbase for more than three decades. It began to pick up speed back in the mid-1980s, in the paradoxically sunny surroundings of Tampa, Florida, where a group of bands took the rage that ran through thrash metal albums such as Slayers Hell Awaits and twisted it into something altogether more grotesque. Death metal was about pushing everything to its extremes. Its why the music sounds like it does furiously double-pedalled blast beats on the drums, erratic time signatures, down-tuned guitars played hell-for-leather, and grisly, mostly unintelligible vocals known as death growls. Its why many song titles are so explicit, the album covers are so disturbing and the logos are so hard to read. Its also why some bands have taken to chucking animal guts into the crowd at shows (that was Deicide, back in the early days, although its a habit theyve since given up). Where the name death metal actually comes from is the subject of some debate. Possessed, broadly acknowledged as the genres earliest proponents, released a demo in 1984 called Death Metal, with a song of the same name on their seminal debut album, Seven Churches. Others point to the demo Death by Metal, released by another pioneering group called Death in 1984. Their 1987 record, Scream Bloody Gore, is a foundational album of the scene. Regardless of where the term originated precisely, it was the scene in Tampa that fired the deathly revolution. Morbid Angel, Deicide, Obituary, Death and many others stoked the flames, which eventually caught the interest of labels such as Roadrunner and Relativity. Earache, a label founded in Nottingham that championed the early scene, even signed a deal with Columbia Records, a subsidiary of the Sony Music behemoth, in the early 90s. It was around that time that this seemingly unmarketable music came closest to the mainstream. And while it didnt last long grunge soon took over as the vogue death metals burgeoning popularity gave rise to scenes around the world, most notably in the Swedish cities of Stockholm and Gothenburg. It also spawned a dizzying number of subgenres and fusions: melodic death metal (more melody, less growling), brutal death metal (even faster, heavier and trickier), blackened death-doom (death metal with slower doom metal drumming and shrieking black metal vocals), goregrind (grindcore and death metal) and pornogrind (goregrind, but with explicitly sexual themes). Thats just to name a few. Wherever the genre goes next, it seems fairly certain that death metal will have to make do with its pariah status. It means that those in the know will be left to enjoy the technical prowess of the genres musicians, and the visceral thrill of death metals extremism youll struggle to find quite the same anywhere else. Listen: Scream Bloody Gore by Death Watch: Death by Metal (2016) Read: Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal and Grindcore by Albert Mudrian A-Z of Music: So far Tyson Foods, Inc. TSN is undertaking some concrete measures to ensure safety of its employees as its production facilities remain operational amid the coronavirus menace. Recently, the company resumed operations at its pork plant in Columbus Junction, Iowa. The lowa plant which was non-operational for two weeks due to coronavirus outbreak will run at limited capacity for now. Nonetheless, management expects to gradually increase manufacturing activities in this particular plant. On Apr 6, Tyson Foods had suspended operations in its Iowa plant. The company stated that this step was taken as more than 24 cases of coronavirus were detected at the facility in Iowa. Apart from this, the companys other meat and poultry facilities are also operational although few of these plants are running at limited capacity due to labor absenteeism among other reasons. Moreover, Tyson Food has suspended operations for one day at several facilities for sanitization process. Notably, Tyson Food has been implementing high-level deep cleaning and sanitizing at its facilities. Further, it has been installing infrared temperature scanners in several plant locations. Moreover, as social distancing is the key to contain COVID-19, Tyson Foods has created dividers between workplaces with an aim to expand space between employees. Additionally, Tyson Foods workers are required to use personal protective equipment like face covers as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. We note that the coronavirus outbreak is spreading at an alarming rate. The pandemic has infected more than 2 million people worldwide and the death toll has crossed 160,000. As complete physical isolation is the sole method to flatten the curve, governments across several countries are imposing lockdowns and curfews. With community transmission increasing in scale, people are hoarding essentials so that they do not have to venture out for daily supplies. Certainly, the stockpiling works well for consumer staple players like Tyson Foods. Also, this is leading to heavy demand at departmental store retailers, discount store retail chains and supermarkets. In fact, many retailers like Dollar Tree, Inc. DLTR, Dollar General Corporation DG and Walmart Inc. WMT are hiring associates to efficiently cater to customers burgeoning demand for essential goods and delivery needs. Last month, Tyson Foods stated that it will pay around $60 million as bonuses to its 116,000 frontline employees and Tyson truckers in the United States. The eligible candidates will receive a bonus of $500 during the first week of July in addition to the other support announced by the company amid the pandemic. The companys thank you bonus is a response to workers commitment toward continued production to meet consumers demand for groceries in such challenging times. We note that, shares of this Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) company have lost 29.2% in the past three months compared with the industrys decline of 17.1%. Story continues You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. 5 Stocks Set to Double Each was hand-picked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2020. Each comes from a different sector and has unique qualities and catalysts that could fuel exceptional growth. Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor. Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Walmart Inc. (WMT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Dollar Tree, Inc. (DLTR) : Free Stock Analysis Report Tyson Foods, Inc. (TSN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Dollar General Corporation (DG) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research As 50 per cent of the coronavirus patients in Indore citys busiest COVID-19 hospital initially did not show any symptoms for the infection, the activists have urged the state government to scale up the screening to identify asymptomatic persons. Talking to PTI, Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Science's (SAIMS) Medicine Department head, Dr Ravi Dosi, said in the last one month, he had seen around nearly 550 COVID-19 patients in the hospital. "Of them, 275 did not demonstrate the pandemic symptoms initially," he said. Fever, sore throat, cold and dry cough are some of the symptoms of coronavirus infection, he added. At least 73 per cent of unidentified asymptomatic patients showed up in other hospitals. A doctor from the government-run Manorama Raje TB hospital said that their facility has seen 90 virus patients since a month. "Of them, 66 per cent did not show any symptoms," the doctor said. A health activist, Amulya Nidhi, said, "The government should scale up the screening and testing of common people to identify the asymptomatic patients and admit them to hospitals before the lockdown is lifted. "Otherwise, the asymptomatic patients would affect many others in the city," he said. The city has 30 lakh plus population. Other activists expressed similar concerns. District Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO), Praveen Jadia, said that samples of 4,000 people were sent to different laboratories for testing over the last one month, of whom 923 tested positive. Fifty-two people have died during treatment, while 72 have been discharged after recovery, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Air Quality Continues to Show Signs of Improvement The Department of Environment & Climate Change, working with the Environmental Agency and UK air quality experts Ricardo, reports that the air quality around Gibraltar has continued to show improvement following the lockdown. This is evident throughout Gibraltar in respect of the pollutants that have so far been examined, namely Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), combined oxides of Nitrogen (NOx), and particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) have decreased. These pollutants are produced in emissions from burning fossil fuels such as in power generation, road traffic, shipping and aviation. The reduction is seen to be greatest during the week, when the reduction of work-related traffic will be greater than at weekends. It is evident throughout Gibraltar, including the Europort area, Devils Tower Road, Gibdock and the South District. The exception in that PM10 in Rosia Road appears to have remained largely the same, even though other pollutant levels have dropped there. This may indicate that traffic, possibly motorcycle traffic, remains at similar levels at Rosia Road. Other than this, levels are down. For example, for Devils Tower Road, daily plots show that the average concentration of the most dangerous particles (PM2.5) have not been above 8ug per m3 since lockdown, while they reached as high as 12ug per m3 in January. The attached plots show similar results for all these pollutants in most of the sites. This improvement in air quality is most likely the result of reduction in traffic, with reduction in construction and ship repair also contributing. There will have been reductions from neighbouring areas across the Bay too, which could also be contributing to these results. Minister for the Environment John Cortes commented, The results are to be expected. They do prove that traffic is now our main source of diminished air quality, which should encourage us to redouble efforts to deal with this after the current crisis when we start to regain a reviewed normality. The fact that poor air quality affects respiratory health is particularly significant as this will be key to good health in later years if COVID-19 becomes endemic. For the moment one consolation of the difficulties we are living through is the fact that we are breathing cleaner air. The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea of Christian Michel James, an alleged middleman arrested in connection with the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam cases, seeking interim bail on the grounds of risk of contracting coronavirus in Tihar jail. A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and B R Gavai, which took up the interim bail plea through video conferencing, said that as per the criteria fixed by high powered committee constituted by government in pursuance of directions of apex court, the petitioner (Michel) cannot be granted bail. Advocate Aljo K Joseph, appearing for Michel, said that because of his vulnerable age and overcrowding in jail, he is likely to contact COVID-19 which may be detrimental to his health. He submitted that Delhi High Court was wrong in dismissing his interim bail plea on the ground that his apprehensions are unfounded. When contacted about the proceedings, Joseph said, The bench told me that as per the criteria fixed for release of prisoners in wake of coronavirus pandemic by the High Powered committee, the foreigners lodged in jails cannot be released. The High Court on April 7 had dismissed his bail plea saying that the apprehension of Michel that because of his vulnerable age and overcrowding in jail, he is likely to contact COVID-19 which may be detrimental to his health, is unfounded. It had said, As regards the apprehension of the petitioner (Michel) being infected by COVID-19 pandemic, it may be noted that the petitioner is lodged in a separate cell with only two other prisoners and thus, is not in a barrack or dormitory where there are a number of prisons. It is not the case of the petitioner that any of the two inmates residing with him are suffering from COVID-19. "Hence, the apprehension of the petitioner also because of the vulnerable age and overcrowding in jail that he is likely to contact COVID-19 which may be detrimental to his health, is unfounded. In his plea, the 59-year-old Michel has claimed that his health condition was critical and incompatible with the current prison status, especially to cope up with the risk of contracting the COVID-19 infection which could have a lethal effect on him as he is already suffering from serious pathologies. Michel, extradited from Dubai, was arrested by the ED on December 22, 2018. On January 5 last year, he was sent to judicial custody in the ED case. He is also lodged in judicial custody in another case registered by the CBI in connection with the scam. Michel is among the three alleged middlemen being probed in the case by the ED and the CBI. The other two are Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa. On April 1, the apex court had asked Michel to first approach the high court with his plea. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Welsh Government to provide 33m to councils to continue funding free school meals during summer holidays This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Apr 22nd, 2020 Wales has become the first country in the UK to guarantee ongoing funding for the provision of free school meals until schools reopen or until the end of August. Education Minister Kirsty Williams has today confirmed each eligible child will receive the equivalent of 19.50 a week. With the support of the Welsh Local Government Association, the Welsh Government will make 33 million available to help local authorities continue to provide free school meals. Earlier this week Wrexham Council announced that from Monday 4th May the grab and go packed lunches scheme will be replaced with money paid directly into bank accounts to purchase food. The move has been welcomed by Wrexhams Assembly Member, Lesley Griffiths. Ms Griffiths said: Many constituents, including local Labour councillors, have contacted me about this issue so I trust this latest announcement will be welcomed. It provides reassurance the most vulnerable in our communities will continue to be supported by the Welsh Government during the coronavirus crisis. However, locally serious concerns have been raised with me regarding Wrexham Councils Grab & Go initiative, with indications suggesting the uptake is nowhere near the figures which exist for those children eligible. This is a critical and challenging time for many families and I am very worried about the health and welfare of children who, through no fault of their own, may be going hungry. I have made urgent representations to the Welsh Government and Wrexham Council on the matter. Although the Council has indicated that from Monday 4th May money will be paid directly into bank accounts, there is an example of at least one Local Authority in Wales that has been providing direct payments to parents and guardians since the end of March. I hope this latest announcement will enable Wrexham Council to swiftly reassess and improve their provision of free school meals to ensure all those eligible receive direct payments as soon as possible. If you have any queries email at freeschoolmeals@wrexham.gov.uk. You can register your details on the councils website, here. Botswana Federation of Public Parastatal and Private Sector Unions (BOFEPUSU) have expressed concern over the decay of labour relations between government and public sector unions. The federation argues that sound industrial relations are only achievable through constructive and genuine social dialogue with the spirit of objectively addressing the plight of workers. According to BOFEPUSU this needs to be based on respect for labour laws and policies, construction of effective social dialogue institutions and good faith in such engagements. "The public sector Unions engaged in bargaining with Government on salary negotiations, and concluded with Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) for salary increment of 6 percent for scales C and D, and 10 percent for A and B for financial years 2019/2020 and 2020/2021. The increment for the financial year 2019/2020 has already effected, and thus exhausting the first part of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The second part of the Collective Bargaining Agreement effected on the 1st April 2020 as directed by the Government Directive of 24th March 2020, and this salary increment has been budgeted for as per the budget tabled in Parliament in February 2020 by the Minister of Finance Development and Planning," BOFEPUSU Deputy Secretary General Ketlhalefile Motshegwa said in a statement. Motshegwa said the Government has shockingly adopted a unilateral decision tantamount to a decree, to cut and defer salary increment of public servants for six months tentatively, meaning that it could be more than six months. This unfortunate action by Government, he said is contemptuous of the spirit of good faith in negotiations and bargaining, for this unilateralism dents and toxicates industrial relations, something that is gravely terrible for the socio-economic landscape of the country. The Federation urges the leadership of the country to be thoughtful enough and espouse sound industrial relations, by respecting and complying with particulars of Collective Bargaining Agreement with Public Sector Unions. Government must be sensitive to the reality that, should she unrelentingly persist with her mission, such will further exacerbate the already virulent industrial relations in the public service," he said this week. This comes after government revealed last week that increment for salaries would be deferred owing to the COVID19 pandemic. Pentagon Report Advises US Navy to Cut Two Carriers, Adopt More Small Combat Ships Sputnik News 00:00 GMT 21.04.2020(updated 00:01 GMT 21.04.2020) An internal assessment from the Office of the US Secretary of Defense reportedly recommends the US Navy remove two aircraft carriers from its fleet and enlist dozens of additional lightly manned or unmanned ships. Documents obtained by Defense News show that amid the Pentagon's review of the US Navy's force structure, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper's office drew up an assessment which called for the service to reduce its aircraft carrier fleet from 11 to nine ships. Furthermore, the study recommended a surface force of somewhere between 80 and 90 large combatants and 55 to 70 light combatants. This contrasts sharply with past force projections, as last year the Navy bought two Ford-class aircraft carriers and withdrew the USS Harry Truman from an early retirement in an effort to reach its goal of a 355-ship force. Eminent US policy think tank The Heritage Foundation has called for still more, saying the US Navy needs 400 ships, including 13 aircraft carriers. The US' Ford-class and Nimitz-class supercarriers are by far the largest on the planet, weighing in at 100,000 tons and carrying 80 aircraft each. Retired Navy Captain Jerry Hendrix told the outlet that deployment would have to be restructured if such a recommendation was carried out by the Navy. "The deployment models we set and we're still keeping were developed around 15 carriers, so that would all fall apart," Hendrix said, speaking of the US' carrier presence in the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. "This would be reintroducing reality. A move like this would signal a new pattern for the Navy's deployments that moves away from presence and moves towards surge and exercise as a model for carrier employment." Defense News highlighted that the assessment calls for the Navy to cease expanding its large surface combatant fleet, which is currently made up of around 90 cruisers and destroyers. Esper communicated similar ideas in a previous interview with the outlet, saying that one of his visions for the future fleet would require the service to "much more aggressively" push for lightly manned ships. "You can build them so they're optionally manned, and then, depending on the scenario or the technology, at some point in time they can go unmanned," he said. Esper's calls for "more smaller surface combatants" were criticized in March by Forbes defense contributor Craig Hooper, who explained that US Navy ships have historically been unable to operate in extreme weather conditions, and a greater reliance on lighter ships would put more lives at risk. "Do [Esper] and other similarly minded policymakers understand that they may be arguing for a fleet that will be more effective fighting from a pier than out in the contested seas the future Navy is meant to secure?" he asked rhetorically, adding that "as China and Russia emerge, the Navy can no longer plan on operating in calm seas." "Today, as storms are becoming stronger and more frequent, the chances of a fight in higher, rougher seas will only increase," Hooper argued. News of this review comes while the Navy is conducting its own force structure assessment, which Defense News notes is predicted to echo the US Marine Corps' previously stated desire to become more integrated with the Navy. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The comments come a week after vessels from Irans Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy came close to US ships in the Gulf. US President Donald Trump tweeted on Wednesday morning that he had told the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy Iranian gunboats that harass US ships. I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea, Trump tweeted. Trump did not cite a specific event in his tweet or provide details. He said later on Wednesday that US Navy ships would shoot Iranian gunboats that get too close out of the water. Were not going to stand for it. If they do that thats putting our ships in danger and our great crews and sailors in danger Im not going to let that happen. And we will theyll shoot them out of the water, he said during a White House briefing. Thats a threat. When they get that close to our boat, and they have guns, they have very substantial weapons on those boats, but well shoot them out of the water. I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 22, 2020 Senior Pentagon officials said Trumps comments were meant as a warning to Tehran but suggested that the US military would continue to abide by their existing right to self defence instead of changing their rules. The president issued an important warning to the Iranians, what he was emphasising is all of our ships retain the right of self-defence, Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist told reporters at the Pentagon. Following Trumps tweet, an Iranian armed forces spokesman said the US should focus on saving its military from the coronavirus. Today, instead of bullying others, the Americans should put all their efforts toward saving those members of their forces who are infected with coronavirus, Abolfazl Shekarchi said, according to Irans semi-official ISNA news agency. Trumps comments on Wednesday came about a week after 11 vessels from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy came close to US ships. On Sunday, the Revolutionary Guard acknowledged it had a tense encounter last week with US warships in the Gulf, but alleged without offering evidence that US forces sparked the incident. Iranian and US vessels routinely have tense encounters in the Gulf and its narrow mouth, the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the worlds oil passes. Satellite launch Earlier on Wednesday, the Revolutionary Guard said it had put the countrys first military satellite into orbit, dramatically unveiling what experts described as a secret space programme with a surprise launch that came amid wider tensions with the US. The satellite orbited the Earth at 425km [264 miles], said the elite forces official website. This action will be a great success and a new development in the field of space for Islamic Iran. The launch immediately raised concerns among experts about whether the technology used could help Iran develop intercontinental ballistic missiles. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Iran needs to be held accountable for what theyve done. They have now had a military organisation that the United States has designated a terrorist attempt to launch a satellite, Pompeo said at a news conference. Tensions between the US and Iran have escalated since Trump pulled the US out of the landmark Iran nuclear deal in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions. Earlier this year, the US killed Qassem Soleimani, the head of Irans elite Quds Force, in a drone strike in Iraq. Iran retaliated on January 8 with a rocket attack on Iraqs Ain al-Assad base where US forces were stationed. No US troops were killed or faced immediate bodily injury, but more than 100 were later diagnosed with traumatic brain injury. Hemogenyx to use its advanced humanized mice to develop potential treatments for COVID-19 LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / April 22, 2020 / Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals plc (HEMO.L), the biopharmaceutical group developing new therapies and treatments for deadly blood diseases, is deploying its groundbreaking research and technologies to develop potential treatments for COVID-19. Using its humanized mice, the Advanced peripheral blood Hematopoietic Chimera ("ApbHC"), which were developed to model blood and autoimmune diseases and to test treatments, Hemogenyx will seek to discover human neutralizing antibodies - antibodies that are typically developed by the human immune system to neutralize invading viral pathogens - that could be used to fight SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) infections. Prior to the appearance of COVID-19, Hemogenyx had been working independently and with a number of pharmaceutical company partners to utilize the exceptional features of ApbHC to identify and isolate human neutralizing antibodies for use as antiviral therapies. The Company's methodology is generally applicable to new pathogens including viruses, as previously described in the Company's original announcement of the development of ApbHC. With the outbreak of COVID-19, the Company concluded that it would potentially be applicable to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. As part of its studies, Hemogenyx will transplant cells from blood samples from patients who are either recovering or have already recovered from COVID-19 into its ApbHC humanized mice. The process will allow the Company's scientists to recreate a set of anti-SARS-CoV-2 virus antibodies which could be used for the treatment of COVID-19. In addition, the study will aim to demonstrate how Hemogenyx's technology can be deployed rapidly in emergencies in order to discover human neutralizing antibodies against a host of viral pathogens, including what infectious disease experts in the bioprotection and biodefense sectors call "Disease X", meaning as-yet unknown viruses that may represent a similar or greater threat than the one presented by COVID-19. Story continues Concurrently, Hemogenyx has initiated a pilot study to understand why some individuals who are infected with SARS-CoV-2 are asymptomatic, some exhibit mild symptoms and some become very sick. Such understanding could prove essential for both the development of new treatments for COVID-19 and managing the current risk of infection. Should the study prove to be successful, Hemogenyx will aim to develop and commercialize a test that could identify people with potentially high/low risk of severe illness caused by the virus. This development is an application of the Company's existing work, taking place alongside its long-term development of new treatments for blood and autoimmune diseases, which remain on track. Dr Vladislav Sandler, Hemogenyx's Chief Executive Officer commented: "Although Hemogenyx has not traditionally been focused on fighting infectious diseases, we have always been focused on saving lives. In light of the current COVID-19 pandemic, we are determined to use our proprietary technology, expertise and resources to save lives and to alleviate suffering. We are hopeful that our humanized mice will be an indispensable tool for rapidly managing future outbreaks of viral infections." Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 until the release of this announcement. Enquiries: Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals plc https://hemogenyx.com Dr Vladislav Sandler, Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder headquarters@hemogenyx.com Peter Redmond, Non-Executive Director SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP Tel: +44 (0)20 3470 0470 Matthew Johnson, Vadim Alexandre, Soltan Tagiev Peterhouse Capital Limited Tel: +44 (0)20 7469 0930 Lucy Williams, Duncan Vasey, Charles Goodfellow US Media enquiries Tel: +1 (323) 646-3249 Lowell Goodman lowell@corbomitecomms.com About Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals plc Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals plc ("Hemogenyx") is a publicly traded company (HEMO.L) headquartered in London, with its wholly-owned US operating subsidiaries, Hemogenyx LLC and Immugenyx LLC, located at its state-of-the-art research facility in New York City and a wholly-owned Belgian subsidiary, Hemogenyx-Cell SPRL, located in Liege. Hemogenyx is a pre-clinical stage biopharmaceutical group developing new medicines and treatments to treat blood and autoimmune disease and to bring the curative power of bone marrow transplantation to a greater number of patients suffering from otherwise incurable life-threatening diseases. Hemogenyx is developing several distinct and complementary product candidates, as well as a platform technology that it uses as an engine for novel product development. For more than 50 years, bone marrow transplantation has been used to save the lives of patients suffering from blood diseases. The risks of toxicity and death that are associated with bone marrow transplantation, however, have meant that the procedure is restricted to use only as a last resort. Hemogenyx's technology has the potential to enable many more patients suffering from devastating blood diseases such as leukemia and lymphoma, as well as severe autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, aplastic anemia and systemic lupus erythematosus (Lupus), to benefit from bone marrow transplantation. This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com. SOURCE: Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals plc View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/586322/Hemogenyx-Pharmaceuticals-PLC-Announces-COVID-19-Project-Initiated Toronto, Canada When Canadas largest Sikh gurdwara shut down its langar, or community kitchen, last month due to the coronavirus, volunteers knew it could not be closed for long. Nothing like this has happened before, said Ranjit Singh Dulay, secretary of the Ontario Khalsa Darbar in Mississauga, Canada. Im here in Canada 35 years. Ive never seen like that. Before it closed, volunteers quietly served freshly-made meals to up to 2,500 people from the greater Toronto area on an average day. Regular patrons included the elderly and international students, many of whom struggled to put food on the table. People worried about their bills, money for groceries now is when they need these services, Dulay said. That is why the langar was adapted so it could reopen as a take-out service. Up to 600 people a day continue to receive food packets, Dulay said. Up to 600 people a day continue to receive food packets from the Khalsa Darbar langar [Courtesy of Ontario Khalsa Darbar] When governments closed non-essential services and limited gatherings, faith organisations moved quickly, closing most churches, mosques and gurdwaras to visitors, and launching online portals or live-streams. But it was the sudden loss of experiences around worship like communal gatherings, meals, and face-to-face connections and necessary services that have hit faith communities the hardest. The lockdowns have been more difficult as important faith holidays Easter, Vaisakhi, Ramadan and New Year approach and pass. Langar is more than just food, said Jaskaran Singh Sandhu, the former executive director of World Sikh Organization. As an integral expression of seva or service, a central tenet of Sikhism, community members volunteer their time, preparing meals and serving others. Sandhu said he grew up around the gurdwara. Theyre bedrocks of the community. The outpouring was really clear its something that people relied on. Caremongering Canadians anxiety levels meanwhile have worsened dramatically since COVID-19, according to the results of a survey published on April 2. Nearly six million Canadians have filed for job loss benefits. During crisis, religious communities often turn to their faith, said Shahina Siddiqui, founder and executive director of the Winnipeg-based Islamic Social Services Association. Not to be able to go to a mosque, or be in a congregation, adds a layer to that anxiety. Her clients include refugees and the elderly. For many in the faith community, the response to COVID-19 measures has been to look outwards, to help those in need. While mosques may be closed, Canadian Muslims have taken this as an opportunity for caremongering, said Mustafa Farooq, CEO of the National Council of Canadian Muslims, referring to the trend that has emerged in Canada to help vulnerable communities. Volunteers with Islamic Relief put together packets of necessities for those in their communities [Courtesy of Islamic Relief Canada] Zahraa Saab, a public health professional, has been working with her local mosque and faith leaders to develop a database of evidence-based information and community services for those in need. She says there has been a tremendous outpouring of support. Initiatives like the Good Neighbour Project were created in March, with community members mobilising, delivering groceries, checking on elders, and providing services to those in need. Charity is a very important pillar of our faith, and people are really putting that into action. Humanitarian aid organisations like Islamic Relief Canada and Khalsa Aid have organised drop-offs at local food banks and shelters across Canada. Islamic Relief said they have donated 5,000 kits across the country in the last three weeks, with volunteers quickly putting together hygiene products and non-perishable food for people in need. They are also providing financial aid. Khalsa Aid volunteers have delivered rations, including prescription medicines and groceries, to people in more than 600 locations. In one city alone, a Khalsa Aid team delivered rations to 65 international students in need. Khalsa Aid Canadas national director, Jatinder Singh, said volunteers at his gurdwara in Victoria, British Columbia, are sewing cloth masks for essential workers and care homes in nearby communities. Islamic Relief volunteers pose near packets of necessities for the community [Courtesy of Islamic Relief] [Daylife] Several charities and mosques have jointly called on the federal government for more support. On one hand, the demand for services have increased, but the ability to deliver has decreased, said Farooq, as fundraising activities have been directly affected by closures related to COVID-19. The mosque closures have been personally difficult for Farooq. Ive been going to congregational prayers since I was a child; to suddenly not go, to not see my colleagues, its been challenging. As the month of Ramadan approaches, Saab feels nostalgic, as events and gatherings common to this time are cancelled. The realisation that we might not be able to break fast together, in person, will be tough, she said. In Surrey, British Columbia, the annual Vaisakhi Parade has been cancelled. The biggest one outside India, last April it drew more than 500,000 people. We dont really notice it, in our day-to-day lives, said Sandhu, but its in these moments that you gain a true understanding of how important these institutions are and the role they play. Rajasthan reported 133 new cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday, taking the total number of infections in the state to 1,868, the state health department said. Jaipur, which is a coronavirus hotspot, reported 66 cases while 44 cases were reported from Ajmer, which has seen a worrying rise in cases in the past couple of days. Six cases were reported from Kota and seven from Tonk. Four cases were reported from Nagaur. Three cases were reported from Jodhpur, another hotpot. One case each was reported from Bharatpur, Dausa and Sawai Madhopur. Jaipur now has 663 Covid-19 cases while Jodhpur has 326, which includes 47 positive cases of evacuees from Iran. A total of 27 people have died of the coronavirus in the state. Follow coronavirus latest updates here. Health minister Raghu Sharma said the positive cases were not a matter of concern as it shows the real situation on the ground regarding the spread of the disease. Aggressive testing is part of our strategy. We are now conducting 4,700 tests per day and soon we will be in a position to carry out 10,000 tests per day. After that we will establish testing facilities in all 33 districts, he said. Rohit Kumar Singh, additional chief secretary, health, had already said that the rise in number of positive cases was expected on Tuesday and Wednesday as the test results of the backlog 4,000 samples sent to a private lab in Delhi have started coming will be entered in the database. Sharma said the government had hoped that the rapid testing kits would aid in tracing symptomatic cases but the 30,000 kits that were sent by the ICMR to Rajasthan were found faulty. To test accuracy of the kits, we used 168 kits to test Covid-19 patients. It showed even positive patients as negative. There should have been a 90 per cent corelation between the rapid test and PCR test but there was only 5.4 per cent corelation so we stopped the tests and wrote to ICMR, he said. Rajasthan was also boosting the health workforce in the state with the appointment of 2,000 doctors soon, the minister said. The process of recruitment of 2,000 doctors that was announced in the budget has started. In one month or so, we will finish the recruitment process, he said. The minister said 735 doctors who were recently recruited have already been posted in districts. He said the recruitment process 12,500 General Nursing and Midwifery (GNM) and Auxiliary Nursing Midwifery (ANM) posts had been completed but their posting was stuck due to litigation. We have consulted the advocate general on this and it has been decided that 9000 posts on which there are no litigations, those staff will be posted in the field. In view of continuing attacks on police personnel and health workers in the state, Sharma reiterated that no misbehaviour with COVID warriors will be tolerated. Strict action will be taken and arrests will be made, if required. He said for convenience of patients suffering from other illnesses who are finding it difficult in these times to get treatment, the government has started 400 mobile OPD vans from Wednesday. These vans will take patients or pregnant women to the nearest health facility so they can get treatment, especially in curfew bound and rural areas, he said. Amid an ongoing debate about whether certain streets should be closed to vehicles and designated for pedestrians, one urban planner has created a visualization mapping out the width of every New York City street, showing that it is "extremely difficult, if not impossible, to maintain social distance" while walking narrow avenues. "As an urban planner, I've always been hyper-aware of how crowded, narrow city streets can affect pedestrian's quality of life and safety," Meli Harvey told NBC News. "The pedestrian experience and the ease of walking around a city has a big impact on people's ability to access amenities or go to work. I've always questioned why in some cities it's a lot easier to walk around than others, particularly for those who may use a wheelchair or have different abilities." Harvey, a NYC resident for nearly 10 years and a senior computational designer at Sidewalk Labs, an infrastructure company, began working on the visualization more than a year ago well before the city became an epicenter for COVID-19. Yet as the coronavirus became a growing threat and social distancing measures were adopted, her work in this area became more of a priority. "I wanted to contribute to the discussion of how we're using public space during the pandemic," Harvey said. "I saw that what the public needs in terms of what we're trying to get out of public space have changed dramatically. When the lockdown started, the need for moving around in cars became much more reduced and the need for keeping socially distant became much more important." A visualization mapping out the width of every New York City street shows that it is According to Harvey, data regarding sidewalk widths specifically is sparse if not nonexistent yet data about streets "as they pertain to vehicles," including how many lanes and traffic lights intersections may have, are more readily accessible. Using data from New York City's Sidewalk dataset, Harvey developed code that measured how wide each New York City street is. Story continues While the data she used is from 2014, the most recent year available, and may "be out of date at this point," Harvey is confident in stating that it's nearly impossible to maintain social distance while walking, particularly on older streets in downtown Brooklyn and the Financial District. She said that for a while, city planning evolved and streets became wider, but that in the early last century, sidewalks, particularly those in the outer boroughs, "started to get really skinny" to accommodate growth and prioritize drivers. Harvey noted that many pedestrians have taken to walking in the street to avoid congestion on these narrow streets, which is a dangerous alternative. This is why some advocates are calling for New York Mayor Bill de Blasio to designate certain streets for pedestrians only. Last month, the mayor announced that he would close several streets to give pedestrians more room to safely travel on-foot, but after a brief debut, the effort was discontinued. When asked about concerns over the fact that New York City streets remain open to both cars and pedestrians, unlike in other cities such as Oakland and San Francisco where some streets have been closed to drivers, a spokesperson from de Blasio's office directed NBC News to a statement the mayor gave during a news conference Wednesday morning. De Blasio cited "a different culture" in California and a lack of available personnel from the New York City Police Department as to why New York City streets can't be closed in a similar manner to streets in other areas. "Drivers stop at intersections even if there's no light or stop sign. They stop when people are trying to cross the street even in the middle of the street, a lot of time," de Blasio said of California drivers. "This is a very different culture." He added that he was "not comfortable with streets being delineated as for pedestrians and just hoping and praying cars don't go on them and pedestrians are going to be safe" and that the NYPD is currently prioritizing the enforcement of social distancing at parks, grocery stores and subway stations. Harvey said she hopes her visualization can provide data to decision makers and advocates who are thinking about the issue of street closures, and that though the visualization has added relevance in this current era of social distancing, she wants others to consider the issue "beyond the pandemic." "In general, we've had a problem where we've put so much investment into automobiles that we've hit a limit of how many people can move through space," Harvey said. "There are just fundamental physical limits to how many people can move when everyone's in a car. There are so many other forms of mobility and walking is just one of them. There has to be a refocus on other forms of mobility." DOVER, Del., April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE: CPK) will host a conference call on Thursday, May 7, 2020, at 4:30 p.m. ET to discuss the Company's financial results for the first quarter of 2020. The earnings press release will be issued on Wednesday, May 6, 2020, after the market closes. To participate in this call, dial 855.801.6270 and reference Chesapeake Utilities Corporation's 2020 First Quarter Financial Results Conference Call. To access the replay recording of this call, please visit the Company's website at CPK - Conference Call Audio Replay. Chesapeake Utilities Corporation is a diversified energy company engaged in natural gas distribution and transmission; electricity generation and distribution; propane gas distribution and other businesses. Information about Chesapeake Utilities Corporation's businesses is available at www.chpk.com, through the Company's Investor Relations App and on the Annual Report Microsite at cpkannualreport.com. Please note that Chesapeake Utilities Corporation has no affiliation with Chesapeake Energy, an oil and natural gas exploration company headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. For more information, contact: Beth W. Cooper Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Corporate Secretary 302.734.6799 SOURCE Chesapeake Utilities Corporation Related Links https://chpk.com Two days after the state began reporting the number of deaths and those testing positive for COVID-19 in New Jerseys nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, the accuracy of the numbers continues to be in question. The questions come as the number of coronavirus cases continues to grow, with 95,865 known total cases statewide. As of Wednesday, health department officials reported 2,050 deaths within 438 of the states 670 licensed nursing homes, assisted living, dementia care homes and similar facilities. Additionally, there are 11,608 cases of positive cases, although it not clear if that number includes employees. The state, for the first time since the outbreak began, released on Monday the number of coronavirus cases and deaths at nursing homes. But the numbers have been repeatedly challenged by facility administrators as well as employees and family members of those who have died. They included Spring Grove Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center in New Providence and Oakland Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center in Oakland. A spokeswoman for the two facilities said the state had gotten the numbers wrong for both, but they were giving out accurate information directly to families. Our team is providing detailed updates to Spring Grove families daily. They can be assured they are receiving accurate and current information, said Ari Katz, the administrator of Spring Grove. An updated list was released at Gov. Phil Murphys daily briefing in Trenton on Wednesday, but Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli acknowledged that the numbers are still not accurate. We are reconciling some of the data, she said, noting the the numbers are self-reported to the departments Communicable Disease Service. Some facilities have shared with us that their death reporting is not correct and were giving them the opportunity to reconcile their figures. Persichilli said part of the problem was one of simple addition and lack of uniformity in how the data was being given to the state. Some nursing homes were counting employees testing positive for COVID-19 along with nursing home residents. And some were also counting deaths of both employees and residents. Yet other nursing homes were just counting residents. We do not have a significant reporting of employee mortalities, she said. That doesnt mean there wasnt any. I just havent gotten a report of that. Still, she reiterated that the overall numbers were directionally accurate. The numbers the state receives may also be a day or more old and could include some staff as well as patient data, depending on what the facility reports, according to health department officials. State Epidemiologist Christina Tan said the department is working on a revised system that would allow for more up-to date data. Were trying a separate strategy to get that information, she said. Separately, Murphy said the state intends to add a feature to the states COVID-19 dashboard for complaints, expressing dissatisfaction with the response hes seen by some nursing home administrators to families. There is no question there is an unevenness and that would be charitable charitable as to the state of communications with loved ones, next of kin, about the state of play," charged the governor. Weve heard far too many stories of I called and no one picked up, or I asked and didnt get an answer. While some he said were doing the right thing, the governor said it was not just frustrating to us, but crushing for a loved one that some are not. Jon Dolan, who heads the Health Care Association of New Jersey, a trade group for assisted-living and nursing home operators, said corrections on the data reporting are being made. Although he agreed on the need for transparency, he added that the haste in putting out the list has led to attacks on facilities that are not bad actors. In the updated list of long-term care facilities released Wednesday, the nursing facility with the most number of deaths in New Jersey remained the Veterans Memorial Home in Paramus, with 43 deaths and 161 cases. The state operates three homes for veterans including Menlo Park and Vineland. Andover Subacute and Rehabilitation Center, which has been in focus since 17 bodies were discovered last week in a makeshift morgue, reported additional cases and deaths. The toll reported there on Wednesday was 41 deaths, up from 39 on Monday. And it reported 153 residents testing positive for the deadly virus, up from 134 two days earlier. New Vista in Newark, which on Monday reported to the Department of Health three cases of the coronavirus and no deaths, had been challenged by a health care worker who knew of at least 18 deaths. New Vista accounted for 21 deaths in the updated report and 47 positive cases. Administrators were unable to be reached for comment. The state began releasing the data after federal officials on Sunday ordered the nations nursing home operators to let patients and their families know if there are cases of the coronavirus within their walls. The order announced by Seema Verma, administrator of the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, also requires the nursing homes to report such cases to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Karin Price Mueller may be reached at bamboozled@njadvancemedia.com. INDIANAPOLIS - The Indiana Network for Population Health (INPH) has been launched by the Regenstrief Institute and collaborators, including the State of Indiana, Indiana University and the Indiana Health Information Exchange, to provide the secure exchange of comprehensive data -- especially information on social determinants of health such as housing stability and access to nutritious food -- to researchers, policy makers, healthcare providers and others on the front lines fighting opioid and other addictions. "The Indiana Network for Population Health can broadly enhance health surveillance in the community, tracking diseases we know well like Hepatitis C and diabetes as well as new diseases such as COVID-19," said Brian Dixon, PhD, MHA, director of public health informatics at Regenstrief Institute and Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at IUPUI. "It's already providing situational awareness to physicians and public health officials about addictions and, in the future, we hope it will connect patients to community-based services to help them address their social determinants of health." The stakes are high. Research over the past quarter century has shown that social determinants of health, such as tobacco use, alcohol consumption, exercise, access to nutritional food, stable housing, reliability of transportation and many other non-medical factors, are more significant contributors to longevity and quality of life than either healthcare or genetic makeup or the two combined. Yet these data are rarely accessible to physicians through their electronic medical record systems. Dr. Dixon's presentation, "Integrating Social Determinants into an HIE Network," introducing the Indiana Network for Population Health to an international audience, is now available via HIMSS20 Digital. The annual HIMSS conference, the original venue for the presentation, was expected to attract more than 40,000 attendees but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "It's not that physicians have totally ignored social determinants of health, but impactful information -- such as the fact that the patient had to take time off from a low-paying job and ride two buses to get to the doctor's office -- isn't typically collected in electronic medical records," said Dr. Dixon. "A clinician may have noted in unstructured free text in the medical record that an individual is a heavy smoker or homeless, for example, but free text information, with its lack of uniformity, can be difficult to extract correctly. Will a computer extracting data from the patient's file capture the phrase "has no safe home" or simply ignore the first two words and see "safe home" and not make this information accessible to community programs like the YMCA or homeless shelter organizations who might help the patient find a better place to live? "Integrating social determinants of health into a health information exchange network from the patient's medical file is a big challenge. It seems to make more sense to retrieve data from the CDC, various state departments, census, Social Security, the food stamp program, etc. since all these entities routinely collect this data," said Dr. Dixon. "This is our vision for the Indiana Network for Population Health. The Indiana Network for Population Health is an extension of the Indiana Network for Patient Care, which currently holds approximately 12 billion pieces of clinical data. Both the Indiana Network for Population Heath and the Indiana Network for Patient Care were developed by Regenstrief and are managed by the Indiana Health Information Exchange. ### About Regenstrief Institute Founded in 1969 in Indianapolis, the Regenstrief Institute is a local, national and global leader dedicated to a world where better information empowers people to end disease and realize true health. The Regenstrief Institute, a key research partner to Indiana University, and its researchers are responsible for a growing number of major healthcare innovations and studies. Examples range from the development of global health information technology standards that enable the use and interoperability of electronic health records to improving patient-physician communications, to creating models of care that inform practice and improve the lives of patients around the globe. Regenstrief Institute is celebrating 50 years of healthcare innovation. Sam Regenstrief, a successful entrepreneur from Connersville, Indiana, founded the institute with the goal of making healthcare more efficient and accessible for everyone. His vision continues to guide the institute's research mission. More about Brian Dixon, PhD, MPA In addition to his role as public health informatics director at Regenstrief Institute and Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at IUPUI, Brian Dixon PhD, MPA, is a research scientist at Regenstrief Institute Center for Biomedical Informatics and Indiana University Center for Health Services and Outcomes Research, an associate professor at Fairbanks School of Public Health, and a health research scientist at the Center for Health Information and Communication, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Health Services Research and Development (HSR&D) Service, Roudebush VA Medical Center. A Russian woman spreads a towel for her child to lie down on the beach in Nha Trang, central Vietnam, February 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Xuan Ngoc. Russia took home 178 of its nationals stranded in Vietnam by a S7 Airlines charter flight on Monday. The aircraft took off from Cam Ranh International Airport near the central resort town of Nha Trang with tourists who had come from Tomsk and Kemerovo in Siberia and the Altai Republic, Russian news agency TASS reported. They had been traveling in Vietnam and stranded after all flights were suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Over 3,000 foreign tourists are stuck in Vietnam but only 11 percent of them wish to go home immediately. Cities and provinces had been asked to report to the government about the number of foreign tourists before April 14 so that relevant agencies could liaise with foreign embassies to repatriate them. The Thai embassy plans to send 100 people from Hanoi and HCMC by a charter flight on Wednesday. The Philippine embassy repatriated 143 people last Saturday. Last week more than 100 British tourists in Vietnam and Cambodia were sent home by a Vietnam Airlines flight as were more than 50 Italians stranded in Vietnam. Vietnam prohibited entry for foreign nationals from March 22 and Vietnamese carriers suspended international flights on March 25. The country has reported no new Covid-19 cases since last Thursday, and the current patient count is 52. There have been no deaths. The pandemic has claimed more than 177,600 lives and spread to 210 countries and territories. President Donald Trump said he has instructed the Navy to shoot down Iranian gunboats if they harass U.S. ships. The order follows an incident last week in which 11 Iranian boats were filmed buzzing six U.S. Navy ships in the Persian Gulf, coming as close as 10 yards in an hour-long encounter. I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea, wrote Trump on Twitter on April 22, adding no further details. Yesterday, the Iranian military claimed to have added new longer-range anti-ship missiles to their arsenal, and today to have successfully launched their first military satellite after several failed attempts. The developments come following several months of heightened military tensions between the two countries. On April 15 the U.S. Navy revealed footage and images of 11 Iranian vessels coming dangerously close to six U.S. vessels. According to the Navy statement, the Iranian Navy ships were repeatedly crossing their bows and sterns while they were conducting integration operations with U.S. Army Apache attack helicopters to support maritime security outside of Irans territorial waters. The IRGCN vessels repeatedly crossed the bows and sterns of the U.S. vessels at extremely close range and high speeds, including multiple crossings of the Puller with a 50 yard closest point of approach (CPA) and within 10 yards of Mauis bow. The incident lasted for an hour, according to the Navy. The U.S. Navy said the dangerous and provocative actions from the IRGCN increased the risk of miscalculation and collision and were not in accordance with the internationally recognized Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea [pdf]. Iran later acknowledged the incident, but blamed the United States ships, saying its forces were conducting a drill and faced the unprofessional and provocative actions of the United States and their indifference to warnings. It offered no evidence for this explanation. The incident comes amid heightened military tensions between the United States and Iran following the killing of Irans top general by a U.S. airstrike earlier this year. Iran has continued to try to develop its missile and space programs, despite being squeezed by international sanctions and arms restrictions. Unable to buy the latest military tech from around the world, it primarily relies on proxies, hybrid warfare, naval power, and missile defense, according to an unclassified Pentagon report published in November 2019. The Pentagon keeps a weather eye on Irans own missile and rocket development programs, wary of the possibility that the technology could be adapted to carry nuclear warheads. Iran claimed yesterday to have added to its array of long-range missilesalready one of the most powerful in the region according to the Defense Intelligence Agencywith a new design of anti-ship missiles with a 430-mile range. After several failed attempts in recent months, Irans Revolutionary Guards today also claimed that they had successfully launched a satellite into an orbit of 264 miles above the Earths surface. That launch has yet to be corroborated by U.S. officials. Irans space program is of particular concern to the United States since the technology needed to hoist a satellite into space could potentially be converted for use in long-range ballistic missiles. The United States takes the position that such satellite launches are also in defiance of a U.N. Security Council resolution that restricts Irans development of ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. The developments come as one of the United States 11 aircraft carriers is benched in Guam after an outbreak of COVID-19 aboard. However, U.S. military leaders have warned adversaries not to test U.S. military strength and resolve during the COVID-19 pandemic saying that the virus-hit USS Theodore Roosevelt could be quickly put to sea if needed, and that readiness overall remains high. If our adversaries think this is our moment of weakness, they are dangerously wrong, said Deputy Defense Secretary David L. Norquist on April 9. To those who wish us harm, make no mistake: even with the challenges that this disease has brought to our shores, the Department of Defense stands ready to meet any threat and defend our nation. The Associated Press contributed to this report From The Epoch Times Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 02:45:25|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close People work in an workshop manufacturing special purpose vehicle at the branch of Beiqi Foton Motor Co., Ltd in the Xuanhua District of Zhangjiakou City, north China's Hebei Province, Jan. 15, 2017. (Xinhua/Yang Shiyao) Foton's goal is to grab 10 percent of Brazilian market by 2023, when it aims to sell 5,000 vehicles. SAO PAULO, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese truck maker Foton is moving to online sales in Brazil, due to an expected rise in demand for light commercial vehicles driven by the boom in online sales and home delivery services. "Due to the lockdown, online sales have become more important, and that is a trend that is here to stay," said Luiz Carlos Mendonca de Barros, president of Foton's board of directors in Brazil, Latin America's largest economy, in an interview with Xinhua. "There will be an increase in demand for the logistics of distributing goods to residences, and because of that there will be demand for light and medium trucks," he said. "Car dealerships have opted to sell Foton trucks. They know the market well and are aware that products made by Foton, which has a portfolio of all the latest models, have extraordinary potential," said De Barros. The executive, who is also Brazil's former minister of communications and ex-president of the National Economic and Social Development Bank, noted the South American country represents the largest market for trucks in Latin America and the fifth largest worldwide. Foton's goal is to grab 10 percent of that market by 2023, when it aims to sell 5,000 vehicles. "Our trucks are starting to meet Brazilian demand and we think that this is a strategic moment, despite the (COVID-19) crisis," De Barros said. Brazil's truck industry has grown at a faster pace than the economy, "because it is a big country that demands logistical solutions, both for exporting grains and for supplying its own market," he noted. Brazil's truck industry manufactured as many as 200,000 units in 2014. Last year, the figure was 110,000 units. "Through Foton, we want to increasingly form part of that industry, with trucks imported from China and those manufactured here," he said. China, which is Brazil's main trade partner, has shown "recovery capacity" in the wake of its battle with the coronavirus, he said. "China proved that a lockdown and staying at home are the best ways to tackle the outbreak and in Brazil we are going to have four months of a dip in the economy" due to those measures, he said. However, "Brazil also has the capacity to recover, since it is a country with a domestic market, and since it has agriculture that sustains the economy," he noted, explaining that "Brazil needs Chinese demand and China needs Brazilian food exports." As the COVID-19 pandemic situation in US continues to deteriorate, the White House and several right-wing media outlets are hammering China with groundless accusations that the lethal virus could have originated from a Wuhan lab, despite medical professionals and WHOs denial of such rumors. Fox News, leading the charge on the Chinese lab theory despite lack of evidence, has been pushing the lab narrative hard over the past week, noting that multiple sources believe the coronavirus outbreak originated in a Wuhan lab as part of Chinas efforts to compete with the US. This is not the first time media outlets like Fox News, which has been called Trumps Mouthpiece or Trumps Channels, have proposed and promoted such conspiracy theories. Commonly quoting unnamed sources, the reports lack any solid data or research results to back their claims. Early in February, GOP Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas told Fox News that the coronavirus was developed in a Chinese super-lab. Cotton, not a medical professional himself, was then slammed by medical communities worldwide for spreading the previously debunked claim. The Scripps Research Institute released a study rejecting such groundless notions in March, concluding if the virus were engineered, its genome sequence would more closely resemble an earlier and more serious version of the coronavirus. Such ideas has been shared by countless renown medical institutes, with similar research published in several medical journals. Even the US government officials and medical professionals have rejected this theory. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the US top expert on infectious diseases, said the available evidence on the origins of the virus is totally consistent with a jump of a species from an animal to human. Confronted by solid scientific evidence, Fox News issued an article in March claiming that the virus did not escape from a lab. But only a month after the articles release, the media outlet backtracks once again to promote its lab theory, this time replacing the term man-made with a naturally occurring strain that was being studied in the lab, which then leaked into the population in Wuhan. Inspired by the groundless report, President Donald Trump, who has been coming under fire over his administration's response to the pandemic, said that the US government is investigating the lab theory. Matthew Pottinger, the US's deputy national security adviser, asked intelligence agencies in January to look into the idea of a Wuhan lab leak, The New York Times reported, but CIA officers didn't find any evidence. According to Business Insider, the US intelligence community has been investigating whether the virus was collected by researchers and then accidentally leaked from a Chinese lab but has found no evidence to date backing it up. Ironically, though Fox News has been accusing China for lax lab security rules, it is the US that has made several mistakes regarding virus leakage in years past. In 2014, forgotten vials of smallpox were found in a cardboard box in a research center near Washington. In 2015, the US military accidentally shipped live anthrax samples instead of dead spores to as many as nine labs across the country, as well as a military base in South Korea. With the new theory slammed by WHO, China Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian addressed the matter at a news conference in April, telling journalists the WHOs officials have said multiple times there is no evidence the new coronavirus was created in a lab. Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Wednesday thanked Home Minister Amit Shah for speaking to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray for evacuation of Sikh devotees stranded at the historic Gurdwara Hazur Sahibat Nanded. THe Bathinda MP also asked the Punjab government to give permission to buses in which devotees were being brought to the state from Maharashtra. "Came to Delhi to meet HM @AmitShah ji & thank him for speaking to Maharashtra CM today to fast track repatriation of Sikh devotees stranded at Hazur Sahib. Now request Pb govt to give permission to buses arranged by SAD since 3 days to bring them back home at earliest (sic)," Harsimrat tweeted. Around 2,000 pilgrims from Punjab had gone to pay obeisance at Gurdwara Hazur Sahib in Nanded in Maharashtra before the lockdown was imposed. Due to cancellation of trains, all devotees were stranded there. Earlier, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had also written to Home Minister Amit Shah and Maharashtra Chief Minister Thackeray to help evacuate devotees. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tyson Foods is closing its largest pork plant as a growing number of workers become ill from coronavirus infections. The plant, located in Waterloo, Iowa, had already slowed production because many of its 2,800 workers had been calling out sick. The Black Hawk County health department linked the Tyson plant to 182 of the county's 374 Covid-19 cases. Last week, Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart called for the Tyson facility to be shut down. Those were all factors in Tyson's decision Wednesday to indefinitely stop production at the Waterloo facility this week. The company will continue paying its employees while the facility is closed, and the plant's 2,800 staff members will be invited to take Covid-19 tests later this week. The plant's reopening will depend on a number of factors, including the outcome of the tests, the company said. Later on Wednesday, Tyson announced it will also close another pork plant in Logansport, Indiana, by the end of this week. "Despite our continued efforts to keep our people safe while fulfilling our critical role of feeding American families, the combination of worker absenteeism, Covid-19 cases and community concerns has resulted in our decision to stop production," Tyson Fresh Meats group president Steve Stouffer said in a statement on the Waterloo facility. Stouffer acknowledged that the plant's closure may add to the current disruption of the nation's pork supply chain, adding that the facility is "part of a larger supply chain that includes hundreds of independent farmers, truckers, distributors and customers, including grocers." "The closure has significant ramifications beyond our company," he said. The Logansport plant alone produces 3 million pounds of pork per day, and works with 250 independent farmers, the company said Wednesday. Hart, the mayor, voiced his approval of the move during a Wednesday morning interview with CNN's Poppy Harlow, arguing the closure was necessary to potentially save lives. "This is the action we have been waiting for," Hart said in a statement emailed to CNN Business. "Tyson's closing their plant will prove to be a positive step forward in preparing our community for the flattening the curve." The mayor added that the plant's closure may have come too late to prevent the disease from spreading throughout his city, which he said went from 21 cases of Covid-19 on April 9 to about 380 cases on Tuesday. Hart also noted that many of the plant's workers as well as essential workers across America are people of color who don't have the option to work from home amid the coronavirus pandemic. "It hurts when it feels like your pleas to people falls on deaf ears," Hart said. "This isn't a political issue. ... It's a humanitarian issue." The more than 2,200 workers from Tyson's Logansport facility will receive coronavirus testing, which the company said could begin as soon as Thursday. The plant had closed for the day on Monday for deep cleaning, and has since been running at limited capacity. "We're aware that while employees are practicing protective measures at work, they may not be practicing it at home which is critical to help stop overall community spread," said Dori Ditty, the health officer for the Cass County Health Department, which is working with Tyson to test the Logansport plant workers. Earlier this month, Tyson shut down operations at its Columbus Junction, Iowa, pork plant after more than 24 workers there became infected with Covid-19. The company said it would divert livestock headed to other pork plants in the region to minimize the impact on its production. Smithfield Foods also shut down its Sioux Falls, South Dakota, plant last week after a coronavirus outbreak there. The Smithfield plant employs about 3,700 people and normally produces 4% to 5% of the country's pork supply, according to the company. On April 12, Smithfield CEO Kenneth Sullivan said the Sioux Falls plant's closure puts the country's meat supply at risk. "It is impossible to keep our grocery stores stocked if our plants are not running," he said. "These facility closures will also have severe, perhaps disastrous, repercussions for many in the supply chain." --CNN's Clare Duffy contributed to this report. Even so, domestic consumption in South Korea dropped by 6.4 percent during the first quarter, the data said, as people stayed home to avoid getting sick. Exports fell by 2 percent despite an increase in shipments of semiconductors, one of the pillars of the countrys economy. Although the damage to the economy this quarter was relatively mild compared with other countries, it is likely to deepen next quarter, when the data will more clearly reflect the sharp drop in demand from other countries hard hit by the virus, said Lee Geun-tae, a senior research fellow at the LG Economic Research Institute. More than 100 public companies got millions in small-business loans. As Congress prepares to restock a depleted small-business loan fund, complaints are mounting about the publicly traded companies that sucked up hundreds of millions of dollars from the funds initial distributions. More than 100 public companies obtained more than $500 million in forgivable loans from the taxpayer-backed Paycheck Protection Program, based on a New York Times analysis of corporate filings. The recipients included Potbelly Sandwich Shop, a chain of 400 restaurants; Hallador Energy, a coal company; and Quantum Corporation, a data storage company, according to regulatory filings. Each received $10 million from the programs $349 billion fund. (The restaurant chain Shake Shack returned its $10 million loan.) Kura Sushi USA, a chain of sushi restaurants, is returning the roughly $6 million it got from the federal small business paycheck protection loan program, it said in a securities filing on Wednesday. A publicly traded company, it is controlled by its former Japanese parent firm, raising questions about whether companies based outside of the United States were benefiting from the forgivable loans established by Congress. Hotels and luxury resorts that funnel money back to a single company have secured about $40 million in small-business program funding, the latest evidence that large sums of money flowing from the governments relief program are in some cases helping big businesses. Ashford Inc., an asset management firm based in Dallas, makes money partly by advising two real estate investment trusts: Ashford Hospitality Trust and Braemar Hotels & Resorts, which together own more than 100 properties. Those companies reported that their hotel properties had received millions in forgivable loans through a government program meant to help small businesses. Washington, US (PANA) - Global remittances are projected to decline sharply by about 20 percent in 2020 due to the economic crisis induced by the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown, a new report by the World Bank said on Wednesday Events CT Launches Virtual Summit on Distance Learning Campus closures have led education institutions everywhere to scramble to move instruction to an online format. On May 5, the Campus Technology Distance Learning Summit will provide insight, ideas and information for education IT decision-makers grappling with the need for continuity of teaching and learning in these unprecedented times. In three hour-long editorial-led sessions, ed tech experts and practitioners in the trenches will share their best practices and engage attendees with a live Q&A. Attendees will also have the opportunity to join the conversation in three post-session Twitter chats using the hashtag #CTSummit. Session 1: Tips and Tool for Managing the Sudden Transition to Online Learning These days, more faculty than ever before have been thrust into teaching remotely sometimes with little preparation. From overcoming initial hurdles to fine-tuning approaches for the longer term, these expert best practices will help. Our presenters: Errol St.Clair Smith, Global Project Director, RTOL: Rapid Transition to Online Learning, Academy of Active Learning Arts and Sciences Thomas Mennella, associate professor of biology and director, Master of Science Program in Applied Laboratory Science & Operations, Bay Path University Session 2: Help! How IT Can Best Train and Support Faculty Making a Quick Move Online When Louisiana Tech University made the decision to take courses online in response to the COVID-19 threat, the timing couldn't have been worse: The move coincided with the start of the Spring semester, so faculty and staff had to hit the ground running. In this session, CIO Thomas Hoover will share how his institution went live with online classes in just two days, including a weekend of faculty training and an ongoing rollout of new tools and support to help with the transition. Session 3: Innovations in Remote Learning It is challenging to move courses online. However, there are proven next-generation best practices. Modern approaches using the latest technologies are being employed even in STEM courses which may be among the most challenging to move online, due to their reliance on hands-on labs and equipment. In this session, the founders of Virtually Inspired, an online showcase of innovations in online learning, will share some of the ground-breaking ways educators around the world are enhancing teaching with technology and solving challenges of online delivery. Our presenters: Dr. Susan Aldridge, President (Ret.), Drexel University Online, Co-Anchor, Virtually Inspired Marci M. Powell, CEO/President, Marci Powell & Associates, Project Director & Co-Anchor, Virtually Inspired, and USDLA Chair Emerita and Past President Join us for this free event on Tuesday, May 5 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. PT. For more information and to register, visit the CT Summit site. The Washington Post is providing this news free to all readers as a public service. Follow this story and more by signing up for national breaking news email alerts. She relocated from her Hidden Hills mansion to another sprawling estate near Palm Springs with some friends during the coronavirus quarantine. And on Tuesday Kylie Jenner was feeling a bit mischievous and decided she would try to startle her mother out of a deep sleep by screaming, with the help of her best friend Anastasia 'Stassie Baby' Karanikolaou. The cosmetics mogul shot all the shenanigans and hijinks on camera and then posted it on Instagram for her 171 million followers to see. Scroll down to video Cheeky: Kylie Jenner snuck up on her mother while she was sleeping and screamed in an attempt to startle her awake The video began with Kylie behind the camera as she walked into a room near the backyard and her mother sound asleep on a couch that's supported by chains hanging from the ceiling. 'You guys are not going to believe this, I found a Kris Jenner in her natural habitat,' she joked in a low voice while moving closer. As she approached even closer, she reiterated, 'I found a Kris Jenner in her natural habit,' in a more whispered tone with Stassi seemingly just a few feet to her left. The video began with Kylie behind the camera as she walked into a room near the backyard and her mother sound asleep on a couch 'Playful: You guys are not going to believe this, I found a Kris Jenner in her natural habitat,' she joked in a low voice while moving closer to her mother Her mother, who was sprawled out on her left side with her head resting on a pillow, was dressed in an all-black outfit. Her phone sat just inches away from her arm. 'Shhh, be very quiet, they're very dangerous,' Kylie joked again in an ever lower whisper. Tag team: Kylie approached even closer and talked in a more whispered tone with Stassi seemingly just a few feet to her left Nap time: The Kardashian/Jenner momager was sprawled out on her left side with her head resting on a pillow dressed in an all-black outfit Then, after moving the camera back and forth towards her mother, she screamed out in a banshee wail, but her mother didn't budge. She followed that up with an even louder scream, which finally prompted the Kardashian/Jenner momager to slowly open her eyes. 'Are you serious?' a surprised Kylie could be saying as she panned the camera toward Stassi who laughed and confessed, 'I jumped.' Prankster: 'Shhh, be very quiet, they're very dangerous,' Kylie joked again in an ever lower whisper as she worked the camera angles Surprise! Kylie then let out a loud scream but go no reaction from her mother 'It takes you that long to wake up?' Kylie said after she didn't get the reaction of shock she was expecting from her mother. 'You guys are crazy,' The Kardashian/Jenner matriarch finally blurted out with the sound of sleep still in her voice. The scenic property is thought to be Kris Jenner's sprawling $12 million holiday home outside La Quinta, California, which is about a two hour drive from Los Angeles. It took an even louder second scream to finally get Her mother to open her eyes and blurt out: 'You guys are crazy' BFFs: Kylie and Stassi have been quarantining together in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic Indian pharmaceutical companies, the well-known for producing affordable low-cost medicines, will play an important role in the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic that has affected over 2.5 million people across the world, Indias top diplomat in Washington has said. India's Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu also underlined that as global strategic partners, India and the US are prepared to face this public health crisis together. India, one of the largest producers of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, has seen a spurt in demand in recent weeks. India has sent the drug to over 50 countries over the last few days, including the United States, he said on Tuesday. Hydroxychloroquine has been identified by the US Food and Drug Administration as a possible treatment for the COVID-19 and it is being tested on more than 1,500 coronavirus patients in New York. "Indian pharmaceutical companies are global leaders in producing affordable low-cost medicines and will play an important role in the fight against this pandemic, Sandhu said in his virtual conversation with Asia Society Policy Institute Senior Fellow Puneet Talwar. In fact, India and the US have a robust partnership in the area of health and scientific research, which will be critical in the fight against this disease that has killed over 171,000 people and affected over 2.5 million globally. "Perhaps the most successful tangible example of our successful bilateral cooperation in recent years was the development of the rotavirus vaccine, which saves thousands of lives every year, he said. Rotavirus vaccine is a vaccine used to protect against rotavirus infections, which are the leading cause of severe diarrhoea among young children. "Our network of scientific institutions, including the Indian Council of Medical Research and NIH (National Institute of Health) and the CDC (Centres for Disease Control) in the US are in touch with each other. This is part of our longstanding cooperation, which has been energised in the context of this pandemic, Sandhu said. Indian and US companies are also collaborating in the co-development of a vaccine. The US India Science and Technology Endowment Fund has called for proposals that would enable scientists to collaborate, to carry out joint research and to also work towards the development of new technologies, to fight COVID-19. Observing that the shape of the world that will emerge from the pandemic may be unfamiliar, he said we need to navigate through this crisis through a coordinated response and individual countries need to rely on their strengths. As global strategic partners, India and the US are prepared to face this together. We are ready to deploy a full sprint of our partnership to fight this pandemic as Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) has said, Sandhu added. The outbreak of coronavirus is an unprecedented challenge in an increasingly interconnected world. The US has been badly affected by the deadly coronavirus as it has claimed 45,000 lives and infected over 824,000 people in the country. The rapid spread of the virus across the globe in a relatively short period of time showed that the virus was ahead of us, he said, noting that governments across the world are making efforts to slow the spread and flatten the curve so that the medical infrastructure is not overburdened. Responding to a question, Sandhu said that given the transnational nature of this pandemic and India's responsibility as a first responder in the region, which it has always done in the time of crisis, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the initiative to invite the other seven South Asian country leaders for a video conference on March 15. The Prime Minister took the initiative to establish a SAARC emergency response fund with an initial contribution of USD 10 million from India. This has since become operational, he said, adding that all the other countries have also contributed subsequently. Nepal and Afghanistan pledged USD 1 million each, Maldives committed USD 200,000, Bhutan USD 100,000, Bangladesh USD 1.5 million, Sri Lanka USD 5 million and Pakistan pledged USD 3 million to the fund. Founded in 1985, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation and geopolitical union of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. We are working to create a SAARC platform and we are regularly sharing ideas and proposals for diagnostics and medical interventions with other countries, he said. In the extraordinary virtual G-20 summit, Prime Minister Modi had taken the initiative and has also underlined the responsibility of the G-20 countries in combating this disease, he said. No matter how old or new, most police stations have a smell. Maybe it is that every day the people there deal with sadness, anger and trouble. There is a dank smell of darkness and inevitability. The Police Academy in Glen Waverley is different. The sprawling 16-hectare site that until 1972 was a Catholic Seminary smells different. Maybe it is because it is renewed every month with around 60 recruits, filled with optimism and hopes. Recruits form during morning parade at the Victoria Police Academy. Credit:Craig Abraham It is light and fresh. People move quickly, running from class to class and course to course. Along with the recruits squad there is the officers course, detective training and firearms refresher classes. Everyone is on the same side. Those recruits are vital to the whole police force because they act as a vitamin shot, injecting it with energy and hope. It is the only way the force does not surrender to cynicism. A group of six southern Republican governors are coordinating the reopening of their states economies even as some health experts argue they have not reached the testing capacity required to do so safely. Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee plan to reopen businesses in the coming days, although details about the restarting process are not yet clear. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis confirmed the plan Tuesday during an appearance on Fox News. We have had a meeting with all the Southeastern governors Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee, DeSantis said. And we shared a lot of ideas. I think we will be the same page on some stuff. DeSantiss communications director Helen Aguirre Ferre confirmed the coalition in a tweet, saying Florida is working with the five other states to safely re-open as well as working regionally within Florida to make sure we thread the needle properly. Governor Ron DeSantis did not find it necessary to impose draconian restrictions to prepare Florida for a safe, phased-in approach to help communities and businesses re-open, she added in a later tweet. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp announced Monday that states stay at home order would be lifted on April 30, sparking criticism from local mayors. Georgia will allow gyms, bowling alleys, hair and nail salons, and massage therapists to reopen as soon as Friday, provided they follow health requirements and social distancing measures. Restaurants will be allowed to reopen with restrictions next Monday, although bars will remain closed until further notice. The governor admitted cases of the virus will likely see an uptick as businesses are allowed to reopen across the state. These are tough decisions, no doubt. And I will have to make more of them, Kemp said. As of Wednesday morning, Florida has seen nearly 28,000 cases of the coronavirus and at least 866 people have died. Georgia meanwhile has seen more than 19,000 cases and at least 810 deaths. Story continues Governor Bill Lee of Tennessee said on Monday that the states stay at home order will be allowed to expire on April 30 and most businesses will be permitted to reopen on May 1. In South Carolina, many businesses received the green light to reopen on Tuesday. Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves said his state plans to ease restrictions on some businesses next Monday, and Alabama plans to allow restaurants and some businesses to reopen after the states stay at home order expires at the end of the month. The push among southern states to reopen comes after the Trump administration released guidelines last week for states looking to restart their economies. Some states will open sooner than others, Trump said. Some states are not in the kind of trouble that others are in. Now that we have passed the peak in new cases, were starting our life again. Were starting rejuvenation of our economy again in a safe and structured and very responsible fashion. More from National Review In a surprising turn of events, American Idol judges couldnt decide between two country-inspired contestants: Lauren Mascitti and Grace Leer. On April 19, we learned that Grace would be moving forward in the competition but that didnt stop Mascitti from succeeding in country music. Showbiz Cheat Sheet spoke with Mascitti about her experience on American Idol, her new album, and whats next for her career. Lauren Mascitti | ABC/Eric McCandless An American Idol in more ways than one The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic put an immediate halt on the production of American Idols third season. Since returning from Los Angeles, Mascitti has been quarantined at home with her iconic Nana, Dee Mascitti. I took off work to go out to LA, Mascitti explained. They had all of the Top 21 out there for rehearsals and taping of the live shows because they didnt know which one of us was going to get the vote or not. When American Idol producers got wind of the nationwide shutdowns happening, they promptly sent everyone home. As a registered nurse, Mascitti was happy to return home and eager to get back to her day job. Unfortunately, thats not been the case I havent been back to work since [leaving for LA], and our hours have been getting cut at the hospital. Members of the medical community are our heroes, especially in times like these. I miss my work family I love what I do, she gushed. Of course, music is my heart, but [nursing] is my living, and I really want to be by my colleagues during this pandemic. Im anxious to get in there and help out. Mascitti joined Idols first ever Top 21 The judges did something unique this season of American Idol they allowed 21 contestants into their Top 20. I was worried about going home in that moment, Mascitti told us, recalling what it was like sitting in front of Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, and Luke Bryan that day in Hawaii. When the judges announced that they couldnt decide between Leer and Mascitti and that they would leave the decision up to America, Mascitti was honored: It was exciting for me and just flattering that they thought enough of us that they were going to fight over both of us if they didnt do a vote. In the coming weeks, America voted for who they wanted to move forward. Following orders to stay at home, Mascitti and Leer joined Ryan Seacrest on a video call to hear the results. Of course, Mascitti was happy to see her friend advance in the competition, but we asked what else was going through her mind at that moment. I made up my mind a long time ago that God knows my future much better than I do, and his hands are the best place for my future to be, Mascitti shared. Humbled by her experience on the show, Mascitti told us, You cant argue with God. She is excited to watch Leer go on with the belief that she is on her path for a reason. Im excited to find out what that is, and Im really trying to put my trust in Him and stay positive. God Made A Woman is a smashing success Richie the judge Mascitti says inspired her the most called her a storyteller during her audition. Later, during Hollywood week, Richie and audiences alike were delighted with Mascittis original song inspired by her Nana, God Made A Woman. They gave me a standing ovation. Lionel kept saying, Good song! Strong song! That overwhelms me that he loved it that much, and that was really encouraging to me. Mascitti released her album, God Made a Woman, back in January. Its completely independent. My fiance Shawn Camp produced it, but I paid for every penny of it with my salary as a nurse. Now, having performed the title track on American Idol, fans cant get enough of Mascittis strong song-writing ability. At the time of our conversation, Mascittis album was number 13 on the iTunes country music chart. Currently, God Made A Woman sits at number four. The single has been released to country and Americana radio stations nationwide if youre a fan, call in and request it! Whats next for Lauren Mascetti The future looks bright for American Idols Lauren Mascitti. Her touring future is kind of fuzzy right now, per the coronavirus, but fans can still find Mascitti on social media and live streaming events. On Thursday, May 7, at 7 p.m. ET, she will join the Martin Guitar Jam In Place live stream series on Facebook with her fiance. Stay tuned to Mascittis Instagram and Twitter for more upcoming events. She has been posting a lot of country music covers just to be an encouraging bright spot in peoples day check out #ClassicCountryCovers on Instagram. Were looking forward to see where Mascittis country music career takes her! Atlanta Spain called off the running of the bulls in July, the U.S. scrapped the National Spelling Bee in June and Germany canceled Oktoberfest five months away, making it clear Tuesday that the effort to beat back the coronavirus and return to normal could be a long and dispiriting process. Amid growing impatience over the shutdowns that have thrown tens of millions out of work, European countries continued to reopen in stages, while in the U.S., states mostly ones led by Republican governors began moving to get back to business. Business owners in the U.S. who got the go-ahead weighed whether to reopen, and some hesitated, in a sign that commerce won't necessarily bounce back right away. Mark Lebos, owner of Strong Gym in Savannah, Ga., where Gov. Brian Kemp announced that gyms and salons can reopen this week, said it would be professional negligence to do so right now. "We are not going to be a vector of death and suffering," he said. Ronique Holloway, who owns a hair salon in Smyrna, Ga., said she will wait until late next week, and even then thinks that's too early. She fears contracting the virus from customers, though she plans to wear a mask and gloves and is looking for sanitary wipes and Lysol. "I would have waited at least until the end of May, but I'm going back because I don't have a choice," she said. "I have to feed my daughter." With deaths and infections still rising around the world, the push to reopen has set off warnings from health authorities that the crisis that has killed well over 170,000 people globally including more than 42,000 in the U.S. is far from over and that relaxing the stay-at-home orders too quickly could enable the virus to come surging back. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. The economic damage mounted as oil prices collapsed and stocks registered their worst loss in weeks on Wall Street. In the U.S., some states, including Tennessee, West Virginia and Colorado, announced plans to begin reopening in stages in the coming days. Sunbathers quickly flocked to the sand after some South Carolina beaches reopened with the governor's backing. Political tensions were high. Some sheriffs in Washington state, Michigan and Wisconsin said they won't enforce stay-at-home orders. Angry protesters demanding the lifting of restrictions marched in North Carolina and Missouri with signs like "Enough is enough." And Wisconsin Republicans asked the state's high court to block an extension of the stay-at-home order there. In Europe, meanwhile, Denmark, Austria, Spain and Germany began allowing some people back to work, including hairdressers, dentists and construction workers, and some stores were cleared to reopen or will soon get the OK. But Spain canceled its running of the bulls in Pamplona, the more than 400-year-old event made world-famous by Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises." Ghana's coronavirus case count has climbed to 1154 with 120 recoveries. This was confirmed by the Director General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Patrick Aboagye at a press briefing on Wednesday, April, 22, 2020. This means that 112 new cases have been added with 21 more people recovering since Sunday, April 19, 2020 when President Akufo-Addo addressed the nation. Under the general surveillance, we have 401 cases that have reported positive. We still have the 115 travellers quarantined and tested positive and enhanced contact tracing in the last three weeks, we have 638 positives, bringing the number 1,154 cases as at today (April 22, 2020), he said. Out of this, we have had about 120 recovered, It changed form the 99 in the last reporting, he added. Prez Lifts Partial Lockdown President Nana Akufo-Addo has lifted the three-week partial lockdown imposed in the Greater Accra and Greater Kumasi districts. This is in spite of the country's Coronavirus case count having increased to 1,042 by the time of the lifting. President Akufo-Addo announced this during his seventh address to the nation on the outbreak today, Sunday, April 19, 2020. Observe Protocols Although the lifting of the restrictions may come as a relief to the many whose livelihoods may have been hit hard following the imposition, access to some major sectors remain restricted. The countrys borders remain closed. Further to these, all other measures including social distancing are also to be adhered to. Additionally, suspension of public gathering including religious meetings, still stands; likewise the closure of all educational facilities. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Welcome back to Tech Chronicle. If your friends have some space in their home offices, encourage them to co-work with this fine newsletter. The nearest Ive come to downtown in weeks is the farmers market at the Ferry Building. I move furtively from stall to stall, wearing a mask, trying to minimize contact while still feeling some connection to local food producers. Just a few blocks away are the gleaming steel-and-glass towers of the Transbay District, home to Salesforces headquarters. Facebook and Google have room for thousands of workers in their buildings. Zendesk, Uber and others would be a few subway stops away, if the Muni trains were running. The citys offices began to empty out almost two months ago as first Square and Twitter, then other tech companies, began sending employees home to work. Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle 2018 The news that Salesforce is paying $2,500 per square foot for a building across Mission Street from Salesforce Tower seems like a time capsule, a nostalgic reminder of a past we can barely imagine, let alone recall. If you needed one intellectual framework to explain the past decades boom in San Francisco commercial real estate, its academic Richard Floridas theory of the creative class. Yes, people have had the ability to do knowledge work from nearly anywhere for some time. But the internet has had the opposite effect, making it easier for experts in a field to find each other. Given the option, they choose to cluster together: bankers in New York and London, actors and filmmakers in Los Angeles, and programmers and venture capitalists in San Francisco. When you put the power of this idea against San Franciscos restrictions on office development, you get steadily rising prices. Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle 2018 It took a global pandemic to undo this equation. Now remote, distributed work doesnt just seem like a good way to cut down on rent; it seems like the way many parts of the economy will function for some time. Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle 2018 Remote-work evangelists are savoring this moment. The rest of us are glumly contemplating the downside of not seeing their co-workers. We may be more productive (if we are not contending with a screaming kid or a spouse juggling video calls or a dog who wants to play); but collaboration suffers. Thats the reason Marissa Mayer controversially limited remote work when she was CEO of Yahoo. Paul Kuroda / Special to The Chronicle 2019 When coronavirus testing capacity rises, after treatments for COVID-19 emerge, as our ability to trace contacts improves, well be returning to much-changed offices. We may do so in shifts, or for specific projects, cautiously, distantly. It may well be that we need more office space, not less, to safely provide room to work together. We might even see the return of private offices, after the long tyranny of first the cubicle, then the open office plan. Nothing assures social distancing like a door. Owen Thomas, othomas@sfchronicle.com Quote of the week Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes I never thought wed have so many videos of handwashing. YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, on CNNs Reliable Sources Coming up Some tech bellwethers are reporting earnings, with Intels Thursday and Alphabets Tuesday. What Im reading Teddy Schleifer on the Silicon Valley Community Foundations surprising call for clients of its donor-advised fund service to actually give some of their money away. (Recode) Carolyn Said and Tatiana Sanchez on President Trumps proposed immigration ban and what it means for the tech industry. (San Francisco Chronicle) Nick Bilton on why even a hedge fund killer couldnt make infrared sauna fan Jack Dorsey sweat. (Vanity Fair) Tech Chronicle is a weekly newsletter from Owen Thomas, The Chronicles business editor, and the rest of the tech team. Follow along on Twitter: @techchronicle and Instagram: @techchronicle By Terje Solsvik OSLO (Reuters) - Norwegian Air on Monday reported that four Swedish and Danish subsidiaries had filed for bankruptcy and that it had ended staffing contracts in Europe and the United States, putting some 4,700 jobs at risk. The airline is seeking to convert debt to equity, money from shareholders and Norwegian state guarantees in a bid to survive the coronavirus crisis. Earlier on Monday Virgin Atlantic said it would only survive the pandemic if it got financial support from the British government, while Virgin Australia is set to enter voluntary administration, according to sources close to the matter. Norwegian Air said the four subsidiaries in Sweden and Denmark were companies that employed pilots and cabin crew. The cancelled agreements involve firms which provide crews based in Spain, Britain, Finland, Sweden and the United States. Combined, it said some 4,700 pilots and cabin crew members would be affected while about 700 pilots and 1,300 cabin crew based in Norway, France and Italy remained unaffected. "We have done everything we can to avoid making this last-resort decision and we have asked for access to government support in both Sweden and Denmark," CEO Jacob Schram said in a statement. "We are working around the clock to get through this crisis and to return as a stronger Norwegian with the goal of bringing as many colleagues back in the air as possible," he added. The company's shares fell on the news and were down 3.6% at 1230 GMT. The stock has shed 86% of its value year to date. Norwegian has grown rapidly in the last decade to become Europe's third-largest low-cost airline and the biggest foreign carrier serving New York and other major U.S. cities but it also accumulated debt and liabilities of close to $8 billion. Last month it announced it would halt 85% of it flights and planned to furlough 90% of the staff to preserve its dwindling cash reserves, but it faced obstacles in carrying out the cuts. Story continues "Despite the measures that the company has already taken, coupled with the lack of significant financial support from the Swedish and Danish governments, we are left with no choice," it said. "In Norway, there are efficient furlough opportunities which means that the government pays for all salary-related costs throughout the duration of the furlough period. "Unfortunately, there is not the equivalent coverage in Sweden or Denmark schemes," the company said. (Editing by Gwladys Fouche and Jason Neely) Police in Vallejo, California, says Raymond Jackson, 50, shot and killed his girlfriend, 53, and the woman's 14-year-old daughter, before turning the gun on himself Police in the Bay Area say a man shot dead his girlfriend and her 14-year-old daughter, before turning the gun on himself in an apparent murder-suicide. Raymond Jackson, 50, of Vallejo, used a shotgun to kill his 53-year-old partner and her 14-year-old daughter before turning the gun on himself, police said in a statement. Police were called to a home in the 1800 block of Vervais Avenue in Vallejo, California, shortly after midnight on Tuesday after a 12-year-old girl reported finding the bodies of her 53-year-old mother and older sister in the living room. 'After contact with the suspect,' the girl fled the home, called 911 and ran to a neighbors home for help, police stated. Responding officers found Raymond Jackson, 50, his domestic partner and her older daughter dead in the home. Police responded to a home in Vervais Avenue in Vallejo shortly after midnight to find three lifeless bodies A 12-year-old girl managed to escape the carnage, and later returned to find the bodies of her mother, older sister and Jackson According to investigators, Jackson used a shotgun to kill the woman, the teenage girl and then himself. All three were pronounced dead at the scene. 'It's tragic,' Vallejo police Capt. Jason Potts said of the double murder-suicide, reported Patch. The names of the victims will be released by the Solano County Coroner's Office following the notification of next of kin. Police said Jackson had previous convictions for drug sales, assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer and driving under the influence and had been arrested for misdemeanor domestic violence last month. 'He was prohibited from possessing a firearm,' investigators said. KYODO NEWS - Apr 23, 2020 - 05:36 | All, World North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is believed to remain in "full control" of the country's military forces, the second highest-ranking U.S. military officer said Wednesday as questions continue to swirl around the issue of Kim's well-being. Noting a lack of any intelligence to "confirm or deny" media reports that Kim is suffering from a serious health condition, Air Force Gen. John Hyten, also vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said, "I assume that Kim Jong Un is still in full control of the (North) Korean nuclear forces and the (North) Korean military forces." "I have no reason not to assume that," he added. (Air Force Gen. John Hyten) [Getty/Kyodo] Reports have spread globally of the North Korean leader being in fragile condition after surgery, prompting the United States and Japan to collect relevant information, while South Korea claimed there is no sign that his health has deteriorated. Speculation has increased regarding the North Korean leader's health as he was absent from public view on last Wednesday's anniversary of the birth of his grandfather and the nation's founder, Kim Il Sung, which is one of the most important holidays in the country. Kim Jong Un, now in his late 30s, became North Korea's leader following the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, in December 2011. There is no formally anointed successor to him. (North Korean leader Kim Jong Un) [KCNA/Kyodo] Observers say he may have health concerns, with the South Korea-based Daily NK citing a source speculating that a number of factors, including his obesity, prolific smoking and "overwork," could have led Kim to undergo heart surgery recently. In Washington, CNN reported Monday that the United States was monitoring intelligence on the North Korean leader being in grave danger after surgery, citing a U.S. official with direct knowledge. It is not the first time that the whereabouts of the North Korean leader have drawn attention. In 2014, he was not seen in public for 40 days before he showed up walking with a cane. He was found to have undergone ankle surgery at that time, according to South Korean intelligence officials. [April 22, 2020] Pune-based Griffyn Robotech Will Manufacture and Supply Mass Ventilators to the Government of India The company has developed an AI specialized ventilation device to help the nation fight COVID-19 PUNE, India, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- With COVID-19 cases multiplying at an alarming rate, Griffyn Robotech, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) innovations company headquartered in Pune, has announced manufacturing and mass supply of ventilators to support the Government of India in the fight against COVID-19 virus. The lethal coronavirus is known to affect the respiratory system of the patient who is required to be put on a ventilator, a machine that adds pressure to pump oxygen into the bloodstream and take out carbon dioxide from the lungs of the patient. According to estimates by Government of India, the country needs 50,000 ventilators over the next two months. While the government has fast-tracked imports, the bulk of this shortfall has to be met by domestic manufacturers to fulfill the supply and demand gap. In this hour of crisis, Griffyn Robotech, with its other partners, scheduled for a Webex meeting to discuss the impact of the pandemic and initiatives that can be implemented to help the nation. The company was inspired by MIT ventilator design and created its own design using 3D printing technology to bring to the market 'Shwaas' an Ambu-bag based ventilator in the fight against COVID-19. Speaking about the AI enabled ventilator, Mr. Amit Mahajan, Founder & CEO of Griffyn Robotech Pvt. Ltd., said, "Ventilators and other respiratory aids are critical devices in the fight against COVID-19, and to this en we are working together with our partners to ensure manufacturing and steady supply of ventilators in India. As a socially responsible and caring brand, we are committed to serving society in every way possible." "Further to this effect, we will be creating an open API and extensible platform that can be leveraged for extended features to be rapidly introduced in next few weeks. We are also planning to collaborate with other start-ups for creating addons to the platform. We are all proud 'Desh Bhakts' and are glad to contribute with our skills so that we all win together the fight against the pandemic." He further adds, "We will be applying to be one of the many suppliers to the government to manufacture ventilators on a large scale that can save millions of lives across India and globally to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. This will ensure we have enough ventilators and are prepared to tackle the coronavirus outbreak." Due to shortage of ventilators, caretakers and medical staff uses bag valve mask devices to manually ventilate patients for prolonged periods of time leading to mortality and morbidity. To address this, Griffyn Robotech has developed affordable AI specilized ventilation devices to treat patients with respiratory illnesses during emergencies and mass casualties, as an alternative for prolonged manual ventilation. As per recent reports, India which only spends about 1 per cent of its gross domestic product on healthcare, has allocated fewer than 20,000 ventilators for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. The public health research organisation, based in Washington and New Delhi, estimates India will need as many as 1m ventilators to address the peak of coronavirus cases. About Griffyn Robotech Pvt. Ltd Griffyn Robotech is an AI innovations company headquartered in Pune with sales offices in USA and UK. There are nearly 40 high-skilled engineers at present and is expected to grow in the coming years. It was started with the vision of building AI based robotics products to assist in improving the day to day life of its end users. Griffyn works in Robotics automation and uses proprietary AI enabled vision system 'Optivity' to enable the Robots to be self-aware and autonomous. Griffyn works in the area of IIOT with a hardware gateway for Edge computing and a companion cloud offering for remote monitoring. AI is implemented to solve critical industry problems in areas of Inspections of components and finished goods in Automotive and Mobile phone industry. Website - http://www.griffyn.io/shwaas.php Prototype - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVI0_4mgKZM&feature=youtu.be Reach them on - [email protected] | +91-77680-61536 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1158443/Griffyn_Logo.jpg [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Andom Yosef spent his nights butchering unlucky pigs in the state of South Dakota for years, but now, he and more than 700 colleagues -- most of them immigrants -- have found their own luck ran out: infected with coronavirus. The immigrant, a former Eritrean refugee in Ethiopia, arrived in the rural US state in 2007, dreaming of a better life. He never complained about the particularly harsh work conditions: "My job is not too hard compared to others," he said. The night shifts, cold temperatures and overcrowding on the meat processing lines were small prices to pay to escape the refugee camp where he had spent seven years. If the thankless physical labor was repetitive and unrewarding, it was also the key to a new future. But when the number of coronavirus cases began exploding inside the plant's brick walls, Yosef, 38, became concerned. "I tried to get tested," Yosef said. A few days after getting an appointment "they told me I was positive and I didn't have to go to work, I had to stay at home." In quarantine for nearly two weeks now with his partner and two children, Yosef said no one in the family, himself included, has shown any symptoms. As part of one of the nation's biggest COVID-19 clusters, one resulting in two deaths and the plant's closure, Yosef, who spoke to AFP from his stoop while wearing a mask, is sitting things out -- for the moment. - Tower of Babel - Smithfield Foods employs some 3,700 people in Sioux Falls, the largest city in South Dakota, a state known for corn fields and cattle ranches. Workers slaughter, slice, cook up and package thousands of pigs that arrive daily at the huge complex on the banks of the Big Sioux River. The plant is an industrial Tower of Babel, the workplace of refugees and immigrants who, having fled Latin America, Asia and Africa, rub shoulders among rows of butchered pigs and slabs of meat. Many are grateful simply to have found a paying job earning slightly above minimum wage, doing a type of work that requires little previous qualification. Abebe Lamesgin, a 54-year-old carpenter, arrived in the United States some 15 years ago with his wife, who is a Smithfield employee. They liked Smithfield. "We raised our kids" thanks to it, he said. But their American dream -- a house with a garage in a tidy residential suburb, their two eldest children having received college degrees -- soured when Lamesgin's wife came down with coronavirus. "The company I work with gave us an awareness about the disease and how we have to be careful," Lamesgin said. "I don't think Smithfield did the same. They didn't do anything." "We know they have to have profits, they have to make money, that's a good thing," said Lamesgin, who is also a priest at an Ethiopian Orthodox church. "But they have to care about the people, you know. Without people, no benefit," he added, index finger raised, like a preacher before his flock. Ironically and seemingly symbolizing the endless reaches of globalization, Smithfield Foods, nestled on the Dakota prairie, belongs to a conglomerate from China, the very country where the coronavirus originated. - 'Shoulder-to-shoulder' - Kooper Caraway, a young local union president, said "the alarm was raised" in early March concerning coronavirus but Smithfield's management "didn't take the situation seriously enough until it was too late." "It's an old building, the hallways and staircases are very narrow. They're changing clothes shoulder-to-shoulder in the locker room, they're eating shoulder-to-shoulder in the lunch room," the 29-year-old union leader said. "The plant wasn't built for social distancing." The result: an explosion of more than 900 cases -- 761 employees and 143 relatives and other friends and loved ones, according to the latest figures out Tuesday. Among the cases have been two deaths. Smithfield said in a press release to AFP that it is "doing everything in our power to help protect our team members from COVID-19 in the workplace." It lists a series of measures put into place: a proliferation of gel disinfectant dispensers, installation of Plexiglas screens and temperature checks at the plant entrance. - $500 bonus - The company also "strongly" rejects the claim that it was trying to force the hand of workers by promising a $500 bonus to employees who do not take any sick days in April. Instead, it said the bonus is "recognition of an immense gratefulness for the dedication and performance" of workers, but unions see such payments as "irresponsible" incentives to come to work even when sick. "It is much easier to write a check than sitting down and doing a critical analysis of their production model and safety procedures," Caraway, the union leader, said. Under pressure from state authorities, the Sioux Falls plant, which accounts for four to five percent of US pork production, closed on April 12 until further notice. The columns of smoke that usually rise above the city have dissipated. Semi-trailer trucks remain empty in front of loading docks. And only a few abandoned cars occupy the huge employee parking lot. Yosef, who is being paid by the company during his quarantine, says he is "not scared." Once the plant reopens, he plans to return to work feeding confined Americans. Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) said one of its subsidiaries, Moro Hub (Data Hub Integrated Solutions), is now a Dubai Electronic Security Center (DESC)-certified cloud service provider (CSP) in the UAE. DESC has developed a CSP Security Standard, which outlines requirements and guidelines for CSPs and those organizations consuming any cloud services. The CSP Security Standard mandates CSPs to comply with international best practices for cloud services. It is based on global information security standards such as ISO/IEC 27001:2013; ISO/IEC 27002:2013; ISO/IEC 27017:2015; ISR:2017 v.02 and CSA Cloud Control Matrix 3.0.1, said a statement from Dewa. As part of the extensive DESC certification process, Moro Hub has implemented the Information Security Management System, complying with all international standards for CSPs, it stated. These controls were then verified through a comprehensive auditing process by an external certification body appointed by DESC, said the statement. Ensuring compliance with the CSP Security Standard is a mandatory requirement for CSPs looking to offer cloud services for government and semi-government entities in Dubai, it added. Moro Hub CEO Mohammad Bin Sulaiman said: "The certification demonstrates Moro Hubs commitment to providing secure cloud computing platform and services to our customers." With this, Moro Hub becomes a DESC-certified CSP after successfully complying with the regulatory bodys security standards for offering cloud services in the UAE. Moro Hub is a local digital service provider with a state-of-the-art data centre facility in the UAE. It is a Dewa subsidiary and a Dubai 10X enabler. The companys diversified portfolio includes colocation, cloud, digital, cyber security, and professional and managed services. "As a DESC-certified CSP, our customers know that we have gone through a detailed process to ensure all their cloud service requirements are being met as per superior global standards and best practices," observed Sulaiman. "The certification further strengthens Moro Hubs position as customers preferred partner for their end-to-end cloud service demands," he added. Sulaiman said: "When it comes to cloud services, customers biggest reservations have been around security and data privacy issues, migration costs, lack of market maturity and non-alignment with IT or business requirements. With the segment expected to grow exponentially, those customers who address these issues early on will be much ahead of the curve." "As a specialist, Moro Hub is dedicated to assisting customers in their cloud and digital transformation goals," he stated. Moro Hubs cloud operations and data storage infrastructures are fully operational within the UAE. The companys cloud platform is designed to meet the complete privacy and data protection requirements of its customers, he added.-TradeArabia News Service Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn said Wednesday that stay at-home coronavirus tests will help states increase their testing capabilities. Why it matters: Increasing daily tests is a key requirement that states must reach before they can safely relax coronavirus lockdowns. Driving the news: The Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday that it granted emergency authorization for LabCorp's first at-home coronavirus test, CBS News reports. The test is a nasal swab kit and will cost $119, though buyers must complete an eligibility survey before receiving one. It will not be available in New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Rhode Island because they have regulations against people initiating their own tests, according to CBS. What they're saying: Hahn told CBS that health care workers and first responders will have first access to the test when it goes on sale. Hahn added that the test is as effective as those administered in a doctors office. "With this action, there is now a convenient and reliable option for patient sample collection from the comfort and safety of their home," he said in a statement. The big picture: The United States had conducted more than 4 million tests as of Wednesday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The country has tested an average of 146,000 people per day so far in April, according to the COVID Tracking Project. Harvard University researchers suggest that the U.S. cannot reopen its economy unless it triples the number of daily tests, the New York Times reports. Go deeper: Maryland to receive 500,000 coronavirus tests from South Korea Pune, April 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global hair transplant market is likely to gain impetus from the ever-increasing number of surgeries performed in males for treating androgenic alopecia. The International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) mentioned that hair restoration procedures surged by approximately 60% worldwide since 2014 because of the rising cases of alopecia. Fortune Business Insights published this information in a recent report, titled, Hair Transplant Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Type (Surgical and Non-surgical), By Gender (Male and Female) By End User (Hospitals & Clinics and Hair Transplant Centers), and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026. The report further mentions that the hair transplant market size was USD 5.94 billion in 2018 and is projected to reach USD 43.13 billion by 2026, exhibiting a CAGR of 28.1% during the forecast period. Request a Sample Copy of the Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/hair-transplant-market-102638 This Report Answers the Following Questions- What are the hair restoration market trends? How many growth drivers, obstacles, challenges, and opportunities would the market come across in the near future? Which region is expected to dominate in terms of revenue? Which segment is set to lead in terms of market share? What are the new strategies adopted by key players to increase consumer base? An Overview of the Impact of COVID-19 on this Market: The emergence of COVID-19 has brought the world to a standstill. We understand that this health crisis has brought an unprecedented impact on businesses across industries. However, this too shall pass. Rising support from governments and several companies can help in the fight against this highly contagious disease. There are some industries that are struggling and some are thriving. Overall, almost every sector is anticipated to be impacted by the pandemic. We are taking continuous efforts to help your business sustain and grow during COVID-19 pandemics. Based on our experience and expertise, we will offer you an impact analysis of coronavirus outbreak across industries to help you prepare for the future. To get the short-term and long-term impact of COVID-19 on this Market. Please visit: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/hair-transplant-market-102638 Drivers & Restraints- Rising Disposable Income of People to Spur Demand In todays technology-driven world, the ongoing technological advancements in hair transplantation techniques are affecting the market positively. Almost all men and women suffering from alopecia can be treated efficiently with the newly developed techniques. This revolution is attracting a large consumer base for reputed clinics. At present, the developing countries are showcasing high disposable income. It is further resulting in the increasing expenditure of the masses on aesthetic procedures. The American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, for instance, declared that Americans had spent around USD 15 billion on surgical and non-surgical procedures in 2016. However, transplantation procedures require hefty amount of money. It may hamper the hair restoration market growth in the near future. Segment- Ability to Deliver Instant Result Will Augment the Non-surgical Segment In terms of type, the market is grouped into surgical and non-surgical. Amongst these, the non-surgical segment had procured the maximum hair transplant market share in 2018. This growth is attributable to their possession of numerous benefits as compared to the surgical procedures. The former gives out instant results and have lesser side-effects. The ISHRS stated that in 2017, approximately 1,241,764 non-surgical procedures took place worldwide. Overall, the rising sales of devices and medicines to combat hair loss would accelerate the growth of this segment. Regional Analysis- Rising Number of Hair Transplant Facilities to Favor Growth in Asia Pacific Based on region, the market is segregated into Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, and North America. Out of these, Asia Pacific stood in the leading position in 2018 by generating the maximum hair transplant market revenue. The increasing number of surgeries occurring in this region is a major reason for growth. Additionally, rising investment by key companies in the development of advanced techniques, as well as the presence of a large number of hair transplant facilities are anticipated to favor growth in this region. The Middle East and Africa, on the other hand, would remain in the second position on account of the availability of cost-effective procedures in this region. Lastly, Europe and North America would exhibit lower growth owing to the decreasing incidence of hair loss amongst the masses. Quick Buy - Hair Transplant Market Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/checkout-page/102638 Competitive Landscape- Key Players Focus on New Product Development to Gain Competitive Edge The market consists of several companies ranging from well-established leaders to local start-ups. They are mainly adopting the strategy of novel product development for gaining positive outcomes and effective transplant procedures. Below are a couple of the latest key industry developments: June 2019 : In Columbia University, researchers have unveiled a cutting-edge therapy for growing human hair follicles using 3D printed molds. It is set to create new opportunities in the field of hair restoration. : In Columbia University, researchers have unveiled a cutting-edge therapy for growing human hair follicles using 3D printed molds. It is set to create new opportunities in the field of hair restoration. December 2018: HairClone, a startup biotechnology company based in the U.K., teamed up with experts to develop a brand new cell replacement therapy for those who have recently started to exhibit signs of hair thinning. Fortune Business Insights presents a list of all the companies operating in the hair restoration market. They are as follows: Bosley - Hair Restoration & Transplant Venus Concept Follica Bernstein Medical Dr Batra's Other key market players Have Any Query? Ask Our Experts: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/hair-transplant-market-102638 Detailed Table of Content: Introduction Market Scope Market Segmentation Market Methodology Definitions and Assumptions Executive Summary Market Dynamics Market Drivers Market Restraints Market Opportunities Key Insights Overview: Trends in Hair Transplant Market Snapshot of Hair Transplant Surgeries Performed By Key Countries New Product Launch Key Industry Developments - Mergers, Acquisitions, and Partnerships Global Hair Transplant Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast, 2015-2026 Key Findings / Summary Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By Type Surgical Non-surgical Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By Gender Male Female Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By End User Hospitals & Clinics Hair Transplant Centers Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By Geography North America Europe Asia Pacific Latin America Middle East & Africa TOC Continued.!!! Request for Customization: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/customization/hair-transplant-market-102638 Have a Look at Related Reports: Antiepileptic Drugs (AED) Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Drug Generation (First Generation, Second Generation, and Third Generation), By Distribution Channel (Hospital Pharmacies, Retail Pharmacies, and Online Pharmacies), and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026 Orthopedic Devices Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Type (Joint Reconstruction Devices, Spinal Devices, Trauma Devices, Dental Implants, Orthobiologic Devices, Arthroscopy Devices, and Others), By End User (Hospitals, Orthopedic Clinic, Ambulatory Surgical Centers, and Others), and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026 Reading Glasses Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Age Group (Less than 18 years, 18-64 years, and 65 years and above), By Type (Prescription Reading Glasses and OTC Reading Glasses), By Distribution Channel (Retail Stores, Online Sales Channels, Ophthalmol-ogy Clinics), and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026 Medical Marijuana Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Application (Pain Disorders, Cancer, and Others), By Type (Flowers, Concentrates, Edibles and Others), By Distribution Channel (Dispensaries, Online Channel, and Others), and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026 About Us: Fortune Business Insights offers expert corporate analysis and accurate data, helping organizations of all sizes make timely decisions. 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Ltd. 308, Supreme Headquarters, Survey No. 36, Baner, Pune-Bangalore Highway, Pune - 411045, Maharashtra, India. Phone: US :+1 424 253 0390 UK : +44 2071 939123 APAC : +91 744 740 1245 Email: sales@fortunebusinessinsights.com Fortune Business Insights LinkedIn | Twitter | Blogs Press Release: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/press-release/hair-transplant-market-9776 Gov. Charlie Baker gives his first daily update on the novel coronavirus pandemic after taking two days off. Baker: No One Looking to 'Jump Off the Deep End' on Reopening State BOSTON Gov. Charlie Baker indicated Tuesday that he is not feeling any particular pressure to rush to open non-essential businesses in the commonwealth. But if that pressure does come, he indicated that he will push back strongly on the idea. "I'll be damned if the way this works is we flatten the curve, we do all this stuff we were supposed to do and then we create some run-up again in the fall because we don't handle the re-entry, the reopening in a way that actually works and makes sense and keeps people safe," Baker said at his daily press briefing. "So, yeah, this is difficult. It's also purposeful, and in many cases it has worked, and we should all remember that. The last thing we should do is give this insidious and somewhat invisible virus the opportunity to breathe on a go-forward basis." On a day when Baker announced that he was extending the closure of the commonwealth's schools through the end of the school year, he also said conversations are ongoing about what the reopening of Massachusetts will look like. The current state of emergency and closure of non-essential businesses remains in place through at least May 4. He said Tuesday that he understands the sacrifice that individual Bay Staters are making by staying in their home and only going out to do essential chores or visit essential businesses, like grocery stores or pharmacies. But those sacrifices pale in comparison to the health-care workers, first-responders and food chain employees who are doing the essential work. And he said the people he is talking to understand that. "I take some hope from the fact that when our business leaders talk to the lieutenant governor or me or [Secretary of Housing and Economic Development] Mike Kennealy or to [Secretary of Health and Human Services] Marylou Sudders and the folks in the Command Center about what they think a reopening would look like, they talk about in an incredibly informed and careful and planful way," Baker said. "People around here aren't looking to jump off the deep end of the pier. They're looking to find a way to do something safely. "I don't see amongst the vast majority of folks I talk to a tremendous appetite to get this wrong on a go-forward basis. I see just the opposite, which is a lot of people trying to gather as much data and information as they possibly can and try to come up with a way to move forward that makes sense." Baker counted himself among the Massachusetts residents who want to see a return to "normal." He said he and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito have talked about how much they miss the normal day-to-day of government, which usually includes literally pressing the flesh around the commonwealth. And he once again invoked his 91-year-old father, saying he longs to see him again, but not "unless the circumstances and the situations and the rules of engagement are right." And he referenced an email he received from a resident on Monday's Patriots Day. The woman who wrote him is the wife of a stage 4 cancer patient and mother of an adult child working in the public sector doing an essential job. "She wrote to tell me about the support she's gotten from her neighbors," Baker said. "Small acts of kindness, like dropping off protective gear for her husband, so he can wear that when he goes out to get his cancer treatments. Strangers have given her child their masks, just in case the child didn't have access to those at work. "I know we all miss sports, gatherings, meetings, friends, all the stuff that has always been a presumed part of our daily lives. But we all need to remember why we're doing all this. We're doing it so that women like that woman who emailed me on Patriots Day can still get their husband into the hospital for cancer treatments and do so safely. We're doing it so public servants, like that woman's child, can do their job, serving the community as best they can under the current circumstances as safely as possible." On that note, Baker reminded residents that they can still avail themselves of the commonwealth's health-care system for non-coronavirus issues during the COVID-19 crisis. He said many doctors have reported a reduction in patients seeking care for things like heart problems and kidney dialysis. "It's important to remind the public that our hospitals have made accommodations for COVID-19 to ensure that they can also care for other health-care problems," Baker said. "People should still call their doctor to talk about their own health and their own healthcare and go to the hospital if they have an emergency." The commonwealth's partnership with Boston-based Buoy Health and its artificial intelligence-driven tool has served more than 90,000 people with online diagnostics. There have been a number of people who have gone through buoyhealth.com and ended up with a recommendation to call 911, Baker said. "Please use the system," he said. In other news of the commonwealth's battle against COVID-19 on Tuesday: Baker reported that the commonwealth has about 18,100 hospital beds available. About 3,800 beds are occupied by patients with COVID-19. About 58 percent of the state's hospital beds overall remain unoccupied, including about 6,800 acute care and non-ICU beds, about 2,600 ICU beds and 900 beds in field medical hospitals. "Although we do anticipate that hospitalization rates may increase in the coming days," Baker said. On Monday, the commonwealth conducted 7,157 new tests, bringing the total number of tests to about 169,000. The state reported 1,566 new cases on Monday. "The last few days, we have seen fewer positive cases, day-to-day, but it's too soon to draw a conclusion from that data," Baker said. "A few days does not represent a trend, as we've said many times. And we have seen the data bounce around over the course of more than a few days." Sudders reported that the commonwealth continues to operate its mobile testing program with the National Guard at nursing homes but has temporarily stopped sending COVID-19 test kits directly to nursing homes for use by their personnel. She said the state has sent out 14,000 test kits to nursing homes and received only 4,000 back and wants to know what the breakdown is before resuming distribution. The mobile testing program itself has visited 311 long-term care facilities to conduct more than 8,800 tests, she said. Baker said the commonwealth's unemployment program for self-employed and "gig economy" workers, which rolled out Monday, was able to process an influx of 50,000 applicants on the first day. The new program for workers who don't have traditional employer-employee relationships was authorized by Congress under the CARES act last month, and Baker said Massachusetts is one of the first states in the nation to implement the new benefit. Baker parted ways with President Trump on Trump's Monday pronouncement that he would "temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!" "I'm opposed to the decision that the president made," Baker said. "I'm opposed to the order. It doesn't make any sense, and I don't think it makes us any safer." The Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) has asked government and trustees in charge of the National Covid-19 Trust Fund to ensure transparency and accountability in the utilization of the fund. The Coalition in a statement also urged the government and all other persons in charge of procuring goods and services in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak to be guided by value for money considerations and strictly abide by public procurement laws. The Coalition also charged citizens to demand accountability from the people we have entrusted with our COVID-19 funds and resources. The COVID-19 National Trust Fund had so far received several millions of Ghana cedis in the form of donations from the general public. What the Fund seeks to do The COVID-19 National Trust Fund has in a short while received many donations and contributions from businesses and individuals to complement the efforts of government in the fight against the disease. President Akufo-Addo donated his April, May and June salaries as seed money for the Fund. Vice-President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia continued in the President's steps and also donated three months' salary to the Trust Fund. All Ministers of State and other top appointees at the presidency voluntarily decided to donate 50 percent of their salary for the next three months to the COVID-19 Fund. Parliament has contributed GH200,000 with the Speaker of the House, Prof. Aaron Mike Ocquaye donating half of his three months' salary to the Fund. Other groups and associations have also made different donations in cash and kind to various hospitals and health services in the country. The Trust which is chaired by former Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo is aimed at being used to help improve the lives of the vulnerable who will be worst-hit by the pandemic. The utilization of the National COVID-19 Trust Fund is expected to begin this week. The disbursement will pave the way for various activities aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19 to begin. ---citinewsroom Amsterdam, April 22, 2020 - Arcadis (EURONEXT: ARCAD), the leading global Design & Consultancy organization for natural and built assets, today announced a new partnership with the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Galveston District to provide architect-engineer technical support services on multiple projects along the Texas coast through 2024. Arcadis' contract is worth $10 million for the first year with a total potential value of up to $40.5 million over four years to help the district meet its aggressive mission goals and schedule. Over the course of the contract, Arcadis will support various projects, including the $3.9 billion Sabine Pass to Galveston Bay Project, consisting of the design and construction of levees, concrete floodwalls and new pump stations to manage flooding during surge events. The USACE Galveston District has received nearly $5.0 billion in disaster relief funding in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in 2017. The funding is dedicated to improving the flood protection and sustainability of communities and commerce along the coast of Texas and southwest Louisiana. Arcadis will also support the district's primary responsibility to operate and maintain the harbors, ports and waterways that serve as pivotal pathways for interstate commerce. Technical services provided will include planning studies, detailed engineering design and independent technical reviews, operation and maintenance, engineering during construction, and construction management services. "Arcadis is proud to support the mission of the USACE to provide vital public engineering services and help protect citizens that live in these coastal areas from the risks associated with natural disasters," says Peter Oosterveer, Arcadis CEO. -End- Improving quality of life FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: ARCADIS CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS Monika Grabek Mobile: +31 6 11 40 36 96 E-mail: monika.grabek@arcadis.com ARCADIS INVESTOR RELATIONS Jurgen Pullens Mobile: +31 6 51599483 E-mail: jurgen.pullens@arcadis.com ABOUT ARCADIS Arcadis is the leading global Design & Consultancy organization for natural and built assets. Applying our deep market sector insights and collective design, consultancy, engineering, project and management services we work in partnership with our clients to deliver exceptional and sustainable outcomes throughout the lifecycle of their natural and built assets. We are 28,000 people, active in over 70 countries that generate 3.5 billion in revenues. We support UN-Habitat with knowledge and expertise to improve the quality of life in rapidly growing cities around the world. www.arcadis.com Attachment Mayank Singh By Express News Service NEW DELHI: For the first time since independence, the Kasowal enclave in Punjab right along the Pakistan border has got a permanent link with the Indian mainland. On 20th April 2020, the Kasowal enclave in Punjab got connected permanently to the mainland when the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) opened the 484-metre Kasowal permanent bridge much ahead of schedule, said a BRO official. The bridge was built by 141 Drain Maintenance Coy of 49 Border Roads Task Force (BRTF) of Project Chetak of the BRO at a cost of Rs 17.89 crores excluding the approaches. The Kasowal enclave of approximately 35 sq km had so far been connected to the rest of India by a pontoon bridge of limited load capacity which was dismantled every year prior to the monsoon, as it would get washed away by the Ravi river. This meant thousands of acres of fertile land across the river could not be utilized by the farmers in the monsoon. As the land is very fertile, farmers on both sides are tilling right up to the international border. During the two wars of 1965 and 1971, this area saw major duels between the armies of India and Pakistan. The local population and the Army by virtue of the sensitivity of the enclave required a Class 70 permanent bridge to give all-weather connectivity. The BRO had planned to open the Kasowal Bridge in time for Vaisakhi so that farmers could transport their harvest to the market comfortably. The work came to a halt on March 23 due to the COVID-19 lockdown. To ensure locals do not suffer during the harvest season and also to ensure the bridge does not get damaged because of the heavy discharge of water and the tendency of the river to change course in the monsoons, the BRO approached the Punjab government and Gurdaspur district administration to continue the work. On April 3, BRO officials wrote to the District Commissioner of Gurdaspur, seeking permission to resume construction work on the bridge. On April 10, Lt Gen Harpal Singh, Director General BRO, discussed the matter with the Punjab government and on April 11 the SDM Dera Baba Nanak gave his nod to proceed with the work. The work resumed on 13th April and BRO teams continued the work with all necessary COVID-19 precautions. To facilitate the shifting of crops, all available resources were diverted and the approach work of the far bank completed in two days. On the first Monday after Vaisakhi, the bridge was opened for the farmers who transported their harvest on tractors to the market. U.S.President Donald Trump has tweeted an order to the U.S. Navy to destroy any armed Iranian boats that harass American ships. I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 22, 2020 U.S.President Donald Trump has tweeted an order to the U.S. Navy to destroy any armed Iranian boats that harass American ships.Trump announced his new instructions to the Navy on 22 April.He tweeted:The order came a week after 11 boats from Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy swarmed U.S. military vessels in international waters in the Persian Gulf.They got dangerously close at times, earlier reports indicated.Trumps order also follows Irans announcement that it had successfully placed its first military satellite into orbit.The satellite was launched using a Qassed space launch rocket.The United States and others accuse Iran of using its nascent space program as a cover for research and development into long-range ballistic missiles. Kolkata, April 22 : Union Minister and BJP leader Babul Supriyo has posted a video on social media showing alleged lack of social distancing between patients and a body lying on the bed in the ward for suspected coronaviurs patients at a state-run hospital. A state government minister, however, said the genuineness of the video needs to be ascertained. "The genuineness of the video needs to be looked into, as the BJP's habit of spreading fake videos is all too well known," said state Education Minister and Trinamool Secretary General Partha Chatterjee. In the video, a man who claims to be one of the patients admitted to the ward, complains of mismanagement in the hospital. Calling the video 'shocking', Supriyo demanded a probe into the matter. "Since this VDO is in the Public Domain, I wud request Honble WBCM @MamataOfficial to conduct a thorough enquiry into it & release the FACTs asap," Supriyo tweeted. On Wednesday, Supriyo again tweeted on the video, pointing out that despite it going "super-viral on all platforms, till now the WB Govt of @MamataOffical Didi, did not come up with any claim that this is a fake VDO... That takes us Very Close to believing it is indeed authentic." IANS is not in a position to independently ascertain the authenticity of the video. Miss Aluminum By Susanna Moore Farrar Straus Giroux. 288 pp. $27 --- At 74, Susanna Moore has lived a life well worth recounting. Both privileged and marked by tragedy, she has moved through the world as a great beauty and also as a deep and careful thinker with an old-fashioned character. Born in Hawaii, she left home at 17 and moved to Philadelphia then New York and Los Angeles; she modeled and became a script reader for Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty. In her new memoir, "Miss Aluminum," Moore dishes about her Hollywood days - including a shocking revelation about the designer Oleg Cassini - but the book is far from your typical debauchery-filled tell-all. As readers of Moore's fiction know, she is a brilliant storyteller and sentence-maker. "My Old Sweetheart" and "The Whiteness of Bones," novels inspired by her youth in Hawaii, her mother's sudden death and her coming of age in New York have been among my favorites since I read them in the early 1980s. Her 1995 erotic thriller "In the Cut" created a well-deserved sensation. The latest addition to her oeuvre reminded me of everything I ever loved about her as a writer and now, as happens with certain memoirs, I feel like she is my friend - a very elegant, accomplished grande dame sort of friend, to be sure, one who might loan you a pair of blue velvet Pucci bell-bottoms or a copy of "The Great War and Modern Memory" on your way out the door after tea. (Definitely not "The Alexandria Quartet," which I was delighted to hear called "shockingly bad.") Moore's voice on the page is sometimes reminiscent of one of her mentors, Joan Didion, in its spellbinding rhythms and effortless transition between the physical and the intellectual. Here, for example, is her description of designer attire she was given by a wealthy friend over 50 years ago: "When I now wear these same clothes, a little stained in the armpits and with the occasional moth hole, I wonder how I have held onto them for so long, despite having lost or forsaken so many other things, not all of them tangible." Her anecdotes range from breezy to chilling. On one end, you have her ludicrous two-day reign as Miss Aluminum (a modeling job for the Aluminum Association to help promote their products) and her early confusion about sexual pleasure. "I had been more influenced than I realized by my prurient reading of such books as Peyton Place," she writes, "drawing from them the inaccurate notion that orgasm was tantamount to a seizure of great intensity." She may still have been a little confused about things years later when she had her less-than-steamy extramarital affair with Nicholson. On the dark side, she was not much more than 20 when she says she was raped in a hotel room by her then-employer, the designer Oleg Cassini, a Harvey Weinstein prototype. Though she doesn't mention the #Metoo movement, it may have emboldened her to share this story, about which she has remained silent until now. After the incident, Cassini went on to help her get a role as one of 10 "Slaygirls," bodyguards to Dean Martin's character in a ridiculous film for which he was the costume designer. To protect herself from Cassini over the months of shooting in Acapulco, she became the "girlfriend" of the associate producer, a man with liver spots, a wife and grown children. But Moore too was married, and eventually her husband showed up unannounced in her cottage at the Hotel Las Brisas. He beat her so badly that even months later the judge took one look at her face and awarded her an instant, no-waiting-period divorce. Stories like these are grounded in her unflappable narrative tone and her conviction, shared on the last page of the book, assessing her prospects at age 30, that "it would be all right." Given the luminous literary career she had not yet even begun at that age, it seems to be so. --- Winik, a professor at the University of Baltimore, is the author of numerous books, including "First Comes Love," "The Lunch-Box Chronicles" and, most recently, "The Big Book of the Dead." Coronavirus Lockdown Latest News: The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases now stand at 20,471 as of date, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. These include, 15,474 active cases, 3,959 cured/discharged, 1 migrated and 652 deaths. India recorded 1,486 fresh COVID-19 cases and 49 deaths it the last 24 hours, taking the country's tally beyond 20,000-mark. Maharashtra is worst-hit state with 5,649 coronavirus cases, the highest in India so far, while the state's death toll is at 257. The state recorded 431 fresh COVID-19 cases and 18 deaths on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Gujarat has pipped Delhi to emerge as the second worst-affected state with 2,178 confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to the Health Ministry. The death toll in the state stands at 90. Delhi has slipped on third spot with 2,156 virus cases, according to the Health Ministry. The national capital has registered 75 fresh COVID-19 deaths in 24 hours, including 6 policemen from Jahangirpuri police station were tested positive for the virus. Meanwhile, no new deaths have been reported in the national capital in the past 24 hours. Against the backdrop of attacks on healthcare personnel fighting coronavirus, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved an ordinance making acts of violence against them as cognisable and non-bailable offences, Union minister Prakash Javadekar said. The proposed ordinance will amend the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897. Also Read: Gujarat coronavirus hotspots: Check complete list of containment zones as cases reach 2,178 Also Read: Coronavirus in India: COVID-19 cases cross 18,000; check state-wise tally, deaths, list of testing facilities Follow BusinessToday.in for live updates on coronavirus in India and world: 11.27 pm: Imran Khan tests negative for COVID-19 Pakitan Prime Miniter Imran Khan was tested for novel coronavirus today and his test results came negative. "Prime Minister Imran Khan was tested today for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus strain that causes coronavirus disease 2019 [COVID-19]. The test used was a polymerase chain reaction (PCR). I am happy to report that his test is NEGATIVE," informes State Minister for Health Zafar Mirza in a tweet. 11.00 pm: WATCH: A COVID-19 positive patient alleges that Delhi's LNJP Hospital is admitting him for immediate treatment Prime Minister Imran Khan was tested today for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus strain that causes coronavirus disease 2019 [COVID-19]. The test used was a polymerase chain reaction (PCR). I am happy to report that his test is NEGATIVE. Zafar Mirza (@zfrmrza) April 22, 2020 10.37 pm: Coronavirus cases in Maharashtra: Doubling rates comes down to 7 days The doubling rate for coronavirus infection in Maharashtra has come down to 7.01 days, informed State Health Minister Rajesh Tope. This means that present figures will double after 7 days, but we will not allow that to happen, Tope said. 9.22 pm: Corona cases in Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh reported 112 new coronavirus cases, taking the total tally to 1,449. Pratapgarh district in UP has become COVID-19 free, the State Health Department stated. 9.10 pm: Number of corona cases in Delhi Delhi reported 92 new coronavirus cases and 1 death today, taking the total tally of cases to 2,248 and death toll to 48 8.56 pm: Coronavirus crisis: PM Modi talks to Irish PM In a telephonic conversation with Ireland Prime Minister Dr Leo Varadkar, PM Narendra Modi discussed the state of coronavirus pandemic and the steps being taken by India and Ireland to mitigate the health and economic impact of the crisis. Modi thanked Varadkar for care and support extended to Indian citizens in Ireland, and promised to do the same for Irish citizens in India. 8.53 pm: Coronavirus in India: PM Modi to talk to Gram Panchayats on Panchayati Raj Day PM Narendra Modi will address Gram Panchayats across the country April 24 on the occasion of National Panchayati Raj Day via video link. He will also launch the unified e-GramSwaraj Portal and Mobile App on the occasion. The Prime Minister will also roll out the Swamitva Scheme. 8.44 pm: Number of hotspots in Delhi Delhi government has added Lado Sarai area to the list of containment zones, taking the number of COVID-19 hotspots in the national capital to 89. #WATCH A COVID19 positive patient alleges that Delhi's LNJP hospital is not admitting him for immediate treatment. He also says that he and 3 other patients walked to the hospital today while there are 7 more COVID19 patients at his home. pic.twitter.com/mun0IvsIex ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 8.35 Coronavirus in Ranchi One more coronavirus case has been detected in Ranhci's Hindpiri area, which has been designated a hotspot. This takes the total number of cases in Jharkhand to 46. 8.33 pm: Total corona cases in Patiala Patiala registered 18 new COVID-19 cases today, all related to a single case in Rajpura area. Special Chief Secretary KBS Singh stated that the area has been secured. 8.29 pm: Coronavirus in Haryana No liquor shops will open in Haryana tll May 3, Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala told ANI. Smugglers will be face strict action. 8.22 pm: COVID-19 pandemic: Health Ministry directs states to help ASHA workers Health Ministry has written to all states, directing them to provide financial incentives to ASHA workers for undertaking COVID-19 management activities. The Ministry has also asked states to ensure that adequate protective gears are provided to ASHA workers. Pratapgarh district has become #COVID19 free. Pool testing has been started at RIMS in Saifai. 3500 RT-PCR tests are being conducted daily in Uttar Pradesh: State Health Department https://t.co/5trMA0LSbu ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) April 22, 2020 7.53 pm: No new corona cases in Uttarakhand List of COVID19 'containment zones' in #Delhi rise to 89 after two areas in the Lado Sarai area added to the list. pic.twitter.com/mtOpwpMzZj ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 7.45 pm: Coronavirus in Delhi: 71 cops quarantined 71 Delhi Police officials have been directed to be in quarantine, reported news agency ANI. They came in contact with a head constable posted at Delhi Police Special Cell who has tested positive for COVID-19. 7.35 pm: Maharashtra corona cases till now Total number of coronavirus cases in Maharashtra has reached 5,649, as 431 new cases were registered in the state today. Maharashtra saw 18 deaths today, taking the death toll to 269. Of the new deaths, 10 were reported in Mumbai. 7.34 pm: Punjab coronavirus cases Total number of coronavirus cases in Punjab increased to 257, after six more people tested positive in Jalandhar and Kapurthala, informed the State Health Department. So far, 53 patients have been cured in the state, whereas 16 have lost their lives to the virus. 7.28 pm: Bill Gates commends PM Modi for fight against COVID-19 Bill Gates has written to PM Narendra Modi, commending on the efforts being made in India to flatten the COVID-19 infection curve. He also appreciated the use of technology in measures like Arogya Setu app in the fight against coronavirus. 7.18 pm: Pune coroanvirus cases Pune reported 2 COVID-19 deaths today, taking the total death toll in the district to 57, informed health officials. 7.15 pm: Bihar coronaviruscases Bihar reported 5 more COVID-19 positive cases today, informed State Principal Secretary-Health. This has taken the total number of positive cases in the state to 141. 7.11 pm: Dharavi coronavirus cases Total number of coronavirus positive cases in Mumbai's Dharavi has increased to 189, with 12 deaths, BMC reported. Nine new cases were reported today. 6.42 pm: Tamil Nadu Coronavirus cases Tamil Nadu has reported 33 new coronavirus cases today, taking the tally in the state to 1,629, informed the State Health Department. 27 patients today, and 662 patients in total have recovered in the state so far, whereas 18 others have lost their lives. 6.37 pm: Coronavirus pandemic: Air India, SpiceJet, Blue Dart to airlift 220 tonnes medical cargo Air India, along with SpiceJet and Blue Dart will airlift 220 tonnes of essential medical cargo in the next three days, informed Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri. The national carrier has already lifted about 300 tonnes of essential medical cargo so far this month through China-India aerobridge, he said. 6.30 pm: Coronavirus in India "The Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 manifests our commitment to protect each and every healthcare worker who is bravely battling COVID-19 on the frontline," tweeted PM Narendra Modi. "It will ensure safety of our professionals. There can be no compromise on their safety!" 6.26 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi to interact with chief ministers via video conferencing on April 27. 6.19 pm: Coronavirus outbreak: MP Bhagwant Mann seeks PM intervention for bringing stranded Indians home Sangrur MP Bhagwat Mann has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, appealing him to bring back Indians who are stranded in foreign countries amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Health Ministry has directed all States to provide financial incentives to ASHA workers for undertaking COVID19 related activities. The Ministry has also asked States to ensure that ASHA workers are supplied with adequate protective gear. pic.twitter.com/PWK1gFAggn ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 6.12 pm: Coronavirus in India: Cases in India reach 20,471; death toll rises to 652 According to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of coronavirus cases in India has reached 20,471, inluding 15,859 active cases, 652 dead, 3,959 cured patients and 1 migrated patient. 5.51 pm: Wadhawan brothers out of quarantine DHFL promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan have been released from quarantine at their home in Mahabaleshwar after 14 days. Maharashtra government has reportedly informed CBI and ED that the Wadhawan crothers will be released from quarantine on April 22 and promised to provide assistance if the agencies decide to take any action against the DHFL promoters. 5.39 pm: Haryana coronavirus cases There have been 260 coronavirus cases in Haryana, out of which 153 people have recovered, informed CM Manohar Lal Khattar. Three districts have shown no cases of infection, he added. 5.24 pm: Karnataka coronavirus cases Karnataka reported 9 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours till 5PM today, taking the total tally of cases to 427. Of the new cases, 5 were came from Kalaburagi, and 2 each from Bengalruru and Mysore. The state has reported 17 COVID-19 deaths and 131 cured patients. 5:17 pm: 1 COVID-19 case reported from Odisha's Jajpur One new COVID-19 positive case reported from Jajpur; the total number of positive cases is now 83 (including 50 active cases, 32 recovered, and 1 death): Information and Public Relations Dept, Odisha. 5:15 pm: 'Flying Sikh' Milkha Singh's daughter treating COVID-19 patients in New York "My daughter Mona Milkha Singh is a doctor in New York. We are very proud of her. She speaks to us daily and asks us to take care ourselves. We are concerned about her but she has to perform her duty," says former Olympian Milkha Singh. My daughter Mona Milkha Singh is a doctor in New York. We are very proud of her. She speaks to us daily&asks us to take care ourselves. We are concerned about her but she has to perform her duty: Former Olympian Milkha Singh on daughter treating COVID-19 patients at a US hospital pic.twitter.com/KLDKef0MYe - ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 5:10 pm: 3 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Nepal As many as 3 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Nepal, taking total number of positive cases to 45. They were kept in Army's Quarantine in Tandi, says Health Ministry. 5:05 pm: Ensure security to healthcare professionals: MHA to States The home ministry has asked states to ensure adequate security to healthcare professionals, medical staff and frontline workers to prevent violence against them. Strict action to be taken against those who obstruct the performance of last rites of coronawarriors succumbing to COVID-19, it said. State Govts/ UTs requested to appoint Nodal Officers at State/UT level&at Dist level, who would be available 24*7 to redress any safety issue on the functioning of medical professionals.They should also take immediate&strict action in case any incident of violence takes place:MHA https://t.co/Ii3SxsTrfU - ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 5:00 pm: Nepal thanks Indian govt for providing 23 tonnes of essential medicines Prime Minister of Nepal KP Sharma Oli has thanked PM Narendra Modi for India's generous support of 23 tonnes of essential medicines to Nepal, to fight COVID-19 Pandemic. I thank Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji for India's generous support of 23 tonnes of essential medicines to Nepal, to fight COVID-19 Pandemic. The medicines were handedover to the Minister for Health and Population today by the Ambassador of India. - K P Sharma Oli (@kpsharmaoli) April 22, 2020 4:56 pm:27 new COVID-19 cases reported in J&K today As many as 27 new COVID19 cases reported today, all from the Kashmir division, says Rohit Kansal, Principal Secretary- Planning, Jammu & Kashmir. Total number of positive cases is now 407 (Jammu-56 and Kashmir-35). 4:52 pm: Doctors welcome ordinance to curb violence against health workers "I welcome this ordinance. Such an ordinance was needed. This will instill fear in the minds of people," said Dr DS Rana, Chairman, Sir Ganga Ram hospital, Delhi on ordinance to curb violence against health workers. The central government on Wednesday brought an ordinance to end violence against health workers by amending the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, which will allow imprisonment from 6 months to 7 years for those found guilty. 4:45 pm: 7,037 samples tested in West Bengal till now Refuting Centre's claim that West Bengal has conducted lesser number of tests, state Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha said, "It is not true that we are doing less number of tests." A total of 7037 samples have been tested till now. There is a notice to withdraw testing kits, whose fault is it, he said. 4:35 pm: Rajasthan govt starts process to recruit 2,000 doctors Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma on Wednesday said the state government has started process for recruitment of 2,000 doctors, as per the announcement of Chief Minister in the last Budget. "We will complete the process in the next one and half months," he said. Sharma said that 735 doctors have recently been recruited and posted in hospitals. "Recruitment process of 12,500 general nursing and midwife and auxiliary nurse midwife had been completed but posting couldn't be done due to some litigations. After consultation with Advocate General, the CM has now given orders for posting of 9000 such staff," he added. 4.20pm: Mumbai coronavirus news update Central committee has recommended an increase in the capacity of quarantine facility in Mumbai from 1,200 beds to 2,000, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Wednesday. An inter-ministerial central team (IMCT) arrived in Mumbai yesterday to assess the state's preparedness to fight the coronavirus outbreak. In keeping with the committee's directives, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been asked to arrange for more beds and increase testing across Mumbai. 4.15pm: 146 Indian crew members stranded on a cruise ship due to coronavirus pandemic will disembark in Mumbai on April 22, Maharashtra CM said. 4.10pm: Union cabinet approves Rs 15,000 crore to combat coronavirus The cabinet, chaired by PM Narendra Modi, on Wednesday, approved Rs 15,000 crore for 'India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package'. 4.00pm: Bihar coronavirus news update Atleast ten people tested positive for COVID-19 in Bihar today, raising the total number of cases to 136. Out of the 136 cases, 42 have recovered while two one each from Munger and Vaishali districts have died. Nalanda has reported a total of 29 cases . Munger has also reported 27 cases, including a death and six recovered patients. Patna, with 16 cases, is the third worst affected district in Bihar. Out of 38 districts, only 16 have reported COVID-19 cases so far. Altogether 12,978 samples have so far been tested in the state. 3.50 pm: Employee tests positive for coronavirus; civil avaiation's office sealed Ministry of Civil Aviation (B) wng at Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan have been sealed after an employee tested positive for coronavirus. An employee of the ministry, who had attended office on April 15, was infected with coronavirus. 3.40pm: 400 OPD mobile vans deployed in Rajasthan to treat other diseases The Rajasthan government has deployed 400 OPD mobile vans across the state to provide treatent to people, suffering from other diseases. "These mobile vans will be available at the subdivision headquarters as well as other important places and will reach the villages-towns to provide treatment of common diseases to patients," Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said. 3.30pm: Gujarat coronavirus news update: Coronavirus cases in Gujarat rose to 2,272 after 94 more people tested positive for the disease in the state today. The death toll in the state went up to 95, as five more patients succumbed to coronavirus, principal secretary (health) Jayanti Ravi said. So far, 144 patients have been discharged after recovery. There are 2,033 active cases in Gujarat, and so far total 38,059 samples have been tested in the state. 3.20pm: Pak PM Imran Khan tests for COVID-19 Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan underwent a test for the novel coronavirus today, days after meeting a philanthropist who was diagnosed positive for the COVID-19 infection. A team of doctors from the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital kas collected samples. The result is expected on Wednesday. 3.15pm: P Javadekar added that amendment to be made to Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 and Ordinance will be implemented. Such crime will now be cognizable and non-bailable. Investigation will be done within 30 days. Accused can be sentenced from 3 months-5 years and penalised from Rs 50,000 upto Rs 2 lakh. 3.10 pm: Cabinet clears ordinance on protecting health workers from attacks Central Government has brought an ordinance to end violence against health workers, carries imprisonment from 6 months to 7 years if anyone found guilty. Union minister Prakash Javadekar, on Wednesday said, "Health workers who are trying to save the country from this epidemic are unfortunately facing attacks. No incident of violence or harrasamemnt, against them will be tolerated. An ordinance has been brought in, it'll be implemented after President's sanction". 3.03 pm: Rajasthan coronavirus cases: 69 more people infected Rajasthan reported 69 fresh COVID-19 cases on Wednesday with 62 in Jaipur, 4 in Nagaur and 1 each in Tonk, Dausa and Sawai Madhopur. The total number of confirmed cases in the state have risen to 1,868. 2.58 pm: Coronavirus in Assam live updates: Free tests to be conducted on journalists Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday that the state government will conduct free COVID-19 tests for news reporters at Guwahati Medical College on April 25. State govt has decided to conduct free #COVID19 tests for news reporters at Guwahati Medical College on April 25: Assam Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma pic.twitter.com/kRohk6VdEA - ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 2.54 pm: Kerala coronavirus cases: COVID-19 patient recovers after 45 days A 62-year-old coronavirus woman, who testes positive for the infection, was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday after being in the hospital for 45 days. 2.49 pm: India coronavirus live updates: Health Ministry urges people to take part in COVID-19 telephonic survey The Health ministry on Wednesday appealed to people to take part in the coronavirus survey undertaken to get feedback from citizens. "A telephonic survey on COVID-19 is being undertaken where you shall receive calls on your mobile from 1921 number. Please participate in this survey with your information," the ministry tweeted. #CoronaUpdate A Telephonic Survey on #COVID19 is being undertaken where you shall receive calls on your mobile from 1921 number. Please participate in this survey with your information.#SwasthaBharat #IndiaFightsCorona pic.twitter.com/EEJqX9MPyi - Ministry of Health #StayHome #StaySafe (@MoHFW_INDIA) April 22, 2020 2.43 pm: Assam coronavirus latest updates: No new cases in last 7 days Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday that no new COVID-19 cases have been recorded in the state since last 7 days. 2.39 pm: Mumbai coronavirus live updates: 47 COVID-19 patients referred by fever clinics Out of the 3,451 novel coronavirus cases detected so far in Mumbai, 47 cases have been referred by fever clinics of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), an official told PTI on Wednesday. Mumbai is the worst-hit city in Maharashtra. "A close analysis of the total cases from Mumbai revealed that most of the patients were already quarantined, while some 47 patients referred by the fever clinics later tested positive for coronavirus," a senior BMC official said. 2.29 pm: Gurugram corona news: Maruti Suzuki's Manesar plant opened for maintenance work Gurugram District Magistrate, Amit Khatri said on Wednesday that the Manesar plant of Maruti Suzuki has been opened for maintenance and basic work, however, production will not resume. Manesar plant of Maruti Suzuki has been opened for maintenance and basic work, however, production will not resume now: Amit Khatri, District Magistrate, Gurugram #Haryana pic.twitter.com/Y0jDboIcVE - ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 2.23 pm: Delhi lockdown updates Watch: Delhi Police surveillance by drone in Dakshinpuri & Madangir areas, amid coronavirus lockdown (Source: Delhi Police). #WATCH: Delhi Police surveillance by drone in Dakshinpuri & Madangir areas, amid #CoronavirusLockdown (Source: Delhi Police) pic.twitter.com/ILLMdowQTG - ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 2.15 pm: Corona cases live updates: Rahul Gandhi seeks public suggestions for MSME stimulus package Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter on Wednesday seeking suggestions from the public on what a MSME economic stimulus package should cover. "COVID19 has devastated our micro, small & medium businesses (MSME). The Congress party needs your help. Send us suggestions & ideas for what a MSME economic stimulus package should cover," he tweeted. #COVID19 has devastated our micro, small & medium businesses (MSME). The Congress party needs your help. Send us suggestions & ideas for what a MSME economic stimulus package should cover on: https://t.co/kP2NZ6TNUK or our social media platforms. #HelpSaveSmallBusinesses pic.twitter.com/UwLEPrnWdB - Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) April 22, 2020 2.06 pm: Rajasthan coronavirus news: State to start testing journalist, media personnel Following Maharashtra and Delhi, the Rajasthan government will also test journalists and media personnel for COVID-19, said state health minister Raghu Sharma. 1.59 pm: Gujarat second-worst affected state with 2,178 COVID-19 cases Gujarat has pipped Delhi to emerge as the second worst-affected state with 2,178 confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to the Health Ministry. The death toll in the state stands at 90. Maharashtra is at the top with 5,218 coronavirus cases, the highest in India so far, while the state's death toll is at 251. Delhi has slipped on third spot with 2,156 virus cases, according to the Health Ministry. 1.54 pm: West Bengal corona cases live updates A clash broke out between police and locals in Baduria in North 24 Parganas after the cops objected to the road being blocked by people there. The locals were alleging improper distribution of ration material amid coronavirus lockdown. #WATCH: Clash broke between Police and locals after they (Police) objected to the road being blocked by the locals. The locals were alleging improper distribution of ration material amid #CoronavirusLockdown in Baduria, North 24 Parganas. #WestBengal https://t.co/TnzIOM0Qhp pic.twitter.com/ffJRXKknr4 - ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 1.49 pm: Live updates on coronavirus: Govt may announce Rs. 20,000 crore relief fund for MSMEs The Centre is expected to announce a relief fund worth Rs 20,000 crore for MSMEs in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic in the country. 1.39 pm: Gujarat coronavirus hotspots: Here is the complete list of red zones in the state Gujarat is second worst-hit state in India after Maharashtra with 2,178 COVID-19 cases, according to Health Ministry. As per the state's health department website, 27 districts have been declared as hotspots (red zones or containment areas) by the Gujarat government. Here is the complete list of 37 districts in Gujarat identified as COVID-19 hotspots:- 1 Ahmedabad 2 Surat 3 Vadodara 4 Rajkot 5 Bhavnagar 6 Anand 7 Bharuch 8 Gandhinagar 9 Patan 10 Narmada 11 Panchmahal 12 Banaskantha 13 Aravalli 14 Chhota Udaipur 15 Kutch 16 Mehsana 17 Botad 18 Dahod 19 Gir Somnath 20 Kheda 21 Mahisagar 22 Porbandar 23 Sabarkantha 24 Valsad 25 Jamnagar 26 Morbi 27 Tapi 1.26 pm: Bihar coronavirus cases: 5 more tested COVID-19 positive 5 more people tested positive for novel coronavirus infection in Bihar on Wednesday. Out of these, 3 cases have been reported in Patna, 1 in Bihar Sharif and 1 in East Champaran. The authorities are doing the contact tracing of the infected people. The total number of COVID-19 cases in the state stands at 131, said Sanjay Kumar, Principal Secretary, Health Dept, Bihar. (ANI report) 1.17 pm: Coronavirus latest news: Civil Aviation Ministry wing sealed The Ministry of Civil Aviation (B) wing at Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan was sealed on Wednesday. The NDMC has been directed to sanitise the whole wing. Ministry of Civil Aviation (B) wing at Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan has been sealed and NDMC has been asked to sanitise the whole wing: Ministry of Civil Aviation Sources https://t.co/vh5eU001U0 pic.twitter.com/IYWP4IXsFs - ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 1.09 pm: Latest news on coronavirus: Jump in asymptomatic COVID-19 cases sparks new worries The government has already voiced its concern over the sharp jump in asymptomatic cases in the country. Many states in India are now registering a large number of asymptomatic cases. According to medical experts, there are 3 kinds of asymptomatic patients, 1. Generic asymptomatic cases 2. Pre-symptomatic patients 3. Mildly symptomatic. 12.58 pm: Coronavirus cases worldwide The COVID-19 cases have exceeded 25 lakh globally, while the death toll has surpassed 1,77,000. 12.43 pm: Kanpur coronavirus latest news Police perform 'aarti' of people who violated coronavirus lockdown rules at Kidwai Nagar in Kanpur. #WATCH: Police perform 'aarti' of people who violated #CoronavirusLockdown norms at Kidwai Nagar in Kanpur. pic.twitter.com/crm5w3s9JZ - ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) April 22, 2020 12.35 pm: Uttar Pradesh coronavirus latest news: Clash between police and people in Aligharh A clash broke out between Police & a group of people in the city today. Circle Officer says, "Vegetable sellers were quarrelling among themselves when shops were being closed. When Police intervened, people started pelting stones at them." #WATCH Aligarh: A clash broke out between Police & a group of people in the city today. Circle Officer says, "Vegetable sellers were quarreling among themselves when shops were being closed. When Police intervened, people started pelting stones at them." (Note: abusive language) pic.twitter.com/Dw9pTWeScH - ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) April 22, 2020 12.29 pm: Coronavirus updates Union Health Ministry daily media briefing at 4 pm has been cancelled for Wednesday. The daily Health Ministry briefing was cancelled because there is a cabinet meeting and the subsequent briefing this evening which will carry the health ministry related information. Additional information will be given in press releases today: Government Sources https://t.co/jROu6ElMTV - ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 12.23 pm: Karnataka coronavirus cases: 7 fresh COVID-19 cases reported Karnataka reported 7 fresh coronavirus cases on Wednesday. The total count of such cases now stands at 425 in the state including 17 deaths and 129 discharges, said the state government. (ANI report). 12.19 pm: Maharashtra lockdown updates: State Health Minister and ICMT members visit quarantine facility at Dharavi Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope and the Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) visited a quarantine facility at Dharavi transit camp on Wednesday. A total of 180 COVID-19 positive cases have been reported till now in Dharavi area of Mumbai, with several people under quarantine. Mumbai: Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope and the Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) visit quarantine facility at Dharavi transit camp. A total of 180 #COVID19 positive cases have been reported till now in Dharavi area of Mumbai, with several people under quarantine. pic.twitter.com/G7wxg1hz1u - ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 12.14 pm: Coronavirus news: Doctors calls off nationwide protest after assurance from Amit Shah The Indian Medical Association (IMA) withdrew its nationwide candlelight protest after Union Home Minister assured the safety of docotrs and healthcare workers. Shah interacted with doctors & IMA through video conferencing on Wednesday. He lauded their good work and assured them security and urged them to not to do even symbolic protest as proposed by them. He said that the government is with them. 12.07 pm: Andhra Pradesh lockdown news: 56 fresh coronavirus cases reported Andhra Pradesh reported 56 fresh COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, taking the total tally to 813 in the state. Death toll also went up to 24, according to a government bulletin. (PTI report). 12.03 pm: COVID-19 in India: Civil Aviation Ministry employee tests positive Civil Aviation Ministry said on Wednesday that an employee of the ministry who had attended office on April 15, 2020 has been tested positive for novel coronavirus on April 21. "All necessary protocols are being stringently followed on the Premises. All colleagues who came in contact are being asked to go into self-isolation as a precaution," the ministry tweeted. An employee of the ministry who had attended office on 15 April 2020 has tested positive for COVID19 on 21st April. All necessary protocols are being stringently followed on the Premises. All colleagues who came in contact are being asked to go into self isolation as a precaution - MoCA_GoI (@MoCA_GoI) April 22, 2020 11.57 am: Uttarakhand coronavirus updates: IIT Roorke researchers develop COVID-19 screening booth A team of researchers led by Professor Soumitra Satapathi of IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) Roorkee has developed a portable COVID-19 screening booth in collaboration with the Roorkee Nagar Nigam for sample collection of the suspects: IIT Roorkee in Uttarakhand. A team of researchers led by Professor Soumitra Satapathi of IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) Roorkee has developed a portable #COVID19 screening booth in collaboration with the Roorkee Nagar Nigam for sample collection of the suspects: IIT Roorkee #Uttarakhand pic.twitter.com/bPoD9p1JO2 - ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 11.51 am: Delhi Corona lockdown updates: Vehicles queue up on DND Flyway Long queue of vehicles seen on DND Flyway as Police personnel check passes of people commuting through the route. Delhi-Gautam Budh Nagar/Noida border has been completely closed, with certain exceptions, by Gautam Budh Nagar admn as a preventive measure against COVID-19. Delhi: Long queue of vehicles seen on DND Flyway as Police personnel check passes of people commuting through the route. Delhi-Gautam Budh Nagar/Noida border has been completely closed, with certain exceptions, by Gautam Budh Nagar admn as a preventive measure against #COVID19. pic.twitter.com/Wx0qv7l6UR - ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 11.44 am: Delhi coronavirus news Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Wednesday that there are a total of 2186 positive cases in Delhi as of date, 75 of these were found yesterday. A total of 611 people - 28% of the patients, have recovered. 27 patients are in ICU and 5 on ventilator." As of today, there are a total of 2186 positive cases in Delhi, 75 of these were found yesterday. A total of 611 people - 28% of the patients, have recovered. 27 patients are in ICU and 5 on ventilator: Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/xutkGlVu44 - ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 11.39 am: Tamil Nadu lockdown news: Congress workers distribute ration, relief material Congress workers distributed ration and other relief material among the needy people in Anna Nagar area of Chennai, at the residence of party leader Peter Alphonse today amid novel coronavirus lockdown. Tamil Nadu: Congress workers distributed ration and other relief material among the needy people in Anna Nagar area of Chennai, at the residence of party leader Peter Alphonse today amid #Coronavirus lockdown. pic.twitter.com/yDx0ZCtpcn - ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 11.27 am: Coronavirus India updates: IB ministry issued advisory for media reporters covering COVID-19 outbreak in hotspots The Information and Broadcasting Ministry issued an advisory for media personnel who are covering incidents related to novel coronavirus in the country especially in the hotspots (red zones). The advisory was issued on Wednesday. 11.19 am: Corona lockdown updates: Maximise LPG cylinders' free delivery under PMUY: Dharmendra Pradhan to LPG distributors Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Steel Dharmendra Pradhan talked to LPG distributors across the country via video conferencing. According to an ANI report, Pradhan urged them to maximise the delivery of free LPG cylinders to PMUY beneficiaries under the Pradhan Manti Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMUY), which was announced in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak in India. 11.12 am: Coronavirus in India: Check BusinessToday.In tracker to check state-wise tally of COVID-19 cases INDIA CORONAVIRUS TRACKER: BusinessToday.In brings you a daily tracker as coronavirus cases continue to spread. Here is the state-wise data on total cases, fatalities and recoveries in one comprehensive graphic 11.05 am: Coronavirus live updates: India on top among SAARC nations India has the highest number of COVID-19 cases among all SAARC nations. Here is the list of countries, information is sourced from news reports and Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, as of 10.50 am IST on April 22. India: 19,984 confirmed cases Afghanistan: 1,092 cases Bangladesh: 3,382 cases Bhutan: 6 cases The Maldives: 86 cases Nepal: 42 cases Pakistan: 9,738 cases Sri Lanka: 310 cases 10.58 am: Lockdown in Lucknow: Islamic Centre of India urges Muslims to observe Ramzan rituals from home The Islamic Centre of India is making announcements in Lucknow, urging Muslims to perform Ramzan rituals from their homes while maintaining social distancing, ANI reported. The holy month of Ramzan begins from April 24. 10.54 am: Coronavirus in Odisha live updates: 3 people test COVID-19 positive 3 persons from Bhadrak district of Odisha tested positive for novel coronavirus on Wednesday, taking the total count of such cases to 82 in the state, officials told PTI. The 3 new cases include males aged 40, 55 and 35, all from Basudevpur block of the district and have travel history to Kolkata, said the district administration. 10.48 am: Uttar Pradesh latest news on coronavirus A worker and his family in UP's Aligarh harvests wheat crop at an agricultural field in Gabhana town. Raju, the worker, says, "We are unable to meet our expenses but we are surviving. I am doing this with my entire family of 4 members." Aligarh: A worker and his family harvests wheat crop at an agricultural field in Gabhana town. Raju, the worker, says, "We are unable to meet our expenses but we are surviving. I am doing this with my entire family of 4 members." pic.twitter.com/p501DVQzaD - ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) April 22, 2020 10.45 am: Kerala coronavirus cases latest updates: 19 people test COVID-19 positive in a day Kerala which boasted of bending the coronavirus curve in the state, registered 19 fresh cases on Tuesday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters. With this, the total number of COVID-19 cases has jumped to 427 in the state along with the death toll at 3, according to Health Ministry. 10.39 am: Coronavirus in Pakistan live updates: COVID-19 infections near 10,000-mark The total number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases have reached 9,738 in Pakistan, according to Dawn. These cases include 209 deaths and 2,073 recoveries so far. Punjab province is the worst-affected in the country with over 4,300 cases. Meanwhile, Sindh province has registered around 3,050 coronavirus cases so far. 10.34 am: Cabinet meet on coronavirus at 11 am The Union Cabinet is expected to meet at 11 am on Wednesday to assed the current COVID-19 situation in the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold the meet at his residence to take stock of the ongoing situation in the wake of novel coronavirus outbreak. 10.30 am: Coronavirus latest news: Donald Trump suspends immigration into US for 2 months US President Donald Trump announced has announced a temporary suspension of immigration into the United States for 2 months. The executive order on this would only bas those seeking permanent residency, but will not affect temporary workers. "By pausing immigration we'll help put unemployed Americans first in line for jobs as America reopens, so important," Trump said. 10.26 am: Corona lockdown updates: Amit Shah interacts with doctors via video-conferencing Union Home Minister Amit Shah interacted with doctors & Indian Medical Association (IMA) through video conferencing on Wednesday. He lauded their good work. He also assured them security and urged them to not to do even symbolic protest as proposed by them, government is with them. Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah interacted with doctors & Indian Medical Association (IMA) through video conferencing. He appreciated their good work. He also assured them security & appealed to them to not to do even symbolic protest as proposed by them, govt is with them. pic.twitter.com/Z88Woh8obr - ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 10.19 am: Madhya Pradesh coronavirus news Watch: Police punishes the lockdown violators in Indore. The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Madhya Pradesh stand at 1,552 and death toll at 76. 10.13 am: Coronavirus cases in Dharavi, Mumbai Central teams of 5 members each have been sent to Mumbai and Pune. The teams will visit the hotspot areas in the regions. In Mumbai the team will visit Dharavi, Worli, Koliwada along with state health minister Rajesh Tope. 10.07 am: Pune coronavirus latest news A 53-year-old man who had tested positive for COVID-19 died on Tuesday night. This has taken the death toll in Pune to 55: Health Officials, Pune. (ANI report) 9.57 am: Lockdown live updates: More deaths reported among COVID-19 patients given HCQ tablets, says study A new study has found that more deaths have been recorded among those novel coronavirus patients who were administered hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) tablets. This has come as a big blow for US President Donald Trump who had earlier said that the anti-malaria drug will significantly help in treating COVID-19 patients. 9.52 am: Mumbai coronavirus latest update: Cop at Uddhav Thackeray residence tests COVID-19 positive An assistant police inspector posted at Varsha bungalow, which is the official residents of Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, has been tested positive for novel coronavirus infection. 6 of the cop's close contacts have been isolated, Mumbai Police said. 9.47 am: Uttar Pradesh coronavirus cases: 156 more people test COVID-19 positive Uttar Pradesh recorded 153 fresh coronavirus cases in 24 hours, taking the total tally of confirmed cases in the state to 1,294 and death toll to 20, according to latest data by Health Ministry. 9.37 am: Rajasthan coronavirus cases: 76 more people infected Rajasthan recorded 76 fresh COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the total count of confirmed coronavirus cases to 1,659 and death toll at 25 in the state. 9.29 am: China coronavirus news: Will provide all assistance to India, says Chinese Embassy spokesperson Responding to the reports of faulty test kits, China has said that it is ready to provide assistance. Ji Rong, a spokesperson of the Chines Embassy in India said the country "will keep close communication with #Indian concerned agency and provide the necessary assistance. Noticed reports concerning rapid testing kits. #China attaches great importance to the quality of exported medical products. Will keep close communication with #Indian concerned agency and provide necessary assistance. - Ji Rong (@ChinaSpox_India) April 21, 2020 9.23 am: Delhi coronavirus count: 75 new cases in 24 hours Delhi has registered 75 fresh COVID-19 deaths in 24 hours, including 6 policemen from Jahangirpuri police station were tested positive for the virus. Meanwhile, no new deaths have been reported in the national capital in the past 24 hours. 9.17 am: Maharashtra coronavirus cases: 552 more people infected, 19 deaths in 24 hours Maharashtra recorded 552 fresh COVID-19 cases and 19 deaths on Tuesday out of which 419 were from Mumbai. With this the total number of coronavirus cases top 5,000 in the state. 9.12 am: West Bengal coronavirus news The West Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha has written to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and assured full cooperation to the central teams visiting the state to assess the ongoing situation in the state's hotspots. 9.07 am: Coronavirus updates: Pakistan PM to get tested for COVID-19 Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan will be tested for novel coronavirus days after meeting a the son of a well-known Pakistani philanthropist who was tested positive for COVID-19. 9.00 pm: Odisha coronavirus cases: 3 new cases reported 3 fresh COVID-19 cases have been recorded in Odisha, taking the state's count to 82. Meanwhile, 30 people have been discharged from Odisha after recovering from the disease. 8.45 am: Coronavirus live updates: Doctors across India to light candles in protest against attack on medical workers The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has asked the doctors across India to light candles as a mark of protest against the incidents of attacks on medical workers fighting novel coronavirus pandemic. There have been instances where people have targeted or discriminated against medical and health workers across the country fearing they are already infected with the virus. Such attacks continue despite stiff warnings by the central as well as state governments. The IMA has also demanded a special law that protects doctors and also announced that it is issuing a "White Alert" and will observe a "black day" on Wednesday. 8.30 am: India's coronavirus tally near 20,000-mark, death toll cross 600 The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases stand at 19,984 as of date, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. These include, 15,474 active cases, 3,869 cured/discharged, 1 migrated and 640 deaths. Over 1,383 cases have been registered in the last 24 hours. 8.15 am: Coronavirus in Delhi latest news: Noida-Delhi border closed The Delhi-Noida border has been shut as a precautionary step amid the COVID-19 crisis, the Noida District Magistrate said on Tuesday. The border is closed till further orders. Meanwhile, the vehicles carrying essential goods and ambulances as well as people involved in fighting the virus would be allowed to cross the border. The decision to seal the Delhi-Noida border was taken after the health department found that several people who have been tested COVID-19 positive in Noida in the past few days have had a connection with Delhi where the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases have crossed the 2,000-mark. California will have to test 60,000 to 80,000 people for the coronavirus each day to reopen the state, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday as he outlined new testing goals that are triple the number he had previously talked about, and far more than those currently performed. As recently as last week, Newsom said 25,000 daily tests would have to be conducted across the state by this week. Currently, just about 16,000 tests are done each day. The range of 60,000 to 80,000 is in line with estimates from Harvard University researchers, who say 152 tests a day for every 100,000 people are needed in the U.S. to safely reopen. Newsom said the state will add 86 testing sites to the 600 now operating in hospitals, clinics, homeless shelters and pop-up sites. He said the new ones will be added in testing deserts rural areas and poor urban communities that are disproportionately harmed by COVID-19, but where access to testing has been limited. Nearly all of the sites, 80, will be operated by OptumServe, a Minnesota-based health services company; six will be operated by Verily, the life sciences division of Googles parent company, Alphabet. More than half of the existing test sites said in a state survey that their biggest roadblock to expansion is that they lack enough swabs, which are used to collect nasal and throat specimens. Newsom said President Trump has committed to providing 100,000 swabs to California this week, 250,000 swabs next week and more the week after that. I dont want to suggest definitively that even hundreds of thousands, even millions of swabs alone will solve the testing issues, Newsom said. It will solve the swab issue. Testing sites and the labs that process the specimens are also struggling to find enough tubes, vials and chemical reagents all needed to expand the number of daily tests they can do. If labs had enough equipment and could operate 100% at full throttle, California could conduct 95,000 tests a day, Newsom said. California has so far given a diagnostic test to about 465,000 people. That number is still inadequate to meet the needs of all of you, and to meet our expectations as it relates to our capacity to begin to move even further in terms of augmenting and modifying stay-at-home orders, Newsom said. Also, many people need to be tested multiple times to determine when they are free of the virus. 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. Newsom also talked about antibody tests, a different kind of test that is also emerging as important in determining how far the coronavirus has spread in certain communities, and beyond. Also called serology tests, these are blood tests that detect whether a person has been infected with COVID-19. Newsom said Abbott, a medical device company that last week introduced an antibody test, has committed to providing 1.5 million of them to 130 facilities in California. Testing positive for antibodies does not mean someone is immune to being reinfected. But a high level of certain antibodies could indicate temporary immunity. Scientists dont yet know enough about the virus to know which antibodies are the most significant, or what level of the antibodies must be present in order to be considered immune. Dozens of companies have introduced antibody tests, but some appear to produce false positives, prompting infectious disease experts to caution against relying too much on the results until the tests can be validated for accuracy. Catherine Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Cat_Ho On Wednesday 29 April 2020, at 08:30 CEST, Bilia's report for the first quarter 2020 will be published. On the same day Bilia arranges press and analyst meetings, where CEO Per Avander and CFO Kristina Franzen will present the report and answer questions. There will be one meeting in Swedish at 09:00 (CEST) and one meeting in English at 14:00 (CEST). They are telephone meetings and you call telephone number +46 (0)8 22 90 90 and enter code 674445. If you need a toll free phone number outside Sweden, please contact us for a country specific telephone number. Gothenburg, 22 April 2020 Bilia AB (publ) For information please contact: Per Avander, Managing Director and CEO, +46 Kristina Franzen, CFO, +46 Facts about the Bilia Group Bilia is one of Europe's largest car chains with a leading position within service and sales of cars and transport vehicles. Bilia has 135 facilities in Sweden, Norway, Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium. Bilia sells cars of the brand Volvo, BMW, Toyota, Renault, Lexus, MINI, Dacia, Alpine and transport vehicles of the brand Renault, Toyota and Dacia. Bilia has today a fully expanded business with sales of new cars, e-commerce, spare parts and store sales, service and repair workshops, tyres and car glass and financing, insurance, car washes, fuel stations and auto salvage under the same roof, which gives a unique offer. Bilia reported a turnover of about SEK 30 bn in 2019 and had about 5,000 employees. Attachment - Cooperation is intended to enhance Ecolog's Rapid Screening & Diagnostics Solution to help a safer economic continuity - European Prevention Center's extensive diagnostics and preventive expertise will complement Ecolog's Eco-Care Solution DUSSELDORF, Germany, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ECOLOG International, a leading global provider of integrated services, technology, environmental solutions, energy, logistics, engineering and construction and European Prevention Center (EPC), a pioneering and innovative diagnostics and prevention institution in Germany, join forces to enhance Ecolog's Rapid Screening & Diagnostics solution. The RSD Solution, part of Ecolog's Eco-Care Solution, is intended to help public and private sectors with gradual economic continuity while combating COVID-19 pandemic. Ecolog plans - in coordination with the respective authorities - to roll out the Eco-Care Solution, in harmony with the upcoming plans in several states to gradually re-open the economy. It is also in discussion with the industrial sector to help increase the productivity and capacity cautiously and with a high degree of care and safety. The European Prevention Center's outstanding diagnosticians as well as competent laboratory staff would accelerate Ecolog's Eco-Care Solution's roll out. The center is equipped with various types of scanners, ultrasound, x-ray and other required apparatus. Commenting on the agreement, Ali Vezvaei, Group CEO of Ecolog International said "Our world is facing an unprecedented health crisis that will mark our collective memory. To overcome this pandemic, not only do we need to leverage science, technology and our resources but also we ought to collaborate and help one another. This cooperation with European Prevention Center will complement our capabilities and strengthen our solution to serve the community." Prof. Dr. Uwe Nixdorff, the founder of European Prevention Center said: "This cooperation brings together two strong organizations that are determined to assist public and private sectors. By combining our science, expertise and assets, we believe we can help accelerate the efforts to combat the pandemic and provide the much-needed relief and recovery." Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1157440/Ecolog_EPC.jpg Contact: Phone.: +971 (0)42994500 press@ecolog-international.com www.ecolog-international.com Mike Huckabee warns against unending church closures: 'They better have a reason that's overwhelming' Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has denounced the idea that state and local governments can continue to force churches not to hold in-person services, especially when a church agrees to engage in social distancing practices. Huckabee was interviewed by Jason Yates of the Christian group My Faith Votes, which Huckabee serves as honorary national chairman, as part of an online town hall Tuesday evening. Ahead of the program people submitted questions to be answered during the town hall, with some of the submissions being asked by Yates to Huckabee. Huckabee addressed the need for people to return to daily routines, such as work and going to church, especially as the shutdown orders begin to be lifted in May. We cant have people saying you can go to a drive-in liquor store, but you cant do a drive-in church service, he added, referencing multiple legal controversies on that issue. We should very much be concerned, Huckabee stressed. Its one thing for us to have a period of weeks in which churches voluntarily do their services online or in the parking lot or the drive-in. But we dont want a government that can say to a church, We are suspending the First Amendment. The very first right in the First Amendment is freedom of religion, followed by freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. Huckabee said that for the government to say that those have been suspended, they better have a reason thats overwhelming. When the mayors of places like Greenville, Mississippi, and Louisville, Kentucky, started sending police officers to give tickets to people in their cars for $500 for attending a drive-in service, this is the first wave of when government says, Hey, these people went along pretty willingly. The next time we have an issue and we want to make a church conform to something thats politically correct, well just tell them they cant meet. Huckabee said Americans should never get used to this idea that the government can tell us when we can gather, what we can say, and how we can get around it. When Yates asked what people can do about local or state orders banning all in-person worship services, Huckabee responded by urging people to contact their elected officials and use our rights as citizens. Churches are fighting back, he said, noting examples of congregations that have sued governments over stay-at-orders that hinder their worship services. We should not be critical of that, we should be grateful. When asked whether the economic shutdown was necessary to curb the spread of COVID-19, Huckabee said he believed political leaders made a sensible decision. Was it necessary? I think that the people making the decisions saw information that most of us are not going to have access to see, he responded. Theres no way they would have done the things they did to shut down virtually the entire economy had they not been genuinely alarmed. In response to the spread of the coronavirus, several states have issued orders for people to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people without exempting religious services. While the vast majority of churches have agreed to halt in-person worship services, some congregations have refused to do so, arguing that such measures violate their religious freedom. On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge John W. Broomes of the District of Kansas ruled against a state executive order prohibiting worship services with more than 10 people in attendance. Broomes argued that the temporary restraining order on behalf of two churches and their pastors was justified because they were likely to prevail on the claim that the shutdown violated their religious freedom. while these executive orders begin with a broad prohibition against mass gatherings, they proceed to carve out broad exemptions for a host of secular activities, many of which bear similarities to the sort of personal contact that will occur during in-person religious services, wrote Broomes. Plaintiffs have made a substantial showing that development of the current restriction on religious activities shows religious activities were specifically targeted for more onerous restrictions than comparable secular activities." Tasmania is providing payments for cash-strapped temporary visa holders and putting a freeze on rent rises to assist people during the coronavirus pandemic. One-off payments of $250 for temporary visa holders suffering financial hardship and up to $1000 for families are part of the $3 million package being rolled out from Wednesday. 'These visitors from overseas have helped build a stronger Tasmania, a more diverse Tasmania and a more skilled Tasmania,' Premier Peter Gutwein said. 'I don't agree with the simple message that temporary visa holders should just go home. In many cases they can't.' Tasmania will offer temporary visa holders $250 and $1,000 for families amid coronavirus (pictured: Two friends on holiday visas hug at Sydney Airport) Tasmania has about 26,000 temporary visa holders, many of who have been hit hard by business closures in the tourism industry. The state government is also putting a freeze on residential rent rises until at least June 30. It comes after an edict issued early this month preventing rental evictions until the same date. As part of the visa package, funding has been increased for non-government organisations to provide emergency relief for temporary holders. The state government also pledged to provide travel advice and financial support to help people return home when it is safe to do so. Employers will be provided with assistance to retain skilled workers. Mr Gutwein said the help would go towards hospitality workers, fruit pickers and students. 'If any of us had children on the other side of the world, we hope they'd receive some sort of support,' Mr Gutwein said. Tasmania has recorded 201 COVID-19 cases but just one new case was confirmed on Tuesday, the state's lowest daily increase this month. More than half of those cases are linked with an outbreak at two Burnie hospitals in the northwest, which forced 1200 healthcare staff to be quarantined and the facilities' closure. People in the state with virus symptoms, particularly in the northwest, are being urged to get tested. The number of new daily cases linked to the outbreak has fallen recently after a spike across the Easter holidays. Eight people have died from the virus in Tasmania and 77 have recovered. President Trump said the measure will be temporary - Alex Brandon/AP Donald Trump has signed an executive order suspending immigration into the US to protect American jobs and prevent the spread of the "invisible enemy" of the coronavirus pandemic. "In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States," the US president said in a tweet. The executive order Mr Trump signed on Wednesday applies to foreigners seeking a "green card", which refers to permanent residency status, for a 60-day period beginning on April 23. "We want Americans to have the jobs. We want Americans to have the healthcare, Mr Trump said. "And it's a very powerful order. At the end of 60 days, or maybe even during 60 days, Ill extend it or not. And Ill maybe change it. I might modify it." Mr Trump, who had staked his upcoming re-election on the strength of the US economy, had been pressing to swiftly end the shutdown, which has left at least 22 million people jobless nationwide, a level of unemployment not seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The president has already used the pandemic to enact a string of changes to the way migrants are processed on the US border with Mexico, and he is expected to tout his strong record on immigration during the presidential campaign. Here is what we know about Mr Trump's new immigration control announcement. What is Trump doing? The executive order puts a "suspension and limitation" applies to immigrants who are outside the US and do not have a valid green card. Mr Trump added that the 60-day suspension for green card applications could be extended further depending on the state of the US economy. He also hinted that he was considering further orders on other forms of immigration to the US. Story continues "It could be modified next week, in two weeks. It could be modified in two months," Mr Trump said. "But right now, we have a very powerful immigration ban, but it could be modified - meaning made tougher or made less tough." What is the current situation and how will it change? The executive order does not make substantial changes to the current situation, since the US has already implemented several travel restrictions. Mr Trump has already used the threat of coronavirus to tighten America's borders and underscore the importance of immigration controls. The US State Department, which is responsible for issuing visas overseas, has shut down almost all kinds of visa processing because of the coronavirus outbreak. Interviews for visa applications, citizenship ceremonies and the US refugee resettlement programme have all been paused or postponed. The Trump administration has also curbed both legal and illegal immigration on America's southern border. Early this month the administration announced it had begun immediately turning away migrants and asylum seekers as well as rapidly deporting people who illegally cross the border to their home countries. It is likely Mr Trump will attempt to keep these tighter controls in place for some time. Are there any exceptions? The executive order does not apply to non-US citizens who already have lawful permanent residency status. The spouses or children aged under 21 of US citizens will not be affected by the suspension, but other family members will. Members of the US armed forces, as well as their spouse or children, will also not be affected. Doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers and their spouses and underage children are exempted from the new restrictions. Other exceptions include immigrants on the EB-5 programme, which requires individuals to invest at least $500,000 in US real estate projects, and Special Immigrant visas for people who served alongside US forces. Mr Trump also confirmed that farm workers would not be impacted by the change. This means the hundreds of thousands of people who enter the country under seasonal work visas will most likely not be affected under any potential new executive orders. The coronavirus pandemic has put additional strain on the US food supply and migrants make up roughly a tenth of the workforce on the country's farms. "We have some people coming in, for instance, helping the farmers," Mr Trump said. "They've been coming for years and years, and they're helping our farmers." He added: "The border has been turned off a number of times over the years. And you know what happened? Our farmers all went out of business. We're taking care of our farmers." What about tourists? While the ban does not affect non-immigrant visas, the Trump administration has already imposed travel restrictions from several countries, including bans on air travel from China and much of Europe. These are likely to remain in place for some time and officials have said they are weighing up the idea of imposing further travel bans even after the US economy reopens. Just how big a deal is this? The executive order is not as expansive as Mr Trump's Monday night tweet initially suggested, but it will still affect a significant number of people. Some 580,000 green cards were issued last year, and many people seeking them have family members in America. There had been fears people seeking visas to work or study in America temporarily would be impacted by the changes, including Britons, but Mr Trump said they would not be impacted. It is not clear whether people whose applications for green cards were already in the system would be impacted. Mr Trump said it was the US governments solemn duty to protect American workers, adding that the initial pause would last for 60 days, though it could be extended depending on the economic situation at the time. Michael Clemens, an immigration expert and economist, said there was some doubt over whether the move would help the US economy. "In fact, economic evidence shows the opposite. In the Great Depression, the United States banned and deported most immigrants from Mexico. Economist Giovanni Peri and co-authors have shown that this act made native unemployment worse in the Depression," he said. "This is because immigrants are the backbone of many industries that massively employ Americans. A few Americans took jobs opened up ... but more Americans lost their jobs when the businesses that depended on immigrants folded." How have people reacted to the announcement? Mr Trump's Republican allies have praised the move, with Arkansas senator Tom Cotton tweeting: 22 million Americans have lost their jobs in the last month because of the China virus. Lets help them get back to work before we import more foreigners to compete for their jobs. https://t.co/0a03nncxeC Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) April 21, 2020 Roy Beck, president of NumbersUSA, a group advocating lower immigration levels, also said Mr Trump's action made sense. "With tens of millions of Americans who want to work full time not able to, most immigration makes no sense today, and to allow it to continue at its current level at this time would show a callous disregard for those enduring deep economic suffering," he said. However the announcement has been opposed by the president's critics. Joanne Lin, from Amnesty International USA, said: "We are one country and there is no way we could address the spread of COVID-19 without the unending efforts of immigrants providing healthcare and home aid, staffing grocery stores, and producing food, whose work has been deemed essential while they are simultaneously struggle to access to care, support, and services. "If President Trump want to limit the spread and the deaths occurring under his leadership, now is the time to look to health experts, and not point fingers at immigrants. Prominent Democrats also swiftly condemned the announcement. "You cut off immigration, you crater our nation's already weakened economy," Julian Castro, a former presidential candidate, said on Twitter. "What a dumb move." NEW: Sen. Elizabeth Warren responds to Pres. Trump's proposed executive order halting legal immigration: "Stop scapegoating immigrants with more racism and xenophobia and do your job." https://t.co/FkcFZ74OZW pic.twitter.com/3h1EJMQxjH ABC News (@ABC) April 21, 2020 Will there be legal challenges? Almost certainly. All of Mr Trump's major immigration changes - such as his infamous Muslim travel ban - have been challenged in the courts. According to experts, there are two ways Mr Trump could make the move legally. Speaking to the Washington Post, Alex Nowrasteh, the director of immigration studies at the libertarian think tank the Cato Institute, said Title 42 of the US Code permits the president to halt immigration for health reasons, while a 2018 Supreme Court decision upholding his travel ban gives him legal precedent. The president has been opposed to legal immigration for his entire administration, he told the newspaper. This is an opportunity to close it down entirely, and this is about as legitimate as you can get in terms of a broad justification for doing so. What will the long term impact be? If Mr Trump's executive order is in place for some time, it could have long term impacts on the numbers of foreign-born workers trying to relocate to the US. As the New York Times notes, the number of visas issued to foreigners looking to move to the US fell by about 25 percent, to 462,422 in the 2019 fiscal year from 617,752 in 2016. Speaking to the Washington Post, Greg Siskind, an immigration lawyer, also warned that Mr Trumps plans could derail efforts to restart the economy by alienating foreign students, who can prove extremely lucrative for America's universities, as well as foreign investors. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 22, 2020 / Mota Ventures Corp. (MOTA.CN)(FSE:1WZ:GR)(PEMTF) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has completed a further offering (the "Offering") of 9,944,000 units (each, a "Unit") by way of non-brokered private placement at a price of $0.28 per Unit for gross proceeds of $2,784,320. Each Unit consists of one common share of the Company, and one common share purchase warrant (each, a "Warrant") exercisable to acquire an additional share at a price of $0.38 for a period of twenty-four months, expiring on April 21, 2022. When combined with the earlier offering completed by the Company on April 1, 2020, the Company has raised gross proceeds of $4,504,320. The Company anticipates utilizing the proceeds of the Offering to further develop and market products in North America and Europe using its ecommerce sales channels, to satisfy compensation obligations owing to employees based on services provided to the Company and the satisfaction of performance metrics and for general working capital purposes. In connection with completion of the Offering, the Company has paid $75,120 and issued 262,857 common shares and 268,287 Warrants to certain arms-length parties who assisted in facilitating the Offering. The Company has also issued 142,857 Warrants to an arms-length consultant, as partial consideration for services provided to the Company. All securities issued in connection with the Offering are subject to a four-month-and-one-day statutory hold period in accordance with applicable securities law. About Mota Ventures Corp. Mota Ventures is seeking to become a vertically integrated global CBD brand. Its plan is to cultivate and extract CBD into high-quality value-added products from its Latin American operations and distribute it both domestically and internationally. Its existing operations in Colombia consist of a 2.5-hectare site that has optimal year-round growing conditions and access to all necessary infrastructure. Mota is looking to establish sales channels and a distribution network internationally through the acquisition of the Sativida and First Class CBD brands. Low cost production, coupled with international, direct to customer sales channels will provide the foundation for the success of Mota Ventures. Story continues ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS MOTA VENTURES CORP. Joel Shacker President For further information, readers are encouraged to contact Joel Shacker, President, at +604.423.4733 or by email at IR@motaventuresco.com or www.motaventuresco.com Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release, which has been prepared by management. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statement All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking information" with respect to the Company within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including with respect to the development and marketing of products under the First Class CBD brand, its plans to become a vertically integrated global CBD brand, its plans to cultivate and extract cannabis to produce CBD and high-quality value added CBD products in Latin America for distribution domestically and internationally and its plans to acquire revenue-producing CBD brands and operations in Europe and North America. The Company provides forward-looking statements for the purpose of conveying information about current expectations and plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. By its nature, this information is subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give rise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited those identified and reported in the Company's public filings under the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless required by law. SOURCE: Mota Ventures Corp. View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/586193/Mota-Raises-28-Million-in-Additional-Private-Placement Mexico, Ecuador and Venezuela were the worst hit as traders kept away from the volatile oil markets. Prices of key Latin American crude grades plunged this week following the crash in benchmark crude futures, aggravating an already-weak market that has seen very few spot sales throughout April, traders told Reuters news agency on Tuesday. Brent crude futures plunged 25 percent on Tuesday to their lowest level in nearly 20 years, a day after panicked traders sent United States West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil to -$40 per barrel because of a massive supply glut and a 30 percent collapse in demand due to the coronavirus pandemic. As physical US crude grades fell into negative territory for the first time in history, Mexican, Ecuadorean and Venezuelan grades indexed to them, including Mexicos Maya, also traded negative for the first time. Heavy volatility has caused traders to back away in recent weeks, effectively shutting down trading in key regional grades. Latin America exports some 5 million barrels per day (bpd) of mostly heavy crude, mostly to buyers in the US Gulf Coast. About half of its sales are through long-term supply contracts, while the other half are through spot trades on the open market. The heavy grades are suited for refining into diesel, which saw higher consumption than petrol early in the pandemic because trucking deliveries continued even as consumers stopped driving. However, diesel inventories have been rising of late in the US as demand has dropped. We are seeing more rational numbers today, but it is a matter of time before WTI June contracts also crash, a trader of Latin American oil said. US June WTI fell to $11.57 a barrel on Tuesday. Mexicos oil export basket, which includes Maya heavy crude and other exportable grades, closed at -$2.37 per barrel on Monday. Maya crude delivered to the US Gulf Coast is indexed to WTI delivered to Houston. Many crude traders are now wondering how to negotiate payments if a contract ends up with a negative sale amount, meaning the supplier has to pay the buyer to take the oil. One trader said many sellers have recently adopted clauses saying prices paid cannot be less than 10 cents per barrel. Spot sales of Venezuelas flagship Merey crude, which after reformulation is now indexed to US-Mars crude, Brent and Middle Eastern grades, are being offered at only $1 to $2 after trans-shipping fees off Malaysia, its most active spot for reselling, traders said. Venezuelas prices have steadily dropped in recent months after state-run PDVSA was forced to increase discounts to intermediaries because fewer companies want to buy from the nation due to tightening US sanctions. With demand collapsing due to the coronavirus crisis, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, along with Russia and others a grouping known as OPEC+ are due to start cutting supply by 9.7 million bpd on May 1. Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro said he would be speaking with OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo on Tuesday night. We are waiting for the OPEC-plus and G20 agreement to enter into force on May 1, Maduro said during an appearance on state television. Ecuadors Napo heavy crude for June delivery was trading on Tuesday at $6 per barrel below WTI, while Oriente medium crude was at about $4 per barrel below WTI, meaning final spot prices of $6 to $9 per barrel. Those two grades are indexed to US West Texas Intermediate futures. Colombian and Brazilian crudes have remained positive, in the range of $9 to $15 per barrel, as they are indexed to Brent. Tenders launched in recent weeks to sell Argentine and Ecuadorean crudes on the spot market for May and June delivery were cancelled due to low prices and lack of interest from buyers, particularly in the US Gulf Coast, the traders said. Ecuadors crude exports will remain under force majeure at least until the end of April following a landslide that left two of the countrys pipelines out of service. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 22, 2020) - Royal Road Minerals Limited (TSXV: RYR) ("Royal Road" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that its 100% owned Colombian subsidiary, Exploraciones Northern Colombia SAS ("ENC"), has entered into a formalization agreement (the "Formalization Agreement") and a related earn-in option and royalty agreement (collectively, the "Agreements") with the proprietors of the La Esmeralda Gold Mine ("La Esmeralda"), an informal gold mine located in the municipality of Los Andes-Sotomayor, Narino district, Colombia. La Esmeralda is located within concession contract HH2-12001X ("the Concession"), held by AngloGold Ashanti (AGA), pending assignment to ENC pursuant to a Stock Purchase Agreement dated March 4, 2019 (see press release March 5, 2019). The Agreements were negotiated and entered into by the Company with La Esmeralda under the framework of the Colombian government's National Policy for Mining Formalization adopted by the Ministry of Mines and Energy. Under the terms of the Formalization Agreement, a specific portion of the area under the Concession will be returned by the Company so that a new concession contract (the "La Esmeralda Concession") over such returned area may be granted to La Esmeralda, enabling legal and responsible mining operations to resume at the La Esmeralda gold mine. In exchange, ENC will receive a quarterly royalty equivalent to 3% of the dore extracted from the La Esmeralda Concession and has been granted the sole and exclusive right to carry out all exploration activities on the La Esmeralda Concession and the right to acquire 70% of the La Esmeralda Concession, subject to the completion of certain exploration milestones as summarized below. In-case the Company assists in further optimizing mine operations and increasing production at La Esmeralda, ENC may increase the royalty to be received by a further 1%. About the La Esmeralda Gold Mine The La Esmeralda gold mine is a shallow-dipping, quartz-carbonate vein and vein-stockwork system located and hosted in the "roof-zone" and adjacent contact zone of a tonalite intrusion and overlying and adjacent carbonaceous shale sequences. The mine is one of many similar-style gold occurrences (see for example the Company's El Gualtal formalization project, press release October 2, 2019) located in the Company's "Southern Block" and in the prolific La Llanada goldfield. The mine operation comprises approximately 41 tunnels extending vertically over some 50 meters from the base of a steep hillside (see Figure 1). Ore is hand-selected, gold is coarse and free and recovered by gravity separation. Mining at La Esmeralda was suspended by regulatory authorities in 2016. There are no reliable records of previous production. In 2010 and 2011, AGA conducted geological mapping, grab and channel rock-chip sampling and ground geophysics at La Esmeralda. AGA collected 138 combined grab and rock-chip channel samples which returned a maximum of 133.5 grams per tonne gold (average of 4.5 grams per tonne gold; lowest results at below laboratory detection limit). AGA's best underground rock-chip channel sample results from La Esmeralda are as follows: 2.0 Meters at 48.1 grams per tonne gold 2.0 Meters at 23.0 grams per tonne gold 2.0 Meters at 12.8 grams per tonne gold 2.0 Meters at 12.7 grams per tonne gold 1.2 Meters at 21.6 grams per tonne gold 1.0 Meters at 39.4 grams per tonne gold 1.0 Meters at 17.0 grams per tonne gold 0.2 Meters at 65.1 grams per tonne gold Figure 1 To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4008/54743_Figure%201_orig.jpg Induced polarization (IP) data collected across La Esmeralda has revealed a clearly-defined continuous chargeability anomaly of more than 50 mV/V, extending for more than 400 meters along-strike, over a vertical distance of approximately 150 meters and with an average section width of 50 meters. The chargeability anomaly is located in carbonaceous sediments, which hosts sulphide-rich, vein-stockwork style gold mineralization and is always located on the southern side of a very high-resistive zone, which correlates spatially with the majority of underground mines and gold mineralized veins hosted in tonalite (see Figure 2). The Company considers both the chargeable vein-stockwork zone and the resistive tonalite-hosted vein-zone to be promising initial drill targets. Figure 2 To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4008/54743_Figure%202.jpg "This formalization initiative follows in style and substance the Company's El Gualtal agreement which was executed in October of last year and is the second such agreement the Company has signed in Narino and in the impressive La Llanada gold district," said Tim Coughlin, Royal Road's President and CEO. "Once again, we are immensely proud to be executing quality agreements with local stakeholders which are designed to benefit the Company, the informal miners, the community, the environment and the Colombian government." Highlights of the Agreements The following is a brief summary of some of the key aspects of the Agreements: Formalization Agreement Company to return a specific area within the Concession and permit a new mining concession over such area (the La Esmeralda Concession) to be issued to La Esmeralda for the benefit of informal miners and in order for mining to resume at La Esmeralda La Esmeralda to satisfy requirements of Colombian mining regulation including in respect to environment and workplace health and safety La Esmeralda to allow ENC to have access at any time and to assist with sustaining social licenses at the project and elsewhere in the district Option Agreement ENC has the right to earn 70% of La Esmeralda Concession by completing a minimum 3000 meters of drilling, underground sampling and an internal feasibility study with respect to the La Esmeralda Concession within five years of the date on which La Esmeralda is registered as the owner of the La Esmeralda Concession La Esmeralda's 30% interest in La Esmeralda Concession to be free-carried through to commercial production and at such point to be converted to a 30% net profit interest La Esmeralda to receive an additional 5% net profit interest royalty from mine production within a 100 meter buffer zone around the La Esmeralda Concession and within the Concession HH2-12001X Royalty Agreement From the time of granting of the La Esmeralda Concession, ENC to receive a royalty of 3% of the dore extracted from the La Esmeralda Concession payable in kind on a quarterly basis In-case ENC assists in increasing production at the La Esmeralda Concession beyond the average production calculated from the first two quarters of mine production, ENC may increase the royalty to be received by a further 1% The royalty is payable until the earlier of ENC relinquishing its entire interest in Concession HH2-12001X, ENC exercising its option to earn 70% and delivering notice to La Esmeralda that it intends to commence mine construction, ENC developing and securing to its satisfaction a global JORC-compliant resource on a single stand-alone project of no less than 3 million ounces gold on the HH2-12001X Concession area surrounding the La Esmeralda Concession Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The information in this news release was compiled, reviewed and verified by Dr. Tim Coughlin, BSc (Geology), MSc (Exploration and Mining), PhD (Structural Geology), FAusIMM, President and CEO of Royal Road Minerals Ltd and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Royal Road Minerals employees are instructed to follow standard operating and quality assurance procedures intended to ensure that all sampling techniques and sample results meet international reporting standards. More information can be found on Royal Road Minerals web site at www.royalroadminerals.com Quality Assurance and Quality Control: The following information was made available to the Company by AngloGold Ashanti. Sample preparation and analyses are conducted according to standard industry procedures. Rock samples are crushed, split and pulverized prior to analysis of Gold by fire assay and Atomic Absorption and multi-elements by ICP-AES and ICP-MS after four acid digestion. Stream sediment samples are sieved to -200 mesh and analyzed for Gold by fire assay and ICP AES and multi-elements by ICP-AES and ICP-MS after aqua regia digestion. Analytical performance is monitored by means of certified reference materials (CRMs), coarse blanks, coarse and pulp duplicate samples. Surface samples have been prepared, for the most part, in ALS Chemex preparation lab in Colombia and analyses have been completed in ALS Chemex Lima. Cautionary statement: This news release contains certain statements that constitute forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking statements") describing the Company's future plans and the expectations of its management that a stated result or condition will occur. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company, or developments in the Company's business or in the mineral resources industry, to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance, achievements or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include all disclosure regarding possible events, conditions or results of operations that is based on assumptions about, among other things, future economic conditions and courses of action, and assumptions related to government approvals, and anticipated costs and expenditures. The words "plans", "prospective", "expect", "intend", "intends to" and similar expressions identify forward looking statements, which may also include, without limitation, any statement relating to future events, conditions or circumstances. Forward-looking statements of the Company contained in this news release, which may prove to be incorrect, include, but are not limited to the Company's exploration plans. The Company cautions you not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. There is no guarantee that the anticipated benefits of the Company's business plans or operations will be achieved. The risks and uncertainties that may affect forward-looking statements include, among others: economic market conditions, anticipated costs and expenditures, government approvals, and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with Canadian provincial securities regulators or other applicable regulatory authorities. Forward-looking statements included herein are based on the current plans, estimates, projections, beliefs and opinions of the Company management and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements should assumptions related to these plans, estimates, projections, beliefs and opinions change. For further information please contact: Dr. Timothy Coughlin President and Chief Executive Officer USA-Canada toll free 1800 6389205 +44 (0)1534 887166 +44 (0)7797 742800 info@royalroadminerals.com To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/54743 By Trend Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops 24 times, Trend reports referring to Azerbaijani Defense Ministry on April 22. The Armenian armed forces were using large-caliber machine guns and sniper rifles. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding regions. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding regions. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Popular Nigerian comedian AY has urged social media critics to partake in social responsibilities to lessen the burden placed on celebrities. Ayo said that well-meaning Nigerians can also contribute rather than criticize the efforts of those who try to cushion the lockdown effects on deserving people. Sharing on Twitter, AY pointed out critics should take responsibilities or keep their opinions to themselves. RED ALSO Comedian AYs Wife, Mabel Speaks On Cosmetic Surgery (Photo) He wrote on Twitter; Those of you who contribute nothing but criticize the efforts of others who provide necessary or little support to cushion the lockdown effects on Nigerians in need, should take matters into your own hands and volunteer to do something or keep your stupid opinions to yourselves. See Post Here: CHICAGO Two Cook County Jail detainees have been indicted on attempted murder charges after they allegedly took part in an attack on three correctional officers last week, prosecutors said. According to the Cook County States Attorneys Office, a grand jury on Tuesday handed up indictments against Dante Jeffries and Sharelle Sims for their role in what appeared on surveillance video to be a brutal attack that left two of the correctional officers unconscious and sent the third one to the hospital with serious injuries. Jeffries and Sims are also charged with aggravated battery, aggravated kidnapping and possession of contraband. They are scheduled to be arraigned on May 5, the states attorneys office said. The attack occurred shortly before 4 a.m. on April 14 at the Chicago jail, where the coronavirus has killed six inmates and an officer. After an officer let Jeffries out of his cell to get water, Jeffries attacked the officer from behind and forced him into his cell, according to the sheriffs office, which released a video of the attack. When the officer managed to escape the cell, Jeffries knocked him down and choked him until he lost consciousness. Image: Reuters The coronavirus was already a disaster for Meorina Mazza. In March, it sickened her brother, killed her cousin and prompted officials in Italys southern region of Calabria to quarantine her seaside town of San Lucido. But the lockdown also cut her off from her off-the-books shifts as a kitchen hand and made it harder to apply for welfare. Now she is relying on donations of flour to feed her daughters but still has no money to pay her electricity bills. We are really headed toward total desperation, said Mazza, a 53-year-old mother of two. Italys coronavirus epidemic, among the deadliest in the world with more than 24,000 deaths, first exploded in the countrys wealthy north, where it stretched one of Europes most sophisticated health care systems to the limits. But it is the countrys poorer, less developed south that has loomed over the entire crisis and figured prominently in the governments decision to lock down all of Italy last month. Now, with the Italian governments plan to begin a gradual reopening of the country May 4, some southern leaders remain so fearful of the potential of the virus to devastate their regions that they have suggested they would ban northerners if they rushed to lift the lockdown. 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 Southern Italians are already fighting a war on two fronts, facing both the rampages of the virus as well mounting economic carnage not seen since the period immediately following World War II. The widespread eruption of the virus in Calabria would have been a catastrophe, said Jole Santelli, Calabrias president, who took the drastic step of sealing off the entire region in March, helping prevent a disastrous outbreak. But the economic damage, she said, will be enormous. That toll is already apparent, even as the south has generally avoided the worst of the pandemic. The poor, used to scraping by on jobs in the informal economy, are increasingly dependent on handouts. Troubling, if scattered, reports of social unrest have punctured the Italian narrative of patriotic sacrifice. Officials are concerned that organized crime is exploiting the crisis by stepping in as providers of loans and, in some cases, food. The coronavirus has been the great revealer of the weaknesses of governments, systems and societies everywhere it goes across the world. In Italy, it wasted no time laying bare the countrys most confounding and enduring problem: the economic and social inequality between the north and south. Italys unification, in the mid-19th century, has been interpreted by many scholars as a conquest of the feudal south by the norths Savoy kingdom in what was essentially a civil war. Over the next 150 years, the armed guards for the souths vacant landowners slowly usurped influence, developing into the powerful organized crime bosses who helped complicit politicians develop a system that exchanged votes for services. All of this corruption and violence helped keep the south poor. Health care, in particular, remains one area where a mix of political patronage, bad management and the influence of organized crime has left the south far behind. Even before the virus struck, some of the hospitals in the region were so deeply in debt, they had to be put under external administration, and southerners often traveled north for medical procedures. The health system in the south cannot hold a candle to the northern one, said Giovanni Rezza, director of the infective illness department at the National Health Institute. Santelli, whose office is similar to that of an American governor, said she had closed off Calabria for fear that infected workers returning from the north would break a rather weak hospital system. In the regions Cetraro hospital, the appearance of a single coronavirus patient forced the entire emergency room to be closed and completely sanitized because administrators had not set up a distinct path to avoid contamination. If the wave they had up north arrived here, said Dr. Pino Merlo, 60, a doctor at the Cetraro, we wouldnt be able to withstand it. At least for now, the south is holding out against the virus. In the south, there have been about 1,500 deaths attributed to the virus, compared with more than 20,000 in the north. But as the south keeps the virus at bay, the threat has become economic. In San Lucido, Mazzas brother spent more than a month in the hospital as she used flour to make a breakfast cake that her daughters ate throughout the week. Sergio Malito, who works in the town hall, said the dread of contagion was morphing to fear that the stores would not reopen, that the fishing wouldnt restart, that the tourists wouldnt come. We will be ruined, he said. That feeling is widespread. A video of desperate residents shouting outside banks in the southern city of Bari, on the opposite coast, went viral. Those fears are compounded by the economic troubles that were prevalent even before the virus arrived. Unemployment in the south hovers around 18%, almost triple that of the north, while its youth unemployment rate is around 50%, according to Eurostat. More than 3.5 million workers in Italy operate off the books, accounting for about 12% of the countrys gross domestic product, according to Italys National Institute of Statistics. Much of that activity is in the south, an area of about 20 million people that encompasses the six regions and two southern islands south of Rome. But even for those in the mainstream economy, hardships can multiply exponentially, like the contagion itself, once their lives have been sideswiped by the virus. In Naples, Arianna Esposito spent days trying to get her mother hospitalized, but health workers repeatedly told her that her mother wasnt sick enough to be tested. When her mothers condition deteriorated, dispatchers on the coronavirus emergency line said she didnt sound out of breath enough. Her lips turned purple, and the ambulances finally came, but she died en route to the emergency room. Her father died in an intensive care ward days later. They left behind a shuttered store that sold detergent and cleaning products. Now we can use what is left in the house to eat, but we dont have much, said Esposito, 27, whose parents had provided a home and the only income for her and her year-old son. Now we are even more scared because we know that nobody helps you. The boys father worked off the books in another shop that had closed, too. The regions widespread use of off-the-books workers constituted a vibrant street economy, said Luca Bianchi, director of an association for industry development in southern Italy. But it meant that when the lockdowns came, those workers were hit hardest because they had no access to government relief packages. The Campania regions president, Vincenzo De Luca, said he had prepared a nearly billion-euro relief package, or $1.09 billion, for workers. No one will die of hunger, he said. This I can absolutely guarantee. But he said he had urged the federal government to find a way to address the big problem of motivating the thousands who make a living off the books to come out of the black markets shadows and ask for help. Otherwise, he said, they could never declare themselves illegal or declare the businesses that they work for as illegal. De Luca worries that the local mob, the Camorra, may seek to exploit the crisis and said one reason the region had put together an ambitious relief package was to close the door to organized crime. Already in Naples, the Italian media has reported that the Camorra is using the pretext of delivering food to be on the streets to sell drugs or to shake down shop owners for donations to the poor. Michele Emiliano, president of the region of Puglia, and a former prosecutor, told reporters recently that mob bosses were most likely meeting via teleconferences like other businesses. Emiliano dismissed reports of a brewing rebellion in the south as nonsense. But he said he thought Italy was making a strategic error by not focusing on reopening the south before the north. If the smaller outbreaks in the south are eliminated, he said, it could create hospital space for sick northerners, and also allow for the relocation of production from the north. Other southern leaders consider the notion of attracting the norths business a fantasy and argue that the regions need to focus on keeping the virus out and the people fed. These are the new poor of the coronavirus, said Cateno De Luca, mayor of the Sicilian city of Messina. De Luca has become well known in Italy for trying to personally turn back mainlanders arriving on the island. He has insulted government ministers critical of his actions and argued that given the state of the Sicilian health system doctors, he said, are forced to wage war with toothpicks in their hands even a small rise in infections would be fatal. So, he said, would a failure to begin planning an economic recovery. We dont start from zero, he said. We start from less than zero. c.2020 The New York Times Company Invasive software that records students' computer screens and monitors their eye movements will be used to stop them cheating on exams. Australian universities were forced to ditch in-person tests for at least semester one as campuses shut down during the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, exams will be conducted online from the student's bedroom where their every move is recorded and tracked by all-seeing eyes. Several programs are being used that either have a 'live invigilator' watching the student take the exam, or use artificial intelligence to flag suspicious activity. Students have pushed back against the programs being used, arguing being filmed in their own homes in an invasion of privacy. ANU student Sasha Personeni (pictured) said students were concerned 'regular nervous movement' would be flagged as potential cheating One student at the University of NSW described using a program called Examity for a summer school test. That setup has an invigilator in India watch the student through their webcam, with the whole test recorded. 'You must turn on your webcam, show your desk space, your hands and where your phone is, and have your microphone on at all times,' he said. 'You show your room, under your desk, open drawers, allow them to track your mouse, have a mirror to show around your room at any time if they think you're cheating. 'They're actually super observant, I had a non-course related piece of paper of my superannuation like in one of the crevices of my desk and they asked me to show it because they saw the corner of it.' Examity's fine print notes that students handed over their data 'at their own risk' because 'no data protection procedures are entirely infallible'. 'While we strive to protect your personally identifiable information, we cannot guarantee that it will be 100 per cent secure,' it states. 'Your transmission of your data to our website thus is done entirely at your own risk.' One of the programs, Examity, has an invigilator in India watch the student through their webcam, with the whole test recorded Students must show the whole room through their webcam to make sure there is nothing around that could be use to cheat. Then their every move is monitored Monash University was planning to use Examity for Chinese students locked out of Australia when coronavirus first struck in January. Pro-vice chancellor Kris Ryan at the time appeared in a video calmly explaining the system and how it would work. However, Monash later switched to building its own platform called eExams that would be administered by university staff. 'We will ensure academic integrity by using remote invigilation for eExams,' Monash told Daily Mail Australia. 'We are committed to supporting all our students to complete eExams and providing access to the appropriate facilities and technology they need, recognising that home environments can be difficult for these purposes.' Australian National University students are protesting against another system called Proctorio, which uses a computer algorithm instead of a live examiner. The software records the student's webcam, keystrokes, screen, mouse movements, and even facial expressions and flags anything suspicious for review. What is classified as suspicious depends on the settings set by the university, measured against other students taking the exam. ANU activist Grace Hill said it was 'creepy and unacceptable' that to take an exam students would be filmed in their house A student is filmed taking an exam using the Proctorio system in a demonstration video A Proctorio representative explained how closely body language was monitored in response to a question from a student who frequently checks the clock in exams. 'It is very sensitive and picks up eye movements as well as head movements independently,' they said. 'However, it is very common for eyes and even heads to move during an exam. Our system highlights abnormalities in students who took the same exam. 'In this case, if you were the only one looking at the clock, then yes you might come out on top of the report as more suspicious than you classmates.' Proctorio stores the recorded data on its servers in the U.S., but only university staff can access it. The system is used by more than 400 universities worldwide. More than 3,500 students signed a petition calling for ANU to dump Proctorio and defer exams until the pandemic is over or give them open book exams. 'Students who move their eyes too much, have the wrong facial expressions, or move their bodies can be identified by Proctorio and then penalised, or made to move their camera around and show an invigilator the room they're in,' ANU student activist Grace Hill wrote. 'It's creepy and unacceptable that in order to take an exam, students would be filmed in their house.' ANU students in a Zoom video meetup protesting the university using Proctorio for their exams University of Sydney and University of Queensland are using ProctorU, a platform that has both an external invigilator and AI monitoring (demo film pictured) Another student, Sasha Personeni, told the Guardian that students were concerned 'regular nervous movement' would be flagged as potential cheating. 'It's pretty common for a lot of students, myself included, when we sit exams, to look around the room, take pauses, or fidget, while you consider the question,' she said. Students were also worried their information could be accessed by hackers, especially given ANU's high-profile data breach last year. 'We can find no evidence of Proctorio suffering a security breach,' the university said in a statement to students. 'Whilst the concerns are understandable, that should be balanced against the fact hundreds of universities have utilised it.' ANU told Daily Mail Australia it would use take home exams, quizzes, essays, projects, case studies, and research papers instead of exams, but some courses needed them for professional accreditation requirements. The University of Canberra is also considering using Proctorio for its online exams alongside competing platforms. University of Sydney and University of Queensland are using ProctorU, a platform that has both an external invigilator and AI monitoring. More than 4,000 UQ students want this system dumped for similar reasons to ANU's objection to Proctorio. 'We understand that these are unprecedented and difficult times, and that academic integrity is an important concern for both the University and UQU,' the student union said. 'However, filming students in their homes and allowing third party corporations to store and commodify their personal data crosses the line.' Monash University pro-vice chancellor Kris Ryan appeared in a video calmly explaining the Examity system and how it would work. Monash later dumped it and made its own The American company's policies state that data is deleted a week after the exam and no information can be sold. Latrobe and the University of Melbourne said they would use unspecified online exam software while Curtin University was developing its own. Swinburne University said exams would be replaced with 'time-bound quizzes and tests' through its existing systems. Macquarie University said: '60 per cent of units offered this Session formal exams have been replaced by other forms of assessment such as open book exams.' Universities of Wollongong and Bond University didn't specify whether they would use online exams and other universities failed to respond to Daily Mail Australia's questions. In addition to online exams, many universities are making results pass/fail, expunging any failed units from records, or allowing students to drop out of a class at any time with no penalty. When Hamilton premiered on Broadway in 2015, it became a cultural juggernaut. Sold-out shows and many national tours have followed. In fact, the Tony Award-winning musical will be at Popejoy Hall beginning Jan. 19, 2021. While in-person theater going has stopped for the moment, the creators and producers of Hamilton launched EduHam at Home a free digital program for students and their families to explore the world of Hamilton and Americas founding era together ultimately creating and performing their own narrative in the form of a song, rap, spoken word, or scene. One of the great lessons from Hamilton is how it invites everyones voice in depicting history, said Tom Tkach, Popejoy Hall director. The EduHam program, which has been very successful in bringing history to life for so many students, is now available for everyone. We hope teachers and parents encourage their students to use this program to engage with our nations history and use it as a springboard for their own creative expression. The program is recommended for, but not limited to, students 6th to 12th grade and their families nationwide. It also provides an American history curriculum introducing students to the people, events, and documents of the founding era. EduHam at Home is an extension of the Hamilton Education Program, which has served more than 200,000 students across the country since 2016. Through EduHam, students study primary source documents from the Founding Era, learn how Lin-Manuel Miranda used such documents to create the musical Hamilton, and finally create their own original performance pieces based on the same material. Im excited to see the videos, Miranda said in a video announcing the program. Every week, they will showcase 10 of the best videos submitted. To register, visit gilderlehrman.org/eduhamhome. It will continue to be available through August. Shortly after it was revealed that Harris County planned to issue an order mandating face coverings in public for 30 days, officials from two neighboring suburban counties said they would not issue similar orders for their residents. County leaders in Galveston and Montgomery counties issued statements rejecting mandated face coverings hours after the Houston Chronicle reported that Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo will direct residents to cover their faces in public for the next 30 days. Mark Henry, the Galveston County judge, said that while national and local health authorities recommend wearing face coverings in public to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus, he would not be mandating it because he believes it is unconstitutional to do so. Just as critical as getting our economy back up and running, it is important that elected officials uphold their oaths to defend the Constitution and ensure individual freedoms remain in tact (sic) during and after this pandemic, Henry, a Republican, said in a written statement. Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough said he did not believe he had the legal ability to require residents to wear masks. Urging good hygiene and social distancing, Keough said he supported both residents who chose to wear a mask in public and those who did not. "We will support your right to decide for yourself whether or not a face mask is necessary when you leave your home," sai Keough, a Republican and former state legislator. These has been a divide among local officials in how to respond to the pandemic, with Democrats like Hidalgo deferring to public health officials and recommending more restrictions on daily activities and some Republican leaders backing fewer of them. Hidalgo called early on for stay-home measures; it took several days for some suburban leaders to follow suit. Harris Countys new rules on face coverings take effect Monday and last 30 days. The order requires residents 10 and older to cover their nose and mouth when outside the home. Acceptable garments include a homemade mask, scarf, bandana or handkerchief. Medical masks or N-95 respirators are not recommended as they are most needed by first responders and health workers. Under the order, the countys 4.7 million residents must cover their faces at all times except when exercising, eating or drinking, alone and in a separate space, at home with roommates or family or when doing so poses a greater risk to security, mental or physical health. Staff writer Zach Despart contributed reporting. nick.powell@chron.com Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release SubCategory Select Sub-Category The Assam Police on Wednesday said it has arrested more than 2,050 people across the state in the last 29 days for defying the lockdown order imposed to contain the coronavirus outbreak. Nearly Rs 1 crore has been collected from them as fine, police said. In its daily report on the lockdown, the Assam Police mentioned that 1,156 cases have been registered in connection with 2,007 incidents since the beginning of the lockdown. Accordingly, 2,059 people have been arrested, it said. Police have also realised a total fine of Rs 98,75,400 for violating the lockdown norms. Besides, a total of 17,268 vehicles of all types and 25 boats have been seized from various parts of the state during this period, the report said. The state police is also taking a proactive stand against fake Action is being taken against those spreading provocative content and rumours about COVID-19 on social media, it said. As on Wednesday, 85 cases have been registered and 46 persons were arrested for spreading fake content, according to the release. To stop the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus in the state, 21 locations in 12 districts were sealed and declared as containment zones by the authorities. According to the health and family welfare department, the state has tested a total of 5,514 samples for coronavirus of which 34 tested positive till Tuesday night. One person died of COVID-19, while 19 have been cured of the disease and discharged from hospitals. However, as per the Union health ministry, Assam has reported 35 COVID-19 cases so far. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) business Coronavirus lockdown: Should you invest in a property now? While there may be several deals available in the market and the scope for negotiations is high, homebuyers should do their due diligence well as now may not be a good time to take risks Featured stories Father-daughter stolen car pursuit ends in Wellington woods near Gore Orphanage Road (Elyria Chronicle-Telegram) Doubters question Ohios response to coronavirus, argue damage to economy outweighs public-health risk (cleveland.com) Bipartisan congressional group including Ohioans releases reopening checklist (cleveland.com) Whats in President Trumps three-phase plan for reopening the country, and will it work for Ohio? (cleveland.com) Chinese research team finds coronavirus mutations, warns vaccine developers could need to adjust (cleveland.com) Coronavirus in Ohio Ohio's reported coronavirus cases grew to 13,725 on Tuesday from the first three on March 9.Rich Exner, cleveland.com Latest Ohio figures show 557 coronavirus deaths, 13,725 cases: Gov. Mike DeWines Tuesday, April 21, 2020 briefing (cleveland.com) Gov. Mike DeWines daily briefings bring record viewers, inevitable glitches for The Ohio Channel (cleveland.com) Mapping 13,725 Ohios coronavirus cases, updates and trends (cleveland.com) Ohioans working at home due to coronavirus crisis still paying income taxes as if theyre in the office (cleveland.com) Ohio asks unemployment recipients to file weekly claims on specific days to ease burden on system (cleveland.com) Former Ohio Govs. Dick Celeste and Bob Taft will head coronavirus testing task force (cleveland.com) Vehicle accidents down sharply in Ohio during coronavirus restrictions (cleveland.com) Northern Ohios chief federal judge extends courthouse closures, suspension of trials due to coronavirus (cleveland.com) Will Ohio pools, zoos open this summer amid coronavirus risk? What about vacations? Gov. Mike DeWine responds (cleveland.com) Coronavirus pandemic closes Urbana University campus permanently (cleveland.com) Ohioans will have a grace period to renew their drivers licenses after coronavirus emergency ends (cleveland.com) National Spelling Bee canceled for first time since 1945 (Associated Press) Crime Henry Taylor/MLive.com Cuyahoga County Jail officer, already on unpaid leave from prior arrest, accused of driving drunk with loaded AR-15 (cleveland.com) Bond set at $2 million for man in deadly beating of 94-year-old World War II veteran in Cleveland (cleveland.com) Man shot and killed in Clevelands Glenville neighborhood (cleveland.com) 13-year-old accused of robbing pizza delivery drivers in Akron, police say (cleveland.com) Suspect in 2018 Akron slaying arrested in West Virginia (cleveland.com) Medical examiner identifies man found fatally shot in Akron (cleveland.com) Cleveland / Cuyahoga County Nearly half of all deaths have been to people age 80 and over. Nationally in 2017, this age group accounted for 44% of deathsRich Exner, cleveland.com Cleveland reports 5 deaths, 28 new cases, both single day highs for COVID-19 coronavirus crisis (cleveland.com) Cuyahoga County reports largest single-day increase in coronavirus deaths this month (cleveland.com) Cuyahoga County jail officers gave secret beating to handcuffed inmate, lawsuit says (cleveland.com) Violent crime in Cleveland mostly unchanged during the coronavirus crisis, as arrests and warrants decrease (cleveland.com) Priest from Clevelands Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish dies from coronavirus (WKYC Channel 3) City of Cleveland starts temperature check policy for public works, utilities employees (WJW Channel 8) Cleveland Orchestra imposes layoffs and wage cuts, launches $6 million fundraising campaign amid coronavirus pandemic (cleveland.com) Ohio couple gets married on Zoom because of the coronavirus (cleveland.com) Northeast Ohio firms start mask sales during the coronavirus pandemic and donate $50,000 worth to local institutions (cleveland.com) Avery Dennison, Team Wendy making personal protective gear to help battle the coronavirus (cleveland.com) Local news East Inmate in isolation at Ohio juvenile correctional facility in Highland Hills, authorities say (cleveland.com) Cleveland Heights council discusses seasonal employee layoffs: Coronavirus update (cleveland.com) Solon to make significant budget cuts due to impact of coronavirus outbreak (cleveland.com) Mayor Kraus: This summer in Solon will not look like a normal summer (cleveland.com) Shaker High School Class of 20 will be going virtual for graduation ceremony (cleveland.com) Local news West Broadview Heights lays off part-time workers due to coronavirus-related shutdowns; Strongsville, Brecksville cut worker hours (cleveland.com) Strongsville, Brecksville-Broadview Heights superintendents voice support for keeping buildings closed this school year (cleveland.com) Senate District 23 virtual town hall meeting scheduled for April 23 (cleveland.com) Brunswicks summer festival season on shaky ground in midst of coronavirus pandemic (cleveland.com) Community members give UH Parma Medical Center staff a weekly car headlight salute (cleveland.com) Akron / Canton area Rite Aid to provide free coronavirus testing at Akron-area store for those who meet CDC guidelines (cleveland.com) Western Reserve Academy in Hudson makes, donates face shields for hospital staff, first responders (cleveland.com) State Senate approves deal on extra coronavirus funding for small businesses and hospitals (cleveland.com) Time is running short to vote in Ohios extended primary election (cleveland.com) LGBT literature dominates American Library Associations top 10 most challenged books list Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Public library books that promote LGBT relationships and political views were among the most challenged books of 2019, according to a recent report by the American Library Association. The ALAs Office for Intellectual Freedom released their annual top 10 most challenged list this week, as part of their observing National Library Week, which takes place April 19-25. At number one was George by Alex Gino, which had been challenged, banned, restricted, and hidden to avoid controversy over LGBT content, which includes a transgender character. Second place went to Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin and third went to A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo by Jill Twiss and illustrated by EG Keller. Only two of the top 10 books listed were challenged for reasons other than objections to LGBT content. This included The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood, which was banned and challenged for profanity and sexual content, and the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling over its focus on witchcraft. Data for the report came from 377 documented challenges to books in libraries and schools in 2019, with a total of 566 books being challenged overall plus 41 other reading materials like magazines and newspapers. According to the ALAs State of Americas Libraries 2020 report, the total 607 reading materials challenged represented a 14 percent increase in challenges compared to 2018. The report found that 45 percent of the challenges came from patrons, while 18 percent came from parents, 13 percent came from administrators, and 12 percent came from political and religious groups. The ALA has stated that they oppose these challenges, arguing that they hinder intellectual freedom, and also that they believe these documented examples are only a snapshot of book challenges. Surveys indicate that 82-97% of book challenges documented requests to remove materials from schools or libraries remain unreported and receive no media, stated the group. Although LGBT-themed books have often featured prominently on the annual ALA list of most challenged, in 2015 the Bible made it to No. 6 on the list. "You have people who feel that if a school library buys a copy of the Bible, it's a violation of church and state," explained James LaRue, then head of the ALA OIF, as reported by the Associated Press in 2016. "And sometimes there's a retaliatory action, where a religious group has objected to a book and a parent might respond by objecting to the Bible." The ALA has stated in the past that Bibles are acceptable books for public libraries to include, provided they are not promoted or endorsed by the library. Prince Charles understands the importance of family during a crisis. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Prince of Wales has been keeping in touch with Prince William and Kate Middletons children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, via video chats. The calls have kept the family close, but it has also raised questions about Charles interactions with his other grandchild, Archie Harrison. Prince Charles, Prince George, Prince William, and Kate Middleton | Samir Hussein/WireImage Kate Middleton and Prince William open up about keeping in touch with family Members of the royal family are currently living in isolation due to the coronavirus pandemic. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip are staying at Windsor Castle, Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles are at Balmoral, and William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, are at their country estate, Anmer Hall. In light of the distance, the royals have been communicating via video calls, a technology that has helped Charles stay close with his grandchildren. According to Town and Country, William and Kate recently opened up about the importance of keeping in touch with family. The Duke and Duchess revealed that using technology has been a learning curve for the older generation of royals. As you can imagine, the younger generation are a little bit more tech-savvy. But only just, William shared. I think were getting there now, the family are getting a little bit more used to being able to contact each other and pressing the right buttons and not dropping the computer halfway through. William added that his youngest son, Louis, has had some issues using technology as well. William revealed that Louis always wants to press the red button, which makes for a short video call. Prince Charles shows off a photo of Archie William and Kate did not say anything about Charless interactions with other royals. Although it is clear that Charles has been talking to George, Charlotte, and Louis, we do not know if the same holds true for Prince Harry and Meghan Markles son. Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, are currently living in Los Angeles with Archie, who is about to turn one year old. The couple moved to the United States right before their exit from the royal family became official at the end of March. While we do not know if Prince Charles has been video chatting with Archie, fans believe he displayed a photo of his grandson in a recent video. Charles shared the clip as an update following his battle with the coronavirus. The background of the video featured several photos of the royals, including what fans thought was a baby pic of Archie. We cannot confirm that the photo is Archie. The baby in the picture is wearing a white hat and could just as easily be George, who has been photographed in a similar outfit. Even still, fans loved the idea of Charles displaying a photo of Archie, especially in light of Harry and Meghans exit. Inside Prince Charles bond with Prince George With Archie living thousands of miles away, Charles may not see him as much as he does his other grandchild. But we do know that Charles talked to Harry after he was diagnosed with the coronavirus, so the lines of communication are open. While we wait to hear about Charles and Archie, the Prince of Wales has developed a very strong bond with George. According to Express, Prince Charles has worked hard to be a good grandfather over the years, especially after he grew up not really knowing his own grandfather, George VI, who passed away when he was a toddler. Charles will doubtless be a doting and indulgent grandfather, royal expert Penny Junor shared before George was born. He once revealed to a member of the public that becoming a grandfather is incredibly important to him. We have no doubt that Prince Charles is close to all of his grandchildren, but he has seemingly developed a closer bond with George. Royal experts believe that Charles and George have gotten closer because the future King of the United Kingdom is leaning more on William now that Harry is out of the monarchy. George is currently third in line to the throne after Charles and his father. Once Charles takes the throne, William will take over his old duties, particularly the management of the Duchy of Cornwall. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have not commented on the reports surrounding Prince Charles and Archie Harrison. Over the course of three and a half seasons, Alex Alvarez has established himself as One Day at a Times indispensable pillar of support. Who could forget when he took over the last-minute preparations of Elenas quinces, Hamilton-style, in season one? Or helped his sister breathe her way through an anxiety attack last season? Having been blessed with an easygoing demeanor, Alex tends to be the voice of reason (damn you, Stephen Tobolowsky, for getting to say it before I did!) among the spirited women of his family. The downside to this is there hasnt always been room for ODAAT to give his character space to explore his own ambitions. But now that Alex is getting older, the series is recognizing this gaping hole in the teens story. While he deserves to take center stage, Im pleased that Perfect refuses to let him do so without presenting his story in a female-centric format: As the only male member of the Alvarez family, Alex is afraid he can never live up to the success of his grandmother, mother, and sister. Good! Let him be intimidated by the three remarkable Latinx women who have groomed him to be just as enterprising. This is a construct that I dont plan on getting sick of seeing on television, so keep it up, ODAAT! Quick tangent here to address the episodes B story, which featured parents-to-be Avery and Schneider dealing with their first fight after Dr. Berkowitz gifts them with a terrifying life-size clown doll named Ruckus. Its an entertaining enough subplot, and Tobolowsky, India de Beaufort, and Todd Grinnell are on top of their game as always. But other than reaffirming that Schneider and Avery are great together and that Lydia really needs to throw Dr. B a bone (give this poor guy something to live for already!), its main purpose is to keep the rest of the cast busy. Since Penelopes frugality is well-established, and her son is an expensive-footwear connoisseur, Alexs cagey request for $500 in Perfect has fiasco written all over it. Determined to figure out why a teenage boy would need that kind of money, Penelope goes down an internet rabbit hole that soon has her convinced hes either weighing the benefits of calf implants or planning to be the next Joe Exotic. (Im thinking exotic-pet deal gone wrong.) Once she learns he just wants to take a fashion-design class, shes not only relieved that he wont be starring in Tiger King 2, but shes prematurely sketching out his future as the next Brandon Maxwell. Alex, understandably, didnt want to tell his mother what he was up to because, given her track record, he figured she would think the class was a waste of time and money. But Penelope is demonstrating a significant amount of growth here with her unflinching support of her sons aspirations. Im not so sure she wouldve been this open to forking over $500 three episodes ago. Then again, she knows from personal experience that free doesnt always mean better: When Penelope was a teenager, Lydia wouldnt let her take a hip-hop dance class, instead offering to teach her daughter herself. There was just one tiny problem with that plan: There are no castanets in hip-hop, Mami. (Speak for yourself, Pen. Ill take a free dance class from Rita Moreno anytime once were all out of quarantine, that is.) So when Lydia makes Papito a similar proposal, Penelope rescues Alex from a fate of matching street outfits by agreeing to pay for his class. But it comes with a catch, one that Penelope doesnt even notice shes creating: an unreasonable amount of pressure. Before Alex has even stitched a single piece of fabric, Penelope talks about how shes making an investment in the future of fashion, and that she expects him to be a judge on Project Runway. You dont need to be Karlie Kloss to know those shorts Alex makes in his first class are store-bought. And I dont blame him for his fake-it-till-you-make-it scheme: What would you do if your well-meaning mother were pressing you for details on your fashion line when you cant even operate a sewing machine yet? At least Penelope is proud of Alexs initiative. That is, until Lydia points out the made-in-China tag on the shorts. (How far away is this class?) Penelope confronts Alex, who is down on himself because he loved the class but is so far behind his fellow students skill-wise that hes too embarrassed to continue. When Pen assures him that its okay to not be perfect, Alex explains that the strong, independent women in the family havent done much to teach him otherwise. Lydia is an immigrant who built a fabulous life for herself with little more than determination and charisma. Penelope is a military veteran whose job is literally saving lives, while Elena is on a fast track to becoming the first doctor-lawyer-president. What I appreciate about these kinds of scenes in ODAAT is they not only achieve the primary goal of the parent imparting wisdom onto the child, but the parent also experiences a lesson in self-improvement. Penelope, recognizing how happy Alex is pursuing fashion, encourages her son to keep at it Dare to suck! because he will get better if its something he loves. (Remember how, back in season two, she almost gave up on her dream of becoming a nurse practitioner after too many failed exams?) Alex, in turn, helps his mother understand that her overzealousness can be damaging, implying a fear that shell love him less if hes not perfect all the time. When Penelope realizes that she may be harming Alex more than helping him, I felt her pain right in my heart. By the end of his second class, Alex is showing significant improvement, having figured out the sewing machine well enough to come home wearing a patchwork jacket of his own creation. The uneven sleeves fall off, and the hems are sloppy, but who cares? Besides, Alex has to stay in fashion now, because Lydia, who has volunteered to be his model, needs to finish up that story about how she once slapped Naomi Campbell This Is the Rest! Has any other show mastered cross-generational humor the way ODAAT did with that Dr. AkeDr. DreDrake joke? I know she just bought a couch, but Penelope may want to start shopping for a new bed for Alex. Marcel Ruiz is too tall for that setpiece. Never mind the creepiness factor Schneider wanting to put Pennywises cousin Ruckus into the babys crib violates a slew of American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines. I know from a story-line perspective it made the most sense to have Dr. B perform Averys ultrasound, but isnt he a general practitioner? Wouldnt wealthy scions like Avery and Schneider go to an upscale OB/GYN in Beverly Hills? To the Editor: As an immigration lawyer, I have unfortunately become accustomed to working with executive orders that are impulsive and cruel. President Trumps recent announcement certainly checks all the usual boxes. In Trump to Order a 60-Day Stop of Green Cards (front page, April 22), you discuss the humanitarian concerns raised by the policy as well as its hypocritical approach to temporary workers versus green card applicants. I share those concerns, but wish you had also explored the ways in which the policy creates additional layers of bureaucratic hell that are astounding even for the U.S. immigration system. Many visa and green card applications already require a sometimes yearslong dance of deadlines, lotteries, quotas and carefully coordinated international travel. In the coronavirus era, my clients have already been put in impossible positions as they try to remain compliant. This policy is so much more than a 60-day delay in processing. Its the policy equivalent of adding another 100 steps to a Rube Goldberg machine. Ventilators Are Destroying The Lungs Of Coronavirus Patients An American doctor has revealed that ventilators are actually hurting coronavirus patients lungs based on the wrong usage by medical personnel across the world. Medics around the world have been using the breathing machines, which pump the lungs to send oxygen into the bodies, as a vital tool to keep critically ill patients alive. But Dr Cameron Kyle-Sidell, who was treating Covid-19 patients in New York, said high pressure is inadvertently causing harm and his beliefs have led him to step down from his position in an intensive care unit. In a YouTube video, he says: I fear this misguided treatment will lead to a tremendous amount of harm in a very short time. Covid-19 is not a pneumonia and should not be treated as one. He has said that Covid-19 lung disease is not a pneumonia but appears to be some kind of viral-induced disease most resembling high altitude sickness. He added: It is as if tens of thousands of my fellow New Yorkers are on a plane at 30,000 feet and the cabin pressure is slowly being let out. These patients are slowly being starved of oxygen and while they look like patients absolutely on the brink of death, they do not look like patients dying of pneumonia. The danger, he said, lies in the amount of pressure used to open the lungs, and he believes ventilators should be programmed differently for patients with coronavirus. Dr Kyle-Sidell, a physician at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, said we are putting breathing tubes in people and putting them on ventilators and dialing up the pressure to open up their lungs. He added: Ive talked to doctors all around the country and it is becoming increasingly clear that the pressure were providing may be hurting their lungs, that it is highly likely that the high pressures were using are damaging the lungs of the patients we are putting the breathing tubes in. He later told WebMds Medscape website that his beliefs led him to step down from my position in the ICU. He said in that interview earlier this month: We ran into an impasse where I could not morally, in a patient-doctor relationship, I could not continue the current protocols which again, are the protocols at the top hospitals in the country. So now Im back in the ER where we are setting up slightly different ventilation strategies. Dr Kyle-Sidell said medics on the front line of the Covid-19 crisis should change their protocols for using ventilators. He added: Covid-positive patients need oxygen. They do not need pressure. They will need ventilators but they must be programmed differently. Update: A spokesperson for Seatruck Ferries said at 4pm the matter had been resolved and the Norbank would not be arrested when it docked at Dublin. Earlier: A High Court judge has ordered the arrest of a ferry ship which is due to dock in Dublin Port this evening. The warrant for the arrest of the ship, Norbank, a car passenger and freight ferry, was sought over an alleged debt of 381,000 owed in relation to charter fees on another vessel. Seatruck Ferries Ltd with registered offices at North Quay, Port of Heysham, Morecambe in Lancashire, UK had sought the arrest warrant. Counsel for the company James Lawless BL told the High Court the warrant for the arrest of the Dutch registered vessel Norbank was sought in respect of security relating to a claim for the sum of 381,000 which Seatruck Ferries claims it is owed by P&0 European Ferries (Irish Sea) Limited, the owners of Norbank in respect of charterparty hire. The Norbank travels the Irish Sea between Liverpool and Dublin and is due in Dublin Port at around 5pm this evening.(wed) The claim relates to the charter of the MV Clipper Pennant to P&0 European Ferries (Irish Sea) Ltd by Seatruck Ferries at a daily rate of 12,500 for a year from November 2019. It is claimed the 381,000 allegedly owed related hire from April to May and for passenger costs for February 2020. Counsel told the court the arrest of the Norbank was being sought because P&0 European Ferries (Irish Sea) Ltd owned Norbank and the MV Clipper Pennant was also chartered to P&0 European Ferries (Irish Sea) Ltd. In an affidavit to the court the solicitor for Seatruck Ferries, Helen Noble said the sums allegedly owed were due for payment on April 8 this year. She said Seatruck Ferries had been notified the MV Clipper Pennant had been detained at Dublin Port over the alleged failure to pay harbour dues. Ms Noble said another vessel chartered or owned by the charterer was allegedly detained at Liverpool Port which it is claimed is due substantial unpaid harbour dues. Ms Nobel said Seatruck Ferries is very concerned that the sums owed to it will not be paid. Mr Lawless told the court that a caveat in relation to 30,000 had been received but he said the debt was in excess of that amount which he contended rendered the caveat redundant. Mr Justice McDonald made the order for the arrest of the Norbank as security for the claim in the proceedings. The Book of Longings By Sue Monk Kidd Viking. 432 pp. $28 --- Jesus' wife is back. The kids won't believe it now, but in 1988 the biggest thing we had to complain about was Martin Scorsese's "The Last Temptation of Christ," a Hollywood adaptation of a novel by Nikos Kazantzakis that includes a vision of Jesus married to Mary Magdalene. Protesters picketed theaters, and in Paris they set one on fire. Scorsese received death threats. Several countries banned the film. In 2003, the trouble with Mrs. Christ erupted again over a theological thriller titled "The Da Vinci Code." Weaving together a hodgepodge of hoaxes, hokum and anti-Catholic propaganda, Dan Brown reignited speculation that Jesus had married Mary Magdalene. The Vatican was not amused. A decade later, the matrimonial theory seemed to receive the imprimatur of the Harvard Divinity School. In 2012, Karen King, one of the country's most renowned religion scholars, rocked the Christian world by revealing an ancient fragment of papyrus that contains the phrase, "Jesus said to them, 'My wife ... .' " A subsequent investigation by the Atlantic reported that the "Gospel of Jesus's Wife" had been "discovered" by a man who once ran pornographic websites featuring his clairvoyant wife who talked with angels. In response to that revelation, Professor King bravely conceded, "It tips the balance towards forgery." Behold: Into this controversial arena now steps Sue Monk Kidd with "The Book of Longings," a novel about Jesus' wife. Such a story from Kidd makes sense. Although best known for her 2001 blockbuster, "The Secret Life of Bees," she began her writing career by publishing spiritual memoirs that described her move from the Baptist theology of her youth to the insights of Christian mystics old and new. In the 20th-anniversary edition of "The Dance of the Dissident Daughter," Kidd said she was motivated by a desire to introduce "readers to the lost history of the sacred feminine and to the jolting idea that God can be visualized in feminine ways." Naturally, that jolting idea was not welcomed in some quarters. This time around, there will be a little fulmination on a few websites that traffic in Christian bile, but, otherwise, "The Book of Longings" is not likely to inspire much newsworthy condemnation. Though no more probable than ever, the hypothesis that Jesus was married has lost most of its ability to shock, and, thank goddess, the once controversial affirmations of feminist spirituality have attained bumper-sticker currency. Besides, Kidd has no desire to offend with this fervent story. "I am deeply and reverentially aware that Jesus is a figure to whom millions of people are devoted," she writes in the author's note. "His impact on the history of Western civilization is incomparable." That incomparable impact is the context of "The Book of Longings," but not its focus. For better or worse, Kidd has succeeded in writing a novel about Jesus' wife, not Jesus. She also sidesteps the Mary Magdalene controversy by presenting a fully invented character: Her narrator-wife is Ana, the brilliant daughter of Herod's head scribe. If the idea of Jesus marrying into Herod's court sounds audacious, just wait: Ana is also Judas' sister. And you thought your family was complicated! Raised in relative wealth and sophistication, Ana can read Aramaic, Greek, Hebrew and Latin. Encouraged by the radical ideas of an impudent aunt that every precocious girl should have, Ana develops a passionate interest in the silenced stories of the Scriptures. Determined to alleviate "the sting of being erased," she secretly writes the lost histories of Eve, Bathsheba, Jezebel and other nasty women. But she's not just an illuminating feminist historian, she's also a brave activist. When a friend is raped by a Roman guard and then brutally punished by her family, Ana lashes out at the sexist cultural and legal standards of the day. Alas, in A.D. 14 Galilee, there are not many appropriate positions for a teenager with a degree in women's studies. Much of the early drama of "The Book of Longings" involves Ana's inevitable conflicts with her parents as they struggle to find someone to marry their scandalous daughter. In the middle of one of these family squabbles, Ana meets a young man named Jesus hanging out in a local cave. "I could tell you were different from other women," he says. That this pickup line works should be counted among the greatest miracles Jesus performed. Kidd has constructed the plot to keep Jesus offstage through much of the novel. That's crucial to elevating Ana's position but tends to reduce her beloved to a really sweet guy with gorgeous eyes. "He could set me free," Ana swoons. He's not just the Righteous One, he's Mr. Right. (He's even okay with her using contraception.) Although we get a few Christly platitudes here and there - "Jesus liked to say we shouldn't worry about what we'd eat or drink" - there's nothing particularly striking about his message, little of the discomfiting radicalism of the Gospels. In deference to our enlightened skepticism, here Jesus' ministry is scrubbed of the spontaneous healings that are so prominent in the New Testament. And like some other writers before her, Kidd has transformed the story to make Jesus the naive tool of more violent reformers. I have no objection to creative reimaginings of the life of Jesus, and I was raised in a Christian tradition that emphasizes the feminine qualities of God. But the tares and the wheat grow side by side in "The Book of Longings." The period details are fascinating, but the dialogue can feels over-starched: "I've lived all twenty years of my life with this stigma," Jesus says. "I know the pain you speak of." Pronouncements such as that mingled with casual banter make the book sound like a costume drama trying to find its tone. Also, Ana's feminist consciousness seems immaculately conceived, wholly uncontaminated by the trappings of her culture. Her angry critique of the Male-Only Disciples Policy would make Catharine MacKinnon proud. Confined in Ana's earnest narration, the story provides no critical distance, no irony, no real thematic ambiguity. Despite its efforts to deconstruct Christian orthodoxy, "The Book of Longings" insists on its own orthodoxy. If Jesus is the Son of God, Ana is the Daughter of Sophia, the feminine personification of Holy Wisdom. She even performs her own clever resurrection stunt. The best historical fiction disorients us by demonstrating the uncanny nature of the past - a world like and not like ours, woven through with strands of ancient DNA. Unfortunately, "The Book of Longings" rarely confronts us with anything that might challenge our contemporary liberalism. The novel finally ends up in a commune where Ana and her gnostic sisters discuss "a plethora of other ideas about women that turned traditionally held beliefs upside down." That agenda feels entirely preordained. --- Charles writes about books for The Washington Post and hosts TotallyHipVideoBookReview.com. The Coming Impact of Coronavirus Economic Contraction in ASEAN Countries After the COVID-19 earthquake and a historical contraction, China is rebounding, whereas advanced economies face a depression-like plunge. The consequent tsunami is about to hit Southeast Asia. As the total number of confirmed cases may exceed 3 million and deaths will surpass 200,000 in a matter of days, the U.S. and Europe account for more than 80% % of both. What was an epidemic in China at the turn of January and February grew into a pandemic in the 1st quarter, thanks to the belated mobilizations in Europe and the US. As I predicted in a mid-March briefing (TMT, March 23), what is about to follow is the great coronavirus contraction. Its economic impact will be comparable to the 1930s Great Depression. With more data available today, we have a better idea whats about to happen, despite extraordinary uncertainty. No country in Southeast Asia will be immune to the impact. COVID-19 impact on Southeast Asia In the coming months, emerging and developing economies will seek to cope with the coming economic tsunami. With weaker healthcare systems, the poorest economies, particularly oil and commodity exporters, will take the heaviest hit. In January, the confirmed cases in the emerging ASEAN economies varied from presumably none in Indonesia to more than 30 in Thailand. After the 1st quarter, most saw the cases increase by 10, 100, even 1,000 times. And by mid-April, the largest case counts are in the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia (5,100-5,700), Thailand and Vietnam (Figure 1). Figure 1 Cumulative confirmed cases in ASEAN-5 Source: WHO data, Difference Group Size matters. The bigger the country, the greater the potential for broad COVID-19 spread. However, aggregate figures must also be seen relative to the population size (total cases/1m pop). In this view, the COVID-19 impact has been hardest in Malaysia (164), followed by the Philippines, Thailand (40-60), Indonesia and Vietnam (3-23). To put these numbers in context, lets recall that in Singapore (1,024) they are almost 10-fold relative to Malaysia; and in the US, twice as high as in Singapore. On the other hand, wealthier economies, such as the US and Singapore, benefit from more advanced healthcare systems. Another caveat involves the term confirmed cases. The more countries test, the accurately the cases will reflect the actual impact. In this view, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand have used significantly more tests than the Philippines and Indonesia. Although recently the Philippine test capacity has been improving significantly. In part, the difference is a matter of population size. The bigger the country (Indonesia, Philippines), the harder it is to test broadly. In part, it is due to the level of economic development. Upper-middle income countries (Malaysia, Thailand) tend to test more than lower-middle-income nations. Yet there are exceptions (Vietnam). Economic impact on Southeast Asia As the outbreak has spread, the disruption of supply chains and temporary plant shutdowns, coupled with a sudden full stop in global demand, weigh heavily on those ASEAN economies that still hope to rely mainly on export-led growth. As Vietnam, as well as Singapore and Malaysia, have discovered, two years of trade wars and a few months of a global pandemic can undermine a decade of export recovery. In turn, those countries that depend on both tourism and exports (Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia) must now cope with longer-term economic malaise. In emerging economies, healthcare systems lack adequate capacity against the pandemic. If these countries had not implemented quarantines and lockdowns, they would suffer disproportionately from new virus clusters and new virus waves in the future. If they implement quarantines and lockdowns that are not adequately enforced, the net effect will be the same. And when these countries successfully execute effective quarantines, these will severely penalize their economies as domestic consumption and the businesses will take a severe hit. So, the new baseline scenario is that Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam will all suffer a severe growth contraction in the 2nd quarter that will cast a long shadow over the year. In Indonesia, the contraction will mean a plunge from 5.0% in 2019 to 0.5% in 2020; in the Philippines, the comparable figures are currently seen as 5.9% and 0.6%, respectively. Better positioned initially, Vietnams GDP growth will fall from 7.0% to 2.7%, if it can minimize the virus impact at home. Philippines could have been better positioned against the crisis, but that advantage was largely lost with the spring 2019 budget debacle (compare my column on TMT, Jan 28, 2019). Assuming a relatively strong rebound scenario, ASEAN economies could have a V-shaped rebound by 2021, when Indonesia and Philippines could perform better than Vietnam (Figure 2). Figure 2 Expected coronavirus contraction in ASEAN-5 Source: IMF data, Difference Group However, he current baseline scenario may still prove too optimistic. The challenges in the West could linger over the 3rd quarter, while the devastation in emerging and developing economies could spill over the latter half of the year, with adverse feedback effects. A new virus wave could follow in the fall. Imported infections could accelerate toward fall 2020 and spring 2021. And as the heavily-indebted advanced economies are now taking record-volumes of new debt to support their economies, they could face new debt crises, which would spill over to poorer countries, through trade, investment, and finance. The resulting financial tightening might undermine current progress in many countries and so on. Should any of these scenarios materialize, the kind of strong and broad rebound that many international observers currently expect (or rather, hope) would deteriorate into a weaker and slower, longer-term process. We can all hope for the best, but it would be very naive not to prepare for worse. Dr. Dan Steinbock is the founder of Difference Group and has served at the India, China and America Institute (US), Shanghai Institute for International Studies (China) and the EU Center (Singapore). For more, see http://www.differencegroup.net/ 2020 Copyright Dan Steinbock - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors. Dan Steinbock Archive 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 23:58:00|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close RAMALLAH, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Ishtaye on Wednesday urged the Quartet on the Middle East to exert pressure on Israel to stop its annexation plans in the West Bank. The Quartet on the Middle East comprises the United States, Russia, the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN). It aims to help mediate Middle East peace process talks. Ishtaye made the call in an online meeting with the EU representative in Palestine Sven Kuhn von Burgsdorff, according to Ishtaye's office statement. "The plans of annexation and lands confiscation will undermine the two-state vision and any chance for establishing an independent Palestinian state," said the statement. He also called for holding an international peace conference to resolve the Mideast conflict and finding a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian question. He urged the EU to back his government by supporting the Palestinian private sector, mainly small projects that may contribute to recover the broken Palestinian economy. Meanwhile, Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs Reyad al-Malki discussed in a telephone conversation with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian the Israeli annexation plans. "This plan violates the international law and all other global resolutions," al-Malki said, adding "it also completely blows up any chance to bring the stalled peace process back on track." Enditem Trump has been stressing the importance of reopening states sooner than later to get the U.S. economy back on track. Just last week, the president urged his supporters on Twitter to LIBERATE MICHIGAN! and other Democratic-led states from stay-at-home orders at the same time that mostly Republican governors like Kemp were taking steps to lift those restrictions. The working of the Himachal Pradesh government has been hampered due to the non-availability of government employees, many of whom chose to travel to their native villages in violation of the governments orders amid the coronavirus crisis. Observing that a majority of government employees had gone to their villages during the curfew imposed on March 24, the department of personnel has sought the list of state secretariat employees who had left their stations in violation of lockdown orders. A memorandum to this effect has been issued by the department of personnel. HP secretariat branch officers have been asked to provide a list of employees under them who have left Shimla within three days. In an order issued on March 23, the department had directed the offices to take preventive, precautionary and pre-emptive measures to contain the spread of the virus. Under the order, most of the state government offices were closed and employees were told to stay home but be available on phone or by other means of communication and to attend the office in case of an exigency. It has come to the notice of the government that the officers have left the station, which is a clear violation of government orders, this is being viewed as a serious breach by the higher authorities, says the office memorandum. In addition, branch officers have also been told to provide details of employees who came to Shimla during the lockdown period from areas identified as hotspots, clusters or containment zones. Such employees have been asked to inform the health department and go into quarantine. OPPOSITION FLAYS GOVT FOR ALLOWING INTERSTATE MOVEMENT OF VIPS Opposition leader Mukesh Agnihotri has flayed the government for allowing interstate and interdistrict movement of VIPs. The government was criticised for allowing Mandi Lok Sabha member Ram Swaroop Sharma to travel from Delhi to HP during the lockdown. Defending Sharma, Jai Ram Thakur said the politician had permission from the Mandi deputy commissioner. The opposition also demanded that the government arrange transportation for students stranded in different parts of the country. Agnihotri demanded the transfer of 1,000 crore earmarked for construction and expansion of airports. The ppposition also demanded that the government ban purchase of vehicles for at least two years. CONCESSIONS TO POWER CONSUMERS The state government has decided to provide concessions to industrial and commercial consumers, including the tourism sector, agriculture and other consumers in the state due to the lockdown. CM Jai Ram Thakur said the payment of electricity bills for month of February and March has been extended up to April 30, without levying of late payment surcharge. He said the bills of April will be due for payment in May and will be payable up to May 31, without any late payment surcharge. He said that payment of demand charges in respect of industrial, commercial and agriculture consumers for April and May has been deferred till June 30. The charges will be recovered in three equal instalments during the months of July, August and September. Thakur said a rebate of 1% up to 10,000 will be available to industrial, commercial and agriculture consumers. He said the state electricity board will ensure continuity of power supply to all consumers and no disconnection will be made till May 31 due to non-recovery of electricity bills and late payment surcharge. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Putting together research for publication can be a challenging and time-consuming process, heightened even further because of the current COVID-19 situation, during which non-essential labs have been hibernated and many researchers are now working separately and remotely, instead of collaborating within the same space. Despite those obstacles, Indiana University School of Medicine faculty and Regenstrief Institute research scientists had their research published in Nature Communications on April 14, which is an even more significant feat considering one of the leading authors has been quarantined in Wuhan, China for the last two months of their work. The team consists of Affiliated Scientist Jie Zhang, PhD, Regenstrief Institute Research Scientist Kun Huang, PhD, both Indiana University School of Medicine faculty members, Jun Cheng, PhD, of Shenzhen University and colleagues including Liang Cheng, M.D. of IU School of Medicine. The study was led by Dr. Zhang, an assistant professor of medical and molecular genetics at IU School of Medicine. The work focuses on the application of machine learning and image analysis to help researchers distinguish a rare subtype of kidney cancer (translocational renal cell carcinoma, or tRCC) from other subtypes by examining the features of cells and tissues on a microscopic level. Dr. Zhang said the structural similarities have caused a high rate of misdiagnosis. Within this publication, the researchers studied 74 tRCC samples, which constitutes the largest tRCC collection in the world. "The phenotype of this tRCC looks very much like clear cell renal cell carcinoma, or ccRCC, the most common type of renal cell carcinoma, so it's kind of difficult for pathologists to distinguish between the two," said Dr. Zhang. "To improve that, we tried to use the machine-learning technique, feeding in the digitized pathological image data to the analysis pipeline to train the computer to extract the features related to tRCC. This will help pathologists confirm the case, instead of just relying on their eyes." The first author of this paper, Dr. Jun Cheng started working with Drs. Zhang and Huang in 2016, while Dr. Jun Cheng was a visiting PhD student from China. He visited for the first time when Drs. Zhang and Huang were researchers at Ohio State University, before they joined IU School of Medicine and Regenstrief Institute, and has also visited them since they transitioned to their current roles. Dr. Jun Cheng is currently an assistant professor at Shenzhen University and had traveled to his hometown of Wuhan for winter vacation. advertisement "I was planning to stay at home for 10 days," said Dr. Jun Cheng. "Three days later, the whole city of Wuhan was in lockdown (due to concerns of COVID-19) and the lockdown lasted for over two months." The city of Wuhan became the epicenter of the pandemic, with more than 50,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among the population of 11 million people. As he was working to revise their publication, Dr. Cheng could not return to his lab at Shenzhen University, since teachers and students who left for vacation weren't allowed to go back due to the pandemic. He only had a laptop at his home, but needed a high-performance computer to conduct data analyses. "Fortunately, one student in my lab didn't go home and stayed in school during winter vacation," said Dr. Jun Cheng. "She helped boot the computer in my lab and then I did all the experiments on it remotely." Dr. Jun Cheng also needed to repeat some of the analysis for the revised manuscript, which required a transfer of previously downloaded public data to China from Dr. Huang's lab in Indiana, and it took a week to complete the data transfer. "It was quite stressful to revise the publication during the quarantine, but finally we made it," said Dr. Jun Cheng. Dr. Huang described this publication as a true team science effort, involving both internal and international collaborations, both of which he said are essential. Liang Cheng, MD, Virgil Moon Professor of Pathology from IU School of Medicine and one of the corresponding authors in the paper, was able to collect additional tRCC and ccRCC samples within two weeks from a collaborator in Michigan for the additional analysis, which he described as an amazing accomplishment. "In many cases, we collaborate internationally because there is a huge innovation base that can help with our research," said Dr. Huang, who is also the Director of Data Sciences and Informatics for the IU Precision Health Initiative. "Even in difficult times, as long as we have enough resources and means of communication, we can still carry out collaborative research." This research focuses on renal cancer based on genetic markers rather than location of the disease. This study was supported in part by the IU Precision Health Initiative. The city of Wuhan was reopened earlier this month. AMHERST Graffiti, found sprayed on the front of Hillel House at the University of Massachusetts Tuesday, has been condemned by Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy as a brazen act of anti-Semitism. The word Palestine was written in Arabic with red spray paint, according to the UMass Hillel Facebook page. The graffiti was discovered Tuesday morning and Amherst police continue to investigate. UMass Hillel serves as the center for Jewish life on campus and the vandalism occurred on Holocaust Remembrance Day. In a letter sent out to the campus community later that day, Subbaswamy wrote: The timing of this cowardly act, on Holocaust Remembrance Day, is deeply repugnant. In this period of global crisis, it is more important than ever that we reject hatred and intolerance. Our Jewish students, faculty and staff add to the rich diversity that makes UMass such a special place, and Hillel is a source of support and strength for so many of our students. This cowardly act of hatred towards the Jewish community amidst a time of global crisis and on Yom HaShoah, the Holocaust Remembrance Day, is reprehensible, the UMass Hillel stated in its Facebook post. A subsequent Facebook post included a photograph showing the defacement had been covered by a banner with a quote attributed to Anne Frank: How wonderful is it that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. Because Hillel House, 388 North Pleasant St., is just off campus, Amherst police are conducting the investigation, Subbaswamy said. The UMass Police Department has offered its assistance. Amherst police could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday morning. A WONDER drug which a Donegal scientist was instrumental in developing will undergo a clinical trial to see how effective it is in the battle against Covid-19. Ivermectin is commonly used by farmers to treat roundworm in cattle and sheep, but it is also used in the treatment of parasitic infections in humans, such as in the treatment of head lice. Professor William Campbell (89), originally from Ramelton, in county Donegal, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology in 2015 for his work in the development of the drug. It has had a massive impact on world health, saving millions of people from diseases caused by parasites in developing countries, such as river blindness. The drug will be at the centre of a new trial by French researchers to ascertain if it could be used in the fight against coronavirus, after promising results were recorded in an Australian lab. Biochemistry expert, Professor Luke O'Neill of Trinity College in Dublin, told Independent.ie: "It's added now to the list of possible approaches" but added that dosages found on farms were not suitable for humans. Expand Close Professor William Campbell. Photo: Justin Mac Innes/ Trinity College Dublin/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Professor William Campbell. Photo: Justin Mac Innes/ Trinity College Dublin/PA Wire "But because it's been widely used in veterinary medicine and it has been used in humans, it's very safe. It is extremely cheap to make." Read More He said if it works, it would be widely available. "The holy grail here is to get an anti-viral, a drug that will kill the virus, because that will have a massive impact, and that will be as important as a vaccine potentially." He said Ivermectin has been shown to be safe so "you would be less concerned about side effects". "It's another prospect, and we like it because we know it is safe in humans." However, the expert said: "The anti-viral that we are most optimistic about is called Remdesivir. That is very specific against the virus." Prof O'Neill pointed out there is "a massive effort" behind coming up with a treatment for Covid-19. "I think it will be faster than traditionally it would have been because of the pressing need for this," he said. "The worry is that the vaccine will take ages to develop and there are no guarantees it will work. There is a risk it mightn't work. This would be a wonderful plan B." However, he stressed while Ivermectin might be lying around farmers' sheds, it must not be consumed by humans. Prof O'Neill pointed out that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning in relation to this, because the veterinary dose would be far too high for humans. The FDA said it was concerned about the health of consumers who may self-medicate by taking Ivermectin products intended for animals, thinking they can be a substitute for Ivermectin intended for humans. "These animal drugs can cause serious harm in people," it warned. Irish researchers have been working on the Covid-19 pandemic. The Health Research Board previously announced it had mobilised rapid support for a Covid-19 clinical trial among Irish patients in intensive care units as part of global research efforts. The trial will test interventions for Covid-19 in critically ill patients, capture the outcomes and analyse data across an international network in a global effort to reduce the impact of the coronavirus in intensive care settings. The Parties, States and armies of Vietnam and Cuba have been closely cooperating and supporting each other in effectively containing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic amid its complicated developments and severe impact on all aspects of society. People wearing masks walking in La Habana, Cuba. XINHUA/VNA Photo On March 27, the Vietnamese Ministry of Defences leaders met the Cuban Ambassador and Military Attache to Vietnam to suggest defence cooperation between the two sides in combating the disease, and in researching and producing quick test kits, vaccines and anti-viral drugs. On March 31, Vietnamese Minister of Defence General Ngo Xuan Lich and Deputy Minister Nguyen Chi Vinh sent letters to the Minister of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Chief of the General Staff of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, respectively, to officially propose the above cooperation measures. On April 1, Cuban Ambassador to Vietnam Lianys Torres Rivera announced that the Cuban Party, State and Army agreed with all the suggestions of Vietnam. Accordingly, Cuba is ready to send medical experts to share its experience in COVID-19 treatment, provide Vietnam with medicines to treat COVID-19 patients in Vietnam, and work together to research and produce medicines, vaccines and fast test kits. On April 2 and April 7, the two sides successfully organised online conferences with the participation of their experts who have rich experience in joining international assistance in global pandemics. Participants discussed measures to prevent and control the pandemic, while sharing experiences on coordination among relevant ministries, sectors and agencies in the work. They also touched upon the ability to support each other in pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, and cooperation in research and production of vaccines, as well as other fields in the future. The third conference of this kind is scheduled to take place in late April. Regarding the sending of Cuban medicines and experts to Vietnam, as well as providing the Cuban side with medical supplies that it needs, the two sides agreed to implement the measures immediately after commercial flights between the two countries resume operation. The recent cooperation between the two sides in preventing COVID-19 is evidence of the long-lasting friendship and solidarity between the two nations. The prompt support for Vietnam in the endeavour and the consideration that this as one of Cuba's top priorities have shown the Cuban sides special sentiment to and political trust in Vietnam. VNS Vietnam pledges assistance to Cuba over COVID-19 combat: PM Vietnam is willing to bolster cooperation with Cuba so as to boost economic growth in both countries, and to share experiences with Cuba in tackling the COVID-19, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said on April 17. As soon as India announced its coronavirus lockdown on March 24, tens of thousands of migrant workers in cities left for their homes in one of the biggest mass movements of people in the country since the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. For decades, villages across India have been emptying out. To many people, the decision is one of simple arithmetic: to earn $6 a day instead of $3 back home. In areas like the parched Bundelkhand region in the central Madhya Pradesh state, home to construction worker Dayaram Kushwahas ancestral village, living off the land has become increasingly difficult as rainfall recedes. Others seek something more abstract: the prospect of escape that pulls anyone towards a big city. But after the shutdown, the cities themselves began to empty. Dayaram and his family were among the first to move. As the days went on, and the situation became more desperate, thousands of migrants emerged from factories and workplaces in search of a way home. Indian officials say the shutdown the worlds largest is necessary to beat coronavirus in the densely populated country of 1.3 billion people, with a health infrastructure that can ill afford a widespread outbreak. But for Dayaram and many of Indias estimated 140 million migrant labourers, the epidemic is much more than a threat to their health it endangers their very economic survival. In the shutdown, India has banned domestic and international travel, and factories, schools, offices and all shops other than those supplying essential services have been shut. Taken together, the measures amount to one of the harshest lockdowns in the world. Cases here have spiked to nearly 20,000, with more than 600 deaths. On April 14, the government extended the curbs until at least May 3, prompting clashes between police and migrants trying to leave Indias financial capital, Mumbai, and the western city of Surat. Migrants, such as Dayaram, are the backbone of Indias urban economy, and a necessity for its rapidly expanding cities. Others clean toilets, drive taxis and deliver takeout. They predominantly earn daily wages, with no prospect of job security, and live in dirty, densely populated slums, saving money to send back home. That money is essential to the young and elderly left behind in villages. Approximately $30bn flows from urban to rural areas in India each year, according to government and academic estimates. Now that infusion of money, transferred through rural banks or in worn stacks of rupees borne home on rare visits, has come to a halt. Out of the amount, Ghc30,000 would serve as seed money for the establishment of a fund to support local research towards the development of a vaccine for the treatment of Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM). While the remaining Ghc20,000 would go into procurement of emergency medical supplies to support the delivery of quality and timely services to patients receiving treatment for suspected CSM-related cases. In a speech read on his behalf by Kuoro Richard Babini Kanton IV, President of Upper West Regional House of Chiefs, who presented the cheque on behalf of Togbe Afede, said recent television footages and news coverage of the lethal effects of CSM were worrying. He said the disease, which has been wreaking havoc on our Upper West Region compatriots, have sent shivers down my spine and that the donation was his widow's mite to help mitigate the effects of CSM. Local media reports that as at April 15, 2020, a total of 409 cases CSM had been recorded from the five regions in northern Ghana, with Upper West alone accounting for 258. So far, the CSM, which has a high fatality rate, has claimed about 40 lives, which Togbe Afede, who is also the Agbogbomefia of the Asogli State, said, This is truly devastating." "While we, as a nation, are busily battling COVID-19 pandemic which has taken nine lives so far, with all the energy and resources we can master, the CSM epidemic should also be given the needed urgent attention, and treated with all the seriousness it deserves," he added. He implored the Ghana Health Service to, as soon as possible, declare the outbreak of CSM a national health emergency, adding that, there should be a concerted national action plan to support the people of the northern regions to bringing this deadly disease under control. "We must mobilize national support against CSM now. Government and our development partners, as well as the corporate community should support research towards the development of a vaccine for the treatment of CMS," he said. He urged victims and people with suspected cases of CMS to report early at the hospital for timely treatment and prayed that more help got to the hospital quickly. Dr Afreh Osei Kuffuor, the Regional Director of Health Services, who received the cash donation on behalf of the Regional Minister, expressed thanks to the NHC President for his support. He said several calls have been made to benefactors and philanthropists to come to the aid of the region to combat the challenge, "I am happy Togbe Afede has come to the rescue of the Regional Hospital and I am assuring him that the money would be used for its intended purpose." ---GNA The Lowry lit up in blue in a gesture of thanks to the hardworking NHS staff who are trying to battle coronavirus. PA Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said on Wednesday that Egypt is committed to repatriating an estimated 3,500 Egyptians stranded abroad at the earliest opportunity. El-Sisi's remarks came during the inauguration of a number of national projects east of the Suez Canal. The president said that a plan has been prepared by the concerned ministries to repatriate all Egyptians stranded abroad "I assure all Egyptians [stranded abroad] who are listening to me, even if our circumstances are difficult, we will not leave you. As a state, we are obligated to bring home all stranded Egyptians, who are estimated at 3,500 citizens or slightly more, as soon as possible," El-Sisi said. On Wednesday, the health ministry announced 169 new coronavirus infections, bringing the countrys total number of confirmed cases to 3,659, including 935 recoveries. The total number of fatalities stands at 276, after 12 deaths were announced on the same day. The president added that the state "is also keen to deal with some humanitarian cases in some sisterly countries." Egypt began in March bringing back hundreds of its nationals stranded in various countries owing to the pandemic. Egypt is keeping its airspace open to inbound charter flight as well as special flights to transport outbound passengers, and to cargo and domestic flights, during a suspension of air traffic since mid-March. On 8 April, the flight suspension at Egyptian airports saw an extension until further notice. El-Sisi concluded his speech by saying that the Egyptian government is currently working on preparing "good isolation places and subsistence" to be provided for the stranded citizens when they return. The government has decided to quarantine all Egyptians returning to the country from abroad, and is requiring returnees to sign a written acknowledgement that they agree to the quarantine before boarding their flights. The letter said health workers employed in both Central and Delhi governments as well as in private sectors, who live in Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad, are facing problems in crossing borders. New Delhi: The All India Government Nurses Federation (AIGNF), on Wednesday, wrote a letter to Home Minister Amit Shah that nurses and other healthcare professionals are facing huge problems in crossing Delhi-UP-Haryana borders while going for emergency and other health services. Speaking to IANS, the Secretary General of the AIGNF said, "It is a huge problem that nurses and other health workers are stopped at the border. The police personnel on duty are not considering the I-cards issued by the hospitals or by even the government. For making passes from District Magistrate Uttar Pradesh, the internet site is showing error after filling data. The category for which passes are to be issued, nurses are not included as they were allowed by showing their I-card till date." She further added, "If the nurses are not allowed to cross the border, how will the hospitals and other COVID health facilities function? A large number of nurses reside in Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gurugram, Palwal and Sonipat, etc." "Yesterday (Tuesday) UP Police stopped all the cars whether they are driven by nurses themselves or by their family members, who come to drop or pick up for duty. The same behaviour is meted out to doctors and other health personnel. Nurses are standing on the border and not allowed to cross even after showing their own I-cards along with COVID duty pass." The letter said, "This is a very urgent situation and needs your special attention to address this issue in no time." The federation has demanded from Shah to intervene in the matter and said that proper policy should be laid down in such a manner that nurses and their family members (who come to pick and drop) are allowed to cross the border. The copy of the letter has also been sent to Union and Delhi Health Ministry officials and Director General of DGHS. NEW YORK, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Food52 , the premier cooking and home brand, announced today the appointment of Claire Chambers as Chief Commercial Officer, a new position for the company. Food52 co-founders Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs will continue at the helm of the brand they founded in 2009, which has become a juggernaut in the lifestyle and home space, named to Fast Company's prestigious Most Innovative Companies list this year. Claire brings deep experience in the retail and consumer goods industries to the executive team at Food52, most recently serving as Vice President and General Manager, Home at Walmart eCommerce. Previously, Claire founded multi-brand lingerie concept Journelle, which she scaled into a leading luxury retailer with a cult following that she sold to Triumph International in 2012. At Food52, Claire will oversee commercial operations, managing commerce, DTC brand Five Two, retail, digital marketing, advertising, partnerships, and customer care. "With the tremendous growth we've seen, we knew it was time to bring in a world-class leader who can support us as we set the bar for content and commerce in this next decade," says Food52 co-founder and CEO Amanda Hesser. "Claire brings extraordinary talent and experience to our team, and we're delighted to be working with her." The company is investing in seasoned talent to scale its booming commerce business, which accounts for 75% of its total revenue, grow its award-winning Five Two line into a nationally known brand, expand into new categories like home, and ultimately expand the current audience of 24 million exponentially with strategic partnerships, content distribution, licensing, and offline retail. "We're making decisions to ensure the business remains on solid footing throughout the COVID-19 crisis, and we're still investing in key areas and committed to growth," says Food52 co-founder and president Merrill Stubbs. "I'm excited to focus on our content and brand, community development and our company's culture." With more people cooking and organizing their homes because of Coronavirus, Food52 has seen significant spikes in traffic, sales, and engagement across all channels in the last month. The brand has created a resource page for its community to support them with cooking and home ideas, inspiration, and encouragement, and also launched several new product collaborations with maker partners, a new video series, "At Home With Us," created specifically for social, and a text helpline that is staffed by editors 24/7. FOOD52 Food52 is a leading innovator in the food, cooking, and home space with a monthly reach of more than 24 million people. Food52 has been named one of the world's most innovative companies by Fast Company for its Five Two line created exclusively with the Food52 community and one of the fastest-growing private companies in America in the Inc. 5000. From the beginning, co-founders Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs have disrupted the status quo, building a hub that combines content, commerce, and community around the belief that the kitchen is the heart of the home and food is the center of a well-lived life. Food52 inspires people to eat thoughtfully and live joyfully by sharing great recipes, stories, and ideas with its passionate community of cooks and home enthusiasts, and by curating the best cooking tools, tableware, and home goods. Last fall, Food52 announced an $83MM majority investment by TCG Capital Management ("TCG") to finance its continued growth and expansion. www.food52.com SOURCE Food52 Related Links http://www.food52.com In the 19th century, the Vatican seized a six-year-old living in the papal states in order to provide the child with a Catholic upbringing. Edgardo Mortara was born to a Jewish family but was baptized as an infant when he fell ill. After Pope Pius IX discovered the apparent fact of Mortaras baptism, he insisted that the child had a canonical right to a Catholic upbringing, a right that obtained regardless of his parents wishes to the contrary. I do not doubt that Harvard Law professor Elizabeth Bartholet would bristle at any comparison between herself and Pio nono. But their worldviews bear certain basic similarities that cannot be ignored. Just as the Roman pontiff asserted that all baptized children have a right to a Catholic upbringing with or without their parents consent, Bartholet asserts that all children, by virtue of their birth in the context of a larger society, have a right to what has been called an open future the right to exposure to alternative views and experiences. This right, like the rights of the baptized child, inheres to the child regardless of the religious or philosophical convictions of their parents. Bartholet proposes to secure this putative right by stripping parents of their ability to homeschool their children, effectively taking those children out of their parents custody for eight hours a day. This, to be sure, is less severe a seizure of parental authority than Pius IXs, but it is a seizure nonetheless. This right to exposure to alternative views only works, for Bartholet, in one direction. As Fred Bauer pointed out, the right to exposure standard should equally demand that a secular child raised by secular parents who then goes to a secular public school be sent to a monastery for a few months each year in order to fully understand a worldview based on obedience to religious authority. This is obviously not what Bartholet intends, and she makes that distinction clear. In her treatise in the Arizona Law Review, she clarifies that this right to exposure to alternative views is a positive right to a very specific secular formation. In other words, the religious and the traditional child have a right to be exposed to cosmopolitan values, but not the reverse. Story continues Bartholet cites Columbia Law professor Michael Rebells charge that fundamentalist parents deny their homeschooled children exposure to secularism, atheism, feminism, and value relativism. This deprivation apparently requires state intervention to correct, and Bartholet insists on forcing homeschooled kids out of their homes to ensure that they are afforded their apparent birthright to learn about intersectional feminism and the correspondence theory of truth. What does this prohibition on homeschooling look like in practice? Bartholet says, that under her proposed regime, homeschooled children would be loosed from their alleged bondage by a presumptive ban on homeschooling, one that places the burden on parents to prove that they deserve an exemption from the ban. She avoids detailing the specifics of those exemptions, but gestures towards Sweden, where religious or philosophical convictions are not valid reasons for homeschooling. Denying parents the ability to homeschool their children for ideological reasons or, the wrong ideological reasons; Bartholet makes sure to distinguish between the original progressive wing of the homeschool movement, who bravely pointed out the flaws they [saw] in traditional education, from the untouchables in the conservative Christian wing of the movement, whose criticisms of traditional education are presumptively invalid is, to Bartholet, the best way to secure a childs right to participate meaningfully in society with appreciation of societal values. Again, under Bartholets framework, Pius IXs error was not so much his usurpation of parental prerogative though she perhaps would take issue with the degree of that usurpation but instead in its intended ends. Forcing a baptized child to learn the tenets of Catholicism appears to moderns a species of authoritarianism, but to Bartholet, ensuring that kids are taught that, say, not all men have penises is a prerequisite of their liberation. Elizabeth Bartholet is one of more than ten speakers scheduled to address Harvard Law Schools Homeschooling Summit in June. The event was organized by William & Mary law professor James Dwyer, who has said that the reason parent-child relationships exist is because the State confers legal parenthood on parents. In other words, to Dwyer, the state is endowed with a near-absolute authority to nullify the parent-child relationship, an authority that of its own beneficence it has abstained from exercising. For now. More from National Review Former Vice President Joe Biden, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, left, speaks as Senator Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont, right, listens during a virtual event seen on an Apple Inc. laptop computer in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., on Monday, April 13, 2020. Sen. Bernie Sanders dropped out of the race for president and endorsed Joe Biden, but he has said he plans to remain on the ballot in order to pick up delegates and have a say at the Democratic National Convention. Behind the scenes, a group Sanders founded is working to make sure the self-described democratic socialist gets as much influence as possible at the convention, which is slated for August. Our Revolution, a 501(c)(4) organization that was created in the wake of Sanders' first run for president in 2016, has been pushing its grassroots army to persuade voters to back the Vermont senator in states that have yet to hold their primaries. The goal is to make sure Sanders wins enough delegates to push for key reforms in the Democratic platform. Paco Fabian, the group's director of campaigns, told CNBC that Our Revolution has activated members in states such as Ohio, New York, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The convention and the primaries have been postponed as the coronavirus forced states to implement social distancing guidelines and lockdowns. Ohio votes April 28, and most of the voting is being conducted through mail-in ballots. "Ohio is our focus now. Talking about, especially in the moment, the need for Medicare for All, and if we want to have the ability to push the party in that direction, we need as many delegates as possible," Fabian said Wednesday. The group has 20,000 active members in Ohio, and they have been phone banking and texting voters to convince them to back Sanders, even though he's not technically running. "In the absence of an active Bernie campaign, we are pushing folks to vote for the delegates," he said, noting they need at least 25% of the total delegates in order to have any of their issues considered and possibly added to the party's platform. Our Revolution's move comes as the Biden campaign has sought to make peace with other liberal and progressive organizations. Many of these groups sent a letter to the former vice president, who is a moderate Democrat, with multiple requests, including not having Wall Street or K-Street leaders be advisors during his general election fight with President Donald Trump. Our Revolution did not sign that letter, and it's unclear whether it has heard from the Biden campaign, with Fabian declining to say whether those discussions are taking place. "We are not at liberty to discuss contacts with the Biden campaign at this time," Fabian said. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that some of the liberal advocacy groups that signed the letter have heard from the Biden campaign and are working to see their demands met. Biden has tried to appease Sanders supporters in the wake of his endorsement. In a recent Morning Consult poll, most of Sanders' supporters said they would go on and back Biden, but 7% of those surveyed plan to back Trump. Forty percent of Sanders supporters have an unfavorable view of Biden versus just 15% of Democrats. Biden and Sanders are forming task forces to address issues including the economy, education, climate, criminal justice, immigration reform and health care. Biden, who also received an endorsement from progressive former rival Sen. Elizabeth Warren, has rolled out a plan that would lower the Medicare eligibility age to 60 from 65, while bolstering his student debt forgiveness plan. A spokesman for Biden did not respond to a request for comment. NEW YORK, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation today announced a $4 million grant to the American Indian College Fund to support college students whose educational progress has been most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. While Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) are engines of opportunitypropelled by a cadre of dedicated educators and administratorsmany lack the resources needed to deploy information technology tools, student services, and other solutions at the scale needed by their students during the COVID-19 pandemic. TCUs have been disproportionately and devastatingly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to historical inequities, structural and enrollment-related challenges, and overly burdened institutional financial aid budgets. The Mellon Foundation is dedicated to supporting efforts to allocate resources and ensure that aid is delivered to students most in need. "Tribal Colleges and Universities are central to our nation's fabric and critical to its future. The COVID-19 pandemic is compounding the societal and structural challenges that many of these institutions have long confronted, and we are committed to doing all that we can to support them and the students they serve," said Mellon Foundation President Elizabeth Alexander. Even in better times, many students at these institutions face impediments to their individual well-being and academic progress. As campuses have closed in efforts to contain the virus's spread, undergraduate and graduate students struggle to navigate these unprecedented times. According to the Tribal Colleges and Universities #RealCollege Survey report published this March, 29 percent of TCU student survey respondents were homeless at some point in the prior 12 months, almost 62 percent were food insecure in the prior 30 days, and 69 percent faced housing insecurity in the prior 12 months. "The College Fund appreciates the ways that the Mellon Foundation has demonstrated leadership in its support of tribal colleges and has shown care for the well-being of our students and their families during this crisis," said American Indian College Fund President Cheryl Crazy Bull. "Our students are not only the backbone of their families, they are our hope for the future through their perseverance and creativity, our tribal communities will survive this pandemic and bring prosperity to our society." The American Indian College Fund will distribute the emergency funds to its network of tribal colleges so that they can address immediate and pressing needs related to the pandemic and provide persistence resources to support new and returning students in the summer and fall of 2020 and beyond as determined necessary. Founded in 1989, the American Indian College Fund is the nation's largest charity supporting Native higher education. In addition to providing thousands of scholarships to Native American students, the College Fund also supports a variety of academic and support programs at the nation's 35 accredited tribal colleges and universities, which are located on or near Indian reservations. Members of the public may add their support by making individual contributions on the American Indian College Fund's website. About The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Founded in 1969, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation seeks to strengthen, promote, and defend the centrality of the humanities and the arts to human flourishing and to the well-being of diverse, fair, and democratic societies. To this end, our core programs support exemplary and inspiring institutions of higher education and culture. Additional information is available at mellon.org. SOURCE The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Related Links http://www.mellon.org Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam. Credit:AP Hong Kong: China's state council approved a Hong Kong government shake-up on Wednesday at a time when Beijing is reaffirming its authority over the city, raising political tensions and risking a revival of anti-government protests after months of relative calm. Hong Kong's Director of Immigration, Erick Tsang, will replace Patrick Nip as head of the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau, the official Xinhua news agency said. The move comes two days after Nip apologised for conflicting statements over the role of Beijing's two agencies overseeing the Chinese-ruled city's affairs. Nip has been reassigned as the head of the city's civil service, replacing Joshua Law. Happy Earth Day! While sustainability has been a buzzword in the fashion industry for a few years now, eco-friendly ready-to-wear has never looked better. To celebrate Earth Day's 50th anniversary, FEMAIL rounds up some of the chicest sustainable brands with help from Net-a-Porter's Global Buying Director Elizabeth von der Goltz, and Shopbops Fashion Director, Caroline Maguire. Open-back gathered cotton-poplin maxi dress by Matteau, $540; net-a-porter.com + NET SUSTAIN printed organic silk midi dress by Bite Studios, $770; net-a-porter.com + 007 Happy Hearts Golden Hearts 18-karat rose gold diamond earrings by Chopard, $13,800; net-a-porter.com Perforated vegetarian leather camera bag by Stella McCartney, $790; net-a-porter.com NET SUSTAIN Serena gold-plated bracelet by Laura Lombardi, $145; net-a-porter.com NET SUSTAIN V-10 leather sneakers by Veja, $150; net-a-porter.com NET SUSTAIN one-sleeve asymmetric embellished cady mini dress by Stella McCartney, $2,900; net-a-porter.com 18-karat gold, diamond and enamel necklace by Foundrae, $6,050; net-a-porter.com NET SUSTAIN Powder Sunset ruched degrade Tencel mini dress by Maggie Marilyn, $415; net-a-porter.com NET SUSTAIN The Cropped A high-rise straight-leg jeans by Goldsign, $325; net-a-porter.com NET SUSTAIN hemp and silk-blend straight-leg pants by Bite Studios, $545; net-a-porter.com 'I love new brand Aaizels design concept of creating sustainable wardrobe classics that can be worn forever in multiple ways, they re-used dead stock to create functional designs,' said Elizabeth. 'Bite Studios creates the most amazing trench coats, jackets and knits which are perfect for layering up. The label uses Peace silk which is created with silk worms but they are not harmed in the process, meaning they can finish their work and pass peacefully. 'This obviously takes more time, but allows the silkworms to live out their lives in a natural way and the results are just as beautiful. I love Bite Studios Hemp and silk-blend straight-leg pants which were created using Peace silk. Elizabeth credits her Goldsign denim and leather pants as her wardrobe heroes. When it comes to shoes and accessories, Elizabeth believes Veja and Stella McCartney are experts in the sustainability field, with Stella being one of the original sustainability pioneers who has always championed Animal Welfare within her business and collections. 'For jewelry it is exciting to have established brands such as Chopard and Foundrae within the platform, as well as the likes of Laura Lombardi and Catbird. 'We are super impressed with brands like Matteu which feature four of our sustainability attributes including Locally Made and Reducing waste. 'Maggie Marilyn is another brand that champions the Locally Made attribute with products produced in New Zealand.' In the beauty market, Elizabeth is a fan of Dr Barbara Sturm. 'I am thrilled she is now part of NET SUSTAIN beauty and I particularly love her anti-pollution drops, in addition for beauty I love Tata Harper.' Left: Two Band Slides by Freedom Moses, $45; shopbop.com. Right: Two Band Slides by Freedom Moses, $45; shopbop.com Footwear brand Freedom Moses launched exclusively on Shopbop last month. The earth-friendly shoe line features a wide array of fun colors and prints, and are the perfect accessory to sport indoors or out and about post Coronavirus. Inspired by the vibrant and exciting colors of Tel Aviv, Freedom Moses sandals are recyclable, waterproof, washable and animal friendly. They are made from PCU recyclable plastic, making each sandal lightweight and water repellent. 'We are beyond thrilled to have launched Freedom Moses exclusively on Shopbop, said Caroline. 'I first discovered the brand while in Paris a few seasons ago, and have been wearing them ever since. 'They are an absolute must throughout Spring and Summer whether youre wearing them to the beach to yoga or on date night the colors and prints can be catered to any style and every occasion. The best part? You can still have great quality and style while protecting the earth! Shopbop is a one-stop-shop for super stylish sustainable brands. Their assortment includes Reformation, Freya, Just BEE Queen and Bassike to name a few. CAMICO Receives Exclusive Sponsorship from Alaska Society of CPAs CAMICO (www.camico.com), the nation's largest CPA-owned and directed program of insurance and risk management for the accounting profession, has received the exclusive sponsorship from the Alaska Society of CPAs (AKCPA) as the preferred provider of professional liability insurance and employment practices liability insurance for AKCPA members. Created by CPAs to protect CPAs, CAMICO provides insurance products and comprehensive risk and claims management services to help CPA firms avoid and minimize losses on a proactive basis. "CAMICO's value-added risk management services and insurance will provide AKCPA members with CPA-focused expertise, resources and advice on loss prevention concerns," said Crista Burson, President and CEO of the AKCPA. "Our mebers will greatly benefit from CAMICO's service-driven approach to CPA liability and practice issues." "We're looking forward to working closely with the Alaska Society of CPAs," said Ric Rosario, CPA, President and CEO of CAMICO. "The selection of CAMICO as preferred provider reflects our mission to stay closely in step with the evolving needs of CPAs." About CAMICO CAMICO delivers insurance, risk management and related services to more than 8,000 CPA firms and 50,000 staff members in 46 states and the District of Columbia. Founded in 1986, CAMICO is also the preferred provider for state CPA societies and associations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Greater Washington D.C., Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and Washington. About the Alaska Society of CPAs The mission of the AKCPA is the promotion, upgrading, perpetuation and unification of the accounting profession. Included within this mission are: services to members, continuing professional education, collection and dissemination of information about the profession, assistance to members in their economic and professional growth, monitoring and influencing legislation and regulation, self-discipline through a Code of Ethics and Standards, and promoting cooperation with related businesses and professions. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005747/en/ The alleged harrasment and intimidation of journalists in Ebonyi State has drawn the condemnation of various groups within and outside the state. Some of the groups who reacted include the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and a rights group, the Human Rights Defenders of Nigeria, (HURIDE). The groups described the arrest of two journalists in the state as an act of impunity and attempt to muzzle press freedom. Background Two journalists in the state were arrested on two separate occasions during the week for the reports they wrote. While Chijioke Agwu of The Sun was arrested on Saturday for a report on Lassa Fever outbreak in the state, Peter Okutu was arrested Tuesday for a report he wrote on the millitary invasion of a community in the state last week. Mr Agwu was arrested on the orders of the governor but Mr Okutu was arrested on the orders of the Chairman of Ishielu Local Government Area, Clement Odah. Both were released same day of their arrest on the orders of the governor and Mr Odah respectively. Mr Umahi later on Wednesday banned both journalists from covering the government house and any other government-owned facility in the state. He also said his government cannot guarantee the safety of other journalists who will continue to write negative reports against his government and the state. NUJ: Governor should stop this impunity now In a reaction, the NUJ described the governors action as a deliberate plot to destroy journalism in the state. The union in a statement by the National Secretary, Shuaibu Leman, described the ban on the journalists as a joke taken too far. The NUJ National Secretariat condemns the continuous desperate action of Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State to destroy Journalists and Journalism in his state. The most recent development in which Governor Umahi was instigating attacks against Journalists in the State is frightening to the Union as it signals clearly that such attacks on the media are not going to abate any soon. We regret to note that Governor Umahi is ingloriously attaining notoriety in his continuous harassment, detentions and insults on Journalists who dare to report what he feels are against the interest of his government, the union said. The union noted that as professionals whose responsibility is to monitor governance and hold government accountable to the masses, journalists now live in perpetual fear of being arrested by security operatives or attacked by faceless assailants without any just cause in Ebonyi State. The NUJ has repeatedly cautioned against such acts of impunity and stressed that it is worth noting that press freedom is key to achieving credible democracy and this freedom includes the right to seek and receive information from all available sources to enable formulation of proper opinions to whomsoever one desires and to do so through whichever means it is feasible to communicate. The Governor may wish to know also that both the Union and respective media organisations have their own procedures of disciplining journalists who step out of bounds but certainly we can not keep quiet in the face of this brazen attempt to muzzle press freedom which is a critical ingredient for democratic governance, it added. IPOB Reacts IPOB, in its reaction said journalists are no longer safe in the state. The outlawed secessionist group, in a statement signed by by its publicity secretary, Emma Powerful, said the journalists only crime is exposing the truth in the state. The attention of the great family of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) worldwide has been drawn to the incessant harrassement, humiliation and arrest of innocent journalists in Ebonyi State since the beginning of this year 2020 by David Umahi. Advertisements Gov Umahi has not stopped harrassing and giving threatening messages to journalists in Ebonyi state over their insistence in exposing through their factual reports, the ongoing genocides and unprovoked attacks against hapless Ebonyi people by *** terrorists, and security operatives in some instances. Governor Dave Umahi and his foot soldiers in Abakiliki Government House have never hidden their sympathy for the cabals behind the mass atrocities in Biafra land including Ebonyi State just because of his selfish political ambition. Under governor David Umahis watch in Ebonyi State, journalists who believe in reporting truths are no longer safe, the group said. The group noted that these journalists committed no crime other than exposing the atrocities of security agents against innocent persons in Ebonyi State. Mr Powerful advised Mr Umahi and his agents to retrace their steps because on the day of reckoning, there will be no one to save them. Enough is Enough Meanwhile, the Human Rights Defenders of Nigeria (HURIDE), Ebonyi chapter, berated Ebonyi State government over the incessant arrest and persecution of journalists. Ebonyi State chairman of HURIDE, Sampson Nweke, released a statement . First, it was Mr Charles Otu. He was on the 2nd day of June, 2017 beaten to coma by the governments thugs. Secondly, on 15th November 2019, Obinna Odogwu of the Sun news was humiliated by the secretary to the state government and unlawfully barred from the government house. Again, on 18th April 2020, Chijioke Agwu of same Sunnews was arrested on the order of the governor and just yesterday, 22nd April, Peter Okutu of Vanguard newspaper was arrested and is still in detention. These developments are very ugly and greatly constitute a human rights impairment. We are giving the state government through the Ohaukwu Local Government chairman, a 24 hour ultimatum to release the newly arrested Vanguard correspondent, Mr Peter Ututu and desist from further persecution of pressmen in the state. This has to be done with utmost immediacy and failure to do which Ebonyi state shall be declared an arch enemy of both the local and international press, Mr Nweke said. The World Health Organization has become a tool of the "Chinese propaganda", the Trump administration has alleged, asserting that the global health agency has lost all its credibility during the ongoing coronavirus crisis. US President Donald Trump recently announced he would put a hold on America's funding to the World Health Organization (WHO), accusing the UN health body of becoming "China-centric" during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The United States is the largest contributor to the Geneva-headquartered world body. "The problem with the WHO is that they've lost all credibility during this crisis," US National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien said on Tuesday. "It's not like the WHO has been a highly-credible organization for many years. The United States spends over half a billion dollars on the WHO. China spends about USD 40 million dollars on the WHO, about one-tenth of what the US spends, and yet the WHO has become a tool of Chinese propaganda," he alleged. O'Brien said that on January 14, the WHO assured the US that there was no human to human transmission of the COVID-19, that well into the public health crisis in China, that turned out to be utterly false. In February, the WHO criticized travel restrictions that were being placed on travel from China and other hotspots, not just by the US, but by other countries, he said. "That turned out to be totally improper advice, and has been rejected by the public health professionals," he noted. On March 11, the WHO came out with non-medical advice and said that the Communist Party of China's reaction to the virus has been an "amazing achievement" in containing it. And of now, the virus is in at least 184 countries, he said. "So if that's an amazing achievement, I don't know what is. So we've got a real credibility problem with the WHO," he said. The United States is working with friends and allies to see if it can be reformed, he said. "But one thing we will do, even though we've suspended funding, we're going to make sure that the taxpayer dollars of hard-working Americans that they want to see help our friends and partners and folks around the world who need it, we're going to make sure those dollars get delivered directly to countries, directly to the non-governmental organizations, the Red Cross, places that are fighting this disease on the front line," O'Brien said. "Unfortunately, the WHO has just lost credibility at this point, and you know, instead of stopping, when you hit rock bottom, you stop digging. But the WHO today, apparently, is going to keep digging," he said. The COVID-19 has claimed more than 45,000 lives and infected over 824,000 people in the US. Globally, the virus has killed 177,445 people and infected over 2.5 million, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Catch our entire coverage on the Facebook-Jio deal here Also read: Coronavirus News India LIVE Updates Albany, N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said today he is not ready to make a decision on whether schools will reopen this academic year, but said opening schools will be very difficult and "a very, very big undertaking. "Im not there yet,'' Cuomo said when asked if schools would reopen this spring. Cuomo said more data is needed on flattening the curve of coronavirus cases. Schools across the state are currently closed until May 15, as are non-essential businesses, per an executive order issued by Cuomo. The school year normally ends in late June in New York state. If schools do reopen, its going to require new protocols, he said. It will look very different than it did previously, he said. Schools will have to be disinfected daily, have a protocol for continuing to disinfect, and have procedures in place for social distancing. These are among the measures schools will have to take, he said. Cuomo said it will be his decision if and when schools reopen this year and he believes the opening of businesses and schools should be melded. He said its conceivable that some regions could open schools before other areas of the state, depending on the number of COVID-19 cases. As of Tuesday afternoon, 35 states and Washington, D.C., had ordered or recommended school buildings remain closed through the rest of the school year to contain the spread of the coronavirus, according to a tally from Education Week magazine. Elizabeth Doran covers education, suburban government and development, breaking news and more. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact her anytime 315-470-3012 or email edoran@syracuse.com MORE ON CORONAVIRUS Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources As coronavirus spread, a Fayetteville retirement community became a hotbed McMahon: No more shelter-in-place, but urges people to travel even less; hospitals can reopen Syracuse, Onondaga County miss out on $90 million in coronavirus relief bill Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com Madrid, April 22 : Spain on Wednesday reported 435 Covid-19 deaths in the past 24 hours, a slight spike in the figures for a second day running, taking the overall death toll in the country to 21,717. More than 4,000 new coronavirus cases were also confirmed, according to the Health Ministry. In total, 209,706 people have tested positive for the virus in Spain and nearly 86,000 people have recovered. Spain remains on a strict lockdown but the government announced that starting this weekend, some restrictions will be lifted on children who have been confined to their homes since March 14, Anadolu Agency reported. Restrictions have previously been eased on non-essential workers in sectors like construction and manufacturing. The Spanish government has been repeatedly denounced over its management of the Covid-19 health crisis, with the latest rebuke regarding the rules for children going outside. Despite the executive adhering to the recommendations of experts and World Health Organization guidelines, it has received harsh criticism and accusations of improvisation, particularly from other political parties. Among these issues has been what the opposition described as a "lack of foresight" in the face of the arrival of the epidemic in Spain, which has been one of the worst-affected countries in the world, Efe news reported. There was a shortage of protective material for health professionals, the purchase of a batch of faulty coronavirus test kits and the distribution of thousands of defective masks to medical staff, which were later recalled. Fernando SimAn, director of the Health Ministry's Emergency Coordination Center, told reporters earlier this week: "We are very exposed to all kinds of criticism. This team here is a technical team and we all work as honestly as possible." Residents are in their sixth week of mandatory lockdown, one of the strictest in the world, in a bid to curb the spread of infection and ease the pressure on the health services. Spain's population is only allowed to leave their homes to travel to work, buy food or medicine or go to the bank. Prime Minister Pedro SAnchez has said he wants to extend the country's state of alarm until May 9, a proposal which will go before the Congress of Deputies, Spain's lower house, on Wednesday. Authorities announced on Tuesday that children under 14 years old could accompany an adult on essential errands from April 26 as partial "relief" from the strict measures. The decision was strongly criticised by parent groups, health organisations and left and right wing political parties, including Podemos which governs in coalition with the Socialist Party. A few hours after the announcement Health Minister Salvador Illa reported a change in criteria so that children will be able to go for walks and said the details would be clarified in the coming days. "We know how to listen," he added. The minister stressed that Spain was not yet in the "de-escalation" phase to wind down its lockdown, which will depend on whether the rate of infections and deaths continues to decline. There have been more than 204,100 confirmed cases and 21,200 deaths in the country, according to data from John Hopkins University in the United States. Spanish authorities have said the population has been sticking to the confinement measures, although police have arrested hundreds of people and received thousands of complaints of non-compliance. Alex Pastor, the mayor of Badalona, a small city in Catalonia, resigned on Wednesday after he was arrested on suspicion of driving while over the alcohol limit during the lockdown. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 17:14:02|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close GUANGZHOU, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Multinational oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil Wednesday broke ground on its solely-funded chemical complex in Huizhou, southern China's Guangdong Province. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a special "cloud ceremony" was held online with video connections linking the Huizhou Dayawan Petrochemical Industrial Park, and places in Beijing and Dallas. The complex, with a total investment of about 10 billion U.S. dollars, will be built in two phases. The first phase with a 1.6 million tonne-per-year ethylene cracker and down-stream production equipment is scheduled to be completed by 2023 when construction on the second phase will begin. An annual operating income of 39 billion yuan (5.5 billion U.S. dollars) and 7.3 billion yuan of taxes will be expected when the first phase reaches designed capacity. ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Darren Woods in Dallas said via video link that the project reflects China's growing commitment to foreign direct investment and fostering innovation. Infrastructure and public facilities built at the national, regional and local levels provide critical support while the new laws and regulations further improve China's economic competitiveness, he added. "All of this creates an environment that enables ExxonMobil to continue our strategic long-term investments," the chairman said. China is a long-term strategic development platform of ExxonMobil, and the groundbreaking is a milestone in the implementation of the megaproject, said Fernando Vallina, chairman of ExxonMobil (China) Investment Co., Ltd. Ma Xingrui, governor of Guangdong, said local governments have effectively overcome difficulties brought by the epidemic to complete preparatory works including project approval and sea reclamation. It took only about 18 months for such a mammoth project to kick off, which demonstrated high efficiency on the part of China, Ma said at the ceremony. The provincial government said it will do whatever it can to make sure the chemical complex goes into operation by 2023. POST-EPIDEMIC OPPORTUNITY As the COVID-19 epidemic wanes in China, the resumption of work and production has been accelerated. The operation of foreign-owned companies in China also began to gain momentum as foreign investors' confidence rose and a batch of projects landed. The coastal city of Huizhou neighbors Shenzhen, China's innovation hub and Dongguan, known as "the world's factory". Inside the city's Dayawan Petrochemical Industrial Park are clustered petrochemical giants such as Shell, BASF, Clariant, Mitsubishi and LG. In the meantime, ExxonMobil's footprint is also expanding in the world's largest petrochemical market. Over the past half-century, its business in China has stretched to various fields of the energy industry, with production bases built in Fujian, Tianjin and Jiangsu, and a major technology center in Shanghai. The first phase of the Huizhou project with an initial investment of 34.3 billion yuan involves an ethylene unit and middle and downstream polyethylene and polypropylene plants. A variety of chemical products to be produced are widely used in industries and daily life. Local suppliers and workers will be employed at the preparatory and construction stages, which is also an important contribution to China's development, according to Fernando Vallina. Construction on the central control office building, temporary and supporting facilities has begun this month, and is expected to be completed by September. The concept of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation is and will be observed throughout the whole process, said Lin Nianxiu, deputy head with the National Development and Reform Commission. "It is not only conducive to promoting the upgrading of China's petrochemical industry and boosting regional economic development, but also good for ExxonMobil to share China's development opportunities," Lin said. Enditem The coronavirus death toll in the US has doubled in a little over a week to more than 45,000 as the latest models increase the estimated number of fatalities expected by August to 66,000. Deaths rose by a near-record amount in a single day on Tuesday with just over 2,400 fatalities recorded, bringing the total toll to 45,435. That daily death toll was just shy of a peak of 2,524 deaths in a single day on April 15. Ten days ago, on April 12, the U.S. death toll stood at 22,129. Confirmed COVID-19 cases also surged by 26,558, bringing total infections up to 827,093. It comes as a predictive model relied on by the White House increased its projection of expected deaths by 10 percent. The University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation now expects the national death toll to hit 65,976 by August - 5,561 more than previously forecast. Scroll down for video The University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation now expects the national death toll to hit 65,976 by August - 5,561 more than previously forecast IHME's model is constantly being fed new data and changes its forecast accordingly. It is the model which is used by the White House for forward planning. The model had last month predicted there would be more than 90,000 deaths by August, but that number dropped to 82,000 on April 7, before decreasing by another 20,000 days later. The drastic reduction signaled to experts at IHME that social distancing measures were working in the fightback against COVID-19. But the model assumes that all states are implementing 'broad, aggressive social distancing policies', and may not have factored in any plans from states, such a Georgia and South Carolina, to ease social distancing measures early. New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Michigan each reported their highest single-day coronavirus-related death tolls on Tuesday - over 800 between the three states. New York state, the epicenter of the US outbreak, reported 481 new deaths. Health officials have noted that deaths are a lagging indicator of the outbreak, coming weeks after patients fall sick, and do not mean stay-at-home restrictions are failing to slow the spread of the virus. New reported US cases appear to be slowing this week, rising by less than 30,000 a day for the past four days through Tuesday. The United States had a record 35,397 new cases on April 10. It comes as Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced Monday that bowling alleys, salons, barbershops and a number of other indoor facilities that have been closed across Georgia since April 2 will be permitted to reopen this Friday - despite deaths and infections spiking in the state on Tuesday. The death toll in the state has increased by 131 in 24 hours, bringing the total number of fatalities to 818. Infections also surged by more than 1,000, bringing the number of cases in the state up to 20,166. The state's timetable, which is one of the most aggressive in the US, allows gyms, hair salons, bowling alleys and tattoo parlors to reopen on Friday as long as owners follow strict social-distancing and hygiene requirements. Elective medical procedures will also resume. By next Monday, movie theaters may resume selling tickets and restaurants limited to takeout orders could return to limited dine-in service. Such a swift reopening runs counter to the advice of many experts, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's top authority on infectious diseases, who warned again Monday that resuming business too soon risked a fresh spike in infections. Gov. Brian Kemp said it was important to allow businesses that had been shut down a chance to get some revenue flowing but he emphasized businesses would still be operating under restrictions including monitoring employee health, enhancing sanitation and separating workers. 'I think this is the right approach at the right time,' Kemp said. 'Were not just throwing the keys back to these business owners. Were talking about people (who had) the government shut down their business.' Bars, live performance venues and amusement parks will remain closed. Kemp's order overrides any attempt to impose stricter local decisions, but some local officials including Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said the governor is moving too quickly. 'It appears the governor's order supersedes anything I can do as mayor, but I still have my voice and what I will continue to do is ask Atlantans to please stay at home,' Bottoms told ABC News. Savannah Mayor Van Johnson was also critical of Kemp. 'Don't go out,' Johnson urged residents during a televised news conference. 'People will not come here if they think our businesses are not safe'. Johnson said people would be at close quarters in movie theaters and restaurants and 'there's no way that hair, nails, massages and tattoos can be done at a safe distance'. 'Reopen? Dangerously incompetent' is how Stacey Abrams, a Democrat who narrowly lost the 2018 governor's race to Kemp, characterized the action on Twitter. The governor's actions line up with the phase one of reopening seen in the guidelines issued last week by President Donald Trump's administration. Those guidelines call for 14 days of declining COVID-19 cases. Medical experts have warned that increased testing will be necessary for the lifting of stay-at-home measures, which experts say are essential to slowing the spread of the highly contagious respiratory illness. However, the measures have ground the economy to a standstill and forced more than 22 million people to apply for unemployment benefits in the last month. The US has by far the world's largest number of confirmed coronavirus cases, almost four times as many infections as Spain, the country with the second-highest number. Globally, cases topped 2.5 million on Tuesday with North America accounting for one-third of all cases. The University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation has released a new map projection that reveals when each US state could potentially start relaxing measures Georgia businesses hesitant to embrace Gov Kemp's call to reopen Gov Kemp's call to reopen shuttered businesses in Georgia left many business owners wary and confused Tuesday as they considered how to protect themselves and their customers. Kemp's plan to kick-start the economy is one of the most aggressive announced since Trump laid out benchmarks for states to start lifting restrictions. But Georgia's testing system has lagged behind much of the nation and public health experts warned that moving too quickly could fuel a resurgence in infections. 'Its concerning. Im certainly not going to go the gym or get a haircut,' said Dr. Carlos del Rio, an infectious disease expert at Emory University in Atlanta. 'Ill let people make their own decisions.' Kemps order lets gyms, hair and nail salons, bowling alleys and tattoo parlors open with restrictions Friday. Restaurants can resume dine-in service Monday, though bars and nightclubs must remain closed. 'The private sector is going to have to convince the public that its safe to come back into these businesses,' Kemp said Monday. Georgia has processed more than 900,000 new unemployment claims in the last month, a painful record. But many business owners aren't convinced it's time to end the lockdown. 'I think most of our customers are not ready to venture out yet,' said Kristin Allin, who, along with her husband, owns Bread & Butterfly restaurant in Atlanta. She said her restaurant will remain closed for now, possibly for another month or more. In Savannah, Mark Lebos closed his gym March 11. He reached out to clients Tuesday to tell them his business, Strong Gym, won't be reopening yet. Lebos said reopening would be professional negligence. 'We are not going to be a vector of death and suffering,' he said. Ronique Holloway plans to wait until May 1 to reopen her Atlanta-area hair salon, where shes the only stylist. She worries thats still too soon, but said she doesn't have a choice because she needs money to support her daughter. 'You're staring at somebody right in their face when you shampoo it. Heaven forbid if you talk,' said Holloway, 48, who plans to wear a mask and gloves. In rural Terrell County, Karl Gould, 82, said it's time to reopen businesses even though his age makes him vulnerable to serious illness. 'Do you want to continue being shut down with a destroyed economy forever?' said Gould, a retired engineer. 'Sooner or later, youve got to suck it up and say, `Were going to reopen and if we have some casualties, we do.' Kemp was one of the last governors on the East Coast to announce a statewide stay-at-home order April 1. Even then, he controversially overruled local officials and allowed beaches, lakes and state parks to remain open - a decision he has characterized as a success, saying there have been few problems. CHARLOTTE (dpa-AFX) - Bank of America (BAC) Wednesday announced that 17 board of director nominees were elected during its 2020 annual meeting of stock holders. The bank said that at least 93 percent of the vote cast in favor of each elected director. An advisory proposal on executive compensation was approved, with more than 94 percent of the vote cast in favor. The appointment of the company's independent accounting firm was approved. No stockholder proposals were approved. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Black residents of Louisiana are dying of coronavirus at vastly higher rates than people of other races and new data shows those dramatic disparities are occurring across the state, regardless of demographics of different communities. The new data, released on Tuesday, show the toll that COVID-19 is taking in every corner of the state. And while experts and officials stress the tragedy is not limited to any race, they say the "disturbing," "uncomfortable" but ultimately "unsurprising" disparities shown by the high rates of deaths among African-Americans should force a reckoning with structural, economic and health factors that put black Louisianians at risk. While some have sought to dismiss racial disparities in the virus's toll, suggesting that the outbreak in the majority-black community of New Orleans has skewed the numbers, the new state data shows there is virtually no part of the state where black communities are not suffering the most. "This is a statewide problem," said Thomas LaVeist, dean of Tulane University's School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. "It's not just the cities, it's not just the rural towns, it's not just the mid-sized cities, it's everywhere in the state." "Its something we should all be ashamed of, frankly," LaVeist said. Nearly 57% of the 1,405 people who have lost their lives to the coronavirus in Louisiana are black, while African-Americans make up only 33% of the state's population. As of Tuesday, more than 52 out of every 100,000 black residents of the state had been killed by COVID-19, about 2.65 times as high as the rate at which those of other races had succumbed. Similar ratios were present in every one of the nine regions the Louisiana Department of Health uses to divide up the state. In northwest Louisiana near Shreveport, black residents are dying at 3.86 times the rate of those of other races. In the Lake Charles area, blacks are being killed at more than 3 times the rate. Even in the Lafayette area, so far the area with the smallest disparity in the state, black residents were dying at 1.65 times the rate of others. The fact that racial disparities were not focused in one community is a sign no part of the state is immune from the disproportionate effects the virus is having, LaVeist said. But the high rates of deaths across racial lines should also be a wake up call that the state needs to do better to address chronic conditions and issues of poverty throughout a state that is typically ranked at the bottom of most health metrics, he said. "This is everywhere, no one is spared this," LaVeist said. "And I will also say these death rates for non-blacks are unacceptably high, too. I think white Louisianians should be shocked by these numbers, this is not a matter of it being someone else's problem. This is everybodys problem. The virus doesnt care about race, it doesnt care about politics, it will go anywhere it can." Dr. Alex Billioux, head of the state Office of Public Health, said the numbers exposed how dramatically health disparities impacted different communities. That too crosses racial lines and intersects with poverty and other issues, Billioux said, noting that estimates suggest up to 50% of the state's population is below the poverty line or just barely above it. "If you have that many people who are already poor or one or two paychecks away from being poor, you have a very fragile system," he said. The newly released state data provides racial information for all those killed by the coronavirus in each of the nine regions, as well as parish-level data for parishes that have seen 25 deaths or more. The analysis by The Times-Picayune and The Advocate compared the number of deaths in each of those geographic areas to the racial breakdown of the areas in which they occurred. For the analysis, the relatively small number of people whose whose race was unknown were considered to be some race other than black, yielding a conservative estimate of the disparities. +13 New Orleans opens walk-up coronavirus test site at Xavier, first of several planned New Orleans opened up a new coronavirus test site in Gert Town Tuesday, part of an effort to expand testing in neighborhoods with high infecti The likely causes behind the dramatically different rates are well-known to public health officials: black residents are more likely to be poor, have difficulty accessing health care and have more pre-existing conditions than those of other races. In addition, they are also more likely to have jobs in the service industry and other sectors that put them at greater risk of infection as the pandemic continues to spread across the state. "For those of us who have been sounding this alarm, it's not new," said New Orleans City Councilmember Jay H. Banks, who added that 17 people he knew personally have died of the virus, all but one of them black. "Whats new is the illustration of it. Whats new is that people can see it that couldnt see it before. Now it's slapping people in the face and you still have people trying to ignore it." Banks said his one hope is that by putting the disparities into sharp relief, the pandemic could bring about real change in how the state handles race and poverty. "The one hope I have is that it will make people pay attention," he said. "What Im hoping is this is not all for naught, that there isnt just lip service and then when a vaccine is created we all go back to business as usual. Thats what Im hoping we avoid." And the devastating impacts the virus continues to have in the black community should put into context the calls for lifting restrictions while the virus still rages. Well-heeled members of the community who have called for returning people to work are not those disproportionately black workers who will be risking infection and death on businesses' front lines, he said. "Thats people saying 'Im OK with putting these other people at risk. I can sacrifice their lives,' " Banks said. "It's not affecting me." +3 Coronavirus in Louisiana: 300-plus new cases and 77 more deaths; see New Orleans-area data Louisiana health officials added 77 coronavirus-related deaths on Tuesday to the tally of people who have died of the virus, bringing the tota 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 The disparities are particularly acute in Ascension Parish, where African-Americans make up only 23% of the population but 74% of the deaths. Black residents there are dying at 9 times the rate of their non-black neighbors. Department of Health figures show the highest concentration of cases in the parish - between 51 and 100 are located in Donaldsonville. Nearly 75% of residents living in the small city on the west bank of the river are black, and nearly 40% live below the poverty line, according to the latest census data. Though data on deaths in different areas of the parish havent been made available by state officials, Donaldsonville Mayor Leroy Sullivan said he worries the high rate of poverty in his city and correlation with chronic illnesses like diabetes and high blood pressure are a likely driver in COVID-19 deaths. Its disturbing, Sullivan said. When you start talking about the inability to have health care and the poverty in the area, it is eye-opening. There needs to be more done in the communities that are majority African-American or have a higher percentage of poverty. Those are the ones who are dying, Sullivan said. Will the statewide shutdown be lifted May 1? The governor doesnt know yet Things will be different on May 1, the day after Gov. John Bel Edwards statewide stay-at-home order is set to expire, but the governor says h Billioux warned that the relatively low number of deaths in Ascension -- 31 overall -- may mean those numbers could be skewed by chance. But he said even if the numbers are not quite as dramatic in Ascension, the data shows a true problem across the state that has been well-known since long before the pandemic. "This finding is disturbing, this finding calls on us to act, but this is in no way surprising," Billioux said. Almost all other parishes for which the state provided also saw large disparities, with the exception of St. John the Baptist and St. Landry parishes. In majority-black St. John the Baptist Parish, the high rate of deaths among non-black residents may be a reflection of how the virus ravaged a retirement home for veterans. St. John Parish Coroner Christy Montegut said that he doesn't have a precise tally, but he believes about two-thirds of the residents of the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Home who died were white. The home takes in military veterans from all over the region. In Jefferson Parish, where the black death rate is 2.34 times the rate for other races, officials are working to do more to educate about the virus, particularly in the hard-hit and largely black areas of the West Bank. "It was a call to action for me," said Councilmember Byron Lee, who has been reaching to to local ministers and other leaders to get the social-distancing message out and distribute masks to members of the community. "These are close-knit families. They tend to cluster together," Lee said. "We go to church, we sing in choirs, we go to barrooms and nightclubs and the restaurants in the community." U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, referring to earlier figures about the statewide disparity, said he wasn't surprised to see that the black community had a disproportionate rate of illness and death but the magnitude of shocked and alarmed him. If America catches a cold, the black community catches pneumonia, because everything is exacerbated in minority communities, poor communities and communities of color, Richmond said at a town hall hosted by The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate. Before the townhall, Richmond said policymakers need to start viewing "poverty as an underlying condition." State officials are also focusing on short-term measures that could blunt the virus's toll in the African-American community. That will include surging testing in hard-hit areas and making sure people have access to information, resources and health care to help them if they fall ill, Billioux said. +4 Rep. Richmond: Tourism may face long recovery, but reopening too early could prolong pain Tourist destinations like New Orleans face a long road to recovery that could be exacerbated if a too-hasty reopening of the local economy lea Public health experts said that the new statistics show that the state cannot simply return to the status quo after the pandemic. "The goal should be to use this pandemic and these glaring racial disparities as a catalyst to commit ourselves to returning to a new normal that is more equitable," LaVeist said. Similar thoughts are on the minds of state officials. "What are we building for the long term and what are we doing to address these disparities if it makes everyone as disturbed and uncomfortable as it should?" Billioux asked. Staff writers David Mitchell, Gordon Russell and Bryn Stole contributed to this report. A men's rights activist whose own mother was shot and murdered by her husband has insisted he doesn't believe women are more likely to be victims of domestic violence. German-born Philipp Tanzer, 42, who lives in Durness, Scotland, identifies as part of the 'Manosphere' - a loosely connected collection of groups around the world who fight for men's rights and all believe that males are at a disadvantage in society. Appearing on BBC Three documentary 'I Am A Men's Rights Activist', Tanzer, a former soldier and porn star who now works as a barber, revealed he doesn't believe government statistics that show women are almost twice as likely to be victims of domestic abuse as men. German-born Philipp Tanzer (pictured) , 42, is a former porn-star who currently lives in Durness, Scotland and is part of the 'Manosphere' a group who think males are the ones disadvantaged in society Philip's own mother was shot and murdered by her abusive husband while on the phone to him, however despite this he still thinks that feminism is a 'problem' Tanzer, who believes men and women are equally oppressed, explained his views were not altered despite the distressing and abusive circumstances surrounding his mother's death. 'My mother lived for three years with her second husband in South Africa, but there was a horrific moment of domestic violence where he beat her really badly,' Tanzer said. 'She ran away and knew she had to leave him, she had already booked her flight back to Germany. On the phone to my mum, I heard her talking to someone in the background. 'I heard how she was hit and my brother took the phone and he heard three shots and then within half an hour we got the news that my mother and her husband were dead. So he shot her and then himself.' Appearing on BBC Three documentary 'I Am A Men's Rights Activist', he argues that both genders are equally as oppressed in society Despite his tragic past, he says he 'doesn't believe' government statistics on domestic violence, which say women are more likely to be victims of abuse than men Accompanied by journalist Alvaro Alvarez, Tanzer travelled to a men's rights conference in Chicago, where the issue of false domestic violence statistics was brought up. A speaker argued that men were more likely to be victims of domestic abuse. The point was challenged by Alvarez, who pointed to UK Government statistics. 'You have to look into the study and how the study was concluded', responded Philip, 'I do not believe this statistic and I don't believe the statistics that were heard just now.' Another controversial moment in the documentary saw Philip clash with a woman who visited his art gallery and hairdressing salon, after he questioned whether women should automatically have the right to vote He also claimed feminism is a societal 'problem' because it makes it more difficult for men to seek help. Philip said: 'When I first joined the men's right's movement, I said why do you constantly fight against feminism? 'And then I realised that they really are part of the problem because they perpetuate a narrative which prevents men from getting help.' The documentary saw Philip attend a men's rights conference in Chicago, where a speaker argued that men were more likely to be victims of domestic abuse Philip says feminists 'really are part of the problem because they perpetuate a narrative which prevents men from getting help'. Picured, a pamphlet on feminism at a men's rights conference in Chicago He said: 'The right to vote in America came with the duty to serve the country, going into the military and you could question should everybody then have the same responsibilities.' After the anonymous visitor groaned and started to storm out, Philip urged her to 'challenge' his opinion, and later argued that her view may have been different had she listened to his argument. Philip had moved to Scotland seven years ago, after spending three years in the military and then the porn industry, where he went by the name 'Logan McCree'. The former porn star he told the harrowing story of how at the age of 16, his mother was shot dead by her second husband while Philipp and his brother were on the phone to her Speaking of his time in the military, he said: 'I noticed real problems in society when it came to men. Almost all of my comrades from the military lost their children in custody battles and it really destroyed some of them emotionally.' He argued that while women have historically been oppressed, men have also suffered hardship - and feels that men don't 'get the same attention' as women in society. 'I think that women were oppressed in situations and I think that men were oppressed in situations', he said. He went on: 'I think girls get alot of support in society, like girl power you can do it that's great but as boys don't get the same attention as girls. I really want to show them what they can do'. The world as we know it has changed. Over the last few months, the uncertainty surrounding us has forced decisions upon our business community that were unexpected and for most, unwelcome. There are a lot of different scenarios which can play out and important decisions to be made. Although each industry is different, what we can expect is that the future will come. In this future there are 3 outcomes that can play out through this time. What you do now in your business, the changes and decisions you make will be crucial to determining where you will end up. And its not just about cutting cost or staff. Your consumers should be high in consideration and the best way to service them. So where will your business be in 12 months time? Will your business dive? Will your business survive? Or will your business thrive? Here are 3 different places businesses could end up as a result of the changes and actions taken. Businesses who make NO changes For the people who make no changes to their business, the consequences will be severe. If they havent already, they will be faced with a rapid decline. Unfortunately, businesses who remain rigid and take no action will fall behind quickly or worse, disappear. It is likely that theyve lost a lot of their consumers because they have no way to service them or they dont have the ability to attract new ones. Some examples of these are restaurants who dont consider delivery or takeaway service or gym owners who dont offer online classes. The aftermath is an abandoned community and consumers needing to look elsewhere to meet their needs. Reputation and goodwill built over time will count for little as consumer demands change. This is where opportunity is created for those who make different choices to doing nothing. Taking no action and making no changes will plunge your business into disaster right now. Businesses who make SOME changes For the people who make some changes to their business, it could mean the difference to their survival. While survival sounds good enough, opportunities are lost especially if the business was in a growth phase. Its as if time will stand still for the next 12 months and the business will end up where it was when this all started. Businesses who make some changes like mechanics offering pick up and drop off to their local area, nail salons offering in-home care kits give themselves a chance to keep moving forward. There is likely to be little revenue growth during this time and opportunities to pick up people in abandoned communities will be few. But finding ways to continue to serve your consumers will be key to surviving. Taking some action and making some changes will help your business make it through the next 12 months. Businesses who make SMART changes For people who make smart changes to their business, growth may be slow, but the potential to ride a steep upward curve in the future is higher. These businesses will innovate and continue to service their community adapting to the environment and thrive when difficult times pass. There have been great examples of this including Manly Spirit Co creating alcohol-based hand sanitizers selling out their 100ml and up to 5L range and Flow Athletic moving their training classes online and offering 1 on 1 sessions outdoors to ensure their clients keep moving. New opportunities will present itself in different ways and these businesses will be in the best position to pick up the consumers left behind by their competitors. While the target revenue may not come right at this time, the rewards will be much larger in the future. What we know for certain is that during adversity, there will be opportunity. Taking smart action and making smart changes will help your business thrive in the next 12 months. Patrick Galang is a Business Strategist and is a Co-Founder of Knowledge For Good, empowering people with knowledge through human connection. Keep up to date with our stories LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. WASHINGTON, D.C. Federal authorities announced Wednesday that an ongoing cooperative effort between law enforcement and a number of private-sector companies, including multiple internet domain providers and registrars, has disrupted hundreds of internet domains used to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic to commit fraud and other crimes. The department (Department of Justice) will continue to collaborate with our law enforcement and private sector partners to combat online COVID-19 related crime, said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Departments Criminal Division. We commend the responsible internet companies that are taking swift action to prevent their resources from being used to exploit this pandemic. As of April 21, the FBIs Internet Crime Complaint Center has received and reviewed more than 3,600 complaints related to COVID-19 scams, many of which operated from websites that advertised fake vaccines and cures, operated fraudulent charity drives, delivered malware, or hosted various other types of scams. To attract traffic, these websites often utilized domain names that contained words such as covid19, or coronavirus. In some cases, the fraudulent sites purported to be run by, or affiliated with, public health organizations or agencies. For example, the cooperative effort has disrupted: an illicit website pretending to solicit and collect donations to the American Red Cross for COVID-19 relief efforts; fraudulent websites that spoofed government programs and organizations to trick American citizens into entering personally identifiable information, including banking details; and websites of legitimate companies and services that were used to facilitate the distribution or control of malicious software. Multiple federal agencies have worked to analyze the complaints, investigate ongoing fraud, phishing, or malware schemes, and assemble vetted referrals. Working alongside our law enforcement partners and the private industry, the Civil Divisions Consumer Protection Branch is taking action against all manner of COVID-19 consumer scams, said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Justice Departments Civil Division. Disrupting Internet-based fraud schemes is an important part of our effort to protect consumers from financial loss and health-related harms. Agencies have sent hundreds of these referrals to the private-sector companies managing or hosting the domains. Many of those companies, in turn, have taken down the domains after concluding that they violated their abuse policies and terms of service, without requiring legal process. Domain registrars and registries have advised the department that they have established teams to review their domains for COVID-19 related fraud and malicious activity. Keeping pace with the growing threat of cyber-enabled COVID-19 scams requires an alliance between the private sector and our law enforcement partners to safeguard our Nation from this sort of nefarious conduct, said Director James M. Murray of the U.S. Secret Service. The Secret Service is thankful for these trusted partnerships which demonstrate a proven model for identifying, investigating and prosecuting these criminals. Cybersecurity researchers have also made important contributions by developing sophisticated tools to identify malicious domains and refer them for mitigation. Law enforcement is actively reviewing leads, including those referred by private firms, to verify unlawful activity and quickly pursue methods for disruption. More Information Tips to avoid online COVID-19 scams Verify the identity of anyone contacting you about COVID-19. Check websites and email addresses, aware that scammers often use addresses that differ only slightly from those belonging to the entities they are impersonating. Be wary of unsolicited emails offering information, supplies, or treatment for COVID-19 or requesting your personal information. Legitimate health authorities will not contact you this way. Do not click on links or open email attachments from unknown or unverified sources. Make sure the anti-malware and anti-virus software on your computer is operating and up to date. Ignore offers for a COVID-19 vaccine, cure, or treatment. Check online reviews of any company offering COVID-19 products or supplies. Research charities or crowdfunding sites soliciting donations in connection with COVID-19 before making donations. Be wary of requests for payments or donations in cash, by wire transfer, gift card, or through the mail. If you think you are a victim of a fraud or attempted fraud involving COVID-19, call the National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 1-866-720-5721 or email at disaster@leo.gov. If it is a cyber scam, submit your complaint through https://www.ic3.gov. Source: U.S. Justice Department See More Collapse As a further example, shortly after the IRS notified the public of web links to apply for the COVID-19 related stimulus payments, the FBI identified a number of look-alike IRS stimulus payment domains. These look-alike domains are often indicative of future phishing schemes and in order to minimize the potential fraudulent use of the these domains, the FBI alerted numerous domain registries and registrars to the existence of these look-alike URLs. The FBI is proud to work alongside our federal law enforcement and private sector partners to protect the American public from COVID-19 related scams during these difficult times, said FBI Executive Assistant Director Terry Wade. We believe our collaborative efforts are the key to quickly reducing the threat from COVID-19 scams while allowing the American public to focus on protecting themselves and their families from this pandemic. The Justice Department is also working to provide COVID-19 related training and technical assistance in other countries through the International Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property program. In one Justice Department-supported action, a state prosecutor in Brazil took down a fake site purporting to belong to a leading Brazilian brewery. The website publicized the distribution of free sanitizer, but in fact was infecting the computer systems of numerous Brazilian consumers with malware. The ICHIP-mentored prosecutor further requested that the sites U.S.-based registrar suspend it and preserve any account and transactional data linked to the site. The investigation is ongoing, and the ICHIP continues to mentor the prosecutor remotely on this case and on best practices for engaging with U.S. registrars and providers. Similar activities are planned in other regions with ICHIP attorneys. Numerous Justice Department components are working to combat COVID-19 related crime nationwide. For a list of department efforts, visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus/news. If you think you are a victim of a fraud or attempted fraud involving COVID-19, call the National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 1-866-720-5721 or email at disaster@leo.gov. If it is a cyber scam, submit your complaint through https://www.ic3.gov. On April 1 the Baltimore City Board of Estimates, which includes mayor Jack Young and city council president Brandon Scott, approved a program using planes equipped with high resolution cameras to fly over Baltimore for at least 40 hours per week. The massive spying operation, named Aerial Investigative Research, will be conducted by a private corporation, Persistent Surveillance Systems (PSS). The program, which has since been temporarily halted on grounds of constitutionality by a federal court, was approved by the city at the request of Baltimore Police Department (BPD) commissioner Michael Harrison. If allowed to go forward, the program will last for an initial trial period of up to six months. The cameras mounted on the citys aircraft will generate a video record, which will be combined with existing ground cameras, license plate readers and other sensors, to provide the police with an ability to track an individual anywhere they go, at any place or time. According to Bloomberg News , the aerial surveillance operation was originally implemented in secret by the BPD in January 2016. According to the Baltimore Sun, this operation was not disclosed even to the mayor of Baltimore at the time. Earlier in the same month, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) released a report that the BPD had engaged in the widespread violation of constitutional rights, including unjustified stops and searches; arrests without proper cause; racial profiling; use of excessive force; sexual discrimination; and retaliation against actions protected by the First Amendment. Significantly, the DOJs investigation did not devote a single word to the secret surveillance operation. Ross McNutt, the founder of PSS, first developed the surveillance system on behalf of the Department of Defense for use in war zones. The Air Force, where McNutt was serving at the time, began using a version of the system in Iraq in 2007. Later that year, McNutt retired from the Air Force and PSS opened for business. For a number of years his company made its pitch to sell its services to a number of police departments in cities with the highest crime levels in the US. The April 2015 murder of Freddie Gray while in the custody of the Baltimore policeruled a homicide in the autopsy reportsparked mass protests against the police. The response of all levels of government was to mobilize the repressive powers of the state. The governor mobilized 5,000 National Guardsmen along with armored vehicles used in Afghanistan and Iraq, while the mayor of Baltimore imposed a curfew on the city. The surveillance firm viewed this as a perfect business opportunity. We settled in on Baltimore because it was ready, it was willing, and it was just post-Freddie Gray, McNutt noted in a recent interview with Bloomberg News. Financing of the contract to renew the aerial surveillance is also significant. The cost for this trial run is not coming from public funds, but is being provided by Arnold Ventures, run by billionaire former hedge fund manager John D. Arnold, which has provided nearly $500,000 to the project. The BPDs Harrison, in his request to the Board of Estimates, described Arnold Ventures as a philanthropic organization. Arnold Ventures website states that the foundation is dedicated to correcting system failures through evidence-based solutions. In a statement to the Sun, a representative of Arnold Ventures says: We personally provided financial support for the aerial surveillance tool being piloted in Baltimore. As a society, we should seek to understand whether these technologies yield significant benefits, while carefully weighing any such benefits against corresponding tradeoffs to privacy. In responding to the grant providers mealy-mouthed comment about the benefits of surveillance and the tradeoffs to privacy, one recalls the line in the 1958 film Touch of Evil: A police officers job is only easy in a police state. Corruption is a theme throughout Arnolds career. According to the Sun, [Arnold] made his fortune at Enron before the energy company imploded. He was one of the companys top traders and among 100 executives who received large bonuses-his was reportedly $8 million-a year before the company went bankrupt. Enron, the massive energy conglomerate, filed for bankruptcy in 2001 following the revelation that the company owed billions in debt, which it had hid through various evasive and illegal tax schemes. That the philanthropy of Arnold Ventures is connected to such swindling only demonstrates the anti-democratic character of the entire project. Baltimore has had in excess of 300 murders in each of the last five years, placing it among the top five American cities for homicides per capita. This is just the most visible indicator of a city in a condition of immense social deterioration. According to the US Census Bureau, the poverty rate in Baltimore for 2018 was 18.9 percent, compared to 11.8 percent for the entire US. According to a 2014 study, the citys child poverty rate was a staggering 32.2 percent. Unable to meet the basic needs of a poverty-stricken population, capitalist governments across the world are turning to more innovative forms of rule, of an anti-democratic and authoritarian character. Despite being imprisoned and living overseas for many years, he continued to embark in the tireless struggling process, both fervently defending and developing Marxism in the context of many changes in the world, and relying on Marxism to conduct practical research and create, supplement and develop Marxism, whilst striving to realise these theoretical creations in the specific circumstances of Russia, leading to the birth of Marxism-Leninism. The result of this process was the great October Revolution and the birth of the worlds first socialist state. From then, Lenin continued to lead the party, the state and the people to build real socialism in Russia and the Soviet Union with achievements that changed the face of humanity, becoming an example for the working class and oppressed peoples to follow and struggle for their right to life. From the process of succeeding and developing the theories of Marxism and from the practical meaning in his activities, it can be affirmed that Lenin strove to make preparations in terms of politics, thoughts and teams, aimed at building a political party of the working class following the Marxist ideology and extensively spreading that ideology among the entire working people, thus raising awareness to form a self-awareness of the mission of the working class and of the inevitability of the process from capitalism to communism. From those theoretical and practical activities, Lenin realised that when conditions were ripe, the proletariat revolution could break out at the weakest stage in the imperialist system; and when the opportunity came, on the basis of the worker-farmer-working people alliance, the political party of the working class could organise and lead the revolution to seize power from the bourgeoisie to build a new society. The genius finding of Lenin was extremely significant in both theory and practice, which is evident from the victory of the October Revolution, and after the revolution, the political party of the working class and the Soviet State joined the entire people in building the country, defending revolutionary achievements and the regime, and defeating both internal and external enemies. With his foresight, Lenin was deeply aware of the point to organise and lead an unprecedented new-style state, which was that the working class must ensure two decisive factors. Firstly, the ruling proletarian political party must be a vanguard and must always be strengthened and developed, with party members whole-heartedly contributing to the revolution and striving for the benefits of the revolution and working people. Secondly, the state from the central to the local level must be a clean apparatus capable of building a much high and broader democracy than all the previous democratic regimes in the world and kickstarting a creation campaign of tens of millions of workers and peasants aiming to realise socialism in reality. Under the leadership of Lenin, the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik), then the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and the Soviet State were strengthened to ensure the mission of organising and leading the development of the country as a synchronous system; promoting the role of government from the central to local levels; facilitating economic, cultural and educational development and improving the societys knowledge and awareness; building and consolidating the political quality and stance of the Red Army; and expanding international relations. In particular, the New Economic Policy (NEP) initiated by Lenin had contributed significantly to this system, mobilising the internal strength of society and effectively utilising infrastructure facilities of the previous period, thus paving the way for the development of the following periods. As a true communist with a noble humanistic spirit, Lenin raised the slogan The proletariat of the whole world and oppressed peoples unite together! and always cared for the destiny of the labouring class, working people and oppressed nations worldwide. In the context that colonialism was shadowing humanity, Lenin not only determined stances but also proposed strategies in the fight for the liberation of oppressed peoples. With the Preliminary Draft Theses on the National and the Colonial Question, he frankly criticised the wrongful views of the national and colonial issues, condemning chauvinism and narrow nationalism, and affirming that the communist parties mission to support and assist the cause of national liberation in the colonies. And on his roadmap to find a path to salvage the country, President Ho Chi Minh accepted the great significance of Lenins views on national and colonial issues, considering them as necessary for the Vietnamese revolution and as the route to national liberation. He once asserted: To us, revolutionists and people of Vietnam, Leninism is not only a miraculous handbook and a magnetic needle, but also the sun that illuminates our path to ultimate victory, socialism and communism. More than half a century after Lenin passed away, due to many historical mistakes, the socialist regime in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe collapsed. That collapse brings us a crucial lesson that if we move away from the principles of Marxism-Leninism, not stemming from the objective and scientific awareness of the developmental movement of reality to build appropriate strategies and improve the quality, capabilities, leadership level and revolutionary morality in the Party and the State under the guidance of Lenin, it is quite possible for us to lose all the achievements of the revolution. Over the past 90 years, the thoughts and image of Lenin have left deep imprints on each revolutionary stage led by the Communist Party of Vietnam, inspiring us to step from the victory of the August Revolution in 1945 and the victory of the resistance war against the French colonists and the US imperialists to the great and historic achievements of the Doi Moi (Renewal) cause. Marxism-Leninism, specifically the thoughts of Lenin, were absorbed and applied by President Ho Chi Minh and the Communist Party of Vietnam in a creative way and in accordance with Vietnams conditions, circumstances and characteristics to formulate a guiding principle throughout the revolution process - national independence and socialism - thereby designing specific strategies and policies for each period of the revolution. Celebrating the 150th anniversary of Lenins birth, we commemorate the great thinker, the outstanding political theorist and the prominent leader of the working class, working people and oppressed nations, while affirming that he remains as an example for every communist in the world to study and follow. Lenins thoughts and theories will live forever and remain as a source of energy enlightening the path of liberating the working people towards socialism. His teachings still lead the way and help us to be consistent with Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minhs thoughts to strengthen the Party building and rectification; prevent and push back degradation in terms of political ideology, ethics and lifestyles, and manifestations of self-evolution and self-transformation in the Party; and build a law-governed socialist state of the people, by the people and for the people. And to be worthy of him, the entire Party, people and army should exert greater efforts to build and defend the Vietnamese fatherland and develop it into a prosperous and strong country with a democratic, fair and civilised society. HDFC Asset Management Company, HDFC Trustee Company and seven individuals have settled with Sebi a case of certain alleged regulatory non-compliances with respect to investments in Essel Group companies. The seven entities, including CEO of HDFC AMC CEO Milind Barve, have settled the case by paying over Rs 4.2 crore towards settlement charges. Other individuals are Compliance Officer Yezdi Khariwala, Chief Investment Officer and Executive Director Prashant Jain, Senior Fund Manager Anil Bamboli, and Senior Fund Manager and Head Credit Shobhit Mehrotra, as per the settlement order dated April 16. HDFC AMC had, on behalf of the mutual fund, invested in debt instruments of Essel Group of companies through various mutual fund schemes. It was alleged that the mutual fund had allegedly defaulted in complying with market regulations, adhering to the requisite standards and thus allegedly failed to exercise proper due diligence and therefore show cause notices were served to them in May 2019. While proposing a settlement, the entities said there are no subsisting complaints by the unit holders with regard to this matter in respect of the various mutual fund schemes of HDFC AMC. They also submitted that HDFC AMC has already compensated the unit holders of the affected mutual fund schemes for Rs 4.46 crore. "It was further proposed that, the settlement amount of Rs 4,20,46,420... would be paid out of the funds of HDFC AMC and that the liability would not be passed on to the unit holders," Sebi said in the order. The entities proposed to pay a little over Rs 4.2 crore to settle the matter. The regulator's high-powered advisory committee recommended the case for settlement. The settlement amount was remitted on March 21, 2020, the order said. Catch our entire coverage on the Facebook-Jio deal here Also read: Coronavirus News India LIVE Updates Frascold S.p.A. has signed a distribution agreement with Yuksel Teknik, Turkeys leading company in the distribution of cooling, air conditioning and ventilation services, presenting the best quality products in the supply chain. The partnership with Yuksel Teknik represents a further step for Frascold for excellent collaborations, with an approach that makes from the continuous innovation the most important principle to reduce the time-to-market. The agreement was signed by Ahmet Uludogan General Manager of Yuksel Teknik and by Livio Calabrese, Sales Director of Frascold S.p.A. As stated by Livio Calabrese, the reasons to start this important partnership are the following: Frascold S.p.A. and Yuksel Teknik share their vision of increasing and consolidating their market share in Turkey becoming a standpoint regarding Technical Knowledge in presales and after sales, Marketing and Financial Support to local customers. We also share the need of innovation investing in training OEM, installers and end-users about the new technologies in air conditioning and refrigeration field such as natural refrigerants (CO2, HC) with low GWP and high efficiency. Technological research, innovative design, great quality and high levels of performance are the elements that have always distinguished Frascold compressors all over the world. To say that chinki and dkhar (a term used to refer to non-tribals in Meghalaya) are similar would be incorrect. While one is undoubtedly a slur, the other can be used as a slur. Moreover, a term used by a minority cannot be as damaging as one used by a majority because of the power dynamics inherent in this set up. Not too long ago, I posted a story on Instagram regarding the spate of racist attacks towards North Eastern people in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic. My reaction was prompted by a picture I had seen of a Manipuri girl who had been spat on by a man in North Delhi. He had also called her Corona. One can safely assume he had done this because of what she looked like. After posting this story, I was met with concerned replies, and validation of my outrage. However, amid all this support, one negative comment stood out: completely disregarding the context of my story, a woman got into a heated debate with me after going off on a tangent about how North Eastern people are racist towards non-tribals living in the North East. This is the same kind of reasoning that nationalist Hindus offer about the plight of the Kashmiri pandits whenever issues about Kashmir are brought up in public discourse. Me speaking about the racism against North Eastern people does not invalidate the sufferings of non-tribals in the North East, just as no one is willfully ignoring the sufferings of Kashmiri pandits. But it appears no argument against racism on the Internet can be made without someone obfuscating the matter with a little whataboutery. The woman who responded to my story went on in this vein and brought up the word dkhar, which is used by the Khasi and Jaintia people of Meghalaya to refer to non-tribals. She claimed we are racist for using this word, that it is as bad as the word chinki. A quick Google search would tell anyone that dkhar is a term used by Khasi people to refer to non-tribal people. As a Khasi who grew up in Shillong, I was taught that it meant 'foreigner' or 'outsider'. It is shorthand for all non-tribals, regardless of their religious affiliations. Further, depending on the context, the word can be used in a derogatory manner. Now, one can compare this definition of dkhar with the Wikipedia definition of chinki. Chinki is indisputably a slur, regardless of context. To say that chinki and dkhar are similar would be incorrect. One is undoubtedly a slur, the other can be used as a slur. One can compare dkhar to the word 'gringo', which can be used broadly to refer to any non-Hispanic person. Many Americans think the word is inherently racist. It is not, but it can be. I am not going to argue that there isnt racism towards non-tribals in the North East, nor that the word dkhar is completely innocuous. Since Meghalaya became independent in 1972, the problem of non-tribal migration had always loomed over the state. The fear of being overpowered by a usurping race has existed in all communities, and Meghalaya is no exception. This fear came to a head in 1979 when the Beh Dkhar agitation resulted in ethnic clashes in the state and caused an exodus of Bengalis. 'Beh' literally means to chase. Families were made to pack up their bags and leave a place they had called home. A recurrence of this violence took place in 1987 and 1992. Tensions only eased in the 2000s when Shillong became relatively peaceful. Ethnic clashes occurred in spurts through the years, like the most recent anti-CAA protests, but there has been no violence of the magnitude of those previous years. This overt antagonism may have eased off, but the hostility never truly dissipated. There always remains the fear of being overwhelmed by a burgeoning non-tribal population. The woman who messaged me was right about how tribals are racist towards non-tribals. She can even decry the usage of the term dkhar, but she cannot compare the two words. The term 'chink' implies racial inferiority. North Eastern people are often subjected to taunts like How can you see with eyes like yours?' suggesting that our mongoloid features are somehow inferior. For the British, the term chinky was derived from the word 'chink' which meant a narrow opening or gap. It alluded to the epicanthic folds that are a feature of many East Asian people's eyes. Either Indians aped the British with this racist referencing, or its usage proliferated because the term is very close to 'Chin', the Hindi word for China. The term dkhar does not constitute this type of racial derision based on facial features. There is no sense of racial superiority in the term it is used to mean differentiation. A term used by a minority cannot be as damaging as one used by a majority because of the power dynamics inherent in this set up. Khasis form a very small portion of this countrys population. They have almost negligible social, economic and political leverage. In many cases, we are viewed as foreigners. Tribals have always been a disenfranchised and marginalised group, even with the constitutional safeguards put in place to protect them. Compare that to the dkhar migrant in Meghalaya, who may be a minority in this small context, but is otherwise a part of a greater majority that surrounds the state. Dkhars are therefore viewed as a representative of the majority that has helped in maintaining the status quo, while the vulnerable and disempowered positions of the tribals have improved little. They see the dkhar majority encroaching into their space that they had to fight to claim as their own. As if scrambling about to make sense of the pandemic was not difficult enough, North Eastern people have to also worry about racist attacks. No one is spitting at dkhars, mistaking them for Chinese people, or blaming them for the pandemic which is an extreme form of racism. Othering by using terms like 'chinki' makes North Eastern people feel less Indian. We are already made to feel like we do not belong when we are made to prove our Indianness by speaking in Hindi, or forced to argue outside monuments, so that we do not have to pay foreigner rates. The way we dress, what we eat, how we speak are all scrutinised. This helps no one. It will not ingratiate dkhars to tribals, nor will it stop racism towards them. Using racially oppressive terms like chinki only further alienates an already alienated people. Unless non-tribals can see how damaging a word like chinki is, North Eastern people will continue to feel like non-natives in their own country. He reminded the public that the novek coronavirus disease was still around and could escalate if they took things for granted, urging people to stay home if they had nothing doing in town. Rev. Twum gave the advice in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) after his church donated assorted items to three institutions in the Cape Coast Metropolis towards the fight against the novel Coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday. The institutions that included; Cape Coast Metropolitan Hospital, Awim Polyclinic and Ankaful Maximum Prisons, received boxes of carbolic soaps, gallons of liquid soap, hand sanitizers and bundles of tissues worth over 5,000 Ghana cedis. Rev. Twum noted that though the lockdown had been lifted, it still called for the public to be cautious to ensure that the disease did not spread, stressing that, nothing should be taken for granted. People should not take delight in just roaming about. It would have been best to stay at home until the cases minimize if the country had the resources, but looking at our economic situation, I think the best is what has been done, he added. Rev. Twum advised Ghanaians to adhere to the hygienic protocols including social distancing, handwashing with soap under running water and use hand sanitizers regularly to prevent the spread of the disease. He encouraged Ghanaians to continue to pray for God's intervention for the nation to overcome the challenges in this COVID-19 period. Madam Grace Yeboah, Nurse Manger at the Cape Coast Metropolitan Hospital expressed gratitude to the Presbyterian Church for the gesture. She appealed to other benevolent organisations and individuals to come to their aid. For her part, Madam Evelyn Quansah, Nurse Manager at Awim Polyclinic, recounted how the lack of understanding about the disease from a section of the public was making work difficult at the facility. She called for intensive education on the disease to get people to understand and comply with the established physical protocols. ---GNA Dr Kobby Okyere Darko, Western Regional Minister 22.04.2020 LISTEN The Sekondi-Takoradi Veterinary Service Department has declared its readiness to use its laboratory for the novel coronavirus disease testing as part of processes to expand the number of testing facilities across the country. The move is also meant to facilitate speedy testing of Covid-19 cases. The veterinary laboratory has the requisite biosafety facilities (Biosafety Level 3+) for samples to be safely contained. It would be recalled that President Akufo-Addo, during his address to the nation on Sunday, remarked that the government was making significant investments in the laboratory at the Veterinary Services Department in Takoradi and others across the country to help ensure a testing centre per region. The Western Regional Veterinary Officer, Dr. Simon Gbene, told DAILY GUIDE that the facility was 'equally efficient' as that of Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research when properly utilized. He added that about a thousand samples could be tested each day at the facility. It is one of the topmost in the whole of West Africa. In fact, it is biosafety level three and it is the same as the one Noguchi is using, just that theirs is bigger. So we are well resourced. For Western Region, I don't think we will be having any backlogs. Any sample that comes, we can run it on the same day, he said. He mentioned that already some staff had been taken through some training and that a second phase of the training and simulation was expected very soon before the centre finally started doing real testing. The Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, who visited the centre recently, stressed the need for corporate entities to support the fight against the Covid-19. We believe that a key ingredient in tackling this disease is testing. If we are able to test as quickly as possible, we can isolate as quickly as possible and start treatment, he said. He hinted that a team of biomedical scientist from the Public Health Laboratory of the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital in Sekondi would be dispatched to augment the staff at the laboratory, so they could run the test effectively. Already, Eagle Properties, parent company of Eagles Lodge and The Palms, all in Takoradi, have donated an amount of GH25,000.00 for some minor repair works needed to be undertaken to make the laboratory fit for the purpose. ---Daily Guide A tweet, six police response vehicles (PRVs), an ambulance, some good samaritans, 16 hours and 744 km thats what it took to reach medicines, through a spirited relay, from Delhis Safdarjung Hospital to a septuagenarian in Uttar Pradeshs Bahraich district. It was the tweet of Gulam Mustafa Khan, a state-level relay runner who practices at a Delhi stadium, seeking help to deliver medicines to his septuagenarian grandfather in Begumpura of Bahraich that started off the relay. At around 4:24 pm on Monday, Khan, in a tweet, sought help from Delhi Police to arrange delivery of medicines to his grandfather Nurul Hudda in the Bahraich village, said Asim Arun, additional director general of UP 112 emergency response centre. Asim said additional deputy commissioner of Delhi Police Parwinder Singh immediately reacted to the tweet and got the medicines collected from Safdarjung Hospital after showing the prescription details of Nurul Hudda at around 7.35 pm on Monday. He said the Delhi Police coordinated with their counterparts of Gautambuddh Nagar (Noida) district and handed over the medicines to deputy commissioner of police (DCP), traffic, of Gautambuddh Nagar Rajesh S. Asim further said Rajesh S, with the help of a traffic inspector, handed over the medicines to an ambulance driver Kapil Tewari, who was going from Delhi to Uttar Pradeshs Sultanpur district via Lucknow. He said the ambulance driver handed over the medicines to a UP 112 Police Response Vehicle (PRV) at Agra-Lucknow Expressway toll plaza after reaching Lucknow at around 3 pm on Tuesday. Asim said the PRV personnel then handed over the medicines to another PRV at Bara Birwa crossing in Alambagh and this PRV carried it along to hand it over to a third PRV at Polytechnic crossing on Faizabad road in Lucknow. He said the third PRVs personnel then persuaded a government department junior engineer Mahip Kumar Singh, who was going from his hometown Lucknow to his place of posting in Shravasti district, to hand over the medicines to another PRV at Bahraich border. Asim said the junior engineer handed over the medicines to the fourth PRV at the Bahraich border from where it passed through the hands of two more PRV personnel to reach the hands of the patient around 8 am on Tuesday. MasterChef Australia fans have accused Laura Sharrad of having an unfair advantage in the competition after Tuesday night's pressure test. During the high-stakes cook-off, contestants were tasked with recreating a range of dishes from judge Jock Zonfrillo's three-hatted Adelaide restaurant, Orana. Given that Laura had previously worked as a chef at Orana, fans became understandably suspicious when she executed Jock's signature scarlet prawns, bunya nut chawanmushi and riberry crumpets with flying colours. 'Has she made this elimination dish before?' MasterChef Australia fans accused Laura Sharrad (right) of having an unfair advantage on Tuesday's episode because she had previously worked at Jock Zonfrillo's (left) Orana restaurant in Adelaide Fans questioned whether Laura already knew how to make the dishes because she had followed similar recipes while working at Orana. 'Laura in an elimination challenge that just so happens to be an Orana challenge. Where she worked? No surprises that she nailed it. Where's the equality?' one viewer tweeted. '[Laura] gave technique advice straight off to one of the others which implied she had done it before. I think it's why they didn't dwell on her dish in the tasting,' another wrote on Facebook. Difficult test: During the high-stakes cook-off, contestants were tasked with recreating a range of dishes from judge Jock Zonfrillo's three-hatted Adelaide restaurant, Orana Nailed it! Given that Laura had previously worked as a chef at Orana, fans became understandably suspicious when she executed Jock's signature scarlet prawns, bunya nut chawanmushi and riberry crumpets with flying colours 'I found a bit of favouritism here,' a third fan agreed. However, others defended Laura and pointed out that she couldn't have possibly known the dish because she had already left Orana by the time Jock invented it. 'She hasn't worked there recently and all the dishes are on the current menu. She may have cooked some of the elements but not the whole dishes,' one Facebook user explained. 'Where's the equality?' Fans questioned whether Laura already knew how to make the dishes because she had followed similar recipes while working at Orana Former job: Laura is pictured with two other chefs working at Orana in January 2015 'I found a bit of favouritism here': Fans debated whether or not Laura had an unfair advantage Jock has previously denied allegations of preferential treatment towards Laura, telling The Daily Telegraph: 'I said it in the first tasting, there is no favouritism. 'If anything, Laura will be at a disadvantage carrying the weight of cooking for her mentor.' Laura also assured the publication that her history working for Jock wouldn't help her in the competition. 'Jock has always been very honest when critiquing my food, and I expect nothing less from him on MasterChef this year,' she said. The countrywide COVID-19 death toll rose to 652 and the number of cases to 20,471 on Wednesday, an increase of 49 fatalities and 1,486 cases since Tuesday evening, according to the Union health ministry. IMAGE: A man paddles his bicycle in front of a mural depicting the globe covered in a mask, as India remains under an unprecedented lockdown over the highly contagious coronavirus in New Delhi. Photograph: Yawar Nazir/Getty Images The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 15,859, while 3,959 people have been cured and discharged, the ministry said, adding that one patient has migrated. Thus, over 19 per cent of the cases have recovered so far, a health ministry official said. The total number of cases includes 77 foreign nationals who were tested positive in India. IMAGE: Health workers conduct a COVID-19 test of a person in Kolkata in wake of the coronavirus pandemic during the nationwide lockdown. Photograph: PTI Photo Of the 49 deaths reported since Tuesday evening, 19 were from Maharashtra, 18 Gujarat, four from Madhya Pradesh, three from West Bengal, two from Andhra Pradesh and one each from Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, the ministry said. Of the total 652 deaths, Maharashtra tops the tally with 251, followed by Gujarat at 95, Madhya Pradesh at 80, Delhi at 47, Rajasthan at 25, Andhra Pradesh at 24 and Telangana at 23, according to the ministry. The death toll reached 21 in Uttar Pradesh, 18 in Tamil Nadu while Karantaka has reported 17 cases. IMAGE: A pilot operates a Japanese spray machine for sanitising in Shalimar Bagh in New Delhi. Photograph: Shahbaz Khan/PTI Photo Punjab has registered 16 deaths, while West Bengal has reported 15 fatalities due to coronavirus infection so far. The disease has claimed five lives in Jammu and Kashmir, while Kerala, Jharkhand and Haryana have recorded three COVID-19 deaths each. Bihar has reported two deaths, while Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Assam have reported one fatality each, according to the ministry data. IMAGE: Medics and Municipal Corporation workers wearing protective suits cremate the mortal remains of a COVID-19 patient in Maharashtra's Karad. Photograph: PTI Photo However, a tally of the figures reported by various states as on Wednesday showed 20,564 cases and 654 deaths in the country. There has been a lag in the Union health ministry figures, compared to the number of deaths announced by different states, which officials attribute to procedural delays in assigning the cases to individual states. According to the health ministry's data updated in the evening, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra at 5,221, followed by Gujarat at 2,272, Delhi at 2,156, Rajasthan at 1,801, Tamil Nadu at 1,596 and Madhya Pradesh at 1,592. The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 1,412 in Uttar Pradesh, 945 in Telangana and 813 in Andhra Pradesh. The number of cases has risen to 427 in Kerala, 425 in Karnataka, 423 in West Bengal, 380 in Jammu and Kashmir, 254 in Haryana and 251 in Punjab. Bihar has reported 126 coronavirus cases, while Odisha has 82. IMAGE: A doctor attends a patient in the out patients departments of a civil hospital in Lucknow. Photograph: Nand Kumar/PTI Photo Forty-six people have been infected with the virus in Uttarakhand while Jharkhand has 45 cases. Himachal Pradesh has 39 cases, Chhattisgarh has 36, while Assam has registered 35 infections so far. Chandigarh has 27 COVID-19 cases, Ladakh 18, while 17 cases have been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Meghalaya has reported 12 cases, while Goa and Puducherry have seven COVID-19 patients each. Manipur and Tripura have two cases each, while Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh have reported a case each. "Our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR," the ministry said on its website. It further said that one case of Jharkhand has been reassigned to Bihar after reconciliation. President Trump, citing the economic impact of the coronavirus shutdown, on Tuesday ordered a 60-day ban on new immigrants seeking permanent status in the United States. The ban will cover people seeking green cards that provide permanent status, not temporary visitors. It would also not affect foreign agricultural laborers, Trump said. Although he cited the need to protect American workers, his announcement did not spell out how the order would accomplish that goal. The administration has already sharply restricted immigration, including steps taken last month to respond to the coronavirus outbreak. White House officials have said additional actions beyond those Trump announced could affect foreign workers currently in industries that are not considered essential, but the president suggested that no such steps are imminent. The president said he expected to sign the new order Wednesday, although he added that "its being written now as we speak," suggesting that important details could still change. "We want to protect our U.S. workers," Trump said in announcing the ban. "By pausing immigration, we will put Americans first in line for jobs as America reopens, he added. "A short break from new immigration will protect the solvency of our healthcare system and provide relief to jobless Americans. Last fiscal year, the U.S. granted lawful permanent residence, broadly known as a green card, to nearly 577,000 individuals. Officials approved 500,000 more petitions for non-immigrant workers that Trump said Tuesday will not be affected by his order, including agricultural and other temporary workers. The announcement targeting green cards came after a day of confusing messages. Trump tweeted Monday night that he planned to sign an order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States! White House and Homeland Security Department officials were left to play catch-up, unable to answer questions about what the president intended. Story continues On Tuesday, Trump acknowledged the ban was not the sweeping sealing-off of the United States that his tweet had hinted at, and he added that immigrants already in the United States "are not supposed to be" in more danger of removal under the order. He also suggested that some immigration for family unification may continue. "We have to do that obviously even from a humane standpoint there will be some people coming in," he said. Past plans from the White House have favored parents, spouses and children while proposing to bar other relatives, but it was unclear what exemptions the current plan would involve. The lack of clarity reflected the often-chaotic nature of policymaking in Trump's White House. Trump has been openly frustrated with polls showing the majority of Americans think he has done a bad job in handling the coronavirus outbreak, and he has frequently turned to immigration a main campaign staple for him when he feels a need to demonstrate executive action. On Tuesday afternoon, the president's reelection campaign sent an email to supporters touting the potential action and denouncing "fierce criticism from the Fake News media and their Democrat Partners" even as no details had been announced and no order had been signed. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), in an interview on PBS, dismissed the president's move as a "distraction." Trump is "always engaged in distractions like immigration, distractions like supporting people in the street," Pelosi said. "They're all distractions away from the fact ... that he's a total failure when it comes to testing." Because the president has often promised sweeping executive actions that have not lived up to his rhetoric, without written text it is impossible to judge the full impact of his pledge. Like other efforts by the administration to bypass certain U.S. laws and international obligations in order to achieve its long-stated goal of dramatically reducing immigration to the United States, Trump's executive action is likely to face legal challenge. Although an across-the-board ban has never been imposed in the U.S., immigration law gives the president broad authority to restrict entries in emergencies. The Supreme Court in 2018 upheld Trump's authority to impose a travel ban on a group of countries, most of which have Muslim majorities, that the administration said posed a terrorism risk. Yet Stephen Yale-Loehr, professor of immigration law at Cornell Law School in New York, said the president's latest order targeting potential permanent residents probably exceeds Trump's legal authority. Even before Trump's announcement, officials had put most entries into the U.S. on hold. Just Monday, the administration extended what is in effect the closure of U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico to nonessential travel, as well as a controversial order from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that immigration officials are citing to rapidly expel most migrants at the U.S. southern border. In a month, border authorities have turned back roughly 11,000 migrants with minimal processing, including, for the first time under the U.S. modern immigration system, asylum seekers and hundreds of unaccompanied children. Beyond the border, most visa offices abroad have closed, applications for other travel to the U.S. have been frozen, and interviews for citizenship and other forms of permanent legal status have been suspended. Immigration courts across the country have been shuttered, and hearings suspended or rescheduled. The refugee program, already drastically reduced, has practically ground to a halt. The administration has made exceptions for some workers amid the pandemic, however. Officials recently touted bringing in Mexican and Central American agricultural laborers and extending H-2A permissions for seasonal workers, saying that would protect the nations food supply chain, and lessen impacts from the coronavirus [COVID-19] public health emergency. On Tuesday, Trump said that with the new ban, "farmers will not be affected.... If anything, we're going to make it easier." Although Trump said he doesn't want out-of-work Americans to face immigrant "competition" for jobs, Theresa Cardinal Brown, a former Homeland Security Department official at the Bipartisan Policy Center, said research shows immigrants don't compete with native-born workers for employment, or lower their wages. "Immigrants are highly represented in the very jobs that are sustaining our economy now," Cardinal Brown said in a statement responding to Trump's announcement, "especially frontline healthcare workers, as well as grocery clerks, food and agriculture production, and delivery services." Yale-Loehr said continuing to permit temporary visitors while barring green card applicants undermines the administration's argument that the measure is a necessary part of its pandemic response. "If the purpose of the executive order is to help prevent the spread of coronavirus," he said, "it defies logic to bar green card applicants but still admit people applying for temporary visas." Trump's move came amid a difficult political stretch for the president. A Washington Post poll released Tuesday morning said 54% of Americans view his response to the pandemic negatively, while 72% say governors have done a good job in handling the coronavirus crisis. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat whose televised briefings have made him one of the most prominent faces among governors, met with the president at the White House on Tuesday. Trump often returns to the topic of immigration when he is concerned about losing support from his political base. On Monday, he invited an Army lieutenant general to discuss the construction of temporary hospitals, only to ask him for an update on building the wall along the border with Mexico, Trump's signature campaign promise. On Tuesday, Trump brought up the wall again. Inside and outside the White House, some Trump aides and allies have pushed him to focus on meeting the "commander in chief" moment the pandemic has presented. But he remains concerned about maintaining his political base, which two people who have spoken with him in recent days view as the reason why he has encouraged his supporters in certain states to "liberate" themselves from stay-at-home orders issued by several Democratic governors and why he is pushing forward with the anti-immigration approach that propelled his campaign four years ago. Times staff writer Chris Megerian in Washington contributed to this report. A PhD student whose research into pest-eating beetles has been badly disrupted by the Covid-19 lockdown is appealing for farmers to help with her project. Kelly Jowett had planned to run a series of farmer workshops this year but has instead been forced online to seek opinions on the benefits of ground beetles in crop protection. She said: With increasing restrictions on pesticides, and public opposition to chemical use, agricultural researchers are looking for new pest management options. "Paramount to this is ensuring these are effective and applicable to real world situations. The Rothamsted student is hoping to discover which farm management practices can encourage those ground beetle species that have a proven role in crop protection, whilst being favourable to farmers preferences. An online survey has been set up that takes less than 20 minutes to complete. Social media users can share the survey using the hashtag #BeneficialBeetlesSurvey. I had originally planned farmer workshops to accompany the questionnaire, which may not be possible in my PhD timescale due to COVID19," Ms Jowett said. "So Im humbly requesting as many farmers as possible take part or help spread the word, so that Im able to collect and analyse meaningful data. The survey is seeking input from all farming sectors, as ground beetles are beneficial on all farm types. Studies have shown that ground beetles eat a range of important crop pests and can control the populations of livestock pests too. Ground beetles also support biodiverse habitats and provide food resources for threatened farmland wild birds. Rate of national infections continues to fall THAILAND: The government today (Apr 22) reported 15 new cases of coronavirus disease, raising the national total to 2,826, and one more death since the virus struck - a Thai woman with a chronic ailment whose daughter had earlier been infected. CoronavirusCOVID-19deathhealth By Bangkok Post Wednesday 22 April 2020, 02:16PM An official tells commuters to keep their distance from each other at the passenger boat pier in Bang Kapi district of Bangkok today (Apr 22), when the government reported only 15 new cases of COVID-19 infection. Photo: Varuth Hirunyatheb Dr Taweesilp Visanuyothin, spokesman of the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration, said the number of new cases continued to fall. Over the past three days the number of infections had dropped from 27 to 19, and now 15, he said. The latest figure was a cause for national pride, showing that people were cooperating by staying at home to curb the spread of the disease. It is a small success, but it is not over yet because the crisis is worldwide and will continue, he said. The latest fatality was a person also suffering from diabetes, hypertension, high blood cholesterol and obesity, and was one of the many deaths of people with chronic diseases. The 58-year-old woman fell sick on March 20 with a fever, phlegm, runny nose and cough. Her daughter had been previously infected. On March 28, her COVID-19 test came back positive. During treatment her condition worsened, with fatigue, shortness of breath and diarrhoea before her death yesterday (Apr 21), Dr Taweesilp said. The new 15 cases included 10 people in close contact with earlier patients, a salesperson, a cargo transport worker, a worker close to tourists, a returnee and a visitor to crowded places. Over the previous 24 hours, 244 patients who had recovered were discharged. The three-digit figure is highly satisfactory, Dr Taweesilp said. Of the 2,826 accumulated cases, 2,352 had recovered and been discharged, he said. OTTAWA April 21, 2020 Canada Canada In 2019, over 5,500 new medicines were undergoing clinical trials. Of this total, over one third were treatments for cancer. Other important emerging drugs included medicines for nervous system diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and depression, which accounted for 14% of medicines in clinical trials. Of the 5,584 new pipeline medicines, 697 (12%) were in late stage trials or evaluation. One third of these were identified as treatments for rare diseases. This report features 24 of the 697 late-stage medicines, including 6 gene therapies, 15 orphan-designated drugs (5 of which are gene therapies), 7 oncology medicines, and 6 biologics. 9 new medicines currently under review by Health Canada are featured based on their potential to significantly impact healthcare spending and clinical practice in Canada . More than half of these medicines are expected to have global revenues nearing or exceeding $1 billion by 2025. Meds Pipeline Monitor, 2019 (Patented Medicine Prices Review Board) /CNW/ - The latest edition of the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) Meds Pipeline Monitor reports that oncology treatments made up over a third of the more than 5,500 new drugs in all phases of clinical trials in 2019. Therapies for central nervous system diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and depression represented the second largest therapeutic area across the pipeline, outnumbering new treatments for infectious disease.Meds Pipeline Monitor 2019 reviewed the 697 new medicines in late stages of clinical evaluation to highlight drugs that could potentially impact the Canadian health care system. Among these, the PMPRB identified 8 new late-stage medicines, including two gene therapies, that may offer breakthroughs in treating previously unmet needs or have the potential to treat large patient populations.The Meds Pipeline Monitor series, which is published through the National Prescription Drug Utilization Information System (NPDUIS) research initiative, provides a snapshot of the new drug landscape, highlighting medicines currently in clinical trials that may significantly impact future clinical practice and/or drug spending inif and when they are approved for sale.This annual horizon-scanning report is part of a suite of PMPRB publications that examine key segments of the pharmaceutical market. Together with its companion publication, Meds Entry Watch, it encompasses the continuum of new and emerging medicines inand internationally.Follow us on Twitter: @PMPRB_CEPMBSOURCE Patented Medicine Prices Review Board [April 22, 2020] CyCraft Takes Significant Alerting Lead in MITRE ATT&CK(R) Evaluations' Latest Round TAIPEI, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CyCraft, the leader in artificially intelligent automated SOC operations and endpoint security, today announced its results from round two of the MITRE ATT&CK Evaluations. CyCraft received the most alert detections out of the 21 participants validating CyCraft's world-leading thoroughness, accuracy, and results-oriented focus. Number One in Alerting In achieving its goals to be fast, accurate, simple, and thorough, CyCraft's AI generated the most accurate and thorough alerting among the evaluation participants. With alerts on 90 substeps in the evaluation, including General, Tactic, and Technique detections as per MITRE distinction, CyCraft provided the most complete alerting against the Advanced Persistent Threat 29 challenge. Alerts show that rather than just passively detecting adversary behavior, a vendor is capable of prioritizing that behavior and communicating it to the SOC operations team so they are able to act on it. "Alerts constitute the basis for all meaningful action in a SOC as operators need clear, concrete insight into their sea of security data to know where the ongoing and potential fires are," said Chad Duffy, CyCraft's Global Product Manager. "It is crucial that security providers are able to rapidly and accurately alert operators to prevent attacks escalating from discovery to breaches. If there is no alert, then it doesn't really matter if you detect an attack or not, as the information is lost in an ocean of data. Equally important is doing so without requiring configuration changes to generate the detections that lead to the alerts, as SOC operators don't have time to mess with settings when they are under siege. Plus how would SOC operators even know what changes to make when they can't find the detection in the data--without an alert they don't even know what to look for to drive the config change." Zero Configuration Changes As per CyCraft's standard of being user- and results-focused, CyCraft generates all of its alerting with zero configuration changes. A configuration change is when the vendor engages in onsite manipulation of their configuration to register detections. A New Perspective on Telemetry Further, CyCraft quickly and autonomously generated a complete storyline of the attack across systems, allowing security practitioners the ability to fully digest the entire attack and cyber situation concerning the ATT&CK emulated adversary. Because of this focus on context and enrichment to make results meaningful, and due to the AI on the CyCraft's sensor as well as in its CyCraft AIR cloud platform, CyCraft does not generate much in the way of typical low-value telemetry detections, which are often in the form of raw, unprocessed, easily overlooked data requiring expert review, but instead registers them at higher levels on the MITRE classification: General, Tactic, and Technique. This is part of CyCraft AIR's auto investigation, which takes what would be the raw telemetry data and auto investigates it via a proprietary AI engine. MITRE ATT&CK & APT29 The adversary, APT29, is a group that cybersecurity analysts believe operates on behalf of the Russian government and compromised the Democratic National Committee starting in 2015. MITRE used its ATT&CK knowledge base to examine the products' ability to detect the tactics and techniques used by APT29 when emulating the group. "We view the evaluations as a collaborative process to help the participating vendors improve their products, which ultimately makes cyberspace safer for everyone," said Frank Duff, ATT&CK Evaluations lead. "Taken as a whole, the results indicate that the participating vendors are beginning to understand how to detect the advanced techniques used by groups like APT29, and develop products that provide actionable data in response for their users." Since the ATT&CK APT29 Evaluation of 2019, CyCraft has further automated and sped up its alerting with a new version of its MDR AI engine and released its enterprise prevention and protection platform with NGAV for real-time blocking of suspicious and known threats. CyCraft will be participating in the next round of evaluations against emulations of financial institution- targeting adversaries Carbanak and FIN7. "We see the ATT&CK Evaluations as a great playing field leveler. Finally, there is a place for vendors to go head-to-head in a transparent way that is meaningful to buyers and the rest of the industrya veritable blue-team cyber colosseum for leading products around the world to benchmark their true capabilities. End users are often overwhelmed with marketing buzzwords and frustrated in the dearth of concrete info when comparing products to avoid redundant, weak, or non-existent capabilities. With the MITRE evaluation and accompanying matrices, end users, vendors, buyers and the industry at large now have a lexicon and a map to best spot, detect, respond to every move, and communicate effectively when facing sophisticated attacks," said Benson Wu, CEO of CyCraft. About CyCraft CyCraft secures government agencies, Fortune Global 500 firms, top banks and financial institutions, critical infrastructure, airlines, telecommunications, and hi-tech firms, globally. CyCraft powers SOCs with proprietary and award-winning AI-driven MDR (managed detection and response), SOC (security operations center) operations software, TI (threat intelligence), Health Checks, automated forensics, and IR (incident response) services. With CyCraft breaches don't even begin. Contact us to get cyber healthy: [email protected] Follow us: Blog | LinkedIn | Twitter | CyCraft About ATT&CK ATT&CK was created by MITRE's internal research program from its own data and operations. ATT&CK is entirely based on published, open-source threat information. Increasingly, ATT&CK is driven by contributions from external sources. Cybersecurity vendors may apply to participate in the next round of the ATT&CK Evaluations, which will feature the Carbanak and FIN7 threat groups as the emulated adversaries, via [email protected]. About MITRE MITRE's mission-driven teams are dedicated to solving problems for a safer world. Through our public-private partnerships and federally funded R&D centers, we work across government and in partnership with industry to tackle challenges to the safety, stability, and well-being of our nation. www.mitre.org Source: https://attackevals.mitre.org/APT29/results/cycraft/ View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cycraft-takes-significant-alerting-lead-in-mitre-attckr-evaluations-latest-round-301045134.html SOURCE CyCraft [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 20:07:30|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NANNING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- When sunlight floods the mountains around the village at noon, Lan Aiyan, a 23-year-old Yao woman in Dahua Yao Autonomous County, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, decides to start with her laundry. However, after the washing machine discharged a round of wastewater, Lan felt a twinge of guilt and went on to complain that the machine consumed too much water. "I use the water from my neighbors' water tank and dare not waste too much," she said, noting that her family's water tank had just been built a week ago, and now she is more eager for rain than ever. To Lan, born and raised in the mountainous region, the water tanks of her village mean a lot. Lan's village is located in the northwest of Dahua county, with the landscape marked by typical karst topography with its dense stone peaks and many depressions. In 2009, an area of about 486 square km centered on Lan's town obtained the qualification of national geopark because of its unique high peak-cluster depressions. This is the only large-scale karst national geopark that features high peak-cluster depressions in China, and it is also the deepest karst depression area in the world, according to a comprehensive geological investigation report published by the Guangxi institute of regional geological surveys in 2007. The report said that in the core region of the national geopark with an area of 251 square km, which covers Lan's village, there are more than 5,000 mountain peaks of over 800 meters in height, 1,326 depressions of different depths and only 324 of them are inhabited. The geopark belongs to a subtropical zone enjoying a humid and hot monsoon climate with abundant rainfall. Its average annual rainfall ranges from 1,249 mm to 1,673 mm, according to the local meteorological bureau. Nevertheless, the lack of drinking water and poverty had plagued the local residents from generation to generation in the past. In 2015, all the 10 administrative villages under Lan's township were identified as poor villages, with a total population of 19,118 and a poverty-stricken population of 10,681. "We have a very long rainy season here, but we are unable to store water as the surface water infiltrates too fast," Lan said. "Generally, when it rains heavily here, lots of rainwater pours down from the mountain but disappears soon at the bottom of the depressions." In order to store drinking water, people here had to build water tanks halfway up the mountain near the village in years past. As an area of serious rocky desertification, they can even obtain stone materials locally for the construction. "During the dry season there isn't enough water in the tank, and we must gingerly use water," Lan said. "After washing, the water is used to feed livestock, such as cattle and sheep." The water tanks built in the past are often small in capacity and leak easily because they are built from rubble, she added. Compared to other villages in the geopark, Lan's village is lucky to have a karst cave with water all year round, which can supply water in the dry season. But villagers need to climb over the mountains to fetch water to drink. Lan Zhike, 40, has vivid memories of the hardships of carrying water back from the cave. "I must go out at dawn and go back and forth twice in the morning, otherwise there will be no time to do farm work that day," he said. "It is just about two km away, but walking on the mountain road is difficult, especially when you are carrying two buckets of water," he said. "You screw it up if you accidentally fall down." To solve the shortage of drinking water, the local government launched a campaign to build cement water tanks with a larger capacity for the villagers. Since 2015, the township government has offered more than 31 million yuan (about 4.4 million U.S. dollars) of subsidies to help the villagers built 2,069 water tanks, and more than 2,000 households and 11,000 people have benefited from the campaign. Moreover, the government has also provided subsidies for the local families to install water purifiers and coverings on their water tanks, in order to ensure the water quality. After four years of fighting against poverty, the poverty-stricken population in the township dropped to 1,322 at the end of 2019. "When my water tank fills with water, I will audaciously take a bath," Lan Aiyan said, noting that the thousands of water tanks scattered in the mountains is one of the most beautiful sights in the national geopark. Enditem Viktor the sheep was all dressed up in his tie and ready for a Microsoft Meetings conference call when he decided to just run the other way instead. But his owner Kathleen Schurman wasn't too cross with him. After all, these are the pitfalls of inviting livestock to video conference calls. He made it onto the call eventually. Despite some difficulties, animals on conference calls are something Schurman hopes to make a habit (and business) of. She has run a rescue farm and animal sanctuary called Lockets Meadow Farm in Bethany, Conn. for more than 20 years. The nonprofit organization usually relies on a number of things like fundraising events, donations, goat yoga, pony rides and an Airbnb business to stay afloat and provide care and food for its rescue animals. The coronavirus pandemic has put a stop to all of these activities and has greatly affected the farm's ability to raise money, said Schurman. It costs over $2,000 a week just to feed the 140 animals on the farm. "Our major concern right now is hay and grain," she said. It's a problem that Schurman says animal sanctuaries everywhere are facing, and if they are forced to shut down, the animals will be dispersed and run the risk of being slaughtered for meat. "If the sanctuaries dont make it, the glut of rescue animals that will go to the open market will be heartbreaking," she said. When a Hearst Connecticut Media editor showed her an article about a farm in California making money by offering goat cameos on video calls, Schurman though: "Brilliant!" After a week of starting this new business endeavor, Schurman and her farm animals had joined five video calls three business meetings and two happy hours. Customers pay anywhere from $40 - $175 for animal appearances or personal farm tours. Appearances last about 10-15 minutes, and customers can pick their animal from a list. Schurman has cows, horses, donkeys, sheep, a pig, goats and a llama as well as cats, dogs and parrots on her farm. >> Join us on Facebook Live this Friday, April 24 at 12 p.m. EST to meet Schurman and her animals. She will tell us more about how the calls work and the stories behind some of her animals. << A cow named Francis Beauregard is popular for calls; there's also Benny Coconut the one-eyed cow, a mother/daughter duo of donkeys and a slew of energetic goats. (In the video above, Schurman introduces some of her animal residents). Choose your favorite animal, but Schurman says to be prepared for unexpected cameos. "On [one call] they requested our llama, but while I was out there, our free-roaming horse showed up, so I was like 'Do you want to meet the horse?'" said Schurman. So far, Schurman and the animals have been enjoying the experience. Since most of them were rescued as babies and spent time inside her house, she said her animals are very social and love being around people. Viktor, for example, is "Mr. Personality," she said. So when people speak to the animals even through a screen, "they love the attention," she said. Schurman hopes to get some backdrops for the animals and maybe even a giant martini glass to fill with hay for happy hours. Costumes and hats are on the table as well. "It's fun for me too," said Schurman. But while the calls are fun, the need for the money they can bring in is no joke, said Schurman. She and her husband have faced hard times in the past, but "have never been up against anything quite this monumental before," she said. "We have made a promise to our residents that we will always find a way to keep them safe and living in their home, and we will do whatever it takes to make that happen," said Schurman. "We will attack this situation with the same tenacity we have in the past. These are our babies, and we love them as children." Some supporters of the two New Patriotic Party parliamentary aspirants in the Dome Kwabenya Constituency of the Greater Accra Region clashed on Tuesday, April 21, over a disagreement on the register to be used for the party's upcoming parliamentary primaries. The supporters of the incumbent Adwoa Sarfo and her contender, Mike Oquaye, clashed in front of Constituency Chairman's house at Haatso. According to some of Adwoa Sarfo's supporters, the fight broke out after they were attacked by supporters of Mike Oquaye over allegations of an attempt to tamper with the register. One of the accusers had said: I am angry because around 9 am and we heard that the former chairman (Chairman Fordjour) and the secretary had created their own album for the elections and thats only done by the National Headquarters. But these guys had gone to remove some names from it and thats the worry and has led to this [clash]. The Personal Assistant to Adwoa Sarfo, Nana Dubin Kwarpong, speaking to Citi News, however, said the claims were baseless and that there is nothing untoward happening. Earlier this morning my message went around that the constituency election planning committee is calling all the coordinators in the zones to come to one members house who also happens to be a member of the constituency elections committees to go through the album so when the message came out, some members called the constituency chairman to find out from him as to whether the album for the elections had come to the constituency. The constituency chairman answered in the negative and that no such thing has happened. So we decided to stay put and see what is happening so later in the of the afternoon the meeting was summoned and the coordinators went. They are about 18 of them and 10 protested that once the album that they want them to vet isnt what is going to be used for the election, then there is no need for the vetting to happen and that came with a lot of issues and later I think something untoward happened. One member supposedly picked the album and members of the Oquayes team massed up wee smokers from Taifa and they called here pelted the chairmans house with stones and the police came here and some party boys also came to help calm the situation so its the Oquaye team going whatever way ostensibly to win the election, he narrated. Postponement of primaries The New Patriotic Party has already suspended its April 25, 2020, parliamentary primaries indefinitely in accordance with the President's ban on public gatherings in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic in Ghana. The decision to suspend the primaries was decided at a National Steering Committee meeting held on Tuesday, April 14, 2020. NPP was to use the primaries to elect parliamentary candidates in constituencies where it has sitting Members of Parliament, ahead of the 2020 general elections. ---citinewsroom HAMMOND The closure of Valparaiso Universitys 141-year-old law school is giving scholars one more lesson in civil litigation. The Illinois-based Lutheran Legacy Foundation, Inc. is suing the institution that has graduated thousands of attorneys but is shutting its doors because of declining enrollment. The law school will cease operation after the last class graduates this year. The foundation seeks to have VU give up an endowment, now worth more than $1.4 million so it can be donated to law education elsewhere. The suit, filed this week, is now pending before U.S. District Court Judge James Moody. No hearings are yet scheduled. Federal court, like Valparaiso University and Indianas other schools, are currently closed for most business this month because of the pandemic. The Lutheran Legacy Foundation was started in 1953 by Clara and Spencer Werner, devout Lutherans and owners of a Paris, Illinois, cereal mill. They donated $500,000 in 1976 to Valparaiso University, an independent Lutheran institution of higher education, to help build an addition to its law library. (CNN) London Fashion Week will become gender neutral for 12 months as the British Fashion Council abandons binary shows starting this June. The move, announced by the council in a news statement Tuesday, effectively presses pause on London Fashion Week Men's, which started in 2012 to give designers a distinct platform to grow the industry. The combined menswear and womenswear format comes as the global fashion industry contends with the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, which has shut stores worldwide, forcing retailers to cancel orders and find other savings as sales fall. The first combined London Fashion Week starts on June 12 and will be digital-only due to strict UK lockdown rules that prevent public gatherings of more than two people. The UK has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, recording more than 16,000 deaths as of Tuesday, according to Johns Hopkins University. In the statement, the British Fashion Council said the combined London Fashion Week would give designers more flexibility and reflect the event's role as a platform for the city's "influence on society, identity and culture." "The current pandemic is leading us all to reflect more poignantly on the society we live in and how we want to live our lives and build businesses when we get through this," said Caroline Rush, CEO of the British Fashion Council. "The other side of this crisis, we hope will be about sustainability, creativity and product that you value, respect, cherish." Fashion had already been moving toward gender-neutral and more sustainable practices, so it's possible the women's and menswear shows would have eventually combined, even without the pandemic. A growing number of brands are promoting themselves as non-binary to a younger crowd, particularly Generation Z, that increasingly doesn't want to be defined by gender. In the past, designers who didn't want to be categorized as binary gravitated toward the womenswear shows, which traditionally attracted more attention from buyers and the press. In 2018, the Council of Fashion Designers added a new category of "unisex/nonbinary" to New York Fashion Week, featuring gender neutral brands such as Vaquera and Telfar. The consolidation of shows reflects a broader consciousness of how we use our resources. Androgynous dressing has become fashionable not only as a statement of fluidity, but because it signifies a conscious effort to be less wasteful. The move to a digital format fits the same theme of using resources wisely, though worldwide travel bans and lockdowns gave organizers little choice during the pandemic. Earlier this month, Moscow Fashion Week was staged solely online, featuring mini films, lookbooks and mood boards, which were viewed online by more than 800,000 people. The organizers had planned to stream presentations and runway shows, but they were canceled due to fears that even small gatherings could spread the virus. The British Fashion Council says its digital-only London Fashion Week will include designer diaries, webinars, digital showrooms, interviews and podcasts, which will be made available to the public as well as retailers. "We hope that as well as personal perspectives on this difficult time, there will be inspiration in bucketloads. It is what British fashion is known for," Rush said. This story was first published on CNN.com, "London Fashion Week to go gender neutral." A young woman has been charged with murder after a man was stabbed in the chest outside a Gold Coast apartment block on Tuesday. It will be alleged a confrontation occurred on the footpath outside Beachcomber Apartments on Hanlan Street in Surfers Paradise about 7.15pm. The scene on Hanlan Street in Surfers Paradise where paramedics tried to save the man's life. Credit:Nick Kelly - Nine News Gold Coast Specialist critical care paramedics performed CPR on the victim, identified as 35-year-old local man Nicholas Braid, before he was rushed to Gold Coast University Hospital, where he was declared dead. Mr Braid's mother, Michelle, described the former law student as "charismatic, stunning, stylish, witty and irreverent", according to Nine News. [April 22, 2020] RxMx Builds Chameleon Technology Platform on InterSystems IRIS for Health to Accelerate the Safe Use of Medicines Globally InterSystems, a creative data technology provider dedicated to helping customers solve the most critical scalability, interoperability, and speed problems, today announced that fast-growing global healthtech company RxMx has built its new Chameleon platform on InterSystems IRIS for Health, enabling pharmaceutical companies to more efficiently support the safe use of medicines around the world and powering a new COVID-19 testing and monitoring solution, Certify Covid Clear, for U.S. employers. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422006047/en/ (Photo: Business Wire) The RxMx Chameleon platform delivers automated risk management to keep patients safe, integrating with clinical laboratories and other data sources to analyze information in real time. Portals and apps tailored to the needs of doctors, care teams and patients call attention to critical action-requiring items and provide a community of support for patient monitoring. RxMx leveraged Chameleon - built on IRIS for Health - to rapidly develop Certify Covid Clear in partnership with physicians, public health experts and leading clinical laboratories It provides access to diagnostic testing, providing U.S. employers with a secure digital platform to track and manage clinical data to verify which employees are safe to return to work and when. RxMx also offers configurable platforms for pharmaceutical companies to support specialty medicine regimes requiring regular testing and monitoring of patients. These systems typically detect at-risk patients and provide reminders and notifications to doctors, nurses and patients via emails, texts and mobile apps. InterSystems (News - Alert) IRIS for Health is the world's first and only data platform engineered specifically for the rapid development of healthcare applications to manage the world's most critical data. It empowers healthcare organizations with a unified data platform that combines analytical and transaction processing with native interoperability for all data types. With the ability to rapidly scale and manage both heterogeneous data and fast data, InterSystems IRIS for Health accelerates development cycles to meet the data demands of the modern organization. With Chameleon, RxMx has placed greater focus on being a product-based company with a single agile platform that can be configured to meet each client's requirements without software development. Underpinning this is InterSystems IRIS for Health and its ability to readily integrate with a comprehensive range of healthcare data sources. The combination of Chameleon and InterSystems IRIS for Health allows RxMx to more quickly deliver solutions for clients, reduce deployment cost for smaller markets, easily scale its secure cloud infrastructure for large numbers of data sources and volumes, and innovate more rapidly. The company is growing rapidly and saw a year-over-year revenue growth of 366% in 2019. RxMx CEO George Hunnewell said "Our partnership with InterSystems is very important to RxMx. IRIS for Health is the foundation of our Chameleon product and we rely on it for the majority of our pharmaceutical clients around the world." "There has definitely been a paradigm shift," said Matt Smallcomb, Product Director for RxMx. Turnaround time from client engagement to deployment, which previously included three months of software development, has been significantly reduced. "Being able to deploy more quickly, depending on the complexity of the treatment, is really opening up the market." "When we talk to new customers, we are the most scalable and flexible provider," said Smallcomb. "With InterSystems IRIS for Health, we can work with HL7, CDA, FHIR and other healthcare data and integrate it for real-time analysis with no limitations on the number of connections or the volume of data. We can also scale down to meet the needs of smaller markets and cost-effectively support patient treatments in more countries." InterSystems IRIS for Health also supports RxMx's product innovation with the ability to easily integrate medical and wearable devices, for example, or behavioral science and machine learning platforms. Areas of product development include medication adherence tracking, with InterSystems IRIS for Health integrating with smart pill bottles or devices that clip onto blister packs. Algorithmic analysis based on machine learning using RxMx historical data and third-party datasets could also warn of potential unexpected outcomes and suggest appropriate clinical workflows, said RxMx CTO Ben Rhodes. "The machine learning will help clinicians pick up on something they may have missed before." "RxMx has grown and developed enormously since InterSystems first partnered with them," said Luciano Brustia, Regional Managing Director, Asia Pacific at InterSystems. "The company has gone from introducing clinically proven technology to support the safe use of medicines in one country to a global healthcare technology leader and innovator working with some of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies." About InterSystems InterSystems is the engine behind the world's most important applications. In healthcare, finance, government, and other sectors where lives and livelihoods are at stake, InterSystems is the power behind what mattersTM. Founded in 1978, InterSystems is a privately held company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts (USA), with offices worldwide, and its software products are used daily by millions of people in more than 80 countries. For more information, visit InterSystems.com/au. About RxMx We've built our business on the idea that by automating certain tasks, we empower healthcare professionals to safely administer treatments without increasing their burden, so they can focus on patient care. Our technology solutions deliver cost savings and better outcomes to our partners and benefit patients by ensuring they can access the best treatments science offers while simplifying their care journey. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422006047/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A Childrens Court magistrate has ordered that two young children in out-of-home care continue to have face-to-face visits with their parents despite the Department of Health and Human Services claiming it is a breach of COVID-19 regulations. The department last month suspended face-to-face visits between young people in out-of-home care and their birth families due to the risk posed to vulnerable people and staff by the coronavirus. Instead, families have been told they have to rely on video and telephone calls to maintain their relationships, which one Childrens Court lawyer warned would have a "devastating impact" on families. A magistrate overruled a ban on family visits to allow two children in out-of-home care to see their parents. Credit:Angela Wylie On April 2 a Childrens Court magistrate placed the children with a grandfather but refused the department's application to alter their parents' contact from two physical visits a week to contact only via video or telephone. The country's leading commodity exchange MCX on Wednesday said it has deposited Rs 242.32 crore to clearing members after the settlement of crude oil futures contracts that expired on Monday at minus Rs 2,884 per barrel taking cues from the international market. The exchange, in a regulatory filing, said it has completed the pay in and pay out process and deposited Rs 242.32 crore to clearing members. As per the contract specification, MCX said crude oil futures contracts are always settled at due date rate as per the New York Mercantile Exchange's (NYMEX) WTI crude oil contract's settlement price converted into Indian rupees. Accordingly, MCX has settled crude oil futures contracts that expired on April 20 at minus Rs 2,884 per barrel taking into account the settlement price of the NYMEX contract at minus USD 37.63 per barrel. International exchanges such as ICE Futures US, ICE Futures Singapore, DGCX and Moscow Exchange, having cash settled NYMEX WTI Crude Oil Futures contracts, have also settled their corresponding contracts at NYMEX WTI crude oil front month contract's settlement price of minus USD 37.63 per barrel, it added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Donald Trump has denounced media speculation surrounding the health of North Korean leader Kim Jung-un and wished him well after claims that he had fallen seriously ill after heart surgery. President Trump, who held unprecedented summits with Kim in 2018 and 2019 in an attempt to persuade him to abandon his nuclear weapons, said the reports were unconfirmed and that he put little credence in them. Well, these reports that came out. We dont know, we dont know. Ive had a very good relationship with him, said Mr Trump on Tuesday. I can only say this, I wish him well because if he is in the kind of condition that the reports say, that the news is saying thats a very serious condition as you know but I wish him well. CNN reported on Tuesday that the North Korean leader was in grave danger after surgery, citing an unnamed US official who said that the US was monitoring intelligence. That came after Daily NK, a news website run by North Korean defectors, claimed on Monday that Kim had been suffering after cardiovascular surgery. Korea Summit: Kim Jong-un crosses border for historic meeting Show all 25 1 /25 Korea Summit: Kim Jong-un crosses border for historic meeting Korea Summit: Kim Jong-un crosses border for historic meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in raise their hands after signing on a joint statement Korea Summit Press Pool via AP Korea Summit: Kim Jong-un crosses border for historic meeting Kim Jong-un heads towards Moon Jae-in to shake his hand between the military demarcation line, at the Joint Security Area on the Demilitarized Zone in the border village of Panmunjom in Paju EPA Korea Summit: Kim Jong-un crosses border for historic meeting South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un hold hands as they cross the military demarcation line EPA Korea Summit: Kim Jong-un crosses border for historic meeting South Koreans react while watching a screen reporting the Inter Korean Summit Getty Korea Summit: Kim Jong-un crosses border for historic meeting South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un chat as they arrive at the Peace House Reuters Korea Summit: Kim Jong-un crosses border for historic meeting North Koreas leader Kim Jong-un was escorted by bodyguards from the North to the Military Demarcation Line that divides the two Koreas to meet with his South Korean counterpart at the truce village AFP/Getty Korea Summit: Kim Jong-un crosses border for historic meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un crosses the military demarcation line to meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in AP Korea Summit: Kim Jong-un crosses border for historic meeting Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in shake hands Getty Korea Summit: Kim Jong-un crosses border for historic meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in shake hands after Kim crossing the military demarcation line Getty Korea Summit: Kim Jong-un crosses border for historic meeting South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the Joint Security Area EPA Korea Summit: Kim Jong-un crosses border for historic meeting South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un speak with two South Korean children who presented Kim Jong-un with a bouquet of flowers EPA Korea Summit: Kim Jong-un crosses border for historic meeting Moon Jae-in Kim Jong-un pose for photographers at the Joint Security Area (JSA) EPA Korea Summit: Kim Jong-un crosses border for historic meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signs the guest book as South Korean President Moon Jae-in looks on Getty Images Korea Summit: Kim Jong-un crosses border for historic meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-uns entry in the guestbook. The writing reads A new history starts now. An age of peace, from the starting point of history Korea Summit Press Pool/Pool via Reuters Korea Summit: Kim Jong-un crosses border for historic meeting South Korean President Moon Jae-In and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un talk during their summit meeting at the Peace House EPA Korea Summit: Kim Jong-un crosses border for historic meeting North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un smiles AFP/Getty Korea Summit: Kim Jong-un crosses border for historic meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un poses with South Korean President Moon Jae-in for a photo inside the Peace House AP Korea Summit: Kim Jong-un crosses border for historic meeting North Koreas leader Kim Jong-un talks with South Koreas President Moon Jae-in AFP/Getty Korea Summit: Kim Jong-un crosses border for historic meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in prepare to plant a pine tree near the military demarcation line AP Korea Summit: Kim Jong-un crosses border for historic meeting South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un applaud after planting a tree at the truce village Korea Summit Press Pool/Pool via Reuters Korea Summit: Kim Jong-un crosses border for historic meeting North Koreas leader Kim Jong-un and South Koreas President Moon Jae-in take a walk after they planted a tree AFP/Getty Korea Summit: Kim Jong-un crosses border for historic meeting North Koreas leader Kim Jong-un talks with South Koreas President Moon Jae-in at a bench on a bridge next to the military demarcation line at the truce village of Panmunjom AFP/Getty Korea Summit: Kim Jong-un crosses border for historic meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in sign on a joint statement Korea Broadcasting System via AP Korea Summit: Kim Jong-un crosses border for historic meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in embrace each other after signing on a joint statement Korea Summit Press Pool via AP Korea Summit: Kim Jong-un crosses border for historic meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, left, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in shake hands after their joint announcement AP While North Korea experts have cautioned against speculation, Kims unexpected absence from the celebration of his grandfathers birthday on 15 April aided doubts about the leaders condition. He was last seen in state media on April 12. US National Security Adviser Robert OBrien told Fox News on Tuesday that the US was keeping a close eye on the situation. As you know, North Korea is a very closed society, he said. Mr Trump, who became the first sitting US president to cross into North Korea in June 2019 during a summit with Kim at the Korean Demilitarised Zone, claimed on Tuesday night that his presidency had prevented war between the two nuclear powers. Ive said it, Ive said it many times, if somebody else were in this position we wouldve been right now in war with North Korea, and were not at war, were nowhere close to war with North Korea, said Mr Trump. Last month, the president was thanked for sending a personal letter to his North Korean counterpart for offering help over the coronavirus, after North Korea introduced strict containment measures. Varanasi, April 22 : The microbiology department of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) has started pool testing of Covid-19 samples in view of the increasing number of pending samples reaching here from 13 districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh. Prof Gopal Nath, in-charge of the BHU laboratory, said, "We are conducting over 350 tests every day against our capacity of 300 samples per day, for more than a week now. But, the number of samples collected from all 13 districts connected with this lab is accumulating. Pool testing will quicken the pace of testing now." He said that Varanasi district magistrate, Kaushal Raj Sharma, had asked him to start pool testing on the lines of Agra and other labs in the state to give early results. Pool testing, which has been approved by Indian Council of Medical Research, involves collective testing of about ten samples at one go. If found negative, all the ten persons are declared Corona free but if the sample tests positive, all ten persons will have to undergo individual tests. The district magistrate said, "We have asked the BHU lab in-charge to start pool testing on the lines of Agra and other places in the state to clear the pending sample tests. Of over 400 samples, 280 are from Varanasi alone. We need early results as the number of samples is increasing." The testing lab at BHU is witnessing a rush of samples, mainly due to the large number of migrant workers who have been quarantined in various districts in eastern UP. MasterChef's Ben Ungermann made chicken feet ice cream during Wednesday night's episode of Back To Win. Contestants were given chicken feet as an ingredient in a mystery box challenge, with many using it to make savoury dishes. But Ben demonstrated just why he is nicknamed the 'Ice Cream King' and used the peculiar item to make chicken fat caramel to serve alongside his frozen dessert. 'I hope they like it!' MasterChef's Ben Ungermann (pictured) makes CHICKEN FEET ice cream - and the judges have a very surprising reaction The exact dish Ben made was honey and galangal ice cream with chicken fat caramel and a Chinese five-spice biscuit. Ben rendered out the fat from the chicken feet and used it to make the caramel, which he generously served alongside the ice cream. 'I've used other fats, I've never used chicken feet but they look quite gelatinous, I'm sure I'll get some flavour out of it. Yeah, that's the plan,' Ben explained on the show. 'There's not enough chicken feet flavour in it,' Ben said at one point, before adding more chicken fat to the caramel mixture. Step one: Ben rendered out the fat from the chicken feet in a saucepan Step two: The Ice Cream King then used the chicken fat to make a caramel sauce Ben served the dish beautifully by spreading the chicken fat caramel and adding ice cream, biscuit and cherries on top - before pouring some extra caramel on the side for good measure. 'I'm really proud of what I've done but at the same time, I'm thinking, "If you tell someone that you're making a chicken fat caramel and who's in?" I don't know how many people would put their hands up,' he said. 'I just hope they like it.' Despite being nervous, the judges showed him he had nothing to worry about as they completely raved about the dish. Fancy: Ben served the dish beautifully by spreading the chicken fat caramel and adding ice cream, biscuit and cherries on top - before pouring some extra caramel on the side for good measure He loved it! Jock picked up a cup of the chicken fat caramel and drank it, prompting groans from some of the other contestants 'This is double delicious, more than delicious. This is clever. The chicken feet gives a richness to this that otherwise would not be there,' judge Jock Zonfrillo said. Jock then picked up a cup of the chicken fat caramel and drank it, prompting groans from some of the other contestants. 'Mate, put it in a jar and sell it with your ice-cream. Seriously!' he said. The ice cream with chicken feet caramel was enough to secure Ben a spot in the immunity challenge in the next episode. But Ben wasn't the only contestant who got creative with his use of chicken feet. Creative: Simon Toohey (pictured) attempted to make a chicken feet jelly but when it would not set in time for the deadline, he decided to make a chicken feet mousse 'I take some cream, I whisk that up. I fold in the chicken foot liquid. And then I pour that into a nitrous (oxide) gun, and let's just sit and hope. Literally cross your fingers and hope that it's good,' Simon said Simon Toohey attempted to make a chicken feet jelly but when it would not set in time for the deadline, he decided to make a chicken feet mousse. 'I take some cream, I whisk that up. I fold in the chicken foot liquid. And then I pour that into a nitrous (oxide) gun, and let's just sit and hope. Literally cross your fingers and hope that it's good,' he said. He made a steamed taro dish with chicken feet moose on the side. Although the judges were not big fans of the taro, they praised the mousse for being full of flavour. MasterChef: Back To Win continues Thursday at 7:30pm on Channel Ten New Delhi, April 22 : Mining major Vedanta on Wednesday said that it has so far spent Rs 151 crore in several initiatives in the fight against coronavirus ranging from providing preventive healthcare to local communities and distributing free meals to daily wage earners. In a statement, the company said that it has reached out to over 7 lakh community members around its operations and plants in the country for preventing the spread of the pandemic. Vedanta has set up a Rs 100 crore corpus for daily workers, preventive healthcare and welfare of employees and contract partners. The company has so far provided more than 5.5 lakh meals to daily wage earners across the country. In addition, dry ration packets are being provided to 13,500 fisherman families at Worli Koliwada in Mumbai. On their part, the business units have also distributed more than 21,000 dry ration packets to the local communities. Vedanta Foundation has distributed food grains to 300 families, comprising around 850 beneficiaries, at the Abhinav Leprosy School in Mumbai. Vedanta has pledged 10 lakh meals to daily wage earners in Delhi, Mumbai and Patna. The daily wage workers have been hit the most due to the Covid-19 pandemic and resultant lockdown. "Keeping in mind the poor condition of stray animals, who hardly have any access to food during the lockdown, the company is feeding more than 50,000 stray animals everyday. The company has so far provided more than 6.6 lakh feedings to stray animals in Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur and Pune," said the statement. Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal said that India has shown tremendous resilience in fighting the impact of COVID-19. Egypts Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry discussed in a telephone call on Wednesday the latest developments in Syria with the UN special envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen, the foreign ministry said. According to the Egyptian foreign ministry, the call comes as part of the continuing coordination between Cairo and the UN special envoy to push forward a peaceful reconciliation effort. Minister Shoukry asserted Egypts determination to continue pushing for an end to the war and reaching a reconciliation in accordance with UN Security Council resolution 2254 in a way that preserves the unity of Syrian territories and achieves the aspirations of the Syrian people. The two officials discussed Cairos evaluation of the latest developments in Syria as well as its efforts to push forward the political process in the war-torn country, including its talks with the moderate Syrian opposition groups. Shoukry added in the telephone call that terrorist and radical organisations and their regional supporters must be stopped. The Egyptian minister also added that Syria should be supported during the coronavirus pandemic. Special envoy Pedersen expressed his appreciation for the balanced Egyptian role in supporting the reconciliation efforts and restoring security and stability in Syria. Whenever we look at the crucifix, we find this love. The crucifix is precisely the great book of God's love. " "How many people, how many Christians spend time looking at the crucifix ... and there they find everything, because they understood, the Holy Spirit made them understand that there we find all of the science, all of Gods love, all Christian wisdom". Vatican City (AsiaNews) At a time that requires greater unity among nations, Pope Francis today prayed for Europe to have the fraternal unity desired by its founders, as he introduced Mass at Casa Santa Marta. He said "At this time when so much unity is needed among us, among the nations, we pray for Europe today, so that Europe may have this unity, this fraternal unity that the founding fathers of European Union dreamed of". In his homily, the Pope commented on the passage of the Gospel (Jn 3, 16-21) in which Jesus tells Nicodemus that "God loved the world so much that he gave His only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life. In fact, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world may be saved through him". This passage from John's Gospel, Francis observed, "is a true treatise on theology". And every time we read it, we encounter more wealth, more explanations, more things that make us understand the revelation of God. It would be nice to read it many times, to get closer to the mystery of redemption. Today I will take only two points of all this, two points that are in today's passage. "The first is the revelation of God's love. God loves us and He loves us - as a saint says like mad: God's love seems like madness. He loves us: 'he loved the world so much as to give His only-begotten Son'. He gave his Son, sent his Son and sent him to die on the cross. Whenever we look at the crucifix, we find this love. The crucifix is precisely the great book of God's love. It is not an object to be put here or to be put there, more beautiful, less beautiful, older, more modern ... no. It is precisely the expression of God's love. God loved us thus: he sent his Son, [who] annihilated himself until the death of the cross for love. He loved the world so much, God, that he gave His Son. " "How many people, how many Christians spend time looking at the crucifix ... and there they find everything, because they understood, the Holy Spirit made them understand that there is all the science, all the love of God, all Christian wisdom. Paul talks about this, explaining that all human reasoning serves up to a certain point, but the true reasoning, the most beautiful way of thinking, but also the most explicable is the cross of Christ, it is Christ crucified who is scandal and madness, but it is the way. And this is the love of God. God loved the world so much that He gave His only-begotten Son. And why? So that anyone who believes in him is not lost but has eternal life. The love of the Father who wants His children with him". "Looking at the crucifix in silence, looking at the wounds, looking at the heart of Jesus, looking at the whole: Christ crucified, the Son of God, annihilated, humiliated ... for love. This is the first point that today makes us see this treatise on theology, which is Jesus' dialogue with Nicodemus ". "The second point is a point that will help us, too: 'Light came into the world, but men loved darkness more than light, because their works were evil.' Jesus also takes this of the light. There are people often we too - who cannot live in the light because they are used to darkness. The light dazzles them they are unable to see. They are human bats: they only know how to move in the night. And we too, when we are in sin, are in this state: we cannot tolerate light. It is more comfortable for us to live in darkness; the light slaps us, shows us what we don't want to see. But the worst is that the eyes, the eyes of the soul from so much living in the darkness get used to such a point that they end up ignoring what light is. Losing the sense of light because I get used to darkness. And so many human scandals, so many corruptions tell us this. The corrupt don't know what light is, they don't know. We too, when we are in a state of sin, in a state of estrangement from the Lord, we become blind and feel better in the darkness and go like this, without seeing, like the blind, moving as we can". "Let the love of God, who sent Jesus to save us, enter us and the light that Jesus brings, the light of the Spirit enter us and help us to see things with the light of God, with true light and not with the darkness that the lord of darkness gives us. Two things today: the love of God in Christ, in the crucifix; in our daily life, in the question we can ask ourselves each and every day: 'Do I walk in the light or walk in the darkness? Am I a child of God or am I being a poor bat?" Andhra Pradesh government on Wednesday announced one-time financial assistance of Rs 2,000 each to over 6,000 fishermen stuck in Gujarat in view of COVID-19 lockdown. A decision in this regard was taken by chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy after reviewing the state's preparedness at large for combating COVID-19 disease amid rise in number of cases. "The Chief Minister has directed the authorities to ensure that one-time financial assistance of Rs 2,000 is given to each of the fishermen stuck in Gujarat," an official statement said. He also said that Andhra Pradesh is ready to provide support to the Gujarat administration in improving facilities being provided to the stranded fishermen. On April 21, Jagan had called on his Gujarat counterpart seeking measures at the earliest to support 6,000 fishermen from Andhra Pradesh. After the review meeting, the state government said COVID-19 testing is being done on a war footing mode and about 5,757 tests have been conducted in the last 24 hours. "AP leads the way in terms of testing and is ranked number 1 with respect to tests conducted per million in the country with the number standing at 830 at the moment," the statement said. The COVID-19 cases crossed 800 in Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) [April 22, 2020] CytoSMART to Donate 100 Live-cell Imaging Systems to Assist COVID-19 Researchers EINDHOVEN, Netherlands, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CytoSMART Technologies is to donate 100?mini?live-cell imaging systems to?researchers in high containment labs worldwide. Labs working to combat COVID-19 will benefit from this initiative, as CytoSMART aims to reduce the huge workload currently facing researchers on projects vital to controlling the disease. "We aim to do our part to assist researchers in minimizing the time they have to spend in high-contamination labs, by providing them with remote video access to evaluate the status of their cell cultures. The video data is used to remotely monitor the cytopathic effect, this way researchers know when it's the right time to harvest the virus." Joffry Maltha, CEO at CytoSMART Technologies. Laboratories are welcome to apply for a CytoSMART Lux2 live-cell imager here. According to guidelines by the CDC and he WHO, isolation and characterization of COVID-19 should be performed in BSL-3 laboratories. Performing research in Biosafety Level 3 and 4 laboratories (BSL-3 or BSL-4) means working in a highly controlled area. Removing and replacing the protective clothing and apparatus can be time consuming and expensive, so entering the lab should ideally only occur when necessary. CytoSMART's unique and compact live-cell microscope films living cell cultures without disturbing their growth or behaviour. The device operates from inside cell culture incubators and is accessible from an online environment. This enables researchers to analyse their cell cultures remotely. Said Maltha,"We need to help scientists who are working in BSL-3 and BSL-4 laboratories to combat COVID-19. We know that our system can help researchers in monitoring cell growth and deciding when they need to go to the high containment labs and run further experiments. The work of such labs is essential in the fight against COVID-19 and it's important to us as an organisation to help where we can. This useful tool can support them in their hard work, by helping to save precious time and equipment by knowing exactly when to enter the lab.'' CytoSMART Technologies is a company that develops and manufactures smart microscope systems for life science labs. In 2018 CytoSMART was selected by Microsoft for their prestigious Scale Up program. CytoSMART's microscopy solutions are used in over a thousand laboratories around the world. Follow CytoSMART: LinkedIn |? Facebook ?|? Twitter [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] By Kim Jae-heun SPC Group, operator of American fast food chain Shake Shack in Korea, said Tuesday it will open the first Korean Eggslut store at the Starfield COEX Mall in Seoul in June. The food and confectionery giant said it has acquired exclusive rights to operate the restaurant here and in Singapore. Eggslut, founded by Alvin Cailan, is a fast food store in Los Angeles popular for its egg sandwich, consisting of a brioche bun, coddled egg, sriracha mayo sauce and pureed potatoes. Eggslut's first store at the Grand Central Market is among the top places to visit for tourists to Los Angeles. In 2014, the fast food store was named one of the top 10 new U.S. restaurants by Bon Appetit magazine. Eggslut stores have become successful in and outside the U.S., with outlets opening in England, Japan and Kuwait. In Korea, SPC Group's subsidiary SPC Samlip will manage the franchise business. In 2016, SPC Group brought Shake Shack to Korea. With Eggslut opening in June, it wants to expand its influence in the casual dining market. Eggslut co-owner Jeff Vales said SPC Samlip is a perfect partner to make quality and tasty Eggslut dishes with its baking skills and production and supply network for eggs, vegetables, sauces and processed meats. "We have brought in Eggslut to strengthen our restaurant business and create synergy with existing businesses, including Shake Shack," an SPC official said. "We will continue to secure new growth engines by discovering various brands and become a global food company." Meanwhile, British graffiti artist Woskerski has worked on art with an egg theme for the hoarding of the new Eggslut store in Starfield COEX Mall. A naked brothel customer who was participating in a sex act when the Sydney proprietors burst in and viciously bashed him has been awarded $155,000 in damages. Chun Wai Fung was subjected to a 'harrowing, scarifying experience' that resulted in continuing physical and psychological injury at a Sydney brothel, New South Wales District Court Judge Leonard Levy found on Tuesday. The judge upheld Mr Fung's claims of assault, battery, intimidation and humiliation in front of brothel staff, as well as deprivation of his personal liberty. The patron, originally from Guangzho, China, sued the company Bossie Chau along with Chao Chang and his wife, Xiao Hu after the attack at 278 Cleveland St, Surry Hills, on June 26, 2017. A naked brothel customer who was participating in a sex act when the Sydney proprietors burst in and viciously bashed him has been awarded $155,000 in damages (stock image). The scene inside the premises of the 278 Club above The then-23-year-old Mr Fung 'unexpectedly experienced fellatio interrupta' while engaged in paid sexual activity with a female sex worker known as Joy, the judge said. Mr Chang and Ms Hu came in and slapped, kicked and hit Mr Fung, who had paid $240 for the service. 'The plaintiff has established that he was the victim of vicious and sustained assaults, during which, despite his attempts to protect and shield himself, he received not only slaps but repeated injurious blows to his head, hands, shoulders, neck and back from punches and from kicks to the abdomen,' the judge said. The judge accepted that Mr Fung was forced to apologise to the assembled sex workers, then separately apologise and kowtow to each of them by deeply bowing before them with his head touching the floor. Mr Fung said he was photographed while naked, after being beaten, and his mobile phone taken and never returned. 'I also accept that someone acting on behalf of the defendants, if not Mr Chang or Ms Hu, then accessed and misused the plaintiff's contact list on that device,' the judge said. 'This resulted in embarrassing messages and images of the plaintiff being sent, at least to his mother.' The judge ruled that Mr Fung was forced to apologise to the assembled sex workers at the brothel (on right), then separately apologise and kowtow to each of them by deeply bowing Mr Chang and Ms Hu came in and slapped, kicked and hit Mr Fung, who had paid $240 for the service (stock image) The judge found Mr Fung had been banned from the couple's other brothel, apparently because of his employment managing a rival establishment. Mr Chang had mistakenly believed Mr Fung was banned from the Cleveland Street premises. 'I find that in the circumstances, Mr Chang approached the plaintiff in an attitude of anger, and with the intention of teaching him a painful lesson,' Judge Levy said. He rejected the operators' claim that Joy - who did not give evidence at the trial - had yelled out and they were trying to stop her being sexually assaulted. An allegation the patron had a reputation for removing his condom was 'inadmissible hearsay,' the judge said. In September 2018, Mr Chang and Ms Hu, who had previous convictions for assault occasioning actual bodily harm, pleaded guilty to common assault upon Mr Fung. Judge Levy ordered the defendants pay Mr Fung $154,857 - noting the ongoing physical and emotional problems suffered by him included persistent post-traumatic stress disorder. The U.S. Navy's video had little drama to draw the world's attention away from the coronavirus pandemic. In a clip uploaded to YouTube, a small missile lifts off, orange flames glowing against the black of the Hawaii night. It's over in a mere five seconds. The unremarkable March 19 footage, however, showed another step in a rapidly accelerating arms race. What looked like an ordinary missile was in fact a hypersonic glide vehicle, a newfangled weapon that flies five times the speed of sound and changes direction midflight to evade defenses. The successful American test came as all three powers rush to upgrade their nuclear and conventional arsenals, and as the post-Cold War arms control framework collapses. The last vestige, the 2010 U.S.-Russia treaty known as New START, expires in February 2021, removing limits on the number of strategic nuclear weapons the countries can possess and deploy. The Donald Trump administration insists any extension should include China, which wants no part of the deal. Now some experts are warning that the end of New START, coupled with U.S. plans to place conventional intermediate-range missiles in Asia, could mark the beginning of a true China-Russia military alliance. "The perception is that the United States is using this New START extension opportunity to impose pressure on China, and such a move is viewed as illegitimate from the Chinese perspective," said Tong Zhao, a fellow at the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy in Beijing. "China believes that because the United States clearly has a much more powerful capability than China, it simply does not make sense for China to be part of a trilateral arms framework." China displays its DF-17 hypersonic missiles during its National Day parade in Beijing last October. Reuters China displays its DF-17 hypersonic missiles during its National Day parade in Beijing last October. Reuters It is true that China has a much smaller nuclear arsenal than either the U.S. or Russia -- fewer than 300 warheads versus around 6,000 for each of its peers, including reserved and retired units, according to the latest counts from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. But it is also true that China has sought to expand and modernize that arsenal. Just last Wednesday, the U.S. Department of State suggested China may be conducting underground nuclear tests despite having signed -- but not ratified -- the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. The report cited China's "extensive" excavation activity at a testing site, "possible preparation" to use the site year-round, use of explosive containment chambers and a "lack of transparency on its nuclear testing activities." China has not been shy about flexing its nuclear muscle. On National Day last October, it paraded the DF-41, an intercontinental ballistic missile that can deliver 10 warheads to the continental U.S., and the DF-17, a hypersonic weapon. No less significantly, China has assembled a formidable conventional missile force over several decades. While the U.S. and Russia were bound by their 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty -- which prohibited them from fielding any ground-launched cruise or ballistic missiles with ranges between 500 km and 5,500 km, nuclear or conventional -- China had free rein to develop such weapons. China's missile arsenal has grown to include "carrier killers" like the DF-21D and the DF-26, which can target not only aircraft carriers and other ships over 1,000 km away, but also U.S. bases as far away as Guam. Tong said China's conventional missile buildup has at least two broad objectives. One is to secure key national interests, such as reunification with Taiwan. Another is to assert territorial claims in the South China Sea and over the Japan-administered Senkaku Islands, which Beijing calls Diaoyu. "The biggest threat to China securing these interests comes from the U.S. capability and intention to militarily intervene in these areas," Tong said. "Land-based intermediate range missiles constitute a very effective tool for China to secure a military advantage around the first island chain and deter American military intervention," he added, referring to the first line of major archipelagos off continental East Asia. None of this sits well with Washington. Adm. Harry Harris, then the head of the U.S. Pacific Command, told Congress in 2017 that China "controls the largest and most diverse missile force in the world," and that 95% of it "would violate the INF Treaty if China was a signatory." "Any moves by the United States to deploy its missiles or missile defense systems [in Asia] will fuel ever-greater cooperation between Russia and China" Evgeny Buzhinsky, former Russian military arms control negotiator Evgeny Buzhinsky, former Russian military arms control negotiator These concerns translated into action when the U.S. withdrew from the INF Treaty last August. While Washington blamed alleged violations by Moscow, the primary motive was to counter potential threats from Beijing, according to Elbridge Colby, a former senior Pentagon official who helped author the Trump administration's National Defense Strategy. "The Chinese aspect to this is far more important for the United States," Colby said. "Although it could be beneficial for the United States to have INF Treaty missiles in Europe, especially some shorter-range variants that cannot penetrate deep into Russia, it is far more important and necessary to have them in the Pacific because of the scale of China's military buildup and the geography of the region." Colby explained that since most American assets in the western Pacific are concentrated on a few bases and ships, placing ground-launched conventional missiles in the region would significantly increase the number of targets China must account for. Just days after the U.S. withdrew from the INF Treaty, Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced that such missiles would be coming to Asia "sooner rather than later." The Chinese foreign ministry shot back that Beijing "will not stand idly by and will be forced to take countermeasures" if the U.S. deploys them. Undeterred, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command late last month submitted a budget to Congress that requests over $20 billion in additional funding to "regain the advantage" in the region. This includes money for intermediate-range weapons such as the Navy's Tomahawk cruise missiles, which can be fired from land or sea. Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump do not see eye to eye on the inclusion of China in a renewed New START. Reuters Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump do not see eye to eye on the inclusion of China in a renewed New START. Reuters China would not be alone in pushing back if the U.S. installs INF Treaty missiles in Asia, said Evgeny Buzhinsky, a retired lieutenant general who served as the Russian military's top arms control negotiator. He told the Nikkei Asian Review that Moscow may respond by deploying its own intermediate-range, land-based missiles in the Russian Far East. "If the Americans place these missiles in Guam or the Philippines, then fine, let them do so," Buzhinsky said. "But if they place them in Japan, then that will be a threat to Russia and we will place our missiles somewhere in Chukotka so that they could reach U.S. territory." Some Russian experts go even further, predicting that a U.S. missile deployment in Asia would prompt Russia and China to abandon longstanding reservations about a formal military alliance. "If the Americans will commit the stupidity of deploying missiles in East Asia in a way that is threatening to both Russia and China, then our relationship [with China] will effectively cross a certain line and become a military alliance," said Alexey Arbatov, head of the Center for International Security at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations in Moscow. U.S. moves have already nudged Russia and China closer together. In October, Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed Moscow was helping China to develop an early warning system for missile attacks. Only the U.S. and Russia possess such systems. Buzhinsky, who retired from the Russian Armed Forces in 2009, said assisting China with this would have been unthinkable a decade ago. "I remember when I was in the Ministry of Defense, we made every possible effort to avoid this issue because it is a very sensitive area for cooperation," Buzhinsky said. "That we are now helping China develop this system is a huge step forward and it shows that any moves by the United States to deploy its missiles or missile defense systems [in Asia] will fuel ever-greater cooperation between Russia and China." The looming demise of New START could lead to even more drastic steps by Moscow. A Russian nuclear ballistic missile submarine arrives in St. Petersburg for a parade in 2017. Getty Images A Russian nuclear ballistic missile submarine arrives in St. Petersburg for a parade in 2017. Getty Images Arbatov warned that if the U.S. does not agree to renew the deal, Russia could go so far as to offer China strategic ballistic missiles and bombers. "Strategic" weapons are considered distinct from "tactical" ones, in that they are designed for mass destruction as part of a broad military strategy rather than for use on a battlefield. The coronavirus has only further clouded the prospects for saving New START in the coming months. Russia's TASS state news agency reported that the pandemic has interrupted the regular bilateral inspections stipulated in the deal. Moscow has also criticized Washington's call to rope China into the treaty. "It's an open provocation to insist on China's participation in the process, as a precondition, despite Beijing's clearly stated and many times repeated position on this," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov declared at a nonproliferation conference in Moscow last November. Yet last Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke to Lavrov by phone and "emphasized that any future arms control talks must be based on President Trump's vision for a trilateral arms control agreement that includes both Russia and China," a State Department spokesman said. If Cold War history is any guide, Buzhinsky argued, tensions in Asia are likely to get much worse before they get better. "The Cuban Missile Crisis was what brought about the modern era of arms control," he said. "It will probably take another crisis for everyone to realize that it is necessary to talk and reach a deal." Nikkei While the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across Canada, with devastating deaths announced daily, Erin Bury, CEO of online company Willful, which helps Canadians create their will, power of attorney, and final wishes documents online, noticed more people were visiting the site to create end-of-life plans. Although it may be an uncomfortable and awkward situation, it is difficult times like these that can be the catalyst for people to finally get around to putting these plans in place. According to Bury, the increase in traffic to their site is a completely different ball game since March, with a particular increase in seniors and frontline workers looking to prepare their end-of-life plans. I think what COVID has done, its highlighted that...the unexpected can happen any time and you dont want to leave your family in the lurch, the Willful CEO told Yahoo Canada. You dont want to be in a position where you havent communicated your medical wishes and you dont have someone who can speak for you. Thats really what these documents are about, theyre giving you a voice when youre no longer able to communicate for yourself. Even before moving onto completing these official documents, it is also important to have critical conversations about your medical wishes more broadly with your loved ones and family doctor. Dr. Amy Tan, academic family physician and hospice physician at the Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, has made it her lifes work to advocate for people to take the time to think about advanced care planning. This means reflecting on your medical wishes and communicating what you would want, if you are ever in a position where you cannot make those choices yourself. You might need the help of your substitute decision maker for both reversible or irreversible issues, and so the best gift you can give them is to talk about these things so they are better prepared, Dr. Tan told Yahoo Canada. Story continues When they have to do this under very stressful circumstances and they dont know how to approach how you would have made a decision, it is much harder, and thats what my husband had to go through. When Dr. Tan was 24, she was in a life-threatening car accident. She was a newlywed and had not spoken about any of these advanced care plans with her husband, who was left to make these major, value-based healthcare decisions on her behalf. Her experience as a family doctor and hospice physician since 2005 also allowed Dr. Tan to see the impact on patients and families of not making these informed decisions, and how things can be much improved if these difficult conversations are had. Dr. Tan said she had to heal herself from her trauma but realized her story helped both patients, and medical learners and practicing physicians, realize how relevant this is for everyone. Absolutely, advanced care planning for everybody, all ages and stages of life, its really important, Dr. Tan said. Even more important right now with COVID-19, because theres a threat, a global threat to anybody. What does advanced care planning involve? Dr. Tan has created a guide to help Canadians go through the process of advanced care planning, particularly as it relates to COVID-19, which outlines important conversations people should have with their loved ones and healthcare team. Unlike whats shown on TV or the movies, people dont go to the ICU and then bounce back to where they were before, she explained. Thats a piece were really trying to have the public understand, that other than surviving, or the statistics or chances of surviving, being critically ill also causes changes, and it could be significant changes. To begin advanced care planning, individual needs to think about what is important in daily life and the level of health that they personally feel they cant live without. All of this should be communicated to a substitute decision maker. I think its important for the loved one to have a really good understanding of what a person values in terms of an acceptable functional outcome, Dr. Tan said. After many, many years of talking to many patients, it differs. Examples highlighted by Dr. Tan include, someone may be alright with being bed bound but need to be able to communicate with loved ones, while someone else feels being bed bound and dependent on others for toileting is not acceptable. Or someone could be OK with getting help for all bodily functions, as long as they can watch their favourite professional sport and understand the plays. I think the key question is, what are you willing to go through from the possibility of more time, Dr. Tan said. What is it that you would want to regain because if you dont regain those things, would you want to go through all those interventions? Each person should also consult with their family doctor and discuss personal priorities, because these professionals will be able to put the individuals wishes into the health context of that specific person. Its really about helping patients make an informed choice, Dr. Tan said. Its not about trying to convince someone one way or another but for them to actually really understand, because thats where Im finding [there is] a knowledge gap. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Tan has had to have conversations about how the virus could impact individuals and if certain interventions would allow them to avoid the things they are trying to avoid, based on what is medically feasible in their personal medical conditions. A B.C. Ambulance Service employee in protective equipment including an N95 mask, a face shield, goggles and gloves, moves a patient from an ambulance to the emergency department at Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster, British Columbia, on Sunday, April 12, 2020. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP) When and how should you create power of attorney documents or a will? Once an individual has gone through the advance care planning process, they may want to have legally-binding power of attorney documents or a will. Power of attorney adheres to what happens while someone is still alive but unable to communicate. Bury recommends that anyone over the age of majority in their province think about having power of attorney documents in place. These are documents that not only say what kind of care you would want and give someone else the power to communicate that to medical professionals, they also assign someone who can pay your bills for you, sell your home if needed, the Willful CEO said. Bury recommends that anyone who has an asset, or assets, that they want to see going to specific people should prepare a will. This could be any money in a savings account, a house, children or a pet. Unfortunately, one of the top reasons pets end up in shelters is because their owners didnt plan for their care and then they passed away, Bury said. With any will, you can assign a pet guardian who would care for them and you can actually leave a pet trust, so an amount of money that would be used for their care. What makes a will legally valid in Canada is that it is created by the individual personally, in sound mind. It has to be printed, signed and witnessed by two people who cannot benefit from the will, who also sign the document. Ontario is allowing wills and powers of attorney to be witnessed virtually so people can safely put their affairs in order during COVID-19. https://t.co/Q2oLMfO0rS Ministry of the Attorney General (@ONAttorneyGen) April 8, 2020 Earlier this month, Ontario allowed virtual witnessing for wills and powers of attorney. This new order allows Ontarians to video conference with witnesses, instead of having everyone in the same room to sign the documents at the same time. For any distribution of assets, it can be a specific item, like a piece of jewellery given to a particular person, or it can be a percentage of residual estate, which is what is left after debts and taxes have been paid. Erin Bury, Willful CEO With the influx of people looking to prepare end-of-life documents, Willful is providing free wills and power of attorney documents to frontline healthcare workers in Canada. Bury said the company has a personal exchange with every person who gets the free code and she shared that the chief marketing officer of the company has cried on many phone calls with these individuals sharing their personal stories. A lot of the emails that weve gotten are just people who are grateful that not just us, a lot of businesses, are doing things to help, Bury said. What were hearing is that its been really helpful to give people just a bit of peace of mind during whats obviously a very uncertain and scary time. Willful has gifted more than 1,300 wills to frontline healthcare professionals to date. The National Domestic Abuse helpline has seen a 25% increase in phone calls and online messages requesting help since lockdown began. And while the government are allowing people to leave their homes during lockdown to escape domestic abuse, it is not always that simple. Jenni Steele, Domestic Violence UK ambassador and founder of the YANA Project, which supports young people who have been directly affected by domestic violence, knows only too well how hard it is to leave a violent relationship. READ MORE: Lockdown can make it even more difficult to escape an abusive relationship Appearing on new video series, Up Close And Socially Distant, Jenni spoke to host Kate Thornton about her own experience of abuse. As a teenager, I was a victim of domestic abuse, she revealed. It was my first boyfriend. I was about 17, 18, at the time, and there werent a lot of services for me as a young person. Jenni is raising awareness about the issues that often make it difficult for people to escape their abusers - particularly during lockdown such as emotional and financial abuse and the need to ensure the safety of children. Dont make a rash decision Whether its financial abuse, where your partner isnt giving you any money, or youre worried about the safety of your children, many women cant just up and leave: even if the lockdown has made things worse at home. Its not easy for everyone to leave today, explained Jenni. Sometimes leaving today can put you in more danger, so sometimes there needs to be a plan mapped out around that. She continued: Its not as easy as we all think and I do find that if you havent been in that situation before, then its not something that you can actually know how that person is going to feel at that time. Lockdown can make it even more difficult to escape an abusive relationship Find out what support is there for you Jenni is worried that some people may not know where to turn for local support. I think right now there's a lot of information everywhere, she said. I think there's a possibility that some of it isn't coming out as clear as it should. Story continues One central resource that is useful, is a text directory, which has been set up recently by Domestic Violence UK. Jenni said: It's a phone number that you can text DIRECTORY and it will send you the services that are in your area. This is support services. There's like over a hundred charities providing support email support, they're providing call backs, they're providing web chat services. READ MORE: 276 London choir members record song from home to raise over 30k for domestic abuse victims There are also lots of great online resources out there and Jenni says many of them are built so you can hide the fact that you may be looking for help. A lot of the support services online actually have buttons and stuff on their website that you can quickly click out, she said. It doesn't come up on your browser. Use your daily walk If your abuser has taken away your phone, signalling for help or even just ringing someone for support will be tricky in these lockdown times. Jenni said that its important to try and use your daily exercise as it might be your only point of call. Try and speak to someone its really important, said Jenni who suggests approaching your local shopkeeper if youre in distress and know them well enough. READ MORE: What to do if you need to dial 999 during coronavirus lockdown but can't speak She continued: There might be an actual friend that lives near to you that you can just go and put a note through their door. Know how to alert authorities If things have got so bad that you are in immediate danger, Jenni says you need to call 999, however there is also a service where if you cant talk you can still get help. Jenni advises: Call 999, press 55 and dont say anything [just follow voice prompts to cough and tap the handset]. That will alert the police to come to your address. How can you help support a friend who is going through this? If youve got a friend who you suspect is living with an abuser, Jenni says its important to make them aware that you are here for them. It's a real tough time, she admitted. I think we need to be aware of people around us, their surroundings, what they're going through. READ MORE: What is Intimate Partner Violence? We need to be open to someone actually having that conversation with us in this time because that person is going to need us. She continued: All I can say to family and friends is: please be aware, please be non-judgemental in this time because thats not going to help anyone. Text DIRECTORY to 07786 202 430 to reach Domestic Violence UK who will signpost you to services in your local area. There are over 100 charities providing support to the DVUK Text Directory including call backs, web chat support and signposting. To add your service, go to lovedoesnthurt.org.uk for more info. Up Close And Socially Distant is hosted by Kate Thornton and features video catch-ups with people who are all doing whatever they can, in whatever unique and special way they can, to help those around them get through lockdown. This week Kate speaks to comedian and creator of the Baked Potato Song, Matt Lucas, Domestic Violence UK ambassador and YANA project founder Jenni Steele, and psychotherapist and Help Hub founder, Ruth Chaloner. The requested page is currently unavailable on this server. Back to [RTHK News Homepage] UK to start human vaccine trials on April 23 Last week, officials had said that UK scientists were working as fast as they can to find a vaccine that fights coronavirus. Coronavirus vaccine trials on humans will begin on Thursday in the UK, health minister Matt Hancock told a news briefing on Tuesday as the country's death rate climbed again. VACCINE IS THE KEY TO DEFEATING THE VIRUS A vaccine against the novel coronavirus is seen as key to defeating the coronavirus pandemic which has killed over 100,000 globally and delivered a large blow to the global economy. British government had said 21 new research projects would get funding from a 14 million pound investment pool to rapidly progress treatments and vaccines. A million doses of a potential coronavirus vaccine being developed by British scientists at Oxford University are already being manufactured, even before trials prove whether the shot is effective. FirstService Residential to Manage Double Diamond Ranch Master Association in Reno We are thrilled the Board of Directors selected FirstService Residential to help achieve their communitys goals and vision, said Ray Colon, business development director for FirstService Residential in Nevada. FirstService Residential, Nevadas leading community management company, has been awarded the management contract for Double Diamond Ranch Master Association in Reno, Nevada. FirstService Residential will assume management responsibilities on May 1, 2020. Double Diamond Ranch, a master plan community in the South Meadows area of Reno, includes 3,104 single-family homes. The community is organized around 26 subdivisions, labeled the "Villages." We are thrilled the Board of Directors selected FirstService Residential to help achieve their communitys goals and vision, said Ray Colon, business development director for FirstService Residential in Nevada. By pairing our local industry expertise and national network of support with the boards commitment to the community, we anticipate great success for many years to come. Originally a 2,600-acre ranch, Double Diamond Ranch features four parks and 26 miles of walking trails. The community is located 30 minutes from Lake Tahoe and the Mount Rose Ski Resort. About FirstService Residential FirstService Residential is North Americas property management leader, partnering with 8,000 communities across the U.S. and Canada, including low-, mid- and high-rise condominiums and cooperatives; single-family communities; master-planned, lifestyle and active adult communities; and mixed-use and rental properties. HOAs, community associations, condos and strata corporations rely on their extensive experience, resources and local expertise to maximize property values and enhance their residents lifestyles. Dedicated to making a difference, every day, FirstService Residential goes above and beyond to deliver exceptional service. FirstService Residential is a subsidiary of FirstService Corporation (FSV), a North American leader in the property services sector. For more information, visit http://www.fsresidential.com/nevada. By Joseph Nasr BERLIN (Reuters) - Mosques in Germany that depend on donations from Friday prayers face bankruptcy as the coronavirus lockdown strips them of their only source of income, which peaks during the month of Ramadan that starts this week. After five weeks of closure, some have launched online appeals urging members to donate via bank transfers By Joseph Nasr BERLIN (Reuters) - Mosques in Germany that depend on donations from Friday prayers face bankruptcy as the coronavirus lockdown strips them of their only source of income, which peaks during the month of Ramadan that starts this week. After five weeks of closure, some have launched online appeals urging members to donate via bank transfers. But Imam Mohamed Taha Sabri, who runs the Dar Assalam mosque in Berlin's Neukoelln district, said an online campaign had produced only a trickle of donations. "Mosques are going through a massive crisis," he said in the empty mosque, where hand-washing instructions are displayed on placards next to Koranic verses. "I think that some mosques are going to be forced to close, especially those which have to pay rent." Religious gatherings, including Friday prayers, have been suspended since mid-March, when a lockdown was imposed to slow the spread of the virus, which has infected about 143,000 in Germany and killed almost 4,600. Germany has now allowed some pupils to go back to school and some businesses to open. Yet mosques, churches and synagogues must remain shut. Mosques have to finance themselves as they do not benefit from hundreds of million of euros in state funds given to Christian churches. The Islamic Council, an umbrella group of 400 mosques, has urged the government to provide financial assistance for mosques, warning that many face bankruptcy because closures will stretch into the holy fasting month of Ramadan, usually a vital period for donations. In Britain, mosques have also said the lockdown means they have lost a major source of funding, especially in donations from the faithful. Sabri said the response to the online funding drive by his mosque, where 1,500 Muslims pray on a normal Friday, had been "tepid" and even when the lockdown ends it won't be possible to relaunch charitable activities like free meals. "We cover about half to two thirds of our expenses from donations made during Ramadan," said Sabri, whose mosque needs 7,000 euros a month to pay its bills. "Unfortunately, this Ramadan is going to be difficult." He hopes the pandemic will be an opportunity to change the way Muslims give money. "It's not that they don't want to donate. They need time, they need to be encouraged to move from donating in the mosque during Friday prayers to donating by bank transfer." Hamzah Al-Suweidi, a Syrian social worker who prayed at the mosque before its doors were shut, said he was not surprised online fundraising was not taking off. "When you are at the mosque, you see your neighbour put 5 euros in the donations box and you feel you have to give something too. So everyone ends up giving something," said Suweidi. "When you pray at home there is no such pressure." (Editing by Giles Elgood) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. In the latest example of how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting the renewable energy sector, wind turbine firm Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) has withdrawn financial guidance for the 2020 financial year. In a statement dated April 21, SGRE said the "uncertainty associated with COVID-19" was "compounding challenges in India and Northern Europe." SGRE joins Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas which this week announced its decision to lay off around 400 employees in suspending guidance for 2020. In an announcement earlier this month, the Aarhus-headquartered firm noted that the global spread of Covid-19 and national measures taken to contain it had caused disruptions to installations, manufacturing and its supply chain. The situation for SGRE is similar. The company said "COVID-19 disruptions" in its supply chain, manufacturing operations, project execution and commercial activity had "primarily affected and adversely impacted the situation" in its onshore business. In addition, it said offshore and service operations "might" see some disruptions across the coming months, but that these were "so far expected to be significantly lower." The impact of the pandemic on the renewable energy sector is widespread. On Wednesday, research and consultancy firm Wood Mackenzie said as much as 150 gigawatts of solar and wind projects in the Asia-Pacific region could be either delayed or canceled between 2020 and 2024 if the "coronavirus-led recession" continued past this year. "The extent of the coronavirus impact on Asia Pacific markets is key to the future growth of the renewables sector," Alex Whitworth, a research director at Wood Mackenzie, said in a statement. "Over the last five years (2015 2019), the Asia Pacific region accounted for over three-quarters of global power demand growth, while leading the world in wind and solar capacity installations," he added. "The coming months will be crucial to determine if the region is moving towards a rapid recovery or extended recession future." COVID-19 is something we are learning how to deal with, says Florence Gillette, head of delegation of the ICRC in Ukraine ABC News In the six years Nataliia Kyrkach has been providing assistance in conflict-affected eastern Ukraine, she has seen aid programmes move from urgent crisis response to resilience and development, as people living amidst this ongoing war have slowly begun to rebuild their lives. 2020 had brought some hopes for peace, after Russian President Vladimir Putin met his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky for talks in Paris in December. But over the last month, as COVID-19 has swept the world, Krykach says the region is tumbling back to the dark days of 2014-15, at the beginning of the conflict. The situation is going backwards by 100 percent, Kyrkach told The New Humanitarian by phone from the town of Sviatohirsk in the eastern Donetsk region where the NGO she heads, Slavic Heart, is based. In the second half of March, Slavic Heart which provides a range of humanitarian aid from psychosocial services to food, hygiene items, and medicines saw a more than 200 percent increase in pleas for assistance on its hotline. This was after Ukraine introduced strict quarantine measures, closing its borders, shuttering schools and all non-essential business, and halting public transport. Ukraine has yet to see COVID-19 infection figures comparable to the worst-hit countries in Europe as of 20 April, there were 5,710 registered cases in a population of 42 million, and 151 deaths. However, with a chaotic and underfunded national health system, and as the countrys politics and economy has been weakened by this low-intensity but still deadly war, its fallout is likely to hit hard. And nowhere more so than in the war-torn east, where sporadic clashes continue between government forces and two breakaway regions backed by Russia: Donetsk, and neighbouring Luhansk. Even before the epidemic, the UN estimated that 3.4 million Ukrainians were in need of humanitarian assistance in 2020. Most live in the so-called grey zone, a sliver of territory along both sides of the contact line that divides Ukrainian government-controlled land from separatist-run areas. Adapting aid to the new normal Sixty percent of Slavic Hearts clients mostly women have lost most or all of their income since quarantine measures were imposed, said Kyrkach. With already limited public transport in frontline areas now completely stopped, many people are unable to access healthcare or get food and hygiene supplies, and most are rapidly running out of funds. Already high levels of domestic violence are reportedly soaring. Social workers, reliant on public transport and lacking basic protective equipment, are unable to visit their vulnerable clients. The contact line which used to see up to a million crossings each month by people claiming social and pension payments or travelling for work, health, and family reasons is now closed. Families are entirely alone, said Kyrkach. Her NGO is using its three mobile support brigades for victims of domestic and gender-based violence to deliver food and hygiene parcels, and has moved its support groups online. But many settlements in the grey zone lack internet access. International aid groups like the UNs refugee agency, UNHCR, and the International Committee of the Red Cross, which had previously scaled back direct assistance to focus on income generation and infrastructure projects, are also reinstating food and hygiene deliveries all the while rushing to put their own anti-epidemic measures in place to protect both staff and beneficiaries in a war zone. The conflict has been there for a while; we all, including the population, have learned to deal with it, Florence Gillette, head of delegation of the ICRC in Ukraine, told TNH. But COVID-19 is something we are learning how to deal with. What makes the response complicated is that this still is a conflict area. Theres a duty of care in relation to the conflict it requires certain measures, and COVID-19 requires another set of measures. So we now have an increased complexity to manage. Those new measures have included not only finding safe ways to deliver aid, but also safely overseeing a simultaneous release and transfer of conflict-related prisoners between the two sides, on 16 April. The 38 released detainees have now entered several weeks quarantine on the respective territory to which they have returned. A prisoner of war, wearing a protective mask due to COVID-19 protocols, is escorted by a separatist fighter during the 16 April prisoner exchange in the Donetsk region. Risks and shortages in government areas Ukraines 450-kilometre line of contact cuts Donetsk and Luhansk in half, running through towns and villages still populated with civilians, including 500,000 children and a high proportion of elderly people. The UN estimates that 36 percent of those directly affected by the conflict are over 60, compared to 23 percent in the country overall. Almost all of them have underlying health conditions like diabetes and cancer, increasing their vulnerability to COVID-19. They have not had good access to health services since 2014, when the conflict divided government-controlled areas from the main hospitals in Donetsk and Luhansk cities now under separatist control, cutting care, supply, and administration chains. Ukraine has not replaced this lost infrastructure and capacity in the areas it controls. The Ministry of Health puts current medical staffing levels in the government-controlled Luhansk region at just under 62 percent the lowest in the country. In Donetsk, its 69 percent; protective equipment provision in both regions is only around 60 percent. The regions lack not only hospital buildings and beds, but also laboratories for COVID-19 testing currently in Donetsk region its being done at the HIV/AIDS centre. To date, the Donetsk and Luhansk regions have among the fewest cases in the country. But as of 11 April just 150 tests had been performed in Donetsk, and fewer than 100 in Luhansk; although thousands of rapid tests are being delivered for testing those crossing the contact line. These healthcare shortfalls, and the re-profiling of the few existing facilities for an epidemic thats yet to hit, is already affecting other medical treatment including for HIV, TB, and diabetes, according to Ihor Kuzin, acting general director of the Ukrainian Ministry of Healths Public Health Centre. [COVID-19] measures like restrictions on access to facilities and people in self-isolation are working effectively, but at the same time they mean other problems connected with the medical system are being resolved more slowly, he said. We know people are being turned away for treatment for diabetes or planned operations are being delayed, and this can impact the overall health of the region. Twelve hospitals in Donetsk and five in Luhansk have been allocated for COVID-19 cases. If there are five hospitals, and five of them are closed [due to treating] COVID, then what you get is a collapse of the medical system, Kuzin said. Known unknowns on the separatist side Information about the situation in non-government controlled areas is scant. Most journalists are banned and only a handful of UN and international agencies are able to work there. To date, the de facto authorities have announced 57 COVID-19 cases and one fatality, and imposed some quarantine measures, including 14 days of isolation for anyone entering from government-controlled territory. This includes humanitarian workers, who are some of the very few still permitted to cross the contact line. In 2018, international agencies estimated that over 100 medical facilities in Donetsk and Luhansk, and 70 percent of equipment, had been put out of action because of the war. The areas rely on agencies like UNICEF and the ICRC to supply essential medicines for HIV and TB, and insulin. We know that they have difficulties in general accessing certain medications, said Lotta Sylwander, UNICEFs representative in Ukraine. So whats going to happen when they do need more medical equipment like ventilators and oxygen That we dont know. Delivery of medications across the contact line has regularly been threatened or delayed through the course of the conflict, and the epidemic already led to one major hold-up after crossing points were closed in late March. It took two weeks of negotiation before a humanitarian convoy carrying medical, food, and hygiene supplies was able to reach Donetsk. Water is another necessity that has to cross the front line. The supply on both sides is still managed by one Ukrainian company, Voda Donbassa. Water is regularly cut off for millions of people because of shelling and shooting, problems for workers crossing the front line, and disputes between the two sides over payment for water and electricity. Despite the importance of hand-washing to prevent infection, some areas were once again without water in early April, including a town in separatist-held Luhansk that had been isolated because of a confirmed COVID case. Vital maintenance work is also not being done, as Voda Donbassa workers are restricted from crossing the line of contact. There needs to be an international outcry The closure of the contact line has also prevented thousands of elderly people on the separatist side from getting the Ukrainian state pensions they rely on. For the duration of the quarantine, Ukraine has waived the proviso that people must register in person every 60 days on government-controlled territory, and it is continuing to pay pensions and other social benefits into claimants bank accounts. But thats of little help to people in rebel-held territory where there are no Ukrainian banks or cash machines. Meanwhile, the fighting, which has cost over 13,000 lives so far, has increased in the last few weeks. Nineteen civilians were killed and injured in March more than for the whole previous five months. At least 16 Ukrainian soldiers have been injured or killed in April. Slavic Heart has centres in several towns right on the front line; at a video conference in early April between NGO staff in Ukraine, the shelling in one such town could clearly be heard in the background. Imagine what the psychological pressure must be, said Kyrkach. Youre sitting under shelling, and you cant go anywhere because theres no public transport anymore. You have no money for a taxi, which is so expensive. Youve only got very small local shops if that where the prices are much higher and the choice is so small now. Along with a UN plea for a global ceasefire, there have been other calls to urgently resolve the Ukraine conflict in the face of the pandemic. But while the latest meeting of the trilateral contact group supposed to resolve conflict issues resulted in last weeks prisoner release, no ceasefire was either agreed in the meeting or is visible on the ground in eastern Ukraine. There needs to be an international outcry, said Sylwander. This is ridiculous, and very sad. Meanwhile, Kyrkach in Sviatohirsk is yet to see any additional support, and the NGOs mobile brigade programme is slated to close in a few months as funding dries up. Everyones tired of Ukraine, she said. It has become such a protracted conflict. Read the full story here. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 22) The Department of Social Welfare and Development acknowledged on Wednesday that the governments delivery of cash aid to more than half of its target beneficiaries was delayed due to lack of manpower and challenges in logistics. May mga challenges tayo sa pamimigay ng ayuda sa mga island municipalities, DSWD spokesperson Irene Dumlao told CNN Philippines Balitaan. [Translation: We face challenges in giving assistance to those in island municipalities.] To address this problem, Dumlao said they are asking help from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine Coast Guard to transport and distribute subsidies to low income families. To date, only 5.3 million out of the 18 million low income families have received their financial assistance since the DSWD started releasing funds for the social amelioration program to local governments on April 3. Under the program, those who are financially suffering due to the coronavirus crisis are eligible to get 5,000 to 8,000 for two months, depending on the prevailing minimum wage rates in the area where they live. Those in Metro Manila could get up to P8,000 while those in other regions will receive P5,000 to P6,000. Families covered include the homeless, those with at least one member who is on a no-work-no pay situation, a senior citizen, a solo parent, a person with disability or a pregnant and lactating woman. Full list could be accessed here. Dumlao then appealed for the understanding of the beneficiaries, as she assured them that help is on the way. Batid po ng DSWD na marami na po marami po sa ating kababayan an naghihintay na po ng kanilang ayuda. Kung kaya nga po ang DSWD ay humihingi po ng kaunting pang-unawa, she said. [Translation: We recognize that a lot of our fellow Filipinos are waiting for financial help. That is why the DSWD is asking for understanding.] Pinagsisikpan po ng ating pamalaan, gayundin ng mga local government units na maipahatid po itong tulong sa ating mga kababayan, she added. [Translation: The national government and local governments are working hard to bring assistance to our countrymen.] Earlier, the DSWD had eased procedures to fast-track the distribution of the funds to families. Under the amended guidelines, the government will now check the qualification of beneficiaries after they have received the aid. Previously, LGUs had to first submit a validated list before funds were given to them. DSWD is targeting the complete the first round of emergency subsidy distribution by April 30. However, the field offices of the department have yet to transfer funds to more than 300 cities and municipalities, as they have not yet complied with the social amelioration program requirements. Among them are entering into a memorandum of agreement with DSWD and submitting budget proposals. President Rodrigo Duterte said in his fourth report to Congress that the DSWD has turned over 73.8 billion or 91 percent of the total social amelioration fund for April to the LGUs, which are tasked to deliver the aid. Under the almost month-old Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, Duterte is required to deliver a weekly report to Congress every Monday, to detail what the government has done to address the COVID-19 crisis in the past week. On 18 April, Kannaiyan Subramaniam, a farmer in Karnatakas Chamarajanagara district, posted a 15-second video on Twitter seeking help to find buyers for his 100 tonnes of cabbage ready for harvest. Forget profit, he said he would be happy to sell his stock at Rs 3 a kilo, barely covering his investment. On April 20, Hindustan Times published a piece on the plight of vegetable farmers such as Subramaniam who were piling up massive losses unable to sell their produce during the prolonged lockdown. Within a day of the storys publication, Subramaniam said, he was able to find buyers for most of his crop. This includes Waycool, a Chennai-based agriculture technology startup, which has purchased eight tonnes from Subramaniam at Rs 5.5 a kilo with the option of buying up the entire lot in accordance with the demand. Several Charitable organisations in Bengaluru and Coimbatore have bought smaller lots of 3000 kilos. Waycool procures nearly 250 tonnes of farm produce every day and sells it to large retail chains and restaurants in South India. The company has even arranged to pick up the stock from Subramaniams farm saving him transportation cost. When we read Subramaniams story, we felt this is what our company was built for. And it was the right thing to do, said Karthik Jayaraman, CEO, Waycool. With no buyers in sight I would have had to write-off Rs 300,000. More painful was the prospect of helplessly watching 100 tonnes of vegetables rot. After HT highlighting my story, I was flooded with calls from people who were keen to buy. In the process I have found some who I could do business with even in the long term, said Subramaniam, who sold his previous harvest of cabbages at Rs 11.50 per kilo. With markets shut and people homebound due to the lockdown, vegetable farmers across India are saddled with massive losses. Since Monday, other farmers too have taken to social media platforms to seek buyers, including a watermelon farmer from Bijapur, a tomato farmer from Sarjapur and a banana farmer from Tutocorin. According to an April 8 report by financial research firm Credit Suisse, despite a bumper harvest in the Rabi season, the arrival of fruit and vegetables in the countrys 7000 wholesale markets has fallen by 50% to 95%, as only a fraction have been functioning after the lockdown was enforced on March 25. In 2019-20, farmers sold 284 million tonnes of horticultural produce worth Rs 5 lakh crore. Even assuming only a 50% fall in market arrivals over a month of lockdown, vegetable farmers would have lost in excess of Rs 20,000 crore. Cinema is the most impactful storytelling tool today. And, for makers of films in Honduras, it is also an essential medium to preserve the national heritage. For example, Mi Amigo Angel, filmed in 1962 by Sami Kafati, was hailed as the Honduran Cinema's origin. The said film was not the lone first nationally-produced fictitious feature. Nevertheless, it provided a vibrant portrait of the busy Tegucigalpa in the 60s decade, both its poverty-hit neighborhoods and verdant environments. According to Cinemateca Universitaria Enrique Ponce Garay director Rene Pauck, the film was criticized at the time, adding, "Everyone was upset" that Kafati filmed the unimpressive realities when there were a lot more beautiful truths that could have showcased. Cinemateca is an institution committed for the restoration and conservation of the "Honduran audiovisual media," which was named after the first film critic of the country. The 1970s, the Documentary Era Pauck, who originally hailed from France, arrived in Honduras during the early 70s and has become an influential advocate of the national movie industry as an acclaimed documentarian, director, and producer. As such, he describes the 70s decade as the documentary era where, alongside filmmakers Vilma Ramirez and Mario Lopez, he helmed the Cinema Department of the Ministry of Culture, aiming to back and preserve the archive of the national media. During this time, the typical documentaries included Mundo Garifuna, which represented the Garifuna Carnival preparations in the Northern Territory of the country, and the native Lenca people's agrarian customs, and Ritos y Magia, which made further explorations of both communities' spiritual tradition. The 1980s, A Decade of Documentaries on Health and Water Access While the 70s decade provided the Honduran filmmakers with room for experimentation and representation of original stories, the military battles that cleared through Central America within the following decade brought the new undertaking to a screeching end. Pauck recounted, a lot of filmmakers recorded the battles of the era, "and were still recovering much of that material." Practically, he added, no other films were ever produced during the 80s decade, then documentaries, where most of them were institutional features on access to health and water. Nevertheless, a big group of students taking filmmaking received scholarships to study overseas, particularly in Argentina and Cuba. This opportunity made way for the film industry to be more focused on what it does, during the 1990s and 2000s. Filmmakers of the New Generation This new generation of filmmakers introduced screenwriter and director, Elizabeth Figuero, who's knowh for her Al Compas del Campanario and Los Fantasmas del Huracan projects; documentarian Katia Lara for her Quien Dijo Miedo and Corazon Abierto documentaries; and Hispano Duron, who adapted the short story of Roberto Castillos, entitled, Anita, La Cazadora de Insectos into one of the Honduran cinema's modern classics. Meanwhile, the new millennium saw the growth of the blockbuster, as well. The first one was the 2002 horror film, Almas de la Media Noche, by Juan Carlos Fanconi. Then, in later years, it was followed by comedy films including Una Loca Navidad Catcracha by Carlos Membreno and the violent tale of revenge, El Paletero by Michael Bendecks. Women's organizations have been an instrumental force, too, of creative fairness in Honduras. Specifically, according to screenwriter, Julia Herrera, it is the primary goal of the Colectiva de Mujeres Cineastas Hondurenas to train new filmmakers, support and promote films by women, and build networks "that empower each of us to create on our own." Check these out! U.S. And Iran Trade Barbs, Memes On Social Media Over Deadly Coronavirus Pandemic By Golnaz Esfandiari April 21, 2020 In an image shared on Twitter recently by the U.S. State Department, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is seen sitting next to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad while between them is a small table with a large pile of cash on it. There is also a pile of cash on Assad's lap as well as an Iranian banknote in his pocket. The altered image was tweeted on April 20 by State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus to highlight Tehran's support for its main regional ally, Syria, as Zarif visited Damascus for talks with Assad. "Since 2012, the Iranian regime has provided more than $10 billion of the Iranian people's money to Assad. Wonder how much plundered cash the regime's chief apologist [Zarif] is delivering to Damascus today?" Ortagus wrote in the latest example of the social-media battle raging between Washington and Tehran aimed at swaying public opinion and supporting a narrative. The two sides, which officially don't talk to each other, have in past weeks been trading barbs and memes amid a deadly coronavirus pandemic that has hit both countries severely. Ali Vaez, the director of the Iran Project at the International Crisis Group (ICG), says the "pointless and utterly juvenile" exchanges are illustrative of "the sad state of relations" between the two countries, which came close to a military conflict earlier this year following the U.S. assassination of Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps' (IRGC) regional operations. The killing in Baghdad led to a retaliatory missile attack by Tehran on U.S. forces in Iraq. "The ideologues within the U.S. administration believe that the Islamic republic is on the verge [of falling] as a result of the combined effects of the [COVID-19] crisis and sanctions, and thus sees media warfare as a catalyst of regime collapse," he said. "The Iranians, for their part, see the humanitarian crisis in Iran as an opportunity to shift the blame to the U.S. and delegitimize the sanctions in the court of international public opinion," Vaez added. Fighting Sanctions Much of the recent exchanges have focused on crippling U.S. sanctions reimposed on Iran after U.S. President Donald Trump exited the historic 2015 nuclear deal, which he said was not strong enough to contain Tehran's nuclear activities and its regional ambitions. Washington says humanitarian goods, including medicines, are exempt from sanctions. But Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said that sanctions have "drastically" constrained Iran's ability to finance humanitarian imports, including medical equipment. The White House has refused to ease the sanctions despite calls by the United Nations, the European Union, more than 30 members of Congress, and others while offering Tehran humanitarian aid that has been dismissed by Iranian officials. Tehran, which has applied for an emergency $5 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to fight the coronavirus outbreak, has intensified its calls for the removal of "illegal" sanctions, while saying they hamper its ability to contain the pandemic that has killed more than 5,200 Iranians and infected some 85,000, according to official figures as of April 21. Actual figures are believed by many international groups and people inside the country to be significantly higher. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has accused Iran of "incompetent and deadly governance," while saying that the establishment's calls for the lifting of sanctions is "about cash for the regime's leaders." Tweets and images shared by the State Department have suggested that the clerical establishment has enough funds to deal with the crisis, including replacing the letter "o" in "billions" with a photo of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who according to a 2013 Reuters investigation controls an economic empire with an estimated worth of about $95 billion. The image was shared by Ortagus after Zarif accused the U.S. of "economic terrorism" amid the COVID-19 outbreak in his country, by far the worst in the Middle East. Another image, posted by Iran's Foreign Ministry, included a photo of Pompeo photoshopped under the coronavirus symbol that stood as the letter "o" in the word "sanctions." Zarif has directly addressed Trump in some of his tweets, including on April 19, when he reacted to an offer by the U.S. president to send aid to Iran, including ventilators, "if they ask for it." "Iran will be exporting VENTILATORS in a few months @realdonaldtrump," Zarif tweeted on April 19. "All you need to do is stop interfering in the affairs of other nations; mine especially. And believe me, we do not take advice from ANY American politician," Zarif added on Twitter, which is blocked in the Islamic republic and inaccessible to most Iranians. Earlier in the year, Trump and Khamenei traded accusations on Twitter amid heightened tensions between the two countries following the U.S. drone attack that killed Soleimani. "The so-called 'Supreme Leader' of Iran, who has not been so Supreme lately, had some nasty things to say about the United States and Europe. Their economy is crashing, and their people are suffering. He should be very careful with his words!" Trump tweeted on January 17, in what appeared to be a reaction to a Khamenei speech where he blasted the United States for killing Soleimani. Shortly after Trump's tweet, Khamenei's official English-language Twitter account accused the U.S. president of lying when he said that his country stood with the Iranian people. Where Will It End? The social-media battle and tensions between the two sides are likely to persist in the coming months, analysts say. Vaez says talks between the two countries are unlikely prior to the November presidential election in the United States. "The irony is that the weaker Iran becomes as a result of the pandemic's devastation, the more loath it would be to negotiate with the U.S. out of fear that its weakness could invite more, not less, pressure from the U.S.," Vaez says. Arianne Tabatabai, an adjunct senior research scholar at Columbia University, recently suggested that Tehran could seek to bolster its positions ahead of potential negotiations by raising the cost for Washington's "maximum pressure" campaign. "Examples of actions Iran could take to strengthen its hand might well include items from the playbook the regime introduced in spring 2019 and carried on until the killing of Soleimani, such as attacks on oil facilities, shipping hubs, and other regional targets," Tabatabai wrote in an April 14 analysis published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/us-and-iran-trade- barbs-memes-on-social-media-over-deadly- coronavirus-pandemic/30568626.html Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The morning sun begins to rise in front of the U.S. Capitol on March 11, 2014. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images) Senators Mike Lee and Rand Paul Criticize Voting Process for Phase 3.5 Relief Bill Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) criticized the Senate on Tuesday for negotiating a $484 billion CCP virus relief package while the majority of Senate lawmakers remained in their home districts. Both Republicans voiced profound concerns about approving the provisions in the phase 3.5 relief bill without a recorded vote. While neither Lee nor Paul blocked the bill, they did imply that they would not allow such a process with future legislation. Again, this is not acceptable. We should not be passing major legislation especially legislation nearly a half-trillion dollars in new spending without Congress actually being in session, Lee said from the Senate floor. Without members actually being here to debate, discuss, amend, and consider legislation and vote on it individually. Even more alarming than the money is the idea that one senator can stand on the floor and pass legislation spending a half a trillion dollars and have no recorded vote and no debate, added Paul, who said he came back to the chamber so that history will record that not everyone gave in to the massive debt Congress is creating. The phase 3.5 relief legislation that passed Tuesday will provide billions to the Paycheck Protection Program, which ran out of money last week, as well as to hospitals. The nearly half-trillion-dollar package comes shortly after Congress passed a $2 trillion rescue package to mitigate the economic effects of the pandemic. The upcoming challenges are far too numerous, and onerous and complex to leave up to, just a few staff meetings behind closed doors, Lee said. While Lee disapproved of the process used to negotiate and pass the current relief bill, Pauls criticism aimed more at the governments indiscriminate payments to individuals and families, and the increase in national debt. If we were going to make discreet payments, direct payments, the criteria should have been sending checks to people who needed it: people who lost their jobs, people furloughed, people who had wage cuts, said Paul. Instead of directing help to the unemployed, though, some of these bailout checks will go to people, couples who earn nearly $200,000 a year. Senators Call for Lawmakers to Return to Capitol Hill Lee praised essential workers and citizens for their hard work during the pandemic, but said that Congress needs to do more to earn its paycheck. Only returning to work, and indeed actually working will give the American people the government they deserve. The American people need to know who is helping them and who simply playing politics. We cant allow them to know that if were not in session, Lee continued. Senator Paul echoed Lees call to get lawmakers back to Capitol Hill as soon as possible and quarantines lifted. No amount of bailout dollars will stimulate an economy that is being strangled by quarantine, Paul said. It is not a lack of money that plagues us but a lack of commerce. The Kentucky Senator called for reopening the economy as soon as safely possible, which he said will require moving beyond one-size-fits-all policies. He also offered encouraging statistics about the lethality of the virus. The number of people who have already developed antibodies to the coronavirus is 25 to 50 times higher than the number that has been reported as infected. This is great news. This study means that the mortality rate may well be 25 to 50 times less deadly than previously thought. The Trump Administration issued national guidelines for reopening the economy on April 16, but each state has the discretion to follow the timeline as they see fit. Senate and House members are slated to return to Capitol Hill on May 4, but Republican senators speaking from the Senate Chamber Tuesday urged Senate leaders to consider returning sooner. Unlike millions of our constituents, Members of Congress are still receiving paychecks. Its time for us to earn them. Its time to do our job. Its time to return to Washington, and get to work, Lee said. We can choose to legislate, in which case we have to convene, or we can stay in recess and not legislate. Those really are the only two options. Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates have commended Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership and his government's "proactive measures" such as lockdown and expansion of focused testing in combating the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic in India. He hailed the Modi government's steps in fighting COVID-19 such as adopting a national lockdown, expanding focused testing to identify hotspots for isolation, quarantining, and care. Gates also lauded the significant increase in health expenditures to strengthen the health system response and promoting Research and Development and digital innovation. Writing a letter to PM Modi he said, "We commend your leadership and the proactive measures you and your government have taken to flatten the curve of the COVID-19 infection rate in India, such as adopting a national lockdown, expanding focused testing to identify hot spots for isolation, quarantining, and care, and significantly increasing health expenditures to strengthen the health system response and promote R&D and digital innovation." He also wrote that he was glad that the Indian government is fully utilizing its exceptional digital capabilities in its COVID-19 response and has launched the 'Aarogya Setu' digital app for coronavirus tracking, contact tracing, and to connect people to health services. "Grateful to see that you're seeking to balance public health imperatives with the need to ensure adequate social protection for all Indians," the Gates Foundation co-chair wrote in the letter. India has been battling the pandemic on a war-footing. PM Modi announced a lockdown till May 3 to flatten the rising curve. The country has witnessed a recovery rate of 19.36 per cent (3870 people). Since April 21, an increase of 1,383 new cases has been reported. Also, a total of 19,984 people have been confirmed positive as of now for COVID-19 in India. In the last 24 hours, 50 new deaths have been reported. The Cabinet has recommended promulgating an Ordinance to ensure the safety of the doctors under the Epidemic Disease Act, 1897. ICMR has forwarded a protocol for using Rapid Antibody Test to all states. It is reiterated that antibody rapid tests are largely to be used as a tool for surveillance. The government will be conducting a telephonic survey where citizens shall be contacted through their mobile phone from the number 1921, through NIC. This is a genuine survey. All citizens have been requested to participate to help get proper feedback on the prevalence and distribution of COVID-19 symptoms. By Azernews By Akbar Mammadov Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign Ministers, Elmar Mammadyarov and Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, discussed the next steps in the settlement process of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between the two countries in a video-conference held on April 21. During the meeting, lasting more than one hour and a half, the sides discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict according to the joint statement adopted in Geneva on 30 January of this year. It was noted during the meeting that, because of the extraordinary situation resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak, the implementation of previously agreed humanitarian measures, as well as the Ministerial meetings and the visits of the Co-Chairs to the region have been postponed. Nevertheless, it was underlined that the necessary work to prepare these activities continues. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in a statement published in its official website after the meeting that Azerbaijans position on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains unchanged. It is based on the norms and principles of international law, as enshrined in the UN Charter and OSCE Helsinki Final Act and the implementation of the related UN Security Council resolutions. Azerbaijan is insisting that substantive talks must be intensified as there is no way to move out from the situation which region is facing now. The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are considering the opportunities to move forward the peace process without military consequences, the ministrys report reads. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group that negotiates the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Igor Popov (Russia), Stephane Visconti (France), Andrew Schofer (USA) and Andrzej Kasprzyk, the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, also participated in the online meeting of the two countries foreign ministers. The OSCE Minsk Group published a joint statement in its website on the outcome of the meeting. Considering the great challenges now confronting all populations without regard to political boundaries, and which serve as stark reminders of the preciousness of every human life, the Foreign Ministers and the Co-Chairs expressed the hope that the resolve seen in the global pandemic response will bring a creative and constructive impetus to the peace process. The Co-Chairs drew attention to the 23 March appeal by the Secretary General of the United Nations for global ceasefire measures during the current health crisis and to the Co-Chairs' 19 March statement, the joint statement reads. On March 19, the OSCE Minsk Group appealed to the sides, saying that despite the heavy restrictions on international travel due to COVID-19 outbreak, the Co-Chairs will continue their mediation efforts without interruption, remaining in close contact with each other and with the sides. During the meeting, the sides also touched on the importance of observing the ceasefire regime strictly and refraining from provocative actions in the current situation. It should be noted that earlier Armenia undermined the peace negotiations by holding illegal elections in occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region on May 31. The international organizations, including the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs rejected the so-called elections. The OSCE Minsk Group issued a statement, saying "Nagorno-Karabakh is not recognized as an independent and sovereign state by any of the Co-Chair countries or any other country. Accordingly, the Co-Chairs do not accept the results of these elections as affecting the legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh and stress that the results in no way prejudge the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh or the outcome of the ongoing negotiations to bring a lasting and peaceful settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict". It should be noted that this year the first meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign Ministers with the participation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the Personal Representative Andrzej Kasprzyk took place in Geneva on 28- 30 January. Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in a conflict over Azerbaijans Nagorno-Karabakh breakaway region, which along with seven adjacent regions was occupied by Armenian forces in a war in the early 1990s. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and around one million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France has been mediating the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict since the signing of the volatile cease-fire agreement in 1994. The Minsk Groups efforts have resulted in no progress and to this date, Armenia has failed to abide by the UN Security Council resolutions (822, 853, 874 and 884) that demand the withdrawal of Armenian military forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. More and more businesses sorrounding the automotive industry are helping fight the blues brought by the enhanced community quarantine. Morris Garages (MG) Philippines have announced that they have created free coloring sheets of its current lineup of vehicles, namely the ZS Crossover SUV, MG 5 Sedan, RX5 SUV, and MG 6 Fastback Sedan. These sheets, MG stated, offer a fun and interactive activity that the entire family can enjoy; and for the more serious artists out there, a chance to practice their artistic sensibilities. Mg ZS They also said that the pages can "flex ones creativity: you can draw in a background and color that in, or see what your favorite MGs would look like with an uncommon body color." These hi-res sheets are free to download from the MG Philippines website through this link or from MG Philippines Facebook (OfficialMGPhilippines) and Instagram (@mg_philippines) accounts. Aside from that, Motor Union Manila also gave away free coloring pages of old models since March 26, so that more peopleyoung and old alikecan enjoy the models from the yesteryears. Motor Union Manila Creative Director Ian Magbanua has already uploaded six ready-to-print pages for free. Asked on why he'd put up such work for free, he seems to have the eagerness to teach the young generation about the past models. "Last year, I released an alphabet book of cars for kids and I figured it'd be nice to give them something to do during the lockdown," Magbanua said. From Motor Union Manila Website He said that he got inspiration from from the likes of automakers abroad. "A few weeks before I made my coloring sheets I already saw free releases from the likes of Benz and Audi. Other automotive artists like Jon Sibal and Damon Moran did it too if I'm not mistaken," he said. For the free, downloadable art sheets from Motor Union Manila, you can visit this site. Motor Union Manila was in 2014 by Magbanua, together Alex Lao and Charles Ty. "The idea was to put out designs for shirts and high quality artwork that echoed my nostalgia for cars from decades past. I realized that I had no access to shirt designs of cars that I liked, so I made them myself," he said. Story continues Also read: HONG KONG, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CNOOC Limited (the "Company", SEHK: 00883,NYSE: CEO, TSX: CNU) announced today it has filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") its 2019 annual report on Form 20-F ("annual report on Form 20-F") that included audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2019. The annual report on Form 20-F is available on the Company's website at www.cnoocltd.com as well as the SECs website at www.sec.gov. CNOOC Limited will also provide a hard copy of its 2019 annual report on Form 20-F to shareholders free of charge, including its complete audited financial statements. To request a hard copy of the annual report, please contact: Investor Relations Department of CNOOC Limited Tel: +86-10-8452-1917 Fax: +86-10-8452-1441 E-mail: [email protected] - End - Notes to Editors: More information about the Company is available at http://www.cnoocltd.com . **** **** **** **** This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding expected future events, business prospectus or financial results. The words "expect", "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "objective", "ongoing", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe", "plans", "intends" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These statements are based on assumptions and analyses made by the Company in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors the Company believes are appropriate under the circumstances. However, whether actual results and developments will meet the expectations and predictions of the Company depends on a number of risks and uncertainties which could cause the actual results, performance and financial condition to differ materially from the Company's expectations, including but not limited to those associated with fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas prices, macro-political and economic factors, changes in the tax and fiscal regimes of the host countries in which we operate, the highly competitive nature of the oil and natural gas industry, the exploration and development activities, mergers, acquisitions and divestments activities, environmental responsibility and compliance requirements, foreign operations and cyber system attacks. For a description of these and other risks and uncertainties, please see the documents the Company files from time to time with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Annual Report on Form 20-F filed in April of the latest fiscal year. Consequently, all of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements. The Company cannot assure that the results or developments anticipated will be realised or, even if substantially realised, that they will have the expected effect on the Company, its business or operations. *** *** *** *** For further enquiries, please contact: Ms. Jing Liu Manager, Media & Public Relations CNOOC Limited Tel: +86 10 8452 3404 Fax: +86 10 8452 1441 E-mail: [email protected] Ms. Ada Leung Hill+Knowlton Strategies Asia Tel: +852 2894 6225 Fax: +852 2576 1990 E-mail: [email protected] SOURCE CNOOC Limited Related Links http://www.cnoocltd.com Gov. Baker speaks Wednesday at the daily COVID-19 briefing. Baker: Expect 'Forceful Guidance' on Business Reopenings BOSTON Officials, health experts and business leaders are trying to envision what a "reopened" Massachusetts might look like. But Gov. Charlie Baker says it's too soon to be thinking of putting any new rules into effect. "We need to be on the other side of the curve before we do any of this stuff," he said at Wednesday's daily update on the novel coronavirus pandemic. "And then the question becomes what are going to be the rules, how are they going to work." The state is in the midst of what is being described as a "surge" in cases of COVID-19, the highly contagious novel coronavirus that has killed more than 45,000 Americans and nearly 2,000 Bay Staters. Since mid-March, gatherings of more than 10 have been prohibited, industries deemed non-essential have been closed at least until May 4 and residents have been advised to social distance and wear masks to contain the disease. Once those cases peak and begin to decline, officials say they can start talking about phasing a restart of the economy with the knowledge that a second or third wave of the pandemic is likely. Schools have been closed through the end of the academic year but educators are considering what will have to be in place for them to open in the fall. Baker referred to a question asked at Tuesday's briefing on whether the May 4 date would hold and how the state would look at essential versus non-essential. He noted he had answered it was less about date and type and "more about what we would describe as the rules of the road for reopening." "I think those rules will be relatively relatively uniform and comprehensive at a certain level and then they're going to be defined a little more narrowly depending upon what kind of space or industry you're talking about," he said. The governor said his administration including Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders and Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Michael Kennealy have been in discussions with business leaders on the path forward. A number of global corporations operate in the Bay State and are providing some ideas of how they are doing businesses in other parts of the world. "But I think the way people ought to start thinking about this is a little less about essential and non-essential and a little more about, you know, what are the criteria that would make it possible for the business to open up, what's the context, right the prerequisite," Baker said. "We've talked about a variety of different mechanisms that states have come up with and that the federal government has proposed with respect to how you get to the point where you believe you're on the other side of the curve." He added that "there will be guidance, and in some cases probably pretty forceful guidance, around what the rules should look like. And then, and then within that people are gonna have to figure out if they can comply with it." The governor reiterated numerous times that nothing will happen until the state gets "over the hump" of the pandemic's spread and has enough testing to aid in its containment. Nearly 4,000 patients are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 but the state appears to have enough beds should that rise, with 56 percent of the 18,000 beds mobilized now unoccupied. The number of tests have risen to more than 6,000 a day with a total statewide of about 175,000 tests done of which more than 41,000 were positive. The state is also investing heavily in contact tracing with Partners in Health to track the coronavirus spread. "We now have more than 30 partners that are testing each day, Massachusetts remains a national leader in per capita testing and we're continuing and committed to building on this work," Baker said, adding that more testing sites will be coming online at community health centers in hot spots around the greater Boston area. "Today more than 30 community health centers are participating in the community tracing collaborative working with us to trace contacts and the neighborhoods in the cities and towns that they know so well. ... "Over time, tracing is critical to helping us understand the spread of the virus and helping us return to the new normal." "One of the major reasons why distancing, and why staying at home, and why dealing with the consequences of all this is so important is because this is not like the flu," the governor said. "If you get the flu, you know, and everybody else knows it. But when it comes to this particular virus. There are a number of people who get it, who don't know it." Responding to questions about how other New England states may be partially reopening, Baker said he's spoken with neighboring governors about pointed out how some are ahead of Massachusetts in the surge cases. "Those those six New England states are all in different places with respect to the surge," he said. "I think one of the reasons we want to be sort of regional in our dialogue and our discussions around this stuff is so that people don't surprise us with the decisions that they make." That was the reason for joining the larger Northeast coalition, Baker said, to keep abreast of the status of the different states and what their next moves are so no one is surprised. He declined to expand on a comment about doing "whatever we need to do to make sure that we keep people this weekend in Massachusetts" should New Hampshire allow certain businesses to open or if that would mean travel restrictions. "I don't want to speculate on that at this time we're going to put together a reopening group of our own," he said, and that it could have talks with the reopening teams neighboring governors have put together. He acknowledged that the stay-home advisories and social distancing have caused disruption and angst across the state but asked citizens to stay the course. He referred to a story about a Whole Foods worker in Swampscott "an amazing man with a beautiful family" who died of COVID-19 as an example of the front-line workers putting their lives in danger every day. "It's part of what makes this virus so insidious, it's so difficult and why I get so passionate when people start talking to me about why we can't do this, that or the other thing," Baker said. "We're trying to do the best we can to try to keep people safe." Agartala, April 22 : A stranded Rajasthan couple in Tripura on Wednesday named their newborn Lockdown. The baby boy was born at the Tripura government-run Indira Gandhi Memorial (IGM) State Hospital here in the capital city last week. After observing the customary rituals at a shelter camp on Wednesday they named the baby as Lockdown. Around 105 people, including 25 children, all nomads and hailing from Rajasthan's Alwar district, came to Tripura to take part in various fairs last month, but could not return as the countrywide lockdown came into enforcement from March 25. These people were lodged at a government school and other homes on the outskirts of the capital city. A pregnant 38-year-old woman Manju Devi had to be admitted in the IGM hospital where she delivered the baby boy on Saturday. "The Agartala Municipal Corporation, Sub-Divisional Magistrate along with the local business community of Rajasthan in Agartala came forward to lend help, including providing food to these people," local MLA Mimi Majumder told IANS. The ASHA (Accredited Social Health Assistant) workers also lend their help to the new mother and her baby after they are released from the hospital. Majumder, who provided baby food, dry food and clothings for the children of these stranded families, said that currently both the mother and the child are healthy after their release from the hospital. "The stranded people were cheerful on Wednesday and after celebrating customary ceremonies named the child as Lockdown. They were very happy after getting all kinds of help from all the quarters," the Legislator said. Meanwhile, thousands of stranded people from Rajasthan, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and other states are sheltered in different parts of Tripura and the state government has been providing them accommodation, food and other basic necessities. "The completion of the acquisition of Sincro further amplifies the breadth and depth of Ansira's local marketing solutions, which is especially important today given the unprecedented change happening at the local level," says Jay Dettling, chief executive officer, Ansira. "Sincro's tagline is 'local marketing, synchronized.' That really resonates with me as we think about how we will work together to help support our clients. We look forward to a bright future for Sincro as they continue on their accelerated path of product development and services innovation as an Ansira company, sharing our passion for digital marketing technology solutions and services." Sincro, formerly CDK Digital Marketing Business, announced its rebranding today, tapping into the company's roots in innovation and cross-function to inspire the name, while also evoking its commitment to synchronization. Sincro has a world-class technology stack purpose-built to grow brands and drive performance across the entire local digital ecosystem. Its dedicated team is in sync and aligned against a singular mission of delivering effective digital marketing solutions. "Our top priority today is to help our customers navigate the impacts of COVID-19 and that immediate focus does not change," said Jen Cole, president of Sincro. "And we look forward to a strong future together with Ansira, partnering with our customers to deliver in-the-moment marketing that helps dealers maximize lifetime customer value, drive efficiency and performance across digital channels, and promote their brands, their way in their local markets." Sincro is equipped with powerful, highly customizable websites and a digital marketing technology platform that work together to improve the customer experience and drive more than 83 million monthly unique visitors across a multi-tiered automotive landscape. In addition to offering solutions for websites, advertising, digital consulting, earned marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), and social product lines, Sincro's newly refreshed platform delivers an enhanced user experience with new features and improved dealer usability. Sincro has a team of more than 175 representatives in the field to call on dealers in the market, dedicated to responsiveness and a consistent quality of service. Additionally, the company's footprint in North America and India is focused on service and support around the clock, and expands Ansira's global presence. Ansira is backed by Advent International, one of the largest and most experienced global private equity investors, with deep expertise in the business and financial services sector. ABOUT ANSIRA In a world where it's never been harder for brands to capture and keep customers, experience is everything. An independent, global marketing agency, Ansira believes designing relevant, persuasive experiences for all the right moments is the only way to strengthen relationships, cultivate brand loyalists, and assure profitable growth. That's why Ansira arms brands and their sales partners with solutions to make those experiences possible: strategy, performance marketing, loyalty marketing, martech consulting and integration, channel partner marketing, and local marketing activation. For more information, visit Ansira.com or LinkedIn. ABOUT ADVENT INTERNATIONAL Founded in 1984, Advent International is one of the largest and most experienced global private equity investors. The firm has invested in over 350 private equity transactions in 41 countries, and as of December 31, 2019, had $57.0 billion in assets under management. With 15 offices in 12 countries, Advent has established a globally integrated team of over 200 investment professionals across North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia. The firm focuses on investments in five core sectors, including business and financial services; health care; industrial; retail, consumer and leisure; and technology. After 35 years dedicated to international investing, Advent remains committed to partnering with management teams to deliver sustained revenue and earnings growth for its portfolio companies. For more information, visit Website: www.adventinternational.com; LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/advent-international Media Contact: Megan Duran [email protected] 972.663.1380 SOURCE Ansira Partners, Inc. Related Links http://www.ansira.com Seeking to unite Democrats, Joe Biden has raced to line up supporters ranging from progressive icon Bernie Sanders to former President Barack Obama, whose administration sometimes irked liberals. But the person with the most influence may be Michelle Obama. The former first lady is a unique figure in a deeply polarizing political environment, exceedingly popular with the party faithful while also having some appeal with Republicans and independents. She left the White House with a 68% approval rating, according to Gallup polling. She also was named the most admired woman in the world for the second year in a row in a Gallup poll from December. And her memoir, Becoming, has sold more than 11 million copies worldwide since its November 2018 release, making it one of the bestselling political memoirs in history. Her book tour filled arenas with thousands of cheering fans. That type of energy could be critical for Biden, who is trying to build momentum for his campaign at a time when the coronavirus is dominating headlines. Michelle Obama could help Biden present a clear contrast with President Donald Trump and rebuild the multiracial, multigenerational coalition that twice put Barack Obama in the White House. She brings to the table not just her own experience of being an active and well-respected first lady but, at a time when the country is looking for leadership and looking for role models, she fills so many gaps, said Democratic strategist Donna Brazile. I can only imagine what her endorsement would mean to the former vice president. Like most Americans, Michelle Obama is staying at home, along with her husband and daughters Malia and Sasha, who are back from college. She has not yet weighed in on the 2020 campaign, though a person close to her said there's little doubt she supports Biden. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss Michelle Obama's thinking. An endorsement does not appear imminent. Biden campaign aides who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss possible scenarios said they want to ensure that any announcement lands with the biggest impact possible. Biden's team sees Michelle Obama as a major endorser in her own right, with an appeal distinct from Barack Obama that would justify her own spotlight when, and if, she chooses to announce an endorsement, according to a Democrat with knowledge of the dynamics but not authorized to speak publicly. That's partly why Barack Obama's endorsement stood alone last week amid similar announcements from Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, two of Biden's former top rivals. The Obama and Biden families grew close during their White House years, and Biden's advisers say Michelle Obama is someone who can speak credibly about Biden's personal traits, further connect him to the Obama legacy and highlight differences with Trump. Even so, Michelle Obama does not see herself as a political figure and has repeatedly said she has no desire to run for office. She has campaigned for candidates, including 2016 presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, but only during the final weeks before an election. She has never announced an endorsement of her own. In 2018, she and the ex-president jointly endorsed nearly 100 Democratic candidates in federal and state races. The general election really hasn't even gotten going yet, said Valerie Jarrett, a longtime friend and adviser to Mrs. Obama, suggesting that it's too early for talk about her possible endorsement. Jarrett said her friend's focus right now is on When We All Vote, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization she co-founded with actor Tom Hanks and other celebrities in 2018 to help increase voter turnout. After Wisconsin voters had to choose between staying at home or risking their health to vote in this month's primary, When We All Vote publicly backed expanding vote by mail, early in-person voting and online voter registration to make voting easier and safer. Putting people in that position is unacceptable, especially when leaders like us don't have to do that, Michelle Obama told more than 21,000 supporters who joined a virtual When We All Vote event Monday night. She and Barack Obama have voted by mail in every election in the past decade, she said. Over the weekend, she appeared with former first lady Laura Bush during a concert organized to support health care workers and the World Health Organization. And this week, she launched Mondays with Michelle Obama, a four-week series in which she reads popular children's books aloud online. Michelle Obama continues to work on her education initiatives for girls in developing countries and for U.S. high school seniors. Karen Finney, who advised Clinton's 2016 campaign, said Michelle Obama's voice could be very powerful and carry tremendous weight as Biden considers a running mate. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The four Air Defense and Command Frigates (LCFs) will receive the 127/64 LW guns from the Italian company Leonardo, the Defense Equipment Organization (DMO) reported via Twitter yesterday. These guns will replace the old Italian Oto Breda 127mm in a few years. The latter are about 50 years old. The four Air Defense and Command Frigates (LCFs) will receive the 127/64 LW guns from the Italian company Leonardo, the Defense Equipment Organization (DMO) reported via Twitter yesterday. These guns will replace the old Italian Oto Breda 127mm in a few years. The latter are about 50 years old. Leonardo 127/64 LW (Picture source: Twitter Account Arie Jan de Waard) The head of the DMO, Admiral Arie Jan de Waard, announced in a tweet yesterday that the four gun systems would be delivered by the year 2025 and that local company Thales Netherlands will be in charge of their integration with the combat management system (CMS) of the LCF frigates. According to a DMO representative, Leonardo guns will come with an automated handling system and said that they will be future proof because they can deploy smart ammunition. The Oto Melara 127/64 Lightweight (LW) naval gun mount is a rapid-fire gun mount suitable for installation on large and medium-size ships, it also has a version for coastal defence, intended for surface fire and naval gunfire support as the main role and anti-aircraft fire as a secondary role. The compactness of the gun feeding system makes possible the installation on narrow section crafts. HNLMS De Ruyter frigate (Picture source: Ministerie van Defensie) De Zeven Provincien-class frigates are highly advanced air-defence and command frigates in service with the Royal Navy of the Netherlands (Koninklijke Marine). This class of ships is also known as LCF (Luchtverdedigings- en commando fregat, air defence and command frigate). The ships are similar to the German Sachsen-class frigates in role and mission. The Royal Netherlands Navy will become the fourth or fifth customer of the 127/64 LW after the Italian Navy (aboard the FREMM GP frigates and PPA), the German Navy (aboard the F125) and the Algerian Navy (aboard the Meko A-200AN). New Delhi, April 22 : The Union Health Ministry said a total of 19,984 people have been confirmed positive for COVID-19 across the country, and 3,870 people have been cured with a recovery rate of 19.36%. In the past twenty-four hours, 1,383 new cases have surfaced and 50 new deaths have been reported, said the ministry. According to the Union Health Ministry, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has forwarded a protocol for using rapid antibody test to all states, saying that antibody rapid tests are largely to be used as a tool for surveillance. "Globally also, the utility of this test is evolving and it is currently being used for detecting the formation of antibodies in individuals. These test results are also dependent on field conditions. As noted by ICMR, these tests cannot replace the RT-PCR test to diagnose COVID-19 cases. The ICMR has promised assistance to collect data from various States to assess the scope and extent of utility of these rapid antibody test in field conditions. The ICMR will keep advising the states on a regular basis", said the Health Ministry in a statement. The Centre will be conducting a telephonic survey where citizens will be contacted on their mobile phone from the number 1921. "This is a genuine survey. All citizens are requested to participate to help get proper feedback on the prevalence and distribution of COVID-19 symptoms", said a statement. Taking cognizance of attacks on doctors involved in the fight against coronavirus outbreak, the Cabinet has recommended an ordinance to ensure the safety of the doctors under the Epidemic Disease Act, 1897. The Home has Minister assured deoctors and health workers that government would leave no stone unturned in ensuring their well-being and security. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Ekiti State on Wednesday recorded its first COVID-19 death, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports. The states Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Mojisola Yaya-Kolade, confirmed the development at a press conference in Ado Ekiti. She said the victim, the third positive case in the state, died after all efforts to save her life were unsuccessful. According to her, the 29-year-old woman died at the Intensive Care Unit of the Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido Ekiti, where she had been receiving medical care after she was delivered of her baby some days ago. The woman showed signs of stability on Monday, but unfortunately, her condition deteriorated yesterday, Tuesday, and we lost her exactly 6.58 a.m. today, Wednesday, she said. The commissioner expressed regrets that the deceased had infected a 45-year-old medical doctor in the state in the process of her being delivered of her baby. She said the medical doctor was identified as the fourth case in the state by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. When asked if the remains of the late COVID-19 patient would be released to her family, the commissioner said the state was still studying the situation and would comply with the World Health Organisations safety rules on burial of such victims. We are going to liaise with the family on her burial. We are going to consider safety despite that there was assumption that the virus is not active in corpses because we dont know much about the virus, she said. Mrs Yaya-Kolade said the hospital where the patient died had been sanitised by the government since the woman was hospitalised. She, however, advised members of the public not to stigmatise the hospital because of the incident. The commissioner gave an assurance that the state would not be discouraged by the incident, but would continue with its surveillance and sensitisation on the pandemic. She said a total of 78 persons who had contacts with the deceased and the medical doctor had all been traced and placed in isolation. (NAN) A security guard at the Toh Guan Dormitory, a purpose-built migrant workers dormitory that has been gazetted as an isolation area on April 19, 2020 in Singapore. (PHOTO: Ore Huiying/Getty Images) By Daniel Moss (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Once lauded as a beacon in the fight against Covid-19, Singapore reached an unenviable milestone this week: the most cases in Southeast Asia. Soaring infections suggest rapidly tightening restrictions on social and economic activity are unlikely to cease anytime soon; the prime minister said Tuesday that schools and most workplaces will remain closed until June 1. The struggle to contain this pandemic even in a well-run, rich nation casts doubt on whether any country can become a global standard-bearer. Singapore has 9,125 coronavirus cases as of Tuesday, a tenfold increase in just three weeks, though has reported just 11 fatalities. That's a blip compared with Indonesia's 616 deaths, the Philippines's 437 and Thailand's 48. The bulk of new infections are from the migrant-worker community, which resides in tightly packed dormitories. These labourers hold many of the lower-paid jobs vital to Singapore's first-world economy. While the surge likely reflects more comprehensive testing than neighbours, this is an uncomfortable position for a place that usually runs like a Swiss watch. In return for its strong executive powers, the elected government has long provided policy stability, predictable decision-making and maintenance of health and wealth. Per capita income is among the highest on the globe and Singapore's health system is in the top 10 worldwide, according to a 2019 Bloomberg analysis. Singapore's attention to procedure can chafe, but its methodical approach is often preferable to the haphazard administration that can characterise much of Southeast Asia. Thats part of what's made the past few weeks so jarring. Having navigated through Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in 2003, the government warned its citizens early of the risks from Covid-19. Singapore was among the first to restrict arrivals from China; temperature screenings at offices and restaurants became commonplace by February. For months, the government urged citizens only to use masks if unwell. But as the case count rose, the government changed its tune, and stopped discouraging healthy people from wearing them. That later evolved into an order: Wear a mask, or risk fines and prosecution. (Children under two and exercisers have been exempt.) Story continues It wasnt until the governments early April circuit breaker the term lockdown is frowned upon that schools were shut. By that point, more than 160 nations had taken this step. The new restrictions also closed most businesses, aside from essential services. Fines are administered for people perceived to be breaching distancing rules; social gatherings with people outside your household have been outlawed, even inside private homes. Restaurants can sell food for takeout or delivery, but loitering is prohibited. After months of gradual limits on activity, officials hit the fast-forward button. New curbs were unveiled Tuesday, at the halfway point of the initial month-long circuit breaker that was scheduled to end early May. Access to wet markets and supermarkets will be restricted. Residents are advised to go out alone, rather than with family members, and stick close to home. You could point to the lack of stricter measures to date for the rapid increase. But in retrospect, the 43 foreign-worker dormitories were an accident waiting to happen. Conditions in these housing units meant that once the virus got a toehold, swift transmission was inevitable. Tommy Koh, former Singaporean ambassador to the United Nations and the U.S., has criticised the state of workers' living quarters. In an open letter to his grandchildren, published in the opinion pages of the Straits Times, he wrote: The sixth group of people we should praise are our indispensable foreign workers, such as our domestic helpers, cleaners, construction and shipyard workers, and others who work in jobs that Singaporeans are not prepared to do. We owe the foreign workers an apology for the atrocious condition of their dormitories. The government has responded quickly. Testing among migrant workers is widespread and will be stepped up, affected dorms are being isolated and healthy labourers are being housed in repurposed convention centres and military facilities. Ministers pledged to care for them and have acknowledged the essential nature of their work. Late Tuesday, the government said the migrant workers will be required to stop going to work and stay in their dorms. For its part, Singapore has never laid claim to being a model in the battle against the virus, though Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong did note that the World Health Organization lauded its response in a March 12 address. In an interview with CNN later that month, host Fareed Zakaria invited Lee to explain the countrys success. The premier balked at any talk of victory and predicted a long struggle. I know this has not been an easy time for everyone, Lee said Tuesday. We are making progress, but we have not yet succeeded. Perhaps the best lesson from Singapore is that there is no single playbook to combat an adversary that disregards boundaries. Even the most efficient and risk-averse countries have been sideswiped. The pandemic responses of the future may wind up splicing together the most effective steps taken around the world unfortunately, that's a template we may not see for years to come. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 20:02:14|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MELBOURNE, Australia, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Four on duty police officers were killed Wednesday in a multi car collision in Melbourne, Australia. The crash happened just after 5:30 p.m. local time in a city-bound lane near the Chandler Highway at Kew and the exact circumstances surrounding the collision were still to be determined, Victoria police said in a statement on Wednesday night. Investigators were investigating at the scene, and one injured male truck driver has been sent to hospital in non-life-threatening conditions. Police urged residents with information about the crash to contact authorities. Enditem GLENN COUNTY, Calif. - Agriculture is a key economic driver in Northern California, but the coronavirus pandemic is now impacting some of our youngest farmers. Action News Now spoke to several young farmers who were hoping to showcase their livestock at the Glenn County Fair. But now because of coronavirus concerns, the fair is shutting down. "I was really sad when I heard the news but I also understand these times are hard," said Taylor Hands, a young farmer who lives in Glenn County. Included in the fair closure - its junior livestock auction. Hands has been raising her meat goat since September of last year. "I have to feed it and I feed it Artois grain and water it, you have to clean out their pens a lot," Hands said. Its hard work - now this year she along with other students are showcasing their livestock virtually. Young farmers tell Action News Now the fair isn't just for the fun of it, you got to take care of these animals and it costs a lot of money. One pig Action News Now met eats at least 10 bags of food, at 30 dollars a bag it costs 300 dollars a year. "So yeah we've given him 500 pounds of food," said Andrew Bartels, a young farmer who lives in Glenn County. Bartels is hoping to sell his animal during these uncertain times. "Well the pig itself was 350 dollars. I wanted to make more money than we put into him," Bartels said. So did Hunter Bryant. "Hopefully we can sell this pig," Bryant said. But if he doesn't "Id be pretty bummed because I paid a lot for these pigs out of my own money that I had couple years ago, Bryant said, adding that its just a bummer that I don't get to sell because that's what I love doing." Hands is getting creative - posting how to cook goat meat to entice buyers. "Not a lot of people know how to cook goat meat, Hands said. Hands says if she can't sell her goat online she will take it to an auction yard, but it will be a lot less than she asked for. Originally she wanted to sell her goat at nearly $900 but has reduced the asking price in half. Facebook groups like Glenn County Youth Livestock and Glenn County AG Expo are still helping many of the children looking to sell their livestock. If you are interested in seeing the animals - the students are showcasing, CLICK HERE. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram New Delhi, April 22, 2020 Authorities in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir should stop harassing journalists with police investigations, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday evening, the Cyber Police Station in Srinagar issued a press release, which CPJ reviewed, stating that it had opened an investigation into journalist Gowhar Geelani over his posts on social media. Geelani, who now works as a freelance columnist, is a former correspondent for German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle; he told CPJ in a phone interview that he has not received a copy of any complaint against him, and heard about the police investigation through media reports. The statement claims that Geelani was indulging in unlawful activities that were prejudicial to the national integrity, sovereignty and security of India, but does not cite any specific social media posts prompting the investigation. Police also claimed that Geelanis posts were glorifying terrorism, according to news reports. Geelani frequently posts political commentary on his Facebook and Twitter accounts, each of which have about 20,000 followers. Since April 19, police in Jammu and Kashmir have also opened investigations into the work of freelance photojournalist Masrat Zahra and The Hindu reporter Peerzada Ashiq, as CPJ has documented. Journalists are not terrorists, and police in Jammu and Kashmir must stop treating them as such, said Aliya Iftikhar, CPJs senior Asia correspondent, in New York. Authorities should immediately drop their investigations into Gowhar Geelani, Masrat Zahra, and Peerzada Ashiq, and allow them all to report freely and without harassment. The police press release does not accuse Geelani of violating any specific laws. When CPJ messaged Cyber Police Superintendent Tahir Ashraf for comment, he referred CPJ to Jammu and Kashmir Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar, who did not respond to a text message seeking comment. In September 2019, the Indian government stopped Geelani from traveling to Germany for a journalist training program, as CPJ documented at the time. In February 2020, Jammu and Kashmir police summoned three journalists for questioning on their social media activities. ALBANY Two cats in New York state have tested positive for COVID-19, becoming the first pets in the United States confirmed to have contracted the novel coronavirus responsible for killing more than 182,000 humans worldwide. The felines, who live in Orange and Nassau counties, experienced mild respiratory illness. Both are expected to make a full recovery, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and U.S. Department of Agricultures National Veterinary Services Laboratories, which announced the findings Wednesday. The federal agencies said the first cat lived in a home in which no one had tested positive for COVID-19. They said the cat may have become infected from mildly ill or asymptomatic household members or through contact with an infected person outside its home. The second cat lived in a home whose owner tested positive for COVID-19 before the animal started to show symptoms. Samples were taken from the cat after the pet showed signs of respiratory illness. Another cat in the home showed no signs of illness, the agencies said in a news release. The locations where the cats lived were not identified. Both cats tested presumptive positive for COVID-19 at a private veterinary laboratory, which reported the results to state and federal officials. The agencies said no evidence shows that pets play a role in spreading the coronavirus in the United States. The New York state Agriculture Department also said Wednesday that, "It is important to note that the CDC and USDA have stated that there have been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 being transferred from a pet to a human." Therefore, there is no justification in taking measures against companion animals that may compromise their welfare, the CDC news release said. Further studies are needed to understand if and how different animals, including pets, could be affected. COVID-19 infections have been reported in very few animals worldwide, mostly in those that had close contact with a person with COVID-19, the agencies said. The agencies were not recommending routine testing of animals state animal and public health officials are to make those decisions but said if more animals test positive for COVID-19, findings would be posted. On April 6, the Times Union reported that some veterinarians in the Capital Region were taking precautions and in at least one case cutting back on feline patients entering its hospital following reports that a tiger at the Bronx Zoo, a cat in Belgium and two dogs and a cat in Hong Kong had tested positive for the coronavirus. Other practices were not changing their handling of cats. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Veterinarians locally and beyond have stopped letting pet owners into their establishments. Customers call the veterinarian, drop off their animals at the door where employees take the animal inside for treatment. The owners return to pick them up outside the businesses. Alison Simpson, an events and community relations manager at the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society in Menands, said the animal protection organization was not in a position to give an informed comment on the two cats being infected with COVID-19. "Just like you, we are learning about this novel coronavirus as it comes," she said. "We are staying up to date on the reports, and are taking it all in. We are happy to hear that these cats have a good prognosis." Until more information is known, the CDC recommends owners not allow their pets to interact with people or animals outside their household, to keep cats indoors to prevent interactions, to walk dogs on a leash at least six feet away from other animals and people and to avoid dog parks and public places where large numbers of people and dogs gather. The CDC recommends that people confirmed or suspected of being sick with COVID-19 to have another member of their household care for pets while they are sick. It recommends they avoid contact with their pets, including petting, snuggles, kisses. licks, sharing food and beds. The agency said people who must care for their pet or be around animals while sick should wear a cloth face-covering and wash their hands before and after their interactions. "While additional animals may test positive as infections continue in people," the CDC said, "it is important to note that performing this animal testing does not reduce the availability of tests for humans." UNITED NATIONS, April 21 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Tuesday asked the international community to address the root causes of hunger by working toward the peaceful settlement of conflicts and by promoting inclusive and balanced development. It is imperative to prevent and resolve conflicts and to promote dialogue and political settlement of hot-spot issues, Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, told the Security Council in a debate on the protection of civilians affected by conflict-induced hunger. The Security Council should keep up to its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security and promote the resolution of conflicts through political and diplomatic means in order to relieve civilians from sufferings of war, including from hunger, he said. The international community should pay high attention to issues in Africa, and support the good offices and mediation efforts of the African Union and other regional organizations, said Zhang. He called on all relevant parties to support UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' appeal for a global cease-fire, and asked them to ensure unhindered humanitarian access, including food supply. It is essential to promote inclusive and balanced development and always take development as a priority, said Zhang. "It's difficult to achieve development without peace. What is also true is that it is hard to realize sustainable peace without development." Development is fundamental to resolving various global issues. It is especially important to support the efforts of Africa and other regions to eradicate poverty and advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, said Zhang. Great attention and inputs should be given to the reconstruction of conflict areas, promoting political and economic processes and peacekeeping and peacebuilding processes in parallel, while increasing the development of capacity of countries concerned to prevent food crises and other humanitarian disasters in a fundamental way, he said. He also stressed the importance of international cooperation in promoting global food security. The international community should jointly take urgent action to ensure unobstructed global food supply chains and maintain food supply and price stability, he said. "We must support the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme in playing their unique coordinating role in providing humanitarian assistance to countries concerned to prevent large-scale famine." Unilateral sanctions must be lifted as soon as possible. Member states should stabilize the industrial supply chains, reduced tariff barriers, facilitate trade, and ensure the uninterrupted global supply of food and agricultural products, said Zhang. Humanitarian operations should be conducted in accordance with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and the relevant humanitarian guiding principles while respecting the sovereignty of countries concerned, he said. China, as a large agricultural nation, attaches great importance to food security. On the basis of achieving food self-sufficiency, China is always actively engaged in international agriculture and food cooperation, he said. China has provided assistance to other developing countries within its capacity, said Zhang. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 and the Asian-African locust plague, China has given active support to other countries in combating the epidemic and has sent locust control teams to share its experience and help the affected countries. China is ready to strengthen cooperation with all parties to safeguard global food security and work together to create a world free of hunger and poverty, he said. "We are ready to provide solid support for all peoples in their quest for greater development and make greater contributions to building a world of lasting peace and common prosperity and a better future shared by all mankind." The Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has ordered the release of 30 prisoners in the Ado Ekiti Correctional Centre as efforts to curb the spread of Coronavirus in Nigeria intensifies. This was done in accordance as part of the Federal Governments process to protect inmates from contracting COVID-19 across the country. Also Read: Kebbi State Govt Releases 111 Inmates From Correctional Centres The state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Olawale Fapohunda, made this disclosure in Ado-Ekiti on Wednesday. Fapohunda revealed that applications for clemency on 45 inmates were received by the council. He however, noted that the 30 inmates considered fell within the category of inmates stated in the public notice earlier published by the Ministry of Justice. Fapohunda said that Governor Fayemi has also directed that the released individuals should immediately be listed as vulnerable persons. Early on in the current pandemic, before the Wuhan coronavirus virus began killing Americans, Sen. Tom Cotton raised the possibility that the virus originated in a high-security biochemical lab in Wuhan, the Chinese city at the center of the outbreak. Given the very close proximity of the lab to the outbreaks point of origin, the suggestion was plausible. At least as plausible was the notion that the source of the outbreak was Wuhans wet markets where various bats and other exotic animals are sold. This was the Chinese governments line and, initially, I was willing, tentatively, to accept it. For his part, Sen. Cotton didnt say that the virus came from a Chinese lab. Indeed, he made it clear that we dont have evidence that this disease originated there. He merely said that we at least have to ask the question. And Cotton certainly did not suggest that the Chinese unleashed the virus intentionally. Nonetheless, the mainstream media accused Cotton of peddling fringe conspiracy theories. The New York Timess Alexandra Stevenson did so in an article called Senator Tom Cotton Repeats Fringe Theory of Coronavirus Origins. Not surprisingly, Chris Cillizza of CNN attacked Cotton along similar lines, accusing him of playing a dangerous game. Tucker Carlson has compiled clips of other media hacks Fareed Zakaria and Brian Williams, for example making the same sort of accusation. Zakaria apparently compared Cotton to 9/11 truthers. I couldnt help wondering whether the left and the media would have been this dismissive if the virus had originated very near a Russian biochemical lab or, for that matter, an Israeli one. It seemed likely to me that the left and the media would not have been. As time went on, I began to learn facts that increased the likelihood that the Wuhan coronavirus originated in a Wuhan biochemical lab, facts that Cotton might already have known. There was evidence that the first known cases had no contact with the wet market initially said to be the virus source, a fact that Chinese state media has acknowledged. Moreover, there apparently is no evidence that the Wuhan markets sold bats or pangolins. the animals from which the virus is thought to have jumped to humans. And the bat species that carries the virus isnt found within 100 miles of Wuhan. By contrast, Wuhan has two labs where, according to Cotton, we know that bats and humans interacted. One is the Institute of Virology, eight miles from the wet market said to be the virus source; the other is the Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, barely 300 yards from that market. Sen. Cotton summarized this evidence and more in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published last week. He still isnt saying for certain that the virus originated in a Chinese lab. He admits that the evidence is circumstantial, but says it all points to the Wuhan labs. Certainly, some evidence does. The labs in question were ordered to destroy their samples, and the lab that first published the virus genome reportedly was shut down. These actions by the Chinese government may preclude ever finding direct evidence that the virus originated in a Wuhan lab. However, they add to the circumstantial evidence that it did. Regardless of how one evaluates the evidence, it cannot plausibly be argued that Sen. Cotton is pushing a fringe conspiracy theory. Theres too much circumstantial evidence to support the notion that the virus came from a Chinese lab. Indeed, Cotton isnt even presenting a conspiracy theory. To my knowledge, he has never suggested that the virus jump from the lab (if thats what happened) was other than an accident. Ill suggest some conspiracy theories, though. The mindless attack on Sen. Cotton by the Times, Cillizza, Zakaria, Williams, et al. stems not from an evaluation of the evidence but rather from (1) a desire to attack a politician they dont like, or (2) a desire to defend China that, as I suggested above, wouldnt apply to certain other countries, or (3) a combination of these two desires. Its too early in the process for us to be able to say that weve seen actual evidence of stimulus fraud, because the programs are so new, Benczkowski said. But we know from past history, whenever the government makes a large amount of money available to help individuals and businesses, the fraudsters will come out of the woodwork and seek to get access to that money. So we are preparing vigorously for what we absolutely know is coming. NHS bosses are under pressure today after military staff attacked the health service for the way it has been distributing vital PPE equipment during the coronavirus crisis. Military personnel accused the NHS of 'appalling' handling of the issue with the army apparently pushing to be given a more prominent role in making sure the kit gets to where it needs to go. They claimed NHS logistics were 'knackered' and questioned why certain key items were not being rationed. It came as an RAF plane carrying a PPE shipment from Turkey finally arrived back in the UK in the early hours of this morning. Flight tracker RadarBox showed the Airbus A400-M registered ZM416 depart Istanbul and land just after 3.30am at RAF Brize Norton. The plane had been dispatched from the Oxfordshire base, where two other planes are on stand-by to pick up further kit from Turkey, late on Monday. It is not yet known if the consignment, which was ordered last Thursday and originally due to arrive on Sunday, includes 400,000 badly-needed surgical gowns. There is growing fury over PPE shortages amid claims the government has been slow on taking up offers of help from British businesses as millions of items continue to be shipped out of the UK despite domestic need. Labour today claimed it had been told by dozens of UK companies that offers of help on PPE had been ignored by ministers. Health Secretary Matt Hancock is under pressure after military personnel labelled the current NHS distribution of PPE 'appalling' An RAF cargo plane arrived back from Turkey at RAF Brize Norton this morning with a cargo of PPE equipment The supply of gowns has emerged as one of the key issues of the current crisis with the government scrambling to source as many as possible from all over the world. But today ministers faced claims that they have been slow to talk to domestic manufacturers who have offered to supply items or to convert their production lines to make the equipment. Military planners who are experts in logistics were sent out to different parts of the country by the Ministry of Defence in the early stages of the outbreak to help ensure vital supplies were appropriately and swiftly allocated. But military sources have suggested that the NHS distribution network has seen PPE being sent to hospitals without fully taking into account need. That has meant some hospitals have ended up with more than they need while others have been left with a shortage. A senior army source told The Times: 'We know how knackered their [NHS logistics] systems are, but we've been surprised we've not been called in to help more, and we've been surprised by their failure to ration [kit].' Military commanders are thought to be frustrated that the so-called Covid Support Force which can call on 10,000 personnel and has disaster response planning expertise has not been put in charge of PPE distribution. A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: 'The MoD understands just how challenging logistics can be, especially under current pressures. 'Of course there may be frictions at a local level, but those same armed forces are doing everything possible to support their health colleagues. The MoD has full confidence in the NHS.' The arrival of the RAF plane back from Turkey will be a welcome piece of news for ministers as they struggle to boost supply of PPE. But they are facing domestic criticism after manufacturers suggested conversations with Whitehall about ramping up production and supply of items like gowns in the UK only started in the last two weeks. Delayed RAF plane finally lands with PPE cargo from Turkey An RAF plane carrying a delayed consignment of PPE from Turkey finally landed in the UK this morning - but is only carrying up to half the promised 84 tonnes of life-saving equipment. Flight tracker RadarBox showed the Airbus A400-M registered ZM416 depart Istanbul and land just after 3.30am at RAF Brize Norton. The jet is one of three that have been waiting for days for the go-ahead to pick urgently needed medical clothing and equipment, including 400,000 gowns made by Turkish suppliers. It is not known how much of the consignment has arrived today, but the RAF Atlas is believed to only have capacity for 40 tonnes. After the jet touched down, three pallets were seen being unloaded onto the tarmac. The government promised that the cargo would arrive in Britain on Sunday and it when it didn't the RAF plane was sent to pick it up. It didn't land in Istanbul until Monday, at 9.10pm local time. Fury over coronavirus PPE shortages is escalating amid claims the government was ignoring offers of help from businesses - and millions of pieces of PPE are still being shipped out of the UK in spite of the lack of equipment for NHS frontline staff. Reports suggested that the government missed out on 16million facemasks for the NHS after ignoring offers from two major firms. Advertisement Adam Mansell, head of the UK Fashion and Textile Association, said: 'We have started probably four weeks later than we should have.' Reports overnight suggested the government missed out on 16 million face masks for the NHS after offers from two major firms were ignored. The Guardian reported that infectious disease specialists Landcent said they could have delivered six million FFP2 masks for the NHS to use if the government had placed an order three weeks ago. Volker Schuster, who owns Merseyside-based chemicals company EcoLogix, also claims he wrote to the Cabinet Office's 'COVID commercial response unit' to offer a shipment of 10 milllion FFP2 masks from China. The firm said it only got a response eight days later - by which time the items had been sold to other countries. Mr Schuster's local MP, Labour's Bill Esterson, confirmed he had contacted Health Secretary Matt Hancock to highlight the offer on March 27 but that he had never received a reply. Labour today said it had been contacted by 36 British companies which had 'not received a reply' from the government after submitting offers to supply things like face guards, aprons and gowns. Shadow Cabinet Office minister Rachel Reeves said in a letter to her counterpart in government Michael Gove: 'You and your officials and those at the Department for Health and Social Care will be best placed to validate what capability and capacity these firms have, but as they have not received a reply after contacting the government, I wanted to ensure that the Cabinet Office was aware of them. 'Of these firms, if just one, five or 10 were able to contribute to the national effort of ensuring that our NHS and care workers and indeed anybody who needs to use some form of Personal Protective Equipment and clothing could be better protected, or just one hospital or care home were able to access adequate supplies of the PPE they need, I know you will agree that that would go a long way and make a big difference.' Mr Hancock announced yesterday at the daily Downing Street press conference that 8,331 companies had come forward with offers of PPE - some of which had led to 'very large-scale' purchases. 'I am very grateful to all of those who have come forward and we are now actively engaged with hundreds of these companies,' he said. 'I can announce that we are working with 159 potential UK manufacturers which are starting to come on stream.' Mr Hancock said the government needed to carefully consider all of the offers made to make sure firms can actually deliver on what they have promised. The Atlas A400 is spotted approaching the runway early this morning. It is only carrying up to half the promised 84 tonnes of life-saving equipment The RAF transport plane being loaded with vital PPE equipment in Turkey which is destined for frontline healthcare workers in the UK 'We have had some offers, for instance, that have come from companies where, upon investigation, the company has only just been formed in the previous day or two before coming and asking for a cash deal with the government,' he said. The RAF plane carrying supplies from Turkey is believed to only have been stocked with up to half of the promised 84 tonnes of life-saving equipment ordered from Istanbul. The delay in the arrival of the cargo had been blamed by the UK government on problems in Turkey. But Turkish officials hit back and said there had been no hold up on their end, claiming ministers had only requested help with the shipment on Sunday. The government is insistent that it is pursuing 'every possible option' to secure additional kit but unprecedented worldwide demand means the situation is 'very challenging'. Yesterday was Queen Elizabeths actual birthday. (Her official birthday is in June.) Her Majesty is 94 years old, Britains longest-reigning monarch, who uniquely has been there to guide her country through both a world war and a pandemic. Earlier this month, the queen gave a special address to the nation, the fifth of her 68-year reign. In it, she spoke of the attributes of self-discipline, of quiet good-humored resolve and of fellow-feeling still characterize this country, explaining that, just as in times gone by, if we remain united and resolute, then we will overcome adversity. A week later, she gave her first-ever Easter address, which spoke of hope in unapologetically Christian terms. If the Queens legacy is one of class and decorum, it is because she has worked hard to establish such a reputation. Over the decades, her self-effacing approach has demonstrated that she sees herself, first and foremost, as a public servant. It is this attitude that has won the trust and admiration of the public. Of course, not every royal takes after her. Her family has seen its fair share of scandals: adultery, divorce, and even implication in Jeffrey Epsteins sex ring. But at least these embarrassments were accidental. Since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, announced earlier this year that they would be stepping back from their role as senior royals, they have dogged the headlines. Even as the coronavirus rages across the globe, the couple who seem to operate according to Oscar Wildes mantra that the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about have managed to attract the attention of the Canadian, American, and British press, all while pretending that this is contrary to their intentions. On Easter Sunday, the Queen spoke dutifully of the need for quiet self-sacrifice, but Harry and Meghan newly arrived in Los Angeles, where their team of Hollywood agents, PR flacks, and business managers awaited them got to work being photographed delivering meals to Los Angeless residents. In her speeches, the Queen made ordinary Britons (and, you know, God) the heroes. But in their stunt, that role was reserved for Harry and Meghan themselves, who are simultaneously continuing their role as victims of the tabloid press. Story continues Last week, Meghan and Harry sent written letters to the editors of the Sun, the Daily Mail, the Daily Express, and the Daily Mirror to make clear that they will not offer themselves up as currency for an economy of click bait and distortion. In other words, they will not cooperate with these tabloids in stories about them, which only lead to salacious gossip. But as Dominic Green notes, the timing is bizarre . . . The couple, or at least their lawyers, are due to speak with three of those four papers quite soon. As part of their lawsuit against Associated Newspapers, Harry submitted text messages to Londons High Court that revealed his exchange with Markles father in the run-up to their wedding. Markles lawyers claim that the Mail misquoted the letter she sent to her father ahead of the wedding. But Markles estranged father denies this. He told journalists that while the British monarchy is one of the greatest, long-living institutions ever, Harry and Meghan were cheapening it by turning it into something thats ridiculous. Hes right that the more oxygen they give the story, the more it backfires, resembling a sloppily written soap opera. Normally, a gun salute at Hyde Park and the Tower of London would be fired in honor of the Queen on her birthday, but this year, amid the coronavirus, the monarch canceled these plans in the belief that they would not be appropriate. By contrast, as the world has ground to a halt around them, Harry and Meghan are still wangling to make everything about them. Hows that for a legacy? More from National Review Some may say its odd that people in uniform, the National Guard, are out here supporting this event, but we know that we bring a unique capability with our medical teams and our logistics teams to be able to provide this support here, Neely said. An order has been sent to China to supply thousands of items of vital Covid-19 Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) to Portlaoise hospital and potentially local nursing homes. And, thanks to the assistance of Laois Offaly TD and Minister for Justice, Charlie Flanagan, shipment obstacles have been overcome and some of the costs may be reduced on getting the masks and gowns to Laois. The Portlaoise Hospital Action Committee and the Friends of Portlaoise Hospital campaign launched a fundraising campaign last week with the aim of raising 20,000 to import PPE. Between pledges and funds raised, sufficient funds have been collected. The committees, with the help of Colgan's Sports, sourced a PPE manufacturer, specifically of the hard to get disposable gowns. The plan is to supply 10,000 gowns and 10,000 face masks. Portlaoise Hospital Action Committee secretary John Hanniffy thanked Laois TD and Minister for Justice Flanagan who he said has arranged for the Chinese Embassy to assist with the shipping of PPE. He said this could greatly reduce the cost of supply. He said the Embassy has assisted in helping to organise a freight company which is now communicating with the PPE supplier in China. "The main thing is that the order for gowns and masks has been placed and now the freight company is making arrangments for transportation," said Mr Hanniffy. The equipment is due to arrive at the Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise next week. Mr Hanniffy added that the committees have been contacted by local nursing homes which are trying to source suppliers in China to help them equip their staff with the correct PPE gear to help them safely care for patients. Kochi/Thiruvananthapuram, April 22 : Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday asserted he has nothing to hide on the transfer of coronavirus data to Sprinklr, a US-based PR and marketing company. "I have made my position very clear...I have nothing to hide and so I don't have any fear and those who claim to have the proof of the allegations, let them come out with it," said Vijayan. "All that I have said on this in the past few days is I do not have time to waste on allegations. Perhaps those who raise this (opposition Congress) see themselves when they do such acts. I have come a long way and I have never resorted to any such ways," said Vijayan. In reply to a question on the Kerala High Court taking up the data scam issue, he said it's only "natural that the court would ask for clarifications". Earlier in the day, leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala moved the Kerala High Court demanding cancellation of the Sprinklr contract. Chennithala has also demanded that all those whose data had been transferred should be compensated by the Chief Minister and the IT Secretary. The High Court is already hearing one such petition. On Tuesday, the court had slammed the Vijayan government and posted the case for Friday. The Congress had earlier pointed out that Vijayan's daughter's Bengaluru-based IT company had close links with Sprinklr and on Wednesday party legislator Eldos Kunnapally said that Vijayan's daughter had met Sprinklr CEO Ragi Thomas six times in the US. Meanwhile, CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechuri told media in Delhi that since the matter was sub judice, he was unable to speak on it. "Right now, all should concentrate on tackling the pandemic," said Yechuri. Gigi Lai has been the CEO of Miricor Enterprises Holdings Limited (HKG:1827) since 2016. First, this article will compare CEO compensation with compensation at similar sized companies. After that, we will consider the growth in the business. And finally - as a second measure of performance - we will look at the returns shareholders have received over the last few years. The aim of all this is to consider the appropriateness of CEO pay levels. See our latest analysis for Miricor Enterprises Holdings How Does Gigi Lai's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies? At the time of writing, our data says that Miricor Enterprises Holdings Limited has a market cap of HK$244m, and reported total annual CEO compensation of HK$2.4m for the year to March 2019. Notably, the salary of HK$2.4m is the vast majority of the CEO compensation. We took a group of companies with market capitalizations below HK$1.6b, and calculated the median CEO total compensation to be HK$1.8m. Next, let's break down remuneration compositions to understand how the industry and company compare with each other. Talking in terms of the sector, salary represented approximately 80% of total compensation out of all the companies we analysed, while other remuneration made up 20% of the pie. Miricor Enterprises Holdings is focused on going down a more traditional approach and is paying a higher portion of compensation through salary, as compared to non-salary benefits. It would therefore appear that Miricor Enterprises Holdings Limited pays Gigi Lai more than the median CEO remuneration at companies of a similar size, in the same market. However, this fact alone doesn't mean the remuneration is too high. We can better assess whether the pay is overly generous by looking into the underlying business performance. You can see, below, how CEO compensation at Miricor Enterprises Holdings has changed over time. SEHK:1827 CEO Compensation April 21st 2020 Is Miricor Enterprises Holdings Limited Growing? Story continues On average over the last three years, Miricor Enterprises Holdings Limited has seen earnings per share (EPS) move in a favourable direction by 42% each year (using a line of best fit). In the last year, its revenue is up 22%. This demonstrates that the company has been improving recently. A good result. This sort of respectable year-on-year revenue growth is often seen at a healthy, growing business. We don't have analyst forecasts, but you might want to assess this data-rich visualization of earnings, revenue and cash flow. Has Miricor Enterprises Holdings Limited Been A Good Investment? Since shareholders would have lost about 72% over three years, some Miricor Enterprises Holdings Limited shareholders would surely be feeling negative emotions. It therefore might be upsetting for shareholders if the CEO were paid generously. In Summary... We compared the total CEO remuneration paid by Miricor Enterprises Holdings Limited, and compared it to remuneration at a group of similar sized companies. We found that it pays well over the median amount paid in the benchmark group. However, the earnings per share growth over three years is certainly impressive. On the other hand returns to investors over the same period have probably disappointed many. One might thus conclude that it would be better if the company waited until growth is reflected in the share price, before increasing CEO compensation. On another note, we've spotted 2 warning signs for Miricor Enterprises Holdings that investors should look into moving forward. Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-23 02:19:12|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SYDNEY, April 22 (Xinhua) -- A city council in Australia's New South Wales (NSW) has overturned a previous decision to cut ties with its Chinese sister city. Wagga Wagga City Council voted last week to sever ties with China's Kunming. Mayor Greg Conkey, who didn't attend the meeting due to illness, said he was shocked to learn the decision and vowed to repeal it. The motion to rescind last week's decision was voted in favor by six against one on Wednesday evening. "This act has been overwhelmingly condemned by our own councillors, our own community and by people across the country," Conkey said. "Sadly, when poor decisions are made there is often harm that can't be undone. This may well be one of those times. We must nevertheless endeavour as best we can to right these wrongs." The Chinese Consulate General in Sydney on Wednesday welcomed the move. Since the establishment of the sister city relationship between Kunming and Wagga Wagga in 1988, exchanges and cooperation in various fields between the two cities have achieved fruitful results, and brought great benefits to the two peoples, said a spokesperson of the Chinese Consulate General in Sydney in a statement. The spokesperson noted that strengthening the relationship with Kunming reflects the general consensus of people from all walks of life in Wagga Wagga. "China is ready to work with all sectors in NSW, including Wagga Wagga, to further expand friendly exchanges and practical cooperation on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, with a view to promoting the well-being of our peoples and adding more positive energy to China-Australia relations and the friendship between the two peoples." Enditem President Donald Trump has announced he will force Harvard University and other big businesses to return emergency coronavirus funding that was intended for smaller companies. Controversy surrounded the Paychecks Protection Programme (PPE) after it was discovered big businesses like Harvard University and Shake Shack applied for and received emergency funding. The university, which has a multi-billion dollar endowment, received nearly $9m from the PPP. Harvards going to pay back the money, Mr Trump said during his press briefing on Tuesday. They shouldnt have taken it. Im not going to mention any other names, but when I saw Harvard, they have one of the largest endowments anywhere in the country, in the world, I guess. And theyre going to pay back that money, he added. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin clarified there was some confusion among big businesses on if they qualified for funding in the PPP or not. The federal government would give big businesses time to repay the funding, but they could face consequences if they dont. Certain people under PPP may not have been clear in understanding the certification, so were going to give people the benefit of the doubt, Mr Mnuchin said. If you pay back the loan right away, you wont have liability to the SBA (Small Business Administration) and to Treasury, but there are severe consequences who dont attest properly to the certification. He provided no clarification on what consequences big businesses could face. We want to make sure this money is available to small businesses that need it, people who have invested their entire life savings, Mr Mnuchin added. Shake Shack returned its $10m PPP loan after learning their business did not qualify for the funding. Questions as to what businesses would actually qualify for a PPP loan came after the Senate passed an emergency stimulus package that would add an additional $310bn in funding for PPP. People were concerned more large businesses would pull from the fund over small companies. Mr Mnuchin said the FAQs document about the loans would clarify what businesses qualify. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Kirsty Needham and Colin Packham (Reuters) Sydney, Australia Wed, April 22, 2020 15:45 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd39124f 2 World Australia,US,coronavirus,COVID-19,COVID-19-cluster,pandemic,investigation,Origins Free Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has sought support for an international investigation into the coronavirus pandemic in phone calls with US President Donald Trump, and the German and French leaders overnight, the government said on Wednesday. Australia's push for an independent review of the origins and spread of the pandemic, including the response of the World Health Organization (WHO), has drawn sharp criticism from China, which has accused Australian lawmakers of taking instructions from the United States. The new coronavirus, believed to have emerged in a market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, was first reported by China to the WHO on Dec. 31. WHO officials arrived in Wuhan on Jan. 20, after the virus had spread to three other countries. It has since infected some 2.3 million people globally and killed nearly 160,000, according to Reuters calculations. Morrison said on Twitter on Wednesday he had "a very constructive discussion" with Trump on the two nation's health responses to COVID-19 and the need to get economies up and running. "We also talked about the WHO & working together to improve the transparency & effectiveness of the international responses to pandemics," he tweeted. Morrison also spoke to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron by phone about the role of the WHO, his office said. Australia is examining whether the WHO should be given powers, similar to international weapons inspectors, to enter a country to investigate an outbreak without having to wait for consent, a government source told Reuters. The White House has been fiercely critical of China and the WHO, and has withdrawn US funding from the United Nations agency. Senior Australian lawmakers have also questioned Beijing's transparency over the pandemic. China's embassy in Canberra said in a statement late on Tuesday that Australian lawmakers were acting as the mouthpiece of Trump and "certain Australian politicians are keen to parrot what those Americans have asserted and simply follow them in staging political attacks on China". But foreign affairs minister Marise Payne has instead cast Australia as taking the lead in establishing an investigation because it was a liberal democracy with a proved history of shaping constructive global co-operation". No country "need feel singled out", she wrote in the Australian newspaper. Richard McGregor, senior fellow with foreign policy think tank The Lowy Institute, said the vitriolic reaction from Chinese diplomats towards Australia, even as France and Germany also called for more transparency from Beijing, showed how bad bilateral relations are". Morrison had been restrained in his comments about China, McGregor said, "but that doesn't seem to have won him any brownie points in Beijing, which now has a settled view of Australia as a US lackey". Ties between Australia and China have soured in recent years, with Canberra the first government to exclude telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies from its 5G network. Still, China is Australia's largest trading partner, buying more than one-third of the countrys total exports, particularly iron ore and coal. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said on Wednesday that Australia maintains a good relationship at the commercial level with China and local jobs relied on this. Australia has recorded just over 6,600 cases of the virus nationally, with four new cases on Wednesday. Infection rates have slowed from 25% in mid-March to less than 1% a day. Local lawmakers plan to ease some curbs, with Australia's iconic Bondi Beach to partially reopen next week. A documentary about Vivian Liberto, the San Antonio woman who was Johnny Cashs first wife, is among the films included in an online film festival presented by South by Southwest and Amazon Prime. The SXSW 2020 Film Festival Collection will launch April 27 on Amazon Prime. The lineup, announced today, will include 39 films: four narrative features, three narrative documentaries, 18 narrative short films, 11 documentary shorts and three episodic series. All the films were scheduled to screen at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March. The city of Austin canceled SXSW as a public health measure as concerns rose about the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S. My Darling Vivian, directed by Matt Riddlehoover, tells the story of Liberto, the mother of Cashs four daughters. It includes previously unseen film and photos of Cash and Rosanne Cash and appearances by Reese Witherspoon, Tim Robbins and Whoopi Goldberg, among others. Cash met Liberto in 1951 while he was stationed at Brooks AFB. They were married in 1954 in St. Ann Catholic Church here after he returned from a deployment to Germany. Other films in the virtual festival include TFW NO GF, a documentary about the lost boys of the internet age, and Cat in the Wall, a narrative feature about the working-class residents of a London council estate who must work together to save the title feline. The SXSW 2020 Film Festival will stream from Monday through May 6 at amazon.com/sxsw. The full festival lineup is posted on that page. A subscription to Amazon Prime is not required to watch the SXSW films, though viewers must have an Amazon account. Jim Kiest is the arts and entertainment editor for the San Antonio Express-News. To read more from Jim, become a subscriber. jkiest@express-news.net | Twitter: @jimik64 Wearing a mask at a store used to be a big no-no, but it's quickly become a social norm. More and more retail employees around the Region are wearing masks during the coronavirus pandemic that's infected more than 2.5 million people worldwide, killing more than 180,000 people around the globe. Family Express, a Valparaiso-based chain of 75 convenience stores around Indiana, has started to provide its employees with masks. And national retail giant Walmart, which has popular superstores in Hammond, Schererville, Hobart, Portage, Valparaiso and Michigan City, is now requiring its employees to wear masks while at work. "As the world continues to deal with the spread of COVID-19, Walmart remains focused on the health and safety of their associates and customers," Walmart said in a news release. "As a result, the company continues to implement extensive measures to help keep stores safe and clean." Last week the Washington Post reported over 3,000 complaints had been filed with the US federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) by workers against employers for failing to implement or adhere to safety measures to protect workers from infection with COVID-19. The largest share of complaints come from health-care workers according to the article, some of whom have been given plastic ponchos and masks made out of paper towels... a lack of hand sanitizer or soap...But the complaints span a broad variety of workplaces, including Yosemite National Park, factories and funeral homes. Information about complaints specifically related to coronavirus safety is not readily available anywhere on the federal OSHA website. The Post was only able to obtain the information through the Freedom of Information Act, an indication that the statistics that concern workers the most are specifically being suppressed and that workers have made far more complaints. It is unlikely that OSHA has issued citations for the coronavirus-related complaints, since the poorly funded and undermanned agencywith 2,100 inspectors responsible for the health and safety of 130 million workersonly issues citations after an investigation. Combined with COVID-related complaints filed with individual state OSHA offices, the total number filed is significantly higher than what the Post has reported. WTVR Richmond 6 News reported that Virginia state OSHA staff have handled more than 3,000 complaints by phone and email from employees and employers related to COVID-19. Oregon state OSHA has received 2,747 complaints about workplace conditions since March 2, but has not issued a single citation, according to the Portland Tribune. In Iowa, Democratic legislators have filed an OSHA complaint urging Tyson Foods to close its plant in Waterloo following the closure of Tysons Columbus Junction plant, where two workers died of COVID-19. Workers from Columbus Junction were transferred to Waterloo with no quarantine time in between. In a separate letter addressed to Tyson, the lawmakers cited an anonymous complaint by a worker who revealed the danger faced by thousands of food processing workers across the US. I cant practice social distancing, because of my work. There are a lot of people in front of me and beside me. They gave the workers an unsown fabric mask. They offer a small bonus to keep the workers. They said the workers can call in [to take the day off] without getting a point, they also said that if they call in they will lose the bonus. Tyson did not care about the workers health and safety; they only care about their business. Iowa is one of a handful of US states with no shelter-in-place order. The Iowa Democrats who filed the complaint are aware that OSHA is incapable of shutting down job sites, which can only be done through a court order. Iowa Republican Governor Kim Reynolds told Des Moines WHO TV 13 that there are no plans to close the Waterloo plant. On Monday, the New York Times editorial board published an opinion piece urging the agency to clamp down. OSHA has precedent on its side for tougher rules. During the H1N1 flu outbreak, it made C.D.C. rules enforceable, requiring the use of face masks and other measures to slow transmission. It has failed to act so far this time, however. Like all aspects of the health system, OSHA is woefully unprepared to deal with the immediate demands of the working class in the wake of the pandemic. The federal and state agencies are drastically understaffed, thanks to personnel cuts carried out by successive Democratic and Republican administrations, and have long bowed to the profit interests and prerogatives of the corporations. OSHA has made clear that in spite of the crisis, in most cases it will not be able to respond any more quickly than usual to requests for investigations. On average, it takes OSHA six months to complete an investigation in response to a complaint. It has recommended that employers conduct their own investigations and report back to the agency, which will inevitably result in countless cover-ups. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines for workplaces only recommend that employers take measures to protect workers during the pandemic, including cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces and social distancing of six feet between workers, and that employees who feel sick should not come to work. If workers become ill, they are recommended to self-monitor for 14 days, but there is no recommendation for implementing widespread testing. There are no general guidelines for personal protective equipment, other than for critical workers, for whom some kind of face mask at all times is recommended, and no recommendations that employers pay for sick leave and health insurance. Like the CDC, OSHA only recommends that employers do the right thing, and has no legal power to enforce guidelines. Even if businesses are found to have committed serious violations, whatever fines OSHA imposes can be challenged, and are regularly reduced, even when workers are killed. OSHA is an agency of the US Department of Labor, which is headed by Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia, the son of the late ultra-right Supreme Court justice. Scalia is a member of US President Donald Trumps recently announced Opening Our Country Task Force. Along with the state, US corporations rely on the trusted service of the trade unions to keep workers on the job and coordinate a return to work under unsafe conditions. The United Food and Commercial Workers (UCFW) has tried to block every job action by workers against unsafe conditions, even as the union itself reports that at least 1,500 of its members have been infected and 30 have died from COVID-19. Smithfield Foods, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was only shut down after meatpacking workers protested in opposition to the UFCW. The United Auto Workers (UAW) is involved in plotting a return to work at auto companies in the coming weeks, complete with bogus safe work playbooks, created by the companies, which will do nothing to effectively stop the spread of the virus. The auto industry in the US was shut down only after rank-and-file workers took matters into their own hands with walkouts and other job actions in March, which the union actively opposed. Federal laws do not require an employer to notify workers if an employee tests positive for the novel coronavirus, which can prevent effective contract tracing and contain the spread of the virus. There are no laws that require employers to follow CDC recommendations for social distancing and PPE, and there are no guidelines as to what constitute essential industries. Workers in the US are left at the mercy of business demands with no protection from the unions, state or any of its agencies. On Monday the National Law Review published a detailed overview of OSHAs guidelines for workplace inspections arising out of hazards caused to workers by the pandemic. It states that, OSHA clarifies that fatalities and imminent danger exposures related to COVID-19 will be prioritized for inspections, with particular attention given to healthcare organizations and first responders, and that inspections in the very highest risk workplaces are not guaranteed but may warrant an on-site inspection. For all other workplaces, even those where workers are at high risk from constant contact with the public and other workers, such as in meatpacking plants, Amazon warehouses and grocery stores, OSHA will only offer phone and antiquated fax inspections in most cases. OSHA has developed a pyramid of Risk of Worker Exposure to SARS-CoV-2 for its official website which ranges from low to very high risk. OSHA states that most US workers fall within the low risk category. According to its standards, manufacturing, food processing, retail workers in close contact with other workers and the public only fall under medium risk, despite the recorded deaths and outbreaks, due to the fact that they are not medical or morgue workers. In reality, all workers are at risk for contracting COVID-19 as long as workplaces remain open without mass testing and contact tracing measures in place to contain the spread of the pandemic. The level of risk assigned by OSHA is nothing more than a way to justify the corporate ruling classs demands that workers either stay on the job or are forced back to work in unsafe conditions while the pandemic proliferates. Workers in the US and worldwide will draw invaluable political lessons from the life-or-death struggle against orders to sacrifice their lives for corporate profit. They cannot allow their fate to be left up to the Democratic Party, state agencies and the unions. Now is the time for workers to take the initiative by forming rank-and-file committees to demand the closing of non-essential workplaces, with full compensation for affected workers, and universal testing, protective gear and a safe working environment for essential workers, which is supervised by rank-and-file committees in conjunction with health care professionals. The author also recommends: More temporary plant closures as workers protest conditions at US meatpacking facilities [17 April 2020] As US deaths exceed 40,000, Trump escalates reckless back-to-work campaign [20 April 2020] HomeSmart International Even as the real estate industry continues to change and evolve, the HomeSmart model has continued to work and succeed no matter where we take it, said Ashley Bowers, president of HomeSmart International. HomeSmart International, one of the original 100-percent-commission brokerage models in the nation, has further set itself apart by universally offering a consistent level of high-quality service to its agents and consumers across its nationwide network. The leading brand has built a brokerage model centralized on systems and technologies that are cost- and time-efficient, providing agents the resources to continue to thrive and build successful businesses, even in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the companys beginning in 2000 as an independent brokerage based in Scottsdale, Arizona, HomeSmart International has rapidly expanded to a franchisor with 190 offices in 35 states and over 18,000 agents nationwide. The company credits much of its success to its core philosophy, which is to offer every agent the same service and resources regardless of their location, the size of their market or the number of transactions they close each year. Even as the real estate industry continues to change and evolve, the HomeSmart model has continued to work and succeed no matter where we take it, said Ashley Bowers, president of HomeSmart International. Every single agent who joins one of our franchises or corporate brokerages, and each consumer who hires a HomeSmart agent to buy or sell a property knows what to expect when working with HomeSmart. They can depend on the brand for unparalleled and unwavering support at every level, which is why I believe HomeSmart is dominating the industry. By operating under the HomeSmart International model, agents across the country get the same access to the support, technology, tools, and culture regardless of which franchise they are affiliated with. This means access to useful technologies such as the companys exclusive RealSmart Agent transaction management software, Marketing Design Center and other proprietary tools and systems. Additionally, HomeSmart offers system-wide webinar-based training classes and collaborative meetings. This week, the brand is launching its newest program, Smart Zooms. Smart Zooms are topical group meetings held virtually on Zoom, during which brokers and agents can meet together for a time of community and collaboration. Featured real estate professionals lead discussions on some of the most in-demand topics in our industry. What is so great about our use of virtual technology is that it allows us to bring agents together no matter where they are located for training and growth opportunities, stated Chief Industry Officer Todd Sumney. Agents from across the country can gather virtually to learn, collaborate and accelerate their businesses which is a truly unique offering with such a large network. A pillar of HomeSmart Internationals model is service and support. The company prides itself on expert and responsive agent and broker support no matter where they are in their careers or where they are located. Buyers and sellers can also expect consistent and quality agent service when working with an expert HomeSmart real estate professional. HomeSmart agents are equipped with the systems, tools, technology and affiliated business relationships needed to make buying or selling a home as simple and pain-free as possible for every client. For more information on HomeSmart International, visit https://homesmart.com/. About HomeSmart International: Founded in 2000, HomeSmart International offers franchisees efficiency and innovation coupled with the systems and technologies necessary to succeed in today's evolving real estate industry. Today, the brand has 190 offices in 35 states and more than 18,000 agents nationwide. For more information on HomeSmart International and its franchise opportunities, visit https://www.homesmart.com. Follow HomeSmart International on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/homesmartfranchise and on Twitter and Instagram @HomeSmartIntl. GEOPHYSICAL SURVEY UPDATE FOR THE PERRINVALE VHMS PROJECT Downhole EM Identifies Priority Drill Targets at Perrinvale Sydney, April 22, 2020 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Cobre Limited ( ASX:CBE ) is pleased to provide an update of the results from the Down Hole Electromagnetic surveys (DHEM) undertaken following the recent diamond drilling program within the Perrinvale Volcanic-Hosted Massive Sulphide (VHMS) Project located in Western Australia (refer Figure 4*).Highlights- Down hole electromagnetic surveys have been undertaken on the recently completed diamond core drill holes at the Schwabe, Zinco Lago and Monti Prospects, plus two of the reverse circulation holes drilled in 2019.- A number of promising electromagnetic conductors have been identified within the Perrinvale Project including: the existing Schwabe drill area; below recent drilling at Zinco Lago; off hole along the Zinco Lago - Lago Rame gossan trend; and adjacent to the recent Monti drilling.- Ground electromagnetic surveys now underway to further refine targets for the next phase of drilling at the Perrinvale Project.DHEM surveys were undertaken on the diamond core drill holes recently completed at the Schwabe, Zinco Lago and Monti Prospects, plus two of the reverse circulation (RC) holes drilled in 2019 (located southwest of Schwabe and along the gossan trend south of Zinco Lago). This data has been reviewed in conjunction with the broad spaced Moving Loop Electromagnetic (MLEM) and Airborne Electromagnetic (AEM) surveys completed in 2019.Schwabe ProspectThe DHEM survey at the Schwabe Prospect aligns well with the model of the 2019 AEM survey, indicating a robust and highly conductive core area within the existing exploration area, and some potential for a lower conductivity zone extending to the north or north-northwest of existing drilling. A MLEM survey is currently underway at Schwabe to further refine the next phase of drilling of the VHMS mineralisation previously identified at this location (refer to ASX announcement 16/04/2020: Significant High-Grade Copper Gold Results at Perrinvale).Zinco Lago ProspectThe DHEM surveys of the Zinco Lago diamond drill holes indicate a strong (6,000 to 7,000 Siemens) late time conductor below the drill holes which is not obvious in the AEM data. The spatial position of the modelled conductor is aligned with the down dip projection of the mineralised horizon identified in the Zinco Lago drill core (refer Figure 1*). The Maxwell model of this conductor strikes roughly north-south and is open to the limits of the data. The nature of the conductor response is indicative of a massive sulphide or highly graphitic lithology. While further exploration drilling is required to confirm the cause of conductance at the Zinco Largo Prospect, the Company is very encouraged by the primary sulphides including pyrite, pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite as veinlet and narrow (10-30cm) massive zones identified in the recent diamond core holes above this conductor.Zinco Lago - Lago Rame Gossan trendRC hole 19PVRC004 drilled in 2019, located along the Zinco Lago - Lago Rame gossan trend, 900 metres south of the Zinco Lago diamond drilling, was included in the DHEM surveys. The survey results generated off hole conductance, along with a very small on hole conductor associated with a narrow graphitic shale.Two conductor plates have been modelled as shown in Figure 2*, including the RC drill trace. The best model fit generates a relatively flat mid time conductor and a deeper west dipping strong (6,000 to 7,000 Siemens) late time conductor. As for Zinco Lago, the strong late time conductor is considered indicative of a massive sulphide or highly graphitic lithology. The area has been revisited on the ground, with small scale folding noted in sub-crop within the sedimentary sequence. Folding on a larger scale may explain the orientations of the conductor models.Monti ProspectAt the Monti Prospect, DHEM was completed in the north and south, with small conductive features identified in the north. In the south, a much stronger (6,000 to 7,000 Siemens) off hole conductor has been identified north east of diamond hole 20MTDD003, as shown along with recent drill results on Figure 3*.Moving Loop EM Survey UnderwayThe Company has now commenced a program of ground electromagnetic (MLEM) surveys across the Perrinvale Project area. The MLEM surveys will encompass both recently drilled prospects and priority conductive features identified during the 2019 interpretation of the AEM data. Field truthing of these priority conductive features has recently been completed, prior to the MLEM survey design.The broad objectives of the MLEM program include:- to assess the potential for deeper conductors associated with the Schwabe VHMS system;- further assessment of areas where DHEM conductors may be open or are yet to generate clear models; and- improve resolution of other priority conductors noted in the 2019 AEM survey.A review of all data, including geophysics (magnetics & EM), geological mapping and drill hole logging, has led to the design of MLEM surveys across eight areas (refer Figure 4*). The MLEM surveys, which typically have much greater depth penetration, have been designed to better assess potential deeper conductors, as well as to improve confidence in conductor models generated from AEM and DHEM data. At the completion of the MLEM surveys, the next phase of exploration drilling will be refined. This phase of drilling will include a mix of both RC (for shallower targets) and diamond core drilling (for deeper targets).Exploration Program Moving ForwardThe MLEM data is expected to be received progressively over the next 3 weeks of the survey period, allowing refinement of targets and finalisation of drill hole design. For most of the conductors being investigated, the existing Program of Works approvals will allow for immediate drilling.Cobre's Executive Chairman and Managing Director, Martin Holland, said in relation to the recent EM results at the Perrinvale Project:"The recent down hole EM results follows the positive diamond drill results reported recently at the Perrinvale Project. In particular, the off hole conductor along the Zinco Lago - Lago Rame gossan is an exciting new prospect identified by our exploration team. All together, these EM results provide encouragement to continue Cobre's systematic plan of utilising geophysics to refine drill targets in favourable geological positions across the Perrinvale Project area. I am encouraged in knowing our work to date has focused on a small part of the total project area. The 2019 AEM survey covered about 30% of our tenure and this current program is focused on a fraction of that survey area. I look forward to updating the market on the MLEM results as they become available and to leveraging the knowledge we gain to unlock potential across the entire project.*To view tables and figures, please visit:About Cobre Limited Cobre Limited (ASX:CBE) is a copper and base-metals explorer with projects in Western Australia and Botswana. The Company recently discovered a new high-grade VMS deposit enriched in Copper, Gold, Zinc and Silver in Western Australia, and is currently exploring approximately 8,100 km2 of tenements within the Kalahari Copper Belt (KCB) in Botswana. Delta Airlines reported a loss of $534million in the first quarter, as passenger traffic is down to a dire 5 percent of last year's levels and it burns through $100 million a day in customer refunds while the world continues to battle the pandemic. The biggest and most profitable US airline announced the dismal figures Wednesday as Delta boss Ed Bastian warned these are 'truly unprecedented times'. Its results come two days after United Airlines released its preliminary first quarter revenues, reporting a staggering $2.1billion pre-tax loss, which sent its share price tumbling 8.2 percent. The airline industry has been one of the hardest-hit amid the pandemic, as borders have shuttered, flights have been banned to key destinations and consumer fears and lockdown rules deters people from flying. Delta Air Lines reported a loss of $534million in the first quarter, as passenger traffic is down to a dire 5 percent of year-ago levels and it is burning through $100million a day in refunds Delta - like the other major players - is desperately waiting to access the funds of a bailout deal reached with the federal government last week to help keep the industry afloat. Delta reported its first quarter downturn amid a warning that the setback will appear trivial when the full force of the pandemic is revealed in the current quarter. The airline warned revenue during the quarter ending June, typically a busy time for the travel industry, will plummet by a staggering 90 percent compared to the same time last year. Delta is now paying out more in refunds for cancelled flights than it receives from new bookings. At the end of March, it was burning through $100million a day, though the company said it hopes to cut that rate in half before July. Passenger traffic is roughly 5 percent of year-ago levels, cuts are being made left and right to its schedule, passenger-carrying capacity has been cut by 85 percent in the second quarter, with the deepest cuts made on international routes. Delta has parked more than 650 planes, closed airport lounges and offered unpaid leave of up to a year - 37,000 employees, more than one-third of its workforce, have accepted. For the first quarter, the Atlanta carrier's pretax loss, not counting adjustments to investments, was 51 cents per share, matching Wall Street expectations, according to a survey by FactSet. The industry will no doubt be eyeing Delta's share price at Wednesday's opening bell and throughout the day following its dismal report Revenue dropped by $1.9billion, or 18 percent, to $8.59billion, well below industry analysts projections of $9.18billion, and Delta's weakest since early 2013. The decline was in every part of the plane - revenue fell in both premium seating like business class and in the main cabin. The average flight was 73.1 percent full, down nearly 10 percentage points from a year earlier, but that figure covers the entire quarter - there were far more empty seats in the second half of March. About the only bright spot for Delta was the fuel bill, which fell 19 percent, a savings of $383million. But like people who are stuck in their homes during the pandemic, Delta isn't taking full advantage of plunging energy prices because it is canceling so many flights. Shares of Delta Air Lines, which have dropped 60 percent since the start of the year, were down slightly before the opening bell Wednesday. 'These are truly unprecedented times for all of us,' CEO Ed Bastian said. Delta is the first US airline to detail the damage that began to emerge at the tail end of the first quarter, although United Airlines issued its preliminary results Monday, reporting a $2.1billion pre-tax loss . Chicago-based United said first quarter revenues are seen at $8billion, down 17 per cent from a year earlier, with the bulk of the declines in the last two weeks of March as coronavirus outbreaks accelerated globally, causing an average daily revenue loss of $100million. Its shares nosedived following the news, down by 8.2 percent at the opening bell Monday. The airline said Tuesday it had raised $1billion by selling new shares at $26.50 apiece, as it stepped up efforts to increase capital to keep its head above water. The industry will no doubt be eyeing Delta's share price at Wednesday's opening bell and throughout the day following its report. Flight attendants talk in a nearly empty cabin on a Delta Airlines flight on April 11. US flights carried on average just 12 passengers last week, according to trade group Airlines for America An empty Delta ticket counter is shown at Salt Lake City International Airport on April 7. Government flight restrictions and border closures aimed at slowing the spread of coronavirus have ravaged the industry Southwest Airlines is also expected to report its first quarter results this week. The airlines entered 2020 riding a decade-long hot streak in which together they earned tens of billions of dollars due to strong travel demand. They bought new planes, enriched shareholders, and hired thousands more workers. That streak came to a crashing end in just a few weeks, as the pandemic ramped up. Government flight restrictions and border closures aimed at slowing the spread of coronavirus ravaged the industry. Planes have been pictured abandoned on runways as airlines cut thousands of flights, planes that do take off have barely anyone on board and thousands of staff have been laid off or furloughed to try to keep the industry afloat. Flights within the US carried on average just 12 passengers last week, according to trade group Airlines for America and there were 75 percent fewer flights than normal. A lone ticketing agent works the United Airlines counter at Colorado Springs Airport on April 18. United Airlines released its preliminary first quarter revenues, reporting a $2.1billion pre-tax loss, sending its share price tumbling 8.2 percent Last week, the major players reached a bailout agreement with the US Treasury. The nation's biggest airlines will receive $25billion in government aid under the CARES Act to pay workers and avoid massive layoffs. The assistance will include a mix of cash and loans, with the government getting warrants that can be converted into small ownership stakes in the leading airlines. Ten airlines including Delta, American, United and Southwest fell in line after objecting to some of the Treasury Department's demands. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday the department would work to finalize the deals and hand over the money as quickly as possible. With the payroll grants, airlines and their workers got special treatment in last month's $2.2trillion measure designed to help businesses and workers get through the pandemic, which has hit every sector of the economy. Last week, the major players reached a bailout agreement with the US Treasury. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin (left) said the department would work to finalize the deals and hand over the money as quickly as possible President Donald Trump said the deals will support airline workers and protect taxpayers. 'Our airlines are now in good shape, and they will get over a very tough period of time that was not caused by them,' Trump said. The payroll aid is roughly based on each airline's spending on wages and benefits from April through September 2019. Delta will get $5.4billion - a $3.8billion grant and a $1.6billion loan - from the government to cover payroll costs through September. CEO Ed Bastian said he aid will let Delta operate a minimal schedule for people who must travel. It could also apply for an extra $4.6billion in federal loans. It has raised $5.4billion from bank loans, aircraft sale-leasebacks and other measures and drawn down $3billion from earlier credit lines. What happens to employees when the federal money runs out isn't clear, but Delta - like others - expects to be a smaller company after the pandemic subsides. ALTON Thirteen area businesses have received funding through the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunitys Hospitality Emergency Grant Program to help businesses in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. In partnership with Accion Serving Illinois and Indiana, the DCEO is awarding $14 million in small grants to more than 700 small bars, restaurants, caterers, and hotels. The grants can be used to support working capital, like payroll and rent, job training, and technology to support shifts in operations including increased use of carry out and delivery. A crew member aboard an Italian cruise ship currently undergoing repairs in southwestern Japan has tested positive for the new coronavirus, while about 20 others are believed to have developed a fever since last week, another member of the crew said Tuesday. The Philippine crew member provided Kyodo News with details of the situation on board the Costa Atlantica, which is docked in the Koyagi district of Nagasaki, based on information from one of the ship's waiters. There are no passengers on board. Of the cruise ship's 623 crew, 56 were in close contact with the person who has tested positive. Tests on the 56 have begun, with three testing negative so far, according to the Nagasaki Prefectural Government and the cruise ship operator. A senior Nagasaki government official said Monday there could be a cluster of coronavirus infections aboard the ship, which arrived in Nagasaki on Jan. 29 and is scheduled to remain until the end of April. The ship was originally due to undergo repairs in China but Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co., a unit of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., eventually received the repair order due to the virus outbreak. In Tokyo, health minister Katsunobu Kato said Tuesday he will dispatch ministry officials and specialists from the National Institute of Infectious Diseases to the ship. Professor Heymann now works for the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Scientists still don't know whether people can catch the coronavirus again after recovering from it once, a former World Health Organization boss has admitted. Professor David Heymann said the possibility that people may get COVID-19 more than once is 'the question that everyone is trying to answer right now'. It is still possible, he said, that people might only develop short-term immunity after recovering from the infection and then become at risk again weeks or months later. Reports of people falling ill with the virus twice have emerged from China and South Korea but their accuracy has been questioned and largely shrugged off. Scientists continue to work on the assumption that people do build up immunity which protects them from reinfection but they can't be sure it's true. Professor Heymann said: 'This is a new virus, so that question cannot be answered.' His comments come as the Government comes under pressure to develop accurate antibody testing. It is antibodies which give people immunity to a virus, but if they are not long-lasting, testing people for immunity could end up pointless. Developing and tracking immunity is vital for coming out of lockdown because it gives a clear idea of who and who isn't at risk of becoming ill with the virus. Professor Heymann, who now works at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said nobody knows whether people could become ill with or spread the virus again a few weeks or months after first catching it. 'The answer is that it is not known,' he said in a briefing for the Chatham House think-tank. RECOVERED COVID-19 PATIENTS IN KOREA TEST POSITIVE AGAIN South Korea reported this month that at least 116 people initially cleared of the coronavirus had tested positive again. It came as officials suggested they would soon look at easing strict recommendations aimed at preventing new outbreaks. South Korea reported only 25 new cases overall on Monday, April 13, but the rise in 'reactivated' patients raised concerns about the country's ability to stamp out infections. Officials are still investigating the cause of the apparent relapses. But Jeong Eun-kyeong, director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), said the virus may have been reactivated inside their bodies rather than the patients being catching it again from elsewhere. Other experts said faulty tests may be playing a role, or remnants of the virus may still be in patients' systems but not be infectious or of danger to the host or others. According to Li QinGyuan, director of pneumonia prevention and treatment at China Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing, those who have been infected with Covid-19 develop a protective antibody - but it isn't clear how long the protection lasts. 'However, in certain individuals, the antibody cannot last that long,' Li told USA Today. 'For many patients who have been cured, there is a likelihood of relapse.' Dr Peter Jung, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston told The Huffington Post: 'Just as the flu can mutate, so could Covid-19, which would make an individual susceptible to reacquiring the infection.' However, according to Dr Stephen Gluckman, an infectious diseases physician it seems likely that having the disease once results in immunity in most individuals - as is seen with other coronaviruses. He said: 'For the most part, the feeling is once you've had a specific coronavirus, you are immune. We don't have enough data to say that with this coronavirus, but it is likely.' This means that people who initially recovered are more likely to relapse rather than get reinfected with the virus. According to one study, people with mild infections can test positive for the virus by throat swabs 'for days and even weeks after their illness'. Advertisement 'It is not known how long antibody protection lasts. It is not known if all of the people can be detected under current testing. This is a new virus, so that question cannot be answered.' Antibodies are substances developed by the immune system in order to prevent an infection coming back. They are essentially highly specialised attack cells which remember how to fight off a specific virus. People usually develop them after infection and they currently are believed to do so after contracting COVID-19. However, there have been reports of people falling ill twice and studies have also shown it can be difficult for scientists to find antibodies in recovered patients. Both have raised questions about the level of immunity people develop to the virus. It is an issue which has been raised as nations consider ways to try and reintroduce people safely back into society. Some nations have suggested a type of health passport for people who may have antibodies, and questions remain about possible reinfection. Professor Heymann said scientists were waiting to see what could be determined about protective immunity from this virus. He suggested that antibody tests were currently not specific nor sensitive enough to give more information about how the virus was spread in the community. On suggestions there may be more people who are asymptomatic than previously thought, he pointed out that the only evidence based on the experience of a real-life population came from studies in Singapore. Stating that for as long as the virus was around, people must keep following social distancing rules, he said: 'The figures are that 6% of people who are asymptomatic who go on to develop symptoms could be infectious a day or so before showing signs of symptoms. 'We know nothing in the community yet about those people who are infected and never develop symptoms.' Professor Heymann also said he could not predict whether there would be a second wave of infections and 'nobody else could' make the assessment either. Most countries understood they had to be 'very cautious' when they moved to a step out of the lockdown and policies would need to be developed about schools and mass gatherings. Professor Heymann added that there would need to be a 'sector by sector approach or even a region by region approach' to try and minimise risk. He said he thought no country would reopen everything at the same time, but added 'I maybe wrong'. A young Australian woman has asked for strangers to give her $10,000 AUD to bring her dog home from New York - saying she needs him for 'emotional support'. Georgie Boyd, 29, had to abandon her rescue puppy named Boston in New York when the US government locked her out of the country while she was visiting London because she didn't have a current visa. The wedding planner has launched a crowdfunding campaign to bring the Papillon-mix back to Adelaide where she is living. Ms Boyd is using GoFundMe in the hopes of raising $10,000 to bring reunite her with her pet. Georgie Boyd, 29, (pictured) had to abandon her rescue puppy 'Boston' in New York when the US government locked her out while she was renewing her visa in London She adopted Boston from a puppy shelter in New York in August, where she faced the difficult task of tempering his nerves after a 'traumatic upbringing'. 'He was abused and neglected as a puppy, he is afraid of skateboards and bikes which gives him a huge amount of anxiety living in NY,' Ms Boyd said. The fundraising total is based off covering the cost of returning the pooch to Australia and putting it through the country's strict quarantine and biosecurity checks. Ms Boyd is using GoFundme in the hopes of raising $10,000 to bring reunite her with her beloved pet dog Boston Ms Boyd said she needs the money to pay for Boston's transport and his vet bills, special certificates, injections and bloodwork. Strict biosecurity measures mean the two won't be reunited until October at the earliest, as pets are required to get specific injections 180 days before entering the country. Ms Boyd told Yahoo the coronavirus outbreak meant she was unable to return to her New York apartment when she left the country to renew her visa in London. 'I was locked in London with a small suitcase - I thought I was going to be there for ten days so I literally had a pair of jeans, a jumper, a t-shirt and some activewear,' she said. The 29-year-old adopted Boston from a puppy shelter in New York in August, where she faced the difficult task of tempering his nerves after a traumatic upbringing 'He was abused and neglected as a puppy, he is afraid of skateboards and bikes which gives him a huge amount of anxiety living in NY,' Ms Boyd revealed on her Gofund me appeal 'I had no option but to come back to my parents in Adelaide.' Her savings were drained paying for the unsuccessful visa renewal process and the cost of returning to Australia. She also lost the security deposit and around $2,000 worth of furniture. But she managed to organise for some friends to look after the dog while she worked out the logistics of bringing him to Australia. Ms Boyd said it's devastating being separated from her beloved pooch without a reunion in sight. 'Boston is everything to me, an emotional support puppy, he would come everywhere with me and get anxious if I was not in eyesight,' she said. 'Boston (pictured) is everything to me, an emotional support puppy, he would come everywhere with me and get anxious if I was not in eyesight' she said 'I dread to think of those who have pets for more serious issues who have now been separated from them.' Ms Boyd is looking for a job in Australia to help cover the costs of bringing Boston home, but with the wedding industry grounded by COVID-19 opportunities are limited. 'I had a wedding here in May in that decided to elope. Now I'm on the hunt for a creative role here, which given the situation is proving difficult,' she said. This cover image released by William Morrow shows "Broken" by Don Winslow. (William Morrow via AP) Read more Broken By Don Winslow William Morrow. 352 pp. $27.99 Reviewed by Bruce DeSilva Don Winslow, whose work includes a dozen of the finest crime novels written in the last 20 years, displays all of his strengths, including propulsive narration, compelling characters and a tight, staccato writing style, in Broken, a collection of six remarkable novellas. The length of his novels has been swelling in recent years, his latest, The Force, exceeding 700 pages; so these tales, each about 50 pages long, are a departure for him. They vary in tone, but each, in its own way, conveys the sense that the people and/or American institutions he portrays are broken. One yarn, The San Diego Zoo, does it with a touch of humor, its first sentence, No one knows how the chimp got the revolver, making it virtually impossible not to read on. Another, The Last Ride, does it with a dose of righteous anger as a Donald Trump supporter, horrified by the sight of a little girl in a cage, sets out to reunite her with her mother in defiance of his Border Patrol superiors. Others portray a New Orleans cop violently avenging the murder of his brother, a cat-and-mouse game between a clever jewel thief and a dogged California police detective, a San Diego bail bondsmen on the hunt for a former surfer god turned junkie killer, and a team of California marijuana growers trying to establish a base of operations on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. Fans of his novels will find familiar characters here, including drug dealers Ben, Chon and O from Savages and the team of surfing detectives from Dawn Patrol. But Winslow also introduces memorable new characters including an iconoclastic police lieutenant named Ronald Lou Lubesnick. The tales, three of them appropriately dedicated to Elmore Leonard, Steve McQueen, and Raymond Chandler, all unfold at a torrid pace that will leave readers both satisfied and wishing for more. From the Associated Press. In order not to interrupt education and training due to Covid-19 outbreak, many universities in Vietnam have proactively implemented e-learning methods. Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Van Phuc Despite many difficulties and challenges, this is an opportunity for Vietnamese universities to test methods and new subjects for training, optimise resources and improve their capacity and quality to accelerate their integration with the worlds higher education systems. Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Van Phuc talks about distance and e-learning in universities during this time. Q: Could you tell us how Vietnamesehigher education institutions are operating amidst the Covid-19 outbreak? A: In order to avoid the interruption of training and education amidst Covid-19 outbreak, many higher education institutions have proactively instigated e-learning. Accordingly, they have invested in online training systems; purchased or transfered the LMS (Learning Management System) and learning content management system (LCMS); trained lecturers; and digitalised learning materials. Several institutions have witnessed a high consensus of lecturers for the e-learning method, including Hanoi Open University, Ho Chi Minh City Open University, the University of Science under Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City, Duy Tan University, FPT University and Hanoi National University of Education The higher education institutions have outlined that this is an opportunity for them to boost the digitalisation of learning materials so that all lecturers, students and management officials can take advantage of positive factors in the application of information and technology in management, teaching and learning activities, making the time and space for teaching and learning more flexible. Q: E-learning is still a method to cope with the epidemic and it is relatively new to the majority of higher education institutions. So, how can we visualise the overall picture of e-learning in the universities? A: According to a quick report on e-learning, by early April, there are in total 98 higher education institutions deploying online teaching. The overall picture of e-learning in Vietnamese institutions can be divided into three groups: The first includes universities that have much experience in distance and e-learning as they focused on this training method early. They developed the LMS and LCMS as well as provided full learning content, managed the learning and the progress of learners, and instigated methods to accurately and objectively examine and evaluate learning results thanks to IT advances. However, there are only a few institutions in this group, such as Hanoi Open University and Ho Chi Minh City Open University. The second group consists of universities which have not yet had LMS but began to apply software to support online teaching and learning in real time. For example, where lecturers teach via many applications such as Zoom, Google Hangouts Meet, Webex and Microsoft Teams. Meanwhile, the last group contains institutions who have not conducted e-learning for regular students. They have only provided their students with documents for self-study. It can be seen that e-learning is not unheard of in Vietnam. In fact, many higher education institutions have paid much attention to developing infrastructure and software, training human resources, preparing electronic textbooks and learning materials. Some realised that investment in IT infrastructure system, the LMS, and the LCMS and the digitalisation of learning materials, which aim to support traditional way of training, would only diversify training methods and subjects and eliminate geographical distance and optimise resources, improve tuniversities capacity and quality, and accelerate their integration into the worlds higher education systems. Q: In your opinion, what difficulties do universities face when they organise e-learning activities? A: The common difficulty that the higher education institutions are facing is that the infrastructure and equipment are not complete and synchronous. They lack appropriate learning materials as well as management experience and appropriate management processes for online training. Meanwhile, students and instructors need to have more time to adapt to technology and new methods. The students ability to learn, read documents and acquire knowledge by themselves via the internet is limited. In addition, the effectiveness of the e-learning method is not very high for content that requires interaction between teachers and learners. It is also difficult for teachers to conduct examinations. Q: How will the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) support higher education institutions remove difficulties? A: In order to support and create conditions for higher education institutions to overcome difficulties in deploying e-learning, the MoET and the Ministry of Information and Communication (MoIC) have coordinated with each other to seek solutions. Accordingly, the MoET has signed agreements to receive support from four major telecommunications enterprises. Specifically, Viettel and VNPT will provide institutions with free infrastructure and technologies, including servers with enough bandwidth to ensure smooth teaching and learning activities. Viettel, VNPT, Vietnamobile and Mobifone will provide free mobile data for students, teachers and parents when using e-learning methods announced by the MoIC and MoET during the epidemics outbreak. All universities in need of being provided with infrastructure and solutions for e-learning can contact directly the above businesses. With the participation of the major telecommunications corporations, I hope that higher education will make positive changes in the near future. Accordingly, many institutions will rapidly deploy e-learning methods or combine both traditional and online ways of training. Vietnams higher education will have the opportunity to boost digitalisation, towards keeping pace with world training trends. Q: How will the quality of e-learning be evaluated and controlled? A: E-learning can be considered as a temporary measure at this time to prevent the spread of the epidemic. At the moment, we do not set strict standards. However, universities should be responsible for providing explanations about their conditions to ensure quality of training and the output quality of the online modules. The MoET also issued Official Letter No.795/BGDDT-GDDH, instructing institutions to select appropriate modules for online training. Q: How does the MoET orient distance and e-learning? A: I believe that with the guidance of the Party and Government leaders, the Covid-19 epidemic will be soon controlled. After the epidemic is controlled, universities will pay more attention to the application of advanced technologies in the management and organisation of training activities, contributing to boosting the building of a learning society. The MoET will continue to build a legal framework to enhance e-learning and the development of open learning materials. The Ministry will continue to advise the Prime Minister on promoting IT applications in teaching and learning, developing distance learning and building a learning society. Nhan Dan Hanoi university students asked to take online classes University students in Hanoi have been asked to study online amid rising new cases have been reported in the capital. COVID-19: What you need to know now Technavio has been monitoring the data center server market and it is poised to grow by USD 56.54 billion during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of over 13% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200421005727/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Data Center Server Market 2019-2023 (Graphic: Business Wire) Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please Request Latest Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impact The market is concentrated, and the degree of concentration will accelerate during the forecast period. Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP, IBM, Inspur, and Lenovo are some of the major market participants. The enterprise server refresh cycles will offer immense growth opportunities. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments. Enterprise server refresh cycles has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. Data Center Server Market 2019-2023: Segmentation Data center server market is segmented as below: Type Rack Server Blade Server Tower Server Microserver Open Compute Project Server Geographic Landscape APAC Europe MEA North America South America To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download latest free sample report of 2020-2024: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR31132 Data Center Server Market 2019-2023: Scope Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our data center server market report covers the following areas: Data Center Server Market Size Data Center Server Market Trends Data Center Server Market Industry Analysis This study identifies use of AI for server workload optimization as one of the prime reasons driving the data center server market growth during the next few years. Data Center Server Market 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis We provide a detailed analysis of vendors operating in the data center server market, including some of the vendors such as Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP, IBM, Inspur, and Lenovo. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the data center server market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Data Center Server Market 2019-2023: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023 Detailed information on factors that will assist data center server market growth during the next five years Estimation of the data center server market size and its contribution to the parent market Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the data center server market Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of data center server market vendors Table Of Contents: PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT 2.1 Preface 2.2 Preface 2.3 Currency conversion rates for US PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE Market ecosystem Market characteristics Market segmentation analysis PART 04: MARKET SIZING Market definition Market sizing 2018 Market size and forecast 2018-2023 PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS Bargaining power of buyers Bargaining power of suppliers Threat of new entrants Threat of substitutes Threat of rivalry Market condition PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY TYPE Market segmentation by type Comparison by type Rack server Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Blade server Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Tower server Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Microserver Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Open compute project (OCP) server Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Market opportunity by type PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE Geographic segmentation Geographic comparison North America Market size and forecast 2018-2023 APAC Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Europe Market size and forecast 2018-2023 South America Market size and forecast 2018-2023 MEA Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Key leading countries Market opportunity PART 09: DECISION FRAMEWORK PART 10: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES Market drivers Market challenges PART 11: MARKET TRENDS Use of server disaggregation to improve utilization rates Advancements in server technology to support AI, Machine Learning (ML), and Deep Learning (DL) Using AI for server workload optimization PART 12: VENDOR LANDSCAPE Overview Landscape disruption PART 13: VENDOR ANALYSIS Vendors covered Vendor classification Market positioning of vendors Dell Technologies Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP IBM Inspur Lenovo PART 14: APPENDIX Research methodology List of abbreviations PART 15: EXPLORE TECHNAVIO About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200421005727/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: media@technavio.com Website: www.technavio.com/ Nearly all crew members of the USS Roosevelt, the aircraft carrier struck-down with an outbreak of the coronavirus, have been tested for the disease according to the U.S. Navy, with 710 positive results. The battleship became infamous when it's now ex-captain Brett Crozier's letter leaked, in which he urged senior military officials to take action to safeguard sailors aboard the Roosevelt. 'As of today, 94% of USS Theodore Roosevelt crew members were tested for Covid-19, with 710 total positive and 3,872 negative results,' a release from the U.S. Navy on Tuesday said. Of the 710 positive cases, nine sailors are being treated at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Guam, 42 have recovered and one sailor has died as a result of the disease. The remaining 3,872 crew members tested received negative results. After the outbreak of the coronavirus on board the USS Roosevelt, 710 Navy personnel have tested positive for the disease. One sailor died last week In a move that foreshadowed the figures released today by the Navy and the crisis that the battleship's crew now find themselves in, Crozier wrote a latter to fellow personnel detailing the unfolding situation on board the USS Roosevelt. After four consecutive days of rebuttals from his superiors, on March 30, Crozier took matters into his own hands and composed the unclassified email to 20 Navy personnel in the Pacific, asking for their help. Insisting in the message that 'Sailors don't need to die', friends of Crozier told the New York Times the 30-year veteran would have known sending the email would likely end his career, but he persevered regardless. after a doctor warned 50 crew could lose their lives if nothing was done. 'We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die. If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset our Sailors,' the Captain wrote in the leaked letter. 'The spread of the disease is ongoing and accelerating.' 92 percent of the personnel on board have been tested for the virus. 3,872 tests have come back negative. Pictured: Crew members prepare to raise the flag on the USS Roosevelt Crozier was controversially fired by acting Navy secretary Thomas B. Modly after the email was leaked, presumably by one of its 20 recipients. In a trip to Guam that cost taxpayers at least $243,000, according to CNBC, Modly addressed the crew of the Roosevelt using the ship's loudspeaker and doubled down on his decision to relieve Crozier, calling him 'naive' and 'stupid.' He issued an apology hours later and has since has resigned as acting secretary. According to officials, he decided to oust the captain because he thought it was what President Trump would want. Crozier was first made aware of an outbreak aboard the Roosevelt on March 24, when three sailors in the reactor department - operating the ship's nuclear reactors - tested positive for the virus. The three men were extracted from the ship by helicopter and flown to a Navy hospital in Guam. Two days later the ship docked in Guam and tests were conducted on the entire crew. It was during this time that Crozier began feuding with his superior on board the ship, Rear Admiral Stuart P. Baker. Crozier believed it was necessary to evacuate the majority of those onboard, except for 400 members of the crew, quarantine them and have them tested while the ship was subject to a deep-clean. The USS Roosevelt is current docked in Guam (pictured) where a number of the sailors are being treated for the coronavirus Former USS Theodore Roosevelt Captain Brett Crozier reportedly knew he'd be fired when he broke protocol on March 30 and sent a memo urging the Navy to respond more quickly to a coronavirus outbreak onboard, but he'd reached 'breaking point' and feared for the lives of his crew members. A doctor had warned 50 people could die on the ship But Baker disagreed, and back in Washington Modly and other members of the Navy high command sought alternative options. Baker believed an evacuation was too drastic and Modly expressed concern that Guam could not house the carrier's crew even if they did. Instead, the Navy suggested sending the Roosevelt to Okinawa, Japan, or San Diego instead. They also suggested leaving 4,000 on board the ship and allowing 1000 to disembark. While his superiors meandered, COVID-19 cases aboard the ship continued to increase and Captain Crozier began composing a four-page letter to sent via email. Titled 'REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC', Crozier wrote: 'There are two end states T.R. could achieve... We go to war with the force we have and fight sick,' in which case he said 'there will be losses to the virus.' Alternatively, the Times reported, Crozier suggested the ship could try to 'achieve a COVID-free T.R.,' with all the necessary evacuation. 'As war is not imminent, we recommend pursuing the peace time end state,' Captain Crozier wrote. The captain showed the letter to a number of senior officers on the ship, who asked to sign the letter in solidarity with him. However, the captain declined, fearing the implication it could have on their careers. The following day, on March 31, Crozier's letter was published in the San Francisco Chronicle, having likely been leaked by one of the email's 20 recipients. Crozier's letter contradicted the Trump administration's claims that the situation aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt was under control. 'It's disappointing to have him say that,' Modly said during a press conference on April 1. 'Were doing everything we can.' U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Gilday, chief of naval operations, will decide whether to reinstate Crozier to his position in the U.S. Navy after an investigation. Crozier is believed to have tested positive for the coronavirus. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Eisya A. Eloksari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, April 22, 2020 12:18 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd37f370 1 Business Indonesia,Food-beverage-companies,COVID-19,survival,online-marketplace,voucher,Gojek Free Local brands, especially in the food and beverage business, are selling vouchers, ready-to-cook meals and coffee by the liter to keep their business afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of them have joined an online platform called supportlocalbrandsID initiated by TADA, a customer retention application, digital cashier application Moka and ride-hailing giant Gojek, which provide a website where local brands can promote their vouchers. We created this platform so local brands can retain some of their income, said TADA managing director Antonius Taufan in a written statement on April 20. He added that the three companies had the idea for a collaborative platform after listening to the complaints of the local brands about the effect of the pandemic on their businesses. The Indonesian Retailers Association (Aprindo) said its 150 members had seen a fourfold increase in transactions using online applications or delivery services, while visits to physical outlets had gone down. Visits to retail and recreational spaces such as restaurants and shopping centers in Indonesia have dropped 43 percent in the first week of April from January-February, according to Googles Community Mobility Reports on global movement trends during the pandemic. Antonius went on to say that, through the platform, customers could buy e-vouchers from hundreds of local businesses in beauty, food and beverage (F&B), fashion, hotels and other services. The vouchers are valid for one year and can be redeemed once the stores are open for business again while store owners can retain their business income through the voucher sales. Moka CEO Haryanto Tanjo said the start-up encouraged its local brand clients to participate in the platform so the businesses could stay connected with their customers and maintain their cashflow during the pandemic. Hopefully this initiative can support the sustainability of Indonesian brands in this tough time, said the head of third-party platforms at Gojek, Sony Radhityo. He added that consumers could access the platform through the website or a shuffle card in the Gojek app that would be available until June. Local brands can join the platform for free, and all the revenue from voucher sales will be transferred directly to the business owners. One F&B business that has joined the platform is local dessert store Puyo. The companys cofounder and CEO, Adrian Agus, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that it had to close 75 of 93 stores throughout Java since the coronavirus outbreak in March. He went on to say that, since joining the platform, the company had recorded fewer than 200 transactions for the vouchers. Hopefully the platform can raise awareness about the pandemic effect on local businesses, especially the people working there, Adrian said, adding that Puyo planned to use the revenue to pay employees salaries. Other local brands have opted to sell ready-to-cook meals through e-commerce platforms. Local steakhouse Holycow, for example, has been selling marinated beef that consumers could grill at home, while vegetarian food chain Burgreens has been selling frozen food on Tokopedia since last Friday. Tokopedia COO Melissa Siska Juminto said on April 17 that the e-commerce platform had been seeing a new trend of offline restaurants selling frozen and dry foods and cafes opening online stores in the marketplace. One interesting thing is that we are seeing a new trend of cafes selling coffee in 1-liter quantities on our platform, she said. People used to hang out in coffee shops with friends and family, so they want to bring that activity home with coffee for the whole family. Tokopedia recently launched the #SatuDalamKopi (#UnitedInCoffee) campaign to promote local coffee sales, such as the 1-liter coffee, ground coffee and coffee beans, on one page of their website. Dua Coffee is one of the local cafes that started selling its products through Tokopedia since the pandemic. The cafes cofounder Omar Karim Prawiranegara said 80 percent of the coffee shop sales now came from online orders. Moving our business to online sales is inevitable and online sales is now our business backbone, he said. This Is Still Happening is a feature in which Slate will attempt to offer an update on senior-level administration corruption, what could be done to bring the officials to account, and what Democrats are doing in response (generally, nothing). The seventh installment is about the racist troll who designs Donald Trumps violent and (often) unlawful immigration policies, Stephen Miller. The Official: Stephen Miller, senior advisor to the president What Is Still Happening: On Monday, President Donald Trump announced plans to use the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to issue an executive order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States. As the possible contours of the plan have begun to slowly trickle out, one thing about it is clear: It is the brainchild of Stephen Miller, the senior adviser to Trump who has crafted the presidents most extreme, brutal, and illegal immigration policies, from Trumps notorious first Muslim ban to family separation. The New York Times initially reported that the plan was being coordinated by Stephen Miller, the architect of the presidents immigration agenda. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its very hard to capture all of the damage Miller has done while serving at the White House in a single list, but here is an effort to summarize his work. As the New Yorker reported in February, in the days prior to Trumps inauguration, Miller drafted what would become Trumps Muslim ban executive order. The rollout of that plan was so chaotic and cruelwith untold visa holders stranded at airports and unable to return to the country where they livethat it was quickly thrown out by multiple courts, rescinded, and eventually replaced twice before the Supreme Court approved a third and final version in a 54 vote split along partisan lines. That initial ban was indefensibleand likely would have been even for the conservative Roberts court. Miller, though, forcefully defended that first, unlawful ban. There is no constitutional right for a citizen in a foreign country who has no status in America to demand entry into our country. Such a right cannot exist. Such a right will never exist, Miller told ABC News of his plot to deny lawful visa holders reentry to the United States based on their religion. This is an ideological disagreement between those who believe we should have borders and should have controls and those who believe there should be no borders and no controls. His position on the travel ban encapsulated his immigration view as a whole: Any effort to restrict immigrationno matter how arbitrary, in contravention of due process, discriminatory, or violentis a simple, just, and lawful bureaucratic prerogative of the executive branch. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Miller, whose political charisma could be described as roughly similar to that of Danny DeVitos Oswald Cobblepot, generally avoids the public spotlight. The rare occasions when he has done TV appearances have been so embarrassing as to explain why he doesnt do more. In one CNN interview in the midst of the 2016 presidential campaign, Miller claimed that immigration leads to unchecked female genital mutilation. In a notorious White House press briefing, he tried to convince CNNs Jim Acosta that the words give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free on the Statue of Liberty dont actually belong there. The poem that youre referring to that was added later and is not part of the original Statue of Liberty, Miller said, before going on a tirade against Acosta for questioning the wisdom of a proposal to limit access to this country to English speakers. In another TV interview with Face the Nations John Dickerson, Miller didnt even bother to mask his authoritarianism in the name of immigration restriction, saying: The powers of the president to protect our country are very substantial and will not be questioned. Miller was so evasive and combative in one appearance with Jake Tapper that the CNN host saw no choice but to cut his mic. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Millers voice is so toxic that the White House went so far as to demand that the New York Times The Daily podcast not air audio of an interview with Miller in which he defended the administrations family separation policy. Indeed, Millers most vile accomplishment was to push Trump to enact family separation, the short-lived policy of separating parents and children at the U.S. border, with no plan to reunite them, as a means of deterring undocumented immigration. It was a simple decision by the administration to have a zero-tolerance policy for illegal entry, period. The message is that no one is exempt from immigration law, Miller told the New York Times in that interview. As the New Yorker reported on Millers view of the policy: Advertisement Advertisement He was obsessed with the idea of consequences, a top D.H.S. official who worked with Miller at the time told [the New Yorker]. Hed always say to us, They are breaking the law, and the only way well change that is if theres a consequence. The consequences were specific. The official said, Miller made clear to us that, if you start to treat children badly enough, youll be able to convince other parents to stop trying to come with theirs. Advertisement A federal judge held that the policy was brutal, offensive, and fails to comport with traditional notions of fair play and decency. Even after that federal judge declared the policy unlawful and ordered the administration to halt the practice and reunite families, Miller has reportedly continued to defend family separation. Advertisement Last week, it was reported that Miller was trying to renew his cartoonishly villainous policies of child traumatization. This time, Miller is pushing for prolonged detainments of unaccompanied immigrant children in Customs and Border Protection detention during the COVID-19 pandemic, essentially jailing them instead of transferring them to Office of Refugee Resettlement care facilities and eventually to family sponsors. Miller is also advocating that any such sponsors get fingerprinted, making them easier to identify and deportand thus less likely to take custody of the children. Advertisement Advertisement Miller has been compulsive in pushing the United States to accept record-low numbers of refugees. In one recent internal conversation over capping asylum, the New Yorker reported that Miller told his White House colleagues: I didnt mean to come across as harsh. Its just that this is all I care about. I dont have a family. I dont have anything else. This is my life. (Three months after this reported conversation, Miller got married.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Millers obsessiveness paid dividends last year when the administration enacted a devastating rule that would block applicants from receiving green cards or visas if it is determined that they were likely to use public assistance. You cant overstate how excited Stephen was for the public charge rule to be out there, one senior administration official told the Washington Post. One former career official at DHS told the Post that racism was the only principle [that] could animate such a laserlike focus, to which Miller replied that anyone who called him a racist was an ignorant fool, a liar and a reprobate who has no place in civilized society. In January, the Supreme Courtagain, along a 54 ideological splitallowed the Trump administration to go forward with the rule as it is litigated in lower courts. That rule is now set to devastate countless undocumented immigrant families in need of public and private assistance in the face of the pandemic-driven economic collapse and potentially to exacerbate the spread of the virus. Advertisement Late last year and earlier this year, the Southern Poverty Law Center published emails Miller had written during his time working as an aide to Sen. Jeff Sessions, in which he pressed writers at Breitbart News to focus on disparaging stories about immigrants. In those communications, he promoted the white nationalist websites VDARE and AmRen, the white nationalist book The Camp of Saints, and one article that argued that undocumented immigrants should be removed from the country on trains to scare out the people who want to undo our country. Advertisement Advertisement How Long It Has Been Going On: Millers penchant for anti-immigrant hysteria and outright racism appears to go back to sometime between his bar mitzvah and high school. (Miller is Jewish on his mothers side and has been all but disowned by his uncle, who views his nephews love of hurting immigrants as contrary to the values of their shared background). In seventh grade, Miller was introduced to conservatism via a subscription to Guns & Ammo. By the summer before his first year in high school, Millers views had progressed. That was whenaccording to his former friend Jason Islas, who had attended Millers bar mitzvahMiller told him that they couldnt be friends anymore, in part, because of my Latino heritage. Islas told the New York Times last year that he thinks Miller is a racist. Millers alleged refusal to be Islas friend because of his race would seem to bolster that case. Advertisement Somehow, Millers racism got worse after middle school. He was a shameless racist, one former high school classmate, Charles Gould, said. In private conversations, he constantly made disparaging remarks about African-American, Latino and Asian students at our school. According to Univision, another classmate, Moises Castillo, remembered Miller telling members of a school group dedicated to promoting Mexican American identity: This is the United States. Speak English. Another former classmate, who didnt want to be named by Univision, said Miller once told him to go back to your country. Advertisement Advertisement Miller continued to develop his political identity in college. As members of the Duke Conservative Union, Richard Spencera future white nationalist leadersaid that Miller befriended him and that they bonded over their views on immigration policy. (Miller has denied that they were friends, even as he has acknowledged working with Spencer during their days together at the Duke Conservative Union.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Miller took his college experience into the world of professional politics, first serving as an aide to Rep. Michele Bachmann and then to Sessions. The Washington Post has credited Miller with being instrumental in helping to kill the bipartisan immigration reform bill that passed the Senate in 2013 when he was an aide to Sessions. It was a natural progression to Trump campaign speechwriter and hype man. The ideas of loathing and violence that obsessed Miller became the words uttered by the president, including in his American Carnage inaugural address. From there, he settled into being the principal architect of the Trump administrations horrific immigration policies. What Would Normally Happen: Its hard to say. The only other high-level Trump official with Millers number of connections to racist political movements was former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who was eventually forced out of his position after Trump described torch-bearing white supremacist ralliers in Charlottesville, Virginia, as very fine people. Advertisement Advertisement Unlike Bannon and other high-profile flameouts from the Trump administration, though, Miller does not seem tempted by his ego to compete with the president for attention. Nor does he display the sort of institutionalist scruples that led his old boss Sessions to infuriate Trump by recusing himself from the Russia investigation. When he said, This is all I care about, he meant this was all he cared about; he is in government for a purpose, and that purpose is to reverse more than 50 years of immigration and diversification of America, by making the country as hostile as possible to recent, nonwhite arrivals. In the past, well-founded accusations of racismand even far more spurious oneshave been enough to force public officials to resign. Shirley Sherrod was removed from a job in the Department of Agriculture during the Obama administration after Andrew Breitbart doctored footage to make it seem as though she had used her office to punish a white farmer because of his race when she hadnt. Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott resigned from Republican leadership in 2002 after praising the segregationist 1948 presidential campaign of Sen. Strom Thurmond. With Donald Trump at the top, though, the sky appears to be the limit as far as executive branch racism goes. What Democrats Have Done: In the past year, many, many Democrats have called on Miller to resign or be fired. That doesnt seem to have had much of an effect. What Is Likely to Be Done: Congressional Democrats could do other things, like make funding billsor even funding of specific departmentsconditional on Millers removal from government. Barring Miller being caught using racial slurs on video, that seems unlikely, though. Even then, Democrats might not act. How Removable This Stuff Is: For what he did to enact family separation, which was essentially a government-sponsored kidnapping program, Miller deserves to be in prison. 10 out of 10. For more on the latest news, listen to Wednesdays episode of What Next. French riot police clashed with local residents in the northern suburbs of Paris on Wednesday night, marking the fourth night of unrest brought about by heightened tensions surrounding coronavirus lockdown restrictions. Protesters in Gennevilliers, Clichy and Saint-Denis launched fireworks, threw projectiles and set vehicles alight, while videos on social media appeared to show police responding with tear gas and baton charges. A police spokesperson said: "Police and their reinforcements have been the target of rioters, who have thrown stones and fireworks." The unrest comes five weeks after France went into lockdown, with containment measures aimed at slowing the spread of the outbreak among the strictest in the world. Outdoor exercise is banned during the day time and anyone leaving their home is required to fill out a government form stating the purpose of their excursion. These measures will remain in place until at least 11 May, President Emmanuel Macron announced last week. Around half a million fines have been handed out to people breaking these rules, with a large proportion of them coming from poorer regions surrounding the French capital. Residents complained about being unfairly targeted after the Seine-Saint-Denis department northeast of Paris received 10 per cent of all fines nationwide on the first day of lockdown, despite accounting for only only 2 per cent of the country's population. Amid these rising tensions, the protests were sparked by a collision between a 30-year-old motorcyclist and an unmarked police car in Villeneuve-la-Garenne on Saturday. Local mayor Patrice Leclerc said the disruption "poses fundamental problems and threatens the relations and trust between residents and the police". There have been more than 150,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus in France, according to official figures from health authorities, however the actual number is estimated to be much higher. The death toll currently stands at 20,796, making it the fourth-worst affected country in the world behind the US, Spain and Italy. Al-Ahram Weekly reports on the cooperation between Egypt and China in fighting the COVID-19 During the last few months Egypt and China have exchanged shipments of preventive medical equipment to combat the coronavirus. Concerning the latest batch, on 16 April, Egypts Health Ministry announced that the state had received four tons of medical protective supplies from China to help the country combat the spread of the virus. The shipment included 20,000 N95 respiratory masks, 10,000 protective gowns and 10,000 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing kits, according to a statement by the ministry. Chinese Ambassador to Cairo Liao Liqiang and Egypts Health Ministry Under-Secretary Mohamed Shawki were at the airport to receive the shipment. Shawki noted that it was the first time that so many Chinese shipments had been donated to Egypt. Liao stressed that China will spare no information or technical assistance to help Egypt contain this pandemic. The day following the shipment, Health Minister Hala Zayed thanked the Chinese government and people for the gift, and praised the precautionary measures taken by Beijing to curb the spread of the virus. Two days later, in the embassys seventh online press conference, Liao stated that the Chinese shipment received in mid-April was to be followed by two more, one scheduled to arrive on 21 April and includes 10,000 N95 masks, 10,000 medical protective suits, and a number of medical testing kits. The third batch will bring 150,000 masks, a million masks for medical staff, 70,000 medical protective suits, 70,000 Covid-19 test kits, and 1,000 thermometer guns. Earlier in April, Liao inaugurated a new factory, a joint Egyptian-Chinese investment, for manufacturing medical facemasks in the free industrial zone in Cairos Nasr City district. The plant, the first outside investment for China amid the Covid-19 outbreak, represents a model of profound relations between Egypt and China, Liao said. During the online press conference, he said the factory, which currently has one production line, will be expanded after the number of production lines are increased to five, and that the output of each will be 100,000 masks daily. Thus, when fully operational, it will produce half a million masks daily. In February and March, Egypt sent China two shipments of protective aid. Under the directives of Egypts President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi, Zayed paid a six-day visit to China on 1 March to show solidarity with the Chinese people against the novel coronavirus outbreak. During her visit, she delivered Egypts second batch of protective medical supplies to China. Zayed brought back 1,000 thermal detectors from China along with the updated version of technical documents illustrating the precautionary measures taken against the epidemic. Coinciding with her visit, on 1 March Egypt lit up three famous historic sites in the country the Salaheddin Citadel in Cairo, the Karnak Temple Complex in Luxor and the entrance of the Philae Temple Complex in Aswan in red and gold stars synchronised to resemble the national flag of China as a sign of solidarity in combating the coronavirus. According to Egypts Supreme Council of Antiquities, it expressed the appreciation of the distinguished ties between China and Egypt. On 1 February, Egypts Health Ministry announced that Egypt provided China with the first batch of medical aid that included 10 tons of preventive medical items, such as masks and alcoholic antiseptics, to help deal with the pandemic. Egypts coronavirus cases passed the 3,000 milestone earlier this week. Its total number of fatalities nationwide has exceeded 250. Chinas overall confirmed cases on the mainland on Tuesday rose to 82,758, with 4,632 deaths from the virus that causes the Covid-19 respiratory disease. During a telephone call on 23 March with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Al-Sisi praised the Chinese success in containing the coronavirus. According to the Egyptian presidency, Al-Sisi conveyed to his Chinese counterpart Egypts hopes of boosting cooperation between the health establishments of the two countries to benefit from the Chinese mechanism to manage the crisis. Xi expressed his peoples and governments gratitude for Egypts quick aid to the country during the crisis. The two leaders agreed to boost strategic cooperation between the two countries especially when it comes to the localisation of Chinese technology, a statement by the presidency noted. Late in February, Cairo hosted the first Chinese-Arab diplomatic salon on the coronavirus crisis organised by the Chinese Embassy in Egypt and chaired by Deputy Chief of Mission at the Chinese Embassy Xiao Junzheng. The symposium, held at Cairos Conrad Hotel on 26 February, witnessed the participation of the director of the Early Warning Unit at the Egyptian Cabinets Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC) Samaa Suleiman, political science professor at Cairo University Mohamed Kamal, professor of risk management at Cairo University Ghada Ali, and head of the Asian Studies Programme at Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies Mohamed Fayez Farahat. *A version of this article appears in print in the 23 April, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under headline: United we stand Search Keywords: Short link: By Paulina Duran and Scott Murdoch SYDNEY/HONG KONG (Reuters) - Private equity and distressed situation specialists Apollo Global Management, Oaktree Capital Management and BGH Capital are among those that have expressed interest in restructuring Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd, five sources said. Virgin on Tuesday entered voluntary administration in an attempt to restructure its crippling A$5 billion ($3.2 billion) debt load as it struggles with a lack of demand due to the coronavirus pandemic, making it the Asia-Pacific region's biggest victim of the crisis gripping the airline industry. The company's administrators said they would hold a first meeting of creditors on April 30 and have retained Houlihan Lokey to advise them on restructuring the airline. More than 10 parties have already expressed interest in restructuring the country's second-biggest airline, Vaughan Strawbridge, one of the four partners from Deloitte who were appointed as administrators, said on Tuesday. The three private investment groups are interested because they are experienced airline investors, said one of the sources, who has direct knowledge of the situation. The five sources declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak with media. BGH and Oaktree declined to comment. Apollo did not return requests for comment. The administrators are looking to execute a binding deal with a buyer by the end of June, The Australian Financial Review reported, citing a confidential flyer sent to interested parties. The flyer said an information memorandum would be available to potential buyers by the end of April, there would be an updated management plan ready in early May, non-binding indicative offers would be due in mid-May and binding bids would be due in mid-June, the newspaper reported. As of Dec. 31, Virgin had A$1.8 billion of unsecured bonds that will be key to a restructuring deal. "What they need to do is to get rid of some liabilities and then attract new investors," said a lawyer representing creditors, who was not authorised to speak publicly about the matter. Story continues Nomura's credit trading desk said it put the company's value at A$2.3 billion as a going concern under a restructuring that maximises its valuation, which would value the unsecured bonds at around 20-25% of the issue price. If the bankrupt airline was liquidated instead of restructured, bondholders would only get around 10% of the issue price or less, Nomura said. The airline's entry into administration could give any successful bidder the chance to free it from a complex ownership structure that has slowed decision making and been blamed for years of losses. Several analysts said the best option for Virgin under a new owner would involve getting rid of its wide-body jets and turboprops and keeping its Boeing 737s, the backbone of its domestic fleet. As of Dec. 31, Virgin had 132 planes, of which 69 were leased and 63 were owned. The lessors with the biggest financial exposure to Virgin include Goshawk, Aviation PLC, Aercap Holdings NV, ORIX Aviation and SMBC Aviation Capital, each with estimated income from the airline of at least $1 million a month, according to aviation data provider Cirium. ($1 = 1.5840 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Paulina Duran and Scott Murdoch; additional reporting by Kane Wu in Hong Kong and Jamie Freed in Sydney; writing by Jamie Freed Editing by Gerry Doyle) SpaceX plans to launch another batch of 60 Starlink satellites into orbit on Wednesday from Nasa's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Lift off is scheduled for 3.37pm EDT (8.37pm BST) aboard a veteran Falcom 9 rocket that has flown and landed three times before. The Starlink satellites will join 360 satellites already in orbit and will eventually form part of 12,000-strong constellation designed to beam high-speed internet down to Earth. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said the Starlink network will provide broadband connectivity to under served areas around the globe and has already publicly tested it via a tweet posted in October 2019. Satellites from the most recent launch in March were visible in the night's sky this week, as they were positioned in such a way that the Sun reflected off them. Recommended How to see SpaceX Starlink satellites in the sky this week Their unusual formation, described by astronomers as a "string of bright pearls", prompted a surge in UFO reports throughout the world. Amateur astronomers have also used apps like Heavens Above to track the satellite train in order to know when it is passing overhead. Some astronomers have criticised the potential disruption caused by space-based internet projects, which are also being developed by Amazon and other companies. Astrophycist Dave Clements described the planned constellations as a "tragedy" last year, claiming that they will interfere with radio frequencies and distort images from optical telescopes. SpaceX told The Independent that it is working with the European radio astronomy community and the US National Radio Astronomy Observatory to "mitigate the impacts on the astronomy community". Speaking at the Satellite 2020 conference in Washington last month, Elon Musk said concerns about the Starlink satellites were being over exaggerated. "I am confident that we will not cause any impact whatsoever in astronomical discoveries, zero. That's my prediction. We will take corrective action if it's above zero," he said. "I've not met someone who can tell me where all of them are, so it can't be that big of a deal." The Starlink satellite train in the sky above Kosovo on 19 April, 2020 (Astrit Spanca) A backup launch window for the latest batch is available on Thursday afternoon should weather conditions not be favourable on Wednesday. Following the launch, which will be broadcast in a live stream on SpaceX's official YouTube page, the Falcon 9 rocket will land on a floating platform in the Atlantic Ocean. Sophia Antipolis, 23 April 2020: We may all be drinking more coffee to help us survive the COVID-19 lockdown. Today scientists announce the healthiest way to make a brew. The first study to examine links between coffee brewing methods and risks of heart attacks and death has concluded that filtered brew is safest. The research is published today in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).1 "Our study provides strong and convincing evidence of a link between coffee brewing methods, heart attacks and longevity," said study author Professor Dag S. Thelle of the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. "Unfiltered coffee contains substances which increase blood cholesterol. Using a filter removes these and makes heart attacks and premature death less likely." Coffee is one of the most popular beverages worldwide and the most frequently used stimulant. Some 30 years ago Professor Thelle discovered that drinking coffee was linked with raised total cholesterol and the "bad" LDL cholesterol - to such an extent that it was likely to have detrimental consequences for heart health. Experiments identified the culprit substances in coffee and found that they could be removed using a filter. A cup of unfiltered coffee contains about 30 times the concentration of the lipid-raising substances compared to filtered coffee. He said: "We wondered whether this effect on cholesterol would result in more heart attacks and death from heart disease. But it was unethical to do a trial randomising people to drink coffee or not. So we set up a large population study and several decades later we are reporting the results." Between 1985 and 2003, the study enrolled a representative sample of the Norwegian population: 508,747 healthy men and women aged 20 to 79. Participants completed a questionnaire on the amount and type of coffee consumed. Data was also collected on variables that could influence both coffee consumption and heart diseases, so that these could be accounted for in the analysis. For example, smoking, education, physical activity, height, weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol. Participants were followed for an average of 20 years. A total of 46,341 participants died. Of those, 12,621 deaths were due to cardiovascular disease. Of the cardiovascular deaths, 6,202 were caused by a heart attack. Overall, coffee drinking was not a dangerous habit. In fact, drinking filtered coffee was safer than no coffee at all. Compared to no coffee, filtered brew was linked with a 15% reduced risk of death from any cause during follow up. For death from cardiovascular disease, filtered brew was associated with a 12% decreased risk of death in men and a 20% lowered risk of death in women compared to no coffee. The lowest mortality was among consumers of 1 to 4 cups of filtered coffee per day. Professor Thelle said: "The finding that those drinking the filtered beverage did a little better than those not drinking coffee at all could not be explained by any other variable such as age, gender, or lifestyle habits. So we think this observation is true." Filtered brew was also less risky than the unfiltered beverage for death from any cause, death due to cardiovascular disease, and deaths from heart attacks. "Our analysis shows that this was partly because of the cholesterol-increasing effect of unfiltered coffee," said Professor Thelle. Professor Thelle noted that unfiltered coffee did not raise the risk of death compared to abstaining from coffee - except in men aged 60 and above, where unfiltered brew was linked with elevated cardiovascular mortality. He said: "We only had one measurement of coffee consumption, but we know that brewing habits were changing in Norway during the follow-up period. We believe that some women and younger men drinking unfiltered coffee switched to filtered, thereby reducing the strength of the association with cardiovascular mortality, whereas older men were less inclined to change their habits." Professor Thelle emphasised that these are observational data, but that if public health authorities asked for his advice it would be: "For people who know they have high cholesterol levels and want to do something about it, stay away from unfiltered brew, including coffee made with a cafetiere. For everyone else, drink your coffee with a clear conscience and go for filtered." ### Authors: ESC Press Office Tel: +33 (0)4 89 87 20 85 Mobile: +33 (0)7 8531 2036 Email: press@escardio.org Follow us on Twitter @ESCardioNews Funding: None. Disclosures: See the paper. Notes References 1Tverdal A, Selmer R, Cohen JM, Thelle DS. Coffee consumption and mortality from cardiovascular diseases and total mortality: Does the brewing method matter? Eur J Prev Cardiol. 2020. doi:10.1177/2047487320914443. About the European Society of Cardiology The European Society of Cardiology brings together health care professionals from more than 150 countries, working to advance cardiovascular medicine and help people lead longer, healthier lives. About the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology The European Journal of Preventive Cardiology is the world's leading preventive cardiology journal, playing a pivotal role in reducing the global burden of cardiovascular disease. Israeli warplanes have fired missiles from Lebanese airspace at Syrian soldiers in Palmyra, killing at least three reports Al-Masdar. The Syrian air defenses were activated last night when several missiles fired from an aircraft targeted Syrian troops in the eastern countryside of the Homs Governorate. According to a field source, the Syrian air defenses were able to down some of the missiles, while a few others managed to hit their intended targets near the ancient city of Palmyra. A source from the Syrian military said the missiles were first thought to be from an American aircraft, but he said they later found out that they were fired from an Israeli warplane that was over Lebanese airspace. They added that as many as three soldiers were killed as a result of the attack. Another military source in Damascus told Al-Masdar that the Israeli attack was carried out in two waves, with the first attack being the most powerful. Last nights attack by the Israeli Air Force marked the first time this month that they had bombed the Syrian Arab Army, having previously struck the Syrian army at the end of March. In other news, James Jeffrey, the US Special Envoy to Syria, commented on the visit of the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to Damascus on Monday, and his meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. If Iran were truly concerned about the health & safety of the Syrian people, it would support the UN-led political process under Resolution 2254 and withdraw the IRGC, Hezbollah, & other terrorist forces under its command from the entirety of Syria, he tweeted. In the statement, Jeffrey called for the necessity of Iran adopting a political solution instead of a military victory and that Irans only contributions to Syria were violence and instability. This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Advertisement Andrew Gwynne, Labour MP for Denton & Reddish, watching PMQs with one-year-old grandson Lyle It was an historic moment as British MPs sat in a 'virtual Parliament' for the first time ever as the coronavirus pandemic rages in Britain. But politicians taking part in Prime Minister's Questions from the safety and comfort of their own homes were upstaged by their grandchildren and their interior design sense - or lack of it. Only 50 MPs were allowed in the House of Commons chamber as Dominic Raab faced off against new Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer in a rather more serene atmosphere than the usual cacophonous wall of noise. The rest tuned in and were able to ask questions via Zoom, thanks to work overseen by Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle, providing a sneak glimpse into their homes in their constituencies. This window into their world showed us Andrew Gwynne's extremely youthful assistant, the Denton Reddish MP's one-year-old grandson Lyle. Elsewhere SNP Westminster Leader Ian Blackford showed off his balls: behind him in shot as he asked a question were signed memorabilia from his beloved Hibernian, including two signed footballs. And while many MPs including Stephen Crabb and Angela Eagle showed off their bookcases, Don Valley MP Nick Fletcher treated viewers to his floral wallpaper, which complemented his choice of suit. Acting Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey attracted comment for his choice in art, while Labour's Stephen Kinnock adapted to the occasion by following the action using his tablet propped up by a pair of trainers. The session marked Sir Keir's first PMQs since replacing Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader earlier this month. Overall the technology appeared to work well, but the session was not without technical problems. David Mundell, the Tory former Scottish Secretary, was due to ask a question but Speaker Lindsay Hoyle informed MPs 'we have been unable to connect' to his home in his Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale seat. Peter Bone was later cut off as he finished asking a question about the behaviour of the banks, with Mr Raab smiling and saying he had got 'the gist' of the question. With just 50 MPs allowed on the famous green benches the vast majority of parliamentarians who would usually provide a cacophonous background to proceedings mainly followed and asked questions from home SNP Westminster Leader Ian Blackford showing off signed memorabilia from his beloved Hibernian, with two footballs clearly seen behind him Co-ordination? Don Valley MP Nick Fletcher had perhaps the most vibrant background, with a floral patterned wallpaper almost matching his suit The Labour leader and Boris Johnson 's stand-in were among the few MPs in the chamber for Prime Minister's Questions' this afternoon as the hybrid legislature met for the first time Taking the place of Mr Johnson, who is recovering from coronavirus at Chequers, Mr Raab said the PM was 'making a good recovery and is in good spirits' The session marked Sir Keir's first PMQs since replacing Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader earlier this month Peter Bone was later cut off as he finished asking a question about the behaviour of the banks, with Mr Raab smiling and saying he had got 'the gist' of the question Order in the house! Conservative politician Stephen Crabb was one of several MPs to position himself in front of a bookcase to ask a question during PMQs Angela Eagle, Labour MP for Wallasey and a former minister, also went for the bookshelf look at her home in Wirral Acting Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey attracted comment for his choice in art ... ...while Labour MP Stephen Kinnock shared this photo of his IPad stacked against a pair of trainers as he got to work today UK announces 759 more coronavirus deaths taking total to 18,100 amid fears true number could be 41,000 The UK has announced 759 more hospital deaths from the coronavirus today, taking Britain's total number of victims to 18,094. And Health Secretary Matt Hancock says the country is in the 'peak' of the virus outbreak and authorities are watching with bated breath for the statistics to fall. He claimed capacity for testing and contact-tracing - tracking down people close to infected patients - is being 'ramped up' for the UK to start to move out of lockdown when the time is right. A further 665 people have died in England's NHS hospitals and more deaths were recorded in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland overnight. More confusion has emerged over Department of Health handling of statistics as the true increase from yesterday was 763 but a spokesperson could not account for the four missing from the official count. An estimate based on wider-ranging statistics has claimed the coronavirus outbreak may have killed more than 41,000 people already when non-hospital deaths are included. An analysis of backdated data by the Financial Times has predicted that, by the time care home deaths and unrecorded hospital fatalities are added up, it could emerge that 41,102 people had died by April 21. The official toll was 17,337. Meanwhile the National Records of Scotland revealed in a bombshell report today that the true scale of its coronavirus deaths is 79 per cent larger than government statistics show - a third of all people dying with the virus are dying in care homes. The National Records data adjusted the total number of victims in Scotland to 1,616, by which time only 903 had been officially announced. 537 of them died in homes. Advertisement Ahead of PMQs Labour former minister Kevin Brennan experienced technical difficulties during Welsh Questions. Much of his question broadcast in the chamber from his Cardiff West constituency was inaudible, which prompted some laughter. Speaker Sir Lindsay said: 'I hope the Secretary of State can make the most of that question, the line did go down.' Mr Hart said he got the 'general gist' of the question about the coronavirus. Taking the place of Mr Johnson at PMQs, who is recovering from coronavirus at Chequers, Mr Raab said the PM was 'making a good recovery and is in good spirits'. After saying the nation owed a 'debt of gratitude' to the NHS he added: 'Thank you Mr Speaker for all your efforts to ensure parliament can meet and apply the scrutiny to the government that we expect and we embrace. 'This house meets in challenging times, together we can and we will defeat this virus.' Taking to his feet for the first time, Sir Keir sent his best wishes 'for a full and speedy recovery' to Mr Johnson. But he soon got down to business, laying into the Government's testing figures. He said: 'The First Secretary says that there is capacity for 40,000 tests a day and I think it's really important that we fully understand what the First Secretary just said. 'Because that means that the day before yesterday, 40,000 tests could have been carried but only 18,000 tests were actually carried out. 'Now, all week I heard from the frontline, from care workers who are frankly desperate for tests for their residents and for themselves, desperate. 'They would expect every test to be used every day for those that need them.' Mr Raab replied: 'It is about demand, we need to encourage those who are able to take the test to come forward. David Mundell, the Tory former Scottish Secretary, was due to ask a question but Speaker Lindsay Hoyle informed MPs 'we have been unable to connect' to his home in his Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale seat Ahead of PMQs Labour former minister Kevin Brennan experienced technical difficulties during Welsh Questions Keeping it subtle: West Bromwich East MP Nicola Richards showed off pot plants, photos and books in her neatly arranged living room 'He is right to say it is also about distribution, and some of the logistical and frankly transport challenges that people, particularly some of those that he described, will have in terms of getting to the tests. 'We are working with the local resilience forums to make sure that we can distribute the tests as effectively as possible. 'I do think it is important to have a target and to drive towards a target. We are making good progress, we're confident we'll meet it.' Sir Keir said: 'Can the First Secretary tell us how many NHS workers have now died from coronavirus and how many social workers have now died from coronavirus?' Mr Raab replied: 'On the latest figures, my understanding is that 69 people have died within the NHS of coronavirus. I don't have the precise figure for care homes, they're more difficult to establish in relation to care home workers as opposed to care home residents.' After their to-and-fro it was the chance for smaller party leaders and backbench MPs to ask questions of Mr Raab. Brentford and Isleworth Labour MP Ruth Cadbury showed off her passion for art - and a map of the Thames - a stone's throw from where she lives - as she joined the Commons sitting Labour MP Yvette Cooper seen during the 'hybrid' sitting, with a white wall with a door visible in the background And viewers tuning in to watch the debate live were treated to a little insight into their lives at home with sporting memorabilia, sketched comedy caricatures, traditional upholstery and some bold wallpaper among the highlights. Labour MP Stephen Kinnock even offered his own alternative take on the term 'cabinet business', balancing his iPad against a pair of Adidas trainers on a chest of drawers. While many MPs chose to play it safe and appear in front of a pedestrian-looking white wall, others clearly chose the backdrop to reflect a little of their personality. Hastings and Rye Tory MP Sally-Ann Hart appeared in front of a gold-framed oil painting, a brass candelabra and some luxurious-looking curtains as she asked a question remotely during Prime Minister's Questions. Meanwhile Brentford and Isleworth Labour MP Ruth Cadbury showed off her passion for art with a series of paintings and a map of the Thames - a stone's throw from where she lives - as she joined the Commons sitting. Perhaps wishing to show off just how busy life as an MP is, there were a fair amount of cluttered cabinets showing official papers stacked up in folders. And of course, there were plenty of bookshelves, offering a high-brow background for those looking to create the right impression to their colleagues. Mysuru: The biggest cluster episode of Karnataka related to Jubilant Generics pharma company at Nanjangud in Mysuru district which has had 68 cases of Covid 19 so far, seems to be coming to an end at last as the reports of just 138 members awaited. So far, all 2098 people related to the cluster, including 1483 employees of the company and their 615 family members are tested and their results have arrived. 56 employees and 12 of their family members with 38 from Nanjangud and 30 from Mysuru have tested positive for Covid 19 since 26 March. With so many Covid-19 positive cases reported from the Jubilant company cluster and with most of them remaining asymptomatic, anxiety has set in among the employees and employers about restarting the work. The employers want the government to make Aadhar linked id card and health and fitness certificate compulsory for employees before they get back to work. Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, an employee of Jubilant who was tested positive for Covid 19 and who has been discharged after he tested negative, said, Neither I nor most of the employees who are tested positive from the company had any symptoms at all. While there are different plants of the company, I was the only one from our plant who was tested positive for Covid 10. So naturally that hesitance will be there to get back to work in the group as we never know who is carrying the virus. But, even before I was tested positive or even when I stayed at the hospital I did not have any sort of symptom as said. Also, now that I have been treated, tested negative for the virus and discharged, one need not be worried. We have to be hopeful that the company will take extra precautionary measures as we have no option but to get back to work to earn our bread and butter. he said. On the other hand, Mysuru Industries Association head Suresh Kumar said, Rather than the employees, we employers are scared to restart companies, seeing how authorities are grilling the employers of Jubilant pharma company for their employees were tested positive for Covid 19. We are planning to propose to the government to make Aadhar linked id card and health and fitness certificate compulsory for employees before they get back to work. In Mysuru there are 26,000 industries with 3 lakh employees including 50,000 migrant daily wage workers. The industries in Mysuru are already suffering a loss of Rs 82 crore turn over per day and Rs 18 crore loss on fixed expenses including electricity, rent and others. So we have urged the government to waive off three months interest in loans, waive off fixed power charges, give some percentage of salary through ESI since they have provision. It will take at least two years for us to recover the loss we are incurring due to 42-day lockdown. While this is one challenge, the fear of being held responsible if any employee is tested positive is another challenge now, he said. So far the exact reason for the infection of the first case of cluster is not known yet as the patient had no foreign travel history. The health department has clarified that the sample of the container and its contents received by the company from China tested at National Institute of Virology has been negative. It is said that the company had delegates from other States including Maharashtra and also from USA, Germany, Japan and even China had visited the company between 4th February and 18th February. The investigation to find the cause of infection is going on. The Save Nanjangud forum convenor has written a letter to High court in this regard. The letter has been converted to a petition and there was a hearing in this regard at High Court on Tuesday. In Mysuru, 84 people are tested positive for Covid 19. Those other than the Nanjagud cluster include two people who had severe acute respiratory infection and one of their relatives, two people who had come from Dubai and one of their relatives and one of their relatives, and ten people are religious gurus of Tablighi Jamaat who had come from Delhi to Mysuru, in January end. 20 Shares Share As Americans, we rarely question the authenticity or relevance of our constitution. Although segments are hotly debated, and parts are amended over time, the document stands as a light of legal and ethical truism. The foundation of our country and its revolutionary ideals served a purpose to escape the grip and tyranny of the British empire. Before our independence was won, however, America had some soul searching to do. We needed an identity. Benjamin Franklin stand out star and founder of our nation alongside a little-known doctor at the time, led that search. In the 1730s, Franklins close friend Dr. Thomas Bond, a medical student at the time, was completing his studies in England and France. While in Paris, Dr. Bond spent time at the famous Hotel Dieu a charitable hospital for the sick and poor ran by the Catholic Church. The hospital it turns out, represented something deeper, more purposeful and meaningful. France, and the rest of Europe at the time, is in the middle of The Enlightenment. A transformation of ideas, personal freedom, and social awakening is flickering in the minds of Europeans and Americans alike. Hotel Dieu, an institution of social welfare and platform for justice, is more than a hospital, its a thorn in the side of the French monarchy. The hospital, quite literally sitting in the shadow of King Louis XVs reign, was winning the philosophical war it would foretell the eventual fall of the French monarchy some 50 years later. Now imagine a few American patriots rubbing shoulders with French doctors during this time. The socially awakened, tattered but tough French Catholics are teaching the restless, scrappy American Quakers lessons beyond medicine. The Enlightenment burns in the minds of revolutionaries. Dr. Thomas Bond returns to America inspired. He wants to establish a hospital for the sick and poor much like Hotel Dieu in the Colonys intellectual hub, Philadelphia. Recently named Port Inspector for Contagious Diseases of Philadelphia (our countrys first infectious disease specialist), Dr. Thomas Bond was alarmed at the rate of disease transmission in Pennsylvanias trading ports. At the time, public hospitals did not exist. Doctors would make home calls, and access to health care was on a service for fee condition. The idea of a charitable hospital for the sick and poor was unpopular amongst the rich and politically elite of the time. Running out of options, Dr. Bond seeks help from his friend and rising political star Benjamin Franklin. Already an established politician, Franklin muscles the political support and successfully presents a bill to the assembly and secures funding for the hospital. Pennsylvania Hospital, our nations first, is founded in 1751. The hospital, as time proves, becomes the medical nucleus of the United States. Regarded as the first teaching hospital in America, it becomes the hospital of our nations first medical school the University of Pennsylvania. Like Hotel Dieu, its more than a hospital Its an intellectual hotbed for ideas. Fast forward 25 years. Its 1775. There is blistering tension between England and the American Colonies, eager to win their independence. The Revolutionary War begins. Well into his 60s, and even more stubborn in his societal and revolutionary ideals, Dr. Bond answers the call for war. Dr. Bonds weapons however, are not muskets and cannons. He sets out, along with his adult son, to help create our nations first field hospitals for the Continental Army. Battlefield medicine, a core component of our nations defense department, is born. As we contemplate our growth and lessons to be learned from our current pandemic, it is imperative that we hold a candle to a mirror and examine our identity as a country. When our politicians debate about Medicare for all and its constitutional considerations, its imperative to remember that our foundation as a nation and the care for the sick, poor, and injured are inextricably linked. Our health cares construct its DNA can be traced back to Dr. Bonds endeavors. We hold Benjamin Franklins contributions the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, among others as unshakable pillars of our identity. It is our societal and ethical obligation to continue to hold Dr. Thomas Bonds contributions in the same light free care for the sick, poor, and injured as unshakable pillars of our democracy. Our history demands it. Cesar Padilla is an obstetric anesthesiologist and can be reached on Twitter @themillennialmd and on Instagram @doctor_cesar_. Image credit: Shutterstock.com Venom: Let There Be Carnage will see actor Tom Hardy reprise his role as the journalist who joins with an alien symbiote. New Delhi: The next sequel of the superhero film Venom will now be released in theatres in summer 2021, because of the coronavirus crisis. Venom 2, that was earlier scheduled to hit the big screens on 2 October, this year has been pushed ahead, giving a new summer release date 25 June, 2021. The information was shared on the Twitter handle of Sony Pictures. Here's the tweet The studio also announced the upcoming movie's official title - Venom: Let There Be Carnage. This change in the release date makes the movie the latest one to move out of 2020 scheduled dates due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis. (Click here to follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak) Andy Serkis is directing the sequel which will see Tom Hardy return as the titular anti-hero. The follow-up will also feature returning cast members Michelle Williams (Anne Weying) and Woody Harrelson (Cletus Kasady) as well as Naomi Harris. The sequel will also see British actor Stephen Graham in an undisclosed role. He is best known for featuring in films such as Pirates of the Caribbean series, Rocketman, Public Enemies and most recently The Irishman. The first film, Venom, followed Hardy as Eddie Brock, a journalist who becomes host to the alien entity known as Venom.In the sequel, Venom will go up against Harrelson's Kasady aka Carnage. Kelly Marcel is writing the script. Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, Amy Pascal and Hutch Parker are producing the film. (With inputs from Asian News International) [April 22, 2020] OurCrowd Leads $12 Million Investment Round in Israeli COVID-19 Vaccine Company MigVax OurCrowd, the world's largest crowdfunding venture investment platform, based in Jerusalem, today announced that it would lead a $12 million investment in the newly formed MigVax Corp., which will develop a novel COVID-19 vaccine. MigVax, an affiliate of The Migal Galilee Research Institute, is pioneering the effort to develop Israel's human vaccine against COVID-19. The Migal Galilee Research Institute has previously developed a vaccine against infectious bronchitis virus, a coronavirus strain which causes bronchial disease affecting poultry. The safety and effectiveness of the poultry vaccine has been proven in animal trials carried out at Israel's Veterinary institute. MigVax is using the methods learned from the existing vaccine to develop a new oral subunit human vaccine against COVID-19. MIGAL's interdisciplinary vaccine development team has been collaborating for several years on other vaccine development projects and is highly qualified to carry out this project. OurCrowd CEO Jon Medved (News - Alert) said, "We are humbled by the opportunity to invest in this company, which means so much to so many people. The race for a COVID-19 vaccine is about saving countless lives, and we are grateful to be able to support this important effort." "The experiments we have carried out so far show that because the vaccine does not include the virus itself, it will be safe to use in immune-suppressed recipients, and has fewer chances of side effects," said David Zigdon, CEO of the Migal Galilee Research Institute. "It uses a protein vector that can form and secrete a chimeric soluble protein which carries the viral antigen into tissue and causes the production of antibodies against the virus by the immune system. We are now working to adjust our generic vaccine system to COVID-19. Using a fermentation process, MigVax aims to have the material ready for clinical trials within a few months." OurCrowd Venture Partner Morris Laster,who is leading the investment, said, "We feel that the vaccine has already shown high safety and efficiency in animal models and we believe the approach we are taking is safer with a higher likelihood of achieving a meaningful immune response." David Zigdon, CEO of The Migal Galilee Research Institute, will talk about the Covid-19 vaccine trials TODAY in our Webinar: Israel's Response to COVID-19: Government, Healthcare, and Technology on the Frontlines / April 22 @ 7:30PM IDT / 12:30PM EST / 9:30AM PST | Sign up here: Zoom Webinar About OurCrowd: OurCrowd is a global venture investing platform that empowers institutions and individuals to invest and engage in emerging companies. The most active venture investor in Israel, OurCrowd vets and selects companies, invests its capital, and provides its global network with unparalleled access to co-invest and contribute connections, talent and deal flow. OurCrowd builds value for its portfolio companies throughout their lifecycles, providing mentorship, recruiting industry advisors, navigating follow-on rounds and creating growth opportunities through its network of multinational partnerships. With $1.4 billion of committed funding, and investments in 200 portfolio companies and 20 venture funds, OurCrowd offers access to its membership of 40,000 individual accredited and institutional investors, family offices, and venture capital partners from over 183 countries to invest alongside, at the same terms. OurCrowd's portfolio is diversified across sectors and stages, ranging from seed and series A through late stage and pre-IPO firms. Since its founding in 2013, OurCrowd portfolio companies have been acquired by some of the most prestigious brands in the world, including Uber, Canon (News - Alert), Oracle, Nike, and Intel. To register and get involved, visit www.ourcrowd.com. About Migal: Migal Galilee Research Institute LTD is an internationally recognized and multi-disciplinary applied research institute, specializes in biotechnology and computer sciences, plant science, precision agriculture and environmental sciences as well as food, nutrition and health. Migal is the largest regional R&D center of the Israeli Science and Technology Ministry based in Kiryat Shemona, with 310 employees including 90 PhDs and 190 researchers. www.migal.org.il. For more information on MigVax visit: https://www.migvax.com/ For Press Materials/Images: https://blog.ourcrowd.com/migvax/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200421005579/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Just what our divided country needed another controversy to widen the chasm between us and for the unscrupulous to exploit. How long should we battle the COVID-19 pandemic by social distancing with its consequent economic shutdown versus when and how rapidly and fully to re-open the economy incurring the possibility of a second wave spread of the virus negating the heroic sacrifices made so far to limit it. As Chris Powell writes in The News-Times Friday, there are always choices made with unintended consequences from the choice itself, from the rejection of alternatives, from doing nothing. If Powell can call a remark by Gov. Andrew Cuomo sanctimonious, I can call Donald J. Trump lying, scapegoating, self-serving. Cuomo has been honest, informative, logical, compassionate. Trump has not. He came up with a campaign slogan, the cure should not be worse than the disease. How do we decide that? My life; your livelihood my life; the livelihood of 20 or 100 people? COLUMBUS, Ohio - Researchers at The Ohio State University will study the health effects of e-cigarettes and nicotine on youth and help develop vaping cessation programs after receiving a $5.5 million grant from the American Heart Association. On Tuesday, the American Heart Association announced nearly $17 million in grants as part of its ENACT: End Nicotine Addiction in Children and Teens research initiative. "This study engages experts across our medical center and health sciences colleges collaborating together," said Dr. Hal Paz, executive vice president and chancellor for Health Affairs at The Ohio State University and CEO of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. "It's vital to better understand what gets our youth addicted, the long term effects on the lungs and heart and which cessation efforts are most effective." Ohio State's work will be led by Peter J. Mohler, PhD, vice dean of research at The Ohio State College of Medicine and director of the Dorothy M. Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute, and researchers from the Center for Tobacco Research at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC--James), including Theodore Wagener, PhD, Loren Wold, PhD, Liz Klein, PhD, MPH, and Megan Roberts, PhD. They'll join colleagues with the colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Public Health and Engineering to work together on the two-year project called VERIFY: Vaping's End through Research and Innovation For Youth. The goal is to provide answers in three areas: the short- and long-term effects of e-cigarettes, including their impact on the brain, lungs and heart; the most effective regulations to reduce the appeal and addictiveness of e-cigarettes for youth; and the best methods to help youth kick their addiction to e-cigarettes. "We're pleased to receive this grant that will allow us to continue our work examining the health impacts of e-cigarettes and vaping. E-cigarettes are now the most commonly used tobacco product among youth, and there needs to be more research on youth e-cigarette use and addiction and ways to help users quit," Mohler said. The VERIFY project consists of investigations that involve pre-clinical, clinical and surveillance-based studies. The aims of the original project are fourfold: Aim 1: Pre-clinical testing of the health effects of e-cigarettes. Researchers will test the health effects of e-cigarette exposure, specifically cardiovascular, pulmonary, metabolic and neuronal phenotypes in response to changes in nicotine form, concentration and flavors. The principal investigator is Wold, assistant dean for Biological Health Research in the College of Nursing and a professor and vice chair in the Department of Physiology and Cell Biology. Aim 2: Surveillance-based testing of the behavioral and health effects of e-cigarettes. Experts will study the relationship between nicotine form, concentration and flavors on e-cigarette use, addiction, neurocognitive outcomes and pulmonary health. Principal investigators are Roberts, assistant professor at Ohio State University's College of Public Health and a researcher with the Center for Tobacco Research; and Alayna Tackett, PhD, assistant professor at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. Aim 3: Development of an e-cigarette product standard to reduce its addiction potential. Researchers will examine the influence of nicotine form, concentration and flavor for youth puffing behavior, nicotine delivery, abuse liability, toxicant exposure and acute cardiovascular and pulmonary effects. The principal investigators are Wagener, director of the Center for Tobacco Research, co-leader of the Cancer Control Program at the OSUCCC - James and associate professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at Ohio State's College of Medicine, and Marielle Brinkman, senior research scientist in Ohio State's College of Public Health and researcher with the Center for Tobacco Research. Aim 4: Development of an effective and scalable vaping cessation intervention. Experts will develop and test a multi-point, scalable vaping cessation program that includes quit line-delivered phone counseling, text-based cessation, nicotine replacement therapy and online cessation support. The principal investigator is Klein, associate professor in Ohio State's College of Public Health and a researcher with the Center for Tobacco Research. "Our hope is that these projects greatly advance our knowledge about youth vaping - in particular what impact it has on young people's bodies and what the most effective approaches might be to help e-cigarette users, including young people, quit," Klein said. Researchers at Boston University and Yale University also received awards. The American Heart Association said the grants are among the highest individual grants awarded in its history. ### Media Contact: Amy Colgan Wexner Medical Center Media Relations 614-293-3737 Amy.Colgan@osumc.edu Amanda Harper OSUCCC - James Media Relations 614-685-5420 Amanda.Harper2@osumc.edu The popular Netflix documentary-series Tiger King is getting a comic book version. According to Variety, TidalWave will be releasing the biography comic titled Infamous: Tiger King in June. The comic will be written by Michael Frizell and drawn by Joe Paradise and Jesse Johnson. You cant make this stuff up. I never imagined that Id be researching a book like this. It was a challenge to find a focus for the comic because theres so much happening. No wonder Netflix created a limited series as opposed to a Dateline episode, said Frizell. We wanted to do something that is fun and a good distraction in regard to in the state of the world now. I am obsessed with everything in this story and wanted to tell it from a different medium. The comic book medium can be used to entertain as well as inform, TidalWave publisher Darren G Davis added. The Tiger King docu-series revolves around the life of Oklahoma zookeeper Joseph Exotic and the events that culminated in an alleged murder-for-hire plot against animal rights activist Carole Baskin. Netflix also released a special after-show episode on April 12. (This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.) Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON [April 22, 2020] Melissa Offers First Responders Free Address Accuracy Services to Speed COVID-19 Response Efforts RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, Calif., April 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Melissa , a leading provider of global address, name, email, phone, and identity verification solutions, today announced its offer of data enhancement solutions free of charge to qualifying emergency first response providers across North America. This limited-time offer is valid for six months (up to 100K records per month) to qualifying organizations working to support communities during the COVID-19 pandemic through the provision of paramedic, EMT, police, firefighter, and similar critical resources. Click here to submit your application for consideration. To first responders, every second counts. Quickly getting to the person who needs help requires address accuracy from the moment of dispatch, said Bud Walker, VP Enterprise Sales & Strategy, Melissa. Melissas complete, real-time database of residential and business addresses gives emergency crews the data they need to quickly identify and confirm an address to ensure assistance reaches the correct location immediately. Emergency services that rely solely on simple mapping technologies for address data are at a serious disadvantage when it comes to meeting their mandate to protect and care for those who call on them for assistance. For example, apping technologies such as Google Maps do not feature parsing, standardization and verification of address capabilities. Users do not have access to important features such as LACSLink, or the Locatable Address Conversion System, which identifies rural route, highway route, and box number addresses that have been converted to city-style addresses as part of 911 system implementation critical in reducing response time in emergencies. Data is not verified against authoritative reference data from the USPS or Canada Post, and is often geocoded incorrectly and missing essential information like suites or apartment numbers. The user is provided only an estimation of where an address is on a map, with no assurance the address is real or formatted correctly. In contrast, a USPS CASS Certified Address Engine powers all of Melissas address correction tools and identity verification capabilities. The companys solutions manage address verification at the point of data entry, rooftop location mapping for ideal arrival points, real-time analysis of lat/long coordinates to minimize drive time, and much more. Click here for greater insight on Melissas services optimized for firms delivering on demand, and to file your application for free support. To connect with members of Melissas data enhancement services team for additional information, support and solutions, visit ? https://www.melissa.com ?or call 1-800-MELISSA.? About Melissa Since 1985, Melissa has specialized in global intelligence solutions to help organizations unlock accurate data for a more compelling customer view. More than 10,000 clients worldwide in arenas such as retail, education, healthcare, insurance, finance, and government, rely on Melissa for full spectrum data quality and ID verification software, including data matching, validation, and enhancement services to gain critical insight and drive meaningful customer relationships. For more information or free product trials, visit www.Melissa.com or call 1-800-MELISSA (635-4772). Media contacts Greg Brown Vice President, Global Marketing, Melissa [email protected] +1-800-635-4772 x1130 Jacqueline Zerbst, MPowered PR for Melissa [email protected] +1-877-794-6777 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Posted by Chris on at 08:00 AM CST As we mentioned last week in our 2020 Gentle Giant Ltd. Q&A , we hoped to be able to bring you an exclusive product reveal and that's exactly what we're doing today. Sabine Wren will join fellowcharacter's Ahsoka Tano Hera Syndulla in their realistic styling as the next 1/6 scale Mini Bust! These will be made available to Premier Guild Members first and then to the general public. At this time, the release date and edition size is to be determined, but it will retail for $120.00 and what makes it a Deluxe piece is the fact that you can display her with or without the helmet on, with an optional blaster or empty hand and of course, with her paint sprayer or the Darksaber. It's another fantastic addition to the Mini Bust collection and we can't wait to add her to the shelf!Special thanks to Gentle Giant Ltd., Chuck Terceira and Lucasfilm Ltd. for allowing us to reveal Sabine for you right here on Rebelscum.com! Stop by our message board to discuss this piece in its dedicated post with your fellow collector right here The last Lagosians heard about former Lagos Gov. Akinwumi Ambodes travail was the N9.9bn stash, for which the FCC busted his Epe and Ikoyi homes last week. It seems more woes are still in stock for the accountant. The Lagos House of Assembly is raking up more muck in the past administration of the APC. A committee now investigates the purchase of 820 buses meant for mass transit under Ambode. The former governor did not get the House approval for the spending, yet he went ahead to buy 5000 buses, out of which only 820for N7bnwere delivered. In a motion titled Lagos State House of Assembly Motion Number 2, member representing Eti Osa 2, Gbolahan Yishawu, stated that the executive proposed to spend N17bn to purchase the buses in the 2017 budget. It was not approved by the Assembly. In the 2018 and 2019 budgets, the state government proposed N24bn and N7bn respectively, but these were not approved. The state government still went ahead to import 820 buses at N7bn, and out of them, 520 are still awaiting clearance at the ports, he said. He added that the House was worried that 520 buses were still awaiting clearance from the bonded warehouse and that they were purchased with taxpayers money without approval. Ambodes proble with state lawmakers dates back the twilight of his administarion expiration early in 2019 when the House was readying an impeachment strategy against him. It took a long time and psychological warfare before the House even approved the 2019 budget. Ambodes media handlers are yet to respond officially to the probe storiesas they swiftly did to other allegations against their boss. Post Views: 86 After a year-long investigation by Claudia Joseph, Simon Trump, Ewan Fletcher, Adam Luck, Jason Buckner and Craig Hibbert, the Mail on Sunday named Banksy as Robin Gunningham. The search began with a photograph taken in Jamaica showing a man in a blue shirt and jeans, with a hint of a smile on his face and a spray can at his feet. Taken in 2004, it was said to show Banksy at work. When the picture was published it appeared to be the first chink in the armour of anonymity with which the artist has shielded himself ever since his work began to attract the attention of the art world. Armed with this photograph, the team travelled to Bristol, long said to have been Banksy's home city, where they made contact with a man who claimed to have once met the artist in the flesh. Many people claimed as much, but the moment one started asking for more information, one discovered they actually 'know someone who met Banksy' - and the trail ran cold. However, this man claimed not only to have met the elusive artist but was able to furnish us with a name - not the usual variations of the name Banks but one all the more intriguing. The man in the photograph, he insisted, was formerly known as Robin Gunningham - and it didn't require much imagination to work out how such a name could result in the nickname Banksy. From records available to the public, they were able to glean further information. Robin's father, Peter Gordon Gunningham was from the Whitehall area of Bristol. His mother, Pamela Ann Dawkin-Jones was a company director's secretary and grew up in the exclusive surroundings of Clifton. The couple married on April 25, 1970, at Kingswood Wesley Methodist Church. On February 8, 1972, their daughter Sarah was born at Bristol Maternity Hospital, by which time Peter had been promoted to area manager for a hotel company and the couple had bought their first home, a semidetached house in Bristol. On July 28, 1973, Robin was born in the same hospital. According to neighbours, the boy had early surgery for a cleft palette. The images provide a behind-the-scenes look at the guerrilla artist creating some of his famous works, captured by his long-time associate - although they do not appear to capture his face When Robin was nine, the family moved to a larger home in the same street and it is there he spent his formative years and became interested in graffiti. A neighbour, Anthony Hallett, recalls the couple moving into the street as newlyweds and living there until 1998. They have since separated. When they showed Mr Hallett the Jamaica photograph, he said the man in it was Robin Gunningham. In 1984, Robin, then 11, donned a black blazer, grey trousers and striped tie to attend the renowned Bristol Cathedral School, which currently charges fees of 9,240 a year and lists supermodel Sophie Anderton as a former pupil. It was hard to imagine Banksy, the anti-authoritarian renegade, as a public schoolboy wandering around the 17th Century former monastery, with its upper and lower quadrangles and its prayers in the ancient cathedral. But they then found a school photograph, taken in 1989, of a bespectacled Robin Gunningham in which he shows a discernible resemblance to the man in the Jamaica photograph. Pictured is the former family home of Robin Gunningham in Bristol. It's believed Gunningham is Banksy Indeed, fellow pupils remember Robin, who was in Deans House, as being a particularly gifted artist. In the rare interviews Banksy has given (always anonymously), the artist has acknowledged that it was while at school that he first became interested in graffiti. Robin Gunningham left school at 16 after doing GCSEs and began dabbling in street art. As the investigation continued, their inquiries demonstrated again and again that the details of Robin Gunningham's life story dovetail perfectly with the known facts about Banksy. By 1998 Robin Gunningham was living in Easton, Bristol, with Luke Egan, who went on to exhibit with Banksy at Santa's Ghetto, an art store which launched at Christmas 2001 in London's West End. Egan and Gunningham are believed to have left the house when the owner wanted to sell it. Camilla Stacey, a curator at Bristol's Here Gallery who bought the property in 2000, said that Banksy and Robin Gunningham are one and the same person. She knew the house had been inhabited by Banksy because of the artwork left there - and she used to get post for him in the name of Robin Gunningham. Once the group were almost certain Banksy was Gunningham - they went searching for him and tried to see if his parents would help. His mother Pamela lived in a neat modern bungalow in a village outside Bristol. After identifying ourselves, they asked her if she had a son called Robin. Her reaction was very odd. They showed her the Jamaica photograph and she was visibly startled, but said she didn't recognise the man in the photograph, to whom she bears more than a passing resemblance. They asked if she could put us in touch with him. 'I'm afraid I don't know how to get in contact with him,' she said. So she did have a son called Robin? 'No, I don't. I don't have a son at all.' They asked her if she had any other children. 'Yes, a daughter.' But no son and certainly not a son who went to Bristol Cathedral School? 'No,' she said, and went on to deny she was Pamela Gunningham, insisting that the electoral roll must be incorrect. Their conversation with Peter Gunningham, who now lived in a gated development in the suburb of Kingsdown, was equally baffling. Again, they presented the photograph of Banksy/Robin Gunningham. Mr Gunningham said he didn't recognise the person in the picture. They told him that they believed his son to be Banksy. 'No,' he replied. 'I can't help you, really.' Mr Gunningham politely continued to deny that his son was Banksy but his manner was almost playful. He refused to give them any information about Robin. It was all very strange. Had the couple never heard of Banksy or Robin Gunningham, one might have expected a reaction of complete bewilderment. This did not seem to be the case. Future Tense consists of complex objects that would undoubtedly reward in-person viewing. Mr. Crispin often uses sophisticated technologies like 3-D printing, virtual reality and machine-learning algorithms to create his work. Yet technology is also one of his primary subjects how it interfaces with and diverges from the natural world. And how we have become an advanced society on a path to rendering itself extinct. The profound strangeness of this discrepancy pervades the exhibition, which is filled with ordinary items gone haywire (and is well-documented on False Flags website and Mr. Crispins Instagram account): fire extinguishers that are also candelabras, watches that dont tell time (one reads Dont panic), flower arrangements springing from vessels that look like machine parts, and oversize inspection tags containing hopeful and apocalyptic texts like The time has come. The front of the surfboard-shaped Escape Vehicle 001 (2020) features a graph of the global temperature overlaid with stock price trading diagrams. Its shooting toward either the collapse of our ecosystem or A.I. saving the planet. Despite the promise of the works title, its form suggests another lesson: We cant escape the future so much as find a way to ride on through it. JILLIAN STEINHAUER A Chinese wildlife park has halted its animal circus permanently amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Qingdao Forest Wildlife World used to run sold-out shows, which saw bears being forced to do handstands and monkeys being instructed to ride tiny bikes, among others. The zoo ceased such performances on April 1 in the hope of raising the public's awareness of wildlife protection, a spokesperson said. The Qingdao Forest Wildlife World in China has stopped running its animal circus permanently after staging shows featuring wild animals for years. The above pictures released by the zoo on social media show one monkey being forced to ride a bike and a bear having to do a handstand The park has adopted wild animals that were rescued or abandoned. It has also designed a series of educational programmes to inspire children and adults. The picture posted by the zoo to social media shows a group of pupils visiting the park in Qingdao, eastern China Situated in a major city in eastern China, the 300-acre park opened in 2003 and keeps around 5,000 animals belonging to 263 species. The park said it had tried to change the form of its animal show in the past few years but had met opposition from its audience. In a social media post on Monday, the park's management claimed that many visitors had urged them to carry on running the performance. Some had gone as far as filing complaints to local authorities, asking them to put pressure on the park to keep the shows, the post said. The Qingdao Forest Wildlife World opened in 2003 and keeps around 5,000 animals belonging to 263 species. Pictured, a keeper cleans the teeth of a hippo at the park on May 25, 2017 Li Huanbin, the spokesperson of the park, said that the zoo had devoted itself to educating the public about wild animals and teaching them to love wild animals. He told news outlet The Paper that the permanent cancellation of its animal circus was a natural next step. The park has adopted wild animals that have been rescued or abandoned. It has also designed a series of educational programmes to inspire children and adults to care about wild animals, the park said. The coronavirus crisis has sparked much controversy over people's treatment of wild animals within China. Experts believe that the virus first jumped onto humans from wild animals sold as food at a wet market in Wuhan, where the outbreak first emerged in December. After the central government put a temporary ban on the trading and eating of exotic meat in February, two Chinese cities have announced that they will ban their residents from eating cats and dogs from May 1. The pandemic first emerged in Wuhan in December. Experts believe the virus was passed onto humans by wild animals sold as food at a wet market in Wuhan, called Huanan. Workers wearing protective suits are pictured walking next to the Huanan market on March 30 Animal charity groups have voiced support for the park's announcement. PETA Asia praised the business for making 'the right decision' while Humane Society International said it was especially encouraging to see a Chinese facility 'take this progressive step'. Although China has laws to safeguard land-based and aquatic wildlife, it currently lacks legislation to protect animal welfare or to prevent cruelty towards animals. In 2012, the country's Ministry of Housing and Urban Development released an industry guideline, urging zoos across the country to stop animal shows. To this day, the government is yet to pass a law to officially ban such performances. However, a growing number of people in China have started to promote animal welfare using grassroots campaigns on social media. A spokesperson from Humane Society International said: 'More and more these days we see China's netizens calling out animal cruelty, setting a standard for animal welfare that unfortunately China's legislature has yet to emulate, but such outrage is nonetheless capable of inspiring tangible change for animals. 'The suffering of animals only continues for as long as the public pays to watch, so forward-thinking businesses in China will hopefully increasingly take this into account.' The Union environment ministrys Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) will on Thursday take a call on granting clearance to a hydroelectric project in one of the most biodiverse Himalayan zones in Arunachal Pradeshs Dibang Valley. The project will involve diversion of 1150.08 ha of forest land and felling of 2.7 lakh trees in what FACs documents call subtropical evergreen broad-leaved and subtropical rainforest. We have not heard from any locals about their concerns about the project. The FAC will hear it tomorrow [Thursday], said Anjan Mohanty, the inspector general of forests. A FAC sub-committee report on Tuesday recommended the 3,097 MW Etalin Hydroelectric Project be allowed with a condition that the developer deposits money for wildlife conservation in the area. Forest near Mehao lake in Dibang valley where the company plans to develop a combination of two run-of-the-river projects involving the construction of concrete gravity dams on the Tangon and Dri tributaries of the Dibang. (HT Photo/ Ram Alluri ) The FAC in October said the seven-member sub-committee will visit the project site to check if the land requirement for the project can be reduced after the ministrys regional office in Shillong raised several concerns about the diversion of a large area as well as potential biodiversity loss and conservative estimation of trees to be felled. The sub-committee was asked to look into tree enumeration for felling and the projects biodiversity impact. The sub-committee, which visited the site in February, found that the project lies in a remote area, and hence infrastructure facilities will have to be planned over a large area. The developer, Etalin Hydro-Electric Power Company, a joint venture of Arunachal Pradeshs Hydro Power Development Corporation with Jindal Power Limited (JPL), has reduced the forest area needed to be diverted to 1150.08 ha from 1165.66 ha, according to the sub-committees report. The regional office also highlighted the sampling intensity of trees at the project site was very low and hence gave a conservative estimate of trees to be felled. It added there was no accounting of huge trees that will be cut down. The sub-committee found that over 3 lakh trees are to be felled. The company has submitted that it will reduce the number to 2.7 lakh. The sub-committee found that over 3 lakh trees are to be felled in Diband Valley, a number reduced to 2.7 lakh by the company. (Photo: Sourced by HT/ Ramki Sreenivasan) A Wildlife Institute of India (WII) study has documented 413 plant, 159 butterfly, 113 spider, 14 amphibian, 31 reptile, 230 bird and 21 mammalian species within the project area. The WII has recommended a plan to prevent loss of animals and birds there, and the development of butterfly and reptile parks, nest boxes, habitat restoration etc. No tiger presence has been documented at the project site through camera trapping. But Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary 12 km away has recorded tiger presence in the vicinity. The company plans to develop a combination of two run-of-the-river projects involving the construction of concrete gravity dams on the Tangon and Dri tributaries of the Dibang. The sub-committees report recorded the environmental impacts of the dams even as it added the project has the support of the local populace and has no major environmental issue. In addition, it has remarkably favourable geological conditions for the region. The FAC had earlier in 2019 observed the proposed project falls under the richest Himalayan bio-geographical area and comes under one of the worlds mega biodiversity hotspots. The proposed project location is at the junction of the Paleo-arctic, Indo-Chinese, and Indo-Malayan bio-geographic regions having luxuriant forests and a plethora of flora and fauna. Activist Jorjo Tana Tara underlined the proposed project is located in an extremely eco-sensitive area. There have been local protests. JPL MD and CEO Bharat Rohra said they have been eagerly waiting for the clearance, which is a must. The proposal for grant of FC [forest clearance] to Etalin project was submitted to the environment ministry in 2014. The proposal has since been discussed in FAC a couple of times. In the EAC meeting scheduled to be held on April 23, the report and recommendations of the sub-committee of FAC will be discussed for final recommendations on the grant of FC to the project. Rohra said they are hopeful that the FAC will finally recommend the proposal for the FC grant. He added the company will implement the conservation plan. Seen here is the Great Hornbill. A Wildlife Institute of India (WII) study has documented 413 plant, 159 butterfly, 113 spider, 14 amphibian, 31 reptile, 230 bird and 21 mammalian species within the project area. (Photo: Sourced by HT/ Dhritiman Mukherjee/) Centre for Policy Researchs senior fellow Manju Menon said the world is living through a climate crisis but the FAC or other institutions simply ignore or refuse to factor in the role that forests, rivers, and land in Arunachal Pradesh can play to help deal with this. These resources will also be massively affected by climate change. Our assessment procedures are completely misplaced for this environmental context we are now in. BARRY COUNTY, MI A worker at Bradford White, Barry Countys largest employer, has tested positive for COVID-19, the company said. The worker, at the Middleville complex, is quarantined pending clearance from a doctor to return to work. The company was notified Monday, April 20, of the positive test for the coronavirus. Other employees who may have been exposed to the worker will undergo additional screening until May 7, the company said in a statement. The area with the reported case was thoroughly cleaned and sanitized on top of our already enhanced cleaning and sanitizing procedures, the statement said. The safety of Bradford White employees is our top priority. The company, with 1,600 workers at its Middleville manufacturing plant, has taken steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by limiting person-to-person contact, providing protective equipment for those unable to be separated by at least 6 feet and adjusting breaks and lunch hours so workers are not in groups. Those with any cold or flu-like symptoms are required to stay home. The company said it is considered an essential business under federal rules. Gov. Gretchen Whitmers has prohibited in-person work that is not necessary to sustain or protect life. These employees produce essential water heating and water storage equipment that is critical to infrastructure and public health. Bradford White has provided water heating equipment to temporary field hospitals across the U.S. including Michigan and our products are installed in homes and numerous commercial facilities such as hospitals, doctors offices, nursing homes, schools, military installations, and food processing plants, the statement said. Also on MLive: Founders Brewing plans mass layoff of 163 workers in coronavirus fallout Holy s---! says senior citizen given flowers by Lowes: Things that give us hope amid coronavirus crisis Nurse who spoke out about coronavirus concerns fired by Mercy Health Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo on Wednesday ordered that people in Harris County wear masks or facial coverings in public for 30 days. The Houston Chronicle was the first to report on Hidalgo's planned order on Wednesday morning. The order is set to go into effect on Monday, April 27 and applies to adults and children older than 10. When asked why it would go into effect Monday if it was so needed, the judge said she wanted to give everyone a chance to catch on and get or make masks. The judge added there will be a fine for not abiding by the order, and law enforcement will be using their discretion when issuing consequences. She said she does not think people will just brush this aside, but she wants to make it clear that this is not a recommendation -- it is a requirement. "You can and will lead to death; we need to each take personal responsibility," she said. Hidalgo said the order would include exceptions for people with disabilities or health conditions that would be exacerbated by a face covering, and for people who are exercising outside alone, driving or eating. "We have to use every tool in the toolbox," she said. "If we get complacent, people die." The judge said you are not required to purchase a mask, nor is she asking you to do so, but "everyone has materials at home that can be used to make a mask." "If we get cocky, we get sloppy, we get right back to where we started," said Judge Hidalgo, speaking on how Houston residents have lessened the curve of hospital admissions. The judge also encouraged residents to get tested, even if you are asymptomatic. "Getting this is not something to be scared of, it is a heroic act," she said. Mayor Sylvester Turner also spoke at a press conference with the judge Wednesday, saying his staff is also encouraged to wear masks in public spaces. He also encourages residents to wear masks at home if they are in close distances of others. For the third straight day in a row, the City of Houston is not reporting any new coronavirus deaths. Mayor Turner said he will announce a plan Thursday to distribute more than 70,000 masks to individual in vulnerable communities. Dr. David Persse spoke briefly, adding that it is important to follow the rules that have been given by city leaders. "As we move forward with folks who want to get back to work, we have to remember the virus is not gone," he said. "It is still here, and if we give it an opportunity, it will take it." Galveston County Judge Mark Henry posted on Facebook on Wednesday afternoon that he does not plan to issue a similar order. "Covering your face while in public is being recommended by national and local health authorities. While we encourage that you consider these recommendations for your own safety and the safety of others around you, I will not be mandating it because I believe it is unconstitutional to do so." Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough posted a similar statement on Facebook: As your Montgomery County Judge, in consultation with our county attorneys office, I do not find a statutory or legal basis that would allow me or anyone else in government to issue an order requiring the citizens to wear a mask. Especially under the fear of making it a criminal offense if they dont. If you choose to wear a mask or face covering I support your decision to do so. If you are a high-risk individual and you want to wear a mask while in public places then please do. If you choose not to wear a mask I support that decision as well. However, I will not issue an order mandating the wearing of face coverings or mask in public places anywhere in Montgomery County." Brent oil futures prices plunged again on Tuesday, extending oil market panic into a second day with no end in sight to a swelling global crude glut as the coronavirus pandemic has obliterated demand for fuel. Monday and Tuesday have been two of the most turbulent days in the history of oil trading, as investors confronted the reality that worldwide supply will overwhelm demand for months or years and current production cuts to offset that glut are nowhere near sufficient. After Monday's trade, when the front-month May US contract fell into negative territory for the first time in ... Mumbai: Maharashtra Minister Anil Deshmukh on Wednesday said none of the 101 people arrested in connection with the Palghar lynching case is a Muslim, and accused the opposition of giving a communal colour over the incident. "None of the accused arrested in connection with the incident is a Muslim. It is unfortunate that communal politics is being played following the incident, Deshmukh said in his address via Facebook. Without naming anyone, he said, "Some people are seeing 'Mungerilal ke haseen sapne' (pipedream)...it is not the time to play politics, but fight coronavirus collectively." The incident took place on the night of April 16 when three men - two seers and their driver - were going from Mumbai in a car towards Surat in Gujarat to attend a funeral. Their vehicle was stopped near a village in Palghar district where the three were dragged out of the car and beaten to death with sticks by a mob on suspicion that they were child-lifters. The deceased were identified as Chikne Maharaj Kalpavrukshagiri (70), Sushilgiri Maharaj (35), and driver Nilesh Telgade (30). The Maharashtra government earlier ordered a high-level probe into the incident, and two policemen from Palghar were suspended on Monday for alleged dereliction of duty. WASHINGTON - Tensions between Washington and Tehran flared anew Wednesday as Irans Revolutionary Guard conducted a space launch that could advance the countrys long-range missile program and U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to shoot down and destroy any Iranian gunboats that harass navy ships. The launch was a first for the Guard, revealing what experts described as a secret military space program that could accelerate Irans ballistic missile development. American officials said it was too early to know whether an operational Iranian satellite was successfully placed into orbit. Trumps top diplomat accused Iran of violating UN resolutions. After Irans announcement, Trump wrote on Twitter, without citing any specific incident, I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea. Last Wednesday, the U.S. navy reported that 11 Guard naval gunboats had carried out dangerous and harassing approaches to American navy and coast guard vessels in the Persian Gulf. The Americans used a variety of non-lethal means to warn off the Iranian boats, and they eventually left. Such encounters were relatively common several years ago, but have been rare recently. We dont want their gunboats surrounding our boats, and travelling around our boats and having a good time, Trump told reporters Wednesday evening at the White House. Were not going to stand for it. ... Theyll shoot them out of the water. Iran said the U.S. was to blame for last weeks incident. Conflict between Iran and the U.S. escalated after the Trump administration withdrew from the international nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions. Last May, the U.S. sent thousands more troops, including long-range bombers and an aircraft carrier, to the Middle East in response to what it called a growing threat of Iranian attacks on U.S. interests in the region. The tensions spiked when U.S. forces killed Irans most powerful general, Qassem Soleimani, in January. Iran responded with a ballistic missile attack on a base in western Iraq where U.S. troops were present. No Americans were killed, but more than 100 suffered mild traumatic brain injuries from the blasts. At the Pentagon on Wednesday, the vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. John Hyten, welcomed Trumps tweet as a useful warning to Iran. He drew a parallel between last weeks naval encounter in the Gulf and Wednesdays space launch, which he said was just another example of Iranian malign behaviour. And it goes right along with the harassment from the fastboats. ... You put those two things together and its just more examples of Iranian malign behaviour and misbehaviour, Hyten said. Iran considers the heavy U.S. military presence in the Middle East a threat to its security. Trump did not cite a specific Iranian provocation in his tweet or provide details. Senior Pentagon officials gave no indication that Trump had directed a fundamental change in military policy on Iran. The president issued an important warning to the Iranians, David Norquist, the deputy secretary of defence, said at a Pentagon news conference when asked about the tweet. What he was emphasizing is, all of our ships retain the right of self-defence. Rep. Elaine Luria, a Virginia Democrat and navy veteran, said Trumps tweeting could lead to war. The presidents continued issuing of orders to our military via tweet is a threat to our national security and, if followed without clear guidance and rules of engagement, will unnecessarily escalate tensions with Iran and possibly lead to all-out-conflict, she said. Hyten said he thinks the Iranians understand what Trump meant. Asked whether the tweet means a repeat of last weeks incident in the Gulf would require a lethal U.S. response, Hyten said, I would have to be the captain of the ship in order to make that determination. The nature of the response, he said, depends on the situation and what the captain sees. Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi, a spokesperson for Irans armed forces, accused Trump of bullying and said the American president should focus on caring for U.S. service members infected with the coronavirus. The U.S. military has more than 3,500 confirmed cases of coronavirus, and at least two service members have succumbed to COVID-19, the disease the virus causes. The space launch has potentially bigger implications for conflict with Iran. U.S. officials believe it is intended to advance Irans development of intercontinental-range ballistic missiles that could threaten the U.S. Using a mobile launcher at a new site, the Guard said it put a Noor, or Light, satellite into a low orbit circling the Earth. Iranian state TV late Wednesday showed footage of what it said was the satellite, and said it had orbited the Earth within 90 minutes. State TV said the satellites signals were being received. Hyten said it was too soon to know whether the launch had successfully placed a satellite in orbit. He said U.S. tracking technology showed the launch vehicle had travelled a very long way, which means it has the ability once again to threaten their neighbours, their allies, and we want to make sure they can never threaten the United States. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United Nations needs to evaluate whether the space launch was consistent with Security Council resolutions. I dont think it remotely is, and I think Iran needs to be held accountable for what its done, Pompeo said. In a letter Wednesday to Trump, 50 former senior U.S. officials and experts on Iran accused Tehran of using COVID-19 as a reason to pressure the U.S. to ease sanctions while continuing to spend money to bankroll malign activities in the region. The administration has repeatedly said humanitarian aid to Iran is not affected by the sanctions. The letter called on Trump to double down on the maximum pressure campaign to force the mullahs to spend their money on the Iranian people, not their nuclear ambitions, imperialism, and internal oppression. UW $50K Entrepreneurship Competition Moves to Virtual Event May 8-9 The University of Wyoming College of Business invites the public to participate in the 20th annual entrepreneurship competition, now the John P. Ellbogen $50K Entrepreneurship Competition, with virtual presentations scheduled May 8-9. In response to the novel coronavirus COVID-19 situation, the event has been modified to be a public event, hosted by the College of Business via Zoom. Moderated by Leadership Wyoming Executive Director Mandy Fabel, it will be judged by five prestigious panelists and feature eight student teams competing for $50,000 in seed money to pursue their businesses. Each team will compete in Round 1 Friday, May 8, beginning at 9 a.m. Round 1 will consist of a 10- to 12-minute presentation and 10-12 minutes of interactive discussion between judging panelists and each team. The top four teams from day one will advance to the Round 2 presentations Saturday, May 9, beginning at 12:20 p.m., when they will have 25-minute interactive discussions with judges who will play the role of potential customers of each business. The four teams advancing to Round 2 will be announced at 4:30 p.m. Friday, and the final winner(s) and award amounts will be announced at 4:30 p.m. Saturday. This event is a great opportunity for our students to showcase their entrepreneurial skill sets while simultaneously learning from our extraordinary panel of successful judges, says Patrick Kreiser, the Rile Chair of Entrepreneurship and Leadership in the College of Business. Entrepreneurs thrive in times of uncertainty, and the relentlessness of our teams in adjusting and pivoting their business concepts amid the COVID crisis has been inspirational. Positive change comes from educating the citizens of Wyoming and helping students to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset. The winner of the first competition in 2001 was Rocky Mountaineering Inc., with team members Marvin Perry (M.S. 01, mechanical engineering); Joe Pawlicki (MBA 01 and B.S. 97, finance); and Lacey (Songer) Mercil (MBA 01 and B.S. 98, agriculture). Their business idea focused on manufacturing rock-climbing and mountaineering products in Laramie. With private support from the First Interstate Bank Foundation, the John P. Ellbogen Foundation and individual donors, UWs entrepreneurship competition continued to grow and flourish. In 2011, the competition prize money grew from $10,000 to $30,000, and it became a $50,000 competition in 2017. In 2010, the John P. Ellbogen Foundation created an endowment that was matched by the state of Wyoming to support the competition award winners in perpetuity. With ongoing efforts throughout the state to increase economic diversification, the College of Business has expanded the event to include a variety of business types and industry contexts. The Ellbogen $50K Entrepreneurship Competition is exactly what is needed at this critical time for our state as we look to diversify Wyomings economy, and the College of Business is proud to support these efforts, College of Business Dean Dave Sprott says. I can think of nothing better than to provide students the opportunity to take their business ideas to the next level. Notable companies that have launched successful businesses after competing in the UW entrepreneurship competition are Table Mountain Vineyards, 2004; Bright Agrotech, 2011; GlycoBac LLC, 2011; and Valued Energy Platform, now Disa LLC, 2017. The diversity in business types exhibited by this years eight finalists is outstanding, Kreiser says. These new businesses are built upon well-researched ideas that offer innovative business models and customer markets to the Wyoming economy, while also creating new jobs. As I always tell our students, anything in life is possible with a positive attitude and a lot of hard work. The Ellbogen $50K Entrepreneurship Competition is one of the finest venues that we have at the University of Wyoming for students to learn how to turn their dreams into reality. To register for the free May 8-9 event, go to www.uwyo.edu/business/entrepreneurship. For more information, email Josie Voight at voight@uwyo.edu. ALBANY - The 15-day waiting period for a public employees retirement to take effect was waived recently to ensure benefits can be accessed by families who may lose a relative to the coronavirus. New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli on Wednesday applauded Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo for signing an executive order waiving the statutory waiting period for an employees service retirement to take effect. Many government workers are on the front lines battling the coronavirus in their communities every day, DiNapoli said in a news release. God forbid something should happen to them before their retirement becomes effective. Waiving the waiting period after filing for service retirement benefits ensures their families will get the benefits that were intended for them. DiNapoli had requested the governor sign the executive order last week to protect employees, including many who have contracted the illness while working in essential jobs. Under existing law, members of the state and local Employees Retirement System must wait 15 days for their retirement date to take effect, which allows a member to change their mind about their retirement date since the decision is irrevocable. But if a member dies before the period is over, their service retirement would not be effective and their beneficiary would potentially lose the benefits, according to the comptrollers office. The executive order signed by Cuomo authorizes a retroactive waiver of the 15-day waiting period to March 7, the date the state emergency was declared, for members who have died of COVID-19, the infectious disease caused by the coronavirus. Beneficiaries of police and firefighters already have the ability to choose service retirement benefits if the member dies before the effective retirement date. The executive order rescinds the wait period through May 16. : The Andhra Pradesh government on Wednesday claimed it topped the country in conducting the most number of coronavirus tests per million population, clocking 830. In all, 41,512 people were tested across the state so far, the Medical and Health Department said in a release. Of the total tests, 40,699 have turned negative so far, it said. On Tuesday alone, 5,757 tests were conducted, including 3,082 using TruNat machines that were actually used for tuberculosis testing. No other state was conducting coronavirus tests on this scale, the release claimed. "The number of tests per million thus reached 830. With 809, Rajasthan stood second behind AP in this regard,it said. APs test numbers were, however, not uploaded on the ICMR website though the government has been constantly sending the data, the release added. Official sources said they were unable to upload the state data on the website as we were not given the logins. On Monday, the state government released data, saying it conducted 715 tests per million. On April 16, state Special Chief Secretary (Health) K S Jawahar Reddy put the per million tests number at 331. "From just 230 tests per day at the beginning of this month, we are now doing about 5,700. We went very aggressive on testing and hence the increased numbers, a senior Health Department official pointed out. Our data is true, he said. The Andhra Pradesh government had on April 17 imported one lakh Rapid Test Kits (RTKs) from South Korea to step up COVID-19 testing in the state. These were the first bath of the one million RTKs ordered by the state government. With the use of RTKs, the result can be obtained in just 10 minutes on whether or not a person carried the virus. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi governments social welfare department is preparing a rehabilitation plan for the migrants and the homeless with a history of substance use disorders, who are now living across its temporary shelter homes, set up in schools, to during the Covid-19 lockdown. A week ago, over 4,000 migrants and homeless from Yamuna Pushta, Chandni Chowk and adjoining areas in Old Delhi were shifted to government schools-turned-shelter homes; some of them need long-term care, a senior government official said. Indu Prakash, a member of the Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee for homeless shelters in Delhi, said, There are a lot of vagabonds and homeless people who have chemical dependence or are affected by substance-use disorder. These temporary shelter homes will be closed once the lockdown is lifted but these people need long-term care. We had raised our concern with the Delhi government which then issued necessary orders. In an order dated April 18, Delhi governments chief secretary Vijay Dev had said that some of the homeless people may need long-term counselling/rehabilitation. The social welfare department shall assess the need and arrange for the same at their Lampur Centre and ensure that the same is done on priority without any delay, read the order by chief secretary. A senior Delhi government official with the social welfare department said the screening for substance abuse of those who were shifted from Yamuna Pushta will start soon. A meeting was held on Monday to discuss the modalities. We will soon start screening to identify those who would need long-term care and rehabilitation. We are exploring all options where these people can be shifted for better care, said the official requesting anonymity. Meanwhile, a team of doctors have been posted in each revenue district to assess the health, including mental health, of people living in shelter homes due to the lockdown. Dr Nimesh Desai, director of Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IBHAS), said, Our doctors are posted in each district and are screening all the homeless and migrants living there. If anybody needs institutional medical attention, then they are provided that. At IBHAS, we have facility for people in case they need hospitalisation. Today is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans rallied to demand protection for the environment. The hope is that, today, many more people around the world will mobilise for the cause, albeit while adhering to physical distancing and lockdown guidelines. With carbon emissions and global temperature records at an all-time high and wildfires, floods and other extreme events surging around the world, never has the need for climate action been more urgent. And yet, right now, the world is distracted by another global emergency the COVID-19 pandemic. The immediate focus has to be on preventing yet more deaths and alleviating, wherever possible, the suffering inflicted by this terrible disease. But for some political leaders this has been a reason, or even a convenient excuse, to put plans to tackle climate change to one side. Whereas both crises stem from the same root cause humanitys relentless exploitation of the planets resources. Until this is addressed, catastrophic climate change and further disease outbreaks are inevitable. Destruction of habitats not only contributes to emissions but also brings animals, and the viruses they carry, into contact with humans. Global warming does not just create human refugees. Animals too migrate in search of cooler climes, spreading pathogens to new hosts around the world. Eating and trading wild animals further increases the chances of spillover. Wildlife, oil, water, trees, minerals; you name it, we profit from turning the planets riches into commodities. And it is killing us. Al Jazeeras environmental solutions series, earthrise, celebrates the people committed to protecting life on earth and turning the climate crisis around. To mark this day, we look back at five of our films, each of which takes on an extra significance in the context of the current pandemic. These stories prove how far one persons determination to make a difference can go. And that when this determination is met with support, from the public or from business and political leaders, then transformation becomes truly possible. The human footprint is so huge that it affects three-quarters of the land on the planet. Only a few pockets of wilderness remain. In response, a worldwide movement is under way to rewild the countryside. One initiative, in Chiles Patagonia, is exceeding all expectations. In 2004, philanthropists Kris and Doug Tompkins bought a sheep ranch and set about restoring its overgrazed lands. Their venture went on to become one of the biggest conservation projects in history. Recently it has expanded even further with the support of the Chilean state. If you don't establish some sort of value system that awards peace between the human and non-human world, you'll never get where we need to go. Kris Tompkins, president and co-founder, Tompkins Conservation The incidence of emerging infectious diseases is on the rise. The majority of these originate in animals. Deforestation, which leads to pathogens moving out of the woods with their animal hosts, is a major cause. It is also responsible for approximately 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. Your clothes may play a part in this. Every year, 150 million trees are pulped to create viscose and rayon to feed the fast-fashion industry. The non-profit company, Canopy, is campaigning to protect the worlds ancient forests. In Sweden, it is working with major brands to transform the high street. It's not an intuitive link that something so soft and silky next to your skin actually it starts off as a tree. Nicole Rycroft, founder and executive director, Canopy Washing your hands is a key defence against coronavirus. But what if you are one of the 785 million people without access to clean water? Now, more than ever, every drop counts. Jordan is one of the worlds driest countries. What is more, more than 35 billion litres of water are lost there each year due to illegal tapping and faulty pipes. That is why the Water Wise Women initiative is so important. Three thousand women have been trained in water conservation and plumbing. They are helping preserve their countrys water supply drip by drip. I love it because it's really really helpful and you can save something really expensive for us. It's the water. Isra Ababneh, plumber The rivers of the city of Doula in Cameroon are choked with so much plastic waste that you would struggle to see a drop of water. Like other rivers around the world, they are a symbol of how we plunder the planets resources, only to swiftly discard the products we make with them. But Ismael Essome is living proof one person can make a difference. He is on a mission to change attitudes to waste in Doula and, from there, to inspire the whole of Africa. I realised that all the rivers are full of plastics. No one cares. No one said 'What is this?' And I was shocked to see that so I decided to do something. Ismael Essome, entrepreneur As countries around the world enter lockdown and the air becomes cleaner, we are gaining a tantalising glimpse of a greener world. We are at a fork in the road. Once the worst ravages of the pandemic are over, which way will we go? Towards decarbonised economies and a sustainable future? Or back to business as usual, a rise in emissions and a future beset by extreme climate events and, most likely, further pandemics? The people of the Danish island of Samso chose the path of sustainability. In the process, they proved that going green makes good business sense and that a healthy environment is a prerequisite for a resilient and healthy society. That's the idea, to help communities realise their potential and their options and fly. Alexis Chatzimpiros, project manager, Samso Energy Academy You can find more earthrise films here. The challenge is making sure every member of the public has the same accessibility to some kind of face covering, she said. And we know, from the disparities in our city, that that is not so. What is possible in Lincoln Park is not the same as whats possible in Austin or Englewood or Roseland. So we have to have a policy that is consistent with the realities of peoples lives. And while we are going to continue to encourage people to wear masks in congregate settings, mandating that without giving people the tools to actually comply and were not going to lock people up because they arent wearing masks in public. So, these are nuanced issues. An estimated 81% of Oregon restaurant workers have been laid off or furloughed and 4% of Oregon restaurants have permanently shut down due to the COVID-19 crisis, according to a national survey conducted by the National Restaurant Association. The industry group estimated that 94% of Oregon restaurants had laid off or furloughed staff. Those layoffs and furloughs have impacted an estimated 127,000 restaurant workers in Oregon. Across the United States, more than 8 million restaurant employees have been laid off or furloughed, according to the industry group, which surveyed more than 6,500 restaurant operators nationwide. Some Oregon operators have laid off or furloughed thousands of employees. Landmark hotel and brewpub chain McMenamins, which operates 62 hotels, movie theaters, restaurants and bars throughout Oregon and Washington, laid off 3,000 people and closed nearly all its locations in March. McMenamins announced Wednesday that its pubs would reopen for takeout. Vancouver-based fast food chain Burgerville furloughed 1,020 people across its Northwest locations in March. Oregon restaurants and bars have been struggling to stay afloat since Gov. Kate Brown announced a ban on March 16 prohibiting on-premises dining across the state in an effort to stem the tide of COVID-19. Since then, restaurants have moved to takeout-only options or closed entirely. Some of those restaurants wont reopen. The National Restaurant Association said that another 6% of Oregon restaurants were expected to permanently close in the next month, joining the 4% of Oregon restaurants that have already permanently closed. Despite some restaurants continuing to provide takeout options, operators still saw an 83% decline in sales from April 1-10, according to the survey. The Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association is calling on state lawmakers to act amid the crisis. With the support of 255 Oregon hospitality businesses, the lobbying group has put together a list of proposals to aid the states hospitality industry. The restaurant industry and its employees have been significantly impacted by this pandemic, said Jason Brandt, President & CEO of the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association, in a statement. Restaurant owners have said existing state and federal relief programs will not enable them to keep their employees on payroll throughout the downturn. Were calling on our elected leaders to take more action to save jobs and get the industry on track for recovery. -- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com | @jamiebgoldberg Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. A relief package bill which nears $500 billion has been passed in the United States Senate, Tuesday, The said package includes hundred of billions allocated to fund small businesses which are highly affected by the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus outbreak. It also includes the budget for other priorities for hospitals, healthcare, and expanded COVID-19 testing. The exact budget which has been allocated for the said bill is about $484 billion and is the latest unprecedented effort bu Washington to boost the economy after the $2 trillion stimulus packages, $8.3 billion plan the Congress approved, and the $192 billion relief measure. Democratic leaders are also already planning for another massive bill to aid in the fight against the pandemic. A cope of the said legislative text which is 25 pages long was obtained by CNN, who reported that there was a section-by-section analysis showing that the said deal would authorize a Paycheck Protection Program with a allocated additional $310 billion. The program has been set up to give help to small business which has been struggling with the economic freeze that has been triggered by the CVODI-19 pandemic. The funding for the program has run out earlier this month which prompted an outcry from the community of small businessmen. Read also: Trump Says US Immigration Ban Would Last for 60 Days Aside from this $310 billion PPP, the deal will also allocate $75 billion for healthcare providers and hospitals which has received the hardest hit of the pandemic. The said budget will also address the problem with coronavirus expenses and lost revenue. There is also an additional $25 billion which is allocated to facilitate and expand COVID-19 testing. How the bill deals with COVID-19 testing According to the analysis of the bill, the $25 billion amount for testing will be spent towards research expenses aiming to develop, validate, purchase, manufacture, administer and expand capacity of testing. Out of these, $11 billion will be given to localities in order for them to process and analyze tests. The rest will be given to other agencies including federal agencies and will be used to invest in promising new technologies and will be distributed to laboratories. Moreover, the analysis also noted that the bill "requires (a) strategic plan to related to providing assistance to states for testing and increasing testing capacity." In addition, it also requires a plan for the states and municipalities on how the money will be spent on testing. There has also been a dispute on how the COVID-19 testing which had earlier held up the said agreement. One major issue that has not been earlier resolved was whether to create a testing strategy on a national level. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has already signaled his approval of the deal through a tweet and said that he is urging the Senate and House of Representatives to pass the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act. I urge the Senate and House to pass the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act with additional funding for PPP, Hospitals, and Testing. After I sign this Bill, we will begin discussions on the next Legislative Initiative with fiscal relief.... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 21, 2020 He also indicated that the negotiators will deal with the additional fundings for both the state and local governments in the next legislative package aimed for the relief. Related news: Trump Bans US Immigrations to Protect 22 Million Americans Who Lose Jobs @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The report Fall Protection Equipment Market Share, Size, Trends, Industry Analysis Report By Product (Hard Goods, Soft Goods, Rescue Kits, Full Body Harness and Body Belts); By Application (Oil & Gas, Construction, Transportation, Mining, Telecom, Energy & Utilities, General Industry); By Regions, Segment Forecast, 2019 2026 gives a detailed insight into current market dynamics and provides analysis on future market growth. The global fall protection equipment market size is expected to reach USD 2.9 billion by 2026 according to a new study by Polaris Market Research. The global demand for fall protection equipment is escalating, with increasing focus on workers safety in construction, mining, energy and oil and gas industries. They include the use of controls that are preferably designed to protect staff from death and injury. Incident and occupational risk, including falling off overhead platforms or elevated workstations, is expected to contribute to the protection of industry demand. Request for sample of this research report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/fall-protection-equipment-market/request-for-sample Some of the key players in the market include 3M, MSA Safety Company, SKYLOTEC, Capital Safety, Honeywell Miller, Eurosafe Solutions, ABS Safety, Gravitec System, French Creek Production, FallTech and DBI-SALA . The key players in this market have adopted the strategy of mergers and acquisitions as a part of their strategy in order to gain competitive share in the global market. Market growth is driven by a growing awareness of industrial security and stringent government safety regulations in various industries. One of the main drivers is increasing demand for fall protection equipment from the construction industry. However, increasing automation is expected to limit market growth in the end-use industries. In addition to this, the lack of awareness is expected to hamper the growth of this market over the forecast period. Increasing stringent regulations pertaining to safety of employees is also expected to bring in new opportunities for the key players in this market. It is estimated that the body belts segment may surpass consumption of 53 million units by 2026 in the overall market. These are used primarily together with a full body harness for injury protection. OSHA also recommends the utilization of body belts from elevated platforms. Construction market segment is anticipated to hold major share in the global market till the end of forecast period. In addition to this, mining industry is also expected to witness significant growth in the global market over the forecast period. Do you have questions or special requirements? Ask our industry experts: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/fall-protection-equipment-market/speak-to-analyst During the forecast period, North America will be followed closely by Europe. The market is expected to grow enormously due to rapid industrialization in both of these regions. In particular, Asia Pacific, due to anticipated growth in the construction industry during the forecast period, will be seen to increase the demand for fall protection equipment. This market growth can be mainly attributed to the rapid development of infrastructure, high investment in new industries, and the rise in construction in residential and commercial buildings in countries such as India, Indonesia, Thailand and China. The high demand for fall-protection equipment in the ever growing energy and utility industry of Latin America market is expected to register a significant CAGR during the forecast period. Buy Now : https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/checkouts/6151 Contact Us: Polaris Market Research Phone: 1-646-568-9980 Email: sales@polarismarketresearch.com Web: www.polarismarketresearch.com US President Donald Trump and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan held a telephonic conversation on Wednesday during which they agreed to work together on a coordinated response to defeat the coronavirus and minimize its economic impact. This was the first call between the two leaders during the coronavirus pandemic. Trump and Khan had a bilateral meeting in Davos in January on the sidelines of the Davos Economic Summit. "The leaders discussed developments in the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and agreed to continue working together on a coordinated response to defeat the virus and minimize its economic impact, the White House said in a readout of the call. "The two leaders also discussed regional security and other bilateral issues, it said. In Pakistan, the virus has killed 209 people and infected 10,072 others. In Islamabad, Khan's office said the Prime Minister called President Trump and the two leaders discussed COVID-19 pandemic related challenges, its implications on global economy, and ways to mitigate its impact. "They also exchanged views on regional issues and further strengthening of Pakistan-US cooperation," Khan's office said in a statement. Prime Minister Khan also highlighted Pakistan's efforts to contain the spread of the virus and emphasized that his government was facing a dual challenge of overcoming the pandemic and saving people, particularly the most vulnerable segments of the population, from hunger due to lockdown. He underlined that the government had put together a USD 8 billion package to support the affected people and businesses. While thanking President Trump for the US support in the IMF and other fora, Prime Minister Khan said that it would provide necessary fiscal space to Pakistan and help in mitigating the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. He also called for Global Initiative on Debt Relief for the developing countries is in the same context. Khan also highlighted Pakistan's steadfast support for a peaceful and stable Afghanistan and the importance of political settlement. He reaffirmed Pakistan's support for facilitation of the Afghan peace process and underscored the importance of next steps leading to the earliest commencement of Intra-Afghan negotiations. President Trump appreciated Khan's telephone call and reassured him of the US support to Pakistan in the efforts to combat COVID-19 including by making available ventilators as well as in the economic arena. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Houston-based international oilfield services company National Oilwell Varco (NYSE:NOV) has been playing defense with its cash position since 2016's dividend cut. While most of its customers are slashing capital spending for 2020, the cash position NOV has built up will likely help make it through these cuts. That said, investors will still want to pay attention to several key factors. How NOV spends its cash NOV is perhaps the most integral part of upstream oilfield equipment sales and leasing. NOV manufactures, sells, and leases drilling and hydraulic fracturing equipment wordwide to most exploration and production firms, and to companies that service those firms. The company's market position is enviable to any equipment manufacturer out there. In 2019, NOV booked a $6 billion loss thanks to a $5.8 billion non-cash charge in intangible assets and goodwill. But despite that huge paper loss, it booked cash flow from operations of $714 million that same year. Investors may see these huge losses and think the company isn't well-positioned. It's important to view companies in terms of cash position, though. Non-cash charges on an income statement may cloud an investor's vision. Paying attention to the different cash flows a company has may help fill in some holes left behind by the income statement. The company made $315 million in capital investments in 2019, including $180 million in acquisitions and $233 million in capital expenditures. Even though the company had borrowings under its revolving credit agreement, it ended the year having reduced its debt burden by $1 billion. This debt repayment was part of its $647 million financing cash outflow for the year 2019. All of these cash flows, along with an $8 million outflow for currency exchange rate charges, reduced its overall cash pile by $256 million. What's in store for 2020? Even though the company's revenue may take a big hit this year, NOV has been managing its cash position appropriately. The company is indirectly exposed to the price of oil and directly exposed to the plethora of capex cuts in the industry. These factors will provide headwinds for 2020 -- though it's hard to find a substitute in any industry for NOV's operations. Internally, the company has aligned its financing according to the volatility investors have been seeing in the industry. The cash the company needs to just sustain its financial position includes its dividend, debt servicing, lease payments, and capex for the year. It takes only $77 million to pay the company's common stock dividend. The company will not have to pay down principal on debt until 2022, when a $400 million bond comes due. NOV plans on spending $325 million in capex this year, mostly to develop a rig manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia. The company has not yet indicated it plans to scale back on that capex spending. These are the cash charges the company is facing in 2020 beyond the cash needed for operations that, in principle, should be covered by the company's revenue. There's just one problem The company might not be able to count on all its expected revenue. Much of the company's cash flow from operations this year came from selling stale accounts to debt collectors. Even when a company earns revenue, it hasn't actually received the cash for that revenue until the company it invoices actually pays. The energy industry is rife with customers that either go years without paying invoices, or just don't pay them at all. At the end of 2019 and 2018, NOV had $132 million and $161 million, respectively, in allowances for bad debts against its accounts receivables. One would think it would be much higher, since the company reported $1.9 billion in accounts receivable at the end of 2019. NOV is able to keep these amounts down because it can sell accounts receivable to financial institutions, recovering nearly all of the cash associated with those stale accounts. In 2018, NOV sold $248 million worth of stale accounts receivable for $246 million. This number increased drastically in 2019, to $327 million of stale accounts it sold for $324 million. This turned out to be a major contributor to the company's cash flow from operations. Investors may see more of these accounts receivable being sold to financial institutions in 2020, with similar haircuts taken on the cash coming in. Even though there are industrywide capital expenditure and production cuts, NOV will likely make it through, thanks to its excellent positioning financially. That said, investors probably shouldn't expect any growth out of the company this year. A police officer talks to a passenger at Xiaoshan International Airport in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on March 13, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua] China is in talks with nations including South Korea and Singapore about setting up "fast-track lanes" for key business and technical personnel to travel across borders amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Tuesday. "The aim is to stabilize the country's important trade and business cooperation with relevant countries and guarantee the smooth operation of global industrial and supply chains while curbing the contagion's spread," he said at a regular news briefing in Beijing. Geng said China and South Korea have reached consensus in principle on establishing such a fast-track arrangement, and they are discussing a detailed implementation plan. In an earlier China-Singapore virtual joint meeting on COVID-19, the two nations agreed to discuss better access for necessary personnel while safeguarding public health, he said. Last month, China announced a temporary suspension of most entry into the country by foreigners and a significant reduction of international passenger flights to help prevent imported novel coronavirus cases. On Tuesday, Geng also stressed the importance of deepening multilateral cooperation to jointly cope with the disease, following a statement from the Group of 77-the main group of developing countries at the United Nationsand China. It expressed support for the World Health Organization in the pandemic fight. Some other nations and international organizations like the United Nations and the European Union also expressed support for the WHO's critical role in dealing with the outbreak and strengthening the building of the global public health system, Geng said. Commenting on Washington's recent attacks on the WHO, Geng said that the US is showing "a mentality of hegemony" by showing it thinks the organization should listen to its commands just because it is the largest contributor. It is "a threat of blackmail" for the US to stop its funding just because the WHO upholds objectivity and justice, he said. Geng suggested some people in the US take a look at the video of the One World: Together at Home virtual concert held over the weekend to see the broad support for the WHO and common aspirations for solidarity and cooperation. "We hope they will not stand on the opposite of the international community," he said. : Sundram Fasteners Ltd on Wednesday said it has introduced work from home for its staff and taken various initiatives, including assistance for the migrant workers, during the COVID-19 lockdown. The company also said it has donated Rs three crore to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund towards combating the coronavirus pandemic. In a statement, it said 'multi-dimensional' efforts were taken prior to the lock-down and guidelines were provided to its employees after the shutdown. Detailing some of the initiatives, Sundram Fasteners said ahead of the lock-down announced last month the factory was cleaned on a daily-basis and employees were advised against taking up business and personal travel to coronavirus affected states. The concept of work from home was introduced among staff and meetings were also held via video-conferencing. During the lock-down period, the company said a session was held for all crisis managers by senior psychologists on mental health while the provision of food, kits and masks were given to the migrant workers at its factories. The safety and security of housekeeping staff who are engaged in maintaining the company premises during lock-down was also closely monitored,it said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Fancy a tipple with a tropical twist? These six rums are complex, mixable and tremendously tasty. Rum is in vogue right now. 2020 has been tipped as rums moment in the sun, and, frankly, its about time. But with such a vast range of brands, styles and source regions, it can be really difficult to choose the right one. Thats where we come in to lend a helping hand. Whether youre a fan of dark or white, spicy or sweet, this selection of rum will have something you love, and hopefully something you havent tried before Enjoy! Havana Club Anejo 3 Year Old Havana Club has long been a standard-bearer for Cubas outstanding rum-making heritage and for good reason. This Havana Club expression, which makes a particularly good Daiquiri, was aged for three years in bourbon casks and then filtered which gives it a distinctive light straw yellow hue. What does it taste like? Marzipan, citrus, allspice, ground ginger, vanilla, a little lime, gentle oak and a delicate nutty note. Horizon Black [Hole] Spiced Rum I dont know anything about black holes, but I do know a good rum when I taste one and this expression is a very, very good rum. Horizon Black [Hole] Spiced Rum was built around a blend of Caribbean rums, and flavoured with black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, orange (both sweet and Curacao), star anise and vanilla to give it a big, complex profile that makes it as delicious neat as it is mixed. What does it taste like? Curacao, red cola cubes, stewed dark fruits, toasted cardamom and clove, vanilla, dark chocolate, rich molasses, root beer, treacle, Seville orange marmalade, espresso, liquorice, star anise and a hint of spent fireworks underneath. Rumbullion! A versatile, tasty and distinctive spiced rum from Ableforths, Rumbullion! is perfect for a number of rum cocktails, but on these balmy spring evenings, its best enjoyed ice and a good whack of lime. It features Madagascan vanilla, orange peel, cassia, clove and cardamom alongside the high-quality Caribbean rum. The label gives a shout-out to the nearly forgotten grog tubs, a robust vessel from which tots were dispensed to Royal Navy crew up until 1970. What does it taste like? Intense, sweet vanilla, flamed orange zest, cardamom, old-fashioned cola, manuka honey, molasses, candy floss, toffee apples, creme brulee and a fabulous mix of thick cut bitter orange marmalade and tingling, zinging spices from cloves and cinnamon. O Reizinho (That Boutique-y Rum Company) Unaged rhum agricole is the underappreciated star of the rum world, so if you havent given it a fair crack of the whip, then you know what to do. O Reizinho is an intense and funky expression from Madeira, Portugal that was bottled by the fab folk over at That Boutique-y Rum Company and was recently declared the winner of the Pot Still Rum category at the World Rum Awards 2019. And yes, that is a funky olive king on the label. What does it taste like? Super vegetal, pungent unripe banana, fresh green olives, saline seaweed, lively black pepper. Woods Old Navy Rum A classic name in rum, Woods has long been regarded for its singular profile, killer cocktail potential and reasonable price. Its Old Navy Rum was distilled in Guyana, South America from sugar cane and bottled at 57% abv, making it one of the highest percentage volume dark rums out there. What does it taste like? Muscovado sugar, soft toffee and spice from cinnamon, cloves and pepper. Plantation XO Barbados 20th Anniversary You may not know of many rums matured in Cognac casks, but given the fabulous French-owned Plantation brand was founded by Alexandre Gabriel (of Maison Ferrand fame), its little surprise to see this technique employed here. Plantation XO Barbados 20th Anniversary was initially matured in bourbon barrels, the spirit was then shipped to France for a secondary maturation in Cognac casks from the Ferrand house. Its picked up numerous awards and is particularly delicious in a cocktail. What does it taste like? Spicy oak, guava, a little desiccated coconut, dried banana, sweet vanilla and caramel. Certain critical elements of urban infrastructure must be maintained even during the pandemic. The wet weather stations at Marysville Park provide a good example. During large rain events, instead of overwhelming the wastewater treatment plant with combined storm and sewer water and discharging the untreated overflow into the St. Clair River, the two giant wet weather tanks in the park capture the water for later treatment by the plant. Now the tanks need some repairs. Bari Wrubel, the citys water utility supervisor, discussed the work at the regular meeting of the city council on April 13. Ill keep it short because I know its tough to communicate this way, said Wrubel via the GoToMeeting platform, as his voice faded in and out. These are two valves in the round tanks in the park, which are the original wet weather stations that weve had since 2003. For a number of years now weve tried to operate them without the electronic actuators because those did not work. Weve been running them manually as needed. Pretty much not only the electronic actuators dont work anymore, the internals of the valves are bad. We cant shut them all the way. Theyre really, really difficult to open up. I put money in the budget to do these repairs and a few other things in those tanks. Once these are ordered, itll take about three months to get here. Once theyre here, there will be an additional cost to get them installed and wired up. Do we know what the price is going to be to put them in? asked council member Paul Wessel. I have not gotten prices yet, said Wrubel. Ive asked Don Murray. He replaced a drain meter for us over there. The valves would probably be around a couple thousand dollars. Wrubel received three bids for the drain valves. ValMatic, of Elmhurst, Illinois, was low at about $12,800. FCX, of Cleveland, Ohio, quoted roughly $17,300 for the equipment. Hamlett Environmental, of Howell, was high at about $18,600. The bids included two 8-inch plug valves, two Limitorque electric actuators, freight and having a factory rep on hand for the startup. Mayor Pro Tem Kathy Hayman made the motion to award the contract to low-bidder ValMatic, supported by Wessel. The motion was approved 6-0. Council member Dave Barber was unable to conference into the meeting. Member Dan Shirkey attended the meeting via GoToMeeting software. Other council members and city staff physically distanced from each other around the perimeter of the Joseph S. Johns Council Chambers. Wessel sat on the west end of the long council table, with Mayor Wayne Pyden in the center and City Clerk Rene Stoia on the east end. City Manager Randy Fernandez and council member Greg Badley sat apart along the east wall. Council member Shawn Winston sat on the south wall. Hayman was the only person in the audience seats on the rooms west side. No one wore a mask. Jim Bloch is a freelance writer. Contact him at bloch.jim@gmail.com. China's highest-security virology center is at the center of debate, speculation and misinformation about how, where and when the novel coronavirus emerged. Why it matters: Knowing the origin of the novel coronavirus is key to efforts to prevent future possible pandemics and will shape China's role in the post-pandemic world. In the U.S., two similar-sounding theories link the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the origin of the coronavirus. One is very unlikely; the other is plausible but unverified. Theory 1: The coronavirus was created as part of a Chinese bioweapons research program allegedly linked to the WIV. Virologists have determined this is highly unlikely. By looking at a virus' genetic material, it is possible to tell if it has been engineered in a lab. The coronavirus shows no such signs, as the World Health Organization also emphasized on April 21. Some U.S. officials previously showed interest in this theory, but the scientific evidence debunking it has been persuasive. There is also growing scientific evidence the virus originated in a bat and spread to humans via an intermediary animal, which would make it less likely it came from a lab. Theory 2: The novel coronavirus was being studied at the WIV, and a lab accident resulted in the virus' accidental transmission to an employee who then unknowingly spread the virus in the city after leaving the institute premises. This is plausible, but as yet there is no direct evidence to support it. It isn't possible to tell from looking at the coronavirus' genetic sequence if it jumped from animal to human in a lab or in a wet market (or somewhere else). Confirmation would therefore have to come from contact tracing and related measures by Chinese authorities. This theory has gained significant traction within U.S. government circles. Context: There is precedent in China and other countries, including Singapore where breaches in lab safety procedures resulted in disease outbreaks. In 2004, the coronavirus that causes SARS was accidentally leaked from a facility in Beijing, infecting nine people and killing one. Yes, but: That was a known pathogen studied in numerous labs around the world. The novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 was previously unknown to the scientific community. What they're saying: Yuan Zhiming, the director of the Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory and vice director of the WIV, denied the novel coronavirus had any connection to the lab in an April 18 interview with Chinese state broadcaster CGTN. "There is no way this virus came from us," said Yuan. "People can't help but make associations, which I think is understandable. But it's bad when some are deliberately trying to mislead people." Shi Zhengli, a highly respected scientist who also works at the institute and who has long studied coronaviruses that come from bats, said in February that she could guarantee on my life that the novel coronavirus did not come from the lab, according to the Wall Street Journal. A version of the second theory, which claims that "patient zero" was an intern at the facility, has also made the rounds on the Chinese internet, prompting state news agency Xinhua to publish a Feb. 16 article stating that the person in question had never been infected. Here are three key facts about the WIV: 1. It houses the Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory, which is China's only Biosafety Level-4 (BSL-4) lab. That means it is the only facility in China permitted to handle the most dangerous known pathogens, including the Ebola and Lassa viruses. It is the first of several BSL-4 labs that China is planning to build. BSL-4 labs are rare and confer a degree of prestige on the countries that have them. Taiwan has two such labs; Japan's first BSL4 lab wasn't approved to handle top-tier pathogens until 2015. By comparison, the U.S. has about a half-dozen BSL4 labs, with several more planned. 2. The lab is located just under 9 miles from the wet market where some scientists say the outbreak may have originated. Its proximity to the first known cluster of cases at the Huanan market has fueled speculation the lab could somehow be involved. 3. The WIV is home to the Chinese scientists who sequenced the complete novel coronavirus genome in early January and who are now working on a vaccine. Scientists affiliated with the institute have studied coronaviruses for years, but it's not the only lab in China where coronaviruses are studied. The bottom line: As China seeks to demonstrate scientific heft, a spillover event at China's most prestigious virology lab and subsequent cover-up would be "another nail in the coffin of Xi's personal reputation and the CCP's reputation on the global stage," Elizabeth Economy, director for Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said on a media call last week. The investment values Jio Platforms amongst the top 5 listed companies in India by market capitalization, within just three and a half years of launch of commercial services Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Jio Platforms Limited and Facebook, on Wednesday announced the signing of binding agreements for an investment of Rs 43,574 crore by Facebook into Jio Platforms. This investment by Facebook values Jio Platforms at Rs 4.62 lakh crore pre-money enterprise value ($65.95 billion, assuming a conversion rate of Rs 70 to a US dollar). Facebooks investment will translate into a 9.99 percent equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis. . @Facebook to invest $5.7 bn or Rs 43,574 cr, to pick up a stake in in @reliancejio . Deal will make Facebook the largest minority shareholder in Jio platforms pic.twitter.com/nzBAMUGu31 CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) April 22, 2020 Commenting on the partnership with Facebook, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries Ltd, said, The synergy between Jio and Facebook will help realise Prime Minister Narendra Modis Digital India Mission with its two ambitious goals Ease of Living and Ease of Doing Business for every single category of Indian people without exception. In the post-Corona era, I am confident of Indias economic recovery and resurgence in the shortest period of time. The partnership will surely make an important contribution to this transformation," Ambani said in a statement. Facebook wrote of the investment on its website. "This investment underscores our commitment to India, and our excitement for the dramatic transformation that Jio has spurred in the country. In less than four years, Jio has brought more than 388 million people online, fueling the creation of innovative new enterprises and connecting people in new ways. We are committed to connecting more people in India together with Jio. "Our goal is to enable new opportunities for businesses of all sizes, but especially for the more than 60 million small businesses across India. They account for the majority of jobs in the country, and form the heart and soul of rural and urban communities alike. In the face of the coronavirus, it is important that we both combat this global pandemic now, and lay the groundwork to help people and businesses in the years to come. "One focus of our collaboration with Jio will be creating new ways for people and businesses to operate more effectively in the growing digital economy. For instance, by bringing together JioMart, Jios small business initiative, with the power of WhatsApp, we can enable people to connect with businesses, shop and ultimately purchase products in a seamless mobile experience." Facebook said on its website. Win-win deal The Facebook deal is part of value unlocking by RIL to cut debt. RIL has been seeking strategic partnerships across its businesses while targeting to deleverage its balance sheet. It has been talking to Saudi Aramco for sale of a 20 percent stake in its oil-to-chemical business for an asking of $15 billion. RIL has already tied up with BP Plc for fuel business as it targets to have a debt-free status by next year, PTI said. Jio had also been reportedly talking separately to Google, PTI said. The latest deal is a win-win for both Facebook and Jio. It would give Facebook deeper access to India, the second largest internet market after China. Jio-Facebook partnership Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, which provides connectivity platform to over 388 million subscribers, will continue to be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jio Platforms, the company statement said. Jios vision is to enable a Digital India for 1.3 billion Indians and Indian businesses, especially small merchants, micro-businesses and farmers. The partnership between Facebook and Jio is unprecedented in many ways. This is the largest investment for a minority stake by a technology company anywhere in the world and the largest FDI in the technology sector in India. The investment values Jio Platforms amongst the top 5 listed companies in India by market capitalization, within just three and a half years of launch of commercial services, validating Reliance Industries capability in incubating and building disruptive next-generation businesses, while delivering market defining shareholder value. "Our goal with this investment is to enable new opportunities for businesses of all sizes, but especially for small businesses across India and create new and exciting digital ecosystems that will empower, enrich and uplift the lives of all 1.3 billion Indians," Reliance Jio said in a statement. "This partnership will accelerate Indias all-round development, fulfilling the needs of Indian people and the Indian economy. Our focus will be Indias 60 million micro, small and medium businesses, 120 million farmers, 30 million small merchants and millions of small and medium enterprises in the informal sector, in addition to empowering people seeking various digital service," the company statement said. The partnership assumes special significance for India in the wake of the severe disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic in the Indian and the global economy. In the postCOVID era, comprehensive digitalisation will be an absolute necessity for revitalisation of the Indian economy. "It is our common belief and commitment that no Indian should be deprived of the tremendous new opportunities, including opportunities for new employment and new businesses, in the process of Indias 360-degree digital transformation. Concurrent with the investment, Jio Platforms, Reliance Retail Limited and WhatsApp have also entered into a commercial partnership agreement to further accelerate Reliance Retails New Commerce business on the JioMart platform using WhatsApp and to support small businesses on WhatsApp. Together with WhatsApp and Instagram, Facebook overall is estimated to have more users in India than any other single country. The number of internet users in India is projected to rise to about 850 million in 2022, according to consultancy PwC, up from 450 million in 2017. WhatsApp already plays an important role in helping people and businesses connect in India. Reliance Retails New Commerce platform, JioMart, is being built in partnership with millions of small merchants and kirana shops to empower them to better serve the needs of Indian consumers. The companies will work closely to ensure that consumers are able to access the nearest kiranas who can provide products and services to their homes by transacting seamlessly with JioMart using WhatsApp, the statement said. (Disclaimer: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd which publishes Firstpost) Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 20:14:49|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KUNMING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) therapies and preparations have been included in the second and latest version of diagnosis and treatment plan for COVID-19 in Laos, according to a Chinese medical expert. Du Yibin, the chief physician at the Yunnan Provincial Hospital of TCM and a member of a Chinese team of medical experts sent to help Laos fight the epidemic, said Wednesday that several TCM preparations were successfully applied to clinical operations in Laos. "Most patients in Laos only had mild symptoms, and TCM worked in controlling the disease and preventing mild patients from turning into severe ones," Du said. He also noted that two COVID-19 patients in Laos had been discharged from hospital after receiving a combined therapy of Chinese and Western medicines. The 12-membered Chinese medical team left southwest China's Yunnan Province for Laos on March 29 and shared experience in COVID-19 prevention and treatment with their Laotian peers in Vientiane and provinces of Champasak and Luang Prabang. The experts returned to Kunming, capital of Yunnan, on April 12 and are currently under concentrated quarantine. Du said he will keep in contact with experts from designated hospitals in Laos through WeChat and offer remote guidance. Enditem Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has distributed portfolios among five of his ministers, allocating the health department to Narottam Mishra as the state battled a surge in the cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), ANI reported on Wednesday. The allocation of portfolios came a day after Narottam Mishra, Tulsi Silavat, Kamal Patel, Govind Singh Rajput and Meena Singh were sworn in by Governor Lalji Tandon amid the Covid-19 lockdown on Tuesday morning. Later in the day, Shivraj Singh Chouhan assigned the ministers different divisions to monitor and coordinate the implementation of the measures taken to check the spread of Covid-19. The number of Covid-19 cases in Madhya Pradesh has risen to 1776, including 76 deaths and 149 people who have been discharged after being cured. The coronavirus pandemic has spread to 26 of its 52 districts. Also read: Congress targets BJP govt over variation in Covid-19 numbers in Madhya Pradesh Indore has emerged as one of the major Covid-19 hotspots in the country and prompted the Centre to send a team on Monday to the city to assess and manage the situation. Narottam Mishra has also been given the charge of the home, ANI reported. According to the news agency, Kamal Patel has been made the central states agriculture minister, Tulsi Silawat has been given the water resources department, Govind Singh Rajput will be the food processing minister and Meena Singh will be in charge of the tribal welfare department. Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan held a meeting with his cabinet ministers after the allocation of portfolios. Also read: 12-day-old baby girl tests positive in Bhopal, hospitalised Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who was sworn in as the chief minister on March 23, chose to expand his cabinet after nearly a month of taking charge of the central state. The senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader had been criticised by the opposition and on social media for running his government without a cabinet, particularly without a health minister, as the Covid-19 situation continued to worsen in the state. When Chouhan assumed office the coronavirus pandemic was rearing its head in the state with only seven Covid-19 cases registered in two districts. But in the span of about 29 days, the state has registered as many as 1485 Covid-19 cases with 76 of them dead and as many as 26 of its 52 districts affected. The number of Covid-19 cases in India rose above the 20,000-mark on Tuesday, but the rate at which this threshold was crossed it took more than 8 days for the tally to double raises hopes that the country may be able to avert the sort of devastation seen in some other parts of the world. But in a move that compromises efforts by many states to test aggressively in so-called containment zones, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) put on hold for two days antibody testing for Covid-19 using rapid testing kits, or RTKs, citing huge variations in the results. Covid-19 cases in India double to 20,000 in 8 days The coronavirus outbreak in India began in early March after people who flew in from abroad introduced the infection to others, and has grown largely in small clusters except for the one linked to the religious group in Delhi that led to thousands of infections after the government enforced what is the largest global shutdown in population terms. Read More ICMR puts rapid tests on hold to check faulty kits ICMR said the reason it has asked states to stop using the rapid testing kits (RTKs) for two days is that samples which are positive in RT -PCR are showing too much variation when tested by RTKs in the range of 6% to 71%. Read More Companies warn of layoffs if no stimulus The coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and the lockdown in place to combat it could cause permanent damage to businesses and force many to lay off staff unless the government announces a substantive stimulus package immediately, respondents to a business impact survey conducted jointly by industry body Ficci and consultancy firm Dhruva Advisors, said. Read More Covid-19: What you need to know today While our understanding of the virus and its effect on the human body will become better in time, it is safe to surmise that not everyone reacts to a Sars-CoV-2 infection the same way. Read More Mumbai bus conductor runs 21 km to report to work Devidas Jaisingh Rathod is a conductor on a Maharashtra state bus that runs every day from Palghar, 21 km from his home. These days he is in charge of a bus that has an important job these days -- ferrying 25 doctors and nurses to KEM Hospital. He usually hitches a ride on trucks ferrying essentials that pass by Manor. They drop him off at Palghar. On Sunday, though, there were no trucks. So, he ran 21 km to report to work. Read More Patients admitted to hospitals in clusters to be tested for virus All patients visiting hospitals in and around containment zones identified by the local authorities will be considered suspected cases of Covid-19 and those getting admitted will undergo mandatory diagnostic tests for the coronavirus disease irrespective of symptoms, according to a central advisory on Tuesday. Read More Trump vows to temporarily suspend immigration into US President Donald Trump on Monday said he is temporarily suspending immigration to protect American jobs threatened by the dire economic consequences of the coronavirus outbreak. India has been the top country of origin for legal immigrants to the US in recent years, with over 126,000 in 2017. Read More WHO stands by China in coronavirus origin row The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that all available evidence suggests the coronavirus originated in animals in China late last year and was not manipulated or produced in a laboratory. Read More LS staffer, kin of Rashtrapati Bhavan worker test positive The coronavirus disease (Covid-19) reached the apex of the Indian State Rashtrapati Bhavan and Indian Parliament on Tuesday as a special housekeeper of Lok Sabha whose son works in Parliament too and a daughter-in-law of a Rashtrapati Bhavan sanitation worker were tested positive. Read More Parliament to review protocol over video call meetings The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will review rules and procedures to consider whether standing committee meetings can be held over video conference, a practice that has not taken place till now in order to maintain the secrecy of the proceedings. The rethink has been necessitated by the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak, which has led to the grounding of inter-city transport and the need for people to avoid gatherings as far as they can. Read More Goa has no local cases, outsiders are a concern: CM Pramod Sawant While neighbouring Maharashtra struggles with the burden of a growing number of coronavirus disease cases, Goa is celebrating its status as a state with zero Covid-19 patients. In an interview with HT, chief minister Pramod Sawant talked about the Goa model of combating the virus. Read More Review teams visit Bengal as state, Centre lock horns The West Bengal government removed restrictions on the movement of inter-ministerial central teams (IMCTs), sent to monitor the implementation of the lockdown, after the Union home ministry sent a strongly worded letter on Tuesday amid an intensifying political tussle between the Centre and the state over Covid-19. Read More Lockdowns may have only arrested first wave The sweeping shutdowns across the world appear to have absorbed what may only be the first wave of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) infections, according to officials from the World Health Organization (WHO) and findings by researchers in France one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic. Read More ICMR says 69% patients didnt show Covid signs The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said on Tuesday that 69% of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) patients in India who were tested did not show symptoms of the infection, even as the Union health ministry said that the trend of cases worldwide showed about 80% of the patients had mild or very mild symptoms. Read More Covid-19: CISF to go for contactless frisking of passengers at airports, Delhi metro The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) is preparing new standard operating procedures (SOPs) for operations at airports and the Delhi Metro after the lockdown that are expected to include contactless frisking and fewer passengers in each coach. Read More SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A Nurses Plight: Tonight Is the Last Night Ill Hug My Kids Goodnight Until God Knows When Cats are able to contract the coronavirus, as two cases in New York reveal. The CDC has suggestions how to keep your pets safe amid the COVID-19 pandemic. (Dreamstime/TNS Read more Two cats have tested positive for coronavirus, the first two pets in the United States to contract the virus, federal officials announced Wednesday. The two cats, who live in two separate areas of New York state, had mild respiratory illness and are expected to make a full recovery, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement. According to the agency, one cat was tested after it showed mild respiratory signs, even though no individuals in the household had contracted the virus. The owner of the second cat tested positive for COVID-19 prior to the cat showing signs of respiratory illness. The CDC said there is no evidence that pets play a role in spreading the virus but recommends several steps for pet owners to take, including: Do not let pets interact with people or other animals outside the household. Keep cats indoors when possible to prevent them from interacting with other animals or people. Walk dogs on a leash, maintaining at least 6 feet from other people and animals. Avoid dog parks or public places where a large number of people and dogs gather. For pet owners who have tested positive for coronavirus, the CDC recommends restricting contact with animals just as you would around other people. If you must care for your pet or be around animals while you are sick, the CDC suggests wearing a cloth face covering and washing your hands before and after you interact with your pets. Sadly, the agency also suggests avoiding "petting, snuggling, being kissed or licked, and sharing food. As my colleague Tom Avril wrote earlier this month, to cause an infection, a virus must have the right kind of proteins on its surface to latch on to a receptor a binding site on the cells of the host animal. The coronavirus does this with a protein shaped like a spike, which is closely matched to a receptor in the human respiratory system. READ MORE: They said pets couldnt get the coronavirus, so how did a tiger test positive? Vets explain. Earlier this month, a tiger at the Bronx Zoo named Nadia tested positive for the coronavirus. Karen A. Terio, the chief of the zoological pathology program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, told The Inquirer a receptor in the tigers airways was close enough to its human counterpart that the virus was able to latch on. Zoo officials told the Associated Press on Wednesday that the tiger and six other big cats at the zoo believed to have the virus were on the mend. LOS ANGELES (AP) A cluster of coronavirus cases at a second California homeless shelter has infected at least 56 people, officials said Tuesday, and Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged the state's testing of homeless people has been inadequate and promised more. The cases at Union Rescue Mission in downtown Los Angeles were identified after 200 tests were administered, LA County Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer said. She said during the county's midday briefing that 43 people had tested positive. Later in the day 13 more positive cases were identified, said Andy Bales, the mission's CEO. I had to break the news to those 13 people, and I won't forget the looks on their faces, Bales said. He called the virus an unseen, ferocious monster. Only 16 of those who tested positive showed symptoms and the results of more tests are pending, officials said. Union Rescue Mission is a sprawling complex in the heart of the Skid Row section where for many decades a large segment of the city's homeless population has lived. The mission reported its first positive case on March 28 and after the cluster was confirmed this week everyone was quarantined on-site and no new homeless residents were allowed to check in. Ferrer said county officials hoped to increase testing over the next week at shelters and other institutional settings like nursing homes. It just makes sense now that were able to do more testing both of symptomatic people and asymptomatic people who are very high risk and live in these congregate living situations," she said during the daily county briefing. Union Rescue Mission, which regularly had about 1,000 residents, is now down to 414 as officials try to give each person 50 square feet (4.65 square meters) of space, Bales said. A quarantine area has been established under a temporary structure in a courtyard and beds have been set up in a boardroom, a cafeteria and a chapel, he said. California has an estimated 150,000 homeless people, the most in the nation. In the early days of the virus outbreak, Newsom identified the homeless as one of the most vulnerable populations and started Project Roomkey to find and lease 15,000 hotel rooms to get people off the streets. Story continues The program is ramping up now and among those in rooms are 184 people who were moved out of Union Rescue Mission. The hotel rooms set aside are occupied by asymptomatic people and those who begin to show symptoms are sent to medical sheltering sites with quarantine and isolation rooms. Homeless residents who are asymptomatic would qualify for tests under new protocols announced Tuesday by state health officials. California will broaden guidelines for who gets tested by including people who live or work in high-risk settings like shelters, the Department of Health said. Previously only those hospitalized or showing symptoms got tested. Testing of the homeless has been very limited. What's believed to be the first widespread testing at a California shelter occurred earlier this month at Multi-Service Center South, San Francisco's largest facility. So far 96 homeless people and 10 staff at Multi-Service Center South were confirmed infected. Most were asymptomatic. Dr. Grant Colfax, San Francisco's public health department director, said the city doesnt have enough testing swabs to randomly test everyone at shelters or in crowded single-room occupancy hotels. Newsom acknowledged shortcomings in the states testing efforts. Yes, more tests should be available, he said. More tests will be made available. Newsom said the state has signed a contract to expand tests in rural areas that would give priority to vulnerable populations like those in homeless shelters and nursing homes. The coronavirus is spread by coughs and sneezes and the homeless are seen as especially vulnerable because they often live close together in unsanitary conditions. For most people, it causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe life-threatening illness, including pneumonia, and death. Los Angeles on Monday began sending medical teams to the streets to provide homeless people with health screenings and fast-result tests for the virus. More than 150 tests were administered in a new pop-up clinic on Skid Row thats staffed by the Los Angeles Fire Department. Those who are infected will be offered transportation to makeshift shelters or hotels where they can be treated while staying isolated. Advocates for the homeless have been calling on San Francisco's mayor to place every homeless person into hotel rooms and to test widely in areas susceptible to outbreaks. The Tenderloin neighborhood holds many single-room occupancy hotels, as well as homeless who sleep in tents or in the open, on cardboard. In the meantime, places that help the homeless have had to adapt. St. Anthonys, for example, installed a conveyer belt to dispense to-go meals to clients and also set up a pop-up tent for people who need information. Calder Lorenz, advocacy program manager at San Francisco's St. Anthony Foundation, said broad testing would give people in the Tenderloin a better sense of the gravity of the pandemic and show them that City Hall caress about their health too. People feel abandoned, unheard, and rejected. This can spread misinformation in communities where sheltering in place is not an option, he said. ___ Associated Press writers John Antczak in Los Angeles, Janie Har in San Francisco and Adam Beam in Sacramento contributed to this report. Superior Courts in the U.S. Virgin Islands dismissed the case against the entrepreneur and CEO of Safr, Syed Gilani, on February 14, 2020. According to court documents, a number of allegations were made against Mr. Gilani when he was the CEO of BIZVI, a Virgin Islands based tech company. The Superior Court of the Virgin Islands, Division of St. Croix, issued the Order Granting Motion to Dismiss, case number SX-17-CR-0000189. Documentation of the charges being dismissed is available for review in court documents, and was covered in The Virgin Islands Daily News story, BMV embezzlement case dismissed against 3 (link: http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/bmv-embezzlement-case-dismissed-against-3/article_bfbea337-c4e0-5ac9-bff9-b1e303a6bb33.html). Mr. Gilani is happy about the case dismissal, allowing him to focus on continuing to grow his new company. Additionally, this dismissal will allow the leadership of Safr to now fully implement the mission of Safr, to improve safety and opportunity for women globally. About Safr Safr is a new ridesharing service focused on the safety and empowerment of women. Built with the needs of women in mind, Safr aims to improve the lives of women everywhere through safe transportation, job creation, and financial security. Safrs drivers are personally vetted and undergo comprehensive background checks so that riders can have peace of mind knowing they meet Safr standards. Safrs multiple in-ride app features aid in the protection of your safe arrival. When you choose to ride with Safr, youre supporting a like-minded driver and elevating your community by helping to improve greater gender balance, choice, and participation in the ridesharing economy. For more information, please visit http://www.gosafr.com. Lindsay Fox and his wife Paula Peele at the National Gallery of Victoria, in Melbourne, Australia on December 1, 2018. (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images) Australian Icon Celebrates Birthday Online With Super Rich The most significant personality in logistics, Lindsay Fox, did not let the CCP virus interfere too much with his famed 83rd birthday party this year. He celebrated it over an online conference call on April 17 with over 100 of his best mates. Fox is a billionaire trucking magnate, also known as the man behind Linfox, Asia Pacifics largest privately-owned logistics company. To escape the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus, Fox held a virtual shindig with an ensemble of billionaires and celebrities. Regulars Eddie McGuire, who was this years master of ceremonies, Westpac chairman John Macfarlane, and New York-based actor Hugh Jackman also joined the call. With my great mate Lindsay Fox celebrating Paulas 80th and Gemimas 16th. Happy birthday!!! pic.twitter.com/hqG2kZw72W Hugh Jackman (@RealHughJackman) July 14, 2018 Foxs family complied with Victorias strict anti-party and social distancing laws, as Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews was also attending. Fox has bunkered down for the CCP virus pandemic in Melbournes Mornington Peninsula in his clifftop compound. Last month, Fox couldnt even hug his granddaughter on her birthday, resorting to kissing her by smooching the glass panel outside her home. Australia has a total of 6,625 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 71 deaths, according to the Australian Department of Health. The newly confirmed victims include a 17-year-old while a motive for the crime is yet to be determined. The toll from the worst mass shooting in Canada's modern history, a 14-hour rampage over the weekend, has risen to 22 from 19, police say. The victims include a 17-year-old, a pregnant healthcare worker and a veteran Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer. Authorities are yet to determine a motive for the crime. Police say the gunman knew some of the victims. The gunman, a 51-year-old man, was killed in a confrontation with police. During the attack he wore an authentic RCMP police uniform and drove a "look-alike" police vehicle, authorities said. Nova Scotia RCMP updated the death toll from the attack in a statement on Tuesday along with a rough timeline of the events. Police had previously warned the number of dead could rise as they searched the 16 separate crime scenes across north and central Nova Scotia. Their work was also slowed by the fact there were a number of fires started - about five, according to police. They had to search through the debris of those badly burnt-out homes for remains. The full investigation is likely to take months. What is known about the shooting? The attack began around 22:30 on Saturday (01:30 GMT) in the rural beachside community of Portapique. Police received multiple calls to the emergency services reporting gunshots, and responders found "several casualties inside and outside of a home" but no suspect. They also discovered "multiple sites in the immediate area, including structures and vehicles that were on fire". The suspect's vehicle was found at the crime scene where 23-year RCMP veteran Const Heidi Stevenson was killed in the line of duty. Victims were also found in the communities of Wentworth, Debert, Shubenacadie/Milford and Enfield, where police shot the gunman dead. Little is known about what motivated the suspect, Gabriel Wortman, or why he chose his victims. Who were the victims? Among the dead were a teacher, a home care nurse working on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic, and an RCMP officer. A national virtual vigil will be held this week to honour the victims of the shooting, as the province is locked-down due to the virus. Many other virtual vigils have since sprung up on social media as people mourn the tragedy. The first victim made public was Const Stevenson, a 23-year veteran of the force and a mother of two. Another was Heather O'Brien, who was caring for the elderly with the non-profit Victorian Order of Nurses (VON), during the provincial-wide lockdown before she was killed near her hometown of Debert, Nova Scotia. Another VON employee, Kristen Beaton, was also killed during the shooting. Lisa McCully, a mother of two, was among the victims. McCully had been a school teacher at Debert Elementary School, according to the school's website. Not all the victims - both men and women, according to police - have been named. Sean McLeod and his partner Alanna Jenkins were among those killed. Their neighbour, Tom Bagley, also died, apparently while checking in on the couple on Sunday morning. "He died trying to help, which if you knew him, you knew that was just who he was all the time. I know he meant something to so many people," his daughter Charlene Bagley said on Facebook. An online fundraiser has been set up to help pay for the funeral costs of a family of three, Jolene Oliver her husband Aaron (Friar) Tuck and their daughter Emily Tuck. Married couple Jamie Blair and Greg Blair were killed Sunday, according to a relative. "My family has been through so much, no one should have ever had to deal with this. I love you both so much, & sending all my love to my family & every other families who lost someone today," said Jessica MacBurnie on Facebook. One police officer - Const Chad Morrison - was injured during the rampage but is recovering. Police said on Tuesday they have "information that other members of the public have been injured as well" but did not offer more details. What more do we know about the investigation? Police say the investigation is "is detailed and complex". "The investigative team is focused on learning more about this very tragic situation, including accurate victim information and whether others may have aided the suspect," the RCMP said in its statement on Tuesday. Police say the hunt for the gunman was hampered by the fact he was driving a vehicle that looked like a police cruiser and was wearing a police uniform. How he procured both is part of the investigation. The search ended around midday on Sunday when the suspected shooter was located by police at a service station in Enfield, north of the provincial capital of Halifax. He was shot and later died. Police have faced criticism for failing to issue a province-wide emergency alert to warn residents of the danger during the rampage. Alerts were issued by the police on Twitter and Facebook during the incident, asking people to stay inside and lock their doors. Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil said on Tuesday provincial authorities did not receive a request from police for a wider alert. BBC Canada shooting: Virtual vigil for victims due to Covid-19 A policewoman and two frontline coronavirus workers were among the 18 victims who died. Erastus Mwencha, Tom Pengelly: The UK must do all it can to keep trade out of Africa flowing (tralac, The Telegraph) Covid-19 has now spread to all corners of Africa and, as the rate of infections increase, the continents economies are coming to a crashing halt, risking the reversal of two decades of economic progress. Trade has been the heartbeat of Africas economic success, with the UK alone importing 12.7bn in goods and services from Africa in 2016, much of which from the agriculture sector. But this vital economic activity, and the millions of livelihoods it sustains, is under threat. Trade volumes in the East African Community are down by up to 25% since the beginning of 2020, with even worse damage in the informal sector. There are warnings of a food security disaster on the continent. The threat is not only from Covid-19 itself. As Dr Dirk Willem te Velde, of the Overseas Development Institute, explains: Some in the UK and other large economies around the world are arguing for autarky or increasingly protectionist policies that would wreak havoc on trade with Africa, often disguised as well-meaning social and environmental objectives, or attempts to protect domestic businesses and jobs. These protectionist voices must be resisted. Policymakers must understand the full consequences if stringent new production standards are imposed on imports, as some in the UK are calling for. [CNBC Africa: The economic impact of COVID-19 on trade in East Africa] Afreximbanks Hippolyte Fofack: Shifting from reliance on commodities crucial for Africa (Business Day) Every crisis, though tragic, presents opportunities. The combination of the coronavirus downturn and oil price war has underscored the perennial risk of commodity dependency. It has also accentuated the need to expand industrial and manufacturing capabilities in Africa. Many countries on the continent are reliant on overseas imports for essential goods, including staple foods, while intraregional trade remains largely fragmentary. As the coronavirus circles the world, African leaders face a dire challenge. Closing their borders might shield their countries against the unchecked spread of the virus, but risks starving their populations and curtailing access to critical medical equipment that is in short supply in the region. Targeting industrialisation to address supply-side constraints in the post-coronavirus era will not only mitigate countries exposure to commodity price volatility, it will also produce the goods needed to boost intra-African trade and ensure effective implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area when trading under the agreement begins in July. Its implementation presents the perfect occasion for countries to focus on the opportunity side of the current crisis to be better prepared for the next one. China-Africa trade down 14% in first quarter to $41bn (SCMP) Two-way trade in the January-March period dropped 14% year on year to $41.23bn as the closure of Chinese factories and ports in January and February as part of a nationwide effort to contain the spread of Covid-19 damaged both exports and imports, according to official figures from Chinas General Administration of Customs. Chinas imports from Africa, mostly raw materials for industry, such as oil and metals, fell by 17.5% in the quarter to $19.8bn, while exports dropped 10.5% to $21.4bn. Namibia: February trade statistics bulletin (pdf, Namibia Statistics Agency) In February 2020, Namibias total merchandise trade amounted to N$13,084 million which is 9.8% lower than N$14,503 million recorded during the same month of 2019. This decline is mainly attributed to value of exports, which fell by 29.8%, as opposed to an increase of 8.7% in imports. This resulted in Namibia to record a trade deficit of N$3,317m compared to N$588m recorded during February 2019. South Africa emerged as Namibias largest export destination, absorbing 21.8% of all goods exported while China occupied the second position, absorbing 14.3% of the total exports. Botswana in the third position accounted for 9.5% whereas Spain was responsible for 7.1% of Namibias total exports and finally Canada whose contribution to domestic exports stood at 6.6%. South Africa accounted for the largest share of 43% of the value of all goods absorbed into Namibia during the period under review, followed by Zambia contributing 13.4% to Namibias total imports from the rest of the world. Perus contribution stood at 11.8% of total imports and hence ranked the third largest source of imports for the domestic economy. India and DRCs respective share to the countrys total import bill stood at 7.9% and 3.5%, hence, occupying fourth and fifth position, respectively. pdf The African Development Bank Group posts its COVID-19 Rapid Response Facility (1.01 MB) The African Development Bank Group is ready to provide fast, flexible and effective responses to lessen the severe economic and social impact of the COVID-19 on its regional member countries including the private sector. As the primary channel for its efforts to combat the crisis, the Bank is proposing a COVID-19 Rapid Response Facility that will provide a flexible range of support within the UA 7.4 billion envelope, including: Up to UA 4.1 billion for sovereign operations for ADB countries; Up to UA 2.3 billion for sovereign and regional operations for ADF countries; and Up to UA 1 billion for ADB non-sovereign operations in all African countries. The CRF will provide UA 6.4 billion of financing directly to regional member countries in 2020. This is almost four times the expected annual debt service payments from RMCs to the Bank Group and will ensure substantial positive net transfers for all eligible countries in 2020 to address the crisis. The Banks projections show that the African economies imminently face losses of tens of billions of dollars in foregone GDP, and potentially hundreds of billions over the longer term. The Bank has developed some initial scenarios: Quantitative model-based estimates of the impact of COVID-19 indicate that it would cost Africa GDP losses between $22.1bn, in the base case scenario, to $88.3bn in the worst case scenario, equivalent to a contraction of projected GDP growth for 2020 of between 0.7 and 2.8 percentage points. The COVID-19 shock would further squeeze fiscal space in the continent as fiscal deficits are estimated to widen by 3.5 to 4.9 percentage points, increasing Africas financing gap by an additional $110bn to $154bn in 2020. African ministers of tourism discuss actions to mitigate the devastating impacts of COVID-19 (AU) The bureau members underscored that the COVID-19 pandemic challenges offer an opportunity to our continent to deploy rapid, strong and lasting responses to create a strong African Tourism Industry post COVID-19 pandemic. The Bureau strongly reaffirmed their resolution to set up immediately a high level Task Force comprised of both Public and private sector and reporting to the Bureau, with a mandate to propose appropriate measures that will help the African tourism industry to recover the devastating impacts of COVID-19 pandemic. [Communique adopted by the AU Peace and Security Council (14 April 2020): the impact of COVID-19 on peace and security in Africa] COVID-19 and the world of work: Sectoral impact, responses and recommendations (ILO) The COVID-19 crisis is having a devastating effect on workers and employers in all sectors. Workers in essential services such as health and frontline emergency response are at high risk of infection. Grocery workers, flight attendants and autoworkers, are among those who have seen both their health and livelihoods threatened by the pandemic. In a series of briefs the ILO has captured the impact of the crisis on several social and economic sectors, including public emergency services, health services, education, food retail, automotive, tourism, civil aviation, agriculture, maritime shipping and fishing, and the textiles, clothing, leather and footwear industries. Foreign direct investment and trade in agro-food global value chains (pdf, OECDs Joint Working Party on Agriculture and Trade, OECD) This paper seeks to shed light on this topic by mapping the landscape of agro-food FDI, and estimating its impact on participation and domestic value creation in GVCs. It also aims to improve our understanding of the strategic factors that drive multinationals investment decisions, as well as the role of policy in influencing cross-border investment. Agro-food FDI is explored by observing variations across sectors, countries and geographic regions in cross-border mergers and acquisitions between 1997 and 2017. The results indicate that the landscape of agro-food FDI has evolved significantly over the past two decades, with important implications for the development and transformation of agro-food GVCs. Looking across regions, companies in North America and the European Union are the source of half of FDI inflows in agriculture and more than two-thirds in food processing. They invest in agriculture with a broad geographic reach: the European Union, Asia, Central and South America, and Oceania are among the most attractive destinations. In the food sector, however, FDI inflows remain highly concentrated in the European Union and North America. Agriculture and food firms typically invest within their own region, highlighting the important influence of proximity on cross-border investment decisions. Investment appears to be concentrated around specific regional hubs, suggesting that volatility in FDI flows could have important consequences for countries on the periphery. Extract: These dynamics are reflected in aggregate FDI statistics at the regional level (Figure 2). Primary agriculture accounted for 85% of FDI inflows in Africas agriculture and food sectors between 1991 and 2017, and 51% in Asia, compared with just 8% in the Americas and 3% in Europe. On a sectoral basis, Asia received 43% of global FDI inflows in primary agriculture over the same period, while the Americas attracted 36% of the total. FDI inflows in food processing were highly concentrated in Europe (52%) and the Americas (44%). Global Report on Food Crises reveals scope of food crises as COVID-19 poses new risks to vulnerable countries During the UNSC meeting, FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu presented the key findings of the Global Report on Food Crises - launched jointly by the EU, FAO, WFP and 12 other partners - clearly showing the link between conflict and rising levels of acute food insecurity on one hand, and between livelihood interventions and peace processes on the other. According to the report, even before the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic hit the global food systems and livelihoods of millions of people at the start of the year, 135 million people in 55 countries were already trapped in food crises situations struggling to cope with high levels of hunger. This is the highest number in the last four years. Almost 60% of all those people in 2019 faced acute hunger in contexts of conflict or instability. pdf G20 Extraordinary Agriculture Ministerial: statement on COVID-19 (67 KB) We will guard against any unjustified restrictive measures that could lead to excessive food price volatility in international markets and threaten the food security and nutrition of large proportions of the world population, especially the most vulnerable living in environments of low food security. We agree that emergency measures in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic must be targeted, proportionate, transparent, and temporary, and that they do not create unnecessary barriers to trade or disruption to global food supply chains, and are consistent with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. We recognise the importance of transparency and commend the Trade and Investment Ministers commitment to notify the WTO of any trade-related measures taken, including those related to agriculture and essential foodstuffs. We reaffirm our agreement not to impose export restrictions or extraordinary taxes on food and agricultural products purchased for non-commercial humanitarian purposes by the World Food Programme (WFP) and other humanitarian agencies. [DG Azevedo welcomes G20 farm ministers commitment to safeguard global food security] Todays Quick Links: KEARNEY More materials arrived Tuesday at the university residence halls that will house quarantined and isolated COVID-19 patients. But as preparations for those patients continued, the big question at the University of Nebraska at Kearney remained: When will the patients arrive? Weve been ready for a couple of weeks, but I dont know when theyll be moving in, said Todd Gottula, senior director of communications and marketing at UNK. UNKs twin eight-story Centennial Towers East and West residence halls have been readied for the patients and are among the 2,100 rooms the University of Nebraska agreed to provide to the state of Nebraska for patients of the pandemic. A total of 190 rooms in both CTW and CTE are prepared for patients, giving UNK a capacity of 380 rooms for patients. As part of its preparations, UNK has emptied all but two residence halls and moved students who still live on campus to Antelope and Nester halls. Gottula said there has been much speculation about when patients might be placed into the CTW and CTE halls reserved for them, but state officials are holding that information close to the vest. Rather than execute a swift and aggressive effort to ramp up testing, Donald Trump is tweeting incendiary rhetoric about immigrants in the hopes that he can distract everyone from the core truth: hes moved too slowly to contain this virus, and we are all paying the price for it, Biden said in a statement sent by his campaign nearly 21 hours after Trump announced his plan. The statement said that sending inflammatory tweets to hide Trumps glaring failures . . . helps no one. In his message, PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc also expressed his sympathy for the Government and people of Vanuatu following the damage caused by the tropical cyclone Harold. On the same day, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh cabled a congratulatory message to Marc Ati on being appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Trade of Vanuatu. The Paycheck Protection Program was supposed to bring fast financial relief in the form of $349 billion in potentially forgivable loans to a large swath of the country's small businesses. In reality, the relief was neither as fast nor as far-reaching as initially hoped. The money ran out in about two weeks, leaving out thousands--if not millions--of small businesses. Even those who applied early and received approvals are still waiting on funds. Now that a second funding deal totaling $484 billion is expected to hit President Trump's desk and receive his signature this week, the big question is whether the program can avoid the problems that plagued its initial rollout. The new measure allocates $320 billion specifically to the PPP. Joe Manganelli, founder of the New York City-based strategic advisory and financial management firm Calculate, isn't optimistic. He helped 40 of his small-business clients submit PPP applications during the first week and still only had a 25 percent success rate. While some of those applications are still in the queue and may yet receive approvals once the PPP is officially replenished, Manganelli says he's frustrated by the lack of coordination between the government and the banks and the number of business owners who have been unable to land funding. "Ultimately, it's the people who don't have the resources--the ones who need the money most--who were coming up short," he says. Manganelli's clients aren't the only ones. A recent survey of nearly 1,000 small-business owners shows that larger businesses had better luck than their smaller counterparts. While 52 percent of surveyed companies with 20 or more employees said they received approvals, just 18 percent of the U.S.'s smallest businesses--those with 10 or fewer employees--were approved for PPP loans. The survey was conducted by the National Small Business Association, a small-business advocacy group in Washington, D.C., between April 15 and 18. The Problems With PPP There are a number of reasons why money didn't make it into the hands of the smallest companies. For starters, the application for self-employed individuals and independent contractors didn't even become available until April 10, less than a week before the program ran out of money. Second, banks tended to provide loans to their existing customers, and many of them added restrictions on top of that requirement. Bank of America, for instance, required its PPP borrowers to have both a checking and credit account with the lender. Manganelli described the experience of one client who had a checking account at Bank of America and a credit card at Chase. "Neither one of those banks [accepted the] applications, so the [client] had to find a third bank they had no relationship with and put in an application in there. But obviously that bank is going to prioritize their existing relationships." While plenty of smaller businesses have checking accounts with a bank, often they don't carry a credit line or other forms of debt. So those business owners were forced to try elsewhere, which as Manganelli points out, only exacerbated the problem. Finally, the program's original design--which made accommodations for restaurants and some hospitality businesses regardless of their size--meant the program ran out of money even faster. An investigation of Securities and Exchange Commission filings from The Washington Post found that as many as 70 publicly traded companies reported receiving PPP funds. While the fast casual chain Shake Shack on Sunday night said it will give back its $10 million in PPP funding, it's unclear whether others will too. Ruth's Chris Steak House, a chain with 150 locations, received $20 million in PPP funds. The sandwich chain Potbelly, which has more than 400 locations, reported receiving $10 million. What to Expect From Round 2 To be sure, this next tranche of funding may not address these specific issues, despite calls to improve the transparency of the program. While the U.S. Small Business Administration did release information regarding the number of businesses receiving PPP funding, individual company information isn't reported. As of April 16, nearly 5,000 banks approved 1.6 million PPP loans. In reference to the news that publicly traded restaurant chains landed PPP funding, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), chairman of the committee overseeing small businesses, tweeted Monday that the program was not intended to aid subsidiaries of a national brand. He added that administrative regulations "should be corrected." Even so, Ami Kassar, the founder and CEO of MultiFunding, a small-business loan adviser based in Ambler, Pennsylvania, doesn't expect to see many changes. Adding complexity, he says, could detract from the efficacy of the program. "It'll just make it way too complicated from a processing point of view. Now you've got one set of borrowers with one rule," he says, adding that if the PPP changed "you'd have another set of borrowers with another set of rules." The new stimulus measure will allot around $60 billion to smaller financial institutions. Those with $10 billion or fewer in assets will get $30 billion and another $30 billion will go to banks with $10 billion to $50 billion in assets, according to Paul Merski, group executive vice president of congressional relations and strategy at the Independent Community Bankers of America, a small-bank trade organization. That's good news for smaller companies, adds Merski, as "smaller banks tend to do smaller loans and serve the smaller businesses." And they tend to be more geographically dispersed. There are around 10,000 community lenders in the U.S., says Merski. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has welcomed the mandating of face masks in all settings for healthcare workers. The new change applies to any healthcare workers who provide care within 2m of a patient. It also applies to any of their colleagues who come within 2m for more than 15 minutes. The INMO says this will mean nearly all frontline healthcare workers will wear face masks. The INMO added that they wrote to the Chief Clinical Officer on April 3 calling for this new measure to be rolled out, and has repeatedly made the case for it to become national policy. INMO General Secretary, Phil Ni Sheaghdha, said they are glad the measure has been introduced. This is welcome news to frontline staff and patients, which should ease some anxiety and reduce transmission of the virus, she said. This should have been rolled out weeks ago, but we are glad to have finally secured this measure. It will not only benefit frontline healthcare workers, but will reduce the risk of transmission to patients. The next step must be ensuring sufficient supplies are available for all health workers, and continuous PPE training where needed. President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters after signing the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on April 24, 2020. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images) Was Trumps Gut Instinct Right: Is It Just the Flu? Commentary President Donald Trump was pilloried by the liberal press when he compared COVID-19 to the flu. His gut instinct was to keep businesses open while the CCP virus ran its course, while taking the usual steps required in a flu outbreak. However, he surrendered to the loud and unrelenting demands that he shut down the economy and put millions out of work and on government relief. Test results now emerging from California and other parts of the world suggest that the presidents gut instinct might have been right after all. In fact, it could well turn out to be that the virtual worldwide economic shutdown, with its catastrophic consequences, was the single-most expensive mistake ever made. While the sample tests that appear to be showing those results are still in their infancy, the early results are shocking. If valid, the tests suggest that the mortality rate for COVID-19 might not be any higher than it would be from any other flu in a bad flu year. We remember Dr. Anthony Fauci saying that COVID-19 had a mortality rate that was 10 times worse than the flu. If the results of these early tests are valid, Fauci was very wrong. In fact, a more accurate statement could turn out to be that COVID-19 has a mortality rate thats similar to a normal flu year. All of the modeling has been done on the assumption that COVID-19 was far more lethal than the usual respiratory viruses that make their way through populations virtually every winter. Its that assumption that drives the entire pandemic response strategy. If that assumption is wrong the models are wrong. Garbage in = garbage out. In a nutshell, the tests suggest that far more people might be infectedbut asymptomaticthan previously thought. For every person who gets sick from the virus, there might be as many as 50 or more people with no symptoms. Thats bad news in the sense that it makes tracing, detection, and quarantining of infected people almost impossible. But its very good news for people who believeas Fauci doesthat their chances of dying from COVID-19 are 10 times higher than they are from a regular flu. That is, if its confirmed that instead of the estimate that two or three out of 100 infected people die from COVID-19, only two or three out of 1,000 die, it would be a game-changer. People could still practice social distancing and other personal strategies, but they could go back to work confident that their chances of catching and dying from this new disease were no different than they would have been in any number of the bad flu seasons the world has seen in the past few decades. Two or three deaths per 100 infected is very scary, but two or three out of 1,000 is just a normal flu year. It would also mean that the entire lockdown strategy that most nations of the world adopted was probably a colossal error. It will be remembered that the World Health Organizations (WHO) advice went from nothing to worry about here, folks to the sky is falling almost overnight. The WHO went from being the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) mouthpiece to the chief advocate of locking down economies, and keeping them locked down until infections completely stop (an impossibility). The WHOs politicization and tragic failure will no doubt be the subject of many books and articles in coming years. Not every nation took the WHOs adviceeither the first dont worry version, or the later shut down your economies version. Countries such as Taiwan and Sweden that didnt shutter their economies as a response to the pandemic will likely emerge intact, while the rest of the world will be painfully trying to put the pieces of their wrecked economies back together. Its even doubtful that their ultimate mortality rates will be significantly different from countries that went into full lockdown. The tests I refer to are a new kind of test. Theyre not the swab tests done on individuals to determine if the person has been infected. Instead, these are blood tests that will determine whether or not the tested person has antibodies to the CCP virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus and which causes the disease COVID-19. If antibodies are present, its a strong indication that the person tested had been infected and the virus has passed out of his or her system. The actual test done on the individuals is extremely simple and inexpensive to do. They involve taking a pin-prick blood sample, and can even be done in drive-thru fashion. The California sample tests were undertaken by Stanford University professor Dr. Jay Bhattacharya and colleagues. A sample population was chosen in a way similar to the manner that any professional poll would be organized. Although the tests themselves are simple, the organization and implementation of such a test are extremely complicated and can only be undertaken by experts. Bhattacharya is a recognized expert. The first test was done on a representative sample of the population of Santa Clara County. The astounding result of the test was that anywhere between 50 and 85 times more people had been infected than reported casesbut they had not been noticeably sick as a result. A larger study on Los Angeles County has now been completed by Bhattacharya; the results are not yet available. Its expected that many such tests will be undertaken by researchers now that the antibody test procedure has been perfected. The results of studies in Germany and Denmark are also expected soon. The sample testing studies by people such as Bhattacharya should be both instituted on a much larger scale and supported financially. These studies are incredibly important, as they will probably guide our responses to this virus and similar viruses from now on. The immediate results of the studies can guide policymakers as they begin the arduous task of reopening the economy. It seems reasonably clear that the next few years will be devoted to rebuilding shattered economies while trying to respond to this virus and other possibly more lethal viruses that follow. The world has been incredibly unprepared to respond to this pandemic. While we obsessed about which pronouns to use, and how much carbon dioxide this or that project would emit, an immediate dangerthis new virussneaked up on us and reminded everyone that we must prepare ourselves for such dangers. The only way this can be done is with a strong economy. Brian Giesbrecht is a retired judge and a senior fellow with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. Special Coverage: For our latest coverage of the CCP virus outbreak, visit our new section and sign up for our daily newsletter. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Facebook has joined forces with eight independent fact-checking entities, covering 11 languages to identify fake information in India. "We are deeply committed to being an ally for India as the country fights the coronavirus outbreak and addresses extraordinary challenges on both the healthcare and economic," Facebook India Managing Director Ajit Mohan said. Facebook recently launched a $1 million grant program in partnership with the International Fact-Checking Network amid coronavirus pandemic. In a blogpost, Facebook Inc said, "We've given grants to 13 fact-checking organisations around the world to support projects in Italy, Spain, Colombia, India, the Republic of Congo, and other nations". Also read: Facebook-Jio deal: Inside Reliance's Rs 1.53 lakh crore debt resolution plan Newschecker is one of the fact-checking organisations that will work with Facebook in India. The social media platform has donated $50,000 for "Chat/Voice-based Dissemination of Information" project. According to Poynter, Newschecker will build a Google Assistant Voice Action and an Alexa Skill in both English and Hindi languages that will address symptoms, precautions that should be taken and inform users about the nearest health center providing COVID-19 tests. They will debunk viral misinformation and work together on WhatsApp. Moreover, the social media giant will also give training to local governments and health organisations on designing impactful campaigns with special focus on coronavirus. According to Mohan, Facebook team along with fact-checkers have trained the Union Health Ministry, state units of the National Health Mission, state governments of Kerala, Delhi, Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab and Odisha, so far. In India, the company is running a coronavirus information centre on Facebook and a WhatsApp Coronavirus Information Hub. WhatsApp also has partnerships with the Centre and state governments. Facebook Messenger has a partnership with MyGov India and Health Ministry. Also read: Coronavirus impact: Microsoft reports 46% drop in recruitment, Google freezes hiring Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, April 22, 2020 12:54 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd382d30 1 Business venture-capital,start-up,investment,funding,Southeast-Asia,Singapore-Quest Free Singapore-based venture capital Quest Ventures plans to expand its investment to Indonesia, among other Southeast Asian countries, after recently announcing the first close of a fund worth US$50 million. The amount represented more than half of its target for the fund named Asia Fund II. It will be invested in post-seed and series A stages funding in start-ups across Southeast Asia and emerging Asia such as Indonesia, Myanmar and the Philippines. Quest Ventures has been deploying capital in Singapore and Vietnam with its portfolio, including as second-hand e-commerce platform Carousell, property finding platform 99.co and rental fashion StyleTheory. We were deliberate in selecting our investors and we hope with this fund we can bring different skill sets, domain experience and connections to help our companies, said Goh Yiping, partner at Quest Ventures. Asia Fund II was Quest Ventures first institutionally backed fund, receiving financing from Pavilion Capital from Singapore and QazTech Ventures, Kazakhstan's sovereign wealth fund subsidiary. The funding marked Kazakhstans sovereign wealth funds first investment in a venture capital fund in Asia. This partnership with Quest Ventures and Pavilion Capital will enable Kazakhstani start-ups to secure important investments, improve competencies and gain access to global markets, said Adil Nurgozhin, chairman of the board of directors at QazTech Ventures. (eyc) According to an internal JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) memo obtained by Reuters, the giant bank is crafting a plan to begin gradually bringing its considerable workforce -- which numbers around 200,000 souls -- back into the workplace. This makes it the first of the Big Four banks to acknowledge it is putting a back-to-the-office strategy in place. Of those 200,000 or so employees, roughly 180,000 are currently working from home in accordance with guidelines set by various governments and health authorities. However, a number of critical functions for the bank -- such as securities trading and IT tasks -- are significantly more difficult to perform in remote-work situations. The company plans to bring its army back into the office in stages, although it has not yet firmed up the particulars of the process. In a memo to employees drafted by its operating committee, JPMorgan Chase wrote: "Two considerations are paramount as we plan for this across the firm: We want to do it at the right time -- which may differ by region, country and state -- and in a manner that prioritizes your health and safety." The bank has been functioning essentially with work-from-home labor for five weeks. Prior to that, as the looming threat of the coronavirus was becoming more obvious, the bank had encouraged its managers to permit employees to voluntarily work remotely. Like other major financial sector companies, JPMorgan Chase is headquartered in New York City, which has been particularly hard-hit by the coronavirus pandemic. On Wednesday, shares of JPMorgan Chase rose marginally, lagging behind the gains of the broader equities market. Insurance giant Hiscox could be hit with a 142million bill from pandemic claims but faces legal action after some firms said they were unfairly treated. It expects to pay out to businesses forced to shut their doors or cancel events and rival Beazley expects losses of 138million. However Hiscox has come under fire from small businesses for refusing to pay claims made under its business interruption policies. Hiscox expects to pay out to businesses forced to shut their doors or cancel events and rival Beazley expects losses of 138m The Hiscox Action Group, representing more than 180 firms says the insurer has issued 'blanket' rejections, knocking back thousands of legitimate claims. Many shut when lockdown measures were put in place and are seeking to recoup losses. But Hiscox claims their policies do not cover the pandemic, despite documents promising protection from an 'occurrence of any human infectious or human contagion disease'. Action group spokesman Daniel Duckett, who runs a patisserie in Belfast, said: 'We need this extra support. That is the reason I have been paying Hiscox for the past two years it has the ability to help us and it should do the right thing.' Hiscox said its small commercial package policies do not provide cover for measures taken in response to a pandemic. It said: 'A number of UK policyholders have disputed the application of their policy. Hiscox is determined to help provide greater certainty for customers. As a priority it will work with the UK insurance industry, its regulators and its customers to seek means of expediting resolution through the range of independent mechanisms available.' President Trump said Wednesday that he told Georgia's Republican Gov. Brian Kemp not to open businesses like hair salons and tattoo parlors yet - but said he would respect the governor's decision if he went ahead. 'I told the governor of Georgia that I disagree, strongly, with this decisions to open certain facilities which are in violation of the phase one guidelines, for the incredible people of Georgia,' Trump said at the Wednesday press briefing. The president called it 'too soon' to open spas, beauty salons, tattoo parlors and barber shops - where worker and customers, by default, can't stay socially distant - as some are set to reopen in Georgia as soon as Friday. President Trump (left) said Wednesday that he told Georgia's Republican Gov. Brian Kemp to not open businesses like spas and beauty parlors, saying it was 'too soon.' Dr. Anthony Fauci (right) agreed Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a political ally of President Trump, will allow some businesses - like tattoo parlors and beauty shops - to be opened as soon as Friday None of the five US states that have committed to partially reopening have met White House guidelines that urge for a two week steady decline in cases before restrictions are lifted 'We're going to have phase two very soon,' he pledged. Dr. Anthony Fauci echoed the sentiment several minutes later when asked about Kemp's plan. 'If I were advising the governor, I would tell him he should be careful,' Fauci said. 'But going ahead and leapfrogging into phases where you should not be, I would advise him as a health official and as a physician not to do that,' Fauci said. Last week the White House rolled out a three-phase plan to reopen the American economy. In order to get to phase one, states needed to see a 14-day decrease in the number of COVID-19 cases. States also needed to have sufficient hospital capabilities and a testing system in place. At that point, phase one allowed for the reopening of some businesses, including large venues and gyms, while others, like bars, were to remain closed. But so far none of the states that have committed to partially reopening have met the White House criteria to begin phase one. Republicans governors in Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas have all set dates to lift social distancing and business closure restrictions within the next two weeks. At the briefing, only Kemp in Georgia was singled out. The president talked about how the two men were political allies and how he helped Kemp, during the 2018 election, win over Stacey Abrams, a Democrat whose name has been floated to be Joe Biden's running mate. Trump misgendered Abrams when he went on a quick tangent about Kemp's electoral success. 'He beat the superstar of their party. I think you can say I helped a lot,' Trump said. 'Michelle Obama, Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, they all went into campaign for him very, very hard and he lost,' Trump said meaning Abrams, who's a woman. Trump said his objection to Kemp's opening date was just a nitpicky thing. 'There's a lot of good feeling between myself and Brian Kemp,' the presidnet said. 'I like him a lot. I happen to disagree with him, only in timing.' From there, Trump talked about how he loved the patrons of the establishments he wanted the governor to keep closed. 'When you have spas, beauty parlors, and I love these people, I know the people from spas and beauty parlors, tattoo parlors. Bikers for Trump - a lot of tattoos, I love them, I love these people,' the president said. 'Barbershops, these are great people. But maybe you wait a little longer until you get into phase two,' he advised. The president said, however, it was Kemp's decision. 'At the same time he must do what he thinks is right,' Trump said of Kemp. 'But I disagree with him on what he's doing.' The president said he would intervene, however, 'if I see something totally egregious, totally out of line,' he said. 'But I think spas and beauty salons and tattoo parlors and barber shops in phase one, we're going to have phase two very soon - it's just too soon, I think it's too soon,' Trump said. 'I love those people who use all of those things - the spas and the beauty parlors and the barber shops, tattoo parlors, I love them,' he added. 'But they can wait a little longer. Just a little bit, not much. Because safety has to predominate.' More than 10,000 Philadelphians have tested positive for the coronavirus in the six weeks since the citys first positive case, Mayor Jim Kenney said yesterday. Officials added that the city could be near the worst of the pandemic. By the end of the week, they hope to be able to say whether cases are beginning to decline. Josh Rosenblat (@joshrosenblat, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com) Several restaurateurs are pleading for government loans. Others have shifted to takeout and delivery, hoping that theyll be able to reopen their bars and dining rooms soon. And others are scared theyll never reopen. All of them, though, are looking toward May 8, when Gov. Tom Wolf wants to start relaxing restrictions on Pennsylvania businesses. But after speaking with members of the Philadelphia restaurant community, my colleagues Erin Arvedlund and Michael Klein report that no one is expecting life and business to return to normal. They wonder: Will anyone even want to sit at a bar? Theres a big unknown for hundreds of people who have undergone plasma infusions to battle coronavirus infections. At least two dozen of those patients are in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The question: Does it actually work? In theory, the process is pretty simple: after individuals have recovered from the coronavirus, their plasma (a liquid part of blood) still contains antibodies that the immune system developed to fight the disease. The plasma with the antibodies can be donated to others who havent recovered, the same strategy used against measles and other diseases more than 100 years ago. Philadelphia is looking to Europe for help with Americas worst big-city drug epidemic. My colleagues Aubrey Whelan and Jose F. Moreno went to Portugal to see the worlds most radical drug policy in action: decriminalizing the use of all drugs. Across Lisbon, the countrys capital, health workers in vans dispense free treatment every day for nearly 1,200 people. Its part of a strategy to combat years of mounting overdoses, HIV infections, and rampant heroin addiction. What you need to know today Through your eyes | #OurPhilly Hope everyone stayed dry yesterday! Great shot, @abrams422. Thanks for sharing. Tag your Instagram posts or tweets with #OurPhilly and well pick our favorite each day to feature in this newsletter and give you a shout out! Thats interesting Opinions During the long unresponsive days, we read to him and played him music and tried to figure out his iPod password, all while grappling with the terror of what might happen next. One nurse told us: He will wake up and not remember this, but this will take years off your life. writes Ann E. Green, a professor at St. Josephs University, about the experience of seeing her husband on a ventilator in an ICU. In 1970, Philly had an amazing Earth Week, writes columnist Will Bunch. Heres what weve lost since then. President Donald Trump has joined the Ostrich Alliance," columnist Trudy Rubin writes, meaning that hes putting politics over science. What were reading WHYY checked in with how Pennsylvania toilet paper manufacturers are dealing with high demand. NJ Spotlight reports on whether furloughing workers can help the state and local governments save hundreds of millions of dollars. Vulture compiled the internets best coronavirus jokes. Im curious: what are you reading, listening to, or watching these days? Send me an email at morningnewsletter@inquirer.com with a recommendation and a reason why you want to share it with others. I could end up featuring it in an upcoming edition of this newsletter. Your Daily Cup of | Coffee Todd Carmichael of La Colombe shows you how to brew a great cup of coffee at home, without any fancy machines. All you need are paper towels, hot water, and ground beans. My colleague Grace Dickinson also talked to Philly baristas, who gave their advice on making better coffee at home. She made a cheat sheet for you with six steps to making a better cup. Sixteen people across five states have been charged with more than 700 child exploitation offences after a two-year investigation involving Australian authorities and U.S. Homeland Security Investigators. Starting in 2018, issues were regularly referred to Australian authorities by U.S. officials investigating an online website where users paid to access child abuse material. Australian investigators ultimately executed 18 search warrants and arrested 16 people across NSW, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia on a total of 738 charges. Authorities were also able to remove four Australian childrenthree in NSW and one in Victoriafrom harm. Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Lesa Gale said the charges arising from Operation Walwa were a timely reminder of the risks associated with children being online. This has been a long-running joint effort by law enforcement across Australia and were happy to see the results that can be achieved when resources are used together, particularly in the current online environment, she said. Homeland Security Australian attache Adam Parks said the arrests came at a critical time. More so than ever, children are increasingly online for their schooling, to socialise with their friends and family, and to play games, he said. Let this be a warning that law enforcement is undeterred by COVID-19 and remains on-duty to keep our children safe in Australia, the US and online. As Operation Walwa unfolded, Australian police partnered with international law enforcement, including investigators from the Homeland Security office in Phoenix, Arizona, which had initiated the inquiries into the illicit online site. As its scope increased, the investigation brought together resources from the Homeland Security Cyber Crimes Centre, its El Paso Forensics Program, the U.S. Forced Child Labor Unit, INTERPOL, and European investigators. Information on registered users of the illicit site was sent to multiple U.S. states and to jurisdictions around the world, including Australian authorities. Detective Superintendent John Kerlatec from the NSW Police Force Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad in a statement urged parents to speak to their children about the dangers associated with online conversations. At this time, particularly with more children online during COVID-19 restrictions, we are encouraging parents to remain vigilant and monitor their usage, as well as what websites they are visiting and who they may be speaking with, Kerlatec said. Across Australia, there are specialist officers that investigate the sexual exploitation of children online and via telecommunication systems, and through this national collaboration there is a strong focus on detecting and prosecuting those who seek to prey on children, he added. NTD staff contributed to this report (Photo : KCNA on Reuters ) North Korea Has Coronavirus on Three Regions Says Report; Residents Remain Skeptical (Photo : KYODO on Reuters) North Korea Has Coronavirus on Three Regions Says Report; Residents Remain Skeptical A few North Korean lecturers in a Pyongyang Coronavirus forum have finally confirmed the positive cases of Coronavirus in the country. Despite the major denial of the North Korean government, anonymous sources had confirmed that the virus has already transmitted to three regions in North Korea: Pyongyang, South Hwanghae province, and North Hamgyong province. However, citizens of the country are still skeptical about whether these three regions were the only infected areas. North Korea has Coronavirus, lecturers reveal in a forum As first reported via Reuters, North Korean authorities were allegedly distributing information within their residents in the past weeks. Few lecturers had announced that residents must protect themselves from getting the virus after they confirmed that the disease has now infected citizens in areas like Pyongyang, South Hwanghae province, and North Hamgyong province. Radio Free Asia, Asian free press media, reportedly had talked to two anonymous sources in the country saying authorities finally confirm the cases. However, the official numbers of infected were not said. "[Officials] held a lecture session for all the residents titled 'Let's all work together on the coronavirus quarantine project to [successfully] implement the Supreme Leader's policies," the resident told RFA on Thursday, Apr. 22. "The speaker at the lecture publicly stated that there were confirmed coronavirus patients among [the people]." Though they confirmed the cases, the authorities also said that North Korean citizens should not panic due to these incidents. They were notified that North Korea has the 'fewest confirmed Coronavirus cases' in the world. Even emphasizing that the country has "the most superior socialist healthcare system." Due to this, residents were advised not to panic at all. N. Korean residents don't believe in 'few cases' As of now, the North Korean government has not yet confirmed the alleged cases in the country. Earlier this month, the director of the anti-epidemic department of North Korea's Central Emergency Anti-epidemic Headquarters, Pak Myong Su, told Agence-France-Press (AFP) that "Not one single person [in North Korea] has been infected with the novel coronavirus in our country so far." However, now that there's been a leaked report saying these are all false. Citizens in the country reportedly remain skeptical whether the three said areas were the only infected places in the country. "North Hamgyong and South Hwanghae are located at the top and bottom of the map of our country, and Pyongyang is in the middle. Can you believe that there are confirmed cases in only these three areas?" said the sources. "If the virus spread from the northern end of the country [near the border with China] to the southern end, it means it has to have spread across the entire country." 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. T he World Health Organisations chief has warned that most countries are still in the early stages of their coronavirus epidemics and others are starting to see a resurgence in cases. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there were "worrying upward trends" in early epidemics in parts of Africa and central and South America. "Most countries are still in the early stages of their epidemics and some that were affected early in the pandemic are starting to see a resurgence in cases," the WHO director-general said on Wednesday. "Make no mistake we have a long way to go. This virus will be with us for a long time," he added, while noting progress in Western Europe. The WHO's top emergencies expert Dr. Mike Ryan warned against opening up global travel too quickly, saying it would require "careful risk management. The number of people to have contracted coronavirus is continuing to climb globally. There have so far been more than 2.6 million cases worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Mr Tedros earlier warned that "the worst is yet ahead of us" in the pandemic. WHO's Ghebreyesus warns against complacency He did not specify why he believes the outbreak could get worse, but he and others have previously pointed to the likely spread of the illness through Africa, where health systems are less developed. His remarks revived alarm, just as many countries ease restrictive measures aimed at reducing the spread of the virus that has infected 2.5 million people and killed more than 166,000. Global broking business Brokerslink has announced the addition of African broker Gramon to its international network. Based in Brazzaville, Congo, the broker strengthens Brokerslinks presence in the Africa region, an area of strategic significance to the organization. Established in 2012, the insurance and reinsurance broker has three offices in the Republic of Congo with plans to open a fourth in Kinshasa by the end of the year. Gramon recently expanded its team of insurance experts with the addition of Dexter Pouela, the ex-Allianz director of development, who joined the broker as its director of business development and international business. We are committed to harnessing the expertise and local knowledge of independent brokers such as Gramon to continue to strengthen our network in Africa, said Tiago Mora, Brokerslinks Africa regional manager. Their team has a great deal of experience supporting major brands, so we are looking forward to working with them to create more opportunities for our partners and affiliates to develop business within the continent and beyond. Zug, Switzerland-based Brokerslink is a global broking company that owns and manages a worldwide insurance broking network. Source: Brokerslink Topics Agencies EarthKind Launches "A World of Protection" Initiative. Im thrilled to be raising the bar by bolstering our educational efforts through A World of Protection. I believe a World of Protection starts in the home, and the last thing any of us want or need is harmful chemicals that may threaten our safety. Coinciding with the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day and the 20th anniversary of EarthKinds incorporation, April 22nd now also marks the launch of the plant-based, poison-free pest prevention brands A World of Protection initiative. When I founded EarthKind during Earth Week of 2000, I had a goal of both protecting my familys farm equipment and property from pest damage, but also protecting the environment and pests from damage caused by humans. For the past 20 years, weve been educating on how to preserve natures delicate ecosystems, prevent pest problems before they start, and protect property from pest damage. Now, Im thrilled to be raising the bar for the next 20 years by bolstering our educational efforts through A World of Protection, says Kari Warberg Block, CEO/Founder of EarthKind. The A World of Protection initiative will focus on three key educational components for consumers: nontoxic living, pest behavior, and co-existing with nature. These three keys empower people to be proactive in protecting their homes, families, and environmental ecosystems without harmful chemicals. The CDC reported Monday a 20% increase in U.S. poison center calls from the past three months due to an increase in Americans suffering from potentially toxic exposure to chemicals in household products. Warberg Block says this underscores the need for a critical shift as the effects of COVID-19 on home living and nature are unveiled. Never before have we spent so much time at home, and its shifting our thinking and strengthening our core values. Many of us have seen that nature is resilient, and we need it more than it needs us. The environment is healing itself, and we must learn to coexist with nature, in a way that benefits all, she notes. But on the inside, throughout this pandemic our homes have become our sanctuary, our safe haven, much like natures sanctuary is outdoors. I believe a world of protection starts in the home, and the last thing any of us want or need is harmful chemicals that may threaten our safety, states Warberg Block. EarthKind has always stood as an example of environmental and sustainable excellence. Warberg Block is using this time to get the brand closer to those goals, Im proud to say that weve now achieved one of our biggest goals becoming 100% carbon neutral she announces. The botanical ingredients used in EarthKind products are sourced from local American regenerative farms. Finding a like-minded partner to offset Earthkinds remaining 2% of carbon emissions made sense. Nori, a company that specializes in facilitating carbon recapture through regenerative agriculture, connected EarthKind with Harborview Farms and the goal was achieved. Supporting Noris mission to reverse climate change through removing excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere aligns with EarthKinds mission, and is the perfect beginning for the World of Protection initiative. EarthKind is a brand with a no harm approach that puts safety, health and peace of mind first. Every animal, plant and insect in nature has its specific role to play, and in our homes, we strive to create our idea of a balanced and harmonious ecosystem. We have kids, pets, and lifestyles to consider. We believe that every small step at home, work and play counts towards a kinder, safer, harmonious and healthier world. But perhaps more importantly, when we help nature help itself, we protect our ecosystem. To kick off the new World of Protection initiative, Warberg Block will be hosting a World of Protection Facebook Live chat from her home to yours every Friday at 3:00pm EDT on her Face to Face with Kari page. Here, all are welcome to ask Kari pest prevention questions and anything consumers may want to know about achieving a non-toxic home. Warberg Block will also be publishing a book this Fall for college-aged students, focusing on recruiting young entrepreneurs to build profitable businesses around the world that work in harmony with nature, another sector under her umbrella of A World of Protection. We are all in this together. Our world will not change for the better unless we all participate in that change, and change begins at home...a toxin-free home. Media interested in receiving additional information or speaking with CEO/Founder of EarthKind, Kari Warberg Block, please contact Sara White at sara@adinnyc.com or 914.621.1323. About EarthKind Founded by leading pest prevention expert Kari Warberg Block, EarthKind is a pioneer in natural prevention for families and households everywhere. EarthKind is a pest prevention brand that manufactures naturally powerful and effective pest solutions that keep pests away, without killing or poisoning them. EarthKind products are primarily sourced from American farms and designed by inventive artists, scientists and engineers who care about the earth. EarthKind products are made in the USA and the company provides handicapped individuals with meaningful employment. Kari was awarded the 2019 GMDC Retail Champions of Change award for her role as an inspirational industry retail leader, and was named to the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Woman Class of 2012, 2013 ND SBA Small Business Person of the Year and National Second Runner Up. Her latest product line, Stay Away was the winner of the 2015 NEXTY People's Choice Award for Best New Product of the Year. Learn more at https://www.earthkind.com and on social media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/earthkindinc/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/earthkind Instagram: @earthkindinc Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/earthkindinc/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/earthkind2010 A group of Kumasi Zongo Youth based in the United Kingdom (UK), have donated food items to 500 vulnerable persons in various Zongo communities in the Kumasi Metropolis. The donation which was done in collaboration with Hijrah TV, a local Television Station in Kumasi, was to support the needy in Zongo communities in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Beneficiaries who received bags of rice and cooking oil were drawn from communities such as Aboabo, Moshie Zongo, Asawase, Dagomba Line and Old Tafo Zongo. Mr. Kamil Abdul-Rahman, a member of the Zongo Youth, said the repercussions of the COVID-19 had brought untold hardship on the vulnerable in society in terms of feeding and other basic necessities of their daily lives. This informed our decision to provide some support to them in these difficult times, however small the package is, he stated. He said there were thousands of people in Zongo communities who required such support to survive the economic hardship being experienced by the poor across the world. This is the time to provide humanitarian services to bring relief to the vulnerable and marginalized as a people, Mr. Abdul-Rahman advised. He called on other public-spirited individuals and institutions to put smiles on the faces of people in communities whose livelihoods largely depended on the benevolence of others. Mr. Hamza Adams, a representative of Hijrah TV, said the station was proud to be associated with the initiative which was to cushion the underprivileged. He said as an institution that was providing social services to the local community, it was incumbent on it to support any initiative that would improve the livelihood of the people, especially the poor. He disclosed that the station was taking steps to mobilize more support for the benefit of the needy in society. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video [April 22, 2020] UBS and the Female Founder Collective Commence Project Entrepreneur's Investment Readiness Program for Nearly 50 Female Founders Today, UBS and the Female Founder Collective welcome nearly 50 female founders to Project Entrepreneur's Investment Readiness Program. From now until the end of June, the founders, who are leading early-stage companies, will go through a rigorous program to accelerate the knowledge and skills they need to raise venture capital and grow their companies. The program was initially designed to be an in-person experience, but in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, the three month program will now be held virtually. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005556/en/ The inaugural 2020 cohort is an ambitious and innovative group of women with diverse backgrounds, race and ethnicity - nearly 50% of the founders are women of color and almost two-thirds of them have a market-ready product that has already been sold to customers. Together, they are solving problems based on their personal experiences, with products and technology platforms that span across sectors including healthcare, retail and the food and beverage industry. As part of the Investment Readiness Program, the cohort will be taken through an in-depth, results-driven curriculum taught by leading investors and seasoned entrepreneurs and operators, including: Nisha Dua, General Partner, BBG Ventures; Lindsay Bressler, COO, HATCH; Reshma Chattaram Chamberlin, Co-Founder and Chief Digital Brand Officer, Summersalt; Katia Beauchamp, Co-Founder & CEO, Birchbox; Divya Gugnani, CEO & Co-Founder, Wander Beauty; and Jeeho Lee, Partner, O'Melveny. The cohort will receive lessons on accounting and financial literacy, fundraising vehicles and terms for negotiations, creating a defensible financial model and identifying the right investors to serve as partners at every stage. In addition to building a community among fellow entrepreneurs, the founders will also have access to a curated network of advisors to help them further refine and shape their business models so they are on a path to success. Confirmed senior advisors from UBS include Jolyne Caruso-Fitzgerald, Divisional Vice Chairman, UBS Global Wealth Management; Marsha Askins, Managing Director & Chief of Staff to UBS Americas Regional President; Susan Elolampi, Managing Director, Financial Sponsors Group, UBS Investment Bank; and Jennifer Gabrielli, Deputy Head of Ultra-High Net Worth at UBS Global Wealth Management as the executive sponsor for Project Entrepreneur. Additional advisors include: Anna Placks, Chif Creative Officer, Group Nine; Lexie Komisar, Director, Global Head of Startup Ecosystems, IBM (News - Alert); Karen Moon, Venture Partner, Elizabeth Street Ventures; Nicole Lapin, American News Anchor; and Tovah Haim, Founder & CEO, Bodily. "Supporting women entrepreneurs is more important than ever," said Jamie Sears, UBS Head of Community Affairs & Corporate Responsibility, Americas and Co-Founder of Project Entrepreneur. "UBS founded Project Entrepreneur because we know that investing in the success of female founders has exponential benefits for society. We hope our Investment Readiness Program will help female founders build the financial resilience they need to help them thrive, and ultimately be better positioned to access capital in the future. We are thrilled to welcome this incredible group of innovators to our Project Entrepreneur community and prepare them for success." "Women-led companies are fundamental to our communities, our economy and to shaping our future. However, female entrepreneurs face an uphill - and unequal - battle. Against the backdrop of an unprecedented pandemic, we need to do even more to support them," said Alison Wyatt, Co-Founder and CEO of the Female Founder Collective. "With UBS, we designed the next phase of Project Entrepreneur to meet these challenges and provide women with the tools, access and ecosystems needed to raise capital. We can't wait to welcome these founders to the program and help them with their fundraising goals." First launched by UBS in 2015, Project Entrepreneur previously trained over 1,600 female founders and created new on-ramps to entrepreneurship for women across the country, with alumni going on to raise nearly $50 million in funding. In addition to the Investment Readiness Program, UBS and the Female Founder Collective will also offer a series of Capital Access Summits for early stage entrepreneurs in select cities across the country, as well as a Trailblazers Summit for mid-growth stage founders. A second cohort program, tailored to the Los Angeles area, is slated to take place in July. For more information please visit projectentrepreneur.org or follow along on Instagram @pjtentrepreneur. Notes to Editors About UBS UBS provides financial advice and solutions to wealthy, institutional and corporate clients worldwide, as well as private clients in Switzerland. UBS's strategy is centered on our leading global wealth management business and our premier universal bank in Switzerland, enhanced by Asset Management and the Investment Bank. The bank focuses on businesses that have a strong competitive position in their targeted markets, are capital efficient, and have an attractive long-term structural growth or profitability outlook. About the Female Founder Collective The Female Founder Collective is a network of businesses led by women, supporting women. Our mission is to empower the 12 million female-owned companies in the United States to uplift our communities, socially and economically. You can connect with the Female Founder Collective on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram. UBS 2020. All rights reserved. The key symbol and UBS are among the registered and unregistered trademarks of UBS. UBS Financial Services Inc. is a subsidiary of UBS AG. Member FINRA/SIPC. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005556/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the Minister of Information, has admonished media practitioners, politicians and social commentators not to discredit the work of technical experts, who are working selflessly to save Ghanaians from the disruption of COVID-19. He said casting a slur on the reputation of these individuals and their institutions was harmful to their reputation and the national image. He was briefing the media on COVID-19, on Wednesday, during which some of the experts involved in the testing and case management of the disease took turns to clarify some controversies over the national testing capacity and projection figures for pre-peak scenarios. The Information Minister stated: It is fair to raise questions about the data and science of their work on COVID-19, which is even a practice by the academicians themselves in peer reviews. What is not fair is to impute ill motive or intellectual dishonesty to the work of these experts who are breaking their backs to do this work in our common interest. He said these experts, including professors; virologists, epidemiologists, laboratory technicians, clinicians, among others, deserved encouragement and support instead of condemnation. The experts, he added, were willing and available to provide explanations of the science and date they were churning out to enable journalists to educate the public appropriately. The Minister urged journalists to always seek the right experts to offer their perspectives on issues in their fields; rather than engaging politicians, social commentators and critics who were not well versed in the technical issues at hand. He said many of the opinions expressed in the media about the COVID-19 were inaccurate because of the lack of the requisite understanding of those who expressed them. You raise the questions and let the experts provide the opinions. Even in the medical field, there are people with different expertise, so we need to get the right persons to answer our questions in order to educate the public, he said. When we are able to do this, it is good journalism. Anything short of that will confuse people, create fear and panic, which is a disservice to the country. Lets stop putting out what we think on issues we dont understand. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video COVID-19 has majorly disrupted the global economy, and while many business sectors are subjected to temporary shutdowns or bare minimum operations, the insurance industry is racing forward while confronting unprecedented amounts of risk and uncertainty. Under most state-issued business shutdown orders, insurance companies and agencies have generally made the cut as essential businesses that are allowed to continue operating, but the onslaught of COVID-19-related insurance claims, state insurance departmental requests and potential legislation compelling coverage of certain business interruption losses may make the essential business designation ultimately seem like a consolation prize. Yet, the surplus lines insurance industry may not bear the full brunt of COVID-19s impact on the insurance industry. To what extent surplus lines insurers are compelled to respond to COVID-19 claims from their insureds or are otherwise subject to state orders and legislation must be carefully reviewed on a case-by-case basis. On the one hand, the surplus lines insurance industry has historically been exempt from the traditional insurance rate and policy form filing requirements applicable to licensed insurance companies; on the other hand, nearly all states apply some of their laws to eligible surplus lines insurers and, accordingly, a number of states have already made clear that surplus lines insurers will be treated the same as their licensed company counterparts with respect to COVID-19 directives. This article explores how surplus lines insurers may need to respond to past, present and future developments arising from COVID-19 insurance policyholder claims, current state insurance department bulletins and orders, and potential future legislation. The Past: Will Surplus Lines Insurers be required to respond to COVID-19 losses? With U.S. businesses suffering multi-billion dollar losses deriving from the inability to operate, many business owners are looking to their business interruption insurance policies to seek indemnification from their insurance carriers. Many business interruption insurance policies are triggered only upon the occurrence of a physical loss (or forced closures due to physical damage) and, moreover, many such insurance policies contain exclusions for losses related to pandemics or communicable diseases, although some do not. A number of bills are percolating in state legislatures seeking to compel insurance companies that have written business interruption insurance policies to provide insurance coverage for COVID-19 related losses, irrespective of the absence of a physical loss (under existing case law) and the existence of a communicable disease exclusion from coverage. For example, under New York Assembly Bill A10226A, [a]ny clause or provision of a policy of insurance insuring against loss or damage to property, which includes, but is not limited to, the loss of use and occupancy and business interruption, which allows the insurer to deny coverage based on a virus, bacterium, or other microorganism that causes disease, illness, or physical distress or that is capable of causing disease illness, or physical distress shall be null and void . . . . New Yorks bill applies to any policy of insurance which would reasonably appear to capture surplus lines insurance policies as well, although subsequent regulations could modify the legislations applicability. Analyst Says Specialty P/C Insurers More Likely to See Business Interruption Losses To the extent that the insurance industry ends up paying business interruption losses due to the coronavirus, more of those losses are likely to be paid by specialty insurance carriers than standard carriers, according to this analyst. Learn more. Yet, it remains to be seen if surplus lines insurers are truly meant to be captured under these retroactive laws. Take Ohio Bill H.B. 589, which allows insurers to apply to the Superintendent of Insurance for relief and reimbursement from the Superintendent of the Ohio Department of Insurance for COVID-19 coverage that they will be compelled to be retroactive cover if the bill becomes law. However, surplus lines insurers are usually prohibited from taking advantage of state-level backstops. For example, nearly all states require that surplus lines insurers (or the applicable surplus lines brokers) inform insureds that they are not protected by state guaranty funds, which provide protection to insureds for insolvent insurers and, in some states, that the surplus lines insurer is not subject to the laws and regulations of the state. It remains to be seen if the various states attempting to impose retroactive coverage of COVID-19 claims will apply these standards to surplus lines insurers and agree to reimburse them for portions of such claims when such insurers and their policyholders typically do not enjoy state-level guaranty fund protection. In addition, a Business Interruption Insurance Coverage Act of 2020 draft bill has been circulated through the U.S. Congress that would compel insurance companies that offer business interruption insurance to offer coverage for a viral pandemic and [a]ny exclusion in a contract for business interruption insurance that is in force on the date of the enactment of [the] Act shall be void to the extent it excludes viral pandemics. This bill would potentially force retroactive coverage for COVID-19 across the United States, and the bill notes that the term insurer has the meaning ascribed to it in the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002, or TRIA, which includes surplus lines insurers. The Present: Data Calls, Moratoriums and Reporting Requirements The majority of states have issued various emergency insurance regulations, bulletins and orders related to COVID-19, and some of them are expressly applicable to the surplus lines market. A number of U.S. jurisdictions are actively seeking COVID-19-related data from surplus lines insurers. For example, in Missouri, under Insurance Bulletin 20-05 (March 21, 2020), insurers are strongly encouraged not to cancel, nonrenew, or terminate coverage . . . [and] the Department is requiring that insurers provide information about the steps they are taking in response to this Bulletin . . . . The Missouri bulletin is expressly applicable to surplus lines insurers. In California, under Business Interruption Survey (March 26, 2020) all admitted and non-admitted insurance companies have been requested to provide certain information on their business interruption and related coverages provided under their commercial insurance policies. In addition, many states have been issuing moratoriums on cancelling or non-renewing insurance policies and, in some cases, such orders expressly apply to the surplus lines market. As an example, Arkansas Insurance Department issued Bulletin No. 6-2020 (March 20, 2020) requires that all admitted and surplus lines insurance carriers adhere to a 60-day moratorium on the cancellation or nonrenewal of insurance policies issued in the state, as well as affirmatively report to the department the appropriate email address of the companys designated field consumer contact. In Washington, the Washington Office of Insurance Commissioner issued Emergency Order No. 20-03 (March 25, 2020), requiring that all insurers, insurance producers, surplus lines brokers and other entities regulated by the Insurance Commissioner provide grace periods for nonpayment of premium and waive otherwise applicable charges and fees associated with nonpayment of premium, such as late fees and reinstatement fees. Some states and associations, by contrast, are providing additional flexibility to the surplus lines market. In New York, on March 30, 2020, Governor Andrew Cuomo issued Executive Order No. 202.13 that, among other things, imposed a moratorium on an insurer cancelling, non-renewing, or conditionally renewing any insurance policy issued to an individual or small business. In the case of a group insurance policy, this includes insuring certificate holders that are individuals or small businesses for a period of 60 days for any such policyholder that faces a financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. While New Yorks executive order defines an insurer to include an excess (surplus) lines insurance company, Excess Line Association of New York Bulletin No. 2020-17 (as revised on April 6, 2020) indicates that it is the position of the New York Department of Financial Services that New Yorks moratorium does not apply to commercial lines insurance policies issued by surplus lines insurers. In addition, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners International Insurers Department has extended its financial filing and payment deadline to July 31, 2020, for an alien (non-U.S.) surplus lines insurer to complete its 2019 year-end filings in order to maintain inclusion on the Quarterly Listing of Alien Insurers, a requirement under the Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2010 for alien surplus lines insurance companies to write surplus lines business in the United States. The Future: Pandemic Risk Insurance Act and Potential Mandatory Coverage While legislative efforts to compel retroactive insurance coverage for COVID-19 losses will surely be challenged in the U.S. courts, it seems nearly inevitable that the federal government will seriously consider a framework for the provision of future pandemic insurance protections akin to that of TRIA. However, a federal solution such as this could take many months given the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic and political environment. Current discussions are occurring within the U.S. Congress regarding a draft bill that would establish the Pandemic Risk Insurance Act of 2020 or PRIA. Just like TRIA, the PRIA program would be administered by the U.S. Department of Treasury and would require participating insurance companies that offer business interruption insurance to make available insurance coverage for a public health emergency, which includes any outbreak of infectious disease or pandemic on terms that do not differ materially from the terms applicable to losses arising from other events. Like TRIA, PRIA would also subject participating insurers to individual and industry deductibles, and then such insurers would share with the U.S. federal government in losses up to certain thresholds. Critically for surplus lines insurers, the draft PRIA bill defines the term insurer to include any entity that is licensed to provide primary or excess insurance in any state, as well as an eligible surplus lines carrier listed on the Quarterly Listing of Alien Insurers . . . . Therefore, the draft PRIA bill expressly contemplates that it will apply to all varieties of surplus lines insurers, including insurance companies eligible to write surplus lines coverage by virtue of being licensed in at least one state as well as alien insurance companies that have secured surplus lines eligibility through listing on the Quarterly Listing of Alien Insurers. However, unlike TRIA, the current draft PRIA bill is voluntary in nature and would allow insurers to participate and take advantage of the federal backstop upon the payment of premium for reinsurance coverage. It remains to be seen whether a final version of PRIA will remain voluntary in nature and/or otherwise require retroactive coverage for COVID-19 related claims as well. While surplus lines insurers may find themselves required to offer pandemic risk insurance coverage on their business interruption insurance policies, such companies may also find themselves in the best position to rapidly respond to COVID-19 insurance needs. Surplus lines insurers historically enjoy greater flexibility than their licensed insurance counterparts that must file rates and forms for approval and, as such, surplus lines companies can often expedite new (and badly needed) insurance products to market. Moreover, the surplus lines marketplace is often the first line of defense for addressing emerging insurance needs, with the ability to craft uniquely-tailored products for specific requirements of insurance customers. While the insurance industry and the global economy attempts to regain stability and predictability, we expect the surplus lines market to be a large part of our continued economic recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Topics Carriers COVID-19 Legislation USA Excess Surplus Profit Loss New York Market New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses to the nation on novel coronavirus comes, in New Delhi on March 19, 2020. (Photo: IANS/BJP) Image Source: PK New Delhi, April 22 : Soon after the Union cabinet amended the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1987 in order to ensure the safety of health workers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to suggest that it showed his government's "commitment" to protect the medical fraternity. The Prime Minister tweeted: "The Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 manifests our commitment to protect each and every healthcare worker who is bravely battling COVID-19 on the frontline." Modi, who chaired the cabinet meeting, added, "It will ensure safety of our professionals. There can be no compromise on their safety." From now on, violence against medical professionals will be treated as cognizable and non-bailable offence. Additionally, it has provisions to provide compensation for injury to healthcare service providers or for causing damage or loss to property, the government said on Wednesday. "This actually helps protect the entire health fraternity, including doctors, nurses, paramedics and ASHA workers," said Union I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar. Meanwhile, BJP President J.P. Nadda too welcomed the move, stating that the "entire nation is standing together with the Corona Warriors who have devoted themselves to serve the people". Nadda lauded the medical fraternity for their service during the Covid-19 outbreak by "risking their own lives". Nadda added that not just the Modi government, but even the BJP cadres stood in solidarity with the healthcare workers. He also thanked the Indian Medical Association for withdrawing their symbolic protest against a spate of attacks on health workers after Union Home Minister Amit Shah intervened in the matter earlier in the day. Accountancy firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has won an appeal in which it sought security for 30m in legal costs involved in a pending High Court case against it. PwC is being sued by Quinn Insurance Ltd (QIL) for 900m over its auditing of the now insolvent insurance underwriter. The case arises from Quinn being placed in administration in June 2010. It had an underwriting business of 1bn and its losses were met by a 2pc levy on all non-life insurance policies in the State. Yesterday, the Court of Appeal (CoA) said the High Court must revisit its refusal of PwC's application that Quinn should put up the funds of security for costs of its legal action should it lose the case. Quinn's primary business now is the prosecution of its claim against PwC in which it alleges breach of contract, negligence and breach of duty, the CoA said. The breaches arise from the manner in which PwC conducted its audits of certain aspects of the Quinn business and its meeting of certain regulatory requirements, it is claimed. PwC denies the claims, contends it has no liability and says Quinn failed to provide it with complete and truthful information. It also claims any losses incurred by Quinn due to its continued trading were not caused by its (Quinn's) reliance on PwC, but were due to decisions taken by Quinn itself and/or the actions of the administrators. PwC first asked the High Court to order Quinn to provide upfront what the parties agreed would be the 30m legal costs of the case. In February 2018, the High Court refused the PwC application. PwC appealed this, claiming the High Court erred in finding Quinn had made out a prima facie case that its inability to pay costs was the result of the alleged wrongdoing of PwC. It also argued the High Court erred in finding that the security application should be refused on the basis the proceedings raised issues of general public interest and exceptional public importance. Quinn opposed the appeal. In an electronically delivered judgment, Ms Justice Marie Baker, on behalf of a three-judge CoA, said Quinn had arguably met the test that special circumstances exist which entitle a court to exercise its discretion not to order security for costs. But that did not mean security would be inevitably refused, she said. To expect PwC to bear the risk of having to meet estimated costs of 30m seemed intrinsically unfair, the judge added. PwC and its individual partners would be liable for these enormous costs should Quinn win, she said. She was satisfied that because of unusual factors, including that Quinn has financial backing for its own costs, the litigation is likely to continue even if security has to be provided. The judge also found that because the interests pursued in the litigation "are wholly commercial", she did not consider the High Court was correct to treat this as a public interest case of sufficient importance to justify a departure from the requirement that security for costs be provided. She allowed the appeal and said that the amount and mode of security must go back to the High Court for determination. The program was funded in large part by a co-led team at the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation and the Berkshire United Way through their COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund for Berkshire County. Berkshire South to Start Supplemental Meal Program Called 'Nourishing Neighbors' GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. Berkshire South Regional Community Center announces Nourishing Neighbors, a new supplemental community meal program running for eight weeks and beginning Wednesday, April 22. Through Nourishing Neighbors, Berkshire South will distribute 500 restaurant-prepared cold to-go meals each Wednesday from 1-3 p.m. with the help of a volunteer team. Meal recipients will drive up to a non-contact distribution system in the circle of the front lot at the community center. Home-bound community members may make a reservation for delivery by sending an email. Delivery will be available as long as the center has volunteer drivers to deliver. All meals will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis. "We are honored at Berkshire South to be able to continue to serve our mission, a pillar of which is to enhance the health and social well-being of the residents of the Southern Berkshires," said Jenise Lucey, executive director of Berkshire South. "Berkshire South has always been open to all, regardless of ability to pay, and Nourishing Neighbors is another way we continue that long tradition." The program was funded in large part by a co-led team at the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation and the Berkshire United Way through their COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund for Berkshire County, which provides flexible resources to 501c3 organizations in the region working with communities who are disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus and the economic consequences of this outbreak. "During these challenging times, making sure that children and families are able to meet their basic needs is critical, and Nourishing Neighbors is a great example of a community coming together to provide safe and easy access to food," said Candace Winkler, president and CEO of Berkshire United Way. "We love the model of hiring restaurants to prepare meals for individuals and families in needs. It's a win-win. You get to support a local business while providing a safety net for community members." Community members who wish to donate to this effort to nourish our neighbors, should visit the website. All funds raised will be used to purchase food and supplies for the program. The woman's body was found in a flat in Haywood Avenue, Belfast. Picture from Google Police and forensic officers at the scene of deathr in the Haywood Avenue area of south Belfast on April 22nd 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) A 21-year-old man has been arrested after the body of a woman was found in a flat in south Belfast in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Police say they are treating the sudden death of the 39-year-old as suspicious. They were called to the property in Haywood Avenue at around 1.45am and discovered the body inside. South Belfast SDLP Councillor Gary McKeown said the community was in a state of shock following the death. "People are shocked at this incident in the heart of the community in Ballynafeigh. This is a very popular neighbourhood, so for something like this to happen has caused great concern for residents of the area," said Mr McKeown. "It is very sad that a life has been lost so suddenly, and my thoughts are with those close to the deceased. "I urge anyone with information to contact police to help them with their investigation." Detective Chief Inspector Darren McCartney said: "A post-mortem examination will take place in due course to determine the cause of death, however I'm treating her death as suspicious at this time. The man has been taken to Musgrave Police Station for questioning. I am appealing for anyone in the area last night or early this morning and who have seen or heard anything to contact detectives from the Major Investigation Team at Ladas Drive police station on 101, Detective McCartney said. Sinn Fein MLA Deirdre Hargey said: The local community have been shocked and saddened by the discovery of a womans body in Haywood Avenue. A police investigation is now underway. I would call on anyone with information on this incident to bring it forward to the Green Party MLA Clare Bailey described the incident as "shocking and saddening" and said her thoughts are with the woman's family members and friends. The investigation must be supported by anyone within our community who has any information, she said. Advertisement The method is highly accurate. Previous techniques have often failed to eclipse 90 percent accuracy. Mutation status was determined by analyzing only a single series of MR images, as opposed to multiple image types. A single algorithm was required to assess the IDH mutation status in the tumors. Other techniques have required either hand-drawn regions of interest or additional deep-learning models to first identify the boundaries of the tumor then detect potential mutations. "Knowing a particular mutation status in gliomas is important in determining prognosis and treatment strategies," says Joseph Maldjian, M.D., chief of neuroradiology at UT Southwestern's O'Donnell Brain Institute. "The ability to determine this status using just conventional imaging and AI is a great leap forward."The study used a deep-learning network and standard magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to detect the status of a gene called isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH), which produces an enzyme that in mutated form may trigger tumor growth in the brain.Doctors preparing to treat gliomas will often have patients undergo surgery to obtain tumor tissue that is then analyzed to determine the IDH mutation status. The prognosis and treatment strategy will vary based on whether a patient has an IDH-mutated glioma.However, because obtaining an adequate sample can sometimes be time-consuming and risky - particularly if tumors are difficult to access - researchers have been studying non-surgical strategies to identify IDH mutation status.The study differentiates itself from previous research in three ways:"The beauty of this new deep-learning model is its simplicity and a high degree of accuracy," says Maldjian, adding that similar methods may be used to identify other important molecular markers for various cancers. "We've removed additional pre-processing steps and created an ideal scenario for easily transitioning this into clinical care by using images that are routinely acquired."Gliomas comprise the strong majority of malignant tumors found in the brain and can often spread quickly through the surrounding tissue. The five-year survival rate for high-grade gliomas is 15%, though tumors with mutated IDH enzymes generally have a better prognosis.The IDH mutation status also helps doctors decide on a combination of treatments most suitable for the patient, from chemotherapy and radiation therapy to surgery to remove the tumor.To improve the process of detecting enzyme mutations and deciding on appropriate therapy, Maldjian's team developed two deep-learning networks that analyzed imaging data from a publicly available database of more than 200 brain cancer patients from across the U.S.One network used only one series from the MRI (T2-weighted images), while the other used multiple image types from the MRI. The two networks achieved nearly the same accuracy, suggesting that the process of detecting IDH mutations could be significantly streamlined by using only the T2-weighted images.Maldjian's team will next test his deep-learning model on larger datasets for additional validation before deciding whether to incorporate the technique into clinical care.Meanwhile, researchers are hoping to develop medications to inhibit IDH through ongoing national clinical trials. If effective, these inhibitors could combine with AI-imaging techniques to overhaul how some brain cancers are assessed and treated."In the big picture, we may be able to treat some gliomas without operating on a patient," Maldjian says. "We would use AI to detect an IDH-mutated glioma, then use IDH inhibitors to slow down or reverse the tumor growth. The field of radio-genomics is exploding with possibilities."Source: Eurekalert When Guam patients needed to go back home quickly before the Philippines shut down its airports temporarily, they reached out for help. Using his personal money, Sen. Jose "Pedo" Terlaje said he paid for 10 patients' airfare to bring them back home "so they would not be stranded" in the Philippines. "In times like this, it is our culture to come together and take care of each other. I trust that my fellow elected officials have grown up with the same heritage and have been imbued with the same spirit of inafa'maolek," Terlaje said. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. Melanie Mendiola, Guam Economic Development Authority administrator, has come to the aid of musicians and independently employed individuals, on top of her donations to the University of Guam and the Santa Teresita Church in Mangilao. They are among Guam's elected and appointed officials helping, on a personal level, other people go through the financial crisis brought on by the COVID-19 outbreak. More families in need will have food on the table to get them through the crisis, thanks to donations made to Guahan Sustainable Culture. Sen. Sabina Perez said she's planning to make a $100 donation to the nonprofit organization. "The money will help support farmers to pay for unsold crops, which will be distributed to families in need," she said. No GovGuam official has announced donating all their salary at this time, just like what officials in other states have been doing. But some GovGuam officials on Wednesday said they are just as eager to help with what limited resources they have. This is on top of what they said they've been doing to keep the government running in this time of crisis. Sen. Louise Muna was on her way to the Archdiocese of Agana's Ministry to the Homeless in Hagatna on Wednesday when asked about her part. She was about to donate food items so that the ministry can feed more of the island's hungry and homeless. "I do challenge my fellow elected officials to do the same," she said. The archdiocese temporarily ceased its daily soup kitchen, but it's still accepting donations so it can continue to distribute to-go food items three times a week. Connecting people needing resources with groups and agencies that can help them is another way other officials such as Sen. Clynt Ridgell and Sen. Telo Taitague are contributing. Sen. Wil Castro joins many others in supplying meals to those on the front line against the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as in coordinating the purchase of materials to make more masks and other personal protective equipment. Continuing to support local businesses that are open by buying food and supplies or ordering from them is also another way to help, he said. Burying unclaimed bodies to free up hospital morgue Department of Agriculture Deputy Director Adrian Cruz's nonprofit funeral home, Arimathea Society, has been giving proper burials to the homeless and unclaimed bodies throughout the year. With the COVID-19 crisis, the Arimathea Society has been burying unclaimed bodies to clear the Guam Memorial Hospital morgue. Besides donating bottles of water and masks, and contributing to efforts by Guahan Sustainable Culture and other nonprofits, Sen. Kelly Marsh said she's been working with constituents in getting answers to their questions, from eviction to small-business loans or receiving stimulus checks. She said she's also been helping a person who was stranded on Guam while on his way to San Diego to take care of his Social Security issues. Agriculture Director Chelsea Muna-Brecht not only donates regularly and often, including during this current pandemic, but also teaches her children to help others. "We do so because this is our community and we must always be grateful for what we have and be compassionate toward others," she said. Agriculture continues to respond to grassland fires, propagate plants for eventual community distribution and inspect commodities for safe transport, among other things. "We try, every single day, to ensure we continue to serve our community in any safe way we can," she said. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he had instructed the U.S. Navy to fire on any Iranian ships that harass it at sea, a week after 11 vessels from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) came dangerously close to U.S. ships in the Gulf. 'I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea,' Trump wrote in a tweet. Trump did not cite a specific event in his tweet or provide details. The White House had no immediate comment. The U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet referred questions about the tweet to the Pentagon, and the Pentagon referred questions to the White House. The tweet came amid a re-escalation of tension, with Iran's Revolutionary Guards saying hours earlier that that they had launched the country's first military satellite, which the U.S. regards as a cover for missile development. Trump followed his attack by linking the order to his November re-election campaign, saying 'Sleepy Joe [Biden] thought this was OK. Not me!' over a video from an Iranian patrol boat apparently approaching a U.S. Navy ship, then he tweeted a cartoon attack on Barack Obama. The current president has made attacking his predecessor on Iran to hurt Biden part of his re-election campaign, although explicitly linking it to military orders appears to be a new development. Warning: Donald Trump fired off a tweet aimed at Tehran telling them their boats would be 'shot down' if they harass U.S. Navy vessels Follow-up: Donald Trump linked his orders to 'destroy' Iranian patrol boats to his re-election campaign, accusing his Democratic rival Biden of being weak on Iran In Tehran General Abolfazl Shekarchi, a spokesman for Iran's armed forces, accused Trump of 'bullying' and said the American president should focus on taking care of U.S service members infected with the coronavirus. The U.S. military had more than 2,600 confirmed cases of coronavirus as of last week, and at least two service members have succumbed to COVID-19. 'Today, Americans must do their best to save those troops who are infected with coronavirus instead of bullying others,' Shekarchi said, according to Irans semi-official news agency ISNA. The country had hours earlier announced the launch of its first successful satellite - an activity the U.S. says is cover for a ballistic missile program. 'The first satellite of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been successfully launched into orbit by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,' said the Guards' Sepahnews website. It said the satellite - dubbed the Nour, which means light - had been launched from the Qassed two-stage launcher from the Markazi desert, a vast expanse in Iran's central plateau. The satellite 'orbited the earth at 264 miles', said the website. 'This action will be a great success and a new development in the field of space for Islamic Iran,' the statement added. The surprise operation comes more than two months after Iran launched but failed to put into orbit another satellite that it said had no military dimensions. Washington says that these satellite launches defy a UN Security Council resolution on ballistic missiles. U.S. officials fear that the launches could help Iran develop intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons. Iran's Revolutionary Guards say they have launched the country's first military satellite. This picture shows the failed launch of the Zafar satellite on February 9 Iran maintains it has no intention of acquiring nuclear weapons, claiming its aerospace activities are peaceful and comply with the UN's orders. It is not believed that Iran has the technology to miniaturize a nuclear weapon on a ballistic missile. Israel, which Tehran refuses to recognise, called on the international community to condemn Iran's satellite launch. 'Israel calls upon the international community ... to impose further sanctions on the Iranian regime. All in order to deter it from continuing such dangerous and opposing activity,' Israel's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. And Trump's intervention is a week after nearly a dozen Iranian naval vessels repeatedly harassed and made 'dangerous' approaches to American ships conducting operations in the Persian Gulf near Kuwait in a tense exchange that last more than an hour. A group of 11 ships with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps repeatedly crossed the bows and sterns of the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet at close range and high speeds - with one passing within just 10 meters of a Coast Guard cutter. The 'dangerous and provocative actions increased the risk of miscalculation and collision,' a statement from U.S. Central Command said, adding that U.S commanders on the scene 'retain the inherent right to self-defense.' The American vessels included the USS Paul Hamilton, a Navy destroyer; the USS Lewis B. Puller, a ship that serves as an afloat landing base; and the USCGC Maui. Coastguard vessels are part of U.S. forces in the Gulf. The ships were operating with U.S. Army Apache attack helicopters in international waters, the statement said. A group of 11 ships with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps repeatedly crossed the bows and sterns of the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet at close range and high speeds - with one passing within just 10 meters of a Coast Guard cutter The 'dangerous and provocative actions increased the risk of miscalculation and collision,' a statement from U.S. Central Command said, adding that U.S commanders on the scene 'retain the inherent right to self-defense' (pictured: USCGC Maui surrounded by three Iranian ships) U.S. forces issued multiple warnings via bridge-to-bridge radio, fired five short blasts from the ships' horns and long-range acoustic noise maker devices, but received no immediate response from the Iranian vessels, officials said. Eventually, after around an hour, the Iranian ships acknowledged the warnings over the bride-to-bridge radio and then maneuvered away. Iranian officials did not immediately acknowledge the incident, which comes after armed men - also believed to be from Iran's Revolutionary Guard - seized a Hong Kong-flagged tanker last Tuesday before later releasing the vessel. The semi-official Fars news agency, believed to be close to the paramilitary Guard, acknowledged the incident in a report that did not include any comment from Iranian officials. The American vessels included the USS Paul Hamilton, a Navy destroyer; the USS Lewis B. Puller (above), a ship that serves as an afloat landing base; and the USCGC Maui. The ships were operating with U.S. Army Apache attack helicopters in international waters, the statement said Iranian officials did not immediately acknowledge the incident U.S. forces issued multiple warnings via bridge-to-bridge radio, fired five short blasts from the ships' horns and long-range acoustic noise maker devices, but received no immediate response from the Iranian vessels, officials said Eventually, after around an hour, the Iranian ships acknowledged the warnings over the bride-to-bridge radio and then maneuvered away. Standoff: The tensions spiked when U.S. forces killed Iran's most powerful general, Qassem Soleimani, in January. His Revolutionary Guards launched the Nour satellite and also operate the patrol boats threatened by Trump Tense incidents remain common between Iranian and U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf, particularly in its narrow mouth called the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of all the world's oil passes. Iran seized ships several last summer and the U.S. accuses it of attacking tankers in the region amid tensions over Trump unilaterally withdrawing America from Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers. Last June, an Iranian surface-to-air missile system also shot down a U.S. Navy surveillance drone that was hovering above the region. Iran argued the drone was over its territory. The attack escalated regional tensions and fueled a surge in oil prices. The U.S.-led International Maritime Security Construct, a group created to deter Iranian attacks in the region, acknowledged the incident in a statement late Wednesday. The group said it 'assessed no immediate threat to the free flow of shipping in the area.' Despite the U.S military expanding its response to the outbreak of COVID-19 at home and among its forces, senior defense officials have repeatedly stated that the virus would not disrupt global military operations. Tensions between the nations escalated after the Trump administration withdrew from the international nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran. Last May the U.S. sent thousands more troops, including long-range bombers and an aircraft carrier, to the Middle East in response to what it called a growing threat of Iranian attacks on U.S. interests in the region. The tensions spiked when U.S. forces killed Iran's most powerful general, Qassem Soleimani, in January. Iran responded with a ballistic missile attack on a base in western Iraq where U.S. troops were present. No Americans were killed but more than 100 suffered mild traumatic brain injuries from the blasts. Also, Iran-backed Shiite militias in Iraq continue to threaten American forces there. Despite the launch, analysts said Tehran and Washington would not seek a conventional war. 'This is psychological warfare to send a message and tell the adversary that 'we are ready to stop any offensive',' Hisham Jaber, a retired Lebanese army brigadier general and analyst, told Reuters. 'Iran is using this policy as a deterrence. But the result: No effect on the ground. No dramatic effect... Nobody is ready to handle any consequences of war, not America, not Iran or anyone.' In homes that are cramped, stuffy and increasingly low on food, residents of one of Asia's largest slum are struggling under India's nationwide lockdown. A man stands behind a makeshift barricade set up to stop people from entering a lane, during a nationwide lockdown in India to slow the spread of COVID-19, in Dharavi, one of Asia's largest slums, during the coronavirus disease outbreak, in Mumbai. Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters Men wearing masks look through the windows of a house, during the nationwide lockdown. Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters A man rides a scooter through a crowded market area, during the lockdown. Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters Residents look on as a health workers arrive to stamp their hands, as part of an order to quarantine at home for 14-days, after a person living in the area tested positive for COVID-19, in Dharavi. Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters A doctor wearing a hazmat suit and a mask, conducts a swab test on a man, to check if he has the coronavirus in Dharavi. Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters A girl looks on as she crosses a makeshift barricade set up to stop people from entering a narrow lane, during a nationwide lockdown in India to slow the spread of COVID-19, in Dharavi. Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters A man stands behind a makeshift barricade that was set up to stop people from entering an alley, during a nationwide lockdown in India to slow the spread of COVID-19, in Dharavi. Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters Two men are ordered by the police to sit on a road, as part of a punishment for breaking the nationwide lockdown in India to slow the spread of COVID-19, in Dharavi. Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters Children play outside a house, during a nationwide lockdown in India to slow the spread of COVID-19, in Dharavi. Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters April 22, 2020 While the COVID-19 pandemic continues, many businesses are looking to stay upright while their revenue goes down. And it's not just less revenue, it's less staff to handle demand. While some businesses are being forced to shut down altogether, others are turning to downsizing and laying off employees to continue operations. A survey near the beginning of March found that about a quarter of employers planned to downsize if the situation became worse. Heidi Zaransky owns a leasing company, which is the largest of its kind in Illinois, that provides financial products and advice about transportation needs to Fortune 500 companies. She shares what companies are doing to cope with losses due to COVID-19. Finding Ways To Continue Operations There are some types of companies that are being hit harder than others, notes Heidi Zaransky. For example, restaurants have had their dining areas shut down in some states, so they have turned to take-out and delivery instead. Some states have even allowed restaurants to serve take-out alcohol with the food as a way for them to earn back some of their lost profits. Meanwhile, some of the top food delivery services offered to waive fees to restaurants and even take on restaurant workers impacted financially so they can stay afloat until the pandemic is over. The travel and tourism industry has also been hit especially hard, as countries close borders to non-essential travelers. But while the big airlines are taking a hit, smaller private jet companies are reportedly saw an uptick in business. Meanwhile, less travel also spells trouble for hotel chains that are normally seeing a healthy stream of bookings. But while some chains are waiving cancellation fees and lowering rates (especially at the luxury level), data cited suggests more than 650,000 hotel rooms were vacant across the country as of April 9. Hotels are responding by laying off positions such as bartenders and valets to make up for the shortfall. Remote Workers Surge Companies that cannot have their staff convene in a workplace during the pandemic have turned more heavily to remote work, explains Heidi Zaransky. While this presents unique challenges to companies that are not used to having staff work remotely, such as beefing up cybersecurity, there are some indications that those working from home might actually be more productive and that there may still be a shift towards remote work when the virus crisis is over. More Attention To Cash Flow While the financial stress piles up, many companies are looking more closely at their cash flow forecasts, making allowance for important expenses that can't be avoided. Some companies are offering discounts if paid in cash or if invoices are paid quicker, adds Heidi Zaransky. Meanwhile, some businesses have become more apt to log their liabilities and losses from COVID-19 so they can have a better chance of turning to insurance or getting compensation down the road. It's Not All Bad News, says Heidi Zaransky For companies that already rely on delivery (including those who deliver food), they may be helping gig economy workers by hiring more to meet online ordering demand, explains Heidi Zaransky. For example, online shopping giant Amazon said it has already hired 100,000 workers, with plans to hire 75,000 more. Package delivery jobs rose steadily in March, as did demand for those in the storage and transportation sectors. Meanwhile, for essential services such as grocery stores, more people are being hired to help out at warehouses and even to bulk up front-line checkout staff. And while big automakers have essentially been shut down during the pandemic, some of them are finding a new purpose by using their production capacity to produce ventilators for coronavirus patients, which requires workers. There are about 22 million Americans out of work according to recent reports, but some companies have offered furloughs to staff. This is when a company will temporarily suspend jobs of some staff (without pay), with the expectation their job will continue at a later date. While America waits to get back to work, some companies continue to find ways to survive and even thrive during the lockdowns, notes Heidi Zaransky. New Delhi/Raipur, April 22 : After agitated Congress workers filed multiple complaints against Republic TV editor Arnab Goswami, an FIR has been registered against him in a police station in Chhattisgarh's Raipur. The FIR in the Civil Lines police was filed on the complaint of state Congress chief Mohan Markam under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, relating to promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc and deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs. In the complaint, Markam said that in his TV programme, the editor has instigated a crime and tried to disrupt communal harmony. The Congress has also talked to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Mahararashtra minister Balasahab Thorat said. "I condemn the attempts made by Arnab Goswami to communalise the unfortunate incident at Palghar & also the derogatory language used by him against @INCIndia President Sonia ji Gandhi. I have spoken to CM @OfficeofUT & HM @AnilDeshmukhNCP Strict action will be initiated against him," he said, in a tweet. The Congress has also initiated an online campaign against Goswami on various social media platforms. Crude oil storage tanks are seen from above at the Cushing oil hub in Cushing By Samuel Shen, Tom Westbrook and Rodrigo Campos SHANGHAI/SINGAPORE/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The crash in U.S. crude prices has turned a reliable commodity less than worthless and given fresh urgency to bearish voices, who say it sounds alarm bells for global growth and are bracing for a catastrophic collapse in asset prices. Markets are already unnerved at the specter of traders paying to get rid of May futures contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude , as storage tanks at the delivery point in Oklahoma quickly fill with unused fuel. But some market participants believe the transformation of "black gold" into a liability is more than a bet gone wrong, and rather heralds a new round of deflation and financial destruction as the COVID-19 pandemic wrecks the world economy. "This is part of the deflation process," said Murray Gunn, head of global research at market forecasting firm Elliott Wave International. "At this juncture, our analysis suggests that this is very probably the second wave of a much bigger fall... over the next two or three years we will be in a deflationary environment. Survival will be paramount. And cash is king." The crash has already knocked the wind from a rebound rally that has taken the MSCI World Index <.MIWD00000PUS> up more than 20% from March lows, sending Asian shares on their steepest tumble in a month and U.S. stocks sliding two days in a row. Those preparing for worse to come see a slew of more fundamental problems ranging from oil speculators going bust to the destruction of the U.S. shale industry and a credit crunch if energy firms' bad debts grow and banks tighten their belts. "What we're seeing here is this fast-forward recession," said Patrick Perret-Green, head of research at AdMacro, a boutique research and investment advisory in London. Trading losses can quickly spread risks outward to banks, who are likely to respond by lending less, he said. "Then the question is do they then start re-evaluating other things? So, all commodities trading, copper, the whole shebang ... we're reading the fundamental collapse as something not just for oil but for everything." Story continues OIL UNDER WATER The price crash also reflects the near total absence of energy demand - once regarded as constant. While that has some hoping cheap fuel could subsidize a swift return to global growth, it also means relief could be distant indeed for exporters and economies reliant on them. "Ultimately, this virus has to get fixed before oil can make any kind of recovery," said David Winans, principal, U.S. investment grade credit research at PGIM Fixed Income. "This price doesnt work for anyone, but its unclear to me what more can be done without getting a 'fix' on the virus. I suppose oil has tested positive for COVID-19." Global stimulus sparked by the pandemic has ballooned to some $8 trillion according to figures from the International Monetary Fund. The U.S. Federal Reserve alone has pledged trillions, widening for some the gap between financial markets and the real economy. While crude futures prices collapsed and millions of Americans have lost their jobs so far this month, the S&P 500 stock index has rallied over 20% from last month's lows despite estimates for a recession sharper than the Great Depression. "Every economic data estimate as we got closer (to its release) got more apocalyptic and in every case so far they weren't bearish enough," said Grant Williams, author of Things That Make You Go Hmmm... and portfolio and strategy advisor to Vulpes Investment Management in Singapore. "Yet markets are still willing to take a forecast for S&P earnings and a 'V-shaped recovery' from the same people." To be sure, not everyone is forecasting gloom, with OCBC economist Howie Lee calling the oil crash "not the end of the world" and not reflective of the entire market, since even crude's global benchmark Brent has not dived so far. And the U.S. Federal Reserve has thrown so much cash at credit markets that contagion seems unlikely. But the effects on the industry globally, and especially U.S. shale producers who depend on U.S. crude futures in the low $40s per barrel to break even, are deleterious and could weigh on growth if their usually huge capex spending vanishes. "At these prices, the entire industry is underwater," said PGIM's Winans. "The 'supply shock' from the OPEC+ collapse in March was really a mirage, the demand shock from COVID-19 is overwhelming everything." Graphic: U.S. oil plunges, amplifies economic concerns https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/oakpeknyprd/Pasted%20image%201587473526227.png (Reporting by Samuel Shen in Shanghai, Tom Westbrook and Vidya Ranganathan in Singapore, Rodrigo Campos in New York and Saikat Chaterjee in London; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Nick Zieminski) With New York City facing a huge revenue shortfall (over $9 billion over the next 14 months according to current estimates) due to the economic shutdown, Gothams public schools stand to suffer significant funding cuts. After all, the Department of Education accounts for about a third of the citys budget. In response to this reality, fiscal policy experts and editorial boards have begun floating ideas about how the city might maintain essential public services such as schools while dealing with this financial challengeand some have suggested freezing public employee salaries, notwithstanding any labor agreements currently in place. A look at the New York City school systems spending trends demonstrates the critical need for such a freeze and illuminates the choice elected officials face: fiscal prudence or the denial of much-needed services to our citys schoolchildren. Just last night, it was reported that Governor Cuomo was using his emergency powers to defer upcoming raises in state employee contracts. While an unnecessarily long delay or outright deferral of the raises would surely lead to legal challenge, a legal analysis by the Empire Center documents legal precedents giving state legislatures the power to freeze raises in a time of fiscal crisis. In a perfect world, teachers would certainly get the raises that have already been agreed to, but current conditions require sacrifice across the board. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has over-extended city spending and employee salaries to the extent that adjustments to existing agreements are necessary to avoid huge cuts to basic and essential school services, such as reducing the availability of courses, after school and summer programs or access to extra-curriculars. Students have already lost learning time during the school closures required by the COVID-19 pandemic that will need to be made up in the coming years. Rather than cutting services, the city is going to need to augment them and that will come at a cost. When the last financial crisis hit in 2008, New York City itself was in much stronger shape. In the wake of near-bankruptcy in the mid-1970s, the city had made key structural reforms to its accounting and financial planning which ultimately helped foster decades of economic growth and resilience. Still, the city faced a great challenge. Federal stimulus funds helped a bit, but Mayor Mike Bloomberg tightened spending, allowing the city some time for the private sector to bounce back and re-fill the citys coffers. He took a particularly tough line with the citys employee unions, arguing that the city simply could not afford raises. In response to Bloombergs approach, the United Federation of Teachers took a political gamble, refusing to sign a new contract with Bloomberg in the hopes that the next mayor would be more generous. They won that bet. Just a few months after de Blasio took office in 2014, he agreed to a contract that not only provided teachers with 10 percent salary increases in the four years going forward, but also included two retroactive increases of 4 percent each for 2009 and 2010, the years when teachers were working under an expired contract. This lump sum payment was to be paid out between 2015 and 2020. The contract also included annual increases totaling 18 percent over the years 2013-2018.The cost was huge, and de Blasio craftily structured the deal so that a large part of it would come due outside the citys four-year financial plan. As fate would have it, the final payment on that agreement was scheduled to be made this year. According to the citys January 2020 Preliminary Budget, the city has transferred $650 million from its miscellaneous budget account to the education department to fund the final retroactive payments to teachers and others for work conducted in 2009 and 2010before students currently in grades K5 were even born, let alone enrolled in school. And the financial hits will keep coming: the contract that required that payment expired in 2018, and the new contract that took its place made promises for a 2 percent raise last year, 2.5 percent this May, and 3 percent next year. As of 2019, salaries for the 75,000 teachers across city schools ranged from $57,845 to $121,862, depending on seniority and educational attainment. The May 2020 increase will range from $1,446 to $3,047 per teacher, plus an additional $3,748 to $4,779 that will kick in come May 2021. Thus, on top of this huge payout, city schools would increase payroll in the range of $250 to $501 million for teachers alone by the end of the next fiscal year, only 15 months away. To get a sense of the growth spending on school employee salary and benefits, I updated the figures from a report that the citys Independent Budget Office published when I was directing its education research team. Looking at the school systems current budget, including the infusion of $650 million described above, the cost of salaries and benefits (not including $3.6 billion in annual pension costs) has increased by an average of 4.5 percent in the years since de Blasio took office, compared to 2.6 percent annual growth in Bloombergs last seven budgets. Two percentage points a year might not seem like a lot, but these costs have grown by $4.6 billion in the de Blasio years and now total $17.3 billion dollars, before the pending salary adjustments. In the de Blasio years, the annual cost per employee in the school system has increased by over $23,400, or 22 percent. Some of the money that de Blasio has directed to additional staff costs could have been used to pay down some of the citys debts. Currently, $2.8 billion is spent annually to pay the debt service on bonds associated with the school system. The citys teachers are essential to student achievement, but the city is facing its greatest fiscal challenge in 45 years. The cuts to school funding made during the mid-1970s included layoffs of more than 14,000 teachers, the closure of about 100 schools, and a reduction of the school day equivalent to two days a week. The impact of these cuts, as well as the loss of routine maintenance of school buildings, harmed academic wellbeing, health, and safety in schools for 10 years or more. These grim conditions could repeat themselves if the city fails to make some hard sacrifices in the short run. Charter schools will need to be part of this discussion as well. While there should be, according to the formula that determines allotment, parity between the amount of funding that charter schools and traditional public schools receive, the Independent Budget Office has consistently shown that public schools receive more per pupil than do charters. With that said, if public schools undergo extensive funding cuts, putting them below the level of charter school funding, charters should do so as well, to a degree that creates parity between the two sectors. None of this will be easy, but it will be necessary. Schoolchildren have already been burdened by school closures. If they are to catch up in the coming years, services need to be maintained and perhaps even augmented with longer school days or years. That will require real sacrifice, but it will be well worth it. At 1911 Established, the beverage arm of Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards in LaFayette, the alcohol still is cranking out 2,000 cases of 12-ounce hand sanitizers a day. Theyre distributed to stores like Byrne Dairy, Kinney Drugs and Tops supermarkets. At Rochesters Black Button Distilling, probably the states largest distiller-turned-sanitizer maker, the production is about 70,000 24-ounce bottles a week, plus bulk containers. Much of it goes to hospitals, food manufacturers and other essential businesses in New York and other states. At Last Shot Distillery in Skaneateles, the scale is much smaller. Yet head distiller and co-owner Chris Uyehara has been putting his still usually reserved for whiskey or vodka to use making sanitizers mostly for local customers and first-responders in the area. Its slowing down a little from when we and other distilleries first jumped into it, Uyehara said. But as long as there is a demand, we can keep making it. A month after the first mad scramble by large and small distillers to fill the emergency need for sanitizers that can kill the coronavirus, the industry once dedicated to beverage alcohol has now settled into a new normal. That means less bourbon and more virus-killer. Many distillers, like 1911 and Black Button, have converted just about 100% of their operations to sanitizers. Sgt. Adam Pritchett of the Syracuse Police Department holds a bottle of hand sanitizer made by Lock 1 Distilling in Phoenix, Oswego County. Pritchett and a team of officers from the SPD took delivery of the sanitizer at the OnCenter in downtown Syracuse in a pick-up coordinated by the Onondaga County Office of Emergency Management. The sanitizer will be distributed to officers for use in their patrol vehicles.Don Cazentre Distillers can produce ethanol to at least the minimum 60% alcohol (120 proof) to meet the minimum requirements for killing the virus. Most are making it higher, such as 80%. They mix the alcohol with other ingredients, typically hydrogen peroxide and glycerin, to make the sanitizer. Obviously wed love to be making more of our beverages, said Eddie Brennan, president at 1911/Beak & Skiff, which makes hard cider, vodka, bourbon and other products. No one knows how long this will last, but were prepared. Assuming the need continues, Black Button owner Jason Barrett is even considering setting up a separate production area for sanitizers so he can get back into beverages. As it stands now, it looks like were talking about continuing this until at least Christmas, depending on the contracts we get, Barrett said. To meet its sanitizer demand, Black Button has partnered with two Finger Lakes distilleries, OBegley of Dundee and Hollerhorn of Naples, to produce and package the product. And thats just sanitizers. In a New York Times story published Sunday, Arthur M. Silverstein, a retired medical historian at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, suggested the government could take over and sterilize existing liquor or beer plants for vaccine production., Any distillery could be converted, he told The Times. Local distillers dont see that as an option, at least in the immediate future. But even the short-term future is uncertain. Owner and distiller Jason Barrett with a bottle of the hand sanitizer produced at Black Button Distilling in Rochester. Black Button, for example, was just about to launch a nationwide expansion of its whiskeys when the pandemic hit. So we actually had built up some inventory preparing for that, Barrett said. So we can continue to meet our demand at New York state stores for now. But depending on how long this lasts, wed need to get back into production. At 1911/Beak & Skiff, spring is a slow time for its fresh cider production, so its been able to convert that area to the sanitizers. Things may be different in the fall when apples the core of 1911s business are harvested. It is still packaging some of its hard cider, though the loss of restaurant and bar accounts during the shutdown has cut its draft business. Brennan is pretty proud of the way 1911 has been able to respond to the need for sanitizer. This is the fastest weve even been able to develop a new product from concept to production, packaging and labeling, he said. Bottles of hand sanitizer produced at Last Shot Distillery in Skaneateles. At Last Shot in Skaneateles, Uyehara thinks he might keep a bit of the sanitizer business going even after the pandemic is under control. I could see it becoming a side business, he said. You know, just making a little to bottle for sale in the tasting room. So far, almost every distillery in New York and elsewhere has proven they can respond to the emergency need when called, Barrett noted. If theres more needed, or another application for their expertise and equipment emerges, theyll likely answer again. You could say we are specialists in the handling and packaging of ethanol (alcohol), he said. Normally thats bourbon. But if there are other priorities, we can do it. Other Central New York craft beverage distillers involved in making sanitizer include Old Home Distillers and Madison County Distillery, both in Madison County; Cortland Beer Co. and Distillery in Cortland; Lock 1 Distilling in Phoenix, Oswego County; and Hall Island Distilling in Cicero, which started with a surface sanitizer and has since added hand sanitizer. RELATED Distillery hand sanitizers now in the hands of first responders in CNY CNY distilleries ramp up efforts to make hand sanitizers MORE ON CORONAVIRUS Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources Reopening NYS schools this academic year will be very difficult due to coronavirus, Cuomo says As coronavirus spread, a Fayetteville retirement community became a hotbed McMahon: No more shelter-in-place, but urges people to travel even less; hospitals can reopen Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com Calls made for FiT extension in light of pandemic dilemma Following the release of the newly-approved second feed-in tariff (FiT) for solar energy, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has proposed the government to extend the incentive tariff deadline for wind schemes by two years. The FiT is coming to an end, low-hanging fruit projects have been developed, and local banks capacity to continue to finance development is stretched, remarked Giles Cooper, chairman of consultancy firm Duane Morris Vietnam LLC. Meanwhile, the energy demand rises steadily and right-minded global citizens are clamouring for an end to coal and a rapid transition to renewable energy sources. And still, into this heady mix arrived the coronavirus emergency. Cooper added that for all the momentum, clean-energy sectors solar, wind, energy storage, and companies transforming the power grid will not escape COVID-19 impacts. They face serious questions across the board from supply chain issues and workforce shortages to more macro questions about the economy, energy demand, and availability of finance. Under the prime ministers Decision No.13/QD-TTg dated April 6 on mechanisms to encourage the development of solar power in Vietnam, the new FiT for solar will be applied at 7.09-7.79 US cents per kilowatt-hour. The new FiT comes nine months after the previous one outlined in Decree No.11/2017/QD-TTg expired on June 30 last year. All solar investors and developers agreed that the new FIT is a push for the power sector and it could also be the last FiT for solar in Vietnam, which means that developers will not be able to see such attractive mechanisms again when a competitive bidding scheme is implemented. Thus, it is expected that a number of projects will reach the commercial operation date (COD) on time. According to a February report from the MoIT, 36 solar projects with a total of nearly 3,000MW obtained the required investment certificates before November 23, 2019. On top of this, there is another 2,000MW quota given for the south-central province of Ninh Thuan based on a special mechanism which makes close to 5,000MW eligible for the FiT. In the same move, responding to a proposal from developers and local authorities, the MoIT asked the government to extend the period of fixed FiT for wind power projects to December 2023 instead of the end of November 2021. After 2023, wind power projects will be awarded through an auction process. The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) said that it was the first organisation to present a full analysis of the impact on the wind industry to the MoIT to better highlight how the health crisis would impact the supply chain, meeting project deadlines, and securing investor confidence. It has become an important example that other governments can look to in order to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the wind industry and ensure that projects can continue to be developed without major penalties post-pandemic. According to GWEC Market Intelligence, Vietnam achieved cumulative installed wind power capacity of over 487MW by the end of 2019, making it the second-largest wind market in Southeast Asia. Due to strong flows of foreign and domestic investors into Vietnams wind sector, the market is predicted to install approximately 4GW of additional wind capacity by 2025, of which at least 1GW will be offshore wind. The GWEC believed a strong political commitment such as the FiT extension will be necessary to ensure the steady growth of wind energy in Vietnams power system, to offer the prospect of a more competitive, cleaner, and more secure energy pathway. These measures aim to insulate the energy sector as well as ease concerns on power shortages due to the coronavirus impacts as well as delayed installation of build-operate-transfer coal power projects and liquefied natural gas initiatives. More risks due to panic Welcoming the new FiT on solar, Federico Bestiani, director of Italys Bestiani Engineering Company, told VIR, The outbreak will for sure add more difficulty in project management and extend project times since construction companies will have to ensure, in addition to the usual quality and safety standards, additional safety measures to prevent the spread of the virus in the workplace and construction sites. Moreover, inland transport is at the moment subject to delays. Bestiani added that regulations can be viewed as a patch. The duration of five months retroactive and seven months effective is simply too short to allow the development, design, and construction of legitimate high-quality projects, he explained. The regulator should make sure that a long-term decision is issued before the deadline of the current one, in order not to create a hiccup market of great rushes followed by market stoppages, Bestiani added, as this kind of market makes use of practices in grey areas and leads to several low-quality design and installations made only to meet the deadline. Under the decision, the new FiT is only applied to projects approved for investment before November 23, 2019, and COD between July 1, 2019 and the end of 2020. Dr. Brian Hull, general director of ABB Power Grids said, The deadline for project delivery is quite challenging, but I believe that as the ground-mounted projects covered by Decision 13 are already well advanced in planning, it will be possible to meet the deadline. COVID-19 may cause some challenges, with many global travel restrictions in place, and no certainty yet when they will be lifted, a key factor that investors/developers should factor in is to ensure suppliers have a strong local sales and service team and proven partner networks within Vietnam to avoid reliance on overseas staff. In a research and markets report on the impact of the pandemic on the global renewable energy industry, discouraging growth rates have been experienced. Due to lockdowns, global supply chains are affected and a considerable slowdown in production has been observed. Sectors such as the wind industry are experiencing logistical delays, which in turn result in delays in new project developments. Moreover, due to the fall in prices of crude oil, the demand for renewable energy can decrease in the near future. Prompt action required Meanwhile, Sujay Shah, global head and managing director of Cleantech Coverage at Standard Chartered, noted that COVID-19 could have a knock-on effect for the financing of projects in frontier markets. This is as well as newer technologies where risk-sharing practices are not as established. Smaller developers with projects not yet off the ground could also be hit hard, as their financing becomes scarce, Shah said. Cooper of Duane Morris LLC added, It remains to be seen if the MoIT proposal on wind power project will be accepted and if prompt action is not taken, foreign clean energy development companies may withdraw from the wind and solar power market because of the possible negative impacts of COVID-19 on their global operations. Vietnam may lose investment disproportionately because it is considered a high-risk market. The virus could also make it harder to keep wind and solar farms up and running, due to travel bans and maintenance delays. Industry experts said that a reviewed FiT on wind was necessary in Vietnam and should be announced as soon as possible. Qiao Liming, Asia director of the GWEC, said in an eco-business newswire that a wind farm is a multi-year undertaking that involves project approval, land acquisition, feasibility studies, construction, and testing. Wind turbines are also usually ordered 15-19 months ahead of project completion. Therefore, the Vietnamese government should extend the FiT scheme by at least a year and fast-track the approval process for projects. If these companies dont see projects coming up, they will close down and go elsewhere, Liming explained. Bestiani predicted that the pressure on grid transmission will continue to remain an issue and new areas or provinces will perhaps witness the same imbalance between power connected on line and actual grid capacity that was observed last year in Binh Thuan and Ninh Thuan provinces. The countries that had a long-term vision and varying regulations were gifted by sustainable development and grew a stronger and more skilful local industry, while a batch of other countries elsewhere concocted countless and short-term FiT policies that destabilised the industry and also privileged short-term investors and speculators with, of course, a more negative impact on the local industry, Bestiani said. A traffic policeman wearing a facial mask works in downtown Yangon, Myanmar, March 29, 2020.Photo:Xinhua A vehicle of the World Health Organization (WHO) transporting COVID-19 surveillance samples was attacked by the United League of Arakan (ULA)/ Arakan Army (AA) group in Myanmar's Rakhine state, Myanmar's state-run media reported Tuesday. With a driver and a health worker aboard, the vehicle transporting the samples to the national laboratory in Yangon was attacked by the armed group near Yarmaung bridge in Minbya township of Rakhine state on Monday evening. The two on board were injured and sent to township hospital for treatment. The United Nations Myanmar Tuesday confirmed the death of the driver on their Facebook page. Founded in 2009, the Arakan Army is a Rakhine armed group and the armed wing of the United League of Arakan. FORT COLLINS, Colo. James Anderson jammed a pocketknife deep into the earth, a yellow string stretching from the handle to where it was tied to his flimsy green tent. "I think that'll hold," he said as a gust of wind rattled the fabric. "I hope it will. I think it will." All around him, dozens of men and women were similarly using makeshift stakes and rope to strengthen their tents. Others piled up their meager belongings to make windbreaks as a storm forecast to drop 10 inches of snow on the city darkened the sky. An estimated 553,000 people experience homelessness on any given night in the United States, a dangerous living situation that's being exacerbated by the coronavirus outbreak. Amid the pandemic, many have been pushed into shelters or encampments like this one on the playing fields of a city-owned recreation center. But advocates say real solutions are needed not temporary, makeshift housing and are warning federal leaders that the nation will remain only as healthy as its less fortunate residents. Public health officials and advocates for the homeless have for decades warned that people living on the streets are generally sicker and more vulnerable than most Americans. But the coronavirus outbreak has hammered that point home with deadly seriousness: At least 27 people experiencing homelessness have already died in New York City, the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, where nearly 14,000 died as of Tuesday, or nearly one third of the nation's death toll. The challenge will likely get worse, experts say, because more than 26 million Americans have lost their jobs in the wake of national closures. "We have a pandemic laid over an epidemic. We have a situation that's suddenly at the front of people's mind because they recognize that the health of their neighbor has immense impact on their own health," said Commissioner Kenneth Hodder, the Western District commander for the Salvation Army, the nation's largest non-government social services provider with 7,600 sites nationally. Story continues John Carlin sits with his dog Brando outside a shelter for people experiencing homelessness in Fort Collins, Colorado, during the coronavirus outbreak. Advocates for people experiencing homelessness said they are frustrated at the slow pace of response, with many accusing the federal government of being more interested in bailing out Wall Street than Main Street, especially since most services are provided at the local level and are heavily dependent on charity and sales taxes. To further complicate matters, homeless people may miss out on the federal stimulus checks and other benefits being offered if they have no fixed address at which to receive mail. Roughly 17 out of every 10,000 Americans experience homelessness, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, a nonpartisan organization based in Washington, D.C. Of those, about 33 percent are families with children. Federal guidelines for helping slow the spread of coronavirus call for people experiencing homelessness to either be sheltered in large "congregate" shelters, like recreation centers or auditoriums, or in encampments like the one in Fort Collins. Those measures are cheaper in the short term than providing proper housing. In Fort Collins, city officials and multiple nonprofit agencies have transformed a recreation center on the edge of the city's historic downtown into a shelter for up to 200 men and women. It's a place where they can get three free meals a day while health officials take their temperature and preside over handwashing stations and flush toilets. They're encouraged to sleep inside, although many still prefer their tents. James Anderson, 53, braces his tent against a coming snowstorm in Fort Collins, Colorado, while staying in an encampment at a shelter for people experiencing homelessness. "Rather than dispersing people into the shadows during a global pandemic, we have them here in front of us," said Holly LeMasurier, who helps manage the Fort Collins shelter. Anyone using the shelter, including those showing symptoms and awaiting test results, is free to come and go. Workers encourage clients to maintain social distancing and wear masks even when not inside. The goal is to slow the spread of the outbreak and help save lives. People experiencing homelessness generally lack access to adequate sanitary facilities such as sinks to wash their hands in, and often congregate in tight groups or on city buses while also moving around regularly. In New York City, aerial photos of mass burials of unclaimed bodies grabbed international headlines last week. The city normally has about 25 unclaimed bodies buried on Hart Island each week, but the coronavirus outbreak has accelerated that to two dozen a day. Authorities weren't immediately able to say how many of those bodies belonged to people experiencing homelessness but acknowledged that at least some of them likely were. But some people experiencing homelessness said they are worried that by rounding them up in one place, officials are putting them at risk to protect others, instead of prioritizing their personal safety. Some also said they were resentful about their loss of freedom given the many rules associated with shelters, including restrictions against pets, alcohol or drugs. Few people at the shelter or encampment expressed concern about coronavirus infections. Instead, they fretted about the quality of the food and heavy police presence. "When you're worried about where your next meal is coming from, or trying to figure out a way out of homelessness or struggling with addiction, you're not thinking a lot about the coronavirus," said Brad Meuli, president and CEO of the Denver Rescue Mission. Outside the shelter in Fort Collins, John Carlin said he worries pressure from the public will prompt city officials or police to start locking up people like him. Carlin, who sat huddled in a blanket with his dog, Brando, lost his housing earlier this year when the woman he was living with asked him to move out. "I keep joking that one day we're going to wake up with barbed wire fences around this place, but I'm only half joking," he said. Peigan Buchanan, 19, said it has been frustrating to watch how police have closely patrolled the encampment, instead of intervening only when there's a real problem. Buchanan lost her job as a cook at a restaurant only a few block away from the tent city. She recently observed officers confront an elderly man in possession of a large sheath knife. Officers confiscated the man's knife and ordered him to leave the encampment for violating rules against weapons, even though the knife was sheathed and he wasn't threatening anyone with it. At times, there were at least six officers at the encampment, along with two private security officers hired to patrol the shelter. Buchanan said the city's population of people experiencing homelessness have been effectively corralled into the encampment by threats that they'll be ticketed for illegally camping if they don't stay off the streets, perpetuating a cycle of poverty caused by fines and detention. A police officer explains why he's giving a ticket to a man who was camping outside a Fort Collins, Colorado, emergency shelter set up to aid people experiencing homelessness during the coronavirus outbreak. Police officers confiscated a large knife from the man, who said he needed it for self-protection with staying in the encampment set up on the playing field. Officers ordered the man to pack up his belongings and leave the encampment. "If you look like you're homeless, people assume you have the coronavirus or you're going to bite their head off," Buchanan said. "These are people. No matter how many fences they put up or how many cops there are, these are people." Advocates for the homeless say study after study shows that providing stable housing in the form of subsidized or free apartments is ultimately far cheaper than trying to address the myriad individual challenges faced by that community, from drug and alcohol abuse to repeated jailings, court appearances and emergency room visits. Those advocates are trying to persuade the federal government with mixed success to help pay for hotel rooms in cities from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and Chicago, arguing that keeping the homeless community safe and healthy will protect the rest of the country from potential reinfection. In New York City, authorities have been renting $200-a-night hotel rooms to isolate people who have no home but are showing signs of infection, and in the Seattle area, public health officials bought a motel for the same purpose. "This is the case study that housing IS health," said Dr. James Stewart, a medical doctor and public health expert helping oversee the Fort Collins shelter on behalf of the Health District of Northern Larimer County. "If we don't prevent the outbreaks in our community, we are all at risk." Nan Roman, president of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, say the pandemic could prove a tipping point for long-needed structural changes, where the United States starts to treat men and women experiencing homelessness with the care and empathy you'd expect from the world's richest nation. A man ordered to leave an encampment outside a temporary shelter for people experiencing homelessness in Fort Collins, Colorado, walks toward a wooded area to cache his belongings. "It's always a matter of political will. It's not that we can't afford to do it or we don't know how to do it. It's that we don't want to it. And this kind of situation shows us what happens when we don't put a floor of housing, food and health care beneath people," Roman said. "We are all connected. And to have so many people on the edge, living to paycheck, people barely afford to sustain themselves it's not a very good way to run the country. Because it just leaves us very vulnerable." Back at the Fort Collins shelter, Anderson snacked on a cup of soup provided by the nonprofit Food Not Bombs. Anderson has lived in the city for about 30 years, experiencing homelessness several times. He lost his most recent housing when the IHOP he worked at shut last summer and he used up all his savings. Like most Americans, he's ready for the restrictions on movement to be lifted so he can go back to the library and to Starbucks, to walk around freely and hang out with his friends. He prefers camping in wooded area to staying in the encampment, and itches at the thought of being surrounded by so many other people. "You kind of just want to get back to normal," he said. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus deaths grow in homeless community; advocates demand action Sometimes, all it takes is one small step or a kind deed to make this world a better place. Bollywood actors are setting high benchmarks by their generous deeds amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The relief-work is getting a generous contribution from Priyanka Chopra, who has once again proved that even though she is a globe-trotter, her heart is in the right place. Twitter Priyanka Chopra has now taken a step forward to provide 10,000 pairs of footwear to healthcare workers in India and in Los Angeles amid the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 22, Priyanka Chopra Jonas took to her Instagram to share her footwear donation for healthcare workers in India and Los Angeles. In an emotional note, she wrote: "Healthcare professionals around the world are working every day to ensure our safety and fighting for us on the frontlines. Their courage, commitment and sacrifices are saving innumerable lives in this global pandemic". She further added, "While we cannot even imagine whats it like to be in their shoes, over the past several weeks, @crocs has donated thousands of pairs to the heroes in these photos to ensure that they are not only comfortable in them but safer in them too. Because of this, Im so proud to partner with them to give 10,000 pairs to healthcare workers. Some at @cedarssinai in Los Angeles and 10,000 more to healthcare professionals in public/government hospitals across India". Bollywood actor and model Arjun Rampal, along with his family have extended a helping hand in providing PPE kits to the hospitals, doctors, and nurses to help them in the fight against coronavirus. Reuters He also urged people to donate 1 uniform for these corona warriors to keep them safe and healthy. Arjun Rampal The 47-year-old actor took to Instagram and shared a post in which he announced that the Rampal family has extended their support to MEDIQ LIFESCIENCES for providing PPE kits (made in India) in collaboration with Dr. Oarsman Doshi to the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) hospital doctors and nurses. The actor made an honest plea and urged others to contribute towards helping the frontline warriors. He captioned the post as, "I request all of you to help here. The real hero's out there, (the doctors and nurses), the PPE. their health is in jeopardy daily, looking after ours, As unfortunately they are not equipped with the armor they need, making them sick by the coronavirus. If each one of you can donate just 1 uniform for these brave hearts, it will keep your soldiers safe and healthy. Please please be generous, they need this and we will get it to them. It's Rs 1200 for the best suits for them." India's count of positive coronavirus cases reached 18,985 after 1,329 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Tuesday. Out of the total cases, 15,122 are active cases, 3,259 have been cured and discharged and one has migrated. AFP With 44 new deaths reported in the last 24 hours, the toll stands at 603. United has increased dedicated freight flights to 150 per week, with Cathay expecting to operate more than 250 cargo-only passenger flights in April, and Emirates currently operating flights to more than 50 destinations globally As demand for air freight capacity continues despite the current inflated rates on many lanes, driven by the rush to ship healthcare equipment, passenger airlines are expanding their cargo-only flight networks. United Cargo has increased its programme of cargo-only flights to 150 per week, using Boeing 777 and 787 aircraft from United's passenger fleet, noting that since the start of its charter flights on 19 March, the US airline has operated over 460 cargo-only flights and has moved over 7 million kgs of cargo solely on these flights. It said the numbers are increasing every day and are even higher if you consider our full cargo network. It added: We are now operating more than 150 cargo-only flights per week between six of our US hubs and 13 cities worldwide: CTU, HKG, PEK, PVG, SYD and TPE in the Asia Pacific; AMS, BRU, DUB, FRA and LHR in Europe; SJU in the Caribbean and TLV in the Middle East. We expect to add new cities soon and will continue to expand our cargo-only flights programme. Cathay Pacific, one of the first carriers to operate cargo-only passenger flights, said that in addition to adding more freighter flights it had operated a total of 257 pairs of cargo-only passenger flights in March and expects to operate a similar number of cargo-only passenger flights in April, including on some long-haul routes such as the Southwest Pacific where air cargo capacity is extremely tight. The company said the commodity mix carried had also changed with a surge in the transportation of medical supplies such as face masks, protective clothing, hand sanitiser and other pharmaceutical products. On the other hand, the volume of consumer goods such as garments and automobile parts declined. Emirates SkyCargo said it had rapidly scaled up its cargo services to connect an increasing number of global destinations, noting that the air cargo carrier was currently operating flights to 51 destinations globally, out of which 19 cities are served by the Emirates SkyCargo Boeing 777 freighter aircraft offering up to 100 tonnes of capacity per flight and 38 destinations are served by dedicated cargo flights on Emirates' Boeing 777 passenger aircraft offering up to 50 tonnes belly capacity. Nabil Sultan, Emirates divisional senior vice president for cargo, said: We have particularly ramped up operations for transporting cargo in the bellyhold of our passenger aircraft in the April, expanding its network on a daily basis and some of the latest destinations for our cargo flights on passenger aircraft include Bangkok, Casablanca, Johannesburg, Singapore and Taipei. During the week ending 4 April 2020, he said Emirates SkyCargo had operated more than 160 flights on its freighter aircraft and close to 90 flights on its passenger aircraft; but by the following week, the air cargo carrier had operated close to 160 flights on its passenger aircraft alone. Other major network airline groups including IAG Cargo, Lufthansa Cargo and Air France KLM Cargo have also been ramping up their cargo-only passenger flights, including KLM Cargo reviving its B747 combi aircraft to operate as semi-freighters. And Virgin Atlantic Cargo also announced yesterday it will resume scheduled services to China, operating three flights a week between Heathrow Airport and Shanghai, to help fill strong demand ex-Shanghai for healthcare shipments. Indeed, the cargo capacity on two of the three times weekly Boeing 787-9 flights from China will be used exclusively by the UK Department of Health and Social Care to increase deliveries of Personal Protective Equipment and medical supplies for front-line NHS healthcare staff. A statement signed by Kobi Hemaa Osisiadan-Bekoe, the Head of Corporate Communications, Ghana Post, said since Ghana recorded cases of the COVID-19, the Health Department of the Ghana Post had been working together with key Health Agencies to ensure the safety of customers. At Ghana Post, the wellbeing of our stakeholders during this critical time and beyond is of significant importance to us, therefore, we have initiated essential health and safety measures to safeguard our customers and our staff. Kindly bear with us, as some of these changes may not be in line with our regular business procedures, the statement, however, said. The Estates Department of Ghana Post, the statement said, had increased extensively the rate of cleaning its branches and all surfaces that customers might go into contact with, adding that, employees were adequately prepared and resourced to handle operations and any emergency that might set in in line with their operations. The statement said the digital innovations of the office was also available 24/7. We, therefore, encourage the general public to download the GhPostPay App from playstore or dial our USSD code *447*160# for available services. In addition, entrepreneurs can upload their goods and services on our e-commerce website www.postshop.com.gh at no cost. Shoppers are also encouraged to visit our e-commerce website to shop from our wide range of vendors. It advised the public to adhere to the Ghana Health Service COVID-19 safety measures by washing hands frequently with soap under running water or using alcohol based hand sanitizer, keeping distance of at least two meters from someone showing symptoms of infection and avoid touching eyes, nose or mouth with hands. It entreated customers to reach the office via customer call lines, 0302668138/0579579100 and WhatsApp line 0542527004 for further information or clarification. ---GNA Two pet cats in New York have tested positive for the coronavirus that causes the covid-19 disease in humans, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. The cats live in different parts of the state, and both showed symptoms of mild respiratory illness and are expected to recover, the agencies said in a statement. One cat is owned by a person who tested positive for covid-19 before the cat showed signs, but the other cat lives in a household where no members had confirmed cases of the virus. It is possible this cat was infected by a household member who was only mildly ill or asymptomatic, the statement said. The cats' test results came a little more than two weeks after another New York cat, a Malayan tiger at the Bronx Zoo, became the first confirmed coronavirus case in a U.S. animal. The animal numbers pale in comparison with the more than 800,000 cases and 45,000 deaths among humans in the country, and public health officials emphasize that there is no evidence that animals can pass the virus to humans. But the cases raise questions for pet owners and others who come in contact with animals. - - - What animals can be infected with the virus that causes covid-19? Outside the United States, a few pets have tested positive - two dogs and one cat in Hong Kong, and a cat in Belgium. The dogs showed no signs of illness, while the cat was sickened, according to news reports. Nadia, the Bronx Zoo tiger, had a dry cough. A preliminary study of blood samples from 102 stray, shelter and pet cats in Wuhan, China, where the pandemic began, found that about 15% tested positive for the virus. A laboratory experiment in which scientists introduced the virus to animals found that cats and ferrets were highly susceptible, dogs much less so, and pigs, chickens and ducks not at all. In that study, cats showed signs of illness. Some scientists are more concerned about the vulnerability of animals much more like humans: primates. Whether an animal can be infected depends on a receptor on some cells that the virus needs to be able to "unlock," scientists say, and some species have better fits. A study released this month, which has not been peer-reviewed, analyzed receptors in various species and found that the virus can "bind exceptionally well" to receptors in all apes and Asian and African monkeys, as well as one lemur, the sifaka, said Thomas Gillespie, a disease ecologist at Emory University. One such monkey, the rhesus macaque, also has been infected experimentally. In all of these cases, the animals were either infected by humans or were assumed to have been, scientists say. The lab animals were loaded up with levels of virus that would not reflect real-world transmission, indicating that the infections were spread from humans to animals. The tiger was probably infected by a zoo employee, officials have said; the pets got it from their owners. Can those animals spread it to each other - or to us? The CDC, the World Health Organization, the World Organization for Animal Health, and other public health bodies and experts agree on this: There's no evidence that animals transmit the virus to humans or have played a role in its spread. It might seem logical that if an animal can be infected with the coronavirus, it can pass it along. But scientists emphasize that there is a difference between infected and infectious. "The virus may be able to infect tissues or cells in a host, say, the respiratory tract, but they're not able to complete the life cycle in terms of transmitting to a new host," said Jonathan Runstadler, a virologist and professor at Tufts University's Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. "Those are commonly referred to as dead-end infections." Scott Weese, chief of infection control at the University of Guelph's Ontario Veterinary College, said he's "hopeful" that dogs are dead-end hosts because the virus doesn't appear to reproduce well in them. The jury is still out on cats, he said. In the lab study, cats were able to infect one another, and other research suggests ferrets might be able to catch it from one another. Other tigers and lions at the Bronx Zoo showed signs of illness, and although they weren't tested for the virus - a procedure that requires general anesthetic in a massive predator - officials assumed they also might have been infected. - - - Given close human relationships with cats, wouldn't they know if they were a source of infection to us? "Probably," said Karen Terio, a big-cat specialist and wildlife pathologist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's veterinary school, where the tiger's infection was confirmed. But, she noted, given the immense human toll, there has been little research on animal cases, and much remains to be "teased out." Idexx Laboratories, a veterinary diagnostic company, said this month that it had reviewed more than 5,000 samples from pet cats and dogs in 17 countries that were submitted by veterinarians for respiratory-related tests. It found zero cases of SARS-CoV-2, the technical name for the disease. "With what's gone on in New York, we'd be aware if there were lots of cats coming into veterinary hospitals or clinics with illness. That certainly doesn't seem to be the case," said Runstadler, whose lab has begun collecting samples from animals treated at Cummings for a research project on the new coronavirus in other species. The caveat, he said, is that the virus doesn't seem to greatly sicken cats and dogs, so more may be infected than we know about - just as is the case with asymptomatic humans. "The lack of evidence doesn't mean there's absence of risk. It just means we haven't been able to sort it out. We can just be more confident that people are the main drivers of this, and maybe there's a small animal component," Weese said. "Humans are a much greater risk to me than animals." - - - Can I take my dog for walks? If so, can I pet other people's dogs - or let people pet mine? Definitely walk the dog; he or she needs exercise, and you probably do, too. But abide by this rule, Weese says: Social distancing should be practiced at a household level, and pets are members of the household. That means they should be interacting only with members of your household. When walking, stay at least six feet away from other people and animals. That means no curious butt-sniffing or games of tag between dogs at the park, and no friendly pets from passersby. Cats should stay inside or supervised. "If I wouldn't go out and shake someone's hand, why would I let them pet my dog's head?" Weese said. "We don't know what the risk is, but it's an easy step." This also goes the other way: Don't pet other people's animals. If for some reason you do, wash your hands well afterward. - - - So does that mean my dog's fur could carry the virus? Should I be cleaning its paws and coat with antibacterial wipes? Researchers have found that the virus can survive for hours or days in air and, in laboratory settings, on some surfaces. Animal fur is not among the surfaces that have been tested. "It's a fun question," said Dylan Morris, a co-author of a prominent study that looked at various aerosols and surfaces, including cardboard and stainless steel, adding that he "wouldn't want to speculate which, if any, of our surfaces would be most comparable to fur." His "very, very uncertain conjecture," he added, is that "people would be probably more at risk from a sneezing owner than a contaminated pup." Again, that means refraining from allowing others to handle your pets. If, say, your dog is handled by a groomer - an essential service in some places - or your horse is touched by someone at a stable, make sure that person is not sick, Weese said. As for post-walk disinfecting? "The odds of there being viable virus on the ground where your dog steps and that being on its foot when it gets into the house are astronomically low," Weese said. - - - If I'm sick, how should I deal with my pet? If you've got covid-19 or might have it, you should stay away from your pet if possible, experts say - no snuggling, kissing, bed-sharing. Ask someone else to feed it and care for it. This reduces the risk of the animal contracting the virus. That said, people who have no one else to ask or who feel their pet's presence is very important for their own well-being can keep caring for it, Weese said. Based on what has been seen in animals so far, pets aren't likely to get terribly sick even if they are infected. "If you must care for your pet or be around animals while you are sick, wash your hands before and after you interact with pets and wear a cloth face covering," the CDC advises. - - - The tiger is not a pet. What does it mean that it got the virus? The scene at the Bronx Zoo is "not 'Tiger King,' " with keepers hugging big cats, said Terio, who is a veterinary adviser to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. What's more, she said, the cats "are not going on walkabouts in the city." In other words, Nadia the tiger was infected by a human at the zoo, and not one who was coming into close contact with her. How it happened is being studied, but possibilities include contamination of the tiger's food or bowls, Terio said. "It just shows that this virus is transmissible from people to animals, and it doesn't have to be close, prolonged, licking-your-face contact," Weese said. But big cats aren't just big house kitties when it comes to viruses, Terio said. Wild lions and tigers have been stricken, sometimes fatally, by canine distemper virus. In lab experiments, domestic cats weren't susceptible to it, she said. So the coronavirus might also be different in big cats, she said, for reasons that remain unclear. For that reason, zoo employees have stepped up precautions around them, as well as around other susceptible species, such as primates, Terio said. - - - Should I get my pet tested for the virus? Just because? No, and you probably won't be able to, anyway. If your pet is showing signs of illness, you should consult your veterinarian, but know that such testing isn't being done routinely. If the vet thinks your animal needs a test - because it was exposed to someone with covid-19, perhaps - the vet will need to consult state animal health officials. They might then consult federal officials. It's a process, and one not taken lightly. That's the case even though animal tests are performed at veterinary laboratories, about 20 of which are approved to do them, Terio said. The USDA said the tests on the two cats and any other animals do "not reduce the availability of tests for humans." Epidemiological research and surveillance is different. Runstadler's lab, for example, has samples from dogs, cats, potbellied pigs, a hedgehog, a hamster and "a couple horses," he said. He and colleagues plan to test those and others they collect to better answer the many questions about how the virus moves between species. "Even if transmission is occurring rarely from a human to a pet or even a human to an agricultural animal, we would like to be able to study some of those and understand from this natural infection what are the factors that might have made that more likely," he said. - - - But didn't this virus start in animal? Yes. The coronavirus is a zoonotic virus, which means it passes between other animals and humans. Infectious-diseases experts say it originated in another species, though not in its current form - it mutated along the way, and where it started and the path it took remain unknown. "The most likely reservoir" was a horseshoe bat, Gillespie said, because it carries a virus that is 96% identical to SARS-CoV-2. It probably went through an intermediate host, perhaps the endangered pangolin, though "there's nothing even close to a smoking gun," he said. "It's likely we'll never get there." - - - Could it hop from us to cause real problems in an animal population? Maybe, though the main public health concern at the moment is human-to-human transmission. "It originally came from bats, and maybe it went through another species, and now it's in us," Gillespie said. "It could go to other species that might also be able to harbor it." To thrive in another host, the virus would probably need to evolve, scientists say. But this possibility is why Gillespie and other primate experts are calling for extreme caution around wild monkey and ape populations. In Africa and Asia, many of the susceptible species share space with humans. "What we're advocating when people are entering sites where these wild primates are really at risk, is that they do wear clean clothing, disinfected footwear, and go not closer than 10 meters [about 30 feet] to those animals. If they need to sneeze, they should sneeze into their elbow or into clothing and not onto leaves nearby," he said. "We need to be really concerned about this as an impactor on endangered species." For better or worse, digital identity management services -- the process of identifying and authenticating users on networks to access services -- has become a ubiquitous part of interacting on the internet, all the more so in the recent weeks as we have been asked to carry out increasingly more of our lives online. Used correctly, they help ensure that it's really you logging into your online banking service; used badly, you feel like you can't innocently watch something silly on YouTube without being watched yourself. Altogether, they are a huge business: worth $16 billion today according to Gartner but growing at upwards of 30% and potentially as big as $30.5 billion by 2024, according to the latest forecasts. Now, a company called ForgeRock, which has built a platform that is used to help make sure that those accessing services really are who they say are, and help organizations account for how their services are getting used, is announcing a big round of funding to continue expanding its business amid a huge boost in demand. The company is today announcing that it has raised $93.5 million in funding, a Series E it will use to continue expanding its product and take it to its next step as a business, specifically investing in R&D, cloud services and its ForgeRock Identity Cloud, and general global business development. The round is being led by Riverwood Capital, and Accenture Ventures, as well as previous investors Accel, Meritech Capital, Foundation Capital and KKR Growth, also participated. Fran Rosch, the startup's CEO, said in an interview that this will likely be its final round of funding ahead of an IPO, although given the current static of affairs with a lot of M&A, there is no timing set for when that might happen. (Notably, the company had said its last round of funding -- $88 million in 2017 -- would be its final ahead of an IPO, although that was under a different CEO.) This Series E brings the total raised by the company to $230 million. Rosch confirmed it was raised as a material upround, although he declined to give a valuation. For some context, the company's last post-money valuation was $646.50 million per PitchBook, and so this round values the company at more than $730 million. Story continues ForgeRock has annual recurring revenues of more than $100 million, with annual revenues also at over $100 million, Rosch said. It operates in an industry heavy with competition, with some of the others vying for pole position in the various aspects of identity management including Okta, LastPass, Duo Serurity and Ping Identity. But within that list it has amassed some impressive traction. In total it has 1,100 enterprise customers, who in turn collectively manage 2 billion identities through ForgeRock's platform, with considerably more devices also authenticated and managed on top of that. Customers include the likes of the BBC -- which uses ForgeRock to authenticate and log not just 45 million users but also the devices they use to access its iPlayer on-demand video streaming service -- Comcast, a number of major banks, the European Union and several other government organizations. ForgeRock was originally founded in Norway about a decade ago, and while it now has its headquarters in San Francisco, it still has about half its employees and half its customers on the other side of the Atlantic. Currently ForgeRock provides services to businesses related to identity management including password and username creation, identity governance, directory services, privacy and consent gates, which they in turn provide both to their human customers as well as to devices accessing their services, but we're in a period of change right now when it comes to identity management. It stays away from direct-to-consumer password management services and Rosch said there are no plans to move into that area. These days, we've become more aware of privacy and data protection. Sometimes, it's been because of the wrong reasons, such as giant security breaches that have leaked some aspect of our personal information into a giant database, or because of a news story that has uncovered how our information has unwittingly been used in 'legit' commercial schemes, or other ways we never imagined it would. Those developments, combined with advances in technology, are very likely to lead us to a place over time where identity management will become significantly more shielded from misuse. These could include more ubiquitous use of federated identities, "lockers" that store our authentication credentials that can be used to log into services but remain separate from their control, and potentially even applications of blockchain technology. All of this means that while a company like ForgeRock will continue to provide its current services, it's also investing big in what it believes will be the next steps that we'll take as an industry, and society, when it comes to digital identity management -- something that has had a boost of late. "There are a lot of interesting things going on, and we are working closely behind the scenes to flesh them out," Rosch said. "For example, we're looking at how best to break up data links where we control identities to get access for a temporary period of time but then pull back. It's a powerful trend that is still about four to five years out. But we are preparing for this, a time when our platform can consume decentralised identity, on par with logins from Google or Facebook today. That is an interesting area." He notes that the current market, where there has been an overall surge for all online services as people are staying home to slow the speed of the coronavirus pandemic, has seen big boosts in specific verticals. Its largest financial services and banking customers have seen traffic up by 50%, and digital streaming has been up by 300% -- with customers like the BBC seeing spikes in usage at 5pm every day (at the time of the government COVID-19 briefing) that are as high as its most popular primetime shows or sporting events -- and use of government services has also been surging, in part because many services that hadn't been online are now developing online presences or seeing much more traffic from digital channels than before. Unsurprisingly, its customers in hotel and travel, as well as retail, have seen drops, he added. ForgeRocks comprehensive platform is very well-positioned to capitalize on the enormous opportunity in the Identity & Access Management market, said Jeff Parks, co-founder and managing partner of Riverwood Capital, in a statement. ForgeRock is the leader in solving a wide range of workforce and consumer identity use cases for the Global 2000 and is trusted by some of the largest companies to manage millions of user identities. We have seen the growth acceleration and are thrilled to partner with this leadership team. Parks is joining the board with this round. Coronation Street actor Andy Whyment has contradicted veteran star Bill Roache's assurance that the soap will never vanish from the air. The COVID-19 pandemic has halted production, and Andy, 39, estimates there are enough episodes in the can to be broadcast up until mid-summer. He has predicted that when they run out, if lockdown continues in the UK, ITV will have to pull the plug on the soap for the first time in its 60 years on the air. Will it/won't it? Coronation Street actor Andy Whyment has contradicted veteran star Bill Roache's assurance that the soap will never vanish from the air but saying the soap is soon to run out of episodes Andy plays Kirk Sutherland in the soap, and told The Sun: 'We worked up until the Friday when Boris [Johnson] closed all the pubs and clubs. We had a schedule to work until the following Thursday then on the Sunday we got an email saying they were standing everyone down. 'It was the right thing to do. Weve got until July in the can, so we need to get back mid-June otherwise its going to go off air.' This flies in the face of Bill's claims that Coronation Street will never go off air - partly because ITV have already cut the number of episodes that are aired per week at the moment. Speaking to Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain alongside his daughter Verity on Monday, the 87-year-old soap stalwart said: 'I gather we have quite a while. It was going out six times a week and now rationed to three. 'I think we had about two months [already filmed]. So I think about four months of new stuff.' Contradiction: This flies in the face of Bill's claims that Coronation Street will never go off air - partly because ITV have already cut the number of episodes that are aired per week at the moment Hope: Bill told GMB on Monday show will NEVER go off air even though ITV will run out of new episodes in FOUR MONTHS No worries: Bill, who plays Ken Barlow in the soap said the channel would revisit old episodes rather than let the show come off air entirely (programme still) Addressing fears that the show could come off the air if the cast and crew are unable to film more scenes, Bill said that classic episodes could be revisited. Speaking from his home in Wilmslow, he said: 'Weve got 60 years to draw on so I dont think well be going of air even when they run out. 'Plenty they could be showing and doing. I think probably three more months.' Iconic: Bill has appeared in the show since it began 60 years ago - pictured in 1983 Oh no: Bill appeared on the show alongside his daughter Verity and said he will celebrate his 88th birthday in lockdown on Saturday He said of the show: 'Weve got 60 years to draw on so I dont think well be going of air even 'when they run out. Bill has played street favourite Ken Barlow since the show began 60 years ago and will celebrate his 88th birthday in lockdown on Saturday. His words come after his co-star Beverley Callard claimed that soap bosses are 'panicking' about running out of episodes during quarantine. The ITV soap halted production last month just hours before Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the country in lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic. And the actress, 63, who plays Liz McDonald, says the soap's producers and writers are fearful that their reserved set of episodes could be used up before restrictions are lifted. 'Panic': His Corrie co-star Beverley Callard has revealed that soap bosses are 'panicking' about running out of episodes during COVID-19 lockdown Beverley and her co-star Jennie McAlpine who pays Fiz Brown opened up about the problem during an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live. Jennie, 36, said on the programme: 'I keep putting it on at half eight, but then I think, "Oh no, Corrie's not on". 'Theyve limited our Corrie output now, so theres only three on instead of six.' She added: 'I know people might be missing those three episodes but at least it means we've got a bit more time. 'I know our bosses are working really hard every day assessing the situation.' Beverley then gave her own opinion, chiming in: 'And theyre panicking like mad aren't they? But, of course, you can't not.' Suspended: The ITV soap halted production last month hours before Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the country in lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic Episode drama: Beverley and her co-star Jennie McAlpine who pays Fiz Brown opened up about the problem during an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live Thoughts: 'I know people might be missing those three episodes but at least it means we've got a bit more time. 'I know our bosses are working really hard every day assessing the situation' She continued: 'Even if it does come to an end and we run out of episodes, the writers will be going mad, they'll be excited to create new storylines and everything. 'Because we've got a massive team of writers, so theyll keep it going.' MailOnline have contacted representatives of Coronation Street for comment. Amid the suspension of filming, Coronation Street, as well as Emmerdale, have been cut down to just three episodes a week, airing just one episode on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Worried: Beverley then gave her own opinion, chiming in: 'And theyre panicking like mad aren't they? But, of course, you can't not' Filming for Coronation Street was halted last month just hours before the government placed the UK in lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, with an end date to restrictions yet to be confirmed. It comes after their fellow Corrie star Andy Whyment warned the soap could go 'off air' unless filming recommences by June. The actor, who plays Kirk Sutherland, admitted the soap potentially has until the beginning of July until they run out of episodes to broadcast. Off air? It comes after their fellow Corrie star Andy Whyment warned the soap could go 'off air' unless filming recommences by June Speaking on the United Podcast, the actor said: 'I think we've got until the beginning of July in the can. 'So we need to get back hopefully by the middle of June with a bit of luck, otherwise it's going to go off air. 'We've cut down from six episodes a week to three episodes a week, obviously to stay, but hopefully we'll get back.' No more scenes? The actor, who plays Kirk Sutherland, has admitted the soap potentially has until the beginning of July until they run out of episodes to broadcast He continued: 'A lot of the airlines have announced they're going to start flying again mid-June, so I'm presuming if that's going to happen then hopefully we should be able to get back to work with a bit of luck, so fingers crossed.' A Coronation Street representative told MailOnline: 'We have always stated that with the new scheduling pattern we have enough episodes to keep the show on air into the summer. It is too early speculate beyond that.' Coronation Street continues Monday at 7:30pm on ITV. A coronavirus outbreak on one of Taiwans navy ships has raised concerns that a re-infection could threaten one of the worlds success stories in the fight against the pandemic. Twenty-eight sailors on a navy supply ship were confirmed to have the virus shortly after it returned from a visit to Palau earlier this month. Taiwans defense minister apologized Tuesday night and said he was willing to resign if requested to do so by the islands president Tsai Ing-wen. Tsai apologized at a briefing Wednesday, saying Taiwan is investigating the outbreak on the navy ship, and that the president should take responsibility. She said the navy ship was on an annual routine drill and special mission, which she didnt specify, and only visited Palau. The apologies come amid growing concern the military mishandled the outbreak after 744 personnel from three ships that visited the Pacific island nation were allowed to disembark after arriving back in Taiwan on April 9. Health officials first reported infections from the ship last week. The incident could blemish what has otherwise been a success story in containing the virus, which has infected more than 2.5 million people worldwide. Taiwan has managed to keep its outbreak largely under control, with businesses and schools remaining open and the number of confirmed infections totaling just 426. The democratically run island had reported no new infections for three days last week, raising hopes it was close to overcoming the worst of the virus. Biggest Cluster This is the biggest cluster infection in Taiwan so far, Chan Chang-chuan, dean of the College of Public Health at National Taiwan University, said Wednesday. Its regrettable that Taiwan paid little attention to this part while it has done extraordinarily well in other areas. Chan said Taiwans prowess at locating suspected cases quickly using mobile phones and other technology pointed to it being able to limit the spread in the broader community. Still, its concerning that it could trigger a second wave on infections in Taiwan, he said. So we urge the government to test as many suspected cases as possible. Health officials confirmed a 28th infection from the naval vessel Wednesday, a student who had previously tested negative for the virus. The Taiwan navy cluster comes as the U.S. Pacific Fleet, which operates in the region, has been under intense scrutiny over its handling of the coronavirus. Brett Crozier, captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, was dismissed for writing a memo warning the service about the potentially dire situation aboard the carrier. As it battled the pandemic, Taiwan was also forced to scramble its navy to monitor the movements of Chinas Liaoning aircraft carrier group, which conducted exercises around the island earlier this month. Beijing considers the island part of its territory, a claim Taiwans government rejects. Taiwan Hopes Nimbler Weapons Can Stave Off an Invasion by China Grant Newsham, a retired U.S. marine officer and senior research fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies, warned that Taiwans leadership shouldnt overreact to the outbreak. When youve got the Peoples Liberation Army intimidating you -- and threatening even more than normal, its important to show youre ready and able to fight. Perceptions matter, he said. Given the problems facing the U.S. Navy in the region -- arguably as a result of overreacting to the virus -- its especially important that the Peoples Republic of China doesnt think the timing is right to make a move. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-23 02:19:12|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close AMMAN, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Jordan on Wednesday said it might resume a curfew in the southern governorates as some violations of public health and safety instructions were reported a few days after the authorities eased curfew restrictions in these governorates. Jordan's Minister of State for Media Affairs Amjad Adaileh said in a statement that the authorities will monitor the situation in the southern governorates as there have been some violations in some areas. "If there is no adherence to the public health and safety instructions, we will resume the curfew," he added. The minister said that Jordan also decided to ease some curfew restrictions and that residents will be able to use their cars inside the Irbid governorate, some 70 kilometers to the north of Amman. On Wednesday, seven cases of coronavirus were reported in Jordan, said Health Minister Saad Jaber. The total number of cases rose to 435, he said. The minister added that there are only 113 patients at hospitals receiving treatment at present. Enditem HONOLULU, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (HEI) (NYSE - HE) will announce its first quarter 2020 financial results on Tuesday, May 5, 2020. In addition, American Savings Bank, F.S.B. (American), a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of HEI, will announce its first quarter 2020 financial results on Thursday, April 30, 2020. HEI also announced that it will conduct a webcast and teleconference call to discuss first quarter 2020 consolidated earnings, 2020 earnings guidance and outlook, and regulatory and other matters on Tuesday, May 5, 2020, at 7:30 a.m. Hawaii time (1:30 p.m. Eastern time). Parties within the United States may listen to the conference by calling (844) 834-0652. International parties may listen to the conference by calling (412) 317-5198. Parties may also access any presentation materials for the conference and/or listen to the conference by accessing the webcast on HEI's website at www.hei.com under "Investor Relations," sub-heading "News and Events Events and Presentations." HEI and Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. (Hawaiian Electric) intend to continue to use HEI's website, www.hei.com , as a means of disclosing additional information; such disclosures will be included in the Investor Relations section of the website. Accordingly, investors should routinely monitor the Investor Relations section of HEI's website, in addition to following HEI's, Hawaiian Electric's and American's press releases, HEI's and Hawaiian Electric's SEC filings and HEI's public conference calls and webcasts. Investors may also sign up to receive e-mail alerts (based on each investor's selected preferences) by visiting the "Investor Relations" section of the website, sub-heading "Contact Us Email Notification." The information on HEI's website is not incorporated by reference into this document or into HEI's and Hawaiian Electric's SEC filings unless, and except to the extent, specifically incorporated by reference. Investors may also wish to refer to the Public Utilities Commission of the State of Hawaii (PUC) website at dms.puc.hawaii.gov/dms in order to review documents filed with, and issued by, the PUC. No information on the PUC website is incorporated by reference into this document or into HEI's and Hawaiian Electric's SEC filings. An on-line replay of the May 5, 2020 webcast will be available on HEI's website beginning about two hours after the event. Audio replays of the teleconference will be available through May 19, 2020, by dialing (877) 344-7529 or (412) 317-0088 and entering passcode: 10142250. HEI supplies power to approximately 95% of Hawaii's population through its electric utility, Hawaiian Electric; provides a wide array of banking and other financial services to consumers and businesses through American, one of Hawaii's largest financial institutions; and helps advance Hawaii's clean energy and sustainability goals through investments by its non-regulated subsidiary, Pacific Current, LLC. Contact: Julie R. Smolinski Telephone: (808) 543-7300 Director, Investor Relations & Strategic Planning E-mail: [email protected] SOURCE Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. Related Links http://www.hei.com Vacuuming both sides of your mattress, washing bed linen at 60 degrees Celsius and dusting walls with a damp cloth once a week will keep the air in your home pure and clean amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a senior microbiologist. Gem McLuckie is an advanced research scientist at Dyson, the iconic technology company which makes household appliances like vacuum cleaners, hand dryers, hairdryers and air purifiers. Ms McLuckie created a weekly household cleaning plan which specifically improves air purity by reducing dust, fungus and dead skin particles known to trigger and exacerbate many respiratory conditions. COVID-19 is part of a large family of coronaviruses that cause respiratory infections, and given we are spending more time at home now than ever, it's important to up your cleaning regime to reduce your chances of picking up the nasty bug. Scroll down for video Experts say vacuuming both sides of your mattress to remove dust, allergens and dead skin flakes will keep the air in your home pure and clean amid the pandemic (stock image) MONDAY Bed linen should be stripped and machine washed at 60C on Mondays to remove dust, allergens and any other germs which have accumulated in the week past. Sydney virologist Sacha Stelzer-Braid previously told Daily Mail Australia that washing or tumble drying at temperatures above 56C kills all traces of COVID-19 on clothes, cushions and Doonas. 56 degrees Celsius is the temperature at which the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) specifically breaks down, according to a recent study by the US National Library of Medicine. Dr Stelzer-Braid, who studies the transmission of infectious diseases at the University of New South Wales, said cleaning laundry on a regular cycle will cause the virus to disintegrate and die, which means you're unlikely to catch coronavirus from soft fabrics if you simply wash loads as normal. While linen is laundered, both sides of the mattress should be vacuumed to remove dust mites, fungus and dead skin particles which can aggravate respiratory conditions like asthma and cause infections like bronchitis when they are inhaled night after night. A Dyson-approved cleaning plan Dyson microbiologist Gem McLuckie created a weekly cleaning plan MONDAY Wash bedding on a 60C or 90C wash to help to break down and reduce allergens. Wash or replace duvets and pillows to reduce the amount of dust mites and skin flakes present in your bed. Vacuum both sides of your mattress to remove dust mites and skin flakes. TUESDAY Remove dust from kitchen cupboard tops, using either a vacuum with an advanced filtration system or by dusting with a clean damp cloth or cleaning wipes. Clear kitchen counters and cupboards to deep clean. Vacuum to remove dust and debris, then wash with warm water and detergent. Follow up by drying all surfaces. Empty the fridge and freezer, and clean all surfaces with warm water and detergent or cleaning product. Vacuum round the back and under the fridge and freezer, without forgetting the cooler element on the back as this will improve performance. WEDNESDAY Vacuum the places not regularly vacuumed, such as under furniture. Vacuum your sofa and armchairs, which can harbour large debris along with dust mites, skin flakes and other allergens such as pollen. Wash any coverings and cushions to reduce the level of dust caught within them. THURSDAY A lot of dust can gather in curtains and blinds. Make sure you vacuum them with a soft brush tool or launder them if possible and practical. Remove dust from walls by dusting with a damp cloth, cleaning wipes or using a vacuum with advanced filtration. Dust on certain wall types can contribute towards the growth of mould. FRIDAY Dust lights and light fittings. Dust can gather in lampshades and light fittings which can burn on hot bulbs producing VOCs and odour, and be moved around the room by the production of warm air around the bulbs. Dust behind radiators a hidden place often missed during normal cleaning. Significant dust collects behind the radiator and this can be distributed around the room by the air flow produced by the warm air from the radiator. Source: Dyson Australia Advertisement TUESDAY Kitchen counter tops and cupboards should be dusted and 'deep' cleaned on Tuesdays to remove any viruses or bacteria which has been transferred from food, packaging or the air. What does a microbiologist do? Microbiologists are scientists who study the microscopic organisms that cause infections, including viruses, bacteria, fungi and algae. Advertisement Cupboard tops and the inside of presses should be vacuumed to remove loose debris and then wiped down with soap and warm water. Surfaces should be thoroughly dried to prevent mould from developing. Mould can grow on any material when moisture is present. Fridges and freezers should be emptied and carefully cleaned with soap and warm water or cleaning spray, taking care to focus on common 'touchpoints' like door handles and the plastic vegetable drawer at the bottom of the fridge. COVID-19 has been shown to survive on hard surfaces like glass, plastic and stainless steel for up to 72 hours. Hard, shiny materials are non-porous which means water, air and vapour cannot pass through, and instead rest and accumulate on the surface. How soap destroys SARS-CoV-2 Most viruses consist of three key building blocks: ribonucleic acid (RNA), proteins and lipids. The fat-like substances in soap 'loosens' the connections between these three building blocks, breaking them down and 'killing' the virus - or rendering it inactive. Just washing with water isn't strong enough to loosen the connections, which is why soap is such a useful protector. Advertisement WEDNESDAY Hard to reach spaces under sofas and behind fridges, where large volumes of germs and debris accumulate, should be vacuumed on Wednesdays. It's also good practice to vacuum armchairs and sofas to remove dust mites and dead skin cells which may have nestled into upholstery. Soft furnishings like cushion covers and throws should be washed above 56 degrees Celsius to kill all traces of viruses and bacteria. World Economic Forum researchers have found coronavirus can live for up to 24 hours on soft, porous fabrics. Hard to reach spaces under sofas and behind fridges where large volumes of germs and debris accumulate should be vacuumed once a week (stock image) THURSDAY Curtains and blinds should be brushed down or vacuumed on Thursdays to remove dust and any airborne germs which have settled there. Walls should be dusted with a damp cloth or antibacterial cleaning wipes to remove particles that encourage the growth of mould, which - as previously discussed - causes and exacerbates respiratory infections. Walls can also be vacuumed with any device which has an advanced filtration system, like the new Dyson V11 Outsize. The vacuum has a built-in digital motor which drives stiff, nylon bristles deep into carpet to remove ingrained dirt, and carbon fibre filaments that capture and collect fine dust that other machines miss on hard surfaces like walls and wooden floors. Walls should be dusted with a damp cloth or antibacterial cleaning wipes to remove dust particles that encourage the growth of mould, which causes and exacerbates respiratory infections (stock image) FRIDAY Lights, lampshades and radiators should be thoroughly dusted on Fridays to improve the purity of the air circulating around the house. Large quantities of dust which collect behind radiators and atop light fixtures are carried around the house by the warm air generated by electricity. The backs of televisions, which are often missed during standard cleaning, should also be cleaned and dusted. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 22, 2020 / Scorpio Gold Corporation ("Scorpio Gold" or the "Company") (SGN.V) is pleased to provide its 2020 production cashflow guidance and outlook at its 100% owned Mineral Ridge operation, located in Nevada. Cash Flow The Mineral Ridge operation continues to generate cash flow from residual gold production from the existing heap leach pads with a forecasted revenue for 2020 estimated at US$4.5-$5.0M. Scorpio Gold initiated cash conservation measures in response to COVID-19 on April 1, 2020, including voluntary wage reductions for US employees, corporate executives and board members. The total annual reduction in costs will be approximately C$1.6M and will remain in place until the Company is financed. Further cash conservation measures will be employed wherever discretionary funding can be eliminated or postponed. Financing & 2018 Updated Feasibility Study Scorpio Gold is pursuing US$35M financing for the construction of a new carbon-in-leach (CIL) processing facility at Mineral Ridge to capture the value in the gold reserves contained in the heap leach pad and unmined portions of the property. Based on the 2018 updated feasibility study ("2018 FS"; January 4, 2018 news release), the 4,000 tons/day facility will provide Scorpio Gold the ability to recover ~250,000 oz of gold over an expected mine life of 7.5 years. Economic parameters of the 2018 FS are presented in Table 2 and a technical report to support the study was filed on SEDAR on January 9, 2018. Leverage to Gold Price The 2018 FS used a gold price of US$1,250 per oz, which at the time approximated the 3-year moving average of the spot price. A sensitivity analysis reported in the 2018 FS indicates that gold price has a substantial impact on mineral reserves, NPV, IRR and other economic parameters, both positively with an increase in gold price and negatively with a decrease. Gold prices began a significant climb over $1,300 per oz in mid 2019 reaching spot prices around $1,500 per oz by August 2019. Global economic uncertainty as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has recently driven gold prices to near 8-year highs exceeding US$1,740 per oz. Although considerable price volatility is expected to continue, consensus from many market analysts is that gold demand will increase in response to global financial insecurity and weakening of global economic growth. Story continues Further to the 2018 FS sensitivity analysis, Scorpio Gold commissioned an independent mining consulting firm in late 2019 to prepare an updated mine plan and reserve and resource estimate using a gold price of US$1,500 per oz. All other elements of the updated plan remained consistent with the 2018 FS, which remains the current technical report for the Mineral Ridge project. Using updated pit designs and pit optimizations at $1,500 per oz gold, the November 2019 study reported a 28% increase in contained ounces within the proven and probable reserves for the combined open pits as follows: Table 1. Updated Mineral Reserve Estimate Based on $1,500/oz Gold Price - November 16, 2019 Combined Pit Areas Mineral Reserve Tons ('000) Gold (opt) Contained Gold ('000 oz) % Change from 2017 Reserve Estimate tons grade oz Proven 3,452 0.043 147.0 28% -10% 21% Probable 2,200 0.032 69.7 44% -2% 42% Proven & Probable 5,652 0.038 216.7 34% -10% 28% The study accommodated increased operating and capital costs due to the larger volumes associated with the updated ore and waste volumes. The study also accounted for the decline in contained ounces on the heap leach pad due to actual leach production from 2017 to 2019. A comparison of the economic parameters for the 2018 FS and the November 2019 study are as follows: Table 2. Economic Parameters - 2018 FS Compared with November 2019 Update Jan 2018 FS Nov 2019 Update % Change Units Gold Price $1,250 $1,500 20% US$ Construction Period 1 1.5 50% years Operating Period 7.5 8.5 13% years Leach Pad Material Milled 6,855 6,855 0% kiloton Average Leach Pad Gold Grade 0.0171 0.0150 -12% oz/ton ROM Material Milled 3,712 5,632 52% kilotons ROM Material Gold Grade 0.042 0.038 -10% oz/ton Contained Gold 273.5 322.5 18% koz Life of Project Gold Sold 250.5 296 18% koz Total Cash Cost $778 $824 6% /oz Initial Capital Expenditures $34.9 $34.9 0% million Open-Pit Capital Expenditures (Ops Yr 6) $32.6 $51.8 59% million Total After-tax Net Cash Flow $64.0 $118.4 85% million NPV of Net Cash Flow Discounted at 5% $40.9 $77.4 89% million IRR 31.2 45.5 46% % Payback from End of Construction 2.8 2.3 -18% years Importantly, at the time of the November 2019 study, the 3-year moving average price of gold was US$1,283 per oz and the spot price was trading at $1,450- $1,500 per oz. The 3-year moving average as of Apr 20, 2020 is $1,344 per oz gold and the spot price is currently trading around $1,700 per oz. Actual realized prices during the life of the mine will be based on the market either through spot sales or forward contracts. As such, the mineral reserve estimate and economic parameters presented in the November 2019 study reflect the potential economics should gold be trading at or higher than $1,500 per oz throughout the life of mine. There is no guarantee this will be the case. The Mineral Ridge property remains highly prospective with exploration to date focused on a limited portion of the overall 5,617-hectare property. Potential exists to increase mineral resources by further exploration within and outside the current area of operations. Permitting Construction of the new processing facility at Mineral Ridge and recommencement of mining operations is fully permitted. About Scorpio Gold Scorpio Gold holds a 100% interest in the Mineral Ridge gold mining operation located in Esmeralda County, Nevada. Mineral Ridge is a conventional open pit mining and heap leach operation. Mining at Mineral Ridge was suspended in November 2017; however, the Company continues to generate limited revenues from residual but diminishing recoveries from the leach pads. Scorpio Gold also holds a 100% interest in the advanced exploration-stage Goldwedge property in Manhattan, Nevada with a fully permitted underground mine and 400 ton per day mill facility. The Company recently signed a toll-milling agreement with Lode-Star Mining Inc. for processing of its ore at the Goldwedge facility. Scorpio Gold's Chairman, Peter J. Hawley, P.Geo., is a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the content of this release. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD SCORPIO GOLD CORPORATION Brian Lock, Chief Executive Officer For further information contact: Brian Lock, CEO Tel: (604) 889-2543 Email: block@scorpiogold.com Chris Zerga, President Tel: (604) 536-2711 Email: czerga@scorpiogold.com Website: www.scorpiogold.com Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The Company relies on litigation protection for "forward-looking" statements. This news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on the Company's current expectations and estimates. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan," "expect," "project," "intend," "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "suggest," "indicate" and other similar words or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur, and include, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's plans to seek and obtain sufficient financing to improve its financial position and to construct a new processing facility at Mineral Ridge, plans to re-commence mining operations and to plans with respect to the development and exploitation of its Mineral Ridge mine, including any forecasts regarding future production or costs related thereto. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from estimated or anticipated events or results implied or expressed in such forward-looking statements, including risks relating to operation of a gold mine, including the availability of cash flows or financing to meet the Company's ongoing financial obligations; unanticipated changes in the mineral content of materials being mined; unanticipated changes in recovery rates; changes in project parameters; failure of equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; the failure of contracted parties to perform; availability of skilled labour and the impact of labour disputes; obtaining the required permits to expand and extend mining activities; delays in obtaining governmental approvals; changes in metals prices; unanticipated changes in key management personnel; changes in general economic conditions; other risks of the mining industry and those risk factors outlined in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis as filed on SEDAR. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty thereof. SOURCE: Scorpio Gold Corporation View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/586156/Scorpio-Gold-Provides-Outlook-at-its-Mineral-Ridge-Operation-Nevada San Antonio police said they have few leads in a Southwest Side shooting that left one person dead Tuesday. Officers responded to the 300 block of Aldama Street for reports of shots fired just after 10 p.m. When they arrived, police said they found a 49-year-old man laying on the sidewalk in front of a residence with multiple gunshot wounds. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 20:54:46|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close - The ExxonMobil Huizhou Project is the first large-scale wholly-owned petrochemical project of a U.S. company in China. - The project, with a total investment of about 10 billion U.S. dollars, will build a 1.6 million tonne-per-year ethylene cracker. - Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng in Beijing attended the online commencement of enabling projects for ExxonMobil Huizhou Project. - ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Darren Woods in Dallas said via video link that the project reflects China's growing commitment to foreign direct investment and fostering innovation. by Xinhua writers Cao Bin, Ding Le and Zhou Ziyang GUANGZHOU, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Multinational oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil Wednesday broke ground on its solely-funded chemical complex in Huizhou, southern China's Guangdong Province, a sign of China's rebounding economy as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic subdues. A special "cloud ceremony" was held online with video connections linking the Huizhou Dayawan Petrochemical Industrial Park, the Great Hall of the People in Beijing and Dallas of the United States. Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng in Beijing attended the online commencement of enabling projects for ExxonMobil Huizhou project. Around 11 a.m., Han, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, announced the start of construction work for the project. Undated file photo shows the Huizhou Dayawan Petrochemical Industrial Park in south China's Guangdong Province. Multinational oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil Wednesday broke ground on its solely-funded chemical complex in Huizhou. (Huizhou Information Office/Handout via Xinhua) The complex, with a total investment of about 10 billion U.S. dollars, will be built in two phases. The first phase with a 1.6 million tonne-per-year ethylene cracker and down-stream production equipment is scheduled to be completed by 2023 when construction on the second phase will begin. An annual operating income of 39 billion yuan (5.5 billion U.S. dollars) and 7.3 billion yuan of taxes will be expected when the first phase reaches designed capacity. ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Darren Woods in Dallas said via video link that the project reflects China's growing commitment to foreign direct investment and fostering innovation. Infrastructure and public facilities built at the national, regional and local levels provide critical support while the new laws and regulations further improve China's economic competitiveness, he added. "All of this creates an environment that enables ExxonMobil to continue our strategic long-term investments," the chairman said. Photo taken on April 22, 2020 shows vehicles and excavators at the construction site of ExxonMobil's chemical complex at the Huizhou Dayawan Petrochemical Industrial Park in south China's Guangdong Province. Multinational oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil Wednesday broke ground on its solely-funded chemical complex in Huizhou. (Xinhua/Zhou Ziyang) China is a long-term strategic development platform of ExxonMobil, and the groundbreaking is a milestone in the implementation of the megaproject, said Fernando Vallina, chairman of ExxonMobil (China) Investment Co., Ltd. Ma Xingrui, governor of Guangdong, said local governments have effectively overcome difficulties brought by the epidemic to complete preparatory works including project approval and sea reclamation. It took only about 18 months for such a mammoth project to kick off, which demonstrated high efficiency on the part of China, Ma said at the ceremony. The provincial government said it will do whatever it can to make sure the chemical complex goes into operation by 2023. Undated file photo shows the night view of the Huizhou Dayawan Petrochemical Industrial Park in south China's Guangdong Province. Multinational oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil Wednesday broke ground on its solely-funded chemical complex in Huizhou. (Huizhou Information Office/Handout via Xinhua) POST-EPIDEMIC OPPORTUNITY As the COVID-19 epidemic wanes in China, the resumption of work and production has been accelerated. The operation of foreign-owned companies in China also began to gain momentum as foreign investors' confidence rose and a batch of projects landed. The coastal city of Huizhou neighbors Shenzhen, China's innovation hub and Dongguan, known as "the world's factory". Inside the city's Dayawan Petrochemical Industrial Park are clustered petrochemical giants such as Shell, BASF, Clariant, Mitsubishi and LG. In the meantime, ExxonMobil's footprint is also expanding in the world's largest petrochemical market. Over the past half-century, its business in China has stretched to various fields of the energy industry, with production bases built in Fujian, Tianjin and Jiangsu, and a major technology center in Shanghai. The first phase of the Huizhou project with an initial investment of 34.3 billion yuan involves an ethylene unit and middle and downstream polyethylene and polypropylene plants. A variety of chemical products to be produced are widely used in industries and daily life. Local suppliers and workers will be employed at the preparatory and construction stages, which is also an important contribution to China's development, according to Fernando Vallina. Photo taken on April 22, 2020 shows vehicles at the construction site of ExxonMobil's chemical complex at the Huizhou Dayawan Petrochemical Industrial Park in south China's Guangdong Province. Multinational oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil Wednesday broke ground on its solely-funded chemical complex in Huizhou. (Xinhua/Zhou Ziyang) Construction on the central control office building and enabling facilities has begun this month, and is expected to be completed by September. The concept of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation is and will be observed throughout the whole process, said Lin Nianxiu, deputy head with the National Development and Reform Commission. The ExxonMobil complex is the first major solely funded chemical project of a U.S. company in China, which demonstrates a firm step forward for the opening-up of China's petrochemical industry, Lin said. "It is not only conducive to promoting the upgrading of China's petrochemical industry and boosting regional economic development, but also good for ExxonMobil to share China's development opportunities," Lin said. "With the unprecedented loss of global demand, we have significantly reduced our spending, investments and operating costs to preserve cash and value... [But] our long-term plans and outlook for growth remain unchanged," said Darren Woods. "Populations and energy demand will grow and the economy will rebound. Despite the shock from the pandemic, we believe China in the Asia Pacific region will lead this growth, which is the foundation for continued investments in your country," he said. According to Chen Yuehua, deputy head of the provincial commerce department, Guangdong saw 45 projects with over 100 million dollars of foreign investment each last year. Despite the pandemic, the department has pooled resources and helped about 50 multinationals restore operations and production. A March survey released by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in South China showed strong willingness to reinvest in China for the next three years, and nearly 70 percent of the respondents said they will continue to invest in China this year. Panasonic Industrial Devices Materials (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd. has planned to invest another 550 million yuan for factory expansion. Ichiki Tsutomu, general manager of the company, said the new factory will be used for 5G equipment manufacturing, and the production capacity will be improved by 50 percent in two years. (Video reporters: Ding Le, Zhou Ziyang, Huang Chuliang, Huang Zhensheng, Zhao Pengzhen, Xu Bin and Luo Guoqiang; video editor: Jia Xiaotong) A juvenile has been arrested in connection with the February shooting death of an 18-year-old in an Ensley neighborhood. The deadly shooting happened Feb. 6 in the 2300 block of 27th Street in Ensley. When police arrived on the scene, they found 18-year-old Aaron Romel Johnson dead. Police said the victim and another person were standing outside when a third male emerged from in between two homes and approached them. Some kind of argument took place, and then the suspect fired shots before fleeing the area. Detectives presented the evidence they developed in the case to the Jefferson County District Attorneys Office which issued a murder warrant against the juvenile. Because of his age, authorities arent identifying him. The suspect is in the custody of Family Court. Bahrain Islamic Bank (BisB) recently announced the launch of its latest service, Tejoori Instant Finance, which allows customers to obtain instant finance in less than 5 minutes against a pledge from their Tejoori account. Chief Retail Banking of BisB, Dalal Al Qais said: BisB continues to launch innovative digital services with an aim to simplify customers money matters, in order to provide them with a seamless digital banking experience. We are delighted to launch this new service which will enable any Tejoori account holder to take an instant finance against a pledge from their Tejoori account without profits and still be eligible to enter the raffle draws in order to get the chance to win a Tejoori prize. "As a front-runner in the industry with demonstrated successes in digital innovations, we also launched this service on our mobile application, BisB Digital, where customers can get instant finance on amounts ranging between BD200 and BD2,000, which will be credited to their Saving or Current Account in less than 5 minutes, she added. Customers will be required to pay upfront fees that vary between BD30 and BD70, depending on the required amount, and can choose a tenor of three months to 12 months to repay the amount with no profits. The monthly installment will be deducted directly from the customers Tejoori account, she concluded. TradeArabia News Service Apps like Sunshine App signal the dawn of cyber property sales Sunshine Group one of Vietnams leading real estate developers has introduced Sunshine App early this year. Through this app, customers interested in Sunshine Group's projects can now fully find out themselves the projects information and select the units size and shape, as well as review perspectives of the apartment. They can also close transactions, settle payments, and even join the lucky-draw which are all executed via smartphone swiftly and efficiently. The traditional sales opening ceremonies that have been physical events for decades have now been updated into the digital sphere via the Sunshine App. In April, Vingroup set foot in the online domain. Through online sale, customers can directly contact the investor and be referred to information regarding project sites and planning through open databases. Dat Xanh Group also launched an app that allows investors and homebuyers to search for specific real estate products through voice recognition and receive suggestions on other relevant products that could suit their needs. Through its customer care network, the three entities assist buyers on a 24/7 basis, giving them a look at the units by 3D VR technology and allowing them to complete documents and procedures online. The traditional sales opening ceremonies that have been physical events for decades have now been updated into the digital sphere via the Sunshine App. Not only domestic investors, their foreign counterparts have also quickly transferred their sales teams from conventional platforms to online ones. For instance, Gamuda Land has just launched its online distribution channel through which homebuyers can access real estate information, Feng Shui advice, and conduct various transactions. In reality, more and more enterprises are opting to do business online in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The real estate sector is not immune to the pandemic on the contrary, it shows signs of declining supply and demand. Instead of simply going into hibernation, businesses now need to radically alter their strategies to fit their current circumstances. Along with incentive and promotional programmes, cyber trading is becoming the key approach in the upcoming time to ensure revenue. According to Sunshine Group the owner of Sunshine App there are three main reasons for investors to take their dealings to online trading platforms. First, as traditional trading floors are effectively "frozen" due to the impact of COVID-19, activities like welcoming buyers and taking them on a site tour, briefing customers at the show units, and transactions are unlikely to take place in person due to social distancing. By the end of March, 800 of about 1,000 real estate trading floors nationwide came to a halt, according to the Vietnam Real Estate Brokers Association. The remaining 20 per cent maintain minimal operations and have converted to teleworking. Online marketing channels provide wider and longer reach for investors looking to contact potential customers with high investment demand even during the pandemic, thereby sustaining sales operations. Online apps and sales websites are effective aids for sales executives and distribution agents to tout products without forcing buyers into close contact. Clients have easy access to property information and can make an instant transaction via such apps Second, the new medium will partly eliminate buyers hesitation to spend money. During the pandemic, many investors have been tightening spending plans and are more reluctant to make a final decision, especially if the property in question is of a high value. Therefore, technology apps such as VR, 360-degree images, and other innovative project materials that help buyers better understand the product and the project site, along with transparent payment schedules can be a game-changer. Apart from the apps, the developers websites help ensure the consistency and transparency of information. The handed-over units will not deviate from the planning and utilities shown through these platforms. Thereby, buyers can make decisions not only based on the sales agents presentations, said a Sunshine spokesperson. Third, as digital transformation is an inevitable socio-economic trend, the real estate sector cannot fall behind. In fact, while it was not until the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic that technology platforms and proptech apps were launched, these tools have long been in the making by developers and investors, particularly those in the high-end housing segment. The disease has been a challenge prompting businesses to speed up digitalisation. Currently, many projects in the market have deployed resident apps offering eminent features like paying management fees, utility bills, making service reservations, calling technical staff, and immediately contacting the buildings management board. Alongside with residential service, the Sunshine Group representative affirmed that apps like the Sunshine App prioritise real estate trading and management for investors to save costs for both customers and developers, thereby reducing the price tags on the final products, delivering real values to customers and stakeholders across the full value chain. However, in order for the apps or virtual platforms to come into play at full capacity, they need not only be flexible and resilient to market fluctuations but should build upon powerful economic potentials and solid technological foundations of real estate developers. "Cyber property sales" is going to be a long-term trend, not only a situational solution to cope with the current pandemic. Online marketing channels are not launched overnight they have to go through a process of research and constant development to create the best experience for users. Only investors who are well-prepared can foresee the market and post best revenues, said the corporation representative. In practice, Sunshine App, originally developed in 2019 and launched in January, integrates two major demands: online housing purchase and real estate investment. Thanks to its trailblazing, the app has been exponentially increasing downloads over the past three months. Currently, on peak-day occasions, the app receives hundreds of thousands of visits, with transactions also increasing sharply. The company has recorded nearly 500 successful transactions so far in April. In addition, the corporation also promoted the real estate investment channel through Sunshine Fintech feature via app, which is vigorously welcomed by investors in the pandemic crisis. Accordingly directly opposed to ordinary apartment investment, investors only need to pay the lowest investment of VND100 million ($43,470) to own part of an apartment or a villa unit with prices ranging from a few billion to up to tens of billion VND. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (Freshfields) is one of just five U.K. law firms that make up the Magic Circle, a term coined to signify their elite, venerated status in the world. With the history dating back to 1743, when it started representing the Bank of England (which is still a client of the firm), Freshfields has a long-standing track record of successfully supporting leading national and multinational corporations, financial institutions and governments on ground-breaking and business-critical mandates. The firm has been in Vietnam since 1994, soon after the country began opening up to international businesses. Freshfields has just elected its Vietnam-based counsel Bui Thanh Tien as an international partner, the very first Vietnamese lawyer to achieve that distinction. Bui Thanh Tien, Partner, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP. Tien is widely recognized as one of Vietnams leading corporate and finance lawyers. Over almost 20 years with Freshfields, he has been involved in some of the most high-profile transactions in Vietnam, often involving billions of dollars, as well as complex and innovative deal structures. Apart from advising private equity investors and investment banks on their investments and divestments, Tien has extensive experience serving banking and finance sector clients, representing financial institutions from around the world on a range of matters spanning corporate financing, project and asset financing, and restructuring. "I congratulate Tien on his well-deserved election to the partnership", said Vietnam managing partner Tony Foster. "At a time when clients are facing unprecedented challenges, Tien brings a formidable combination of global expertise and in-depth local experience. The firms election of a Vietnamese lawyer as a partner underlines the importance of Vietnam in the world as well as our commitment to Vietnam." Freshfields office in Vietnam. "Tiens move into the top ranks of one of the top law firms in the world demonstrates to younger Vietnamese lawyers that there are no limits on where their skills can take them," Foster added. With the election of Tien, Freshfields has two Vietnam-based partners for the first time. As we all know by now, millions of Filipinos, especially those in areas under the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), are changing their buying behaviors. With the countrys response to stop the spread of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), retail stores, malls, and even restaurants have been closed until further notice. The ECQ encourages people to do physical distancing and stay in their homes unless they need to go out to buy food, groceries, and other essential items in grocery stores, markets, and pharmacies, among other establishments that are still allowed to be operational. Eventually, however, buying online became an easier and more practical way to stay away from the crowd and contribute to stopping the spread of the virus. This solution has also led to a growth in the e-Commerce industry. According to a report by Google, Bain & Company, and Singapores Temasek Holdings, Southeast Asias e-Commerce industry is the biggest factor for the regions growth as it has grown from a GMV value of US$5.5 billion dollars in 2015 to US$38 billion in 2019. Now, the sector is on track to exceed US$150 billion by 2025. Since online shopping is helping both the people and the economy, J&T Express, the number one e-Commerce delivery company in Southeast Asia, believes that delivery couriers are the Unsung Heroes on Two Wheels during this pandemic because it would not be possible for food, groceries, and other essentials to be delivered to people without them. Delivery couriers will always ensure that they keep their clients trust and safety when it comes to their services. The Department of Information and Communications Technology obliged delivery couriers to strictly follow ECQ guidelines such as social distancing, and ensure that they are equipped with facemasks, gloves, alcohol, and other protective and precautionary equipment. However, despite all the safety actions that the delivery couriers are doing to keep you safe, you can never really know where your package has been before getting into the hands of your delivery courier. Thus, it is best that you also do your part in fighting the virus. According to a new study by MedRxiv, COVID-19 lives for 24 hours on cardboard and 72 hours on plastic and stainless steel, thus giving you the option of letting the virus die out first before taking out your package, however that would only be good news for non-perishable goods. Whether you choose to wait for the virus to die or not, you should always wash any surfaces that the outer packaging touched then throw away the packaging and wash your hands. Sanitize your package immediately, or if its perishable goods, immediately put it in a Tupperware and put it in the refrigerator. Of course, delivery couriers are still vulnerable to the virus, despite the safety precautions, so you must keep minimal contact with the courier, as much as possible. Always practice social distancing, even in situations such as receiving a package; think of it as maintaining the safety of the courier, as well. Some delivery couriers offer the option of having contactless delivery, where you dont have to see the courier face-to-face and they leave your package at the doorstep or somewhere you choose, then the payment would be settled online. If not you can simply request the courier to have such an option and come to an agreement. J&T Express, the number one e-Commerce delivery company in Southeast Asia, offers their services with fast deliveries and affordable rates! They also ensure the safety of your products with real-time tracking for you and your customers, as well as provide insurances and other safety precautions for it! J&T Express is dedicated to helping local online businesses grow by providing quality delivery services. Today, they have over 400 branches across the Philippines. HALIFAX - Under fire for how they alerted the public to a 12-hour massacre that took the lives of 22 people, the Nova Scotia RCMP defended their actions Wednesday, saying their use of Twitter was effective. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 22/4/2020 (630 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. An RCMP investigator inspects a house destroyed by fire at the residence of Alanna Jenkins and Sean McLeod, both corrections officers, in Wentworth Centre, N.S. on Monday, April 20, 2020. A neighbour, Tom Bagley, was also killed on the property. Police say at least 19 people are dead, including RCMP Const. Heidi Stevenson, after a man, driving a restored police car, went on a murder spree in several Nova Scotia communities. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan HALIFAX - Under fire for how they alerted the public to a 12-hour massacre that took the lives of 22 people, the Nova Scotia RCMP defended their actions Wednesday, saying their use of Twitter was effective. Since the horrific string of killings started Saturday night and stretched into Sunday morning, questions have been raised as to why the province did not use an emergency alert system to transmit warnings to Nova Scotians' cellphones and television screens. RCMP Chief Supt. Chris Leather said Twitter messages from the RCMP started Saturday at 10:26 p.m., when the Mounties warned of a firearms complaint in Portapique, a tiny village about a 130-kilometre drive north of Halifax. Leather read from a statement Wednesday making it clear he was aware the RCMP's communication with the public was under scrutiny. "From that initial call, our response was dynamic and fluid, with members using their training to assess what was going on while encountering the unimaginable," he said. "Critical incident command staff were processing fast-changing information related to what was unfolding in front of them." The senior Mountie said officers on the scene at Portapique Beach Road quickly learned there had been a number of fatal shootings amongst a clutch of seasonal and permanent homes, some of which were on fire. However, police weren't aware the shooter had left the area until 8:02 a.m. on Sunday. "Until the following day, we had some idea where the suspect was located, some theories but we had no idea," he said. The first RCMP tweet about an active shooter on the loose was sent at 8:02 a.m. As well, Leather confirmed it was between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. that police learned from a witness that the suspect was dressed as an RCMP officer and driving a vehicle that looked exactly like a police cruiser. That disturbing information, including a photo of the car, wasn't relayed on Twitter until 10:21 a.m. "Twitter allowed our information to be shared, followed and broadcast by local, provincial and national news outlets," Leather said. He said the provincial Emergency Management Office (EMO) contacted the RCMP at 10:15 a.m. to ask about sending an emergency message, but the alert was never sent out. The Mounties were still crafting a message when the suspect was killed almost two hours later at a gas station in Enfield, N.S., about 90 kilometres south of Portapique and within the Halifax region. When asked about the lag in getting out such an urgent message, Leather indicated there were delays within the chain of command. "You can appreciate that a series of phone calls had to be made to find the officer in charge that evening and to speak to the serious incident commander to have the conversation about the issuing of a message," he said. "A lot of the delay was based on communications between the EMO and the various officers and then a discussion about how the message would be constructed and what it would say." That morning, the U.S. Consulate in Halifax emailed alerts to its citizens warning of the danger, saying it based its alert on the RCMP's tweets. Marcia R. Seitz-Ehler, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Consulate, said the consulate's email advised people to avoid the Portapique area and to remain inside with their doors locked. "It is our protocol when emergencies occur to alert U.S. citizens in the area to the situation," she said. She did not immediately respond to an inquiry about what time the U.S. alert was sent. When Premier Stephen McNeil was asked Wednesday why the province didn't issue an alert based on the tweets, he said emergency officials couldn't act until the RCMP had prepared an approved message. "That's the protocol in place when it comes to the EMO," the premier told a news conference. "The lead agency is the one that has to put the message together. We would not go from what's happening on Twitter.... No message was received, even though EMO had reached out a number of times throughout the morning to the RCMP." Residents of some of the five communities where the killer struck have said they would have changed their behaviour had an alert been sent. David Matthews was walking with his wife in Wentworth on Sunday morning when they heard a "pop," which they said sounded like it could be a gunshot, or perhaps just a car backfiring. Shortly after the Matthews returned home, their phone started ringing with warnings from friends that there was an active shooter on the loose in the neighbourhood. They later learned that a fellow walker was gunned down that morning on a road nearby. "In my mind, there should have been some provincial alert ... (that) you've got to be careful, because there's an active shooter in the area," Matthews told The Canadian Press. On Tuesday, police confirmed the rampage claimed 22 victims, including neighbours of the shooter, a family of three, a teacher, two nurses, two correctional officers and an RCMP officer. Leather said investigators confirmed the 51-year-old shooter, Gabriel Wortman, was killed by police before noon on Sunday and had acted alone. He said investigators are still trying to determine whether anyone assisted the gunman leading up to the incident. That assistance could have included the acquisition of the vehicle, complete with emergency lights and RCMP decals, and an authentic police uniform. Police have said the mock cruiser and uniform helped the shooter escape detection as he travelled though the communities of Wentworth, Debert, Shubenacadie and Enfield. Stay informed The latest updates on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 delivered to your inbox every weeknight. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The gunman shot people he knew, killed others at random and had planned the massacre, police said. There are 16 crime scenes spread over the northern half of Nova Scotia. A total of five structures were set on fire, though the exact sequence of events remains unclear. Meanwhile, the Canadian military has been called in to help the RCMP. The military issued a statement saying it has provided personnel, modular tents, lights, tables, chairs and generators to a number of locations in the province. with files from Michael Tutton in Halifax This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2020. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Dzulfiqar Fathur Rahman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, April 22, 2020 09:10 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd36f521 1 Business beef-price,imports,Gojek,Trade-Minister-Agus-Suparmanto,retailer Free The Trade Ministry is working to ensure staple food prices, including beef, remain affordable and distribution remains smooth amid the COVID-19 outbreak by partnering with ride-hailing company Gojek, importers and retailers. The Indonesian Meat Importers Association (Aspidi), the Indonesian Retail Association (Aprindo) and the Indonesian Market Traders Association (Appsi), all of which are partnering with the ministry, are expected to sell beef and other staple food at affordable prices. Ride-hailing company Gojek, which has over 1 million drivers nationwide, will help deliver staple food as people stay at home in compliance with physical distancing measures. [The partnership] is expected to speed up the chain of distribution, Trade Minister Agus Suparmantao said as quoted in a statement on Monday. Hence, we can maintain affordability while effectively imposing large-scale social restrictions. Read also: Staple food imports arriving in May to safeguard stocks, prices: Airlangga The food supply chain faces logistical issues as regional administrations impose tighter social and travel restrictions to slow the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which has infected 6,760 people and led to 590 confirmed deaths nationwide. As a result, slaughterhouses recently reported between 20 and 30 percent declines in demand for beef, the minister said. Between March and May, demand is estimated to reach 201,730 tons, according to data from the Agriculture Ministry. With national stocks and imports, there is an estimated surplus of 62,850 tons. Aspidi has 3,800 tons of beef in its stocks, while the State Logistics Agency (Bulog), the government agency tasked with securing national staple food stocks, has 110 tons in stock. With the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and Idul Fitri approaching, the Trade Ministry recently issued permits allowing both state-owned and private firms to import beef for additional supplies. However, producing countries, such as India, are under quarantine, making it difficult to make deliveries. Beef was sold on Tuesday for Rp 117,850 (US$7.56) per kilogram, 1.1 percent higher than the average price over the same period last year, according to the governments staple food prices tracker, the Information Center for Strategic Food Prices (PIHPS). The partnership between Gojek and Aspidi will make ensuring affordable beef prices a priority, in line with Trade Ministerial Regulation No. 7/2020, said Agus, a National Awakening Party (PKB) politician. Read also: COVID-19: Mudik ban to begin Friday, roads to remain open In line with the governments stay-at-home orders, as many as 20 percent of Appsi and Aprindo members recently began offering online grocery shopping services. Many traders in traditional markets had used ride-hailing companies food delivery services even before the partnership. We are supporting the Trade Ministrys program by using mobile applications to meet peoples staple needs amid the pandemic, Gojeks public policy and government relations division head Shinto Nugroho was quoted as saying in the same statement. Previously, the Agriculture Ministry brokered a similar partnership between Gojek and the Toko Tani Indonesia Centre, a grocery store in South Jakarta tasked with providing affordable food. The ride-hailing company is offering a free-fare delivery service for minimum purchases of Rp 40,000 at Toko Tani within a 25-kilometer radius from the store. Tarrytown, NY, April 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ENT and Allergy Associates, LLP is closely monitoring the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and focusing on protecting the health and safety of our patients and workforce, while ensuring there is no further disruption to the ENT, Allergy, and Audiology care their patients deserve. On Monday, April 27, all ENTA locations (44 total) will be open to serve their patients and communities. At this time, the practice has structured a limited physician schedule (8:00am-3:30pm, Monday-Friday) to ensure minimal public interaction within the office space to reinforce proper social distancing protocols. ENTA wants to assure all patients that we value their safety and are observing heightened precautions throughout this time. Patients can book their appointment online, anytime by visiting www.entandallergy.com/booknow or by calling 1-855-ENTA-DOC. ENT and Allergy Associates realizes that healthcare is an essential need that one should continue to prioritize, even in these troubling times. Thats why the practice is taking every possible measure to make sure patients are still able to access the same safe, high quality care that patients come to expect at ENT and Allergy Associates. At ENTA, we have the right people with the right training, facilities and processes to ensure a healthy environment for everyone at all times. Social distancing techniques and appropriate protective equipment will be in place, said Dr. Robert Green, President of ENTA. Our efforts to provide our patients the safest and most effective care will be an on-going priority during these rapidly evolving circumstances. The practice is taking every precaution to particularly ensure the safety of their more vulnerable patients. For those patients who are age 65 or over, it is encouraged that they schedule their appointment between 8:00am 9:00am. Patients age of 65 or over must give special consideration as to whether their problem warrants leaving their homes at this time to come to the office. Rick increases with increasing age so this should be factored in as well. As hospitals and urgent care facilities have been overcrowded with COVID-19 cases, ENT and Allergy Associates is doing their part to provide in-person care. The practice implemented a COVID-19 specific protocol. This protocol includes instrument disinfection, rearranged waiting rooms to allow for greater social distancing, thorough surface cleaning and exam room sanitizing between patients. Patients will also have the opportunity to wait in their cars and complete check-in procedures using a cell phone to limit the number of people in waiting rooms where this can be done. Our physicians and staff are provided personal protective equipment (PPE). When patients enter the office, they will be asked to utilize PPE equipment (mask and gloves) as well as cleaning their hands using the provided hand sanitizing station. Patients will be asked to wear a mask or at least a homemade covering scarf, or bandana at all times when on the premises. Additionally, only the patient is allowed in the office. For children and adult patients who require a caretaker, one adult may accompany the patient. Robert Glazer, EVP Chief Executive Officer of ENTA said Our offices are following all recommended guidance from public health authorities, including best practices for hygiene, infection control and medical professional team health. We are grateful to the healthcare professionals on the front lines who are fighting to contain the virus and help patients with COVID-19 and thankful to our colleagues who continue to come to work on site each day to ensure we can continue to deliver the best ENT, Allergy, and Audiology care our patients deserve. ENTA will continue offering virtual visits for patients who do not feel comfortable in the clinical setting. ENTA doctors will be able to discuss your symptoms and determine the most appropriate treatment plan, including recommending an in-office visit when necessary. The care offered by our specialties, is, however, far superior when we can actually examine a patient in the office. To learn more about ENTA, find a local office or book an appointment, download the ENT and Allergy Associates mobile app, visit http://www.entandallergy.com or call 1-855-ENTA-DOC. About ENT and Allergy Associates LLP ENT and Allergy Associates LLP (ENTA) has more than 220 physicians practicing in 44 office locations in Westchester, Putnam, Orange, Dutchess, Rockland, Nassau and Suffolk counties, as well as New York City and northern/central New Jersey. The practice sees over 90,000 patients per month. Each ENTA clinical location provides access to a full complement of services, including General Adult and Pediatric ENT and Allergy, Voice and Swallowing, Advanced Sinus and Skull Base Surgery, Facial Plastics and Reconstructive Surgery, Disorders of the Inner Ear and Dizziness, Asthma, Clinical Immunology, Diagnostic Audiology, Hearing Aid dispensing, Sleep and CT Services. ENTA has clinical alliances with Mount Sinai Hospital, Montefiore Medical Center, Northwell Health, and a partnership with the American Cancer Society. Iran's Judiciary dismisses UN rights report on prison furloughs amid virus outbreak Iran Press TV Tuesday, 21 April 2020 10:48 AM The Iranian Judiciary has dismissed as politically-motivated a United Nations human rights report that suggests Iranian prisoners face discrimination when it comes to receiving furloughs during a new coronavirus outbreak, saying Iran's performance in dealing with the issue compared to that of the West has been "exemplary." "The Islamic Republic's performance in both protecting the inmates' health and prisons' security and granting furloughs to them can be looked upon as an exemplary and outstanding model, " Iran's Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said Tuesday. Esmaeli's remarks came after UN human rights experts called for the immediate release of prisoners, including dual nationals and foreigners, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has hit Iran and other world states. In a report released on Friday, UN experts, including the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, said the Islamic Republic should expand its temporary release of thousands of detainees, claiming that "Iran's prisons have long-standing hygiene, overcrowding and healthcare problems." Esmaeli said that the UN experts would better report on what the United States, Britain and other European countries, where the coronavirus is more prevalent than in Iran, have done about their detainees. "We have not seen any reports of furloughs or assistance to detainees from the countries" making such claims against Iran, he said, stressing that justice has been served and no distinction has been made among the inmates. Ismaili said that Iran has recently furloughed more than 1,000 foreigners in order to prevent a further spread of the pandemic. "We do not recognize dual citizenship, and our criteria for granting leave are the type of crime, the time served, the potential risks that an individual can pose to the society, and the eligibility to parole," he added. The coronavirus first emerged in China and later spread to other world countries. Iran has so far reported 84,802 cases of infection with the virus and 5,297 deaths from COVID-19. Over 60,900 patients have also recovered. The overall COVID-19 infections and fatalities in Iran have shown a downward trend in recent weeks. As a result, Iran has eased some restrictions triggered by the coronavirus contagion, allowing low-risk businesses to reopen following weeks of closure with the aim of slowing the spread of the virus while providing relief to businesses and wage-earners. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address New Delhi, April 22 : It has been 28 days since the nationwide lockdown was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but around 50-60 residents of the Chak Chila village residing in the middle of the Yamuna river on an island has not got a single supply of ration or cooked meal from the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government. The people of the village are forced to rely on the self help groups or community kitchens, who have brought cooked food or ration for them by boat. The Chak Chila village is situated between the Yamuna river from where the Delhi-Noida-Direct flyway passes by and connects Mayur Vihar and Maharani Bagh. The village is just 7-8 kms from the Delhi Assembly. To reach the village, one first needs to reach the Yamuna Khadar and then take a boat ride from there. By boat, it takes around 10-15 minutes to reach the village depending on the wind speed and water current. When IANS visited this village on Wednesday to take stock of their situation, Sikha Kumari, a resident of the village said, "Delhi government has not provided a single meal to us since the day lockdown was announced." On March 23, Prime Minister Modi announced a nationwide lockdown from March 24 to April 14 to combat the spread of novel coronavirus (Covid-19). On April 14, he extended the lockdown by 19 more days till May 3. She further said that the village faces the problem of drinking water and electricity supply. "And for drinking water we need to cross the river from the boat to fetch some water from nearby areas like Mayur Vihar or Okhla," she said. She further said that one of the group has been continuously providing food to the villagers. "They bring food everyday for us in the afternoon and they ensure that they send us more food packets so that we don't need to cook our dinner," she said. The village has huts made of wood and the earthen stoves in the houses have not been lit since the lockdown was announced as the money and ration with them have ended. Another resident of the village, Sita Devi, who hails from West Bengal and has been residing here for the last 15 years said, "We are completely dependent on the people who bring food for us. No one from the Delhi government has come to provide food to us." Pointing towards the earthen stoves she said, "we have not cooked food for last 20 days as whatever ration we had is over now. There are over 10-15 small children in this village, who need milk on daily basis but they have not got the milk either." Sita Devi further said that they used to work as farmers in the river bed, but as the soil turned infertile so they had started working as daily labourers. Another woman standing with her said that the government does not even provide drinking water to them. "And now we want the government to provide us some help so that we can stand back on our feet to earn and feed our family," she added. Sonu Pandit, who provides food to the village on daily basis said, "The cooked food which we bring here is prepared as the Sewa Kitchen run by BJP good governance cell in Mayur Vihar Phase 1." "Everyday around 11.30 a.m we collect the over 100 prepared food packets from the Sewa Kitchen and then we bring it here for the villagers," he said. Pandit, who runs a cattle stable said that the Delhi government has not provided food to these people since March 24. "Even the ration or prepared meal provided by the Delhi government has been distributed on the other side of the river and not in the village inside the Yamuna river ," he alleged. Lamenting at the Delhi government, he said, "The Delhi government promised to provide drinking water to every household in Delhi, but the families living here are not able to fetch the drinking water and they have to travel 4-5 kms everyday from their boats to get the fresh water." IANS was the first to raise the issue of hundreds of migrant workers residing on Yamuna river bed in Kashmere Gate area of Delhi on April 5. Following the IANS report, the Delhi government shifted the migrant workers from the river bed on April 15. On Wednesday, the total number of Covid-19 patients in Delhi rose to 2,156 with 47 deaths and 611 cured. (Anand Singh can be contacted at anand.s@ians.in) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text We have our hands full right now, documenting, understanding and preserving whats happening in the here and now, Hagood said via a Skype video chat. What is this pandemic like for Washingtonians and how is our experience unique? And what does that mean for day-to-day life and how we engage and take care of each other? A total of 146 seafarers and crew onboard US cruise liner Marella Discovery will anchor off the Mumbai Port on Thursday after spending 37 days on-board. According to a press note issued by Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackerays office, the seafarers and crew members will be subject to a test for Covid-19 and will remain quarantined in a building within the port trust premises till their reports are received. On Tuesday night, the ministry of home affairs issued an order allowing the sign-in and sign-off of Indian ship crew at different ports. The order is set to benefit close to 35,000-40,000 seafarers, the press note stated. Earlier on Tuesday, the crew on Marella Discovery had appealed to the Centre to announce a policy for the seafarers on an urgent basis. The cruise was to travel to Cochin, New Mengaluru, Goa and Mumbai between April 2 and 6. However, owing to the coronavirus outbreak and ensuing lockdown, the passengers were disembarked at Laem Chabang in Thailand on March 14. After it arrived at Cochin on April 12, it was denied permission to disembark and reached Mumbai on April 14. Since then, the crew is waiting for permission though they stated that none of the crew members onboard has been infected. After dropping the Indian crew members, the ship will set sail to Norway. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON To protect the country from coronavirus, Jordan has refused to allow humanitarian aid to be delivered to the al-Rukban camp from its territory reports Smart News. On Monday, the Jordanin government refused to deliver aid through its border to the al-Rukban camp, 240 kilometers east of Homs, on the Syrian-Jordanian border. In a phone call with Geir Pedersen, the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Ayman Safadi, the Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said that the decision was made under the pretext of protecting citizens against coronavirus (COVID-19). Safadi called on the international community to undertake its responsibilities towards refugees and provide the necessary aid regarding COVID-19. Safadi added that the al-Rukban camp is the UNs responsibility and that any humanitarian and medical aid should enter from Syria. Safadi emphasized that Jordan will not allow any aid to enter the camp through its territories. Safadi added that Jordan will prevent any person in the camp from entering Jordan for whatever reasons, and that protecting citizens from COVID-19 is a priority. Earlier, displaced people in the al-Rukban camp complained about the absence of medical services due to the siege imposed by the Syrian government forces, and the closing of Jordanian border. On Mar. 10, 2020, the Syrian government forces blocked the Jleighem crossing, the only way to the camp from Damascus. The Syrian government forces prevented the entry of food and medicine to force the residents to leave the camp for Syrian government-controlled areas. The camp is located in the so-called Green Zone that extends along 55 kilometers inside Syrias border. The United States-led International Coalition forces against the Islamic State control the zone. Since October 2018, Syrian government forces have laid siege to the al-Rukban camp and prevented the entry of food and medicine. The administration of the camp appealed to organizations to deliver aid to 50,000 people in the camp. The people suffer amidst poor humanitarian conditions. Many children died due to the lack of medicine and medical care. This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Turkey on Wednesday confirmed 117 more fatalities from the novel coronavirus, bringing the total death toll to 2,376, Daily Sabah reports. The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases reached 98,674, as 3,083 more people tested positive for the virus, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said following a meeting of the Coronavirus Science Board. So far, a total of 16,477 patients have been discharged from hospitals after recovering from the virus, with 1,559 discharged on Tuesday alone, the minister added. A total of 37,535 tests were conducted over the past 24 hours, with the total reaching 750,944. Broadleaf Gets Messy Valerie Weaver-Zercher at Broadleaf Books bought world rights to a book about messy minimalism by abundantlifewithless.com blogger Rachelle Crawford. The book helps readers adopt a rational, sustainable, and faith-based form of minimalism, according to the publisher. The deal was unagented, and publication is slated for fall 2021. Brazos Buys Strange Religion Bryan Dyer, acquisitions editor for Brazos Press, took world rights directly from author Nijay K. Gupta to a book entitled Strange Religion. The book, which is scheduled for publication in fall 2023, examines what made early Christians stand out in their historical context and how this might motivate contemporary believers. Zondervan Doubles Up Zondervan associate publisher Stephanie Smith bought world rights from Joy Eggerichs Reed of Punchline Agency to two books by artist-storyteller Scott Erickson. The first book, entitled Honest Advent: Awakening to the Wonder of God-With-Us Then, Here, and Now, features 25 images and meditations centered on the Christmas story and how its still relevant today. Its slated for publication in October. The second yet-to-be-titled book in the deal is expected in fall 2021. Additional details are not yet available. Graffiti calling for a rent strike in April is pictured on a corner store that closed long before the coronavirus pandemic in West Philadelphia. Some tenants across the country have begun organizing rent strikes due to the economic effects of the pandemic. Read more Renters are facing another round of payments to their landlords amid soaring unemployment and financial strain as the coronavirus pandemic wears on. Nearly a third of Americans didnt pay their rent on time in April, according to a report from the National Multifamily Housing Council. And more than 1.5 million Pennsylvanians have filed for unemployment compensation since Gov. Tom Wolf closed nonessential businesses to help stem the spread of COVID-19. Pennsylvania doesnt have the strongest protection for renters who have been financially affected by the coronavirus pandemic, according to Princeton Universitys Eviction Lab. The group rated Pennsylvania a 3.13 out of 5 in a recent report (with a score of 1 indicating the lowest level of responsiveness), noting that evictions could surge in the commonwealth. New Jersey, meanwhile, did much worse, scoring of 1.65 out of 5. Delaware got a score of 3.88. But what does all that mean for May? Here is what you need to know: Do I have to pay my rent? In short, yes. As the Pennsylvania Attorney Generals Office notes online, rental contracts that tenants have with their landlords are still valid, and rent payments are still due even though theres a moratorium on eviction proceedings in the commonwealth. And, Eviction Lab notes, landlords in Pennsylvania are still allowed to charge late fees, report late or missed payments to credit agencies, raise rent, and issue notices of eviction. What about the rent strike? The Philadelphia Tenants Union began calling for citywide collective rent strikes starting on May 1. According to the organization, the idea is to connect tenants who share the same landlord so that they can make collective demands such as rent reductions. It is not a call for individuals to withhold rent on their own, the group says in a statement. We dont want to encourage people to go out and strike by themselves and risk getting evicted, says Yosuke Araki, an organizer with the group. The PTU wants to use our resources and navigate organizing in a strategic way to make it safe for as many people as possible. ASK US: Do you have a question about the coronavirus and how it affects your health, work and life? Ask our reporters If you want to participate in the strike, the PTU has support for those striking, Araki says, including an anti-eviction task force to help prevent evictions, a rent strike fund to provide money for legal support, and resources and guidance for organizing. The organization, however, emphasizes online that groups of tenants should negotiate with their landlords for rent relief before resorting to a strike. Its at that point, if the landlord is completely unforgiving, that we encourage a collective strike. Araki says. What should I do if I cant afford to pay my rent? If you know that you will be unable to pay your rent, Kadeem Morris, a lawyer with Community Legal Services of Philadelphias housing unit, recommends reaching out to your landlord as soon as possible to explain the situation preferably in writing. That way, he says, you will be able to request an accommodation or exception, and youll have evidence of an agreement should you need it. The important thing is if you come to an agreement, confirm it in writing and stick to that agreement, Morris says. As a tenant, you can ask for various options, including a payment plan, waiver of late fees, or a partial payment, or you can ask that your landlord consider applying funds from your initial deposit to missed rent. Individuals living in subsidized housing, meanwhile, can contact the Philadelphia Housing Authority and ask for a rent recalculation, Morris says. READ MORE: What you need to know about moving during the coronavirus pandemic If you want help with this conversation, the Good Shepherd Mediation Program is offering free virtual landlord-tenant mediation sessions in which an impartial third party can help resolve COVID-19-related conflicts. Both parties must agree to take part in sessions, and appointments can be scheduled by contacting Good Shepherd at 215-843-5413 or intake@phillymediators.org. You may also be able to get help through various emergency funds. Some of the options, as The Inquirer previously reported, include the Pennsylvania Apartment Associations Coronavirus Emergency Assistance Fund, or the PHL COVID-19 Fund, which provides money to nonprofits for programs focusing on issues including homelessness prevention and rental assistance. Can I get evicted right now? Eviction proceedings in Pennsylvania are on hold through at least July 10 because of a state moratorium. If youre in federally subsidized housing, the federal CARES Act has extended the date for evictions until July 25. And the same date applies if your landlord has a federally backed mortgage, which applies to about 40% of renters. In addition, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro issued a letter to landlords and mortgage companies asking them not to institute any eviction proceedings for some additional time period after our courts are reopened. A spokesperson told The Inquirer that the letter was a request and doesnt restrict landlords from pursuing evictions once the moratorium ends. So far, Morris says, more than 1,700 eviction cases and more than 1,000 judgments have been postponed in Philadelphia because the courts are closed. What if your landlord tries to evict you anyway? If you are facing a potential eviction, Morris recommends contacting the Philadelphia Eviction Prevention Project tenant hotline for guidance at 267-443-2500. You can find out more information at PhillyTenant.org. What are my rights as a renter during the pandemic? As a renter, your rights during the pandemic are the same as before the outbreak, Morris says. You have the right to the court process, and you cant be locked out of your home illegally. You cant be locked out without going through the court process, where you have a date where you show up in court, Morris says. If your landlord comes to your house and you havent gone to court, and they try to intimidate you or shut off services, that is considered an illegal lockout. Heres what the court process looks like: Landlords have to file eviction complaints in landlord-tenant court, which typically when courts are open results in a court date about two weeks after the initial filing, Morris says. If a judgment is issued in the landlords favor, there is a waiting period of at least 21 days before you can be locked out, so newly delinquent renters wont immediately be removed from their homes once courts reopen. If you are locked out illegally, Morris recommends calling the police while it is happening. If you return home and are locked out illegally, you should file a police report. Can I move into a new home if I need to? Moving is considered an essential activity in Pennsylvania. Both moving and storage companies are considered essential businesses, so if you have to move, there are services available to assist you. However, if you have to look for a place, its not business as usual. The governors order last month on life-sustaining business declared that real estate companies are not allowed to conduct in-person showings and open houses. (Virtual tours, which can be done with photographs or videos of a property, are allowed.) But many real estate agents are able to conduct much of their business over the telephone or electronically. Expert sources: Touching upon Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrovs statement on the criminal cases instituted against Russian companies in Armenia, head of the Bright Armenia faction of the National Assembly Edmon Marukyan today told reporters the following: In closing, Lavrov said President Putin and Prime Minister Pashinyan have held phone talks and hoped all the issues are being discussed. Lavrov expressed some discontent with the criminal cases instituted in Armenia, but also said the countries are cooperating and holding discussions and that the issues will be solved. In my opinion, no criminal case in Armenia can be dismissed or closed, even though the intermediation of an allied state, Marukyan said. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Microscopy Devices Market Share, Trends And Growth Analysis By Type (Optical Microscopes, Electron Microscope, Scanning Probe Microscope (Spm), Others), By Application (Life Science, Material Science, Pathology), By End User (Hospitals & Clinics, Academic & Research Institutes, Diagnostics Centers) - Forecast Till 2022 Market Research Future (MRFR) in recently published study asserts that the global Microscopy Devices Market size is expected to reach USD ~10.5 Billion in 2022; it has been noted that market is growing at steady pace and is expected to grow at the CAGR of 7.8% during the forecasted period 2016 2022. Surpassing its previous growth records in terms of value & volume, the market is expected to gain prominence over the forecasted period. Factors substantiating the market growth include the increased funding by the public and private sector for life science research studies and the expansion of the semiconductor industries in most of the emerging nations. Increasing research and development activities initiated by governments, schools, universities and research institutions across the developing regions have fuelled the growth of the market. Global Microscopy Device Market Regional Analysis Globally, Asia-Pacific is the largest market for microscopy devices. The APAC market is expected to grow further registering 7.3% CAGR during 2016-2022. North America market for microscopy devices accounting for the second-largest market globally will grow at 11.5% CAGR during the assessment period. Microscopy Device Market Competitive Analysis The Microscopy Device market is widely expanded and highly competitive with the presence of numerous major and small players operating at the international and regional level around the globe. The market will witness fierce competition due to the expected extensions in product & service and product innovations. Manufacturers operating in the Microscopy Device market strive to develop Device with adept technology with unrivalled design and features. Get full report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/microscopy-devices-market-2313 Key Players: FEI, Meiji Techno, Nikon Metrology NV, Woodley Equipment Company Ltd, Radical Scientific Equipments Pvt. Ltd, Bruker, Mauna Kea Technologies SA, Icon Analytical Equipment Pvt. Ltd, Olympus Corporation, NIDEK Inc., Sonix, Inc., Konan Medical USA Inc., Carl Zeiss, and Leica Microsystems are some of the prominent players at the forefront of competition in the Global Microscopy Device Market and are profiled in MRFR Analysis. Industry/ Innovation/ Related News November 2017 Researchers of Germany and Portugal collaboratively developed the first microscope to concurrently monitor movement and neuron activity in zebrafish larvae without interfering with their behavior. To enable wider use in the research community, the neurobehavioral tracking microscope uses off-the-shelf components and is open source. Browse other healthcare-related reports About Market Research Future: MRFR team has supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by Components, Application, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country-level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions. In order to stay updated with the technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members. The commander in chief has issued a stark warning to Iran a week after 11 Iranian boats swarmed U.S. ships operating in the Middle East. "I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea," President Donald Trump tweeted Wednesday morning. The Navy last week released photos and a video showing the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' navy boats making what the service described as repeated "dangerous and harassing approaches" near U.S. ships operating in international waters. The boats swarmed the Navy and Coast Guard ships for an hour. Related: Swarm of Iranian Boats Harassed US Ships in Persian Gulf, Navy Says The incident was well reported at the time, but was mentioned Wednesday morning on "Fox & Friends" when the hosts were discussing Iran's new claim that it launched a military satellite into orbit. Trump is known to watch and respond to issues mentioned on "Fox & Friends." Navy officials last week said the Iranian fast boats' aggressive actions "increase the risk of miscalculation and collision." The boats were traveling at high speeds near the four Navy ships and a pair of Coast Guard cutters. The Iranian boats came within 10 yards of the Coast Guard's Island-class cutter Maui and within 50 yards of the expeditionary mobile base Lewis B. Puller, officials said. That was despite repeated radio warnings and blasts from the ships' horns. Navy officials warned that its commanding officers "retain the inherent right to act in self-defense." Tensions remain high between the U.S. and Iran. Until earlier this month, the U.S. Navy had two aircraft carrier strike groups in the region to temper Iranian aggression. One of those strike groups remains. Those tensions were especially elevated in January after a U.S. drone strike in Iraq killed a prominent Iranian military general, Qasem Soleimani. Iran retaliated by launching ballistic missiles on U.S. troop locations in Iraq, leaving more than 100 service members with brain injuries. -- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins. Read more: Iran's Guard Says it Launched Satellite amid US Tensions On April 8, the head of the European Research Council quit due to his disillusionment with the response of the EU to COVID-19. Mario Ferrari stated he had seen enough of both the governance of science and the political operations at the European Union, and that he lost faith in the system itself. The inability of the EU to respond to COVID-19 leaves an opportunity for its competitors. Beijing has realized this opportunity. In Italy, China sent thousands of ventilators, respirators, protective suits and test kits and two millions masks to help the fight against the virus. Aid began being distributed in the early part of March when fellow European countries, including Germany and France, were protecting their own medical resources. At that time, Italys call for help fell on deaf ears among its fellow EU members. A poll published in mid-March states that 88 per cent of Italians feel the EU is not helping them. This is where China stepped in. And the material resources provided by China to Europe shouldnt be downplayed. In Hungary, Viktor Orban personally welcomed an envoy from China. According to Orban himself, Hungary received more than 3 million masks, 100,000 test kits, (and) 86 ventilators. On April 5, The Bank of China donated 80,000 surgical masks to the country. Serbia, a country that has not received official membership status from the EU, is also drawing itself closer to Beijing. Frustrated by the European Community, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that European solidarity does not exist. He even kissed Chinas flag upon the arrival of epidemiologists and medical supplies in Belgrade. From a political perspective, its important to understand the strategic ambitions of Beijing. Josep Borrell, the EUs foreign policy chief, says the pandemic entails a struggle for influence through spinning and the politics of generosity. To varying degrees, Italy, Hungary and Serbia have growing sentiments of animosity toward the EU that long predate the pandemic. Italys strains with the EU are self-evident in the success of leaders like Matteo Salvini, whos rhetoric slams the EUs handling of the ongoing migrant crisis. Whats more, is that Italy is the only G7 country to open itself up to Beijings ambitious Belt and Road Initiative that sees China funding infrastructure and other projects in order to form partnerships. Romes Westerns allies have condemned this move. Luigi di Maio, a former leader of the anti-establishment and populist Five Star movement, claims that those who scoffed at our participation in the Belt and Road Initiative now have to admit that investing in that friendship allowed us to save lives in Italy. Serbia has especially opened itself to Beijings economic diplomacy. Serbia receives approximately $2.2 billion from China, mostly in the form of loans. In recent years, Serbia has also been a hot spot for Huawei and other telecommunications technologies. Part of Belgrades interest in Beijing is that it can ensure Kosovo never receives full independence, since, China is one of the P5 on the United Nations Security Council. In Hungary, Viktor Orbans authoritarian governing style makes it a deviance from the democracy-promoting EU. Orban has had ongoing clashes with Brussels over abuses of the rule of law and freedom of expression. Hungary has even been called the black sheep of the EU. Another survey places the country as the most disappointing EU member among respondents. These countries could be crucial for Beijings geopolitical strategy precisely because they already have tensioned relationships with the larger European Community. The COVID-19 pandemic wont last forever. If the EU is to maintain its legitimacy among its citizens post-COVID-19, it must show that there are crisis-relief benefits included in being a member of the union. If, on the other hand, Italians, Serbians, Hungarians and other Europeans feel they can attain economic and political advantage via a more invested partnership with China, Beijing will have achieved significant geopolitical goals. This would be to the detriment of Brussels. Fortunately, the EU has intensely ramped up its efforts to battle COVID-19 in joint fashion. It has demonstrably repealed some of its failings of early-March. Time will tell whether the wounds of the EUs late response will amount to strategic gains for Beijing. Jacob Benjamin is a master of political science candidate at the University of Waterloo. Read more about: Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 18:37:33|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attends an online commencement of enabling projects for ExxonMobil Huizhou Project and announces the start of construction work for the project, in Beijing, capital of China, April 22, 2020. (Xinhua/Ding Lin) BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng Wednesday in Beijing attended an online commencement of enabling projects for ExxonMobil Huizhou Project. The online ceremony was held via video with connections linking the Huizhou Dayawan Petrochemical Industrial Park in southern China's Guangdong Province, the Great Hall of the People in Beijing and Dallas of the United States. Around 11 a.m., Han, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, announced the start of construction work for the project. The ExxonMobil Huizhou Project is the first large-scale petrochemical project built by a wholly-owned U.S. company in China. The project, with a total investment of about 10 billion U.S. dollars, will mainly include a 1.6 million tonne-per-year ethylene cracker. The project will uphold the principles of mutual benefit and win-win results and will accelerate the optimization and upgrading of China's petrochemical industry and promote the competitive edge of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Enditem Seventy-three deaths have been reported in the seven-county area, including 57 in Lake, five in Porter, five in LaPorte, four in Newton, and one each in Jasper and Starke counties, according to the state. The cast and crew of popular mythological show RadhaKrishn have been stranded at their shoot location in Umargaon for almost a month due to the coronavirus lockdown. Lead actors Sumedh Mudgalkar, Mallika Singh, who play Krishna and Radha, respectively, have been stayed put there with the shows crew of 180 people. Talking to Mumbai Mirror, Mallika said that her mother is also with her at the location. She tries to be with me most of the time while shooting. When the lockdown was announced, other people from my family in Mumbai advised us to stay where we are as any kind of travel was not safe at the time. We all thought it will be a matter of few days before we return to Mumbai, but now we have been staying here for the last one month, she said. Mallika said that though the crew is away from their families, everyone is being looked after well by the shows makers. A doctor visits the sets regularly to check on the crew and the premises are regularly sanitised. Sumedh says that everyone is well looked after. The most important thing at this time is to be safe, which we all are. I am from Pune. Due to the shooting schedule, I get to meet my parents very less. Now, even when there is no work, we all are still away from our families, he said. Other crew members said that they had to cancel their train tickets home as even the railways have halter operations during the lockdown. Also read: Extraction interview: Chris Hemsworth, director Sam Hargrave rave about genuinely great person Randeep Hooda Many other actors such as Jackie Shroff, Salman Khan and others are also stranded and are staying away from their families. Jackie was at this second home between Mumbai and Pune when the lockdown was announced while Salman was at his farmhouse in Panvel. Government of India announced an extension of two weeks to the lockdown which will now continue until May 3. Citizens have been advised to stay indoors and step out only for essential needs. So far, the coronavirus has infected 19,984 people and killed 640 in India. Worldwide, 2.5 million people have been infected with 170,000 dead. Follow @htshowbiz for more COVID-19 Research: Coronavirus Learning Loss Could Put Some Students Behind a Full Year Research from the NWEA has projected that current school closures could, indeed, result in major declines in student learning. The preliminary estimates found that math would take a bigger hit than reading, and that some students could return in the fall with less than 50 percent of the typical learning gains. In some grades the decline could put them a "full year behind" what would be expected under normal conditions. NWEA is a nonprofit that creates the MAP series of assessment programs, including MAP Growth. To develop their findings, NWEA researchers Megan Kuhfeld and Beth Tarasawa used previous studies that examined summer learning loss (also known as "summer slide"), based on a national sample of more than five million students in grades 3-8 who took MAP Growth assessments. They compared three trajectories of academic achievement during a typical school year for students in those same grades for reading and math. The first trajectory, designated with a solid line, showed no disruption to learning. The second one (the dashed line) showed the "COVID-19 slowdown," in which students maintained the same level of academic gain they had at the moment when schools were closed. And the third (the dotted line) showed the "COVID-19 slide," in which students exhibited patterns of learning loss typical of summers throughout an extended closure. The forecast used March 15, 2020 as the starting point for school closures and the fall start of school as the end point. The COVID slide estimate, which showed the direst projections, suggested that students would return in fall 2020 with about 70 percent of the learning gains they've already achieved in reading. In math, the picture was worse: Students would return with less than half of the learning gains; in some grades, the loss would equate to almost a full year behind what they would have had in normal times. The report offered some caveats to its forecasting. While the current school closures share some characteristics with summer break, the projections don't take into account the fact that most school systems have put some form of online learning in place, which would counteract the full impact. However, at the same time, many students who come from "historically marginalized" homes face increased prospects of trauma, joblessness, food insecurity and homelessness, which could make their learning outcomes "even bleaker," the researchers noted. "These preliminary forecasts parallel many education leaders' fears: Missing school for a prolonged period will likely have major impacts on student achievement come fall 2020," the report stated. "The COVID-19 crisis is a call to action for practitioners and policymakers alike. Once schools are back in session, we must be prepared to support students, many of whom will likely be behind academically." The report provided several recommendations to the education community to address potential learning loss and support educators and families during and after coronavirus. Policymakers and educators need to double up on the support they provide to students on math, even as teaching and learning is being done at a distance. That includes making sure families and students get "access to appropriate, engaging math and reading materials, instruction and support during coronavirus closures." It also requires making sure all students have the access they need to technology and the internet. Once those elements are in place, school leaders need to "address more nuanced instructional challenges like differentiation, accessibility and English language learner needs." Teachers need access to data that will help them steer lessons more accurately in ways that will support their individual students. Researchers, policymakers and schools need to work together to develop "policies and practices for recovery." While the summer slide data can provide a "starting point" for understanding the impact of school closures, the report explained, further research will be needed to identify the "patterns of loss" various types of schools will experience and to develop the policies that will help them recover "in a timely manner." NWEA is hosting an open webinar on Apr. 22, 2020 to discuss the findings. The full report, "The COVID-19 slide: What summer learning loss can tell us about the potential impact of school closures on student academic achievement," is openly available on the NWEA website. Sweden recorded 172 new coronavirus deaths and 682 new cases yesterday on one of its bleakest days since the crisis began. The 172 new deaths are the second-largest jump on record, behind only Tuesday's figure of 185 which came after a weekend backlog. It takes the death toll in Sweden - which has not imposed a lockdown like most of Europe has done - from 1,765 to 1,937, far higher than in Denmark (384), Norway (169) or Finland (149). However, Sweden's cases per million people are growing more slowly than in Britain, even though the UK has been in an economically damaging lockdown for a month and Sweden has not imposed one at all. Britain's population-adjusted death rate is also slightly higher than in Sweden, where public gatherings of up to 50 people are still acceptable. Sweden has emphasised taking 'individual responsibility', arguing that voluntary measures are a more durable strategy because people will accept them for longer. In the UK, an Oxford University expert has warned that 'the damaging effect now of lockdown is going to outweigh the damaging effect of coronavirus'. This graph shows the daily number of new infections in Sweden. Today's figure of 682 is the highest since April 9 and the third-highest on record This chart shows the daily number of deaths, which has fluctuated considerably because of delays in announcing weekend figures. Today's figure is 172 Another 682 infections yesterday brought Sweden's total from 15,322 to 16,004 in the biggest daily rise for nearly two weeks, according to official figures. Nonetheless, health officials believe that the virus may have reached its peak in the Stockholm region, which accounts for more than a third of Sweden's cases. As many as one-third of Stockholm's population may already have had the virus by May 1, experts predict, possibly limiting the spread of the disease. Modelling suggests that the rate of new infections peaked in Stockholm in April 15, although that has not yet become visible in the numbers of reported cases. 'Already a bit more than a week ago, the peak was reached, at least according to this model, and we can expect fewer cases each day,' Anders Wallensten, deputy state epidemiologist at the agency, told reporters at a daily news briefing. 'But you also have to remember ... that two-thirds have not been infected and can still get it,' Wallensten added. While gatherings of more than 50 people have been barred, people in Sweden are still allowed to socialise much like those pictured above, relaxing in a park in Stockholm Above, people enjoy warm weather in Stockholm. Sweden has not imposed extraordinary measures seen across much of Europe and instead is urging people to take responsibility and follow official recommendations The World Health Organisation has warned that it remains uncertain whether everyone becomes immune after having the virus once. Stockholm also accounts for 1,070 of the country's 1,937 total deaths, according to official figures. Wallensten said it was too early to say when the number of fatalities in Stockholm would start to decline. 'The curve for the number of new cases hasn't started to decline yet, either, so we are not there yet,' he said. People sit outdoors at a restaurant in Stockholm yesterday, with Sweden holding out against imposing the kind of lockdown that most of Europe has enforced The time lag between infection and death means that a slowdown in new cases will usually take longer to show up in the fatality figures. Wallensten said the advantage of Sweden's low-key approach to the virus is that advisory measures can be kept in place for longer than total lockdowns. Sweden has not imposed a lockdown like most of Europe has done, meaning that bars, restaurants, shops and schools are still open. Gatherings of more than 50 people have been banned along with visits to nursing homes, but otherwise social distancing is advised rather than enforced. Sweden insists that its strategy is right because people need to 'understand and accept' measures over the long term rather than be forced into obeying them While some countries are beginning to ease the most restrictive measures, Wallensten said it was too early for Sweden to change course. 'We are looking at when it will be possible to ease different restrictions and which will be eased first, but as we see it, we are on a plateau, the danger isn't over,' he said. Sweden has far more deaths than Denmark, Norway and Finland, a difference that is not adequately explained by the size of their populations. Finland has imposed checks on usually free-flowing border traffic at its frontier with Sweden, fearing the spread of the disease. People sit outside in warm spring weather in Stockholm yesterday while others walk and cycle by in a scene which has become a thing of the past in most of Europe Sweden insists that its strategy is right because people need to 'understand and accept' measures over the long term rather than be forced into obeying them. 'If everyone takes their responsibility, together we will overcome it,' says Prime Minister Stefan Lofven. Officials say that 'people in Sweden have a high level of trust in government agencies', meaning that advisory measures are widely followed. 'In the current situation, people in Sweden are on the whole acting responsibly to reduce the spread of infection by, for example, restricting their social contacts,' the government says. Still, ministers have promised a huge increase in testing so that people in key roles such as police and healthcare personnel can be screened for the virus. 'We are talking about testing and analysis capacity of 50,000, perhaps as many as 100,000, a week,' health minister Lena Hallengren said. So far almost 75,000 people have been tested in Sweden, Hallengren said last week. She's been isolating at a luxury Thailand resort after being stranded there amid the coronavirus pandemic. And Kaz Crossley certainly made the most of being in the tropical country as she posed for a series of sizzling Instagram snaps on Tuesday. The Love Island star, 26, looked sensational as she flaunted her slender figure in a skimpy black bikini. Wow! Kaz Crossley certainly made the most of being on lockdown in Thailand as she posed for a series of sizzling Instagram snaps on Tuesday Kaz looked fierce and confident as she posed in the tiny black string bikini top and matching bottoms in the edge of an infinity pool. She swept her caramel tresses into a neat bun and finished her look with a colourful patterned headscarf tied into a cute bow. The make-up artist's stunning snaps almost detracted from the breathtaking background of the Phuket resort, featuring lush green vegetation, mountains, the sea and a beautiful sunset. She captioned the images: 'When you came from nothing, f**k being humble.' Stunning: The Love Island star, 26, looked sensational as she flaunted her slender figure in a skimpy black bikini Earlier this month Kaz told how she had travelled to her family's native country for her very first Songkran festival, but has now been unable to leave her luxury hotel due to the ongoing pandemic. Alongside snaps of her posing up a storm in a hot pink bikini with a plunging neckline, the star gave fans an update of her current situatrion. She said: 'My first Songkran in thailand! 'Unfortunately I wish it was with different circumstances as we are in complete lockdown over here and all festivals and celebrations have been postponed. Showstopping: Kaz looked fierce and confident as she posed in the tiny black string bikini top and matching bottoms in the edge of an infinity pool 'But I am super grateful as I couldnt be in a more beautiful place with better company Happy Thai New Year everyone!' Songkran is the Thai New Year's national holiday, representing purification and the washing away of sins - symbolised by the famous water festival tradition. The festival revolves around celebrating family and reuniting with loved ones, with people often travelling from far and wide to visit. Meanwhile, Kaz's ex Theo Campbell slammed the star for 'selling him the dream,' before branding the other Love Island girls 'mentally unstable'. Lockdown: Kaz Crossley has been making the best of things after being left stranded in Thailand, sporting a hot pink bikini as she posed for a series of pictures on Monday The former Islander announced: 'I got slinged!' when quizzed about his former flame during an appearance on FUBAR Radio's Access All Areas show. He said: 'I don't wanna say too much but I'm gonna say, people these days and love these days, it's confusing. It's a tricky hard world. 'I feel like with us, I kinda gave it my everything and it feels a bit underappreciated. It's a bit crazy at the moment.' Pressed further about what went on between the pair, Theo said: 'I don't know what to call it. What's the right way to say it? I got slinged! I don't know what to call it.' The Ministry of Health is to soon establish guidelines and requirements for the production of face masks in the country, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has disclosed. He said though "the mass production of face mask is very much on point" as the novel coronavirus pandemic raged, it was however appropriate that in the interest of public health, there should be a minimum acceptable requirement for producing personal protective equipment. In an interaction with the Members of the Council of State at the Jubilee House, Accra on Tuesday, President Akufo-Addo noted that though wearing a face mask was much a safety regime against the spread of the COVID-19, its production should conform to acceptable standards to enhance their effectiveness in the control of the virus. Many Ghanaians, in the outbreak of the COVID-19 in the country, have made their own renditions of personal protective gears, including; nose and face mask, often with fabrics use for general clothing. "I know that lots of people are making face mask, but I think that for public health reasons, we should have minimum standards that go into the making of face mask. The Ministry of Health, I am hoping, any day eminently before the week is out, will come out with guidelines on what should be the minimum requirement and standards for producing them, he said. The President noted that the domestic production of personal protective equipment is being advanced to cater for the needs of health workers, and those at the forefront of the fight against the pandemic. He was hopeful that after the establishment of the requirements and certification by the Ghana Standards Authority, mass production of face mask would commence to enable every Ghanaian have access to them. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Confusing social distancing with the concept of socialism while also pushing the QAnon conspiracy. // Photo by Jim Nimmo We've been asking members of the KC community to submit stories about life under house arrest. If you've got a story you'd like to share, please send it to brock@thepitchkc.com for consideration. As we struggle to navigate a global public health crisis that is truly without precedent, we are also presented with a historic moment for our city that is filled with untold possibilities, she said in a news release. By working together as true partners and collaborators, we will be able to double-down on our investments in our communities, expand opportunity to every resident, and transform the economic map of our city for generations to come. I am deeply honored to be able to share this renewed mission with Northwesterns graduating class as they embark on their own journey to remake the world as an inclusive, just and sustainable home for us all. BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 22 By Tamilla Mammadova - Trend: Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Natia Turnava took part in online discussion panel COVID-19 and perspectives of aftermath economic rehabilitation of the International School of Economics at TSU (ISET), Trend reports citing Georgian media. As reported, Regional Director of the World Bank in China, Mongolia and Korea Martin Raiser, Regional Director in EU countries Arup Banerji, and ISET Research Institute Director Tamar Sulukhia participated in the online panel. Steps to be taken by countries in the post-infection period were discussed during the conference. Georgia is ready to be represented in the global economy and global market with a new role, as an alternative platform for doing business, and we can suggest large corporations relocation of their business, Turnava said. According to the minister, diversification and relocation of production will become a new trend for ensuring business. Georgia is one of the most attractive countries in terms of logistics, transparency and low taxes. If we overcome current challenges quickly and defeat the pandemic, it will give us additional advantage of competitiveness, Turnava said. It was reported earlier that the government of Georgia will unveil an anti-crisis economic recovery plan that will include measures for targeted social and business support on April 24, 2020. The plan will also detail the gradual removal of the current restrictions. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Mila61979356 A Conservative politician who went on to become MP for High Peak was left 'extremely scared' when he was punched in the face by a violent thief who snatched his iPhone X on a train, a court heard. Robert Largan, 32, ended up being punched in the face when he tried to pursue the drink-fuelled thief who had grabbed his 800 phone during 'a tussle' on a train journey from his home in Glossop into Manchester. The University of Manchester graduate repeatedly pleaded with his tormentor for his phone back but the thief refused, threatened 'I'm going to murder you' and then punched his terrified victim in the face before running away with the device. Police later caught Leslie Thorley, 41, and he was recalled to prison - where he now faces more jail time after he admitted assault and theft. Conservative MP Robert Largan was punched in the face after he followed a thief that had snatched his 800 iPhone X while on a train journey from Glossop into Manchester Mr Largan won the High Peak constituency for the Conservatives two months later. A court heard Thorley was out of prison on licence when he accosted Mr Largan after the pair boarded a Manchester-bound train at Glossop station on September 4, 2019. The would-be MP thought it was 'strange' that Thorley, who smelled of alcohol and who was drinking from a can of beer, sat beside him on the almost empty train and asked him 'who are you... what do you do?', the court heard. His fellow passenger 'seemed aggressive' when speaking to Mr Largan who tried to ignore him, prosecutor Martha Dowd told Manchester and Salford Magistrates' Court. Thorley, who was wearing a tank top, appeared to be particularly interested in Mr Largan's iPhone X, worth 800, Miss Dowd added. The defendant continued to speak to Mr Largan who tried to ignore him and eventually told him he didn't want to talk to him, the court was told. Then Thorley snatched Mr Largan's phone in what was described in court as a 'tussle' ensued on board the train, with the would-be MP repeatedly telling the thief: 'Give me my phone back.' The defendant ran down the train carriage with the iPhone, pursued by Mr Largan who was shouting 'give me my phone', said the prosecutor. Thorley repeatedly called Mr Largan a 'f**got' and threatened 'I'm going to split your head open', the court was told. Mr Largan later told the police the experience was 'horrendous'. The court heard Mr Largan had taken a can of beer from the defendant during the incident but, when he returned the alcohol, Thorley 'downed it in one', said Miss Dowd. Mr Largan asked other passengers for help but 'they didn't seem to help', said the prosecutor. Largan, who won the High Peak seat from Labour's Ruth George in the December general election, was threatened as he went after the thief, who said 'I'm going to murder you' When the train arrived at Broadbottom station, Mr Largan followed Thorley down a dirt track and urged him to return the phone and 'go and enjoy your night'. The court heard Thorley then told him: 'If you want your phone back, you are going to have to give me all your money.' Thorley continued to try and get away from Mr Largan and told him: 'If you don't stop following me I'm going to smash your head in.' He then punched Mr Largan in the face. The politician told police he 'didn't fight back' and was left 'extremely scared'. 'I'm not a violent person. I just wanted my phone back,' he told officers. Thorley picked up a rock and threw it at Mr Largan's face but it missed, the court was told. The thug then asked Mr Largan if he lived in Broadbottom and when he replied that he did Thorley said: 'If you don't stop following me I'm going to murder you.' The victim admitted he became 'extremely distressed' and concluded 'the phone wasn't worth it'. When the defendant picked up another rock, Mr Largan walked away. Thorley, 41, a serving prisoner at HMP Strangeways, admitted assaulting Largan in Glossop on September 4, 2019 and theft of a mobile phone when he appeared at Manchester and Salford Magistrates' Court on Tuesday. The court heard he had a number of previous convictions including for violence and was serving a sentence at the time of the attack. Largan, seen in the House of Commons, said that he 'didn't fight back' against the thief and was left 'extremely scared' having disembarked the train to pursue at Broadbottom station He had been out of prison 'on licence' and has now been recalled to prison. Paul Green, defending, conceded his client's crimes attracted a potential prison sentence of between six months and two years. He told District Judge Bernard Begley: 'You may well feel your sentencing powers are insufficient for sentencing.' Judge Begley told the defendant, who appeared in court from prison via videolink: 'I regard my sentencing powers as insufficient.' The case was adjourned until May 19 when Thorley will be sentenced by a judge at Minshull Street Crown Court. Mr Largan took the High Peak constituency for the Conservatives during the December general election, beating Labour's Ruth George by 590 votes. He overturned a 2,322 vote majority to replace Ms George, who was elected in 2017. He unsuccessfully contested the Bury South constituency for the Tories in the 2017 general election. After the hearing, the MP said: 'I just want to thank the police for their comprehensive and speedy response. They have been brilliant from start to finish.' Surgeons are preparing to make "tough decisions" about which patients will be able to have their elective surgery - including cataract removal, hip and knee replacements - when the ban on many non-essential procedures lifts next week. Patients with multiple chronic health conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes, including some elderly patients, may have to keep waiting for procedures that could put them at risk of complications, as doctors draw up guidelines to prioritise "low-risk, high value care". Not everyone waiting for elective surgery will be able to get it when the ban lifts next week. Credit:iStock Royal Australasian College of Surgeons President Tony Sparnon said surgeons would have to weigh up multiple factors in deciding which patients to book in for surgery in the coming weeks, including how much pain they were in and the likelihood of requiring a stay in intensive care. "This is where the surgeons and clinicians will have to make some tough decisions," he said. Coronavirus death toll hits 187 in Israel According to the countrys health ministry, 384 new cases bringing the tally to 14,326. The death toll in Israel from coronavirus has risen to 187 after three more people died, the countrys Health Ministry said Wednesday. The ministry said 384 new cases were reported in the country, bringing the tally to 14,326. NEARLY 5,000 ISRAELIS WERE RECOVERED At least 148 of them are in critical condition, while 4,961 people have recovered. The government has taken some measures to stem the spread of the virus, including closure of all educational institutes and banning gatherings of more than two people. All businesses with the exception of supermarkets, pharmacies, gas stations and banks have been closed since March 15. Moreover, Tel Aviv banned the entry of foreign citizens except those with Israeli residency. A man who died in Michigan was denied coronavirus testing at three different emergency rooms because he was black, his family has alleged, as state officials said a "medical bias" may exist in Covid-19 testing. Gary Fowler, 56, was reportedly not tested for the novel virus at the three Detroit-area emergency rooms despite having many symptoms associated with the disease, according to his stepson, Keith Gambrell. He was begging for his life, but no one would help him at all, Mr Gambrell said about his stepfather in an interview with CBS This Morning. They just kept sending him away. He added: I honestly believe it was because my father was black. They didnt honestly take his symptoms serious enough to give him a test. Mr Fowler later died at home. He reportedly wrote the words heart beat irregular oxygen level low on a piece of paper before he passed away. The family faced multiple severe coronavirus cases, including Mr Fowlers father, who died from Covid-19 a day before his own death. Oprah warns of coronavirus impact on black Americans Mr Fowlers wife, Cheryl, was also sent to a hospital after developing symptoms, and was put on a ventilator to assist with her breathing. Out of concern for his family amid the outbreak, Mr Gambrell called his cousin, Karen Whitsett, a state representative who happened to recently visit the White House to speak about surviving her own case of the novel virus. Ms Whitsett then managed to have the whole family tested, telling CBS it sickens her that she had to use her title as a state lawmaker to get my family tested. The state launched a task force dedicated to investigating racial inequalities surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist, chair of the state task force, told the network his group would address the fact that there may indeed be medical bias present when it comes to testing. The lieutenant governor also said such a bias may exist in terms of who will even get a test, as well as in how treatment is administered. In announcing the launch of the new task force, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer noted the coronavirus outbreak has taken a disproportionate toll on Michigans communities of colour. I am confident this task force will help us identify the factors driving this disparity and to identify actions we can take to create a more equitable Michigan for everyone, the governor said. Each of the task force members will provide a unique perspective and play a vital part in identifying these barriers and ensuring all Michiganders have equal access to critical resource when they need them most. Small business owners across the country have found themselves forced to temporarily shut down as the COVID-19 pandemic ravages the economy. The Canadian Press spoke to some entrepreneurs who have found ways to adapt and serve their customers in new ways under unusual circumstances. When COVID-19 hit, Michael Mallette did what he has done many times before: pivot. Mallette spent 15 years in the payments industry before opening BFF, a doggy daycare, boarding and walking business in Prince Edward Country, Ont. and Toronto, four years ago. Amid COVID-19, he temporarily closed most of those services to all but health-care and front-line workers and started selling vegetable and fruit boxes with produce from closed, local restaurants. Lots of our clients are downtown and they dont have cars and they dont have ways to go and get groceries right now. They maybe have people that are a little bit more at risk in their homes or they might be at risk themselves, he said. We just said, look, we cant do full shopping ... but this will be a way for us to help support our local restaurants. Customers were clamouring for the boxes, but Mallette had to hit pause on the concept because governments were advising more businesses to suspend operations and increasingly asking people to stay home. We had barely launched, Mallette said. It was a very tough decision, but we just cant risk our staff. Now, hes just focusing on boarding the pets of health-care workers and launching a virtual and free version of BFFs Puppy Power Hour, a social for dogs. While money is on his mind, hes not as stressed as some about paying the bills because he owns his Prince Edward Country facility and has a lenient landlord in Toronto. His 17 Toronto staff are also rising to the occasion. Before things got to where they are right now, they had called me privately in the background and said 'turn off my salary, give it to the people that need it,' Mallette said. Employees that had somebody else in their family earning income were giving their shifts away to the other staff that needed it the most ... Theyve been supporting each other right from the start. Craig Sheridans wholesale food business Legends Haul once relied on restaurants in and around Vancouver for about half of its clientele. When the COVID-19 outbreak shuttered many of the provinces eateries for all but take-out service, Sheridan built an online shop overnight to start delivering groceries to peoples homes. We have this great food. We need to get it to people that need it, he said. The new arm of the Legends Haul business sells a variety of meat cuts, seafood, plant-based proteins, produce, pantry staples and other goods. It also allows customers to order restaurant favourites from local restaurants such as Cafe Medias waffles and Livia Bakerys sourdough loaves, which are two of the most popular products for delivery. The company is now making more than 200 deliveries daily, six days a week. What used to be a team of about 30 people has already grown by 10, Sheridan said, noting hes been able to hire some friends and former clients who have had to close their doors. Its too soon to tell how much of a difference the new business will make financially for Legends Haul, he said. Revenue is up, but Sheridan has had to invest money into the service, including hiring more workers. But the investment is long term, he said. Sheridan anticipates the company will keep delivering groceries after the pandemic is under control. He believes consumer behaviour will change as a result of physical distancing guidelines. Theyre going to come out of this and theyre going to want to have an online platform and a delivery experience. Aleksandra Szaflarska sensed early on that COVID-19 might upend her business in a significant way. As one of the owners of Kitchener, Ont. craft brewery Together Were Bitter, she was hearing stories about the virus from other leaders at the co-operative who had links to the health-care community. The severity of what was going to happen, and what was indeed happening around the world, was made pretty clear to us really early on, she said. Those early warnings helped the group of 10 owners anticipate and adapt their business, shifting quickly from a walk-in bar and retail space that sold primarily by the glass, into an online beer delivery service. We had to set up the website and figure out bottling, which was just a small part of our business prior to that, she said. Its a completely different business than it was a month ago. Szaflarska said having 10 leaders in the co-operative helped Together Were Bitter stay nimble in the transition. I wouldnt have been able to set up an online store by myself, she said, but between all of us we have the expertise on the team. Every Wednesday, the team of owners hold a group call, and together theyve established a back-up plan that would allow one of them to step in on certain operational responsibilities if another person gets sick with COVID-19. In a lot of ways, crises like this can bring teams together, Szaflarska said. The owners are trying to maintain human connections with each other too, so theyre not only focused on crisis mode. They recently organized a virtual team chat with staff over a beer that emphasized sharing stories about their lives outside the business. Because were constantly just talking about how to react to whats going on around us and what to do next, you lose out on some of that time for personal connection,she said. And its really important when youve got such a big group. COVID-19 has hit most companies hard, but Amanda Halls Calgary-based lithium extraction technology company has faced double the trouble. Hall spent most of the year lining up $1.5 million through an oversubscribed funding round for her Summit Nanotech business, but when a price war broke out between Saudi Arabia and Russia emerged just as COVID-19 started to spread, backers and other potential investors began to pull out. The money she had amassed shrunk to $750,000 within two weeks. Ive got all these people committed and signing slowly one at a time, but until that moneys in my bank account, I probably wont sleep very well, she said. I could still lose investors, so that scares me. Hall had to make the tough decision to withhold her salary for three months and slash the compensation of two of her top earners. Shes mulling layoffs, but hoping she can avoid them, even though the frightening news keeps coming. The government and university labs she uses recently closed, but she was determined not to let COVID-19 strangle her small business progress. She moved lab operations to a Breaking Bad-style trailer with a lab. My best-case scenario budget was closing the $1.5 million, and accessing all sorts of government grants and being able to leverage all this money and move to the field quickly with two prototypes ... but I ended up with my worst-case scenario, she said. Now everything I do has to be lean and mean, so were only taking one prototype to the field, not two. It cuts our market penetration in half and it also makes time to get to market a little bit longer. Its all doable, but its not what I expected and my expectations are dashed. Launching an eco-friendly bottled water brand in the midst of a pandemic is a risky venture, but Michelle Donnelly says she didnt have much of a choice. The Toronto entrepreneur was nearly two years into planning the rollout for Lark, her new Ontario spring water business, when COVID-19 began to generate worldwide attention. She continued moving forward with opening its production facility on March 14, in order to deliver reuseable glass bottles to local hotels and restaurants. But a few hours after the operations started up, Donnelly says it became clear Lark would have to substantially change its business model. We did our pilot run, and then were basically locked down, Donnelly said. I mean, talk about insane timing, right? With hotels reduced to skeleton staff and many restaurants closed, Donnellys $250,000 business was left without its key customers. She sat down with her husband and business partner to devise an emergency plan that would revamp Lark with a direct-to-consumer delivery model. We need to do something because its self-funded, she said. Were footing the bill, theres no investors to fall back on. We have to pay the rent, all of that. So we strategized the evening of March 15, pivoted the next day to change the bio on Instagram and a bit of the description on the landing of our site, and went after home delivery. Donnelly has positioned Larks service as a minimalist milkman that caters to households in the Greater Toronto Area who want to reduce their use of plastics and landfill waste. But since shes a new business, she cant tap into the current federal emergency wage support measures, which wouldve eased some of pressure of paying the facility manager who now doubles as a delivery man. She remains hopeful that Lark will persevere through this uncertain period. When some of the restrictions lifted, hopefully in the next eight weeks or so, well already have a bit of a name out there, and then we can just build off of that, Donnelly said. Its a terrible situation for my business, but my familys healthy, she added. All I can do is try to make the best of it. There are few jobs in real estate more hands-on than a home inspector, so the coronavirus outbreak has forced Darren Smith to rethink everything about how he works. The owner of Halifax Home Inspections said he thought about shutting down entirely, since business is already down about 75 per cent, but decided to keep working for those people truly in need of buying a home. He warns clients though that it wont be a regular inspection, as he tries to avoid touching things in the house as much as possible, even with gloves. I tell my customers up front, its not going to be a normal inspection and I just do the best I can, said Smith. We used to kind of like, turn on all the appliances, open every window in the house, that kind of thing. Theres none of that now. He said that so far, he only felt uneasy before the state of emergency was declared and he was inspecting small apartment buildings where tenants were still around. I felt very uncomfortable with that, having all those people around, for their sake and for mine. He now insists that no one else is in the house while hes working. One homeowner refused to leave so he turned down the job, but Smith said overall people have been very understanding. The one thing Ive noticed is just how reasonable everybody is being, and accepting of my precautions, and nobodys making a big stink about it. Centre mandates Air Suvidha portal for ease of travel: All you need to know Aviation Ministry headquarters to be sealed off after staffer tests positive India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Apr 22: The headquarters of the Civil Aviation Ministry will be sealed off as per protocol after a staffer tested positive. The ministry headquarters is based at the Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan in New Delhi's Jor Bagh. An employee of the ministry who had attended office on 15 April 2020 has tested positive for COVID-19 on 21st April. All necessary protocols are being stringently followed on the Premises. All colleagues who came in contact are being asked to go into self-isolation as a precaution, the ministry said. Government of Delhi is seized of the matter. They are taking appropriate steps as per the laid protocol for contact tracing and risk profiling, the ministry also said. This incident comes just a day after a Lok Sabha staffer tested positive for coronavirus. Prior to this a staffer at the Raj Bhavan too tested positive for COVID-19. A Washington Post story was the first to quote SITE Intelligence Group, a private terrorism watchdog, as estimating the leak to 25,000 email addresses and passwords. If reports are to be believed, the Gates Foundation, World Health Organization and a virology lab based in China may have observed a massive data-breach. Reports said that a cache of the data was found on a message board called 4Chan and later on Pastebin. Similar data-dumps have been spilled onto Telegram channels and even Twitter. Neither Washington Post nor SITE was able to confirm if the development was a fresh leak or from a previous data breach. Rita Katz, SITE's executive director was quoted as saying, "Using the data, far-right extremists were calling for a harassment campaign while sharing conspiracy theories about the coronavirus pandemic. The distribution of these alleged email credentials were just another part of a months-long initiative across the far right to weaponize the covid-19 pandemic." Data belonging to a number of entities such as the NIH, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, World Bank, Wuhan Institute of Virology, and the Gates Foundation. SITE's data suggests that the largest group of alleged emails and passwords was from the NIH with 9,938 found on lists posted online. Data points related to CDC were estimated at 6,857. World Bank had 5,120, WHO's data-dump included 2,732 entries. None of the entities have commented on the development. A spokesperson for the Gates Foundation said that there was no indication of a data breach and the situation was being monitored. A VICE report, however, said that this development could be a conspiracy theory or a way to intimidate government agencies working to prevent the spread of the pandemic virus. The report includes comments from Motherboard saying that the email addresses were outdated. If the VICE reports sounds assuring, the Washington Post story quotes Robert Potter, an Australian cyber security expert fact-checking the latest cache of dump. Potter managed to gain access to WHO's official mail server using the id and passwords. He observed that passwords for some of the accounts was 'password'. Hackers with access to ids and passwords could mean doomsday to all the efforts of entities involved in Coronavirus treatment and control of spread. It could also mean that hackers have access to classified information on treatment and insider information. This information in the wrong hands could further add to worries for policy-makers and global leaders. As you read, the data-cache is constantly exchanging hands thanks to availability in the dark Web, a portion that does not show up as easily in search results. Links to such avenues were publicly made available to Telegram and Twitter channels. Twitter is learnt to be working in getting the links deleted off its platform. Telegram which is moderate in such cases could be a hot-channel for keen buyers and sellers. A neo-Nazi Telegram Group called 'Terrorwave Refined' may have the information for its subscribers. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq has reacted angrily to claims by international relief agencies that it is blocking aid to the Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, saying they are untrue. The first public volley came from Medecins Sans Frontiers, the French non-governmental organization known as Doctors without Borders in English that has a long record of helping Kurds on both sides of the border. In a tweet, it urged authorities in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region and northeast Syria to facilitate timely access for humanitarian organizations, including for humanitarian cargo and international staff to travel to and enter into both countries." Adding the hashtag #COVID-19, the group continued that "its response remains limited so long as timely access is not granted. Since January, the Semalka/Fish Khabur crossing with Iraqi Kurdistan has become the sole entry point for aid to northeast Syria after UN deliveries from Iraq via the Yaroubiyah crossing further south were blocked by Russian and Chinese vetoes at the UN Security Council in December. In a further setback, aid transfers were recently disrupted by flooding in the Khabur stream, a Tigris tributary that separates Semalka and Fish Khabur. Some 40% of the northeasts medical provisions had come in via Yaroubiyah. As a result of Moscow and Beijing's actions, the UN can no longer transport any aid via Iraq to northeast Syria and has to operate through the central government in Damascus, leaving the burden on nongovernmental organizations operating outside the UN system to deliver assistance via Iraqi Kurdistan. As such, MSFs critiques are being perceived by Iraqi Kurdish officials as solely targeting the KRG. A senior KRG official told Al-Monitor, These organizations know all too well that over the years, the only access for humanitarian assistance to northeast Syria is through the KRG. We never created obstacles; to the contrary, we provided all the logistical assistance as well. The official pointed to two COVID-19 testing units gifted by the Iraqi Kurdistan Region's president, Nechirvan Barzani, delivered to the Syrian Kurds on April 10 in response to an appeal by the latters autonomous administration. The gift prompted an effusive response from Mazlum Kobane, the commander of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which provides security for the north and east of Syria. Thanks and appreciation for the president of the Kurdistan region, Kak Nechirvan Barzani, for his quick and kind response, he tweeted. Kak means brother in Kurdish. An official source in northeast Syria speaking to Al-Monitor not for attribution said, We are not responsible for the NGO reports and the KRG is still facilitating humanitarian aid to our areas. We have good relations. He did not elaborate. The claims come at a particularly delicate moment as the KRG in tandem with the United States is helping broker talks between rival Kurdish groups in northeast Syria while simultaneously upgrading its own fractious ties with the autonomous administration in northeast Syria in the face of Turkish objections. Members of the Syrian Kurdish opposition united under the umbrella of the Kurdish National Council (KNC) met with officials from the Democratic Unity Party (PYD) yesterday for the first time since 2014 in the town of Qamishli, an official source confirmed. The PYD is the most powerful political grouping in northeast Syria and part of the autonomous administration. The KNC and the PYD have been at loggerheads ever since an agreement brokered by Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani collapsed amid mutual recriminations and Turkish meddling. Ankara is bent on sowing divisions among the Syrian Kurds insurance, as it sees things, to prevent them from evolving under US protection into another Iraqi Kurdistan. Any discord between the KRG and the autonomous administration could jeopardize the talks, fragile as they are. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the talks will continue, but gave no further details. The Syrian Kurdish-run area announced its first COVID-19 fatality on April 17 and accused the World Health Organization of being responsible for the virus spread. We are going through difficult times with this virus and have controlled all our borders with Turkey, Iraq and even along internal lines in Iraq proper, the Iraqi Kurdish official said on strict condition of anonymity. We cannot make exceptions with Syria. Any back and forth of personnel has to meet the health criteria of tests and quarantine. A recent briefing prepared by nongovernmental staff working in northern and eastern Syria that was seen by Al-Monitor laid out in detail some of the complaints MSF alluded to. It said the KRG continues to prevent aid agencies from crossing into North and East Syria, as well as preventing humanitarian actors from purchasing supplies in the KRG. The briefing continues, The KRG has banned humanitarian actors from purchasing personal protective equipment and other supplies in Erbil and elsewhere if they are to be transported to North and East Syria, while it has also closed the only border crossing into the northeast, preventing the movement of NGO staff, supplies and other humanitarian actors. Responding to the claims, the KRG official said, As for the procurement of supplies we dont produce medical supplies, they are all imported. We therefore cannot drain our own markets for export by NGOs. The official continued, Back in January, the Chinese consulate in Erbil purchased over 200,000 masks from the local market to be taken back to China. We kindly asked them not to do so and so they donated them back to our Health Ministry. We also have our own public health concerns to take care of. A system is in place to allow passage for aid and to not to leave it to the whims of the NGOs to come and go as they wish. In an April 1 letter addressed to the UN deputy special representative and humanitarian coordinator in Baghdad, Marta Ruedas, that was seen by Al-Monitor, KRG Interior Minister Rebar Ahmed agreed to facilitate the limited border crossing for humanitarian personnel and assistance purposes into northeastern Syria and also all emergency and medical evacuations of humanitarian staff into the Kurdistan Region, provided they complied with a number of conditions. They include obeying the KRGs COVID-19 guidelines on quarantine and self-isolation. In the letter, the KRG also said it would cover medical and quarantine expenses for humanitarian staff. Weve bent over backward, the KRG official said. The KRG has imposed strict lockdown measures since February to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, which according to official figures has claimed four lives in the Iraqi Kurdish region so far. Schools, shopping malls and restaurants will remain shut until further review on May 2. The area borders Iran, where the death toll from COVID-19 has been among the highest in the Middle East with 5,391 dying from the disease. Deaths across Iraq stood at 83, according to official figures. The US Senate on April 21 passed a nearly half-a-trillion dollar coronavirus pandemic relief package to protect small businesses in the country from shutting down. According to reports, the bill was passed after more than a week of negotiations between the Republicans and the Democrats in the US Congress. The funding is the government's latest cash infusion to prop up the economy as it had earlier approved another $450 billion package for the same purpose. Read: COVID-19 Crisis: US Accuses China Of Hoarding PPE Kits And Selling Them At Higher Rates The latest $480 billion relief package is aimed at saving small businesses from shutting down, to expand coronavirus testing and for hospitals fighting the disease. As per reports, $320 billion will go towards small businesses, $75 billion for hospitals and $25 billion for expansion of testing in the country. An additional $60 billion will be for disaster recovery and loan grants. Democrat Chuck Schumer praised Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for agreeing to include funds for testing. Read: 'Opinion Breeds Ignorance': JK Rowling Quotes Hippocrates As Protesters Swarm US Streets New York City is the most affected region in the United States, where alone more than 19,600 people have lost their lives. As per the data, the total number of infected patients in the United States stands at 8,19,175, nearly four times that of Spain, which is currently the second most affected country. There are 6,90,859 active infections in the United States, of which 45,343 have lost their lives, while 14,016 remain under critical conditions. The United States has reportedly treated 82,973 patients successfully, which is a few thousand less than Germany. Read: South Korea: People Return To Work, Public Places As Country Relaxes Lockdown Restrictions Coronavirus outbreak The coronavirus outbreak has infected over 2.55 million people globally and has killed nearly 1,77,000 patients since it first broke out in December 2019. The virus is believed to have originated from a seafood market in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the initial epicentre of the disease, where animals were reportedly being traded illegally. Other countries that are currently the worst affected are Italy, Spain, France, Iran, and the United Kingdom, where the death toll has surpassed 17,000 mark each. Read: Australia Calls For Review Of Circumstances That Led To Start Of COVID-19 Pandemic (Image Credit: AP) Currently Reading On Earth Day look back at some of Keep Midland Beautiful's tree planting events (Natural News) When freedom-loving Americans need social media platforms the most, it seems, those platforms which were built and marketed on the concept of promoting free speech become the first things to limit speech. Facebook has a history of conservative censorship, of course. But the platform is developing a nasty taste for authoritarianism as well, banning content that it claims is dangerous and harmful but which only amounts to people trying to exercise their constitutional rights. In this case, that would be their First Amendment rights to speak freely, organize, and redress grievances. As reported by Breitbart News, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg told Good Morning America on Monday his company would not allow people to use the platform to plan protests and demonstrations against coronavirus-related stay-at-home orders because they are allegedly vehicles to spread misinformation. Zuckerberg was set up by host and former Bill Clinton war room hack George Stephanopoulos: Stephanopoulos asked Zuckerberg how the company deals with the fact that Facebook is now being used to organize a lot of these protests to defy social distancing guidelines in states. If somebody trying to organize something like that, does that qualify as harmful misinformation? We do classify that as harmful misinformation and we take that down, Zuckerberg said. At the same time, its important that people can debate policies so theres a line on this, you know, more than normal political discourse. I think a lot of the stuff that people are saying that is false around a health emergency like this can be classified as harmful misinformation. He then added that its important that people can debate policies. Sure; people just cant do anything about those policies because obviously, its already been made. But you see what Zuckerberg did there? He made his tyranny sound reasonable, and made it sound as though he was really just saying, Hey, you know, Im willing to listen herelets talk about this, even though hes already made his decision. Facebook censorship has been going on for years now Isnt it odd how Americans on the Left are so quick to claim they are all about free speech and the exchanges of ideas, but are equally quick to ban and censor ideas they dont like or dont agree with? Not odd, of course, but by design: The Left is intolerant, period, and they arent going to change because they are also authoritarians. Meanwhile, Breitbart reported further that a Facebook spokesman confirmed to CNN that planned protests in California, New Jersey and Nebraska were having their pages removed from Facebook at the request of state authorities. Hows that discussion going, Zuck? Still willing to talk it out? The timing of Zuckerbergs decision isnt suspect, however. It just happens to have come right after President Trump took to Twitter to voice his support for Americans who have come to believe that the stay-at-home orders issued for their states and communities are overly strict and in need of adjustment, especially in light of the fact that some orders simply make no sense whatsoever. On Twitter, the President called on protesters to liberate the states of Michigan, Minnesota, and Virginia, also calling on Virginian citizens to save your great 2nd amendment. It is under siege!, Breitbart reported. The next thing we know, Zuckerberg is banning people who essentially agree with the president. Coincidence? Facebook censorship has been happening since it was obvious Donald Trump the outsider was going to be the GOP presidential nominee. In July 2016, Natural News reported it had gotten so bad conservative activist Pamela Geller sued over it. Every day I received emails from readers and members of my various Facebook groups, asking for help after having been blocked for posting a story or comment that might offend Muslims, she wrote. This is America, not Saudi Arabia. Enough. I am suing. Sources include: NaturalNews.com Breitbart.com TROY Recovering from the coronavirus pandemic isn't going to mean life in the Capital Region will return to normal and the way it was two months ago. Instead, profound systemic changes to the economy and local governments are going to be needed. Some of the changes will be painful, while others may make the region stronger. Either way, life is going to be a lot different than we remember it, local civic, business and nonprofit leaders stressed Wednesday during a virtual town hall on the COVID-19 crisis that was hosted by the Troy Innovation Garage and broadcast on Zoom. Take the restaurant industry, perhaps the hardest hit by the mandatory business closures that are part of state-mandated quarantine orders. Before they were forced to close except for delivery and takeout orders, New York's restaurants employed 660,000 people. Latest coronavirus-related cancellations, postponements The latest coronavirus numbers in NY Sign up for the Times Union coronavirus newsletter Full coronavirus coverage Now, 80 percent of those workers have been laid off or furloughed, Melissa Fleischut, CEO of the New York State Restaurant Association, said during the town hall event. "That number is incredible to us," Fleischut said. "That's a really hard statistic for us to deal with." And the destruction of income has been just as severe, with an estimated $5.5 billion drop in restaurant sales during March and April statewide. That might lead most people to believe that when the restrictions on restaurants and other businesses that gather large numbers of people are lifted, that the economy will roar back with all those people being brought back to work and all that money flowing in again. But that is very unlikely to happen right away, says Philip Morris, the CEO of Proctors, the Schenectady-based theater and creative arts nonprofit. That's especially true because even though there may be significant government restrictions in place regulating how certain businesses can operate and how many people they can have in a space, the public may not be ready to put themselves in those situations until a vaccine has been developed and the coronavirus threat is believed to be eradicated. "It may be a very long time before the public is willing to sit in theaters," Morris said. "We've got to realize here that we are the opposite of social distancing." Morris said the impact won't only be felt by Proctors either, since there is a trickle-down effect. "The restaurant industry in Schenectady is dependent on Proctors," Morris added. And the impact isn't just on the restaurant and theater industries themselves. Those businesses generate sales tax revenue that has dried up for the state and local country governments. Albany County Executive Dan McCoy, who participated in the town hall event, says the county could be facing a $30 million deficit from the loss of tax revenue due to the pandemic that will impact the county budget. That puts a lot of pressure on the government to let businesses re-open. But it's not going to be as simple as turning on a light switch. The county is working now to envision what that will be like. "What is the new normal going to be?" McCoy asked. "We're learning as we go." Both civic and business leaders say it's going to take a lot of creativity to get the economy running again. The old ways of doing and regulating businesses will have to be thrown out the window. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. The new landscape will likely be created using a mix of new ideas generated by the pandemic and older ideas that perhaps had been used in the past but have been forgotten, the speakers said. "How quickly can we pivot?" asked Oliver Robinson, superintendent of the Shenendehowa Central School District in Clifton Park. "How can we retool?" Assembly member Pat Fahy of Albany County envisions a New Deal-style public works program to get people employed again, since the old version of the economy isn't likely to materialize once the pandemic is under control. "Some businesses are not coming back and some of these jobs are not coming back," Fahy said. Fahy estimates that one-third of all millennials are unemployed, and she envisions a national public works program that would focus on putting young people in their 20s and 30s to work doing contact tracing of virus infections, something she believes that digital-savvy millennials would be good at. The work program could also focus on developing the creative economy and green energy development, she said. Businesses are also going to have to try new things, said Heidi Knoblauch, the founder of the Plumb Oyster Bar in Troy who also happens to be Pioneer Bank's venture and growth banking relationship manager. Knoblauch decided to close her restaurant and furlough staff so they could collect unemployment instead of working reduced hours doing takeout orders. She's planning to reopen May 1 for takeout orders. However, she has gotten creative doing a COVID-19 cocktail club that delivers a set of six cocktails and cheese to customers within a 15-mile radius once a week for a month for $300. Knoblauch isn't sure what the restaurant experience will be like when restaurants are allowed to open after the pandemic ends, but she believes that the most successful in the industry will adapt to the new realities of the business, which will be dictated by health concerns and social distancing requirements. In that way, the pandemic could end up creating new business opportunities for some. She said she is already planning a new venture herself that will replicate the experience of being in a restaurant, although she didn't reveal her exact plans. "We're getting a new business off the ground," Knoblauch said. Human beings must stay calm and march toward the right direction as the war against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has entered a critical moment. Over the past few days, governments, politicians and heads of international organizations have expressed their support for the World Health Organization (WHO) in playing an important role in fighting COVID-19. At this critical moment, the world is increasingly aware of the urgency and necessity of adhering to multilateralism and deepening international cooperation. It is increasingly recognized that supporting the WHO is supporting multilateralism and maintaining the unity of the international community in the fight against the pandemic. Viruses are a common enemy of mankind, targeting at all human beings, countries and regions. Therefore, the sharpest weapon against it is solidarity. Strengthening solidarity, coordination and cooperation under multilateral frameworks is the only solution for the international community to jointly conquer the challenges posed by the pandemic and safeguard the world. As a specialized agency responsible for public health affairs within the United Nations system, the WHO upholds a science-based, objective and impartial position and actively guides and assists countries in responding to the pandemic, making important contributions to promoting international cooperation in combating the pandemic, and building a professional multilateral platform for all countries to help each other through cooperation. Fighting the pandemic requires the WHO to play its due role. Therefore, the organization must be supported. This is an international consensus and conforms to the common interests of all countries. Solidarity and cooperation are the most powerful weapon for the international community to overcome the pandemic, and they cant be overemphasized. At a recent special summit of the ASEAN Plus Three (China, Japan and the Republic of Korea) on COVID-19, participating leaders agreed that countries should work closely with the WHO and the international community to jointly safeguard global public health security. The Group of 77 coalition of developing nations and China issued a statement on April 19, acknowledging the leading role of the WHO in responding to the pandemic and calling on the international community to strengthen solidarity and enhance their support for the WHO. Other organizations such as the UN General Assembly, the European Union, the African Union, and the Alliance for Multilateralism have also recently voiced support for the WHO in coordinating the international community to fight the pandemic. Most of the countries in the world can see it that only a more stable mansion of multilateralism can bring more hope to finally defeat the virus. When the shared future of mankind meets severe challenges, all human being shall take their responsibility together. There is no reason to pass the buck, and every country must work to tackle the challenges. All parties shall uphold the vision of building a community with a shared future, maintain and safeguard multilateralism, and cope with the pandemic with confidence, unity, and cooperation. At the critical moment when human destiny is facing severe challenges, China always upholds the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind, advocates and practices multilateralism, and actively carries out international cooperation to fight the pandemic. It firmly supports the leading role of the UN and the WHO and actively coordinates the international community to fight COVID-19, injecting strong positive energy into the global containment efforts. China has maintained close communication and cooperation with the WHO and shared information with the organization and the international society in an open, transparent and responsible manner. The country released the genetic sequence of the novel coronavirus at the first opportunity and shared its experience on prevention, control and treatment with the WHO and the international society. In addition, it has donated $20 million to the WHO to support it in carrying out international cooperation in fighting COVID-19. At the G20 Extraordinary Virtual Leaders' Summit on COVID-19, China called on countries to support WHOs leadership role, and put forward a number of specific initiatives to strengthen multilateral cooperation. With the joint efforts of all parties, practical initiatives are being implemented. Adhering to multilateralism and supporting the effective functioning of multilateral institutions is not only a just move to maintain international order and rules, but also a concrete action to provide support for developing countries with vulnerable public health systems, which is in the global common interests. The leaders of Germany, France, Italy and Canada have unanimously emphasized and called for strengthening international cooperation in response to the outbreak, and expressed their high recognition and full support for the WHO. Facts tell that in the anti-pandemic action concerning the safety and health of the people around the world, the conducts of certain Western countries undermining unity and cooperation will eventually find no support. Fighting the pandemic is not only a contest between human beings and disease, but also one between multilateralism and unilateralism. This is a key test. Only by adhering to the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind and firmly grasping the most powerful weapon of solidarity and cooperation can mankind overcome the pandemic. To make the mansion of multilateralism more stable, all countries should make the correct choice. U.S. Air Force builds facility in Guam to accommodate Roosevelt sailors with COVID-19 People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 14:28, April 21, 2020 LOS ANGELES, April 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Air Force announced Monday it joined efforts to contain the outbreak of COVID-19 among sailors from aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, which docked in Guam last month. According to a press release from the Air Force, the 36th Wing constructed an Expeditionary Medical Support System or EMEDS, on the grounds of U.S. Naval Hospital Guam, where hundred of sailors infected with COVID-19 are being treated. On Monday, the Navy reported that 94 percent of the crew from the Roosevelt had been tested for COVID-19. Of those, it said 678 sailors had tested positive while 3,904 others negative. The EMEDS facility, estimated to be completed within a coup of days, consists of 11 medical units, and six warehouse units, the USAF said. "It really is a culminated effort of many different units from multiple bases to pull off the logistics of getting all the supplies here for this operation," noted Lt. Col. David Johnson, Troop Commander for the operation. Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska provided assistance by flying over medical supplies, the press release added. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address In a bid to deter people from stepping out during the COVID-19 lockdown, the Madhya Pradesh government roped in Bollywood actors Ashutosh Rana and Rajpal Yadav to appeal to people, an official said on Wednesday. The Bollywood artistes took to the streets of Kotwali area in Jabalpur on Tuesday, asking people to remain indoors to stem the spread of coronavirus, an officer from the state's public relations department said. "People peeped out of the windows of their homes to catch a glimpse of the two actors, who urged them to practice social distancing whenever they stepped out," he said. Rana, who was born in Narsinghpur district, has won the Filmfare Award for his films 'Dushman' and 'Sangharsh', while Yadav has a host of strong performances under his belt, and is known for his comic roles. The actors distributed masks and sanitisers to policemen who were manning the streets, the official said. The duo praised police personnel for their dedication and honesty in performing their duty in these unprecedented times, he said. The actors were in Madhya Pradesh to meet their spiritual guru Pandit Dev Prabhakar Shastri, popularly known as Daddaji in the neighbouring Katni district. At least 27 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Jabalpur, of which six have recovered from the infection. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) "Beyond That Mountain" is a biographical movie of Korea's first Roman Catholic cardinal. The film will focus on the early childhood life of the late Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan. The 10-year-old child star, Lee Kyung-hoon, will have his biggest role to date in the upcoming movie "Beyond That Mountain." Among 260 candidates who auditioned for the role, Lee got the part of young Kim. He has been part of a long list of drama series as well. Here are a few: My Shy Boss (2017), I'm Not a Robot (2017), Ms. Hammurabi (2018), Haechi (2019), Memorist (2020), and many more. His mother will be played by Lee Hang-na, while his father will be portrayed played by Ahn Nae-sang. The late Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan was born in 1922 and the youngest among eight siblings. During the Korean War in 1951, he was ordained as a priest, and in 1969 he was named a cardinal by Pope Paul VI. During his reign, Catholics in South Korea multiplied by a factor of six. And his influence went beyond the walls of Catholics. Both Catholic and non-Catholic South Koreans turned for his comfort and support during the military dictatorship from the 1960s to the 1980s. The late cardinal was the longest-serving cardinal. He is also the dearest and the most beloved spiritual leader in South Korea. In 2009, Cardinal Kim died at St. Mary's Hospital in Seoul at the age of 86. Kim Sou-hwan was quoted as "a big guiding star in our nation's modern history," according to the head of the Democratic Party. He was an advocate of the poor and took an active part in societal and democracy issues, gaining respect from all sections of society. In the biopic, the early life of Kim Sou-hwan shows his poor life as a child. His father, Kim Young-seok, was a tableware salesman and would often go home empty-handed and nothing to put on their table. Later on, his father died due to complications, and he was not given proper care due to poverty. The family didn't even have the means to buy herbal medicine. The situation prompted the young Kim to dream of becoming a ginseng dealer since it is the most traditional ingredients added to herbal medicines. His devoted mother, Seo Jung-ha, is wishful that her two younger sons will become priests someday. Kim then started to consider and moves on in the direction of the priesthood. The film paid attention to the relationship between Kim and his mother and what were the circumstances in his life that made him decide to become a priest. During the 19th century, Catholic converts were persecuted, including his grandfather, who died while in prison, along with all the converts. In addition, some Christians were rejected by families and lost their social rank. Between 8,000-10000 martyrs died during this era. Even though the film is about a well-known religious leader, it will not focus solely on religion. Instead, it will mainly center its plot on the importance of family and inner strength. Lee Hang-na will present her character as a strict and rigid but a kind-hearted person. "Beyond That Mountain" will hit local theaters on April 30. Since the family month is nearing, the movie is perfect for the family to watch it together. Zandvoort's hopes of hosting a Formula 1 race in 2020 have been dealt a near fatal blow, the Dutch circuit's bosses admit. On Tuesday, the Dutch prime minister announced that a ban on major sporting events has been extended until September. Afterwards, race boss Jan Lammers said: "We will have to see what possibilities are still offered to us, but I do not think it is likely now that it will be possible this year. "It is what it is," he told De Telegraaf. "At least there is clarity and I respect the level of assessment by the experts. "But the management of Formula 1 and the FIA are now facing an almost impossible task to make something of a calendar for this year," Lammers added. Lammers repeated his insistence that Zandvoort will not be among those circuits willing to host a race without the attendance of spectators. "That is impossible for us and we do not want to present vague plans," Lammers said. "We want to roll out the event as we envisaged and we are ready to activate it. But it is the virus that rules. Singapore also thought they had handled everything right and now they regret having relaxed the rules. "It's a shame, of course, but again we are taking a step back," the former F1 driver also told the publication Formule 1. "It's not as though we are the only organisers in this situation." Circuit director Robert van Overdijk is similarly pessimistic, even about the prospect of a race some time after the new Dutch ban ends in September. "We would have a duty to think about such a request, but my personal opinion? I don't think everything will suddenly be free again after 2 September," he said. As for Zandvoort's survival, Overdijk is more optimistic - but he admits that the financial picture is not rosy. "All the government measures are a drop of water on a hotplate," he said. (GMM) The first, the most important quality is someone who if I walked away immediately from the office for whatever reason that they can be president, Biden said. He added that he wants the public to be able to see his pick as capable of being president of the United States tomorrow. Adults in some parts of northern England and Wales, including Swansea, owe around 1 typically for every 5 they earn, according to a report (PA) Adults in some parts of northern England and Wales owe around 1 typically for every 5 they earn, according to a report. The report from the Centre for Cities, a research and policy institute, mapped out debt levels across England and Wales. It argued that people living in large cities and towns in parts of the North and Wales could find themselves particularly vulnerable in the economic downturn. On average, for every 5 adults earn in Warrington, Swansea, Sunderland and Wigan, they owe around 1, the report said. Failure to support people with high levels of debt during this crisis will have a broader negative impact on the local economies of places where people are indebted Andrew Carter, Centre for Cities Meanwhile in Oxford, people were found to owe around 35p for every 5 they earn typically, according to the research. The Government, banks and other bodies are offering a raft of financial support to help people and businesses get through the crisis. Centre for Cities chief executive Andrew Carter said: The economic damage caused by coronavirus is already hitting peoples personal finances. Unfortunately, as more and more people are furloughed or made redundant, those struggling with debt are likely to be worst affected. He continued: Failure to support people with high levels of debt during this crisis will have a broader negative impact on the local economies of places where people are indebted particularly those in northern England and Wales. Here are the areas where people are most in debt according to the Centre for Cities, followed by the typical percentage of income owed: Warrington, 21% Swansea, 21% Sunderland, 21% Wigan, 20% Middlesbrough, 20% Here are the areas where people are least in debt according to the Centre for Cities, followed by the typical percentage of income owed: Oxford, 7% Cambridge, 8% Exeter, 10% London, 10% Brighton, 12% Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment As coronavirus spreads across the world, many are warning of the potential catastrophic consequences in poor countries with little infrastructure and few resources. Recent media reports from India have highlighted the challenges for the nearly 1 billion adults and children living in overcrowded slums and more attention on developing countries are expected to increase in coming weeks. World Vision recently released a report showing, Secondary impacts will threaten many more childrens lives than COVID-19 itself. Major funders, such as the World Bank and U.S. government, are now providing billions to help developing countries. Children in these settings are particularly vulnerable due to their reliance on caregivers and other community systems that provide for their care and protection. While data suggests children are often spared from the most severe physical symptoms of the coronavirus, vulnerable children around the globe will experience devastating impacts. The burden of the virus on their families and communities will significantly increase the number of children who are at risk of being placed into orphanages or forced onto the street, as families and caregivers try to survive in extreme poverty and illness, and, sadly, with loss of lives. Lessons from past infectious disease outbreaks have taught us to not forget the children in low-income countries, specifically recognizing the importance of supporting families to care well for their children during and after a crisis. Lessons learned from HIV/AIDS HIV/AIDS remains one of the worlds most serious health and development challenges ever since the first cases were reported in 1981, with 32 million deaths globally. When American Christians responded with empathy and generosity during the epidemic and the resulting orphan crisis, they focused funding on the building of orphanages throughout Africa. One 2004 study reflected on the previous 10 years of response to the epidemic in Zimbabwe, and it found a doubling in the number of registered orphanages (we know many more were likely not legally registered) and that 85 percent of the funding for those orphanages came from faith-based sources. The problem is that decades of academic research shows that children develop best in families, as compared to orphanages or childrens homes. Sadly, most donors and volunteers were not aware of the negative impact orphanages have on children. A similar story is told in the response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa where over 11,000 deaths occurred. The same public health methods were used in the Ebola outbreak as the COVID-19 response, including social distancing and quarantine. As the death count rose and communities shunned the sick, children were orphaned or separated from family, even extended family. Recognizing the impact Ebola was having on children, the Liberian government created guidelines to build on a strong framework for supporting family care, stating the priority of keeping children with their families, extended families, and communities. And when that was not possible foster care should be prioritized over orphanages. Despite these efforts, the number of orphanages increased. There is an urgency for Christians to learn from these past lessons and focus efforts on proactively supporting families in crisis now so that the COVID-19 pandemic will not unnecessarily separate children from their families. Efforts to enable families to withstand shocks and manage stressors, as well as the use of alternative family care options when needed such as emergency foster care, are effective for responding to immediate needs of children. This is important to recognize now because the response of American Christians to the current pandemic could threaten the progress that has been made to support children being cared for in safe and loving families instead of orphanages. Orphan care progress threatened Outside of these crises, there has been a growing movement to reform the care given to international orphans and vulnerable children. Last December, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) expanded that movement by issuing the 2019 UNGA Resolution on the Rights of the Child urging countries to transition away from residential care such as orphanages and invest in family care. At the same time, Christian organizations who have supported family care for years are coming together like never before to support children in families. Recently, World Vision, Catholic Relief Services, Bethany Christian Services, World Without Orphans, Christian Alliance for Orphans, and 17 others signed The Global Church Pledge to See Children Thrive in Safe and Loving Families committing to support efforts which strengthen families, invest in family-based solutions, and combat the root causes of their vulnerability. The outbreak of COVID-19 threatens that progress. If we respond again by building more orphanages instead of supporting struggling families and creating foster and adoption programs, we will negate the progress toward ensuring children receive care within families. What can we do? The American church must pray for the slow of this virus in the most impoverished communities in the world, asking God to protect and preserve families so they can care well for their children. We must also channel our funding toward critical needs to protect children and support families and support current efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among vulnerable families and children and provide health care to the sick. It is imperative that we support social workers, teachers, pastors and other community members who can monitor families and children during this time of crisis. With global estimates showing 80 percent of children living in orphanages have a living family member, governments in Kenya and India are already mandating that orphanages return children to family members. This means orphanages need help scaling up their monitoring of those children and supporting families to make sure they can safely care for their children through social work visits and casework so that children wont be returned to an orphanage after this crisis subsides. Lastly, we need to support efforts that will address the mounting challenges families are beginning to face, including the loss of caregivers and severe economic hardship, including: Supporting organizations who are sustaining families in extreme poverty and families who have lost family members that care for their children. Supporting efforts to build alternative family care options such as in-country foster care or adoption. Supporting existing orphanages that are shifting to a family-care model. Supporting training and hiring social workers, as this is a growing area in need of assistance. Finally, we can all raise awareness of the needs of vulnerable children and orphans to not only be safe, but to be safe in families. The Faith to Action Initiative facilitates a program that can help you learn and share about the needs of vulnerable children during and after this pandemic. The American church has always given sacrificially to the most vulnerable. Despite the challenges we are all facing, now is an important time to prioritize vulnerable children and families, remembering the lessons we have learned, and giving generously to ensure children around the world receive the love, protection, and belonging they deserve, in a family. Ann Street in Belfast. The hope for the economy as we entered lockdown was that businesses would go into limbo, with jobs protected by the Government. (Justin Kernoghan/PA) The Government has been at pains to avoid talk of how we exit the lockdown, largely because it wants to maintain focus and discipline and quite possibly because it is a difficult judgment to make. However, as time moves on and other countries ease back on restrictions, it is inevitable that we will start to think about how the lockdown ends. The speed at which the Government was able to react with a 'whatever it takes' injection of support to the economy, coupled with a sharpened societal appreciation of the NHS and all key workers, will inevitably and rightly prompt a national conversation about the role of government, public services and the business support needed to recover. Read More The hope for the economy as we entered lockdown was that businesses would go into limbo, with jobs protected by the Government. The intention was then that the economy would pick straight back up from where it left off - the hoped for V-shape decline and immediate bounce-back. While that remains the hope, and the furlough scheme is achieving success in that regard, there is data to suggest that lasting damage is being inflicted and a longer recovery might be more likely. Confidence is falling. McKinsey & Company has been tracking consumer confidence since the lockdown began. The proportion of respondents to their survey that are confident that the economy will rebound and continue as it was has fallen from 23% to 15% The uncertainty of these times, and the experience of furloughed employment, will inevitably give consumers pause for thought. Further cause for worry about the path of the recovery comes from an Enterprise Research Centre study suggesting there has been a 70% increase in UK company dissolutions in the first quarter of 2020 compared to 2019. The sectors that are particularly impacted are retail, professional services, ICT and construction. Younger firms also appear more susceptible to closure. The gaps in support for newly established businesses is well-documented. It is increasingly likely that the economy won't just switch back on overnight and that the climb-back will require ongoing support to people and businesses. Doing this will require the same 'whatever it takes' attitude from the Treasury and will require an Executive prepared to take bold decisions. Calls for rates holidays to be extended have emerged in recent days. Other calls will come forth as business identify where they most need help. Consumers might need help too - businesses need customers. VAT reductions or direct cash payments to people might engender some confidence to spend. How we pay for the largesse of government is another key issue that will come to the fore in the weeks ahead. Given that austerity and public sector cuts remain in our collective memories, I sense no appetite for a repeat. It may be a case of the Bank of England issuing and forgiving government debt, 100-year bonds at very low interest, targeted tax increases or even government taking equity stakes in return for bailouts, that forms part of the payment plan. That's a discussion for another time. The economic and social cost of mass unemployment, especially long-term unemployment, far outweighs the cost of supporting people to remain in work through supporting businesses which remain viable. Andrew Webb is chief economist at Grant Thornton About 150 nursing homes and other long-term care facilities received 14,000 test kits from the states mobile testing program so clinical staff members could test their residents for the coronavirus. One-third of those nursing homes returned 4,000 test kits, state officials said. Of the test kits the state got back, many samples were in unlabeled or leaking from the tubes. They were in such bad condition that they couldnt be tested without risking coming up with inaccurate results, officials say. Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders said Tuesday Massachusetts would hold off on sending COVID-19 test kits to facilities until state officials find the reason why only a fraction of test kits have been returned. Were working with the nursing home industry so that we can restart sending test kits once we understand what some of the logistic issues are, Sudders said. The COVID-19 Command Centers testing call center will reach out to facilities that have received test kits but havent returned samples to schedule on-site testing, state officials later said. The states mobile testing program, which launched on March 31, started off as a way for the state to offer on-site testing at long-term care facilities. The state typically deploys the National Guard or a local Emergency Medical Services provider to set up a testing site at a facility so residents and employees can be tested. The program expanded in early April to offer a self-swab option where facilities could order kits and have clinical staff test the residents, sending samples back to the Broad Institute for evaluation. The program also expanded testing to include assisted living residences and rest homes, as well as group homes for people with developmental disabilities. Since the launch of the program, the state has set up on-site testing at more than 300 long-term care facilities and conducted more than 8,800 tests, Sudders said Tuesday. The state set up testing sites at 206 group homes and completed 3,700 tests. The operators of these facilities raised concerns about not being able to test residents and employees if no one was showing symptoms or if they live in independent living communities. The state expanded the program last week to offer testing for facilities where no one is showing symptoms, but independent living communities still dont qualify for the program. More than half of COVID-19 deaths in Massachusetts have come from long-term care facilities, according to the state Department of Public Health. The state reported 1,961 deaths on Tuesday, including 1,059 deaths from long-term care facilities. Massachusetts 1,556 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the states total number of cases to 41,199. More than 7,000 residents in housing facilities across the state have tested positive for the coronavirus. Related Content: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the coronavirus pandemic has triggered the biggest crisis since WWII in terms of its economic effect. "Like the rest of the world, Turkey is waging a fierce struggle against the coronavirus pandemic. We see that the epidemic begins to stabilize. This epidemic has become the most serious crisis since World War II in terms of its economic consequences," Anadolu Agency cited the Turkish president as saying. He also said that "for the first time since WWII, Ankara has got a possibility to participate in the process to rebuild the world order". "Despair that the developed nations have faced, necessitates reviewing forecasts for the development of the humankind," Erdogan said. The Turkish leader said that restrictive measures in Turkey will continue throughout the holy month of Ramadan that will end on May 23. After that, the country will return to its normal life, the president expects. Turkey reported its first coronavirus patient on March 10, it was a Turkish national returning from Europe. Since them, the number of coronavirus cases in the country has exceeded 91,000. As many as 2,140 people have died and 13,430 have recovered.3333333` Stanford University is withdrawing an application for $7.4 million it would get in federal emergency funding based on its numbers of poorer students. Harvard University is rejecting its $8.7 million share, too, citing "intense focus from politicians," the day after being sharply criticized by President Donald Trump. Princeton said it wont accept the $2.4 million that was headed its way. Yale University followed their lead with an announcement Wednesday night it would do the same, which means the nation's top four wealthiest private schools with the largest endowments have all decided to forgo their stimulus cash. Colleges and universities across the country are grappling with significant financial losses brought on by the coronavirus as theyve shut down their campuses and moved instruction online. Some schools have been pleading with Congress for more money in recent weeks, saying the stimulus law that provided nearly $14 billion for higher education is not enough to support their students and soften the economic blow theyre seeing from losses in revenue. Even though a big chunk of the money set aside by Congress is intended to directly target students with emergency grants for needs like housing and food, the nations wealthiest universities are under intense pressure from the Trump administration to reject the funds because of their multi-billion-dollar endowments. Schools with large endowments should not apply for funds so more can be given to students who need support the most, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said Wednesday. Its also important for Congress to change the law to make sure no more taxpayer funds go to elite, wealthy institutions." Other universities with large endowments are still weighing their options. MIT is contemplating whether it will apply for funds, Duke University has not yet accepted the money and Rice University is in discussions about how it would use its funds. All federal funding Notre Dame receives related to coronavirus relief will be "used exclusively for direct financial aid to students whose families have been struck by unemployment or otherwise upended by the pandemic," said university spokesperson Paul Browne. Story continues All of the universities announced their commitment to financially supporting their students, even without the federal funds designated to support them. Trump, at Wednesday's coronavirus taskforce briefing, thanked the universities for giving up their share of the stimulus cash, taking credit for their decisions. "As you know this was an interesting story in recent days I've called for Harvard that's Harvard University, which has a $40 billion endowment fund to return the money that it was allocated under the CARES Act," Trump said. "And I'm pleased to announce Harvard has announced today that they will not accept the funds, nor will Stanford University or many of the others that were involved both on a university level." FILE - In this Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020, file photo, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos pauses as she testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, during a hearing of the House Appropriations Sub-Committee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies on the fiscal year 2021 budget. The federal government has decided to delay changing the way it determines funding for rural education after a bipartisan group of lawmakers said the move would hurt hundreds of schools. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) He added, "And so I want to thank Harvard, I want to thank Stanford and I want to thank the other companies. Any case, it's broken differently between the colleges and companies, but I want to thank the companies and other great universities." The lions share of the relief money more than 70 percent is actually bound for public universities, according to a POLITICO analysis of Education Department data. Public universities overall are set to receive nearly $9 billion of the funding; private non-profit schools are set to receive nearly $2.5 billion; and more than $1 billion targets for-profit colleges. Public schools are bracing for the possibility that state legislatures in the coming months will cut funding for higher education amid drastic drops in state revenue. But the prospect of colleges with massive endowments Harvards is more than $40 billion lining up for the money brought blowback from the administration, which also has been tussling with colleges in recent days over the slow rollout of emergency funds. Stanford's endowment is $27.7 billion, while Princeton's is $26 billion, Yale's is $30.3 billion, MIT's is $17.5 billion, Notre Dame's is $11.2 billion and Rice's is $6.4 billion, according to fiscal 2019 figures from the National Association of College and University Business Officers and TIAA. At least two Senate Republicans Ted Cruz and Martha McSally called on Harvard to forfeit its share of the money. DeVos said in her statement that wealthy institutions that do not primarily serve low-income students do not need or deserve additional taxpayer funds. This is common sense. Most of the nearly $14 billion in higher education funding under the CARES Act is allocated to colleges and universities based on a formula in the law. Colleges are entitled to a share of the funding based on the number of students they enroll, heavily weighted toward low-income Pell Grant recipients. Top recipients of the stimulus cash include public institutions like Arizona State University ($63.5 million); Penn State ($55 million); Rutgers ($54 million); University of Central Florida ($51 million) and Miami Dade College ($49 million). Colleges are required to use at least half of their share of the stimulus funding to award emergency cash grants directly to their students to help cover expenses like food, housing and child care. The rest can go to the institutions, with some restrictions, such as not paying for salaries or bonuses of senior administrators or executives. The Trump administration this week issued new guidance on how colleges could use the stimulus money. The Education Department forbade for-profit colleges from using it for stock buybacks or shareholder dividends. The department also barred undocumented students, including DACA recipients, from accessing the emergency cash assistance. The Trump administration is also now looking into whether a universitys share of stimulus money can be sent to another college if it is returned or never claimed. Education Department officials said they believe they can redistribute the money, a department official told POLITICO on Wednesday. In order to access the stimulus bill funding, colleges and universities must sign an agreement affirming that they will properly use the money. As of Tuesday, about 50 percent of colleges had submitted that paperwork to access the student aid portion of the funding. Stanford announced Monday that it had contacted the Education Department to rescind its request for relief funds, saying it wanted to keep the money available for smaller colleges. While the university is expected to take a financial hit, we realize that this crisis represents an existential threat for many of the smaller colleges and universities that are such a critical part of the fabric of higher learning in the United States, said E.J. Miranda, a Stanford spokesperson. We believe strongly in the importance of keeping these institutions viable in order to provide access to higher education for as many students as possible, and we had concluded that this should be a priority, he continued. DeVos praised the decision on Twitter and encouraged other wealthy schools to follow Stanfords lead. Princeton University, which has not applied, has also said it will not be accepting its stimulus money. Our no-loan financial aid packages and other programs are designed to provide exceptional levels of support to our students, including DACA beneficiaries and international students, said Ben Chang, a Princeton spokesperson. We have also taken steps to meet additional needs resulting from COVID-19, and will continue to look for opportunities to do so throughout this crisis. Jonathan Swain, a Harvard spokesperson, said earlier Wednesday that the university hadnt received nor applied for any funds from the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund and was still weighing its decision. We continue to review the additional guidance from the Department of Education related to the Fund and will make a determination as to whether we will seek to access the allocation that was made to Harvard by statute, Swain said in a previous statement. Later in the day, the university declared it would not seek the funds, referring in a statement to intense focus by politicians and others on Harvard and the evolving guidance being issued around use of the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund. We will inform the Department of Education of our decision and encourage the department to act swiftly to reallocate resources previously allocated to Harvard, Swain said. While we understand any reallocation of these resources is a matter for the Department of Education, we hope that special consideration will be given to Massachusetts institutions that are struggling to serve their communities and meet the needs of their students through these difficult and challenging times. Harvards quick decision to skip applying for the funds followed being singled out by Trump at Tuesdays coronavirus task force briefing, where he declared that schools with large endowments shouldnt be taking any relief money. Harvard is going to pay back the money, Trump said. And they shouldn't be taking it. So, Harvard is going to. You have a number of them. I'm not going to mention any other names. But when I saw Harvard, they have a one of the largest endowments anywhere in the country, maybe in the world, I guess. And they're going to pay back that money. Yale, after Trump's praise for Harvard and Stanford at Wednesday's task force briefing, released a statement saying it would give up the $6.9 million it would get from the CARES Act to support its students and university operations. "Though Yale is experiencing great budgetary pressure as a result of the pandemic, the university has decided not to seek these emergency funds," wrote Karen Peart, a Yale spokesperson. "Instead, we hope that the Department of Education will use Yales portion of the funding to support colleges and universities in Connecticut whose continued existence is threatened by the current crisis." A senior Senate Republican aide who worked on the stimulus legislation said the backlash to the higher education funding was misguided. "It's ironic that it's being stoked by two billionaires," the aide said referring to Trump and DeVos. "These funds are going to schools to help needy kids and poor kids." The formula in the law, which was negotiated "pretty amicably" during discussions about the CARES Act, according to the GOP aide, is heavily weighted toward giving more money to schools based on the number of Pell Grant recipients they enrolled. The money is going to help low-income students, even those at elite schools, "but I can see how it's good populism" to push back against it, the GOP aide said. Scrutiny of big endowments isnt new. A 2017 Republican tax law levied an endowment tax on wealthy private schools, which is a 1.4 percent excise tax on their investment funds. Even before the focus on Harvards share of the stimulus funding, DeVos had urged all college presidents to consider donating their allocation to other schools in their region if they didnt need the money. She wrote in a letter to college leaders that if you determine that your institutions students do not have significant financial need at this time, I would ask that you consider giving your allocation to those institutions within your state or region that might have significant need. Secretary DeVos shares the concern that sending millions to schools with significant endowments is a poor use of taxpayer money, Angela Morabito, a department spokesperson, said in a statement. San Francisco, April 22 : As Facebook content moderators who are mostly on contractual basis have temporarily been sent home owing to the coronavirus pandemic, full-time employees at the company are now sifting through harmful content. According to the company, it has asked some of its full-time employees to review content related to real-world harm like child safety and suicide and self-injury in absence of a content reviewing team. "Last month, we announced that we would temporarily send our content reviewers home. Since then we've shared updates on changes we've made to keep our platform safe during this time, including increasing the use of automation, carefully prioritizing user reports, and temporarily altering our appeals process," the company informed late Tuesday. Facebook said its offices are unlikely to return to business as usual in the near future. "Some of our full-time employees will continue to review sensitive content, but as Mark (Zuckerberg) referenced last week we will begin working with our partners to bring a small number of content reviewers back to offices to support these efforts in the coming weeks," said the social networking giant. Returning to the office will be voluntary. Facebook said it will work with its partners to put protections in place to keep content reviewers safe. These will include greatly reducing building capacity in offices to ensure government guidelines on physical distancing can be observed, implementing strict cleaning protocols and providing personal protective equipment like masks and gloves as well as temperature checks at the beginning of every shift. The closure of gun shops in Labor states during the coronavirus lockdown has sparked a backlash among firearm owners Queensland and Victoria banned the sales of guns and ammunition for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic after they saw panic buying. Gun dealers have rallied behind the National Shooting Council (NSC) and lodged an appeal against the ban as they fear it will put dozens of dealers out of business, while gun owners have been forced to travel across borders to buy products. Queensland and Victoria have banned the sales of guns and ammunition for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic after they saw panic buying that resembled other sectors The NSC, which represents more than 8,000 shooters across Australia, says there has been a four-fold increase in its membership in Victoria as a result of the ban. It lodged an appeal against the shutdown with Victoria's Firearms Appeals Committee last week. They argue a coronavirus shutdown will destroy the business of many gun store owners and have lodged proceedings in both states. Some gun lobby groups have also taken out advertisements in newspapers that protest the bans. Gun dealers have rallied behind the National Shooting Council (NSC) and lodged an appeal against the ban, for which the state's governments have not announced an end date, as they argue it could put dozens of dealers out of business Gun shop owners outside the banned states have reported people travelling across borders to get their hands on firearms and ammunition. Gun dealer Belinda Mann told The Age she sold firearms to customers who were from South Australia to generate income. While a gun user said he heard that farmers have travelled across the border to New South Wales to buy ammunition for pest control. Sheep farmers in western Victoria said they had almost run out of ammunition to keep foxes off their property. 'We are losing five to six sheep a night and burning them the next day because we can't defend stock,' said one farmer. Some gun lobby groups have also taken out advertisements in newspapers that protest the bans. Gun dealers and shooting groups have disputed the rise in firearm sales in early March was due to panic-buying, so the premise of the shutdown was wrong. They believe the increase was because shooters were buying firearms and ammunition before a 15 per cent price increase was applied on many products. The price increase was planned to start on April 1 and was sparked by a drop in the value of the Australian dollar compared to the US dollar. Gun dealers also said duck-hunting season was about to begin, which also creates increased demand. Gun shop owners outside the banned states have reported people travelling across borders to get their hands on firearms and ammo Victoria Police maintains there was evidence of panic buying after more than double the average 1,000 firearm applications were lodged during the final week of March. The ban applies to people buying guns for recreation and sport but does not apply to farmers who need them to shoot pests or injured livestock. The same ban applies in Queensland, with the only people who will have access to arms dealers are workers who use weapons for their jobs: farmers, commercial pest and feral animal controllers, vets, shark control contractors and a number of other state and federal bodies. Daily Mail Australia has contacted NIOA, Australia's largest privately-owned supplier of arms and ammunition, for comment. The State Council on Tuesday decided to beef up targeted assistance to those in need and small businesses amid efforts to address challenges facing the Chinese economy. More will be done to enhance support to those living in poverty, living on minimum subsistence allowances or unemployed, and the country will ramp up financial services for micro and small firms, according to a statement released after a State Council's executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang. The meeting decided that the construction of major national projects will prioritize employing those living in poverty, and the policy of using employment as a form of relief will be implemented in more areas with salary accounting for a higher percentage of the funding for the projects. As the COVID-19 epidemic could lead to people being stricken or re-stricken by poverty, the State Council called for adopting supportive measures, including providing micro-loans with discounted interest and skill training to vulnerable labor forces. The meeting decided to expand the access of both minimum subsistence allowances and unemployment insurance, to cover all those eligible. To enhance financial support to micro and small companies, the meeting called on banks to offer more loans and decided to temporarily lower the provision coverage ratio of small and medium-sized banks by 20 percentage points to free up more credit. For micro and small firms as well as individually-owned businesses in the service industry who are tenants of state-owned properties, the State Council urged waiving their rent for three months in the first half of the year, calling on state-owned enterprises and public institutions to take the lead. Tax relief and loans with discounted interest can be made available to both state and non-state properties that introduce rent reduction or exemption, according to the meeting. The final health report lodged by the Ruby Princess before passengers were allowed to disembark was out-of-date and did not include all passengers who had symptoms consistent with COVID-19. As a special commission of inquiry into the cruise ship began on Wednesday, the hearing was told the senior doctor on board did not finalise the illness log until the day after passengers disembarked. The Ruby Princess and (inset) senior doctor Dr Ilse Von Watzdorf. Credit:Kate Geraghty, supplied Bret Walker, SC, is the commissioner overseeing the inquiry into the Ruby Princess debacle, which has seen more than 650 cases of COVID-19 in passengers and 21 deaths. There have also been more than 150 coronavirus cases diagnosed in the ship's crew. The commission heard the last "human health report" provided to Australian authorities on March 18 was incomplete and did not include all passengers and crew who had acute respiratory or influenza-like symptoms. Four years. That's how long it's been since Motorola released its last full-on flagship phone, and that dry spell is finally over. Earlier this morning, the Lenovo-owned brand pulled back the curtain on the new Edge+, a $1,000 smartphone that seems tailor-made to take on the best the industry has to offer. We went hands-on with the device in Chicago earlier this year, well before the coronavirus outbreak spoiled Motorola's original launch plans. and it didn't take long to see the Edge+ had promise. The bigger question is whether it can find a meaningful foothold in a world awash in expensive phones, but we'll get to that. First, though, the basics. The Edge+ packs a lot of what you'd expect from a premium phone in 2020: A Snapdragon 865 with 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB of storage, support for mmWave and sub-6 5G, an enormous 5,000 mAh battery that plays nice with 15W fast chargers -- the list goes on. If there's one thing Motorola seems especially proud of here, though, it's the so-called Endless Edge display. "We looked at the kind of science fiction display that you would like to have," Motorola VP Dan Dery told me. "We worked with our display vendors and partners [to see how] it could materialize at the right time, and we designed the device around it." The end result: A 6.7-inch, 10-bit OLED screen that runs at full HD at 90Hz for extra-smooth scrolling. The most interesting thing about it, though, is that the edges of that screen make 90-degree turns down the sides of the phone. smartphone Now, the screen itself looks nice enough: It was plenty bright under the harsh, winter light, and colors in the test videos I watched popped pleasantly. If youve ever seen any of my reviews, though you know that I dont get along with these kinds of "waterfall" displays. The side of my hand always touches something accidentally, to the point where I've had to swear off certain phones entirely. (Here's looking at you, S20 Ultra.) For what its worth, Motorola says it agonized over what it calls grip suppression so that wont be an issue, but I didnt get enough time with the phone to see for sure. Story continues As it turns out, those eye-catching edges are there for more than just looks. They'll light up to let you know when notifications roll in, and to let you know the phone is charging. You can map virtual shoulder buttons on them for better control while you're playing a game. Maybe most important, you can also swipe on those edges to quickly view your notifications and pull up your app drawer while you're mid-email. Essentially, Motorola replicated the homescreen gestures you're probably familiar with on the sides of the screen so you can multitask just a little faster. Of course, since I can't vouch for how sensitive those edges are in day-to-day use, the best thing about these screen edges might be that you can disable them entirely. Motorola Edge+ hands-on Motorola Edge+ hands-on Beyond that, Motorola paid particular attention to audio -- it called on a company called Waves to help tune the Edge+'s sound output, which is especially helpful since it has some really loud speakers. I could hear the YouTube videos I was playing with no trouble at all in a room packed with reporters clamoring to test one of a handful of devices. Naturally, a phone like this that focuses on audio quality packs a classic headphone jack, but since I didn't have headphones with me, I couldn't say how well it stacks up against phones with built-in DACs, like every high-end device LG has made for the last few years. As far as cameras go, Motorola is swinging for the fences this time. The Edge+'s main camera features a 108MP sensor built by Samsung with an f/1.8 aperture, and by default, the camera performs some pixel binning to produce 27MP stills. The handful of shots I took in Chicago looked great on this big, punchy screen, but you'll have to wait for our full review to see how well it actually stacks up to the competition. There's also an 8MP telephoto camera that, unlike the OnePlus 8 Pro, actually optically zooms, and a 16MP ultrawide camera that also pulls double duty as your macro camera, and the results were quite a bit better than I expected. If video is more your bigger concern, you can shoot at resolutions at high as 6K with what Motorola calls "industry-leading" stabilization it seemed to work well enough, but I wasnt allowed to take that footage to show you. On paper, the Edge+ has the chops to compete with some of the best phones out there, and our hands-on time left me feeling cautiously optimistic. If theres one knock against the Edge+, though, its that the phone will be a Verizon exclusive In the US when it launches on May 14. I have to point out that Verizon is Engadget's parent company and they have no control over what we write or say, so with that in mind, this deal seems like a real blow to people who have come to appreciate Motorolas work on cheap, excellent, unlocked phones. These are, mind you, the folks that helped propel Motorola back into profitability as of last year. Verizon and Motorola have been very close partners for years (remember the Droid?), but that means some of the people who'd be most eager to give Motorola's flagship a chance will simply miss out. Motorola Edge+ hands-on There's a little cause for hope, though. After we left Chicago, Motorola confirmed theres another Edge phone and its just called the Edge. It uses the exact same screen, just with a Snapdragon 765 chipset inside and a different camera configuration around back. It's going in sale in Europe first where it'll cost 599 euros, or about $650, so it might be the next logical step for someone who likes Motorola's mid-range phones and wants to step things up. Since Motorola hasn't actually let anyone use the thing yet, we'll just have to wait and see. In any case, Motorola seems to have put together a pretty comprehensive flagship package in the Edge Plus. From its big immersive screen to its focus on quality audio to its flexible handful of cameras, theres a little something for everyone here. But Motorola could have taken the plunge into premium phones again anytime -- why the long lull? According to Dery, Motorola didn't want to build a flagship simply for the sake of it. Because of advances in 5G, chipset performance and screen technology, this was the moment Motorola thought it could make a premium phone that actually mattered. "Now is the time for us to bring something brand new," Dery explained. "Honestly, one year before -- no. It would have been an overpriced 4G device with a very short life-cycle." Motorola Edge+ hands-on Timing is everything, as they say, and Motorola's timing here is a double-edged sword. Yes, a device like the Edge+ might have not been possible just a year ago, but recent events have shaped the industry and the world in ways Motorola could've have anticipated. The company originally planned to reveal the Edge+ at Mobile World Congress in February, but the show was cancelled because of concerns about the COVID-19 outbreak. As Motorola retreated from the show and regrouped, a slew of rival devices started appearing on store shelves: Samsung's trio of Galaxy S20s was first, followed by LG's V60 ThinQ 5G and the OnePlus 8 Pro. Had all gone according to plan, Motorola would've had a little time to enjoy the spotlight -- now, it's a little late to the party. But it might not be next time. While Motorola looks at the four-year gap between premium phone as a time of focus on its core business, Dery concedes that the rate of technical advancement is so fast that Motorola might leap on a similar moment of opportunity in as little as a year. I dont believe this is a time where, in 12 months, [youll be] saying Nah, theres nothing much new, he said. So there are opportunities. Exactly what those opportunities will look like remain in question, however. The world we live in now is far different than it was when Motorola started working on the Edge+, and Dery concedes that peoples priorities have begun to shift in response because society is changing so dramatically. The work to build new devices for a new era begins now. In the meantime, though, Motorolas first premium smartphone in years is proof that the company can leap on opportunities when it matters stay tuned for our full review to see if its efforts paid off. Key specs Motorola Edge+ Processor Octa-core Snapdragon 865 RAM/storage 12GB+256GB MicroSD card support No Main display 6.7-inch Endless Edge OLED display, 90Hz refresh rate Display resolution 1,080x2,340 (19.5:9) Rear cameras 108MP f/1.8 wide camera with OIS, 16MP f/2.2 ultra-wide/macro camera (117 field of view), 8MP f/2.4 telephoto camera with OIS, time of flight sensor Front-facing camera 25MP f/2.0 camera OS Android 10 Battery 5,000mAh Charging USB-C, supports 18W fast charging and 15W wireless charging Dimensions 161.1x74.4x9.6mm Weight 203g Fingerprint sensor Yes, in display Waterproofing Water-repellent, no IP rating NFC Yes Headphone jack Yes 5G support mmWave and sub-6 YEREVAN, APRIL 22, ARMENPRESS. Opposition Bright Armenia factions lawmaker Karen Simonyan calls on the government to provide assistance to all students regardless of their GPA. The conditions set create a problem for those students which really need that. One of the set criteria is the high GPA. This regulation already includes those students who study for free or have discounts. But those students, who really need a discount for their tuition fee, cannot us that, the MP said at todays session of the Parliament. He also noted that this program doesnt include students of private universities. I call on the government, also the members of Parliament to revise certain provisions of this project, do not put a discrimination in terms of the GPA, if we assist, then we should assist all. All need that assistance as this crisis [novel coronavirus pandemic] touched all students, he said. Earlier Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that within the frames of the governments 14th anti-crisis measures the state is going to provide assistance to students. The government will pay the tuition fees of students having 90 and higher GPA, as well as the graduates. The tuition fees of non-graduate students, having 90 and higher GPA, will be covered by the state by 75%. Reported by Anna Grigoryan Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan US President Donald Trump has threatened to terminate the trade deal with China if Beijing did not honour its provisions in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic that originated in the country. While China has reported 82,788 novel coronavirus cases, including 4,632 fatalities, the US registered over 824,600 cases and more than 45,290 deaths -- the highest in the world. China and the US in January signed Phase-1 of the trade deal as the world's two top economic powers move forward to end their bitter tit-for-tat two-year tariff war that had rattled markets and weighed on the global economy. The deal, which calls on China to buy USD 200 billion worth of US products, is set to move ahead as planned. However, the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission in a report said China could invoke a clause in the agreement that allows for fresh trade consultations between the two countries "in the event of a natural disaster or other unforeseeable event". "If that happens, we'll do a termination and we'll do what I can do better than anybody," Trump told reporters on Tuesday during his daily White House press conference on coronavirus. The president was responding to a question as to how confident he is that the Chinese are not going to invoke the natural disaster clause mentioned in the trade deal. "There is nobody ever been tougher on China than me," Trump said, reiterating that China had been ripping the US off for years till he was elected as the president. "Take a look, USD 200 billion, USD 300 billion, USD 400 billion, USD 500 billion a year. How did they ever let a thing like this happen? Now, if you look at this last year, the deficit went way down to the world," he said. Trump launched the trade war with China in 2018, demanding Beijing to reduce the massive trade deficit, which was USD 375.6 billion in 2017. The two countries so far have imposed additional tariffs on nearly USD half trillion worth of goods. The US has imposed tariffs on more than USD 360 billions of Chinese goods, and China has retaliated with tariffs on over USD 110 billions of American products. "Now it's much different. But a lot of things are happening. Great things were happening except all of these sudden out of nowhere came the invisible enemy. We think we know where it came from, and we'll be talking about that probably a lot, but came the invisible enemy. There's nobody tougher than me on China," Trump said. Also read: Coronavirus in US: Single-day death toll falls below 500 in New York for the first time Also read: Coronavirus India Lockdown Live Updates: Maharashtra records 552 new COVID-19 cases, state's tally past 5,000 [April 22, 2020] Fundamental Income Properties Launches Net Lease Real Estate Platform With Initial Equity Commitment of $500 Million From a Fund Managed by Brookfield Asset Management Fundamental Income, Sponsor and Index Provider to the NETLease Corporate Real Estate ETF (NYSE arca: NETL) (the "Fund"), is pleased to announce the creation of a new net lease platform Fundamental Income Properties. The platform received an initial equity commitment of $500 million from a fund managed by Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM). Founders of Fundamental Income, Chris Burbach and Alexi Panagiotakopoulos, will take on roles of CEO and CIO of Fundamental Income Properties, respectively. Fundamental will invest in single-tenant properties, net leased to businesses operating in industries that directly and indirectly serve the US consumer. The firm's primary focus is on providing real estate capital solutions to businesses and business owners with established and growing operations across the United States. These capital solutions will provide critical growth capital to middle market businesses in the current evironment of funding uncertainty. Fundamental will target customer facing real estate and support facilities across 85 industries, including, but not limited to consumer services, hospitality, consumer products, healthcare, and critical industrials. Prior to founding Fundamental Income, Burbach was an executive with STORE Capital (NYSE: STOR), where he led the underwriting of approximately $12 billion of net lease investments, including over $7.5 billion in closed transactions. Co-Founder, Panagiotakopoulos, comes with an extensive background in originations, credit and real estate finance, with over $1.5 billion of transaction experience having worked with Burbach at STORE Capital, and most recently, having served as Managing Director, Strategic Initiatives for a private distressed debt firm where he was instrumental in new acquisitions and portfolio management. "There continues to be more and more demand for efficient long-term real estate capital particularly in times like these where businesses are realizing the importance of being aligned with collaborative, well capitalized capital partners," said Chris Burbach, CEO of Fundamental Income Properties. "Companies want their management teams focused on navigating challenges and creating value in their core operating business, not in the ownership of real estate. With the backing of Brookfield, one of the leading asset managers in the world, we look forward to helping companies unlock static capital tied up in their real estate so they can effectively deploy it to grow their underlying business or strengthen their balance sheet." "We've assembled a best in class investment team, drawing on years of diverse institutional experience. We look forward to partnering with companies across the country to provide the balance sheet, speed, and certainty of execution they need," said Alexi Panagiotakopoulos, CIO of Fundamental Income Properties. Evercore is serving as financial advisor to Fundamental Income Properties LLC. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005504/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The Union Health Ministry has sought a ban on the export of anti-tuberculosis drugs over concerns that the lockdown due to COVID-19 has affected the production of such medicines. Delay in production and receipt of supply may cause acute shortage of these drugs, Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan said as she requested an empowered group of government officials to direct the department of pharmaceuticals under the ministry of chemicals and fertilizers and commerce ministry for issuing necessary directions for prohibiting export of anti-TB medicines. In a letter to Drinking Water and Sanitation Secretary Parameswaran Iyer, who is also the chairman of the empowered group for facilitating supply chain and logistics management, she said, "In view of the emergency measures undertaken, the availability of limited number of manpower and material to the pharmaceutical industry, the production capacity of the leading anti-TB drug manufacturers of India has been affected." Such a situation will worsen the treatment of TB patients within the country, she added.Sudan said suppliers have communicated that anti-TB drug supplies will be delayed because "force majeure" due to COVID-19 response activities, limited material (API), for production, limited manpower (because of restrictions) and limited transportation facilities. The leading anti-TB drugs manufacturers at present having contract agreement with National Tuberculosis Elimination Program (NTEP) are Macleods and Lupin. Major factories for these drugs are in Bharuch and Ankleshwar in Gujarat, Baddi in Himachal Pradesh and Daman and Diu. Under these circumstances, needless to emphasise that the situation calls for extraordinary measures to ensure that TB patients of the country simultaneously don't face any challenges in accessing either diagnosis or the treatment of the tuberculosis across the country under the NTEP, Sudan said. Two persons, including a woman, died after they were buried alive in sand while illegally quarrying coal on a riverbed in Chhattisgarh's Korba district on Wednesday, police said. The incident took place in the wee hours on the Hasdeo river bed under Kotwali police station limits of Korba, one of the mineral rich districts of the state and known for its coal reserves. People residing in localities close to the Hasdeo river illegally extract coal from the riverbed and adjoining areas, a police official said. As per preliminary information, on Wednesday, Purani Basti area residents Laxmin Manjhi (35) and Shivlal Manjhi (21) went to the riverbed, dug a pit there and went inside it to extract coal. The sand around suddenly caved in and they got trapped inside, the official said. Other people present at the spot tried to rescue them but could not succeed, he said. On getting information about the incident, a police team rushed to the spot and retrieved the bodies with the help of locals, the official said, adding that a case was registered in connection with the incident. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An essential worker has been left in tears after getting a speeding fine from a policeman on the way to a job. The female nurse, who did not want to be named, copped a ticket while driving a branded vehicle in her work uniform on Gordonton Rd in Hamilton, New Zealand, on Tuesday morning. The woman was travelling to a patient at their home when she was pulled over by the policeman, who she claimed wasn't wearing protective clothing and breached her personal space. She accepted that she was speeding and thought police would be lenient to essential workers during the coronavirus period. Tourism Waikato chief executive Jason Dawson posted a tweet after he was contacted by the speeding driver, who was left in tears after the incident. A nurse has been left in tears after she was fined for speeding in Hamilton, NZ. Pictured: a police officer directs cars in Amberley last week He has since deleted the post, which read: 'even passers-by and cyclists were telling the policeman it is deplorable given all the other cars speeding around them. 'Didn't care and the power went to head, even though our essential workers are already feeling vulnerable.' Mr Dawson told The NZ Herald the policeman had the wrong attitude toward the speeding nurse in this time. 'Chasing essential workers instead of lockdown offenders is just wrong to meet their quota,' he said. 'Also his lack of personal protective equipment and mask, leaning into the vehicle so she asked him to please stand back.' Waikato road policing manager Inspector Jeff Penno defended the fine, saying road rules haven't change because the country is in lockdown. 'I am confident the officer involved complied with the directions that all police staff are aware of and are adhering to,' he said. Inspector Penno said every police officer has been issued with personal protective equipment, though they have not been ordered to wear it at all times. Eir has been at loggerheads with rival telecoms firms over its connection charge fees Broadband prices for homes and businesses look set to come down as the country's biggest provider announced a substantial cut. Eir is reducing the rate it charges other operators by 5 per month for its fastest underlying fibre broadband services. This means that most operators that depend on Eir's fibre will now be under pressure to pass on the 5-a-month reduction. Aside from Eir's own retail broadband arm, the companies involved include major home broadband players like Vodafone and Sky, which partly rely on Eir's underlying broadband lines as part of their own broadband packages. The price cuts are scheduled for July 1. Eir is also reducing the 'wholesale' charge to rival retailers to connect customers up to its fibre-to-the-home lines, a significant industry move that will bring the cost down from 170 to 100. Eir has been at loggerheads with rival telecoms firms, as well as Ireland's telecoms regulator, over its connection charge fees. However, the company says that its current cost-cutting moves are nothing to do with any direction from ComReg, but are about stimulating demand. "This was a decision wholly taken by Open Eir to drive take-up of fibre-to-the-home," a spokesman for the company said. The price cuts will see Eir's wholesale charge fall by 5 per month on its 300Mbs and 500Mbs services, putting them in the same monthly wholesale price bracket (23.50 excluding Vat) as Eir's 150Mbs wholesale service, whose price is unchanged. This should mean that, given the choice, households will opt for the higher 500Mbs package rather than the 150Mbs one, according to how retail broadband firms position their offers. Eir's top-tier 1Gbps service is also reduced by 5 from 33.50 to 28.50 (excluding Vat). Because it has the biggest national network, Open Eir provides the underlying connectivity to about two-thirds of fixed broadband subscribers in Ireland. It has also 'passed' more than 500,000 premises with fibre-to-the-home broadband, meaning that those households can be quickly connected up by a local retail broadband operator. Eir says that it has an overarching plan to have 84pc of the country's premises - or 1.4 million - in its high-end fibre-to-the-home broadband network footprint within five years. The move will also lower prices for the upcoming State-subsidised National Broadband Plan services. Russian-occupation forces have violated ceasefire in the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) area in Donbas four times today. Ukraines Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzianyk said this at a briefing on Wednesday, according to an Ukrinform correspondent. "Since the beginning of the day, April 22, the Russian-led forces have violated ceasefire in the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) area four times. The enemy used hand-held and automatic grenade launchers to shell Ukrainian positions near Orikhove (57km north-west of Luhansk), Bohdanivka (41km south-west of Donetsk), Lebedynske (16km east of Mariupol) and Shyrokyne (20km east of Mariupol), the spokesman said. At the same time, he noted that the invaders had used 82mm mortars to fire at the Ukrainian troops in the area of Shyrokyne. The Ukrainian military gave a decent response to the enemy and thwarted hostile armed activity with light infantry weapons. No casualties among the Ukrainian military have been reported, the spokesman added. ish BASEL, Switzerland, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- FoRx Therapeutics AG (FoRx), the biotechnology company developing a new generation of cancer drugs focusing on novel DNA Replication Stress (DRS) pathways, today announced the closing of a EUR 10 million seed financing led by M Ventures (venture capital arm of Merck), Novartis Venture Fund and Omega Funds. Pfizer Ventures, the venture capital arm of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and LSP (Life Sciences Partners) also joined the seed financing. The company also announces the appointment of Colin Goddard as Executive Chairman. FoRx is developing a new generation of drugs against a unique target class for the treatment of cancer. The company's scientific foundations are built on the pioneering work of Professor Thanos Halazonetis, from the University of Geneva. Professor Halazonetis discovered novel DNA repair pathways, such as Break Induced Replication (BIR) that enable cancer cells to overcome DNA Replication Stress, a prevalent feature in human cancers but absent in normal, healthy cells. These repair pathways constitute a vulnerability that can be exploited for targeted intervention using synthetic lethality. The work of Professor Halazonetis describing oncogene-induced replication stress has been published in renowned scientific journals including Nature[1]. The Company's validated BIR targets furthermore appear to have potential for both therapy and maintenance treatment as shown in preclinical knock-out models. Newly appointed Executive Chairman, Dr. Colin Goddard, said: "I am excited to join the Board of FoRx as we embark upon this new approach for therapeutic intervention in cancer. With strong scientific foundations and a high quality investor syndicate, the Company has the potential to materially improve the options available to oncologists around the world." Dr. Colin Goddard has a long track record of leadership and success in the industry. He works as an investor and board member in a number of early stage and public biotechnology companies, leveraging over 30 years of experience in the industry. He is Chairman of Mission Therapeutics and BlinkBio. He was previously a non-executive director of Endocyte Inc. which was acquired by Novartis in 2018 for US$ 2.1 billion. From October 1998 until its US$4 billion acquisition by Astellas Pharmaceuticals Inc. in June of 2010, Dr. Goddard was CEO of OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc. Dr. Goddard holds a PhD in Cancer Pharmacology. Therese Maria Liechtenstein from M Ventures, Florian Muellershausen from Novartis Venture Fund, Vincent Ossipow from Omega Funds, Vincent Brichard from LSP, and Denis Patrick from Pfizer Ventures joined the FoRx board along with Professor Halazonetis. Andreas Goutopoulos, current Senior Scientific Director at EMD Serono and Chief Scientific Officer at Metabomed, is supporting FoRx Therapeutics as interim Chief Executive Officer, as part of his role as Entrepreneur-in-Residence at M Ventures. About FoRx Therapeutics FoRx Therapeutics, was founded in the fall of 2019, is a biotechnology company developing a new generation of cancer drugs focusing on novel DNA Replication Stress pathways activated in cancer. Drawing on discoveries by Thanos Halazonetis and Dr. Sotirios Sotiriou, FoRx was co-founded in 2019 with M Ventures, Novartis Venture Fund and Omega Funds along with Pfizer Ventures, the venture capital arm of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and LSP (Life Sciences Partners). For more information, visit www.forxtherapeutics.com About M Ventures M Ventures is the strategic, corporate venture capital arm of Merck. Its mandate is to invest in innovative technologies and products with the potential to significantly impact the company's core business areas. From its headquarters in Amsterdam and offices in the US and Israel, M Ventures invests globally in transformational ideas driven by great entrepreneurs. M Ventures takes an active role in its portfolio companies and teams up with entrepreneurs and co-investors to translate innovation towards commercial success. M Ventures has a significant focus on early stage investing and company creation including the creation of spin-offs to leverage the company's science and technology base. For more information, visit www.m-ventures.com. About the Novartis Venture Fund Novartis Venture Fund is a financially driven corporate life science venture fund whose purpose is to foster innovation, drive significant patient benefit and generate superior returns by creating and investing in innovative life science companies at various stages of their development. For more information, go to www.nvfund.com. About Omega Funds Founded in 2004, Omega Funds is a leading international investment firm that creates and invests in life sciences companies that target our world's most urgent medical needs. Omega focuses on identifying and supporting companies through value inflection points across the full arc of innovation, from company formation through clinical milestones and commercial adoption. Omega Funds' portfolio companies have brought 37 products to market in multiple therapeutic areas, including oncology, rare diseases, precision medicine and others. Please visit omegafunds.com for additional information. About Pfizer Ventures Pfizer Ventures (PV), the venture capital arm of Pfizer Inc. was founded in 2004 and invests for return in areas of current or future strategic interest to Pfizer. PV seeks to remain at the forefront of life science advances, looking to identify and invest in emerging companies that are developing breakthroughs and technologies that have the potential to enhance Pfizer's pipeline and shape the future of our industry. For more information, visit www.pfizerventures.com. About LSP LSP's management has raised $2.5 billion since it started to invest in the life sciences in 1988. The group has offices in Amsterdam, Munich and Boston. Alongside the latest biotech fund LSP 6, recently closed at 600 million euros, the firm is investing from its $300 million Health Economics Fund and its $200 million public fund and mandates. Among LSP's signature deals are argenx, Crucell, KuDOS, Movetis, Neuravi, Okairos, Prosensa, Qiagen and Zealand Pharma. In addition, LSP is an active contributor to the life sciences industry through roles as founder and board member of the Oncode Institute, board member of both the German and Dutch private equity and venture capital associations, initiator of the Dutch Venture Initiative (DVI), as well as board member or advisor to a number of European technology transfer institutes and government bodies such as Health~Holland. For further information, please contact: Optimum Strategic Communications Mary Clark, Manel Mateus Tel: +44-(0)-203-922-0889 Email : [email protected] [1] Nature. 2005 Apr 14;434(7035):907-13. SOURCE FoRx Therapeutics AG The Counsel does not work for us; the Counsel is a constitutional office set up to represent basically the financial interests of consumers in rate-setting cases more than anything else. As to the question of this Committee directing the activities of the Consumer Counsel, what I was told when I came on was no, we do not do that, that is not our job and it wouldnt be proper for us to do that. The way I have always looked at it the power we have over the Counsel, as members of the Legislature, is that if we really get mad at him we can go to the next session and cut his budget all to pieces by recommending to the Budget Committee that they do not deserve much money, but as far as coming to a Committee meeting and assigning them certain duties we simply, as I was given to understand, do not have that authority and probably shouldnt have. America Is Desperate For A Comeback. Hear from Dr. Willie Jolley - The #1 Comeback Authority In The World! Every person in America is looking for answers to how to turn their setback into a comeback! Dr. Willie Jolley is the #1 Authority to help people answer that question! Dr. Jolley is the author of the international best selling book and PBS Special, A Setback Is A Setup For A Comeback! He is the expert Ford Motors called when they were on the brink of bankruptcy in 2006! He worked with Ford in 2006, 2007, 2008 and in 2009, Ford was able to reject a government bailout and go on to billion-dollar profits. The 7 principles that Dr. Jolley shared with Ford Motors will help other organizations successfully navigate this coronavirus crisis as well! Dr. Willie Jolley is available for all media interviews via phone, Skype or Zoom. Dr. Jolley is the author of several international best-selling books including It Only Takes A Minute To Change Your Life, A Setback Is A Setup For A Comeback, Turn Setbacks Into Greenbacks, Make Love, Make Money, Make It Last! and An Attitude of Excellence, endorsed by Dr. Stephen Covey. Dr. Willie Jolley holds a Doctor of Ministry Degree in Faith-Driven Achievement from the California Graduate School of Theology, a master's degree in Theology from Wesley Theological Seminary and a B.A. in Psychology and Sociology from The American University. Dr. Jolley resides with his wife, Dee, in Washington, DC. Media Contact: Cheryl Ragin, VP, Marketing and New Media, Willie Jolley Production, Inc. Phone: 347-743-1600 Email: cheryl@williejolley.com Related links: www.winwithwillie.com. ### Thousands of snacks, energy bars, drinks and other items were supposed to be handed out during the annual convenience store trade show last month. The New England Convenience Store and Energy Marketers Associations show in Springfield was postponed due to the coronavirus and those gift bags are now supporting homeless shelters, community groups, hospitals, first responders and non-profits across the state. Store operators made the decision to pack the gift bags and distribute them during the pandemic, the association said. In all, 210 bags will be distributed by seven convenience store branches across the state. We are truly all in this together, director of the New England Convenience Store and Energy Marketers Association Jonathan Shaer said. During this difficult time, convenience stores are essential services where people can buy food, fuel, drinks and other items, while maintaining safe social distancing guidelines. Our hardworking employees are doing their part to keep stores safe, stocked and open, and these bags are a small contribution to help the communities we serve that are in need during this crisis. The organizations that will received the gift bags include: Nouria Energy is donating bags of food to the United Way in Springfield. Global Partners is giving away bags at Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield. Verc Enterprises is donating bags to Our Fathers Shelter and Highland Baptist Church Food Pantry in Fitchburg. Energy North Group/Haffners is donating bags to Bread and Roses in Lawrence and Emmaus Inc. in Haverhill. Colbea Enterprises is donating bags to the Fall River Police Department. Cumberland Farms will be distributing bags in Brockton. Yatco Energy will be distributing bags to the Worcester Food Bank. Related Content: Over 2,200 cancer cases could be going undetected each week amid the coronavirus crisis, a charity has warned, drastically reducing patients chances of survival. The number of urgent referrals by GPs have dropped to about 25 per cent of usual levels, Cancer Research UK found. The charity said this is due to fewer people going to see their GP and also practitioners reluctance to send patients to hospital due to the risk of Covid-19. It said screening services had been formally paused in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and are de facto paused in England as no appointments are being made at screening hubs. It comes after hundreds of dying cancer patients had their home visits by Marie Curie nurses cancelled due to a lack of personal protective equipment, with some patients being asked to make their own mind up about whether or not to continue treatment at hospitals battling the pandemic. Typically, screening services would see around 200,000 each week for diseases such as bowel, breast cancer and cervical cancer across the UK, taking on an average of 2,250 cases. Cancer Research UK estimates the situation could jeopardise the recovery of thousands of people, as early-stage cancers are significantly easier to treat and that the numbers of new cases are stacking up each week. In an analysis on its website, it said doctors are concerned early stage cancers are being parked for three months or more. After this point, the chances of curative surgery to remove all of the cancerous tissue reducing the need for chemo or radiotherapy become less likely. Cancer Research UK is now calling on the NHS to develop a plan to dramatically ramp up screening services to deal with the backlog of cases once it is safe to do so. Professor Charles Swanton, chief clinician at Cancer Research UK, told Radio 4s Today programme the government needs to urgently deliver on its promise to create Covid-free hubs in private hospitals. In some parts of the country that is definitely happening, patients are having Covid-19 screening 48 hours prior to surgical admission, he said. What is not happening routinely right now although there are promising signs is the routine screening of all staff, not just symptomatic but asymptomatic staff, in an effort to create truly coronavirus-free cancer hubs. The truth is, in medicine total certainty is very difficult but we can minimise risk and minimising risk requires testing, testing, testing. Prof Swanton said the risk of not going to a doctor is much greater than seeking medical help and potentially catching coronavirus. High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world Show all 18 1 /18 High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world Najaf, Iraq A man holds a pocket watch at noon, at an almost empty market near the Imam Ali shrine Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world Bangkok, Thailand Wat Phra Si Rattana Satsadaram (The Temple of the Emerald Buddha, part of The Grand Palace) Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world Prague, Czech Republic An empty street leading to the historic Old Town Square Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world Washington DC, US Lawn stretching towards the Capitol, home of Congress Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world Jerusalem's Old City A watch showing the time in front of Damascus Gate Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world London, UK The Houses of Parliament seen from Westminster Bridge Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world Wuhan, China Empty lanes in the city that saw the first outbreak of disease Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world Havana, Cuba The Malecon road and esplanade winds along the city's seafront Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world Cairo, Egypt A little busier than elsewhere: midday traffic in Tahrir Square Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world Berlin, Germany The Brandenburg Gate, the only surviving city gate in the capital Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world Caracas, Venezuela Bolivar Avenue, opened in 1949 and the site of many demonstrations and rallies Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world Moscow, Russia Spasskaya Tower (left) on the eastern wall of the Kremlin, and St Basil's Cathedral Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world Istanbul,Turkey The harbourside Eminonu district is usually buzzing with activity Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world New Delhi, India Rajpath, a ceremonial boulevard that runs through the capital Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world Amman, Jordan The Roman amphitheatre that dates back to the 2nd century AD Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world New York City, US The main concourse of Grand Central station in Manhattan Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world Kiev, Ukraine Maidan Nezalezhnosti, the site of many political protests since the end of the Soviet era Reuters High noon in a coronavirus-stricken world Accra, Ghana The odd walker out in the midday sun on Ring Road Central Reuters The current situation is having a particular impact on the diagnosis of lung cancers the most common cause of cancer death for fear of spreading Covid-19 to healthcare staff, Cancer Research UK said. Cancers that require invasive tests such as endoscopy, bronchoscopies and guided biopsies are also going undetected, the charity said. It further warned urgent surgeries are being delayed in many parts of the country due to a lack of recovery beds with ventilation and no intensive care beds if surgery were to go wrong. The risk of Covid-19 infection for both patients and staff was also a limiting factor in the number of surgeries being carried out, the charity said. Additional reporting by Press Association The Centre has issued an ordinance for protection of doctors under which cases of assault on medics will be non bailable, Information and Broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar said Wednesday. Changes in the Epidemic Diseases Act through ordinance have been approved by the cabinet. It will be implemented after the Presidents sanction. Offences will be made non bailable and cognizable, Javadekar said at a briefing. Investigations will be completed in 30 days. There will be stringent punishment including fines up to Rs 2 lakh. If serious cases, the punishment will be imprisonment up to seven years and fine up to Rs five lakh, he said. The message is clear. No attacks on health staff and doctors will be tolerated, Javadekar said. The government had received several complaints of assaults on doctors and health workers, particularly those involved in Covid care. Watch | Up to 7-yr jail, hefty fines: Modi govt passes ordinance to protect health workers The decision came hours after Union home minister Amit Shah during a meeting with the Indian Medical Association (IMA) assured doctors of their safety following reports of attacks on health workers in different parts of the country. The IMA had said on Monday it would observe a Black Day on April 23 if the government does not enact a central law on violence against healthcare workers. Doctors affiliated with various associations have been urging the government to bring in a law to make assaults against them non bailable. Medical professionals particularly those involved in Covid care have been attacked in various places, often when they have gone to quarantine those testing positive or by relatives of coronavirus patients. They have also been harassed by landlords and thrown out of their accommodation over fears they could be carriers of coronavirus. San Antonio police are investigating a shooting at an East Side apartment parking lot after a man was found dead and a second seriously injured Tuesday. Just after 9:30 p.m., officers were near the 4800 block of Pecan Grove Boulevard when they heard shots ring out, SAPD said. When they arrived, officers found a 39-year-old man laying in the parking lot, unresponsive. He had a handgun beside him and several shell casings were nearby. Raab to be grilled over coronavirus handling amid calls for inquiry into Government's 'slow response' Dominic Raab will today be grilled over the Governments handling of the coronavirus crisis amid calls for an inquiry into its slow response". Sir Keir Starmer will likely use his first PMQs as Labour leader to question Boris Johnson's stand-in over testing, safety equipment for frontline workers and an exit strategy from the lockdown. Foreign Secretary Mr Raab, who is deputising for the PM as he recovers from Covid-19, and Sir Keir will be in the House of Commons chamber among up to 50 MPs permitted to attend. Others can take part remotely through the Zoom video-conferencing platform in the first PMQs since Parliament rose early a month ago because of the crisis. RAF plane returns to UK from Turkey after being sent to collect PPE An RAF plane, believed to be carrying a delayed consignment of personal protective equipment (PPE) for NHS staff, has landed in the UK. Flight tracker RadarBox showed the Airbus A400-M registered ZM416 depart Istanbul and land just after 3.30am this morning at RAF Brize Norton. The plane had been dispatched from the Oxfordshire base, where two other planes are on stand-by to pick up further kit from Turkey, late on Monday. It is not known if the consignment, which was ordered on Thursday and originally due to arrive on Sunday, includes 400,000 badly-needed surgical gowns. Top civil servant U-turns on claim not taking part in EU equipment scheme 'political decision' The Foreign Offices top civil servant has backtracked after saying ministers took a "political decision" not to take part in an EU scheme to get vital coronavirus equipment. Health Secretary Matt Hancock was forced to deny the claim that was made by Sir Simon McDonald to the Commons foreign affairs committee yesterday. However, Sir Simon later made a U-turn when he wrote to the committee to say he had been incorrect and said the scheme was not joined because of a "communication problem. William and Kate: Mental health of frontline workers a top priority The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have pledged to make supporting the mental health of frontline workers battling coronavirus their "top priority" in the months ahead. William and Kate's Royal Foundation is formally backing a new initiative from leading charities and organisations, Our Frontline, to provide support to everyone from teachers and nurses to bus drivers. The prince said workers confronting traumatic situations at work while also contending with their own worries can take a real toll. He added: "Catherine and I, together with the Royal Foundation, will do all we can to support Our Frontline. Trump halts green cards for 60 days amid pandemic Donald Trump has said his new US immigration ban would last for 60 days and apply to those seeking "green cards" for permanent residency. The US President described the proposals as an effort to protect Americans trying to regain jobs lost because of the coronavirus pademic. Mr Trump plans to institute the ban through an executive order, which he said he was likely to sign later today. Black Mirror creator returns for lockdown special Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker will offer an acerbic look at the coronavirus pandemic in a half-hour lockdown special for BBC Two. Tentatively titled Charlie Brooker's Antiviral Wipe, the one-off episode will look at the things people are watching and doing to keep themselves occupied. It will feature the return of Diane Morgan as reporter Philomena Cunk and Al Campbell as Barry Shitpeas, both regulars on Brooker's Bafta-winning Wipe series. On this day... 1500: Navigator Pedro Alvarez Cabral discovered Brazil and claimed it on behalf of Portugal. 1838: The British packet steamer Sirius became the first steamship to cross the Atlantic to New York from England. 1870: Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Lenin), Russian revolutionary leader, was born in Simbirsk. 1884: A major earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter Scale hit Colchester and parts of East Anglia. 1915: Germany first used poison gas at Ypres as a chemical weapon. 1933: Frederick Henry Royce, co-founder of Rolls-Royce car company, died. 1943: The printing of British 1,000 notes was discontinued. 1969: Yachtsman Robin Knox-Johnston sailed into Falmouth to complete his 312-day, non-stop, round-the-world voyage. Jacqueline Fernandez might soon be seen in a special song in the Telugu remake of the award-winning film Pink. As per a report published in The Times of India, the makers of Pawan Kalyan-starrer Vakeel Saab are interested in roping in Jacqueline for a song. They have apparently approached her with an offer. The movie is being directed by Venu Sriram and also stars Nivetha Thomas and Anjali in pivotal roles. Vakeel Saab is being produced by Boney Kapoor and Dil Raju. Pawan Kalyans film was supposed to release on first week of May, but the dates will certainly change now due to the coronavirus lockdown. The first look of Vakeel Saab was released in the first week of March. The movie sees Telugu star Pawan Kalyan return to the big screen after a brief hiatus. Agnathavasi was his last film which was released in 2018. Pink hit the screens in September 2016. The plot focuses on how three women aided by a lawyer fight against boys from influential backgrounds in a case of sexual assault. The Bollywood film was directed by Aniruddha Roy and stars Amitabh Bachchan and Taapsee Pannu in key roles. Pink was widely acclaimed for the storyline and performances and won a National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues. The Tamil remake of Pink was titled Nerkonda Paarvai. The film was directed by H. Vinoth and starred Ajith Kumar in the role of the lawyer, played famously by Amitabh Bachchan. Flash More European nations have decided to tentatively relax restrictions with various requirements being introduced to the public. According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Europe has registered 1,073,947 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 103,989 deaths as of 10:00 a.m. CET (0800 GMT) on April 21. Relaxing lockdown Despite the figures, more European countries have started or blueprinted their way back to normal life with cautious easing of some restrictions put into place to stem the spread of the coronavirus. Cyprus took its first steps on Tuesday to gradually relax coronavirus restrictions and restart the economy, with the government saying that it expects an economic recession. President Nicos Anastasiades presided over meetings of trade unions, employers' associations, hoteliers, contractors and big land developers to hear their views before announcing plans for the gradual relaxation of restrictions. Strict restrictions, including an unprecedented peace-time curfew, are in force until April 30. Also on Tuesday, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced that the government has relaxed measures against the coronavirus spread by partly reopening primary schools as of May 11. Meanwhile, Austria, one of the first European countries loosening lockdown, took further steps. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced that the exit restrictions imposed by his government will be relaxed and all shops may reopen from May 1. School operations will also gradually resume from May 4, while restaurants, coffee houses and worship services are due to reopen from May 15, said Kurz. In Italy, one of the hardest-hit countries in the continent, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said that his country might gradually reopen its economy from the strict terms of its six-week-long national coronavirus lockdown starting from May 4. Conte said the specific rules to be in place after May 4 would be announced later this week. "We must act on the basis of a national plan, which will take into account the specifics of our territory," Conte said via social media. The prime minister allowed a handful of business sectors to reopen, including stores selling products for babies, bookstores, and dry cleaners, a week ago. Italy saw fewer ICU and hospitalized patients as COVID-19 death toll has climbed to 24,648 as of Tuesday. In Spain, the other European country hit hard by the coronavirus which has registered 21,282 deaths as of Tuesday, the cabinet had approved Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's request to extend the current "state of alarm" for a further 15 days, up to May 9, according to the government spokesperson Maria Jesus Montero. The proposal will be debated in Parliament on Wednesday and one of the new conditions of the extended "state of alarm" will allow children under age 14 to go outside for short periods of time after April 27. Requirements However, the governments have made various requirements in the process of the easing with an aim to prevent a possible rebound of infections. For instance, the "relief" for children in Spain will be strictly limited. The government spokesperson Montero elaborated that the children will only be able to leave their residency accompanied by an adult for purposes already permitted by the "state of alarm," such as "going to the supermarket, pharmacy or a financial institution." In Germany, the federal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Berlin, Hesse, Baden-Wuerttemberg and Saxony-Anhalt on Tuesday announced some form of obligation to wear a protective face mask in certain public areas. The decision came after Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a "gradual" and "cautious" exit strategy from COVID-19 measure. Thuringia, Bavaria and Mecklenburg Western Pomerania had already announced the obligation to wear a face mask earlier. Saxony, where the face mask regulation has been in effect since Monday, was the first German state to make mask-wearing compulsory. Bavaria's Minister President Markus Soeder stressed on Monday that mouth and nose protection would play a "very central role" in containing a further spread of the coronavirus. In most German states, the obligation to wear a face mask or other protective cover will start during the course of next week. In Austria, Chancellor Kurz also emphasized that services will be allowed to open with requirements that include wearing masks, keeping social distance and a restriction on the number of guests. T he head of the World Health Organisation has brushed off calls for his resignation as he told the US to reconsider freezing its funding. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he hopes the US believes the agency is "an important investment, not just to help others, but for the US to stay safe" amid the pandemic. President Donald Trump last week announced a temporary halt to US funding for the agency, alleging a WHO cover-up and missteps handling the outbreak. And a group of Republican politicians in the House of Representatives suggested that the president condition any voluntary US contributions to the WHO this year on Dr Tedros' resignation. Trump halts US payments to WHO over coronavirus warnings Asked whether he was considering that, Dr Tedros said: "I will continue to work day and night because this is a blessed work, actually, and responsibility saving lives, and I will focus on that." The US is the Geneva-based agency's biggest donor, providing hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of support each year. In Washington, officials said the halt involved new funding for the WHO, and was expected to continue for 60 to 90 days. Loading.... Dr Mike Ryan, the WHO's emergencies chief, said the US pause would impact core agency activities like child immunisations, efforts to eradicate polio, and "essential health services and trauma management in some of the most vulnerable populations in the world". "I very much hope that ... this is a 60-day stay on funding," and no more, he said. "That's why you don't see me complaining, because we just need to get on with it." At a news conference in Washington on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced a new tranche of assistance to specific countries, bringing the total of virus aid this year to more than 700 million US dollars (560 million). Other US officials said the suspended money for the WHO would be used for the same purpose, just distributed to individual groups - eliminating the agency as a conduit. Mr Tedros also defended not calling the coronavirus crisis a pandemic sooner than January 30. He said: [The emergency] was declared based on expert opinion that was drawn from all over the world. So looking back, I think we declared the emergency at the right time. Meanwhile, the WHO chief warned that most countries are still in the early stages of their coronavirus epidemics and others are starting to see a resurgence in cases. Mr Tedros said there were "worrying upward trends" in early epidemics in parts of Africa and central and South America. "Most countries are still in the early stages of their epidemics and some that were affected early in the pandemic are starting to see a resurgence in cases," the WHO director-general said on Wednesday. As people across the globe stay home to stop the spread of the new coronavirus, the air has cleaned up, albeit temporarily. Smog stopped choking New Delhi, one of the most polluted cities in the world, and Indias getting views of sights not visible in decades. Nitrogen dioxide pollution in the northeastern United States is down 30%. Rome air pollution levels from mid-March to mid-April were down 49% from a year ago. Stars seem more visible at night. Egypts parliament the House of Representatives voted Wednesday in favour of amending four articles of the law regulating the state of emergency (law 162/1958) to give the president greater powers to contain critical health situation such as the outbreak of the coronavirus. To avoid crowdedness and in line with the anti-coronavirus measures, parliament speaker Ali Abdel-Aal decided that all deputies should not vote at the same time. A group of MPs representing one governorate only will be allowed to enter the meeting hall to vote and then leave, said Abdel-Aal, adding that deputies from Upper Egypts governorates will vote first. The vote included other laws which were approved in principle on Tuesday, all aiming to contain the economic impact of the coronavirus. Speaker Abdel-Aal said that as many as 406 MPs approved the amendments. This represents more than two thirds of MPs as required by the constitution, said Abdel-Aal. A report prepared by parliaments defence and national security committee said the first article of the emergency law (162/1958) states that the state of emergency should be declared whenever the countrys national security and interests face danger. When the novel COVID-19 virus swept the world early this year, it pushed different countries to stand up to this real challenge and to move to overcome the pandemic and mitigate its negative impact on the lives of citizens, the report said. Egypt was at the forefront of countries which moved very early to take urgent health and economic measures necessary to stem the spread of the coronavirus, said the report, adding that Article 154 of Egypts 2014 constitution allows the president of the republic or officials deputised by him to take urgent measures to address dangers in exceptional circumstances. As a result, the law should be amended to help the president face the current new challenges. The report said Article 4 (paragraph one) will be amended to give the military prosecution the power to investigate crimes reported by the Armed Forces, but it is the general prosecution that will give the final say on these crimes. Article 7 (paragraph 4) will also be amended to change the make-up of the courts in this respect to include military judges as real conditions showed that the Armed Forces should intervene in this respect to protect the homeland and citizens, said the report. The report also indicated that new items beginning from 7 to 24 will be added to the text of Article 3 of the emergency law to give the president 17 new powers mainly focusing on addressing extraordinary health, social and economic conditions. The 17 new powers include the right to close schools and universities, shut down certain ministries, authorities and companies entirely or partially, postpone the payment of water, electricity and natural gas bills entirely or partially, and compel Egyptian expatriates returning home to undergo necessary health and quarantine measures. The powers also give the president the authority to allocate cash and in-kind assistance to individuals and families, offer financial support for medical research, provide financial and in-kind support to damaged economic sectors, postpone the payment of certain taxes, and turn schools and youth centres into field hospitals. The amended law grants the president the right to ban all kinds of private and public assemblies, processions and festivals. The powers also allow the president to impose restrictions on exports and the handling of certain goods, commodities, and services and to regulate the methods of collecting financial and in-kind donations necessary to contain certain critical health conditions. Besides, the new presidential powers also comprise imposing control on research, scientific and laboratorial works related in particular to biological material, and toughening measures regarding the possession, use, handling and disposal of such material. Parliament also finally approved on Wednesday amendments to seven laws, the first of which aim to change the current 2019/20 budget to earmark EGP 10 billion to help the state fight the coronavirus. Also approved were amendments to laws on real estate tax exemptions, income tax exemptions, urgent financial measures to cope with COVID-19s repercussions, raising pensions by 80 percent, and offering financial incentives to small and medium-scale enterprises. WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump announced what he described as a temporary suspension of immigration into the United States." But an executive order he is expected to sign Wednesday to implement the change would bar only those seeking permanent residency, not temporary workers. I will be signing my Executive Order prohibiting immigration into our Country today, Trump tweeted Wednesday. VIRUS CZARS: Get to know Houston's coronavirus recovery czars The president said Tuesday he would put a 60-day pause on the issuance of green cards in an effort to limit competition for jobs in a U.S. economy wrecked by the coronavirus. The order would include certain exemptions," he said, but he declined to outlined them, noting the order was still being crafted. By pausing immigration well help put unemployed Americans first in line for jobs as America reopens, so important," Trump said at the White House. "It would be wrong and unjust for Americans laid off by the virus to be replaced with new immigrant labor flown in from abroad. An administration official familiar with the plans, however, said the order will apply to foreigners seeking employment-based green cards and relatives of green card holders who are not citizens. Americans wishing to bring immediate family will still be able to do so, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity before the plan was announced. About 1 million green cards were granted in the 2019 fiscal year, about half to spouses, children and parents of U.S. citizens. By limiting his immigration measure to green cards, Trump was leaving untouched hundreds of thousands of foreign workers granted non-immigrant visas each year, including farm workers, health care workers and software programmers. The Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, estimated that some 110,000 green cards could be delayed during a two-month pause. Trump said he would consider extending the restrictions, depending on economic conditions at the time. Trump has long advocated restrictions on both legal and illegal immigration and has raised concerns for years about foreigners competing with American citizens for jobs. But he denied he was using the virus to make good on a longstanding campaign promise as he seeks reelection. No, I'm not doing that all," he said. The president has also used the crisis to push other stalled priorities, from tax reform to dramatic border restrictions. TRUCKERS UNITED: Big rig truckers block Houston traffic in protest of alleged wage scam Trump has often pivoted to his signature issue of immigration when hes under pressure. Its one he believes helped him win the 2016 election and one that continues to animate his loyal base of supporters heading into what is expected to be a brutal reelection fight. Much of the immigration system has already ground to a halt because of the coronavirus pandemic. Almost all visa processing by the State Department has been suspended for weeks. Travel to the U.S. has been restricted from much of the globe. And Trump has used the virus to effectively end asylum at U.S. borders, including turning away children who arrive by themselves and putting a hold on refugee resettlement something Congress, the courts and international law hadn't previously allowed. Criticism of Trump's announcement was swift, especially his timing during the pandemic. Ali Noorani, president of the National Immigration Forum, noted that thousands of foreign-born health care workers are currently treating people with COVID-19 and working in critical sectors of the economy. Andrea Flores of the American Civil Liberties Union said Trump seemed "more interested in fanning anti-immigrant flames than in saving lives. But Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors lower rates of immigration, said before the announcement that eliminating millions of work permits and visas would instantaneously create new jobs for Americans and other legal workers even though most businesses are shuttered because of social distancing dictates and stay-at-home orders. Carl Shusterman, who has practiced immigration law since the 1970s, said a 60-day pause would have little impact because the government effectively stopped processing green cards in March. The embassies are not open anyway, so this is like nothing new, said Shusterman. This announcement doesnt really change anything unless the embassies were to open up next week or in the next 60 days. Trump first announced his intentions in a vague tweet Monday night. Across the country, those who could be impacted waited in suspense through the day. Chicago immigration attorney Fiona McEntee said she had been inundated with calls, emails and social media messages, including from company executives hoping to expand their business in the U.S., a person applying for a fiance visa and wondering about their wedding plans, artists seeking extraordinary ability visas and foreign students. RAIDING THE STIMULUS: Publicly traded firms get $300 million in small-business loans It has created absolute panic, said McEntee. These are peoples lives. ... It is irresponsible and cruel to put out something like that without any consideration. As is often the case, Trumps tweet also caught many across the administration off-guard. Trump has already used the crisis to take dramatic steps to limit immigration. Last month, the administration effectively ended asylum, relying on a rarely used 1944 law aimed at preventing the spread of communicable disease. U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada have also been closed to tourism and recreational travel. Commercial traffic and a wide range of essential workers are still allowed to travel freely. The U.S. is now reporting more COVID-19 cases than any other country in the world, with more than 825,000 infected, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University. More than 45,000 have died. Trump had been expected to use his authority to slash the number of foreign workers allowed to take seasonal jobs in the U.S. Before the outbreak, the administration had planned to increase the number of H-2B visas, angering people who favor more restrictive immigration policies, including some supporters of the president who view foreign workers willing to accept lower wages as unfair competition to American labor. The Department of Homeland Security later put that plan on hold. ___ Spagat reported from San Diego. Associated Press writers Colleen Long, Zeke Miller and Darlene Superville in Washington, Carlos Rodriguez in Mexico City and Sophia Tareen in Chicago contributed to this report. "I don't know if any of you know how lucky you are to be at Northwestern University," the judge said. As Morales' mother cried in the gallery, Chiampas said to the woman, "I don't mean to upset you. I mean to upset them." Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 22) The city government of Taguig is set to launch drive-thru testing boosting its efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease. Taguig residents who are possible COVID-19 patients will be asked to fill out an online assessment form. If health professionals find that they need to be tested, they will be given a number, which they will use for the drive-thru testing. "Importante ho, hindi lang isang grupo o isang sektor ang may access sa testing... So nakita namin, solusyon namin, para du'n sa may kakayahan na mag-fill up ng form online, at may kakayahan magmaneho o magdala ng sasakyan," Taguig City Mayor Lino Cayetano said Wednesday. [Translation: What's important is that not only one group or sector has access to testing... So our solution it's for those who have the resources to accomplish an online form, and have the ability to drive or bring a car.] The new service will be available in two temporary facilities located in Bonifacio Global City in Barangay Fort Bonifacio, and in Lakeshore Tent in Barangay Lower Bicutan. Taguig City said the sites will only be open for about two hours a day as "it is hot outside, and [health] frontliners are [wearing] complete personal protective equipment [coveralls]." The city government said it is planning to begin the drive-thru testing this coming weekend. It will also train its personnel in its 31 health centers and three "super health centers" to conduct barangay-based COVID-19 testing. With its new initiatives under its Systematic Mass Approach to Responsible Testing (SMART), testing in the city will now include COVID-19 patients undergoing recovery; individuals exhibiting flu-like symptoms; persons who may have interacted with COVID-19 patients; frontliners; and the vulnerable demographics, which include pregnant women, elderly individuals, and persons with co-morbidities. The Taguig City government has recently inked new laboratory partnership deals with St. Luke's Medical Center in Bonifacio Global City and the Philippine Red Cross an addition to its existing agreements with the Department of Health and the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine to further expand its testing capacity. It has already tested nearly 1,000 people since the beginning of March. City officials said it is targeting to test some 10,000 to 15,000 out of its one million residents. CNN Philippines' AC Nicholls contributed to this report. From one former vice president to another, Al Gore on Wednesday endorsed Joe Biden for president, picking Earth Day to formally put his support behind the presumptive Democratic nominee. Gore announced the endorsement during a climate change virtual town hall hosted by the Biden campaign, calling President Donald Trump "the face of climate denial globally." "We need policy changes and that means we need to change some of the policymakers, particularly the one in the White House right now. And that's why I am so proud to endorse your candidacy, Joe," Gore told Biden on a split screen. Gore, who narrowly lost his Democratic bid for president in 2000, has become one of the world's leading climate activists over the past two decades, starring in the movie "An Inconvenient Truth" in 2006 and winning the Nobel Peace Price for his efforts one year later. Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, founder of the Climate Reality Project, speaks with youth climate activists durung a panel discussion on global climate, Friday, March 15, 2019, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart) ORG XMIT: GAMS102 More: 'Joe has all the qualities we need in a president right now': Barack Obama endorses Joe Biden In a 36-minute conversation, Gore told Biden that Trump has lifted constraints on polluters, contributing to more pollution into the atmosphere. He called it "crucial" that Biden win the election and vowed to do "everything I can" to persuade everybody who cares about the climate crisis to back Biden. "If you want to start solving the climate crisis, this is not rocket science. This is the most consequential choice in a presidential election that we've ever had in American history," Gore said. "This is a no-brainer. This is real simple choice, and if anybody has a doubt about that, come talk to me." Biden thanked Gore and told him, "Beating Trump won't end climate change but it's a critical first step." Former Vice President Al Gore endorses former Vice President Joe Biden's run for president during a virtual town hall Wednesday. In coordination with Earth Day, Biden also picked up the endorsement of Democratic Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who made tackling climate change his top issue during his failed presidential run last year. Story continues Before Gore became vice president under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 2001, he served in the Senate with Biden. As a young congressman in the early 1980s, Gore held some of the first congressional hearings on global warming. In his talk with Gore, Biden slammed the Trump administration's decision last week to withdraw an Obama-era rule that compelled the countrys coal plants to cut back emissions of mercury and other human health hazards. The move is designed to limit future regulation of air pollutants from coal- and oil-fired power plants. "It's wrong," Biden said. "It's a step backwards, and as we try to seek some progress, he's eviscerating the EPA and everything that's out there." More: 'Empathy matters': Elizabeth Warren endorses Joe Biden for president As Gore nodded in approval, Biden called it "particularly dangerous" that communities of color are disproportionately affected by air pollution and the ongoing coronaviarus pandemic. "It shouldn't be more likely to breathe poisoned air and drink poisoned water based of your ZIP code or the color of your skin," Biden said. Biden has endorsed much of the framework of the ambitious Green New Deal climate proposal backed by progressive Democrats. But his $5 trillion, decade-long plan to combat the climate crisis, unveiled last summer, falls short in some areas, especially in the timeline he envisions for eliminating carbon pollution from the economy. Biden has pushed tax breaks, direct spending and more aggressive federal regulations including the reversal of many actions of the Trump administration, which has rolled back a wide range of Obama-era environmental rules. Biden has said he would be more aggressive on the world stage, using U.S. political and economic muscle to limit emissions from other nations, including China. "There's so much more that needs to be done. Donald Trump has ignored the science and he's literally taken us backwards and the whole world with it," Biden said. Contributing: Associated Press Follow Joey Garrison on Twitter: @joeygarrison. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Al Gore endorses Vice President Joe Biden for president A 40-year-old farmer was found dead from his agricultural field in Shahpur village here under mysterious circumstances even as his family members alleged that he was murdered, police said. Jagtar Singh had gone to the fields on Tuesday and did not return home, according to Rampur police station SHO Satender Singh. The family members grew worried and later found him dead in the fields. The family alleged that Jagtar was murdered. A case was registered against four people in this connection and an investigation is on, the SHO said. The body has been sent for a post-mortem, he added. In the complaint lodged by Jagtar's son Arun, he has alleged that the accused had murdered his father over some monetary dispute. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) STAINES-UPON-THAMES, United Kingdom, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Mallinckrodt plc (NYSE: MNK), a global biopharmaceutical company, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review the company's New Drug Application (NDA) for terlipressin, an investigational agent being evaluated for the treatment of hepatorenal syndrome type 1 (HRS-1). On March 17, 2020 the company announced the completion of its rolling submission of the NDA for terlipressin. The FDA assigned a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) target date of September 12, 2020. HRS-1 is an acute and life-threatening syndrome involving acute kidney failure in people with cirrhosis.1 The condition has a median survival time of approximately two weeks and greater than 80 percent mortality within three months if left untreated.2,3 At present, there are no approved drug therapies for HRS-1 in the U.S.,4 and it is estimated to affect between 30,000 and 40,000 patients in the U.S. annually.5,6 "We are pleased that we received filing acceptance of our NDA submission. This is an important milestone in our clinical development program for terlipressin to address a critically high unmet need for patients with HRS-1 and their physicians, who historically have had limited treatment options," said Steven Romano, M.D., Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at Mallinckrodt. "We look forward to working with the agency during their review of our regulatory package." In 2005, terlipressin was granted Fast Track designation by the FDA, which provides for expedited review to facilitate development of drugs intended to treat serious or life-threatening conditions and fill an unmet medical need.7 In 2016, Mallinckrodt and the FDA reached agreement on the Phase 3 CONFIRM trial protocol design and data analysis under the agency's special protocol assessment (SPA) process. A SPA is an advance agreement with the FDA for the acceptability of the clinical design, endpoints and statistical data analyses for a Phase 3 trial before the start of the trial. The submission is a Class 2 resubmission. Mallinckrodt anticipates an FDA Advisory Committee meeting to discuss the submission later this year. The terlipressin NDA is based, in part, on results from the Phase 3 CONFIRM trial, which was the largest-ever prospective study (n=300) conducted in patients with HRS-1, and the culmination of a sustained, 17-year effort to develop terlipressin for potential use in the U.S. and Canada. Initial results were presented at The Liver Meeting 2019, the annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD). About Terlipressin Terlipressin is a potent vasopressin analogue selective for V1 receptors being investigated for the treatment of HRS-1 in the U.S. and Canada. It is an investigational product in these countries as the safety and efficacy have not been established with, nor has approval been granted by, regulatory authorities in either country. Terlipressin is approved for use outside the U.S. and Canada. ABOUT MALLINCKRODT Mallinckrodt is a global business consisting of multiple wholly owned subsidiaries that develop, manufacture, market and distribute specialty pharmaceutical products and therapies. The company's Specialty Brands reportable segment's areas of focus include autoimmune and rare diseases in specialty areas like neurology, rheumatology, nephrology, pulmonology and ophthalmology; immunotherapy and neonatal respiratory critical care therapies; analgesics and gastrointestinal products. Its Specialty Generics reportable segment includes specialty generic drugs and active pharmaceutical ingredients. To learn more about Mallinckrodt, visit www.mallinckrodt.com. Mallinckrodt uses its website as a channel of distribution of important company information, such as press releases, investor presentations and other financial information. It also uses its website to expedite public access to time-critical information regarding the company in advance of or in lieu of distributing a press release or a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disclosing the same information. Therefore, investors should look to the Investor Relations page of the website for important and time-critical information. Visitors to the website can also register to receive automatic e-mail and other notifications alerting them when new information is made available on the Investor Relations page of the website. CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS RELATED TO FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This release includes forward-looking statements with regard to terlipressin, including the anticipated regulatory review process and its potential impact on patients. The statements are based on assumptions about many important factors, including the following, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements: satisfaction of regulatory and other requirements; actions of regulatory bodies and other governmental authorities; changes in laws and regulations; issues with product quality, manufacturing or supply, or patient safety issues; and other risks identified and described in more detail in the "Risk Factors" section of Mallinckrodt's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other filings with the SEC, all of which are available on its website. The forward-looking statements made herein speak only as of the date hereof and Mallinckrodt does not assume any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events and developments or otherwise, except as required by law. CONTACT For Trade Media Inquiries Caren Begun Green Room Communications 201-396-8551 [email protected] For Financial/Dailies Media Inquiries Ron Bartlett H+K Strategies Senior Vice President M: +1 813 545 2399 [email protected] Investor Relations Daniel J. Speciale, CPA Vice President, Investor Relations and IRO 314-654-3638 [email protected] Mallinckrodt, the "M" brand mark and the Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals logo are trademarks of a Mallinckrodt company. Other brands are trademarks of a Mallinckrodt company or their respective owners. 2020 Mallinckrodt. US-2000713 04/20 References 1 National Organization for Rare Disorders. Hepatorenal Syndrome. Available at: https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/hepatorenal-syndrome/. Accessed April 20, 2020. 2 Colle I and Laterre PF. Hepatorenal syndrome: the clinical impact of vasoactive therapy, Expert Review of Gastroenterology & Hepatology. (2018) 12:2, 173-188, DOI: 10.1080/17474124.2018.1417034. 3 Gines P, Sola E, Angeli P, et al. Hepatorenal syndrome. Nature Reviews. (2018) 4:23. 4 Boyer TD, Medicis JJ, Pappas SC, et al. A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study to confirm the reversal of hepatorenal syndrome type 1 with terlipressin: the REVERSE trial design. Open Access Journal of Clinical Trials 2012:4. https://www.dovepress.com/a-randomized-placebo-controlled-double-blind-study-to-confirm-the-reve-peer-reviewed-article-OAJCT. 5 C Pant, B S Jani, M Desai, A Deshpande, Prashant Pandya, Ryan Taylor, R Gilroy, M Olyaee. Hepatorenal syndrome in hospitalized patients with chronic liver disease: results from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample 20022012. J Investig Med 2016;64:3338. 6 United States Census Bureau: Quick Facts. Available at: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045218. Accessed April 20, 2020. 7 U.S. Food and Drug Administration. "Fast Track". Available at https://www.fda.gov/patients/fast-track-breakthrough-therapy-accelerated-approval-priority-review/fast-track. Accessed April 20, 2020. SOURCE Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals Related Links http://www.mallinckrodt.com Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has reported 11 Covid-19 positive cases in its jurisdiction on Wednesday. One case was reported by Panvel City Municipal Corporation (PCMC). The total count of Covid-19 cases in Navi Mumbai is 85 cases. There are 20 containment zones in the city. Eight of the new cases are among the 19 employees of an IT company at Mahape, MIDC. A 19-year-old youth, resident of Kopar Khairane, who was in contact with a Covid positive employee of his company in Rabale has tested positive. A 27-year-old domestic help from Turbhe has tested positive. Her husband, a labourer, will be tested. The area has been declared as containment zone and sanitised. Panvel has 40 cases with one reported on Wednesday. A pregnant woman, resident of Kamothe, has tested positive. She had been admitted to Fortis hospital in Mulund on Monday. A Chinese journalist who went missing for nearly two months after streaming videos from Wuhan has reappeared, and claims he was detained and forcibly quarantined by police. Li Zehua was one of three Chinese journalists reporting from Wuhan's frontlines during its coronavirus epidemic who mysteriously disappeared. A former employee of state broadcaster CCTV, the 25 year old was last seen on February 26 in a video he posted online. The hours-long live-stream ended when agents entered his apartment - and he hadn't been seen since. Above, Li Zehua livestreams from his car in Wuhan while being followed by the white SUV in February But now, two months after he went missing, a video of Li has emerged across social media in which he explains his disappearance, The Guardian reported. He said on 26 February a white SUV pulled out in front of him while he was driving in the Wuchang district in Wuhan and shouted at him to stop. Panicking, he drove off with the car in pursuit and was able to reach his apartment. He recorded the video and posted it online later that day. After making it back to his apartment he said he turned the lights off and sat for hours in front of his computer for hours waiting. Li Zehua (pictured) has since emerged in a video online after he was last heard of on February 26. He claims he was forced into quarantine by local police because he had visited 'sensitive epidemic areas'. A knock came three hours later and three men who identified themselves as public security entered. They took Li to a police station where he was interrogated for 24 hours. He claims he was told he was being investigated on charges of disrupting public order. Police later decided not to charge him but said he would need to be quarantined because he had visited 'sensitive epidemic areas'. He claims he spent the next month in quarantine in Wuhan before he was released on March 28 and has since been spending time in his hometown in a different province. He was keen to stress that officers treated him politely while in quarantine and he was served three meals a day, monitored by security guards and able to watch the state broadcaster CCTV's evening newscast. Before he was taken by police, he had visited a series of sensitive venues in Wuhan, such as the community that held a huge banquet despite the epidemic and the crematorium which was hiring extra staff to help carry corpses, according to Radio Free Asia (RFA). At the time of his disappearance the outlet said Li was likely targeted by secret police after visiting the 34million Wuhan Institute of Virology. It has been at the centre of conspiracy theories, which suggest the killer virus originated there. The Wuhan Institute of Virology has been at the centre of conspiracy theories, which suggest that the killer virus originated there. The above picture, taken on January 31, 2015, shows researchers taking part in a drill at the newly-completed virus lab Two other whistle-blowers who tried to inform the world about the true scale of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan are still missing. The whereabouts of Chen Qiushi and Fang Bing have been unknown since February, and Chinese officials have not publicly commented on them. The citizen journalists had sought to expose the true scale of the outbreak from the then epicentre by uploading videos to YouTube and Twitter, both banned in mainland China. Fang Bin went missing on February 9 after releasing a series of videos, including one showing piles of bodies being loaded into a bus. It is alleged was arrested arrested briefly before disappearing. His last video showed hazmat-donning officers knocking on his door to measure his body temperature. Fang Bin (pictured), a Wuhan resident, went missing on February 9 after releasing a series of videos, including one showing piles of bodies being loaded into a bus (below) Chen, 34, has not been heard from since February 6. He arrived in Wuhan just before the city went into lockdown in hopes of providing the world with the truth of the epidemic, he said. His reports detailed horrific scenes including a woman frantically calling family on her phone as she sits next to a relative lying dead in a wheelchair and the helpless situation of patients in the overstretched hospitals. His disappearance was revealed on his Twitter account, which is being managed by a friend. Chen, 34, who went to Wuhan to report about the coronavirus outbreak independently, has not been heard from since 7pm local time on February 6, according to posts on his Twitter account The citizen journalists' disappearances saw US Republican Representative Jim Banks recently implore the State Department to urge China to investigate. In a letter dated March 31, he asked the US government to seek a probe into the fates of Chen, Fang and Li. 'All three of these men understood the personal risk associated with independently reporting on coronavirus in China, but they did it anyway,' Banks wrote, alleging that the Chinese government 'imprisoned them - or worse'. Wuhan's active coronavirus cases drop below 100 for the first time, official says The number of active coronavirus cases in Wuhan has dropped below 100 for the first time since the outbreak began, Chinese officials have announced. There are currently 97 coronavirus patients in Wuhan receiving treatment, Mi Feng, a spokesman from the Chinese Centre of Disease Prevention and Control, told the press on Wednesday. China Wednesday recorded 30 new confirmed cases, of which seven were domestic infections and 23 were 'imported cases' from abroad. The file photo shows Mi Feng, a spokesman from the Chinese Centre of Disease Prevention and Control speaking at a press conference Currently, there are 1,005 confirmed infections in China and 77,151 people have been discharged from hospitals. More than 82,000 people have contracted the killer bug in mainland China and the death toll remains at 4,632, according to China's official figures. The former ground zero Wuhan also reported zero deaths for seven consecutive days as of April 22. Mr Mi said that most of the new cases came from neighbouring countries. He also stressed the importance of tightening border controls to avoid triggering a second wave of the outbreak. Advertisement The news of Li's release comes the same day as it was revealed an award-winning Chinese author who kept an online diary about her lockdown life in Wuhan is facing death threats after agreeing to publish her journal in foreign languages. Wuhan-native Fang Fang, 64, has provided millions with a rare glimpse into the centre of the coronavirus outbreak with 60 posts penned in isolation and uploaded onto her social media account. She has revealed how she received threats and is now concerned for her family's safety after her decision to release her diary in the West caused uproar. Fang Fang, pictured (left) speaking to media in Wuhan on February 22, said she had received threats and was worrying about her safety in a now-deleted interview with Chinese outlet Caijing. One person urged her to kill herself or face attacks in a street poster in Wuhan (right) Fang Fang published the first entry of her diary on January 25 - two days after Wuhan was placed under lockdown. In one post on February 17 she described a Wuhan in 'a catastrophe' and indicated that hospitals would use up 'one booklet of death certificates every few days' and the vans from crematoriums would each carry several corpses stuffed into body bags. Her last post was posted on March 24 when the government announced it would lift the lockdown on Wuhan on April 8. Bismah Malik By Express News Service India's IT giants like Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Wipro are likely to revamp their delivery models (with more emphasis on off-site work culture) and cut down on H1-B applications after US President Donald Trump announced his plan to temporarily halt immigration and work towards increasing employment opportunities for US locals, industry analysts say. Although Trump's call may not be directly related to non-immigration and H-1B visas, his stress on the need to save jobs for Americans has raised concerns of layoffs and pay cuts among Indian techies in the US. There are currently 600000 Indians who hold H-1B visas in the US and many are in line for renewal/ extension of these visas, which was finally approved by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) last week. ALSO READ | Stephen Hawking's ventilator donated to British COVID-19 hospital: Family The H-1B visa holders who were laid off were supposed to find work within 60 days or leave the country, as per earlier guidelines. Over the last few years due to stricter visa regimes, the H-1B visa rejection rates have soared. 30% of these visa applications were rejected in 2019 alone. The COVID pandemic is likely to increase the rejection rate even higher to 50% this year. India's IT industry body Nasscom maintained that it is awaiting more clarification from the Executive Order that Trump referred to. Analysts predict that India's top IT services firms including TCS, Infosys may go for fewer H-1B visa filings this year and there could be an increasing trend of local hirings in the US by Desi firms. "We have seen the trend of many Indian companies hiring locally in the US for the last few years due to tougher visa modalities, which will only increase from now onwards. On the other hand, a total closure of boundaries will be no solution as the employers are always on the lookout for those with advanced skillsets. Hence for the Indian techies to survive this tide, revamping their skills will prove extremely important," Sanchit Vir Gogia, Chief Analyst and CEO, Greyhound Research said. Trump's recent assertions, however, may prompt many companies to reshape their delivery models to more off-site work and also endanger the jobs of those who were hired by local US firms. "A percentage of H-1B visa holders in the US end up being hired by silicon valley startups who are already threatened by the current pandemic and with stricter regulations, their jobs are at stake. Also, we have seen many IT services companies successfully implementing the off-site work culture (work from home) during lockdown which may become a sustained exercise and hence we will see fewer H-1B visa applications from IT majors in the US that also reduces travel burns, Pareekh Jain,Founder and Lead Analyst, EIIRTRend and Pareekh Consulting said. Going Further Note to Teachers: The first two activities include photographs and videos with intense and disturbing images inside hospitals. Please preview them in advance to make sure they are appropriate for your students. Choose one of the following three activities: 1.) Analyze and respond to a photograph of health care professionals fighting the pandemic. Look at the images and captions in the photographic essay The Epicenter: A week inside New Yorks public hospitals. Choose one photograph from the article that you found particularly informative, affecting or memorable in telling the story of health care workers battling the coronavirus pandemic. Then, answer these questions from our partners at Visual Thinking Strategies: Whats going on in this picture? What do you see that makes you say that? What more can we find? Then, dig a little deeper: What do you notice about the composition, colors, objects and people in the photograph? Why did this photograph stand out to you? What do you find interesting or moving about it? What could someone learn about the courage and the challenges facing health care professionals by viewing the photograph? 2.) Watch and respond to a video documenting health care workers on the front lines to keep Americans alive. Watch the seven-minute video Heartache in the Hot Zone: The Front Line Against Covid-19. In it, the Times columnist Nicholas Kristof visits two New York City hospitals and witnesses the heavy toll on medical workers fighting to keep Americans alive. Watch the film and then write about or discuss these questions adapted from our weekly Film Club feature: What moments in this film stood out for you? Why? Were there any surprises? Anything that challenged what you know or thought you knew? How does this film add to your understanding, or change your perspective about the featured article you read? What messages, emotions or ideas will you take away from this film? Why? Mr. Kristof says, These doctors and nurses are risking their lives and were failing them. Do you agree? 3.) Consider ways that you can help and support health care workers. In How to Help the Helpers, Nancy Wartik writes about ways we can all support health care professionals. Here are excerpts from four of her recommendations: Follow the Rules Its the No. 1 plea of all health care providers and emergency workers: Maintain social distance if you go out. Otherwise stay home! It makes us all nuts, said Dr. R. Sean Morrison, a geriatric and palliative care specialist at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. I walk to work through Central Park. There are still people talking in groups, playing frisbee, standing together. They are vectors who could cause premature death. Help Procure Drastically Needed P.P.E. The virus has exposed this countrys extreme shortage of masks, gowns and similar protection. Some providers have taken the unprecedented step of begging on social media for this equipment. Were at war, said Dr. David Fleeger, a colorectal surgeon in Austin and president of the Texas Medical Association. We need the appropriate supplies. I cant put my teams at risk to go into battle if theyre not well equipped. Weve put pressure on the state, weve put pressure on the feds and were putting pressure on the community. Donate to P.P.E. fund-raisers on sites like Fundly or GoFundMe. The latter offers guidance on starting your own campaign. Multiple organizations are also pitching in: the Center for Disaster Philanthropy has a Covid-19 response fund. So does Direct Relief. Or, if you operate a business that has masks that arent being used now, donate supplies directly. Repurpose a Hobby or Skill Like to sew? A movement to make masks for hospital workers is in full swing. Cloth masks dont meet N95 safety standards, but providers may use them if theyre all thats available. There are a wide range of patterns online; see if a nearby hospital accepts homemade masks or connect with a group involved in distribution. Say Thank You Small or Big The man showed up outside the window of the Morristown Medical Center in New Jersey. Tears streaming, he held up a sign: Thank you all in emergency for saving my wifes life/ I love you all. A nurse, crying herself, snapped a soon-to-be-viral photo. It was such a morale booster for our staff, said Trish OKeefe, the medical centers president. It still is. Its a symbolic reminder of why were all here, Read the entire article and choose one way you, along with your family and friends, might help health care professionals as they continue to fight to save lives during the coronavirus pandemic. The roads in the southern Yemeni city of Aden are flooded due to heavy rains. At least seven people have been killed and 85 injured in flash flooding in Yemen this month, according to the UN, as the coronavirus threat also looms over the war-torn nation. US President Donald Trump said he doesnt know about Kim Jong Uns health after American and South Korean officials gave differing accounts on the North Korean leaders condition after he was conspicuously absent from a major celebration. I wish him well, weve had a good relationship, Trump said Tuesday in response to a question about Kim at a White House. The U.S. president said we dont know if the reports about Kims health deteriorating are true, adding that he might reach out to check on him. Click here for the complete coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic US officials said Monday they were told Kim was in critical condition after undergoing cardiovascular surgery last week and they were unsure of his current health. Meanwhile, South Korean President Moon Jae-ins office said that Kim was conducting normal activities in a rural part of the country assisted by close aides and no special movements were detected. Click here for the latest updates from the coronavirus outbreak Kim continued to be absent from North Korean state media as of Wednesday morning. Neither the state broadcaster nor the official Korean Central News Agency mentioned new public appearances by the leader, although they continued to publicize his messages to dignitaries around the world. I just hope he is doing fine, Trump said. I had a very good relationship with Kim Jong Un and that is to the benefit of the country. That is not a bad thing, thats a good thing, and i would like to see him be well. We will see how he does. again, I dont know that the reports are true. Trump and Kim have gone from trading insults in 2017, when North Korea was testing nuclear weapons and missiles that could deliver them to the US, to striking up what Pyongyang officials describe as mysteriously wonderful chemistry after meeting three times since a summit in June 2018. Despite the unprecedented talks and the bonhomie between the two, there have been non indications that Kim has slowed down his production of weapons of mass destruction. The health of Kim, overweight and a heavy smoker, is one of North Koreas most closely guarded secrets, known by a handful of people in the inner circle of leadership. While North Korea had scaled down major events as it battles the coronavirus pandemic, speculation about Kim had been growing since his unprecedented absence from April 15 celebrations for the birthday of his grandfather and state founder Kim Il Sung, one of the biggest days on the countrys calendar. Even the most well-informed North Korea experts find it hard to tell whats happening in the secretive state. The Daily NK, a Seoul-based website that gathers information from informants inside the isolated nation, separately reported that Kim underwent a cardiovascular surgical procedure and was now mostly recovered. I do not trust such reports. If he has a serious health problem, only a handful of confidantes will know, said Chun Yungwoo, a former South Korean envoy to international nuclear talks with North Korea. Usually such a state secret cannot be leaked. North Koreas state media reported on April 11 that Kim attended a Politburo meeting of the ruling Workers Party. The next day it said he inspected a military unit, but didnt reveal the date of that visit. There have been no state media reports since them on him at any event. Kim has made 17 public appearances this year that were mentioned in state media -- at a pace of a little more than one a week -- South Koreas Unification ministry said. Thats slightly down from 84 public appearances last year. The Bloodline He has been shown in state media in recent months appearing at military drills and riding a white horse on the countrys revered Mt. Paektu, where state propaganda says his grandfather used as a guerrilla base to fight Japanese colonial occupiers and his father was born. Any leadership crisis in North Korea could have ramifications for regional stability, as well as for talks with the US over the countrys nuclear arsenal. Kim, who took power in 2011 following his fathers 17-year reign, developed the capability to deliver a nuclear warhead to any part of the US before engaging in direct talks with Trump over his arsenal and sanctions imposed on the state. While theres been little time for him to groom a successor, Kim raised the status of his younger sister Kim Yo Jong as a key player in the secretive state. She was thrust into the global spotlight when she served as envoy to the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and became the first member of the immediate ruling family to visit Seoul. We cant completely rule out his sister yet, although it would be unprecedented for their system causing much confusion because shes a woman, but on the other hand, shes part of the Mt. Paektu bloodline, said Duyeon Kim, a senior adviser for Northeast Asia and Nuclear Policy at the International Crisis Group, referring to the mountain seen as the symbol of Kim family rule. TORONTO, April 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As businesses adapt to the new normal, and gradually open up in May and June, one thing is for certain video conferencing and virtual interviews are now an essential part of day-to-day business. Job seekers and employers alike need to be prepared for video interviews through platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Skype. Here are a few tips to make sure a virtual interview is just as effective and professional as an in-person one. How to Ace Video Job Interviews: Dress the Part Choose professional attire for your video interviews. Aim to make a positive and powerful first impression with the recruiter by dressing for the part. Set the Stage While different virtual backgrounds are fun for chatting with friends, choose a neutral background and a clean space for interviews that are free of dramatic or bold art and distracting household appliances. Ultimately, you want the interview to focus on you, not your surroundings. Lighting is Important Make sure to sit facing a light source, so your face is illuminated during the interview. If the light source is behind your head, this will cast a shadow over the front of your body, preventing the recruiter from clearly seeing your face. Proper Posture Just like your mother always said, dont slouch. Body language should convey confidence. Avoid Background Noise Find a quiet space where your interview will be free from noise disruptions, such as children or animals. The focus of the interview should be on you and your skills. Much has changed for businesses and job seekers in the past few months, but as the economy begins to safely reopen, put yourself ahead of the competition with professional interview skills, no matter the location, Express CEO Bill Stoller said. If you would like to arrange for an interview to discuss this topic, please contact Adria Minsky at (416) 620-7111 or email adria@mapleleafstrategies.com . About Bill Stoller William H. "Bill" Stoller is chairman and chief executive officer of Express Employment Professionals. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, the international staffing company has more than 800 franchises in the U.S., Canada and South Africa. Since its inception, Express has put more than 7.7 million people to work worldwide. About Express Employment Professionals At Express Employment Professionals, were in the business of people. From job seekers to client companies, Express helps people thrive and businesses grow. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, OK, our international network of franchises offer localized staffing solutions to the communities they serve, employing 552,000 people across North America in 2019. For more information, visit www.ExpressPros.com . A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2faa7b2d-2043-40ce-91e3-bd609f000aca It would be recalled that on the 21st of March, 2020, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo closed the borders of Ghana as part of preventive measures against the importation of the novel coronavirus. Fortunately and unfortunately for Ghanaians, whilst this measure reduced our imported cases of the virus, it also trapped some Ghanaian entertainers abroad. Most in areas where the COVID-19 pandemic is widespread. Scores of debates have gone on via social and mainstream media on the need for governments intervention in getting these individuals back into the country. Ghanaian actress and media personality, Gloria Sarfo speaking to the issue has appealed to the government to extradite these Ghanaians trapped outside our borders. In an interview with Happy FM, the actress said, Government opening our borders temporarily for Ghanaians stuck outside to return may be problematic, but if the government can go for them just as other countries are doing then, I think that is feasible. She agreed that opening the borders could jeopardize the safety of Ghanaians even if it was momentarily. Even with our borders closed, people find their way into the country and tested positive for the virus. The actress acknowledged that the likes of Sarkodie, D-Black and Pappy Kojo have been missed by Ghanaians. It will be worth it if the government brought them because it is their civil right, but it should be done accordingly, she reiterated. Gloria emphasized on the fact that, these persons can be kept under compulsory quarantine upon their return. At least they will feel good being quarantined in their own country than being elsewhere, she added. Musicians trapped outside Ghana include, rappers, D-Black, Sarkodie, Pappy Kojo and Agbeshie. Sarkodie in a recent tweet pleaded with the President to open the borders for just 2 days to allow for the return of citizens trapped outside the country. But some Ghanaians have seen his comments as selfish and a joke. Some have reasoned that even tons of Ghanaians trapped in China, when the virus was at its peak were not extradited on the basis of utilitarianism so why does he think such an exception would be made for him and the other few to jeopardize the safety of the entire country. Source: etvghana.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Controversial trial-by-combat lawyer Richard Luthmann is currently serving a four-year federal prison term for his role in a scrap-metal fraud scheme. Whether Luthmann will also be convicted on unrelated state charges accusing him of creating fake Facebook pages in candidates names to try to influence political races remains to be seen. Luthmanns criminal case in state Supreme Court, St. George, has been adjourned to June 8. A conference had been scheduled for Monday. Courts have been rescheduling their dockets since mid-March in a bid to limit the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). Most cases have been pushed back to May, June and beyond. In November 2018, Luthmann was arraigned on a 17-count indictment accusing him of multiple felony charges of falsifying business records and identity theft. The charges stemmed from his alleged activities on Facebook. It was believed the be the first case of its kind in New York. He was also charged with criminal impersonation, election law violations, stalking and falsely reporting an incident to the NYPD. Special prosecutor Eric Nelson alleges Luthmann, 40, set up Facebook pages impersonating former Republican Assembly candidate Janine Materna and Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-North Shore). Luthmann also created a bogus Facebook page impersonating John Gulino, the Staten Island Democratic Party chairman at the time, Nelson said. The election law violation charges stem from alleged attempts to affect the results of two primaries - Maternas race against Ronald Castorina for the Republican candidacy for the South Shore Assembly seat in September of 2016 and Roses race against Kamillah Hanks in September of 2017 for the Democratic candidacy for the North Shore City Council seat. Castorina and Rose won those contests and went on to win the general election. The stalking charge pertains to the Materna page, which allegedly prompted threats against her from other individuals on social media, said Nelson. Luthmann was also accused of falsifying e-mails pertaining to District Attorney Michael E. McMahons campaign in 2015. Nelson said the charge of falsely reporting an incident to police stems from a report Luthmann allegedly filed claiming his computers were trespassed. However, it was determined that was not the case and Luthmann had made false statement to a detective, said Nelson. Luthmann, who was based in Castleton Corners, has denied the charges. If convicted at trial of any of the felony counts, he could be sentenced to up to four years in state prison. Plea negotiations have been underway between Nelson and Luthmanns attorneys, Arthur Aidala and Mario Romano, for some time. Should Luthmann admit guilt, his state sentence could run either concurrently or consecutively to his federal sentence. Luthmann was sentenced in the federal case last September. He had previously pleaded guilty in March 2019 to one count each of wire fraud conspiracy and extortion conspiracy. In admitting guilt, Luthmann said he was representing a company that was ripping off Chinese people and companies in the scrap-metal business. He arranged for junk material to be shipped to overseas clients who had actually contracted to receive valuable scrap metals. He also was involved in an extortion plot. Luthmann had already spent 28 months behind bars pending the disposition of the federal case when he was sentenced in September. Besides prison time, Luthmann was ordered to pay $500,000 in restitution and forfeit $130,000. Known for his penchant for bowties, round eyeglasses and battling with local Democratic party leaders, Luthmann earned notoriety in the summer of 2015 by challenging foes in two lawsuits to a trial by combat. No blood was spilled, fortunately, as the cases were settled the next year. A man has slaughtered his wife with a knife and shot dead eight other people south of Beirut in what is believed to be Lebanons deadliest shooting in years. A security source said the incident, which occurred in the quiet mountain village of Baakline, was a suspected honour killing. Five of those killed were Syrians, including two children aged 15 and 10. The source told Reuters that the gunman killed his wife and then went on a shooting rampage in the area located in the Chouf mountains, 45km south of the capital Beirut. The state-run National News Agency NNA said a pump-action rifle and a Kalashnikov were used in the shooting. Prime Minister Hassan Diab denounced the horrific crime. In a statement, he called on security agencies and judicial authorities to accelerate the investigation to identify the perpetrators and the motive. Marwan Hamadeh, a member of parliament from Baakline said it similar to the shootings that happen in America. It is believed to be the worst mass shooting in the countrys recent history. Mr Hamadeh urged security forces to detain the shooter, saying there are some indications that he might be a mentally unstable person. Baaklines mayor, Abdullah al-Ghoseini, told local media the motive behind the killings was unclear, adding that it took place in an area that includes housing units for Syrian workers. Al-Ghoseini he said it started at 3:30 pm local time (1230 GMT) and search operations for the shooter were underway five hours later. He added that the Syrians who were killed had been living in the village for nearly 10 years. The suspect was apprehended in the evening. The last mass shooting of this size was in 2002 when a disgruntled employee shot dead eight people at Lebanons education ministry. Womens rights groups in Lebanon have registered a worrying increase in domestic violence since the country enforced a strict lockdown and curfew to combat the novel coronavirus. The national domestic violence hotline has experienced double the calls. It comes as Lebanon is in the grips of an unprecedented financial crisis, which sparked mass protests against corruption and worsening economic conditions in October. The arrival of the novel coronavirus has only added additional pressure, with experts estimating that over half the countrys 6.8 million population will sink below the poverty line this year. The country has a large Syrian refugee population with an estimated 1.5 million Syrian people who fled the war. Authorities in Vietnam started locking down a town of over 7,600 people, located along the border with China, on Wednesday morning after a girl was diagnosed with novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) last week. The town is Dong Van, administered by the namesake district in Ha Giang Province, where health workers and many other people were in contact with the patient. The lockdown will be maintained until further notice, Pham Duc Nam, chief of office of the Dong Van District Peoples Committee and Peoples Council, told local media on Wednesday afternoon. The patient, 16, is being treated at the Dong Van District General Hospital, Nam said, adding that 20 medical workers, who live and work around the town, were in direct contact with her. Many of her relatives also came into close contact with the girl so we decided to seal off the whole town for safety reasons, he elaborated. Nam is self-isolating at home as he was exposed to her close contacts, the official said. The 20 medical workers have tested negative for the novel coronavirus so far, he noted. We made careful preparations before enforcing the lockdown so there wont be any dearth of food and commodities, Nam asserted. Food and goods will be sent to the towns entrance where vehicles will take them inside. The girl was confirmed to be Vietnams 268th patient on April 16. She is a member of the Mong minority, one of the countrys 54 ethnic groups. She lives in a remote village near the border with China. This is the first and only COVID-19 case to have been recorded in Ha Giang, the northernmost province of Vietnam. Ha Giang officials have identified 140 people who were in either direct or indirect contact with the patient. Reports said that three of her brothers work menial jobs across the border. Dong Van Town measures almost 27,500 hectares in area, with more than 7,600 people. Vietnam has reported 268 infections to date, 222 of whom have recovered. No virus-related death has been recorded in the Southeast Asian country. Vietnam has taken drastic measures to curb the COVID-19 transmission, willing to isolate large communities because of confirmed cases. On April 7, authorities locked down a village of over 11,000 residents in Hanoi after detecting a patient there. The lockdown is scheduled to end on May 6. A similar large-scale lockdown was also imposed on a commune, home to 10,600 people, in northern Vinh Phuc Province from February 13 to March 4, after five people in the locality had been sickened by the virus. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! She has been spending as much time indoors as she can while adhering to the UK's lockdown amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis. And Lucy Fallon looked sensational in a throwback snap she shared from a previous holiday to Barbados via Instagram on Wednesday. The former Coronation Street star, 24, showed off her slender figure and sunkissed skin in a plunging purple bikini while posing at the beach. Stunning: Coronation Street's Lucy Fallon showed off her slender figure in a plunging purple bikini in throwback snap she shared via Instagram on Wednesday The chic swimwear had fringed detailing on both the top and bottoms to give her look a stylish flair. Lucy wore her golden locks in a sleek, straight style that fell over her shoulders and she shielded her eyes with a pair of dark shades. Sharing words of optimism during the coronavirus crisis, Lucy wrote in the caption: 'Gurrrdddd times will happen again. love u Barbados x [sic]' Stay positive: Sharing words of optimism during the coronavirus crisis, Lucy wrote in the caption: 'Gurrrdddd times will happen again. love u Barbados x [sic]' Earlier this month, Lucy decided to use her time in isolation to transform her hair, as she unveiled her newly-dyed peach tresses on Instagram. The actress unveiled her new look after someone sent the colour to her home, as she tried to keep her spirits up after admitting she's 'feeling emotional' during the lockdown. In a series of selfies, Lucy shared the finished result of her pretty new peach colour after applying the colour herself. The star clarified she hadn't broken government advice to stay at home as she was sent the tone to apply herself. Gorgeous: Earlier this month, Lucy decided to use her time in isolation to transform her hair, as she unveiled her newly-dyed peach tresses on Instagram (pictured right before her new look) Home job: In her post Lucy also showed off her hair as she coloured it herself at home, joining much of the nation in the coronavirus lockdown Lucy even shared a snap of the colour while it was sat in her hair, and penned the caption: 'Thank u @hairbyclareashton for my peach toners! What a fun side of life Ive just entered x.' It comes after the soap star made the candid admission that she was 'feeling emotional' as she tried to pass the time during the lockdown. Alongside a Boomerang video of her watching her baked goods in the oven, Lucy wrote: 'Feeling a bit emotional today so I have made some peanut butter protein cookies for Tom and Im just sat on the floor waiting for them to be done. 'Hope everyone is hanging in there and feeling ok.' Facebook agreed to censor posts critical of Vietnams government after the country slowed access to the site, Reuters reported on Wednesday. State telecommunications companies took local Facebook servers offline for about seven weeks earlier this year, practically shutting access to the site. We believe the action was taken to place significant pressure on us to increase our compliance with legal takedown orders when it comes to content that our users in Vietnam see, a source within Facebook told Reuters. Facebook confirmed to the agency that it had agreed to restrict access to content [in Vietnam] which it has deemed to be illegal. While Vietnam has opened up its economy over the past several decades, its ruling Communist Party retains tight control over the media. Facebook has faced pressure from other countries to censor critical content, and has not made inroads in China due to that countrys authoritarian nature. Social media companies in China are monitored closely and censored by the government, and Twitter is entirely banned from the country. The social media giant has seen criticism from U.S. conservatives for alleged censorship of conservative content, such as pro-life messaging.A However, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has also defended the companys policy of allowing misleading political campaign ads in the U.S. in the name of free speech. More from National Review GENEVA - The World Health Organization chief said Wednesday he hopes the United States will reconsider its freeze in funding for his agency and vowed to keep working on saving lives despite calls from some U.S. lawmakers for his resignation. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he hopes the U.S. believes the agency is an important investment, not just to help others, but for the U.S. to stay safe amid the pandemic. President Donald Trump last week announced a temporary halt to U.S. funding for the U.N. agency, alleging a WHO coverup and missteps handling the outbreak. The U.S. is the Geneva-based agencys biggest donor, providing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of support each year. In Washington, officials said Wednesday the halt involved new funding for the WHO, and was expected to continue for 60 to 90 days. A group of Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives last week suggested that Trump should condition any voluntary U.S. contributions to the WHO this year on Tedros resignation. Asked about whether he was considering that, Tedros said: I will continue to work day and night because this is a blessed work, actually, and responsibility saving lives, and I will focus on that. Dr. Mike Ryan, the WHOs emergencies chief, said the U.S. pause would impact core agency activities like child immunizations, efforts to eradicate polio, and essential health services and trauma management in some of the most vulnerable populations in the world. I very much hope that ... this is a 60-day stay on funding, and no more, he said. Thats why you dont see me complaining, because we just need to get on with it. At a news conference in Washington on Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced a new tranche of U.S. assistance to specific countries, bringing the total of virus aid this year to more than $700 million. Other U.S. officials said the suspended money for the WHO would be used for the same purpose, just distributed to individual groups eliminating the agency as a conduit. ___ Matt Lee contributed from Washington. ___ Follow AP coverage of the pandemic at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak New Delhi: Special Cell of Delhi Police on Wednesday ( April 22) booked suspended Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor, Tahir Hussain, under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in connection with inciting violence in the national capital`s northeast area in February this year. Probing the conspiracy of Delhi riots, the Delhi police had earlier arrested Tahir Hussain who is also accused in the murder case of IB officer Ankit Sharma during the northeast Delhi violence. Tahir was 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 during the riots. Meanwhile, former Jawaharlal Nehru University student and activist Umar Khalid and two Jamia Millia Islamia students have been under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for allegedly inciting violence in northeast Delhi area on February 23, 24, 25. Umar Khalid is accused of making inflammatory speech during US President's visit to India. He is also accused of gathering people opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act. Delhi Police Special Cell will soon summon Umar Khalid for questioning. He has not yet been arrested. In the FIR, police has also claimed that the communal violence was a "premeditated conspiracy" which was allegedly hatched by former JNU student leader Umar Khalid and two others. The Police has reportedly arrested former Congress councillor Ishrat Jahan and activist Khalid Saifi in the case. Earlier this month, two Jamia students- Safoora Zargar, who is the media coordinator of the Jamia Coordination Committee, and Meeran Haider, its member- were also arrested by the police in connection with the case. Zargar is the media coordinator of the Jamia Coordination Committee, while Haider is a member of the committee. Notably, communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured. US has committed more than $2.2 trillion in emergency spending, and legislators are already talking about a fifth bill. Washington, DC The United States Senate on Tuesday approved legislation worth $484bn to provide funding for a small business jobs programme, hospitals overrun by the coronavirus outbreak, and a national testing impetus to help tamp down the pandemic. The Senate bill, agreed to in advance by the White House, allocates $25bn for a testing strategy that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats insisted was key to reopening the US economy. The bill calls on the Trump administration to define a strategy to provide nationwide testing and report on that plan to Congress. The bill passed the Senate by unanimous consent and will now advance to the House of Representatives, which is expected to vote on it as soon as Thursday. There is a world economic contraction because of the virus and you are seeing demand just plunge, Larry Kudlow, an economic adviser to US President Donald Trump, told reporters at the White House. There is some deflation in the air. The emergency spending package adds approximately $320bn to a programme designed to help small businesses keep employees on their payrolls until the US economy can be reopened again. The money is in addition to the $350bn approved by Congress in March for small businesses under the so-called Paycheck Protection Program, which was quickly exhausted by overwhelming demand. A portion of the new funding $60bn would be directed through community lenders to under-banked neighbourhoods and rural areas. More than 22 million Americans have lost their jobs since the coronavirus pandemic forced businesses to shut down the biggest job loss since the Great Depression between 1929 and 1933. The bill includes $75bn for hospitals hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic and $60bn for economic disaster assistance, as well as $11bn for states, according to a summary of the legislation. The testing funds will be directed to a national strategic testing policy that will focus on increasing testing capacity including testing supplies, Pelosi and Senator Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement. The availability of coronavirus testing has been a point of contention between the White House and state governors grappling with the pandemic. More than four million tests have been administered in the US to date, with some 814,000 cases of COVID-19 the disease caused by the novel coronavirus thus far identified, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. Nearly 44,000 Americans have died from the disease. Trump tweeted on Tuesday that he supported a negotiated agreement with Democrats and would sign the bill. I urge the Senate and House to pass the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act with additional funding for PPP [personal protective equipment], Hospitals and Testing, the president said on Twitter, citing the full title of the bill and indicating he would sign the legislation. Just as the initial financing for US small businesses ran out quickly, the new funding for small businesses is not likely to last long. Major US banks already have a pipeline of applications for the loans and grants, and are warning customers that not every qualified applicant would receive funds. Terms of the new funding package were negotiated late into the night on Monday by Pelosi and Schumer with Trumps representatives, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. Democrats had demanded more funding for small businesses that do not have established relationships with commercial banks. If you dont know a banker, you were left out, Schumer said of the earlier programme. In the negotiations, Republicans won more than the initial $250bn in additional funding for small businesses they had requested last week. The legislation is the fourth bill Congress has passed to address the coronavirus outbreak. Before todays bill, the US has committed more than $2.2 trillion in emergency spending, and Democrats and Republicans are already discussing funding priorities for a fifth bill. The president tweeted on Tuesday that he wants to provide a financial lifeline for the US oil and gas industry. We will never let the great U.S. Oil & Gas Industry down. I have instructed the Secretary of Energy and Secretary of the Treasury to formulate a plan which will make funds available so that these very important companies and jobs will be secured long into the future! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 21, 2020 Democrats said they were disappointed that more funding was not included for states and cities whose budgets have been decimated by the economic slowdown, but said they were pleased Trump committed to addressing that need in the next round of legislation. The next bill must be transformative and far-reaching and aimed at getting Americans back to work by ensuring economic security and putting health and safety first, Schumer and Pelosi said. Schumer said the bill would need to be similar in scope to the $2.2 trillion measure previously passed by Congress. Senator Rand Paul, a Republican, expressed concern that the massive new spending, which will be financed by government bond sales, will burden future generations with too much debt. The US can manage this disease without the draconian lockdown of the economy and should quit printing bailout cash, Paul said in remarks to the Senate. Description GIS 22 April, 2020: An additional positive case of Covid-19 has been detected out of 400 tests carried out during the last 24 hours. At present, 329 positive cases have been registered including 56 active cases, nine deaths and some 261 recoveries. The updates of the current situation were given by the spokesperson of the National Communication Committee on Covid-19, Dr Zouberr Joomaye, this evening, from the Treasury Building in Port-Louis. He informed that the new Covid-19 patient is a resident of the Plaines Wilhems, presenting fever symptoms, who went to the flu clinic of Victoria Hospital. Tests conducted confirmed that the latter was infected with the virus following which contact tracing was carried out within the patients family circle. Some 22 persons were tested and the results are expected tonight. With regard to Mauritian citizens stranded abroad, he reassured that an unprecedented repatriation effort is being made by the authorities despite the various complexities of the situation on the international front. From 15 to 18 March, he added, around 19 550 persons managed to return to Mauritius following the closure of airspace. As from 19 March, flights were arranged to repatriate a total of 1066 stranded Mauritians. Speaking of the forthcoming Ramadan gatherings and prayers, Dr Joomaye underlined that traditional activities involving group events and worship will not take place in order to curb the spread of the virus. In the same vein, he appealed to the population to continue taking protective measures and to adhere to the regulations of the curfew order so as to stabilise the number of infected cases in the country. Latest figures provided are as follows: Total number of tests carried out as at date is 12 300 Number of patients admitted at ENT Hospital and Souillac H ospital is 23 and seven respectively One person is currently on ventilator 14 passengers are in quarantine Three patients out of the 56 active cases left for treatment abroad 125 tests are carried out daily in all flu clinics #ResOuLakaz #BeSafeMoris A Las Vegas couple have been charged with sexual assault after a woman who was staying with them following her recent release from jail claimed the pair drugged and attacked her last week. James Collins, 46, and Andrea McGowan, 42, were arrested on April 14 on three counts each of felony sexual assault and one count of misdemeanor gross lewdness, according to court records. An arrest report states that the alleged victim told police she first met McGowan at the Las Vegas city jail. James Collins, 46 (left), and his girlfriend Andrea McGowan, 42 (right), have been charged each with three counts of felony sexual assault and one count of misdemeanor gross lewdness When both women were released last week, McGowan invited her former inmate to stay at her apartment with her boyfriend because the woman had no other place to go, reported Las Vegas Review-Journal. The complainant told police the three of them were partying when McGowan offered her a small, rectangular pill, which she suspected may have been ecstasy. After taking the pill, [she] started feeling out of it, like she could not really move, the reported said. The woman claimed the couple then sexually assaulted her in the bedroom. When questioned by police, McGowan confirmed that she and the alleged victim did ecstasy together. Collins told detectives that McGowan and the victim went into his bedroom willingly, and he argued the sexual encounter was a consensual threesome. The couple are accused of drugging a woman with ecstasy and sexually assaulting her inside their apartment last week The alleged victim met McGowan (left) in jail and came to stay with her and Collins because she had no other place to go. Collins told police their threesome was consensual McGowan and Collins remained in the Clark County jail pending their preliminary hearing on May 20 Collins has a criminal record dating back to at least 2005, which includes multiple charges of theft, petit larceny and domestic battery. McGowan was arrested in 2008 for speeding and driving on a suspended licenses. It is unclear what McGowan and the alleged victim were in jail for this month. According to their social media posts, McGowan and Collins have been dating since 2004. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Riska Rahman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, April 22, 2020 12:17 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd37f15d 1 Business THR,holiday-bonuses,state-firms,State-owned-Enterprises-Ministry,erick-thohir,Sri-Mulyani-Indrawati,civil-servants Free The executive directors and commissioners of 110 state-owned enterprises (SOEs) will not get receive their holiday bonuses (THR) for Idul Fitri holiday this year, the government has decided, in order to minimize the impacts of the coronavirus epidemic on the Indonesian economy. The SOEs Ministry has instead encouraged the companies to donate the funds intended for the executives' THRs to COVID-19 relief efforts. The companies subject to the decision include power company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), Bank Mandiri, Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) and Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN), as well as the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) and forestry firm Perhutani. We encourage state-owned enterprises to apply cost allocation to channel the THR into activities or donations related to COVID-19 relief efforts, the ministry said in a letter signed by SOEs Minister Erick Thohir on April 17. The ministry also urged the SOEs to apply the same policy on their subsidiaries. Read also: State firms to focus on slimming down while avoiding layoffs The letter also instructs SOEs directors to report the policy implementation to the deputy minister that oversees their company. Ministerial aide Arya Sinulingga earlier said on April 7 that all employees of state-owned companies, excluding executives, would receive their THRs this year, as reported by kompas.com. The policy is in keeping with the governments decision to pay holiday bonuses to all civil servants at the echelon III level and below, but not high-ranking officials, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati wrote on her Instagram page. As a form of concern regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, government officials from the President, Vice President and other [senior] officials, along with echelon I and II civil servants and other functional staff, will not receive their THR, she posted. Windows 10 users are reporting a variety of issues following the most recent Windows 10 cumulative update, reports WindowsLatest. Some of these complaints refer to the installation process, which is failing for numerous users. These users are receiving a variety of common error messages which are preventing them from installing an important security patch that fixes 113 security flaws. Microsoft is yet to acknowledge any problems relating to the installation process. Post-installation problems Issues relating to this update are not limited to installation problems, however. Users have also reported a variety of post-installation issues which are negatively affecting their user experience. Some users are reporting that their Bluetooth adapters are no longer being recognised despite being recognised before the update. I updated (KB4549951) my Window 10 on 15.04.20. After updating, Bluetooth stops working. Now Bluetooth is not showing in Device Manager. I tried to uninstall Updates but still, it is not showing, explained one user on Microsofts forum. Other users have suffered complete system crashes with a variety of reasons provided by the system for these issues. I was hit with the infamous blue screen ( YOUR DEVICE RAN INTO A PROBLEM AND NEEDS TO..) with each time a different stop code, said one user. I noticed that after installing the KB4549951 update, I get BSODs with the error KERNEL MODE HEAP CORRUPTION whenever I try to do something seemingly CPU-heavy (watching livestreams/conferences, even trying to look at the Event Viewer), said another. How to fix these issues Microsoft has yet to officially acknowledge any of these issues, meaning it has not rolled out any fixes. This means that the best way to solve any issues you may be facing with the latest update is to revert to a previous version of Windows 10. However, this also means that you will not have access to any of the latest security fixes. The six tourists moved into a cave after running out of money when India went into lockdown. The foreigners are from five countries Indian officials have rescued six tourists who were living in a cave in India following a lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The four men and two women had moved to a cave in Rishikesh in northern India after they were stranded in the country with very little money. Air, rail and road transport have been suspended since 24 March. The six have tested negative for Covid-19 and have been moved to a private quarantine centre, officials said. The foreign nationals are from Ukraine, the US, Turkey, France and Nepal, and had arrived in India separately last year - they had been living in small hotels and private lodges in Rishikesh, which is a popular tourist destination in the foothills of the Himalayas. They lived in the cave for 25 days before local people spotted them and informed the police. The tourist from Nepal knew Hindi, and helped the others in the cave to go out and buy provisions with whatever little money they had, police said. "After receiving the information, we went to the cave and found the six foreigners. They told us that they decided to move into the cave because they were running out of money. We did their medical tests and sent them to a quarantine centre," local police official Rakendra Singh Kathait told local journalist Raju Gusain. The six are now lodged in a private religious retreat and their accommodation and food are being paid for by the government, officials said. BBC Advertisement This is the incredible moment a team of nurses and doctors at Saint Joseph's Medical Center, in Yonkers, New York, miraculously saved a Covid-19 patient from the brink of death. A nurse furiously pushes down on a man's chest as five other staff in full protective gear surround the patient's bed. Suddenly, one throws up his arms and steps backward. 'OK, move! Everybody move!' are the instructions. Moments after they back away, the patient's heart is shocked, his arm spasms and he shakes on the bed. Soon after, he is placed on a ventilator. He has been saved - for now. The incredible moment a Covid-19 patient is pulled back from the brink of death after having his heart shocked by the dedicated, hard-working medical staff at Saint Joseph's Medical Center, in Yonkers, New York Some moments before his revival, a Saint Joseph's Medical Center nurse can be seen furiously pumping his heart, trying to shock him back to life, as her colleagues rush to surround the dying man The nursing home patient (pictured) was brought into Saint Joseph's Medical Center, in Yonkers, on Monday, having showed symptoms he had the deadly coronavirus Many more at Saint Joseph's Medical Center, Yonkers, New York, have not. 'It's been a nightmare. We have a volume of sick people like you can't believe. In one shift, I pronounced six people dead,' said Dr. Anthony Leno, the hospital's director of emergency medicine, who on average pronounces one dead in a 10-12 hour shift. The Yonkers hospital, which sits near the Bronx border and serves one of the poorest sections of Westchester County's largest city, has been besieged by the new coronavirus. Half of the approximately 280 staff members who were tested for the disease were positive - with another 25 to 30 still awaiting results, according to Dean Civitello, the vice president for human resources. Saint Joseph's Medical Center workers (pictured) helping to transport the nursing home patient suffering with Covid-19, making them comfortable on a hospital bed on Monday A complex ventilator system is seen here hooked up to the suffering Covid-19 patient, helping them to breathe in Saint Joseph's emergency room The Associated Press was granted access to the facility's emergency room, which at one point earlier in the pandemic had 28 patients waiting to be treated and ambulances lined up outside with more, said Dr. James Neuendorf, Saint Joseph's medical director. Staff from other areas of the hospital were redeployed to manage patients and additional treatment areas were set up to augment the hospital's 194 acute-care beds. The adjustments meant 'we were able to take care of a large number of patients - well over above our numbers that we normally see on a daily basis,' Neuendorf said. A Covid-19 triage and testing tent set up at Saint Joseph's Medical Center in Yonkers. Pictured: a radiology/cardiology administrator making some final checks to his personal protective equipment (PPE) Pictured: a batch of orange-colored, biohazard-marked, sample baggies bound for the Covid-19 triage and testing tent at St Joseph's More than 900 have died in Westchester, which had an early outbreak in neighboring New Rochelle in March before Yonkers became a hot spot. At Saint Joseph's, coronavirus-related symptoms accounted for more than 85% of all admissions for a period of nearly four weeks from March 20 to April 19. Officials at the hospital knew the pandemic was going to crush them, since COVID-19 has proved particularly punishing for the largely minority population that makes up a significant portion of southwest Yonkers. One particular challenge is that large families frequently live together in small homes, making it difficult to isolate sick ones. And, Leno noted, there have been few effective therapies other than isolation. 'We've had many family members and groups, and we've even had people from the same family who have died within days of each other,' Leno said. Pictured: Catherine Hopkins, director of community outreach and school health at Saint Joseph's Hospital, performs a Covid-19 swab on a patient in full face mask A Saint Joseph's Hospital nurse patrolling the emergency ward and looking in on a patient currently being helped to breathe using a ventilator The community was hit so hard that a tent was erected outside the hospital on March 19 to accommodate the rush of people seeking to be tested. In the first few days it was up, 150 to 175 people were examined each day to determine who should be tested, according to Catherine Hopkins, Saint Joseph's director of school health and community relations. Even some in the area who may otherwise be reluctant to seek medical care, fearing the loss of pay or in some cases deportation, showed up after seeing the effects of the coronavirus. 'People are afraid,' Hopkins said. 'They're scared. Their relatives, their friends are dying.' For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms that clear up in two to three weeks. But for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness and lead to death. At Saint Joseph's ICU, a masked nurse exchanges the vitals of a Covid-19 patient with resident physician Leslie Bottrell (left) after suctioning the lungs Beyond the unprecedented medical challenges, the outbreak caused financial hardships for the Catholic hospital that has served Yonkers since 1888. Beds and equipment had to be bought or rented to meet Gov. Andrew Cuomo's mandate for hospitals to increase their capacity, and personal protective equipment had to be purchased at much higher costs than usual as normal suppliers ran out. 'There's a lot of people gouging out there. A mask that cost 50 cents before are costing $7, $8 each. Gowns that would cost 50 cents as well, are $7 each. Protective shields that were $1.25, people looking for 25 bucks a pop,' said Frank Hagan, Saint Joseph's chief financial officer. 'So, cost is a significant issue.' As is the morale of the staff, who fear for their own health, are juggling responsibilities when their colleagues are ill and are bombarded - even more than usual - with death and disease. 'It is tiring. It is stressful,' said chief nursing officer Margaret Cusumano, who has been back about three weeks after she had tested positive. 'You're watching people be sick. You're watching people succumb to the disease. It weighs on you mentally, physically.' Fewer patients are coming to Saint Joseph's now. Though there's still a steady stream of patients wearing masks being wheeled into the ER every day, the staff is optimistic that the worst is over. But there is also the fear that people will rush too quickly back to their lives - potentially triggering another flurry of infections. 'They hear we're over the plateau and they think, `OK, it's business as usual,'' Hopkins said. 'It's not. It can't be.' By Susan Cornwell and Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. By Susan Cornwell and Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. congressional leaders said on Tuesday they were very close to announcing an agreement on a new coronavirus relief deal worth more than $450 billion, and President Donald Trump urged them to pass it quickly before beginning discussions on another. "I believe we have a deal, and I believe that we will pass it this afternoon at 4 p.m. (2000 GMT)," Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer told CNN. House of Representatives Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy said on Fox News that a deal had been reached. Trump urged lawmakers to act quickly. "After I sign this Bill, we will begin discussions on the next Legislative Initiative with fiscal relief to State/Local Governments," as well as infrastructure investments, the Republican president wrote on Twitter. Aides to the leaders of the two chambers, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and the Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, did not immediately comment. Earlier, Senate Republican aides cautioned there was no deal until one is announced. Schumer said the package expected on Tuesday would include more money for small businesses and hospitals as well as a national testing strategy to help lift stay-at-home orders meant to slow the spread of the lethal respiratory disease. "We need a national strategy, as the governors have said, to get the kinds of testing that's done, to get the contact tracing, to make the tests free," Schumer told CNN. He said Trump - who has said testing is largely a state responsibility - had agreed. Republicans and Democrats have been sparring over what to include in a fourth bill to ease the heavy economic toll of a pandemic that has killed more than 42,000 Americans. A deal would end a stalemate over Trump's request to add to a small-business loan program. Congress set up the program last month as part of a $2.3 trillion coronavirus economic relief plan, but it has already run out of money. Some details of the new package emerged on Monday. It is expected to include at least $300 billion for a small business payroll loan program and a separate provision of $50 billion for another small business disaster loan facility. Addressing concerns that previous legislation had overly benefited larger, better-connected small businesses, Schumer said $125 billion of small business funds in the package will go to "mom and pop" and minority-owned stores. There will be $75 billion for hospitals, and $25 billion for testing. Democrats said Republicans resisted sending more money to state and local governments in the current legislation. Anticipating Senate passage, House leaders have asked their members to return Thursday for a House vote, the chamber's No. 2 Democrat, Steny Hoyer, told reporters. He expects more than half the House to attend, and bipartisan passage of the bill. Hoyer has also told members to expect to vote on a rule change allowing proxy voting when necessary. This would mean not all of the House's 429 current members would have to be present for votes, reducing the threat of spreading the coronavirus. But Hoyer said he thinks lawmakers should go further and consider remote technologies such as FaceTime for votes, as well as do committee work remotely as needed. Some Republicans balked at taking the proxy voting step. "I think it's a terrible idea," Representative Jim Jordan told reporters in the Capitol. "What is it, 200 plus years. ... Congress has been meeting, and you meet in person and debate in person. So, I think, its that fundamental." (Reporting by Susan Cornwell, Patricia Zengerle and Lisa Lambert; additional reporting by Tim Ahmann; writing by Susan Cornwell and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Scott Malone and Jonathan Oatis) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. REGINA - The number COVID-19 tests being done in Saskatchewan has dropped off as the provinces premier prepares to release a plan for how to reopen parts of the economy. Reports released by health officials show the number of people who have been tested each day since early March. One chart shows those tested dropped to 399 as of Monday from 885 on Friday. The head of the Saskatchewan Health Authority, Scott Livingstone, said it has the capacity to do more than the 1,500 tests per day that Premier Scott Moe has set as a target by the end of the month. So far, there has only been one day when a little more than 1,000 people were tested. Were just not seeing people show up with symptoms of COVID-19, Livingstone told a news conference Tuesday. Were also seeing in some cases a drop in the number of calls to 811 in other areas. That doesnt mean we dont have the ability to test more. Were just not seeing those patients. Heath officials said reasons for the drop include lower rates of transmission and the end of the influenza season. Because of that decreasing circulation of respiratory viruses, people are probably less likely to be interested in being tested, said Dr. Julie Kryzanowski, senior medical health officer with the health authority. To date, the province has performed more than 24,000 tests for COVID-19. On Tuesday, it announced four new cases, bringing the total number of confirmed infections to 320. The health authority said its working on a strategy to expand testing beyond people with symptoms and those who have been in contact with the virus. Kryzanowski said officials are exploring the use of home-care and outreach workers to test people in their homes. On Wednesday night, Moe is to deliver a televised address to the province, a first for a Saskatchewan Party premier. Hes expected to highlight how residents have managed to slow the spread of the virus so far, while also emphasizing the need to show continued vigilance. On Thursday, the premier is to release the provinces plan for how some businesses and services can start operating again during the pandemic. Livingstone said testing and contact tracing will be key as restrictions are lifted. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 21, 2020. Medical personnel move a deceased patient to a refrigerated truck serving as make shift morgues at Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York City on April 9, 2020. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images) Oklahoma, Montana Governors Announce Plans to Reopen The governors of Montana and Oklahoma on Wednesday announced their respective plans for reopening the economy. Montanas stay-at-home order will be lifted starting Sunday, said Gov. Steve Bullock, who said that residents should still adhere to social distancing measures. There are very few states in the country that can say they have seen the number of positive cases decline over these past weeks. Montana can say that because, together, we have made that decline in cases possible, Bullock told reporters in announcing the gradual, phased reopening of the state. Some businesses can reopen on Monday, he said. While there is reason for optimism this is not a time for celebration. I am going to ask Montanans to continue to go to great lengths to protect one another, to continue looking out for our neighbors who need it the most, and to continue being vigilant in every step we take, he said. Gyms, pools, hot tubs, movie theaters, performance theaters, concert halls, bowling alleys, bingo halls, and music halls will be closed for the time being, Bullock said, reported the Independent Record of Helena. Retail businesses can be opened at reduced capacity. People are tested for coronavirus at the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) center in Dearborn, Michigan, on March 26, 2020. (Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images) No decision has been made on whether to keep schools shut down. It is up to the local school boards. But I would encourage you all to be creative in considering how you can honor your graduates, while minimizing, not eliminating the risk of the spread of the virus, Bullock said, according to KTVQ. Meanwhile, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said that hair salons, spas, pet groomers, and nail salons can open. Those businesses also have to adhere to social distancing guidelines. Let me be clear, we will do this safely, responsibly and based on the data in our state, Stitt said, reported The Oklahoman. More businesses including restaurants, movie theaters, gyms, and churches can open May 1, he said. Pastor Tony Spell talks with journalists before attending Sunday service at the Life Tabernacle megachurch challenging state orders against assembling in large groups to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana U.S. Carlos Barria/Reuters Louisiana pastor Tony Spell first garnered widespread media attention for continuing to host in-person church services with hundreds of people in defiance of state stay-at-home orders. Now, the pastor has come under fire for his #PastorSpellStimulusChallenge asking congregants to donate their coronavirus stimulus checks to churches. He told CNN that pastors do not get stimulus checks, even though any taxpayer with a social security number is eligible for a payment. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. Tony Spell a Louisiana pastor who has defiantly held in-person worship services with hundreds of people despite public health advice and state stay-at-home orders has asked his congregants to participate in the #PastorSpellStimulusChallenge. The pastor has asked congregants to donate their $1,200 stimulus checks from the federal government to North American Christian leaders and ministers who he claimed have not been paid in weeks. "Donate it to North American evangelists who haven't had an offering in a month missionaries who haven't had an offering in a month," Spell said in an online video, adding that they should donate it to North American pastors, music ministers, and more faith leaders. "If you don't have a church, give through my website," Spell, who runs the Life Tabernacle Church, added, directing people to his website. Several congregants who are known to have attended Spell's services tested positive for the novel virus, and at least one congregant has died due to COVID-19, the Advocate reported. Spell acknowledged that all of those who had tested positive for the novel virus did, in fact, attend his services, but told CNN Sunday that holding them is the right thing to do anyway. "The rights endowed to us by our creator are inalienable. I may be defying our governing body's orders, but we are to obey God," Spell said. Story continues Spell says his congregation was founded to help the needy The social media challenge quickly came under criticism. CNN's Victor Blackwell questioned him about the much-maligned social media challenge on Sunday, asking the pastor why he didn't give them to his congregants in need. Spell previously defended his decision to keep his church doors open by saying live-streaming services would "discriminate against my poorer congregants who do not have internet and do not have a phone." "You're asking people who you know in your church, who don't have much, who can't even get to you without you going to pick them up, to hand over their $1,200 stimulus check. Why?" Blackwell asked. Spell noted that Life Tabernacle Church was dedicated to serving his congregants in need, even chartering 27 buses to pick them up around Louisiana and take them to worship services. However, Spell claimed that North American evangelists and foreign missionaries were the "most needy," claiming that they don't qualify for stimulus checks. "We are giving to those who do not have. One, I said this is a challenge we're challenging you if you can give your stimulus package to missionaries and evangelists who don't get stimulus packages," Spell told Blackwell on CNN, adding that his church would use the donations to dole out cash payments to church leaders and missionaries "We are giving to those people that are the most needy," he added. But pastors are eligible to receive their own stimulus payments and can apply for loans However, the $2 trillion stimulus package provides relief to both churches and pastors. Like other taxpayers, both practicing and retiring pastors with social security numbers with an adjusted gross income under $75,000 are eligible to receive a rebate up to $1,200 from the federal government. Churches and ministry organizations that are are 501c3 tax-exempt can also apply to the Paycheck Protection Loan as long as they have fewer than 500 employees at one location, according to the Southern Baptist Convention, an organization that partners with Church Alliance who advocated for faith ministries to be included in the CARES relief bill. Blackwell questioned Spell about why he was asking congregants for donations when the church had the option to apply for a Paycheck Protection Loan. Spell retorted that Life Tabernacle chose not to apply for this money because they simply did not want to. "We don't want a [small business] loans we don't want the government to give us a dime. We are happy to provide for ourselves," Spell said. "Never will our federal or state government put one penny into our church. Because the second they do, they control us." Read the original article on Insider Storage tanks at the Marathon Petroleum Corp. refinery in Detroit on April 21, 2020. The world is awash in oil, there's little demand for it, and storage space is running out. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya) Canadas Oil and Gas Sector Says Feds Need to Do Much More Oil market turmoil reflects oversupply, lack of storage capacity News Analysis The aid that the feds have on the table so far for the oil and gas sector is certainly not the big bazooka. It represents an incremental step in the right direction, but its being received with mixed feelings mainly because it lacks sufficient firepower. Finance Minister Bill Morneau had been promising something for the beleaguered industry, saying a few weeks ago that it was imminent. They are going to need a bridge through this time and credit availability. In many cases, it will be challenging. Thats what were trying to ensure that were there to provide, he said in an interview with BNN Bloomberg on April 17 after the governments support package for the energy sector was announced. In addition to trying to tide businesses over until the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus, pandemic passes, the bailout aims to steer activity in the sector toward the Liberals goal of protecting the environment. The centrepiece of the governments bailout is a well-received $1.72 billion for cleaning up abandoned wells. This is good for the servicing companies, although it wouldnt do much for the producers. Another $750 million is pledged to help companies take steps to reduce methane emissions. The government expects that these measures will help retain and create about 10,000 well-paying jobs. But the industry is calling for support in the magnitude of $15 billion to $30 billion, and Alberta senator Doug Black told The Epoch Times that the $14 billion bailout of GM and Chrysler in 2009 is a fair benchmark. When the automotive industrys survival in Canada was threatened during the financial crisis, the government of Canada stepped up, Black said. Alberta [also] recognized the automotive industry is important to Canada, and we could not let it fail, Black said. And that is a very good model and I think that the Government of Canada, as Ive indicated, needs to step up. Significant Sector for Canadas Federation Jack Mintz, Presidents Fellow at the University of Calgarys School of Public Policy, reiterates that Canada is a federation. We should be helping each other in dire times, he told The Epoch Times. Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador are getting hit both from COVID-19 and the crash in crude prices. In good times, taxes from oil revenue can be significant contributions to federal coffers. A Suncor oilsands facility is seen near Fort McMurray, Alta. in a file photo. (The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh) If the federal government starts selecting some regions and industries that should be more supported than others, I think thats going to be very bad for federation down the road, Mintz said. Ian Dundas, president & CEO of Enerplus, told BNN Bloomberg that the current federal measures dont go far enough given the liquidity challenges companies are facing. We have support for several companies to come up with were looking for something that is going to be meaningfully larger, he said while also referencing what was provided for the auto sector. The simplest answer, said Black, would be for the government to provide the big banks with loan guarantees so that they could in turn provide the energy companies with the billions they need. The destruction in demand due to the CCP virus-mandated economic shutdowns means revenue is drying up quickly. The longer the economic shutdowns last, the greater the lack of income problem becomes, according to Carleton University management professor Ian Lee. At that point, theyve got to step in with sheer, straight, old-fashioned grants, Lee told The Epoch Times. Given the size of the energy sector in Canada, Lee says its too big to let it failmuch like the auto sector was deemed to be back in 2009. In 2018, the energy sector employed over 830,000 people (4.5 percent of Canadas total employment) and made up 10.6 percent of the GDP, or $221 billion. This is notably larger than the auto sectors $19 billion contribution to GDP. Helping Viable Companies But there will still be a lot of pain in the industry, notwithstanding government backing, and companies are continuing to pare back capital spending. They cannot replace every dollar of loss that every company has experienced. So the weakest ones will fail, even with government support, Lee said. The ones that fail will be the small and mid-sized companies, which have far less resources. Through Business Development Canada (BDC) and Export Development Canada (EDC), the government is providing loans from $15 million to $60 million to help financially viable companies get through 12 months of operational needs. Im encouraged by the general tone of what the federal government is talking about in terms of not trying to pick, or save companies that were in distress before this downturn, but looking to provide a bridge through this unprecedented shutdown, said Daniel Halyk, president and CEO of Total Energy Services, in an interview with BNN Bloomberg. The feds are making it clear that they do not mean to prop up companies on the brink of bankruptcy. The idea is to not create a bunch of zombie companies. If there are companies that had good balance sheets before going into this current period, they would be able to get some additional help, so I think the federal package is going to be helpful with that, Mintz said. Too Much Oil: Paying Buyers to Buy The situation in the energy sector has worsened since the April 17 announcements. In addition to onerous regulation, mounting environmental hurdles, falling demand due to the lockdowns, and oversupply, the lack of storage for crude is creating chaos in oil markets. The price of the U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) settled at negative US$37.63 on April 20, marking the first time the contract ever traded below zero. Its price fell by more than 300 percent from its prior closing level. A price chart of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) shows the plunge into negative territory on April 20, 2020. (Bloomberg) The bizarre phenomenon meant that oil producers had to pay buyers to take the crude off their hands that day, as this was less costly than shutting down oil wells and having to restart them. Prices rebounded the following day but remain at extremely low levels. More well shutdowns are required to cut supply. The 10 million or 9.7 million barrels a day agreed to two weeks ago by OPEC+ is woefully inadequate and the market is saying so, and theyre going to have to cut a lot more. But the only permanent solution is for the economy, for companies, for people to go back to work, Lee said. Canadas benchmark Western Canada Select price also briefly went negative and is hovering at close to zero. Balancing Objectives Black says the balance between protecting the environment and the health of the energy sector has not yet been achieved by the Trudeau government. But he remains hopeful. We have a moment in time now, where the government can signal that they believe the words that they have been sayingthat you can balance resource extraction and maintain and enhance the environment. This can be done, Black said. And this is exactly what were waiting for in Alberta. Canada, like just about every other nation, faces soaring deficits, and Black says that more than ever the government needs the tax revenue from the energy sector. Without the oil and gas industry producing at the levels that it has been the government would be biting off its nose to spite its face because the opportunity of the energy industry to continue to contribute to the national wealth and prosperity would be irreparably harmed, he said. The Kerala governmenton Wednesdaydecided to set up 28 fast track special courts in all the state's 14 districts for speedy trial of rape and POSCO cases. The decision in this regard was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, here. In 2019, Kerala had reported 3,609 Protection of Childrenfrom Sexual Offences (POSCO) cases and 2,076 rape cases against women as per the provisional list of the police department. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bareilly : , April 22 (IANS) In an unusual incident in Uttar Pradesh, the family of a young woman has lodged a case against her prospective groom when the latter refused to solemnize the marriage through video call. The incident took place in Karua Sahabganj village in Kuladia area of Bareilly. Shamsul Hasan had fixed his daughter Farzana's marriage with Irshad Hussain. Irshad is stuck in Punjab and could not return to Bareilly for the wedding on April 19. The girl's family requested him to exchange the vows through video call but the man refused. The family approached the police but the latter refused to register an FIR saying that they were not aware of relevant provisions in law. Bareilly additional SP (crime) said, "Initially, the bride's father alleged the groom had not turned up because he had failed to meet their dowry demands, but during the probe, it was found that he was stuck in Punjab due to the lockdown. Both families later agreed to compromise after the groom's parents paid a compensation to the bride's family. KYODO NEWS - Apr 22, 2020 - 23:52 | All, Coronavirus, Japan, World An additional 33 crew members on an Italian cruise ship docked for repairs in southwestern Japan have tested positive for the coronavirus, bringing the total to 34, the Nagasaki prefectural government said Wednesday. After one of the 623 crew members aboard the Costa Atlantica, docked in Nagasaki, was confirmed as infected with the virus on Tuesday, the city started testing those who had been in close contact with that person on the passenger-less ship. Of the 34 found to be infected with the virus, one man in his 40s has been sent to a facility designated for infectious diseases in the city out of concern his symptoms may worsen. Related coverage: Only 18% of Japanese stopped going to work due to COVID-19: poll Japan gets 2 mil. face masks donated by Taiwan to fight virus LGBT people in Japan worry getting coronavirus may result in outing So far, 61 people have been tested for the COVID-19 disease, with results for 27 coming back negative. A further 130 or so crew members who are necessary for the ship's maintenance are expected to be tested. Those who had been in close contact with the crew member who tested positive have been quarantined, while other crew members have been staying in cabins with balconies. The one Japanese among the crew is not infected and did not have close contact with the first infected crew member, according to the vessel's operator Costa Crociere. Specialists from the health ministry said Wednesday that a cluster of coronavirus infections is likely to have occurred aboard the ship, which arrived in Nagasaki on Jan. 29 and is scheduled to remain until the end of April. Nagasaki Gov. Hodo Nakamura requested the dispatch of Self-Defense Forces personnel to deal with the situation. In Tokyo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Wednesday at a press conference that Japan has sent officials and specialists from the health ministry to the ship in response to a request from the Italian government for assistance. "We will take appropriate measures to prevent the spread of the virus in cooperation with Nagasaki Prefecture and others," he said. He also said that only those who have severe symptoms will be allowed to leave the ship. The ship was originally due to undergo repairs in China but Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co., a unit of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., eventually received the repair order due to the virus outbreak, which was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019. It initially stated that no one had boarded or disembarked from the Costa Atlantica since the first virus infection in Nagasaki Prefecture was confirmed in Iki on March 14. But on Wednesday, Mitsubishi Shipbuilding said some crew members had done so even after that date. Details remain unclear, but those who disembarked included some who went to hospitals, said the company, which is currently requesting more information from the ship's operator. Nakamura called the situation "very regrettable" and said that allowing the ship to dock "was conditioned on proper management." Another Italian cruise ship is expected to dock in Nagasaki for two days starting Thursday, the Nagasaki prefectural government said Wednesday, citing "humanitarian reasons." The ship, with 781 crew members but no passengers aboard, had been at sea for about a month after leaving Nagasaki in late March, and was running low on fuel and food. "We had no choice (but to accept it) due to humanitarian reasons and will take every possible measure to prevent the spread of the virus," a prefectural government official said. The prefecture said it will post guards round the clock and ensure no crew members leave the ship. During Easter week, almost 1,000 people attempted to escape from Libya by sea. Half of them were found and pushed back by Libyan militias; the other half were left to their fate by the European authorities. After rescuing more than 150 people, the German ship Aylan Kurdi was made to wait more than 10 days for a port where survivors could disembark. On the night of Easter Sunday, the humanitarian ship Aita Mari arrived in the waters of the central Mediterranean, heading back to her home port in Spain. Despite sailing with a minimal crew and no rescue team or doctors on board, the captain decided to respond to a mayday call which had inexplicably been ignored for six days. On the rubber boat, the sailors found a group of exhausted people, including two children and a pregnant woman, many in a semi-conscious state after a week at sea with no food or water. The nine sailors on the Basque ship, along with the survivors, would remain stranded in the waters between Malta and Lampedusa without permission to dock for one week, guilty of saving the lives of 43 human beings. Italy and Malta closed their ports the week before the intervention of the Spanish vessel, justifying this measure with the ongoing Covid-19 health crisis. Between the two barricaded coasts hundreds of refugees were being left at the mercy of the waves. To make the situation even more complex, on 9 April the Libyan authorities, faced with the simultaneous closure of European ports, implemented an unexpected plan of its own: for the first time, the government in Tripoli closed its own port, denying entry to its own patrol vessels. This was an unprecedented act, accompanied by an unusual and suspicious inability of the so-called Libyan coastguard to intercept the refugee boats at its maritime border. Since 2017, European governments have been funding and training militias supporting the al-Sarraj government. The objective is to see these militias recognised by the International Maritime Organisation as part of the Libyan coastguard, in order to legitimise Libyan authorities illegal refoulement of fleeing refugees at sea. On 11 April, with ports closed and patrol boats inactive, the Libyan authorities declared that, forced to face the attacks of General Haftars army, the current resources do not allow to also control the departure of the boats of migrants a clear suggestion to the EU to increase funding destined for the Tripoli militias. On the same day the refugees rescued by Aita Mari left the coast of Tripolitania, a second boat also departed. On 10 April a Frontex aircraft spotted the dinghy with about 60 people on board. Malta, Italy and other relevant European actors in the central Med were informed of the case and of its vital state of emergency. But in open violation of the international law of the sea no coordination and no intervention followed. These shipwrecked people had been at sea for a week before the Maltese authorities finally, on the night of 14 April, launched the alert via Navtex. The rescue was initially assigned to the merchant ship Ivan, but due to two-metre waves and the ships high freeboard, the rescue was not possible. Seven people died that night trying to reach the ship; their bodies disappeared into the sea. No statement was issued by any of the Maltese authorities responsible for the rescue mission. Moreover, despite the rescue not taking place, the alert released by La Valletta disappeared from the SAR communications that same night. What happened to the 60 castaways? Not even the Italian authorities seem to be aware of their fate as they launched several aerial reconnaissance missions in vain. On Tuesday evening, Malta declared there are no open cases in the SAR area under their responsibility, without providing any information on the fate of the sixty refugees on the missing dinghy. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will later report that 51 shipwrecked people were taken to Tripoli, along with five dead bodies. The survivors, including a little girl not even one year old, waited more than 12 hours on the dock of the closed port of Tripoli, exhausted, before being transferred to a detention centre. Colonel Abdelsamad, head of operation of the so-called Libyan coastguard, later publicly confirmed that the illegal pullback was coordinated by Malta. On the very same day, the Maltese Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on the European Union to provide Libya with extra funding of 100m (88m). Today, not tomorrow, he solicited, as well as advocating for more resources to the Libyan coastguard to enable border control activities and ensure that Tripoli can be declared a safe haven for migrants to disembark. This proposal, in the midst of the biggest health crisis in living memory, suggests a tacit agreement with the Tripoli authorities, who are suddenly and with suspicious timing showing their inability both to contain the migratory flow and to control their main port. The outbreak of Covid-19 has become yet another excuse to normalise the non-assistance of people in distress at sea, closing the borders and, once again, turning our backs on the invisible fugitives of the central Mediterranean. But now it is also the perfect ground for Tripolis blackmail of Europe: the threat of an uncontrolled flow of people across the Mediterranean is being used to finance their own personal interests namely the civil war against General Haftar; a lesson well learned by Erdogan, whose ships and drones now patrol the Libyan coast west of Tripoli. On the pretext of this health crisis, the European authorities continue to fail their legal and moral obligation to save lives. Yet, despite any pandemic, the victims of the Libyan conflict continue to flee to Europe in search of their most basic human rights, their lives becoming the sacrificial pawns of the cruel blackmail from Tripoli. Valeria Alice Colombo is an Italian doctor and crew member on Sea Watch 3. She is also a member of the journalistic collective Brush&Bow The 30 graduating seniors at Poplar Springs High School in Graceville, Florida, may not physically be on campus, but their presence is felt thanks to their principal's tribute to the Class of 2020. Principal Farica West told WMBB News 13 she felt terrible knowing the seniors will miss "memorable moments" like prom and graduation, occasions that "we all hold near and dear to our hearts throughout our whole lives." While thinking of ways to honor to the students, West began to imagine large portraits of each senior lining the road leading to the school. West called the photographer who took their senior photographs, and had each one blown up and attached to a stand. They are now set up side by side, and West said community members and even people from out of town drive by to "see and honor our students." This has helped make a tough situation easier, senior Dalton Wilkinson said. "It is definitely something that gives you comfort," he told WMBB. More stories from theweek.com A parade that killed thousands? Trump seems oddly convinced COVID-19 won't return in the fall or winter The Navajo Nation outbreak reveals an ugly truth behind America's coronavirus experience The Prince of Wales has released a hard-hitting message to mark Earth Day amid the coronavirus pandemic. Taking to Instagram, Prince Charles, 71, reminded followers that nature is 'vital to human health and wellbeing', and expressed his regret over mankind 'rapidly destroying' biodiversity. 'The parallels between the human and the planetary condition in the coronavirus are quite clear', Charles said in an extended message, adding that earth had been 'struggling to breathe' and now was our 'rare chance to reset'. Clarence House posted the message to mark the day, which kicked off in America in 1970, to their Instagram, reading: 'The Prince of Wales has released a message to mark Earth Day 2020. 'His Royal Highness has championed environmental issues for over 50 years, since the very first Earth Day, and now encourages you to join in.' The Prince of Wales has released a hard-hitting message to mark Earth Day amid the coronavirus pandemic Taking to Instagram, Prince Charles, 71, (seen during his New Zealand Visit at the Royal Albatross Centre in 2005) reminded followers that nature is 'vital to human health and wellbeing', and expressed his regret over mankind 'rapidly destroying' biodiversity An extract of Charles' statement read: 'Air, water, soil and landscapes are vital to human health and wellbeing. 'Biodiversity, the incredible interconnectedness of plant, animal and insect, life, which we are rapidly destroying, holds insights and solutions that we have yet to discover; its protection and genuinely sustainable management is vital to our survival as a human species. 'It is, therefore, increasingly clear that when we care for our planet we fundamentally care for ourselves.' 'As we look to shape the next fifty years, I very much need your help. To reflect and inspire the world to action, while aiming for a green recovery, I would ask you to join me by sharing your vision for a more sustainable future (socially, environmentally and economically) using the hashtag ReimagineReset.' Prince Charles is seen during the royal and Camilla's tour of Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and India in 2017. The royal said in an Instagram message today that he hoped to encourage people to become more green Yesterday, the Prince of Wales has praised the viral videos shared by Britons to help boost the country's morale amid the coronavirus crisis. The royal, who has been recovering from Covid-19 at his home on the Balmoral estate, revealed he had entertained himself during his time in lockdown by watching 'some of the funniest videos' he had ever seen and praised their creators for lifting the spirits of the nation. Sharing his thoughts in the latest edition of Country Life Magazine, the future king wrote: 'Beyond the walls of the hospitals, care homes, doctors' surgeries and pharmacies, we have also seen a heart-warming burgeoning of remarkable kindness and concern for those in need across the country. 'Younger people shopping for older folk, some making regular telephone calls to those living alone, church services recorded and emailed to parishioners and, of course, we have seen the very best use of technology - allowing people to keep working, but also to keep in touch through virtual parties, games, singing - and some of the funniest videos I have seen for a long time!' Yesterday, the Prince of Wales has praised the viral videos shared by Britons to help boost the country's morale amid the coronavirus crisis Ericsson ERIC reported unimpressive first-quarter 2020 results, with the top line missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The company stated that the COVID-19 pandemic had a limited impact on its operating income and cash flow in the quarter. Actions taken by governments to contain the spread are making service delivery and supply tougher due to lockdowns and travel restrictions in many countries. While there has been no material effect on the demand side so far, it is reasonable that the economic slowdown might compel some operators to delay their investment programs. Net Income Net income in the March quarter was SEK 2,156 million ($223 million) or SEK 0.65 (8 cents) per share compared with SEK 2,317 million or SEK 0.70 per share in the prior-year quarter. The downtick was caused by items affecting comparability in first-quarter 2019, which had a positive impact. The bottom line was in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Ericsson Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Ericsson Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Ericsson price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Ericsson Quote Revenues Quarterly net sales inched up 1.7% year over year to SEK 49,750 million ($5,145 million). Sales in North America, Saudi Arabia and Japan rose while sales in Latin America, China and India declined. The top line, however, lagged the consensus estimate of $5,545 million. Segment Results Net sales at Networks (which accounts for the lions share of total sales) increased 4.8% year over year to SEK 35.1 billion ($3.6 billion), reflecting continued strong momentum for 5G. Growth in North America, Saudi Arabia and Japan was offset by decline in Latin America, India and North-East Asia (excluding Japan). The segments gross margin increased to 44.4% year over year from 43.2%, supported by a favorable business mix including a higher share of software sales. The operating margin improved to 16.6% from 16.3%. Digital Services net sales declined 6.4% year over year to SEK 7.3 billion ($0.8 billion) due to lower sales of services and legacy hardware. Services sales declined following fewer project completions and a negative impact on deliveries from the COVID-19 pandemic as access to customer networks has been limited in certain countries. Hardware sales declined due to the companys strategy to focus on cloud-native software. That said, the business momentum is strong for the new portfolio of 5G and cloud-native products. Important 5G core contracts were signed with several tier 1 operators in 2020. The segments gross margin improved to 39.9% from 36.8%, supported by a higher share of software sales and improved hardware margins. Managed Services net sales fell 3.4% year over year to SEK 5.7 billion ($0.6 billion) due to the exit of non-strategic contracts. However, sales in Optimization (project business) showed growth. The gross margin declined to 16.3% year over year from 17.7%. Operating margin fell to 7.1% from 21.4%. The companys investments in automation, analytics and AI-driven offerings are supporting 5G and efficiency in service delivery. Net sales from Emerging Business and Other declined 11.1% year over year to SEK 1.6 billion ($0.2 billion), reflecting the 51% divestment of MediaKind in first-quarter 2019 and lower sales related to the legacy media business. The segments gross margin declined to 21.7% from 23.4%. This was mainly due to the divestment of MediaKind and legacy project costs, partially offset by improvements in Red Bee Media. Other Details Overall gross margin improved to 39.8% year over year from 38.4%, driven by a favorable business mix, including an increased software share, in Networks. Total operating expenses were SEK 15.5 billion compared with SEK 14.6 billion in the prior-year quarter. Operating income was SEK 4.3 billion compared with SEK 4.9 billion in the year-ago quarter. As of Mar 31, Ericsson had 86 commercial 5G agreements with operators, including 29 live networks. Cash Flow & Liquidity In the first quarter, Ericsson generated SEK 4,302 million of cash from operations compared with SEK 5,765 million in the year-ago quarter. The companys free cash flow (before M&A) was SEK 2.3 billion compared with SEK 3.5 billion in first-quarter 2019. As of Mar 31, the Sweden-based telecom gear maker had SEK 48,347 million ($4,823.7 million) in cash and equivalents with SEK 23,381 million ($2,332.8 million) of non-current borrowings. Its net cash at the end of the quarter was SEK 38.4 billion compared with SEK 36.1 billion a year ago. Going Forward Ericsson remains positive on the longer-term outlook, but the second quarter is likely to be a tad softer than normal due to the timing of strategic contracts and uncertainty induced by COVID-19. Nevertheless, with current visibility, it maintains the financial targets for 2020 and 2022. The approved operator merger in North America is expected to build an even stronger 5G momentum and investments are expected to intensify during the second half of the year. However, Ericssons managed services contract is expected to be negatively impacted over time, starting the second quarter. The targets for 2020 take into account an increasing share of strategic contracts, including 5G in China. The acquired antenna and filter business is expected to hurt Networks margins in 2020, with a gradual improvement during the second half. The improvements in Digital Services continue, but earnings will vary between quarters depending on the business mix, sales seasonality and impact of the remainder of the 45 critical contracts. In Managed Services, investments in automation and AI will continue to contribute to the gross margin. There will be quarterly variations depending on the timing of add-on sales and costs. Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Consider Ericsson currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). A few other top-ranked stocks in the broader industry are Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. CCOI, Telenav, Inc. TNAV and Plantronics, Inc. PLT, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Cogent has a trailing four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 15.9%, on average. The companys earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the last four quarters. Telenav has a trailing four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 77%, on average. The companys earnings topped the consensus estimate in two of the last four quarters. Plantronics has a trailing four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 27.7%, on average. The companys earnings topped the consensus estimate in three of the last four quarters. Conversion rate used: SEK 1 = $0.103417 (period average from Jan 1, 2020 to Mar 31, 2020) SEK 1 = $0.099772 (as of Mar 31, 2020) 5 Stocks Set to Double Each was hand-picked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2020. Each comes from a different sector and has unique qualities and catalysts that could fuel exceptional growth. Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor. Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Ericsson (ERIC) : Free Stock Analysis Report Telenav, Inc. (TNAV) : Free Stock Analysis Report Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (CCOI) : Free Stock Analysis Report Plantronics, Inc. (PLT) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Press Release 22 April 2020 Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) is debuting two new professional certificates which demonstrate one's expertise in the USALI 11th Revised Edition: The USALI-11 Certificate, Theory and USALI-11 Certificate, Practice. Each certificate is a four-module course which cover the concepts, organizational structure and application of this industry-wide reporting standard. Developed by Ascend, a hospitality talent development company, the courses are available to all, with no previous experience required. Advertisements "In late 2018, HFTP acquired the copyright to the USALI. While the association has been involved with the resource since its inception, our increased involvement demonstrated to us how integral the guide is to the financial operations of hotel companies," said HFTP Deputy CEO Thomas Atzenhofer, CPA. "Developing and offering the Certificates are a definitive way for hospitality professionals to prove to their employers their ease with this essential resource." The USALI-11 Theory Certificate covers the layout and content of the financial statements for each operating department and undistributed departments. In addition, the course reviews the Non-operating Income and Expense section, net vs. gross revenue reporting, and ratios and metrics provided in the USALI 11th Edition. The USALI-11 Practice Certificate takes the knowledge base from the theory course and applies numbers to provide insight on how best to analyze and interpret the information in the financial statements. Emphasis is placed on vertical, horizontal and ratio analyses. "Ascend had been in discussions with HFTP on rolling out these certificates. When all the changes started to happen to our industry, we reached out to HFTP and suggested that it would be our privilege to give back to our membership and build these courses at no cost to our association," said Ascend's principals Agnes DeFranco, Ed.D., CHE, CHAE, CHIA, CAHTA and Arlene Ramirez, CHE, CHAE, CHIA, CAHTA. "Ascend is offering both certificates complimentary to the first 50 HFTP members to apply who are furloughed and will donate half of any future revenue received back to HFTP for use on membership services." Each certificate is a four-module course. Participants receive 24/7 access and have three months to complete each module. Once a module is completed, the participant will be required to take a 20-question assessment that needs to be passed with 100 percent accuracy. Participants will have unlimited attempts to achieve this perfect score. Once done, the participant will move on to the next module. Upon successful completion of the entire certificate course, registrants will receive a digital badge and certificate recognizing their achievement and new knowledge base. In addition to the first 50 free offer to HFTP Members who have been furloughed, HFTP in partnership with Ascend are providing an introductory "Pay it Forward" discount for the new Certificate courses. The cost is $75 USD per module or $250 USD per certificate bundle (a combination of all four modules) through August 31, 2020. On September 1, 2020 the regular price structure will apply: $300 per module and $1,000 per certificate course. For more information, visit the USALI-11 Certificate page or contact HFTP Certification Manager Robin Bogdon at [email protected]. About Ascend Ascend, a premier hospitality talent development company focused on delivering online learning and certification programs designed to address opportunities for professional growth within organizations. Retaining great talent is a necessity for any organization to remain competitive, Ascend provides a VALUE proposition to elevate existing talent. This approach involves validating the contributions made by employees, assessing their knowledge needs and developing learning programs that provide opportunities for individuals to apply new concepts within the organization to encourage internal professional growth opportunities. Ascend is proud to be an educational partner with HFTP in providing a solution to the administration and review and examination process for their premier certifications the CHAE (Certified Hospitality Accountant Executive) and the CHTP (Certified Hospitality Technology Professional). Ascend is based in Houston, Texas USA. Leaked labour party anti-semitism report By Craig Murray April 22, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - I have now read my way through all 851 pages of the suppressed and leaked Labour Party report on its handling of anti-semitism complaints. It is an important document, that is fundamental to understanding a major turning point in UK history, where Northern European social democracy failed to re-establish itself in the UK. If whoever leaked the document still has access to the vast amount of original source material on which it is based, this is documentation of immense historical value. I would strongly urge them to send the original thousands of emails, texts and messages to Wikileaks to ensure that this is preserved for the public record. More mundanely, the report is of obvious value as evidence to the Equality and Human Rights Commission as part of its investigation into anti-semitism in the Labour Party. The fact that it has not been officially adopted by the Labour Party does not make any difference to its value as evidence; nor does its status as regards copyright or data protection law. If, for example, I were to discover evidence of blatant racism, and send that to the EHRC, the EHRC would not refuse to look at that evidence on the grounds it breached the racists copyright or rights under the Data Protection Act. These excuses for suppression of the report are just that. I am accordingly myself sending a copy on to the EHRC making just that point. I find it rather troubling that Keir Starmer seems more interested in suppressing this report than acting on its alarming findings and I say that as someone who is not initially hostile to Starmer. What are the key points we learn from the report? Well, firstly that there did exist among Labour Party members examples of genuinely shocking and indisputable anti-semitism. It is also true that in many cases the processes of dealing with these individuals did drag on for months or even years. Much of the report is concerned with precisely whose fault that was within the Labour Party. The report does conclusively refute the accusation that delays were occasioned by Jeremy Corbyn or his office, or that his office displayed any sympathy for anti-semitism. In fact, the opposite is the case. Corbyns office showed a proper hatred of anti-semitism, but also an alarming willingness to throw good people under the bus on very flimsy allegations of anti-semitism. pp306-7 The report shows a serious inability to distinguish between real, nasty anti-semitism and opposition to the policies of Israel. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter Furthermore, this is the attitude of the authors of the report themselves who in many scores of examples take for granted that the accusations of anti-semitism are sufficient to consider the case proven, and accept a number of specified opinions as proof of anti-semitism which are anything but. The headlines of course have been grabbed by the reports stunning exposure of the fact that Labour HQ was staffed by right wingers so vehemently anti-Corbyn that they actively wanted the Conservatives to win elections. I think it is important to understand just how right wing they really are. Senior members of staff were messaging each other opposing any increase in corporation tax and opposing re-nationalisation of the railways as Trot policies. The case of the horrible and very right wing John McTernan is instructive. McTernan had taken to writing articles in the Daily Telegraph praising the Tories and attacking Labour, but the Governance and Legal Unit of Party HQ refused to take action against him. They finally took action when he wrote an article urging the Tories to crush the rail unions for hampering the operations of private railway companies; but the action taken was to suspend a member who called McTernan out on his Tory support. p.140 John McTernan, meanwhile, formerly involved in New Labour and a delegate to 2016 party conference, was repeatedly reported from 25 July onwards for abusive language on Twitter and elsewhere, including describing Labour MPs who nominated Corbyn as morons; tweeting twice that Corbyn was a traitor; describing Corbynistas as racist; telling an SNP MP that he should Come down to Peckham and try saying that, mate; calling Corbyn a Putin-hugging, terrorist-loving, Trident-hater; and writing in the Daily Telegraph that all of Corbyns supporters were online trolls.368 No action was taken, and McTernan received the staff decision No action removed at referral. On 18 August, however, Dan Hogan did report a member of McTernans CLP, Omar Baggili, who in response to an article by McTernan in The Telegraph urging the Conservative government to crush the rail unions once and for all tweeted at him seriously John why havent you got yourself a Tory membership card. Theyre anti unions & pro privatisation like you.369 Baggili was suspended for abuse. This is by no means an isolated example. One of my favourites is the case of Andy Bigham (pp538-45), who initially came to the attention of the Governance and Legal Unit for suggesting Corbyn was a traitor and Diane Abbot should be locked in a box. This was considered insufficient for action to be taken against him, and incredibly this stance was still maintained even when he subsequently posted that he had voted Conservative, urged others to vote Conservative and became the administrator of a Conservative Party Facebook Group. Meanwhile left wingers were being thrown out of the party for having advocated a Green vote years before they joined, or for calling MPs who supported the Iraq war warmonger. The report makes an overwhelming case that the Governance and Legal Unit of the Labour Party failed to take action on accusations of anti-semitism because it was devoting all of its energies to a factional effort to remove Corbyn supporters from the party. These right wing staff were hoping for Labour electoral defeats in order to get rid of Corbyn. Senior Labour staff were actually hoping Labour would lose its seat in the Manchester Gorton by-election. 27/02/2017, 16:53 Patrick Heneghan: Just had discussion at strategy meeting We will meet Steve and Andy next Monday we are looking at all 3 in May but select in Gorton within 4 weeks Katy will speak to you/Iain 27/02/2017, 16:53 Patrick Heneghan: From karie 27/02/2017, 16:54 Patrick Heneghan: They didnt include us in the discussion. 27/02/2017, 16:54 Patrick Heneghan: Well lets hope the lib dems can do it.113 It has long been known that there was tension between Corbyn and Labour HQ staff over allocation of resources to key marginals in the 2017 general election. What I had not known prior to this report is that HQ staff set up another organisation (p.92), based in another building, to divert party funds and secretly channel them to the campaigns of their favoured right wing MPs. On p.103 is detailed the horror expressed by Labour Party HQ staff at the Labour Partys good performance in the 2017 election. People were sickened by the exit poll showing the Tories losing their majority. The emails and messages quoted throughout the report are a tiny percentage of those available and are, of course, the selection of the authors of the report. That is why I call on them to dump the whole cache, which they say is many tens of thousands, to Wikileaks. One theme which continually crops up in the selected passages for quotation, but a theme on which the authors of the report scarcely comment, is that support for British military attacks abroad appeared to be the touchstone issue for who was in and who was out with Labour Party HQ staff. The Manchester terror attack occurred in the middle of the 2017 General Election campaign. Corbyn bravely, and correctly, stated something that had been unsayable in mainstream UK political discourse that British invasions abroad provoke terrorism at home. Labour Party HQ staff hoped and believed this would sink Corbyn and were actively wishing Labour to fall in the polls. pp 96-7 Jo Greening 09:12: and I shall tell you why it is a peak and the polling was done after the Manchester attack so with a bit of luck this speech will show a clear polling decline and we shall all be able to point to how disgusting they truly are (now obviously we know it was never real but that isnt the point in politics!) Francis Grove-White 09:13: Yeah Im sure thats right Francis Grove-White 09:16: My fears are that: a) the speech wont go down as badly as it deserves to thanks to the large groundswell of ill-informed opposition to all western interventions. And b) they will use that poll to claim they were on course to win and then Manchester happened. And whether or not JC goes, lots of the membership will buy that argument. Like after the referendum when they distorted the polling and claimed we had overtaken the Tories before the coup happpened Jo Greening 09:17: if this speech gets cut through as I think it may it will harden normal people against us definitely in the face of a terror attack normal people do not blame foreign intervention they blame immigration whats more all they will hear is we dont want to respond strongly we want peace with ISIS it all plays into a bigger picture of how they see corbyn so I have a feeling this will cut through you are right on the second point it has to be up to the MPs though to demonstrate how toxic he is on the doorstep throughout but that this speech particularly was toxic and Manchester had happened when that poll was in the field on the supporters I personally think we are going to do very badly in deed and I think it will shock a lot of them how badly we do including JC so everyone has to be ready when he is in shock it has to be clean and brutal and not involve the party at all in my opinion those crazy people who now make up our membership never want us to win in anycase they are communists and green supporters even if Manchester hadnt happened and we got smashed they would have never changed their minds Francis Grove-White 09:23: Yeah thats true My emphasis added to show just how right wing thinking is at Labour Party HQ. To return to the failure to deal with cases of anti-semitism, a great deal of the problem appears to have arisen from sheer incompetence of staff. The Labour HQ staff had been inherited from the Blair years, and factional loyalty and a history of right wing political activity related to the Progress agenda were much more important in employment decisions than qualifications or competence. The Governance and Legal Unit, which handled the complaints of anti-semitism, was staffed by vehemently anti-Corbyn right wingers and was a bad actor; but it was also just useless. The most basic systems were not in place, like a log of complaints/allegations there was no log at all, let alone by category and there was therefore no system for tracking the progress of individual cases. Emails went unanswered or even unread for many months, sometimes in email boxes which nobody attended. The epicentre of this incompetence was Sam Matthews, who was to be the star of the BBCs Panorama programme Is Labour Anti-Semitic and the primary source of the allegations that Corbyns office was preventing action and protecting anti-semites. It is impossible to read this report and I have ploughed through all 851 pages without coming to the conclusion that Matthews himself was responsible for a great deal of inertia. The report hints throughout that the failure to deal with anti-semitic Labour Party members was a deliberate act by party HQ staff in order to make Corbyn look bad. This evidence does not make that case conclusively, though it certainly does nothing to undermine it. The report expresses the suspicion most clearly in a passage on a period where Sam Matthews started inundating Corbyns office with requests for input on anti-semitism cases only later to produce the replies to him as evidence of unhelpful interference. This is a key passage of the Report (LOTO = Corbyns office): However, Matthews emails reveal that he was the person who initiated a process of asking LOTO for their views on cases, on the basis that he was asking for their help, explicitly saying its really helpful to have your input. Matthews has also asserted: I had been privy to emails where Jeremy Corbyns Chief of Staff, Karie Murphy, was responding on a case by case basis on antisemitism in order to not suspend someone who they all knew damn well should be suspended. I thought I just cant countenance this.1290 Matthews assertions about Murphy are also untrue. Murphy responded to GLU-GSO on just one case, Craig Allaker, agreeing with Emilie Oldknows suggestion of a membership rejection. Murphys other emails indicate that she did not want GLU involving LOTO in disciplinary cases and she questioned why Matthews had suddenly started involving them. The conclusion of the Labour Party is that Matthews and possibly others in GLU-GSO instigated this process of consultation with LOTO, and proposed suspensions in some cases for conduct which GLU had previously not considered to merit any form of disciplinary action. This was later used by the same staff to accuse LOTO of involvement in antisemitism cases or of letting off antisemites, blaming LOTO and Jeremy Corbyn for GLUs inaction on antisemitism complaints.. It may have been GLU and GSOs intention to make this accusation when they initiated this process of consulting LOTO. The report proves conclusively that Matthews allegations of unwarranted interference from Corbyns office to block anti-semitism action are malicious lies. It does not however conclusively show that his motive for asking for input from Corbyns office was to generate material to appear to substantiate his lies, not does it show conclusively that his incompetence and that of the Governance and Legal Unit in general was a deliberate ploy to make Corbyn look bad. These are not, however, unreasonable inferences. What this report proves beyond any doubt is that the entire thrust of John Wares infamous Panorama episode, Is Labour Anti-Semitic, was simply wrong. Corbyns office was not responsible for lack of action over anti-semitism. The people responsible were the very people whom Ware chummed up with to make the allegations. All involved were bad actors, including John Ware. He made no attempt to fairly assess or present the facts, or to hear the counter-arguments of those close to Jeremy Corbyn, and appears at the very best to have accepted an extremely selective presentation of written material from Matthews without proper question. But it is of course worse than that. John Ware, a freelance journalist, was hired by the BBC to make that documentary despite a long history of anti-Muslim, and specifically anti-Palestinian, propaganda that had previously brought the BBC into disrepute and cost the license fee payer money. In 2006 a John Ware produced Panorama programme Faith, Hate and Charity made deeply damaging false accusations about involvement with terrorism by Palestinian relief charity Interpal and caused the BBC to have to pay substantial damages to the director of another charity, Islamic Relief. Both Interpal and Islamic Relief have continually been targeted by the Israeli government. John Ware has frequently been labeled an Islamophobe, including repeatedly by the Muslim Council of Britain . There is a double standard at play here. I suggest to you that it is simply the case that the BBC would never commission somebody denounced as anti-semitic by the Board of Deputies, more than once, to film a Panorama. John Ware is proud of his activism for zionism. In 2016 Ware had a paid propaganda tour of Israel as part of a Commitment Award from the World Womens International Zionist Organisation. Ware is perfectly entitled to write articles for the Jewish Chronicle attacking the BDS movement, and he is entitled to his views. But in the BBC Panorama Is Labour anti-Semitic? programme, Ware posed not as a strong pro-Israel propagandist, but as an independent journalist conducting unbiased investigation. In so doing, he allowed Sam Matthews and numerous other Labour staff members to put forward lie after lie after lie, which Ware appeared to validate, as is conclusively proven by this 851 page report. I am not in a position to know whether John Ware knowingly connived in the lies, or whether he was so blinded by his deeply felt zionist ideology that he allowed himself to be taken in. I do know that today John Ware is engaged in fronting an attempt to takeover the Jewish Chronicle and Jewish News, which has drawn criticism from within the Jewish community because the source of its finance is secret. It was plainly wrong for the BBC to hire somebody with the obvious axe to grind of John Ware to make a Panorama documentary on this subject. Like the rest of the mainstream media, and like Keir Starmer, the BBC has taken the excuse of this Labour report breaching the data protection act to avoid reporting the contradiction of the lies the BBC spewed out for years. You wont find Nick Robinson, Laura Keunssberg or Andrew Neil tweeting enthusiastically about this story. Never have journalists been so united in refusing hard news information because of the dubious legal basis though unquestioned first rate source and access of the leak. The Guardian for four years ran up to twenty Corbyn anti-semitism stories and columns a week. Their only action on this report has been to denigrate it by reporting gleefully that the Labour Party may be sued for large sums under the Data Protection Act. To turn to the report itself, it contains so many examples of Corbyns office pressing the Governance and Legal Unit to shove alleged anti-semites out of the party quickly, that I am not going to detail them here, but it includes all the high profile cases including Ken Livingstone, Tony Greenstein, Jackie Walker etc. It is plain from reading the report that the Governance and Legal Unit were both lackadaisical and incompetent complaints against anti-semitism were a minority of complaints they received, and complaints of sexual harrassment were receiving even less action (p.264). But sporadically the party machinery appears more concerned to give a fair hearing than Corbyns office, who would just shoot anyone the Guardian requested. There are horrific examples of anti-semitism within the report, but also instances where I would query the categorisation as anti-semitism not only of Labour HQ at the time, but of this report. At p.214 a case is given of somebody deemed an anti-semite for quoting the Rothschild involvement in Genie Energy fracking in the Golan Heights. Now I claim to be the person who first broke this story to a wider audience, (after finding it in the trade press), and it is completely true. Here is Genie Energys own press release . Mineral exploitation of the occupied Syrian Global Heights by the occupying power is illegal in international law. Shale gas drilling is highly problematic environmentally. It is Genie Energys own company press release which led with the involvement of Jacob Rothschild (and Rupert Murdoch). Claude Pupkin, CEO of Genie Oil and Gas, commented, Genies success will ultimately depend, in part, on access to the expertise of the oil and gas industry and to the financial markets. Jacob Rothschild and Rupert Murdoch are extremely well regarded by and connected to leaders in these sectors. Their guidance and participation will prove invaluable. I am grateful to Howard Jonas and IDT for the opportunity to invest in this important initiative, Lord Rothschild said. Rupert Murdochs extraordinary achievements speak for themselves and we are very pleased he has agreed to be our partner. Genie Energy is making good technological progress to tap the worlds substantial oil shale deposits which could transform the future prospects of Israel, the Middle East and our allies around the world. I perfectly accept that there is a fundamental strain of anti-semitism that accuses the Rothschilds and other Jewish bankers of controlling world capitalism, and that this is dangerous and harmful nonsense beloved of the Nazis. The Labour report actually gives some examples of precisely that. But you cannot move from there to the position that any criticism of any specific action of the Rothschild family is therefore anti-semitism. To criticise their involvement in illegally fracking on the occupied Golan Heights is perfectly legitimate journalism. It is not an anti-semitic trope. Similarly it is cited repeatedly (eg p.461) as anti-semitism to claim Israeli involvement with ISIS. Why is that? Nobody seriously disputes that the most important diplomatic change in the Middle East of the last decade has been the de facto alliance of Israel and Saudi Arabia (together with most of the GCC), aimed squarely at Iran. Nobody seriously disputes that ISIS, Daesh and Al Nusra have all been enabled at a fundamental level by Saudi and GCC funding and supplies. Some, but very few, analysts genuinely deny western assistance to those jihadi factions when operating against Syria. Nobody disputes the hostility between Isis/Daesh/Al Nusra and not only Hezbollah but also Hamas. ISIS/Daesh/Al Nusra are the allies of Israels allies and the enemies of Israels enemies. It is not in the least irrational, nor anti-semitic, to posit possible cooperation. Personally I doubt there has been much the Israelis are not as foolhardy as the Americans. The odd supportive air strike at Saudi urging, or targeted aid, or intelligence feed perhaps. There may be more. But the idea that it is anti-semitic to suggest Israeli aid to ISIS is wrong, and brings inyo play the question of the use of accusations of anti-semitism to chill legitimate analysis and criticism of Israel. On Ken Livingstone, I do not think in the least that Ken is an anti-semite. I do however think he is wrong. I have always found the discourse around Nazi/Zionist links disturbing and generally anti-semitic in motivation. Of course there may have been contact at some early stage between Nazis who wished to eradicate Jews from Europe, and Zionists who wished Jews to move to Israel. But what purpose is there in pointing that out? The Jew-hatred of the Nazis is indisputable, and any misguided Zionist who tried to deal with them was not therefore a Nazi supporter. It is a pointless discussion with highly unpleasant undertones. How Ken was entrapped into it I struggle to understand. The report is desperate to be seen as approving Labours now toughness on anti-semitism, and therefore endorses the characterisation of people as anti-semites whom I know not to be. Several instances are given of quoting or linking to Gilad Atzmon as evidence of anti-semitism, seemingly with no need felt to analyse the particular Atzmon article being quoted. Atzmon is of course an Israeli Jew of controversial views particularly on Jewish identity, but it ought not to be axiomatic that to refer to Atzmon is anti-semitic. Some of this is troubling. We are all more aware nowadays of historic involvement in the slave trade. The BBC recently did some excellent programmes on Scotland and the slave trade. Yet the report contains an analysis by the Community Security Trust p.363 that states that to discuss Jewish involvement in the slave trade (in the instance in question, it was a Jewish person discussing) is an anti-semitic trope. The dangers of this approach are obvious. I have not studied it, and I doubt that Jewish involvement in the slave trade was as bad as Scottish. But I do not doubt it existed, and it ought to be equally as open as Scottish involvement to investigation and comment. You cannot dismiss just everything that may show any group of Jewish people in a bad light as an anti-semitic trope. In short, in my view the report correctly identifies the existence of genuine antisemitism from a small minority of Labour Party members. It correctly identifies that the Labour Party machinery was highly incompetent in dealing with the vast majority of complaints of anti-semitism. It identifies that almost all input from Corbyns office was demanding tougher and firmer action. But it makes the error, in its desire to clear the Labour Party of any taint of anti-semitism, of enthusiastically endorsing definitions of anti-semitic behaviour which are so wide as to chill legitimate free speech. So what conclusions can we form? Well, the first is that Corbyn failed to be sufficiently ruthless in clearing out the quite extraordinarily right wing Blairites that he had inherited as Labour Party HQ staff. The Labour Party is a horribly complex institution, with elected committees, and powerful unions to appease who control the purse strings. But Blair and Brown had managed to create a machine in their own right wing image, and it is hard to read this report without concluding that Corbyn lacked the ruthlessness required in a leader to spot enemies and be rid of them. But then, his not being a ruthless bastard is why so many people flocked to support Corbyn in the first place. The second point is that Corbyns tactic of constantly attempting to appease the media on anti-semitism was never going to work. The right wing press and TV had no genuine interest in anti-racism, other than as a tool to prevent the possible election of a European style social democratic government. Neither the media nor the Blairites were ever going to reconcile to Corbyn. We will never know what would have happened if he had come out and denounced the witch-hunt as an attempt to stifle supporters of the Palestinians, and spoken openly of Israels move to apartheid. He had the nerve to take on the establishment narrative when he stated that British military invasions cause terrorist blowback at home, and won public support. Whether a firm line on Palestine and calling out the witch-hunt would have had a better result than giving way before ten thousand unfair attacks, we can never know. There are more general points therefore to consider about the nature of power and of political parties. I intend to address these in a further article including some very worrying similarities with the staff and orientation of SNP HQ. Craig Murray, Historian, Former Ambassador, Human Rights Activist - " Source " Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here It will produce five lakh 'N-99 masks' that is the highest quality mask, with the efficiency filter out 99 percent of particles. The Ahmedabad Textile Industry Research Association (ATIRA) in collaboration with the Defence Research and Development Organisation has produced a high-quality cloth to make masks of 99 per cent filter efficiency, the highest among all kind of masks available in the country. ATIRA is developing the cloth material for the preparation of five lakh 'N-99 masks', which it says would be better in quality than the N-95 masks that have been in huge demand of late in the fight against coronavirus. While the N-95 respirator is able to filter 95 per cent of the very small airborne particles, the efficiency of the N-99 mask to filter such particles will be 99 per cent. The Ahmedabad-based textile research association claims it is the only facility in the country to produce filter cloth for N-99 masks. "Ninty nine per cent filtration is the highest among all types of masks available in India. There were many challenges initially, but with the untiring efforts of our highly competent scientists and research technicians, we were able to successfully develop this cloth and produce it on large scale, ATIRA director Pragnesh Shah told PTI. The N-99 mask has five layers out of which two are of nanomesh which are inside and three outer layers are of cloth, he said. "Currently, the filter cloth is manufactured at a state-of-the-art facility of ATIRA as per the WHO guidelines. The Government of India and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) have recognised the efficiency of these masks, Shah said. The high-quality cloth for over 3.5 lakh masks has already been handed over to DRDO, while production of more such material is going on, said ATIRA deputy director Deepali Palawat, who is heading the project. "This project is the finest example of collaboration and coordination with the government. It was difficult to procure raw materials during the lockdown. The government has moved mountains to help us procure the raw materials and provided full support during the lockdown," she said. Palawat said it was difficult to convert the research centre into a production unit but a 15-member ATIRA staff, including scientific officers and technicians, are working round-the-clock to fulfil DRDO's order of five lakh masks. "The DRDO is getting these masks ready for health ministry officials, doctors of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and top defence cadre, she said. "We are happy that we are able to help the Indian government and people during such unprecedented times. Our partnership with DRDO has yielded something noteworthy for the country," ATIRA council member Punit Lalbhai said. ATIRA is a renowned body set up here in 1947 by textile mills as an autonomous non-profit R&D institution. Its activities cover various aspects, from fibre to finished fabrics in traditional textiles as well as technical textiles in the arena of geo-textiles, nano web technology and composites, as per the association's website. Vietnam will loosen travel restrictions as the country lifts a nationwide shutdown after no new COVID-19 cases were reported the past week. The government announced the confinement order will be lifted starting Thursday in most cities and provinces except in the capital Hanoi, which has nearly half of the country's 268 infections. Vietnam is among a few countries with no reported deaths from the virus. The government requests people carry on social distancing and bans public gathering of more than 20 people, in-dining restaurants and other nonessential business will remain closed. In several provinces where no infection was reported, schools will be reopened. Students will be scanned for temperature before entering the premises. We have basically contained the situation, but we must stay alert and take very careful steps when reopening the country, deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said. Vietnam shut down its border with China in January, stopped international arrivals in mid-March and vigorously carried out contact tracing down to commune level. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Then-Vice President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping toast during a State Luncheon for China hosted by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at the Department of State in Washington on Sept. 25, 2015. (Paul J. Richards/AFP via Getty Images) Americas Future and the China Model Commentary Evidence is mounting that the virus at the heart of the pandemic came from a virology lab in Wuhan, China, that lies by the regime in Beijing fueled its spread, and that China hoarded supplies and equipment critical for protecting and treating the public. Further evidence shows that the World Health Organization (WHO)a U.N. agencywas fully complicit in all of these actions. Yet youd never know it if you listened to Americas mainstream media or the leadership of the Democratic Party. Not only do they object to conventional labeling such as Wuhan Virus, China Virus, or CCP Virus, but they insist that all talk of Chinas culpability is little more than racist conspiracy theories. They repeatedly parrot Chinese Communist Party propaganda and run to the defense of the WHO. Worse, many of them seem to admire the ease and efficiency with which China can simply shut down cities, restart economies, and move people and resources around the country. They compliment China for sending (frequently defective) material and personnel abroad, and for cooperating with the global community. Its easy enough to shrug it all off as mere politics. To many Democrats, nothing is more important than defeating President Donald Trump, and if winning Novembers election requires burnishing the credentials of Chinas communists, its a price worth paying. A closer look at the Democrats recent actions, policy preferences, and messages, however, suggests something far more troubling than cynical politicking. Leading Democrats arent merely borrowing Chinese propaganda to attack the president. Theyre deeply envious of the Chinese model of governance. Given that the winner of Novembers election will determine how the United States rebuilds its economy, its society, and its regulatory codes in the wake of this pandemic, its worth taking a moment to understand what that envy portends. Models of Governance In the wake of the Cold War, Americas intelligentsia proclaimed an End of History. In their telling, liberal democracy established itself as the only viable way to organize society and run a country. They could hardly have been more wrong. Three decades later, their vision of the inevitable world order died almost everywhere. Todays intelligentsia are split between advocates for two very different models of governance and societal organization. The traditional American Model of constitutional republicanism espouses individual rights and limited government. It values people as individuals, frees them to make their own decisions, and holds them responsible for the consequences of those decisions. Governments job is to provide security, basic infrastructure, and enabling mechanisms, and at times to cushion catastrophic outcomes for its citizens. The international order promotes strong, independent sovereigns operating in accord with their own distinct cultural traditions. The communist Chinese Model of pragmatic authoritarianism believes in the power of a centralized bureaucracy. The system empowers bureaucrats to carve out and monopolize entire spheres of decision-making, allegedly for the common good. Within those spheres, the central authority may restrict and curtail individual choice, behavior, speech, and beliefand enforce those restrictions as it sees fit. Citizens may enjoy some freedoms outside the monopolized areas, but since the government can claim new monopolies at any time, those freedoms are effectively government grants rather than human rights. The international order reflects the will of the strong, while imposing rules on the weak. Todays American left seeks a soft implementation of the Chinese Model. During the Obama years, every problem called for increased centralization and regulation. Parts of the Justice Department, the Internal Revenue Service, the FBI, the CIA, and the Department of Education engaged in political favoritism, domestic spying, and the suppression of due process as needed to enforce bureaucratic diktats. Every one of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Bidens proposals for dealing with the CCP virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, involves increased bureaucratization and coordination with international agencies. Democratic governors and mayors around the country have seized the opportunity to suppress religious rights, gun rights, the right to protest, and even the right to engage in a disfavored activity while social distancing in a public space. The media claims that Trump is exhibiting authoritarian tendencies, but its substantive critiques fault him for giving states and citizens too much latitudein short, for deregulating and devolving rather than centralizing and bureaucratizing. The alignment of the CCP, the WHO, the American media, and the Democrats is hardly a coincidence. They share an ideological preference for centralized bureaucracy and enforcement over individual freedom and personal responsibility. Biden, who represents the moderate wing of his party, has a long history of praising the Chinese regime. While he might wish that the regime eased up on its more brutal and draconian enforcement practices, he clearly admires Chinas achievements and its efficiency. Heand the party he leadswould like an America that looks a lot more like China. With the CCP-initiated pandemic having cleared the decks for a genuine restructuring of Americas regulatory regimes, a Democratic victory in November will ensure that they get it. Bruce Abramson, Ph.D. J.D., is the founder of the American Restoration Institute and the author of American Restoration: Winning Americas Second Civil War. Special Coverage: For our latest coverage of the CCP Virus Outbreak, visit our new section and sign up for our daily newsletter. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. By Ofeliya Afandiyeva Azerbaijan has extended restrictions on the movement of passenger trains until May 4 in line with the special coronavirus quarantine regime in the country. Thus, Baku-Tbilisi-Baku (up to Boyuk Kesik), Baku-Boyuk-KesikBaku passenger train, Baku-Kocharli-Balakan-Baku, Baku-Astara-Horadiz-Baku and Baku-Ganja-Baku passenger trains will not run until May 4, local media reported, with reference to Azerbaijan Railways CJSC. Azerbaijan Railways decision is in line with the recent decision of the Cabinet Ministers to extend the special quarantine regime until May 4. However, Azerbaijan Railways said that electric trains will run on the Absheron circular railway according to the schedule to ensure effective organization of the transportation of employees of enterprises whose activities are necessary during the quarantine period. At the same time, the state borders between the Republic of Azerbaijan-Iran and Azerbaijan-Georgia closed is extended until 00.00 on May 4, 2020 in line with "On Sanitary and Epidemiological Safety" law. As reported earlier, due to COVID-19 spread risk, Azerbaijan Railways CJSC firstly suspended Baku-Ganja high-speed railway route from March 19 through March 29, 2020. In addition, railway traffic of trains departing from Baku were suspended from March 19 through March 29, 2020. The traffic of trains arriving in Baku suspended from March 20 through March 30, 2020 for the Baku-Tbilisi-Baku (up to Boyuk-Kesik), Baku-Boyuk-KesikBaku, Baku-Kocharli-BalakenBaku, Baku-Astara-HoradizBaku passenger trains and Baku-Yalama-Baku, Baku-Shirvan-Hajigabul-Baku electric train routes. It should be noted that a special quarantine regime has been imposed in Azerbaijan until May 4. Azerbaijan first declared a special quarantine regime in the country on March 23 and then extended it to April 20. The country also applied restrictions on citizens movement, effective from April 5 to April 20, as part of the quarantine regime to curb the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) infection. Thus, as of April 5, citizens are allowed to leave their place of residence only after obtaining permission. In order to obtain permission, citizens must send a free SMS to number 8103. The restriction was further extended from April 20 to May 4. Some 1,480 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Azerbaijan so far. Some 865 of them have recovered and 20 people have died. The country has carried out 102,764 tests to detect new cases of COVID-19. It should be noted that 31,516 residents have been brought to administrative responsibility due to the violation of the COVID-19 quarantine regime from April 1 to April 19. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Former Vice President Al Gore, now one of the world's leading climate activists, endorsed Joe Biden's White House bid on Wednesday, declaring that choosing the presumptive Democratic nominee over President Donald Trump is not rocket science and not a close call. This is the clearest most definitive choice in a national election that the United States of American has ever faced, especially for people who care about the climate, Gore told The Associated Press. Gore, 72, didn't rehash his 2000 presidential election loss to President George W. Bush, by a razor-thin margin tilted partly by third-party progressive Ralph Nader. But Gore alluded to the similar threat Biden faces from some young activists and progressives including among climate activists who are lukewarm toward his candidacy. If there is any person in America who cares about the climate crisis and has any doubt whatsoever about the importance of voting for Joe Biden this November, I want to emphasize to that person in as strong a way as I possibly can: This is not complicated, Gore said. This is not rocket science. This is not a close call. He said it was imperative to defeat Trump, the anti-climate president and the face of climate denial worldwide. Gore is endorsing Biden on the 50th observance of Earth Day. The two men, who served together in the Senate before their respective vice presidencies, are scheduled to appear jointly in an online event Wednesday afternoon. In the interview, Gore said Biden has asked him to "engage in an ongoing dialogue to strengthen his climate platform considerably. He declined to get into the specifics of his policy discussions with Biden or his campaign aides, but he said Biden already has the right focus and has expressed a willingness to make climate action his top priority. Biden last summer unveiled a $5 trillion, decade-long plan to combat the climate crisis; $1.7 trillion of that total would come from the government, the rest from the private sector. Biden's plan falls short of the Green New Deal advanced by some Democrats, especially in the timeline he envisions for eliminating carbon pollution from the economy. Biden's plan calls for tax breaks, direct spending and more aggressive federal regulations. He'd start with reversing many actions of the Trump administration, which has rolled back a range of Obama administration efforts on energy and the Biden would add an aggressive push on the world stage, using U.S. political and economic muscle to limit emissions from other nations, including China. Gore supports the efforts of Democrats pushing the Green New Deal on Capitol Hill. But he also calls it an aspirational plan that likely wouldn't clear Congress in one sweeping act. Much more likely, he argues, is a series of actions that flow from an administration prioritizing the overall issue. Gore was adamant Wednesday that the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting flurry of emergency spending measures shouldn't derail climate as the top national priority. Rather, he said, the economic fallout highlights the need. We need to speed things up by putting tens of millions of people to work in every community in this country doing everything from installing solar panels and retrofitting buildings to overhauling agriculture practices, Gore said. It will be the biggest boost to sustainable economic growth that we've ever had. As for his own future, Gore made clear that his days in government remain finished. I'm not looking for any job, he quipped. I gave at the office. Gore's public profile, both during his long political career and since, has been defined by his advocacy on environmental issues and the climate crisis. As a young congressman in the early 1980s, he stood out for holding hearings on global warming before it was a routine part of public discourse. As vice president, Gore helped craft the Kyoto Treaty a forerunner of the Paris Agreement of 2016 that Biden was involved in crafting but watched the U.S. Senate refuse ratification, just as Trump has scoffed at the Paris deal. Since leaving the vice presidency in 2001, Gore has won the Nobel Peace Prize for his activism and an Oscar for his documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 10 million fund has been set up to provide technology and devices for disadvantaged students at primary and secondary level, a Fine Gael senator has said. Louth Senator John McGahon said the funding will be a huge help to both students and teachers as part of our response to Covid-19. Senator McGahon said: Schools in Louth know their students best. So they are being empowered to support those who most need access to technology, with the right equipment. Schools are being asked to prioritise exam classes, and then to look at where else access to technology is most needed. I am confident this will make a real difference to thousands of students and provide the technology they need to be able to access online supports. At this time it is imperative we go further as a society to support more vulnerable young people. By redirecting funding we are focusing our attention on where it is needed, with a priority on Leaving Certificate students. Combined with an emphasis on wellbeing, this funding will help to give students the tools they need to succeed. The measures are part of a number of initiatives taken by the Department to support Louth children and young people who are at risk of educational disadvantage during the period of school closures. They include: - Guidance being issued to all schools to support the ongoing learning of children with special educational needs and children who are at risk of disadvantage. - Collaboration with Cisco/WebEX to support schools with training in video conferencing software for use by teachers with their classes. - Guidance and resources developed by the National Council for Special Education on supporting children with special educational needs. - Continuation of the School meals programme, funded through the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, to provide food parcels to children who are at risk of food poverty. - Continued funding of Home Tuition or, where this is not possible, flexibility to bank hours for use at a later time in the year. - Resources to support good mental health and wellbeing amongst students produced by the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS). 10 million funding package secured as part of the Digital Strategy for Schools ICT Infrastructure Fund. The Department of Education and Skills is also working with the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment and telecoms companies through industry body Ibec to make a number of relevant websites zero rated. This would allow students to access these sites with no data costs. CLEVELAND, Ohio - The increasing total of coronavirus cases reported by the state can be both scary and murky. The number keeps going up for Ohio - hitting 13,725 on Tuesday - because there has been no reporting from the state for the number of people recovered. Plus recent targeted testing in prisons has skewed the long-term trend for even the day-to-day changes. But there is another measurement - based on data from the Ohio Hospital Association - that shows encouraging news. The number of coronavirus patients hospitalized at any one point in time has been essentially flat for the last week - ranging from 1,010 to 1,082. The latest count for Tuesday of 1,061 was down slightly from 1,068 the day before, and from the peak of 1,082 on Saturday. These estimates are for people hospitalized in Ohio, some of whom live in other states. But they offer a comparison of the extent to which hospitals are having to care for the sickest people at a given time. Overall, according to the Ohio Department of Health, an estimated total of 2,779 Ohioans have been hospitalized at one point or another. Heres why the hospitalization count for a given date could be a better data point to track than the total number of cases reported. From onset of coronavirus reporting in Ohio, Dr. Amy Acton, the states health director, has said the cases her department is able to report only scratch the surface. She has repeatedly called the reported number the tip of the iceberg because tests are being rationed. With tests limited, they have been concentrated on the sickest people and health care workers, not the general population. But even looking at the daily change in this number has become less clear with the addition last week of newly targeted testing of prisoners, including many who were tested regardless of whether they had symptoms. These tests were a big factor in increasing numbers over the weekend. In Marion County alone, this caused the reported cases to increase from 110 to 2,132 in just over a week. But looking at the hospitalizations allows for a more consistent comparison point over time for the sickest. Another trend line is that of deaths. And those numbers have also stayed fairly consistent in recent days, though there is a caveat. Each day the Ohio Department of Health reports the number of people known to have died. But with each days report comes cases of people who have died several days earlier. This is because of delays in confirming some cases and getting the data verified in the reporting system. The daily number of deaths from coronavirus in Ohio has ranged from 17 to 28 the last couple of weeks. More may be added later for the most recent days as details are confirmed.Rich Exner, cleveland.com Nevertheless, the number of reported deaths - based on the date of death - has been within a consistent range, and importantly, not spiking up sharply. The latest information showed from 22 to 32 deaths each day from April 12 to April 19. On Tuesday, the state reported 15 people had died from coronavirus on Sunday and 13 on Monday, but those numbers will most likely go up as more reports are received. Read related coverage See coronavirus cases by day for each Ohio county Mapping 13,725 Ohios coronavirus cases, updates and trends Why Ohio widened criteria for counting coronavirus cases, what other states are doing, and the difference in numbers Vehicle accidents down sharply in Ohio during coronavirus restrictions Ohioans will have a grace period to renew their drivers licenses after coronavirus emergency ends Militancy still remains a serious issue in Jammu & Kashmir, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Tuesday while opposing the restoration of high-speed 4G internet services for the residents in the Union Territory to stay connected amid the Covid-19 lockdown. Jammu & Kashmir has had low-speed 2G internet connectivity since a communications blackout imposed to check protests against the nullification of Constitutions Article 370 that stripped the region of its special status in August was eased in phases. Residents say the absence of 4G services have prevented them from availing digital health, business and educational services while the rest of the world is increasingly relying on them to stay connected amid the pandemic that has prompted lockdowns globally. Militancy is still there and it is a very serious issue. When a militant was recently killed, about 500 people gathered at his funeral. They are making martyrs of these people [militants], attorney general K K Venugopal told the court while opposing the restoration. Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, who appeared for Jammu & Kashmir, sought a week to submit a consolidated response to the pleas seeking the restoration of the services. A bench of Justices N V Ramana, R Subhash Reddy and B R Gavai told the Centre to mention its stand in affidavit latest by Sunday. It directed Jammu & Kashmir to file its response by then while directing the matter to be listed next on April 27. The Court said a similar matter was pending before the Jammu & Kashmir high court. Senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, who appeared for the petitioner, told the bench that the high court proceedings related to a host of other issues of which internet connectivity was one of the aspects. The court asked Mehta to take instructions in this regard. In its petition, Foundation for Media Professionals, a non-governmental organisation, has argued for 4G connectivity citing the coronavirus cases that have crossed 350 in the Union Territory. It argued social distancing was impossible as the lack of 4G prevented residents from seeking online advice from doctors. Professionals are finding it hard to work from home and groceries cannot be purchased online, the petition said. A fresh petition by Private Schools Association of Jammu & Kashmir also came up for hearing in the court. It pleaded the 2G connectivity has restricted over 2,000 schools from holding online classes for over 7 lakh students. Mehta inquired about the availability of laptops and tabs for the students. Lawyer Charu Ambwani, who represented the Association, said the hardware is available but internet connectivity was the problem. The court said it will hear the Centre and Jammu & Kashmir on this aspect on Monday. Idaho Mother Arrested During Playdate Protest A mother in Idaho was arrested for allegedly refusing to leave a playground closed last month amid the COVID-19 pandemic, sparking a protest at the local city hall. The arrest of Sara Brady, 40, was captured on Facebook live. Videos of what transpired circulated widely online. Video footage showed a woman later identified as Brady speaking to police officers, one of whom told her to exit the playground area. Were not trespassing, Brady responded. As she continued speaking, the officer said: You have five seconds. He counted down and when she did not leave, he handcuffed Brady. None of the officers were wearing gloves or masks. As Brady was led to a police car, a woman shouted: Her kids are here! Brady was charged with one count of trespassing, a misdemeanor. I feel like I was singled out because I was the only person that was arrested, Brady told CBS2. I wasnt the only person standing on the bark. I definitely wasnt playing on the playground equipment. I wasnt swinging, never touched them. But yeah, I do feel like I was singled out and maybe it was because I asked too many questions. Protective N-95 face masks lie on a table at an office in Washington, on Feb. 26, 2020. (Eva Hambach/AFP via Getty Images) The city of Meridian shut all playgrounds and outdoor exercise equipment down on March 23 in an attempt to curb the spread of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, a novel coronavirus that emerged from mainland China last year. Bradys arrest sparked a protest of dozens of people at Meridian City Hall. Police officers said she was arrested because she wouldnt obey officers telling her to leave the playground. Meridian officers made several attempts to help BRADY adhere to the rules. She was non-compliant and forced officers to place her under arrest to resolve the issue. She was arrested for trespassing, the Meridian Police Department said in a statement. These are very trying times and the Meridian Police Department supports the publics right to assemble for peaceful protest, however the right does not include damaging public property or ignoring closures of City property and facilities, it added. Brady plans to fight the charge, according to the Idaho Freedom Foundation. It said Brady was participating in a playdate protest at the park where the playground is located. The arrest came after a mother in another part of Idaho was cited for allegedly violating Gov. Brad Littles stay at home order. The mom is facing jail time. Brady has previously garnered media attention for fighting a school district over immunization exemption for her 5-year-old son, a fight she won after the district revised its first decision. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Living in America, it is easy to develop a theology of escape, one that says, When times really get hard, God will remove us from the scene. When real tribulation comes, we will be long gone. But is that the attitude we should be encouraging? Is not the gospel made for hard times? Im aware, of course, that there are divergent views of the end times among Christians, including the debate over a pre-tribulation or post-tribulation rapture (or a variation of those themes; for my own views, see here.) Fine Christians can disagree on this, and my goal here it not to debate eschatology. We can agree to disagree and work together just the same. Instead, my goal here is to focus on our attitude. What kind of mindset should we have in a difficult time like this? What should our mentality be? In the last decade, Christians in Syria suffered bombing, hunger, torture, exile, and death. They did not escape the hard times. To this moment, Christians in Nigeria are being butchered and beheaded and raped and kidnapped. They have not escaped the hard times. Some years ago, pastors in the state of Orissa in India were given a choice as gasoline was poured over their wives and children. Deny Jesus, and you all live; refuse, and your family will be burned alive in front of your eyes. They did not escape the hard times either. In fact, throughout Church history, Gods people have experienced living hell in this world, and throughout history we have survived. Whats more, throughout history we have overcome and thrived. Note what is written in Hebrews 11, the great faith chapter. Some, by their faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised. They shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength [and they] became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Yes, Women received back their dead, raised to life again (see Hebrews 11:33-35a). This is the fruit of faith. But, the text continues, There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated (Hebrews 11:35b-37). So then, some, by faith, escaped the edge of the sword. Others, by faith, had the faith to endure the sword, even to the point of death. Faith doesnt always deliver us from danger. Often, it gives us the courage and strength to endure the danger. In Jesus we overcome. Through Jesus we endure. As Hebrews 10:36 exhorts, For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised (ESV). Look at Pauls words in Romans 8:28-37, words which are not just poetic and beautiful. They are also gritty and real. Paul had stated that we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose, after he which he laid out the glorious plan of salvation (Romans 8:28-31). This prompted him to write, He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32) God already did the hard part, giving up His Son. The rest is easy! Paul continued, Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died more than that, who was raised to life is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. (Romans 8:3334) What incredible truths! And then, based on this confidence, he asks, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble [in the Greek, tribulation] or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? (Romans 8:35) Then his dramatic answer: As it is written: For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. (Romans 8:3637) Do you see what Paul is saying? We are being slaughtered like sheep (quoting Psalm 44:12). We are experiencing trouble and hardship and persecution and famine and nakedness and danger and sword. We are going through terrible times of suffering and hardship and pain, but none of it can separate us from Messiahs love. Through Him, we are more than conquerors. This is wonderful news. Harold J. Chadwick asked: Would you suffer persecution, poverty, and prison for Christ? Would you endure cruel tortures that take your mind and body to the very brink of death and beyond? Would you persevere? Would you hold fast the profession of your faith without wavering? (Hebrews 10:23) Would you stand boldly without shame and confess Christ as Lord, to your own or to your familys peril? For two thousand years, courageous men and women have been tortured and killed because of their confessions of Jesus Christ as Lord. (Cited in Frank JJ Di Pietro, The Fire That Once Was: Those Who Turned the World Upside Down, 6.) Yes, throughout history, Gods people have experienced hardship of every kind, be it persecution for the faith or be it the difficulties of life. And throughout history, Gods grace has carried us through, making His strength perfect in our weakness. There is no shortage of His power and grace today. So, to the weak God says, Be strong in the Lord! (See Joel 3:10b; Ephesians 6:10) You might be weak and frail, but in Him, you are an overcomer. And so, the Spirit says to us, Dont feel sorry for yourself. Dont throw a pity party. Dont identify with your problems. Instead, put on Gods armor and be strong in Him. You are a more than a conqueror through Jesus! This is the attitude we should be cultivating at such a time as this, especially if the present crisis is only a prelude to much tougher times in the future. And, in particular, this is the kind of attitude we should be cultivating should real persecution arise right here in our country. We dont fear danger. We dont fear hard times. We dont fear persecution. We dont fear death. We are believers. We are children of God. Enough said. (Some of the material in this chapter was taken from my just released book, When the World Stops: Words of Faith, Hope, and Wisdom in the Midst of Crisis.) The president says he has no influence over law enforcers' decision making. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky believes there are too many law enforcement agencies in Ukraine, advocating their reboot to ensure actual result of their efforts. That's according to a documentary titled "The Year of President Zelensky", which was broadcast by leading Ukrainian TV channels. "Our citizens need to figure out what they want because some say: 'Where are the arrests?' And I really want this, and it will definitely be the case, but when I start calling up our law enforcement, asking them about the result, others say: 'You're president this is beyond your authority, you can't call up law enforcers.' I say: 'Ok, law enforcement, there's no 'telephone law', please go and do your job.' Then another part of our citizens says: 'How are they doing their job if there's no result, no arrests?' So what do they want more: arrests or president's influence?" he said. Read alsoZelensky positive to put end to war in Donbas within his cadence Zelensky assured that there is no influence of the president as to who should be "imprisoned" and who "shouldnt be touched". "But calling and asking about the result on a weekly basis I'm sure that there should be such an influence, I'm sure that it's precisely the kind of presidential control that people want to see," he said. "Why do we need so many law enforcement agencies? This was made to blur responsibility ... When we reboot all law enforcement agencies, I'm sure that the government will go as far as reducing the number of these law enforcement responsibilities in our country so that you know that there are three people [law enforcement chiefs] sitting in front of you and they are fully responsible for fighting crime, making sure that all bribe-takers, mob kings, and gangsters go to prison," Zelensky said. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on April 22 that it launched a military satellite into orbit, after months of failed attempts. State television and the Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated with the IRGC, reported the launch on April 22, calling it "successful." The United States, Israel, and other countries did not immediately confirm the satellite reached orbit, but their criticism suggested they believed the launch happened. Analysts said it raised concerns about whether the technology used could help Iran develop intercontinental ballistic missiles. "Iran's first military satellite, Noor (light), was launched this morning from central Iran in two stages. The launch was successful and the satellite reached orbit," state TV said. The IRGC on its official website said the satellite reached an orbit of 425 kilometers above the Earth's surface. The multistage satellite launch used a Ghased, or "messenger," satellite carrier to put the device into space -- a previously unheard-of system, according to the paramilitary group. Tasnim added that the operation was carried from a launchpad in Dasht-e Kavir, a large desert in central Iran. Iran has suffered several failed satellite launches in recent months. The United States and Israel have said that such launches advance Iran's ballistic missile program. Following Irans latest launch, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Iran needs to be held accountable for what they've done. We view this as further evidence of Irans behavior that is threatening in the region, Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist told a Pentagon briefing. General John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the launched vehicle went a very long way but that it was too early to say whether it successfully placed a satellite in orbit. Israel's Foreign Ministry described the launch as a facade for Irans continuous development of advanced missile technology, while German Foreign Ministry spokesman Christofer Burger warned that the Iranian rocket program has a destabilizing effect on the region. The launch comes amid increased tensions between Iran and the United States over the latter's withdrawal from a landmark nuclear deal and after a U.S. drone strike killed top IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani in January. It also may signal that Iran is more willing to take chances during the current global coronavirus crisis, which has slashed oil prices to historic lows and forced many countries into an economic recession. "This is big," said Fabian Hinz, a researcher at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California. "Big question now is what tech the first stage used. Solid propellant? Liquid using old Shahab 3 tech? Liquid using more sophisticated motors/fuels? This is key to establishing how worrisome the launch is from a security perspective," he added. Based on reporting by AP, Reuters, and AFP It is not lost on us that President Trump is at war with his own federal workforce, who have stood up time and again to stop this administration from taking action that would harm the nation, said Nicole Cantello, president of Local 704 of the American Federation of Government Employees. Two people were arrested following an extensive car chase Tuesday afternoon that started in Duncan and ended in Columbus. According to the Platte County Sheriff's Office, deputies were dispatched at 1:10 p.m. to Duncan on a report of a Chevy Silverado which had been reported as stolen out of Nance County. Deputies reportedly saw the vehicle, a gray 2003 Chevy Silverado, traveling towards Columbus on Highway 30, west of Highway 81. The driver, later identified as Alexis Maneely, 22, of Duncan, allegedly refused to pull over for law enforcement, Platte County Sheriff Ed Wemhoff said. At the intersection of Highways 30 and 81, the vehicle turned north. Maneely still refused to stop for deputies and continued northbound on Highway 81, the sheriff noted. While arriving at the intersection of 33rd Avenue and 13th Street, the Silverado struck another vehicle. Maneely was charged with possession of stolen property, flight to avoid arrest, driving under suspension, willful reckless driving and leaving the scene of a property damage accident. She was taken into custody at the scene and transported to the Platte County Detention Facility. A passenger in the stolen vehicle was identified as Torrien Harris, 18, of Lincoln, who was charged with false reporting and had an active Lancaster (County) warrant. Harris was also transported to the Platte County Detention Facility. The Columbus Police Department assisted at the scene and assisted by covering the accident. Columbus Rescue responded to the scene, and transported Harris to the Columbus Community Hospital as a precautionary measure. After Harris was released from the hospital, she was taken into custody for the warrant. The incident remains under investigation by the Platte County Sheriffs Office. Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact the Platte County Sheriffs Office at 402-564-3229 or Platte County Area Crime Stoppers at 402-563-4000. Love 1 Funny 1 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 3 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Three newborn babies found abandoned on three separate occasions at the same Florida apartment complex are all siblings with the same biological parents, officials confirmed Tuesday. Officers from the Orlando Police Department were called to to the Willow Key Apartments on July 19 last year to reports of an abandoned baby. The one-day-old child was found wrapped in a t-shirt and left on a tenant's door-step, with a note explaining 'the baby was left at the location because the mother was in fear of the childs father and risk he posed to the child,' police said. But this wasn't the first - or second - time authorities were summoned to the complex on Arnold Drive to retrieve a forsaken infant, with two near-identical incidents also happening in 2016 and again in 2017. Officers from the Orlando Police Department were called to to the Willow Key Apartments in July last year to reports of an abandoned baby (pictured above) But this wasn't the first - or second - time authorities were summoned to the complex on Arnold Drive to retrieve a forsaken infant, with two near-identical incidents also happening in 2016 and again in 2017. A handwritten note was also found in the 2017 case, which read: 'I had him in the bathroom alone. His dad tried to kill us. 'Please keep him secret and take him to the hospital. Dad [is] a very dangerous man.' Police said the similarities between the three cases were too strange to ignore. Orlando detective Ghena Wasserman Luker then requested $2,500 from the city council to pay for a genetics test to be used in the investigations, a public memo shows. Luker wrote that the 'analogous manner' in which all three of the children were abandoned on a resident's stoop in the same luxury complex made police believe they must be related. 'We can confirm that all three infants in this case are siblings but can't comment any further, at this time, to protect the integrity of this ongoing investigation,' police said in a statement on Tuesday, confirming the results of the DNA tests. Police said all three of the children were confirmed to have the same mother and father. Through DNA testing, Luker said investigators were able to identify several possible family members of the babies, though 'information learned from the testing requires specialized knowledge of a genetic genealogist in order to be properly interpreted in an effort to identify the parents.' In the 2017 case, the one-day-old child was found wrapped in a t-shirt and left on a tenant's door-step, with a note explaining 'the baby was left at the location because the mother was in fear of the childs father and risk he posed to the child' Now the OPD has filed for an addition $5,000 to enlist the services of United Data Connect, a genetic genealogist company with a vast database of DNA profiles, to help track down the children's parents. Now the OPD has filed for an additional $5,000 to enlist the services of United Data Connect, a genetic genealogist company with a vast database of DNA profiles, to help track down the children's parents. 'Based on the egregious and neglectful behavior of the parent(s), and the bizarre facts of this case, unlike any other documented case, it is imperative to conduct a well-being check of all involved parties,' Luker wrote in memo to Police Chief Orlando Rolon. Police declined to reveal the babies' genders on Tuesday or reveal where they've been staying since their discoveries. The baby in the 2017 case was confirmed to be a boy in the mother's note. According to Florida's Safe Haven Law, a guardian can leave a newborn at a hospital or fire station without facing criminal charges so long as the child is seven-days-old or younger. Under the law, a parent in a state of distress can give up custody of their baby 'no questions asked.' 'They must simply bring the infant to a safe haven location and make sure they locate a person to give the child. 'As long as the child shows no signs of intentional abuse, no name or other information is required,' the law states. It wasn't clear on Tuesday if the parents, if they're ever found, would face any criminal charges for their cited 'egregious and neglectful behavior' behavior. 'If we are able to identify the mother, her safety is our top priority, as well as the safety of any other potential children.' Former South Australian premier Jay Weatherill has called for the states to take over control of early learning from the Commonwealth, arguing Australias under-fives are being failed by a fractured childcare system dominated by private interests. Preschools should be run like schools as part of a birth-to-year-12 education system, ideally with childcare centres built within or next door to primary schools, the ex-Labor premier said. Former SA Labor premier Jay Weatherill in Perth, where he is CEO of Thrive by Five. Credit:Karina Vakil He argued that for-profit operators had no place in the Australian childcare sector, which was publicly funded with $7.7 billion in 2018-19 and attended by 1.65 million children. "It is always going to be hard to create a coherent and universal system if youve got private for-profit agencies sitting in the middle of it," Mr Weatherill said. Press Release April 22, 2020 Hontiveros: China should foot the Philippines' COVID-19 bill Reparations for West Philippine Sea, POGO taxes should go to PH COVID-19 response Senator Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday demanded that the Chinese government should shoulder the costs of the Philippines' COVID-19 response, in reparation for the annual losses the country has incurred due to China's damage of reef ecosystems in the West Philippine Sea. "China should foot the Philippines' COVID-19 bill. The destruction to our reefs in Scarborough Shoal and Spratly Islands is equivalent to at least PhP 33.1 billion in losses annually, on top of other economic and health costs. This money is past due and could go to government's efforts in fighting the pandemic," Hontiveros said, citing the breakdown of costs stated by the University of the Philippines' Marine Science Institute. According to a report by the Asia-Pacific Maritime Security Strategy, China began reclaiming land in the West Philippine Sea in December 2013. "China has been damaging our ecosystems for over 6 years now, which means our losses could already amount to over 200 billion pesos. This money could be used to fund our health and economic plans as we transition to a new normal," the Senator said. Hontiveros underscored that despite the pandemic, China has continued its land reclamation operations and illegal fishing activities in the West Philippine Sea, which means that the Philippines' losses will only continue to grow. "The government already has a huge budget deficit because of COVID-19. China's ongoing disregard for our own resources will worsen our economic standing. The government should demand what is rightfully ours and use this to help the Filipino people battle COVID-19," she said. On top of the money that could be collected from the West Philippine Sea damages, Hontiveros said that the government should also demand the PhP50 billion unpaid taxes from Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO). "Again, this is money that should be used to strengthen our health system, to increase the aid given to low- and middle-income families, and to help us recover post-COVID," she said. POGOs are non-essential to the economy "POGOs are just not worth it," Hontiveros also declared, urging the government to reassess its statement on allowing POGOs to operate once the lockdown is lifted. "There are essential and non-essential industries under the Enhanced Community Quarantine. POGOs join a third category that we might call 'less than non-essential'," the Senator said. POGOs early this year were the center of numerous investigations for involvement in various crimes. "Hindi na nga buo ang binabayad nilang tax, may korapsyon at sex trafficking pang pinapalaganap," she added. Almost 2,000 foreign POGOs work without the required Alien Employment Permit, and around 4,000 have been discovered to use an identical Tax Identification Number (TIN), according to previous reports. Hontiveros also previously exposed the 'pastillas' scam within the Bureau of Immigration, allegedly offering VIP services to POGO workers entering the country. The Senator said the government's hands are full containing the coronavirus pandemic. "The government should not open itself to other problems that POGOs bring," she said. "It's high time we send POGOs home," Hontiveros urged. Workers rights: Aisling McClean from Ballyfermot during a protest by Debenhams in Dublin city centre yesterday. Photo: Gareth Chaney, Collins Gardai ordered a small number of Debenhams workers to disperse as they held a demonstration outside the retailer's flagship store on Henry Street in Dublin yesterday. The workers were among around 100 employees who also held protests at the retailer's Dublin outlets in Tallaght, Blanchardstown and Blackrock, as well as two in Cork. Last week the High Court appointed provisional liquidators to the Irish arm of Debenhams, which operated 11 stores here. It directly employed over 940 staff and provided more than 500 other jobs indirectly through concession stands. The protesters, some of whom have decades of service with Debenhams, claimed the retail giant was sacrificing its entire Irish operation in a desperate bid to save its UK stores. Jane Crowe (50), a shop steward for the Mandate trade union, was among a group of around 30 protesters at Henry Street whom gardai ordered to disperse due to Covid-19 restrictions. But Ms Crowe, who started working for Debenhams when it first opened in Dublin in 1996, said she felt compelled to breach orders not to travel beyond 2km from her home because she believed it was crucial to protest. "We felt it was essential. We're just ordinary workers in an extraordinary time," she said, adding protesters maintained social distancing at all times and returned home when ordered to so do by gardai. Marie Dignan (61) protested near the Blanchardstown store over what she says was the callous way she and other workers were treated. "We were totally disregarded," she told the Irish Independent. Gardai said a small group on Henry Street was ordered to leave to comply with Covid-19 travel restrictions. In Cork, staff protested at both the St Patrick Street and Mahon Point stores - insisting the protests fully complied with Covid-19 restrictions and social distancing protocols. Staff unable to attend the protests because they live more than 2km from the stores staged 'virtual' protests outside their own homes. Employees displayed placards warning: 'Debenhams UK - You Can't Walk Away And Not Pay' and 'Debenhams Workers Stand Together But Apart'. Protesting staff received support from taxi drivers, hauliers and emergency workers who sounded their vehicle horns as they drove past. Workers were furious at the timing of the announcement the company was ceasing its operations here, with the Irish stores said to have been trading successfully in the months before the Covid-19 crisis erupted. The quarantine restrictions over the spread of COVID-19 in Ukraine were extended until May 11. Ukrainian Health Minister Maksym Stepanov has said the issue of easing quarantine measures, including after May 11, will be considered in late April. "By the end of the month, we will monitor the situation, epidemic developments, and we will consider various options for easing, including after May 11," he told a briefing following a government meeting on April 22, according to an UNIAN correspondent. Read alsoPM Shmyhal: Ukrainians will have to wear face masks for at least two years As UNIAN reported earlier, the quarantine restrictions over the spread of COVID-19 in Ukraine were extended until May 11. Along with this, the document provides that all those who will participate in blood donation programs will be able to use public transport. "Certain groups of workers could be engaged without undergoing mandatory health checkups if they coincide with the quarantine period. That is, we are talking about certain categories of workers who are required to undergo medical examinations, but, unfortunately, they are not able to do this amid the quarantine. Therefore, they are allowed to do this later," he said. "In addition, it is proposed to approve the anti-epidemic procedure related to self-isolation. In particular, we are expanding self-isolation tools. The Diia app has been finalized to monitor persons who are self-isolating," Stepanov said. After yet another devastating day for oil prices, some in the industry are saying there are signs that the oil industry is headed for a deep, deep collapse. On Tuesday, U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate oil future contracts for June delivery settled at $11.57 (U.S.) per barrel, down $8.86. With Mondays decline, the price is down more than 57 per cent in just two days. On Monday, the WTI contract for May delivery fell $55.90 to -$37.63 per barrel which means contract holders were paying others to take the oil off their hands. On Tuesday, contract expiration day, the amount returned to positive territory, settling at $10.01. Watching WTI fall negative for the first time in history on Monday was shocking for a longtime oil industry participant, said Precision Drilling Corp. CEO Kevin Neveu. Our customers are concerned because theyre selling their oil and gas products right now into markets that are volatile and quite low priced, Neveu said. Access to capital is completely turned off. Were seeing more and more news of companies that are failing and have to restructure their debt. I think were sliding down into a deep, deep collapse of the industry right now. Industry groups are renewing their cry for government help, saying that as much as $30 billion (Canadian) may be required. The federal governments announcement last week that it was investing $1.7 billion to clean up orphaned wells was welcomed as a good start, along with a federal program that covers 75 per cent of wages for companies that have seen a large enough decline in revenue. However the industry said more is needed, with a focus on liquidity. Our expectation is that government will continue to evolve their programs as weve seen them do for other businesses and citizens, said Tim McMillan, president and CEO of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. CAPP estimated that the oil and gas industry will need approximately $27 billion to $30 billion in support in 2020, according to a letter McMillan sent to Finance Minister Bill Morneau just days before the orphaned-wells announcement. Extending credit lines secured by government agencies or establishing a new credit structure available to all business sizes are among the measures CAPP recommended. Now the target needs to be around liquidity and trying to maintain as much cash in these businesses for as long as possible, said Mark Scholz, president and CEO of the Canadian Association of Oil well Drilling Contractors. I think the federal government is listening carefully to the industrys concerns. But a stimulus package should be geared toward innovation and structural change, like developing other sources of energy, said Sarah Petrevan, policy director at climate and energy think tank Clean Energy Canada. She said while demand for oil may increase again in the future, the number of jobs will continue to be reduced due to automation. So government should use this opportunity to create new jobs for them that leverage the expertise these workers already have, she said. With files from The Canadian Press Read more about: Slate has relationships with various online retailers. If you buy something through our links, Slate may earn an affiliate commission. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change. All prices were up to date at the time of publication. Its not the war that haunts Lois Lowry. Though the childrens book author did grow up during World War II, the moment that has stuck with her for the better part of a century happened a few years after the wars end, when she was riding her bike through the streets of Tokyo. In 1948, Lowrys family moved from the United States to Japan, where her father was stationed as an Army dentist. Lowry felt foreign and awkward, but on her green bike, her blond hair was barely noticeable as she whizzed past, and she felt braver in her boys high-top sneakers. One day, she stopped outside a schoolyard and watched the children play, locking eyes with a boy around her age. Lowry hesitated. Though she didnt understand it, the distance between their two cultures seemed too great for them to play together. She got back on her bike and rode away. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nearly 50 years later, that moment took on new significance. It was 1994, and Lowry, blond hair now graying, was being honored at an event in Miami for her bestselling young adult book The Giver, which won the Newbery Medal. Japanese American illustrator Allen Say had won the equally prestigious Caldecott Medal for his picture book Grandfathers Journey, and the two winners exchanged copies of their works. Lowry signed The Giver in Japanese for Say. When he asked how she knew the language, they realized that they had lived in Tokyo at the same time. Lowry told Say she used to ride her bike past a school in Shibuya. He paused. Were you the girl on the green bike? Advertisement Lowry has been preoccupied by her encounter with Say for decades, incorporating the story into her Newbery acceptance speech and revisiting it in her new book, On the Horizon. Written in verse and illustrated by Kenard Pak, the nonfiction tale traces Lowrys childhood in Honolulu and Tokyo, weaving in vignettes of those involved in the bombings of Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima. The book is largely an exploration of the effects of a war, even a distant one, on a childs psyche. After decades of writing books about childhood, Lowry, now 83, is turning to the moments from her own youthlike that moment with the boy in the schoolyardthat continue to trouble her. Advertisement When I look back on something that was part of my life as a particular young age, I reexperience it. I refeel it. I can taste it, and smell it, and touch itall the emotions that I felt at that time, instead of looking at it objectively, she told Slate from her home in southern Maine, where she now lives in a retirement community with her husband and dog. Shes been waiting out the pandemic watching The Morning Show and old Westerns, and researching her next book, another story set in the past. Sometimes she drives to meet her grandson and talks to him through open car windows, six feet apart. And there are always teachers to respond to, those who still write to her all these years later asking for permission to read The Giver in their now-remote classes. Lowry is curious how theyll teach a fictional dystopia during a real one. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lowry has a reputation for writing about difficult subjects for young audiences, drawing on her sisters early death for her 1977 debut novel A Summer to Die and setting her 1989 breakout Number the Stars against the backdrop of the Holocaust. The Giver follows a young boy who must bear all of the worlds memoriesincluding love, war, and grieffor his society, and it is frequently challenged for scenes that involve euthanasia and suicide. For Lowry, discomfort, even personal discomfort, has long been something to analyze rather than avoid. Shy and a self-described loner, Lowry moved around a lot as a child because of her fathers career and struggled to fit in. Years after leaving Brown University to get married, she appeared on Jeopardy! at her childrens urging and traveled from her home in Maine to New York City for the show. As a housewife from out of town, she was intimidated by her competition, an Ivy League professor. I wondered briefly what ever made me think I wanted to get involved in this madness, she wrote of the experience in the New York Times. Mostly it was those darn kids. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I so often wish for a telephone to the afterlife, so I could just call up my parents and say, I forgot to ask you this. Lois Lowry Even before she was a published author, when she worked as a photographer, Lowry prioritized children over adults. She ignored the parents who clucked over their kids imperfect hair parts and short attention spans in favor of shooting candid moments, which make for better photographs, she argued. When Lowry finally began publishing books at 40, her writing encouraged children to figure out the stickiness of life for themselves. A 10-year-old once wrote to Lowry that she found Anastasia Krupniks crush on her female gym teacher inappropriate for a childrens book. Lowry, pleased with her readers engagement and certain that a parent was hovering over her shoulder, wrote back to the girl: I think kids should know about everything and that reading books is a great way to learn. Advertisement Advertisement Lowry turned to reading herself to learn about another childhood incident she hasnt been able to shake. For years, she would watch a home video that captured her at 3 years old playing on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu in 1940. It was not until the 1980s, when she rewatched the video with a friend who was a former nuclear submarine captain, that she realized the USS Arizona, which was destroyed by Japanese torpedo bombers one year later, is in the background. I was a child playing happily and behind me as it turns out were some 1,100 men, who would very soon all be dead, Lowry said. I didnt know what to do with that information. She began reading through the biographies of all the men on the USS Arizona, whose stories she incorporated into On the Horizon. Advertisement Listen to Lois Lowry read an excerpt from On the Horizon, available on audiobook from Listening Library: Though she often reads to understand the past, Lowry has long thought of reading as a way to rehearse for the future. She remembers lying in bed with her mother reading The Yearling and crying when the protagonists best friend died. I was preparing myself for losses I would face later in my life, griefs I would undergo, she said. Youre not having to experience the terrifying situation, but you are preparing to experience the terrifying situation youre going to experience down the road. All of us do. Her most famous book was inspired by a visit to her parents in a nursing home, where her mother kept reliving the death of her daughter, Lowrys sister, Helen, while her father, who was losing his memory, had forgotten Helen entirely. Which was better? The result was The Giver, a testament to the pain and joy of remembering. A year after its publication, Lowrys own son died in an Air Force accident. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The rehearsal, Lowry knows, doesnt always prepare you for the show. When we spoke, Lowry had just written a new introduction for one of her books, Dear America: Like the Willow Tree, which follows a young girl in Portland, Maine, orphaned by the 1918 flu pandemic. Lowry reread the first few chapters, alarmed at her own writing: The father comes home from work, goes into where baby sister is sleeping in her baby carriage, and he leans down and kisses her and I thought, No, no! Dont do that! Dont kiss that baby! Lowry wishes she had asked her mother, who grew up during the pandemic, what it was like. I so often wish for a telephone to the afterlife, so I could just call up my parents and say, I forgot to ask you this, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It would be easy for Lowry to look back on her younger selfs lack of awareness with frustration and regret. Lowry and Say, now friends, potentially lost 50 more years of that friendship because of a culture conflict they both internalized. And she knows theres certainly room for frustration and regret when youre a child living through a crisis whose effects will ripple into the future. I wonder how theyll look back on it and whom they will blame for it, in the same way my generation looks back at World War II, which was our childhood crisis, Lowry said of children experiencing the coronavirus pandemic today. But Lowry isnt interested in assigning that blame: Children have to figure out for themselves whom to hold accountable, a skill that comes once they learn to see outside of themselves. On the Horizon, above all, recognizes the shared experience of the global crisis that shaped her childhood. Lowry was on Waikiki Beach right before the U.S. entered the war. On the other side of the world, Say watched from a town south of Hiroshima as the bombing ended it. It has taken many years for me to put these things together, to try to find some meaning in the way lives intersector how they fail to, Lowry writes in On the Horizons authors note. Someday, Lowrys readers will have to do the same for their own circumstances. Xiaomi is coming up with a new "Lite" version of the Mi 10 in China soon and based on the leaks alone, it seems that the phone will be quite similar to Mi 10 Lite, which was released almost a month ago. While not much is known about the Chinese variant, Xiaomi has started tipping us with some of the aspects about the phone, the latest one being the colour variants. Yes, colours are an important aspect of a phone and Xiaomi seems to have left no stone unturned here. Released on Weibo, the recent renders of the Mi 10 Youth Edition, as it is expected to be called, show the four new colour variants on the phone. Similar to most modern premium phones, the Youth Edition carries lighter gradient colours as well as one variant in blue for those who love extreme gradient shades. There's a Green Tea (looks stunning from the renders), Blue Berry, Pink Peach (essentially white) and Orange Storm. The colours are a drastic departure from the subtle shades on the flagship Mi 10. The posters also give us a better idea about other aspects of the device. The phone has curved edges with glass panels and a USB-C port, although the 3.5mm headphone jack is not visible. The quad-camera array inspired from the flagships of today is also present, complete with hyped 50X zoom camera. The front of the device isn't shown yet but if it's anything like the European version of the Mi 10 Lite, then we could see a big display with a small waterdrop style notch. The Mi 10 Youth Edition seems mostly similar to the Mi 10 Lite, apart from a few changes. The 50X zoom camera is a major upgrade from the European model, which does not have a zoom camera at all. Xiaomi is also expected to use the Snapdragon 765G chip on this model, which also supports 5G networks. The display is supposed to be a 6.5-inch AMOLED panel with an in-display fingerprint sensor built-in. Xiaomi is launching the Mi 10 Youth Edition in China along with the MIUI 12 OS. Hence, this phone could be the first one to get the latest iteration of Xiaomi's MIUI interface. It remains to be seen how Xiaomi prices it in the Chinese market and whether this phone makes it to the Indian market as Xiaomi's premium offering in India. The United States will wake up from its COVID-19 nightmare to renewed national security horrors if our leaders fail to take the right lesson from the pandemic: the best policy is one of early recognition and preemptive action. While America focuses inward, international crises that predate the pandemic are getting worse, with negative implications for U.S. national security. In Syria, the pandemic is supercharging a catastrophic humanitarian situation, with Russia and Turkey at each others throats in the war-torn country. This sets up disaster scenarios for NATO. In Western Africa, COVID-19 threatens already fragile states, and extremists wait to exploit the chaos. Our increasingly unsettled world is filled with local conflicts turned larger and discrete conflicts that are now merging. Look at Libya. Its war started as a revolution against longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi. NATO intervened to prevent slaughter, contributing to Gadhafi's fall. NATO stepped back, unwilling to risk entanglement to safeguard Libyas transition, and others filled the vacuum. Libya now hosts many conflicts, including an intra-Middle Eastern struggle over power and Islamism, a competition for Mediterranean undersea resources, and Russias multi-front campaign to break NATO. Foreign weapons and fighters have flooded in. Turkish and Emirati drones spar in Libyas skies while Russian, Syrian, and Sudanese mercenaries fight below. Meanwhile, Libya fragments and civilians suffer. Enter ISIS and al Qaeda. There is a destructive synergy between extremist movements and disruptive states that seek to revise balances of power. Disrupters fight multi-sided proxy wars that prolong and worsen conflicts, destroy responsive governance, and deepen popular grievances. These are the conditions that foster Salafi-jihadist insurgent groups, which must forge relationships with aggrieved populations. Think Hezbollah supporting Lebanons underprivileged Shiites, or al Qaeda supporting Syrian Sunnis against Bashar al Assads regime. These groups can recover from catastrophic losses as long as their support base faces an existential threat. ISIS, for example, lost its caliphate but is already preparing for a comeback in Syria and Iraq. A vicious cycle is at work. The presence of Salafi-jihadist groups provides justification for disruptive states like Russia and Iran to intervene and mask the true intent of their actions. Take Russias air campaign in Syria. The Kremlins counterterrorism campaign helped Assad attack the legitimate alternatives to his rule, not ISIS. Assad even freed jihadist prisoners to validate the fiction that all his opponents are terrorists. These states and their proteges whether Assad or Libyas Khalifa Haftar use counterterrorism language to preserve a facade of legitimacy. This makes it easier for war-weary American leaders to stay away, arguing that someone else is shouldering the counterterrorism fight. Todays pandemic makes clear that America cant insulate itself from the worlds dangers. While this doesnt mean that the United States should intervene in every far-flung war, Washington does have an interest in ensuring that conflicts dont morph into proxy battles fueling transnational extremist movements. The Syria and Libya wars are already creating conditions for potentially serious challenges to Mediterranean security and NATO -- challenges for which the United States is unprepared. There are many other potential geopolitical crises. Several Middle Eastern and African states face mounting internal pressures that inadequate or counterproductive pandemic responses will likely exacerbate. These include protest movements in Lebanon and Iraq; fragile transitions in Sudan and Algeria; ethnic tensions in Ethiopia; and increasingly lethal Salafi-jihadist insurgencies in Nigeria, Chad, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. At least one of these states will likely collapse, opening another battlefield for proxy conflict and Salafi-jihadist expansion. Like the pandemic, these problems are foreseeable. In both cases, Americans will be safer if leaders have a strategy to seal off localized crises and prevent them from becoming larger conflicts between external players. This would require a policy framework that takes a long-term view of U.S. interests and global stability and explicitly subordinates short-term political, security, and economic objectives to achieve those goals. Pre-emption must include early diplomatic and foreign assistance-based interventions, prioritized according to an analysis and forecasting framework that identifies the most likely dangerous hotspots. Washington should also recommit to its allies and (to an extent) its partners, recognizing that doubts about Americas support are partly responsible for states using proxy wars to defend their interests. With this commitment, Washington must be more willing to pressure, and when necessary punish, partners when they engage destructively in third-party conflicts. (For example, Egypt or the United Arab Emirates military support for Libyas Haftar.) The long-term damage caused by granting partners impunity to wage proxy war is worse than any short-term damage to the bilateral relationship. If policymakers learn anything from COVID-19, it is that better management of growing overseas threats is infinitely preferable to dealing with them at home. Americas leaders need to get serious about preparing for the inevitable and preventing foreign conflicts from getting so dangerous that they create a crisis that changes our way of life. Emily Estelle is the research manager for the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute. The views expressed are the author's own. India's largest software services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) will launch Israel's first fully digital bank in what is being seen as a transformative initiative that can impact the business model of other sectors as well. TCS was selected by Israel's Ministry of Finance to transform its banking sector by building a banking service bureau that would serve as a shared, plug-and-play, digital banking operations platform powered by the TCS BaNCS Global Banking Platform - to help start-up banks launch their operations very quickly, the company said in a press release. "This initiative is seen as a bid to boost competition in the financial services sector, spark greater innovation and enhance customer experience by democratising access to banking in Israel by making financial services accessible to the consumer," the release said. "It will serve as an online financial superstore through which an ecosystem of providers of services and products, such as insurance and credit cards, can reach out to the new generation of digital natives," it added. The yet to be named digital bank is the first to receive a banking license in Israel in over 40 years and is to be launched in 2021. The fully digital bank will have no physical branches and will provide Israeli citizens with all the services that regular brick and mortar banks offer, including credit, deposits, loans, account management, securities trading and processing. The new bank will also have access to all of Bank of Israel's liquidity tools and various payment systems. We have achieved a key milestone in the Israeli financial services industry by being onboarded on to TCS' Banking Services Bureau. This approach will reduce the cost of banking for the average citizen and foster the development of innovative and differentiated services," Shouky Oren, the Chairman of the new bank, was quoted as saying. TCS is uniquely positioned to deliver these services due to its market ready and industry leading TCS BaNCS Global Banking Platform as well as its ecosystem integration, Oren noted. The TCS BaNCS Global Banking Platform, also available in a SaaS (system-as-a-service) model, is an integrated Israel-ready suite that helps banks and financial institutions offer innovative products and services to customers throughout their life journeys, based on their anticipated requirements and over the devices of their choice. Its API-enabled components support wealth management and retail, corporate and private banking, including digital banking for all segments. The platform has been installed successfully at 450 sites so far with around the clock availability. The government of Israel is on a path to transform banking in the country with the services bureau transformation initiative. TCS is proud to be the preferred partner and play a vital part in the democratization of the financial services industry in the country," TCS Israel's country head, Eyal Moskal, was quoted as saying. "Our platform will embrace an ecosystem led approach to innovation and deliver enhanced outcomes for the Israeli banking landscape. Other sectors too, could leverage this business model to provide financial services to customers, Moskal stressed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With the ongoing pandemic and the subsequent lockdown across the country, non-essential businesses have hit the pause button. Galleries, exhibitions and art fairs have postponed or canned shows worldwide as nations struggle to contain the spread of the virus. But those from the fraternity see a silver lining. Particularly, with auction houses going online to lure collectors currently stuck at home. Just last month, Saffronart, the Mumbai-based auction house, helped the Enforcement Directorate recover Rs 2.04 crore from the online auction of on-the-run-entrepreneur Nirav Modis prized possessions, which included handbags, luxury watches and two cars. By any measure, it was the most successful online auction in India. Last week, it managed a 100 per cent sale of 22 artworks including those by prominent names such as S. H. Raza, F. N. Souza and Jogen Chowdhury cumulatively amounting to Rs 41.5 lakh. Ever since the lockdown, weve had two auctions every week compared to two every month, till a few months ago. Theyve become smaller and thematic, but theres been a rise in online buying, says Dinesh Vazirani, the premier gallerys founder. Pitfalls of the pandemic This is not to say that the art world has been entirely immune to the current global crisis. Several international art fairs have been postponed and events cancelled. With the lockdown, were headed for a possible recession. People will be concerned about salaries and businesses rather than investing in luxuries such as art, reasons artistphilanthropist Michelle Poonawala. Evidently, such an economic paralysis will drive some galleries out of business and possibly even influence the price of artworks. There will be a short-term dip in prices because people are hesitant to spend money now, she adds. However, art experts believe that this drop will be marginal. The moderns will remain stable, the quality ones will sell for even better prices, but contemporary (works) will take a hit, chips in Saloni Doshi, founder of the Mumbai-based Space 118 Studios. India has always been a thrifty country, so cash is king, and many believe in saving for a rainy day. So, its unlikely that the art-buying public will be hit, she adds. Then again, not everyone is bullish about the future. Hyderabad-based artist Fawad Tamkanat, who had to postpone his international exhibitions till August, believes that this pandemic may prove to be the last nail in the coffin for the already ailing art market. Since 2014, the art market has suffered owing to poor policies and lack of funds to promote art and culture. Western and the Chinese art market are not going to be affected for long because they have funds for art and culture, he points out. Making art accessible At present, theres no clarity on the next live auction. But this has inadvertently escalated the process of building online sales platforms. With physical galleries shut, firms have stayed in touch with their audience through digital mediums. The online viewing rooms of the cancelled Art Basel Hong Kong, for example, recently hosted 2,000 premier artworks from 235 leading galleries across 31 countries. I loved the experience, says Saloni Space 118 Studios, who was to attend the show but couldnt. She acknowledges the idea as convenient and economical, and adds, They save you a flight ticket, hotel expenses and the awkwardness of asking artists to share details about a piece of work. For Saloni, who has travelled to numerous art fairs over the years, online viewing rooms seem to be a rather convenient alternative. These will only grow in the coming years as they will attract those who cant part with the money or time to travel, she says. Michelle Poonawala, however, believes that digital art rooms wont enjoy the same popularity as their offline counterparts. Curators are in acceptance of the idea, but the normal public is yet to be familiarised with the concept, she adds. However, it appears that the shift to the virtual has already begun. The engagement already exists and its going to be more tech-savvy going forward. The use of artificial intelligence, virtual galleries the experience will change entirely. In fact, the lockdown has brought people to reinvent themselves to project art, says Dinesh Vazirani of Saffronart. Guardians of the gallery There are, however, some art purists doubtful if online viewing rooms could replace the first-hand experience of being in a gallery to take in a painting or sculpture. An art piece is as much about the creator as it is about the viewer. This engagement is crucial and is only possible when one is physically present, reasons Sanjana Shah, Creative Director, Tao Art Gallery, adding, Most pieces are deeply layered, and their complexity cannot be easily captured or experienced digitally. Moreover, according to her while technological leaps have made 3D virtual tours possible, they are financially prohibitive too. Galleries will have to contain their guest list for previews. A good idea would be to do more intimate, exclusive group visits to ensure quality engagement. Smaller gatherings will also help reignite the art community, slowly but steadily, suggests Sanjana. Senior year has not gone as planned for high schoolers. And students across the state told Hearst Connecticut, in their own words, how coronavirus has affected their senior year. >> Click through the slideshow for heartfelt messages from Connecticut's high school seniors about missing friends, lost opportunities to excel in sports and the fear of not being able to walk down the aisle at graduation. Prominent citizens of Assam, including Rajya Sabha MP Ajit Kumar Bhuyan and former DGP Harekrishna Deka, on Wednesday met Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and urged him to release peasant leader Akhil Gogoi following the Supreme Court's directives to decongest jails to stop the spread of COVID-19. A memorandum signed by noted litterateurs, journalists, artists, educationists, and others pointed out that after the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) leader Gogoi was granted bail by the Special NIA court, he was re- arrested in other cases across the state. "The Supreme Court has directed to release inmates on health grounds to prevent infection of coronavirus. After staying in jail for more than four months, the deteriorating health condition of Gogoi is a matter of concern," it said. The government should "not imbibe enmity" only because Gogoi "exposed corruption" in the system, and hence he should be released soon, they said in the memorandum. In the midst of intense anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests, Gogoi was arrested on December 12 last year from Jorhat as a "preventive measure" in view of the deteriorating law and order situation in the state and his colleagues were taken into custody the next day. Later, he was handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which could not submit a charge sheet within the stipulated 90 days, following which he was granted bail. The appeal to the chief minister further said, "It is an injustice to keep Gogoi and his colleagues in jail for so long. Neither he nor his colleagues ever challenged the country's Constitution or sovereignty." Every citizen of the nation has the right to democratically and peacefully protest against a decision by a government, it added. Apart from the MP and former DGP, signatories of the memorandum are Lakshminanda Bora, Arup Kumar Dutta, Biren Singha, Noni Borpujari, Prashanta Rajguru, Nitya Bora, Munin Bayan, Paresh Malakar and Akhil Ranjan Dutta. The KMSS had alleged the state government was digging out old cases against Gogoi in a vindictive manner despite the Special NIA Court giving him bail. Along with Gogoi, three more KMSS leaders -- Dhairjya Konwar, Bittu Sonowal and Manash Konwar -- were also arrested by NIA in the same case and are lodged in jail now. On March 23, the Supreme Court had directed all states and Union Territories to constitute high-level committees to consider releasing on parole or interim bail prisoners and undertrials for offences entailing up to 7-year jail term to decongest prisons in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, nearly 1,700 inmates have been released from 31 jails across. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) COVID-19 has killed more men than women in Australia and claimed the lives of almost 10,000 more men than women around the world. New figures have highlighted the trend, but scientists do not know why it is occurring. They initially pointed to mens generally poor track record taking care of themselves smoking too much, not washing their hands. Are the differences in COVID-19 mortality rates down to our chromosomes? But evidence is now mounting that these factors are not wholly to blame. Focus is moving to the very different immune systems of men and women. "We know women end up with more auto-immune-type diseases, and men tend to do more poorly in several viral infections, says Professor Gabrielle Belz, chair of immunology at the University of Queensland. "A lot of that is genetically encoded." Central govt liaison office's authority to supervise implement of Basic Law in HK unshakable Global Times By Chen Qingqing and Yang Sheng Source:Global Times Published: 2020/4/21 14:22:59 To rebut the Western media and Taiwan separatists, who are hyping groundless accusations about the Chinese central government's authority to supervise the implementation of the Basic Law in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), multiple Chinese mainland departments in charge of relevant affairs and the chief executive of Hong Kong reaffirmed their stances on Tuesday. Experts noted that the authority of the central government agencies is unshakable in Hong Kong, no matter what interventions foreign forces undertake in the future. The Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council and the Chinese central government's liaison office in Hong Kong represent the central authority in the city, and they are authorized by the central government to handle Hong Kong affairs and have the right and responsibility to supervise the implementation of the Basic Law, Carrie Lam, chief executive of the HKSAR government, said on Tuesday morning. Lam clarified and emphasized the roles of the two institutions set up by the central government in the HKSAR, after revised government press releases over the weekend caused questioning by the opposition over their roles in the city. Experts noted that the supervisory power of the central government's liaison office in Hong Kong cannot be questioned. The Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council said on Tuesday that if there is a situation that seriously affects the comprehensive and accurate implementation of the "one country, two systems" policy and the Basic Law, or harms the fundamental interests of the Chinese mainland and the HKSAR, the central government must intervene, including stating its position and attitude in due course, and correcting it according to law. On the issue of pan-democratic lawmakers recently paralyzing the legislature with filibustering tactics, the chief executive said: "Whether it's on the constitutional system, the HKSAR government or daily operations, the liaison office has the right to speak because it represents the central government and can also make a point. It is the right and obligation of the central organization in Hong Kong," she said, according to local media reports. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the recent arrests of some figures from the opposition camp - in addition to discussion sparked by the Hong Kong and Macao affairs office and the liaison office - are being interpreted by some Western media outlets as a move of the central government to erode the city's so-called freedom. Chinese experts on Hong Kong affairs clarified that the recent arrest of the riot leaders, who are from the opposition camp, including Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and Hong Kong barrister Martin Lee Chu-ming, sent a clear message that crossing legal boundaries, endangering the rule of law and challenging the "one country, two systems" principle, will not be tolerated. Following month-long riots inflamed by the opposition camp and riot leaders like Lai and Lee, more calls to pass Article 23 have emerged in Hong Kong and the mainland. Lai accepted foreign aid to incite radical social movements in Hong Kong and subvert the Basic Law, Tian Feilong, associate professor at Beihang University in Beijing, told the Global Times. However, he has been at large due to the absence of Article 23 legislation and judicial omission. The opposition groups in Hong Kong have challenged the "one country, two systems" principle time and again, and Lam's latest reiteration is believed to be a sign that the liaison office's supervisory power cannot be questioned, and that the central government will strengthen its governance and relevant plans in the future, which has nothing to do with "interference" in the city's affairs, as the opposition called it. Due to the strengthening law enforcement of the Hong Kong police against foreign proxies in Hong Kong and separatists who are responsible for the riots in the city, the anti-government forces have felt pressure and that's why they raised groundless accusations to challenge the central government's authority, but in fact their attempts would be useless, said Li Xiaobing, a Hong Kong studies expert at Nankai University in Tianjin. "The Constitution of the People's Republic of China and the Basic Law of HKSAR have authorized the central government to supervise the HKSAR government to implement the Basic Law, so the authority is unshakable. If anyone, whether foreign forces or local separatists, dares to further challenge it and even keeps conducting illegal activities in the future, law enforcement will also be strengthened to deal with them," Li noted. Hong Kong riot leaders also have close connections with Taiwan's separatist Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), and observers noted the DPP of Taiwan also sponsored many Hong Kong separatists to make trouble in the HKSAR last year to challenge the unification of China, so the Taiwan authorities of the DPP also voiced opposition against the Chinese mainland's authority in Hong Kong. Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson of the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said on Tuesday that "We warned Taiwan separatist authorities of the DPP, that playing political tricks to interrupt Hong Kong affairs is doomed to fail." She made the remarks to rebut the DPP's accusation against the Hong Kong Police Force's law enforcement efforts to arrest riot leaders. The act by the DPP showed its separatist nature of interrupting Hong Kong affairs to gain political benefits, she noted. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The Indian Medical Association (IMA) and other medical professionals' body on Wednesday hailed the government's decision to make violence against healthcare personnel fighting coronavirus a non-bailable offence, with some demanding that this law should apply to any such attack even after the crisis blows over. The Union Cabinet has approved an ordinance making acts of violence and harassment against healthcare personnel deployed in combating COVID-19 a non-bailable offence with maximum punishment of seven years imprisonment and Rs 5 lakh fine, meeting a key demand of health professionals in the wake of recent attacks on them. The ordinance will amend the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, and the amended law will also be invoked if healthcare personnel face harassment from their landlords or neighbours over suspicion that they may carry the coronavirus infection due to the nature of their work, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan tweeted, "The government has decided to promulgate an ordinance to amend the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, in the light of the pandemic situation of #COVID?19. This will facilitate punishment under the law in cases of violence against healthcare service personnel serving during an epidemic." The IMA, which had been demanding a Central law to deal with the crimes against healthcare professionals, expressed its "heartfelt thanks" to Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan for their "prompt action in bringing an ordinance to end violence against doctors and health workers". "It will surely boost our morale to serve the nation in this crisis," it said. The apex doctor's body had earlier in the day called off its proposed 'White alert' and 'Black day' protests scheduled on April 22 and 23 following a meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah through video conference. Dr K K Aggarwal, the president of Confederation of Medical Associations of Asia and Oceania, said, "Violence and discrimination against the fraternity has once again come to the fore during the coronavirus pandemic. Healthcare providers are leading from the front. They must be given the highest form of protection in this critical hour." "The government's decision to amend the Epidemic Diseases Act and penalise those who attack healthcare workers is welcome but the same should be further amended to include healthcare establishments treating non-COVID patients also, otherwise it will be the police interpreting the situation on case-by-case basis for inclusion in the Act. "It would have been easier and better to amend the Clinical Establishments Act and include the same clause," he said. Echoing similar sentiments, AIIMS Resident Doctors Association (RDA) President Dr Adarsh Pratap Singh said the ordinance to amend the Epidemic Diseases Act is a welcoming step by the government, but a central protection act, rise in health budget and strengthening of infrastructure are long-term solutions. General Secretary of AIIMS RDA Dr Srinivas Rajkumar T also appreciated the Centre for taking note of the situation, "albeit late", and ensuring that frontline workers are able to serve the country without fear. He, however, said, "It is also important to note that this government rejected 'The Health Services Personnel and Clinical Establishments (Prohibition of Violence and Damage to Property) Bill, 2019', which sought to punish people who assault on-duty doctors and other healthcare professionals by imposing a jail term of up to 10 year." "Now the government is looking to amend the over a century-old Epidemic Diseases Act to protect healthcare workers only during this crisis. What will happen after the end of this pandemic? Isn't health a priority for the nation? When will the endless assault on health workers and health care facilities end?" "Personal protective equipment (PPE) have not arrived, testing capacity has not been ramped up sufficiently and adding to this, doctors are getting assaulted... Asking doctors to step up to the challenge of handing the pandemic after a mere amendment to the Act is akin to asking Noah stranded in a desert without tools to build an ark after the deluge," Dr Srinivas said. Dr Neeraj Gupta, professor in the Department of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at Safdarjung Hospital the ordinance "is a balm to the aches of medical warriors and a valuable step toward right direction... I wish it remains permanent for non-COVID times as well." The Federation of Resident Doctors Association said, "Thankful to Hon'ble Prime Minister and Ministry of Home Affairs for the much needed Ordinance and necessary amendments in Epidemic Act for protection of healthcare professionals. Expecting it to be a step in the right direction of implementing 'Central Act for Protection of Doctors & other healthcare professionals' which is our long-pending demand and a need in the long run," Several incidents of violence against medical professionals have been reported from different parts of the country during the coronavirus outbreak. In Chennai, an orthopaedic surgeon had to bury his associate, a neurosurgeon who died of COVID-19, in the middle of the night using his bare hands and a shovel at a crematorium with the help of just two hospital wardboys after the undertakers fled when a mob, protesting the interment, attacked them. The windscreens of the ambulance, in which the body of the neurosurgeon was brought to the crematorium on Sunday night, were smashed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Founded by Attorney Steven K. Schwartz II in 2012, The Schwartz Law Firm is celebrating 8 years of providing Houston families with probate and estate administration services, no matter how simple or complex the estate. Clients of The Schwartz Law Firm face a wide range of probate issues including handling an estate when a will exists and when a will does not exist, probating a will after four (4) years, mortgage foreclosures on estate property, property tax foreclosures on estate property, and gaining access to estate property. In addition, the firm handles will contests, represents heirs that have been intentionally excluded from the probate process, and theft and recovery of estate assets. While Mr. Schwartz is right at home with handling some of the most complex legal aspects of probate, he is also equally equipped to handle the often more complicated human aspect of probate. The death of a loved one can often bring to the surface negative underlying emotions among family members and reveal damaged and broken relationships making it difficult to get a family of heirs to agree in the probate process. Over the last eight years, Ive witnessed the spectrum of family dynamics, from families that get along and work in perfect harmony, to families that fight about anything and everything says Mr. Schwartz. Every family is unique, but we strive to make the probate process peaceful for all of our clients and bring an amicable resolution to every case we handle so that families can move forward with the healing process. For more information, visit https://www.SchwartzLawHouston.com. The Schwartz Law Firm is a family run law practice that represents clients in probate and estate administration matters. Based in Houston, Texas, The Schwartz Law Firm is committed to assisting clients across the state of Texas. If you would like more information about this topic, please call Christa at 713-385-0269 or email at christa@schwartzlawhouston.com. A Nigerian gunman has been arrested in the UK after he live-streamed himself on Instagram firing shots from a balcony while rapping to Tupac's 'Hit 'Em Up'. The incident occurred on Wednesday morning April 22, at a flat on Dock Head Road, Chatham. The man identified as Flexing Mike on Instagram, who claims to be the CEO of Truth or Dare records sent panicked shoppers in Kent running for their lives as he fired around 50 shots before armed police rushed to the scene and arrested him. The man who is in his 30s filmed himself shouting out Tupac lyrics while he pulled the trigger, saying: "I see them, they run, dem dey craze?" "They don't wanna be us, dem dey craze, call the f***ing cops." He also flaunted several of his "weapons" to the camera in a string of bizarre Instagram videos. Swipe for more VIDEOS Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram New York, April 22, 2020 Authorities in Madagascar should immediately release journalist Arphine Helisoa and halt the legal proceedings against her, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On April 4, authorities detained Helisoa, the director of the privately owned Madagascar-based Ny Valosoa (The Reward) newspaper, according to a report by French public broadcaster Radio France Internationale. Helisoa is a pseudonym the journalist uses; her legal name is Arphine Rahelisoa, Ferdinand Ratsimbazafy, vice president of the Order of Journalists of Madagascar, told CPJ over messaging app. Authorities, citing article 91 of Madagascars penal code, allege that Helisoa spread false news and incited hatred toward President Andry Rajoelina, according to the same RFI report and a statement posted on the Facebook page of the Madagascar Ministry of Communication and Culture. However, the publication cited in that ministrys statement as having caused the offense is an April 2 report in the France-based, privately owned news website Ny Valosoa Vaovao (The New Rewards). Ny Valosoa Vaovao stated in a post on its Facebook page that Helisoa in no way contributed to the report for which she was jailed. Helisoas lawyer, Willy Razafinjatovo, told RFI that Helisoa is only responsible for the written newspaper Ny Valosoa in Madagascar. If convicted under article 91 of the penal code, Helisoa could face up to five years in prison and a possible prohibition of additional rights, including voting, for up to 10 years, according Madagascars penal code. Authorities in Madagascar should drop their ludicrous campaign against journalist Arphine Helisoa and halt efforts to intimidate the press, said Angela Quintal, CPJs Africa program coordinator. Helisoa should be freed immediately, and Madagascars laws should be reformed to ensure people can gather and distribute news and opinion without fear of imprisonment. Helisoas lawyers have applied twice for provisional release and been denied both times, and she had been moved from quarantined detention into the general prison population, Miary Rasolofoarijaona, secretary general of the Order of Journalists of Madagascar, a local press association, told CPJ via messaging app on April 17, citing communication with Razafinjatovo. CPJ called Razafinjatovo, but the connection was too poor to speak with him. According to RFI, Helisoa is detained in Antanimora Prison in Antananarivo, Madagascars capital. The April 2 Ny Valosoa Vaovao report, also posted to the outlets Facebook page, referred to Rajoelina as a killer for his alleged mismanagement of Madagascars COVID-19 response. Rasolofoarijaona told CPJ via messaging app that Helisoa had corresponded with the website administrator of Ny Valosoa Vaovao, but there was no formal relationship between the two publications, which simply have similar names. Rasolofoarijaona told CPJ that Helisoas arrest could be retaliatory for her criticism of the government. [It] is the will of the regime to intimidate all those who try to criticize it. Arphine is the ideal person, Rasolofoarijaona said. In 2019, Madagascar authorities prosecuted Helisoa and journalists Nadia Raonimanalina and Mahefa Rabearivony for defamation for a report alleging the improper use of military equipment, according to news reports. In that case, Helisoa was acquitted, but Raonimanalina and Rabearivony were fined 10 million ariary ($2,649), according to those reports. Odette Balsam Razafinoelisoa, the prosecutor in charge of the case, told CPJ via phone that she could not speak about the case. CPJs messages to Razafinoelisoa sent via messaging app on April 15 were marked as read, but received no response. [Editors Note: The second paragraph has been modified to include mention of Arphines legal name.] A screen capture from the Cheong Wa Dae petition site about Yulbashev Aliakbar, an illegal migrant worker who saved the lives of 10 people in a recent fire. By Kim Se-jeong Three petitions have been filed on the Cheong Wa Dae website, asking the government to give a 27-year-old illegal migrant worker from Kazakhstan, who saved 10 people in a recent fire in Yangyang, Gangwon Province, the permanent right to stay and work in Korea. "What he did makes him a hero. I hope the government will reward him by giving him the permanent right to stay and work in Korea and helping him get a job. He set an example by doing the right thing despite his illegal status, and that gave an example," one petitioner wrote. As of Wednesday, the petitions have had more than 16,000 endorsements. The fire started in Yulbashev Aliakbar's residential building in the evening of May 23 as he was returning home. Instead of running away, he stayed and helped 10 neighbors escape from the blaze. One person died in the fire. He suffered neck and hand burns and had to report his illegal status to the immigration office to receive treatment. The immigration office told him to leave the country by May 1. Aliakbar said he was happy to hear that there was a possibility that he would be able to stay and work in Korea permanently. "I am happy to hear the news," he told the Korea Times in Korean. "I hope to stay here longer." He entered Korea in December 2017. He stayed over his 90-day tourist visa and worked as a laborer in Yangyang. He has a wife and a son back in Kazakhstan. Recalling the fire, he said he was compelled to do something quickly to save people. Yangyang County Office said it is in the process of getting him official recognition, which will be conferred by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Then, he will have to apply for permanent residency. However, it said he would have to leave on May 1, the deportation deadline, but added, "He will be able to come back because he voluntarily reported his illegal status. Aliakbar's story has a precedent. In 2017, an undocumented worker from Sri Lanka saved a woman from a fire in Gunwi, North Gyeongsang Province, and was rewarded with permanent residency status. A national campaign finance and election reform group on Wednesday endorsed Democratic U.S. Senate candidate John Hickenlooper and named the Republican incumbent he hopes to run against, U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, to its list of top targets. End Citizens United and Let America Vote said the former two-term governor is demonstrating a commitment to reform the campaign finance system by rejecting corporate PAC donations. Gardner, the groups said, has raised more than $5.4 million from corporate PACs, landing him on End Citizens United "Big Money 20" incumbents the campaign finance reform group say carry out the agendas of the pharmaceutical industry, oil companies and Wall Street while taking their money. Hickenlooper is one of three potential Gardner challengers on Colorado's June primary ballot. In the last quarter, he pulled in $4.1 million, enough to outraise Gardner and the entire Democratic field by a wide margin. As governor, John Hickenlooper's independent perspective brought people together to get things done for Colorado, and we need that same approach in Washington," said Tiffany Muller, president of the two groups, which combined forces in January. She added: "Sen. Gardner has proved time and again that his priorities are with corporate special interests, voting to cut protections for preexisting conditions while giving a $28 billion tax break to the pharmaceutical industry. John Hickenlooper doesn't take a dime of corporate PAC money, and that's why Coloradans can count on him to fight for them instead of corporate special interests in Washington." Hickenlooper welcomed the endorsement in a statement first obtained by Colorado Politics. We know that Washington is broken and special interests are rigging the system to pad their pockets and make it even harder for the little guy to get ahead," he said. "Im not taking corporate PAC money and I'm running for Senate to make Washington work for Colorado instead of corporate special interests. I look forward to working with End Citizens United to get our government working for the people again." Hickenlooper's critics point to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee's support for his campaign. The DSCC, which helped recruit Hickenlooper into the primary and has spent heavily on his behalf, accepts donations from corporate PACs. Before the endorsing groups' merger earlier this year, an ECU spokesman said the group was planning to spend $10 million to support candidates in the 2020 cycle. It spent $1 million last fall raised from grassroots donors on a TV, digital and mail campaign. A year ago, the group endorsed U.S. Rep. Jason Crow's re-election bid in the Aurora-based 6th Congressional District. The Democrat, who unseated an incumbent Republican, was one of the first candidates ECU supported in the 2018 cycle. ECU counts nearly 77,000 members in Colorado, a spokesman said. Its average donation is $14. Pakistan has been exporting coronavirus COVID-19 patients to India asserted Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh on Wednesday. Calling it a matter of concern, Singh said that it has come to light that Pakistan, which was earlier only sending terrorists, has now also started sending coronavirus infected people. The DGP added that these people will spread the infection. He also called for precaution in this matter. "Pakistan is exporting coronavirus patients. It is true that something like this has come to light and it is a matter of concern. Till now, Pakistan has been exporting terrorists but now Pakistan will also export coronavirus patients. They will come here and spread the infection among the people here. Precaution is needed, it is a matter of concern," said the DGP. Even as the world is fighting the deadly pandemic, Pakistan has been continuing its nefarious activities against India. It has been sending terrorists inside Jammu and Kashmir and violating ceasefire almost every day. The country itself is facing a crisis in battling the pandemic. A total of 17 more people have died in Pakistan from the COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 209. The number of coronavirus cases has risen to 9,749 with 533 new infections reported as of Wednesday, the Ministry of National Health Services has said. Pakistan's Punjab province has reported 4,328 cases, Sindh has 3,053, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 1,345, Balochistan 495, Gilgit-Baltistan 284, Islamabad 194 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 51 patients. Meanwhile, at least 492 Pakistanis, including 92 women, stranded in Afghanistan due to coronavirus pandemic have returned to their country from the Torkham border. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is set to undergo a test for the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, days after meeting a well-known philanthropist who has been detected positive for the COVID-19 infection. Even as the country is trying to battle the pandemic, Pakistan has quietly removed around 1,800 terrorists from its watch list, including that of the 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind and LeT operations commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, ahead of a new round of assessments by the global anti-money-laundering watchdog FATF, according to a US-based start-up that automates watchlist compliance. The so-called proscribed persons' list, which is maintained by Pakistan's National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), is intended in part to help financial institutions avoid doing business with or processing transactions of suspected terrorists. The list in 2018 contained about 7,600 names. It has been reduced to under 3,800 in the past 18 months, according to Castellum.AI - a New York-based regulatory technology company. About 1,800 of the names have been removed since the beginning of March, according to data collected by Castellum. Pakistan is working to implement an action plan that has been mutually agreed to with the Paris-based The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), part of which involves demonstrating effective implementation of targeted financial sanctions." It is possible that these removals are part of Pakistan's action plan to implement the FATF recommendations, it said. WHO chief Tedros warns against relaxing containment measures, says there is still a long way to go. This blog is now closed. The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said there were worrying upward trends in early epidemics in parts of Africa and central and South America, warning that the virus will be with us for a long time. More than 2.5 million people around the world have been diagnosed with the coronavirus. At least 178,000 have died, with the US accounting for about a quarter of all deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The United Nations is warning global hunger could double as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, putting 265 million people at risk. Australia is trying to build support internationally for an independent review of the origins and spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Here are the latest updates: Wednesday, April 22 23:59 GMT New virus timeline in US; California had 2 deaths weeks earlier Two people with the coronavirus died in California as much as three weeks before the US reported its first death from the disease in late February a gap that a top health official says may have led to delays in issuing stay-at-home orders in the nations most populous state. Dr Sara Cody, health director in Northern Californias Santa Clara County, says the deaths were missed because of a scarcity of testing and the federal governments limited guidance on who should be tested. The infections in the two patients were confirmed by way of autopsy tissue samples that were sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for analysis. The county coroners office received the results on Tuesday, officials say. If we had had widespread testing earlier and we were able to document the level of transmission in the county, if we had understood then people were already dying, yes, we probably would have acted earlier than we did, which would have meant more time at home, Cody says. 23:52 GMT Global air traffic could drop by up to 1.2 billion passengers International air passenger traffic could drop by as many as 1.2 billion travellers, or two-thirds, by September 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic weighs on demand, the United Nations aviation agency says. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) estimates that international capacity could drop by as much as two-thirds from previous forecasts for the first three quarters of 2020. Europe and the Asia-Pacific will be hardest hit by the capacity and revenue impacts, followed by North America. Similarly, the most substantial reduction in passenger numbers is expected to be in Europe, especially during its peak summer travel season, followed by the Asia-Pacific, it adds. Coronavirus has led to widespread flight cancellations and grounding of aircraft. 23:20 GMT Cuomo outlines plan for tracing army to tame outbreak Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg will help create a tracing army that will help find people infected with the coronavirus and get them into isolation, says Governor Andrew. New York will coordinate the massive effort with neighbouring New Jersey and Connecticut, accounting for the large number of people who commute into New York City for work. Wide-scale testing, tracing and isolation are considered crucial to taming the outbreak in the hard-hit region. It all has to be coordinated. There is no tracing that can work with one jurisdiction, Cuomo says. The state currently has just 225 tracers with almost 500 more in New York City and its suburbs, and Cuomo says they will start to build a greater force of disease detectives by drawing from 35,000 medical field students at state and city universities, as well as from the state health department and other agencies. Bloomberg and Bloomberg Philanthropies will provide support to help build and run the program. The philanthropic group also will contribute $10.5m. Bloomberg, in a prepared statement, says the ramped up testing and tracing will help us drive the virus into a corner. 19:18 GMT How Jordan is flattening its COVID-19 curve Experts say preemptive steps and drastic containment measures appear to be paying off in Jordans fight against coronavirus. The country has so far recorded 435 cases, including 297 recovers and seven deaths Read more here. Jordans security forces enforced national defence law lockdown orders [[Ali Younes/Al Jazeera] 19:00 GMT WHO chief says he hopes US reconsiders decision to cut funding Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the WHO, said he hoped the Trump administration would reconsider its suspension of funding, but that his main focus was on ending the pandemic and saving lives. I hope the freezing of the funding will be reconsidered and the US will once again support WHOs work and continue to save lives, Tedros said. I hope the US believes that this an important imvestment, not just to help others but for the US to stay safe also. Mike Ryan, WHOs top emergencies expert, said that it was important to understand the animal origins of the new coronavirus which jumped the species barrier to humans in China late last year, adding: It can be breached again. 18:30 GMT Turkeys coronavirus cases reach 98,674, total deaths 2,376 Turkey recorded 3,083 new coronavirus cases, bringing its total number of infections to 98,674, according to Health Minister Fahrettin Koca. He added that the death toll rose by 117 to 2,376 in the past 24 hours. A total of 16,477 people have recovered from the virus so far, while the number of tests carried out over the past 24 hours stood at 37,535. 18:20 GMT Sudden lifting of UK lockdown unlikely: Chief medical officer Chris Whitty, Englands chief medical officer, said it was unrealistic to expect a sudden lifting of all lockdown restrictions, even as ministers say Britain has reached the peak of the coronavirus outbreak. If people are hoping that its suddenly going to move from where we are now, in lockdown, suddenly into everythings gone, that is a wholly unrealistic expectation, Whitty told reporters. Were going to have to do a lot of things for really quite a long period of time. 17:40 GMT WHO chief warns virus will be with us for a long time Tedros said that there were worrying upward trends in early epidemics in parts of Africa and central and South America, while also warning that opening up global travel needed to be managed carefully. Most countries are still in the early stages of their epidemics and some that were affected early in the pandemic are starting to see a resurgence in cases, he told Geneva journalists in a virtual briefing. Make no mistake, we have a long way to go. This virus will be with us for a long time, he added, while noting progress in Western Europe. Ryan, the WHOs top emergencies expert, warned against opening up global travel too quickly, saying it would require careful risk management. 17:30 GMT Coronavirus-free Turkmenistan: We are not hiding anything Turkmenistan, one of the few nations in the world that has reported no cases of the new coronavirus, has insisted its official data is true and it is not hiding anything. If there was a single confirmed coronavirus case, we would have immediately informed the World Health Organization in line with our obligations, Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov told a briefing on Wednesday. We are not hiding anything, he added, speaking alongside United Nations officials. Read more here. 17:20 GMT Tarawih amid coronavirus: Scholars call for home Ramadan prayers From Mecca and Jerusalem to London and New York, Muslim scholars across the world have called on people to stay home and stay safe this Ramadan, keeping mosques closed and congregational prayers on hold to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Muslims observe Ramadan by fasting during daylight hours, but also essential to this holy month are gatherings to share meals and take part in communal prayers, known as Tarawih, or night prayers. Congregational prayers are a big part of the lives of many Muslims generally, but even more so during Ramadan with Tarawih prayers held daily at many mosques across the country, said Harun Khan, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB). Read more here. 17:00 GMT Pakistans Imran Khan tests negative for coronavirus Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has tested negative for the coronavirus, after coming into contact with a philanthropist last week who subsequently tested positive. Prime Minister Imran Khan was tested today for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus strain that causes the coronavirus disease 2019 [COVID-19]. The test used was a polymerase chain reaction (PCR). I am happy to report that his test is NEGATIVE, said de facto Pakistani health minister Zafar Mirza in a tweet. 16:50 GMT UK should see slow decrease in number of coronavirus cases Britain should expect to see only a slow decrease in cases and deaths from the coronavirus, given the experience of other countries that are further along in their outbreaks, the governments chief medical adviser said. Even in those countries which started their epidemic curve earlier than the UK, and which are still ahead, the downward slope from the point where we change is a relatively slow one, Chris Whitty, who is the Chief Medical Officer for England, said at a news conference, referring to a graph showing the seven-day rolling average of deaths in different countries. We should anticipate the same situation in the UK, he said. We should not expect this to be a sudden fall away of cases. 16:40 GMT US to review if WHO is run the way it should The United States will assess whether the World Health Organization (WHO) is being run in the way that it should, USAIDs Acting Administrator John Barsa said. The announcement came after President Donald Trump last week suspended US funding for the UN agency, accusing it of failing to adequately obtain and share information on the coronavirus pandemic in a timely and transparent fashion. Barsa told a news conference Washington was also looking for alternative partners outside the WHO to carry out work such as on vaccines. 16:25 GMT Second coronavirus wave poses greatest risk for UK British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab has warned that a second wave of the coronavirus poses the greatest risk for his country, necessitating another period of lockdown. The greatest risk for us now if we eased up on our social distancing rules too soon is that we would risk a second spike in the virus, with all the threats to life that would bring and then the risk of a second lockdown, which would prolong the economic pain that we are all going through, Raab told reporters. 16:10 GMT Italys coronavirus death toll climbs by 437 to 25,085 The death toll from the coronavirus in Italy climbed by 437 to 25,085, against 534 the previous day, according to the Civil Protection Agency. Meanwhile infections increased by 3,370 to 187,327, the third-highest global tally behind the US and Spain. 16:00 GMT In China, fear of a second wave and foreigners As Chinas coronavirus lockdown recedes, it has left fear in its wake. Foreigners are now on the receiving end of heightened public scrutiny and discrimination as the government says it is trying to prevent importing new cases. Videos circulating on social media showing Africans in Guangzhou facing forced evictions and testing, provoked a rare open critique from African leaders. The Take hears from non-Chinese residents on life as a foreigner during the pandemic. 15:45 GMT Canada coronavirus death toll reaches 1,871, total cases 38,932 Canadas death toll from the coronavirus rose to 1,871 from 1,728 the previous day, according to official data posted by the public health agency. It said the number of infections climbed to 38,932. 15:35 GMT US believes China failed to disclose pandemic to WHO in timely manner: Pompeo US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said his country strongly believes that Chinas ruling Communist Party failed to report the outbreak of the new coronavirus in a timely manner to the World Health Organization (WHO). Speaking at a State Department news conference, Pompeo also accused China of failing to report human-to-human transmission of the virus for a month until it was in every province inside of China. 15:20 GMT Doctors note: Why are smokers more vulnerable to coronavirus? Smoking is one of the leading causes of death in the world, killing more than eight million people a year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Now, it is thought that smoking may also make people more vulnerable to developing serious complications if they catch coronavirus. In the United Kingdom, the health secretary, Matt Hancock, has said: It is abundantly clear from the research into previous coronaviruses that smoking makes the impact of a coronavirus worse. Read more here. 15:00 GMT In Central African Republic, a colossal struggle against COVID-19 Before dawn in a suburb recovering from war, Fanny Balekossi awakes and heads into the centre of Bangui. A radio broadcaster specialising in health issues, Balekossi survived years of sectarian fighting in the Central African Republic (CAR) during which her older sister and close friends perished. Now, she is facing a new struggle to pull her country back from the brink. Read more here. 14:45 GMT UK coronavirus death toll reaches 18,100 Britains daily death toll from the coronavirus rose by 763 to 18,100, down from 828 the previous day, according to the health ministry. The number of infections reached 133,495, it added. 14:30 GMT Mexico social programmes, critical project budgets to increase by $25.6bn Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said his government will increase the budget for social programmes and critical projects by 622.6 billion Mexican pesos ($25.6 billion) in order to address the coronavirus crisis. Efficiency, honesty and austerity will allow us to increase the budget to strengthen social programmes and critical projects by 622.556 billion de pesos, Lopez Obrador said at his regular morning press conference. 14:20 GMT UK to roll out large-scale contact tracing British health minister Matt Hancock said on Wednesday the government would bring in large-scale contact tracing once the number of new cases of the coronavirus falls. As we have reached the peak, as we bring the number of new cases down, so we will introduce contact tracing at large scale, Hancock told Parliament. 14:10 GMT Netherlands coronavirus cases rise by 708 to 34,842 The Netherlands has recorded 708 coronavirus cases, taking its total number of infections to 34,842, health authorities said. Meanwhile, the death toll rose by 138 to 4,054, the Netherlands Institute for Public Health said. 14:00 GMT Frances Macron says time not right for international coronavirus probe French President Emmanuel Macron told the Australian prime minister that time was not oppurtune for an international investigation into the coronavirus pandemic, saying the urgency was to act in unison before looking for who was at fault, an official said. He says he agrees that there have been some issues at the start, but that the urgency is for cohesion, that it is no time to talk about this, while reaffirming the need for transparency for all players, not only the WHO, an Elysee official told Reuters news agency. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has sought support for an international investigation into the pandemic in phone calls with US President Donald Trump and the German and French leaders overnight, the government said. 13:45 GMT Swiss death toll surges past 1,200, total cases 28,268 The Swiss death toll from the coronavirus rose to 1,217 from 1,187 the previos day, the countrys public health ministry said. The number of positive tests also increased by 205 to 28,268, it added. The rise in new cases has decelerated in recent days, allowing the government to start relaxing restrictions from April 27. 12:15 GMT India plans wristband patient surveillance India plans to manufacture thousands of wristbands that will monitor the locations and temperatures of coronavirus patients, help perform contact tracing and aid health workers delivering essential services. Broadcast Engineering Consultants India, a government-owned company, will present wristband designs to hospitals and state governments next week and work with Indian start-ups to manufacture them. George Kuruvilla, the companys chairman, said the wristbands are likely to be rolled out in May. Indian municipal workers wait to collect essential commodities distributed by the government during lockdown in Hyderabad [Mahesh Kumar A./AP] 12:00 GMT South African police arrested for flouting lockdown orders Scores of government officials, including 89 police officers, have been arrested for flouting South Africas coronavirus regulations, many of them for selling confiscated liquor, the police minister said. Altogether 131 people including officials, councillors, health officials, correctional services, have been arrested, Police Minister Bheki Cele told the media in Durban. More than 20,000 police officers have been deployed along with the military to enforce a five-week lockdown under which alcohol sales are prohibited. 11:50 GMT Indonesian capital extends restrictions to May 22 The governor of Indonesias capital Jakarta said he would extend large-scale social restrictions for an extra month to May 22 and also ensure residents prayed at home during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan which is due to start later this week. This years Ramadan will be different. Usually we pray in the mosque, but this year we will stay at home, Governor Anies Baswedan told a streamed news conference. While Jakarta has not imposed a full lockdown, Baswedan said he would increase enforcement of the restrictions in place which include limiting public gatherings. The capital has more than half of Indonesias total coronavirus cases [Ed Wray/Getty Images] 11:45 GMT Qatar reports 608 new coronavirus cases Qatars health ministry reported 608 new cases of coronavirus, taking its total number of infections to 7141. The ministry also confirmed the recovery of 75 COVID-19 patients and one death over the last 24 hours. Latest update on Coronavirus in Qatar#__ #YourSafetyIsMySafety pic.twitter.com/r650zBd03P (@MOPHQatar) April 22, 2020 11:30 GMT 69 NHS staff members have died of coronavirus A total of 69 people who worked for Britains National Health Service (NHS) have died of COVID-19, while the number of staff in care homes for the elderly who have died from the disease is not known, Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said. The government is under pressure over accusations it has failed to deliver personal protective equipment to all the medical and care staff who require it. Weve delivered 1 billion items of personal protective equipment and tens of millions have been distributed via the devolved administrations (semi-autonomous governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), Raab told parliament. Read moreabout why PPE is important. NHS staff are seen inside the new NHS Louisa Jordan hospital which is now ready to take its first coronavirus patients in Glasgow, United Kingdom [Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images] 11:20 GMT Trump to sign executive order on immigration today President Donald Trump said in a tweet he would sign an executive order later on Wednesday prohibiting immigration that he has said would protect United States workers amid the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak. As of late Tuesday, some questions remained unanswered as the Trump administration continued to work on the order, which the Republican president has said would temporarily suspend immigration to the US. I will be signing my Executive Order prohibiting immigration into our Country today. In the meantime, even without this order, our Southern Border, aided substantially by the 170 miles of new Border Wall & 27,000 Mexican soldiers, is very tight including for human trafficking! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 22, 2020 11:15 GMT Pandemic to drive carbon emissions down 6 percent: WMO The coronavirus pandemic is expected to drive carbon dioxide emissions down by six percent this year, the head of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said, in what would be the biggest yearly drop since World War II. This crisis has had an impact on the emissions of greenhouse gases, WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas told a virtual briefing in Geneva. We estimate that there is going to be a six percent drop in carbon emissions this year because of the lack of emissions from transportation and industrial energy production. 11:00 GMT Stephen Hawkings ventilator donated to UK hospital The family of the renowned British physicist Stephen Hawking has donated his ventilator to help treat hospital patients with novel coronavirus, it said. Hawking died in 2018 aged 76 after a glittering career dedicated to unlocking the secrets of the universe, despite a life-long battle with a severe form of motor neurone disease. His daughter, Lucy, said the ventilator he used has been given to the Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, eastern England, where he received medical care during his life. Hawking sits on stage during an announcement of the Breakthrough Starshot initiative with investor Yuri Milner in New York in 2016 [File: Lucas Jackson/Reuters] 10:30 GMT Ukraine extends coronavirus quarantine until May 11 Ukraine extended strong quarantine measures till May 11, hoping then to ease restrictions if there is a reduction in coronavirus cases, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said. Ukraine reported a total of 6,592 people infected as of April 22, including 174 deaths and 424 recovered. 10:20 GMT Israel stops testing samples coming from Gaza Israels defence minister has cancelled an initiative taken by the army for coronavirus testing on samples coming from the blockaded Gaza Strip, an Israeli newspaper reported. The Israeli army recently announced an initiative to perform 50 coronavirus tests a day on samples from the Gaza Strip. But the Israeli government cancelled the initiative, the daily Maariv reported, adding Defence Minister Naftali Bennett was not aware of the armys initiative due to a lack of communication. 10:10 GMT Un-American: 400,000 N95 masks just sitting on loading dock A US medical supply company is questioning the legality of federal seizures of N95 respirator masks destined for medical workers amid the coronavirus pandemic. George Gianforcaro, owner of Delaware-based Indutex USA, told the New York Daily News the Federal Emergency Management Agency confiscated 400,000 masks in two imported shipments meant for his US customers. "Keep your voice down." President Trump berated a female CBS reporter when questioned over his #coronavirus response. pic.twitter.com/rwted3k4mI Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) April 22, 2020 He said the masks, which arrived in separate shipments on April 6 and April 19, are still being held at John F Kennedy International Airport, apparently stranded in limbo as federal officials work out where they should go next. The product is just sitting on a loading dock at JFK. They want to charge me $3,000 a day to store it there. I said, Ill just come pick it up then. They said, No, its not released. Its un-American. Its horrible, Gianforcaro said. 10:05 GMT Germany approves first trial of COVID-19 vaccine candidate Germanys vaccines regulator approved human testing of a potential vaccine against the COVID-19 virus developed by German biotech company BioNTech. The trial, only the fourth worldwide of a preventive agent targeting the virus behind the global pandemic, will be conducted on 200 healthy people aged between 18 and 55 in the first stage, and on further people, including those at higher risk from the disease, in a second stage. BioNTech said it was developing the vaccine candidate, named BNT162, together with its partner, pharma giant Pfizer. Medical staff in protective suits treat a patient suffering from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in an intensive care unit at Havelhohe community hospital in Berlin [Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters] 10:00 GMT Big divide between member states on recovery aid, EU official says There is a big divide between EU member states on whether any coronavirus recovery aid should be handed out to member states as subsidies or loans, an official with the bloc said. National EU leaders are meeting via videoconference on Thursday to lock horns over how to kickstart growth after the coronavirus pandemic. For some member states it is important to have grants or subsidies, while for others it can only be loans. There is a big divide and we need to find the right balance, said the official on condition of anonymity. 09:50 GMT Coronavirus second wave may be even worse: US health chief A second wave of the novel coronavirus in the United States could be even more destructive because it will likely collide with the beginning of the flu season, one of the countrys top health officials have said. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), called on Americans to use the coming months to prepare and get their flu shots. Theres a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through, and when Ive said this to others, they kind of put their head back, they do not understand what I mean, he was quoted as saying in an interview with the Washington Post. Read here. 09:35 GMT US state sues China over coronavirus economic losses Missouri became the first US state to sue the Chinese government over its handling of the coronavirus, saying Chinas response to the outbreak that originated in the city of Wuhan brought devastating economic losses. In Beijing, a spokesman for Chinas foreign ministry dismissed the accusation as nothing short of absurdity and lacking any factual or legal basis. The Chinese government lied to the world about the danger and contagious nature of COVID-19, silenced whistleblowers, and did little to stop the spread of the disease, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, a Republican, said in a statement. They must be held accountable for their actions. 09:25 GMT Spain reports 435 coronavirus deaths overnight Spains death toll from the new coronavirus climbed by 435 in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said, roughly in line with the two percent increases reported in the past few days. The cumulative death toll now stands at 21,717, while the number of confirmed infections rose by 4,211 to 208,389, according to the ministry. Spain has reported the lowest number of daily new coronavirus deaths in over a month [Sergio Perez/Reuters] 09:15 GMT Spanish refugee rescuers now helping in nursing homes They are used to saving refugees from the seas, but now, Spanish rescuers are using their expertise to help in the coronavirus pandemic. Volunteers from Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms are taking patients who have tested positive with the novel coronavirus to hospitals and helping staff in care homes, where thousands of frail elderly residents have died. Read more here 09:05 GMT Lack of virus testing stokes fears in worlds refugee camps More than 70 million people worldwide have been driven from their homes by war and unrest, up to 10 million are packed into refugee camps and informal settlements, and almost none have been tested for the coronavirus. While the relative isolation of many camps may have slowed the viruss spread, none is hermetically sealed. Without testing, the virus can spread unchecked until people start showing symptoms. Then, there will be few if any intensive care beds or ventilators. There might not even be gloves or masks. Testing is in short supply even in New York and Norway, but it is non-existent in most of the countries in the [global] south for the people we try to help, said Jan Egeland, the head of the Norwegian Refugee Council. 08:30 GMT Philippines records nine new coronavirus deaths, 111 more cases The Philippines health ministry reported nine new coronavirus deaths and 111 new confirmed infections. In a bulletin, the health ministry said total deaths have increased to 446 while infections have risen to 6,710. But 39 more patients have recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 693. 08:10 GMT Refugee camp in Lebanon on lockdown after first case A Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon has been put under lockdown after the United Nations announced the first confirmed case of coronavirus in one of the countrys numerous and crowded camps. The patient, a Palestinian refugee from Syria, has been taken to the state-run Rafik Hariri hospital in Beirut, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said in a statement. Medical experts were due to visit the Wavel camp in the eastern Bekaa Valley later on Wednesday to carry out tests, the agency added. 08:00 GMT Pope urges EU unity over coronavirus Pope Francis has urged Europe to remain united in overcoming the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, speaking on the eve of an EU summit to discuss a huge but divisive economic stimulus package. In these times in which we need so much unity among us, among nations, let us pray today for Europe, Francis said at the start of his daily morning mass, which he dedicates each day to a different theme related to the global crisis. He asked for prayers so that Europe manages to have this unity, this fraternal unity of which the founding fathers of the European Union dreamed. Pope Francis led the Easter vigil mass in St Peters Basilica with no public participation due to the coronavirus outbreak [File: Vatican Media/Handout/Reuters] 07:45 GMT UKs Johnson under fire over handling of virus crisis British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced a call for an inquiry into his governments handling of the coronavirus crisis after failing to fully explain partial death data, limited testing and the lack of equipment for hospitals. Ed Davey, acting leader of the opposition Liberal Democrats, called for an independent inquiry to review the governments response to the pandemic. The inquiry must have the strongest possible powers given the shocking failures on protective equipment for staff and the slow response of the government to get to the truth and to give Boris Johnson the opportunity to answer the increasingly serious questions. 07:36 GMT Russia records more than 5,000 new cases Russia recorded 5,236 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, bringing its nationwide tally to 57,999, the Russian coronavirus crisis response centre said. Fifty-seven people with the virus died in the past 24 hours, pushing the death toll to 513, it said. 07:30 GMT Spain aims to ease lockdown in second half of May Spains Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said his government plans to begin winding down its coronavirus lockdown measures in the second half of May. Restrictions will be eased slowly and gradually to ensure safety, Sanchez said at a parliamentary session where he will ask legislators to extend Spains state of emergency until May 9. The lockdown was first enforced in Spain on March 14. 07:15 GMT Japan cuts 100,000 tulips to keep physical distance Flower lovers in Japan will have to wait until next year to tip-toe through the tulips after a park razed more than 100,000 stems to comply with social-distancing rules to help control the coronavirus. A worker dismantles a pathway in a field in the Sakura Furusato Square after more than 100,000 tulips were cut off to avoid people visiting in Sakura, Chiba prefecture in Japan [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters] Officials in the city of Sakura, 50km east of Tokyo, mowed the tulip beds at Sakura Furusato Hiroba and cancelled an annual tulip festival to discourage people from congregating after a coronavirus emergency was declared last week. Many visitors came on the weekend when the flowers were in full bloom. It became a mass gathering so we had no choice but to make the decision to cut the flowers, said Sakiho Kusano, a city tourism official. 07:00 GMT More than 2,700 coronavirus deaths in US in 24 hours The coronavirus death toll in the United States the country with the most fatalities in the pandemic has climbed by 2,751 in the past 24 hours, according to the latest tally from Johns Hopkins University. The US has recorded more than 800,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to the Baltimore-based university, with 44,845 deaths. Nearly 40,000 new cases were reported between Monday at 8:30pm local time, and Tuesday at the same time, the university said. 06:45 GMT Tokyo orphanage for babies reports 8 cases: Media A residential care facility in Tokyo for babies and toddlers reported eight cases of coronavirus infections, local media said. One staff member at the institution had tested positive for the virus on April 16, prompting a test of its residents, Kyodo News said. None of the eight children who tested positive were showing major symptoms such as a fever, Kyodo said. 06:30 GMT Pakistan PM Imran Khan undergoes coronavirus test Al Jazeeras Asad Hashim sent this update from Islamabad. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has undergone a test for the coronavirus after he came into contact with an infected prominent philanthropist Faisal Edhi on Wednesday, his physician has said. Khans results are expected to be released on Wednesday. Edhi announced on Tuesday that he had tested positive for the coronavirus, after exhibiting some symptoms over four days before they subsided. He had flown to the capital Islamabad to hand over a 10 million Pakistani rupee ($62,250) cheque for the prime ministers coronavirus relief fund. Imran Khan receives a cheque from head of the Edhi Foundation, Faisal Edhi, for the Prime Ministers coronavirus disease relief fund in Islamabad, on April 15, 2020 [PID Handout/Reuters] 06:15 GMT Fauci to 7-year-old girl: Tooth fairy wont catch virus Top US health and infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci has assured a young girl that the tooth fairy is not at risk of infection during the coronavirus pandemic. The doctor will appear on Wednesday as a guest on actor Will Smiths Snapchat show Will From Home. Dr Anthony Fauci speaks as US President Donald Trump listens during the daily press briefing on the Coronavirus pandemic situation at the White House [File: Brendan Smialowski/AFP] In a preview clip of their interview, posted to YouTube, a seven-year-old girl called in from Los Angeles with a very pressing question. Can the tooth fairy still come if I lose my tooth because of the coronavirus? asked the girl, who introduced herself as Ava. And can she catch the virus? Fauci was quick to reassure her: I dont think you need to worry about the tooth fairy, he said, smiling. Hello, this is Saba Aziz in Doha. Ill be taking over the blog from my colleague Kate Mayberry in Kuala Lumpur. 05:00 GMT Australia seeks backing for international investigation into coronavirus Australias Prime Minister Scott Morrison has sought support for an international investigation into the coronavirus pandemic, speaking overnight to US president Donald Trump, as well as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron. Australia is calling for an independent review of the origins of the virus and its spread. China earlier accused Australia of parroting the US, which has been critical of China and the World Health Organization (WHO), withdrawing its funding for the UN health body. Just got off the phone with US President @realDonaldTrump. We had a very constructive discussion on our health responses to #COVID19 and the need to get our market-led and business centres economies up and running again. Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) April 22, 2020 04:40 GMT Japans Nagasaki confirms 33 cases on cruise ship docked for repair Officials in Japans western prefecture of Nagasaki say they have confirmed 33 cases of coronavirus on an Italian cruise ship docked there for repairs. Tests were positive in 33 of 56 close contacts of a single member of the Costa Atlanticas 623 crew. There are a lot of infections on board, and we dont have the medical system to confirm the health situation and to separate those testing positive and negative, said Nagasaki governor Hodo Nakamura. The governor has requested help from the government in Tokyo and the rest of the crew are being tested. The Italian-owned ship has been in the shipyard in Nagasaki since the end of February. 03:50 GMT Southeast Asian governments urged to step up climate change commitments ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights are calling on Southeast Asian governments to commit to more ambitious climate and environmental targets to lower the risk of future health emergencies. APHR noted that the number of emerging infectious diseases had increased since the 1940s alongside deforestation and increasing urbanisation. Our governments have to act swiftly against deforestation by increasing protected areas and environmental safeguards against investment projects if we want to reduce the risk of re-living COVID-19 like epidemics, Sarah Elago, an MP from the Philippines MP said in a statement to coincide with Earth Day. 03:20 GMT Saudi king approves Tarawih at two holy mosques Saudi king Salman has approved performing the Tarawih at the two holy mosques, but entry for pilgrims will remain suspended, the Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques Affairs said in a statement on Wednesday. Saudi Arabia is planning to ease curfew hours imposed in several cities because of coronavirus during the fasting month of Ramadan, which is due to start this week. Find out more about this years unprecedented Ramadan here. 02:20 GMT China says Australia parroting Trump with coronavirus criticisms China is accusing Australia of taking instructions from the US in its criticism of Chinas response to the coronavirus, after home affairs minister Peter Dutton called on China to be more transparent about the outbreak. It is well known that recently some people in the US including high level officials have been spreading an anti-China information virus, a spokesperson from Chinas embassy in Canberra said in comments posted to its website. These days, certain Australian politicians are keen to parrot what those Americans have asserted and follow them in staging attacks on China. 01:30 GMT China, South Korea update coronavirus situation China and South Korea have both reported their latest data on the coronavirus. China reported 30 new cases on the mainland, 23 of which involved people returning from overseas. The National Health Commission also said the number of asymptomatic cases rose to 42, from 37 the previous day. In South Korea, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the country had 11 new cases, the fourth day in a row where the number has been below 15. Six of the cases were among overseas travellers. 00:15 GMT Captive audiences fuel Netflix boom Netflix says it has more than doubled its own projections for new customers as people living under lockdowns turned to the streaming giant to keep them entertained. Netflix says subscribers jumped by 15.8 million in the three months from January to March. It earlier predicted the number of paying customers would rise by seven million. 00:00 GMT Cuomo says Trump agrees to help New York double testing New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says he had a productive meeting with US President Donald Trump and that the state was aiming to double its coronavirus testing to 40,000 tests a day. I had a productive meeting with President Trump today. We agreed that the state will be responsible for managing the actual tests in our laboratories. The federal government will take on the responsibility of supply chain issues that are beyond states' control. Archive: Governor Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) April 21, 2020 Cuomo and Trump met on Tuesday and the president agreed the federal government would help procure the chemical reagents needed to ramp up testing. Hello and welcome to Al Jazeeras continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. Im Kate Mayberry in Kuala Lumpur. Read all the updates from yesterday (April 21) here. Amid scattered protests around the United States against the social distancing measures, Attorney General William Barr said that he wont rule out legal action against states if such orders infringe civil liberties. Governors across the US have issued stay-at-home orders putting a ban on social gatherings and shutting down businesses and schools to contain the spread of coronavirus. During a radio interview, Barr said he was more concerned about the sweeping orders which call for closing down businesses regardless of the capacity of the business to operate safely. The US Attorney General added that they are looking carefully at the rules brought in by the states and will pressurise the governors to roll back or readjust such orders if they find it too harsh. Read: US State Of Missouri Sues China Over Its Handling Of Coronavirus Outbreak The 69-year-old lawyer said that if governors remain defiant and people bring lawsuits against them, then the Justice Department will file statements of interest and side with the plaintiffs. Barrs comment comes days after the Department of Justice filed a statement of interest in support of the Mississippi Church that had sued the city of Greenville for infringing religious freedom using the stay-at-home order. Read: Georgia Businesses Hesitant To Embrace Kemp's Call To Reopen Religious freedom Barr had issued a statement saying the City appears to have singled out churches as the only essential service that may not operate despite following all CDC and state recommendations regarding social distancing. He said that the government may not impose special restrictions on religious activity that do not also apply to a similar nonreligious activity. The United States Department of Justice will continue to ensure that religious freedom remains protected if any state or local government, in their response to COVID-19, singles out, targets, or discriminates against any house of worship for special restrictions, Barr concluded. While some state governors have teamed up to restore the economy by gradually reopening the businesses in the region, some are taking a more cautious approach. The United States has reported over 800,000 coronavirus cases and more than 45,000 deaths with New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts being the worst-hit. Read: Take A Look At The Traffic As Coronavirus-origin Wuhan Opens Up Its Transport Facilities Read: Trump Says He'll Help New York's Cuomo Boost Virus Testing (Image Credit: AP) Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspects the local poverty alleviation work in Jinping Community of Laoxian Township, Pingli County of the city of Ankang, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 21, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua] Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, on Tuesday stressed the importance of employment in followup measures to help people shake off poverty during an inspection tour in northwest China's Shaanxi Province. Xi made the remarks while visiting a community in Laoxian Town, Pingli County of the city of Ankang. The community is now home to 1,346 households that have been relocated from hilly, geological disaster-prone or poverty-stricken areas across the town. At the home of resident Wang Xianping, Xi sat and had a chat with Wang's family about their daily life. Relocated people can only live in peace and contentment when they have a stable life, which depends on employment, Xi said. He stressed down-to-earth efforts facilitating employment, warning against any practice of formalities for formalities' sake. The places Xi visited in this inspection tour are located in the Qinling-Bashan mountainous region, one of China's 14 contiguous areas of extreme poverty, which are the "hardest nut to crack" in the final rush period for poverty relief. Across China, more than 9.6 million poor people have been relocated to more inhabitable areas over the past couple of years as part of the country's poverty alleviation efforts. Addressing a symposium in March on securing a decisive victory in poverty alleviation, Xi stressed that lifting all rural residents living below the current poverty line out of poverty by 2020 is a solemn commitment made by the CPC Central Committee, and it must be fulfilled on schedule. By Express News Service BHOPAL: Undeterred by the April 1 attack on them by locals, two state government doctors, Dr Zakiya Sayed and Dr Trapti Katdare, were present in the Taat Patti Bakhal locality of Indore on Wednesday this time bringing back 48 residents who had recovered from COVID-19. One of the COVID-19 containment zones of Indore, the locality which gained notoriety due to the attack wore a totally different look on Tuesday. It resonated with the tune of the patriotic song Saare Jahaan Se Achcha Hindustan Hamara played by a band as the 48 people, accompanied by the two doctors, returned to their homes. But it wasn't only the music of patriotic fervour which welcomed the newly discharged patients moving in a disciplined manner while religiously following social distancing. A green gift also awaited each of them as a symbolic message for living life afresh after getting out of the jaws of death. The local administration dressed in PPE kits welcomed the newly discharged patients, including kids and women, with a sapling each. "We are back home due to the hard work of the real gods who are the doctors. We thank the doctors for saving our lives. We'll stay indoors over the next 14 days and take bath only with hot water," said one of the returning patients Sher Iqbal while flashing a victory sign. According to Indore deputy collector Vishal Singh Chouhan, the warm welcome to the returning inhabitants of the area and the saplings gifted to them was a confidence building measure. Thirteen men had been arrested over the attack on two female doctors and health workers by a mob of local residents on April 1 and the National Security Act was invoked against four of them. As for Dr Zakiya Sayed and Dr Trapti Katdare, visiting the locality again wasnt a novel experience. Its our duty which weve been fearlessly doing. Just a day after being attacked, we had screened several suspected patients at the same locality, though under tight security. But now people of the locality have become very familiar with us and we havent even an iota of fear left, one of them waxed eloquent. A mother-of-four from Idaho was seen on video getting arrested on Tuesday for violating coronavirus restrictions by being on a closed playground, leading to a mass protest at the the local City Hall hours later. Sara Walton Brady, 40, from Meridian, was in the shuttered playground section of Kleiner Park with her children just before 4pm along with other people to protest against the state's stay-at-home order. The rally was organized by the Idaho Freedom Foundation - a conservative organization dedicated, according to its website, to depleting 'the power of special interests and free people from government dependency.' Sara Brady, 40, was arrested on a misdemeanor trespassing charge for bringing her children to a playground in Meridian, Idaho, which has been closed due to COVID-19 A police officer arrested Brady after repeatedly asking her to leave the playground area The mom-of-four was placed in handcuffs after telling the cop to arrest her as a friend was recording the incident on her cellphone Brady was led away from the playground and was taken to the county jail Brady's friend was heard in the video calling after the officers that the woman's children were left behind in the park The group has been vocal in its opposition to Idaho Governor Brad Little's stay-at-home order and has been staging peaceful protests at various locations closed due to the coronavirus outbreak. Brady is pictured in her booking photo taken at the Ada County jail on Tuesday According to the latest data, as of Wednesday morning Idaho had 1,766 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 51 deaths. According to the Meridian Police Department, on Tuesday, the demonstrators removed metal signage and caution tape announcing the playground closure due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Brady and the other people were repeatedly told the playground area was off-limits and invited to use other parts of the park if they so chose. Cellphone video recorded by another woman at the park captured the moment Brady was arrested for refusing to leave. 'Ma'am, I've told you to exit numerous times,' an officer tells the bespectacled woman. 'This is it. Exit the playground now. I'm really trying to be nice about this.' Brady refused to leave and continued arguing with the officer, prompting him to give her '5 seconds' to clear the playground area. Following her arrest, some 100 people gathered outside the Meridian City Hall to stage a protest against the coronavirus restrictions Brady was released from jail in time to attend the Tuesday evening rally The Idaho protest is part of a growing nationwide trend involving people violating social distancing restrictions and staging demonstrations As the officer was counting down the seconds, a defiant Brady challenged him: 'arrest me for being difficult. Do it.' She then positioned her hands behind her back so that the officer could place handcuffs on her, and directed the woman documenting the incident on her cellphone to 'record it.' 'Officer, you don't wanna do it,' the woman warns the cop off-camera. The Meridian cop informs Brady that she is being detained. In response, she demands to know: 'am I being arrested or detained?' As she is being led away from the playground to the sound of jeers from her fellow protesters, her friend cries out behind her: 'her kids are here! her kids are here! What is gonna happen?' According to a press release from the police, Brady was booked into the local jail on a single count of misdemeanor trespassing. The agency stressed that officers made several attempts to 'help' Beady adhere to the rules, but she was 'non-compliant and forced officers to place her under arrest to resolve the issue.' The statement from the police department said: 'these are very trying times and the Meridian Police Department supports the publics right to assemble for peaceful protest, however the right does not include damaging public property or ignoring closures of City property and facilities.' Brady, pictured left in a 'Blue Lives Matter'-inspired gown, is married to a police detective in Boise. She is an outspoken anti-vaccination advocate Brady, who is married to Boise police detective Tim Brady, was released from the county jail Tuesday evening, just in time to attend a massive protest organized by the Idaho Freedom Foundation outside the Meridian City Hall. Some 100 people showed up carrying homemade signs demanding 'freedom.' The mom-of-four later spoke to the station KBOI, lamenting her plight. 'I feel like I was singled out because I was the only person that was arrested,' Brady said. 'I wasn't the only person standing on the bark. I definitely wasn't playing on the playground equipment. I wasn't swinging, never touched them. But yeah, I do feel like I was singled out and maybe it was because I asked too many questions.' Brady's husband is Tim Brady, a decorated detective with the Boise Police Department (left) Brady is the founder of the group Idahoans for Vaccine Freedom. In 2017, she made headlines when her then-five-year-old son was denied admission into kindergarten over an immunization exemption, and she demanded a public apology from officials. Her husband is a decorated police detective, who in 2013 was honored with a law enforcement award for his work on the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The Idaho protests are part of a growing nationwide trend involving people violating social distancing restrictions and staging demonstrations against stay-at-home orders. Last week, President Donald Trump fired off tweets urging residents in Michigan, Minnesota and Virginia to 'LIBERATE' their states. (Photo : Pixabay) A team of the United States electrical engineers has designed a tool that effectively mimics human mind synapses-a possible breakthrough in the field of "neuromorphic computing." For the first time, the component, called a neuromorphic memristor, proved to hold signals among neurons by using a low power device - a significant challenge in prior studies, researchers stated. ALSO READ: Is Brain-Reading Tech Really Coming? Here's What Happened to Facebook's Brain-Computer Interface Development A complicated concept Neuromorphic computing, according to Intel, is a complex concept of operating the biological mind in helping computer systems and artificial intelligence deal with "uncertainty, ambiguity, and contradiction in the natural world." "The key challenges in neuromorphic research are matching a human's flexibility and ability to learn from unstructured stimuli with the energy efficiency of the human brain," Intel notes. Engineers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst now suggested that "protein nanowires" from Geobacter could solve the mystery of replicating low power range brain uses to send signals. Researchers said that while conventional computers operate at over one volt, the mind spews indicators between neurons at around eighty millivolts-which is lower. The project, which has been posted in Nature Communications, featured the creation of a new type of memristor that makes use of such protein nanowires to attain similar "neurological voltages." In a statement, research co-author Jun Yao said a device can function at the same voltage level as the brain is made for the first time. Yao said people probably didn't even dare to believe having a device that is as power-efficient as the biological counterparts in a brain. "Now we have [a real] evidence of ultra-low-power computing capabilities," Yao said. The device, according to Yao, is a conceptual breakthrough. ALSO READ: The Advent of Mind-Reading Arrives in Silicon Valley! Scientists Develop Brain-Reading Chip to Improve Neural Activities An unconventional device with promising results The paper, posted April 20, describes how the memristive gadgets have become "promising candidates to emulate biological computing." Tianda Fu, the study lead author, said tiny protein wires had been developed at UMass Amherst by microbiologist and co-author Derek Lovley. The researchers said protein nanowires in Geobacter are suited to the experience as they are electrically conductive. Researchers, according to Fu, discovered that sending energy pulses through memristor's metal threat created new connections similar to learning in the human mind. "You can modulate the conductivity, or the plasticity of the nanowire-memristor synapse so it can emulate biological components for brain-inspired computing," Fu said. Compared to a conventional computer, the researcher said this device has a learning capability that is not software-based. The device, according to researchers, seeks to "fully explore biological, chemical, and electronic [parts] of protein nanowires in memristors" and how it could have real-world applications. Yao told Newsweek they 'borrowed' tiny wires from a bacteria responsible for the electrochemical reduction. He added they successfully made a protein-type memristor that works. The researchers can now make computers as power-efficient as the biological brain. Yao said the innovation will break the conventional concept that electronics need to work at higher power, followed by a broader search of computational devices that works at biological voltage. The research, according to Yao, blurs the boundaries between electronics and the biological system. "That can lead to advanced brain-machine interface and prosthetics, in which the human body can have a more intimate interface or communication with engineered robots/devices," he said. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. PR-Inside.com: 2020-04-22 17:21:19 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 836 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Noteworthy leaders in the global feed pigment market must undertake growth-oriented strategies such as new product launches and strategic alliances for maintaining robust market position.DUBAI, UAE / ACCESSWIRE / April 22, 2020 / Heightening demand for quality meat products and animal protein is strengthening the growth of feed pigment market. Further, rapid innovations led by crucial market players are major growth levers of feed pigment market. On that premise, the market was valued at approximately US$ 1.1 Bn in 2019, reports Future Market Insights (FMI)."Farmers' continual acceptance of feed pigments is a major growth driver. Moreover, heightened awareness along with presence of advanced R&D facilities continues to facilitate the market growth. Hence, the global feed pigment market will expand steadily at approximately 3% CAGR over the forecast period (2019-2029)," projects FMI.Request report sample with 200 pages to gain in-depth insights https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-11238 Key Takeaways of Feed Pigment Market StudyIn terms of product type, carotenoids hold the majority share in the overall market stack.Swine segment accounts for prominent share in the feed pigment market in terms of livestock with poultry segment closing in.North America leads the global feed pigment market while Europe presses forward.Asia Pacific will offer lucrative growth opportunities to manufacturers over the forecast period.Feed Pigment Market - Key Growth FactorsBurgeoning demand for nutritious and safe feeds is propelling the growth of feed pigment market across the globe.Better knowledge of farmers regarding nutritional benefits is fuelling the demand for feed pigment in North America.Growing poultry and aquaculture businesses in emerging Asian economies is bolstering the regional market growth.Rising economic wealth and rapid urbanization contribute substantially to the growth of feed pigment market.Feed Pigment Market - Key RestraintsRelatively high price point of synthetic feed pigments will limit the market growth through 2029.Availability restriction of marigold and other seasonal feed pigments is hampering the market growth.Impact of COVID-19 on Feed Pigment MarketTop market players in the global feed pigment market are bearing the brunt of supply chain disruptions induced by COVID-19 pandemic. The global economic headwinds in the wake of current outbreak are having an adverse impact on feed pigment market as well. Market leaders are constantly devising strategies to counter the effects of Coronavirus crisis.One of the most crucial COVID-19 impacts on feed pigment market is the decreasing consumer confidence. For instance, reduce popularity of aquaculture amid the rapidly spreading respiratory illness is restraining the market growth. Moreover, stringent lockdown measures and travel restrictions imposed by governments continue to pose challenges for prominent industry leaders.Explore the full feed pigment market report with 112 illustrative figures, 128 data tables and table of contents. Request ToC of the study atCompetitive LandscapeSome of the major players profiled in this FMI report include, but are not limited to, Behn Meyer Group, Guangzhou Leader Bio-Technology Co., Ltd., Royal DSM NV, BASF SE, Williamson & Co., Inc., Kemin Industries, Inc., Nutrex NV, Novus International, Inc., and Vitafor NV. Major stakeholders intend to boost production capacity while reducing the overall cost. Niche players are undertaking several inorganic and organic growth strategies for enhanced competitive advantage. For instance, alliances, joint ventures, collaborations, mergers and acquisitions are major inorganic strategies followed by major stakeholders along with new product launches as their chief organic strategy.More about the ReportThis Future Market Insights study of 200 pages provides all-inclusive insights on the global feed pigment market. The market analysis is based on product type (carotenoids, curcumin, caramel, and spirulina), source (natural, synthetic), and livestock (swine, poultry, ruminants, and aquatic animals) across seven regions (North America, Latin America, Europe, East Asia, South Asia, Oceania, and Middle East & Africa).Explore Extensive Coverage of FMI's Food & Beverages LandscapeFeed Premix Market - FMI's deep-dive coverage on the global feed premix market covers country-wise, region-wise, and segment-wise data along with key influencing factors for predefined projection period (2015-2025).Permeate Market - Get incisive insights on the global permeate market through FMI's study covering accurate qualitative and quantitative analysis for the course of forecast period (2017-2027).Poultry Feed Market - Obtain 360 degree analysis on the global poultry feed market through FMI's study encompassing respective market shares, key strategies, and business models of prominent players for 2015-2025.About Future Market Insights (FMI)Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India. FMI's latest market research reports and industry analysis help businesses navigate challenges and take critical decisions with confidence and clarity amidst breakneck competition.ContactMr. Abhishek BudholiyaUnit No: AU-01-H Gold Tower (AU), Plot No: JLT-PH1-I3A,Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai,United Arab EmiratesMARKET ACCESS DMCC InitiativeFor Sales Enquiries: sales@ futuremarketinsights.com For Media Enquiries: press@ futuremarketinsights.com Report: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/feed-pigment-market Press Release Source: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/press-release/feed-pigment-marke SOURCE: Future Market Insights My neighbors hunt. They can survive in the forest, hills, lakes, and rivers, here in Indiana. They understand the world of nature, its vicissitudes and savagery. Appreciating its transcendent beauty and cadences, they also accept its fierce cruelties. They do not worship nature. They seek reconciliation with it that they may endure and protect their loved ones. They admire the natural world, its towering majesty and microscopic complexity, but they do not hold it on a pedestal, pristine, and viewed from a distance. Theirs is a realistic appraisal of nature and its vagaries, and what they require to survive. Coming from the Bronx, I was acquainted with riding the subway or bus or navigating the busy and often treacherous streets of New York. There I learned to survive in the city, but I knew nothing of hunting, fishing, or surviving in nature. Coastal elites have disdain for those schooled in such things. They assume that food, water, and other necessities and amenities just appear. They lack awareness of the complex grids, structures, and platforms that maintain their comforts. The sources of the electricity that powers their computers and air-conditioning. The gasoline that fuels their cars. They do not appreciate those who make these daily, secular miracles possible, the commonplace wonders of modern, electronic civilization. Many Hoosiers preserve food. Some steam or pressure can. Or dehydrate, pickle, freeze-dry, smoke, or salt items. Knowing how to farm, they cope with caterpillars, aphids, and cutworms and guard against hedgehogs, fungi, and lack of rain. Some have gas tanks and generators. They have water filters, propane stoves, purifying tablets, first-aid kits, pick-up trucks, drills, hammers, and wrenches. They can repair a car, a machine, or a leaking pipe. And yes, they also know how to install wifi, use computers, navigate the internet, and operate smartphones. They have guns and ammunition. Well trained, many are veterans, serve in the National Guard or law enforcement, and are defenders of the 2nd amendment. They have shotguns, bolt-action rifles, AR-10s, and other semi-automatics. They own handguns and an array of shells, including expanding home-defense rounds. Many have night vision, tree stands, bows, arrows, camouflage, trail cameras, scents, GPS devices, and 2-way radios. They hunt duck, quail, and deer. Floating down a river or walking the fields, they recognize the rhythms of the animals they track and pursue, their migration and trail patterns, driven by the weather, mating seasons, and food sources. Some love to fish. Equipped with bait, rods, reels, nets, and spears, they cast for bluegill, catfish, and carp. It is a different world from city dwellers who know only of going to a grocery or ordering online. They are ignorant of nature, although they worship it in a paganistic way, atheists as they generally are. They believe in nothing, so they believe in everything. Global warming concerns them, though none would change their lifestyle to reduce their carbon footprint. They are uninformed of the history of climate patterns, the solar cycles that drive the weather, the ice ages and interglacials that occurred well before the industrial age. They blindly accept the panicked predictions of flawed Global Climate Models, not unlike the hysterical coronavirus forecasts that called for the Black Death and forced the unnecessary crashing of our economy. They would abhor nature if they actually had to live in it. But these metropolitans, gentry liberals, and globalists, scornful and sarcastic, enclosed in leftist coastal ecosystems, have their opinions confirmed daily by everyone around them. Predictable and conformist, they hilariously imagine themselves wild and free, and look down at those who know so much of nature, who can live and flourish in the wild. Hunters, fishermen, food preservers, and preppers do not idolize the environment. They just respect it. Such people, blue-collar types often, farmers, oil workers, mechanics, and coal miners, make the lives of the urbanites possible. They provide them with power, goods, food, and water that they may live and sneer. But if the power grid went down from a solar event or an EMP (ElectroMagnetic Pulse) device, or if the economy collapsed, the denizens of flyover country would survive. Probably not so our sophisticated urbanites. They would soon realize that their clever turns of phrase, condescending smirks, allegiance to diversity, abortion, and the rejection of God, would mean nothing before the fury of nature and natures God. It would be a distant and aloof nature, whose whims had formerly been kept at bay not by Greenpeace, Sierra Club, or the ACLU, but by truckers, electricians, and refrigerator repairmen. Their fatal conceits would vanish in terrified moments as nature delivered its cruel blows. Their high-minded rhetoric, progressive orthodoxy, navel gazing, and self-absorption would dissolve before the acid rain of Gaias indifferent wrath. The globalists, media types, and hip Marxist professors would not do well. The anointed ones, the ruling class, and other pompous visionaries would descend to savagery in a war of all against all. But the country bumpkins would get by. Some may not even blink an eye, for they already anticipated this, and had spent their lives preparing. In the age of coronavirus, a time of plague, with the economy crumbling, hospitals closing, streets emptied of life, perhaps the metropolitans may want to reconsider their contempt. What is certain is that our elites, in the media, academia, and elsewhere, cloistered in liberal ghettoes, amongst fellow members of the cognoscenti, would not survive without the welders, assembly line workers, and equipment operators. Those whom they refer to as hicks, rubes, and deplorables who cling to their guns and Bibles. Maybe they should thank them. But dont hold your breath. Dr. Moss is a practicing Ear Nose and Throat Surgeon, author, and columnist, residing in Jasper, IN. He has written A Surgeons Odyssey and Matildas Triumph available on amazon.com. Find more of his essays at richardmossmd.com. Visit Richard Moss, M.D. on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Asked about the pushback, Hidalgo said, There's always going to be a minority voice people are entitled to their opinions. This is not a police state, she said. But we needed to make clear its not a recommendation, its something we have to do for sake of our safety, our lives and our economy. Officials in nearby Montgomery County said they would not be issuing a mask order. I will not issue an order mandating the wearing of face coverings or mask in public places anywhere in Montgomery County. We will support your right to decide for yourself, Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough said, according to Fox 26 Houston. Similarly, in Galveston County, county Judge Mark Henry called the requirement unconstitutional. While we encourage that you consider these recommendations for your own safety and the safety of others around you, I will not be mandating it because I believe it is unconstitutional to do so, he said in a Facebook post. The five-member Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) on Wednesday visited densely populated Dharavi, Asias largest slum and one of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) hotspots in the city, to assess the on-ground situation and suggested a few measures to the state government to contain the viral outbreak. The team advised the Maharashtra government to increase the number of people in institutional quarantine facilities by ramping up the bed strength from existing 1,200 to 2,000 and to conduct more aggressive testing. State public health minister Rajesh Tope, accompanied the team, headed by Manoj Joshi, additional secretary, Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries, to Dharavi. Tope told media persons that the Central team had advised increasing both testing and quarantine facilities in the congested slum. Well increase the quarantine facility from 1,200 to 2,000. Well put up tents, if required, to quarantine people. Well conduct more tests as well, Tope told reporters. Dharavi has recorded 180 Covid-19 positive cases and 12 deaths so far. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) authorities said that around 40,000 people from the area have been screened to date. The Central team lauded the measures adopted by the state government to contain the viral outbreak in Dharavi, but expressed concern over an imminent spike in the number of Covid-19 positive cases, said a senior BMC official. Dharavi recorded its first Covid-19 case on April 1. The team expects that the spike in the number of new cases could occur anytime soon. They suggested that the test counts must be increased along with making more beds available at institutional quarantine facilities, the official added. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. An infectious disease expert says nature lovers should not be banned from stretching their legs in national parks while people with nowhere else to exercise continue to cluster in Sydney's outdoor hotspots. While most national parks remain open, the NSW government has warned people run the risk of being fined by police if they travel to a park outside their area and instead should choose a place to exercise locally. Engadine bushwalker Ralph Cartwright regularly explores the nearby Royal National Park. Credit:Peter Rae But with Centennial Park banning cars and councils encouraging people to seek alternatives to popular jogging routes, Professor Peter Collignon from the Australian National University's medical school said more areas should be opened up for exercise. "What we need people to do is to keep a 1 to 2-metre distance and also obviously handwashing etcetera, and, from my point of view, wherever we do that doesn't matter, so if parks are too crowded in Sydney going out to the countryside where there's less crowds strikes me as a good idea," Professor Collignon said. JZ CAPITAL PARTNERS LIMITED (a closed-end collective investment scheme incorporated with limited liability under the laws of Guernsey with registered number 48761) LEI: 549300TZCK08Q16HHU44 Company Update THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (EU) NO. 596/2014. 22 April 2020 The Board of JZ Capital Partners Limited ("JZCP" or the "Company"), the London listed fund that invests in US and European micro-cap companies and US real estate, today announces a proposed change to the Company's investment policy. Under the proposals, the Company will make no further investments except in respect of which it has existing obligations or to the extent that investment is required to support existing investments. The intention is to realise the maximum value of its investments and, after repayment of all debt, to return capital to shareholders. Whilst the Investment Managers have been working assiduously in difficult circumstances to stabilise the Company's investments, the Board of JZCP recognises that, as a result of the disappointing and significant losses in value of its real estate portfolio and poor performance, and having reviewed all available options, there has to be a change in investment policy. This represents a change of emphasis from what was announced in the interim statement, but the Board is confident that this proposed new policy would now receive strong shareholder support and a resolution to that effect will be put to shareholders as soon as possible. Additionally, in light of the uncertainties created by the Covid 19 crisis, the announcement of the Company's financial results for its year ended 29thFebruary 2020 originally scheduled for mid-May, will be delayed until mid-June. For further information: The imposed lockdown is said to have impacted IT industry tremendously, especially, since most companies had to execute work-from-home (WFH), to keep their businesses afloat. A recent study by SCIKEY Mind Match which was published by PTI on April 10, 2020, stated that 99.8% workforce in IT sector is incapable of working remotely or work-from-home. Bringing in a revolutionary change and setting a unique example for more to follow, global software solutions provider JK Technosoft, headquartered in India, made it possible to go-live with implementation of supply chain solution for ImpelPro SCM Solutions on Microsoft Dynamics NAV platform, while working remotely from the confinements of their home spaces. The specialty of the project lies in its implementation where none of the parties met in person owing to the Governments orders on social distancing. Despite the challenges, the company managed to get the Microsoft Dynamics NAV solution using the remote available collaboration technologies and its remote project governance framework. NAV is a dynamic software solution in terms of vendor price management, customer price, inventory valuation, inventory planning with strong audit trail functionality and works seamlessly on modules such as Finance, Fixed Asset, Sales, Purchase and Inventory. Commenting on the successful implementation, Mr. Aloke Paskar, President & CEO, JK Technosoft said, WFH is a new normal in India and companies are skeptical as to whether their partners can execute critical programs. ImpelPro SCM Solutions and JKT together took this challenge, used the available collaboration technologies to manage teams and schedules for a successful implementation. ImpelPro and JKT have shown that good communication, governance and use of collaboration tools can overcome challenges of WFH in India, and get things done on time successfully. While the country and the whole world is struggling in these extraordinary times, it gives me immense pleasure to congratulate ImpelPro SCM Solutions and JK Technosoft teams for their focus, dedication and team spirit in making this a success. Director and Project Sponsor, Sanjay Ghone Of ImpelPro SCM Solutions said, After evaluating various options, we decided to go for MS Dynamics NAV 2016 with JK Technosoft as our implementation partner. After COVID-19, meeting in person was ruled out. Important milestones like design, developments, master uploading, UAT, gap analysis and their resolutions, user training were all handled remotely. Both our team members were well co-ordinated and with a single objective of meeting the go-live target date of 30th March 2020. While WFH was the new normal, JK Technosoft has been of phenomenal value by ensuring the remote project management, governance and collaboration enable our joint teams to succeed. The new system will enable ImpelPro SCM Solutions to improve its service levels to clients, better data analysis and reporting, accurate demand planning, better integration with clients systems, thus avoiding duplication of work and managing growth. Several countries evaluate their plans to lift lockdown and push things back to normalcy once the Coronavirus infection curve flattens. World Health Organisation has a cue for those countries -- but the way back would not be easy. While COVID-19 accelerates very fast, it decelerates much more slowly, were the exact words of Dr Tedros Adhanom, Director general of the World Health Organization, in a recent address to the world reeling with COVID-19 outbreak. Reuters Having mentioned the path to be difficult on the way back to normalcy, WHO has laid down guidelines to be followed as countries start lifting the lockdown. In many aspects, these six guidelines will define everyones life in the coming months and will be a deciding factor in any countrys tryst to achieve normalcy. Here is what WHO says - 1. To lift lockdown, transmission must be controlled The first and foremost requirement for the lockdown to be lifted is for the agencies to have identified all the infected cases in a region and have them under observation. What makes it difficult is that even a single unidentified case can be a source of transmission of the Coronavirus disease to many and hence the lockdown cannot be lifted till the time that is the case. Countries can start to look towards lifting the lockdown even when the transmission is controlled to a level of sporadic cases and clusters of cases, all from known contacts or importations. This would basically mean that the transmission has occurred within a closed and identifiable group and there is no risk of a community transmission from an unidentified case. Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (Image: Reuters) 2. Health system capacities are optimum to detect, test, isolate & treat every #COVID19 case Medical facilities of many western countries have collapsed under the emergency resulting from the Coronavirus spread. Regardless of the count of those infected, one thing is clear from such examples - the lockdown cannot be lifted till the time such health systems are flooded with cases. WHO recognises that as the second most crucial guidelines for a lockdown to be lifted. Health system capacities of a nation should be enough to detect, test, isolate & treat every COVID19 case & trace every contact," it says. 3. Hotspots like health facilities & nursing homes are free of outbreak risks In addition to the region at large, chances of an outbreak in the health facilities of a particular region should also be minimal for things to get back to normal. This is because health facilities, specially the ones being used for the treatment of Coronavirus patients, are hotspots for the transmission of the virus. If this is not taken care of, stopping the second wave of the Coronavirus infection will almost be impossible and many more people might be infected than at present. 4. Preventive measures are put in workplaces, schools & other places Nobody beckons life to return to normal just as it was before the spread of COVID19. There will be obvious changes to the functioning of societies and a newfound norm will be for the open organisations to have preventive measures in place for its occupants. These might include necessitation of sanitizers, masks and more. (Representative Image: Reuters) 5. Risk of imported cases Before any lockdown can be lifted, WHO also urges for countries to have measures in place to rapidly detect and manage suspected cases among travellers. This is to manage the risk of imported cases through an analysis of the likely origin and routes. This will ensure that no transmission takes place from one geographic location to another. Even if it does, it would not go unnoticed in this scenario and hence appropriate measures can be taken to isolate those infected. 6. Communities are educated about the impending shift As mentioned before, there will be a new norm even when the lockdown is lifted. Life will not be back to what it used to be and mobility will still be restricted to much extent. WHO urges that before even minimum mobility is allowed, the masses at large should be educated on the new norm and prevention measures should be followed to the max. Ultimately, Dr Tedros eyes the development and delivery of a safe and effective vaccine as the only permanent stop to the transmission of the Coronavirus disease. Until that happens, we can expect the lockdown in our regions to be lifted as and when the countries start ticking the six check boxes above. Phoenix, Arizona--(Newsfile Corp. - April 22, 2020) - The Stock Day Podcast welcomed Tetra Bio-Pharma (OTCQB: TBPMF) ("the Company"), a biopharmaceutical leader in cannabinoid-based drug discovery and development with a Health Canada approved, and FDA reviewed and approved, clinical program aimed at bringing novel prescription drugs and treatments to patients and their healthcare providers. CEO of the Company, Dr. Guy Chamberland, joined Stock Day host Everett Jolly. Jolly began the interview by asking about a recent press release by the Company confirming the renewal of a DEA Schedule 1 license for its QIXLEEF clinical site. "The way it works is that the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has to approve the site even before we apply to the FDA," explained Dr. Chamberland. "Once you get the drug approved for a trial by the FDA, the site then has to go back to the DEA and the DEA has to add that trial to your license," he continued. "That was an essential one," he added. "Now we have no more barriers." Jolly then asked about the Company's FDA Orphan Drug Designation, which was received for their ophthalmic clinical program. "This was one came as kind of a surprise to me," said Dr. Chamberland, noting that the program includes the treatment of serious ophthalmic conditions. The conversation then turned to the Company's cannabinoid-based topical cream, which also recently received an FDA Orphan Drug Designation. Dr. Chamberland shared that the Company planned to develop a pipeline of Orphan Designated products, which are protected for seven years if granted successfully. "That is key. Many biotechs go down this path," said Dr. Chamberland. "What are your plans for the second and third quarter?", asked Jolly. "Our strength has been to prepare and submit our drug applications, as well as other regulatory applications," said Dr. Chamberland. "You need to develop the science to convince the FDA that your drug can potentially work in this indication," he explained, adding that proving the relevance of the drug to the FDA is another important part of the process. "A lot of people fail in getting orphan drugs because they can't answer those questions." To close the interview, Dr. Chamberland shared that the Company has adapted well to the virtual demands of the COVID-19 pandemic, and continues to move forward with its clinical and regulatory submissions. "It's great to see the hard work the company is putting in and the work that is actually being generated because everyone is focused on their job." To hear Dr. Guy Chamberland's entire interview, follow the link to the podcast here: https://audioboom.com/posts/7563204-tetra-bio-pharma-discusses-fda-orphan-drug-designation-for-its-ophthalmic-program-and-cannabinoid Investors Hangout is a proud sponsor of "Stock Day," and Stock Day Media encourages listeners to visit the company's message board at https://investorshangout.com/ About Tetra Bio-Pharma Tetra Bio-Pharma (TSXV: TBP) (OTCQB: TBPMF) is a biopharmaceutical leader in cannabinoid-based drug discovery and development with a Health Canada approved, and FDA reviewed and approved, clinical program aimed at bringing novel prescription drugs and treatments to patients and their healthcare providers. The Company has several subsidiaries engaged in the development of an advanced and growing pipeline of Bio Pharmaceuticals, Natural Health and Veterinary Products containing cannabis and other medicinal plant-based elements. With patients at the core of what we do, Tetra Bio-Pharma is focused on providing rigorous scientific validation and safety data required for inclusion into the existing bio pharma industry by regulators, physicians and insurance companies. For more information visit: www.tetrabiopharma.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Statements Some statements in this release may contain forward-looking information. All statements, other than of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without limitation, statements regarding potential acquisitions and financings) are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by use of the words "may", "will", "should", "continue", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "believe", "intend", "plan" or "project" or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's ability to control or predict, that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, without limitation, the inability of the Company to obtain sufficient financing to execute the Company's business plan; competition; regulation and anticipated and unanticipated costs and delays, the success of the Company's research and development strategies, including the success of this product or any other product, the applicability of the discoveries made therein, the successful and timely completion and uncertainties related to the regulatory process, the timing of clinical trials, the timing and outcomes of regulatory or intellectual property decisions and other risks disclosed in the Company's public disclosure record on file with the relevant securities regulatory authorities. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results or events not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake an obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise unless required by applicable securities legislation. For further information, please contact Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc.: CONTACT: Alpha Bronze, LLC Mr. Pascal Nigen Phone: + 1 (646) 255-0433 tetra@alphabronze.net About The "Stock Day" Podcast Founded in 2013, Stock Day is the fastest growing media outlet for Nano-Cap and Micro-Cap companies. It educates investors while simultaneously working with penny stock and OTC companies, providing transparency and clarification of under-valued, under-sold Micro-Cap stocks of the market. Stock Day provides companies with customized solutions to their news distribution in both national and international media outlets. The Stock Day Podcast is the number one radio show of its kind in America. Stock Day recently launched its Video Interview Studio located in Phoenix, Arizona. SOURCE: Stock Day Media 602-441-3474 To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/54746 South Korea has seen no unusual signs with regard to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's health, government officials said here Tuesday, after an American media report said that Kim was "in grave danger after a surgery". In the report, CNN cited an unidentified "US official with direct knowledge" but did not provide any further details. "There are no unusual signs in North Korea," a South Korean government official told Yonhap News Agency. "It is not a fact." Another official said there have been no signs detected with regard to Kim's health, emphasizing that the North's leader had continued to be seen in public until recently. A South Korean presidential spokesman also said that no unusual signs have been detected about Kim's health. The CNN report came after the Daily NK, a South Korean internet news outlet specializing in North Korea news, reported that Kim has been receiving medical treatment at a villa in the resort county of Hyangsan, outside of Pyongyang, following a cardiovascular procedure, said the Yonhap News Agency. Speculation has increased about what happened to Kim since he apparently skipped an annual visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun on the occasion of the 108th birthday of his late grandfather and state founder Kim Il-sung on April 15. Kim was last seen on April 11 in state media reports presiding over a political bureau meeting of the ruling Workers' Party, calling for "strict national countermeasures to thoroughly check the infiltration of the virus." He, however, did not attend a major session of the country's rubber-stamp parliament the following day, nor did state media report on his attendance in the country's latest weapons tests on April 14, a day before the late founder's birthday, an unusual absence given that he had mostly supervised such firings in recent months. Kim has reportedly had health problems apparently linked to obesity and heavy smoking and his prolonged absence from public view has often spawned rumours about deterioration in his health, said the Yonhap News Agency report. From early September 2014, he disappeared from the public eye for about 40 days and returned limping. Seoul's intelligence agency later said that he underwent surgery to have a cyst removed from his ankle. Kim took over as leader of the communist state after his father Kim Jong-il died of a heart attack in late 2011. BERLIN One of the grimmest symbols of the coronavirus outbreak a morgue set up in a Madrid skating rink closed on Wednesday as stores and other businesses reopened in places across Europe, while the U.S. was beset with increasingly partisan disagreements over how and when to restart its economy. As some governors in the U.S. largely Republican ones moved to reopen an ever-wider variety of businesses, others took a more cautious approach and came under mounting pressure from protesters complaining that their livelihoods are being destroyed and their freedom of movement is being infringed on. With the crisis easing but far from over in Europe, small shops in Berlin reopened, and restrictions were also relaxed in Denmark and Austria. In France, long lines formed outside the few McDonald's drive-thrus that started serving customers again. Still, many employees and customers were uneasy, suggesting that a return to normal is a long way off. "Of course I'm happy that I can open again and we can keep our heads above water," said Galina Hooge, who opened her small Berlin toy store for the first time in over a month. But she worried that some Germans still aren't taking the outbreak seriously. "Relaxing the rules doesn't mean that everything is over. It's not over by a long stretch," she said. German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said "very careful steps" must be taken to keep the virus from making a resurgence. "What we want to avoid is falling back into the exponential spread of the virus that we had in the first phase of the pandemic," he said. Coronavirus in Oregon: Latest news | Live map tracker |Text alerts | Newsletter Across the Atlantic in Savannah, Georgia, where Gov. Brian Kemp announced that gyms and salons can reopen this week, gym owner Mark Lebos said it would be professional negligence to do so right now. "We are not going to be a vector of death and suffering," he said. The outbreak has infected over 2.5 million people and killed about 180,000 around the world, including more than 45,000 in the U.S., according to a tally compiled by Johns Hopkins University from official government figures, though the true numbers are believed to be far higher. Although some hot spots like Italy, Spain and New York have seen a drop in daily death tolls and new hospitalizations, other areas are facing a resurgence of the coronavirus. Singapore, once a model of virus tracking and prevention, saw an explosion of new cases and announced it would extend its lockdown into June. In California, health officials said two people with coronavirus died in the state weeks before the first reported U.S. death from the disease on Feb. 29 in Washington state. The finding shows that COVID-19 had been circulating in the U.S. earlier than was previously thought. The economic fallout from the crisis mounted as oil prices suffered an epic collapse and U.S. stocks registered their worst loss in weeks Tuesday on Wall Street. The U.S. Senate approved nearly $500 billion in coronavirus aid for businesses, hospitals and testing. The bill goes next to the House. In North Carolina, where Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is keeping in place his stay-home order for at least another week, hundreds marched around the executive mansion on Tuesday. At the Missouri Capitol, several hundred with the same demands waved the American flag and chanted "USA! USA!" And in Wisconsin, GOP legislative leaders asked the state Supreme Court to block an extension of the Democratic governor's stay-home order. Spain, one of the world's worst-hit countries, planned to allow children out of their homes next week for the first time in nearly six weeks. "I am aware of the tremendous effort that the confinement has demanded of our smallest ones and their families," Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said. The country's death toll reached nearly 22,000, behind only the United States and Italy, after 435 more deaths were reported Wednesday. But the numbers reflected a plateauing of the outbreak. In another hopeful sign, a large makeshift morgue at an ice rink closed, with all the bodies having been removed by Wednesday. The temporary morgue in Madrid's Palacio de Hielo held a total of 1,145 bodies of coronavirus victims during its four weeks in operation. "We were not able to save their lives, but let it be known that our armed forces have not left them alone for one minute," Spain's Defense Minister Margarita Robles said. India partially eased one of the world's strictest lockdowns this week, but health officials fear a surge in cases. Starting in May, the country is planning to use wristbands fitted with an app to track people's movements and body temperature. The technology is aimed at easing the vast manpower needed to track the virus among the country's 1.3 billion people. The Associated Press Subscribe to our Oregon coronavirus newsletter: Singapore, April 2020 Banyan Tree Holdings, one of the worlds leading independent, multi-branded hospitality groups, marks Earth Day 2020 with the launch of Rooted in Sustainability, its commemorative book traversing the emotional architecture underpinning Banyan Trees 25-year sustainability journey. Its story is one of transformation: a promise that became a commitment, turning an idea into an ideal and impacting many lives made better by the organisations core philosophy: Embracing the Environment, Empowering People. Named after one of the most venerated trees in Asia, banyan trees can live for centuries, standing firmly, resilient against time and tide, a symbol of constancy in an ever-changing world. Its vast canopy provides shelter for weary travellers whilst its roots are deeply entrenched in its foundation, holding true to meaningful heritage with the memories of time gone by. The book highlights not only the journey of Banyan Tree as a company, but the realisation of a concept, which at first is unbeknown to its founders, Executive Chairman Mr Ho Kwon Ping, Senior Vice President Ms Claire Chiang and Senior Vice President Mr Ho Kwon Cjan. Their single-minded ideal became intertwined with their vision for the brand, through an organic process of developing their own values and beliefs: tourism, as a powerful force for driving positive change in this world. This vision led Banyan Trees founders to remediate an abandoned toxic tin mine in Thailand, turning it into Asias first integrated resort Laguna Phuket with a thriving community and home to their flagship property, Banyan Tree Phuket. Founded in 1994 on the core concept of sustainability, Banyan Tree Holdings seeks to create long-term value for all stakeholders and destinations across its network of properties, products and brands, through a purpose-driven mission. It sowed the seeds for the brand to flourish in new and exciting locations globally. Innovative design and thoughtful construction processes are in harmony with nature and infused with local culture for a deep sense of place, wherever it is planted. As an industry leader championing sustainability, Banyan Tree unveils through the book some of the humble faces that make up the Groups family and showcases heartwarming accounts on cultural heritage and biodiversity protection, women empowerment and uplifting artisans livelihoods. During the period of growth, it was the companys key stakeholders its associate workforce who embrace stewardship of the core values that now permeate throughout the organisation. As a responsible business, Banyan Tree has perpetuated a platform for possibilities from advancing talent development and management excellence through its Banyan Tree Management Academy, to empowering local capacity, creating programmes and opening facilities that provide potential pathways out of poverty for disadvantaged sectors of society. Most journeys that lead to great rewards come fraught with hardship. Banyan Tree details some of its toughest challenges encountered along its path. Walking the talk, its leaders with the dedicated stakeholders including its 11,000 associates across 24 countries have stood side by side, united by diversity, and resilient against the flux of time. Recognised for its commitment to environmental protection and community development through its Banyan Tree Global Foundation, the Groups efforts is aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Ms Claire Chiang, Co-founder and SVP of Banyan Tree Holdings and Chairperson of Banyan Tree Global Foundation said, Banyan Tree continues to drive what we consider as emotional responses and connections; we strive to deliver exceptional experiences anchored by strong narratives which touch the hearts. One effort at a time, at every destination, with every community by walking the talk in stewarding responsible development is the central message. This book documents part of a wondrous 25-year journey that I think all Banyan Tree associates and stakeholders should be proud of. I thank each and every one of them! Looking ahead, Banyan Tree addresses the growing need for resilient and sustainable communities, in the face of unprecedented global change. In line with its service culture of I Am With You, the Company emphasises the importance of empathy and strengthening partnerships. It is about working together to achieve greater impact and creating value towards global goals, in good and bad times especially amidst the current COVID-19 situation. Through this biography Rooted in Sustainability, Banyan Tree provides a sustainability roadmap, which other businesses wishing to expand their scope of responsibility may consider adopting. No journey will be the same, but together we can make a difference Doing well, whilst continually doing greater good for the planet, the people and the business. To discover Banyan Trees intriguing sustainability journey, read Rooted in Sustainability book here. Book Link: http://investor.banyantree.com/PDF/SR/Rooted-in-Sustainability-BT25-Book-2019.pdf For Banyan Trees sustainability ethos and how it serves as a steward of positive change, visit banyantreeglobalfoundation.com. For Banyan Trees values and impacts in our annual Sustainability Reports: .banyantreeglobalfoundation.com/stories-we-share/ The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) on Wednesday handed over 2,000 personal protective equipment kits and masks to the Delhi Metro unit of the CISF for protection against COVID-19, officials said. The ITBP has set up a special facility at its camp at Saboli in Haryana's Sonipat district to prepare fabricated personal protective equipment (PPE) and masks for the use of its troops and for other organisations battling the pandemic on ground. These protection gears are meant for frontline workers of police, paramilitary forces and healthcare workers and not for doctors who treat the COVID-19 affected patients. "Over 1,000 PPEs and an equal amount of triple-layer face masks were handed over to the CISF metro rail unit today," an ITBP spokesperson said. "The PPEs and masks will enable the CISF to be prepared as and when they are deployed for Delhi Metro protection duties," he said. The ITBP, with about 90,000 personnel in its ranks, is primarily tasked to guard the 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China. The Delhi Metro unit of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) is the largest deployment of the paramilitary in a single establishment across the country. About 12,000 women and men personnel of the CISF guard the Delhi Metro that has over 160 operational stations across the national capital region comprising Delhi, Ghaziabad, Noida, Gurgaon and Faridabad. These PPE KITS and masks will be used by personnel who frisk metro passengers and their baggage while some others deployed at vantage security positions in the station area with arms will also be donning them, a senior official said. The metro services have been suspended since the nationwide lockdown was imposed to combat the spread of coronavirus. The CISF is also preparing a set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) that will be deployed once the Delhi Metro decides to restart operations post the end of the lockdown, which began on March 25. The force is mulling to deploy temperature scanners, usage of 'Aarogya Setu' app (application) and contactless frisking in select cases while allowing passengers to travel in the rapid rail network. The about 1.62 lakh personnel string force is the national civil aviation security force guarding 63 airports and protecting other vital infrastructure in the nuclear and aerospace domain. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) STAMFORD Aerospace and defense materials producer Hexcel is moving forward with sweeping cost-cutting measures including several hundred layoffs on the west coast, as well as salary cuts and furloughs as it grapples with drop-offs in revenues and profits. The 11 percent year-over-year decrease in returns to $541 million reflected disruption from coronavirus-sparked temporary closures at Hexcel plants and customer facilities, while it also dealt with the hit to demand from the continued grounding of Boeing 737 Max planes. Quarterly profits plunged from about $72 million a year ago to around $42 million. Coronavirus concerns prompted Hexcel earlier this month to cancel a planned merger with another industry powerhouse, Woodward. Going forward, we anticipate significant declines in demand within the aerospace and industrial markets that will challenge us for the remainder of the year, Hexcel CEO, Chairman and President Nick Stanage said in a statement. While we do not yet know how long this pandemic will last or its continued impact on customer demand, our Hexcel team is acting decisively to realign our operations in this rapidly changing business environment. So far this month, Hexcel has reported a total of 288 permanent layoffs at its plants in Burlington and Kent in Washington state and 50 temporary layoffs at its offices in Dublin, Calif., according to those states labor records. Hexcel officials said in their earnings report they intended to reduce the total workforce to align operations with customer demand. As of Dec. 31, 2019, the No. 932 firm in last years Fortune standings had employed 6,626 full-time employees and contract workers. That contingent included 3,567 in the United States and 3,059 in other countries. Approximately 45 employees are based at its main offices at 281 Tresser Blvd., according to its website. At the same time, the company is implementing temporary salary reductions and unpaid furloughs for all salaried employees whose positions have not been not eliminated. Base pay for Stanage and cash compensation for each board member would be reduced by 50 percent until further notice. Hexcel is also eliminating contract labor and overtime while reducing discretionary spending to essential items only. While decisions that impact employees are always difficult, the additional actions we are taking will help us preserve many critical jobs as we continue to serve our customers in line with changing demand. Hexcel entered this pandemic with a strong balance sheet and liquidity position, Stanage said. These measures are positioning the business to emerge strongly once the pandemic is over and capitalize on continued secular growth of advanced composites. In addition, the company is suspending its stock dividend and stock-buyback program, decisions that will be evaluated each quarter. It is also suspending its employee stock-purchase plan and match on employees 401(k) contributions until the end of the year. Those changes followed an April 6 announcement that the company would reduce costs through a hiring freeze, travel restrictions, reduced capital expenditures and an evaluation of employment levels. Hexcel shares closed Wednesday at about $28, compared with a 52-week high of $87. pschott@stamfordadvocate.com; twitter: @paulschott A Wellington County resident has joined two Toronto writers to scoop the top three finalist spots in the Stars annual short-story competition. Over 1,000 writers from across the province of Ontario submitted their pieces for consideration in this years Toronto Star Short Story Contest, the 42nd annual writing battle that rewards the best among ordinary storytellers. Every spring, the three finalists are usually announced and rewarded at a public event, but the ceremony wont take place this year due to ongoing physical distancing measures to combat the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. As usual, the winners stories will be published in the Stars Insight section over the next three weekends, starting this Saturday, April 25. The 2020 top prize goes to Adam Elliott Segal of Toronto, whose piece Burning is centred on a girl who spends her time reading spy novels and earning a living as a dancer at a local nightclub. Her present realities are mixed with flashbacks from her past, in what the judges called beautiful, evocative prose that is both compelling and immersive. The eye for the telling detail paired with solid dialogue and a narrative that moves between past and present with ease, this poignant story captured time and place, and the immediate attention of all the judges, they wrote in praise of Elliott Segals story. Elliott Segal, whose bylines have appeared in various Canadian publications, will pocket a $5,000 cheque and earn tuition fees for a creative-writing program of his choice at the Humber School for Writers. Deb Stark of Wellington wins the second prize for her story titled Holding the Dog. The judges praised her writing style and her ability to capture the stress people feel when their loved ones are battling dementia. While the ending is not unexpected, the journey to get there is written with authenticity and poignancy, the judges wrote. Stark will receive a $2,000 cheque. This years third prize went to Heather Breeze, an intern architect in Toronto who also loves prose writing. Her story, Unspoken, is about the complexities of modern-day relationships. Breeze will get $1,000 in prize money. Launched in 1978, the Toronto Star Short Story Contest is open to all Ontarians aged 16 and up. Each year, the contest draws thousands of entries, which must be shorter than 2,500 words as well as original and unpublished anywhere else. Employees of the sponsoring companies and their immediate family members, as well as those working in the promotional and advertising industry, are not allowed to participate. The contest is organized in partnership with the Toronto Public Library and the Humber College School for Writers. This years panel of judges included Vickery Bowles, the Toronto Public Librarys city librarian; Richard Ouzounian, former theatre critic for the Toronto Star, author and director; and the Stars books editor, Deborah Dundas. The Gujarat police on Wednesday urged citizens to follow the norms of COVID-19 lockdown by staying home for Parshuram Jayanti and during the month of Ramzan, which begins on April 23. Director general of police Shivanand Jha urged people to refrain from stepping out on the occasion of Parshuram Jayanti, which is observed on April 26, and during the month of Ramzan that begins on April 23. Speaking to reporters at Gandhinagar, Jha said, "I urge people to stay indoors during Ramzan and upcoming Parshuram Jayanti. People must maintain social distancing and avoid gathering at one place on the pretext of feasts or prayers." The DGP also requested people not to gather at places of worship to avoid contracting the infection and appealed to religious leaders to encourage social distancing. "This is the time to save ourselves and others from getting infected. Recently, we had not allowed any gatherings for Ramanavami and Hanuman Jayanti. We had also lodged cases on people who had defied our orders," Jha clarified. The DGP warned of strict action against people who tried to come out their homes during the lockdown. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr.20 Trend: First Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva has made a Facebook post congratulating the country`s Christian community on the occasion of Easter. In a post on her official Facebook page Mehriban Aliyeva says: I sincerely congratulate the entire Christian community of Azerbaijan on the occasion of the Holy Easter! On this day, the prayers are read for the health, happy future of our citizens and tranquility of our country. Joining all these prayers and wishes, I express my confidence that we will be able to cope successfully with the difficulties we face today thanks to the solidarity, determination and will of our people! May the Almighty God grant each of you robust health, long live and happiness! [April 22, 2020] FB Financial Corporation Announces Change in Location for Annual Meeting of Shareholders FB Financial Corporation (NYSE: FBK) ("FB Financial") announced today a change in the location for its annual meeting of shareholders. The meeting date and time are unchanged. Record Date: March 2, 2020 Meeting Date: Thursday, April 30, 2020 Meeting Time: 1:00 p.m. (Central Time) Meeting Access: Virtual Shareholder Meeting http://www.meetingcenter.io/243055954 Due to the ongoing public health impact of the coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) and to support the health and well-being of our associates, shareholders, and our communities please note that the location of the 2020 annual meeting of shareholders has been changed. The meeting will be held over the web in a virtual meeting format and will no be available for in person attendance. To access the virtual meeting go to our virtual shareholder meeting website at: http://www.meetingcenter.io/243055954 on April 30, 2020. The meeting will begin at 1:00 p.m. Central Time. To login to the virtual meeting you will be required to have a control number and passcode. The passcode for the meeting is FBK2020. If you were a registered shareholder on the record date, your control number can be found on your proxy card, notice, or email that you previously received. If you held your shares through an intermediary, such as a bank or broker, on the record date, you must register in advance to attend the annual meeting. Register by submitting proof of your proxy power (legal proxy) reflecting your FB Financial shares along with your name and email address to Computershare. Requests for registration must be labeled as "Legal Proxy" and be received no later than 4:00 p.m. Central Time on April 27, 2020. You will receive a confirmation email from Computershare of your registration. Requests for registration should be directed to Computershare by forwarding the email from your broker or attaching an image of your legal proxy to [email protected]. Please note that the proxy card included with the proxy materials previously distributed will not be updated to reflect the change in location and may continue to be used to vote your shares in connection with the annual meeting. ABOUT FB FINANCIAL CORPORATION FB Financial Corporation (NYSE: FBK) is a bank holding company headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. FB Financial operates through its wholly owned banking subsidiary, FirstBank, the third largest Tennessee-headquartered bank, with 73 full-service bank branches across Tennessee, North Alabama, North Georgia and Central Kentucky and mortgage offices across the Southeast. FirstBank serves five of the largest metropolitan markets in Tennessee and has approximately $6.4 billion in assets. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005246/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] According to the McKinsey & Company report, COVID-19: Investing in Black Lives and Livelihoods, 39% of jobs held by Black workers (seven million jobs in all) are vulnerable as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, compared with 34% for White workers. The majority of Black workers, by the very nature of their jobs, are putting their lives and health on the line to provide necessary goods and services to our society. "Black is Human" is the Burrell Communications Group community engagement platform created to uplift and empower the underserved in African American communities. The award-winning marketing communications agency is based in Chicago and has spent nearly 49 years curating targeted creative and community relations programs for major brands like McDonald's U.S.A, Toyota Motors North America, Walmart, Comcast and more. The "For Jason" PSA will be distributed across top-tier African American broadcast and digital media outlets, including TV One, Black News Channel, Revolt TV, iOne, Rolling Out and Bounce TV. The campaign's goal is to raise awareness of the severity of COVID-19 within the African American community, and provide streamlined access to critical and relevant information, via the Black is Human webpage. If interested in supporting the "For Jason" campaign, please follow and like the Black is Human Twitter and Facebook pages and share the video. For more information on the Black is Human initiative, please visit: www.blackishuman.com In an additional effort to support those most severely impacted by this global pandemic, Burrell will provide grocery deliveries to long-time community partner, Primo Center. Primo Center is a leader in providing family shelter, permanent supportive housing and other services to homeless families in the south and west sides of Chicago, including North Lawndale, Englewood, and Auburn-Gresham. This week, 64 households providing shelter for 191 children in the Chicago area will receive a generous donation of healthy foods and other supplies, courtesy of the agency. "We are proud to support those most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and hope that other industry leaders will join us in our mission to provide much-needed resources to vulnerable communities," says Fay Ferguson, Co-CEO, Burrell Communications Group. Burrell provides further community engagement and support through Allies of Innocence. This initiative offers no-cost grief and trauma counseling to children and families affected by gun violence and other challenges. To learn more about Allies of Innocence, please visit: www.perspectivesltd.com/allies-of-innocence/ ABOUT BURRELL COMMUNICATIONS GROUP Celebrating more than 40 years of best-in-class transcultural communications, Burrell Communications Group is the largest U.S. agency specializing in communications to diverse audiences. The agency is known for its strategic thought-leadership and creativity. The foundation of its success lies in uncovering rich insights and a deep understanding of the Black community. Current clients include McDonald's U.S.A., Toyota Motors North America, Walmart, Comcast, AARP, Procter and Gamble, and more. SOURCE Burrell Communications Group Related Links https://www.burrell.com/ Newlyweds Ryan and Kelly Shanley pose at their Haddonfield home with the Caribbean backdrop they used in their social media posts - creating at-home the honeymoon they werent having in Antigua because of the coronavirus. Read more OK, so maybe they didnt get the tan that they originally expected on the island of Antigua. And there was the minor inconvenience of cooking almost every night and making their own beds. On the bright side, there were no long lines at the airport, and no itineraries to plan. When Kelly and Ryan Shanley recently returned from their honeymoon, it was as if they had never left. Which was actually the case. Even though the coronavirus pandemic thwarted plans for their honeymoon to Antigua, the South Jersey couple wasnt going to let that spoil their fun. What occurred was a honeymoon that played out in public, with the couple receiving rave reviews on social media for their daily updates. No Antigua? No problem for the Shanleys. The couple chose to look on the bright side. At least the pandemic didnt interfere with their wedding. This story began on Oct. 5, when they married in Cape May. Since Kelly is a third-grade special education teacher in Cherry Hill, she and Ryan decided to schedule their honeymoon during Easter break, beginning on April 4. With everyday living limited due to the pandemic, both were resigned well before that day that there would be no actual honeymoon. But they still had a backyard in their Haddon Township, Camden County, home, so not all was lost: The idea struck to have their honeymoon at home, but to make it feel like they had all the amenities of the island. As Ryan said, Kelly was the brains behind it, but I was the star. FAQ: Your coronavirus questions, answered. On April 4, the day they were supposed to have left for Antigua, Kelly found herself thinking about what their actual honeymoon would have looked like. All throughout the day were like, All right, we should have been at the airport at this time, and then, Oh, we would have been sitting by the pool at this time, Kelly recalled. We figured we have to do something for this, and it was a beautiful day, thank goodness, as was that whole week. It wasnt raining like it was the week prior. So with good weather, the honeymoon was off and running and documented on social media with funny posts. We started the week off by relaxing by the beach, hanging out at the Tiki Hut, laying out in the sun, and splashing around in the pool, and ended our honeymoon at our favorite restaurant with a candlelit dinner. The first day we posted pictures on Instagram, and everybody said, Were so sorry, but this is great, Kelly said. The second day, we got even more response. Many of the comments urged them to keep up with it, so they obliged. They both agreed that the tropical tiki hut they built was one of the more fun scenes to create. The couple did their best to recreate things in the most accurate of ways. Thats why one day, Ryan filled up a storage container with water, jumped in, and splashed around his makeshift pool. Wasnt it a little cold, especially since they werent actually in Antigua? It was probably about 60 [degrees], Ryan said. His wife added, It took a little bit for him to get in. Still, that stunt is one reason why he called himself the star of the show. Another day, Kelly posted that they gave the help the day off, so she made the beds. As for actual cooking, she did do it most of the time, although they left the island for takeout on two occasions. By the time their stay-at-home honeymoon had come to an end, the couple said they had a great time. So did their social media followers. I love that they wrote this about yall! one Facebook commenter posted. I was following along on your honeymoon . Kelly said she and Ryan felt like they had no choice but to play the hand they were dealt. We decided we could either be upset about the vacation and memories we were supposed to create as newlyweds in Antigua, she said, or make the best of the situation. And did they ever. The Delhi High Court has constituted a committee, headed its judge, to create a 'graded action plan' for dealing with the challenges, including "a deluge of fresh cases", to be faced by it and the trial courts after the lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus is withdrawn. The high court said normalcy is not likely to return overnight and the court functioning can be resumed only in a structured or phased manner which would require formulation of a plan in advance keeping in mind social distancing norms and other restrictions. In a letter to all the district and sessions court judges as also principal judges (family court), the high court said that post-withdrawal of the lockdown there would be an imminent requirement to put in place a 'phased / graded restoration to normalcy plan' for courts in Delhi for which various issues need to be addressed. The letter said it may not be practicable to open the courts for everyone immediately after the lockdown is lifted as there are over eight lakh cases pending in the district courts here and around 80,000 in the high court. Delhi High Court Chief Justice D N Patel has constituted a committee, headed by Justice Hima Kohli, for creating a 'Graded Action-Plan' to meet all such challenges and other ancillary issues considering the urgency of the situation. The April 21 letter, issued by Registrar General Manoj Jain, has asked the district judges to take inputs from their bar associations and send the suggestions to the high court within a week. Following the lockdown, the functioning of the high court and trial courts have been suspended till May 3 and only the matters of extreme urgency are being heard through video conferencing. During such suspension of functioning, the hearing of the cases is limited to matters of extremely urgent nature or urgent nature. There has been negligible filing of fresh cases during the lockdown, it can be thus expected that there would be a deluge of fresh cases on return to normalcy which may be quite difficult to handle. All these problems pose a big challenge to the justice delivery system, the letter stated. It further said that at this juncture, it may not be possible to predict a definite cut-off date for resumption of normal functioning of the court system as there is no certainty when the threat of the pandemic would be over and the requirement of social distancing would no longer be necessary. For the preparation of such a plan for the high court and trial courts, several issues are required to be addressed, including gradual expansion of the nature of cases to be put in 'urgent' category for hearing, ensuring availability of proportionate court infrastructure during all these phases till restoration of complete normalcy. The other issues highlighted by the high court are: making guidelines for restricting entry into courts; social distancing norms to be followed for all the stakeholders including Judges, court staff, lawyers and litigants; preparing guidelines for restricting entry into lawyers' chambers and social distancing norms to be followed in such areas. Running of public utility services and canteen etc. in court complexes. Availability of Infrared Thermometer, Masks, gloves, sanitizers for all the stakeholders. Installation of sensor-based devices, wherever possible to ensure minimum hand-contact. Appropriate alternate to centralized air-conditioning system, the letter stated. Further the issues to be discussed are on putting in place a mechanism for handling the deluge of fresh filing of cases once the suspension of functioning of courts is withdrawn, creation of well-equipped permanent video conferencing courts. The suggestions are also sought on the provision for e-issuance and e-service of court notices and summons, filing of e-pleadings and recording of evidence through video conferencing. The letter further said: Graded plan for resumption of work of registry in the high court and courts subordinate thereto for taking care of urgent administrative issues such as presence of required support staff for proper functioning of courts, recruitment process of judicial officers and staff and disciplinary proceedings. Manner of resumption of training in Delhi Judicial Academy to conclude the Induction training to enable more officers to be available for taking care of the problem of mounting arrears. The other issues are on the resumption of activities of the Delhi Legal Services Authority, Mediation Centre, Arbitration Centre to help restore normalcy in the functioning of the court system and creating a mixed model of 'virtual courts and actual courts' and running court in shifts to ensure least footfall at any given point of time. As the number of pending cases is huge, the footfall in the courts would be enormous, once the lockdown is lifted and also because of suspended functioning of the courts, most of the matters could not be filed by many advocates and litigants. Therefore, the moment courts are thrown open, it would be difficult to control the rush for the purposes of ensuring all important and crucial aspects related to social-distancing. Obviously, the courts cannot be converted into hotspots, it said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) COVID-19 has stricken a wing of the Frank M. Tejeda Texas State Veterans Home in Floresville with deadly results, prompting state officials to work aggressively to keep the virus from spreading. Ten residents of that wing tested positive for COVID-19, including two who have died, according to the Texas Veterans Land Board, which oversees the facility. Five staff members assigned to work in that same wing also tested positive, the state board said. State officials havent yet determined how the virus got inside the facility. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission, which regulates such homes, is investigating. The latest resident to succumb after testing positive for COVID-19 was a man in his 90s, who died at a hospital Tuesday morning, said Texas General Land Office spokeswoman Karina Erickson. Another resident, a 75-year-old man, died April 13. Their names were not released. Legal representatives for all veterans living at the facility were notified by phone of the outbreak. All residents who tested positive were moved to a separate area of the veterans home, while those needing additional care were taken to Audie L. Murphy Memorial VA Hospital in San Antonio. Five residents remained hospitalized later Tuesday, Erickson said. On ExpressNews.com: Get the latest update on coronavirus and a tracking map of U.S. cases This is the second long-term care facility in the local area to experience a COVID-19 outbreak. In recent weeks, the virus swept through Southeast Nursing and Rehabilitation Center on San Antonios Southeast Side, where 18 residents died after testing positive for the virus. Senior-care facilities across the U.S. have proved vulnerable to outbreaks during the pandemic because of the age and underlying health conditions of residents, among other factors. Floresville Mayor Cissy Gonzalez-Dippel said shes concerned about the COVID-19 cases that have surfaced at the veterans home, which provides long-term skilled nursing care to qualified veterans and their spouses. You want to make sure that everything possible is done for the safety and welfare of all the veterans in that facility, Gonzalez-Dippel said. I think as a whole, the community has been a little nervous to find out where did that virus start? And is it walking around Floresville and our county? Across Wilson County, 25 people have tested positive for COVID-19. The state veterans home accounts for at least half of those cases. So far, nine patients have recovered, according to the countys data. None of them live at the veterans home. The COVID-19 cases surfacing at the Tejeda facility are distressing, Wilson County Judge Richard Jackson said. He hopes there is no further spread of the virus. Its unclear how it got started there. And thats a concern ... Nobody knows the source, Jackson said Tuesday. On ExpressNews.com: Metro Health director: We will always have COVID-19 The COVID-19 virus was first discovered at the Tejeda veterans home on April 10 when a resident there tested positive. Immediate actions were taken to prevent the spread of the virus, Erickson said. All personnel and staff were issued personal protective equipment. Last week, all of the Tejeda facility residents were tested for COVID-19, Gonzalez-Dippel said. All of the active staff have been tested as well. Most of workers test results are pending state officials hope to receive them this week, Erickson said. The five workers who have tested positive are isolating themselves at home. The Tejeda facility is home to around 150 veterans, while approximately 150 staffers work there, Erickson said. Nonessential visitors had been prohibited from entering all Texas state veterans homes for nearly a month by the time the first resident tested positive at the Tejeda facility. All staff and vendors have been required to go through temperature checks and asked if they showed any symptoms of COVID-19 before being allowed inside those facilities. On ExpressNews.com: Model forecasts significantly fewer COVID-19 deaths in Texas The Texas Health and Human Services Commission began investigating the Tejeda facility on April 11, the day after the first positive test result was received. That investigation will focus on the facilitys infection control practices, whether staff and providers of critical services have been properly screened and whether the facility has been following all health and safety rules, such as proper use of personal protection equipment for workers and residents. The Texas Veterans Land Board operates nine such veterans homes in the state. The other facilities are in Amarillo, Big Spring, Bonham, El Paso, Houston, McAllen, Temple and Tyler. The Tejeda facility is the only state veterans home to experience a COVID-19 outbreak. The virus also surfaced at the William R. Courtney Texas State Veterans Home in Temple when an employee there tested positive for COVID-19. That employee has not returned to work since her diagnosis, Erickson said. Every resident at the Temple facility was recently tested for COVID-19 and officials are waiting for those results, she said. We are in continuous contact with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Health and Human Services Commission and remain committed to ensuring the health and safety of our residents and team members, Erickson said in a statement. The Texas Veterans Land Board contracts with Touchstone Communities to operate its Floresville veterans home, along with those in Houston, McAllen, Big Spring and Amarillo Peggy OHare covers demographics, the census and occasionally crime and general assignment stories in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Peggy, become a subscriber. pohare@express-news.net | Twitter: @Peggy_OHare The quick appointment of local pastor Jason J. Nelson on April 16 to fill the empty seat on The Woodlands Township board vacated by Brian Boniface has led to frustration and questions about the process from a diverse and prominent group of township residents and officials, including two former board members and a current director. A group of 19 residents sent a letter to township officials and The Villager seeking answers about the process. Director Ann Snyder, who nominated Walter Lisiewski the current chairman of the townships Development Standards Committee to replace Boniface, said she had no idea that the board would appoint a replacement for Boniface on April 16, and that she believes the community would have been better served by waiting at least a week to make the appointment. While I was not included on any determination or approval of the process to nominate candidates, I did learn that board members would be able to make nominations through an email and our board packet which was sent electronically on Monday, April 13. I submitted my nomination of Walt Lisiewski on Wednesday, April 15. I personally assumed that each candidate would be discussed and/or make comments on his/her interest and experience to be appointed, Snyder said in an email to The Villager. It is always my view that township residents should have the right to public comment on any and every matter that is before the Township Board. This is no exception. Snyder said that while she understands the townships enabling legislation, approved by the Texas Legislature more than 12 years ago, allows for such an appointment to the board, she did not realize the appointment would happen on April 16. I was not aware that the board would so quickly decide on a replacement for Director Bonifaces Position, Snyder added. I assumed, we as a board, would at the very least, discuss the nominees during this meeting, encourage public input at our April 22 meeting and then vote at the April 22 meeting. ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Woodlands board tabs local pastor for empty seat Nelson was appointed after receiving four votes out of six during a virtual video-conference meeting of the township Board of Directors April 16. Nelson is the first person in the history of the township to be appointed to fill a board seat since the current format was created in 2008. He was chosen over two other nominees who had more experience in the community former township director Peggy Hausman and Walter Lisiewski, the chairman of the townships Development Standards Committee. Following guidelines Nick Wolda, the communications director and primary spokesperson for the township, said in an email to The Villager that the process used by the board to choose a replacement for Boniface followed the enabling legislation the township. Wolda explained that the legislation, specifies that a director serves until replaced. Section 8(e) provides that upon a director leaving office before the expiration of their term, the remaining directors vote to select someone to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the term. Chairman (Gordy) Bunch had requested that an agenda item be placed on the April 16 regular board agenda to allow the directors to consider nominations for the replacement of director Boniface who resigned, Wolda wrote in an email to The Villager. Through staff, Bunch requested that directors submit nominations to by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 15. Submitted nominations included a brief description regarding why the director is nominating the individual. The nominations were made at the discretion of the individual directors. Nominating process Wolda added that the names of candidates to replace Boniface were given to all six directors following the closing of the nomination period on April 15. The information was also posted to the townships website as an attachment to the agenda. Three nominees were submitted by five different directors. Nelson was nominated by Bruce Rieser and Bob Milner; Walter Lisiewski was nominated by Snyder and John Anthony Brown; and Peggy Hausman was nominated by Bunch. Director Shelleyu Sekula-Gibbs did not nominate anyone. Nelson received four votes from directors Bunch, Rieser, Sekula-Gibbs and Bob Milner. Lisiewski received two votes, from directors Snyder and Brown. In a telephone interview on Monday, Bunch said that while he nominated Hausman to replace Boniface, he voted for Nelson because Hausman had indicated she was only interested in filling out the remainder of the term and would not seek re-election this November. Bunch added that he did not view the process as lacking transparency, noting that the item was on the agenda for several days and residents did call in to make public comment. Rieser said while he would not have minded if the directors had waited a week to vote, which he admitted would allow the public to learn more about the three nominees, the time delay would not have changed his vote. He also said he felt residents had already spoken in one sense, noting Lisiewski had lost his bid for the Position 7 seat in November 2019, finishing third in voting to replace Carol Stromatt. These three nominees are well known to township residents, Rieser said. I wanted to have a person to replace Brian who was similar to him a young person who lives in the community with a family and good Christian values. Brian was the youngest person on the board. Letter of concern Nearly 20 prominent community leaders sent a letter to The Villager expressing their surprise at the process that led to Nelsons appointment, saying it lacked in transparency and created more questions than answers. The letter was signed by 18 people, including former township directors Jeff Long and Lloyd Matthews, former DSC chairperson Deborah Sargent as well as Bruce Cunningham from the Grogans Mill Village Association board and Walter Cooke, a Vietnam combat veteran who unsuccessfully ran for the board in 2019, losing to Sekula-Gibbs. The letter was written by anti-incorporation activist Amy Lecocq who is a former federal prosecutor. In the letter, the group stated they were aware of the townships enabling legislation that requires vacancies, to be filled by a majority vote of the remaining directors. However, no written procedures have been adopted to effectuate the nomination, vetting or voting processes and there is no precedent for filling a vacancy. Despite the lack of policy, Chairman (Gordy) Bunch requested that an agenda item be placed on the April 16 regular board meeting to consider nominations for the replacement, Lecocq wrote. There was no process identified for the public to submit names of potential candidates for appointment. However, the staff memo concluded The April 16 agenda item will allow for discussion of the process and consideration of nominations. One of the signees, former township director Jeff Long, said he was concerned with the process, notably that there was not a time period for residents to learn more about the candidates and speak at the April 22 meeting before a possible decision was made. My first thought was, wow, what is the rush? I was shocked and surprised about it. I was expecting to see an article in the paper or something that described the fact (the board) wanted to appoint someone and heres how to apply. I least expected thatbut yes, I was shocked, Long said. I think it would have been nice to have some people who have been involved in the community who would have been nominated. There were a lot of good candidates (in 2019 election) and it was obvious those people were interestedthere were also past directors and people who had experience. I was expecting theyd look to some folks who know the ropes and their way around especially in such a difficult time as this, especially with budgeting. Nelson is scheduled to be sworn into office during a virtual, online meeting of the township board at 6 p.m. Wednesday. jeff.forward@chron.com S pain's prime minister has revealed his governments plans to start winding down the countrys coronavirus lockdown in the second half of May. Pedro Sanchez told parliament restrictions would be eased slowly and gradually to prevent another sharp increase in cases, as he sought an extension in the state of emergency to May 9. We will be going back and forth depending on how the pandemic evolves, he said. Spains lockdown started on March 14 and is one of the strictest in Europe, with children until now forced to stay indoors at all times. Last night the government bowed to public pressure and said children under 14 would be able to take short walks outside under supervision. Spain has the highest number of confirmed cases outside of the US, with more than 204,000 positive tests, and a death toll in excess of 21,000. In France, half of all private sector workers were today revealed to have signed up for a temporary unemployment scheme put in place by the government to help companies endure the impact of the crisis. In a radio interview today, French labour minister Muriel Penicaud said: As of today, 10.2 million private sector workers have been put on temporary unemployment. Thats more than one employee out of two and six companies out of 10. The revelation followed another night of clashes between police and young people in the suburbs of Paris, as lockdown rules heighten social tensions. Images emerged of youths setting off fireworks towards police and cars set on fire, in scenes similar to ones witnessed in several of the capitals banlieues since the weekend. In Germany, which has been widely praised for its response to the virus, official figures showed an increase of 2,237 positive tests over the past day the second consecutive day that new infections have risen. The country began easing some of its lockdown measures on Monday, with smaller shops allowed to reopen and some school classes resuming. Loading.... Meanwhile officials in Iceland have announced a new package to support businesses and groups suffering in the pandemic. Unemployed people and low-income families will get extra help and smaller businesses will get loans to support them in a package reportedly worth 340 million. Like Germany, the country has been hailed for its extensive virus testing. Listen to The Leader: Coronavirus Daily podcast Much has changed for businesses and job seekers in the past few months, but as the economy begins to safely reopen, put yourself ahead of the competition with professional interview skills, no matter the location. - Express CEO Bill Stoller As most of the country braces for yet another week of non-essential business closures, some states are eyeing lifting shelter-in-place orders for residents in early May, allowing businesses to start resuming operations. The new reality of social distancing has changed the landscape for business operations in almost every aspect, including the interview process, which is why job seekers need to be prepared for the possibility of video interviews through platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Skype. Here are a few tips to make sure a video interview is just as effective, and professional, as an in-person one: 1. Dress the Part Choose professional attire for your video interviews. Aim to make a positive and powerful first impression with the recruiter by dressing for the part. 2. Set the Stage While different virtual backgrounds are fun for chatting with friends, choose a neutral background and a clean space for interviews that are free of dramatic or bold art and distracting household appliances. Ultimately, you want the interview to focus on you, not your surroundings. 3. Lighting is Important Make sure to sit facing a light source so your face is illuminated during the interview. If the light source is behind your head, this will cast a shadow over the front of your body, preventing the recruiter from clearly seeing your face. 4. Proper Posture Just like your mother always said, dont slouch. Body language should convey confidence. 5. Avoid Background Noise Find a quiet space where your interview will be free from noise disruptions, such as children or animals. The focus of the interview should be on you and your skills. Express experts say video interviews could be the way of the future and some offices are even helping facilitate calls during the pandemic for companies that arent entirely comfortable with the technology aspect. Acting as a facilitator for video interviews allows us to coordinate with all parties involved and be on the call for any sort of troubleshooting, said Jan Riggins, general manager of two Express offices in Fort Worth, Texas. This has been an amazing way to ensure the hiring process continues smoothly and in a timely manner. In Grand Rapids, Michigan, Express marketing director David Robb says they also have several clients transitioning to video interviews and one client even requested instructions for the process. More companies will be doing this, and I think its going to stick around even after this crisis because it is so convenient, he said. Riggins agrees that virtual interviews will be crucial from a safety standpoint as businesses reopen, allowing job seekers who implement key tips and tricks to stand out from the competition. Much has changed for businesses and job seekers in the past few months, but as the economy begins to safely reopen, put yourself ahead of the competition with professional interview skills, no matter the location, Express CEO Bill Stoller said. If you would like to arrange for an interview with Bill Stoller to discuss this topic, please contact Sheena Karami, Director of Corporate Communications and PR, at (405) 717-5966. About Bill Stoller William H. "Bill" Stoller is chairman and chief executive officer of Express Employment Professionals. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, the international staffing company has more than 825 franchises in the U.S., Canada and South Africa, and beginning in 2020 will expand to Australia and New Zealand. Since its inception, Express has put more than 8 million people to work worldwide. About Express Employment Professionals At Express Employment Professionals, were in the business of people. From job seekers to client companies, Express helps people thrive and businesses grow. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, OK, our international network of franchises offer localized staffing solutions to the communities they serve, employing 552,000 people across North America in 2019. For more information, visit http://www.ExpressPros.com. For more coverage, visit our complete coronavirus section here. California Gov. Gavin Newsom provided an update on the state's progress to reach a point where the shelter-in-place order can be relaxed and the economy and society can be reopened under new social-distancing guidelines. Newsom said great strides are being made, but he still can't offer a timeline. "I wish I could prescribe a specific date to say when we can turn on the light switch to return to normalcy," Newsom said. "Weve tried to make it crystal clear there is no light switch. There is no date." That said, Newsom announced one modification to the current shelter-in-place order and said "scheduled surgeries," not "cosmetic surgeries," are now allowed again. Examples include the removal of tumors or a heart valve procedure that isn't an emergency but if neglected could become a problem. "These are surgeries that are scheduled but also essential," he said. "The surgeries where if it gets delayed it becomes acute." Newsom reiterated the state is monitoring six indicators to guide its decision to modify the stay-at-home order. Those include increased testing and contact tracing; systems for protecting the most vulnerable populations such as seniors; ensuring hospitals are equipped to handle a patient surge; engaging research partners to develop therapeutics; and issuing new social distancing guidelines for businesses, schools and childcare facilities. The governor said the first indicator, establishing widespread equitable testing and contact tracing, is foundational in safely modifying the order and the capacity to test will "give us the green lights in our decisions." In March, 2,000 tests a day on average were conducted in the state. Today, Newsom said the state is at 16,000 tests a day and by the end of April he hopes the state will be at 25,000 a day. "Our goal is north of 60,000 a day," he said. "We want to have a minimum of 60,000 to 80,000 tests a day." He added, "We want to blow past that goal." Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, noted that at least 35,000 tests a day will be needed to support a robust contact-tracing program that tests people who have been exposed to infected patients. Healthcare facilities will need access to at least 25,000 tests a day and he said that number goes up during certain times of the year. "We need increased capacity when cold and flu are more prevalent and we need to answer the question of whether someone has a cold, the flu or COVID," Ghaly said. There are 251 sites that are the backbone of the state's testing, and in a survey of these, 55% said the top need is swabs. The state is working to secure more swabs, and Newsom said he had a "pointed and honest" phone conversation with President Donald Trump Wednesday morning. He said Trump promised a minimum of 100,000 swabs this week. Trump committed to 250,000 swabs next week. "That was a very good phone call," he said. "I want to thank the president for not only being available for the phone call but for committing to an increase in the swabs." Addressing the need for equitable testing, Newsom announced 86 new testing sites in "testing deserts" such as rural communities with less access. Newsom said he's committed to testing all Californians. "I dont mean testing all 40 million of us, though that would be great," he said. "But all parts of the state where were not leaving any communities behind." California has been under a mandatory stay-at-home order since March 19. But the virus has been disrupting the state since January, when people from all over the world were first sent to quarantine at California military bases. Santa Clara County officials learned this week through autopsy reports that an individual died of COVID-19 at home on Feb. 6 and and another on Feb. 17. Before this, the first U.S. death from the virus had been reported on Feb. 29 in Kirkland, Wash. MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE: Sign up for 'The Daily' newsletter for the latest on coronavirus here. Huge multi-million dollar public companies in the U.S. have been lining up for federal loans from the Paycheck Protection Program, while small businesses that the funds were intended for are left out in the cold. Research from Morgan Stanley shows that of the fund's $349 billion, $243.4 million of the loans was allocated to at least 90 publicly traded companies, which could have gone to help around 1,100 smaller businesses, causing public outrage. The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was created by Congress and designed to loan money to small businesses with 500 employees or less to help them survive the economic downturn during the coronavirus crisis, ensuring they can still pay their employees and bills, and to avoid mass layoffs. Companies that use the money to avoid layoffs will not have to pay the money back. Due to loopholes in the conditions of the program, some large public companies with thousands of employees and easy access to credit were able to claim relief dollars through the scheme, depriving smaller businesses of tax-backed funds that could save them from going under. Many of the public companies claiming loans thought the scheme have a market value of over $100 million, and some have claimed the maximum $10 million allowed through the scheme. Table: Some of the public companies, listed in order of their market value, who have recieved loans from the Paycheck Protection Program set up to help small businesses Public companies that have received funding from the PPP include metal working giant DMC Global, which has a $405 million market value, biotech company Wave Life Sciences ($286 million), biopharmaceutical company Mannkind ($273 million) and prefab home builder Legacy Housing ($229 million). Restaurant chains, which were exempt from the 500-employee cap if they have less than 500 workers per location, were also among the large companies claiming benefits.y Fiesta Restaurant Group, the parent company of the Pollo Tropical and Taco Cabana brands which employs more than 10,000 workers, claimed the maximum $10 million in loans. Other large restaurants chains like Potbelly and Ruth's Chris Steak House also secured the maximum $10 million. Kura Sushi, a chain with locations in California, Texas and several other states worth $78 million, took a $6 million PPP loan. At least 94 publicly traded companies have been recipients of taxpayer-backed loans, and according to AP around 25 percent of these companies warned investors in the run up to the crisis that their ability to remain viable was in doubt. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, 4,400 of the approved loans exceeded $5 million when nationally the typical amount requested from the program was $206,000. If the $243.4 million claimed by the corporate giants had been split fairly between typical businesses requesting money through the program, over 1,100 more businesses could have received funds. 'The intent of this money was not for big public companies that had access to capital,' Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said when addressing the issue during Tuesday's White House press briefing. The department also highlighted that 74 percent of the loans were for less than $150,000, saying this demonstrated that the loan is accessible 'to even the smallest of small businesses.' Lenders have approved 1.6 million loans from the PPP which depleted last week. However, In total, nine of the loans received from the PPP were for the $10 million maximum available to businesses. Taco Cabana, a chain operated by Fiesta Restaurant Group, which received the maximum $10 million allowed from the Paycheck Protection Program California technology company Quantum Corp., which has a market value of 151 million, also secured the maximum amount. According to AP, Quantum settled a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation late last year into accounting errors that overstated its revenue. AP said that five other companies identified have previously been under investigation by regulators, including firms that paid penalties to resolve allegations. In 2016, Marrone Bio Innovations, a bio-pesticide company in Davis, California, agreed to pay the SEC $1.8 million after its CEO was found to have inflated financial results to hit revenue projections. Marrone received a loan of $1.7 million from the PPP. The company's CEO Pam Marrone said the company 'shouldn't be punished' for what happened in 2016, saying that the incident had been a 'body blow' to the company. In order to recover from the damage done by the investigation, Marrone said that the company had to take on $40 million in debt and is still working to get itself out of a financial hole. 'People don't realize how tough it is to be a small public company like us that's not yet profitable,' she said. 'We can't just go to investors and say, "OK, open up your wallets."' Shake Shack, the $1.6 billion burger empire, also received the maximum $10 million from the Paycheck Protection Program, but has said it will return the money after public outrage What is the small-business relief program? The Paycheck Protection Program exhausted its $350 billion in funding last week and many small businesses were unable to obtain loans they desperately need to stay afloat. Congress and the White House say they're close to an agreement on that would give the program about $300 billion in fresh funds. The government program, which is overseen by the Treasury and administered by the Small Business Administration, limits loan recipients to businesses with fewer than 500 employees and revenue of less than $2.5 billion. But it makes an exception for restaurants and other food service businesses that employ fewer than 500 people per location, meaning that restaurant chains are as eligible for the loans as a neighborhood restaurant or bar. The small business lending program is part of the $2.2 trillion rescue package approved by Congress last month. Advertisement Another company that took the maximum $10 million was Shake Shack, the $1.6 billion burger empire, igniting public anger. In response, Company Executives announced they have made the decision to return the money after finding alternative sources of capital. Another restaurant company, J. Alexander's Holdings, was able to secure more than $15 million from the PPP. One of its subsidiaries borrowed the maximum $10 million, while another, Stoney River, borrowed $5.1 million, taking the firm's total to $15.1 million. Some of the companies that received loans from the PPP appeared to have enough cash in reserves to survive the economic downturn. Lindblad Expedition Holdings, a New York City-based cruise ship and travel company, received a $6.6 million loan. The company, which employs 650 workers and has a branding deal with National Geographic, reported at the end of March that it had around $137 million in cash on its balance sheet. Writing in an email to AP, spokeswoman Audrey Chang wrote: 'When this crisis hit, we had two business planning cases: 1) substantial layoffs and furloughs or 2) receiving these funds and not impacting our employees.' 'Lindblad is the very rare travel company that has not imposed any layoffs, furloughs or salary reductions to date,' she added. One of the companies said to have warned investors about its ability to meet financial obligations was Enservco Corp., a Denver-based oil and gas industry firm. In its annual report filed last month, Enservco said it does 'not generate adequate revenue to fund our current operations.' Chief executive Ian Dickinson said his company wouldn't have folded without the $1.9 million loan it received. But, he said, he welcomed the money and would've had to let go more employees than he already has without it. 'Our employees are really no different than the employees of a nonpublic company,' Dickinson said. 'These are funds being used to keep folks on payroll and keep food on their tables.' One Democratic Senator, Gary Peters of Michigan, has called for an investigation into how funds from the Paycheck Protection Program were distributed. Peters sent a letter on Tuesday to Gene Dodaro, the comptroller general for the Government Accountability Office (GAO), asking for the investigation. In his letter, we wrote that 'a substantial amount of PPP loans have gone to large hotel and restaurant chains, rather than the struggling small and minority-owned businesses who may be forced to permanently close their doors without urgent assistance. 'I am concerned that PPP loans may not have gone to those who need them most,' he added. Donald Trump listens to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin during Tuesday's White House press conference. Another relief package is currently being agreed and will replenish the funds from the PPP which has now depleted With the PPP funding now depleted, lawmakers are scrambling to pass new legislation that would see a further $331 billion available to small businesses as part of a wider $483 billion coronavirus relief package. President Donald Trump is urging swift passage this week. The Senate approved the bill on Tuesday and the House planned a vote on Thursday. The bipartisan bill, Washington's fourth in response to the crisis, is not expected to be the last as lawmakers take unprecedented steps to confront the virus and prop up communities nationwide amid the health crisis. Most of the funding, $331 billion, would go to boost the small-business payroll loan program. There would be $100 billion for health care, with $75 billion to hospitals and $25 billion to boost testing for the virus, a key step in building the confidence required to reopen state economies. There is $60 billion for a small-business loans and grants. As part of the new agreement, around $60 billion has been set aside for - and divided equally among - smaller banks and community lenders, a nod to neighborhoods and rural areas under-served by banks. Ministry of Civil Aviation (B) wing at Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan here has been sealed and New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has been asked to sanitize the premises after an employee tested positive for COVID-19, ministry sources said on Wednesday. An employee of the ministry, who had attended office on April 15 has tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday. The ministry has asked the patients colleagues who came in contact with him to go into self-isolation as a precaution. An employee of the ministry who had attended office on 15 April 2020 has tested positive for COVID-19 on 21st April. All necessary protocols are being stringently followed on the Premises. All colleagues who came in contact are being asked to go into self-isolation as a precaution, the ministry tweeted. Government of Delhi is seized of the matter. They are taking appropriate steps as per the laid protocol for contact tracing and risk profiling, it said in another tweet. Also Read: Coronavirus: Muslim religious leaders appeal to public to observe Ramzan at home Ministry of Civil Aviation (B) wing at Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan has been sealed and NDMC has been asked to sanitise the whole wing: Ministry of Civil Aviation Sources https://t.co/vh5eU001U0 pic.twitter.com/IYWP4IXsFs ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that the ministry has extended all possible medical help and support to the person. We stand by our colleague at @MoCA_GoI who has tested positive for COVID19 & have extended all possible medical help & support. Those in contact have also been asked to follow the laid down procedures. I wish him strength & speedy recovery, he tweeted. Considering the number of COVId-19 cases in India, the total number has reached 19,984 with 15474 active cases and 3869 recovered from the virus and 640 deaths. In Delhi, the number of cases has now reached 2156 with 47 deaths. For all the latest National News, download NewsX App Dead & Company has canceled its 2020 summer tour dates, including an Upstate New York concert. Because of the global coronavirus outbreak and to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, we have no choice but to cancel Dead & Companys Summer Tour 2020, the band said in a statement. The well-being and safety of our Deadhead community, venue staff and the bands touring family is of the utmost importance. We also want to get refunds back to our fans while so many are hurting economically. All tickets will be fully refunded at point of purchase. The supergroup, featuring John Mayer and former Grateful Dead members Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann and Bob Weir, was scheduled to perform Aug. 3 at SPAC (Saratoga Performing Arts Center) in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Tickets were sold through Live Nation, which has reportedly been sued over its refund policy. The concert promoter allegedly changed its policy from offering refunds if an event is postponed, rescheduled or canceled, to only offering money back if theyre canceled amid the coronavirus pandemic. We are thankful for your understanding and we look forward to the day when we can all be reunited, the band said. In the meantime, keep the faith and believe in the power of music. We will return. We will get by. We will survive. MORE ON CONCERTS John Mayer makes up SUNY Oneonta song in video chat with students (watch) Bon Jovi cancels tour, instead of postpones, so fans can get refunds, buy groceries Retirement fund body EPFO has settled 10.02 lakh withdrawal claims, including 6.06 lakhs COVID-19 non-refundable advance claims, and disbursed Rs 3,600.85 crore in the last 15 working days. Around 90 per cent of COVID-19 non-refundable advance claims were settled within 3 days, as per a Labour Ministry statement. Under the COVID-19 non-refundable advance, the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation has allowed withdrawal of three months' basic wages (basic pay plus dearness allowances). The central government had launched the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) on March 26 to help the economically weaker sections cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. A provision for withdrawal from the EPF Scheme to fight COVID-19 pandemic was announced by the government and an urgent notification issued, providing for non-refundable withdrawal to the extent of basic wages and DA for three months or up to 75 per cent of the amount standing to member's credit in the EPF account, whichever is less. The EPFO has settled a total of 10.02 lakh claims, including 6.06 lakhs COVID-19 claims, disbursing an amount of Rs 3,600.85 crore in just 15 working days, the statement said. It said that despite only one-third staff being able to work due to lockdown, 90 per cent of COVID-19 claims have been settled in three working days, setting new standards of service delivery. The EPFO has also provided facility to file online COVID-19 advance claim, along with other services, on UMANG APP. The exempted (private) PF trusts have also risen to the occasion. These are the firms which manage their employees' provident fund account and money themselves. Thus they are exempted from filing EPF returns with the EPFO. As on the forenoon of April, 17, 2020, Rs 481.63 crore was disbursed to 40,826 PF members as advance under para 68-L for COVID-19 by the exempted PF Trusts. The top three exempted establishments in terms of the amount disbursed for COVID-19 claims are NLC Ltd, TCS and Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, it added. The EPFO reiterates its commitment to serve its members during this difficult situation, and its offices are functional to help them overcome this crisis, the ministry said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Wednesday said the return of people stranded in different parts of the country due to the lockdown to their native states will pose a major challenge after the curbs are lifted. During a video conference with councillors and corporators from across Jammu and Kashmir to discuss COVID-19 related issues, the Udhampur MP said the return movement of people to the Union Terretory from other parts the country will also pose a challenge. Singh complimented the elected representatives of all the municipal bodies for ensuring coordination between civil society and the administration for effective implementation of government's guidelines regarding COVID-19 crisis management and offering their full cooperation in ensuring lockdown, according to a Personnel Ministry statement. The minister said he was particularly delighted to note that district collectors and deputy commissioners were voluntarily expressing their appreciation for the cooperation received from the local body representatives. "With some relaxation having been gradually made despite lockdown, Singh said, the major challenge now is going to be the return movement of people from Jammu and Kashmir, living in other parts of the country, who wish to come back to their homes or those from other parts of the country including the labourers, who are keen to move back to their respective states," the statement said. The minister said he has been receiving numerous requests from students of Jammu and Kashmir who are residing in different parts of the country as well as their parents back home. Singh, the minister of State for Personnel, elicited the cooperation of the public representatives, particularly the local body representatives who have grassroots contacts, to explain to the people that the movement and return can happen only in small groups and in a very strategised and discreet manner. "We cannot take any risk in haste," he said. There is an inference to be drawn from district Kathua which was so far coronavirus-free in spite of huge influx of people after the declaration of lockdown, but suddenly reported a corona positive case last evening when a person working in Maharashtra chose to return to his village in Hiranagar without following the prescribed guidelines, said Singh. He said all of us are keen that people held, up in different places, should unite with their families. He also appealed for cooperation in this regard. Adequate arrangements are being made to provide all requirements to these people in whichever part of the country they are residing and soon after an information is received about their problems, the local district authorities there establish contact with them, said Singh. He appreciated the spirit with which the civil society has contributed ration and food to labourers in the last four weeks and said wherever any issue is brought to the notice, the respective administration and the corporation/municipal body members are immediately intervening to provide supplementary help. Singh exchanged inputs with representatives of different municipal bodies. Prominent among those who presented their views included Chandra Mohan Gupta, Mayor Jammu, Hilal Shah from Anantnag, Ishey from Leh, Naresh Kumar from Kathua, Vijay Kumar Sharma from Hiranagar, Riyaz Ahmad Mir from Kupwara and Yogeshwar Gupta from Udhampur. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A scene from "The Mandalorian," an original Star Wars TV series that will stream on Disney+. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings is a big fan of Disney+. "Over 20 years of watching different businesses -- incumbents like Blockbuster and Walmart and all these companies -- I've never seen such a good execution of the incumbent learning the new way and mastering it," Hastings said during Netflix's first quarter earnings conference call. Disney announced its flagship subscription video service, Disney+, has gained more than 50 million subscribers in just six months since the service debuted in November. Hastings called the rapid accumulation of subscribers "stunning." Disney+ costs $6.99 per month and is the home for Disney's large archive of movies, including Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars films, along with other original content. "To see both the execution and the numbers line up, my hat's off to them," Hastings said. "Great execution, clarity around brand and focus really makes a difference." Hastings is one of the world's experts on disruption, having successfully defeated Blockbuster and the video rental business with a novel mail-DVD service before upending the traditional pay-TV ecosystem with lower priced streaming video. Netflix announced today it had 183 million global customers, up 15 million subscribers in the first quarter. While incumbents often struggle to transform their businesses, a topic detailed in Clayton Christensen's "The Innovator's Dilemma," Hastings's Netflix has graduated from disrupter to top dog as streaming has become more ubiquitous. He said Netflix would continue to focus on its own service rather than the competition because "there's nothing we can do about them." NBCUniversal's Peacock and AT&T's HBO Max, two other subscription video services, will debut throughout the U.S. in the coming months. WATCH: Netflix announces huge subscriber beat [April 22, 2020] Bank of America Declares Quarterly Stock Dividends Bank of America Corporation today announced the Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly cash dividend on Bank of America common stock of $0.18 per share, payable on June 26, 2020 to shareholders of record as of June 5, 2020. The Board also declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $1.75 per share on the 7% Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, Series B. The dividend is payable on July 24, 2020 to shareholders of record as of July 10, 2020. Bank of America Bank of America is one of the world's leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 66 million consumer and small business clients with approximately 4,300 retail financial centers, including approximately 3,000 lending centers, 2,700 financial centers with a Consumer Investment Financial Solutions Advisor and approximately 2,100 business centers; approximately 16,900 TMs; and award-winning digital banking with approximately 39 million active users, including approximately 30 million mobile users. Bank of America is a global leader in wealth management, corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 3 million small business owners through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations across the United States, its territories and approximately 35 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. For more Bank of America news, including dividend announcements and other important information, visit the Bank of America newsroom and register for news email alerts. www.bankofamerica.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005567/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A day after the confrontation, Bengal govt assures cooperation to central teams India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Apr 22: West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee has assured the central team of cooperation. The development comes after Union Home Secretary, Ajay Bhalla dashed off a letter to Bengal's chief secretary asking him to comply with the Home Ministry's norms on easing restrictions in the state. West Bengal's chief secretary, Rajiv Sinha write, " it is not a fact that central teams have not been provided any cooperation by the West Bengal government. In fact, the teams arrived without any prior consultation with us and, therefore, there was neither such opportunity to provide any logistic support not the team asked for any help." Bengal govt not cooperating claims central team on COVID-19 He further said that he is in touch with the teams, apprising them of the steps that the state has taken. The two teams would be visiting different parts of the city for assessment, he also said. This is to convey my highest assurances for the implementation of the orders of central government issued under the Disaster Management Act as well as the directions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court," Sinha also wrote. The Home Ministry had alleged that the state government was not cooperating with the central team visiting Bengal. This is a violation of the Disaster Management Act, the MHA also said. The Centre had alleged that the Mamata Banerjee government was not adhering to the lockdown measures and allowing certain relaxations despite several reminders. Even before West Virginia reported its first case of the novel coronavirus, Dr. Sally Hodder and her team recognized the need for a COVID-19 patient data registry. It was after attending a January conference at the National Institutes of Health when Hodder, an infectious disease specialist who lived through the 1980s AIDS/HIV epidemic, predicted with confidence that we'd soon have a pandemic on our hands. Her colleagues at the West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute at West Virginia University, of which she directs, knew likewise. So they started building a patient data registry, in collaboration with WVU Medicine, although there were no patients to put in it at the time. Now, the WVCTSI's COVID-19 registry contains more than 7,500 negative cases and 450 positives from individuals tested through the WVU Medicine system. "We're not going to be done with this virus after one wave of infections," Hodder warned. "In my opinion, until we have an effective vaccine, there will be multiple waves. If you look at the influenza pandemic of 1918 - yes, it was a different virus but it killed about 50 million people worldwide before it was done. And the second wave was deadlier than the first." Updated daily, the registry includes detailed information from patients including testing method, ICU stays, ventilator use, medications, vital signs, preexisting conditions, labs, procedures, and basic demographics such as age, gender and race, to name a few. Identifiable personal information, such as patient names, is not included. Researchers are provided specific datasets upon approval. In the clinical and research worlds, patient registry data is utilized by scientists to assess health outcomes for a population. This project further represents how WVU and WVCTSI are leading the COVID-19 response and serving the residents of West Virginia. "As COVID-19 escalated in Europe, I spoke to our team about the need to get this built and they built fast," said Wes Kimble, assistant director of clinical research services at WVCTSI who led the charge on the project. "I told them, 'This is going to be the hot topic for years. The research on this is not going away anytime soon.'" Kimble had already helped develop these types of registries, including one of West Virginia heart failure patients. It's all consistent with the WVCTSI's goal of creating research infrastructure to address health disparities in the Mountain State. "We're here to improve health outcomes in the state," said Hodder, also a professor of infectious diseases in the WVU School of Medicine. "Having a patient registry that can provide data that addresses COVID-19 patient outcomes was a no-brainer. "Initial patient reports of this virus suggested that it was largely a respiratory disease accompanied by pneumonia and fever. More recently, we're seeing it as a multi-organ disease with increasing reports of kidney and liver failure. With a registry like this, you can pull in those variables, which, eight weeks ago, we never understood would be important." Since news of the registry got out, researchers have flooded WVCTSI with requests, Kimble said. Some of those projects involve convalescent plasma therapy in patients with severe COVID-19, neurological outcomes in COVID-19 patients and predictive modeling to identify high-risk patients. For now, both Hodder and Kimble view the registry as a project that may not end depending on the uncertain future of COVID-19 outbreaks. "So it is absolutely, critically important that we have good data sources and look at outcomes in an organized way, in real time, because I think this is with us for the near future," Hodder said. ### Questions about the registry should be directed to Kimble or Emily Morgan, WVCTSI data services specialist. WVCTSI Background WVCTSI is funded by an IDeA Clinical and Translational grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (U54GM104942) to support the mission of building clinical and translational research infrastructure and capacity to impact health disparities in West Virginia. The deposits in Jan Dhan accounts saw a sudden surge in the first week of April, mainly due to the central government transferring money into such accounts to help beneficiaries deal with the difficulties during the lockdown. According to official data, the total deposits into the accounts opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) increased to Rs 1.28 lakh crore during the week ended April 8, 2020 as compared to Rs 1.20 lakh crore at the end of April 1, 2020. This is probably the biggest weekly increase in deposits of Jan Dhan accounts witnessed in the recent past. As per the latest data, the deposits in about 38.12 crore accounts stood at Rs 1,27,748.43 crore on April 8, up from Rs 1,19,680.86 crore on April 1. The deposits stood at about Rs 1.18 lakh crore on March 25 and Rs 1.17 lakh crore on March 4. Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan package announced by the government last month, Rs 9,930 crore was disbursed to 19.86 crore women Jan Dhan account holders as on April 13, 2020. The cash benefits were transferred by using DBT Digital Payment Infrastructure. Long queues were witnessed at several branches of banks across the country following cash deposit in the accounts. Amid large number of people flocking banks, the finance ministry as well lenders like SBI had asked beneficiaries not to believe in rumours that the money will be taken away by the government if not withdrawn. The government will also disburse Rs 500 to women Jan Dhan account holders for the month of May and an equal amount for June. PMJDY was launched on August 28, 2014, with an aim to provide universal access to banking facilities to the people in the country. Accounts opened under PMJDY are Basic Savings Bank Deposit (BSBD) accounts with additional feature of RuPay debit card and overdraft. Of the total 38.12 crore PMJDY accounts as on April 8, 22.58 crore were held by beneficiaries in the rural and semi-urban areas. Over 29 crore account holders have been issued RuPay debit cards. On March 26, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced a Rs 1.70 lakh crore relief package under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana for the poor to help them fight the battle against coronavirus. The country is under a lockdown till May 3 to curb the coronavirus infections. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Thalapathy's recent donation towards relief funds of the centre and the southern states goes well with Superstar Rajinikanth's mass dialogue from Baba, "Naan late-aah vanthalum, latestaa varuven" (Even if I come late, I will be the latest). Well, the actor, who donated a huge amount of Rs 1.30 crore has won the hearts of the people with his kind act. The amount has been split into 8 parts, with Rs 25 lakh to the PM relief fund, Rs 50 lakh to Tamil Nadu CM relief fund, Rs 10 lakh to Kerala CM relief fund, Rs 25 lakh to FEFSI (Film Employees Federation Of South India), Rs 5 lakh to Karnataka CM relief fund, Rs 5 lakh to Telangana CM relief fund, Rs 5 lakh to Andhra CM relief fund, and Rs 5 lakh to Pondicherry CM relief fund. Besides these, the Sarkar actor has donated a certain amount to the fan clubs, in order to directly help the affected people. Here is the list. PM relief fund- Rs 25 lakh TN CM relief fund- Rs 50 lakh Kerala CM relief fund - Rs 10 lakh FEFSI - Rs 25 lakh Karnataka CM relief fund - Rs 5lakh Andhra Pradesh CM relief fund -Rs 5 lakh Telangana CM relief fund - Rs 5 lakh Pondicherry CM relief fund -Rs 5 lakh A few weeks ago, actors- Ajith, Suriya, Karthi, Sivakarthikeyan, and others had grabbed the headlines for helping the central and state governments, to combat the Coronavirus pandemic. There was also news and as to why Vijay was refraining from donating and, well, his donation is the best and humble reply to them all. Talking about his next project Master, the movie will have a pan-India release with a release, coming out in 5 different languages, eventually becoming Vijay's first multilingual film. Directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, Master also stars Vijay Sethupathi, Malavika Mohanan, Andrea Jeremiah, Arjun Das, Shanthanu Bhagyaraj, Nassar, Ramya Subramanian, Dheena, Sanjeev, Srinath, and Sriman in pivotal roles. Produced by Xavier Britto under XB Film Creators, the movie might have the first look poster released on his birthday, i.e, on June 22. Master Release: Double Treat For Fans On Thalapathy Vijay's Birthday! And you can postpone the conversation to think carefully about how youll handle his limited mobility if and when it happens, so you can include that in a larger conversation. One you can start like this: Have you thought about what youll do if youre not able to move well when youre in your 60s, 70s? Or 80s, if were so lucky? This is on my mind a lot. Troubled former footballer Ben Cousins is back behind bars after he was arrested reportedly with drugs in his possession in a southern Perth suburb on Wednesday. Nine News Perth reporter Jerrie Demasi said police first responded to reports of erratic driving in Victoria Park around midday. Shortly after, officers found Cousins sleeping next to a car at a park near Canning Highway, in the nearby suburb of Kensington. When officers checked his details they were alerted the former West Coast Eagles star was wanted for questioning over a separate incident. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced on Tuesday a 145 million financing facility to Moroccan Bank of Africa (BMCE Group) to support the countrys coronavirus response. This is the first investment to be delivered under the EBRDs coronavirus Resilience Framework that was set up to meet the immediate short-term liquidity and working capital needs of existing clients. The EBRD funding will enable the Moroccan Bank to support SMEs that are experiencing a decrease in activity, turnover and profitability, to help them address their liquidity needs. This will also alleviate impact of coronavirus pandemic on the countrys economy. Marie-Alexandra Veilleux-Laborie, Head of EBRD Office in Morocco, said: We are very proud to roll out our swift support to the Moroccan economy by partnering with Bank of Africa BMCE Group. This financial package is key for the resilience of Moroccan small businesses and for strengthening trade operations, which are much needed in this global crisis, she stressed. For his part, Brahim Benjelloun-Touimi, Executive General Manager of Bank of Africa BMCE Group, said: our partnership with the EBRD was sealed several years ago and this new transaction will allow Bank of Africa BMCE Group to further strengthen its commitment to Moroccan companies, in particular to the refinancing of their foreign trade operations, as globally, markets are facing difficulties in terms of foreign exchange liquidity. Morocco is a founding member of the EBRD and became a country of operations in 2012. To date, the EBRD has invested 2.2 billion in Morocco through 64 projects. TDT | Manama His Majesty the Kings Humanitarian Works and Youth Affairs representative, National Security Advisor and Royal Humanitarian Foundation (RHF) Board of Trustees chairman His Highness Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa lauded yesterday the unprecedented response of Bahrains citizens to the national campaign Feena Khair (There is Good in Us), through their donations aimed at contributing to the national efforts to combat the coronavirus (COVID-19). HH Shaikh Nasser stressed that the outstanding success of the campaign is in response to the great initiatives launched by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to protect the safety of the Kingdom, as well as that of its citizens and residents. He noted that since the outbreak of the pandemic, His Majesty the King has placed the health of the citizens and residents at the top and ordered the allocation of a huge budget to safeguard them and the national economy, thus making Bahrain a leader in fighting COVID-19 at the global level. HH Shaikh Nasser made the statements marking the success of the Feena Khair campaign on its first day. We dedicate the success of this campaign to the leader of this nation, HM King Hamad, the Honorary President of the RHF, HH Shaikh Nasser said. HH Shaikh Nasser commended the tremendous efforts exerted by the government, led by His Royal Highness the Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, as well as those made by the National Taskforce for Combatting Coronavirus, led by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, for applying all international standards and precautionary measures to fight the virus. He asserted that the Bahraini people have proven that it is standing united behind the leadership of His Majesty the King to combat COVID-19, and ensure the success of the national efforts in this regard, which are led by HRH the Crown Prince. HH Shaikh Nasser expressed deep pride in the participation of the citizens, companies and institutions in the national campaign, valuing highly their donations. HH Shaikh Nasser prayed to Allah the Almighty to preserve Bahrain, under the leadership of HM the King. Meanwhile, RHF secretary-general Dr. Mustafa Al Sayed said that Friday was a day to remember in the history of Bahrain, as a total of BD21million was donated by Bahraini people to support efforts to eliminate the pandemic. He asserted that the campaign will continue until after the Holy Month of Ramadan, and that the way is paved for everyone to contribute to it through financial or in-kind donations through the RHFs website rco. gov.bh or NBB account BH66NBOB00000082109370. No one predicted the 50th anniversary of Earth Day (April 22) would be marked with the planet showing its capability to bounce back. Photographs from space show air pollution falling dramatically around the world. The fouled waters of the famous canals of Venice, Italy, have cleared and fish can be seen swimming. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 21/4/2020 (630 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. No one predicted the 50th anniversary of Earth Day (April 22) would be marked with the planet showing its capability to bounce back. Photographs from space show air pollution falling dramatically around the world. The fouled waters of the famous canals of Venice, Italy, have cleared and fish can be seen swimming. Unfortunately, it took a global tragedy. The encouraging hints of an environmental turnaround are happening only because the coronovirus pandemic has forced many people to park their fossil-fueled vehicles, has grounded airlines, and has closed businesses and industries. But even those of us who don't believe humanity is a virus to be exterminated can be intrigued by the rapid reduction in planetary pollution resulting from this sudden slowdown of human activity. As nice as it is to see the planet show flickers of improved health, it would be irresponsible to suggest the environmental benefits of the pandemic outweigh the huge costs to the economy and the human costs to the loved ones of COVID-19 casualties. Some people have been so crass, however, including the 300,000 people who liked the tweet "Coronavirus is Earths vaccine. Were the virus." But even those of us who don't believe humanity is a virus to be exterminated can be intrigued by the rapid reduction in planetary pollution resulting from this sudden slowdown of human activity. Of course, people didn't park their vehicles for the good of the planet; they're acting out of self-interest, following advice to stay home in order to keep away from possible contagion. But regardless of the motivation for keeping vehicles in driveways, the dramatic drop in their emissions provides an unexpected global experiment that shows people hold the keys, literally, to reducing pollution. It's encouraging to speculate that even after the coronavirus threat has abated and society returns to some semblance of normality, fewer people might drive to work and school every day because the forced isolation of the pandemic showed that modern technology allows them to work and study productively without being physically present with other people. MARK J. TERRILL / ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES The coronavirus shutdown has led to a decrease in vehicle emissions. It's been a big change for many people, but a heartening result of the pandemic tumult is the near-unanimous willingness of people to accept big changes. We're undergoing personal hardships and forfeiting rights and freedoms because we trust the public-health officials who say it's necessary. What if our next universal target was climate change? What if a majority of citizens around the globe expanded the current we're-all-in-this-together attitude and adjusted their lifestyles to allow countries to meet their climate-change targets? Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. For some people, it might mean rethinking consumer-focused lifestyles for a better balance of work and family life that is also kinder to the environment. The public buy-in during this pandemic hinges on two factors: personal interest, and adept leadership. People are accepting the leadership of public-health officials and making radical changes, such as forgoing their social activities, because they don't want to contract the virus and endanger the health of themselves and their family and friends. The public acceptance of the extreme restrictions during the pandemic crackdown offers a glimmer of hope that citizens will accept radical economic changes they believe are necessary. The challenge is to get people equally concerned about the health of the planet, which would let governments impose necessary measures. Governments have the tools adjusting taxation, crafting laws, subsizing green initiatives to adjust citizen behaviour to meet climate objectives. The fear among political leaders has long been that the tough measures necessary to mitigate climate change would make their governments unpopular and soon ejected from office. The public acceptance of the extreme restrictions during the pandemic crackdown offers a glimmer of hope that citizens will accept radical economic changes they believe are necessary. As economies are rebooted, it's an opportunity for governments to keep the momentum rolling and apply a pandemic-level of urgency to introducing measures to stabilize the climate. We've shown we can change when it matters. And the planet does, indeed, matter. France registered an increase of daily coronavirus deaths of 544 today as the number of patients in hospital with the disease fell. The French government has recorded a total of 21,340 deaths from coronavirus infections, the fourth-highest casualty tally in the world. Despite today's rise in fatalities of 2.6 per cent, France is still trailing just a few hundred behind Spain, which has a death toll of 21,717. The number of people in French hospitals with COVID-19 fell by 365 or 1.2 per cent to 29,741, the eight consecutive fall. This figure is more than 2,300 patients less than the high of 32,113 set on April 13, the health ministry said today. A man wearing a mask and walking his dog past a street art mural depicting a medical worker as a superhero in Paris today France reported 1,827 new cases today, giving a total of 119,151 infections - up from 117,324 on Tuesday. The country's daily death toll in nursing homes rose 208 today to a total of 8,104 from 7,896 the day before. Deaths in hospitals in France today increased 13,236 from 12,900 on Tuesday. The number of patients in intensive care units - the most important metric of a health system's ability to deal with the epidemic - fell by 215 or 4 per cent to 5,218, the 14th consecutive decline. There are now nearly 2,000 people less in ICUs from the high of 7,148 set on April 8. Health official Jerome Salomon told reporters that despite signs of improving trends in the data, the spread of the virus in France 'remains at a high level and we need to respect the confinement'. These new statistics came as it was revealed France could have as many as 2,441 extra unreported virus deaths. French soldiers wearing masks seen patrolling Boulevard De La Madeleine in Paris today Between March 9 and April 5 there were 10,500 more deaths reported in France than is usual at that time of year - only 8,059 of which were logged as coronavirus deaths. That leaves an excess of 2,441 deaths that might have been caused by the illness but were not included in the official tally. Today France, alongside the Netherlands, became the latest European countries planning to re-open schools after a weeks-long break due to the coronavirus lockdown. French primary school children are due to return to school on May 11 with a maximum of around 15 children per class. Older children will return a week later on May 18, but schools will only be allowed to resume if they meet strict health conditions. President Emmanuel Macron says it is important to restart school as soon as possible for children in low-income families. French universities will remain closed until after the summer break. Over the last days France has been abuzz with speculation over how the so-called 'de-confinement' will proceed on May 11, with the government yet to unveil its concrete plan. According to Macron, schools could gradually reopen then but cafes, cinemas and cultural venues would remain closed. The president is due to hold a video conference on Friday with representatives of the tourism and restaurant sector and there has been speculation that bars and restaurants could be allowed to open from June 15. But government spokeswoman Sibeth Ndiaye said she could not confirm this, adding that more time was needed 'to work out the different scenarios for resuming activity'. A pedestrian wearing a mask with their dog in the parking lot of a closed Victoria Golf Course as authorities encourage social distancing to prevent the spread of CCP virus in Carson, California on April 18, 2020. (Patrick T. Fallon/Reuters) Autopsy Reveals First US Patient Died With CCP Virus on Feb. 6 An American patient who died with the CCP virus on Feb. 6, according to newly received autopsy results, over three weeks before the first COVID-19-linked death in the United States was previously known to have occurred. COVID-19 is a new disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, a novel coronavirus that emerged from mainland China last year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said the first death linked to COVID-19 in the United States took place on Feb. 28. That patient resided in Kirkland, Washington state. But autopsies done by the medical examiner in Santa Clara County, California, show two patients who died earlier in February tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the technical name for the CCP virus. One of the patients died on Feb. 6 while the other passed away on Feb. 17. Both died at home. This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the CCP virus, which causes COVID-19. (Niaid-RML via AP/The Canadian Press) Tissue samples from the patients were confirmed by the CDC as testing positive for the CCP virus, according to Santa Clara Countys medical examiner-coroners office. A third patient who died in the county on March 6 also tested positive. These three individuals died at home during a time when very limited testing was available only through the CDC. Testing criteria set by the CDC at the time restricted testing to only individuals with a known travel history and who sought medical care for specific symptoms, the office said in a statement. As the medical examiner-coroner continues to carefully investigate deaths throughout the county, we anticipate additional deaths from COVID-19 will be identified. The CDC didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. Washington state officials announced Feb. 29 the first known death attributed to COVID-19 in the nation, describing the patient as a man in his 50s who had underlying health conditions. The EvergreenHealth Medical Center in Kirkland, Washington, on March 8, 2020. (Karen Ducey/Getty Images) The male patient died at EvergreenHealth Medical Center in Kirkland, a suburb of Seattle that saw an explosion of virus cases in late February and early March. The death and discovery of a number of patients prompted Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee to declare a state of emergency. The CCP virus originated in Wuhan, China last year before spreading around the world. Chinese Communist Party officials have continually manipulated figures related to the outbreak, hid information about the origin of the virus, and promoted conspiracy theories accusing other countries of wrongdoing, according to internal documents obtained by The Epoch Times and public statements. The United States has over 825,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of April 22, according to Johns Hopkins University, along with over 45,000 deaths. Eva Fu contributed to this report. Correction: An earlier version of this article stated the California patients died from COVID-19. The patients died with the disease. The Epoch Times regrets the error. By AFP SINGAPORE: Brent crude plunged more than 12 per cent to below $17 a barrel Wednesday while US oil erased early gains and fell, as the coronavirus strangles demand and ravages energy markets, while storage facilities approach full capacity. In another day of volatile trading, US benchmark WTI surged in early Asian deals while Brent also edged up on news that top producers had held talks -- only for prices to suddenly change course. Brent dropped 12.31 percent to $16.98 a barrel, extending heavy losses from a day earlier. WTI for June delivery, which had rebounded about 20 percent at the open, was down around five percent at $11 a barrel in the afternoon. ALSO READ | Explainer: Why did crude oil prices plunge below zero for the first time since 1983? On Monday, WTI for May delivery collapsed to an unprecedented low of minus $40.32 as traders scrambled to sell it before the contract expired Tuesday, but could find few buyers with storage capacity fast filling up. The negative prices meant that traders were forced to pay to have the crude taken off their hands. Analysts said the morning bounce was driven by news that members of exporting group OPEC, as well as some allies in the OPEC+ grouping, held a teleconference Tuesday -- but grim reality soon returned to the markets. Prices have plunged as lockdowns and travel restrictions introduced worldwide to stem the spread of the virus hammer demand, and observers believe there is little way out for oil except bringing an end to the pandemic. ALSO READ: Here's why fuel prices won't fall despite oil hitting record low "The overtly bearish sentiment may well keep prices suppressed in the near-term until we find the light at the end of the tunnel with progressive resumption of halted economic activities across the globe," said Jingyi Pan, a market strategist with IG. US crude has been particularly hard-hit because of storage problems, as WTI is delivered at a single, inland point, although the sell-off has now spread to Brent. The crisis was worsened by a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia. They drew a line under the dispute earlier this month and, along with other top producers, agreed to slash output by almost 10 million barrels a day to shore up virus-hit markets. But that has had little effect, with prices continuing to plummet, as analysts predict it will not make up for the massive hit to demand. An evangelical preacher defied calls to close his church and hosted packed services despite admitting in an audio recording that he had symptoms that match coronavirus, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal. Prophet Brian Carn failed to wear a mask or protective clothing and came within feet of worshippers and he strode up and down the aisle Easter Sunday leading prayers and songs at Kingdom City Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Yet in a private audio sent to church members several days earlier Carn conceded he had been suffering from pain, shakes and a cough, boasting of how he fought the suspected infection: 'I tested positive for faith'. The flamboyant 31-year-old preacher who claims to have healed cancers and restored sight in the blind - assured followers they could attain 'divine exemption' from coronavirus through the power of prayer. And while he said it was permissible for anyone who contracted the disease to go to the hospital, Carn urged them to offer up the names of rival churches if anyone asked them where they attended services. Preacher Brian Carn held packed services at Kingdom City Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, despite calls to close his church Carn led the services without wearing a mask and came within feet of worshipers during Easter Sunday mass at Kingdom City Church A copy of the audio was shared with DailyMail.com amid fears that Carn's insistence on keeping his church operating as normal could lead to a deadly cluster of COVID-19. Our source said the Charlotte Police Department was informed of the risk in advance but nothing was done to shut down two separate Easter Sunday services. The flamboyant 31-year-old preacher boasted of how he fought the suspected infections, saying: 'I tested positive for faith ' To date there have been 1,231 recorded infections and 31 deaths in Mecklenburg County, where Kingdom City church is based more than double the death toll and infection rate of any other North Carolina county. However places of worship are exempt from state and county health authority ban on gatherings of more than 10 people despite repeated warnings about the potential for community spread. Carn is one of a number of preachers nationwide who have come under attack in recent weeks for continuing to hold in-person services in defiance of lockdown. Controversial Louisiana pastor Tony Snell, who faces misdemeanor charges for holding large gatherings, has asked worshippers to donate stimulus checks to his Baton Rouge megachurch and preaches that 'true Christians do not mind dying'. And prominent Virginia preacher Bishop Gerald O. Glenn contracted COVID-19 and died after he vowed to keep preaching 'unless I'm in jail or the hospital.' Carn first made headlines in March when he responded to tightening social distancing rules with a fiery YouTube sermon urging followers to ignore government directives. 'You are not bound by the laws of the land if they contradict the laws of God,' the Jacksonville, Florida-native declared in a clip obtained by Charlotte's WBBC TV station. 'As you see the ends of the world coming upon us that we are to go to church more, that we are not to forsake the assembly of ourselves together.' Then, as churches across his region debated canceling services or switching to drive though services, Carn addressed the threat of coronavirus with members in a private audio message. 'There's an enemy among us, but we must find ourselves in an enormous amount of prayer and you've got to stay in the word just like naturally,' he says in the clip. 'You know when you go to the doctor and you have some kind of infection. Don't they boost you up with a bunch of antibiotics? 'Don't they give you a bunch of medicine to keep your built up? Well, that's what you're going to have to do. 'You can't walk around here, believing that it won't get you and you're not building yourself up in that word. The word of God works and if you believe that you will have divine exemption.' A video posted to Facebook shows Carn addressing his church on Easter Sunday in typically energetic fashion, wearing a sharp suit and tie but no gloves or mask The clip drew a range of comments, with one Facebook user writing: 'The pastor is sinning it's unacceptable to place all these people in harm's way' Carn then reveals his own struggles, telling parishioners from North Carolina and the church's sister locations in St Marys, Georgia and Houston, Texas: 'Does the devil fight my body? Of course. Just like he fights you about it. 'Did I get the shakes? Yup. Did I cough? Yup. Did I feel pain in my body? Whatever. One brother told me he felt like somebody had jumped in. I felt bad, but guess what? I did? I pressed through and I fought through.' In an apparent attempt to deflect any blame for fueling infections, Carn urges anyone who falls sick to brazenly lie to healthcare workers. 'Now, I told you if you want to go to the hospital and get checked because you're going through and your body go ahead,' Carn says. 'But don't tell them you go to KCC, please tell them you go to First Baptist Elevation or St Matthews Methodist church. Let's fight the good fight of faith.' He goes on: 'I command you to live, not die. I speak to your respiratory system I speak to your lungs. I speak to your taste buds and speak to your smelling. 'I ground the activity of the enemy. I terminate his movement, I oppose whatever he's trying to do undercover by the authority of the blood and the power of the sacrifice of the lamb. 'I command you to be healed today I'm gonna tell you right now. You go to the doctor, they gonna tell you, you got it. 'But here's the word of the Lord whose report will you believe and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed. That's our word. I tested positive for faith. 'Be encouraged. I'm healed. I'm delivered. you be healed so that you can have divine exemption from the Coronavirus.' A video posted to Facebook shows Carn addressing his church on Easter Sunday in typically energetic fashion, wearing a sharp suit and tie but no gloves or mask. He rests his hands repeatedly on the wooden benches, strolls up and down and leans over a male parishioner sitting beside the aisle. The congregation are sitting further from one another than usual but do not appear to be spaced more than 6ft apart as the CDC guidelines advise. Coughs ring out throughout the broadcast. Carn begins by telling the congregation that the producer of his gospel music recordings 'is in the hospital right now on a ventilator, sedated,' to gasps. 'This is reasons why you need to be in a church. So when you get sick you got family that can pray for you,' he says, to cheers. 'We just gotta trust God but I'm at peace ya'll.' The clip drew a range of comments, with one Facebook user writing: 'The pastor is sinning it's unacceptable to place all these people in harm's way.' Another user commented: 'Sad. Guiding the sheep astray.' A supportive voice responds: 'They are all doing what they want to do.' In a private audio Carn was heard admitting to suffering from coronavirus-related symptoms, including pain, shakes and a cough Worried worshippers shared a copy of the audio with DailyMail.com amid fears that Carn's insistence on keeping his church open could lead to a cluster of COVID-19 Carn's website says he began preaching in Florida at age 12 and was leading large-scale congregations in Virginia in his teens where 'cancers were healed, the blind were made to see and many souls were saved'. His Facebook page boasts: 'The miraculous and incessant testimonies attributed to his ministry are incalculable with many reporting physical and mental healing, financial breakthroughs, property acquisitions, home and auto acquisitions, debt cancellations and favorable legal outcomes.' When DailyMail.com contacted Carn for comment a representative said he would only be willing to speak if we submitted a copy of our story in advance for his approval. When we declined, his rep agreed we could email questions to Carn and he would answer them in writing so long as the answers were not edited or amended. Neither Carn, nor his rep, contacted us again, however, after we sent over the list of questions. A spokesman for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said: 'The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department has made several unsuccessful attempts to contact Prophet Brian Carn in an effort to communicate the provisions of the executive order. The department will continue our efforts.' Turkey's health minister has reported 117 additional COVID-19 fatalities in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 2,376. Fahrettin Koca also reported 3,083 new confirmed infections in the country, raising the total to 98,674. The number of new cases was the lowest since April 4 and down from the 4,611 cases reported the previous day. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said this week that the number of daily infections is stabilizing and that the country could transition to normal life after a religious holiday at the end of May. The data indicates that the outbreak is under control, Koca told reporters. But he warned against any relaxation of measures to contain the spread, especially during the upcoming holy Muslim of month of Ramadan, when people traditionally hold fast-breaking dinners with family and friends. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A staff member keeping watch at a checkpoint in the border city of Suifenhe, in China's northeastern Heilongjiang province on April 21, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) Leaked Documents: Northern Chinese City Covers up Second Wave of Virus Outbreak Officials in the northern China city of Harbin have underreported cases of the CCP virus during the second wave of its local outbreak, according to internal government documents obtained by The Epoch Times. Meanwhile, one major hospital in Harbin has stopped accepting new patients because of overcapacity and infections among medical staff. Some workers were being observed for symptoms at quarantine centers. In early April, authorities in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang reported another wave of infections in several cities, the most severe in Harbin, the provincial capital. When Chinas initial outbreak became severe in January, Harbin designated 24 hospitals for treating patients with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus. The Epoch Times also obtained an internal warning notice issued by the Heilongjiang government on April 13, in which it admitted that the outbreak in Harbin was in an aggregated, explosive situation. Real Figures The Epoch Times obtained a statistical data sheet from Daowai, one of 18 districts in Harbin, which recorded the newly diagnosed patients in the district on April 10. The sheet listed 34 peoples names, ID numbers, cellphone numbers, antibody test results, and other information. All patients who were tested were close contacts of confirmed patients, though its unclear whether they were close contacts of the same patients. All of them were counted as domestic infections, which means they werent contacts of people who had returned to China from another country. Heilongjiang authorities require that all suspected patients receive a nucleic acid diagnostic test, antibody blood test, and a CT scan. An expert will then confirm whether the patient has the virus. While the datasheet only showed the results of the patients antibody blood test, officials determined all 34 to be diagnosed patients on April 10. Of the group, 20 were being treated at Harbin No. 2 Hospital, while the other 14 were sent to four quarantine centerssites usually converted from hotels. Government policy is to treat all diagnosed patients at designated hospitals in China; confirmed virus patients staying at quarantine centers may indicate that local hospitals have become fully occupied with patients. The Chinese regime hasnt announced the true situation of the outbreak since day one, so we have to think about the worst-case scenario, said U.S.-based China affairs commentator Tang Jingyuan in an interview. When hospitals are full, patients with mild symptoms may have to stay at quarantine centers. Screenshot of the leaked patients list released by Daowai district in Harbin city in northeastern Chinas Heilongjiang province on April 10, 2020. (Provided to The Epoch Times by insider) Official Data For April 10, Harbin only announced one infection: an 87-year-old man, named Mr. Chen, who lives in Daowai. Harbin authorities claimed he was the citys second domestic infection in the second-wave outbreak. Meanwhile, internal data demonstrates far more infections that day. Harbin authorities also said that the first infection in the citys second wave was diagnosed on April 9, identifying the patient as a 54-year-old man surnamed Guo from Daowai. They also found that Guo had been in close contact with 24 people. Authorities later announced that close contacts of Guo were asymptomatic, while several close contacts of Chen later tested positive. Chen has spread the virus to a total of 78 people, who were from Harbin, other cities in Heilongjiang province, as well as one from Liaoning province, and two from Inner Mongolia, state-run Beijing Daily reported on April 22. They had come into contact with Chen at the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University and Harbin No. 2 Hospital, where Chen was being treated. The 78 people were either receiving treatment at the hospital or relatives of patients at the hospital. However, none of the announced 78 patients, nor Chens close contacts announced by authorities as virus patients, match the patients listed on the datasheet obtained by The Epoch Times. The 34 patients diagnosed on April 10 arent contacts of Guo or Chen, so how they became infected is a mystery. A staff member (L) checking the body temperature of a resident before he enters a residential compound in Mudanjiang in Chinas northeastern Heilongjiang province on April 20, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) Severe Situation Two doctors and six nurses were diagnosed with the virus at Harbin No. 2 Hospital, and were being treated at designated hospitals, state-run newspaper Yangtze Daily reported on April 22, citing the Heilongjiang provincial health commission. Meanwhile, 216 medical staff from the hospital were under observation at quarantine centers; 189 others were sent home to self-quarantine. Only about 130 remain at work in the hospital. Harbin No. 2 Hospital announced on April 20 that it would not take any more new patients because there are too many coronavirus infections in our hospital recently. Harbin residents told the Chinese-language Epoch Times that they are very nervous about the viruss spread. The alert level in Daowai district is very, very high. Its horrible Some residential units, residential buildings, and residential compounds were locked down, said Mr. Li, a Daowai resident. Li said that authorities lock down a unit if a member of the household is confirmed to have the virus. When several units have infections, the whole building will be locked down. When several buildings within a complex have infections, the whole residential compound will be locked down. He thinks there are far more infections that authorities have admitted. The government hasnt announced the truth, he said. Another resident of Harbin, Mr. Yu, told the Chinese-language Epoch Times that he heard of outbreaks in Qiqihar, a city to the north. Qiqihar authorities havent announced new diagnoses in recent weeks. With 53 journalists testing positive for Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Mumbai, both Rajasthan and Assam on Wednesday, have announced that they will test news reporters for the infection. Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that free COVID-19 testing will be done for reporters at Guwahati Medical College on April 25, while Rajasthan State Health Minister Raghu Sharma stated that the Gehlot government too will test reporters. Current tally of COVID-19 in India is at 19984 with 640 deaths. Coronavirus Live Updates: 1336 cases reported in last 24 hours; total cases soar to 18985 Assam & Rajasthan to test reporters State govt has decided to conduct free #COVID19 tests for news reporters at Guwahati Medical College on April 25: Assam Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma pic.twitter.com/kRohk6VdEA ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 Lockdown: Assam govt offices reopen on Tuesday Keeping in view the fact that so many journalists have tested #COVID19 positive in Maharashtra & Delhi, we have decided to test journalists for the infection in Rajasthan: State Health Minister Raghu Sharma pic.twitter.com/RAmJwgpa2v ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot says it's 'heartening' to see Wuhan returning to normalcy 53 journalists test positive Sources state that 53 journalists - including videographers, reporters, photojournalists and cameramen of a TV news channel have tested positive for Coronavirus. Pednekar is said to have been in contact with several of these journalists. BMC has tested 167 journalists, of which 53 have tested positive. After exposure to some of these COVID-19 positive journalists, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar, on Monday home quarantined herself and is currently overseeing her duties from her home and is most likely to get tested this week. Mumbai Mayor home-quarantined after contact with COVID +ve journalists, 53 test positive Coronavirus in India As of date, 15474 active cases have been reported of the pandemic Coronavirus (COVID-19) - 3869 have been discharged and Maharashtra reported the highest at 5218. 640 deaths have been reported till date. India has suspended all visas and barred travel from Afghanistan, Philippines, EU, UK, China, Malaysia and mandatory 14-day quarantine from several other countries. PM Modi has extended the lockdown till May 3, with a relaxation possibility in non-COVID hotspots after April 20. Taking a break from blaming Little Satan (Israel) and Big Satan (USA) from all the world's problems, now the Wuhan, China coronavirus pandemic, the U.N. did something shocking. Yes, just when you thought you couldn't be shocked by the U.N.'s incompetent, bizarre behavior, the U.N. fools you and shocks once again. What did it do that was so shocking? The U.N. was shocked, shocked, shocked to learn: UN experts 'shocked' as Iran executes young offender GENEVA, Switzerland United Nations rights experts accused Iran of violating international law on Tuesday for executing a prisoner who was just 17 years old when he committed a crime. Shayan Saeedpour, alleged to have committed murder in August 2015, was hanged on Tuesday, United Nations special rapporteurs Javaid Rehman and Agnes Callamard in a statement. (snip) "We are shocked that the Iranian authorities have once again defied their international obligations by executing a child offender," the UN experts said. "We have repeatedly reminded the Iranian government and judiciary that international human rights law is clear: the application of the death penalty to child offenders is strictly prohibited and its practice is an egregious violation of the right to life." What? The U.N. is shocked to learn that Iran has "once again defied [its] international obligations" and expects the Iranians to obey "international human rights law"? Iran has laughed at international law for over 40 years with nary a peep of protest from the U.N., such as Iran's brutal behavior in suppressing dissent against Assad in Syria and threatening to annihilate Israel. So why should Iran be concerned that the U.N. momentarily thinks hanging a 17-year-old with severe mental problems is shocking? Iran is not concerned. Having expressed its shocking opinion, along with the equally shocked Amnesty International, the U.N. immediately returned to its usual behavior of ranting against Little and Big Satan. Alas, not so shocking. Image: sanjitbakshi via Flickr. Hyderabad, April 22 : Four members of a family committed suicide at their house in Almasguda on the outskirts of Hyderabad on Wednesday, allegedly due to financial problems. A software engineer along with his family members committed suicide by hanging. The incident occurred under Meerpet police station limits of Rachakonda commissionerate. "Don't open the door please" was written on a paper pasted on the door. The neighbours, who noticed the paper, grew suspicious and alerted the police, which broke open the door to find all four family members dead. They were identified as Swarna Bai (60), daughter Swapna (28) and sons, Haris (30) and Girish (25). Police informed the relatives and launched investigations by gathering details from them and the neighbours. Omans Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (Madayn) has signed an agreement with Shumookh Investment and Services to establish a facility building at Al Mazunah Free Zone. The project will be built on an area exceeding 11,000 sq m at a total cost touching RO3.5 million ($9.09 million), a statement said. The agreement was signed by Said bin Abdullah Al Balushi, Director General of Al Mazunah Free Zone, and Eng Musallam bin Jumaa Al Hudaifi, Chief Executive Officer of Shumookh Investment and Services. The project aims to present integrated services and facilities required by investors, business owners and clients under one platform in order to facilitate procedures and accelerate the pace of business. The facility building will be implemented in two phases, with Phase One comprising four floors and Phase Two addomg two more floors as per the requirements of the market at that particular time. The project, which will be constructed at a strategic and easily accessible location, will include a mixed-use space, Masar Service Centre, restaurants, office space for import and export services, and an area for investments. As per the time frame, the project is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2021, the statement said. The facility building project represents a continuation of the efforts undertaken by Madayn to boost the investment movement and achieve an added value at Al Mazunah Free Zone, and consequently contribute in diversifying income sources and advancing the national economy. In addition to this project, Madayn is currently implementing a number of projects in the free zone, which include development of Phase One (second package) of the free zone, a power transmission network for the companies (cables and transformers), a broadband project, electronic surveillance systems (cameras and tracking systems), and cargo gates management through a system that controls and manages the entry/exit of vehicles to/from the free zone. General incentives are offered to investors in Al Mazunah free zone, including customs exemptions, 100 per cent foreign ownership, no minimum capital requirements, and Omanisation rate stands at 10 per cent. Other incentives include easy access of individuals and investors to the free zone without entry visas being required for Yemenis, facilitation of employing Yemeni workforce without work visa being required, in addition to other incentives. TradeArabia News Service Days after a one-month-old male rhino calf was spotted by villagers in Assams Deopani area, the forest officials of the Kaziranga National Park are on a massive search to unite the little one with his mother. The calf was rescued by the forest guards on Sunday after being spotted by the villagers n Deopani area, near the boundary of the Bagori range of the national park on April 19. For now, the calf has been kept at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC), run by the Wildlife Trust of India, India Today reported. The search for the rhino mother has been going on for 48 hours and the officials are surprised that she hasnt yet come for the calf as rhino mothers are considered very protective. However, experts also say that in few cases, the mothers deliberately distance themselves from the off-springs to protect it from injuries when an adult male in heat approaches her. The officials have so far ruled out the chances of the rhino mother being poached. The mother stays near the calf. So we would have found the carcass if she had been killed, a park official was quoted as saying. PITTSBURGH, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Maintaining hygiene in the bathroom can be quite challenging since it's not uncommon to find urine splashed onto the toilet and floor, when sitting on the seat. Fortunately, an inventor from Westminster, Colo., has found a way to help males keep the urine in the toilet. He developed P-GARD to keep the urine directed inside the bowl and eliminates the need to clean up splatters. Besides saving time and effort, it reduces the accumulation of germs and odors. Thus, this durable and practical bathroom accessory facilitates more sanitary conditions in the bathroom. In addition, it is convenient, effective, easy to apply and use, and affordably priced. The inventor's personal experience inspired the idea. "I thought this was an easy way to prevent splattered urine in the bathroom so there would be no mess to clean up," he said. The original design was submitted to the Denver sales office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 18-DPH-763, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com. SOURCE InventHelp Related Links http://www.inventhelp.com Residents, who are kept in quarantine centres of Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), have complained of poor sanitation and lack of food supply in the centres. Some videos from the Bhayandar Pada quarantine centre has gone viral, showing the residents complain that the food is not provided on time, garbage is not collected and the centre is not cleaned regularly. The residents alleged that they are not examined for symptoms regularly. The high-risk contacts of Covid positive people in Thane are sent to different quarantine centres set up by the TMC. The municipal corporation has 1,015 quarantine units at its four centres, including BSUP Kasarwadavli centres, Lodha in Bhayandar pada, Tata Amantra in Kalyan and Dosti in Shilphata. The video which went viral shows people roaming freely in the lobby and common spaces at the centre without following social distancing norm. A resident admitted at the centre said, The centre is not cleaned regularly and garbage is not picked up. We are not given lunch till 3pm. Children are hungry by then. Another family at Ghodbunder centre said they have written a letter to the state, demanding better facilities. A woman from the family said, My brother and I have fever for the past few days, but no one has come to check us. TMC claimed that there is no shortage of food and medical facilities at the quarantine centres. Sandeep Malvi, deputy municipal commissioner of Thane, said, We had a meeting to discuss the complaints. Civic commissioner Vijay Singhal has given directives to the officials to communicate with the people and solve their problems. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Click here to read the full article. EXCLUSIVE: More Married at First Sight is coming to Lifetime. On the heels of the highest-rated season finale in Married at First Sight franchise history, the network has acquired Married At First Sight: Australia for premiere in the U.S. The 36-episode import, featuring 12 couples, including one same-sex duo, will air two-hour episodes each Wednesday and Thursday at 9 pm ET/PT on Lifetime, beginning May 27. Married at First Sight: Australia details the matching of each couple by experts John Aiken, Mel Schiling and Dr. Trisha Stafford, leading to their weddings and honeymoons, and follows as they settle into their domestic lives together. At the end of the social experiment, each couple must decide if its happily ever after for them, or if its time to get a divorce and go their separate ways. More from Deadline The Wednesday, April 15 season 10 finale of Married at First Sight drew 2.1 million Total Viewers in Live+3, marking the best episode ever on a single network. Additionally, season 10 averaged 1.8 million Total Viewers, the best performing season ever on a single network, according to Nielsen. Married at First Sight: Australia will follow new episodes of Married at First Sight: Couples Cam, debuting May 20 at 8 pm ET/PT. The announcement comes just hours before tonights Married at First Sight Season 10 Reunion show, which airs at 8 pm ET/PT on Lifetime. Married at First Sight: Australia is produced by Endemol Shine Australia. The format is distributed worldwide by Red Arrow Studios International. Married at First Sight USA is produced by Kinetic Content, a Red Arrow Studios company, for Lifetime. Story continues The couples bios follow below: Aleks & Ivan Aleksandra, born and raised in Perth, WA, grew up in a strict Serbian household and although her parents disagree with her participation in the experiment, she feels the dating pool in her town is too small to meet Mr. Right. Driven, fiery and outspoken, Aleks knows exactly what she wants in a relationship and is ready to get married and settle into the life she has always imagined for herself. Ivan is a Ukrainian-born straight shooter with traditional family values. The Sydney-based real estate agent is hard-working and ambitious with strong opinions. Although he is direct, underneath his tough exterior is a sentimental romantic who believes in true love. Tash & Amanda Tash, a bartender and yoga teacher from Adelaide, SA, can come off as intimidating to others considering her dark hair and striking tattoos. She hopes to find someone who is affectionate and expressive with their emotions. Amanda, a self-proclaimed alpha-female from Melbourne, VIC, is searching for a woman to love deeply and equally. Her European family has not always been accepting but more than ever, Amanda is ready to find her soulmate. Cathy & Josh Cathy, a logistics investigator from New Zealand, is living in Sydney away from her family. Despite her glamorous appearance, she is down-to-earth and friendly and is looking for an honest and loyal partner she can finally let her guard down with. Josh, an industrial operator from Sydney, always loved being the life of the party. Now, he regrets losing the one who got away while he wasted time partying instead of dating. Ready to settle down, Josh is vowing to never let love escape him so he can find his forever relationship. Connie & Jonethen Connie is an aspiring marine biologist from Melbourne who has been single for five years. Uncomfortable around men, she spends her time focusing on studying to avoid feeling invisible. Although her mother is against her being part of this experiment, she is determined to find her soulmate, with or without her familys blessing. Jonethen is a fun-loving guy living on the Gold Coast with a job that he feels has inhibited his ability to find the one. He has found it difficult to maintain any relationship beyond a few months. Jonethen is one of five boys from a close-knit family and he now believes it is time to mature and find a girl to settle down with for the long term. Hayley & David Melbourne native Hayley suffered from a drug addiction ten years ago but has since turned to health and fitness to pull her out of darkness. Although this has had a huge impact on her life and relationships, she is ready to show her vulnerability and be loved by someone who accepts her, past and all. David is a former boxer from Melbourne who now drives trucks for a living. When he isnt working, he is training his two horses on his farmland. Davids parents are traditionalists who are skeptical of his participation in this experiment. Although their approval is important to him, he is willing to try anything to find a special connection again. KC & Drew KC worked as a dancer in Los Angeles for 10 years before making the decision to move back home to Sydney with the hopes of finding love. Although she enjoyed her Hollywood lifestyle mixing and mingling with A-listers, she is finally home and ready to find someone to settle down with. Drew, a musician with a big heart, enjoys a simple life and loves his laid-back lifestyle in Cairns, QLD where he runs a mental health charity. Although he receives no shortage of attention from woman, he hasnt allowed himself to be vulnerable with anyone since his called off engagement four years ago. Lizzie & Seb Lizzie, who appeared on a previous season of Married at First Sight: Australia, is back for a second chance at finding love after being betrayed by her husband. Although she tried to make it work with her previous groom, Sam, she later found out he was cheating on her with another bride in the experiment. Sebastian, a semi-pro ALF player and personal trainer from Newcastle, NSW, has been single for eight years and has only had one serious relationship. As a sensitive soul and deep thinker, he is really hoping to get to know someone on a deeper level. Mishel & Steve Mishel, a young in spirit mother of two grown kids from Brisbane, Qld has suffered her fair share of heartache, including her divorce 15 years ago. She openly shares details of her dating disasters, admitting she has been cheated on in seven of her past eight relationships. Mishel finds the dating landscape increasingly difficult to navigate at her age and is hopeful the experiment will put an end to her quest to find a man who embraces her for who she is. Steve, a cancer survivor from Melbourne, Vic, is originally from the UK. Hes lived in Australia for the past 18 years and has a son in his 30s who still lies in England. He feels his life is sorted out other than his constant fear of spending the rest of his life alone and that has him finally making a change. Natasha & Mikey Natasha is an outspoken and bold businesswoman from Sydney who has always dated men who are significantly older than her, including her ex-fiance. Determined to break the cycle of feeling like she is just arm candy, Natasha is looking for a good man who will treat her as their equal. Mikey is from Sydney and has a solid work ethic, recently stepping in to help run his familys business, a nursing home founded by his grandfather. Mikey carries a self-assured facade but lacks confidence when it comes to interacting with women. Poppy & Luke Poppy, a mother of two-year-old twin boys from Wollongong, NSW, has endured her fair share of heart-crushing disappointment when it comes to love. Self-deprecating, outspoken and funny, she often uses comedy to hide her pain. Since her number one priority is her sons, Poppy decided to do the experiment to find a soulmate and a good and dependable man to be a role model for her sons. Luke, a hard-working single dad of two teenage daughters from Melbourne, has his work cut out for him when it comes to finding time for dating. Previously married for 10 years, he is focused on providing a solid life for his daughters as he continues to put his family first and prioritizes homelife above everything else. Luke is finally ready to put his heart on the line for someone else. Stacey & Michael Stacey, a law graduate from Adelaide, SA, has two kids and a broken engagement, and has been scared to let someone else in because of her past family trauma. Now, she finally feels ready to let her walls down and give herself another chance at love. Michael is a single dad from Adelaide, SA who became a billionaire at 24. Hes now ready to enter a relationship with a woman who will help keep him in line and be able to handle his sense of humor. Vanessa & Chris Vanessa, a pharmacy manager from Perth, WA, shields herself from hurt by rejecting men before they reject her. She hopes the experts can find her someone to look past the scars and love her the way she wants to be loved back. Chris, a single dad of two young boys from Adelaide, SA, has always pictured the perfect family unit for himself, much like his parents who have been married for 38 years. Heartbroken following two failed engagements, Chris is determined to find the woman who will complete his ideal family portrait. Best of Deadline Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 22) - A Navotas City mother who earlier contracted COVID-19 was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday after doctors declared her cured of the lethal virus. Judy Ann Sarabia, 25, is the sixth person from the city to recover from COVID-19. Her newborn twins also tested negative. Sarabia was symptomatic when she gave birth to her twins last April 4 at Navotas City Hospital. She was confirmed to have contracted the virus on April 8 and was confined at the hospital for two weeks. Navotas City has so far recorded 25 confirmed cases and six deaths. Meanwhile, nine were admitted at hospitals and four are under home quarantine. Meanwhile, Cebu City Mayor Edgar Labella also announced that the newborn baby who tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, is now negative from the virus after subsequent testing. The babys mother was symptomatic but tested negative, he added. Labella said the city health center will continue to monitor the condition of the mother and her child. The United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention said that mother-to-child transmission of coronavirus is unlikely. Six recovered Covid-19 patients (front row) are discharged from Hanoi's National Hospital of Tropical Disease, April 22, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Chi Le. Seven Covid-19 patients, six from Hanoi and one from the southern Tay Ninh Province, were discharged from hospitals Wednesday, bringing the nations active count to 45. "Patient 252," discharged from Tay Ninh General Hospital, is a six-year-old boy from HCMC's District 5. He lives in Cambodia in a family of five, of whom two have tested Covid-19 positive and are being treated in Cambodia. The boy returned from Cambodia to Vietnam on April 8 and was quarantined in Tay Ninh at the border before being confirmed positive on April 9. Six patients in Hanoi were discharged from the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases. "Patient 184" and "Patient 215" were employees of Truong Sinh Company, which provides food and logistics services for several hospitals in Hanoi, including the Bach Mai Hospital, a major outbreak site. "Patient 184" is a 42-year-old woman from the central province of Nghe An who was confirmed positive on March 29. "Patient 215" is a 31-year-old man from Hanoi's Dong Da District who was confirmed positive on April 1. Two others, "Patient 227" and "Patient 266," had been to the Bach Mai Hospital or come into close contact with someone there. "Patient 227" is a 31-year-old man from the northern province of Ha Nam Province, the son of a woman who was also infected with Covid-19 after taking care of an infected family member at Bach Mai. The man was confirmed positive on April 2. "Patient 266" is a 36-year-old woman from Hanoi's Thuong Tin District. She took care of her mother at Bach Mai from March 8 to March 10. She was confirmed positive on April 14. Two others, "Patient 216" and "Patient 246," entered Vietnam from abroad. "Patient 216" is a 48-year-old woman who flew from Germany to Hanoi March 23 and was confirmed positive on April 1. "Patient 246" is a 33-year-old man from Nghe An who flew from Moscow to Hanoi March 25 and was confirmed positive on April 7. Vietnam has confirmed 268 Covid-19 cases so far, of whom 223 have recovered. The country has recorded no new infection in the last six days. The pandemic has spread to 210 countries and territories and death toll has crossed 177,600. Rating agency Fitch has affirmed Ghana's Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'B' with the economic outlook at stable. The affirmation of the 'B' rating reflects Fitch's expectation of a swift recovery after the coronavirus pandemic shock and the availability of additional fiscal and external financing options to the sovereign. This comes a day after Moody's downgraded Ghana's economy from positive to negative. According to Fitch, there is balanced against the risk that a deeper and longer economic shock will result in worsening fiscal and external debt metrics. It said the coronavirus crisis will cause a shock to Ghana's near-term growth and fiscal outturns. Public finances are already a rating weakness, as Ghana has a track record of fiscal slippage around elections and deficiencies in public financial management (PFM) that weakened the government's ability to meet fiscal targets. In the years following the 2016 election, the government passed the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which caps the targeted fiscal deficit at 5% of GDP, along with a number of PFM reforms, which helped lower government deficits on a commitment basis, it emphasised. Fitch now forecasts the general government cash deficit to widen from an estimated 7.6% of GDP in 2019 to above 10% in 2020. The 2020 cash deficit includes approximately 2.8% of GDP in arrears clearance and the realisation of contingent liabilities from the financial and energy sectors. Continuing, it said We expect that the fiscal deficit will narrow in 2021, supported by stronger growth and fewer materialising contingent liabilities. However, the December 2020 elections heighten risks of additional fiscal slippage this year and of possible post-election reversal of the 5% deficit cap and PFM reforms. Fitch estimates Ghana's total 2020 financing requirement, including debt amortisation, at approximately GHS78 billion or 21% of GDP. The issuance of US$3 billion (4.9% of GDP) in Eurobonds in January 2020, before the COVID-19 crisis effectively shut many emerging markets out of international capital markets, allowed the government to meet a significant portion of its financing needs. The widening of the fiscal deficit will mean that the financing requirement will be approximately 3% of GDP higher than what was programmed in the 2020 budget. To meet the extra financing needs, Ghana has come to an agreement with the IMF on a Rapid Credit Facility that will disburse US$1 billion (1.6% of GDP) and the government expects an additional USD300 million (0.5% of GDP) from the World Bank. The government also plan to draw on approximately US$200 million (0.3% of GDP) in deposits from Ghana's Petroleum Funds, Fitch added. The remainder of the financing needs will likely come by increasing the government's call on the domestic debt market. If the fiscal deficit widens further than we currently expect, we believe that the government will be able to access additional financing from international financial institutions and draw further on its petroleum funds, which currently have a balance of just below USD1 billion (1.6% of GDP). The government has also considered amending the Bank of Ghana Act to allow direct borrowing from the Bank of Ghana up to 10% of the previous year's revenue, which equals GHS5.3 billion (1.6% of GDP). The law allows direct financing of up to 5% of the previous year's revenue but the government currently has no outstanding balance to the central bank, said the UK-based rating agency", said the UK based rating agency. Fitch also expects fiscal outturns to improve over the medium term, but high general government debt will remain a constraint on the ratings. Fitch anticipates general government debt to increase to 76.8% of GDP in 2020, owing to the combination of a wider fiscal deficit and cedi depreciation. Debt would equal 535% of government revenue, twice the 'B' median of 214%. Furthermore, the cedi depreciation has increased external debt servicing costs in local-currency terms and we forecast interest costs to reach 40.3% of revenue compared with the 'B' median of 8.6%. We expect government debt to plateau in 2022, although there is a risk of larger-than-expected contingent liabilities from the energy sector. It continued, saying, the government will continue to realise contingent liabilities from Ghana's banking sector in 2020 from the financial sector clean-up. The ratio of non-performing loans (NPL) to total loans fell to 13.9% at end-2019 from 18.2% in the previous year. We expect the NPL ratio to remain elevated in 2020 as a result of economic challenges, but bad loans in the energy sector will continue being cleared slowly through the Energy Sector Recovery Programme (ESRP). Real private sector credit growth increased to 15.2% YoY in January 2020, from 8.4% at end-2018, but we expect a sharp reduction for the rest of the year as the economy slows. Increased government borrowing requirements will also lead to some crowding out of private sector credit provision. ESG - Governance: It said Ghana has an ESG Relevance Score (RS) of 5 for both Political Stability and Rights and for the Rule of Law, Institutional and Regulatory Quality and Control of Corruption, as is the case for all sovereigns. These scores reflect the high weight that the World Bank Governance Indicators (WBGI) have in our proprietary Sovereign Rating Model. Ghana has a medium WBGI ranking at the 54th percentile, reflecting a recent track record of peaceful political transitions, a moderate level of rights for participation in the political process, moderate institutional capacity, established rule of law and a moderate level of corruption. --- Classsfmonline.com [April 22, 2020] Fighting for the Frontline: Apollo Makes Healthcare Staffing Platform Free Amid COVID-19 Crisis Apollo, a healthcare technology startup that matches healthcare professionals with medical facilities seeking immediate shift coverage, recently announced that all usage fees for its staffing platform have been waived for the next four weeks as the company pivots to focus on supporting healthcare professionals and facilities on the frontline of the coronavirus outbreak. To date, Apollo has more than 90 physicians enrolled with several major health systems, and since the onset of the pandemic, platform users-both providers and facilities-have quadrupled. Founded in 2019 by medical students at the University of Iowa, Apollo's online platform was established to address the hiring crisis in medicine by increasing provider transferability and staffing speed. Using the platform, hospitals post jobs for professionals seeking positions, who then create profiles to be matched algorithmically with facilities most in need. "Having grown up as the child of a physician that primarily served rural hospitals, I have witnessed firsthand the impact that provider shortages can have on patient care," said Dr. Jon Lensing, co-founder and CEO of Apollo. "In rural areas, when a hospital closes, patient death rate rises roughly 5.9%. This is what we im to change in founding Apollo and shifting to provide our platform for free for four weeks as we pivot to combat the spread of COVID-19." Apollo is waiving all fees to aid healthcare facilities seeking increased care for patients due to COVID-19 in order to: Address the significant need for medical professionals across various specialties-including physicians, nurses and medical assistants Provide a centralized location to host hiring needs of medical facilities and availability of healthcare providers Connect available providers/volunteers to facilities in direct need Help clinical teams save critical time and resources to maintain focus on serving patients Automate matches for quick and secure provider placements "Designed by and for healthcare providers, the Apollo platform and team have proven to be highly adaptable and responsive, connecting providers and hospital systems and care facilities and enabling real-time responses to critical workforce needs," said Michael Flesher, CEO at the Iowa Medical Society. "Apollo's platform enables healthcare facilities to proactively engage with available medical professionals in a streamlined manner," said Dr. Charles Keller, former Chief Medical Officer of Mercy Medical Center. "It truly has the potential to transform the dynamics of how healthcare is provided." Without Apollo's technology, hiring healthcare providers to fill staffing gaps often requires two to six months, with time-consuming paper applications and long lead times. During this time of crisis, healthcare facilities do not have time to navigate such a cumbersome process. Additionally, Apollo's platform eliminates the need for third-party staffing agencies, providing users significant cost savings, which can be reallocated to patient care. About Apollo Apollo is a healthcare technology startup committed to improving community health through the accelerated delivery of patient services by matching physicians and residents with hospitals actively hiring for temporary provider coverage. Apollo facilitates permanent placements for those seeking full-time employment. The company headquarters is located in Iowa City, IA. For more information, visit www.apollohct.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005009/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Enough! President Trump admonished CNNs Kaitlan Collins as she pressed for answers during a contentious coronavirus briefing. With daily feuding between Trump and media boiling over, stressed Americans should be forgiven if they, too, have had enough. The president clearly relishes the briefings and the opportunity they provide for him to communicate directly with an audience eager for answers. Many, including Wall Street Journal editorial writers, have criticized the choreography, with its lengthy monologues about the administrations accomplishments. Then came Monday. The president doubled down, as pundits would put it, by running a campaign-style video produced by White House staff, designed to defend Trumps handling of the crisis. It was bad theater, and bad form. Worse, it was the type of thing that cant possibly help the president achieve any of his goals: ending the pandemic, restoring the economy and winning re-election. Heres the timeline, to use another term favored in this soap opera. On April 8 the Journal hit a nerve with an editorial noting, Mr. Trump seems to have concluded that the briefings could be a showcase for him. Within hours a presidential tweet responded with the favorite expression, Fake News! On April 11, the New York Times published a lengthy report detailing the administrations slow, or at least uneven, response to the coronavirus outbreak. Similar stories appeared in the Washington Post and via the Associated Press. On April 12, Dr. Anthony Fauci, lead medical adviser on the coronavirus task force, was interviewed by CNNs Jake Tapper and was obliged to concede the obvious: Earlier mitigation against the virus could have saved lives. He added that there was pushback against such mitigation. Within hours the president retweeted criticism of Dr. Fauci that closed with, Time to #FireFauci. It was against that background that Trump decided to treat the White House press corps and viewers of multiple TV outlets to his video mash-up. CNN and MSNBC cut away during part of it. After rejoining, CNNs on-screen summaries included, Angry Trump turns briefing into propaganda session and Trump melts down The president baited the press, and they gobbled it up. Meanwhile, serious debate continues in television newsrooms about whether to carry the briefings live. Having spent the first years of my career in ABCs New York newsroom I can state with certainty that there is no more difficult decision than whether to grant airtime to a president - and when to pull the plug. Maybe in the multi-platform age there is no reason for so many outlets to carry the briefings. Yet, if I were a news executive I would opt to carry all of it during a national emergency - but not if it contains blatant campaign videos. And, as a viewer, I want to watch all of it, even as the sparring between the president and press becomes almost insufferable. The sad irony here is that the administration and state governors from both parties - along with many business leaders - have succeeded, for the most part, in putting differences aside for the good of the nation. Why cant the president do the same in dealing with the White House press corps? At one point in the briefing, the president said to Paula Reid of CBS: Right now, nearly 20 million people are unemployed, and tens of thousands of Americans are dead. How is this supposed to make people feel confident in an unprecedented crisis? Exactly, Mister President. Start repairing and refocusing these briefings. Enough is enough. Peter Funt is a writer and speaker. His book, Cautiously Optimistic, is available at Amazon.com and CandidCamera.com. Column distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. WATERLOO Waterloo received a shipment of protective face shields designed by a city native who now teaches at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Some 5,000 of the donated shields were unloaded at City Hall and Waterloo Fire Rescue on Wednesday. The equipment will be going to local hospitals and firefighters to protect against possible coronavirus exposure. The virus is here and impacting our community at an alarming rate. These shields have arrived just in time, said Mayor Quentin Hart. We are proud of Dr. Culpepper and honored that he thinks so highly of his hometown that he would make sure we have what we need to protect our front-line health workers. Peoples Community Health Clinic, Unity Point Allen Hospital, Harmony House and MercyOne Waterloo Medical Center will receive shares, as will Waterloo Fire Rescue and Waterloo Police. With the widespread shortage of personal protective equipment we value every single piece we are able to obtain, said Christine Kemp, Peoples Clinic CEO. Our community truly is amazing, and weve been overwhelmed by offers of support that help keep our team members and patients safe, said Pam Delagardelle, president and CEO, UnityPoint Health Waterloo The ongoing acts of kindness fuel the spirit of our caregivers, said Jack Dusenbery, president and CEO of MercyOne. Former Waterloo resident Martin Culpepper, a professor of mechanical engineering, is part of the MIT team that developed the manufacturing technique, and he produced the first prototype in his basement with a laser cutter and the help of his children. The single piece of transparent plastic folds to create not only the shield, but also a support headband and attachment points for an elastic band, which is included in the kit. The shield curves around to offer protection from the sides and folds upward near the chin for another dimension of safety. Production of the equipment began in late March. Waterloo firefighters and medics are also using protective face shields that were donated by John Deere. 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. Australia will lead a push for the World Health Organisation to be given the same powers as weapons inspectors to forcibly enter a country to avoid a repeat of the COVID-19 global pandemic. The move would overhaul the operation of the world health body, which currently doesn't have the power to go into a country to investigate a disease outbreak unless it has the express consent of that nation's government. Scott Morrison will push for reform of the WHO to give the body the powers of weapons inspectors. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The WHO has come under criticism for not alerting the world sooner to the global pandemic through most of January, and has faced allegations from senior politicians in Australia and the United States that it was too close to China. The Australian government quietly lost faith in the WHO's global headquarters in late January and early February for uncritically repeating advice from the Chinese government. Gardai have warned the young man of a credible threat to his life and advised him of security precautions A young man has been warned of a credible threat to his life after an alleged kidnapping in which he was brought across two counties over a substantial drugs debt. A garda investigation is under way into the incident, in which the man was driven from Wexford to Dublin as part of an intimidation campaign. Detectives believe the incident is linked to a 15,000 drugs debt and is part of an increase in debt collection related violence across the country in recent weeks. A Crumlin thug linked to a crime family from the area has also been quizzed as part of the investigation. The ordeal began last Thursday when the victim, aged in his 20s, was assaulted outside his Gorey home before being driven to the Crumlin area. Girlfriend A bystander witnessed the initial incident and notified gardai who launched an investigation. Later that day, the victim made a number of phone calls to his family asking for the drugs debt to be paid. "Phone calls were made to his girlfriend and family by him and they were asked if they could raise the funds," a senior source said. "Gardai are keeping an open mind into all of the circumstances surrounding this incident." It is understood that no money was handed over but that later that evening, the young man made his own way home to Gorey. A chief suspect has since been identified and arrested in relation to the incident. He was quizzed by gardai based in Gorey before being released without charge, and a file will now be prepared for the DPP. The man, who is aged in his mid-20s and from the Crumlin area, comes from a crime family in the area whose father is suspected of involvement in the drug trade, while his brother is an armed robber. Detectives have also reviewed CCTV from the area as part of their investigation which shows the victim and the suspect together. Security The victim, who is originally from Dublin but now living in Wexford, has also been informed that there is a credible threat to his life. Detectives have issued the young man with a Garda Information Message - also known as a GIM form - and advised him of security precautions. Gardai are trying to establish if there have been other instances involving this male where he has been threatened to pay up, or if this was the first step. "No money was handed over and this may have been intimidation more than anything else to pay up," a source said. "There has been an increase of drug debt collections across the country, with beatings being dished out to those who can't pay. It's a result of the market drying up due to Covid-19 and dealers need whatever they're owed." Your tax-deductible gift today powers our reporters and keeps us independent. We rely on you, our reader, not paywalls to stay funded because we believe important news and information should be freely accessible to all. Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe Our news is free on LAist. To make sure you get our coverage: Sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter. To support our non-profit public service journalism: Donate Now. Colleges need to do more and be more consistent in the help they're providing students during the coronavirus crisis, a coalition of students demanded in a letter sent Wednesday to top administrators at California's community college and public university systems. The demands from the California Students High Education Advocacy Round Table include leniency in grading, paid leave for student workers until they return to work, waiving on-campus parking fees and use of campus wi-fi. The letter was sent to the central offices of California Community Colleges, California State University, and the University of California. The group's leaders say they formed a coalition to give students a stronger voice in making their concerns known to the systems' administrators. "This way we combine all of our best thoughts and work together to advocate for the same goal, which in my mind means we're far more likely to get the results we desire," said Amine El Moznine, a member of the round table and a student at De Anza College in Cupertino. While some colleges are already delivering some of the support services the round table demands, El Moznine said the group wants those services to be delivered consistently and equitably. "What you're seeing is a lot of students, as we transition to online, don't have access to all the extra help they need, whether that be tutoring services or just a helpful classroom environment," he said. icon DON'T MISS ANY L.A. CORONAVIRUS NEWS Get our daily newsletters for the latest on COVID-19 and other top local headlines. Terms of Use and Privacy Policy The group would like campuses to work with students to come up with alternatives to postponed commencements and other events. Some students welcomed that recommendation because they feel like their college administrators aren't doing enough to keep students involved and informed. "In terms of basic needs, food pantries, my college is doing a great job at that," said Tariq Azim, a student at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga. "In terms of getting students involved, they're not doing a good job of that at all, getting students involved in the decision-making process." In an email, Alisha Rosas, executive director of equity, outreach and communication at Chaffey, said the college focused on maintaining student support services as it scrambled to move its courses online. "Some of the ways we have done this is to provide weekly communication to students, changed the homepage of our website for easier student navigation and have live chat help available," she said. The college has extended the deadline to May 8 for students to decide whether they want to receive a pass/no pass grade for a class. But Azim said the college has not done enough to make sure students know about the change. The round table said the pass/no pass option is a big deal because giving all students that option would lessen the pressure of a letter grade in such different learning conditions. For many, including Azim who's taken online classes before, the transition to a full class load of classes online hasn't been easy. "One or two is fine, but when you're taking four or five, it gets hard to manage your time," he said. The civil rights law firm Public Advocates, the nationwide student organization Rise, and The Campaign for College Opportunity helped organize the round table. Correction: A previous version of this story misspelled Amine El Moznine's last name. LAist regrets the error. Lucknow, April 22 : The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has decided to set up 23 temporary jails in various districts to lodge Tablighi Jamaat members and suspected Covid positive persons who have been arrested during police raids. The decision was taken after six inmates of Moradabad jail tested positive on Tuesday, leading to the possibility of other prisoners also getting infected. Five out of the six who tested positive for Corona are those have been arrested for attack on a medical team in Moradabad on April 15. Additional Chief Secretary (home) Avanish Awasthi said that in a fortnight-long drive, the state police have identified 3,000 Tablighi Jamaat members in 20 districts who arrived in Uttar Pradesh after attending the congregation organized in Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi. The samples of all the Tablighi Jamaat members and their family members and contacts were sent for laboratory test. The report released by the state health department on Tuesday said out of the 1184 positive cases in the state, 814 were members of Tablighi Jamaat. The state police registered cases against the Tablighi Jamaat members, he said. The police have also arrested 325 Tablighi Jamaat members who arrived from foreign countries. The cops registered 45 FIRs against them and seized their passports for violation of visa norms. All the Tablighi Jamaat members of foreign origin would also be lodged in temporary jails, the additional chief secretary home said. The state police are continuing to carry out raids in various districts to search for suspected Tablighi Jamaat members and suspected Corona positive people who are in hiding. Deputy Information Minister, Pius Enam Hadzide is shocked at allegations levelled against government that it was 'managing' information about the countrys COVID-19 case count. A former Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa, has been demanding an explanation after he raised concerns over the accuracy of data provided by the government since the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus in Ghana. He also alleged that Ghanas current case count of 1,042 had already been published on the governments dedicated website for COVID-19 cases but was deleted and changed minutes after thereby raising suspicion of data manipulation. But reacting to these assertions on Eyewitness News, Mr. Hadzide who could not fathom the allegations, discredited the claims and maintained that the former GHS Boss could have done better in authenticating the truth or falsity of the information provided thus far in the countrys fight against the pandemic. I am particularly scandalized hearing that a man of the standing of Prof. Akosa will allegedly make those statements. I am scandalized, and to accuse the government of managing the figures without providing any iota of evidence. I think for a man like Prof. Badu Akosa, [his allegations are] quite tarnishing and below the belt. It is unfortunate that senior persons, especially in the public health space, will be making comments that one may want to characterize as quite reckless. I think that is unfortunate. That point that some figures were momentarily published and deleted, I dont know where it is coming from, the Deputy Information Minister said. Maybe the good Professor is falling to the fake news that is all over the place. I do follow and monitor the [GHS website] quite rigorously and I have never come across any such posting on the date that Prof. Akosa speaks to. I am sure he is a victim of fake news meaning that he himself has not done any serious and diligent checking. The government does neither generate nor aggregate the data so you cannot use that to accuse the government of mismanaging the figures. You have to interrogate this with the people who manage the data and validate it but to accuse the government of managing the figure without first of all clearing whatever misunderstanding with the GHS from somebody who has worked extensively in that space is my worry, he added. ---citinewsroom In 2017, Xiaochun Wang was appointed CEO of China Traditional Chinese Medicine Holdings Co. Limited (HKG:570). First, this article will compare CEO compensation with compensation at similar sized companies. Then we'll look at a snap shot of the business growth. And finally we will reflect on how common stockholders have fared in the last few years, as a secondary measure of performance. This process should give us an idea about how appropriately the CEO is paid. See our latest analysis for China Traditional Chinese Medicine Holdings How Does Xiaochun Wang's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies? At the time of writing, our data says that China Traditional Chinese Medicine Holdings Co. Limited has a market cap of HK$18b, and reported total annual CEO compensation of CN2.2m for the year to December 2018. It is worth noting that the CEO compensation consists almost entirely of the salary, worth CN2.1m. We examined companies with market caps from CN7.1b to CN23b, and discovered that the median CEO total compensation of that group was CN3.9m. Now let's take a look at the pay mix on an industry and company level to gain a better understanding of where China Traditional Chinese Medicine Holdings stands. On an industry level, roughly 65% of total compensation represents salary and 35% is other remuneration. China Traditional Chinese Medicine Holdings has gone down a largely traditional route, paying Xiaochun Wang a high salary, giving it preference as a compensation method to non-salary benefits. At first glance this seems like a real positive for shareholders, since Xiaochun Wang is paid less than the average total compensation paid by similar sized companies. Though positive, it's important we delve into the performance of the actual business. The graphic below shows how CEO compensation at China Traditional Chinese Medicine Holdings has changed from year to year. SEHK:570 CEO Compensation April 22nd 2020 Is China Traditional Chinese Medicine Holdings Co. Limited Growing? Story continues China Traditional Chinese Medicine Holdings Co. Limited has seen earnings per share (EPS) move positively by an average of 12% a year, over the last three years (using a line of best fit). In the last year, its revenue is up 27%. This shows that the company has improved itself over the last few years. Good news for shareholders. It's great to see that revenue growth is strong, too. These metrics suggest the business is growing strongly. Shareholders might be interested in this free visualization of analyst forecasts. Has China Traditional Chinese Medicine Holdings Co. Limited Been A Good Investment? Since shareholders would have lost about 20% over three years, some China Traditional Chinese Medicine Holdings Co. Limited shareholders would surely be feeling negative emotions. So shareholders would probably think the company shouldn't be too generous with CEO compensation. In Summary... It looks like China Traditional Chinese Medicine Holdings Co. Limited pays its CEO less than similar sized companies. Considering the underlying business is growing earnings, this would suggest the pay is modest. Few would deny that the total shareholder return over the last three years could have been a lot better. We're not critical of the remuneration Xiaochun Wang receives, but it would be good to see improved returns to shareholders before the remuneration grows too much. When I see fairly low remuneration, combined with earnings per share growth, but without big share price gains, it makes me want to research the potential for future gains. Shifting gears from CEO pay for a second, we've picked out 3 warning signs for China Traditional Chinese Medicine Holdings that investors should be aware of in a dynamic business environment. Arguably, business quality is much more important than CEO compensation levels. So check out this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. Police said people living near the cemetery feared that burying people who died from COVID-19 would spread the virus. Dr Simon Hercules was finally laid to rest by a friend the next day. Chennai (AsiaNews/Agencies) Fear of being infected with the coronavirus prompted some 20 people to attack relatives and friends of a well-known doctor during his funeral in Chennai, southern India, last Sunday. Dr Simon Hercules (pictured), who died from COVID-19, was eventually laid to rest the next day at the Presbyterian cemetery in Riatsamthiah by one of his friends. He was not shown even basic humanity. Even his wife and son couldn't be there to say goodbye," Dr Pradeep told the News Minute website. Dr Hercules continued to serve during the pandemic instead of staying home, and most likely was infected by one of his patients, Dr Pradeep explained. Tamil Nadu Health Minister C Vijayabaskar condemned the accident. Police said people living near the cemetery feared that burying people who died from COVID-19 would spread the virus. In Jhalupara and Nongpoh, several religious groups and communities had come forward offering to celebrate the last rites after residents refused to allow the burial. At least 20 people have been arrested. India on Wednesday sent 23 tonnes of essential medicines to Nepal to help it fight the coronavirus pandemic which has infected 45 people in the country. Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli thanked his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for the generous support. "I thank Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji for India's generous support of 23 tonnes of essential medicines to Nepal, to fight COVID-19 Pandemic. The medicines were handed over to the Minister for Health and Population today by the Ambassador of India," Oli said in a tweet. As part of the ongoing bilateral cooperation to fight the coronavirus, India's ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra handed over the consignment to Minister for Health and Population Bhanubhakta Dhakal, the Indian mission here said in a statement. "The consignment, as a gift from the people of India to people of Nepal, includes 8.25 lakh doses of essential medicines, 3.2 lakh doses of Paracetamol and 2.5 lakh doses of Hydroxychloroquine, it said. The initiative manifests the continuing cooperation between India and Nepal in all situations and circumstances, the statement said. Indian and Nepali health professionals are collaborating their efforts on ground to contain and stop this pandemic. India is committed to prepare, act and succeed together in partnership with Nepal and other South Asian partner countries in this hour of challenge, the Indian embassy added. Meanwhile, the total number of coronavirus cases in Nepal has reached 45, a Health Ministry spokesperson said. Three patients were discharged from hospital. So far, seven persons have been cured while 38 people undergoing treatment in different hospitals. Last month, Prime Minister Modi held a video conference of SAARC leaders and offered all possible assistance to the neighbouring countries, pledging USD 10 million to SAARC COVID-19 Emergency Fund. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 06:47:04|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LISBON, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese government on Tuesday announced a set of new measures to mitigate COVID-19's economic impact on "more than 2,500 Portuguese startups." "The set of five new measures, with a value of more than 25 million euros, could represent an average of 10,000 euros of potential support for each startup," the Ministry of Economy and Digital Transition said in a statement. It stressed that the measures aim to help startups "to overcome the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and resume normal activity after this exceptional period." Portugal has been under a state of emergency since March 18. As of Tuesday, the country has registered 21,379 COVID-19 cases, with 761 deaths. Enditem India and Ireland will work together to further strengthen their partnership in health, and science and technology to jointly address the challenges of the post-COVID world, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday. "Discussed COVID-19 pandemic with Ireland's PM, Mr. @LeoVaradkar. India and Ireland share similar approaches on many global issues," Modi wrote on Twitter. He said the two countries will work together to further strengthen our partnership in health, science and technology, to jointly address challenges of the post-COVID world. An official statement later said Modi and Prime Minister Leo Varadkar discussed the state of the COVID-19 pandemic and the steps being taken by the two countries to control its health and economic impact. Varadkar appreciated the role being played by Indian-origin doctors and nurses in fighting the infection in Ireland. Prime Minister Modi thanked PM Varadkar for the care and support being extended to the Indian citizens present in Ireland, and promised reciprocal treatment for Irish citizens in India. The two leaders agreed that India and Ireland can leverage their strengths in the pharmaceutical and medical fields to contribute to the global fight against the pandemic. They also deliberated on the potential for strengthening India's cooperation with Ireland, as well as with the European Union, in the post-COVID context. The leaders agreed to remain in touch and consult each other on the evolving dimensions of the crisis, the statement said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Members of the Royal Family have been paying tribute to Queen Elizabeth II on her 94th birthday. The Queens birthday celebrations have been somewhat low-key this year due to the ongoing lockdown, as the royals, like all of us, are forced to stay home and self-isolate. With no party to attend, several members of the family have paid tribute to Her Majesty by posting online tributes. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Prince William and Kate Middleton were first to send a message of support, with a picture from last years RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Posted to the @kensingtonroyal official Instagram account, William and Kate kept their birthday messages simple: Wishing Her Majesty The Queen a very happy 94th birthday today!. Recommended 9 facts you never knew about the Queen Up next was the Queens eldest son and heir to the throne, Prince Charles, who also used Instagram to wish his mother a happy birthday. Wishing Her Majesty The Queen a very Happy 94th Birthday, a message from the Clarence House Instagram account read. The post also included a photo of what appeared to be a young Prince Charles playing in a cot while his mother looks on. There was also an update from the @royalfamily Instagram account, featuring private footage of The Queen as a child, playing with her family, including younger sister Princess Margaret. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle no longer have official royal social media accounts after deciding to live and work outside the family. The couple, who were spotted making food deliveries to the vulnerable in LA earlier last week, presumably sent a private birthday message to Queen Elizabeth. Queen Elizabeth is the UKs longest-serving monarch having taking over from her father, King George VI, in 1953. The monarch has been described by some as a feminist icon, including Olivia Colman, who plays the monarch in the latest season of The Crown. Last year, the Oscar winner told the Radio Times: [The Queen is] the ultimate feminist. Shes the breadwinner. Shes the one on our coins and banknotes. PARADISE, Calif. Schools across the country may be out but classes are still in session, and more resources could soon be on the way for students to learn from home. Two students in Paradise told Action News Now they were well prepared for their online classes but some of their friends still face challenges. Governor Gavin Newsom and his wife Jennifer Siebel Newsom announced Monday that the state has secured some 70,000 laptops, Chromebooks and tablets to help students learn at home during the novel coronavirus pandemic. - 70,000+ laptops, iPads, and more. - $30M for hot spots and connectivity help. - City buses as super hotspots. School may be out -- but class is still in. Now, more than ever, its unbelievably important we focus on bridging the digital divide and empowering our CA students. https://t.co/5TuSoVMHbf Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) April 20, 2020 Newsom also wants to use $30 million for hot spots and connectivity help. School may be physically closed, but class is still in session," Governor Newsom said Monday. "But for class to be in session, it is imperative that California addresses the inequities in access to computers, technology tools and connectivity to ensure that online learning can, in fact, reach all of Californias children." A recent study found about one-fifth of California students lack resources like computers or the internet to participate in remote learning. Students in Paradise told Action News Now they received help from their school right away. Our school has been really good with making sure we have everything we need, Jason Liles, a student in Paradise said. Were from Paradise, so with the fire, they immediately made sure we had computers and internet access, so they made sure we had everything we needed this time as well. Students also said that some were struggling with getting internet access. Earlier this month, Governor Gavin Newsom said Google would provide 100,000 free WiFi spots and thousands of free Chromebooks. Newsom did not specify how devices would be distributed around the state and if students would need to apply for them. Action News Now will share those details as they become available. However, Newsom said Googles hot spots will start to come online in the first week of May. LOBAMBA Hardly 24 hours after Members of Parliament called for a lockdown and nationwide testing one of their own has tested positive for COVID-19. Outspoken Manzini North MP Macford Sibandze has been registered as the first official legislator to have tested positive for the coronavirus pandemic. Sibandze is one of seven whose positive results were announced by Minister of Health Lizzie Nkosi, yesterday. The news came as a bombshell to the MPs during yesterdays morning sitting, as Lobamba Lomdzala MP Marwick Khumalo informed his colleagues that he had been asked by one of their own to reveal the news. It was during the debate of one of the four finance Bills yesterday that MP Khumalo stood and cited Standing Order No.58 (2), which gives the MPs powers to raise an issue which had the potential of disturbing a House sitting. Encouraging Khumalo informed the legislators that MP Sibandze had asked him to relay the news that he had since tested positive and he was encouraging his peers to go and get tested as the virus was real. Interestingly, MP Sibandze is also Chairperson of the Parliament Coronavirus Task Team, which was established in February to work hand-in-hand with the TB Coordinating Task Team. The MPs seemed to panic on what their next move should be and Speaker Petros Mavimbela addressed them. He told the MPs that MP Sibandze had also informed him about the latest turn of events, but said he was happy with the manner in which MP Khumalo had addressed it. The MPs thereafter asked for guidance from the minister of Health on what the next step should be. It was at this point that Nkosi informed the MPs that they had prepared that the legislators would be tested for the virus yesterday afternoon after the sitting. We have made arrangements that we will take samples for all the legislators who are interested, said the minister, insisting that they werent forced. Shiselweni II MP Strydom Mpanza wanted to know if the MPs were not supposed to show some form of symptoms before they underwent the testing. The Speaker, however, was adamant that the MPs should continue with the days business and that those interested in having their samples taken should do so. He said this would also be extended to Parliament staff who worked in close contact with the MPs. At the end of the sitting, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Thuli Dladla, asked the minister of Health if it meant that after testing they should self-isolate. On the other hand, Hhukwini MP Nkanyeti Ngwenya stated that the legislators should not get carried away, especially because not all of them had been in contact with MP Sibandze. He said for example, the House of Assembly had last sat over a month ago and therefore they had not been in contact with him. Minister Nkosi said those who had not been in contact with Sibandze had no way of having contracted it from him. She did, however, state that testing would be for the benefit of the MPs even those who may have been exposed in other areas. The minister also warned the MPs that testing negative also did not mean that the legislators would be immune to the virus. You could test negative today, but contract it the next day, said Nkosi. SCHENECTADY Hundreds of cars lined up Wednesday at Schenectady County Community College where volunteers filled the trunks of vehicles with free food. The three-hour effort was a partnership of the local government, food bank and a charity. Once motorists pulled up to the front of the line and popped their trunks, volunteers at several stations in the parking lot of the college dropped the food items in the back of the vehicle. Volunteers at the last stop will close the trunk. Looking to help or to share volunteer opportunities you know about? Join our Facebook group. The countys COVID-19 Emergency Response Coalition said the no-contact, no-cost, distribution was set up to provide residents with an additional opportunity to receive fresh produce, dairy and frozen meats plus non-perishable items that can be used to create meals at home. The coalition was a partnership between the county, the Schenectady Foundation, and the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York. Over the past few weeks, the partnership has been taking orders through a hotline and packing the groceries inside the gym of the Boys & Girls Club of Schenectady before delivering them to those in need. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Susan Linter, the food banks director of Community Impact, said in a statement that the event is a way to safely provide food to households struggling to access sufficient amounts of healthy foods. Robert Carreau with the Schenectady Foundation said the coalition is exploring every avenue to ensure that people in our community are getting the resources they need. Legislatures around the world are sorting out how to proceed during the pandemic. Some such as the German Bundestag and Irish Dail are continuing to meet in person but with social distancing measures. Canadas Parliament is trying a mix of in-person and virtual, while the U.S. House of Representatives is fighting over a proxy voting proposal. China has allowed 200 employees from South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd to enter the country to work on an expansion of the firm's NAND memory chip factory, the company said on Wednesday. The move came after China said on Tuesday that it was in talks with some countries to establish fast-track procedures to allow travel by business and technical personnel to ensure the smooth operation of global supply chains. China said it has reached a consensus on such an arrangement with South Korea, without elaborating on the terms, including whether individuals entering China will be subject to quarantine. China, where the virus first emerged late last year, blocked entry last month for nearly all foreigners in an effort to curb risks of coronavirus infections posed by travellers from overseas. After bringing the local spread under control with tough containment measures, it is trying to restart its economic engines after weeks of near paralysis. A chartered China Air Ltd plane flew in the Samsung Electronics employees on Wednesday, a company spokeswoman said. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show Samsung said its employees will follow the local government's policy upon arrival, without elaborating. Shaanxi province, where Samsung's NAND memory chip plant is located, requires people travelling from overseas to undergo a 14-day quarantine, according to South Korea's foreign ministry. "Samsung employees will not be exempted from the 14-day quarantine rule imposed by the Shaanxi province. They will get coronavirus tests at the airport upon arrival and will be transported to a local hotel designated by Chinese authorities," an official at the Consulate General of South Korea in Xi'an told Reuters. Samsung Electronics in December increased investment at its chip factory in China by $8 billion to boost production of NAND flash memory chips. Photograph: Reuters Riot police in Peru have blockaded a major highway and fired teargas into crowds of people attempting to flee the capital city and return on foot to their rural hometowns as the countrys strict coronavirus lockdown entered its sixth week. Local television images on Monday showed hundreds of families, including young children, trekking along highways with their belongings on their backs as they made long journeys to family homes. Poor Peruvians have been trying to leave Lima since last week, many saying they had to choose between hunger or homelessness in the city or risking exposure to Covid-19 as they attempt to return home. Here in Lima there are no longer any jobs, there is no longer any way to pay for food, we do not have any more savings, Maricela de la Cruz told the Associated Press. We have done everything possible to stay the 30 quarantine days. Now we want to go back because we have a house, family, we have someone who can support us here in Lima we have absolutely no one, said De la Cruz, who was trying to return to Huancayo, in Perus central Andes. Despite imposing some of the most stringent quarantine measures in Latin America since mid-March, Peru reported 16,325 coronavirus cases and 400 deaths on Monday, a figure which placed it second only to Brazil in the number of infections in the region. Brazil has a population seven times larger than Peru. Yet the response of the Peruvian president, Martin Vizcarra, and his Brazilian counterpart could not be more different. Related: Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro denounced for joining pro-dictatorship rally While the Brazilian leader, Jair Bolsonaro, has consistently flouted social distancing rules and downplayed the Covid-19 pandemic, Vizcarra is widely seen by Peruvians to have reacted decisively to the pandemic, deploying troops and the police to enforce a lockdown and a nightly curfew. Vizcarra said on Monday that the weeks ahead would be the most difficult and would require everyones highest capacity to respond. Story continues The number of patients is close to exceeding the capacity of the health service, he said. Alonso Segura, a former Peruvian finance minister, said the mass movements of people to the countryside showed the state response was pushed to its limits, despite having launched a huge stimulus package worth 90bn soles (21bn) equivalent to about 12% of GDP last month, which included millions of fortnightly cash transfers to poor families. More than 70% of Peruvians work in the unregulated economy, according to the countrys statistics institute. The government cannot push the severe lockdown much longer, said Segura. Companies are going bankrupt and the desperation of the people is increasing. More than an economic issue, its a social issue, he added. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, April 22, 2020 13:45 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd386167 1 National COVID-19,COVID-19-in-Indonesia,aceh,ulemas,clerics,ramadan,tarawih Free The Aceh Ulema Council (MPU) has announced that it will allow people to perform daily mass prayers and tarawih (Ramadan night prayers) during the upcoming holy month despite the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. The announcement contravenes guidelines issued by the Religious Affairs Ministry that advise people to worship from home following President Joko "Joko" Widodo's declaration of the COVID-19 outbreak as a public health emergency. MPU deputy chairman Faisal Ali explained that the council had only allowed congregational prayers in areas where the spread of COVID-19 was still under control. "People who live in areas where COVID-19 is under control may perform daily prayers, as well as tarawih and Idul Fitri prayers at mosques while still limiting the durations," Faisal said on Tuesday as quoted by tribunnews.com. He said people residing in red zones" were advised not to perform joint prayers. Faisal said local administrations would be responsible for declaring whether it was safe for people to perform mass worship. "We have asked the administration to set the status for areas [in Aceh] affected by COVID-19 and classify them based on transmission rates," he said. He also explained that zakat (alms) collection and distribution should be carried out normally to ensure low-income people affected by the outbreak received the help they needed. According to the official government count, Aceh has recorded seven confirmed COVID-19 cases, with one death as of Tuesday. (nal) WHEN: Today, Wednesday, April 22, 2020 WHERE: CNBC's "Squawk Box" The following is the unofficial transcript of a CNBC interview with National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow on CNBC's "Squawk Box" (M-F 6AM 9AM) today, Wednesday, April 22nd. The following is a link to video of the interview on CNBC.com: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2020/04/22/full-interview-larry-kudlow-reopening-the-economy-small-business-loans-squawk-box.html. All references must be sourced to CNBC. JOE KERNEN: Joining us now to talk about re-opening the economy and helping small businesses, Larry Kudlow, National Economic Council Director. Larry, it's good to have you on. This morning we saw the additional PPP funds being okayed and you wonder how long those will last? And they only last so long until you re-open, Larry. I think that's one of the reasons that it seems like something that we need do at least attempt in some small way, if it's possible, to do it safely. LARRY KUDLOW: Right. I think that's right, Joe. This thing is a bridge until we re-open the economy, hopefully, maybe I should say prayerfully in a couple of weeks. The re-opening is so important. I mean, the data itself, and I might add that all the health guidelines and the road maps for governors and mayors are based on the data. But the infection rates have come down significantly, mortality rates have come down significantly. So, we may be coming down the homestretch, perhaps May will be a transition month and an economic opening across the country. It will to be done in phases, as you know. So, here, we have the small business loans, the payroll purchasing program, to keep us going another $320 billion for that program. The last one went out like hotcakes. Some of the numbers coming from SBA suggest we may have served 30 million jobs. That's a wonderful thing. Of course, unemployment insurance and we've also had direct check the treasury. So, we're just doing our best to keep things afloat and bridge to point when the economy can begin to recover. JOE KERNEN: Larry, you're always an optimist, very optimistic. And I am, too. So, to set up something that might elicit more information from you, I'm going to let Andrew in. Because, Andrew, you're worried about the economy ever being anything close to normal again. I know you want to get in and talk to Larry about that, probably. ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: I want to ask Larry two questions. I think the biggest question, given that these loans hopefully will get out the door to the small businesses that need themand that's where I wanted to go, the ones that need themyou know, you talk to a lot of bankers who already processed a lot of loans that haven't gotten into the system, the question is whether you think that enough of that money is going to get to the smallest businesses that need it the most right now given that there are larger companies that already processed through the system that may get to the front of the line this time around? What are you doing? And how should the public think about that issue right now? LARRY KUDLOW: Well, look, it's a good point. It's an important point. Inside this new tranche, there's a pretty significant effort to canvas community banks and community development. And I think that that may help, Andrew. Look, I think in the main, frankly, small businesses and smaller banks were the leaders. I know there have been controversial cases. Programs like this, gigantic programs like this put together quickly will always have glitches. But really, in the main, I think the process worked very, very well. Look, we will judge this -- we'll see how this new tranche works. We'll see what the demand is. It was overwhelming for the first tranche. I expect it to be significant for the second tranche. We'll see. We're always making adjustments wherever necessary. We're always trying to be totally fair as possible in allocating this. But I think, on the whole, it worked pretty darn well. For the first months and days, probably 10 or, 12 days, Andrew, the biggest lenders were the small community banks. And you have to believe they're going into small local businesses. So, I think it worked pretty darn well. ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Larry, one other question about reopening. Obviously, you have some governors moving aggressively to reopen, and others that are taking their time, all hopefully being counseled by health experts. William Barr made a comment in the last 48 hours that the Justice Department may join in lawsuits against states that don't open fast enough. Do you think that's appropriate? LARRY KUDLOW: Well, look, the Attorney General is a brilliant guy. Yes, I think it's appropriate for the justice department to monitor this. I think he's looking at it in terms of individual rights, and I think it's something that needs to be assessed as we move forward. Bear in mind, again, we put out these health guidelines, I guess about a week ago. And, as I said, they're data-driven. You have to have a downward adjustment period within 14 days. And, you must observe you must observe the health and safety features that are so vital. Health, security, and well-being comes first. President Trump has said that many times and continues to say it. So there has to be -- ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: But, Larry, the President also made comments in the past 48 hours, 72 hours effectively almost against government. He is sending out these Tweets saying liberate certain states. He's supporting protesters that are protesting against the government against the steps that the administration is even made public. It's very hard to understand that. LARRY KUDLOW: Well, I don't know. I don't think it's that hard, Andrew. I think the President's point is that certain states are ready to move. They meet the guidelines of testing, they meet the guidelines of hospitalization capacity, they meet the guidelines of social distancing, and they have numbers that show flat and declining infection rates. So, some states will go faster than others. This whole thing is going to be phased in over a period of time. I think in the month of May, that will be the transition. Some states may move earlier than May. Good for them, if they're ready. Some states will take longer. You have hot spots in New York and elsewhere. Chicago may take a little longer. But I think that if there is popular support inside states, if it meets the health and safety criteria, then they will be ready to go. BECKY QUICK: Hey Larry, I heard the President speaking the other night saying that the administration is considering making businesses not liable if their customers or employees get sick once people come back to business, once work gets started again. If that's the case, how do you ensure that businesses won't skimp on things like making sure the health and safety situations are front and center and that those are the most important issues? LARRY KUDLOW: What was the -- Becky, I'm sorry, I missed part of that. What was liable, you mentioned? BECKY QUICK: Well, there are discussions, the President said, about potentially saying that businesses wouldn't be liable, they wouldn't be held liable if their customers or employees get sick when they come back. If that's the case, how do you make sure the safety standards are still being met and being held so stringently? LARRY KUDLOW: Well, look, there's a couple of things there. First of all, safety standards will be met there will be constant monitoring state by state. I think the states do a very good job. I have a lot of confidence in the states and the cities for that matter. And I've been on the conference calls with governors and mayors and so forth. So, I have confidence in that. That's point number one. Point number two, a point that is very important here regarding safeguarding, guard railing liability insurance lawsuits, which I am quite concerned about. There was a good editorial in the "Wall Street Journal" today about this subject. Businesses, particularly small businesses that don't have massive resources, should not be held liable -- should not be held to trial lawyers putting on false lawsuits that will probably be thrown out of court. You have to give the businesses some confidence here that if something happens, and it may not be their fault I mean, the disease is an infectious disease. If something happens, you can't take them out of business. You can't throw big lawsuits at them. And I think liability reforms and safeguards are going to be very important part of this. Some of this we can do probably on a regulatory basis. Part of it may require some additional legislation. But that's a very important point here. Someone has to defend the businesses. JOE KERNEN: Larry, I'm sorry to interrupt, oil suddenly jumped, the market is now up over 400. I want you to comment on oil. I don't know whether this is a delayed reaction. The President Tweeted something about Iran. But suddenly oil is up 15% and the market seems to be responding, I guess they go in sync now. What do you make of oil, Larry? In all your -- you're an economics guy. What happened there? LARRY KUDLOW: Demand collapsed, Joe. The coronavirus worldwide caused a collapse in demand through no fault of anybodys. This virus has just pushed us into a big economic contraction. I think in the United States, rig count is way down. Demand is way down. Production is falling. There is not much we can do about that. The President asked us to look at potential forms of assistance. We have a number of options, nothing has been decided yet. But it's just parcels, there's a lot of deflation out there as we go through this contraction. My own view is we'll come out of this soon. The economy will reopen. The economy will restart. We'll propose regulatory tax and investment policies to help out as best we can. We want to reward work, we want to reward businesses, we want to reward effort. I'm hoping this oil slump will prove to be temporary. Not many people are driving right now, as you well know. And there's a glut of oil, that will, I hope, take care of themselves. Markets will take care of themselves over time. JOE KERNEN: Alright, Larry. When we saw the Trump Tweet about Iran, I was like, wow, in normal times this would have mattered. It didn't happen right away. But I don't know whether you attributed it to that. But Larry, thank you for being with us this morning. And we'll be paying attention to everything. I watch the Taskforce at night, to keep up with what's going on. I look forward to when you're there. Maybe it will be tonight. LARRY KUDLOW: Stay well. Stay well. JOE KERNEN: You stay well, too. Thank you. For more information contact: Jennifer Dauble CNBC t: 201.735.4721 m: 201.615.2787 e: jennifer.dauble@nbcuni.com Emma Martin CNBC t: 201.735.4713 m: 551.275.6221 e: emma.martin@nbcuni.com By Trend A video footage of Azerbaijani Heydar Aliyev Centers support for coronavirus-affected countries is being shown on the website of the Euractiv media network. The video footage shows the projection of the flags of Italy, Spain, France, Germany and the EU which is accompanied by music of the corresponding countries on Azerbaijans Heydar Aliyev Center, symbolizing solidarity with the European countries and the EU in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. This video footage will be shown on the Euractiv website during the week. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Fredericksburg, VA, April 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- BitFrontier Capital Holdings, Inc. (BFCH) is excited to announce that Crypto Minute TV will begin the launch of the Companys much anticipated Television marketing campaign for BitFrontier Capital Holdings, Inc., (OTC PINK: BFCH). Phase one of the campaign for BFCH will begin prior to May 1st, 2020 with the initial spots airing on the FOX News Network followed by rapid expansion to additional TV and radio media networks and other venues. Telesis IT, LLC is an IT Managed Service Provider that consults, provides, and manages cloud-based services including the Microsoft 365 Suite, secure email encryption and archiving, secure file sharing and storage solutions, backup and disaster recovery, and desktop-as-a-service. Telesis IT President, Ronnie Williams, said "We are uniquely positioned to provide cloud-based solutions to businesses enabling them to deploy a secure, remote workforce during these unprecedented times in addition to work from home opportunities that will include investing in bit miners. We have opportunities for individuals and entire companies to continue generating and/or start generating revenues from home. For more info please email us at salesteam telesisit.com" The Crypto Minute TV marketing campaign for BitFrontier Capital Holdings and the Companys wholly owned subsidiary Telesis IT will include both U.S. and international networks and markets. Segments will be aired on major cable and television networks across the country and internationally showcasing their combined investment and at-home income generating opportunities in the emerging Bitcoin, Digital, and Crypto-Currency sectors. The Telesis IT will begin on one or two major TV networks and then BFCH will begin airing on major TV networks through shows such as Exploring The Block as sponsored programming, Crypto Minute TV will also eventually air in over 40 million Over-the-Air (OTA) households in all major markets. The audience totals will be 30 to 45 million TV households and will increase to 100 million TV households in the United States. The project will also include radio programming, podcasting and advertising on over 300 radio stations and many websites across the US as well as top tier print and digital venues. Story continues Crypto Minute TV has selected BitFrontier Capital Holdings, Inc. (OTC PINK: BFCH) as their first Crypto sector Company to be featured for the investment and income opportunities the Company provides Crypto sector investor based audiences as well as those individuals seeking viable work-from-home solutions and opportunities especially needed now more than ever with the global health restrictions placed on millions of workers worldwide. BitFrontier Capital Holdings is proud to be such an integral part of providing millions of individuals worldwide in desperate need of such investing and work-from-home opportunities. BitFrontier Capital Holdings featured segment on the popular Crypto investment and business program Exploring The Block as seen on the FOX Business Network will also be aired to coincide with the launch of the Companys Crypto Minute TV marketing campaign. Exact airing date and time will be announced upon confirmation from Exploring The Block. Crypto Minute TV will also soon be releasing a Podcast conducted by senior Executives from Crypto Minute TV to explain in more detail the Companys Crypto-Prenuer program and TV advertising campaign for BFCH and how each will be instrumental in the rapid expansion of BitFrontier Capital Holdings mining and hosting operations in the state of Virginia and elsewhere. The Podcast availability will be announced by the Companies in official news releases, on their Social Media venues and Subscriber Newsletters as well as when and where interested parties can access and listen. About BitFrontier Capital Holdings, Inc.: BitFrontier Capital Holdings' business plan is to concentrate on crypto-currency related investments and development opportunities through crypto-currency mining, investments in private and/or public entities, joint ventures, and acquisitions of block-chain related companies. BitFrontier Capital Holdings has two wholly owned operating subsidiaries, BitFrontier Capital Investments, Inc. and BitFrontier Technologies, Inc. Through the Company's wholly owned subsidiary, BitFrontier Technologies, Inc., the Company is currently in the final stages of construction of a warehouse specifically designed for hosting crypto-currency mining equipment. Crypto-currency mining (e.g. Bitcoin mining) entails running ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit servers or other specialized servers which solve a set of prescribed complex mathematical calculations in order to add a block to a block-chain and thereby confirm digital asset transactions. A party which is successful in adding a block to the block-chain is awarded a fixed number of digital assets in return. For additional information please visit www.bitfrontiercapitalholdings.com About Crypto Minute TV: Nothing has the far-reaching power or effectiveness of, As Seen On TV. Crypto Minute TV can put the eyes of the world on your Crypto enterprise by showcasing your company's brand, products, services, and investment opportunities to hundreds of millions of households across the country and around the world on the most recognized networks and crypto dedicated programs in the industry as seen on FOX Business, Bloomberg TV, Cox Digital Media, PBS and more! Crypto Minute TV will be featured on networks and programs that are literally household names, watched by investors around the world, and each segment will be aired at optimal times and during specific programs to maximize exposure to the investment and crypto communities. Crypto Minute TV clients now have direct access to crypto/investor based audiences in the United States and around the world. Crypto Minute TVs exclusive Crypto-Prenuer program connects individuals seeking work-from-home investment and income generating opportunities with the Crypto sector companies and resources that make them available. Interested parties can visit www.cryptominutetv.com to learn more about specific opportunities, featured companies, and networks as well as broadcast content. Crypto Minute TV also offers a free regularly distributed Crypto Minute News & Report on its website with information on its Featured Companies and other various crypto investment and work-at-home related opportunities. For instant alerts and updates. For more information about Crypto Minute TV visit them at www.CryptoMinuteTV.com and be sure to follow them at Twitter.com/CryptoMinuteTV - @CryptoMinuteTV FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This press release may contain forward-looking statements. The words "believe," "expect," "should," "intend," "estimate," "projects," variations of such words and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, but their absence does not mean that a statement is not a forward-looking statement. These forward-looking statements are based upon the Company's current expectations and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ significantly from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements are risks that are detailed in the Company's filings on file at www.otcmarkets.com. BitFrontier Capital Holdings Investor Relations 540-736-3069 ir@bitfrontiercapitalholdings.com While the first few months of 2020 have been a tough time for most small-business owners, the truth is that most small businesses go through peaks and valleys. For anyone who puts their heart and soul into a business that becomes their livelihood, those valleys can get pretty low and pretty dark, pretty fast. So while the Great Cessation of 2020 is unlike anything entrepreneurs have ever experienced, it's good practice to mentally prepare oneself for any eventuality that could threaten a business. Whether it's a product or a service, entirely virtual or operating out of a brick-and-mortar establishment, this will not be the only tough time to get through. Robert McLaughlin is a small-business owner and a disabled Air Force veteran who served from 2007 to 2012. He now runs a number of businesses from his home in Philadelphia, most notably HD Dog Services, a canine training and care company he started in 2015 while attending school. The brutal landscape created by the novel coronavirus has hit him as hard as anyone else, but you still hear a hint of humor in every word he says. "I launched two companies last year, and it's been a rough patch but I'm doing everything I can," McLaughlin said. "I just try to tell people you can still find mental health in this environment. I would never have had the ideas to open these other businesses without first having [the] dog business." McLaughlin isn't worried about the days ahead, regardless of COVID-19 or whatever else the world might throw his way, and he wants to offer advice to others in his position. Despite being Rated Best of Philadelphia in 2018, his business is struggling, just like so many others. Here's what he does about it. 1. Put in a Hard Day's Work When McLaughlin doesn't have a dog to train, he's not sitting at home doing nothing. He's still networking, going back to the principal foundations of small-business marketing that made him a success. He's reaching out to people on Instagram, fishing for big clients and thinking about the next phase for his business. "I just network like crazy," he said. "You never know, if someone got a brand new puppy before the quarantine, they might need someone to help them with it. You have to understand the markets at hand and have the confidence to reach out." 2. Think Like an Entrepreneur It takes guts and hard work to go into business for oneself. Did those guts and that work ethic go away just because more people are staying at home? It doesn't mean it's time to pack up and find a job; maybe it's time to just roll into a different business. McLaughlin started two new businesses this year. One is an offshoot of his pet training company, but the other provides business startup advice to fellow Philadelphians, as well as marketing and sales services -- all experience he gained while starting his first business. "I hadn't done too much with HD Business Solutions until now," he says. "It's been sitting around ... but with everyone trying to figure out new ways to make money, I've made myself available to train new people, act as a think tank or just get someone started." 3. Make the Next Step It might make sense for a company to fold during the quarantine, but that doesn't mean it has to be permanent. Some companies might even consider using this time to create the next step in scaling up their business. Maybe a coffee shop has wanted to make renovations or change its look but couldn't afford to miss revenues to make those changes. Maybe some equipment needed vital repairs. There could be any number of reasons to hold off on making improvements -- improvements that would have halted a business. McLaughlin had been waiting to create an online dog training college based on the solutions he uses in his everyday business. He's using this time to figure out a business plan and how to raise capital. "I keep telling everybody this is the business renaissance time frame," he says. "You're going to figure it out or you're not, but we'll see who's still standing when this is all over. The people who didn't stay under a blanket at home are probably coming out on top." 4. Adapt to Survive The current value of time is likely much different than it was six months ago. McLaughlin said you shouldn't be too rigid with personal standards. Some may even find the new ways work better than the old. In short, it's time to survive and don't be afraid to fail if you learn a good lesson from it. McLaughlin has totally revised his pricing to make training more affordable for more people. In the end, he brings home the same amount for the same number of hours. It even afforded him the ability to run his business without traveling to locations, saving even more money. "It does leave me exposed because I'm not there to physically show people the way to correct the way to do things," he cautioned. "But, you know, it's really fun because I don't look at things as if I'm going to fail or if I'm worried about a bad review." 5. Figure Out Your Strengths If a business model isn't doing well in the face of an economic downturn, McLaughlin recommends that people go back to square one and decide what they love and what they're good at -- something that might be a sustainable business in the short term. "Everyone specializes in something," he said. "I try to tell people that all the time. Even if you're only good at posting photos to Instagram, you can still make money. Bankers are freaking out right now, but have they tried offering financial advisory services on the side? I can give you three ideas right away, depending on what you do." 6. Freak Out Early If it's time to have a breakdown, don't hold it in. Let it go. Get it out early and move on. Once the fear of failure and freak out passes, the entrepreneurial spirit can take over and guide people into greener pastures. "I would never tell someone to calm down," McLaughlin said. "I would actually encourage the opposite. Get it out of your system. Make it quick, and then immediately get online, get your ass moving and start looking at resources and what options you have." This may mean you have to shutter your business temporarily, but it will keep you from taking deeper losses. No one should risk their personal lives and finances to try to keep a failing business afloat. Besides, you can always revisit that business when the market recovers. -- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on Facebook. Want to Know More About Veteran Jobs? Be sure to get the latest news about post-military careers as well as critical info about veteran jobs and all the benefits of service. Subscribe to Military.com and receive customized updates delivered straight to your inbox. Representative image The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has said it does not hold information related to any telemarketers in India, according to a report by MoneyLife. In response to an RTI filed by the publication, the telecom regulatory body said all such data related to entities that come under the umbrella of the unsolicited commercial communication (UCC) ecosystem, including telemarketers, is with the respective telecom service providers. This means that the TRAI has no data or information whatsoever with respect to spammers and fraudsters who gain access to information on mobile subscribers across the country. The report notes that in its reply to the RTI, TRAI notes that "as per the new regulations, the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018 (6 of 2018), telecom service providers are fully responsible for registration of all entities of unsolicited commercial communication (UCC) ecosystem, including telemarketers." These are the same regulations under which, in 2018, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on spelt out new rules that mandate subscribers' consent for receiving such calls/ messages. It notified the Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulation, 2018, to curb the problem of unsolicited commercial communication, wherein it asked telecom operators to ensure that such communications take place only through registered senders. According to a report by Quartz, on average, an Indian received 25.6 pesky calls a month in 2019, compared with 22.3 calls the previous year. The data is based on incoming calls marked by users as spam on Truecaller between January 1, 2019, and October 30, 2019, which also suggested that there was a 15 percent increase in spam calls in India during 2019. Advertisement Protesters across the country in Virginia, California, New York and Vermont are defying lockdown orders and protesting in the streets, demanding governors lift lockdown orders as restlessness in the country grows. In Virginias capital demonstrators gathered in cars for a drive-in protest while some more raucous rebels gathered on foot outside Capitol Square in Richmond to decry Governor Ralph Northam's stay-at-home orders, which are slated to last through June 10. In Los Angeles a demonstration dubbed 'Operation Gridlock LA' unfolded where honking cars waving American flags gathered outside City Hall. In Vermont demonstrators braved the snow outside the Statehouse in Montpelier to rally for the end of the state lockdown. A group of nurses counter-protested against their demands, wearing their scrubs and facemasks. In Albany, New York protesters gathered in front of the State Capitol building on Wednesday afternoon in a protest organized by the group ReOpen New York State. Protesters have descended upon Virginias capital in defiance of strict lockdown orders to demand Governor Ralph Northam reopen the economy as legislators gathered to discuss how to handle the coronavirus crisis. Participants of Wednesday's gridlock rally pictured above holding signs that say 'All businesses are essential' and 'the penalty for treason is death' California: Protesters defied the shutdown in a drive-in demonstration around Los Angeles on Wednesday waving signs that said 'Open Cali Now' New York: In Albany New York participants took part in a Operation Grid-Lock to Re-Open New York protest against lockdown measures. Two participants pictured carrying signs that say 'Freedom of Speech' and 'Trump to Fauci - You're Fired' Vermont: Protesters braved the cold and snow in Montpelier on Wednesday to protest the state's lockdown order People were seen holding signs that said 'Tell Old Cuomo Let My People Go' and 'My Small Business Is Essential'. Lines of cars honked as a large group of dissidents banded together waving Trump flags, American flags as they ignored social distancing measures. People from across the state attended the event, including Westchester and Long Island, most of them noticeably not wearing masks as the governor mandated. Meanwhile in Richmond, prostesters waved American flags, some dressed in army garb, holding signs saying 'Liberate Virginia' and 'Feeding my Family is Essential' in the protest organized by conservative group ReOpen Virginia. 'If we don't come together now to get this economy back open and running and healthy, we could very well not have an economy at all when we decide to do it,' David Britt, organizer of the Reopen Virginia rally, said NBC10. The protesters gathered an hour before Virginia lawmakers flocked to the capitol for one-day legislative session to review amendments from Governor Northam on 1,291 pieces of legislation including budget amendments. It was a surprise session in light of the pandemic and the first such meeting in the state's 400-year history. House Delegates met under a canopy outside the Capitol while the Senate met at a giant event space at the Virginia Science Museum 2.5 miles away - and all will stand 10 feet apart at individual workstations to speak and vote. The lawmakers were asked to wear masks and avoid wearing germ-carrying ties. Virginia: People were seen dressed as traffic cones and clutching signs that said: 'Liberate Virginia from Ralph the Runaway Tyrant' Virginia: In the drive-in protests locals protested while practicing social distancing from the cars, where they waved American flags Counter protesters in Virginia: Dr. Erich Bruhn and his wife, former nurse Kristin Bruhn, defended the lockdown and protested against Wednesday's demonstration dressed in their white coats and masks with signs that said 'You have no right to put us all at risk. Go home!' Virginia: A demonstrator pictured arguing with counter-demonstrator and former nurse Kristin Bruhn during Wednesday's rally Virginia: Long lines of cars were seen blocking trafficking in multiple directions surrounding the Virginia State Capitol Virginia: Protesters honked in their cars, waved flags, and carried signs as they participated in Wednesday's drive-in protest A protester in Virginia carrying a banner that mixed the American and Confederate flag pictured above HEALTHCARE WORKERS FIGHT BACK ACROSS THE US Healthcare workers took to the streets Wednesday to counter-demonstrate against anti-lockdown protesters across the US, reminding the social distancing rebels of the fatal implications their actions could pose to the lives of front-line workers. Protesters across the country in Virginia, California, New York, Colorado, Arizona and Vermont are defying lockdown orders and protesting in the streets, demanding governors lift lockdown orders as a restlessness among the country grows. In Richmond demonstrators gathered in cars for a drive-in protest while some more raucous mavericks gathered on foot outside Capitol Square to decry Governor Ralph Northam's stay-at-home orders, which are slated to last through June 10. But among the relentless din of cries to re-open the economy, stood silently on the side of the procession was Dr. Erich Bruhn and his wife Kristen, a former nurse. Dressed in white lab coats and wearing face masks, the couple held placards in front of them, bluntly telling the restless crowd 'You have no right to put us at risk. Go Home!' Healthcare workers took to the streets Wednesday to counter-demonstrate against a lockdown protest in Virginia, reminding the social distancing rebels of the fatal implications their actions could pose to the lives of front-line workers Among the relentless din of cries to re-open the economy, stood silently on the side of the procession was Dr. Erich Bruhn and his wife Kristen, a former nurse The Bruhn's were accosted and heckled by a number of protesters as they made their way past the couple en-route to Capital Square Attempting to respect social distancing protocol, Dr. Bruhn steps away from one advancing protester who took a dislikening to the surgeon's message Dressed in their white coats and wearing face masks, the couple held placards in front of them, bluntly telling the restless crowd 'You have no right to put us at risk. Go Home!' The Bruhn's were accosted and heckled by a number of protesters as they made their way past the couple en-route to Capital Square. However, they weren't alone in their counter-protesting efforts. In Arizona, nurse Lauren Leander stood resolutely along side a number of her colleagues, dressed in face masks and scrubs, with their arms crossed as lockdown protesters taunted and waived flags in their faces. 'This was for all my health care workers. I see you. This was for all my patients. I am here as you. This was for the entire country. Help us help you,' Leander wrote in a social media post, highlighting the photograph. Several tributes to Leander and her colleagues flooded onto social media shortly afterwards. Among them was one from Zahid Seed, a friend and college of Leander where she works at Banner University Medical Center in Phoenix. 'Today she stood up for healthcare workers as protesters descended upon the State Capitol. She stood in silence as people called her a "fake nurse" & "paid actor" amongst other horrendous things. 'Ironically, she has spent many days in the Covid ICU caring for our sickest patients. She stood for those who are on life support and have no voice of their own. She stood for the 42,604 Americans who have died so far. 'When they inevitably contract Covid-19 and transmit it to their loved ones, Lauren will be one of the first faces they will see when they are admitted to the ICU,' Seed continued. 'She may also be one of the last faces that they ever see.' In Arizona, nurse Lauren Leander as counter-protested against demonstrators in Arizona Leander stood resolutely along side a number of her colleagues, dressed in face masks and scrubs, with their arms crossed as lockdown protesters taunted and waived flags in their faces A Protester attending a rally at the Capitol to 're-open' Arizona against the governor's stay-at-home order due to the coronavirus argues with a caregiver Advertisement The last time the Virginia's General Assembly was together they vote on a budget on March 12. On Wednesday, they voted on a plan by Gov. Northam to suspend all new spending in the state's new two-year budget. His administration expects at least a $1billion shortfall per year, according to NPR. Capitol Square itself was closed to the public due to the meeting and protesters were seen rallying outside its gates. Capitol and Virginia State Police were on site to monitor the protesters and urged them to maintain social distancing at Wednesday's gathering. No arrests so far have been made. Protesters are demanding that the lockdown order be lifted and businesses open again to get Americans back to work, despite the threat of COVID-19 as there are 9,661 cases of the virus in the state and 327 deaths. Heavy traffic was reported as the protesters in cars created a gridlock in front of Capitol Square. Democratic Governor Ralph Northam has issued a stay-at-home order until June 10th, which has sparked outrage among his constituents Delegate Ken Plum wears a small Virginia state flag as a mask during the veto session at the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, Virginia on Wednesday as lawmakers gathered to review amendments from Governor Northam on 1,291 pieces of legislation including budget amendments Virginia: House of Delegates Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn gavels the historic veto session to order in a tent outside the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond on Wednesday Virginia: Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, rear, presides over the reconvene session at the Science Museum of Virginia on Wednesday Virginia: Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax gavels the reconvene session to order at the Science Museum of Virginia on Wednesday Virginia: State Senator Thomas Norment, top center, gathers his caucus in a caucus tent as they prepare for the reconvene session at the Science Museum of Virginia Wednesday. The lawmakers were seen practicing social distancing as they worked together Virginia: Senate Clerk Susan Schaar, ties a mask on Virginia State Senator Thomas Norment as they prepare for the reconvene session at the Science Museum of Virginia Wednesday There were a few counter protesters at the scene who discouraged the demonstration and stressed the grave danger the coronavirus poses for the public. Dr. Erich Bruhn and his wife, former nurse Kristin Bruhn, defended the lockdown and protested against Wednesday's demonstration dressed in their white coats and masks with signs that said: 'You have no right to put us all at risk. Go home!' Wednesday protest follows last weeks 'Reopen Virginia' protest organized by Virginians Against Excessive Quarantine, ReOpen Virginia and End the Lockdown VA. Dissenters were seen demanding Northam ease restrictions on businesses and church closures. California: Protesters took to the streets of Los Angeles on Wednesday to demand the government reopen the state California: Demonstrators pictured in American flag-themed clothing at a protest outside Los Angeles' City Hall building demanding the government reopen the economy despite the coronavirus outbreak California: One woman held a sign that said: 'The founders trusted us to protect ourselves -- why not LA?' California: Cops were on hand wearing face masks during Los Angeles' drive in protest on Wednesday outside City Hall California: One driver held a cardboard sign that said: 'Stop the Lockdown' during the caravan protest Wednesday California: In Los Angeles there are over 15,000 cases of COVID-19 and over 600 deaths The protest is called Operation Gridlock Los Angeles. Similar protests have taken place around the U.S. : @chavatweets1 pic.twitter.com/NWYcmV90vo LAist (@LAist) April 22, 2020 The sounds of honking horns reverberated through downtown Richmond, as lawmakers went through governor amendments to bills, changes that were incurred by the pandemic. In Wednesdays session the House of Delegates and the state Senate voted to back Gov. Northams proposed delay in the states minimum wage increase until May 2021. He had proposed to push back the increase of the $7.25 minimum wage to $9.50 by four months due to the impact of the coronavirus crisis in the state. Other amendments that Northam proposed that were voted on included giving renters an extra 60-day eviction grace period, ensure landlords cant incur late fees, protections for homeowners, short-term grants to small businesses, postpone local elections schedule for May to November, and increase funding for nursing homes and long-term care facilities. In the Los Angeles protest about two dozens cars surrounded City Hall around noon, idling and blaring their horns as some protesters decked out in star and striped themed apparel took to the street with signs. In Vermont the anti-shutdown protest was much smaller with just a handful of people participating outside the Montpelier statehouse. A group of four defiant nurses stood in front of the statehouse to defend lockdown orders and praise medics across the country serving in the front lines of the pandemic. One nurse held a sign that said: 'Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.' New York: Furious protesters descended upon Albany on Wednesday. One woman held a sign that said: 'Dictator Cuomo Give Our Lives Back' New York: A man holds up signs as demonstrators take part in Operation Grid-Lock to Re-Open New York at the State Capitol in Albany on Wednesday. Lines of cars were seen participating in the protest while some rebels took to the streets on foot New York: Protesters pictured gathered around a truck decked out with the Trump 2020 logo and waving Trump flags on Wednesday New York: 'Our rights are essential': A protesters pictured wearing a gas mask as he participated in Wednesday's protest outside New York's Capitol building in Albany New York: Demonstrators blocked traffic on Wednesday bearing signs that said 'Fear the Gov't Not Covid-19' New York: A protester pictured carrying a sign that says 'Free Upstate NY' New York: These two men held signs that said: 'Tell Old Cuomo Let My People Go' and 'My Small Business Is Essential' New York: This young woman held a sign that said 'Stop Ruining My Senior Year' Vermont: Nurses from the Central Vermont Medical Center stood on the Statehouse lawn on Wednesday in Montpelier to counter a protest by a small group of people in defiance of stay-at-home orders Vermont: H. Brooke Paige stands outside of the Vermont Statehouse in Montpelier Wednesday waving an American flag in his protest Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. According to Stratistics MRC, the Global Smart Transportation Market is accounted for $59.07 billion in 2017 and is expected to reach $237.143 billion by 2026 growing at a CAGR of 16.7% during the forecast period. Growth in transportation infrastructure, rising mega cities and population and rising number of on-road vehicles are the major key factors driving the market growth. However, lack of standardized and uniform technology may hamper the market growth. Smart transportation utilizes information technology and artificial intelligence to efficiently manage and coordinate transportation systems. Smart transportation systems have emerged to be a sustainable solution to serve traffic management issues. These solutions are applicable to both public and private transportation and are critical to economic growth. By Deployment Model, Cloud segment is likely to have a huge demand due to the growing need for storage of data generated through these systems. Cloud solutions have a major impact on traffic management and road safety by using the internet and the storage for traffic-related decision making. Based on geography, Europe is expected to grow significantly during the forecast period due to growing parking issues and growing investments to improve urban transport and traffic infrastructures in this region. Request for Report sample :https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/12123 Some of the key players profiled in the Smart Transportation Market include IBM Corporation, Siemens AG, Cisco Systems, Inc, General Electric Company, Cubic Corporation, Alstom, Thales Group, SAP, Accenture, Rockwell Collins, Huawei, Cubic, Amadeus, Indra Sistemas and Advanced Navigation and Positioning . Transportation Modes Covered: Airways Railways Roadways Maritime Services Covered: Support and Maintenance Training and Consulting Deployment and Integration Products Covered: Advanced Transportation Management Systems (ATMS) Advanced Public Transportation Systems (APTS) Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIC) Advanced Transportation Pricing Systems (ATPS) Cooperative Vehicle Systems Components Covered: Software Hardware Platforms Covered: Infrastructure-as-a-Service (Iaas) Backend Platforms Consumer/Enterprise Software Extension Platforms Connectivity/M2M Platforms Hardware specific software Platforms Deployments Covered: On-Premise Cloud Hybrid Request for Report Discount:https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/discount/12123 Technologies Covered: Sensing Technology Global Positioning System (GPS) Wireless Technology Internet of things (IoT) Applications Covered: Public Transport Video Management Transit Hubs Shared Mobility Route Information and Route Guidance Autonomous/Driverless Vehicles Passenger Information System Road Safety & Security Other Applications Regions Covered: North America o US o Canada o Mexico Europe o Germany o UK o Italy o France o Spain o Rest of Europe Make an Inquiry before Buying@:https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/checkout/12123/Single Asia Pacific o Japan o China o India o Australia o New Zealand o South Korea o Rest of Asia Pacific South America o Argentina o Brazil o Chile o Rest of South America Middle East & Africa o Saudi Arabia o UAE o Qatar o South Africa o Rest of Middle East & Africa What our report offers: - Market share assessments for the regional and country level segments - Strategic recommendations for the new entrants - Market forecasts for a minimum of 9 years of all the mentioned segments, sub segments and the regional markets - Market Trends (Drivers, Constraints, Opportunities, Threats, Challenges, Investment Opportunities, and recommendations) - Strategic analysis: Drivers and Constraints, Product/Technology Analysis, Porters five forces analysis, SWOT analysis etc. - Strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations - Competitive landscaping mapping the key common trends - Company profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent developments - Supply chain trends mapping the latest technological advancements Free Customization Offerings: All the customers of this report will be entitled to receive one of the following free customization options: Company Profiling o Comprehensive profiling of additional market players (up to 3) o SWOT Analysis of key players (up to 3) Regional Segmentation o Market estimations, Forecasts and CAGR of any prominent country as per the clients interest (Note: Depends of feasibility check) Competitive Benchmarking o Benchmarking of key players based on product portfolio, geographical presence, and strategic alliances President Donald Trump on Tuesday wished North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "good luck" following reports suggesting Kim could be incapacitated following a cardiovascular surgery. "These are reports that came out, and we don't know," Trump said at a White House press briefing when asked what he knew about Kim's condition. "I've had a very good relationship with him. I wouldn't -- I can only say this, I wish him well, because if he is in the kind of condition that the reports say, that's a very serious condition, as you know," Trump said. "But I wish him well." The president added: "I've said it and I've said it many times, if somebody else were in this position right now we would be at war with North Korea ... So I just have to say to Kim Jong Un, I wish him very, you know, good luck." Speculation about Kim's health first arose after his absence from the April 15 anniversary birthday celebration of North Korea's founding father Kim Il Sung, the grandfather of Kim Jong Un. Daily NK, a South Korean newspaper that focuses its coverage on North Korea, said late Monday that Kim on April 12 received a cardiovascular procedure at Hyangsan Hospital. The outlet also reported that Kim was recovering in a villa near the hospital. NBC News, citing American officials, reported early Tuesday that Kim recently had cardiovascular surgery. Some of those officials said intelligence suggests Kim could be incapacitated. NBC's report seemed to contradict South Korea's presidential office, which told the outlet that Kim "is currently touring provincial areas with his close aides and we do not detect evidences to support speculation about his ill health." Trump said at the briefing Tuesday night that "nobody's confirmed" the "very serious" reports about Kim's health. The president said his relationship with Kim has been "very good," which has been to the benefit of the U.S. "That's not a bad thing, that's a good thing," Trump said. "I'd like to see him be well and we will see how he does. Again, I don't know if the reports are true." The crash in US crude prices has turned a reliable commodity less than worthless and given fresh urgency to bearish voices, who say it sounds alarm bells for global growth and are bracing for a catastrophic collapse in asset prices. Markets are already unnerved at the spectre of traders paying to get rid of May futures contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude and trading down June futures as storage tanks at the delivery point in Oklahoma quickly fill with unused fuel. But some market participants believe the transformation of "black gold" into a liability is more than a bet gone wrong, and rather heralds a new round of deflation and financial destruction as the COVID-19 pandemic wrecks the world economy. A 31-year-old man was shot at 5:30 a.m. at his home in the 0-100 block of West 112th Street in the Roseland neighborhood on the South Side, police said. He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center with a wound to his chest. It's not clear what prompted the shooting. The man shot has a lengthy criminal history and affiliates with a local street gang, police said, though it's unclear if that is what prompted the shooting. About 5 a.m., a male walked into Holy Cross Hospital with a gunshot wound to the arm, which he is expected to survive, police said. He told police someone shot him in the 6400 block of South Albany Avenue in the Marquette Park neighborhood on the Southwest Side but police weren't able to find a crime scene there. Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP When Congress drew up a $350 billion program to provide relief to small businesses struggling to stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic, most lawmakers probably did not imagine that companies like Hersha Hospitality would stand to benefit. The publicly-traded company based in Pennsylvania, according to its website, owns and operates 48 high-quality upscale and luxury hotel properties from California and Florida to New York City and Washington, D.C. As recently as 2018, it was flush enough to approve a $100 million plan to buy back its own stocks and pay its top executives over $10 million. But the coronavirus near-shutdown of the hospitality sector drove Hersha Hospitality to apply for help through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), the fund set up by Congress in the CARES Act legislation that passed last month. And it used a bit of bait-and-switch for the regulators. Instead of applying for one loan, the company has applied for loans for all 48 of its hotel properties. According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission reviewed by The Daily Beast, subsidiaries of Hersha Hospitalitylimited liability companies tied to each of their propertiesannounced they had filed for PPP loans on April 6, three days after the program opened for applications. Trump Administration Wants to Send Every Worker a Check Amid Coronavirus Pandemic Its not known whether Hersha Hospitality received any government funds, but the fact that a publicly-traded company with far more access to credit and financial help was competing for the same loans as smaller mom-and-pop businesses illustrates the flaws of Washingtons hastily-assembled response to the virus economic effects. The PPP has provided relief for thousands of the smaller enterprises that need the most help. Officials like Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin say the programs Main Street impact is borne out by the fact that smaller community banks have provided 60 percent of all PPP loans. However, Hersha Hospitality is just one of many larger, publicly-traded companies that also stood to benefit from the program. An investigation by the Associated Press found that close to 100 publicly traded companiessome of which were facing financial trouble before the pandemicgot a combined $365 million in low-interest government loans. Story continues Companies in the hospitality sector have been afforded a special advantage, thanks to a carve-out in the CARES Actwon after intense lobbying from the hotel and restaurant industrythat stipulates that entities are eligible for loans if they have fewer than 500 employees per physical location. That opened the door for restaurant chains like Potbelly and Shake Shack, which received $10 million PPP loans eachthough Shake Shack has since returned the loan and is now laying off employees. The provision may have opened the door too for Hersha, which applied for PPP through subsidiaries. The mad dash for money resulted in a rapid draining of the programs funds. Less than two weeks and just over 1.6 million approved applications after it started, the PPP was brokeleaving many more hard-hit small business owners that didnt get a response to their application without any lifeline. On Tuesday, the Senate approved a bill to send another $310 billion to replenish the PPP, though the financial institutions doing the lending have warned that even a major infusion of cash wont mean that every qualified applicant gets a loan. The new bill does not strike the hospitality industry-friendly exemptions. This is the main problem at the moment, said Andy Green, managing director of economic policy at the liberal Center for American Progress think tank. Its a first-come, first-serve pot of money that the powerful are serving themselves first while leaving everyone else in the lurch. How to Get Our Economy Out of the Coronavirus Deep Freeze Key policymakers have acknowledged that the PPP program has given an advantage to companies with far more resources to weather the storm. I think unfortunately there probably are a couple companies who qualified for this, and entities who qualified for this, who were not what we intended, said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), an architect of the small business provisions in the CARES Act, in a video posted to Twitter on Monday. That said, the only comfort we should take is this is not a bailout, Rubio added, saying that the money isnt going into the pockets of company shareholders. None of these companies are getting a bailout. Hersha Hospitality did not respond to requests for comment. But the companys notes to investors as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold reveal elements of their approach. On April 6, the day that the companys subsidiaries applied for PPP loans, Hersha announced a set of actions to mitigate COVID-19s impact on the Company and its operations. They included moves to open up an additional $100 million line of credit for the company, slash expenses at properties, exploring the recoup of losses through insurance claims, and, lastly, submitting loan applications for each portfolio hotel for grants and low-cost unsecured financing from the Paycheck Protection Program under the recently passed CARES Act. The funds from our line of credit will provide the necessary support to meet the ongoing operational needs of our hotels into next year under a severely disrupted scenario, Jay Shah, the companys CEO, said in the release. Shah added that we expect a challenging path forward but that the company would take the measures necessary to contain costs and maintain liquidity as we face down the COVID-19 threat and the ensuing economic contraction already underway. Hospitality groups lobbied hard for the CARES Act to include exemptions that benefited their sector, which has been among the most damaged by the coronavirus pandemic. Indeed, Hershas stock price had been trading consistently at $14 per share before the coronavirus crisis hit. It had bottomed out to below $3 per share by March 18, but has since rebounded slightly, trading around $5 per share. But the companys public status gives it an ability to raise money, not to mention its credit lines with banks, noted Jared Bernstein, a fellow at the left-leaning Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, former Obama administration economic adviser, and Daily Beast contributor. So, not exactly the mom and pop shop that some may envision regarding the PPP, he said. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. plans to issue as many as 65 million shares in a move that will strengthen its capital buffers and reduce the stake held by its wealthy founder. The Mumbai-based lender didnt provide details of the pricing of the new shares in its filing Wednesday. However, under a regulatory formula, they should be priced around the level of the latest two-week average, which works out at about 1,184 rupees ($15). That would put a total value on the offering of about $1 billion. The banks shares rose 2.4% to 1,157 rupees in Mumbai after the announcement. The plan follows the resolution in January of an unusual legal feud with the Reserve Bank of India over the pace at which Uday Kotak should reduce his stake in the lender he founded. The two sides agreed Kotak should lower his holding to 26% from 30% by August. Kotak Mahindra Bank hasnt specified the extent of the dilution under the latest plan. The capital raising will also provide an additional buffer as Indian banks brace for a surge in defaults due the lockdown on the economy intended to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Other lenders including IndusInd Bank Ltd., Yes Bank Ltd. and Bank of Baroda are planning to raise new capital. Kotak Mahindra Bank has less need of the additional buffer than most. Its capital adequacy ratio was 18% at end-December, double the regulatory minimum. Its gross bad loan ratio was 2.5%. However, the bank has also become more cautious as a result of the lockdown, which has left businesses struggling to stay afloat and job losses rising. The banks loan book grew at 6.7% in the March quarter, the slowest in at least three years. Read how banks that skirted Indias bad loans cant escape the lockdown Kotak Mahindra Bank invested 5 billion rupees last month as part of the 100 billion rupee bailout of Yes Bank by a group of eight lenders. Uday Kotak is Asias richest banker and worth about $9.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Retailers Association of India on April 22 submitted a list of challenges it faces to the government. The association recommended a way forward to support the industry and economy to help overcome the challenges brought on by the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, pandemic. The industry appealed to the government to help the retail industry survive. It sought stronger policy and fiscal interventions in the form of support for wages and working capital, and moratorium for payment of principal and interests. The retail industry employs about 46 million people, which sustains the livelihood of 250 million Indians. Food and essentials contribute around 50 percent of the total, with non-essentials constituting the balance. Not opening non-essentials can have a serious impact on 20-25 million employees and 125 million Indians working in non-essential retail and millions of other Indians working in the total supply chain from manufacturing to logistics, wholesale and retail. Representing a wide array of businesses within retail were Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, RAI; Kulin Lalbhai, Executive Director of Arvind; Rakesh Biyani, Managing Director of Future Retail; Sandeep Kataria, CEO, Bata India; Rahul Mehta, MD Creative Garments and Chief Mentor and former President of CMAI; and Atul Ruia, MD of Phoenix Mills. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show The key to resetting the economy is to get cash generation going. Exports will not be a silver bullet for India. Driving domestic consumption in a safe way is going to be important, said Kulin Lalbhai, Executive Director, Arvind. He pointed out that a large part of retail is based in non-essential items. The industry will need handholding in the form of financial support for around six-to-nine months to emerge from the crisis. The key is to ensure safe shopping, and modern retail is in an excellent position to do that. To enable all of this, the government and the industry must partner closely with each other, he added. In line with the need to drive domestic consumption, Kataria said, We support the government on the graded opening of economic activities, including retail." He also mentioned that it is important that all channels of consumption must be open including malls. Only when consumption picks up can production happen at full speed. We need to open up modern retail so that 4.5 million workers employed by the footwear industry can return to work, Kataria added. Ruia claimed that the back end of the industry cannot function if the front end is not operating. For manufacturing and retail to survive, Biyani brought up the need for partnerships. Strategic partnership with delivery services and market places is going to be very important to service customers even after the lockdown is lifted. Kirana stores have played a very important role during the lockdown. It is going to become very difficult to kick-start the supply cycle, unless we receive the support of the government to capitalise the businesses, Biyani added. The World Vision Ghana, on Tuesday presented Personal Protection Equipment (PPEs) to health officers working at health institutions under the Christian Health of Association of Ghana (CHAG). Worth about GH 60,000, the items included; toiletries, coverall, goggles, hand sanitizers, nose mask, and gloves. Mr Dickens Thunde, the National Director, World Vision International, who presented the items in Accra, said the donation was in line with the governments measures to fight the pandemic, limit the risk of transmission and contain the outbreak. With the new cases of the global pandemic increasing daily, WVI experts envisage that COVID-19 virus would have a huge impact on the poorest and most vulnerable thus posing a major risk to the efforts and progress made to fight poverty and hunger globally, he said. He commended the government for its management of the situation and called on the public to abide by the prescribed preventive measures including; handwashing with soap and social distancing protocols. Already, he said WVI had supported the Ghana Health Service (GHS) with items made up of 200,000 information, education and communication materials; and 40,000 PPEs. It also included; posters, flyers and pull-up banners that would be displayed at health centres, airports and all public places for education. Mr Thunde said WVI had stepped up its collaboration with the Ministry of Health, and working with the GHS to print and distribute the items presented to enhance the Governments public education efforts. He said the WVI would continue to work with GHS to strengthen the capacities of hospitals and clinics to support the management of the virus, especially by ensuring the availability of water and hand washing items. Mr Peter K. Yeboah, the Chief Executive Officer of CHAG, who received the donations thanked the donors for their kind gesture and called on other institutions and individuals to emulate, to help break the chain of infection. He said the support would enable them to reach out to facilities taking care of vulnerable children. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Michelson Elementary Third Graders Thank COVID-19 Heroes April 2020 View Photo Murphys, CA Struggling with everyday life and schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic, two local teachers say their students had a learning moment worth sharing about gratitude and compassion. Michelson Elementary School third grade classroom teacher Laura Oliver and student teacher Lindsey Titus reached out to Clarke Broadcasting about a recent class experience during an online Google Classroom project, acknowledging that the transition to remote learning just over a month ago has been hard on their students. The biggest challenge they confide, is that the kids miss not seeing their friends and the hands on, discussion-based classroom learning that are used to, so that daily Google Meets and weekly Friday online group activities have helped ease some of the associated social sadness. Last Friday, while drawing pictures of health workers and making thank you cards, the teachers recounted how drawing together, enjoying the normalcy of it, and casually chatting, some of the students talked about their parents who are nurses or x-ray technicians or home health care workers. Others talked about how hard the health care people are working, why everybody is staying home and how it is helping. At that point, the kids decided they wanted to really let the health care workers all know how much they appreciated everything they were doing, and to make sure they thanked everyone that was a health care worker, not just the doctors and nurses in hospitals, but also the workers in clinics and homes and pharmacies and all. They didnt think they could make enough cards and they were worried we would miss someone whos been working super hard, Oliver recounts. Tapping Help Needed To Spread Thanks During our brainstorm, the kids asked if we could send their thank you notes and drawings to the local [media] so they could really get the word out. So, here we are, sending you this collage of their artwork and a collection of their thank you notes. Normally, we would not self promote something we were doing in the classroom, but this felt so heartwarming and beautiful, it feels worth sharing. She adds, some of the students have felt lonely and isolated during the shelter in place, and this activity made them feel connected to the outside world and realize their part in helping have a healthy community. Describing what came out of the project as a beautiful experience, Oliver continues, It gave them the chance to put into words their gratitude at being kept safe by others. That Friday morning also let them chat with each other about their feelings, worries, and pride in their family members and friends out there in the trenchesso, on behalf of our students, we would like to celebrate and thank ALL of the health care workersfor all of your hard work and dedication. To view the collage of student drawings, click in the image box. Although tv host John Cenas show might help us figure out if we are indeed smarter than a fifth grader, this reporter sure hopes these notes in this moment might spark more of us during our days of COVID-19 related sheltering in place struggles to feel as sincerely thankful and compassionate as this bunch of third graders for all our health care and other essential workers on the front lines. The students messages follow here We are making their job easier by staying home and not getting sick. They are helping us by taking care of sick people. Also they are keeping us healthy. Also if we have a problem with something on our body they help us figure it out. Anthony Aitken Thank you for everything you do to help take care of us.I cant say this enough but thank you. We are doing our part by staying home while you are doing yours. Randy Aitken Dear health care workers, thank you for taking care of us. I am helping by staying healthy and keeping my distance from others. I am grateful that you are still working and helping others that are sick to get better. You are all awesome! Sincerely, Darby Bottomley Thank you for helping millions of people and saving their lives. You are the best health care workers. Morgan Brodie Dear Healthcare Workers, thank you for being a doctor. You go to work everyday to help people who are sick. You are around people who could get you sick too but you still help them. We are helping you by staying home. Thanks for taking care of everybody. Thank you. Colton Kane Thank you for helping people get better. I know you still dont have the cure for the coronavirus but you have done so much for people in the world. Thank you for your hard work and we will all support you for your hard work and thank you for helping people as much as you can. Alison Leon Perete Thank you for taking care of us. We are safe because of them. We are healthy because of you. I am thankful for you. Aaliyah Miles Dear Healthcare workers, thank you for helping everybody through these times. I am saying thank you because you are helping a lot of people through these rough times. We are trying to help you by social distancing and wearing masks when we go out in public. Josie Rael Dear Health Care Workers, If I spoke to you I would say, Thank you health care workers! It is important for us to say thank you to you because you are saving lives. We are grateful for your help and saving us and for you doctors to be here. We are making your job easier by washing our hands and staying home. Olivia Schuler Dear to all health medical workers. Im really happy that you guys really do try your best and to save people. Im very grateful to have you guys because you help everyone, and I hope you always try your best at everything. We are helping by making your job easier by staying at home and trying to help everyone. I wish you all of you stay safe and good luck with everything. Elizabeth Herrera-Solis To health care workers, thank you health workers and all the other workers for the coronavirus. It is a really hard time my dad is in the hospital but luckily he does not have the coronavirus he just got diabetes. Take care of all those people out there with the coronavirus. Thank you so much. Sofia Vargas Thank you for helping all the sick people so they feel better. I hope the coronavirus stops so I can see my friends. I am appreciative that you are helping the people. I hope you dont get sick. Logan Betts - Senator Risa Hontiveros said that according to reports, China owes the Philippines billions of pesos as reparations - She also claimed that China has been damaging the reef ecosystems in the West Philippine Sea - The senator urged the government to demand reparations from China for COVID-19 response - Hontiveros also pointed out that the government should demand the unpaid taxes from the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed According to Senator Risa Hontiveros, China must pay the Philippines reparations for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) response. KAMI learned that as per Hontiveros, reports claimed that China owes the Philippines at least P200 billion. In a Facebook post, the senator said China owes money as reparations due to their alleged damage to reef ecosystems in the West Philippine Sea for at least 6 years. China should stop its adventurism in the region and pay reparations to the Philippines immediately, Hontiveros said. Hontiveros mentioned that the government should demand what is owed to the country because it already has a huge budget deficit due to COVID-19. Thus, it should demand what is rightfully ours and use this to strengthen our health system, to increase the aid given to low- and middle-income families, and to help Filipinos recover post-COVID, Hontiveros shared. As reported by the Inquirer (author by Christia Marie Ramos), Hontiveros also pointed out that the government should demand the P50 billion estimated unpaid taxes from the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO). There are essential and non-essential industries under the Enhanced Community Quarantine. POGOs join a third category that we might call less than non-essential, the senator said. The government should not open itself to other problems that POGOs bring. Its high time we send POGOs home, she added. PAY ATTENTION: Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news! In a previous report by KAMI, Hontiveros slammed House Speaker Peter Alan Cayetano over the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act. As of posting time, the Department of Health (DOH) reported that there are 6,599 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Philippines. Please like and share our amazing Facebook posts to support the KAMI team! Dont hesitate to comment and share your opinions about our stories either. We love reading about your thoughts and views on different matters! In our new episode, we show you all of the essential rules to follow amid the COVID-19 crisis in our country! Check out all of the exciting videos and celebrity interviews on our KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel Source: KAMI.com.gh Are you considering homeschooling but uncertain about where to start? Over the years, homeschooling in Kenya has become a viable alternative to traditional education that takes place in classrooms. Unfortunately, the concept of studying at home is misinterpreted by many people. However, it isnt that hard to grasp or practice as long as you understand how it works. Image: pixabay.com Source: UGC Is homeschooling legal in Kenya? This is just one of the many questions that are often asked by parents who are considering trying it out. While the practice has been in place for quite some time, the onset of the internet has made it popular. So, when did it start, and how does it work? The history of homeschooling in Kenya Homeschooling in Kenya is not a new concept. According to Reginald Odour, it became a popular alternative to structured schools in the 1990s. Most of the students that were homeschooled in the 1990s later joined universities, and they are now serving humanity in different capacities. Parents have used different curriculums to homeschool children. However, IGCSE and 8-4-4 are the most popular systems by most Kenyan homeschooling families. The legality of homeschooling in Kenya Is homeschooling illegal in Kenya? No. There are different interpretations of the Basic Education Act of 2013 in regards to addressing the legality of alternative forms of education. However, most legal minds agree that the Act does not discourage homeschooling. The homeschoolers association has pointed out that the government should create structures in the future, which give parents interested in homeschooling a better footing. Luckily, parents can access different homeschooling centres in Kenya for more information and guidance on how to structure learning. Homeschooling curriculums in Kenya In Kenya, different homeschooling families have different approaches in regards to curriculum. You can use: 1. Kenyas curriculum Most Nairobi homeschool families opt for the harmonised curriculum by the Ministry of Education. The teaching materials are readily available, regardless of where you are in the country. Also, you can either teach your children or hire a trained teacher. If you want to hire a teacher, there are many qualified teachers available for homeschooling jobs in Kenya. The system is test-based, and every year, you must give your child a test. Luckily, bookshops around the country have examination papers with marking guides. You can also register your child in a private examination centre for the final examination and probably reintegrate them back to the traditional education system. Image: unsplash.com Source: UGC 2. Different curriculums to teach different subjects The East Africa community of homeschoolers advocate for this approach. The main aim of this program is to give your child the best exposure from the best curriculums. For example, you can use Singapores maths curriculum since their system is the best in teaching the subject. After going through subjects strengths rankings, you can create a customised curriculum for your child. Like in the Kenyan educational curriculum, there are materials online for teaching and examinations. You can also buy different books from e-commerce sites. Benefits of homeschooling in Kenya While homeschooling is still a new approach to educating children, pundits have pointed out that it will redefine teaching in Africa, and specifically in Kenya. Some of the advantages of homeschooling in Kenya include: 1. Efficient learning While the Kenyan government has made strides in lowering the student-teacher ratio, the number of teachers is still below the global standards. Fortunately, homeschooling creates a perfect scenario where the student-teacher ratio is low and therefore, efficient learning. 2. Flexible learning Homeschooling allows your child to learn on their schedule. Although the traditional system teaches the students the value of punctuality, it may disadvantage some students. It is, however, advisable to create a definite learning schedule and adhere to it. 3. Meaningful learning One of the main criticisms about the Kenyan education system is that students overlearn old concepts and sometimes miss out vital information. Fortunately, homeschooling only exposes the child to current and updated information. 4. Homeschooling is ideal for discovering the childs hidden talents The traditional education system is exam-centred. Students usually spend hours preparing for exams as opposed to exploring talents. However, homeschooling creates a room for exploration and discovering new skills. READ ALSO: What to know about the new 2-6-3-3 curriculum in Kenya 5. Homeschooling is more than just learning Mental health and social developments are essential aspects of your childs growth. Due to a higher student-teacher ratio, it may be impossible for the teacher to identify students that may need special attention. Fortunately, with homeschooling, these two aspects (mental and social development) are central to the structure. The scope of homeschooling in Kenya how is it done? After coming up with a curriculum or adapting one the next critical stage is the implementation. As a parent, you should consider the following options. Be a tutor If you work from home, being a tutor is the best tactic to homeschooling. As a parent, you have a better understanding of what your child needs and how to teach them under minimal efforts. If you are not a trained teacher, take time and read homeschooling guides. Hire a tutor The availability of private tuition in Kenya is one of the reasons why parents are considering this form of education as opposed to traditional schools. While different tutors charge differently for their services, the home school services are readily available, regardless of where you are in the country. Whereas tutors are trained teachers, discuss the curriculum and the scope of learning with them. Let them know what you want your child to achieve with regards to knowledge and talent development. Resource centres for homeschooling families in Kenya Image: unsplash.com Source: UGC Contrary to popular belief that homeschooling in Kenya is unstructured; there are many resource centres in Kenya. The resource centres help in streamlining homeschooling Africa and ensuring that the students get the best education. Key resource centres for homeschooling resources include: Elimu Nyumbani If you are new to homeschooling and you are uncertain about where to start, Elimu Nyumbani is a perfect place to start. The centre helps parents and students to explore three primary curriculums The British National Curriculum, Kenya National Curriculum and American Curriculum. In addition to assisting parents in choosing programs, the centre helps the homeschooling families to access resources and examination materials. Unfortunately, you cannot book external examinations from this centre. East Africa Homeschooling Resource Centre The East Africa Homeschooling Resource Center has redefined some homeschooling realities in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The centre, for example, has been instrumental in helping parents define the homeschool vision, the role of parents in this form of education and more importantly, the best materials to use. Apart from being an instrumental entity in the homeschooling community, it has organised conferences in the past. Some of the speakers are the famous homeschoolers in the world, such as Mike Donnelly. The Calvary Academy Homeschool & Resource Centre The Calvary Academy Homeschool & Resource Centre has a different approach to homeschooling, especially on leadership and life skills training. To achieve this goal, the resource centre organises retreats and workshops for all interested homeschoolers. The centre also has an app called eLimu, and a student can study using the app for different exams such as KCPE exams. While millions of children are in public and private schools, homeschooling in Kenya is a viable educational option. The ability to customise a curriculum and create student-based learning make homeschooling ideal for children. Also, the availability of resource centres simplifies the parents work in searching for teaching materials. READ ALSO: Top TVET courses that you should enrol to study Source: TUKO.co.ke The Project 22160 patrol vessel Pavel Derzhavin has arrived in Novorossiysk for trials, a Russian Navy spokesperson said on Tuesday. The Project 22160 patrol vessel Pavel Derzhavin has arrived in Novorossiysk for trials, a Russian Navy spokesperson said on Tuesday. Project 22160 patrol ship (Picture source: Vovanus / fleetphoto.ru) "Under the contract, the patrol ship Pavel Derzhavin will be delivered to the Russian Navy before the end of 2020 after the completion of the trials," the spokesperson informed. Project 22160 patrol vessels have been designed by the Severnoye Design Bureau (part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation). They are the first ships in Russia based on the modular design principle. Project 22160 ships are primarily designated to defend and protect the maritime economic zone. The patrol ships are also capable of accomplishing escort and anti-piracy missions and carrying out search and rescue operations. They are armed with a 76.2mm artillery gun, an anti-aircraft missile system and machine-guns. The Pavel Derzhavin is the Project 22160 third-built and second serial-produced ship. The lead and first serial-produced ships were built at the Zelenodoslk Shipyard. They entered service with Russias Black Sea Fleet. Copyright 2020 TASS. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. With a series of high-level summits culminating in a visit to Germany in the fall by President Xi Jinping, this was supposed to be the year of Europe-China diplomacy. Instead, Europeans are warning of a damaging rift. Diplomats talk of mounting anger over China's behavior during the coronavirus pandemic, including claims of price gouging by Chinese suppliers of medical equipment and a blindness to how its actions are perceived. The upshot is that Beijing's handling of the crisis has eroded trust just when it had a chance to demonstrate global leadership. "Over these months China has lost Europe," said Reinhard Buetikofer, a German Green party lawmaker who chairs the European Parliament's delegation for relations with China. He cited concerns from China's "truth management" in the early stages of the virus to an "extremely aggressive" stance by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing and "hard line propaganda" that champions the superiority of Communist Party rule over democracy. Rather than any single act responsible for the breakdown, he said, "it's the pervasiveness of an attitude that does not purvey the will to create partnerships, but the will to tell people what to do." While the Trump administration has resumed its swipes at China, European officials are traditionally less willing to be openly critical, in part for fear of retribution. The fact that politicians in Berlin, Paris, London and Brussels are expressing concern over Beijing's narrative on covid-19 hints at a deeper resentment with wide-ranging consequences. Already some European Union members are pursuing policies to reduce their dependence on China and keep potential predatory investments in check, defensive measures that risk hurting China-EU trade worth almost $750 billion last year. It's a turnaround from just a few weeks ago, when China emerged from the worst of its own outbreak to offer web seminars on best practice gained from tackling the virus where it first emerged. It also airlifted medical supplies including protective equipment, testing kits and ventilators to the worst-hit countries in Europe and elsewhere, in a show of aid-giving that contrasted with America's international absence. The pandemic offered a chance for mutual solidarity. But it didn't last. "Now the atmosphere in Europe is rather toxic when it comes to China," said Joerg Wuttke, president of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China. Concerns were aired during a March 25 call of Group of Seven foreign ministers about how China would proceed during the crisis and once it subsided. Ministers were told that Europe and the G-7 must be on guard as Beijing was likely to move "more self confidently, more powerfully" and in a way that exploits its leverage when other nations were still in lockdown, according to a European official familiar with the call. In public, Chinese officials have struck a conciliatory tone. "When people's lives are at stake, nothing matters more than saving lives. It is useless to argue over the merits of different social systems or models," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a regular press conference on April 17. China, he said, is ready to work with the international community, including European countries, to "jointly safeguard the health and safety of all mankind." Yet China's means of going about it has backfired in much of Europe. An anonymously authored text posted on the website of the Chinese embassy in France this month falsely accused French retirement home staff of leaving old people to die. It was "an incredible accusation on one of the most sensitive and tragic aspects" of the crisis in France, Mathieu Duchatel of the Institut Montaigne wrote on Twitter. The embassy website comments rang alarm bells for the needless offense caused. China underestimated the reaction to its conspiracy theories amplified by propaganda outlets, according to two European officials in Beijing. What's more, China's insistence that aid be accompanied by public thanks and praise has undercut the goodwill it might otherwise have gained, they said. European governments have become more wary of China over the past two years as Xi's Belt and Road Initiative on trade and infrastructure expanded across the continent, snapping up strategic assets including ports, power utilities and robotics firms from the Mediterranean to the Baltic Sea. While some nations including Italy and Portugal have been enthusiastic backers of Belt and Road, another program known as Made in China 2025, whereby Beijing seeks to become the world leader in key technologies, is seen in many quarters as a further threat to European industry. With stock prices tumbling on the coronavirus crisis, countries including Germany that have investment screening regulations have tightened them and extended their scope in response to concerns that China, among others, could take controlling stakes in companies suddenly made vulnerable. EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager suggested in a Financial Times interview that governments go further and buy stakes in companies themselves to stave off the threat of Chinese takeovers. More far-reaching still are proposals to curb dependence on China, not just for medical supplies but in areas such as battery technology for electric vehicles. EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan said last week there's a need for a discussion "on what it means to be strategically autonomous," including building "resilient supply chains, based on diversification, acknowledging the simple fact that we will not be able to manufacture everything locally." Japan already earmarked $2.2 billion from its $1 trillion stimulus package to help its manufacturers shift production away from China. Without mentioning China, EU trade ministers agreed in an April 16 call on the importance of diversifying to "reduce the reliance on individual countries of supply." As a first step, Berlin plans state funds and purchase guarantees to start industrial production of millions of surgical and face masks by late summer. China currently exports 25% of the world's face masks. Wuttke of the EU trade chambers said the discussion on supply chains began when Beijing shut its ports earlier this year, prompting fears that pharmaceutical ingredients produced in China would not reach Europe, and causing policymakers to realize that strategic products had to be secured. According to another European official, even official suppliers were breaking contracts for items such as ventilators and scamming people, burning bridges along the way. "People want to have their eggs in more baskets," said Wuttke. Certainly, the tenor of the political debate in Europe has shifted since. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told Bild newspaper that China's revising up of the death toll last week was "alarming," while French President Emmanuel Macron said in an FT interview there were "clearly things that have happened that we don't know about." U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said it can't be "business as usual" with China once the pandemic is over. Spain's Health Ministry has canceled an order of antigen test kits from Chinese company Bioeasy after sending back a previous batch, the country's El Pais reported. Health authorities found that both sets of kits were faulty, it said. As a result of the covid-19 crisis, pressure is growing on the U.K. to reverse its decision to allow Huawei Technologies a limited role in its fifth-generation mobile networks, while France may be less inclined to give Huawei a chunk of its 5G contracts after the embassy spat. Germany must make a decision by around midyear on Chinese involvement in its 5G networks. In the battle of narratives, Germany is key, according to Janka Oertel, director of the Asia program at the European Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin. As well as Europe's dominant economy, its trade ties to China dwarf those of its neighbors: German exports to China in 2019 were higher than the U.K., France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands combined. It will assume the EU's rotating presidency on July 1, giving it the chance to turn the debate in Europe. China could still win back favor and help secure a greater global role by acceding to demands to open up its markets and introduce a more level playing field for international business, said Oertel. "That would be something that the Europeans would very much appreciate," she said. All the same, she added: "I don't think it's very likely." Its slowly becoming clear that US state governors were contacted by the social media giant Facebook over Reopen America events, not the other way around. While CNN reporters initially tweeted that the governors were the ones to ask Facebook to ban the event pages of Reopen America, its now looking more likely that Facebook actively pursued guidance from state governors in a move to shut down groups that were organizing protests themselves. State governors say they didnt ask Facebook to censor the groups. Heres what CNNs Oliver Darcy had originally tweeted: But that appears to not have been true. (surprise, surprise, CNN) Whats more, another CNN reporter also ended up sharing a tweet along the same lines of Facebook shutting down pages due to government orders. While CNN, as well as other newshouses such as Politico, reported that Facebook shut down the protests based on the governments orders, the governors office of Nebraska has made it crystal clear that it had no involvement whatsoever and that it was Facebooks own decision to delete the groups from the platform. The Governors Office is not aware of any Facebook events regarding COVID-19 protests, and has not requested Facebook to pull any events down. Facebook reached out last week to learn more about Nebraskas social distancing restrictions, and the Governors staff provided already publicly available information about Nebraskas ten-person limit and Directed Health Measures, said the Nebraska governors office, when Reclaim The Net asked them what was going on. Furthermore, even New Jerseys governor denied their involvement in the decision to shut down pages and said, The governors office did not ask Facebook to remove pages or posts for events promoting lifting the provisions of the governors stay-at-home order. Facebook CEO Zuckerberg has himself now changed course and said that the event groups were actually banned for spreading harmful misinformation. We do classify that as harmful misinformation and we take that down, Zuckerberg said. At the same time, its important that people can debate policies, so theres a line on this, you know, more than normal political discourse. I think a lot of the stuff that people are saying that is false around a health emergency like this can be classified as harmful misinformation. Nonetheless, when we pressed Facebook, they said that it may revisit its decision on the matter and reverse any page takedowns as governments havent actually prohibited any such events. Princeton University said Wednesday it would reject $2.4 million in federal aid it would get under the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus law. We have determined that the university will not accept this funding, said spokesman Michael Hotchkiss, adding that Princeton did not request the money. The university had been allocated $2.4 million as part of an aid package for higher education institutions forced to shut down their campuses in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. In all, $323 million was earmarked for New Jersey universities, technical schools and seminaries and their students. Half of the money was directed to students to help cover costs associated with the disruption of campus operations due to the coronavirus, including course materials, food, health care, technology and housing. CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage Hotchkiss said the universitys no-loan financial aid packages and other programs are designed to provide exceptional levels of support to our students. We remain committed to providing this support, he said. Harvard University, which was supposed to get $8.7 million, also declined its allocation, the school said Wednesday. We are concerned that intense focus by politicians and others on Harvard in connection with the program may undermine participation in a relief effort Congress created and the president signed into law for the purpose of helping those whose financial challenges may be most severe, the university said in a statement. President Donald Trump called out Harvard at his daily coronavirus press conference on Tuesday. Harvard is going to pay back the money, Trump said. And they shouldnt be taking it. So, Harvard is going to. You have a number of them. Im not going to mention any other names. But when I saw Harvard, they have one of the largest endowments anywhere in the country, maybe in the world, I guess. And theyre going to pay back that money. And Stanford University also declined the funds. It was entitled to $7.4 million. We realize that this crisis represents an existential threat for many of the smaller colleges and universities that are such a critical part of the fabric of higher learning in the United States, Stanford said in a statement. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription. Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. In a nutshell: Drones that can detect people potentially infected with Covid-19 are now being tested in the US. In addition to spotting possible carriers, the UAVs are also used to identify anyone who might be violating social distancing orders. Last month, we reported on drone maker Draganfly, which has been working on drone tech that uses specialized onboard thermal sensors and a smart computer vision system to monitor peoples temperature, heart and respiratory rates from a distance of 190 feet. Its even able to detect sneezing and coughing in crowds, and can measure social distancing between individuals. The drones will be used in Australia and are now being tested in the US. Digital Trends reports that the Westport Police Department in Connecticut, which has seen over 17,550 Covid-19 cases, is now trialing Draganflys product. Westport is testing the Draganfly health and public safety system to analyze and provide anonymized data on social distancing, heart rate, fever rate, and respiratory behavior, and doesnt collect individualized data, Cameron Chell, CEO of Draganfly, told the publication. The data tested for use by public safety professionals [is intended] to get a better picture of population health. The technology has been peer-reviewed and clinically researched to help protect potential at-risk groups, such as seniors, crowds gathering at the town and state-owned beaches, train stations, parks and recreation areas, shopping centers and other areas where people tend to gather. Several countries have been utilizing drones to ensure people adhere to quarantine rules, including Spain, which has been using speaker-equipped UAVs to scold people. Should the trial at Westport PD prove successful, Draganflys drones are expected to be used across other parts of the US heavily hit by Covid-19. We are in talks to provide our health and public safety drone platform with other communities, organizations and companies that reside in other so-called hotspot areas around the country mostly heavily populated cities like New York, Boston, and LA, added Chell. Police are asking for help finding four water scooters and a pair of trailers stolen last week from a Gresham business. Gresham police said the trailers and WaveRunner watercrafts were stolen Thursday from Gresham Powersports. The trailers and watercrafts are worth over $56,000 total. A stolen U-Haul truck used in the heist was recovered Monday, police said. Three lawnmowers stolen from a different business were also recovered. Stolen watercrafts and trailers 2020 Yamaha FX Cruiser HO (red/white) Two 2020 Yamaha VX Cruiser HOs (silver/yellow) 2020 Yamaha GP1800R (blue/silver) Two Karavan WC-2450-84-L trailers Police ask anyone who has information to call a detective at 503-618-2658. -- Jim Ryan; jryan@oregonian.com; 503-221-8005; @Jimryan015 Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. EUGENE, Ore. Kramer is a sweet 2-year-old pit bull terrier mix who loves to play and is ready to go on adventures with his new family. Kramer is loving and loyal and will need plenty of exercise every day. He would be a great companion to take along on runs and hikes. Staff members at Greenhill Humane Society describe him as a social butterfly who loves everyone he meets. He is eager to learn and will need enrichment activities and mental stimulation to keep him occupied. He could join a family with older kids who can handle his high energy level and general rambunctiousness. He should be the only pet in the home. Kramer weighs about 60 pounds and his adoption fee is $175. This fee helps pay the cost of vaccinations, microchip identification, spaying or neutering, a certificate for a free veterinary exam and more. Kramer was Tuesdays Pet of the Week on KEZI 9 News. Every Tuesday, KEZI showcases homeless pets on the Midday newscast at 11 a.m. and again at 4 p.m. If you are interested in Kramer or other animals at Greenhill Humane Society, click here. Greenhill Humane Society is located at 88530 Green Hill Road and is open daily by appointment only from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Its phone number is 541-689-1503. Adoptions are also currently by appointment only. To ensure a good match is made, potential adopters must go to the animal shelter in person to meet with the animal and kennel staff. All family members should be present to ensure the animal is compatible with everyone in the household. Protesters drive past City Hall encouraging people to demand that businesses be allowed to open up, and people allowed to go back to work, in Kansas City, Mo., on April 20, 2020. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images) Hundreds Gather in North Carolina, Missouri to Protest Lockdown Measures Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in the streets of North Carolina and Missouri on April 21 to voice their discontent over lockdown measures put in place to curb the transmission of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus. Protesters in Missouri gathered at the State Capitol in Jefferson City on Tuesday, holding American flags and signs with slogans including Tyranny Is Not a Cure! And All Jobs Are Essential, while hundreds gathered in Raleigh, North Carolina, chanting Freedom Now. Tens of millions of Americans have lost their jobs as a result of the lockdowns, which are aimed at curbing the spread of the CCP virus that emerged in mainland China last year, but have proven increasingly controversial as some orders close beaches, prevent people from buying seeds, and restrict travel. The economic damage has led to increasing agitation for relaxing social-distancing restrictions, especially as the rate of CCP virus hospitalizations and other indicators of the outbreaks severity have begun to level off in recent days. Demonstrators in both states largely defied recommendations of health officials to wear masks in public and to adhere to social distancing measures as they took to the streets demanding that strict controls on public activity are lifted. Missouris statewide stay-at-home order was extended until May 3 by Gov. Mike Parson on April 16. Under the order, nonessential businesses have not been required to shut, but they have been urged to adhere to social distancing requirements as detailed on the governors website. As of Tuesday, the state had at least 5,900 confirmed CCP virus cases and 189 deaths. North Carolina residents, meanwhile, have been ordered to comply with the states stay-at-home orders until April 29. The order allows only essential businesses to continue operation, while following recommended social distancing measures. There have been 6,900 confirmed cases in the state with 213 deaths. Roughly 95 percent of the U.S. population is now under stay-at-home orders, and many factories, restaurants, stores, and other businesses are closed or have seen sales shrivel. A record 22 million Americans have filed claims for unemployment benefits over the past month, wiping out almost all the job gains since the 2009 recession. Demonstrations in the states came on the heels of large demonstrations held over the past week in states including Michigan, Minnesota, Virginia, Maryland, Washington state, and Colorado. An estimated 2,500 people rallied at the Washington state capitol in Olympia over the weekend to protest Gov. Jay Inslees stay-at-home order, defying a ban on gatherings of 50 or more people. President Donald Trump on Friday encouraged people to protest stay-at-home orders in a handful of battleground states led by Democratic governors. Heading into the weekend, Trump issued separate tweets calling to LIBERATE MINNESOTA, LIBERATE MICHIGAN, and LIBERATE VIRGINIA, warning that Virginia was under siege over Second Amendment issues predating the lockdown. On April 18, Trump defended the demonstrations, saying: These people love our country. They want to go back to work. There are over 825,000 cases of the CCP virus across the United States and at least 45,000 deaths, according to a tracking map from Johns Hopkins University that collates official government data. After a three-year absence, Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker is returning to the BBC for a Screenwipe episode focused on the coronavirus pandemic. The half-hour lockdown special, which is currently titled Charlie Brookers Antiviral Wipe, will pay particular attention to the things people are watching and doing to pass the time while being stuck at home. As with Brookers previous Screenwipe episodes, Diane Morgan and Al Campbell will return as reporters Philomena Cunk and Barry S**tpeas, respectively. Brooker said: The BBC asked me to supply a quote for the press release, which is what youre reading now. The episode is just one of many new comedy commissions from BBC Two. Bob Mortimer, Meera Syal and Russell Kane will appear in a new show called Comedians Playing With Themselves, while Matt Berry will front a new series written by Father Teds Arthur Matthews. Sophie Willans Almas Not Normal has also been commissioned for a full run. The series, focusing on a Bolton-hailing character named Alma Nuthall and her eccentric female-dominated family, will last for six episodes. Ive been overwhelmed by the fabulous response to the pilot and Im so excited to be developing the series, Willan said. Ive already been using the lockdown as a chance to get cracking so Im just pleased to have the official go ahead. I cant wait to get it made and share the world of Alma with everyone. Charlie Brookers Antiviral Wipe currently doesnt have an air date. It is unknown when Black Mirror will return to Netflix. Additional reporting by Agencies It turns out that elevated ferritin concentrations are associated with an increased production of special signalling molecules, which can lead to complications and death Yehuda Shoenfeld is the world's leading expert in the research, treatment and prevention of autoimmune diseases. Professor Shoenfeld noted that the hyperferritinemic syndrome was thoroughly studied a while ago: 'We have already published the data on this clinical condition. In 50% of cases, patients with exceptionally high ferritin levels die. In fact, what we are witnessing at present with the new coronavirus infection is reminiscent of the situation with the hyperferritinemic syndrome.' Ferritin is a major intracellular iron storage protein in all organisms. It binds free ions of the trace element, neutralising its toxic properties and increasing its solubility. In the soluble form, the body is able to expend iron as needed, in particular for regulation of cellular oxygen metabolism. Low ferritin levels result in lower iron concentrations and iron deficiency anaemia. Elevated levels of ferritin, or hyperferritinemia, indicate the presence of viruses and bacteria into the body. Hyperferritinemia can also be caused by a genetic mutation. In this case, it leads to neurological disorders and vision problems. Recent studies by Italian scientists have shown that ferritin is able to activate macrophages. The latter are a type of white blood cell of the immune system that play a critical role in innate immunity, being the body's first line of defence. This is evidenced by hyperferritinemia in patients with septic shock, catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome, and other medical conditions characterised by macrophage activation. Similar observations have been reported by scientists from China and the United States. 'When activated, macrophages begin to secrete cytokines. These are a category of signalling molecules that mediate and regulate immunity. At low concentrations, they are safe for the body and help to protect it against viruses and bacteria. At high levels, the so called "cytokine storm" develops, which can be lethal for half of the patients, especially for the elderly,' explains Yehuda Shoenfeld. 'Thus, hyperferritinemia has been associated with increased illness severity and adverse outcomes, including COVID-19. Our task is to find a way to combat it.' The scientist identified a further important indicator of macrophage activation and a high probability of complications. This is marker CD163. In the Laboratory of the Mosaic of Autoimmunity at St Petersburg University, the scientists are searching for a way to reduce circulating ferritin levels. In addition, they are studying possible methods of inhibiting the synthesis of CD163 and other macrophage signalling molecules using antibodies. Similar work is currently underway around the world. Additionally, Professor Shoenfeld and his colleagues are working on a vaccine against COVID-19. The researchers are developing a method of using virus particles, surface proteins of the virus as the main components of the vaccine. Since these fragments cannot be found in the human body, they are not able to produce an undesirable immune response, which makes them promising candidates for the vaccine. ### Popular Married At First Sight couple Michael Goonan and KC Osborne have already moved in together after dating for less than two months. And on Wednesday, the lovebirds revealed details of their sex life on KIIS FM's Kyle and Jackie O show. Michael, 29, and new girlfriend KC, 31, let slip the exact moment they consummated their relationship live on air, and their answer shocked the radio hosts. Scroll down for video 'He was like a dog with a bone': MAFS couple Michael Goonan and KC Osborne shared details of their sex life with KIIS FM's Kyle And Jackis O on Wednesday 'We actually became boyfriend/girlfriend before we had sex,' professional dancer KC admitted, as Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson let out surprised gasps. Michael then joked: 'Very traditional, I know. It's usually try before you buy.' Speaking of getting together, KC said Michael didn't take no for answer. 'He was like a dog with a bone. I didn't want the drama, but I just caved in, and I'm glad that I did,' she said. 'Very traditional, I know. It's usually try before you buy': Michael and KC revealed they didn't have sex until they were 'official' 'Thats when the real Rocketman came out!' Michael joked that they finally sealed the deal and consummated their relationship after going on a date to see Elton John in concert The couple then recalled their first date, where they became 'official' at an Elton John concert. KC said Michael asked KC to be his 'girlfriend' when Elton sang 'Candle In The Wind' and she said 'yes'. 'How could I say no if he asks me out during Candle In The Wind?' KC joked. Michael then confessed that they had sex for the first time that evening, adding: 'Thats when the real Rocketman came out!' They're not hiding anymore! Earlier this month, KC (left) and Michael (right) finally confirmed their relationship after weeks of rumours and speculation Coming clean: In their first joint interview, Michael and KC told New Idea they had been dating since early March and were self-isolating together in Melbourne. Pictured in November How it all started: Their friendship began a week after filming the MAFS reunion in mid-January. They shared phone calls and texts before agreeing to meet in Melbourne for a date In their first joint media interview, the couple told New Idea they had been together for five weeks and had already moved in together in Melbourne. They are planning to stay at the businessman's home to continue self-isolating together for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic. Their friendship began a week after filming the MAFS reunion three months ago in January. They shared phone calls and texts before meeting in Melbourne for a date. Things gradually became romantic and by the time of the COVID-19 crisis the pair had become inseparable and decided to self-quarantine together. Mobile County leads Alabama in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases and is tops among the largest counties in the number of per capita cases per 100,000 residents. Worse yet, Mobile County has the highest number of deaths related to the virus. Mayor Sandy Stimpson, asked Wednesday on what might be the root cause, pointed to New Orleans. Citing anecdotal evidence only, Stimpson said that during the onset of coronavirus cases in Mobile County, a connection to the Big Easy kept popping up. There was a connection to New Orleans because of the proximity we have to New Orleans and because the relationships our citizens have (to the city), Stimpson said. Im not saying to blame it on New Orleans. But its a point that needs to be made on the infectious nature of this disease that just through an interaction with (someone in) New Orleans, or it could be somewhere else. But in this particular case, because we know New Orleans is a hot bed, it impacted the city of Mobile more than (it impacted) other cities in the state. Mobile County Health Officer Dr. Bernard Eichold declined to name New Orleans as a possible source for the virus spread in Mobile. He said that compared to other states such as Louisiana our death rate is not as bad. Indeed, New Orleans has been listed as among the few hot spots for COVID-19 since the pandemic erupted last month. As of Wednesday, there were more than 6,200 cases of coronavirus in New Orleans, which is more than the 5,495 confirmed in all of Alabama. Orleans and Jefferson Parish, combined, have double the amount of cases than all of Alabama. According to the Louisiana Department of Public Health, there was a total of 25,278 positive coronavirus cases within the state, and 1,473 deaths. Alabama has had 178 confirmed deaths from the illness. Mobile County is reporting 749 confirmed cases and 33 confirmed deaths from COVID-19, which is higher than the states largest county -- Jefferson County, where there are 710 confirmed cases and 30 confirmed deaths. Mobile County is Alabamas second most populous county. Eichold said that in Mobile County, there have been clustered outbreaks such as those occurring recently at nursing homes. The worst among those occurred at Crowne Health Care on Navco Road southwest of downtown Mobile. According to reports, there have been more than 94 people within the facility who have tested positive for COVID-19, with at least 10 deaths reported. The situation was so bad that the Alabama National Guard is assisting in clean up. A second outbreak has occurred at Lynwood Nursing Home located along Halls Mill Road in west Mobile. According to the nursing homes website, an unknown number of residents and staff have tested positive for COVID-19. This is a challenge for our long-term care facilities, Eichold said. We have over 30 facilities. But over 90% of those have not had a case of COVID-19. A large number havent had any cases. But when it does occur with a high risk population in close proximity of each other, the outcome is not good. The winning bidder will receive the 911 Speedster at a special event hosted by Klaus Zellmer, President and CEO of Porsche Cars North America, Inc. With the car comes a unique package of experiences and gift items, including an exclusive tour of Porsche's engineering and design headquarters in Weissach, Germany, as the guest of Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser and Andreas Preuninger. There is also a bespoke Porsche Design timepiece complete with the chassis number of the 911 Speedster etched onto its casing, accompanied by a specially created single-edition book charting the construction of the last 991 as it entered and passed down the serial production line in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. Klaus Zellmer, President and CEO of PCNA, said: "When we began this project, I wanted to use our voice to help raise awareness and funding for the incredible work of United Way. I'm pleased to have helped draw attention to their efforts and I'm deeply appreciative of the generosity and kindness of all the participants and the winning bidder. We are joining in that spirit by making our own donation on top of the winning bid for this special part of our history. We can now look forward to the funds raised making a direct difference to those who need it most right now." "Porsche's generosity will make a real difference as we fight COVID-19 and prepare for the recovery phase in the communities that we serve," said Brian Gallagher, President and CEO of United Way Worldwide. "United Way is focused on supporting those who need it most right now, and the money raised by this unique sale will go to local healthcare services, food banks, and to providing care and triage for impacted communities. We appreciate the speed and enthusiasm by which Porsche has made all of this possible." Kenneth Ahn, President, RM Sotheby's, commented: "The collaborative spirit and urgency with which this sale was arranged really brought out the best in each of the organizations involved all with the aim of quickly and efficiently raising awareness and funding for the important work of the United Way. We're proud to have been part of the sale and thank PCNA for entrusting us with the process for an important cause. The bidding proved to be every bit as exciting and intense as we'd hoped, with seven bids logged in the final minutes of the auction alone. It's always fantastic to witness the generosity of the collector car community and we'd like to extend our sincere gratitude to all bidders and our congratulations to the eventual winner." The 911 Speedster is intended to be presented to its new owner at a special event hosted by Klaus Zellmer, which is yet to be scheduled. The winning bidder will be able to visit Weissach at a time of their choosing. The U.S.-based auction was open to U.S. residents only. Bidding began on April 15 and closed on April 22 at 1:00 pm EDT. There was considerable web traffic over the seven-day period, with more than 48,500 unique page views resulting in significant bidder interest and a total of 32 bids, more than the average number of bids on RM Sotheby's typical Online Only lots. The final price of the auction lot was $550,000, including buyer's premium. RM Sotheby's will donate a significant portion of its buyer's premium to the UW COVID-19 Fund. To learn more about the United Way COVID-19 Fund visit: https://www.unitedway.org About Porsche Cars North America, Inc. | One Porsche Drive, Atlanta, GA 30354 USA Established in 1984, Porsche Cars North America, Inc. (PCNA) is the exclusive U.S. importer of the Porsche 911, 718 Boxster and 718 Cayman; Macan and Cayenne; Panamera; and Taycan. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, since 1998, PCNA is also home to the first Porsche Experience Center in North America featuring a module-based 1.6 mile driver development track, business center, and fine dining restaurant, 356. The company operates a second Porsche Experience Center near Los Angeles. That 53-acre complex features a driver development track with eight educational modules totaling 4.1 miles, a business center, and Restaurant 917. PCNA supports 192 independently owned and operated Porsche dealerships in the U.S., including supplying parts, service, marketing, and training. They, in turn, work to provide Porsche customers with a best-in-class experience that is in keeping with the Porsche brand's 70-year history of leadership in the advancement of vehicle performance, safety, and efficiency. PCNA is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Porsche AG, which is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. At the core of this success is Porsche's proud racing heritage that boasts some 30,000-plus motorsport wins to date. Follow us: twitter.com/porsche | facebook.com/porsche Photos and video footage are available to accredited journalists on the Porsche Press Database at http://press.porsche.com/ About RM Sotheby's RM Sotheby's is the world's largest collector car auction house by total sales. With 40 years of proven results in the collector car industry, RM's vertically integrated range of services, from auctions (live and online) and private sales to estate planning and financial services, coupled with an expert team of Car Specialists and an international footprint, provide an unsurpassed level of service to the global collector car market. RM Sotheby's launched its Online Only division in 2019, providing consignors and bidders an easy-to-use platform that allows faster transactions to take place while still harnessing the level of service and global reach for which the RM Sotheby's team is known. For further information, visit rmsothebys.com. SOURCE Porsche Cars North America, Inc. Related Links http://www.porsche.com Exploration Permit covers stripping, line cutting, geophysics and diamond drilling VICTORIA, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 22, 2020 / GoldON Resources Ltd. (TSXV:GLD) ("GoldON" or the "Company") is pleased to report that exploration permits have been received for its Bruce Lake property (the "Property"). The permit is in place until Feb 11th, 2023 and covers mechanized stripping, line cutting, ground geophysical surveys and diamond drilling. GoldON has an option to earn a 100% interest in the 3,103 hectares Property, subject to a 1.5% net smelter returns royalty. The Property is in a structurally active area spatially associated with east-west trending deformation zones and northeast-trending faults. Access and infrastructure are excellent with HWY 105 and hydro lines bisecting the Property, and the town of Red Lake ~36 kilometres (km) northwest (see area claim map). The Property lies ~1 km southeast of Great Bear Resources' Dixie property and shares its southern boundary with Great Bear's Pakwash property. The Property also adjoins BTU Metals' Dixie Halo property, where recent drilling has discovered a potential Cu-Ag-Au VMS-style system called the TNT Target that borders the western claim boundary. GoldON's 2019 exploration program on the Property consisted of prospecting by boat on the shores of Pakwash Lake and on claims east of Pakwash Lake and west of Bruce Lake where historical Au in MMI soil anomalies were discovered by Laurentian Goldfields Ltd. in 2010. The program resulted in the discovery of a new gold showing located on the west shore of Pakwash Lake, hosted in what appears to be sheared and silicified diorite and trending approximately 020 degrees with a moderate dip to the east. Twelve samples of bedrock or subcrop were collected along a strike length of approximately 75 meters with sample assays results ranging from nil to several returning above background Au up to 361ppb Au, as well as up to 8199ppm Pb and up to 1616ppm Zn. This discovery is particularly significant given the widespread lake sediment Au anomalies discovered by Laurentian Goldfields Ltd. from 2010 to 2012 in Pakwash Lake, part of which is underlain by a large diorite pluton. Mike Kilbourne, P. Geo, an independent qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this news release on behalf of the Company. "We are fortunate to have discovered a new gold showing given our limited initial Property visit," said Mike Romanik President of GoldON. "Although we do not yet have drill targets established, with permits in hand we are now ready to proceed with the next stage of exploration as soon as weather conditions allow." About GoldON Resources Ltd. GoldON is an exploration company focused on discovery-stage properties located in the prolific gold mining belts of northwestern Ontario, Canada. Active projects include the West Madsen property in the Red Lake Gold Camp, an option/JV with Great Bear Resources; the Bruce Lake property that adjoins BTU Metals' Dixie Halo property and their TNT Target; and the 100% owned Slate Falls project in the Patricia Mining District, where numerous Au-Ag mineralized zones have been identified over the 13-km breadth of the property. GoldON has 16,858,432 shares issued, all our properties are in good standing and we are fully funded for our 2020 exploration programs. Additional information is available on our website at https://goldonresources.com; you can download our latest presentation by clicking here and you can follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/GoldONResources. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD Signed "Michael Romanik" Michael Romanik, President Direct line: (204) 724-0613 Email: romanikm@mymts.net ### Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: GoldON Resources Ltd. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/586200/GoldON-Updates-Progress-on-Bruce-Lake-Project-and-Receives-Exploration-Permit Gladys Berejiklian said said people just need time to 'absorb' the NSW back-to-school proposal New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian has hit back at teachers union bosses who claimed plans for students to go back to school are a logistical 'nightmare'. Australian states and territories have largely shut schools for more than a month as part of efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19. But on Tuesday, the New South Wales government unveiled a plan to return children to school at a staggered rate from May 11 in preparation for full-time schooling to re-start in July. Under the plan, 25 per cent of children would rotate through the school week one day at a time so that no more than a quarter of a school cohort will be on campus at any one time. While the NSW Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos described the plan as 'incomprehensible' due to organisational and timetabling issues, the NSW Premier said people just need time to 'absorb' the proposal. 'It's only been less than a day since we announced it, and often it takes time for everybody to absorb and work out what's possible,' Ms Berejiklian told The Today Show on Wednesday. 'It's really the beginning of getting kids back to school. So the one day will become two, the two will become more, and then by the end of the term we hope to have school back.' She said public, Catholic and independent schools were all on board with the plan and the NSW department of education had already reached out to school principals with ideas. Principals could bring students back on to campus by school house colour or with an alphabetical list so siblings attend school on the same day, Ms Berejiklian told the TV program. But Mr Gavrielatos disagreed, saying the plan was 'contributing significantly to the stress levels of our teachers and principals'. 'Trying to timetable 25 per cent of our kids one day a week, at staggered times, with staggered lunches and staggered recesses, we can't see how that can work,' he told Today. 'It beggars belief.' Schools are currently open amid the coronavirus pandemic but students are encouraged to learn from home if they can. NSW Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos described the plan as 'incomprehensible' due to organisational and timetabling issues Ms Berejiklian said 'May 11 is some weeks away,' implying logistics could be sorted out in time. It comes as the children of essential workers in Queensland returned to school on Monday. Pupils were instructed to bring their own stationery to school and use hand sanitisers as they walk between classrooms that will allow no more than 12 people per 52 sq/m room. Ms Berejiklian also said extra cleaning, sanitisers and health provisions, including forehead thermometers and additional health equipment would be added to school sick bays. Australia is one of the few nations around the world to detail plans to re-open schools after infection rates plummeted from more than 25 per cent in mid-March to its current level of less than one per cent a day. NEW YORK and TORONTO, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - iAnthus Capital Holdings, Inc. ("iAnthus" or the "Company") (CSE: IAN,OTCQX: ITHUF), which owns, operates, and partners with regulated cannabis operations across the United States, is responding to a request from the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) regarding online media reports with respect to the Company's Strategic Alternatives Review Process. The Company's policy is not to comment on speculative media reports and directs readers to its April 6, 2020 news release, iAnthus Announces Default of Interest Obligations to Debenture Holders on March 31, 2020, with respect to the Company's announcement that it formed a special committee, initiated the Strategic Alternatives Review Process and has hired Canaccord Genuity Corp. as its financial advisor. The Strategic Alternatives Review Process is ongoing and there can be no assurance as to what, if any, alternative might be pursued by the Company. In accordance with applicable disclosure requirements, the Company will advise the market of material changes, if and when they occur. About iAnthus iAnthus. owns and operates licensed cannabis cultivation, processing and dispensary facilities throughout the United States, providing investors diversified exposure to the U.S. regulated cannabis industry. Founded by entrepreneurs with decades of experience in operations, investment banking, corporate finance, law and health care services, iAnthus provides a unique combination of capital and hands-on operating and management expertise. iAnthus currently has a presence in 11 states, and operates 33 dispensaries (FL-14, AZ-4, MA-1, MD-3, NY-3, CO-1, VT-1 and NM-6 where iAnthus has minority ownership). For more information, visit www.iAnthus.com. Forward Looking Statements Statements in this news release that are forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed here and elsewhere in iAnthus' periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators. When used in this news release, words such as "will, could, plan, estimate, expect, intend, may, potential, believe, should, our vision" and similar expressions, are forward-looking statements. Statements in this news release that are forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the specific factors disclosed here and elsewhere in iAnthus' periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators. When used in this news release, words such as "will, could, plan, estimate, expect, intend, may, potential, believe, should, our vision" and similar expressions, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, statements relating to the Company's future financial performance, business development, results of operations, and financing and recapitalization opportunities, as well the evaluation of strategic alternatives. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date of this release. iAnthus disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise such information, except as required by applicable law, and iAnthus does not assume any liability for disclosure relating to any other company mentioned herein. The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the content of this news release. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. SOURCE iAnthus Capital Holdings, Inc. Related Links https://www.ianthuscapital.com/ North Dakota officials on Wednesday are launching an effort to better protect the state's most vulnerable residents from COVID-19, particularly those in nursing homes and facilities that care for people with disabilities. The Vulnerable Population Protection Plan -- or VP3 -- has several components, including identifying and isolating positive cases, utilizing "rapid response" teams in the event of an outbreak, minimizing staff movement across facilities and ramping up testing of care workers for the coronavirus disease, Gov. Doug Burgum said during a Tuesday briefing. Visitation already has been restricted at long-term care facilities across the state. "The key thing here is isolation and saving lives. So if we have a positive in a nursing home, how can we have that individual well-cared for and separated from others to slow the spread, and how can we not reintroduce into a facility," Burgum said. "Again, we're doing a great job of restricting visitors, but staff have to come and go every day, so staff protection is equally important." Only 13 of 218 long-term care facilities in North Dakota have a confirmed COVID-19 case in a resident or staff member, according to Burgum. That compares with 87 facilities in neighboring Minnesota with positive cases, and reporting in that state doesn't occur until a facility has at least 10 cases, he said. "This is a place where we really can work to save lives," the governor said. The VP3 plan will be developed in coming weeks, and will include not only nursing homes but also hospitals, emergency medical services and "intermediate" care facilities, or those that care for people with developmental disabilities, according to state Human Services Executive Director Chris Jones. "Sometimes people in an intermediate care facility are at even greater risk than those in nursing homes given they have compromised immune systems, they're on ventilators, they just have needs that need to be met that put them at significant risk," he said. For some of those people, the safest place "may not be where they are today," Jones said. The state will be providing more guidance and technical assistance to facilities to better protect residents, he said. The North Dakota Disabilities Advocacy Consortium has recently written letters to Burgum, Jones and State Health Officer Mylynn Tufte urging better protections for the more than 180,000 children and adults in the state who have disabilities. The group issued a statement Tuesday saying, "It is essential the Governor order State Government to afford due process and other human rights to all North Dakotans to the greatest extent possible given the crisis. For people with disabilities, these rights are often important to preserve a place to live in the community, access to loved ones, mental and spiritual health, and access to key information." New cases The number of COVID-19 cases in North Dakota has risen to 644, with 18 new positive cases reported Tuesday by the state Department of Health. The number of new cases was the fewest in seven days. Daily testing for the coronavirus disease was down dramatically from the previous day -- 240 tests Monday compared to 1,117 on Sunday, which was a high for the state. The reason was that there were no targeted testing efforts, just regular testing, according to the state's Joint Information Center. Officials have recently conducted some large-scale testing events, such as drive-thru testing in rural Slope and Stark counties, in the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation area and most recently in Grand Forks. Burgum noted that the positive test rate on Monday was 7.5%, compared to the state's overall rate of 4.3%. "In terms of the case trends that we have in the state, this distortion of data with having a very low testing day yesterday, it looks like we've had a drop in the (upward) curve. I would caution anybody from thinking that that's actually the case," the governor said. The bulk of the new cases were in the eastern counties of Cass and Grand Forks, which continue to lead the state, with 255 and 143 cases, respectively. Cass County, home to Fargo, is the state's most populous, and the city of Grand Forks last week experienced an outbreak at the LM Wind Power plant, with 128 associated cases. Hundreds of people were tested during drive-thru testing in the plant's parking lot, driving up recent daily testing numbers. Other new cases reported Tuesday were one apiece in Morton, Mountrail and Sioux counties. Morton County's total is now 23. Mountrail, home to the Fort Berthold Reservation, has 31 total cases. Sioux, which encompasses the northern half of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, now has two cases. Burleigh County, home to Bismarck, had no new reported cases, and its total remains at 63. Burgum has stressed that because testing data lags and not everyone is tested, the actual number of positive cases in the state could be 10 times higher. State and private labs have tested 14,987 people for COVID-19, with 14,343 being negative. Statewide, 54 people have been hospitalized, 17 remain so, and 13 people have died. A total of 214 people have recovered. The number of recoveries reported Tuesday was up 25 from the previous day. The single-day jump was a high for the state. Most people who get COVID-19 recover, experiencing only mild or moderate symptoms such as fever and cough. Others, especially the elderly and people with existing health problems, can experience more severe illness, including pneumonia. More information on coronavirus and COVID-19 can be found at: www.health.nd.gov/coronavirus. Other matters Burgum signed an executive order allowing local public health officers to issue confinement orders -- isolation or quarantine -- to people who test positive for COVID-19 or have been exposed to the disease. Tuesday's announcement expanded on a previous order allowing the state health officer to issue confinement orders to protect public health. Burgum announced that the Android version of the Care19 app is being launched. The app, developed by Fargo-based ProudCrowd, helps residents voluntarily track where they've been, information that could be useful to health officials working to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Nearly 21,000 people have downloaded the Apple iPhone version of the app. Improved contact tracing "is one of the things that's going to allow us to reopen," Burgum said. State Commerce Commissioner Michelle Kommer said North Dakota businesses were able to "access more than our fair share of the pie" of the $350 billion federal Paycheck Protection Program before it ran out of money. Companies in North Dakota received 11,002 loans totaling more than $1.5 billion, enough money to cover 79% of the state's eligible payrolls, the second-highest rate in the nation, according to Bloomberg. State Treasurer Kelly Schmidt said the second of two payments of $625 million from the $2.2 trillion CARES Act federal rescue package came in Monday to the state-owned Bank of North Dakota. The state received $1.25 billion total from the stimulus package. The state is still awaiting full federal guidance for the money, according to Schmidt. In the meantime, its safe and sound and sitting in the Bank of North Dakota, she told the Tribune. (Reporter Jack Dura contributed to this story) Reach Blake Nicholson at 701-250-8266 or blake.nicholson@bismarcktribune.com. Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. BLAKE NICHOLSON News Editor Follow BLAKE NICHOLSON Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today President Donald Trump made the announcement on Twitter but provided no details (Alex Brandon) Amid tensions with Iran, President Donald Trump said on Twitter he has given orders for the US Navy to shoot down and destroy any Iranian gunboats found to be harassing US ships. The directive comes a week after the US Navy reported a group of Iranian boats made dangerous and harassing approaches to American vessels in the Persian Gulf. Mr Trump did not cite a specific Iranian provocation in his tweet or provide details. Senior Pentagon officials gave no indication that Mr Trump had directed a fundamental change in military policy on Iran. The president issued an important warning to the Iranians, David Norquist, the deputy secretary of defence, said at a Pentagon news conference when asked about the tweet. What he was emphasising is, all of our ships retain the right of self-defence. He called the tweet a very useful thing. Air Force General John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he thinks the Iranians understand what Mr Trump meant. He said the Navy also understands that if an Iranian on a gunboat has a gun and you point it at me, that can be interpreted as an expression of hostile intent that may be answered with US force. In the tweet, Mr Trump said: I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea. Asked whether the tweet means a repeat of last weeks incident in the Gulf would require a lethal US response, Gen Hyten said, I would have to be the captain of the ship in order to make that determination. Gen Hyten said the nature of the response depends on the situation and what the captain sees. The president issued an important warning to the Iranians David Norquist, US deputy secretary of defence Last Wednesday, the US Navy said Revolutionary Guard vessels repeatedly crossed the bows and sterns of several American ships at close range and high speed in the northern Gulf. The American vessels included the USS Paul Hamilton, a Navy destroyer and the USS Lewis B Puller, a ship that serves as an afloat landing base. The ships were operating with US Army Apache attack helicopters in international waters, the statement said. General Abolfazl Shekarchi, a spokesman for Irans armed forces, accused Mr Trump of bullying and said the American president should focus on taking care of US service members infected with the coronavirus. The US military had more than 2,600 confirmed cases of coronavirus as of last week, and at least two service members have succumbed to Covid-19, the disease the virus causes. Today, Americans must do their best to save those troops who are infected with coronavirus instead of bullying others, Gen Shekarchi said, according to Irans semi-official news agency ISNA. Shortly before Mr Trumps tweet, Irans Revolutionary Guard said it had put the Islamic Republics first military satellite into orbit. That launch raised concerns among experts about whether the technology could be used to help Iran develop intercontinental ballistic missiles. Gen Hyten told reporters it was too early to say whether the launch had successfully placed a satellite in orbit. This is just another example of Iranian malign behaviour, Gen Hyten said. US Navy ships and Iranian Guard naval vessels occasionally have encounters in the Gulf that the US calls unprofessional, but they rarely escalate or include an exchange of gunfire. Tehran views the heavy presence of American forces there as a security threat. Expand Close Last Wednesday, the US Navy said Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessels sailed close to US military ships in the Persian Gulf (US Navy via AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Last Wednesday, the US Navy said Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessels sailed close to US military ships in the Persian Gulf (US Navy via AP) During last Wednesdays incident in the Gulf, the US Navy said the 11 Iranian gunboats dangerous and provocative actions increased the risk of miscalculation and collision and were not in accordance with the obligation under international law to act with due regard for the safety of other vessels in the area. According to the Navy, the Americans issued multiple warnings via bridge-to-bridge radio, fired five short blasts from the ships horns and long-range acoustic noise maker devices, but received no immediate response, the statement said. After about an hour, the Iranian vessels responded to the bridge-to-bridge radio queries, then manoeuvred away. Iran claimed the US triggered that episode. American commanders are trained to make nuanced and careful judgment calls about how to respond to incidents at sea. Rather than immediately resort to the use of deadly force, commanders are expected to act based on the specific circumstances, including the threat to their own crews and adherence to the international laws of warfare. Generally, as in the case of last Wednesdays incident, warships will issue warnings by a variety of means, including via bridge-to-bridge radio, before taking more direct action. Tensions between the nations escalated after the Trump administration withdrew from the international nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran. Last May the US sent thousands more troops, including long-range bombers and an aircraft carrier, to the Middle East in response to what it called a growing threat of Iranian attacks on US interests in the region. The tensions spiked when U.S. forces killed Irans most powerful general, Qassem Soleimani, in January. Iran responded with a ballistic missile attack on a base in western Iraq where US troops were present. Police are hunting a creep who pretended to thank a carer for her hard work during coronavirus - before LICKING her face. Derbyshire Police released a CCTV still image of the suspect after the vile attack at 5.15pm last Tuesday. The 23-year-old female care worker was filling her car with petrol at the garage on High Street in Brimington, Derby, when the man approached her. A CCTV image has been released of the suspect who police are looking for after the incident Police say he thanked her for her role in the coronavirus fight before hugging her and licking her face. A spokesperson said: 'She was wearing her work uniform and it is alleged that the man thanked her for being a care worker, hugged her and licked her face. 'We want to speak to the man in these pictures in case he has information which could help with our inquiry.' In the CCTV stills released by police, the suspect is wearing a black T-shirt with a grey hoodie over the top. The man is said to have licked a care worker after thanking her for her work against Covid-19 Commenting on the police Facebook post, Alyce Devon said: 'Disgusting behaviour*' Michelle Rose also said: 'How disgusting and vile... us carers aren't going through enough at the minute. 'Come on people let's catch this idiot and to all you carers and front line staff please stay safe and let's look out for each other' Kelly Ravey added: 'What is wrong with people!!!' As part of its partnership with the U.S. Branch of Health and Human Services (HHS), Rite Aid Corporation RAD is aggressively expanding COVID-19 testing locations across the United States. Notably, it announced the opening of its 25th testing site at Richmond, VA, to help curb the effects of the pandemic. The recently-added testing site in Richmond will be open for testing from 9 am to 5 pm all seven days a week, with a target to perform roughly 200 tests each day. The testing will take place in the parking area of the store. Moreover, individuals must pre-register online and stay in their vehicles from the time they arrive until they leave the site. All tests will be done free of cost for patients who meet the CDC guidelines. Rite Aids testing sites cumulatively can conduct about 5,000 tests on a daily basis. Its rivals, CVS Health Corporation CVS, Walgreens WBA and Walmart WMT, also treaded the same path. Notably, CVS Health launched COVID-19 testing sites in Massachusetts, Georgia, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Michigan. Walgreens opened testing locations in Arizona, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan and Texas. Walmart also opened 12 testing zones in Texas, Chicago, Shreveport, Albuquerque and Arkansas. Rite Aid earlier opened 11 COVID-19 testing locations, including one in Denver, two in Michigan, one in New Jersey, two in Ohio, three in Pennsylvania, one in Idaho and one in New York. Prior to this, it opened seven similar testing sites three in Michigan, one in New Jersey, two in Ohio and one in New York. Rite Aid started with opening a testing location in Philadelphia, PA, followed by three more in Harrisburg and Pittsburgh. Apart from these, it has been providing a home delivery service to customers with an eligible prescription at zero delivery fees. However, it clarified that products such as refrigerated medications and controlled substances will not be eligible for delivery. Also, the company will offer pick-up services for prescriptions and over-the-counter products and customers can use the drive-through option available at more than 50% of its retail locations. Moreover, management will continue to operate its online business RiteAid.com. Customers who belong to the Rite Aid wellness+ reward program will also be able to access healthcare professionals and pharmacists at 1-800-Rite Aid or via live chat on the website. Story continues Further, this Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) company has partnered with other pharmacy-benefit organizations and local physicians to ensure that customers can avail the required medication along with hand sanitizers, cleansers and rubbing alcohol. It has also imposed limits on in-store and online purchases of certain items so that these products can reach the maximum number of people in need. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. In a bid to meet customers growing demand, Rite Aid remains on track with hiring plans. Notably, it earlier revealed plans to recruit 5,000 full-time and part-time associates that would provide additional support to deliver medications, essential supplies and COVID-19 related information through stores and distribution centers. These efforts have been boosting investors confidence in the stock. In the past three months, shares of the company have gained 4.4% against the industrys decline of 17%. 5 Stocks Set to Double Each was hand-picked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2020. Each comes from a different sector and has unique qualities and catalysts that could fuel exceptional growth. Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor. Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Rite Aid Corporation (RAD) : Free Stock Analysis Report Walmart Inc. (WMT) : Free Stock Analysis Report CVS Health Corporation (CVS) : Free Stock Analysis Report Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research The Executive Director of the Ghana Federation of Labour, Mr Abraham Koomson says the decision by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to lift the partial lockdown of Accra and Kumasi is suicidal. What the president is trying to tell us now is, you can go out and go and kill yourself, that is dangerous, it's suicidal, He said in an interview with NEAT FMs morning show Ghana Montie Tuesday, April 21, 2020. Lifting COVID-19 Lockdown President Akufo-Addo on Sunday announced the lifting the 3-week lockdown on Greater Accra and Kumasi, with effect from Monday, April 20. Addressing the nation on Sunday, April 19, 2020, the president, however, stated all other social distancing measures are still in place. Churches, Schools both Public and Private, will still remain shut. According to the president, the decision to enforce the 3-week lockdown was taken to give Government the opportunity to try to contain the spread of the virus, scale-up effectively the tracing of persons who had come into contact with infected persons, test them for the virus, and quarantine those who tested positive and isolate them for treatment. Imprudent Decision But Mr. Koomson, speaking to the show's host Kwesi Aboagye, stated that the presidents decision doesnt make sense. Unless he [President Nana Addo] is trying to tell us that the Coronavirus doesnt exist. But if indeed the virus is real, then the president has officially granted us [Ghanaians] the freedom to go out there and die. All die be die, he said. Protect Yourself Adding that I am afraid so I will not risk my life, I will stay home and work. We are not safe in this country Now we must take our destines in our own hands and protect ourselves, dont risk it and go out there to die. Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video You would be amazed how oily and grimy those things can get over the course of a week, Miller said. We have a small section left in the office, a local frame company, for patients that do require eyewear during this time, and we have modified the trying on and cleaning protocols. Our contact lens distributor is local and has allowed for direct ship to patients during this time. JERUSALEM - A Palestinian attacker was shot and killed on Wednesday after he rammed his vehicle into an Israeli checkpoint and stabbed a police officer there, Israeli police said. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the attack took place near the settlement of Maale Adumim, east of Jerusalem, and a sweep of the area found a pipe bomb at the scene. The Israeli policeman was moderately wounded, he said. Video footage of the incident shows a white van veering off a road onto the curb and ramming into the officer, hurtling him several feet back. The assailant is then seen jumping out of the vehicle with what looks like a pair of scissors and lunging at the injured policeman. A scuffle ensues with the policeman retreating and the assailant giving chase before other officers on the scene pursue him off camera. Police said the other officers on the scene eventually shot the attacker and killed him. There were no other details about the Palestinians identity. Such Palestinian attacks on Israeli police and military positions in the West Bank have been a frequent occurrence in recent years but have tapered off significantly in recent months, especially since the outbreak of the coronavirus in the region pushed many indoors. However, earlier this week, Israeli forces thwarted a potential attack with Palestinians hurling firebombs at Israeli vehicles. Security experts at Google have identified more than a dozen government-backed hacking groups using the COVID-19 pandemic as cover for phishing and malware attempts. According to Google's Threat Analysis Group, state-backed hackers have been targeting international health organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO) in an attempt to steal information and sometimes install malicious software. WHO and other organizations, which are at the center of a global effort to contain the coronavirus, have come under a sustained digital bombardment by hackers seeking information about the outbreak. Google says state-backed hackers are targeting US government workers and international health agencies with COVID-19 phishing scams 'One notable campaign attempted to target personal accounts of U.S. government employees with phishing lures using American fast food franchises and COVID-19 messaging,' Google said in a blog post. Some of those messages impersonated popular food chains and offered free meals and coupons in response to COVID-19 while others suggested recipients visit sites disguised as online ordering and delivery options, according to the blog post. However, once people clicked on the emails, they were presented with phishing pages designed to trick them into providing their Google account credentials. Credentials entered into the field would be sent to hackers remotely. While Google says it hasn't seen an uptick in the number of phishing attacks from state-backed hackers, the trends outline a change in tactics. 'Generally, were not seeing an overall rise in phishing attacks by government-backed groups; this is just a change in tactics. In fact, we saw a slight decrease in overall volumes in March compared to January and February,' wrote Google. Phishing scams haven't increased but according to Google many of them are now using COVID-19 in attempt to steal information Google said it was working to identify and prevent threats, using a combination of internal investigative tools, information sharing with industry partners and law enforcement, as well as leads and intelligence from third-party researchers. In general, the COVID-19 pandemic has created an opportunity for hackers looking to steal information from victims in orchestrated scams. While some phishing scams involve hackers posing as official organizations like WHO or the Internal Revenue System, others have purported to sell critical medical supplies like masks and hand sanitizer. An Iranian rocket carrying a satellite is launched from an undisclosed site believed to be in Irans Semnan province (Sepahnews via AP) Irans Revolutionary Guard says it launched its first satellite into space amid wider tensions with the US. Using a mobile launcher at a new launch site, the Guard said it put the Noor, or Light, satellite into a low orbit circling the Earth. While the US, Israel and other countries declined to immediately confirm the satellite reached orbit, their criticism suggested they believed the launch happened. The launch comes as Iran has abandoned all the limitations of its tattered nuclear deal with world powers that President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from in 2018. Mr Trumps decision set off a months-long series of escalating attacks that culminated in a US drone strike in January that killed a top Iranian general in Iraq, followed by Tehran launching ballistic missiles at American soldiers in Iraq. On Wednesday, Mr Trump tweeted he had told the US Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea, both raising energy prices and renewing the risk of conflict. Expand Close In this image taken from video, an Iranian rocket carrying a satellite is launched from an undisclosed site believed to be in Irans Semnan province (IRIB via AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp In this image taken from video, an Iranian rocket carrying a satellite is launched from an undisclosed site believed to be in Irans Semnan province (IRIB via AP) Now that you have the maximum pressure campaign, Iran doesnt have that much to lose anymore, said Fabian Hinz, a researcher at the James Martin Centre for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California. The three-stage satellite launch took off from Irans Central Desert, the Guard said, without elaborating. Mr Hinz said based on state media images, the launch appeared to have happened at a previously unacknowledged Guard base near Shahroud, Iran, some 205 miles north-east of Tehran. The base is in Semnan province, which hosts the Imam Khomeini Spaceport from which Irans civilian space programme operates. The paramilitary force said it used a Qased, or Messenger, satellite carrier to put the device into space, a previously unheard-of system. It described the system as using both liquid and solid fuel. Expand Close Irans Revolutionary Guard said it launched its first satellite (IRIB via AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Irans Revolutionary Guard said it launched its first satellite (IRIB via AP) Wednesday marked the 41st anniversary of the founding of the Guard by Irans late leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. An image of the rocket that carried the satellite showed it bore a Quranic verse typically recited when going on a journey, as well as a drawing of the Earth with the word Allah in Farsi wrapped around it. It remained unclear what the satellite it carried does. Today, the worlds powerful armies do not have a comprehensive defence plan without being in space, and achieving this superior technology that takes us into space and expands the realm of our abilities is a strategic achievement, said General Hossein Salami, the head of the Guard. The Guard, which operates its own military infrastructure parallel to Irans regular armed forces, is a hard-line force answerable only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. International criticism of the launch came quickly. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Iran needs to be held accountable for what its done. At a Pentagon news conference on Wednesday, senior officials called the satellite launch a provocation. We view this as further evidence of Irans behaviour that is threatening in the region, said David Norquist, the deputy secretary of defence. General John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the launched vehicle went a very long way. He said it was too early to say whether it successfully placed a satellite in orbit. Israels Foreign Ministry described the launch as a facade for Irans continuous development of advanced missile technology. German Foreign Ministry spokesman Christofer Burger warned that the Iranian rocket programme has a destabilising effect on the region and is also unacceptable in view of our European security interests. US Army Major Rob Lodewick, a Pentagon spokesman, told The Associated Press that American officials continue to monitor Irans programme. While Tehran does not currently have intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), its desire to have a strategic counter to the United States could drive it to develop an ICBM, Maj Lodewick said. The US alleges such satellite launches defy a UN Security Council resolution calling on Iran to undertake no activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. Iran, which long has said it does not seek nuclear weapons, previously maintained its satellite launches and rocket tests do not have a military component. The Guard launching its own satellite now calls that into question. Tehran also says it has not violated a UN resolution on its ballistic missile programme as it only called upon Iran not to conduct such tests. Iran has suffered several failed satellite launches in recent months. Dallas, TX, April 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dickeys Barbecue Pit franchisees are supporting their local communities in inspiring ways. Even as the restaurant industry experiences challenges amid COVID-19, franchisees continue to perform acts of kindness such as feeding first responders and essential workers, along with collecting donations for those in need. While Dickeys Barbecue continues to have national reach, their roots are strong in the communities they serve. Dickeys Owner Operator Josh Wise in Newark, OH donated 6,000 pulled pork sandwiches to his local first responders after he partnered with local businesses looking ways to give back. The efforts of Josh and other Dickeys franchisees are inspiring a new wave of donations from guests who are calling in with donations and requesting food drops at their nearby hospitals, police stations and fire stations. donated 6,000 pulled pork sandwiches to his local first responders after he partnered with local businesses looking ways to give back. The efforts of Josh and other Dickeys franchisees are inspiring a new wave of donations from guests who are calling in with donations and requesting food drops at their nearby hospitals, police stations and fire stations. Dickeys Rancho Mirage Franchisee Lisa Weaver donated lunch to the California Highway Patrol and in-turn they gave the small business owner a $1,000 donation. With those funds and the help of the charitable citizen donations made by others in her area, Weaver is continuing to feed community grocery store employees, 911 dispatchers, police officers, firefighters and medical staff. donated lunch to the California Highway Patrol and in-turn they gave the small business owner a $1,000 donation. With those funds and the help of the charitable citizen donations made by others in her area, Weaver is continuing to feed community grocery store employees, 911 dispatchers, police officers, firefighters and medical staff. Dickeys Florida Owner Operators John Lockett and Wendy Williams partnered together to feed frontline responders in their area to show appreciation to the gulf coast regional medical staff. Their mission is to feed 10,000 frontline responders and together they have already fed over 3000 medical staff employees. partnered together to feed frontline responders in their area to show appreciation to the gulf coast regional medical staff. Their mission is to feed 10,000 frontline responders and together they have already fed over 3000 medical staff employees. Dickeys Owner Operator Tom Eggerud in Eagan, MN gave thanks to his neighborhood by surprising local residents with free hot meals. In this video, Tom and his team honor families keeping others safe by sheltering at home with slow-smoked favorites and comfort food from his location. In addition, Eggerud and his family are donating free meals to their local hospitals, fire departments and police stations everyday throughout the month. gave thanks to his neighborhood by surprising local residents with free hot meals. In this video, Tom and his team honor families keeping others safe by sheltering at home with slow-smoked favorites and comfort food from his location. In addition, Eggerud and his family are donating free meals to their local hospitals, fire departments and police stations everyday throughout the month. Dallas, TX Dickeys Owner Operator Jobin Kuruvilla donated over 200 meals to the medical care employees working at Mansfield Methodist Hospital and Arlington Memorial Hospital earlier this week to show thanks for their ongoing efforts to protect the community. donated over 200 meals to the medical care employees working at Mansfield Methodist Hospital and Arlington Memorial Hospital earlier this week to show thanks for their ongoing efforts to protect the community. Earlier this month, Dickeys Phoenix area locations partnered together to give over 100,000 free pulled pork sandwiches to hundreds of local essential businesses such as pharmacies, independent doctors offices and grocery chains like Costco and Kroger. "Now more than ever, communities need to support one another and its heartening to see our franchise family lift spirits everywhere with the gift of comfort food and great barbecue, said Laura Rea Dickey CEO of Dickeys Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. Dickeys guests can also give the gift of free barbecue by purchasing a First Responder Relief Pack that will go towards feeding local first responders in their area. Dickeys will match every sandwich donated in honor of those serving on the front line. The First Responder Packs available on dickeys.com include bundles of 5 or 10 Pulled Pork Classic Sandwiches and guests can also add any desired number of individual sandwiches to their donation. Learn more about franchising with Dickeys Barbecue Pit by visiting dickeys.com/franchise or call (866) 340-6188. To find your nearest Dickeys Barbecue Pit, visit dickeys.com/location. Follow Dickeys on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Download the Dickeys App from the Apple App Store or Google Play. About Dickeys Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants, Inc., the worlds largest barbecue concept, was founded in 1941 by Travis Dickey. For the past 79 years, Dickeys Barbecue Pit has served millions of guests Legit. Texas. Barbecue. At Dickeys, all our barbecued meats are smoked on-site in a hickory wood burning pit. Dickeys proudly believes theres no shortcut to true barbecue and its why they never say bbq. The Dallas-based family-run barbecue franchise offers several slow-smoked meats and wholesome sides with 'No B.S. (Bad Stuff)' included. The fast-casual concept has expanded worldwide with 2 international locations in the UAE and operates over 500 locations in 44 states. In 2016, Dickeys won first place on Fast Casuals Top 100 Movers and Shakers list and was named a Top 500 Franchise by Entrepreneur in 2018. Dickey's Barbecue Pit has also been recognized by Fox News, Franchise Times, The Wall Street Journal, QSR Magazine, Forbes Magazine and Nations Restaurant News. For more information, visit www.dickeys.com. ### Attachment An employee at a Star Market location in Belmont has died from the coronavirus, news outlets reported. The grocery store chain announced Tuesday that the associate, who was not identified, died after being diagnosed with COVID-19, NBC Boston reported. Our hearts are heavy, and our thoughts are with that associates family, the company told NBC Boston. This is a difficult day for the entire Star Market team. We are letting our associates know that if they are feeling uneasy, they can call our Employee Assistance Program to speak with licensed counselors. The staff member last worked at the store on April 4, according to the news outlet. It is unclear when the worker died. The news about the Star Market employees death comes after a Whole Foods Market staff member in Swampscott died last week from the viral respiratory infection. Vitalina Williams, an associate at Market Baskets location in Salem, also died from the coronavirus earlier this month after working at the store for more than a decade. Grocery stores continue to operate amidst the pandemic as they are essential businesses. Some employees and public officials worry about workers potentially becoming exposed to the disease, though. U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts urged Gov. Charlie Baker to designate grocery store workers as emergency personnel, and on April 15, dozens of state representatives and senators sent a letter to the governor asking him to require that grocery stores offer curbside pick-up and payment. Specifically, we encourage you to order the (outdoor) curbside pick-up and payment for food for grocery stores that offer online ordering and delivery and encourage other grocers offer this service, the letter said. Related Content: COLUMBUS, Ohio - Gov. Mike DeWine said Wednesday he doesnt mind if people protest against him and his policies on the coronavirus, but anti-Semitic views have no place in the discussion. Thats wrong, and I think everyone has an obligation to denounce it, he said during his daily briefing. Two protesters on Saturday, in an event denouncing Ohios stay-at-home order at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, carried a sign depicting a rodent with the Star of David and the words, The Real Plague. It was disgusting. It was vile," DeWine said. "It should have no place in this discussion or any other public discussion. The protest movement in Ohio and across the country has had a mishmash of people. Some distance themselves at least 6 feet apart and wear masks but want to return to work. Others believe the coronavirus is a hoax. Yet the racism -- which has included people wearing Proud Boy T-shirts and some white separatist symbolism online -- may drown out the entire movements message. People have the right to protest, DeWine said. If theyre carrying anti-Mike DeWine signs, theyve got a right to do that. But anti-Semitic signs, thats just wrong. Other Ohio politicians have called out the anti-Semitism, too. This is shameful. There are more things than Coronavirus that we need to cure. https://t.co/wWs7zOgWY8 Jon Husted (@JonHusted) April 20, 2020 This was a disgusting, pathetic display of ignorance that has no place in our society. Were better than that. Far better. https://t.co/Dh3YdPiidM Frank LaRose (@FrankLaRose) April 19, 2020 Jewish state Rep. Casey Weinstein, a Hudson Democrat, said shortly after he saw the picture that he doesnt think all the protesters are racists, but there is an element of hate among them that he feels should be called out. Other coronavirus coverage: Ohio coronavirus deaths surpass 600: Gov. Mike DeWine Wednesday, April 22 briefing Some Ohio coronavirus protesters using anti-Semitic symbolism Hundreds protest in Columbus against Ohio coronavirus restrictions WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Danone Institute North America, a non-profit innovation center established by Danone North America, announces the launch of its second annual "One Planet. One Health" Initiative grant program. Academic and community leaders from across the U.S. and Canada are invited to apply for the program in which teams will design, implement and evaluate community-based projects that drive the sustainability of local food systems. Danone North America, a subsidiary of the global food and beverage company Danone, has a mission to bring health through food to as many people as possible and a vision of "One Planet. One Health." This vision reflects Danone's belief that the health of people and the health of the planet are inseparable. As a reflection of this vision, the goal of the "One Planet. One Health" Initiative is to foster transdisciplinary, community-based work to promote sustainable food systems globally. Now in the grant program's second year, Danone Institute North America will again award a total of up to $90,000 to four selected teams to implement their projects and amplify their messages to a broader audience including individual grants of $20,000 each plus a $10,000 incremental award for the team with the strongest communications plan. The initiative will provide seed funding for projects such as pilot studies, feasibility testing, needs assessments and planning grants. "The 'One Planet. One Health' Initiative grant program is about bringing together the next generation of thought leaders in sustainable food systems, to support them in creating a healthier world through food," said Miguel Freitas, Ph.D., Vice President, Scientific Affairs for Danone North America. "As a food company and a Certified B Corporation, we have a responsibility to seek food systems solutions that benefit the public. Supporting scholars and practitioners who are advancing this work gives us a chance to learn from one another." The teams receiving grants will attend a four-day program in Boulder, Colorado, that will include training on sustainable food systems from experts in sustainability, implementation science, communication, nutrition, and economics, as well as presentations and panels of community stakeholders involved in the food sustainability ecosystem. In the first year of the program, project topics have included urban agriculture, household food waste reduction, local food options for school menus, and energy-efficient food production in food-insecure neighborhoods. Grant winners included teams from the University of Guelph and the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, as well as non-profit organizations Project New Village in San Diego and the City of Minneapolis. "The first year of the 'One Planet. One Health' Initiative grant program showed us that academic and community-based teams representing a wide range of practices, fields of study, and experiences can work together to uncover innovative solutions to food systems challenges," said Leslie Lytle, President of Danone Institute North America and Professor at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. "Now in our second year we look forward to expanding the network of sustainable food systems leaders by inviting the first class of participants to share their lessons and successes with the new award recipients. We encourage all practitioners and scholars interested in being change agents for sustainable food systems to submit a project idea that brings together both human health and environmental stewardship." The call for entries officially opens today and will remain open through June 22, 2020. For more information and to submit an application, visit www.danoneinstitutena.org. About Danone North America Danone North America is a purpose-driven company with a portfolio of dairy and plant-based foods. As the world's largest Certified B Corporation, Danone North America is committed to the creation of both economic and social value, while nurturing natural ecosystems through sustainable agriculture. Our portfolio of brands includes: Activia, DanActive, Danimals, Dannon, Good Plants, Horizon Organic, International Delight, Light + Fit, Oikos, Silk, So Delicious Dairy Free, SToK, Two Good, Vega, Wallaby Organic and YoCrunch. With more than 6,000 employees and 12 production locations across the U.S., Danone North America's mission is to bring health through food to as many people as possible. For more information, visit www.danonenorthamerica.com. For more information on Danone North America's B Corp status, visit: https://bcorporation.net/directory/danone-north-america. About Danone Institute North America Danone Institute North America, an innovation center managed by Danone North America, is a 501(c)3 non-profit foundation dedicated to non-commercial activities. Launched in 1997, the Danone Institute North America fosters transdisciplinary, community-based work to promote sustainable foods systems globally. The Board of Directors includes both independent experts and academic leaders in nutrition science and business leaders of Danone North America. The nutrition scientists establish program direction, determine recipients of funding and are closely involved in all Danone Institute North America programs. Danone North America managers offer communication support, program development and management expertise. SOURCE Danone Institute North America Related Links http://www.danoneinstitutena.org Newport, R.I. | $599,000 A circa-1725 cottage with two bedrooms and two bathrooms, on a 0.06-acre corner lot This little clapboard house is in the Newport neighborhood known at the Point, a central area with many preserved 18th-century buildings, from tradesmens houses to merchants mansions. It is a five-minute walk from the waterfront Storer Park and the shipyard overlooking Goat Island, the Newport Bridge and the harbor. Bowens Wharf, with its concentrated dining and shopping venues, is a half-mile south. Size: 958 square feet Price per square foot: $625 Indoors: The homes Colonial-era patina is enshrined in its 12-inch-wide pine floorboards and walls of plaster fortified with horsehair. The living room, which is to the right of the entrance and takes up the buildings entire 22-foot interior length, has 12-over-12 windows, a paneled wainscot and a wood-burning fireplace with a brick hearth. To the left of the entrance is a 14-foot-long dining room with the same features, as well as exposed timber posts and beams, and a wall of built-in cabinets and shelves. Both rooms connect to a galley kitchen with white cabinets and butcher-block countertops. At the end of the kitchen is a full bathroom with a combined tub and shower. The two bedrooms and a bathroom with a shower are on the second floor. The larger bedroom (11 feet square) includes a wall of closets. The smaller (9 by 11 feet) has rustic paneled walls. DUSHANBE (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd April, 2020) The servicemen of the Russian 201st military base in Dushanbe helped residents of remote areas in southern Tajikistan to digitize documents dated back to World War II for the publications in the "Memory Road" multimedia gallery ran by the Central Museum of the Russian Armed Forces, the military's press service told Sputnik on Tuesday. "The military personnel visited areas located in the south of Tajikistan, covering a total distance of about 1,000 kilometers [621 miles]. Assistance in processing materials and expanding the list of uploaded documents was provided to residents of settlements in southern Tajikistan: Bokhtar, Dusti, Balkhi, Kulob, Qumsangir and the border village of Panj," the statement read. The military has digitized over 300 documents of WWII veterans and home front workers. This year marks 75 years since the end of the Second World War. Since 1989, the 201st motorized rifle division of the Soviet Union and then the Russian armed forces have been deployed in Tajikistan. It was transformed into Russia's 201st military base in 2004. This is Russia's largest foreign military facility. The base is deployed in the cities of Dushanbe and Bokhtar with some 7,000 military personnel. Since the COVID-19 outbreak and the resulting social distancing, weve seen the emergence of a new group of unlikely heroes: nurses, doctors, and medical researchers. People stocking shelves and running registers at grocery stores. Drivers for Amazon, UPS, and restaurant delivery services. People doing jobs that are demanding at any time but that are now on the front lines of a worldwide pandemic while the rest of us are sheltering in place. Theyre working long hours under dangerous conditions at great risk to their lives and to their mental health. Others are recognizing their heroism. Weve seen rounds of applause at hospital shift changes and for people walking home at night. The yard sign below is from my neighborhood in suburban Texas. But this isnt Han and Luke getting medals from Princess Leia after destroying the Death Star. This is hearing a few kind words, trying to sleep for a few hours, then going right back into a war zone. Heres a very good and very troubling essay from two doctors titled Health care workers arent just heroes. Were also scared and exposed. The willingness to serve others is a noble, beautiful thing about our workforce. But even for a profession that has historically always placed patient needs first, the degree of sacrifice being demanded of us now is unprecedented. The essay leads with a picture of nurses in New York City protesting for more and better personal protective equipment. Hospital workers in New York are being told not to talk to the media, and some are being fired for questioning the safety of the personal protective equipment they are provided. This relays the message that our fears and concerns dont really matter. And then theres Brett Crozier, who was captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, one of only ten nuclear powered aircraft carriers in the U.S. Navy. When the COVID-19 virus began to infect more and more of his crew on a ship at sea, where social distancing is physically impossible he sent a letter to his superiors asking that the ship be evacuated and the crew quarantined. We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die. If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset our Sailors. The ship was evacuated. And then Captain Crozier was relieved of command. He had to know it was coming. Ive never been in the military, but every single person Ive talked to in every branch at any rank has told me the same thing: Rule 1 is dont make your superiors look bad (the same thing pretty much holds true in the corporate world too). But he had a clear choice: continue to wait for orders and watch the virus continue to sweep through his ship sickening many and killing some or raise the flag and end his career. Captain Crozier made the right choice. This isnt North Korea hes not going to be shot. But hes only 50 and now his career is over. Its likely that after he completed his assignment as captain of the Theodore Roosevelt he would have been promoted to Rear Admiral. A Navy Captains pension will allow him to live securely an Admirals pension would have been considerably more. A hero does what must be done. What is a hero, anyway? Joseph Campbell, whose 1949 book The Hero With A Thousand Faces was both insightful and troublesome, said: A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself. I think thats a pretty good definition, and it certainly fits the heroes of today. But Campbell was writing about mythological heroes, in an effort to show people how to live deeper, more meaningful lives. He talked about the call to adventure and the difficulties that come with a refusal of the call; about initiation and transformation. Modeling your life on mythological heroes is a very different thing from being thrown into a real-world situation where heroic action is not requested or suggested but demanded. I think its safe to say that most of our current heroes working in retail and food service arent trying to transform their lives with their jobs. Theyre just trying to make a living. And while Im sure many of them feel a justifiable sense of pride from their work and the difference it makes in peoples lives, theyre frustrated with the systemic shortcomings that make it hard for them to do their jobs and that put them at substantially higher risk for contracting COVID-19 than those of us who are working from home. Ive seen several people on social media saying dont clap for me pay me a decent wage. Heroes as agents of change Another quote from The Hero With A Thousand Faces is quite relevant here: The hero is the champion not of things become but of things becoming; the dragon to be slain by him is precisely the monster of the status quo the keeper of the past. We clap for nurses and stockers and ship captains because thats all we can do to express our gratitude. You and I have no stashes of N95 respirators, we dont set pay at the grocery store, and we dont choose the captains of aircraft carriers. But what we cannot do individually we can do together. What if instead of clapping for our heroes or rather, in addition to clapping for them we listened to them? And then acted on what they tell us? What if we demanded to know the pay levels for retail workers (or just bothered to ask) and only shopped at stores that pay a living wage? That may be hard to do now, when many items are in short supply and we have to buy where we can. It will be very simple once the pandemic is over. What if we generously tipped delivery drivers for now, and then took a hard look at the gig economy and figured out how to make the lives of those who bring us what we need more secure? What if we strengthened whistle-blowing laws to protect nurses who complain about inadequate safety equipment? And more importantly, insist that the government use the Defense Production Act to increase stocks to sufficient levels? What if we elected a President who would staff the Defense Department with Secretaries who will listen to commanders trying to protect their charges? (As Im writing this, the Secretary of the Navy who fired Captain Crozier and who called him stupid and naive just resigned. That is appropriate, but not nearly as appropriate as having a competent Secretary in the first place). Who will be the next heroes? Historically, most people weve thought of as heroes have been soldiers and other fighters. Since 9-11 weve thought of first responders as heroes. In the early days of the Trump regime, it was park rangers. Doctors and nurses have always been heroes, but who had money on delivery drivers? Some people choose to become heroes. But many times people are thrust unwillingly into situations that require them to become heroes. Most of them accept the challenge, because most of us realize that giving your life to something bigger than yourself is a good and necessary thing. Next time it may be you whos called to be a hero. So lets treat our current heroes as wed like to be treated: with honor and dignity, but also with respect for the difficult things they have to tell us. Clap for them but then listen to them, and use what they tell us to make the world a better place. Want to get my personal weekly newsletter every Friday? It covers things that dont fit into the blog format, mostly in my usual range: Paganism, polytheism, and magic. Current events and politics. What Im working on that youll see in the near to medium future. Plus whatever else I find interesting. Sign up on my teaching site https://undertheancientoaks.com/ Enter your e-mail in the big green block and do the not-a-robot thing. Youll get a confirmation e-mail respond to it and youre set. You are not under arrest and no-one is accusing you of anything. We are trying to minimise the spread of coronavirus and this is only a precautionary measure as you will be housed here for 14 or 21 days depending on what health officials will say before you proceed to your homes after being tested. This means that you will be in Government hands during that period. As you noticed on your way here, borders are closed and only Zimbabweans returning home are allowed in, said Minister Moyo. A senior Australian minister on Wednesday rejected Chinese criticisms that Australia is parroting the United States in calls for transparency on the origins of the coronavirus. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg described Chinese Foreign Ministry criticisms as 'unwarranted and unjustified'. The Chinese ministry has criticised Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton's call last week for China to be transparent about the origins of the virus. Frydenberg told Australian Broadcasting Corp, Dutton's role, the prime minister's role, my role, and all our colleagues' roles, is to defend the Australian national interest, and that's what we'll continue to do, and we'll speak up about it as required. Dutton's call for Chinese transparency came after US officials revealed intelligence agencies were assessing whether the respiratory virus escaped from a biological laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the pandemic began. The Chinese ministry said Dutton had obviously 'received some instructions from Washington'. "These days, certain Australian politicians are keen to parrot what those Americans have asserted and simply follow them in staging political attacks on China," a ministry spokesman said in a transcript posted on the Chinese Embassy in Australia's website. The ministry has also attacked Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne over her call this week for an independent review into the origins of the virus, including China's handling of the initial outbreak. The ministry said her "remarks are not based on facts." Airlines around the world have been seeking government aid to survive after grounding the bulk of their fleets. Stock photo: PA Virgin Australia Holdings yesterday succumbed to third-party-led restructuring that could lead to a sale, making Australia's second-biggest airline the Asia-Pacific region's largest victim of the coronavirus crisis. Airlines around the world have been seeking government aid to survive after grounding the bulk of their fleets. Virgin reported an annual loss for seven consecutive years even before authorities worldwide began restricting movement to slow the spread of the virus, which has led to around 70 deaths in Australia. It nevertheless commanded a secure share of Australia's normally lucrative domestic aviation market before calling in administrators with debt of AU$5bn (2.9bn). More than 10 parties have already expressed interest in recapitalising Virgin, which is continuing to fly a skeleton schedule under its current management team, said Vaughan Strawbridge of Deloitte. Virgin appointed Mr Strawbridge as voluntary administrator to lead a sales process after the government rejected a plea for a AU$1.4bn loan to keep the airline afloat. "Generally, you get the best outcome where you sell it as a whole, so that is definitely the preferred approach," Mr Strawbridge told reporters. A sale is most likely to involve a deed of company arrangement, which is a binding agreement with creditors, and the aim is to complete the sale within a few months, he said. Australian private equity group BGH Capital is among the interested parties, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters on condition of anonymity. BGH declined to comment. Moody's said unsecured creditors were likely to take a significant haircut on the value of their debt as part of any deal, and that it might be preferable to putting the company in liquidation with uncertain recovery prospects. Virgin employs 10,000 people directly and 6,000 people indirectly. Reuters Maharashtras Covid-19 tally reached 5,649 on Wednesday and 18 more people succumbed to the pandemic, taking the number of fatalities in the state worst hit by the virus to 269, but the state took heart from a reduction in the number of coronavirus hot spots and a declining mortality rate to claim an improvement. The state reported 431 new cases on Wednesday on a day a central government team visited Mumbai and Pune and projected that the number of cases in Maharashtra would increase to as high as 42,000 by the end of April-- a claim rebutted by the state government. State health minister Rajesh Tope said the projection was based on an outdated rate of doubling of cases that had improved in the past week. Tope said that there was no need to panic, and added that the number of hot spots in the state had reduced to five from 14, and the rate of doubling of cases had improved to 7.01 days from 3.1 days earlier this month. It is a mathematical model {on which the projection is based}. Surely there is a science behind it, but certain things have been assumed in this such as the doubling rate is considered at 3.5 {days} and it is kept static We have taken a lot of preventive measures. We are carrying out surveillance, tests, he said. In the last four days, 2,001 Covid-19 cases have been added in the state, while 58 people have died. Of Maharashtras Covid-19 death toll of 269. Mumbai accounts for 161; Indias financial capital has reported 3,683 Cofvid-19 cases. Of the 431 new cases and 18 deaths on Wednesday, 232 cases and 10 deaths were reported by Mumbai. Tope said the remaining coronavirus hotspots in Maharashtra were Mumbai, Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Pune, Nagpur and Nashik. The minister said the Indian Council of Medical Research had allowed Maharashtra to start plasma therapy to Covid-19 patients in Mumbai. The plasma (a component of blood) of those who have recovered from Covid-19 has some antibodies. If such plasma is used with utmost precaution, it has proven to be useful, he said SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Khadakpada police has booked two persons for violating the ongoing nationwide lockdown restrictions, enforced from March 25 till May 3 to contain the spread of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak, by travelling around 54 kilomteres on a two-wheeler on Monday between Mumbais Dharavi to Ambivli in Kalyan. Dharavi has emerged as a Covid-19 hotspot in Mumbai and the country at large, as Asias largest slum has reported 180 cases and 12 deaths so far. Satyabhama Kadam (50), a resident of Atali village in Ambivli, Kalyan, and her son-in-laws brother, Shankar Awsare, a resident of Dombivli, were booked under section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant), 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, the police said. The duo left Dharavi in Mumbai on Monday around 7:30 am on a two-wheeler and reached Ambivli a few hours later. Kadam, who had come to visit her daughters house in Dharavi, got stuck at the Covid-19 hotspot after the lockdown restrictions were enforced from March 25. On Monday morning, she left for her village on Awsares two-wheeler. The police booked them on Tuesday on charges of flouting lockdown restrictions after an official at the primary healthcare centre at Mohane, Kalyan, filed a complaint against them. Kadam has been quarantined at Tata Amantra Housing, which has converted into a makeshift quarantine centre, at Kalyan Naka in Bhiwandi, while Awsare has been quarantined at home, said JD Sanap, assistant sub-inspector, Khadakpada police station. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Iran has announced it successfully launched the countrys first military reconnaissance satellite after months of failures, a programme the United States alleges is a cover for missile development. The first satellite of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been successfully launched into orbit by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps [IRGC], said the elite forces official website on Wednesday. It said the satellite dubbed the Nour was deployed from the Qassed two-stage launcher from the Markazi desert, a vast expanse in Irans central plateau. The satellite orbited the Earth at 425km [264 miles], said the website. This action will be a great success and a new development in the field of space for Islamic Iran. The IRGC called it the first military satellite ever launched by Tehran. It used a Ghased, or Messenger, satellite carrier to put the device into space, a previously unheard-of system. As the world grapples with the coronavirus pandemic and historically low oil prices, the missile launch may signal a new willingness to take risks by Iran. This raises a lot of red flags, said Fabian Hinz, a researcher at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California. Now that you have the [US] maximum pressure campaign, Iran doesnt have that much to lose any more. Hinz said, based on state media images, the launch appeared to have happened at a previously unnamed IRGC base near Shahroud, Iran, some 330km (205 miles) northeast of Tehran. The base is in Semnan province, which hosts the Imam Khomeini Spaceport, from which Irans civilian space programme operates. Navigating armed forces Al Jazeeras Zein Basravi, reporting from the capital Tehran, said it was the first time the IRGC took credit for the launch of a military satellite. As a military satellite, what were likely to see is this to be used specifically for intelligence gathering and secure communications for the navigation of forces on land and sea, he said. Tehran has had several failed satellite launches in recent months. The last one came in February when Iran failed to put its Zafar 1 communications satellite into orbit. 200209161038629 That failure came after two failed launches of the Payam and Doosti satellites last year, as well as a launchpad rocket explosion in August. A fire at the Imam Khomeini Space Center in February 2019 also killed three researchers, the authorities said at the time. The rocket explosion in August drew the attention of US President Donald Trump, who later tweeted what appeared to be a classified surveillance image of the launch failure. The successive failures raised suspicion of outside interference in Irans programme, something Trump himself hinted at by saying the US was not involved in the catastrophic accident. Violent acrimony Arch-foes Iran and the US have appeared to be on the brink of an all-out confrontation twice in the past year. Long-standing acrimony between Tehran and Washington was exacerbated in 2018 when Trump unilaterally withdrew from a deal that froze Irans nuclear programme, and issued new demands that Tehran curtail its development of ballistic missiles. Washington has also raised concerns in the past about Tehrans satellite programme, saying the launch of a carrier rocket in January 2019 amounted to a violation of limits on its ballistic missiles. Iran maintains it has no intention of acquiring nuclear weapons, and says its aerospace activities are peaceful and comply with a United Nations Security Council resolution. Over the past 10 years, Iran has sent several short-lived satellites into orbit, and in 2013 it launched a monkey into space. Wednesdays launch comes amid tensions between Tehran and Washington over its collapsing nuclear deal and after a US drone attack in Iraq killed IRGC General Qassem Soleimani in January. Wednesday also marks the 41st anniversary of the founding of the IRGC by Irans late leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. An image of the rocket that carried the satellite showed it bore a Quranic verse on overcoming adversaries. The IRGC, which operates its own military infrastructure in parallel to Irans regular armed forces, is a hardline force answerable only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It was not immediately clear if Irans civilian government knew the launch was coming. President Hassan Rouhani gave nearly a 40-minute speech on Wednesday before his cabinet that included no mention of the launch. The economy could bounce back from the massive shock caused by the coronavirus crisis in the space of two years, but it will depend on the success of efforts to combat the disease both here and abroad. The assessment of the prospects of Ireland recovering from the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic was made as Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe also set out in stark terms the damage it is set to cause. "We are clearly now in the midst of a severe recession both domestically and globally," he said. However, Mr Donohoe also pledged that he is "determined to do all we can" to avoid the kind of lost decade experienced after the last economic crash. The Government's Stability Programme Update (SPU) for 2020 makes for grim reading. It shows that: The economy is set to shrink by 10.5pc this year; An expected budget surplus may now be a deep deficit of 23bn; Ireland has gone from full employment to a jobless rate of 22pc in a matter of weeks. The projections are based on a scenario that sees the lockdown last 12 weeks and restrictions gradually easing after that, allowing the recovery to begin in the second half of this year. In the worst-case scenario plotted - where the recovery does not start until the start of next year - the drop in GDP could hit 15.3pc with a deficit of 30bn. Department of Finance chief economist John McCarthy said the result of the crisis will be "the deepest recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s". Visibility He cautioned against hopes of a rapid 'V-shaped' recovery, predicting that it will be a slower, more 'U-shaped' path to restoring the economy. The SPU outlines a possible recovery starting in the second half of this year with economic growth of 5.8pc in 2021. It says employment could grow next year, with the numbers out of work set to fall below 10pc. Mr Donohoe said the SPU sets out a scenario and is not a forecast. He said that's because of a "lack of visibility about the path ahead" that is "due to factors outside our control". "We will recover public health and we will renew our economy," the minister added. He insisted the country is able to respond to the economic impact from a "position of strength". Mr Donohoe said there was a budget surplus, the State had cash reserves and Ireland has a restored reputation on the international market. He said there are "very important differences" between this recession and the last economic crash a decade ago, pointing to the lack of a private lending bubble and the Government's ability to borrow. Mr Donohoe said if the public health response is successful and can be sustained next year, unemployment and the deficit will come down and incomes will begin to recover. He said it all depends on efforts to combat the virus in Ireland and in the country's main trading partners abroad. "If the scenario that we are identifying were to happen in 2020... in 2022 it's very possible that we would then begin to see an economy that in employment and income terms would be quite similar to the economy of last year." Last night's forecasts are harsher than those issued by the Central Bank of Ireland just two weeks ago that estimated the economy would shrink by 8.3pc. It is a result of the economic slump that has put a million workers on State wage support schemes at a cost in the region of 4bn-a-month. Debt ratios will rise sharply as a result of the extra spending and the economic contraction. The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), which manages funding for the State, has massively hiked its estimate for how much it will borrow this year to a new range of 20bn to 24bn. The NTMA previously said it expected to borrow between 10bn and 14bn this year and that was mostly to pay off old bonds. The new higher estimate is based on the expected budget deficit. MT. PLEASANT, MI -- Two suspects have been charged with murder in connection with the April 20 shooting death of a 21-year-old man at a Mt. Pleasant apartment complex. Miykael I. Norfleat, 20, of Chicago, Ill., and Justin W. Collins, 22, of Mt. Pleasant, were arraigned Wednesday, April 22 in Isabella County Court on open murder, first-degree home invasion and weapons charges. Officers responded shortly before 6 p.m. April 20 to Campus Habitat Apartments, located in the 700 block of Edgewood Drive, for a report of a shooting at the complex near the campus of Central Michigan University. Police investigate fatal shooting at apartment complex near CMU campus Raven Tre-Von Edelen, 21, of Wyoming, Mich., was pronounced deceased at the scene. Witness statements and investigative leads led police to identify Norfleat as a suspect. He was arrested and transported to Isabella County Jail. Police later arrested Collins upon further investigation. Norfleat and Collins are being held in the Isabella County Jail on $1 million cash bonds. 21-year-old fatally shot at Mt. Pleasant apartments; suspect in custody Michigan State Police, Isabella County Sheriffs Department, Central Michigan University Police, Mobile Medical Response, and Mid-Michigan Investigative Narcotics Team assisted Mt. Pleasant police at the scene. Police have called the shooting an isolated and targeted incident, reiterating Wednesday afternoon that there is no risk to the public. Anyone with additional information on the fatal shooting is asked to contact the Mt. Pleasant Police Departments Anonymous Tip Line at 989-779-9111 or Central Dispatch (989) 773-1000. Courtesy of the Historical Society of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Lowell A Reed Jr., 89, of Abington, a federal judge in Philadelphia for more than two decades, died Saturday, April 11, of complications from Parkinsons disease at Rydal Park, a senior community in Montgomery County. In 1988, Judge Reed was appointed to U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by President Ronald Reagan. He gladly answered the call to be a civil servant and embraced this position of high honor with dignity and humility, his family said in a statement. He became a senior judge in 1999 and continued hearing cases until 2011, when he stepped down due to declining health. During 23 years on the bench, he issued more than 1,000 opinions and presided over naturalization ceremonies. Judge Reeds colleagues said he stood out for his civility, fairness, and kindness. Judge Reed was a man of the highest integrity and character, and taught me so much," said Allen Applbaum, a New York lawyer who was his first law clerk, from 1988 to 1990. "It was an absolute honor to serve as his law clerk, and I will miss him terribly. In March 2007, Judge Reed struck down a law intended by federal officials to control internet pornography. The 1998 Child Online Protection Act would have required commercial web publishers to request proof of age from users so that children could not see material deemed harmful to minors. Judge Reed ruled that the law was too broad and contrary to free-speech rights, and that software filters could be used to control childrens internet use. Despite my personal regret at having to set aside yet another attempt to protect our children from harmful material, Judge Reed wrote, perhaps we do the minors of this country harm if First Amendment protections, which they will inherit, are chipped away in the name of their protection. Despite appeals, an injunction blocking the law was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2009. Judge Reed lectured at what is now the Temple University Beasley School of Law from 1966 to 1981. He was a member of the Philadelphia Bar Association and president of the Philadelphia Association of Defense Counsel. He was honored with the A. Sherman Christiansen Award for being cofounder and first president of the Temple American Inn of Court, the first organization of its kind in Pennsylvania. The Inns of Court, which gives the award, are groups of judges, lawyers, law professors, and students who meet to discuss ethics and professionalism. Born in West Chester, he moved with his parents to Kenosha, Wis., where he attended a one-room school until eighth grade. He graduated from Kenoshas Mary D. Bradford High School in 1947. He earned a business degree from the University of Wisconsin and had completed a year of law school when he was drafted during the Korean War. He served in naval intelligence from 1953 to 1957. In November 1953, he met Diane Benson on a blind date. They married in January 1954. Judge Reed moved to Abington and graduated from Temples law school in 1958. He clerked for Common Pleas Court Judge Ethan Allen Doty and then became a litigator for the Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association. He joined the Philadelphia law firm of Rawle & Henderson, where he worked for 25 years and became a senior partner. He specialized in trying cases involving medical malpractice, occupational injury, and product liability. In Abington, Judge Reed was active at Abington Presbyterian Church as a trustee and elder. He was president of the Rydal-Meadowbrook Civic Association and trustee of the Abington Health Foundation, and served on the Abington Board of School Directors. He enjoyed sailing, music, travel, history, and vacations in Maine. Besides his wife, he is survived by children Jeffrey Barton Reed, Lowell Andrew Reed, Diane Susan Marsh, and Christopher Benson Reed; 13 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. Services will be held later. Memorial contributions may be made to Temple University Beasley School of Law, Attn: Colleen A. Uhniat, Director of Development, 1719 N. Broad St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19122. Cath Kidston is to permanently to shut its 60 UK stores with the loss of more than 900 jobs. The fashion retailer confirmed its stores will not reopen once the coronavirus lockdown is over after the company's owners secured a deal to buy back its brand and online operations following its fall into administration. Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA), which has held a stake in the retailer since 2014, said it will buy the online business, brand and wholesale arm from administrators Alvarez & Marsal. It said the move will result in the 'cessation of the retail store network'. Cath Kidston is to permanently to shut its 60 UK stores with the loss of more than 900 jobs The company confirmed that only 32 of its 940 staff will see their jobs secured as part of the deal. Melinda Paraie, chief executive officer of Cath Kidston, said: 'While we are pleased that the future of Cath Kidston has been secured, this is obviously an extremely difficult day as we say goodbye to many colleagues. 'Despite our very best efforts, against the backdrop of Covid-19, we were unable to secure a solvent sale of the business which would have allowed us to avoid administration and carry on trading in our current form. 'I would like to thank all our employees for their hard work, loyalty and patience over the last few weeks as we worked through this process.' A spokesman for BPEA said: 'While we are disappointed that the Covid-19 crisis has resulted in the cessation of the retail store network and impacted many employees, we are pleased to have secured a future for a number of Cath Kidston staff and the Cath Kidston brand in the form of a viable digital business. 'Going forward we will continue to help the company grow through its e-commerce platform and international wholesale and franchise businesses. Associated British Foods boss George Weston said the group had been 'squarely in the path of this pandemic' but would not reopen Primark stores until the disease is under control 'We would like to thank Melinda and the company's management team for their hard work in managing through this difficult economic crisis and establishing a viable future for the business in the UK.' Meanwhile the UK's high street woes continue to grow amid the coronavirus lockdown as 68,000 Primark staff are furloughed across Europe. The owner of budget fashion firm Primark has also revealed a 248 million hit for unsold stock as all its stores remain shut. Associated British Foods boss George Weston said the group had been 'squarely in the path of this pandemic' but would not reopen Primark stores until the disease is under control. Mr Weston said the company would have 'had no option but to fire staff' were it not for the furlough scheme. A survey from the British Chambers of Commerce suggested around one in three British businesses has furloughed between 75% and 100% of its workforce. Primark has seen sales plunge from 650 million a month to zero as coronavirus has caused the 376-strong chain to shut completely, with no online business to fall back on. A message from the CEO of Primark, Paul Marchant, talking about store closures during the coronavirus crisis Half-year results showed pre-tax profits slumped as Primark was left with piles of stock it was unable to sell amid the global coronavirus lockdown, falling 42% to 298 million in the six months to February 29. Total charges in the first half soared to 309 million, compared with 79 million a year earlier, including the 248 million stock costs. However, Mr Weston said the company would not launch online in a bid to shift stock it has been unable to sell. He said: 'We will sell that stock in stores but it might take a while. 'It might be in a year's time but it's not going to deteriorate and we will just have to wait until we can open stores again safely. 'I think this is the cost of Covid rather than not having online operations.' Primark revealed on Monday it had agreed to pay an additional 370 million to suppliers to cover stock currently in production or yet to be delivered after facing criticism over order cancellations during the coronavirus crisis. John Lewis sales plunge by up to a third despite surge in online orders The John Lewis department store chain saw total sales tumble 17% in the weeks since March 15, after it closed all its sites on March 23. The high street retailer warned that a worst-case scenario would see the chain's annual sales plunge 35%. Nevertheless, John Lewis said online sales have jumped 84% as shoppers purchased more technology and food preparation products. The retailer said demand has particularly spiked in some of its 'less profitable lines', with people 'buying more Scrabble but fewer sofas'. Advertisement The fashion chain said the deal will cover products which were in production or due for shipment by April 17, having previously committed to pay for orders which were in transit or booked for delivery by March 18. Bosses also set up a fund to support the thousands of garment workers affected. Mr Weston laid bare the 'human tragedy' of the Covid-19 crisis as he reported half-year figures, as he said two of the group's employees have died from Covid-19 in the past three weeks while another remains in intensive care in the United States. Its food and agriculture business - spanning sugar, groceries and ingredients, including brands such as Twinings tea and Kingsmill bread - is helping the firm weather the crisis while cost cutting will also help it mitigate half the operating costs of Primark while stores remain shut. The company said it has seen a 20% jump in bread sales, while other store cupboard products such as Blue Dragon noodles and Ryvita crackers have also seen sharp sales increases. Mr Weston said: 'Much as I would love to be allowed to reopen Primark stores across the UK, continental Europe and the USA soon, because lockdown has so harmed our business and our supply chains, I know that we must not do so until we have suppressed this disease. 'When we are allowed to reopen we must make our Primark stores safe for our staff and our customers, even if that means ensuring there are fewer people shopping at any one time and so accepting lower sales at least until the remaining risk is minimal. 'In time, we can rebuild the profits. We can't replace the people we lose.' A survey from the British Chambers of Commerce suggested around one in three British businesses has furloughed between 75% and 100% of its workforce. Meanwhile High Street fashion chains Oasis and Warehouse have fallen into administration, leading to more than 200 immediate job losses. Closed shops on a quiet Kings Road in Chelsea, West London, as life in Britain continues during the lockdown Some 1,800 staff across the shops, concessions and head office will be furloughed and receive 80% of pay. The brands will continue to be sold online 'short-term' while the administrators try to sell the brand. The two brands, which run 90 stores, appointed auditor Deloitte to run the process. Businesses lost to coronavirus With the High Street struggling to cope with the national coronavirus lockdown, a few have started filing for administration. These include: Debenhams: 22,000 jobs at risk Carluccio's: 2,000 jobs at risk Brighthouse: 2,400 jobs at risk Chiquito: 1,500 jobs at risk Laura Ashley: 2,700 jobs at risk Oasis and Warehouse: 200 immediate job losses Flybe: 2,000 jobs at risk Advertisement The Oasis and Warehouse Group has been looking for a saviour for weeks but could not close a deal due to the pandemic. It is owned by failed Icelandic bank Kaupthing. The lockdown has already claimed Laura Ashley, electrical retailer Brighthouse, and restaurant chains Carluccio's and Chiquito. Many firms were already reeling after last year, the worst for the high street in a quarter of a century. Meanwhile, there are fears are building that gyms, pubs and restaurants may never reopen as landlords threaten them with eviction for unpaid rent during the coronavirus lockdown. Nearly 3,000 gyms and leisure centres now face the threat of closure, while top chef Yotam Ottolenghi has warned that restaurants are suffering the same issue. The Oasis and Warehouse Group has been looking for a saviour for weeks but could not close a deal due to the pandemic Pubs and non-essential shops have also faced trouble paying rent, amid fears they will not be able to reopen after the pandemic because they will have no cash left. Up to 100,000 jobs could be at risk at gyms with trade body UKActive calling for urgent action to protect places of exercise which remain shut due to the pandemic. Fresh legislation to protect commercial tenants was brought in last month, but it does not stop landlords forcing them to pay rent withheld due to the lockdown. A study of 34 non-food retailers including Dunelm, JD Sports, John Lewis and Next has found that many may not survive the pandemic sweeping the nation. Even after government support, more than half of major non-food UK retailers will run out of cash within six months, according to the report. The study was conducted by professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal (A&M), in partnership with Retail Economics. It found that five out of the 34 major non-food retailers analysed already had negative cash flow at the outbreak of the pandemic. Smollett, who is black and openly gay, told police he was attacked on a frigid night in downtown Chicago by two men as he was walking home after getting a sandwich at a Subway restaurant. The men shouted slurs, poured bleach or a similar substance on him and hung a noose around his neck, he told officers. Today we are going to look at Tekmar Group plc (LON:TGP) to see whether it might be an attractive investment prospect. To be precise, we'll consider its Return On Capital Employed (ROCE), as that will inform our view of the quality of the business. First, we'll go over how we calculate ROCE. Then we'll compare its ROCE to similar companies. Finally, we'll look at how its current liabilities affect its ROCE. What is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)? ROCE is a metric for evaluating how much pre-tax income (in percentage terms) a company earns on the capital invested in its business. In general, businesses with a higher ROCE are usually better quality. Ultimately, it is a useful but imperfect metric. Author Edwin Whiting says to be careful when comparing the ROCE of different businesses, since 'No two businesses are exactly alike. How Do You Calculate Return On Capital Employed? The formula for calculating the return on capital employed is: Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) (Total Assets - Current Liabilities) Or for Tekmar Group: 0.13 = UK5.6m (UK53m - UK8.4m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2019.) Therefore, Tekmar Group has an ROCE of 13%. See our latest analysis for Tekmar Group Does Tekmar Group Have A Good ROCE? When making comparisons between similar businesses, investors may find ROCE useful. We can see Tekmar Group's ROCE is around the 13% average reported by the Energy Services industry. Separate from Tekmar Group's performance relative to its industry, its ROCE in absolute terms looks satisfactory, and it may be worth researching in more depth. Our data shows that Tekmar Group currently has an ROCE of 13%, compared to its ROCE of 5.7% 3 years ago. This makes us think about whether the company has been reinvesting shrewdly. You can see in the image below how Tekmar Group's ROCE compares to its industry. Click to see more on past growth. Story continues AIM:TGP Past Revenue and Net Income April 22nd 2020 Remember that this metric is backwards looking - it shows what has happened in the past, and does not accurately predict the future. Companies in cyclical industries can be difficult to understand using ROCE, as returns typically look high during boom times, and low during busts. ROCE is only a point-in-time measure. We note Tekmar Group could be considered a cyclical business. Since the future is so important for investors, you should check out our free report on analyst forecasts for Tekmar Group. Tekmar Group's Current Liabilities And Their Impact On Its ROCE Short term (or current) liabilities, are things like supplier invoices, overdrafts, or tax bills that need to be paid within 12 months. Due to the way the ROCE equation works, having large bills due in the near term can make it look as though a company has less capital employed, and thus a higher ROCE than usual. To counter this, investors can check if a company has high current liabilities relative to total assets. Tekmar Group has total assets of UK53m and current liabilities of UK8.4m. Therefore its current liabilities are equivalent to approximately 16% of its total assets. A fairly low level of current liabilities is not influencing the ROCE too much. The Bottom Line On Tekmar Group's ROCE This is good to see, and with a sound ROCE, Tekmar Group could be worth a closer look. Tekmar Group shapes up well under this analysis, but it is far from the only business delivering excellent numbers . You might also want to check this free collection of companies delivering excellent earnings growth. If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading. On Monday night, Donald Trump announced via tweet that due to the coronavirus the government would shut all immigration to the United States, a move without precedent in American history. This shameful police state action is a desperate attempt by the Trump administration to distract from the criminality of the ruling classs own response to the coronavirus. Every element of the official responsefrom ignoring the initial warnings to the multi-trillion-dollar corporate handout and the insane efforts to rush workers back to workhas been to protect Wall Street and guarantee corporate profits no matter the human cost. The result has been economic collapse and death on a mass scale. Yesterday was one of the deadliest days on record and the US is approaching 50,000 total deaths, with no end in sight. President Donald Trump speaks in White House Briefing, Monday, April 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Trumps proposal for a 60-day pause on immigration would include all legal applications for immigrant visas and permanent residency. It would, however, exclude guest farmworker visas at the request of large agribusinesses. The social landscape of the country would be drastically altered by such a move, which would effectively establish a permanent underclass of people who have no avenue to ever access social programs, unemployment benefits or decent-paying jobs. As tens of millions of Americans confront an indefinite future of mass unemployment, food lines and poverty, Trumps announcement is a dangerous and calculated attempt to scapegoat the most oppressed sections of the working class for the devastating social consequences of the ruling classs bipartisan response. As usual, Trump announced the new policy in a flippant late-night tweet that contained almost as many lies as total words: In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States. At yesterdays press conference, Trump absurdly claimed that immigrants are responsible for the lack of medical supplies, scapegoating them for the governments inability to provide adequate medical resources, ventilators and protective equipment for health care workers. Banning immigration was necessary to help to conserve vital medical resources for American citizens, Trump said, implying that non-citizens deserve to die without any medical care. Trump also blamed immigrants for the fact that 22 million people filed for unemployment benefits in recent weeks, saying his immigration ban was to help put unemployed Americans first in line for jobs as we reopen. Two boys peer through the border wall separating Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, from El Paso, Texas, 2017 (WSWS Photo) Trumps reference to reopening workplaces betrays an immediate purpose of his announcement: to use racial and national chauvinism as a tool to distract from and suppress social opposition to the ruling classs efforts to open business and workplaces by Trumps proposed goal of May 1. Several states, including Georgia and South Carolina, have already begun opening non-essential businesses in advance of Trumps proposed date, despite overwhelming medical evidence that such moves will lead to the deaths of countless thousands more. But Wall Street is demanding the right to exploit the working class with no restrictions and with no attention to how many will die. While millions of laid-off workers are still awaiting their stimulus and unemployment checks, trillions of dollars were transferred to the banks and corporations overnight under the bipartisan CARES Act. Corporate America is preparing for millions to go back to work by legally protecting itself against any responsibility for the forthcoming surge in deaths. During his press conference Monday, Trump said his administration was going to provide blanket protection to corporations from lawsuits filed in behalf of workers who get sick or die on the job: We are trying to take liability away from these companies, Trump said. We just dont want that because we want the companies to open and to open strong. Under conditions where workers are already engaged in strikes and protests against non-essential work in the US and internationally, the back to work order threatens to trigger a social explosion. The Washington Post worried in an April 19 article, As more than half the people in the world hunker down under some form of enforced confinement, stirrings of political and social unrest are pointing to a new, potentially turbulent phase in the global effort to stem the coronavirus pandemic. Already, protests spurred by the collapse of economic activity have erupted in scattered locations around the world. At the same time, Trumps panicked announcement on immigration underscores the profound divisions within the ruling class as to how best to suppress social opposition and maintain corporate profits in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. Trump is engaged in an ongoing fight with a series of Democratic state governors, including Washington Governor Jay Inslee, who said that Trump was fomenting domestic rebellion by promoting small right-wing protests demanding an end to stay-at-home regulations. Last month, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Trumps threat to implement a forced quarantine on the whole state would amount to a federal declaration of war against the states, calling it a civil war kind of discussion. California Governor Gavin Newsom has repeatedly called California a nation state in recent weeks and formed the Western States Pact with Oregon and Washington, the explicit purpose of which is to promote a shared vision for reopening their economies. The opposition to Trump by governors of these stateshome to Wall Street, Silicon Valley and Amazondoes not represent a progressive alternative to Trump. The Democratic Party governors are no less determined to force workers back to work against the advice of medical experts. The Democratic Party has been just as aggressive as Trump in scapegoating China and Chinese people for the spread of the disease. Trumps ban on immigration is part of an international process. Across the world, each national bourgeoisie is responding to the crisis by erecting trade barriers and limiting immigration, protecting himself, as Leon Trotsky wrote, behind a customs wall and a hedge of bayonets. But the nature of the coronavirus crisis demands an international response, not limited by the framework of the nation-state system, which the disease itself does not respect. Just across the now-closed US-Mexico border, thousands of Mexican workers at sweatshop factories and warehouses in cities like Tijuana, Matamoros and Ciudad Juarez are protesting to demand a halt to non-essential production and full pay for time off from work. These demands are the same as the demands of their counterparts in the US, Europe and elsewhere. They objectively express the yearnings of billions of people, regardless of national identity or citizenship status, who are not prepared to die of coronavirus to help the corporate bottom line. The growing mass graves filled with people who should not have died are a monument to the capitalist system and the global ruling class that has used the disease to enrich itself even further. Trumps xenophobia is an attempt to divide the working class and distract it from the growing death toll, from the food bank and unemployment lines, and the deadly prospect of a return to work. Desperate governments take desperate measures. The fact that the demands of striking workers appear so patently reasonable to billions of workers but are unacceptable to the financial aristocracy means the demands are impossible to achieve under capitalism. Seizing the productive forces out of the hands of the rich and reorganizing society to meet human need is a matter of life and death. South Korea played down a report Tuesday that the North's leader Kim Jong Un was being treated after surgery, as speculation mounted over his absence from a key anniversary. Pyongyang marked the birthday of its late founder, Kim's grandfather Kim Il Sung, on April 15 -- by far the most important date in its annual political calendar -- but Kim was not seen in attendance. Daily NK, an online media outlet run mostly by North Korean defectors, said Kim had undergone a cardiovascular procedure earlier this month and was recovering at a villa in North Phyongan province. "Excessive smoking, obesity, and fatigue were the direct causes of Kim's urgent cardiovascular treatment," it cited an unidentified source inside the country as saying. No confirmation of the report was immediately available. But it triggered widespread speculation, with CNN citing a US official saying that Washington was "monitoring intelligence" that Kim was in "grave danger" after undergoing surgery. In a statement, a spokesman for the South's presidential Blue House said: "We have nothing to confirm and no special movement has been detected inside North Korea as of now." The South's Yonhap news agency, meanwhile, cited an unnamed government official saying that reports Kim was seriously ill were "not true". But there were no explicit denials that Kim, who is in his mid-30s, had had some kind of procedure. Previous absences from the public eye on Kim's part have prompted speculation about his health. In 2014 he dropped out of sight for nearly six weeks before reappearing with a cane. Days later, the South's spy agency said he had undergone surgery to remove a cyst from his ankle. "No-one knows what's going on inside North Korea," said Martyn Williams, who is affiliated with the 38 North research website. "Kim Jong Il had been dead several days before it was announced and it took everyone by surprise," he tweeted. "Kim Jong Un has been 'missing' before, and has always reappeared. That said, his absence this week was more notable." - Closely guarded - The North Korean leader has not made a public appearance since presiding over a meeting of the Workers' Party politburo on April 11. His powerful sister Kim Yo Jong was named as an alternate politburo member and the meeting called for stronger measures against the coronavirus pandemic. Pyongyang has closed its borders and imposed tight restrictions to protect itself from the virus that emerged in neighbouring China and has since swept the world, and insists it has had no cases. On April 12, the North's official news state media KCNA reported that Kim had inspected drills by fighter jets at an air defence unit. There were no state media reports of any drills after the South said two days later that Pyongyang had launched a series of short-range cruise missiles. But analysts have said his absence from the April 15 commemorations suggested he could be looking to emphasise his own authority over his family's legacy. China is the North's key diplomatic backer and main provider of trade and aid, but Beijing declined to be drawn on Tuesday's developments. In response to questions, foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said he did not know the source of the reports and added: "China and North Korea are friendly neighbours connected by mountains and rivers." Reporting from inside the isolated North is notoriously difficult, especially on anything to do with its leadership, which is among its most closely-guarded secrets. Thae Yong Ho, a former senior North Korean diplomat who last week became the first defector ever to be directly elected to the South's parliament, expressed doubts over the reports. "The movements and personal affairs of the Kim family are national top secret issues which are little known to not only ordinary people but also high-ranking officials," he said in a statement. Kim's father Kim Jong Il died on December 17, 2011 but even two days later it was still business as usual at the North's foreign ministry, Thae recalled, adding that "everyone was caught by surprise" when the announcement was made. Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said on Wednesday that the state government will hand over Wadhawan brothers - accused in multi crore Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL) scam and Yes Bank scam - to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as their 14-day quarantine ends today. In his Facebook live address on Wednesday, Deshmukh said that the 14-day quarantine of the businessmen brothers will end in the afternoon on Wednesday after which custody can be sought by the central agencies. We have written to both the central agencies that they can take the custody on Wednesday afternoon. They are at a school in Mahabaleshwar (in Satara district) completing their mandatory quarantine, he said. Wadhawan brothers and 21 other family members were detained by Satara police on March 7 after they illegally travelled to Mahabaleshwar from Khandala in Pune violating the lockdown orders. They had travelled between two districts on a letter issued by IPS officer Amitabh Gupta, who is principal secretary (special) in home department. The Wadhawans and 21 others have been booked under various sections of Indian Penal Code. We would not let Wadhawans flee the country as a few defaulter businessmen have fled in the past, he added. Maharashtra government has ordered an inquiry against Amitabh Gupta by additional chief secretary (finance) Manoj Saunik for illegally issuing the letter to the Wadhwans. Gupta has been sent on compulsory leave. After their arrest the CBI and ED had written to Satara police to keep Wadhwans under detention until the end of the lockdown. The promoters of Deewan Housing Finance Limited, now insolvent, are wanted by the central agencies for their respective probe in the alleged Yes Bank fraud. Meanwhile, the DHFL promoters have obtained interim protection from arrest till May 5 from the special CBI court. The court has granted them protection considering that their arrest is not possible during the period owing to the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown. We have written to the central agencies to take over the custody anytime from now. It is upto them to decide when act upon our request, a home department official said. The five luxury vehicles, in which DHFL promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan travelled to their farmhouse in Mahabaleshwar during the coronavirus lockdown, were seized by the Satara police on the instructions of the ED. The two Range Rovers and three Toyota Fortuner cars, owned by Wadhawan brothers, were seized under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The two brothers are named as accused in the CBI FIR pertaining to swindling of money by Yes Bank former CEO Rana Kapoor and other accused. The duo is also being probed in the DHFL case. New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah holds an interaction with doctors and particularly with the Indian Medical Association (IMA) through video conferencing during the extended nationwide lockdown imposed to mitigate the spread of coronavirus; in Image Source: IANS News New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah holds an interaction with doctors and particularly with the Indian Medical Association (IMA) through video conferencing during the extended nationwide lockdown imposed to mitigate the spread of coronavirus; in Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, April 22 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday held an interaction with doctors and particularly with the Indian Medical Association (IMA) through video conferencing on Wednesday, leading the IMA to "withdraw" it's proposed protests scheduled on April 22 and 23. While the Home Minister lauded their work, he also assured them of their security. During the meeting, he appealed to them not to do even a symbolic protest as earlier proposed, adding that the government is with the doctors. This comes in the wake of a few incidents where doctors and medical staff were attacked, in different parts of India. The IMA in a statement expressed satisfaction stating they are convinced with the assurances. "It is expressed that in this period of global crisis...such protest will send a bad signal of the unity of our country...,"said the IMA. It added that it has decided to withdraw the proposed White alert protest on 22nd and Black Day on 23rd to "maintain unity and integrity of our country". Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan was also present in the video conferencing with doctors. Later Shah tweeted: "The way our doctors are performing their duties in these testing times is exceptional. I urge every Indian to cooperate with doctors in this fight against COVID-19." Sending a strong message against the attackers, Shah added that safety and dignity of doctors at their work place is "non-negotiable". "It is our collective responsibility to ensure conducive atmosphere for them at all times. I have assured doctors that Modi government is committed to their cause and appealed to reconsider their proposed protest," the Home Minister added. For Iran, which is already dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, a struggling economy and historically low oil prices, the missile launch may signal a new willingness to take risks. At home, Iran, which was initially overwhelmed by the coronavirus, is seeking to sway international opinion on U.S. sanctions by highlighting its struggles with the coronavirus outbreak. In Iran, the regional epicenter of the outbreak, the virus has killed more than 5,290 people, from among over 84,800 reported cases. This raises a lot of red flags, said Fabian Hinz, a researcher at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, Calif. Iran doesnt have that much to lose anymore, he added, referring to the United States maximum pressure campaign, a series of sanctions imposed against crucial industries and top officials. On its official website, the Guards called it the first military satellite ever launched by Tehran and said the satellite had reached an orbit of 425 kilometers, about 265 miles, above the Earths surface. The three-stage satellite launch took off from Irans Central Desert, the Guards said, without elaborating. Mr. Hinz said, based on state media images, the launch appeared to have happened at a previously unnamed Guard base near Shahroud, Iran, about 200 miles northeast of Tehran. The base is in Semnan Province, the site of the Imam Khomeini Spaceport, from which Irans civilian space program operates. St. Patricks Day this year was not a lucky day. The COVID-19 shutdown, announced two days before, was bearing down hard on restaurants, and on that March 17 Buca di Beppo manager Tony Vasquez was burdened with laying off 60 staffers. It was tough, letting all these people go, thanking them for their service, telling them that now they could file for unemployment, Vasquez said. It was awful saying goodbye. Thirty minutes after he let the last worker go, he was fired, too. It was such a gut punch, a surreal sideswipe that knocked the air out of him. But when he arrived home and was greeted by his 2-year-old sons gleeful Daddys home! welcome, the air returned. And so did a smile. His son, Antonio Vasquez Jr., has that affect on him and everybody who meets him. Hes just the coolest kid around, Vasquez said. He gives out such love that you can feel it for days. This is a little boy whos not shy with affection or his trademark dinosaur rawrs. Hes a child who even at his young age already seems to know that life is to be lived with joy and love and gratitude for each new day. You might say little Antonio has a big heart. In reality, he has half of one. Hes something of a miracle child, born with so many congenital heart defects that doctors told Vasquez they have never seen so many conditions in one patient. Put simply, or as simply as his complicated diagnosis can be put, Antonios heart is on the right side, not the left. Its twisted backward, has two right ventricles that work against each other and a severely narrow pulmonary valve connecting the heart to a main artery. No one can tell Vasquez and partner Shelby Santillan what caused these anomalies. Nothing like this runs in their families. Because of what Vasquez calls his sons unique plumbing, a heart transplant is not a possibility. Instead, his life depends on surgical procedures to make the plumbing work. Already, hes undergone six heart procedures and three major open heart surgeries, including one to remove half the heart because of the warring right ventricles and another to place a stent in the narrowed pulmonary valve. He underwent the first surgery when he was 26 days old. That day, his parents dressed him in Superman jammies, replete with cape. Hospital staffers called him Baby Superman, and the nickname stuck. On June 1, Baby Superman is scheduled to undergo the most crucial surgery of all. I dont want to sound grim, Vasquez said, the air catching as he speaks. But this is it. This surgery is the big one. This is the last thing they can do. Concerns over Antonios heart arose during Santillans 20-week prenatal visit when an ultrasound revealed that his heart was on the wrong side. Subsequent visits revealed more abnormalities. It seemed like each appointment we went to they saw something else wrong, Vasquez said. Things were so wrong that terminating the pregnancy was suggested. Santillan and Vasquez said no. We looked for a second opinion, he said. And thats when we found doctors at Childrens Hospital Colorado in Aurora who told us that they knew those conditions and knew how to deal with them. They just never saw them all in one baby. Surgeons have already rerouted some of the vessels from his heart so that the blood passes first through the lungs to oxygenate it more efficiently. The surgery scheduled in June will similarly reroute more vessels because his blood oxygen cannot keep up with the needs of his growing body. You can tell when hes not getting enough oxygen in his blood sometimes because his lips and chin turn blue, Vasquez said. Doctors want to do the surgery now while hes strong enough to recover. The COVID-19 stay-at-home and sanitize conditions we are all now living under are nothing new to the family. Because Antonios immune system is suppressed, masks and gloves, Lysol and bleach, repeated hand-washings and temperature-takings are just part of a normal day, especially for Santillan, whose full-time job is caring for her son. For Antonio, there are no trips to Chuck E. Cheese or McDonalds or preschool. Our lifestyle under COVID-19 was already our lives, Vasquez said. (Maybe think about that next time social distancing chaps your hide.) The procedure in June is a risky one, requiring surgeons to stop Antonios heart and place him on a bypass machine while they work quickly to reroute the blood vessels. Then we wait and we pray, Vasquez said. Preparation and recovery will last at least two months, which means scraping together enough money to pay the usual bills at home plus living expenses in Colorado. Which is why Vasquezs being laid off is especially stinging. Vasquez, though, now thinks of it as lucky. I look at it like the layoff gives me a chance to spend more time with my son, he said. God gave us an extra few months. Its a gift. Its easy to see where Baby Superman gets his glee and his strength, easy to see how a little boy has learned so young that life is to be lived with joy and love and gratitude for each new day. Because days with Baby Superman are not guaranteed. Weve been told most children with these defects dont live long, that most die before theyre born, Vasquez said. Dont get me wrong weve cried a lot about that. But what is more important is giving him the best life we can while we can. I want him to feel the love, all the love he can possibly feel. Thats a superpower right there. UpFront is a front-page news and opinion column. Reach Joline at 823-3603, jkrueger@abqjournal.com, Facebook or @jolinegkg on Twitter. When planning commencement or any event, the colleges top priority is the health and safety of our students, their families and all stakeholders, college President Lori Suddick said in the release. At the same time, we understand our students desire to have a meaningful commencement ceremony, with family and loved ones present in person to show their support. Commencement, more than anything else, recognizes the students hard work and the colleges commitment to student success. [April 22, 2020] Digital Signal Processor (DSP) Market - Growth Factors, Key Players and Regional Forecast 2023 Overview A Digital Signal Processor, or DSP, is a microprocessor specialized architect for fast-operational needs of digital signal processing. A Digital Signal Processor or DSP is specifically designed for those application which is requires the data in real time and cant tolerate delays. DSP take a digital signal from its source and amplifies or process it to improve the signal. DSP uses video, voice, audio, temperature or position signals which have been digitized and manipulate them mathematically. High speed and high accuracy while performing the mathematic manipulation is one of the major benefit which DSP offers to their clients. growing industries such as IT and telecommunication, gaming, consumer electronics are some of the major driving factor of Digital Signal Processor (DSP) Market. High advancement in technologies and high development in the field of wireless infrastructure is also supporting the market growth. In the past few years, surveillance industry has also seen rapid growth which is majorly due to the high demand for IP cameras and advance video surveillance resulting in global demand for DSP microprocessors. DSP also offers cost benefits to the high-performance communication system leading to heavy demand from telecom industry. Several industries such as consumer electronics and ICT has seen rapid growth in the last 10 years. Increasing per capita income and government initiatives have also played an important role the growth of digital signal processors. Key Players: Devices Inc. (U.S.), Altera Corp. (U.S.), Broadcom Corp. (U.S.), NXP Semiconductor (Netherlands), Qualcomm Inc. (U.S.), Renesas Electronics Corp.(Japan), Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (South Korea), Toshiba Corp. (Japan), Texas Instruments Inc. (U.S.) and Xilinx Inc. (U.S.) among others. among others are some of the prominent players profiled in MRFR Analysis and are at the forefront of competition in the global Digital Signal Processors (DSP) market. Automotive, Consumer electronics, Communication, Nano technology, Surveillance among others are some of the major application areas where DSP offers wide range of benefits which supports the market growth. Industry News December, 2017, Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc., a committed technology leader, today announced a new IC that is compliant with the Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) core specification 4.2 including support for a secure connection, LE privacy features and extended packet length. The new TC35679IFTG is designed for use in harsh automotive environments and extended temperature ranges. A mixed-signal device, the TC35679IFTG contains both analog RF and baseband digital parts. This enables it to provide a complete solution in a single, compact, low-profile (40-pin 6mm x 6mm x 1mm) QFN wettable flank package with a pin pitch of 0.5mm. The TC35679 provides Bluetooth Host Control Interface (HCI) functions alongside low energy GATT profile functions (as defined by Bluetooth specifications). The new IC becomes a fully fledged application processor when used in conjunction with external non-volatile memory. It can also be used in combination with an external host processor. December, 2017, Renesas Electronics America Inc., a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, today expanded its Renesas IoT Sandbox lineup with the new RX65N Wi-Fi Cloud Connectivity Kit, offering greater flexibility for developers creating new applications for the Internet of Things (IoT). Powered by Renesas IoT Sandbox, the RX65N Wi-Fi Cloud Connectivity Kit provides an easy-to-use platform for connecting to the cloud, evaluating IoT solutions, and creating IoT applications through cloud services and real-time workflows. The RX65N Wi-Fi Cloud Connectivity Kit integrates the high-performance Renesas RX65N microcontroller (MCU) and Medium One's Smart Proximity demo with the data intelligence featured in Renesas IoT Sandbox. This powerful combination enables customers to reduce the complexity barriers associated with IoT application development and significantly accelerate the prototyping process. April, 2017, Knowles Corporation, a market leader and global supplier of advanced micro-acoustic, audio processing, and precision device solutions, announced it has sampled the new IA-610 smart microphone, combining a world-leading MEMS microphone with a best-in-class open digital signal processor (DSP) into a single subminiature package. This complete and customizable solution is similar in size to a MEMS microphone found in todays leading mobile electronic devices. The IA-610 smart microphone provides an open DSP platform, enabling OEMs and third-party software developers to create and customize advanced features, or leverage Knowles industry-leading software and algorithms for a turnkey solution. Digital Signal Processors (DSP) Global Market - Segmentation Segmentation by Components: ICs, single and multi-core processors, system-on chip (SOC), and input-output controllers among others. Segmentation by Application: Automotive, Consumer electronics, Communication, Nano technology, Surveillance and Medical among others. Digital Signal Processors (DSP) Global Market - Regional Analysis Digital Signal Processors (DSP) Market is growing with the positive growth in all the regions. Increasing application areas on yearly basis and advancement in technology is driving the market on global scale. North America is dominating the market of DSP due to the rich presence of technology companies in U.S. and Canada. The region is also a leader in technology which gives it a competitive advantage over other countries. High development in the field of IT and telecommunication in the region is also one of the major factor driving the market. Asia-Pacific region has emerged as fastest growing market and holds second position the global market. Rich presence of semiconductor companies in the region and one of the largest exporter of semiconductor products is playing major role in the growth of DSP market. Europe stands as third largest market due to the presence of developed countries in the region. Growing surveillance market in the region is one of the major driving factor which is supporting the market growth. Browse Full Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/digital-signal-processors-dsp-market-1229 About Market Research Future: At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services. MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Contact: +1 646 845 9312 Email: [email protected] Blog: http://mrfrblog.com/ As a community-building service, TMCnet allows user submitted content which is not always proofed by TMCnet editors. If you feel this entry is of inferior quality or wish to report it for some reason, please forward the URL to "webedit [AT] tmcnet [DOT] com" with your comments. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] By Joymala Bagchi New Delhi [India], April 22 (ANI): Traders at Asia's biggest fruit and vegetable wholesale market, Azadpur Mandi, have requested the government to close it for some days as the market is being crowded and all precautions against coronavirus are being allegedly ignored. Fear gripped in after reports of a vegetable seller dying of COVID-19 on Tuesday. Many of the vegetable dealers have complained of irregular temperature screening and no proper sanitization. Prabhu Shah, a potato and onion dealer, told ANI, "At night, this Mandi becomes overcrowded. Government should do something to regulate people coming here. Although permission was given for the main gate to remain open, however, people come in from here and there. If possible, this Mandi should be closed for few days for our good." Chandan Kumar, 30, who is a helper at the vegetable market, asked the government to provide porr workers like him "at least with face masks", adding that there was neither proper sanitization nor regular temperature screening at the mandi. Entire Azadpur Mandi that sees footfall in thousands each day remained completely closed only on March 22, when India observed Janata Curfew. Sanjay Bhagat, 50, said, "Only if we live today we can think of earning money tomorrow. I know our income is going to suffer like anything and the deficit is going to remain for long, but it is like putting all of our lives at risk. Atleast for few days this Mandi should be completely closed. We are ready to face the trouble, but life is much more important." A team has been deployed to trace and monitor people who had come in contact with the person who died on Tuesday With 1,486 new cases and 49 deaths in the last 24 hours, India's total number of coronavirus positive cases have risen to 20,471 while the death toll stands at 652 on Wednesday, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said. Out of the total number of cases, 15,859 are active cases, 3,959 cured or discharged and 652 deaths. The country will be under extended lockdown till May 3. (ANI) Mayor Garcetti speaks with LAs leading therapist Michelle Cauley to discuss mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic Tuesday, April 21. Mayor Eric Garcetti provided an update on the COVID-19 pandemic surrounding the Los Angeles region. The L.A. City Mayor was joined by licensed therapist, Michelle Cauley to share news regarding the response to coronavirus. COVID-19 has played a major role in the increase of mental strain. Loss of jobs, death, isolation, and worry of what is to come has all contributed to the cases of stress that are escalating. The Los Angeles City Mayor Eric Garcetti began the briefing with data surrounding coronavirus in Los Angeles. As of April 21. there were 46 additional deaths, 33 of these individuals were between the ages of 65 and over, with underlining health conditions. This brings the total COVID-19 related deaths in the L.A. County to 663. Over 89,000 people have been tested for COVID-19. There are 1,400 new coronavirus reports. The jump in number of reports is due to backlogged cases and delayed lab results. Founder and President of Cauley Associates, Michelle Cauley earned her Masters of Social Work from the University of Southern California. She also obtained the Pupil Personnel Services Credential with Child Welfare & Attendance, Administrative Services Credential, and Certificate in Applied Gerontology. Cauley is a member of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). ADVERTISEMENT Michelle Cauely Joined Mayor Garcetti to discuss mental health. COVID-19 has made a strong impact on everyones mental state; Cauley explained anticipatory stress, depression, and anxiety that is on the rise. External symptoms such as weight gain/loss, tiredness, or irritability can be signs of a deeper issue. Michelle Cauley mentioned communication can be the starting point to begin working towards healing. Cauley provided information surrounding mental wellbeing. She disclosed ways individuals can recover from anxiety, stress, and depression that coronavirus has caused during this time. Mayor Garcetti acknowledged the fear working families and small businesses are facing during this pandemic, he is coordinating more requests for federal programs and assistance to help all Angelenos. Garcetti discussed the assistance from the federal government. Mayor Garcetti is looking into protection for displaced workers. Currently, California Public Utilities Commission made $30 million available, to help school districts have Internet access and technological devices for distance learning. Governor Gavin Newsom developed a state Task Force on business and job recovery. The California state invested $75 million in Disaster Relief Assistance to provide financial support for immigrant workers affected by COVID-19. Small businesses can apply for $349 billion in loans from the federal Paycheck Protection Program. Many Angelenos are facing anxiety and depression, Los Angeles County has resources from the citys mental health department. There are programs and services that help manage the mental struggles COVID-19 has caused. The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LACDMH.) assists with concerns about the wellbeing of the Los Angeles County. Their 24/7 Help line is (800) 854-7771, LACDMH is available to provide mental health support and referrals. Within the Department of Mental Health, there are sub-divisions that prioritized underserved cultural communities. Subcommittees of the Underserved Cultural Communities (UsCC) collaborate with community leaders to increase the accessibility to the public mental health system and to develop culturally coherent policies and services. Their programs look to assist African Americans, Latino, LGBTQ, Asian-Pacific Islander, and Middle eastern communities. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) also provides information on how to assist with digesting the information surrounding COVID-19. It is important to keep a strong mental state while facing times of adversity, collectively the county of Los Angeles is looking to assist in all aspects affected by COVID-19, including mental health. The debut series of her reality show documented her journey to single motherhood. And Ferne McCann shows how far she's come in an upcoming episode of First Time Mum, as she's the one giving out pregnancy advice this time around. In scenes due to air on Wednesday's episode, the mother-of-one warns her pregnant pal Danielle Armstrong not to make the same mistakes as in her in a candid chat. Experienced: Ferne McCann shows how far she's come in an upcoming episode of First Time Mum, as she's the one giving out pregnancy advice this time around Ferne, 29, explains: 'There's no secrets between me and Danielle. We overshare with each other'. The former TOWIE star, who welcomed daughter Sunday in 2017, goes on to grill Danielle about her pelvic floor episodes. As Danielle, 31, sheepishly admits she isn't doing them as much as she should be, Ferne warns, 'You should do them every single day... two to three times'. Mum-to-be: In scenes due to air on Wednesday's episode, the mother-of-one warns her pregnant pal Danielle Armstrong not to make the same mistakes as in her in a candid chat As the expectant mum reasons, 'I do the thing with the wee, like you told me', Ferne hits back, 'No, they need to be separate! Actively do the pulses, squeezes... 'It must be extremely difficult when you're pregnant. I wouldn't know because I didn't do them when I was pregnant. 'Babe, seriously, you've got to otherwise you'll end up in a world of bother'. Satisfied that she's hammered home the importance of pelvic floor exercises, Ferne goes on to ask a baffled Danielle if she has been doing her perineal massages (deigned to reduce the risk of tearing in childbirth). Oops: The former TOWIE star goes on to grill Danielle about her pelvic floor episodes, as Danielle, 31, sheepishly admits she isn't doing them as much as she should be Oversharing: Satisfied that she's hammered home the importance of pelvic floor exercises, Ferne goes on to ask a baffled Danielle if she has been doing her perineal massages Ferne has previously spoken about the importance of doing pelvic floor exercises, which help to strengthen the muscles of the pelvic floor, which come under great strain in pregnancy and childbirth. If the pelvic floor muscles are weak, it can be common to leak urine after a cough, sneeze or strain. Last year, Ferne detailed her 'embarrassing' incontinence battle, as she admitted she didn't think she'd be experiencing the problem in her late 20s as she 'associated it with the elderly' and is currently 'in my prime'. In a bid to raise awareness on how to help treat incontinence, the TV star then practised pelvic floor exercises with panellists Coleen Nolan, Brenda Edwards, Jane Moore and Ayda Field. Embarrassed: Ferne has previously spoken about the importance of doing pelvic floor exercises after she detailed her 'embarrassing' incontinence battle Urinary incontinence is the loss of bladder control and affects up to six million people in the UK and 17 million in the US. On developing the problem after childbirth, the reality star admitted: 'It is really embarrassing theres no two ways about it. The former TOWIE personality admitted that while she's been brave enough to speak about the issue 'openly', she still finds her battle 'embarrassing'. Ferne McCann: First Time Mum airs Wednesdays at 9pm on ITVBe and catch up on ITVHub (Photo : Photo by Marc-Andre Julien on Unsplash) Disable iPhone Mail App Now! Security Alerts Users on New Apple Scam That Steals Data (Photo : Webaroo on Unsplash ) Disable iPhone Mail App Now! Security Alerts Users on New Apple Scam That Steals Data A new Apple scam has been discovered. Wednesday, Apr. 22, a security firm called ZecOps has revealed a scamming device implanted on the iPhone Mail app on most users. Security researchers said that hackers have already used the scam to steal personal data from some iPhone users. Worse, once this scamming device gets to your smartphone, it will soon have access to your data and remotely download malware on your device. NEW SCAM! Researchers caught new iPhone security alert that you should know As first reported via Apple Insider, San Francisco-based security company ZecOps has revealed on its blog post that its team discovered two vulnerability issues on the default iPhone mail app on both iOS and iPadOS. The team dropped the news on Wednesday, Apr. 22, but clarified that the bug was already discovered last year. However, it was only recently when they found out that six organizations were the targeted victims of the scam since 2018. Zuk Avraham, the company's chief executive, explains how the scam works on the iPhone mail app. First, once you've been exposed to the said vulnerabilities, the hackers will run remote code on your Apple's MobileMail and Mailid processes in iOS 12 and iOS 13 through the use of a specially crafted email. If you're using an iPhone issued back in 2012 until recent devices, you're advised to disable the iPhone mail app first. It was said in the report that the vulnerabilities exist at least since iOS 6 or when iPhone 5 was first released. Once the email gets sent to your iPhone, the attacker is now free to control the device's memory and remotely run malicious malware that could steal data from your phone. Worse, you might not know this until someone notifies you that a third party uses your data for other crimes. "Based on ZecOps Research and Threat Intelligence, we surmise with high confidence that these vulnerabilities - in particular, the remote heap overflow - are widely exploited in the wild in targeted attacks by an advanced threat operator(s)," said on the blog post. Attackers target European journalist and US-based Fortune 500 Avraham also entails on the blog post that the attackers of the iPhone mail scam were not primarily focused on regular American citizens. The security firm explains that the first attack of the scam was directly pointed on one of the staff at the famous United States-based Fortune 500 company and a journalist in Europe-- which the company did not identify. Interestingly, the hackers were also not identified by the firm. However, it was mentioned that one attacker could be a nation-state threat operator. For now, it is advised for all iPhone users to disable their iPhone mail app or download the latest iOS update to ensure everyone's protection against scams. Apple has not yet released a statement. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. (Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of London-listed company director and manager changes announced on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and not separately reported by Alliance News: Shield Therapeutics PLC - pharmaceuticals - Tim Watts promoted to chief executive officer from chief financial officer, replacing the company's founder, Carl Sterritt. Shield said Sterritt, who formed the company in 2008, resigned "following discussions with major shareholders and with mutual agreement". Watts has been CFO since August 2018, previously having served in the same role at Oxford BioMedica PLC. Watts also worked at AstraZeneca PLC for 22 years. Bunzl PLC - distributor - Hires Vin Murria as non-executive director, starting June 1. Was founder & chief executive officer of Advanced Computer Software Group PLC. She is currently a non-executive director at Softcat PLC, DWF Group PLC and finnCap Group PLC. Mobile Streams PLC - data analytics platform - Peter Tomlinson resigns as director immediately, having been with the company for 20 years. Tomlinson stepped in as chair of Mobile Streams at the start of 2018, handing over to Nigel Burton late last year as the company raised equity following a vote by shareholders against delisting the company from AIM. Mobile Streams said Wednesday that Tomlinson "took over as chairman during a difficult time and supported the transition to a new management team". Metro Bank PLC - Gene Lockhart and Stuart Bernau step down as non-executive directors from May 18, replaced by Anne Grim, Ian Henderson, and Nicholas Winsor. Grim was chief customer officer for fund manager Fidelity International Ltd, and also worked for lenders Barclays PLC and Wells Fargo & Co. Henderson is CEO of Australian know-your-customer service provider Kyckr. Prior that he was chief operating officer for private banking businesses at Barclays Wealth and CEO of RBS International at Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC. Winsor was CEO of several HSBC Holdings PLC businesses. Metro Bank noted its board now will consist of eight independent non-executive directors and two executive directors. Centrica PLC - Carlos Pascual and Steve Pusey will step down as non-executive directors from the annual general meeting on May 22. By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. Posted on April 22, 2020 We are collaborating with FactCheck.org, a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, in an effort to identify misinformation and to ensure news consumers get the facts. Facebook users are spreading a photo of a vaccine for canine coronavirus to wrongly suggest that a vaccine exists for the novel coronavirus now infecting humans around the world. Now this was 2001 tell me why 19 years later they say there is no vaccine, text in the viral image reads. The image was shared in various corners of Facebook, including in a group dedicated to the QAnon conspiracy theory. One users popular post claimed that a CORONA VIRUS VACCINE EXIST SINCE 2001 and WE ARE BEING PLAYED BY THOSE ON THE TOP. But the vaccine label in the photo clearly states Canine Coronavirus Vaccine. Like other instances of misinformation that have appeared since the outbreak began, the posts advance a false claim that centers on the term coronavirus. The term refers to a family of viruses, but theyre not all the same. The novel coronavirus, or SARS-CoV-2 which causes COVID-19 was first reported in China in late 2019. The product in the viral photo is Nobivac 1-Cv, a vaccine sold by a subsidiary of Merck & Co. It protects dogs from the canine coronavirus, or CCV, a virus that typically causes a mild gastroenteritis, or inflammation in the intestines, in infected dogs. It was first identified in 1971. As we wrote when debunking similar posts dealing with a vaccine for cows, experts say it is not safe for humans to attempt to vaccinate themselves with animal vaccines. Mayor defends nail salon visit Beaumont Mayor Becky Ames left Tuesdays City Council meeting to find her phone flooded with text messages and angry social media criticism after a picture surfaced of her getting service at a local nail salon. Read more here. Parkdale Mall owner CBL furloughs more than half of staff CBL Properties, which own Parkdale Mall and its related properties on Dowlen Road, has furloughed 60% of its staff due to economic impact from coronavirus precautions. Read more here. LIT has first case A student at the Lamar Institute of Technology self-reported that they tested positive for coronavirus after traveling out of the state over spring break, the college announced Tuesday. Read more here. Sempra Energy supports Southeast Texas charities Sempra Energy and the Sempra Energy Foundation will donate up to $500,000 to help non-profits in Texas. Read more here. Elective surgeries resume Christus Southeast Texas Health System will resume elective surgeries at three of its facilities on Wednesday. Read more here. Pakistan is using the coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19) to secure its terror infrastructure. First, there were reports that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) which in February, gave Pakistan only four months to deliver on an action plan to curb terror financing is expected to put off a review of steps taken so far by Pakistan till much later in the year because of the pandemic. On April 20, another report emerged of Pakistan removing almost 3,800 names from a terrorism watchlist for Punjab province. Of these, more than 1,800 names were removed since early March, while the international community was focused on the Covid-19 pandemic. Counterterrorism experts also noted that Pakistans National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) cited no explanation for the removal of names, which is the standard practice during such delistings. Pakistans counterterrorism practices are notoriously opaque. For years, NACTAs website only maintained a list for proscribed organisations, with officials asserting that the maintenance of lists of proscribed individuals was the responsibility of provincial authorities. It is not just the listing of terrorists; there is no information in the public domain regarding the trial of the seven men arrested for alleged involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks. There is also no information on the whereabouts of one of these men, Lashkar-e-Taiba operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, following his release on bail five years ago. Pakistan is clearly making the most of reduced pressure from the world community to crack down on terrorism at a time when most countries are focused on defeating the pandemic and addressing its impact on their economies. This is shameful. The let-up of pressure on terrorists comes at a time when Pakistani forces have intensified shelling along the frontiers in Kashmir. India will find it hard to take up these issues with other countries as bilateral and multilateral meetings have ground to a halt. The only option now is for India to keep its powder dry to deal with mischief by Pakistan-based terrorists, and to firm up its plans to increase the cost for Pakistan using terrorism as a State policy. A division of Sompo International will partner with a Portuguese managing general agent to offer crop insurance products and services to the Portuguese agricultural sector. Tokio Marine HCC will work with a company to provide cyber insurance, cyber education, identity management and resolution services to insurance carriers throughout the United States. *** Sompo International Holdings Ltd. said its global agriculture platform, AgriSompo, will partner with Portuguese managing general agent ATLAS Segurmina to offer crop insurance products and services to the agricultural sector in Portugal. AgriSompo combines extensive technical expertise and global capabilities to deliver insurance and reinsurance products and services for agri-businesses in key markets around the world. ATLAS has deep crop insurance expertise and strong ties to the Portuguese and EU crop market. AgriSompo will partner with ATLAS to initially offer a variety of traditional crop insurance products and will expand into new products and coverages to help address the evolving needs of ifarming operations in Portugal. AgriSompo is a global integrated underwriting, technology and distribution platform delivering both traditional and innovative insurance, reinsurance and financial products to agriculture partners worldwide. ATLAS is an agricultural sector managing general agent headquartered in Lisbon, Portugal, focused on delivering traditional and progressive insurance products and services to crop farmers in the evolving Portuguese agriculture market. *** Tokio Marine HCC s Cyber & Professional Lines group will work with CyberScout to provide cyber insurance, cyber education, identity management and resolution services to insurance carriers throughout the United States. CyberScout provides cyber risk analytics to insurers and reinsurers via a proprietary platform and markets its technology as a way for carriers to strengthen their accumulation risk management and exposure measurement. With this new offering, homeowner insurance carriers can now offer their policyholders a single, comprehensive personal cyber product to protect their privacy, devices and finances from digital intrusion, fraud, harassment and extortion, the companies said. Home insurers can now bundle CyberScouts identity theft resolution services with Tokio Marine HCCs personal cyber insurance coverage. This new cyber endorsement is available as an add-on to homeowners policies and offers 24/7 ID Theft support, an online customer education portal, dark web monitoring and password protection. The program also provides insurance coverage for cases of financial fraud, data recovery, extortion, cyber bullying and related legal expenses. Sources: Sompo International and Tokio Marine ZHENGZHOU, China, April 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hebi National Economic and Technological Development Zone (NETDZ), one of the nine national ones in central China's Henan Province, has recently joined in a campaign of recruiting oveseas investment online to step up its exchange with foreign business. The five-day online investment promotion campaign launched by the Henan Provincial Commerce Department kicked off on April 19. Hebi NETDZ located in Hebi City grappled this opportunity to provide a comprehensive view of its cultural landscapes, characteristic industries and future opportunities for global investors. Through the online platform, the zone mainly introduces its seven major projects, including its automotive electronics industrial incubation park, optoelectronics intelligent industrial park project, and high-performance magnesium alloy material project, with an estimated investment totalling 9.5 billion yuan. For Hebi NETDZ, participating in online investment promotion activities is both an attempt to innovate investment promotion methods, and an effective practice of carrying out all-round international cooperation, said a local official. Founded in November 1992, the zone enjoys a convenient transportation network with roads and railways extending in all directions. It has so far formed three leading industries such as auto parts and electronics, optoelectronics and deep processing of magnesium products. Over 27 years of development, it is now home to more than 500 enterprises, including 103 industrial enterprises each with main business revenue of 20 million yuan and above. In the next step, the zone is planning to further accelerate the construction of characteristic industrial parks, provide resource integration and supporting facilities services for upstream and downstream enterprises in related industrial chains, continuously improve its industrial edges and influence, and step up the pace to build itself into a new highland in the construction of Hebi City. For original report, please visit: https://en.imsilkroad.com/p/312908.html?from=groupmessage&isappinstalled=0 SOURCE Xinhua Silk Road Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. With having published myriads of reports for global clients, Future Market Insights exhibits its expertise in the market research field. Our dedicated crew of professionals rides the wave of advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence, and big data analytics, to project the adoption pattern and consumption trends regarding the market. A three-step quality check process - data collection, triangulation, and validation is paramount while assuring the authenticity of the information captured. Global Medical Mask Market Report The latest business intelligence study by FMI suggests that the global market size of Medical Mask reached US$ xx Mn/Bn in 2018(Base Year) and is anticipated to registerUS$ xx Mn/Bn by the end of 2029 with a CAGR of xx% from 2019 to 2029(Forecast period).The research study focuses on the drivers, restraints, opportunities and trends impacting the Medical Mask Market. All the relevant vendors running in the Medical Mask Market are examined based on market share and product footprint. Key players include GE Healthcare (US), 3M (US), Medline Industries, Inc. 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By end use segment, which segment currently leads the global Medical Mask Market? And many more Americas public schools will need $70 billion for three consecutive years in the next round of federal stimulus spending to avoid painful cuts such as teacher layoffs, according to a new analysis. That level of spendingfrom fiscal analyst Michael Griffithwould help blunt the dramatic budget cuts that districts will likely be forced to make because of the economic fallout brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. The $13.5 billion CARES Act, as the first round of stimulus spending is known, will not spare most school districts from needing to make budget cuts this fall, he said. Griffith said any new dollars should be targeted toward states with high rates of coronavirus infections and where school districts are more dependent on state aid. The existing CARES Act funds are being distributed based on the Title I, part A formula, which considers several factors including the size of districts, poverty rates, and levels of local and state aid. The CARES Act for most states can only stave off budget cuts up to 8 percent, Griffith said. But most states now are projecting cuts next year anywhere from 8 percent in Kansas to 20 percent in Alaska. And those cuts will be felt most acutely in the K-12 sector, which is heavily reliant on state aid. There will be very few districts that will be pulling out of this quickly, said Griffith, who will soon join the Learning Policy Institute as a senior school finance researcher and policy analyst. If there is another round of federal money going out, we cant spend it all in the first year. Congress is expected to reconvene in May to debate another stimulus package, but there seems to be little appetite, especially in the Senate, for a bailout of school districts considering the high unemployment rate. As Education Week reported recently, Griffith has done a data analysis to show how much money the CARES Act provides states and allows users to determine how much money they think states should receive in the next round of stimulus funds. As they fight the spread of the coronavirus, many states, have almost drained their rainy day funds to prop up local health departments, buy masks and ventilators, and send out unemployment checks. That means less money for schools in those states especially hard hit by the virus, Griffith said. Ary Amerikaner, the vice president for P-12 policy, practice, and research for EdTrust, an advocacy organization that pushes for greater accountability and more equitable spending, said the next stimulus package should be used to extend the school year for struggling students and be in the range of $100 to $200 billion. She thinks Congress should continue to use the Title I formula for sending out the aid because, she said, its familiar and pushes for equity between states and districts. Some advocates believe it to be a deeply flawed way to divvy up money for schools. Congress should be ensuring those dollars are spent on things that we know will accelerate learning for those students who are most impacted by the shutdown such as summer school, additional school, or tutoring, she said. Singapore's coronavirus cases exceeded 10,000 on Wednesday as infections among migrant workers living in dormitories continued to surge. As of noon, the city-state preliminarily recorded 1,016 new cases, according to a statement by the health ministry, bringing the total number of covid-19 infections to 10,141. Of the new infections, the vast majority are work permit holders living in dormitories across the island, while 15 cases are Singaporeans or permanent residents, the statement said. Crossing the 10,000 mark represents a sharp reversal for the city-state, which was seen as a global standard bearer for containing the illness in the early days of the pandemic. The total number of confirmed cases has risen ten-fold since the start of the month, and this is the third day this week that new cases have gone past 1,000 as authorities ramp up testing among foreign workers. The rising number of cases in the housing facilities, where more than 200,000 workers live, has complicated efforts to curb the spread of the virus in Singapore, even as the government looks for new ways to house laborers who may be sharing living spaces with 10 or more people. On Tuesday, Singapore said it'll halt the daily movement of workers in and out of all dormitories, including those that are purpose built, factory converted or temporary quarters for construction laborers. Healthy workers in essential services have been moved to other facilities. "The large number of cases at the dorms is a serious problem," Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a address to the nation on Tuesday. "To assess the extent of the spread, we have tested aggressively. Not only those who reported sick, or showed fever or flu symptoms. But also those who were well and asymptomatic." Alongside measures to manage the situation at the worker dormitories, Singapore will also extend its partial lockdown for a further four weeks until June 1 to bring down virus cases within the community. The country will close more workplaces, with only the most essential services remaining open, Lee said. Foreign-worker cases now account for a steep majority of all confirmed infections in Singapore. The government has converted military camps and vacant public housing into interim housing facilities for those who are healthy. Meanwhile, it is also considering using cruise ships to accommodate workers who have recovered from the coronavirus and tested negative. All in, about 10,000 essential workers have been transferred out of the dormitories, Minister for Manpower Josephine Teo said at a briefing on Tuesday. "We know that there are going to be some adjustments to be made by the companies and we seek the cooperation of both employers and workers on this new condition," she said of the new measures preventing dormitory residents from going to work. "It is a necessary measure to minimize the risk of transmissions." The Forum of All Progressives Congress (APC) State Chairmen has requested that the partys national hierarchy recommend a new chief of... The Forum of All Progressives Congress (APC) State Chairmen has requested that the partys national hierarchy recommend a new chief of staff to President Muhammadu Buhari. This is following the demise of Abba Kyari, who died days ago while battling Coronavirus. There have been arguments from all quarters on who will fill the vacuum created by the death of Abba Kyari. In a statement signed by the forums chairman, who is also the Borno State APC Chairman, Ali Bukar Dalori, he warned that the office of Chief of Staff was vital to the attainment of the policies of the president hence should be appointed by the partys hierarchy. According to him, the job of a Chief of Staff is to help the president move the economy and achieve his goals hence should not be taken lightly. We commiserate also with the government of Borno State, Borno APC and the bereaved family. It is pertinent that we state that those jostling to replace Abba Kyari should know that it is a job of a confidant, who will help the president to achieve his goals in governance. The forum calls on the leadership of APC to find a way to help in stabilising the president and possibly recommend somebody that would be an asset as a Chief of Staff, he said. Meanwhile, Alhaji Isa Funtua, a close ally of President Muhammadu Buhari, has said it is an insult to be nominated as a replacement for the late Abba Kyari. More departures are taking place at Bo, the digital bank developed by RBS-owned Natwest. Following the departure of Bo CEO Mark Bailie in January, the latest to seek a new opportunity is chief product officer Ollie Purdue, TechCrunch has learned. According to sources, Purdue is joining Antler, the company builder and early-stage venture capital firm that operates in Amsterdam, London, New York, Stockholm, Sydney, Nairobi and Singapore. He's expected to join the VC in the next few weeks as a Partner, bringing his product background and expertise to Antler. Prior to working at Bo, Purdue founded millennial bank account Loot in 2014 while still at University, aged just 20. Founded in 2018 by Magnus Grimeland (co-founder of Zalora, which sold to Global Fashion Group), and initially launched in Singapore, Antler runs a company-builder program in multiple locations, not entirely dissimilar to London-headquartered Entrepreneur First, which pioneered the pre-team, pre-idea model of talent investing. Like EF, Antler invites applicants to apply to its various programs with the aim of helping them find a co-founder and settle on a new startup idea. It provides a stipend for the first two months to cover participants basic living costs, and then pre-seed funding. In addition, later-stage capital is also available for successful companies, with Antler operating local funds in each geography. Meanwhile, Purdue has a coloured history with Bo, and RBS specifically. RBS was an investor in Loot and the incumbent bank was thought to be close to acquiring the startup before ultimately pulling out of the deal. This led to Loot scrambling for additional funding, which it was unable to obtain in time before running out of cash entirely after existing investors decided not to follow on. Not long after, Purdue and around 17 other ex-Loot team members -- spanning product, marketing and design functions -- were recruited to Bo by then CEO Bailie. Story continues I've reached out to Bo/RBS and will update this post if and when I hear back. Update (15.50 GMT): Magnus Grimeland, CEO and Founder of Antler, provided TechCrunch with the following statement: "At Antler, we back founders who demonstrate that they have the grit and determination that it takes to build a business. That's why we're excited to have Ollie on board. He's an entrepreneur, he's rolled his sleeves up, and knows what it takes to build. We're also excited to be growing the Antler team at this moment. At a time when there's a lot of uncertainty in the tech industry, we are very pleased to be reaffirming our commitment to early-stage startups and supporting exceptional entrepreneurs, by growing our presence in London." Adds Ollie Purdue, Partner (UK) of Antler: "I can't wait to get started at Antler. The European technology industry is burgeoning with potential, and I'm keen to help the next generation of founders build world-beating companies. My personal experience is in fintech, which is one of many tech sectors in which you see a perfect combination of opportunity and talent." D onald Trump has defended his companys decision to temporarily lay off more than 150 workers at his private Mar-a-Lago club. The presidents Florida retreat is furloughing 153 workers following a similiar move affecting 560 workers at the Trump National Doral Miami resort. Mr Trump said rules enforcing social distancing were to blame. Speaking at the White House, he said: You cant have many hundreds of employees standing around doing nothing. Theres no customer. The federal governments economic relief bill specifically bars Mr Trumps businesses from receiving emergency loans and other benefits meant to help companies retain workers during the crisis. President Donald Trump speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House / AP Members of the Myanmar Red Cross carry the body of Pyae Sone Win Maung into a hospital in Sittwe, western Myanmar's Rakhine state, April 21, 2020, after the World Health Organization worker was killed while transporting coronavirus test samples from the state to Yangon. Myanmar Army soldiers gunned down a villager as he returned home from fishing in war-ravaged Rakhine state, the latest in a series of civilian killings, with troops saying the man failed to follow instructions at a security checkpoint, the victims father said Wednesday. Tuesdays shooting occurred a day after a local World Health Organization (WHO) employee was shot by gunmen as he and a Myanmar health department worker drove through the same township.The WHO worker later died of his wounds. An employee of a pest control company also died after being shot in the head in a separate incident on Tuesday. Kyaw Win Chey, who was in his early thirties, was returning home to May Lwan village in Minbya township after fishing in a river near his community when Myanmar soldiers shot him dead, his father, Kyaw Hla Oo, told RFAs Myanmar Service. Yesterday, my son went to the Kangpaing Chaung area to go fishing, he said. He was coming home when we heard the gunshots. He must have met the soldiers as he entered the village [because] they shot him at the edge of the village. His mother witnessed it. Following the incident, Myanmars military commander-in-chiefs office issued a statement saying that security forces fired warning shots after Kyaw Win Chey failed to stop his motorbike and kept going through the checkpoint. Soldiers who inspected Kyaw Win Cheys body found a Chinese-made grenade and a knife in a toolbox on the motorbike, according to the statement. But Kyaw Hla Oo said his son did not know how to ride motorbikes and that he unexpectedly encountered the troops while heading home on foot. He wasnt running away, he said. My son did not know how to ride a motorbike. He couldnt even ride a bicycle. Besides, we could not afford to buy him a motorbike. We live from hand-to-mouth every day. A military captain offered 150,000 kyats (U.S. $104) to the bereaved family as compensation, saying soldiers had made a mistake by shooting Kyaw Win Chey, the father said. The officer said they had made a mistake, he said. He said what had been done was done, and then he asked us to bury him. We had to accept the money because we were too afraid to say no, he added. Accidents happen The statement by the military commander-in-chiefs office said that Kyaw Hla Oo informed Myanmar forces that his son had worked in the gem mining industry for the past 13 years, had returned to May Lwan village six months ago, and could have been a conspirator of the rebel Arakan Army (AA). The Myanmar Army and the AA have engaged in intense fighting in northern Rakhine state for nearly 16 months, as the insurgents seek greater autonomy for the states ethnic Rakhine population. But Kyaw Hla Oo said he never made the statements to the Myanmar military about his son possibly being an AA collaborator. I never said that, he said. My son didnt know anything about the AA. He was hard of hearing. Myanmar soldiers meanwhile inspected homes in the community and later helped bury the body of Kyaw Win Chey, said a community elder who requested anonymity out of fear for his safety. They asked us to hold a meeting at the village monastery, [and] the whole village had to attend, he told RFA. They also inspected the homes in the village. They carried the deceased mans body and helped us finish the burial, he said. During the meeting, they had said that these accidents happen during military conflicts. Myanmar military spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun said he had no comment on the incident, but noted the discrepancies between the accounts of the military commander-in-chiefs office and those of the victims family and village elders. On Monday, WHO worker Pyae Sone Win Maung and local health department employee Aung Myo Oo were ambushed as they drove through Minbya township, transporting coronavirus test samples to Yangon for processing. Pyae Sone Win later bled to death. Myanmar and Arakan forces blamed each other for the deadly attack, which drew condemnation Wednesday from the U.S. State Department, which called on the government to investigate the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice. This egregious act undermines efforts to protect vulnerable populations in Burma and again highlights the urgent need for a cessation of fighting in Rakhine state, said U.S. State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus in a statement about the killing. It also hinders global efforts to stop the spread of the virus, she said. Rice shortages In Ann township, which lies to the south of Minbya, nearly 40 villages face shortages of rice a staple food in Myanmar due to government army blockades amid the larger armed conflict, residents said Wednesday. Myanmar forces cited security reasons for preventing trucks from transporting food rations, medicine, and other commodities to certain areas of the township since March. In Darlat Chaung village tract, which comprises 38 villages, a population of about 13,000 people has had to rely on supplies from Ann town and Kan Htaung Gyi town, villagers said. It has been nearly two months since they blocked the entrance to Darlat Chaung village, said a resident who declined to give his name out of concern for his safety. Most of the villagers are farmers, so they have helped each other survive, but we are now running out of supplies and wont survive in the long term, he said. We dont have medicine even for minor illnesses. Things are going very badly. Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun told RFA that soldiers are blocking access to villages only when they receive tips that portions of the rice shipments will be directed to the AA. Government soldiers stationed at Kazu Kaing Bridge near the entrance to the village tract began preventing the transport of food to the area in December 2019, but at the time allowed civilians to cross the bridge to get supplies. Later, they barred all residents from crossing. The military told villagers they had to obtain written permission from Rakhine states security and border affairs minister to cross the bridge for emergencies, but residents responded that they do not have the means to acquire such documents. The AA and two other ethnic armies declared a unilateral cease-fire during April so Myanmar could tackle the spread of the coronavirus, but the truce hasnt held, and fighting has continued. The Myanmar government planned to hold the fourth round of its nationwide peace conference in early May, but now has postponed the meeting as it continues to battle COVID-19, some ethnic leaders involved in the process said Wednesday. The series of peace talks known as the 21st-Century Panglong Conference, or Union Peace Conference, brings together representatives from the government, the military, political parties, and ethnic armies to discuss prospects for ending decades of internal armed conflict in Myanmar. Reported by RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung and Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE New Mexico has flattened the curve and is on track to avoid a shortage of hospital beds as it confronts the coronavirus outbreak, state officials said Wednesday. But the trend is fragile, officials said, and some regions of the state including McKinley and San Juan counties are still having spikes in new virus cases. I want folks to be really clear, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Wednesday. Were not out of this fight yet. Nonetheless, she and Human Services Secretary David Scrase offered their most optimistic forecast yet. For the first time, the state is no longer projected to face shortages of hospital beds or ventilators at the peak of the virus outbreak. Its a sign, Scrase said, that New Mexicans willingness to stay home and engage in social isolation has helped bend the growth curve. But he warned that its only one week of data. What were seeing is we actually have flattened the curve for the whole state of New Mexico, Scrase said. He added: You can see were going to have enough beds. 6 more deaths Lujan Grisham also shared some grim news. Six more people died in New Mexicos coronavirus outbreak pushing the total to 71 and testing confirmed 139 new cases. I do want people to know that we mourn with you, Lujan Grisham said. She said 121 patients are now hospitalized in New Mexico, 33 of whom are on ventilators to help them breathe. Altogether, there are 2,210 cases of COVID-19 in the state. Most of the growth in new cases came in McKinley and San Juan counties, where the Navajo Nation has been hit hard by the virus. Five of the six whose deaths were announced Wednesday were adults from San Juan County. The other was a man from McKinley County. The victims ranged in age from their 30s to their 90s. Four of the six had underlying medical conditions a risk factor for the disease. Projections In Wednesdays public briefing, state officials said New Mexico was no longer projected to have a shortage of hospital beds or ventilators, though the state might need more intensive care beds. It was a far different forecast from what theyd offered in earlier briefings. Two weeks ago, state officials said New Mexico faced shortages of ventilators, general hospital beds and ICU beds, based on statistical modeling of the pandemic. They said 2,984 New Mexicans could die in the next 12 months, depending on how well residents adhere to social distancing strategies. On Wednesday, Scrase didnt offer a specific projection for deaths. But he was clearly more optimistic as he showed a graphic of projected demand for hospital beds and other equipment. We are seeing some fairly rapid improvement here thats encouraging, Scrase said. The states doubling rate the amount of time it takes for the number of virus cases to double has climbed to 5.3 days, he said, up from 3.3 days a month ago. Scrase also warned that even small changes in how the disease spreads could alter the projections substantially. Letting up on social distancing too early, he said, could trigger a spike in new infections a trend that played out, he said, in the influenza epidemic of 1918-19 and in swine flu cases about a decade ago. New Mexico, he added, continues to see hot spots of virus activity in some counties. Theres a lot that we dont know, Scrase said. Were seeing a much higher rate of spread in Native American communities, especially in the northwest corner of the state. Genetics might be a factor, Scrase said, but its too early to say. Even amid the optimism, Lujan Grisham said she expects to extend the states public health orders through May 15. Its too early, she said, to declare victory. The governor said she was thankful for the hard work New Mexicans have done to stay home except for absolutely necessary trips. It has made a real difference, she said, for front-line health care workers. I cant think of a more unfair, inappropriate situation than to ask any one of our doctors or nurses to make that decision about who should get a ventilator or not, Lujan Grisham said. (Photo : REUTERS/Kham) A poster warning about the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is seen on a street in Hanoi, Vietnam April 20, 2020. Facebook has agreed to significantly censor "anti-government" posts in Vietnam after its local servers went offline earlier this year, slowing nearby traffic to a crawl. The restrictions were carried through state-owned telecommunications groups, which made Facebook and its sister social networks Messenger and Instagram to a crawl for approximately seven weeks, sources told Reuters. State media, at that time, blamed the slowdown on maintenance to undersea cables. State telecommunication companies apologized for technical glitches. Intentional attacks? Vietnamese telecoms launched a sustained attack on Facebook traffic that intermittently knocked out its servers from February to early April, Gizmodo reported. One of the sources said the campaign was deliberately meant to put "tremendous strain on us to increase compliance with legal takedowns when it comes to content that our users in Vietnam see." In an email obtained by Reuters, Facebook showed it had reluctantly complied with the government's request to "restrict access to content which [the Vietnamese government] has deemed to be illegal." Vietnam's overseas ministry, which handles requests from foreign reporters for comment from the government, did now not respond to Reuters' request. State telecommunications corporations Viettel, Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) also did not respond to requests for remark. Commenting on the Reuters report, human rights institution Amnesty International called on Facebook to right away reverse its decision. "Facebook's compliance with these demands sets a dangerous precedent. Governments [worldwide] will see [the move] as an open invitation to enlist Facebook in the service of state censorship," the group said in a statement on Wednesday. ALSO READ: Does Facebook Mute Conservative News? Here's Its Response To Accusations Of Political Bias Activist jailed Early last year, Vietnam accused Facebook of violating a brand-new cybersecurity law by using allowing customers to submit anti-government remarks at the platform. In the months that followed, Amnesty International told Al Jazeera at the least 16 people had been arrested, detained or convicted for such posts. In November, state media reported that five more were jailed. The non-governmental organization, Human Rights Watch, said Vietnam locked up dozens of activists and dissidents in 2019. The Vietnamese government introduced a "cybersecurity" law the same year, which requires all internet providers to filter "toxic" content to suppress "hostile and reactionary forces." The cybersecurity law requires foreign corporations inclusive of Facebook to installation neighborhood offices and save records in Vietnam - although Facebook says it does not keep consumer records in the country. The Facebook sources said the enterprise generally resists requests to block access on a person's posts in a selected country; however, the pressure of getting its nearby servers impeded had forced it to comply. ALSO READ: Free Speech vs. Censorship: Facebook Explains Live Streaming Policy Facebook's statement said: "We agree with freedom of expression is a fundamental human right, and work tough to shield and guard this vital civil liberty around the world ... However, we've taken this movement to ensure our offerings remain available and usable for thousands and thousands of people in Vietnam, who depend on them every day." Big marketplace Vietnam is among Facebook's most significant marketplace in Asia since 2016. According to Ant, a Vietnam-based market researcher, digital advertising and marketing revenue in Vietnam amounted to around $550 million in 2018, 70 percent of which went to the United States social media giants Facebook and Google. With Facebook usage so considerable in Vietnam, customers started to be aware that access became slow to Facebook as well as its Messenger chatting app and its picture-based blog site, Instagram. But behind the scenes, as Facebook struggled to hold its services, it turned into talking to the government, the assets stated. "Once we committed to restricting more content, then after that, the servers were turned back online by the telecommunications operators," one source said. The second source contrasted the drop in site visitors in Vietnam with a surge in some other place as dozens of countries put in place regulations on the movement that recommended separated friends and families to turn to Facebook. "Vietnamese telcos were unique in restricting access at a time when people need services like Facebook. It was a sharp contrast with other places in the world," they said. "Thankfully, that's now resolved." 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Season 2 of How To Stay Married is now set for a broadcast. The comedy starring Pete Helliar and Lisa McCune as Greg and Em Butler has already dropped in its entirety on 10 Play, but now screens on Tuesday nights. While Em still has her sights set on writing a novel, Greg thinks a family cruise will provide the perfect antidote to all their stress. From nightmare bosses and juggling ones personal and professional life, to the bird and the bees chats youre forced to have with your impressionable teenage daughters, How To Stay Married isnt just roll-on-the-floor funny its super relatable. If having your partner home 24/7 has got you rethinking your vows and reaching for your 10th glass of Pinot Gris, this show is sure to have you screaming YES! at the screen. How to Stay Married Season 2 is a Princess Pictures production for Network 10. With principal production investment from Network 10 and Screen Australia, it is financed with support from Film Victoria. 8:30pm (ish) Tuesday May 5 on 10. Hope Rising raises $1.6M for Samaritan's Purse; TD Jakes says people are uniting amid the crisis Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A benefit concert co-hosted by actors Kirk Cameron and his sister, Candace Cameron Bure, has raised over $1.6 million for Samaritans Purse which has been operating field hospitals in northern Italy and New York City during the COVID-19 crisis. The siblings were joined by Bishop T.D. Jakes, Franklin Graham, and Gloria Gaynor among other well-known Christian artists and leaders for the online event on Sunday called Hope Rising that drew an estimated 10 million viewers, according to the events creator Ryan Higgins of The Tempus Collaborative. Its important to know 100% of the money raised went to Samaritans Purse for their ongoing COVID-19 work, Higgins said in a statement shared with The Christian Post. Amazingly we were able to do it entirely free, which has to have set some type of record. Weve heard that Hope Rising is now the largest streaming Christian concert of all time, a feat none of us thought was even possible just two weeks ago when the planning began, he added. Hope Rising livestreamed on Facebook Sunday night to benefit Samaritan's Purse which set up field hospitals in both New York City and Cremona, Italy, to provide medical support to hospitals caring for patients during the COVID-19 outbreak. The aim of the event was to uplift, strengthen and comfort those watching online through music and inspirational messages to combat the fear, hopelessness, and anxiety that some are feeling during the lockdown. Other artists and speakers who participated in the hour-and-a-half event included: Casting Crowns, MercyMe, Newsboys, Natalie Grant, Matthew West, for King and Country, Kirk Franklin, Kari Jobe and Cody Carnes, Danny Gokey, and speakers Kristen Chenoweth, Lysa TerKeurst, and Priscilla Shirer, among others. I am thankful for the many musicians and speakers who participated, for those who tuned in and were encouraged, for the generosity of so many who dug deep and gave to support this worthy cause. The commitment and dedication of my executive producers Kirk Cameron, Matt Hammitt, and Daniel Zapata were invaluable. And Im especially grateful to Samaritans Purse for choosing to be at the forefront when we cant, Higgins said. During the event, Higgins introduced Bishop T.D. Jakes of The Potters House in Dallas, Texas, who offered a message of encouragement for those watching. "COVID-19 has become a reality that no one could ignore, not the rich, not the famous, not the poor, not the homeless, not those that live in mansions to those that live in shelters. We have all been brought down to the same common denominator that we are all in some way vulnerable, black and white and red and brown, and rich and poor and large and small. It does not matter the distinctions, millennial or Boomer, we are all somewhat vulnerable," Jakes said of the common fears that people are feeling. The megachurch pastor revealed that negativity is not the only effect the coronavirus has had on the world. "There's also the awareness that it has brought us to a place of unity and togetherness and cohesiveness. That is, to me, the answer it is the serum, it is the magic elixir that we're all looking for," he said. "As strong as COVID-19 might be, unity in 2020 is stronger than anything COVID-19 can do. And I challenge you, if we stand together, we are better together than we are apart." Jakes urged everyone to combine their talents and gifts and come out of this stronger than ever. "If we live up to the tenants of our faith, then nothing out of the pits of Hell and nothing, no biological enemy, will ever be able to destroy what God has joined together, let no man put asunder, he declared. He challenged everyone in the midst of the "terror and the pain and the grief and the loss and the uncertainty and the joblessness and the failing economy" to stand under the banner of Christ. "Faith is the substance of the thing we hope for. And yes, it is evidence of things we have not seen. We will see it if we stand together, Jakes declared. Syracuse, N.Y. Onondaga County and adjacent counties need more protective equipment for medical workers. And they need a larger army of disease trackers. Those are the two biggest preconditions remaining to be satisfied before Central New York can be ready to restart at least part of the local economy, County Executive Ryan McMahon said Tuesday. Of course, that assumes that the number of coronavirus cases continues its downward trend, he said. McMahon and leaders from six surrounding counties are collaborating this week on a plan to restart business life in Central New York. They will submit the document to Gov. Andrew Cuomos office in short order, McMahon said. The plan will lay out a proposal for phasing in more regional economic activity while maintaining safeguards against a new flareup of the virus. County leaders will meet by phone Thursday and Friday to work on the plan before submitting it to the state for approval. The key uncertainty, McMahon said, is when the restart can begin. Tuesday, McMahon laid out five factors that will determine the timing and suggested that CNY is already well-positioned on three of them. Testing: Were close if not there, McMahon said. Local hospitals are doing rapid coronavirus tests now, and other testing facilities are getting results within a day or two. Thats fast enough to enable county health officials to trace people who have been in contact with COVID-19 patients, isolate them, and prevent further spread. Hospital capacity: Local hospitals have plenty of empty beds, officials say. New cases: The number of active COVID-19 cases has plateaued. The numbers of hospitalized patients and intensive-care patients have both dipped slightly. If those trends continue through the end of the month, CNY will be in a good position to ask state officials to restart parts of the regional economy, McMahon said. PPE: Hospitals and other healthcare facilities still face shortages of masks, gowns and other personal protective equipment they need to treat COVID-19 patients, McMahon said. We want to get stronger on this metric, McMahon said. COVID tracking team: Before business activity can resume, county government will need plenty of personnel in place to interview infected people and trace their contacts. Inspectors will also be needed to police businesses for social distancing or other regulations. The seven CNY counties are working out the details of assembling this force and hope to have specifics nailed down by the end of the week, McMahon said. McMahon said CNY might be ready to restart business activity ahead of other areas in the state that are struggling to reduce infection rates, including Rochester and Buffalo. But the timing depends on continued public acceptance of social distancing to stop the spread of the virus, he said. If we continue to social distance, that triggers (a restart) earlier, once the state is comfortable with our restart plan, he said. Tim Knauss is a public affairs reporter for syracuse.com/The Post-Standard. Contact him anytime: email | twitter | | 315-470-3023 MORE ON CORONAVIRUS Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources McMahon: No more shelter-in-place, but urges people to travel even less; hospitals can reopen Syracuse, Onondaga County miss out on $90 million in coronavirus relief bill New York to consider region by region reopening after coronavirus shutdowns, Cuomo says Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 22) - The government assured support for small and medium enterprises who are struggling amid the COVID-19 crisis. Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua told CNN Philippines they are looking at the possibility of providing loan guarantees to small and medium businesses dealing with losses amid the enhanced community quarantine. He said details of the plan will follow. "We are considering guarantees for loans that micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) might take because of a need of a working capital," Chua told CNN Philippines. A loan guarantee is a contractual obligation between the government, private creditors and a borrower. Under the contract, the government will cover the borrowers debt obligation in the event that the borrower fails to repay the loan. "There was also an announcement last week by DOF (Department of Finance) that they are going to allow net operating loss carry over so that the losses of business this year can be credited or carried over to the next year to reduce their tax payments," Chua added. The government earlier decided to provide small businesses with a wage subsidy in response to calls to include the middle class in the cash assistance program. "I understand there are some really with no sales, and maybe they have enough savings or capital to survive for a month or two, this is why we decided to provide a wage subsidy," Chua said. An estimated 51 billion would go to employees of small businesses that regularly pay taxes and contribute to the Social Security System (SSS). "One condition there is that the employer cannot layoff the workers, and the employee cannot resign because the main purpose of a wage subsidy like any country that does it now is to keep and retain employment," Chua said. RELATED: ANALYSIS: A bounce-back strategy for a crisis like no other Chua admitted they experienced some technical problems early on, since the website could not accommodate the millions who were trying to find out if they are qualified. He clarified that the SSS has already sent out hundreds of thousands of emails to inform those who qualified that they can now apply for the government's wage subsidy. "Even before the small business wage subsidy, we already deferred or gave a grace period for tax payments, for rentals, for payment of loans, for credit card, and so on," Chua said. "They are actually benefitting from that because that created additional liquidity or money for them to pay their workers and meet their other obligations," Chua added. The Department of Trade is also preparing a 1-billion fund to help small businesses restart operations after the Luzon-wide quarantine is lifted. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is drawing a line: There will be no more attempts at long-distance legislating on the coronavirus. In a telephone interview Tuesday after passage of a $484 billion coronavirus relief bill, the Senate majority leader made clear that the full Senate must be in session before Congress begins its fifth installment of responding to the pandemic. And he signaled he is growing weary of quickly shoveling billions of dollars out the door even as the economy continues to crater. The latest measure cleared the Senate by voice vote, but it was the product of days of fraught negotiations and false starts and its success will be difficult to replicate as senators' frustrations over the extended recess pile up. McConnell said the Senate will proceed cautiously to the next phase of coronavirus relief despite rapidly escalating demands for more aid from members of both parties. And he said that all 100 senators need to be around before Washington spends more money on an unprecedented economic rescue of workers and businesses caught in the virus fallout. Youve seen the talk from both sides about acting, but my goal from the beginning of this, given the extraordinary numbers that were racking up to the national debt, is that we need to be as cautious as we can be, McConnell said. We need to see how things are working, see what needs to be corrected, and I do think that the next time we pass a coronavirus rescue bill we need to have everyone here and everyone engaged. After two weeks of bickering over McConnells initial proposal to send a quarter-billion dollars to revive the depleted Paycheck Protection Program, the Senate clinched a deal Tuesday providing more aid to small businesses and hospitals, and for disease testing. But it was neither easy nor pretty and the episode exposed the pitfalls of trying to legislate while the Senate is in recess. McConnell said his goal is still to bring the Senate back on May 4 despite uncertainty nationwide over the spread of a virus that has killed more than 40,000 Americans. But its clear that the ongoing recess is becoming untenable: Two Republican senators openly fumed on the Senate floor on Tuesday about passing bills without input from individual lawmakers of Congress. Had either objected, the bipartisan deal would have been derailed and senators would have been hauled back to D.C. Story continues Its time to do our job. Its time to return to Washington and get to work, said Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah). We cant legislate without our members here. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said he would not demand a recorded vote that would have upended McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumers plans to quickly pass the aid package. But he warned of the massive debt Congress is creating, called for the economy to open up and officially registered his opposition to the bill. He also offered a motion to allow remote voting, but McConnell blocked it. FILE - In this March 5, 2019, file photo, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks during a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. Paul said Tuesday, April 7, 2020, that he has recovered from the coronavirus and has started volunteering at a hospital in his Kentucky hometown. The Republican lawmaker tested positive for the virus in March, becoming the first case of COVID-19 in the Senate. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File) Yet in the interview, McConnell echoed some of Paul and Lees complaints which are shared by President Donald Trump. He said governors needed to begin opening up the economy as quickly and as safely as they can while consumers and citizens overcome the stigma of wearing a mask in public. And several times McConnell expressed worry about new deficit spending, proclaiming that we cant borrow enough money to solve the problem indefinitely. Withh that in mind, he conceded that handling the next phase of legislation will be more tricky. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) lamented on Tuesday that additional state and local government funding was left out of the deal and discussed the need for such relief in the next package with his caucus. Some Republicans, like Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland and Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana have endorsed large sums of new money to help out states and cities whose budgets have been blown open by the coronavirus restrictions. Republicans know they will have to respond to those demands. But doing so will be complicated. My view is: We just added another $500 billion to the national debt. Lets see how things are working, McConnell said. We need to weigh our obligations vs. [states and cities], since they have taxing authorities as well, and how to divide up the responsibility. So were not going to move on another bill related to this subject until we all get back here. Demands are sure to stack up in the coming days. Governors and mayors are warning of massive budget shortfalls. Hospitals are bleeding money. And small businesses could easily exhaust the latest tranche of $380 billion for small businesses before the Senate gets back. The economy is in free fall. It certainly underscores that, McConnell said of demand for small-business aid. The best way to get the economy back and running is to begin to open it up again, rather than passing immediately another bill where we have to borrow. EgyptAir will operate flights to Washington, Guangzhou, Bahrain, Mumbai, Casablanca, Amsterdam and Moscow, while Air Cairo will operate flights to Frankfurt and the Maldives EgyptAir and Air Cairo will operate on Thursday nine special flights from international destinations, including the US, to repatriate Egyptians stranded abroad due to the coronavirus pandemic. The flagship carrier will operate flights to Washington, Guangzhou, Bahrain, Mumbai, Casablanca, Amsterdam and Moscow, while its affiliate Air Cairo will operate two flights to Frankfurt and the Maldives. Informed sources at the civil aviation ministry said that EgyptAir and Air Cairo will fly back to the Red Seas Marsa Alam, a resort selected by authorities for the 14-day hotel quarantine for repatriated Egyptians. The government is requiring returnees to sign before boarding their flights a written acknowledgement that they agree to be quarantined. Egypt began repatriating its citizens since March as part of efforts to bring back hundreds of its nationals stranded in various countries owing to the pandemic. The country is keeping its airspace open to inbound charter and special flights to transport outbound passengers, and to cargo and domestic flights, during a temporary suspension of air traffic since mid-March. The number of Egyptians stranded abroad due to the coronavirus crisis reached 3,378, according to a statement by Minister of Information Osama Heikal earlier this month. Search Keywords: Short link: 22.04.2020 LISTEN A Non-Governmental Organisation NORSAAC has expressed disappointment over the alleged misconduct of some security personnel of the Ghana Police Service in the Tamale Metropolis in the wake of the Coronavirus. The Northern Sector Action on Awareness Creation in Tamale which is aimed at empowering women, youth, and children said: "How unfortunate! NORSAAC unconditionally condemns the action of the police on that faithful day. It was indeed a day of shame to Ghana's democracy and respect for the rule of law." A statement signed by the Executive Director Alhassan Mohammed Awal NORSAAC described the incident saying: "It is most unfortunate to recount the barbaric act the Ghana Police Service unleashed on the innocent residents of Changli, a suburb of the Tamale Metropolis to settle an alleged assault of a police officer." Norsaac accused the Ghana Police Service of trampling upon the fundamental human rights of the people they arrested over the physical abuse of a policewoman on March 28. "All those arrested had their human rights grossly violated since they were not even informed of the reason for their arrest. "That did not end, the police returned to the area at about 8:00am that same day and started firing live bullets indiscriminately in the community. Madam Chentwuni, a 17-year-old adolescent girl sustained gunshot injuries in her head." Norsaac further criticized the Service for not using due processes to find the culprits involved in the alleged assault on the policewoman "The police was wrong, absolutely wrong, with the actions they took. Even if it would have taken the police months to carry out professional investigations into any alleged crimes, that should have been done for that is what they are trained to do. The Ghana Police Service was also blasted for using abusive language and being ethnocentric during the arrest of some 140 people at Changli over the assault of female personnel of the service and tasked them to make amends. "The Command must dissociate itself from the alleged ethnocentric comment tagging a particular tribe as difficult people and deserves no mercy." The statement also petitioned the government to sanction the regional police commander, the regional crime officer and to oblige the service to apologize to the affected persons. The youth, women and children empowerment NGO demands the Ghana Police Service to pay damages to the people whose property were vandalized: "The Ghana Police must bear the full cost of the damaged properties and the health expenses of all those injured." C Shivakumar By Express News Service CHENNAI: Days after Express reported how migrant labourers engaged in construction work at a site in Ayanambakkam have been left high and dry without their wages being paid, a few of them were given one-month salary. Many others, however, are yet to get paid. The developers, contractors, and sub-contractors are now engaged in a blame game, with none taking the responsibility for paying the money. Thirty-three year old Bhagirathi, a carpenter from Chappra district in Bihar and a father of two, said he was paid the salary for the month of February and it was a huge relief. But many of his colleagues have been left in the lurch. Twenty-eight-year-old Krishnakumar from Chattrapur in Madhya Pradesh said his contractor Joginder did not pay him the salary for February and March. I had taken a loan of `60,000 to `65,000 for my marriage. Now these people call me often asking me to pay back the money. The officials here are only making promises. They are not releasing the cash. Even my parents and wife are worried. At least they could have made arrangement for us to go back home as no work is happening, he rues. Subcontractor Joginder says he is yet to get money from the contractor to pay the workers.The developer who pays the contractor told Express that they have a monthly credit-cycle and payment has been made to the contractors.These contractors are responsible to the workers they hired. It is not the responsibility of developers. Despite this we are providing the migrant workers with food allowance, the developer said. It is learnt that the contractor makes a huge profit by supplying the workers. They should have worked out an alternative for difficult times. I have to pay my employees at this difficult times. I cant say that the EMIs are not being paid so I wont pay them. The responsibility lies solely on the contractors. They are using this to blackmail us, he says. Kumar says around 300 workers protested for two hours following which a police officer intervened and held talks with the supervisor who promised to that the issue will be sorted out within a week.Now we are hoping that we are paid the salary after a week. Most of our families are in distress, says Kumar. (The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters) * Global Output by Region in Q1 2020: https://reut.rs/34Xvb61 * LME price, stocks and spreads: https://reut.rs/3avhQDa By Andy Home LONDON, April 22 (Reuters) - Global aluminium production rose by 2.1% over the first three months of this year, according to the latest figures from the International Aluminium Institute. This is a disaster for the world's aluminium producers. Amid all the uncertainty generated by COVID-19, one thing is for sure. Aluminium usage hasn't risen by anything close to that rate. It's rather a question of how hard it has fallen. Given the lockdown of much of the world's auto manufacturing capacity, a key end-use sector for aluminium, the intuitive answer is very hard indeed. In the opaque aluminium market the truest signal is price and that on the London Metal Exchange hit a four-year low of $1,455 per tonne earlier this month. It is currently trading around $1,490. At least aluminium isn't going to "go negative" like the WTI oil contract. Storage space isn't going to run out. But that's part of aluminium's problem. MINIMAL LOCKDOWN IMPACT Other industrial metals are experiencing a supply shock which is partly mitigating the coronavirus demand shock as mines around the world are forced to stop operations due to lockdowns in key producer countries such as Peru. However, for the most part aluminium smelters even in countries with the most severe lockdowns such as South Africa have been designated critical industries and allowed to continue operating. The biggest lockdown hit has been experienced by Argentina's Aluar, which has temporarily shuttered 50% of its 460,000-tonne per year Puerto Madryn plant to comply with the government's emergency quarantine measures. Elsewhere, Rio Tinto has idled one of four potlines at its Tiwai Point smelter in New Zealand and Hydro has pushed back the restart of a 95,000-tonne line at its Husnes plant in Norway. Ironically, the line is being revived after being mothballed during the last aluminium price crisis in 2009. Story continues The Tiwai Point plant was already under long-term review due to low prices. So too is Rio's ISAL smelter in Iceland, which is running at 85% of its 230,000-tonne per year capacity under what the company calls its "value over volume" policy. That underlines the slow price response time of the global aluminium industry. Most producers are still reacting to last year's low prices rather than the current demand shock. Moreover, the minimal curtailments seen so far are being overshadowed by new and restarted capacity. An 11% year-on-year jump in first-quarter production in the Gulf, for example, reflects the ramp-up of a new 540,000-tonne per year line at Aluminium Bahrain. Higher output in Latin America is down to the return to full capacity of Hydro's Albras plant in Brazil after a government-mandated part closure of the alumina refinery which feeds the smelter. The restart is still work in progress with Albras closing 25% of capacity again after a March fire. It's a similar story in North America, where a 4.1% rise in output is largely due to the return of the Becancour smelter in Canada after a crippling 18-month strike that ended in July last year. Then, of course, there is China, the world's largest producing country, where smelters managed to lift output by 2.2% over the first three months of this year despite Beijing's tough quarantine measures and despite a collapse in first-use demand from product manufacturers. SLOW-FUSE INDUSTRY Aluminium is a notoriously slow-fuse industry when it comes to responding to price signals. It takes time and money to close and restart capacity without damaging a smelter's production equipment. Aluminium smelters use a lot of electricity and many have long-term power contracts with penalty clauses for sudden changes in usage. Moreover, this is an industry that is battle-hardened by years of low pricing since the last demand shock of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). Smelters still operating are by definition survivors and often insulated against low pricing by long-dated hedging programmes. Norway's Hydro, for example, had hedged 50% of its primary metal output for the first quarter of this year at an average price of $1,750 per tonne, according to its Q4 2019 financial accounts. All of which helps explain why the collective reaction time to demand and price shocks can be glacial. The aluminium price dropped to a nadir of $1,275 in February 2009, when the GFC storms were most intense. It wasn't until 2011-2012, however, that a collective shuttering of capacity started building momentum. STOCKS RELEASE The consequence of excess production relative to demand in 2008-2009 was inventory build. LME stocks surged from 1.17 to 4.6 million tonnes between August 2008 and August 2009. Aluminium, unlike oil, is easy to store. During the worst of the GFC demand shock traders were even trying to lease disused airfields to stockpile metal. All you really need is a hard enough concrete surface. And the market itself provided the mechanism for holding all that unsold metal in the form of a super-contango. As long as the forward price is trading at a sufficient premium to the cash price to cover the cost of money, storage and insurance, stocks financiers can make a tidy profit from letting the metal sit in deep freeze in a warehouse. Aluminium has been living with the consequences of those high stocks ever since in the form of low pricing and persistent margin compression for producers. There are already indications that this new crisis is going to run to the same script as the old one. LME stocks have increased sharply since the middle of March with just over 400,000 tonnes of metal hitting registered warehouses. This may be the tip of the iceberg, though, since a shadow LME warehouse system has grown over the last decade. Excess metal will be absorbed by such "near-market" storage first before it shows up as LME-warranted metal. LME spreads, meanwhile, have noticeably loosened with the cash-to-threes period flexing out to a contango of around $40 per tonne in recent days. That's not quite a return of the super-contango of 2009 but it's the widest the structure has been in four years. In short, the aluminium market shows every sign of repeating the mistakes of crisis past. Aluminium producers could break this vicious repeat cycle by biting the collective bullet and shuttering capacity. But will they? (Editing by David Evans) Greta Thunberg today called on governments to keep fighting climate change even during the coronavirus emergency, warning that global warming 'is not slowing down'. The 17-year-old marked Earth Day with a live-streamed appeal to 'tackle two crises at once', saying the pandemic showed the importance of listening to scientists. Thunberg's Fridays for Future rallies have been moved online because of the health crisis, but the Swede has continued her demands for urgent action. Greta Thunberg speaks during a live chat for International Earth Day today, urging governments to keep fighting climate change during the coronavirus pandemic 'Today is Earth Day and that reminds us that climate and the environmental emergency is still ongoing,' Thunberg said today. 'We need to tackle the corona pandemic at the same time as we tackle the climate and environmental emergency, because we need to tackle two crises at once.' A report released for Earth Day showed that 2019 was Europe's warmest year on record, reinforcing her point. There are signs that pollution has dropped in recent weeks because of the global economic standstill caused by the pandemic. New Delhi has enjoyed blue skies and Venice has seen clear canals for the first time in living memory, but activists say these are only temporary improvements. Thunberg said the virus outbreak showed the importance of listening to scientists and other experts. 'That goes for all crises, whether its the corona crisis or whether it is the climate crisis which is still ongoing and is not slowing down, even in times like these,' she said. The Swedish activist said in March that she had probably been infected with coronavirus herself, saying she had developed symptoms after travels in Europe. As she pointed out at the time, many young people are thought to have had the virus with only very mild or non-existent symptoms. Thunberg sits at a laptop today, speaking to environmental science professor Johan Rockstrom in Germany among others The teenage activist was sitting at the Nobel Museum in Stockholm today where she spoke on a live chat to mark Earth Day Fridays for Future yesterday published a striking video of a house on fire while its occupants do nothing, an analogy for the world's inaction on climate change. The clip shows a family waking up, eating breakfast and talking obliviously as their home is engulfed by flames and clouds of smoke. The video was released by Fridays for Future in partnership with Los Angeles-based creative agency FF. The campaign is inspired by Thunberg's statement to the World Economic Forum last year: 'I want you to act as if our house is on fire. Because it is.' Thunberg rose to prominence as a 15-year-old when she started skipping school on Fridays to protest outside Sweden's parliament over carbon emissions. Her solo protest has since mushroomed into a global movement, regularly attracting huge crowds before the pandemic put a stop to such gatherings. Fridays for Future yesterday published a striking video of a house on fire while its occupants do nothing, an analogy for the world's inaction on climate change Thunberg savaged world leaders in a memorable speech at the United Nations last year, accusing them of 'stealing my dreams and my childhood with your empty words'. Her angry glare at Donald Trump after he upstaged her by walking into the climate summit with his entourage also became a viral sensation. Trump, a climate change sceptic, sarcastically tweeted that she 'seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future'. Thunberg later adopted the description for her own Twitter profile. The teenager sailed to North America on a racing yacht because she refuses to fly on polluting jet planes. She had intended to join an environmental summit in Chile in December, but had to sail back to Europe after the conference was moved to Madrid. The teenager has also clashed with Brazil's far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro, who labelled her a 'little brat' in a row about the deforestation of the Amazon. The video shows flames leaping around a breakfast table as family members obliviously serve each other juice A significant majority of councils want local government elections that are due to be held in October postponed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Municipal Association of Victoria says a survey found that most councillors and chief executives who responded supported deferring the October 23 elections until 2021, although up to 10 per cent of respondents were completely against any delay. Victoria's 2020 council elections could be postponed. The rest of the responses were a combination of negative and positive comments, but with overwhelming support for a delay. The board of the association the peak body for Victorian councils is pushing for the delay to be legislated by the state government by the end of May. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ludovic Ehret (Agence France-Presse) Beijing, China Wed, April 22, 2020 16:35 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd394804 2 Books Wuhan-Diary,China,wuhan,Literature,coronavirus,author,Fang-Fang Free After Wuhan was sealed off from the world, acclaimed Chinese writer Fang Fang started an online diary about the coronavirus tragedy unfolding in her hometown. Her journal drew tens of millions of readers -- but now that it is about to be published abroad in several languages, she is facing a nationalist backlash at home. Critics say the 64-year-old, who was awarded China's most prestigious literary prize in 2010, is providing fodder to countries that have slammed Beijing's handling of the pandemic. Fang began to document life in Wuhan, the city of 11 million where COVID-19 first emerged in December, after it was placed under an unprecedented lockdown on January 23. This photo taken on February 22, 2020 shows Chinese writer Fang Fang speaking with media in Wuhan, China's central Hubei province. (STR/AFP/File) As authorities desperately scrambled to stop the disease from spreading across the country, she wrote about the fears, anger and hope of the industrial hub's residents in isolation. In one entry she mentioned seeing pictures of the city's empty East Lake, and the "deserted and peaceful expanse of the water". She described residents helping each other, and the simple pleasure of the sun lighting up her room. But she also touched on politically sensitive topics such as overcrowded hospitals turning away patients, mask shortages and relatives' deaths. "A doctor friend said to me: in fact, we doctors have all known for a while that there is a human-to-human transmission of the disease, we reported this to our superiors, but yet nobody warned people," she wrote in one entry. Born to a family of well-off intellectuals, the writer's real name is Wang Fang but she uses the pen name Fang Fang. Read also: China reports rise in coronavirus cases, most from abroad Death threats Readers flocked to the online diary to get an unfiltered account from Wuhan in a Communist-ruled country that lacks independent media. But some social media users have turned on the author -- especially as a new diplomatic spat has erupted between China and the US, which accuses Beijing of a lack of transparency in the outbreak's early days, costing the world valuable time. "Bravo Fang Fang. You're giving Western countries ammunition to target China," said one post about her on the country's Twitter-like Weibo platform. "You've shown your treacherous nature," it said. Another accused Fang of making money off Wuhan's nearly 4,000 virus victims, writing: "How much did you sell the diary for?" Hit by a barrage of online insults, Fang wrote on Weibo that she was the victim of "cyberbullying" by fringe nationalists. And in an interview posted on the website of Chinese weekly Caixin, the author said she had received death threats and that her home address was posted online. The way US publisher HarperCollins introduces the book -- which goes on sale in June and is succinctly titled Wuhan Diary -- has added fuel to the online fury. "The stark reality of this devastating situation drives Fang Fang to courageously speak out against social injustice, corruption, abuse, and the systemic political problems which impeded the response to the epidemic," the publishing house says on its website. The book, it says, blends "the eerie and dystopian" and provides "a unique look at life in confinement in an authoritarian nation". French publisher Stock told AFP the book is a "first-hand testimony by a talented writer". Read also: Pain, solitude, fear: Stories of surviving COVID-19 Donating royalties Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of nationalist tabloid Global Times, said the diary's foreign publication "is not really in good taste" while Beijing is in the throes of confrontation with Washington. "In the end it will be the Chinese, including those who supported Fang Fang at the beginning, who will pay the price of her fame in the West," Hu said in a social-media comment that drew more than 190,000 likes. An article in the state-run newspaper said that to many Chinese people, the book is "biased and only exposes the dark side in Wuhan". Publishers in China who were interested in her diary are now hesitating due to the controversy, Fang said in the interview on Caixin's website. Politically sensitive content is often censored or banned in mainland China. In 2015 five booksellers in Hong Kong, where the mini-constitution guarantees freedom of expression, disappeared into mainland custody after publishing salacious tomes about China's leaders. "Why not publish this book? Just because some could use us?" Fang said. "If people truly read my diary, they will discover the effective measures that China took against the epidemic." Fang said she would donate "every royalty" she receives and "will give the money to the families of health workers who worked in the frontline and died". Loyal fans of the author have rallied around her on Weibo. "Fang Fang owes nothing to anyone," wrote one. "You're free to write a diary that goes against what she wrote, translate it and publish it abroad!" When travelers once again feel comfortable enough to book flights and return to the skies, how will the airlines keep them safe and sanitary in a post-coronavirus world? Italy-based airplane seating company Aviointeriors is already looking at two potential answers to that question. This week, the company rolled out a pair of radical economy class seating concepts with germ-blocking physical barriers between fliers. The most eye-catching is the companys Janus concept, a row of three seats where every middle seat is positioned backwards. Fliers in the aisle and window seats face forward in the direction of flight. A wrap-around transparent barrier envelopes each passenger, providing a big plastic cocoon that protects from germs, bad breath, and fights for the armrest. The barrier curves around the aisle seat passenger too, giving him or her some extra protection from people walking up and down the airplane aisles. According to Aviointeriors, the high shield prevents breath propagation to occupants of adjacent seats. The company named the seat after the Roman god Janus who was the authority of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, and endings. He is usually depicted with two faces - one that looks to the future and the other that looks to the past. Aviointeriors other concept is called Glassafe, which resembles a see-through plastic hood that is attached onto existing economy class seats. Glassafe allows airlines to minimize contacts and interactions via air between passenger and passenger, so as to reduce the probability of contamination by viruses or other, according to Aviointeriors. The concepts debuted this week, but no airlines have stepped forward yet to express their interest in the products. Aviointeriors splashy ideas in the airline seating world are well documented. It is the company behind the infamous Skyrider flying saddle seat. (See our post about that seat here.) In the meantime, all U.S. airlines are already enacting social distancing on flights to decrease the likelihood of fliers getting each other or crew members sick. Delta, American, United and Alaska Airlines are all blocking middle seats in economy class and capping the maximum capacity of jets to increase distancing on flights. Alaska Airlines is upping the ante a bit by offering its customers free flight changes and cancelations if they are not happy with the level of on-board distancing. Social distancing when flying commercially is easy to achieve when passenger demand is almost zero, as is the case now. Might these policies stay in place when people are ready to get back into the air? If they do, the head of the International Air Transport Association believes social-distancing airline seating will mean more expensive ticket prices because airlines will need to charge more to recoup the losses from all those empty seats. If social distancing is imposed, cheap travel is over, Alexandre de Juniac, director general of IATA, told reporters Tuesday. Read all recent TravelSkills posts here Chris McGinnis is SFGATE's senior travel correspondent. You can reach him via email or follow him on Twitter or Facebook. Don't miss a shred of important travel news by signing up for his FREE weekly email updates! SFGATE participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. Pennsylvania is in the throes of pandemic. Thousands are sick and hundreds are dying in our state. Our governor and secretary of health are doing their best to inform citizens and keep them safe. Gov. Tom Wolf is dealing with issues of life and death on a daily basis. At a time when he needs our support (and the support of the other branches of government), I am sickened by the petty partisanship being exhibited by Republicans in the Legislature. In response to Wolfs first set of restrictions, House Republicans issued a news release criticizing him, saying he would set off a panic throughout the Commonwealth. They were dead wrong. Following his further shutdowns, the Senate issued a letter saying because they support Wolf, he should stand with them and expedite the opening of businesses. This is not a time to be making deals, creating legislation to limit executive power, filing lawsuits and placing citizens in harms way. This is not the time for petty, partisan gamesmanship. Citizens in our state are still sick and dying. It is shameful that Republican legislators are unable to behave in a manner that keeps this pro-life issue front and center. If this behavior on the part of Republican legislators in both houses continues, it is hard to imagine how the GOP in Pennsylvania can lay claim to being the party of pro-life. The economy will get there. But lets make sure we are out of danger first! Mary Erdman Upper Macungie Township By Trend The amount of donations made to Azerbaijans Fund to Support Fight against Coronavirus revealed, Trend reports on Apr. 22. Up to date, 112,849,265 manat ($66,381,920.5) has been transferred to the fund. Among those who donated, 3,150 people are legal persons, and 10,508 - individuals. The Fund to Support Fight against Coronavirus was established by the decree of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on March 19, 2020. (1 USD = 1.7 AZN on Apr. 22) --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Ibrahim Halsa stabbed an Israeli police officer in occupied West Bank before he was shot and killed. A Palestinian man was shot and killed by Israeli forces after he stabbed an Israeli police officer at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank. The man was identified by the Palestinian Authority (PA) as Ibrahim Halsa, 25, from the village of Sawahra. His body has been detained by Israeli forces. Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the attack took place near the Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim, near occupied East Jerusalem, and a sweep of the area found a pipe bomb at the scene. The Israeli policeman was moderately wounded, he said. Video footage of the incident shows a white van veering off a road onto the curb and ramming into the police officer by the Container Checkpoint, hurtling him several feet back. Halsa can then be seen jumping out of the vehicle with what looks like a pair of scissors and lunging at the injured policeman. A scuffle ensues with the policeman retreating and the assailant giving chase before other officers on the scene pursue him off-camera. Police said the other officers on the scene eventually shot and killed Halsa. Palestinian local media reported that Halsas village and home were raided by Israeli forces, and his parents were taken away for interrogation. Such Palestinian attacks on Israeli police and military positions in the occupied West Bank have been a frequent occurrence in recent years but have tapered off significantly in recent months, especially since the outbreak of the coronavirus in the region pushed many indoors. Palestinian prisoner dies Meanwhile, a 23-year-old Palestinian died after losing consciousness in an Israeli jail on Tuesday night. According to the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS), Nour al-Barghouthi, who was held in Section 25 of the Ketziot/Naqab prison, fainted in the toilet. The Israeli Prison Service, PPS said, waited more than half an hour before attempting to revive al-Barghouthi, after a verbal commotion caused by the other Palestinian prisoners. The PPS said it held the Israeli Prison Service fully responsible for his death, pointing to its inaction and deliberate delay in saving Barghouthis life, and accused Israeli authorities of its continued implementation of the slow death policy. Israeli media reported that al-Barghouthi, who had served four years of his eight-year sentence, was found unconscious in his cell on Tuesday night and was transferred to a hospital overnight, where he passed away. Al-Barghouthis death raised the number of Palestinian prisoners to die within Israeli jails since 1967 to 223. Israeli authorities have refused to release the bodies of five prisoners who died in detention in the past: Anis Dawla, who died in Ashelon prison in 1980, Aziz Owaisat, who died in 2018, Faris Baroud, Nasrat Taqatqa, and Bassam al-Sayeh who all died last year. Why is accusation that COVID-19 virus originates in lab false, wrong? People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 14:50, April 21, 2020 BEIJING, April 21 (Xinhua) -- The accusations that the novel coronavirus causing the COVID-19 pandemic was created in the laboratory or in a laboratory in China's Wuhan are false and wrong, several French scientists have said recently. Driven by a malicious intention of scapegoating China to cover up the lax U.S. response to COVID-19, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been repeatedly calling the novel coronavirus "Chinese virus" or "Wuhan virus" in public, largely accountable for the virus disinformation. "What we do know is we know that this virus originated in Wuhan, China," said Pompeo in a comment requested by the Fox News. "The U.S. government is working diligently to figure it out." Luc Montagnier, a French Nobel prize winning virologist in 2008, told French media last week that "there was manipulation around this virus ... It is not natural. It's the work of professionals, of molecular biologists." In response, several French scientists have recently refuted the remarks by Montagnier. The hypothesis that a virus was created in a lab in Wuhan sounded "a conspiracy vision that does not relate to the real science," said Jean-Francois Delfraissy, an immunologist and head of the scientific council that advises the French government on the COVID-19 pandemic, when interviewed by French television BFM TV. "Everyone in the scientific community agrees that COVID-19 is a coronavirus. From time to time there are coronaviruses different from the others, as are SARS and MERS with a pathogenicity which has appeared," he added. Both Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) are caused by coronaviruses, and the COVID-19 virus is also known as SARS-CoV-2. "The world of viruses is a world in perpetual evolution," Delfraissy noted. According to Olivier Schwartz, head of the virus and immunity department of France's Pasteur Institute, studies have shown clearly that the novel coronavirus was not man-made in the laboratory. "Professor Montagnier spreads whimsical theories," he told the French weekly L'Obs, previously known as Le Nouvel Observateur. "Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease, was not created in the laboratory. We see this by studying the genetic heritage of the virus, which has been sequenced by Chinese teams and then verified in many other laboratories, including the Pasteur Institute," said Schwartz. "This virus is clearly part of the coronavirus family tree. It is close to Sars-CoV-1, with which it has 80 percent homology," he explained. "Above all, the same virus is found in different animals, in particular the pangolin and the bat. And there, the percentage of similarities is greater than 95 percent. So, by drawing up the family tree of this virus, we know that it is derived from viruses that circulate in nature," he said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address A 20-year-old man didn't know who his father was until they met when they were both behind bars in the last year. That is according to the man's solicitor, Daragh Hassett, who described the circumstances of how the two men met as "like something from a British soap". At Ennis District Court, Mr Hassett said his client's father is well known to the courts and is an alcoholic. "There was one occasion when my client was in custody and so was his father, and that is how they met." He said his client, who was before the court where he pleaded guilty to two public order charges, "would have seen his father over the years but wouldn't have known he was his father but the connection was made in the last 12 months. "It is like something from a British soap - they were trying to rekindle a relationship that never existed through both of them appearing in court at the same time and on various occasions both in custody." Mr Hassett said his client's mother is also an addict, adding: "It is an awful cycle. He needs to stop drinking. He has huge anger - a lot of pent-up anger on issues that need to be addressed." The accused man was before the court for telling two gardai in a drunken outburst that they were "dirty paedos" when he was trying to enter a homeless hostel, Laurel Lodge, in Ennis, Co Clare, on January 27 last. Sgt Aiden Lonergan said the man told gardai "ye see your dirty daughter, I'll rape her. Ye think this is funny? Wait til you're blasted with an AK-47". The man told the court: "I apologise to the gardai but I can't remember what I said." Mr Hassett stated that his client is currently homeless and was brought up in a home "that was essentially a party house". "There was heavy drinking, drug abuse. You could say what you wanted and do what you wanted and the gardai were always the enemy and that was the house he grew up in." Judge Patrick Durcan told the man his behaviour towards the gardai on the night in question was "terrible". He remanded him on bail to appear again in September. PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister and Chair of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Silveria Jacobs hereby updates the general public for today, Monday, April 21, 2020, as part of the process to keep the community of St. Maarten informed about the latest developments and the Governments COVID-19 containment, mitigation and response measures. COVID-19 Cases Based on the latest available data, as updated by CPS Epidemiologist Eva Lista-de Weever, the counts for April 21, 2020 as of 5:00 PM are as follows: Self-Quarantine: 130 Self-Isolation: 95 Number Hospitalized: 7 SMMC and 2 in the Mobile Medical Pavilion Number Tested: 258 Number Positive: 71 Male: 49 Female: 21 Number Negative: 141 Number Pending: 45 Inconclusive: 1 Deceased: 11 (1 person passed away at SMMC, sadly, during last night after a long battle in ICU) Recovered: 22 Active Cases: 38 As of today, April 21, 2020, SMMC currently has 9 COVID-19 suspected or confirmed patients admitted. Of the 9 patients, 2 are currently in the ICU and 2 are in care level 3/4 and in the Mobile Medical Pavilion. Today, SMMC also received a shipment of five ventilators from the Dutch Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Sports. The Government of St. Maarten is thankful for the grant of the ventilators provided for St. Maarten. Prime Minister Jacobs will update during the Council of Ministers press briefing on the details hereof. This morning, Prime Minister Jacobs had an opportunity to express her gratitude for the assistance provided during the weekly ministerial consultation with the Ministers of Health within the Dutch Kingdom. The Ministers gave updates on the current epidemiological and announced their intentions to look into de-escalating measures to return to some sort of normalcy and restart their economies. The meeting ended on a rather positive note as St. Maarten got confirmation that the 600 COVID-19 test kits that were delayed for a week due to logistical issues would be arriving this week, ensuring that CPS can continue to conduct their community outreach campaign for COVID-19 testing. This afternoon, Prime Minister Jacobs also held a strategic meeting with ESFs 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 and the Ministers of Justice, TEATT and VROMI in his capacity as Deputy Prime Minister. The Minister of VSA was unable to attend due to a scheduled Parliamentary meeting. ESF 6 coordinator for Public Health Fenna Arnell, gave updates in regard to Collective Prevention Services (CPS) community outreach campaign for COVID-19 testing. Reportedly, over 600 persons in more than 200 households were contacted in 3 districts, of which 9 were confirmed as showing symptoms and 6 were tested. CPS is however, concerned after evaluation of the numbers, that there may be a stigma in the community preventing persons from signaling if they have symptoms. Prime Minister Jacobs reminds all that there is absolutely no shame in knowing your status, as this is the only way to mitigate the spread of the virus. Knowledge is power, proper hygiene and isolation once identified as positive, and properly medicated to avoid severe symptoms that may be life threatening could save your own life, Jacobs stated. Prime Minister Jacobs further stated, Proposals will be made to the EOC in the upcoming meetings this week as we continue to assess the effect of measures taken as well as CPSs ability to carry out the necessary community outreach, testing, and mitigation of the spread of the virus on the ground. ESF 7 coordinator for Social Services and Community Development, Joy Arnell, reported that she had a fruitful meeting with the six organizations and NGOs that are out in the community delivering food as well as with the seven community councils and leaders. The delivery list was streamed lined by the organization, and the number of persons needing assistance with food has been brought down to about 3000. The food packages are also currently being packed and will be ready for distribution by Thursday, and will continue through Saturday, Sunday in collaboration with the Community Leaders. ESF 5 coordinator Police Chief Carl John reported that compliance by the general public is still going well and commends the public for their behavior. The Chief also reported that 177 fines were issued for non-compliance with measures implemented to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Some challenges did occur with the controls of the 2 zones, however as the days progress and people become accustomed, this will improve. ESF 10 coordinator and Secretary General of TEATT, Miguel de Weever reported that on Monday, despite the fact that the banks in Zone A were not open, causing more work for Police at control points, everything else went smoothly with the businesses that were open and delivery services continued. Additionally, discussions are being had with the Harbour and Airport regarding the plan to re-open St. Maarten for returning residents and visitors, and how this can be facilitated while safeguarding the safety of residents of St. Maarten as well as future returning and visiting tourists. Discussions also started related to the public holidays scheduled for next week, however, the decision will be made after further legal advice has been sought as to how to resolve it within the constraints of the current State of Emergency and its scheduled business openings, so that the employees still have an opportunity to rest and recover during the holidays. I urge and encourage the people of Soualiga to remain faithful. Continue to show that we are a strong, resilient, united and powerful people. This challenge will be overcome. This war will be won. Thank you to the people of St. Maarten. Thank you to all our front-liners. St. Maarten is blessed, concluded Prime Minister Jacobs. Fears were building today that the NHS Nightingale hospitals opening across Britain will be mostly unused with only dozens of patients treated so far in their 2,000 beds. The first of the seven major sites in England to open at the ExCel Centre in East London has so far treated just 41 patients despite already having a capacity of 500. And the transfer of more than 30 patients to the hospital which opened on April 3 was allegedly 'cancelled due to staffing shortages', according to NHS documents. Of the 41 patients treated in London, four have died, seven have been discharged to a less critical level of care and the other 30 are still having treatment there. There have since been three more Nightingales open - in Birmingham on April 16, in Manchester the following day and in Harrogate in North Yorkshire yesterday. The NHS has not yet provided MailOnline with data on how many people have been treated by any of these three, although the figure is believed to be dozens at best. This means the total number of patients treated at the four sites could be under 100. But the NHS has already praised staff for freeing up more than 30,000 hospital beds, meaning it has not yet had to make 'extensive use of the Nightingale London'. Bosses have insisted that the Nightingale centres have always been intended as a 'backup' should other intensive care units fill up, which has not yet happened. The London site has 500 beds with the option to expand to 4,000, while Harrogate, Birmingham and Manchester also have 500 - but the latter can expand to 1,000. There are three further sites being constructed in Exeter, Bristol and Tyne and Wear. The Government has said the number of hospital cases is London is now declining after peaking on April 10, but in other parts of Britain they are at 'more of a plateau'. A source at the Nightingale hospitals said volunteers are occupied with first aid because there are 'a lot of people who might need treating but arent patients'. They told MailOnline: 'It is a strange set up and always changing but the big problem is lack of nurses. Yesterday they only had enough nurses to cover 25 patients. They are not drafting in nurses because there is a country-wide 40 per cent shortage. Applications by several London NHS trusts to move patients to the new facility were rejected because there were too few nurses to treat them, reported the Guardian. But the Department of Health and Social Care said this was misleading, while NHS London insisted there was spare capacity in the capital's critical care network. The London hospital can have a capacity of up to 4,000 beds, split into more than 80 wards containing 42 beds each, and was created in nine days to help cope with the pandemic. It needs an army of up to 16,000 staff in clinical and ancillary roles. The Nightingales were created amid fears that the NHS could be overwhelmed by the number of people with coronavirus requiring intensive care during the crisis. Beds are set up by inside the NHS Nightingale Hospital in London at the ExCel Centre Ambulances are seen outside the NHS Nightingale Hospital at the ExCel Centre in London But the NHS has already praised staff for freeing up more than 30,000 hospital beds, meaning it has not yet had to make 'extensive use of the Nightingale London'. Officials have also thanked the public for observing the lockdown and said it will be a 'huge success for the whole country if we never need to use' the Nightingales. A source added: 'It wouldn't be a good thing to have loads of London's critical care nurses waiting around in the Nightingale when there are more patients in regular hospitals who need their care. 'And neither would people want the surge capacity that the Nightingale provides not to exist if the worst happens and the number of people needing ventilation increases significantly.' But one member of staff claimed the London hospital was having to reject patients because there are not enough nurses to work there. Beds and chairs at the NHS Nightingale Hospital Birmingham at the National Exhibition Centre Contractors work to transform Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre into a Nightingale site They told the Guardian: 'There are plenty of people working here, including plenty of doctors. But there aren't enough critical care nurses. 'They're already working in other hospitals and being run ragged there. There aren't spare people [specialist nurses] around to do this. That's the problem. 'That leads to patients having to be rejected, because there aren't enough critical care nurses.' The Health Secretary said yesterday there were currently a 'record high' of 2,963 spare critical care beds available across the health service. Rows of beds on a ward at the Nightingale Hospital North West in Manchester last week The NHS Nightingale Hospital North West is at the Manchester Central Convention Complex Matt Hancock said: 'At no point in this crisis has anyone who could benefit from critical care been denied that care because there weren't enough staff, or beds, or ventilators to treat them.' An NHS London spokesman said: 'The most important point about staff at the Nightingale is that thanks to their care and expertise, patients in that hospital are being successfully treated, discharged and ultimately having their life saved. 'There remains spare capacity in the critical care network across the capital to look after all coronavirus patients and others who need our care, and while it is incredibly reassuring for both staff and patients to have backup capacity at the Nightingale to alleviate pressure on ICU departments where needed, patients can be transferred to other hospitals in the city if they are better placed to receive them at that time - as is always the case.' The DHSC said the Nightingale was designed to be an overspill facility in the event that hospitals in the capital became overwhelmed by patient numbers. It added that it was normal for transfer applications between hospitals in London to be refused if the correct facilities were not available. A view of a ward at the NHS Nightingale Hospital Yorkshire and the Humber in Harrogate The NHS Nightingale Hospital Yorkshire at the Harrogate Convention Centre in North Yorkshire Officials also said it was never intended to be a fully staffed intensive care unit, and nurses working at London hospital ICUs could be sent there if needed. A spokesman said: 'There is no shortage of nurses and all coronavirus patients who need treatment are being treated in existing London hospitals. 'NHS Nightingale has been set up to treat patients if the NHS was overwhelmed, but thanks to the great work of selfless NHS staff, there is spare capacity in existing London hospitals. 'NHS Nightingale's staffing model was always designed to be flexible based on demand across London. Nurses working across the city in other roles have received critical care training and are ready to be deployed to NHS Nightingale to treat coronavirus patients should capacity be reached in existing London hospitals.' Speaking on Sunday, chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said: 'We have not yet had to make extensive use of the Nightingale London thanks to the hard work of NHS staff who have freed up more than 30,000 existing hospital beds and the public, who have played their part by staying at home and saving lives. 'It will count as a huge success for the whole country if we never need to use them but with further waves of coronavirus possible it is important that we have these extra facilities in place and treating patients.' NHS England's regional director David Sloman said this week that without the facility, London would face a 'perfect storm of insufficient critical care capacity' when normal services are phased back in. 'When social distancing is relaxed, our plans for the future of London's healthcare will rely upon new models of care and treatment,' he reportedly wrote in a leaked letter to health authorities in the capital. He added that it would see 'sustained reliance on the expert site for critical care that the NHS Nightingale Hospital will provide'. CHICO, Calif. Chico Police arrested a man passed out inside his vehicle Monday at a McDonalds drive-thru for driving under the influence of drugs. Located at Mangrove and Palmetto Avenues, McDonalds employees said they were unable to wake up the driver who had stopped in the middle of the drive-thru lane. Officers said the driver was identified as 28-year-old Anthony Squitieri. He was asleep inside his vehicle with the engine running. In plain view, officers said they saw a hypodermic needle sticking out from his sweater pocket. During the search of his vehicle, 10 grams of meth, over 11 grams of heroin, and 30 Xanax pills were located, according to Chico police. The Chico Police said Squitieri is commonly known to them, as this was his third offense in under a month. RELATED: Man driving under the influence crashes into Chico patrol car Squitieri was arrested for DUI on March 27, 2020, after he ran a red light and struck a Chico police patrol car at the intersection of Main and E. 8th Streets. He was also wanted for a domestic violence incident that happened on March 31, 2020. Once again, police said he was transported to the Butte County Jail on DUI, drug possession and felony Domestic Violence charges. Kelly Dodd has now apologized after making insensitive and inflammatory comments about the COVID-19 pandemic. In now-deleted comments on her Instagram the 44-year-old Real Housewives of Orange County star called the outbreak 'God's way of thinning the herd.' '"When I wrote that its 'God's way of thinning the herd,' thats not what I meant," Kelly said on her Instagram Stories on later on Tuesday. Walking back: Kelly Dodd has now apologized for questioning whether COVID-19 was 'God's way of thinning out the herd' in comments she made on Instagram on Tuesday "What I meant was, Do these pandemics happen because its Gods way? Im not God. Im not insensitive. I feel bad for all the families that have lost loved ones, and I do think we should all stay at home and protect everybody. Thats not what I meant, and I want to apologize to anyone who got offended, OK? Im sorry. The reality star had initially been responding to critics who asked why she was flying from New York to LA at such a time after she posted photos from the empty airport and plane. 'God's way': The Bravo star was responding to critics who questioned why she got a flight from New York to LA during the pandemic 'If it's dangerous why are the airlines still flying? You think I want to fly? I had to get back, how is that elitist?' Kelly snapped back. In a separate comment the TV star then claimed the people who have fallen victim to COVID-19 'would have died this year they were compromised,' 'Do you know how many people died from the H1N1, the swine flu or SARS?' she wrote. 'It's 25% get your facts straight you only hearing numbers not the reality! It's God's way of thinning the herd!' Fake news: The TV star then claimed that the people who have fallen victim to COVID-19 'would have died this year' because they were 'compromised,' Viral on Reddit: Kelly had a response for many of her followers who were angered at her comments and actions She finished the comment with some 'common sense' ways vulnerable people can protect themselves. 'If you are vulnerable or compromised, stay inside. If you don't protect others by wearing masks and gloves keep your distance and don't go out if you are ill,' she ranted. 'Its common sense!' Realizing how controversial her words were, Kelly later apologized In a selfie video, claiming her words were taken the wrong way. 'I want to give a public apology. When I wrote this is 'God's way of thinning the herd,' that's not what I meant,' she said. 'I want to give a public apology. When I wrote this is Gods way of thinning the herd, thats not what I meant,' Kelly said in her apology video later in the day 'What I meant was, do these pandemics happen because it's Gods way? I'm not God, I'm not insensitive. I feel bad for all the families who have lost loved ones.' she tried to explain Backtracking: 'I want to apologize to anybody who got offended. Im sorry.' 'What I meant was, do these pandemics happen because it's Gods way? I'm not God, I'm not insensitive. I feel bad for all the families who have lost loved ones. And I do think we should all stay home and protect everybody. That's not what I meant, and I want to apologize to anybody who got offended. Im sorry.' On Monday the Bravo star shared a video of her at the doctor's office while getting tested for coronavirus. Kelly winced as the doctor pushed a swab high up into her nasal cavity. 'Getting my covid test!! That hurt' she captioned the clip as she pulled faces at the camera. Painful: On Monday the RHOC was filmed having the coronavirus test done despite having no symptoms Ouch: Kelly winced as the doctor pushed a swab high up into her nasal cavity Precaution: Kelly decided to get the test after flying back from New York to her home in Orange County, California The move angered her Kelly's fans who questioned how she could get tested without exhibiting any symptoms of the disease - and many people who are very sick are still having trouble getting tested. One Instagram user asked: 'How did you get tested? People who have symptoms can't get a test [crying emoji].' 'You can get tested if you know people!' Kelly responded. Royal families from across the world have been continuing their dedicated work from home amid the coronavirus crisis. While the public may be more used to seeing the Duchess of Cambridge, 38, in a glittering tiara, and Queen Maxima, 48, wearing bold and colourful dresses, photos and videos of the royals in the last few weeks have given an insight into how they're dressing while their working from home. And now an expert has revealed what their lockdown wardrobe says about their working style. Susie Hasler, who runs Styled by Susie, revealed how Kate Middleton has opted a simple 'off-duty' clothing with bright colours and classic cuts to appear 'like a ray of sunshine', while Queen Letizia of Spain, 47, 'means business' with her power dressing. Kate Middleton is 'like a ray of sunshine' in simple 'off-duty' outfits Experts told FEMAIL what the royal family's lockdown wardrobe revealed about their working from home style. Susie revealed how the Duchess of Cambridge had appeared like 'a ray of sunshine', opting for bright colours and a simple 'off-duty' style The Duchess of Cambridge has been at the forefront of the royal family's response to the coronavirus crisis. The mother-of-three is currently self-isolating in her Norfolk home Anmer Hall with husband Prince William, 37, and children, Prince George, 6, Princess Charlotte, 4, and Prince Louis 1. From her base, she has been working hard over the last few weeks, video calling charities and patronages, as well as speaking with school children over Zoom to lend her support. According to Susie, the royal has opted for laid-back looks while working from home, selecting bright colours and bold patterns that allow her to pop while on screen. Susie revealed how the Duchess of Cambridge has opted for a simple style while maintaining an 'air of professionalism' with her outfit choices While chairing a roundtable discussion with mental health organisations around the country, she opted for a 55 LK Bennett green jumper in a fine knit. And on another occasion, while speaking to schoolchildren from Burnley, the royal donned a mustard yellow blouse with glittering gold earrings. Meanwhile the mother-of-three opted to recycle her Joostricot breton style jumper during an interview with the BBC about how the family were coping with lockdown. Susie said the Duchess was 'hitting the right note' with her outfit choices, saying: 'William and Kate were rays of sunshine when they appeared on video call from their home. They both look casual, but are keeping an air of professionalism with it too.' The stylist told how Kate had revealed her 'off-duty' motherly style during her virtual working and video calls She continued: 'For their chat with BBC Breakfast about homeschooling, Kate chose a breton top which is a classic staple in every woman's wardrobe. 'It's a nod to her simple, chic, Parisian style and shows how she dresses when she's off duty, at home with the children. 'Her more relaxed, wavy hairstyle was a far cry from the sleek up dos we are used to seeing at more formal events.' Queen Letizia 'means business' with her power dressing Susie revealed how Queen Letizia of Spain has been 'power dressing' throughout the crisis, choosing simple styles which appeared classic Queen Letizia of Spain is known for her elegant and chic style, as well as her ability to mix designer and high street pieces within her wardrobe with resounding success. Over the lockdown period, the royal has been spotted working from home on a series of occasions, although her look is far from casual. The Queen has opted for an elegant, business-like uniform, selecting a black blazer over a simple white t-shirt as she conducts videocalls and meetings alongside her husband King Felipe. Susie revealed: 'We are used to seeing Queen Letizia power dressing, and this time its no different. She always chooses styles that really complement her shape. The stylist added that Letizia had avoided frills and fancy detailing to ensure focus remained on the task in hand The stylist went on to explain that the royal was avoiding frills and fancy detailing, opting for looks that indicate she 'means business.' She said: 'Letizia selected a white T-shirt under a blazer because its a classic look, without being too fussy. She looks very serious - as though she means business. 'There's nothing frilly or fancy or glamorous to detract from the work in hand.' Duchess of Cornwall selects 'Granny-chic' and 'very soft and calming colours' Meanwhile the Duchess of Cornwall has worn 'very soft and calming colours' and an outfit which could be considered a 'classic Grandmother style' The Duchess of Cornwall, who is currently in lockdown in Birkhall in Aberdeenshire, has shared several snaps of her working from home while isolating with husband Prince Charles. The royal has opted for neutral pinks and soft blues while in lockdown, with Susie noted the colours are 'calming.' She explained: 'Camilla chose to wear a very soft, calming colour for her working from home style. 'Its a very pretty pink knit, with a matching blouse - similar to what many grandmas up and down the country will be wearing too. Susie said Camilla's laid back style gave an air of 'We're all in this together' and was 'subtly reassuring' 'Shes opted to keep her choice of accessories very simple by only wearing her sparkling engagement and wedding rings. 'Theres an air of "Were all in this together" in her outfit choice - its not glamorous; its subtly reassuring.' Queen Maxima's 'pretty floral blouse' helps to 'boost moods' Meanwhile Queen Maxima's navy floral blouse was 'a nod to spring' and could be 'a mood booster' according to Susie Earlier this week, Queen Maxima of the Netherlands revealed a sneak peek into her home in The Hague as she video chatted and called from her office. The Dutch royal opted for a simple, unfussy navy blouse for the occasion, with Susie noting the floral pattern could be a subtle nod to look ahead to the spring-time season. She revealed: 'She has chosen a pretty floral blouse to wear while working from home. 'It's a very fashionable and modern style. Its also really cheerful - with lots of colours, its a perfect look for spring, and also perhaps to help boost her mood.' A writer from Gujarat uploaded an old poem written by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a social media platform on Wednesday, prompting the latter to thank him. Writer and columnist Kishor Makwana shared Modi's poem on his Facebook page. Responding to it, Modi said in a tweet in Gujarati, "I had written this poem many years back. It depicts grandness and beauty of world." "I thank you for remembering this poem on the earth day," Modi further said. Earth Day is celebrated on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US Navy ships passing through the South China Sea where China is flexing its muscle during the pandemic. Despite working to control a pandemic that spread from China earlier this year, Beijing has not reduced its activities in the South China Sea, a strategic waterway through which one-third of global shipping flows. Instead, the Chinese government's years-long pattern of assertiveness has only intensified, military analysts said. "It's a quite deliberate Chinese strategy to try to maximise what they perceive as being a moment of distraction and the reduced capability of the United States to pressure neighbours," said Peter Jennings, executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. Since January, when the coronavirus epidemic began to surge, the Chinese government and coast guard ships, along with maritime militias, have been plying contested waters in the South China Sea, tangling with regional maritime enforcement agencies and harassing fishermen. Earlier this month, Vietnam accused a Chinese patrol ship of ramming and sinking a Vietnamese fishing boat. Last month, China opened two new research stations on artificial reefs it has built on maritime turf claimed by the Philippines and others. The reefs are also equipped with defence silos and military-grade runways. Over the weekend, the Chinese government announced that it had formally established two new districts in the South China Sea that include dozens of contested islets and reefs. Many are submerged bits of atoll that do not confer territorial rights, according to international law. "It seems that even as China was fighting a disease outbreak, it was also thinking in terms of its long-term strategic goals," said Alexander Vuving, a professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Centre for Security Studies in Honolulu. "The Chinese want to create a new normal in the South China Sea, where they are in charge, and to do that they've become more and more aggressive." After the sinking of the Vietnamese boat, the State Department urged China in a statement "to remain focused on supporting international efforts to combat the global pandemic, and to stop exploiting the distraction or vulnerability of other states to expand its unlawful claims in the South China Sea." The Chinese government has made vast claims to the South China Sea that conflict with demarcations made by five other governments. An international tribunal has dismissed most of China's claims to the waterway, but Beijing does not recognise the ruling and has instead built naval bases on reefs it now controls. While the United States has no territorial claims in the South China Sea, the Loading US Navy says it has kept the peace in these waters for decades. US military officials have chastised China for its increased militarisation of the waterway. "Through our continued operational presence in the South China Sea, we are working with our allies and partners to promote freedom of navigation and overflight, and the international principles that underpin security and prosperity for the Indo-Pacific," said Lieutenant Commander Nicole Schwegman, a spokeswoman for the US Indo-Pacific Command. "The US supports the efforts of our allies and partners to determine their own economic interests." The Chinese government has countered that the United States is the country destabilising the region. The appearance of the America and the Bunker Hill may do little to dispel that narrative. And regional governments have worried that the United States has a habit of briefly showing up in hot spots only to depart, leaving them to contend with an increasingly muscular Beijing. "What is the intention of the US here?" said Ian Storey, a South China Sea expert at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, a think-tank in Singapore. "Is it just to say, 'We're here?' Or are they going to shadow the Chinese survey ship to try to stop it from operating?" The Indo-Pacific Command did not specify the exact location of the two US warships, citing operational restrictions, but it confirmed that the warships were in the South China Sea. On Tuesday, the Navy posted pictures of the warships on Twitter, accompanied by a third vessel, a destroyer called the USS Barry, saying that the expeditionary strike group was operating "in support of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region." The area where the American warships have been sailing is around 200 nautical miles off the coast of Malaysia, defence experts said. Malaysia, China and Vietnam all claim rights to the natural resources in this part of the contested waterway. Last week, a Chinese government survey ship began shadowing the West Capella, a drill ship conducting exploration activities off the Malaysian coast and operated by Petronas, the Malaysian state oil company. The Chinese survey ship, called the Haiyang Dizhi 8, had previously tracked similar oil operations off Vietnam. An Australian frigate, the HMAS Parramatta, is accompanying the American naval ships, as part of a previously planned operation, according to defence experts. ASPI's Jennings said that the Parramatta's deployment would have been arranged at least a year ago. At that time, "it probably didn't know it was sailing into a heightened military environment," Jennings said. "It's been made that way really since March, with the greater pattern of offensive operations that China is engaging in all the way from Japan to the South China Sea." Loading Defence experts who have reviewed information about military movements in the area but are not authorised to share them publicly, said that a Chinese warship has been operating off the coast of Malaysia. The destroyer is called the Wuhan, named after the city where the coronavirus outbreak began. At a time when China has been sending doctors and personal protective equipment to Malaysia to combat the viral epidemic there, the Malaysian government has not publicly protested the Chinese survey ship's activities or its security cordon of armed Chinese coast guard vessels. Cloudtail, the largest seller on Amazon India, has said it will delay payments to brands and suppliers due to disruption caused by the nationwide lockdown, according to a report by The Economic Times. India is currently in a nationwide lockdown till May 3 to contain the spread of COVID-19. Ecommerce players can sell only essential items during this period, which has hurt their business. Cloudtail, in which Amazon is a minority stakeholder, has not made payments since March 23, sources at consumer goods companies told the publication. Follow LIVE updates on the COVID-19 pandemic here Moneycontrol could not independently verify the story. 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 "Governmental restrictions given the COVID-19 outbreak and the advisory to sell only essential products have impacted our supply chain and restricted our operations," Cloudtail said in an email to its vendors, as seen by The Economic Times. "In view of the same, please expect a delay in the processing of your payment," Cloudtail said in the email. Cloudtail also said it is working with all the relevant stakeholders, such as vendors, employees, marketplaces, banks and regulators, to mitigate the adverse impact of the crisis. "We expect the situation to normalise when the nationwide lockdown is relaxed and we resume regular operations," Cloudtail said in the email. Cloudtail usually does not delay payments, a source at a fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company told the paper. The nationwide lockdown began on March 25 and is currently scheduled to be lifted on May 4. Cloudtail is owned by Prione Business Services, which is a joint venture between Amazon and Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy's Catamaran Ventures. Catamaran Ventures owns 76 percent of Cloudtail, while Amazon holds the remaining 24 percent. Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here Freddie Lucas is just 16, but he is already a seasoned fisherman on the Latney Star, a two-man boat he crews with his 'skipper', and one of about 25 berthed on the shingle on Hastings seafront. The weather-worn hull of his little vessel sits in the shadow of the tall, tarred, wooden net huts that line the foreshore in front of the Old Town, an area beloved by the trendy middle classes who have grown sick of London. In its Victorian heyday, the seaside resort was one of the most fashionable in the country. It was the setting for the TV drama Foyle's War and, even today, retains in places a certain old-world charm. It was an unlikely setting for the events that Freddie saw take place on Good Friday. The large group of migrants, 29 men, women and children, arrived on Hastings Beach (pictured) in East Sussex The day was hot and still and the town nearly deserted when Freddie spotted a helicopter hovering above and the RNLI inshore lifeboat heading towards the beach, towing a dingy carrying about 20 migrants. When they approached the shore, he says he saw three men jump into the water and try to get away. Others made a run for it when they reached land, sprinting up the side of the steep (and dangerous) East Hill and along the edge of the cliffs above Rock-a-Nore beach, with the police in hot pursuit. Another local out for a lockdown lunchtime stroll recalled how two of the migrants passed him one of them running barefoot with his shoes in his hands. He says the chasing officers asked walkers ahead of him: 'Did you see any migrants running around up here?' It is unclear whether they were eventually caught. Two days later, the Border Force was in action again. In the broad daylight of Easter Sunday afternoon and in front of locals taking their permitted daily exercise along the seafront, a large group of people had gathered on the water's edge, seemingly in contravention of the lockdown rule. But the men in navy blue uniforms standing alongside the group were not police about to caution them for failing to observe social distancing, but officers from the Border Force. 'There were loads of them,' said a local who witnessed the event. The large group turned out to be migrants 29 men, women and children who had been intercepted crossing the Channel in a life-raft and an RHIB (rigid-hulled inflatable boat) by Border Force officers and who were now being processed. Border Force officers intercepted the migrants, who had come from the 'Jungle' refugee camps in northern France, as they crossed the channel They had come from the 'Jungle' refugee camps in northern France, where there are fears of a coronavirus outbreak, and had to be handed face masks before being medically assessed and interviewed. You will no doubt have read about such dramas many times before, but mostly farther along the coast in Kent, just less than 22 miles from France. Never in Hastings, East Sussex, 40 miles away from France and twice the distance of the Calais-Dover route favoured by opportunist people-smugglers. Yet what happened on Easter Sunday was not an isolated incident. Such stories have become almost commonplace in the past few weeks only two days later, for example, a similar scene unfolded on the other side of Hastings Pier. Migrants came ashore in the heart of the town in plain sight, not on a stretch of deserted coastline that is hard to patrol. Home Office figures show that in April alone, at least 336 migrants have made the treacherous trip from northern France across the world's busiest shipping lane, the highest total logged for months. Many ended up in Hastings. The migrant phenomenon has had a visible impact on the town (which had a population of 93,000 in the last census). Officers from the Border Force arrive on Hastings beach after a boat of migrants were intercepted crossing the channel Border Force officers were patrolling the car park overlooking the sea at Rock-a-Nore when I went to Hastings last week, and a patrol boat combed the sea off the promenade. A helicopter hovering overhead has become a more familiar sight. Why Hastings, though, and why now? There may be several reasons. Patrols along the French coast have doubled and drones have been deployed under a crackdown launched by the British and French authorities in October, which has led to fears that gangs are now targeting new Channel routes. This has coincided with the inhabitants of the makeshift camps around Calais and Dunkirk (mostly Iraqis, Iranians, Syrians and Afghans) being moved to accommodation centres because the number of Covid-19 cases there is rising. But the transfer is not happening quickly enough, say volunteer organisations so more migrants, it is suspected, are choosing to head for the UK; a trend that tallies with Home Office figures. Another factor, it is thought, is the weather. The prevailing winds across the Channel are southwesterly, but over the Easter weekend they were southeasterly, so flimsy migrant boats may have been blown off course towards the East Sussex coast. Whatever the reason, the wave of migrants arriving in Hastings was unrelenting. Before I visited the town, I arranged to speak to Paul Joy, who has been a fisherman in Hastings for nearly 50 years. He is also chairman of the Hastings Fishermen's Protection Society, which has offices near the RNLI station at Rock-a-Nore. 'About 20 of them have just come ashore near the pier now,' he revealed when he picked up the phone. 'When their boat docked, they hit the beach (in the middle of Hastings) and ran towards Old Town. This is happening all the time.' There is a theory that migrants welcome being caught crossing the Channel, as they are then given safe passage in, say, a Border Force cutter for the rest of their journey to Britain, where they can claim asylum. 'Believe me,' said a shopkeeper, who did not wish to be named, 'the coastguards at Fairlight [farther eastward along the coast, towards the border with Kent] see them all coming in. 'They want to be seen. They come within 200 metres of the shore and dump their outboard engine.' That may be so, though I could not verify what he told me. But clearly that could not have been the modus operandi of the migrants Paul Joy told me about, who landed undetected by the authorities, then scattered. It is not known if they were apprehended. 'It is a bit of a worry,' Mr Joy, 71, added, 'because we know there is coronavirus in the French camps.' How many other migrants may have made it to Hastings, escaping the attention of the Border Force, is impossible to say, though the number of documented incidents is telling. On a single day April 8 for example, coastguards, Border Force officers and the police dealt with four separate incidents on this stretch of the coast, between Hastings and Rye. At 2am they picked up an inflatable with 16 people on board; at around 6am there was another incident (14 on board); at 2.30pm yet another (four on board); and at 4.30pm at Rock-a-Nore, 23 migrants were caught. More than 100 migrants that we know of have been detained or possibly evaded arrest in Hastings and the surrounding beaches in less than two weeks. That number is even higher when you take into account the 20 or so migrants Freddie Lucas spotted on Good Friday. Not far from where I was speaking to Freddie from a safe distance is the RNLI station. Behind the big red garage doors is one of the finest rescue vessels in Britain. The state-of-the art Shannon-class lifeboat is propelled by water jets instead of propellers, allowing her to operate in shallow waters. It was purchased from the 8.5 million sale of two Ferraris bequeathed to the RNLI by a millionaire businessman, Richard Colton (it is actually called the Richard and Caroline Colton lifeboat after him and his wife). Some believe, however rightly or wrongly that it is not the job of the RNLI to rescue those trying to enter Britain illegally. The controversy surfaced last year after a spate of migrant crossings off Kent. 'I find the sight of RNLI vessels acting as unpaid Border Force patrol boats distressing,' said one reader who wrote to us. The RNLI in Hastings wouldn't say whether they had been deployed in this capacity. We already know from Freddie Lucas, however, that the inshore lifeboat towed in a migrant dinghy on Good Friday. He also had footage on his mobile phone of the Easter Sunday drama, which shows that the Richard and Caroline Colton was called out. One of the migrants was a little girl aged about four, which highlights the human tragedy behind the Rock-a-Nore incident. The arrival of boatloads of migrants has split the town. One resident told me that, as she watched the Border Force process the 29 soaking wet migrants on Easter Sunday, there were calls for them to be sent back. 'We don't want them here,' a man was heard shouting at the officers on the beach. But others were more charitable. 'I feel very, very sorry for them indeed,' said one resident. 'There were young children involved. 'They were making an extremely difficult journey in extremely difficult circumstances. I feel deeply sorry for them.' So it is that, especially in these dark times, the only business thriving in Hastings is the migrant-smuggling trade. In a "oopsie" moment for Huaweis PR department a photo was featured as part of a promo video for a Huawei mobile photography contest, held on Weibo. The video was meant to showcase beautiful photos taken on Huawei photos, but Weibo user Jamie-hua second-place winner at a similar 2018 iPhone contest, was paying close and actually managed to recognize and track down one of the shots in the video. The image in question is actually available on 500px and was made by photographer Su Tie. And, as the 500px page and published EXIF clearly list, was taken using a Nikon D850 rather than a Huawei smartphone. Jamie-hua also listedd a few other suspicious shots, though wasn't able to prove where they were sourced from. Suspicious photos Huawei has officially apologized since, saying the photos were wrongly marked and explaining it all with an oversight by the editor. The company also edited the promotional contest video to not include the problematic shots. We definitely understand that mistakes can happen, especially when dealing with user-submitted content, but this is not a first for Huawei. Sure, details and particulars have always been slightly different, but the Chinese giant does have a habit of passing-off, accidentally or not, DSLR shots as ones taken from their phones. There was a similar case all the way back while the Huawei P9 was being promoted. More recently, the Huawei nova 3 was involved in an eerily similar DSLR-related promotional mix-up. And, of course, there is the now infamous P30 zoom fiasco. Granted in those previous cases it wasn't explicitly stated that any of the shots was produced by the phone itself, but the implication was quite clear. Suspicious photos Seeing how this has happened time and time again in the past, one would think that some extra internal company caution and procedures would be in order. And if we consider the theory of ulterior motives, we cant really say we are any less confused, since Huawei phones typically have excellent photography skills they can already stand on. Source 1 (in Chinese) | Source 2 (in Chinese) | Via By PTI LUCKNOW: For Anil and Jyoti, the nationwide coronavirus lockdown will be permanently etched in their minds and also find a place in their photo albums as the couple entered into wedlock in police station premises in UP's Chandauli district. Anil, a resident of Mahuji village in Chandauli district, and Jyoti, a resident of Ghazipur district, tied the knot in the presence of cops at the Shiva temple located inside the complex of Dheena police station in Chandauli on April 20. SHO of Dheena police station, Rajesh Kumar, told PTI, "It was a marriage with limited means and five persons each from the groom's side and from the bridegroom's side were present during the ceremony which took place on April 20 at the Shiva temple located in the Dheena police station compound. "Kumar recalled that Anil had helped the police during a boat tragedy, which had taken place in February, by saving lives of a number of passengers who were travelling in the boat. His role was lauded by senior officials of the police and district administration. "Anil's marriage with Jyoti was already fixed for April 20. However, the imposition of the nationwide lockdown and its subsequent extension made him worried. He then contacted us and sought a solution." Anil was told that since lockdown is in place, more than five persons are not allowed as a part of any marriage party or are allowed to gather at a particular spot," the SHO said. "Anil then asked us whether his marriage could be solemnised in the Shiva temple inside the police station compound, and told us that only five persons from the groom's side and as many from the bride's side will participate. On this condition, we gave our nod," Kumar said. He said that selection of the unique marriage venue was done barely a couple of days before the wedding. Senior police officials including the Additional Superintendent of Police, Circle Officer and in-charge of a police outpost were present during the marriage "The event, though with limited means, was solemnised amidst chanting of Vedic mantras, while strictly adhering to social distancing norms. Unlike normal time-taking elaborate rituals in Hindu marriages, this marriage was relatively shorter," he added. The fact is that the country now has an organization in Washington built around men and women who are recognized experts in their own fields. I think the country knows that the people who are actually responsible in each and every one of these many fields are pulling together with a teamwork that has never before been excelled. The plan to use much touted anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine for treating Covid-19 patients has received a setback with more deaths being reported among those who were given the drug, according to a report. While another report suggested that there was insufficient clinical data to either recommend or oppose the use of hydroxychloroquine for treating those infected with the deadly virus. President Donald Trump, who has been aggressively promoting the use of hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of Covid-19 patients, said that he would look into the reports. Follow latest updates on coronavirus here His administration has stockpiled more than 30 million doses of hydroxychloroquine, a large chunk of which has been imported from India. I dont know of the report. Obviously, there have been some very good reports and perhaps this ones not a good report. But well be looking at it. Well have a comment on it at some point, Trump told reporters during his daily White House news conference on coronavirus. Also read: Trump-backed drug to be tested on thousands in Mumbai slums Trump was responding to a question on a study released by a group of scientists on use of hydroxychloroquine with or without antibiotic azithromycin for 368 Covid-19 patients. The unreviewed study submitted to New England Journal of Medicine for publication and posted online found no evidence that use of hydroxychloroquine, either with or without azithromycin, reduced the risk of mechanical ventilation in patients hospitalised with Covid-19. An association of increased overall mortality was identified in patients treated with hydroxychloroquine alone, said the study that was funded by the National Institute of Health or NIH. NIH in its report Therapeutic Options for COVID-19 Currently Under Investigation said that there are insufficient clinical data to either recommend or oppose using chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine for treatment of COVID-19. If chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine is used, clinicians should monitor the patient for adverse effects, especially prolonged QTc interval, it said. Also read: ICMR study shows side effects of HCQ in health care staff The panel of NIH experts recommended against the use of the combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin because of the potential for toxicities. US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen M Hahn said that no final decision has been taken as yet. Ive mentioned from this podium and in other venues before, what FDA is going to require is data from clinical trials, randomised clinical trials, hydroxychloroquine/placebo, to actually make a definitive decision around safety and efficacy, he told reporters. The first one is a small retrospective study at the VA. And similar to the data we talked about before with the French study, this is something that a doctorate would need to consider as part of a decision in writing a prescription for hydroxychloroquine, he said. Click here for complete coronavirus coverage But the preliminary data are helpful to providers. I want to ask them (doctors) to incorporate the data as we have it come forward. Its not definitive data. It doesnt help us make a decision from a regulatory review. But doctors should incorporate that in the decision-making they make on a one-on-one basis, Hahn said in response to a question. Congressman Bill Pascrell said the report analysing hydroxychloroquine as a potential COVID-19 treatment at veterans hospitals is a bombshell indictment of the damage Trump and his administration does to Americans by putting politics before science. The world class medicine and doctors we enjoy today are the fruit of generations of painstaking work by our ancestors. Evidence-based science is the only way out of this crisis, not unproven miracle therapies personally favored by Donald Trump, he said. Trumps frequent touting of this treatment was deeply irresponsible, and may have heaped unnecessary pain and suffering, not to mention false hope, upon Americans struck by this terrible illness. I have repeatedly warned the FDA about the danger of prizing Trumps political pressure over scientific process. Unless we are guided by science and science alone, we will have more unnecessary deaths on our hands, Pascrell said. China has just been appointed to the United Nations Human Rights Council, giving it a large element of control over choosing candidates to investigate and report on issues such as freedom of speech and movement in countries worldwide. According to Hillel Neuer, director of UN Watch, a Geneva-based NGO, allowing Chinas oppressive and inhumaneregime to choose the world investigators on freedom of speech, arbitrary detention, and enforced disappearances is like making a pyromaniac into the town fire chief. Acknowledging the way China has contained Covid-19 domestically and expressing gratitude for assistance given to Ireland must not cloud our recognition of the fact that this vast country is governed by an increasingly totalitarian government that routinely imposes draconian censorship on its people and brutally silences dissenting voices. Oppression by the authorities in China did not start or end with the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre of civil rights protesters; it still goes on. There are many documented cases in China of forcibly disappeared residents and the virtual enslavement of up to 1m Muslim Uighurs in concentration camps in Xinjiang, an autonomous territory of deserts and mountains in northwest China that is home to many ethnic minority groups. The appointment undermines the credibility of the United Nations itself. The council consists of 47 member states, most of them non-democratic. Created by the UN General Assembly in 2006 to replace the UN Commission on Human Rights, the council is headed by Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger, an Austrian lawyer and diplomat. She is on record as saying that one of her main areas of concern is the restriction of freedom of expression where people can be monitored by their government day and night. A perfect example of that is China. Added to this is the problem of facial recognition, which is being introduced across the board in some countries, she said, in an interview with New Europe, a weekly newspaper based in Brussels that covers EU affairs. Ditto China. This appointment comes at the same time the council takes Ireland to task, rebuking the Government here for the introduction of the public services card (PSC). It complains of the lack of transparency with regard to the use of the card. The PSC may deserve all the criticism it gets, but you wont find much transparency in China, or anywhere from Afghanistan and Angola to Venezuela and Zambia all countries which either currently are or have been members of the council. Phillip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights a special function of the UNsOffice of the High Commission on Human Rights, wrote to the Irish mission in Geneva fretting over what he described as the confusing 20-year history of the PSC project. Not half as confusing as the proliferation of past and present UN human rights bodies, among them the UN Commission on Human Rights, the UN Human Rights Committee, the UN Human Rights Council, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees also a human rights body. Japanese electronics company NEC has won a 20 billion yen deal ($190 million) to supply a radar satellite to Vietnam, highlighting an advantage traditional players have over startups in these times of economic crises. The deal, which will be announced soon, marks the first export of an observation satellite by a Japanese company and includes the cost of launch and ground equipment as well as that of training engineers and operators in Vietnam, company representatives said. The ground station will be constructed in the Hoa-Lac Hi-Tech Park in Hanoi. The entire project is estimated to be worth around 50 billion yen ($470 million) and will be financed with official development assistance in the form of low-interest loans, the representatives added. The satellite is scheduled to be sent into orbit in 2023 on an Epsilon rocket to be built by IHI Aerospace. The launch could be moved back if the coronavirus crisis drags on, preventing Japanese and Vietnamese engineers from visiting each other to work on the project, the company representatives warned. With little growth expected in Japan's space budget, NEC is looking overseas to expand its revenue. Vietnam, a strategic partner of Japan and a key counterweight to China, is seen as an ideal partner for the Tokyo-based company. Vietnam is looking to Tokyo to help it develop the capability to build and operate its own satellites. Japan's Mitsubishi Electric exported communication satellites to Singapore, Taiwan, Qatar and Turkey in the past. The deal could also mark a resurgence for established companies like NEC, a 120-year-old telecom equipment maker and defense contractor. Until recently, traditional contractors had been seen slow and under threat from more dynamic startups as a belief grew that the private sector would take over the business of launching space missions from government agencies like NASA. But the multibillion-dollar bankruptcy of OneWeb, a satellite startup owned 37% by Japan's SoftBank Group, on March 27 and the chaos brought on by the coronavirus have reminded buyers of the risks of doing business with young, unproven companies. OneWeb had been burning through cash to build a constellation of satellites for a global broadband service, leaving many suppliers and service providers, including launch company Arianespace, with substantial amounts of unpaid claims. "The go-go period is over," said Kentaro Sakagami, an NEC executive responsible for the company's satellite business. "We prefer projects that are backed by governments or government agencies." NEC has been trying to catch up on the recent shift toward cheaper, smaller satellites but has kept its distance from a price war waged by companies like OneWeb, which produced one satellite a day for less than a 10th of what traditional models cost. "Profitability matters," an NEC representative said. The radar satellite to be delivered to Vietnam is relatively small, weighing 570 kg. It will fly in a low-earth orbit some 500 km above the planet and monitor the effects of climate change for natural disaster management. A radar satellite emits microwaves and analyzes their reflections to examine the earth's surface, allowing it to make observations day and night. Because microwaves have a much longer wavelength than natural light, they are less prone to reflecting small particles, allowing the radar to see through clouds and volcanic ash. "We are targeting the market for small satellites by offering stronger capabilities because the large satellite market is already dominated by Western players," Sakagami said. NEC began as a telecom equipment maker. It was the nation's first joint venture using foreign capital, having partnered with a predecessor of the United States' AT&T. During the past 50 years, it has produced a large number of Japanese government satellites, including the nation's first, Ohsumi, in 1970. Although it had built large satellites such as the 4.2-ton earth observation satellite Daichi, its expertise lies in the production and operation of smaller scientific spacecraft, such as the Hayabusa asteroid explorer. NEC also builds ground stations for spacecraft and operates satellites from the ground. It is increasingly shifting its focus from building satellites to providing services such as operating satellites and analyzing satellite data for commercial purposes. NEC focuses on developing and operating relatively small scientific spacecraft like the Hayabusa-2 asteroid explorer. (Image courtesy of JAXA) NEC focuses on developing and operating relatively small scientific spacecraft like the Hayabusa-2 asteroid explorer. (Image courtesy of JAXA) In 2017, NEC formed a partnership with Lockheed Martin of the U.S. to provide an artificial intelligence tool for monitoring the behavior of spacecraft. NEC has been working on using AI to analyse telemetry, data from a satellite's onboard instruments that monitor the health and position of the spacecraft for signs of problems. This data includes the spacecraft's interior temperature, its attitude, and the voltage levels of its battery and communications equipment. "Satellites are just tools," Sakagami said. Instead of trying to boost sales of hardware, the company says it wants to develop a business of selling satellite data-based commercial services. The strategy stems in part from NEC's recent struggle as a hardware maker. In the past, the company branched out into various hardware businesses -- personal computers, semiconductors as well as liquid crystal displays and mobile phones. It became the world's largest semiconductor maker and Japan's top PC maker in the 1980s. But with the arrival of Windows and Apple, it lost market share and eventually sold off these hardware businesses. Now the company is honing its focus, which remains on sectors like telecom equipment, AI and cybersecurity. The space business makes up some 2% of NEC's 3 trillion yen in revenue, and the company does not expect its hardware sales to grow much further anytime soon. "Space is a relatively small market," a NEC representative said. "The important thing is how to leverage it for other business areas." By Laszlo Bruszt BUDAPEST What critics justifiably call the "enabling act" that the Hungarian parliament passed on March 30 allows Prime Minister Viktor Orban to rule by decree for an unlimited period, supposedly to help the government fight the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, the new law endangers the lives of many Hungarians by empowering the government to limit drastically information about the management of the virus. The deadly consequences of such an approach are well known from Wuhan, China, where the authorities initially suppressed information about the outbreak of a novel coronavirus. Orban's enabling act neutralizes the few remaining channels of democratic accountability left in Hungary. It will bring about an extreme centralization of control over the flow of information about the pandemic and its management. And Orban, in power since 2010, desperately needs to control the pandemic narrative, given his governments' severe underinvestment in the country's health-care system over the last decade. The new law gives him that power. For example, it makes spreading "false" information about the virus punishable by up to five years in prison a real sword hanging over the head of doctors and journalists alike. The justification contained in the relevant provision, together with the punishment, is nearly indistinguishable from a similar measure in Saudi Arabia. In effect, the enabling act minimizes the remaining room for Hungary's independent media. The Orban government's draconian measures in this regard are exceptional among European Union member states. Other EU countries generally are fighting fake news and misinformation about COVID-19 through soft means, such as promoting links to official information on the government's or the World Health Organization's websites, or working with fact-checkers. That approach is working: The countries that have best managed the pandemic so far are those where information continues to flow freely and trusted medical experts play a prominent role in public debates. By contrast, U.S. President Donald Trump initially dismissed the COVID-19 threat, while the United Kingdom's Prime Minister Boris Johnson treated it as a joke before becoming infected and ending up in intensive care. Both countries are now suffering from COVID-19 outbreaks more severe than China's. In a highly uncertain situation, the uninhibited flow of information enables the collection of dispersed data, comparison of the effects of different strategies for managing the crisis, and greater government accountability. It is also crucial for combating misinformation, rumors, and fake news, whether these come from political leaders or citizens. The accountability that a free media brings has forced even the most self-serving and narcissistic leaders, like Trump, to abandon denial and take a more realistic approach to fighting the pandemic. Moreover, during a public-health crisis, the free flow of information helps governments and citizens to synchronize their actions. The more that citizens trust that governmental sources of information are subject to independent scrutiny, the more likely they will be to obey official instructions and help to manage the crisis effectively. The South Korean government, for example, has so far managed to control the spread of COVID-19 without implementing a strict physical lockdown in part because the authorities have collected and published extensive information about infected citizens, including their ages, movements, and districts of residence. This was possible because the public trusted the government to be able to design policies to handle the pandemic. Truthful information entering from outside could save lives in authoritarian countries. Following the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident in the Soviet Union, news broadcasts by Radio Free Europe helped inform ordinary Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarussians of the scale of the disaster. Despite all the levers of state control, public pressure forced the Soviet authorities to open up about the crisis, and to accept Western help in fighting it. This time, however, the information required for public control over the crisis is dispersed within the country. During the first days of the pandemic, Orban, like Trump, dismissed the threat, blaming the spread of the coronavirus (as with all other problems) on foreigners. But reports of Hungarian parents' uncoordinated efforts to bar their children from going to school subsequently convinced the government to take the pandemic more seriously. Moreover, as Hungary's political opposition and, more importantly, doctors and other health-care workers began to speak out, older members of Orban's Fidesz party became fearful and put pressure on the government to act. But, by giving Orban the power to rule by decree, the enabling act has rendered ineffective the country's remaining key mechanisms of political accountability. Orban is not alone in seeing the pandemic as an opportunity to invoke emergency powers and seize near-dictatorial authority. But the enabling act represents merely his latest step along the autocratic path he embarked on a decade ago. Intoxicated by the vast powers he had already accumulated, Orban decided to face the pandemic with the help of a law that supposedly will "guarantee the security of life and health and the personal and material security of citizens and businesses." The new legislation will do nothing of the sort, which is one reason why the EU must urgently implement a standardized system for member states to report on the pandemic, along with initiatives to support a free press. Such measures can save lives. Laszlo Bruszt, professor of political science at Central European University, served as acting rector and president of CEU in 1996-1997. His article was distributed by Project Syndicate ( ). BERKELEY (BCN) Kaiser Permanente is rushing to build a 7,700-square-foot state-of-the-art lab by June 1 that will be able to conduct 10,000 new coronavirus tests a day and help the state ease its shelter-in-place orders, a Kaiser official said Wednesday. Dr. Brian Missett, a radiation oncologist who is associate executive director of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Group, said test results from the $14 million lab on Second Street in North Berkeley will be available in well under 24 hours. Missett said Kaiser, which has 4.5 million members in Northern California, currently is able to conduct about 1,500 tests a day for hospitalized and high-risk patients, so the new lab will be "a notable expansion." He said when the new facility is ready, Kaiser will be able to test more people without symptoms, such as health care workers and nursing home employees who may be exposed to the virus at work and need to be retested periodically. Widespread testing is necessary so health officials can quickly and easily identify positive cases and trace each one's contacts to tell them to self-quarantine. The idea is to monitor populations and put the brakes on future outbreaks. Currently, testing is available to Kaiser members and Kaiser employees who have Kaiser insurance. Missett said Kaiser is coordinating with a state COVID-19 task force to see if it can provide tests for non-members when the new facility opens. Kaiser officials said the process of designing, permitting and building a new facility normally would take at least 15 months or several years but because city of Berkeley officials cooperated and worked with them quickly, the entire process will only take 60 days. They said it only took five days to get a building permit. "The city has really been a good partner," Missett said. Construction work on the new lab is being done 24 hours a day, seven days a week, according to Kaiser officials. 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. Michael Moore is worried about Earth, although he's not focused on fossil fuel and cow farts. Instead, he's worried because he just discovered that green energy is a scam. That's the point in his new documentary, Planet of the Humans, which was released Tuesday for free on YouTube. In a long and poorly written introduction on the YouTube page, the people who made the video explain that the green revolution could have worked out if only the whole movement hadn't sold itself out to the rich and powerful, resulting in a sham and a scam. Michael Moore presents Planet of the Humans, a documentary that dares to say what no one else will this Earth Day that we are losing the battle to stop climate change on planet earth because we are following leaders who have taken us down the wrong road selling out the green movement to wealthy interests and corporate America. This film is the wake-up call to the reality we are afraid to face: that in the midst of a human-caused extinction event, the environmental movement's answer is to push for techno-fixes and band-aids. It's too little, too late. Removed from the debate is the only thing that MIGHT save us: getting a grip on our out-of-control human presence and consumption. Why is this not THE issue? Because that would be bad for profits, bad for business. Have we environmentalists fallen for illusions, "green" illusions, that are anything but green, because we're scared that this is the end and we've pinned all our hopes on biomass, wind turbines, and electric cars? No amount of batteries are going to save us, warns director Jeff Gibbs (lifelong environmentalist and co-producer of "Fahrenheit 9/11" and "Bowling for Columbine"). This urgent, must-see movie, a full-frontal assault on our sacred cows, is guaranteed to generate anger, debate, and, hopefully, a willingness to see our survival in a new way before it's too late. It turns out that Moore, despite hectoring Americans to get with the green program, had managed to be completely unaware of the practical problems with green energy: Moore said that he, like many people, thought electric cars were a good idea, "but I didn't really think about where is the electricity coming from?" "I assumed solar panels would last for ever. I didn't know what went into the making of them," Moore added, referring to raw materials, including quartz, and the fossil fuels needed to manufacture the panels. Moore illustrates the bubble in which greenies float. If he'd had intellectual curiosity, he would have known that electric cars get power from natural gas, oil, or coal (some of which is clean burning and some not), which means they merely displace vehicle emissions from the tailpipe to the power plant. Electric car batteries, most of which come from China, are also big polluters, as are the Chinese-made solar panels that worry Moore. Solar panels also shift the pollution, in their case from the power plant to China's manufacturers. Moore also discovered that alternative energy sources cannot fill the gap if fossil fuels are banned: Gibbs interviews a scientist who researched corporate renewables programs who said, "I haven't found a single entity anywhere in the world running on 100% solar and wind alone." The film shows a forest being cut down to build an Apple solar farm. The documentary does a good job at proving that conservatives were right to say that green energy is a scam: But the apocalyptic rhetoric detracts little from the heart of the documentary, which exposes the complicity of climate activists including Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Sierra Club's Executive Director, in promoting pollution-intensive biomass energies, as well as natural gas. [snip] After Earth Day Founder Denis Hayes claims at a 2015 Earth Day concert that the event was being powered by solar, Gibbs goes behind the stage to find out the truth. "The concert is run by a diesel generation system," the solar vendor said. "That right there could run a toaster," said another vendor. The film also debunks the claim made by Elon Musk that his "Gigafactory" to make batteries is powered by renewables. In fact, it is hooked up to the electric grid. Conservatives have made this point forever, but Michael Moore, the "intellectual" progressive documentary filmmaker, just figured it out. The man is a moron, not because he's stupid, but because he wears ideologically tinted intellectual blinders. If you think Moore's ignorance is the worst thing about him, think again. Moore still buys into the whole apocalyptic anthropogenic climate change shtick. Even the dangerously wrong Wuhan virus models haven't taught him that climate change models might be wrong, too. Climate change is a faith, and one doesn't question the dogma. Rather than becoming a climate change apostate, Moore has come up with a new solution. If we can't cut down on pollution, we just have to cut down on humans: A better approach, Gibbs suggests, would be people having fewer children. "Infinite growth on a finite planet is suicide," he says. Forced abortions, mandatory euthanasia, and Earth-friendly genocide (once called "human sacrifice to propitiate the gods") won't be far behind. Someone should sit Moore and Gibbs down with books explaining that capitalism is the best way to clean the planet, that fossil fuel is not running out, and that Generation IV nuclear energy will be a clean, safe, infinite energy source. NEW YORK CITY (dpa-AFX) - Alcoa Corp. (AA) reported a first quarter adjusted loss per share of $0.23, flat with a year ago. On average, eight analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report a loss per share of $0.24, for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items. First quarter revenue declined to $2.38 billion from $2.72 billion, previous year. Analysts expected revenue of $2.35 billion for the quarter. Alcoa ended the quarter with cash on hand of $829 million and debt of $1.8 billion, for net debt of $973 million. Alcoa announced it will curtail the remaining 230,000 metric tons of uncompetitive smelting capacity at its Intalco smelter in Ferndale, Washington amid declining market conditions. The company will record estimated restructuring charges of approximately $25 million, or $0.13 per share, in the second quarter of 2020 associated with the curtailment. Shares of Alcoa Corp. were up 7% after hours. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. 1 of 2 Covid19: India records 19,984 cases and 640 deaths, Aviation ministry staffer tests positive With 1,383 fresh coronavirus cases reported in India in past 24 hours, the total number of cases in India has gone up to 19,984, according to the latest data from Ministry of Health. The death toll from Covid-19 has risen to 640 after 50 casualties were reported in 24 hours. And at present, there are 15,474 active coronavirus patients in the country. Health Ministry data showed that 3869 people who had been infected with conoravirus have recovered. The Ministry of Civil Aviation today said an employee of the ministry who attended office on April 15 has tested positive for COVID-19. All colleagues, who came in contact with the employee, have been asked to go into self isolation as a precaution, it said. 553 new COVID-19 positive cases reported in the last 24 hours in Maharashtra as the total number of positive cases in the state stands at 5229. 19 more deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours as the total death in the state rises to 251: Public Health Dept, Govt of Maharashtra. 94 new COVID-19 cases in Gujarat; state tally jumps to 2,272, says health official. Delhi reports 75 new cases; tally climbs to 2,186. Delhi Azadpur Market reported its first COVID-19 related death yesterday when a 57-yr-old seller died. Some sellers say, "The block (where his shop was) is sealed, no one is there. Sellers at that side have asked that their shops be barricaded & no one is allowed to come there unnecessarily" Rajasthan recorded 64 fresh coronavirus cases on Wednesday, taking the state's virus tally to 1,799, an official said. The state has so far seen 26 deaths due to the virus, with Jaipur accounting for 14 deaths. "As many as 64 fresh cases have been reported in nine districts of the state, including 44 in Ajmer," Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Rohit Kumar Singh said. A migrant couple from Rajasthan's Alwar, who got stranded in Tripura, have named their newborn boy 'Lockdown'. With 1,552 confirmed cases so far, Madhya Pradesh is one of the most-affected states in the country. The state has seen 76 deaths due to COVID-19. Andhra Pradesh reported 56 new Covid positive cases, taking the total to 813. The state saw 24 Covid deaths, while 120 were cured and discharged. 7 New cases confirmed in Karnataka; total infections raises to 425. Read More... Bahrain has slashed by 30 per cent the government operational budget as the tiny kingdom grapples with the containment of the novel covid-19 disease. The decision came Monday during a cabinet meeting chaired Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa and attended by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Premier, Trade Arabia reports citing state-run BNA news agency. The meeting also adopted to reschedule a number of construction and consulting projects in order to absorb the emergency expenses devoted to limiting the spread of covid-19. The Gulf country last month also unveiled a 3 billion-dinar ($11.4bn) package to assist its private sector. The island like all countries in the region has been fighting against the spread of the respiratory disease. It has confirmed 1,907 cases among which seven people. Its been the source of much debate in Derry Township, but it looks like the multi-million-dollar Hershey Community Center project will be moving forward with a few changes. The biggest change and the source of the most debate about the project is the reduction of the competition swimming pool in the plans from 35 meters to 25 yards. Two township supervisors were in favor of shrinking the pool to cut costs on the $31 million project, while the other two believed the pool should stay the way it is the way they approved in December due to a greater potential to bring in revenue. But it was newly appointed supervisor Chris Abruzzo who broke the tie, and it was not an easy decision, he said. He had actually been leaning toward keeping the larger pool. Then the coronavirus struck. If we werent in the middle of these times, I would support it as voted on, Abruzzo said. But he believes in the coming months, as tax revenue potentially flounders, the township is going to be faced with some tough financial decisions. If were able to weather that storm, its because were taking every measure now to prevent those tough decisions. Decreasing the pool size but improving the foundation were the major changes hashed out by township supervisors during a four-hour meeting held through Zoom on Tuesday night. Since bids had already been approved and the contract was signed in December, any changes would have to be negotiated through change orders. It wasnt clear exactly how much of a savings would come from shrinking the pool, but project manager Greg Koussis said there will be a savings, which could be in the range of $1.5 million. Demolition of the current community center, followed by the construction of the new one, can begin once coronavirus-restrictions on construction are lifted. The board of supervisors had voted 4-1 in favor of awarding the bids with a 35-meter competition pool, but the go-ahead to begin construction was not given at that time. With two new board members, Natalie Nutt and Carter Wyckoff, joining in January after winning their seats in the November election, and with the resignation of Marc Moyer, the sole no vote in December, the board was split 2-2 on whether or not to give that go-ahead for construction. Nutt and Wyckoff favored scaling back the project while supervisors Susan Cort and Richard Zmuda wanted to proceed with the project as they had approved it. With Abruzzo coming on board in February to fill Moyers unexpired term, the supervisors voted 3-2 to move forward with the project March 5, but with the possibility of some changes, which were discussed and some approved on Tuesday. Prior to the vote, some community members worried that any redesign would end up costing more money. As a taxpayer, Im not in support of careless spending to have consultants redesign the building again, said resident Brian Peda. Resident Kevin Ferguson added that shrinking the pool would decrease the potential for revenue that could be brought in from events. Others disagreed. Its a good idea to reduce the size of the pool and do whatever cost savings we can do, said resident Jay Franklin, pointing out the coronavirus pandemic is a significant financial setback, and spending and borrowing with possibly diminished tax revenue is not a good idea. The plans approved in December called for an 84,000-square-foot facility with a gymnasium, senior center, child-watch center, fitness area, locker rooms and an indoor leisure pool and 35-meter competition pool. It also features an outdoor pool and event space. You can see the plans here. Parks and Recreation Director Matt Mandia laid out the projected costs and revenue for keeping the current 35-meter competitive pool and current size of the fitness center, or reducing them. The projected numbers are for 2024, the second year of the center will be open. A 35-meter pool with an 8,000 square-foot fitness center would see revenue of $2.7 million and expenses of $3.5 million. A 35-meter pool with a reduced 6,500 square-foot fitness center would see $2.6 million in revenue with $3.5 million in expenses. A reduced 25-yard pool with an 8,000 square-foot fitness center would bring in $2.7 million in revenue with $3.3 in expenses. And a 25-yard pool with a 6,500 square-foot fitness center would see revenue of $2.5 million and $3.3 million in expenses. When Nutt asked if there would be a savings in the overall project cost by reducing the size of the pool, Koussis said there would be a savings but its difficult to pinpoint what that would be since they would be making the changes through change orders after the bids have been awarded. Its less building, less pool, there would be savings, but I dont know if we can put an exact number on it, he said. Cort said without projections of future revenue, though, its difficult to say if there would be a savings over time or a loss. Zmuda added it comes down to programs that can be offered, and with a 35-meter pool as an attraction, we have a better chance at revenue. It affords us more opportunities overall. But it also comes at a greater cost, Nutt pointed out. Supervisors did not take action on whether or not they would reduce the size of the fitness center. But they did decide to improve the foundation, which some argued was a public-safety issue. The foundation came into question weeks before the bids were approved due to the potential for sinkholes. The stronger, micropile foundation would add about $700,000 to $800,000 to the cost of the project, but Tuesday night ARM engineering principal Bill Tafuto proposed for a new hybrid system, adding reinforcement along the perimeter of the building. Doing so would improve the foundation but at a cost of $250,000 more. Supervisors voted unanimously in favor of that option. But it was the pool that got the most attention through the evening as it has for the last couple of years. Abruzzo, Nutt and Wyckoff voted in favor of reducing the size of the pool, and Cort and Zmuda voted against the reduction. We have no solid numbers on this, and best estimates from our team show any savings would be minuscule at best, Zmuda said about the potential savings from reducing the pool size. This project is not just about today or the next 18 months. This is the next 40 to 50 years in our community, Cort said. She acknowledged these are some tough financial times, but reducing the size of the pool might be short-sighted and might leave the community with an inadequate pool. Im worried were not having enough vision. I think, in light of situation were in, we need to look for every possible option to reduce our costs, Nutt said. We cant spend every dollar that comes into our township on this project. Wyckoff added that if the township doesnt scale back the costs, they could be making even more difficult decisions in the future. Im worried well be faced with the prospect of cutting back on essential services, he said. Before casting his tie-breaking vote, Abruzzo said he was leaning toward the 35-meter pool, but as the coronavirus struck, the funding partners the township was trying to bring together could no longer support the project. He said the school district was forced to back out for now as they face reduced tax revenue. He said he doesnt question the need for a 35-meter pool, but he believes a 25-yard pool will cut down on the projects annual costs and still serve the community well. Its not because I dont have vision or Im short-sighted, but our obligation to the taxpayers is pulling me in another direction, he said. Even with the smaller pool, he said the Hershey Community Center will still be a crown jewel of central Pennsylvania. 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. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Hey, Staten Island! How are you? Its been a while since weve answered the #fyiSI questions you all submitted dont worry, were going to get to those. But for now were going to switch gears with #fyiSI and ask you, our readers, to submit your COVID-19 questions. People have consumed A LOT of information in the last month. And likely missed a lot of information, too. How could you not? Theres so much to consume. For now, were going to answer COVID-19-related questions that our readers have submitted. I cant get through to unemployment -- its been weeks! Please help, I have had ZERO luck in getting whats due to me, said an #fyiSI/SILive.com reader. I filed my claim, as my retail store closed. The unemployment office said they will call back to verify and they never did. Im calling back hundreds of times a day; Im so stressed to begin with and they are making it much worse. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)AP Theres been a huge increase in the number of unemployed New Yorkers In March, nearly 500,000 New Yorkers tried to file for unemployment benefits; nationally 10 million people filed for unemployment just during the last two weeks of March and more than 22 million in the las month. The state has paid out approximately $2.2 billion in unemployment assistance to 1.1 million New Yorkers since the beginning of the pandemic. New Yorkers have expressed their frustrations, many echoing our #fyiSI readers issues stating theyve been hung up on, experienced long wait times, never received a call back or simply couldnt get through. Residents havent had much luck with the states website either, which theyve said continues to crash. Streamlined unemployment application After several attempts at fixing the issue, the state announced Monday the launch of a streamlined website. The state also added 2,700 representatives to the departments call center. According to Cuomos office, the call centers backlog prior to April 8 had been reduced to 4,305 from 275,000. The new website and application is supposed to help New Yorkers navigate between traditional unemployment assistance and the new COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, according to Cuomos office. Previously, federal guidelines required New Yorkers first be denied for traditional unemployment assistance before applying for the new pandemic assistance, but it updated guidelines allowing state residents to fill out a single application to get the assistance they need. (Roberto Acosta, MLive.com) Additional $600 per week in CARES Act legislation Passed last month, the $2 trillion federal stimulus package, known as The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, included a significant expansion of unemployment insurance. In addition to regular state benefits, those who receive unemployment will get an additional $600 per week. Regular New York state benefits allow for up to $504 per week and the amount ranges based on salary. The additional $600 will be added to checks through July 31. Why are the marinas on Staten Island closed? Jim asked: Why are the marinas closed on Staten Island? You can go in and work on your boat but they will not put them in the water. Our boats are being held hostage. It cant be a social distancing problem. You only need two or three people to put a boat in the water and one is operating the machine. This makes no sense. HELP. (Courtesy of Great Kills Marina) The marinas have reopened Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on April 18 that he -- along with Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont would be lifting the closure of boatyards, marinas, and marina manufacturers so long as they follow strict social distancing and sanitation protocols. Chartered watercraft services and rentals are still not permitted. Cuomo said he and the other governors have been working together to create a uniform regional approach so that people do not state shop at neighboring marinas. Therefore, the three states have reopened at the same time. I dont have to file taxes am I still just eligible? Rita asked #fyiSI: Im a senior citizen and dont usually file taxes. Can I still get the stimulus check? The website is confusing. IRS launched a web tool Last week, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) launched a web tool to allow taxpayers who dont typically file a tax return to update their bank account information in order to receive their stimulus relief check. Low income taxpayers, senior citizens, veterans, and individuals with disabilities are still eligible for a stimulus check, per the IRS, however, the agency needs the updated bank account information. That information can be updated by visiting the IRS website. (Rick Moriarty | rmoriarty@syracuse.com)Rick Moriarty | rmoriarty@syracuse.com Reasons why you havent received a payment yet Some Americans began seeing stimulus payments in their bank account two weeks ago, however, the IRS is still depositing funds. If you havent received one yet, it doesnt mean that you wont. The IRS website allows for tracking of your payment, but many people have expressed frustration and have a Payment Status Not Available message after entering their information. People who self-file using services like Turbo Tax and other softwares whove tried to check their status will not be able to see it until they update their information with IRS, as it does not have bank account information for those taxpayers. Additionally, if you filed your 2019 return prior to the original April 15 deadline, theres a chance the IRS hasnt processed it yet and that is holding up the status of your relief check. The Payment Status Not Available message would also appear if youre not eligible for a stimulus check. #fyiSI -- heres the point When #fyiSI launched in October 2018, the Advance received dozens of questions from readers about all things Staten Island. Now, were ready to start providing answers and are asking you again to ask us anything, Staten Island -- and we mean anything. Through #fyiSI, Im going to answer all of your burning questions with the occasional help of my coworkers about the borough with 479,458 residents that we all call home. Some of the questions weve received so far include: How can we ask for a stop sign to be added? What happened to my favorite restaurant? Is that a mobile speed camera? Why is the Department of Transportation doing construction on my block? Now, Im ready to tackle them all, and Im looking for more questions. Whatever it is, Ill answer it. You might be wondering how #fyiSI differs from the average story you already read in the Staten Island Advance or on SILive.com. Were not stepping away from the traditional news article, but instead adding social media elements like Facebook live, Instagram stories, Twitter polls, and other multimedia to help us reach you. Well also do a lot of reporting on site. Questions should include your name, neighborhood of residence and contact information, and can be emailed to fyi@siadvance.com or kdalton@siadvance.com. FOLLOW KRISTIN F. DALTON ON TWITTER. The history books tell us that the first tanks that rolled into Berlin city centre on April 21st, 1945. And that they were commanded by the Russian General Konev, his colleague and long-time rival General Zhukov taking the Reichstag the following day. Konev went on to liberate the territories of both Prague and Czechoslovakia and was twice awarded the Russian honour of Hero of the Soviet Union in 1944 and 1945. Despite his distinguished military career up to the end of WWII, his actions during the Soviet administration of the USSR have left some with a somewhat different view of the General. While he was a key figure in releasing Prague from the grip of the Nazi regime, he was also had a lead role in the suppression of the 1968 Prague Spring. As a servant of Moscow Konev had also been a big player in the vicious response to the 1956 Hungarian uprising and the circumstances that led up to the construction of the Berlin wall in 1961. As such his legacy gets a somewhat mixed response in the now-European Czech Republic. The statue of the Red Army General was dismantled recently with plans for it to be part of a museum of the 20th century in the capital city. So far there are no details of when or where this museum is expected to be and so the general remains in storage for the time being. Local politician from Pragues District Six, Ondrej Kolar, said of the dismantling that, Konev has been toppled, but Konev will stand again, only in the museum. But this has only stirred disagreement and controversy within the Czech Republic and also sent ripples as far as Moscow. The Czech President Milos Zeman accused Kolar of taking advantage of the current Covid-19 crisis to further a personal ideological agenda, while Vojtech Filip, the Communist Party leader was quoted on Radio Prague saying the removal of the statue was disgraceful. From Moscow, Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu has contacted his Czech opposite number, Lubomar Metnar, and stated the Kremlins wish that the statue be sent to Russia. Rather than take the heat out of the argument, the request has further stoked divisions in Prague over whether Konev is hero or villain. The statue has suffered vandalism in the past with paint being thrown over Konev and once a string of sausages, hung on the Generals arm made the news. In August 2019 authorities had to clean the anti-Konev slogan, No to the blood-covered marshal, we shall not forget, from the monument. The dismantling of the statue was referred to in similar tones by the Russian Foreign Ministry calling the work carried out by Ondrej Kolars local authority an, unfriendly (act of) vandalism by unhinged municipal representatives. Seeking to deflect the wrath of the Kremlin the Czech Presidents office has said the Republic had no jurisdiction over the statue and that,if the municipality decides to give it to the Russian authorities, that is up to them. This is not an isolated incident and can be seen as part of a trend across many former Eastern Bloc countries removing Soviet era symbols of the regime. In Russia, where the victory over Nazism was hard fought, the government sees this movement as a marker of ingratitude for the sacrifices made by its population in WWII. Ivan Konev was born in February 1897 in Lodejno, Podosinvsky and drafted into the army in 1916, fighting in WWI under the Tsar. After the October Revolution he picked the right side, fighting for the communists through the civil war, rising to corps commissar. Luck saw him through several Stalinist purges and in WWII he became the first commander to take an army beyond Soviet borders. In January 1945 he was part of Operation Vistula-Oder, taking Krakow from the Nazis and liberating Auschwitz. Secret Shrine to Son Killed in WW1 Bricked up for a Century Revealed After the war he represented the USSR at the funeral of Winston Churchill in 1965 and was himself interred in a place of honour in the Kremlin Wall in Moscow in 1973. A Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon has been put on lockdown after the UN announced the first confirmed case of coronavirus in one of the country's numerous and crowded camps. The patient, a Palestinian refugee from Syria, has been taken to the state-run Rafic Hariri hospital in Beirut, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said in a statement late Tuesday. Medical experts were due to visit the Wavel camp in the eastern Bekaa Valley later on Wednesday to carry out tests, the agency added. The testing will focus on the woman's relatives and people she has interacted with, as well as 50 others chosen arbitrarily "inside the camp and its surroundings", said Lebanon's official National Agency. In coordination with Lebanese security forces, Palestinian factions in charge of security have imposed a lockdown on the camp, preventing anyone from entering or leaving, the NNA report said. The United Nations and aid groups have repeatedly warned that refugees and migrants in crowded camps worldwide are at special risk of the new coronavirus. More than 70 million people globally been forced by conflict, persecution, violence and abuses to flee their homes, including more than 20 million people living as refugees, according to UN data. More than 2,000 people live in Wavel, according to statistics released by Lebanon's government after a 2017 census, but the UN agency says the population of those registered in the camp are much higher. Aid groups have warned that hundreds of thousands of Palestinian and Syrian refugees living in Lebanon's overcrowded camps are the most vulnerable and that self-isolating patients in the camps where sanitation is weak would be one of the top challenges. "The main concern remains... the spread of coronavirus in the overcrowded Palestine refugee camps where there are very limited possibilities for home isolation," an UNRWA spokeswoman said earlier this month. More than 174,000 Palestinians live in Lebanon, according to official figures, with most residing in camps ruled by Palestinian factions beyond the reach of Lebanese security forces. But unofficial estimates say the Palestinians, whose forefathers fled the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, could number as many as 500,000. And out of the 1.5 million Syrians Lebanon says it hosts since the civil war broke out in the neighbouring country nine years ago, nearly one million are registered with the UN as refugees. So far just one Palestinian, who lives outside a camp, and three Syrians have tested positive in Lebanon for COVID-19 compared to 677 infections and 21 deaths across the country, according to officials. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Westminster Lane, 14400 block, 8:53 p.m. April 11. Responding to a call for a disorderly person at an apartment complex, police located a man that appeared injured and under the influence of suspected illegal narcotics. The man charged toward the officers, resisted arrest, and struck an officer multiple times in the legs. The 21-year-old Woodbridge man was arrested and charged with two counts of assault and battery on law enforcement and one count of intoxicated in public. Experts warn coronavirus could tear through CAR at lightning spread if the vulnerable country does not get support. Before dawn in a suburb recovering from war, Fanny Balekossi awakes and heads into the centre of Bangui. A radio broadcaster specialising in health issues, Balekossi survived years of sectarian fighting in the Central African Republic (CAR) during which her older sister and close friends perished. Now, she is facing a new struggle to pull her country back from the brink once more. In a studio at Radio Ndeke Luka, CARs most popular station, Balekossi puts on her headphones, turns on the mic and begins speaking to her listeners in a country that the United Nations calls one of the least prepared to cope with a coronavirus outbreak. Welcome to your Health Magazine show, she says in her gentle, reassuring tone. Today were talking about the importance of handwashing during this health crisis that is rocking the world. From hygiene tips to interviews with top medics, Balekossis broadcasts from the capital go out on 100.9FM to citizens across CAR, whether they live in areas held by the government or by rebels. Her public service programme is part of wider efforts to prevent the coronavirus pandemic engulfing a country where only three ventilators are available for a population of almost five million. The challenge is colossal. Armed groups control large swathes of territory while doctors already struggle to treat existing cases of malaria, measles and tuberculosis, let alone a new virus with no known vaccine or treatment. As healthcare systems in wealthy nations buckle under the strain of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, medical professionals fear an even greater impact in vulnerable countries such as CAR. My mission is to inform the public, Balekossi, 35, says. I work in a media organisation which advocates peace, development and human dignity. I have to work for the benefit of listeners. A blue helmet soldier guards the outer perimeter of UN peacekeeping base in the town of Bria [File: Jack Losh/Al Jazeera] As of April 22, CAR had confirmed 14 coronavirus cases, a far lower number compared with the 1,163 infections registered in neighbouring Cameroon to the west and the 359 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the south. But a lack of testing and medical equipment could be allowing cases to go under the radar. Jack Ma, the founder of the Chinese retail giant Alibaba, has recently donated tens of thousands of masks and testing kits to CAR, but the country still faces critical gaps. The country has only one dedicated COVID-19 treatment centre with just 14 beds, according to a report by the UNs Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), along with a nationwide total of three ventilation kits, one oxygen concentrator and zero isolation units to treat milder cases to provide quarantine. A fraction of the countrys entry points has functioning health controls. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that a lack of qualified personnel, proper waste disposal and hygiene equipment will make it difficult to prevent infections within healthcare facilities. COVID-19 has the potential to tear through the Central African Republic at lightning spread if the country doesnt get the support it needs to adequately protect itself against the virus, says David Manan, the Norwegian Refugee Councils country director in CAR. This could be replicated across the worlds poorest countries, where health infrastructure is virtually non-existent. A woman exits the hospital in Bossangoa next to a sign that prohibits people from bringing in weapons [File: Jack Losh/Al Jazeera] Even before war broke out in 2013, CARs health system had been weakened by decades of mismanagement and political turmoil. Years of fighting since then have ravaged what is left of it. The conflict erupted after a coalition of rebel groups from the lawless and largely Muslim north of the country fought their way into the capital, Bangui, and deposed the president. In response, mostly-Christian militias known as the Anti-balaka struck back, exacting revenge on Muslim civilians. The ensuing chaos has displaced almost 700,000 people inside the country and spawned a hotchpotch of armed groups as the rebel coalition disintegrated. A peace deal signed last year has eased the bloodshed, although this lull has come too late for the countrys healthcare infrastructure as COVID-19 gains a foothold across the continent. Today, the average life expectancy in CAR is less than 53 years and half the population depends on humanitarian support. This years response plan to critical humanitarian needs, which existed even before the threat of coronavirus, faces a funding gap of more than $300m. The UN is now looking to raise an additional $2bn worldwide to deal with the outbreak without prejudicing other humanitarian operations for pre-pandemic crises. CARs population has proved its resilience by weathering repeated conflicts and outbreaks of disease. The regions healthcare workers have also gained expertise by tackling other epidemics in this challenging environment. But charities such as Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warn that COVID-19 is very different from others it has faced in recent decades, citing among others the impact of high hospitalisation rates and the disruption of medical supplies on fragile healthcare systems due to lockdowns. On top of this, complacency and conspiracy theories complicate the already challenging situation. Most Central Africans do not believe in the existence of coronavirus in CAR, even if we talk about it every day, says Balekossi, the radio presenter. Some say its a ploy for the government to extract money from the WHO. Others believe this disease wont affect Central Africans. Several preventive measures have been taken by the government but unfortunately are not observed by the population. The government has restricted internal travel and ordered new arrivals from abroad to quarantine for up to 21 days. Schools, bars and places of worship have been told to close, and gatherings of more than 15 people have been banned. But recently published photos show daily life in Bangui continuing as normal for many, with people crowded in markets and congregating inside bars that, from the outside, purport to be closed. If things continue like this and the population continues to disregard the instructions, the disease could spread and wreak havoc, Vicky Wackoro, a young student who took the photos, told France 24. The obstacles are even larger in rebel-controlled areas, which account for some three-quarters of CARs total territory. There, the governments power to impose coronavirus containment measures is practically non-existent. OCHA warns that the weak and limited presence of national authorities to enforce prevention and restrictive measures could aggravate the viruss impact. Some observers suggest that blanket lockdowns across Africa may not be the answer, arguing instead that local communities must be consulted when devising ways of coping with an outbreak. Alex de Waal, director of the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University, says an initial period of lockdown is the ideal time to hold such talks and find locally-suitable versions of transmission control. Every epidemic is different; government responses are usually the same regardless, he writes. There is no time to lose: community consultations should begin now. Communities may well find creative ways of protecting the most at risk. This opportunity certainly exists in CAR. Many communities live outside of government supervision and face entirely different social and environmental circumstances to each other. Just take the Bayaka hunter-gatherers in CARs lush, forested southwest and the Peul cattle herders in the arid northeast: two distinct communities leading utterly disparate existences that would elude a one-size-fits-all lockdown. Meanwhile, the economic impact of sweeping lockdowns in many African countries is set to be dire. In CAR, where average earnings are just more than $2 a day, people can only dream of the support packages prepared by wealthier states for workers hit by the crisis. The absence of a functional welfare system, a decline in remittances from abroad, disruptions to supply chains and the knock-on effects of a global downturn will only exacerbate the daily grind. With most international flights suspended, Cameroons border shut and the country dependent on imports, humanitarian coordinators in CAR warn of a spike in food prices. And then there are fears that COVID-19 could undermine security, too. In a bid to minimise the spread of the coronavirus, a 14,500-strong UN peacekeeping force deployed across the country to dissuade attacks on civilians has now suspended most internal travel and stopped rotating in new contingents. This, according to the OCHA, poses significant challenges to its ability to implement its protection mandate. A roadside sign in Bossangoa advocating against using children in armed groups, reading: Children not soldiers [File: Jack Losh/Al Jazeera] Overcrowded camps housing people fleeing violence present the perfect conditions for pathogens to spread. In CAR, one site may house upwards of 40,000 people living under dusty tents in close confines and often surrounded by hostile armed groups. UNHCR, the UNs refugee agency, says it is installing more water points in camps, informing inhabitants on the importance of handwashing in the fight against COVID-19 and distributing hygiene kits containing soap and other items. The sheer numbers, though, are overwhelming. We dont have enough but we will do our best, says Pierre Atchom, UNHCRs deputy representative in CAR overseeing protection. Our fear is that this pandemic spreads to the camps. If it does, it will be very difficult for us to stop it. Even in the relative safety of Bangui, where the government still has authority, sprawling shantytowns and scant physical distancing are an epidemiologists nightmare. Back at Radio Ndeke Luka, Balekossi ends her health show with a dispatch filed from far-flung Obo, a small, southwestern town some 1,200km (750 miles) from Bangui. Obo is so isolated that it has been dubbed as Africas Pole of Inaccessibility that is, one of the continents toughest places to reach, where road convoys of aid can take months to appear. Even here, health workers are encouraging regular handwashing and other measures to prevent the virus from spreading in a community cut off from the rest of the world. The correspondent in Obo ends his report and the shows soothing theme tune fades in. Thank you for listening, says Balekossi. She removes her headphones and turns off the mic, concluding her broadcast to a country braced for the unknown. 22.04.2020 LISTEN The celebration of the 50th Earth Day Today, 22nd April holds a unique agenda for the global community as after a long gap of several years we have seen the global environment in perfectly good health, particulate matter PM1 and PM2.5 both coming down to their lowest levels of 4 and 6 micrograms per cubic meters (Safe Limit being 20 as per WHO) as we approach 39 days of Covid-19 nationwide lockdown. Thanks to the Covid lockdown for making this happen for the Mother Earth. The excellent health of environment achieved through great pains of isolation in lockdown and a complete halt of economic and business activity should enable us seriously ponder and to draw a number of lessons from the current Pandemic crisis that has resulted into approximately 177000 deaths worldwide, says Prof PB Sharma Vice Chancellor Amity University Gurugram who is also the former President of the Association of Indian Universities, AIT. Firstly, the development to serve the cause of accelerated growth of the economy can not be allowed without protecting the interest of Mother Nature and thus, in turn, its people and the entire creation. Secondly, the madness to flood the roads with vehicles fuelled by petro carbon fuels, pollution emitting chimneys of the industries, untreated discharge of industrial effluents and untreated sewage into the rivers and water bodies can not be allowed to go on unabated, lest we invite the nature fury such as the enormous threat of Climate Change, Natural Disasters and even Pandemic Viruses of the kind that has made us all suffer so badly as now. The ancient Indians as early as the Vedic times were wiser to call themselves "Prithvi Putras", the Children of Mother Earth, as Arthur Veda said and they paid their greatest attention to preserve the vast eco-diversity and made 'Harmony with Nature' as their way of life. For them there was no peace for the man without the peace for the natural environment, peace for the entire planet Mother Earth and even the peace for upper skys that they called Aantriksha. Their prayers and daily practices were an assurance to cultivate this vital harmony and sustain the peace, in turn, create both prosperity and happiness together. No wonder this worked well to sustain a happy and healthy life for several millenniums without disturbing the ecological balance, nor the exploitation of natural resources beyond the needs of man and the living creatures. Blue sky, clean air, pure water and rich natural resources provided by Mother Earth gave an assurance for sustaining a happy and healthy life of a good 100 years or even more for humans in India and around the globe. But then empowered with the power of science and might of technology in the modern age of science and technology innovation, the man began to exploit nature and destroy its environment with madness to achieve great economic growth, even at the cost of great economic disparity and with least care for the health of the environment. India, once adorned with its holy Rivers of Nectar of Divine and purest of pure Pran Vayu, the air turned into one of the most polluted countries in the world in 21st Century. It pains to read that 21 out of 30 most polluted cities in the world now are in India as per the World Air Quality report 2019. What more of the 10 most polluted cities in the world we have 7 in India and of these 5 are in Delhi and the NCR. These include Gaziabad, Delhi, Noida, Faridabad and Gurugram. So as we celebrate the 50th Earth Day Today in Lockdown due to Corona Virus, let us pledge to desist in the future from unabated exploitation of Nature and its natural resources. We the people of this great republic and our government of the day should with greater ambition and with unwavering conviction draw a blue print and plan of action to seriously work together to maintain excellent health of the environment. I feel immensely delighted to mention at Amity University Gurugram we have the state of art Earth Station and a NASA Aeronet facility to monitor the environmental health and also the aerosol optical depth. Polling together the brain waves of international and national scientists engaged in research on the health of environment we have made concrete recommendations for implementation of the National Clean Air Program of Govt of India to achieve bigger goals to reduce the air pollution to 20 % of the levels in 2019 by 2024. These recommendations are available on our website www.amitu.edu/gurugram Let us all join hands with the Secretary General of UN Mr Antonio Guterres who in his message on the 50th Earth Day today said " We must act decisively to Protect our planet from both the Corona Virus and the existential threat of Climate Disruption. The current crisis is an unprecedented wake up call. We need to turn the recovery into a real opportunity to do things right for the future". Thus let us resolve to work post Covid lockdown and make the economic recovery on pathways of Green Economy powered by Green Engineering inspired by the Spiritual strength of Science that the Nobel laureate Madam Curie called for as early as 1943 in her brief address at the celebration of 25 years of the discovery of radium. Unfortunately in our greed to accelerate the wheels of growth we often undermine the spiritual strength of Science and the might of Green Engineering and thus pay a heavy price for neglecting the interest of man and Mother Nature, says Prof PB Sharma Vice Chancellor Amity University Gurugram who is also the Founder Vice-Chancellor DTU and RGPV. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-23 02:36:44|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close OTTAWA, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Wednesday 9 billion Canadian dollars (about 6.35 billion U.S. dollars) in financial aid for students whose education and job prospects are impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The aid named Canada Emergency Student Benefit is intended to help young people who have fallen through the cracks of other emergency relief programs against the COVID-19 crisis. At his news conference on Wednesday, Trudeau said that a monthly payment of 1,250 Canadian dollars (about 882 U.S. dollars) is going for post-secondary students from May through August to make up for lost work and cut hours. It will increase to 1,750 Canadian dollars (about 1,235 U.S. dollars) for students with disabilities or who care for others. He also said students will be eligible to receive monthly payments of between 1,000 and 5,000 Canadian dollars for volunteering in their communities to reward them for their efforts. The prime minister also announced that his government is doubling student grants for eligible students up to 6,000 Canadian dollars (4,234 U.S. dollars) for full-time students and up to 3,600 Canadian dollars (2,540 U.S. dollars) for part-time students. "COVID-19 has meant that there aren't as many jobs out there for students, and without a job, it can be hard to pay for tuition or the day-to-day basics. You might normally have turned to your parents for help, but right now mom and dad are stretched, too," Trudeau said. The benefit will require additional legislation and talks are underway about how quickly a bill to implement this new program can be brought forward. As of 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, there were 39,807 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada and 1,966 deaths. Enditem This is the first time Ive been laid off, she said. It is just so insane to think about. I really just had a moment of, 'This is truly happening to me. Im not going back to work the next day. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Less than a week after the state Department of Health issued do-not-resuscitate orders to emergency service workers in the midst of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, officials have changed their position. On Friday, officials urged EMTs and other front line workers not to attempt to revive a person who isnt showing a pulse when they arrive at a scene, based on a lack of space in hospitals due to the pandemic. The guidelines had been adopted in multiple other U.S. states as nationally recognized minimum standards," in accordance with the American Heart Association guidance and based on standards recommended by the American College of Emergency Physicians, according to a statement Wednesday by the state Department of Health. However, they dont reflect New Yorks standards and for that reason, DOH Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker has ordered them to be rescinded," the statement read. Earlier this month, EMS workers were ordered to not transport any patients in cardiac arrest to hospitals should they need more revival procedures than could be provided within 20 minutes at the scene. Those guidelines remain in place. The more recent, do-not-resuscitate guidelines were based on the recommendation of the Bureau of Emergency Medical Services, after initially being proposed by lead physicians with the EMS Regional Medical Control Systems and the State Advisory Council, the DOH said. FDNY RESPONSE By attempting to revive a person who isnt showing a pulse when first responders arrive to a scene, theres typically about a 1% chance of survival, said Mike Greco, vice president of FDNY EMS Local 2507, which represents uniformed EMTs and paramedics. 38 Life on lockdown: Coronavirus in NYC He said he believed there were mixed feelings among union members in the field about the guidelines, many of whom are likely asking themselves two questions on route to every medical emergency: Is it worth doing all the work for a 1% chance (of survival)?...Is it worth possibly spreading (the virus) to multiple members on scene and their families?" Prior to the state doubling back on the policy, an EMT who works on Staten Islands North Shore said he planned to ignore the guidelines. Everyone deserves a chance, even if that chance is small, he said. WORKING IN A WAR ZONE' Policy changes for emergency medical workers is further confirmation of war zone conditions in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, said Oren Barzilay, president of FDNY EMS Local 2507. He said that while the union understood the reasons for the do-not-resuscitate policy thats since been reversed, it (was) completely against everything we have been trained to do -- to preserve life. The FDNY issued its own memo recently contradicting the state policy, saying in part: The (state) guidelines represent the minimal standard of care; the NYC 911 system will continue to maintain a higher level of care... GARDNER, Mass., April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The registered nurses of Heywood Hospital, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, are strongly against the closure of their mental health unit and call on Heywood Healthcare to re-open the unit, which is a critical service for those in need of specialized psychiatric care and is especially essential during the COVID-19 pandemic. "Our mental health unit is an essential service for vulnerable members of our community," said Kara Belmonte, a registered nurse in the MHU at Heywood Hospital who has been furloughed due to the closure. "There will be a wave of patients seeking urgent mental healthcare as the medical devastation of this pandemic peaks and then flattens and people are left with traumatic memories. Post-traumatic stress, isolation and anxiety will worsen existing conditions and create new psychiatric challenges. This pandemic is a stark reminder of the need for ongoing access to quality psychiatric treatment." Heywood's closure puts additional strain on a system experiencing a public health crisis in COVID-19. As guidance from DPH has stated, "the surge in volume of patients with possible exposure to or symptoms of COVID-19 illness" could "overwhelm the capacity of emergency departments" (Circular Letter DHCQ 02-03-701). There were already patients waiting for mental healthcare in emergency departments and languishing in hospital hallways across Massachusetts before the pandemic. Now in communities like Gardner, where hospitals are closing mental health units, patients face waiting even longer in an ED during a pandemic or receiving no care. Donna Stern, a psychiatric nurse and MNA chair at Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield, also criticized the decision by Heywood Hospital. "Before the pandemic, we had a mental health crisis," Stern said. "During the pandemic, mental health is becoming an even more acute problem. We all know the effects of COVID-19 include tremendous amounts of trauma, stress and challenging circumstances that will create and intensify mental health conditions for patients who will need quality, local inpatient services to successfully recover." In fiscal year 2018, Heywood paid its President & CEO Winfield Brown a total of $966,472, according to 990 IRS records. Of that amount, $110,549 was bonus/incentive pay. Heywood Hospital has closed the MHU and is furloughing staff despite access to enhanced federal and state funding during the COVID-19 pandemic. Gov. Charlie Baker announced a plan on April 7 to send an additional $800 million to healthcare providers. Congress has also approved $100 billion in funding for hospitals. Before the pandemic, Heywood Hospital was on solid financial ground. The hospital made $2.9 million in profits in 2018 and $3.5 million in profits through the first three quarters of last year, according to the Center for Health Information and Analysis. Heywood's MHU closure comes as Trinity Health is proposing to close 74 child and adult psychiatric beds in Holyoke and a methadone clinic in Springfield. A coalition of nurses, healthcare workers, mental health advocates, community members and elected officials have called for the preservation of those services ahead of an April 30 Department of Public Health hearing. The MNA has additionally called for a halt to all hospital service closure and staff cutbacks during the COVID-19 pandemic. No healthcare facility that receives additional state or federal funding to help them during the COVID-19 pandemic should layoff or cancel staff, or close facilities or services. From the MNA April 21 letter to Gov. Baker: "We remain outraged that amidst a pandemic where we have heard for weeks about the need to increase capacity and avoid overcrowding emergency departments, hospitals are not only proceeding with planned closures but eliminating additional beds and units. We reiterate our call for the state to direct healthcare facilities to halt all planned bed, unit and facility closures for the duration of this crisis. This includes the absurd decision by Steward Healthcare to close ICU beds at Nashoba Valley Medical Center and Holy Family Hospital in Haverhill, the closure of mental health beds at Trinity Health-owned Providence Behavioral Health Hospital, the closure of Maternal Child Health Unit at Falmouth Hospital, the Somerville Hospital Emergency Department set to close on April 30, and the closure of the mental health unit at Heywood Hospital." "Instead of retraining and utilizing staff to respond to the COVID-19 surge, hospitals are cancelling shifts, furloughing staff or laying them off all the while collecting additional money from the state and federal government which was meant to make up for the reduced, non-COVID-19 volume. There is no justification for staff reductions in light of this funding and the crisis at hand. We remain concerned that some hospitals are using this crisis as an excuse to shed staffing costs and improve the hospital's bottom line. The latest and most shocking example is for-profit, Tenet-owned St. Vincent Hospital, which is reducing staff on a daily basis, and has announced plans to implement mandatory furloughs at the height of the surge. And this is happening just steps from where the state has opened a field hospital directly across the street at the DCU center. This decision by Tenet is part of a strategy they announced on April 2, to utilize furloughs and nearly $2 billion from the CARES Act stimulus package to 'maximize our cash position.'" Read the full April 21, 2020 MNA letter to Gov. Baker and more information at www.massnurses.org/COVID-19. MassNurses.org Facebook.com/MassNurses Twitter.com/MassNurses Instagram.com/MassNurses Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 23,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public. SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association Related Links http://www.massnurses.org The coronavirus pandemic has changed the way the world operates and almost every single soul on this planet has been affected by it. However, there are also some people who aren't taking the outbreak seriously even now. Such people and their ignorance are only making the problem worse. One example is this: Reportedly, 800,000 beautiful in-bloom tulips were mowed down in the Japanese city of Sakura recently. Twitter/@can2arakawa According to Japan Today, Sakura hosts an annual festival called the Sakura Tulip Festa which is dedicated to the blooming of tulips. Every year, people visit the city to get together at the Sakura Furusato Square and take in the beauty of the flowers. Visit Kinosaki However, despite the lockdown, people in Japan couldn't stop collecting at the Square. This reportedly left authorities with no other option but to get rid of the flowers since there is apparently no way to block the area. The festival had already been cancelled for this year yet people showed up in large numbers, claim reports. Reportedly, around 400 people were seen in Furusato Square which placed everyone at risk of getting infected and spreading the virus. This was only after a few days when PM Shinzo declared a state of emergency in Chiba prefecture where the city of Sakura is located. Live Japan Having been left with no other way to stop the people from showing up, the authorities had to make the heartbreaking decision of cutting down the tulips. Reportedly, over 800,000 tulips of around 100 different varieties were cut down by the authorities. Officials claimed that it wasn't an easy decision but one that was the needed. Twitter/@YokohamaNoHito After the tulips were mowed down, a Twitter user shared a picture of what the square looks like now and needless to say, it doesn't look pretty. Twitter/@can2arakawa Once again, nature has had to sacrifice due to people's ignorance. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 16:03:29|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KIEV, April 22 (Xinhua) -- A total of 1343 rescuers and 299 vehicles are still working on putting out the smoldering remaining at the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SESU) stated on its official website on Tuesday. "As of 7 am on April 21, SESU continues to assist the State Agency on Exclusion Zone Management in putting down the fires at the territory of Korogodsky, Lubyansky, Paryshivsky, Dityatkovsky, and Denysovichsky forestry... 1343 people and 299 vehicles, including three helicopters, which carried out 189 water discharges, equal to about 378 tons of water on April 20," the message published by the Emergency Service reads. Currently, the rescuers are using SESU heavy machinery and an additional eight Armed Forces trucks to create firebreaks in the exclusion zone. Head of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine Mykola Chechetkin informed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on April 14 that the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone fire has been extinguished, while the rescuers will need a few more days to put out smoldering. Overall, the firefighters have been working for three weeks, trying to quench the blaze that started on April 4 some two hours north of the country's capital of Kiev, near the border with Belarus. While investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the forest fire, police have detained two people suspected of triggering the blaze by setting dry grass on fire in the area. The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is located some 110 km north of Kiev and witnessed one of the worst nuclear disasters in human history on April 26, 1986. After a meltdown and explosion of the plant's reactor, a large tract of land around the facility was designated as a forbidden zone. After radiation levels decreased, the 30-square-km area around the plant was officially opened to tourists in 2010. By IANS WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has said that his immigration ban will be for only 60 days and indicated that workers on temporary visas like H1-B for professionals could continue to come in. "This order will apply only to individuals seeking a permanent residency, in other words, those receiving green cards; big factor, will not apply to those entering on a temporary basis," Trump said on Tuesday while clarifying that it is for only 60 days. He said that there would also be some exemptions to the temporary ban on immigrants. "Some people will have to come in; obviously we have to do that, obviously even from a humane standpoint," he said. Trump had tweeted the immigration ban on Monday night. He said that the executive order was being drafted and will probably be issued on Wednesday. Trump said that after 60 days he and a group will evaluate the need for any extension or modification "based on economic conditions at that time". ALSO READ| I wish him well: Donald Trump on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un amid surgery reports An immigration lawyer, Mark Davies, said that based upon the president's comments H1-B visas for professionals, and temporary visas known as E-2 for a category of investors and L-1 visas for employees of foreign companies transferred to work in the US are not affected. But he added, "This may change as more information emerges." These categories of visas are temporary and do not of themselves confer permanent residence or path to citizenship. But Davies said that the immigration ban would affect another category of visas for investors known as EB-5 because it "is a fast route to a Green Card for families and individuals able to invest USD 900,000." Trump said that he was solely motivated by the plight of American workers rendered jobless by the COVID-19 epidemic. "By pausing immigration we will help put unemployed Americans first in line for jobs as America re-opens -- so important. Would wrong and unjust for Americans laid off by the virus to be replaced by new immigrant about flown in from abroad," he said. Another reason he said was to help "conserve vital medical resources for American citizens" and "protect the solvency of our health care system." Although he denied a reporter's suggestion that he was using the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to push his agenda of limiting immigration, that appeared to be what the ban was set to accomplish to a degree. Trump has said that he wanted to end the immigration of extended family members and has imposed a requirement for immigrants to get health insurance and prove that they won't utilise public benefits. Many of those in the pipeline to receive green cards, especially Indians, are already legally in the US on other visas waiting their turn. ALSO READ| Missouri state sues Chinese leadership over COVID-19 pandemic, seeks damages So the ban will have a greater impact on potential immigrants in categories like relatives of citizens, especially if exemptions are carved out for those coming in on the basis of some employment categories. His mention of conserving health resources is in line with the earlier mandate he had issued for immigrants to have health insurance. He has said that he wanted to change the existing immigration system to give preference based on merit to immigrants coming for jobs at the expense of other categories like relatives, which he wants to end. While he said that he was suspending immigration in order to protect American workers, the ban does not extend to non-immigrant workers who would be taking up jobs. He specifically said that the tens of thousands of agricultural workers who are the backbone of US farming will continue to be allowed to come in. There is a category of visas known as H2-A to enable workers to come in every year for agricultural and similar work which Americans won't take up in sufficient numbers. "If anything we are going to make it easier and we are doing a process that will make it better for those worker to come into the farm," Trump said. Especially at this time there is a demand for healthcare workers and Ian Brownlee, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs, has said that where routine visa services were suspended visas would be processed for medical personnel already accepted in US programmes. ALSO READ| Coronavirus: WHO becoming tool of 'Chinese propaganda', alleges US government The immigration ban appears to be more of a sop to a section of Trump's base rather than making a big material difference in terms of limiting workers coming in as Democrat Representative Don Beyer pointed out in a tweet: "Immigration has nearly stopped and the US has far more (coronavirus) cases than any other country." While workers on non-immigrant visas can in theory come in, in reality there is a ban on travellers from 28 European countries, China and Iran, and air services have been severely curtailed from most parts of the world under a clampdown. At the same time, farm workers would be allowed in through Mexico. The US diplomatic missions in several countries have stopped holding immigrant visa interviews, although according to the New Delhi embassy website it appeared that interviews were continuing while for some categories it was done only at the Mumbai consulate. The immigration service has also temporarily stopped immigration interviews within the US because of the social distancing rules. Trump had already barred asylum-seekers from coming through the Mexican border and the immigration authorities have been returning to Mexico anyone caught crossing over illegally. Prairie Wolf is a 200 megawatt (MW) clean solar energy project located in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) market. The project is anticipated to begin operations at the end of 2021. Once operational, Prairie Wolf is poised to represent the largest single solar investment in the State of Illinois, as well as one of the largest solar developments east of the Mississippi and one of the largest single project VPPAs in the country. Using the United States' Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) greenhouse gas equivalencies calculator, the project is estimated to offset carbon dioxide emissions by 285,000 metric tons annually. "We're pleased to partner with Geronimo Energy on another renewable energy project that moves Cargill in the right direction toward our goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from our operations by 10% by 2025. This new solar power project is the latest example of how we are working with partners to change the way we power our operations, taking advantage of the economic and environmental benefits of renewable power," said Eric Hoegger, Director of Global Renewable Energy for Cargill. Geronimo has successfully developed over 400 MW of operational renewable energy projects in Illinois, including the Green River and Walnut Ridge Wind Farms in Lee, Bureau, and Whiteside counties. Geronimo's long and positive history of development in the state of Illinois translates to strong support for Prairie Wolf. "The Coles County Board is happy to welcome a new enterprise like Prairie Wolf Solar to Coles County," stated Stan Metzger, Coles County Board member and Planning and Development Committee Chair. "This project will bring new jobs and add value to the land. New construction projects like this also help ease the burden on local property taxpayers, as well." Current estimations for Prairie Wolf's economic benefits total over $40 million throughout the first 20 years of operation, including positive impacts in new tax revenue, construction jobs, new full-time jobs, and charitable funds through the project's Education Fund. The Prairie Wolf Education Fund alone will offer approximately $800,000 in donations to the local school districts connected to the project above and beyond all tax revenue and local spending benefits. "National Grid is delighted for Geronimo to bring this project forward as part of our U.S. renewable energy project portfolio and to continue driving the evolution and decarbonization of America's electric grid," stated Daniel Westerman, President, Distributed & Renewable Energy for National Grid. "Prairie Wolf is a clear example of how organizations such as Cargill play a critical role in creating a future that is climate-positive." "In addition to being climate-positive, Prairie Wolf is also an agriculture-positive project," added Blake Nixon, Chief Executive Officer for Geronimo. "Renewable energy projects like Prairie Wolf provide much needed stability and predictability for America's farming communities. It is fitting that a company like Cargill, an agri-business committed to farmers and the communities they serve, contracts for a project that will benefit the local rural economy and further Geronimo's own commitment to conduct business in a farmer-friendly manner." About Geronimo Energy Geronimo Energy, a National Grid (NYSE: NGG) company, is a leading North American renewable energy development company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with satellite offices located throughout multiple states in the regions where it develops, constructs, and operates. As a farmer-friendly and community driven company, Geronimo develops projects for corporations and utilities that seek to repower America's grid by reigniting local economies and reinvesting in a sustainable future. Geronimo has developed over 2,400 megawatts of wind and solar projects that are either operational or currently under construction, resulting in an investment of over $4 billion in critical energy infrastructure and the revitalization of rural economies. Geronimo has a vast development pipeline of wind and solar projects in various stages of development throughout the United States. Please visit www.geronimoenergy.com to learn more. About Cargill Cargill's 160,000 employees across 70 countries work relentlessly to achieve our purpose of nourishing the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way. Every day, we connect farmers with markets, customers with ingredients, and people and animals with the food they need to thrive. We combine 155 years of experience with new technologies and insights to serve as a trusted partner for food, agriculture, financial and industrial customers in more than 125 countries. Side-by-side, we are building a stronger, sustainable future for agriculture. Contact: Lindsay T. Smith Geronimo Energy 8400 Normandale Lake Boulevard Suite 1200 Bloomington, MN 55437 952.358.5672, [email protected] SOURCE Geronimo Energy Related Links http://www.geronimoenergy.com Police can access metadata from mobile phones and monitor bank card use to check if Australians are breaching coronavirus lockdown orders - even without the TraceTogether app. While debate continues over how the new app can encroach on privacy, many people are unaware that police already have the means to track people's movements and use that as evidence to levy fines for leaving home unnecessarily. Prime Minister Scott Morrison is urging Australians to sign up to the TraceTogether app, a COVID-19 tracking program developed by the Singapore government. The app records who the user has been in close proximity to in recent weeks, so if the user tests positive to COVID-19, authorities can then track down those people and test them. Scroll down for video Police can access metadata from mobile phones and bank statements to see if Australians (picturd) are potentially breaching coronavirus lockdown orders - even without the TraceTogether app The Australian Council for Civil Liberties is, surprisingly to some, backing the rollout of this app, on the proviso only healthcare professionals and not police have access to the BlueTooth data. Its president Terry O'Gorman, a criminal lawyer for 43 years, said the worst global health crisis since 1920 justified the council's support for TraceTogether, conditional on the privacy commissioner having oversight over it. 'We take the unusual position for a civil liberties council because this is a once-in-a-hundred year pandemic,' he told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday. 'It does have the potential to aid significantly in controlling this pandemic, we support it but only with significant privacy protections. 'The only way that people are going to be prepared to take up the app is if there is 100 per cent, legislated guarantee that no one, other than the health agencies for the purposes of tracing, can get access to that material under any circumstances whatsoever.' Without these safeguards, police could end up collecting private data on individuals from TraceTogether information. The Australian Council for Civil Liberties is backing the rollout of the TraceTogether app (pictured in Singapore), on the proviso only healthcare professionals and not police have access to the BlueTooth data showing who someone has come into close contact with Singapore is using the TraceTogether app (pictured) to help track the spread of the disease. Australia has been given the code to develop the surveillance software Prime Minister Scott Morrison had said the app can only be effective in containing the virus' spread if at least 40 per cent of people used it. Even without the app, Mr O'Gorman said state police already had the power to monitor the movements of ordinary people through the metadata on their mobile phones. HOW WILL THE APP WORK? Australia is aiming to use an app similar to one being developed in Singapore to help bring the country out of its coronavirus lockdown. The TraceTogether app uses Bluetooth on mobile phones to link up with other phones nearby. It is then able to track when two people are in close proximity with one another, providing times, dates and locations. If officials then need to call upon this data, they can determine who a person's close contacts are based on the proximity to another person and the length of time spent with them. Advertisement To see where someone has been, senior police officer can obtain mobile phone tower data from a telecommunications provider without needing to get a warrant from a magistrate. Law enforcement agencies can also demand bank statements from financial institutions to see where and when people used their debit and credit cards, also without the need for a magistrate's warrant. Mr O'Gorman said there was a danger of police abusing their powers during the COVID-19 lockdowns, under which people are urged to stay home except for essential employees who cannot work from home, buying groceries and medicine, providing care and daily exercise. 'The concern I have is that inevitably police will be seeking access to this information because they're like kids in a lolly shop,' he said. 'If there's something available, they want it. If police know data is there, based in history and more recent history, for a solid, credible assertion to be made that police will be seeking access to data.' Users of the TraceTogether app (pictured), which is now being developed in Australia, uses Bluetooth technology to track people Even without the app, state police can already demand bank statements from financial institutions to see where someone has made tap-and-go and credit card purchases from. Pictured is a man making a payment at Waterloo in Sydney's inner south Mr O'Gorman said there was nothing stopping police from accessing the information of individuals during the coronavirus lockdowns. 'Yes, because it's open to them to do that in relation to any criminal investigation and they do that as a matter of course,' 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 Appealing against unjust search warrants on mobile phone metadata is also very expensive. 'To challenge a search warrant is so costly that it's rarely done,' Mr O'Gorman said. Brisbane criminal lawyer Bill Potts said he had received an increase in enquiries from people who wanted to challenge their COVID-19 fines. He said police access to our personal data was likely to see people unfairly penalised for leaving home. 'Do we then have to justify our movements? If I want to go to the shops to buy something but I decide that I want to go for a drive first, am I in a position where metadata reverses the onus of proof, that I have to justify why I'm doing something?,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'To the extent that we have little or no privacy, we effectively give the government a power where intention is not part of the law.' Challenging a COVID-19 fine is also more likely to cost more than the penalty in legal bills. 'At the moment, the courts are essentially closed so even if you wanted to fight this, firstly, the fines are pitched at a level where the cost of fighting them quite often would outweigh the penalty,' Mr Potts said. Anyone who breaks COVID-19 measures in New South Wales is liable for a $1,000 fine, with the same penalty also applying in Western Australia, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory. In Queensland it's $1,334.50, in Victoria it's $1,652 and in the Northern Territory, $1,099. Terry O'Gorman (pictured), a criminal lawyer for 43 years said there was a danger of police abusing their powers during the COVID-19 lockdowns, whereby individuals are banned from leaving home, except for work, buying groceries and medicine and providing care Since the September 11 terrorist attacks almost two decades ago, more than 50 federal laws have been passed giving authorities more power to conduct surveillance on ordinary people. Federal laws were also passed in late 2018, giving police the power to demand encrypted data from telecommunications companies, in a bid to prevent terrorist attacks and shut down paedophile rings. The Independent National Security Legislation Monitor is due to report on those laws by June 2020. Mr O'Gorman has suggested assistant police commissioners in each state be charged with reviewing 'overzealous' COVID-19 fines within seven days. 'The criticism that I, as a civil libertarian and as defence lawyer, have of the complaints system generally is that months and sometimes years go by from the time a complaint is made about police exceeding powers to the time you get a response,' he said. The Finance Ministry on Wednesday notified changes in FDI rules, which made prior approval of the government mandatory for foreign investments from countries that share border with India, to prevent opportunistic takeover of domestic firms amid COVID-19 pandemic under the FEMA law. The countries which share land borders with India are China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar and Afghanistan. The Department of Economic Affairs, under the ministry, has notified these amendments to the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA). "In exercise of the powers conferred by clauses (aa) and (ab) of sub-section (2) of section 46 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, the Central Government hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) Rules, 2019...," the department said in a notification. Change in FDI policy needs to be notified under FEMA for its implementation. "Provided that an entity of a country, which shares land border with India or the beneficial owner of an investment into India who is situated in or is a citizen of any such country, shall invest only with the Government approval," it said. The the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) on April 18 issued a press note regarding this change in policy, which would impact both direct and indirect FDI from China. It said that the government has amended the FDI (foreign direct investment) policy to curb "opportunistic takeovers/acquisitions" of Indian companies on account of COVID-19 pandemic. China has stated that these new norms violate the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) principle of non-discrimination and are against the general trend of free trade. Indian trade experts have, however, said that India has not violated any norm of the WTO by making these FDI changes as the global body's rules do not cover foreign investments. Currently, such norms were there for investments coming from Pakistan. A company can invest in India, subject to the FDI policy except in those sectors/activities which are prohibited. According to the DPIIT data, India received FDI from China worth USD 2.34 billion (Rs 14,846 crore) between April 2000 and December 2019. During the same period, India has attracted Rs 48 lakh from Bangladesh, Rs 18.18 crore from Nepal, Rs 35.78 crore from Myanmar, and Rs 16.42 crore from Afghanistan. There are no investments from Pakistan and Bhutan. FDI is allowed through automatic route in most of the sectors, however, certain areas such as defence, telecom, media, pharmaceuticals and insurance, government approval is required for foreign investors. Under the government route, foreign investor has to take prior approval of respective ministry/ department. Through automatic approval route, the investor just has to inform the RBI after the investment is made. There are nine sectors where FDI is prohibited - lottery business, gambling and betting, chit funds, Nidhi company, real estate business, and manufacturing of cigars, cheroots, cigarillos and cigarettes using tobacco. During April-December 2019-20, FDI into India increased by 10 per cent to USD 36.77 billion. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) President of Russia Vladimir Putin held the phone talk with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and discussed the situation on the settlement of Donbas Conflict and the prisoner swap between Ukraine and militants, as Kremlin reported. According to the message, the leaders of the states provided a positive assessment of the held exchange of prisoners between Kyiv and militants. The necessity of the consistent implementation of Minsk Agreements and decisions made at Normandy Four summit is underlined. It is noted, particularly, that the Ukrainian authorities should fulfill the commitments on the political aspects of the settlement, including the legislative enshrining of the special status of Donbas, the message said. Besides, Putin and Merkel paid attention to the issues of the fight against coronavirus pandemic. The leaders underlined the importance of the close coordination of the international efforts in this area and the active participation of the WHO. In December 2019, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine supported the bill, which extends the special order of the local self-government in particular areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions for another year. On December 9, 2019, during the Normandy Format summit, the sides discussed the necessity to impose a special status in the territory of particular areas of Donbas. Statues commemorate Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, Kim Jong Un's grandfather and father. Wikipedia North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may have recently underwent heart surgery, and he is rumored to be gravely ill. South Korean intelligence has denied the reports, but has been unable to tamp down speculation about who might replace Kim if he dies. Kim comes from a line of Communist Party dignitaries and North Korean heads of state that stretches back to the end of World War II, but he doesn't have a clear heir. Here's a look at his family tree and the challenges the country faces in determining a successor. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Rumors are flying about North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un's health and prompting questions about who might succeed him if he dies. US intelligence reportedly indicates that Kim recently underwent heart surgery and could even be incapacitated. The South Korean government denied the reports, but that hasn't tamped down the speculation. Few political figures have drawn such intense curiosity as the secretive Kim Jong Un and the people believed to make up his family tree. Kim has become the face of North Korea to the world in recent years in light of his missile testing and bombastic feuds with President Donald Trump. But he comes from a line of Communist Party dignitaries and North Korean heads of state that stretches back to the end of World War II. Like his father and grandfather, Kim keeps key details about his family withheld from the public, giving few clues about the lives of his wife and young children. But the penchant for privacy hasn't stopped international media and South Korean intelligence from attempting to learn all they can about him. Some North Korea observers, such as the American website NK News, have even speculated that it's unlikely a family member would take over, and instead one of the top leaders of the Workers' Party of Korea would step in after a power struggle. While the world speculates about his health and line of succession, here's a look at the mysterious figures that make up the North Korean leader's family tree. Story continues Kim Jong Un is at the center of a complex and secretive family tree. The Kim family tree. Business Insider/Samantha Lee The leader of the Hermit Kingdom, like his ancestors, has offered scant information about his family members. That makes it difficult to ascertain who will succeed Kim if he dies. Though Kim has one living brother, and possibly two sons, it's unlikely any of them would take over as leader. Kim is the youngest of three sons but one is dead, and the other has been deemed unfit to rule. Kim Jong Un guides a target-striking contest of the special operation forces of the Korean People's Army to occupy islands in this undated picture provided by KCNA in Pyongyang on August 25, 2017. KCNA via Reuters Though it's typical for the eldest son to become the heir to the title of Supreme Leader, his older brothers Kim Jong Chol and his half-brother Kim Jong Nam were bypassed in favor of Kim Jong Un. Kim Jong Chol is Kim Jong Un's older brother who was supposedly going to succeed Kim Jong Il until he was rejected in favor of Kim Jong Un. A South Korean man watches a TV news program about a man who South Korea's KBS television reported is Kim Jong Chol, the second son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2011. AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon Kim Jong Il reportedly rejected Kim Jong Chol from leadership because "he is like a little girl." Kim Jong Un is believed to have felt uneasy about his eldest brother, Kim Jong Nam, prompting the widespread belief that Kim Jong Un was ultimately behind the plot to murder him in February 2017. Kim Jong Nam arrives at Beijing airport in Beijing, China, in this photo taken by Kyodo February 11, 2007. Reuters/KYODO Kyodo Kim Jong Nam was the victim of an intricately orchestrated assassination plot, in which two women allegedly attacked him with VX nerve agent, each smearing his face with substances that reacted with one another, causing him to die. Kim Jong Nam was also the father of three children, whom some have suggested may also be considered a threat to Kim Jong Un's regime. In this photo taken Friday, June 4, 2010, Kim Jong Nam, the eldest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, waves after his first-ever interview with South Korean media in Macau. AP Photo/JoongAng Sunday via JoongAng Ilbo, Shin In-seop One of Kim Jong Nam's children bears the seemingly Western name Kim Jimmy. Kim Han Sol, who is only 22, has spoken out against his uncle's regime, saying in a 2012 interview with Finnish television that Kim is a "dictator" and that he dreamed of going back to North Korea to "make things better, and make things easier for the people back there." After Kim Jong Nam's death, Kim Han Sol said in a YouTube video that his family feared for their safety. His younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, is a favored family member who has previously stood in as a proxy for her brother and has been dubbed North Korea's 'most powerful woman.' But it's unclear if the country would allow for a female leader. Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un attends wreath laying ceremony at Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi, Vietnam on March 2, 2019. AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool Kim Jong Un named her the head of the propaganda department of the Worker's Party of Korea in 2017, and in the years since, she's become his right-hand woman. She garnered international attention when she represented the regime in a delegation to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea in February 2018. She has also played a crucial role in previous diplomatic efforts at one 2018 meeting in the Demilitarized Zone between North Korean and South Korean leaders, Kim Yo Jong was the only woman at the table. Though she holds a high-level role, it's unclear exactly how much power she has. She has at times been seen performing subservient, and even humiliating tasks. She once made headlines after she was seen holding her brother's ashtray while he smoked during a train voyage to Hanoi, Vietnam. Kim is believed to have three young children but the North Korean government hasn't even confirmed they exist, and all of them would likely be too young to rule. Kim Jong-Un and Ri Sol-Ju attend the opening ceremony of the Rungna People's Pleasure Ground on Rungna Islet along the Taedong River in Pyongyang on July 25, 2012. KCNA via KNS/AP Images South Korean intelligence has confirmed that there are three children, the oldest of whom is a boy, and that they were born in 2010, 2013, and 2017. But it's unlikely a 10-year-old would be tapped to rule the country, and the secrecy surrounding the children would likely pose difficulties in naming one of them as the heir. The only other publicly known information about Kim's children comes from none other than Dennis Rodman, the former US basketball star who has struck up a controversial friendship with Kim, and who has visited North Korea several times. Rodman has told media that he once held Kim's second child a baby girl named Ju-ae. Little is also known about Kim Jong Un's wife Ri Sol-ju, except what is seen in photos released by the country's state-run media namely that she accompanies him to public events and has a penchant for expensive designer clothing. Kim Jong Un and his wife Ri Sol Ju inspect shops, restaurants, and waiting areas in a large new, glass-fronted terminal of Pyongyang International Airport on June 25, 2015. KCNA via Reuters Ri's pregnancies have been the subject of international speculation, generally because she sometimes disappears from the public eye for months at a time. While people sometimes worry that her absences are because of falling out of favor with her famously impulsive and mercurial husband, South Korean intelligence typically suggests she leaves the public eye when she is carrying a child. But Kim Jong Un isn't the first to withhold details about his family his father Kim Jong Il, who ruled from 1994 to 2011, was even more secretive. North Korean leaders AP Images Kim Jong Il never even officially confirmed that he had a wife, but he is believed to have married Kim Yong Suk around 1994, and maintained several other extramarital relationships, one of which yielded Kim Jong Un. Kim Jong Il has a sister named Kim Kyong Hui, who was also active in North Korea's politics but has remained largely hidden from the public eye. Kim Jong Un (L) with his aunt Kim Kyong Hui (R) in 2013. KRT via AP Now 72, she is apparently being treated for a host of deadly diseases, and disappeared from public view in December 2013. Part of the reason for Kim Kyong Hui's disappearance was Kim Jong Un's execution of her husband, Jang Song Thaek. Thaek being handled by police. KCNA, Reuters, BBC Jang Song Thaek was allegedly plotting to overthrow the regime in 2013, after which he was given the death sentence by his nephew, Kim Jong Un. Kim Sul Song is one of Kim Jong Il's children and Kim Jong Un's 40-year-old half-sister, and is a powerful business magnate in North Korea No photos exist of Kim Sul Song. Here, Kim Jong Un receives applause as he guides the multiple-rocket launching drill of women's sub-units under KPA Unit 851 in 2014. Reuters Although she has been rumored to be one of Kim Jong Un's rivals due to her powerful position, she has since rallied around her half-brother after Kim Jong Il's death, and now sits in the upper brass of North Korea's political class. Finally, the common root of this entire maze of family relationships is Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Un's grandfather, who is considered the founding father of North Korea. In this September 1979 photo from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, Kim Il Sung visits the grape vineyard of Sariwon fruit farm in North Hwanghae, North Korea. KCNA via Associated Press Born in 1912, Sung was a guerilla fighter battling the Japanese occupation of Korea, and later fought with the Soviet Union during World War II. He was able to consolidate power over what became North Korea immediately after the war, and although he was only officially elected president in 1972, had effectively held power over the state as premier ever since 1948. Kim Il Sung led North Korea from the regime's inception in 1948 to his death in 1994. He married twice, but just like his grandson, it's not entirely clear how many children he had. It's believed he had two children including Kim Jong Il with his first wife, Kim Jong Suk, and three children with his second wife, Kim Song Ae. He is also believed to have had other children from extramarital relationships. What started with Kim Il Sung's small nuclear family of four has evolved into a longtime political dynasty. Now that the Kims are in possession of nuclear weapons, they are among the most famous families in the world. Kim Il Sung (center) with his two children, Kim Jong Il (L) and Kim Kyong Hui (R). KCNA via AP Now that Kim's health has potentially thrown a wrench in the family's grip over the country, all eyes will be watching to see the power struggle that could ensue if Kim, indeed, dies before naming an heir. Read the original article on Business Insider SPRINGFIELD Police arrested a man on Tuesday who was wanted for a Brooklyn homicide allegedly committed in revenge for another slaying. Edwin Banks, 44, who is listed as homeless, was arrested at about 1:35 p.m. on Worthington Street on warrants charging him with being a fugitive from justice and on a New York Department of Corrections Parole Violation warrant, said Ryan Walsh, Springfield police spokesman. Banks was wanted in connection with the Dec. 30 killing of Jamel Horne, 31, who was stabbed in the chest, neck and shoulder on Chauncey Street, according to the New York Post. The investigation led police to evidence that connected Hornes death with the October 2017 death of Shaquill Banks, 23, who died on the same block. Officers called it a revenge killing allegedly committed by Banks relatives, the Post said. Police arrested Banks uncle Kareem Waters, 20, on Dec. 31 and charged him with murder and weapons possession, the Post said. Police continued to hunt for Edwin Banks and put out a photo of him asking the public for help locating him, according to the Post. MINNEAPOLIS, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- IRET (NYSE: IRET) announced today that it will release its first quarter 2020 operating results after the market closes on Monday, May 11, 2020, and provided a business update related to the impacts of COVID-19 on its multifamily operations. Community Update IRET's communities have continued operations in all material respects. The Company has implemented virtual leasing and tour technologies, electronic and telephonic servicing of resident requests and work orders; the Company continues to practice social distancing for emergency repairs. "We are first and foremost taking care of the health and safety of our residents and our team members. Our mission is to provide a great home, and our teams have demonstrated that they can build strong communities even in a remote-working and virtual world," said Mark O. Decker, Jr., IRET's President and Chief Executive Officer. Operating Performance Update Through April 20, the Company has collected 96.9% of historical average monthly collections for the month of April 2020. Additionally, the Company has extended rent deferral payment plans to residents experiencing hardship due to COVID-19 and approximately 1% of April rent charges have been deferred through this program. As of April 20, 2020, same-store occupancy was 95.3%, and the Company has seen an increase in resident retention. During March 2020, 46% of residents with expiring leases moved out of IRET's communities, but since April 1, 2020 only 36% of residents with expiring leases moved out of IRET's communities. Conference Call Management will host a conference call to discuss its first quarter 2020 operating results on Tuesday, May 12, 2020, at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The Company expects to be able to report not only on first quarter results, but also to provide an update on April results and early rent collections for May. Interested parties may access the live conference call via the following: Webcast http://ir.iretapartments.com USA Toll-Free Number 1-877-509-9785 International Toll-Free Number 1-412-902-4132 Canada Toll-Free Number 1-855-669-9657 Conference Call Replay A replay of the call will be available one hour after the live call and through Tuesday, May 26, 2020. USA Toll-Free Number 1-877-344-7529 International Toll-Free Number 1-412-317-0088 Canada Toll-Free Number 1-855-669-9658 Conference Number 10142637 A replay of the webcast will be archived for one year on the Investors section of IRET's website at www.iretapartments.com. About IRET IRET is a real estate company focused on the ownership, management, acquisition, redevelopment, and development of apartment communities. As of December 31, 2019, we owned interests in 69 apartment communities consisting of 11,953 apartment homes. IRET's common shares and Series C preferred shares are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE symbols: "IRET" and "IRET-PC," respectively). IRET's press releases and supplemental information are available on its website at www.iretapartments.com or by calling Investor Relations at 701-837-7104. Contact Information Emily Miller Treasury and Finance Analyst Phone: 701-837-7104 E-mail: [email protected] SOURCE IRET Related Links https://www.iretapartments.com The European Union today said the UK had 'ample opportunity' to join the bloc's coronavirus medical kit procurement scheme after a senior civil servant dropped his claim that it was a 'political decision' not to take part. Sir Simon McDonald blamed a 'misunderstanding' for the claim he made yesterday afternoon after he said UK officials in Brussels had briefed ministers about the scheme. Downing Street has denied the Foreign Office mandarin was 'leant on' by ministers to retract his claim which sparked a political fire storm. But the government is now facing fresh questions about alleged behind-the-scenes manoeuvring after the European Commission insisted the UK was aware of the chance to take part in initiatives to bulk-buy health care equipment. A commission spokesman said: 'The UK has signed the joint procurement agreement which allow the UK to participate in joint procurement processes. 'The UK was - as all other members of the health security committee meetings - aware of the work that was ongoing and had ample opportunity to express its wish to participate in a joint procurement if it wanted to do so. 'As to why it did not do so is something on which we cannot comment.' Number 10 was asked this afternoon who, if anybody, had put pressure on Sir Simon to alter his account and the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman replied: 'Nobody.' The spokesman added: 'There was obviously quite a lot of pick up of what he had said by the time he had left that committee (hearing) and it's important that select committees are given accurate information and that's why he corrected what he said.' It was claimed overnight that Sir Simon had retracted his explosive suggestion amid fury from Dominic Raab. Sir Simon's original comments contradicted the government's previous claim that it had not taken part in the procurement scheme because of an email mix-up. He also risked flouting the government's stance on the Brexit transition period, saying it was 'clearly an option' to extend the schedule. But Sir Simon then made a grovelling U-turn last night after Foreign Secretary Mr Raab was 'enraged' by his remarks, according to The Times. Sir Simon McDonald told MPs it had been a 'political decision' not to take part in Brussels-orchestrated efforts to bulk-buy protective equipment, but had to U-turn this evening This evening Sir Simon McDonald sent a letter to the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee in an embarrassing U-turn Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab pictured at work in Whitehall this morning The bombshell from Sir Simon prompted a frenzy of activity as government aides poured cold water on his claims. Clearly incensed Government sources then briefed that a 'clarification' was coming, even as Health Secretary Matt Hancock was being grilled on the issue at a Downing Street press briefing. He told the media that Sir Simon was wrong and caused more confusion by revealing for the first time that the UK had now signed up to an EU procurement scheme - although this one covers mainly potential medicines and vaccines. Within hours a letter was sent by Sir Simon to the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, admitting he had 'inadvertently' misinformed MPs and Boris Johnson's ministers were not briefed on the EU scheme because of a 'communication problem'. Care minister Helen Whately conceded this morning that there had been 'some misunderstandings'. 'There do seem some misunderstandings about the EU scheme. I am assured there was no political decision about the involvement in it,' she told Sky News. 'The reason we weren't involved in the initial scheme was to do with a communications error. We are now participating in one EU scheme and ready to participate in future schemes. 'The important thing is making sure that we are getting the PPE that we need.' In the letter, addressed to chair Tom Tugendhat, Sir Simon said the 'facts of the situation are as previously set out'. He says: 'Unfortunately due to a misunderstanding, I inadvertently and wrongly told the Committee that Ministers were briefed by UKMIS on the EU's Joint Procurement Agreement scheme and took a political decision not to participate in it. 'This is incorrect. Ministers were not briefed by our mission in Brussels about the scheme and a political decision was not taken on whether or not to participate.' He went on: 'Owing to an initial communication problem, the UK did not receive an invitation in time to join in four joint COVID EU procurement schemes. 'As four initial schemes had already gone out to tender we were unable to take part.' A Foreign Office spokesman also clarified Sir Simon's remarks on the transition period. 'The Permanent Under-Secretary was clear in his comments that while there is a public debate around extending the transition period the Government's position has not changed and the transition period will end on December 31 this year,' the spokesman said. Despite the retraction, sources told the BBC today that there has been discussion at Cobra meetings of whether to work with the EU on coronavirus issues. Previously, Sir Simon, the permanent under-secretary at the Foreign Office, told MPs on the committee that officials briefed ministers on what EU schemes were still open to the UK, even though it left the bloc at the end of January. Asked why the UK was not involved in EU procurement, Sir Simon said: 'We left the European Union on January 31.' But pressed by Labour MP Chris Bryant, who said the UK had 'every right' to participate in the schemes, Sir Simon said: 'All I can say is, as a matter of fact, we have not taken part.' Mr Tugendhat asked Sir Simon whether it was a political decision by ministers. 'It was a political decision,' he replied. Health Secretary Matt Hancock directly contradicted the senior mandarin within hours of the comments. Fronting the daily news conference he said: 'I haven't seen that exchange but I have spoken to the Foreign Secretary and as far as I'm aware there was no political decision not to participate in that scheme. Sir Simon gave evidence to the committee remotely because of the coronavirus lockdown Health Secretary Matt Hancock contradicted Sir Simon at the daily news conference last night Missed opportunities to get more PPE January 31: On the day of Brexit, a UK official attends UK meeting on the emerging virus. Four countries raise the potential need for more PPE - UK is not among them. February 4: UK attends meeting of EU and World Health Organisation (WHO) officials in Luxembourg. February 24: European Commission updates officials on PPE procurement and asks countries to outline their 'exact needs'. The UK was invited but did not attend. February 28: The EU makes its first join procurement of 1.2million of gloves and gowns. The UK is not involved. March 12: The procurement fails because of a shortage of suppliers and is relaunched on March 15, still without UK involvement. March 17: Two more rounds of procurement for masks, goggles and ventilators go forward without the UK March 19. The UK joins the procurement steering committee but does not join a tender sent out to firms the same day for lab supplies. March 23: Health Secretary Matt Hancock admits there have been 'challenges' with PPE supply but was taking the issue 'very seriously'. March 24: No 10 confirms it has not joined EU procurement effort in favour of its own plan. It later claims it did not join because it missed an email invitation. March 25: British officials do not attend a meeting at which countries were invited to outline their requirements for future purchases by the next day. March 26: The Government says it has 8,175 ventilators, but asks UK firms to build 30,000 more within weeks. March 29: Two surgeons become the first UK medics to die from coronavirus, putting a spotlight on PPE supplies for the NHS. April 10: Mr Hancock appears to suggest NHS medics are being wasteful of masks and gowns, urging them to 'treat PPE as the precious resource it is'. April 11: Mr Hancock confirms that 19 medics have died from coronavirus, after initially saying it would be 'inappropriate' to reveal the death toll. April 13: Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab acknowledged that PPE shortages were and issue and admitted supplies were running low because of 'a competitive market out there'. Advertisement 'We did receive an invitation in the Department of Health and it was put up to me to be asked and we joined so we are now members of that scheme. 'However, as far as I know that scheme hasn't a single item of PPE (personal protective equipment).' Jonathan Ashworth, Labour's shadow health secretary, said: 'First we were told the Government missed an email invitation to join the EU procurement scheme. 'Then we were told the decision not to take part was a political decision. Now we are told that the Government did sign up to the scheme. 'This is not a trivial matter. Ministers needs to explain what has happened and who is speaking for the Government on this matter.' The EU has ordered 1.5billion (1.3billion) worth of protective masks, gowns and gloves for doctors and nurses. Some 25 European countries and eight companies are involved in the joint PPE procurement scheme but the UK will miss out because it did not take part in any of the three rounds of bulk-buying which were first launched by the EU in February. This was despite being invited to do so. Although Brexit took place on January 31, the UK remains in a transition period aligned with Brussels until the end of the year at least - with calls for it to be extended. Whitehall officials reportedly only realised after all three rounds of procurement had been put out to tender that they had not received invitations to join the Joint Procurement Agreement steering committee where the orders are organised. After telling the EU commission that the invitation emails were being sent to an outdated address the UK finally participated in its first meeting on joint PPE procurement on March 19. However, British officials did not follow up that meeting and did not attend on March 25 when participating countries were invited to outline their requirements for future purchases by the next day. On March 26, Downing Street claimed there had been a 'mix up' which meant emails from the EU about the procurement scheme were not received. Committee chairman Tom Tugendhat (pictured) asked Sir Simon whether it was a political decision by ministers. 'It was a political decision,' he said The lack of British involvement in the schemes has led to claims that it was motivated by Brexiteer ideology in Mr Johnson's administration - a claim denied by Downing Street. Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said: 'This Government's evident unwillingness to work with the European Union through the current crisis is unforgivable. 'Time and again, the Government seem to have missed opportunities to join the EU's procurement efforts. 'Continued shortages of PPE over the last few days coupled with the Government's failure to scale up testing for NHS and social care workers demonstrate that the current approach hasn't delivered. Lives are at risk as a result.' Mr Hancock tonight said he was 'determined' to ensure that all staff had the personal protective equipment that they need. He said the Government was working to expand its supply base in the UK and overseas and had entered direct talks with the factories that produce the PPE and the fabric that it is made of. He said 8,331 companies had come forward with offers of PPE - some of which had led to 'very large-scale' purchases. 'I am very grateful to all of those who have come forward and we are now actively engaged with hundreds of these companies,' he said. 'I can announce that we are working with 159 potential UK manufacturers which are starting to come on stream.' Naomi Smith, of pro-EU campaign Best for Britain, said: 'If it was a political decision not to join Europe-wide schemes to bulk-buy PPE and other essential medical equipment, then the Government prioritised its own image over the country's health. 'That decision has been disastrous. Frontline workers deserve much better. 'We urge the Government to seek participation in future schemes as soon as possible, so we can source the medical supplies Britain's hospitals and care homes desperately need.' Pictured empty and stranded on the tarmac, the RAF plane STILL grounded in Turkey awaiting PPE cargo for UK coronavirus battle... amid claim government ignored offer of 10 million masks made on home soil Pictured for the first time empty and stuck on the tarmac in Istanbul airport, this is the RAF transport plane that remains grounded in Turkey while it waits to collect 84 tons of desperately-needed PPE supplies. The Atlas A400 remains unloaded, sources have told MailOnline, with the vital life-saving equipment nowhere to be seen at the airport as Turkey battles its own growing coronavirus crisis. The aircraft, which the Government promised would arrive back in Britain on Sunday, didn't land in Istanbul until Monday, at 21:10 local time. An airport worker said it had technical problems, but RAF sources denied this. The transport flight has been dogged by delays and confusion. Ministers then claimed it would arrive yesterday but it remains unloaded and has not yet taken off, as MailOnline's pictures reveal. The Atlas A400 remains empty, sources have told MailOnline, with the vital life-saving equipment nowhere to be seen at the airport as Turkey battles its own growing coronavirus crisis The transport flight has been dogged by delays and confusion. Ministers then claimed it would arrive yesterday but it remains unloaded and has not yet taken off, as MailOnline's pictures reveal Ministers have blamed 'challenges at the Turkish end' for the issues, but Istanbul has retorted that Britain only requested help with the consignment on Sunday The aircraft remains empty and still has not been loaded with the PPE supplies, which have yet to arrive at the airport PPE supplies have not even arrived at the airport yet, while the RAF plane continues to wait for the badly needed equipment A senior RAF source confirmed: 'The RAF has pre-positioned the Atlas A400M to ensure air transport is available when the PPE is delivered, which we are hopeful for in the near future.' Ministers have blamed 'challenges at the Turkish end' for the issues, but Istanbul has retorted that Britain only requested help with the consignment on Sunday. Fury over coronavirus PPE shortages escalated this week amid claims the government was ignoring offers of help from businesses - and millions of pieces of PPE are still being shipped out of the UK in spite of the shortages. A British supplier said they were forced to sell millions of life-saving items overseas after attempts to equip the NHS were met with an 'impenetrable wall of bureaucracy' - while other firms complained they had 'no choice' about sending masks and respirators abroad because the Government had repeatedly ignored offers of help. Bill Esterson, Labour MP for Sefton Central, today claimed that one of his constituents offered to make 10 million masks on March 27 but never received a reply - and when the MP wrote to the Government himself he also did not get a response. Downing Street rejected claims it ignored offers from firms, while local government minister Simon Clarke said there is a 'standing presumption' that the Government will do its utmost to buy PPE 'wherever it can be sourced' and urged manufacturers to 'reach out' to the Cabinet Office to log their ability to make equipment. Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has been at pains to present his country's performance in handling the pandemic as among the world's most effective, while keeping close control over the flow of information. But records of deaths in Istanbul suggest that the crisis in Turkey is far bigger than its authorities are admitting, with the New York Times reporting that 2,100 more deaths than expected were recorded between March 9 and April 12. Bill Esterson, Labour MP for Sefton Central, today claimed that one of his constituents offered to make 10 million masks on March 27 but never received a reply - and when the MP wrote to the Government himself he also did not get a response With some hospitals resorting to washing medical gowns for reuse and doctors warning they might have to stop treating patients, ministers have been desperately playing down expectations about the shipment. UK's 'impenetrable wall of bureaucracy' stops firm supplying PPE Amid growing frustration, the Government said it had deployed 'every resource' to get its hands on desperately needed PPE supplies and ventilators in recent months. NHS staff are pictured carrying out coronavirus tests in Lincoln A British supplier of protective health equipment was forced to sell millions of life- saving items overseas after attempts to equip the NHS were met with an 'impenetrable wall of bureaucracy'. The company said UK procurement system was 'unresponsive at best or incompetent at worst' and delays were putting lives at risk. The embarrassing revelations will raise questions about why the Government did not replenish PPE stockpiles and build up more supplies in March as the country entered the crisis. Amid growing frustration, the Government said it had deployed 'every resource' to get its hands on desperately needed PPE supplies and ventilators in recent months. But the supplier trying to sell millions of masks, gowns and aprons yesterday said it had spent 'five weeks hammering at the Government's door' without response. Michelle van Vuuren, who runs a London-based property company, turned her business into a PPE distributor working with Chinese suppliers last month as the virus began to spread around the world. After failed attempts to contact NHS procurement services, Miss van Vuuren contacted Health Secretary Matt Hancock's office on March 20. She was subsequently passed to the Cabinet Office but her inquiries went 'into a vacuum' and were met with only an automated response. Advertisement When asked about the situation, communities minister Simon Clarke told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'It will be with us obviously in the UK in the next few days, which is the core priority.' The row widened today amid claims that millions of pieces of PPE are still being shipped out of the UK in spite of the shortages. A British supplier of PPE told the Mail they were forced to sell millions of life- saving items overseas after attempts to equip the NHS were met with an 'impenetrable wall of bureaucracy'. The company said the UK procurement system was 'unresponsive at best or incompetent at worst' and delays were putting lives at risk. Other firms told the Telegraph they had 'no choice' about sending masks, respirators and other pieces of kit abroad because the Government had repeatedly ignored offers of help. Mr Clarke said there is a 'standing presumption' that the Government will do its utmost to buy PPE 'wherever it can be sourced' and urged manufacturers to 'reach out' to the Cabinet Office to log their ability to make equipment. But shadow Cabinet Office minister Rachel Reeves told Today programme she had been 'inundated' with manufacturers who have contacted the Government offering to make PPE but have heard nothing back. 'There are many, many businesses around the country who have perhaps furloughed workers but have the capability and the capacity and the skills to make this personal protective equipment and clothing - particularly the gowns - but have not heard back from the Government. 'Some of them are doing it on an ad-hoc basis for local hospitals or care homes, but this needs to be systematic - it needs to be a national effort, using all of our manufacturing and textile capacity and capability to ensure that the doctors and nurses and care workers ... have that equipment and clothing that they need.' Chancellor Rishi Sunak told the regular Downing Street briefing last night that government is pursuing 'every possible option' around the world to bolster supplies. Mr Sunak said the UK and other countries are facing an 'international challenge' to source the equipment and that ministers are 'working hard to get the PPE our frontline NHS and social care staff need'. He said Britain is still 'working to resolve the Turkish shipment of PPE as soon as possible' but was unable to say when it will arrive. He did reveal a shipment of 140,000 gowns from Myanmar was unloaded in the UK yesterday. One of three RAF jets that have been on standby left Brize Norton in Oxfordshire yesterday afternoon, but has reportedly yet to start the return journey. Officials in Istanbul told Sky News there was 'never a problem from Turkish authorities' and 'all permissions have been issued very swiftly'. The hold-ups come with hospitals warning they are close to running out of some items, and medical bodies saying doctors could need to make 'difficult decisions' between exposing themselves to the virus or 'letting a patient die on their watch'. Trusts have accused ministers of raising the hopes of health staff saying they had 'bitter experience' of promised PPE either failing to arrive, or turning out to be either faulty or the wrong kit. Michelle van Vuuren, who runs a London-based property company, turned her business into a PPE distributor working with Chinese suppliers last month as the virus began to spread around the world. After failed attempts to contact NHS procurement services, Miss van Vuuren contacted Health Secretary Matt Hancock's office on March 20. She was subsequently passed to the Cabinet Office but her inquiries went 'into a vacuum' and were met with only an automated response. The Deputy Chief Medical Officer faced an angry backlash yesterday after she claimed that people are not being 'adult' about PPE supplies. Dr Jenny Harries slapped down critics of the government's efforts to make sure frontline workers have access to the gowns, gloves and masks they need to protect against coronavirus. She said there needed to be a 'more adult, and more detailed conversation about PPE supplies' as she insisted the UK was an 'international exemplar in preparedness'. But healthcare chiefssaid they had been 'sounding the alarm' on the apparent lack of PPE available in some settings 'for months'. The National Union of Students (NUS) has called for the introduction of a hardship fund and an option for students to retake or be reimbursed for the academic year after research showed concern for their future job prospects. The call comes after the results of the NUS Coronavirus and Students' Survey 2020, which involved almost 10,000 students across all regions, age ranges and learning experiences in the UK. Covid-19 has left students fearful for their futures, with 95% indicating concern over the virus' impact on the wider economy, while 81% expressed concern about future job prospects. 85% of working students said they may require extra financial support as that income drops, but just 33% indicated they were at critical risk of being unable to access their education. Almost three-quarters were worried about the risk to their final qualifications, while 71% were worried about the impact of the pandemic on their employability. In response to the survey's findings, the NUS has called on the government to provide a 60 million national hardship fund and an economic package for those who complete their qualifications during the pandemic. The union has also pressed for the option for every student to redo the year at no further cost, while receiving full maintenance support, or for a reimbursement for the academic year. NUS National President, Zamzam Ibrahim, said the need for a safety net was 'urgent'. "Coronavirus has hit thousands of students in the pocket and severely affected the quality of their learning," he said. "The majority are paying extortionate fees for their education and are treated as consumers but are left out in the cold when the product cannot be delivered as described. "Face-to-face teaching and assessments have had to be hurriedly moved online, and placement and other practical activity has had to be cancelled. "Students have lacked access to key resources, such as libraries and spaces, disabled students have been left unsupported, and students and staff have been struggling with other demands on their finances, welfare and wider lives as lockdown restrictions are enforced. "Students are being forgotten during the Covid-19 pandemic. We are the future workforce that will have to help to rebuild our economy over the coming years." The NUS is a confederation of over 600 student unions across the UK and works with more than 95% of all higher and further education students. After some confusion surrounding the operation of plant nurseries that prompted some temporary closures, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishams office has made it clear: nurseries selling live plants are allowed to stay open, but only through curbside or delivery service. Nurseries must also continue to take social distancing precautions and abide by the mass gathering rule that prohibits five or more people gathering in a room or in an outdoor space where they cant be at least six feet from each other, according to Governors Office spokeswoman Nora Meyers Sackett. Nurseries had been temporarily closed following an now-amended April 11 public health order classifying those businesses as non-essential. Its way more labor intensive to do business this way, said Glenda Mostek, executive director of the Colorado Nursery & Greenhouse Association. Mostek, whose organization represents 13 nurseries in New Mexico, said nurseries have been busy and having to field many phone calls to process orders. Everyones having to adjust but they are glad to be open and to help everyone get out there to plant something, she said. Osuna Nursery at 501 Osuna NE has been closed to in-person shopping since April 11, when New Mexico State Police stopped by to inform staff of the updated order, marketing director Shannon Cody said. While we are carefully following state orders and following CDC guidelines, we are still pushing for a chance to reopen for in-store shopping, Cody said. For now, many local nurseries are offering curbside and delivery services. Most nurseries are accepting orders online or over the phone. Four candidates are vying to become the next sheriff of Clackamas County, including three longtime insiders and an Oregon State Police detective. It is the first time in 16 years that the position has seen a competitive race. In the May 19 primary, voters will nominate candidates for the general election in the fall. If one candidate wins a majority of votes, that persons name will be the only one on the general election ballot. Otherwise, the top two vote-getters will face off in the fall. The candidates are Undersheriff Angela Brandenburg, 50, of Molalla; Roger Edwards, 50, of Boring, an Oregon State Police detective; Lt. Brian Jensen, 49, of Tualatin; retired sheriffs Sgt. Lynn Schoenfeld, 51, of Beavercreek. Sheriff Craig Roberts said he will retire sometime this year. Brandenburg has endorsements from three Clackamas County commissioners and Portland-area sheriffs, including her boss, Roberts. Schoenfeld has the backing of the union that represents Clackamas County deputies and sergeants, as well as employees who handle records and evidence and other non-management staff at the Sheriffs Office. The Oregonian/OregonLive asked each of the candidates a series of questions. They responded in writing. Their answers are below. They have been edited for clarity and length. Q. What makes you qualified to be sheriff? Now undersheriff, Brandenburg is running to be sheriff. Angela Brandenburg: I am the only candidate that has managed a 500-member organization with a $99 million budget. Unlike any other candidate, I have broad experience across the Sheriffs Office having worked in every division except the jail. I am the only candidate who has worked up through the ranks, from a volunteer reserve deputy to undersheriff, and in that role, I run daily operations, second in command to the sheriff. No other candidate has my hands-on experience to lead the Sheriffs Office. I have made a life-long commitment to public service. Growing up in the rural Colton area, I developed a passion to serve my community. I joined the U.S. Oregon Army National Guard at the age of 18. During my 9-year service with the Army National Guard, I began my career with the Clackamas County Sheriffs Office as a volunteer reserve deputy before becoming a full-time patrol deputy. I have over 29 years of law enforcement experience in the following: Reserve Deputy; Patrol Deputy; Patrol Field Training Officer; SWAT team member; Search and Rescue team member; Public Information Officer; Civil Deputy; Patrol Sergeant; Civil Sergeant; Lieutenant Civil Commander; Lieutenant Investigations; Director of A Safe Place Family Justice Center; Undersheriff. Jensen is a lieutenant with the agency. He is one of three department insiders running for sheriff. Brian Jensen: With over 29 years of combined military and law enforcement experience, including over 21 years at the sheriffs office, I am uniquely qualified and prepared to be sheriff. I have held many roles in different divisions (patrol, investigations, administration) in my law enforcement career and my exposure brings with it a base of knowledge and level of professionalism our office and our community is in need of. I possess the courage to lead and the humbleness to do so in a collaborative manner. The decisions I make are done so intelligently and with the best interest of the community in mind. I am even-tempered and reasonable and not only will I identify the problems, but I will work to find the solutions. Community is important to me and I will work tirelessly to gain the respect and trust of our citizens. I will be a sheriff that you can be proud of. When I was the Public Information Officer for our office, I worked on community outreach and letting the public get to know our employees. Edwards is an Oregon State Police detective and is running for Clackamas County sheriff. Roger Edwards: I have been engaged in law enforcement and emergency services for over 30 years. I am currently employed by the Oregon Department of State Police as an arson detective. I have been employed by the Oregon State Police since 1998 and have worked in the Patrol, Fish & Wildlife, Gaming and the Criminal Investigations Divisions and serve as a Civil Service Commissioner for Clackamas Fire District #1. As an external candidate, I am the only candidate that will be able to look at the agency in an unbiased way. I am not invested in any special projects or beholden to any group of people. I have the unique opportunity to see everything as it truly is. I will be able to make decisions that are in the best interest of both the community and the organization. I have the experience to prepare this agency to meet the needs of the future. I served ten years as an elected Fire District Director. I have experience in governmental budgeting, grant funding, employment practices, tax levies, negotiating contracts and developing long and short term strategic plans for an agency to meet the needs of the community. I have worked as a Senior Officer for the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Veterans Administration Police Department and I am a veteran of the United States Army Military Police Corps, Oregon National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve 396th Combat Support Hospital. Lynn Schoenfeld, a retired patrol sergeant, is running for sheriff. Lynn Schoenfeld: I have 28 years in law enforcement -- 26 with this agency, 20 of that as a sergeant. I know the strengths and weaknesses of the organization and what we need to do to give the kind of service our citizens expect. Ive served in multiple different assignments over the years. I have a depth of experiences to draw from. I have a Masters Degree in Business Administration and have run my own successful small business and other businesses for the past 15 years. I have the credibility, relationships and knowledge to lead this agency. Q. The pandemic and related economic crisis will likely mean millions less in funding for all public agencies. What will drive your decision making on what does and does not get funded. Brandenburg: I will always be committed to investigating child abuse, domestic violence, elder abuse and ensuring we have deputies to respond when you need one. I will not make cuts that jeopardize public safety. Edwards: As Sheriff, one of my top priorities would be to reach out to the County Commissioners and request the use of their auditors to review the financial status of the Sheriffs Office. I will work with the command staff to develop a program to best meet the priorities of our community. Once thats in place, we can focus on the budget to determine what programs need to be enhanced or removed to meet our obligations of the community. Every special project that is not supported by the mission program would be placed on hold or eliminated. Jensen: The needs of our citizens. Knowing that there will most likely be a significant budget shortfall, I have already began researching the services that we provide in preparation for possible reduction or elimination. This would be a worst-case scenario, but to not be prepared is irresponsible. The office of sheriff is mandated by law to provide a jail, civil process, and search and rescue. In our community, we are fortunate to provide many other services to include patrol, marine, the Family Justice Center and the Clackamas Substance Abuse Program that all provide a vital service. A cut in service would be catastrophic, but the decision on what to cut would be made based on the needs and expectations of our citizens and would be done so with their input. Schoenfeld: This will be based on supplying the services required by statute and services our residents expect of this agency. Core services such as a county jail, civil process/court security, criminal investigations and patrol will be priorities. Search and rescue is a priority as well. There are many things this organization can attend to, but the core functions will take priority. I intend to conduct a comprehensive review of the budget, to find out where we actually spend our money and ensure we spend it wisely in the future. I intend to run the organization like a business. The product is the service we provide. The people are our customers Q. Do you think the agency needs improvement and if so, what areas would be priorities for you? Brandenburg: We have an outstanding relationship with our community and I do not take their trust lightly. That said, the Sheriffs Office needs improvement in the area of accountability. Failure to hold all employees accountable erodes our relationship with our community, our employees and law enforcement partners. I have a deep-rooted sense of justice and my history proves that I hold those employees who work for me accountable. As sheriff, I will hold all employees accountable and I will not allow disciplinary matters to go unaddressed. Jensen: Yes, our agency needs to improve. We have a really great agency and fantastic people working in it. With that being said, we can always improve and we are naive if we think otherwise. One of the biggest areas we need improvement in is within the leadership. I am not talking so much about the personnel, but the culture. Our leadership team needs to obtain the skill set and be given the autonomy to lead. I will give them the tools, the inspiration, and the creativity they need to be successful. I will place the correct people in the correct roles for success. A change in the leadership culture will have positive effects at all levels of our office. We also need to change the way in which we spend money. This is not a blank check and we need to train those with the ability to spend money exactly how to do it responsibly and with greater oversight. The days of giving someone a budget and not teaching them how to budget will be a thing of the past. Being a good steward of the publics money will be everyones goal and ultimately my responsibility. Edwards: Overall, I feel the Clackamas County Sheriffs Office is an excellent organization as well as the employees who provide those services. I feel budgeting is going to be the number one priority for the Sheriffs Office and the community. The Sheriffs Office needs to look toward the future and prepare for the possibility of extended budget cuts. We need to streamline the budget to lessen the impact on the organization, while providing uninterrupted service to our community. The second area of concern for me, is ensuring the employees are provided a positive working relationship with the command staff. As Sheriff, I have the willingness and the ability to bring a positive change to the current leadership. I would set clear expectations, provide training if needed and also provide a supportive and positive working environment for both the command staff and employees. Schoenfeld: Strategic, long term planning around service delivery to the county residents and funding surrounding it. The past 15 years or more this agency has become top heavy with extra management and support personnel, while losing deputy sheriffs engaged in providing direct services to the county. I plan to improve organization of the agency, structure it appropriately and provide boots on the ground to protect and serve the people of our county. Weve gotten away from our core mission, and many employees no longer know what the mission is. We need to protect and serve the people, reduce crime and the fear of crime and provide a safe community for everyone. We have too many irons in the fire, some of which are entirely worthy causes but maybe not necessarily the purview of a Sheriffs Office at this time. I want to refocus and re-prioritize back to what our citizens demand. Q. Outside consultants issued an unsparing review of the Sheriffs Office in 2018. Last year, the sheriff told county leaders he would not cooperate with the consultants for a follow-up review of policies and training. Would you allow the consultants to review the agency again? Brandenburg: Yes. In fact, I found their review to be helpful in making meaningful changes that have improved our agency. The OIR Group embraces the same transparency and accountability I want for my office. Edwards: As sheriff, I would have no issue with an outside organization reviewing policy and procedures, to ensure they are in compliance with current case law and best practices. I have read the review generated by OIR Group and they made many suggestions that appear reasonable and acceptable. OIR Group was very factual and blunt about issues facing the Sheriffs Office during that review period. Jensen: My administration and office will be openly transparent, open to constructive criticism and consistently looking for ways to improve, in an effort to increase and professionalize our function, process, and service. If the OIR Group, or any other consultants, wish to review how we operate and provide feedback, then of course I would allow that. In fact, I would encourage it. It is my belief that we cannot move forward if we are not willing to take an honest look at how we are operating and make adjustments and/or changes accordingly. Schoenfeld: Yes, we will cooperate with the OIR group. The failures that led to the OIR group investigating our organization are real and are a stain on the reputation of our organization. Ive read the OIR group report and they made a number of very good recommendations. I plan to welcome them back and work with them. This is important for transparency and a realistic assessment of potential past failings as well. Our deputies work hard, they are proud and they expect an ethical work environment. I'd like to be clear on one point though. The situation OIR was brought in to review was not merely a failure of processes, it was a failure of leadership. Reducing the situation with the former detective to just a series of process failures is disingenuous and avoids the root causes: command level failures at several junctures and a violation of the publics trust. Q. Search and rescue made headlines this year when the sheriff decided to consolidate that function into one unit attached to the Sheriffs Office. This move caused a public backlash and prompted the sheriff to negotiate with at least one of the groups, Portland Mountain Rescue, to allow it to continue. How would you rate the sheriffs handling of this issue? Brandenburg: As a current sheriffs employee, I will decline the invitation to rate my assessment of his performance on this issue. However, as sheriff, know that I am committed to working with our current volunteer search and rescue organizations who have been vital to Clackamas County for years. I will listen to their concerns, respect their rights as independent organizations, while ensuring the safety and well-being of Clackamas County residents and visitors. Edwards: For me, prior to making any decisions, I would have called the leaders of every search and rescue team to discuss the underlying issues the Sheriffs Office was facing. I would have worked with all parties to define the underlying problems and worked as a team to develop solutions to best protect the vested parties. Relationships need to be repaired with all vested parties. Remember, at the end of the day its not about us. Its about the people and their families who are depending on us for help. Jensen: Given the fact that I am currently an employee of the Sheriffs Office and will work for Sheriff Roberts until the end of the year, publicly rating his handling of any issue puts me in a terrible position. I am willing to say, however, that I would have handled the situation differently. I appreciate that the sheriff modified his past course of action and came to a mutually agreeable solution with Portland Mountain Rescue. The work, however, is not done. While change to our current search and rescue model is appropriate, I believe there is a middle ground that all involved can work with. We all want to provide the best search and rescue services possible to those who find themselves in need. The solution needs to be done collaboratively and with input from the search and rescue experts, risk managers, and other informed stakeholders. It is a lot of work and time, but we owe it to our volunteers and those we serve to make the investment. It is the right thing to do. Schoenfeld: I think the changes to Search and Rescue were a solution in search of a problem. Community stakeholders and volunteers were left out of the process, and a decision was made without the larger picture taken into consideration. I dont think this was handled well and I intend to put a halt to these changes. I have already met with many stakeholders and would as sheriff address any issues on a collaborative platform. -- Noelle Crombie; ncrombie@oregonian.com; 503-276-7184; @noellecrombie Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has said the city will still hold a July Fourth celebration with Macy's despite the coronavirus pandemic but officials must figure out how to modify the spectacular event. The Big Apple's famous St. Patrick's Day Parade was cancelled last month and the mayor announced the 50th anniversary Pride march would not happen this June due to social distancing measures put in place. But Americans will get to celebrate Independence Day together in some way, de Blasio said Wednesday as he revealed the fireworks extravaganza will go ahead. 'One way or another, the show will go on,' he said in his #AskMyMayor video posted on social media. 'There's no day like the Fourth of July ... and even if we have to do something different, we have to mark it in a meaningful way.' Macy's told DailyMail.com: 'This years show will be a celebration of the strength and resilience of New York City and will honor frontline workers across America' Summers going to be very different in our city this year, but I can promise you one thing: were working with @Macys to find a safe way to celebrate the Fourth of July. #AskMyMayor pic.twitter.com/x3X580hpz9 Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) April 22, 2020 He said fireworks sponsor Macy's agrees. 'We will celebrate our nation's birthday. The city of New York will partner with Macy's to come up with something great no matter what the coronavirus throws at us,' de Blasio continued. The mayor explained that after a conversation with Macy's Chief Executive Jeff Gennette, it was unclear how exactly they'd pull off the world famous spectacular but 'what we know for sure is this wonderful show will go on'. Macy's told DailyMail.com in a statement Wednesday: 'Since 1976, Macys Fireworks have lit the skies over many of New York Citys waterways and neighborhoods. 'Together with our partners in the City of New York, we are reimagining how to safely share the nations largest 4th of July fireworks show with America again this year. 'This years show will be a celebration of the strength and resilience of New York City and will honor frontline workers across America.' NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio said it remains to be decided how and when the show can happen in light of whatever social distancing may still be necessary by Independence Day De Blasio said it remains to be decided how and when the show can happen in light of whatever social distancing may still be necessary by Independence Day. 'We're going to figure out something we can do. We have to make sure it's safe,' the Democrat said. But he cast the plan as 'part of our effort to fight back - to recognize a day of this importance, but to do it in a different way.' In New York City coronavirus cases were past 147,000 on Wednesday, up by more than 3,000 from the day before. Confirmed and probable deaths neared 15,900 and were up by 347. The economic shutdowns have run retail companies like Macy's into big trouble. Macy's is looking for $5billion to avoid bankruptcy, MarketWatch reports. Cowen analysts report the company only has four months' worth of cash available. Macy's stock was down 7.4 percent at Wednesday's market opening. Over the past year, Macy's stock has plummeted 80 percent. Critics recently hit out against de Blasio's call for a celebration of New York healthcare workers and first responders when the lockdown ends, some fearing a second wave of deaths and infections. 'Having a parade in New York City is one of the stupidest ideas Ive ever heard,' said Tapper during an interview with CNNs Erica Hill, on Tuesday. Many others took to social media soon after de Blasio's announcement earlier that same day, referencing similar parades held in the US soon after the 1918 Spanish Flu quarantines were lifted, in which thousands perished. The Puerto Rican Day Parade and the Celebrate Israel parade have also been canceled in New York City this year. All of the events require city permits. Please register or log in to keep reading Stay logged in to skip the surveys. A powerful moment on last week's episode of Gogglebox Australia proved the old saying that you can never judge a book its cover. The stars' harsh comments about an unidentified driver on Channel Nine's RBT came back to haunt them when the truth was revealed at the end of the segment. They accused the man of being drunk or 'off his head' on drugs, only for him to return negative results for both after being pulled over by police. Negative! A powerful moment on Gogglebox Australia proved the old saying that you can never judge a book its cover. The stars' harsh comments about a driver (pictured) on Channel Nine's RBT came back to haunt them when the truth was revealed at the end of the segment Gogglebox viewers were not impressed by the judgmental attitudes of the cast, after they jumped to conclusions based on the man's physical appearance. 'Just because they look like they're higher than a kite doesn't mean they are!' one fan wrote on Facebook in response to the episode. 'We're the worst at judging people by their appearances,' another wrote, as dozens more agreed they had also unfairly judged the driver. 'That was a huge lesson for me. I am ashamed. I thought he had been drinking. I feel really ashamed. I will not judge a book by its cover,' one viewer wrote. Several fans pointed out that medical conditions can make people appear drunk or high, adding that the RBT segment was a poignant reminder that 'we really need to be just a little more careful'. Spoke too soon: The Goggleboxers accused the man of being drunk or 'off his head' on drugs, only for him to return negative results for both after being pulled over by police. Pictured (left to right): Jad Nehmetallah, and Sarah and Matt Fahd During the episode, all of the Goggleboxers joked that the driver was 'obviously' drunk or high. 'He is so off his head,' said Isabelle Silbery, while Vestal Delpechitra agreed: 'He'll be under for alcohol, but positive for drugs!' 'He's definitely not passing the drug test. If this guy isn't on drugs I'll do 20 push-ups,' Matty Fahd added. 'No!' When the tests for drugs and alcohol came back negative and the man was allowed to drive away, the cast were left gobsmacked. Pictured: Isabelle Silbery But when the tests for drugs and alcohol came back negative and the man was allowed to drive away, the cast were left gobsmacked. They apologised for being so judgmental and, true to his word, Matty jumped on the floor to begin his 20 push-ups. Gogglebox Australia airs Wednesdays on Foxtel's Lifestyle channel from 7.30pm, and Thursdays from 8.30pm on Channel 10 Flash China will take all necessary measures to safeguard its sovereignty, rights and interests in the South China Sea, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said Tuesday. Geng made the remarks at a daily press briefing in response to a question concerning Vietnam's claim of sovereignty over the South China Sea islands. The Vietnamese Permanent Mission to the United Nations has sent several diplomatic notes to the UN secretary general since the end of March, alleging Vietnam's illegal claim in the South China Sea and attempting to deny China's sovereignty, rights and interests in the region, said Geng. "China firmly opposes it and has lodged a solemn representation to Vietnam," Geng said. He confirmed that the Chinese Mission to the United Nations sent a diplomatic note on April 17 to the UN secretary general to reiterate China's position and oppose Vietnam's illegal claims and wrong views. Noting that the Xisha and Nasha islands are China's inherent territory, Geng said China has sovereignty and jurisdiction over the South China Sea in accordance with international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. China also has historic rights in the South China Sea, Geng added. "Any country that attempts to deny China's sovereignty, rights and interests in the South China Sea in any form and to reinforce their illegal claims is doomed to fail," said Geng. "China will take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard its sovereignty, rights and interests in the South China Sea," he said. Megan Thee Stallion is continuing her studies to honor her late mother. The 25-year-old Houston rapper revealed that she is staying in school to honor the legacy of her mom, Holly Thomas, who passed away from a brain tumor in March 2019. Megan is currently studying online for a degree in health-care administration at Texas Southern University and dreams of opening an assisted living facility for the elderly in her home town. Touching: Megan Thee Stallion is continuing her studies to honor her late mother Bond: The 25-year-old Houston rapper revealed that she is staying in school to honor the legacy of her mom, Holly Thomas, who passed away from a brain tumor in March 2019, they are seen in a throwback image together Of the motivation to stay on course to finish school despite superstardom, the Hot Girl Summer hitmaker - real name Megan Jovon Ruth Pete - told People on Wednesday: 'I want to get my degree because I really want my mom to be proud. 'She saw me going to school before she passed.' Megan is hoping to finish up all her coursework by next year and is planning to throw an elaborate graduation party. It hasn't been an easy road for the star - who recently released EP titled Suga - as her grandmother died shortly after her mother did. She also lost her father as a teenager. 'I want to get my degree because I really want my mom to be proud': Of the motivation to stay on course to finish school despite superstardom, the Hot Girl Summer hitmaker told People on Wednesday, as she is seen dancing to her song in Rihanna's Savage x Fenty lingerie 'I want my big mama to be proud. She saw me going to school before she passed,' Megan said. 'My grandmother thats still alive used to be a teacher, so shes on my butt about finishing school. Im doing it for me, but Im also doing it for the women in my family who made me who I am today.' As Megan is one of the biggest role models for young women in the music industry no doubt that comes from the strong female figures she had in her life growing up. She said: 'I literally watched my mom and my grandmother get up and go to work every single day. My big mama owned three houses in South Park [Houston]. She was going hard, working to provide for our family, so Ive always seen her drive.' The Savage rapper went on to say that she learned how to be dependent from the people around her. 'I've always seen her drive': As Megan is one of the biggest role models for young women in the music industry no doubt that comes from the strong female figures she had in her life growing up Muse: Megan is also featured in the April cover story for Marie Claire She explained: ' My daddy passed away when I was 15, so my mama was still going hard taking care of us. If we were going through money problems, my mother and my two [maternal] grandmothers always made sure I didnt know. 'We couldve been struggling, but they made it work. Ive always seen strong women making it work, so Ive always wanted to have that same drive the women in my family have. I know I get a lot of my strength from my mother and both of my grandmothers.' Megan has been very open about wanting to make her mother proud as she recently talked about how she helped in the path to her success in the April cover story for Marie Claire. 'I would see her fit in writing after work and before work,' Megan told Marie Claire of her mother, who would juggle her music aspirations with her day job as a bill collector. 'I'm used to seeing that work ethic.' She also touched on her reasoning for staying in school. 'I never had a plan B; I always had two plan As. I knew I wanted to go to school, but I knew I wanted to pursue music,' she says. 'When you really want to do something, you're really going to put your mind to doing it. And I really want to do both. I have to do both.' For more coverage, visit our complete coronavirus section here. Children age 2 and under should never wear a mask or face covering, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "The mask can impact their air pathways and obstruct breathing," said UCSF pediatrician Dr. Lee Atkinson-McEvoy. But what about children 3 and older? Atkinson-McEvoy said for kids ages 3 to 6 wearing a mask can be tricky and parents need to use their best judgement. Some children may not tolerate wearing a mask and may even throw a fit when forced to wear one; crying can release more mucous than simply breathing. Parents should generally avoid taking their kids to places where masks are necessary, such as grocery stores and on public transit, and especially if their child refuses to wear one, she said. "Parents should be very thoughtful about why theyre out with their kids," said Atkinson-McEvoy. "If their child cant tolerate a mask, they need to think about when the right time is to go for a walk. At 2 p.m. when a lot of people are out, or the first time in the morning when there are few people out." Atkinson-McEvoy said parents can find ways to make wearing a covering fun to encourage kids to use them. "Make it game," she suggested. "Pretend its a costume mask. Have your child decorate the mask to make it more tolerable. Cloth masks, which feel more comfortable, will be preferred by younger kids. Practice at home for a shorter time." The state of California is recommending that residents wear face coverings in situations where social distancing isn't possible, such as inside grocery stores, in taxis, on public transit and when waiting in line to go inside a store. Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo and Sonoma counties as well as the cities of Fremont and Berkeley have passed orders requiring face coverings. Beginning Wednesday citations and fines may be issued by those who violate the mandate. In all jurisdictions, children 2 and under are prohibited from wearing a covering; children 3 to 12 years old aren't required to wear one and should be supervised by a parent if they do use one. Fremont does suggest children 3 and up wear cloth face coverings in "places where they may not be able to avoid staying 6 feet away from others. For example, if you must take them to the doctor, pharmacy, or grocery store." Research shows a cloth covering the nose and mouth can help prevent the spread of respiratory droplets, the main way the coronavirus is transmitted between people. The coverings are mainly stopping a person infected with COVID-19 from spreading the virus. Atkinson-McEvoy said its possible a child may not show any COVID-19 symptoms, but still have the virus and spread the disease. Amy Graff is a digital editor with SFGATE. Email her: agraff@sfgate.com. MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE: Sign up for 'The Daily' newsletter for the latest on coronavirus here. Once again, and for the fourteenth year in a row, Alabamas voluntary First Class Pre-K program has been recognized for meeting all high-quality benchmarks for pre-K education. Now, more than ever, First Class Pre-K has the important responsibility to ensure our youngest learners have a strong start to their educational journey, said Early Child Education Sec. Jeana Ross. With the support of the Alabama Legislature and the strong leadership of Gov. Kay Ivey, Alabama continues to lead the nation in growth and quality. Prioritizing a high quality pre-K year has an transformational, positive impact on equity and achievement gaps. Alabama First Class Pre-K is once again proving to be successful in providing a solid foundation for our youngest learners to be successful in school and life, Ivey said in a press release about the recognition. Alabama is one of only four states, along with Michigan, Mississippi and Rhode Island, to meet or exceed all ten of the benchmarks that the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) measures to determine a programs quality. Alabama enrolled nearly 17,220 four-year-olds, about 30% of eligible four-year-olds statewide, in First Class Pre-K during the 2018-19 school year. Another 15,000 three- and four-year-olds were in either federally-funded Head Start and special education classes. Im proud to announce NIEER ranks Alabama First Class Pre-K as the nations highest quality state pre-kindergarten program for the 14th consecutive year! https://t.co/LU8FoTWKWA @PreschoolToday @AL_DECE @JeanaRoss4kids #StrongStartStrongFinish #aledchat Governor Kay Ivey (@GovernorKayIvey) April 22, 2020 During the current school year, more than 21,650 four-year-olds attended First Class Pre-K in more than 1,200 classrooms statewide located in public and private schools, child care centers, faith-based centers, Head Start programs, and other community-based settings. The Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education manages the states First Class Pre-K program. On a press call about NIEER's recognition, Early Childhood Sec. Jeana Ross touted the results of studies of Alabama's First Class Pre-K graduates, followed through the eighth grade. "Regardless of the zip code or the demographics of schools," Ross said, "First Class Pre-K graduates are more likely to be proficient in reading and math on state assessments, less likely to be chronically absent from school, less likely to be held back a grade, less likely to need special education services, and less likely to have serious discipline issues." The program, first piloted in 2000, has grown year over year, and funding has grown as well, from $4.3 million in 2006 to nearly $123 million for the current year. According to the NIEER 2019 State of Preschool Yearbook, in Alabama, state funding was $5,573 per child enrolled in First Class Pre-K. For comparison, Alabama provided $6,617 in state funding per student for K-12 students during the 2018-19 school year. This map, from the Alabama School Readiness Alliance, shows the percentage of four-year-olds enrolled in First Class Pre-K. Ivey requested a $25 million increase for the program for the 2021 fiscal year, to bring total funding to nearly $150 million, but with economic impacts caused by the coronavirus pandemic, its unclear what next years budgets might look like. On a press call about NIEERs recognition, Ross said her department is waiting to see what lawmakers do when they resume the legislative session and decide on an education budget. "We have to be resilient," Ross said. "We want to have resilient children, so hopefully we've got a very resilient early childhood education system. We've built a very strong and simple machine that works." The 10 NIEER benchmarks include: Early learning and development standards, Curriculum supports, Teacher has a bachelors degree, Specialized training in pre-K, Assistant teacher has CDA or equivalent, Professional development plan for staff, Class size of 20 or lower, Staff-child ratio of 1 to 10 or better, Vision, hearing, and health screening and referral, Continuous quality improvement system. To see the full NIEER 2019 State of Preschool Yearbook, click here. Updated: 9:50 a.m. to include remarks from Gov. Kay Ivey and additional comment from Sec. Jeana Ross T he world is at risk of suffering widespread famines of biblical proportions within just a few months due to the coronavirus pandemic, the UN has warned. David Beasley, head of the World Food Programme (WFP), said that even before Covid-19 became an issue, the planet was facing the worst humanitarian crisis since World War Two. He cited wars in Syria, Yemen and elsewhere, locust swarms in Africa, frequent natural disasters and economic crises including in Lebanon, Congo, Sudan and Ethiopia. Mr Beasley said 821 million people go to bed hungry every night all over the world and a further 135 million are facing "crisis levels of hunger or worse. And new World Food Programme analysis shows that as a result of Covid-19 an additional 130 million people "could be pushed to the brink of starvation by the end of 2020. The world is "on the brink of a hunger pandemic" that could lead to "multiple famines of biblical proportions" within a few months, he said. Mr Beasley, who is himself recovering from Covid-19, said in the video briefing that WFP is providing food to nearly 100 million people on any given day. This includes "about 30 million people who literally depend on us to stay alive, he said. WHO warns rush to ease virus rules could cause resurgence If those 30 million people cannot be reached, Mr Beasley said "analysis shows that 300,000 people could starve to death every single day over a three-month period. And that does not include increased starvation due to the coronavirus, he added. "In a worst-case scenario, we could be looking at famine in about three dozen countries, and in fact, in 10 of these countries we already have more than one million people per country who are on the verge of starvation," he said. Loading.... According to WFP, the 10 countries with the worst food crises in 2019 were Yemen, Congo, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Syria, Sudan, Nigeria and Haiti. Mr Beasley said in many countries the food crisis is the result of conflict. Loading.... But he said he raised the prospect of a hunger "pandemic" because "there is also a real danger that more people could potentially die from the economic impact of Covid-19 than from the virus itself". The WFP chief said lockdowns and economic recession are expected to lead to major income losses for the working poor. He said: "The truth is, we do not have time on our side, so let's act wisely - and let's act fast. GS VASU By Express News Service Several leaders have been looking back at the economic carnage that the COVID lockdown has left in its wake. Not K T Rama Rao. Telangana's vibrant Minister for IT, MA&UD and Industries, has been at the forefront of the southern state's war on Corona and firmly believes that there is a silver lining to all this. In an interview with The New Indian Express Editor G S Vasu, KTR as he is known, said, "Today the world is looking at China and looking to move away from a dependence perspective. I believe we have to bring in a lot of reforms and attract more businesses our way." Excerpts from a conversation on India after Corona, why the centre needs to do more for the states and why we should be aggressively pitching for businesses to come to India in a post-COVID world. Post GST, states are more dependent on the centre for release of funds. Do you think the Centre has done enough for states to handle financial aspects that arose from this crisis? As much as I have a strong opinion, I would defer and not say it openly now. There is a lot of scope for improvement and a lot more that can be done, without question. As a state, we talked about quantitative easing, and during the video conference held with the PM and all other Chief Ministers, we asked for helicopter money, asked the RBI to take a bold approach. Unfortunately, we haven't heard back yet. But I do believe there is still time for us to work together. This is a time for both the Centre and state to not indulge in politics, and also in the spirit of the country and our people, to work together and not get into a political battle. Why do states need more power in your opinion? The real action, when it comes to dealing with migrant workers, improving health infrastructure... when it comes to testing and so on -- all of it is in the domain of the state and not the Centre. The centre at best can be advisory. They need to look at the bigger picture. We have also raised the issue of linking MNREGA with agriculture as it is harvesting time and 60-65 per cent of our economy is dependent on it. Our request has not been heeded so far. And it is the need of the hour. They have to take a pragmatic look at every rupee spent and spend it judiciously in the current situation. They need not worry about percentages but worry about nuanced issues that states have been raising. READ| Indian IT majors may hire more Americans after Trumps tough talk on immigration Do you think the RBI's steps to manage the crisis have been adequate? No, I think they should do more. The current situation demands that the RBI, the Ministry of Finance and the Government of India do more. This is not the voice of the state but the voice of entrepreneurs and business owners across the country. On the one hand, we are advising companies to not lay off employees, pay full salaries etc. On the other hand, we burden them with pressures of EMI and cash flow. A lot of businesses may be looking to exit China. How do you view this? All the business ministries need to make changes that make India a much, much sought-after destination for business, moving forward from this crisis. Every adversity provides an opportunity. Today, the world is looking at China and looking to move away from a dependence perspective. The world has realised that it's not a smart thing. What is the next best choice in terms of demographic value, democracy, market size? That would be India. But is India today doing enough to attract these businesses from China in a post-COVID situation? I believe we have to do more. We have to bring in a lot of reforms and attract these businesses our way. There is a lot of talk about an unemployment crisis emanating from this crisis, but there is always a silver lining to the dark cloud and India can definitely seize opportunities in the sunrise sector -- biotech, life sciences, pharma, medical devices. This is the time that the Centre needs to work with states that are keen on attracting business and further employment creation. It is also the time to think more in the digital sense. We could beef up our networks and our telcos. READ| Economy suffers 'unprecedented collapse' due to COVID-19, support industry to protect people What steps do we need to take to attract big businesses that are looking to leave China? Electronic manufacturing has had a fantastic run in China, but they are looking to move out. They can provide a great deal of employment not just to our engineers but also to our diploma holders and to our polytechnic and +2 graduates. Many of these companies have been talking to us and have been drawing parallels to what is being offered in Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia. In comparison, India loses out. This is a huge industry that the centre should look at. The second industry is textiles. This industry can power our rural economy and offer a lot of employment for women. The centre needs to seize this opportunity because China has been producing 40 per cent of the world's textiles and I don't think we can afford to miss out now. Pharma and the medical device industry is the third area. The Prime Minister of Japan has said that Japanese companies willing to move away from China will be incentivised. What we need are bold policy reforms that make India very attractive to doing business. How quickly do you think these reforms should have been made? I'm saying they should have been done yesterday. We should have been on top of this and if it has not been done yet, I appeal to Piyush Goyal, Nirmala Sitharaman and all the bigwigs out there like NITI Aayog. We are going to miss out. Broad fiscal reforms, agreements and so on are not in the domain of the states. Unless the Government of India does it, we cannot aspire to do it. What do you foresee as the economic fallout of the virus? There are three aspects, in my humble opinion. The first is inadequacies with our medical infrastructure, and I speak about the entire world and not just India or Telangana. We are woefully inadequate. That has been exposed and brought to the fore. I'm actually, in a way, happy that governments across the world are now focusing on public health and infrastructure which is the need of the hour. That will give us and the people enough confidence to brace ourselves for the future. Secondly, the whole hygiene and sanitation aspect in developing and underdeveloped nations has come to the fore and has been a mainstay of the discussion. This is a welcome move because the whole world realises the importance of sanitation and hygiene. Thirdly, frontline warriors like health workers, police and sanitation workers have been felicitated and appreciated by people and their services are being recognised. These are changes that are much needed in society. With respect to the economic fallout that can happen, there are two things. I've read a lot of reports from economists, healthcare experts from government officials, from eminent citizens and it appears to be a toss up between lives and livelihood. I don't necessarily conform to that argument. What we have to realise is that human life is the most precious thing and that any government's responsibility is to take care of its most vulnerable sections. The second thing is to improve healthcare spend and medical infrastructure but to do this the government will need a lot of economic might. This is where Telangana as a state has been talking to the Centre and asking over and over again across the last month and a half to take a renewed approach towards our country, towards our fiscal policy and our monetary policy. We will, of course, continue to push our agenda, but at the same time, we must come to a consensus that at this point the toss up is not between lives or livelihoods. It has to be both and we have to work together, as we are a developing country and have a massive population which is vulnerable. Governments have to realise that both have to go hand in hand and it is not a zero-sum game. A lot of economists have advocated that the stimulus should be 7-8 per cent of the GDP. Do you agree that our financial situation notwithstanding, there should be a stimulus along those numbers? We cannot merely ape the USA or Italy. In spite of what the world may believe, the US has a bigger and stiffer challenge than what we have today. It is currently under the grip of a terrible epidemic which I find very difficult to understand because of the value they place on each human life. To believe that what people are doing in the US can be copied and pasted here is not accurate. For instance, can we not leverage the money that is available with the government of India in various public sector undertakings and various institutions more effectively? Does it have to be in a measure of the GDP in absolute terms? I have a different opinion. In a federal republic it's not just the Centre that needs to open its purse strings and do more. They also have to give states the authority and liberty to borrow more, raise more and do more. That is what our CM has been asking for. To defer all the loans the states have taken and discuss with the RBI on how the states can get a moratorium for the next 6-8 months where their cash flow is not affected. It is important to have a decentralised structure rather than a top-down approach. Right now, the government has allotted Rs 1.7 lakh crores which is about 1.5 per cent of the GDP. Should it be more? Of course. Should it be 7 or 15 per cent? I believe that it has to be somewhere in between and India has to form its own formula. Banks are generally reluctant to lend money to MSMEs. What according to you needs to be done in for them in the immediate context? The importance and understanding that has to be given to the sector is not being given. There has been some relief that has been offered. From a state perspective, we have deferred their power bills and property tax payments and so on. What needs to be done is to get banks to give them a moratorium. Banks have been ruthless when it comes to MSMEs even if they miss one month's payment. RBI needs to step in and advice both public- and private-sector banks very sternly that no bank shall declare any MSME enterprise, at least for the next 3-6 months, as an NPA. The government needs to stitch up a working policy quickly that governs these things. How long do you think it will take businesses to reach levels that are pre-lockdown? Six months to a year? For anybody to go back to 100 per cent pre-COVID vs post-COVID will be a very new way of working. You will have to adjust to a new way of life. You will have to work more shifts with fewer employees and work in a batch processing mode and ensure social distancing norms are followed. Unless a vaccine or drug comes about that gives the workforce the confidence that they're safe from corona, it will be a challenge to operate at pre-COVID levels. We have to have healthcare professionals visiting the workplace and ambulances need to be ready, and so, therefore, it will be new. To assume that we will go back to normalcy immediately will be unwise. Do you foresee that this will see a sense of nationalism in terms of economic policy? Honestly, if anything, this virus has humbled us as humanity. Shown us that for the first time in human history the entire world has faced one problem. For the first time, all boundaries in terms of nationalities, races, castes, class, creed, religion, everything has been challenged and redefined. This will tell us that we are one and very alike and not very unlike. This has put a lot of sense into our perspective and made us relook our ways of life and ourselves as a way of life. I've realised that what we have taken for granted as normalcy is absolutely underrated and people are dying for normalcy to return. Lululemon has issued an apology after one of its employees promoted a bat fried rice T-shirt on Instagram. On Sunday, the athleisure companys then-global art director Trevor Fleming shared a link to a $60 T-shirt created by California artist Jess Sluder that depicted a Chinese takeout container with bat wings emerging from its sides and no thank you written on the sleeve. Where did Covid-19 come from? Sluder captioned a post about the shirt, which has since been deleted. Nothing is certain but we know a bat was involved. Beginning today my limited edition #quarantees are now available! Thank you for your support and sense of humour! The post was immediately met with backlash, with many accusing Fleming of racism for promoting the shirt. Disgusting and appalling, one person tweeted in response to a screenshot of Flemings Instagram bio. Another said: Seriously? This is disgusting. In response to the criticism, Lululemon released a statement in which it apologised for the inappropriate shirt, and said that Fleming was no longer working for the company. At Lululemon, our culture and values are core to who we are, and we take matters like this extremely seriously," a Lululemon spokesperson told The Independent. "We apologise that an employee was affiliated with promoting an offensive T-shirt The image and the post were inappropriate and inexcusable and we do not tolerate this behaviour." The brand also said that it had acted immediately when the matter was brought to its attention and that the T-shirt was not a Lululemon product. On the brands Instagram, which was flooded with comments criticising the company, Lululemon again apologised, responding to one customer: Please know that at Lululemon, our values are core to who we are. We take matters such as this extremely seriously and have no tolerance for cultural insensitivity and discrimination. The employee involved is no longer with the company. After deleting the link, Fleming also apologised for the T-shirt, before stating that he did not participate in any part of its creation, according to NBC News. He has since deleted his Instagram. Since the coronavirus pandemic began, there have been numerous reports of racially motivated verbal and physical attacks on Asian Americans. Delhis Azadpur sabzi mandi, one of the biggest suppliers of fruits and vegetables in the national capital, might be shut soon as a jackfruit and pea trader died of COVID-19 on April 21. The death of the 57-year-old has created panic among the vegetable and fruit sellers of the mandi, who are now demanding the wholesale market be shut to avoid further spread of the disease among people frequenting the place. They have also pushed the authorities to begin implementing containment measures at the mandi. For live updates on coronavirus, click here As per a report by Hindustan Times, the death of the trader also brought to fore the demise of two more persons associated with the mandi from the novel coronavirus disease. Meanwhile, a senior district official informed that these were not the first COVID-19 positive cases to be reported from the busy market. 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 One must note that the death was reported just a day after the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi allowed the Azadpur mandi, which is Asias largest wholesale fruit and vegetable market, to stay open for 24 hours. Anil Malhotra a trader associated with the mandi, said: The authorities are being very negligent about COVID-19 spread in the market. We urge the government to shut the market for the time being. We are ready to do business in the open while adhering to all social distancing norms and regulations at Japanese Park or any other big stadium. In Charts | Economic impact of lockdown on Centre and states Deepak Shinde, District Magistrate (North), said as per the report that the 57-year-old resident of Majlis Park was admitted to a private hospital on April 17 after he exhibited symptoms akin to COVID-19 disease. His sample was sent to test on April 19 and he was confirmed COVID-19 positive on April 20. He added that the authorities are still trying to contact trace and figure out the number of people who will need to be quarantined and are also looking for his business partner, who might have got infected. As per the report, earlier a tomato dealer and a cauliflower dealer had also tested positive for COVID-19. While the former is a resident of Shalimar Bagh, the latter had already left for his native in Uttar Pradesh and the authorities are currently engaged in rigorous contact tracing. Meanwhile, the shop of the deceased trader and the areas surrounding it have been sealed and cordoned off. Further containment measures are being considered and would be implemented on April 21. To follow our full coverage on Coronavirus, click here The coronavirus pandemic is stretching much of the world's governmental capacity and terrorists are likely to exploit the situation including by fostering communal tension, Australian High Commissioner-designate Barry O'Farrell said on Wednesday. In an address at the National Defence College through video-conference, O'Farrell also said India may be one of the most successful developing countries in managing the pandemic and lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's global outreach to deal with it. He said Modi is also one of the leading voices shaping the G20 into a body instrumental in leading the world into post-COVID-19 recovery, and was an early voice advocating for reforms to the World Health Organisation. "We've seen some remarkable leadership from India since this crisis began. The world is facing an unprecedented health challenge for which no government has a perfect answer," O'Farrell said. It's laudable not just that the Indian government acted so quickly to stem the virus's spread, but also that it continues working to mitigate the lockdown's impact on India's most vulnerable. It's an enormous challenge for the world's most populous nation," he added. The diplomat said it was Modi who led nations of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation to coordinate pandemic responses - and establish the SAARC COVID-19 Emergency Fund - almost as soon as the crisis began. Talking about impact of the coronavirus crisis on geo-politics, O'Farrell said it will take time to play out, but said, "I see a US far more cautious about exercising global leadership than in the past." He said current pandemic is stretching much of the world's governmental capacity. "...And of course there's no shortage of terrorists who would exploit insecurity and diminished government capacity for their own ends - and would look to foster communal tension amid a crisis," said the diplomat, without specifying the terror groups. Referring to the situation in the Indo-Pacific, he said the region will continue to be the engine of the global economy in the decades to come. At the same time, O'Farrell said the crisis will not necessarily change the nature of threats facing the region, but it will hasten the pace at which they are developing. "I believe this crisis will bring Australia and India even closer together as two Indian Ocean democracies with complementary values," he said. India, the US and several other world powers have been talking about the need to ensure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China's rising military maneuvering in the Indo-Pacific region. In November 2017, India, the US, Australia and Japan gave shape to the long-pending "Quad" coalition to work closely in the region. The move was seen as an attempt to contain China's growing influence in the region. In September, the four countries held talks at the foreign ministerial level, signalling "significant elevation" of the cooperation. The US, Japan and Australia have also been pressing for a greater role by India in the Indo-Pacific region. "India is the natural major power in the region, and Australia looks to it as a strategic partner with complementary interests." said the Australian High Commissioner. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) NEW HAVEN The city announced Tuesday that two more testing sites for COVID-19 will open on Wednesday and a third is expected in the near future, bringing the total to five, with the newest additions in neighborhoods hard hit by the disease. The Fair Haven Community Health Center will test at its 374 Grand Ave. site, while the Cornell Scott Hill Health Clinic will expand testing to its 226 Dixwell Ave. location. Dr. Steven Murphy, who has established several sites in Fairfield County, will soon announce a site he will establish in New Haven. Already opened is the Yale New Haven Hospital facility at 150 Sargent Drive and, as of last week, the CVS Health/Abbott site, with rapid test results, at 60 Sargent Drive. The city has made some arrangements to accommodate persons without cars at the CVS site, but it is generally difficult for walkers. The goal is to put these sites in places where there are hot spots to ensure the sites are accessible to community members who may not be able to access these other two sites, New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said. Part of this is to allow people to walk to get tested, rather than drive. The mayor said there is also a level of trust between the public and the community health centers that have been serving residents for decades. Murphy has opened testing sites in Stamford, New Canaan, Westport, Darien and Stratford, and reached out to New Haven. Michael Taylor, CEO at the Hill Center, said they are expanding their testing to their clinic on Dixwell from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily. It has already been testing at its site on Columbus Aveue. Dr. Suzanne Legarde, CEO at Fair Haven Community Health Center, said they will have a walk-in facility ready on Wednesday. Its hours are 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m, Monday through Friday We have built trust and we are hoping that we can leverage that in bringing folks who might otherwise be fearful of testing, who might not be able to access it. ... Fully 30 percent of our patients report that they have transportation issues and it is striking that throughout the state the vast majority of testing sites are drive through at a time when we know that COVID-19 is disproportionally impacting communities that are primarily minority communities, Legarde said. She asked that persons call in advance so they can be given a slot and not kept waiting. Legarde anticipated seeing a patient every 15 minutes. Taylor also asked that a patient call ahead. Both are testing all comers, not just regular patients. All three said the testing will be free. The turnaround for a test result is two to three days. Taylor said patients should have symptoms, while Legard said they also welcome patients who have been exposed to the virus. The number for the Fair Haven clinic is 203-871-4179; for the Hill clinic it is 203-503-3000. Murphy, a native of New Haven, said his team was very excited to engage in a formal public-private collaboration with the city. He said he agreed with both of the other doctors on the shortcomings of drive thru testing sites, which he encountered when trying to serve walkers and bikers at sites in Fairfield County. He commended the mayor and the city in recognizing the need. Murphy said his site will be up shortly between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Murphy, who is part of Murphy Medical Associates in Greenwich, has a registration site online at coronatestct.com . Elicker also addressed other issues at his press conference to update things related to the coronavirus. He said local police are asking federal authorities to investigate the heinous incident at the Board of Alders meeting Monday night when someone zoom bombed the session by showing child pornography. It is pretty shocking what people are willing to do, and we wont stand for it in the city of New Haven, the mayor said. He said boards and commissions will be given additional training on the Zoom app to prevent this in the future. The city now has 1,160 positive cases of the coronavirus with 37 fatalities, up from 28 on Monday. The mayor explained that the state is counting probable cases as well as confirmed cases when announcing the death toll. In a confirmed case, a person would have tested positive for COVID-19. A probable case has clinical criteria and epidemiological evidence that they have COVID-19. On Tuesdays total, he said 1,129 were tested; 31 are probable. Of the fatalities, 30 were tested and 7 are of the deaths are considered related to COVID-19. In another step the city is taking to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, Elicker said Traffic and Parking is working slowly to disable some of the walk signals so people dont have to press the button. It will work on an automatic cycle. In other news, Michael Pinto, CEO for the public schools, said 1 custodian, 2 food workers and 1 security guard have tested positive for COVID-19. He said others are off work and quarantined to determine if they have the virus. mary.oleary@hearstmediact.com; 203-641-2577 Gujarat: Stranded fishermen in Gujarat cry for help April 22,2020 | Source: The Times of India Around 5,000 fishermen from Andhra Pradesh, who are stranded in Gujarat due to the lockdown, have written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking accommodation and quarantine facilities. All of them hail from the north coastal districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam. We have been stranded for more than 20 days now without proper shelter or basic necessities. The district authorities in Somnath (in Gujarat state) are not providing any kind of help to migrant workers/fisherman, they wrote in the letter. Earlier this month, the AP government initiated measures to rescue stranded fishermen from Veraval in Somnath district. A team of officials from Srikakulam was given an advance of Rs 10 lakh. The team visited Veraval on April 7 and provided them rice, dal, vegetables, soaps, blankets, masks etc. Around 3,500 fishermen from Maharashtra were recently taken back to their state by sea route. We have been staying in small fishing boats under the hot sun with no water. We appeal to the government to arrange quarantine facilities for us as an interim measure, they said in the letter, which has also been addressed to the chief ministers of AP and Gujarat, and the chief justices of AP, Gujarat and India, besides the Prime Minister. They urged the government to make arrangements to take them back to AP by sea route. There is serious threat to our lives because of lack of food, water and extreme weather conditions at Veraval, they said. Farmers and landowners in England have until 1 May to apply for capital grants worth up to 10,000 to help pay for the restoration of hedges and stone walls. Farmers both owner occupiers and tenants have been recommended to consider making an application to the 2020 Hedgerows and Boundary Grant Scheme. Hedges and walls are a valuable part of the UK's heritage, landscape and biodiversity, as well as being important from a management perspective. The scheme gives farmers an opportunity to restore boundaries with the payments on offer representing a significant proportion of the actual costs of carrying out the work. It falls under the umbrella of Countryside Stewardship, but farmers can make a standalone application without having to sign up to a more complex five-year environmental management agreement. Alistair Cochrane, director with land specialists Strutt & Parker, said the scheme is a 'great opportunity' to some something positive for the environment. "The payment rates can represent quite a high percentage of the typical costs of carrying out the work, so applicants can restore substantial lengths of hedgerow or wall at relatively modest net cost, he said. Pressure on farm incomes means that many field boundaries may not have not been touched for some time, so this offers the possibility of restoring them without undue strain on the farm budget. These field boundaries are a valuable part of our heritage, landscape and biodiversity, as well as being important as stock-proof barriers." Payment rates have been retained at the same level as in 2019, which is 9.40/m for hedge-laying, 9.50/m for filling in gaps and 25/m for stone wall restoration. The scheme is competitive so applications will be scored against others to assess which offers the greatest value for money, Strutt & Parker said. Land previously in Entry Level Stewardship is likely to be scored more highly, due to a desire to continue to preserve the environmental benefits already created through agri-environment schemes, the firm added. Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill during the daily media broadcast in the Long Gallery at Parliament Buildings, Stormont on Tuesday PACEMAKER BELFAST Michelle ONeill has challenged Jim Allister to repeat his claim that she misled Stormont over a PPE shipment without the protection of Assembly privilege. The deputy first minister warned that if Mr Allister repeated the allegation outside the Assembly chamber she would take any step necessary to vindicate my position. The TUV leader made the claim during a Stormont debate on Tuesday, accusing Ms ONeill of misleading MLAs last month with an assertion that a contract for protective equipment from China for healthcare workers had been signed. The order ultimately failed to materialise. Sinn Feins finance minister subsequently said the order was not completed because bigger international players, such as the US and India, had muscled in on the prospective deal with a Chinese supplier. Raising a point of order in the chamber on Tuesday, Mr Allister accused Ms ONeill of misleading the House and urged principal deputy speaker Christopher Stalford to refer the matter to the Standards and Privileges Committee. During the daily Covid-19 media briefing later on Tuesday, Ms ONeill responded to the comments. Let me say this very clearly, I stand over every word that I said in the Assembly chamber on the 23rd of March and if Jim Allister wants to repeat his comments outside the privilege of the chamber then Ill take any step thats necessary to vindicate my position. I think just on an aside to that, I think that, by and large Id say the majority of MLAs have been very constructive, very supportive in trying to work our way through this, but theres a few, like Jim, who like to just petty political points score. But sure thats his prerogative. My job is to save lives. Earlier, Mr Allister told the Assembly: Any parliament or assembly worthy of the name takes a serious view of a minister misleading it, and it is such an episode that I want to draw to your attention. On 23 March, the deputy first minister, no less, told the House that the Executive had signed a contract for PPE, implying that it was with China and causing great hope and expectation amongst our hard-pressed National Health Service workers. It turned out there was no such contract. I say that on the basis of what her colleague the finance minister, Mr Murphy, told the Finance Committee on 8 April, which was that no contract had been signed. He did not know why the deputy first minister had claimed that and, I say, misled the House. The House was misled by a senior minister Jim Allister Mr Allister said Tuesdays debate on coronavirus regulations would have presented Ms ONeill with a chance to correct the record and apologise. It is clear that she has not done that, he said as the debate concluded. He referred to two comments by Ms ONeill during Marchs Assembly exchanges one when she stated a contract had been signed and the other when she said the Executive, through the finance department, had been able to secure a contract. None of that was correct, said Mr Allister. The House was misled by a senior minister. In response, Mr Stalford urged Mr Allister to write to the Speakers Office to seek a ruling on the issue. Editors note: This article is by a student in Write About Now, a partnership between cleveland.com and the non-profit Lake Erie Ink, to nurture teen writers. The program was created to honor late cleveland.com writer Nikki Delamotte, who volunteered at Lake Erie Ink. In the Write About Now program, reporters and editors work with students to publish a story of their choice. The 55-gallon oil drums arrive in Haiti, packed with dry goods such as clothing. Yet even once discarded, their story does not end. Haitian metal artists dig them out of the landfills, flatten them with tools, sketch designs with chalk and carve them with a chisel and hammer. The result is a bright, lively sculpture thats both good for the environment and helps the artists become financially stable. These colorful art pieces plaster the baby blue walls of Fair Trade on Main, a store in Hudson, Ohio. These sculptures are some of owner Pat Blankenships favorite items. They are able to, with just hand tools, create beautiful works of art, she said. Its a way for them to transform their lives and earn a living. Blankenships store allows artisans to sell their work at a fair price, earn a living wage, and share their talents with the world. The store is closed during the coronavirus pandemic, but hopes to reopen when allowed. Fairtrade changes the way trade works through better prices, decent working conditions and a fairer deal for farmers and workers in developing countries, according to Fairtrade International. Laura Potter-Sadowski, owner of Rocky Rivers 40-year-old fair trade store One World Shop stated that consumers have become more interested in where their products are coming from. The store offers online shopping and local pick-up during the pandemic. The wave of consumerism thats coming up in the next generationpeople are way more involved and way more interested in getting educated, she said. Related: I LLOOVVEEDD this program: What 12 teenagers had to say about cleveland.com and Lake Erie Inks Write About Now Fair trade Shopping fair trade isnt hard, especially in Northeast Ohio. You can go to fair trade specific stores, like One World Shop or Fair Trade on Main, local marketplaces, or even chain stores like Heinens, Whole Foods, and Acme. This Google map links to all stores in which fair trade items are sold. When shopping in chain stores, Equal Exchange sales representative Rachel Dana advised shoppers to educate themselves on authentic fair trade certification. She said, A great place to start is at https://fairworldproject.org/, specifically their Reference Guide to Fair Trade and Worker Justice Certifications. At its core, fair trade allows any person to make a difference globally using only their wallet. [Shopping and promoting fair trade] is our way here to make a small difference, [well] really a big difference in the lives of the people that we connect with, said Pat Blankenship. Noor Shah urges Northeast Ohioans to shop fair trade. Here are five reasons why you should shop fair trade: 1. Its environmentally friendly: Fair trade items are often made of upcycled materials that would otherwise end up in the trash, as that is all the artisans have access to. Artisans in India use old saris to create scarves and baby bibs. South American artisans use the tagua nut, a green alternative to ivory, to carve small sculptures. 2. A single fair trade item impacts a lot of people: In Kenya, making stonework is a family effort. The men carve the soapstone with machetes and the women wet sand and decorate the stones at home while also taking care of their children. This allows both parents to make an income which lets them support their family. 3. It benefits America too: Prosperity Candle, featured in Rocky Rivers fair trade store, One World Shop, is a product made by female refugees who settled in the United States. The organization teaches these refugees how to make and pour candles, and gives them credit for their work by letting them sign the candles they make. 4. Its not that expensive: Many items found in these stores are priced similarly to those in mainstream stores, like greeting cards. Fair trade greeting cards are comparably priced to mainstream greeting cards. The only thing that sets these cards apart is that the fair trade cards were created to help families across the globe, and have the personal touch of a signature on the back of each card. 5. Theres something for everyone: Fair trade caters to all types of people. Hand carved wooden spoons for the chef, delicious chocolate and coffee for the foodie, baby clothes for the new parent, printed accessories for the fashionistas: these stores have the perfect gift for most anyone. See where you can shop fair trade in the Google map below. Noor Shah is a freshman at Walsh Jesuit High School. She is an avid writer for her school newspaper and an editor for the literary arts magazine. She loves to cook and bake all while spending time with her family and kitten. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-21 19:10:36|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A poster to remind people to stay safe is seen at a bus stop in Brussels, Belgium, April 21, 2020. Belgium reported 973 new cases of COVID-19 infection, raising the cumulative number of confirmed cases from 39,983 to 40,956 by Tuesday morning, according to fresh figures from the public health institute Sciensano. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong) BRUSSELS, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Belgium reported 973 new cases of COVID-19 infection in the last 24 hours, raising the cumulative number of confirmed cases from 39,983 to 40,956 by Tuesday morning, according to fresh figures from the public health institute Sciensano. In the same 24-hour span, 170 new deaths were reported, of which 89 occurred in hospitals and 80 in out-of-hospital facilities such as nursing homes. This raised Belgium's death toll to 5,998. "The number of new deaths in both hospitals and nursing homes is decreasing," which is a positive sign, according to Belgian health authorities. Belgium's National Security Council, which decided on the lockdown measures to contain the new coronavirus as well as their extensions until May 3, is scheduled to meet on Friday to discuss possible de-confinement measures. Enditem As cases of COVID-19 surged throughout Connecticut and the nation, a perfect storm of circumstances rendered nursing homes unable to handle the crisis, hastening the virus spread and deaths, experts say. Its just kind of this perfect storm. Its just the nature of the beast. This is the worst situation for a virus like this, said Dr. David Hill, professor of medical science and director of global public health at Quinnipiac University Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine. Indeed, nursing homes care for an extremely frail population, many with underlying health conditions. The problems are compounded by staff shortages, lack of personal protective gear and proper staff training to care for residents in a pandemic. Even restricting visitors to emergency personnel only by mid-March could not stop COVID-19 from spreading rapidly among the states nursing home population. On April 1, the state reported that 36 of the states 215 facilities had at least one confirmed case of COVID-19. On that date, there were 124 reported cases among nursing home residents and 13 had died. By April 17, the number of facilities with COVID-19 cases had tripled to 108, with 1,713 cases and 379 deaths. Those deaths represented 40 percent of the states COVID-19 deaths. But newspapers have reported higher number of deaths at some facilities. Nursing homes, by and large, arent equipped to control communicable diseases quickly. Many have two-bed rooms, for instance, making it difficult to isolate residents who are ill. Often, staff members work more than one job, sometimes at multiple facilities, increasing the risk of staff contracting a disease and bringing it into a nursing home. The elderly tend not to exhibit typical symptoms of ailments; in particular, theyre less likely to have fevers than their younger counterparts, which can make COVID-19 more challenging to detect, Hill said. A lack of testing also is problematic. A nursing home right now is the worst place you can be during this pandemic, said Dr. Richard Feifer, chief medical officer of Genesis HealthCare, which operates nursing homes nationwide, including 17 in Connecticut. In many cases, its been impossible [to prevent the spread of the coronavirus], despite extensive measures. Connecticut nursing facilities have struggled with infection-control practices over the years. Of the 108 nursing homes with reported cases of COVID-19, 75 have been cited for infection-control violations previously (from 2017 to 2019), according to a C-HIT analysis of data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Some facilities have been cited more than once, including RegalCare at New Haven, which has been cited four times; RegalCare at Southport, four; Whispering Pines of East Haven, three; and Salmon Brook Rehab and Nursing of Glastonbury, three. The violations include staff members failing to wash their hands, change gloves in between resident care or properly clean equipment after each use. Staffing levels have been a mixed bag for the states nursing homes, CMS data show. Of the 108 facilities with COVID-19 cases, 25 have staff ratings below average or much below average. The remainder had ratings of average or above, data reported by Nursing Home Compare show. Even homes such as Caleb Hitchcock Health Center of Bloomfield, Edgehill Health Center of Stamford, and Nathaniel Witherell of Greenwich, with top 5-star ratings for overall performance and staffing, were not able to keep out COVID-19. The challenge with nursing homes is you have lots of very high-risk individuals together in close proximity with limited staff, staff that may not be salaried, and staff is caring for multiple patients, Hill said. This is kind of the perfect setting to spread a contagious organism. Nursing homes may have protocols for handling communicable diseases, Hill noted, but theyve never experienced a pandemic like this, so there probably arent robust, tried and true policies. he said. To help facilities with staffing needs, supplies of personal protection equipment and screening, the state has increased Medicaid reimbursements 15 percent, providing an additional $65 million. Also, the state will reimburse at $400 per day for COVID-positive residents in non-COVID recovery facilities. This rate is in effect for a maximum of 30 days per bed and will cost an estimated $15.4 million. This week, the state announced that it will visit and inspect every nursing home in the state for infection-protection protocols. Also, CMS issued guidelines requiring nursing homes to report to CMS all virus infections and to notify residents and their families within 12 hours of a facilitys first positive COVID-19 test. The state has partnered with Athena Health Care Systems to operate COVID-19 recovery centers for patients who are discharged from the hospital and need non-acute care. The plan has its supporters and detractors, including some concerned about patient safety. I think that Connecticut is moving in the right direction by separating COVID-19-positive and negative individuals, said Richard Mollot, policy researcher and executive director of the national Long Term Care Community Coalition in New York City. However, this needs to be done thoughtfully, carefully, and with vigorous monitoring to ensure that it is done in the least harmful way possible. Lisa Freeman, executive director of the Connecticut Center for Patient Safety, said, As a family member, I would be very concerned if my parent or spouse was moved to a location that I had little choice in, although it might be the best option. However, it seems clear that the safety of patients and staff, as well as providing the best environment for recovery and health, should drive the decision on this question. Mollot said, It was probably never possible to protect residents 100 percent , but the slow and uneven pace of recognizing the obvious risk posed to residents undoubtedly resulted in unnecessary suffering and death. That being said, it is not too late to save many residents lives and families heartbreak. The weeks before Connecticuts decision to lock down nursing homes, there was confusion and uncertainty nationwide about how fast the virus would spread, Hill said. I dont think Connecticut took any longer time [to restrict visitors] than any other place, Hill said, and I think our governor has been really responsive all along the way during this outbreak. In hindsight, visitors should have been barred sooner, but that alone wouldnt have curtailed the virus, Freeman said. Restricting visitors is one strategy, but without a comprehensive strategy, it is the equivalent of locking up a house and leaving the windows open, she said. The safety of residents was only as good as the weakest strategy for prevention of viral spread. Once the pandemic ends, nursing home leaders will be looking at all the deficiencies that have been brought to light and starting to address them, Hill said. Staff will be better trained in infection control, facilities will examine their ability to isolate residents, and protocols will be scrutinized, he predicted. Theres going to be so many things that get another look after COVID in the long-term care facility industry; its going to need an overhaul, Hill said. There will be some silver linings through all the challenges. There will be some positives. As the lessons from this pandemicand the resiliency of the long-term care industry in generalunfold, nursing homes will look for ways to become more nimble when coping with a crisis, Feifer said. It really does become, in some ways, a resource issue. How well resourced is this industry? he said. This virus is unlike the world has ever seen before, and the next one, whenever that may be, will be different from this one too. This story was reported under a partnership with the Connecticut Health I-Team ( c-hit.org ), a nonprofit news organization dedicated to health reporting. DPRK Leader Kim Jong-un in 'Grave Danger' Following Heart Surgery - Reports Sputnik News 01:44 GMT 21.04.2020(updated 04:01 GMT 21.04.2020) North Korean leader Kim Jong-un missed the celebration of his grandfather's birthday on 15 April, resulting in widespread speculation about his well-being. The South Korean presidential office spokesperson, Kang Min-seok, while commenting on Tuesday on the circulating CNN and Daily NK reports regarding an alleged surgery for DPRK leader Kim Jong-un, stated that "we have nothing to confirm and there has been no unusual activity detected in North Korea", according to the South Korean state-run Yonhap news agency. Earlier, CNN reported,citing an unnamed US official, that the US is monitoring "intelligence" that DPRK leader Kim Jong-un is in "grave danger" following surgery. Another unnamed US official told CNN that concerns about the DPRK leader's health are credible but the severity of the ailment is hard to assess. According to another report by South Korean Daily NK, citing an unnamed source from DPRK, Kim underwent a "cardiovascular surgical procedure" and was said to be mostly recovered, while continuing to receive medical treatment at the Hyangsan Medical Centre, a "dedicated hospital of the Kim family". No official comment from DPRK followed the allegations. After initial reports on Kim Jong-un's health, officials from the South Korean Unification Ministry and National Intelligence Service said they could not immediately confirm the allegations, according to Reuters. South Korea's state-run Yonhap agency reported at the time, citing a government source, that the country "has seen no unusual signs with regard to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's health". According to Yonhap, Kim was last seen on 11 April, in state media reports, presiding over a ruling Workers' Party's political bureau meeting. Speculations on Kim's health began when he did not appear at the 15 April celebrations for the birthday of his grandfather and state founder, Kim Il Sung, one of the biggest days on the North Korean calendar. A spokeswoman at Seoul's Unification Ministry that handles DPRK affairs suggested at the time that it would be "inappropriate" to speculate why Kim did not attend the important annual event. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Social protection systems are coming under considerable pressure with the implementation of mitigation strategies to control the spread of COVID-19 in the Caribbean. Efforts to mitigate the negative effect of the pandemic on the well-being of those most at risk are now underway across the Caribbean. Attention is being given in particular to those most economically vulnerable, notably women, youth, older persons, persons with disabilities and migrant populations. The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), as part of its outreach under the auspices of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Social Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, convened a virtual meeting on 21 April 2020 to offer countries an opportunity to share information on the actions being taken to meet this challenge, and on potential areas for collaboration and support. Representatives of Caribbean regional organizations and UN Resident Coordinators of the subregion attended as well as heads of UN agencies, funds and programmes. Addressing the ministers of Social Development of the Caribbean, ECLAC Executive Secretary, Alicia Barcena, underscored that in urgent circumstances such as those we now face, it is you, the leaders responsible for social welfare, who are charged with finding solutions to the needs of those living on the street, persons with disabilities, migrants, and senior citizens. The meeting recognized that the crisis will affect several social sectors, including health, labour and education, with a disproportionate impact on vulnerable people with underlying health conditions, older people, unemployed youth, underemployed, women, unprotected workers, and migrant workers. In the Caribbean, medical and health facilities are insufficient for the level of potential demand and are heavily dependent on imports of equipment and inputs. This is a major problem because, to date, 24 countries around the world have restricted exports of medical equipment, medicines or their ingredients. It is expected that COVID-19 will affect the job market by increasing unemployment and underemployment, and impact the quality of work, by reducing wages and access to social protection for the most vulnerable groups, such as informal sector workers. The loss of labour income will translate into lower consumption of goods and services, and could drive many workers into poverty. The novel coronavirus will also disrupt activities in educational establishments, and will have a significant impact on learning, especially for children in rural areas in light of existing disparities in access to digital devices and broadband Internet. More generally, the limited access to ICT implies a low level of readiness in the subregion to operate in a virtual environment in the current crisis. High dependency on food imports creates additional challenges in terms of food security; challenges that are further aggravated by the specific vulnerability of the Caribbean to climate-related natural disasters. Moreover, the looming 2020 hurricane season, which starts in less than three months, places the subregion and its people at greater risk, even as it grapples with the impacts of the pandemic. In this context, it was considered urgent that policies be fully coordinated to address the health crisis, which has brought grave socio-economic impacts. ECLAC called for regional coordination and cooperation in the face of the pandemic, taking into account the Regional Agenda for Inclusive Social Development (RAISD) agreed by the member countries of the Conference in Mexico City, in October 2019. The meeting, which was held online, was attended by ministers and senior decision makers from Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, The Bahamas, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Curacao, Dominica, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, and the Grenadines, Sint Maarten, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. Following an introduction and presentation of the social and economic situation of the region by ECLAC Executive Secretary, Alicia Barcena, each country representatives had the opportunity to briefly present the actions being taken by their respective governments. D ominic Raab will today be grilled over the Governments handling of the coronavirus crisis amid calls for an inquiry into its slow response". Sir Keir Starmer will likely use his first PMQs as Labour leader to question Boris Johnson's stand-in over testing, safety equipment for frontline workers and an exit strategy from the lockdown. Foreign Secretary Mr Raab, who is deputising for the PM as he recovers from Covid-19, and Sir Keir will be in the House of Commons chamber among up to 50 MPs permitted to attend. Some 120 more can take part remotely through the Zoom video-conferencing platform in the first PMQs since Parliament rose early a month ago because of the crisis. Dominic Raab walks to 10 Downing Street to attend the Government's daily Covid-19 briefing on Tuesday / AFP via Getty Images It comes as the Government faces allegations of being slow to act in imposing a lockdown on the UK as other countries took the drastic measure. Sir Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat's acting co-leader, has called for an independent inquiry to be held into its "shocking failures" and "slow response" to the crisis. As the death toll exceeded 17,000, the Government also came under fire with its commitment to reach 100,000 tests per day by the end of the month appearing an ambitious hope. Ahead of the first ever virtual PMQs later on Wednesday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the Government is "throwing everything" at developing a coronavirus vaccine. He announced that human trials led by the University of Oxford will begin on Thursday. Sir Keir Starmer leaves his home on Tuesday. He is preparing for his first PMQs as leader of the opposition / REUTERS Mr Hancock said it was clear that the "best way to defeat coronavirus is through a vaccine" and that "rapid progress" was being made. Oxford, where the team is being led by Professor Sarah Gilbert, has said it hopes to have at least a million doses of its vaccine ready in September, while Imperial hopes to start clinical trials in June. Loading.... On the issue of Covid-19 testing, Mr Hancock said it was "terrific" that capacity was increasing across the UK, saying it was further ahead than the planned trajectory. This is despite the fact less than half of the available coronavirus testing capacity has been used, with just 19,316 tests conducted in the 24 hours to 9am on Monday against capacity for 39,250. UK coronavirus vaccine to be trialled on people from Thursday The Government is likely to face further questions about its participation in an EU scheme to secure vital equipment. This comes after the Foreign Office's top civil servant, Sir Simon McDonald, made an extraordinary U-turn in withdrawing his own claim that the UK did not take part because of a "political decision". Sir Simon wrote to the Commons foreign affairs committee to say his earlier evidence was incorrect. Coronavirus-induced constraints on public and private budgets threaten the Paris Climate Agreement and its environmental goals embraced by a majority of countries on Earth Day four years ago. The economic dislocations caused by lockdowns imposed to contain the pandemic have drastically and temporarily reduced the worlds carbon emissions, particularly from cars, planes and manufacturing. Yet the challenge of reversing global warming looms large as ever, say climate experts who want governments and companies to use todays large-scale social disruption as an opportunity to enact stimulus measures consistent with the Paris accords long-term targets. A report released this week by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) calls for economic recovery packages to align with climate objectives and accelerate the shift to sustainable, decarbonised economies and resilient, inclusive societies. The publication, which was planned well before COVID-19 took its deadly hold, acknowledges that renewable energy technologies may be affected by pandemics just like other investments. However, it states that the ongoing volatility of oil and gas markets not only makes the business case stronger for renewables but also suggests that fossil-fuel subsidies can now be reduced or redirected without increasing economic pain. Hundreds of thousands of clean energy jobs have already been shed in what many economists believe is a global recession. Despite this contraction, IRENA insists the world should remain on the path to sustainability paved by $130 trillion invested in alternative energy by mid-century, while avoiding bailouts of unsustainable sectors. A man is tested for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a Los Angeles fire department testing station for the homeless on Skid Row, Los Angeles, California, where the virus is highlighting stark inequality [File: Lucy Nicholson/Reuters] Crisis to crisis Ellie Johnston, climate and energy lead at Climate Interactive, says that the stark inequality and racial disparities highlighted by the coronavirus exacerbate the mounting toll from the crisis of climate change. We dont want to be setting ourselves up to go from crisis to crisis to crisis for humanity, she told Al Jazeera. This is a big opportunity to create demand for workers, Johnston added about the suite of policies and finance options that could be activated in response to COVID-19. Climate Interactive, a nonprofit based in the United States which runs an online dashboard and simulation tool teaching people about the levers for pulling back climate change, cites New Zealand, Germany and Switzerland as model countries for equitably multi-solving coronavirus and environmental problems. The organisation is holding a series of Earth Day educational seminars to highlight the range of possible solutions for limiting average planetary temperature increase to two degrees Celsius, as envisioned by the landmark climate pact. Johnston said that similar to the sorts of changes necessitated by the climate emergency the coronavirus requires individuals to shift their behaviour rapidly on a large scale. State and city leaders have stepped up, Johnston added, explaining how local officials in the US have risen to the governance challenge in the perceived absence of a strong federal hand. It is not just COVID-19, people also are losing their lives to climate change, she said, about the Earths long-term crisis. But, you dont put that on an obituary. Disrupting our lives Entrepreneurs from the private sector are among those troubleshooting both crises, and advanced technology may offer hope. Steve Oldham is CEO of Carbon Engineering, a Canadian company piloting direct air capture methods for sucking carbon dioxide straight from the atmosphere. Even if all current emissions were knocked down to zero, a huge quantity of legacy emissions would still pose an enormous ecological threat. Oldham told Al Jazeera that, like coronavirus, the climate emergency affects everybody, but you cant see it until you touch it. Starting with a large-scale plant for Occidental Petroleum in the US state of Texas set to launch in 2023, Carbon Engineering will put it back in the ground from where it came in the first place. People also are losing their lives to climate change, but, you don't put that on an obituary. Ellie Johnston, energy lead at Climate Interactive The company says the commercial facility will remove one million tonnes of emissions a year the equivalent of 40 million trees absorbing the same greenhouse gas from the sky. Multinational oil and gas firms such as Royal Dutch Shell continue to enhance commitments to climate neutrality by 2050, adding to their interest in carbon offset techniques. But Oldham believes the pandemic will push back climate mitigation by several years, as governments and hard-hit sectors like energy and aviation become severely indebted, and capital expenditures dry up for diversification projects. He also emphasises how coronavirus has reached such a magnitude that many more US alternative energy workers lost their jobs in March from wind-power technicians to solar panel installers than even those haemorrhaged by the retail or construction industries. People feel the effects of COVID-19: they cant fly, cant go to work, cant go on vacation, Oldham said. This makes them much more determined to fix it. To me, thats the fundamental difference, [by] disrupting our lives today. Big three emitters Like other countries, China is flirting with the possibility of using coal-fired power plants for a much-needed economic boost. The superpower emits annually more than the European Union and the US combined, yet 71 percent of its existing coal fleet is more expensive to run than new on-shore wind or solar, Sriya Sundaresan, a senior analyst at Carbon Tracker, told Al Jazeera. In the EU, climate advocates want to ensure that the European Green Deal guides legislators in bringing back the economy from the brink, as well as future-proofing the environment. Richard Baron, executive director of the 2050 Pathways Platform, said, Locking in the wrong infrastructure now would be devastating to long-term climate goals. And a citizens assembly group in the United Kingdom has called the coronavirus a test run for greener lifestyles. Across the Atlantic, US President Donald Trump has taken the opportunity created by the coronavirus to unravel environmental regulations on vehicle emissions and mercury pollutants from coal plants. Meanwhile, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has heaped praise on Green New Deal ideas and looked at plans for a White House Office of Climate Mobilization. Paula DiPerna, a special adviser for disclosure nonprofit CDP, said that nobody really has a blueprint to get out of [the coronavirus crisis] and rectify the unprecedented set of circumstances caused by a one-in-a-hundred-year pandemic. But on the occasion of Earth Day, DiPerna told Al Jazeera that addressing climate change is indubitably a job creator and the only growth industry in the world. You have to be a groundhog to think that Americas infrastructure shouldnt be a priority, she said of climate-resilient public works initiatives that may help battle both crises at once. The science is compelling, so we ignore it at our peril. [April 22, 2020] CPI Card Group Builds on CSR Initiatives with Global Charity Donations and Sustainable Brands Membership CPI Card Group Inc. (OTCQX: PMTS, TSX: PMTS) ("CPI" or the "Company"), a payment technology company and leading provider of credit, debit and prepaid solutions, today highlighted recent steps to support and drive its corporate social responsibility, including contributions to local and global charities and coronavirus relief efforts. As part of its ongoing commitment to environmental stewardship, CPI also continues to produce and deliver Second Wave cards, made with recovered ocean-bound plastic, and has become a part of the Sustainable Brands Corporate Membership Network. Focusing on supporting local communities in which it operates, CPI made COVID-19 related monetary contributions to organizations in Colorado, Indiana, Minnesota, and Tennessee. Additional donations were made to a global organization supporting both stay-at-home support and isolation shelters in a community from which plastic is sourced for Second Wave payment cards. This donation was possible through CPI's ongoing corporate contribution program, in which CPI allocates a portion of the proceeds from every Second Wave card sold to projects that benefit local sourcing communities. Additional global projects supported by this program include an initiative to help send children in the community to school and provide them with the materials and resources necessary to enable their education. CPI also contributed to an organization aimed at addressing environmental conditions in the source country. As part of CPI's longer-term commitment to environmental stwardship, CPI continues to focus on the need to reduce first use plastic and reduce plastic waste from entering the environment. This focus inspired CPI to create Second Wave, the first to market, EMV compliant, dual interface capable, high quality payment card made with recovered ocean-bound plastic and certified by major payment brands. Through the first quarter of 2020, CPI has produced and delivered over 10 million Second Wave cards, diverting at least an estimated 10 tons of plastic from entering the ocean. Additionally, CPI joined the Sustainable Brands Corporate Membership Network to expand CPI's sustainability network and knowledge sources. Sustainable Brands is a premier global community of brand innovators who are shaping the future of commerce worldwide. The Sustainable Brands Corporate Membership Network is a peer-to-peer community of leading and emerging brands, leveraging social and environmental innovation to create value for their business and build a new economy based on sustainable living. "With Second Wave, we hope to honor Earth Day and do our part as a responsible corporate citizen - while offering financial institutions and companies across various card industry segments a way to incorporate more environmentally-friendly solutions into their products," said Scott Scheirman, President and CEO of CPI Card Group . "We are excited to be a part of the Sustainable Brands community and look forward to extending the impact of Second Wave and our sustainability efforts even further by continuing to support meaningful causes." "It's an honor to welcome CPI Card Group aboard as our newest member," said Darren Beck, vice president of the Corporate Member Network for Sustainable Brands. "Like others in this peer-to-peer network, CPI is committed to becoming a more sustainable brand-a brand that generates positive social and environmental innovation. Members support each other on that journey by regularly sharing best practices and collaborating to help shift the system in which we all operate today. CPI's leadership and unique insights are a wonderful addition to this community and will boost our collective impact." To learn more about CPI's EMV and dual interface capable Second Wave cards, click here. About CPI Card Group CPI Card Group is a payment technology company and leading provider of credit, debit and prepaid solutions delivered physically, digitally and on-demand. CPI helps our customers foster connections and build their brands through innovative and reliable solutions, including financial payment cards, personalization, and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS (News - Alert)) instant issuance. CPI has more than 20 years of experience in the payments market and is a trusted partner to financial institutions and payments services providers. Serving customers from locations throughout the United States, CPI has a large network of high security facilities, each of which is registered as PCI compliant by one or more of the payment brands: Visa, Mastercard, American Express (News - Alert) and Discover. Learn more at www.cpicardgroup.com. EMV is a registered trademark in the U.S. and other countries and an unregistered trademark elsewhere. The EMV trademark is owned by EMVCo, LLC. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005130/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] As the country still is in limbo whether the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) will be extended our not, the local arm of Suzuki Philippines (SPH) decided to answer to the call by addressing the plight of frontliners in terms of transportation. SPH participated on the Free Bus Ride for Medical Workers Program of the Department of Transportation (DOTr), lending some 10 All-New Carry UV units to transport frontliners from different location points, helping ease the burden of their day-to-day commute. Out of 10, nine are Carry Utility Vans (UV) to be utilized for frontline health workers, and a sole Super Carry CV for logistics and delivery use. Suzuki Covid-19 These units will be dispatched in eight routes that will include: SM City San Jose Del Monte to Centris Station (EDSA, Quezon Avenue), SM City Masinag to The Medical City, Ortigas, Ortigas Hospital and Healthcare Center to Rizal Medical Center, Centris Station (EDSA, Quezon Avenue) to Cubao-Arenta Center MRT 3 Station, SM City Taytay to De Los Santos Medical Center and St. Lukes Medical Center along E. Rodriguez Avenue, SM City San Mateo to Robinsons Galleria and lastly, SM City San Jose Del Monte to SM Fairview and Commonwealth Avenue. Suzuki Covid-19 During these challenging times, we in Suzuki Philippines Inc. understand the impact that we can make as part of the automobile industry. We are more than willing to provide assistance to our frontline health workers for their unwavering commitment to continue serving the Filipino people especially at the current time. We are grateful for their solid dedication and we thank the DOTr as well for opening up a window for us to be of help, SPH President Akira Utsumi said. SPH specifically selected the All-New Carry as the perfect reliable workhorse for these times that look for truly efficient and agile solutions. The local arm assured that they will continue to strive and take part in the community "as we are currently experiencing a major speed bump worldwide." Story continues "As Team Suzuki, their participation goes beyond not just by producing reliable products but being able to assist in continuing the way of life of our people," it added. Also read: (Newser) Four months after a distraught San Francisco woman hired a plane to fly a search banner for her stolen dog, the blue-eyed mini Australian shepherd has been found and the two were reunited Tuesday. Emilie Talermo, 31, said she received a call Monday from an animal shelter in Palmdale, which is about 370 miles away in Southern California, telling her someone had just dropped off a dog with a microchip connected to her phone number, the AP reports. To be sure it was her 6-year-old dog, Jackson, Talermo asked the shelter to send her photos. As soon as I saw them, I burst into tears. It was him! Talermo said. Talermo launched a search on Dec. 14, when the dog with white, black, and gray fur and bright blue eyes was stolen from outside a grocery store in San Franciscos Bernal Heights neighborhood. story continues below She set up a website where she offered a $7,000 reward, no questions asked, and even opened an account for the sweet-faced dog on Tinder. She also hired a plane to fly a banner with the search website over San Francisco and Oakland. On Monday, friends in Santa Monica drove to Palmdale to pick up Jackson. Talermo was unable to drive herself to Southern California, but the San Francisco Police Department detective assigned to her case offered to drive to Santa Monica and bring Jackson back home. The officer arrived in San Francisco with Jackson early Tuesday and let the dog out of a crate for a reunion with Talermo full of laughter, squeals, and wiggles, a video of their encounter after four months apart showed. The shelter didnt say who dropped Jackson off but whoever had him fed him well because he returned home a little chunkier and doesnt seem too traumatized, Talermo said. (Read more uplifting news stories.) Vice-Chancellor Professor Iain Martin said, " Many international students, in these uncertain times and through no fault of their own, are struggling with the costs of living and studying. We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with each one of our international students. I hope this additional support will help them to tide over their hardships. Our faculty and staff are working tirelessly to ensure that our students are able to commence their studies online without any delay ." He also informed that the support for international students was available through Deakin's existing support services and that the university would continue to take a case-managed, individual approach to assist. "When students connect to our support services, we are talking one-on-one to identify how we can best help that student continue their studies at Deakin," he stated. In the midst of the uncertain circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Deakin University, Australia has taken several measures to ensure that international students may continue to achieve their study goals during this time, and not delay graduating or starting their career. These announcements have come at time when travel is suspended and students are uncertain of their dream for an overseas higher education opportunity. According to Ravneet Pawha, Deputy Vice President (Global Engagement) and CEO (South Asia), "This additional financial support indeed comes as a boost to the international student community which includes a large number of Indians currently studying at Deakin University. We want to ensure that all of them are safe and equipped with all necessary resources. For those who are reaching out to us, we are tailoring our support if the case demands it. I would like to emphasize that the safety and wellbeing of our student community remains our top priority, and we are doing everything possible to support them, during this difficult time." The University has also ramped up its support services and continues its offering of 20% and 25% fee waiver scholarships. A full refund will be made if students withdraw before the census date to provide some assurance to students and their parents who may be unfamiliar with online learning, and at a time of health and economic stress. Further flexibility and supports for Deakin students include the trimester one exam period will continue as planned with online assessments and the extension period for assignment due dates has been extended to up to three weeks, with medical certificates no longer required. It is also easier for students to apply for special consideration. About Deakin University Established in 1974, Deakin University successfully combines excellence in teaching, research and effective partnerships with industry and government to deliver high quality courses and undertake research that makes a difference to the domestic and international communities it serves. Deakin's South Asia operations commenced in 1994 at New Delhi, India, making it one of the first overseas education providers to setup operations in this region. Here, Deakin engages with the government, industry and the academia to share its vibrant culture of education and research. For more information, visit: http://www.deakin.edu. Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/713572/Deakin_University_Logo.jpg Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nZxW_HL86I SOURCE Deakin University She said the region was determined to ensure the populace complied with social distancing protocols to stem the spread of the novel Corona Virus Disease. Mrs. Kumi-Richardson noted that despite the economic value on the use of tricycle for commercial purposes, the ban on the use of it was to protect the people, possibly from contracting the virus, and advised users and owners to comply accordingly. Mrs. Kumi-Richardson said this when she presented food items worth thousands of Ghana cedis to the Bono Regional executives of the Motorcycle Owners and Tricycle Riders Association at a short ceremony in Sunyani. The items comprising bags of rice, sugar, boxes of sardines, quantities of cooking oils and boxes of tomato paste, are to be distributed solely among the tricycle riders in the region. Mrs. Kumi-Richardson admitted the ban on the use of the machines had affected the economic livelihoods the tricycle riders, hence the need to support them with food items. We understand what you are going through, but we don't have any other option than to temporary stop the use of the machines in order to protect you as riders and passengers from contracting the virus, she said. I am assuring you we will consider the possibility of lifting the ban as and when necessary. Until then I expect everybody to comply with the ban because we will not spare anybody who flouts the ban. Alhaji Issaka Ibrahim, the Bono Regional Chairman of the Association thanked the Bono Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) and the government for the items, and advised members of the association to comply with the ban. He said the Association had petitioned the RCC, and appealed to the Regional Minister to expedite action to address the concerns of the Association. Alhaji Ibrahim said the food items would be distributed to the targeted people, saying the ban had worsened the socio-economic situation of the riders and some owners as they depended on the machines to fend for themselves and their families. ---GNA Catholic Charities, Domino's restaurant giving out 250 pizzas to needy Maryland families Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A chapter of Catholics Charities and a franchisee owner of a Dominos Pizza restaurant based in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area will be giving out 250 pizzas to families in need in Maryland who have been impacted by COVID-19 shutdowns. Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington and Dominos franchisee owner Ed Treacy plan to hand out 50 pizzas a day starting Wednesday, a total of 250 altogether. The distribution will be on a first-come, first-serve basis at the Catholic Charities Center in Silver Spring, Maryland, as part of their weekly food distribution to the less fortunate. Tara Arras, chief development officer at Catholic Charities DC, told The Christian Post that the local Dominos owner had been involved with their work in the past. The local Dominos Pizza franchisee owner, Ed Treacy, grew up and still lives in Montgomery County, explained Arras. His family has been involved with various Catholic Charities programs, including the SHARE Food Network. He reached out directly to see how he could help during this time. According to Arras, the pizzas that will be offered at the food distribution will be basic pizza options for families in need to enjoy. While no ordering or personalizing is involved, the pizza of various types will be enjoyed as a special treat by people with limited means who have been staying at home since the public health crisis began, she said. What might seem like a simple meal to some is a luxury to others. We hope people will feel cared for and nourished with this gift. Many churches have been seeking to respond with charity to the demands and needs created by the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent shutdowns. For example, the New Jersey based Liquid Church worked with Convoy of Hope to distribute around 26,000 pounds of relief supplies, including food and hygiene kits, on Easter weekend. When we saw how COVID-19 was starting to impact our state, we knew Convoy of Hope would be an incredible partner, explained Liquid Church Outreach Director Kristin Hosen in an earlier interview with CP. Sure enough, they responded with essential relief supplies that would support our community during the pandemic. We are one of many organizations in New Jersey that Convoy of Hope has partnered with to help those most affected by this pandemic." "Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence." - Vince Lombardi Thirty one years ago, at the premises of the Tribune Group of Newspapers, Imalefalafia, Ibadan, I was privileged to listen to a seminal lecture on and about Journalism as well as the business of newspapering. It was a very captivating lecture that was blissful. Equally instructive and illuminating. Detailed, scholarly, rich in research and intellectually ornamenting. The kernel of the lecture was why newspapers failed in Nigeria and the isolated answer given by the lecturer was that every newspaper in Nigeria wanted to be a "national newspaper", especially when they did not have the resources. As a result of this, they were often stretched thin and thus stressed out of viability. In this lecture, he posited that it was better for newspapers to have catchment areas. It was important for a newspaper to have a base. This catchment area could be consolidated and dominated. In addition, such a newspaper would cultivate loyal and dedicated readers and customers that would consistently look forward to seeing it on the street every blessed day. This would create a sustainable relationship, a sustainable economic base and a priced longevity as well as survival of the newspaper. To elucidate his theory, he reeled out the names of newspapers in the United States for example and noted that the most influential of them and globally acclaimed ones like the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal among many others were and are still regional papers. He mentioned USA Today newspaper as the only national newspaper in the United States. This was in 1989 at the 40th Anniversary of the founding of the Nigeria Tribune by the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. The celebration was christened "Voice of The Voiceless" to denote, define and describe as well as celebrate, consecrate and commemorate the roles of the Tribune Group of Newspapers in the annals of economic, social and political emancipation of the people. The lecturer was none other person than the one and only authentic General Officer Commanding (GOC) in the profession of Journalism in Nigeria, Prince, he has always insisted on being referred to as Mr., Felix Adedapo Adenaike. Before that time, Mr Peter Ajayi, (may his blessed soul continue to rest in peace) had adopted me as a protege. He had me under his wings, teaching, guiding and encouraging me. He made me to read and read, and he provided some of the books. Through him, I had encountered the intimidating brilliance of Mr. Adenaike and the exhilarating excellence of Chief Olusegun Osoba, who later became the Governor of Ogun State, at close quarters. The three of them were the Three Musketeers. It was Chief Obafemi Awolowo who gave the trio that cognomen, and it fitted and still fits excellently. During their time, they were the powerhouse of Journalism in Nigeria. Without let or hindrance, they bestrode the journalistic firmament like comets. They were brilliant, courageous, principled, adventurous with permeation of integrity and dignity. Deeply educated in the real sense of it, they were thorough professionals. They were genial but very firm and tough. It is indeed difficult to write about one of them without touching on the other two. But this is a celebration of our own GOC, the one and only Felix Adenaike. He was an efficaciously efficient administrator. A no - nonsense executive. He was congenitally driven and compulsively motivated. A go - getter. He drove others the way he drove himself. He did not take excuses, because he would never give one. He abhored incompetence and laziness, both Intellectual and physical. He suffered fools very gladly. All he wanted at all times was result: concrete, measurable and identifiable result. If you ccouldn't get result, you didn't have too many chances before you're sidelined or let go. When he gave instruction, it always ended with "with immediate effect." One would be in great peril not to execute such instructions immediately. The peril could include demotion or sack after a couple of chances. No excuses. He celebrated excellence in younger ones. He cultivated excellence, at all times. He was helplessly attracted to excellence. He looked for it relentlessly, tirelessly, everywhere in everyone. He was and is still hooked on it. Excellence is his opium. It makes him delirious. Excellence is his passion. It makes him ecstatic. When he recognizes excellence in others, he acts as if forcefully propelled by a special angel as he dissects in celebration, adulation, validation and edification. Adenaike is a Lombardian. He belongs to the Vince Lombardi School of Thought. A School of Thought that believes intrinsically that excellence must be pursued, that it must be wooed with all of ones might and every bit of effort. The Lombardians believe that you don't do things right once in a while, you do them right all of the time. Excellence is not a "sometime thing." It is an "all of the time thing." A professional journalist of highest order that is uncompromisingly thorough and meticulous, through and through. Having gone through the mill, mastered the moxie, he would insist on compliance with the basic journalistic tenets in all the branches for a complete, wholesome, beautiful, alluring and pulsating package. He is one of a kind. Born 22 April 1940, at Osi Arawa, in Ijebu Ode Local Government of Ogun State (then Western Region), Felix Adedapo Adenaike was educated at St Marks Teachers College, Iperu, and St Leos Teachers College, Abeokuta; the University of Lagos, Lagos, bagging a Diploma with didctinction and an honours degree both in Mass Communication. Felix Adenaike started out as a teacher, rising to become a headmaster before crossing over to the civil service as an information officer at the Western Region Ministry of Information and Home Affairs. But he would rather like to be referred to as a "News Reporter" as opposed to "Information Officer." From here, he crossed to the Daily Times as a journalist. He made his mark there as a compelling features and Leader writer. His "clearheaded analyses" soon earned him posting to West Africa magazine in London as senior correspondent. He was also Europe Correspondent of the Daily Times, with operational base in London. From London he came home to be the Chief Executive Officer and Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Sketch Group, Ibadan. He became the District Manager, Daily Times, for Oyo, Ondo, Ogun and Kwara States from thence and operated from Ibadan. He moved to African Newspapers of Nigeria, publisher of the Tribune Titles as the Editor-in-Chief and Executive Director at Imalefalafia, Ibadan. That was where he was invested with the GOC cognomen. His journalistic skill set continues to be in high demand locally and across the oceans. He has been a member of many editorial boards of national and international media such as The Guardian; The Comet, The Nation; Leader writer for West Africa, The Times of London; commentator/analyst, BBC African Service. He was conferred with the fellowship of the Nigerian Guild of Editors in 2003 and has received numerous honours from the Nigeria Union of Journalists. For his "lifelong devotion to advancing the frontiers of knowledge and strengthening the media as a pillar of democracy and prodigious contributions to nation building", Mr. Adenaike was conferred with the FAME Lifetime Achievement Award. After his retirement he became book publisher/editorial consultant and has served on federal, state and private boards of corporations. A surprisingly very religious person. A man of deep faith who believes that God has the ultimate say in the destiny of any man. This is an aspect of him that is not widely known. A practicing Catholic, he does not joke or toy with mass sessions. A quiet philanthropist who operates under the radar to lift others up and out of poverty. Unknown to many, Mr. Adenaike is an angel of hope and consolation to several indigent souls. He has given and is still giving his shoulders to those who needed them to lean on. To the dark existence of some, he has brought klieg lights of joy and happiness. He doesn't talk about it. He doesn't make a show of it. In the words of that great African American poet, Maya Angelou, Felix Adenaike has not just lived and survived, he has thrived. He has done so, so far, with some passion, some compassion, some humour and some style. A very consummate family man, Mr. Adenaike, is married with six children - three boys and three girls, all professionals. On behalf of many of his foot soldiers, this is wishing our General Officer Commanding (GOC), Felix Adedapo Adenaike, a very happy birthday and many happy returns of this beautiful day. Remi Oyeyemi ATLANTA - Former Vice-President Al Gore, now one of the worlds leading climate activists, endorsed Joe Bidens White House bid on Wednesday, declaring that choosing the presumptive Democratic nominee over President Donald Trump is not rocket science and not a close call. This is the clearest most definitive choice in a national election that the United States of American has ever faced, especially for people who care about the climate, Gore told The Associated Press. Gore, 72, didnt rehash his 2000 presidential election loss to President George W. Bush, by a razor-thin margin tilted partly by third-party progressive Ralph Nader. But Gore alluded to the similar threat Biden faces from some young activists and progressives including among climate activists who are lukewarm about his candidacy. If there is any person in America who cares about the climate crisis and has any doubt whatsoever about the importance of voting for Joe Biden this November, I want to emphasize to that person in as strong a way as I possibly can: This is not complicated, Gore said. This is not rocket science. This is not a close call. He said it was imperative to defeat Trump, the anti-climate president and the face of climate denial worldwide. Gores endorsement came on the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day. The two men, who served together in the Senate before their respective vice presidencies, appeared together later Wednesday on a split-screen online live stream from their respective homes, Biden in Wilmington, Delaware, and Gore in Nashville, Tennessee. Beating Trump wont end climate change, but its a critical first step, Biden said, arguing that Trump isnt just refusing to act but is eviscerating existing regulations that mitigate the crisis. Gore told AP that Biden has asked him to engage in an ongoing dialogue to strengthen his climate platform considerably. He declined to get into the specifics of his policy discussions with Biden or his campaign aides, but he said Biden already has the right focus and has expressed a willingness to make climate action his top priority. Biden last summer unveiled a $5 trillion, decade-long plan to combat the climate crisis; $1.7 trillion of that total would come from the government, the rest from the private sector. Bidens plan falls short of the Green New Deal advanced by some Democrats, especially in the timeline he envisions for eliminating carbon pollution from the economy. Biden calls for tax breaks, direct spending and more aggressive federal regulations. Hed start with reversing many actions of the Trump administration, which has rolled back a range of Obama administration efforts on energy and the environment. Biden would add an aggressive push on the world stage, using U.S. political and economic muscle to limit emissions from other nations, including China. Gore supports the efforts of Democrats pushing the Green New Deal on Capitol Hill. But he also calls it an aspirational plan that likely wouldnt clear Congress in one sweeping act. Much more likely, he argues, is a series of actions that flow from an administration prioritizing the overall issue. Gore was adamant Wednesday that the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting flurry of emergency spending measures shouldnt derail climate as the top national priority. Rather, he said, the economic fallout highlights the need. We need to speed things up by putting tens of millions of people to work in every community in this country doing everything from installing solar panels and retrofitting buildings to overhauling agriculture practices, Gore told AP. It will be the biggest boost to sustainable economic growth that weve ever had. In their online event, Gore and Biden compared the dynamics of the climate debate to earlier movements, such as those that lead to the abolition of slavery, womens suffrage and, most recently, marriage rights for same-sex couples. You look at all of those social revolutions, and they all have one thing in common: They seemed impossible, Gore said. But they kept on going and they crossed a threshold where, finally, the majority of people said, oh, ok, I get it. This is about justice. This is about fairness. This is about a bright future. As for his own future, Gore made clear in the AP interview that his days in government remain finished. Im not looking for any job, he quipped. I gave at the office. Gores public profile, both during his long political career and since, has been defined by his advocacy on environmental issues and the climate crisis. As a young congressman in the early 1980s, he stood out for holding hearings on global warming before it was a routine part of public discourse. As vice-president, Gore helped craft the Kyoto Treaty a forerunner of the Paris Agreement of 2016 that Biden was involved in crafting but watched the U.S. Senate refuse ratification, just as Trump has scoffed at the Paris deal. Since leaving the vice presidency in 2001, Gore has won the Nobel Peace Prize for his activism and an Oscar for his documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. Advertisement With his little hands smudged with paint and a broad grin on his face, Prince Louis is clearly pleased with his artistic creation. As he turns two today, these charming pictures show that just like millions of other children across Britain his parents are keeping him busy by painting rainbows to celebrate the NHS. To mark the occasion, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have released a new set of pictures of their youngest child. Kensington Palace thanked the public for all the birthday wishes in a Twitter post, and Prince Charles known by his grandchildren simply as Grandpa - this morning released an intimate portrait of him hugging Prince Louis to mark the special day. Adorable: With his little hands smudged with paint and a broad grin on his face, Prince Louis is clearly pleased with his artistic creation The young prince raised his rainbow coloured hands to his face, that were carefully painted on him by his mother Kate The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have released a new set of pictures of their youngest child to celebrate his birthday Clarence House tweeted this image of Prince Charles holding his grandson, with the message: 'A very Happy Birthday to Prince Louis, who turns two today. The young Prince enjoys a hug from his Grandfather, The Prince of Wales' Supporting the NHS: These charming pictures show that just like millions of other children across Britain his parents are keeping him busy by painting rainbows to celebrate the NHS. Gone are the little wisps of baby hair and chubby face we have been used to seeing. Instead he is now a proper cheeky little boy, full of life just like his brother, Prince George, six, and sister, Princess Charlotte, who will turn five next month Prince Louis looked absolutely thrilled with his rainbow coloured handprint to stick on the front window of the family home in Norfolk Taken at Anmer Hall, their Norfolk home, this month by his doting mother Kate, they show that Louis is growing up fast. Gone are the little wisps of baby hair and chubby face we have been used to seeing. Instead he is now a proper cheeky little boy, full of life just like his brother, Prince George, six, and sister, Princess Charlotte, who will turn five next month. And talking of George, dont the two brothers look alike with the same heart-shaped faces, rosy cheeks and enchanting gap-toothed smiles? The excited little face, those beguiling big brown eyes and those long brows are almost identical. As this childhood picture of his mother the Duchess of Cambridge shows, its not just her shock of dark hair that Prince Louis has inherited. Kate is pictured here aged three-and-a-half on a Middleton family holiday in the Lake District, in an image first released in 2011 ahead of her marriage to Prince William. A chip off the old block: Prince William, pictured on his 2nd birthday, has the same rosy cheeks and mischievous look as his youngest son Prince George at two: Louis's older brother at age two, pictured at the christening of their sister Charlotte at St Mary Magdalene Church in July 2015 A picture of Princess Charlotte at Anmer Hall in Norfolk in April, in anticipation of her second birthday on May 2 The future Queen Elizabeth II, born 1926, seen here in 1928 aged two with her nanny, Clara Knight, known as 'Allah' Prince Charles, aged two, with his smiling mother and the future Queen Elizabeth II, with her hand around his shoulder Prince Harry, aged two, with his mother Princess Diana on holiday in Majorca. He bears a striking resemblance to his mother in his photo A young Prince William on his second birthday playing football, in the gardens of Kensington Palace, June 1984 The whole family together: Prince William, Catherine Duchess of Cambridge, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis during Trooping the Colour ceremony, marking the monarch's official birthday, in London Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis clap to show their support for the NHS on 'Good Morning Britain' in March this year Prince George, Prince Louis, and Princess Charlotte at the Trooping the Colour ceremony in London,on June 8, 2019 As we can see Louis, dressed in a blue checked shirt, also loves his arts and crafts one of Kates favourite things to do with her children and has no fear of getting his hands dirty. He looks positively ecstatic to be getting so covered in paint as he makes a rainbow patterned handprint to stick up on the front window of the family home. Pictures of rainbows started springing up up in windows across the country after schools closed in response to the coronavirus outbreak. They originated in Italy and quickly spread to the UK, where they are seen as a message of hope and something fun for children spot on their daily hour of exercise. Kate even carefully painted a rainbow on his hands to make a perfect print. The NHS and its staff is something that William and Kate have put at the heart of their private and professional lives, and this week announced a new initiative to support key workers by providing a dedicated mental health support system, Our Frontline. Their three children are also encouraged to take part in the 'clap for carers' every week, which will take place again tonight at 8pm. The Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge leave the Lindo Wing of St. Mary's Hospital in London with their newborn son Prince Louis on April 23, 2018 The tiny newly-born Prince Louis, prior to his christening, laying peacefully in his little bed, yet to meet his brother and sister The Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge depart the Lindo Wing with their newborn son at St Mary's Hospital on April 23, 2018 in London Kate Middleton looks lovingly at her new born son Prince Louis, on the steps on the Lindo Wing in April 23, 2018, shortly after giving birth Kate stares adoringly at her young son outside the Lindo Wing on April 23, 2018. He was safely delivered at 11:01 am, weighing 8lbs 7oz The Duchess of Cambridge carries Prince Louis as they arrive for his christening service at St James's Palace on July 09, 2018 in London The Duchess of Cambridge looks lovingly at her son Prince Louis at his christening service at the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace on July 9, 2018 A photo by the Duchess of Cambridge at Kensington Palace, in London, of Prince Louis not long after his birth in 2018 A smiling Prince of Wales holds Prince Louis of Cambridge after a family portrait photo-shoot in the gardens of Clarence House on September 5, 2018 in London A picture of Prince Louis taken by his mother, the Duchess of Cambridge, to mark his first birthday All smiles: Another picture released by the royal family last year to celebrate the first birthday of Prince Louis The Duchess of Cambridge, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis attending the King Power Royal Charity Polo Day at Billingbear Polo Club, Wokingham, Berkshire, in July 2019 The Duchess of Cambridge carrying Prince Louis at the King Power Royal Charity Polo Day, Billingbear Polo Club, Wokingham, in July 2019 Prince William looks on as his young son Prince Louis explores an exhibit at the Chelsea Flower show with his siblings and mother on May 19, 2019 Prince Louis arriving for the Queen's Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace, London last year with his family Prince Louis from the day of his birth right through to him as a precocious, smiling two-year-old in the present day According to friends, Louis is a happy boy who adores chasing his elder siblings. They are just a really normal, happy rumbustious family, said one source. Louis has inherited Georges scooter and it wont be long before hes out of the carrier on Catherines bike and catching up with his brother and sister. He can very much hold his own. With lockdown in place, Louis will have to be content having a party with George and Charlotte in Norfolk and seeing his grandparents, Charles and Camilla, and Michael and Carole Middleton, by video call. Still, according to his father, Louis loves being on the phone - holding it right up to his little face. But prince also revealed that the youngster has a naughty habit of cutting off family phone calls. For some reason he sees the red button and he always wants to press the red button, William, 37, told the BBC. A Kensington Palace spokesman said: of the new pictures last night: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to share four new photographs ahead of Prince Louis second birthday tomorrow. The photographs were taken earlier this month by The Duchess. Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 09:58:19|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close COPENHAGEN, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Solidarity and cooperation are the urgent needs of the world in the combat against COVID-19, Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Feng Tie said. "What the world needs most right now is solidarity and cooperation," said Feng during an interview with Denmark's TV2 News on Monday night. "We are in the same boat, and instead of rocking the boat, we have to row it together," Feng said. He questioned the balance and objectivity of some Western media's coverage about China. The ambassador was forthright about Chinese willingness to provide information to international partners during the COVID-19 pandemic. "The Chinese government finds transparency very important. China shares information with the World Health Organization (WHO) and many other countries and also shared information at the end of December," he said. "China is doing its best to help other countries. We have donated 20 million U.S. dollars to the WHO, and we have provided assistance to over 150 countries," he noted. The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Denmark has risen to 7,695, with 370 deaths, according to figures released by the Danish Statens Serum Institut on Tuesday. Enditem Yu Ben Meng the chief investment officer of Californias public pension who has ties to Chinese espionage sold off the funds investments in hedges against market downturn without the approval of the pensions board, a move that cost the fund a billion-dollar payout following the coronavirus market crash. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Meng, who assumed his role as CIO for California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) the countrys largest public pension fund in January 2019, reportedly made no mention of the fact that he had mostly exited the three funds when asked about them during a March teleconference with the board. They should perform well in this kind of a down market, as they were exactly designed to do, Meng answered, according to a call transcript. And from what we know . . . most of these strategies are performing as anticipated. Board members told the Journal that they had not been aware of the shift in investment strategy, which CalPERS began in 2017 by investing in three tail risk funds, which deliver big payoffs in the case of market downturns. He took away a risk strategy that the board had approved without telling the board, board member Margaret Brown, who asked Meng about the funds, told the Journal. Meng told the Journal that the move was part of a broader strategy to cut costs and shift funds to higher returns. Knowing what we know, we would make the exact same decision, he stated. The fund began exiting the positions in October before news of the coronavirus pandemic and by March it only had a residual stake in one of the funds, LongTail Alpha LLC, that returned less than $200 million. LongTail reported in an investor letter that it had a March return of 156 percent. Another fund that CalPERS withdrew from, Universa Investments LP, said it returned 3,612 percent. The CalPERS board is scheduled to meet this week to discuss how much authority it delegates to investment staff. Meng came under fire earlier this year after being accused of participating in Chinas Thousand Talents Program, which provides secret funding to U.S. academics and entrepreneurs in exchange for valuable information. Story continues Meng emigrated to the U.S. from China to study at the University of California, Davis, and worked as deputy CIO for Chinas State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) which oversees Chinas U.S. Treasury security holdings prior to his appointment at CIO. A 2017 interview Meng gave to a Chinese state-sponsored newspaper mentions his role in the program, and includes comments from Meng saying in human life, if there is an opportunity to serve the motherland, such responsibility and honor cannot be compared to anything. Under pressure from Representative Jim Banks (R., Ind.), CalPERS CEO Marcie Fros did not deny that Meng had been recruited to the Thousand Talents Program, but called the allegation that he was serving Beijings interests baseless. More from National Review HONOLULU, April 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Well-known legal newsgroup Lawdragon recently released its annual Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers Guide for 2020, which once again includes Attorneys Mark Davis, Michael Livingston, and Loretta Sheehan. All three of these attorneys are also partners at noted Hawai'i litigation firm, Davis Levin Livingston. This is the second consecutive year that these three leading plaintiff's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon for their tireless work on behalf of injury victims. As one of the most respected legal media organizations in the United States, Lawdragon is closely connected to the legal community, and as such, has the ability to fairly rate excellence within each practice area of the law. Every year, the Lawdragon research team uses peer and client nominations, in-depth legal research, and comparative analysis to select 500 top attorneys in practice areas ranging from employment to financial law. The Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers Guide is intended to showcase the "best of the U.S. plaintiff's bar," and the team at Davis Levin Livingston is honored that three of their partners were selected in both 2019 and 2020. For additional information about the attorneys at Davis Levin Livingston or for further press inquiries, visit https://www.davislevin.com/. SOURCE Davis Levin Livingston Related Links https://www.davislevin.com Beaumont Health, the largest hospital and health care system in Michigan, announced on Tuesday that it was laying off nearly 2,500 employees and permanently terminating 450 positions in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. In a press release, the company said, The financial consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic has forced Beaumont Health, like other health care organizations throughout the country, to adjust its workforce after the organization suffered significant losses during the first quarter. The decision, based entirely upon financial considerations, follows by less than one week the companys shutdown of the 300-bed hospital in Wayne, Michigan. The job cuts are an attack on health care employees and the population of metropolitan Detroit, which is an area that has been among the hardest hit in the US by the pandemic. As of Tuesday, the tri-county area around Detroit had 25,105 confirmed coronavirus cases and 2,229 deaths, which is 76 percent and 83 percent of the totals in the state of Michigan, respectively. While Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer has indicated a willingness to relax restrictions imposed in her April 1 emergency declaration closing all nonessential business operations in the state, Tuesdays report of 232 deaths is the largest single-day number so far recorded since the beginning of the crisis. The Beaumont Health announcement was accompanied by a video statement from company CEO John Fox , who said, While many front-line employees have never been busier, other parts of our operations have drastically declined or ceased. We must make difficult, quick decisions now to protect and readjust to an uncertain future. Fox went on to say, We also expect economic pressures on Beaumont and the health care industry to continue well after the COVID-19 initial surge subsides, which is why we made the difficult decision to eliminate 450 positions. We must adjust the way we operate our organization moving forward. Responding to the announcement, a Beaumont Health nurse told the World Socialist Web Site, I got word first thing this morning from a coworkerhe was actually a leader of the Environmental Services Departmentthat him, along with 20 others in EVS were laid off. In my opinion, the only thing that makes any kind of sense as to how or why they could be laying off this many very important people during this pandemic, would be because of money! And cooperate greed, as Mr. John Fox is so well known for. I personally wouldnt be surprised to hear that most are being let go, or forced into retirement, so they can bring a much more cost-effective temp service in. That way they can pay them much less money per hour. No hazard pay, of course. No health benefits. And still get the same end result. The fact that CEO Fox is taking a temporary 70 percent pay cuthe had a reported annual compensation of $5.6 million as of 2017along with 45 percent reductions for the rest of the executive team, is being promoted heavily in the companys announcement. According to the financial information released by Beaumont, the company lost $278 million in first quarter 2020 net income. The report said that the losses came from the impact of the coronavirus in only the last two weeks of March and that The system expects the second quarter financials to be challenging as well. Beaumont Health has 38,000 employees and 5,000 physicians and runs 145 outpatient facilities in addition to its hospitals in Southeast Michigan. The company has $4.7 billion in annual revenue and is considered a Michigan not-for-profit health care corporation. Like other health care providers, Beaumont has grown dramatically over recent years through mergers and acquisitions. In 2014, Beaumont absorbed Oakwood Healthcare of Dearborn, Michigan and Botsford Hospital of Farmington Hills, Michigan to create a $3.8 billion organization that controlled 30 percent of the inpatient market in Detroit. The Wayne hospital, which the company closed on April 15, was acquired by Beaumont in the 2013 deal with Oakwood. According to the official statement from the company, the Wayne facility is not permanently closing. However, the statement also said that the employees were being redeployed to other Beaumont sites where they can provide care for more patients when six days later, the company announced the layoffs and terminations. There are other strategic corporate considerations that lie behind the Beaumont layoff announcement. Among them is the pending merger of Beaumont Health with the Akron, Ohio Summa Health that was initiated in January before the pandemic erupted. Under the terms of the deal, Summa Healthwhich had annual revenues of $1.4 billion prior to the crisiswould become part of the Beaumont group of companies. While Beaumont and the rest of the health care industry are looking to justify massive cost cutting in the midst of the greatest public health crisis in generations, the devastating impact of the pandemic on the working-class population of Detroit and surrounding suburbs continues. The Detroit Free Press reported on Monday that Gary Fowler, a 56-year resident of Detroit, died from COVID-19 at home sitting up in his recliner. After he made three attempts to be tested for the virus at hospital emergency rooms and begged for assistance because he was having trouble breathing, Fowler was turned away. As described by his son Keith Gambrell, Fowler had a fever, but They tell him, Sir, more than likely the fever is from bronchitis. And they tell him to go home. But they also give my dad a piece of paper saying to act like you have the virus. After weeks of escalating sickness and death from COVID-19, the Detroit-area hospitals are still not testing or admitting patients unless they meet criteria. A statement from Brenda Craig at Henry Ford Health System in Detroitwhere Gary Fowler made his final attempt to get treatment before he diedsaid, In the case of COVID-19, we have a multistep triage process. As patients arrive to our emergency department, all are screened for COVID-19 symptoms. Those with mild or moderate symptoms who do not meet admission criteria at the time they present may be sent home with strict instructions to return immediately if symptoms worsen. By provocatively laying off 2,475 employees and terminating 450 others, Beaumont executive management is clearly attempting to put pressure on state and federal government representatives for a health care specific bailout. This money-driven campaign is combined with the push by corporate executives to reopen businesses before the pandemic has been adequately contained. Significantly, Beaumont CEO Fox is on Governor Whitmers Michigan Economic Recovery Council. Jason Bradford, a former Beaumont employee at the closed Wayne Hospital, posted a video on YouTube. I just watched John Fox give a live interview ... in this interview, he was asked about his salary, but he would not talk about his salary. ... In 2018, his salary was $5.6 million, which was a pay increase of over 80 percent the year before. So, when you take into consideration the bonuses that he will be receiving this year for last year and his 70 percent pay cut, hell still be sitting on millions of dollars. He questioned why Beaumont was stockpiling large amounts of PPE rather than distributing it to medical workers. Now, the entire laundry facility that was made into a makeshift morgue to hold 400 bodies has also become a warehouse storage facility for an incredible amount of PPE that is sitting there. There are full body gowns with masks and gloves. During the shortage, to think that that much is sitting there being unused by healthcare professionals, is just totally disgusting. This PPE has been confirmed to have been sitting there since April 3 and now this is the last week of April. So, why hasnt this been shipped out to the people who need it? With the national shortage and people putting their lives at risk, not only has an entire campus closed its doors to the public during a pandemic, but now were sitting on all this PPE. The economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic could trigger a hunger crisis in already vulnerable parts of the world, the UN warned Tuesday, as the unprecedented clampdown on commerce sent shock waves through financial markets. The bleak warning comes as deaths from the virus surpassed 170,000 worldwide, with governments anxiously trying to chart a path out of the unprecedented global health and economic emergency. Debates are raging worldwide over when and how to relax strict lockdowns. Many leaders fear triggering another wave of infections but are also worried about the mounting economic costs and signs of social tension. The economic impact of the pandemic could lead to a "humanitarian catastrophe" with the number of people suffering from acute hunger projected to nearly double to 265 million this year, the UN's World Food Programme warned. Debates are raging worldwide over when and how to relax strict lockdowns. By Angela Weiss (AFP) "We are on the brink of a hunger pandemic," WFP director David Beasley told the UN Security Council in a video conference. "Millions of civilians living in conflict-scarred nations, including many women and children, face being pushed to the brink of starvation, with the spectre of famine a very real and dangerous possibility." The worst-case scenario could see famine in some three dozen countries, he added. Freezes on whole sectors of commerce are already playing out dramatically on oil markets, where prices have crashed due to the drop-off in energy demand and a supply glut. The United States is now the hardest-hit country with more than 42,000 people dead and 784,000 infected. As the economic downturn starts to bite, US President Donald Trump has stoked conflict with Democratic state governors by urging a speedy return to business. He also drew criticism for a late-night tweet announcing the US would temporarily halt immigration to the country, claiming it would save American jobs -- some 22 million of which have vanished in the wake of virus shutdowns. US President Donald Trump calls for temporary ban on immigration saying he wants to protect American workers.. By MANDEL NGAN (AFP) The vague threat was scant on details but suggested a hardening of his anti-immigration crusade, a move likely to delight supporters ahead of November elections. "In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!" he tweeted. The White House did not provide any further details Tuesday about the measure or how long it would last. Beer and bulls out In hard-hit Europe, some countries are cautiously creeping out from confinement, though large gatherings appear to be out of the question for the forseeable future. While Germany is allowing small shops to reopen, authorities cancelled Oktoberfest, a beloved beer-swilling festival in southern Bavaria, for the first time since World War II. Number of COVID-19 deaths in US and Europe since March 1, according to an AFP count and Johns Hopkins University. By Robin BJALON (AFP) Spain also announced it was scrapping its annual bull-running festival in Pamplona, a centuries-old tradition that normally draws hundreds of thousands. In one week, children in Spain, who have been house-bound for over a month under a tight lockdown, will be allowed to accompany parents on food shopping and other sanctioned outings. Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has also promised to soon unveil a plan to start reopening the hard-hit country. But in a sign of what lies ahead, the gradual awakening of Wuhan, the Chinese city where the virus first emerged, remains tinged with fear about fresh outbreaks of the disease. The industrial city was released from quarantine two weeks ago, but many restaurants, for instance, have not reopened or are still only able to offer outdoor seating and takeout. "We have very, very few customers," said Han, the 27-year-old owner of a soy drink stall. But in a sign of what lies ahead, the gradual awakening of Wuhan, the Chinese city where the virus first emerged, remains tinged with fear. By Hector RETAMAL (AFP) "Everyone is worried about asymptomatic infected people," she said. "Business is just not as good as before." Singapore, meanwhile, has become a sober example of how infections may ebb and flow, with the financial hub extending lockdown measures Tuesday as it battles a second wave of contagion. Trapped at home Elsewhere, there is fear over how the most vulnerable will survive lockdowns that breed their own dangers. In many parts of the world, including Latin America, weeks of confinement have seen a surge in calls to helplines for victims of domestic abuse. Eighteen women have been killed by their partner or ex-partners during the first 20 days of Argentina's mandatory quarantine. Number of people in serious food insecurity, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation.. By Robin BJALON (AFP) Appeals to helplines have also shot up nearly 40 percent. "Every day, a women is abused, raped or beaten at home by her partner or her ex," said Ada Rico, from the NGO La Casa del Encuentro. "In normal times, we would help her to file a complaint. These days, the urgency is to get her out of the house as quickly as possible." Misery on the continent will be compounded by a looming economic recession, which a UN body says will spike poverty rates in the worst contraction in a century. Oil upheaval Financial markets continued a roller-coaster ride after the price of a US oil benchmark sunk below zero for the first time on Monday, sending world equities spiralling. World map showing official number of coronavirus deaths per country. By Simon MALFATTO (AFP) With energy demand sharply down and storage options running out, many traders preferred to effectively pay someone to take the oil off their hands. The aviation sector has also been hammered particularly hard by the global economic pause, with cash-strapped Virgin Australia announcing it had entered voluntary administration -- the largest airline so far to collapse. Health workers, meanwhile, are still working round the clock under severe physical and psychological drain. In the US, some 9,000 health care workers have contracted the virus that causes COVID-19, and more than two dozen have died, according to official figures released last week. After spending three weeks in isolation, nurse Justin Jara returned to work Tuesday at his hospital in Detroit. "I still have fear, I am scared to go back to work," the 26-year-old told AFP. "A doctor told me that I'm immune and I have antibodies but still, it's not scientifically proven yet." burs-ssm/dl Mukesh Ranjan By Express News Service RANCHI: A man quarantined in a school building at Courtkhas Pathahari village under Lesliganj Police Station in Palamu, killed himself on Wednesday evening. Ayub Khan, who hailed from Gopalganj village in Garhwa and was working in Chandwa of Latehar. Khan, along with several others, was put in quarantine three days back after his return from Chandwa. Police said that prima facie it appears to be a case of suicide while investigations are on to get into details of the case. According to other persons quarantined in the building, the deceased appeared to quite disturbed and was seen talking on his mobile phone with someone very often. He hanged himself with the help of gamcha (thin towel) from the window of his room at around 7:45 pm on Wednesday, Palamu SP Ajay Linda was quoted as saying. He allegedly also tried to cut himself before hanging. Earlier on Tuesday, another person, quarantined at Ranchis Lake View Hospital on suspicion of coming in contact with a COVID positive patient on April 16, jumped from the third floor of the building and later died during treatment. The deceased, identified as Mangal Kacchap, was a staff of Birsa Munda Airport who had come in contact with a retired Deputy Development Commissioner (DDC) while shifting him to Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon by Air Ambulance. The DDC later tested positive and died in Gurgaon. Sammy Gyamfi, the Communications Director of the opposition NDC has raised concerns over what he described as "government-controlled Covid-19 situation." He has accused government of being economical with information regarding its update of confirmed Covid-19 cases on its dedicated website. Sammy Gyamfi believes it is time government start providing Ghanaians with daily updates directly from testing institutions in line with international best practice as pertains elsewhere. According to him, government reported a total of 1,042 COVID-19 positive cases on the Ghana Health Service website on the 13th of April (9 days ago) and subsequently changed it to 834. He said the move by government is to suppress data on our true COVID-19 situation. "There is no gainsaying the fact that, the timely dissemination of information is critical to our collective fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. In line with international best practice, we need daily updates directly from Testing Institutions and not government-controlled institutions on our COVID-19 situation as it pertains currently," he emphasised. Read full statement below: COMRADE SAMMY GYAMFI WRITES: Folks, Government reported a total of 1,042 COVID-19 positive cases on the Ghana Health Service website on the 13th of April (9 days ago) and subsequently changed it to 834, all in an effort to suppress data on our true COVID-19 situation, an incident which has been condemned by no less a person than the renowned Pathologist, Professor Agyemang Badu Akosa. It is interesting to note, that the 1,042 figure has remained unchanged despite the fact that media stations like Joy FM, Class FM among others, reported newly recorded positive cases in the northern, Eastern and Ashanti regions, in their evening news bulletins yesterday. Dr. Nsiah Asare (Presidential Advisor on Health) assured the nation on PM Express that the Ghana Health Service was going to update their website to reflect the new recorded positive cases by close day yesterday. Yet, that has not been done as we speak. This undue delay in updating our positive cases, is part of a deliberate attempt by government to suppress data on our true COVID-19 situation. There is no gainsaying the fact that, the timely dissemination of information is critical to our collective fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. In line with international best practice, we need daily updates directly from Testing Institutions and not government-controlled institutions on our COVID-19 situation as it pertains currently. Ghanaians deserve better. People's lives matter more than political gains. SAMMY GYAMFI Esq. Cases filed against three Kashmiri journalists in less than a week as media and rights groups decry misuse of power. Pulwama, Indian-administered Kashmir Media watchdogs and rights groups have called police charges against journalists in Indian-administered Kashmir a brazen attack on freedom of expression. Masrat Zahra, Peerzada Ashiq and Gowhar Geelani should be free to report on events in Jammu and Kashmir without facing harassment and intimidation from local authorities, Aliya Iftikhar, a senior Asia researcher with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), told Al Jazeera on Wednesday. On Tuesday, 38-year-old Geelani, a journalist and author of Kashmir: Rage and Reason, was charged by police with indulging in unlawful activities through his posts and writings on social media. The action against Geelani came two days after Ashiq, a reporter for The Hindu newspaper, was charged with filing a factually incorrect news story which the police said could cause fear or alarm in the minds of the public. On Saturday, photojournalist Zahra, 26, was charged under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act over anti-national social media posts. The cases against the three Kashmiri journalists have been described as a misuse of power with an aim to strike terror into the disputed regions media community. Police should drop their investigations into the journalists, and India should reform its laws to make such capricious actions by police impossible, said Iftikhar. Activist Khurram Parvez of the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that the cases against the journalists were a brazen attack on the right to freedom of expression. Despite claims by the government that everything is getting better in Kashmir, its conduct continues to be regressive and the space for civil, political and human rights is being further choked, he said. Police allegations In a statement on Tuesday evening, the Jammu and Kashmir polices cyber station in the main city of Srinagar said they received information from their sources that Geelanis writings on social media platform [were] prejudicial to the national integrity, sovereignty and security of India. The unlawful activities include glorifying terrorism in Kashmir Valley, causing disaffection against the country and causing fear or alarm in the minds of public that may lead to commission of offences against public tranquility and the security of state, the statement said. Tahir Ashraf, a senior official at the cyber wing of Jammu and Kashmir Police, refused to speak on the First Information Reports (FIRs) filed against the journalists, saying the Inspector General of Police (IGP) in Kashmir was the right person to comment. When Al Jazeera telephoned the IGP Vijay Kumar, he said, I am busy and cant talk. Meanwhile, Geelani termed the charges against him as concocted and baseless. The aim is to silence all the remaining critical and sane voices and to criminalise opinions and journalism in Kashmir, he told Al Jazeera. Intimidating tactics from any quarter wont cow me down. I will continue doing my job with sound professional judgement. Geelani said his job as a journalist is to write for the marginalised and the dispossessed. Memory will win. Words are a writers weapons. All I have is words. Let me assure one and all that journalism and words will stay and survive, censorship wont. In case of Ashiq, the police said his report in The Hindu titled Kin allowed to exhume bodies of militants in Baramulla on April 19 was fake news. The news was published without seeking confirmation from the district authorities, said a statement released by the police, which called him for questioning in two police stations on Sunday. Photojournalist Zahra is accused of uploading photographs which can provoke the public to disturb law and order tantamount to glorify anti-national activities. She presented herself before the police on Tuesday for questioning. Continued harassment and intimidation Expressing shock over the cases against Ashiq and Zahra, the Editors Guild of India in a statement said, Any recourse to such laws for merely publishing something in the mainstream or social media is a gross misuse of power. Its only purpose can be to strike terror into journalists. Avinash Kumar of the rights group Amnesty International India told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that the continued harassment and intimidation of journalists and writers threatens the freedom of media to report impartially and accurately. The recent charges against at least three journalists in Kashmir demonstrate a pattern of suppressing free media, he said. Ishfaq Tantry of the Kashmir Press Club told Al Jazeera that the police were acting on anonymous complaints quoting sources to hound the journalists. This is blatant misuse of the law to stifle and gag media in Kashmir, he said, demanding that the FIRs against the three journalists be withdrawn. No ifs, no buts, no whataboutery this campaign of FIRs against journalists & commentators in Kashmir IS WRONG & must stop, tweeted former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. The recent collapse of oil prices is likely to cause further recession to the global economy that is already suffering deterioration over the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, said Egyptian political and economic experts. Affected by the precautionary measures and lockdowns imposed in most countries across the world to face the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, the current oil crisis may lead to dramatic changes in the global economic map, the experts expected. On Monday, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for May delivery plunged below zero for the first time in history, with a continuously shrinking energy market as a result of a double shock of declining demand and supply amid the spread of COVID-19. WTI contract for May delivery fell 55.9 U.S. dollars, or about 306 percent, to settle at -37.63 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a negative finish that means producers would pay buyers to take oil off their storage warehouses. Ahmed Qandil, head of the Energy Studies Program at Cairo-based Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies (ACPSS), attributed the low demand of crude oil to the precautionary measures taken by most states to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. "The decline in oil demand coincided with a pricing war between key oil producers, which all led to a further collapse of oil prices," Qandil told Xinhua. He pointed out that the agreement between Saudi Arabia and Russia to reduce oil production after the intervention of U.S. President Donald Trump earlier in April had a small impact on the situation, describing Trump's move as "too late." Qandil noted that the declining global demand from about 30 to 10 million barrels per day created a large gap between supply and demand. "This oil crisis will have profound effects as it would worsen global economic recession as well as deterioration in the budgets of the oil-exporting countries, especially in the Gulf region," said the ACPSS expert. He added that the oil price collapse greatly harms U.S. energy corporations and would also undermine Trump's chances in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. On Tuesday, the last day for trading in May WTI futures, WTI crude for May delivery traded at -2.58 dollars, which is about 35.05 dollars higher than Monday's closure but is still in minus. As for June delivery, the price of WTI crude dropped by about 50 percent to stand below 10 dollars per barrel because of weak demand, while global benchmark Brent crude for June delivery plunged about 27 percent to about 18.5 dollars per barrel. The low demand for oil and the consequent collapse of its price are logical results of the anti-coronavirus lockdown in most parts of the world, with mostly motionless vehicles, suspended flights and halted industries. According to Egyptian experts, the crisis will not only affect the economies of oil-rich Gulf states, but will also cast its shadow on other countries like Egypt that has millions of expatriates working in the Gulf region and might be laid off and sent back home. Kareem al-Omda, economics professor at the Arab Academy for Science Technology and Maritime Transport, explained that due to the low demand for crude oil, tank farms are full to the brim and oil tankers are stuck at seas with nowhere to offload. "The unprecedented decline of oil prices worldwide would surely worsen the global economy in general and paralyzes the U.S. economy in particular in the coming period," said the Egyptian professor. Omda added that it will have a significant impact on the relative weight of Western states in the global economy, which would open the door for other economies to move forward. "The current situation is expected to lead global economic powers to find a new global economic system that is more efficient and flexible in dealing with the various types of crises like those hitting the world today," the economics professor told Xinhua. Moore, who served as a Trump campaign adviser in 2016, said he had located a big donor to aid in the effort, though he never elaborated. I told him about this, and he said, Steve, I promise to pay the bail and legal fees for anyone who gets arrested, Moore said in the video. He likened his quest to the civil rights movement, adding, We need to be the Rosa Parks here and protest against these government injustices. PUNE, India, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The global smart meter market size is projected to reach USD 44.18 by the end of 2026. Recent technological advancements have emerged in favor of the market in the coming years. According to a report published by Fortune Business Insights, titled "Smart Meter Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Type (Smart Electric Meter, Smart Gas Meter, Smart Water Meter) By Technology (Automatic Meter Reading {AMR} and Advanced Meter Infrastructure), By Application (Residential, Commercial and Industrial), and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026," the market was worth USD 24.53 billion in 2018 and will exhibit a CAGR of 7.7% during the forecast period, 2019-2026. Smart Meter Market Analysis (USD Billion), Insights and Forecast, 2015-2026 Get Sample PDF Brochure: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/smart-meter-market-102666 An Overview of the Impact of COVID-19 on this Market The emergence of COVID-19 has brought the world to a standstill. We understand that this health crisis has brought an unprecedented impact on businesses across industries. However, this too shall pass. Rising support from governments and several companies can help in the fight against this highly contagious disease. There are some industries that are struggling and some are thriving. Overall, almost every sector is anticipated to be impacted by the pandemic. We are taking continuous efforts to help your business sustain and grow during COVID-19 pandemics. Based on our experience and expertise, we will offer you an impact analysis of coronavirus outbreak across industries to help you prepare for the future. Click here to get the short-term and long-term impact of COVID-19 on this Market. Please visit: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/smart-meter-market-102666 Smart meter provides two-way communication and acts as a medium between customers and service providers. This allows for improved efficiency, subsequently aiding the demand for the product across the world. Modern smart meters allow for improved product operations. The use of advanced concepts such as the IoT and sensor-based monitoring has opened up the potential for widespread product applications. The presence of several large scale companies has made a huge impact on the growth of the market in the foreseeable future. The increasing number of company mergers and collaborations has also contributed to the growth of the market. The contributions from government organizations, as well as private companies, will bode well for the market. Increasing Number of Company Mergers Will Aid Growth The report encompasses several factors that have contributed to the growth of the market in recent years. Among all factors, the increasing number of company mergers and acquisitions has made the highest impact on the market. In March 2017, PUB awarded a contract to CH2M Hill Singapore. The contract will be aimed at the development and installation of 300,000 water meters. The water meters will be installed existing residential, commercial, and industrial premises by the end of 2023.This contract will have a positive impact on the growth of the overall market in the foreseeable future. Speak to Analyst: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/smart-meter-market-102666 Asia Pacific Dominates the Market; Focus on Sustainable Energy Management to Aid Growth The report analyzes the ongoing smart meter market trends across North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, and Europe. Among these regions, the market in Asia Pacific currently dominates the market. The focus on implementation of sustainable products by major companies will aid the growth of the regional market. As of 2018, the market in Asia Pacific was worth USD 12.23 billion and this value is projected to increase further in the coming years. The market in North America and Europe will witness considerable growth in the coming years, driven by the presence of several large scale companies in several countries across this region. List of the leading companies that are operating in the global smart meter market include: Siemens (Germany) ABB ( Switzerland ) ) Kamsturp ( Denmark ) ) Itron (US) Landis + Gyr ( Switzerland ) ) Badger Meter (US) Diehl (Germany) Secure Meter Limited(UK) Aclara Technologies (US) Sensus (US) BMETER (UK) Jabil(US) Honeywell (US) ZENNER (US) Industry Developments: October 2019: The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), announced a new joint venture labeled 'IntelliSmart'. Quick Buy Smart Meter Market Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/checkout-page/102666 Detailed Table of Content Introduction Research Scope Market Segmentation Research Methodology Definitions and Assumptions Executive Summary Market Dynamics Market Drivers Market Restraints Market Opportunities Key Insights Key Emerging Trends For Major Countries Latest Technological Advancement Regulatory Landscape Industry SWOT Analysis Porters Five Forces Analysis Global Smart Meter Market Analysis (USD Billion), Insights and Forecast, 2015-2026 Key Findings / Summary Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By Type Smart Electric Meter Smart Gas Meter Smart Water Meter Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By Technology Auto Meter Reading (AMR) Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By Application Residential Commercial Industrial Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By Region North America Latin America Europe Asia Pacific Middle East and Africa TOC Continued!!! Get your Customized Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/customization/smart-meter-market-102666 Have a Look at Related Research Insights: Smart Electric Meter Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Type (Advanced Metering Infrastructure and Auto Meter Reading), By Application (Residential, Industrial, Commercial, and Others), and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026. Smart Water Metering Market Size, Share and Global Trend By Technology (Automatic Meter Reading (AMR), Advanced Meter Infrastructure (AMI)), By Type (One Way, Two Way), By Application (Residential, Commercial, Utilities), and Geography Forecast Till 2026 Smart Gas Meter Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Type (Advanced Metering Infrastructure and Auto Meter Reading) By Application (Residential, Industrial, and Commercial), and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026 About Us: Fortune Business Insights offers expert corporate analysis and accurate data, helping organizations of all sizes make timely decisions. We tailor innovative solutions for our clients, assisting them address challenges distinct to their businesses. Our goal is to empower our clients with holistic market intelligence, giving a granular overview of the market they are operating in. Our reports contain a unique mix of tangible insights and qualitative analysis to help companies achieve sustainable growth. Our team of experienced analysts and consultants use industry-leading research tools and techniques to compile comprehensive market studies, interspersed with relevant data. At Fortune Business Insights, we aim at highlighting the most lucrative growth opportunities for our clients. We therefore offer recommendations, making it easier for them to navigate through technological and market-related changes. Our consulting services are designed to help organizations identify hidden opportunities and understand prevailing competitive challenges. Contact Us: Fortune Business Insights Pvt. Ltd. 308, Supreme Headquarters, Survey No. 36, Baner, Pune-Bangalore Highway, Pune - 411045, Maharashtra, India. Phone: US: +1-424-253-0390; UK: +44-2071-939123; APAC: +91-744-740-1245 Email: [email protected] Fortune Business Insights LinkedIn | Twitter | Blogs Read Press Release: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/press-release/smart-meter-market-9809 SOURCE Fortune Business Insights DALLAS, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Dallas-based Innovations in Nutrition + Wellness ("INW"), one of the country's largest research, development and manufacturing companies that serves the global health and wellness industry, announced today a $3.00 per hour pay increase for its hourly associates across the United States. Coined by the company as "Unity Pay," the increase commenced on March 21st in recognition of INW associates' courageous efforts in the fight against COVID-19 and will continue for the duration of the COVID-19 mobilization. Last week, INW also adjusted manufacturing at its Dallas, Texas plant to produce hand sanitizer, packaged in convenient single-use packets. The company will donate more than 600,000 of these packets to charities and first responders in the local communities where the company operates in Texas, Arizona, and California. "We have over 1,000 men and women at INW, and we are all extremely grateful for the brave sacrifices our local first responders and essential workers continue to make in the fight against COVID-19," said Gary Giles, INW Chief Executive. "As hand sanitizer remains a top need, the associates at INW, and our shareholders' charitable arm, The Rosewood Foundation, stand with our first responders and front-line workers. We are proud to manufacture such a key product in a unique delivery form that helps ensure their safety." For more information, visit inw-group.com. For images, please click here and here. About INW: Innovations in Nutrition + Wellness INW stands at the crossroads of change in the nutrition and wellness industry, blending science and innovation with safety and quality to set a new standard of leadership in nutritional and personal care manufacturing. Delivering operational excellence from product R&D to expert manufacturing and packaging to efficient delivery, the company provides unmatched quality in product and packaging innovation, from concept to launch. They offer diversity of product forms across powders, solid dose, liquids/gel packs, cosmetics, and more across its multi-site network. Visit inw-group.com to learn more. MEDIA CONTACT Gil Arvizu, Chief Commercial Officer [email protected] Direct (972) 490-3300 ext. 121 SOURCE INW: Innovations in Nutrition + Wellness Related Links https://www.inw-group.com One of my great CRM research interests has been investigating how things change, and that interest is not limited to CRM. There is similar evolution in fields that seem only remotely related like climate change, which Ive written about extensively. Generally, the change I find most interesting involves how disparate inventions seem to cluster with the help of innovators until the inventors reach critical masses of innovations that produce meaningful change in society. Often those critical masses seem to arrive just in time. In reality, the individual components might percolate in a society for years or even decades before coming together to produce what we now call a disruptive innovation. Hand in Glove Quick sidebar. We think of James Watt as the inventor of the modern steam engine, among many other things, but when he was tinkering and trying to develop his brainchild, he came up against a seemingly unbreachable obstacle. He needed to build cylinders and pistons to what then were considered high tolerances so they would fit together like a hand in glove. Looser-fitting components that werent perfectly round let valuable steam and energy escape without doing useful work, something you couldnt tolerate when building a steam engine. Manually making pistons and cylinders was expensive and time-consuming. Watt was stuck until he met John Wilkinson, who had been working on the related problem of making cannon. Cannon and cannon balls need the same precision fit if a projectile is going to be propelled far enough to make a difference in battle. Wilkinson solved his problem by inventing a precision boring machine for cannon, and others followed suit with more spherical cannon balls. Wilkinsons boring machine worked equally well for making steam engine cylinders. After the two men met in 1774, the rest, as they say, became history. Watts steam engine proved to be a big hit and gave important motive force to the Industrial Revolution. Fast-forward to CRM. Our industry and its evolving technology have been around in one form or another for about 25 years. Its worth remembering the first systems were client-server oriented, and that CRM has been a hotbed of innovation throughout this century. It invented or popularized such inventions as Software as a Service, mobility solutions, social networking-infused systems, and analytics-driven applications. Novel Virus So, all of this has been percolating in our society for decades, but now enter the novel coronavirus. People are sick, some dying, many champing at the bit to get back to work. Theres no cure, no vaccine, no therapeutics. Our healthcare system is so far bending but not breaking but it needs a break, as do the people who staff it. Any solution, even a temporary one, must have the effect of breaking the transmission chain and reducing the number of people an infected person might pass the virus on to, thus breaking the chain. Thats what therapeutics or vaccines would do. In their absence, thats what officials expect contact tracing to do. Contact tracing is a big job, like trying to drain an ocean with a teaspoon. It involves finding people who have been exposed to the virus and testing them to determine if they are infected or are carriers. If they are, public health officials can provide treatments and insist on quarantines to prevent the virus spread. Its a perfect fit for CRM. Perhaps its not quite as good as introducing a boring machine to cylinder production, but close. As luck and necessity would have it, thats one thing that Salesforce is doing to help stem the pandemic. Its doing many other things like donating money and providing analytics to help people understand infection rates and such. A D V E R T I S E M E N T However, in contact tracing, the companys core CRM technology is coming to the forefront. It has most of the big modules you might need to build a tracing app, a development facility for making customizations, and analytics to help identify patterns in the data. Other companies are doing important good works too, and I dont mean to suggest that Salesforce is alone in the effort. Some interesting news about contact tracing efforts springing up: A software system built for screening kiwis for bowel cancer is now powering New Zealands Covid-19 contact tracing efforts. Deloitte won a deal to plan and design the National Screening Solution (NSS) in mid 2018, and it was developed on a Salesforce platform. Massachusetts collaboration: Partners In Health will provide staff and contribute technical expertise in community tracing. The Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority (CCA) will stand up a virtual support center and maintain connectivity, while the Massachusetts Department of Health (DPH) will maintain data, guides and processes. Accenture, a leading global professional services company, and Salesforce, a global leader in CRM, are implementing support center capabilities for the CTCs tracing purposes. Rhode Island is jumping on board, and there likely will be more states getting involved soon. I have not made an exhaustive study, but having contact tracing will be as important as having adequate supplies of virus and antibody tests available in the next few weeks. In fact, they are inseparable. My Two Bits What does all this mean? Several things: First, you really dont know where the next good idea is going to come from in business or in healthcare, so its important to keep an open mind and explore. Remember James Watt. Next, I think CRM is taking on a next big thing aspect that we last saw succeed when social media hit the mainstream. Of course, not all next big things actually pan out. Just consider cryptocurrency, whose biggest contribution so far has been blockchain, but its still premature to say more. What else might CRM techniques and technologies do for society? Last, look at how interdisciplinary were becoming. Watt and Wilkinson provided a great early example but even more so today, we need people who can see across silos to combine and unite disparate knowledge and technologies in areas as diverse as computer science and medicine. This last point should not be overlooked, because it suggests that an era of moving fast and breaking things is being replaced by one that highly values significant degrees of specialization by people who can communicate and understand another viewpoint. It stands in stark contrast to some of what makes headlines today. If youre wondering about the next normal, consider all that. A D V E R T I S E M E N T The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ECT News Network. LUSAKA (Reuters) - The Zambia Chamber of Mines has urged the government to urgently engage with the sector and agree relief measures to address the issues facing mining companies in the midst of COVID-19. The chamber said in a statement it had submitted a broad three-phase economic plan to the government, to urgently manage the economic impact arising from the coronavirus pandemic. Since then all mining industry stakeholders have been hoping that some significant stimulus measures would be instituted, as is being seen across the world, it said. This proposal included immediate relief measures that could be followed by an emergency support package whose financing could be sought from the IMF and World Bank, the chamber said. This was with a view to providing some guidance to government on the critical areas to be urgently addressed, the statement said. The proposal also included the implementation of a fight back fiscal regime once the COVID-19 pandemic had abated and investment was needed to rebuild the economy, it said. The IMF last week forecast Zambias economy will contract by 3.5% in 2020, from growth of 1.5% in 2019, as coronavirus hits economies across the world. Zambias economic activity has also been hampered by widespread power shortages. Tax relief measures announced such as the suspension of import duties on concentrates and export duties on precious metals were a welcome first step but were yet to be introduced, it said. The industrys circumstances had become very desperate and the issues at Glencores Mopani Copper Mines were an example of this distress, the chamber said. Glencore will reverse its earlier decision to shutter its Zambia subsidiary Mopani if it reaches an agreement with the Zambian government, the company said on Monday. The Manipur police on Wednesday arrested 738 people from various districts of the state for violating the curfew and the ongoing lockdown imposed to combat COVID-19 pandemic, a senior officer said. A statewide curfew was declared in Manipur on March 24 after a woman had tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The nationwide lockdown was imposed from the next day. As many as 484 vehicles were seized for violating the curfew and the lockdown, according to a statement issued by Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) L Kailun. The arrested people were produced before the courts and a total fine of Rs 74,820 was imposed on them, it said. The state police appealed to the people to follow the guidelines issued by the government and stay indoors for their own safety. Manipur had reported two COVID-19 cases but both have recovered from the coronavirus infection and were discharged from the hospital. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) 5G marks a new era in human history. Its high speed, large capacity, and low latency will revolutionize communication, boost efficiency, and reduce costs across the board. 5G is the key to a more intelligent and better society. But we are still far from realizing the full potential of 5G. Network construction alone is not enough. It will take a comprehensively developed ecosystem with full computing and storage capabilities to fully capitalize on 5G. The power of 5G, artificial intelligence, and big data will remain untapped until we meet these basic requirements. Internet and high-speed networks suffice to meet the needs of today, but the world of tomorrow will require a network with mobile connectivity, intelligent perception, big data, and intelligent learning. Powerful computing and storage are vital components in creating this new network. Huawei has established itself in the communications industry as one of the worlds leading telecom device and solution providers. It is also one of the worlds largest software companies. Huawei is combining both of these strengths to create the worlds most powerful computing ecosystem. Huawei webcasted the Huawei Developer Conference 2020 (Cloud) in Shenzhen from March 2728, 2020, showcasing its rapidly growing computing ecosystem and its strategy as a global leader of ICT enterprises. AI will transform the future Huawei looks to build on its strong presence across the communications industry with AI development. The powerful computing, storage, and communications of Huawei require an anchor point to take services and applications further. Pervasive AI is that anchor point. AI can be built into systems, chips, and even the application layer. It can also be deployed into the bottom layer to expand the boundaries of performance even further. AI will become integral to every facet of society. It is already used for smart city projects, the Industrial Internet, and smart applications for manufacturing, electric power, finance, healthcare, logistics, agriculture, and housing. All data analysis and learning that originally required human oversight can now be accomplished through the power of AI. AI offers unlimited power to improve technology. Huawei is laying the groundwork today for the AI of tomorrow. The foundation it is setting will support both AI growth and Huaweis transformation into a leader of the AI industry. AI will Improve computer vision Continuous innovation drives technology forward. Computing ecosystems exemplify this idea. Innovative AI requires an innovative mindset. Dr. Tian Qi, the chief scientist of computer vision at Huawei, unveiled the Huawei Computer Vision Plan at HDC.Cloud. Huawei will continue extensive investment in basic research and tackle three fundamental obstacles which stand in the way of efficient data mining, visual recognition model designing, and data representation and storage. Overcoming these obstacles will drive general intelligence, Dr. Tian said. The Vision Plan incorporates six sub-plans: Data Iceberg: A small amount of annotated data will tap the potential of mass unannotated data and support model training in small sample scenarios. Data Magic Cube: Multi-modal quantification, alignment, and fusion strategies will enhance the learning capability of models in practical scenarios. Model High Touching: Large models on the cloud will allow exploration of the performance limits of various vision tasks. Mode Slimming: Efficient computing models on the device side will help various chips complete complex inference. Generic Vision: Vision pre-training tasks will build generalized vision models. V-R Integration: Direct computer vision will create real artificial intelligence. Dr. Tian extended Huaweis invitation to global AI researchers to join the Vision Plan for collaborative innovation and exploration of the future. The powerful computing platform of Huawei Atlas AI will further accelerate the Vision Plan. Atlas research results will be fully implemented on the AI computing framework of Huaweis all-scenario MindSpore and open to every AI developer in the industry. The Vision Plan has a universal appeal to AI developers because it creates practical value with the most cutting-edge technology in the industry. The Vision Plan represents an important breakthrough for Huawei AI. 5G, smart transportation, and smart cities will all require computer vision. The total number of cameras in China is expected to exceed 3 billion by 2030. Computer vision will be the only way to analyze their collected data. AI is integral to this new technology and a future where reactions and services are instinctive to machines. Open source software will advance the AI industry Computer vision is not Huaweis only objective in the AI industry. An equally important goal is to use open source suites to promote AI software and hardware. Dr. Chen Lei is the chief scientist of Huawei MindSpore and an IEEE Fellow. He recently announced that the AI computing framework of Huaweis all-scenario MindSpore will go open source on Gitee. This is a key component of Huaweis global plan for an open source community to create a thriving ecosystem for AI software and hardware. MindSpore natively adapts to each scenario (including device, edge, and cloud scenarios) and supports collaboration on demand. It enables AI Algorithm As Code for user-friendly development to significantly reduce model development time and thresholds. MindSpore includes cutting-edge technologies and co-optimization with Huawei Ascends AI processors to streamline run-time and computing performance. MindSpore also supports other processors like GPU and CPU. HUAWEI CLOUD has released ModelArts Pro for industry AI developers. It is the industrys first development suite for enterprise-grade AI applications. ModelArts Pro is positioned as an AI productivity tool for enterprises on the cloud and innovatively creates practical benefits from industry AI. It provides AI application developers with creative freedom by combining the expertise of the leading authorities on algorithms and the industry into corresponding suites and workflows. This unique approach boosts overall AI development efficiency and implementation. Huawei has implemented the Atlas series accelerator module, card, edge station, and server powered by Huawei Ascend AI processors through widespread collaboration in dozens of industries. These industries include smart transportation, power, finance, cities, and manufacturing. The Atlas series enriches the Huawei AI ecosystem and supports developers in customizing operators. Now Huawei is building a powerful computing ecosystem. This new ecosystem offers an efficiently comprehensive system for architecture, chips, storage, development suites, and applications. This platform will enable Huawei and its partners to leverage knowledge across industries and society to form a powerful ecosystem. To learn more about Atlas, please click here. BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) Governors in 17 states have committed to regional coordination to reopen their economies during the coronavirus outbreak but none are in the South, where leaders are going it alone, just as they did in imposing restrictions. As questions about when and how to ease virus-control measures becomes increasingly politically charged, governors in the Deep South have resisted any appearance of synchronization, instead driving home their message that each state must make its own decision. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp plans to have many of his states businesses up and running again as soon as Friday. Fellow Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced that most businesses will begin resuming operations as soon as next week. Some other Republican leaders were taking smaller steps, like reopening their beaches. In the virus hot spot of Louisiana, Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards was also taking a more cautious approach, announcing hell first allow some non-emergency medical procedures to resume next week. But no one wants to coordinate. Edwards, for one, notes neighboring states have less expansive outbreaks. Even when several Republican governors held phone calls to talk about reopening plans, they insisted they weren't working in concert and left out their Democratic counterparts in the region. "Were trying to take, where we can, our destiny into our own hands, said Kemp. He's been one of the regions most aggressive so far, allowing gyms, bowling alleys, tattoo parlors and other businesses to reopen Friday, if owners follow social-distancing and hygiene requirements. Restaurants can bring back dine-in service and movie theaters can reopen by Monday. Such moves runs counter to the advice of many experts and have left many businesses wary. The lack of regional coordination also raises concerns that a loosening in one state especially with insufficient testing could lead to a spike in cases in another. But agreement would be difficult in a region with such disparate approaches. Story continues The strategy stands in stark contrast to coordination elsewhere. California, Oregon and Washington have agreed to synchronize how they will begin lifting their shelter-in-place restrictions. Seven states in the Northeast have done the same as have seven governors in the Midwest. In the latter two regions, governors from both parties are involved. In the South, it's ad hoc: Kemp said hes talked to other Southern governors, but he didnt coordinate with any of them, even though urban areas in Georgia lap over borders with several. Edwards and Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves have also had conversations because of the travel and business shared between New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. But Edwards said he did not believe further coordination was necessary. I think if you look at those areas where this is happening, you have very similar situations in terms of the amount of COVID that they have in those various states and they have a much greater degree of inter-connectedness in terms of their economies, he said. Beyond easing the medical restrictions, Edwards says he's waiting to see if Louisiana's improving trajectory fewer hospitalizations, fewer people on ventilators remains on course, before deciding what steps he'll take when his stay-at-home order expires April 30. Louisiana still has more cases and far more deaths than any other state in the region. For most people, the highly contagious coronavirus causes symptoms such as high fever and a dry cough. But some people, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, become much sicker and even die. Elsewhere in the South, decision-making is varied. Even as neighboring Georgia pushed to reopen, Republican Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey decided to keep a stay-home order in place through the end of the month. Meanwhile, Arkansas' Republican governor, Asa Hutchinson, never issued such a mandate, though hes imposed other restrictions. Reeves in Mississippi and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, meanwhile, have allowed beaches to reopen. Reeves also has said that nonessential businesses can start offering curbside pickup or delivery. In South Carolina, barricades came off public boat ramps Friday. Closed retailers, like department stores and specialty shops, were next, but only, Republican Gov. Henry McMaster insisted, if strict social distancing was followed. He let local governments decide whether to reopen beaches. Most declined, for now. Still, it wasnt clear if the state's COVID-19 cases had peaked yet, since state health data shows the number of coronavirus tests have fallen. Georgia, too, is seeing a testing decline. Experts say that's the opposite of what's needed as restrictions ease. The leader of South Carolinas teaching hospital warned the state also needed robust tracing of the people who have had contact with the sick. We need to have in place the pieces to keep a second wave from becoming crippling, said Dr. David Cole, president of the Medical University of South Carolina. The outbreak has hit different parts of the country in different ways and the response has been just as varied so there isn't one playbook, said Dr. Richard Oberhelman, an infectious disease specialist at Tulane Universitys School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans. Coordination makes sense, but the flip side is different states are in different parts of the epidemic, Oberhelman said, adding that communication remained key. Some fear that if Southern states get too far out ahead of the rest of the country, they could attract visitors and possibly open the door to more infections. Myrtle Beach has suffered, but if it starts to ease restrictions on hotels and short-term rentals, it could see an influx of visitors looking for warm weather far from hot spots. Without extensive testing, that could spell disaster, infectious control nurse Debbie Borst told a meeting of the Myrtle Beach City Council. The public hears one thing, but they dont realize we dont have testing available like other cities and states, so Im worried that they have a false sense of security concerning our numbers, Borst said. ___ Collins reported from Columbia, South Carolina. Associated Press writers Jeff Amy in Atlanta; Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas; and Emily Wagster Pettus in Jackson, Mississippi, contributed to this report. ___ Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak The number of coronavirus cases in the country nears 20,000. According to the Ministry of Health, the total number of positive coronavirus cases in the country jumped to 19,984 on Wednesday. The figure includes 3870 patients who have been cured or discharged and 640 deaths. Gujarat overtook Delhi as the state with the second-highest number of Covid-19 cases on Wednesday. Delhi and Gujarat have over 2000 coronavirus cases while in Maharashtra, the number of Covid-19 patients has crossed the 5000-mark. 4 Indian states have more than 1000 coronavirus cases, these include Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. Here are the key developments: 1. Union home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday appreciated doctors for their contribution in Indias fight against the coronavirus pandemic and assured them of their safety. 2. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday invited suggestions from the public on the economic stimulus required to uplift the micro, small & medium businesses (MSME) sector which is hard hit by the Covid-19 crisis. 3. An employee in the civil aviation ministry has tested positive for the coronavirus disease, in the first confirmed case of the infection in a central government ministry. 4. India is readying separate rapid response teams for dispatching to friendly neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan in the spirit of its commitment to help them deal with the coronavirus pandemic, official sources said. 5. With 2178 total coronavirus cases, Gujarat now has the second-highest number of Covid-19 patients after Maharashtra. Delhi has 2156 coronavirus cases. 6. In a major relief to all industrial and commercial institutions during Covid-19 lockdown, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to exempt interest on the amount payable by these establishments under all heads from March 22 till June 30, 2020. 7. Kerala reported 19 cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) on Tuesday, highest in two weeks, after a brief gap, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said. 8. After the Goa government declared the state to be Covid-19 free, the administration will now test an additional 5,000 people who reported symptoms of influenza-like illnesses (ILI) during the door-to-door survey that was conducted earlier this month. 9. Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Tuesday launched a pilot project for people to order essential goods either by calling over the phone or using WhatsApp during the lockdown put in place to break the chain of coronavirus infections. 10. The government on Wednesday issued an advisory for media professionals working in the print and electronic sector of the industry. Media personnel have been advised to take health and related precautions while performing their duties during the coronavirus pandemic. Many peoples personal information is readily accessible to hackers, amassed from dozens of data breaches over the past few years. Last month, Experian, the credit reporting agency, found a fresh batch of stolen data for three million people, containing all the pieces of personal information that a scammer would need to file for their stimulus checks. The coronavirus has made it even easier for fraudsters to get more information. Many are bombarding Americans with emails and phone calls that use the uncertainty around the virus to distribute malware and get people to divulge their bank information and other data, which can then be used to defraud the same people. Google said it intercepted 18 million such emails last week. Now criminals are deploying those troves of information to get their hands on the checks that the federal government is sending to needy Americans. Over the last month, more than 22 million people have filed for unemployment benefits. Stimulus funds are separately expected to go out to around 150 million people. While the Treasury Department electronically deposited the money for around 80 million people who have bank accounts on file with the government, the I.R.S. created an online portal for the 70 million or so other recipients who did not have that information on file. The portal allows people to enter a new bank account address for the government to send them their money. But it requires only a few pieces of data for verification: a Social Security number, an address, a phone number and a date of birth. Security experts said that the I.R.S. had opened up the door to fraud by requiring so little data to claim the money. The stimulus site is a little bit like ringing the dinner bell for hackers, said Brian Stack, the vice president for dark web intelligence at Experian. The I.R.S. did not respond to request for comment. On forums on the darknet, where criminals gather to buy and sell identity information and discuss tactics, fraudsters have openly discussed the opportunities presented by the stimulus funds and unemployment benefits. Phuket Immigration confirms automatic visa extension applies to all visa types PHUKET: The automatic visa extension granted by the Immigration Bureau does apply to all visa types, not just short-term tourist visas, Phuket Immigration Deputy Chief Col Nareuwat Putthawiro confirmed to The Phuket News today (Apr 22). COVID-19Coronavirusimmigration By The Phuket News Wednesday 22 April 2020, 04:26PM The notice posted by the PR Department today (Apr 22). Image: PR Department / Facebook The Cabinet approved the second automatic visa extension to all types until July 31 yesterday. (See story here.) While the second extension has yet to be publicly posted on the main Immigration Bureau website (see here), the PR Department of Thailand today posted the news in an announcement that read: The Cabinet, during its meeting on 21 April 2020, approved the draft notification of the Ministry of Interior on the second automatic visa extension for foreigners to stay temporarily in Thailand. The objective is to avoid mass gatherings, as a large number of foreigners are likely to travel to meet immigration officials for visa extensions, and this may lead to a risk of COVID-19 infection. The Ministry of Interior on 7 April 2020 issued a notification granting an automatic visa extension until 30 April 2020 for foreign visitors whose visas expired as from 26 March 2020, in an effort to combat the COVID-19 outbreak. According to the draft notification approved by the Cabinet on 21 April 2020, the period of time permitted to stay will be extended from 1 May 2020 to 31 July 2020. This means that foreigners whose visas had expired as from 26 March 2020 will be permitted to stay until 31 July 2020 without having to apply for an extension, the announcement added. (See here.) A briefer post on the PR Departments main Facebook page noted: - Automatic visa extension - Exemption from 90-day reporting - Exemption from visa extension fee - No need to submit any documents The Immigration Bureau will process all the above steps for you. For more information please contact the Immigration Bureaus call center at 1178, the announcement said. Phuket Immigration Deputy Chief Col Nareuwat told The Phuket News that while his office has yet to receive an official order from the Immigration Bureau headquarters in Bangkok confirming the second automatic visa extension, it is expected to be same the first automatic extension to all visa types issued on Apr 7, granting all visa types that had not expired before Mar 26 free extensions until Apr 30. (See here.) Col Nareuwat said that he was aware of the Cabinets approval granted yesterday, but noted that technically his office still has to receive the official order before they can enforce it. However, he did confirm the automatic visa extension does apply to all visa types. Asked specifically whether the extension apply to one-year visas, he said, Yes, the extension applies to all visa types. Attack on CRPF jawans in Jammu and Kashmir: One martyred, four injured in terror attack No intelligence or operational failure, nearly 30 Naxals killed in Bijapur: CRPF Chief Kuldiep Singh CRPF donates 1 lakh face masks to AIIMS India oi-Briti Roy Barman New Delhi, Apr 22: Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) donated one lakh three-ply surgical face masks for the healthcare workers of AIIMS, working in the frontline for the management of COVID-19 patients. India is facing shortage with the number of PPEs and face masks for its doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers who are battling the war against the fatal coronavirus from the very forefront. Coronavirus can remain upto 24 hours on cardboard, 7 days on face masks States have been reported almost every day with their healthcare workers are getting affected by the virus. Several organisations and individuals are seen to donate PPEs and face masks to the health ministry. Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) donated 1 lakh 3-ply face surgical face masks for the healthcare workers of AIIMS, working in frontline for the management of COVID-19 patients. pic.twitter.com/kRliMh3SKy ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020 Meanwhile, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) handed over 1,000 PPEs and 1,000 triple-layered masks made by SS Battalion, Saboli, Delhi-Haryana border, to officers of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) Metro Railway unit today. Inmates of Amphalla Jail in Jammu are stitching masks for frontline workers. Saleem Ahmad Beigh, Jail Superintendent says, "more than 600 masks are stitched daily. In the last one month, we made & supplied 15,000 to 20,000 masks". According to the ministry's internal estimates, around 4.66 lakh PPE have been dispatched to states till 6 April. These items are dispatched based on the caseload in each state. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, April 22, 2020, 15:38 [IST] In the draft regulation that aims to maintain road traffic order and safety, the ministry says each driving license will have 12 points for 12 months, in line with a system applied by several countries to curb traffic violations. Every new year, a license gets refreshed with the 12 points. The points will be deducted based on the violation committed. For instance, six points will be deducted for running a red light and five points for lane encroachment. Those who lose all 12 points will have their driver licenses confiscated, following which they would have to pass an exam to get new ones. But a new one can be obtained only six months after the confiscated license has expired. "The point is not shown on the driving license, but saved in a database, and whenever a point is deducted, the system will be updated. Traffic police officers can check to see how many points a driver has left on the system," said Colonel Do Thanh Binh, deputy head of the ministry's Traffic Police Department. In case the police file a record to impose a fine on the violator, they will also have to record how many points that driver has lost. "A record that only has fines but not corresponding deducted points will be considered invalid. This will help avoid situations in which drivers bribe police to save their points from being deducted," said Binh. The draft law on road traffic order and safety has been submitted to the government for consideration. Once approved by the government, it will go to the National Assembly that will vote to make it an official law. In an earlier system launched in 2003, authorities began marking the number of traffic violations by making perforations directly on the driving license. Any driver having two perforations must pass an exam on road traffic laws to get a new license with the same expiration date. Those with three perforations will lose their driving license and must start the process from the beginning, including the exam and a driving test. However, this regulation was abolished after four years, with the ministry finding it ineffective. Decongestion of overcrowded women wards, improving healthcare facilities and introducing provisions of maintaining social distancing at jails are among the recommendations made by the NCW to states in view of the COVID-19 outbreak. In an advisory issued on Wednesday, the National Commission for Women (NCW) made recommendations to all states' directors general (DGs) and inspectors general (IGs) of prisons, highlighting how the current COVID-19 situation demands "special attention" to women wards in jails and correctional homes in the country. The NCW sought immediate action for decongesting overcrowded women wards , providing them beds with enough moving space or in cases where raised platforms are given in close vicinity to maintain social distancing. "Provisions needed for maintenance of cleanliness in women wards should be provided forthwith, which should include bedsheets, pillow covers, a pair of clean clothes, sanitary napkins, undergarments, basic cosmetics, soap in enough quantity, detergent for washing clothes," the NCW said in the advisory. Sanitisation of women wards at reasonable intervals in collaboration with local civic authorities should be undertaken and it should be ensured that the entire premises is kept clean and hygienic with no overflowing or choking of sewers and drainage, it said. "Adequate number of toilets with running flush, bathrooms and wash basins should be provided with arrangements for constant supply of water. Also, all women inmates should be provided with masks, gloves and hand sanitiser," the advisory stated. It further said the inmates should be encouraged to wash their hands at regular intervals and avoid touching their faces. "Since the number of undertrials women prisoners, languishing for a long period, is very significant, one way to decongest a women ward is to ensure prompt legal action to get them released on bail," it said. The healthcare services in the prisons, particularly during the lockdown period, should be augmented, with provisions for medical check-up and arranging services of specialists like psychologists, psychiatrists, gynaecologists, on visit basis in the prison itself, the NCW said. "Prison authorities should also arrange and encourage video conferencing of prisoners with their family members as it is essential for their psychological and mental wellbeing and strength of their family members," it said. The commission also requested that during this tough time, prison authorities should adopt a therapeutic approach and treat the women inmates with compassion. It suggested to intimate various measures taken by state prison authorities and respective prison superintendents on these recommendations, which is essential to prevent the spread of coronavirus in jails. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Professor William Ampofo, Head of Virology Department, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), explaining the procedures involved in testing samples for COVID-19 at a media briefing in Accra on Wednesday, indicated that each individual's samples were grouped into four pools in the laboratory. He said they often took four specimen or samples- throat swab, nasal swab, sputum and nasal lavage- from each person for testing, in order to enhance the accuracy of the test result. For instance, he said, the 120 persons who had fully recovered would have 480 sample tests because each person would have been tested four times. He said the data of the number of re-test was insignificant because a separate database is created for it. In that regard the figures the Ghana Health Service (GHS) reported were the number of individuals who had been tested, and excluded the data of multiple testing, therefore the number of samples was approximately equal to the number of tests reported. Prof. Ampofo said there had been more than 30,000 samples tested since the President addressed the nation on Sunday, April 19, which at that time stood at 68,591. He said each sample for COVID-19 was accompanied by a case investigation form, which detailed the geographic location of the person and whether he/she had travelled outside or not. Pro. Ampofo, therefore, stated that there was no discordance in the data the GHS reported. He however, entreated the GHS to use bar graphs to clearly explain the values, rather than using line graphs. Prof. Ampofo said currently, the laboratories conducting test for COVID-19 is using four test kits machines that were approved by the World Health Organization, African Centre for Disease Control and West African Health Organization. He said, those test kits were up to international standard, which ensured the testing procedures were quality and verifiable. He said the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) was now assessing and evaluating a Rapid Diagnostic Test to ensure the country could use it for COVID-19 testing and hope the process would be over soon. Currently, Ghana is using research laboratories at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Kumasi Collaborative Centre for Research, Public Health Laboratory at Korle-Bu and Council for Scientific and Industrial Research for conducting COVID-19 sample test. All the government's measures and interventions are intended to achieve five strategic objectives: Limit and stop the importation of the virus, detect and contain the spread of the virus, enhance contact tracing and testing of the virus, care for the sick, minimizing the impact on economic and social lives and boosting domestic capability and deepen our self-reliance. ---GNA Jill Hendrix, owner of Fiction Addiction in Greenville, S.C., took the opportunity of having the coronavirus crisis shut down retailing across the state to move her bookstore into a storefront in the same mall. "The new space is smaller, at 1,000 sq.-ft. instead of 2,000, but better" said Hendrix, who first opened the bookstore in 2001. The size of the new store is important: under South Carolina's guidelines for re-opening retail stores after shutting down to limit the spread of the coronavirus, the number of shoppers allowed into a store at a single time is determined by the square-footage. Hendrix said they determined their number was four. April 21 was the first day Fiction Addictions re-opened. "We had a handful of customers, mostly people just curious to see the new store, said Lee Hendrix, Jill's husband, who worked the register. "Some were wearing masks, others were not. I chose not to," he said. He added that the store was following social distancing guidelines and he diligently disinfected all hard surfaces, such as the store's door handle, countertop, and credit card reader, after each customer. "We are doing everything we can to maintain the health of our customers and ourselves," said Lee. The store also offers curbside pickup. "We found that the store's streetfront display windows are a good showcase for titles and sold books and puzzles right out of the window," added Lee. Jill Hendrix said that her decision to re-open the store was based on the confidence that she and her husband were "relatively young and healthy" she is 46 years old and her husband is 60 and the assumption that "everyone would get [the coronavirus] eventually." She added, her concern was "less for my own health, than the health of the store." For the foreseeable future, Hendrix and her husband are the only two people who will be working in the store. "We have two-part timers who are working from home, doing receiving and updating the website, and I had another high-school student helping out, who won't be returning to work," said Hendrix. "We were able to get $10,900 from the Payroll Protection Program, which will help, but it is unclear if we can use that on the rent on our new space, as we have the same landlord and it is an extension of our previous lease." South Carolina is a state where the regulations vary county by county and, as in many areas of the country, appear to be fungible. It, along with Georgia and Tennessee, are allowing some businesses, including bookstores, to re-open. Other states, like Texas, are loosening restrictions and will begin once again allowing curbside pick up. Of course, the situation remains fluid. For her part, Hendrix said she is excited to show off her new store to customers, but for now, she's satisfied just to restart operations. "I put in orders for new books from the Big Five [publishers], so that's a start and we have started using Edelweiss 360 [Above the Treeline's newsletter service] to promote new titles." But, she added, her business was driven in a large part by offering events and she expects to take a huge financial hit this year. Virtual event programming may help, but will not bring in the same number of customers. Yesterday Fiction Addiction promoted a virtual event with Lee Smith, organized by SIBA, which attracted 11 customers. Four bought tickets, which included the purchase of a book, and seven more joined who were subscribers to Fiction Addiction's Patreon program, which asks for a donation of $12 a month to attend a single online event or workshop. "All along I said I was going to stay open as long as the government would let me and I would re-open as soon as they would let me," said Hendrix. "I know a lot of people who are staying at home because of their circumstances maybe they have children who are out of school or a family member to take care of or they feel they just safer at home. I understand and respect that. Everyone has to make their own decisions." San Antonio police have arrested a man they suspect was involved in multiple ATM thefts across the city. Frank Hernandez, 33, was arrested Wednesday on charges of theft from an ATM. Police obtained surveillance footage from Credit Human, a bank branch where one of the attempted thefts took place, on Feb. 23, according to an arrest affidavit. FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox In the footage, though Hernandezs face is partially covered, police were later able to identify him because of his distinct facial features, specifically his left eye and a distinct nose profile, the affidavit said. Hernandez has a lazy left eye, making it appear larger than the other, which police were able to match to footage of Hernandez at other crime scenes, the affidavit said. On March 27, Castle Hills police also recovered a gray Chevy Tahoe with a black hood from the scene of a jewelry store burglary. Fingerprints inside the vehicle were also later matched to Hernandez, according to the affidavit. When SAPD officers arrested Hernandez, he was also charged with possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, felony in possession of a firearm and tampering with a government document with intent to defraud. Additional charges are expected. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has a lot of people mad at him. On one side of a razor-thin line are those who say its too to early to bring the state back to life with our coronavirus cases still climbing. The other side is crying as families cannot get by on unemployment benefits, roughly $275 a week in Tennessee. Ive got loads of emails that argue both sides well. In Hamilton County, weve had 124 cases and 13 deaths in the last three months. That is out of roughly 380,000 people and, comparatively, weve had 325,000 Tennesseans apply for unemployment benefits in the last four weeks. There is absolutely no doubt COVID-19, the cause of another 1,500 deaths in the United States on Monday, has left deep scars in many more millions. I cant think of one soul who hasnt been wounded in some fashion during this pandemic. Johns Hopkins data shows we have 810,000 confirmed cases and that of the 43,000 who have died in our nation, over a third are from New York. Please remember, over 40 percent of New Yorkers are on Medicaid. Next Friday (May 1) Tennessee will be among the first states to lift the veil on the virus but it will be in a new world the likes of which none of us have ever seen. Georgia, with 4 million more citizens than Tennessee, will get going on Monday and by then youll see the two adjoining states will have moved quickly to restore elective surgeries at our biggest hospitals because, of all our industries, the hospitals have been the hardest hit. The money for our trauma centers that was included in the small business bill approved yesterday couldnt come at a better time. Erlangers patient census is bobbling between 30-to-40 percent, this at the same Level One trauma center that was 90-to-100 full every month before the virus came to town. Memorial and Parkridge also have empty floors that in late February were full. But the greatest damage has resulted in the empty pockets of our working poor, who cannot work from home and who do not have computers. Our middle-class neighbors are decimated and our elderly, hanging on by a thread already, need our nations stimulus most of all. The nations economy will recover with neither a bang nor a gallop. People back to work will resume being paid but there are urgent needs for personal income in the first months before the manufacturing and retail and every other facet will enjoy the ripples when they finally arrive. There are thousands of jobs available and competition for the same workers is already fierce. If youll go the states Department of Labor website, it is amazing how many companies seeking help include the words, Right now! Our Volkswagen assembly plant is offering new hires the highest starting wages in their history. Companies like Amazon, Home Depot, Walmart and Food City will interview applicants immediately. The jobs are there. Right now! But the biggest challenge to every employee of every business is to stay healthy. A coronavirus outbreak can best be avoided by four things a face mask, soap-and-hot water at least four times a day on hands and face, and in many instances, protective gloves. And the fourth? Common sense. The experts say to keep your distance, avoid contact with others, do not share soda pop with a co-worker, and know a good defense will top the COVID-19s best try six out of seven days and thats your off day. Later this week Hamilton County will learn what many area employers, our doctors offices and hospitals, and our other places where we travel have done to implement the strategies to flatten the curve of the virus. Youll see this can be safely done and in a way that will hopefully inspire confidence in those still hesitant. The first efforts will be fair yet rigid, but as the community learns more and responds positively, it is hoped some safeguards can be relaxed after positive results. * * * HEALTHY PEOPLE HAVE THE BEST CHANCE Its a no-brainer but a rash of medical journals confirm the best thing for people to do in a pandemic is to be as healthy as possibly. Almost all who have died in Tennessee had serious underlying conditions and, while more African Americans may have died in some places, the fatalities in Tennessee have been over 60 percent white and 34 percent black. It is known that 40 percent more African Americans have more blood pressure problems than whites on morbidity tables, but it has been proven in Tennessee the virus has no regard for who is most susceptible by race. The majority of cases have been among the elderly. * * * WHEN SHOULD WE VENTURE OUT? A consensus among Chattanoogas medical community, this from only six or seven physicians with coronavirus knowledge I have spoken to in the last 48 hours, is unanimous in the belief Governor Bill Lees solution to open the state is valid. Weve got to try for every reason, said one, wishing to remain anonymous. Weve been meeting almost non-stop to implement hospital procedures, and protocols, that we believe will be representative of Erlanger, Memorial and Parkridge and their dedication to go over and beyond in safeguarding every patient, not just in-patient, but in safely returning private patients to visit their specialized physicians. You are going to see a real uptick in tele-medicine, where doctors can conduct virtual office visits, consult on lab results, and prescribe medicines that do not require an actual office visit. The vast majority of doctors prefer a face-to-face, or mask-to-mask, relationship with a patient but in monitoring a patients individual needs, this will be quicker, eliminate the time factor for a patient, and heighten availability. * * * CHATTANOOGA MAYOR ANDY BERKE BOLTS Doctors at Erlanger and Memorial expressed disappointment on Tuesday at Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke who had announced he would leave Chattanooga locked down indefinitely after Governor Bill Lee said he would open the state on May 1 and Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger, also a Republican, almost immediately agreed. Berke, a Democrat, said he would demand the city be locked down indefinitely. The medical professionals were irked, hoping Berke would fall in line with state and county and community. We need to be in this together, united. On March 30, the county's Coppinger and the citys Berke announced a star-studded coronavirus task force that has since worked wonders, as reflected in Chattanoogas virus numbers compared to the larger three metro areas in the state. Led by the very able Rae Bond, the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Coronavirus Task Force is flush with some of the top medical minds in Chattanooga: Dr. Kelly Arnold founder and clinical director, Clinica Medicos; Becky Barnes Hamilton County Health Department administrator; Dr. Matt Gibson president and CEO, Siskin Hospital for Physical Rehabilitation; Dr. Timothy Grant chief medical officer, Parkridge Health System; Dr. Martina Suttles Harris director of Nursing Program, Chattanooga State Community College; Dr. Gregory Heath Guerry Professor of Public Health, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga; Dr. Keith Helton CEO, One to One Health; Dr. William Jackson president and CEO, Erlanger Health System; Dr. Robert Magill chief of staff, Parkridge Health System; Angel Moore Esq. vice president of Population Health and CEO, Erlanger Community Health Center; Tom Ozburn president and CEO, Parkridge Health System; Janelle Reilly CEO, CHI Memorial Hospital; Dr. Colleen Schmitt president, Galen Medical Group; Dr. James Sizemore chief of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, UTCOM Chattanooga and medical director, Infection Prevention, Erlanger Health System; and Dr. Christopher Young - vice chief of staff, Erlanger Health System. Strangely and sadly, on April 16, Berke bolted to join the Tennessee Major Metros Economic Restart Task Force, along with the other "Big Four" city mayors - Nashville Mayor John Cooper (Democrat,) Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland (Democrat), and Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon (Democrat). All four have defied Governor Lees May 1 opening and say theyll extend the largest metropolitan cities opening indefinitely. Berke named four Chattanoogans to the Big Four Task Force: Philip Byrum, Monen Family Restaurant Group; Wade Hinton, Unum; Dr. Kathleen Hunt, Children's Hospital at Erlanger; and, Mitch Patel, Vision Hospitality Group. Make your own conclusions. But, once more, what is best for all the people? royexum@aol.com Last updated Friday, April 24 at 3:10 p.m. ET After the $349 billion allocated to small-business Covid-19-relief loans lasted all of two weeks, the program is getting an additional $320 billion in funding. The House approved the bill Thursday, two days after the Senate. President Trump signed the bill Friday. The $320 billion will go to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which provides government-guaranteed loans to small businesses. If, after eight weeks, the businesses show that they used at least 75 percent of the loan for payroll, the loan can be forgiven. The new relief package guarantees that at least $30 billion of the new funds will be designated for community banks so that they don't have to compete with larger institutions. Because lenders now have a backlog of applications, this money is expected to go quickly too. Congress also allocated $60 billion for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. That money is supposed to be used for working capital. Businesses were able to ask for the first $10,000 of any loan as an advance, which would not have to be paid back if the loan was denied. Because of the demand for the loans, that advance quickly dropped to a maximum of $1,000 per employee. The SBA received loan requests worth more than $400 billion through the program, which had only $10 billion in funding initially, according to Ami Kassar, the founder and CEO of MultiFunding, a small-business loan adviser in Pennsylvania. The PPP has come under intense criticism, first for the chaotic nature of the rollout, and more recently because many struggling small businesses have been unable to get funding. Loans first became available to most small businesses on April 3, but many large banks were unprepared to accept applications when the program went live. Banks that did accept applications quickly found themselves overwhelmed and said they would only work with existing customers--often those who already had loans with the banks. Some frustrated small-business owners found loans through community banks. It wasn't until April 10 that independent contractors and other self-employed people were able to apply for the loans, and the Treasury Department didn't release guidance on how their payroll should be calculated until April 14. By April 16, all the money was spoken for--while precious few business owners had actually seen anything in their bank accounts. Once signed into law, the relief package will add a total of $484 billion in funding, including $75 billion for hospitals and $25 billion for expanded testing. Added to 10 years of war, the Covid-19 emergency "has buried us at the bottom of a deep pit". In a context of "abandonment and uncertainty" the risen Christ alleviates "loneliness and darkness". Fear of the virus has "silenced the weapons" that peace talks and world powers have been unable to. In dark times, the rediscovery of faith and the new role of society and social media. Damascus (AsiaNews) - The coronavirus emergency in the middle of Lent "buried us at the bottom of a deep pit" as if "ten years of war." had not already been enough; in this context of "abandonment and profound uncertainty", the light of Christ "rises to alleviate our solitude and the darkness of this long and endless night of hatred and violence". This is how Maronite Archbishop of Damascus Samir Nassar describes the current situation of his church and nation to AsiaNews, recounting the atmosphere of Easter in a country marked by conflicts, extremist violence, sanctions by the United States and Europe and the Covid-19 pandemic. To counter the epidemic, the government ordered a curfew from 6 p.m. to the same time in the morning; on Fridays and Saturdays it comes into effect at noon until 6 the next morning. The only activities open are pharmacies, bakeries, food shops and taxis for city transport. Now that public transport has been interrupted, there are no means of travel between cities and regions, which remain isolated from each other. To date, the official toll is 25 infections and two victims, but the number of tests carried out remains low. "A light of peace - continues the Archbishop of Damascus - illuminates our dark cave. The coronavirus has silenced weapons and violence. A rare calm reigns on all fronts, a calm that all peace talks and world powers have failed to find." This is joined by "a rediscovery of our faith" away from "closed churches and functions celebrated in front of empty altars", where "everyone examines their personal faith and discovers their own spirituality without intermediation". In this context, "a new way to witness the faith emerges". At this stage, says the prelate, we witnessed "a rediscovery of family life, a light that restores its lost values to the domestic Church" in a modern context that exalted self-centeredness, solitude and supremacy of the individual. The emergency has propelled " social communication and social networks" to find a new role, made of bonds kept alive even if at a distance, a rediscovered purpose of "education and information, a new way of knowing life and a tool for excellence of evangelization". The coronavirus - concludes Msgr. Nassar - united the whole world before the fragility of human life and brought us back to the essence of our faith. Should we be thankful for this or continue to be afraid of it? This is a point on which we must reflect and meditate, in the perspective of the Light of salvation that derives from the Risen Christ". In the past month, many of these programs have been transformed in response to the virus, sometimes in ways that put prison workers at increased risk of exposure. In Florida, inmates are sewing masks for prison guards but do not yet have masks themselves. In Arizona, 140 inmates have been sent to live at an egg farm so they can continue working despite a prison lockdown to prevent the virus from getting in. Inmates in Louisiana continued to work at a chicken plant even after a civilian worker there fell sick, and were only allowed to stop going once two inmate workers also tested positive for the virus. In Connecticut, prisoners who used to make license plates and plastic bags are now making face shields for 30 cents an hour. In Texas, prisoners are working 12-hour shifts making cotton masks for no pay at all. The highest pay $6 an hour was offered to inmates on New Yorks Rikers Island to dig mass graves for covid-19 victims. Rep. Donna Shalala (D-Fla.) speaks during a House Rules Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Dec. 17, 2019. (Patrick Semansky, Pool/AP Photo) Congresswoman on Panel Overseeing Virus Payouts Admits Failure to Disclose Stock Sales A U.S. representative named to a panel overseeing a portion of the $2.2 trillion stimulus bill admitted she failed to disclose stock sales while in Congress, a violation of federal law. Rep. Donna Shalala (D-Fla.), elected in 2019 after serving as the president of the Clinton Foundation, called what happened a mistake. Under the STOCK Act, members of Congress are required to report stock transactions. But Shalala made a number of sales last year and didnt report them. I missed the deadlines. But I was doing the opposite of insider trading I was getting rid of any conflict of interest in the process. I was unloading the entire portfolio so I could put everything in mutuals and ETFs so I could avoid any conflict of interest, Shalala told CBS Miami. I apologize for them. It was my mistake. And I take full responsibility. The lawmaker, who headed the Department of Health and Human Services under President Bill Clinton, said she knew about the STOCK Act, describing herself as a strong supporter of the law. But a spokesman sounded a different tune, describing what happened as a misunderstanding. She had a misunderstanding about the periodic transaction report process and her need to report the sale of these stocks while preparing a blind trust, Shalala spokesperson Carlos Condarco told the Miami Herald. As a new member with a broker and attorney who were not familiar with the congressional disclosure rules, there was a misunderstanding. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (C) (D-Calif.) tours San Franciscos Chinatown on February 24, 2020. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Shalala told CBS she notified the House Ethics Committee and would cooperate with an investigation if it commences one. But the lawmaker refused to step down from the panel overseeing $500 billion in payouts to large businesses affected by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, a novel coronavirus that emerged from mainland China last year. I dont think so, she responded after being asked if her violation of the law disqualified her from serving on the panel. House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) appointed Shalala to the position. A spokesperson for Pelosi told Roll Call she would not withdraw Shalalas nomination. Rep. Shalala has taken responsibility for her mistake in missing filings required under the STOCK Act and has been working with the Ethics Committee to address this issue since she became aware of it, he said. Two groups demanded Shalala step down from the oversight commission. The Revolving Door Project and Demand Progress Education Fund sent a letter (pdf) to House Democratic leadership urging them to have Shalala resign from the oversight position. If Shalala remains on the Congressional Oversight Commission there will be ongoing investigations into the dealings of a leading investigator of the bailout. This is untenable and she must step down now so as to not undermine the Commissions important work, David Segal, executive director of the fund, said in a statement. Shalala faces a primary challenger, Jonathan Marc, while a number of candidates are vying for the Republican Party nomination for Floridas 27th Congressional District. Open source Six lung ventilators have been delivered to Ukraine from Israel. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry reported that on Wednesday morning. Kerzner Ofer, the Ukrainian consul was the one who purchased the devices for Ukrainian medical establishments. "The Foreign Ministry thanks Honorary Consul of Ukraine in Israel for such a necessary humanitarian assistance for our country", the Ukrainian diplomatic authority said. The ventilators are now being distributed to hospitals to help medics fight the coronavirus. On April 13, the press service of Ukraine's presidential office reported that Ukrainian hospitals could receive the domestically produced lung ventilators during the coming weeks. The peak of coronavirus sickness rate in Ukraine is expected in the beginning of May. The press service of the President's Office reported that quoting Denys Shmygal, the Prime Minister of Ukraine. The head of the government was among the officials present at the conference gathered and led by the President. Shmygal addressed the build-up of the disease in the country. "We've got to specify and tell the people when and what will be opened [after the lockdown is over], what is the clear plan of the government's actions. The peak of morbidity is expected in early May. People should understand if they can take a walk in the park, when the barber shops, lawyer offices and other kinds of business will resume working. I know that the Olympians need to practice to stay in shape. All people should have clear vision of how and when the lockdown may soften", the Prime Minister said. What lies beyond the pandemic? MassForward is MassLives series examining the journey of Massachusetts small businesses through and beyond the coronavirus pandemic. ________________ Restaurants across Massachusetts are struggling for survival following Gov. Bakers shutdown of non-essential businesses until at least May 4 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Many have decided to simply close their doors during the pandemic. Some, however, have managed to stay open by altering menus and offering takeout options. To stay afloat with a decrease in overall sales that for many establishments is over 90%, these small businesses are in desperate need of an influx of cash. Teri Skinner, owner of popular downtown Springfield sandwich shop NOSH, recently learned that her application for a $20,000 loan through the Paycheck Protection Program was approved. The PPP program is included in the $2.2 trillion stimulus package signed into law by President Donald J. Trump. It provides loans for businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic if they promise to continue to pay their employees. I found out Friday that I was approved for it which is good, said Skinner. I know that a lot of people [that] applied for it [said] that theres no money left. Business has picked up for NOSH over the course of the pandemic. Skinner had to lay off all her staff at the beginning of the crisis but now she has been able hire back two employees to help with orders. Owner of the sandwich shop NOSH, Teri Skinner has had to adapt during the pandemic. (Douglas Hook / MassLive) Nearly 47,000 small businesses in Massachusetts were approved for a combined $10.36 billion in PPP loans before the program ran out of funding on Thursday, according to newly published data. The Bay State punched above its weight when it comes to PPP activity. It ranked ninth in terms of both the number and value of the loans approved by the U.S. Small Business Administration, even though it ranks 15th among states in total population. Things are going awesome, said Skinner on Friday. We got [approved the Prime the Pump funding of] $5,000 so that just kind of gave me that little safety net that helped us transition into doing an entirely different model of our restaurant. We started doing family meals, at-home delivery. We started this Nosh pantry. The Prime the Pump program offered grants up to $15,000 to provide immediate financial relief for restaurants. The first round of checks went out on Friday, said Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said in a press briefing at city hall on Monday. The second round is being done right now. The second round of the Prime the Pump program, which relies on federal Community Development Block Grant money, is over twice the amount of the first, which sent $222,000 to 30 restaurants in the city. The city said Friday it was overwhelmed in that first round with 80 applications totaling over $1 million in requests, four times the amount that was available. Nadim Kashouh, owner of Nadims Mediterranean Bar and Grill on Main Street, Springfield. (Douglas Hook / MassLive) Skinner also applied for the PPP loan through TD Bank, which started accepting digital loan applications on April 6. TD Bank continued to accept and process Paycheck Protection Program loan applications until U.S. Small Business Administration funding for the program was exhausted on April 16, said a spokesperson for TD Bank. In total, we approved nearly 26,000 PPP applications for a total of approximately $6 billion. Some banks had run out of funding at phenomenal speeds. JPMorgan Chase ran out of the Small Business Administration's emergency coronavirus relief fund within minutes of the program's application availability, according to NBC News. We didnt even get through the first five minutes of applications, a JPMorgan Chase senior banking executive said. Nadim Kashouh, owner of Nadims Mediterranean Bar and Grill, has also been accepted for PPP but has another issue, getting his 32 employees back to work. For the first week [of the pandemic] we went down to three people but then we saw there's an uptick in business on take-out. So we brought back five more people, said Kashouh. I'm going to be honest with you, I think is going to be very challenging and very difficult to have people come back to work when they are sitting home collecting unemployment. The CARES Act, signed into law on March 27 in response to the coronavirus pandemic, allows citizens who are out of a job to receive an extra $600 a week for up to six months. State unemployment benefits already provide approximately 50% of an eligible persons average weekly wage up to a maximum of $823. Now they make more money sitting home than having to come to work and thats going to continue for four months. So thats going to be the challenging part for us, Kashouh said. Keith Makarowski and his business partner Keith Weppler have been the owners and landlords of Theodores for 20 years in August 2019. Keith said he is only still in business because he owns the building, if he didn't it would have been too difficult to stay open over the years. (Douglas Hook / MassLive) Theodores and Smiths Billiards owner Keith Makarowski received confirmation that his business had been accepted for the Prime the Pump grant from the city. But his application for PPP funds, while approved, has not yielded any cash as funds were depleted. Our bank had made it through the approval process, said Makarowski. But there was no money to hand out. Makarowski is now on a waiting list like thousands of other applicants, waiting to hear what the federal government will do. The city of Springfield announced on March 25, the first of two stimulus packages for small businesses struggling amid the coronavirus outbreak. Part of the resilience for small businesses has come through innovation and changing the way a store attracts new clientele. Skinner has had to adapt during the pandemic by not only taking her business online but offering the people what they want. We sell toilet paper now, she said laughing and then added. I think at first it was kind of just funny because, you know, the shelves just completely depleted at the stores. And then after we were like, well maybe people would like to just be able to pick up a couple of rolls here. Owner of the sandwich shop NOSH, Teri Skinner has had to adapt during the pandemic. (Douglas Hook / MassLive) Like with NOSH, Kashouh is looking to advertise his business via social media and the website. He is also looking at what the city and his business will be like after the pandemic wains. When we open are we going to be able to go to full speed ahead? Are we going to open the whole restaurant? Do we have to go down to half the capacity? said Kashouh. Im working on expanding my patio and adding more seats outside. Hopefully, that will kind of make up for the loss of seating inside. Skinner from NOSH and Makarowski of Theodores have also been considering what they could do to promote social distancing after the stay at home order is lifted. Theyre making plans but both state that only time will tell with all the uncertainty at the moment. For the time being, theyre focused on just getting through the pandemic. Nadim Kashouh, owner of Nadims Mediterranean Bar and Grill on Main Street, Springfield. (Douglas Hook / MassLive) MassForward is MassLive's series examining the journey of Massachusetts' small businesses through and beyond the coronavirus pandemic. Related Content: Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE After steadily increasing for more than a month, the number of confirmed new coronavirus cases announced daily across New Mexico has leveled off over the past week or so, based on a rolling average of new infections. And in some counties, including Bernalillo County, the number of new cases has dropped from earlier this month. But state officials say its too early to say whether that means the COVID-19 outbreak might be plateauing and insist social distancing measures cant be relaxed yet. The key fact here is that a flatter curve doesnt mean the state or any specific county is out of the woods it means what people are doing is working and must keep it up, state Human Services Department spokeswoman Jodi McGinnis-Porter told the Journal. She also said the point of a slower infection rate is to make sure hospitals are not overwhelmed by a massive influx of serious COVID-19 cases. But some state lawmakers say the recent case trends show the efforts of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishams administration to slow the spread of the coronavirus have been effective and that its time to start looking ahead. Either the models were wrong, or we did an even better job than we thought we could in minimizing COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations, said Sen. Mark Moores, R-Albuquerque. This is the time for the governor to show leadership about how we slowly reopen the economy, Moores added. Some states have, in recent days, begun announcing plans to gradually lift state-ordered closures if certain criteria are met. For example, in Colorado, Gov. Jared Polis on Monday said that states stay-at-home order will be allowed to expire next week, allowing a gradual reopening of nonessential businesses and permitting elective surgical procedures. Lujan Grisham has not unveiled any such blueprint for New Mexico, though details could be rolled out in the coming days. To date, 65 people have died due to COVID-19 across New Mexico. That figure includes seven additional deaths that were reported Tuesday, including four more elderly residents of an Albuquerque senior living facility that has been a hot spot for infection rates among both residents and staffers alike. In all, at least 15 residents at La Vida Llena have died of complications from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. Meanwhile, as of Tuesday, there were 119 people hospitalized around the state due to serious coronavirus symptoms. There were also 529 individuals designated by the state Department of Health as having recovered from the disease, meaning more than 25% of the 2,072 people who tested positive for the coronavirus have made a full recovery. Encouraging trends New Mexicos seven-day rolling average of new cases was 95.7 cases per day on Tuesday, according to a Journal analysis of data released by the state Department of Health. Confirmed cases of coronavirus around the state had been steadily increasing since the states first case was announced March 11. But since April 13, the rolling average bounced from the mid-90s to the mid-80s and back. And those rates would be declining if McKinley and San Juan counties numbers were not included. Infection clusters on the Navajo Nation have caused case numbers to surge in several northwestern New Mexico counties in recent days and weeks. On Tuesday, 66 of the 103 new confirmed cases announced by state health officials were from McKinley and San Juan counties. Those two counties make up less than 11% of the states overall population, according to 2019 U.S. Census Bureau estimates. Meanwhile, the number of new cases in some of the states larger counties has gone down. In Bernalillo County, there were an average of 18 new coronavirus cases announced per day for a seven-day time period that ended Tuesday. During the previous week, the average number of new cases in the states most populous county had been 23.1 cases per day. Human Services Secretary David Scrase has cited encouraging trends in several counties, including Bernalillo and Santa Fe,with regard to flattening the infection curve. But he and other state officials also say the state has to stay the course largely by staying at home to remain on that trajectory. Its important to note that, in general, what we are seeing in our current numbers reflects peoples behavior from 10 to 14 days ago, the period in which people may be infected and then show symptoms, McGinnis-Porter told the Journal. Higher risk for elderly The coronavirus has been most deadly for older New Mexicans matching the broader trend throughout the world. In New Mexico, more than two-thirds of the coronavirus deaths are adults older than 70, according to a Journal analysis of data released through Tuesday. The remaining one-third are people in their 30s through 60s. Geographically, the fatality rate is highest in the northwestern New Mexico, where an outbreak has hit the Navajo Nation. San Juan County, in the far northwestern part of the state, has endured nearly 14 deaths per 100,000 people a rate well over four times higher than the state overall. The rate in neighboring McKinley County is 8 deaths, and the state average is about three deaths for every 100,000 people. In a recent virtual town hall, Scrase said that any death is devastating but that COVID-19 is particularly tough on families. Its even more devastating when its more sudden or after an illness like this that can proceed so rapidly, he said this week in a town hall aired by New Mexico PBS. Pauline Hanson has released a video of her warning that globalisation would cause 'problems' for Australia 23 years before coronavirus spread around the world. The One Nation leader posted the video of her speaking in Parliament in 1997 on her Facebook page with the title: 'Government ignored my warnings about globalism dangers'. In the speech, which she made as an independent federal MP for the Queensland division of Oxley, Senator Hanson argued that Australia should turn away from the rest of the world. In the speech, which she made as an independent federal MP for the Queensland division of Oxley, Senator Hanson (pictured) argued that Australia should turn away from the world Recently analysts have said the interconnection of countries is major reason why coronavirus spread so fast and far compared to the SARS outbreak of 2002 which was largely contained in east Asia. In her Facebook post, Senator Hanson claimed she had long warned of the 'dangers' of an inter-connected world. 'The Chinese coronavirus has exposed what many of us already knew, the globalist system the Liberal/National and the Labor parties have championed for years is fraught with danger,' she wrote. In the speech, Senator Hanson argued that Australia should cut ties with United Nations and the World Health Organisation. 'The United Nations are being outrageously successful in having our government dance to their tune which in turn is a death march to our own people and our Australian way of life,' she said. Passengers wearing face masks and rain coats to protect against the spread of new coronavirus in Wuhan, China on April 8 Now Senator Hanson is arguing that Australia should cut funding to the WHO, claiming it did little to keep Australians safe by failing to contain the coronavirus. She also argues the WHO has pandered to China by praising the country's response to the virus despite its attempt to cover-up the spread of the disease by silencing whistleblowers. 'I even warned them of the United Nations' corruption which we are now seeing displayed so clearly by their offshoots in the World Health Organisation,' she wrote on Facebook. In the 1997 speech, Senator Hanson claimed that foreign investment in Australia was doing little to improve happiness, employment levels and standards of living. 'We have been internationalized to a very large degree already yet the problems are increasing not diminishing,' she said in the speech. The late 20th century saw wide-ranging reforms in the West that championed free trade and economic growth. Through tax reductions, labor reforms, privatisation and an international outlook, Australia rose from being the 15th richest country in the world in 1990 to fourth in 2002. From 1985 to 2002, real income per person increased by more than 55 per cent from $23,000 to $36,000. Now Senator Hanson (pictured) is arguing that Australia should cut funding the WHO, claiming it did little to keep Australians safe by failing to contain the coronavirus Cheaper air travel meant more Australians could afford holidays overseas as global trade saw Aussies benefit from new technologies such as computers and mobile phones. But Senator Hanson was unhappy about Australia's place in the new globalised world. 'Does the government really expect Australians to believe that more deregulation and selling more of our country will fix our problems?' she said. Senator Hanson's opponents say she is using the coronavirus outbreak to further her anti-free-trade and isolationist agenda, which will stifle growth and make Australians poorer. At same time, President of Ukraine dismissed Anna Kovalenko from post of deputy head of Presidents office Open source Head of the Presidents Office of Ukraine Andriy Yermak during the meeting on national security and national defense introduced the new deputy head of office Roman Mashovets. The press service of the Presidents Office reports. "One of the main tasks assigned to Roman Mashovets is the completion of the preparation of the National Security and Defense Strategy of the country and other important documents. This issue is planned to be considered at a meeting chaired by the NSDC Secretary Oleksiy Danilov," the statement said. In turn, Roman Mashovets emphasized the importance of revising certain documents related to the defense security sector. According to him, it is necessary to establish clear coordination and interaction between the legislative and executive branches of government, as well as the Office of the President for systematic work on solving urgent problems of the industry. Note that Roman Mashovets was born in 1976. He graduated from the Military Diplomatic Academy. He is a veteran of military intelligence and special forces. Since July 2014, he has been organizing military-technical assistance for the Ukrainian army. He stood at the origins of the creation of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces. In addition, it is reported that President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Anna Kovalenko from the post of deputy head of the Presidents Office. As we reported before, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky expressed confidence that the war in Donbas would end by the end of his term Former lawmaker, Senator Shehu Sani has taken to social media to call for the disbanding of the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19. The former lawmaker from Kaduna pointed out that a new taskforce involving head of health parastatals, medical professionals, health specialists and representatives of health unions should be constituted. Also Read: Shehu Sani Calls For Diversification Of Nigerias Economy Amidst Oil Price Slump In a subsequent tweet, he stated that a Presidential Palliative committee involving Ministers, political appointees, and representatives of the governors forum should be constituted. He wrote: The PTF on #COVID19 should be disbanded;The President should constitute a new one purely made up of Head of Health parastatals,Medical professionals,Health specialists & representatives of Health Unions.This task force relates with Nigerians reports to the President regularly. A Presidential palliative committee is where the Ministers,Political appointees and the representative of the Governors forum should belong.Leave the handling of #COVID19 to medical experts and not politicians. The PTF on #COVID19 should be disbanded;The President should constitute a new one purely made up of Head of Health parastatals,Medical professionals,Health specialists & representatives of Health Unions.This task force relates with Nigerians reports to the President regularly. Senator Shehu Sani (@ShehuSani) April 22, 2020 Unknown armed men have kidnapped an about-to-wed couple in Tegina Kabata in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State. The couple were undergoing a wedding solemnisation in a church in the community when the gunmen invaded the church and whisked them and others away. This was disclosed at a press conference by a group, Concerned Shiroro Youths in Minna. The youths further disclosed that the bandits also attacked guests of a wedding Fatiha in Rumache community, adding that a large number of people were kidnapped while the locals were robbed of their possessions. Co-convener of the organisation, Bello Ibrahim said that in the simultaneous attacks that occurred last week, various casualties were recorded with five people killed while many others sustained various degrees of injuries. In these simultaneous attacks, casualties were recorded as no fewer than five people were killed and many sustained various degrees of gunshot injuries, herds of cattle rustled and other valuables carted away. Also, on April 12, 2020, Rumache community was attacked in broad daylight during which a large number of people who converged for the wedding Fatiha were kidnapped and many locals robbed. Still on that fateful day, they carried out a similar heinous operation and kidnapped the village head (Dakachi) of Tegina Kabata and an about-to-be wedded couple who were in a nearby church undergoing wedding solemnisation. As I address you, all the referenced people are still in the kidnappers den while negotiations for their release are ongoing. At Ajatai in Kwaki/Chukuba Ward of the local government, the story is the same as the criminals stormed the village in the same period under review in broad daylight and unleashed mayhem on unsuspecting locals. The youths gave the state government two weeks to address the insecurity challenges bedeviling the local government. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates U.S.-China relations are at their "worst point in living memory," according to a professor, who said both countries engaged in a "grand exercise in blame-shifting" over the coronavirus pandemic. U.S. President Donald Trump has blamed Beijing for a lack of transparency over the true extent of the Covid-19 outbreak in China where cases were first reported. In response, Beijing has suggested that the U.S. might be the real source of the global pandemic. "U.S.-China relations are at their worst point in living memory for a number of decades probably since the 1970s, at the moment there's a grand exercise in blame shifting going on, on both sides," said James Crabtree, an associate professor at Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. "Neither side wants to be blamed for their own response, so the Chinese and Americans are blaming each other." US President Donald Trump takes a question from a reporter during the daily briefing on the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House on April 6, 2020, in Washington, DC. Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images Last month, Trump claimed that Chinese officials did not fully share information sooner about the outbreak which was first reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. He argued that the U.S. would have been able to act faster. Subsequently, in April, U.S. intelligence reportedly told the White House that China deliberately under-reported the total number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the country. Trump has said that Beijing's tally appeared "to be a little bit on the light side." It completely undermines any attempts to come up with new international solutions ... Everything is made more difficult by the fact that U.S. and China are not going to cooperate with one another. James Crabtree associate professor at Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy China has reported 83,849 coronavirus cases, the latest data from Johns Hopkins University shows. That number is far below the 787,960 cases confirmed in the U.S., which has the highest number of reported infections in the world. China fights back For its part, China has fired back, with its foreign ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian, suggesting that the U.S. military might be the cause of the outbreak in Wuhan. "When did patient zero begin in US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals?" Zhao asked in a tweet on March 12. "It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation!" Zhao tweet: It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation! According to Crabtree, the U.S.-China quarrel and their lack of cooperation are a setback in the war against the pandemic. "It completely undermines any attempts to come up with new international solutions, whether that's on the health side ... or on the economic side, thinking about rescue packages," he told CNBC last week. "Everything is made more difficult by the fact that U.S. and China are not going to cooperate with one another." In previous epidemics, both countries worked "reasonably well" with each other, which was an "important part" of sharing information about those outbreaks, Crabtree said. Meanwhile, China's relations with the U.K. are also appearing strained, with the U.K.'s Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab saying that Britain cannot return to "business as usual" with China in the aftermath of the pandemic. He said the U.K. wants a global "deep dive" investigation into the origins of the outbreak. What it means for US-China trade war HMDs ties with the James Bond franchise go beyond the Nokia 8.3 5G starring in the new trailer the Nokia 6.2 and 7.2 got a 007-branded Kevlar case and it seems that they are not alone. A Kevlar case for the Nokia 5.3 has been spotted in a couple of stores. Nokia 6.2 and 7.2 James Bond Kevlar case One is in Germany, asking 20 for the James Bond 007 case with delivery time set to around 60 days from now. Thats the same price as the 6.2/7.2 case. The other store is Dutch and charges 35 (down from the MSRP or 40, apparently) and is accepting pre-orders without committing to a shipping date. Neither store features an image of the case itself, but it will probably look very much like the 6.2/7.2 case angular and covered in Kevlar. The Dutch store features the following (Google-translated) description: My name is Bond, James Bond. With this Nokia 5.3 case, your smartphone is literally undercover. The Nokia 5.3 Kevlar James Bond case is made of hard plastic and protects the device against scratches and bumps. In addition, the phone case features a kevlar design with 007 logo. This gives the smartphone a tough look. Are you also a fan of the James Bond film series? Then you will certainly hit the bullseye with the Nokia 5.3 James Bond Kevlar case. The Nokia 5.3 and other point 3 models are available for pre-order in the UK. The 5.3 specifically is expected early next month and will set you back 150. Source 1 (in German) | Source 2 (in Dutch) LIDL has struck a deal with Liffey Meats to export 14m of its beef products to the German retailer's grocery chains in the US and 18 EU nations. Bord Bia cited the announcement as evidence that agri-food firms could grow exports despite Covid-19 restrictions. "This is an exceptionally challenging time for Irish suppliers and Irish farmers," said Bord Bia CEO Tara McCarthy. "I am pleased to see Lidl's tangible efforts to support the Irish beef industry and their continued commitment to sourcing Bord Bia quality- assured Irish beef." Ciaran Beirne, European sales manager at Liffey Meats, said its partnership with Lidl was driving growth for the Co Cavan-based firm. "This opportunity to leverage new international markets is a game-changer for our business. We are extremely grateful to Lidl for the ongoing support and investment, particularly in these unprecedented times," Mr Beirne said. Lidl Ireland said its exports of Irish beef products would be 20pc higher than a year ago. They include a planned 250,000-unit beef burger promotion at 3,200 German supermarkets, and two US summertime promotions. Lidl has about 100 US outlets, including the New York-based Best Market chain acquired in 2018. It has been selling USDA-certified Liffey Meats products there since 2017. Eco Worrior, a non-governmental organization has distributed thousands of food items to residents within the Kumasi Metropolis during pre and post lockdown directives. The gesture forms part of the government's swift interventions to prevent the speedily spread of the deadly CONVID-19 Virus. There were diverse pictures from Asokwa in the Ashanti Region where people had queued waiting to be given a support package in the form of rice and oil as part of the COVID-19 relief program. The organization and three other organizations in Kumasi with support from KFC were also distributing Special KFC hot meals as Easter Monday surprise for the vulnerable precisely the elderly amidst the lockdown. In a statement, Mr. Otuo Akyempon-Boakye the director of Eco-worrior says the organization and three other organizations together with KFC distributed 2000 hot meals to some vulnerable people in Aboabo, Anloga, Asokwa and Kwadaso. He said, these places are noted to be densely populated yet we could ensure social distancing. Mr. Otuo said, they used used different strategies to ensure social distancing in distribution to curb the virus. "Our strategy was to get to our beneficiaries first rather than they getting to us. With the help of the Ashanti Regional Boys Scout, we had already scouted the area and had identified our target groups". Mr. Otuo said. Here are some of the strategies employed : Setting a target group To be able to ensure social distancing when distributing packages especially stimulus packages it is important to first identify your target group. Many groups of people are vulnerable but which particular group of the vulnerable would you want to serve first. Street folks, disabled, elderly, and the mentally challenged are only a few of the groups I can mention. Identify the group or groups you want to support and get to them. You can use their leaders if they have any or community leaders to find their location. Forming teams of distributors In our case, this actually helped us as at the same location we could have three teams each looking out for a different target group to serve. At say Aboabo, we could have three teams with team one targeting the elderly, Team 2 for the street folks, and Team 3 looking out for the disabled. This made distribution fast and easy. Getting to them The only way we could ensure social distancing was to get to them (our target group) and not they getting to us. In the case of Asokwa, the people rather got to the distributors first, and that caused the crowding. Our truck with the meals was parked at a safe distance and the team members picked the meals from that spot and walked all the way to the wooden structures and homes to give the package to our beneficiaries. They could only see people bring packages to them not knowing where they brought the food from (as in where the truck was parked). The Ashanti Regional Boys Scout gave us Boys who were standing by the truck to prevent crowding as well. Recommendation to Government and other Organizations We can distribute food either uncooked or hot and still ensure social distancing if we can use the Get to them Strategy. An organization can request for the services of other security groups like the Boys Scout, Brigade to help in the distribution. Moreso, I would recommend that all organizations serving food whether uncooked or hot must inform the District Assemblies to draw out a plan to prevent double sharing at a particular location. So as not to make this political as many organizations may claim, the assemblies should only confirm the location and leave the sharing for the organizations. Lastly, I would want to plead with organizations distributing packages who would want to take pictures to inform the people first before they do so. It is an undeniable fact that the two most important aspects of the work of NGOs are reporting and communication so they need pictures as evidence for their funders and for publicity. But it would be very appropriate if the person or people are informed of the picture before you take them. In conclusion: We can reduce the number of people in the streets if they know we shall come to them. So why are we not getting to them first!!! And I support the directives by the Local Government concerning the sharing of packages. My organization is ready to help whenever we are called. Otuo-Akyampong Boakye President of Eco Warriors Movement www.ecowarriorsmovement.com The power of a uniquely open service during a public health emergency is clear. As the nation combats the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (@MoHFW_INDIA), Government of India today onboarded Twitter Seva to help Indians with speedy resolution to their health-related queries. This public service is aimed at enabling transparent e-governance delivery in real-time and will allow the Ministry to communicate effectively and at scale with the public, especially in crisis situations like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare, announced the dedicated account @CovidIndiaSeva with a Tweet. Commenting on the announcement, Dr. Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan), Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, said, Over time, Twitter has proved to be an essential service for both the government and citizens to interact and exchange information, especially in times of need. As #IndiaFightsCorona with social distancing, we are happy to make a concerted online effort by adopting the Twitter Seva solution. It is powered by a team of experts who are trained and equipped to treat and respond to each query uniquely, and at scale. This will enable us in establishing a direct channel with Indian citizens, connecting with them in real-time to provide the authoritative health and public information. Twitter Seva is a customised live query redressal service. It works on a dashboard that helps process large volumes of Tweets, converts them into resolvable tickets, and assigns them to the relevant authority for real-time resolution. These conversations are transparent and everyone on the service can benefit from the responses received from the authorities around common queries. It is important to note is only for broader queries and does not require for the public to share personal contact details or health record details. The dedicated account will be accessible to people be it local or national in their scope. Whether it is for latest updates on measures taken by the Government, learning about access to healthcare services or seeking guidance for someone who perhaps has symptoms but is unsure about where to turn to for help, the service will empower the public to reach out to the authorities. People in India can get their queries answered by Tweeting to @CovidIndiaSeva. Over the years, as more and more people from India get on Twitter, an increasing amount of content across languages is being created. The service has witnessed a considerable rise in conversations in Indic languages. In fact, after English, Hindi is the second most used language on Twitter in India and non-English Tweets account for 50% of all Tweets on the service here. The services compatibility and usage across Indian languages will enable the Ministry in communicating with people from all parts of India. Twitter has open lines of communication with the relevant authorities in the central and state governments and public health officials, to ensure they can troubleshoot account issues, and seek strategic counsel as they use the power of Twitter to mitigate harm and connect with the public at large. Sharing her thoughts on this partnership, Mahima Kaul (@misskaul), Director, Public Policy, India and South Asia, Twitter, said, To navigate this global health crisis, we need a collaborative approach between the government and our industry. Our work has never been more critical and our service has never been in higher demand. People from all parts of the country are taking to Twitter to be equipped with the quality information from authoritative sources. The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has a vital role in ensuring that people have timely access to the latest official information and were delighted to play our part to support their critical mission. The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. In Karelia and Nizhny Novgorod, parents are complaining about food packages given to their children in lockdown to replace school lunches. They say they are getting expired food and rotten potatoes. Paris (AFP) - French lawmakers will vote next week on allowing contact tracking via mobile phones as the government prepares for a gradual lifting of coronavirus confinement orders from May 11. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe agreed to hold the vote, which will take place after a National Assembly debate, amid widespread worries about privacy breaches from the unprecedented data-tracking initiative for France, a parliamentary source told AFP on Tuesday. Most MPs are in lockdown, though about 75 of them are expected to appear in person for the debates beginning next Tuesday. France's CNIL privacy watchdog will also weigh in on the tracking proposal, which would see cellphone users voluntarily download an app to track their movements and alert them if they come into contact with an infected person. Health experts say such technology, already used in some Asian countries, is needed to avert a new surge in COVID-19 cases once people are allowed to leave their homes more freely and some schools and businesses reopen. A study released Tuesday by France's Pasteur Institute estimated that by May 11, only six percent of France's population will have been exposed to the new coronavirus, meaning that most of the population carry no immunity, and will remain at risk of infection. "For collective immunity to be effective in avoiding a second wave, we'd have to have immunisation for 70 percent of the population. We're well below this," the study's lead author, Simon Cauchemez told AFP. - Life won't be like before - "At the end of confinement, if we want to avoid a major second wave, some measures will have to be maintained," he said. At a briefing Sunday, French infectious diseases expert Florence Ader said it was not yet clear whether having survived infection with the coronavirus actually immunises a person against re-infection later. Philippe warned at the same briefing that it would take a long time to defeat an epidemic that has killed more than 20,000 people in France, and emphasised the initial easing of confinement would be partial. Story continues "Our life from May 11 will not be like our life before, not immediately, and probably not for a long time," he said. Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer told lawmakers Tuesday that school reopenings could be staggered over a three-week period, with class sizes limited to 15 students. The government is also racing to build up stocks of face masks for the general public and testing kits so that the country can get back up and running as soon as possible. The Pasteur study found that stay-at-home orders had reduced the average number of people infected by a coronavirus carrier to just 0.5, down from 3.3 people on average before confinement was imposed on March 17. It also estimated that 0.5 percent of infected people died from the disease, with mortality risks 50 percent higher among men than women, a difference that increased with age. The fatality rate for men older than 80 stood at 13 percent. New Delhi: After witnessing attacks on health workers and doctors, treating COVID-19 patients in different parts of the country, the government on Wednesday (April 22) brought in an ordinance making acts of violence against them a non-bailable offence with a maximum jail term of seven years and Rs 5 lakh fine. The government amended the 123-year-old Epidemic Act, 1897 through the ordinance, and the law will mandate that the police complete probe in such cases within 30 days and that the courts pronounce judgment within a year. Briefing after the ordinance, Information, and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said a person can be sentenced to anywhere between three months and five years in jail, besides a fine between Rs 50,000 and two lakh, for such crimes under the new provision. In cases where injuries are serious, the punishment will range from six months to seven years, and carry a fine between Rs 1-5 lakhs, he said and asserted that the government has "zero tolerance" for violence and harassment against doctors, nurses, paramedics, and other healthcare personnel. The ordinance will amend the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, and the amended law will also be invoked if healthcare personnel face harassment from their landlords or neighbours over suspicion that they may carry the coronavirus infection due to the nature of their work. An offence under the amended law will be cognizable and non-bailable. Cognizable and non-bailable offence means that police can arrest the accused, and only courts can release them on bail. In a letter, the Union Home Ministry also asked all states and union territories to provide adequate security to doctors and front-line health workers who are facing attacks from unruly people. The Union Health Ministry also advised chief secretaries of all states and union territories to adopt adequate measures in ensuring the safety of the health workers. There have been increasing cases of doctors, nurses, and paramedics facing attacks and social ostracism across the country with people targeting them due to their exposure to infected patients. Similar incidents happened in Indore in Madhya Pradesh, Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh where stones were pelted at the team of doctors and health workers. Such incidents have been reported from every corner of the country. It started from Delhi itself, where people associated with Tablighi Jamaat started spitting on doctors and nurses. Two days ago, one Jamaat members in the national capital misbehaved with a female health worker and tried to tear her PPE kit, while in another incident, a foreign national attacked a health worker with scissors. Notably, Doctors and medical staff across the country were very angry because of these incidents. Indian Medical Association had also announced a one-day symbolic strike to protest against it, but withdrew its decision after holding talks with Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The Home Minister today interacted with doctors and several medical organizations through video-conferencing and assured them that there can be no compromise on the safety and respect of doctors. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan was also present in the meeting. After this meeting in the afternoon, the government announced the ordinance. On the contrary, we can see a different picture in the United States where one Indian origin doctor, Dr Uma Madhusudan, was shown a warm gesture. Hundreds of cars passed in front of her to thank her for her exemplary contribution in the fight against COVID-19. The Indian origin doctor, who hails from Mysore, Karnataka, studied medicine from Mysore. She saved the lives of several coronavirus patients at South Windsor Hospital in the US. There are many people in this convoy who were treated by Dr Uma. Pakistan strikes Imam of Jihadis, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi off terror watch list India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Apr 22: In an expected move, Pakistan has taken off thousands of terrorists from its watch-list. The name of Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, a prime accused in the Mumbai 26/11 attack and chief commander of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba has also been struck off the list. Pakistan said that the names were taken of as many had died, while others were not part of any terror organisation. Probes will now go beyond as new Indian anti-terror law takes shape It was revealed the data collected by Castellum. AI, a New York-based regulatory technology company that the list had been halved from 7,600 to 3,800. Pakistan says that this had been done owing to various inaccuracies. It further said that the list needed to be updated to fulfil the requirement of the Financial Action Task Force, which had asked for a cleaning up of the database ahead of its June assessment. India, meanwhile is keeping a close watch on the developments. An official in the know of the developments told OneIndia that Pakistan may have violated the FATF standards. The officer also said that he was particularly surprised that Lakhvi had been struck off the list. Lakhvi was one of the chief architects of the 26/11 attack and is also wanted for several other acts of terror on Indian soil. Lakhvi has had a free run in Pakistan, despite India and the rest of the world providing Pakistan with proof regarding his acts of terror. Experts say that he is without a doubt the most passionate jihadi in Pakistan. When it comes to a passion to attack there is none more lethal than Lakhvi is what every analyst that we spoke to would say. Unlike a Hafiz Saeed who can preach sermons against India, Lakhvi is a field man. He is not a great planner, but what he brings to the Lashkar is that element of passion. The manner in which he commands his forces and speaks about his passion to wage war against India has been a major draw for the Lashkar. The cadres love and respect him and they fought the fiercest of battles against India when Lakhvi was in command. In Pakistan he is known as the imam of Jihadis. He has put his family on the battle field and every person in the Lashkar is in awe of him for this. His two sons, Abu Qasim and Abu Qatal died fighting in Kashmir against the Indian army. He had also instructed his wife not to lose heart after they lost their sons. In fact, he instructed her to run a camp for those widows who had lost their husbands fighting in Kashmir. These are the factors that have added to his reputation and hence is considered to be the most passionate jihadi of Pakistan. Even the Pakistan establishment realizes this and hence have very reluctantly kept him behind bars. Some of his statements against India are a clear indicator of why he is loved so much in Pakistan. He had said that his primary agenda was the destruction of India. He also said that the entire network of the Lashkar would be extended into India. He was the same one who said before the Kargil war that a war against India was on the cards. He said that it was time to prepare for the disintegration of India. Apart from this, he has also threatened a major strike in New Delhi apart from swearing to liberate Kashmir and then Hyderabad. Plus, Bill's Message of the Day, we are living in the United States of Propaganda. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices WHAT ARE WE DOING? We have launched Food For London Now, an appeal to fund the delivery of food to poor, elderly and vulnerable Londoners who are unable to afford food or are confined to home and at high risk of losing their lives from catching the coronavirus. Monies raised go to our appeal partner, The Felix Project, Londons biggest food surplus distributor, which is part of a co-ordinated food distribution effort taking place across London. The appeal is under the auspices of the Evening Standard Dispossessed Fund and run by the London Community Foundation, which manages the Fund. HOW DOES THE SCHEME WORK? The London Food Alliance has been set up by the Felix Project together with the capitals two other largest food surplus distributors FareShare and City Harvest to pick up nutritious surplus food from suppliers and deliver it in bulk to community hubs in each borough. HOW WILL FOOD GET TO PEOPLE? Each borough will create hubs to receive the surplus food, divide it into food parcels and deliver them to the doorstep of vulnerable Londoners. WHO WILL GET FOOD? Boroughs are in touch with local charities, foodbanks and community centres as well as the government to ascertain who is most vulnerable and in need. HOW HAVE THE FOOD REDISTRIBUTORS DIVIDED UP LONDON? Felix is responsible for co-ordinating surplus supply across 14 boroughs, FareShare 12 and City Harvest 7. In Brazil, 45 million residents are waiting on an emergency payment of 600 reais in compensation amid the crisis. President Jair Bolsonaro, however, assured this support can only last for so long. Measures like social isolation and home quarantine may not be ideal for low-income barrios, favelas, or villas in the region, of whom comprise of over 113 million citizens. For People Living in Crowded Communities, There Is No "Social Distancing" A report published on Valor Economico shows that Brazilians and Mexicans were the least compliant to orders concerning social distancing. Based on the data, Brazil and Mexico both had deep reductions in the distance between people, -33% and 38%, respectively. The complete list of Latin American countries analyzed in the study conducted by J. P. Morgan was Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. For lots of places in the region, there simply is not enough space. In Bogota, Colombians in impoverished communities tie red rags in their windows. This endeavor in underprivileged neighborhoods was done to indicate that the households needed food. Residents clashed with the police in Ciudad Bolivar during a riot for essential resources. Authorities in Latin American nations promised to deliver aid packages to vulnerable groups to encourage compliance to follow stay at home orders. These can only work for so long because for two of the region's largest communities in Venezuela and Brazil, posts on social media reveal how short-lived these attempts were throughout the month-long pandemic. Check these out! Stay or Work at Home Hardly an Option On the outskirts of Buenos Aires is an informal settlement where Fernanda Moyano lives. In a feature by Americas Quarterly, Moyano explained that her husband lost his job on the same night that Argentina President Alberto Fernandez announced a complete quarantine. She said her husband's employer sent his dismissal through text that said, 'OK, muchachos, let's see what happens in the next few weeks.' Fernandez acknowledged that communities like where Moyano lived could quickly become a hotspot for the COVID-19 pandemic. However, measures that were intended to help Argentinians instead led to more inconvenience. For instance, the local markets were no longer able to accept debit cards the government issued. Some market vendors set up makeshift stalls along highways to make up for weak sales during the pandemic. In Mexico, street vendors sell face masks for as low as 5 pesos. Others make the masks themselves by sewing together fabric. People like Angel Ricardo Meza explain that they were left with little alternatives. "I have to earn money," he says. The only way he could afford to stay home was to make a profit. According to a Guardian interview with a 45-year old metalworker in Brazil, he said it was alarming how there were still so many people out in his neighborhood. "Cars are all over the place, lots of people [at the petrol station] boozing," Marcos de Oliveira said. He likened the scene to that of a party. He frequently saw scenes like this on his way home from work. Unlike high-income families, Oliveira needed to keep working to feed his family. He said, "Unfortunately, people have to work - we've got to make a living." Over the last month Nevadas economy has been dealt a severe blow. Individuals face uncertainty and small businesses may not reopen once the shutdown ends. Everyone is feeling the pain of our current situation and the only way to avoid irreparable damage is to reopen our economy while adhering to strict health and safety protocols. Businesses in rural Nevada are shutting down with no option to re-open when this is all over. Additionally, many ranchers, farmers, feedlots, and agricultural producers are having to destroy food because there has been a major disruption in the distribution chain. We must put people back to work. The logistics of food creation, distribution, and supply is extremely critical for our citizens. Nevadans are greatly affected by this shutdown with filings for unemployment reaching a total of 330,174 this year, the most of any year in Nevadas history. This coincides with an inability to process claims which affects the ability of Nevadans to financially survive this shutdown. Governor Sisolak even supported cutting 49 positions in Nevadas Unemployment program. It is essential people get their unemployment claims processed quickly to make ends meet. This week we learned Nevada will receive a smaller proportion of Small Business Administration loans relative to states of a similar size. Additionally, Democrats in the U.S. Senate have stalled a further small business stimulus package rather than continuing to fund the current program. This will have a disproportionate effect on locally owned small businesses and the people they employ. While our economy has taken hit after hit, Governor Sisolaks response has consisted of drastic one-size-fits-all shutdown orders. There has been a lack of communication with some counties and cities and members of the Legislature. Most notably Governor Sisolak has shown a complete disregard for the effects of the shutdown on the hospitality industry in Nevada. This information blackout has thrown many areas of our state into a paralysis of inaction as communities and businesses are unable to take proactive steps without a basic framework to plan for the reopening of the economy. In contrast to Governor Sisolaks handling of the current situation, the Trump Administration recently put forward a three-phase plan to reopen the American economy. Phase one allows for some businesses to reopen while practicing strict social distancing, phase two allows for more reopening with moderate social distancing, and in phase three most businesses can reopen with unrestricted staffing. Most importantly this plan recognizes urban and rural areas have been affected in different ways and each phase is designed to flexibly respond to the issues communities are facing. Previous phases can be reinstituted in case of a potential recurrence of the virus. Overall, it is a well-balanced and measured plan that should be adopted by Nevada. During this time of crisis, failing to consider reopening the economy and refusing to communicate will only deepen the crisis Nevada is experiencing. We need a basic framework going forward so municipalities and businesses can begin to plan how to heal the economic damage which has been done so far. Senator Pete Goicoechea and I are working daily together to re-open businesses and our great state of Nevada. Assemblyman John Ellison represents Assembly District 33 and Sen. Pete Goicoechea represents Senate District 35. Love 14 Funny 1 Wow 3 Sad 0 Angry 0 As Liberia undergo a lockdown due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, some eminent citizens have embarked on the presentation of several food and non-food items to the needed. Sekou Kesselly - a Liberian based in the United States of America is leading a massive effort in reaching out to the most vulnerable in Liberia. On Tuesday, April 21, 2020, Mr. Kesselly and Friends namely: Habibatou Sow, Matenneh Kamara, Corina Hope Zaizay, Mbalu Samoura, Mariamu Kesselly, Joman Kamara, Jobba Kesselly, Melissa Johns and Eric Diahn donated twenty (20) bags of rice and gallons of argo oil to elderly women at the Benson Street Mosque-Monrovia and Vamuma House respectively. Presenting the donated items to the beneficiaries, Mr. Eric Pervist - a friend of Sekou said, Mr. Kesselly and his US based Friends are excited to look back during these stressful moments of our existence. "Let's continue to obey all health measures as recommended by the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL) and the Ministry of Health for the safety of us all", Mr. Pervist cautioned. It can be recalled that Sekou Kesselly in March of 2020 did same with the group of 77 (disabled community) on Newport, Monrovia. In appreciation, the elderly women lauded Mr Kesselly and Friends for such unsolicited donation to them. "We are surprised that our children in America are still sharing with us knowing the fact that the US is heavily hit by COVID-19", one of the women expressed. The women offered prayers for the donors and petitioned God to never let the hands of all that giveth lack. Already Liberia has recorded more than one hundred cases of confirmed COVID-19 patients, eight (8) deaths and four hundred eighty-nine (489) contacts under follow up with just seven (7) recovery. The coronavirus is expected to come in waves over the next two to three years, killing up to 45,000 South Africans, according to an expert on a panel of leading medical professionals advising President Cyril Ramaphosa. The coronavirus has infected more than 3,000 people and killed over 55 in South Africa which is currently under a 35-day national lockdown to contain its spread. We will not be returning to normal for the next two to three years, said Professor Shabir Madhi of Wits University, who heads the public health subcommittee advising Ramaphosa and his Cabinet. This is not a short-term crisis that is going to be sorted out in the next few months. We might see a huge upsurge in cases and at least three to four epidemics over the next few years, he said. Madhi is a professor of vaccinology at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) and a director of the South African Medical Research Council Respiratory and Meningeal Pathogens Research Unit. He is part of a team of 128 scientists from around the world tasked with finding a vaccine for the virus that has infected nearly two million people across the globe. Madhi said in a webinar on Tuesday that while this was still a staggering figure, it was a huge jump down from the initial projected deaths of between 120,000 and 50,000, which was based on a model from the early days of the COVID-19 epidemic in China, where it originated. Subsequent studies in the US, China and Iceland have shown that at least 50 per cent of infected people are asymptomatic, which Madhi said "changes the numbers completely. (This has) huge implications in terms of quantifying the number of infections, the expert said, adding that it also has implications for the extended 35-day national lockdown which is now in its 27th day. We can't go into perpetual periods of lockdown (but) the reality is that this is going to cause many epidemics for at least next two to three years, the professor said. Madhi said the worst months would be the usually harsh winter from May to August, but less people were expected to get severe forms of COVID-19, with herd immunity' also starting to set in. He cautioned that this should not result in steps taken during the current lockdown being disregarded if it was ended. The bad is that we don't know who is spreading it, he said, advising people to maintain social distancing. Madhi said mass gatherings, such as those at religious institutions and sporting events, would not be back for a long time. He also advised those at higher risks, such as elderly and those with chronic ailments, to remain in voluntary self-isolation during this period. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The real point of Trumps immigration order is the same as many of his other actions and pronouncements in this crisis: to put the blame on others, particularly foreign governments and foreign citizens, for the spread of what he has called a foreign virus and the Chinese virus. Having squandered weeks that could have been used to marshal critical resources against the pandemic, he now labors to divert attention from his own failures. Foreigners are his favorite scapegoat. Caracas: Allies of both Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his bitter foe, opposition leader Juan Guaido, have secretly begun exploratory talks as concerns grow about the possible impact of the spread of the coronavirus, according to sources on both sides. The discussions emerged from concerns about the spread of COVID-19, hyperinflation and growing fuel shortages, as well as worries among some members of the ruling Socialist Party about how to ensure their political survival under a possible change of government as Washington tightens sanctions, the sources said. A pedestrian passes a billboard featuring an image of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas. Credit:Bloomberg The talks, which have no clear agenda, show that allies of both Maduro and Guaido remain unconvinced they can defeat the other amid a global pandemic and a broad US sanctions program meant to push Maduro from office. "There are two extremes: Maduro and those who believe that the virus will end Guaido's leadership, and those on the other side [who] hope this crisis will bring down Maduro," said an opposition legislator in favour of the rapprochement. Tullamore and Midland Tribune positive psychology columnists Imelda Ferguson and Julie O'Flaherty have issued new advice on how to cope with the emotional impact of the Covid-19 crisis. The Tullamore-based clinical psychologists write: We are all going through a tough time at the moment. The coronavirus pandemic has transformed our lives in the past few weeks and we are all having to adapt rapidly to this new unwelcome reality. Our day to day lives and routines have changed dramatically over a very short time. All of this unwelcome change takes its toll emotionally and many people are finding themselves on an emotional rollercoaster, experiencing feelings of anxiety, sadness, grief, fear, anger, irritability, low motivation and so on. It is perfectly normal to feel distress and a wide range of challenging emotions at a time like this. As psychologists we are hearing people criticise themselves because they feel they 'should' be doing certain things like decluttering their homes as they have more time available, yet they are struggling with disheartened feelings and low motivation to take on new tasks. This is normal. Some people are comparing themselves negatively to others who they perceive are using this lockdown time well by doing online courses and learning new skills. An important message to convey here is that each one of us will cope emotionally in our own unique manner with the huge challenges that this pandemic has brought and we need to respect our individual differences. So if you are the type of person who copes best by being busy and you are currently painting and decorating your house while also taking an online course in Japanese, that is perfectly ok. However, that style of coping is just not for everyone. For many people, taking life a little more slowly while at home will give them the opportunity to process the feelings of fear and loss that the pandemic has prompted. Keeping head above water by eating, sleeping, getting some exercise and braving the supermarket for groceries (if not cocooning) is challenging enough at the present time. It is worth noting that the emotional impact of the current crisis will vary depending on individual circumstances. For many, there is the financial strain of the loss of a job and reduced income, while others are finding working at home very challenging and feel the loss of a structured work environment. Many are concerned about the wellbeing of family members and are feeling a sense of loneliness because of not being able to visit and spend time with loved ones. As psychologists we are also hearing people describing feeling guilty on a number of fronts. Many people who are spending more time at home will recognise patterns of comfort eating, which is eating for emotional rather than nutritional reasons. Indeed we have previously written about this topic in this column as it is such a common pattern. At present, many of us are feeling intermittently bored, frustrated and upset so it is small wonder that we are turning to the fridge for brief allieviation of these feelings. It may not be the healthiest or most functional coping strategy, but psychologically it is important that we do not beat ourselves up for being human at this very challenging time. In fact, studies show that when we can be more compassionate and understanding towards ourselves we can reduce comfort eating. Being more mindful also helps. We can do this by bringing our attention to what we are doing as we are doing it and perhaps asking ourselves a question such as: 'Do I really need a biscuit or would a chat with a friend be more helpful to me right now?' Parents are also feeling guilty at times about behaving irritably with their children, who are all at home from school and playschool at present. Most parents are experiencing stress at the moment centring around work and financial concerns, concerns about homeschooling, health and much more. So it is natural that at times we will behave irritably or even unreasonably as stress does not bring out the best in any of us. We would recommend to parents to simply apologise to the kids for irritable snappy behaviour, rather than immersing in guilt, which is not productive. Then of course, take a little time out and focus on increasing activities which can reduce your stress levels such as having a relaxing bath or going for a brisk walk. Overall, it is reasonable to expect that we will all experience uncomfortable and difficult emotions as we navigate our way through the Covid-19 crisis. The following are some tips drawn from psychological research in the area of mindful self-compassion, which are known to be helpful in managing difficult emotions - 1) Accept your emotions. Remember, feelings are just feelings, they are not 'good' or 'bad' but rather serve as a barometer for what is happening for us. None are unacceptable. Emotions are more likely to become destructive when we resist or deny them. 2) Identify where you sense emotion in your body. Emotions are part mind and part body. Anxiety may be felt as unease in the tummy, sadness as a lump in the throat or tightness in the chest. 3) Label the emotion you feel e.g. thats sadness, thats disappointment. Labelling emotions helps calm the amygdala, which is part of the threat-centre of the brain. 4) Realise the impermanence of emotions. Even the very strong, overwhelming emotions will pass. A mindful meditation that we really like, which helps guide us in managing difficult emotions is called Soften, Soothe, Allow. (recordings of this can be found on Youtube). The current crisis is challenging us all to take care of ourselves physically as well as mentally and emotionally. Much of the time, the days where we struggle emotionally, will be followed by brighter days where we feel we are coping better. However, if you feel overwhelmed and this seems to last more than a few days, it is worth remembering that there is help and support out there. The HSEs website (hse.ie) provides information on many resources and supports that are available. Many clinicians (ourselves included) are continuing to provide confidential one-to-one counselling and therapy using phone or online platforms. It is a very difficult time but we will get through it together. Imelda Ferguson and Julie OFlaherty are chartered clinical psychologists, both based in private practice in Tullamore. Through Mind Your Self Midlands, they run courses on Positive Psychology and Mindfulness through the year. They can be contacted through the Psychological Society of Ireland www.psychologicalsociety.ie (Find A Psychologist section) or on their Facebook page, Mind Your Self Midlands. [April 22, 2020] Firefly Aerospace and Spaceflight Inc. Sign Launch Services Agreement Firefly Aerospace, Inc., a leading provider of economical and dependable launch vehicles, spacecraft, and in-space services, and Spaceflight Inc., the leading launch services and mission management provider, today announced they have signed a Launch Services Agreement (LSA). The agreement confirms that Spaceflight will secure the majority of the payload mass aboard a Firefly Alpha launch, scheduled for lift off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in 2021. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005195/en/ The Alpha launch vehicle developed by Firefly Aerospace is capable of delivering 1 metric ton to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and 630 kilograms to Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO). (Photo: Business Wire) In addition to being the anchor customer, Spaceflight will sign, manage, integrate, and deploy multiple payloads on the flight, enabling Firefly to maximize its full 630 kilogram launch capacity on the commercial Alpha mission to Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO). Also, according to the LSA, Spaceflight will help maximize payload capacity aboard future Firefly Alpha launches. "Spaceflight has long een committed to providing reliable, cost-effective access to space and we are eager to partner with Firefly, as both companies share this exciting vision," said Curt Blake (News - Alert), CEO and president of Spaceflight. "In fact, we have many customers in mind, including some specifically in APAC, which we believe will benefit from this additional capacity and flexibility. Spaceflight is honored to secure the primary payload aboard an Alpha flight in 2021, and we very much look forward to working closely with the Firefly team to accelerate more small satellite rideshare launches for the industry." "Alpha launches in 2021 will play a key role in establishing our manifest and production capability, and having Spaceflight's deep payload integration expertise in our corner is an important part of our overall launch strategy," said Dr. Tom Markusic, Firefly CEO. "Our Alpha launch vehicle will quickly fill a major market gap with the capability to deliver 1 metric ton to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and 630 kilograms to the highly desirable 500 kilogram SSO, about four times the current payload capability of other small satellite launch vehicles." The Alpha launch vehicle is designed to address the needs and demands of the burgeoning small-satellite market, combining the highest payload performance with the lowest cost per kilogram to orbit in its vehicle class. Alpha will provide launch options for both full vehicle and rideshare missions. Spaceflight has launched a record-setting 271 satellites via 29 rideshare missions, establishing itself as the leading rideshare service provider, offering comprehensive launch and integration services across a global portfolio of vehicles. Spaceflight successfully executed nine missions in 2019, the most rideshare launches the company has performed in one year. The company also completed the first-ever rideshare mission to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) in 2019, launching the first privately funded lunar lander. Leading up to the maiden flight of the Alpha launch vehicle later this year, final acceptance of the first and second stage will take place over the next several months at Firefly's test facilities in Briggs, Texas, with hardware deployments to Vandenberg planned for early summer. Firefly teams are also integrating new composite technologies into its overall manufacturing capabilities, with the goal of significantly boosting production of its launch vehicles to align with demand growth over the next few years. ABOUT FIREFLY AEROSPACE Firefly is developing a family of launch and in-space vehicles and services that provide industry-leading affordability, convenience and reliability. Firefly's launch vehicles utilize common technologies, manufacturing infrastructure and launch capabilities, providing LEO launch solutions for up to four metric tons of payload at the lowest cost/kg in the small-lift class. Combined with Firefly's in-space vehicles, such as the Orbital Transfer Vehicle and Genesis Lander, Firefly provides the space industry with a one-stop shop for missions to the surface of the Moon or beyond. Headquartered in Cedar Park TX, Firefly has additional presence in Washington, D.C. and Dnipro, Ukraine. Firefly is financed by Noosphere Ventures of Menlo Park, CA (News - Alert). ABOUT SPACEFLIGHT INC. Spaceflight is revolutionizing the business of spaceflight by delivering a new model for accessing space. A comprehensive launch services and mission management provider, the company provides a straightforward and cost-effective suite of products and services, including state-of-the-art satellite infrastructure and rideshare launch offerings that enable commercial and government entities to achieve their mission goals on time and on budget. Based in Seattle, Spaceflight provides its services through a global network of partners and launch vehicle providers. For more information, visit http://www.spaceflight.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200422005195/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A daylong search for three young children who authorities feared were in danger ended safely Wednesday. Law enforcement had been looking for the Roanoke County children since Tuesday afternoon after social workers tried unsuccessfully to find them and to serve their parents with a custody removal order. An Amber Alert was issued, and investigators began pursuing leads indicating the children had been taken out of state. On Wednesday afternoon, Roanoke County Police Chief Howard Hall announced all three children had been found. I am happy to report that Emma, Cameron, and Colin Allison have been safely located near Florence, South Carolina, Hall said in remarks issued by the county. The children, who range in age from 1 to 6, will be brought back to Virginia and cared for by Roanoke County Social Services, Hall said. Their father, John Vairon Allison, was taken into custody without incident and accused of felony abduction, as was his wife, Ruby Marie Allison, whos the biological mother of two of the children. John Allison, 34, was arrested Wednesday morning after arranging to turn himself into authorities at the office of defense attorney Aaron Houchens. Houchens didnt return a message Wednesday. John Allison was listed as being held without bond at the Roanoke County-Salem Jail on three charges of abduction. Ruby Allison, 35, was being held in South Carolina pending transfer to Virginia, Hall said. The county had obtained a warrant for her arrest on abduction charges. Hall said investigators believe Ruby Allison took the children to Florida before deciding to return with them to Roanoke. The county alerted the South Carolina Highway Patrol, and that agency pulled over Ruby Allison on Interstate 95 shortly after 4 p.m. We would like to thank the South Carolina Highway Patrol for their quick response to our request for assistance, he said, adding the search also was aided by the Virginia State Police, U.S. Marshals Service, FBI and a number of local law enforcement agencies. Id like to thank all of these agencies and all of the personnel involved for their hard work that led to safely locating these children. The county wouldnt discuss the details of the social services case or what prompted a court to direct the children be removed from the familys home. The Department of Social Services said it couldnt comment on specific cases. Hall said the police became involved Tuesday after social services tried to serve the custody order. No one came to the door at the familys home, he said, and John Allison, reached by phone, wouldnt reveal the childrens whereabouts. Yfat Yossifor | MLive.com file Michigans two largest power companies, Consumers Energy and DTE Energy, are moving away from burning coal and toward renewable energy. But even as decades-old coal-fired plants across the state retire and are torn down, their legacy will remain in the form of coal-ash landfills for decades to come. An MLive series explores coal-ash management in Michigan and what happens when the ash, a form of industrial waste known to contain toxins, escapes into the environment. The series also discusses how Michigans major utility companies plan to deal with the waste once they no longer have power plants at those locations. Here's a recap of MLive's reporting project: Don't Edit Muskegon Chronicle archive photo, Greg Dorsett Demise of coal-burning power means toxic ash landfills forever on Great Lakes State shores When a pile of toxic coal ash tumbled into the clear, blue waters of Lake Michigan nine years ago in Wisconsin, it was called a freak accident and a preventable mess. Its exactly what the state of Michigan and power companies that are closing their coal-burning plants want to avoid. The ash landfills and ponds have been at the power plants for years, for disposal of burned coal residue. The ash will remain in the landfills at the old power plant sites where it is finally piled for years and years. State and local officials consider the dumps a safe solution to deal with the waste. Others arent so sure. Don't Edit Joel Bissell | MLive.com file It was front page news in 2011, when thousands of tons of coal ash tumbled from a Wisconsin bluff, sending 725 cubic yards of the toxic waste and soil into Lake Michigan. A few years later, national headlines announced a huge coal ash spill that polluted waterways, coating the Dan River in ash for more than 70 miles, and affecting tourism in Appalachia. And an environmental organization reports that groundwater under most coal ash sites is polluted with heavy metals such as arsenic, which can cause cancer. Consumers Energy has state approval to maintain a coal ash landfill next to the mouth of the Saginaw River in Bay County that could measure 60 feet high as tall as a six-story building, about half as tall as Bay City Halls iconic clock tower and 11.2 million cubic yards in volume. In mid-February, though, Consumers Energy said it submitted a revised closure plan that would reduce the volume of landfill disposal at lower heights. The company will not be using the maximum permitted volume or filling to the maximum permitted elevation, according to the state of Michigan. Don't Edit Jacob Hamilton | MLive.com file On the Saginaw River, there is little concern about coal ash. William Bohlen, director of the Bay County Road Commission-Department of Water & Sewer, said they have tested drinking water for heavy metals and have had the results come back undetected, according to the departments 2017 water quality report. Paul Reinsch, acting deputy director for Saginaws Department of Water and Wastewater Treatment Services, said, This is an extremely unlikely event for the Saginaw water system for various reasons...contamination of our water supply with coal ash and subsequent leaching of heavy metals like arsenic and mercury is highly unlikely given the sheer volume of Lake Huron and other factors. Saginaw, Midland and Bay City draw their raw water from Whitestone Point in Arenac County north of Au Gres, roughly 40 miles as the crow flies from the mouth of the Saginaw River. Don't Edit Laura Ogar, Bay County director of environmental affairs and community development, isnt concerned about coal ash being stored at Consumers Energys Bay County site, calling it a reasonable plan. Concern is if theres some type of exposure to that contaminant, right? Whether its human exposure to it or environmental ecological exposure, she said. Nobodys drinking that water. Theres not a drinking water aquifer. In addition, naturally present clay soils would trap any such contaminants and hold them in place, she said. Its a controlled site, its fenced, its on the operational campus, theyve got monitoring, she said. And because the landfill will be capped, I dont see a human exposure pathway. Read the full report here. Don't Edit Don't Edit Joel Bissell | MLive.com file Coal ash spill just a bad memory in North Carolina 6 years later Six years ago, a stormwater pipe failed and tens of thousands of tons of coal ash spilled into North Carolinas Dan River at a Duke Energy power plant steam station near a town called Eden. The environmental disaster paints a stark portrait of what happens to a watershed and the people who live there when coal ash escapes the ponds and dumps where its stored. In Michigan, power companies store toxic coal ash from their generating plants alongside the Great Lakes and their connecting waters. As the coal-powered plants close in favor of clean-energy options, those coal ash sites are supposed to be monitored for at least 30 years. There hasnt been a major coal ash spill in Michigan, but in North Carolina, the spill by some accounts was called an environmental catastrophe. Anybody who drove over that river every day, you could take one look at it and know something was wrong, said Amy Adams the North Carolina program manager for Appalachian Voices, a group advocating clean energy. The river had turned, for lack of a better term, ashy gray. It looked like chocolate milk, but not quite as brown as chocolate milk, she said. It just looked like sort of gunk floating on the top. Read the full report here. Don't Edit Riley Yuan | MLive.com This is how Consumers and DTE energy companies plan to manage coal ash Coal ash in Michigan is a legacy of the states industrial heyday. Its a byproduct Michigans two largest power companies, Consumers Energy and DTE Energy, must grapple with as they move away from burning coal in favor of clean, renewable energy options. In the 1940s, Consumers and DTE met the states need for power generation with a fleet of new coal-fired power plants. The plants burned tons of the combustible rock each day to generate electricity. To meet the need for fuel, they were built on waters where freighters carrying coal mined from other states could dock and unload. The ash will be buried on those shores at sites across Michigan. Consumers Energy created its Clean Energy Plan, also known as an Integrated Resource Plan, as part of the energy law Michigan adopted in 2016. Consumers Energy in 2016 shut down its J.C. Weadock power plant in Bay County's Hampton Township. Two years later, company officials announced coal units one and two in the neighboring Dan E. Karn Generating Complex would retire in 2023. Read the full report here. Don't Edit Joel Bissell | MLive.com file Related news See all stories about Great Lakes water As the Great Lakes surge to record heights coastal areas face a time of reckoning Michigans shoreline towns struggle to survive Great Lakes high water Powerful waves threaten their Lake Huron dream homes Cleanup of Michigans largest Superfund site, begun in 1998, could take 7 more years Tons of boulders create $1 million reef in Lake Hurons Saginaw Bay How a new manmade reef helps walleye in Lake Huron and the local economy LOS ANGELESJoey Kim introduced camera switching in a sensual live stream on Saturday night on AVN Stars, entertaining hundreds of fans from around the world on AVNs growing social media platform. The globetrotting cam model showed whats possible with the AVN Stars platform, integrating her own technical expertise while performing before dawn in her current location of St. Petersburg, Russia. During Kim's stream that unfolded in her bedroom in front of large windows overlooking the city a $5 tip triggered a 20-second close-up; $10 gave viewers 40 seconds; and a $20 gratuity treated the room to the more intimate angle for 80 seconds. "I had an incredible time streaming on AVN Stars! Kim told AVN Tuesday. The JKTV team and I developed an interactive feature to allow the audience to actively become my cameraman, enhancing the viewer's experience by being able to switch from close-up camera to wide-angle camera with smooth transitions. And as a photographer, dancer and cam girl, I've always enjoyed utilizing my camera for my artistic expression. Kim continued, I typically have to wake up several hours before stream to take the time to set up my cameras and lights before the show. But it's a therapeutic experience for me, and the excitement in the audience when they tell me how beautiful my image looks really brings me fulfillment as an artist. A seasoned live performer and professional aerialist who started camming as a non-nude model in 2010, Kim opened her show sipping hot tea from a Russian goblet, creating a tip countdown for her first striptease as her room began fill. It took less than 30 minutes for Kim to reach her initial tip goaland not long after she had stripped down to only her bustier and sheer white panties. Minutes later, she shed the rest of her lingerie. Kim, who has been living in the Russian capital since late February, told her audience, the most important word to learn in any country is thank you, before saying the phrase in Russian. Then she explained how to say good night, good morning and "good afternoon in Russian. The performer also revealed she made a friend in Russia who is a makeup artist. She doesnt speak a lot of English but we manage to understand each other, Kim said. Shes actually super hot The wonderful thing about camming is I do find cam friends everywhere. Kim said she would've visited her Romanian friend by now if it wasnt for lockdown. After Kims striptease in the free/public chat, she started the tip countdown to her private subscriber show. The length of a full live-stream show can vary between four and ten hours, with the bulk of that in the [free/public] chat, building up the excitement and tangible sexuality we explore in the more intimate private/subscriber show, she noted. My experience with AVN Stars has been nothing short from special. And as the platform continues to grow and improve, I am thrilled to find my space and my stage on the internet where I really feel appreciated by my fans and supported by my favorite platform. Kim said her next live stream on AVN Stars is still taking shape, as I am working really hard to test and develop JKTV. The next stream on AVN Stars is TBD, but I have a feeling you'll be seeing me around AVN Stars a lot as AVN Stars has quickly become like a home to me, she added. Another innovation that Kim teased during her stream on Saturday that she may be adding for her next broadcast is slow-motion replay capability. Follow her on AVN Stars at @joeykimtv. For a previous feature about Kim's career, click here. Idris Elba says he and his wife had their lives turned around after they became infected with the new coronavirus. The two only had mild symptoms after getting infected. Yet the British actor called the experience definitely scary and unsettling and nervous. You know, everyones sort of feeling the way we have been feeling, he told The Associated Press (AP). But Elba feels that there are life lessons to be learned, and the health crisis shows that the world does not move on your time. I think that the world should take a week of quarantine every year just to remember this time. Remember each other. I really do, he said. The actor and his wife, model Sabrina Elba, spoke last week as they began working with the United Nations on a project. Its aim is to lessen the effects of COVID-19 the disease caused by the coronavirus -- on farmers in rural areas. People forget that 80 percent of the poor population live in these rural areas. Sabrina Elba said. What we are really worried about at the moment, and why we are launching this fund is that those people are being forgotten. In their new positions as U.N. Goodwill Ambassadors, Elba and his wife joined with the Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to launch the new $40 million fund. IFAD hopes to raise up to $200 million more from governments around the world. The actor believes people in rural and poor areas are likely to suffer more during the coronavirus pandemic. If you imagine being in a village where no one even knows the name of your village or your population, and that you live in a slum where there is one room and six of you live in it, he said. Social distancing is almost laughable. Both Elba and his wife have roots in Africa. His parents are from Sierra Leone and Ghana. Sabrina Elbas parents are from Somalia. The Elbas went to Sierra Leone in December to see how IFAD has helped people there. Idris said he was especially concerned about what the pandemic could do in African countries already suffering economically. We have to think about the forward planning, about what the bad effects may be, he said. The two have been recovering in the western United States, where the actor was filming when he got sick. Elba said he had to miss his 6-year-old sons birthday because of shelter-in-place orders but he is hoping to see the boy as soon as he can. He added that he and his wife have been lucky. We have been staying in a lovely place thats been very comfortable for the time. But were looking forward to going home. Im Alice Bryant. The Associated Press reported this story. Alice Bryant adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story mild - adj. not strong in action or effect symptom - n. a change in the body or mind which indicates that a disease is present lesson - n. something learned through experience quarantine - n. the situation of being kept away from others to prevent a disease from spreading fund - n. an amount of money that is used for a special purpose pandemic - n. an occurrence in which a disease spreads very quickly and affects a large number of people over a wide area slum - n. an area where poor people live and the buildings are in bad condition comfortable - adj. not causing any physically unpleasant feelings Brian! lol I love WHM. Im voted for Final Destination but I am always up for What Lies Beneath. Reply Thread Link I hope you'll be able to join us tonight! Check back here until the party link post goes up. Reply Parent Thread Link Hi ONTD! What movies have you watched this week? I just picked up Thai food from my favorite local place (use curbside pick-up or local food delivery options when possible - the apps take too high a %!). My husband & I are setting in to watch The Social Network on Netflix. Fincher Forever (though Zodiac is his magnum opus & I love Panic Room & Girl With The Dragon Tattoo more than this movie) Reply Thread Link I havent watched many films recently its weird bc i used to try to watch one every night, but i started rewatching the Indiana Jones movies. I forgot how much i love Indy Zodiac is the best, that used to be a film Id watch constantly lol Reply Parent Thread Link Snowpiercer with ONTD Friday. Tonight I watched Little Monsters and then the movie What We Do In The Shadows after watching all of the show. Yum thai food! my favorite thai place is too far to drive for pick up, I'll have to make green curry at home when the grocery has better fresh vegetables Any one watch The Hunt yet? I want to see it but the price for at home premier is deterring me. Edited at 2020-04-22 06:01 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link kiss the girls is such a fucked up film and I never hear anyone else mention it so kudos for having it on the list, it's a great 90s morgan freeman action film Reply Parent Thread Link C L O V E R F I E L D Reply Thread Link aw i want to see the witch Reply Thread Link The Witchhhhhh Reply Thread Link the only movie that was too scary for me to finish Reply Parent Thread Link But the ending was so cool. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link lmao BRIAN!! I love that bit. But dear god, not The Perfection. That was trash and not in a good way (imo). I've never seen What Lies Beneath, though, so I'd be into that! also I watched The Insider for the first time this week and it's great. Russell Crowe can be amazing when he wants to be. Edited at 2020-04-22 02:10 am (UTC) Reply Thread Link voted for something actually on my netflix so i can join! Reply Thread Link Ive already seen all of these so Im up for any of them Reply Thread Link I'm such a sucker for the Final Destination movies. They're so bad, but I love them. I voted for the first one although I have not been able to make the party post yet. Reply Thread Link Ugh The Perfection is absolute trash Reply Thread Link Come oooon, The Ring!!! Reply Thread Link I couldn't even finish The Witch because it almost bored me to the grave so I'm gonna go with Final Destination 3 because it has the best deaths. Reply Thread Link Y'all have a good time tho! oooo, all these are scary movies.Y'all have a good time tho! Reply Thread Link Its too bad Ready or Not isnt on Netflix. I went in expecting it to be terrible, but it was such a fun movie and the lead was really likable. Reply Thread Link I loved it! Reply Parent Thread Link Love that movie Reply Parent Thread Link Yes, I suggested that one last week! Or Midsommar which is only on Amazon boo. Reply Parent Thread Link Both would be so fun for a group viewing Reply Parent Thread Link Midsommar left me disappointed, I think I heard too much hype about it beforehand. Im dying to see Ready or Not!! Reply Parent Thread Link Midsommar is on kanopy too! if everyone here has a library card they can watch it for free there lol, that's how i watched it Reply Parent Thread Link Hyderabad, April 22 : One hundred US citizens and 72 of the United Arab Emirates were airlifted from Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport by two different aircraft on Wednesday. The US nationals were flown by Air India's special flight to Delhi for the onward journey to the US while UAE nationals were airlifted to Sharjah by a special flight of Air Arabia. According to a spokesman of GMR-led Airport, special passenger relief flight of Air India arrived from Delhi and after picking up the US nationals returned to Delhi at 7.23 p.m. As per the flight itinerary, the passengers of this flight were to be further airlifted by the United Airlines from Delhi to the US. Air Arabia flight, which arrived from Sharjah via Cochin, departed with 72 UAE nationals at 9.01 p.m. to Sharjah. The passengers of both the flights were serviced through the fully-sanitized Interim International Departures Terminal (IIDT), which has been kept ready for evacuation operations. In coordination with the US and UAE Consulates, Hyderabad and the Telangana government, the US and UAE citizens reached the airport from different places in Hyderabad. Special screening and safety measures were in place during the flights' handling to protect against the Covid-19 threat. With Wednesday's two flight, Hyderabad Airport has so far handled 10 evacuation flights serving over 750 foreign nationals who were repatriated to countries like the UK, the UAE, the US and Germany. Department store Myer will not reopen its stores by next Monday as originally planned, opting instead to heed government advice and postpone the move by two-and-a-half weeks to May 11. The retailer told investors on Wednesday afternoon that while it wanted to open its 60 stores as soon as possible, it believed it was unfeasible to do so until social distancing and stay-at-home measures were eased. Myer has delayed its store re-openings until May 11. Credit:Jono Searle State and federal governments have indicated these measures will continue until at least May 11, prompting Myer to defer its reopenings until then. Stores were originally set to open on April 27, having been shut since March 29, when10,000 staff members were stood down. Myer was largely expected to postpone its store reopenings following fellow retailer Premier Investment's decision on Tuesday to do the same. Premier had initially intended to reopen its 900 stores today. Coronavirus brings clearer skies but darker world to 50th Earth Day by Amy Harder, Naema Ahmed, Sarah Grillo April 22,2020 | Source: Axios The pandemic is creating a temporary oasis of cleaner skies and waters, but at immense health and economic costs. The big picture: Its an ironic coincidence that this once-in-a-lifetime moment is happening around the 50th anniversary of Earth Day on Wednesday. These glimpses of a cleaner planet illustrate the challenge of cleaning the Earth up for the long haul. You know, longer than were social distancing. I do not want to have success this way. This is not what we celebrate. It may be a wakeup call, but man, I would have preferred a much less direct way to make that wakeup call happen. Gina McCarthy, former Obama EPA administrator, now president of Natural Resources Defense Council Global carbon emissions are projected to drop an unprecedented 5.5% this year, according to an analysis by Carbon Brief, a website on climate change and energy. But, but, but: Even this staggering drop is less than what the United Nations says is needed to meet the aspirations of the Paris Climate Agreement. That 2015 deal calls to limit a global temperature rise to 1.5C over the coming decades, which would require an annual 7.6% drop in emissions. How it works: Carbon Brief analyzed various sources of data to project that the coronavirus-fueled lockdowns will drive the largest-ever drop in emissions. At the request of Axios, the organization then compared that drop to our current emissions pathway, as calculated annually by the International Energy Agency before the pandemic, and also the pathway scientists say is required to meet the Paris Climate Agreement. Carbon Brief concedes in its analysis that a lot of uncertainty persists in the data, but nonetheless it offers a ballpark for how staggering the drop is likely to be. The bottom line: Even this massive global economic shutdown shows how drastic change is still not aggressive enough to sufficiently reduce emissions as much as scientists say is needed. That shows the depth of political and economic will that will be needed to take big action on the problem. The Himalayan mountain range has become visible in India when it's traditionally cloaked in pollution. Twitter user Manjit K. Kang posted photos of the reveal from her family's house in Punjab, India, hundreds of miles away from the mountains. What they're saying: "My husband lived in India for almost 27 years. He recalls seeing them as a young child but for almost last 30 years they could not be seen," Kang told me by Twitter. Particulate matter concentrations in Indian cities which have some of the highest levels of pollution in the world dropped an average of 22.6% during the lockdown (March 24April 4), compared to the average in December 2019, according to pollution data analyzed by University of Chicago experts. "I wonder if this moment, this COVID-19 moment where we have this very large [pollution] reduction that is allowing people to think about the world in a different way in India, if this will, in five years from now, look like their Earth Day." Michael Greenstone, executive director of the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago The intrigue: Relatively speaking, America has really clean air (like President Trump often says), so detecting a drop in this kind of pollution here is more difficult. "It's hard to detect statistical changes against the low levels that exist currently," Greenstone said. In India, "the change is large enough, it can be detected." Axios Media, 2020 Theme(s): Others. The package, equivalent to 10 percent of the countrys GDP, will cushion the economic blow of the coronavirus pandemic. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced a 500 billion rands ($26.3bn) rescue package, equivalent to 10 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) of his country, to try to cushion the economic blow of the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic requires an economic response that is equal to the scale of the disruption it is causing, he said in an address on national television on Tuesday, pledging to address the extreme decline in supply and demand and to protect jobs. Ramaphosa said South Africa had approached global financial institutions like the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, the BRICS New Development Bank and the African Development Bank, primarily to fund healthcare interventions. The rest of the package would be financed by a mix of 130 billion rands ($6.9 bn) of reprioritised spending and other local sources. Among the measures were 200 billion rands ($10.6bn) in loan guarantees in partnership with the central bank, finance ministry and commercial banks, and tax deferral for firms with more than 100 million rands ($5.3m) turnover. Early on in South Africas coronavirus crisis, Ramaphosa took drastic measures to try to prevent the kind of runaway epidemic that has devastated the United States and much of Europe. At the end of March, he announced one of the toughest lockdowns anywhere in the world, banning anyone but essential workers from leaving home except to buy food or medicine, and prohibiting alcohol sales, when South Africa had just 400 cases. He also deployed the army on the streets to enforce it and rolled out mass testing that has so far seen 127,000 people tested, of whom 3,465 are positive, according to the latest ministry of health figures. Fifty-eight people have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. While the measures appear to have halted a steep rise in new cases, the economic impact of the lockdown is wreaking havoc on an economy that was already in recession, and with a third of the country out of work. It also threatens to push South Africas poor, who on one measure make up half of the country, deeper into poverty. A large part of the workforce is in the low-income informal sector. Ramaphosa announced special increases to the monthly social grants upon which about 16 million of South Africas 57 million people rely for survival. The virus and measures to contain it will continue to take a severe toll in the weeks and months to come, with many people losing their jobs, the president said. Unemployment already had been 29 percent. The central bank now projects that the GDP will fall by up to 6.1 percent this year. South Africas lockdown is set to continue until May 1. While painful, it has been absolutely necessary to save tens of thousands of lives, Ramaphosa said. The loosening of the lockdown will take a risk-adjusted approach, he added. Ramaphosa will address the nation on Thursday with details on a phased approach, guided by the best available scientific evidence, to gradually lift the restrictions on economic activity. Other African countries are implementing relief and social welfare programmes for their citizens, although none on the scale of South Africa. Interns and the house staff at Medical College, Kolkata, have lashed out at the authorities alleging gross negligence, citing that 11 healthcare workers at the hospital have tested positive for Covid-19 as against only three Covid-19 patients who were admitted at the hospital. The MBBS interns at the hospital issued a media statement on Monday and, on Tuesday it was the turn of the junior doctors to bring the same charges against the authorities. Medical College, Kolkata, is one of the premiere state-run hospitals in the city. The authorities, on the other hand, have decided to keep the interns off work for the time being, considering that their lack of experience could expose them to greater risk than experienced healthcare professionals. A ratio of 3 patients to 11 healthcare workers affected points to enormous callousness on the part of the authorities to set up any form of protection and testing facilities for those of us at the highest risk, reads the press statement issued by the residents, which include the house staff and the post-graduate trainees, on Tuesday night. The house staff, also called junior doctors, alleged that despite the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfares latest guideline to provide N-95 masks to all healthcare workers, it was denied at the hospital, in spite of repeated demands. Outpatient departments continue without any personal protective equipment (PPE). Emergency doctors are provided with one PPE per shift. This is unacceptable, the statement read. Responding to the allegations, hospital superintendent Indranil Biswas said that there was lack of awareness and alertness on the part of healthcare workers at the beginning but the issues had been resolved. The infection spread from the gynaecology ward and not the isolation ward. All patients were asymptomatic and they showed symptoms only during their stay in the hospital, following which their swab samples were tested. Possibly, there was lack of alertness while treating patients in non-isolation wards who showed no symptoms and were not suspected to be Covid-19 patients. I dont blame interns because they are barely one month and a half into their internship, Biswas said. Among healthcare workers, three junior doctors, four nursing staff tested positive for Covid-19. He added that all precautionary measures have been taken after identifying the risk from asymptomatic patients. Right now, we are treating all patients as suspected Covid-19 positive unless proved otherwise. So, precaution is being taken while dealing with any patient in any ward. Also, those coming from Covid-19 hotspot areas are being straightaway taken to the isolation wards and tests are being conducted, Biswas said. The authorities have for the time being decided not to use the interns for any work related to the hospital. Mass testing of healthcare workers is also being carried out. The male medicine ward and the gynaecology ward at the hospital are presently shut. All staff at the outdoor section have been asked to wear N-95 masks. A patient at the gyanaecology ward tested positive soon after giving birth to a child. The report of another patient, who took admission with heart ailment, came positive after her death. As many as 44 nursing staff and junior doctors have been sent to quarantine centres for coming in contact with Covid-19 patients. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON As famines of 'biblical proportion' loom, Security Council urged to 'act fast' 21 April 2020 - The world is not only facing "a global health pandemic but also a global humanitarian catastrophe", the UN food relief agency chief told the Security Council on Tuesday via video link. Noting that the global spread of COVID-19 this year has sparked "the worst humanitarian crisis since World War Two", Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) David Beasley pointed to deepening crises, more frequent natural disasters and changing weather patterns, saying "we're already facing a perfect storm". As millions of civilians in conflict-scarred nations teeter on the brink of starvation, he said, "famine is a very real and dangerous possibility". Mr. Beasley painted a grim picture of 135 million people facing crisis levels of hunger or worse, coupled with an additional 130 million on the edge of starvation prompted by Coronavirus, noting that WFP currently offers a lifeline to nearly 100 million people up from about 80 million just a few years ago. "If we can't reach these people with the life-saving assistance they need, our analysis shows that 300,000 people could starve to death every single day over a three-month period", he upheld. "This does not include the increase of starvation due to COVID-19". Requesting assistance Noting that WFP is the "logistics backbone" for humanitarians and "even more so now for the global effort to beat the COVID-19 pandemic", the WFP chief urged the Council to "lead the way". "First and foremost, we need peace", he said. He asked that all involved in the fighting provide "swift and unimpeded" humanitarian access to vulnerable communities and for coordinated action to support life-saving assistance, along with $350 million in new funding, to set up a network of logistics hubs to keep worldwide humanitarian supply chains moving. Mr. Beasley also raised the need for early warning systems: "If we don't prepare and act now to secure access, avoid funding shortfalls and disruptions to trade we could be facing multiple famines of biblical proportions within a short few months." In closing, he underlined that "we do not have time on our side, so let's act wisely and let's act fast". Link between conflict and food security Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Qu Dongyu highlighted how the newly released 2020 Global Report on Food Crises report, clearly links conflict and rising levels of acute food insecurity. Against the backdrop that 135 million people in 55 countries experienced acute food insecurity in 2019, nearly 60 per cent of whom lived in conflict or instability, he cited Yemen as the world's worst food and malnutrition crisis this year, saying that the number of acutely food-insecure people there is "expected to exceed 17 million". The FAO chief also drew a connection between livelihood interventions and peace processes, spelling out that "coherent actions are needed among humanitarian, development and peace actors to address the root causes of acute food insecurity". Flagged that "the forecasts for food security in 2020 look bleak", he underscored the importance of early warning and quick action to pre-empt food insecurity caused by conflicts. While conflicts, extreme weather, desert locusts, economic shocks and now COVID-19, are likely to "push more people into acute food insecurity", Mr. Qu saw a ray of hope, saying that "by closely monitoring the evolution of these shocks, we can rapidly intervene to mitigate their impacts". Noting that widespread conflict and instability lead to food insecurity, and that reducing or preventing conflict reduces and prevents hunger, the FAO chief closed by saying: "We have mobilized our organizations in ways not seen since the foundation of the UN". Field-based obstacles Former top UN humanitarian affairs official, Jan Egeland, now Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, appealed to the Security Council for help with field-based obstacles in reaching hungry people living in a wartime setting. "In my 40 years as a humanitarian worker, I have never seen as many people displaced by conflict as now", he said. "We see more longer, crueler conflicts cause mounting hunger, as families flee their homes, their farms their fields and their livelihoods and they become dependent on the generosity on the hosts communities that themselves are in the precarious situation". He elaborated that Burkina Faso has experienced a ten-fold increase in forced displacement in just one year, saying, "nowhere else in the world" has such an escalation been seen. To mitigate the humanitarian situation, Mr. Egeland made five "concrete asks", beginning with "safe and unimpeded humanitarian access to everyone everywhere". He also stressed the need for stronger humanitarian diplomacy to reach people with assistance and to strengthen "deconfliction", saying that by informing parties of protected humanitarian sites and aid convoys, humanitarians can deliver support without being attacked. "Most importantly", concluded Mr. Egeland, "there must be accountability for attacks on protected sites". NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-22 21:22:38|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ISLAMABAD, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Wednesday that vigorous efforts are being made to bring home thousands of Pakistanis stranded abroad due to the COVID-19 pandemic as the government fully realizes their pain and difficulties. Thousands of stranded Pakistanis are anxiously waiting for the government to bring them back to the country, said Qureshi, adding "We are enhancing our capacity of testing and quarantining overseas Pakistanis upon their arrival in Pakistan so that they can be brought back in large numbers." An official at the Crisis Management Unit of the Foreign Ministry of Pakistan told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that since the announcement of the ban on incoming and outgoing international flights, many Pakistanis got stranded in different countries as they planned their visits as per their schedule. "The Pakistani government while taking serious notice of the situation, made categories of them in order to prioritize their repatriation. Consequently, conditional charter flights were allowed to bring back those stranded abroad," the official said. A total of 6,324 people have been brought back so far since March 21, out of which some 1,200 have returned from Afghanistan and India through land border crossings, the official said, adding that the repatriation is being scheduled keeping in view the quarantine and testing capacity within Pakistan. Earlier on March 21, Pakistan suspended international flight operations with a view to stem the spread of the coronavirus and prepare for the arrival of the people so they can safely return to their home without risking the transmission of the virus. Enditem Jaipur, April 22 : To safeguard health workers and doctors in their fight against COVID-19 pandemic, an Udaipur-based young architect has designed a 'Sample Collection Unit' based on South Korean model for creating quick and effective temporary collection centres for throat and nose swabs. The sample collection centre has been approved by Neuberg Supratech Lab, accredited for COVID-19 test. Speaking to media on an interactive portal, Anup Gupte, B. Arch and PG-Design Alumni of National Institute of Design Ahmedabad, said the unit can save and protect health workers and doctors collecting the samples as well as the people coming for testing from catching infection. Also, it reduces the PPE consumption and saves time of health personnel, expediting the process of testing. The design envisions creating a temporary sample collection facility in a 40ft X 40ft areas by setting up three booths in a phone booth model. "The doctor has minimum chances of getting affected in this model as he stays away in isolation, on the opposite side and at a distance from people being tested in three booths created on other side", says Gupte. The setting up of one complete unit costs Rs 2.5 lakh, he said. Speaking on the process, Gupte said, "As soon as a doctor collects a sample, this first booth is immediately disinfected and the kit is replaced. As this booth undergoes disinfection, the next person in queue for testing can enter the second booth and so on. Reducing the inter-contamination of people being tested, it also enhances the testing process and reduces the number of PPE kit requirements. "There is a need to design our infrastructure effectively to win the war against this invisible enemy", he said. While South Korean doctors have been using it successfully, no Indian company, has designed it so far, he said, adding that South Korea quickened the testing using the same model. Gupte has sent a proposal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rajasthan Chief Minister and district collectors apprising them that a few manufacturing units are ready to build the booths free of cost. This design model has been approved with a certificate by Neuberg Supratech Micropath Laboratory, a CAP and NABL accredited institute in Ahmedabad. "It is a secure and protective COVID sample collection unit. It is systematic in design and does rule out the possibility of personnel involved in the collection of case samples to be completely isolated from the possibility of catching the highly contagious virus. At the same time, it prevents cross-contamination to the cases coming in to give the samples," says the certification. The model will reduce the PPE consumption which is already short in supply and will also save time of health workers in wearing and taking off these PPE kits, will avoid collection centres to become transmission hotspots, will increase the number of persons getting tested and reduce the time required to sanitise sample collection areas, Gupte said. The 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day looks a little different from those that came before it. Rallies have been canceled, climate strikes have been relegated to living rooms, and protests, once planned to fill the streets, have moved online. But plenty of opportunities to get involved with environmental causes remain. Here are just a few taking place in Oregon. 350PDX 350PDX, a climate justice organization based in Portland, will hold a virtual rally at 4 p.m. You can join on Facebook Live. Senior Advocates for Generational Equity Senior Advocates for Generational Equity, or SAGE, is hosting a virtual singalong that kicks off at 8:30 p.m. Click here to join. Earth Day Oregon Earth Day Oregon is hosting an online campaign called My planet, my pledge, wherein people make a promise to take action on an environmental issue and display it publicly. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, the only member of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis from the Pacific Northwest, will host a webinar discussion from 2 to 3 p.m. with environmental groups from throughout the region, including Climate Solutions, The Nature Conservancy and the Oregon Environmental Council. Click here to RSVP. Oregon Wild Oregon Wild will host a screening of THIS LAND, a film delving into the controversy of public land use, and a panel discussion moderated by filmmaker Faith E. Briggs. You can sign up here. Columbia Riverkeeper Columbia Riverkeeper will host an online storytelling session between 1 and 1:30 p.m. to celebrate Earth Day and the organizations 20th birthday. You can join here. Oregon Museum of Science and Industry OMSI will be hosting an Earth-themed trivia night from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. A donation of $5 is suggested, and the event is recommended for those ages 16 and older. Click here to register. Are you hosting an Earth Day event that we missed? Send details to kwilliams@oregonian.com and well add it to the list. -- Kale Williams; kwilliams@oregonian.com; 503-294-4048; @sfkale Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. [April 22, 2020] Rev.com Launches Free Live Captions for K-12 Educators AUSTIN, Texas, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Rev.com today entered the fight against the detrimental effects that the global COVID-19 pandemic has had on an unprepared, often-underfunded educational system. In an effort to support educators as they grapple with the overwhelming challenges of virtual classrooms, Rev is providing free access to its new live captioning Zoom integration to all K-12 educators through June 30, 2020. The live captions are powered by the world's most accurate English speech recognition engine and Rev is the only speech-to-text provider offering free live captions to educators for the remainder of the school year. Accurately capturing live course materials is paramount for students who are hard of hearing or experiencing increased distractions in their new learn-from-home environments. Educators need a solution that consistently displays precise terminology, punctuation and grammar. Internal accuracy benchmarking conducted on Rev's industry-leading live speech recognition engine consistently yielded greater than 90% accuracy. "Distance learning and educating, at this volume, is a new experience for all involved and being able to effectively reach every student is our biggest challenge and highest priority," said Leslie Sanderson, Journalism Advisor at Glenda Dawson High School in the greater Houston area. "Integrating live captions into curricula that have now moved entirely online ensures we are compliant with federal accessibility laws and helps all students better capture and comprehend valuable material, no matter the situation." "Without prior infrastructure for distance learning, K-12 educators are scrambling to fiure out how to effectively continue lessons amidst a host of obstacles due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Part of that challenge includes making online content accessible and compliant for students," said Jason Chicola, Co-founder and CEO of Rev.com. "We're glad to be able to offer our highly accurate speech recognition engine at no cost to ensure the accessibility of learning content and improve comprehension for all students." With education moving into the home full-time, it has never been more important to support educators, students and parents with the tools they need to adapt to a broad range of needs and circumstances. Live captions can be an integral part of the education process, including: Inclusion and accessibility: As classrooms move online and into the home, live captions ensure that videos are accessible to all students, including those that are deaf and hard of hearing. As classrooms move online and into the home, live captions ensure that videos are accessible to all students, including those that are deaf and hard of hearing. Improved Focus: Virtual learning is new to many K-12 students, some of whom may be experiencing increased distractions at home. Live captions help to ensure students will not miss out on any of the educational material. Virtual learning is new to many K-12 students, some of whom may be experiencing increased distractions at home. Live captions help to ensure students will not miss out on any of the educational material. Improved retention: The combination of audio and visual creates an optimal learning environment for students. The U.S. Department of Labor tested research subjects' recall for information delivered orally, visually, or both orally and visually. They found that oral-only instruction had a retention rate of 10%, visual-only instruction had a retention rate of 35%, and the combination of both visual and oral instruction resulted in a 65% retention rate. The combination of audio and visual creates an optimal learning environment for students. tested research subjects' recall for information delivered orally, visually, or both orally and visually. They found that oral-only instruction had a retention rate of 10%, visual-only instruction had a retention rate of 35%, and the combination of both visual and oral instruction resulted in a 65% retention rate. Support for ESL and Foreign Language Students : There are more than 4.9 million students in the U.S. whose first language is not English. Captions are a powerful way to help non-native speakers fully grasp course material no matter where they're learning from. : There are more than students in the U.S. whose first language is not English. Captions are a powerful way to help non-native speakers fully grasp course material no matter where they're learning from. Straightforward learning: Inaccurate captions can misinform and confuse students. It's critical to choose a provider with the tools and expertise to provide consistently accurate automated captions. Rev's simple setup for live captions on Zoom allows educators to provide students with accessible material without taking up too much of their limited time. Educators have the ability to offer the option for live captions to all attendees, and each student can choose to have their own captions on or off on both desktop and mobile devices. For more information, visit Rev's blog . About Rev Rev is the largest and most popular voice-to-text service in the world with more than 170,000 customers globally. Recognized widely as the most accurate and fastest service of its kind, Rev helps anyone capture insights from voice, connect with audiences and turbocharge productivity. Powered by a large and vibrant community of freelancers, Rev uses artificial intelligence tools to turn speech into text at unparalleled low cost. The company is obsessed with making the power of voice accessible to everyone, all while creating fulfilling work-from-home jobs. Learn more at rev.com. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/revcom-launches-free-live-captions-for-k-12-educators-301044730.html SOURCE Rev.com, Inc [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The question of when to re-open schools is being answered differently depending on each country. Those that have most successfully contained the spread of the virus have already begun taking the first cautious steps in allowing children back to school, though with the situation being closely monitored and social distancing measures in place. Here, the Government has not provided a date for schools returning, with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar saying he did not want to raise hopes and have to dash them. It has also been suggested school days might have to be staggered when the time does come. Ireland is among the countries with the strictest school lockdowns, according to a European Commission, Eurydice Network report. In Germany, students who are sitting their leaving exams will be back on May 4. They are being given priority ahead of junior classes. Austria presented its exit strategy from lockdown measures in the first week of April. Schools are due to remain closed there until at least the middle of May, though final exams will go ahead. Expand Close Cautious: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. Photo: AFP via Getty Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Cautious: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. Photo: AFP via Getty Images In Denmark, restrictions started to be lifted on April 15 and schools and nurseries have re-opened for children up to the age of 11. Some classes are being given outdoors to comply with social distancing measures. Government regulations mean children must be put in small groups, are able to wash their hands on arrival and every two hours. Sinks, toilet seats and door handles must be disinfected twice every day. However, schools for older children may remain closed until the second week of May. Norway, which says it has the virus under control, started re-opening schools this week after a month-long closure that began on March 12. Its authorities have said the move was possible because children are less at risk from the infection. However, parents have expressed concern. A poll by Norwegian broadcaster NRK showed 24pc of parents didn't want their children back in pre-school and 13pc were unsure. Primary school children will begin to return on April 27. Other countries are taking a more cautious approach. Schools in Malta and Portugal will remain closed for the summer. Priority In France, re-opening schools has been given high priority in plans to begin to ease restrictions from May 11, however they depend on progress in battling the virus. French President Emmanuel Macron said universities will not open before the summer. Spain has been among the countries hardest hit with more than 20,000 deaths and more than 200,000 cases. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Sunday children would be allowed time outside again on April 27. However, the re-opening of schools is still some way off. Speculation about return dates next month in the UK, which has also been hit hard by the virus, has led to concern from teachers. But on Sunday, England's Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said he could not give a date and schools will only re-open based on scientific advice. In China schools began to reopen at the end of March, with children wearing masks and social distancing being observed. Caitlin Wiesen, resident representative for UNDP Vietnam Since December 2019 the world has been in the throes of grappling with the global COVID-19 pandemic. Vietnam has been managing the response and containment impressively. As the country cautiously lifts the restrictions in light of recent consecutive days of no new infections and the country turns its attention to recovery, it is time to tackle the two crises in a combined effort to build back better in ways that both protect our people and our planet from COVID-19 and address the existential threat of climate change. Climate change is affecting Vietnam's agricultural production (Photo: Shutterstock) We are now seeing the very real impact that human activity can have on the environment. Environmental pollution levels have increased across the globe, as well as in major Asian cities, including Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Throughout the world, we are also seeing stronger floods, more severe storms, and more frequent droughts, all of which are consistent with one degree of warming, and this unpredictability will continue to increase. Vietnams current Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) estimates that the effects of climate change will cost 2.5-4 per cent of GDP, while climate projections indicate that sea level rise may inundate close to 10 per cent of Vietnams land surface by the year 2100. However, these effects of climate change on our future are not inevitable. Concrete action matters Putting off climate action now is putting our future generations at the mercy of the changing climate. Commitments have been made; what ultimately matters is that we take action on them decisively. While individuals, governments, and various organisations are contributing to this cause, the private sector has an increasingly important role to play. To be effective, however, they need a stronger, clearer framework and government support. Investors are stepping up globally. The 2018 Global Sustainable Investment Review issued by the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance found that sustainable or green investments in the five major markets of Europe, the US, Japan, Canada, and Australia/New Zealand totalled $30.7 trillion in 2018, an increase of 34 per cent compared to 2016. While Vietnam has made great strides in the deployment of solar PV over the past few years, the continued expansion of all sources of renewable energy is one solution with major, as-yet, untapped potential for Vietnamese businesses. With investments from the private sector, renewables could help to generate as much as 32 per cent of Vietnams power by 2030. Healthy businesses require healthy economies, and more importantly healthy people, in order to prosper. It may be tempting to opt for short-term cost savings and quick payoffs, but businesses that neither plan for the long-term effects of climate change nor take steps to mitigate their risk are undermining their own sustainability. Although Vietnam has made great strides in recent years in lifting millions of people out of poverty and striving for inclusive growth, there is a very real risk that climate change will undo many of its development achievements and erase years of progress. The current pandemic is a microcosm of how swift action on rising threats will have an immense impact down the road. If we can act now on the climate as we have acted on COVID-19, we cannot overstate the long-term benefits to the economy, the environment, and the people of Vietnam, as well as the many risks we will avoid. Below are a set of recommended actions to consider at this time: Build on Asias flourishing technological solutions and socio-economic innovations to create the legal and regulatory basis for low-carbon development with digital, circular and sharing economies to attain environmental sustainability. This includes preserving ecosystems and biodiversity, and addressing urban air pollution, waste management, as well as energy and water security. Prioritise existing national policies on climate change for investment and action on the ground. Enable investment opportunities for businesses which are future-oriented and at the same time help the country meet its climate change mitigation targets and strengthen adaptive capacity to climate change. Adequate policies and de-risking support are needed to invest their resources in climate action. Accelerate the deployment of full renewable energy potentials, especially solar and wind energy by setting a maximum target for renewable energy in the Power Development Plan VIII and the next 10-year Socio-economic Development Strategy (SEDS) and 5-year Socio-economic Development Plan. Climate change is our doing, and we have all the technology, resources, and tools to address it, but we need more political will to see it through. We owe it to ourselves to preserve our support systems for sustainable growth and for our future generations. Vietnams exemplary handling of COVID-19 is a powerful demonstration that committed leadership, early, decisive, evidence-based action is the best way to prevent future crises. Combining the leadership, innovation and energy unleashed for the COVID-19 response and recovery with committed climate action will yield a future forward that delivers for people, planet, and prosperity. The UNDP stands ready to deepen our support to government and partners to accelerate timely action for a sustainable, resilient, and prosperous Vietnam where no one is left behind. 22.04.2020 LISTEN Dodowa Market in the Shai-Osudoku District of the Greater Accra Region has been shut down by authorities of the district assembly for a period of one week for refusal to observe the social distance protocols. The motive for the closure of the market by authorities of the District Assembly comes following the refusal of traders to observe the mandatory social distancing protocols that was charged by the assembly as part of measures to forestall the spread of the deadly pandemic. Dodowa market is one of the busiest trading centers in the Shai-Osudoku Municipality; Mondays and Thursdays are market days in the area. According to Ms. Cornelia Asante, the Information Officer of the Shai-Osudoku District Assembly, regardless of the fact that traders of the market women were adhering to the shift system issued previously to decongest the market off any calamity, their failure to observe protocols hence resulted in the shutdown. Following this, activities at the market have frozen since Monday, April 20 as those selling perishable goods have now been sent to trade their stuff at the Ghanata School Park. However, authorities of the Assembly have noted that there will be meetings between the District Committee and Executives of the market women to have a second thought of an alternative to serve the best interest of the people in this difficult moment. Meanwhile, traders are infuriated labelling the authorities' decision as unfair and are calling for the reversal of their order. ---Firts1News.com Odisha: Despite fishing activities being exempted under lockdown, fisherfolk in Odisha say workforce, logistics, market situation major hurdles in wake of COVID-19 April 22,2020 | Source: First Post Marine fisherfolk of Odisha foresee a miserable life ahead despite fishery activities being exempted from the purviews of the nationwide lockdown in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak, which has been declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO). "Fishermen of the coastal villages are living a miserable life. And, with no opportunities to earn, either from fishing or daily labour, marine fishing community in Odisha is bound to face more hardship in coming days," B Chittama, noted leader of Odishas marine fisherwomen, said. Chittama, who leads the federation of about 150 groups of marine fisherwomen of Odisha called Samudram, lives in Arjipalli, a fishermen village on the Bay of Bengal coast, near Gopalpur of Odishas Ganjam district. "All our fishermen have been sitting idle since the janata curfew of 22 March, followed by the lockdown in the state from 23 March. Without any economic activity or income opportunity, most of us have no money to meet our daily needs like vegetables and groceries. Some have even incurred loans to survive." Insufficient govt relief As the government provided ration under public distribution system (PDS) three months in advance and disbursed Rs 1,000 each to all the beneficiaries for food and social security, the PDS card holders recieved rice and money to survive, for now. "What about those families who do not have a PDS card?" asked 56-year-old Buli Dei from Arakhkuda village located between Bay of Bengal and the Chilika lake. "At least, 300 families from our village have been debarred from the list of beneficiaries under National Food Security Act. In absence of any support they are living under a lot of hardships. Thousands of such families live miserably in hundreds of fishing villages whose primary source of livelihood is marine fishing," said Buli. Even though the Government of Odisha has announced special packages for welfare of wage labourers, construction workers, street venders etc. to benefit 1.64 crore people of the state's current population of over 4.7 crore, the fishermen of the state feature nowhere in the list. The fisher folks also survive on whatever they from daily fishing, It is quite similar to daily wage earners. Without fishing they have no other livelihood source. They should be considered for support against the loss of their livelihood, urged Chittama highlighting the plights of fishermen during the lockdown across coastal villages of Odisha. According to Prasanna Kumar Behera, president of Odisha Traditional Fish Workers Union, while the National Fish Workers Forum has appealed to the government of India to extend necessary support survival to fishermen, the issues have also been brought to the notice of Odisha government urging necessary action. Exemption brings little difference Although, the governments of India and Odisha have exempted fisheries and related operations from the lockdown, no one in the sector sees any difference due to that. Fishermen couldnt go fishing during the peak season due to first phase of the lockdown. Now, the second phase of the lockdown has coincided with beginning of the monsoon ban on marine fishing, imposed every year for conservation of marine fish species during the breeding season. The no fishing days have extended placing the fishing communities at utmost vulnerability, Behera noted. "However, this monsoon ban shouldnt affect livelihood of traditional fishermen as motorised and non-motorised boats upto 8.5 metre length are allowed for fishing activities in the territorial waters, within 12 nautical miles, about 22 kilometres, off the Odisha coast," said Smruti Ranjan Pradhan, director of fisheries department. "The government has also allowed all associated activities like transportation, selling etc. during the second phase lockdown but by abiding to the basic safety and social distancing norms," he added. Although, the ground realities are different than what is perceived by the government. Aside that they don't have enough masks and sanitisers, selling their catch to traders is a bigger problem from the fisherfolks, said Sumanta Kumar Biswal, president of Paradeep-based Odisha Marine Fish Producers Association (OMFPA). We stopped fishing operations since 22 March fearing crowd at fishing base if operation continued. The initial catch that reached the base were sold at throwaway price as traders and buyers couldnt come due to lockdown. So the trawler operators and fishermen had to face heavy loss," Biswal said. Seafood processors, hotels and restaurants, who procure a substantial chunk of marine fish catch, are all closed during lockdown. Ice factories are also not operating to supply sufficient amount of ice for storage. Fisherwomen, who usually go to villages to sell the fish, are not allowed to enter any village because of the COVID-19 fear. So, distress sell has become the norm at all fishing bases. For example, on 19 April, Pomfret category fishes were sold at Rs 20 per kg, said Mangaraj Panda of United Artists Association, a Ganjam-based non-profit, which also is an advisor to the Samudram federation. Export market uncertainties affected most of the seafood processing facilities. Countries stopped seafood export and import in the wake of COVID-19. Our farmers didnt raise prawn stocking which they should have done in the end of February or beginning of March because of lack of export opportunities. This has affected millions of people associated with the seafood industry, said Ramesh Mahapatra, Chairman of Magnum Sea Foods, a Bhubaneswar-based seafood exporter. Highlighting why exemption of fisheries and related activities from lockdown restrictions may not help fishing communities and businesses much, Mahapatra said that logistics, manpower and market situation in the wake of COVID-19 stand as major obstacles. "Even though government allowed processing plants to operate, getting labourers and the workers back at the plant have not been possible. While availing essential logistics and manpower is an issue, export market is also down. Cumulatively they all hamper the fishing industry and are going to affect the fishing communities badly, he emphasised. Longer fishing hiatus Fisher villages around Olive Ridley marine turtle nesting sites face a longer fishing hiatus every year. They usually have to restrict their fishing activities since the month of November when mating season for the turtles begins. Restrictions continue for seven months till the month of May when the turtle hatchlings emerge out of the nests in the coastal sands and go into the sea to start their life as a marine species. Under this ban for protection of the marine turtles during their breeding activities, trawlers and mechanised larger fishing boats are restricted to fish within 20 kilometers off the coasts that act as hosts to annual mass nesting activities by lakhs of Olive Ridley sea turtles. Beaches around Rushikulya, Devi and Dhamra River Mouths are Odishas known hosts of turtle mass nesting activities. So, hundreds of villages around these nesting sites restrict their fishing activities from November every year. Before the ban for turtle safety ends, the two-month long monsoon ban for conservation of fish population enters from 15 April. "Ultimately, fishing activity in villages around turtle mass nesting sites halts for a period of almost 8 months in a year. This, probably, is the longest annual hiatus in marine fishing," said Panda. Rest of the year, from 15 June till the end of October (being the monsoon season), a number of low pressure days, extreme rainy days and cyclonic storms often result in a series of no fishing days for these fisher folks. This makes fishing an unviable economic activity forcing community youth to migrate to distant places or other states in search of work. Long-term impact on fishing business OMFPA president Biswal foresees many long term impacts of the lockdown on fishing communities and businesses. Welcoming the two month ban on marine fishing for conservation of fish species for sustainable fishery, his primary concern was on annual maintenance of boats and trawlers. Usually, we consume these two months for our annual maintenance works and get ready for fishing by the end of the ban. But, this time due to the lockdown, we neither get the required manpower nor necessary equipment and spare parts are available to do all those works in time, he said. This may delay fishing activities even after the lockdown is over, because we cant venture into the sea without the annual maintenance works, Biswal said expressing his worries. At the community level, economic backbone of the fisher folks has already broken due to the lockdown disrupting fishing activities during the peak season. They dont have money to repair their boats and nets to quick start fishing after the monsoon ban which would push them to further financial hardships in the coming days, Narayan Haldar, a fisherman from Kharinasi in Kendrapada district apprehended. According to A Kaleya, 45, of Ganjams Nolia Nuagaon, such a state of financial misery is bound to threaten food and nutrition security in the fishermen community. It may lead to more distress migration of youth and families in the coastal villages. Solutions sought Highlighting the gravity of the situation, Biswal urged that the government should make, both technical manpower and spare parts for maintenance of trawlers and mechanised boats, available before the end of the monsoon ban. We understand that government has declared lockdown for the benefit of people, to stop the lethal COVID-19 from spreading. However, it needs to ensure that no body dies hungry in a state of lockdown, Arjun Behera, 60, of Arakhkuda village said. Leaders of the community sought the government to come to the rescue of fisher folks and create opportunities at the earliest to ensure their survival and recovery from the current state of life. New York, April 22 : With schools closed and people sheltering at home, the sale of video games surged in the US in March when video game hardware, software, accessories and game cards totaled $1.6 billion, gaining 35 per cent when compared to the same time period last year. According to research firms The NPD Group, this is the highest reported spend for a March month since the $1.8 billion achieved in March 2008. As communities have practiced social distancing and observed stay at home orders across the US over the past weeks, many people have turned to video games as a means of finding connections. "Whether together on the couch playing locally, or playing online, gaming has generated increased engagement, which has resulted in corresponding increases in consumer spend," said Mat Piscatella, games industry analyst at The NPD Group. The first two months of this year saw cumulative sales across video game hardware, software, accessories and game cards fall 28 per cent to $1.4 billion when compared to the same time period last year, with January sales declining 26 per cent, and February sales falling 29 per cent. All video game categories, however, experienced double-digit sales increases in March, with hardware, software, and accessories and game cards increasing 63 per cent, 34 per cent, and 12 per cent, respectively. Nine of the top 10 best-selling video games of March 2020 generated higher dollar sales than similarly ranked titles a year ago. Total March spending on accessories and game cards reached $397 million, a record high for accessories and game cards in a March month. "With schools closing and shelter-in-place orders going out across multiple states, U.S. consumers' habits reflect the need to live primarily indoors for the foreseeable future," said Rob Liguori, president, Games at The NPD Group. U.S. President Donald Trump answers a question during the daily coronavirus task force briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S. Photo: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump has vowed to suspend all immigration into America in response to the coronavirus crisis, but provided few details about the move, leading to widespread confusion. The US president cited both the Covid-19 pandemic and the need to protect American jobs in a 38-word tweet making the announcement. He wrote: "In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!" Yesterday, his officials were scrambling to explain the policy declared in the tweet, with no press release or detailed explanation being issued in public. Taken at face value, the tweet suggests Mr Trump plans to temporarily halt the issue of visas for immigrants and green cards, which are permits allowing foreigners - often with US family members - to live in America permanently. Such a move would affect huge numbers of people. About 460,000 immigration visas were issued last year and around 580,000 green cards. Some exemptions could be given, with US officials reportedly indicating that health workers and farmers would be exempt given demand during the pandemic. Irish people hoping to secure visas to work or study in America could be affected, though given the sparsity in the policy's details there is little clarity. Expand Close Sign of the times: Funeral home staff Alisha Narvaez and Nicole Warring carry a dead person into the basement area of their business in Harlem, New York, where bodies are prepared for funeral services amid a huge problem with storage capacity. Photo: REUTERS/Andrew Kelly / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Sign of the times: Funeral home staff Alisha Narvaez and Nicole Warring carry a dead person into the basement area of their business in Harlem, New York, where bodies are prepared for funeral services amid a huge problem with storage capacity. Photo: REUTERS/Andrew Kelly It is unclear what will happen to applications already filed, though in reality the process had already largely ground to a halt with the State Department suspending routine visa services. The move would break with historical precedent. America continued to accept immigrants during both the Spanish flu of 1918 and the Second World War. It also underscores Mr Trump's "America First" vision. The US president has repeatedly said that the coronavirus crisis has shown the importance of national borders. Mr Trump's move focuses on legal immigration. He has already moved to curb illegal immigration during the pandemic, ordering the immediate deportation of those caught crossing the border without paperwork, including asylum seekers. The legal basis for Mr Trump's executive order, which officials were working on yesterday, was initially unclear. He could halt immigration for health concerns, citing the pandemic. The suspension is likely to be temporary. It is also likely to be challenged through the courts, as many of Mr Trump's most notable immigration policies have been. However, Democrats and immigrant rights' bodies criticised the move, accusing the president of exploiting the crisis. America has recorded around 780,000 Covid-19 cases, with more than 42,000 people dying from the virus. Industries Fine Ham Perfectly Packaged The perfect solution for Basedahl for packaging: the new R5 RD 0360 A rotary vane vacuum pump 22.04.2020 07:36:00 - (live-PR.com) - Henning Basedahl's business card identifies him simply as a "Schinkenhoker" which, in the Low German dialect, means simple merchant. Mr. Basedahl is the owner of Basedahl Schinkenmanufaktur (ham factory) in Hollenstedt a small town between Hamburg and Bremen. He is the second generation of his family to produce a very special delicacy: an exceptionally mild yet flavorsome ham - Henning Basedahl's business card identifies him simply as a "Schinkenhoker" which, in the Low German dialect, means simple merchant. Mr. Basedahl is the owner of Basedahl Schinkenmanufaktur (ham factory) in Hollenstedt a small town between Hamburg and Bremen. He is the second generation of his family to produce a very special delicacy: an exceptionally mild yet flavorsome ham accentuated by a light smoky flavor. When it comes to packaging, Basedahl makes as few compromises as he does in the production of his ham. To make sure he achieved the best packaging results, he was one of the first ever to have a new R5 RD 0360 A rotary vane vacuum pump from Busch Vacuum Solutions installed for his chamber vacuum machine. The Basedahl ham factory produces around 20,000 hams each year. And as the "Manu-" aspect of its German name Manufaktur suggests, at Basedahl everything really is still made by hand. The company sells its ham in its own little shop directly in Hollenstedt. In the greater Hamburg area, Basedahl sells its speciality to selected retail and delicatessen shops, making the deliveries using its own vehicle. However, customers also include retail and delicatessen shops throughout Germany. For example, Basedahl has been supplying Kafer Feinkost in Munich since 1990. Strict quality control is a guarantee for the high standard of Basedahl ham. As a matter of principle, only hams from sows selected by two slaughterhouses in the region from farms in Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia or Denmark are used. Each ham is personally inspected by the boss. The selection criteria are stringent. It can sometimes happen that a quarter of a raw ham delivery is returned to the slaughterhouse due to its failure to meet the quality requirements. The recipe, according to the ham specialists from Hollenstedt, is simple: take the ingredients of salt, smoke, love and time and mix them with stringent quality control and careful handcraft. Packaging takes place three days a week, for seven hours on each day. Shrink bags are used for packaging units from 50 grams to eight kilograms. The chamber volume is dimensioned in such a way that four eight-kilogram bags can be stored together. The vacuum pump previously installed in the packaging machine had a pumping speed of 300 cubic meters per hour and reached a theoretical ultimate pressure of 0.5 millibar. Felix Engel, plant manager at Basedahl and also responsible for technology, noticed that this vacuum pump no longer reached the specified ultimate pressure with increasing running time and was losing a lot of oil. The vacuum pump was also very loud and its heat radiation had to be dissipated via the air conditioning system. It was therefore removed from the packaging machine and placed one floor above it. This at least solved the problem with the oil and noise emissions. However, the vacuum level in the packaging chamber was not improved, even by extending the pump-down times. That is why Mr. Engel tried to find an alternative in 2017. He found it in the R5 RD 0360 A rotary vane vacuum pump from Busch Vacuum Solutions, which was new to the market at the time. The newly developed vacuum pump was not officially presented by Busch at the IFFA in Frankfurt until the year after. In August 2017, one of the first of these vacuum pumps worldwide was installed at Basedahl. This vacuum pump has a pumping speed of 300 cubic meters per hour and is driven by a 5.1-kilowatt motor. The previously used vacuum pump had a slightly higher motorization with a 5.5-kilowatt motor. At 0.1 millibar, the new vacuum pump achieves a lower vacuum than the previous vacuum pump. In the packaging itself, a vacuum level of 5 to 7 millibar is perfectly adequate, but the pumping speed and the ultimate pressure (vacuum) of a vacuum pump are interdependent. The lower the ultimate pressure reached by a vacuum pump, the higher the pumping speed at the pressure at which packaging is performed, i.e. at 5 to 7 millibars. This is a technical reality that has the advantage in practice of reducing evacuation time at a lower ultimate pressure, thus making the packaging cycle faster a fact that Felix Engel was pleased to notice immediately upon installing the new vacuum pump. Noise emissions had also been reduced, too. While the previous vacuum pump had a noise level of 76 dB(A), the R5 RD 0360 A runs at 70 dB(A). With the new development of the R5 RD series, Busch has also developed a new oil separation concept and optimized the filtration technology. The filtration system was adapted to Busch's synthetic oil VSL. This polyalphaolefin-based oil (PAO) is specially designed for rotary vane vacuum pumps used in the vacuum packaging of food products. It is certified according to NSF standard H1 and has a service life four times longer than comparable mineral oils. Felix Engel leaves the maintenance of the vacuum pump to a Busch service technician. This is done once a year as a precautionary measure. Otherwise, he relies on Busch quality because downtime is totally unacceptable the gourmets out there don't want to wait to get their hands on his hams. accentuated by a light smoky flavor. When it comes to packaging, Basedahl makes as few compromises as he does in the production of his ham. To make sure he achieved the best packaging results, he was one of the first ever to have a new R5 RD 0360 A rotary vane vacuum pump from Busch Vacuum Solutions installed for his chamber vacuum machine.The Basedahl ham factory produces around 20,000 hams each year. And as the "Manu-" aspect of its German name Manufaktur suggests, at Basedahl everything really is still made by hand. The company sells its ham in its own little shop directly in Hollenstedt. In the greater Hamburg area, Basedahl sells its speciality to selected retail and delicatessen shops, making the deliveries using its own vehicle. However, customers also include retail and delicatessen shops throughout Germany. For example, Basedahl has been supplying Kafer Feinkost in Munich since 1990. Strict quality control is a guarantee for the high standard of Basedahl ham. As a matter of principle, only hams from sows selected by two slaughterhouses in the region from farms in Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia or Denmark are used. Each ham is personally inspected by the boss. The selection criteria are stringent. It can sometimes happen that a quarter of a raw ham delivery is returned to the slaughterhouse due to its failure to meet the quality requirements. The recipe, according to the ham specialists from Hollenstedt, is simple: take the ingredients of salt, smoke, love and time and mix them with stringent quality control and careful handcraft.Packaging takes place three days a week, for seven hours on each day. Shrink bags are used for packaging units from 50 grams to eight kilograms. The chamber volume is dimensioned in such a way that four eight-kilogram bags can be stored together.The vacuum pump previously installed in the packaging machine had a pumping speed of 300 cubic meters per hour and reached a theoretical ultimate pressure of 0.5 millibar. Felix Engel, plant manager at Basedahl and also responsible for technology, noticed that this vacuum pump no longer reached the specified ultimate pressure with increasing running time and was losing a lot of oil. The vacuum pump was also very loud and its heat radiation had to be dissipated via the air conditioning system. It was therefore removed from the packaging machine and placed one floor above it. This at least solved the problem with the oil and noise emissions. However, the vacuum level in the packaging chamber was not improved, even by extending the pump-down times. That is why Mr. Engel tried to find an alternative in 2017. He found it in the R5 RD 0360 A rotary vane vacuum pump from Busch Vacuum Solutions, which was new to the market at the time. The newly developed vacuum pump was not officially presented by Busch at the IFFA in Frankfurt until the year after. In August 2017, one of the first of these vacuum pumps worldwide was installed at Basedahl. This vacuum pump has a pumping speed of 300 cubic meters per hour and is driven by a 5.1-kilowatt motor. The previously used vacuum pump had a slightly higher motorization with a 5.5-kilowatt motor. At 0.1 millibar, the new vacuum pump achieves a lower vacuum than the previous vacuum pump. In the packaging itself, a vacuum level of 5 to 7 millibar is perfectly adequate, but the pumping speed and the ultimate pressure (vacuum) of a vacuum pump are interdependent. The lower the ultimate pressure reached by a vacuum pump, the higher the pumping speed at the pressure at which packaging is performed, i.e. at 5 to 7 millibars. This is a technical reality that has the advantage in practice of reducing evacuation time at a lower ultimate pressure, thus making the packaging cycle faster a fact that Felix Engel was pleased to notice immediately upon installing the new vacuum pump.Noise emissions had also been reduced, too. While the previous vacuum pump had a noise level of 76 dB(A), the R5 RD 0360 A runs at 70 dB(A). With the new development of the R5 RD series, Busch has also developed a new oil separation concept and optimized the filtration technology. The filtration system was adapted to Busch's synthetic oil VSL. This polyalphaolefin-based oil (PAO) is specially designed for rotary vane vacuum pumps used in the vacuum packaging of food products. It is certified according to NSF standard H1 and has a service life four times longer than comparable mineral oils.Felix Engel leaves the maintenance of the vacuum pump to a Busch service technician. This is done once a year as a precautionary measure. Otherwise, he relies on Busch quality because downtime is totally unacceptable the gourmets out there don't want to wait to get their hands on his hams. Contact information: Busch Vacuum Solutions Schauinslandstr. 1 79689 Maulburg Contact Person: Jasmin Markanic Coordinator Global Press&Media Relations Phone: +49 7622 681-3376 eMail: eMail Web: http://www.buschvacuum.com Author: Jasmin Markanic e-mail Web: http://www.buschvacuum.com Phone: 076226813376 22.04.2020 07:36:00 - Disclaimer: If you have any questions regarding information in this article please contact the author. Please do not contact Live-PR.com. We are not able to assist you. Live-PR.com disclaims content contained in this article. Live-PR.com is not authorized to give any information about content and not responsible for content posted by third party. Sudhir Suryawanshi By Express News Service MUMBAI: Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Wednesday said there was a sound heard in the Palghar lynching video, 'oye bas', but some people circulated it online by calling it 'Shoaib bas' to give it a communal colour Deshmukh released the names of all 101 accused arrested in the incident. In the accused list there is not a single person who belongs to the Muslim community, so there is no question of any communal angle in Gadchinchale village, clarified the Home Minister. He said that the CID will probe every angle of this incident and submit its report. Sources in the investigative agency said that they have started collecting the CCTV footage of the locations. We visited the spot and got the footage and will soon examine them as per the sequence. We are questioning the people who indulged in the incident and also tracing the absconding villagers, said a CID officer on the condition of anonymity. The police had also got the WhatsApp message from the villagers which was circulated with rumours that the robbers, child-lifters and kidney harvesters' gangs is coming to their villages. The deceased wrongly taken as the robbers, the officer added. Anand Kulkarni, the CID officer who is in charge of this probe said it is too early to comment on the incident. The probe is going at the right direction. Once we get concrete information and come to a conclusion, we will share with others, Kulkarni said. NEW HAVEN Public safety department leaders are considering longer shifts with more time off in between for first responders as the city continues its fight against the spread of the novel coronavirus. New Haven Fire Chief John Alston said if things get really bad there has been internal planning to start keeping people on duty for a lengthy period of time. We have had some discussions about the possibility of having people work for 48 hours, then not work for eight to nine days, he said. Theres an open discussion about what if, and weve been having it for two months. Deputy Director of Public Safety Communications Jeff Patton said his department already has transitioned to 12-hour days for workers, with a pattern of three days on and three days off. He said a couple of workers in the department were told to self-isolate for 14 days and would not be allowed back without clearance from their doctors. We have accommodated that where possible, he said. Alston, Patton, New Haven Police Chief Otoniel Reyes and Emergency Operations Director Rick Fontana spoke this week to the Board of Alders Public Safety Committee about how their departments are responding to and have been impacted by the pandemic. The Zoom call was conducted almost entirely without video for members of the public, who were allowed to listen to the audio. Aldermanic staff increased security controls after an anonymous user hijacked an aldermanic public information caucus with a loud video depicting child sexual abuse. The leaders said some fire and police personnel have tested positive for COVID-19. Reyes said that as of Tuesday, eight members of the Police Department had tested positive for COVID-19 and 18 officers were out of work. He said, however, that officers in the department are eager to help during the crisis. Everybody wants to be present. Everybody wants to serve their city, their department and themselves, he said. Alston said 17 Fire Department members were out of work, which accounts for about 5.6 percent of the force. In response, he decided to waive a rule around new recruits needing six months of experience on the job before they are eligible for overtime. I believe theyve already cut their teeth, he said. Reyes said the Police Department temporarily is scaling back on some functions: although officers are responding to every call, they may call complainants and avoid in-person visits if its not necessary for certain low-priority calls. Some low-priority calls such as a car break-in still may require an officer to appear on site to collect information, such as physical evidence or to observe the scene. Additionally, Reyes said the number of people held in the departments lockup has declined. He said ordinarily there are 14 to 18 people in the departments detention facility, but the number has decreased to three or four daily arrests. Alston said communal meals often are the highlight of the day for firefighters, but the department has done away with those for now. Our response level hasnt changed; our precautions have, he said. Patton said the public safety communications department has tried to limit the operation center to 10 people at a time. Overall, he said, calls to 911 have declined since the crisis began. Since March 22, there has been an average of 271 calls per day, and at this point the number of daily 911 calls is roughly 250. I think the initial impact was possibly people looking for someone to give them an answer or to direct them to other sources, he said. The number of calls that required a response trended up, the curve were all familiar with, but it seems to be leveling off if not starting to decline. Fontana noted that, having been through several natural disasters and other emergency situations with the city, he has been stressing the importance to remain diligent about recording expenses related to the pandemic. The federal government, theyll provide you that 75 percent reimbursement for category A, which is infrasutrcture and equipment, and Category B, which is personnel. We have to ensure we do a great job in tracking our expenditures, he said. I can tell you we focus on that every time were on a call. brian.zahn@ hearstmediact.com Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Reuters) Tokyp, Japan Wed, April 22, 2020 11:41 630 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd37ce4f 2 World Japan,Nagasaki,coronavirus,COVID-19,COVID-19-cluster,cruise-ship,infection Free Authorities in Japan's western prefecture of Nagasaki have confirmed 33 coronavirus infections on an Italian cruise ship docked for repairs, they said on Wednesday, appealing for help from the central government to tackle the incident. Tests proved positive for 33 of the 56 close shipboard contacts of a single one of the vessel's 623 crew whose infection had been confirmed on Tuesday, they added. Nagasaki's governor, Hodo Nakamura, told a news conference the central government, the prefecture and Nagasaki city all needed to do their part to quickly resolve the situation. "There are a lot of infections on board, and we don't have the medical system to confirm the health situation and to separate," those who test positive and negative, he added. "We'll also need a system for transporting patients. It's difficult for the prefecture to carry out decontamination work so I want to seek the country's support." Nakamura had requested support through Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, he said. Only crew were on the Costa Atlantica, operated by Costa Cruises SpA, when the ship was taken into a shipyard in Nagasaki city in late February by Mitsubishi Shipbuilding, a unit of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The virus pandemic had scuttled plans for scheduled repairs in China. Japanese health authorities are testing the rest of its crew. Those who test positive with slight symptoms or who are asymptomatic will stay aboard for monitoring, while those in serious condition will be taken to medical institutions, Nakamura said, with those testing negative sent to home nations. Suga told a separate news conference that Japan's health ministry is cooperating with the Italian government and had sent specialists and cluster infection experts to the ship.